Ingram Publishing/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Homeowners in high-tax states are scrambling to prepay their 2018 property taxes this year before President Donald Trumps overhaul goes into effect.



Residents in New York, like others around the country, are rushing to file because the new tax code, signed into law last week, limits the amount of state and local taxes people can deduct on their federal returns, according to Donald Clavin, town receiver of taxes in Hempstead, New York. The change could cost some homeowners, especially those in high-tax states, thousands of dollars.



Under the new federal tax code, many Long Islanders are going to lose out on valuable tax deductions, Clavin wrote in a statement Tuesday. In our office, weve helped a significant number of taxpayers during the holiday season who are seeking to get the gift of a tax deduction before the opportunity runs out.



He said there will now be a $10,000 cap on the amount of property taxes that can be written off.



The new deductions cap will impact homeowners in some states much more than others, including those in California, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey.



The rush in New York came after Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, signed an executive order on Friday to allow residents to prepay their 2018 property tax, a move he said could help people to postpone the pain for the upcoming year.



"You can partially prepay or fully prepay and get your deductions for your property tax payment," Cuomo said in a statement. "At least this device will postpone the pain for one year."



Officials in Montgomery County, Maryland, also passed legislation to allow residents to prepay their property taxes.



For weeks, many of us have bemoaned the Republican tax bill for a host of reasons. But high on the list was how punitive it is to high-cost, "blue" states and counties like ours, Montgomery County Councilmember Roger Berliner, who proposed the bill, said in a statement Tuesday. Capping the deduction for state and local taxes at $10,000 will take thousands of dollars out of the pockets of a big chunk of our residents, almost 40 percent of whom itemize their deductions on Wednesday."



There may be other steps that we can and should take going forward to help others hurt by the federal bill, and we should be supportive of those. But this is the only step we, at the local level, can and should take to help our residents right now, he added.



Experts warned that homeowners should consult their accountants before prepaying.



"I can't speak to the fact that the IRS is going to allow this as a deduction, but the governor made the executive order. And to accommodate his order, we came in here, we implemented a plan, and we're going to help the residents as much as we can," Clavin said in an interview with New York ABC station WABC-TV on Tuesday.



He said his office plans to extend its hours on Saturday and Sunday -- the final two days of the year.



Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
 Garden State perspective on sex offender castration ... for no obvious reason | Main | Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht raises notable sentencing issue in SCOTUS cert petition 

The title of this post is the headline of this notable new Reuters piece, and here are excerpts:

Investors who bet on private prison operators as big winners from Donald Trumps tough line on crime and illegal immigration are looking back at a bruising year of high hopes and disappointment. Some, however, say the stocks still offer good value even though an anticipated windfall under the Trump administration so far has failed to materialize.

They say the two listed operators - Geo Group Inc (GEO.N) and CoreCivic Inc (CXW.N) - stand to win contracts from states struggling with prison overcrowding, such as Kansas and Oklahoma, and have plenty of room to accommodate new demand....

The administrations proposals to bolster the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency could help in the future though it is still unclear how much new money it will bring. People are focusing on ICE and ignoring the state level opportunities, said Jordan Hymowitz managing partner Philadelphia Financial Management in San Francisco.

Geo and CoreCivic shares soared after Trump won the White House, partly on expectations that detention centers they run for ICE would fill up thanks to an anticipated surge in arrests along the Mexican border. Yet the opposite happened - arrests declined for months after Trump's inauguration because fewer people attempted to cross the border and shares in CoreCivic and Geo reversed course after peaking in February and April respectively.

While detentions have been rising from month to month since hitting a year-low in May, the stocks have not yet recovered. CoreCivic now trades 37 percent below its post election high, while Geo is about 32 percent below its 2017 peak.

Investors say lack of clarity on how much business they will get from ICE, the companies biggest client, is holding the shares back.... The immigration enforcement agency, which cites its average cost per bed at $129 per day, accounted for about a quarter of CoreCivics and Geos revenue in the first nine months of 2017. Federal, state and local prisons make up most of the remaining revenue. ICE asked Congress for a $1.2 billion funding increase, but the latest budget proposal offered $700 million, according to Geo, and its 2018 funding remains unclear.

GEO and CoreCivic make up two-thirds of the roughly $5.3 billion per year U.S. private prison business, according to market research firm IBISWorld. However, potential state contracts promise to boost prison companies earnings and make them less controversial.... Investors said a pending Kansas Department of Corrections proposal for CoreCivic to build a new prison which the state would manage, would address some investor concerns by making the company a landlord rather than a prison operator. If copied by other states, such approach would open new opportunities for the companies, which mostly derive revenue from running their own prisons or government facilities....

Thousands of vacancies at CoreCivic and Geo facilities should also be viewed as a positive, because they could lift earnings with little extra investment, investors say. Hymowitz estimated that CoreCivic, which has around 15,000 empty beds, could boost by a fifth its funds from operations (FFO) per share if it could fill just a quarter of them. CoreCivic said in November it could add $1 to annual earnings per share (FFO) if it can open its eight idle prisons and boost inmate numbers in partially vacant facilities. Geo said in October that filling 7,000 empty beds could add $50-$60 million to its annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), a roughly 11-13 percent increase to 2018 analyst estimates.
A representative of the Ministry of Planning and Investment said that so far Vietnam has attracted businesses from 129 nations with 24,580 projects and the total investment capital of US$316.9 billion.



Of the invested fields, processing and manufacturing accounts for 59 percent, real estate, accommodation service and construction 24 percent; electricity, gas and water production and distribution 6.5 percent and auto retail and wholesale 2 percent.

South Korea is the largest investor with the total funds of $57 billion, followed by Japan with $49 billion, Singapore $42 billion and China $12 billion.

Mr. Vo Tan Thanh, deputy chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that Vietnam has become one of the most five attractive Southeast Asian nations to foreign investors.

The country has many advantages such as stable economic growth maintaining to be above 6 percent. GDP per capita increased 6.5 percent in 2017 and 55 million people are in working age.

The ratio of highly skilled workers has been on the rise, mainly concentrating in big cities. Traffic infrastructure has been much improved for the last three years facilitating trade connectivity among provinces and cities and partly meeting development demand.

Vietnam is located in a strategic position taking only 50 flight hours to access 50 percent of the world market. Over 50 nations have opened the door for Vietnamese goods through bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements which the country has signed.

Most of foreign businesses learning about investment opportunities in Vietnam come from fields such as electricity-electronic equipment, tech toys, components, machines and accessories, building materials, interior and exterior decoration, food and beverage and beauty products.

Many more incentives

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Huyen Ngoc from Southern Investment Promotion Center, many preferential policies for investors have been issued the Government and implemented by investors to increase the attractiveness of Vietnam's investment environment. Among these is the policy identifying corporate income between domestic and foreign firms to create fair competitiveness.

The tax rate has also reduced from 25 percent to 20-22 percent.

Firms investing in priority fields enjoy more incentives such as lower than normal corporate tax or exemption during a certain period of time. Those carrying out education, health, culture and sport projects pay the tax rate of only 10 percent.

If the above projects are implemented in disadvantageous areas, investors will be exempt from paying corporate tax in four years and enjoy 50 percent cut in the next nine years.

The 10 percent tax rate is also applied for businesses conducting agricultural and seafood projects in disadvantageous areas.

Key industries, environmental protection and large scale projects in hi-tech parks, economic zones and industrial zones will also enjoy the 10 percent tax rate during 15 years of operation. In following years after getting profit, investors will be exempt from paying corporate tax in the first four years and receive 50 percent cut in the nine following years.

They will also see tax exemption for importing machines and equipment not yet produced domestically for production lines of projects.

Vietnam has improved infrastructure ad put into operation 324 industrial parks to receive investment waves in the upcoming time. Of these are 43 foreign invested industrial parks, 16 coastal economic zones and three high-tech parks.

The Vietnamese Government have encouraged businesses to invest in high value projects using modern technologies, projects transferring from doing outwork into making high added value products, infrastructure structure development, high quality human resource training, modern services and large projects able to attend global supply chains.

By AI VAN  Translated by Hai Mien


All the victims were staff of SSI, a US-headquartered company specialised on market research, local authorities stated on December 25.



Currently, authorised agencies of the Southeast Asian country have been asked expand the criminal investigation on the blaze. So far, the reason behind the fire has yet been clarified.



The blaze started at the four-storey NCCC Mall on December 23 morning and spread to other places. Many people were trapped inside, including in a call centre on the top floor, said a local police.



On December 24, SSI company informed that 37 out of its 500 staff of its Davao branch went missing.



The fire was not controlled until early December 24.



Davao is the biggest city in the southern Philippines. It is about 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) south of Manila. Source from Vietnamnews.




PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc highly appreciated his great contributions in strengthening the bilateral relationships between the two countries as a role of Senior Director for Asian Affairs at the National Security Council formerly.On the occasion, he reviewed memories within his official visit to the United States of America in May, 2017; and wished the US ambassador to continue pushing up the high- ranking delegations as well as maneuver the Government of the United States in the cooperation development.The Government of Vietnam would make more efforts and closely collaborate with the partner to further the countries relationships. Both sides exchanged and agreed to measures in enhancing the Vietnam- US comprehensive partnership ties.US ambassador Daniel Kritenbrink said that trade & economic relations are important issues in the Vietnam- US cooperation relations.

Source: VNA- Translated by Huyen Huong
Theres no shortage of cookbooks on the Instant Pot to get you familiar with it. With all the books, there are plenty of ideas, tips and advice along with lots and lots of recipes.

While theres a lot of inspiration, many of these books are all-around good reads that will give you the basics of what you need to know. Within the pages, you will find plenty of ethnic recipes, everyday recipes and even desserts.

And so, if an Instant Pot (or other multi-cooker) is on your wish list or gift giving list, heres a peek inside a few of the newly released cookbooks to help you get started.

The Essential Instant Pot Cookbook: Fresh and foolproof recipes for your electric pressure cooker, By Coco Morante (Ten Speed Press, $19.95).

What: Coco Morante runs the Instant Pot Recipes Facebook page and has her own blog, leftyspoon.com. In this book, her first, she says, Indeed the range of foods you can cook in the Instant Pot is nothing short of mind-blowing. Morante provides more than 75 recipes with chapters on breakfast, beans and grains, soups and chilies, poultry, beef and pork, vegetables, side dishes and desserts.

Best aspect: The cooking charts for meats, poultry, vegetables, rice and grains, beans and lentils are extensive. Morante provides, adapted from Instant Pot, cooking times, soaking times, pressure release options, fresh and frozen cooking times for vegetables.

Recipe to try: Chicken Cacciatore.

Instant Pot Miracle: From Gourmet to Everyday, 175 Must-have recipes (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $22.99.)

What: From the editors of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, this book features recipes that use all the functions of the Instant Pot. The authors give an easy-to-read rundown on how to use the Instant Pot from the basic functions to pressure cooking to slow cooking to sauteing. All the recipes, they write, are tested using the 6-quart Duo, 7-and-1 Multi-Use Programmable Pressure Cooker. A comprehensive page on how to use the recipes in the book has detailed descriptions and definitions. Theres plenty of full color photos and recipes range from Chai-spiced Breakfast Quinoa with Berries to Italian cocktail Meatballs to Asian-style Steamed fish & vegetables.

Best aspect: Recipes are held to one page and the prep time, function, closed pot time and total time are clear at the top of each recipe. Within the recipes, functions to choose are in bold.

Recipe to try: Mushroom and Spinach Risotto.

How to Instant Pot: Mastering all the functions of the One Pot that will Change the Way You Cook by Daniel Shumski (Workman Publishing, $16.95).

What: Breezy, can-do style of explaining what you need to know about all the functions of an Instant Pot. Shumski provides an in-depth look at Instant Pots saute option, which is one of the appliances best functions. Specifics are listed for heat setting temperatures and best uses for the saute function. Whats also helpful is the timings for all the preset functions, if you use them.

Best aspect: The chapters are divided by function (pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice maker, yogurt maker and steamer) with how-to and tips on the each function.

Recipe to try: Beef Barbacoa Tacos.

The Art of Great Cooking with your Instant Pot by Emily Sunwell-Vidaurri (Page Street Publishing, $21.99).

What: More than 80 recipes that are gluten-free and touted as more nutritious using an Instant Pot. Vidaurris food blog is Recipes to Nourish and all the recipes in this book are designed to  support your familys wellness we real, nutrient-rich and gluten-free ingredients. While the recipes call for using specifics like grass-fed butter or ghee, grass-fed beef and sustainable fish, they are easily adaptable. Nearly every recipe has a note offering a tip or technique or ingredient suggestion and a full-color photo.

Best aspect: Dessert and breakfast chapters are appealing. There are breakfast stratas and fritattas, cheesecakes and bread pudding.

Recipe to try: Lemon-thyme Ricotta Cheesecake.
SIOUX CITY | Competing against professors and Ph.D candidates, a Morningside College student recently won an award at the 90th National FFA Convention in Indianapolis.

Summer Beery, a 2015 Maple Valley-Anthon Oto High School graduate, received a Distinguished Research Paper Presentation Award at the 36th annual National Agricultural Mechanics Professional Development Blue Ribbon Papers Research Conference that was held during the FFA convention. She was the only undergraduate student to have a paper accepted for presentation at the conference.

Beery's presentation, "Teaching with Unnamed Vehicles: Perceptions of Iowa School-Based Ag Education Instructors," focused on what Iowa agriculture teachers thought about implementing drones into their curriculum. She conducted a survey asking teachers to rate the importance of different drone skills as well as their capacity to teach them. Discrepancies between importance and capacity would indicate training opportunities.

Morningside applied agricultural and food studies chair Thomas Paulsen served as Beery's mentor for this project. She also presented her research at the North Central Regional research meeting of the American Association for Agricultural Education, held at Iowa State University in Ames.
SOUTH SIOUX CITY | Two more South Sioux City homeowners have sued the city and Big Ox Energy, raising the number of lawsuits concerning odors and gases from the bioenergy plant to eight.

Kirk and Angela Campbell and Christopher Cornell filed their suits last week in Dakota County District Court. Like the homeowners in the previous six suits, the Campbells and Cornell claim that odors and hazardous gases damaged their homes and caused health problems after the plant opened in September 2016.

All homeowners allege in their lawsuits said that Big Ox and the city failed to maintain, operate and modify wastewater treatment facilities and sewer systems to handle waste from the plant and prevent the release of hydrogen sulfate and other toxic gases. As a result, the homeowners all say, they and their children suffer from health problems including respiratory illnesses, headaches, nausea, sleep disturbances, anxiety and emotional distress.

The lawsuits allege that Big Ox and the city knew or should have known after initial tests of the plant's operations in August 2016 that the municipal sewer system would unable to handle the pressures and substances being released into it, leading to the release of gases that escaped through manholes and into residences near the plant.

The Denmark, Wisconsin-based company has denied the allegations.

The Campbells and Cornell seek reimbursement for the loss of the use of their homes, demolition and reconstruction of their homes and loss of furnishings ruined by odors.

The Campbells claim damages of $754,000, and Cornell lists $614,500 in damages. All costs are accruing because of the continued loss of use of their property.

Damages being sought in the other five lawsuits total $4.25 million.

Big Ox Energy's more than $30 million plant extracts organic nutrients from animal, grain and other waste to create methane, which is sold into the natural gas pipeline. The plant went online Sept. 2, 2016, in the Roth Industrial Park.

Residents began reporting odors from the plant a month later, when sewer gas permeated some homes in a five-block area near the plant. Big Ox maintains that faulty plumbing in the homes, not wastewater, was the primary cause of the odor issues.

The families were displaced for months because of the odors, and some have yet to return home. The city and Big Ox have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to cover displaced homeowners' relocation and living expenses. The city has also spent $1.5 million for sewer upgrades and modifications.

In May, 16 families and one business filed tort claims against the city, suggesting that more lawsuits will be filed.
SIOUX CITY | The Sioux City Police Department is seeking help from the public to identify a suspect seen using a stolen credit card.

Earlier this month, a Sioux City resident lost her wallet at a local restaurant.

The police department posted video and photos on its Facebook page Wednesday showing the suspect using a credit card taken from that wallet at two different stores.

Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers at 258-TIPS or text 274637 with SCPDTIP in the message line. Callers may also contact Det. Jeff Harstad at 279-6898 or via email at jharstad@sioux-city.org.
SOUTH SIOUX CITY  A lingering fight over noxious sewer odors that forced dozens of South Sioux City residents to abandon their homes moved to the courtroom in 2017.

Starting in early December, seven homeowners filed civil suits against the city and Big Ox Energy, seeking nearly $3 million in damages.

The lawsuits and a series of state and federal regulatory actions taken against Big Ox are The Journal's No. 4 story of 2017.

The families were displaced for months due to potentially deadly fumes reported shortly after Big Ox started up its renewable energy plant in the Roth Industrial Park on Sept. 2, 2016. At the time, the neighborhood and the industrial shared a sewer line.

The city has spent $1.5 million for sewer upgrades completed this year. The upgrades included rerouting the industrial waste away from the affected neighborhood. The city and Big Ox also have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to cover displaced homeowners' relocation and living expenses.

That arrangement ended in February after the residents sought legal advice. To comply with state law, the owners, some of whom have yet to return home, filed tort claims against the city in May and then waited the required six months before filing their lawsuits in Nebraska state court.
SIOUX CITY  Receiving a $1,000 bonus from her job couldnt have come at a better time for Catherine Schneider, a teller supervisor at Pinnacle Bank in Sioux City.

The mother of two daughters is pregnant with her third daughter  Schneider is due in April  and she and her husband are in the midst of trying to upgrade their home to better accommodate their expanding family.

So when Pinnacle announced late last week it was giving all full-time employees a $1,000 special bonus in celebration of the recently passed federal tax reform bill, Schneider was surprised.

"I was a little more startled than anything," she said. "It's really nice to have a company that cares about its employees and just feels that we can benefit from the (tax cut) just as much as anybody else."

Those types of reactions were common across the board at Pinnacle Bank, which operates Northwest Iowa banks in Sioux City and Hinton.

The branches are also part of the larger Pinnacle Bancorp Inc., a Nebraska-based financial institution that operates 149 banks in eight states.

Pinnacle is among several U.S. companies promising one-time bonuses or higher pay, citing the tax bill signed by President Trump Friday that cuts the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent. Among those sharing some of their tax savings with their employees are some other businesses with a presence in Siouxland, including AT&T, the Sinclair Broadcast Group and Wells Fargo.

Pinnacle Bank president Dillon Retzlaff said company-wide, all 2,000 full-time employees  including all 12 in Iowa  received the $1,000 special bonus and part-timers received a $500 bonus.

Retzlaff broke the good news to his employees via an email and then walked out of his office to see their reactions.

They reacted very well, he said. I saw some tears of joy, a lot of unexpected happiness; it was really fun to do that before Christmas. I think we caught them off guard.

Retzlaff said it was the best feeling in the world to be able to tell his staff they were being given this bonus this year.

After a tax cut, a lot of politics gets involved and discussions on tax reform, but we thought this sent the right message that its really fun to be able to take some windfall and make sure it ends up in everyones hands and everyone gets to benefit from it, he said.

Brittany McKinley, a loan processor at Pinnacle Bank, plans on saving her bonus.

She told her family about it when they gathered for Christmas and she said they joked that the bonus was the reason she gave out really good presents although she hasnt received it yet.

They were jealous, McKinley joked.

AT&T announced it planned to give all 200,000 of its full-time employees nationwide a $1,000 bonus. The nation's second-largest wireless carrier operates a corporate store in Sioux City on Singing Hills Boulevard.

Wells Fargo, which has four stores in Sioux City and locations in Denison, Iowa; Norfolk and West Point, Nebraska; and Beresford, Yankton and Vermillion, South Dakota, will raise its minimum wage from $13.50 an hour to $15 per hour, starting in March.

Sinclair Broadcasting Group, which owns two Dakota Dunes-based stations -- CBS affiliate KMEG and Fox affiliate KPTH -- is giving a $1,000 bonus to its nearly 9,000 full-time and part-time employees.
It's been another eventful year for Rep. Steve King.

The outspoken conservative lawmaker from Iowa's 4th District was repeatedly in the national news in 2017 for his views on hot-button issues such as immigration, guns and the Confederate flag.

The Kiron Republican also lauded a Siouxland humanitarian group that helped rescue the only three survivors of a deadly school bus crash in Tanzania and brought the young children to Sioux City for life-saving medical treatment. King visited the children after they returned home to the east Africa nation.

As the year ended, the eight-term congressman hosted President Trump's oldest son, Don, Jr. at a pheasant hunt near Akron, and shared details of a one-on-one conversation in which King urged the president to end a program that has blocked the deportation of undocumented workers who were brought to the United States by their parents as children.
According to the South Dakota Department of Public Safety, Thomas Jordan, 38, of Woodland, California, lost control of his northbound 2003 Ford F-150 pickup truck at about 12:20 p.m., left the road, rolled through the median and across the southbound lanes before landing on top of a southbound 2003 Volvo xc70 driven by Donald Anderson, who was pronounced dead at the scene. Carol Anderson, who was in the passenger seat, was later pronounced dead at a Sioux Falls hospital.
GUATEMALA CITY (AP)  Guatemala's president announced on Christmas Eve that the Central American country will move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, becoming the first nation to follow the lead of U.S. President Donald Trump in ordering the change.

Guatemala was one of nine nations that voted with the United States and Israel on Thursday when the U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a non-binding resolution denouncing Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Trump didn't set any timetable for moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and neither did Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales.

In a post on his official Facebook account Sunday, Morales said that after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he decided to instruct Guatemala's foreign ministry to move the embassy.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki criticized the decision Monday, saying in a statement Morales was "dragging his country to the wrong side of history by committing a flagrant violation of international law."

Al-Malki called it a "shameless act of lawlessness" and "a brazen act of disrespect and disregard" to international alliances of which Guatemala is part.

Guatemala and Israel have long had close ties, especially in security matters and Israeli arms sales to Guatemala.

No other country has their embassy for Israel in Jerusalem, though the Czech Republic has said it is considering such a move.

In a statement, Netanyahu praised Morales' decision and said that he was waiting in Jerusalem.

"God bless you, my friend, President Morales," he said. "I told you recently that there will be other countries that would recognize Jerusalem and announce the transfer of their embassies to it. Well here is the second country and I reiterate: It is only the beginning and it is important."

Trump upended decades of U.S. policy with his Dec. 6 announcement that he was recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Though Trump said he was merely recognizing reality and not prejudging negotiations on the future borders of the city, Palestinians saw the move as siding with Israel on the most sensitive issue in the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its capital, while the Palestinians claim the city's eastern sector, which was captured by Israel in 1967 and is home to sensitive religious Jewish, Muslim and Christian sites. Many governments have long said that the fate of Jerusalem must be resolved through negotiations.

Trump's announcement has set off weeks of clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli security forces that have left 12 Palestinians dead.

Netanyahu has made great efforts to reach out to Latin America in recent years as part of a campaign to counter longstanding support for the Palestinians at the United Nations.

The resolution passed by the General Assembly declared the U.S. action on Jerusalem "null and void." The 128-9 vote was a victory for Palestinians, but fell short of the total they had predicted. Thirty-five nations abstained and 21 stayed away from the vote.
A criminal justice professor at Florida International University in Miami is looking into why people dont report hate crimes, especially those against LGBT individuals.

Besiki Luka Kutateladze recently received a $500,000 grant to pursue the subject, according to the Miami-Broward New Times. With the money and help from nonprofit the SAVE Foundation, Kutateladze will interview over 400 LGBT people in the area about their experiences as well as talking to law enforcement officials and going through case files. The study will begin next year.

"Something big is missing here, clearly," Kutateladze said to the New Times. "and we cannot just keep saying that."

The Miami-Dade Police Department reported only one hate crime in their statistics for 2015-2016. According to the New Times, both Miami-Dade PD and the State Attorneys office will partner with FIU for the study.

In Miami, with the population being both majority immigrant and Latino, reporting any crime poses legal and cultural challenges, but reporting crimes committed because of bias against LGBTQ individuals is even more difficult, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said in a statement. We are thrilled to partner with Florida International University because it has the capacity to do this work.

Kutateladze said that he hopes the study can improve services for victims and help law enforcement better tackle the problem.
As the year comes to an end, and SFGN does its soft holiday issue, I have to reiterate that the most dangerous person in America is no immigrant.

It is the president of the United States, Donald Trump.

It is not because of his vile and visceral nastiness, repeated lying or the guttural vulgarity his meanness reveals every day on Twitter and the world stage.

It is not because of his toxic racism, undeniable chauvinism, or his never-ending self-aggrandizing posts of how great he thinks he is.

No, its because this man, who speaks honorably of despots, demagogues, and dictators, wants to become one himself.

Its because from the day he was inaugurated he has engaged in a systematic war on a Free Press, which he thinks is a cute and crowd-pleasing monologue. It is not.

Democracy is not a game show.

This is a nearly unprecedented presidential assault on journalism everywhere in order to discredit those who criticize him editorially or report on him factually. Its despicable, and its treason, and anyone who joins in the use of his fabricated phrase, Fake News, is complicit in the conspiracy.

Trump was not only smart enough to get elected president, he was astute enough to know the media would hate him for his arrogance, brashness and never-ending duplicity.

From the outset of his campaign, he knew he had to undermine them before they would undermine him. Thus, he undertook a sophisticated and coordinated plan to make them his tool of scorn and derision, so much so its credibility would already be shattered even when they legitimately went after him. It worked.

The press became Trumps foil, and now, when the mainstream media exposes his crudeness or corruption, his minions scoff at it all as fake news. Followers being what they are, everyone from school kids to nonprofit agency directors derisively deny accusations against them now as fake news as well. Trumps presidency has created a new lexicon of excuses for liars.

Trump is not a consequential president. He is a conspiratorial one. He is attempting to sabotage our democracy by demonizing independent reporters, undermining institutions, and dividing communities by fomenting cynicism. It is not just Charlottesville. Its from coast to coast and there is a cost to all of us.

The tone and tenor from the White House has been condescending and crude, from its indicted and convicted national security advisor Michael Flynn to Steve Brannon, the refugee from a barber shop and 1878. Lock them up. They are poisoning politics. It did not take much of a dose, but they are lowering even those standards.

As George Bush recently said, Bigotry seems emboldened, nationalism has become distorted into nativism, and political statements have been subject to outright fabrication. And Bush was hardly a liberal. He was, however, an American first and Republican, second. Even Richard Nixon was.

Trump cares only about Trump.

Trump is a man who will try to destroy anything and everything that interferes with his self congratulatory promotions. A Free Press stands in his way. It is caustic and critical not celebratory and reverential. It analyses and evaluates, reveals and expose, unveils and discloses. This is not good for a man who lives with secrets, from his tax returns to his womanizing, from his law suits to his lies and misleading statements. At last count, there were 1,628 of them in his first 268 days in office.

He is not a conservative espousing articulate Reagan-esque principles. He is an unprincipled and purposefully vicious person who advances his own interest while denigrating and demeaning honorable persons who infringe on his largesse, whether they are distinguished United States senators or former directors of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Its never been about Little Marco. Its always been about Disgusting Donald.

As the USA Today said, A president who would all but call Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand a whore is not fit to clean the toilets in the Barack Obama Presidential Library or to shine George W. Bushs shoes.

We join with the USA Today in asserting that Trumps behavior is sickening, corrosive to the enterprise of a shared governance based on common values and the consent of the governed.

Trumps own national appointees, from the Secretary of State to top CIA leaders have called him an idiot, a moron, a narcissist, and so much more, but those names dont matter. What matters is that freedom is under attack, democracy is being threatened, and that the president is priming the pump for violence against reporters here and around the world. Those who get to see him up close know this.

The saddest part of engaging a bully on his terms and responding in kind is that you lower yourself to his unseemly standards. But tell me my friends where else do you fight a gutter rat than in the gutter? How else do you drain the swamp without being willing to wrestle the gator in his milieu?

Call the man for what he is- a would be despot who would ban dissent if he could. He already wants to put you in jail and fire you for not saluting the flag. Whats next? When will he say we have to start bowing to the president?

Has he already not demanded loyalty oaths from his staff and government officials who are supposed to be independent? Who is next? Do you need another White House staff meeting to watch the entire Cabinet grovel to his whims? We already have 98 percent of the Republican senators doing that.

Finally, there should be no doubt in your mind that the chorus of anger President Trump is orchestrating against the press is organized and conspiratorial, designed secretly by his own selected paid-off operatives, greased by the billions he has sleazily earned over the years.

One by one they will come forward and methodically throw dirt on his critics, challenging their patriotism and honor, with name calling and nastiness, questioning their integrity and independence. Make no mistake about it. That is the kind of person you are up against. An evil one. It happens.

As far as I am concerned, we are in a race, one to see if we can save our democratic institutions before a president named Trump destroys them. If you hear him say again the system is rigged, slap yourself upside the head. Remind your brain that that time he is the one rigging it. Rise to the challenge. Be a force for reason and righteousness, decency and dignity. Stand up to the man. Let him know you wont be suppressed or silenced.

Make your voice heard like it is the 1960s all over again. Protest with passion, with a song in your hearts and perseverance as your creed. Dont let anyone turn you around. March in every rally, speak at every political event and vote in every election.

I have a new slogan for you: Take America Back.

Yes, my friends, the most dangerous man in America is Donald Trump.

Lets start doing something about it with our pens and principles.
Le Collectif Cheikh Yassine a organise un certain nombre dactivites et de festivites pour les enfants de Gaza sous le theme  La joie des enfants de Gaza pour lAid . Ces activites ont commence le premier jour de lAid et continue jusquau 4eme jour de lAid dans la bande de Gaza.



Plusieurs activites, ont ete organisees parmi lesquelles : des competitions recompensees par des prix, des jeux, des animations et des chants presentes par un groupe ainsi que des distributions de cadeaux et daides financieres.




The United States Harness Writers Association has announced that conditioner Brian Brown has been voted as the 2017 Trainer of the Year and Good Guy Award recipient south of the border. Additionally, USHWA has voted Bruce Trogdon of Emerald Highlands Farm as Owner of the Year in the US.

Brian Brown, who trains at the fairgrounds in the Little Brown Jugs hometown of Delaware, Ohio and had been steadily making a bigger mark among North American conditioners over the last couple of years, had another solid season in 2017, as he trained a pair of three-year-old pacing colts that were the leaders of their division much of the year and who were 1-2 in seasonal earnings, along with a star age/gait counterpart filly.

Browns achievements have earned him the Trainer of the Year Award in the United States, as voted by the U.S. Harness Writers Association. Brown has also been voted USHWAs Good Guy Award winner for consistent, intelligent cooperation with the sports media.

The 53-year-old Brown saw his two top sophomore colts earn $2.95M (US) between them. Downbytheseaside ($1,602,452 US), whose late-season heroics included a win in the Breeders Crown and being named divisional champion, and Fear The Dragon ($1,350,146), who had ranked #1 in the weekly pools for much of the summer into the fall after major stakes wins throughout North America.

Joining Downbytheseaside as a Breeders Crown winner and divisional champion was three-year-old pacing filly Blazin Britches, an $800,000+ (US) earner. And the rest of the Brown barn contributed earnings in the vicinity of $2 million, thus giving Brown a lifetime seasonal-high bankroll of over $5.7M (US), despite starting fewer than 550 horses (he had a .402 UTR).

There were many highs during the campaigns of Browns three top horses, but there were also the inevitable dips in form and bouts with minor illnesses that virtually all racehorses experience. Whether in the winners circle, puzzling over an off performance, or pondering his charges upcoming races, Brown kept up an honest, informational stream of conversation (with consistent praise for the members of Team Brown) to a media whose readers wanted to know more about these equine stars. If Brown was elated by a horses top effort to win a big stakes event, there was no mistaking his enjoyment. Similarly, if a horses form was rollercoastering a bit, you felt like you were on the up-and-down ride with Brown, awaiting the next turn in the journey. His intelligent candor enabled Brown to be selected for the Good Guy award, along with his Trainer of the Year honours.

Browns adept handling of Fear The Dragon and Blazin Britches brought out one solid performance after another from those talented horses, with their biggest cheerleader  owner Bruce Trogdon of Emerald Highlands Farm  usually present to share in the glory. Trogdon was also the breeder of Blazin Britches, and he bought the dam of Fear The Dragon with him in utero (already carrying the embryo), so Trogdon has been there from the literal very beginning of their lives through their two seasons of racing, including the successes of 2017. Thus the former newspaperman celebrated the 25th year of existence of his Emerald Highlands operation in the most successful way imaginable, capped by his winning the Owner of the Year award in the US. Trogdons former small operation, Emerald Highlands, now has 37 broodmares, and likely a future champion or two maturing as they traverse the farms mid-Ohio fields.

Brown, as both Trainer of the Year and the Good Guy Award winner, and owner Bruce Trogdons Emerald Highlands Farm, will be honoured at the upcoming Dan Patch Awards Banquet, to be held on Sunday, February 25 at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando, FL.

(With files from USHWA)
Standardbred folk celebrate Christmas just a little bit differently from everybody else.

Sure, there are gifts, and twinkly trees and turkey dinners and Santa Clauses darting to and fro. But if you are Canadian Hall of Fame trainer Bob McIntosh as a young boy, you open gifts, you eat lots, then you head to the track to jog a barn full of horses. He didnt consider it work. It was fun, he said.

The horses dont get a day off, he said. Neither do we.

His most memorable Christmas gift was a black Shetland pony that used to bite me like an alligator, he said. And if you rode him, he would try to scrape you off on the fence posts. Midnight, as he was called, was McIntoshs to sell, and he did in the spring  when everybody wanted a summer ride and prices were good  and he bought another in the fall, when prices were down. It was the start of his successful career buying and selling horses.

If you are driver-trainer Larry Walker, he and the rest of the members of his family would tie themselves with a rope behind a gate, and whiz around the farm track on cross country skis and see if we could knock each other down, he said. Who knew the Walker family were all kamikazes?

If you were Hall of Famer Ron Waples as a young boy, between six and eight years old, hed be awake at 4 a.m., wondering what he got (In those days, when times were tough, hed be lucky to get a pair of used skates, but the excitement was just as palpable.). However, 4:30 a.m. was the cut-off point set by his parents. Cross that timeline at your own peril. Strangely enough, when Waples had his own young children, Ron Jr. and Randy, he was the one who was downstairs before the crack of dawn, ready to unwrap gifts. He had to wake his sons up. I could never understand that, he said.

And Hall of Fame candidate Trevor Ritchie? At a similar age, Ritchie wasnt too sure that Santa Claus really existed. So one year, he set out to discover the truth. On Christmas Eve, he stared and stared at the skies outside his bedroom window for what seemed like hours (It was probably 20 minutes.). Nothing.

Eventually, he crawled on top of a linen closet that was known to house gifts. There he might see if Santa came to unload his wares. He doesnt remember what happened next. He does not know if he fell asleep there. He doesnt know if he woke up and went back to bed, or if his mother carried him there. Its still all so fuzzy. But he never did discover the answer to his question. Hes still wondering.

When John Kopas was a little guy, say about three years old, his parents, Hall of Famer Jack Kopas and Alice helped him set out milk and cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve. Gee, what about his reindeer? Jack said, always thinking of the animals. Young John hadnt thought about that.

Well, come on, Jack said. Wed better go out and leave some feed for his reindeer.

They lived in a house trailer right next to the barn in Trois Rivieres, Que., at the time, and Jack set eight feed tubs out in the alleyway of the barn. And put some grain in them.



The Kopas family at Mohawk for the 2014 Roses Are Red Stakes. John (second from left), Alice (second from right) and Jack (right). Photo by Beverley Smith

The next morning, the milk and cookies were gone. John could hardly wait to see what had happened to the feed tubs, too. Lo and behold, it looked as if the reindeer had licked up every grain. Johns eyes opened wide at the thought that Santas reindeer had actually been in the barn.

The feed tub thing became a tradition for the next four or five years until some older kids spoiled it all for John and spilled the beans (SPOILER ALERT.): There was no Santa. John continued the tradition for his own kids years later. After they went to bed, hed empty the contents of the feed tubs into his SUV and take the grain back to his Mohawk Raceway stable.

They thought that was pretty cool, too, John said.

Christmas was always a special time for John, who once bought his father a saddle horse in Florida. John found the half-quarter-horse  half Thoroughbred in a newspaper want-ad. This woman that knew nothing about horses had bought this horse for her daughter, John said. He was just a little too much horse for her.

As soon as John saw the horse, he thought: Oh god, what a beautiful horse he was. So he bought him. The owner also sold him a western saddle that she had. Jack had the horse for 23 years, usually leaving him in Florida year-round, until the horse got older. And Jack couldnt bear to leave him down south, so brought him back to Canada to live out his days.

There was a horse park just behind the Kopas house in Orlando, where they wintered, that was used for show-jumping pursuits. The winter after Jack had the horse, John drove over one day and said to Alice: Where the hell is dad?

Where do you think he is? Alice replied. Hes riding that damned horse you gave him. Hes probably over at the horse park.

Riding this horse, Jack would cut through the orange groves and hed be at the park in a twinkle. John took his car and found his father jumping four-foot fences with the horse, which is entirely astonishing for a guy who spent most of his time sitting behind horses in a sulky or training bike. He was an interesting fellow, John said. He ate, slept and thought about horses. Thats all he knew. Thats all he ever did.

Jack also had a team of Percherons that hed ship down to Florida for the winter. In days when the Kopases trained upwards of 100 horses, Jack would go home for lunch, stretch out on the couch for an hour, then head out on his saddle horse, and perhaps fool around with his team in the afternoon.

He used to take the team up to Ben White Raceway in Orlando two weeks before Christmas. He wanted to do something for underprivileged kids and in cahoots with the local Kiwanis club, organized a toy drive. The deal was: get a ride with Santa and his team in return for an unwrapped toy. The first year, Jack got a half-ton truck full of toys. For the next few years, it was a few half-ton trucks, full of toys.

Freddie Bach, who used to own all of the Thoroughbred prompters used in time trials, would dress up as Santa every year. And a couple of guys that worked for Jack  Willie and Bob  would dress up as elves.

Theyd take that team up on a Sunday and they were there all day, giving kids rides, John said. And it was a lot of fun.

So many years after the reindeer tubs brightened Johns Christmas, John thinks wistfully of his father. Jack passed away last April 10 at age 88. This will be the familys first Christmas without him. I think about him quite often, still, he said. Like every day,

And those are some of the things Ill always cherish and remember.

(By Beverley Smith for WoodbineEntertainment.com)
ORLANDO, Fla., Dec. 27, 2017 / Standard Newswire / -- The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) was caught "monitoring hate" by tracking its 12 top most hateful hashtags, which included: #merrychristmas, which ranks number two, #christmas at number three, #christmaseve at number five, #jesus at number eight, and #merrychristmaseve in the last slot. The SPLC is willing to lump anyone who says "Merry Christmas" or "Jesus" in with the most violent and racist groups in America. This is one more way that the SPLC is exposing its own radical, discredited, anti-Christian hate. View a snapshot of the tracker or visit its page now."The SPLC's idea that 'Merry Christmas' is a hateful, violent slur shows how far out of touch it is from reality," said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. "When the SPLC confuses a cheerful 'Merry Christmas' with an obscenity-laced rant threatening harm to a group of people, it loses all credibility," said Staver.This is one of many inaccuracies and gross over-characterizations that can be found on SPLC's website. The SPLC makes wide generalizations and then seeks to harm those within its self-proclaimed classification of others. In a similar manner, the SPLC targets anyone who disagrees with them on issues related to the LGBT agenda. Then it claims civil disagreement as "evidence" for falsely classifying a peaceful organization as "hateful."Liberty Counsel has compiled a comprehensive answer to SPLC's false name-calling of its non-profit Christian ministry and its pro bono work in the legal field. The SPLC continually grossly misrepresents and labels Liberty Counsel as a so-called "hate group." However, Liberty Counsel is not a "hate group" and hates no one. In addition to its many ministries, Liberty Counsel has a humanitarian relief program, and a prayer ministry."As a pastor before becoming an attorney, my heart then and now is for hurting people," said Staver. "Liberty Counsel exists to help other people; we are a pro bono non-profit organization. We believe that every person is created in the image of God and should be treated with dignity and respect. In direct opposition to the SPLC's false campaign, Liberty Counsel believes in reaching out with kindness and truth to all Americans," said Staver.In 2016, the Disciplinary Counsel in the Office of the General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice, under then-President Obama, sharply rebuked and reprimanded attorneys for employing the SPLC's "hate group" label to dismiss a conservative advocacy group. It stated that using the SPLC's map "overstepped the bounds of zealous advocacy and was unprofessional." It continued that such behavior is "uncivil" and "constitutes frivolous behavior and does not aid the administration of justice."Liberty Counsel is an international nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989, by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics.
In June 2017, Istvan Meszaros sent me a copy of the present article for publication in Monthly Review. At the time, he asked if I would write an introduction, as well as give titles to its various sections, as I had for some of his previous essays. This piece was originally written as the closing section of Chapter One of his great work, Beyond Leviathan: Critique of the State drafted but left unfinished upon his death on October 1, 2017. Beyond Leviathan is divided into three parts, each of which was projected to be more than two hundred pages long and published as a separate volume. The three parts are entitled The Historic Challenge , The Harsh Reality , and The Necessary Alternative . Chapter One of Part One is entitled From Relative to Absolute Limits: Historical Anachronism of the State, and is in turn divided into five sections: (1) Historical Constitution and Antagonistic Reality of the State; (2) Freedom Is Parasitic on Equality: Common Denominator of Antagonistic Political Formations and the Qualitative Determination of Disposable Time; (3) From Primitive Equality to Substantive Equalityvia Slavery; (4) Capitals Deepening Structural Crisis and the State; and (5) The Historic Circle Is ClosingThe Challenge to Secure Exit. The third section of Chapter One was published in the September 2016 issue of MR , and the first section will appear as an article in a future issue. This article, the fifth and final section, is printed here for the first time. We are committed at MR and Monthly Review Press to ensuring that all of Beyond Leviathan will eventually be made available in a form as close as possible to Meszaross intentions. In the meantime, the parts he selected for prior publication should encourage critical thinking about what he called the challenge and burden of [our] historical time. Beyond Leviathan represents the endpoint of Meszaross analysis of the structural crisis of capital, whose main features he worked out in the early 1970s, as he was completing Capitals Historic Circle Is Closing is a remarkably coherent statement, capable of standing on its own. Nevertheless, readers will no doubt benefit from a few words on the broad contours and conceptual framework of the larger critique of which this article is a part.represents the endpoint of Meszaross analysis of the structural crisis of capital, whose main features he worked out in the early 1970s, as he was completing Marxs Theory of Alienation . To address the issue of the state in a meaningful and dialectical way, it was necessary first to explore its material foundations. This was done in his monumental treatise Beyond Capital: Toward a Theory of Transition , published in 1995. That work focuses on the capital system, viewed as a form of social metabolic reproduction, of which capitalism, in Meszaross classification, is conceived as a specific historical form. Hence, simply overcoming capitalism, as in the Soviet Union, is not sufficient, since the entire capital system and its state must be challenged in their inner functioning and from within the core of the productive order. This requires the formation of a qualitatively different, communal system of social metabolic reproduction. It is here that Beyond Leviathan is intended to complete Meszaross analysis. In his critique, the transition to socialism, which constitutes an absolute necessity of our time, requires the withering away of the state. But explaining what this means and how it is to be carried out demands the most thoroughgoing critique of the state ever developed. Indeed, no other political philosopher in the Marxist tradition since the classical period has attempted a more ambitious critique of the state, both at the level of theory and as a guide to revolutionary praxis in the transition to socialism. As Hugo Chavez said, Meszaros was the pathfinder of twenty-first century socialism.  John Bellamy Foster

The Structural Crisis of Capital and the State

We are now not very far from marking the centenary of President Franklin Delano Roosevelts First Inaugural Address. In fact, by now more than five-sixths of the time is gone toward that memorable centenary. However, the changes accomplished in all these decades are very far from what were the solemnly declared and for a long time sincerely believed original hopeful expectations.

President Roosevelt entered his office in the period of what is customarily referred to as the Great World Economic Crisis, dated 192933. His First Inaugural Address was delivered on March 4, 1933, promising a radical change in the world economy, not as a limited conjunctural improvement lasting perhaps a few years, but as a deep-seated and permanent transformation. Major unhindered capital-expansion was thought to be the answer, to be helped along in a significant way by presidential candidate Roosevelts New Deal program in the United States, announced on July 2, 1932, and contributing, of course, to his overwhelmingly successful election.

Indeed, economic expansion appeared to work almost prodigiously in the United States from the second half of 1933 to the early months of 1937. However, in the second half of 1937 the U.S. economy started to relapse into a stagnant state and in 1938 the country experienced a deep recession. Understandably, however, the outbreak of the Second World War rescued the U.S. economy from its recession, carrying with it for the country a massive productive expansion and two decades of successful growth also after the end of the global war, in the period of postwar reconstruction all over Europe and in some other parts of the world.

1 2 3 President Roosevelts original design for a vigorous capitalist economy explicitly advocated the removal of artificial protective devices represented by the still existing British and French Empires. He made it absolutely clear already in his First Inaugural Address that he shall spare no effort to restore world trade by international economic readjustment.And in the same spirit a few years later he made it quite clear that he advocated the right to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad.President Roosevelt made it also very clear during the Second World War that he was not only against the British continuing to rule India after the war but equally against the French retaining the territories of Indochina as well as their North African colonies.

4 Thus Roosevelt genuinely believed that putting an end to the traditional empires would create the conditions for healthy economic development all over the world. And he projected American leadership as arising not from colonial/military domination, but by virtue of the principles inherent in the U.S. type of economic advancement, oriented by the claimed freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad. Toward the peak of the countrys successful expansion under the New Deal he was even talking in heightened positive terms about the work of destiny in this way: a better civilization than any we have known is in store for America and by our example, perhaps, for the world. Here destiny seems to have taken a long look.

However, in contrast to such expectations, postwar developmentsby which time Roosevelt was deadhad brought with them not freedom from monopolies at home or abroad but the assertion of the new power relations of continued imperialism under American domination. Under such conditions the world economy was characterized by the prevalence of the most iniquitous differential rate of exploitation of the global labor force, with labor in the capitalistically much more advanced U.S. economy occupying a considerably better position in that respect.

Filipino historian and political theorist Renato Constantino gave a striking example of this gruesome mode of exploitation, which in his country imposed the appallingly low wages of the differential rate:

5 Ford Philippines, Inc., established only in 1967, is now [four years later] 37th in the roster of the 1,000 biggest corporations in the Philippines. In 1971 it reported a return on equity of 121.32 percent, whereas its overall return on equity in 133 countries in the same year was only 11.8 percent. Aside from all the incentives extracted from the government, Fords high profits were mainly due to cheap labor. While the U.S. hourly rate for skilled labor in 1971 was almost $7.50, the rate for similar work in the Philippines was only $0.30.

What is most significant in such matters, however, is that from the early 1970s onward we have been experiencing the capital systems deepening structural crisis, instead of the originally projected unhindered expansion of the world economy to the benefit of all. The secondary antagonism of the capital system between the rival competing units for a long historical period contributed to expansion and, in its turn, was also greatly supported by continued expansion. That is why it could be idealized in the name of unqualified expansion, ignoring its nature and consequences. With the onset of capitals structural or systemic crisis, however, things have changed not only for the worse but for much the worst.

Thus, despite the increasingly direct involvement of the capitalist state in the economy, even in the form of injecting in its rescue operations trillions of dollars into the bottomless hole of bankrupt capitalist enterprises, the problems multiplied. At the same time the neoliberal ideologues of capital hypocritically continued to glorify the insuperable virtues of the free enterprise system and even the fiction of rolling back the boundaries of the state when in reality we had a propensity to stagger from one crisis to another ever since the 1970s. In our time, however, in contrast to 1939, the potentiality of a global war cannot rescue the capital system from its deepening structural crisis, because of its suicidal danger. Thus the primary antagonism between capital and laborrepresenting also labors positive hegemonic alternative to the systems modality of societal reproductioncannot be ignored any longer.

Capitals Closing Circle

6 With the structural crisis of the capital system as a whole, and by no means only of capitalism, the expansionary historic circle through which capital could dominate humanity for a very long time is perilously closing. That closure brings with it the danger of humanitys total destruction in the interest of capitals absurdly prolonged rule. I have repeatedly tried to highlight since the 1970s the fundamental differences between capitalism, historically limited to a few centuries, and the much more fundamental frame of reference of the capital system, focusing at the same time on the grave dangers manifest in now-unfolding historical developments.In this context, it will be necessary to stress the principal factors that clearly indicate the perilous character of capital as such, destructively resisting the necessary closure of its historic circle. As everyone knows, we are told all the time that there is no alternative to capitals mode of reproducing the societal order. We must take a closer look at this claim. But before doing so, it is necessary to sum up as briefly as possible the defining characteristics of the capital systems structural crisis.

The historical novelty of capitals structural or systemic crisis, in contrast to its periodically recurrent conjunctural crises, is manifest under four main aspects: Its character is universal, rather than restricted to one particular sphere (e.g., financial or commercial) or affecting this or that branch of production, or applying to this rather than that type of labor, with its specific range of skills and degrees of productivity, etc.

Its scope is truly global, in the most threateningly literal sense of the term, rather than confined to a particular set of countries, as all major crises have been in the past.

Its time scale is extended, continuousif you like permanentrather than limited and cyclic, as all former crises of capital happened to be.

7 Its mode of unfolding might be called creepingin contrast to the more spectacular and dramatic eruptions and collapses of the pastwhile adding the proviso that even the most vehement or violent convulsions cannot be excluded as far as the future is concerned: i.e., when the complex machinery now actively engaged in crisis management and in the more or less temporary displacement of the growing contradictions runs out of steam.

With regard to these defining characteristics, it is particularly important to stress the fundamental difference between the capital system as a whole and the limited historical phase of capitalism integrated into the overall capital system. For it cannot be underlined enough, the capitalist private enterprise form of production, with its personifications of capital (in Marxs words) as individual capitalists, can be overthrown, and had been, for instance through the Russian October Revolution in 1917, but not the capital system in its entirety. That must be totally eradicated through a fundamental restructuring process and replaced by a radically different socialist metabolic order. Likewise, the capitalist state can be overthrown, and had been, but not the state as such. The state as such must also be totally eradicated and replaced by a qualitatively different modality of truly autonomous overall control of societal decision-making by the people through the qualitative reconstitution of the social metabolism itself.

The disconcerting historical fact is that whatever can be overthrown can also be restored. Indeed, private capitalism and the capitalist state had been both overthrown and restored. Restored, for instance in the former Soviet Union, by Mikhail Gorbachev and his associates. And they did not have to restore the capital system itself because they had it already, with themselves as the dominant post-capitalist bureaucratic personifications of capital whose role was to enforce the politically regulated maximal extraction of surplus labor, in contrast to the primarily economic extraction of surplus labor as surplus value under capitalism. For the historically limited post-capitalist transformations of capitalismlike those undertaken in October 1917 and thereafterare perfectly compatible with the continued rule of the capital systems metabolic order, since no fundamental socialist restructuring is involved in the political overthrow of the capitalist state without the eradication of the hierarchically entrenched state structure itself.

This is an elementary lesson for the future. In fact the difference between the capital system and capitalism is vitally important to us not in relation to the past but in terms of the present and the future. For our grave problem is the danger presented to humanitys survival not simply by this or that particular form of capitals state formations known up to the present time but by any one of its conceivable varieties also in the future, as they are bound to arise if capitals social metabolic order is not restructured in a historically viable socialist way. It must be also underlined that the idea of a global coercive state, no matter who champions it, borders on insanity.

Breaking the Bounds of Nature

To be sure, capitals personifications of any color must resist at all cost the necessary closure of their systems historic circle in the interest of prolonging its rule. For the globally perceptible social determinations pointing in the direction of that historic closure are both overwhelming and closely intertwined, so that against them the traditionally enforced adjustments and state correctives cannot work any longer.

Let us see the principal factors that indicate the necessary closure of the capital systems historic circle, calling at the same time for a viable alternative.

Perhaps the most obviousif extremely problematicglobal accomplishment that cannot be denied in its all-destructive power even by capitals worst apologists is the ability of the dominant states to annihilate humanity through a global military conflagration. Evidently, this problematical achievement through the now fully operational weapons of mass destruction did not exist in past ages. However, it appeared on our horizon with its menacing finality simultaneously with the closure of capitals historic circle. As we know, in our time, the so-called strategic thinkers of the political/military domain do not hesitate to commend and actively plan the unthinkable, while some presidents and prime ministers decree that with their politically trustworthy safe fingers, they would not hesitate to push the nuclear button in the event of a global confrontation.

In this way the capital systems ardent defenders put their fate into the safety and viability of the weapons of mass destructionwhich include also chemical and biological weaponryas well as into the groundlessly assumed remedy of mutually assured destruction (MAD). The alternative would be, of course, to positively overcome the causes of lethal antagonisms, which happen to be inseparable from the nature of the capital system itself, especially in the descending phase of its global development. But precisely because such systemic antagonism is inherent in capitals social metabolic order, not reducible to its political/military superstructure, the measures traditionally enforced through extreme military violence by the rival states cannot be used under the conditions of potentially total destruction of humanity. That price would be far too high to pay even in terms of the most elementary requirements of rationality.

Advocating MAD as such a postulated automatic deterrence is a fundamentally irrational strategy. Its only rationality consists in promoting the massive vested interests of the military-industrial complex, in Eisenhowers memorable phrase. The required and feasible alternative to MAD can only be the elaboration of a qualitatively different social metabolic order. A new order that is not overburdened with systemic antagonisms due to vested interests. The operation of such qualitatively different social metabolism is the only way to bring under control, and in due course fully eliminate, the now threatening weapons of mass destruction. By contrast, the radical incompatibility of attending to the causes of antagonism within the established economic and political order, in view of its insuperably antagonistic systemic determinations, signals the necessary closure of capitals historic circle.

Another literally vital determination on the global scale concerns our planets limited material resources. Naturally, this is also a historical development, accomplished through the spread of the capitalistically ever more advanced mode of industrial production over the entire globe, with more than seven billion people, in contrast to the past as recent as even the period just before the Second World War. Today it is unavoidable to consider satisfying the needs of four immense capitalist economic complexesthe United States, Europe, China, and Indiain contrast to a few decades earlier, when a handful of dominant capitalist countries could derive overwhelming benefits to themselves from the material resources and services of the underdeveloped world, treated as the presumed legitimate hinterland of their own expansion. As a result of these changes, now also the working classes of China and India have started to demand a less miserable share of their own products, to be used by themselves in comparison to the past.

Naturally, of this whole complex of problems, the apologists of capital only notice the greatly increased need for the planets limited material resources, and even that in a grossly distorted form, under the ideologically most revealing heading of population explosion. To be sure, no one should deny the increasing relevance of these factors, let alone the absolute legitimacy of the peoples need. But it is necessary to highlight also some social and economic determinations that inevitably call again for a fundamental structural change in our societal reproductive order. They indicate some heavily aggravating conditions regarding the mode of allocating and utilizing the resources available for the satisfaction of the needs of ever greater numbers who work with, and lay their claim on, our planets limited material resources as a result of capitals economic conquest of the world.

It is enough to mention here two of the most important aggravating conditions: the perverse imperative of uncontrollable capital-expansion oriented toward exchange value, to the detriment of use value, creating scarcity also when without the imperative of endless capital-expansion there would be an alternative to the danger of ever-increasing scarcity; and the dominance of destructive production and concomitant waste, combined with the capital systems self-mythology of creative destruction, also at the descending phase of capitals systemic development.

In relation to both of these major aggravating determinations, the obvious practically feasible remedy would be a positively planned strategic intervention in the economy, in the interest of maximizing socially required use-value and at the same time attending to the strictest control of waste. But that kind of rationally planned economywhich is inconceivable without substantive equality as its social basisis totally incompatible with the long-established modality of capitalist production.

Moreover, we have to add here to the general problem of increased need for the planets material resourcesincluding the elementary requirement of waterthe special difficultyarising for the demand for strategic material resources among the competing massive capitalist complexes. In the absence of a rationally planned allocation of such resources on a global scale, that can only lead to belligerent confrontations among the rival states, with potentially devastating consequences. By now for several centuries the capitalist productive system had very little concern about economy as economizing, in the original sense of that term. However, in the future the required societal reproduction is bound to be totally unthinkable without the conscious application of the orienting principles of a properly planned and responsibly economizing economy. Accordingly, also in that sense we notice here the necessary closure of the capital systems historic circle.

At least one more problem must be forcefully underlined here: the ecological incompatibility of capitals mode of social metabolic reproduction with the rationally sustainable demands of our time. This is clearly expressed today even in the way in which a new geological epoch is being named to indicate humanitys extremely problematicalindeed most dangerousimpact on our planet. This new geological epoch is called the Anthropocene, corresponding to the time when some of the capital systems ineradicable damages have been inflicted on our planet, more or less in the last hundred years, beginning with the residues of nuclear explosions and continuing to the present, in permanent plastic deposits in the oceans.

Naturally, capitals ecological incompatibility with the demands of historically sustainable existence goes much further than a few uncontestable and no longer eradicable phenomena that mark a new geological epoch, even if their rate of increase might be reduced or stopped altogether. To the vast range of ecological damages we have to add, among others, not only chemical pollution and soil erosion, but alsowhat is frequently discussed at conferences on global warming  increasing acidity in our oceans, as well as the grave disruption of biodiversity and the irresponsible treatment of nuclear waste in the service of profit. Indeed the earlier mentioned aggravating condition of destructive production, in the interest of maintaining uncontrolled growth targets and mindless profitability, is closely connected with capitals enmity to ecological sustainability. Thus also in this absolutely vital domain the painful evidence points to the closure of the capital systems historic circle. An irreversible closure because the capital system, due to its innermost structural determinations, cannot remedy any of the identified dangerous developments, even if it tries to derive profit from them in some cases, like for instance the grotesquely propagandized carbon tax as the claimed solution to global warming.

What are the prospects for the future under these circumstances? That is a very difficult question. For in connection with all of the determinations identifiable in the closure of capitals historic circle we find powerful vested interests inseparable from the mode of overall control characteristic of the Leviathan state. Rational appeal for change would be in this respect very naive. Structurally entrenched overall decision-making powers tend to resort to adventurismwhen they cannot prevail in any other way. Historical evidence for countless centuries tends to confirm that way of responding to fundamental challenges by the rival states when the stakes increase.

The March of Folly

In relation to the Leviathan states unavoidable adventurism, it is relevant to distinguish between the unholy imperative of the states necessarily asserted commanding functions in dangerous situations and the role of implementing them by the commanding personnel itself. As mentioned before, in idealist philosophical accounts of historical development, exemplified by the most monumental of them conceived by G. W. F. Hegel, the commanding personnel of the state tends to assume a somewhat mysterious role, under the exalted name of the World Historical Personlike Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Luther, and Napoleon, repeatedly praised by Hegelas the instruments cunningly used for its own design and purposes by the World Spirit and hidden from the historical individuals concerned.

8 In his characterization of the paradoxically unhappy fate of such figures, we are told by Hegel that they attained no calm enjoyment; their whole life was labor and trouble; their whole nature was naught else but their master-passion. When their object is attained they fall off like empty hulls from the kernel. They die early, like Alexander; they are murdered, like Caesar; transported to St. Helena, like Napoleon.

However, the question of why the World Historical Persons must suffer a rather unhappy fate in their different historic circumstances remains wrapped up in complete mystery. The assertion that they have fulfilled the World Spirits hidden design and therefore they can fall off like empty hulls from the kernel seems to be ubiquitously valid by definition, thanks to the very nature of the Hegelian explanatory design. The World Historical Persons cannot go wrong even when they go devastatingly wrong, because in doing so, even if their action brings disaster, they actually fulfill the World Spirits unobjectionable purpose. In this way even the most irresponsible deed pursued by them is responsible and even ideal, because it brings into existence the required World Historical phase of events and developments, together with their objective embodiments.

9 The particular institutional forms and instruments through which the World Historical Persons prevail or failin the case of the three individuals named in the last quote by Hegel, Alexander, Caesar, and Napoleon, acting within the particular institutional form of the antagonistic state through which they assert their own roleis not mentioned at all, let alone criticized by the great German philosopher, because they themselves are said to be the instruments. Indeed they are said to be the instruments not of a potentially objectionable particular state formation but of the World Spirit itself whose ultimate design is the institution of the ethically insuperable (and therefore absolutely unobjectionable) institution of the Germanic state. Such a state cannot be considered an instrument in its human sense. For it is said to be nothing less exalted than the Divine Idea as it exists on Earth.

The great problem in this respect is that in the really existing world the requirement of successful military action in the interest of the particular antagonistic state formationrepresented by its commanding personnel sooner or later induces them as decision makersthat is, as Hegels World Historical Personsto undertake extreme risks and overreach their own power in dangerous adventures until a greater state power violently counters their efforts. Before that fateful clash, there seems to be no limit to their commanding power. They must presume to undertake even the most extreme risks, not because their whole nature is naught else but their master-passion, but because it is dictated by the objectively required state-imperative to succeed on behalf of the state, which they command, and outwit through their chosen extreme designs their adversary or enemy.

10 11 The Hegelian World Historical Person nearest to our own time, Napoleon, was undoubtedly an outstanding historic figure. Winston Churchill characterized him as the greatest man of action born in Europe since Julius Caesar.In truth he was much more than that. He was a great military leader and commander as well as an organizational genius, with his own vision of the state. Napoleon was victorious in fifty-eight of the sixty-five immense military confrontations he fought, often against far superior forces. Even his English military rival, who in the end defeated him at Waterloo thanks to much more powerful military units on his side, when asked who was the greatest captain of the age, the Duke of Wellington himself replied: In this age, in past ages, in any age: Napoleon.Moreover, the Code Napoleon, instituted in France in 1804, represented a great advance over its rivals in being the most consistent in eliminating the feudal remnants in the domain of the Law. And yet Napoleon undertook the disastrous Russian adventure in 1812 and was responsible for the almost complete annihilation of his own army. Moreover, he even tried to restore slavery in the French colonies in Latin America as a way of securing military victory, although such an absurdly retrograde social design was undoubtedly contrary to his own conception of political Enlightenment.

Thousands of years earlier, Alexander the Great seemed to be always invincible. However, even he undertook some extreme risks that almost destroyed his army. This happened when he had chosen to follow a route with his vast army through the Makran Desert, although there were alternatives to it, and had to suffer nearly catastrophic losses. In the end,

12 After sixty days in the desert, the survivorshad seen thousands die around them, perhaps half their fellow-soldiers and almost all the camp-followers. If 40,000 people had followed Alexander into the desert, only 15,000 may have survived to see Kirman. All such figures are guesses, but there is no mistaking the mens condition. Not even the sum total of all the armys suffering in Asia, it was agreed, deserved to be compared with the hardships in Makran.




Sunatimes:-

More than 100 ethnic Somali scholars, politicians and traditional leaders from across the Horn of Africa region have concluded a three-day forum in Djibouti that touched on the issues of peace, security and regional integration.



The forum was organized by The Heritage Institute for Policy Studies in Somalia, an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank in Mogadishu.



Abdirashid Khalif Hashi, executive director of the think tank, said the forum was the first of its kind to provide such an opportunity for Somalis across the region to discuss issues of concern through professional experiences.







"The forum, which was the first of an annual event, was intended to provide space for Somalis to come together and discuss constructive ideas supporting Somalias peace, reconstruction and [the] best ways to reconcile among the Somali society in the Horn of Africa, Hashi said.Several panels at the forum gathered to address concerns of regional security development and integration of ethnic Somalis in the region, and considered the ways that could shape the political and socioeconomic future of Somalis.Somalis representing Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia were invited to the forum, as well as those from across the region and the diaspora communities in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere.At the conclusion of the forum, Djibouti President Ismail Omar Gulleh, whose country hosted the event, urged participants to use the discussion as an opportunity to improve peoples lives."Every Somali in the region, regardless of his national country, whether it is Ethiopia, Kenya or Djibouti, should contribute to the progress of his or her society, Gulleh told those at the forum. "I am very happy that such Somali elites have gathered here to discuss the future of their people.
I have spent this holiday season working on my essay on Nazi Ideology and Holocaust. Earlier this year, I spent the first two weeks of the New Year doing another essay, a mistake that I don't want to repeat this year: I would rather start the New Year completely focused on making a new start on the various work projects. So, in essence, I am working through the holidays, which may not sound like fun, but I feel very good about it.





However, the claim that I am working on the essay is a little overblown, because I have not typed a single word yet. What I am doing now is reading and thinking, and writing the essay in my mind. This is usually my style - I take more time thinking and less time writing - though this is by no means optimal and many a times in the past, I pledged to myself to start writing sooner. And, yet, here I am - doing this again! However, this time, I hope, I am not just procrastinating, but rather developing concrete ideas.





So, what I am trying to do is to write an essay on whether and how Nazi ideology led to Holocaust. The popular imagination after the Second World War took this for granted : Hitler in particular and Nazis as a group were the bad guys who took Germany into war and the horrors of mass murder. The Germans were unaware of the extent of the atrocities, and most of them neither participated nor approved of it. This was obviously unsustainable on closer scrutiny: Nazi regime was popular, the war had popular support and hundreds of thousands of Germans participated in mass murder, often with unimaginable brutality, and often against unarmed women and Children. They participated enthusiastically by queueing up for auctioning of Jewish properties and, with a few notable exceptions, mostly Social Democratic or Communist Party members, did not show any sympathy when a Jewish straggler turned up at their door seeking refuge. In summary, Schindler was more an exception than a rule.





To explain this, since the 1960s, the idea of 'banality of evil', Arendt's formulation to explain the behaviour of Adolf Eichmann, became the common paradigm. The Germans participated, but this was more due to 'obedience' than enthusiastic participation. Indeed, a whole subdiscipline of social psychology was created to study obedience and group behaviour, with iconic experiments, that demonstrated over and over our incapacity of being conscious about the consequences of our actions. Arendt thought Eichmann's central problem was a total lack of empathy, an inability to think what his actions may mean, which turned him to the greatest desk murderer of History. This gave us a neat view of the world, with three evil men at the top of Nazi hierarchy (Hitler, Himmler and Heydrich), leading millions of obedient bureaucrats - little cogs - to run the machinery of mass murder.





The central flaw of this view is of course that much of the murder was anything but faceless. We may imagine the whole of the Holocaust to be a neat little factory operation performed in Gas Chambers of Auschwitz (which, by the way, was not as faceless as we would wish to think: Watch the open sequences of the excellent Son of Saul and see whether the banging on the closed doors of the gas chamber has an effect), but most executions were done through shooting, hanging and in some cases, after brutal torture. This opened the space for the 'Ordinary German' debate, most prominently among Chris Browning and Daniel Jonah Goldhagen: Browning, who studied Order Police 101 Battalion and the massacres they participated in through the lens of Group Behaviour and conformance ("Doing it for Germany") whereas Goldhagen argued that the same behaviour had roots in the German antisemitism.





Browning's study, rich in historical details and substantiated by theories of Social Psychology, shows that the members of the battalion were shooting women and children in cold blood because they were members of a group - they at once wanted to outdo their comrades as well as not let them down - and, incidentally, they were mostly inebriated. Goldhagen, on the other hand, rejects that explanation - can one really behave so brutally without a deep hatred for the victims - and seeks an explanation in the German Antisemitism, a stance unsupported, and unsupportable, by historical evidence, but more comforting to our meaning-seeking selves (otherwise, we all could kill, in right circumstances).





Indeed, our understanding has further developed over time. We now know that Browning's ordinary Germans were not so ordinary after all, they were of a certain generation (one that was too young to go to the First War, and had its ideas indelibly shaped by the violences and uncertainties of the Weimar years) and were self-selected for a certain kind of career: Even before that fateful morning where Browning started the narrative, they were favourably disposed to a certain ideology. We also know that Goldhagen's point, that the Germans saw Jews as the world enemy, has more, if nuanced, truth in it than initially appears, as the diaries, letters and photographs of 'Ordinary Germans', documenting and legitimising the massacres, enter public domain.





For that matter, our understanding of the Holocaust has advanced significantly in the recent years, not just because of the discovery of new documents and evidence, particularly from the Soviet archives, but also because of a richer, multi-dimensional perspective that new research has afforded us. We know more about Eichmann now, as a more complex, ideologically motivated man beyond the carefully crafted public persona of the apparatchik of the Jerusalem trials. We know more about the key players, Heydrich, Himmler, Best and Goebbles have all had carefully researched biographies rich with details and evidence, and key institutions, like the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), have got excellent collective biographies. The good guy-bad guy divide between Wehrmacht and SS has also broken down, and the Military's enthusiastic and barbaric participation in the Holocaust has now been established. Even the portrait of Jewish victimhood, 'like lambs to the slaughter', let down by their own leadership and rounded up by their own police, has now been somewhat qualified, and various acts of resistance and subversion have now appeared. What we have now is a much more detailed, complex and involved picture.





Indeed, this greater understanding makes, at the same time, Nazi ideology less and more important as the cause of the Holocaust. The greater knowledge of diversity of perpetrators (including many who were not even Germans) and consequently, divergent motives, breaks down the singular narrative that connected the whole. Suddenly, we have a range of individuals, motives and actions, whose only commonality is perhaps what Hans Frank commanded, "act(ing) in a way that the Fuhrer might approve", though even that becomes unsustainable, when greed (of taking whatever little the victims possessed, as in Lithuanian description of "every Jew means a pair of shoes", etc.) and the little private pogroms villagers in Poland or Romania carried out, are taken into account.

So, one way of thinking about this is that the Nazi leadership created a space - a 'Prerogative State' run by decrees from Berlin - where psychopaths can run amok. This is a plausible view, but this will essentially count every German operating in these areas as a psychopath. Besides, this wouldn't adequately account for an 'Ordinary German', even those living in Germany. This is the slippery slope of Goldhagen argument - that every German (except a few active resisters such as Sophie Scholl) was a closet anti-semite - or at the least, everyone could set their moral considerations aside and enjoyed the benefits of the Nazi regime (as Gotz Aly argued, with some justification).



But I am looking to argue somewhat differently, following, among others, Tim Snyder. My arguments are still half-formed, but it is this: That Nazi ideology was more than Antisemitism and that 'Ordinary Germans' signed up to it. Therefore, what was happening in the Eastern Front was 'ordinary', acts of war, and what was being done was 'for Germany'.



As I see it, Hitler's Antisemitism is a part of his world-view, a world-view which arose from a mishmash of Greater German ideology, and which created the basis of the Holocaust. This is not to deny persecution of the Jews had a central place in Holocaust: Hitler was undeniably judophobic and extermination of European Jews, alongside that of the Poles, the Russians, the Gypsies and the 'Asocials', is what we are concerned with. But, outside the core membership of the Nazi party, the so-called 'Ordinary Germans' did not sign up for persecution of Jews per se: Rather, they signed up for a more nebulous project of 'People's Community' and 'Living Space', and this led to their participation, approval and indirect complicity in the Holocaust project. Ian Kershaw's point - with Hitler, there would be no Holocaust - is entirely valid: However, Hitler's role in Holocaust, I would want to argue, is not mapping out a clear plan and looking after its execution (that will be Himmler, Heydrich and RSHA and the Military), but rather enabling this general consensus, without which, also, there will be no Holocaust.



What I am attempting to do, therefore, is to expand the scope of Nazi Ideology from narrow confines of Antisemitism (and particularly from Goldhagen's idea of one derived from medieval Christianity) into four connected ideas:



(a) 'People's Community' of German People, without any divisions - class, political parties or national allegiances (to Austria, for example) - something that was perfectly embodied in the days just before the Great War, in the crowd that Hitler joined into (and later, his photographer would discover him in the crowd and turn it into an iconic photo). For Hitler, this community is an 'Anti-political' idea, because it allows no division or dissent, but is perfectly united as this is made to be racially and culturally united, around pure Germanic blood and German culture.



(b) 'Antisemitism', the idea that Jews are the 'world enemy' of such a 'People's community', since they represent the weaknesses of modernity, a decidedly unheroic age. For Hitler, Jews are not just the 'Christ Killer', and 'deniers of revealation', but the fountainhead of racial weaknesses, who plant the ideas such as 'the meek will inherit the earth', and the misleading ideas of science, that the natural limitations can be overcome. The National Socialist ethic, therefore, is to root out the Jewish ethics (which sounds suspiciously like the Central Tenets of Christianity, but Hitler thought Paul corrupted the teachings of Jesus) and to establish a new ethic of Race and Struggle in its place. The 'Final Solution' comes from this 'Jewish Question' of exclusion of Jews from the People's Community.



(c) 'Living Room', which is a German geopolitical concept which predates Hitler, but Hitler made the idea his by changing what it meant. In Wilhelmine Germany, the idea represented Germany's share of Colonial Empire, a prerequisite for attaining a lifestyle comparable to the British and the French. Hitler adapted the idea but looked East, drawing inspiration from 'American West' rather than previous generations' ideas of competing with the British Empire (in collaboration with Russia). He saw in Russia 'Germany's India', imagining empty spaces for German Colonial settlement after extermination of racially inferior people.



(d) 'Struggle' and 'Culture' are two interconnected elements that make 'People's Community' possible: Struggle for resources and existence in nature, projected outside; and culture to find the common language of the community inside. For Hitler, people's community is therefore a secular entity (not bonded by religion) and it is defined by a biological, racial competition (though the conception is religious, like Islam's 'House of Islam' and 'House of War').



My idea - and it is very much work in progress - is to show how these four ideas became 'common sense' basis, over the years of Nazi rule, of a German National aspiration focused on the East, aimed at superseding the ideas of French revolution ('Jewish' ideas of universalism) and one of fulfilling Germany's historic destiny (of defending European civilisation against Asiatic barbarism). The Germans signed up to it: They were fighting in Russia so that their children don't have to; they were liquidating Jewish Children in Polish villages to avenge British bombing of German cities; they were horrified at the sight of Senegalese troops fighting for the French and wishing them to be liquidated as they should have had no place in Europe.



I am hoping to bring this together in the next few days, alongside evidences and explanations. When I started studying Holocaust, I was confronted with the sheer wantonness of the destruction and violence; I was often depressed as I immersed myself into the details. What confronted me is the sheer exceptionalism of the whole affair, something that is so difficult to understand and explain, completely antithetical to my purpose of reading history to understand the present: I was lost in the annals of victimhood, often remarking to myself that this is so exceptional that we are unlikely to ever experience it again. However, as I get into these key ideas, the world of pure communities with historical destinies, the rage against Liberalism, Modernity and Ethics, the quest for Living Standards, and of perennial struggle and culture, I started to see Holocaust as nearer to our experience, our universe of ideas and events that we are living through. Indeed, history does not repeat, unless we forget about it. I now feel happy that I made the effort.












A Cowlitz County judge Tuesday found probable cause to detain the suspect in a fatal Kelso stabbing on one charge of second-degree murder.

Austin G. Murray, 25, of Kelso was arrested Saturday night on suspicion of slaying transient Ryan David Hoven, 35, Friday night at 804 First Avenue North. Hoven suffered several stab wounds and severe lacerations, including multiple puncture wounds to his chest and face, according to court records.

He was taken to St. John Medical Center, where his heart stopped beating. Doctors resuscitated and stabilized him and then sent him to PeaceHealth Southwest in Vancouver, where he died from his injuries, according to records.

Kelso police were dispatched to the First Avenue location Friday night after a woman reported that an unknown man had appeared at her home with multiple stab wounds. Officers later learned that Hoven arrived at the womans front door and opened it to find her seated on the couch. With wounds that were reportedly spurting blood, he asked her to call for help. The woman asked Hoven to wait outside and called 911, according to court records.

Hoven then reportedly opened the door a second time, and while he was speaking with the woman a second male walked past him and retrieved a towel from the womans bathroom without saying anything. The male then left after dripping blood down her hallway and into her bathroom sink. The woman stated that the second male was last seen headed northbound on First Avenue North.

When officers arrived, they found blood throughout the womans residence.

A witness named John Farris told police that an altercation occurred between Hoven and two unidentified men in a detached garage in 800 block of First Avenue, according to police and court records. Farris said two women were also present. Farris told police he saw Murray charge at Hoven, but then the two males fell against a door, preventing Farris from viewing the fight. But, Farris told police, he heard Hoven yell, Hes trying to kill me.

One of the women who said she witnessed the fight in the garage told investigators that the altercation was brief: As quickly as it started, it ended. After it was over, Hoven said he was going to call the police. Murray later stopped for her and offered her a ride home, she said. When she noticed blood on his arm, Murray told her hed stabbed Hoven with a switchblade, according to court documents.

Investigators also spoke with Murrays father, who called the officer on Sunday to report that he had located a red switchblade on a bed in the home. Investigators obtained a warrant to search the fathers house and found a red switchblade there with what appeared to blood on the knife, according to court records.

Kelso police located Murray on Saturday at a local Minute Mart and arrested him. At Kelso police headquarters, an officer noticed what appeared to be blood on Murrays shoe and coat, according to court records. But Murray reportedly denied being involved in any kind of altercation.

Murray reported using methamphetamines on Dec. 20, two days before the alleged stabbing. He also said he has anxiety and depression, according to court records.

Murray was arrested on a felony drug offense in November of this year and faced a felony firearm charge in Cowlitz County Superior Court in March 2014. He has also been arrested for second-degree burglary and second-degree theft, according to court records.

Murray is being held without bail until his arraignment on Jan. 2, according to Cowlitz County jail staff.
The victim of Tuesdays Old West Side shooting was in stable condition at St. John Medical Center Wednesday morning while recovering from a leg wound, according to Longview police.

Detective Tory Shelton, whos investigating the shooting, said the 38-year-old male was shot in the leg and his injures are not life-threatening. Police are withholding the victims name.

The man was shot about 2 p.m. in the alley between the 1400 blocks of 24th and 25th avenues off Louisiana Street. The suspect, described as a white male in his 30s wearing blue pants and a white jacket, was considered armed and dangerous. However, police said the incident was not a random act of violence.

Shelton said police have leads and a potential motive but have not yet arrested anyone.

Keep checking tdn.com for more updates.
A shooting in Longviews Old West Side neighborhood sent a victim to the hospital and prompted police to close down Louisiana Street during search for the shooter Tuesday afternoon, police said.

Police used a K9 tracking dog in hopes of finding the shooter but had not located the man by evening. The suspect, described as a white male in his 30s wearing blue pants and a white jacket, was considered armed and dangerous. However, police said the incident was not a random act of violence.

A victim was sent to St. John Medical Center with undisclosed injuries. The victims gender and all other details were not made public.

The incident occurred shortly after 2 p.m. in the alley between 24th and 25th avenues off Louisiana Street. Multiple squad cars zoomed into the neighborhood with sirens and flashing lights. Police shut down one block of Louisiana Street, but the arterial was reopened later in the afternoon and the scene was clear of police presence by 4:30 p.m.
Editors note: Todays editorial originally appeared in The (Tacoma) News Tribune and The Seattle Times. Editorial content from other publications is provided to give readers a sampling of regional and national opinion and does not necessarily reflect positions endorsed by the Editorial Board of The Daily News.

In case you missed it  and given the awful disruption of a deadly local train wreck, its no surprise if you did  erstwhile Washington state Auditor Troy Kelley stood last week in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, where he faced the music to the tune of nine felony convictions.

Few people, including news reporters who swarmed Kelleys initial trial last year, were paying attention. Thats what happens when an elected statewide official indicted on federal charges including tax fraud and possession of stolen property becomes a former statewide official sweating through a 21-day trial on similar charges.

The U.S. Attorneys Office decided to go after Kelley again after a jury in April 2016 acquitted him of one charge and deadlocked on 14 others. Of the 14 felony counts he faced this time around, the jury found the Tacoma resident and former 28th Legislative District representative guilty of all but five counts of money laundering.

Despite prosecutors zeal, Kelleys criminal case has never packed the punch of a classic public corruption scandal. His downfall lacked the juice of George Janovich, the Pierce County sheriff sent to prison on racketeering charges in 1979 for protecting a mobster.

The script for Kelleys story wasnt Angels with Dirty Faces. More like Escrow Agents with Sneaky Fingers.

One reason for the relatively low-hum interest in Kelleys case: He wasnt accused of misdeeds in office. His charges stemmed from his white-collar work as a private real estate services professional before he won election as auditor in 2012.

The sizzle also was lessened by the eye-glazing minutiae and document shuffling of the mortgage industry. At issue were his practices while running Post Closing Department, which tracked reconveyance paperwork on real estate deals during the mid-2000s. He failed to refund home buyers for county recording and other modest fees they didnt end up having to pay.

Most observers would have fallen asleep if not for the high political drama. Kelley clung to his auditors title throughout the ordeal (though he took a seven-month leave of absence), withstanding calls to resign and threats of impeachment from Democrats and Republicans alike. One state legislator colorfully described Kelley as taking part in a self-imposed witness-protection program.

It was both disgraceful and ironic that Kelley kept collecting a paycheck as the states chief sentinel of integrity while all this played out. His term ended a year ago; at least he knew enough not to run for reelection.

Kelley was one of three straight Washington auditors to rise from the ranks of Tacoma Democrats. Local voters can take solace that his tenure was merely an embarrassing blip between the steady leadership of five-term incumbent Brian Sonntag and first-term Auditor Pat McCarthy.

Kelleys criminal case might yet drag on into appeals; his attorneys maintain he was maliciously targeted by prosecutors for common real-estate title industry practices and that a grave injustice was done. If this is his formula for getting on with his life, hes certainly entitled to keep fighting in court.

But if the long saga continues, Kelley can be sure of one thing: Hardly anyone will notice, even without a train wreck to distract them.

Evidence-based shouldnt be a dirty word

Banning specific words in federal budget requests is invariably a bad look. But its especially alarming when a public-health agency, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shies away from using terms as fundamental to its mission as science-based and evidence-based.

CDC officials reportedly were directed to avoid those terms in next years budget materials, along with the words: transgender, fetus, diversity, entitlement and vulnerable. CDC officials have denied the existence of an agencywide word ban, saying the guidance extended solely to budget documents.

The gag order may not have been handed down from on high but appears to have been self-imposed by CDC officials themselves worried that certain words could trigger members of Congress, thereby endangering the agencys funding requests.

Either way, its a problem.

Both scenarios reflect poorly on the state of politics in our country. One version suggests officials in President Donald Trumps administration are indifferent about evidence and scientific data when deciding where to direct public spending  a scary proposition for an informed citizenry.

In an alternative scenario, CDC researchers are responding to members of Congress demonstrated pattern of disdain for quantitative data and science by pre-emptively stripping any mention of such concepts from their budget requests.

Scientists fear of reprisal would not be unfounded. After researchers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration published a 2015 paper saying the Earths temperatures have risen steadily over the past 20 years  countering the notion of a global warming hiatus  U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, the Republican chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, accused the scientists of fabricating data and subpoenaed their emails.

This year, Scott Pruitt, administrator of Trumps Environmental Protection Agency, unseated scientists receiving EPA grants from some of the agencys science advisory boards, replacing them with industry representatives and others who disdain environmental regulations.

Meanwhile, Trump continues to tweet and repeat proven falsehoods  inflating Republicans winning record in congressional races, exaggerating crowd sizes and wrongly labeling the United States as one of the worlds highest-taxed nations.

It all adds up to a political culture that regards reality as malleable and fluid, where ideological stances rule over facts. In this version of the world, pesky things like evidence or science can only interfere.

Whatever the origin of the CDCs list of words that must not be named, it is a symptom of a much larger problem that must be rectified. Scientific evidence is something our elected officials should search out and value, rather than scorn and fear.
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Govt creating 2.43 lakh jobs in 28 IT parks



The government has planned to create jobs for around 3 lakh people in 28 Hi-tech and IT parks, which are being built across the country to create an ICT infrastructures for achieving the goal of Digital Bangladesh by 2021.

"On completion of all these 28 parks, 28.72 lakh squire feet space will be made available to IT industries where job opportunities for around 3 lakh people will be created," State Minister for ICT Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak told BSS.

He said already two of the 28 IT parks - Janata Tower Software Technology Park and Sheikh Hasina Software Technology Park - have come into operation.

Janata Tower Software Technology Park in the capital's Kawran Bazar was inaugurated in 2015 where 15 local and international IT companies and 50 Start-ups have got necessary spaces for free of cost.

Sheikh Hasina Software Technology Park in Jessore was inaugurated this month where 41 companies, including three from overseas were given necessary spaces.

The state minister said his division with the help of a private telecom operator is providing different assistance to Start-ups in Janata Tower Software Technology Park.

"They have been allotted the space with electricity and internet connections for free of cost. They are also being given mentoring support in this park," he said.

The minister also noted that a 15-storied building with all necessary modern facilities, a 12-storied dormitory with international 3-star standard accommodation and gymnasium facility, a canteen and amphitheatre and a 33-KVA power station have been built at Sheikh Hasina Software Technology Park.

ICT Division spokesperson Md Abu Nasher said the government has also declared 12 organizations and private institutes as software technology parks for creating employment opportunity for 3,530 people.

These parks too will enjoy facilities like public hi-tech and software technology parks. The ICT Division official further added that construction of primary infrastructure of Bangabandhu Hi-tech City in Kaliakoir, Gazipur, which is being built under Public Private Partnership (PPP), is at the final stage.

"We have allotted space to nine companies in this park so far. Development of infrastructure of Bangabandhu Silicon City in Rajshahi, Sylhet Electronics City is going on in full swing.

Apart from these, work on constructing IT/hi-tech parks in 12 districts and Sheikh Kamal IT Training and Incubation Centre in seven places across the country is also on," he added.




Joint Convener of Chittagong City Jubo League Farid Mahmu exchanging views with the Christian community at Pathergatha Catholic Church in city on the occasion of X-mas on Monday.
Necessity for educated policymakers, more export

Syed Moazzam Hossain, Managing Director of SMH Group, has newly been elected the president of Bangladesh-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BMCCI) for a two-year term (2018-2019) on 24 December 2017. There are many unknown stories behind being a successful businessman and community leader. He shared his some plans with The New Nation how to make Bangladesh exportable country. Senior Reporter Gazi Anowarul Hoque and Staff Reporter Sanwar Hossain have taken the interview.

Biography Syed Moazzam Hossain was born in Comilla in a respectable family. In College life due to involvement in student politics his father stopped his education expenses after HSC. Hence with no other alternative he took a job in Bangladesh Water Devel

Syed Moazzam Hossain, the newly elected president lauded his future plan for the Malaysian chamber to develop a databank of the repatriated workers of Bangladeshi workers from Malaysia to employ them in Bangladesh and utilize their skill for building Bangladesh economy, develop economic zone for Malaysian investors, restructure policy issues and remove complexities to attract more foreign investment from Malaysia, remove tax barriers for Bangladeshi product export in Malaysia and negotiate import policies with National Board of Revenue (NBR), identify existing problems and solve those through organizing luncheon meetings, workshop and seminars with the industry insiders and stakeholders and make single country exposure at Malaysia to make easy excess of products in that market.

He also wants to shade focus on extensive research and development for the expansion of market and industrial growth besides regular activities of the BMCCI through organizing trade events and exhibitions, promote and foster trade, services, investment and joint ventures between Malaysia and Bangladesh, increase interaction and contacts with Malaysia and Bangladesh trade organizations and encourage people-to-people contact and cultural relationship between the two countries to uphold the industries exposure.

Bangladesh Malaysia Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BMCCI) is a non-profit service oriented organization. It has been working with a mission to foster strategic capabilities among the business communities through different sources like, organizing Business Forums, Trade Fairs, and exchange of business delegations.

BMCCI consist of 257 Bangladeshi companies and 250 Malaysian conglomerates. In 2016, Bangladesh exported $1.50 million worth goods to Malaysia mainly ready-Made-garments (RMG) products, food items, frozen fish, vegetables, jute, jute products, handicrafts and ethnic products.

On the other hand, Bangladesh imported from Malaysia goods like electronic equipment, Petroleum and liquefied natural gas, Wood and wood products, Palm oil, Rubber, Textiles and Chemicals worth $1.8 billion.

Malaysian Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Bangladesh is worth about $6 billion.

20 Malaysian firms were interested to invest in IT sector and memorandum of understanding (MoU) were signed with the government but lack of infrastructure those companies did not start business in the country. The IT Park at Jessore will attract more Malaysian companies in the country to do business and help growth of the sector.

Syed Moazzam Hossain said due to bureaucratic complexities and corruption foreign companies are becoming less interested to invest in Bangladesh economy.

He said "If we can facilitate foreign companies with suitable tax facilities, bureaucratic simplicities more FDI will come to invest in Bangladesh,"

"Malaysian companies are interested to invest in real estate business, tourism, IT and manufacturing plants but we have to assure investment friendly environment for them and uphold economic boost. For attracting foreign investment in our country, policymakers have to have vast knowledge on bilateral agreement, free trade agreement and so on," he opined.

According to him, Malaysian investors seeks profit guarantee but in Bangladesh they do not get such investment environment which need to be ensured to attract FDI and business cooperation from Malaysia.

The 5th Bangladesh product showcase fair in Bangladesh will happen in 2018, he hoped it will attract more Malaysian buyers in the country and grow chamber business. Malaysia South-South Association (MASSA) is a non-profit business association, comprising members who are from the Malaysian business sector. The main purpose of MASSA is to promote trade and investment with developing South-South countries. It espouses the dynamic vision of the Malaysian business community. The main purpose of MASSA is to promote trade and investment with developing South-South countries. It espouses the dynamic vision of the Malaysian business community and aims to enhance the global reach of its members.

The Government follows the policy of a free market economy in Bangladesh. The private sector has been identified as the main vehicle for the development of the economy. Poverty reeducation through rapid economic growth is the core development strategy. In accordance with that, the Government's policy on investment offers a lucrative package to attract foreign investment.

Tax holiday for industries within and outside the Export Processing Zones (EPZ), duty-free import of machinery and raw materials for export-oriented industries and100 percent foreign equity allowed. Full repatriation of dividend and capital allowed upon exit. Bonded Warehouse and back-to-back Letter of Credit facility allowed for export-oriented industries. Avoidance of double taxation based on bilateral agreements. Foreign investment in Bangladesh is guaranteed by an Act of Parliament against forfeiture and nationalization.

But there is no free trade agreement (FTA) among prospective countries and our export import policies do not include, it requires amendment and the policy is still in the draft stage. The BMCCI president demanded for preferential trade with Malaysia and products like ceramic, food items, frozen foods should enjoy tax free export facilities.

NBR did not agree for FTA facilities fearing loosing tax revenue in case of importing Malaysian products.

The BMCCI president told the New Nation that Bangladesh economy will remain import oriented rather than export oriented as manufacturing facilities in the country is not growing that much and lacks appropriate guideline from the government to expand the export oriented manufacturing sector.

Moreover, NBR is not facilitating FTA though it is essential for expansion of export market of the country. NBR should consider the fact and provide some facilities on some product import and lobby such policy in the export markets for getting more commercial ventures. Bangladesh should counter more bilateral trade agreement with the countries which are export destinations.

Syed Moazzam Hossain also emphasized on development of Bangladesh tourism sector as it has tremendous potentiality to be proliferated.

"The global hospitality industry is worth about $3 to 4 trillion. Bangladesh has failed to develop the sector as a attractive destination, we need a appropriate focus on the sector and attract international tourists," Moazzam said.

He has also mentioned "Bangladesh need to develop a tourism complaint environment which could help economy through earning more foreign currencies. We need to develop hygiene food facilities, tourist friendly international airport facilities, information management, ensure comfort ability, prepaid taxi and contemporary transport facility management along with development of the tourism sites like Kuakata and other popular destination of the country sustainably for the tourism sector development of the country,"

The renewable energy sector is also a potential sector for FDI in the country which needs appropriate attention from the government and emphasis on the sector may solve energy shortage problem of the country.

Last but not the least, he hoped that potential sectors of the country need to be reevaluated for sustainable economic development and make Bangladesh a better destination for investment.

He believes that we should focus on production in Bangladesh and export to Malaysia and other destination for further economic developments so that Bangladesh will be turned quickly into exportable country.


Acquittals to majority drug cases mysterious

DURING the first nine months of 2017 -- more than 60 percent of the accused got acquitted in drug-related cases. According to police data, different courts delivered judgments in 11,862 drug cases between January and September, acquitting 9,231 of the 15,212 accused. Around 55 percent suspects were acquitted in 2015 and 56 percent last year. However, Narcotics control officials blame the poor conviction rate mainly on the faulty chargesheets and a lack of witnesses.





It's difficult to believe the government's concerned agencies can neither deter the indiscriminate use of illegal narcotics nor can't they reduce the illegal trade simply because of 'poor conviction rate' and 'faulty charges'. The truth is the alarming rate of drug usage among youngsters in the country has become an evident and an immediate threat to national wellbeing. With the higher number of acquittals the drug dealers are now becoming bolder.





We are dreadfully in a clear danger of losing an entire generation to such harmful mood altering chemicals such as drugs, particularly following consumption of Yaba -- reportedly being consumed over 8 lakh tablets per day. Last year alone, the authorities seized over 2.94 crore Yaba tablets compared to only 13.6 lakh in 2011. We also know that most of it is coming in from Myanmar; so on one border, we have Phensedyl coming in from India, and on the other, we have to contend with the influx of Yaba from Myanmar. Thus, we should immediately take the matter up with our neighbours for cooperative measures to stop the flow of narcotics into the country.





Nevertheless, the most crucial matter is how effectively we tackle the menace at home. If record numbers of offenders get acquitted every year, we cannot deter the trade and the increasing rate of drug abuse in the country. That said -- the government must pay special attention to shorten legal procedures of drug related cases. The actual reasons behind faulty charges and poor conviction rates must be thoroughly investigated.





Lastly, the Narcotics department, police and the legal system must jointly work so to hand out exemplary punishments to drug dealers and destroy the powerful nest sheltering them all over the country. By now, far too many offenders have got away with their crimes through the legal loopholes while causing far too much damage to our society. It must stop forthwith.
Palestinian girl sparks debate

AFP :

An Israeli court on Monday extended the custody of three Palestinian women detained after a viral video of an alleged assault on Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank, the police said. They said the Ofer military court ruled that Ahed Tamimi, 17, her mother Nariman Tamimi, 43, and her cousin Nour Naji Tamimi, 21, would

remain in custody until Thursday. All three women appeared in a video that went viral after it was shot on December 15 in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah.

The footage shows Nour and Ahed approaching two Israeli soldiers before shoving, kicking and slapping them while filming on mobile phones. The heavily armed soldiers do not respond in the face of what appears to be an attempt to provoke rather than seriously harm them. They then move backwards after Ahed's mother Nariman becomes involved. The Tamimi family are at the forefront of regular protests in Nabi Saleh, a frequent scene of demonstrations against Israel's occupation of the West Bank. They say a member of the family was shot in the head with a rubber bullet during protests on December 15. Residents say part of the village's land was confiscated by Israeli authorities and given to a nearby Israeli settlement.

The videos of the alleged assault were widely picked up by Israeli media outlets, which often accuse Palestinian protesters of provoking the army into responses which are then filmed. Israeli politicians hailed the restraint of the soldiers as evidence of the military's values, but some called for tough responses.

Some social media users criticized Ahed's arrest in the middle of the night, arguing it is the Palestinian people's right to resist military occupation. Ahed Tamimi  protesting in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails on May 12, 2017. Palestinian reactions while troubled by the soldiers' poise and the humane image it conveys of the Israeli security forces have also been inspirational: "The people of Palestine and all free peoples in the world salute you, Ahed," wrote Kathem Nasser on Rai Al-Youm, a news site based in London. "We kiss your hand in reverence."
BAF aircraft crash over Cox`s Bazar

Four pilots miracally survived during a training session when two fighter planes of Bangladesh Air Force crashed in the middle of the sky over Moheshkhali upazila in Cox's Bazar district on Wednesday evening.

Official sources said the planes crashed at about 6:50pm. Earlier, both the training planes disappeared off the RADAR at 6:15pm for a long time after those entered the Cox's Bazar airspace.

Both the planes took off from Air Force base Zaharul Haque in Chittagong and they were in touch with Cox's Bazar Airport tower. But suddenly, the connection with the tower was also cut off.

The aircrafts were Yak-130 model, a subsonic two-seat advanced jet trainer originally developed in Russia. There were a pilot and a co-pilot in each plane, the officials said.

"Two planes were damaged following the crash. The pilots and co-pilots, however, were rescued alive. We're collecting information for what reason the accident took place," Director of Inter-Service Public Relations Lt Colonel Rashidul Hasan told The New Nation last night.

"The four pilots received slight injuries. There are now undergoing treatment," he added.

A team comprising the members of Air Force, Fire Service and Civil Defence, police and local volunteers was conducting massive search and rescue operation till the time of filing this report at 9:00 pm.

Cox's Bazar police said the planes made a head-on-collision at about 6:45pm. Moments after the crash, both the planes caught fire. The broken parts of the aircrafts fell at Palpara and Jailapara hilly area in Moheshkhali island.

The pilots ejected out of the plane and landed safely using parachutes, the police said.

"I've come to the spot after the accident. Here, I saw two parts of an aircraft blazing in two separate places," Prodip Kumar Das, Officer-in-Charge of Maheshkhali Police Station, said over telephone.

Sources said hundreds of local people rushed to the spot hearing big bang in the sky and seeing blazing parts of the planes. The locals along with an unit of FSCD at first tried to douse the fire. Getting information, another team from Cox's Bazar rushed to the spot boarding a speeding boat.

Quoting statement of Cox's Bazar Airport Manager Sadhon Kumar Mohanta, our Cox's Bazar Correspondent reported, one of the blazing parts fell beside the semi pakka house of Siraj Mia at Putibila area of Yar Mohammad Para under ward no:2 in Moheshkhali Pourshava.

Another fell on a betel leaf plantation land at Maizpara village beside Lomba Ghona Bazar under Chhoto Moheshkhali Union.






ACC summons ex-AB Bank chairman, 7 officials

Staff Reporter :

The Anti-Corruption Commission has summoned former AB Bank Chairman M Wahidul Haque and seven other past and present officials for grilling over a money laundering scam involving $43.54 million (Tk 340 crore).

They will be quizzed at the ACC headquarters in Dhaka today, said ACC's Public Relations Officer Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya.

The bank officials were first called to the ACC on December 13 and 14, a week before three directors of AB Bank including Chairman Wahidul Haque resigned from their posts when the bank's board was reshuffled on December 21. But they did not respond to the ACC.

ACC served notices to them again on Wednesday asking them to face ACC's questioning over the money laundering case, said Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya.

On December 9, the ACC first summoned the then AB Bank Chairman former Managing Director (MD) M Fazlur Rahman, another ex-MD Shamim Ahmed Chowdhury and head of financial institution and treasury Abu Hena Mostafa Kamal to face an ACC team.

But the AB Bank officials did not face the ACC team seeking time by sending an application.

The ACC has brought against them charges of siphoning off $43.54 million in the name of four offshore companies in Singapore.
56 muggers held in city

DB police arrested 56 muggers from different bus stands and terminals of Dhaka on Tuesday night. This photo was taken from in front of DB office on Wednesday.

Staff Reporter :

Detective Branch of police arrested 56 muggers from different bus statnds and terminals of Dhaka city on Tuesday night.

Police in separate drives recovered sharp weapons also from their possession.

Masudur Rahman, Deputy Commissioner (Media) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), confirmed the news.

He added that the identity of the suspects could not be known instantly.

Police said, the drives against muggers increased in order to check increasing snatching incidents across the capital city in recent days.

On December 18, a seven month old baby died falling from her mother's lap during the snatching at Dayaganj in the city. Snatcher Rajib, was arrested later.

After the incident, police increased the drive against the muggers.


US sanctions against general based on 'unreliable accusations'

Reuters :

Myanmar "feels sad" over a U.S. decision to sanction a military general, a government spokesman said, after Washington linked the commander last week to abuses against the Rohingya Muslim minority.

"This targeted sanction is based on unreliable accusations without evidence, as we have repeatedly said, so we feel sad for that," Zaw Htay, spokesman for Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, told Reuters by phone late on Tuesday.

The Trump administration announced on Dec. 21 that it was sanctioning Major General Maung Maung Soe, who was in charge of a crackdown on the Rohingya minority in the western state of Rakhine.

The United States, as well as the United Nations, have called the crackdown "ethnic cleansing". About 655,000 Rohingya have fled Rakhine state and sought shelter over the border in

Bangladesh, according to the United Nations. The United States said American officials had "examined credible evidence of Maung Maung Soe's activities, including allegations against Burmese security forces of extrajudicial killings, sexual violence, and arbitrary arrest as well as the widespread burning of villages".

The military and the civilian government of Suu Kyi have denied allegations of widespread abuse in Rakhine.

The testimonies of Rohingya refugees were only "talking stories", Zaw Htay said, adding that Myanmar would act if it received "reliable and strong evidence" that its troops committed crimes.

"We have told international governments and human rights groups including the U.N. that the current government is committed to protecting and promoting human rights," said Zaw Htay.

The U.S. Treasury said Maung Maung Soe, former chief of the army's Western Command, would have his U.S. assets frozen and Americans could no longer deal with him.

Reuters was unable to determine if Maung Maung Soe had business interests in Myanmar or elsewhere.

Maung Maung Soe was transferred from his post in Rakhine and "put in reserve", an army spokesman told Reuters on Nov. 13. No reason was given, but the military said the same day action would be taken against officials who were "weak in acquiring information" and who allowed the militant Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) to spread through Muslim villages in Rakhine.

Reuters was unable to contact Maung Maung Soe. Major General Tun Tun Nyi of the military's public relations division, the True News Information Unit, said he had no comment on the sanctions and declined to answer questions on Maung Maung Soe.

As well as dominating the country's politics for decades, Myanmar's army - known as the Tatmadaw or "Royal Force" - has gained notoriety for brutal counter-insurgency tactics employed against rebels seeking autonomy in the borderlands since independence from Britain in 1948, according to historians and human rights monitors.

But since it began ceding power in 2011 - albeit under a constitution that keeps soldiers in key posts - the army has sought to burnish its image as a modern fighting force.

It has defended its actions in Rakhine, with military investigators concluding that troops adhered to rules of engagement and sought to minimize civilian casualties while responding to "terrorist" provocations.

But the spiraling Rohingya crisis has dashed hopes of expanding engagement with Western armies, Andrew Selth, an academic who has researched Myanmar's armed forces, wrote in September.

"This is a significant loss for the Tatmadaw, which is keen to learn about foreign military policies and practices," Selth wrote on the website of the Sydney-based Lowy Institute. "Such contacts would have also helped its officers learn about international norms of behavior and the role of armed forces in democracies."
The Undead Archives

I have finally salvaged my pre-Blogger TDR archives and added them into Blogger. They are almost totally in the form of one giant post for each month. And the formatting strayed from the originals. Sorry. But historians everywhere can rejoice that this treasure trove of my thoughts is restored to the world.
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Paris, TX (75460)

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Writing last month Mick Hall suggested that:



It would be wise to poke with a very long stick whatever the British Government say about Iran in the coming weeks.









Public beheading performed in Saudi Arabia.



When Mohammed bin Salman first became the Crown prince of Saudi Arabia the British liberal intelligentsia took him at his word when he claimed he would modernise the Kingdom, women would be allowed to drive cars and corruption would be tackled rigorously.



If he were serious about tackling corruption the first to be arrested would be his father, Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud the current king, and the next would be the crown prince himself.



The system is such in Saudi Arabia that as far as the countless members of the Royal family are concerned everything within the kingdom is theirs for the taking.



So what is this young satraps true aims, why has he arrested Saudi businessmen, bureaucrats including friends, and members of his own family? Its about battening down the hatches for a coming war with Iran: his role is to hold the home-front if and when Saudi Arabia goes to war.



The USA, Israel, and Trump's personal caddy the British Tory government are underwriting, orchestrating and setting the guidelines for this war.



Last week the prime minister of Lebanon resigned on key after a phone call from the Saudi crown prince as When Mohammed bin Salman first became the Crown prince of Saudi Arabia the British liberal intelligentsia took him at his word when he claimed he would modernise the Kingdom, women would be allowed to drive cars and corruption would be tackled rigorously.If he were serious about tackling corruption the first to be arrested would be his father, Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud the current king, and the next would be the crown prince himself.The system is such in Saudi Arabia that as far as the countless members of the Royal family are concerned everything within the kingdom is theirs for the taking.So what is this young satraps true aims, why has he arrested Saudi businessmen, bureaucrats including friends, and members of his own family? Its about battening down the hatches for a coming war with Iran: his role is to hold the home-front if and when Saudi Arabia goes to war.The USA, Israel, and Trump's personal caddy the British Tory government are underwriting, orchestrating and setting the guidelines for this war.Last week the prime minister of Lebanon resigned on key after a phone call from the Saudi crown prince as Martin Chulov reports:

At a lunch in Beirut being hosted by prime minister Saad Hariri. Midway through the meal with the visiting French cultural minister, Francoise Nyssen, Hariri received a call and his demeanour changed. He excused himself and left for the airport, without his aides.

Within hours Hariri, by then in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, had resigned his position, concluding his transition from Lebanese leader to Saudi envoy and Lebanons transformation from outpost to ground zero of a stunning regional escalation.

The fall of Kurdish-held Kirkuk in northern Iraq to the Iraqi government, backed by Irans most prominent general, in October, starvation among the population of war-torn Yemen, a ballistic missile over Riyadh, and the apparently forced exit of the premier in Lebanon are all part of the same machinations  a great strategic power play between two regional heavyweights that has suddenly shifted from back rooms to potent realisation.





Saddam Hussein was the Sunni bulwark against Iran and the Shia peoples of the region in Lebanon, Bahrain, Yemen and Saudi Arabia, and when he fell it was the USA which stepped into the void, which was always going to end disastrously yet the Saudi's didn't see it coming.







As Martin continues:

While they dithered, Iran took hold, said a senior Saudi official who has left the kingdom in the past year. While they thought the US was doing their bidding, it was actually enabling an Iranian takeover. This is now almost complete. So they are right to worry. Things have changed in the Middle East by them doing nothing about it. ... Iran now all but controls a land corridor that runs from Tehran to Tartous in Syria, on the Mediterranean coast, giving it access to a seaport a long way to its west, and far from the heavily patrolled waters of the Arabian Gulf. The route passes through the centre of Iraq, and Syria, skirting the Lebanese border and what were some of the most active areas of the Syrian civil war, which have been returned to regime control. They are two months from finishing this, said a senior regional intelligence official. This changes things. It gives them an open supply line to move whatever they want. And it gives them strategic depth. It is a big deal. As Martin continues:









Just how grubby this is was also pointed out by Martin:



Saudi leaders had long placed faith in Hariri as their man to defy Hezbollah and assert the authority of state institutions over its parallel political and military structure in Lebanon ...Their patience ran out last year when the Saudi construction sector collapsed, dragging down with it a company that Hariri chaired. Since then, he and Saudi leaders have been at odds over more than $1 billion. Riyadhs new sense of crisis appears to have put that feud on hold and invited Hariri back into the fold  for a price. Hence the imbecile in the White House's rush to war, with his caddy running behind crying "go Donald go."Just how grubby this is was also pointed out by Martin:





Mohammed bin Salman claims he is tackling corruption while handing out backhanders.



That the Saudi leadership ever could have seriously entertained the notion that Hariri could rein in Hezbollah appears fanciful if one takes even a cursory look at the groups relationship to Lebanese governments since 2005, which it either dominated, defied or toppled at will, said Heiko Wimmen, project director for Iraq, Syria and Lebanon for the International Crisis Group. Bob Fisk, who has lived in Lebanon for over 30 years explained how people there are taking the kidnaping of there PM by bin Salman and his cronies:



The Saudis may be holding the Lebanese Prime Minister hostage but their apparent plan to topple the Beirut government has gloriously backfired. Far from breaking up the cabinet and throwing Hezbollahs ministers to the wolves, the Lebanese nation has suddenly woken up to what its like to be united  against the Saudis. The Lebanese government has announced that it does not accept the resignation statement which Saad Hariri was obliged to make in Riyadh, and overnight hashtags have appeared on several Beirut streets saying kul na Saad  We are all Saad. Even the Sunni Muslims of Lebanon are furious at their Sunni counterparts in Saudi Arabia.



Hariri has been detained  or constrained, or kidnapped or held hostage or treated as an honoured guest of Saudi Arabia (take your pick). For the Lebanese government  and for many tens of thousands of Lebanese  the Saudi decision to present Hariri with a resignation letter to read on the Arabia television channel was a national insult. Expect to hear a great deal in the MSM in the coming weeks about Iran's secret WMDs, the wickedness of the regime, and how it poses a threat to the UK.



Rather than Boris Johnson having mistakenly said Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was simply teaching people journalism during her visit to Iran, it may have been a deliberate act to provoke the Iranian government into overreacting, and to hell with the consequences for Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her family.



Whatever the truth of this and Priti Patel's alleged holiday in Israel, which had MI6's fingerprints all over it, it would be wise to poke with a very long stick whatever the British Government and its MSM creatures say about Iran in the coming weeks.



More on the despicable behavior of Britain's and the USA's close ally in the middle east.



Only God can save us': Yemeni children starve as aid is held at border by Saudi Arabian government. Hariri has been detained  or constrained, or kidnapped or held hostage or treated as an honoured guest of Saudi Arabia (take your pick). For the Lebanese government  and for many tens of thousands of Lebanese  the Saudi decision to present Hariri with a resignation letter to read on the Arabia television channel was a national insult. Expect to hear a great deal in the MSM in the coming weeks about Iran's secret WMDs, the wickedness of the regime, and how it poses a threat to the UK.Rather than Boris Johnson having mistakenly said Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was simply teaching people journalism during her visit to Iran, it may have been a deliberate act to provoke the Iranian government into overreacting, and to hell with the consequences for Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her family.Whatever the truth of this and Priti Patel's alleged holiday in Israel, which had MI6's fingerprints all over it, it would be wise to poke with a very long stick whatever the British Government and its MSM creatures say about Iran in the coming weeks.More on the despicable behavior of Britain's and the USA's close ally in the middle east.





Abdulaziz al-Husseinya, nine years old and suffering from acute malnutrition, Al-Thawra hospital, Hodeidah, Yemen. Photograph: Iona Craig



And to see just how close the UK government is with the Saudi's:













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CARBONDALE  This past year, some $19,000 was raised in a student art auction organized by a local faith community.

This year, the art auction organizers, For Kids Sake, are seeking donations of artwork from students of all ages, up through college students.

The work, to be donated to the group, will benefits its 18th annual For Kids Sake Art Auction. For Kids Sake is supported by Dayemi Tariqat, a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, religious, educational and service organization.

The deadline for art submission is Sunday, Dec. 31, 2017.

The selected art will be featured in the art auction from March 27 to April 27, 2018, at the Longbranch Cafe & Bakery in Carbondale.

Organizers say the proceeds go to For Kids' Sake, a nonprofit that supports more than 550 orphans and 4,000 students in Bangladesh. They have said $35 can provide an orphan with 100 meals.

Submitted art can be in any two-dimensional medium and should be unframed, according to a news release from For Kids' Sake.

Artists whose work is selected will be notified and have their works professionally framed and receive public recognition at the Art Auction Closing Celebration on April 27, 2018.

Selected artwork will be considered a donation, and all artwork not selected will be returned to the artists.

Artists can drop off or mail artwork to For Kids Sake, 100 E. Jackson St., Suite C, Carbondale, IL 62901 or emailed to info@forkidssake.net.

For more information, call 618-529-5044 or email info@forkidssake.net.
VILLA RIDGE  Vera Calhoun Russell died in the same place she was born 108 years ago  in the living room of the house her father built in Villa Ridge.

In the years leading up to her death, Vera was surrounded not by a host of medical professionals, but instead by those whom she loved and who loved her. Her daughter, Janice Russell Couch, made a commitment to her mom years ago that she worked every day to honor.

So, I always promised her if she got to that point we would keep her at home and take care of her, Janice said.

The room where Vera stayed, still filled with family effects including the high school diploma given to her in 1923, is a quieter place now. Still the family living room, the space is changed without her bed in the center  something almost seems missing as Janice and her husband Allen Couch sit on the sofa as if in the shadow of Veras bed.

Its just hard getting used to her not being here, Janice said, sitting with Allen.

Both remembered a woman who was accomplished and a pillar of her community. Vera not only graduated from high school, but also went on to graduate from college and teach in Chicago before coming home to take care of her parents and the family property in Villa Ridge. Janice said she also took in at least five foster children, of which she was one.

Janice said her mother never had children of her own, but was always caring for other people, and this is why when she grew up, she chose to return the favor.

I always said, she took care of me and it was my turn to take care of her, she said.

A calling to care

Janice and Allen married in 2005 when Vera was in her 90s. Allen said in spending time with Janice, he saw what she was going through caring for her mother, and said his spirit was drawn to help.

What he saw was Janice doing everything she could to see to it that her mom had everything she needed. This meant leaving her with home health care professionals while she went to work as a teacher at Meridian Elementary School in Mounds. However, Janice said if she got a call that her mom needed something, she would have to drive home over her lunch break and come back within 30 minutes to make sure her kids were picked up to come back to class. She said her cousin worked with her at the time, and would help cover for her if she needed it.

Help and an understanding employer aside, this was not a sustainable model.

After they married, Couch moved in to his wifes family home and in with his mother-in-law. He said at that point, some of his dealings were a bit rocky, but never without love.

I used to have to come through the back door, he remembered, adding that Vera protested that a man would not be living in her house  she meant business, too.

She threatened me a couple times with a shotgun, he said. I said, Janice, she aint got no shotgun, and she said, Yes she does, right there in that closet. Remembering this, Janice and Allen both laughed.

They got the guns out of the house.

As time went on, Allen became Veras primary caregiver during the day, save a few hours of in-home help. This was especially true after Allen was in a car crash that has caused him a cascade of medical problems, preventing him from working.

So its like the Lord said, Well, while you are recovering youll take care of my child here, Ms. Russell, he said.

This was a struggle for him emotionally. Allen said he felt like he wasnt doing his part for the family, but came to realize, through the help of friends, that he was helping by caring for Vera.

Like Ms. Russell accepted her condition I could accept my condition and my place in the family, Allen said. In the end, his caretaker role gave him a purpose.

It was good being able to do something when I wasnt able to work myself.

Janice said as the years went on and Vera struggled at times to remember who people were, one thing was for sure  she always remembered Allen.

Sometimes she wouldnt know me but she would always know Allen, Janice said. I dont care what, she knew Allen.

Janice said seeing her mother grow so close to Allen  the man she once threatened with a shotgun and to call the police if he didnt get out of her house  was a blessing. Seeing him love her back was even better.

Caring for Vera became Allen and Janices routine. They would wake up frequently in the night to come in and check on her, finding themselves often sitting up with her in the small hours of the morning watching TV. They made efforts to take her on drives  in fact, early in their marriage, Allen and Janice took the near-100-year-old on a cross-country trip to California.

Doctor visits and grocery shopping became a family outing. Allen and Janice included Vera in whatever they were doing.

Finding closure

Allen and Janice said until the last few weeks of her life, Vera was still as sharp as she had always been.

When I would walk through the door she would perk up, he said. As he walked by she would sometimes put her hand out expectantly.

You got some candy in your pocket, Allen remembered her asking.

He would sometimes give her a tough answer  You think I walk around with candy in my pocket all the time?  only to go around the corner to get a Milky Way bar  her favorite  to surprise her with.

After getting the treat, shed ask for a kiss.

Her decline began, Janice said, after they noticed she wasnt swallowing and took her to the hospital. After a few trying visits with doctors, they learned she had a thrush infection in her throat. Janice said the infection had largely cleared up just before her death Nov. 30; however, she said Veras body had already begun to shut down. Allen said it had been weeks since she had eaten much.

I guess at that time in her mind she just said, Im tired, anyway, Allen said.

In the two weeks leading up to her death, Allen said she and Janice were with Vera all of the time. He said they got almost no sleep.

Janice said it seemed like her mother was holding out for something.

At the end, I guess she was still holding on still for me to tell her that Im going to be OK, Janice said.

Janice said when Vera died, it was just the two of them. She went to get some water and said the next thing she knew, her mothers breathing had changed.

I told her, Well, Im going to be OK,' she said. She said this seemed to be the release Vera needed.

I was holding her hand  and she was gone, Janice said.

A new road

Less than a month removed from Veras death, Janice and Allen are still trying to figure out their new respective places and the substantial change in their lives, both together and separately.

Janice said since her mothers death, they have been in town eating or shopping and she still has the feeling of needing to rush back home to relieve the in-home care. But, when she gets this way, Allen reminders her, Remember, shes not there.

Allen said now that he is not responsible for someone else, hes not sure what his new role is.

For me, now what do I do  I kind of lost my space to where I belong, Allen said, adding that he is having to try to rediscover who he is and what he should do.

Janice said she knew every day was a blessing given her mothers advanced age. Still, she was shocked when her mother died.

We were planning her party for January. We never thought she would be gone, She said of planning her mothers 109th birthday party. Janice said she believed her mother would make it to at least 110.

Allen and Janice are left wondering what to do now. They have plans to stay in the family home, at least for now. A lot is still up in the air. Allen had one thought, though.

We may have a honeymoon, he said, explaining that they had a day between their wedding and moving into their house on the hill in Villa Ridge.

Many would describe the dedication to honoring Vera and her wishes as remarkable, however, Janice simply said it was the right thing to do. It was an exercise in self-sacrifice, but in the end was just something she did. Neither think of themselves as martyrs.

Through it all, though, good days and bad, Janice said her mother would still have very lucid moments in which she expressed her appreciation, which made the hard work easier.

Even to the end, she would tell us she was thankful for us for taking care of her and she would always say, Thank you, Janice said.
The long downhill slide of my alma mater depresses me. The need for significant change is evident to any and all who have been paying the slightest bit of attention. Yet, is Chancellor Montemagnos quick fix via untested organizational restructuring the answer? Im most skeptical, as are faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, and Trustee Shirley Portwood, who have all expressed their views, as reported in The Southern. Furthermore, the proposed restructuring is not the vision and strategic plan mandated by the Board of Trustees.

Some background  most of my adult work life was spent at five major land grant universities. There I held various teaching, research, extension, and administrative positions. I retired as Professor and Dean, College of Resources, Mississippi State University. During my tenure, the School of Forest Resources was upgraded to a college. Other than more prestige overall, the three departments in the college were unaffected by the change in status. Nor was there any change in function of the department chairs.

 experts estimate that more than 80 percent of all administrative decisions in universities take place at the department level." (http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1909/Department-Chairperson.html) Trying to administer a college without the full support and cooperation of the department chairs can be a nightmare. Further, it is unimaginable that lead faculty would take on the responsibility of serving as program leaders without additional compensation. Wheres the incentive to do so?

Nowhere in my experience or recent research can I find a university whose organizational structure resembles that of the Montemagno Model in any way, form, or fashion. The question is, then, Can SIUC risk being the Guinea pig for this unorthodox, unproven structure?" Being the risk averse person that I am (most people are, too), the answer is, No.

While the chancellor has touted the saving that will result from elimination of department head positions, the associated costs of the transformation are being overlooked or ignored. They are not insignificant and include relocating offices, new signage, new stationary, new catalogs, and webpage redesign to name a few. An itemized comparison of savings vs. costs that was shared widely would go a long way to shedding light on any actual savings.

Students are generally interested in the reputation of their chosen program of study, not its place in the organizational structure. (Forestry at SIUC is one of the top such programs in the country and has continued to do well in the current environment in recruiting, retaining and graduating students.) How the proposed structure will address the very real problem of continually declining student enrollment is a real mystery. Effort expended on such issues as affordability, diversity, housing, and campus security, especially for female students, and marketing such efforts would bear more fruit.

Change is difficult at best. Without a consensus buy in, change seldom occurs the way it is envisioned. Further, change for the sake of change is wrong-headed. Dont respond to the pressure to do something even if its wrong. Undoing bad decisions has enormous costs. Lets take our time, without dilly dallying, minimize the risk and get this right. Start with a vision and strategic plan. Analyze the pluses and minuses of all possible alternatives going forward and make an informed decision on the findings. The very future of SIUC is at stake.
Orangeburg County Council tackled many issues in 2017, including two that proved to be especially controversial: the implementation of a new business license and the opening of an outdoor concert venue near Bowman.

County Council approved the business license requirement on Aug. 22. Under the new ordinance, businesses in the county are required to purchase a business license.

County Administrator Harold Young said the business license isnt intended to be a burden on local businesses, but to collect funds from businesses that came from out of town like construction.

Many of those who attended Orangeburg County Council meetings in opposition to the business license said it would discourage future businesses from locating in the area.

County officials said it is needed to help fund law enforcement and Emergency Services.

The cost of the business license is $25. In addition, companies pay a fee for conducting business in the county which is calculated using the gross income, as required by state law.

County Planning Director Richard Hall said a business pays 75 cents for every $1,000 of income over $2,000.

For example, a company grossing $100,000 would pay $98.50. Young said this would apply to 60 to 70 percent of the businesses in Orangeburg County.

After income exceeds $1 million, the rates start declining.

Companies that reach the cap of $10 million in gross income would pay $2,798.50. Hall said that is the most that any in-county business can pay.

Young said improvements have already started in the areas of law enforcement and Emergency Services.

From July 1, we implemented a raise for all EMS personnel as well as the sheriffs deputies, he said. That was to help with recruitment.

Young said the county also started hiring additional paramedics and EMTs, and ordered five new ambulance units that are on average $250,000 a piece.

He said the county plans to make upgrades to its computer-aided dispatch system.

Well have a new dispatch CAD software that, once its implemented and goes live, will help in response time with not only EMS but fire and the sheriffs department as well, he said.

The problem is, you dont see the full effect of that until you get fully staffed, Young added. Its like a cruise ship, it takes a while to fully turn it around.

Also during the year, some residents came before council to complain about a new, 218-acre outdoor venue off of Log Cabin Road near Bowman. They expressed concerns about both noise and traffic that could come from the project.

Proponents say the project is a positive for development, quality of life and taxes.

Councilmembers felt the issue could have been handled better.

I think the concept was good, Councilman Harry Wimberly said. It wouldve worked a lot better had they initially contacted Orangeburg County.

We couldve worked with the citizens a little closer, he added.

Council Chairman Johnnie Wright agreed. He said it would have been better for everyone if the public had been more aware of Yonder Fields intentions.

Because of public perception, the public shouldve been more in tune with it before it got to the level of all the controversial situations that we went through, Wright said.

Yonder Field did not involve the county because the company was not seeking anything specifically from the county, Wright said. For instance, it did not ask the county for any tax agreements or incentives.

The venue hosted a number of events during its first year, including a solar eclipse festival. In November, Yonder Field announced it was cancelling its last event of the year, citing low turnout for a previous event and financial losses.

President and General Manager Stacie Darr White said Yonder Field, will continue to be a functioning and viable resource for South Carolina and within the live music industry.
A new strip mall is expected to open in the spring or summer of 2018.

St. Matthews Square, located on 1.5 acres at 1580 St. Matthews Road, will include retailers American Deli; Affordable Dental; Kings Nail salon; and mobile phone retailer Boost Mobile, according to property owner Paul Ha.

A take-out Japanese restaurant is also planning to locate at the mall, although details have not been finalized, Ha said. Three units remain vacant for now.

Ha expects the retailers to open by the spring or summer of 2018.

The 15,000-square-foot mall includes eight total units.

It is near the corner of St. Matthews Road and Nelson Street next to the Walgreens and across the street from Grove Park shopping plaza.

"This is my biggest project yet," said Ha, who also owns a mobile phone dealership on Russell Street.

Ha says the property's close proximity to South Carolina State University and Claflin University as well as the heavily traveled Chestnut Street and St. Matthews Road corridors made the property attractive.

It is estimated about 25,000 vehicles per day travel on Chestnut Street and 19,200 travel on St. Matthews Road.

KG Contracting Company is the project contractor.

The property is being marketed by Columbia-based Newmark Wilson Kibler.
Bill Gates recently made the exciting announcement that he will be donating $50 million of his own money to the fight against Alzheimers disease and dementia. This is a huge boon to the doctors and researchers who are struggling to find a way to help the people affected by this disease.

This donation is critical, because this problem is only getting bigger. By 2050, the number of people age 65 and older with Alzheimers dementia may nearly triple, from 5.3 million to a projected 13.8 million  barring the development of medical breakthroughs to prevent or cure Alzheimers disease. For those 65 and older, its already the fifth-largest cause of death in the United States, behind heart disease, cancer, respiratory disease and stroke. In short, this is a public health crisis with an insufficient response, and none of us will escape untouched.

But besides donating to organizations that support the cause, how can everyday people get involved? Here are three ways to help:

Educate yourself. Many misconceptions about Alzheimers still exist, and they hurt those who are living with the disease. You can find information at alz.org, or in an inspiring video of Ken Dychtwald, founder and CEO of Age Wave and a founding member of the Alzheimers XPRIZE team.

Help reduce the stigma. Talk to others and help them understand the facts about Alzheimers. As a nurse who has worked closely with people living with Alzheimers dementia and their families for more 30 years, I can tell you that people with memory loss are still people, but a powerful stigma contributes to their isolation and depression. Remember not to leave people who are actually fighting the disease out of the discussions  understanding them should be the priority in any conversation about their care.

Volunteer for a clinical study. If you become frustrated when you read about the slow progress to find treatments for Alzheimers, theres one way directly to make an impact  participate in a research study. There are a number of research centers doing studies right now that could lead to a breakthrough. They need people of all ages  even those who do not have Alzheimers in their family. Go to the Alzheimers Associations Trial Match webpage to be paired with a clinical trial thats looking for someone like you.

Gates donation gives us hope because hell inspire disruptive, out-of-the-box thinking. Adding to this momentum is the recent XPRIZE  a program that incentivizes competitions to drive innovation.

George Vradenburg, co-founder and chairman of UsAgainstAlzheimers and a founding member of the Alzheimers XPRIZE team, says, The earlier we detect a disease, the better our chances are of stopping it and curing it. With the XPRIZE we will employ global crowdsourcing and harness emerging technologies to unleash a new era of interventions that would have the best chance of saving millions of lives.

Alzheimers is a horrible disease that slowly steals our memories and cognitive and functional abilities. You can imagine how people who are fighting this difficult battle may feel alone and deprived of their dignity. But there has never been more hope for finding a cure to eradicate this devastating disease. Now is the time for us to join the bold fight on behalf of the people living with Alzheimers and every loved one who is at risk of developing this disease in the coming years.
Earlier this year, T&D Staff Writer Dionne Gleaton profiled the opioid crisis in an eye-opening three-part series focusing on the extent of the problem, its direct impact on lives and what can be done.

Gleaton reported on the numbers:

 The U.S. Centers for Disease and Controls latest Vital Signs shows opioid prescriptions continue to be written at a high rate, with the amount of opioids prescribed per person standing three times higher in 2015 than in 1999.

 The report indicates that while the amount of opioids prescribed in the United States peaked in 2010 and then decreased each year through 2015, the volume of the potentially addictive medications prescribed is still about three times higher than in 1999, when the problem with opioid addiction was in its infancy.

 The CDC has reported that prescription painkillers were responsible for roughly half of the nations 33,000 opioid-related overdose deaths in 2015.

Gleaton reported that focus on stemming the tide of prescriptions for pain-killers is essential.

I would consider that opioids are overprescribed in general. What has helped in the recent past are the guidelines that have come out from the CDC and the DEA in terms of their recommendations for how to use opioids and having the providers be more aware of their prescribing habits through just that educational process, said Dr. Monnie Singleton of Singleton Health Center in Orangeburg.

I think that has helped us to sort of see a slight decrease in the number of prescriptions that are written, but old habits are hard to break. There are lots of physicians whove had patients on opioids for long periods of time and its hard to get them off of opioids, Singleton said.

Gleaton reported on what a recovering addict has to say about the nightmare of opioid addiction.

Its a rough life. Its a full-time job being an addict. Theres not a moment you dont chase a pill. I mean if you dont got it, you cant move, you cant function. You barely can sleep, cold sweats. I mean, its horrible. Its horrible knowing that your life is based around a pill, that you cant get out the bed, you cant go to work, you cant do nothing without that fix.

Gleaton reported that addiction experts believe the problem has to be approached as a medical one.

There is not a silver bullet, but I think that the United States government needs to step up to the plate and do more to treating it more kindly and participate in finding ways to treat it more effectively, Singleton said. Incarceration doesnt do a thing.  What they need to do is really embrace the fact that opioid addiction is a medical condition.

And Gleaton reported that the state government is aware that it must play a key role in addressing the problem.

Toward that end, Gov. Henry McMaster this past week put the full force of his office into finding solutions.

Calling the opioid abuse a silent hurricane going on in our state, McMaster said opioid overdoses caused 616 deaths in the state in 2016, nearly double the state's 366 homicides and 331 drunken driving deaths in the same period.

As reported by The Associated Press, the governor announced he is using executive orders to limit opioid prescriptions under two state programs. He directed state health officials to limit initial opioid prescriptions to five days for post-operation pain and other acute needs for Medicaid recipients in the state system. Patients would have to make a request if they need more.

The governor said the state employee benefits system will put similar limitations on its health plans, and he also asked the legislature to consider making such limits state law for all residents.

McMaster declared a statewide public health emergency that will allow authorities to more easily coordinate emergency management, health care and law enforcement resources. And he's convening an opioid emergency response team including law enforcement officials, health providers and state regulators.

The governors actions won praise from the South Carolina Medical Association, whose cooperation is essential.

The SCMA said in a statement: The governors actions recognize the need for professional health care providers to have the ability to care for their patients needs, but also the very real dangers of excessive opioid use in the health care field. The SCMA thanks Governor McMaster for striking that very appropriate balance and so clearly recognizing the importance of doctors having the ability to make the best decisions for their patients.

McMaster said a collaborative approach is the only thing that will work. As the states chief executive, he has put the crisis at the top of the priority list and can take essential steps to bring together parties in just such an effort.
Waha Capital, a leading Abu Dhabi-based investment company, through its UAE healthcare subsidiary Anglo Arabian Healthcare (AAH) has completed the sale of its full equity stake in Proficiency Healthcare Diagnostics (PHD) to Al Borg Medical Laboratories, the GCCs largest chain of private laboratories.

The transaction, which was previously announced on May 21, 2017, involves an equity sale price of approximately Dh184 million for 100 per cent of PHD, with the net impact on Waha Capital being an accounting gain of approximately Dh94 million which will be recorded in the companys Q4 2017 financial statements, Waha said.

AAH acquired a 70 per cent stake in PHD in April 2013 and then increased its stake in the business to 93 per cent. During the holding period, PHD solidified its position as a leading independent diagnostic services provider in the UAE. The company has expanded its footprint since AAHs acquisition by adding new branches in Al Ain, Dubai and the Western Region, which led to a more than doubling of revenues and earnings since 2013.

Waha Capital entered PHD at a key stage in the companys growth trajectory, supporting the business in achieving impressive scale, said Salem Rashid Al Noaimi, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Waha Capital.

Al Noaimi added: The transaction crystalises significant value creation achieved by Waha Capital and AAH. We look forward to delivering more success under AAH as we continue to expand the groups scale in the premium and affordable care segments.

Dr Fawaz Al Bishri, Chairman of Al Borg Medical Laboratories, said: The two companies are leaders in their respective markets and the combined company in the UAE, with a network of 12 laboratories, will be a clear market leader in the private independent laboratory space. Such a combination will allow Al Borg and PHD to benefit from synergies and greater scale, thereby allowing us to accelerate our growth plans across the Middle East.

Anglo Arabian Healthcare, which is a seed asset in Waha Capitals private equity business, operates multiple healthcare platforms with 35 healthcare assets across Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman and Ras Al Khaimah.

Al Borg Medical Laboratories is the largest private laboratory chain in the GCC, offering a wide range of routine and specialty tests to individuals, hospitals, clinics, insurance companies and corporates. As of December 2016, the company had 52 laboratories, 1,150 personnel, and conducted over 7.5 million tests across eight countries in the GCC and Africa. - TradeArabia News Service
The Egyptian government is set to pump in more than E100 billion ($5.6 billion) into infrastructure development projects in the insurgency-hit Sinai peninsula over the next two to three years, said a report.



The coast of the south of the Sina peninsula is peppered with Red Sea tourist resorts, while the northern province is underdeveloped and lacks basic infrastructure and job opportunities, reported Reuters.



Security forces have battled Islamist militants in the mainly desert region, stretching from the Suez Canal eastwards to the Gaza Strip and Israel, since 2013. Militants have killed hundreds of police and soldiers, it stated.



Speaking at a ceremony to inaugurate a development project in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia, President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi said: "We have entrusted the ministry of housing and the engineering authority with a national project of comprehensive urban planning."



"The E100 billion projects would be carried out whether I remain in power or not," he added.


UAEs Ministry of Economy and the Department of Economic Development  Abu Dhabi have officially launched TIP platform, a platform that will host a community of pioneers in technology and innovation locally, regionally and globally.



TIP will also have specialized sub-platforms and will soon launch an award managed by TIP.



The launch took place during a signing ceremony attended by Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, and Saif Mohammed Al Hajeri, chairman of Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, and was signed by Mohammed Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz Al Shehhi, undersecretary for Economic Affairs, and Khalifa Bin Salem Al-Mansouri, undersecretary of the Department of Economic Development  Abu Dhabi.



Al Mansouri said, The Ministry of Economy and the Department of Economic Development  Abu Dhabi sets key priorities around economic diversification and sustainable development, and as a key focus aim build and develop an integrated economic system that interacts with targeted sectors locally and internationally, further developing capacities in the fields of technology and innovation.



Al Hajeri said: The Department of Economic Development Abu Dhabi is committed to supporting the countrys strategic economic initiatives aimed at building an integrated economic system, and we are especially focused on leading Abu Dhabis economic agenda to further enhance its GDP through a knowledge-based economy, with a key focus on technology and innovation as a catalyst for future economic growth.



The agreement between the Ministry of Economy and the Department of Economic Development  Abu Dhabi, will see both parties work closely together to achieve outlined objectives and build a dedicated platform for technology innovation pioneers, which will include specialized sub-platforms, such as a platform to fund emerging projects, another to highlight challenges and constraints facing economic sectors and government organisations in the field of innovation and technology; in addition to a platform to attract inventors and emerging companies both locally and internationally, as well as the TIP awards programme and award ceremony, and other related aspects that will expand in time where jointly agreed on.  TradeArabia News Service
The Abu Dhabi Business Centre of the Department of Economic Development (DED) has launched the 'Electronic Trading' licence initiative, in cooperation with the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), a report said.



The initiative aims to reinforce Abu Dhabi government's trends toward providing smarter electronic services and activate the e-commerce aspect in the business sector Emirate-wide by taking advantage of internet websites and social media channels, reported Emirates news agency Wam.



The initiative was launched at a press conference at Abu Dhabi Economic Media Club headquarters. Participants included Mohammed Munif Al Mansouri, CEO of Abu Dhabi Business Centre, Ahmed Tarish Al Qubaisi, acting director of the Commercial Protection Directorate, and Abdel Rahman Al Marzouqi, director of the Internet Advancement at the TRA.



Khalifa bin Salem Al Mansouri, DED's Under-Secretary, said that the initiative reflects DED's keenness to enhance the emirate's electronic business environment and expand the scale of services in many fields. This will help provide greater protection for the e-commerce work by regulating activities being practised and facilitating the protection of intellectual property rights of projects owners and also providing support to them to carry out their trade activity properly.



He added that e-commerce has gained popularity among consumers in Abu Dhabi, and explained that regulating this matter by issuing a legal trade licence to practice this activity will create a kind of trust between the seller and the consumer considering that the DED, pursuant to its establishment Law No. 02 of 2009, is in charge of regulating the economic activity across the Emirate.



Hamad Al Mansouri, TRA director-general, emphasised TRA's keenness to support all kinds of initiatives and projects that would help enhance the efforts of the UAE e-government through an active partnership with all federal and local governmental bodies concerning the e-commerce sector.



He explained that the E-Commerce Administration at the TRA works on encouraging the regulatory environment and developing electronic initiatives that help secure the electronic transactions and e-commerce, in addition to the implementation of the Federal Law No. 01 of 2006, on e-commerce and transactions whereby it leads these efforts in line with the Cabinet Decision No. 01 of 2008 regarding the issue of the electronic certification service providers regulation.



The TRA director-general said that the Cabinet Decision No. 8/291 of 2006 on the appointment of the TRA as an entity in charge of monitoring the certification services in the UAE aims to licence, certify, monitor and oversee the activities carried out by the electronic certification service providers. This law and the attached regulation apply to the electronic certification service providers in the country, as well as anyone who provides electronic certification services, either directly or indirectly, to the public on a commercial basis, concerning the electronic records, documents and signatures that are related to the electronic transactions and commerce.



Mohammed Al Mansouri explained that DED sought to provide unique services to the investors by introducing the electronic trade activities through which entrepreneurs are allowed to add the electronic trade activities to their existing licences and conduct their business through the websites and social media.



Al Qubaisi said that two main activities were allocated to the electronic trade activity licensing. These are the electronic trade through the websites, and the electronic trade through social media.



He noted that the mechanism of issuing the electronic trade licence by Abu Dhabi Business Centre is carried out when a new permit is requested. This is done by applying via the DED's website or through Abu Dhabi Business Centre's app ADBC, which require the approval of the TRA.



He added that in case an application is submitted to request the addition of the electronic trade activity via the websites or the social media for existing licences, an activity addition application is submitted, after which the TRA's approval is obtained to pay the fees and issue the licence.



Al Qubaisi mentioned that the DED provides the owners of electronic trade licences the "Electronic Tajer" mark along with a serial number for the licence to use it during the promotion of the product or the good that are planned to be marketed. This helps enhance the consumers' trust, protect their rights, and inform them that the DED legally licenses their activity.



He explained that the electronic trade licence is based on three primary standards, the availability of an existing permit, Tajer Abu Dhabi or a commercial licence, the availability of at least one central activity, and the identification of the websites that are used to conduct the operation through the domain name.
Dubai Frame, a 150-m-high, 93-m-wide structure built to resemble a huge picture frame at Zabeel Park offering views of both the historic and modern parts of the city, will open to the public next month.



UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, toured the award-winning cultural landmark ahead of the opening, reported state news agency Wam.



It has been designed by award-winning architect Fernando Donis, the name behind Dubais Porsche Design Towers, and the Dubai Renaissance Tower.



Sheikh Mohammed visited the ground floor museum of the building which showcases the UAE's history, heritage and the metropolis it has become.



He was accompanied by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, and Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and other senior officials.



Sheikh Mohammed then ascended one of the two towers, and crossed the 100-sq-m bridge where he viewed the historic and modern landmarks of the emirate.



The Dubai Frame is a 150-m-high, 93-m-wide structure built to resemble a huge picture frame, through which landmarks representing modern Dubai such as Emirates Towers and Burj Khalifa can be seen on one side, while from the other side, visitors can view older parts of the city such as Deira, Umm Harare and Karama, stated the report.



Lauding the project, Sheikh Mohammed said Dubai Frame was indeed an elegant architectural feat, it added.

He also praised Dubai Municipality's efforts to "achieve this cultural and global attraction, that represents a solid development for the tourism industry in the UAE."
Revenue from leasing land to oil and gas companies in Wyoming jumped by more than 800 percent from 2016 to 2017.

Its no secret that the industry stalled when crude prices fell into the $30 range. The number of oil rigs operating in the state dropped to single digits and companies big and small laid off workers.

Lease buying, when operators stake land claims for future development, also slowed.

But the price of oil now hovers around $60 a barrel, a generally low price, but better than the bottom of the downturn. A new presidential administration has embraced energy development and loosened environmental regulations. The combination has resulted in an online bidding war for state and federal leasing agencies.

Im hopeful that we are looking at a trend: that the market is stabilizing in the state of Wyoming, said Jason Crowder, assistant director for the Office of State Lands and Investments, Trust Land Management Division.

Even though Wyoming has had its boom years, this years lease sales stand out, officials say.

During the downturn of 2016, revenue from the Bureau of Land Management lease sales and the Office of State Lands auctions combined added up to about $16 million. This year, Wyoming netted a combined $146 million, leasing about a half million acres of federal and state land.

Crowder said its unclear what exactly made the revenue shoot up so dramatically, other than the states decision to switch to an online auctioning system which allows out of state companies to easily bid on Wyoming land.

Thats the only thing we can point to, he said. The state was accustomed to bringing in between $5 million and $7 million from leasing state land, even in the boom years. In 2017, the State Lands brought in $60 million.

A spokeswoman for the Bureau of Land Management said there have been a combination of factors, from the location of the land parcels nominated for leases to the BLMs planning efforts that could contribute to the increase.

A lease sale in 2016 was deferred, with those parcels offered at a later auction.

Operators in Wyoming report that the regulatory environment may have improved with a new presidential administration, one more favorable to energy development on public lands.

Certainly that helps people want to go out and drill again, said Bruce Hinchey, president of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming.

Wyoming also represents a good deal for operators compared to some other regions of the country. In the Permian Basin of West Texas, prices for oil field services have risen throughout the year. Wyoming is still a bargain.

They see this as a known area for oil and gas, said Hinchey, referencing the Powder River Basin, where the highest bids per acre came in this year.

How many of the parcels leased this year will be drilled isnt clear.

The bottom line for industry activity in Wyoming will be led by the price of oil, Hinchey said, and crude pricing is both volatile and unpredictable.

Wyoming state lands brought in a total of $61 million in 2017, leasing about 182,000 acres. Federal land lease sales contributed an additional $85 million for nearly 391,000 acres.

The final lease sale of the year, from the Bureau of Land Management, brought in $1.25 million for the state, much less than spring and fall auctions that stoked excitement in the oil and gas community and pushed up the years total income.

A number of the land parcels were contested by environmental groups that argued the leases overlapped with designated sage grouse habitat contradicting BLM policy regarding development in habitat. The agency denied the protests, arguing that the sage grouse areas were open for development according to its management plans.

The December leases were located in four southern counties, including the oil fields of the Denver Basin in Laramie County and the gas region of the southern end of the Greater Green River Basin in Sweetwater County.

The highest bid to close out the year went to Southland Royalty, a Fort Worth, Texas-based company that has been positioning itself in Sweetwater County throughout the year after taking over some Anadarko leases. In June alone, Southland put in 277 applications to drill in the county, more than the total applications submitted in Sweetwater in 2015 and 2016 combined.

Wyoming is currently facing a more than $700 million budget gap due to the retreat of coal, oil and gas revenue over the last few years.

State income from the years oil and gas leasing largely goes to school funding, the farm loan fund and public buildings.
In late June, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared grizzly bears recovered and proposed removing them from the endangered species list for the second time in a decade.

Their numbers hovered just below 700 in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem, a swath of land covering Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks and parts of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.

The delisting was a welcome decision for some, and a feared and criticized one for others.

Many Wyoming ranchers and hunters applauded the announcement. Grizzly bears had been recovered long enough, they said, and no longer needed federal protections. The state could adequately manage the large carnivores, including allowing a hunting season.

While Wyoming had not approved a hunting season yet, it has the framework in place to implement one.

On July 31, bears were officially removed from the endangered species list. Little changed on the ground for the animals. A hunting season is still only a theoretical possibility.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department dispatched biologists and wildlife managers to various corners of the state in the fall to gauge public opinion on how grizzlies should be managed. Talks included information about hunting seasons but were not solely focused on killing.

If hunting was allowed in Wyoming, biologists said only about 10 bears would likely be killed in a hypothetical 2018 season. Wyomings Game and Fish Commission would still need to approve any potential season, and the annual quotas would be based on the prior years population estimates and mortalities.

But the ability for the state to manage bears, or potentially allow people to kill them, is not a foregone conclusion.

Various groups including the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, the Sierra Club and The Humane Society sued the Fish and Wildlife Service in late August saying climate change and human conflicts are already putting too much pressure on the charismatic creature.

And in early December, U.S. officials said they were going to review removing protections from grizzlies because of a recent federal appeals court decision regarding wolves in the Great Lakes. The appeals court said that wildlife officials had not considered the loss of the species historical range in their decision to delist.

The Fish and Wildlife Service plans to release its conclusions by March 31.
The Casper police department will continue implementing recommendations next year drawn from an outside review of the organization commissioned in April.

V.H. McDonald, who was city manager at the time, proposed the report to complement the development of the departments five-year plan. Shortly after, McDonald unexpectedly announced his retirement and his interim replacement terminated police chief Jim Wetzels contract after internal turmoil at the department became public.

Casper City Council then gave an outside company the go-ahead to complete a review of the police department.

I feel it is our responsibility to clean up this mess that has come to light, Councilwoman Amanda Huckabay said in voting to approve the nearly $35,000 expenditure. It is not admirable of us to bring in a new city manager into a mess we created and expect them to clean it up. I think thats our responsibility.

The contractor handling the review, the Center for Public Safety Management, delivered the report in October and the city managers office released it to the public Oct. 27.

The report that came back was largely complementary, noting that police department staff indicated they have noted positive changes in the department since a leadership change in May, an apparent reference to Wetzels ousting.

Among other suggestions, the report recommended further training of supervisors, clearing a backlog of accumulated evidence and hiring part-time staffers to help out in an overworked emergency dispatch center. The report also recommended filling patrol officer positions and promoting officers to fill gaps in the command structure.

According to the report, the police department does not train all supervising officers to investigate allegations of officer misconduct. As a result, certain officers may be saddled with minor investigations that they are not trained to conduct.

Lt. Shane Chaney said in November the department was working on having all supervising officers trained in conducting internal investigations, but funding issues have stood in the way.

The police department also accumulates evidence more quickly than it can be disposed of, according to the report, meaning that the department will have to rapidly purge evidence or be forced to expand its storage facilities. The department already has six storage facilities at three different city properties.

Caspers emergency dispatch center faces a similar problem as others across Wyoming: Its hard to maintain recommended staffing levels at such facilities.

City Manager Carter Napier said the stress of the work made hiring dispatchers difficult.

Dispatchers are among the toughest positions to hire, he said in early November.

Napier has said that he is unsure which or how many recommendations made by the report will be put into practice. The recommendations made in the report are non-binding and will only be implemented at the discretion of city and police officials.

Napier took over as city manager in May, after the report was commissioned. Napier said repeatedly in the lead up to the reviews release that it would serve as a useful dataset for the then-unnamed new chief to draw upon.

Keith McPheeters, who was named police chief Dec. 11, said he plans to implement the suggestions set forth in the report. He declined to specify what recommendations were priorities for the department.

Some of suggestions have already been implemented: Two officers were recently promoted to sergeant, and a sergeant to lieutenant, filling gaps in the command structure as recommended by the review.
A decorated University of Wyoming graduate and former Wind River Reservation resident has been hired by the college as the first Native American program adviser.

Reinette Redbird Tendores hiring comes eight months after the university announced the creation of the UW Native American Research and Cultural Center. The center was established after a push by university officials and Sen. Affie Ellis, a Navajo Nation member and UW graduate. The center officially opened earlier this semester.

Tendores mandate will be to recruit and retain native students as part of a broader university push to increase its diversity. As of fall 2016, less than 13 percent of UW students were minorities. The university in May hired its first chief diversity coordinator.

It is important to acknowledge the culture and sense of community for Native American college students and to be able to recruit others from many different reservations, Tendore said in a UW press release. I would hope that my own personal story of being enrolled, coming from the Wind River reservation and graduating with both of my degrees at UW would encourage and inspire other students to work toward their higher education goals, also here at UW.

Tendore graduated from the university with a bachelors degree in 2009 in elementary education and a masters in 2017 in social work. She was named student of the year in the Division of Social Work in 2017 and earned the Dr. Willena Stanford Commitment to Diversity award.

Her parents are enrolled members of the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribe, according to the release.

Tendore will work with programs such as American Indian Studies, the High Plains American Indian Research Institute and the student-run Keepers of the Fire group. She will report to the dean of students.

In the press release, Tendore praised the new Native American center, calling it crucial to the success of Native students because it provides a safe space for them.

Scholarships

The university also announced the opening of two scholarships for Native students or those with strong ties to the Wind River Reservation.

The Chief Washakie Memorial application deadline is March 1. The scholarships will be varying amounts depending on funds and applicants qualifications, according to a university press release.

Applications will be evaluated based on scholastic ability; school, community and tribal involvement; the potential to the reservation upon graduation; and financial circumstances, according to the release.

The Northern Arapaho Scholarship Committee is also accepting applications from full-time students through March 2 for the next academic year. Applicants must be enrolled members of the tribe.

Applicants should be juniors or seniors next year. They must also describe their involvement in native activities and how they plan to use their education to benefit the Northern Arapaho tribe.

The scholarship covers tuition and fees and a book allowance. Five to six awards are given each year.

Both scholarships are available to students seeking a graduate or bachelors degree, or a certificate. The Washakie award is available to part-time and distance learners.
A Montana judge has temporarily restricted wolf hunting and trapping near Yellowstone and Glacier national parks and imposed tighter statewide limits on killing the predators. Wildlife advocates sued last month claiming that looser hunting rules adopted in the Republican-controlled state could harm wolf populations. State District Court Judge Christopher Abbott on Tuesday ordered officials to reimpose rules from 2020 that allow the killing of only five wolves per person, instead of 20, and forbid the use of snares for trapping. Abbott also limited hunting and trapping near the national parks. Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte criticized the ruling, saying he thinks the judge overstepped his bounds. But state wildlife officials have pledged to comply with the order.
No one wants to be caught off-guard when it comes to their finances. So The Associated Press asked several experts to share their opinion on what will happen with some key issues in 2018 that will directly impact your personal financial well-being. Here's a look at their forecasts:

Q. What should I expect from gas prices?

A. Gas prices are still quite low, historically speaking, and were fairly steady in 2017. But 2018 may be a bit more rocky, according to Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at the Oil Price Information Service.

Kloza estimates the average price for regular gasoline will end 2017 around $2.39 a gallon. A typical family might consume 90 gallons of regular gas each month, so their cost in 2017 has been around $215 per month.

Overall, Kloza expects the average price nationwide to rise to around $2.45 for 2018. That's still well below the more than $3 a gallon that Americans faced from 2011 to 2014. Like every year, prices will vary greatly by region and season.

A word of warning though  hurricanes or recessions could disrupt even the best estimates.

Q. What will the job market look like in 2018?

A. The current strength in the job market should carry into 2018. This is particularly true if you are in a high-demand field like health care, technology or e-commerce, said Andrew Chamberlain, chief economist at jobsite Glassdoor.

"Today's labor market is probably the tightest in a generation so that puts workers in a strong bargaining position with employers," said Chamberlain.

Companies in high-demand fields should offer pay raises and other incentives to help attract and retain workers. Those not in high-demand fields may see some improvements in workplace conditions too.

Experts like Chamberlain are warning job-holders not to get lulled into complacency by the unusually long U.S. economic expansion. As economists say: times are good until they aren't. Chamberlain said this is a good time to prepare for an inevitable downturn by socking away money in savings, polishing your resume and keeping your list of work accomplishments handy.

Q. What about tax changes?

A. This is the big question mark for many. The tax overhaul bill, which passed Congress Wednesday and is awaiting the signature of President Donald Trump, would take effect in 2018.

You may see changes almost immediately in your withholdings from your paycheck. The IRS said earlier this month that it is closely monitoring the bill and expects to issue initial withholding guidance in January, which would allow taxpayers to begin seeing the benefits of the change as early as February.

However, other big changes from the overhaul  such as a lower tax rate or elimination of some deductions  won't be fully evident until you complete your taxes in the spring of 2019.

Generally speaking, the legislation reduces levies on the wealthiest Americans, while making more modest tax reductions for most others. The tax cuts for individuals are temporary, expiring in 2026. And while it doubles the standard deduction used by most Americans, that will also end in eight years.

Q. Will wages go up next year?

A. In short: most likely.

Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said that the tight labor market is expected to remain tight. That means companies will be hard pressed to find and retain workers, and in turn, will likely raise pay.

Unemployment in the U.S. is already at a 17-year low of 4.1 percent and the economy is growing at a good clip, over 3 percent at last measure. But Shepherdson and other economists think this growth period is near its end, which is typically when the best gains come for workers.

He describes next year as the "sweet spot" for individuals to get raises that leave them feeling better off.

The only thing that could throw off this lower unemployment trend  which drives the wage growth  is if significant numbers of workers who've been on the sidelines try to rejoin the workforce.

"That is possible, but it's very low (risk)," he said. "If we were going to see a big surge we would have seen it by now."

Q. How is the housing market shaping up for 2018?

A. This year's turbulent politics, natural disasters and more should play out in the housing market in 2018, said Ralph McLaughlin, chief economist for housing website Trulia.

There will be less enthusiasm for home buying and more enthusiasm for selling, he said. That will help ease two major headwinds in the current market: low inventory and high prices.

However, there will be lower demand for homes prone to natural disasters, following this year's string of hurricanes, wildfires and floods.

There will also be a geographic reaction to the tax plan. The shrunken deduction for home interest and property taxes could dampen enthusiasm for homes in expensive and high-tax areas such as parts of the Northeast and much of the West. However, a major increase in the standard deduction should help boost demand in the Midwest and South, where few mortgages and property tax bills are large enough to warrant itemized deductions.
While taking care of a family member or close friend is one of the greatest gifts a person can give, it often results in high levels of stress and loss of self for the caregiver. One in every five people in the United States is currently a caregiver, and the majority are women.

Did you know?

That caregivers report having health problems almost twice as often as non-caregivers?

That half of those caregivers spend 10 percent of their income on caregiving expenses?

That up to 70 percent of caregivers suffer from depression or isolation or both?

That many caregivers are unaware of the educational resources that exist to help support them?

Family caregiving specialists at the Pima Council on Aging say caregiving is todays issue, just as child care was in the 1980s. Employers also need to recognize and accommodate the reality that so many workers today have significant caregiving responsibilities at home.

An important aspect of becoming a caregiver is to remember to give yourself support and be open to social interactions through support groups. PCOA Help Line staff members are information specialists who will listen and share local resource materials for and about self-care and for temporary relief or respite care. Its a chance to refresh the relationships between you and the person receiving care.

When you take care of yourself, you are better able to help the person needing your love and support.

Next month, my siblings and I will be deep in reflection as we remember the passing of our 98 -year-old father last January, after nearly 14 years of caregiving shouldered by my brother and his wife who offered and took the primary responsibility of caregiving. They took it on fearlessly with loving kindness, patience, tenacity and good humor.

My sister took the lead as long-distance caregiver par excellence. I settled into the role of shorter-distance caregiver who regularly offered to drive over to the high desert of New Mexico for regular visits with Dad, and often just to give them a break.

Our journey is like so many other stories about the dynamics of wading into family caregiving. Along the way, each of us found meaningful ways to appreciate the smallest tasks. Each of the adult children found a specific way to contribute to shouldering the tasks while also finding ways to take care of ourselves.

No small measure of the journey is literally about learning how to complete fundamental caregiver tasks that many of us may take for granted. A host of activities of daily living, done correctly, are critical, repeated tasks, such as transfer from chair to bed, bathing, changing clothing and more.

The demands of caring for a loved one can be stressful, and it is difficult to provide care when you are unsure of what you are doing. Thats why the Pima Council on Aging, in partnership with Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest, offers a one-day training of two sessions specifically for unpaid family caregivers.

The training workshops are available every month. The training is free and the topics covered in the two sessions are designed for those who are caring for someone age 60 or older or someone who has Alzheimers or a related dementia of any age.

To register and get details about the January Family Caregiver Training on Wednesday, Jan. 10, contact Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest at (520) 514-7642 (Ext. 201) or email jbrowne@lss-sw.org

Another aspect of the journey is taking care of yourself and relating to other family caregivers who join a PCOA Caregiver Support Group.

Family Caregiver Support Groups

The Pima Council on Agings Family Caregiver Support Groups are open to anyone providing care for a person age 60 and older, or for someone with Alzheimers disease or a related dementia at any age. These groups are available at several locations throughout Pima County.

There is no charge to attend.

Call 609-1271 for pre-registration for a caregiver who is attending a group for the first time.

If you are a family caregiver, there is no charge to attend these workshops.

PCOA Family Caregiver Support Group locations throughout Pima County are online at www.pcoa.org/family-caregivers/caregiver-support-groups

Family Caregiver Training  Free Workshops

The January Family Caregiver Training Workshop is at Armory Park Center, MPR Room, at 222 S. Fifth Ave. The one-day training is provided in two, back-to-back sessions: 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 1-4 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 10. Family Caregiver Training schedules are online at PCOA at www.pcoa.org/family-caregivers/caregiver-training

The Family Caregiver Training is provided in two sessions:

Workshop I

Basic Infection Control and Prevention

Stress Management

Home Environment Safety

Psychological and Emotional Conditions

Dementia-Specific Care

Grief and End of Life Issues

Activity Planning

Transfers and Positioning

Personal Care

Communication Skills

Nutrition and Food Preparation

Fall Prevention

Communication Techniques

Alzheimers and Related Dementias

Communication Techniques

Workshop II  Hands-on Training

Basic Infection Control and Prevention

Proper Body Mechanics

Evacuation and Fire Safety

Nutrition and Assisting with Eating and Redirecting

Transferring and Walking

Use of Gait Belt

Transferring out of Bed and in a Wheelchair

Repositioning in Bed and in a Wheelchair

Proper Bed Bath Techniques

Catheter Bag Care

Assisting, Positioning and Disposal of a Bed Pan

Hygiene Care
For two years, Arizonas prison system has been under court order to improve health care for inmates.

The Arizona Department of Corrections has treated the order as optional.

Its been so bad that in October, U.S. magistrate judge David Duncan threatened to hold the department in contempt of court and fine it $1,000 for each time it broke the terms of the 2015 settlement. He described the state as having pervasive and intractable failures to comply.

Then came a bombshell KJZZ radio report on Dec. 18. It cited new cases, including that of an inmate who died of a treatable skin cancer that was allowed to penetrate his skull. A doctor who worked in the prisons for health-care contractor Corizon spoke to a reporter at the station about how the company was avoiding the monitors of the prison settlement.

In a hearing Dec. 20, Duncan stood and delivered a rebuke to the department and Corizon, questioning whether they are corrupt, and saying Ive used words like shocked and flabbergasted, but I have run out of words.

Coincidentally, in October I received a letter containing a paper written by Aaron Wamsley, an inmate from Tucson at the local prison complexs Catalina Unit. He wrote it for a class hes taking through Rio Salado College, about his treatment for bipolar disorder. Wamsley, 33, is serving a five-year sentence for methamphetamine-related crimes in Pima County.

His mother, Janet Wollerman, forwarded me the paper on Wamsleys behalf, and it seemed to bring up the kind of problems the judge is so upset about. Here, Im reprinting a slightly edited version thats broken into shorter paragraphs:

As it stands today, the mental health treatment provided in prison is counter-therapeutic, devoid of privacy and shows no signs of improvement on the horizon.

Arizona prison inmates with a serious mental illness have one chance every three months to converse with a doctor. Each meeting is likely to produce a doctor that the inmate is meeting for the first time. The doctors do not introduce themselves to, nor do they perform any psychological evaluations on the inmates.

The average appointment happens within three minutes. The doctor asks the inmate to describe their current symptoms, and then proceeds to stop, start, increase or decrease medications based on how they interpret those symptoms.

Being that a different doctor is used for each visit, the medications and treatment plans can be dramatically changed from visit to visit. There is no opportunity to build doctor-patient trust in this setting. There is also no way to establish or maintain doctor-patient rapport, which, in my opinion, is an essential component of meaningful therapy.

Imagine a private citizen seeking mental health treatment having to see a different doctor every time they had an appointment. Would a reasonable person feel comfortable discussing their most intimate problems with a total stranger? How about a room full of strangers?

Just outside of the room where these doctor visits take place sit at least a dozen inmates waiting for their appointment. There is approximately ten feet of space between the front door of the medical building and the room used for doctor visits. All ten feet is used to cram inmates shoulder-to-shoulder as they wait to be seen by whichever doctor showed up that day.

These doctor visits are done over the Skype application, so no doctor is actually physically present. In the struggle to be heard as well as hear what is being said, the doctor visit becomes a very loud ordeal. So loud, in fact, that along with the prison inmates waiting by the door, everyone within the eight-hundred square foot medical building is privy to the conversation the doctor and inmate are having.

As for doctor-patient confidentiality, there isnt any. These doctor visits are overtly scrutinized by multiple non-medical parties without the consent of the patient, but rather as a consequence of the environment in which the doctor visit occurs.

Surely, the Department of Corrections would seek to improve upon this flawed process, wouldnt they?

For the more than two years that I have been in the custody of the Arizona Department of Corrections, I have had ten doctor visits over Skype with eight different doctors. The crowd of inmates waiting outside of the doctor visits has only increased in size since my first appointment. More and more often these days, I hear other inmates jokingly discussing amongst themselves what they overheard during my doctor visit.

How then do I, or any inmate for that matter, expect to get any therapeutic benefit from attending these should-be-private doctor visits turned group therapy sessions?

The prison officials I posed that same question to merely reminded me that I was in prison. They also stated that I gave up the right to privacy when I broke the law. So, what does the future look like for mentally ill prison inmates in Arizona if the people responsible for administrating mental health treatment for the facility fail to view any of this as problematic?

If Arizona continues to direct more funding towards its Corrections budget than it does for treatment of the drug-addicted and mentally ill, the situation will grow increasingly worse. Currently, prison inmates who have issues that cannot be solved in their quarterly, three minute doctor visit are simply taken to suicide watch.

Once there, the inmate is stripped naked and thrown into a room, in which the only furnishing is a cold, hard cement floor. That is where they will stay also, until they are no longer having the psychological disturbances that brought them to suicide watch.

On more than one occasion, I was told by prison officials that I may need to go to suicide watch after I brought up some concerns I had about the mental health care provided in prison.

So in conclusion, the best step for an inmate to take is one towards silent acceptance of the circumstances they find themselves in. For example, I accept that during my next doctor visit I will be forced to Skype with a doctor I have never met before while a building full of strangers listens in.

I accept that I am not a patient being seen by a doctor but rather a box needing to be checked by the state.

I accept that I am being medicated by a doctor who has put zero effort into diagnosing my condition.

I also accept and constantly remind myself that if I make too much of a fuss about what I am forced to accept, I may wind up naked in a dark room without windows for the rest of my sentence.

Silent acceptance of the circumstances is a much better alternative. Still I wonder, if other inmates take this same approach and never raise these issues, are we making it possible for the Department of Corrections to provide mental health treatment that is counter-therapeutic and devoid of privacy?

Does our silence ensure that there will never be any improvement?
Arizona authorities have made more than 2,000 arrests for driving while under the influence as part of a statewide crackdown over the holiday season.

The Governor's Office of Highway Safety released the preliminary data Tuesday. The statistics cover nearly five weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

In all, officers around the state made more than 63,000 traffic stops during the period.

Of the DUI arrests, most involved misdemeanor charges while 415 were considered extreme cases and another 262 were aggravated cases.
In the last few days, close to 120 nation members of the U.N. voted against President Trump's decree

that Jerusalem be the new capital of Israel. Israeli leader, Mr. Netanyahu, can make a very smart move

in response by releasing something like this: "Thank you very much, President Trump, for the suggestion

that Jerusalem be assigned to be the capital of the nation of Israel. While we do hope that this idea

becomes a reality at some point in the future, we cannot see it at this time. After continued

peace talks and further negotiations with the Palestinians, delicate and controversial two-sided

decisions might be realistic. And when this negotiated outcome for the city of Jerusalem takes shape,

the nation of Israel will thank you, Mr. Trump, for initiating the process." An international quandary is

defused, Israel comes out smelling like a rose, the American president gets his dose of praise, and

everyone wins.

Rich Bailowitz

Northeast side
We continue to keep you in our thoughts and prayers, Senator McCain, as you battle this disease. It's been said that cancer has never faced an adversary like John McCain! Stay strong, and as Vice President Joe Biden encouraged your daughter Meghan, hold on to hope. His stories about your mentoring of his beloved son, Beau, were heartwarming. Be well, Sir, and thank you for your service to our nation.

Respectfully, I ask that you join the call of 9 Senators who requested Donald J. Trump resign the office of the presidency.

We know he is incompetent to thoughtfully perform the most basic of presidential duties. He appears beholden to most dangerous threats (Putin), casting aside longtime allies, and putting our national security in serious danger. He is making the United States look ridiculous to the world, and Congress appears as weaklings, fearful of standing up to his dictatorship-like demands.

We elected you to act on our behalf, and to protect our children and grandchildren. The time is now.

Sheri Lynne Hill

Downtown
How is it that Raul gets a free pass on his accused actions while away from home? He writes an article, demands an apology and that's it? When will the rest of the story come out? Could the Star be in the tank with this individual?
Each year, I renew a contract to provide legal services to inmates in an Arizona county jail.

I have been doing this for 12 years without complications. Lately, though, there has been some extra paperwork that has nothing to do with my work as an attorney. Now, in order to renew my contract, I am being asked to promise that I will not participate in a boycott of Israel.

Arizona adopted a law in 2016 that prohibits the state, along with any of its towns, cities or counties, from contracting with entities that support even the limited boycott of products produced in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Local governmental contracts throughout Arizona now contain this political litmus test.

By design, this pledge inhibits my constitutionally protected right to protest injustices as I see them and spend my money where and how I please if I want to keep doing a job that I care about.

For many years almost every country in the world has deemed Israeli settlements in the occupied territories to be in violation of international law. Yet our government will be giving $40 billion in taxpayer assistance to Israel over the next 10 years and wont withhold even a portion of that funding, in spite of continuing settlement expansion and its devastating effect on a two-state solution.

My interest in the Israeli-Palestinian issue isnt new. I have visited the region previously. I raised a Jewish son. Last spring, he and I traveled together to Israel and Palestine. We met journalists, human rights advocates, Israelis and Palestinians living under Israeli occupation in the West Bank. No one we talked to believed that Israel would ever dismantle the more than 100 Israeli settlements peppered through the West Bank. It was painfully clear to us that Israel will not stop, and in fact has accelerated, its de facto policy of permanent Israeli occupation. On the other hand, it will never allow equal rights for the 2.8 million West Bank Palestinians in a single state.

In the face of U.S. financial support for Israel, the boycott movement has become one of the most effective forms of protest against Israels violations of international law. The boycott of settlement products and companies that support them has been formally endorsed, in one form or another, by Lutheran, Episcopalian, Mennonite, Methodist, Unitarian, Quaker and Presbyterian denominations, as well as organizations, such as Jewish Voice for Peace, the World Council of Churches and Amnesty International.

Rational minds can disagree on whether the movement to boycott the occupation is effective or even appropriate. But do our Arizona legislators need to chip away at our First Amendment rights to express our opinions on this issue? By this logic, what would limit Arizonas Legislature from deciding they wont do business with people and companies that support a boycott of Trump family businesses, or tobacco companies, or even the Democratic Party?
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Guwahati, (IANS): Assamese peasant leader and RTI activist Akhil Gogoi on Wednesday walked out of a district jail and vowed to launch a massive movement against the Centres move to grant citizenship to the Hindu Bangladeshis by passing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016.

I am happy to come out of the jail today. The charges framed against me by the BJP-led government in Assam were all baseless and this is why the Gauhati High Court has quashed the detention order against me under the National Security Act (NSA), said Gogoi to the media waiting outside the Goalpara District Jail.

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Gogoi was arrested by the Assam Police on charges of sedition on September 23, after he spoke at a public rally at Moran. On September 24, Gogoi was booked under the NSA.

Gogoi who leads the farmers body Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) challenged the detention order under the NSA and the Gauhati High Court has quashed the detention order after hearing the petition filed by Gogois counsel.

However, immediately after the High Courts order, the Goalpara police arrested Gogoi and sent him to judicial custody.

The Chief Judicial Magistrate of Goalpara after hearing the case on Tuesday granted bail to Gogoi.

The Assam government has alleged that I had links with the ULFA and Maoists and framed me under NSA. However, they failed to prove the charges in the court and hence the court released me, he said adding that there was no democracy in the BJP-ruled Assam.

The BJP wants to settle the Hindu Bangladeshis in Assam by amending the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. However, we are not going to tolerate any Bangladeshis who had entered the state after March 25, 1971.

We are going to oppose the move to pass the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 in Parliament, Akhil said.

Asked about the publication of a part of the draft National Register of Citizens (NRC), Gogoi said that KMSS wants a flawless NRC which helps in detecting and deporting the illegal Bangladeshis living in the state.
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TCN News

Hyderabad: Hyderabad based Indo-US Academy of Health and Hospital Administration established by Sahayata Trust has announced admissions for various medical postgraduate programs for the academic session 2017-18.

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The hospital has obtained the affiliation from Osmania University (OU) Hyderabad to conduct Ten Advanced Post Graduate Diploma Courses in Healthcare for the benefit of thousands of graduates with a view to train them for employment in healthcare industry.

The Advance PG Diploma courses in Healthcare are two-year duration courses consisting of four semesters with theory classes, practical training and exams in first and second semesters and only practical training and practical examinations in the third and fourth semesters.

Candidates are required to submit the application through online mode. For submitting an online application, the candidates will have to visit the websites www.osmania.ac.in and www.ouadmissions.com. Admission to all the courses is by centralised counselling and is based on merit of the qualifying examination.

These courses will be employment oriented and will ensure that skilled manpower is provided to meet the increasing demand for healthcare professionals. We have entered into an agreement with few hospitals who will be hiring the pass outs, said Prof. Mohammad Masood Ahmed, Director of Indo-US academy of health and hospital administration, The details of Programs offered are as under :

1. Advanced P.G. Diploma in Echo Cardiography and Sonography  20 seats

Program Director: Dr. S. Haider Khan, MD, DM (Cardiology), Interventional Cardiologist

2. Advanced P.G. Diploma in Emergency Medical Care  20 seats

Program Director: Dr. Zia Ur Rahman, MBBS, D.Ortho, DNB, FASM, FRJ, Consultant Orthopaedic.

3. Advanced P.G. Diploma in Anesthesia Technology  20 seats

Program Director: Dr. MD Abdul Moiz, MBBS, DA, Anaesthesiologist

4. Advanced P.G. Diploma in Healthcare Management  20 seats

Program Director: Prof. Mohammad Masood Ahmed, MHSc (Public Health), M.Sc (Psycology), MBA, M.Com., MA(Economics), M.Phil

Director, IAHHA & Indo-US Hospital

Professor of Healthcare Management

5. Advanced P.G. Diploma in Medical Informatics  20 seats

Program Director: Prof. Mohammad Masood Ahmed

6. Advanced P.G. Diploma in Dialysis Technology  10 seats

Program Director: Dr. Raja Ram, MD, DM (Nephro.), Professor of Nephrology, Consultant Nephrologist

7.Advanced P.G. Diploma in Operation Theatre Technology  10 seats

Program Director: Dr. G. Venkat Reddy, MBBS, MS (General Surgery), General Surgeon, Former Professor & HOD of Surgery Osmania Hospital.

8. Advanced P.G. Diploma in Emergency Care  10 seats

Program Director, Dr. Aslam Abbas, MD (General Medicine), FIDM, MBA, Professor of Internal Medicine, Consultant Physician

9. Advanced P.G. Diploma in Medical Laboratory Technology  10 seats

Program Director: Dr. Zakia Abid, MD (Pathology), Professor of Pathology, Former Principal of Deccan College of Medical Sciences

10. Advanced P.G. Diploma in Physician Assistant  10 seats

Program Director: Dr. Maqdoom Mohiuddin, MBBS, MHM, Consultant Physician

Candidates with Bachelor Degree with at least one life science subject are eligible for the course. It is also suitable for the candidates of MBBS, BDS, BHMS, BAMS, BUMS, BPT, Pharma-D, B-Pharmacy, B.Sc (Life Sciences).

The last date for submitting the filled in application is January 12, 2018. Application with a late fee of Rs 200 will be allowed to be submitted until January 22, 2018. The date and venue for admission counselling is January 29, 2018, starting at 10.00 am at the office of the Directorate of Admissions, Osmania University Campus, Hyderabad.
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By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter

Irfan Habib, a student of Mathematics at Jadavpur University, made his family and community proud by winning two gold medals during his undergraduate at the 62nd Convocation of the University held on December 24. Irfan topped his Mathematics Department with 93% marks for his B.SC degree along with securing the highest marks in the entire Science Stream.

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Though his family members and teachers are excited at his achievement, Irfan has only continued his excellent work at the university and had secured the top position in the two previous years. In fact, he had been awarded a stipend from the JU Mumbai Alumni Association for topping among all other science departments of the university at the undergraduate level.

The Convocation was held on the university main campus at Jadavpur on Sunday and was attended by former President of India, Pranab Mukherjee and the Governor of West Bengal Keshri Nath Tripathi, Vice Chancellor Suranjan Das and many other University professors and administrators. Students from undergraduate to PhD. courses were honoured in this Convocation.

Irfan is the son of Md. Saifuddin Ahmed, a senior madrasa teacher under Madhyamik Siksha Kendra scheme and belongs to Sonakur village of Haringhata block in Bengals Nadia district. After finishing his primary and secondary education from Nadia, Irfan pursued his Madhyamik and Higher Secondary from Front Page Academy, a residential public educational institution situated at North 24 Parganas districts Haroa locality. There, he secured above 90% result for the two board exams in 2012 and 2014 respectively. Irfan is currently pursuing M.sc in Mathematics at Jadavpur University.

Irfan has an elder sister who is also pursuing M.Sc in Mathematics. According to their father, both his children have had a keen interest in Mathematics from their early childhood. Observing his perseverance and hardworking, Ahmed was optimistic that his son would achieve something greater in his academic life. He said, after his Madhyamik and Higher Secondary where he secured above 90%, I was optimistic that he would achieve something praiseworthy. But I never thought that he would be rewarded with this kind of accolades. He added he spends most of his earnings for the education of his children.

In a conversation with TwoCircles.net, Irfan said,though I earned this position for the last three years, the amount of happiness this time cannot be expressedto be awarded medals by the honourable Governor in the august presence of the former President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee was a wonderful experience. He added,  I wish to be a Professor and contribute something to the field of abstract algebra as a part of my research areas.

The Head of his alma mater, Front Page Academy, Md. Quamruzzaman applauded Irfan for his success. He said, Besides his meritoriousness, he has many positive qualities. He prays five times even without any break. We are proud of him for the reason that the Academy was able to guide the meritorious students like him properly in every aspect.
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By Ram Puniyani

The ghastly incident in Rajsamand, Rajasthan, showed the impact which Hate other can create. On December 6, Shambhulal Regar, an ex-marble trader hacked to death a Muslim worker Afrazul Khan. Afrazul, a labourer, was called by Shambhu on the pretext of giving him some work. Many immigrants like him from West Bengal have been staying in Rajsamand working on the construction of roads and other sundry occupations. The horrific part of the incident was that Shambhu got his 14-year-old nephew to shoot the incident on video and then to upload the clip. The incident must belong to hate crime of the worst order. Killing with an axe then burning the body and video shooting it!

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While Shanbhu has been arrested, the degree of support for such crimes is also becoming visible. One lawyer has offered Rs 50,000 to Shambhus family. Countrywide nearly three lakhs have been collected for his family. One Updesh Rana of Hindu Sanatan Sangh, a rightwing group, has been arrested as he had called for a rally in support of Shambhulal Raiger in nearby Udaipur. Police had to disperse the crowds assembling in support of Shambhu. Much more are looking up to Shabbhulal as a hero. This incident reminds one of the deeds done by Dara Singh (Rajendra Singh Pal), an activist belonging to Bajrang Dal, who had burnt Pastor Graham Stains in Orissa. Upholding these acts of killers by large sections who are sympathising with these crimes just goes to show the spread of Hate ideology, worsening by the day.

PUCL report on the incident says that Shambhulal was a clone of the RSS hate factory and indulged in the gruesome hate crime. Frightened by the crime many Bengali immigrants have left for their state. This act seems to be even worse than the killing of Pastor Stains, who was burnt alive by Dara Singh. On that occasion the then President of India K.R. Narayanan said that the The killings belong to the worlds inventory of black deeds. Dara Singh was active in Hindu right-wing groups and was eulogized by a section of Hindu communalists; they also fought his case and worked for reducing his death penalty to life imprisonment.

Shambhu has been a marble trader, fairly successful as per accounts. His business got a setback after the demonetization and he started spending more time on whatsapp and became active on social media. As per what he said in the video, he was full of hate for Muslims mainly as he perceived that love jihad by Muslim men is luring Hindu women, which he felt is the danger to Hindu community. He shouted the terms Babri Masjid, Padmavati, love jihad on the video and called for revenge against these people.

Some ideologues are trying to compare this act with the murder of a Hindu boy in Karnataka, who was castrated also. It is true that society is witnessing different hate crimes. While some non-Muslims also suffer, the major victims of these are religious minorities and Dalits. Still the major brunt from last some time is being borne by the Muslim community. The communal violence, the intensity of which has been worsening during last few decades takes place mainly as the divisive ideology has been dominantly increasing in degree during this period and has been going up exponentially during last three years in particular. One does recall the seeds of this ideology do come from the colonial period, the roots of which lie in false perceptions about forcible conversions, jizya tax and temple destructions among others. The misconceptions have been intensified and new grounds have been prepared for adverse propaganda promoting hate.

While the earlier misconceptions have been there, the global terrorism, with roots in politics of oil, has worsened the scenario.

In India from the decade of the 1980s, so-called appeasement of Muslims, personal laws, their illiteracy, poor hygiene, large families have been used in a negative way to paint a dark picture of the community. While Christian demonization is structured around conversion, the Muslim demonization has gone in to add to the issues of the Holy cow, (beef eating and cow slaughter), love jihad, Ghar wapasi to name the few.

What has changed during last few years in the understanding of the likes of Shambhu and killer of Akhlaq, Pehlu, Junaid or floggers of Una, is that they feel empowered due to the utterances from those in power. The subtle message percolated down is that its their government and they can get away with the heinous crimes. When Central ministers come and put tricolour on the body of accused of the murder of Akhlaq, what message will go down? The honour conferred on the murder accused of Akhlaq is what promotes a Shambhu to come forward and engineer the crime of the nature unheard of in the near past.

Equating this ghastly crime with some other murder in Karnataka is to distract the attention from the basic issue of growing communalisation, the spread and intensity of Hate other ideology constructed around emotive issues. While law should be enforced, what about the propaganda, rumours which have been percolated and are being spread through the specially set up media cells employing hundred of youth to spread the divisiveness? What message the potential Shambhus get when they know that not only our Prime minister is calculatedly keeping quiet on such crimes, he also is the follower of the peddlers of hate on the Twitter etc.?

The country which had witnessed the coming together of people of all religions through development of interactive vibrant culture all through the history, with contributions from people of all the religions, the country which witnessed people of all religions rubbing shoulders during the freedom movement of the country, needs to be brought together yet again and Hate and misconceptions generated by the ideology of religious nationalism of the likes of Roger and Updesh Rana need to be overcome by the humane morality inherent in different religions.
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Lucknow, (IANS): The Uttar Pradesh government kicked up a political storm on Wednesday with the process of withdrawal of 20,000 political cases being initiated, including eight against present Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

According to sources, Governor Ram Naik has okayed the withdrawal of many cases based on recommendations sent by the ruling BJP in the state.

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The cases included many against BJP leaders, a present Union Minister and the Chief Minister.

As many as eight cases against the monk-turned-politician are to be withdrawn, sources said.

One of the cases to be withdrawn is against Union Minister of Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla.

The state government recommended the withdrawal of cases a day before it tabled an amendment Bill  Uttar Pradesh Law (Composition of Offences and Abetment of Trials) in the state assembly during the winter session on December 21.

Yogi faces many cases, including breach of prohibitory orders in 1995. In this matter even a non-bailable warrant was issued against him when he was Gorakhpur MP.

A case is also against Union Minister Shukla, legislator Sheetal Pandey, BJP leaders Rakesh Singh, Sameer Singh, Narendra Singh, Vishwakarma Dwivedi, Vibhrat Chand Kaushik, Upendra Shukla, Shambhu Sharan Singh, Bhanu Pratap Singh and former state Minister Ramapati Ram Tripathi.

Chief Minister Adityanath had announced on the floor of the House, during the winter session that his government would withdraw all such cases which were slapped by predecessor governments against political opponents and innocent people.

Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders have lashed out at the decision. Spokesman of the party Naved Siddiqui told reporters that the decision has proved that the ruling BJP has nothing to do with the people and was only concerned about white washing its own wrong doing.

Congress Akhilesh Pratap Singh said that since the Supreme Court was soon to hear cases against tainted politicians, the BJP government in the state was trying to shrug off the taint by withdrawing cases against its leaders, including the Chief Minister.

Congress legislator Deepak Singh accused the state government of double speak.

On one side they were introducing UPCOCA-like legislations and on other they are allowing their own Chief Minister go scot free in serious cases, he said in a statement released by the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee.

The SP government under its previous tenure had also withdrawn 1,800-plus cases.
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Patna, (IANS): More than 300 leaders and workers of the ruling Janata Dal-United in Bihar on Wednesday resigned from the party in support of senior party leader Uday Narain Choudhary who has revolted against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Most of the workers, including three block unit heads, resigned from the primary membership of the party in Maoist-affected Imamganj assembly constituency in Gaya district, considered a stronghold of Dalit leader Choudhary, said a leader close to him.

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This comes a day after Choudhary, former Speaker of Bihar Assembly, openly expressed his support for Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad, the main political rival of Nitish Kumar.

Lalu Prasad is currently lodged in a jail in Jharkhands Ranchi after being convicted in a fodder scam case by a court last week.

In last three months, Choudhary has repeatedly attacked his own party government in the state and targeted Nitish Kumar, who is also the party President.

However, JD-U senior leader R.C.P. Singh, known as the eyes and ears of Nitish Kumar, said that party will not issue notice to Choudhary and there is no decision to take action against him.

It will be a wastage of paper to issue notice to him, he said.

In last assembly polls in 2015, Choudhary was defeated by former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi in Imamganj assembly seat after which he was sidelined.

But after Nitish Kumar dumped the RJD and the Congress to join hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party to form the government in July, he has publicly rebelled against the Chief Minister.
Prince Harry has conducted Barack Obamas first ever public interview since leaving the office of President of the United States after eight years and two terms on BBC Radio 4s Today programme. One of the main topics discussed was life after leaving the Oval Office and how that kind of transition affects you personally. Obama said that his very first thought upon leaving office was that of gratefulness towards his wife Michelles support through the whole Presidency.

Obama said that the former First Lady was his partner through the whole process, describing her as spectacular, funny, and warm. He said that she is not naturally inclined to politics, and that despite this, she was as good a First Lady as [there has] ever been, doing so largely in support of his own ambitions.

Barack on Michelle: We are still each others best friends

Obama said that he and Michelle felt a sense of completion at the end of his Presidency, since they came out of eight hectic years with a strong relationship left intact and remained each others best friends throughout the whole thing, with two daughters blossoming into amazing young women. He said that they have both stayed whole and fundamentally unchanged, despite the toll a Presidency takes on your life, so on the whole, that has to count as a success.
Many of us dread getting the latest electricity bill, especially during the winter months. However, a woman in Erie, Pennsylvania couldnt believe her eyes which she checked her electricity account online. You could say the electric company had laid a heavy charge against her in the sum of a huge $284 billion.

Woman receives shock from online electricity bill

Mary Horomanski, 58, was shocked, to say the very least, when she checked her account online to find a whopping outstanding balance of $284 billion. Dont quote me on this, but I'm pretty certain that amount could power a whole state for a month.

Business SPIT is out! https://t.co/GClr1bSm6W  Simon Morice (@simon_morice) December 26, 2017

Horomanski told the Erie Times-News that her eyes almost popped right out of her head when she saw the amazing total due on her electricity bill. She said the family had just installed their Christmas lights and she started wondering if they had put them up all wrong.

Misplaced decimal point leads to billion dollar error

According to a report by the Associated Press, it wasnt all bad news  Horomanski was being given a full year to pay off the bill, with a minimum payment of only $28,156. Obviously, the shocked electricity consumer believed there was some kind of billing error. When her son called Penelec, the electricity company in question, it turned out there was, indeed, an error.

As in the decimal point was very much in the wrong place. The actual bill turned out to be only $284.46 which, while still pretty high, was a little more manageable and at least they didn't turn off her power in the meantime.

The Erie Times-News quotes a spokesman for First Energy, Penelecs parent company, as telling them he had never previously seen an electricity bill running into billions of dollars.

However, Mark Durbin did say the company was appreciative that Horomansky reached out to them about the error.

RepublicanAmerican - Woman stunned to find electric bill listed as $284 billion - ERIE, Pa. (AP)  A Pennsylvania woman says she went online to check her electric bill and was stunned at the amount  more than $284 billion. The Erie Times-News reports... https://t.co/EUdlgLczXO  Connecticut News (@ctnewsus) December 26, 2017

Horomanski did tell the newspaper that she was inspired to add something to her Christmas wishlist  she reportedly told her son she wanted a heart monitor, to handle any future bill shocks.

Technology glitches can lead to huge bills

According to the Huffington Post, this isnt the first time someone has been hit with an exceptionally high bill. They quote the case of a British woman who was on vacation in South Wales in August 2012 and bought herself a throwaway cellphone because her existing one was having problems picking up the local signal. After a technical glitch with the cellphone, she ended up getting billed for over $42,000. While the cellphone was cheap, it turned out not to be an affordable alternative after all.
All around the world millions of people will be celebrating Christmas and will be enjoying the holiday season. Not all countries and cultures celebrate in the same ways and with the same traditions. Here is a list of unusual Christmas Traditions and folklore from around the world.

10. Great Britain- stirring the pudding

Christmas pudding, also known as plum pudding has been a tradition in Great Britain since medieval times. The pudding consists of fruits, eggs, suet, ginger, cloves cinnamon, nutmeg, and molasses.Another special ingredient added are coins.

During the making of the pudding, it is the tradition for each family member to take a turn stirring the batter and making a wish. The tradition is supposed to bring good luck and prosperity.

9. Norway- hiding all the brooms

Hiding all the brooms is a tradition that happens on Christmas Eve in Norway. Families all across Norway hide their brooms out of superstitions. Legend has it that on Christmas Eve witches and spirits come out and still brooms to fly around. With hiding all the brooms it gives people an excuse to clean up.

8. Japan- KFC Day

Eating Kentucky Fried Chicken has grown in popularity in Japan. Back in the 1970s KFC sales were down in Japan, so in 1974 the company decided to launch an advertising campaign to help bring their sales up.

The company came up with Kentucky for Christmas, which was a great success and ever since has gained popularity throughout the decades.

7. Ukraine- Christmas spider

In the Ukraine, many families decorate their Christmas trees with spider webs.This tradition comes from folklore and it is also where the idea of tinsel is believed to come from.

The legend is about a poor women who had children and could not afford much. One day a small pinecone fell on the floor in the small house. As time went by the tree grow bigger as Christmas approached and the children were upset that they had nothing to use to decorate it. It is believed that spiders who were also living in the house heard the children and decided to surprise them by decorating the tree.

The spiders covered the tree with webs so that when the children woke up their tree was decorated.

6. Germany- Christmas shoes

You wont find Christmas stockings hanging from the chimney with glee in Germany. Children in Germany leave a boot or a shoe freshly polished out instead on December 6th. The shoe is filled with candy and chocolate for the children to enjoy.

5. Italy- Befana

In Italy, Santa does not deliver presents to children according to tradition Befana does. Befana first appeared in 1549 in a poem written by Agnolo Firenzuola. He described Befana as an old women dressed in rags, who on the nights of January 5th and 6th and flies on her broom bringing gifts. She gets into homes through chimneys and keyholes and will leave candy for good children and onions and coals to bad children.

4. Iceland- Yule Cat

The Yule Cat of Iceland is not your typical house cat. The Yule Cat is considered a monster to children. If children do not behave or are not dressed properly, the cat will come and take the children away to be eaten. Families exchange winter clothing to keep warm and leave an offering to the Yule Cat so they are not victims.

3. Sweden- Gavle Goat

The Gavle Goat dates back to pagan times in Sweden. It was originally used in hopes to bless and to help grow crops that would be used for winter. Over time the tradition changed and people started dressing up as goats and gave presents out. Sweden puts a huge goat made out of straw on display during advent and is custom to decorate it with ribbons.

many people hang goat ornaments from their Christmas trees as a reminder of the tradition.

2. Greece- Kallikantzaros

Kallikantzaros are known as Christmas goblins. According to Greek folklore, Kallikantzaros live underground but come out December 25th to January 6th. The goblins try to destroy the world tree hoping that the world will collapse, but they never get to finish before Christmas morning. This lead to traditions of fireplaces burning all night long and colanders left on front porches. By keeping them busy the goblins lose all sense of time and disappear in the morning light. People have claimed that they look like small devils.

1. Austria- Krampus

Krampus is the opposite of Santa and considered to be a devil.

He is an ugly beast half goat, half demon with long horns on his head. Krampus comes out to punish the naughty children. It is believed that Krampus drags children away not to be seen again. It is believed the legend was created in the 1600s and continues to gain in popularity around the world.
While gaining acceptance with an increasing number of Americans, the legalization of Marijuana remains a hotly debated topic. While some states seem open to the idea of additional revenue in the form of a tax on cannabis sales, others arent ready for the potential problems legal weed can bring.

Illinois still not onboard with marijuana legalization

Just yesterday, current Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner took a strong stance against legal marijuana, stating it would be a mistake for the state to approve such a measure. Per his statement, more studies must be done to fully understand the ramifications experienced by other states that have legalized cannabis.

Calling Marijuana Legalization a massive human experiment, Rauner wants to see how the lives of people in Colorado and California are affected by legal cannabis use.

Despite his recent anti-cannabis statement, the governor has supported marijuana in the past. In 2015, Rauner showed his approval of medical marijuana by establishing a program to allow some patients use the drug. Additionally, the state government passed a bill that decriminalized cannabis, which the governor signed.

Decriminalized not legalized

Nonetheless, decriminalization is not the same as legalization. Under existing law, an individual caught with ten grams of pot or less will receive a fine instead of a jail sentence. While still illegal, marijuana possession is essentially a civil offense where offenders will not be criminally prosecuted.

Advocates see legalization as a much-needed windfall for economy

Advocates for cannabis legalization in Illinois say the state is losing new jobs and millions of dollars in revenue under current prohibition laws. Travel writer and marijuana supporter Rick Steves visited the state and spoke to a joint House-Senate committee earlier this week.

During testimony, he held the belief that marijuana is here to stay and prohibition discourages economic development. Instead of building more prisons, Illinois needs laws that allow the responsible use of marijuana by adults.

One big hurdle to legal pot

Marijuana legalization still has one colossal adversary  the federal government.

Under current U.S. law, cannabis is an illegal Schedule I drug, which puts it in the same category as LSD and heroin. So as more and more states approve measures to allow citizens to use pot, either medicinally or recreationally, the federal government may at some point step in and negate much of the progress made in recent years toward legal weed.
On Sunday, a report was published by Vanity Fair which quoted a source close to Melania Trump claiming that she isn't happy about being the First Lady. In response, Melania was not pleased and made sure to fire back.

Melania on media

When Donald Trump announced that he was running for president back in June 2015, he did so on the floor of Trump Tower with his family standing right behind him. The consensus at first was that Trump was not too serious about running, and was possibly only doing so to help boost the ratings on his reality show. However, as time moved on the former host of "The Apprentice" gained popularity he was able to ride that momentum to the GOP nomination at the Republican National Convention.

It was at the convention where Melania Trump was given his first time to shine in the form of a speech in primetime. Despite getting positive reviews upon first glance, Melania quickly received criticism after it was revealed that her speech was partly plagiarized from one given by Michelle Obama years earlier. Since then, Melania has kept a relatively low profile as she's kept her distance from the president's policies and rhetoric, and instead focused on her own plans, including an controversial cyberbullying campaign. After an article in Vanity Fair came out on Sunday reporting that Melania never wanted to be the first lady, an offical statement was released in response on November 27.

In a statement released on Monday afternoon, Melania Trump took a page out of Donald Trump's book by attacking the so-called "liberal media." "Once again part of the liberal media, this time Vanity Fair, has written a story riddled with unnamed sources and false assertions," Melania wrote.

Melania Trump, says those close to the family, never thought she'd actually become the First Ladyand maybe that's why her East Wing still has only nine employees https://t.co/jX15H3IZFd  VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) November 27, 2017

The first lady went to label Vanity Fair "shameful" for writing "salacious and false stories" about her views on being the first lady.

The statement continued, suggesting that the media turn their attention to Melania Trump's "positive work as First Lady," as well as being a "supportive wife and mother." In conclusion, Melania said she was "honored" to serve in the role.

Next up

While Melania Trump defends herself from an article in Vanity Fair, Donald Trump spent his morning lashing out at the the rest of the media.

In an early morning tweet, the president called for a "fake news trophy" to be awarded to the news outlet that publishes the most misleading stories about him, though he made sure to note that Fox News shouldn't be in consideration.
After Donald Trump announced that he would be moving the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, backlash quickly followed from the United Nations and others around the world. However, Israel was so happy that they have decided to name a new Train Station after the president.

Trump in Israel

During the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump used many talking points to appeal to his base of supporters as well as other conservatives. While tackling illegal immigration, Islamic terrorism, cutting taxes, and repealing Obamacare were at the top of the list, the former host of "The Apprentice" would also throw a bone to Israel from time to time, vowing to move the United States' embassy in the country to Jerusalem, which has long been disputed land with Palestine.

While Congress passed a bill to make the move back in 1995, every president since has signed a waver to avoid doing so due to potential international political backlash. Despite signing the waver twice in 2017, Trump announced he would no longer do so moving forward, which resulted in celebration from Israel. As reported by the Associated Press on December 27, Trump's decision has earned his name to be used to honor of a new train station being built in the area.

Israeli minister unveils plan to extend train line into Jerusalem's Old City, with station named after President Trump built at the Western Wall. https://t.co/TM6AiGjMcG  The Associated Press (@AP) December 27, 2017

According to reports on Wednesday, Israels' Transportation Minister Israel Katz announced that a new train station being built next to the Western Wall will be named after Donald Trump "following his historic and brave decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel." The proposal would extend Jerusalem's planned high-speed rail line that links Tel Aviv to the Western Wall, which is considered the holiest site where anyone of Jewish faith can attend and pray.

Twitter reacts

After the news broke off the train station in Israel being named after Donald Trump, critics lashed out on Twitter. "Israel minister sees nothing wrong with a guy who called Neo Nazis 'good people,' I think Ive heard it all," one tweet read.

Ok how many derailments per week are they expecting ? I figure at least 4 !



I can see the U.S. withdrawing their ambassador from Israel in 2021 and stop all aid till they return to the original UN boarders of 1948 !  ChisMckimie (@ristopherrocks) December 27, 2017

Is the station going to be called "Dotard station"  Hal Wright (@HalWright3) December 27, 2017

Hear ye, hear ye! Get your tickets for the apocalypse, Armageddon, and the rapture at Trump train station in Jerusalem.   BobCarter (@BobCarter385761) December 27, 2017

"Hear ye, hear ye!

Get your tickets for the apocalypse, Armageddon, and the rapture at Trump train station in Jerusalem," another tweet added. "Will his name be in gold letters, 20 feet tall?" one Twitter user wondered.

The Israelis know how to get Trump to do what they want, with no trade offs, simply appeal to his ego, and the US will do whatever you want. Sad for America.  David Fowler (@DavidFo23500469) December 27, 2017

There goes @realDonaldTrumps fragile ego inflating again  Andrew Cristancho (@acristancho) December 27, 2017

What will they call it? Something like "Grab Her"?  Vince R - C.R. (@vcreedy) December 27, 2017

Israel minister sees nothing wrong with a guy who called Neo Nazis good people.



I think Ive heard it all.  Brittany Samaras (@SamarasBritt) December 27, 2017

"Is the station going to be called 'Dotard station,'" an additional tweet asked.

"OK how many derailments per week are they expecting ? I figure at least 4!" yet another tweet stared. "The Israelis know how to get Trump to do what they want, with no trade offs, simply appeal to his ego, and the US will do whatever you want. Sad for America," a social media user wrote. The negative reaction continued as opposition to Trump's decision on the embassy in Israel remains a hot topic.
Donald Trump has made it clear that he's not a fan of Illegal Immigration. While that has been the case in public, a new report claims his views appear even more extreme in private.

Trump on immigration

When Donald Trump first kicked off his campaign for president back in June 2015, he did so by pushing a message of a border wall between the United States and Mexico, while accusing illegal immigrants of being "rapists" and "murderers." Trump's immigration hard-line continued throughout his campaign and has only picked up stream since his inauguration last January.

Whether it's his controversial travel ban to several Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East, or his rumored proposal to separate families at the southern border, the former host of "The Apprentice" has made his thoughts known on the issue. As reported by The New York Times on December 23, Trump has also set his sights on Haiti where he allegedly believes many of the immigrants from the African nation have AIDS.

Trump said Haitian immigrants to US "all have AIDS": report https://t.co/sEJ0SMQHXk pic.twitter.com/51KWFZvLV2  The Hill (@thehill) December 23, 2017

In a report by the New York Times on Saturday, Donald Trump allegedly made disparaging remarks about immigrants from Haiti and other countries during a meeting last June.

Trump reportedly said Haitian immigrants "all have AIDS," while worrying that those from Nigeria would never want to "go back to their huts" in Africa. The president also expressed frustration that immigrants from Middle Eastern countries, such as Afghanistan, come from a "terrorist haven."

Friends say President Trump grew to see immigration as a zero-sum issue: What is good for immigrants is bad for America https://t.co/Acz1OG2kJj  The New York Times (@nytimes) December 23, 2017

Twitter response

After the news broke of Donald Trump's alleged remarks about immigrants, critics wasted no time firing back.

"Mentally ill people should not be allowed to serve as president. It is in the constitution. I think its the 25th amendment. Its time America! Wake up wake up before its too late!" one tweet read.

I have no doubt he uttered these words & is mostly the same reason he got elected. Ignorance is all around us folks. It's up to us who are more enlightened to make the changes for all Humanity. #ChristmasWish  Willow Shakes (@Willow_Shakes) December 23, 2017

And its coming. Just hope he doesn't take us with him.  Nan Stegall (@StegallNan) December 23, 2017

"OMG This man just has to validate his bigotry everyday!" an additional tweet stated.

"Man, what next? There is no WH staff to slow this down. Pop the popcorn, this is going to be awesome!! I love the smell of self destruction," another Twitter user wrote.

NEVER get used to it.  Nancee Compton (@nanceecisme) December 23, 2017

Mentally ill people should not be allowed to serve as president. It is in the constitution. I think its the 25th amendment. Its time America! Wake up wake up before its too late!  Patricia Moss (@equalizerpm) December 23, 2017

Is there no bottom to the void that is Trump's racist ignorance?  Ernest A. Canning (@cann4ing) December 23, 2017

"I have no doubt he uttered these words & is mostly the same reason he got elected. Ignorance is all around us folks. It's up to us who are more enlightened to make the changes for all Humanity," yet another tweet stated.

"Not surprised, still shocked. Youd think we would be used to this orange bag of blubbering nonsense by now," a follow-up tweet read. The negative reaction continued as the opposition to Donald Trump and his polices shows no signs of ending.
As Republicans passed the controversial tax bill through Congress which was signed into law by Donald Trump, the consensus among most Americans is that the bill is just another negative reflection ogf the entire GOP. With Congress headed home for the holidays, two female hosts on MSNBC decided to expose the reality of the Republican Party.

"That's what elections are about ... who has the energy? And right now it's people of color, women, and young voters. And the energy is anti Republican and anti Trump" - @JoyAnnReid @amjoyshow w/ @NicolleDWallace on #DeadlineWH pic.twitter.com/Nfp7Utr10u  Deadline White House (@DeadlineWH) December 22, 2017

MSNBC on GOP

For the last 11 months, the American people have been dealing with what many thought would be the unthinkable in the form of the presidency of Donald Trump.

After a controversial campaign that was accused of sexism, racism, xenophobia, Islamaphobia, and other forms of bigotry, the former host of "The Apprentice" was able to find a way to weather the storm and win the election. Since then, Trump's administration has been marred by controversy and scandal, with the Russian investigation heating up around the White House. While Trump and the Republican Party were successful in their recent passing of the tax bill, multiple polls show Americans are getting fed up with Trump-style politics, which was evident when Doug Jones became the first Democrat in 30 years to win a Senate seat in Alabama. These issues and more were highlighted during the December 22 edition of "Deadline White House" on MSNBC.

Trump beginning to acknowledge the tough road ahead in 2018@PhilipRucker w/ @NicolleDWallace pic.twitter.com/FeYk5jF0TC  Deadline White House (@DeadlineWH) December 22, 2017

Joining host Nicolle Wallace on Friday was fellow MSNBC host Joy Reid as the women discussed the negative stigma currently surrounding Donald Trump the GOP leading up to the elections in 2018.

"That's what elections are about," Reid said, before rhetorically asking, "who has the energy?" "Right now it's people of color, women, and young voters," Reid went on to explain, stating, "And the energy is anti Republican and anti Trump." The host "A.M. Joy" detailed the need for Democrats to continue to mobilize "people of color" and "young people," two of the voting blocs that traditionally stay home during the midterms.

"His (Trump) staff woke up today after the tax bill and said 'Houston we have a problem,'" Nicolle Wallace said later on in reference to a recent story in the Washington Post detailing the trouble in the White House for the president moving forward. "This tax bill is not going to erase all the perceived sins of Donald Trump and Trump-ism ahead of the midterm election," she added.

Next up

As the pressure mounts on Donald Trump and the Republican Party heading into 2018, all signs point to a tough midterm election with victories likely for the Democrats. According to historical data and information, the political party in power loses seats during off elections, and with Trump's approval down to just 35 percent, Democrats are expected make much-needed gains in the Senate and House of Representatives.
Though Christmas is now in the rear-view mirror, members of the White House are still putting focus on the increased holiday economic numbers. For Sarah Huckabee Sanders, she was quick to give full credit to Donald Trump.

Sanders on Christmas sales

Over the last year, the economy has continued its upward trajectory that was started during the Barack Obama administration following the Great Recession in 2008. The stock-market has increased, unemployment continues to fall, and consumer confidence is improving as 2017 comes to an end. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the holidays were good for business, as sales, with the exception of automobiles, increased to 4.9 percent during November and December, which is a bump up from the 3.7 percent increase during the same time frame in 2016.

It was the biggest jump since 2011, and as expected, the White House was quick to use the information to their advantage. As seen on her Twitter account on December 26, Sarah Huckabee Sanders promoted the article in question by giving praise to the president.

"Fewer people are living paycheck to paycheck...There is a lot more spending from the lower- and middle-income groups" -@WSJ. More great news in the booming Trump economy->https://t.co/bC417crVHK  Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) December 26, 2017

Taking to her Twitter feed on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders used the increased Christmas sales to promote the idea of a "Trump economy." "Fewer people are living paycheck to paycheck...There is a lot more spending from the lower- and middle-income groups,'" Sanders quoted from the Wall Street Journal, while adding, "More great news in the booming Trump economy."

Economic push back

It didn't take long before Sarah Huckabee Sanders' tweet about the economy was challenged by critics of the president.

"Perhaps getting out in the real world would be enlightening to you," one tweet read.

Russia  Sean W Strachan (@DrSeanStrachan) December 26, 2017

Not true for me

And you people dont even realize how the majority of people are living in America  Molly Greece (@GreeceMolly) December 26, 2017

Even if this was true, it is economically impossible for an incumbant administrations policies to have any effects this soon.  JenWilCor (@corrales_jennie) December 26, 2017

"Who are the people you been talking to, there are a lot of people sufferings before this tax bill was pass and many more people are losing their jobs.

Talking points dont work Sarah," a Twitter user wrote. "It's still the Obama economy, that's why it's booming. Once the Tax Reform laws take effect, the recession will follow quickly, just like it did in the past when the GOP slashed the budget. Republicans famously do not learn from their past," an additional tweet noted.

Thats why they let him continue his idiocracy. The GOPs been starved all these years and have to smash and grab before it ends.  CaffeineFreak (@Caffeinefreak) December 26, 2017

Agreed Dad the WH loves spewing their Alternative Facts & think  that All Americans are falling for it.... Well we are not  Latresa D. Payne (@SensualDevine) December 26, 2017

Perhaps getting out in the real world would be enlightening to you.



Since you have the ear of the POTUS, can you plz remind him to keep his promise to protect Mediacaid, Medicare, & SS? Thx.



Single Mom on Medicaid and SSI w Terminal Cancer in NV https://t.co/sUaxyN15Er  Emily Fay Reese #FightForMedicaid (@mlereese) December 26, 2017

"Not true for me.

And you people dont even realize how the majority of people are living in America," a follow-up tweet stated. "Still living paycheck to paycheck here... whos she getting her info from," a social media user added. Twitter users continued to post their thoughts in the hope that the White House would get a reality check on the subject.
Donald Trump is not a fan of Hillary Clinton or the FBI and just one day after Christmas he decided to go on the attack once again. Deciding to quote Fox News, the president railed against a previous FBI investigation into Clinton's private email server.

Trump on Clinton

During the 2016 presidential election, questions were raised as to whether or not Donald Trump was in cahoots with Russia. The former host of "The Apprentice" was forced to push back at allegations of possible collusion with the Kremlin, which increased as he praised Russian President Vladimir Putin and refused to release his tax returns, becoming the first major presidential candidate not to do so in the last 40 years.

Since the election, several well-respected news outlets and government agencies have concluded that Russia hacked into the Democratic National Committee with the goal of helping to elect Trump. While this has been the case, the so-called "pee tape" dossier was also released and reported on by CNN, which was later elaborated on further by Buzzfeed, but much of the information obtained has yet to be verified, including the allegation of sexual activity allegedly engaged in by Trump. With the information remaining sketchy, Trump decided to cite a recent Fox News story to use during his latest Twitter rant on December 26.

WOW, @foxandfrlends Dossier is bogus. Clinton Campaign, DNC funded Dossier. FBI CANNOT (after all of this time) VERIFY CLAIMS IN DOSSIER OF RUSSIA/TRUMP COLLUSION. FBI TAINTED. And they used this Crooked Hillary pile of garbage as the basis for going after the Trump Campaign!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 26, 2017

Taking to Twitter on Tuesday morning, Donald Trump doubled down on a report from "Fox & Friends" that doubted the validity of the FBI, while also attacking Hillary Clinton.

"WOW, @foxandfrlends 'Dossier is bogus. Clinton Campaign, DNC funded Dossier. FBI CANNOT (after all of this time) VERIFY CLAIMS IN DOSSIER OF RUSSIA/TRUMP COLLUSION. FBI TAINTED," Trump tweeted.

Bush ethics chief: Trump making Mueller's job easier with attacks on the FBI https://t.co/vraVNkcimj pic.twitter.com/xt1PlKme0r  The Hill (@thehill) December 26, 2017

Concluding his tweet, Donald Trump added his own thoughts on the matter at hand.

"And they used this Crooked Hillary pile of garbage as the basis for going after the Trump Campaign!" he wrote with anger.

Moving forward

Donald Trump's most recent outburst against Hillary Clinton and the FBI highlight his apparent frustration over the ongoing Russian investigation led by special counsel and former FBI Director Robert Mueller.

In recent months, several past and current associates of the commander in chief have been brought up on charges as it pertains to various issues regarding potential collusion with Russia. Trump has since denied the allegations, but a recent CNN poll on the issue shows that over 50 percent of the American people believe that the president was involved with Russian hacking during his election.
The fast-growing world of artificial intelligence is about to receive another big boost this week. The latest addition includes SingularityNET, a blockchain AI Startup.

According to Coin Telegraph, the startup has secured $36 million in fresh funding to build next-generation AI technology. What more interesting about this latest startup news is that the company has managed to raise fresh funding in a very short time, the website said. In just 60 seconds after opening the sale to the public, the company sold out of the whole amount of available AGI tokens, bringing the total sale to a whopping $36 million.

The company claims that in this week only, it has received registration application from about 20,000 people.

About SingularityNET, the rising blockchain star

Founded in 2017 and based in Zurich, Switzerland, SingularityNET is a decentralized open market for Artificial intelligence. The Swiss startup is the first and only platform that allows companies, organizations, and developers to buy and sell AI algorithms at large scale, lowering costs and at the same time increasing AI capabilities.

The company aims to create something ambitious and something new; a decentralized marketplace for artificial intelligence, providing the AIs to interact with each other as needed to solve customers problems.

AI and machine learning are getting more attention these days.

However, most of the AI development and big efforts made are largely controlled by large corporations. These tech behemoths like Microsoft and Google have developed their own proprietary systems and keep it in-house. SingularityNET intends to revolutionize and change the current playing field, allowing AI developers to monetize from them and help non-corporate users to benefit from them.

The AI startups get more intense

The AI chip is getting more intense these days, thanks to the enormous amount of demand across all fronts, which include gaming, data centers, and other potential artificial intelligence applications. Leading the AI chip charge is the Santa Clara-based GPU specialist Nvidia. The tech giant has seen a massive growth in its stock price in the past few months.

However, theres a new group of players coming and its about to challenge Nvidias AI leadership.

A massive army of AI startups is making their huge presence in the hotly contested AI industry. According to TechCrunch, these AI startups have been working on their own hardware and systems that will be used on future AI-enabled devices. Some of the these AI startups have not yet built a significant install base but already appear to have no trouble raising fresh capital. Most of these startups have already received enormous funding from well-known venture capitalists. Companies like Cerebras Systems and Grapchore are making millions in fresh funding from various investors.

And its not just the US-based startups that getting more attention here, the Chinese market is also getting busy these days.

Leading the Chinese drive is the Chinese tech behemoth Alibaba, which reportedly made a significant investment in the highly lucrative artificial intelligence insdustry. The Chinese tech giant has invested a whopping $1 billion into a startup, Cambricon Technology.

In addition to Alibaba, US-based companies like Intel Capital are also making a huge play in the fast-growing Chinese AI market. The US tech giant has just led a $100 million investment for Horizon Robotics.
Back in 2014, the world was in a complete uproar as Russia effectively invaded a neighboring country, annexed territory and then denied it had even happened despite mountains of evidence. People around the world flocked to social media to #PrayforCrimea as the port city along the Black Sea was usurped by the Russians.

Although the world has since moved on to other tragedies and conflict, the battle for Crimea has persisted.

In a massive prisoner swap, Ukraine forces released some 250 prisoners in exchange for roughly 70 of their own. On both sides, there were reports of prisoners not wanting to go back to their original side.

The crisis has completely reshaped the region and those who live there.

What happened to the Minsk agreements?

Much of the reason why the world stopped thinking about this conflict is the Minsk agreements. These carefully brokered peace deals were aimed at putting a stop to the bloodshed. Despite the generally agreed upon terms, fighting soon reignited and the violence has not wavered.

The recent prisoner swap was only achieved through negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents and their fellow religious leaders. Without their involvement, it was unlikely any deal would have been made. The importance of the Orthodox Christmas and new year were factors in resolving this matter quickly.

Will the war ever end?

The biggest question on people's minds has been when or if the war will ever end. It is a grim outlook as both sides do not show definitive goals to achieve victory. Without a clear-cut way to end the war, it is unlikely that fighting will end anytime soon.

It began when pro-Russian separatists stormed across Eastern Ukraine, occupying city after city.

The height of this incursion was the capture of Crimea. Shortly after that, Russia began recognizing Crimea as a part of their country

The Ukrainians were caught off guard initially but were eventually able to mobilize and push the rebels back on the eastern side of the country. Since then, however, it has been a bitter stalemate with only scores of dead bodies on both sides to show for it.

An intervention was needed to try and keep the peace, but the Minsk agreements did not set terms for ending the conflict. Concessions would need to be made on both sides in order for a lasting peace.

On Ukraine's side, they will need to give up on Crimea. Without a full-scale war, it is improbable that they could regain control of the port city. For Russia, they would have to take some responsibility for the rebels. They have so far claimed ignorance but it is obvious that they have been pulling the strings to some degree.

Either way, this conflict is far from over.
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HAI PHONG  Japanese oil firm, Idemitsu Kosan Co Ltd (Idemitsu), plans to build a US$1 million inh Vu Port Petrol Station.

The petrol station will be located in ong Hai 2 Ward, Hai An District, in the northern Hai Phong Port City.

If approved, this would be Idemitsus second station in Viet Nam. Its first station opened in Ha Noi last October.

Local sources in Hai Phong reported that Japans Idemitsu Kosan Chief Representative for Viet Nam, Nobuyuki Nakamura, had a working session with chairman of the municipal Peoples Committee, Nguyen Van Tung, about investment plans for the station.

Covering an area of 10,000sq.m, the station is expected to bring about revenue of more than $10 million per year. If all procedures are completed soon, the project will begin construction in January 2018 and be put into operation one month later.

The station would contribute VN46-66 billion a year to the citys budget.

In addition, it also plans to build a lubricant plant in the city.

Tung hailed the Japanese companys investment into the city and confirmed that they would create favourable conditions to help them implement the project.

He hoped that the company would continue launching other projects.VNS
TIEN GIANG  The first batch of Vietnamese star apples has been exported to the US by the Cat Tuong Agricultural Products Producing & Processing Co Ltd from the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang, announced the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and provincial authorities yesterday.

With the shipment, Viet Nam has become the first and only country licensed to sell fresh star apples to the demanding market, following years of negotiations, according to MARD deputy minister Tran Thanh Nam.

The US is the third largest fruit importer for Viet Nam, with its 2016 fruit export revenue reaching US$84.5 million, an increase of 44.2 per cent over the previous years figure.

In the first 11 months of this year, the market imported Vietnamese fruits worth $92.6 million, a year-on-year rise of 21.3 per cent.

Therefore, "the US is a big potential market for Vietnamese fruits in general and star apples in particular," Nam highlighted.

Together with litchi, longan, rambutan and dragon fruit, star apples are the fifth Vietnamese fruit allowed into the American market.

The first shipment of star apples to the US had opened big opportunities for the Vietnamese fruits to penetrate other demanding markets, the deputy minister said.

Nam also expressed his hope that following Cat Tuong, more and more companies would be able to export Vietnamese fruits to foreign markets, especially the US.

Pham Anh Tuan, vice chairman of the provincial Peoples Committee, said that this was good news for the countrys agricultural sector as well as local farmers, adding that this was the initial step for international market penetration of Vietnamese star apples in particular and of the provinces specialities.

In the near future, the province would continue taking drastic measures to support the shipment of star apples abroad, including upgrading infrastructure, applying high-tech in intensive farming and building a production value chain, Tuan said.

ang Hoang Tho, a star apple farmer in Chau Thanh Districts Long Hung Commune, expressed his delight on witnessing the first shipment of star apples to a foreign market.

He said that he had encouraged other farmers to plant star apple trees in accordance with Good Agriculture Practices (GAPs) - the basic environmental and operational conditions necessary for the production of safe, wholesome fruits and vegetables, and collaborate with the Cat Tuong company to increase income from exporting the fruits.

oan Van Sang, director of the Cat Tuong Agricultural Products Producing & Processing Co Ltd, said that being chosen to be the first Vietnamese star apple exporters, the company had to invest in packaging and preserving facilities to meet the strict requirements of food safety and quarantine of the demanding importer.

To ensure a stable supply of star apples to the US market, the company signed contracts with farmers to help them maintain growing areas, apply intensive farming techniques and sell the products.

Viet Nam has about 5,000 hectares of star apples, mainly in the Mekong Delta provinces of Tien Giang (3,100ha) and Can Tho (1,200ha).

As of December 15, Viet Nams fruit export turnover was recorded at US$3.35 billion, 45 per cent higher than last years corresponding period.  VNS
HA NOI  The number of newly-established firms and firms resuming operations set a record in 2017 with more than 153,000 companies with total registered capital of VN3.16 quadrillion (US$139 billion).

The latest statistics of the Ministry of Planning and Investment showed that the figure broke the record of 110,000 firms last year.

Accordingly, the total number of new firms was nearly 127,000 with total registered capital of VN1.3 quadrillion, posting increases of 15.2 per cent and 45.4 per cent, respectively, compared with last year.

Average registered capital was VN10.2 billion per company in 2017, increasing 26.2 per cent from the previous year.

The number of enterprises resuming their operations was some 26,000 with total additional capital of VN1.86 quadrillion.

In December alone, the number of newly-established businesses was 10,814 with total registered capital of VN164 trillion, representing an increase of one per cent in number and 49 per cent in registered capital from the previous month.

Therefore, average registered capital was VN15.2 billion per company in December, up 50.8 per cent from the previous month.

The country also had 1,245 firms resume operations this month.

"The number of new firms and registered capital has been on an upward trend in the 2011-17 period. The number of new companies in 2017 rose by 1.6 times from 2011, while registered capital increased 2.6 times, the department said.

It also said the new firms were mostly in wholesale, retail and automobile repair with over 45,400 (36 per cent), processing and manufacturing with 16,100 (13 per cent) and construction with 16,000 (13 per cent).

In term of registered capital, the property sector made up the highest portion with VN388.3 trillion, accounting for 30 per cent of the total. The real estate sector in 2017 attracted a large amount of capital in comparison with other sectors.

It was followed by the wholesale, retail, construction and manufacturing sectors.

The number of workers at new firms in 2017 was more than 1.16 million, reducing 8.4 per cent from last year. The manufacturing sector attracted the most workers at 430,622, accounting for 37 per cent of the total.

The department added that over 21,600 businesses registered to halt their operations in 2017, increasing nine per cent from last year.

Notably, the number of sectors that had more businesses registering to halt their operations included wholesale, retail, construction and processing.

In addition, the number of enterprises waiting for dissolution in 2017 reduced 4.6 per cent from last year.  VNS
HA NOI  The Ministry of Industry and Trade has allowed Viet Phat Company in the northern province of Lao Cai to export 200,000 tonnes of limonite ore to ease the companys financial burden.

Earlier, the company signed a contract with Viet Trung Mineral and Metallurgical Company Limited to buy 500,000 tonnes of limonite ore, a type of iron ore, from Quy Xa Mine. However, the Viet Phat Company sold 300,000 tonnes to Hoa Phat Steel Company in the 2017-18 period, creating a redundancy of 200,000 tonnes.

The Viet Phat Company asked the ministry to allow them to export the redundant ore to ensure the stability of their financial situation.

Limonite ore is one of the raw minerals the government prohibits and limits exports.

Lao Cai Province then sent a document to the ministry to consider the export.

The ministry required the company to give priority to selling the iron ore to local firms if, during the export process, domestic companies added to the demand.

It added that the decision was suitable to ease the challenges faced by iron ore exploitation and processing firms.

In September, the ministry also allowed the iron ore magnetite exports of another company in the province, totalling more than 11,000 tonnes.  VNS
HA NOI - Collaboration among the three pillars of the ASEAN Communitypolitical security, economics, and socio-cultural issuesdetermines ASEANs success and should be promoted, said Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung, head of Viet Nam-ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting.

He spoke at a conference on ASEAN Community pillars held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday in Ha Noi on the occasion of 50th anniversary of ASEANs founding. Representatives of relevant Government ministries and sectors engaged in the three pillars of ASEAN Community attended the event to review Viet Nam s participation and to plan tasks for the upcoming time.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh said that this year, import and export turnover between Viet Nam and ASEAN have increased, showing Viet Nams integration into the wider ASEAN market.

Viet Nam successfully hosted APEC 2017, giving Viet Nam experience that will be useful when it takes over ASEAN Chairmanship in 2020, he said.

Deputy Foreign Minister Dung said ASEAN cooperation has great potential. Coherence and integration are still common priorities. Cooperation for development is a primary tool to reach ASEAN goals. ASEAN continues to play an important role in the policies of its partners, especially major countries.

In terms of political and security cooperation towards the goal of building a rules-based, people-oriented and people-centred community, the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025 has been implemented effectively. This has contributed to forming the identities of the ASEAN Political-Security Community, strengthening ASEAN self-reliance and maintaining regional peace, security and stability and intensifying external relations, Dung said.

Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh said that ASEAN economic cooperation had achieved practical outcomes, contributing significantly to ASEAN growth.

However, ASEAN economic cooperation also faced numerous challenges, such as rising protectionism, lesser attention given to multilateral cooperation in favor of bilateral negotiations and a lack of spearheaded projects to make joint economic plans meet their goals, he said.

Deputy Minister of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs ao Hong Lan proposed focusing on raising ASEAN awareness among the public and developing personnel capacity.

Participants agreed that Viet Nams 22-year membership in ASEAN has brought about important and practical benefits to the country, including creating a stable environment for socio-economic development, protecting national sovereignty and security, strengthening international integration and enhancing Viet Nam s international position.

In the context of complicated and unpredictable developments, ASEAN has faced challenges which require common effort and contributions from member states, including Viet Nam , they agreed.

Viet Nam s participation in ASEAN faces challenges of awareness, resources, and coordination among sectors, they said.

Viet Nam needs to continue exploit the Free Trade Agreement signed with ASEAN to create conditions for domestic enterprises to integrate into regional trade, investment and services while attracting attention from foreign investors and businessmen to maintain the competitiveness and development of the economy, Deputy Foreign Minister Dung said.

Deputy Prime Minister Minh asked relevant sectors and agencies to raise their understanding of the importance of ASEAN to Viet Nam while consolidating their apparatus, enhancing personnel capacity and proposing a roadmap to implement specific cooperative activities in each sector.

He urged sectors to compile a draft to amend working regulations and coordination between Vietnamese agencies participating in ASEAN which was issued in 2009 and enhance the coordinating role of Viet Nam s ASEAN National Secretariat.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R) receives Japanese Minister of Economic Revitalisation, Toshimitsu Motegi, in Ha Noi yesterday. VNA/VNS Photo Thong Nhat

HA NOI  Viet Nam and Japan should take the lead in speeding up the signing of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) as the two nations have a strategic partnership, traditional friendship and time-honoured trade, economic and investment ties, said Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

While receiving Japanese Minister of Economic Revitalisation, Toshimitsu Motegi, in Ha Noi yesterday, Phuc spoke highly of the ministers visit, saying that it contributed actively to boosting trade exchanges between Viet Nam and Japan as well as among Asia-Pacific economies.

Having expressed his delight at the comprehensive and practical development of the Viet Nam-Japan strategic partnership, Phuc hailed the positive outcomes of an earlier working session between Minister Motegi and Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh.

The two ministers discussed measures to effectively address issues hindering bilateral co-operation, and reached consensus on key issues related to the CPTPP, thus promoting the trade exchanges among stakeholders, particularly bilateral co-operative ties between Viet Nam and Japan.

For his part, Motegi congratulated the Government and people of Viet Nam on the successful hosting of the APEC 2017 Economic Leaders Week, saying that the event enhanced the role and position of Viet Nam in the international arena.

He emphasised the role of PM Phuc and Minister Tran Tuan Anh as well as related agencies of Viet Nam in the negotiation process in meetings within the framework of the APEC 2017 Economic Leaders Week, thus helping to form the CPTPP.

The minister expressed his hope that Viet Nam-Japan co-operative ties would continue reaping more fruit in the future.

Empowered by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the Japanese minister is visiting Viet Nam to discuss bilateral co-operation issues as well as matters related to the CPTPP so that the deal could be signed soon, opening up new co-operation opportunities for its members.  VNS
Prime Mi nister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R) receives the new Cuban Ambassador to Viet Nam, Lianys Torres Rivera, in Ha Noi yesterday.  VNA./VNS Photo Thong Nhat

HA NOI  The Vietnamese Party, State and people always consider Cuba as their brothers in any circumstance, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said while receiving the new Cuban Ambassador to Viet Nam, Lianys Torres Rivera, in Ha Noi yesterday.

Stressing the fine relationship between the two nations over the past years, Phuc said that Viet Nam is looking to enhance bilateral co-operation in many spheres. He said both countries should promote their comprehensive co-operation in more practical and effective manner.

Viet Nam was increasing its investments in Cuba, he noted, suggesting that both sides co-operate in fields like industry, defence, security, agriculture, and healthcare.

He said he hoped Cuba would implement more reforms to develop more strongly and comprehensively in the times ahead, and expected the nation to successfully hold a general election in early 2018.

Rivera appreciated Viet Nams assistance to and co-operation with Cuba in various areas, which has helped intensify their traditional relations.

She underlined that Viet Nams support for and sentiments towards Cuba were a great present, particularly after Cuba suffered from losses amounting to billions of US dollars caused by recent natural disasters.

She expressed her delight at the reinforcement of bilateral ties, especially the maintenance of high-ranking mutual visits. There was huge potential for economic co-operation with Cuba, and Cuba wanted to partner with Viet Nam in a win-win spirit, she added.  VNS
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R) yesterday receives newly-accredited US Ambassador to Viet Nam, Daniel Kritenbrink.  VNA/VNS Photo Thong Nhat

HA NOI  Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc yesterday urged newly-accredited US Ambassador to Viet Nam, Daniel Kritenbrink, to promote the exchange of high-level delegations and prompt the US Government to actively handle issues proposed by Viet Nam to develop bilateral relations.

Speaking at a reception held in Ha Noi for the incoming envoy, Phuc spoke highly of Kritenbrinks contributions to enhancing Viet Nam-US relations when he worked as Senior Director for Asian Affairs at the US National Security Council.

Recalling his official visit to the US in May 2017, the PM said the two sides discussed and agreed on a number of measures to strengthen the Viet Nam-US comprehensive partnership.

Viet Nam had been actively implementing measures agreed on, including those to balance bilateral trade, he said, adding that the growth of two-way trade would benefit the people of both nations.

Phuc wished the US Ambassador a successful tenure in Viet Nam, affirming that the Government of Viet Nam would co-ordinate with the US to strengthen the rapport between both countries.

Kritenbrink said the US considered Viet Nam as one of its important partners, not only in the region, but also in the world.

The ambassador congratulated Viet Nam on the successful organisation of the APEC 2017 Economic Leaders Week and conveyed US President Donald Trumps thanks for Viet Nams warm welcome when he visited the country in November.

Kritenbrink said his major task was to strengthen and expand co-operative relations between the two countries. Sharing the PMs views, he said economic and trade co-operation was a key pillar in Viet Nam-US co-operative ties, which were developing rapidly.

The diplomat said he hoped to work with Viet Nam to address challenges and make use of opportunities to promote bilateral relations.  VNS
inh La Thang, former chairman of the Member Council of PetroVietnam (PVN), will face charges of  deliberately violating State regulations, causing severe consequences .  VNA/VNS Photo

HA NOI  inh La Thang, former chairman of the Member Council of PetroVietnam (PVN), will face charges of deliberately violating State regulations, causing severe consequences while his subordinate, Trinh Xuan Thanh, will have the same charges together with misappropriating property.

The Supreme Peoples Procuracy of Viet Nam announced the charges on Thang, Thanh and 20 others yesterday after investigations into wrongdoings at PVN and its subsidiary PetroVietnam Construction Corporation (PVC) were concluded.

According to the indictment, Thang was mainly responsible for wrongdoings during construction of the Thai Binh 2 Thermal Power Plant Project. He was the mastermind, instructing PVN on carrying out the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) package. He was also found guilty of directing the PetroVietnam Power Corporation (PV Power) to illegally sign EPC number 33 with PVC.

During the investigation, Thang is said to have admitted the wrongdoings as the company head.

The indictment says that Trinh Xuan Thanh, PVCs former chairman, had directed Vu uc Thuan, PVCs former director general, to sign EPC number 33 during construction of the Thai Binh 2 project so that PVC could get an advance deposit of US$6.6 million and over VN1.312 trillion ($57.7 million). He also used the money illegally, causing losses to the State budget.

Thanh and Thuan also directed Nguyen Anh Minh, PVCs former deputy director general, and Luong Van Hoa, former director of PVCs Vung Ang-Quang Trach Project Management Board, to draw up false documents to withdraw over VN13 billion ($578,000) from the project for personal use.

Thanh was found guilty of deliberately violating State regulations, causing severe consequences and "embezzlement of property" under Article 165, Clause 3 and Article 278, Clause 4 of the 1999 Criminal Code.

During the investigation, Thanh was insincere, evasive and unconvincing. He also fled the country, causing difficulties and hindering the investigation process, the indictment said.

The Supreme Peoples Procuracy also authorised the Ha Noi Peoples Procuracy to conduct the prosecution and control the trial of the case at the municipal Peoples Court.

The trial is scheduled to start on January 8, 2018.  VNS

1. Those charged with deliberately violating State regulations, causing severe consequences:

- inh La Thang;

- Trinh Xuan Thanh;

- Phung inh Thuc  former PVN Director General;

- Nguyen Quoc Khanh  former PVN Deputy Director General;

- Nguyen Xuan Son  former PVN Deputy Director General;

- Vu uc Thuan  former PVN Director General;

- Ninh Van Quynh  former PVN former chief accountant and head of finance and accounting department;

- Le inh Mau  former PVN deputy head of accounting and auditing department;

- Vu Hong Chuong  former head of Project Management Unit (PMU) of the Thai Binh 2 Thermal Power Project;

- Tran Van Nguyen  former chief accountant of PMU of the Thai Binh 2 Thermal Power Project;

- Nguyen Ngoc Quy  PVC deputy chairman;

- Nguyen Manh Tien  PVC deputy general director;

- Pham Tien at  former PVC chief accountant;

- Truong Quoc Dung  former PVC deputy general director;

2. Those charged with misappropriating property:

- Trinh Xuan Thanh;

- Vu uc Thuan;

- Nguyen Anh Minh  former PVC deputy director general;

- Bui Manh Hien  former PVC office chief;

- Luong Van Hoa  former director, PVCs Vung Ang-Quang Trach project steering board;

- Nguyen Thanh Quynh  Director of the Central Corporations Technology Board  The a Nang Joint Stock Company;

- Le Thi Anh Hoa  Director of Quynh Hoa One Member Joint Stock Company;

- Nguyen uc Hung  former head of Vung Ang-Quang Trach PMUs finance and accounting department;

- Le Xuan Khanh  former head of Vung Ang-Quang Trach PMUs economics and planning department;

- Nguyen Ly Hai  former head of Vung Ang-Quang Trach PMUs technical department.
HCM CITY  The rapid growth of digital media, how traditional media can compete with social media and how the media can ensure its financial survival were among the main issues discussed at the annual national conference held yesterday in HCM City to review the medias performance in 2017.

According to a report by the Ministry Information and Communications, in 2017 the media followed the leadership of the Party and State, provided prompt, accurate, and comprehensive coverage of political and socio-economic issues affecting the country and world, and served as a trustworthy forum for the public.

It efficiently performed its function of monitoring and criticising shortcomings in society, uncovered cumbersome, wasteful and corrupt activities, actively encouraged outstanding individuals and groups, strongly fought against the enemys misinformation and strengthened public trust in the Party and the Government, the report said.

It shone a light on the accomplishments in the renewal process, offered solutions to various problems and took on corruption, squander and social evils.

The media also promoted the image of Viet Nam globally and upheld the nations position in the international arena.

However, problems remained, including encroachment into unrelated areas by media organisations and inaccurate information, which impacted on national interests and the prestige of organisations and individuals, the report said.

It also highlighted the financial burdens on many newspapers as they strived to remain in operation and improve the lives of employees.

To improve the financial situation, the media should increase their online sales, Tran Minh Hung, editor-in-chief of Sai Gon Economic Times Group, said.

Besides, the media should join hands to become a large network that can compete with huge social networks like Google and Facebook to gain advertisements.

ang Thi Thu Huong, head of the press faculty at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Viet Nam National University  Ha Noi, said the media should change its information model.

To compete with social media, the media should publish objective, honest and trustworthy news with in-depth analysis to provide deeper understanding for readers.

Layout and design should be made more colourful and lively.

Exploiting niches, delivering newspapers for free, taking advantage of the internet and seeking financial support from readers are other things the media can do, she said.

Vo Van Thuong, head of the Party Central Committees Commission for Publicity and Education, highlighted the need for good quality of information.

Good information will create a good impression and feeling in readers.

He urged relevant authorities to carefully monitor media outlets to ensure they remain steadfast to their principles.

He urged government agencies to be dynamic about providing information and train officials in dealing with misinformation.

He called on the media to focus on improving the professional skills of their journalists and following all journalistic codes.

The development of digital technology has had a significant effect on media technology, requiring journalists to improve their knowledge and skills to avoid lagging behind.

He urged the media to continue disseminating Party Congress and central resolutions and fighting corruption and squander.

The media should act as a forum for people to express their opinions and suggest measures for socio-economic development, defence and security, he said.

Viet Nam has 849 press outlets, 664 magazines, 195 electronic newspaper and 175 electronic news sites, 281 television channels, and 13 million TV subscribers.  VNS
The Ministry of Health has asked Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc for more time to issue circulation numbers for certain medical equipment (categories B, C, D) by January 1.  Photo thanhnien.vn

HA NOI  The Ministry of Health has asked Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc for more time to issue circulation numbers for certain medical equipment (categories B, C, D) by January 1.

The information was released by Nguyen Minh Tuan, director of the Medical Equipment and Construction Department.

On May 15 last year, the Government promulgated Decree 36/2016/N-CP about managing medical equipment. Under it, equipment will be classified into four categories, A, B, C, D based on its level of risk and managed by circulation numbers. Medical equipment sort A is the least dangerous, while sort D is the most dangerous.

The ministry set up guidance documents and software to receive information about the circulation of medical equipment.

However, several difficulties occurred. One was that the ministry could not connect online administrative services about medical equipment circulation with the national portal that had been agreed with the General Department of Customs.

Besides, on October 11, the ministry received a letter from the European Chamber of Commerce in Viet Nam saying that it could not complete the work intime because the number of medical equipment documents were too many.

The ministry then asked the Government for permission to reduce the deadline for the work.  VNS
A court in HCM City yesterday began to hear the case of 15 people who allegedly plotted to use petrol bombs to blow up Tan Son Nhat International Airport. Photo vietnamnet

HCM CITY  A court in HCM City yesterday began to hear the case of 15 people who allegedly plotted to use petrol bombs to blow up Tan Son Nhat International Airport as the country was preparing to celebrate Liberation Day, a national holiday which marks the liberation of the south on April 30, 1975.

The defendants are charged with terrorism to oppose the peoples administration, a crime punishable by death in Viet Nam. Another defendant was charged with "failing to denounce criminals".

According to the indictment, ao Minh Quan and Pham Lisa are the leaders of an overseas "subversive" group. They were responsible for hatching the terrorist plot, but they have not been arrested yet as they live outside the country.

Since 2016, Quan and Lisa have used social media to find Vietnamese residents in Viet Nam to set up terrorist groups with the slogan kill all, burn all, and destroy all, according to Vietnamese prosecutors.

In April, Lisa told ang Hoang Thien and several others to use petrol bombs at Tan Son Nhat International Airport to sabotage the citys celebrations of the end of the American War on April 30, 1975.

Pham Lisa provided Thien with VN12 million ($530) to make the bombs, prosecutors said.

On April 22, Ngo Thuy Tuong Vy and Truong Tan Phat brought two petrol bombs placed in paper boxes to the airport, leaving one at the parking lot and the other at the international terminal.

Passengers at the terminal who thought the box looked suspicious notified airport security.

Thien failed to detonate the bomb at the parking lot as he was too far away, so he moved it to the international terminal, where he successfully ignited it, sending passengers fleeing in panic.

Investigators discovered that in early April that Thien, Nguyen uc Sinh and their accomplices had burned down a police warehouse containing 320 motorbikes that had been impounded for traffic violations in ong Nai Provinces Bien Hoa City, causing nearly VN1.3 billion ($57,300) in damage.

The other members of the group were allegedly plotting other terrorist attacks across Viet Nam, according to the indictment.

They had bought guns in Cambodia and made petrol bombs in an attempt to attack supermarkets in Saigon and residences of government leaders, the indictment said.

They were also charged with staging protests outside HCM Citys Notre Dame Cathedral, investigators said. Vietnamese security forces foiled all the plots.

The court verdict is expected on Friday.  VNS
HA NOI  People evacuated in the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang returned to their homes on Tuesday as Typhoon Tembin weakened into a less powerful tropical depression.

Soc Trang authorities moved about 30,000 local residents to safe places.

According to Chairman of the provincial Peoples Committee Tran Van Chuyen, ferries crossing rivers have resumed operation, while fishing vessels have been asked to wait for local authorities permission to go out to sea.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Tien Hai, Chairman of the Peoples Committee of Ca Mau Province, said that about 82,000 people evacuated from their houses in risky areas also returned home from their shelter yesterday.

Heavy rains and strong winds were seen in many localities yesterday. Locals were warned not to neglect safety measures to protect themselves and their property.

At the same time, all agencies, sectors and locals of Ben Tre Province have resumed their normal activities. About 21,000 Ben Tre people were displaced by the storm.

In the coastal district of Can Gio of HCM City, all evacuated people were allowed to return to their homes, but students still had the day off and ships are still not allowed to go to sea.

In Tien Giang Province, the weather improved on Tuesday, allowing all people to return to their normal lives.

About 50,000 people in the two coastal districts of Go Cong ong and Tan Phu ong were evacuated, while nearly 800 fishing boats were banned from going to sea before Typhoon Tembin, the 16th of its kind in the East Sea this year, approached.

At 7am on Tuesday, the centre of the low pressure was located in the waters offshore Bac Lieu and Ca Mau provinces with the strongest wind speed under 40km per hour.

In the next 12 hours, it will move west, weaken and dissipate.

The low pressure system is forecast to bring heavy rains along the coast from Binh inh to Phu Yen, creating the risk of flash floods and landslides.  VNS
HCM CITY  Doctors at Paediatrics Hospital 1 and the Hospital for Traumatology and Orthopaedics in HCM City worked as a surgical team to remove a large noncancerous tumour from the ribcage of a 12-year-old boy from Phu Yen Province, saving him from permanent paralysis.

Dr ao Trung Hieu, deputy head of Paediatrics Hospital 1, said the 18cm x 13.5cm x 9cm tumour in the spinal cord had spread to the vertebrae, which was unusual as it occurs in only 1 to 3 per cent of such cases.

After more than two weeks in the hospital, the boy could no longer move his legs as the tumour had spread to his spine.

Dr inh Viet Hung of the hospitals general surgery department said that if the two operations to remove the tumour had not been done in time, the boy would have suffered permanent paralysis.

The first operation, which lasted five hours, was conducted on December 12 to remove the tumour outside the spine. On December 21, the second operation removed the remaining tumour outside the right ribcage.

The patient is recovering, but continues to have periodic examinations. The patients tumour was not cancerous, so the chance of a relapse is very low, according to Dr Hieu. VNS
HA TINH  Two drug traffickers were arrested early this week while they attempted to ship drugs to the South.

Ha Tinh Provinces Cam Xuyen District Police collaborated with Viet Nam Coast Guard Command and Nghe An Province Customs Department to arrest a drug trafficker on Monday.

Tran Thi Hoa, 45, from Bao Thanh Commune, Yen Thanh District, Nghe An Province, was captured in Ha Tinh Province when trying to ship three heroin cakes to the South.

Speaking to Tuoi tre (Youth) newspaper on Tuesday, Le Viet uong, deputy head of Cam Xuyen District Police, said that, at 3pm on Monday, the functional forces inspected a bus on National Highway No. 1 and found three heroin cakes in Hoas suitcase, along with three mobile phones and VN85 million (US$3,700) in cash.

Hoa was bringing the drug to the South for sale. The police transferred her and the evidences to Drug Prevention Force No. 2 under Viet Nam Coast Guard Command for further investigation.

Drug is hidden to be transferred through flight.  Photo courtesy of PC47

In another case, Hai Phong City Police arrested Pham Ngoc Duy for trying to traffic drug through flight on Saturday.

The Drug Crime Investigation Department (PC47) under Hai Phong City Police officially announced about the drug trafficking case from Hai Phong City to HCM City and southern provinces on Monday.

After investigation, the functional forces came to know that Pham Ngoc Duy, 32, from Le Loi Commune, Ngo Quyen District, Hai Phong City was involved in the drug trade. He usually used sophisticated tricks to mislead the functional forces.

On Saturday, when Duy and his girlfriend were checking in at Cat Bi International Airport, Hai An District Police conducted an inspection and found 100.02g of ketamine in 16 Korean gingseng bags, 667.82 ketamine in milk powder bags, as well as marijuana, ketamine and ecstasy (MDMA) hidden in his carry-on luggage. The police seized 770.19g of ketamine, 8.59g of marijuana and 1.33g of MDMA in total.

Duy is now being held by Hai Phong City Police for further investigation.  VNS
AK LAK  Police in the Central Highland province of ak Lak has detained and launched criminal probes into 14 officials of Krong Bong District Branch of the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development for deliberately violating State regulations. on economic management.

The detainees included Tran Thi Bich Hong, 57, deputy director of the branch, and 13 other bank officials.

The police conducted a raid at the branch of the bank.

Previously, former official of the bank, Chu Ngoc Hai, had been arrested for allegedly counterfeiting documents to appropriate property.

Colonel Nguyen Trong Ha, head of the Provincial Police Department for Investigation of Economic Crimes and Corruption, said initial investigation showed that since 2015 until being arrested, Hai had received over 500 documents to loan more than VN100 billion.

Of that, Hai counterfeited many documents for the purpose of withdrawing money from the bank and appropriating it for personal use.

On August 2, the Provincial Police Department for Investigation of Economic Crimes and Corruption detained Ngo Quoc Vinh, 56, former director of the bank, for violating State regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences.

On October 6, the police arrested four more officials of the bank, including Ton ac Hai, former deputy director, Le Thi Hong Loan, former chief accountant, Nguyen Thi Hien, former head of the credit department, and o Hoang Nguyen, deputy head of the credit deparment for the same crime.  VNS
HA NOI  Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs will propose a new roadmap for calculating pensions for female workers to the National Assembly (NA).

This news was released by Pham Luong Son, deputy director of Viet Nam Social Insurance (VSI), at a news conference on Tuesday on social insurance and social healthcare. According to him, for those who retire from 2018 onward, 15 years of social insurance contribution is equal to 45 per cent of the average monthly salary. In the following eight years, 3 more per cent will be added for each year, then 2 more per cent will be added, up to 75 per cent of the individuals monthly salary. However, this roadmap is still awaiting approval from the NA.

According to o Ngoc Tho, deputy head of Department of Policy Implementation, Viet Nam Social Insurance, from January 1, 2018, female labourers have to pay five premiums for five additional years to enjoy the maximum pension of 75 per cent of their monthly salary, a change many have complained "unfavourable".

Under current policy, male and female retirees who have bought social insurance for 30 and 25 years, respectively, are entitled to enjoy full monthly pension, equivalent to 75 per cent of their monthly salary. VSIs data shows that the agency helped 9.9 million workers enjoy social insurance policies in 2017. There are 81 million people paying social insurance premiums, accounting for 86 per cent of the countrys population  VNS
THAI BINH  Police in northern Thai Binh Provinces ong Hung District have detained a young man for allegedly assaulting a doctor at a local emergency centre.

Lieutenant Colonel Bui uc Thinh, head of the districts police department, said that the man was detained at 1am Tuesday.

o Chinh Nghia, a doctor of the provincial 115 Emergency Centre, was punched on his head while conducting an emergency procedure on a patient in ong Hung Districts ong Tan Commune.

Nguyen Van Ngai, director of the provincial 115 Emergency Centre, said that at 8.50pm on December 25, the centre was informed about a patient who needed an ambulance to be transported to the provincial General Hospital for treatment.

The centre sent Nghia to the scene, and asked the staff of a local health clinic to give the patient first aid while waiting for the ambulance.

At 9.10pm, the ambulance arrived at the scene. The patients relatives asked the doctor to send the patient to the hospital immediately, but Nghia explained that the patient needed some pain relief before being moved.

While he turned to get the medical equipment from the ambulance, he was punched repeatedly on the head by a young man, who was the patients relative.

Nghia managed to inject the pain relief into the patient and send him to the provincial general hospital for further treatment.

Nghia is currently undergoing treatment at the provincial General Hospital.

The police are conducting a further investigation into the case.  VNS
Article by Richard Mallory Allnutt

In recent weeks, the Smithsonians National Air and Space Museum has added three new aircraft to its public exhibition space at their Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. The first of these aeroplanes is the museums Sikorsky JRS-1 flying boat. While this aircraft has been at the facility for some years now, it has always been far from view in the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar. NASM personnel recently moved it into the main display hall to make temporary storage space available for exhibits coming from the main campus in Washington, DC while that facility undergoes a major refit.

Sikorsky JRS-1:

The JRS-1 is a sizable aircraft, and the only complete example of its type to survive (although there are two extant Sikorsky S-43s, from which the JRS derives). The Smithsonians JRS-1 served in the U.S. Navy as Bu.1063. It was based at Ford Island during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor of December 7th, 1941, and actually took off during the melee to search for the Japanese fleet with Ensign Wesley Hoyt Ruth at the controls. Somehow, this ungainly looking and defenseless aircraft survived the Japanese onslaught unscathed and, indeed, the heavy American antiaircraft fire peppering the sky all around her. She came within a few dozen miles of locating the enemy carriers too. Ruth, along with the pilots of four other Navy Utility Squadron One JRS flying boats which got airborne that day received the Navy Cross for his bravery. The Navy modified their JRS-1s to carry depth charges soon after entering WWII, and they carried out long-distance reconnaissance missions from Hawaii on the lookout for the enemy fleet and submarines. Bu.1603 served in this role until September 5th, 1942, after which it returned to the U.S. mainland for a complete overhaul in California. Following refurbishment, the aircraft received an assignment to Moffett Field, near Santa Clara, California, in August, 1943 for use with Fleet Airship Wing Three. The Navy officially struck her off charge in August, 1944, whereupon she went into storage for a brief period before moving to Bush Field in Augusta, Georgia in March, 1945. The flying boat then arrived for service at N.A.C.A. Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, Langley Field, Virginia (now NASA Langley) on April 26th, 1945, where she became NACA 242.

Once the N.A.C.A. had completed their experiments, the flying boat returned to Bush Field on November 20th, 1946. In 1948 the JRS-1 retired permanently, and was marked for preservation as part of the National Air Museum (which eventually became todays National Air & Space Museum). Unfortunately, like many aircraft in the then nascent museum, the JRS spent a considerable amount of time in external storage due to lack of hangar space, and this accounts for her somewhat bedraggled appearance at present. However, despite her weather-worn looks, the aircraft is in excellent condition, and will eventually receive a more thorough conservation once other projects, such as Martin B-26 Marauder Flak Bait, are completed and funds become available.

Sopwith Camel F.1 and VanDersarl Bleriot:

The other two recent arrivals in the main exhibition hall at the Udvar-Hazy Center are an original WWI-veteran Sopwith Camel fighter and the unique VanDersarl Bleriot monoplane. They are NASMs latest acquisitions. The two superbly restored, flyable aeroplanes were a gift from the family of the late and much-missed Javier Arango; a collector, restorer, pilot and astute historian of aircraft from the dawn of flight through WWI.

Arango created The Aeroplane Collection, one of the worlds finest collections of WWI-era aircraft designs, in Paso Robles, California. While most of the aircraft in the Aeroplane Collection are replicas, most are authentic to the original design, including period engines, making their sight, sound and behavior in the air faithful to the originals. Noted vintage aircraft owner, restorer and pilot, Chuck Wentworth, was one of Arangos chief collaborators, and played a major role in the restoration/recreation of a good number of Arangos aircraft, including the pair now owned by NASM.

Each of the three aircraft freshly on display at the Udvar-Hazy Center have fascinating histories. The VanDersarl Bleriot is perhaps the most unusual, and dates from 1911. It is based loosely upon the Bleriot XI, the aircraft in which its French designer, Louis Bleriot, became the first person to cross the English Channel on July 25th, 1909. Inspired by the aerial endeavors of Bleriot and other aviation pioneers of the day, two brothers living near Denver, Colorado, Jules and Frank VanDersarl, decided that they too wanted to fly. However, neither teenager was able to buy their own plane, nor even to afford lessons to fly. Undeterred, they set about building their own flying machine based on Bleriots monoplane, using just photographs and detailed descriptions as a guide. They adapted a four-cylinder, inline, air-cooled automobile engine to power it. Without any formal flight training, the pair successfully flew their aircraft in June, 1911.

Moving on from their own design a few years later, the brothers went on to fly more modern types, and Frank even operated his own airport and barnstorming company. The two men never forgot their first aircraft though, and stored it for posterity. They had plans to restore their prize later in their lives, but never completed the task. Frank died in the 1960s, and after Jules death in 1977, their monoplane went on display at the Museum of New Mexico. Javier Arango acquired the mostly complete and original airframe in 2009, although without its engine. According to Arango, the aircraft was in superb and largely untouched condition. Chuck Wentworth and his company Antique Aero, also based in Paso Robles, set about the restoration, which was highly sympathetic to preserving as much original material as possible. The fuselage was nearly perfect, and mostly just needed some new cables and fittings, whereas the wings were more troublesome being clearly of slightly later vintage to the fuselage  probably as a result of accidents back when it was a regular flyer. Without the original engine, Wentworth and Arango considered simply replacing it with an Anzani 3-cylinder, as was typically used on the Bleriot XI design, but the Smithsonian convinced them to be true to the aircrafts roots, so they recreated something very similar to the original engine based upon photographs and detailed technical descriptions which the VanDersarls had preserved. Wentworth made sure to use as many period items on the engine as possible, including a 1905 Bosch magneto, a brass carburetor of 1909 vintage, a tachometer, a magneto switch and a 1910 automobile oil gauge. The concept worked very well. The restorations fierce adherence to authenticity was so well received that the aircraft won the prestigious Rolls-Royce Aviation Heritage Trophy in September, 2011 during the projects unveiling at the National Aviation Heritage Invitational in Reno, Nevada. Javier Arango made a successful first post-restoration flight in the VanDersarl Bleriot on November 3rd, 2012, just over a century after its initial flight.

The Smithsonians newly acquired Sopwith F.1 Camel is one of just a handful of original survivors of the famous British fighter from WWI, and the last of the breed actually built at a Sopwith factory. This particular aircraft flew with the Royal Naval Air Service as B6291, operating from the front lines in France with 10 Squadron RNAS. It had an eventful service life, and was badly damaged a number of times in accidents. A rough chronology of its military career appears as follows in Ray Sturtivants magnificent Air-Britain tome, Royal Navy aircraft serials and units 1911 to 1919

B6291: (130-hp Clerget) Delivered Aeroplane Dept Dunkirk (St Pol) (via Dover) 21.9.17

10 Sqdn 28.9.17;

Forced landing, wrecked Dorglandt 30.9.17; (FSL CE Bramhall injured)

Aircraft Depot Dunkirk 21.10.17

Aeroplane Park Dover by 12.10.17

War School Manston 31.12.17

Became Pool of Pilots Manston 1.4.18

206 Training Depot Station Eastbourne 5.6.18

Stalled on take-off, crashed, overturned, wrecked 7.6.18; (2/Lt JB Risk slightly injured)

Became 50 Training Depot Station 15.7.18 to approx 1.11.18

Following WWI, two former Royal Flying Corps pilots apparently acquired the Camel with a handful of other aeroplanes with the intent of setting up a flying business near the city of Lincoln, England. The story continues that the two men didnt have the resources to fulfill their ambitions, and that the aircraft remained dormant in an old barn owned by a farmer named John Halkes until the early 1960s, when noted aviation restorer Lt.Cdr. Desmond St.Cyrien negotiated its purchase along with a brace of equally rare Sopwith Pups at the same location. St.Cyrien stored the aircraft for the next couple of decades while working on other projects at his facility in Horley on the outskirts of London. He started working on the project in the 1980s, but in 1987 St.Cyrien received sponsorship from British Aerospace, with the idea of flying the aircraft for Tommy Sopwiths 100th birthday celebrations in 1988. Sopwith lived to be 101, but sadly never got to see his aircraft fly. British Aerospace made and supplied a number of new parts for the project, but dropped their sponsorship after just a year. Well respected vintage aircraft restorer Tony Ditheridge acquired the aircraft in about 1990, and his company AJD Engineering got the Camel flying again by 1992. The aircraft was based with the Shuttleworth Collection for a season, operating with their amazing selection of very early antique aircraft in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, while still under Ditheridges ownership. The aircraft left Britain for the USA under new ownership in the winter of 1994/95. Javier Arango acquired the aircraft in the mid-2000s, and had the aircraft gone through very carefully before flying it again. The FAA lists its airworthiness certificate being valid from March, 2006.

World-renowned aviation photographer Philip Makanna has provided us with some magical images of the Smithsonians Sopwith Camel and VanDersarl Bleriot from the period when Javier Arango owned them. Makanna was close friends with Arango, and captured many of the aircraft in his collection, both from the air and the ground. Perhaps most famous for his long-running Ghosts calendar filled with stunning air-to-air images of vintage WWII aircraft, Makanna has a deep interest in WWI aviation too, his father having flown during the Great War himself. He has produced a pair of stunning books featuring Arangos aircraft which our readers may enjoy, The VanDersarl Bleriot, and Ghosts of the Great War: Aviation in WWI, as well as a calendar, Ghosts of the Great War, featuring more of his gorgeous images of WWI aircraft too.
WATERLOO  Those who rent out their homes on a popular home-renting website made some cash in the Cedar Valley this year.

According to Airbnb, nearly 1,100 hosts in Iowa made $5.8 million off of around 60,000 guests in 2017, according to a report issued Wednesday. The company said thats a year-over-year growth of 106 percent.

In Cedar Falls, hosts welcomed 990 guests for a total of $103,000, which works out to an average of $104.04 per guest.

In Waterloo, hosts welcomed 760 guests for a total of $91,000, which works out to an average of $119.74 per guest.

The top-grossing city was Des Moines, where hosts welcomed 11,280 guests for a total of $1.1 million, or an average of $97.52 per guest.

On average, the company said each of its Iowa hosts make around $3,600 annually.

Airbnb has a tax agreement with the state, begun in October, that allows the company to collect and remit state, county and municipal hotel taxes on behalf of its hosts.
HAZLETON  Fontana Interpretive Nature Center will host a bird feeder-making workshop from 10 to 11 a.m. Jan 6.

People can make a snowman or scarecrow feeder from coffee cans and a cake pan.

All ages are welcome. Cost is $3 per feeder.

To sign up, call (319) 636-2617 or email bccbscheduling@gmail.com.

Presentation

at senior center

IOWA FALLS  The Iowa Falls Senior Center will host a presentation by Hansen Family Hospitals Senior Life Solutions program at 12:15 p.m. Jan. 10.

Senior Life Solutions, a new service located at the Hansen Family Hospital, is an intensive outpatient group therapy program designed to meet the needs of older adults over the age of 65 struggling with symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Blue Band plans

last goodbye

WATERLOO  Bob Dorr and the Blue Band will play their Last Goodbye Show from 7 to 10:30 p.m. Jan. 6 at the Waterloo Center for the Arts.

Doors open at 6 p.m.

Bob Dorr and the Blue Band are wrapping up a career of playing together for over 30 years.

Cost is $5 per person at the door and food and beverages will be available for purchase.
WATERLOO -- Police are investigating a Tuesday evening shooting on the near west side.

Waterloo Police were called to 114 Norimer St. at 7:48 p.m. Tuesday for shots fired.

When they arrived, they spoke with three adults -- Amanda Price, no age given, Darronte Ivy, 26, and Andrew Simons, 18 -- who were inside the home at the time. They said the house was shot several times.

Two of the bullets broke a window, and Simons was treated at the scene for minor cuts sustained by flying glass.

No other injuries or damage was reported. The occupants told police they did not see the perpetrators.

Ivy was arrested later that night, at 10:37 p.m., for first-degree harassment and driving while license suspended when police were called to a burglary in progress at 125 Sherwood Court, #7. He allegedly harassed Paulette Ivy, 42. Darronte Ivy remained in the Black Hawk County Jail as of Wednesday on a $7,000 bond.

Police continue to investigate the shooting.
CEDAR RAPIDS  Three people were sentenced in federal court Wednesday on separate gun charges.

In the first, a Waterloo man has been sentenced to prison for allegedly trying to sell a rifle that was stolen from a member of the military who was in training in 2015.

Dejaaron Nathaniel Cassell, 25, was sentenced to six and a half years in prison on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids. He will have to serve three years of supervised release following his sentence.

He pleaded guilty to one count of felon in possession of a firearm.

According to court records, Cassell in June 2015 attempted to sell a Zastava N-PAP M70 military rifle to a co-worker for $500. The weapon had been reported stolen earlier that month while the owner was away for military training.

During the sale, Cassell told the buyer he could provide more ammunition of needed, and he said he could take from oil from work to lubricate the weapon, records state. He also told the buyer that he had fired the rifle, and it had light recoil.

Authorities said Cassell is barred from handling firearms because of a 2009 burglary conviction in Polk County, and he was on parole for the crime at the time of the sale.

In the second case, another Waterloo man with a domestic abuse conviction has been sentenced to prison in connection with a military-style rifle police found in March 2016.

Judge Linda Reade sentenced Ramell Dashay McQueen, 31, to three years and one month in prison for a charge of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids. The prison time will be followed by three years of supervised release.

The sentence will run consecutive with a sentencing in a Nebraska.

Authorities allege McQueen possessed a MAG Tactical MG-G4 5.56 mm rifle on March 26, 2016, while he was barred from handling firearms because of a 2010 domestic abuse conviction. Court records allege he pawned the weapon while out on bond for another chsrge that was ultimately dismissed.

He was indicted in July.

In the third case, a Waterloo man who was found with a loaded revolver and marijuana in March has been sentenced to prison.

Police said they found the .38-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun and a safe with marijuana following a March 31 traffic stop at Campbell and Lawnhill avenues and arrested Mitchell Allen Mincks, 22. A passenger in the vehicle had 25 tabs of LSD, according to court records.

On Wednesday, Mincks was sentenced to two years and half years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release.

Authorities said Mincks is barred from handling firearms because of a 2016 felony burglary conviction and because he was a marijuana user at the time.

The burglary charge stems from a May 2015 road rage incident at Sergeant Road and Washington Street where he allegedly assaulted a passenger in a van, and the passenger then stabbed him.

He is facing a probation revocation in the burglary case, and any time from that case will run consecutive with the firearm sentence.
DES MOINES  Health insurance for roughly 44,000 Iowa children hangs in the balance, waiting for Congress to continue funding the government program for low-income families.

State officials say they are optimistic their federal counterparts will act in time to keep the program funded, but they also are preparing for the worst.

The state is making contingency plans, said a spokesman for the state health department. No decisions have been made at this time, and the department remains optimistic that funding will be reauthorized.

The Childrens Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, is a federally funded, state-administered program that provides health coverage for children in low-income families. For the first time in its 20-year history, funding for the program expired Sept. 30, leaving states to prop up the program with whatever money they could find.

Congress last week included a $2.85 billion infusion for CHIP in a short-term spending plan designed to prevent the federal government from shutting down. The money is designed to help states in danger of emptying their reserve accounts.

Iowa officials say they have enough money to run the state program through March and are unlikely to need any of the new funding.

But, if Congress fails to fully fund the program next year, difficult decisions will have to be made.

If funding is not reauthorized, the state will need to make decisions about childrens coverage before funding runs out next year. The choices available will vary by program type, said Matt Highland, the state health department spokesman.

In Iowa, children covered by CHIP are in two categories: 16,000 who qualify for Iowas expansion of Medicaid, another low-income health coverage program; and 44,000 whose families make too much income to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford private health insurance.

The 16,000 children in Medicaid expansion will not lose coverage because of federal requirements for the program. However, if CHIP is not funded by the federal government, moving those 16,000 children to Medicaid would cost Iowa an additional $10 million to $15 million each year, Highland said.

The 44,000 children not covered by Medicaid expansion are covered by a state program called Healthy and Well Kids in Iowa, or hawk-i. If Congress does not fully fund CHIP, those 44,000 Iowa children  among 9 million across the country in similar circumstances  could be left without health insurance.

In case federal lawmakers fail to act and CHIP funding runs out sometime after March, the state is exploring three options for those 44,000 children, Highland said.

The state could move hawk-i children to Medicaid. That would cost the state an additional $32.8 million each year.

The state could freeze hawk-i enrollment.

Or the state could shut down the hawk-i program. If that were to happen, the state would send notice to families and note their option of purchasing health insurance through the federal marketplace established by the Affordable Care Act.

Highland stressed the state has made no decisions and remains optimistic Congress ultimately will fund CHIP.

There is bipartisan support in Congress for CHIP but disagreements on how it should be funded.

Both of Iowas U.S. senators, Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, said they support a measure approved by a Senate committee in October to keep the program funded through Sept. 30, 2022.

The bipartisan committee vote shows the Senates understanding of what this program accomplishes and the need to make sure it continues without interruption, Grassley said in October after the long-term funding plan was approved by the committee.

Nearly half of U.S. states are in a similar predicament as Iowa, and many are considering options to reduce or limit coverage, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a national nonpartisan nonprofit organization that studies health care issues.

Fourteen of the 24 states with a separate CHIP program, like Iowas hawk-i, have said they plan to terminate or phase out CHIP coverage for children; eight have said they will do so by the end of February, according to Kaiser.

Seven states said they plan to freeze CHIP enrollment, and at least three have announced plans to move separate CHIP enrollees into Medicaid, according to Kaiser.

In these states, as in Iowa, state officials find themselves largely at the mercy of the federal government.

One Iowa official is calling for swift, firm, united action.

This crisis affects families in every county of this state. This is an all hands on deck moment for Iowas elected leaders, Nate Boulton, a state senator from Des Moines, hawk-i board member and Democratic candidate for governor, said after the boards meeting last week.

Boulton said the Legislature should, once it convenes in January, approve a resolution requesting Congress fully fund CHIP, and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds should travel to the nations capital to make the case in person to Congress and the president.

Reynolds said she is confident Congress will act in time to fully fund CHIP, and she has been in contact with Sens. Grassley and Ernst to get updates.

I think, in the end, theyve always been able to get that done, and I have no reason to believe that they wont again, Reynolds said. I have confidence theyll get there.
Raymond book

now available

RAYMOND  The previously announced new history book, Raymond, Iowa 1867-2017, is now available to pick up.

For information, call 433-8028.

Library closing

for holiday

WATERLOO -- The Waterloo Public Library will be closed Monday for the New Year's holiday.

The library will reopen regular hours on Tuesday.

Spelling bee

set Jan. 27

WATERLOO  Council 700 of the Knights of Columbus in Waterloo will host its annual spelling bee Jan. 27 at Columbus High School, 3231 W. Ninth St.

The Iowa Knights of Columbus Spelling Contest is for children in grades four through seven to demonstrate their spelling abilities.

The contest starts at the local level, with the top two place winners at each grade level advancing to the regional competition in late February. The top finishers at the regional competitions will compete in the state competition March 4 in Ames.

The word lists for each grade and contest rules are available at www.iowakofc.org/page/spelling-bee.

The Waterloo contest is open to any student, whether public, private, parochial or home schooled, who lives in the Waterloo School District or nearby towns. There is no registration fee, but registrations should be submitted by Jan 19. For more information, contact Tom Pfiffner at 239-4732 or tom.pfiffner@uni.edu.

Comment sought

on I-80 study

DAVENPORT (AP)  Officials plan to seek public input on a major study of Interstate 80 through rural Iowa before its scheduled completion in May.

The Iowa Department of Transportation has been studying the state's most-traveled east-west road for more than a year. The study aims to identify necessary improvements to meet expected growth of traffic volumes.

Transportation officials predict traffic along the interstate will increase significantly by 2040. Planners have examined expanding U.S. 30 and U.S. 34 and whether to segregate truck traffic. The department didn't recommend either option.

"While beneficial to operations and safety, truck-only lanes are cost prohibitive with the current financial constraints of the Iowa DOT," the agency wrote in a memo.

The agency found that expanding to six lanes could bring many of the same benefits as truck-only lanes. The report also analyzed how automated driving could cause changes in traffic.

A final public input session is likely to be held in Des Moines in April.
WATERLOO -- A man who was wanted for domestic assault and forcing his way into a residence was later found pointing a gun at passing cars.

Markus Earl Harding, 33, of 316 Commercial St., Waterloo, was arrested Dec. 19 in the area of West Airline Highway and Leversee Road.

He was charged with first-degree burglary, two counts of false imprisonment, fourth-degree theft and first-degree harassment, as well as on warrants for aggravated domestic assault and domestic assault strangulation.

According to Waterloo Police, Harding had forced his way into a woman's residence and held her against her will.

While police were processing those charges and looking for Harding, he was allegedly found pointing a gun at passing vehicles. He then fled from police on foot before he was detained.

Harding is currently in the Black Hawk County Jail on a $209,600 bond.
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Staying out of debt is easier said than done, I know. However, its something you can do, and its something you should be practicing everyday. As Christians, we are in this world, but we are
Dec 27, 2017 | By Tess

While you may have been unwrapping new sweaters and socks this Christmas, Pope Francis was receiving what could very well be the worlds tiniest nativity scene. The nanoscale gift, which is so small it can reportedly sit on a human eyelash, was 3D printed by researchers at Lithuanias Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VGTU).

The nativity scene itself is based on the iconic scene at Cathedral Square in Vilnius, Lithuania, which comprises of the baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the three wise men, granger animals, and more.

In fact, a team of 30 researchers from VGTUs Laser Research Center painstakingly 3D scanned every element of the full-scale nativity scene and converted the 3D scan data into scaled-down 3D models.

The 3D printed nativity scene, which is 10,000 times smaller than the original (the baby Jesus is apparently smaller than a human cell!), was appropriately named NanoJesus. It was additively manufactured in collaboration with Vilnius-based micro-fabrication company Femtika and local 3D printing company Ideja 3D.

VGTU and its partners say they 3D printed five copies of the tiny nativity scene over the last three months, one of which was gifted to Pope Francis by Lithanian president Dalia Grybauskaite on behalf of the Baltic country. We sure hope the Pope had a microscope on hand to truly appreciate the 3D printed creche.

Two of the other 3D printed nativity scenes were given to Lithuanias Presidential Palace and the Vilnius Archdiocese. The two remaining copies will supposedly be made available to the public, presumably through some sort of display or exhibition.

And though they are confident that what they have created is the worlds smallest nativity scene, the Vilnius researchers are still awaiting the final certification from Guinness World Records. Considering the scene is not discernible to the naked eye, were pretty sure they have it in the bag.

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite with the microscopic 3D printed nativity scene

(Images: NanoJesus)

The technological gift precedes a planned visit by the Pope to the Baltic states in 2018. Lithuania is hoping to not only impress the Pope with the 3D printed nativity scene but to also promote itself as a hub for innovation and 3D printing technology.

Interestingly, this is not the first time Pope Francis has been associated with the 3D printing community, as a miniature 3D printed replica of the religious leader was released in 2015, and the Pope even blessed a number of 3D printers which were sent to Africa for the purpose of producing prosthetics.

Posted in 3D Printing Application

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Bill Bryson in Delancey Place:

Herbert Hoover went from a spectacular career in mining to international acclaim and celebrity in a war relief effort to derision and blame for the Great Depression.

"Herbert Clark Hoover was born in 1874 thirty miles west of the Mississippi (he would be the first president from west of that symbolically weighty boundary) in the hamlet of West Branch, Iowa, in a tiny white cottage, which still stands. His parents, devout Quakers, died tragically early  his father of rheumatic fever when little Bert was just six, his mother of typhoid fever three years later  and he was sent to live with an uncle and aunt in Oregon. "Though he never finished high school  his uncle, disregarding his brightness, sent him to work as an office boy in Salem, Oregon, instead  Hoover nurtured a fierce ambition to better himself. In 1891, at age seventeen, he passed the entrance examinations for the brand-new Leland Stanford Junior University (or just Stanford as we now know it), which then was a free school. As a member of Stanford's first-ever class, he studied geology and also met there his future wife, Lou Henry, who by chance was also from Iowa. (They would marry in 1899.) Upon graduating, Hoover took the only job he could find, in a gold mine in Nevada City, California, loading and pushing an ore cart ten hours a day seven days a week for 20 cents an hour  a meager salary even then. That this was the permanent lot for his fellow miners seems never to have troubled him. Hoover was a great believer in  and a living embodiment of  the notion of personal responsibility.
'Larkin Street at McAllister Street,' by John Chiara

The 8 Coolest Things to See at Fog Design + Art Fair
We are so excited and honored to have received preliminary notice that our temporary license has been issued, said Kenneth Churchill

West Coast Cannabis Club is pleased to announce it has received a temporary license making them one of just a handful of stores which will be compliant in a new era of regulated legalization in California.

27 Dec, 2017  Cathedral city marijuana dispensary, West Coast Cannabis Club, is pleased to announce it has received a temporary license making them one of just a handful of stores which will be compliant in a new era of regulated legalization in California.

We are so excited and honored to have received preliminary notice that our temporary license has been issued, said Kenneth Churchill, owner of WCCC. Retail cannabis is legal in the state of California as of January 1. The fact that we are one of a few dispensaries recognized, licensed, and compliant by Californias Bureau of Cannabis Control is confirmation that our commitment to doing things right is paying off.

Local ordinances often determine opening dates and times. Some northern California operations, for example, have time and day-of-week restrictions, so call West Coast Cannabis Club for details about when they will officially be operating under the recreational sales regulations.

West Coast Cannabis Club is located at:

68828 Ramon Road

Suite A2

Cathedral City, CA 92234

Phone: (760) 689-2582

West Coast Cannabis Club is a non-profit Mutual Benefit Corporation, offering its members desirable medicinal solutions of the highest-quality.

Media Contact

Company Name: West Coast Cannabis Club

Contact Person: Kenneth Churchill

Email: Kenneth@WestCoastCannabis.Club

Phone: (760) 689-2582

Address:68828 Ramon Road Suite A2

City: Cathedral City

State: CA

Country: United States

Website: http://westcoastcannabis.club/
After the special NIA court discharged all charges under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Lt Colonel Prasad Purohit and two others in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, opposition parties attacked the government and said that whether it is setting precedent of giving clean chit to accused responsible for 2G scam, Adarsh and Malegaon bomb blast incident? They added that charges might have been dropped against Sadhvi Pragya due to her proximity to Hindutva outfits. NCP alleged that the government is trying to protect the accused responsible for the Malegaon blast incident. Political parties have often used the bomb blast incident to make allegation against each other to settle political scores. Congress party has often raised the Hindutva terror issue to gain political mileage over BJP. On the other hand, accusations have been made against BJP for going soft on Hindu extremists accused in the Malegaon blast case.

DP Tripathi, NCP Rajya Sabha MP said, I cant comment about the judgement delivered by the court. The government is trying to shield the accused of Malegaon blast case which is unjustified.

Nanabhau Patole, former BJP MP said, We have zero tolerance against corruption. False allegation has been made against those involved in the 2G spectrum. Efforts have been made to mislead people. In the Malegaon bomb blast case, an attempt was been made to create rift between Hindus and Muslims and this case is connected with the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack incident. In the book The Last Bullet written by Vinita Kamte, she had asked 12 questions to the government. I had asked the same questions to the government but they failed to reply. If she is making baseless allegation then her book should be banned. Court delivers the verdict as per the evidence presented to it. Political parties are trying to derive political mileage out of this case then they should do some self-introspection.

Hansraj Ahir, Union Minister of State for Home said, The court has delivered this verdict and government has no role to play in it. The government must not interfere in the functioning of the judiciary. The government is doing its job efficiently and maintaining law and order amicably. I cant make any comment about Pragya Singh case.

Chetan Rajhans, spokesperson of Sanatan Sanstha said, Only two persons have been completely discharged from the Malegaon bomb blasts case. The opposition has made political allegations against the government. If any corruption occurs in the reign of a particular government then allegations are made against them only. Today whenever a person is acquitted of all charges in any case, political parties then try to blame each other and derive mileage out of it.
In Malegaon Blast Case, the charges under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), 1999, have been dropped against four accused including Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya in the Malegaon blast case. This is a partial relief, as they will face trial for conspiracy charges. The court said that the accused will face trial under sections 16 (committing a terror act) and 18 (criminal conspiracy) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), and sections 120(b) (punishment of criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 326 (intentionally causing harm to others) of the IPC. The court said that Thakur couldnt be exonerated of conspiracy charges, as she was aware about a motorcycle that was used in the blast.

On September 29, 2008, a bomb kept on a motorcycle, exploded near Hamidia Masjid in Malegaon, a communally sensitive textile town in Nashik district of northern Maharashtra. Six people were killed and 101 were injured in the attack, which the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) initially said was planned by Hindu right-wing groups to target Malegaons Muslim population. Thakur was the first arrest made by the ATS, which went to arrest Purohit and retired officer Ramesh Upadhyay. Between October and November 2008, the ATS arrested 11 people.

But in 2011, the probe was shifted to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which in a chargesheet last year, accused the ATS of manipulating and coercing witnesses. The agency discharged Pragya Thakur and five others, and revoked MCOCA. The NIA, however, stated that there was substantial evidence against Purohit and others.

In another episode on the same day, Uttar Pradesh government has ordered the withdrawal of a 22-year-old case against Yogi Adityanath under a new law passed last week, which provides amnesty to politicians from what the Chief Minister has called old, non-serious cases against them. Under the law, seen as controversial, given the deep crime-politics nexus in the state  20,000 cases against politicians will be withdrawn.

The case against Yogi Adityanath involves flouting prohibitory orders and holding a meeting in his home turf Gorakhpur in 1995. Minister of State for Finance, Shiv Pratap Shukla and BJP lawmaker Sheetal Pandey were also named as accused. Uttar Pradesh has been one of the states known for a high percentage of legislators who have criminal cases  including that of murder, kidnapping, and crimes against women  against them.

The FIR in the Panchrukhiya case, names Adityanath and 24 other identified persons for attempt to murder, rioting, carrying deadly weapons, defiling a place of worship, trespassing on a Muslim graveyard, and promoting enmity between two religious groups. The case was significant partly because it was the first clear hint of the extent to which Adityanath was ready to go to manufacture a riot, and partly because the revelation came merely a year after he joined active politics, becoming a Member of Parliament for the first time from the states Gorakhpur seat in 1998. For some time, after he was named in the FIR, the Gorakhpur MP lay low. But, once he formed his personal anti-minority outfit, the Hindu Yuva Vahini, in 2002, within weeks of the Godhra incident in Gujarat that year  when the death of 59 kar sevaks in a fire on the Sabarmati Express set off Hindu-Muslim riots that killed over 2,000 people in Gujarat  the outburst of communal riots became unusually frequent in Gorakhpur and its neighbourhood.

The region witnessed at least six major riots in the very first year since the groups formation  at Mohan Mundera village in Kushinagar district, Nathua village in Gorakhpur district, and Turkmanpur locality in Gorakhpur city in June, at Narkataha village in Maharajganj in August, and at Bhedahi village in Maharajganj and the Dhanghata locality of Sant Kabir Nagar in September.

Most of these cases started off as criminal incidents that turned communal after Adityanath or other leaders of the Hindu Yuva Vahini jumped in. In all, between 2002 and 2007, when Adityanath was arrested and kept in lock-up, Gorakhpur and its neighbouring districts witnessed at least 22 major riots, most involving him or his henchmen. These arrests, in fact, were the only time the police showed some spine in dealing with him and his outfit. The crackdown was in response to Hindu-Muslim riots that had erupted in and around Gorakhpur, caused primarily by a toxic campaign of communal politics by Adityanath and his group in the run-up to the Assembly elections in 2007. Two persons were killed, properties worth crores were burnt and the area remained under curfew for several days during that January-February period.

Adityanath and over a dozen leaders of the Hindu Yuva Vahini were arrested while they were marching towards the troubled areas of Gorakhpur on January 28, 2007, a day after he made an inflammatory speech aimed at turning a small criminal incident into a communal riot. The arrest was timed so as to prevent the group from carrying out its threat of burning the tazia  a replica of Imam Husains mausoleum in Iraq  that Muslim residents were to take out as part of a Muharram procession on January 29. Adityanath remained in lock-up till February 7, when he managed to get bail. Most of the FIRs against him from that time are still alive, though their fate has become uncertain now that Adityanath has assumed power in the state. From the chief ministers office, he can do a modest amount of good, and he can also do immense harm.

Coming back to Malegaon bombings, they were a series of bomb blasts. On April 25, 2016, the court found the initial ATS charges to be fabricated and released the nine Muslims previously arrested. The explosions, which resulted in at least 37 fatalities and 125 injuries, took place in a Muslim cemetery, adjacent to a mosque. Most of the blast victims were Muslim pilgrims. Security forces spoke of two bombs attached to bicycles, but other reports indicated that three devices had exploded. A stampede ensued after the devices exploded. A curfew was imposed in the town and state paramilitary forces were deployed in sensitive areas to prevent unrest. Today, if one has to believe court and government orders, no one has done any blast and Uttar Pradesh CM is most clean politician of the era.

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@afternoonvoice.com)
Pakistani troops today fired indiscriminately from across the Line of Control at forward posts in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, prompting retaliation by the Indian Army, a defence spokesman said.

The exchange of fire between the two sides in Noushera sector continued for nearly four hours but there was no immediate report of any casualty.

Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics and mortars from 0815 hours. Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively, the spokesman said.

He said the firing stopped from both sides at 1200 hours.

The latest ceasefire violation by Pakistan comes five days after Pakistani troops opened fire from across the border, leaving four Army personnel dead and another soldier injured in Keri sector of Rajouri on December 23.

Indian troops also killed three Pakistani troops and injured another in retaliatory action at Rukh Chakri sector in Rawlakot on December 25.

On December 24, Pakistani troops had targeted forward posts and villages in Shahpur sector of Poonch district.

Jammu and Kashmir witnessed a total of 881 ceasefire violations this year, highest in the past seven years, along the LoC and the International Border, resulting in the death of 34 people.

According to officials, Pakistan violated the ceasefire along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir 771 times till December 10, and 110 times along the IB till November-end.

In these incidents of firing from across the border, 30 people  14 Army personnel, 12 civilians and four BSF personnel  were killed.

The truce between India and Pakistan along the International Border, the Line of Control and the Actual Ground Position Line in Jammu and Kashmir came into force in November 2003.

India shares a 3,323-km-long border with Pakistan of which 221 km of the IB and 740 km of the LoC fall in Jammu and Kashmir.
A day ahead of the tabling of the triple talaq bill in Parliament, some Muslim womens organisations said on Wednesday that the proposed legislation would not be acceptable if not in consonance with the Quran or the Constitution.

Nikaah (marriage) is a contract. Whosoever breaks it should be punished. However, if it (Bill) is not in the light of Quran and the Constitution, no Muslim woman will accept it, All India Muslim Women Personal Law board (AIMWPLB) chairperson Shaista Amber told PTI.

I had sent a letter to the Law Commission requesting it to show the draft bill to the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), AIMWPLB, Jamait Islami, Jamiat Ulma-e-Hind and organisations working for women who were given talaq. I got a reply that if needed, it will be discussed but that did not happen, she added.

Holding the AIMPLB responsible for the present state of affairs, Amber said the board never bothered to take triple talaq seriously, and now it was too late.

Muslim Women Leagues president Naish Hasan said that in the Family Court Act, there is always a chance to save a family but the proposed bill does not give such a chance.

Third party has also been given the right to complain in the bill. That is not fair, she said. Hasan added that the bill should be stalled for now and discussions should be held, as a law in haste will complicate matters.

We will protest if the bill is passed without any discussion, she said.

Demanding withdrawal of the bill, the AIMPLB had earlier said the proposed legislation was against the provisions of the Constitution and violated the rights of women.

Describing it a conspiracy, the AIMPLB at its meeting here on Sunday had accused the government of snatching the right of divorce from men.

AIMPLB chairman Maulana Rabe Hasani Nadwi will request Prime Minister Narendra Modi to withhold or withdraw the proposed bill that criminalises the practice of instant divorce, an official spokesperson of the Muslim body said.

In August, the Supreme Court by a majority of 3:2 ruled that the practice of divorce through triple talaq among Muslims is void, illegal and unconstitutional.

The government then drafted the Muslim Women Protection of Rights on Marriage Bill according to which giving instant divorce will be illegal and void and will attract a jail term of three years for the husband.

The bill seeks to criminalise the practice of instant divorce by repeated the word talaq thrice.
The United States announced sanctions on two of North Koreas most prominent officials behind its ballistic missile program, while Russia reiterated an offer to mediate to ease tension between Washington and Pyongyang.

The new US steps were the latest in a campaign aimed at forcing North Korea, which has defied years of multilateral and bilateral sanctions to abandon a weapons program aimed at developing nuclear-tipped missiles capable of hitting the United States.

Treasury 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 Mnuchin said in a statement.

The move followed new United Nations sanctions announced last Friday in response to North Koreas Nov. 29 test of an ICBM that Pyongyang said put all of the U.S. mainlands within range of its nuclear weapons. Those sanctions sought to further limit North Koreas access to refined petroleum products and crude oil and its earnings from workers abroad.

North Korea declared the UN steps to be an act of war and tantamount to a complete economic blockade.

The standoff between the United States and North Korea has raised fears of a new conflict on the Korean peninsula, which has remained in a technical state of war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

The United States has said that all options, including military ones, are on the table in dealing with North Korea. It says it prefers a diplomatic solution, but that North Korea has given no indication it is willing to discuss denuclearization.
He probably won't greet you at the door. His name might never be on the marquee. But the next time you visit Birmingham's Alabama Theatre, you might want to stop, however briefly, and pay silent tribute to a man named Larry Donaldson.

Donaldson, a retired engineer with a steel-trap mind and a taste for history, has been a hands-on volunteer at the theater since 1969. He looks a bit like Kriss Kringle (a bonus at this time of year) and maintains his own type of Santa's workshop in the backstage labyrinth.

"It has been a lifelong hobby," says Donaldson, 67. "If I'm not gone on a trip, I'll spend 40-50 hours per week here."

His primary interest, the theater's magnificent Wurlitzer organ, led Donaldson to the Alabama at age 19. But over the past half-century, he's become an expert on the theater's operating systems -- lighting, air-conditioning, heating, plumbing, stage rigging, electrical and more -- and mastered the intricacies of the historic building, top to bottom.

"Larry is an unsung hero of our organization," says Danny Evans, longtime board president of Birmingham Landmarks Inc., a nonprofit that owns the Alabama and the nearby Lyric Theatre. "He knows as much about the organ and the physical plant of the Alabama Theatre as anybody. He knows all the systems, the wiring. He's smart as can be. He's just invaluable."

In an era when nonprofit organizations struggle to keep volunteers active for five or 10 years, Donaldson can claim nearly 50 years of involvement at the Alabama.

He lists himself as "organ crew chief" on his LinkedIn profile, pointing to an enduring fascination with the complex, finicky instrument affectionally known as Big Bertha. Many regard the pipe organ, built in 1927, as the heart of the theater, and Donaldson leads a team of eight people who spend their Saturdays engaged in painstaking labor, repairing and maintaining it.

"From a little kid, I was infatuated with organs," Donaldson says. "I didn't know the difference between an electronic and pipe organ, but I had been here as a 3-year-old and saw Stanleigh Malotte and the organ coming up out of the floor. I was sitting in the mezzanine and I saw the console going up and down, with him playing this massive instrument. It just fascinated me. I was infatuated with the organ from then on."

Take a tour of the Alabama Theatre with Donaldson, as AL.com did recently, and he immediately heads for the Mighty Wurlitzer. As Donaldson explains it, the elaborately decorated console (the part audiences see, with its keyboards and pedals) is just one part of the organ, which also has three chambers tucked into the theater's innards.

Those chambers hold pipes of various sizes that provide specific sounds -- violins, tubas, oboes, sleigh bells, bird whistles and much more -- and actual instruments, such as a piano keyboard, drums, cymbals and a xylophone, that play when triggered by the organist.

"On a theater organ, you orchestrate, just the way you would for an orchestra," Donaldson says. "On this phrase, the clarinets play. On this phrase, the flutes play. ... It's such a unique sound. You don't get it anywhere else."

He's clearly in his element moving through the organ chambers -- cramped, asymmetrical spaces that require him to climb narrow ladders, maneuver in tight crevices and walk on wooden planks over sheer drops -- and when Donaldson is there, explaining the functions of the pipes and proudly pointing to real instruments, he seems like a combination of Mr. Fix-It and the Phantom of the Opera. (Think overalls and a screwdriver instead of a mask and cape.)

Donaldson also presides over a cluttered organ workshop on the theater's fourth floor, directing volunteers surrounded by leather and glue, tools and machines, spare parts and scavenged pipes. He's quick to emphasize the group effort that keeps Big Bertha running, but few would argue that when it comes to organ upkeep, Donaldson rules supreme.

Larry Donaldson leads the organ crew at the Alabama Theatre. He offers kudos to the volunteers on his team: Tom Cronier, Andy Fox, Lex Sorensen, Karl Sorensen, Bob Yuill, Sabrina Summers, Andy Gallien and Pat Seitz. (Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com)

"The organ is beautiful in front, but take the back panel off and it looks like a robot," says Brant Beene, executive director of Birmingham Landmarks, who's worked with Donaldson since 2009. "The entire thing is like a Rube Goldberg device. Larry's into the mechanics of how this machine works, and he appreciates the way it works. I think what Larry loves is the contraption."

It's safe to say that Donaldson can troubleshoot every inch of the vintage organ (technically known as the Wurlitzer Opus 1783, Style Publix 1) after spending 48 years on its care. But can he play it?

"I know how to play the organ. No, I can't play the organ," Donaldson says. "All I could play would be church organ, not theater. It's a totally different technique."

Donaldson's ears are finely tuned, though, and he admires the folks who've coaxed great performances from the organ during its 90-year tenure at the Alabama. (The theater opened on Dec. 25, 1927, and the Mighty Wurlitzer was a dazzling part of the show.) In fact, Donaldson devised a computer system to record and replay performances on the Wurlitzer, so organists such as Tom Hazelton, Jim Riggs and Gary Jones can be heard by future generations.

'I got infatuated with the building'

So how does a teenage boy transform into a devoted volunteer at the Alabama Theatre? For Donaldson, then a student at the University of Montevallo, all it took was an invitation from his mentor, Jay Mitchell, choir director at First Lutheran Church of Birmingham.

"I was in the choir; I was also studying organ at the time," Donaldson recalls. "I was the assistant organist there. He was the one who said, 'You ought to come down and see what we're doing. We've got a little crew started to work on the organ. You might be interested in seeing what we do.' So I came down with him.

"The first thing I saw was, he couldn't get the spotlight to work properly. So I went back and started -- my father was an electrician; I worked with electricity all my life -- so I started working with the lighting board, to see if I could get his spotlight to working. And then I said, 'My gosh, what this lighting board was capable of doing in 1927.' And that got me going.

"I started working for the manager of the theater after midnight, repairing the old lighting board so that he could get more of the architectural lighting to work for the audience. And then, being engineering-minded, I got infatuated with the building," Donaldson continues. "How was it built? What was all this stuff for? Why was this stuff done this way in 1927, which made little sense in 1969-1970? And then I was trying to figure out all the different things about the building."

Within a few years, Donaldson had earned his own key to the theater at 1817 Third Ave. North, along with the responsibilities of organ crew chief. (Choir director Mitchell moved to Huntsville in 1973 or 1974, he says, and the theater manager trusted him.)

Donaldson became a member of the Alabama chapter of the American Theatre Organ Society, and joined the board of directors of Birmingham Landmarks in 1987. His interest in the theater never waned, even when his schooling -- Donaldson graduated in 1973 from the University of Alabama -- and his career as a chemical engineer took him out of town.

Although he lived in Tennessee and Georgia for about 40 years, Donaldson made the trip back to Birmingham every weekend, settling into a routine that allowed him to continue his volunteer work at the Alabama.

"Larry loves the theater, there's no question he does," says Evans, the former board president. (He retired a few months ago, after a 30-year tenure.) "We used to have open houses at the theater, where people could come and see the backstage stuff. Larry's a great tour guide."

Donaldson says it took years for him to become accustomed to the internal maze at the theater, exploring its depths and trying "not to leave footprints." These days, he navigates through the building with practiced ease, pointing to many practical projects he's spearheaded.

"It's not all glamorous," Donaldson says, smiling.

Currently, for example, he's overseeing the installation of a new air-conditioning system, and making sure lights at the theater are switched from incandescent bulbs to more efficient LEDs.

Donaldson's to-do list has included reconfiguring vents at the top of the building, working on sump pumps and sewers, using computer programs to regulate the heating and cooling systems, solving logistical problems with the concession stands, clamping off a steam leak in the generators and devising ways to run wiring behind the theater's delicate plaster.

"Larry doesn't mind getting his hands dirty at all," says Beene, the Alabama's executive director. "But with so much to do at a 90-year-old theater, he can't do it all. His role has sort of become our facilities manager. He knows what has to be done, and we hire it out. He always does that with an eye to historic preservation. His contributions have not just been aesthetic, which is very valuable to us, but he's saving us money in utilities."

According to Beene, Donaldson's generosity to the theater manifests itself in other ways, via light bulbs and hardware and computer panels.

"Anytime Larry's working on something and he knows the theater needs it, more often than not he'll purchase the item and donate it to the theater," Beene says. "I can't tell you how many times he's done that."

Does Larry Donaldson have any other hobbies, aside from his interest in the Alabama Theatre? Well, he's been known to attend the World Beard and Mustache Championships, with others who appreciate the hirsute. "I had a beard two weeks before my 21st birthday, and that's the one I've got now," Donaldson says. "I never shaved it off." (Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com)

'I get a little bit anxious'

Donaldson moved back to Birmingham when he retired in 2014, making it easier for him to spend time at the theater and give the Wurlitzer frequent doses of TLC. He tends to shrug off comments about his wizardly ways -- Beene says it would take five people to replace him if Donaldson ever quit -- and deflects praise with succinct, self-deprecating humor.

"I stay busy here," Donaldson says. "It keeps me from sitting home watching 'Wheel of Fortune.'"

Still, he acknowledges that his particular combination of interests, talents and skills would be tough to duplicate. Donaldson's specialty as an engineer is control systems, but as Evans and Beene will tell you, he's become the go-to guy for the theater in countless ways.

"I've got several different expertise that you're not going to find in one person," Donaldson says. "It's not something I intended; it just happened that way. You're not going to find somebody who has control systems, is involved with the building and involved with the organ. ... I know there will be somebody behind me to take care of the organ. I get a little bit anxious at: Is there somebody coming along behind me that will care as much?"

Donaldson's life has become so intertwined with the theater, he's been entrusted with the original blueprints, drawn in pen on linen by architects Graven and Mayger. These precious documents are carefully stored in the organ workshop, and Donaldson has been known to pore over them, marveling at their detail and precision.

Consider, too, that he plans his vacations with organ research in mind, attending annual conventions of the American Theatre Organ Society and conferences organized by the League of Historic American Theatres. Donaldson also travels the globe with Pipedreams, a group that's obsessed with pipe organs and affiliated with public radio.

"Larry is a very good ambassador for the theater," Beene says. "He makes great contacts, shares ideas and compares information."

Right now, Donaldson's staying close to home, helping the Alabama Theatre to prepare for the unveiling of its new sign on 18th Street. The theater secured a $120,000 preservation grant this year, allowing it to install a replica of a vintage sign that's been missing since the 1950s.

Donaldson, who's overseeing the sign project, says he'll likely be the one to flip the switch when the sign is unveiled at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve. The Alabama will present a concert earlier that evening, to celebrate the theater's 90th birthday and welcome 2018 in style.

As usual, Donaldson will work his magic behind the scenes, making sure the sign glows brightly to mark the occasion. In his view, the Alabama Theatre is the real star of the show, and a caregiver can take satisfaction in a job well done.

"I'll be here as long as my knees will handle it," Donaldson says, when asked about his plans for 2018. "As long as they want me, and I can."
Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Jefferson County's unsolved homicides of 2017

As of Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2017, there had been 172 homicides in communities throughout Jefferson County in 2017, including 110 in the City of Birmingham. Of the countywide deaths, at least 64 remain unsolved. Authorities said the lack of an arrest in a case is frustrating for detectives who work hard to bring closure to families, and it's even tougher on those families who are searching for answers and justice. Of the 110 homicides in Birmingham, 54 of them remain unsolved for a 50 percent clearance rate. The national average for agencies clearing homicides has steadily decreased in recent years: It was 59.4 percent in 2016, 61.5 percent in 2015 and 64.5 percent in 2014.

Birmingham police said the biggest challenge in 2017 has been the lack of witnesses willing to testify. "I've never see it so bad as far as people not being willing to talk to the police," said Lt. Scott Thurmond.

Anyone with information on any of these slayings is asked to call the investigating law enforcement agency.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Anthony Shuford and Stella Truitt

Anthony Shuford, 53, and Stella Struitt, 54, were found shot to death on Dec. 26, 2017 inside their Ensley home. Birmingham police responded to their 30th Street home after receiving a call from a neighbor. When officers arrived on the scene, they found the couple lying on the floor. Both were pronounced dead on the scene.

Sgt. Bryan Shelton said police do not believe the killings were random. "For the lives of the victims to end this is abnormal,'' Shelton said. "We have a suspet or suspects who clearly lack an appreciation for life."

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Tepe Edwards

Tepe Edwards, 43, died Christmas Day 2017, two days after he was shot in Birmingham's Norwood community. North Precinct officers responded just before 7 p.m. that Saturday to the 1700 block of 32nd Place North. Edwards, said Sgt. Bryan Shelton, was rushed to UAB Hospital for a gunshot wound that was said at the time be serious. On Monday, about 6 p.m., Edwards was pronounced dead by hospital staff.

Shelton said the preliminary investigation suggests the shooting was drug related. No one is in custody. "Lifestyle choices are a big factor in many of our homicides. This can make for a tough holiday season for this family, as now this season is tarnished with the fact he was the victim of a homicide,'' Shelton said. "Our focus now is to bring the answers they need."

UPDATE: An arrest has now been made in the case.

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Lynnwood J. Henry

Lynwood J. Henry, 70, was fatally shot on Dec. 20 in Pratt City. Birmingham police officers responded around 12:15 a.m. to Avenue W and 1st Street, after receiving a call about a vehicle driving into a utility pole. Officers arrived and located Henry inside of the car, which had multiple gunshot holes in it. Henry was pronounced dead at the scene.

Lt. Sean Edwards said Henry was traveling westbound on Avenue W when another vehicle pulled up next to him and began shooting at the Henry's car. There were no witnesses on the scene.

According to the coroner's office, Henry's primary address was in Decatur, Georgia-- he was in Birmingham to visit family, and often traveled back and forth between the two cities.

Anyone with information should call Birmingham police at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Elbert Lewis

Elbert Lewis, 38, died Dec. 11, more than a year after he was shot in east Birmingham. Lewis was critically wounded on Nov. 29, 2016 at Marks Village in the Gate City community. The shooting happened about 11:50 a.m. in the 6800 block of Kimberly Avenue, said Chief Deputy Coroner Bill Yates.

The victim, who was paralyzed by the shooting, was taken to UAB Hospital. Over the past year, Yates said, he had been in and out of hospitals from the gunshot wound complications. Lewis died at UAB Highlands. Yates said the cause of his death was directly attributed to being shot.

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Marlon Hale

Marlon Hale, 45, was killed during a Dec. 4 home invasion in southwest Birmingham. The shooting happened about 10 p.m. at Hale's home in the 2800 block of 32nd Place S.W. Authorities said two men burst into the house, ordered him to the ground and shot him in the leg.

Officers arrived on the scene to find Hale lying on the floor in the living room. He was able to tell police some of what happened. He said one of the suspects was wearing a black hoodie and blue jeans. The other was wearing a grey sweatshirt. Hale told them the intruders did not take anything from him or his home.

Hale was taken to UAB Hospital where he was was pronounced dead at 11:12 p.m. There are no suspects in custody and investigators have not yet determined in motive in the slaying.

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Rakeem Alexander

Rakeem Alexander, 22, was shot to death on Nov. 27 inside the Clairmont Avenue apartment he shared with is ailing grandfather whom he helped to care for. "I didn't think I'd ever have to deal with this,'' said his grieving mother, Deidra Alexander. "He was my baby."

Birmingham police Lt. Sean Edwards said several people were inside the apartment with Alexander when multiple shots rang out. He said detectives learned Alexander was selling narcotics at his apartment, however family members said they do not believe that to be true.

The shooting happened at 9:21 p.m. Family members said Alexander was inside the apartment, as well as one of his friends and Alexander's 71-year-old grandfather, who was sitting on the couch in the living room. They said a man and woman came to the back door and one of them told the friend to leave. Moments later, multiple shots were fired, several of which struck Alexander.

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Morry Green

Morry Green, 29, was shot to death early Sunday, Nov. 19, while looking for his vehicle. The shooting happened in the 10 block of Fourth Avenue North. North Precinct officers responded about 12:30 a.m. to the scene on a report of a man shot several times, said Sgt. Bryan Shelton. Once they arrived, they found Green in the back of the home. He was pronounced dead on the scene.

The preliminary investigation shows Green was dropped off at the residence because he was looking for a vehicle that belonged to him. At some point, Shelton said, he was told the vehicle wasn't there, and was subsequently shot. A person of interest was initially detained in the case but has not been charged.

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Jocklyn Manley and Pervis "PJ" Andre Pollk

Jocklyn Manley, 51, and Pervis "PJ" Andre Polk Jr., 17, were killed in an east Birmingham neighborhood on Nov. 16. Manley lived in Ensley, and Polk on the city's eastside. Neither lived where the shooting happened.

Birmingham police responded about 8:30 a.m. that Thursday to the 200 block of 51st Street North. Once on the scene, police found both wounded. They said Polk was standing outside of the vehicle talking to Manley in a silver Mustang. It wasn't immediately clear whether they knew each other.

Manley was pronounced dead on the scene at 8:50 a.m. Polk was rushed to UAB Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 9:06 a.m. Someone in a vehicle, police said, had approached the pair and opened fire. The suspect vehicle then fled the scene.

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Miracle McNeal

Miracle McNeal, 15, was killed Nov. 7 when up to 50 rifle rounds peppered the southwest Birmingham home where Miracle was in bed. Miracle was in her bed inside her home at 330 12th Street S.W. Her phone was plugged up next to her. It was about 11: 45 p.m. when a gunman or gunmen fired off dozens of bullets into the house. At least one of those tunneled through Miracle's headboard.

Police and family believe the Midfield High School sophomore started running for her life when one of those bullets struck her. Initially it appeared she was shot in the head, but an autopsy showed the bullet hit the girl in the left scapula and traverse across her chest.

There were five other people in the house at the time of the shooting - three young children, Miracle's adopted grandmother and a male relative. The grandmother, Bobbie Towns, was in her bedroom with a 2-year-old boy. The other two children were in their beds upstairs. The male family member was in the bathroom, having just arrived home from work and the store.

Miracle was on the A Honor Roll. "She was outgoing, so even though she was just a sophomore, she was friends with everybody in every grade,'' said Keith Hearon, assistant principal. "She was always smiling, laughing and joking. She was a good kid."

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Jeremy Stephen Omar Nicholas

Jeremy Stephen Omar Nicholas, 32, was killed Nov. 6 in Birmingham's Southtown public housing community. The shooting happened early that Monday morning  about 5:30 a.m.  in the 900 block of 23rd Street South. Once on the scene, they found Nicholas near the sidewalk in the housing community.

He had been shot multiple times. Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service pronounced Nicholas dead on the scene at 5:43 a.m.

Nicholas lived on Birmingham's east side, and was a father of two children. Police said no witnesses have come forward to tell police what they heard or saw. Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Antron Grace

Antron Grace, 41, was fatally shot on April 4. He was shot at 1409 90th Place. Police said an argument between the suspect and Grace ended in gunshots at around 4 a.m.. Grace was found dead in the driveway of his home.

"It's really unfortunate what happened to the victim," police spokesman Bryan Shelton said. "Arguing with someone outside your home at that time is unusual. He may have known his killer, and so our focus now is to identify the suspect and bring them to justice."

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Jeffery Tubbs

Jeffery Tubbs, 41, was killed about 6 p.m. on Nov. 1, the third man to die in Birmingham in less than eight hours. Officers from the West Precinct responded to the 2900 block of Avenue Z about 6 p.m. on a report of a man shot, said Sgt. Bryan Shelton. Once on the scene, they found Tubbs lying on his back on the curb. Birmingham Fire and Rescue pronounced him dead on the scene.

Shelton said there is no known motive or clear indication of what led to the shooting. Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Sylvester Poole

Sylvester Poole, 54, was died Nov. 1 in Ensley. Poole was found shot to death about 3 p.m. in the 1500 block of Avenue F. He was slumped over in the driver's seat and pronounced dead on the scene.

The vehicle was still running when officers arrived on the scene. "It's unclear right now what might have happened, but we can say this was definitely not a random act of violence,'' said Birmingham police spokesman Lt. Sean Edwards. "We believe he knew his attacker."

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Grady Jenkins

Grady Isam Jenkins, 51, known by many of his friends as "Shady Grady," was killed Nov. 1 in a Wylam neighborhood while sitting on his city-issued lawnmower. The shooting happened around 10:30 a.m. on 4114 8th Avenue. Edwards said the suspects fled the scene in a vehicle, but investigators have not released the make or model of car. Police said Jenkins was targeted. "That's very bold and extremely careless and reckless... It's 10:30 in the morning, the individual is at work, and you show up here and end his life."

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Lakandria Rush

Lakandria Rush, 34, was killed on Oct. 27 in west Birmingham. Officers from the city's West Precinct responded about 10:30 p.m. to the 4800 block of Terrace S. Once on the scene, they found Rush sitting in the passenger seat of a GMC Yukon suffering from a gunshot wound to the body, said Lt. Sean Edwards. Rush was sitting in the vehicle with a man who was shot in the left jaw and left arm. Edwards said that detectives have learned that Rush and a female friend met the male at the location to make some kind of transaction. He didn't elaborate. Rush left behind four children.

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Antoine "Twin" Collier

Antoine "Twin" Collier, 29, was gunned down on the sidewalk of the Exxon service station at the corner of Graymont Avenue and Arkadelphia Road on Oct. 17. The shooting happened at 1:26 p.m. Lt. Sean Edwards said Collier and his girlfriend were entering the store when two black males shot him. The shooters fled in an unknown vehicle. "Brazen. Very reckless. It's a total disregard for life,'' said Birmingham police Sgt. Bryan Shelton. "We are looking for an individual or individuals who clearly have no regard for life at all."

Collier was shot while standing in front of his vehicle, which was parked at Good Tyme Pizza, which adjoins the Exxon. His girlfriend reportedly was with him. She was shaken, but not injured.

Another victim was shot - an adult female. She had just ordered her food at the pizza restaurant. She was not affiliated with Collier, whose mother said he had previously been shot 10 times.

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

LaDarius Cooper

LaDarius Cooper, 29, was shot to death in a vehicle on Oct. 5. Police responded shortly after 10 a.m. that day to the 4900 block of Avenue R. They found Cooper in a Hyundai Sonota slumped over the steering wheel. A second person in the vehicle jumped out and ran from the vehicle.

Witnesses said they heard one shot fired and then saw the car had wrecked into a utility pole. The man running away was dragging his leg as if he was injured. They said Cooper appeared to have been shot in the head, and was unconscious when he left for UAB Hospital. He was later pronounced dead.

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Jeremy Robinson

Jeremy Robinson, 26, was fatally shot Monday, Sept. 18, during a robbery. The shooting happened shortly after 10:30 p.m. in the 500 block of 41st Street North in the city's Tom Brown Village public housing community in Avondale. Robinson and another man were standing in the courtyard talking when an unknown male suspect approached them with a rifle, said Sgt. Bryan Shelton. The suspect robbed them, only getting a handgun from the man who was with Robinson.

At that point, police believe, another man opened fire with an assault rifle from the opposite end of the court yard, hitting Robinson in the torso. That suspect fired multiple times, but Robinson was the only person struck. All of the suspects then fled the scene. Robinson was taken to UAB Hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Howard Dewayne Bruce

Howard Dewayne Bruce, 35, died in a hail of gunfire on Sept. 5 in southwest Birmingham. Birmingham police responded about 12:29 a.m. to the 1500 block of Pearson Avenue on a report of shots fired. When they arrived on the scene, they found a black Chevrolet Z71 near the railroad tracks on 15th Way S.W., said Lt. Sean Edwards. The truck had been peppered by bullets.

Bruce was found in the driver's seat suffering from a single gunshot wound to the chest area. It appeared the tail of the truck had been struck by a Norfolk Southern train. Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service rushed Bruce to UAB Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Edwards said detectives learned Bruce was traveling eastbound on Jefferson Avenue. As he approached the railroad tracks, several men who appeared to be waiting on the victim opened fire. More than 60 rounds were fired toward the truck. Edwards said the connection between the shooters and Bruce remains unclear. "It appears this victim was going to meet up with someone who was planning to take his life,'' he said. "So unfortunate."

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

James Jean Hendricks

James Jean Hendricks, 19, of Bessemer, was killed in Birmingham on Aug. 24. Birmingham police and firefighters responded to the scene at Imperial Drive and 17th Street S.W. about 12:30 a.m., according to the Jefferson County Coroner's Office. Once there, they found Hendricks on the ground in the front yard of a home there. The pickup truck had obvious signs of damage.

Witnesses reported hearing multiple shots fired and there was evidence to corroborate that. The teen was pronounced dead at 1:09 a.m. Lt. Sean Edwards said the location where Hendricks was found appeared to be an abandoned house. The victim was shot multiple times.

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

DeJohn Lewis Williams and Dante Lanier Hall Jr.

DeJohn Lewis Williams, 20, and Dante Lanier Hall Jr, 22, were found dead on Aug. 16. Williams lived at the home where the killings took place. Hall lived in Tuskegee, authorities said. Family said Hall's name is Dante Lanier Hall Jr. Birmingham police responded to the house in the 2200 block of Northland Avenue S.W. in the Powderly community at 1 a.m. Once on the scene, they found Williams and Hall both dead from gunshot wounds inside the residence.

Birmingham police Lt. Sean Edwards said both victims died from a single gunshot wound. They were found in the living room, and and pronounced dead on the scene at 1:46 a.m. Police were called to the scene by neighbors after they heard gunfire coming from inside the house. They walked next door to investigate, and saw the victims inside.Edwards said there was a small amount of drugs and drug paraphernalia inside the the home. However, he said, the house had been a problem in the past with several reported shootings there.

"This was a cold and calculated shooting,'' he said.

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Myron Pratt

Myron Pratt, 47, was shot to death Aug. 11 at a western Birmingham home. West Precinct officers were dispatched about 5:25 p.m. to a house in the 1800 block of Bessemer Road on a report of a man shot. When they arrived, they found Pratt lying on the floor with what appeared to be multiple gunshot wounds, said Sgt. Bryan Shelton. Officers and medics checked the victim for any signs of life, but he was dead on the scene. Shelton said drugs were found in the home, and evidence of narcotics use.

Investigators determined some men were inside the home when an argument and physical fight started between Pratt and the unidentified suspect. During the fight, the suspect shot Pratt multiple times.

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Gerald Duane Bailey

Gerald Duane Bailey, 23, was shot to death outside of a Birmingham club on Aug. 7. The shooting happened at 3:27 a.m. across the street from The Palace in the 600 block of Third Avenue West. Authorities said it appeared Bailey asked someone to borrow a lighter and, when he didn't immediately return it, an argument ensued. They both were put out of club by security guards.

Lt. Sean Edwards said as Bailey was going to a vehicle across the street, a vehicle drove by and began shooting at the victim, striking him several times. He was taken to UAB Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 5:45 a.m. while undergoing surgery.

Witnesses also stated the victim and suspect had got into an argument earlier at another location. "We hope this young man did not lose his life over a lighter,'' Edwards said. "We are confident, the shooter will be located."

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Tiara Myers and Tyron Allen

Tiara Myers and Tyron Allen, both 25, were shot to death July 25 at their southwest Birmingham home. The parents of two boys, ages 5 and 3, the couple was set to have a date night that Monday and had sent their children to stay with grandparents. Relatives said they aren't sure whether that date ever happened, however, and the next they heard, the couple was dead. "They were just lovebirds,'' said Allen's first cousin, Brandon Davis. "They had been together since middle school."

Their bodies were discovered about 3 a.m. that Tuesday inside their home in the 3200 block of Balsam Avenue S.W. Birmingham police and firefighters responded to the scene on a report of a house fire. Once at the home, they found the bodies of Myers and Allen, both of whom had been shot. The house was partially burned. Family said it appears Allen was shot at least once outside the home, and then dragged back inside. Myers was shot in the kitchen, up against the refrigerator. Both were pronounced dead on the scene at 3:31 a.m. Their burned vehicle, stolen from the home, found a short time later in the 3800 block of Felix Avenue.

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Vergil Angela Cook

Vergil Angela Cook, 57, was found slain on July 21 in Birmingham. Her body was discovered around 11 p.m. that Friday in the 1300 block of 21st Street North. It appeared that she'd been dead for several days. YiKoia Cook, 35, said she called her mom on Wednesday and she never called back. She was concerned so she called her grandmother, who also called Vergil Cook and got no answer.

"I got a call Friday night around 11 p.m. ... They got the police to come, but you know, police are not allowed to kick in the door with no answer," YiKoia Cook said. "I immediately got on the freeway and drove straight to my mom's house and kicked in the door myself."

There, she discovered her mother's body. Initially police said it appeared that the death was a result of natural causes, but on Saturday investigation revealed she died as a result of being stabbed.

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Tacorya Najuan Love

Tacorya Najuan Love, 33, was killed July 30 in Birmingham. Her body was discovered just after 8 a.m. Monday in a grassy area in the 8300 block of Fifth Avenue North. Authorities said it appears the crime started about a block away in the 8400 block of Sixth Avenue North. That area is an isolated spot on the back side of the airport popular for parking, illegal drug activity and the recovery of stolen cars.

Birmingham police spokesman Lt. Sean Edwards said investigators believe Love may have been killed about 10 p.m. Sunday based on the condition of her body. She was shot once in the leg, and it appears she bled out as she ran down the hill and sought help.

A trail of blood led from the top of the hill to the front porch of a home on Fifth Avenue. After leaving that house, they believe she was going to try another house but instead collapsed and died.

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Erskine Hawkins

Erskine Hawkins, 47, was shot to death July 16 in Birmingham. The shooting happened about 3:15 p.m. that Sunday. The city's West Precinct officers responded to the 1100 block of 15th Street West on a report of someone shot. When they arrived on the scene, they found Hawkins in the alley lying on ground suffering from a gunshot wound. Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service pronounced him dead on the scene.

Police spokesman Lt. Sean Edwards said detectives learned the shooting followed allegations that Hawkins sexually assaulted his girlfriend's 13-year-old daughter. "Apparently, the daughter told some family members and they retaliated,'' Edwards said. Investigators believe the shooter is a family member of the teen girl. Edwards said Hawkins lived with the 13-year-old's mother. Sometimes, Edwards said, allegations can be misleading or even false. "What if this was some fabrication?" Edwards said. "And now you have someone who is deceased."

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Rickey Siler

Rickey Siler, 35, was shot to death June 27. The shooting happened about 5:25 p.m. near the Exxon gas station in the 5900 block of First Avenue North. Birmingham police Lt. Sean Edwards said East Precinct officers were dispatched there on a report of someone shot. When they arrived, they found Siler lying inside the Exxon suffering from a gunshot wound. Birmingham Fire and Rescue responded and rushed Siler to UAB Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:03 p.m. Witnesses told police Siler and another man were crossing the street when a blue Dodge Charger traveling on the roadway almost struck them. Words were exchanged between the driver and Siler, so the driver got out of his vehicle and recklessly fired several shots at the victim, Edwards said. Siler ran from the street into the Exxon and later collapsed on the floor. During the shooting, there was an innocent bystander at the gas pumps who was shot once in the leg. "I just want justice,'' his father, Jefferson Siler said. "That's all I ask."

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Jason Mandell Elliott

Jason Mandell Elliott, 38, died June 8 after he was shot about 10:30 p.m. on Friday, May 26. Authorities said Elliott was sitting on the front porch of his girlfriend's home in the 4200 block of 51st Avenue North when he was shot multiple times. Officers spoke with the victim's girlfriend who said she heard several gunshots outside of her residence and when she went to investigate, she saw her boyfriend lying on the porch unconscious suffering from gunshot wounds to the body. Elliott was taken to UAB Hospital, where he was pronounced dead June 8 at 4:10 p.m. Birmingham police spokesman Lt. Sean Edwards said a clear motive has not yet been established.

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Paul Matthew "Bam Bam" Carter

Paul Matthew Carter, a 32-year-old rapper better known as Bam Bam Carter, was found dead in the trunk of a burning car in Ensley on June 8. Carter's body was discovered in the early morning hours that Thursday when Birmingham police and firefighters responded at 3:22 a.m. to a report of a car on fire at 2033 Fayette Avenue. Once the blaze was extinguished, firefighters found Carter's remains. The car was off to the side in an alley, and so heavily damaged that investigators initially couldn't determine the make or model. Carter's body was also unrecognizable, and ultimately identified through dental records. Those who knew Carter recognized his vehicle from news reports, and said he had not been seen since in the two days prior to the discovery of his body. Carter's death devastated those who knew him. "He was all about helping anybody he could. It's eating me up. I can't even eat. That was my friend,'' said friend Ashley Rogers. "I've been knowing Bam for 12 years and have never known for him to do anything wrong to or towards anybody."

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

La-Corey Thomas

La-Corey Thomas, 15, was shot to death June 2 while in a vehicle with friends. The shooting happened at 3:19 p.m. at Center Street and 9th Avenue West. When Birmingham police and fire medics arrived on the scene, they found La-Corey in the front passenger's seat of a silver Kia Optima. He was pronounced dead on the scene. Birmingham police spokesman Lt. Sean Edwards said two other teens were believed to be in the Kia with La-Corey. They were driving north on Center Street when two to three black males opened fire on their vehicle. Those inside of the vehicle returned fire as they attempted to flee the scene. "They were all into it,'' Edwards said. "It's apparent they were shooting as well, so we had everybody shooting back and forth at each other." Investigators found at least eight shell casings a half block away, and Edwards said they believe the shooting happened there and then the car stopped

where it was later found by police. "There might have been a pursuit after the shooting,'' Edwards said. "The two individuals in the vehicle might have exited the vehicle and started a pursuit but they all vanished once the police got here." Witnesses told police the teens in the vehicle with victim returned to help him, but fled once police and fire sirens started approaching. The car they were in turned out to have been stolen out of Trussville. "It's obvious that the lifestyle and the activities of some of these young people involved contributed to this taking place today,'' he said. "We've got our work cut out for us."

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Jeremy Thompson

Jeremy Thompson, 30, was killed May 29 in Ensley. Thompson was shot multiple times about 7:30 p.m. at Interstate 59 and Avenue I. Birmingham's West Precinct officers responded to the scene and arrived to find Thompson lying on his stomach with multiple gunshot wounds. Sgt. Bryan Shelton said the officers recognized the man as a possible vagrant who solicited money from motorists exiting the interstate. Thompson was pronounced dead on the scene by Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service medics at 7:44 p.m. Shelton said the investigation so far shows Thompson may have been arguing with the occupants of a vehicle at that location. Detectives believe that after the argument, the victim walked away and the suspects drove off. However, he said, the suspects' vehicle returned. At that point, one of the suspects opened fire on the Thompson, hitting him multiple times. The suspects fled the scene. No suspect or vehicle information has yet been released. "We need to figure out what the initial argument was over, and what subsequently lead the suspects to return and kill the victim,'' Shelton said. Family members were devastated by the killing. "Jeremy was a kind-hearted man, full of selfless acts and always trying to lend a helping hand,'' said his brother, Blake Thompson. "I want him to be remembered as the gentle giant that he was. He loved his daughter very much, and his family."

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Te'Kia Turner

Te'Kia Turner, 21, was killed May 18 while she and two others were reportedly visiting friends in southwest Birmingham. The shooting happened about 12:35 a.m. near the corner of Lomb Avenue and Woodland Avenue, just outside of the Citgo service station. Turner was in the back seat of a Ford Taurus when at least one bullet pierced a small, rear driver's side window and struck her in the head. Police said the Taurus was in front of a home on Woodland Avenue when another vehicle approached and opened fire on the car. Six to eight gunshots were fired, and Turner was pronounced dead on the scene.

Christina Underwood, 19, was driving the vehicle in which Turner was riding. There was a male passenger in the front seat. She said they had just pulled out of the driveway of the home when the car pulled up and someone inside started shooting. "That was my friend,'' said a visibly upset Underwood. "They killed my baby." Police said they had no reason to believe Turner was the intended target. We are investigating the actions and histories of those present during the shooting,'' said Sgt. Bryan Shelton. "We will work hard to get justice and answers for the family."

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Tyler Griffin

Tyler Griffin, 32, was shot Sunday, May 14, when police said he was running away from an argument. The shooting happened about 9:45 p.m. outside of the house at 3425 Boise Ave. Birmingham homicide Sgt. John Tanks said the shooting happened during a small gathering at the home. Griffin and the suspect got into an argument and Griffin turned to walk away. That's when the shooter fired several shots, and Griffin collapsed face down in the side yard. The gunman fled the scene.

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Marcus Murray

Marcus Murray, 19, was found slain inside the bedroom of his apartment on May 9. East Precinct officers were called to Murray's home at The Oaks at Springville apartments on Earline Circle about 9:50 a.m. after his girlfriend reported finding him unresponsive in a back bedroom. Lt. Sean Edwards said officers arrived to find Murray lying on the floor with a single gunshot wound. He was pronounced Murray dead on the scene. Edwards said neighbors reported hearing several gunshots the previous night and his blue 1999 Camaro, license plate number 7370AS6, was reported missing.

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Cartez Bolden

Cartez Bolden, 22, was killed April 28 in a possible domestic-related shooting. Bolden was found dead of a gunshot wound on the bedroom floor of an apartment located in the 100 block of 5th Avenue SW in southwest Birmingham. Two adults, who were in the apartment at the time of the shooting, were

detained by police as persons of interest, but no charges have ever been announced. Officers from the South Precinct first responded to the report of a shooting at the apartment at 9:55 p.m. Police were initially told that Bolden was the victim of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. During the investigation, Birmingham police learned that foul play could be involved in the shooting.

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Jermaine Lee and Montel Glenn

Jermaine Lee, 23, and Montel Glenn, 21, were found dead March 31. Their badly-burned bodies were discovered just before 11 p.m. Friday in the 3000 block of 15th Street Ensley. Lee was at one time a standout player for Huffman High School's football team. He graduated high school in 2012, and was now a father of two sons, ages 4 and 1. Glenn was previously a star basketball player at Woodlawn High School, graduating in 2013. He became a first-time father to his son just six months ago. "He didn't deserve what he had to go through, '' Glenn's sister, Kierra Glenn, told AL.com. "We don't know what he went through. Was he alive when the fire started? We just don't know, but he didn't deserve this. They didn't deserve this." Birmingham police spokesman Lt. Sean Edwards said police and firefighters were dispatched at 10:50 p.m. Friday on a report of a possible garage fire. When they arrived, they found a Nissan Altima in the alley fully engulfed in flames. Once Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service extinguished the flames, they found the badly burned bodies. One of the men was in the back seat, and the other in the trunk. Both had been shot. Neighbors told police they heard a loud explosion, but wasn't sure if it came from the car or a gunshot, Edwards said.

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Dedrick Jordan

Dedrick Jordan, 38, died March 27, several days after he was shot. He was at a gathering in the 3000 block of Avenue S in Ensley when a group of men got out of a car and opened fire. Police said numerous shell casings were found at the scene. Jordan, struck in the head, was taken to UAB Hospital where he remained until his death.

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Marlon Arrington

Marlon Arrington, 23, was found dead in an alley on 19th Street S.W. with an assault rifle nearby on March 22. West Precinct officers were dispatched shortly before 8 a.m. that day and found behind a home there. He was pronounced dead on the scene. Neighbors reported hearing gunfire about 11:30 p.m. the previous night. Birmingham police Lt. Sean Edwards said evidence at the scene indicated the victim and the suspect or suspects were shooting at each other. Edwards said most homicides stem from "people, places and behavior" - the type of person with whom a victim associates, the places he or she frequents and lifestyle. "This is not random,'' Edwards said."It appears he knew who he was in a confrontation with and unfortunately he lost his life."

Arrington pleaded guilty last year to robbery and drug possession. He was charged with capital murder in a 2013 shooting death of another man, but those charges were dismissed when a Jefferson County grand jury refused to indict him.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Birmingham police at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Quinchez Spradley and Twallis McClendon

Quinchez Spradley, 35, and Twallis McClendon, 45, were found dead inside a home in the Wahouma neighborhood of east Birmingham on March 16. Both men were found on the floor of the residence located in the 200 block of 69th Place North at around 10:30 p.m., according to police. Both had been shot, and had been dead for a few hours. There was no sign of forced entry into the home. "This does not appear to be a random act of violence," Birmingham police Sgt. Bryan Shelton said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Birmingham police at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Willie Burrell

Willie Burrell, 34, was shot to death Friday, March 3, in the 2300 block of Cullman Avenue. Police responding to a report of a man down in the roadway found Burrell lying on the ground with a gunshot wound. Birmingham Fire and Rescue pronounced Burrell dead on the scene. Investigators learned that Burrell and a woman - later identified as 30-year-old Jamanda Holiday -had been in an altercation earlier Friday. The woman fired shots at him, and then fled the area. At that time, Burrell wasn't injured. Later in the evening, about the time Burrell was killed, shots were heard coming from the street. Those were the shots that killed the victim. Holiday was charged with attempted murder for the shots fired at Burrell earlier in the day, but no one has been charged in his slaying.

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Denzal Moore

Denzal Moore, 22, was fatally shot on Feb. 20 inside a Birmingham home. Authorities said Moorer and other family members had been celebrating a child's birthday when someone fired inside the home. North Precinct officers responded to the house in the 1800 block of 19th Avenue North about 9:30 p.m. Officers had heard multiple gunshots in the area and were heading that way. While en route, they were notified by a dispatcher that someone had been shot. Once they arrived, found Moorer inside the home suffering from a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead on the scene. Moorer and other family members, including a child, were inside the home prior to the shooting. It is believed the shooters were outside of the location firing into the home. It's unclear why someone was shooting, and who was the target. "This act was reckless to say the least,'' said Sgt. Bryan Shelton.

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Victor Dewayne Eaton

Victor Dewayne Eaton, 41, was shot to death on his way to the store Feb. 13. Birmingham police West Precinct officers responded at 7:18 p.m. to the 400 block of Florida Avenue in the city's Thomas community. When they arrived on the scene, they found Eaton lying on the ground with a gunshot wound to the right side of his body. He was taken to UAB Hospital where he was pronounced dead a short time later. Eaton's girlfriend told investigators Eaton was supposed to go to the store and return back home. A neighbor told officers he heard a gunshot outside of his home and, when he looked out of the window, he saw the victim on the ground.

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

De Ijiroa Brown

De Ijiroa Brown, 31, was killed Feb. 8 in a north Birmingham alley. Police received a call at 7:32 p.m. about a man shot in an alley off 30th Avenue North. Brown was already deceased by the time officers and medics arrived on scene. Little information was released on Brown's slaying.

Family members told detectives he was last seen at 5 a.m. Saturday when he left home to go to work. He was a long time and well-respected employee of Russo Corporation. Most recently, he operated a micropile drill rig on the I-59/I-65 interchange improvement project. He left behind a wife and 3 young children.

Anyone with information about this crime is asked to call the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office at 205-325-1450 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Charles Lee Brown

Charles Lee Brown, 27, was slain on Feb. 3 on Interstate 20/59 in western Birmingham. West Precinct police responded to the scene near 20th Street shortly before 1:30 a.m. that day on a report of a wreck after they received a call from a passing motorist. When they arrived, they found Brown unresponsive in the driver's seat of the Ford Explorer. He had been shot in the head, and was pronounced dead on the scene. The SUV had hit the barrier, but there was no damage or injury from the impact. Officers said the front driver and passenger windows were shattered by the gunfire, but there was no other damage on the interior of the SUV. "Here we have another life taken is a violent manner, senseless,'' said Sgt. Bryant Shelton.

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Antwon Hawkins

Antwon Hawkins, 37, was shot to death Feb. 2 in the 4100 block of Fifth Court North. Birmingham police responded to the scene after residents called reporting gunfire in the area. When officers arrived at Tom Brown Village public housing community, they found Hawkins on the sidewalk. He had been shot multiple times, and was pronounced dead on the scene at 8:43 p.m. Residents in the area said they heard three shots. So far, no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing. "As of now we feel this may not have been random, and our investigation is ongoing,'' Sgt. Bryan Shelton said at the time. "Further we ask the community to assist us and for anyone with information to come forward."

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

DeCarlos Jordan

Decarlos Jordan, 39, was shot to death about 8 p.m. Jan. 26 in the 4900 block of Court I in Birmingham. Police arrived on the scene to find Jordan lying on the ground suffering from what appeared to be multiple gunshot wounds to the body. Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service pronounced him dead on the scene. The investigation showed that Jordan was killed as he was leaving a friend's house. According to a witness, Jordan had just walked out the home and several gunshots rang out. The witness went outside to investigate, and found Jordan lying on the ground. The witness told detectives he didn't see anyone running from the scene. "This was not a random shooting,'' said Birmingham police Lt. Sean Edwards. "The shooter(s) clearly knew the victim."

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Christina Anderson

Christina Anderson, 30, was gunned down in Birmingham on New Year's Day - becoming the city's first homicide of 2017. The shooting happened just before 10 p.m. that Sunday. Birmingham's North Precinct officers were dispatched to the 800 block of Center Street North on a report of someone being shot. When they arrived on the scene, they weren't able to find a victim but did see evidence of a shooting. Their investigation led them to Princeton Baptist Medical Center, where they found a vehicle outside of the emergency room with blood inside. Hospital staff told police the victim had been shot and was being treated. Anderson, who lived in Hoover, was then moved to UAB Hospital, where she was pronounced legally dead about 2:23 p.m. the following day. Authorities said it is believed Anderson was walking down the street with another person when she was shot. Family remembered her for her laughter, her giving heart and her free spirit.

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Jeffery Douglas Jones

Jeffery Douglas Jones, 52, was shot Oct. 13 in Mulga. Jefferson County sheriff's deputies responded to the shooting about 6 p.m. Friday in the 200 block of First Avenue in Mulga. Chief Deputy Randy Christian said they arrived to find Jones sitting in the front seat of a vehicle suffering from a gunshot wound. He was taken to UAB Hospital.

Investigators learned that Jones had just arrived and was sitting in his car in front of the home there when a black Tahoe with tinted windows pulled up. A passenger got out of the Tahoe and fired on Jones. The shooter then got back into the SUV and fled the scene.

Jones was pronounced three days later at UAB Hospital. Anyone with information should call the sheriff's office at 205-325-1450 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Korry Evins

Korry Evins, 40, was killed Oct. 14. Jefferson County sheriff's deputies responded early that Saturday morning to an apartment on Crabapple Lane in Forestdale just before 2 a.m. on a call of a person shot. Investigators said a person reported being inside an apartment when they heard gunshots. The witness told investigators they looked outside and saw the victim had collapsed at the top of the stairs.

Evins was pronounced dead on the scene. Anyone with information should call the sheriff's office at 205-325-1450 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Jonas Maldonado

Jonas Maldonado, 31, was found dead in the parking lot of Center Point High School on Feb. 25. The discovery was made just after 6 a.m. that Saturday. Jefferson County sheriff's deputies were dispatched to the school on a report of a single-vehicle crash. The initial report was that a pickup truck had hit a utility pole nearby and then came to rest against a light pole in the parking lot. Sheriff's officials said the accident was discovered by an employee from the school who called 911. Authorities believe Maldonado, who lived in Oneonta, was shot somewhere else and then drove himself to the parking lot.

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Tafari Simmons

Tafari Simmons, 32, was found dead on Oct. 6 on a Hueytown roadside. His body was discovered shortly after 9 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 6, in the 6400 block of Johns Road. A passerby spotted the body and called police. Hueytown and Jefferson County sheriff's investigators responded to the scene.

Police are following leads in the case. Anyone with information is asked to call Hueytown Sgt. Mark Didcoct at 205-491-3523 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Calvin Sweeney

Calvin Sweeney, 43, was killed Oct. 13 in Tarrant. The shooting happened about 9 p.m. at the Chevron at 2525 Pinson Valley Parkway. Tarrant police Lt. Larry Rice said Calvin Sweeney was killed shortly after he left the store. The gunfire came from a passing car, and it appears the victim was targeted. "We don't think it was random,'' Rice said.

Calvin Sweeney was running when he was fired on. He got about 300 yards from the Chevron when he collapsed in a drainage ditch. He was pronounced dead on the scene.

Rice said there were several customers in the store at the time of the shooting. Detectives spoke with them, and also reviewed store surveillance cameras.

Anyone with information is asked to call Tarrant police at 205-849-2811 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Carlos Manuel Flores

Carlos Manuel Flores, 27, was shot to death Sunday, July 9, in Fairfield. Flores was found dead at 12:45 a.m. in the 700 block of 39th Place in a residential area not far from Interstate 20/59 . Authorities said he was in the driver's seat of his vehicle and discovered by a resident in the area who had noticed the car parked on the street earlier in the death. Police and medics responded to the scene, and Flores was pronounced dead at 1:15 p.m. Investigators initially couldn't determine whether his death was a homicide, but an autopsy yielded those answers. Anyone with information is asked to call Fairfield police at 205-786-4111 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Ronald Ross

Ronald Ross, 35, was shot to death March 2 in Fairfield. His body was discovered about 7:30 a.m. near the front steps of 4117 Lloyd Nolan Parkway. A resident in the neighborhood made the discovery and called police to the scene. Once there, investigators learned Ross had been shot in the head. His father, Ronald Brown, said his son lived with him. He said he last saw Ross about 3 p.m. Wednesday when he took him to a nearby convenience store to get something to eat. Ross, he said, decided he wanted to walk home. The father never saw his son alive again. Brown took his grandchildren to school Thursday morning, and arrived home to a phone call from one of his daughter's friends telling him someone had been shot about 10 blocks away. The hairstyle of the victim - dreadlocks - and the clothing - a gray jogging suit - matched what Ross's family members had last seen him wearing, and they went to the scene. "We realized it was him,'' the grieving father said. "He had his hand over his face, like he was covering it."

Anyone with information is asked to call Fairfield police at 205-786-4111 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Tyron Bennett

Tyron Bennett, a 17-year-old Fairfield High Preparatory School sophomore, was gunned down outside his best friend's home on Jan. 17 as the two prepared to walk to school. The shooting happened sometime around 8:20 a.m. in the 800 block of Valley Road. Neighbors heard two shots and a car pull off. When the gunfire was over, Tyron Bennett collapsed on his back on the walkway in front of his friend's house. He was pronounced dead on the scene. Bennett was the oldest of four siblings who lived with their mother on Valley Road. Each morning, he would walk to his friend's house two doors down to get his best friend and they stop back by his own house to pick up his sister. The three would then continue on to school. Neighbors said Bennett was a rare young man for his age. He cut grass, raked lawns, washed cars and ran errands for the elderly. He also had a job sweeping at the local barber shop.

Anyone with information is asked to call Fairfield police at 205-786-4111 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Eric Dewayne Dalton

Eric Dewayne Dalton, 39, was fatally shot June 15 outside of his home in Brighton. The shooting happened at 10:20 p.m. that Thursday in the 4000 block of Council Avenue. Authorities said at least one family member of the victim was inside the home when they heard gunshots ring out. Outside, they found a wounded Dalton. He was pronounced dead on the scene at 10:40 p.m.

Anyone with information is asked to call Brighton police at 205-425-8934 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Gloria Parrish

Gloria Parrish, 66, was found dead Nov. 14. Bessemer police said they responded to her house in the 2100 block of Fairfax Avenue about 10:30 a.m. that Tuesday. Once inside, they found Parrish dead. Authorities were dispatched to the scene after a co-worker went to check on the woman because she failed to show up for work. The co-worker found the woman's body and then called 911. Police have not said how she was killed.

Anyone with information is asked to call Bessemer police at 205-425-2411 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Julian Garcia

Julian Garcia, 21, was found in a wrecked car in Bessemer on Jan. 8. A police officer was en route to another call when he came upon two wrecked vehicles about 4:05 a.m. in the 3400 block of Ninth Avenue. Garcia, suffering from a gunshot wound, was found in the driver's seat of one of those vehicles. He was taken to UAB West where he was pronounced dead at 4:38 a.m. Bessemer police Sgt. Cortice Miles said officers found multiple shell casings in the parking lot of a nearby bar, and detectives are investigating the possibility that the shooting may have happened there.

Anyone with information is asked to call Bessemer police at 205-425-2411 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

Ieasha Abrams

Ieasha Shakinna Abrams, 34, was found dead and decomposing on Oct. 4, 2017.

The discovery was made about 11:30 a.m. that Wednesday at HighPointe Apartments on Beacon Parkway East off of Valley Avenue, where she lived. Birmingham police officers, homicide detectives, evidence technicians and a tracking dog responded to the scene and roped off the area.

Abrams' body was found in a wooded area. On Dec. 19, the Jefferson County Coroner's Office ruled her death a homicide from some type of assault, but have not yet released the nature of that assault.

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.
A convicted felon arrested in November following a chase in a stolen vehicle and crash in Mountain Brook has now been indicted by a federal grand jury on a gun charge.

Eric Devaughn McAlpine, 24, is charged federally as a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, according to a joint announcement by U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town, ATF Special Agent in Charge Steven L. Gerido, Jefferson County District Attorney Mike Anderton and Mountain Brook Police Chief Ted Cook.

The incident happened Nov. 22. It was about 4:30 p.m. that Wednesday when an officer was running radar on Montclair Road near Ramsey Park. The officer clocked a car traveling east on Montclair Road from the Carlisle Road side at around 55 mph. He got behind the car and ran the tag through dispatch. It came back stolen out of Irondale, the chief said.

About the time it came back stolen on the radio, the driver took off at a high rate of speed heading towards Eastwood. As the stolen car tried to negotiate the curve on Montclair between Cresthill Road and Hoadley Drive, he lost control of the vehicle, struck a power pole on the right-hand side of the road, then crossed five lanes of traffic, hit the curb, went down an embankment and flipped the car on its roof.

The suspect - later identified as McAlpine - fled on foot between two houses. Other responding officers found him on Cresthill Road, a short distance from the crash site, and took him into custody. Birmingham police assisted in the arrest and worked the wreck. McAlpine refused medical treatment by Birmingham Fire and Rescue. Two handguns were recovered from the scene of the crash.

According to the federal indictment, McAlpine was in possession of a Charter Arms .22-caliber revolver and a Stallard Arms 9mm pistol.

In additional to the federal charge, Mountain Brook police charged him with first-degree receiving stolen property, certain persons forbidden to possess a pistol, unlawful possession of a controlled substance and attempting to elude.

Court records show McAlpine has multiple previous arrests for drug, property and violence crimes. In 2013, he pleaded guilty to felony robbery. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison with three years to serve. He also has previous arrests for assault and domestic violence.

He was arrested less than two months ago on charges of theft, burglary and unlawful possession of a controlled substance. In that case, he was booked into the Jefferson County Jail on Oct. 24, and released Oct. 30 after posting $28,000 bond.

Earlier this year he was arrested, charged and later indicted on a charge of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in injury or death. Charging documents say the crash happened in February and lists four victims.

McAlpine remains jailed, held without bond.

"This is a great example of local, state and federal law enforcement working together to bring violent criminals to justice, especially those who illegally possess firearms," said Town. "The partnerships forming between state and federal prosecutorial and investigative agencies is great news for every citizen of the Northern District, but will prove to be the bane of the worst offenders who have afflicted our neighborhoods for too long."

"Criminals have no regard for jurisdictional boundaries when committing crimes," Cook said. "This case represents that, and how cooperation among the various law enforcement agencies works to take these violent criminals off the streets of our communities."

The federal charge of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
When Shera Grant walks into Shanta Owens' office, they laugh. They're in nearly matching outfits.

Grant and Owens are identical twins, and both are district judges in the Birmingham division of Jefferson County. Grant is a civil court judge; Owens a criminal court judge.

"We've got the same tights on, oh my gosh," Grant said that afternoon when she walked into her sister's office. The women, both 40, sit down, and immediately start talking about their families and the night before, when they took the kids to their mom's house.

Both women have 8-year-old daughters, and 5-year-old sons. Both the girls and the boys are four months apart. Their husbands were childhood best friends. "We did not plan this at all!" Grant said.

The twins', who are originally from Selma, father passed away when they were young. The girls and their mother moved to Montgomery, and settled in Birmingham by age 7. Their mother has worked at the Birmingham Public Library since the twins were 9-years-old.

When it came time for college, both Grant and Owens attended Alabama State University, and then law school at Louisiana State University.

They married men who had been friends since kindergarten, and their weddings were two months apart. Owens said her husband knew about the "twin thing" and how close the sisters were, but Grant said her husband was a little more surprised. Owens said, "My husband was more aware of it... and the twin thing was a bit much for [Grant's husband] at first." Grant agreed, "And we understood that. My husband just hadn't seen anything like it before."

After graduation, the twins separated for the first time: Grant went to Atlanta, and Owens came back to Birmingham. Both served as prosecutors.

During their nine years apart, Owens was elected to the Jefferson County bench in 2008. She won a second term, and will be up for re-election in 2020. "It was different for us," Owens said about their stint apart. "But it helped us to mature and develop other friendships. It definitely needed to happen."

Now, Owens presides over the county's drug court.

Grant eventually came back to Birmingham and worked as a deputy Jefferson County Public Defender. She was appointed to the bench in 2016 by former Gov. Robert Bentley, and won re-election later that year. They work in separate courthouses across the street.

"It's pretty amazing to live out our career dreams together," Owens, who is older than her sister by four minutes, said.

The twin effect

While they love sitting on the bench together, the twins said they don't think the situation has brought them closer. They were naturally close growing up, and said the "twin thing" added another layer of bonding.

Now, they live within walking distance of each other. They often have family dinners together and pick up the other's kids from school if someone has to work late. "We help each other out a lot," Grant said.

Owens said often, her kids don't like what she's made for dinner (she says Grant is the better cook), so they call Grant to see what she and her family are eating. Sometimes, one sister will cook for all eight of the crew to give her twin a break. The four kids like being together so much, Grant said she and her sister have to often say, "Okay, everyone has to go to their own home tonight with their own parents."

"Every time we get together, the kids call it a party," she said. "It makes family vacations so much fun. So chaotic, but so much fun."

Many weekends, one couple will take all four kids and give the other couple a chance for a date night. Years back, the women said, the girls would spend the night at one house and the boys at another-- but now, they all want to be together. Owens said, "They really do treat each other like brothers and sisters."

And, they sometimes get their moms mixed up. Owens said she and her sister often swap picking up the kids from school, and the kids have to take a minute to study their face before deciding which sister it is. Their daughters have recently started getting very impatient about it, too. "They get so upset," Grant said, laughing. "They say, 'Ugh! Who is my mommy?'"

Although they look identical, the twins have distinctly different personalities. Grant is the more stern, punctual twin. Owens is the more laid-back, self-described "10 minutes late" one.

The kids go back and forth between their mom and aunt's houses, and the women said they are used to having kids in and out.

"I'm such a sucker for them," Owens said about her children and her sister's children. Grant also joked about her sister's relaxed attitude towards their crew: "You can send people to prison, but you can't tell this kid he can't have another cookie?" she said.

Grant's house has an incentive for the kids though, too: "They think I have a lot more snacks," she said.

The courtroom

Lawyers and their clients get the women confused, too. Both will come up to the judges in the hallway or on the elevator and start talking about their cases, and the twins will have to stop them. "I think you think I'm someone else," is a typical line they say, according to Owens.

Some defendants who have been in Owens' court will end up in Grant's, and think Owens has moved courtrooms. Grant said even though they tell people about their twin-- and explain she is also a judge-- a lot of clients think they are kidding or trying to avoid a conversation.

"I'm not joking, I'm really not Judge Owens," Grant said.

The women discuss cases, usually both pulling case law and interpreting together. They don't always agree, but they appreciate the chance to talk about both sides, and said it makes them better judges.

Growing up, they tricked people by swapping places. Now, they still swap places-- Owens said when she goes out of town, sometimes her sister will sit in and handle her docket. Grant will start the docket saying who she is, but the swap takes the confusion even further.

Grant, who has experience in criminal law from her time as a prosecutor in the Atlanta area, can handle her sister's docket--- but Owens doesn't have the experience in civil court to handle Grant's docket.

The women didn't expect their concurrent terms to attract any media attention. But, they are happy that women-- and women of color-- on the bench are getting recognized. "Anytime the bench reflects the community, its a wonderful thing," Owens said.

"There was a time when women couldn't vote... That speaks volumes to how far we've come."

Currently of the 39 judges in district and circuit courts in Jefferson County, 20 are women. And of those, 16 are black women.

Grant and Owens say Jefferson County's bench is one of the best in the state, partially because of the diversity.

Just like any other family

Like any sisters, the twins still argue. They say their fights always revolve around something silly--like whether they will be exercising on Friday. When they do argue, their husbands think its silly, and their kids make them call each other to apologize. They are back to normal within hours.

"It's not easy being a working mom, a wife, and having small children... and to be present," Grant said. "But it's so worth it. It's crazy chaos, but I wouldn't have it any other way."

In both similar and completely separate ways, the twins value each other like crazy. "She inspires me to be a better woman in so many ways," Owens said about her sister. "She inspires me to strive to be a better person each and every day. Shera is a woman of her word... it's pretty special."

Grant had a similar message for her sister. "Shanta is the most selfless person I know... She's supported me in any way possible." Grant said her sister is so passionate about her court and her defendants that she meets people in the community who speak to her-- mistaking her for Owens-- and thank her for helping their loved one get off drugs. "She is truly passionate about drug court. This is definitely her calling," Grant said.

"She helps me relax and see things, like you don't have to build Rome in one day. I often try to build Rome in a day," Grant said.

Owens summed up the women's lives perfectly. "It's a crazy story, but it really is our life."
It's time for AL.com readers to again select the Downtown Event of the Year and the Downtown Project of the Year for Huntsville.

For the fourth straight year, Downtown Huntsville Inc. and The Huntsville Times and AL.com are partnering to allow readers to select their favorite downtown event and project of 2017.

Two online polls will remain open on AL.com until noon Jan. 10. The nonprofit will share voter results during its 2017 Downtown Huntsville Annual Meeting and Awards at 7:30 a.m. on Jan. 12 at Propst Arena. Tickets are available for purchase at downtownawards.eventbrite.com.

The awards for the event and project getting the most votes will be announced at the annual Downtown Huntsville Meeting and Awards, presented by Alabama A&M University, in the atrium of Propst Arena at the Von Braun Center on Jan. 12. The event begins at 7:30 a.m.

The keynote speaker will be David Downey, president and CEO of the International Downtown Association.

Here are the nominees for Downtown Event of the Year:

Twickenham Fest

Battle of the Buffalo

Hama Con

Pro Bono Brews

Hunt + Gather

Von Brewski

And here are the nominees for Downtown Project of the Year:

Honest Coffee Roasters

Preservation Company

Keegan's

Bryant Bank

Scout & Molly's

Church Street Purveyor

104 Jefferson Redevelopment

315 Franklin Redevelopment

"As DHI celebrates our 5th Anniversary in 2018, we're excited to recognize the innovate events and projects in Downtown Huntsville that make our city center one of the fastest growing and most unique destinations in the state," said Chad Emerson, CEO of Downtown Huntsville Inc.
Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are back at the top of the lists of Gallup's most-admired people in the U.S.

Former President Obama was the most-admired man for 17 percent of responders, edging out President Trump by 3 percentage points. Clinton edged out former First Lady Michelle Obama 9 percent to 7 percent.

Obama has topped the list 10 times, trailing only Dwight Eisenhower, who earned the distinction 12 times. Obama won all eight years he was president, plus 2008 - the year he was first elected - and this year, his first as a former president.

The percentage of adults naming Obama as the most admired man is down from 22 percent last year, but he has been at or near 17 percent in several other years.

It's the 16th consecutive year Clinton has been the most admired woman. She has held the title 22 times in total, more than anyone else. Eleanor Roosevelt is second with 13 wins. The 9 percent who name Clinton is the lowest percentage she has received since 2002.

Trump finished second to Obama, making him a rarity among incumbent presidents.

Gallup has asked the most admired man question 71 times since 1946 with the incumbent president winning 58 of those times. Previous incumbent presidents who did not finish first include Harry Truman in 1946-1947 and 1950-1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1967-1968, Richard Nixon in 1973, Gerald Ford in 1974-1975, Jimmy Carter in 1980, and George W. Bush in 2008.

Most Admired Man

Barack Obama - 17 percent

Donald Trump - 14 percent

Pope Francis - 3 percent

Rev. Billy Graham - 2 percent

John McCain - 2 percent

Elon Musk - 2 percent

Bernie Sanders - 1 percent

Bill Gates - 1 percent

Benjamin Netanyahu - 1 percent

Jeff Bezos - 1 percent

The Dalai Lama - 1 percent

Mike Pence - 1 percent

Most Admired Woman

Hillary Clinton - 9 percent

Michelle Obama - 7 percent

Oprah Winfrey - 4 percent

Elizabeth Warren - 3 percent

Angela Merkel - 2 percent

Queen Elizabeth II - 2 percent

Condoleezza Rice - 1 percent

Melania Trump - 1 percent

Nikki Haley - 1 percent

Duchess Kate Middleton - 1 percent

Beyonce Knowles - 1 percent
Following a Christmas weekend incident in which a Troy teen was seriously injured, police officials are asking the state to investigate whether their alleged use of force was justified.

According to a report from WSFA, police say a 17-year-old was seen walking behind a business in the city's downtown area late Saturday evening, around 11 p.m.

Officers exited their patrol vehicles to engage with the teenager when he began to flee on foot, reports say. Once the teenager was apprehended, police allege he failed to cooperate with officers' requests.

Police say the juvenile reached for his waistband, as if to go for a weapon, prompting physical force.

The teen was charged with obstructing governmental operations and resisting arrest. He was taken to a medical facility with serious injuries.

The Troy Police Department has asked for the State Bureau of Investigations, a division of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, to investigate whether the use of force was justified.

SBI approved the request Tuesday night and immediately responded to Troy, said Lt. Heath Carpenter with SBI.

Carpenter said SBI will not release any more information until the investigation is closed. Details from the investigation will be turned over to Pike County District Attorney Tom Anderson for presentation to a Grand Jury.

Although Troy Police have yet to identify the teen, a Facebook campaign has been spearheaded by users identifying themselves in posts as friends and relatives of the male subject. The posts include information consistent with the details of the encounter with officers.

Several posts identify the teenager as 17-year-old KeAndre Wilkerson, affectionately known as "Fat Daddy", including a post from a user alleging to be the young man's father. The post, includes graphic photos of the teenager, taken from the hospital.

As y'all can can see troy police officers tried to kill my son he has massive swelling and they can't start surgery... Posted by Sadot Wilkerson on Sunday, December 24, 2017

Calls placed to the Troy Police Department and the Pike County office of the State Bureau of Investigations were not immediately returned on Tuesday afternoon.
Al Jazeeras Kamal Hyder recalls events of the day 10 years ago and details the lack of progress made since.

Rawalpindi, Pakistan  It was a frosty winter in North Waziristan, close to Pakistans border with Afghanistan.

Election fever was being felt even in this volatile region, dubbed terror central, which had become the focus of the US-led war in Afghanistan.

After spending a few days there, I was on the way back to Islamabad with my cameraman when we heard about the attack on one of Pakistans most popular leaders, Benazir Bhutto.

Despite warnings by the government not to return because of the precarious security situation, Bhutto ended her self-imposed exile after a deal with the military dictator, Pervez Musharraf, that paved the way for her to return to Pakistan.

She wanted to return and take part in the elections which could win her a third term as the countrys prime minister.

After landing in Karachi on October 17, a huge crowd welcomed her back to Pakistan, and the procession took her through the heart of the southern city.

A suicide bomber hit that procession, killing more than 125 of her supporters. Bhutto survived the attack, defiant to carry on despite the threats.

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On December 27, she held a rally at Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi, the venue named after the countrys first prime minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, who was killed at this very location during a rally in 1951.

After an emotional speech, Bhutto prepared to leave the venue, and emerged from her bomb-proof vehicle to wave to her supporters.

A gun and bomb attack followed. Bhutto was hit. She was taken to the hospital where she died.

The assassination sent a wave of anger through the southern province of Sind, a Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) stronghold. Mobs set trains on fire and went on a rampage across major cities.

Liked by many, Bhutto also made a lot of enemies. Her critics accused her of not doing enough to stop her husband Asif Ali Zardari from amassing a fortune.

Bhuttos tragic death washed all that away and made her a martyr for the cause of democracy. Her death also led to a sympathy vote for the PPP, founded by her father Zufiqar Ali Bhutto: a majority vote to form the new government.

However, PPP was unable to fill the vacuum left by her death. The new leadership lost considerable support in other provinces and, despite coming into power, it was unable to find the conspirators who played a crucial role in her killing.

Moments after the carnage at Liaquat Bagh, the area was washed clean and, with it, all the forensic evidence that could have provided vital clues.

A decade on, no one knows who the main culprits were.
Anti-Trump protests in the US have failed to coalesce into a coherent mass movement. Why?

In the cacophonous age of Donald Trump, Americans would do well to recall Isaac Newtons Third Law: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Americans would be wise not only to remember this axiom of physics and, indeed, politics, but they must be prepared to exercise it finally and emphatically, en masse, in defiance of a dystopian regimes toxic actions at home and abroad.

The United States is edging nearer, it seems, to the constitutional precipice  pitting a preening, impetuous authoritarian against decency and the purported enlightened will of Americans. A long overdue and definitive confrontation between Trump and his acolytes and the disparate forces that oppose him appears to be in the offing.

Along the way, Trump has already lost political proxy wars in Alabama and Virginia that have been interpreted as a precursor to the possible penultimate showdown that may occur when, and if, special counsel, Robert Mueller, completes his secret inquiry into Trumps allegedly covert dealings with Russia.

Who will win remains in doubt. But the resistance  diffuse, leaderless and lacking coherence  will have to coalesce quickly, somehow, someway, in order to expel a common, but wily and intransigent foe.

Whether that happens or not is also in question. To date, every Trump-engineered outrage  and there have been so many offences to propriety, probity and good governance  has been greeted by ephemeral spasms of outrage from La Resistance that last, invariably, for a news cycle or two.

To be sure, the noxious spirit of Joe McCarthy continues to inhabit much of America's psyche. by

Though wounded, Trump has cheerfully survived again and again, in part, because the mechanisms and institutions that theoretically exist to disqualify him have, instead, not only emboldened but shielded him from the impeachment he has so impressively earned.

And the political party Trump leads, with equal measure of impunity and a delinquents delight, has fused with a propaganda network whose sole and defining raison detre is to vilify any objection, from any quarter, to his legitimacy and wretched presence in the Oval Office.

Taken together, Trump has, so far, successfully inoculated himself against any meaningful or lasting sanction, let alone any meaningful or lasting challenge to his authority as president.

Arguably, Trumps exasperating endurance is also a reflection of the humiliating failure of Americans to take a principled and necessary stand in wholesale opposition to a foul regime, not simply through Twitter threads in the electronic ether, but in the streets.

Apparently, on this score, Americans have forgotten that sustained, people-propelled protests have dramatically and permanently altered even relatively recent US history, and eventually dislodged other recalcitrant presidents from office and power.

But this inexplicable, pan-American amnesia may not be the only, nor the paramount, reason for Americas largely rhetorical, and ultimately docile and fruitless resistance to Trump et al.

Concrete exhibitions of dissent  whether they involve occupying Wall Street (figuratively and literally), asking questions about a fabricated, state-sanctioned case for a disastrous war, or kneeling during the US national anthem  have been dismissed by centrist and conservative jingoists alike as the unpatriotic acts of a disloyal few, at the expense of the national interests of the many.

To be sure, the noxious spirit of Joe McCarthy continues to inhabit much of Americas psyche.

The instructive irony is that the so-called liberal voices in and outside the establishment media that supposedly constitute the resistance to Trump these days, were enthusiastically party yesterday to the McCarthy-like efforts to smear Americans who said no to the lie-laced invasion of Iraq.

The lasting, inescapable consequence of this pervasive effort not only to discredit, but to criminalise dissent, has been to neuter and incapacitate opposition movements preferably before or, if need be, after they gather momentum where they can truly count  in cities across America, in front of the White House and on the Washington Mall.

How else to explain the limp, hesitant  to put it charitably  campaign to mount mass demonstrations to evict an openly and avowedly racist regime that offers ideological succour to fascists?

That the resistance is pining for the mid-term Congressional elections to help, no doubt, rid the US and the world of Trump ever so gingerly is an indictment of the patience of Americans who are content to, in effect, wait out a bigoted serial liar and admitted sexual harasser.

The other irony, of course, is that scores of Americans have celebrated and admired other people, in other nations, who have been a lot more impatient when it comes to excising a rancid political cancer in their midst via people power.

The self-proclaimed greatest democracy on earth could learn an important lesson about the value of impatience and the potentially transformative effect of people power from tiny Iceland  population 330,00.

In April 2016, Icelanders descended on the parliament in Reykjavik in the aftermath of disclosures contained in the Panama Papers, that revealed that then Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugssons family had sheltered money offshore. Much of Iceland stayed put until he stepped down.

Not content with a political scalp, Icelanders demanded systemic change. Earlier this month, Katrin Jakobsdottir  dubbed anti-Trump because she thinks and reads, is a feminist and believes that climate change is real and human-made  became prime minister in a coalition government.

Icelanders didnt expect calculating politicians, the federal police or a sanctified lawyer to deliver the dividends of people power. They led and prevailed. Its past time Americans engaged in people power too.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
New delegation joins Turkish forces at military base in Doha under a joint agreement between the two nations.

A new batch of Turkish soldiers have arrived at Turkeys military base in Qatar as part of a joint defence agreement between the two countries.

Qatars defence ministry announced on Tuesday the arrival of the reinforcements at the Al Udeid airbase in the capital, Doha.

The group, including soldiers from the Turkish Joint Forced Command, will join Turkish troops already based at the Tariq bin Ziyad military base in southern Doha.

The new arrivals will hold training with Qatars armed forces to boost joint military capabilities.

The first Turkish troop deployment to Qatar was in 2015.

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Turkey set up a military camp in Qatar, its first such installation in the Middle East, as part of an agreement signed in 2014.

The base has a capacity to accommodate up to 5,000 troops.

Turkey plans to gradually increase the number of its forces in Qatar to 3,000, according to the agreement between them, and keep a brigade in the Gulf country.

Close allies

In June, Turkeys parliament fast-tracked the approval of a separate April 2016 agreement with Qatar on the implementation of troops deployment to the Turkish military base.

It also approved a December 2015 agreement that allows the Turkish military to train Qatari security forces.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been a major supporter of Doha since Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt severed diplomatic and trade relations with Qatar on June 5.

The four Arab countries had accused Doha of supporting terrorism and fostering ties with their regional rival Iran. Qatar denies the accusations.

Ankara has also been trying to mediate between the sides to find a solution to the crisis.

In a show of solidarity, Turkey has also sent cargo ships and hundreds of planes loaded with food to help Qatar offset the blockade.





The closure of the Turkish base was one of 13 demands by the Saudi-led group of countries in order to lift their embargo on Qatar.

Yasin Aktay, a senior member of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), told Al Jazeera in an earlier interview that Turkeys military presence in Qatar creates a balance in the region that prevents potential clashes.

Turkey is protecting its own interests through the base in Qatar, rather than taking sides between the parties at odds, he said.

And Ankaras interests require stability in the region. Therefore Turkey would be against an attack on Saudi Arabia as much as Qatar.

Turkey and Qatar are close allies on foreign policy, including issues in Palestine, Syria and Egypt.
Before the Great Lakes freeze over, they are a source of relatively warm water.

In the right conditions, this warmth can be transformed into piles of snow over lakeside cities. This happened with a vengeance this Christmas, nowhere more dramatically than in Erie, Pennsylvania.

A snow emergency was announced to cover the Christmas period and it turned out to be a very white Christmas, record-breakingly so. Almost on the stroke of midnight on December 25, the wind suddenly picked up, the visibility dropped, and the snow started.

Christmas Day offered a windchill of -17C, visibility dropping to below 100 metres and constant snow. In short, a blizzard from the lake. Some 86cm of snow fell. This beat the single day snow record by 36cm. By the end of December 26, more than 1.5 metres of snow had fallen, in 48 hours.

This prolific event shattered all previous multi-day snowfall records in Erie dating back to 1893, according to the National Weather Service office in Cleveland. The total snowfall so far this month is 246cm. This December is the citys snowiest single month on record, blowing past the previous record of 170cm set in December 1989.

The cause of such a dump of snow is the contrast in temperature between the Arctic air blowing across the Lakes and that of the water surface. This contrast makes the air very unstable. Rapid evaporation from the lake into this bitterly cold air creates deepening cloud which, blown onshore, dumps all that evaporated moisture as snow.

The air currently over Manitoba, the Dakotas, US Midwest and Great Lakes is truly cold. Maximum temperatures have been of the order of -25C in Winnipeg, -17C in Minneapolis, and -10C in Detroit.

Western Pennsylvania is not the only area affected by this outbreak of lake effect snow. Northern Wisconsin, western Michigan, the Ohio shore from Cleveland and all the way up Lake Erie and northwestern New York State are vulnerable. As is the extension of the Canadian Province of Ontario, open to the chill breeze from Lake Huron.

The risk of further lake effect snow will carry on, with a brief interruption, into the New Year but ultimately may well be self-defeating. Such Arctic cold will hasten the freezing of the lakes surfaces and so stop the effect.

With additional information from Weather Underground
The government siege of Eastern Ghouta since 2013 has crippled supplies, with many succumbing to hunger and disease.

Aid agencies are evacuating critically ill Syrians from Eastern Ghouta, an area home to around 400,000 people that has been under government siege since 2013.

Children comprise around half of the population in one of the last rebel strongholds in the country, where medical supplies and food have been in short supply.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Syrian Red Crescent and the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) are among the organisations involved in the evacuation.

Robert Mardini, ICRC regional director, wrote on Twitter that he was encouraged to see the beginning of a lifesaving operation.

ICRC posted photos on the social media site showing ambulances and aid workers on site.

SAMS said evacuations had begun for at least 29 people in critical condition. Four were taken to medical care in Damascus on Wednesday. The remainder would be escorted out over the coming days.

The list includes 18 children and four women suffering from heart disease, cancer, kidney failure, and blood diseases, in addition to cases requiring advanced surgery that are not available in the besieged area, SAMS said, adding that a total of 641 people needed urgent medical care.

Because of the ongoing siege and the shortage of medical supplies, 17 patients at least have died over the past few months. by Syrian American Medical Society

Medicine is being rationed, and people are dying of complications due to the limited availability of simple procedures like dialysis.

The medical situation in East Ghouta has reached a breaking point. Because of the ongoing siege and the shortage of medical supplies, 17 patients at least have died over the past few months because they were not able to access medical care, SAMS said.

Eastern Ghouta was supposed to be one of the de-escalation zones brokered a year ago by Iran, Russia and Turkey, but people there do not trust the agreements, and their greatest fear now is not having a place in their country.

Surviving on corn, cabbage and cauliflower

Al Jazeeras Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut in neighbouring Lebanon, said the evacuation of the 29 critically ill is a welcome move, but is not enough.

Its just a small fraction of those who need urgent medical care, she said.

Last month, the UN called for at least 500 people in need of urgent medical attention to be allowed to leave the besieged region.

UN reports and Al Jazeera interviews in Eastern Ghouta confirmed reports that residents are drinking large amounts of water to suppress hunger, with food intake reduced to one meal a day.

The Assad government has allowed in some aid, but the UN says its current level of assistance covers just about 10 percent of the besieged population of Eastern Ghouta.

This year, the Syrian government has approved only 26 percent of UN requests to deliver assistance to besieged areas. The ministry of foreign affairs has the authority to remove any items from aid shipments.





People in Eastern Ghouta are eating boiled corn, cabbage and cauliflower because of a lack of cooking fuel, cooking oil and other essentials.

Syrias conflict, which started with peaceful anti-government demonstrations in March 2011, escalated into a full-blown war that has claimed more than 300,000 lives and driven about half of the countrys prewar population of 22 million from their homes.

Forces loyal to Assad and those opposed to his rule continue to battle each other, as well as fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group.
Move follows Venezuelas expulsion of Brazilian ambassador and comes a day after Canada expelled Venezuelan envoy.

Brazil has declared Gerardo Maldonado, Venezuelas top diplomat in the country, persona non grata in a tit-for-tat move that comes just days after Caracas expelled the Brazilian ambassador.

Relations have worsened between the Latin American states since 2016 when Venezuela voiced criticism of the impeachment of leftist former President Dilma Rousseff, who was removed from office over financial misconduct allegations.

A Brazilian foreign ministry official told the AFP that Maldonado would have to leave the country and that the decision was a swift measure.

On Saturday, Venezuela expelled Brazils chief diplomat Ruy Pereira, prompting an angry response from the Brazilians.





Such decision would once again demonstrate the authoritarian nature of the Nicolas Maduro administration and its lack of willingness for any type of dialogue, Brazils foreign ministry said in a statement before it had received confirmation.

Brazil will take corresponding reciprocity measures, it added.

Canada spat

The move by Brazil comes a day after Canada said it would expel a top Venezuelan diplomat and bar the South American countrys ambassador from returning to Ottawa.

The announcement by Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland on Monday came two days after Venezuela expelled Canadas top diplomat in Caracas for allegedly interfering in its domestic affairs.

Earlier this year, following in the US footsteps, Canada had unveiled sanctions against 52 foreigners it deemed corrupt and accused of human rights violations.

Among those sanctioned were Russian, South Sudanese and Venezuelan officials, including Maduro.

In August, US President Donald Trumps government imposed sweeping financial sanctions on Venezuela, and labelled Maduro a dictator.

The measures banned US financial institutions from providing new money to Venezuelas government or the state oil company, while all of Maduros assets subject to US jurisdiction were frozen, and Americans were barred from doing business with him.

The sanctions drew an angry rebuke from Caracas, with Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza calling them the worst aggression against the country in two centuries.

Maduro himself, however, said that the measures did not intimidate him for a moment.
Four agreements to bolster military, economic and environmental cooperation signed by two countries leaders.

Turkey has announced plans to strengthen its economic ties with Tunisia, with leaders of the two countries signing several cooperation agreements during a two-day trip by Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the North African country.

The Turkish president met his Tunisian counterpart, Beji Caid Essebsi, at Carthage presidential palace in the capital Tunis on Wednesday morning.

The leaders signed four separate agreements, pledging to work together in the fields of defence, trade and the environment, Turkeys Anadolu news agency reported.

Boosting a balanced trade volume will continue to be one of the priorities for our bilateral economic agenda, Erdogan said during a joint news conference alongside Essebsi, according to Anadolu.

Erdogan said he was accompanied by 150 Turkish investors and would encourage Turkish business leaders to invest in Tunisia and support the national economy, Tunisias Shems FM radio station reported.

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Turkish exports to Tunisia totalled $820m in 2015, according to the Turkish ministry of foreign affairs.

Essebsi, meanwhile, said he had been invited to make an official visit to Turkey.

Erdogan said the two leaders also spoke about regional issues, including the situation in Libya and terrorism.

He said both Turkey and Tunisia stood firmly against a recent US decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israels capital, saying Jerusalem is a red line that shouldnt be crossed, according to Turkish state media TRT.

At the press conference, Erdogan also criticised Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whom he described as a terrorist.

Assad is definitely a terrorist who has carried out state terrorism, said Erdogan, according to Reuters.

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Later on Wednesday, Erdogan held talks with Youssef Chahed, Tunisias prime minister, and parliamentary speaker Muhammed al-Nasir.

Agence Tunis-Afrique-Presse (TAP), a Tunisian news agency, quoted Khemaies Jhinaoui, Tunisias foreign minister, as saying the newly signed agreement on military cooperation would allow Tunisian forces to receive training in Turkey.

Ties between Turkey and Tunisia have been in flux since the 2011 Tunisian revolution toppled long-time Tunisian leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

But Erdogans visit to Tunisia  the last stop in a three-country tour that also brought him to Chad and Sudan  was not without some controversy.

The national union of Tunisian journalists held a protest on Tuesday in solidarity with their jailed Turkish colleagues, in a move that was planned to coincide with Erdogans visit.

Seventy-three journalists are currently behind bars in Turkey, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based watchdog group.
Yehya Mubarak speaks to Al Jazeera about his daily struggles working as a paramedic in the occupied West Bank.

Silwad, occupied West Bank  Working as a paramedic, Yehya Mubarak has only one thing on his mind.

My goal is to take the patient to the hospital, the 47-year-old, who has been working with the ambulance service for 12 years, says without hesitation.

However, thats far from an easy task in the occupied West Bank.

First, there are the long delays at Israeli checkpoints. These not only put a patients life in danger, but also provoke anger and insults directed towards him by Palestinian relatives due to not delivering their loved ones to the hospital on time.

Then, there are the attacks and threats by the Israeli army on ambulance crews during protests. In one instance, Mubarak lost control of his nerves and speech for nearly 12 hours after Israeli forces fired tear gas towards him.

Other times, his vehicle, the sole ambulance serving Silwad and several neighbouring villages, had its windows broken after being attacked by Israeli soldiers.

But despite the danger and frustration, Mubarak is committed to his life-saving work.

Here, he relays to Al Jazeera his daily experience that comes with navigating checkpoints and rushing to get critically wounded patients to hospital, as well as the fear of being attacked and anguish of losing patients.

The Israelis want to undermine my work

As an ambulance driver and paramedic, you know that the first 10 minutes of when you receive a patient are the golden minutes.

So, when 30 minutes of my time at a checkpoint is wasted for no good reason, I can inherently tell that it is intentional. The Israelis want to undermine my work.

I always try to find alternative, faster routes  but the problem is that Silwad is surrounded with checkpoints, leaving only two checkpoint-free ways to Ramallah. Still, sometimes even these routes have what we call flying checkpoints. It does not matter if we have the siren on, they will still stop us.

But when I am honking because I have an urgent medical case in my ambulance, its not your right to stop me and waste our time, which may result in the death of the patient.

In other developed countries, when only the light of the ambulance turns on, all the cars in the road rush aside to make way.

I am responsible for any delay

The ambulance serves almost 9,000 people in Silwad, as well as the neighbouring villages. Therefore, the entire area relies on one ambulance car only.

One example of the obstacles we face with the occupation as ambulance drivers are the checkpoints. We are sometimes stopped for an average of 20 minutes, and we are rarely allowed to drive on without being stopped by them.

The Israelis stop our ambulances at the checkpoints just as they would do to civilian cars, and pretend to inspect the vehicle. But in reality, they just mess up everything in there and start throwing out our equipment and medicines. I have to spend time returning everything to its original place, so nothing falls on the patient on board. This takes a while and ultimately, I am responsible for any delay.

These types of delays, in turn, result in problems with the patients family and even with the medical centres, who tend to blame us.

We always call the International Committee for the Red Cross and complain about this issue. Every time they promise us they will negotiate with the Israelis and respond to us, yet we dont hear back from them.

Staying neutral

There are ongoing problems every day. We are already stressed out from the patients, and that stress is sometimes compounded by the Israeli soldiers, the Red Cross or some Palestinian organisations that dont appreciate our work.

During the protests, we definitely stay neutral. Working as a paramedic, you should always be neutral despite the religions, traditions and cultures.

Unfortunately, the Israeli army always fires tear gas and rubber bullets on us. They once fired tear gas on me in a neighbourhood in Silwad. I lost total control over my body for almost 12 hours. I couldnt control my nerves or my speech.

They opened fire many times on us and on our colleagues from the Red Crescent, only because we are helping people.

I am not delivering an aggressive message. I am delivering a humanitarian message. The soldiers see and know everything about us because they film us with their cameras. I dont care about this, but what I am concerned about is the lack of safe space for my colleagues and I to work in.

In general, if I run into a checkpoint while I am transporting a wounded protester, the soldiers will always try to take him or her. They have the weapons, and I dont. My goal is to take the patient to the hospital.

The soldiers dont differentiate between the ambulance crew and the protesters who throw rocks.

One time we were called to a site where a Palestinian had been shot by Israeli soldiers. As we arrived on the scene, the soldiers opened fire on our ambulance, damaging the front part of it.

One of the soldiers pulled his gun to my face and hit me. He told me, We didnt ask you to be here.

I responded that the Palestinian coordination office called and requested me to go there and help the injured man. And as any ambulance driver, I wanted to go and help, isnt that my work? At that time I didnt know that he was dead.

We were ordered to go back 200 metres behind the site where the dead Palestinian was lying in the ground. Because of this, the young mans family blamed us because we couldnt go to the front and help.

They insulted us badly. They yelled, You are an ambulance crew! How come you arent in the front? Why didnt you take the person who was shot?

I fear the bullets

Yes, I am a paramedic but no one respects the protocols of ambulance work, and no one respects us as an ambulance crew. How can I go to the front and take the injured? The Israelis put us in embarrassing situations with our fellow Palestinians.

It usually takes 8-10 minutes to get to Ramallah hospital from Silwad, depending on the circumstances.

I worked as a volunteer in New Orleans, Louisiana, for almost a month and never faced any of these obstacles. In 2014, the police cars were protecting us and always stayed with us until they ensured that we arrived to the hospital safely. We were never in a rush or had to use the siren because the police cars would be leading us.

I am not asking the Israeli soldiers to surround me and open the way or to escort me to ensure my safe arrival  I just want them to make my journey easier.

Most of the time, patients die in my ambulance only because I couldnt treat them on the spot before rushing them to the hospital. There would be tear gas and rubber bullets, and I would be lying if I said that these circumstances dont scare me  Im only human, just like everyone else.

I fear the bullets, and I fear being shot. I also worry about people attacking my ambulance crew and often think about if the patients are going to die from inhaling too much tear gas.

Weve endured many losses as a result of attacks by Israeli soldiers who broke the vehicles glass and exterior time and time again.

We lost medicine and other supplies that were stocked in the ambulance worth 80,000 shekels ($22,995)  the vehicle itself has damages that would cost about 27,000 shekels ($7,765) to fix.
A smart Brexit agreement could be a model for other countries, such as Ukraine and Turkey, German FM Gabriel says.

Germanys foreign minister has said a successful Brexit deal could act as a framework for managing ties with other countries, including Turkey.

Britain voted to leave the European Union in June 2016, becoming the first country to seek a divorce from the bloc, which includes Germany but not Turkey.

If we are able to get a smart agreement with Britain that governs its relations with Europe after Brexit, it could be a model for other countries: Ukraine and Turkey, Sigmar Gabriel said in an interview with German media group Funke, published on Tuesday.

I cant imagine Turkey or Ukraine becoming EU members in the next few years, he said. This is why we have to consider other ways of close cooperation.

Earlier in December, Britain and the EU agreed on Brexit terms to establish a future relationship.

The deal includes details of a financial settlement, the Irish border and rights for citizens hit by Brexit.

Turkey has been in full membership talks with the EU since 2005, but these discussions have essentially been frozen over the past few years. Ukraine is not yet a candidate country for membership.

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In response to Gabriels comments, Markar Esayan, an MP with Turkeys ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), told Al Jazeera that the nature and conditions of Ankaras full membership talks were clear and irrelevant to the Brexit process.

This statement shows that the conditions for Turkey in membership talks are different compared to the other candidate countries, as none of them are offered a separate path, said Esayan, who has a role on the countrys committee on EU harmonisation.

The EU cannot make Turkey responsible for not letting the country into the bloc. If it does not want Turkey as a member, it should officially take decisions in this direction at EU institutions, rather than politicians making such arbitrary statements.

Tense relations

Relations between Ankara and Berlin have been tense since last years failed coup in Turkey, in part over the imprisonment of German journalists and activists by Turkish authorities on terror charges.

Germany and other EU member states have condemned the Turkish governments detentions and purges of tens of thousands of people after the July 2016 incident.

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Deniz Yucel, a prominent German journalist and critic of the Turkish government, is among the German citizens who remain imprisoned while Mesale Tolu, another German journalist, and Peter Steudtner, a German human rights activist, have been released pending trial.

Local and international rights groups accuse the government of using the coup attempt as a pretext to silence opposition in the country.

Ankara says that the purges and detentions are aimed at removing supporters of Fethullah Gulen from state institutions and other parts of society.

Gulen is a US-based, self-exiled religious leader who Ankara blames for the attempted coup. He denies the charge.

EU cuts Turkeys funds

The EU recently shrunk so-called pre-accession funds for Turkey for the first time in the 2018 budget, due to what it called the countrys deteriorating situation in relation to democracy, rule of law and human rights.

In March, before a referendum to change Turkeys parliamentary system to an executive presidency, the Netherlands, Austria, Germany and Denmark prevented Turkish politicians  including ministers  from taking part in rallies within their borders to back a Yes vote.

This led to an unprecedented diplomatic crisis.

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Bulgaria, which will take over the EU presidency on January 1 for six months, said in its programme that the blocs enlargement policy would be a key priority for its term, with focus on the Western Balkans, with Turkey not included in this prospect.

A specific priority of the Bulgarian Presidency is the European perspective and connectivity of the Western Balkans, the Bulgarian government said in a programme adopted by its Council of Ministers earlier in December.

EU Enlargement Policy  continues to be the most effective instrument for guaranteeing peace, stability and prosperity in the Western Balkans, it added, while merely referring to continuing dialogue and cooperation with Turkey.

Follow Umut Uras on Twitter: @Um_Uras
Study by Palestinian university finds that Christians blame stresses brought on by occupation for dwindling population.

Beit Jala, Palestine  The Israeli occupation of Palestine is the main factor behind the exodus of Palestinian Christians from the region, according to a new study.

The research carried out by Dar al-Kalima University in the occupied West Bank town of Beit Jala, concluded that only small percentage of Christians had left Palestine because of concerns over Muslim religious conservatism.

Researchers interviewed more than a thousand people, roughly half of whom were Christian and the other half Muslim, on their outlook on life and, if negative, the causes of their pessimism.

The pressure of Israeli occupation, ongoing constraints, discriminatory policies, arbitrary arrests, confiscation of lands added to the general sense of hopelessness among Palestinian Christians, the study said.





These conditions have put Palestinian Christians in a despairing situation where they can no longer perceive a future for their offspring or for themselves, it added.

Bernard Sabella, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and one of the authors of the study, said: It is not the fear of disappearance Palestinian Christians fear the most, rather losing their space in society.

He stressed that the conflict with Israel and the lack of a political solution to the occupation of Palestinian territories served as the main causes for the reduction in the number of Palestinian Christians.

In Jerusalem and Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Christianity, Palestinian Christians are rapidly disappearing under the current political and economic conditions.

Palestinian identity needs to be highlighted and emphasised, Sabella added.

The study also found that 50 percent of interviewed Christians and 54 percent of Muslims were optimistic that their situation would eventually improve and attributed their optimism to the belief that God is on their side.

This finding reflects the religiosity of the Palestinian people, said Varsen Aghabekian, another of the studys authors.

Only two percent of Christians attributed their pessimism to religious extremism, while the percentage among their Muslim counterparts was double that at four percent.

N o one can take us away from here

A majority of Christians and Muslims said the political conflict with Israel made them feel unsafe.

I can say with a lot of certainty that the migration [of Palestinian Christians] was never caused by religious persecution, said Aghabekian

Christian migration out of Palestine began in the Ottoman period and was mainly about seeking economic opportunities in North and Latin America.

But recent migration has been tied to regional instability and the conflict with Israel, according to the study.

Between 1860 and 1914, Palestinian Christians were about 11 percent of the Palestinian population of 350,000 people.

On the eve of World War I, the Palestinian population reached 616,000, of which 69,000 were Christians.

Today Palestinian Christians in all of historical Palestine, which includes Israel, the West Bank and Gaza account for only 1.7 percent of the Palestinian population of six million.

Iskandar El Hinn, a Christian Palestinian whose family fled Jaffa to Ramallah when Israel was founded in 1948, told Al Jazeera that he had never thought of leaving Palestine.

Instead, he said he encourages his children and grandchildren to remain steadfast and hold on to their land.

As a Palestinian, I am living where I belong, everywhere I go here is Palestine to me and Jerusalem is its capital, he said.

We have been living here for thousands of years; no one can take us away from here.

Follow Ali Younes on Twitter @Ali_reports
Concern over free expression grows as order warns staff that security agencies are observing social media activities.

Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir  Government workers in Indian-administered Kashmir have decried a government ban prohibiting them and their families from expressing political opinions on social networking sites.

Under a new order issued on Tuesday, Jammu and Kashmir government employees were barred from engaging in criminal, dishonest, immoral or disgraceful conduct on social media which may be prejudicial to government.

The regions half a million staff were also warned against taking part in political discussions or criticising the governments policies.

Employees should be aware that the law enforcement agencies will observe content and information made available by them on the social media, the government order reads.

They should use their best judgment in posting material that is neither inappropriate nor harmful to the state.

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Violators risk being hit by a number of legal punishments, including disciplinary action, early retirement, demotion and even termination of service.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Abdul Qayoom Wani, head of the Employees Joint Action Committee, the largest association of government employees in the region, called the order an attack on freedom of expression and demanded its immediate removal.

This is suppressing the voices, he said, adding that the order is against the fundamental rights of the employees and their families.

This means even if we have problems and issues we cannot speak about them, he said. We will approach the court of law against the order.

Pre-censorship

Employees were also warned not to engage in any anti-national activity online. However, they were told to defend government policies through their posts for the purpose of removing misapprehensions, correcting misstatements and refuting disloyal and seditious propaganda.

National Conference, the main opposition political party in Kashmir, sharply criticised the regional governments order, saying authorities portrayed the employees as terrorists and anti-social elements to cover their failures.

The social media gag was an obnoxious, tyrannical and unacceptable insult to employees, Junaid Azim Mattu, National Conference spokesman, said in a statement.

Government officials either declined to speak to Al Jazeera about the ban or were not available for comment.

Naeem Akhtar, regional minister of public works, was quoted as saying by Indian Express newspaper that government staff must conduct themselves properly.

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Personally, I feel that social media is a reality and there can be no blanket ban on it, Akhtar said. But civil servants should conduct themselves in accordance with conduct rules.

But Dr Sheikh Showkat Hussain, an academic at the Central University of Kashmir, told Al Jazeera that pre-censorship is legally not correct.

Freedom of expression can be restricted on several grounds, he said. If anyone is found guilty of sedition, they can be charged legally, but pre-censorship is too much.

Another government employee based in the main city of Srinagar, who did not want to be identified, protested against the government order and said that muzzling the voices of the people can lead to another civilian unrest.

Regimentation is often prelude to revolution. The suffocation forces people to come on streets, he told Al Jazeera.

Muzzling the people

Anti-India sentiment runs deep among Kashmirs mostly Muslim population. Rebel groups have been fighting since 1989 for the Indian-administered portion to become independent or merge with Pakistan.

Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian military crackdown. India maintains roughly 500,000 soldiers in the territory.

Most civilians support the rebels cause against Indian rule despite a decades-long military crackdown to fight the armed rebellion.

In 2010, during a civil uprising when more than 100 civilians were killed, the regional government banned local private channels from broadcasting any protests or political activity. The ban was never lifted.

These curbs started in 2010, and now the government is only expanding their scope. They are slowly trying to muzzle the people at large, said Fatima Nasir, a 27-year-old student, whose father is a government employee.

Last year, after the killing of Burhan Wani, a separatist commander whose death sparked deadly protests, the government launched a massive crackdown on demonstrators.

More than a dozen government employees were dismissed for participating in the anti-India rallies, while access to the internet was suspended for months.





In April this year, the government also imposed a one-month ban on 22 social media sites and messaging apps including Facebook, WhatsApp, Google, Skype, Viber and Twitter on the grounds that they were being misused by anti-social elements by transmitting inflammatory messages in various forms.

GN Shaheen, general secretary of Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association, said that the latest social media order is in violation of international law, which entitles people to propagate their ideas.

The order is illegal and unconstitutional, he told Al Jazeera. The freedom of expression is guaranteed under the article 19 (A) of Indian constitution. There is no such gag in any Indian state of any part of the world. It is in complete violation of international human rights charter.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, a separatist leader, said in a post on Twitter that ordering gags and threatening punishment to state employees for expressing their opinion on social media completely exposes the aversion to truth or its disclosure by the occupational regime.

The charade of normalcy in Kashmir will continue to be maintained by silencing people through bullets, jails, gags and bans, he added.
At least 23,000 people killed over the past year, giving the Central American nation its highest annual homicide rate in two decades.

Mexico has recorded its most violent year on record, after at least 23,000 people were murdered in 2017.

That means that on average, one death was reported in Mexico every 20 minutes over the past year.

The staggering figure  the highest since the country began keeping records two decades ago  is being blamed on corruption, a weak judiciary and violent drug cartels.

Mario Gonzalez Roman, an expert on security, trafficking and crime in Mexico, told Al Jazeera he was not surprised by the increase in deaths, however.

He blamed the record-breaking toll on the ongoing war on drugs being waged in Mexico.

This is the result of a failed policy, Gonzalez Roman told Al Jazeera.

Its a war that makes no sense.

Another security expert, Raul Benitez Manaut, said the extradition of Joaquin Guzman, a Mexican drug lord better known as El Chapo, to the US last January, has also had an impact on the homicide rate.

He said new criminal organisations are appearing  while others are dissolving  and a great struggle for control is being waged in regions of the country where there was relative peace.

States in Mexico that have been relatively calm in the past have also recorded a drastic increase in killings this year.

For instance, in Baja California, which borders the US state of California, the murder rate doubled.

Meanwhile, the families of victims are calling on the Mexican government to do more.

Cristina Bautiez is the mother of one of 43 students who went missing in 2014 on their way to a protest in the town of Iguala. The remains of only two of the students have been identified to date.

While Mexico officials say corrupt local police handed the students over to a drug cartel, which killed them and burned their bodies, relatives and human rights activists have disputed the states version of what happened.

Its not fair that 39 months [after the disappearances] and our children have not been returned, Bautiez said.
India says Pakistan put words in the convicts mouth and harassed relatives, but Islamabad denies mistreating relatives.

Islamabad, Pakistan  The meeting of an Indian spy with his family in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, has sparked a diplomatic spat between the two countries, with India accusing Pakistan of putting words in the convicts mouth and harassing his family  charges the country denies.

Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian citizen, was convicted and sentenced to death by Pakistan in April for spying and orchestrating gun and bomb attacks targeting civilians and security forces. He sought clemency earlier this year.

He met his wife and mother under the supervision of Pakistani officials on Monday.

On Tuesday, Indias foreign ministry accused Pakistan of subjecting Jadhavs wife Chetankul and mother Avanti Sudhir to excessive security measures and allowing journalists to harangue them.

Pakistan says it allowed the meeting on humanitarian grounds, and that Indias allegations are false.

The two women met Jadhav from behind a glass screen in a specially constructed room, images released by the Pakistani foreign ministry showed. They communicated with him using an intercom. JP Singh, Indias deputy ambassador to Pakistan, observed the meeting from behind another partition.

India dismissed the meeting as a farce, saying Jadhav was speaking in an atmosphere of coercion.

Most of his remarks were clearly tutored and designed to perpetuate the false narrative of his alleged activities in Pakistan, said Raveesh Kumar, Indias foreign ministry spokesperson, in a statement.

Pakistans foreign ministry rejected Indias accusations, saying: We do not wish to indulge in a meaningless battle of words. Our openness and transparency belies these allegations.

Disappearing shoes

India also accuses Pakistan of intimidating Jadhavs family.

The mother of Shri Jadhav was prevented from talking in their mother tongue, although this was clearly the natural medium of communication, said the foreign ministrys statement.

It also charged that Jadhavs wifes shoes had been removed during the security check and never returned, and warned against any mischievous intent.

On Wednesday, Pakistani local media, citing foreign ministry spokesperson Muhammad Faisal, reported that Chetankuls shoes had been removed as they contained a metallic substance, which was being tested by Pakistani security agencies.

Of the claims that journalists taunted the women, reporters at the scene told Al Jazeera that several journalists briefly broke into a Pakistani patriotic chant as the pair was leaving.

ICJ proceedings continue

Jadhav was arrested in March 2016 from the Pakistani province of Balochistan, Pakistani authorities say.

In a video confession, released by Pakistan, Jadhav admitted to planning, funding and facilitating attacks in southern Pakistan while based in neighbouring Iran as a serving officer of Indias RAW intelligence agency.

He was convicted and sentenced to death in April by a military court.

In May, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Pakistan to stay Jadhavs execution pending the hearing of a case filed by India alleging that Pakistan had violated its international obligations under the Vienna Convention by not allowing the convict consular access.

In filings at the court, Pakistan has said that it is not obligated to provide consular access to prisoners who have been convicted of spying for a foreign country and who are serving members of that countrys armed forces.

India identifies Jadhav as a former Indian naval officer.

Hearings in the case are ongoing.
King Salman and Binali Yildirim say whole Islamic world should act with unity on Palestine after US Jerusalem move.

Turkeys prime minister and Saudi Arabias king have called on the Islamic world to act with unity against a US decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israels capital.

Binali Yildirim and Salman bin Abdulaziz emphasised the importance of Jerusalems status during a meeting in Riyadh on Wednesday, saying the Muslim world should remain united to protect the rights of Palestinian brothers, according to a statement from the Turkish prime ministers office.

Both Turkey and Saudi Arabia have strongly criticised US President Donald Trumps decision.

Trumps announcement on December 6 drew widespread international condemnation and triggered protests in the occupied Palestinian territories and in cities across the Middle East, North Africa and Asia.

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Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called it a red line for Muslims and threatened to cut ties with Israel, while King Salman said the dangerous step could inflame the passions of Muslims around the world.

The status of Jerusalem  home to sites holy to Muslims, Jews and Christians  is one of the core issues in the perennial Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Both sides claim the city as their capital.

A resounding majority of the UN General Assembly last week defied unprecedented threats from the US and voted to declare Trumps decision null and void.

Yildirim and Salman agreed that the December 22 resolution was a strong message by the international community, according to the Turkish statement.

Saudi state-owned SPA agency said Salman and Yildirim reviewed bilateral relations between the two countries, means of enhancing them, and latest developments in the region.

It did not offer additional details.

Yildirims two-day visit comes amid signs of strains in relations between Ankara and Riyadh.

Turkey has been seeking closer ties with Iran, a country Saudi Arabia considers its main regional rival, and has also backed Qatar during the six-month blockade imposed against the Gulf nation by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt.

Galip Dalay, an Istanbul-based analyst, said Wednesdays talks between Yildirim and Salman were an attempt to create an atmosphere of dialogue rather than accusing each other through the media on certain issues.

Both countries were aware of their status as major powers in the region and knew that one cannot easily start an all-out disagreement with the other, Galip said, adding, This visit will not solve all the troubles  It is a sign of good intentions rather than the settling of the major issues.

If this visit produces anything, it is going to be a process.

Yildirim was also expected to meet Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday.
Dozens of churches across the US are taking in undocumented immigrants to fight the uptick in deportations.

When Alirio Gamez was served a deportation order earlier this year, he decided to push back rather than submit himself to authorities to be returned to his native El Salvador.

On August 8, the 40-year-old, who fled his homeland after receiving a slew of death threats, joined a growing number of undocumented people taking sanctuary in churches across the United States when he set up shop in the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin, located in the capital of Texas.

The violence El Salvador is living through is very strong [for everyone], he told Al Jazeera, recalling his flight from his homeland. When you live it personally, its even worse.

I lost the legal process [on deportation], but I want to keep fighting, Gamez insisted.

Rather than be forcibly evicted from the country, Gamez and others like him sought protection from a church that stands in solidarity with immigrants amid an increasingly severe crackdown on undocumented people in the country.

At least 32 congregations have opened their doors to potential deportees so far this year, according to World Church Services, an organisation that tracks the protest actions.

Nina Pruneda, a public affairs officer at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), explained that the agencys policy normally forbids it from carrying out raids in sensitive locations, such as educational institutions, places of worship and medical facilities.

While this is enshrined in ICEs policies, there is no law preventing the agency from carrying out raids in churches or other sensitive locations.

Current ICE policy directs agency personnel to avoid conducting enforcement activities at sensitive locations unless they have prior approval from an appropriate supervisory official or in the event of exigent circumstances, she told Al Jazeera.

Terrorising immigrant communities

Gamez  at least for now  lives in a small room at the church, the second asylum seeker to do so.

For Gamez, the prospect of returning to El Salvador is a matter of life or death.

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I always have two things on my mind: Whats going to happen, and that if they deport me [the criminals] are going to kill me, Gamez told Al Jazeera.

According to a report published in October by Vanderbilt Universitys Latin American Public Opinion Project, El Salvador recorded 81.2 homicides per 100,000 people in 2016, one of the highest rates across Latin America.

The report also found that the high levels of insecurity in the country have resulted in a growing percentage of people considering to migrate elsewhere.

Gamez said the gangs ask people to commit crimes for them, including selling drugs and extorting money from local businesses that is then delivered to the criminals. The organisations issue a deadline and if you dont do what they ask, they kill you  if youre a woman, they rape you, he added.

Explaining that the average Salvadoran only makes around $30 working six days a week in El Salvador, Gamez said criminal organisations and gangs often force people to hand over a chunk of their salary.

Thirty dollars isnt enough to provide for a family. If you give 15 to them, its even worse.

Despite the de facto safe status of churches, he said his journey has been a perilous one.

Since entering the US irregularly in 2015, he has been held in four immigrant detention centres.

The treatment one receives at the detention centres is discriminatory, Gamez said, recounting instances of guards telling the detained immigrants they werent good enough to sweep the floors in the facilities.

Claims of inhumane treatment in immigrant detention facilities have been echoed by rights groups and government agencies.

The US Department of Homeland Securitys (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently admitted that ICE agents had perpetrated abuses in immigrant detention centres in violation of DHS standards.

In a report, the OIG said detainees were placed in unsafe and unsanitary conditions and were subjected to punitive solitary confinement, unauthorised strip searches, treated without respect and denied access to language services, among other violations.

In response, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), an Alabama-based watchdog group, called on DHS to stop detaining immigrants in remote facilities where it is unwilling or unable to protect the safety of detainees, and where it cannot ensure that basic health and safety requirements are being met.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has attempted to make good on campaign promises to deport record numbers of undocumented immigrants.

Cristina Parker, communications director at the Austin-based Grassroots Leadership advocacy group, argued that the Trump administration has tried to sow fear among undocumented communities, citing increasingly brazen raids by immigration authorities.

In October, US Customs and Border Patrol agents arrested 10-year-old Rosa Maria Hernandez, at a hospital after following her from a checkpoint.

Hernandezs parents brought her to the US from Mexico without documents for treatment for her cerebral palsy.

Following widespread condemnation, she was subsequently released from the facility, where she was held 241km away from her parents.

The fact that it was happening in streets, parking lots and apartment complexes shows a real shift, even if we look back as far as the Bush administration, Parker told Al Jazeera, accusing the government of intentionally terrorising immigrant communities.

According to ICE statistics, the number of undocumented people arrested grew by 40 percent between the time Trump took office on January 20 and September 30, which marked the end of the governments fiscal year.

Although arrests at the border have decreased during Trumps first year, the total number of interior removals  or deportations of people already in the US  grew by 37 percent under the new president when compared with the same period in 2016.

Greater strength than in 1980s

Against this backdrop, progressive churches are revamping their efforts to push back against the governments ostensible crackdown on immigrants.

The churches struggle fits into a rich history of progressive congregations fighting xenophobic and nativist policies that dates back to the 1980s.

The sanctuary movement began as a way for US churches along the border with Mexico to aid refugees fleeing violence in Central America.

According to John Fife, the former pastor of Tucson, Arizonas Southside Presbyterian Church  the first sanctuary church  US political interests in the region meant that those fleeing violence in El Salvador and Guatemala were not granted asylum and were instead viewed as people looking for work.

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We learned very quickly that no one was getting asylum if they were from El Salvador or Guatemala, Fife said.

So we started to help refugees cross the border safely without being captured by border patrol or immigration officials and bring them to Tucson and we began to hide them in the church, he added.

It was when US border control contacted Fifes congregation and threatened to prosecute its members for helping people cross the border that they decided to publicly call the space a sanctuary church.

Soon other churches and synagogues followed Fifes congregations lead and the sanctuary movement was born.

The movement then spread from faith communities to universities and colleges, and eventually to cities and states, which enacted a range of policies that limited cooperation with federal immigration officials.

According to Fife, who was prosecuted and convicted, along with at least five other activists, of conspiring to smuggle Salvadorans and Guatemalans into the US in 1986, the movement began to wind down after the US government agreed to stop deportations to Central America and grant Salvadorans and Guatemalans Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in 1990.

But after former President Barack Obamas administration ramped up its effort to deport more undocumented people, the sanctuary movement was born again.

With the election of Trump and his threats to deport undocumented people, thats why the sanctuary movement revived with greater strength than we ever had in the 80s, Fife said.

Easy decision

For Chris Jimmerson, a pastor at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin, it was an easy decision for his more than 663-person congregation to take in Gamez.

In the past, the First Unitarian Universalist Church sheltered Sulma Franco, a member of the LGBTQI community who fled Guatemala in 2009.

After two-and-a-half months in the same room in which Alirio stays, Franco was granted a stay of deportation that allowed her to temporarily remain in the country without fearing immediate detention and expulsion.

The church is part of the Austin Sanctuary Network, which currently includes at least 25 congregations that either provide sanctuary to undocumented immigrants or support others that do.

Given the present political climate, its more important than ever for progressive and liberal faith voices to raise their voices and say not all religions are on the conservative side of the spectrum, Jimmerson told Al Jazeera.

Our faith drives us towards working for justice for other folks.

The St Andrews Presbyterian Church, also located in Austin, Texas, took in a Guatemalan asylum seeker and her son in early 2016 to provide the pair with sanctuary after the mother was issued a deportation order.

Hilda Ramirez, 29, and her nine-year-old son Ivan fled Guatemala in 2014 to find respite from widespread violence in their homeland.

In October 2016, Ramirez, who descends from an indigenous community, was granted a one-year deferred action order, which allowed them to avoid deportation until now. In October of this year, that order expired, and the pair found themselves back in sanctuary at the church.

Jim Rigby, a pastor at St Andrews, said there is no question  things have grown much worse since the election and inauguration of Trump. The fear is growing.

Explaining why the church took in the pair, he told Al Jazeera: Its very important to do something to show the undocumented community that theyre loved and appreciated and we want them to stay.

Rigby described the Trump administration as a master of propaganda.

The undocumented people I meet are the ones in harms way. Its racist to set it up to choose one targeted group, stereotyping 11 million [undocumented] people, he concluded. To me, its terrifying.

Additionally, the Trump administration has increased its effort to limit the work of sanctuary cities, threatening to cut federal funding from those that have policies in place aimed at safeguarding undocumented people.

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Our cities should be sanctuaries for Americans, not for criminal aliens, Trump said during a weekly address earlier this month.

Despite the government rhetoric against the sanctuary movement, more and more faith communities, cities and other jurisdictions have increased their efforts to push back against Trumps immigration policies.

Back in the church, Gamez said he is grateful for the solidarity and support he has received from the congregation. They treat me well. Theyre attentive to my needs, they bring me whatever I ask, he explained, adding that visitors often come see him at the church.

Although Gamez has found temporary shelter, what happens next continues to weigh heavy on him. A person thinks a lot, [and] its something people outside [of this situation] dont understand.
Year defined by the breaking of age-old conventions ends with uncertainty over fallout of Trumps Jerusalem move.

As the year 2017 draws to a close, few following the events of the past 12 months would wager with certainty on how the coming year will unfold.

It was a year defined by unpredictability and the breaking of long-established convention, most frequently in the form of the 45th US president, Donald Trump.

The crowds at the Republican leaders inauguration had barely dispersed before he set about forcing through the populist policies that saw him beat Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton just two months prior.

First on the agenda was the move to ban visitors from seven majority-Muslim states from entering the US.

The order, which was introduced within a week of Trump taking office, prompted a huge outpouring of solidarity with those affected and large protests in the US and across the world.





Federal judges moved quickly to strike down the ban as unconstitutional, forcing the US president to water down the restrictions but after several rounds of back and forth, the US Supreme Court eventually allowed a modified version of the original ban to be implemented, pending a final ruling.

Domestic policies were not the only area in which Trump left his mark.

In his first year in charge, Trump has refused to re-certify Irans compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the landmark deal between world powers and Tehran to curb its nuclear programme in exchange for limited sanctions relief.

Close US allies, such as the UK and France, warned against any action that would threaten the deal, but the US president chose not to listen.

Under Trump, tensions have also worsened on the Korean Peninsula, as a war of words between the US leader and North Koreas Kim Jong-un threatens to spill over into armed conflict between two nuclear-armed states.

GCC rifts

To be sure, the US is not the only country breaking age-old diplomatic convention, particularly in the Middle East.

The fate of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) remains in the balance after three of its members, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, along with Egypt, broke off diplomatic ties with Qatar and launched a blockade of the country, which continues to this day.

The quartet accuses Doha of cosying up to Tehran and supporting terrorists, accusations Qatar vehemently denies.

Since the accession of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Riyadh has taken on an increasingly hawkish foreign policy, which has seen an intensification of the war in Yemen and the adoption of a hard line against its regional rival, Iran.

The war in Yemen threatens to bring about famine, which could put millions at risk of starvation and shows little sign of ending soon.

When Yemens overthrown president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, decided to switch over to the Saudi side and break his alliance with Houthi rebels, he was quickly captured and executed.





At home, Mohammed bin Salman announced the end of Saudi Arabias ban on women driving, promised a campaign of social and economic liberalisation, and in one fell swoop locked up dozens of the countrys elite, including senior members of the royal family, on corruption charges.

Outside of the Middle East, the breaking down of the old order has been no less dramatic.

In southern Africa, former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabes reign finally came to an end after the 93-year-old leader was forced to step down by the army.

In Gambia, Yahya Jammeh, who ruled the country for 22 years, was forced into exile after refusing to accept his loss in presidential elections held in December 2016.

Rohingya exodus

The year also witnessed a dramatic worsening in the plight of Myanmars Rohingya people, with hundreds of thousands fleeing a government crackdown on the majority-Muslim ethnic group.





The exodus began in August, when Myanmars armed forces and their allies launched a military operation ostensibly aimed at Rohingya armed groups.

However, according to the Rohingya themselves, and journalists and aid workers on the ground, the Burmese military was carrying out a campaign against civilians, which involved arbitrary killings, rape, and the setting alight of homes.

The UN has described the situation as textbook ethnic cleansing.

Jerusalem decision

While the suffering of the Rohingya has earned a prominent spot on international news agendas, Trump ensured he would dominate towards the years end with his decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israels capital and move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to the city.

The decision drew opposition from Palestinians, Arab and Muslim countries, and Western powers.

Tensions played out in the occupied territories as Palestinians turned out for daily protests against the US move.

Internationally, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took a lead role in forming the Muslim worlds response, by calling for an extraordinary meeting of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC).





That meeting in Istanbul culminated in a declaration recognising East Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state.

Later, Turkey co-wrote a non-binding UN General Assembly motion dismissing the US recognition of Jerusalem as Israels capital as null and void, which 128 UN members voted in favour of and just nine voted against, with 35 abstentions.

France, the UK, and other US allies voted in favour of the motion, earning a rare and indignant public rebuke from Washington.

The US ambassador to the UN said: The United States will remember this day in which it was singled out for attack in the General Assembly 
UAEs move to ban Tunisian women from Emirates flights reflects tense relations between the two countries, experts say.

The ongoing row between Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates over Emirates airlines decision to impose a blanket ban on Tunisian women flying into the country was a political miscalculation that reflects an increasingly fraught relationship between the two countries, experts say.

Nicholas Noe, a Tunisia-based political analyst and editor of MideastWire.com, said the UAEs contentious move reflected its immaturity, both from a political and security perspective.

If we believe that there [were] underlying security concerns  then definitely the way in which this was handled, it both represents a political miscalculation and political immaturity, Noe told Al Jazeera in a telephone interview.

Roundly condemned by Tunisian women, human rights groups and state officials, the UAE announced that Emirates would stop accepting all Dubai-bound female passengers from Tunisia on Friday.

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UAE officials later said the decision was motivated by security concerns and a terrorist threat.

While they have insisted they are trying to calm the situation, Tunisian officials responded by suspending all Emirates flights to and from the country.

Emirates is the flag carrier of Dubai, but analysts believe it is the oil-rich capital, Abu Dhabi, that sets the foreign policy of the UAE, a federation of seven emirates.

Within Abu Dhabis royal family, real power is believed to rest with the crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, popularly known as MBZ.

What it really looks like is the UAE is not necessarily used to playing politics well in actual democracies, and Tunisia is an actual democracy, Noe said.

Tunis has a strong womens rights record and a strong womens movement, he said, and UAE officials dont have the political maturity and acumen to deal with democracy.

Public apology

On Monday, Khemaies Jhinaoui, Tunisias foreign minister, told a radio station that his UAE counterpart, Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, called to offer him a personal apology for the ban.

Jhinaoui said a public apology was also necessary, however, since the decision was widely perceived as being discriminatory against Tunisian women.

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I  [told the UAE foreign minister] that the perception is there because the move happened, and so there is no way that we can maintain business as usual, Jhinaoui told Shems FM.

Youssef Cherif, a political analyst based in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, said the UAEs blanket ban was an over-reaction that was exacerbated by strained ties between the two countries.

The rift first emerged after Tunisias 2011 revolution toppled long-time Tunisian leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who had maintained strong relations with the UAE.

Before that year, the UAE was Tunisias second-largest trading partner in the Middle East and North Africa, after only Libya, Cherif explained.

The relationship worsened when Ennahdha, a moderate Islamist party, was elected to lead a new Tunisian constituent assembly, less than a year after Ben Ali was forced to step down.

Ennahdhas rival, the secular party Nidaa Tounes, won the most seats in the next elections in 2014.

However, Nidaa Tounes eventually entered into a power-sharing agreement with Ennahdha to form a government, displeasing some of the partys supporters in the region.

Ennahdha remained in government after the election of 2014 [and] was not banned, as some people in the UAE would have expected, Cherif told Al Jazeera.

More recently, the Tunisian government has taken a balanced approach to the crisis engulfing Arab countries in the Gulf, which has pitted Qatar against its former allies within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), namely the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt severed diplomatic ties with Qatar in early June and later imposed a land, sea, and air embargo on the country, which remains in effect.

While Nidaa Tounes is seen as being more closely aligned with the UAE, Ennahdha has stronger ties to Qatar.

Last year, Qatar pledged $1.25bn to help boost Tunisias struggling economy.

Cherif said Tunisias weak economy and lack of influence on global politics have forced the country to try to keep a more neutral position in the region.

When the Qatar crisis began, Tunisia stayed neutral and refused to join the UAE and Saudi side, but also refused to be completely in the Qatari or Turkish camp, he said.

From an Emirati perspective, this was not accepted very well.

Domestic impact

While members of both of Tunisias major political parties have come out against the Emirates action, the airline spat has given fuel to groups that are critical of the UAE and its domestic allies, like President Beji Caid Essebsi and his Nidaa Tounes party, Noe, of MideastWire.com, explained.

Ennahdha officials have taken advantage of this and theyve embarrassed the president and have been able to get in their political potshots, he said.





The incident is especially important for Essebsi since it involves womens rights, Noe said: the president gained domestic and international praise earlier this year after he lifted a decades-old ban to allow Muslim women to marry non-Muslim men.

Aswat Nissa, a womens rights organisation, urged the Tunisian authorities to urgently deal with the airline issue, calling the UAEs ban a shocking decision and an insult to Tunisia.

No motive justifies this type of discrimination against women, the group said in a statement posted on Facebook on Friday.

The kerfuffle also comes as Tunisia prepares to hold municipal elections next year, the first since the 2011 revolution.

Now Ennahdha and their allies get to punch the president and [his] allies  over the issue of women, Noe said.

Dangerous leadership

Despite the tit-for-tat airline bans, Cherif said it is too soon to describe the tiff between Tunisia and the UAE as a crisis.

The Tunisian authorities, he said, are trying to calm down the Emiratis and temper the effect of the decisions taken in the last week.

If the Emiratis do not want to transform it into a crisis, its in their hands, he said.

Anwar Gargash, UAE minister of state for foreign affairs, reiterated this week that the ban was enacted for security reasons.

We have met with our brothers in Tunisia about security information that has imposed specific and circumstantial measures, Gargash told Abu Dhabis The National newspaper on Monday.

In the UAE, we are proud of empowering women, we appreciate Tunisian women, and respect them. We should avoid misleading attempts at misinterpretation and misrepresentation.

However, Noe said the row has shown many Tunisians that the UAE is working against the Islamist-secularist power-sharing democracy that is working relatively well in their country.

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It also demonstrates that the UAE and the other monarchies are guided by extravagantly wealthy men that can make exceedingly poor decisions not least because they are unchecked in their power, Noe said.

He said the Tunisia-UAE situation was reminiscent of what happened earlier this year when Saudi Arabia tried to pressure Saad Hariri, Lebanons prime minister, into resigning.

The move was reportedly taken because Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman wanted to sideline Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shia political faction backed by Iran, the Saudis main regional rival.

Saudi Arabia was also reportedly angered by the power-sharing agreement in Lebanon that saw Hariris Future movement, a Sunni bloc that has traditionally been aligned with the Saudis, working alongside Hezbollah.

For many in Tunisia, the row with the UAE is another example that were in for some really dangerous leadership from the GCC states, Noe said.
The swap of Ukrainian soldiers for Russia-backed separatists is the largest since the Ukraine conflict began in 2014.

Ukraine and Russia-backed separatists have conducted a mass prisoner swap, marking the largest such deal since the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine broke out in 2014.

The captives  who include activists and journalists  were exchanged on Wednesday near the town of Horlivka, northeast of Donetsk.

Under the terms of the agreement, 74 Ukrainian soldiers were expected to be swapped for 306 pro-Russian separatists.

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However, Ukraine handed over some 235 people  the others either chose to stay in Ukraine or had been released earlier, according to Ukrainian officials.

All 74 Ukrainian hostages are already at home, on the territory controlled by our army, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko wrote on Twitter.

This is the first prisoner swap in eastern Ukraine since September 2016.

In Horlivka, dozens of family members eagerly awaited the return of their loved ones.

The first thing Ill say to my husband is that your time in prison has not been in vain and, of course, I love you, Natalya Gerasimenko, wife of Mykola Gerasimenko, a driver in the Ukrainian army who was held by pro-Russian forces for almost three years, told Al Jazeera.

Step in right direction

The exchange came after months of negotiations and was jeopardised on several occasions.

Al Jazeeras Rory Challands, reporting from Moscow, said a breakthrough came earlier this week during a meeting in Russias capital, Moscow, attended by the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church and representatives of the Ukrainian and separatist sides.

The real political will it seems has come from both Kiev and also from Moscow, with [Russian President] Vladimir Putin saying that he was going to use his influence with the separatist regions to make it happen, Challands said.

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The swap is in line with the so-called Minsk agreements brokered by Germany and France and signed by Russia and Ukraine in 2015.

They call, among other things, for a ceasefire; the withdrawal of heavy weapons 15km on either side of the front line; and constitutional reform to give eastern Ukraine more autonomy.

Yet, deadly fighting has continued, with both sides blaming each other for truce breaches and stalled progress towards any political solution.

The conflict in Ukraine began in 2014, when pro-Russian separatists took over parts of eastern Ukraines Donbass region, which is composed of the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces.

Russia also annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine a few months earlier.

About 10,000 people, including at least 2,000 civilians, have been killed since the fighting began, while another 1.7 million people have been forced to flee their homes.

Wednesdays swap has created some hope that a long-term solution is possible and both sides are talking about conducting further prisoner exchanges, Al Jazeeras Challands said.

However, there is no concrete end to the conflict in sight.

While people are still dying, while Moscow is still supplying the rebel regions with weapons and hardware, our correspondent said, adding that the prisoner swap is just a step in the right direction.

Additional reporting by Madeline Roache
Rural communities in the Philippines are trying to pick up the pieces after losing everything in Tropical Storm Tembin.

Lanao Del Norte, Philippines  The village of Dalama in the town of Tubod now looks like a dry riverbed, except for the few houses that managed to cling to their foundations  pieces of wood and concrete lodged in the sand among logs and boulders. Here and there, people sift through the debris hoping to find something of value.

But they are not the owners  the owners are either elsewhere or dead.

Before Tropical Storm Tembin hit the southern Mindanao region of the Philippines on the morning of December 22, officials of the Tubod municipal government warned Dalamas residents to evacuate. The fear was that the village, located near a river on the slope of a mountain, could be wiped out by a flash flood or landslide.

That is exactly what occurred.

It all happened so fast, the surviving villagers tell anyone who would listen.

Not even five minutes. The entire village was gone before we realised what was happening.

Of the 104 homes that used to comprise the villages Purok-2A neighbourhood, only two remain standing after Tembin, or Vinta, as it is known locally. Rescuers have so far retrieved 32 bodies from the rubble, but they could not take names off the list of 13 villagers still missing because the corpses were disfigured beyond recognition.

Ignored warnings

According to Vicmar Paloma, the local disaster management officer, many of the villagers ignored the evacuation warning because they had weathered past storms.

The people, Paloma said, were campante  complacent  because they had heard similar warnings before and nothing had happened.

So they thought they could just stay. By the time they realised the danger, it was too late, Paloma told Al Jazeera.

But Marilou Itum, a Dalama resident, believes there was little that could have been done. When she and her husband heard the warning, they first herded their swine into a place they thought was safe. She then went back home to get their eight children and her brother. By then, the flood had engulfed their escape route.

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I told my brother, This is it. I dont think well get out of this alive. We were crying and we didnt know what to do, Itum told Al Jazeera as she failed to hold back tears.

In the end, they followed their feet in the other direction  away from the flood and towards the raging river. Luckily, they found an elevated outcrop from where they watched the onslaught of mud and boulders swallow up houses, including their own.

She should be grateful that her entire family is alive, she said. One of her neighbours lost 13 family members, including his parents and grandparents.

But every day, the miracle of their survival gets more and more overshadowed by dark thoughts about their future.

I had a sewing machine with which I earned a living. I guess thats gone, too, she said as she pored over the heap of sticks and scraps that used to be her home. The flood had taken away the pigs they desperately tried to save.

I dont know what will become of us, she said.

I can never go back

Some 400 villagers now live in a nearby schoolhouse and spent Christmas there. Many of them admit not heeding the storm warning right away.

Weve heard warnings like those in the past and nothing happened, Rosemarie Sarabillo told Al Jazeera. She and her three children now occupy a corner of a classroom, which they share with 10 other families.

Sarabillo and her family had a good life in Purok-2A. They were not rich but they were comfortable. But that, too, is now in the past.

She said she did now know whether the government or any aid group would help her family find somewhere to live. The one thing she did know was that Purok-2A of Dalama was no more.

I can never go back there, she said, before she began sobbing.

A new beginning

With some 20 major storms passing through the Philippines every year, its people have gotten used to the stories of devastation and suffering that the worst of these rains leave behind.

Still, many communities are caught off-guard when they strike, despite considerable efforts by the national government to inform and equip people against calamities.

The challenging economic and security situation in the Mindanao region leaves its people particularly vulnerable, as was evident in Dalama.

The village lies on a mountainside a good hours drive from the Tubod town centre. Much of the road leading to it is unpaved. There are no offices or factories for the people to work in  so they are mostly farmers. But they remain poor because they usually do not own the land they till, but rather work for landlords who live in the city.

Those who save up enough money to buy land do so where they can afford it, in places like remote mountain slopes and river banks. Others just become squatters.

Working hard to make ends meet, these people tend to live a simple life  and its fair to say things like climate change and disaster mitigation are not constantly on their minds.

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte visited Tubod on Wednesday, where he was briefed on the situation by local disaster management officials. Unlike his usual self, he looked glum and spoke mildly.

We will help. Thats why Im here, he said.

Were ending the year with a bing-bang of sorrow and agony. I just hope that next year, Allah would be kind enough to give us a new beginning.








Human rights groups have pointed to both sides of the war in Yemen as being responsible for torturing prisoners.

Human rights groups say thousands of people, including children, have been arbitrarily detained and tortured by both sides of the war in Yemen.

Yemeni forces and Houthi fighters are accused of beatings, electric shocks, and forcing prisoners to strip.

Yousef Ajlan, a journalist who was imprisoned last year, shared his experiences behind bars with us.

Warning: some of the stories you are about to hear are graphic and may be disturbing to some viewers.

Al Jazeeras Natasha Ghoneim reports.
Carvell Wallace talks to Americans grappling with the state of the union while dealing with his own fractured history.
The US is cutting the UNs budget by more than a quarter of a billion dollars.

$285m. Thats the amount expected to be slashed from the UNs operating budget next year.

The US says it negotiated the cut, to eliminate what it calls inefficiency and overspending by the organisation.

The move comes after a tense week for the UN. The General Assembly voted to condemn the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israels capital and move its embassy there.

The US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, responded by threatening to cut funding to the UN. Now that the announcement has been made, what are the long-term implications of this cut?

Presenter: Hashem Ahelbarra

Guests:

Peter Anthony Gallo  former UN investigator

Rosa Freedman  professor of Law and Global Development, University of Reading

Lawrence Korb  ex-US assistant secretary of defence and current Senior Fellow, The Center for American Progress
Thanks to Eric Gilbert, this year there were 45 days of Christmas.

Gilbert, a co-founder of Remedium, a health and wellness subscription box company, has set out to complete a good deed a day for 45 days for people in Gainesville, the 32-year-old said. He collects his good deed ideas from people who donate to a 45-day Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign for the launch of Remedium, which is set to open Jan. 12. He said the good deeds and funding are running from Nov. 22 to Jan. 7.

Gilbert said he has received recommendations, and has performed deeds ranging from helping a stranger buy her husband a suit for Christmas to volunteering at youth groups and animal shelters. His first good deed was driving his mother-in-law to the hospital.

When it comes to the moment of opening your mouth and saying, Hey, can I help you with this? I get a little nervous, Gilbert said. I think my heart skips a beat for the second there. But Im always glad I did.

On Nov. 24, while in line at Burlington Coat Factory, he and his wife, Carol Gilbert-Orrego, overheard a woman had an item on layaway and offered to pay for her Christmas gift  a new suit  for her husband.

It turned into a really cool moment, Gilbert said. The people at the store were kind of like, Wow! What just happened? you know, so it just turned into a whole positive moment together.

Gilbert met a homeless man named Jim near Southwest 13th Street, who was holding a sign and asking for help. For his fourth good deed, Gilbert offered to help Jim with something, and Jim asked for a ride to Grace Marketplace. The men ended up grabbing lunch together at Taco del Mar, Gilbert said.

It was neat, not only was it helping him, but it felt more like a personal connection, Gilbert said. Rather than just like doing a favor for somebody, it won me a little bit of a friendship for a moment.

Sarah Wallace, the companys graphic and web designer, said she was impressed how Gilbert put the companys mission into practice.

He wanted a way to show the world he was walking walk, not just talking the talk, Wallace said.

Gilbert said the purpose of making the good deeds campaign at the same time he was fundraising for his company was to emphasize the values he wants his company to represent.

Sometimes when you go into business venture theres a lot of questions and a lot of unknowns, Gilbert said. For 45 days were going to make a positive difference around our community and thats going to be a part of our mission right from the start.

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Contact Robert Lewis at rlewis@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter at @Lewis__Robert.

Eric Gilbert, a co-founder of Remedium, poses with a Burlington Coat Factory customer and her son. Gilbert, 34, paid for a mens suit the woman had on layaway  a Christmas present for her husband.
A recent survey of college students indicates that a plurality of them would prefer to live in a socialist country. Critics have complained that these results show college students have little knowledge about the real world, which is filled with failed socialist states. This is largely true, no doubt. But I think theres another deeper reason for students embrace of socialism.

Socialism stands for free stuff, and there are few things students like more than stuff thats free. Also, socialism sounds like social and sociability, and everyone knows that if more people had those qualities the world would be a much better place.

In some surveys, communism comes in second in popularity. I think thats because communism comes from commune, a place where people of good will share things with each other, and who could be against that? Some students may be put off because theyve heard that communism is authoritarian socialism and nobody likes authority except the authorities themselves. On the other hand, student leaders and professors think communism would work if only the right people -- they themselves -- were in charge.

Few of todays students care much for capitalism because it refers to capital, or kapital if youre a fan of Karl Marx. Anytime a k can substitute for your c youre in trouble, Amerika. The acolytes of Marx that occupy universities today teach that kapitalism is abusive. Capital is something you own because you dont like to share. You like capitalism? Yuck!

Capitalism is a system of private money and profits, and if you ever whisper the word profit to a young adult whose idea of the good life is John Lennons Imagine: Imagine no possessions no need for greed or hunger youve already lost him, or her, or whatever. You like profits? Double yuck!

Laugh if you like, but realize that this is no laughing matter for students at Berkeley and Harvard and Princeton, or for the liberal arts professors who teach them what to think. Try telling them that capitalism is the best means of wealth creation ever invented. Faster than you can say capit todays students will consider you caput. Theyll run you out of town, literally, because by the time youve run from the stage theyll already have broken your cars windows and slashed your tires.

Im not saying you should give up the fight. Just give up the word. Capitalism has gotta go. Besides, theres a much better word to describe our economic system that goes to the heart of the subject and emphasizes our advantages. Also, its a word that doesnt have hard syllables or a historical bias.

That word is freedom. Freedom acknowledges that your life, your labor, and your property belong to you to do with as you please, so long as you dont infringe on someone elses freedom. Freedom was humankinds original economic system before the invention of nation states and coinage. With freedom, your capital was the fish you caught, or the wood you gathered, or the reputation you earned for diligent work, and which you could exchange for someone elses capital on terms agreeable to you both. The original trade between families and tribes was free trade.

The first socialist infringement upon that freedom was exercised by sovereigns in the form of a protection racket paid for by a tax or tariff. Pay me, demanded the tax collector. It would be a shame if something happened to this nice little farm of yours. Inevitably, some sovereigns eliminated the taxpaying middleman altogether and simply appropriated the farms and factories. Alas, these communist states always seemed to put the wrong people in charge -- the Stalins and Maos and Kims and Castros in the twentieth century, and the Maduros and Kims and Castros in the twenty-first.

So whenever youre inclined to use the word capitalism in an article or speech, stop yourself. Use freedom instead. Our constitution was designed to preserve freedom, not capitalism, and your average college student would find it difficult to say You like freedom? Yuck!

By the time Trump is finished, maybe even Cubans and Venezuelans will be chanting Libertad si!
A conservative cynic from birth, I foolishly thought I had seen it all when it came to leftist madness. But then I saw, posted on CNNs website, Why kids love 'fascist' cartoons like 'Paw Patrol' and 'Thomas'. The article referenced several other articles that described Thomas as a premodern corporate-totalitarian dystopia, imperialist racist and sinister, and classist, sexist, and anti-environmentalist.

This caught my attention because my six-year-old boy -- like children all over the world -- loves stories of Thomas the Train. I recently took my children to Thomasland in Massachusetts and now my boy wants to visit the Thomasland in Japan. The Thomas cartoon is so popular that 1 billion dollars of merchandise related to the show is sold every year.

Reverend Wilbert Audrey, creator of Thomas the Train, has recounted how, when his 3-year-old son was ill with the measles, he told him stories about trains. Audrey says that in his own childhood he had to read boring books about perfect children so that he would learn from their moral example. He decided to write interesting books about engines with human characteristics in a fictional island he called Sodor. The trains would push the envelope until they got in trouble, be punished, and after making amends would be bought back into the family so to speak. Morality in the world of Thomas was making oneself useful to society, being a good friend, and keeping the railroad functioning smoothly. The human aspect of his trains is part of their appeal to children and the moral aspect of his stories was part of their appeal to the adults who read the stories to their children.

Now left-wing critics label the Thomas the Train show racist because the diesel villain is black. They call it totalitarian because trains are supposed to do what the manager of the rails, Sir Topham Hat, tells them to do. They call it sexist because there are more male trains than female trains. (In 2013 the British Labour shadow Transportation Secretary actually called out Thomas for its lack of females.) When Thomas is awarded two female passenger cars to pull because of good behavior, the feminists call this sexist too.

The leftists are particularly offended by the stories of Henry in the Tunnel and Toad Stands By. Henry the Train decides that rather than contribute to society hed prefer to stay in a tunnel. Despite the best efforts of Sir Topham Hat to get Henry out of the tunnel Henry refuses to budge and Sir Topham Hat teaches him a lesson by locking him into the tunnel with a brick wall. The New Yorker quotes a commenter as saying What moral lesson are kids supposed to learn from this? Do as youre told or you will be entombed forever in the darkness to die? In the next episode Henry, miserable in the tunnel, becomes willing to help again and is released. The New Yorker critic doesnt mention that. In Toad Stands By bullying trains, otherwise known as the troublesome trucks, are taught a lesson by Oscar the locomotive, whom they had picked on. Oscar pulls the bullying trains behind him when they decide to cause trouble and not move. Oscar fights back by pulling very hard and the leader of the bullies, Scruffey, who is behind him bursts in half. The New Yorker quotes a commenter as writing: I guess the lesson is that if someone is bullying you, kill them? In the next story Scruffey is repaired and the troublesome trucks learn never to cause trouble for Oscar again. You are not told that by the author of The New Yorker article.

In yet another episode a nasty double-decker bus named Bulgy comes to the station and talks about revolution -- Free the roads from railway tyranny! he cries. The New Yorker writes He is quickly labelled a scarlet deceiver, trapped under a bridge, and turned into a henhouse. Actually Bulgy deceives passengers into riding on his bus and gets stuck under a bridge. Too damaged to move, Bulgy becomes a home for hens. Once Bulgy is willing to make amends and be useful to society he is forgiven and repaired.

Why do leftists distort and demonize Thomas stories? Leftists do not like the idea that punishment and discipline are a good thing because it implies that the fault lies with those who misbehave instead of with society. That is one of the reasons that the anti-discipline policies of leftist Mayor DeBlasio and former president Obama have increased the discipline problems in New York City schools.

In the leftist worldview society is the guilty party and therefore revolutionaries are heroes. Reverend Audreys portrayal of a revolutionary as a nasty bus whose revolution gets him stuck under a bridge and keeps his passengers from getting to their destination is not a message they like. Even worse he becomes a home for hens instead of great revolutionary. He even stops being a revolutionary and starts to contribute to society. It is no wonder that a critic of Thomas ends his article in Slate by writing Cast off your shackles and rise up, little engines! Down with Topham Hatt! Sodor revolution now!

The leftist reaction to Thomas is a demonstration of the sick tendency of the left to demonize those they dont like and to distort what they say. I told my 6-year-old son that I was writing this article to answer those who attack his favorite show he said Tell them that whatever is wrong with Thomas is just little mistakes and that Thomas is very nice and teaches children a lot about trains.
The most moving and eloquent words spoken in the UN General Assembly, the assembly of hypocrisy, incitement, and lies, were articulated by Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the U.S. Ambassador to the UN, after the UNGA on November 10, 1975 passed the infamous Resolution 3379 that declared that "Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination."

Moynihan rose to declare that this is a lie which the UN has now declared to be a truth. A great evil has been loosed on the world. The U.S. did not acknowledge, it will not abide by, it will never acquiesce in this infamous act... the abomination of anti-Semitism... has been given the appearance of international sanction."

Forty-two years later another candid U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, has echoed the derogatory tone of his censure and rebuked the UN for another infamous Resolution, asserting, "I am here to emphasize that the U.S. is determined to stand up to the UN's anti-Israel bias.

On December 21, 2017 at an emergency session the UNGA passed a resolution, by 128 to 9 with 35 abstentions and 21 others who did not vote, implicitly referring to the declaration of President Donald Trump on December 7, 2017 in which he recognized that Jerusalem was the capital of the State of Israel, that the U.S. was planning to relocate the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and that the U.S. would support a two-state solution if agreed to by both sides.

The UNGA disgraced itself once again when its new resolution reaffirmed the thrust of previous resolutions -- nine since November 1967. It affirmed that any decisions and actions which purport to have altered the character, status, or demographic composition of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal effect, are "null and void" and must be rescinded. It called on all states to refrain from the establishment of diplomatic missions in the Holy City of Jerusalem. In effect it rebuked the U.S., which was told to withdraw its statement.

It has long been a disgrace in international politics that almost all the agencies of the UN have no credibility and have been hostile places on any issue concerning the State of Israel. Indeed, of the 93 UN Resolutions passed this year, 83 (86%) were directed against Israel. Nikki Haley forcefully explained that Israel can stand up not only for itself and its security, but also for freedom and human dignity in general.

However, this new UN vote is different in that it attacked the U.S. for exercising its right, that all states have as sovereign nations, to make decisions of its own. Haley declared that the U.S. would not be told by outsiders where to put one of its embassies. Perversely, it is not the U.S. but the Palestinians and anti-Israeli forces who are creating roadblocks to Middle East negotiations and causing a stalemate. Indeed, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, 12 years into his four-year term, said he will not accept any U.S. plans for Middle East peace, as the U.S. is no longer an honest negotiator in the process. Abbas has declared the UN vote is a victory for Palestine, and his UN envoy Riyad Mansou has stated it is a massive setback for the U.S.

In fact, Palestinian leaders refused to meet with Vice President Mike Pence, who had planned in December 2017 to visit Bethlehem and the Nativity Church, as part of the Palestinian policy to refuse the discuss the future of the region with the U.S. Their action is not only discourteous to the U.S. but a deliberate rebuke to Pope Francis, who called in his Christmas Message for prayers that "the will to resume dialogue may prevail between the parties (Israel and Palestinians) and that a negotiated solution can finally be reached.

Naturally, the opposition to Trump's declaration came from many countries not generally regarded as peace-loving powers or shining examples as protectors of what the UN resolution called "the unique spiritual, religious, and cultural dimensions" of Jerusalem. Prominent were Venezuela, a world center for illegal drug trafficking, which claimed the U.S. threatened world peace and that the world was not for sale; Syria, still involved in its brutal civil war; Yemen, where more than seven million are at risk of starvation, helped draft the anti-U.S. Resolution; and North Korea, so concerned with the Holy City that it forgot to launch another ballistic missile on the day of the UN vote.

Yet, it is saddening that among the 128 votes for the Resolution were Western democracies, including 22 of the 28 EU countries: France, UK, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Italy, and Switzerland, as well as Russia, China, and Iran. The opposition nine embraced Guatemala, Honduras, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Micronesia, and Togo, as well as the U.S. and Israel. The 35 abstentions included five EU states and other U.S. allies such as Australia and Canada. Those who did not vote might have feared U.S. warning of funding cuts to them.

Ambassador Haley fought gallantly against the UN Resolution, nonbinding and largely symbolic though it is, as Moynihan did in 1975, and informed UN members that the U.S. was taking names and "we will remember when we are called on to once again make the world's largest contribution to the UN." Since 1994, the U.S. has given over $5 billion to Palestine in bilateral economic assistance, security assistance, and humanitarian assistance. It funds almost 30% of the UNRWA budget.

In this there are problems in implementing the Trump policy. A good part of U.S. aid funding is appropriated by Congress for particular countries and issues. Unilateral cuts to a specific country are not easy, because they may be related to specific packages in countries. There are in fact three aid streams; military and security assistance that goes to governments; development aid for those in need and for fighting poverty; and humanitarian aid. One dilemma is that it is difficult to cut development aid, because of both the recent decline in commodity prices in developing countries, and the struggle of those countries with Ebola.

The U.S., as Haley has said, is responding. The Trump administration has already issued warnings about other activities of the UN and individual countries. Because of the actions of Saudi Arabia in blockading food, water, and medicine to Yemen, the U.S. threatened to cut aid to the country. In 2011 UNESCO, the first UN agency to do so, decided to accept Palestine as a full member, though there is no Palestinian state. The U.S. and Israel both froze annual funding to UNESCO. U.S. law prohibits funding any UN agencies that recognize Palestine as a state. Now in December 2017, the U.S., followed by Israel announced it will withdraw from UNESCO.

Ambassador Haley has made clear that the Trump declaration on Jerusalem has not harmed the peace process, but like a good detective has recognized the obvious. Interestingly, the U.S. faced a similar situation more than thirty years ago. The UN Security Council on August 20, 1980 voted Resolution 478, 14 to none with the U.S. abstaining, condemning the Israeli declaration that Jerusalem was Israel's "complete and united capital." Then-secretary of State Edmund Muskie characterized it as further proof of the unbalanced and unrealistic UN texts on Middle East issues. The resolution was a disruptive attempt to dictate to other nations. It did nothing to promote the cause of peace. The continuing problem is that the UN is singing the same discordant tune over and over again. For the U.S. it is time to change partners and advance.

The international uprising against the Trump statement anticipated by the usual suspects did not take place, or was far more muted than they proclaimed. The opposite may be occurring.

Guatemala's President Jimmy Morales, an evangelical Christian and TV personality, plans to follow the intentions of President Trump and move his country's embassy to Jerusalem. Both the Czech Republic and Costa Rica are considering similar action. And hypocrisy will have its day. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, OIC, has, unilaterally without negotiations, called for East Jerusalem to be the capital of the Palestinian state. Turkey has announced, despite its involvement present war on the Kurds, that "with God's permission the day is close" when Turkey will open an embassy in the Palestinian state. So much for the UN condemnations of decisions altering the "character, status, or demographic composition of the Holy City."
There's an interesting gloss on the blog item by John Washington today concerning the fact that leftists, represented by Newsweek writer Christina Maza, are losing their collective minds over the phrase "White Christmas."

That phrase achieved popularity due to the song of that title by Jewish-American songwriter Irving Berlin.

The song meant something in particular to Berlin himself. In 1928, his infant son died of SIDS (at that time not well understood) on Christmas Day. Knowledge of this fact lends some poignancy to lines such as "just like the ones I used to know." There exists little doubt that Berlin had the memory in mind while writing the song.

Bing Crosby debuted the song on Christmas 1941, only weeks after the Pearl Harbor attack thrust the U.S. into WWII. At first, it was not a hit. But a year later, it became the most popular song on the Armed Forces Radio Network, requested by military personnel, many of them stationed in places like North Africa and the Southwest Pacific that hadn't seen a snowfall since the end of the Wisconsin period. Eventually, the record sold over 100 million copies worldwide. The song remains a perennial holiday favorite to this day.

So there you have it. A phrase popularized by arguably the greatest Jewish songwriter of the 20th century, and beloved by American servicemen involved in a war to overthrow fascism, including the racist tyranny of the Third Reich  and the left hears "white supremacy."

In a phrase that we have more and more reason to use these days, you just can't make it up.
According to Chinese customs data, Beijing has stopped selling oil products to its largest trading partner, North Korea. China had previously refused to buy coal or iron ore from the Kim regime.

But U.S. satellites showed Chinese ships trading for oil with North Korean vessels just recently, raising questions about the Chinese commitment to denying North Korea energy supplies in accordance with U.N. sanctions.

Fox News:

China did not export gasoline, jet fuel, diesel or fuel oil, nor did Beijing import any coal or iron ore, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing Chinese customs data. It was the second straight month China did not export any diesel or gasoline to Pyongyang, according to the report. "As a principle, China has consistently fully, correctly, conscientiously and strictly enforced relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions on North Korea. We have already established a set of effective operating mechanisms and methods," China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said. The U.N. sanctions, implemented earlier this year, aimed to dramatically limit oil products to North Korea as retaliation for their nuclear and missile testing.

According to South Korea's Chosun Ilbo, U.S. spy satellites have caught Chinese ships selling oil to North Korea thirty times in the last three months.

According to South Korean government sources, the satellites have pictured large Chinese and North Korean ships illegally trading in oil in a part of the West Sea closer to China than South Korea. The satellite pictures even show the names of the ships. A government source said, "We need to focus on the fact that the illicit trade started after a UN Security Council resolution in September drastically capped North Korea's imports of refined petroleum products." The U.S. Treasury Department placed six North Korean shipping and trading companies and 20 of their ships on sanctions list on Nov. 21, when it published spy satellite images taken on Oct. 19 showing a ship named Ryesonggang 1 connected to a Chinese vessel. The department noted that the two ships appeared to be illegally trading in oil from ship to ship to bypass sanctions. Ship-to-ship trade with North Korea on the high seas is forbidden in UNSC Resolution 2375 adopted in September, but such violations are nearly impossible to detect unless China aggressively cracks down on smuggling. The problem is that any oil embargo imposed on the North in the event of further provocations will probably be futile as long as illegal smuggling continues. It is uncertain whether the Chinese government is deliberately looking the other way, but it seems unlikely that it is unaware given the sheer volume.

The fact that the trades take place in international waters gives the Chinese government plausible deniability. But given how tightly the Chinese government keeps track of its trade, it is highly unlikely that Beijing is unaware of the smuggling.

What is the purpose of telling the world they are obeying U.N. sanctions while surreptitiously still selling oil to the North? The fact is, a complete cut-off of oil to the Kim regime would result in the Chinese government's worst nightmare coming true: hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of refugees flowing over their border with North Korea. Better to play a public game of appearing to adhere to U.N. sanctions than the prospect of risking chaos erupting on the border.

North Korea is the most heavily sanctioned state in U.N. history, and the consequences for ordinary people have been catastrophic. The U.N. Food Program estimates that 18 million people are at risk of starvation due to Kim's maniacal obsession with building nuclear weapons and a drought that severely cut food production this year. Even North Korean soldiers who have recently defected have shown signs of malnutrition.

What this adds up to for China is a humanitarian disaster if North Korea can't feed its people. The U.N. program recently cut back daily food rations to the most vulnerable North Koreans  pregnant women, women who recently gave birth, and children  to just 66% of the minimum requirement to live. If citizens receiving international aid can't be fed, what does that mean for the masses of North Koreans who can't get access to the food program?

Kim has made it clear that he doesn't care about his own people's lives. There is a real danger that if the regime begins to collapse, Kim will launch his missiles in a spasm of violence and death that would seal the fate of his regime  and take many innocent people with him.
In the vacuum of ideas that is today's Democratic Party, removing President Trump from office is the single unifying force among the Democrat base. According to politico.com, "[p]olls on the question show as many as three-quarters of Democrats already back impeachment," even though "there is no consensus on the grounds" for impeachment.

But fear of political backlash is "roiling" the Democrats as 2018 approaches:

The debate is roiling House Democrats, with progressives forcing a debate over the issue even as vulnerable incumbents, particularly members in districts that favored Trump, worry it could jeopardize their future in Congress.

Politico writers Kyle Cheney and Heather Caygle observe that while "Democratic hostility toward" Trump "seems to intensify daily," the impeachment debate is not helping the "12 Democrats" from districts "Trump won in 2016."

One such Democrat up for re-election says the recent impeachment vote "by 58 House Democrats" was "entirely unnecessary and hurtful to people in certain districts."

The more cautious Democrats are said to be "waiting for the outcome" of the "special prosecutor investigation" and hoping for "bipartisan buy-in" to impeachment, on whatever grounds. A California Democrat House member "who supports impeaching Trump" says:

The bipartisan piece of it is assurance to the public that you're not just playing partisan games.

But the same Public Policy Poll linked in the Politico column says 85% of Hillary voters support impeachment and 86% of Trump voters oppose impeachment (page 18). That sounds bipartisan.

The poll also says 88% of Hillary voters think Trump is "mentally unbalanced," while 86% of Trump voters think Trump is "mentally stable" (page 14). No partisan games there.

New York Democrat Jerry Nadler, who was elected last week to be the ranking Democrat "on the House Judiciary Committee, the panel that handles impeachment matters," argues that "it makes little sense to pursue a partisan impeachment" when the result might be "stopped cold in the Senate."

But other Democrats have "no qualms about talking impeachment now," with "an animated base demanding the party's leaders use the full range of their powers to target Trump."

While the Republicans can run in 2018 on tax cuts and the booming Trump economy, the Democrats can run on overturning the last election to satisfy their animated base of resistance.

The Politico piece notes that the impeachment movement depends on "explicit evidence" of "collusion or obstruction" emerging from the Mueller investigation. President Trump, however, knows that it really depends on the public's perception of the Democrats' game.

Demonstrating once again his mastery of branding, the president referred in a Tuesday tweet to the "bogus" "DNC funded Dossier" at the heart of the Mueller investigation:

And they used this Crooked Hillary pile of garbage as the basis for going after the Trump Campaign!

Whether or not John Q. Public knows what the dossier is or what Mueller is investigating, the president has not so subtly branded the entire proceedings as "this crooked Hillary pile of garbage." In layman's language.

Just as President Trump may be standing aside as the Mueller investigation defeats itself, the Republicans might just stand aside and let the Democrats defeat themselves in 2018.
The full evil of the anti-cop hysteria pushed by left-wing groups like #BlackLivesMatter will take many years to be understood, in no small part because of political and media support for the notion that racism on the part of cops is the sole cause for disproportionate numbers of black perpetrators in our crime statistics. The inconvenient truth of black criminality must never be blamed on cultural, behavioral, or demographic issues like fatherless children and must, instead, be attributed to society as a whole.

But every now and then, a statistic appears that cannot be easily dismissed. Jared Sichel of The Daily Wire brings one such figure to our attention.

Murders in the U.S. rose nearly 9% last year, and one-third of that increase came from just a few neighborhoods in Chicago, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of the FBI's annual 2016 publication, Crime in the United States. While violent crime (homicide, rape, assault, and robbery) also rose nationwide from 2015 to 2016  over 4%  the data show the increase was not uniform, but rather concentrated in cities like Chicago and Baltimore.

Other big cities, including Los Angeles and Washington, DC, saw meaningful declines in violence. So there is no broad trend, but rather local factors that must be accounted for. For instance:

Interestingly, the paper's neighborhood-by-neighborhood analysis claimed that areas where homicides spiked had a "lighter street presence by police following officers' high-profile killings of young black men." ... In Baltimore, violent crime rates were going down until 2015, when police officers "pulled back from a more proactive approach" following widespread city riots after the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who suffered a severe spinal injury while being transported in a police van on April 1, 2015, and died one week later.

But for the real statistical weight affecting overall crime stats, one has to look at Chicago, where the police have been under severe restrictions and where gang activity is out of control:

In Chicago last year, homicides jumped to 771, 58% higher than in 2015, and more than the number of murders in Los Angeles and New York combined. Half of that increase, the analysis showed, came from just five neighborhoods, and is largely attributable to gang warfare. In a "roughly four-mile radius of West Garfield Park," for example, there are at least 30 gangs. ... In Chicago, as in Baltimore, police became less proactive following protests against the fatal 2014 shooting of a black teenager, Laquan McDonald, by a white police officer, Jason Van Dyke, who has been charged with first-degree murder. A FiveThirtyEight analysis found that in Chicago and other cities with high-profile deaths of black men involving police officers, a "pullback in policing was accompanied by a sharp increase in gun violence."

All the anti-cop self-righteousness in the world won't save one victim from gang violence. The BLM protesters, along the with hands up, don't shoot crowd, have been enablers of horrific violence that mostly is claiming black lives. Progressive politics often involves sacrificing the powerless for the purported greater good, even as the poseurs claim to be righteous protectors of the worse off.
The New York Times reported that Egypt executed fifteen Islamic terrorists. Predictably, the Times worried that the executions would only make radical Islamists commit more acts of terror.

The Egyptian authorities hanged 15 men on Tuesday for an attack in the Sinai Peninsula in 2013, the start of an Islamic insurgency that the military-dominated government has been battling ever since. A military court found the men guilty on terrorism charges last month for an attack on a military checkpoint in which one army officer and eight soldiers were killed. Rights activists and Islamists said Tuesday that they feared the latest executions would drive more young Egyptians into the arms of the Islamic State, also known by its Arabic acronym Daesh.

I thought it was known as "Daesh" only by Obama, who never wanted to use the "I" word.

"This is the new wave of oppression that we have been expecting all year," said Ezzat Ghoniem, a lawyer who defends many Muslim Brotherhood members. "These executions will only push the thousands of young people in prison into the arms of Daesh."

Thousands of people will join Daesh? Oh, no!

"These death sentences and executions are a flagrant breach of international law," Maya Foa, director of the international human rights organization Reprieve, said Tuesday.

But, on the bright side, if they have to breach "international law" (whatever that is), isn't it better, for honesty purposes, that it be done flagrantly rather than with subtlety?

The families and lawyers of those hanged on Tuesday could not be reached immediately for comment.

Nor could those hanged be reached for comment.

The [Islamic terrorists in Egypt] ... shot down a Russian jetliner in 2015, killing 224 people. It was also believed to be responsible for an attack on a Sufi mosque in North Sinai last month, killing 311 people in Egypt's worst terrorist attack. There were no protests in Egypt over the executions on Tuesday "If they touch those guys, that could push people over the edge," said Abdulrahman Ayyash, a former member who is now an analyst. "They won't let that slide."

I had hoped the Islamic State would "let that slide"! The Islamic State normally has a great amount of self-restraint, right?

Speaking seriously, what can we learn from this?

1) We can't know for certain, but the people being executed probably weren't doing a sit-in at Cairo U. The terrorists in Egypt have blown up an airliner, massacred soldiers, and committed mass murders at mosques and churches.

2) The Egyptian people, by their lack of protest, support what their government is doing because they have suffered at the hands of these terrorists. Remember: the number-one killer of Muslims is Muslims.

3) The Times, by focusing on the protests of "human rights advocates" and lawyers affiliated with the Islamic State, are showing a curious concern for the effect of the executions.

How can anyone believe that the execution of terrorists will provoke violence from a group whose raison d'etre is mass murder?

You need to pay close attention, because this article tells you something key about the liberal mind. Liberals feel that at least part of the outrage of Islamists is justified. That's right: it's always caused by something. America supports Israel? Well, that explains an Islamic attack. America has an airbase in the remote desert of Saudi Arabia? It makes Islamists angry! An American air strike kills 20 terrorists and two civilians? The Islamic State is outraged because of the death of innocents! (This, since the death of innocents is its specialty, is something ISIS knows a lot about.)

Since the left feels that the Islamic outrage is at least partially justified, it feels that the Islamists act like reasonable people. Don't provoke them, and they won't provoke you. Under that line of thinking, it makes perfect sense that if you cut off the airflow to some of their buddies, you're going to make them mad.

What the left misses is that the Islamists don't need a provocation. There was no provocation for the attacks on the World Trade Center, or the Boston bombing, or an attack on a Jewish supermarket in France. The ideology of Islamists instructs them to murder non-believers. Nothing we can say or do will make them angrier, because they are already trying their best to kill us.

Imagine if the left had advocated not invading occupied France in World War II because "it will only make Hitler madder and madder" or not destroying the Japanese carrier fleet at Midway because "it will only play into hard-line elements around General Tojo."

It's all the same thing. What articles like this reveal, distressingly, is that liberals still don't have a clue who is fighting us or what makes them fight  not even 16 years after the declaration of war on us.

Ed Straker is the senior writer at Newsmachete.com.
Recently, Newsweek published an opinion piece by staff writer Christina Maza, who specializes in religion and extremism, titled "How Trump and the Nazis Stole Christmas to Promote White Nationalism." Whatever her intent, Maza ends up minimizing Nazism.

What Maza failed to mention in her article are Trump's gas chambers in Washington, D.C. She also forgot to mention the firing squads, where dozens of political opponents are shot. Or how Trump has held prisoners since January 20, starving them because he refuses to feed them. The list could go on. Since Trump and his voters are Nazis, the atrocities should have been placed in her column.

Instead, Maza downplayed how horrible Nazism was to the Jewish people. She wrote mindless drivel stating that by saying you want a "white Christmas," you are a Nazi, because the Nazis liked Christmas. This, evidently, marks the depths of Nazi deviltry as far as she is concerned. In truth, she has no idea what the Jewish people went through.

The outrageous claims continue through the piece. She asserted that Trump was trying to politicize Christmas by making speeches in front of Christmas trees. By using Nazism as a means to criticize the president, and his voters, she ran out of arguments.

She conveniently forgot to mention that Obama gave speeches in front of Christmas trees as well. So, by her logic, Obama is a Nazi and a white supremacist? How interesting.

Maza made several comments about "evangelical white nationalists." She ignored the fact that being an evangelical Christian is not restricted to one skin color. There are tens of thousands of black evangelicals as well. She didn't bother making contact with any of them to ask. She simply assumed they agree that "white Christmas" refers to skin color, not the color of snow.

She went on to state that Trump excluded the Muslim religion during Christmas. Well, whose choice is that? Christians don't tell people they cannot turn away from their sin and follow Jesus Christ. A Muslim chooses not to follow Christ. Instead, he worships a false god. Where was Maza during Ramadan? Why wasn't she advocating for those who are not Muslim? Why wasn't she writing anything criticizing Muslims for not letting non-Muslims in mosques during that time?

Since Maza is supposed to cover extremism and feels compelled to write about religion, she should write about Ramadan deaths rising from 421 in 2016 to 1,627 in 2017. Instead, she criticizes the president for standing in front of a Christmas tree during Christmas.
War memorials are a familiar sight in towns and villages across Britain, somberly remembering the sacrifices made by millions of ordinary young men in the First World War. But there are a handful of villages where, until recently, there were no war memorials. Do not be mistaken for these villages did their part in the war, sending their men to fight for their country shoulder to shoulder with others from every other village in the land. But by some extraordinary strokes of good fortune, none of these villages suffered a single casualty. All the men that went off to war from these villages returned back alive to their homes. This was such a statistical improbability that out of 16,000, there only 53 such villages in all of Britain. These villages are called Thankful Villages.

Wigsley's 'Thankful Village' plaque presented to the people of Wigsley by Medwyn Parry and Dougie Bancroft in 2013. Photo credit: Richard Croft

The term Thankful Village was coined by British writer and journalist Arthur Mee in the 1930s in his The Kings England, a guide to the counties of England. Mee initially identified 32 villages, but recent research has found that there are at least 53 such parishes distributed across England and Wales. No Thankful Villages have been identified in Scotland or Ireland yet. Additionally, researchers found 14 parishes that were lucky enough to have lost no men during the Second World War as well. These villages are called doubly thankful.

Strangely enough, for decades, these communities found it impossible to celebrate their good fortune. When grief shrouded thousands of communities everywhere, the handful of thankful villages experienced not elation but embarrassment and shame to not be in mourning like everyone else.

They were surrounded by villages where people were not returning, explained the Reverend Michael Hampson from the thankful village of Arkholme in Lancashire. For example, just up the road in Whittington the big landowning family there lost two generations in the war. That was typical around the country; the number who died was devastating. For the thankful villages, it was almost as if they had not joined in the sacrifice. They benefited from the peace after the war but felt like they had not paid the price.

Few villagers had the stomach for drawing attention to their good fortune. Apart from a plaque here and a lantern there, nothing remotely triumphal, to mark the safe return of all their menfolk, had ever been erected.

There was a self-imposed silence and censorship; it was felt that it would be quite wrong to celebrate that as some kind of triumph, Mr. Hampson said.

The base of the Knowlton Cross in Knowlton, Kent. Photo credit: warmemorialsonline.org.uk

The most visible memorial is perhaps at Knowlton in Kent where a cross was erected in honour of those twelve men who fought the war and were fortunate enough to return back to their families. Knowlton has another reputation of sending the biggest percentage of its population to the army12 men, representing 31% of the 39 villagers. For this, Knowlton was dubbed the "bravest" village by a national newspaper. However, the credit for sending the most number of men (among thankful villages) goes to Arkholme, in Lancashire. It sent 59 men out of 320 inhabitants to the war. All of them returned back alive.

Another elaborate memorial is at the village of Catwick, in East Yorkshire, although it never has been on public display. When thirty men from the village went to war, the local blacksmith, a man named John Hugill, nailed a coin for each man to the doorpost below a lucky horseshoe just inside his forge. All the men returned unhurt, except for one who left his arm behind. So John Hugill took one of the coins off, cut a piece out of it, and nailed it back again.

Two decades later, when Catwick's men went off to war again, this time against Hitlers Germany, John Hugill performed the same coin trick. And guess what? All the men came back again, making Catwick one of those rare doubly thankful villages.

John Hugills grandson with the coins and horseshoe in Hull today.

In 2013, two motorcyclists, Medwyn Parry and Dougie Bancroft, toured the nation's thankful villages and presented them plaques celebrating their status.

The aim was to take a slate plaque to every village because they dont have a memorial, Medwyn said. Their contribution was just as valuable and as valid as anywhere else but there has been a silence of embarrassment because they were fortunate. Each and every one of those who went to war did us proud.

Outside of Britain, the only other thankful village is located in France. Thierville, in Upper Normandy, was the only village in all of France where no men were lost in World War I. Remarkably, Thierville also suffered no losses in the Franco-Prussian War and World War II, nor in the First Indochina War nor the Algerian War. All the soldiers who took part in these five wars came back home.

Arkholme Thankful Village Stone. Photo credit: Stuart Nicholson

Photo credit: Russel Wills

Photo credit: Ian S

Thankful Village memorial plaque, Saxby, presented by Medwyn Parry and Dougie Bancroft. Photo credit: Alan Murray-Rust

A memorial plaque and a sundial erected in 2014 in Teigh to commemorate the centenary of the start of the First World War. Photo credit: Alan Murray-Rust
Facebook bans anti-fascist art

Excuse me, where are the white supremacists? That question was asked by an anti-fascist at a protest against the far right in Boston back in August. The Nazis turned out to be a couple of dozen courteous people linked by little more than a commitment to  surprise!  free speech. The 40,000 anti-Nazis who turned up stop Hitlers return and prevent the world returning to the 1930s, as if a decade were an actual place or even a planet, couldnt find the enemy they see everywhere, anywhere.

Facebook is also looking for Nazism where none exists. And because its got more feelers than a Harvey Weinstein AGM, Facebook can stare at things really hard until it finds something to be offended by and use to showcase its sound morals. It can see fascism in John Heartfields 1934 anti-Nazi photomontage, O Tannenbaum im deutschen Raum, wie krumm sind deine aste! (O Christmas Tree in German soil, how crooked are thy branches!), one of the best known and powerful anti-fascist images of that era (see above).

For the hard of understanding, Heartfield (born Helmut Herzfeld; 19 June 1891  26 April 1968), who used photomontages to take on Adolf Hitler, wrote beneath his tree:

According to the decree of the Reich Minister of Nutrition, the Tannenbaum is forbidden to reproduce as a foreign intruder on German soil from Christmas 1934. In the future, only the brown uniform tree bred in Walhall is allowed .

He created and worked extensively for the left-wing workers daily Arbeiter Illustrierte Zeitung (AIZ). Heres a brief biog of the man:

John Heartfield anglicized his name as a protest against German nationalism during World War I. In 1929 Heartfield began his long collaboration with AIZ, furnishing full-page photomontages nearly every month. Forced to flee Germany after Hitler came to power, he continued to create work for AIZ while in exile. He spent the war years in England, where he worked as a graphic artist. Heartfield was an active supporter of Communism and in 1950 returned to what was then East Germany. He continued to work there, mostly designing scenery and posters for the Berliner Ensemble and Deutsches Theater. Heartfield died in East Berlin in 1968, leaving an extensive archive, which, upon his widows death, was transferred to the Akademie der Kiinste zu Berlin. Given Heartfields leftist political leanings, his work has rarely been shown in the West. His first exhibition in New York was in 1938; the next was in 1991, when pages from the AIZ were shown.

A 1991 show of Heartfields caused the NY Times reviewer to notice the artist satirizing the Nazi curtailment of civil rights and the Reichstag fire, to pronouncements about German eating habits, made in the face of severe food shortages. One image shows a typical German family dining on a bicycle beneath the heading: Hooray, butter is finished. Underneath is a quote from Goebbels to the effect that iron ore makes a people strong, lard and butter only make it fat. Nearby, a related image shows a man being spread onto a piece of toast like butter, along with the Suggestion that, when all else fails, Germany can always eat its Jews. A larger caption reads: Goebbelss recipe against the food shortage in Germany.'

In 1993, MOMA wrote of Heartfield, whose work was being showcased:

His aim was to expose the dangers and abuses of power in the Nazi regime. For example, Adolf, the Superman: Swallows Gold and Spouts Junk (1932) shows Hitler from the waist up. A swastika replaces his heart, and his torso is an x-ray revealing gold coins flowing down his throat and collecting in his stomach. Meaning of Geneva (1932) shows a dove spiked on a bayonet in front of the League of Nations palace. The headline reads: Where Capital Lives, There Can Be No Peace! Such images remain among the most vivid satirical images of German political conditions of the 1930s. Although they deal with figures and events of more than half-a-century ago, they are instantly comprehensible today.

Heartfields work was vehemently anti-fascist. but Facebook saw the Hitler tree and commanded it to get thee hence. Stephen Ellcock published the tree on his Facebook page. And for that hes been blocked and banished to the Facebook gulag for 30 days.

The irony of this is glaringly obvious and in the grand scheme of things it is a ridiculously piffling matter, but it is definitely indicative of much wider and very important issues, says Stephen, who wrote to Facebook to alert them to their idiocy. Facebook HQs only response so far is along the lines, Well, somebody may have have mistaken it for pro-Nazi propaganda.'

We live in the age of the prude, for whom the overriding desire is to be offended. Triggered by the inappropriate, the knowing, smug and panicky engage in their demand for universal adherence to their monocular view. There is no alternative viewpoint to theirs. You are wrong. They are right. Things must be banned lest the race-riot in waiting (you) erupt. In the 1930s, we had a word for these censors. But to scream fascist! in their cloth ears would only get lost in the din because today everyone you dont agree with is a fascist. For the censors to see is to do. One minute youre looking at a demented tree on Facebook, the next youre wearing felt and burning Jews.

The most disconcerting aspect of this sentence is that I cannot even respond or react to messages, Stephen continues, which is a very draconian and unfair, particularly as I dont have alternative contact details for many of my closest virtual friends and collaborators. I am also going to lose quite a bit of money as a result of this, as I was going to be paid a reasonable sum for guest curating the Thinking 3D FB page over the next week or two.

Until Facebook sees the light, Stephen will be posting on Facebook via Flashbak.

Paul Sorene

Posted: 27th, December 2017 | In: Key Posts, News Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
(ANSA) - Milan, December 27 - A Moroccan-born female Italian foreign fighter was arrested at Milan's Malpensa Airport on December 23 and will be extradited to France by January 8, sources said Wednesday.

The woman was arrested on her return from Syria, where she had fled about nine months ago with her three children to join a 'soldier' in an ISIS-linked group she had fallen in love with.

The woman had left her husband, a Neapolitan she lived with on the Costa Azzurra.

The woman, seven-months pregnant by the man she joined at Termanin near Aleppo, agreed to French authorities' extradition request so that she could be closer to her children, aged six, eight and 10, who had rejoined their father at Juan Les Pins, sources said.

She reportedly told Italian prosecutors that life in Syria had been very hard. Judicial sources said the woman is accused of international terrorism.

During her interrogation on December 24 in Milan's San Vittore prison, they said, she covered up for the man she fell in love with on an Internet chatroom and made it hard for investigators to identify him, the sources said.

But she said she returned to Italy because living conditions in Syria had not lived up to what she had been led to believe they would be.

She will appear before an appeals court in two days and her extradition should take place within 10 days after that, Interpol said.


TUNIS - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on an official visit to Tunis, had harsh words for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, calling him a "terrorist" responsible for the deaths of "nearly a million Syrians". Erdogan said as such, al-Assad cannot have a role in post- conflict Syria.



"It's not possible to continue the path with Bashar al-Assad in Syria. Why? Because it's not possible to go forward with a person who has killed nearly a million of his citizens," Erdogan said in a joint press conference with Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi.



"Are the Syrian people in agreement in seeing this person at the head of power in the country? I'll say it frankly: al-Assad is a terrorist who has practiced state terrorism," he said.

The Syrian government in Damascus on Wednesday accused Turkey of supporting "terrorist groups" in Syria. "Erdogan is once again trying to mislead public opinion in Turkey and to absolve himself of the crimes he has committed against the Syrian people," said a statement by the Syrian Foreign Ministry.



Turkish President has been on an official visit to Tunis since Tuesday evening, by invitation of Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi. Tunisia is the last stop on Erdogan's African tour, which took him first to Sudan, then to Chad.



Tunisia and Turkey "are bound by solid relations that come from the secular history that unites them, renewed relations that also take change into consideration", said Essebsi during a joint press conference with Turkish President.



"It was a privileged occasion during which we exchanged points of view on the main topics of common interest," Essebsi said, adding that "this visit will be followed by others".



"We have convergent points of view in the economics field and we have confirmed the willingness by both countries to consolidate and deepen our relations in consideration of the current state of affairs," he said.



Erdogan reached Tunisia accompanied by his wife, Chief of Staff Hulusi Akar, and a large delegation including Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Finance Minister Nihat Zeybekci.



The visit is part of an effort by both countries to "promote bilateral cooperation and consecrate political consultation" between Tunisia and Turkey, according to a statement from the Tunisian president's office.



During the meeting, four cooperation agreements were signed in the military, financial and environmental sectors.
MADRID - A group of 54 migrants including 15 women have been rescued by the Spanish authorities after their dinghy went adrift in the Alboran Sea, it emerged on Wednesday. The migrants were transferred to the port of Malaga in the southern Spanish region of Andalusia, where they were assisted by Red Cross volunteers upon arrival.

In total 2,172 migrants have arrived in Malaga since the start of the year, a 180% increase over 2016 according to the local prefecture.

Meanwhile, Spain's Civil Guard remains on alert in the enclave of Ceuta in anticipation of a fresh assault on the border by more than 1000 mostly sub-Saharan migrants gathered in Moroccan territory since just before Christmas. On December 25 Spanish security forces and their Moroccan counterparts pushed back to separate border assaults respectively by groups of 300 and 700 people.


After four years, civilian evacuation in Syria's Ghouta Boy with cancer among first civilians rescued

(ANSAmed) - BEIRUT, DECEMBER 27 - The Syrian government has approved the evacuation of some civilians from the Ghouta region, including women and children who are seriously ill and need urgent medical care, following months of pressure and negotiations among the parties in the context of the ongoing civil war.



The evacuees are part of a group of 400,000 other civilians from the population that has been held hostage for four years by the government siege on the Ghouta, one of the last strongholds of the armed opposition east of the capital.



The evacuation is being managed on the ground by the Syrian Red Crescent with the support of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).



They also managed the negotiations that preceded the evacuation.



ICRC said there are at least 130 civilians in life-threatening condition who must be immediately evacuated from the Ghouta.



In the Ghouta there are about 400,000 civilians remaining, in a territory controlled by various militias.



Prominent among the militias is Jaysh al-Islam (Army of Islam), with whom mediators conducted negotiations regarding the opposition.



The UN estimates that about 12% of minors in the Ghouta region under siege are suffering from malnutrition and at risk of not surviving the winter.



Of these, UNICEF said in October, about 1,200 are in very serious condition.



At the beginning of December, the International Red Cross said that life in the Ghouta region had become "impossible".



(ANSAmed).




BEIRUT - At least 20 people were killed or injured in an air strike by the Saudi-led Arab coalition on a crowded market in central-southern Yemen on Tuesday, the Qatari pan-Arab TV network Al Jazeera reports. Doctors and eyewitnesses said the raid targeted a Houthi rebel convoy parked in the main street of Hayma fruit and vegetable market. Al Jazeera also cites rebel sources, which have published images of bodies torn apart by the explosions. It is not possible to verify the information independently and Al Jazeera does not provide a detailed count of dead and wounded in the air strike.

The same source reports that 16 members of an extended family have been killed in coalition air strikes in the last 24 hours in Tahita district in the western coastal region of Hudayda. Here again, independent confirmation is impossible.

Saudi media neither confirm nor deny the reports, while the UAE's English-language The Gulf gives front-page coverage to news of the death of a family of 10 in a rebel rocket attack in the capital Sanaa. This report is also impossible to confirm.

Also in Sanaa pro-rebel sources say at least 71 people were killed between Sunday and Monday in coalition airstrikes against military and civilian targets. On Sunday alone, 48 people including 11 children were reportedly killed in 51 air strikes.
BEIRUT - The Syrian government has approved the evacuation of seriously ill civilians including women and children who are in urgent need to medical treatment from rebel-held Ghouta east of Damascus, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Wednesday.



The area has been under siege by government forces for four years. The ICRC said approximately 300 people are to be evacuated. Roughly 400,000 people have been trapped in besieged Ghouta since 2012 according to UN sources. Local medical sources say so far, the government has authorised the evacuation of just 29 people. The UN also estimates that approximately 12% of minors in Ghouta are suffering from malnutrition as a result of the embargo imposed by government forces. Francesco Rocca, President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), stressed the need to intervene in east Ghouta following a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al Assad in Damascus a few days ago.



"The critical point is Ghouta," Rocca told ANSA to returning to Beirut after the visit.


Erdogan calls Assad 'terrorist who has killed 1 mln Syrians' 'He can't be in Syria's future' says Turkish president in Tunis

(ANSAmed) - TUNIS, DECEMBER 27 - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on an official visit to Tunis, had harsh words for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, calling him a "terrorist" responsible for the deaths of "nearly a million Syrians". Erdogan said as such, al-Assad cannot have a role in post- conflict Syria.



"It's not possible to continue the path with Bashar al-Assad in Syria. Why? Because it's not possible to go forward with a person who has killed nearly a million of his citizens," Erdogan said in a joint press conference with Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi.



"Are the Syrian people in agreement in seeing this person at the head of power in the country? I'll say it frankly: al-Assad is a terrorist who has practiced state terrorism," he said.



Turkish President has been on an official visit to Tunis since Tuesday evening, by invitation of Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi. Tunisia is the last stop on Erdogan's African tour, which took him first to Sudan, then to Chad.



Tunisia and Turkey "are bound by solid relations that come from the secular history that unites them, renewed relations that also take change into consideration", said Essebsi during a joint press conference with Turkish President.



"It was a privileged occasion during which we exchanged points of view on the main topics of common interest," Essebsi said, adding that "this visit will be followed by others".



"We have convergent points of view in the economics field and we have confirmed the willingness by both countries to consolidate and deepen our relations in consideration of the current state of affairs," he said.



Erdogan reached Tunisia accompanied by his wife, Chief of Staff Hulusi Akar, and a large delegation including Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Finance Minister Nihat Zeybekci.



The visit is part of an effort by both countries to "promote bilateral cooperation and consecrate political consultation" between Tunisia and Turkey, according to a statement from the Tunisian president's office.



During the meeting, four cooperation agreements were signed in the military, financial and environmental sectors.




ROME - Italy is to send a military mission to Niger to fight human traffickers, Premier Paolo Gentiloni said Wednesday.



He said the mission would be "non-combat".



Meanwhile migrant arrivals from Libya resumed with 370 coming over on Christmas Eve.
TEL AVIV - Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday "the decision on whether there is calm in Gaza or not depends, first of all, on Gaza itself".



He said Israel "will not not tolerate any escalation by Hamas or other terrorist elements against the Jewish state. We will use all means necessary to defend our sovereignty and the security of Israeli citizens," he said.



Netanyahu also said he will not allow "Iranian military forces to establish bases in Syria from which to attack us".



"We will act to prevent the production of lethal and damaging weapons aimed at us". (ANSAmed).


This accomplishment was reached just three years after the achievement of the first million showing impressive reliability, effectiveness, safety and supportability across a range of missions.

With the AW139 fleet leader having exceeded 12,000 hours on a single aircraft, nearly 900 units are today in service out of over 1000 on order by more than 300 customers in 80 countries worldwide. The global reach of the AW139, assembled in Philadelphia and Vergiate, has resulted in the type becoming a benchmark as the best-selling helicopter in its weight category and the most successful helicopter programme in the last 15 years. The type covers the widest range of applications with high flexibility including SAR, EMS, law enforcement and homeland security, patrol, firefighting, disaster relief, offshore transport, VIP/Corporate transport, utility and military duties.

This latest operational achievement is the combined result of the AW139s design, quality, performance and market success as well as Companys capability in supporting the worldwide fleet. The two million flight hour milestone was made possible through the variety of Leonardo services and support packages and the extended support network distributed in geographies around the world.

The AW139 complies with the latest certification and safety standards, offering outstanding overall performance with impressive power margin and one engine inoperative capability and also with a certified 60+ MGB run dry capability which provides the highest standard in terms of safety.

Designed to allow high versatility and customised solutions, the AW139 is available with more than 1000 certified equipment options. Among some of the latest innovative systems available for the type are the LIPS and FIPS (Limited and Full Icing Protection Systems, respectively), and the OPLS (Obstacle Proximity Lidar System) that enhance mission capability and safety.
The orders, previously listed as unidentified on Boeing's Orders & Deliveries website, include two 787s purchased in December 2016 and two purchased this month.

Royal Air Maroc, which has already taken delivery of five 787-8s, will grow its fleet of fuel-efficient 787s to a total of nine airplanes. Royal Air Maroc flies 787s on international routes from Casablanca to North America, South America, the Middle East and Europe, and with the additional airplanes plans to expand service to these areas.

"Today Royal Air Maroc has direct flights to 80 international destinations. Thanks to our unique position as a geographic hub and high quality of service, we bring customers from all over the world to their destinations. With more than 850 flights per month to Africa, Royal Air Maroc has the broadest presence across the continent of any airline," said Abdelhamid Addou, CEO and Chairman of Royal Air Maroc. He added, "Our vision is to be the leading airline in Africa in terms of quality of service, quality of planes and connectivity. Ordering new-generation planes such as the Dreamliner puts our airline on the right track to fulfill our vision."

"Royal Air Maroc's additional 787 orders are a terrific endorsement of the Dreamliner's economic performance, fuel efficiency and unrivalled passenger experience," said Ihssane Mounir, senior vice president of Global Sales and Marketing for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "Expanding the relationship between our companies that began nearly 50 years ago, Boeing is proud to support Royal Air Maroc's growth plans within Africa and further connect Morocco to the world."

Royal Air Maroc is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. Its fleet includes more than 56 Boeing airplanes, including 737s, 767-300ERs, 787s and a 747-400. The Casablanca-based carrier operates a domestic network throughout Morocco and serves more than 80 destinations across Africa, the Middle East, Europe, North America and South America.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a family of super-efficient airplanes with new passenger-pleasing features. The 787-9's fuselage is stretched by 20 feet (6 meters) over the 787-8 and can fly 290 passengers up to 14,140 kilometers in a typical two-class configuration. The 787's unparalleled fuel efficiency  reducing fuel use and carbon emissions by 20 percent compared to airplanes it replaces  and range flexibility enable carriers to profitably open new routes and optimize fleet and network performance. To serve passengers, the Dreamliner offers large, dimmable windows, large stow bins, modern LED lighting, higher humidity, a lower cabin altitude, cleaner air and a smoother ride.

Boeing also is a longstanding partner to Morocco, supporting the country's development of its aerospace industry and workforce. Boeing and Safran are joint venture partners in Morocco Aero-Technical Interconnect Systems (MATIS) Aerospace in Casablanca, a high-quality supplier that employs more than 1,000 people building wire bundles and wire harnesses for Boeing and other aerospace companies.
News of the takeover broke just as employees of the Wiener Neustadt factory were breaking up for their Christmas holidays.

Diamond also had a subsidiary business in London, Ontario, Canada, which Wanfeng had bought a major shareholding a year ago.

In a statement, Diamonds CEO Christian Dries said: Diamond is my lifes work. In the interest of a successful long-term future, we needed to find the right partner to continue our good work. Wanfeng and specifically Mr. Bin Chen share my vision of the future of general aviation and are investing for the right reasons, with a long-term strategy and the resources to see their vision through

Bin Chen, the new chairman of Diamond Aircraft Industries and chairman of Wanfeng Aviation and president of the Wanfeng Automotive Holding Group said: Under the 25-year leadership of founder Mr. Christian Dries, the Diamond team has developed a broad range of superb aircraft that have gained worldwide respect for their performance, efficiency, safety and innovation. Based on this excellent foundation, we intend to take Diamond to a long-term leadership position in worldwide general aviation.

Although producing a series of successful GA programmes, The DA-40, DA-42 Twinstar and more recently the DA-50 and DA62, the company has been focusing on military variants and has been progressing with autonomous aircraft development.

The DA50-V with the largest cabin of any single-engine piston airplane is expected to be certificated during 2018.
Over 250,000 people are expected to arrive into Dubai from 28 December until just after New Years Day, while 200,000 travellers will be departing from Dubai. In addition, more than 350,000 travellers will be connecting through Emirates dedicated Terminal 3 facilities in the same time period.

The busiest time for departures will be starting on 1st January 2018 in the afternoon and continuing all day on Tuesday 2nd and Wednesday 3rd January.

With road works and major infrastructure enhancements happening around the main airport highways and roads during this time, Emirates urges customers to build in extra time to their journeys to avoid potential delays. Customers are reminded to arrive at the airport at least three hours before their flight departures. Passengers can physically check in at the airport as early as six hours before departing on their flight, and are requested to check in no later than 2 hours prior to departure, regardless of class of travel.

Customers who check in less than 60 minutes prior to their scheduled flight departure will not be accepted for travel. Customers can also check in online on both their desktops and mobile devices from 48 hours to 90 minutes before flight departure.
The first of the UAEs two shadowy spyplanes has been spotted and photographed undergoing pre-delivery testing at Marshall Aerospaces facility at Cambridge Teversham Airport in the UK.

The Global Express family forms the basis of a number of military special missions variants, including the Saab GlobalEye, the UK RAFs Raytheon Sentinel R1 radar surveillance aircraft, and the US Air Forces Northrop Grumman E-11A battlefield airborne communications node, (BACN), which allows disparate battlefield communications systems to share data, and allows fifth-generation fighters, like the F-22 and F-35, to share their sensor picture with older aircraft.

The UAE is understood to have helped fund development of the GlobalEye  also known as the swing-role surveillance system (SRSS). It carries a new S-band Erieye-ER airborne early warning (AEW) radar, which has its active electronically scanned array (AESA) carried in a ski-box fairing above the fuselage, and an X-band Leonardo Selex Seaspray 7500E maritime search radar under the forward fuselage. The Erieye ER uses gallium nitride semiconductor technology to allow more power to be transmitted.

Saab is currently carrying out extensive modifications to a green Bombardier Global 6000 to convert it into the first of three SRSS GlobalEyes for the UAE.

When the UAE decided to procure a SIGINT aircraft, it made sense to base it on the Global 6000 in order to gain some commonality with the GlobalEye, especially as such an aircraft requires the same blend of endurance, long range and high altitude performance as an AEW platform. Surprisingly, though, the Emiratis did not turn to Saab, whose Sirius SIGINT system could be integrated on a variety of different platforms, including the Global 6000.

Details of the Emirati SIGINT programme remain sketchy. The two aircraft involved were delivered with Isle of Man registrations, and were registered to a Swiss-based company, AGT (Asia Global Technology) International, which was previously responsible for the UAEs Falcon Eye surveillance system and the Abu Dhabi safe city project.

The two aircraft were reportedly delivered to maintenance, repair and overhaul company Marshall Aerospaces facility at Teversham, where it is understood that work was carried out on them by Marshall and Spec Ops Technology  a US, Netherlands and UAE-based company that specialises in airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) platforms.

The first aircraft, carrying the UAE serial 1326, emerged from Marshall Aerospaces hangars on April 27. It superficially resembled a Raytheon Sentinel, albeit without that types prominent dorsal satcom hump, and with a host of minor differences.

The large ventral canoe fairing was very similar in shape and size, however, extending back from just behind the nose gear bay to the centre of the wingbox, leading some analysts to question whether it might be based on the flight-cleared shape and structure of the Sentinel canoe.

The fairing did not seem to have a large dielectric section, so appears unlikely to accommodate a surveillance radar, and would seem most likely to contain spinners (tuning heads) for ELINT equipment. It may also have an electro optical/long-range oblique photographic (EO/LOROP) sensor.

A large antenna farm behind the wing, with about a dozen feelers, would seem likely to serve COMINT equipment, while there appears to be a number of antennas for missile and/or radar warning receivers.

Two ventral fins are fitted for stability, but these look smaller than those fitted to the Sentinel.

On top of the fuselage are an array of satcom antennas and a number of unidentified blade aerials. Extra cooling is provided by an additional non-standard intake on the port side of the rear fuselage, next to the engine.

The first aircraft carried out some rejected take-offs, taxi trials and high-power runs on June 4 before making a four-hour test flight on June 21. The aircraft made a second test flight on July 7.


The finance ministry said that there will be no change in the net borrowing as envisaged in the Budget for FY18.

New Delhi: India will borrow an additional Rs 50,000 crore this fiscal through dated securities, which may result in breach of the fiscal deficit target for the first time in four years.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley had set a fiscal deficit target of 3.2 percent for the current fiscal. However, it will be interesting to see if government will asks PSUs to cough up more dividends to generate more revenue.

India is having to raise the extra funds as the government has already spent over $200 billion in the eight months to October, about 60 per cent of the budgeted spending,while revenue collections were just 48 per cent of the target.

After the review of the borrowing programme with the RBI, it was decided that the government will raise additional market borrowings of Rs 50,000 crore only in fiscal FY18 through dated government securities, said a government statement.

The change in the long term (market borrowings) and short term (T-bills) issuance calendars neither confirm nor rule out a fiscal slippage in FY18, said Aditi Nayar, an economist at Icra.

She said that concerns regarding a mild fiscal slippage persist on account of the sequential dip in GST collections for November 2017.

The risk of a slippage relative to the fiscal deficit target for FY18 stems primarily from the growing likelihood that tax revenues, dividends and inflows from other communication services would undershoot the budgeted level. Given the clouded outlook for revenues, sticking to the fiscal consolidation roadmap would entail compression of expenditure, which would dampen the expected economic growth recovery in Q4 FY18, added Ms Nayar.

The finance ministry said that there will be no change in the net borrowing as envisaged in the Budget for FY18.

The government will trim down the T-Bills from present collections of Rs 86,203 crore to Rs 25,006 crore by March 2018. T-Bills are securities with short-term duration of less than one year while dated securities have maturity of over five years.

The government will thus, between now and March 2018, not be raising any net additional borrowing (T-Bills will be run down by Rs 61,203 crore and additional G-Sec borrowing will be Rs 50,000 crore), it said.

In the Budget for FY18, gross and net market borrowing were pegged at Rs 5.80 lakh crore and Rs 4.23 lakh crore respectively with Rs 3.48 lakh crore being raised (net) from dated government securities and Rs 2,002 crore from T-bills, a finance ministry statement said.
As per reports, Singh had earlier written to the CBFC for clarifications on certain matters of the film.

New Delhi: Erstwhile royal of Udaipur, Vishvaraj Singh, has expressed reservation about being a part of the committee, which has been formed to examine matters relating to the controversial movie 'Padmavati'.

Singh, a member of the Mewar royal family, was invited by Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chief, Prasoon Joshi, to be a part of the proposed committee to assist it in the process of certifying Sanjay Leela Bhansali's magnum-opus.

In a letter dated December 22, Singh said he would be 'happy' to meet Joshi but also stated, "I have very strong reservations about seeing the film as to my mind it will open a Pandora's box of new and pointless discussions. Owing to the manner in which the film's production has progressed from its very inception and seeing to how related matters have developed, I would insist on a formal clarification of the points raised by me before I make a decision regarding being on the Committee."

Singh further termed the film as an embodiment of 'unprofessional and unethical style of functioning.'

"I cannot help but observe that all this extra effort is going into presenting a product that has been discredited and one that from the very beginning only exemplifies an unprofessional and unethical style of functioning," Singh wrote while concluding the letter.

As per reports, Singh had earlier written to the CBFC for clarifications on certain matters of the film.
Bombay Jayashri is performing in Kolkata at the Behala Festival on January 6, 2018.

Bombay Jayashri is performing in Kolkata at the Behala Festival on January 6, 2018.

Like all great musicians, who have a one pointed focus, talking about themselves is never of interest. Bombay Jaishri is no different from other great musicians who prefer not to talk much about themselves and their achievements.

It is a difficult task to get her to reveal what makes her the artiste she is  one who has the ability to transport even an ignorant audience into a state of other worldliness.

Her golden voice, no doubt, helps but what influences more are her compassionate sensitivity towards people and her surroundings which give her music its unique quality of asar (feeling).

The fact that she is a fifth generation musician has probably pre-conditioned her to absorb the nuances of music in its totality. Here, she speaks on a variety of subjects close to her heart:

As a performer, how important is the audience?

An artiste definitely needs a responsive audience. Creating music is one half of a circle, with the audience the other half. One needs a receptive audience as they need to know what is going on. In Colombo, Sri Lanka, and in war-battered Jaffna, I have been singing regularly for the past 15 years plus at their annual classical music concert.

I remember the first time I peeped into the auditorium an hour before the show started. It was jam-packed yet there was pin-drop silence. The vibrations from that thousand strong crowd seeped in culture was incomparable. They knew exactly what you are doing on stage.

Everyone in Colombo has learnt music and has knowledge about every art form. It is in the very core of their being; they embody art. The audience is a dream for an artiste. Every face has a certain lakhshanam.

Are audience expectations a burden? How do you connect with the audience to get their feedback?

I dont think of audience expectations as a burden at all. I know once I start to sing, the music will take over. Im not creating anything new; the music flows through me. On some days, it is better than the others. I personally dont need to make eye contact to get feedback from my audience. When I start singing, it just happens.

As a performer, do you feel the world of music has changed?

Not just the world of music, the world as a whole has changed. I remember going with my Guru to his old house, in the village of Lalgudi, and hearing about his musical regime  waking up at 4 am, studying the bare basics at home and devoting the entire day to music.

Those days, there were no distractions  no phones, no TVs or no internet. That is something that has not been possible in my generation.

Its lesser in the next generation.

The next generation certainly has access to much more music, and that too of different types. I am not sure how much of it is being internalised.

It would be wonderful to include music or any form of art in schools; just a few hours a week maybe. Music is one of the most important treasures we have in India.

We should have protected it earlier. Even now its not too late. I am not suggesting we dilute or simplify our music for youngsters.

Children are able to tune in and zone out other distractions for short periods. They need to hear the right music in the right way.

One would not give a child a thodi (a complex raga) initially, obviously one would move from something simple to absorb to something more evolved.

Please talk about the format of a Carnatic concert...

In the last 100-150 years, the format of the concert presentation has changed along the way.

In Carnatic music, one internalises the ragam very deeply. There are many layers and the deeper one goes into the music, the more absorbing it is and one literally drowns in the swaras. The search is so deep that one gets lost.

So a Carnatic presentation tries to encompass as many nuances of the raga with exploration by the main artiste, and separately by the accompanying violinist, through the format of alapana, kalpana swara, composition and exchange.

You change the format of your concerts a lot. Does it depend on where you are performing? Also, who has impacted your music along the way?

Since one performs to so many different audiences, one needs to modify the presentation.

When I perform in remote areas, where they are accustomed to the concerts of the 1930s, I revel in a strictly traditional format.

At a Bhakti Utsav, I probably would sing differently. Another factor is that I would not want to force my own musical interpretations on my accompanying artistes. Exposure to other forms of music, which I have had, sensitises me towards how best I can draw out my accompanying musicians and how they can derive the best from me.

I never heard Ustad Vilayat Khan live but what I have heard in recordings, cannot fail to move me. When he plays Kalyani, (Raga Aiman/ Yaman) in the first couple of minutes, he doesnt even touch the ma but the whole raga opens up.

How much khoj (musical introspection) must have gone into the raga to get that  for that not to impact me is difficult. Somewhere, it gets reflected in my singing.

I yearn to achieve that beauty through my music. I have a little of all the doyens I have heard, be it M.L. Vasantakumari or G.N. Balasubramanium. It is not just my guru from whom I formally learnt. I feel audiences in the north do need to hear traditional Carnatic music too, not just ragams common to both systems like Hansadhwani and Bhimpalas.

How true is that learning Carnatic music depends heavily on compositions?

Composition is the fulcrum. My guruji used to say that if you know one composition, you will know one aspect of a raga and if you know six, you will know that much more. There is no concept of a lakshan composition in our music to bring out the main facets of the raga.

Do you agree that the trappings of a musician are important as well?

I think the trappings, as you put it, are important in conveying a certain image. I remember being told of the GNB (G.N. Balasubramanium)

concerts that his fans would go early and would wait in eager anticipation for his arrival on stage. They were awed by his presence and charisma. I believe he took long strides as he was tall. His diamonds would flash and when he threw his

angvastram over his shoulder one would get a whiff of the ittar he used. This experience was as much a part of the concert as his presence. I heard it was the same with Ustad Vilayat Khan where the visual impact of his presence was as dramatic as

the music.

I hear you teach a lot; that is not usual in an active concert performer like yourself. Please comment. It is unusual for active concert performers like you to teach. How do you manage?

I teach because I continue to learn. I get to learn while I teach. An intelligent student questions what he is being taught, why is this composition structured in this way or what aspect of the raga comes out here

After having sung for more than 30 years and achieved so much, where do you now want to go with your music?

When I look at the music, I want to shut everything out, do more sadhana, more introspection. I would like to be able to sing a ragam like thodi for maybe four hours; another 300 things should come to me. I know I can do that. I can unearth a lot more but I should be able to present it at its best with great feeling.

My guru, Lalgudi G Jayaraman, was able to connect with an uninitiated listener as much as to a connoisseur with his music and he too tried many new things. Everyone felt that magic. I would strive for that now. As he would say, so far so good, from now every inch of the way will be more difficult. The climb gets tougher. I would like to be able to translate what I have learnt, better.

The writer is writes on music, musicians and music matters
It rejected India's claims that the Indian Army commandos crossed the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir and smashed a Pakistani post.

The Indian Army sources said a 'small group' of 'Ghatak' commandos carried out a tactical level selective targeting of the Pakistani post. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi/Islamabad: Pakistan on Tuesday summoned India's acting deputy high commissioner to protest "unprovoked" firing by the Indian Army that killed its three soldiers and "categorically rejected" claims that Indian commandos crossed the LoC to carry out a daring operation.

In a statement, the Foreign Office said the Indian actions "got a befitting response from the Pakistani side and their guns were silenced."

It categorically rejected India's claims that the Indian Army commandos crossed the Line of Control in Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir and smashed a Pakistani post.

"The false claims by India about the alleged cross LoC adventures are a figment of their imagination and counter-productive for peace and tranquillity on the LoC," it said.

The statement said Director General (South Asia & SAARC) Mohammad Faisal summoned India's acting deputy high commissioner and "condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations" by Indian forces in the Rakhchikri sector.

The firing "provided a cover for the planting of IEDs by non-state actors", resulting in the death of three soldiers, it said.

Faisal urged the Indian side to "respect the 2003 Ceasefire arrangement; investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations; instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire, in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC."

The Indian Army sources in New Delhi earlier said a "small group" of 'Ghatak' commandos carried out a tactical level selective targeting of the Pakistani post around 200-300 metres across the LoC last evening in which three Pakistani soldiers were killed and one was injured.

The operation is seen as avenging the killing of four Indian Army personnel by a Border Action Team of the Pakistan Army in Keri sector Rajouri district three days ago.
The police said that Noor Trali was wanted also in a number of terror offences in south and central Kashmir.

Srinagar: Noor Muhammad Tantray alias Noor Trali, a top Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) commander, was killed after the security forces blew up a residential house in which he had been trapped during a cordon-and-search operation launched in Samboora in Pampore area of Jammu and Kashmirs southern Pulwama district, on Monday night.

Called merchant of death by a special court in Delhi, Tantray was believed to be the brains behind several terror strikes, including the attack on the BSF camp outside the Srinagar airport on October 3 and on state minister Naeem Akhtars cavalcade in Tral on September 21 this year.

Director general of police Shesh Paul Vaid said that Noor Trali was planning a terror attack on a security forces convoy along the Srinagar-Jammu highway. A statement issued by the J&K police termed the JeM commanders killing as a significant breakthrough.

The Army and the J&K police said that 47-year-old Noor Trali, who was only three-feet tall, was the brain behind the JeMs revival in Kashmir Valley and had been involved in a number of terror acts, including the October 3, 2017, storming of a Border Security Force (BSF) base near Srinagar airport in which a BSF jawan was killed.

A statement issued by the police here said that the search operation in Samboora was launched on specific input about the presence of the militant commander and two others in a house.

A fierce gun battle ensued during which Noor Trali was killed. He was a convict in a case registered in 2003 in Delhi and was serving his sentence at Central Jail Srinagar until he was released on parole in 2015. He remained in Tral and became a major over-ground worker of the JeM in the belt, the statement said. Noor Trali jumped parole earlier this year and went underground in July 2017, after the killing of three JeM militants during an encounter in Aripal area, and soon became the key man of JeM responsible for coordinating and organising attacks at different places. The security officials had recently termed Noor Trali as a new security headache. Thousands of people attended slain militant commanders funeral. A group of militants also appeared at the scene and offered gun salute to their fallen associate.

Police said Noor Trali was earlier a close aide of Jaish commander Ghazi Baba, who masterminded the 2001 attack on Parliament. After Ghazi Baba was killed, Trali was arrested from Delhis Sadar Bazar on August 31, 2003. In January 2011, Trali and four others, including two from militants from Kashmir, were sentenced to life imprisonment by a Pota court in Delhi. After being lodged in Delhis Tihar Jail for some time, he was shifted to Srinagar. Trali was released on parole in 2015, after which the Jammu and Kashmir high court extended his parole several times.

The police said that Noor Trali was wanted also in a number of terror offences in south and central Kashmir. A complete shutdown was observed in Tral area on Tuesday.
Any such perception is erroneous; we hold these leaders in high esteem, as well as their commitment to India,' Jaitley says.

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday issued a clarification of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statements he made against his former counterpart Manmohan Singh during an election campaign in Gujarat.

The Prime Minister, in his speeches didn't question, nor meant to question the commitment to this nation of either former PM Manmohan Singh or Former VP Hamid Ansari, any such perception is erroneous, we hold these leaders in high esteem, as well as their commitment to India, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

Modi, during election campaigns in Gujarat, had asked Singh why he did not show the courage to order a surgical strike post the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, despite the readiness of the Army.

The Prime Minister also raised questions at Singh and Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyars intentions for inviting a former Pakistani high commissioner and other officials from the neighbouring country for a dinner ahead of the Gujarat Assembly elections. He accused the Congress leaders of conspiring with Pakistan to influence the assembly polls in the state.

Singh had issued a statement, in response to the accusations, saying, no one, including Narendra Modi, can question my public service to the countryto gain lost political ground.

Meanwhile, the Congress, since the beginning of the Winter Session of Parliament, has been demanding an apology from Modi.
Jadhav's mother and wife faced the verbal assault as they were forced to wait for their car after emerging from the Pak foreign office.

Jadhav's mother and wife did not respond to any of the posers by Pak media and in the footage it was seen that they turned away from the media and went inside. (Photo: Screengrab)

New Delhi: Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother and wife who were in Islamabad on Monday to meet him were heckled, harassed and subjected to outrageous questions by journalists from the Pakistan media after the 40-minute meeting with the former navy officer sentenced to death in Pakistan.

"Aapke patidev ne hazaron begunah Pakistaniyo ke khoon se Holi kheli ispar kya kahengi? (your husband killed thousands of innocent Pakistanis, what do you have to say about that?)'" was a question shouted at Kulbhushan Jadhav's wife Chetankul Jadhav.

"Aapke kya jazbaat hain apne qaatil bete se milne ke baad? (How do you feel after meeting your killer son?)" - a journalist hurled at Jadhav's mother Avanti Jadhav.

The wife and mother of Jadhav, who made innumerous efforts from India, met the former navy officer after over a year.

They faced the verbal assault as they were forced to wait for their car after emerging from the Pakistan foreign office after their meeting with Jadhav across a glass screen.

They did not respond to any of the posers by the Pakistan media and in the footage it was seen that they turned away from the media and went inside. India's Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh is seen throwing up his hands in exasperation.

The officials present at the foreign office also did not stop the media from asking questions to Jadhav's mother and wife and cleared the area for the photo journalists to click pictures.

Jadhav's wife and mother had to wait for almost two minutes for the car which gave the media ample time to accuse them with insensitive questions.

India on Tuesday denounced Pakistan over the treatment of the Jadhav family.

New Delhi has alleged that the women were forced to change before meeting Jadhav and were also asked to remove their mangalsutra, bindi and bangles.

Read: Pak made Jadhav kin remove bangles, mangal sutra before meeting him: MEA

The Government also accused the Pakistanis of refusing to return the shoes of Jadhav's wife Chetankul after she was forced to turn them over to security.

Foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar said: "The Pakistani press was allowed on multiple occasions to approach family members closely, harass and hector them and hurl false and loaded accusations about Jadhav."

Jadhav's family handled the meeting "with great courage and fortitude", said the MEA spokesperson in a statement, accusing Pakistan of using the meeting to try and "bolster a false and unsubstantiated narrative of Jadhav's alleged activities."

The Government said the cultural and religious sensibilities of family members were disregarded and they were prevented from talking in their native Marathi language and "repeatedly interrupted while doing so". Jadhav's mother was also stopped from talking to her son when she was conversing in Marathi.

Read: Pak denies coercion claim, says Jadhav's wife's shoes had 'something' inside

Jadhav's wife and mother were allowed to see him but behind a glass partition on Monday, eight months after he was sentenced to death.

Pakistan projected it as a "grand gesture" but India said its choreographed propaganda had been exposed.

Pakistan's foreign ministry has rejected the accusations.

With inputs from ANI
Modi often used to spend time at Indian Coffee House shop several years ago, when he was in Himachal Pradesh for party-related work.

The Prime Minister stopped for a hot cup of coffee at the iconic Indian Coffee House while on the way to the helipad after attending the ceremony of Himachal Pradesh's new cabinet. (Photo: ANI)

Shimla: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday made a pit-stop at Mall Road in Shimla after attending the swearing-in ceremony of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur and others.

The Prime Minister stopped for a hot cup of coffee at the iconic Indian Coffee House while on the way to the helipad after attending the ceremony of Himachal Pradesh's new cabinet.

Modi often used to spend time at this coffee shop several years ago, when he was in the state for party-related work.

People were surprised when they saw Modi sipping coffee on Mall Road. They went berserk to shake hands with him and to take a selfie.
Secularism row stalls Houses as minister says, Were here to change Constitution.

New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government on Wednesday quickly disowned the controversial remarks of Ananth Kumar Hegde, Union minister of state for skill development and entrepreneurship, about changing the Constitution and about secularists, after the Opposition created a huge ruckus in Parliament demanding that he be sacked for disrespecting the Constitution and Dr B.R. Ambedkar, the Father of the Constitution. Both Houses witnessed repeated adjournments despite the Chair requesting the Opposition members to allow the proceedings to take place. The Opposition members even trooped into the well of both Houses, shouting slogans like Baba Saheb ka apman nahin sahega Hindustan (The nation will not tolerate disrespect towards Baba Saheb Ambedkar).

I want to clarify that the government is committed to the Constitution and we do not agree with what the minister (Hegde) had said, MoS parliamentary affairs Vijay Goel said in the Rajya Sabha, that witnessed two adjournments till 2 pm.

Mr Hegde had reportedly said on Sunday at an event in Koppal district of Karnataka that people should identify themselves by their religion and those who, without knowing about their parental blood, call themselves secular, they dont have their own identity... they dont know about their parentage. He also said: We are here to change the Constitution and well change it. Assembly elections are due early next year in Karnataka, which is now ruled by a Congress government.

Leading the Oppositions attack in the Upper House, Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said the MoS skill development needed to clarify his remarks as he was present in the House and that if he does not believe in the Indian Constitution, he has no right to be a Member of Parliament or a minister.

His views were echoed by the CPI(M)s T.K. Rangarajan, the Samajwadi Partys Naresh Agarwal and Trinamul Congress Sukhendu Sekhar Ray.

Amid the Oppositions slogan-shouting, Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu also allowed the BJPs Subramanian Swamy to speak, who said Dr Ambedkar had not included the word secularism in the Constitution and that the Opposition had no right to drag his name into the issue, saying that previous Congress governments had denied the Bharat Ratna year after year to Dr Ambedkar. His statement only intensified the protests by the Opposition, forcing the Chair to adjourn the House. The term secular was incorporated in the Preamble of the Constitution through the 42nd Amendment in 1976 during the Emergency.

Earlier, MoS social justice Ramdas Athawale led the treasury benches counter-attack, saying that during Congress rule, even Dr Ambedkars portrait was not put up in Parliaments Central Hall, and said they were doing all the tamasha (ruckus) as they have lost the recent Assembly polls and would continue to lose the coming elections, including the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

After I realised that they (Congress) are disrespecting Baba Saheb, I left them and joined them (the BJP), said Mr Athawale.

In the Lok Sabha, the Opposition virtually paralysed the proceedings demanding action against Mr Hegde. Raising the issue, the Congress Mallikarjun Kharge said the minister had compared those supporting secularism to children of unknown parentage, besides denigrating Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, the architect of the Constitution.

Parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar claimed that Mr Kharge was trying to distort what Mr Hegde had said. B.R. Ambedkar is the Father of the Constitution and we respect him. We request the Opposition to not disrupt proceedings, he said, accusing the Congress of indulging in pseudo-secularism.

Later, former Union minister and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor tweeted, while replying to another Twitter handle: Many have pointed out that the Constitution has been amended 100+ times. Govt is fully entitled to propose amendments. It is the intent that matters. The Hindutvavadis reject the idea that our nation is a territory & all the people in it. They want HinduRashtra: a Hindu Pakistan.
The wellbeing of our older adults is of paramount importance for public health and economic viability.

The link between leaving the house and longevity, however, remained after the researchers accounted for medical or mobility issues. (Photo: Pixabay)

For older people, getting out of the house regularly may contribute to a longer life - and the effect is independent of medical problems or mobility issues, according to new research from Israel.

For study participants in their 70s, 80s and 90s, the frequency with which they left the house predicted how likely they were to make it to the next age milestone, researchers report in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

The simple act of getting out of the house every day propels people into engagement with the world, said lead author Dr. Jeremy Jacobs of Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem in a phone interview.

We saw similar benefits that youd expect from treating blood pressure or cholesterol with medicine, Jacobs said. Social factors are important in the process of aging.

Jacobs and colleagues analyzed data on 3,375 adults at ages 70, 78, 85 and 90 who were participating in the Jerusalem Longitudinal Study.

Based on their responses to questions about how often they left the house, participants were grouped into three categories: frequently (six or seven days per week), often (two to five times per week) or rarely (once a week or less).

People who left the house frequently at any of the ages examined were significantly more likely to live to the next age group. For example, among people who left the house frequently, often or rarely at age 78, 71 percent, 67 percent and 43 percent, respectively, survived to age 85. Among people who left the house frequently, often or rarely at age 90, 64 percent, 56 percent and 38 percent, respectively, made it to 95.

At all ages, people who left home less frequently tended to be male, less educated and to have higher rates of loneliness, financial difficulties, poor health, fatigue, poor sleep, less physical activity, bladder and bowel problems, history of falling in the last year, fear of falling, visual and hearing impairments, chronic pain and frailty.

The link between leaving the house and longevity, however, remained after the researchers accounted for medical or mobility issues such as chronic pain, vision or hearing impairment, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and kidney disease.

We included people who had mobility difficulties, so this isnt just about people moving their legs up and down, Jacobs said. Thats quite exciting. Theres something about interacting with the world outside that helps.

The study did not examine the effect on participants of leaving the house, such as their sense of wellbeing or purpose. It also didnt look at environmental factors that might foster or prevent going out, the authors note.

Future studies will look at the oldest cohort (age 95) as they reach 98 to 100 in coming years, Jacobs said. He and his colleagues are also interested in the role that optimism, social engagement and environmental aspects such as community sidewalks play in longer life.

Studies show that if you create walkways that are friendly for walking, people start walking, he said. In neighborhoods with older adults, walkways with benches could encourage them to get out of the house and be social.

Researchers are interested in finding ways to encourage adults to leave their home more and to develop systems that help them do that, said Dawn Mackey of Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada, who wasnt involved in the study.

It may be helpful for older adults and their caregivers to make plans to go out of the house more often, she told Reuters Health by email. And try to build up to going out of the house every day.

They could plan these outings with these questions: When will it work best for me to leave the house? Where do I want to go? Is there someone to go out with or to meet when I am out? What are my options if the weather is bad or if Im not feeling well one day?

The wellbeing of our older adults is of paramount importance for public health and economic viability, she said. Going out of the house is an important way to maintain mobility and social engagement and ward off loneliness.
One of the most oft-quoted poets of 19th century, works of Ghalib, are imbued with timelessness and universality.

In "The Evolution of Ghalib" author Hasan Abdullah describes Ghalib's life history and brings out his persona and situates his work in time and space.

New Delhi: A new book on Mirza Ghalib seeks to present the intellectual evolution of the celebrated poet through an interpretation of his couplets.

One of the most oft-quoted poets of the 19th century, the works of Ghalib, born on December 27, 1797, are imbued with timelessness and universality.

In "The Evolution of Ghalib" author Hasan Abdullah describes Ghalib's life history and brings out his persona and situates his work in time and space.

He briefly discusses the Urdu language and ghazal as a literary form and familiarises the reader with the words, symbols and concepts crucial for understanding Ghalib's poetry.

Based on a chronological reading of Ghalib's Urdu ghazals, Abdullah identifies the different stages and phases of the poet's development and from each of these phases, selects and interprets verses, including those that differ from the dominant trend, in order to reveal Ghalib's intellectual evolution.

Although the quantum of Ghalib's poetry in Urdu is much less than in Persian but he has become 'Ghalib' (predominant) for posterity because of his Urdu ghazals.

"Ghalib's Urdu ghazals attract a highly diverse set of people ? rich and poor, literary and scientific, uneducated and erudite layperson and polymath, lover and beloved, men and women, young and old, even the oppressor and the oppressed, those sunk into the past and reactionary, as well as those who are forward-looking and progressive," the author says.

"The plausible reasons appear to be that his couplets, which are expressed in the most exquisite language using devices such as wordplay, hyperbole, irony and paradox, reflect diverse situations, depict a range of human emotions and provide deep insights into man's life and relationship with nature," he writes.

Abdullah felt that a chronological study of Ghalib's Urdu ghazals would help in better appreciation of his poetry and shed some light on what are, or appear to be, radically divergent views.

"The result of my research is this book wherein I have interpreted selected couplets that are chronologically arranged, thereby revealing Ghalib's evolution of thought," he says in the book, published by Rupa.
The accused were arrested on Friday and were sent to juridical custody, said a senior police official on the condition of anonymity.

It was evident that the accused and his accomplices had tried to cheat the bank. (Representational Image)

New Delhi: The Delhi police arrested three persons who allegedly attempted to cheat a private bank. One of the accused posed as the owner of a fixed deposit (FD) worth Rs 50 crore and asked the bank to grant financial assistance (overdraft facility) against the said deposit.

The accused were arrested on Friday and were sent to juridical custody, said a senior police official on the condition of anonymity.

On Friday, a complaint was lodged against one Vikas Chhillar and his two associates indentifed as Yogendra Kumar a resident of Pune and Shiv Shankar , a resident of Etawah, UP for cheating, misappropriation and other offences.

The accused Chhillar, a resident Gurgaon, had approached the ICICI Bank, Safdarjung Enclave branch with a specific request to grant an (overdraft against the FD in the name of one Upendranath Nimmagadda amounting to Rs 50 crore and submitted a copy of the said FD.

The branch official requested Chillar to call Mr Nimmagadda to the branch to carry out certain official formalities related to grant. On the same day, Chhillar visited the branch along with Mr Nimmagadda and one more person and presented a copy of the fixed deposit and receipt of the deposit. After scrutiny, we found that the person introduced by Chhillar as the owner of FD was not the actual owner. We called Mr. Nimmagadda on his mobile number to confirm whether he had handed over the copy of said FD to any person to avail the OD against the said deposit, said Rajeev Sehgal, branch manager ICICI Bank Ltd, Safdarjung Enclave in his written complaint.

When Mr. Nimmagadda told us that he had not handed over the said copy to Chhillar for grant of the OD, we were shocked. What raised our suspicions was the photo on the Aadhar card shown by the accused didnt match with the actual customer, alignment of QR code on Aadhar card was not proper and the impersonator could not tell his own date of birth and wifes name, he added.

It was evident that the accused and his accomplices had tried to cheat the bank. Without Mr Nimmagaddas consent, they attempted to misappropriate the funds for personal gain.
The committee examined more than 30 tapes and also sought the help of news channels.

Mumbai: Tainted IAS official, Mr Radhyeshyam Mopalwar resumed duty on Tuesday as the managing director of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) after he was sent on compulsory leave over an audio clip, which allegedly had him asking for bribes. The Asian Age was the first to report on December 5 that a committee appointed to probe the matter has given him a clean chit.

Mr Mopalwar, who was in charge of chief minister Devendra Fadnaviss ambitious Samruddhi Mahamarg project, connecting Mumbai to Nagpur, came under the scanner after the release of the clips.

Bowing under pressure from the opposition, the IAS officer was sent on leave. On Tuesday, Mr Mopalwar resumed duty and his absence from August 3 in the office was treated as leave.

An official from the general administration department said that the report about Mopalwar has given him clean chit.

The tapes examined by the committee members and the forensic laboratory are likely to have been tampered with. The recordings are in pieces and it sounds like only edited parts were released. It is difficult to pin point the involvement of Mopalwar on the issue, the official said.

The probe committee comprising of Additional Police Commissioner R.D. Shinde and Deputy Police Commissioner Parag Manere, was headed by Mr Johny Joseph.

They examined more than 30 tapes and also sought the help of news channels, which had aired the audio clips before submitting its report to the government last week.

The Tapes Row
NIA court held that Sadhvi cannot be cleared of conspiracy charges.

The court in its order also said that Sadhvi Pragya could not be exonerated of conspiracy charges as she was aware about the motorcycle being used for the conspiracy. (Photo: PTI)

Mumbai: A special NIA court on Wednesday rejected the discharge application of seven accused, including Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt. Col Prasad Purohit in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case.

The court held that Ms Thakur cannot be exonerated of conspiracy charges as she was aware about the motorcycle that was used in the blast. However, the court dropped provisions of the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) from the case. It also discharged three persons from the case and has separated the trial of the two accused. There is evidence to suggest that the accused number one (Thakur) had knowledge about the involvement of her motorcycle, the court said in its ruling on Thakurs discharge plea.

The accused will now face trial under sections 16 and 18 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (conspiring for and committing/organising a terror act) and under the Indian Penal Code for criminal conspiracy, murder, attempt to murder and causing hurt, besides charges under the Explosive Substances Act and Arms Act.

Since the court has not dropped charges of criminal conspiracy and murder, the convict could be awarded capital punishment if the charges are proved. But the removal of the stringent MCOCA charges would mean that the prosecution would not be able to use the confession of the accused against other accused, which would make its task more difficult.

The NIA investigation has contradicted the ATS on several counts resulting in the dilution of certain sections from the case and the court on Wednesday decided to drop certain sections from the accused. The court also said the UAPA sections 17, 20 and 23 have been dropped against all accused. These sections relate to raising funds for a terrorist organisation, being part of a terrorist organisation and aiding someone who is part of a terrorist organisation. This part of the ruling gives relief to the saffron outfit Abhinav Bharat, which was accused by Mumbai ATS of providing arms training to right-wing activists.

Special judge Shripad Tekale discharged Shiv Narayan Kalsangra, Sham Bhawarlal Sahu and Pravin Takalki as it found that there was no evidence against them in connection with the 2008 Malegaon blast case. The court has also dropped all the charges, except sections relating to the Arm Act from Rakesh Dhawde and Jagdish Chintaman Mahatre.
Talking about the non-salary grants, another Principal said that the government has stopped it 10 to 15 years ago.

Mumbai: The government-aided private schools in the city are going through a financial crisis since 10 years as the allocation of funds by the government for public education has been reduced. Sources at a school stated that the government has cut the funding by half, which is originally eight per cent. These grants given by the government is used to pay the salaries of the teaching and non-teaching staff. Along with this, the state has also reduced the non-salary grants that are used to maintain the infrastructure and pay the electricity bill of the school building.

A Principal of a private-aided school said, Every year the government is supposed to pay grants to the school, which is rarely happening. We either get half the grants or nothing at all which affects our day to day expenses in the school. According to him, this has been happening in both public education sector and private sector. Though the new government claims to have a growth in the economy, it has no reflection on the public education sector, he said.

Talking about the non-salary grants, another Principal said that the government has stopped it 10 to 15 years ago. Though non-salary grant is a small amount but it is important as with these we pay our schools electricity bills, telephone bills and building repair expenses, he said. Adding to this, these schools were started by the government for a no profit- no loss section and hence they are not supposed to charge anything from the students. Majority aided schools charge less than Rs 50/month. We are not given grants and nor are we suppose to increase the school fees. Then how are we supposed to maintain school with teachers and quality education, asked Principal of a school based in Colaba.
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'Bharat' will be helmed by Ali Abbas Zafar, who churned out two blockbusters with Salman in Sultan and Tiger Zinda Hai.

Mumbai: After the mega success of his latest 'Tiger Zinda Hai', Salman has re-established his credibility and capability as the superstar of Bollywood. As Salman celebrates his 52nd birthday on Wednesday, there is a good news for all his fans. Salman's brother-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Bhushan Kumars T-series have joined hands to produce his next big project 'Bharat', which is an adaptation to the South Korean film Ode To My Father (2014).

'Bharat' will again have Salman working under the direction of Ali Abbas Zafar, who churned out two blockbusters with the superstar in Sultan and Tiger Zinda Hai.

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh shared the same news on Twitter:

On Salman Khans birthday today, heres a BIG announcement... Bhushan Kumar and Atul Agnihotri join hands to produce their new film #Bharat... Stars Salman Khan... Ali Abbas Zafar [#Sultan, #TigerZindaHai] directs... Eid 2019 release... #HappyBirthdaySalmanKhan  taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) December 27, 2017

On the collaboration, Bhushan told Bombay Times, "We have had a long-standing association with Salman Khan from the time we acquired the music of Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya (1998). We produced his two other films Lucky: No Time For Love (2005) and Ready (2011), both of which were successful collaborations. Atul and I gel well so we decided to join hands on Bharat, a human drama that is bound to strike a chord with the audience."

In life, you just click with some people. Bhushan and I have interacted many times in the past. His sensibility for content matched with ours. So, having his company on board with us for Bharat was a very smooth and organic process," said Atul Agnihotri, to the same publication.

Bharat is slated to release on Eid, 2019.
Raj Kumar Vaish was awarded a masters degree in economics by Meghalaya Governor Ganga Prasad at the convocation function of NOU, Patna.

Patna: A 98-year-old man has become the recipient of a postgraduate degree at the 12th annual convocation of Nalanda Open University here.

Raj Kumar Vaish was awarded a masters degree in economics by Meghalaya Governor Ganga Prasad at the convocation function of NOU, Patna. He had enrolled in MA (Economics) in 2015.

"I am happy today. I had worked hard. For long, I had cherished the dream of completing my masters... the young should concentrate on their education and not on career alone," Vaish told reporters here after receiving the degree.

The university's Registrar S P Sinha said that a total of 22,100 students were awarded various degrees this year. Vaish was among the 2780, including 29 gold medalists, who were invited to the convocation ceremony.

"It is really a big achievement for NOU. Hats off to Vaish and his sheer determination to pursue studies at this age.... We wonder where does he draw his energy from," Sinha said.

Vaish is probably the oldest person to get a post graduate (PG) degree from this university, he said.

The university will preserve his notebooks as a source of inspiration for the youth, Sinha added.

"We are glad that my father fulfilled his dream. At the convocation ceremony, my father was offered a wheelchair since he had difficulty in climbing stairs, but he chose to move with the help of a walker and received his degree,"

Vaish's son, Santosh Kumar, a retired professor of National Institute of Technology (NIT), Patna, said. "The Meghalaya Governor told my father - 'you are a source of inspiration'," Kumar said.

Vaish completed his graduation from Agra University in 1938 and secured a degree in LLB in 1940, but did not pursue post-graduation after getting a job as a 'law officer' with Christian Mica Industry at Koderma (now in Jharkhand). He retired as a general manager from the company in the early 1980s, the nonagenarian's son said.
North Korea declared the UN steps to be an act of war and tantamount to a complete economic blockade.

The largely symbolic steps block any property or interests the two might have within US jurisdiction and prohibit any dealings by US citizens with them. (Photo: AP/Representative)

WASHINGTON/MOSCOW: The United States announced sanctions on two of North Koreas most prominent officials behind its ballistic missile program on Tuesday, while Russia reiterated an offer to mediate to ease tension between Washington and Pyongyang.

The new US steps were the latest in a campaign aimed at forcing North Korea  which has defied years of multilateral and bilateral sanctions  to abandon a weapons program aimed at developing nuclear-tipped missiles capable of hitting the United States.

Treasury is targeting leaders of North Koreas ballistic missile programs, as part of our maximum pressure campaign to isolate (North Korea) and achieve a fully denuclearised Korean Peninsula, treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

The move followed new United Nations sanctions announced on last Friday in response to North Koreas November 29 test of an ICBM that Pyongyang said put all of the US mainland within range of its nuclear weapons. Those sanctions sought to further limit North Koreas access to refined petroleum products and crude oil and its earnings from workers abroad.

North Korea declared the UN steps to be an act of war and tantamount to a complete economic blockade.

The US Treasury named the targeted officials as Kim Jong-sik and Ri Pyong-chol. It said that Mr Kim was reportedly a major figure in North Koreas efforts to switch its missile program from liquid to solid fuel, while Ri was reported to be a key official in its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) development.

The largely symbolic steps block any property or interests the two might have within US jurisdiction and prohibit any dealings by US citizens with them.

With their ruling Workers Party, military and scientific credentials, the men are two of three top experts considered indispensable to North Koreas rapidly developing weapons programmes.

Photographs and television footage show that the men are clearly among North Korean leader Kim Jong-uns favourites. Their behavior with him is sharply at variance with the obsequiousness of other senior aides, most of whom bow and hold their hands over their mouths when speaking to the young leader.

Mr Ri is one of the most prominent aides, and likely represents the Workers Party on the missile program, experts say.

Born in 1948, Ri was partly educated in Russia and promoted when Kim Jong Un started to rise through the ranks in the late 2000s.

Ri has visited China once and Russia twice. He met Chinas defense minister in 2008 as the air force commander and accompanied Kim Jong Il on a visit to a Russian fighter jet factory in 2011, according to state media.

Kim Jong Sik is a prominent rocket scientist who rose after playing a role in North Koreas first successful launch of a rocket in 2012.

He started his career as a civilian aeronautics technician, but now wears the uniform of a military general at the munitions industry department, according to experts and the South Korean government.
Iran, sources claimed, had objections over the language of the Kashmir-specific section.

The report quoted sources as saying that the Russian delegation had expressed reservations over the inclusion of the Kashmir issue, which was then picked up by Iran and Afghanistan as well. (Photo: AP)

Islamabad: The Kashmir issue needs a peaceful resolution in accordance with the UN Security Council to ensure global and regional peace and stability, according to a joint declaration signed here by six countries, including Russia and China.

Speakers from the Parliaments of Afghanistan, China, Iran, Russia, Turkey and host Pakistan held a two-day meet in Islamabad, which ended on Monday with the issuance of the joint declaration, Dawn News reported.

The report quoted sources as saying that the Russian delegation had expressed reservations over the inclusion of the Kashmir issue, which was then picked up by Iran and Afghanistan as well.

Iran, sources claimed, had objections over the language of the Kashmir-specific section. However, the Pakistani side said that since Russia, Iran and Turkey included issues of political interest to them  such as the crises in Iraq and Syria, the problems of the Middle East and Al-Quds, and Turkeys failed coup  it would be impossible for Pakistan to leave out the Kashmir issue, the report said. The report quoted sources as saying that the representatives from Afghanistan proved to be the hardest to convince.
Bhutto was telephoned by Musharraf who told her not to return to Pakistan.

Islamabad: Former President Pervez Musharraf said that during his reign there may have been elements within the establishment that conspired with the Taliban to murder former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, the Dawn quoted a BBC report saying so on Wednesday.

When asked by the BBC on Ms Bhuttos 10th death anniversary if rogue elements within the establishment could have been in touch with the Taliban about the killing, the former military ruler responded: Possibility. Yes, indeed. Because the society is polarised on religious lines.

Adding that his assessment was a hunch rather than solid proof, he said: I dont have any facts available. But my assessment is very accurate I think... A lady who is known to be inclined towards the West is seen suspiciously by those elements.

But there are some who continue to strongly believe Musharraf himself was directly involved in what transpired on December 27, 2007, when a 15-year-old from South Waziristan shot Bhutto at Liaquatbagh before blowing himself up.

Journalists Mark Seigel and Ron Suskind have repeatedly claimed that months before her assassination, Bhutto was telephoned by Musharraf who told her not to return to Pakistan.

He (Musharraf) said that her safety, her security (or lack thereof) was a function of her relationship with him, said Mr Seigel.

Immediately after the call, Bhutto said: He threatened me. He told me not to come back. He warned me not to come back, according to Siegel, who added that Musharraf had said he would not be responsible for what happened to her if she returned. According to the BBC report, Musharraf strongly denied making the call and dismissed the idea that he would have ordered her murder. Honestly I laugh at it. Why would I kill her?
India had on Tuesday objected to the seizure of shoes of Kulbhushan Jadhavs wife ahead of the Sunday meeting.

Islamabad/New Delhi: The spy drama being played out between India and Pakistan got murkier and bizarre on Wednesday with Pakistan saying that it had sent the shoes of Kulbhushan Jadhavs wife for forensic examination after claiming to have discovered something in them.

Pakistan said that the shoes had a metal object which could possibly be a subscriber identity module (SIM), a small camera or a chip meant to record the conversation between the family.

The move comes a day after India termed the meeting between Mr Jadhav and his mother Avanti and wife Chetankul at the Pakistan foreign ministry in Islamabad as an exercise that lacked credibility, and charged that the two women had been harassed.

India had on Tuesday objected to the seizure of shoes of Kulbhushan Jadhavs wife ahead of the Sunday meeting.

Islamabad responded by saying that there was a metallic substance in the shoes and that they were confiscated due to security reasons. It further said that Mr Jadhavs wife had been given replacement shoes.

Pakistans foreign office spokesperson Mohammed Faisal on Wednesday rejected Indias statements about the meeting as baseless allegations and twists.

The Indian baseless allegations and twists, that come 24 hours later, about the visit of the wife and mother of Commander Jadhav, a convicted terrorist and spy who has confessed to his crimes, are categorically rejected. There was something in the shoe. It is being investigated. We gave her a pair of replacement shoes. All her jewellery etc. were returned after the meeting, Mr Faisal said in a statement.

We do not wish to indulge in a meaningless battle of words. Our openness and transparency belies these allegations. If Indian concerns were serious, the guests or the Indian DHC (deputy high commissioner J.P. Singh) should have raised them during the visit, with the media, which was readily available, but at a safe distance, as requested by India, he added.

The fact is that Commander Jadhavs mother publicly thanked Pakistan for the humanitarian gesture and this was recorded by the media, Mr Faisal said.

Prior to the meeting conducted amid tight security, Mr Jadhavs wife and mother were asked to wash their faces to remove all makeup, remove their jewellery and change their clothes.

India accused Pakistan of disregarding cultural and religious sensibilities of family members under the pretext of security. Pakistan went so far as to have the mangal sutra, bangles and bindi of Jadhavs mother and wife removed before they could meet him at the office of ministry of foreign affairs in Islamabad, it said.

Upon returning from Pakistan, Mr Jadhavs wife and mother met Indias external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and other officials. During the December 25 meeting, whose pictures were released by Pakistan, Mr Jadhav was seen sitting behind a glass screen while his mother and wife sat on the other side. They spoke through intercom and the entire 40-minute proceedings appeared to have been recorded on video.

On April 10, 2017, Pakistan had sentenced Jadhav to death for carrying out espionage and sabotage activities in Balochistan and Karachi.

Pakistan claimed that Mr Jadhavs real name is Hussein Mubarak Patel and that he was arrested on March 3, 2016, in a counter-intelligence operation from Mashkel area of Balochistan for his involvement in espionage and sabotage activities in Pakistan.

India dismissed the charges as concocted, and maintains that Mr Jadhav was kidnapped in Iran where he had legitimate business interests, and then brought to Pakistan. India moved the International Court of Justice, which ordered Pakistan to stay his execution.
'The charge against him is that he hurt religious feeling by mocking Prophet Mohammed and made bad comments against Islam.

Bangladesh police arrested a 25-year-old social media activist as he tried to leave the country on charges that he defamed Islam and the Prophet Mohammed, authorities said Tuesday. (Photo: Youtube screengrab)

Dhaka: Immigration police detained Asaduzzaman Noor, known as Asad Noor on his YouTube channel, at Dhaka airport on Monday evening, inspector Mohammad Shahidullah said.

'The charge against him is that he hurt religious feeling by mocking Prophet Mohammed and made bad comments against Islam, the prophet and the Koran on Facebook and YouTube,' he said.

Shahidullah said hundreds of Muslims staged demonstrations against Noor in 2017 in the southern coastal town of Amtali after the head of an Islamic seminary filed a case against him.

Noor was charged under Bangladesh's strict internet laws and could face up to 14 years in jail if found guilty.

Rights groups have accused the Bangladesh government of muzzling dissent and targeting atheist bloggers who have used social media to criticise religion.

In 2013, four Bangladeshi bloggers were arrested after nationwide protests in which Islamic groups demanded the execution of atheist commentators. They were later freed.

In recent years, atheist and secular voices have been targeted by Islamist extremist groups, who have hacked to death a dozen bloggers, publishers and activists, and forced others to flee overseas.

Following the attacks, the government launched a crackdown on extremist groups.

In July last year however militants stormed a Dhaka cafe and massacred 22 hostages, including 18 foreigners, in an assault claimed by the Islamic State group. Security forces have since killed more than 70 alleged militants.
India is being requested to provide the levelling data while China has been asked to provide the gravity data.

Nepal will, however, seek help from India and China for getting crucial data for the exercise, Nepals Survey Departments Director General Ganesh Bhatta said. (Photo: File/Representational)

Nepal has rejected Indias offer to jointly re-measure the height of the worlds highest peak Mount Everest following the massive earthquake in 2015 and will carry out the exercise on its own, the top official of the Himalayan nations survey department has said.

Nepal will, however, seek help from India and China for getting crucial data for the exercise, Nepals Survey Departments Director General Ganesh Bhatta said.Sources in New Delhi said that China could be behind Nepal refusing Indias proposal to jointly re-measure Mount Everest as the peak is on the Sino-Nepal border.

According to a statement by the Department of Science and Technology which comes under Indias Ministry of Science and Technology, after the 2015 Gorkha earthquake that jolted Nepal, various doubts were raised by the scientific community over the height of the peak.

The 7.8 magnitude quake in April 2015 had devastated the Himalayan nation, killing more than 8,000 people and displacing lakhs of others. The Survey of India, a 250-year-old institute under the DST, proposed re-measuring Mt Everest as an Indo-Nepal Joint Scientific Exercise with Nepals survey department.

They have not responded to our proposal. Now they are saying that they are not involving either India or China. They will be re-measuring Mt Everest on their own, Major Gen Girish Kumar, the Surveyor General of India, said.

Kumar said that a representative from India attended a meeting convened in Kathmandu, where surveyors and scientists from different countries including China were also present. There was a proposal from India to help us measure Mt Everest, but we are doing it on our own, Bhatta, who is in Nepal, said over phone.

When asked whether China had also given a proposal to re-measure Nepal, he replied in the negative. He noted that China had measured Mt Everest in 1975 and 2005 while Indian surveyors had carried out a similar mission in 1956. The SGI had also measured the Everest during the British era.

India was the first country under Sir George Everests leadership as the Surveyor General of India to have declared the height of Mount Everest and establish it as the highest peak in the world in the year 1855, the Department of Science and Technologys website states.

Bhatta said preparatory work has already begun on the project and they are gathering preliminary data crucial for this survey. The massive earthquake has shook even the basic parameters of Nepal, so data from other countries will be crucial, he said.

India is being requested to provide the levelling data while China has been asked to provide the gravity data. The data will be very important to determine the height of Mt Everest, Bhatta said. We wont be crossing over into the Chinese territory for measurements.

The work of summiting Everest will take place in 2019, he said. Kusalaraj, a scientist at the Centre for Earth Science at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, said minor change in the height of Mt Everest may not have a direct impact on the lives of people immediately.
On July 28, the Pakistan Supreme Court had disqualified Sharif from holding the office of prime minister.

The former prime minister also questioned the courts saying, Will we see any court hold Musharraf accountable for his crimes he asked and responded to his own question, saying: I am hopeful one day this will happen. (Photo: ANI)

Lahore: Former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif has said that a treason case against former President Pervez Musharraf by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government was the reason behind his ouster.

The Dawn quoted Sharif as saying at the PML-N social media convention in Model Town that, "We got a treason case registered against Musharraf for abrogating the Constitution. But his case is still pending and a verdict came in my case in haste."

On July 28, the Pakistan Supreme Court had disqualified Sharif from holding the office of prime minister and asked the National Accountability Bureau to file references against the Sharif family in connection with the corruption case against them.

The former prime minister also questioned the courts saying, "Will we see any court hold Musharraf accountable for his crimes he asked and responded to his own question, saying: I am hopeful one day this will happen."

Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz in her father's support said, "When he (Nawaz) got registered a case against Musharraf, sit-ins (PTI and PAT Islamabad sit-ins in 2014) began against him. Then came the News Leaks and Panama Papers case and finally he was disqualified on an Iqama (work permit). This happened to my father because he did not bow. It was easy for him to choose an easy path but he didn't."

The apex court also directed the trial court to decide the references within six months.

Sharif, his sons Hasan and Hussain, daughter Maryam, son-in-law Capt (retd) Mohammad Safdar and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar are facing multiple corruption references in the accountability court.
The CPEC, a flagship project of Chinas prestigious OBOR, links its restive Xinjiang region with Pakistans Balochistan province.

At the first trilateral meeting of foreign ministers of China, Pakistan and Afghanistan, Salahuddin Rabbani, Chinese FM Wang Yi and Pakistani FM Khawaja Asif on Tuesday, China offered to extend CPEC to Afghanistan as the three sides pledged to step-up counter terrorism cooperation. (Photo: AP)

Beijing: China said on Wednesday that its ambitious China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is not directed against India and the project should not be influenced or disturbed by any third country, a day after Beijing offered to extend the USD 50 billion project to Afghanistan.

At the first trilateral meeting of foreign ministers of China, Pakistan and Afghanistan on Tuesday, China offered to extend CPEC to Afghanistan as the three sides pledged to step-up counter terrorism cooperation and not to allow any country, group or individual to use their soils for terrorism.

Besides Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, his counterparts from Pakistan and Afghanistan Khawaja Asif and Salahuddin Rabbani respectively attended the meeting.

When asked about reports that Chinas plans to extend the CPEC to Afghanistan sparked concerns in India, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said the project extension is not directed at any third country.

She said the project serves the common interests of the three counties.

This cooperation is not directed at any country and any party. The dialogue and cooperation should not be influenced or disturbed by any country, she said.

Though Hua did not directly name India, she was responding to a question on reports about Indias concerns about CPEC, which passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

We stressed many times, CPEC is not directed at any third party and we hope it can bring benefits for third country, Hua said, referring to Indias concerns.

The CPEC, a flagship project of Chinas prestigious One Belt One Road, links its restive Xinjiang region with Pakistans Balochistan province.

It is an economic cooperation programme and it should not be politicised and has nothing to do with territorial dispute, she said, adding that the project will bring the benefit to the third party and the whole region.

Afghanistan is a common neighbour of China and Pakistan. They have strong desire to develop economy and improve livelihood. They are willing to integrate into the regional connectivity process and willing to integrate into CPEC, she said.

The three sides have agreed to promote connectivity under Belt and Road Initiative framework and follow the principle of starting from easy and smaller projects step by step to identify cooperation projects for common development, she said.

During the trilateral meeting, a consensus has been reached on eight point plan to bring peace between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The consensus included a security mechanism to enhance counter-terrorism cooperation to fight all forms of terrorist organisations and terrorists, she added.

She said Afghanistan and Pakistan will promote the exchanges between their clerics and avoid the spread of religious extremism.

Under the trilateral framework of the dialogue, the countries should follow the principle of mutual benefit and equal consultation, she said.

She said the three sides have agreed to stay committed to the four goals - support Afghanistans peaceful reconstruction and reconciliation peace process, help Afghanistan and Pakistan to improve and develop ties, promote joint security of the region, promote regional connectivity, and BRI.

The three sides reaffirmed their commitment to an Afghan- led and Afghan-owned Afghan peace process. Afghanistan and Pakistan have agreed to align their development strategies to BRI and actively explore the trilateral cooperation under it.

China and Pakistan have also agreed to provide assistance to Afghanistan in areas such as public health, human resources, and agriculture, Hua added.
by Mathias Hariyadi

Indonesias police chief, Armed Forces commander, and Home Affairs minister visited Jakarta cathedral on Christmas eve. Jakarta governor arrived in the church after the liturgy had already started. Official Christmas celebrations will be held tomorrow in Pontianak, West Kalimantan.

Jakarta (AsiaNews)  Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo issued a message for the countrys Christian community on the occasion of the Christmas holidays.

In it, he stresses that "The multiculturalism of the Indonesian people is truly a blessing, urging Indonesians to show respect for this group, too often "taken for granted" in the most populous Islamic country in the world.

On Christmas Eve, Indonesian Police Chief General Tito Karnavian, and Armed Forces Commander Air Chief Marshall Hadi Tjahjanto (picture 2) also took a tough stance against any extremism.

Both, along with other senior officials, paid a courtesy call to Jakartas cathedral, ensuring that all security protocols were properly respected by the police and the military.

The delegation, which included Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo, was warmly welcomed by Mgr Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo, archbishop of Jakarta.

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, accompanied by his deputy Sandiaga Uno (picture 3), arrived at the church when the liturgy was already underway. Walking along the aisle, he extended his wishes to the faithful.

"We are here to extend our best wishes: Merry Christmas and let us hope that peace is bestowed and perceived by believers and every citizen," said the governor. With Mgr Suharyo by his side, he reiterated that "Jakarta belongs to everyone".

Despite the presence of important political figures at the Christmas Eve Mass, Indonesias official Christmas celebrations will be held tomorrow in Pontianak, the capital of West Kalimantan province. Top government officials are expected.

President Widodo introduced the practice of celebrating Christmas each year in a different city of the country.

As part of the event, Fr Joanes Yandhie Buntoro and his parishioners at St Augustines Church put up a Christmas tree using recyclable materials (picture 4). The ten-metre tree, made of six thousand roses using recycled paper, "represents the citys multiculturalism," the priest said.

In recent years, local Islamist groups have turned their attention to Christian celebrations, generating an atmosphere of tensions around them.

Last week the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) threatened to raid shops to check if Muslim employees are forced to wear Christmas hats or clothes.

Indonesian police reacted by calling for tolerance and respect for the religious celebrations of others.

In light of the situation, in Jakarta many shopping malls have refrained from putting on a festive look. Some radio and television stations have not broadcast Christmas carols, so as not to affect negatively their activities.

In Indonesia, Christians represent about 10 per cent of the population. Protestants number 17 million, whilst Catholics are around 7 million (3 per cent). Christians are often threatened and targeted by extremists and terrorists.

On Christmas Eve in 2000, bomb attacks against 11 churches across the country killed 13 people and wounded another 100.

Since then, every year thousands of members of Indonesias two main moderate Islamic organisations (Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah) provide security to Christian places of worship during the holidays.
The archbishop reiterates Pope Franciss message of peace and love. Economic, social and political wounds continue to make the nation bleed. He calls for reconciliation in Rakhine and Kachin states and actions against economic exploitation.

Yangon (AsiaNews)  Card Charles Maung Bo, archbishop of Yangon, issued his Christmas message a few weeks after Pope Franciss historic visit to his country.

In it, the prelate notes that If God can reconcile with humanity through His Son, we too can reconcile with one another.

Citing the pontiffs appeals for reconciliation, he addresses several important issues that have recently placed Myanmar at the centre of world attention.

For Card Bo, the situation of ethnic Kachin Christians, victims of a long-standing conflict with the Myanmar army, the humanitarian crisis in Rakhine, and the controversial Sino-Myanmar Irrawaddy dam project have wounded the country. To heal, the latter must "implement an agenda of love and peace".

The archbishop of Yangon, who is the first Myanmar cardinal in history, is one of the countrys most courageous and authoritative voices on human rights, religious freedom, inter-faith harmony and peace. His Christmas message follows.

My Dear Country Men and Women,

A very blessed Christmas Wishes to all of you. Let all beings be soaked in peace.

2017 has been a momentous year for the Christians and the people of Myanmar.

Pope Francis, the apostle of Love and Peace, graced this nation with his pastoral visit, reaching out to the church in the margins, bringing great joy and celebration. Despite all the challenges he visited all stake holders in the country, urging all to continue the pilgrimage of peace.

He has left to the church and the nation an urgent task: Heal the wounds, seek comprehensive reconciliation, repay hatred with redemptive love.

In the mystery of Incarnation, the core message of Christmas is to reconcile the wounded humanity with God and with one another. The Angels sang in the First Christmas: Peace to all people on Earth. We as a nation need to heal the known and hidden wounds. War rages in many areas. Thousands of Kachins will have their seventh Christmas as refugees in their own land. People who thrive on narratives of hatred, wound our brothers and sisters with war, displacement and poverty making a country with such blessed natural resources, one of the poorest in the world. Economic wounds, Social wounds, political wounds continue to bleed the nation. Recent events have put the nation challenged by international community. We need to implement the agenda of Love and Peace!

We can overcome. If God can reconcile with humanity through His Son, we too can reconcile with one another. Peace need to become the common religion of this nation. Exploitation of external forces need to stop. Irrawaddy is a sacred river to the people of Myanmar. She is our mother. To make her a commodity and sell her very womb as a dam is to wound her, deprive thousands of her sons and daughters their very livelihood. Natural resources do not belong to corporates and nearby countries. It is a sacred heritage of our people. Exploitation of resources is the main cause for our wounds, wars, mutual hatred and displacement. Peace based on healing of the wounds is possible

Genuine Peace is built on Love. This is the message of Pope Francis visit. Compassionate love needs to become the common religion of this nation. Religions need to come together for peace. Those who seek hatred in the name of religions lack Love.

Let us creatively visualize a nation of hope. Christmas is that season hope. I pray for blessings on each one of us, that we can mobilize our spiritual instincts towards building Myanmar as a nation of opportunity, peace, love and healing to all of us.

Blessed Christmas and Prosperous New Year!
by Thanh Thuy

Like Saint Martin, the members of Xa Que help out parishes and missionary communities. The percentage of Vietnamese below the poverty line is 13.5 per cent (2014). However, almost half of the rural population still lives under harsh conditions.

Hanoi (AsiaNews)  The Xa Que Catholic Family Group, on 16 December feast day of Saint Martin, launched a programme to provide assistance and support to the members of poor ethnic minorities during the Christmas holidays

Fr Joseph Tran Huu Hoan, the groups spiritual guide, called on its members to follow in their daily life the good example of the saint, who was a model of humility and love for the poor.

"At present, about 25 per cent of the population is poor or at risk of poverty, said a student from Hanoi who volunteers with Xa Que, speaking to AsiaNews.

However here in Hanoi, there are many cars, many buildings, worth millions of dollars, and government officials or red capitalists who live a life of abundance and luxury.

Conversely, In the deep forests and remote areas, many children face enormous difficulties, without shoes or shirts to go to school."

In light of the situation, many Catholics have been willing to help the poor and unfortunate children, especially during the Christmas season.

The 26 members of the Hanoi Family Group had already visited the members of ethnic minorities in Na Phac parish, Bac Can, a small Redemptorists community.

"When we [had initially] arrived in the parish, we were impressed, some of the volunteers said. In the first months there was not even a church or a parish committee, only wild mountains and forests.

Since then, We found affection and support in each other through our faith and prayers to Our Lady. Today, the faithful in Na Phac parish can hope and live in the field of the immense mission."

This Christmas, many young volunteers helped, supported and worked with hundreds of members of tribal groups in the missions in Ban Mach, Cung Nha and Lung Pu.

Others have visited and given Christmas gifts to the poor in Hanoi, the children of the parishes of Xuan Hoa, and Tien Lang (diocese of Hai Phong), as well as the poor Catholics in Khe Chat, My Hung (diocese of Hung Hoa), and the diocese of Thai Binh. They also organised social and pastoral outreach activities for the diocese of Cao Bang-Lang Son.

In the past 30 years, poverty in Vietnam has fallen dramatically. In 1993, over half the population lived on less than US$ 1.90 a day. Today, the rate has dropped to 3 per cent. The percentage of Vietnamese living below the poverty line reached 13.5 per cent in 2014, down from almost 60 per cent in 1993.

More than 40 million people have escaped poverty over the last two decades. However, among ethnic minorities, almost half still live in extreme poverty. In mountainous regions, members of tribal groups also live in fear of natural disasters.

Whilst poverty reduction in urban areas is evident, the status of rural populations almost always goes unnoticed and the government lacks effective economic policies to deal with it.
by Loula Lahham

The building attacked by 5 thousand Muslims, furious because a bell tower was being planned. More than 250 thousand policemen and soldiers deployed to protect churches. Almost completed the work for the Coptic Orthodox cathedral in the new administrative capital, 40 km from Cairo.

Cairo (AsiaNews) - The end of year festivities - the New Year, the Coptic Christmas on 7 January and the Epiphany - are expected with an unprecedented level of alert. More than 250 thousand policemen and soldiers have renounced their holidays to ensure maximum security for churches, Christians and tourists during this New Years period.

Despite the heavy police presence, the church of al Amir Tadros (named after the Christian martyr beheaded under the Roman Empire), in the small village of Kafr at the Wasline, south of Cairo, was attacked and profaned on December 22nd. After Friday prayers, about 5,000 people came out of the village mosque to encircle the village's only church. In hundreds they invaded it, breaking everything they found on their path: benches, chairs, fans, microphone and speakers, liturgical clothes, crosses and icons, tents, sacred books. The building consisted of three floors and did not look like a church in the true sense of the word. It was used as a place of prayer by the Copts of the village for more than 15 years, because the Christians of the region do not own a church and no permit has yet been issued by the authorities to build one.

Some fundamentalists had circulated rumors that they were planning a bell tower. This unleashed the wrath of the Muslims, who gathered in front of the building to oppose the decision with force. The appeal to the attack had been previously published on Facebook, announcing the date and time of the attack, and the security officers had been informed. But on the fateful day the scenario was realized as planned, without any intervention by the security forces that, according to some witnesses, had disappeared: they attacked the church and the benefactor who had offered the land of the house to the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate. He and three members of his family were injured and taken to the hospital. Criminal accusations registered with a mobile phone were moved against nine suspects who have been temporarily detained. While awaiting the end of the investigation, the security forces interrupted all religious activities under the pretext of protecting the social security of the villagers. Because of this, the Copts do not know if they will be able to celebrate Christmas Mass.

The Copts, as Christians in Egypt are called, are about 10-12% of the Egyptian people and constitute the largest Christian community in the country, and also the oldest in the Middle East. They celebrate the Nativity on two dates: the Catholics celebrate December 25 according to the Gregorian calendar, while the Orthodox celebrate January 7, according to the older Julian calendar.

An early Christmas in the new Coptic Orthodox cathedral

The president of the republic had announced this last January when he had greeted the Copts during the Mass of the Nativity presided by Pope Tawadros II: "The next Christmas will be celebrated in the cathedral that will be built in the new administrative capital (east of Cairo)". Since then, construction works have been underway and are almost complete. In an enclosure of 60 thousand m2, the largest in the Middle East, a first chapel is destined to include a thousand faithful, and together with the others, the total of the faithful can reach 8,200. There is a garage in the basement, rooms for activities and meetings and the seat of the Pope, successor of St. Mark the Evangelist. Outside, the building will be decorated with two large bell towers to the left and right.

From this Christmas the official celebrations will be held in this cathedral, about 40 km east of Cairo, the current capital. Observers claim that this presidential decision was taken for security reasons.

In addition, the President of the Republic Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi has delegated several senior military and police officers to extend greetings on his behalf to the leaders of Catholic churches celebrating the Nativity on 25 December.
Video of sentencing doctored to make the activist appear "repentant". In a statement given through his lawyers, Wu Gan denounces attempts at plea bargaining and names those who tortured and abused him. "The number of those who are ready to participate in the funeral of the dictatorship is growing ever more and expanding day by day".

Tianjin (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Tianjin Court yesterday sentenced the human rights activist Wu Gan to eight years in prison. He was arrested in 2015 along with hundreds of other lawyers in the campaign dubbed "709", from the date it began (on July 9, 2015). The activist was convicted of "inciting subversion against state power". Wu Gan is famous for defending a woman, raped by a member of the Chinese Communist Party, who killed her assailant, and for having always joked about justice in China, which is subordinate to the Party. He did not deny the accusation, but he is reported to have declared: "If I do not oppose the dictatorship, am I still a man?".

According to the publication "China Change", a few hours after the sentence, the authorities published a doctored video, to show that Wu Gan as "repentant" and that he did not appeal against the sentence. In reality, the video takes pictures of a session last August, in which Wu Gan wears a short-sleeved shirt, while yesterday he wore a shirt with long sleeves. In the editing an important phrase is omitted, in which the activist states: "I admit that I have harbored thoughts of subverting state power but I believe this is a citizens right, and my actions do not constitute crimes.

After the sentence, Wu Gans lawyers released the following statement:

For those living under a dictatorship, being given the honorable label of one who subverts state power is the highest form of affirmation for a citizen. Its proof that the citizen wasnt an accomplice or a slave, and that at the very least he went out and defended, and fought for, human rights. Liang Qichao (, famous reformist at end of Qing dynasty) said that he and dictatorship were two forces inextricably opposed; I say: If I dont oppose dictatorship, am I still a man?

They have attempted to have me plead guilt and cooperate with them to produce their propaganda in exchange for a light sentence  they even said that as long as I plead guilty, theyll give me a three-year sentence suspended for three years. I rejected it all. My eight-year sentence doesnt make me indignant or hopeless. This was what I chose for myself: when you oppose the dictatorship, it means you are already walking on the path to jail.

Im optimistic despite the harsh sentence. Because of the internet, more and more people are waking up. The ranks of those ready to stand at the funeral of the dictatorship is growing stronger and larger by the day. Those who try to use jail to frighten citizens pursuing freedom and democracy, thus obstructing the progress of human civilization, wont meet a good end. Their tyranny is based on a lack of self-confidence  a sign of a guilty conscience and fear. Its a dead end. When the masses wake up, will the dictatorships end be far off?

I have been subjected to torture and other forms of inhumane treatment during my detention thus far  and its not an isolated occurrence, but a common phenomenon. I appeal to the international community to closely follow the deterioration of human rights in China, follow the Chinese Communist Partys criminal detention of its own citizens, and especially of dissidents, along with the other abuses theyre subjected to, including: false charges, secret detention, forced confessions to the media, forced appointment of state-controlled defense counsel, torture and abuse in custody, and the stripping of every civil right of Chinese citizens.

I hereby name the individuals involved in persecuting, torturing, and abusing me: An Shaodong (), Chen Tuo (), Guan Jiantong (), Yao Cheng (), Yuan Yi (), Wang Shoujian (), Xie Jinchun (), Gong Ning (), Sheng Guowen (), Cao Jiyuan (), Liu Yi (), Cai Shuying (), Lin Kun ().
by Peng Jian Dao

Party forbade members and their families from participating in Western religious activities", including Christmas dinners. Some universities banned Christmas gatherings. For the Party, it is necessary "to consciously resist the invasion of Western religious holidays". However, the future lies with intercultural dialogue, not "blind populism. In world culture, Christianity is distinct for teaching to "love ones enemy". Young people show interest in Christianity.

Weizhou (AsiaNews)  The campaign launched this month in various part of China against Christmas, seen as a Western religious practice that pollutes Chinese culture is a form of "narrow-minded nationalism", "blind populism, and "meaningless resistance, this according to Fr Peng, a Chinese priest.

In view of this, Chinas Communist Party ordered its members to boycott Christmas parties. For example, in the city of Hengyang (Hunan), the Party told its cadres and their families not to indulge in "any religious activity from the West, warning them against participating in Christmas dinners and other Christmas-themed events.

In Shenyang (Liaoning), the Communist Youth League at the Shenyang Pharmaceutical University accused many young people of "blindly following western holidays, especially Christmas Eve, Christmas and other religious festivals". It therefore invited its members to "consciously resist the invasion of Western religious holidays" and banned any group in the League from "holding any event related to Christmas Eve, Christmas or other Western religious holidays". Other universities followed this "advice" and banned students Christmas parties.

The boycott appears to have taken off also in civil society. In Guangdong province, Christmas-themed gifts have been removed in stores, especially those that have Christian symbols. In Gansu, a company removed Christmas trees from its online catalogue, following a warning by the local Department of Commerce and Industry, China Christian reported.

Based on official documents, the aim of boycotting Christmas as a "Western holiday" is to build cultural self-confidence, separating it from all others.

Fr Peng notes that "the Confucius Institutes scattered around the world" also pass on Chinese culture to other peoples. The future is therefore one of intercultural dialogue not "blind populism, especially since Christianity alone offers an important teaching: to love ones enemies and end the "culture of hatred".

For some experts, the nationalist wave against Christmas is also an attempt by the Party to defend itself from the fascination exerted by the Christian religion among Chinese, especially the young. The huge participation in Christmas Masses by non-Christians is an indication of this (picture 2).

Every year, when Christmas arrives, there are always some narrow-minded nationalists who create an unfriendly atmosphere. They launch messages like Boycott Christmas and "the Chinese cannot celebrate foreign celebrations" and other such slogans, and some people follow them blindly. In a global world, Christianity has become a part of universal civilisation. Christianitys Good News of Love and holiness is recognised around the world as one of mercy and help to ones neighbour.

Christs brotherhood is similar to the concept of benevolence in Confucius. Doesnt the Chinese people, through the Confucius Institutes scattered around the world, make other people aware of the culture and philosophy of Confucianism? Isnt there some wonder in Confucian "benevolence", the "brotherhood" proclaimed by Christ, and the "compassion" proclaimed by Sakyamuni (Buddha), which are called to awaken good virtues in peoples conscience? All that is true and perfect comes from God!

As long as beauty guides religion, culture and thinking, they deserve to be respected and deepened. Narrow nationalism and the ideology of self-gratification are leading history backward, getting people to renounce their ideas.

After the culture of boycotting between East and West, we came first to [a situation of] tolerance, then to acceptance through a long historical process. Can we, who are the Chinese of the 21st century, especially the so-called "PhDs" who have a higher education, not escape from this petty populism?

The Christian religion has influenced the world for two thousand years. At present, there are 2.3 billion people in the world who believe in it. Many dynasties and empires have tried to eliminate it, but no one has succeeded.

On the one hand, Christianity is projected towards man; on the other, it transcends man. Being projected (humanistic) towards man means that it leads man to discover his true nature; transcending him means that Christianity can change a person's heart and make spiritual life richer, especially on the basis of Christs teaching on loving ones enemy.

The notion of revenge has followed man in his long history; only Christs teaching to "love ones enemy" can defeat this notion and "the culture of hatred". In a world full of wars, there will be no peace if we continue to spread the culture of hatred and hostility.

Christmas is a peaceful family-oriented holiday. Although it has totally different concepts from Confucianism, Taoist culture, Mohist culture and even the so-called materialistic thought, the good idea that it brings to the world is worthy of praise and promotion. Resistance and opposition is not only blind and restricted populism, but also meaningless.

Friday, 22 December 2017, Peng Jian Dao, Wei Zhou
by Franco Cagnasso

The Pope's visit to Dhaka has made Catholics "proud of being the center of attention". A year spent with difficulty, without the parish priest Fr. Quirico Martinelli in Italy for treatment. The Rajshahi Tenderness House group and the Bandarban hostel group. The school for girls and children in the Notun Bazar shantytown in Dhaka. A joyful and "grateful" Christmas.

Dhaka (AsiaNews) - Dear friends, I started writing this letter at the end of October, in Dinajpur, where I enjoyed some very pleasant days, together with the other PIME missionaries in Bangladesh, gathered for an assembly. We tasted the fresh climate, conversation with friends, the sharing of life, common prayer, laughter in which even the difficult moments pass, when they are remembered together. I needed this short interval, after five months of effort to cope with the commitments, which became excessive due to the absence of the parish priest Fr. Quirico Martinelli, in Italy for treatments which have been prolonged. But now Fr. Quirico has returned, we can help each other. And I can start writing ...

From November 30th to December 2nd, we had Pope Francis among us. The small and scattered flock of Christians in Bangladesh, even non-Catholics, had prepared with enthusiasm to welcome him, proud to be - for three days - the center of attention: we are here too! Many of the other religions have shown interest, and for the first time various TVs broadcast services on the visit, even live, including the long celebration of mass in the central park of Dhaka.

Everything was held peacefully, a "pilgrimage of the spirit" - said Cardinal Patrick D'Rozario, archbishop of Dhaka. The Pope praised Bangladesh as a "model" of coexistence between religions, and encouraged us to live our faith without timidity, joy, openness to meet with everyone, and to rediscover the beauty of following Jesus even when it costs sacrifices, marginalization, dangers.

For the occasion, a group of the largest members of the Snehanir community (House of Tenderness) came from Rajshahi. Twenty-five years ago the first child, orphaned and struck by polio, was welcomed by Sr. Gertrude and Fr. Mariano. There were no programs or projects; Snehanir began and grew step by step, "pushed" or "forced" by Providence, entrusted to Sisters Shanti Rani and PIME Missionaries, girls and children in serious difficulties for some disability, or for extreme poverty and without anyone to support them . At the Pope's Mass they had a "special" place, close to him: a small sign that, in the Kingdom of Heaven, those we think the last, are the first ...

In January we will celebrate the 25th anniversary of Snehanir. Meanwhile, we are collecting stories from those who live, or lived in the community until they found their way in life. We would like to show that those who have some form of disability also have many skills, which should not be stifled or unexpressed, and it is a precious gift for those who can welcome it. We will make a small publication and hold a nice party, remembering those who help us with gratitude and all those who accompany Snehanir with thoughts, prayer, donations, friendship.

I have been unable to visit the Marma boys and girls of the hostel in Bandarban, because the government has forbidden foreigners to go to that area, considered "dangerous". The recent worsening of the Rohingya crisis and the large number of them that are crowded in the Bandarban region, make the situation even more delicate. Our hostel for now has not had any trouble, but there is concern. The Aboriginal peoples of the whole area (and the Marma among them), already targeted by Bangladesh's internal immigrants in search of land, see in the Rohingya a danger for their villages, and they do not trust the protection of the numerous military forces distributed in the area , fearing they are more a support of the "invaders" than the protection of the residents: a painful war among the poor ... At the hostel, however, thanks to the project "Sister Water", we have improved the procurement and distribution of water. "Sister Water", however, was a little too energetic and in September too much rain damaged the foundations of two buildings, which we now need to strengthen and fix.

Not being able to go to Bandarban, I invited the young people to make the long journey to Dhaka, to spend two days of games, dances, sharing, prayers (each according to their faith) together with the children of our parish. It will not take long to accommodate them: some mat on the floors of our meeting rooms, while for food we have here a "flying cooking squad" that gets along very well with pots, rice and anything else you need.

The school for girls and children in the shantytown at Notun Bazar, in Dhaka, the courageous "undertaking" of Dino and Rotna, despite the fears after the terrorist attack in July last year, found friends who also helped to improve the quality of pupils' education and training, including attention to the fact that girls are not forced into early marriages. It is becoming a model school - naturally without neglecting to offer every day a precious meal to over 120 students and pupils.

The service of the CAM (Sick Help Center) continues in Rajshahi. In Bangladesh medical dispensaries, small clinics, maternity centers, etc., which were non-existent until a few years ago, are spreading. This is why, CAM attracts less "ordinary" cases, and more and more sick people in difficult, complex conditions that require expensive treatments: cardiopaths, patients in chemotherapy or in dialysis. Keeping up with new needs is not easy, but we want to continue because it is a valuable service: even in the parish we have three rooms available to those who must come to Dhaka for special care. We welcome, accompany, recommend, visit those who are hospitalized. Young people who live with us "waste" time chatting with the sick, creating a climate that is both fascinating and for which many are grateful because - despite being of another religion  they receive unexpected attention and sympathy.

With regards the young people living with us in the parish: this year Regan Gomes, who had been in the community for four years, was ordained priest for PIME and is already in Lisbon, where he studies Portuguese to go on mission to Guinea Bissau. He is the fifth PIME missionary from Bangladesh. After him, five young people are continuing their studies at the PIME seminary in Monza; three entered the seminary in Dhaka, others took other paths, or arrived new; now here are thirteen in all: a community in which I enjoy being part of, in spite of the difference in age!

Together with them, together with the many children, young people, the sick, the poor who, thanks to your help, can study, take care of themselves, live a little better, and together with the Christians of our communities, we sincerely wish you a peaceful Christmas, with the joy that the love of God comes to give us, in Jesus.

A cordial and grateful greeting.
"In our time, especially in Europe, we are witnessing a sort of" distortion "of Christmas: in the name of a false respect for those who are not Christians, who often hide the aim to marginalize the faith". Jesus is "the gift", "that's why at Christmas we exchange gifts. The true gift for us is Jesus, and like him we want to be a gift for others ".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Without Jesus there is no Christmas, "it's another festivity, but it's not Christmas". Pope Francis returned to this today and dedicated his meditation to the general audience to the significance of Jesus' Christmas.

In fact, speaking to the eight thousand people present in the Paul VI hall, he said: "In our time, especially in Europe, we are witnessing a kind of 'distortion' of Christmas: in the name of a false respect for those who are not Christians, which often hides the aim to marginalize the faith, it eliminates every reference to the birth of Jesus from the festivity. But in reality this event is the only true Christmas! Without Jesus there is no Christmas. There's no Christmas, there's another celebration, but it's not Christmas. And if in the center there is Him, then also the whole outline, that is the lights, the sounds, the various local traditions, including the characteristic foods, all contribute to create the atmosphere of the celebration. But with Jesus at the center. But if we take Him away, the light goes out and everything becomes fake, superficial".

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, "the world does not notice anything, but in heaven the angels who know, exult! And this is how the Son of God presents himself to us today: as the gift of God for humanity who is immersed in the night and in the torpor of sleep (cf. Is 9,1). And even today we are witnessing the fact that humanity often prefers darkness because it knows that light would reveal all those actions and thoughts that would make our conscience blush or tarnish. So, we prefer to stay in the dark and not upset our bad habits ". "Then we can ask ourselves what it means to welcome the gift of God that is Jesus. As he himself taught us with his life, it means to become a free gift every day for those who meet on their own path. That's why at Christmas we exchange gifts. The true gift for us is Jesus, and like him we want to be a gift for others ". "He, sent by the Father was a gift for us, we exchange gifts".

"And finally, one last important aspect: in Christmas we can see how human history, that moved by the powerful of this world, is visited by the history of God. And God involves those who, confined to the margins of society, are the first recipients of his gift, that is, the salvation brought by Jesus. With the little and despised Jesus establishes a friendship that continues in time and which nourishes hope for a better future. To these people, represented by the shepherds of Bethlehem, "a great light appeared" (Lk 2: 9-12), which led them straight to Jesus. With them, at all times, God wants to build a new world, a world in which there are no more people rejected, mistreated and destitute".

"In these days - concluded the Pope - we open our minds and hearts to welcome this grace. Jesus is God's gift to us and, if we welcome him, we too can become a gift for others, first of all for those who have never experienced attention and tenderness. So many people in his life have never experienced a caress, a gesture of love. Thus Jesus is born again in the life of each one of us and, through us, continues to be a gift of salvation for the little ones and the excluded ".

"The birth of Jesus - he reiterated greeting the faithful who speak the Arabic language - is the fulfillment of the divine promises. God does not love words, His love is not limited to the sending of prophets, messengers or texts, but leads Him to embrace our weakness and our human condition to lift us to lost filial dignity. The incarnation of God is the sure proof of the authenticity of His love, who truly loves identifies with the beloved".
The government deployed soldiers, sharpshooters and policemen to prevent terrorist attacks like the one against Quettas Methodist church just over a week ago. The Chief of Army Staff took part in a celebration and praised Christians contribution to the country.

Islamabad (AsiaNews/Agencies)  Christmas celebrations went off without a hitch this year. Pakistani Christians marked the birth of Jesus amid decorations and lights, protected by armed soldiers deployed around churches.

After the attack on 17 December against Quettas Methodist Church, Pakistani authorities beefed up security around all Christian places of worship to prevent other terrorist attacks and allow Christian celebrations to go ahead without any problems.

In Pakistan, Christians represent less than 2 per cent of the mostly Muslim population (220 million). They are often victims of discrimination and violence by Islamic radicals.

Oppression can take various forms, ranging from false accusations of blasphemy to discrimination in the workplace. In fact, the humblest and most degrading jobs like street cleaning and rubbish collection tend to be reserved for them.

This year, thanks to measures taken by the authorities, Christians were able to enjoy actively the holiday in Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Karachi and Quetta.

Top government officials also joined in the festivity. Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi sent their best wishes.

Surprisingly, Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa attended Christmas celebrations at Christ Church in the heart of the garrison city of Rawalpindi. This is a truly exceptional for it is rare for a top general to attend a non-Muslim religious event.

In a press note issued by the Pakistan army on Monday, General Bajwa acknowledged the contribution Christians made not only to the creation of Pakistan but also to its progress.
Its five answers to five questions. Here we go

1. Making sure a project debrief doesnt become a personal attack on a coworker

Were a small company of five (three full, two part-time) that sells, lets say, teapots. The holidays are always a crazy time for us with everyone working full-steam. Going into this holiday, we knew it would be a little unusual: we werent able to restock on teapots earlier, we started selling other items that shipped out of our office instead of our teapot fulfillment center, and we had a fairly new part-time coworker, Jane.

Holiday ended up being a hot mess. It appears Jane got overwhelmed by the tasks she was being asked to do, and instead of letting the rest of the team or our boss know, she simplystopped doing a significant amount of them.

My coworker and I only caught on to this two weeks before Christmas. The two of us plus our boss had to do a lot of extra work to ensure that customers would have their teapots in time for the holiday. This included learning how to do parts of Janes job, my coworker and I splitting half of Janes duties between the two of us, and all three of us staying late multiple nights to pack and ship the new items. We were (justifiably!) angry that Jane didnt communicate her problems earlier, but even angrier that there was no point at which Jane apologized, took ownership over her mistakes, or even seemed to feel bad about the fact that she wasnt doing her job properly. Instead, it seemed that she was very content to have us take over parts of her job, and ignored the fact that it cost us time and stress.

All of this is is background for the real question: were having a post-mortem meeting in the new year to figure out what went wrong. While I think Jane had a large part in that, there are also other legitimate items to discuss, and I dont want this to become a vent session where Jane feels attacked. Id love your thoughts on this: whats the best way to healthily discuss what went wrong with holiday, including Janes mistakes, without having it feel like were ganging up on her?

I actually dont think this is the right thing for a post-mortem; its more a conversation for Janes boss to have with her about what went wrong, and why, and how to avoid doing it again. Post-mortems are great when theres not a serious performance issue/ball-dropping that needs to be discussed  theyre better for next time well order more shipping supplies and we didnt communicate the strategy to the client as well as we needed to, not Jane didnt do her job. The latter is a manager conversation, not a group conversation.

Since it sounds like there are other issues you want to discuss too, ideally your manager would talk to Jane one-on-one first, work out whatever went wrong there, and then you could all do the post-mortem as a group after that piece of it has been dealt with.

2. Can I let employees know Im willing to be a reference for them?

I have an employee who just told me he is leaving for one of our competitors. Thats too bad and Ill miss him, but hes also an excellent employee and I wish him the best. I recognize that he cant stay at one place forever, and this new opportunity is higher pay, more responsibility, and more closely aligned with what he wants to do  basically, a better opportunity for him all around.

He told me that he had an issue when they made him an offer. They wanted a reference, but since this is his first job out of school, and hes been here for almost five years, he doesnt really have anyone to give him a reference. So he asked a coworker we had who left here almost three years ago who was the only person he could think of.

I would have written him a recommendation. Is there a way I can let my current employees know that they shouldnt be afraid to ask me for one going forward? Its a weird thing to offer, and plus I dont want to put in their heads that they should be looking for a new job  I just want them to know that I know that its a totally normal thing, no hard feelings, and Ill help them out if I can. Is that strange?

No, its not strange! Its a great thing to do.

One way to do it is to find a natural opening for it when youre talking to people about their professional development and future goals. Theres often a spot in those discussions where you could say, By the way, I hope you wont leave us any time soon, but at whatever point youre thinking about moving on, Id be glad to be a reference for you. You do great work, and Id be glad to vouch for that if you ever need me to. (Obviously, only say this to people who you could give glowing references for.)

However, theres a big caveat here  which is that if youll be telling people that its okay to be open with you when theyre starting to job search, you have to be really careful about not penalizing them for it. Youre probably thinking, Well, of course  Im not going to make them leave that week or anything like that. But there are more subtle forms of acting on the information, ones that can be very tough to resist. For example, if you know someone is actively job searching, are you really going to invest in developing them the same way you otherwise would? What if only one person can be sent to a conference  are you going to pick the person whos about to leave? What if you have to lay off staff  will you be influenced to pick that person by knowing they might be leaving soon anyway? What if its been months and the person is still around  will you start getting antsy to find their replacement? These arent questions with easy answers (and different managers will answer them differently), so make sure you think through this kind of thing before inviting your staff to be fully candid with you about job searching.

3. I worked as a recruiter and theyre billing for placing me

I was previously employed as a recruiter, working basically on full commission. A great opportunity happened to come open with a client of mine that I was interested in myself, so I did what I felt would be the right thing to doI went through all the steps to recruit for the position but also put myself in the mix just like all the other candidates. I got the job and have been in the position about six weeks.

Two weeks ago, my new manager (who is also the president of our company) came to me with an invoice from my previous employer and owner of the company. He had billed us in full for the amount he would have charged for the placement. My manager called him to see if he would be willing to reduce the amount since I got the job, and it was an unusual situation. My previous employer agreed to reduce the bill from $22,500 to $12,500.

In the meantime, I start to realize that, if he is going to consider this an actual placement and invoice us for the amount, he should pay me commission on the amount. Whats right is right, after all, and my previous employer had actually told my new manager how much work had gone into this placement. SoI write a very nice email to my previous employer explaining how, if he considers this a placement and is invoicing, then I would appreciate my commission on the placement and asked if he still had my bank information. He wrote me back saying he was shocked that I would demand commission (I was not in the least bit demanding), and he went on to say that I actually owed him the remainder of the invoice ($10,000) because of some mumbo-jumbo in my non-compete agreement.

I still think he should pay me commission if he is going to say I placed myself and invoiced us for the placement. By the way, my current manager thinks so, too. Im thinking it is time for an attorney, but I found your site and was curious if you could offer any insight.

It will depend on the exact wording of your commission agreement with him. If you typically received commissions for placements you successfully made, and if you have a written agreement that requires those to be paid out even in these circumstances*, then Id agree with you  but I also agree youll need a lawyer to take a look and tell you your options.

* Its possible that the agreement says, for example, you only get your commission after the hire has worked for 90 days and if youre still employed by the recruiting company, or something like that. So take a careful look at the wording.

4. I was passed over for work because I deactivated my Facebook account

I am a freelancer. Last week I deactivated my personal Facebook account to give myself a bit of a social media vacation. I had only turned it off for 10 hours when I woke to a Facebook message from a contractor who I had just connected with several weeks back on a Facebook thread. Her message read, I went to your Facebook page last night to hire you for work, but I found you had blocked me. Is that true?

I responded by saying that I absolutely had not blocked her, that I was just taking a social media vacation. Her response was decidedly upsetting. She apologized for the misunderstanding and told me that she overreacted by deciding to ask someone else to do the job instead, because she thought she had been blocked and it had hit some sort of nerve. I was then told that this was not my fault (which  I know? Because I didnt do anything? I think?) and that surely there would be more work for me in the future.

I have a really sour taste in my mouth from this. I was reachable the whole time through Facebook Messenger  which she used to contact me after her overreaction anyway  not to mention my professional Facebook page (which was still up and running), LinkedIn, and my website. It would not have been hard to simply send me a message or email. I also dont even know her, and the fact she anger-hired someone over me because of a perceived slight has me leery of future interactions.

But  did I screw up somehow? Should I stop deactivating my personal page? Am I simply behind the times and Facebook is now an essential item for business interactions and job searching, and I risk offending people and losing opportunities by taking breaks from what can be a really toxic social media atmosphere? What should I do about this moving forward? Am I right to think this was weird, or have I unwittingly committed a faux pas?

Nah, shes just being weird. Dont let it make you second-guess yourself.

Theres nothing wrong with deactivating your Facebook account, either temporarily or permanently, and theres nothing wrong with assuming that business contacts will contact you using, you know, a business method like email or phone rather than a personal one.

And frankly, even if you had decided to disconnect from this person on Facebook, she shouldnt be angry or upset about it. Lots of people trim down their connection list or decide to remove work contacts from Facebook if they prefer to use it for their personal life rather than their work life. So shes being odd, and Id bring some caution to future interactions with her, even if she does offer you work in the future.

5. Use-it-or-lose-it policies for vacation time

I currently have 35 vacation days that have carried over for quite some time. Staff was sent an email stating that we would forfeit any days not used by February 28, 2018. Can my company do this? It just does not seem a fair way to deal with this situation.

It depends on your state law. A small number of states (including California, Montana, and I think Nebraska) treat vacation time as earned compensation, meaning that an employer cant then claw it back. Once you earn it, its yours. Employers in those states can put limits on how much vacation time can be accrued, but once its accrued, it has to be taken or paid out when the person leaves.

But in most other states, use it or lose it policies are pretty common. In some of those states though (like Illinois and Massachusetts), employers are required to give employees a reasonable amount of time to use that vacation time before its lost. You could certainly argue that two months isnt enough time to take 35 vacation days, so its worth looking up your states law on this. (Try googling the name of your state plus vacation laws.)

If your state doesnt help you here, you could try pushing back on this with your employer and asking for a longer period to use those days before they expire  or asking if you can instead have them paid out to you in money instead of time off.
Photo of Ford Mustang courtesy of Ford.

Ford Motor Co. is recalling 2,100 2018 Ford Mustangs so dealers can update the instrument cluster software to address a potential vehicle rollaway risk.

If the driver turns off the car with the automatic transmission in a position other than park, the instrument cluster might not illuminate the PRNDL display. Additionally, the key-in-the-ignition warning chime might not sound when the drivers door is opened. These conditions increase the likelihood of a vehicle rollaway, Ford said.

The recall affects Mustangs equipped with an automatic transmission premium instrument cluster. The cars were built at Flat Rock Assembly Plant from March 14 to Nov. 26.

Ford noted that it isnt aware of any accidents or injuries linked to the issue. Ford dealers will perform the software update at no cost to the customer.

In addition to those cars recalled in the U.S., 67 Mustangs will be recalled in Canada for the same problem.
A Minneapolis gay couple believed to be the first married in the United States in 1971 has lost another in a long line of battles to have their original marriage fully recognized.

Jack Baker and Mike McConnell were married by a young Methodist minister in Mankato, MN in 1971. Baker had legally changed his name to the gender-neutral Pat Lynne McConnell to get the marriage license. By the time the state of MN figured out that the bride was actually a male it was already too late. The two were officially married.

While Minnesota did try to null and void their marriage Baker and McConnell fought back furiously and predicted they would win eventually, but the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that their marriage was illegal. However, their license was never revoked

In September 2014, James McConnell mailed a letter to the Blue Earth County clerk and asked for a certified copy of the marriage certificate. The County Attorneys Office informed McConnell that would not be possible,

A petition was filed in November 2016 requesting the district court order Blue Earth County to officially record the 1971 marriage license. The court refused and an appeal was filed.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals has now upheld that refusal, pointing to the incorrect statements made on the marriage license application. The Court also found that the McConnells have not proven they have suffered a particular harm from not having their 1971 marriage recorded.

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Pasco County Commissioners are exploring changing the name of Holiday as part of a re-branding effort.

Effort to draw attention to area improvements

Name change process initiated Nov. 28

West Pasco Chamber of Commerce support?

"A lot of great things are happening in the Holiday area," said Commissioner Kathryn Starkey. "We're getting ready to landscape the 19 corridor, we've taken down a lot of the blighted buildings, so it's an area that's changing."

Starkey said bringing attention to those improvements is part of the goal.

Commissioners approved initiating the name change process at their Nov. 28 meeting. Stakeholder meetings, a review of historical records and other data, and public outreach to determine if there's interest are just part of what's expected to be included in the lengthy process.

"Obviously, there's a reputation up and down all of 19, but so does Pinellas County have areas, so does Tampa have areas," said West Pasco Chamber of Commerce President Chip Wichmanowski. "So, any steps that you can take to re-brand it that maybe draws people in, but we're very excited about some of the businesses in the area that have improved."

Wichmanowski said it's too early in the process to determine whether the chamber will support the effort.

"I like the name," he said of 'Holiday', "but I'd also have to look at what the other name would be, and if it's going to be better for the community and better for the businesses and better for the area, then I'm all for it."

According to meeting records, the earliest the county can apply to the U.S. Census for a name change is 2019. After that, a USPS boundary review process can take until 2020.
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When Tropical Storm Harvey first made its way into the region, Katie Durio and her staff at Stable-Spirit, a therapeutic riding facility in Rose City, thought they would be safe.

By Aug. 30, as Harvey began unleashing a relentless torrent of rainfall, swelling the Neches River and surrounding bayous, water began rising at an increasingly rapid pace.

It became clear that Durio and the 17 horses that call the stables home needed to get out.

By the time the first trailers arrived, Durio was already in waist-high water. She walked each horse by halter out to the trailers of family and friends who had come to help.

She got out all but one horse. Too Tall, who belonged to equine specialist and therapeutic riding instructor Sheila Fowler, was skittish and frightened. He refused to be put on a trailer.

Fowler, who was flooded in at her own home, said she sobbed as she told a frantic Durio to leave him behind. "You have to get out of there," she said.

The next day brought better news.

An animal rescue crew that had heard Too Tall had to be left behind was able to get close enough to the farm to wade in on foot. Volunteers walked the horse more than a mile to safety.

The women returned to Stable-Spirit on Sept. 6 by boat. The facility was swallowed by nearly 7 feet of water.

"It never even crossed my mind to not rebuild," Durio said last week. "People are needing this. They need the normalcy."

Many of Stable-Spirit's clients experienced great losses because of Harvey, and the benefits of equine therapy is a necessary component of their growth and healing, according to Durio.

Parker Jackson, 14, is autistic and has an associative sensory processing disorder. The Bridge City boy has taken part in therapeutic riding for nearly two years.

His mom, Blake-Leigh Kinnear, said when Harvey shut down the facility, abruptly ending Parker's weekly sessions, there was an immediate change in his behavior.

For those on the autistic spectrum, a change in routine is difficult to process and understand.

"It really shook him up," Kinnear said. "He seemed frustrated and agitated."

Parker was able to return to Stable-Spirit for the first time three weeks ago, when the facility reopened. After spending time with his therapy horse, Patches, Kinnear said there was an instant turnaround in Parker's behavior.

During a session earlier this month, Parker went through a series of exercises, alternating from standing upright in the stirrups to sitting in the saddle and bending over to touch his toes.

Occasionally, he'd give Patches the command to "go."

The exercises help build strength, and the pre- and post-ride grooming and saddling routines help Parker develop fine motor skills.

"When Parker first came here, he would scream at the sight of any of the animals," said Fowler. "He has come so far, and he loves Patches. That is his horse. What a blessing to be in that one hour, and watch this kid's light bulb come on and watch the fear leave."

Kinnear said she's seen Parker's confidence grow since he started going to Stable-Spirit.

"His anxiety is way down, because giving commands offers a measure of control of the world around him," she said.

Horses are perfectly suited to help clients like Parker, Durio said.

"Horses are non-judgemental," she said. "They experience and respond to what's going on in the moment. They can take all these kids' emotions, because they just sense that they are needed."

The horses have helped comfort more than just the Stable-Spirit clients since Harvey, Durio said. The staff needed them, too.

"It was so different," Durio said of rebuilding after the storm. "There was no peace, no serenity."

When it once required no thought to know where everything was - tack, saddles, paperwork, brushes - suddenly nothing was where it used to be. In some cases, things were simply gone.

Cleanup efforts were long delayed as Rose City went 45 days without water service.

"Water got us into this, and then when we needed it, we didn't have the water to get us out of it," Durio said.

Although the group never received aid from FEMA, Stable-Spirit was recently awarded a $20,000 grant from the Foundation for Southeast Texas.

The money will be used to help rebuild the on-site office building that houses "Kid Therapy," a physical, speech, and occupational therapy program.

In addition to the grant, Durio said they've received an outpouring of support from local churches, families, Lamar University and area high schools that helped with clean-up efforts and fundraising. Horse therapy programs across the country also reached out to offer aid, she said.

The $12,000 the group received in private donations will be used to build bathroom facilities, Durio said.

Although the road to recovery has been hard, it is a challenge Durio and her staff embrace with full hearts.

Durio said she works harder at Stable-Spirit than she did in her almost 30-year career as a Jefferson County parole officer.

"I can't imagine doing anything else," she said.

"This is a passion," according to Fowler. "You don't do it for the income, you do it for the outcome."

KBrent@BeaumontEnterprise.com
Abdul Masood, a Rohingya refugee in Bangladesh, worries that he may soon be forced to return to Myanmar, where, he alleges, the military killed his relatives and burned his entire village a few months ago.

Masood joined a massive influx of Rohingya Muslims who crossed into southeastern Bangladesh in 2017. They were fleeing violence and atrocities allegedly committed by the military and Buddhist militiamen in the neighboring Myanmar state of Rakhine, in a campaign that U.N. and U.S. officials branded as ethnic cleansing.

If we are sent back, there is no hope for us. We will all be killed, or worse, tortured to death. Ask any Rohingya, and they will tell you they dont want to go back, no matter the promises the Myanmar government makes regarding our safety, Masood, 28, told BenarNews.

He and his wife and three children were among at least 655,000 Rohingya who escaped from Myanmar since late August as part of a refugee crisis that Bangladesh had never seen, although some 400,000 Rohingya were already sheltering in the southeast after having fled previous spasms of violence in Rakhine.

We were certainly not ready for such an influx, but we have taken measures to the best of our ability, Md. Shah Kamal, the secretary of Bangladeshs Ministry of Management and Relief, told BenarNews. But it would be unbearable for us it we had to continue this for long.

The scale and pace of the latest influx led United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to describe it as the worlds fastest developing refugee emergency,  as he urged U.N. member-states in September to help avert a humanitarian disaster in Bangladesh, while he called on Myanmar to end its military crackdown in Rakhine.

The crackdown was provoked by raids against Myanmar police and army posts by Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) insurgents on Aug. 25.

At least 6,700 Rohingya were killed during the first month of the crackdown in Myanmar, including 730 children under the age of 5, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

The victims died from being shot, burned inside their homes, beaten and other grisly causes between Aug. 25 and Sept. 24, the Geneva-based international NGO reported earlier this month.

The numbers of deaths are likely to be an underestimation as we have not surveyed all refugee settlements in Bangladesh and because the surveys dont account for the families who never made it out of Myanmar. We have heard reports of entire families who perished after they were locked inside their homes, while they were set alight, Sidney Wong, MSFs medical director, said.

Myanmar government officials have repeatedly denied such allegations and have blamed the violence on ARSA.

In early September, [Myanmar] soldiers entered our village and ordered us to leave or get killed. They began firing indiscriminately, killing my mother, my father and two brothers, and several other villagers, said Masood, who lives with his family in a makeshift hut at the sprawling Kutupalong refugee camp in Coxs Bazar district.

They then started setting each house on fire. Nothing was left of our village.

Francis: I ask for your forgiveness

Such accounts from newly arrived refugees about alleged abuses carried out against Rohingya incensed Muslims and precipitated massive anti-Myanmar street demonstrations this year in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia and other Islamic-majority countries.

The Rohingya, a stateless minority group, have for decades faced discrimination and persecution in Myanmar. The country has refused to grant them citizenship and its Buddhist majority refers to them pejoratively as Bengalis, or illegal migrants from Bangladesh.

In 2017, the plight of the Rohingya caught the attention of Pope Francis, who travelled to Myanmar and Bangladesh, where he had an emotional encounter in Dhaka with a group of Rohingya refugees.

In the name of everyone, of those who persecute you, of those whove done you wrong, above all, the worlds indifference, I ask you for forgiveness, the pontiff told the refugees during an interfaith gathering on Dec. 1. I now appeal to your big heart, that youre able to grant us the forgiveness we seek.

BenarNews interviewed Masood two days after Bangladesh Health Minister Mohammed Nasim confirmed that, starting in January 2018, Myanmar would take back hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees as part of a bilateral repatriation agreement that the two countries signed in November.

On Dec. 19, Bangladesh and Myanmar formed a joint working group (JWG) to oversee the voluntary repatriation of the displaced Muslim community.

But refugees like Masood said that they and their families would not feel safe, should they opt to go back.

What is the guarantee that this will not happen again once we go back? After all, this violence against our community has gone on for several years. Suddenly, Myanmar is assuring us that we can return safely. Its hard to believe, Masood said.

Dead bodies of Rohingya Muslim refugees lie on the shore of Inani beach, near Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh, Sept. 28, 2017. [AFP]

Skepticism about repatriation deal

The repatriation deal inked between Bangladesh and Myanmar looks more like a public relations effort by Burma to quickly close this ugly chapter, Bill Frelick, refugee rights director at Human Rights Watch, said in a recent report.

Burma has yet to end its military abuses against the Rohingyas, let alone create conditions that would allow them to return home safely, Frelick said.

Ajai Sahni of the New Delhi-based Institute for Conflict Management (ICM), which has documented the repatriation of Rohingya since the early 1990s, agreed.

Myanmars announcement to take back Rohingya is merely a stunt to ease mounting global pressure. Myanmar has never been serious about letting the Rohingya community settle on its soil, Sahni told BenarNews

It was highly unlikely that the refugees would agree to return to Myanmar, where their villages had been reduced to ashes, he said.

A total of 236,495 Rohingya were repatriated from Bangladesh to Myanmar between 1992 and 2005, according to information on the website of the Myanmar State Counsellors website.

Despite the repatriation and several assurances of keeping Rohingya safe, the violence and persecution against the community has never stopped, Sahni said.

According to another analyst, a large majority of Rohingya would refuse to go back to Myanmar.

But the reality is that Bangladesh has to maintain bilateral discussions with Myanmar, and at the same time maintain international relations to pressure Myanmar into ensuring the safe and dignified repatriation of the Rohingya community, Tarek Shamsur Rahman, professor of international relations at Dhakas Jahangirnagar University, told BenarNews.

A former Bangladeshi foreign secretary, Mohiuddin Ahmed, predicted that the repatriation process would fail.

Right since 1992, Myanmars conduct regarding the repatriation indicates they are not interested in it at all. This latest agreement was made only to avoid international pressure, he told BenarNews.

Amin Masoodi in Srinagar, India, contributed to this report.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak (right) holds hands with Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi during a rally at the Putra Mosque in Putrajaya, Malaysia, Dec. 22, 2017.

Updated at 5:45 p.m. ET on 2017-12-27

Corruption-tainted Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak faces elections in 2018, which, many believe, he could survive despite a stiff challenge from the opposition spearheaded by two former government leaders.

Buoyed by rosy projections for economic growth, Najib kept former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and jailed former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at bay in 2017 by mounting legal challenges against them, and he also doled out pre-poll fiscal goodies to voters.

The prime minister, I think, did a good job in disseminating that the economy is doing well, geo-political expert Azmi Hassan told BenarNews.

There have been instances that could be considered as missteps, like dealing with the high cost of living, but I think the government realized its mistakes and rectified them, he said.

Under Malaysias constitution, a general election must take place every five years, and the next one is required before August 2018.

The opposition came close to unseating Najibs Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition in the 2013 election, but has since struggled to put up a united front to challenge the prime minister in the next general election.

Najib will decide a date for the 14th general election, and local reports said he could call polls for as early as the second half of February.

Earlier this month, during the annual assembly of his United Malays National Organization (UMNO) party, the 64-year-old leader courted the religious sensibilities of its Malay Muslim membership as he effectively kicked off his electoral run with a rousing speech.

At this father of all elections, we will battle and fight until the end, Najib told the more than 2,500 party faithful who had gathered in Kuala Lumpur. Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! (God is Great! God is Great!).

That speech, supporters say, could help Najib in a potential electoral battle against Malaysias longest-serving prime minister, Mahathir, who has joined his bitter foe, Anwar in leading a new opposition coalition, Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope).

Mahathir, 92, who served as prime minister from 1991 to 2003, has branded Najib, his one-time protege, as corrupt, but Mahathir has indicated he does not want to be PM again.

The 70-year-old Anwar, meanwhile, is serving a prison sentence on a sodomy conviction. But, according to his lawyers, Anwar is scheduled to be released in June  another reason for Najib to hold elections much sooner, instead of giving the former deputy minister enough time to unite the opposition during the run-up to elections.

Shadow of 1MDB

Yet in 2017, Najib again was unable to shake off allegations of corruption linked to a multi-billion dollar scandal over a state sovereign wealth fund that he founded, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), and which will likely overshadow him on the campaign trail in 2018.

Najib has consistently denied taking money from 1MDB. He has been implicated in the scandal because almost $700 million of money linked to 1MDB was deposited into his private bank accounts in 2013, but he has said the money was donated by the Saudi royal family and not used for his personal gain.

This year, federal investigators in the U.S. expanded lawsuits against businessmen associated with Najib, alleging they were involved in stealing and laundering $4.5 billion from the fund. The U.S. court documents repeatedly refer to Najib as Malaysian Official 1.

The 1MDB affair has beleaguered Najib since July 2015 and led to calls for his resignation, but the issue did not come up during his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington in September, according to the White House.

Bigger thorn

Mahathir and Anwar have been Najibs fiercest critics, leading calls for the prime minister to resign over 1MDB.

According to analysts, Mahathir has become an even bigger thorn for Najib.

Mahathir led UMNO to five election wins and, according to political observers, Malaysians still adore him despite Najibs efforts to vilify him.

Mahathir has a lot of followers and supporters who appreciate him the most, Muhammad Khairy, a government worker, said. They know what he has done for the country for 22 years, we all can clearly see that.

Mahathirs leading the opposition coalition might just be enough for Malaysians to vote for a change in government, his counsel, Haniff Khatri, told BenarNews.

Of course, Mahathirs presence in leading the charge for the opposition is the most-crucial factor in getting the Malaysian public to vote for a change of government, he said.

But a legal move recently mounted by Najibs government could complicate things for the opposition in 2018.

In November, a government-appointed panel, the Royal Commission of Inquiry, recommended that Mahathir and Anwar be criminally investigated, along with other former government officials, in connection with billions of dollars in central bank losses during the 1990s, when Mahathir was in power and Anwar served as his deputy.

Showing solidarity with Palestinians, Rohingya

In rallying support for an electoral run from his partys Muslim Malay base, Najib lately has been vocal on international issues that play on religious sentiment. In recent weeks and months, he has led rallies to show solidarity for Myanmars persecuted Rohingya Muslims, as well as the Palestinians in the wake of the U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital.

Pandering to such sentiment is crucial for attracting voters in the majority-Muslim nation, analysts say.

Najib has demonstrated that he is willing to go against the grain if the Jerusalem and Rohingya issues are taken into account, analyst Azmi Hassan told BenarNews. This style of leadership is highly appreciated by the people.

Last Friday, Najib told a rally that although President Trump received him warmly at the White House, he would not compromise on the sanctity of Islam.

The United States may be a superpower, but do not look down on Malaysia. We have our pride and dignity, too, we have not asked for loans from the United States, Najib said.

Taking care of voters

Apart from rallying voters on issues with religious undertones, Najibs strategy of taking care of rural voters, including in the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak, could propel him to electoral victory, according to Malaysian businessman Ab Wahab Ali.

Analysts agree that amid the vitriol-fueled criticisms from Najibs opponents, reports from World Bank estimating that the Malaysian economy is likely to expand 5.8 percent this year and 5.2 percent next year could sway sentiments in favour of the ruling party.

Muhammad Khairy, the government worker, expects Najib to call an election in March or April  after the Chinese Lunar New Year and before the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in mid-May.

He believes this will happen after the government hands out payments from Bantuan Rakyat 1 Malaysia (BR1M), a program created by Najib that hands out cash payments of 1,200 ringgit (U.S. $294) nationwide as part of his administrations effort to ease the burden of the lower-income Malaysians.

My prediction for the 14th general election is on March and by that time BRIM payments have been made, Muhammad Khairy told BenarNews.

This would win the heart of suburbs.

Hata Wahari contributed to this report.

Corrrection: Anwar Ibrahim did not serve as deputy prime minister under Najib Razak.


A Thai official inspects the scene of a roadside bombing in Thung Yang Daeng, a district in southern Thailands troubled Pattani province, June 19, 2017.

Violence from an insurgency in Thailands Deep South fell to a historic low in 2017, analysts said, even as peace talks gained little traction and failed to produce a long-awaited truce.

Insurgency-related incidents were at their lowest since the decades-old separatist conflict in the mainly Muslim and Malay-speaking southern border region flared in 2004, according to Deep South Watch, a think-tank based in Pattani province.

The start of negotiations in 2013 is the pivotal point of the violence in Deep South. In general, the violence declined, and it benefits people, Professor Srisompob Jitpiromsri, who heads the think-tank, told BenarNews.

He was referring to peace talks with the rebels that began four years ago under the government of then-Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. In 2015, a military-led government that toppled Yingluck in a coup started exploratory talks with a new group, MARA Patani, an umbrella panel that claims to represent various rebel groups and factions in Malaysia-brokered negotiations.

Since 2004, nearly 7,000 people have been killed and more than 13,000 have been injured in violence associated with the insurgency in the heavily militarized region, according to Deep South Watch.

But violence has declined steadily since 2013, it said. This year, 235 people were killed and 356 injured in 545 incidents across the Deep South, compared with a high of 892 people killed and 1,681 wounded in 2007.

The 2017 statistics didnt include two suspected rebel attacks that killed one soldier and injured six other people on Tuesday in Narathiwat, another province in the region.

In the past two years, we couldnt create much violence for many reasons. The military is everywhere, in the villages and so on, a member of the National Revolutionary Front (BRN), the largest and most powerful of rebel groups in the Deep South, told BenarNews.

But there are orders to carry out attacks, and sometimes we failed, the rebel said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Zachary Abuza, a U.S.-based expert on the insurgency in the Thai Deep South, said the decline in violence resulted from the proliferation of military checkpoints and a change in tactics by the BRN, which underwent a change of leadership following the deaths of its two founders in 2017.

Violence is down because the insurgents see no need for it. They have driven Buddhists out of large swaths of the south, Abuza wrote in a recent column for BenarNews.

The BRN insurgents in southern Thailand have demonstrated that they are able to turn on the violence at will, he added.

Bad blood

Meanwhile, questions lingered throughout 2017 over whether MARA Patani truly represents all the rebel groups in the Deep South and whether BRN is on board with the current peace process.

Abu Hafiz Al-Hakim, a Malaysia-based spokesman for MARA, insisted in an interview with BenarNews this year that the panel represented BRN because, he said, BRN leaders occupied three of the seats on MARA.

In April, in a rare statement, BRN criticized the current negotiations between Thailand and MARA and suggested that the panel wasnt really negotiating on its behalf. BRN demanded a direct role in fresh talks that would be mediated by impartial members of the international community.

Don Pathan, a BenarNews contributor and security expert based in southern Thailand, said sources had informed him in September that there was bad blood between the BRN and Mara Patani, and this will take time to overcome.

Srisompob, the director of Deep South Watch, said a different set of peace talks, including with the leader of BRN, could start sometime next year in Saudi Arabia.

We heard a report that the BRN faction of Doonloh Wae-mano would join the talks. I heard it would be held in Saudi Arabia, not Malaysia. That is a good trend, Srisompob told Benar News.

What progress?

Despite the reduction in violence, rebels mounted several deadly attacks in 2017, and locals said they still lived in fear of BRN.

The group is believed to have instigated much of the violence in 2017, including three separate roadside ambushes in April and June that each killed six soldiers.

This years violence also targeted civilians. On May 10, two car-bombs exploded outside the Big C, a department store in Pattani town, injuring at least 69 people. Although BRN hardly ever claims responsibility for attacks, a supporter of the group told BenarNews that the rebel group had carried out the twin bombings.

Among the civilians killed this year was a relative of Dah, a rubber farmer in Yala province.

The woman was shot and killed at home, Dah told BenarNews.

I and my kin suspect that the BRN insurgents killed our relative. We dont know if she did anything to them or not to invite death to herself. Our family is so scared, Dah said.

Citing fears for her safety and reports that young BRN militants had infiltrated her village, she asked that BenarNews use only her nickname.

Dah expressed skepticism about the peace talks in 2017.

The government said the peace talks made progress, but how? They cannot explain how and why people kept getting killed, Dah said.

Elusive safety zone

In 2017, full delegations representing MARA Patani and the Thai government met twice in Kuala Lumpur  once in February and once in September. Their discussions hinged on implementing a safety zone, or limited ceasefire, in a yet-unnamed district in the Deep South.

Yet, nearly a year after the two sides agreed in February to a framework for such a truce, no such ceasefire has materialized.

According to a Thai security official, the ceasefire was delayed because MARA delegates demanded immunity from prosecution so they could venture into the Deep South to oversee the safety zones implementation, and this issue had not yet been resolved.

Heading into 2018, Thai negotiators will bring a comprehensive plan for a safety zone to the next meeting with MARA Patani, Maj. Gen. Sithi Trakulwong, the secretary for the Thai delegation, told BenarNews.

The plan includes a safe house, where officials from both sides will meet under secure conditions, he said.

The Safe House is a coordination office where representatives from the dissidents, Thai officials and local civil society would work together to deal with local people to hear their views on what the safety zone should be like, Sithi said.

After that, it could take another three months to implement the limited truce, he said.

Srisompob of Deep South Watch said he was optimistic about the peace process, noting that the meeting at the safe house was expected to take place next month.

The peace talks will be more tangible, given that the safety zone is being arranged.
Von: By HANNO KAUTZ

10 000 metres above Afghanistan: Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel (58, SPD) sits in the conference room of the governments airplane and answers BILDs questions about the future  about Europe, the grand coalition, the SPD, and his prospects of being a member of the next government. He doesnt know whether Afghanistan will have been his last trip abroad as Foreign Minister 

BILD: You have been Foreign Minister for about a year now. How has this affected you? Do you now see the world with different eyes?

Sigmar Gabriel: Ministers of Economy look for opportunities for their countries economies all around the world. Foreign Ministers do the same, but at the same time, they are confronted with worlds dark sides  misery, war, hunger. This also makes us humble, because obviously, even in our country, all that glitters is not gold. Theres poverty and injustice, too. However, compared to the rest of the world, we live under incredibly safe conditions.

What is the greatest threat to our way of life?

Gabriel: The greatest danger is to assume that things will continue to be as good as they are today. If you feel too safe, you ignore the great challenges. The greatest threat to us is that the number of people who pursue global politics in accordance with rules is decreasing. The US  which, of all countries, established these rules  feels less and less responsible for them. The law of the strongest then replaces the strength of the law. In this case, our world order falters.

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Do we therefore need the United States of Europe?

Gabriel: Europe has to learn to become a power that must be taken seriously in the world. So far, we have left this to others: France, the UK, the US. However, this cannot stay the same. Especially not if the US becomes an uncertain partner and new powers emerge, such as China. They play according to different rules. They play in a different league. Plus  in contrast to us  they have a global strategy.

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A united Europe might be important  but people dont care terribly much about this topic.

Gabriel: If by United States of Europe you mean the Europe that we know today, you might be right. But this is not about more of the same, but a different Europe. As French President Macron calls it  a Europe that protects.

I dont even find it too difficult to convince people of this new European idea. It works like this: China is growing, India is growing, Africa is growing. If your children still want to have a say, their voice must be European. Otherwise, our children will have no say in the world. Those are the alternatives.

Given that you are demanding more responsibility for Europe, why are you so hesitant about the NATO aim of spending two percent of the GNP on defence?

Gabriel: Because it is entirely unrealistic. Germany would have to double its defence budget. Moreover, its completely unnecessary. If we work together on defence at the EU level, we can save money and still take on more tasks. Finally, it would be disastrous if Germany wanted to lead Europe not only economically and politically, but also militarily.

The next government should not bow to this aim. We need more cooperation and efficiency. Today, we waste a lot of money in Europe because everybody does the same and nobody coordinates anything. This must change. Moreover, more military doesnt necessarily create more security. For instance, if you want to stop flight and displacement, you have to invest in education, economic development, and a better life in Africa.

Will you be a member of the next government? Or was the visit to Afghanistan before Christmas your last trip in office?

Gabriel: I dont know. But one thing is clear: just because Germany is taking so long to find a new government, the world doesnt sit still. Hence, in the Foreign Office, of course we take next year into account in our planning. Still, its a weird situation. It might sound a bit old-fashioned, but its important to fulfil your duties, regardless of whether  and how  things will continue. Thats what we have been elected for. To put it slightly humorously: it helps if youre a Prussian.

Does the long period of time taken to form a government harm our country?

Gabriel: Not domestically. Our institutions are far too strong for that. However, we have to prevent any external damage. We need more clarity in Europes policy soon. For that, we need a stable government.

How important are EU reforms for a new edition of the grand coalition?

Gabriel: It is not yet decided whether it makes sense to negotiate a coalition. One thing is clear: if the chancellery keeps rejecting all of the suggestions concerning an EU reform, there will be no coalition with the SPD. It is also clear: if the CDU keeps insisting that people with public health insurance will be treated worse than people with private health insurance, it also makes little sense to talk about forming a coalition.

The CDU/CSU and Angela Merkel were unsuccessful in their negotiations with the FDP and the Greens. One reason for that is that they never say what they want to govern for. Whats important for Germany? That should be the whole point  not all these party tactics. Now the CDU and CSU finally have to say what they want to do for Germany. They have to come out of hiding. The SPD is very clear in this respect.

Exploratory talks will start in Berlin on 7 January  without you. Are you annoyed about this?

Gabriel: No. If all of the SPD ministers were to participate in the negotiations, it would look as if everything were already settled. And thats not the case.

How important is the financial department to the SPD?

Gabriel: Who takes over which ministry has to be decided last of all. The point must not be minister positions and official cars, but the big issues like education, families, health and care, Europe, building homes, and much more.

How big a chance is there that there will be a grand coalition, after all?

Gabriel: That depends on what the CDU/CSU is willing to do for a strong and just Germany and a stable Europe. And on whether that convinces the SPD members.

If it doesnt work: what will then become of the SPD?

Gabriel: The future of the SPD doesnt depend on whether it is in government or not. It solely depends on how well we connect with the people in Germany again.
The battle for the most epic Xmas ad is reaching its zenith. I love this time of the year as big brands pull out all the stops to reach into consumers hearts and tug on their purse strings. These are my top festive season adverts so far.

Screengrab from ShowMax Ode to the Holidays.

"The performance" from Cost Plus World Market

When life hands you llamas, you should use them in a holiday ad, says Phil Fattore, senior copywriter from Barrett SF about this short holiday film from Cost Plus World Market. The ad features a boy learning to play the trumpet and, you guessed it, llamas. It captures the fragility of Christmas for children and the pressure to perform. It beautifully showcases the brands offbeat llama range, offering a fresh perspective on festive season gifts.

Christmas  Sway  Apple

In the cute-kid dominated arena of festive season ads this year, this one from Apple glides in elegantly with its gorgeous dancers and exquisite soundtrack, sweeping most of the competition under the snowy sidewalk. The dancers are a real-life married couple, Lauren Yalango-Grant and Christopher Grant, choreographed to Sam Smith's song Palace while showing -off Apples iPhone X and AirPod wireless headphones. Theres a healthy dose of love and product Fomo here, giving the traditional festive season family ads a run for their money.

John Lewis Christmas Ad 2017 - #MozTheMonster

Sorry Sainsburys, LIDL, ASDA, Aldi and other UK department stores, John Lewiss #MozTheMonster beat you to it this year. Currently, with 9.1 million views on YouTube, it uses a cute kid (oh yes!), a monster, the band Elbows interpretation the Beatles song Golden Slumbers and is directed by the legendary Michel Gondry. Its a lovely ad, but that said, the #MozTheMonster campaign cost a staggering 7m, so one would expect it to be pretty good.

ShowMax - Ode to the holidays

This glossy, funny South Africans on holiday ad is reminiscent of last years Pick n Pay festive season campaign #LetsGoOnHoliday; but its still a winner. I love local commercials like this which show our quirkiness, honesty and humour. Its not (contrary to other popular ads) the easiest time of the year and Showmax has cleverly tapped into that. Thank you to director Bevan Cullinan, who provides us with ads the extended cut, here.

A very merry mistake - #MirryChristmus #AirNZXmas

Air New Zealand (famous for recruiting the cast of The Hobbit for their safety video) manage be the heroes of this ad and poke fun at the Kiwi accent. The campaign leverages on, Share this video with someone who just cant get enough of the Kiwi accent, and has stirred up lots of viral humour online. Some of the YouTube comments are lovely: As a Scottish NZ'er it took me years to geet thus acceent royte, and Uts Ear Nu Zulend bruh... Mirry Crusmaz all our Kewi Frunds. Air New Zealand chief marketing manager Mike Tod says of the ad: "While it's no secret the Kiwi accent has been misunderstood at times, it's also a signature part of our service.

Turkey, every which way | Tesco #EveryonesWelcome

Possibly this festive seasons epic fail advert, but were always interested in a bit of controversy. And by bit I mean the massive social media backlash Tescos received for this ad which depicts a Muslim family celebrating Christmas. As one of the many haters on YouTube comments; That awkward moment when you forget to put even a token Christian in a Christmas advert. What do you think?
Death threats and intimidation drove one man to leave the country after exposing crumbling conditions within the province's health system.

Ace Magashule. Photo: David Harrison

When a former health department employee and activist revealed the shocking state of healthcare in the Free State under Ace Magashules former health MEC, he claimed he almost paid with his life.

In 2013, Sello Mokhalipi worked with civil society to lay bare medicine shortages in the Free State. At the time, Mokhalipi was the provincial chairperson of the Aids lobby group the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and had been seconded to the health departments of Healths provincial AIDS council.

Mokhalipi later told Bhekisisa that thugs attempted to force his car off the road twice. Fearing for his life, he fled the province with his family and some activists say he may have even attempted to seek refugee in Swaziland or Lesotho.

The Free State health department has consistently denied allegations that it attempted to intimidate the activist, who eventually returned to the province and formed his own association for people living with HIV.

public litigation organisation Section27 Mark Heywood says the problems in the province go far beyond intimation.

There's just the issue of the complete destruction of large parts of the Free State health system under Magashule and Malakoane. The Free State has lost about 25% of its public sector doctors in recent years. It's very, very difficult to recover from something like that," explains Heywood.

And as doctors fled, the provinces maternal mortality rose by almost 50%, revealed the 2014/2015 District Health Barometer report by research organisation the Health Systems Trust.

Section27 also helped represent almost 100 community health workers in a prolonged, nearly two-year battle. They had been arrested for staging a silent, non-violent protest outside the health department after Malakoane reportedly fired them without warning.

Magashules recent appointment as ANC secretary-general at the partys elective conference at Nasrec south of Johannesburg leaves Heywood and others disappointed to say the least.

I think there was an initial feeling of great relief when the victory of Cyril Ramaphosa was announced but it was followed rapidly by a feeling of deflation, and I must say for myself almost despair. The presence of Ace Magashule in particular, with DD Mabuza not far behind, can only make you think that Cyril Ramaphosa would not be able to clean up the government in the way that he has said he would while campaigning, he says.

We're better than we were yesterday or the day before but its certainly not the place we wanted to be in, Heywood adds.

But dentist and rural health activist Bulela Vava took to Twitter last night to say health advocates were livid with the election of both Magashule and Mabuza, who as deputy ANC president could stand a good chance of becoming the countrys next deputy president after the election in 2019.

Heywood says that in both provinces, crucial hospital CEO positions are still be allocated based on political connections rather than merit. Soon after taking office in 2009, health minister Aaron Motsoaledi attempted to deal with unqualified CEOs by forcing some to reapply for their jobs.

Mabuzas Mpumalanga health system has also hobbled along in recent years. In March, parliaments Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration/Monitoring and Evaluation issued a statement saying there was a crisis in public healthcare.

The bodys declaration followed an oversight visit during which it unearthed serious problems in financial management, including more than 12,000 unpaid invoices.

Mpumalanga racked up nearly R2-billion in irregular expenditure in its health department alone in 2014-15, according to the auditor generals report.

"The public health system is very broken in Mpumalanga, [and this] may be part of the financial expenditure problems," says TAC provincial chairperson Nqobile Tshabalala.

He explained: "The infrastructure is very bad and there's a shortage of skilled staff. Some of the clinics don't even have toilets."

While Tshabalala congratulated Mabuza on his appointment, he says Mabuza will have a lot to learn about the HIV should he ever become deputy president of South Africa - a position required by legislation to chair the national Aids council. Mabuza has been a somewhat absentee chair of his own provincial Aids council, a position that he and all premiers are required to fill. Under the new national HIV plan, these provincial bodies have assumed increasing responsibility for leading the countrys Aids response.
Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) is nearing completion of a $62m platinum group metal smelter at its Unki mine in Zimbabwe, meeting that government's demands for greater beneficiation of the industrial and precious metal.

Unki Mine. Photo: Amplats

The smelter is 70% complete, still needing electrical systems to be installed, and would be operating from mid-2018. This would ramp up to steady state production the following year, local Zimbabwean media reported smelter project manager Clifford Mutevhe as saying during a visit to the Unki mine.

Amplats, Impala Platinum (Implats) and Sibanye-Stillwater all have mines in Zimbabwe. Under former president Robert Mugabe, the government instructed platinum group metals (PGM) miners to consider beneficiating or adding value to its output in the country, or face a 15% export levy on shipments of concentrate south to smelters and refineries in SA.

Implats CEO Nico Muller said in September during his maiden results presentation that the imposition of the 15% tariff could lead to the closure of the Mimosa mine it shares with Sibanye and which does not have a smelter.

Amplats has opted to build a smelter at its only mine in Zimbabwe, but one which has the potential to expand if the government under new President Emmerson Mnangagwa softened its stance towards the mining sector, and became sustainably more business-friendly, as opposed to the hostile and difficult relationship under Mugabe's tenure.

The Unki smelter will generate a matte product that will be sent to SA to Amplats' base metals and precious metals refineries.

While the Zimbabwean government has called for metal to be refined in Zimbabwe, the cost of refineries to cope with the relatively small amount of metal coming from the country's mines is prohibitive at this stage. Beneficiation would also call for a co-ordinated approach from all platinum miners in the country, something which has not gained much traction.

An agreement signed between the Mugabe government and Pallinghurst Resources, the purveyors of the Kell technology, does away with the need for smelters and refineries. The argument was that Kell technology uses a lot less electricity than the conventional method.

With Amplats building a smelter and Implats operating a large smelting at the Selous Complex near Chegutu, it is highly unlikely that these two companies will participate in the construction of a proposed Kell processing plant, or supply it with concentrate.

The Kell plan was to roll out four Kell plants in Zimbabwe at a cost of between $90m and $100m each to produce 1.2-million ounces of the four platinum group elements, platinum, palladium, gold and rhodium, Pallinghurst CEO Arne Frandsen said in May this year.

In terms of the nascent agreement, the Zimbabwean government would own 51% of the beneficiation joint venture. Pallinghurst's platinum mining subsidiary, Sedibelo; SA's Industrial Development Corporation; and inventor Keith Liddell's company Lifezone, the exclusive holder of the Kell patent, would hold 49%.

Mining executives have been less than enthusiastic about the Kell process as the solution to appeasing the Zimbabwean government's demand for greater value-add for PGM exports. One went as far as saying Pallinghurst chairperson Brian Gilbertson was trying to get all the PGM miners in Zimbabwe to pay for one of his pet projects and that there were alternatives to Kell.
With unprecedented consumer access to information, the modern real estate industry is a vastly different place to that of just a few years ago. This increasing transparency into industry trends has raised questions over realtors' roles in today's market, and many sellers have debated whether an agent is really necessary at all.

According to Schalk van der Merwe, franchisee at Rawson Properties Helderberg, the answer to that question remains a resounding yes, but not necessarily for the same reasons as a decade ago.

Our profession has changed, says Van der Merwe. Its not just about connecting buyers and sellers and facilitating sales. The real value of a good, modern, real estate agent lies in their ability to interpret market information and apply  and communicate  those findings within a specific context.

Situational influences and aberrations

While homeowners can access most municipal, provincial and national property sales statistics online, Van der Merwe explains that the reports on offer seldom account for situational influences and aberrations. This partial picture, he says, can be misleading without contextual interpretation.

There is almost no information on the reasons behind record highs and record lows, or how those outliers impact the average sales prices and trends in an area, he says. Distressed sales, or sales in execution, also affect the numbers. Its information like this that builds a complete picture of the market, and without it, consumers risk making assumptions that could negatively impact the future of their investments.

Using his home territory of Somerset West as an example, Van der Merwe cites statistics claiming property growth of 27.4% from 2014 to 2016.

Thats a very healthy number, and one that should instil a lot of confidence in sellers in the area, he says, but theres no mention of whether the same figure holds true for full title, sectional title and vacant land. If you dig a little deeper, youll see full title properties havent performed as well as sectional title, and applying the same rules to both could lead to overvaluation of certain properties.

The general acceptance of decontextualised statistics like the above can present even greater challenges to the market, says Van der Merwe.

No need to panic

Sellers have seen the average time on market rising from 10 days in the third quarter of 2016 to 55 days in the second quarter of 2017 and are starting to panic about the future of their property investments, he says. Thats completely understandable, but also largely unnecessary.

He explains that, when taken in context with market performance over the last few years, the seemingly large increase is merely an indication of the normalisation of a strong seller's market.

Its a natural part of the property cycle, and probably overdue in the Western Cape, which has seen property prices bolstered by the high demand created by semigration, he says. Its definitely not just a reaction to our recent junk status. No market can sustain growth at the rate weve been seeing in Cape Town indefinitely  not when a similar increase in average income is not occurring.

There are, of course, a few exceptions.

There are still pockets of excellence where high growth is expected, says Van der Merwe, but again, the statistics dont always make this clear or obvious.

As a result, properties in the Western Cape are becoming more difficult to position accurately on the market, and the penalties for miscalculating are increasingly high.

Its more important than ever to take all available data into account  both current and historic  and then interpret it within your specific situation, says Van der Merwe. That takes a lot of knowledge and insight  something you can only get through years of on-the-ground experience. Its much more than just numbers, and thats where the true value of your realtor lies.
BAGHDAD - Iraq's oil ministry has called for bids for the construction of a pipeline to allow oil exports to resume from the northern province of Kirkuk to neighbouring Turkey.

Photo: Oilprice.com

The pipeline is to run for 350km and have a capacity of more than a million barrels per day, the ministry said.

It is to replace one built in the 1980s that was damaged in attacks by the Islamic State jihadist group.

Iraq had exported 250,000 to 400,000 barrels per day through that pipeline before IS jihadists swept across large parts of the country and neighbouring Syria in 2014.

The new pipeline will replace a section of the route from oil-rich Kirkuk province, under Baghdad's control since October, to the Mediterranean Turkish port of Ceyhan.

It will transport crude from the area of Baiji, in the province of Salaheddine to the south of Kirkuk, to the Fishkhabur border post with Turkey further north.

Foreign and domestic companies have a month to bid for the project, a quarter of which will be awarded to local companies, the ministry said.

Iraqi government and paramilitary forces moved in to take over Kirkuk and its oilfields after Iraqi Kurds in September voted for independence in a controversial referendum opposed by Baghdad.

The Baghdad government has declared victory over IS in Iraq, while US-backed forces are pressing a campaign to expel the jihadists from eastern Syria.

Iraq's monthly oil revenues rose 27.4% in November compared with September, according to oil ministry figures published Sunday.

Oil income was $4.9bn in September, when the price of a barrel of crude was hovering around $50. That rose to $6.2bn in November on slightly higher sales, as crude prices topped $57 per barrel.
To deal with challenges in the logistics freight services, a national logistics strategy is being drafted while Ethio-Djibouti railway is considered to significantly abate hurdles in the sector.

Stakeholders hope that the duo would help in overcoming persistent challenges relating to the adequacy of road transport fleet and warehouses as well as less coordinated services at borders and checkpoints - which have been incurring cargo importers and exporters with additional cost and time.

Yegna Transport Plc Managing Director Dejene Luchie says the custom process at checkpoints which rather is characterised by poor a logistics management system, and lack of coordination among goods' transporters is still creating bottlenecks. He adds that low-level development infrastructure, as well as the number and age of vehicles, are no fewer problems in reducing the quality of goods.

"System demands skilled and experienced personnel"

"In my view, more than anything else, Ethiopia's logistics system demands skilled and experienced personnel. Hence, pertinent bodies need to focus on building the capacity of service providers."

Moreover, the sector still lacks a comprehensive logistics strategy, he says, adding that the government along with sector's stakeholders has to come up with a sound strategy to spur the sector's contribution to the economic growth.

For him, it is also crucial to re-evaluate the current approach in a bid to install effective and supportive institutional environment as well as put a unified approach in place to logistics' policy. "In so doing, it is possible to reduce inefficiencies, duplication and inconsistencies in offering various services by all modes - rail, air, and road."

Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Services Enterprise (ESLSE) CEO Roba Megersa is of the same opinion with Dejene but differs as he says: "The facility and logistics sector has been marking progress over the last years."

He says the efforts being carried out so far has resulted in improving the sector's performance particularly in cutting transit time for import and export, reducing the average waiting time of commodities at seaport, and increasing the general cargo import-export carried by multimodal transport system.

World Logistics Index 2016 report shows that Ethiopia stands at 126th he says, mentioning that there about six variables which are used in ranking the countries.

"As a nation, we have set to minimise the Index rate to 56 by the end of the GTP II period." As regards to road transport fleet, Roba argues that the Ethio-Djibouti railway is a timely and efficient solution in increasing the competitiveness of the sector. He elaborates that the railway is capable of transporting up to 50% of the import-export freight, and the road services can effectively carry out the rest.

Trade and investment is growing by leaps and bounds, thus modernising logistic services is not a matter of option alone but it is a question of ensuring market competitiveness, he underlines.

The services being rendered currently have not been effective. We know that a number of containers of public and private institutions are piled up at seaport of Djibouti. "It will be evacuated to hinterland as soon as the railway commences operation in 2018. The railway is the best solution in this regard which increases investor and trader's efficiency. "

Plans to expand Modjo Dry Port

In addition, the enterprise has already planned to expand Modjo Dry Port to make it an East African logistics hub, he indicates, unveiling as $150m has been secured from World Bank to carry out the project. "The move is sure to help in doing away with the higher-than-average trade costs that have been undermining nation's international competitiveness. The project could assist in reducing burdensome regulations at customs, apart from financial services."

Admitting as there is no national logistics strategy, he notes that the enterprise is using the GTP II document as a frame of reference. But, vowed to push for the formulation of the strategy in cooperation with stakeholders.

For his part, Ethiopian Maritime Affairs Authority (EMAA) General Director Mekonnen Abera says in order to address bottlenecks specific to trade logistics, UNDP has commissioned study on the development of National Logistics Strategy - as per the request of the government.

He adds that the study attaches due emphasis on planning and implementing an efficient transportation and storage of goods, including financial services, and related information exchange systems - from the point of origin to the point of destination.

He elaborates: "The strategy can have tangible impacts on the effectiveness of the trading system and improvement of the nation's trade balance."

He also expressed hopes as the strategy will come to force soon after a thorough review by sector's stakeholders.

An attractive destination of international trade and investments

As Ethiopia is increasingly becoming one of the attractive destinations of international trade and investments, the strategy will help in modernizing the logistics' services to make it fit in the demands of the growing international brand investors.

Also, Ethiopian Railway Corporation (ERC) Communications Director Dereje Tefera indicates as the Ethio-Djibouti Railway cargo services can cut the transport time to only one day from previous three-day road services.

"Since, the corridor is responsible for 95% of import-export, the railway will become a game changer."

Asked to comment on the issue, Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA) Communication Directorate Director Samson Wondimu says road upgrading projects are underway at the Ethio-Djibouti corridor.

He also seized the opportunity to say that government has already put road construction on top of its priorities. Hence, the road network has been expanded from 54,000km to 114,000km over the last decades.

The GTP laid goals to reach the road network to 222,000km by end of the plan period.

The future has to be met with more efforts to fill the gaps and sustain the gains.

Since global trade depends on logistics; countries with efficient logistics' handling can easily connect firms to domestic and international markets through reliable supply chains. Otherwise, countries with inefficient logistics face high costs - both in terms of time and money in international trade and global supply chains.

Ethiopia's economy has experienced a strong growth, averaging at about 10.9% per year according to World Bank. An expansion in the service industry and agricultural sectors have accounted for most of the growth, with domestic consumption and public investment playing increasingly important roles over last the past years.

Currently, 44 container loading and 30 car loading associations are working with the ESLSE.
After reading Meeker County commissioners repent freak out about family's plan to donate 153 acres to DNR, a source directed our attention to somewhat similar behavior on the part of the Fillmore County Board of Commissioners.

Unlike the Meeker County Board, however, those in the Southeastern Minnesota county refused to change direction with regard to the property owners' wishes.

In the December 4 Fillmore County Journal, Karen Reisner reports in Motion for land acquisition fails:

An effort to get county support for the purchase of the Ione Larson farm to add to the Choice Wildlife Management Area again failed at the November 28 county board meeting. Mike Tenny, Department of Natural Resources, and Robert McGillivray, Trust for Public Land (non-profit conservation organization) had requested the resolution of support at an October 3 meeting. At that time commissioner Gary Peterson had requested input from Norway and Preble Townships. The 379 acres straddles both townships. The land now has five owners, members of the Ione Larson Family Trust. Tenny met with both township boards. He said there was no opposition from the township boards. Tenny said road maintenance was also discussed. The plan was to use Outdoor Heritage Funds with the DNR also contributing Reinvest in Minnesota (RIM) funds. McGillivray explained due to the use of RIM funding, county board approval was needed. He noted that this RIM funding, used for DNR purchases, is not the same as the RIM program used by private landowners. Commissioner Duane Bakke suggested that the use of RIM funds allows a higher price to be paid for the land. Payment in lieu of taxes (PILT) would be made to the county on the property if this sale went through, which would be comparable to property tax revenue. Brett Larson, representing the trust, insisted the price wasnt higher, but that the price was set by an appraisal. Bakke said he still objected to the sale because of loss of tillable ground. He recognizes the right of landowners to sell to who they want, but he wasnt interested in giving more tillable land to the DNR. Larson said the five owners were happy with this buyer and they were concerned about the preservation of the land. The offer was fair market value. It is important for the new owner to be a good steward of the land. Peterson signaled his concern had been satisfied when the township boards were allowed to give their input. Commissioner Marc Prestby noted he had voted yes last time, but recognizes now the concern for the tillable land. Tenny commented that all but about 30 acres of the tillable land is highly erodible. Some of the owners do not want to subdivide the land, separate the tillable land. Commissioner Mitch Lentz acknowledged it is difficult to stand in the way of individuals doing what is wanted with their property. Larson maintained this is a buyer that we are confident will manage the land the way we want. Peterson made a motion to support the purchase. The motion died for lack of a second. . . .

Got a piece of marginal land and want to do right by conservation and outdoor recreation? Forget about it. Someone might want to farm your land. Reisner reported in October's County asked to approve land acquisitions:

Mike Tenney, area DNR Wildlife Supervisor, and Robert McGillivray, Trust for Public Land (a non-profit conservation organization), answered questions concerning two separate requests for board approval of land acquisitions for wildlife management areas at the October 3 meeting of the county board. The first request was for the acquisition of 379 acres that straddle Preble and Norway Townships now owned by the Larson Family. The intention is for the land to be purchased primarily using Outdoor Heritage Funds with some funding being contributed by the DNR using Reinvest in Minnesota (RIM) funds. The Trust for Public Land would transfer the land to the DNR for the Choice Wildlife Management Area. This property has been owned by the Larson family for generations. Brent Larson, trustee for the five family owners, said the family wants the natural beauty of the land preserved. The family was not interested in subdividing the land. Chairman Randy Dahl asked about the crop land. Tenney said the portion being cropped is highly erodible. Thirty-four acres are in CRP. Ten acres are being used as a stream buffer. The property includes a portion of Maple Creek, a designated trout stream. Tenney said the plan is for the cropped portion to eventually be seeded with natural prairie plantings. Commissioner Duane Bakke questioned the need for county board approval. McGillivray suggested that due to the use of some RIM funds county board approval is needed. Tenney commented that the county could stop the sale of land in some instances; for example, for public safety. Bakke was concerned that land currently being cropped will be taken out of production, converting it to something other than crop land. Bakke didnt believe the board should have the right to affect the sale. Dahl noted that some of his familys land is similar (highly erodible); it is being put into the pollinator program. . . .

Anti-public land talking points? Much more important than being able to sell your property to whom you wish. In this case, the land would be part of the DNR's Choice Wildlife Management Area, described in a page on the Nature Conservancy's website:

The Nature Conservancy protected 1,054 acres in the Root River watershed in Fillmore County. The property is now owned and managed by Minnesota DNR as Choice Wildlife Management Area. The property spans the bluffs along Vesta Creek, which flows into the Root River, a Mississippi River tributary. Vesta Creek is one of only a few streams in the state that is home to native brook trout and contains relatively few introduced brown trout, a good indicator of exceptional water quality and aquatic habitat. In all, more than five miles of cold-water trout stream meander through the property. In addition to the stream and 210 acres of floodplain, the property also includes hardwood forest, oak savanna, oak-hickory woodland and bluff prairie. Its long, southwest-facing bluff prairie is ideal habitat for the state-threatened timber rattlesnake. Choice WMA is the largest acquisition completed under the Conservancys Southeast Minnesota Protection and Restoration Program. Funding for the property was provided by the Outdoor Heritage Fund, which was created under the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment, through an appropriation by the Minnesota Legislature as recommended by the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council. Choice WMA is open to the public for hiking, photography and bird-watching. The Minnesota State Constitution requires property purchased with Outdoor Heritage Fund dollars to be open to the public taking of fish and game during the open season. Hunting, trapping and fishing is allowed on this property in accordance with DNR Wildlife Management Areas rules published in the Hunting and Trapping Regulations Handbook.

Surely, the delicate flower that is Minnesota agriculture would collapse were 379 acres be added to that tract, which the Post Bulletin's John Weiss wrote up in 2016's New WMA offers 1,050 acres of possibilities. Cherish the corn and beans. Screw the deer hunters and anglers.



Photo: Vesta Creek in the Choice WMA. TNC website. Apparently, the Larson's family choice of their land for the Choice isn't their choice.

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British household debt is expected to continue its "alarming" increase over the next four years, the countrys shadow chancellor John McDonnell has said.

His prediction came after the British Labour party analysed data to claim average unsecured debt per household is projected to increase from 14,426 this year to 15,035 in 2018 and potentially 19,146 by 2022.
Tesco has apologised after some UK customers complained the turkey they bought for their Christmas dinner was "rotten" or "gone off".

The supermarket's social media feeds were bombarded by angry customers who claimed the centrepiece of their festive meal was either inedible or had made people ill.

Among them was Kirsten Shore, an events manager from Stafford, who said she was "devastated" that her Christmas meal was ruined.

She tweeted: "Thanks @Tesco for selling me a gone off turkey & wrecking my 1st xmas day cooked at my home! 250 wasted, an awful meal and 8sick people!"

The 29-year-old, who alongside her husband Dan was hosting their first family Christmas, said they realised something was wrong when they tasted the turkey and the gravy made from the giblets.

She said: "My mum bought the turkey and prepared it and we put it in the fridge. Then we cooked it and I was so proud of it.

"It seemed fine and we sat down at the dinner table and everybody seemed a bit quiet.

"I took a mouthful of turkey and spat it out. It tasted of bleach and everyone else realised the reason everything was a bit funny was because the gravy was made from the giblets.

"It's almost like they've washed the turkey in bleach - it was awful.

"It cost me 250 to buy everything and we had to chuck everything away."

She said she is yet to hear from Tesco since she messaged them on Christmas Day and wanted an apology.

"I'm not going to lie, I know it sounds ridiculous, but it broke my heart - it ruined the day," she said.

"From just one mouthful we've all been really ill."

Tesco apologised to Maria Savva-Chirambo after she tweeted: "@Tesco Have not had a reponse to my message dated Xmas Eve 24th Dec about my gone off turkey,Please assist."

A member of the supermarket's social media team replied: "Hi Maria I'm very sorry your turkey was off and I can understand how disappointing this would be. Can you send us a DM confirming your full name, address, postcode and email address you log into your account with? 1/2"

Other complaints included those from Craig Spooner, who tweeted: "Thanks for ruining Christmas dinner @Tesco In date fresh turkey roast in tin breast gone off. No Christmas dinner for us this year. Raiding freezer for turkey replacement, @BirdsEye chicken chargrill currently in pole position. #HouseStinksOfRottenTurkey #ChristmasDinnerRuined."

And Craig Taylor, who vented: "@Tesco well thank you for ruining my Christmas dinner with the rotten turkey you sold us!! Absolutely disgusting smell can't get rid of it. stored correctly and now have no turkey for Xmas."

Thanks for ruining Christmas dinner @Tesco In date fresh turkey roast in tin breast gone off. No Christmas dinner for us this year. Raiding freezer for turkey replacement, @BirdsEye chicken chargrill currently in pole position. #HouseStinksOfRottenTurkey #ChristmasDinnerRuined pic.twitter.com/L3cykKAl4l  Craig Spooner (@CraigSpooneruk) December 25, 2017

A Tesco spokesman said: "We've sold hundreds of thousands of great quality British turkeys this Christmas.

"We have exceptionally high standards so we will look to address the small number of complaints in recent days.

"We will get in touch with each customer so we can investigate how these instances may have happened."

A Tesco Ireland spokesperson said: "All turkeys sold in Tesco stores in Ireland, fresh and frozen, are 100% Irish and Bord Bia approved. This year, we donated 1 to Temple Street Children's University Hospital for every fresh turkey sold.

"We're really pleased with our customer's feedback on our turkeys. There has been a small number of complaints from customers in the UK about turkeys sold, out of the hundreds of thousands of great turkeys sold by Tesco UK this Christmas, and our colleagues in Tesco UK are now investigating these instances."
Update 8.45pm: Moving tributes are being paid following the death in Perth Australia of Charles John McCarthy, a 32-year-old father-of-two from Cork, who died following a violent incident with a local fisherman shortly before Christmas.

Mr McCarthy emigrated to Australia in the 2000s, but returned to Aghada, with his wife, for a period, before they returned to live and work in Perth. The couple has two children  Ciara, five, and Niall, two.

A 34 year old man has appeared in front of Perth Magistrates Court and has been charged with assault causing grievous bodily harm but the court heard this charge would likely be upgraded to murder or manslaughter after a post mortem.

Parish priest in Aghada, Fr Denis Kelleher, said he prayed with Mr McCarthys parents, Charlie and Margaret, at their home on Saturday, shortly after news of the attack, when medics were holding out little hope of Mr McCarthys survival.

He said there has been a great sense of sadness and shock in the community.

He said the family were all remembered in masses in the parish, over Christmas, and he said he hoped to provide continued support to the family, in the difficult days ahead.

Mr McCarthy was described as quiet, but very popular and very committed to Aghada GAA club, where his sisters, twins Sinead and Siobhan, play with Aghada junior ladies football team.

Reacting to the death this evening Mr McCarthy's eldest sister described the father-of-two as "the best daddy in the world".

Speaking to Independent.ie Karina Dolan went on to say Mr McCarthy's wife and children "were everything to him."

"Charlie was my pet, he was home last year for the wedding and that was the last time I held him in my arms.

"He was beautiful inside and out. He was just the best, you couldn't put it into words. He had a heart of gold and he was never once in an ounce of trouble."

In an emotional tribute Ms Dolan went on: "Honestly, if you had met him, he was just so loved and had the heartiest laugh. We have to be strong for him now because he was strong for us".

Mr McCarthy's cousin, Lorna Stinson, also posted a tribute on Facebook: Our beautiful cousin taken far too soon. My heart goes out to all our family, who have been robbed of a son, husband, brother, uncle, cousin and father to two beautiful children.

Aghada parish tweeted yesterday: Let us keep his family in Perth, and here at home in Aghada, in our prayers.

Aghada ladies football team also posted on Facebook: Our thoughts and prayers are with all the McCarthy family, at this sad time.

Update 6pm: Australian man 'likely to face murder or manslaughter charges' following death of Cork dad-of-two

A 34-year-old Australian man could face a murder or manslaughter charge following the death of a Cork dad-of-two after incident in Perth.

The accused has been named as 34-year-old Andrew Doan, according to Australian website PerthNow

Mr Doan appeared infront of Perth Magistrates Court on earlier and was charged with assault causing grievous bodily harm but the court heard this charge would likely be upgraded to murder or manslaughter after a post mortem.

The victim, Charles John McCarthy, died after an alleged fight with the fisherman.

A row broke out, during which Mr McCarthy fell to the ground after being allegedly stabbed in the temple.

It is unclear what prompted the altercation but it is understood he was attacked with a screwdriver.

Mr Doan's lawyer said his client's actions were more consistent with self-defence or accident during a bail application.

He also said the accused a "compassionate, generous, kind and harmless father" intends to defend himself at a trial.

Police prosecutors opposed the bail application on the grounds that it would be inappropriate to release Mr Doan from custody when the matter was likely to be sent to a higher court.

The application has been adjourned until next month pending the outcome of the post mortem.

Mr Doan's fiance and family did not comment as they left the court.

Earlier: Man charged after Cork father-of-two dies in Australia

An Irish man has died after an alleged fight with a fisherman in Australia.

The victim has been named locally as Charles John McCarthy, who is a father-of-two from Cork, who had been living in Perth, Western Australia for a number of years.

Mr McCarthy, originally from Aghada in east Cork, was walking with his wife Nicole and a friend on Riverside Road in East Freemantle, Perth, in the early hours of Saturday, December 23, when they stopped to speak to two anglers.

A row broke out with one of them during which Mr McCarthy fell to the ground after being allegedly stabbed in the temple.

It is unclear what prompted the altercation but it is understood he was attacked with a screwdriver.

He was taken to Royal Perth Hospital where he was placed on life support in a critical condition after his wife raised the alarm.

His brother Daniel flew over to be at his bedside, along with other family members, when the life support was switched off yesterday.

Police arrested a 34-year-old man from Freemantle who has been charged with assault causing grievous bodily harm after appearing in court on Christmas Eve.

Mr McCarthy is survived by his wife Nicole and children Ciara (5) and two-year-old Niall, his parents Charlie and Margaret and his siblings in Cork.

The official Twitter account of Aghada Parish has paid tribute to Mr McCarthy.

So sorry to hear of the passing of Charlie McCarthy of Upper Aghada who lived in Perth with his young family. Let us keep his family in Perth and here at home in Aghada in our prayers. Picture is of Charlie's family from Facebook via the Irish Times pic.twitter.com/1XRcDBQLye  Aghada Parish (@AghadaParish) December 26, 2017

East Cork County Councillor Danielle Twomey, who knows the McCarthy family said Charlie was a lovely man.

"He was very quiet but popular. The whole community was very fond of him," she told Cork's Evening Echo.

"It is very sad what happened. The whole community is behind his family here in Cork."

- Digital Desk, Roisin Burke and Eoin English
The Capuchins say they gave out over 5,000 bags of food this Christmas.

The religious order which runs a day centre for the homeless in Dublin city centre claims more than 200 people turned up for breakfast yesterday morning alone.
Gardai in Dublin are appealing for witnesses to a serious assault on a taxi driver to come forward.

The assault happened on December 18 after the driver picked up a fare on St Stephen's Green North at about 2.30am.

The passenger asked to be taken to Stillorgan and became disruptive. The taxi driver stopped on Baggot St across from the AIB.

The driver tried to get out of the car but the passenger slammed the door, hitting the driver in the face, and causing him serious injuries to his eye.

Gardai say the man then walked along Ely place and back towards Stephen's Green.

He is described as 25 to 30 years old, around 5'7" with short hair and a casual jacket. He spoke with a Dublin accent.

Gardai are asking anyone who was in the Baggot St area on December 18 at around 2.30am to contact them at Pearse Street Garda Station on 01 666 9000.

They would also like to speak to other taxi drivers in the area at the time.
Hikers and hill walkers are being urged to listen to weather forecasts and safety warnings, before heading for high ground.

It follows three search and rescue missions in the past 24 hours, on Ireland's highest mountain, Carrauntoohil.
A 43-year-old woman stabbed to death on Christmas Day at a house in Lisburn, Co Antrim, died a "hero", according to her daughter.

Jayne Toal Reat was fatally stabbed and died at the scene around 6am on Monday morning despite the efforts of emergency service paramedics.

Charlotte Reat, the victims daughter, and another man, also suffered stab wounds and were taken to hospital.

Both have now been discharged.

Police have arrested a 19-year-old man on suspicion of murder.

In a Facebook post Charlotte Reat said her mother died in her arms after giving up her own life to save her.

The 21-year-old was herself stabbed in the face, head and neck during the attack.

In the emotional post Charlotte pledged to get justice for her "hero" mother and went on say that she wished she could "trade places" with her mother.

Charlotte thanked everyone for their support and called it a "day I will never forget.

Speaking to The Irish News local SDLP MLA Pat Catney said his thoughts and prayers were with the womans family and friends at this extremely difficult time.

I would urge anyone with information, however small, about what happened here to bring it forward as soon as possible.

Alliance Party councillor for the area Amanda Grehan said there was shock among residents of the Mornington area, which is a relatively new mixed housing development.

My thoughts are with the loved ones of the victim. Christmas Day is one most people spend with their families and is full of joyous moments. However, now we have one family plunged into grief and despair, she said.

Also speaking to the Irish News, DUP councillor Jonathan Craig said he was deeply shocked.

Its an incredibly tragic incident and our sympathies and prayers go to those whose loved ones have died.

Meanwhile,

Meanwhile, in a separate inquiry an 18-year-old man has been questioned on suspicion of murder following the death of a 16-year-old boy in Co Down on Christmas Eve.

According to Irish News the teenager, named locally as Conor Robb (16), was found dead in his home in Castlewellan.

The website report a PSNI spokeswoman as confirming that "detectives were investigating the death of a teenage male in the Castlewellan area on Sunday ... An 18-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murder has been released on bail pending further enquiries"

- Digital desk
The owner of Patrick Pearse's handwritten surrender letter has accused the Government of apathy over the unique 1916 artefact after it was taken out of the country.

The note, penned by the rebel leader in his prison cell to mark the end of the Rising, had been on display in the GPO in Dublin for over a year after a minister refused to pay the 1m valuation and then blocked its export.

The US-based owner, who wishes to remain anonymous, paid 800,000 for it at auction in 2006 but said his original motivation was to ensure it stayed in Ireland.

He also said he put it back up for sale only to recoup his investment.

In a statement to the Press Association through a representative, the owner said: "The reaction of visitors who stare with reverence and respect has been a welcome riposte by the citizenry to official apathy."

Despite repeated approaches to Government, no deal on a sale could be reached with the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, prompting the owner to remove it from the GPO in the days before Christmas.

It is understood it was being hand delivered to New York today after the one-year export ban lapsed.

The owner said: "I never sought to profit from my custodianship, I merely wished to recoup the cost of purchase when the time came to pass on the baton I picked up in 2006.

"Unfortunately, as there was nobody willing to take my place I will continue to protect and preserve this important national treasure albeit outside of Ireland now."

The letter failed to sell at auction in December 2016.

At the time the Government insisted the guide price of between 1m and 1.5m was too dear.

The Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht said it would not disclose if it had been in talks with the owner to buy the letter.

"It is consistent departmental policy not to comment in any way on official interests or discussions relating to the possible acquisition of heritage items for the national collections, either by way of sale or auction," a spokeswoman said.

Just over a year ago the note was signed it into the Register of Cultural Objects, a tome of records held in Killarney, by then minister Heather Humphreys.

It is the first privately held item to have been put on the protective list and barred from being exported.

The owner said it was a fitting recognition for the cultural value of Pearse's letter.

But he added: "It is perhaps less fitting that in the national bank of cultural capital there are insufficient funds to keep it in Ireland now that the one year export ban has elapsed."

The owner explained his thinking behind buying the letter over a decade ago.

"I am not of Ireland but in 2006 I was moved by a piece of Irish history," he said.

"The final order to surrender, written by Patrick Pearse from his cell in 1916 are not just words on a page.

"The order is history brought to life in our hands.

"Irish lives were lost for the want of this letter, and Irish lives saved, and a nation was beget.

"The first faltering steps of a nation can be traced in every stroke of a pen.

"Mere knowledge of the words was not enough in 1916, the Volunteers required sight of the order, and my first sight of it moved me to buy it and keep it in Ireland."

It had been suggested that the owner could avail of a tax break to the valuation if it was donated to the state.

Pearse wrote the letter in his prison cell on April 30, 1916.

Auctioneers regard it as one of the most historically significant artefacts from the rebellion years to have been offered publicly.

One of seven typed copies of the letter, produced by the British Army in the days after the Rising ended, sold at auction in London this year for close to 300,000.
Update - 10.59am: Kerry Mountain Rescue and the Valentia Coastguard have stood down their search for a missing hillwalker.

It is understood the man, believed to be a Polish national in his 30s, has been found and taken to hospital.

He is reported to be suffering from severe cold and exposure.

He spent the night on the eastern McGillyCuddy Reeks after getting into difficulty at around 8pm yesterday.

The man was spotted edging his way down a snow covered ridge after he called for help late on St Stephen's Day.

Kerry Mountain Rescue said the man had been walking slowly in an area known as The Bone above the Hag's Glen when he was spotted.

He was winched off the mountain by the Shannon-based Rescue and brought to hospital.

The man set off on Christmas Day and is understood to have been well-equipped with a tent and other winter mountain hiking gear but he raised an alarm late the following day after his tent was damaged.

The Coastguard helicopter had reported an earlier sighting of a man descending the mountain and were able to winch him up into the aircraft.

He has since been taken to University Hospital Kerry for treatment.

Earlier:

By Anne Lucey

Rescuers have divided into five teams in the search for a man in the Macgillycuddy Reeks near Killarney, Co. Kerry, this morning.

The Kerry Mountain Rescue team resumed its search at first light after the man who had been walking in the Reeks since Christmas Day got into difficulty and rang the emergency services at around 8pm last night.

Communication had been poor and limited and the team now believe he may be in the Hags Glen Area of Carrauntoohil rather than further south in the Black Valley.

They have divided in a widened sweep of the Reeks and the Shannon-based search and rescue helicopter is assisting now with visibility having improved. Earlier it had had to return to Kerry Airport.

Alan Wallace, spokesman for KMRT, said they have few personal details of the man whose English appeared to be very limited. He told them he had set out on Christmas Day and it appears his tent had been damaged.

There is heavy snow and ice on high ground.

Valentia Coastguard are co-ordinating the search this morning.

Mr Wallace said: "The communication with the guy was very limited yesterday, both in terms of the quality of the coverage and also his english didn't appear to be particularly good.

"We're not a hundred percent, we've got some vague descriptions of where he might be, so we're searching those areas.

"I would just add that the helicopter has spotted someone coming down the mountainside, and we'll keep an eye on him."

File photo.

Three Irish people had to be rescued yesterday. One man in his 40s had reached the summit of Carrauntoohil and got into difficulty.

The man who is understood to be from Kerry was assisted down the mountain but had become severely chilled and had to be taken by ambulance to University Hospital Kerry where it is understood he was kept overnight.

Later two men, in their 30s, again believed to be from the Kerry and west Limerick area became stuck on steep ground between the summit of Carrauntoohil and the Devils Ladder. They did not need medical attention and were walked down by rescuers.
A prominent activist who calls himself the Ultra Vulgar Butcher for mocking and pressuring Chinese officials has been given an eight-year prison sentence for subversion.

The Tianjin Number 2 Intermediate People's Court yesterday handed down the sentence after finding activist Wu Gan guilty of subverting state power.

Wu will appeal the sentence, his lawyer Ge Yongxi told The Associated Press.

Wu had become known among rights advocates and lawyers for his attention-grabbing campaigns.

In one, he posed for online portraits brandishing knives that he said he would use to "slaughter the pigs" among local officials who had done wrong.

In court yesterday, Wu struck an irreverent note in his remarks following the sentence, saying he was "grateful to the party for granting me this lofty honour," according to Ge, who was in court.

"I will remain true to our original aspiration, roll up my sleeves and make an extra effort," Wu said, playing on well-known phrases Chinese President Xi Jinping often uses to exhort Communist Party officials to improve their work.

Wu was among the first activists and lawyers caught up in an intense crackdown by authorities that began in 2015. His secretive one-day trial was held in August after a detention of more than two years.

Activists like Wu focused on individual cases instead of challenging Communist Party policy at the national level, making them a greater headache for local officials than for Beijing.

"With extraordinary courage and disdainful words, Wu Gan set the tone for this so-called 'trial' against him," said his friend and fellow activist Wu Yuren.

"It will inspire more and more people to stomp on this government that seems powerful yet doesn't have the authority of the people."

The court said on Tuesday in an online statement that Wu Gan had made many remarks online that "attacked state power."

It accused him of hyping cases that "discredited state organs" by organising illegal public gatherings, causing trouble, and making abusive comments online about others. It said such actions were part of a series of criminal activities seeking to "overthrow state power and the socialist system".

Wu had also worked as an administrative assistant at the Beijing Fengrui Law Firm, which had worked on sensitive cases and became the focus of the crackdown that began in July 2015.

Hundreds of lawyers, activists and others were detained in a coordinated nationwide sweep that sent a chill through China's activist community. Many were later released.

Vaguely defined subversion charges are frequently levelled against human rights activists and perceived political foes of the ruling Communist Party.

Wu was detained in May 2015, after travelling to the southeastern city of Nanchang to put pressure on a judge.

Defence lawyers had been denied access to files in a case in which four men were serving prison time for a double murder despite a later confession from a fifth man.

Wu had said on social media that he planned to hold a mock funeral for the judge and was arrested after unfurling a banner that insulted him.

In a separate case on Tuesday, a court in central China convicted the lawyer Xie Yang for inciting subversion of state power but exempted him from criminal penalties after he admitted to the charges.

The German Embassy said in a statement it was disappointed with Wu's harsh sentence and Xie's conviction. "In both cases there have been serious concerns about violations of due process of law including restrictions on the access to independent legal counsel," it said.

The crackdown has drawn international scrutiny, with many Western governments criticising it.

AP
Russian President Vladimir Putin has submitted his endorsement papers to election authorities.

Mr Putin is running for his fourth term in office as an independent candidate.

The law requires all independents to secure an endorsement from at least 500 people. If given the green light, the candidate will then be allowed to collect signatures necessary to be allowed on the ballot.

Mr Putin's visit to the Central Election Commission today comes a day after a group of his supporters, ranging from politicians to athletes, signed up to his nomination.

Mr Putin's most formidable foe, Alexei Navalny, submitted his papers on Sunday but the bid was rejected on Monday because of a criminal conviction he and supporters consider political retribution.

With approval ratings around 80%, Mr Putin is poised to easily win the vote in March.
A 24-year-old man is facing a slew of felony charges for illegal straw purchase of 21 guns at gun stores, almost exclusively in Bucks County. Leonard Truesdale was arraigned on Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022, on 21 counts each of making false statements on firearm purchase forms, criminal conspiracy to make false statements on firearm purchase forms and selling or transferring...
Fifteen ways UB researchers changed the world  and made headlines  in 2017

This year, UB researchers explored humanity's origins with new papers explaining how ancient trysts with Neanderthals and other hominin species may have contributed to modern humans' DNA. Credit: Bob Wilder/University at Buffalo.

From developing a pneumonia vaccine to desalinating water with the sun, here are some highlights from a year of discovery

BUFFALO, N.Y.  We studied the roots of schizophrenia. We explored the origins of the Yeti myth. We designed a solar-powered water purifier, a vaccine for pneumonia, and a cybersecurity system that scans the dimensions of a users heart. In 2017, University at Buffalo students and faculty broke new scientific ground and pushed creative boundaries in ways that will benefit human societies for years to come. News outlets worldwide took note, with coverage of UB projects in the New York Times, NPR, The Atlantic and more.

Storytelling | Making comic book history

UB English professor Nnedi Okorafor speaks at TEDGlobal 2017  Builders, Truth Tellers, Catalysts  in Arusha, Tanzania. Credit: Bret Hartman/TED.

UB English professor Nnedi Okorafor made headlines as the creative mind behind Blessing in Disguise, the first Marvel comic set in a real African city. The tale follows teenage heroine Ngozi as she fights evil in Lagos, Nigeria. Okorafor says the character was inspired by the story of perseverance of Nigerias Chibok girls, who were abducted by Boko Haram. Okorafor also wrote Marvel's Black Panther comic this year, with her story line, Long Live the King, debuting in December. In a TED Talk, Okorafor discussed how she is helping to redefine the fantasy genre, saying, My science fiction had different ancestors  African ones. As featured in CNN, Reuters, Quartz, okayafrica

Technology | Clean water, via sunlight

A floating solar still prototype that researchers used for some experiments. Credit: University at Buffalo.

Cybersecurity | Your heart as a log-in

Credit: Bob Wilder/University at Buffalo.

Worried about cybersecurity? Cant remember passwords? UB computer engineer Wenyao Xu has an answer. His team designed a computer security system that uses your heart as a log-in. The platform employs low-level Doppler radar to verify the shape of your heart, then monitors continuously to make sure no one else has stepped in to run your machine. As featured in The Boston Globe, Popular Mechanics, Scientific American

Human origins | The Neanderthal in all of us

Credit: Bob Wilder/University at Buffalo.

Scientists have known for several years that the ancestors of modern humans interbred with other hominin species, including Neanderthals. But what is the legacy of these ancient trysts? Studies led by UB biologist Omer Gokcumen are helping to answer that question. One identified Neanderthal DNA that may affect the health of people in Western Asia today. Another, co-authored by UBs Stefan Ruhl, a renowned expert in salivary research, found that modern populations in sub-Saharan Africa likely inherited a variant of an important salivary gene from an unknown ghost species of archaic human. As featured in VICE, The Guardian, IFLScience, Northeast Public Radio

Law | Freedom of the press

Stock image. May not be republished.



The right to privacy. The freedom of the press. In a new book  Newsworthy: The Supreme Court Battle Over Privacy and Press Freedom  UB law professor Samantha Barbas revisits a seminal 1967 court case that pitted these rights against each other. The book explores legal and cultural wars surrounding the Supreme Courts decision in Time Inc. v. Hill, which upheld press freedoms at the expense of privacy. Though 50 years have passed, the themes resonate today as digital reporting fuels new tensions between privacy and the press. As featured in SCOTUSblog, Inside Higher Ed

Health | Concussion recovery in young athletes

Stock image. May not be republished.

Cocooning, or severely restricting physical activity, may not be the best way to recover from a concussion. Researcher John Leddy of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB first proposed this idea about a decade ago, and now, new treatment guidelines are reflecting this view. The recommendations draw on years of research by Leddy and UBs Barry Willer suggesting that controlled exercise can speed recovery. As featured in The New York Times, WKBW

Health | Cancer risks in older women

Jean Wactawski-Wende, dean of the University at Buffalo School of Public Health and Health Professions.

A study of more than 65,000 postmenopausal women found that those with a history of gum disease also had a higher risk of cancer. The research, led by Jean Wactawski-Wende, dean of the UB School of Public Health and Health Professions, sheds light on factors affecting the health of older American women. As featured in The New York Times, Reuters, TIME

Medicine | A new pneumonia vaccine?

Blaine Pfeifer, left, and Charles Jones. Credit: Onion Studio

A new immunization for pneumonia targets 72 strains of bacteria that cause the disease  including dozens that current vaccines dont cover. UB researchers reported these results in the fall, marking another step forward for Abcombi Biosciences, a startup launched by UB PhD graduate Charles Jones and UB chemical and biological engineering professor Blaine Pfeifer to develop the vaccine. As featured in New Atlas, CBC Radio, New York Daily News

Environment | Fish on Zoloft?

Stock image. May not be republished.

Human antidepressants are polluting waterways and building up in the brains of fish. A team led by UB chemist Diana Aga found these pharmaceuticals or their metabolized remnants in the brain tissue of 10 species in the Niagara River. Wastewater treatment plants dont remove the chemicals from water, so fish are receiving this cocktail of drugs 24 hours a day, Aga said. This may endanger biodiversity. As featured in The Buffalo News, Michigan Radio, USA Today, Radio Canada International

Society | Immigration and wages

Abigail Cooke. Credit: Douglas Levere/University at Buffalo

Cities that welcome foreign-born residents may have brighter economic prospects, too. In a year of contentious debate on immigration, UB geographer Abigail Cooke weighed in with a new study showing that diverse immigrant populations can boost wages, with benefits going disproportionately to communities that embrace newcomers. As featured in The Atlantics CityLab, NPR, CBS MoneyWatch

Society | Graphic violence on the news

Matthew Grizzard. Credit: Douglas Levere/University at Buffalo



A study on news coverage of violence could help editors make better decisions about how to cover tragic events. Led by UB communication expert Matthew Grizzard, the research found that showing graphic content increases moral sensitivity and the desire to help victims. The study gauged how people responded to more and less graphic versions of a TV news story on a mass execution conducted by ISIS militants. As featured in The New York Times, NPRs The Takeaway, Quartz

Parenting | How to talk to kids about death

Stock image. May not be republished.



Disney and Pixar movies are often tear-jerkers, with highly emotional plots. Caregivers can take advantage of these storylines, using the films as a springboard to educate children about sensitive subjects, says UB communication expert Kelly Tenzek, who co-authored a paper on the topic. These films can be used as conversation starters for difficult and what are oftentimes taboo topics like death and dying, she says. As featured in The Guardian, U.S. News and World Report

Business | The best diversity training

Stock image. May not be republished.

Effective diversity training helps people understand other perspectives and cultures. Changing behaviors, however, is more difficult  and poor training can backfire and reinforce stereotypes. Thats what UB School of Management expert Kate Bezrukova discovered by examining more than 40 years of research. The best programs, she found, are integrated with other initiatives, focus on developing both awareness and skills, and take a significant length of time, demonstrating organizational commitment to diversity. As featured in Harvard Business Review, Psychology Today and Business News Daily.

Mind | Mini brains and schizophrenia

In cerebral organoids generated from stem cells of patients with schizophrenia, disruption in the layers of stem cell (red) surrounding the brain-like ventricles was evident as early as two weeks into the development of the organoids. Credit: M. Stachowiak, Creative Commons.

New work by UB medical researchers Michal and Ewa Stachowiak explores the roots of schizophrenia, an ancient and misunderstood disease. Their study reveals that the disorder may begin early in human development, in utero. The scientists reached this conclusion by growing miniature brain structures called cerebral organoids to simulate stages of brain formation in the womb. As featured in Newsweek, Business Insider, Futurity

Folklore | Deciphering the Yeti

Himalayan brown bear from Deosai National Park, Pakistan. Credit: Abdullah Khan, Snow Leopard Foundation

Research by UB biologist Charlotte Lindqvist is shedding light on the origins of the Yeti myth  and on the evolutionary history of enigmatic bears. Asked by documentary filmmakers to analyze nine DNA samples from purported Yetis, her team linked one to a dog and the other eight to elusive Asian bears. Genetic insights from the study could one day aid in the conservation of the latter, including species that are rare or endangered. As featured in The Buffalo News, WIVB, The Atlantic, National Geographic, The Washington Post, NPR Science Friday

Media Contact Information
Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) has moved the Gujarat High Court against five registries across the country for allowing other to use Amul, an acronym for Anand Milk Union Ltd, and the brand name for all the products it markets. In a quick chat with Sohini Das over phone, GCMMF Managing Director R S Sodhi explained his stand on the court case. Edited Excerpts:



What is your take on brands using the Amul brand for non-dairy products?



This is a case of trademark infringement. A trademark office in any region cannot allow a company to copy a well-known and well-recognised brand name for launching products in another category. Amul is a well-known brand and several companies, from tractor manufacturers to undergarment makers, have been using it for their products. This is a quick way to gain a brand recall. We have been fighting such cases for long. Now, a case has been filed in the Gujarat High Court against the registries in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Ahmedabad that have allowed the registration of Amul or other similar-sounding names as their trademarks.
Whats common among global brands like Coca-Cola, Kodak, Wimbledon, Yahoo! and Indian ones like Amul, Bata, Bajaj, Bisleri, Nirma and Infosys? They are all recognised as 'well-known' brands and enjoy some protection by law globally.
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Sun Pharmaceutical Industriess ophthalmic business in the US has received a boost, with the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) accepting the companys application for a novel medicine to treat dry-eye disease.
The 73-day standoff between Indian and Chinese troops at the Doklam Plateau in June 2017 proved to be the biggest challenge for Indias military and diplomatic establishment. It also showed up the inadequacy of Indias strategic defence infrastructure.
China on Wednesday said Afghanistan's willingness to join the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor should not worry India and warned it against "disturbing" the key project of Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative.

A day after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China and Pakistan want Afghanistan to join the CPEC, the Foreign Ministry said Kabul is willing to join the multi-billion dollar corridor, which cuts through Pakistan-administered Kashmir claimed by India.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying sought to allay India's fear that the project was directed at it and, at the same time, warned New Delhi of not "disturbing and influencing it".

"They are willing to integrate into the regional connectivity process and they are willing to integrate into the CPEC," Hua said at the daily press conference.

However, there has been no public announcement by Afghanistan.

Hua said in the Wednesday trilateral meet of the Foreign Ministers of China, Pakistan and Afghanistan, that the three countries agreed to promote connectivity under the Belt and Road framework.

"Just as Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at the joint press conference, CPEC is not directed at the third party and we hope to bring benefit to the third party and the whole region," Hua said without naming India.

"Afghanistan is the common neighbour of China and Pakistan and it has a strong desire for developing the economy and in improving people's livelihood."

"The trilateral cooperation and dialogue is not directed at any country or any party and the dialogue and cooperation should not be influenced and disturbed," Hua said.

The CPEC - a network of highways, railways, roads and special economic zones, which connects China's Xinjiang with Pakistan's Gwadar port, is opposed by India as it passes through a part of Kashmir held by Pakistan and claimed by India.

China has always sought to allay India's apprehensions about the project, describing it purely as an economic initiative.

Beijing also says the project will not affect its neutral stance on the Kashmir issue.
Normal life was hit in five north Karnataka districts today following a bandh called by farmer groups over getting Mahadayi river water from Goa to meet the drinking water needs of drought-prone areas of the region.

Shops and establishments downed shutters, schools and colleges were closed and buses and other means of transport were off the roads in the districts of Gadag, Dharwad, Belagavi, Haveri and Bagalkot across the Malaprabha river basin and its neighbouring areas, officials said.

The dawn-to-dusk bandh was called by 'Mahadayi Kalasa Banduri Nala Horata Samanvaya Samiti', an umbrella organisation spearheading the agitation on the issue.

Pro-Kannada organisations, including the Kannada film industry, backed the bandh.

Stray incidents of stone-pelting of trucks at Navalagunda, forced closure of shops and burning of tyres by the bandh supporters were reported from some places, officials said.

A protest rally was held at Hubballi's Chennamma circle.

Terming the bandh as a "warning bell" to the state and central governments, the samiti leaders had yesterday demandeda solution at the earliest, even as they hit out at political parties for playing politics on the issue.

Senior police officials said elaborate security arrangements were made to prevent untoward incidents.

Protests also echoed miles away in the state capital Bengaluru, where Mahadayi protagonists and the BJP have launched separate agitations.

The protests caused inconvenience to office goers as these caused a traffic jam in the city's central business district.

Groups of farmers, including women from north Karnataka districts, protesting near the BJP's state office heresince Saturday, staged a march to the Raj Bhavan and submitted a petition.

They are demanding that BJP state chief B S Yeddyurappa resolve the issue as promised by him last month.

Yeddyurappa, who had promised he would get a written agreement signed by December 15 for resolving the issue between the two states, yesterday tried to convince the farmers to end their stir citing the letter written to him by GoaChief Minister Manohar Parrikar but failed.

The protesters have accused Yeddyurappa of not keeping his promise, and called him a "betrayer".

Parrikar, in a letter to Yeddyurappa on December 21, had said that in principle, Goa would not oppose the release of "reasonable and justified" quantum of water meant for drinking purposes to Karnataka.

Parrikar's letter followed a meeting BJP chief Amit Shah had with the Goa chief minister and party leaders from Karnataka.

The leaders of agitating farmer groups also called on the Karnataka chief electoral officer (CEO) and urged him not to hold Assembly elections in the state, due early next year, till an amicable solution to the Mahadayi water dispute is found.

They staged a demonstration at the Freedom Park here demanding the release of water.

BJP leaders, including former minister Ashoka and Lok Sabha member Shobha Karandlaje, tried to lay siege to the Congress's state office here, demanding that the party's leadership do its bit to convince its Goa unit to try and find an amicable solution to the dispute.

The BJP leaders were detained by the police for staging a protest without permission.

Barricades were erected at different places and traffic was diverted to stop BJP workers from gathering at the venue.

"We all know the agitators sitting in front of our (BJP) office. Congressmen posing as farmer leaders are holding the sit-in demonstration," Ashok said.

He alleged that instead of finding a solution to the water sharing issue, Chief MinisterSiddaramaiah had "stooped low" to send his party men to stage a demonstration outside the BJP office.

The Mahadayi (called Mandovi in Goa) originates in Karnataka and flows to Goa and Maharashtra. The three states are locked in a protracted dispute over sharing its water.

The Siddaramaiah government in Karnataka has been accusing the BJP's state unit of not doing enough to help bring water to North Karnataka, one of the most parched regions in the country that is the epicentre of the agitation.

Karnataka is seeking the release of 7.56 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) of water for the Kalasa-Banduri Nala project.

It is being undertaken to improve drinking water supply to the twin cities of Hubballi-Dharwad and districts of Belagavi and Gadag.
On December 11, the Union information and broadcasting ministry issued an advisory to television channels not to air advertisements of condoms which are for a particular age group between 6 AM and 10 PM. The reason given by the director of broadcasting was that they could be indecent/inappropriate for viewing by children.
Answering questions from Members of Parliament (MPs) in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, the government admitted it will not have added even one squadron to the Indian Air Force (IAF) in its five-year term in power.
Pakistan on Tuesday rejected as "baseless" India's contentions that Kulbhushan Jadhav's family was harassed and claimed that his wife's shoes were confiscated on security grounds as there was "something" in it.

The Foreign Office in a statement said that Pakistan does not wish to indulge in a "meaningless battle of words" and categorically rejects India's baseless "allegations and twists" about attitude of authorities during Jadhav's meeting with his wife and mother.

"The Indian baseless allegations and twists, that come 24 hrs later, about the visit of the wife and mother of Commander Jadhav, a convicted terrorist and spy, who has confessed to his crimes, are categorically rejected," the statement said.

"If Indian concerns were serious, the guests or the Indian DHC should have raised them during the visit, with the media, which was readily available, but at a safe distance, as requested by India," it said.

"We do not wish to indulge in a meaningless battle of words. Our openness and transparency belies these allegations," it said.

Responding to India's contentions that Jadhav's wife's shoes were not returned to her after the meeting, Foreign Office spokesman Muhammad Faisal told DawnNews that the shoes were confiscated on "security grounds".

"There was something in the shoe (of Jadhav's wife)," Faisal told the daily, adding that the shoe is being investigated.

He said Jadhav's wife had been provided replacement shoes and all her jewellery was returned to her.

The spokesman said that the fact is that Jadhavs mother "publicly thanked Pakistan for the humanitarian gesture, which was also recorded by the media."



"Nothing more needs to be said on the issue," he said.

India accused Pakistan of violating mutual understandings on Jadhav's meeting with his family, and said the Indian appeared coerced and under considerable stress during the tightly-controlled interaction.

India also accused Pakistan of disregarding cultural and religious sensibilities of family members under the pretext of security.

"This included removal of mangal sutra, bangles and bindi, as well as a change in attire that was not warranted by security," it said.

During yesterday's meeting, whose pictures were released by Pakistan, Jadhav was seen sitting behind a glass screen while his mother and wife sat on the other side. They spoke through intercom and the entire 40-minute proceedings appeared to have been recorded on video.

India said that "for some inexplicable reason, despite her repeated requests", Jadhav's wife's shoes were not returned to her after the meeting.

Jadhav, who was captured in March last year, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying, an accusation that India has dismissed as concocted.

New Delhi says Jadhav was kidnapped in Iran where he had legitimate business interests, and brought to Pakistan. To save Jadhav, India moved the International Court of Justice, which ordered Pakistan in May to stay his execution.
has begun testing a feature with a set of new users in where they are being asked to enter names as per their details.

The giant, however, is not asking new users to give their number but just the name as written on their cards.

"This is a small test where we provide additional language when people sign up for an account to say that using the name on their Aadhaar card makes it easier for friends to recognise them," a spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday.

Currently, only a small percentage of people who use on mobile in the country are able to see this feature.

"This is an optional prompt which we are testing," the spokesperson added.

The move is aimed at encouraging users to put their real names as they enter the for the first time.

"We want to make sure people can use the names they're known by on Facebook, and can easily connect with friends and family," Facebook said.

Facebook has over 217 million monthly active users in and 212 million of them are active on .

It has 2.1 billion monthly active users globally.

Facebook-owned WhatsApp has over 200 million monthly active users in .

The Facebook test comes at a time when the government is asking citizens to link Aadhaar details with their digital lives.

The government recently extended till March 31, 2018, the deadline for linking Aadhaar with bank accounts, PAN, mobile numbers and several other schemes.
A day ahead of the tabling of the in Parliament, some Muslim women's organisations said on Wednesday that the proposed legislation would not be acceptable if not in consonance with the Quran or the Constitution.

"Nikaah (marriage) is a contract. Whosoever breaks it should be punished. However, if it (Bill) is not in the light of Quran and the Constitution, no Muslim woman will accept it," All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board (AIMWPLB) chairperson Shaista Amber told PTI.

"I had sent a letter to the Law Commission requesting it to show the draft bill to the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), AIMWPLB, Jamait Islami, Jamiat Ulma-e-Hind and organisations working for women who were given talaq. I got a reply that if needed, it will be discussed but that did not happen," she added.

Holding the AIMPLB responsible for the present state of affairs, Amber said the board never bothered to take triple talaq seriously, and now it was too late.

Muslim Women League's president Naish Hasan said that in the Family Court Act there is always a chance to save a family but the proposed bill does not give such a chance.

"Third party has also been given the right to complain in the bill. That is not fair," she said. Hasan added that the bill should be stalled for now and discussions should be held as a law in haste will complicate matters.

We will protest if the bill is passed without any discussion, she said.

Demanding withdrawal of the bill, the AIMPLB had earlier said the proposed legislation was against the provisions of the Constitution and violated the rights of women.

Describing it a "conspiracy", the AIMPLB at its meeting here on Sunday had accused the government of snatching the right of divorce from men.

AIMPLB chairman Maulana Rabe Hasani Nadwi will request Prime Minister Narendra Modi to withhold or withdraw the proposed bill that criminalises the practice of instant divorce, an official spokesperson of the Muslim body said.

In August, the Supreme Court by a majority of 3:2 ruled that the practice of divorce through triple talaq among Muslims is "void", "illegal" and "unconstitutional".

The government then drafted the 'Muslim Women Protection of Rights on Marriage Bill' according to which giving instant divorce will be illegal and void and will attract a jail term of three years for the husband.

The bill seeks to criminalise the practice of instant divorce by repeated the word talaq thrice.
The plan by state-run oil marketing companies (OMCs) to expand its liquefied petroleum gas dealership has gathered momentum with the addition of 2,156 dealers in the past two months across 23 states.
The country's largest lender SBI on Wednesday said its board has approved raising Rs 8,000 crore through various sources, including masala bonds, to meet Basel III capital norms.

"The Central Board at its meeting held today accorded approval to raise additional tier 1 (AT1) capital by way of issuance of Basel III-compliant debt instruments in USD and/or INR to the tune of Rs 8,000 crore from domestic/international market including masala bonds," the bank said in a regulatory filing.

Masala bonds are rupee denominated specialised debt instruments that can be floated in overseas markets only to raise capital.

State Bank of India (SBI) said it has time limit until March 2018 to raise the funds.

in India have to comply with the global capital norms under Basel III by March 2019, three months later than the internationally agreed time frame by January 2019.

Basel III reforms are the response of Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) to improve the banking sectors ability to absorb shocks arising from financial and economic stress, whatever the source, thus reducing the risk of spill over from the financial sector to the real economy.

Following the global financial crisis of 2007-08, during the Pittsburgh summit in September 2009, the G20 leaders committed to strengthening the regulatory system for and other financial firms.

They aimed at implementing strong international compensation standards aimed at ending practices that lead to excessive risk-taking, to improve the over-the-counter derivatives market and to create more powerful tools to hold large global firms to account for the risks they take.

As a result of this Basel II replaced Basel III reforms on capital regulation.

The stock of SBI closed 0.85 per cent lower at Rs 314.15 on BSE.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Thursday pulled up Axis Bank for the alleged leak of its June-quarter earnings on social media platform WhatsApp. The market regulator said its preliminary examination showed the messages circulated on WhatsApp groups almost matched with the quarter financial results of Axis Bank for June 2017, which were published subsequently.
Saudi-led air strikes killed at least 14 civilians in a village market near Yemen's battleground third city Taez as a nearly three-year bombing campaign intensified, an official and medics said on Wednesday.

The Tuesday strikes also killed 11 rebel fighters and wounded 16 civilians, a local official loyal to the Saudi- backed government told AFP.

The official, who asked not to be identified, said the strikes were intended as air support for a local revolt against the Huthi rebels in the village of Al-Haima, northeast of Taez, but the warplanes hit the wrong target.

Taez is held by forces loyal to the Saudi-backed government but much of the surrounding countryside is in the hands of the rebels and it has been a key battleground in the country's devastating civil war.

To the west, on the Red Sea coast, Saudi-led air strikes killed 22 Huthis south of the key rebel-held port of Hodeida, military and medical sources said.

The strikes targeted reinforcements sent by the Huthis from the rebel-held capital Sanaa, the sources said.

Among the dead was Yasser al-Ahmar, a tribal chief, they added.

The Saudi-led coalition launched its intervention in support of the internationally recognised government in March 2015.

But despite its superior firepower, the rebels still control the capital and much of the north.

The coalition has intensified its campaign since the rebels launched missiles at Riyadh on November 4 and December 19.

On Monday, 53 rebels and 12 government troops were killed in clashes and air strikes south of Hodeida.

More than 8,750 people have been killed since the coalition's intervention began, according to World Health Organization figures.
The will be allotted over 1,000 acres of land by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) for the construction of a general headquarters (GHQ) and other military offices here.

A high-level meeting was held at the CDA headquarters last week in which several key decisions regarding the handing over of land to the Army were taken, Dawn online reported on Wednesday.

CDA officials told the daily that issues regarding an office complex, which will be constructed on 138 acres, were discussed in detail.

The Army had shelved its plan of moving the GHQ from Rawalpindi to Islamabad in 2008-09 due to financial constraints and on the instructions of the then Army Chief Ashfaq Pervez Kayani.

A formal allotment letter has not been issued due to an outstanding annual ground rent of Rs 84 million. However, it was decided that the ground rent will be waived as it was the CDA's fault to not hand over possession of the land to the Army for the construction of offices, the agency official told the daily.

CDA Member Estate Khushal Khan said almost all the issues between the authority and the Army were resolved during the meeting and that the civic agency will be issuing allotment letters of the land soon.

He said the Army had been cooperating with the civic agency and also paid a large proportion of the amount for the land they will get from the CDA.

Also, the Defence Ministry sought information from the CDA regarding the demarcation of military grass farmland in the Margalla Hills. They said the military wanted a proper demarcation so they could get complete control of the land.

(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.)
As Indian mutual fund assets grow, there will be a fall in the proportion of funds beating their benchmarks, says Kunal Kapoor, CEO, Morningstar Inc. In an interview with Ashley Coutinho, he says the industry could probably see a shift to solution-based offerings such as lifecycle funds over time.
The benchmark indices pared all intraday gains to settle lower on Wednesday with the Nifty50 slipping below its crucial 10,500 following news reports that the government may announce additional borrowing after the mop-up under the goods and services tax (GST) in November fell to just above Rs 80,000 crore. The S&P BSE Sensex and the Nifty50 had hit their respective record highs in the early trade. The collection under the GST for November has been Rs 80,808 crore till December 25, 2017, the government said in a release on Tuesday. The ...

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Aided by strong order books, exports of shrimps are likely to grow by about 30 per cent this financial year from 0.43 million tonnes exported in FY17. The exports are likely to surpass 0.55 million tonnes in FY18.
The Chandrapur unit of Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Tuesday came out in defence of Minster of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Ahir and said that he did not say anything ill about the doctor community in general.

"We, the IMA members, having great respect for Mr Hansraj Ahir, condemn the media for misinterpretation of his words. He has not mentioned anything bad about the doctor community in general. He was specific about a civil surgeon," said the IMA's Chandrapur unit.

Ahir on Monday got furious over the absence of a civil surgeon during the inauguration of a hospital in Chandrapur.

When Ahir got to know that the civil surgeon was on leave, he lost his temper.

"I am a minister chosen by democracy. Why did they go on leave despite knowing about my arrival?" asked Ahir.

An angry Ahir also advised the absent doctor to join the Naxals.

"If there is no faith in democracy, then join the Naxalite movement; we will shoot you. There is no need to distribute tablets here. Naxalism does not like democracy," Ahir said.

Earlier in the day, Ahir also clarified that he respects doctors and did not say anything against their profession.

"The organiser was himself absent. I have not spoken against the profession but a particular doctor. Whatever I said was for the civil surgeon and no one else. I respect doctors from the bottom of my heart. I just showed my anger on absence of some doctors from the event," he told ANI.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto on Wednesday accused former president Pervez Musharraf of killing his mother Benazir Bhutto.

The Express Tribune quoted Bilawal as saying in an interview with a British media outlet that some important details about his mother Benazir Bhutto's assassination are not being disclosed in order to protect Musharraf.

"Pervez Musharraf directly threatened my mother that the guarantee of her security upon her return to Pakistan depended on Bhutto's cooperation with the government," Bilawal said.

"I personally hold Pervez Musharraf responsible for the assassination of my mother," he added.

The PPP chairman further stated Musharraf took advantage of the situation to get rid of his mother.

"The PPP does not regard the young man who killed Benazir in a bomb and gun attack on her vehicle in 2007 as her murderer. In reality, Pervez Musharraf killed my mother by taking advantage of the situation," Bilawal said.

"The terrorist did shoot the bullet from which my mother was killed, but the former president removed my mother's security protocol on purpose so she would be an easy target," he added.

Earlier in September, Pakistan's Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani called Musharraf a murderer and said the latter should return to Pakistan and face cases against him.

Geo News had quoted Rabbani as saying that Musharraf should return to Pakistan and face cases against him if he is a brave man.

He had added that Musharraf was enjoying his life sitting in London and Dubai.

Today is the 10th death anniversary of Benazir Bhutto.

She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistan's first democratically elected prime minister.

Benazir went on to become prime minister twice in the 1990s, but she was always distrusted by the military, which used corruption allegations to remove her from power. At the time of her death, she was making a bid for a third term as prime minister in 2007. The assassination had caused widespread civil unrest in Pakistan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Both houses of Parliament were adjourned till noon on Wednesday after they witnessed ruckus over union minister Ananth Kumar Hegde's comment about changing the constitution.

The opposition members got down to the well of the house and protested against minister's comment.

"If a person has no belief in the constitution, he has no right to be a member of Parliament," said, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad while addressing the house.

Venting out his ire against the "seculars" at a public function in Koppal district on Sunday, Hegde said, "Seculars do not know what their blood is. Yes constitution has given that right to say 'we are secular and we will say it'. Yes, I know but constitution has been amended many times, we will also amend it. We have come to power for that."

This is not the first time that Hegde has made a controversial remark. Last year, he was booked for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Islam.

In November, he refused to participate in the annual Tipu Jayanti celebration in Karnataka, as BJP, unlike Congress, views the Mysore ruler as a tyrant monarch and considers him of being biased against Hindus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
TV5 Network hosted its third biennial Leader Awards in Hyderabad recently. At the event, the Media Leader of the Year 2017 award was conferred upon Annurag Batra, Chairman and Editor-in-chief of BusinessWorld and exchange4media group.

The jury this year was chaired by Jasti Venkat, Chairman and CEO, Suven Life Sciences. The chief guests at the event were Vidyasagar Rao (Hon'ble Governor of Maharashtra), Nara Lokesh, (Minister for IT, Panchyat Raj, Rural Development, Andhra Pradesh), Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu (Union Minister of Commerce and Industry) and K. Taraka Rama Rao (Minister for IT, Industries and MAUD, Telangana).

"Any award is a recognition of the team and brand that you represent and I am lucky to represent the best team in journalism," said Annurag Batra.

"Mr. Annurag Batra has shaped the news platform and given it a new dimension. This award is a recognition of his great contribution in the field of media," stated BR Naidu, Chairman, TV5 Network.

A total of fifty awards were bestowed upon business leaders across categories. In addition to the Media Leader of the Year Award some of the other notable awards given were, 'Lifetime Achievement Award' for Dr. Prathap C Reddy, Chairman of Apollo Group, 'Entrepreneur of the Year' to Ramprasad Reddy, Managing Director, Aurobindo Pharma, 'Woman Entrepreneur of the Year' to Mahima Datla, MD of Biological E and the 'CSR Leader of the Year' to Phoenix Corporation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Myth busted! A study has recently found that taking calcium, vitamin D supplements or both may not protect against hip fracture and other bone breaks in the elderly.

Practice guidelines recommend calcium and vitamin D supplements for older people to prevent fractures in those with osteoporosis.

The team analysed 33 randomised clinical trials in 51,145 adults over the age of 50, who lived in nursing homes and residential care facilities.

The participants were compared with those taking calcium, vitamin D or both supplements to placebo or no treatment.

Authors Jia-Guo Zhao from Tianjin Hospital, Tianjin, China explained that these supplements were not linked to less risk for new fractures.

The researchers recommended that that they do not support the daily use of calcium, vitamin D supplements.

The research appears in journal JAMA.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As 2017 draws to a close, it is an apt time to assess some significant developments surrounding China over the past twelve months, as well as to look ahead to possible directions in 2018.

As much of the Western enters the Christmas season, the Communist Party of China (CPC) banned many adherents from observing this festival. For example, Youth League members at the University of South China in Hunan Province were asked to sign a code of conduct that spelled out punishments for engaging in religious activities surrounding Christmas.

The statement they signed included the following: "Communist Party members must be role models in abiding to the faith of communism. [They are] not allowed to have superstitions and blindly follow the opium of Western spirits." Of course, this reflects the dictums of a party that is atheist at heart. However, it is also evidence of the CPC's and President Xi Jinping'sparanoia over Western influence. China claims to be a global force and yet it is politically and culturally building a great wall to keep its citizens faithful to communist ideology and "protected" from Western thought.

19th Party Congress

This five-yearly gathering of the CPC was without peer in China's 2017 calendar. The razzmatazz kicked off on 18 October, where the "core leader" spoke loftily of "the thought of new-era socialism with Chinese characteristics" amidst the goal of achieving "socialist modernization" by 2035 and having China as a front-rank nation by 2049. Xi proclaimed: "This is a new historic juncture in China's development. It will be an era that sees China moving closer to center stage and making greater contributions to mankind."

At the conclave his stocks soared even higher, reflected in "Xi Jinping Thought" being enshrined in the Party Constitution. This places him on a pedestal alongside Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping and makes him the most powerful leader in decades. However, it also further erases demarcations between Xi and the CPC, making it harder for anyone to challenge him or his policies.

There remains much debate over whether Xi will seek to lead China beyond when the statutory ten-year period permitted by the party constitution ends. This question was unresolved at the party congress, with no logical successor nominated. In the end, it shows Xi's political astuteness to keep China's elite and the guessing.

Xi did stick to political norms by adhering to the "seven up, eight down" precedent, however, this term referringto retirement upon reaching the age of 68. The seven members of the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) elected at the congress were Xi, Li Keqiang, Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji, and Han Zheng. The latter five are all new to the elite committee. None of these PSC members are young enough to succeed Xi in 2022.

Military prowess

Xi presided over a grand military parade celebrating the 90th anniversary of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) at Zhurihe in Inner Mongolia on 30 July. On that occasion, Xi solemnly stated, "I firmly believe that our heroic army has the confidence and capability to defeat all enemies who dare to offend [China]." That such fighting talk is commonly being heard from Chinese officials should be of concern.

At the 19th Party Congress, Xi ordered the PLA to modernize by 2035 and become a top-ranked military by 2050. He stated, "A military force is built to fight. Our military must regard combat readiness as the goal for all its work and focus on how to win when it is called upon."

On the same occasion, Xi radically downsized the Central Military Commission (CMC) from eleven members to seven. The greatest surprise was the sudden elevation of Lieutenant General Zhang Shengmin, secretary of the CMC Commission for Discipline Inspection (CMCCDI). His military anti-corruption unit has already brought down a staggering 100+ PLA generals and 14,000 officers. The CMCCDI's representation on the commission indicates that Xi will not let up on his prosecution of corrupt figures.

By the end of 2017, the loss of 300,000 military posts should have been completed in line with Xi's promise made in September 2015. The goal was to make the PLA leaner and more efficient. Restructuring of the PLA Air Force's Airborne Corps and a serious expansion of the PLA Navy (PLAN) Marine Corps indicates a desire to improve China's expeditionary capabilities for overseas deployments.

Four Type 055 destroyers are under construction, and the commissioning of China's first indigenous aircraft carrier, the Type 001A, will occur in 2018. This past year the PLAN commissioned 16 new surface vessels, including two destroyers, nine frigates/corvettes and five auxiliaries. Output was slightly down on 2016, but it was nonetheless impressive as it was more than double that ofthe US Navy's (USN) seven new surface ships.

The PLA established its first overseas military base in Djibouti on 1 August via a ten-year lease. It is unclear how many troops are based at the 36-hectare heavily fortified base that features helipads and berths for warships. The PLAN Marine Corps appear to be garrisoning the base, which China originally called a "logistics support facility" but which is clearly so much more as it boasts armored vehicles.

Territorial tensions

Throughout 2017 it seems most of the hadforgotten the Permanent Court of Arbitration's (PCA) ruling in July 2016 that criticized China's territorial ambitions in the South China Sea. Beijing deftly evaded its findings by bringing the Philippines on side and cowing other claimants. President Rodrigo Duterte has completely set aside the findings of the PCA and proclaimed China his new friend.

China's seizure of a USN underwater drone in the South China Sea in December 2016 hinted at a more assertive stance in the disputed maritime area. However, there have not been the tensions that many expected in either the South or East China seas. President Donald Trump has not yet demonstrated a consistent or proactive approach to China either.

That does not mean to say that the PLA and its maritime militia force were passive, far from it. Instead, China was able to enforce existing claims and utilize a time of relative calm to advance its facilities. The Washington-based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) stated in a report released in December: "Beijing remains committed to advancing the next phase of its build-up - construction of the infrastructure necessary for fully functioning air and naval bases on the larger outposts."AMTI noted that work on permanent structures accounting for a cumulative area of 72 acres occurred on Fiery Cross, Subi and Mischief Reefs in the Spratlys, as well as North, Tree and Triton Islands in the Paracels, during 2017.

Instead of maritime clashes, China's greatest tension was along the Indian border at Doklam. For 73 days in June-August, Indian and Chinese troops faced off in the worst confrontation in years. While that standoff ceased via a disengagement agreement implemented on 28 August, satellite imagery from late 2017 indicated that an estimated 1,600-1,800 PLA soldiers are now camped out nearby. The strategic result is that the PLA has formed a year-round presence near Doklam instead of a seasonal one.

China had certainly never viewed the agreed pullback as a defeat. M. Taylor Fravel, an associate professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, warned, "Before the standoff in June, China's permanent presence in the area had been quite limited.Now that India has chosen to confront China at Doklam, however, China may well seek to rectify this tactical imbalance of forces."

Fravel argued, "When India challenged China's construction crews in June, it only had to move its forces a hundred meters from the existing border. In the future, India may be faced with the uncomfortable choice of deciding whether to risk much more to deny China a greater presence farther inside Doklam or to accept it. This will be a tough decision for any leader to make. Even if India won this round, it may not win the next one."

China is gradually building up forces in Tibet, which will contribute towards rectifying a military imbalance currently skewed in India's favor. Beijing may also test Indian resolve elsewhere in places like Ladakh or Uttarakhand, as well as the Indian Ocean. The bordercould well evolve into a tug of war of national resolve and a test of how the two countries manage their fraught relationship.

Predictions

In many ways, 2017 has been seminal in showing the direction China will continue taking under Xi. Given in his strong mandate at the 19th Party Congress, all need to be watchful as to whether Xi will take it as a license to be more assertive in territorial disputes and in foreign policy.

Employing a strongman style of rule, he already exercises far-reaching authority over the party, Chinese populace, culture, economy and ideology through control of propaganda, media and educational institutes. In June the government introduced tougher cybersecurity laws, and more than 13,000 websites and ten million accounts have been closed since 2015, for instance.

He has effectively wielded the Propaganda Department and, rather than opening up, China is in some ways trying to seal itself off. It is genuinely fearful of Western values such as democracy and freedom of speech gaining traction. Xi may not be deliberately fostering a cult of personality, but rather a cult of party. However, it remains to be seen whether China's media and government can discern the difference.

While there were few high-profile terrorism incidents in China this year, life has become tougher for ten million Uighurs in Xinjiang. Instead of loosening restrictions, the communist leadership clamped down to achieve "perennial order and stability". This sterner policy was heralded by the installation of Chen Quangquo as the province's party secretary in August 2016. The government is now collecting biometric data on millions of Xinjiang residents and Uighur migrants using DNA sequencers purchased from the USA, for example.

The time may come, as more and more Chinese are educated overseas, conduct business and travel abroad, that resistance will grow against the party's relentless efforts to enforce thought control. As human rights worsen and freedoms of religion and speech tighten even further, it seems inevitable that pushback will appear at some point. Some around the world are beginning to wake up to Beijing's semantic trickery that bringing millions out of poverty gives it license to "embark on a human rights development path with Chinese characteristics", i.e. a police state.

Xi, to date, seems incapable of doing wrong. But couldhe begin to lose some of his luster at some point as he micromanages everything in his powerful nation?Perhaps stiffer headwinds for China's economy, or some political disturbance or diplomatic misstep, will cause people to question this Xi-centric authoritarian system.

China continues to isolate Taiwan, with relations with the island remaining cold since President Tsai Ing-wen was elected to office in May 2016. There is no change in China's goal of subsuming Taiwan into the motherland, and this year Panama switched allegiance from Taipei to Beijing. Taiwan now has full diplomatic relations with just 19 countries.

ANI warned a year ago, "In 2016 we saw more clearly than ever before the methodology China will take with other sovereign nations. If they do not succumb to China's considerable economic and diplomatic clout, it will happily use heavier measures and apply pressure. The world must increasingly recognize such a modus operandi and be prepared to confront it."

This year South Korea felt full impact of this policy. Beijing vociferously protested the stationing of a US Army THAAD missile battery in South Korea. While in the end it failed to prevent it, China banned tour groups to South Korea and boycotted chain stores such as Lotte and banned Korean pop stars to underscore its point. China remains fearful of North Korean antics, and it truly seems Beijing is unable to dissuade Kim Jung-on from his nuclear quest. Conflict on the Korean Peninsula is in nobody's interests, including China's, so this tension needs to be studied carefully in the year ahead.

In 2017 more publicity was given to the fact that China is not a benign benefactor, but that it instead has aggressive policies that attempt to influence overseas and cultures through soft power and organizations like the United Front. Chinese meddling in politics, business and higher education in Australia created headlines, motivating the government to introduce tougher regulations against foreign subversion. Places like New Zealand and the USA are also becoming more wary of China's insidious strategy of promoting its own interests and conducting espionage. Perhaps throughout 2018 more will realize that the trite phrase "win-win" actually means there is only one winner, China.

In similar fashion, the One Belt, One Road initiative is a key tool for Chinese influence. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) remains critical to allowBeijing overland access to the Arabian Sea. Development of Gwadar Port continues, and it may be only a matter of time before PLA troops are stationed on Pakistani soil, ostensibly to protect Chinese investments. A terrorist or insurgent act along the CPEC could serve as a catalyst for China to insert itself in this way, so this bears watching. Similarly, any other Chinese efforts to create "logistics bases" on the periphery of the Indian Oceanmust be carefully scrutinized.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Congress party on Wednesday said that the meeting between Kulbhushan Jadhav and his family was distressing and disturbing.

Speaking to ANI, Congress leader Salman Khurshid said, "It's a good thing that the family of Jadhav at least got to see him once. On the other hand, looking at it dispassionately I would believe that it's somewhat distressing and disturbing that an access given to a family should not be conducted in this deplorable manner, in which Pakistan has conducted it. They did not need to do this business of security and putting up conditions."

"I am surprised. We expected better from Pakistan, the situation is unfortunately very very grave," added Khurshid.

Salman Khurshid further expressed his hope that India can present a clear record of everything that has happened. before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

"Pakistan will off course tom-tom when we go back before the ICJ and I hope the government of India will have a clear record to establish when that happens," said Khurshid.

However, Congress leader KTS Tulsi termed the meeting as a victory for India.

"All I can say is that it is a victory for India, although we were asking for consular access. I don't think we should overreact. It is a major success for the government," said KTS Tulsi.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Pakistan had disregarded the cultural and religious sensibilities of former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav's family, who met him on Monday in Islamabad.

The wife and the mother of Jadhav were asked to remove mangal sutra, bangles and bindi, besides having been asked to change the attire, citing it as a security measure.

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The Libyan families, who were displaced in 2011 after the toppling of former Prime Minister Muammar Gaddafi, from a plundered town of Tawergha, east of Misrata will be allowed to return home in February, confirmed the UN- backed government.

Tawergha residents were expelled by former rebels six years back.

The move unfolded in response to pro-Gaddafi forces using their town as a launch pad for attacks on the western city of Misrata during the uprising, reported the Middle East eye.

According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), some 40,000 people were displaced from the town. The expelled residents, who were living in camps and makeshift settlements, were prohibited from returning home.

The deal, if implemented, would be a step towards reconciliation in Libya.

Confirming the deal, a spokesman for the Misrata city council, stated that it was the government's call to implement it.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Enforcement Directorate has seized assets worth Rs.26.61 crore of alleged arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari and others for holding undisclosed assets abroad.

The ED seized the properties under Section 37A (1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999 for alleged violation of the law.

The seizure order has been issued pursuant to an investigation, which revealed that prima facie Bhandari had acquired movable and immovable assets worth more than Rs. 150 crore outside India in contravention of section 4 of FEMA, 1999.

The assets included undisclosed deposits in foreign bank accounts in the UAE in the various foreign currency denominations, beneficial ownership of companies incorporated in the UAE, one Flat in Palms Jumeirah, Dubai and two flats in the UK.

The income tax authorities had also issued a notice under the Black Money Act to Bhandari for not disclosing his foreign assets.

He has reportedly fled the country and is presently in the UK.

The investigation conducted so far has also revealed routing of funds in various companies of Bhandari through accommodation entries provided by shell companies.

Following the investigation, a seizure order has been issued in respect of the assets, identified so far in India, to the tune of Rs 26.61 crore held by him in his name, in the name of his wife as well as his various companies.

The investigation is in progress.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Demanding implementation of the Kalasa-Banduri project, farmer groups' on Wednesday called for a shutdown in north Karnataka.

Staging protest against the government failing to resolve the issue, protestors took to streets and shouted anti-government slogans.

Agitated they also burnt effigies.

Bus and commercial establishment are also closed between Karnataka and Goa following the ongoing protest.

Security has been beefed up to maintain Law and Order in the state.

The bandh, called by Mahadayi Kalasa Banduri Nala Horata Samanvaya Samiti, an umbrella organisation spearheading the agitation, is being supported by several pro-Kannada and other organisations.

The bandh called in various places like Gadag, Dharwad, Bagalkot, Hubballi, Bailahongala and neighbouring areas.

The state of Karnataka and Goa are at loggerheads on the issue of sharing inter-state Mahadayi river water.

While the river originates from Karnataka, a major part of it flows in Goa.

Earlier, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddarmaiah has called for a meeting with his Maharashtra and Goa counterparts Devendra Fadnavis and Manohar Parrikar respectively "to arrive at a negotiated settlement" over the issue.

The Karnataka has sought the release of 7.56 tmcft water for the Kalasa-Banduri Nala project.

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When it comes to fresh designer wear or work wear or the best in class accessories, discounts and flash sales; shoppers in India today have warmed up to startups that blur the lines between apparel, e-commerce and tech.

A rising maker-entrepreneur movement has provided home to emerging designers and apparel creatives to work on their products.

And while these fashion startup founders may not all showcase their products on a runway, they combine technology, social media, crowdfunding and local manufacturing to create products and platforms that could change the way we get dressed every day.

Given below is a list of five fashion startups to look out for in the coming year:

Voonik

The marketplace for all your shopping needs, Voonik lays focus on personalisation. Their in-house AI platform helps users to discover the most relevant fashion that suits their body, lifestyle, personality, and budget.

Fynd

A user-friendly online shopping platform, Fynd brings top quality products in clothing, footwear, jewelry, and accessories. It offers their consumers the latest trends from some of the biggest brands in India in ethnic, formal, wedding, party, and casual collections.

Shopholix

Shopholix is India's first fashion and lifestyle couponing platform focused solely on offline retail. Currently live in Mumbai, through the Shopholix platform, shoppers have at their fingertips around 2000+ retail outlets of popular fashion and lifestyle brands which they can virtually window shop, discover discounts from and redeem mCoupons at.

Flyrobe

When the wallet is shouting no more and you still have to attend the party, Flyrobe is the fashion startup that comes to rescue. Rent your favorite outfit and save money with Flyrobe.

Jaypore

Jaypore focuses on products with unique, and high quality craftsmanship. Their products include home decor, accessories, jewelry, apparel, gifts, vintage items, and more.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Andhra Pradesh Information Technology Minister Nara Lokesh on Wednesday said every gram panchayat in the state will be provided free WiFi by the end of 2018.

He was speaking on the occasion of dedicating Andhra Pradesh Fiber Grid and drone technology to the nation by President Ram Nath Kovind.

"By the end of 2018, we will offer free WiFi in every gram panchayat and municipality in the state," Lokesh said.

He thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for granting additional Rs. 860 crore to provide internet connectivity in all the gram panchayats in Andhra Pradesh.

The IT Minister also announced that as per the target given by Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, one crore Internet connections by APSFL (Andhra Pradesh State Fibernet Limited) will be given by the end of 2018.

Lokesh informed that Andhra Pradesh has entered into an agreement with Google X, the R&D arm of Google to provide internet connectivity to even tribal villages.

"The Google X is now deploying world class technology where we can give 20 gigabytes per second Internet speed to every tribal village in Andhra Pradesh. This is a wireless technology where two routers 20 kilometres apart can transmit 20 GBPS Internet. This is not first of its kind in the country but first of its kind in the world," Lokesh said.

Talking about the Fiber Grid network, Lokesh said 100000 households and 3200 enterprises have been connected with Fiber Grid network.

"We are not only offering Internet but offering triple play services: Under IPTV, we are offering 250 channels. We are giving WiFi Internet up to 15 MBPS speed for domestic use. Telephone is offered free, wherein one call anyone in the country for free. All this is offered for Rs. 149 per month, which is again a benchmark not only in Andhra Pradesh but in the country," Lokesh said.

He also briefed how the Fiber Grid network was developed.

"First time in the history of our country, 3,75000 poles across the state were tagged by the MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act) workers in just three days. For the first time ever, overhead poles were used to lay fibre because laying fibre through underground would have taken lot of money and time," Lokesh said.

He further added that a unique clamping technology was used to make this fibre hang on every pole.

"Now, this technology is patent-pending that came out of Andhra Pradesh. For the first time ever, 24000 kilometres of Fiber trunk was laid in record nine months. It is not only record for India but record on global standards," Lokesh said.

President Kovind dedicated Fiber Grid and drone project to the nation in the presence of Andhra Pradesh Governor ESL Narasimhan and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

AP State FiberNet Limited (APSFL) is responsible for undertaking the works of AP Fibergrid , its operations and maintenance and business activities.

The AP government wants to use drones for governance, administration, and for the maintenance of law and order in the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An Airlines flight bound to Thiruvananthapuram was cancelled after the plane suffered a massive fuel leak while waiting to take off at New Delhi Indira Gandhi Airport.

The fuel leak took place from the wing of the flight 6E-945 (DEL-TRV).

All the passengers and the stuff onboard were made to deplane immediately.

In a similar incident, a major accident was averted in November at the Delhi Airport when the pilot detected smoke in the cockpit of an aircraft and brought it back to the runway, immediately after it had taken off.
The Jammu and Kashmir government on Wednesday issued a set of norms for their employees regarding the extent of permissible social media usage, in a bid to monitor information flow that employees share with others in a contemporaneous manner.

In an official document issued on behalf of the Secretary to the Government, it has been stated that no government employee shall engage in any criminal, dishonest, immoral or notoriously disgraceful conduct on social media which may be prejudicial to the Government.

Further, employees must not use their personal social media account for political activity, endorse posts/tweets/blogs of any political figure or use their account in a manner that could reasonably be construed to imply that the government endorses/sanctions their personal activities in any matter.

Employees were also directed to avoid posting inflammatory, extraneous messages in an online community with the intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal, on-topic discussion.

While employees may use their official title and department affiliation on their personal social media page for professional identification or biographic data, the government stated that it should not create an impression that they are communicating in an official capacity. Further, the document notes that employees should not use their official email addresses when setting up personal social media accounts.

On work-related posts, the government stated that employees must not post, comment or share public information on matters related to their work or the work of the department, but must properly safeguard privileged, confidential, classified, privacy-protected and/or sensitive departmental information. Moreover, they shall not tweet, re-tweet or share any electronic transmission, the order directed.

On the content front, the government stated that employees, directly or indirectly, must not publish, post or release any information on social media that is considered confidential or not public or any official document or any part thereof or information to any Government employee or any other person to whom he is not authorised to communicate such document or information.

Further, no Government employee through any post, tweet or otherwise should discuss or criticise on social media any policy pursued or action taken by the Government, nor participate in any such discussion or criticism that takes place on social media pages/communities or microblogs.

However, the order defines that an employee may, for the purpose of removing misapprehensions, correcting misstatements, and refuting disloyal and seditious propaganda, defend and explain to the public the policy of Government in his posts and tweets on social media.

Guidelines have also been issued for employees to be cautious of identity theft, using third-party apps, clicking on enticing ads, connecting with strangers, and keeping software and anti-virus updates, taking cognizance of the vast expanse of social media.

Non-adherence to the stated guidelines, the government said, will lead to the imposition of suitable penalties.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan met Prime Minister Narendra Modi here today and invited him to the concluding ceremony of Ekatm Yatra.

The Ekatm Yatra has been launched by the Madhya Pradesh government to collect metal pieces in order to install a 108-feet tall statue of Adi Shankaracharya at Omkareshwar in Khandwa.

The yatra, which was flagged off by Chouhan on Tuesday, will conclude at Omkareshwar on January 22.

During the meeting, the Chief Minister also discussed the Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana being run for the welfare of farmers.

"Bhavantar yojana is for the farmers' welfare so that they can sell at minimum support price. I also discussed this yojana with Prime Minister Modi," Chouhan said.

He further said that the Madhya Pradesh government is also working hard on solar energy.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Pakistan Army will be allotted over 1,000 acres of land for the construction of a general headquarters (GHQ) and other military offices in Islamabad.

A high level meeting was held on Dec 19 at the Capital Development Authority (CDA) headquarters in which several key decisions regarding the handing over of land to the army were taken, reported the Dawn.

Issues regarding an office complex, which will be constructed on 138 acres, were discussed in detail during the meeting.

A formal allotment letter has not been issued due to an outstanding annual ground rent of Rs84 million. However, the ground rent will reportedly be waived off.

On being asked about the annual ground rent, CDA Member Estate Khushal Khan, explained that since the CDA did not hand over possession of the land for the office complex, there existed no reason to charge the amount, the report said.

Owing to the financial constraints and instructions of the then army chief, Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani, the Pakistan Army, in 2008-09, had dropped the plan of moving the GHQ from Rawalpindi to Islamabad.

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Roberto Firmino scored twice as Liverpool returned to fourth position in the Premier League with a 5-0 win over Swansea City.

Philippe Coutinho, captain for the day, led the way with a curling shot into the top corner after six minutes.

Seven minutes into the second period Firmino volley in Coutinho's free-kick at the far post.

Two goals in a minute ensued Trent Alexander-Arnold rifling in his first goal for the club on 65 minutes before Firmino struck again.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain added his first home goal in Liverpool colours on 82 minutes.

Jurgen Klopp's side move back a point above Spurs, while Swansea stay bottom on 13 points, five off safety.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hollywood has seen a string of sexual misconduct charges in the recent past and looks like the issue is there to stay.

Many Hollywood actresses have voiced their opinions on the issue and the latest to be added in the list actress Diane Kruger, who has added her voice to the ongoing discussion of harassment in Hollywood.

While talking to the Hollywood Reporter, the 41-year-old actress shared that she is actually amazed how many companies have severed ties with those, who are accused, so immediately.

She said, "We're seeing the change as it's happening. All these men are gone. I'm actually amazed how many companies have severed ties with those men immediately. They don't get just a slap on the back and then come back. Actually, you know, it's happening."

Many Hollywood actresses have been vocal in rallying against sexual harassment since the story about allegations against famed producer Harvey Weinstein broke out.

Recently, actress Olivia Munn too addressed Hollywood's sexual harassment and abuse issue in a hard-hitting essay.

Munn, who was one of the six women to accuse Brett Ratner of sexual misconduct, called attention to Woody Allen's recent interview where he warned of a "witch-hunt atmosphere where every guy in an office who winks at a woman is suddenly having to call a lawyer to defend himself."

A number of high profile men of Hollywood have been accused of inappropriate behaviour, including Kevin Spacey, George HW Bush, Jeremy Piven, Brett Ratner, Dustin Hoffman, Steven Seagal, Louis CK, Jeffrey Tambor and Matt Lauer.

According to US weekly, more than 30 female actresses who are attending and or presenting at the 2018 Golden Globes have vowed to wear all black to this year's ceremony, which marks as a protest against sexual harassment in Hollywood.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif has said that a treason case against former President Pervez Musharraf by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government was the reason behind his ouster.

The Dawn quoted Sharif as saying at the PML-N social media convention in Model Town that, "We got a treason case registered against Musharraf for abrogating the Constitution. But his case is still pending and a verdict came in my case in haste."

On July 28, the Pakistan Supreme Court had disqualified Sharif from holding the office of prime minister and asked the National Accountability Bureau to file references against the Sharif family in connection with the corruption case against them.

The former prime minister also questioned the courts saying, "Will we see any court hold Musharraf accountable for his crimes?" he asked and responded to his own question, saying: "I am hopeful one day this will happen."

Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz in her father's support said, "When he (Nawaz) got registered a case against Musharraf, sit-ins (PTI and PAT Islamabad sit-ins in 2014) began against him. Then came the News Leaks and Panama Papers case and finally he was disqualified on an Iqama (work permit). This happened to my father because he did not bow. It was easy for him to choose an easy path but he didn't."

The apex court also directed the trial court to decide the references within six months.

Sharif, his sons Hasan and Hussain, daughter Maryam, son-in-law Capt (retd) Mohammad Safdar and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar are facing multiple corruption references in the accountability court.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Wednesday adjourned Sheena Bora murder case till January 5.

Former media baron Peter Mukerjea's lawyers are likely to cross examine his former driver Shyamwar Rai on the next date.

Earlier in November, Peter termed the allegations made by his wife Indrani Mukerjea as false and defamatory before the CBI court.

Prime accused in the sensational case, Indrani, made a scathing attack on Peter saying he might have abducted her daughter "out of greed and ill-will".

She had told the CBI that Peter and their former driver Shyamwar Rai could be behind the abduction of Sheena, making her untraceable and destroying evidences.

Following which, Peter, in a written reply to the special court in Mumbai, said "Indrani was plotting a sinister conspiracy to drag his name into the murder case."

Indrani, who is lodged in Mumbai's Byculla jail, is the prime accused in her daughter Sheena Bora's murder case, who was killed on April 24, 2012.

Indrani, her former husband Sanjeev Khanna and driver Rai were arrested in August 2015, while Peter was nabbed in November the same year.

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The Shiv Sena has rebuked the Pakistan Government over the circumstances in which former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav was made to meet with his mother and wife in Islamabad.

In its mouthpiece, 'Saamna', the party has said, "Pakistan has an incorrigible habit of demeaning our country. No matter how dignified treatment we give them here, they will always possess hatred against India.

"The reality came in front the way they had arranged the meeting between Kulbhushan Jadhav and his family. They were sitting in front of each other, but could not hug because of the glass barrier."

The party added that Jadhav's wife and mother were told to remove mangal sutra, bangles and bindi and were even asked to change the attire.

"The family was not allowed to speak in their native language, Marathi, as well. Guests are not welcomed in Pakistan and this they have proved vehemently. Through this meet, Pakistan also made it clear that it stands as a cheat on the international platform," the article read.

The party further said a video conference meet could have been arranged for the family instead of humiliating them in this way.

"India has to come out strongly in this context. Only verbal and paper threats are not going to do any good. Strict action has to be taken in order to show Pakistan its place," the article concluded.

After the meeting, Jadhav's mother and wife were even harassed in heavily guarded foreign ministry office in Islamabad.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Tuesday that Pakistan had disregarded the cultural and religious sensibilities of Jadhav's mother and wife, who were asked to remove various articles, citing it as a security measure.

Jadhav is on a death row in Pakistan over charges of terrorism and spying for India's intelligence agency- Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

On May 18, 2017, the International Court of Justice stayed the hanging, after India approached it against the death sentence.

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Israel's Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz on Wednesday announced that a train station set to be built adjacent to Jerusalem's Western Wall and will be named after United States President Donald Trump.

The Jerusalem Post quoted the Israeli minister as saying, "The Western Wall is the holiest place for the Jewish people, and I decided to name the train station that leads to it after President Trump, following his historic and brave decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel."

Katz said the decision was taken to honour President Trump's decision to consider Jerusalem as the Israeli capital.

The station will be build as part of an extension of Jerusalem's highspeed rail, which will soon reach the Western Wall.

Earlier in May, Trump became the first U.S. President to visit the wall, which is considered one of the holiest sites in Judaism, during his trip to Israel.

On Monday, a deputy minister had said that Israel is in touch with "at least ten countries" over the possible transfer of their embassies to Jerusalem.

Hotovely's statement comes a day after Guatemala said it would move its embassy to the city. The move was called "shameful" by Palestinian officials.

Earlier on December 19, the United States vetoed a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution, calling for the withdrawal of President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

The U.S. was the sole dissenting vote.

The move comes after Trump unilaterally recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital and has prompted international criticism and sparked protests across the .

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Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Wednesday demanded parliamentary action against Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Naresh Agarwal for making objectionable statement about Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is facing death sentence in Pakistan.

"Parliamentary Affairs Minister should introduce resolution seeking Naresh Agrawal's apology to the house and deep regret," Swamy told ANI.

He demanded that if the SP leader refused to do so then proceedings should be initiated to terminate his Rajya Sabha membership.

"If he (Agarwal) refuses, we should move motion to examine whether his conduct is befitting that of an MP and therefore his membership should be terminated," the BJP MP said.

Earlier in the day, Agarwal created a controversy by saying that if former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav was a terrorist for Pakistan then he would be treated as a terrorist.

"If Pakistan has declared Kulbhushan Jadhav as a terrorist in their country, then they will treat him like one. In our country also, we should treat terrorists in the similar manner. Terrorists have to be dealt strictly," Agarwal told ANI.

When the issue snowballed, Agarwal said he did not mean what was being reported.

Meanwhile, there has been an outcry over the treatment meted out to Jadhav's mother and wife who reached Islamabad on Monday to meet Jadhav.

The wife and the mother of Jadhav were asked to remove mangalsutra, bangles and bindi, besides having been asked to change the attire, citing it as a security measure.

After the meeting, Jadhav's mother and wife were also harassed in heavily guarded foreign ministry office by Pakistani journalists.

Jadhav is on a death row in Pakistan over charges of terrorism and spying for India's intelligence agency- Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

On May 18, 2017, the International Court of Justice stayed the hanging, after India approached it against the death sentence.

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Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday described the Pakistani authorities' behaviour towards former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother and wife as "inhuman" and said that the act has hurt the sentiments of the Indians.

The Vice President made this remark while interacting with 17-member faculty and students from Harvard, Stanford and MIT of the USA.

"The way they (Pakistan) handled Jadhav family was inhuman. They did not allow his mother to speak in Marathi. They asked his wife to remove her bindi, bangles and asked to change their clothes, which is very pious as per Indian culture. So Indian's are very hurt," he said.

During the 40 minute interaction, Vice President Naidu elaborated and responded to queries on India's strengths, opportunities and challenges besides its emergence as a global power.

He said that India seeks peace in the region for the benefit of all the countries but some are adopting a different approach.

The Vice President said that the Indian voters have shown great maturity from time to time while casting their votes as was evident in their fierce defence of personal freedoms by voting against the 'Emergency' in 1977.

He observed that after long years of single-party rule at the Centre, India transited through coalition governments till the people gave an absolute majority to the present Government in 2014.

"India faces the challenges of inequality, rural-urban divide, unemployment, border issues, poverty and illiteracy. The ruling and opposition parties need to work together with shared perspectives for further strengthening parliamentary democracy " Vice President Naidu said.

He stated that the mood of the young and aspirational India is in favour of 'development and reforms' and the ruling government has taken several initiatives in this regard.

Responding to a query on India's role in global vis-a-vis some leading countries, the vice president stated that as one of the oldest civilisations which accounted for 27 percent of world's GDP before foreign invasions, India never believed in hegemony and only would like to harness its potential as an economic power-house that benefits the people of India and other countries as well.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Pakistan disregarded the cultural and religious sensibilities of former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav's family, who met him on Monday in Islamabad.

The wife and the mother of Jadhav were asked to remove mangalsutra, bangles and bindi, besides having been asked to change the attire for "security" reasons.

After the meeting, Jadhav's mother and wife were also harassed in heavily guarded foreign ministry office by Pakistani journalists.

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Canara Bank rose 0.9% to Rs 377.90 at 10:40 IST on BSE after the bank announced that its board approved raising additional equity share capital.

The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 26 December 2017.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 91.21 points, or 0.27% to 34,101.82.

On the BSE, 40,622 shares were traded in the counter so far, compared with average daily volumes of 3.17 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock had hit a high of Rs 384 and a low of Rs 372.50 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 463.40 on 26 October 2017. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 250.17 on 2 January 2017.

The large-cap psu bank has equity capital of Rs 597.29 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

The stock has gained 3.42% in four sessions to its ruling price, from a close of Rs 365.40 on 20 December 2017.

Canara Bank announced that its board approved raising additional equity share capital amounting upto Rs 90 crore (based on face value) through qualified institutional placement (QIP) route, by issuing upto 9 crore equity shares of face value Rs 10 each with a premium to be decided as per the applicable guidelines/regulations for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 3500 crore inclusive of such premium.

Canara Bank's net profit fell 27.1% to Rs 260.18 crore on 1.6% decline in total income to Rs 11994.64 crore in Q2 September 2017 over Q2 September 2016.

The Government of India held 66.3% stake in Canara Bank as per the shareholding pattern as on 30 September 2017.

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Prataap Snacks rose 4.28% to Rs 1,299 at 11:15 IST on BSE after the company said it has forayed into sweet snacks market.

The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 26 December 2017.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 70.07 points, or 0.21% to 34,080.68.

On the BSE, 5,176 shares were traded in the counter so far, compared with average daily volumes of 7,661 shares in the past two weeks. The stock had hit a high of Rs 1,325 and a low of Rs 1,285.80 so far during the day. The stock hit a record high of Rs 1,404 on 14 December 2017. The stock hit a record low of Rs 1,102 on 31 October 2017.

Prataap Snacks, a leading Indian snack foods company with products spanning across various categories like extruded snacks, chips & namkeen, has entered the category of sweet snacks market through its wholly owned subsidiary with the launch of its new brand 'Rich Feast'. The first product under the new brand is 'Yum Pie', a three layered treat with sponge cake, flavoured jam and chocolate.

The company has set up a fully automated manufacturing plant by its wholly owned subsidiary Pure n Sure Food Bites in Indore to manage the production of Yum-Pie.

Yum Pie is a 100% vegetarian product launched at an affordable price point of Rs 5. The products have been designed and targeted towards kids in the age group of 4-14. Yum Pie is available in orange, strawberry and mixed fruit flavours.

On a consolidated basis, net profit of Prataap Snacks rose 142.40% to Rs 12.92 crore on 12.02% rise in net sales to Rs 262.29 crore in Q2 September 2017 over Q2 September 2016.

Prataap Snacks is a leading Indian snack foods company. It offers multiple variants of products across categories of potato chips, extruded snacks, namkeen (traditional Indian snacks) under the popular and vibrant Yellow Diamond brand.

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Punjab & Sind Bank rose 2.07% to Rs 49.20 at 12:25 IST on BSE after the bank said that its board of directors approved raising of equity capital through various routes.

The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 26 December 2017.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 72.16 points or 0.21% at 34,082.77.

On the BSE, 5,284 shares were traded in the counter so far as against average daily volume of 27,884 shares in the past one quarter. The stock had hit a high of Rs 49 and a low of Rs 46.20 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 72.30 on 5 May 2017. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 44.45 on 5 October 2017.

The state-run bank has equity capital of Rs 400.41 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

The stock has gained 5.24% in five sessions to its ruling price, from a close of Rs 46.75 on 19 December 2017.

Punjab & Sind Bank said that its board of directors approved raising of equity capital through public issue (follow on public offer)/right issue/qualified institutional placement/ preferential issue or any other mode or a combinations thereof in one or more tranches up to 31 March 2019.

Punjab & Sind Bank's net profit fell 77.9% to Rs 13.7 crore on 1.7% drop in total income to Rs 2166.64 crore in Q2 September 2017 over Q2 September 2016.

The Government of India held 79.62% in Punjab & Sind Bank (as per the shareholding pattern as on 30 September 2017).

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Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has launched the 'Udyami Mitra' Portal (www.udyamimitra.in) to improve accessibility of credit and handholding services to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) have been advised to ensure a target of 7.5% of Adjusted Net Bank Credit (ANBC) for Micro Enterprises, that collateral security is not required for loans upto Rs. 10 lakh to MSE sector, a simplified working capital requirement for MSEs.

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At IFSC, India

BSE's India International Exchange (India INX) has welcomed Yes Bank, as the first to establish a USD 1 billion Medium Term Notes Programme on its Global Securities Market, India's first capital raising platform for international investors in any currency, located at Gujarat International Finance Tec City (GIFT City) IFSC.

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The former owner of a confectionery factory in Moscow shot dead a security guard and injured three people on Wednesday, Russian investigators said.

"The former owner of the factory started a verbal conflict with the current management of the factory. After that, he took out a weapon and shot several times at a guard, who died from injuries," the Russian Investigative Committee said in a statement.

Initial reports suggested that the gunman had taken hostages, but the police later denied it. He is still at large and police are searching for him in the city, Sputnik news agency reported.

The Investigative Committee has initiated a criminal case.

The gunman was not found on the sweet factory's premises during the search, and consequently the search area has been extended to cover the whole city, police said.

It emerged that the shooter had left the site by the time law enforcement sealed off and entered the factory, officials said. He fled without his Saiga semi-automatic rifle, with which the victim had been shot.

Local media reports earlier said that the suspect, Ilya Averyanov, took hostages in the factory building.

Business FM Radio said it managed to reach Averyanov on the phone and published a transcript, in which he said he was a victim of an illegal seizure of his property.

Averyanov claimed there had been an attempted attack on him in the morning, and that "a gang" which comprised "two prosecutors" deprived him of his business.

--IANS

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An aspiring model was allegedly raped here by three men who promised to get her work, police said on Wednesday. Two of the accused have been arrested.

Police said the incident took place on Sunday when the woman, who had earlier met one of the accused in Mumbai, went to a mall in south Delhi's Vasant Kunj for a party.

"At the party, Harender, Satish and Jaggi joined the woman. They lured her to a flat in Sarojini Nagar where they raped her after having drinks. The accused promised her to introduce her to many television and film directors and get her work," a police officer said.

The woman filed a complaint on Tuesday, following which two of the accused, Satish and Jaggi were arrested in south Delhi, while their accomplice, Harender, is still on run, he said, adding a manhunt is on to nab him.

--IANS

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A total of 92 personnel from the three armed forces have committed suicide in 2017, with the army having the highest number, Parliament was informed on Wednesday.

Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre told Lok Sabha, in a written reply, that as as per the figures, two officers, and 67 Junior Commissioned Officers (JCO) and Other Ranks (OR) committed suicide in the Indian Army. The number of JCOs and ORs who committed suicide was 100 in 2016, 77 in 2015, and 82 in 2014.

Among the Army officers, there were four suicides in 2016, one in 2015 and two in 2014.

In the Navy, which has lowest suicide rate in the three services, there were no incidents of suicide among the officers in 2014, and 2015, while in 2016 and 2017 saw one suicide each. Among the sailors, there have been four suicides this year, five in 2016, three in 2015 and four in 2014.

In the Indian Air Force, three officers committed suicide in 2016, and two in 2014.

Among the airmen, there were 18 suicides this year, 16 in 2016, 14 in 2015, and 19 in 2014.

Bhamre said reasons for committing suicide include "family issues, domestic problems, marital discord, perceived grievances and personal issues".

--IANS

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After victories in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, BJP chief Amit Shah will visit Karnataka on December 31 to review the party's organisational work in the Congress-ruled state which faces assembly polls in the first half of next year.

During the visit Shah is expected to hold a meeting of legislators and MPs and of party's core committee.

The visit comes in the backdrop of BJP's Karnataka unit and the ruling Congress blaming each other on the deadlock over getting Mahadayi river water from neighbouring Goa to the four drought-hit districts in the state's northern region. Goa is ruled by the BJP.

The 77km-long Mahadayi or Mandovi river originates at Bhimgad in the Western Ghats in Belagavi district of north-west Karnataka and flows into the neighbouring Goa and eventually joins the Arabian Sea.

Karnataka has been asking Goa since 2001 to release 7.6 thousand million cubic feet of the river water to meet the drinking needs of its people in Hubballi-Dharwad, Gadag, Bagalkote and Belagavi districts and irrigating their farmlands.

Karnataka is one of the two major states ruled by Congress and the BJP is making efforts to wrest the state.

--IANS

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Assamese peasant leader and RTI activist Akhil Gogoi on Wednesday walked out of a district jail and vowed to launch a massive movement against the Centre's move to grant citizenship to the "Hindu Bangladeshis" by passing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016.

"I am happy to come out of the jail today. The charges framed against me by the BJP-led government in Assam were all baseless and this is why the Gauhati High Court has quashed the detention order against me under the National Security Act (NSA)," said Gogoi to the media waiting outside the Goalpara District Jail.

Gogoi was arrested by the Assam Police on charges of sedition on September 23, after he spoke at a public rally at Moran. On September 24, Gogoi was booked under the NSA.

Gogoi who leads the farmers' body Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) challenged the detention order under the NSA and the Gauhati High Court has quashed the detention order after hearing the petition filed by Gogoi's counsel.

However, immediately after the High Court's order, the Goalpara police arrested Gogoi and sent him to judicial custody.

The Chief Judicial Magistrate of Goalpara after hearing the case on Tuesday granted bail to Gogoi.

"The Assam government has alleged that I had links with the ULFA and Maoists and framed me under NSA. However, they failed to prove the charges in the court and hence the court released me," he said adding that there was no democracy in the BJP-ruled Assam.

"The BJP wants to settle the Hindu Bangladeshis in Assam by amending the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. However, we are not going to tolerate any Bangladeshis who had entered the state after March 25, 1971.

"We are going to oppose the move to pass the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 in Parliament," Akhil said.

Asked about the publication of a part of the draft National Register of Citizens (NRC), Gogoi said that KMSS wants a flawless NRC which helps in detecting and deporting the illegal Bangladeshis living in the state.

--IANS

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Condemning the attacks on religious minorities and foreigners in recent times, Bangladesh Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor has said the social consciousness generated by Bengal Classical Music Festival would help eradicate the evil forces disrupting the harmony of the country.

"This festival helps to cherish the values of pluralism. But we see with concern that militancy has been born in our country. Fundamentalist forces are destroying peace in our country," Noor said in his speech on Tuesday -the first day of the musical concert dubbed asA "biggest classical music festival in the world".

"There is social exploitation of women and children in our country. All these make us concerned. We have to overcome these hurdles. Bangladesh is making progress but these obstacles ought to be overcome," the minister said.

After the 2014 national elections, religious minorities have faced attacks in Bangkadesh, heightening a sense of fear among different religious groups, according to a report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

Speaking of Muslim Rohingya refugees taking shelter in Bangladesh after the August 25 violence in Myanmar which forced more than 600,000 members of the community to escape to this country, Noor said: "We have given Rohingya shelter in this country. We have extended our hands and embraced them. Our Prime Minister (Sheikh Hasina) has said, 'we will surrender one of our meals but help them'.

"At the same time, we see inauspicious, fundamentalist forces want to destroy amity and harmony in this country. They want to derail us from the path of development," he said.

Giving examples of the tribals and Buddhist minorities being targeted in Chittagong, Noor said Bangladesh will never surrender to the communal forces.

"They are killing people in the name of . We see we are giving shelter to foreigners but we see the people we are living alongside for thousands of years are being targeted. We saw Chittagong tribals being attacked, Buddhist coming under attack. We saw santhals being targeted...we saw in Rongpur Hindu localities were attacked.

"These hyper activities of inauspicious elements ought to be overcome. Today at any cost, we cannot surrender before this communal forces and in this struggle music will give us strength and I believe this strongly.

"This is not merely a festival. It is creating a social consciousness. Young people are enjoying classical music. If we can create this consciousness, Bangladesh will have nothing to fear. We will have our country march forward and that will be a victory of Bangladesh and its people," he signed off.

--IANS

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A war of words erupted in a meeting of a Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs after BJP members objected to committee Chairman P. Chidambaram's presence, as he is also a counsel in a case related to Aadhaar in the Supreme Court.

The panel met on Wednesday and the subject "National Security and Privacy Concerns relating to Aadhaar" was listed as one of the eight subjects it would be studying in the coming year.

The panel has been examining this subject since October 24.

According to sources, five Bharatiya Janata Party members in the panel objected to Chidambaram's presence in the meetings on this subject citing a conflict of interest.

The BJP members said Chidambaram should either excuse himself from meetings on this subject or the matter should be passed on to the Standing Committee on Information Technology.

The opposition members were of the view that the panel should continue to examine the subject as Aadhaar involves privacy and issues of national security. They also pointed out that four meetings of the committee on the subject have already been held under Chidambaram's chairmanship.

No consensus on the issue was reached.

Trinamool Congress Member in the Rajya Sabha Derek O'Brien, who is a member of the panel, tweeted on Wednesday: "Parliament Committee on Home Affairs. Am a member. Sparks often fly. Fireworks soon."

"Can't divulge details of Parliament panel meet. But can say that Trinamool will fight to prevent Aadhaar being forced on the marginalised," he said.

--IANS

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The ruling BJP in Uttar Pradesh has removed its Ghaziabad city president Ajay Sharma after he, along with over a hundred others, clashed with police over the marriage of a Hindu woman with a Muslim man which they dubbed as a case of "love jihad".

The state party President Mahendra Nath Pandey took the decision at 11 p.m. on Tuesday.

The letter, signed by state General Secretary Vidya Shankar Sonkar, said in view of the protest against the inter-religious marriage, Ajay Sharma has been removed from his post. The letter also states that Man Singh Goswami, the city General Secretary, has been appointed as city president. Goswami took charge at 11.30 p.m. on Tuesday.

On December 22, the woman's family had organised a wedding reception at their house in Ghaziabad.

Over 100 workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party and other Hindu outfits, including the Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal and Jai Shiv Sena, staged a sit-in outside the house in Raj Nagar, protesting the wedding, and disrupted traffic.

Police said they removed the protesters by using mild force on the grounds that they were trying to interfere in the personal lives of individuals.

"How can the police allow people to barge into someone's house? We got a distress call and we performed our duty," said Senior Superintendent of Police H.N. Singh.

Later in the day, a criminal case was registered against Sharma and over 100 others for the clash with police and rioting over the marriage.

The FIR was lodged under sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 336 (endangering life of others), 341 (wrongful restraint), 427 (causing damage), 353 (assault) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 7 of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act (loitering or intimidating).

The police filed a complaint from the bride's father also in support of its own FIR.

The bride's father Pushpendra Kumar told IANS: "I received phone calls asking me to stop the marriage. But both (bride and bridegroom) are mature enough to know what's wrong and what's right. I don't see any 'love jihad' in it."

Bride Nupur Singhal is a psychologist with a Ph.D in Human Psychology, while her husband Mansoor Harhat Khan holds a Master's in Business Administration and works with a private company. His family originally hails from Aligarh, though his father lives in Delhi but owns a house in Noida as well.

According to Pushpendra Kumar, the boy even offered to marry as per Hindu rituals. "But neither the groom's family nor ours put any conditions and left it to the girl and the boy, and they went for court marriage," the father added.

The woman is the grand-daughter of retired IAS officer Rajendra Kumar who was the District Magistrate here in 1990.

--IANS

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Brazil has announced a temporary halt on fish exports to the European Union following detection of irregularities in the way some Brazilian firms apply food-safety regulations.

The halt will take effect from January 3, in conjunction with the implementation of an action plan aimed at addressing the concerns raised by the EU following an audit in September, Brazil's Agriculture Ministry said.

The action plan calls for intensive inspection of the ships used by Brazilian seafood exporters to transport goods to Europe. Brazil also plans to ask the EU to establish different standards for wild-caught and farm-raised fish.

Inspectors had detected problems with six of the 10 companies they scrutinised, Efe news reported.

--IANS

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The CBI has arrested an assistant programmer working with the probe agency and another person for developing and selling a software for booking railway tickets by "duping the Tatkal ticket booking system", an official said on Wednesday.

Ajay Garg, 35, was held from Delhi on Tuesday night when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) got information about its employee indulging in the racket with the help of Anil Kumar Gupta. Garg was on Wednesday presented before a special court in Saket, which sent him to five-day CBI custody.

Gupta was held from his residence in Jaunpur late on Tuesday night and is to be brought to Delhi on transit remand, CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said.

During the night-long operation, the CBI conducted raids at 14 locations in Delhi, Mumbai and Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh which led to the recovery of Rs 89.42 lakh cash, gold jewellery worth Rs 61.29 lakh, including two gold bars of one kg each, 15 laptops, 15 hard disks, 52 mobile phones, 24 sim cards, 10 notebooks, six routers, four dongles and 19 pen drives along with some incriminating material from the premises of the accused and others.

"It was alleged that Garg had developed one illicit software for duping the Tatkal ticket booking system being run by the IRCTC and conspired with a private person Anil Kumar Gupta. They indulged in distributing the software to private persons for their unauthorised use for a hefty consideration," the CBI official said.

The official said that "use of such software is illegal as per rules and regulations of IRCTC and also under the Railways Act."

"It was also alleged that Garg was collecting money for the use of such software by certain booking agents and had amassed huge wealth from these activities. The case is in the line with CBI Director Alok Kumar Verma's policy of having an robust internal mechanism of ensuring probity and having zero tolerance towards corruption," Dayal said.

The official, however, clarified that there was no loss to the IRCTC in the racket, but it was in another way a loss to the public who could not get tickets while trying to book it online.

The official said that as many as 10 agents, seven from Jaunpur and three from Mumbai, have also been identified.

--IANS

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The CBI has arrested an assistant programmer working with the probe agency and another person for developing and selling a software for booking railway tickets by "duping the Tatkal ticket booking system", an official said on Wednesday.

Ajay Garg, 35, was held from Delhi on Tuesday night when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) got information about its employee indulging in the racket with the help of a private person Anil Kumar Gupta.

Garg was on Wednesday presented before a special court in Saket, which sent him to five-day CBI custody.

Gupta was held from his residence in Uttar Pradesh's Jaunpur late on Tuesday and is to be brought to Delhi on transit remand, CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said.

During the night-long operation, the CBI conducted raids at 14 locations in Delhi, Mumbai and Jaunpur which led to the recovery of Rs 89.42 lakh cash, gold jewellery worth Rs 61.29 lakh, including two gold bars of one kg each, 15 laptops, 15 hard disks, 52 mobile phones, 24 sim cards, 10 notebooks, six routers, four dongles and 19 pen drives along with some incriminating material from the premises of the accused and others.

"It was alleged that Garg had developed an illicit software for duping the Tatkal ticket booking system being run by the and conspired with Anil Kumar Gupta. They indulged in distributing the software to private persons for their unauthorised use for a hefty consideration," the CBI official said.

The official said that "use of such software is illegal as per rules and regulations of and also under the Railways Act".

"It was also alleged that Garg was collecting money for the use of such software by certain booking agents and had amassed huge wealth from these activities. The case is in the line with CBI Director Alok Kumar Verma's policy of having a robust internal mechanism of ensuring probity and having zero tolerance towards corruption," Dayal said.

The official, however, clarified that there was no loss to the in the racket, but it was in another way a loss to the public who could not get tickets while trying to book it online.

The official said that as many as 10 agents, seven from Jaunpur and three from Mumbai, have also been identified.

The CBI has registered a case against Garg and Gupta under charges of criminal conspiracy of the Indian Penal Code, computer-related offences for unauthorised access and damage to computer and computer system, unauthorised carrying on of the business of procuring and supplying of railway tickets and criminal misconduct.

The official said Garg has been employed in the CBI since 2012. "Earlier, Garg worked with the IRCTC between 2007 and 2011 where he got loopholes in the IRCTC software."

While working with the CBI, Garg, alumni of the Maharshi Dayanand University in Haryana's Rohtak, developed the software to earn illegal money by selling it to the agents.

Garg used to receive money through "hawala transactions, in the form of Bitcoins -- a cryptocurrency -- and when his associate Gupta used to visit Delhi".

Gupta used to deal with all agents directly and was known among them as the key person, said the CBI official, adding no one knows about Garg -- the mastermind.

Describing the "illicit software", the official said multiple tickets can be booked at one time by using the software. "Around 800-1,000 user IDs were being used to book railway tickets by using this software."

"Garg gave password to use the software and changed it from time to time. He charged the dealers on the basis of each ticket booked through this software. He was using proxy addresses and some foreign servers.

"We are yet to know the exact time period of the criminal act as the investigation process is in early stage but it seems the malpractice was being done for over one year and several persons from different cities were involved in it," said the official.
Dispelling previous findings, a new study has said that children exposed to lead at a young age are less likely to be involved in criminal practices later in adulthood.

Responses toward lead exposure should focus on health consequences, and not potential criminal consequences, the study suggested.

Lead is a neurotoxin with well-documented effects on health.

Previous studies detected associations between childhood blood lead level and criminal offending owing to the toxic effect of lead disproportionately affecting people with low socioeconomic status.

However, the new study weakens association between lead exposure and adult criminal behaviour, the researchers said.

"There is no clear association between higher childhood blood lead levels and a greater risk for criminal behaviour (a dose-response relationship) in settings where blood lead levels are similar across low and high socioeconomic status," said Amber L. Beckley, from the Duke University, in North Carolina.

For the study, detailed in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, the team involved 553 individuals from New Zealand, whose blood lead levels were measured at age 11.

There cumulative criminal conviction, self-reported criminal offending, recidivism (repeat conviction), and violence were followed up to age 38.

The researchers removed low socioeconomic status as a factor because high blood lead levels were observed among children from all socioeconomic groups.

The results showed that childhood lead exposure was weakly associated with conviction and self-reported criminal offending up to age 38.

Further, lead exposure was also not associated with recidivism or violence.

--IANS

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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday launched search operations across three jewellery showrooms of Adrija Gold Corporation which had allegedly obtained long term loans from various Rose Valley Group firms owned by chit fund scam-accused Gautam Kundu.

"We have commenced raid operations at the Adrija Gold Corporation's three showrooms at Howrah, Baguihati and Lake Place in the city," an ED official said.

The agency has been probing the diversion of funds from the Rose Valley Group's deposit taking companies.

According to the official, the agency focused on the jewellery company as it appeared to be one of the channels through which funds were routed from Rose Valley group's main firms.

In 2016, in the Rose Valley chit fund scam case, the Enforcement Directorate attached assets of the company including eight hotels and 12 high-end cars with a value of Rs 1,250 crore.

Thousands of people were allegedly cheated in West Bengal, Odisha and in some northeastern states in the chit fund scam.

Under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the agency had registered an FIR against the company and its Chairman Gautam Kundu in 2014.

Kundu was arrested by the agency in 2015.

--IANS

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A fire has destroyed around 35 apartments near Houston, the fourth largest city in the US, local fire officials said.

The blaze occurred in South Houston on Tuesday. Firefighters managed to contain the fire quickly, but it took them more than six hours, Xinhua news agency reported.

Many families were forced to abandon their homes, but they managed to escape unscathed. According to the Red Cross, at least 50 people were displaced.

The origin and cause of the fire is under investigation.

--IANS

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Search engine Google on Wednesday celebrated one of Urdu literature's most iconic poets, Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan, popularly known as Ghalib (meaning conqueror).

Mirza Ghalib, who would have turned 220 this year, is shown standing on a balcony of a building of his era, with a pen and paper, and the sun and a mosque in his background.

Born in 1797, the poet, one of the most popular and influential ones in Urdu and Persian language, wrote at a time when the Mughal empire was entering its last quarter and the British were taking over in India.

His ghazals have been interpreted and sung in many different ways by different people as his writing which is still extremely popular among the Hindustani diaspora.

Ghalib continues to inspire even the youngster not just in India but across the world.

He began composing poetry at the age of 11. His first language was Urdu, but he was equally efficient in Persian and Turkish. A descendent of Aibak Turks, Ghalib was born in Kala Mahal in Agra.

He received education in Persian and Arabic. Keeping with the conventions of the classical ghazal, in most of his verses, the identity and the gender of the beloved remained unknown.

Bestowed with the honorific Dabir-ul-Mulk and Najm-ud-Daula, Ghalib lived in Gali Qasim Jaan, Ballimaran, Chandni Chowk, in Old Delhi which is now known as "Ghalib Ki Haveli".

His residence has been turned into 'Ghalib Memorial' and houses a permanent Ghalib exhibition.

Mirza Ghalib breathed his last on February 15, 1869. His tomb is located near Chausath Khamba, Nizamuddin area in Delhi.

--IANS

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Union Minister Anant Kumar Hegde has "no right" to be in the House or in the government, the Opposition said on Wednesday, disrupting the Rajya Sabha over the Karnataka MP's controversial remarks that the ruling BJP was "here to change the Constitution" and remove the word "secular" from it.

Opposition members vociferously raised the Hegde issue as soon as the House convened after a four-day break amid continued logjam over Congress' demand for apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his remarks against his predecessor Manmohan Singh.

Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad lashed out at the government and the Bharatiya Janata Party and said if any person lacked faith in the Indian Constitution, he did not deserve to be in the House or in the government.

"The Minister has no trust in the Constitution and has no right to be the minister. He has no right to be a Member of Parliament either," Azad said.

The Union Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship at a function in Kukanur in Karnataka on Monday urged people to "claim with pride that they are Muslim, Christian, Lingayat, Brahmin, or a Hindu" and said: "Those who, without knowing about their parental blood, call themselves secular, they don't have their own identity...They don't know about their parentage, but they are intellectuals.

"Some people say the Constitution says secular and you must accept it. We will respect the Constitution, but the Constitution has changed several times and it will change in the future too.

"We are here to change the Constitution and we'll change it soon."

As the Parliament met for the first time after an extended weekend, the Opposition sought a discussion over the issue.

Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu denied the request but allowed the Opposition members to briefly make a mention about it in the Zero Hour.

Samajwadi Party MP Naresh Agarwal said Hegde had abused the Constitution and insulted its architects like B.R. Ambedkar.

"It is like abusing the Constitution. Can anyone remain Minister by abusing the Constitution? It is an insult to Babasaheb Ambedkar," Agarwal said.

The ruling BJP members took objections to Agarwal unnecessarily dragging Ambedkar into the row. They also protested, triggering slogans from the Opposition.

Naidu then adjourned the House till 12 p.m.

--IANS

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Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad on Wednesday said Union Minister Anant Kumar Hegde "does not believe in the Constitution" and should apologise in both Houses for his "change the Constitution" remarks.

Hegde had said that the BJP has come to power to change the Constitution and will do so in the near future to remove the word secular from it.

"Whatever Anant Kumar Hegde has said while addressing his party men, the entire opposition in both the Houses has huge resentment. I am sure the resentment is across the country. It is not the concern of parliamentarians only. Every Indian should be concerned about this.

"If any Minister who has taken oath as an MP and Union Minister in the name of the Constitution, and does not believe in it, how can he or she remain a Minister," Azad told reporters.

He said: "Here is an example of Hegde..He does not believe in the Constitution of India, he does not believe in the Preamble of Constitution.

"Should he remain in the Union Council of Ministers? So, as an opposition party, we are of the opinion that any Minister who does not believe in the Constitution, should have no place in the Council of Ministers," Azad added.

He also said: "In the government, it is for Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) now. We have raised this issue in the House, I have raised this issue on behalf of my party, and the other opposition parties have taken up this issue with the Chairman (of Rajya Sabha Venkaiah Naidu).

"The government has asked us to give time till tomorrow (Thursday). So, we have agreed. Let the government decide. The Minister should come in both the Houses and apologise. He should also apologise to the entire Nation.

"This Constitution is applicable to each and every citizen of India irrespective of caste, religion. The Prime Minister should take the decision whether such people should continue in the government or not," said Azad.

He said the entire Opposition is of the view, which they have expressed before the Chairman, that the Minister concerned should apologise.

--IANS

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Japan will not relocate its embassy from Israel's Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono has said.

In talks with his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi, Kono on Tuesday said that Tokyo considers Jerusalem as one of the final status issues that need to be settled through direct negotiations.

Kono reiterated Japan's support for the two-state solution and the need to reactivate efforts in this regard, Xinhua news agency reported.

He also voiced appreciation for Jordan's efforts to attain peace in the Middle East.

US President Donald Trump's decision to relocate the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem violates international law and UN resolutions, said Safadi.

He called for intensified efforts on an international level to facilitate the two-state solution that ensures the creation of an independent state of Palestine on the basis of the 1967 borders with east Jerusalem as its capital.

In 1967, Israel took over East Jerusalem from Jordan and declared the whole city as its "eternal indivisible capital" in 1980. However, it has not been recognised by the international community.

Jordanian Prime Minister Hani Mulki has said during his meeting with Kono on Tuesday that Trump's decision was "null and void" and in contradiction with the international law.

He added that the Palestinian issue was a central issue in the Middle East. Japan's support for Jordan, which hosts more than 1.3 million Syrian refugees, was also discussed.

--IANS

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Over 200 farmers from the state took to the streets here on Wednesday and submitted a petition to the Governor, Chief Minister and other political leaders, demanding release of the Mahadayi river water by Goa.

"We have submitted a memorandum to the Governor (Vajubhai R.Vala)'s office and the Chief Minister's office requesting for the release of water from Mahadayi river (from neighbouring Goa) to the drought-hit state of Karnataka," general secretary of the state farmers' association Rait Sena Karnataka, H.S. Madiwalar told IANS here.

The farmers, who have been staging a protest in the city for the past four days outside the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s state unit office in the western suburb, have also met the leaders of the Janata Dal (Secular).

"We hope that JD(S) leader and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda will support us and help us in getting drinking water from the river as both parties in the state -- Congress and BJP -- have only been blaming each other over the issue," Madiwalar said.

The BJP state unit leaders were whisked away by the police from the Congress office in the city centre after they staged a demonstration on Wednesday against the ruling party's failure to resolve the issue.

Several Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) members, who were also staging protests along with the farmers outside the Governor's official residence Raj Bhavan and other locations, were detained by the police.

The 77-km-long Mahadayi or Mandovi river originates at Bhimgad in the Western Ghats in Belagavi district of northwest Karnataka and flows into neighbouring Goa and eventually joins the Arabian Sea off the west coast.

Although the river flows 29 km in Karnataka and 52 km in Goa, its catchment area is spread over 2,032 km in the southern state as against 1,580 km in Goa.

Karnataka has been asking Goa since 2001 to release 7.6 tmcft (thousand million cubic feet) of the river water to meet the drinking needs of its people in Hubballi-Dharwad, Gadag, Bagalkote and Belagavi districts and irrigating their farmlands.

Karnataka plans to build two canals at Kalasa and Banduri, which are the tributaries of the river in the state, to divert and supply the water to the four districts.

While Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene in the inter-state dispute over sharing of the river water, BJP's state unit chief B.S. Yeddyurappa said the state Congress leaders should convince their Goan counterparts to allow their Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to settle the issue amicably.

--IANS

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The Jammu and Kashmir government's social gag order on its employees has sparked hilarious responses, including from 2009 IAS topper Shah Faesal, a frequent Facebook user known for airing his views on hotly-contested issues in the .

Faesal, who updates his Facebook page with at least one post a day, reacted rather cheekily and vowed to speak in "coded" language now.

"From today, I will update in a coded language. Heard it that using Facebook will earn government employees 'tal-paet shalakh' (foot whipping)," Faesal wrote, triggering a barrage of funny and sarcastic reactions from his followers, including some in-service and retired people.

The government on Tuesday amended the conduct rules for employees and barred them from airing political views on personal social accounts.

"They shall also not use their personal social media accounts for any political activity or endorse the posts or tweets or blogs of any political figure," the new rule states.

"The employees shall also not use their accounts in a manner that could reasonably be construed to imply that the government endorses or sanctions their personal activities in any manner whatsoever."

Shahzada Bilal, a senior government officer, warned Faesal and other employees that their noses will be chopped if they communicate "their conscience and mind" on social media.

"Khabar dhar hoshiyar:- Credible opinion has been invalidated. From today, if anyone writes a Facebook post as per their conscience and mind, their noses will be chopped off."

Bilal said a new syllabus has been issued for Facebook users in Kashmir which includes some Kashmiri nursery rhymes and cradle songs.

"Loktay moktay tarko, aechh watan mandh chhhan chhukhow; Bishte bishte brario khotkho wan, hukus bukus teli wan chhe kus," said Bilal, mentioning some Kashmiri cradle songs.

Asked by non Kashmiris to translate his post written in Kashmiri, Bilal said the order meant that employees now don't need to "think and write beyond twinkle twinkle little star".

Hawa Bashir, an ex principal of a government college, was thankful because the order didn't apply to retired employees.

Faesal jokingly wrote back: "It is for pensioners also!"

Altaf Wani, an employee at a Srinagar hospital, bade adieu to his Facebook followers with a last "salaam". "Hukm e hakim marg e mufajat," Wani wrote, likening government decrees to sudden deaths.

Well-known woman poet Naseem Shafaie wrote a one-word response "shoobekh" (serves them well).

Faesal warned her, again jokingly, that another circular was coming to gag poets.

Shafaie's wit didn't fail her. "We are no lesser. We will conduct poetic sessions only after studying relevant SROs (Statutory Rules and Orders). We can also cry like rudali," she said, referring to hired mourners or "female weepers".

The celebrated IAS topper on a serious note and jokes apart wrote in another post that "government employees must observe a certain code of conduct while using social media".

"I mean good behaviour, nothing more. I have seen some teachers hurling invective, doctors abusing with freedom, officers getting into unsavoury arguments and engineers sharing indecent content much to everyone's embarassment. That is not acceptable. Even criticism has to be worded politely."

--IANS

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The founder of the debt-laden technology conglomerate LeEco has been ordered by the Chinese authorities to return to his country by the end of December to take care of the company's debts.

According to a notice served to Jia Yueting by China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) in Beijing, the company's failure to repay debts is "a serious violation of the legal rights and interests of listed companies and the interests of investors, with an extremely negative social impact".

"Our bureau issued to you on September 13, 2017 'Regulatory Concern Letter to Jia Youting' (Jing Zheng Jian Fa, 2017, No.256), which explicitly requires that you immediately return home after your presentation. Since then, many listed companies have also conveyed to you the request to return to their country, but so far we have not seen any action taken by you," the notice said.

"In order to protect the legitimate rights and interests of listed companies and investors, we hereby order you to return before December 31, 2017 to effectively fulfil the obligations of the actual controller of the Company, cooperate with the Company in resolving the problems of the Company, properly handle the risks of the Company and earnestly protect the legitimate rights and interests of investors."

According to a report in Tech Crunch, shares of LeEco's parent, Leshi Internet Information and Technology Corp, were traded on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange until April, when trading was halted to allow the company to review a restructuring plan.

In 2016, the company expanded under the LeEco brand, which included an agreement to buy American TV maker Vizio for $2 billion (the acquisition was later called off), the launch of smartphones, smart bikes and other consumer electronics and a financial partnership with Los Angeles-based electric vehicle startup Faraday Future.

To fund those ventures, LeEco borrowed billions of dollars from investors.

LeEco's expansion failed to take off, the pressure from lenders mounted and in July Jia resigned as Chairman of Leshi Internet and promised to repay LeEco's debts.

--IANS

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Leaders across party lines on Wednesday condemned Pakistan's "misbehaviour" with the wife and mother of alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav during the meeting in Islamabad on Monday, with the issue figuring inside the Lok Sabha as well as in the Parliament galleries. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has promised to make a statement in the House on Thursday.

The Lower House also saw some members raising slogans against Pakistan.

As soon as the House met, some members from the treasury benches started shouting "Pakistan Murdabad" (Down with Pakistan).

Amid protests on other issues, Shiv Sena member Arvind Sawant raised the issue and slammed Pakistan's action.

"The way Pakistan misbehaved with Kulbhushan Jadhav's family is condemnable... We should not stay quiet on the issue till Jadhav is brought back home," he said.

Trinamool Congress leader Saugata Roy supported him, saying making a Hindu woman take off her bangles, mangalsutra and bindi should be condemned.

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said all parties were together on this issue, and urged the government to get Jadhav back to the country. AIADMK MP and Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha M. Thambidurai also condemned the action.

Sushma Swaraj, who was in the House, told the members that she will make a statement on the issue on Thursday.

Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju meanwhile slammed the "very irresponsible" Pakistani media over the heckling of Jadhav's mother and wife while they were waiting for their car outside the Pakistan Foreign Office building in Islamabad on Monday.

"Pakistan media is very irresponsible, it is not responsible like the Indian media," Rijiju told reporters outside Parliament.

He also assured action by the External Affairs Ministry over the heckling of Jhadav's family.

Meanwhile, on a different note, Samajwadi Party MP in Rajya Sabha Naresh Agarwal said: "If they (Pakistan) consider Kulbhushan Jadhav a terrorist in their country, then they will treat him that way. We should treat terrorists in our country the same way."

The statement stoked controversy, with Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir calling the comment "unfortunate".

"This is a very unfortunate statement. An Indian citizen speaks like this. He can protest against the government as he is in the Opposition but this is seen as a protest against the nation," he said.

Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer, is on death row in Pakistan on charges of spying and terrorism. His mother and wife met him in Islamabad on Monday after 22 months, since his arrest by Pakistan. On May 18, 2017, the International Court of Justice stayed the hanging, after India approached it against the death sentence.

India in a strong statement accused Pakistani authorities of making the mother and wife of the death row prisoner remove their bindi, mangal sutra and bangles ahead of the meeting.

"For some inexplicable reason, despite her repeated requests, the shoes of the wife of Shri Jadhav were not returned to her after the meeting," India said on Tuesday, and warned "We would caution against any mischievous intent in this regard".

The Pakistan Foreign Office on Wednesday said the shoes of Jadhav's wife were confiscated as a "metallic substance" had been detected in them.

--IANS

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The Kochi police on Wednesday arrested a fan of superstar Mammootty for 'cyber bullying' actress Parvathy after she publicly stated that some of the dialogues in the Mammootty-starrer "Kasaba" were strongly prejudiced against women.

Pinto, a person hailing from Wadakanchery near here, was arrested by the police and, during questioning, he said he is part of the Mammootty fan club from his area.

The police probing the complaint of the actress have indicated that more arrests were likely.

Trouble started for the young award-winning actress ever since she expressed her reservations regarding the dialogues in the film at the recently concluded International Film Festival of Kerala.

She, however, never took any names when she expressed her reservations in the dialogues of the film.

Since then, social media was full of angry responses against the actress and when it crossed all limits, she filed a police complaint here, following which the cyber police swung into action.

In the 2016 released film, Mammootty plays the role of a police officer and the comments from the young actress had irked a section of the huge fan base of the superstar, who for the past two decades is the number one actor in the state.

--IANS

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Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar on Wednesday asked all opposition parties to help pass the Triple Talaq Bill in Parliament on Wednesday.

"I appeal to all the opposition parties to help pass the bill on Triple Talaq in the Parliament unanimously," Kumar told reporters after arriving in Parliament here.

His remarks came amid continued logjam over Congress' demand for apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his remarks against his predecessor Manmohan Singh during the Gujarat assembly election campaign.

The Parliament resumed on Wednesday after a four-day break -- a weekend and two-day holiday on Christmas.

The government is trying to bring a bill to criminalise instant triple talaq, which has been listed for introduction on Thursday.

--IANS

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Argentine Cabinet officials have honoured the crew of the submarine ARA San Juan, which disappeared last month, during a naval ceremony here.

"Our respect and our recognition go out to the families," Defence Minister Oscar Aguad said at the ceremony on Tuesday marking the departure of the icebreaker ARA Almirante Irizar on the 2017-2018 Antarctic Summer Campaign.

"Let us remember the 44 countrymen from the submarine San Juan because they represent courage and the defence of our interests at sea, in our continental sea," Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie said.

The ARA San Juan's crew was on a tactical mission that was essential for protecting Argentina's maritime lanes, Aguad was quoted as saying by Efe news.

Ships from several countries continue searching for the submarine in an area about 400 km off Argentina's coast but no trace of the missing vessel has been found.

On Monday, the Navy said it was trying to determine whether three objects found at sea were from the submarine. The objects were found on Sunday at different depths.

The ARA San Juan, a TR-1700-class submarine built in Germany, last made contact with the Navy command on November 15 while travelling from the southern port of Ushuaia to its base in Mar del Plata, near Buenos Aires.

--IANS

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Italian prosecutors are investigating a Moroccan-Italian woman, who was arrested by its anti-terrorism unit, media reports have said.

The 35-year-old woman, known only by initials R.M., reportedly went to Syria with her three small children for the love of an extremist from the Islamic State (IS) group, whom she had met online, ANSA news agency quoted DIGOS anti-terrorism police as saying on Tuesday.

She was arrested in Milan's Malpensa airport on December 23 on an international warrant from France, where the Italian father of her children lives and where he had reported her missing.

The woman, reportedly seven months pregnant, could face charges of international terrorism in Italy, Xinhua news agency reported.

Authorities tracked her down in November, when she was expelled from Turkey on her way back from Syria.

French prosecutors will try to determine whether she intended to draft her children into IS child combat units, according to ANSA.

The woman has been incarcerated in Milan's San Vittore prison ahead of a December 29 extradition hearing.

Returning foreign fighters, or Europeans who went to fight in IS ranks in Syria and Iraq, are considered a major terrorist threat now that IS has largely been militarily defeated.

--IANS

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Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has held former military dictator Pervez Musharraf personally responsible for the murder of his mother, Benazir Bhutto, as the country observed her 10th death anniversary on Wednesday.

Bhutto, the PPP chief and a two-time Prime Minister, was killed along with 21 people in a gun-and-bomb attack outside Rawalpindi's Liaquat Bagh during an election campaign rally on December 27, 2007.

In an interview to the BBC, Bilawal Bhutto said: "Musharraf exploited this entire situation to assassinate my mother. He purposely sabotaged her security so that she would be assassinated and taken off the scene."

He said that he doesn't hold the man who fired the bullet at his late mother responsible for her murder.

Bilawal Bhutto said that Musharraf, who is in self-imposed exile in Dubai, had directly threatened Bhutto and told her that her security was based on the state of relationship with him. He claimed that on the day of her assassination, the security cordon was taken off from her by the former military ruler.

The PPP Chairman said that he personally holds the former President responsible for the murder and as he doesn't have any details of him giving directions on a call or holding a meeting to convey any secret message, he will not unnecessarily blame any state institution.

The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in its judgment on August 31 had declared Musharraf an absconder in the assassination case and acquitted five alleged operatives of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) -- Rafaqat Hussain, Husnain Gul, Sher Zaman, Aitzaz Shah and Abdul Rashid -- due to lack of evidence.

Two police officers were jailed for 17 years each for negligence vis-a-vis Bhutto's security. The court also ordered confiscation of Musharraf's properties.

Bilawal Bhutto added that the ATC hearing Bhutto's case ignored the UN investigation report, ignored the government's investigation, ignored phone call recordings and did not take into account DNA evidence.

He said the court gave a clean chit to the terrorists, awarded punishments to the police officials involved in washing the crime scene but also immediately approved their bail.

He also dismissed the claims that his father Asif Ali Zardari was responsible for Bhutto's assassination. "This assumption is like calling an innocent an oppressor."

Bilawal Bhutto and his father will address a PPP rally at Garhi Khuda Bakhsh later in the day. More than a million party supporters and workers are expected to be present.

--IANS

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Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto on Wednesday branded former President Pervez Musharraf as the "killer" of his mother Benazir Bhutto as the country observed her 10th death anniversary.

Reiterating that he holds the man who pulled her security rather than the man who pulled the trigger responsible for his mother's death, Bilawal Bhutto raised the "Musharraf's a murderer!" slogan in front of the charged crowd of PPP supporters in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh, Dawn online reported.

Bhutto, the PPP chief and a two-time Prime Minister, was killed along with 21 people in a gun-and-bomb attack outside Rawalpindi's Liaqat Bagh during an election rally on December 27, 2007.

Earlier, Bilawal Bhutto told the BBC in an interview that crucial details about the assassination of his mother were being held back in order to protect the former army chief.

He said: "Musharraf exploited this entire situation to assassinate my mother. He purposely sabotaged her security so that she would be assassinated and taken off the scene."

Bilawal Bhutto said that Musharraf, who is in self-imposed exile in Dubai, had directly threatened Bhutto and told her that her security was based on the state of her relationship with him. He claimed that on the day of her assassination, the security cordon was taken off from her by the former military ruler.

The PPP Chairman said that he personally holds the former President responsible for the murder but as he doesn't have any details of him giving directions on a call or holding a meeting to convey any secret message, he will not unnecessarily blame any state institution.

The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in its judgment on August 31 had declared Musharraf an absconder in the assassination case and acquitted five alleged operatives of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) due to lack of evidence.

Two police officers were jailed for 17 years each for negligence vis-a-vis Bhutto's security. The court also ordered confiscation of Musharraf's properties.

Bilawal Bhutto added that the ATC hearing Bhutto's case ignored the UN investigation report, ignored the government's investigation, ignored phone call recordings and did not take into account DNA evidence.

He said the court gave a clean chit to the terrorists, awarded punishments to the police officials involved in washing the crime scene but also immediately approved their bail.

Bilawal Bhutto told the PPP supporters that Benazir had been punished for propagating democracy and for her deep love for the people.

"My leader (Benazir), you were punished for fighting against dictatorship... for fighting for women and speaking for the oppressed. You were punished for loving people."

Bilawal also accused the incumbent government of undoing his mother's legacy, saying: "They've weakened the democracy and Parliament. Small provinces are being isolated from the federal government. This is a murderous government."

Bilawal also attached some blame for his mother's unresolved murder case to the judiciary.

--IANS

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Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday slammed Pakistan for its "inhuman" handling of the meeting between Kulbhushan Jadhav and his family in Islamabad, saying it had hurt the sentiments of Indians.

Naidu said that India seeks peace in the region for the benefit of all the countries but "some are adopting a different approach".

He noted that Pakistani authorities' insisting on removal of 'mangalsutra' by Jadhav's wife and other restrictions did not go down well with the people of India.

"Pakistan did not do any good for itself in this regard even as it sought to showcase its gesture by allowing the family union to the world," Naidu said during an interaction with faculty and students from Harvard, Stanford and MIT.

During the 40 minute interaction, Naidu responded to queries on India's strengths, opportunities and challenges besides its emergence as a global power, a statement said.

The Vice President noted that Indian voters had shown great maturity from time to time while casting their vote as was evident in their fierce defence of personal freedoms by voting against the Emergency in 1977.

He observed that after long years of single party rule at the Centre, India transited through coalition governments till the people gave an absolute majority to the present government in 2014.

"India faces the challenges of inequality, rural-urban divide, unemployment, border issues, poverty and illiteracy. The ruling and opposition parties need to work together with shared perspectives for further strengthening parliamentary democracy," Naidu said.

He stated that the mood of the young and aspirational India was in favour of 'development and reforms' and the government had taken several initiatives in this regard, as was evident in the introduction of GST and demonetisation.

Responding to a query on India's role in global vis-a-vis some leading countries, Naidu stated that as one of the oldest civilisations which accounted for 27 per cent of world's GDP before foreign invasions, India never believed in hegemony and would only like to harness its potential as an economic power-house that benefits the people of India and other countries as well.

"India would like to take full advantage of its huge man-power through necessary skill upgradation and empowerment," he said.

--IANS

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Jammu and government's order to its employees to avoid controversial engagements on social media on Wednesday evoked adverse reaction both from the separatist and mainstream leaders.

Senior separatist leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq reacted on Twitter.

"Ordering gags and threatening punishment to state employ ees for expressing their opinion on social media completely exposes the aversion to truth or its disclosure by the occupational regime and its unscrupulous local agents!The charade of "normalcy" in # will continue to be maintained by silencing people through bullets,jails,gags and bans!!"

Muhammad Yasin Malik, chairman of pro-freedom Jammu and Liberation Front (JKLF) said, in a statement, that the "dictatorial order suppressing use of social media by government employees resembles that of North Korean dictatorship".

Opposition National Conference issued a statement Wednesday cautioning the PDP-BJP Government against "portraying lakhs of hardworking government employees of the state as terrorists and anti-social elements to cover its own utter and complete failure on both the governance and the political fronts".

Communist Party of India-Marxist leader and legislator Yusuf Tarigami said: "At a time when the government is claiming remarkable success in bringing back the state on the track to normalcy, restricting the use of social media, not only belies its tall claims, it has also the negative potential to further alienate a substantial proportion of masses."

The state Congress unit also issued a statement criticizing the state government for barring its employees from using social media which, according to the party, has become a part of the system.

"It is the result of the dictatorial mindset of the PDP and the BJP," the statement said.

The state government on Tuesday issued an administrative order asking its employees not to engage on the social media in any manner that could be prejudicial to the image and interests of the government.

--IANS

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More than 300 leaders and workers of the ruling Janata Dal-United in Bihar on Wednesday resigned from the party in support of senior party leader Uday Narain Choudhary who has revolted against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Most of the workers, including three block unit heads, resigned from the primary membership of the party in Maoist-affected Imamganj assembly constituency in Gaya district, considered a stronghold of Dalit leader Choudhary, said a leader close to him.

This comes a day after Choudhary, former Speaker of Bihar Assembly, openly expressed his support for Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad, the main political rival of Nitish Kumar.

Lalu Prasad is currently lodged in a jail in Jharkhand's Ranchi after being convicted in a fodder scam case by a court last week.

In last three months, Choudhary has repeatedly attacked his own party government in the state and targeted Nitish Kumar, who is also the party President.

However, JD-U senior leader R.C.P. Singh, known as the eyes and ears of Nitish Kumar, said that party will not issue notice to Choudhary and there is no decision to take action against him.

"It will be a wastage of paper to issue notice to him," he said.

In last assembly polls in 2015, Choudhary was defeated by former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi in Imamganj assembly seat after which he was sidelined.

But after Nitish Kumar dumped the RJD and the Congress to join hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party to form the government in July, he has publicly rebelled against the Chief Minister.

--IANS

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The Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) on Wednesday said the country's leadership will resort to the UN to "punish" Guatemala for its decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem.

Saeb Erekat told the official Palestinian radio station Voice of Palestine that Guatemala's decision was in breach of international law, the UN charter and the 12 UN Security Council resolutions relating to Jerusalem.

The 1980 Arab League summit resolutions call for boycotts against any country that recognises Jerusalem as Israel's capital or moves its embassy to the city.

Last week, 128 member states of the UN voted in favour of a resolution that rejected any changes to the status of Jerusalem, targeting US President Donald Trump's recent declaration of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

--IANS

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The two houses of Parliament faced repeated disruptions on Wednesday over Minister of State for Skill Development Anant Kumar Hegde's "amend the Constitution" remarks as the government stressed it was committed to the Constitution and had faith in its architect B.R. Ambedkar.

The Upper House faced two adjournments even as the government distanced itself from Hegde's comments.

In the Lok Sabha, Congress members kept protesting near the Speaker's podium with banners and forced three adjournments.

They raised slogans and demanded that Hegde should be called to the House.

Hegde had stirred a controversy on Sunday urging people to "claim with pride that they are Muslim, Christian, Lingayat, Brahmin or a Hindu". "Those who, without knowing about their parental blood, call themselves secular, they don't have their own identity...They don't know about their parentage, but they are intellectuals," he had said.

"Some people say the Constitution says secular and you must accept it. We will respect the Constitution, but the Constitution has changed several times and it will change in the future too. We are here to change the Constitution and we'll change it soon," Hegde had added.

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said the issue was "serious" and they want to tell the country about the minister's remarks.

Kharge used an insulting word to describe the Minister's description of those having faith in secularism which was expunged by the Speaker.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar accused Kharge of twisting the remarks of his ministerial colleague and also called the Congress "pseudo secular".

"Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi has said that Constitution is the holy book for the people of this country. Congress should not try to teach us a lesson on secularism... They have only practiced pseudo secularism," he said.

As the House took up a bill to give extension to unauthorised colonies in Delhi till 2020, Congress members trooped near the Speaker's podium raising slogans.

Members of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) stood near the Speaker's podium displaying placards demanding a separate High Court for Telangana, with one of the members holding an electronic tablet that flashed a message raising their demand.

Amid sloganeering and ruckus, the House was adjourned till 2.45 p.m. by Deputy Speaker M. Thambidurai. When the House met, Congress and TRS members continued their protests despite repeated requests by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to take their seats. Members of the BJP and a few other parties spoke on the Bill amid sloganeering by Congress and TRS members.

Trinamool Congress member Saugata Roy, who rose to speak on the Bill, accused Hegde of insulting the Constitution and said Parliament had been put to shame by his remarks. "Call the Minister, chastise him. How can he insult Ambedkar?" he said.

The Bill pertaining to unauthorised colonies was later passed amid din in the house.

As the House sought to take up the Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Amendment Bill, 2017, members urged the Speaker to bring the House in order.

Mahajan then adjourned the House for 15 minutes. But the sloganeering continued when the House met and Trinamool Congress members also joined the protest near the Speaker's podium.

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said they had already responded to opposition concerns. "What Ambedkar has given to the country, the faith in Constitution, secularism, the BJP is committed to all this," he said.

"BJP is committed to the Constitution. We have faith in Ambedkar," he added.

However, the protests by Congress and Trinamool Congress continued and Mahajan went ahead with the Bill related to GST, which was later passed.

Earlier, the House witnessed protests and was adjourned twice during the pre-lunch sitting.

In the Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad lashed out at the government and the Bharatiya Janata Party and said if any person lacked faith in the Indian Constitution, he did not deserve to be in the House or in the government.

"The Minister has no trust in the Constitution and has no right to be the Minister. He has no right to be a Member of Parliament either," Azad said.

The Opposition sought a discussion over the issue.

Samajwadi Party MP Naresh Agarwal said Hegde had abused the Constitution and "insulted" its architect B.R. Ambedkar.

Naidu then adjourned the House till 12 p.m. As the House met again, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goel said that the Modi government did "not agree with the Minister's (Hegde's) remarks".

The opposition members continued their protest and the House was adjourned till 2 p.m.

--IANS

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The government and the Opposition reached a truce on Wednesday in the Rajya Sabha over Narendra Modi's attack against his predecessor Manmohan Singh during the Gujarat polls with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley saying the Prime Minister didn't question Singh's commitment to the nation.

Following Jaitley's statement, the Congress also reciprocated by disapproving Mani Shankar Aiyar's criticism of the Prime Minister after which the House resumed normal business.

"The statement (by Modi) did not question nor did he mean to question the commitment of Manmohan Singh or Hamid Ansari, the former Vice President. Any such perception is completely erroneous. We hold these leaders in high esteem and their commitment to the nation," said Jaitley, who is Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha that has been rocked over the Congress' demand for an apology from the Prime Minister.

Modi had accused Manmohan Singh of conspiring with Pakistanis to defeat the BJP in the Gujarat election after the former Prime Minister and Ansari participated in a dinner hosted by former Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar at his residence in honour of former Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri at which the Pakistan High Commissioner was also present.

Following Jaitley's brief statement, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad also read out from a prepared statement in which he distanced the Congress from Aiyar's statement against Modi saying the Congress disapproves of any attempt to bring down the dignity of the Prime Minister's Office.

Aiyar had during the Gujarat polls described Modi as a "person of low level". The Prime Minister said the Congress leader had called him a low caste. The Congress subsequently suspended Aiyar and issued him a showcause notice and asked him to apologize.
The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed the Indian Forest (Amendment) Bill, 2017, which excludes bamboo from the definition of "tree", even as the opposition members, opposing the Bill and questioning the government's intentions behind bringing this legislation, walked out.

The Bill will replace the Indian Forest (Amendment) Ordinance that was promulgated by the President on November 23 this year.

The Indian Forest Act, 1927, placed bamboo in the definition of "tree", besides palms, stumps, brush-wood and canes, and hence felling and transportation of bamboo required a permit.

The government argued that the exclusion of bamboo from the definition of "tree" would promote bamboo cultivation and reduce the country's dependence on imported bamboo.

"The bamboo, though taxonomically a grass is treated as 'tree' for the purpose of the said Act, and therefore, attracts the requirement of permit for transit under the said Act. Although many states have exempted felling and transit of various species of bamboos within the states, the interstate movement of bamboos requires the amending measure," Environment and Forest Minister Harsh Vardhan told the House as he presented the Bill.

"The farmers face hardships in getting the permits for felling and transit of bamboos, which has been identified as a major impediment in the cultivation of bamboos by farmers on their land.

"Hence, it was decided to amend Clause (7) of Section 2 of the said Act, so as to omit the word 'bamboos' from the definition of 'tree', in order to exempt bamboos grown on non-forest area from the requirement of permit for felling or transit under the said Act, and would encourage bamboo plantation by farmers resulting in the enhancement of their income from agricultural fields," the minister said.

However, the opposition MPs from the Congress, Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress, Biju Janata Dal, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Communist Party of India opposed the Bill contending that it would only benefit the big industrialists, timber mafia and the rich and not the farmers as claimed by the government.

The opposition members expressed concern that the amended law would encourage illegal felling of bamboos in the forests as there was no way to differentiate between privately cultivated bamboo and the forest bamboo while being transported.

They also claimed that the law would pave the way for encroachment on the tribal people's and forest dwellers' rights. The opposition also wanted to know as to what was the hurry to amend the law through an Ordinance just ahead of a Parliament session.

Another objection raised by some of the opposition MPs was that states were not consulted before bringing the Ordinance or the Bill.

In his reply, Harsh Vardhan said that India produces only half the quantity of bamboo consumed by it in various industries and the rest had to be imported.

However, Congress member and former Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh said his party was not satisfied by the minister's reply and hence they were walking out.

A few other MPs from other parties followed suit and walked out of the House before it passed the Bill with a voice vote.
Russia is ready to serve as a mediator between North Korea and the US if both sides agree, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

"You can't become a mediator between two countries just on your own will. It is impossible, you need both sides to be willing," Peskov told CNN on Tuesday.

Peskov's comments came just days after the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a new set of US-drafted sanctions on North Korea in response to its November 29 ballistic missile test.

US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley called the latest sanctions as the "toughest yet" as they were aimed to further restrict energy supplies, tighten restrictions on smuggling and the use of North Korean workers overseas.

The vote was unanimous but Russia's Ambassador to the UN criticised the resolution saying that the US had rushed it through with several last-minute amendments that targeted North Korean workers abroad.

The resolution's requirement of a 24-month period for North Korean workers to return home "is the minimum acceptable period necessary to deal with the logistical aspects of the issue," said Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN Vasilly Nebenzia.

"Unfortunately, our call to preclude a further escalation of tensions, to revise the policy of mutual intimidation, was not heeded," he said.

The US also issued sanctions on two North Korea citizens over their alleged involvement in the country's ballistic missile programme.

Meanwhile, during a telephonic conversation with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it was "inadmissible" that Washington heightened tension on the Korean Peninsula with "aggressive rhetoric" and military buildup.

"The two sides believe that Pyongyang's nuclear missile development violated the requirements of the UN Security Council", the Russian Foreign Ministry said, underscoring the need for "an early transition from words of sanctions to a negotiation process".

The two top diplomats also considered steps to overcome the conflicts in Syria while maintaining its territorial integrity, including the plan to hold an inter-Syrian national dialogue in Russia's Sochi.

They also agreed to intensify dialogue on issues concerning strategic stability.

--IANS

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"I managed to catch a glimpse of its tail", "I saw its shadow," "Lucky if you spot one!"

This usual banter among tourists at the tiny Keibul Lamjao National Park (KLNP) in Manipur -- the world's only floating national park -- is not about catching the Unicorn.

They are talking about the endangered and elusive Sangai or Eld's deer -- popularly known as the "dancing deer" by the locals. Celebrated for its gait, it is ubiquitous in Manipuri art, culture and folklore.

Now untreated human waste is threatening its already jeopardised survival at the park, its last remaining refuge.

Spread around 40 square kilometres, KLNP is the protected southern rim of the saucer-shaped freshwater lake, the iconic Loktak, and is about a quarter of the size of Assam's famous Kaziranga National Park.

The swampy Loktak, originally a "wetland of wetlands" and the "lifeline" of the Manipur Valley's people, is famous for the phumdis -- the squelchy mass of vegetation, soil and organic matter bunched together and in various stages of decomposition -- that has thickened to form floating meadows.

It is the largest freshwater lake in northeast India, bordering Myanmar and straddling the Barak-Chindwin river basin in the Indo-Myanmar region.

At Sendra, the highest point of the lake, about an hour-and-a-half's drive from state capital Imphal, one gets a bird's eye-view of the phumdis dotting the water body.

Rings of green stretching across the clear blue expanse of the lake bring to mind images of crop circles synonymous with rumours of alien visitors.

These floating meadows harbour around 260 of the animals, whose dainty gait is said to inspire Manipuri dance traditions and folklore.

Under attack from water pollution due to untreated waste, these islets have thinned down -- making it tough for the deer to live on and off them.

Of the 40 square km of the national park, about 65 per cent (26 square kilometre) is covered with thick and almost contiguous mat of floating meadows.

"To support the weight of Sangai (weighing between 90 kg and 150 kg) and sustain a stable population of the deer, the phumdis needs to be at least a metre thick," Chongpi Tuboi of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) told IANS.

Tuboi, a project scientist, in the WII's conservation action plan for Sangai, says the phumdis that have formed recently (it may take up to 20 years for one phumdi to form) are less than a metre in thickness.

"Overall, only nine square kilometres of the total park area has the required phumdi thickness of at least one metre," Tuboi said.

Loktak's water woes are mainly linked to loss of vegetation cover in its catchment and construction of the Ithai Barrage in the southern part of the lake.

While poor water quality has altered the vegetation cover and composition of the phumdis and hence their potential to sustain the Sangais, the construction of the barrage in 1983 disrupted the waterbody's natural flushing mechanism.

"The Lake was a seasonally flooded wetland with several small wetlands which used to be separated during low water levels and merged into one during the monsoon," Tuboi explained.

After the construction of the barrage, the water level in the Lake is maintained at a regular 769.12 metres above mean sea level so as to support the hydro-power project.

The lake is, as Tuboi says, in stress due to "permanent flooding".

This hinders the phumdis from settling down on to the water bed during the dry season and picking up nutrients and soil to maintain the desired thickness.

From 2008 to 2010, Tuboi and his colleagues Syed Ainul Hussain and Michelle Irengbam tested water samples across 11 sites of the wetland, which is fed by around 30 rivers and streams, including the heavily polluted Nambul and Nambol rivers.

The Ithai Barrage is the only outlet for this lake.

Both liquid effluents and solid wastes discharged from Imphal city are drained directly into Loktak via the Nambul river which flows through the city.

The results of the study published in journal Physics and Chemistry of the Earth in October reinforce the message that the Loktak lake is "severely polluted" due to the "influx of sewage and other wastes from the Nambul and Nambol rivers."

In addition, surface runoff from the surrounding agricultural and catchment areas is also diminishing the lake's water quality, as indicated by high nitrogen concentration.

The researchers recommend setting up sewage treatment plants at strategic locations, such as at the inlet channel at Toubul village, which is surrounded by the lake.

Meanwhile, Tuboi and his team have been surveying spots within the lake where a satellite population of the Sangai could be re-located.

"Sangai is the flagship species. If we save it, we save everything else. Before the fragile balance between the lake ecosystem and the local cultural practices are permanently lost, the lake needs to be restored by improving its water quality and hydrological regime," Tuboi added.

(This story has been published with support from a fellowship programme -- TransDisciplinary University (TDU)-Nature India Media Fellow in Science Journalism. Sahana Ghosh can be contacted at sahana.g@ians.in)

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State Bank of India on Wednesday said it has received board approval for raising Rs 8,000 crore to meet Basel III capital adequacy norms through various instruments, including masala bonds.

The state-run lender said it has time till March 2018 to raise the funds required to meet the Basel III capital adequacy norms put in place to guard against a repeat of the situation following the 2008 US financial crisis.

"The Central Board at its meeting held today accorded approval to raise additional tier 1 (AT 1) capital by way of issuance of Basel III compliant debt instruments in USD and/or INR to the tune of Rs 8,000 crore from domestic/international market including masala bonds," the SBI said in a stock exchange filing.

Rupee denominated debt instruments that can be floated in overseas markets only to raise capital are known as Masala Bonds.

According to estimates earlier, public sector banks would need additional capital of up to Rs 2,40,000 crore by 2018 to become Basel III compliant.

Banks in India have to comply with these norms of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision by March 2019, which is three months later than the internationally agreed deadline of January 2019.

--IANS

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Normal life was disrupted on Wednesday in four districts in northern Karnataka due to a day-long shutdown, called for the release of Mahadayi river water by Goa to the drought-prone region in the southern state.

"Barring stray incidents of burning tyres on roads, blocking movement of trucks and forcible closure of shops and eateries by the agitators, the dawn-to-dusk (6 a.m. to 6 p.m.) shutdown was peaceful," a senior police official told IANS here.

As a precautionary measure, the state transport corporations did not operate bus services during the 12-hour shutdown in the affected districts of Bagalkote, Belagavi, Dharwad and Gadag, about 400 500km from Bengaluru.

"Schools, colleges, shops, markets, hotels, theatres, and private offices remained shut for the day in support of the shutdown observed by farmers, traders and pro-Kannada organisations," said the official.

Inter-state bus services to and from Goa across the border were also suspended.

Government offices and banks reported thin attendance due to lack of public transport and closure of petrol bunks in the cities and towns of the affected districts.

Security was tightened and vigil stepped up to maintain law and order and ensure peace during the shutdown, which received overwhelming response from the people.

Though additional police were deployed across the four districts, organisations were allowed to hold rallies and stage demonstrations in protest against the delay in releasing the river water to meet the drinking needs of the people in the state's northwest region.

The 77km-long Mahadayi or Mandovi river originates at Bhimgad in the Western Ghats in Belagavi district of north Karnataka and flows into the neighbouring Goa where it eventually joins the Arabian Sea.

Though the river flows runs 29 km in Karnataka and 52 km in Goa, its catchment area is spread over 2,032km in the southern state as against 1,580km in Goa.

Karnataka has been asking Goa since 2001 to release 7.6 thousand million cubic feet of the river water to meet the drinking and crop irrigation needs of its people in the drought-prone four districts.

Karnataka plans to build two canals at Kalasa and Banduri, the river's tributaries in the state, to divert and supply the water to the four districts.

The Mahaydai Water Disputes Tribunal, headed by Justice J.N. Panchal, on July 28, 2016 rejected the state's petition for releasing the river water, citing various grounds, including ecological damage the twin canal projects may cause. The Tribunal, set up by the Central Government on the Supreme Court's directive, however, suggested the two states resolve the issue amicably.

With the state assembly election due in April-May 2018, BJP's National President Amit Shah prevailed upon Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to consider releasing the water on humanitarian grounds and boost the party's poll prospects in the state.

Parrikar then wrote to BJP's state unit president B.S. Yeddyurappa on December 21 that he was open to discuss the issue with his Karnataka counterpart Siddaramaiah and release a certain quantity of water from the river to meet the needs of its people.

--IANS

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Telangana's Commerce Minister K.T. Rama Rao has received an invitation to the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Switzerland next month -- an invite generally restricted to Central Ministers or Chief Ministers, said a government statement on Wednesday.

The Information Technology, Industries and Commerce Minister has been invited to the prestigious meet in recognition of his active role in making Telangana the number one state in the ease of doing business ranking, said the statement from the Minister's office.

More than 2,500 business leaders, economists and politicians from around the world will attend the meeting scheduled to be held in Davos.

The forum, while extending the special invite, took into consideration the key role played by the minister in organising Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Hyderabad last month and his efforts over last three years in attracting investment to the state.

Rama Rao, the son of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, will meet business leaders and CEOs of leading companies during the two-day meet starting from January 17.

KTR, as the minister is popularly known, said he would highlight the policies of the state government, especially the industrial policy and the enormous investment opportunities in the state.

--IANS

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Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and his 11 ministers -- half of them first-timers -- on Wednesday took oath of office at an impressive ceremony attended among others by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah.

Governor Acharya Devvrat administered the oath of office and secrecy to Thakur, who will turn 53 on January 6. This will be his maiden term as Chief Minister.

The swearing-in ceremony at the historic Ridge here was also attended by Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, J.P. Nadda and Nitin Gadkari, besides Chief Ministers of Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states, along with more than 30,000 party supporters from across the state, mostly in traditional attire.

BJP veteran and former Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani was also present.

Five-time legislator Thakur, who rose through the ranks and is known for his humble, clean and low-profile nature, took the oath in Hindi. He had served as the Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister when Prem Kumar Dhumal was Chief Minister (2007-12).

During the ceremony, Thakur, did not wear the trademark maroon flap cap of the BJP, like two-time Chief Minister Dhumal, who was defeated in the elections.

Thakur's family members, including his 80-year-old widowed mother, who belongs to a remote village in Mandi district, attended the ceremony.

"This is the victory of the common man," Thakur's wife Sadhna Thakur, who is doctor by profession, said before the ceremony.

The 12-member ministry has six former ministers and equal number of first-timers in a blend of experienced and new faces. It has six Rajputs, including the Chief Minister, and three Brahmins.

The others who took oath were former Cabinet Ministers Mohinder Singh, Kishan Kapoor, Sarveen Chaudhary and Anil Sharma, former Minister of State Ram Lal Markanday and new faces Suresh Bhardwaj, Vipin Singh Parmar, Virender Kanwar, Vikram Thakur, Gobind Thakur and Rajeev Sahjal, who is a doctor by profession.

Sarveen Chaudhary is the lone woman minister in the cabinet and she belongs to the Other Backward Class.

All the ministers took the oath in Hindi, except Bhardwaj and Gobind Thakur, who took the oath in Sanskrit.

Son of former Telecom Minister Sukh Ram, Anil Sharma defected to the Congress and joined the BJP before the assembly elections in November.

Sharma was inducted into the Virbhadra Singh-led Cabinet in 2013 and allocated the portfolios of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj and Animal Husbandry. He was also a Minister of State from 1993-97. Bollywood superstar Salman Khan's foster sister Arpita is married to Sharma's son Aayush.

Senior legislators and former Cabinet Ministers Rajeev Bindal, Narender Bragta and Ramesh Dhawala did not find place in the cabinet.

Bindal was named as the Speaker of the assembly.

The BJP won a majority with 44 seats in the 68-member state assembly.

Thakur is the first Chief Minister from Mandi, the second biggest district of Himachal after Kangra. In these elections, the BJP won nine out of the 10 assembly seats in Mandi.

Earlier, Chief Ministers of Himachal hailed from Shimla, Kangra and Sirmaur districts.

Thakur, known for his proximity to Nadda, did his graduation from a Mandi college and post-graduation from Panjab University in Chandigarh.

The BJP took almost a week to decide on the Chief Minister after its chief ministerial candidate Dhumal lost the election. Several names were doing the rounds for the past few days, including those of Nadda, Suresh Bharadwaj, Dhumal and Thakur.

A decision on Thakur's name was taken unanimously on December 24 at the BJP Legislative Party meeting here, where central observers -- Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Narendra Singh Tomar -- were present.

Outgoing Congress Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and his erstwhile cabinet colleagues were conspicuously absent from the ceremony.

--IANS

vg/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The nearly two century-old iconic magnolia tree standing by the South Portico of the White House is scheduled to be cut down later this week.

It is the oldest tree on the White House grounds, a witness to Easter egg rolls and state ceremonies, a resignation, a plane crash, all the tumult and triumph of 39 presidencies, the Washington Post reported.

But the tree is badly damaged and decayed, the White House announced on Tuesday. First Lady Melania Trump called for a large portion of it to be removed at the recommendation of specialists from the National Arboretum.

"The overall architecture and structure of the tree is greatly compromised and the tree is completely dependent on the artificial support," said the specialists.

"Without the extensive cabling system, the tree would have fallen years ago," they said, adding that its trunk is too delicate for further interventions, CNN reported.

President Donald Trump's Communications Director Stephanie Grisham said: "Mrs Trump personally reviewed the reports from the US National Arboretum and spoke at length with her staff about exploring every option before making the decision.

"... She was concerned about the safety of visitors and members of the press who are often standing right in front of the tree during Marine One lifts," Grisham said.

She added that the wood from the tree will be preserved.

The magnolia, with its enormous canopy extending beyond the second floor of the White House, was planted by then US President Andrew Jackson to commemorate his wife Rachel.

According to CNN, another magnolia, born directly from the original's healthy branches, will soon be planted in its place, for history to live on.

--IANS

soni/bg

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At a Parliamentary standing committee meeting to discuss privacy and security issues related to Aadhaar, Opposition members on Wednesday protested a move by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members to ask committee chairman to recuse himself from the proceedings.
The local administration along with Air Force officials today bulldozed unauthorised construction on 40 acres of land in the Nangla Nangli village, an officer said.

The India Air Force (IAF) land was encroached on by colonizers, he added.

The High Court had directed the district administration to identify the air force land allotted decades ago. Several acres of land was grabbed by colonizers and illegal colonies developed.

District Magistrate BN Singh said that the drive will continue tomorrow and the rest of the land too would be cleared of encroachments.

The High Court in an order delivered on a PIL had directed the district administration to provide possession of land to air force after identification and removal of encroachments.

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The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today alleged that the BJP was using the office of the Lieutenant Governor to obstruct in the works of the Delhi government, a day after Anil Baijal shot down its ambitious proposal to "home deliver" basic public services.

LG Baijal had yesterday sent back to the Delhi government a proposal for doorstep delivery of basic public services such as driving licences, caste certificates and water connections for reconsideration.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who had termed the LG's move as a "huge setback" to AAP government's efforts towards providing a graft-free governance, today took to Twitter to lambaste the BJP, wondering why the saffron party wanted to "destroy" Delhi.

"The BJP is getting sealing (drive) across Delhi. The BJP has got the doorstep delivery proposal of government's services rejected. The BJP has tried to stop the file of mohalla clinics through the LG.

"Why does the BJP want to destroy Delhi?" he tweeted.

Labour Minister and AAP's Delhi unit convenor Gopal Rai said the LG's decision to return the proposal "defied logic".

"The BJP is resorting to dirty and taking help of the Lt Governor's office," he claimed.

Rai alleged that the Delhi BJP leaders cared little for the city and their motto was to keep obstructing the works being done by the Arvind Kejriwal government.

The Delhi Cabinet had approved the proposal for doorstep delivery of essential public services last month and sent it for approval to the LG.

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American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) in association with KPC Medical College and Hospital, launched its four-day 11th Global Health Summit here today.

The objective of this drive is to enhance skills, exchange of knowledge and making quality healthcare affordable and accessible to all people, said Gautam Samadder, President Elect of AAPI, USA.

To support this endeavor, AAPI brought together the best minds in medicine from India and the United States to collaborate and develop cutting edge, practical and India centric solutions, he said.

The major initiatives comprises, engaging with Healthcare professionals and Government of West Bengal in collaboration with Union Ministry for Health and Family Welfare and several leading professional bodies.

A Police Training Camp was also held at KPC Medical College and Hospital here to strengthen awareness on road safety and arrest the growing number of fatalities due to road accidents.

AAPI in collaboration with several leading experts from India has also developed the treatment and management guidelines for head injury.

AAPI also lauded the state government for cooperation in implementing its guidelines to reduce road accidents and mortality.

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Assam's peasant leader and RTI activist Akhil Gogoi, who was detained under the National Security Act (NSA), was released from jail today after he secured bail in all the cases against him and vowed to fight the BJP and any move to grant citizenship to Hindu Bangladeshis.

A court in Goalpara had granted bail to Gogoi yesterday in a case related to the defacing a signboard of a college named after Jan Sangh ideologue Deendayal Upadhyaya at Dudhnoi.

"I thank all the people of Assam for standing with me in upholding the democratic values of the country. My fight against the BJP and this fascist government will continue. I will work against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, which is for giving the Hindu refugees all the rights of the citizens," Gogoi said after coming out of jail.

He had spent three-and-a-half months in prison.

Gogoi also announced the launch of a movement for a peaceful completion of a "true" National Register of Citizens (NRC), so that no untoward incident took place after it was published.

"After that, we will work for issuance of photo identity cards to all genuine Indians. We will also work for a peaceful deportation of all the foreigners," Gogoi, who leads the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), said.

Expressing his apprehension that he might be re-arrested in two old cases, Gogoi said, "There is no democracy in the state. I am happy that the (Narendra) Modi government has, for the first time, imposed the NSA on me. The KMSS is only happy to stand up against this fascist government."



On December 21, the Gauhati High Court had declared the detention of Gogoi under the NSA illegal. The stringent provisions of the act, dealing with sedition, were slapped against him, 11 days after his arrest on September 13.

However, the police had re-arrested Gogoi on December 22 for the defacement of the college signboard, though the FIR had not named the KMSS leader.

Gogoi has been leading a series of agitations against the government's handling of the agrarian crisis in Assam, building of big dams, land mafia, corruption and alleged polarisation of the society by Hindutva forces.

Addressing a rally in Moran town on September 12, Gogoi had said if the Hindu migrants from Bangladesh were thrust upon Assam, the people of the state would be forced to take up arms.

He was arrested the next day.

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Mirza Ghalib's couplets were remembered for their timelessness and depth on his 220th birth anniversary today, as romantics paid rich tributes to the legendary poet while search giant Google honoured him with a Mughal-themed doodle.

The social media trended with Ghalib and his romantic couplets as people recalled his poetry that has been an inspiration for generations.

Google came out with a unique doodle to pay tribute to Ghalib. The digital artwork shows Ghalib, standing beside three contiguous multi-foliated arches ('mehrabs'), holding a piece of paper in his hands while overlooking a monument in the horizon.

The Mughal-styled architecture is portrayed in grey colour with the sun in the background and the poet dressed in flowing red robes and sporting a pointed hat ('lambi topi').

The six letters of 'Google' in faded white splashed across the arches appear floating in the air behind the bard.

Born Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan in Agra on December 27, 1797, he later adopted the pen name of 'Ghalib'.

He was a prominent court poet during the last phase of the Mughal empire, and is to this day, considered one of the finest poets around the world.

He wrote in Urdu and Persian languages, and his legacy shone brighter posthumously, as he remains popular not only in India and Pakistan but also among their diaspora globally.

He is often quoted by scholars, historians and journalists.

One of the most famous lines from his poetry is -- 'Hazaaron khwahishen aisi ke har khwahish pe dam nikle, Bohat niklay mere armaan, lekin phir bhi kam nikle (Thousands of desires, each worth dying for... many of them I have realised...yet I yearn for more.)'.

Google India while extolling the iconic personality, tweeted, "Be it one or a thousand, no one gave words to 'khwahishen' like he could. #GoogleDoodle celebrates one of India's greatest poets - #MirzaGhalib."



The doodle team on its official page also shared some of the other illustrations that were tried during the conceptualisation of the Ghalib doodle.

"Today we celebrate one of Urdu literature's most iconic poets, Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan, known in popular culture by many names, but most commonly as Ghalib (meaning conqueror)," Google India said on the doodle page.

"His verse is characterised by a lingering sadness borne of a tumultuous and often tragic life -- from being orphaned at an early age, to losing all of his seven children in their infancy, to the political upheaval that surrounded the fall of Mughal rule in India," it said.

Showing a gift for language at an early age, Ghalib served as a court poet during the reign of Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar, himself a renowned poet, who was exiled by the British to Rangoon after the fall of the Mughal empire.

Ghalib struggled financially, never holding a regular paying job but instead depending on patronage from royalty and more affluent friends, the search giant said.

"But despite these hardships, Ghalib navigated his circumstances with wit, intellect, and an all-encompassing love for life," the Google doodle team said.

"His contributions to Urdu poetry and prose were not fully appreciated in his lifetime, but his legacy has come to be widely celebrated, most particularly for his mastery of the Urdu ghazal (amatory poem)," it said, while signing off with, "Irshad muqarar, Mirza!".

The master poet died on February 15, 1869 at his haveli in Gali Qasim Jaan, Ballimaran in Old Delhi.

The old house has been partly preserved as a memorial to him and is known as 'Ghalib ki Haveli'. It is frequented by both locals and foreign tourists.

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The government is likely to impose anti-dumping duty on a Chinese antibiotic as the commerce ministry's investigation arm DGAD has recommended levy of up to USD 9.48 per kg in its final findings.

The Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD), under the ministry, has concluded in its probe that 'Ofloxacin' has been exported to India from China below its normal value, which has resulted in dumping.

The domestic industry has suffered material injury due to this dumping, the DGAD has said in a notification.

Aarti Drugs Ltd had filed the complaint over dumping of the drug from the neighbouring country.

In its final findings, the directorate has stated that imposition of anti-dumping duty is required to offset dumping and injury to the domestic industry.

The authority considers it "necessary" to recommend imposition of the duty on the imports of for a period of three years only," it added.

Ofloxacin is used to treat certain infections including bronchitis, pneumonia, and infections of the skin, bladder, urinary tract, reproductive organs, and prostate gland.

While DGAD recommends the duty to be levied, the Finance Ministry notifies it.

The recommended duty ranges between USD 2.58 per kg and USD 9.48 per kg.

Countries initiate anti-dumping probes to determine if the domestic industry has been hurt by a surge in below-cost imports.

As a counter-measure, they impose duties under the multilateral WTO regime.

Anti-dumping measures are taken to ensure fair trade and provide a level-playing field to the domestic industry. They are not a measure to restrict imports or cause an unjustified increase in cost of products.

India has initiated maximum anti-dumping cases against 'below-cost' imports from China.

Increasing imports and dumping of goods from China have always been an area of concern for Indian companies. India's exports to China were only USD 10.17 billion in 2016-17 but imports aggregated at USD 61.28 billion in that fiscal.

India is one of the most attractive markets for global producers due to its large middle class population.

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Landlocked and poor, Armenia has long relied on Russia for its energy needs, but the government is hoping to reduce that dependence by tapping a resource that is plentiful in the region: the sun.

With few fossil fuel resources of its own and its sole nuclear power plant nearing the end of its working life, Armenia is banking on renewable energy to reduce its dependence on its former Soviet master, which accounts for nearly 83 per cent of gas imports.

And with Armenia much sunnier than most of Europe -- according to government figures, it receives 1,720 kilowatt hours per square metre of sunlight every year, compared to an average of 1,000 in Europe -- solar energy looks to be the most promising.

"To ensure its energy security and independence, Armenia, like any other country, strives to diversify energy sources," the ex-Soviet republic's Deputy Energy Minister Hayk Harutyunyan told AFP.

Within four years, up to eight percent of the country's energy needs will be covered by renewables, according to the government's policy paper, "Energy Roadmap."



The document estimates the country's potential capacity of solar energy production at up to 3,000 megawatts -- enough to meet domestic demand and even make Armenia a net electricity exporter.

Harutyunyan said that a consortium of investors from 10 countries will soon start building a solar plant capable of producing 55 megawatts of electricity.

One of the backers, the World Bank, has earmarked some USD 60 million for the project, as part of its initiative to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.

So far, three solar power plants with capacity of one megawatt each have been built across the country and seven more will follow by the end of 2018.

Next year, the headquarters of the Armenian cabinet of ministers will fully switch to solar energy, subsequently followed by all governmental buildings.

A pilot project was launched in March to install rooftop solar panels in remote villages across the country to provide households with electricity and hot water.

In late 2015, an Armenian tycoon with business interests in Russia, Samvel Karapetyan, bought out Armenia's indebted electricity distribution company from a Kremlin-controlled holding, Inter RAO.

Karapetyan's Tashit Group is investing in solar projects and has already spent some USD 500,000 in building a solar power plant in the mountainous tourist town of Tsaghkadzor.

In addition to increasing the share of renewables, the Armenian government is seeking to reduce that of natural gas and oil by more than a third by 2020, compared with 2010 levels.

Moscow tightened its grip on Armenia's economy and politics in 2006 by taking complete control over Armenia's power plants and distribution companies.

Russia provides more than 80 per cent of the natural gas used by the landlocked Caucasus nation and supplies all of the fuel for the country's sole nuclear power plant, the Metsamor.

The European Union has repeatedly called on Armenia to shut down the aging Metsamor -- which produces more than a third of the country's electricity -- for security reasons.

But the Armenian government has decided to extend the plant's operations until its production capacities are fully replaced by alternative energy in 2026.

"We have never had any illusion that the nuclear power plant could work forever. One day, we will have to stop it and we must be ready for this," said Harutyunyan.

"That's why, during the last several years, Armenia has been stepping up efforts to develop all types of renewable energy -- hydro, wind, and solar."



The extent of Russia's influence on the ex-Soviet republic became clear in 2013 when Yerevan made a surprise foreign policy U-turn and joined the Moscow-led Customs Union economic bloc, instead of signing a long-negotiated pact on political association and economic integration with the European Union.

A member of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation -- designed as Russia's counterweight to NATO -- Armenia is also the Kremlin's closest military ally in the Caucasus region, which has historically been an arena of geopolitical rivalry between global powers.

For decades, Armenia has been locked in territorial conflict with Turkey-backed Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. And in the face of the perceived threat from its arch-foes in Ankara and Baku, Armenia has been forced into Moscow's orbit.

"Alternative energy may not fully replace conventional energy sources, but it will help reduce Armenia's energy dependence on Russia and, as a result, weaken the Kremlin's political leverage over Yerevan," Armenian energy analyst Alexandre Avanesov told AFP.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat arrived here today on a 3-day visit to Eastern command.

He was received at the Fort William by the Eastern army commander Lieutenant General Abhay Krishna, a defence press release here said.

The army chief will have interactions with the officers at the Eastern Command Headquarters here.

He will visit army formations in Nagaland, Manipur and Upper Assam, it said adding that he will interact with army formation commanders there as well as with civil administration.

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Parliament today passed a bill to exclude bamboo from the definition of tree under the Indian Forest Act, claiming it would improve the earnings of tribals and dwellers living around forests.

The Indian Forest (Amendment) Bill, which was adopted by the Lok Sabha on December 20, was passed by a voice vote in the Rajya Sabha, amid a walk-out by member of the Congress, Biju Janta Dal and the Samajwadi Party.

The opposition parties protested its passage saying the bill was being passed in a hurry without proper consultations with stakeholders and the states. Besides, they alleged it would favour the industrialists.

Replying to a short debate, Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Harsh Vardhan said the bill to amend the 1927 Indian Forest Act would benefit the tribals, forest dweller and farmers as their income would increase.

The bill permits felling and transit of bamboo grown in non-forest areas. However, bamboo grown on forest lands would continue to be classified as tree and would be guided by the existing legal restrictions.

"I am really shocked to see that you (opposition ) can't see the benefit of tribals and poor farmers who are going to benefit after the bill is passed," he told the House amid protest from the opposition members.

Attacking the opposition which repeatedly questioned the government taking ordinance route, Vardhan said the process to make the bill a reality was going on for a long time and the government could no longer see tribals suffer in the country.

"It took us 90 years to do it. It was long awaited in India. We cannot allow tribals and poor farmers of the country to suffer," he said.

On the opposition charge that states were not consulted, the minister said that 26 states and union territories had responded on the bill while 24 of them had supported it.

Vardhan said the bill would not only increase rural income but also help in increasing green cover across the country.

Bamboo, the minister said, was used extensively in a variety of applications such as furnishing, yarn, pulp and paper, handicrafts, decoration and musical instruments.

Earlier while moving the bill for passage, Vardhan said the major objective of the amendment was to promote the cultivation of bamboo in non-forest areas and improve farmers' income, keeping in mind the Government's "ambitious" target of doubling farmers' income by 2022.

The Minister observed that after the amendment, all the legal and regulatory hardships faced by the farmers and other individuals will be removed.

Dissatisfied with his reply, Congress, SP and BJD members staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha.

Participating in the debate, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had opposed the bill terming it as "very misleading" and one which would work against the interests of tribals in the long run.

After the minister's reply, Ramesh, a former Union Minister, said it was most unsatisfactory on all counts and walked out of the House. He was followed by his other party members.

Ramesh questioned the "urgency" of promulgating the ordinance when Parliament was in session, alleging that the government was bringing the amendment to benefit private players and taking away the control of the forest areas from the Gram Sabhas.

The Congress leader alleged that the bill was "trampling upon the rights of the Gram Sabha, which are enshrined in the Indian Forest Act".

Several opposition members including D Raja(CPI), Pradeep Tamta (Congress), Viplove Thakur (Congress) also opposed the bill.

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The Bihar government today decided to introduce scholarships for meritorious madrasa students in the state.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the state cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Additional Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat Department, Upendra Nath Pandey told reporters here.

He said as per the decision, both boys and girls securing first division in Fauqania (Class 10) exams conducted by the Bihar State Madrasa Board will be included in the Mukhyamantri Vidyarthi Protsahan Yojana (Chief Minister students' incentive scheme).

For Molvi (Clas 12) exams, only girl students securing first division will be included under the scheme, he added.

He also said that at the cabinet meeting, an approval was given to North Bihar Power Distribution Company Ltd and South Bihar Power Distribution Company Ltd for taking a total working capital loan of Rs 1700 crore from various consortium banks on state government's guarantee.

He said loan amount for North Bihar Power Distribution Company Ltd stood at Rs 800 crore while that for South Bihar Power Distribution Company Ltd it was Rs 900 crore. The loans shall be repaid by the distribution companies through their own resources.

Pandey also said that a nod was given for allocating a Rs 115.90 crore for works to be undertaken as part of World Bank scheme - "Enhancing Teacher Effectiveness in Bihar".

These include expansion of campuses, construction of boundary walls and furnishing of residential complexes for principals and teachers at 13 District Institutes for and Training and 11 Primary Teachers College, he added.

The cabinet also gave its nod for widening of roads in West Champaran district and Biharsharif Nalanda district at a total cost of Rs 117.62 crore, Pandey said.

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A BJP leader has moved a Delhi court seeking registration of a sedition case against suspended Congress leader for hosting Pakistani officials at his residence that posed a threat to security.

In his application before a magisterial court in Saket, Ajay Agrawal, a practising lawyer, claimed "derogatory" words were used against Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the meeting, which was also attended by former premier Manmohan Singh and ex-vice president Hamid Ansari.

A court official said the matter has been listed for hearing on January 4.

The petitioner has sought the court's direction to Delhi police to book Aiyar and others present under conspiracy and sedition charges and investigate the matter.

The plea by Agrawal, who contested the last Lok Sabha election against Sonia Gandhi from Rae Bareli, said the meeting was held at the south Delhi residence of Aiyar which was attended among others by Pakistan's High Commissioner and an ex-foreign minister of that country.

He said the Ministry of External Affairs and the Home Ministry were not informed about the meeting despite India's strained relations with Pakistan.

The petitioner said he had requested the Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Delhi police for a probe but in vain.
Delhi-based point of sales provider BondPOS IT Services is targeting one lakh subscribers within three years.

The Delhi-based start-up further said it is planning to raise seed funding through VC's or angel investors to fast track the growth process.

The company has also released an entirely free POS solution as part of their new Bronze Plan, which offers a free lifetime subscription to the software.

"The freeware software has been launched primarily so that everydaygrocery and chemist shops can keep record of each product they sell and can get a detailed GST report auto generated from the POS software," the company said.

************* India First Life Insurance launches ad campaign *



IndiaFirst Life Insurance, a joint venture between Bank of Baroda, Andhra Bank and Legal and General, UK, has launched an advertising campaign titled, 'Because Life is Full of Certainties'.

'Because Life is Full of Certainties', the company said is a "proposition that seeks to appeal to customers' own reasoning" by advocating prudence in planning for events or life goals that have a greater likelihood of happening.

"This is a step away from the generally promoted outlook to insurance that hinges on a person's fear of the unknown," it said in a statement.

Headquartered in Mumbai, IndiaFirst Life Insurance, with a paid-up share capital of Rs 625 crore, is one of the country's youngest life insurer.

************* Numero Uno plans expansion, to open 36 stores *



Denim brand Numero Uno today said it will expand in southern and western market by opening 36 stores with an overall investment of over 10 crore.

The company on completion of its 30 years is looking at a revenue growth of 15-20 per cent on account of the expansion, Numero Uno said in a statement.

"We would be opening 12-15 stores per year for the next three years, mostly in South and West India considering less presence in those regions," Numero Uno Clothing Ltd CMD Narinder Singh Dhingra said.

************* Rent It Bae expands services to 11 cities *



Fashion rental portal Rent It Bae today said it has expanded its services to 11 cities including Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and Bengaluru.

The users can rent brands and designer labels for four days or more at 10 per cent to 15 per cent of the retail price, the company said in a statement.

The rental services are also in Delhi-NCR, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Indore.

"India is a strong market for rentals, especially in cities like Chandigarh and Ludhiana where people are susceptible to rental clothing," Rent It Bae Co-founder and CEO Aanchal Saini said.

************* Samsung India launches 'Level In ANC earphone' *



Samsung India today said it has launched 'Level In ANC earphone', featuring active noise cancellation (ANC).

The earphone comes with metal finish and provides an immersive music experience for consumers, the company said in a statement.

"Striking a sublime balance between aesthetic and acoustic technology, Level In ANC should be a definite delight for our consumers," Asim Warsi, Global Vice President, Mobile Business, Samsung India, said.

************* Fitness League of India raises USD 500,000 in funding *



Fitness League of India today said it has raised USD 500,000 in its first round of funding from franchise and retail solution company Franchise India along with other investors.

The league will have a prize money of over Rs 3 crore for both men and women.

"We wanted to break that stereotype and revolutionise the Indian fitness industry by giving people the opportunity to showcase their fitness levels especially women," said Tarun Gill, who started the event.

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Brazil today ordered the top diplomat at Venezuela's embassy, Gerardo Delgado, to leave the country, in retaliation for Caracas booting out the Brazilian ambassador.

"Brazil has decided to declare the Venezuelan charge d'affaires persona non grata," a Brazilian foreign ministry spokesman told AFP.

"In practice, this means he will have to leave the country. It is a swift measure," he said.

Venezuela announced on Saturday that Brazil's ambassador to Caracas, Ruy Pereira, was no longer welcome as it viewed the Brazilian government as illegitimate.

Caracas is opposed to conservative Brazilian President Michel Temer, who replaced impeached leftist president Dilma Rousseff last year. Temer's rise resulted in Venezuela-Brazil diplomatic ties being briefly frozen.

Venezuela on Saturday also ordered the Canadian charge d'affaires in Caracas to leave, prompting Ottawa on Monday to say Venezuela's ambassador and charge d'affaires must leave their posts.

Venezuela has been fiercely pushing back against growing international condemnation of President Nicolas Maduro's tightening hold on power.

Canada, the United States, Europe and most Latin American nations have denounced what they call the trampling of democracy and human rights in the once-rich South American nation, which is now on the brink of default.

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China's paramilitary police force will soon be commanded by the Chinese Communist Party's armed forces, a report said today, the latest sign of the leadership's resolve to centralise power.

The move puts the force, which maintains domestic security, squarely under the command of President Xi Jinping, who is also head of the military.

The 660,000-strong force is responsible for border patrol, counter terrorism and fire-fighting, as well as maintaining domestic stability and other tasks.

It is currently under the dual leadership of the government's cabinet, the State Council, and the party's Central Military Commission.

By contrast, and unlike most countries, China's armed forces are permanently under the control of its ruling political party, the CCP, rather than the state.

"From Jan 1, 2018 ... the armed police will be a division under the Central Military Commission only," the official Xinhua agency reported on Wednesday, citing a Central Committee statement.

The report did not give a reason for the command structure change.

But a commentary in party mouthpiece People's Daily said it was a "major innovation" that "strengthens the party's absolute leadership over the armed forces ... and ensures the long-term peace and stability of the party and the country".

The strongest leader in a generation, Xi has sought to strengthen the party's control over all aspects of Chinese society.

Since coming to power in 2012, he has presided over sweeping reforms intended to transform the country's military from a musty Soviet-era relic into a modern fighting force.

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Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today called on President Ram Nath Kovind, who is also the supreme commander of the armed forces.

The details of the meeting were not known.

Officials described it as a courtesy call.

Meanwhile, the defence minister today approved financial assistance of Rs 14 crore to 10,207 families of ex-servicemen. from 'Raksha Mantri Ex-Servicemen Welfare Fund (RMEWF)', officials said.

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Realty major DLF's shareholders today approved an issue of debentures and warrants to promoters in lieu of Rs 11,250 crore equity infusion into the company to reduce company's net debt significantly.

The shareholders, at an extra ordinary general meeting held today, approved company's plan to sell shares through public issue or private placement to institutional investors.

The company is looking to raise more than Rs 3,500 crore through this process.

In a regulatory filing, DLF informed that the two special resolutions have been passed by the shareholders with requisite majority.

In late August, the promoters had sold the entire 40 per cent stake in rental arm DLF Cyber City Developers Ltd (DCCDL) for Rs 11,900 crore.

This deal included sale of 33.34 per cent stake in DCCDL to Singapores sovereign wealth fund GIC for Rs 8,900 crore and buyback of remaining shares worth Rs 3,000 crore by DCCDL.

This deal closed yesterday, paving the way for promoters to infuse capital into DLF for significant reduction in debt that stood at nearly Rs 27,000 crore at the end of second quarter of this fiscal.

On December 1, DLF board had approved the preferential offer and issue of upto 37.97 crore compulsorily convertible unsecured debentures (CCDs) to the promoters for cash.

The debentures would be converted into equivalent number of equity shares at Rs 217.25.

That apart, the board had approved the preferential issue of up to 13,80,89,758 warrants to the promoters being convertible into shares at the same price.

Upon completion of the issue of debentures and warrants and conversion into equity shares, "the total additional amount of promoter/promoters groups equity contribution to the company will be approximately Rs 11,250 crore", DLF had said.

The board had approved the offer and issue upto 17.30 crore equity shares to eligible investors, in one or more tranches, in India or overseas, by way of public issue or a private placement or a qualified institutional placement.

The shareholders approved increase of authorised share capital of the company from Rs 500 crore to Rs 1,000 crore as well as the appointment of Ashok Kumar Tyagi and Devinder Singh as Whole-Time Directors of the company for a period of five years with effect from December 1, 2017.

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Three persons, including two Delhi University students, have been arrested for allegedly abducting a minor boy and demanding a ransom of Rs 10 lakh from his parents, police said today.

The accused have been identified as Rahul Mishra (24), Shubham Mishra (19) and Gaurav (22), they said.

Rahul was an employee of the victim's father and had been fired by him recently. He wanted to exact revenge from his former employer and planned the 3-year-old's abduction after taking inspiration from Hollywood movies, police said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Omvir Singh said the police were informed about the incident on December 22.

The complainant, who is the owner of a computer hardware store in Mandawli, told police that his son was taken to a juice stall by Rahul. He left the child there and accompanied the boy's mother for some other work.

The police had formed 16 teams to trace the boy.

"The teams had combed through Akshardham, Yamuna Bank and East Vinod Nagar areas. We then got inputs about the culprits' movements. When we closed in on them, they gave up the child near CWG village," Singh said.

The child was rescued but the accused fled the spot, the officer said.

Subsequently, all the three accused were later held, he said.

Rahul is a graduate from the Delhi University's School Of Open Learning (SOL), while Gaurav is a first-year student there, police added.

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regulator Sebi is likely to relax entry norms for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) willing to invest in the Indian markets, senior officials said.

It may ease some rules, including expanding the eligible jurisdictions for registration by including countries with diplomatic tie-ups with India.

Besides, the regulator may rationalise "fit and proper" criteria for as well as simplify broad-based requirements for such investors.

The move is aimed at easing direct registration for and avoiding participatory notes (P-notes).

In addition, Sebi may allow listing of security receipts issued by an asset reconstruction company (ARC) on the exchange platform.

Security receipt, in market parlance, means a receipt or other security issued by a securitisation company or reconstruction company.

This will enhance capital flows into the securitisation industry and particularly be helpful to deal with bank non-performing assets (NPAs).

These proposals would be discussed at the board meeting of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) tomorrow.

According to the new proposal, more jurisdictions such as Canada would be able to access the market due to change in FPI Regulations.

Category I and II FPIs, which are essentially government and regulated entities, should not need any additional documentation and procedural requirements. However, Category III should continue to be subject to such requirements.

In a major revamp, Sebi in 2014 had released norms that had clubbed different categories of foreign investors into a new class called FPIs.

Under the regime, FPIs have been divided into three categories as per their risk profile and the KYC (know your client) requirements, while other registration procedures have been made simpler for them.

Further, rationale of broad-based criteria may be extended in other cases wherein the applicant funds have other institutional investors -- sovereign wealth fund, insurance/reinsurance companies, pension funds, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) as their underlying investors.

Currently, an FPI is considered to be broad-based in case such overseas investor has a bank as an underlying investor.

Broad-based fund means a fund, established outside India, which has at least 20 investors, with no investor holding more than 49 per cent of the shares or units of the fund.

In case broad-based fund loses its status due to an exit of some offshore global investors then it may not result in immediate loss of Category II status. Three months time should be given to such funds to regain such status.

The regulator may discontinue the requirements of seeking its prior approval in case of a change in local custodian or designated depository participants (DDPs).

At the time of change of local custodian/DDP, the new DDP should be permitted to rely on the registration granted by previous DDP at the time of transition. The move is expected to avoid duplicate efforts and incremental documentation by the FPIs as well as the DDPs.

Further, private bank/merchant bank should invest on behalf of their clients provided details of beneficial owners are available and will be provided as and when required by regulators.

Besides, banks do not have any secrecy arrangement with investors and secrecy laws do not apply to the jurisdictions in which the bank is regulated for such relaxation.
Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers today started a search operation at three branded jewellery outlets of ponzi scheme firm Rose Valley in the city.

A team of ED officials visited the outlets to ascertain the extent of alleged money laundering that had taken place in setting up the expensive showrooms.

In August, angry depositors of Rose Valley's various schemes had ransacked a hotel owned by the company at a prime location in the city, demanding their money back.

In a major crackdown on Rose Valley, market regulator SEBI had, in November, ordered a refund of thousands of crores of rupees to the investors, who had parked their money in the holiday membership plans of the group. SEBI had declared the schemes illegal.

As per the SEBI order, more than 21.9 lakh investors were believed to have invested in the holiday membership plans.

The ED had launched its probe against the company, based on a complaint filed by SEBI, following which the owner of Rose Valley, Gautam Kundu, was arrested and put behind bars in 2015.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today said that a political solution to the Syrian conflict was impossible without the departure of President Bashar al-Assad, branding him a "terrorist".

"It is absolutely impossible to advance with Assad in Syria," Erdogan told a conference after meeting Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi.

"Bashar al-Assad is a terrorist... We cannot just say this person goes on doing this job. If we do then it's unfair" to the Syrians who have been killed, he added.

Turkey has opposed Assad throughout the conflict, now in its seventh year, backing the opposition seeking to oust him and accusing the Syrian leader of war crimes.

Ankara is now a key player in efforts to end the war along with Russia and Iran, Assad's main allies.

Erdogan's comments came just days after the powerbrokers agreed to hold a peace congress for Syria in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi in late January.

A previous attempt to convene the Sochi congress in November failed following a lack of agreement among would-be participants.

More than 340,000 people have been killed and millions have been driven from their homes since Syria's conflict erupted with anti-government protests in 2011.

Several diplomatic attempts to halt the war have stumbled, mainly over Assad's future.

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The Osmania University (OU) today asked students and faculty members to put behind the deferment of the Indian Science Congress, supposed to be hosted by the varsity next month, and remain focussed on academics.

OU Vice Chancellor S. Ramachandram said they could have conducted the event without any glitches and that the preparations were in the advanced stage.

The Science Congress, which was scheduled to be held in the university from January 3 to 7 next year, was put off indefinitely due to security-related issues.

"Prof. S. Ramachandram, Vice Chancellor, Osmania University, has appealed to the students, faculty and staff to remain focused on academics and put behind the postponement of the 105th Indian Science Congress," a OU release said today.

The VC said the varsity had been preparing to conduct the event with utmost sincerity and had galvanised the entire teaching and non-teaching community to host it.

"Preparations were in an advanced stage and we could have conducted the event without any glitches," he said.

Thanking the students and staff for their support to the administration, the VC said the OU had withstood setbacks like the postponement of the Science Congress in its hundred year journey.

"The Vice Chancellor said the postponement has undoubtedly came as a setback and a disappointment. The varsity traversed a long way and has been ranked on the top both nationally and internationally and has weathered such setbacks," the release said.

The Indian Science Congress is an annual event usually held in the first week of January.

The last Science Congress was held at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh in January this year.

The VC urged all the stake-holders of the university not to believe false information being circulated on social media on the issue.

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With Assam on the edge ahead of the publication of the draft NRC, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal today sought to dispel apprehensions and said "genuine" Indians missing from the citizenship register would get enough opportunities to incorporate their names.

Massive preparations are in place to ensure peace and no one will be allowed to take law in their hands after publication of the first draft of the National Register of Citizens, a list of the state's citizens, on December 31, the chief minister said.

"No one should have any apprehensions. If the name of a genuine Indian citizen is missing in the part draft of the NRC, he or she will get proper chance to incorporate it," Sonowal told PTI here.

The chief minister also made it clear that the government would tolerate no violence.

"We have received central forces and they are being deployed across the state to ensure peace. No untoward incident will be allowed to take place," he said.

A massive exercise to update the NRC is being carried out in Assam following a directive of the Supreme Court in 2005.

However, the exercise started as late as 2015 under the Congress regime. It got a major push only after the BJP came to power with illegal immigration from Bangladesh as a poll plank.

The apex court had ordered that the first draft of the NRC be published by December 31 after completing the scrutiny of over two crore claims along with that of around 38 lakh people whose documents were suspect.

Sonowal said 40,000 government officials, including deputy commissioners of the districts, sub divisional officers and circle officers, are involved in the massive exercise which has been going on in 6,500 NRC centres.

"The district administrations have been holding regular meetings with various socio-cultural, students organisations, senior citizens and writers seeking their help in peaceful publication of the part draft of the NRC. We hope the process will be completed smoothly," he said.

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba spent two days in the state last week, reviewing preparations for the publication of the part draft of the NRC and security arrangements, as ensuring peace in the state is a top priority for the Centre and the state governments, officials said.

Of the 3.28 crore applications submitted, there was confusion over the inclusion of 29 lakh people who had submitted certificates issued by 'gram panchayats' as proof of identity, after a Gauhati High Court order in February had deemed 'panchayat' certificates invalid, the officials said.

The Supreme Court set aside the high court order and upheld the validity of the certificates as identity proof if they were followed up with proper verification.

The apex court also asked authorities to stick to the original deadline for the publication of the draft NRC and include names of those whose claims were verified.

The NRC was last updated in Assam way back in 1951. Then, it had recorded 80 lakh citizens in the state. Since then, the process of identification of illegal immigrants in Assam has been debated and become a contentious issue in the state's .

A six-year agitation demanding identification and deportation of illegal immigrants was launched by the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) in 1979. It culminated with the signing of the Assam Accord on August 15, 1985 in the presence of then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.

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It was a meeting between Union minister Vijay Goel and Manmohan Singh last week that initiated the process to break the government-opposition deadlock in the Rajya Sabha, a top government official said today.

The proceedings of both the Houses of Parliament were disrupted for nearly two weeks over remarks by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Gujarat Assembly election campaign. He had criticised his predecessor Singh for attending a secret" dinner with senior Pakistan officials at former Union minister Mani Shankar Aiyar's residence.

According to the official, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Goel reached out to the former prime minister and showed him the copy of Modi's speech and convinced him that no derogatory references were made to him.

"Singh then agreed to end the deadlock with a statement from the government," the official claimed.

Goel's meeting with Singh was followed by a meeting of Leader of the Upper house Arun Jaitley and Goel with Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad and Congress leader Anand Sharma at Azad's residence.

The process culminated in a statement today by Jaitley, who said the prime minister has never questioned Singh's integrity and commitment to the nation.

However, ahead of Jaitley's statement, there was a small disagreement between the two sides over its formulation that was resolved with the intervention of Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu.

Naidu suggested to the government to drop the contentious word and the government relented, they said.

Reacting to Jaitley's statement, Azad said the Congress does not approve of any remarks made against the prime minister, apparently in a reference to the "neech" remark made by Aiyar.

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The government will make a statement in the Lok Sabha tomorrow on the treatment meted out by Pakistan to the family members of Kulbhushan Jadhav, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today said.

During the Zero Hour, members of various political parties, including the Congress, Shiv Sena, Trinamool Congress and AIADMK, strongly protested the way Jadhav's family members were treated by Pakistan authorities when they had gone there to meet Jadhav, who is languishing in a Pakistani prison.

Swaraj, who was present in the House, said a statement on the issue would be made tomorrow.

While strongly criticising the happenings, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge demanded that Jadhav should be brought back.

Shiv Sena's Arvind Sawant also raised the issue and said India should not keep silent in the matter.

Describing Pakistan as "hypocritical", Trinamool Congress leader Saugata Roy said the incident should be criticised and demanded that Swaraj should speak on the issue.

Condemning the incident, AIADMK M Thambidurai said asking a woman to remove her 'mangal sutra' is an insult to the country.

The meeting between Jadhav and his mother and wife took place on December 25 at the Pakistani foreign affairs ministry in Islamabad after repeated requests by India for family access.

Jadhav, who was arrested in March, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying, an accusation that India has dismissed as concocted.

On Tuesday, India accused Pakistan of violating mutual understanding on Jadhav's meeting with his family, and said the Indian appeared coerced and under considerable stress during the tightly-controlled interaction.

Pakistan went so far as to have the mangal sutra, bangles and bindi of his mother and wife removed before they could meet him, the external affairs ministry had said on Tuesday.
There are six vacancies of judges in the Supreme Court, while nine high courts are working without regular chief justices, but the government has not received any proposal from the apex court collegium to fill up the slots, the Rajya Sabha has been informed.

Union Minister of State for Law P P Chaudhary, in a written reply, has informed the Upper House of Parliament that the "government has not received any proposal for filling up of the six vacancies of judges in the Supreme Court and for appointment of chief justices in the nine high courts, which are functioning with acting chief justices".

The approved strength of the Supreme Court is 31, including the Chief Justice of India (CJI).

The high courts of Andhra Pradesh/Telangana, Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Karnataka and Manipur are working without regular chief justices.

As per the procedure for the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court and the 24 high courts, the apex court collegium recommends the names of candidates to the government which, in turn, either accepts the proposal or returns it for reconsideration.

The collegium comprises the CJI and four seniormost judges of the apex court.
Union minister and former Karnataka chief minister Sadanand Gowda today met Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar and demanded that steps be taken to promote Kannada, including conducting of competitive exams in the language.

Gowda led a 14-member delegation and presented a memorandum of demands to Javadekar.

The demands included that the government should recommend UNESCO to include Kannada in its tradition of publishing history of classical languages on its domain and conducting competitive examinations including NEET and JEE in the languge.

The delegation also demanded that the appointment of the project director of Centre for Classical Studies' Kannada wing be finalised as the body is currently headless.

"The HRD Minister assured us that the demands will be considered. He agreed to write a letter to UNESCO and expedite the appointment of the project director," a delegation member said.

"The Minister told us that competitive examinations like NEET are already conducted in Kannada and the ministry will consider conducting those exams in the language which are presently not conducted in the particular language," he said.

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In a relief to the parents of around 37 lakh children, the Gujarat High Court today said the state government's law regulating fees charged by private schools was constitutionally valid.

Rejecting a bunch of around 40 petitions opposing the law, a division bench of Chief Justice R Subhash Reddy and Justice V M Pancholi upheld the Gujarat Self Financed Schools (Regulation of Fees) Act, 2017.

The court also rejected the demand by schools to stay the implementation of the Act while they file an appeal.

Upholding the Act as well as the rules framed under it, the division bench gave the schools six weeks to approach a "competent authority" to make a representation requesting modification of the rules if they wish to.

Private schools can submit proposals -- with details of their income and expenditure -- to the Fee Regulatory Committee set up under the Act if they want to increase the fees beyond the cap prescribed in the Act, said the court.

The court gave them three weeks to put these proposals before the Fee Regulatory Committee.

Such a fee hike should be for improving the quality of and not for profiteering by charging exorbitant fees, the court said.

The HC rejected the contention of the CBSE-affiliated schools and those run by minority institutions that the state government has no power to regulate them.

The state legislature has the power to make laws for schools affiliated to the state board, the Central Board of Secondary (CBSE) as well as the Indian Certificate of Secondary (ICSE), the judges said.

The high court also rejected a petition filed by the schools run by minority institutions which opposed the law, saying they are already regulated by both the CBSE and the National Commission for Minorities.

They were protected under Article 30 of the Constitution which determines rights of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions, these schools had said, seeking to be outside the purview of the fee regulation act.

The high court also didn't entertain a demand by a parents organisation that a representative of parents should be part of the fee regulatory committee.

The Gujarat Self Financed Schools (Regulation of Fees) Act came into force in April 2017.

The bill, introduced by the BJP government in the last Budget session, said it intended to control "exorbitant fees" charged by private schools.

The fees prescribed in the Act for primary, secondary and higher secondary schools are Rs 15,000, Rs 25,000 and Rs 27,000 per year, respectively.

If the schools want to charge more, they need to submit a proposal to the fee regulatory committee.

The Act provides for a fee regulatory committee each for four zones, based in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot.

Managements of several private, minority-run as well as CBSE and ICSE schools had approached the court against the law, saying it was unconstitutional.

Jubilant parents burst fire crackers to celebrate the court verdict at some places in the state today. But schools are considering moving the Supreme Court.

"There are still several discrepancies in the Act and we are facing lots of difficulties in running our schools. We would meet to discuss plans about approaching the Supreme Court soon," said Jatin Bharad, vice chairman of the state private schools association.

Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, who held the education portfolio in the previous government when the law was brought in, hailed the ruling as "historic" and a torch-bearer for other states.

"This would benefit 37 lakh parents...We are determined to implement the law in the strictest possible way. If schools are found guilty, the law even allows us to cancel their licences," said Chudasama.

The opposition Congress said the law should have been introduced 10 years ago. "It was the BJP government which allowed such schools to rob people all these years," said Gujarat Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi.

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The Congress today condemned Pakistan for harassing Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother and wife, and said it was an "insult" to all Indians.

The opposition party said the matter was "important" enough to put an end to the impasse in the Rajya Sabha.

"We, as Indians, protest this strongly and condemn strongly this act of Pakistani government and we would like to discuss, show our displeasure tomorrow on the floor of the House. This was the single most important case, we did not want to continue the impasse," Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters outside Parliament.

The Rajya Sabha has not functioned normally since the start of the winter session on December 15, due to disruptions by the opposition over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks against his predecessor Manmohan Singh.

He condemned Pakistan's action of forcing Jadhav's mother and wife change their clothes and remove "bindi" and "mangal sutra", besides shoes.

"This is not just an insult to the mother and wife of Kulbhushan Jadhav but also an insult of India. This is an insult to 1.3 billion Indian people irrespective of religion and caste," he said.

Azad said the way Jadhav's wife and mother were harassed and treated by the Pakistani government, it is something which "simply we should not tolerate as Indians".

"We may be in the opposition but we are Indian first... Kulbhushan Jadhav is our fellow citizen. We will cooperate with the government...we would expect that he should get justice," Azad said.

The Congress leader said Pakistan had to succumb to international pressure to allow Jadhav's family members to meet him, but "we did not expect that his family members



mother and wife will be separated by glass wall".

"We could never think of that they will not allow to meet, hug and talk to each other face to face. They were allowed to talk through intercom. What is difference between intercom and telephone? His family members were watching him over television for the last so many years," he said.

The Congress today ended the week-long impasse over Modi's "conspiracy with Pakistan" remarks against Singh made during the Gujarat poll campaign.

Asked whether this was a climbdown or succumbing to any pressure, he said, "There is no question of succumbing under pressure and we shall never compromise with our commitment. Our commitment is most important for us, commitment to the country, the people are very important to us."



Azad said, "We did not want to continue this logjam for longer period. We have come to the conclusion that the government was feeling happier with this impasse in Parliament."



"We decided that we should not confine ourselves to one issue and hammer in time and again for days and weeks together. That means to let up the government from these issues which come up every day. I think we could smell that the government and the ministers particularly those facing the question hour were very happy," he said.

He said talks were on with the government to end the stalemate and that a committee had been formed by the Rajya Sabha chairman and both the sides concluded that other issues needed to be taken up in the Upper House.

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Harry Lennix has been essaying the role of Harold Cooper on "The Blacklist" for over five seasons now and the actor believes that he has made the character his own by bringing in "personal and emotional" elements to it.

"The Blacklist" follows the story of a wanted man, Raymond "Red" Reddington, who surrenders before the FBI and helps in capturing some of the most notorious criminals.

The show, currently in its fifth season, airs on Star World and Star World HD in India. It is being headlined by James Spader and Megan Boone.

Lennix plays Cooper, the assistant director of the FBI Counterterrorism Division, who uses Reddington to take down the bad guys on the show.

The actor, 53, said Cooper is all business in the first season but his part has undergone a lot of change over time.

"I got the chance to bring in more personal and emotional aspects of him. I think that is also pretty natural as the taskforce know each other a lot better now. We have been working with Red (Spader) for five years.

"I think over the course of time, they got to know each other as characters and interestingly as much off screen as well as people," Lennix told PTI in a telephonic interview from New York.

Asked whether Cooper is the only one in the series to possess a clear moral compass, Lennix disagreed.

"I don't think so. All people have a moral compass. Even Red. His morality is different. Cooper operates according to strict morality.

"Red's morality lies outside of the rule of law and Cooper's is based on the rule of law. So Liz (Boone) lives quite in between," Lennix said.

The actor called Spader an "excellent co-worker".

"He is a great leader on the show. I think he sets the term for a serious approach to the work but not overly serious. We have a good time on the show without being goofy. We like to work and we appreciate it."



Apart from "The Blacklist", Lennix is also known for his role in the "Matrix" series and in DC Universe's "Man of Steel" and "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice".

When asked about his character General Swanwick's absence from the "Justice League" movie, the actor said, "I wish I could have done it but my character was written out from the script at the last minute.

"Maybe, there will be another opportunity to go back and join the universe. It was fun doing the 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' and 'Man of Steel'... I hope I get to work with Zack Snyder again."



The actor also spoke about the TV industry which, he believes, is going through its best period.

"Television has really come of age. I think the best stuff is really being done. I didn't really have a whole lot of success before 'The Blacklist' on television. So I am very grateful to it.

"I was mostly working in films and on stage. I come to television from time to time. But this is the longest job I had on TV. So it has been great for me on TV," said Lennix.

Asked what other role he would like to play, apart from "The Blacklist", the actor expressed a desire to star in "The Walking Dead".

"It might be cool to do 'The Walking Dead'. I would love to play some sort of law enforcement on it," he said.

The actor also hopes to visit India if a good opportunity comes his way.

"I have never visited India but I would love to," he said.

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The newly constituted Himachal Pradesh cabinet today approved lowering the age for providing social security pension, from 80 years to 70 years, along with removal of chairpersons/vice chairpersons and non-official members of boards and corporations with immediate effect.

The cabinet meeting, presided over by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, also announced that income would be no criteria for extending social security benefits to persons above age of 70 years.

The cabinet also decided to hold the first session of state Assembly at Dharamsala from January 9 to 12 in which newly elected MLAs would take oath and the election of Speaker would be held.

The state government also issued directions to put on hold the entire recruitment process being carriedoutside the purview of HP Public Service Commission and Staff Selection Commission.

In another decision, the BJP government decided to review the decisions taken by the previous government during past six months.

It also decided to constitute a sub-committee to look into the problems created by wild and stray animals.

The chief minister thanked the people of the state, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bestowingfaith in the newly-formed government.

Former chief minister Virbhadra Singh congratulated Thakur and hoped that the present government would honour the developmental programmes started by the Congress regime.

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The Honduras opposition said today they filed an appeal with election officials demanding that President Juan Orlando Hernandez's re-election be annulled because the recent vote was marred by fraud.

Election officials declared Hernandez the victor after narrowly defeating leftist opposition candidate Salvador Nasralla in the controversial November 26 vote.

Nasralla conceded on December 22 shortly after Honduras' key ally Washington endorsed Hernandez's re-election, following a month of deadly street clashes.

Former president Manuel Zelaya, coordinator of the leftist alliance opposed to Hernandez, filed the appeal with the Supreme Electoral Tribunal late yesterday.

Zelaya, who was ousted in a bloodless coup in 2009, cited "the fraud in the vote counting, the alteration and falsification of precinct vote results" among other irregularities that resulted in Hernandez's triumph over Nasralla, the "legitimate victor."



Early vote returns in the November election showed a strong Nasralla victory, but vote counting then slowed down and took more than a week to complete, with mysterious breaks in the process.

The Honduran Foreign Ministry today rejected a demand from the Organisation of American States (OAS) for a fresh election and for permission to send a team to investigate the deaths of at least 12 protesters killed during the demonstrations.

"The government of Honduras does not accept the request" and rejects any "interference," the ministry said in a statement.

International monitors from both the OAS and the European Union noted irregularities in the election process, which the former said had been of "poor quality."



According to election officials, the final results showed the conservative Hernandez winning with 42.95 per cent of the vote, over Nasralla's 41.42 per cent.

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A huge cache of arms and explosives including an AK series rifle, grenades and IEDs was recovered from a militant hideout in the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir, an official said.

The recovery included an AK-56 rifle, a pistol, 23 explosive sticks and two Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) weighing six kilograms each, Senior Superintendent of Police, Reasi, Tahir Sajad Bhat told PTI.

He said the arms and explosives were recovered from the Shergari area of Chassana in a joint operation by Army and police last night.

The other material recovered from the arms dump included two rounds of rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), one Illumination round, one .303 rifle with one magazine and 90 rounds, three grenades including two of Chinese make, one Under Barrel Grenade Launcher (UBGL) round, one AK magazine with 81 rounds, a radio set with Antenna, a pistol magazine and 67 PIKA rounds, the officer said.

He said no one was arrested in connection with the recovery so far. Police have registered a case in this connection and further investigation is on, the SSP said.

Public Relations Officer (Defence) Colonel N N Joshi said the recovery of war like stores will deal a severe blow to the nefarious designs of terrorists to revive militancy in the area.

He said Trained sniffer dogs and metal detectors were used in the operation during which the hideout concealed in the rugged terrain along the Pir Panjal range was discovered.

"The operation was launched after diligently developing the intelligence over a fortnight. The joint parties of Army and police cordoned off the area and carried out a meticulous search during which they succeeded in locating the hideout of terrorists, which was used during peak of militancy for sustenance," Joshi said.

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Nepal's Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, whose party lost the recent polls to provincial assemblies and parliament, is "impatient to hand over power" to a new government after completing the due constitutional process, according to a media report today.

The Nepali Congress chief said his government had successfully held the polls to the local bodies, provincial assemblies and parliament in an environment of fear and uncertainties, a report in the Kathmandu Post said.

Claiming that the NC has a history of successfully handling periods of political transition, he said, "The government is able to establish the country as a peaceful and democratic nation by ending the protracted transitional period."



"I am impatient to hand over power," he was quoted as saying, while inaugurating the 14th Elephant Festival in Chitwan yesterday.

The Deuba-led Nepali Congress (NC) stood third behind the CPN-UML and the CPN (Maoist Centre) in the historic parliamentary and provincial assembly polls by winning just 23 seats out of a total 165 seats under the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system.

An alliance of left parties -- the CPN-UML and the CPM- Maoist Centre -- has won a total of 116 seats.

The NC had emerged as the largest party in the 2013 Constituent Assembly elections by winning 105 seats under the FPTP.

The prime minister said his government had focused solely on holding the elections for implementing the Constitution without caring for partisan interests.

"The NC is always committed to the development of Nepal and Nepalis whether or not it is in government," Deuba was quoted as saying in the report.

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Rani Mukerji has always had a strong connect with the audiences and the actor believes people find her relatable because she never brings her real- life persona on screen.

In her new film "Hichki", which is her first after the birth of her daughter Adira, Rani plays the role of a woman who does not let her speech disability come in the way of achieving her dream of becoming a teacher.

"Whenever I play a character in a film, I try to remove Rani Mukerji and emotionally connect with the part. If a person sitting in a cinema hall can forget who you really are and believes you are the character, that's the real victory for an actor," Rani told PTI in an interview.

"I want people to forget that they are watching a Rani Mukerji film and get invested in the character," she added.

The actor said she has always been attracted to complex roles and this was one of the main reasons to accept "Hichki".

In the film, Rani plays a woman with Tourette syndrome, a condition that forces an individual to make involuntary repetitive movements or sounds.

"For somebody to take their weakness and turn it into strength... It holds a positive message. I truly believe that all of us have a weakness that we know but we try to camouflage it as we have to put up a hard exterior in front of the world. If one can make their weakness their strength, the world can become a good place."



Rani is not new to playing challenging roles. She played a deaf and blind woman in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Black".

The actor said one has to be careful with such roles as there is always a probability to look like a caricature.

"It is with all my films. I take special care because it may become a caricature. There is always a thin line. I have been taking feedback on this film from day one. After every shot, I ensured that if I do the tick, it should appear natural. I would constantly check with Siddharth (director). It was important to look authentic."



The movie, produced by Yash Raj Films, also highlights the topic of literacy and Rani said the right to education cannot be gender specific.

"Education is the right of every human being, irrespective of the gender. In India, a state like Kerala has the highest percentage of literacy, we should take that as an example. Once there is a change in the attitude, it can make a huge difference. Both men and women are working today and education should not be gender specific."



Directed by Siddharth P Malhotra and produced by Maneesh Sharma, "Hichki" will release across India on February 23, next year.

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Police in Iceland say one person was killed and 12 more were critically injured after a bus carrying 46 Chinese tourists skidded off the road after a rear-end collision with a compact car.

The Icelandic blood bank sent out an alert for donations of blood type O following the accident yesterday on Route 1, a national road that runs around the island.

The car and bus crashed near the Eldhraun lava field about 250 kilometres east of Reykjavik, Iceland's capital.

Police say the bus flipped on its side when it went off the road, trapping two passengers underneath. One died on the scene.

Bus company owner Fjalar Ulfarsson said the Chinese group was on the fourth day of a week-long visit to Iceland when the accident took place.

"The road there is narrow and had some icing from what I gather," Ulfarsson told The Associated Press.

Three helicopters were used to transport the most severely injured to a hospital emergency room in the capital. A relief station was set up for the other 33 passengers in nearby Kirkjubaejarklaustur village.

The car's driver and a passenger also were tourists, visiting Iceland from Lithuania. They were not injured, officials said.

South Iceland Police said an initial investigation suggested the car slowed down in front of the bus while attempting to turn toward a lookout point.

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The Goa unit of the Indian Medical Association has set up a medical grievance cell for people to lodge their complaints against doctors.

The decision to set up the grievance cell was taken in view of a number of attacks on doctors by patients or their aggrieved family members in the state this year, an official said today.

The cell is headed by a retired judge, who will probe the complaints against doctors in the state, IMA Goa unit president Medha Salkar said.

"The public can have full faith that all their complaints will be heard patiently and appropriate steps will be taken, as per the recommendations of the medical grievance cell," Salkar said.

She said there are instances where a patient or his/her relatives feel that the level of care provided is not appropriate and they sometimes resort to unruly behaviour.

Thus, there is an urgent need to have a proper mechanism for the patients to put forth their complaints, Salkar added.

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The government and the opposition softened their stand on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks against Manmohan Singh on Wednesday, ending the nearly two-week impasse in Parliament, but a fresh row over Union minister Ananth Kumar Hegde's controversial comments on secularism is likely to keep it astir.

After an intense face-off, the government told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that Modi never questioned his predecessor Manmohan Singh's integrity and commitment to the nation.

The Congress, which was hitherto insisting on an apology from Modi over his remark that Singh colluded with Pakistanis to influence the Gujarat Assembly elections, said it does not approve of any comments against the prime minister, apparently a reference to the "neech" remark made by its suspended leader Mani Shankar Aiyar.

The proceedings of both Houses of Parliament were repeatedly disrupted over the past two weeks over remarks by Modi during the Gujarat assembly election campaign. He had criticised Singh for attending a "secret" dinner with senior Pakistan officials at Aiyar's residence.

The Congress said Modi's remarks implied that Singh and other public figures who attended the dinner were conspiring with Pakistan, and demanded an apology from the prime minister.

In Rajya Sabha, Leader of the House Arun Jaitley said Modi in his statements and speeches, "did not question nor did he mean to question the commitment to this nation either by Dr Manmohan Singh, the former Prime Minister, or Hamid Ansari, the former vice president."



"Any such perception is completely erroneous. We hold these leaders in high esteem, as also their commitment to this nation," Jaitley said.

Responding to his statement, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said: "I want to thank the Leader of the House that he issued a clarification on the issue which was causing the deadlock."



"If during the elections, any member of our party gave such a statement that was against the stature of the prime minister, then our party dissociates itself from any such statement and we would not want any word to be said against the stature of the prime minister," Azad said.

Having called a truce on one front, the rivals opened another over Hegde's controversial remarks on secularism and the Constitution that could keep the cauldron on the boil over the next few days.

The opposition forced adjournment of the Lok Sabha several times over Hegde's comments that those supporting secularism were "children of unknown parentage", and demanded that be sacked as a minister.

Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of the Congress in the House, called Hegde's remarks unacceptable, and said it meant "we all who support secular thoughts are not born to their parents."



Kharge alleged that Hegde, Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, had also denigrated the architect of the Constitution, B R Ambedkar, with his comment that the current dispensation came to power to "change" it.

Rejecting Kharge's comments, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar claimed the Congress leader was trying to distort what Hegde had said. He, however, did not comment on Hegde's remarks or try to defend him.

"B R Ambedkar is the father of the Constitution and we respect him. The Prime Minister had said the Constitution is our book (Rashtriya Granth). We are committed to it and secularism. The Congress should not teach us secularism," said Kumar, while asking the opposition not to disrupt the proceedings.

"The Congress is indulging in pseudo-secularism. You (Congress) did not allow Baba Saheb Ambedkar to contest polls. He was brought to Rajya Sabha by Jana Sangh," he said, listing out steps taken by the government to preserve Ambedkar's legacy.

At a function in Karnataka on Sunday, Hegde had reportedly said people should identify themselves by their religion and "those who, without knowing about their parental blood, call themselves secular, they don't have their own identity...They don't know about their parentage."



He had also reportedly said, "we are here to change the Constitution and we'll change it."



A senior Congress leader, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the party would press for a debate on the harassment of the wife and mother of Kulbhushan Jadhav, on death row over espionage and terrorism charges in Pakistan, during their visit to that country.

He said after that gets over, the party will once again raise the issue of Hegde's controversial remarks.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is scheduled to make a statement on the Jadav episode in Parliament on Thursday.
The Indian Science Congress (ISC), which was postponed after the Osmania University expressed its inability to host the event, will now be held at the Manipur Central University next year.

The decision regarding the change of date and venue of the event was taken by the Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) at a meeting held in Kolkata, the ISC said on its website today.

The dates of the event are yet to be finalised, but sources said it was likely to take place in the second half of March.

"On January 2 and 3, a seven-member committee of the ISCA will go to the Manipur Central University and finalise the dates," ISCA president Achyuta Samanta said.

He said seven universities had applied to host the ISC.

The Manipur Central University submitted letters of the chief minister and the governor, expressing their support for the event, which added weight to the varsity's application, Samanta noted.

The annual science carnival this year was to take place from January 3-7 in Osmania University at Hyderabad. Howvever, the varsity later conveyed its inability to host the ISC due to tensions on the campus.

A 20-year-old student had allegedly committed suicide on December 3 on the campus. The body of the first-year student of MSc Physics was found hanging in the washroom of one of the hostels on the campus.

Protests were held on the campus after the incident.

The ISC is an annual event, usually held in the first week of January, and is attended by top scientists from the country and also from different parts of the world.

The prime minister inaugurates the event every year.

The last Science Congress was held at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh in January this year.

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Senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily today hit out at the government, accusing it of "diplomatic failure", after Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother and wife were harassed by the Pakistani side during their meeting with the Indian national in Islamabad.

Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal hit back at the Congress, saying she does not know to what level the opposition party can fall, if it could not come together on the issue of treatment of women by a "terrorist" country which always worked towards harming India.

The war of words came in the backdrop of Pakistan's harassment of Jadhav's mother and wife. Pakistan went so far as to have the mangal sutra, bangles and bindi of his mother and wife removed before they met him on Monday.

Moily told a television channel that the external affairs ministry should have ensured the right kind of arrangement or protocol for the meeting.

"It (the manner in which Jadhav's family was treated) is absolutely inhuman and violated all codes and ethics of protocol," he said.

Moily also said that the external affairs ministry should have spoken with its Pakistani counterpart or Prime Minister Narendra Modi should have taken up the matter with the Pakistani premier.

"This was a total diplomatic failure," Moily said.

Badal slammed Congress's reaction as "very shameful and extremely sad".

She criticised Pakistan for the treatment meted out to Jadhav's family, saying the neighbouring country stands exposed in front of the entire world.

Pakistan cannot make India "weaker" by doing such things, she told a TV channel.

"In fact, our resolve of giving (it) back to them is being strengthened," she said, adding that other nations were also alligning with India against such treatment.

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A childhood friend of Kulbhushan Jadhav has said the treatment meted out to the former Indian Naval officer's mother and wife by Pakistani authorities was humiliating, and sought a "befitting reply" from India.

"How can Pakistani authorities take away 'mangalsutra' and bangles of Kulbhushan's kin before allowing them to meet him, that too across a glass partition," Tulshidas Pawar said.

Demanding a "befitting reply" from India for humiliating the Jadhav family, Pawar said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should show aggression in dealing with Pakistan.

"While watching TV yesterday, I recalled the days when we lived in adjacent buildings in Mumbai. The Kulbhushan I knew was totally different from the one I saw on TV yesterday," he said.

"The person meeting his mother and wife across the glass partition looked as if he was 15 years older than his real age," Pawar said.

India should not stop at accusing Pakistan of disregarding cultural and religious sensibilities of the family members on the pretext of security, but teach Pakistan a lesson, he said.

Pakistan's claim to have detected a "metallic substance" in the shoes worn by Jadhav's wife when she went to meet him at the Foreign Office in Islamabad is ridiculous, Pawar said.

Jadhav, who was captured in March last year, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying, an accusation India has dismissed as concocted.

India maintains Jadhav was abducted from Iran, where he had business interests, and taken to Pakistan.

To save Jadhav, India moved the International Court of Justice, which ordered Pakistan in May this year to stay his execution.

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The Bengal leg of the 'Election Commission's India National Quiz 2017', aimed at assessing the knowledge of the younger generation on electoral matters, drew to a close with the Jalpaiguri team emerging as the winner among 24 districts, an EC release said here today.

Teams from six electoral districts - Nadia, Purbo Bardhaman, Coochbehar, Malda and Kalimpong - had qualified for the state-level final round of the quiz on December 23.

Team Jalpaiguri's Riya Sarkar and Dipa Jha (Fatapukur Saradamoyee Vidayalaya) will now represent West Bengal at the national level in January, the release said.

Each team consisted of two students aged between 14 and 17 years.

The final round was preceded by quiz contests at the block/sub-divisional levels on November 23 in all the 24 electoral districts of the state, the release said.

The School Department and Doordarshan had collaborated with the ECI for organising the quiz contest, it added.

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A Japanese couple have been arrested after allegedly imprisoning their daughter for more than 15 years before she froze to death aged 33 this month, local media reported today.

Osaka residents Yasutaka Kakimoto, 55, and his wife Yukari, 53, admitted to locking their daughter Airi in a small room from the age of around 16 or 17, Kyodo said.

An autopsy showed Airi had frozen to death and was extremely malnourished, weighing about 19 kilogrammes.

The parents told police they confined their daughter because she was mentally ill and acted violently, national broadcaster NHK said, adding that the room had an intercom that the family used to communicate.

They reportedly fed their daughter about once a day.

The parents also kept more than 10 surveillance cameras around their house in a possible attempt to hide their secret, according to newspaper the Yomiuri Shimbun.

After reporting her death to police, the couple were initially charged with illegally disposing of a body but police were also considering other charges including confinement, Kyodo said.

Osaka police did not immediately respond to requests for comment this evening.

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The Odisha government has set a target to start regional flights, under the Centre's UDAN scheme, from the Jharsuguda airport during the first week of February next year, officials said.

This was discussed at the state-level coordination and monitoring committee meeting chaired by Chief Secretary A P Padhi.

"The flight from Jharsuguda is scheduled take off from Jharsuguda during first week of February, 2018," a state government release said, adding, the flight will connect Jharsuguda with Raipur and Jagdalpur.

Four airstrips in Odisha and the Biju Patnaik International airport have been selected in phase-I for implementing the UDAN scheme.

The airstrips are Jharsuguda, Rourkela, Utkela in Kalahandi and Jeypore in Koraput districts.

Jharsuguda has been upgraded to an airport from an airstrip.

Infrastructure of the airstrip at Rourkela is now ready for flights under the the Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) scheme, the officials said.

The chief secretary asked officials to expedite the process for finalisation of operational details at Rourkela airport.

He also directed to make Utkela and Jeypore strips ready by March, 2018 so that the UDAN scheme could be implemented, the release said.

The Director General of Police R P Sharma said around 135 police and 27 fire personnel have already been trained to provide security and fire services in the regional airports.

The Biju Patnaik International Airport will serve as the mentor airport for the scheme.

"The flight operator company (Air Odisha) appraised that regional connectivity from Kolkata to Rourkela has been scheduled to be started from January 23, 2018," the release said.

The state government has decided to reduce VAT on aviation fuel from 5 per cent to 1 one percent and provide 20 per cent of under the Viability Gap Funding, said general administration special secretary A K Meena.

It will also provide subsidies and financial assistance for regional air connectivity, as a part of the 'Make in Odisha' initiative.

The average price of a ticket for these flights would be around Rs 2,500.

Routes like Bhubaneswar to Utkela, Utklela to Raipur, Bhubaneswar to Jeypore, Bhubaneswar to Jharsuguda, Jharsuguda to Ranchi, and Bhubaneswar to Rourkela have been suggested for regional connectivity.

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Only one transgender student was awarded fellowship by the Ministry of Minority Affairs under its 'Maulana Azad National Fellowship' scheme since 2009-10, the Lok Sabha was informed today.

The Ministry is implementing MANF for minority students for pursuing higher studies such as full time M.Phil/Ph.D degrees in sciences, humanities, social sciences and engineering and technology.

Over 750 students belonging to the minority communities get the fellowships every year, Minority Affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said in written reply.

"During the selection year 2017-18, one online application was received from candidate belonging to transgender community and was awarded fellowship," he said.

The student was the first in the transgender category to secure fellowship under the scheme since 2009-10.

In 2017-18, Muslim students were awarded 517 fellowships, followed by Christian (109), Sikh (72), Buddhist (33) and Jain (25).

Replying to another question, Naqvi said 18 states have constituted their own state minority commissions so far. However, no such panel was set up by any state or Union Territory in the last two years.

Responding to another query, the minister said the National Wakf Development Corporation (NAWADCO) has identified properties across India, inlcuding Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Jodhpur, Pune and Aurangabad (Maharashtra) for consideration of development.

He said Rajasthan has also shown interest in getting properties in Jaipur and Kota developed through NAWADCO.

Letters of Expression of Interest have been received from State Waqf Boards of Rajasthan, Haryana, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Chandigarh for commercial development of 24 waqf properties, Naqvi said.

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Kolte-Patil Developer Ltd today said that global investment firm KKR will invest Rs 193 crore in its township at Pune.

In a regulatory filing, Kolte Patil said KKR has committed Rs 193 crore in its Kolte-Patil I-Ven Townships (Pune) Ltd (KPIT), which is a joint venture of Kolte-Patil and ICICI Venture Funds Management Company Ltd.

KPIT is developing 'Life Republic' a 383-acre township located in Pune's IT hub, Hinjewadi.

The JV will utilise the funds from this investment to attain financial closure, meeting working capital requirements and reducing cost of outstanding debt attributable to the development.

The company's Group CEO Gopal Sarda said, "At Life Republic, we are developing a full-amenities township focused on Hinjewadi's digital economy workforce. With our new partnership, we see this landmark project accelerating further to meet the rising aspirations of middle-income home buyers.

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Theatres in the US have have attached a warning with the film "The Last Jedi" after one of its scene caused confusion among the moviegoers.

The Rian Johnson-directed film features a scene where the sound completely cuts out for 10 seconds as a way to underscore the action of a certain sequence.

Many fans thought it to be a technical fault in the movie halls but AMC



theatres have posted warning to clear the air over the scene.

"Please note: 'The Last Jedi' contains a sequence at approximately 1 hour and 52 minutes into the movie in which ALL sound stop for about 10 full seconds.

"While the images continue to play on the screen you will hear nothing. This is intentionally done by the director for a creative effect," said the warning, a screenshot of which was posted by actor Paul Scheer on Facebook.

"The Last Jedi" sees the return of cast members John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac , along with Lupita Nyong'o, Gwendoline Christie, Andy Serkis and Domhnall Gleeson.

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The revenue collection of the famous hill shrine of Lord Ayyappa rose to Rs 168.84 crore during the first phase of the three-month long annual pilgrimage season.

The collection by way of contributions in the 'hundi' and tickets for various offerings and 'prasadams' from November 15 to December 25 showed an increase of Rs 20 crore compared to the corresponding period last year, Kerala Devaswom and Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran said.

The first phase of three-month long Mandala-Makaravillaku festival at the hill shrine that began on November 15 ended with the "mandala pooja" rituals yesterday.

The temple, which draws lakhs of devotees during the pilgrimage season, would reopen on December 30 for the Makaravillaku festival, that falls on January 14.

Surendran said the revenue collection from the hill shrine would be used for development of temples under the Travancore Devaswom Board, that manages the Sabarimala shrine and would not be diverted for any other purpose.

A review meeting to take stock of the arrangements for the Makaravillaku season would soon be held in Thiruvananthapuram or at Pamba, the foot hills, and chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, he said.

Surendran said schemes to improve amenities for devotees under the Sabarimala Master Plan would be implemented on a time bound basis.

Construction work on a rope-way for Sabarimala would begin soon, said retired high court judge S Sirijagan, chairman of the court-appointed high power committee that supervises the implementation of schemes under the master plan.

He said the forest department clearance was necessary for implementing the proposed 2.7 km rope-way project connecting Pamba and the temple complex.

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The Lok Sabha today passed a bill to protect slums and unauthorised colonies in the national capital region from punitive action till a framework for orderly arrangements are in place.

The National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second (Amendment) Bill gives immunity to slums and some unauthorised constructions till December 31, 2020. The immunity under the exisiting Bill ends on December 31.

Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said if the Bill is not passed, it will lead to "unprecedented chaos" in the national capital.

The legislation will give cover against punitive action on "as is where is basis" until December 2020, he said.

Puri also attacked the Sheila Dikshit government for not coming out with a proper policy on the matter and said "it was the failure of governance of a very high order".

Singh said the legislation provides that no action will be taken by any local authority till December 31, 2017 with respect to encroachments or unauthorised developments as of January 1, 2006, unauthorised colonies, village abadi areas that existed on March 31, 2002 and where constructions took place till February 8, 2007.

The sealing exercise by the Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee had created panic among the slum-dwellers and traders in part of the city, with the legislation expected to allay their apprehensions to a large extent.

Participating in the debate on the bill, BJP MP Parvesh Varma attacked the AAP government in Delhi, accusing it of not coming out with a policy on unauthorised colonies or slums.

Ramesh Bidhuri, BJP MP from South Delhi, referred to the hike in water tariffs and alleged that the Arvind Kejriwal government had deceived the people. He also blamed the Congress for its faliure to come up with a policy on the unauthorised construction issue.

TMC MP Saugata Roy was to speak on the Bill but did not. He said it has become a practise to pass the Bill in the din, referring to the uproar by Congress members over controversial remarks made by union minister Anant Kumar Hegde.

CPI(M)'s Mohammad Salim also emphasised that a Bill cannot be passed amid din.

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French President Emmanuel Macron came under fire today over his policy on jobless benefits after a press leak pointed to plans to tighten monitoring of people on the dole.

The investigative weekly Canard Enchaine, citing an internal memo, said those receiving jobless benefits would be required to submit a monthly report on their job-hunting efforts.

Politicians both to the left and the right of the centrist president assailed the idea of a monthly reporting requirement, with the Socialist Party tweeting that it was first mooted by the head of the employers' federation, Pierre Gattaz.

But Macron defended the plan in an interview with French radio LCI.

"If there are no rules, things cannot move ahead. That doesn't mean that we'll chase everyone," the 40-year-old said Wednesday evening.

Macron, elected in May on a pro-business platform, included a pledge to overhaul unemployment insurance -- along with his landmark labour reforms -- with a view to reining in unemployment.

Employers regularly point to the unemployment benefit system, seen as among Europe's most generous, as one of the main reasons for France's chronically high joblessness.

Some five weeks of negotiations on the sensitive issue are set to begin on January 11.

Alexis Corbiere of the radical left France Unbowed party told channel BFMTV: "All this bureaucracy around unemployment has only one goal: to strike people (off the rolls) and then be able to say, 'Look, thanks to us unemployment is down'.

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The Maharashtra government is toying with the idea of getting the annual budget passed in the state legislature during the winter session held in December, a senior official said.

The official, however, said that the move is still at a discussion stage.

"If the budget presentation is done in December, (instead of March) the implementation of the budget can start in January. This is part of the move to have January-December fiscal format," he added.

According to the official, if the plan materialises, the monsoon session of the state legislature will be held in Nagpur instead of Mumbai, and the winter session which is held in Nagpur, will take place in Mumbai, during which the budget presentation will be done.

Passing of the budget before January will be helpful for administrative purposes, the official said adding, "At present when the budget is passed in March, implementation like road repairs and construction is delayed for four to five months because of rains even after the administrative approvals."



When contacted, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Girish Bapat said changing the fiscal year format comes under the jurisdiction of the Centre.

"If such a decision is taken by the Centre as part of the fiscal and administrative reforms, the winter session will happen in Mumbai during which the budget will be passed," he said.

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Mahadayi protesters today set January-end as the deadline for the Karnataka government to amicably solve the Mahadayi river water issue with Goa to meet the drinking water needs of drought-prone areas of northern Karnataka.

The committee, spearheading the stir, said all the three parties -- BJP, Congress and JD(S)-- have to come together to find a solution to the issue.

If that is not possible, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has to lead an all-party delegation, including farmers, to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it said.

They also warned that a protest would be staged in New Delhi if they did not get justice from the Prime Minister.

"Within January the issue should get resolved, withina week's time a date has to be fixed," said Veeresh Sorabadamath, leader of 'Mahadayi Kalasa Banduri NalaHorata Samanvaya Samiti,' an umbrella organisation spearheading the agitation.

"If it does not happenthousands of us will sit (in protest) in front of the chiefminister's office," he told reporters after submitting a memorandum atthe chief minister's home office.

He said if they don't get justice from the prime minister, then "all of you including the council of ministers should sit in protest in Delhi, in the interest of the state."



Principal Secretary to the chief minister received thepetition on behalf of Siddaramaiah, who is in Chitradurga aspart of his pre-scheduled tour across the state to inaugurategovernment schemes.

Farmers including women from north Karnataka districtsstaged aprotest march to Raj Bhavan and submitted a petition.

They have been protesting near the BJP state office here sinceSaturday demanding that party state chief B S Yeddyurapparesolve the issue as promised by him last month.

Yeddyurappa, who had promised to get a written agreement by December 15 for resolving the issue, yesterday tried to convince farmers, citing a letter written to him by Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar but did not succeed.

The protesters also submitted a memorandum addressed to former prime minister H D Deve Gowda at the JD(S) office here.

Karnataka, which has locked horns with neighbouring Goaon sharing Mahadayi river water, is seeking release of 7.56 tmcft for the Kalasa-Banduri Nala project.

The project is being undertaken to improve drinking water supply to the twin cities of Hubballi-Dharwad and districts of Belagavi and Gadag.

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The family of a 58-year-old man, who was taken to Max Hospital in Shalimar Bagh on Christmas Day for treatment of a heart condition, today alleged that he died due to the hospital's negligence, a charge the upscale facility has denied.

The allegation came weeks after the Court of the Financial Commissioner stayed an order of the Delhi government cancelling the hospital's licence for wrongly declaring a newborn dead.

Sarika, 35, daughter of the deceased, Kamlesh Chander, said: "We are devastated by the incident. Tomorrow, we will try to reach out to Health Minister J P Nadda and the chief medical officer of Delhi. We want justice."



"My father was on his feet when he visited the hospital on December 25. He was sweating, so they took him to the emergency ward and an ECG test was conducted. The test revealed that he had blockage in his arteries," she said.

Sarika said an angiography was performed on his father and the doctors told the family that Chander would need a bypass surgery.

"While we discussed the matter, they came and informed us that stents have been put in his body. They did that without even asking us. More so, my father was admitted under the supervision of a doctor who was on leave. This is fraud and negligence," she alleged.

"A few hours later, my father died... We demand justice. We are waiting for the autopsy and after that we will organise the funeral, she said.

The family said the hospital billed them Rs three lakh.

"We have submitted all relevant details and registered a complaint with the police," she said.

A police official said inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPC was initiated based on the complaint.

"A medical board will be constituted to carry out the autopsy. On the basis of the autopsy, further action will be taken," the official said.

Max Healthcare in a statement said: "The patient was brought to the emergency (ward) in the afternoon of December 25, with complaints of chest pain and breathlessness. Initial ECG confirmed acute STEMI."



ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) is a type of heart attack during which one of the heart's major arteries is blocked.

"Further investigation revealed Triple Vessel Disease blockage in three major arteries. The patient was 58 years old and had a history of diabetes, hypertension and smoking. Despite due efforts by the medical team, the patient could not be saved," it claimed.

Sarika, however, countered the hospital's claim, saying, "My father was a vegetarian, non-smoker and non-alcoholic."



Max Healthcare authorities said, "We are really disturbed by the false allegation that the body was held pending payment. It is a part of our ethics charter to peacefully hand over the body under all circumstances."



Sarika has claimed that her father's body was first taken by the police to Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial Hospital, and from there to Safdarjung Hospital for post-mortem.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The family of a 58-year-old man, who was taken to Max Hospital in Shalimar Bagh on Christmas Day for treatment of a heart condition, has alleged that he died due to the hospital's negligence, a charge the upscale facility has denied.

The allegation came weeks after the Court of the Financial Commissioner stayed an order of the Delhi government cancelling the hospital's licence for wrongly declaring a newborn dead.

Sarika, 35, daughter of the deceased, Kamlesh Chander, today said: "We are devastated by the incident. Tomorrow, we will try to reach out to Health Minister J P Nadda and the chief medical officer of Delhi. We want justice."



"My father was on his feet when he visited the hospital on December 25. He was sweating, so they took him to the emergency ward and an ECG test was conducted. The test revealed that he had blockage in his arteries," she said.

Sarika said an angiography was performed on her father and the doctors told the family that Chander would need a bypass surgery.

"While we discussed the matter, they came and informed us that stents have been put in his body. They did that without even asking us. More so, my father was admitted under the supervision of a doctor who was on leave. This is fraud and negligence," she alleged.

"A few hours later, my father died... We demand justice."



The family said the hospital allegedly billed them Rs three lakh.

"We have submitted all relevant details and registered a complaint with the police," Sarika said.

A police official said inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPC was initiated based on the complaint.

"A medical board was constituted to carry out the autopsy. On the basis of the autopsy, further action will be taken," the official said.

Sources at Safdarjung Hospital said the autopsy of the deceased man "has been carried out," but did not give details.

Max Healthcare in a statement said: "The patient was brought to the emergency (ward) in the afternoon of December 25, with complaints of chest pain and breathlessness. Initial ECG confirmed acute STEMI."



ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) is a type of heart attack during which one of the heart's major arteries is blocked.

"Further investigation revealed Triple Vessel Disease blockage in three major arteries. The patient was 58 years old and had a history of diabetes, hypertension and smoking. Despite due efforts by the medical team, the patient could not be saved," it claimed.

Sarika, however, countered the hospital's claim, saying, "My father was a vegetarian, non-smoker and non-alcoholic."



Max Healthcare authorities said, "We are really disturbed by the false allegation that the body was held pending payment. It is a part of our ethics charter to peacefully hand over the body under all circumstances.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed various pro-people measures being undertaken in the BJP-ruled state, according to an official statement.

Chouhan invited the prime minister to attend the concluding ceremony of 'Ekatm Yatra' on January 22 in Madhya Pradesh's Omkareshwar, it said.

The Madhya Pradesh government has launched the 'Ekatm Yatra' with an aim to collect metal pieces to install a 108- feet tall statue of Adi Shankaracharya at Omkareshwar in Khandwa district.

The yatra will culminate at Omkareshwar on January 22 after traversing through Indore, Dewas, Rajgarh, Guna, Ashok Nagar, Shivpuri, Sheopur, Morena, Bhind, Gwalior and Datia. It will cover a distance of 2,175 km while crossing 12 districts.

Chouhan also discussed 'Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana' being run by his government in the state for the welfare of farmers.

The yojana is a kind of direct benefit transfer scheme under which farmers will be paid the difference between the 'modal price' (to be determined by the government) and the minimum support price of crops.

"Madhya Pradesh will form a task force for promoting clean cooking. The task force will also inform people living in rural areas about the 'Ujjwala' scheme run by the Centre," according to a chief minister's tweet.

Under the Prime Minister Ujjwala Yojana, the central government aims to provide LPG connections to BPL households in the country.

Chouhan also discussed with the prime minister various other public welfare measures being taken by his government in the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A group of Muhajirs in the US has lauded the Trump administration for putting Pakistan "on notice" for "harbouring" terror groups.

The term 'Muhajir' is used to describe the Urdu-speaking immigrants who left India in 1947 and came to Pakistan. A large chunk of them settled in the Sindh province.

US Vice President Mike Pence, during an unannounced trip to Afghanistan to assess the ground realities in the war-torn country, said that President Donald Trump has put Pakistan on notice for providing safe havens to the Taliban and other militant groups.

"As the president said, so I say now:Pakistan has much to gain from partnering with the US, and Pakistan has much to lose by continuing to harbour criminals and terrorists," Pence had said, issuing another stern warning to Pakistan.

In a letter to Trump, the World Muhajir Congress (WMC) welcomed the recent statement in this regard by Pence in Afghanistan.

This is a "bold" policy in placing Pakistan "on notice" regarding its ill-fated policy of harbouring and supporting terrorist organisations in South Asia, particularly through the powerful Pakistani military establishment and intelligence wing the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the WMC said.

The WMC claimed that due to Muhajirs' strong opposition to radical Islamist voices in Pakistan, they are being singled out by military establishment through political persecution, extra-judicial killings, forced disappearances of Muhajir men, and a state-sponsored media trial that continues to portray them as "agents of India" and "anti-state".

In its letter, the WMC also offered to assist the Trump administration in formulating policy matters for South Asia as it relates to Pakistan.

Trump, while announcing his South Asia Policy in August, had criticised Pakistan for not doing enough to combat terrorism.

Observing that Muhajirs are the most liberal, progressive and pro-Western people in Pakistan, the WMC said that they are America's natural allies in the region.

"If given a chance, Muhajirs can play a leading role in eliminating terrorism and violence from the region," the WMC said in the letter.

The group offered unequivocal support to the Trump administration as it formulates a more tougher approach in dealing with Pakistan's duplicitous behaviour in the region, the letter added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Alleging that hookah parlours in the city have become "dens" of narcotics which are encouraging crime among youngsters, Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar today urged Police Commissioner Dattatrey Padsalgikar to crack the whip on them.

Expressing concern over "mushrooming" of hookah parlours in the vicinity of colleges, the Mayor said they are inimical to "social values".

"I want to draw your attention to numerous hookah parlours operating across the city which have become the den for narcotics and younger generations are getting addicted to them," Mahadeshwar said in a letter submitted to Padsalgikar after meeting the latter in his office today.

He said it was "unfortunate" and a "serious matter" that the younger generation, including college-going students, was getting attracted to hookah parlours.

"This is serious as far as our social values are concerned," he said.

In his letter, Mayor referred to the stabbing of a youth outside a hookah parlour in suburban Goregaon following a brawl in October this year.

"There is a ban on the sale of guthka and tobacco across the state, but unfortunately these products are sold in and around colleges. Most of the hookah parlours are operating in the vicinity of colleges," the letter said.

The senior Sena corporator requested the police commissioner to take action against such hookah parlours considering the future of youngsters.

Frequent efforts by the Shiv Sena-ruled Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to ban hookah parlours remained futile as the owners of such entities challenged the move in the Bombay High Court and then in the Supreme Court.

In the year 2014, the apex court struck down a ban imposed by the BMC on hookah parlours in places such as restaurants and hotels where smoking is otherwise legally permitted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 50-year-old life term convict was allegedly knifed by another inmate in the Central Jail here today, which left him with injuries to the neck and shoulders, an official said.

The incident occurred at around 10 A.M when Supiyar Singh, aged around 50, allegedly attacked Modak Singh with a vegetable knife from behind.

Both the prisoners are serving life terms in separate cases of murder.

"Prisoner Supiyar Singh attacked another inmate Modak Singh from behind at 10 A.M. Modak Singh sustained injuries to his neck and shoulders," Bhopal Central Jail Superintendent Dinesh Nargave told PTI.

He said the security personnel immediately overpowered Supiyar Singh and rushed Modak Singh to state-run Hamidia Hospital, located around 8 kms away from the jail.

Modak Singh is out of danger and stable now, he said.

When asked how the inmate laid his hands on the knife, Nargave said Supiyar Singh was given the work of chopping vegetables while Modak Singh was assigned the responsibility of cleaning wheat.

While Supiyar Singh has been in the prison since 2015, Modak Singh has been lodged at the facility since last month.

Gandhi Nagar Police have registered a case and investigation is on.

When asked about the likely motive behind the attack, the officer said Supiyar Singh has told police that Modak Singh was threatening to kill him.

"However, Modak Singh has denied Supiyar Singh's contention," the officer said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nawaz Sharif's daughter has claimed that her father was removed from the prime minister's office because he had ordered registration of a treason case against former military dictator Pervez Musharraf.

A five-member bench of the Supreme Court had disqualified 67-year-old Sharif from the office of prime minister on July 28 in the Panama Papers scandal.

"When he (Sharif) got registered a treason case against Musharraf for abrogating the Constitution, sit-ins began in Islamabad (in 2014) against him. Then came the Dawn Leaks and Panama Papers case and finally he was disqualified on having 'Iqama' (work permit of UAE)," Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz told the social media team of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz while explaining reasons behind her father's ouster.

She further said this happened to her father because he did not bow and never took dictation.

"It was easy for him to choose an easy path (cutting a deal with the establishment) but he didn't. Nawaz Sharif always chose a right path which is a difficult one. When you are on such a path, you have to pay a price," Maryam added.

She termed an attack on the prime minister as "an attack on the people who have voted for him."



Sharif, who was also present during the interaction, demanded action against Musharraf for abrogating the Constitution and committing treason.

He asked would any court dare to bring Musharraf to justice. "Will we see any court in Pakistan hold Musharraf accountable for his crimes?" Sharif asked.

Musharraf is facing treason charges in Pakistan for imposing emergency rule in November 2007, arresting judges and limiting their powers.

He could face the death penalty if convicted.

Musharraf, 74, who came to power in a bloodless coup in 1999, has been living in Dubai since last year when he was allowed to leave Pakistan on the pretext of medical treatment.

The former military dictator who had promised to return to face the cases against him later said former army chief Gen Raheel Sharif had used his influence to get him a relief.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Despite a global economic slowdown, the country's commercial real estate saw a net absorption of nearly 30.57 million sq ft of office space in top eight cities in 2017 indicating growing investor confidence in India's growth story, according to a survey.

According to the survey by Cushman & Wakefield, the net absorption of office space in 2017 dropped by seven per cent to 30.57 million sq ft as compared to 32.85 million sqft last year.

The total supply also dropped by 11 per cent this year to 32.20 million sq ft as against 36.34 million sq ft in 2016.

"Office leasing trends have been positive in the second half of 2017 as global and national uncertainties settled. By the second half, it was clear that impact of events such as Brexit, US Fed rates revisions, GST implementations and RERA, were going to be minimum on growth of the commercial real estate sector of the country," Cushman & Wakefield country head and MD, India Anshul Jain said.

Even while the GDP growth showed a drop in the mid-quarters, the outlook for India's GDP growth is positive, giving a further boost to corporates to carry on with their growth plans, he added.

More than 50 large leasing transactions which were over 100,000 sq ft each, constituting over 11.5 million sq ft, in 2017, showing a healthy trend of growth in the corporations.

"The trend of large deals has been gathering steam as many companies are in rapid expansion mode. They are seeing a strong long-term potential in India's growth story," the report said.

Cities like Chennai, Pune and Mumbai recorded a growth of 38 per cent, 18 per cent and nine per cent, respectively, in the leasing activity, while Bengaluru witnesses a decline of nearly 30 per cent as compared to 2016 mainly due to low supply.

Kolkata, on the other hand, recorded the highest growth in incremental supply growing at 180 per cent, adding 2.7 million sq ft to its current stock in the year. Coupled with low rents, Kolkata offers interesting opportunities to occupiers for expansion, it said.

Hyderabad witnessed over 10 large deals concluded in 2017, with one of them being over 1.4 million sq ft leased by a global consulting services major, the report said.

"India's focus on creating an attractive and lucrative business environment has created significant impact. With its rise in position in 'ease of doing business', investor confidence is set to grow," Jain said.

He further noted that with various strategic government programmes such as 'Make in India' and 'Start Up India', there is a clear focus on long-term stability of the Indian economy.

"We expect these positive developments to create a very strong base for office space growth in the next 2 3 years," Jain added.
Nepal has rejected India's offer to jointly re-measure the height of the world's highest peak Mount Everest following the massive earthquake in 2015 and will carry out the exercise on its own, the top official of the Himalayan nation's survey department has said.

Nepal will, however, seek help from India and China for getting crucial data for the exercise, Nepal's Survey Department's Director General Ganesh Bhatta told PTI.

Sources in New Delhi indicated that China could be behind Nepal refusing India's proposal to jointly re-measure Mount Everest as the peak is on the Sino-Nepal border.

According to a statement by the Department of Science and Technology which comes under India's Ministry of Science and Technology, after the 2015 "Gorkha earthquake" that jolted Nepal, various doubts were raised by the scientific community over the height of the peak.

The 7.8 magnitude quake in April 2015 had devastated the Himalayan nation, killing more than 8,000 people and displacing lakhs of others.

The Survey of India, a 250-year-old institute under the DST, proposed re-measuring Mt Everest as an 'Indo-Nepal Joint Scientific Exercise' with Nepal's survey department.

"They have not responded to our proposal. Now they are saying that they are not involving either India or China. They will be re-measuring Mt Everest on their own," Major Gen Girish Kumar, the Surveyor General of India, told PTI.

Kumar said that a representative from India attended a meeting convened in Kathmandu, where surveyors and scientists from different countries including China were also present.

"There was a proposal from India to help us measure Mt Everest, but we are doing it on our own," Bhatta, who is in Nepal, told PTI over phone.

When asked whether China had also given a proposal to re-measure Nepal, he replied in the negative.

He noted that China had measured Mt Everest in 1975 and 2005 while Indian surveyors had carried out a similar mission in 1956. The SGI had also measured the Everest during the British era.

"India was the first country under Sir George Everest's leadership as the Surveyor General of India to have declared the height of Mount Everest and establish it as the highest peak in the world in the year 1855," the Department of Science and Technology's website states.

Bhatta said preparatory work has already begun on the project and they are gathering preliminary data crucial for this survey.

The massive earthquake has "shook" even the basic parameters of Nepal, so data from other countries will be crucial, he said.

India is being requested to provide the levelling data while China has been asked to provide the gravity data. The data will be very important to determine the height of Mt Everest, Bhatta said.

"We won't be crossing over into the Chinese territory for measurements. The work of summiting Everest will take place in 2019," he said.

Kusalaraj, a scientist at the Centre for Earth Science at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, said minor change in the height of Mt Everest may not have a direct impact on the lives of people immediately.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Specific data on killing, rape and sodomy of schoolchildren in the country was not available with the government, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.

In written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Gangaram Ahir said that data on the killings of schoolchildren with respect to the National Capital, NCR and other parts of the country was not separately available.

"Similarly, specific data of sodomy and rape of schoolchildren with respect to NCR and other parts of the country is not available," he said.

For crimes against children, state-wise cumulative data was available on cases registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

He said that the home ministry had issued advisories for combating crimes against children.

"As per available information, Central Board of Secondary Education and the Government of NCT of Delhi have issued various circulars and orders for safety of children in the schools. Delhi Police have also taken various steps for the safety of school-going children in Delhi," he said.

According to Delhi Police data presented by the minister, 10 cases of sodomy and 10 cases of rape with children in school premises have been reported in Delhi since 2014.

It shows that the Delhi Police registered one case of sodomy in school premises in 2014 and 2015 each, while no such case was reported last year.

In 2017, till December 15, the Delhi Police has reported eight cases of sodomy in school premises, it said.

The data also shows that four cases of rape in schools were reported in 2014, while in 2015 and 2016, one and two such cases were reported respectively.

In 2017 till December 15, three cases of rape of children have been reported by the Delhi police.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Noted writer Ramendra Kumar, whose stories feature in Sri Lankan text books, has been felicitated in the neighbouring country for his contribution to children's literature.

Kumar is an award-winning writer with 32 books to his credit.

His writings have been translated into 14 Indian and 13 foreign languages and have found a place in school text books and anthology also in India and abroad.

His book Dilemma and other stories, translated into Sinhala, was also released at the felicitation ceremony. This is his fourth book in Sinhala.

Since 2011, Ramendra's stories have been included in school text books brought out by the Sri Lanka government every year.

The books are distributed to over 10,000 schools across the country.

Kumar said, he is the only author from outside Sri Lanka to have achieved this distinction.

Kumar, Chief of Communications at the Rourkela Steel Plant, was felicitated by the Writers and Publishers of Sri Lanka at the function held in Colombo last week, a release issued by the steel plant said.

Dignitaries like Deshabandhu Sirisunama Godage, award winning publisher and Bobby G Boteju, acclaimed translator were present on the occasion.

During his visit to Sri Lanka, Kumar also addressed a gathering of students, teachers and parents.

His latest book in English, Against All Odds, had its first overseas release on the occasion, the release said.

The author is also an inspirational speaker and storyteller.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Being a prisoner is no longer a hurdle to get card in Kerala now, thanks to the ambitious programme of the state Prisons Department.

With a target of linking all people in the state, cutting across age and other social barriers under Aadhaar, the Department has made it mandatory for jail inmates also.

Though the drive is broadly envisaged to link all jail inmates under Aadhaar, the initial focus is to bring over 3,500 convicted prisoners, cooling their heels in various state jails, under the 12 digit number, prison department sources said.

Jail authorities have also plans to keep the number of prisoners in their data bank to keep a tab on them even after they complete their term.

The initiative has already been launched in various prisons and as many as 27 prisoners have enrolled for at the Central Prison at Poojappura here last week.

"People from all stratas of society are being linked to Aadhar. Our initiative is envisaged to help prisoners get enroled for Aadhaar," Jail DGP, R Sreelekha told PTI.

Arrangements have been made to provide Aadhaar enrolment facilities within jail premises in particular intervals to cover maximum inmates, she said.

However, the DGP said there is no exact data as of now on the number of prisoners in the state jails, both convicted and undertrials, who have already registered under Aadhaar number.

Under the programme, authorities of each jail would prepare a periodical list of prisoners, who do not have Aadhaar number.

Arrangements would be made to collect their necessary certificates and other documents for the enrolment from their home or school authorities.

It would be verified and certified by jail superintendent in his capacity as the caretaker of prisoners before submitting for Aadhaar enrolment, sources said.

As per the request of jail authorities, a team of officials of the state-run Akshaya Centres in respective areas would visit each prison with biometric fingerprint scanner, camera and other necessary systems to enroll the inmates under Aadhaar.

Though the drive is aimed at bringing all prisoners under Aadhaar, the case of undertrials is an issue, Poojappura Central Prison Superintendent, S Santhosh said.

"Even if we include them also in our list and collect their necessary documents, they may go free before the completion of the enrolment process. So, our main focus is convicted prisoners now," he said.

According to rough figures, there are over 8,000 prisoners in various jails across Kerala at present.

There are 3 central prisons, 11 district jails, 16 sub-jails, 16 special sub-jails, 3 women prisons and 3 open prisons including one for women.
The nursery admission process for approximately 1,600 private schools in the national capital began today with the government deciding not to impose any upper age limit this year.

Parents have time till January 17 to fill the application forms.

The Delhi government's proposed upper age limit of less than four years to be eligible for nursery, less than five years for kindergarten and less than six years for admission to Class 1, was challenged in court.

Though a Delhi High Court order earlier this year had allowed the imposition of the upper age limit, the Directorate of (DoE) has decided that the order will be applicable only from the next academic year.

"Schools were given time till December 26 to upload the criteria that they are adopting to conduct the admission and were instructed to stay clear of of the 62 criteria abolished by the Delhi High Court in a 2016 order," a senior DoE official said.

Apart from the abolished criteria, the schools have been given autonomy to come up with their own points system, the official said.

Those schools which have still not uploaded it yet have been asked to do it immediately, the official added.

The abolished criteria include, parents' education, their profession, age, oral test and interview.

The first list of selected students with points allotted to them will be displayed by February 15. Queries raised by parents will be resolved between February 16-20, and a second list will be displayed by February 28.

Subsequent lists will be released, if seats remain vacant, before the admission process closes on March 31.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Opposition today virtually paralysed the proceedings in the Lok Sabha demanding action against Union Minister Anant Kumar Hegde for his controversial comments on secularism and the Constitution.

Raising the issue, Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge quoting Hegde said the minister compared those supporting secularism to "children of unknown parentage", besides denigrating Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, the architect of the Constitution.

"The minister called for changing the Constitution according to today's need...He said those who support secularism are like people without parentage. He said they do not know their bloodline. This is unacceptable," Kharge said, demanding action against the minister.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar claimed Kharge was trying to distort what Hegde had said.

"B R Ambedkar is the father of the Constitution and we respect him. We request the opposition to not disrupt the proceedings," he said, accusing the Congress of indulging in "pseudo-secularism".

He made the statement amid shouting of slogans against Hegde by the opposition.

As opposition members marched into the Well of the House and shouted slogans, the Speaker adjourned the House till 2.45 PM.

This was the third time the Lok Sabha was adjourned today. Earlier, the House was first adjourned till noon and then till 2 PM due to unabated opposition protest over the same issue.

The TRS members, who were demanding a separate high court for Telangana, were also in the Well, along with members of the Congress.

Some other members raised concerns over the treatment meted out to the family members of Kulbhushan Jadhav by Pakistan.

Despite repeated requests from Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, about 20 members continued to protest in the Well of the House.

As the protests continued unabated, Mahajan asked the members to return to their seats. "If you don't want the government to say something, then let it go," she said.

Amid the din, papers were laid and a few members spoke during Zero Hour but as the unruly scenes continued, Mahajan adjourned the House till 2 PM after about 20 minutes of proceedings.

Before this, the House was adjourned for about 50 minutes soon after the Question Hour had begun at 11 AM.

Congress members raised slogans demanding removal of Hegde from the Council of Ministers, while members of the TRS also joined them with placards demanding a separate high court for Telengana.

Some Shiv Sena members raised slogans against Pakistan, apparently over the treatment of Jadhav's family members. Some BJP members also joined them in raising slogans like 'Pakistan murdabad' (down with Pakistan).

During Question Hour, Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha Kharge had then too briefly raised the issue of remarks by Hegde, following which his party members rushed into the Well raising slogans such as 'Ambedkar ka apman nahin chalega' (We will not tolerate the insult of B R Ambedkar -- a key framer of the Constitution).

At a function in Karnataka on Sunday, Hegde, the Minister of State for Skill Development, had reportedly said people should identify themselves by their religions and "those who, without knowing about their parental blood, call themselves secular, they don't have their own identity...They don't know about their parentage." He had also said "we are here to change the Constitution and we'll change it.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An aggressive opposition today forced two adjournments in the Rajya Sabha protesting the controversial remarks made by union minister Anantkumar Hegde on secularism and changing the Constitution, even as the government distanced itself from the issue.

"Members have expressed concerns to which we would like to emphasise that the government is committed to the Constitution. The minister has given a statement but we do not subscribe to those views," Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goel said during the Question Hour in a bid to assuage the opposition.

However, angry opposition members, many of whom were in the Well, continued to raise slogans demanding that Hegde be sacked, forcing Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu to adjourn proceedings till 2 pm.

The Upper House was adjourned till noon about 20 minutes after it had assembled for the day as several members, including those from the Congress, SP and CPI expressed outrage over Hegde's remarks and many of them rushed into the Well.

At noon, the Chairman sought to take up the Question Hour, but CPI leader D Raja beseeched him saying that as vice president he was custodian of the Constitution which was given to the country by B R Ambedkar and Hegde had made "very objectionable comments". He claimed even Ambedkar was opposed to the idea of India being a 'Hindu Rashtra'.

Another opposition member asserted that someone who had taken oath on the Constitution and then abused it had no right to continue being a minister.

As members belonging to several opposition parties including the Congress, DMK, TMC and others, protested, Naidu said he had asked the government to explain its stand on the issue.

After Goel asserted that the government did not favour the views expressed by the minister, Naidu tried to resume the Question Hour proceedings.

He then asked Leader of House Arun Jaitley to speak, but a large number of opposition members continued their protest, shouting slogans and seeking action against Hegde.

Left with no option, Naidu adjourned the proceedings till 2 PM.

Earlier, when the House met for the day, Congress, SP and BSP members trooped into the Well of the House shouting slogans seeking removal of Hegde and forcing Naidu to adjourn the proceedings till noon.

The trouble started when the papers were being laid as opposition members shouted "shame, shame" when Hegde, who is Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, rose to lay the papers listed against his name.

Leader of the Opposition and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad sought a clarification from the Minister as he could leave the House soon after laying papers.

True to this, Hegde sat in the House for a few minutes listening to the opposition protests against his controversial statement that the BJP would change the Constitution by excluding Secularism from the preamble. Soon thereafter, he left the House.

Azad asked if a minister does not believe in the Constitution, does he has a right to remain as a minister.

"Minister who has no faith in the Constitution has no right to be a minister. He has no right to be a Member of Parliament," he said.

Sukhendu Sekhar Roy (TMC) said secularism is inscribed in the preamble of the Constitution and asked if a minister is allowed to denounce the same preamble in public.

Naresh Agarwal (SP) said the Constitution is the Ramayana and Gita of democracy and any minister who abuses it and its founder Babasaheb Ambedkar should be removed.

At this, Naidu interjected to ask members not to bring Ambedkar into the controversy.

But the opposition members remained unrelenting and trooped into the well raising slogans.

Naidu asked members not to raise slogans and ordered that nothing they were saying would go on record.

He then allowed Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment and Republican Party of India founder Ramdas Athawale to speak.

Athawale praised the Prime Minister for honouring the memory of Ambedkar with a fitting memorial and said it was Congress which had insulted Ambedkar.

"Don't create a ruckus. You are going to be defeated in general elections in 2019 and 2024," Athawale told the opposition.

Subramanian Swamy (BJP) claimed Ambedkar did not include the word secularism in the Constitution.

Naidu tried to restore order but all his efforts went in vain. "How much should I tolerate. This is not acceptable. This is not done," he said as slogan shouting continued unabated.

As opposition members continued their noisy protest and demanded a discussion on the issue, Naidu said no discussion can take place without a proper notice.

He then adjourned the proceedings till 1200 hours.

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Opposition uproar seeking the sacking of Union minister Ananthkumar Hegde for his controversial statements on secularism and changing the Constitution today led to the adjournment of the Lok Sabha proceedings for about 50 minutes soon after it assembled for the day.

While Congress members trooped into the Well raising slogans demanding removal of Hegde from the Council of Ministers, members of the TRS also joined them with placards demanding a separate high court for Telengana.

As soon as the House met for the day, some Shiv Sena members raised slogans against Pakistan, apparently over the treatment of the family members of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, imprisoned there. Some BJP members also joined them in raising slogans like 'Pakistan murdabad' (down with Pakistan).

Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge raised the issue of remarks by Hegde, following which his party members rushed to the Well raising slogans such as 'Ambedkar ka apman nahin chalega' (We will not tolerate the insult of B R Ambedkar -- one of the key framers of the Constitution). They also demanded "removal" of the minister apparently from the Council of Ministers.

At a function in Karnataka on Sunday, Hegde, the Minister of State for Skill Development, had reportedly said people should identify themselves by their religions and "those who, without knowing about their parental blood, call themselves secular, they don't have their own identity...They don't know about their parentage." He had also said "we are here to change the Constitution and we'll change it."



Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not present in the House as he is away in Himachal Pradesh attending the oath ceremony of Jairam Thakur as the Chief Minister.

He is usually present in the House on Wednesday as questions related to the Prime Minister's Office are listed on this day during Question Hour.

Amid the din, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the House till noon.

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Al-Qaeda's slain chief Osama bin Laden had shifted to Afghanistan to supervise a plot to assassinate Pakistan's former premier Benazir Bhutto and then military dictator Pervez Musharraf, a media report said on Wednesday.

Citing intelligence gathered by the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), the News reported that the explosives to execute this plot were provided by the courier of bin Laden.

Bhutto was killed in a gun-and-bomb attack during an election campaign rally on December 27, 2007 outside the Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi. The revelation comes exactly on the 10th anniversary of Bhutto's assassination.

This information was provided to the Interior Ministry in December 2007 by the Army and the ISI in three reports and the letters obtained from the bin Laden's residence.

In these secret intelligence reports, the ministry was warned that bin Laden had issued orders to kill the then President Musharraf, Pakistan People's Party's chief Bhutto and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief Fazlur Rehman, the paper said.

The most important letter by the ISI to the Interior Ministry was written on December 19, 2007; the letter was directed to the Interior Ministry's then-director coordination of the Crisis Management Cell Colonel Muhammad Imran Yaqub, the paper said, citing the documents.

The letter, titled 'President Musharraf, Benazir Bhutto and Fazlur Rehman's murder plan', signed by Lt Col (retd) Zaigham Islam Butt for DG Intelligence said bin Laden has issued the order to kill Musharraf, Bhutto and Rehman.

"He (Osama bin Laden) has planned to send his courier, who is a national of Pakistan and a resident of Multan, named Musa Tariq, through Waziristan with explosives to be used in executing the murder plots. On coming Sunday which is December 22 this person will be in the area of Dera Ismail Khan," the letter read.

"Osama bin Laden is personally supervising this entire plan and for this reason, he has shifted to Afghanistan," read the last three lines of the letter.

The ISI had requested the interior ministry to make urgent security arrangements, the paper said, adding that this information was so important that the copies of this letter were also dispatched to the Military Intelligence Directorate, GS Branch and General Headquarters, Rawalpindi.

After receiving the letter, the General Staff Branch of the Military Operations Directorate of General Headquarters, on the next day December 20, 2007 sent a letter to the then interior secretary Syed Kamal Shah.

Six days before Bhutto's assassination, another letter was issued with the signature of then-chief of the general staff Lt-Gen Salahuddin Satti's Lt-Col Staff Khurram Shahzad, warning about the terror plot.

Following the assassination of Bhutto, a short letter was sent to bin Laden after two days.

"We have taken revenge for our brothers and sisters of Jamia Hafsa and Lal Masjid," read the letter which was recovered from bin Laden's home.

Bin Laden was killed by US Navy Seals in a covert raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan in May 2011.
Over 2 lakh posts are lying vacant across many groups in the railways, with majority of them in the Northern Zone of the network, the parliament was informed today.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said 2,22,159 posts are vacant in the rail network.

The Delhi-headquartered Northern Railways (NR) with 27,537 vacancies tops the list of rail zones with maximum vacant posts, followed by Eastern Railway (19,942 posts) headquartered in Kolkata, and Central Railway (19,651 posts) with its head office in Mumbai, he said.

"Filling up of vacancies is a continuous process and is done through various modes of intake. There is always a time lag between occurrence of vacancies and processing the same for filling up as it involves notification of vacancies, holding examinations etc...recruitment process of railways is done regularly," Goyal said.

The minister also informed the House that a total of 41,128 vacancies of SC/ST posts are lying vacant in railways across the country.

The highest number of vacancies in these posts is again in Northern Railways i.e. 8,995 vacancies, he added.

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Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Aggarwal today kicked up a row by controversially stating that if Pakistan considers Kulbhushan Jadhav a terrorist, it would treat him like one -- remarks the BJP dubbed "betrayal of national interest".

Aggarwal also hit out at the media, saying why it was only talking about Jadhav when hundreds of Indians were lodged in Pakistani jails.

The comments came in the backdrop of Pakistan treating Jadhav's mother and wife in a humiliating manner. Pakistan went so far as to have the mangal sutra, bangles and bindi of his mother and wife removed before they met him on Monday.

"What ideology a particular nation follows, it is known only to that nation. If Pakistan considers Jadhav a terrorist, then they will behave with him accordingly," Aggarwal told a TV channel.

"Our nation should also treat terrorists in the same way, in a tough manner. I don't understand why the media is only talking about Jadhav. There are hundreds of Indians lodged in Pakistani jails. Why they are not being talked about?," he said.

Reacting to Aggarwal's remarks, BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao said his comments were "symptomatic of betrayal of national interest by the Congress-led UPA over Pakistan".

"They side with Pak, wine and dine with Pak leaders, abuse Indian Army chief, question surgical strikes, call Kulbhushan Jadhav a terrorist. Alas!" he said in a tweet.

Rao also wondered if Aggarwal was doing so as his Rajya Sabha term was expiring in a few months.

"Is he trying to become like-minded betrayers' coalition candidate in UP RS polls? OR is he desperately trying to challenge Mani Shankar Aiyar as 'Chief Anti-India propagandist' to host next secret dinner for Pakistan?" he asked.

Jadhav, who was arrested in March, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying, an accusation that India has dismissed as concocted.

Yesterday, India had accused Pakistan of violating mutual understanding on Jadhav's meeting with his family, and said that the Indian national appeared coerced and under considerable stress during the tightly-controlled interaction.

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Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Pravin Togadia today said the harassment of Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother and wife by the Pakistani authorities was an insult to the 50 crore women of India.

"It was not just the harassment of the mother and wife of Jadhav. It amounts to an insult to the 50 crore women of India," the international working president of the VHP told reporters on the sidelines of a programme here.

Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer, was arrested by the Pakistani authorities in March. He was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying, an accusation India has dismissed as concocted.

Jadhav's wife and mother had travelled from India to meet him at the heavily guarded Pakistani foreign office building in Islamabad on Christmas Day.

Yesterday, India had accused Pakistan of violating the mutual understandings as regards Jadhav's meeting with his family and said the former naval officer appeared coerced and under a considerable stress during the tightly-controlled interaction.

The ministry of external affairs had also alleged that under the pretext of precautionary security measures, the cultural and religious sensibilities of Jadhav's family members were disregarded. This included the removal of "mangalsutra", bangles and "bindi" as well as a change in attire, it had said.

Jadhav's mother was prevented from talking in her mother tongue, Marathi, which was the natural medium of communication with her son, she was repeatedly interrupted whenever she spoke in Marathi, and eventually, prevented from using the language altogether, the ministry had said.

"For some inexplicable reasons, despite her repeated requests, Jadhav's wife's shoes were not returned to her after the meeting," the MEA had said in a statement.

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Pakistani troops today fired indiscriminately from across the Line of Control at forward posts in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, prompting retaliation by the Indian Army, a defence spokesman said.

The exchange of fire between the two sides in Noushera sector continued for nearly four hours but there was no immediate report of any casualty.

Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics and mortars from 0815 hours. Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively, the spokesman said.

He said the firing stopped from both sides at 1200 hours.

The latest ceasefire violation by Pakistan comes five days after Pakistani troops opened fire from across the border, leaving four Army personnel dead and another soldier injured in Keri sector of Rajouri on December 23.

Indian troops also killed three Pakistani troops and injured another in retaliatory action at Rukh Chakri sector in Rawlakot on December 25.

On December 24, Pakistani troops had targeted forward posts and villages in Shahpur sector of Poonch district.

Jammu and Kashmir witnessed a total of 881 ceasefire violations this year, highest in the past seven years, along the LoC and the International Border, resulting in the death of 34 people.

According to officials, Pakistan violated the ceasefire along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir 771 times till December 10, and 110 times along the IB till November-end.

In these incidents of firing from across the border, 30 people -- 14 Army personnel, 12 civilians and four BSF personnel -- were killed.

The truce between India and Pakistan along the International Border, the Line of Control and the Actual Ground Position Line in Jammu and Kashmir came into force in November 2003.

India shares a 3,323-km-long border with Pakistan of which 221 km of the IB and 740 km of the LoC fall in Jammu and Kashmir.

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Ruling BJP's alliance partner the Goa Forward Party (GFP) today said Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar might be having "some political compulsions" when he wrote a letter to the Karnataka BJP over the Mahadeyi river water sharing issue.

GFP president Vijai Sardesai said they are with Parrikar over hiscurrent stand on the issue.

"We are okay with Karnataka drawing water for drinking purposes which is in a small quantity. At the same time, we are also of the opinion that no more water than the required quantity for drinking purpose wouldbe allowed to be diverted from Mahadeyi," Sardesai told PTI.

He said the GFP's stand on the issue is that they don't want diversion of water from Mahadeyi basin.

"Our stand is clear even at the cost of giving away the ministerial berth," he said.

Parrikar had recently written to Karnataka BJP president B S Yeddyurappa agreeing for bilateral talks on providing only drinking water from Mahadeyi basin to the neighbouring state.

Parrikar's letter to Yeddyurappa had evoked strong comments from Karnataka Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah, as it was sent to the state BJP president and not to the government.

Parrikar's letter was viewed by some quarters as a "political gambit" ahead of the next year's assembly elections in Karnataka.

Responding to a query on Parrikar's letter, Sardesai said the chief minister might have had some political compulsions while writing.

"National parties do have their compulsions as they have their leadership in Delhi. That is why the Goa Forward Party espouses the cause of regional politics," Sardesai said.

Meanwhile, GFP legislator and State Water Resources Minister Vinod Palyekar said that Karnataka would not be allowed to divert the Mahadeyi river water, as any diversion will affect the life of people in the coastal state.

"Our stand on the Mahadeyi issue is very clear. We are not going to share our water with any state as it would affect our requirement for future. Mahadeyi is our mother as well as the lifeline of Goa," the minister said.

Palyekar said he was prepared to even "sacrifice" his ministerial position to save the water of Mahadeyi from being diverted.

"Goa Forward Party is wedded to the cause of Goa and Goans. We cannot allow the compromise on this issue at any cost," Palyekar said.

Parrikar yesterday dismissed the reports that he would hold a meeting with his Karnataka counterpart on January 5 over the Mahadeyi water dispute.

Following a meeting with Karnataka BJP leaders recently, Parrikar had softened his stand on Mahadeyi water dispute stating that Goa was ready to give "reasonable and justified" amount of the river water to the neighbouring state for its drinking needs.

Yeddyurappa and other leaders had met Parrikar in the presence of party chief Amit Shah in Delhi over the river water sharing issue on December 20.

In a letter written to Yeddyurappa, Parrikar had said that Goa will not oppose giving water to Karnataka for its drinking needs.

However, his statement was condemned by several political parties, including congress and Shiv Sena besides social activists.

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Customs officials detained a passenger at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport (NSCBIA) today for allegedly trying to smuggle gold by carrying the yellow metal in his stomach.

The passenger, a resident of Delhi, arrived at Kolkata from Bangkok by a morning flight, customs officials said.

Scanners detected the metal in his stomach while he was passing through the green channel and he was detained for interrogation, an official said.

The passenger, during interrogation, said that he had swallowed a gold chain before boarding the flight to Kolkata, the official said.

The passenger was given laxatives for smooth egress of the gold chain, the official added.

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Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has directed the director of the Tourism and Cultural Affairs Department to submit a proposal for the development of a memorial in Bassi Pathana's Sub jail where Guru Teg Bahadur was imprisoned.

Guru Teg Bahadur was the ninth Sikh guru and was believed to have been confined in Sub jail for three months on the orders of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.

A demand for the same had been raised by the 'head granthi' and the manager of the historic Gurdwara Sri Fatehgarh Sahib from where the chief minister had returned here yesterday.

Singh, who convened a high-level meeting at his official residence within hours of his return, also accepted other demands raised by Head Granthi Bhai Harpal Singh and manager Jasbir Singh in a memorandum, an official release said today.

These included strengthening and widening of roads within 10-km radius of the gurdwara, as well as beautification of the road from Baba Moti Ram Mehra Gate (near Talanian) to Baba Banda Singh Bahadur Gate, passing through Gurdwara Sri Fatehgarh Sahib and Gurdwara Jyoti Sarup.

The chief minister also directed the PWD secretary to work out detailed proposals and estimates to implement these projects at the earliest.

Singh had visited the gurdwara to pay his respects to the tenth Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh, his sons, Sahibzadas Baba Zorawar Singh and Baba Fateh Singh, and his mother Mata Gujri.

He directed officials to undertake the beautification and development of the area for the large number of devotees visiting the gurdwara every day.

The chief minister also gave approval for the construction of 10 bathrooms in the area adjoining Fatehgarh Sahib for devotees who converge there during 'Shaheedi Jor Mela'.

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Police today said tight vigil would be maintained and drones used to monitor crowded places to avoid any untoward incidents during new year celebrations following incidents of several women being molested last year.

"Wishing somebody a happy new year without their wish will be treated as an offence. Drunken driving will be dealt with an iron hand," Bengaluru police commissioner T Suneel Kumar told reporters here.

He said 15,000 personnel from constable level to commissioner would be on duty on December 31 night.

"There will be 500 CCTV cameras installed at various places of which 250 will be deployed on MG Road, Brigade Road, Church Street and surrounding places," Kumar said.

Drones will also be deployed at crowded places.

Kumar said pubs and hotels, which otherwise are allowed to remain open only till one am, will be permitted to function till two am on New Year.

Last year on new year's eve, several women were molested by miscreants on M G Road and Brigade Road, sparking national outrage and call for stern steps to prevent recurrence of such incidents.

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A Delhi court today extended the CBI custody of four people arrested in a case of alleged corruption in the Rs 2,150 crore re-development project of ITPO Complex at Pragati Maidan here, in which NBCC chairman- cum-managing director Anoop Mittal has been made an accused.

Duty Magistrate Sumit Anand extended the CBI custody of Sanjay Kulkarni, managing director of Capacite Structures, and Ghaziabad-based middleman Rishabh Agrawal by three days.

The court also extended the CBI custody of public servant Pradeep Mishra and Akashdeep Chouhan, who allegedly delivered the bribe, by two more days after all the four were produced before it on expiry of their earlier custody.

In its application, the CBI sought the custody of all the four accused by five more days, saying their custodial interrogation was required and they were to be confronted with each other.

Advocate Vijay Aggarwal, appearing for Kulkarni, opposed the remand application saying that the offence was punishable only up to seven-year imprisonment and hence, the arrest itself was illegal.

The agency booked Mittal, Kulkarni, Agrawal, Mishra and Chouhan in the case on December 22.

It alleged in the FIR that the contract to redevelop the prime land at Pragati Maidan was awarded to Shapoorji Pallonji and Company Pvt. Ltd. and Shapoorji Pallonji Qatar WLL for Rs 2,149.93 crore by NBCC, and Mumbai-based Capacite Structures was trying to get that work from Shapoorji Pallonji on sub-contract.

Kulkarni had approached Agrawal, the middleman, having good contacts with public servants for getting the sub- contract in favour of the company, it alleged.

The FIR alleged Agrawal approached Pradeep Kumar Mishra, a public servant in an intelligence agency who was on deputation and was also close to certain senior functionaries of NBCC Ltd.

Under the influence of Mishra, Mittal "strongly directed" the executive director of NBCC to settle the matter in favour of Capacite Structures, it alleged.

The CBI said in furtherance of the conspiracy, a meeting was held on December 15, 2017, between Kulkarni, representative of Shapoorji Pallonji, including Sanjay Kharkhanis, and senior officials of NBCC.

After the meeting, Mittal assured Kulkarni and Mishra about getting work from Shapoorji Pallonji and that if Capacite Structure does not get the work, he would "ensure that it would not be given to any one else", the FIR alleged.

The agency arrested Mishra, while he was allegedly receiving the promised bike as illegal gratification from Akashdeep Chouhan, staff of Kulkarni, the sources said.

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A pregnant elephant has been found dead in a palm oil plantation on Indonesia's Sumatra island, in what authorities suspect was a deliberate poisoning, an official said today.

The animal's body was found near the remote Seuneubok Bayu village in Aceh on December 22, after authorities received a tip off from locals, Aceh conservation centre head Sapto Aji Prabowo told AFP.

"The 25-year-old elephant had been dead for around 10 days when we got there," he said.

"From the autopsy, we saw that its digestive organs turned black which the doctor said was a general indication of poisoning."



The Sumatran elephant was carrying 13-month old male foetus and was at least six months short of giving birth.

Locals have told authorities that several days before the carcass was discovered farmers had complained an elephant ate their fertiliser.

Sumatran elephant are critically endangered and a protected species, but rampant deforestation for plantations has reduced their natural habitat and brought them into conflict with humans.

At least 11 wild elephants died in Aceh this year, most of them killed by humans, according to Prabowo.

In January, authorities found a dead elephant without tusks in Aceh, along with its abandoned 11-month-old calf.

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Shares of Prestige Estates Projects surged 7 per cent today after the realty firm said it has purchased 66.66 per cent stake in its group company from Red Fort India and land owners for Rs 324 crore.

The stock went up by 7.05 per cent to settle at Rs 321.80 on BSE. Intra-day, it soared 8.38 per cent to Rs 325.80.

On NSE, shares of the company climbed 6.55 per cent to close at Rs 320.40.

The company already has 33.34 per cent stake in Prestige Projects Pvt Ltd (PPPL), which has 180 acre of land in Bengaluru.

Prestige group, through its wholly owned special purpose vehicle (SPV), is acquiring 66.66 per cent stake from private equity partner Red Fort India Real Estate and land owners in its group company Prestige Projects Pvt Ltd (PPPL), the company said in a statement yesterday.

PPPL has a land parcel measuring over 180 acres, which is located near Sarjapur Road, Bengaluru.

Prestige Group intends to develop an affordable and mid- income housing project comprising apartments, villas and plots on this land.

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Rabobank sponsored private equity (PE) fund has picked up stake in Olive Bar & Kitchen Private Ltd for an undisclosed amount.

India Agri Business Fund II became significant investor in Olive by buying stake from Aditya Birla Private Equity along with a few other selling shareholders.

The investment is entirely secondary as the Olive groups growth plans are funded by its strong accruals, the fund house said in a statement.

The deal offers an opportunity for Rabo Fund to acquire stake in food services company Olive Bar & Kitchen Private with 33 outlets and revenues around Rs 200 crore.

"The company is known to be backed by a robust back end infrastructure, good internal controls and rigorous Corporate Governance practices...We see Olive as a great opportunity for scaling up our exposure in food services," Rabo Equity Advisors Chairman Rajesh Srivastava said.

This happens to be the first investment in the food services sector by a Rabo Fund in 8 years.

Rabobank which operates on cooperative principles is based out of the Netherlands.

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Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group today said it has opened its upscale international brand Radisson Mumbai in the city here.

"This hotel (Mumbai) marks an important addition to the Radisson brand family. The Balwa Group are astute hoteliers and we are looking forward to expanding our relationship with the group," Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group chief executive officer, South Asia, Raj Rana said in a release issued here.

With 98 rooms Radisson Mumbai Goregaon is the first hotel under Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group to open in the financial capital of the country.

"Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group's proven experience and marketing expertise in India will benefit the hotel," Balwa Group managing director Hussein Balwa said.

Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group operates 1,440 hotels and has more than 230,000 rooms under development in 115 countries. The hospitality group brands including Quorvus Collection, Radisson Blu, Radisson, Radisson RED, Park Plaza, Park Inn by Radisson and Country Inns and Suites By Carlson.

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The agitating in-service government doctors of Rajasthan tonight called off their strike after a meeting with the state health minister.

The strike, which had badly affected medical services in the state since December 16, was called off after the BJP government assured the doctors to look into their demands and withdraw action against them.

A meeting was held between a delegation of doctors led by Ajay Chaudhary, president of All-Rajasthan In-service Doctors Association (ARISDA), and state Health Minister Kali Charan Saraf, Transport Minister Yunus Khan, BJP state president Ashok Parnami and other officers here.

"We are happy that the government accepted our demands and got ready to withdraw vindictive action against the doctors, therefore, we are calling off the strike," Chaudhary told reporters after the meeting which lasted for nearly eight hours.

Parnami said the government has accepted the demands of doctors and resident doctors, and the deadlock has ended.

The period of the strike will be considered as leaves, cases against doctors under the Rajasthan Essential Services Maintenance Act (RESMA) will be withdrawn, administrative action taken against the doctors in the wake of the strike, would also be withdrawn, he said.

The doctors went on strike on December 16 while accusing the government of not fulfilling the promises made to them last month and against vindictive action against them.

The doctors had proposed to go on mass leave on December 18, but police started taking the doctors into custody on December 15 under RESMA, which prompted the doctors to go on strike from December 16.

The Rajasthan High Court had on Monday directed the state government to take action against the doctors if they did not resume duty, following which the government gave a 24-hours ultimatum to resume duty.

As the deadline ended last night, the doctors came forward for the meeting today.

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Repatriation process of around 1,500 people who had taken shelter in southern Mizoram's Lawngtlai district to Myanmar was most likely to commence from today, an official statement of the Assam Rifles said.

The statement said that "Assam Rifles has contacted all the stakeholders in repatriation including Myanmar Army, local Indian villagers, refugees as well as district administration so as to commence repatriation of refugees at the earliest".

The Myanmarese nationals, mainly Zakhai and Khumi, began to cross the Mizoram-Myanmar border on November 25 and took shelter in four villages - Zochachhuah, Hmawngbuchhuah, Laitlang and Dumzautlang - and the number of refugees crossed 1,600 at one time.

The refugees were mainly from the border villages of Varang, Paletwa, Pakangwa and Mulaw in Myanmar's Chin State and came to Mizoram after the Myanmar Army launched offensive against the Arakan rebels.

The Assam Rifles troops were keeping a close watch on the border areas to contain any ingress of Myanmarese insurgents in hope of a safe haven inside the Indian soil, the statement said.

Lawngtlai district administration, local populace and the Assam Rifles personnel had been engaging in giving humanitarian assistance to the displaced people including food, water, other essential goods, solar lamps, other basic amenities and healthcare.

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A rights body today wrote to Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, urging him to drop some provisions from government's guidelines for Haj pilgrims that bar differently-abled people from undertaking the annual pilgrimage.

The guidelines under the 'eligibility for Haj' mentions that any Indian citizen who is a Muslim can apply for the pilgrimage except those "who do not have the mental or physical health to perform the pilgrimage, persons whose legs are amputated, who are crippled, handicapped, lunatic or otherwise physically/mentally incapacitated".

The National Platform for Rights of Disabled (NPRD), which claims to represent a large number of physically- challenged people, today said some provisions "blatantly discriminate" against persons with disabilities and were in violation of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.

Those affected with polio, tuberculosis, congestive cardiac and respiratory ailment, acute coronary insufficiency, coronary thrombosis, mental disorder, infectious leprosy, AIDS or any other communicable disease or disability also cannnot take undertake Haj, an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca -- the most holy city for Muslims.

"These provisions virtually bar any disabled person from undertaking the Haj are in violation of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, which has equality and non- discrimination as its guiding principle," NPRD General Secretary Muralidharan said in the letter.

This "discriminatory attitude" is all the more surprising since Saudi Arabia does not ban the disabled people from undertaking the Haj, he said.

"On the contrary, the Ministry of Haj has put out an advisory on its site giving information on the facilities available for disabled pilgrims.

"We would request that the above provisions in the guidelines that blatantly discriminate against persons with disabilities be dropped," the letter read.

Under the Act which was passed in December 2016, the types of disabilities have been increased from the seven to 21.

The newly-added types include mental illness, autism, spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, chronic neurological conditions, specific learning disabilities, multiple sclerosis, speech and language disability.

Disorders such as thalassemia, hemophilia, sickle cell disease, multiple disabilities including deaf blindness, acid attack and Parkinsons disease have also been included.

Also, disability has been defined based on an evolving and dynamic concept and government will have the power to add more types of disabilities to the list.

Acording to the Act, assaulting, insulting, intimidating, denying food to a person with disability or sexually exploiting a differently-abled woman and performing a medical procedure on them without their consent which may lead to termination of pregnancy will draw a jail term of up to five years.

Any person who contravenes any provision of the Act will be punished with a maximum fine of Rs five lakh.

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Senior RJD leader Shivanand Tiwary today accused Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of giving up his commitment to secularism in order to cosy up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with whom he had shared cold vibes in the past.

The charge was, however, strongly rebutted by the ruling Janata Dal (United) in the state which accused Tiwary of "siding with protectors" of those guilty in Bhagalpur riots which had claimed hundreds of lives in the 1980s.

"Nitish Kumar used to pause,while giving a speech, whenever he heard a muezzin's call for azaan. He used to do so even when he ran his government in alliance with the BJP in the past.I was in his party then and all party workers used to follow his example in public meetings", Tiwary said.

"But yesterday we saw a fundamental change in Kumar. He was delivering a speech after inaugurating a flyover in the state capital. He did not pause even upon hearing a muezzin's call for azaan from a mosque nearby", Tiwary, RJD vice president, alleged in a ststement.

"The only reason that explains this change is his necessity to ingratiate himself to Modi who has given enough signals that he has not forgotten the insults he had received from Nitish while he was the Gujarat Chief Minister", Tiwary, who was expelled from the JD(U) before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls for anti-party activities, said.

"Nitish had urged Modi, with folded hands, to grant central status to Patna University earlier this year. Modi snubbed him in full public view. It showed that Modi has not forgiven him for the cancelled dinner", Tiwari said to drive home the point.

He was referring to an incident of 2010 when Kumar had cancelled a dinner he was to host for BJP leaders who were in the Bihar capital for a party meeting.

Kumar had taken exception to an ad in newspapers showing him and Modi holding hands at a rally and making a mention of Rs five crore assistance by the Gujarat government for Kosi flood victims.

However, rubbishing Tiwary's charges, JD(U) spokesman and MLC Neeraj Kumar told PTI "it was Kumar who, as Chief Minister, brought to justice those accused in the Bhagalpur riots. The accused were shielded by the previous RJD government in the state and by joining them, Tiwary is siding with protectors of the perpetrators".

"Kumar's secular credentials have been impeccable. He took up issues like fencing of graveyards and establishing an extension campus of Aligarh Muslim University in Kishanganj while in alliance with BJP", the JD(U) spokesman pointed out.

"In fact, Tiwary seems to be trying to win over Prasad through such baseless allegations. The RJD supremo is unlikely to repose complete trust in Tiwary who was one of the petitioners on whose PIL Patna High Court handed over fodder scam to the CBI", Neeraj Kumar added.

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Pakistan's former military dictator Pervez Musharraf for the first time has acknowledged that some rogue elements in the establishment could have been involved in the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto, a media report said today.

Musharraf's comments came as Pakistan observed Bhutto's 10th death anniversary today.

Asked whether rogue elements within the establishment could have been in touch with the Taliban about the killing, Musharraf, 74, replied, "Possibility. Yes indeed. Because the society is polarised on religious lines."



Bhutto, who served twice as the prime minister of Pakistan was killed on December 27, 2007 in a suicide attack in Rawalpindi as she was coming out of a park after addressing an election rally.

Musharraf, who was president at that time, had accused former Taliban leader Baituallah Mehsud for orchestrating the murder.

In an interview to BBC, Musharraf said his assessment about Bhutto's murder was a hunch rather than solid proof.

"I don't have any facts available. But my assessment is very accurate I think...A lady who is known to be inclined towards the West is seen suspiciously by those elements."



Bhutto was the first woman Prime Minister of the conservative Muslim majority nation.

Musharraf has been charged with murder, criminal conspiracy and facilitation for murder in relation to the Bhutto case.

In the interview, Musharraf denied any role in the killing.

"Honestly I laugh at it. Why would I kill her?"



Musharrafs denials came as Bhutto's son and her political heir Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in a separate interview with BBC accused the former president of killing his mother.

"The fact is that Musharraf is the killer of my mother," Bilawal said and accused Musharraf of taking advantage of the turbulent political situation in the country to eliminate her.

Bilawal's accusation resonated with an article by renowned journalists Hamid Mir who in a write-up published by Geo listed details of a meeting with Bhutto a couple of days before her murder.

"Let me tell you today, very clearly, that they have already decided to kill me and they will kill me soon. After they do, they will blame the Taliban or the al Qaeda. But you must name Musharraf as my assassin," Mir quoted Bhutto as telling him.

Mir further wrote that he was "stunned" and asked why would 'they' want to kill her.

She said Musharraf did not want her to return before the elections.

"I did not listen to him. So he threatened me on the phone and said your security is based on the state of our relationship with me. Two foreign governments have advised me not to return to Pakistan as I could be killed," Mir quoted Bhutto as saying.

Journalists Mark Seigel and Ron Suskind had claimed that months before her assassination, Bhutto received a phone call from Musharraf who told her not to return to Pakistan.

Siegel later through a video link also testified before a court in Bhutto murder case that Musharraf made the threatening call to her.

A UN Commission also probed the murder on request of the Pakistan government and concluded that the murder could be avoided if proper security measures had been taken.

An anti-terrorism court in August issued verdict in the Bhutto murder case and set free five accused militants who had been in custody since she was killed.

However, the court awarded long term jail sentences to senior police officers for showing negligence.

The high court later suspended the sentence of the two and set them free on bail.

The court in its verdict also declared Musharraf an absconder.

Musharraf is facing treason charges in Pakistan for imposing emergency rule in November 2007, arresting judges and limiting their powers.

He could face the death penalty if convicted.

Musharraf, who came to power in a bloodless coup in 1999, has been living in Dubai since last year when he was allowed to leave Pakistan on the pretext of medical treatment.

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South Korea said today a 2015 deal intended to end a festering dispute with Japan over Tokyo's wartime sex slavery was faulty, reopening a historical wound as the two countries try to rein in North Korea.

Seoul and Tokyo signed the agreement to settle the hugely emotional and decades-long issue with a Japanese apology and payment of money to survivors.

Following an election pledge, the new government of President Moon Jae-In ordered a review of the unpopular deal which was struck by his now-jailed predecessor Park Geun-Hye.

Today a task force published a report saying the deal was rushed and did not adequately seek out the opinions of the women forced to work as sex slaves, often known by the euphemism "comfort women".

"The agreement was finalised ... without adequately taking into account the opinions of victims in the process of negotiation," the report said.

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha apologised for the deal, saying it "hurt" the victims and had "failed to reflect the victims' views".

Observers say any move by Seoul to abandon the deal could damage relations with Tokyo as the two countries face off against a nuclear-armed North Korea.

Kang said Seoul would "take into account any impact on South Korea-Japan ties as it carefully establishes its position" following the report's release.

But she stopped short of saying whether Seoul might consider calling for renegotiation or walking away from the deal.

Tokyo urged Seoul to stick with the 2015 agreement.

"Japan's position remains unchanged, that we ask the South Korean government to abide by the deal," a Japanese foreign ministry official told AFP.

Mainstream historians say up to 200,000 women, mostly from Korea but also other parts of Asia including China, were forced to work in Japanese military brothels during World War II.

The agreement was meant to put an end to the hugely emotional issue with a Japanese apology and payment.

But survivors and their supporters call for a direct and explicit apology from the Japanese government for the wartime abuses. Japan annexed the Korean peninsula from 1910-45.

The Japanese government denies it is directly responsible for the abuses, insisting that "comfort women" were recruited by civilians and that the military brothels were commercially operated.

Despite the agreement, ties between the two neighbours remain tense over statues which South Korean activists positioned outside Japanese diplomatic missions in memory of the victims.

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DMK today urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sack Union Minister Ananth Kumar Hegde for his comment allegedly against secularism which was a violation of his oath under the Constitution.

"Union Minister #AnanthKumarHegde's hate speech against secularism is a blatant violation of the oath he had taken under the Constitution of India," DMK Working President M K Stalin tweeted.

He said, "Instead of distancing from his speech, Hon'ble Prime Minister should dismiss him from the Ministry. #HegdeInsultsAmbedkar."



On December 25, Hegde kicked up a controversy when he mocked at secularists with his remark that they are unaware of their parentage.

Opposition parties including the Congress took strong objection to the minister's remarks which also has references to amending the Constitution.

The parties said such a person should have no place in the council of ministers.

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Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today decided to contest the forthcoming Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections on the party symbol.

The party also decided to establish its offices in all districts of the state while its president Sukhbir Singh Badal would make visits across the state to interact with people and get their feedback.

Presiding over a meeting of party functionaries, former MLAs and others, Badal said besides contesting the Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections on the party symbol, the party would also contest the Ludhiana municipal corporation polls.

Badal also asked the new district presidents to establish party officeswithin one month.

"Our intention is to reach out to everyone and tell them about the utter failure of the Congress government, be it implementing the promised loan waiver for farmers or providing job opportunities to youth to increasing the ambit of social welfare schemes," the SAD president told party leaders, according to a party release.

Badal announced he would visit all constituencies and take feedback from the people.

"I will also interact with party workers during these visits and take direct feedback from them," he added.

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Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Lt Col Prasad Purohit and six others accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast will stand trial on stringent terror charges, a special NIA court on Wednesday ruled in the politically-sensitive case that had raised speculation of saffron militancy.

The ruling left the Investigation Agency (NIA), which had given a clean chit to Sadhvi Pragya, red-faced.

Rejecting the pleas of the accused for discharge from the case, a special NIA court, however, dropped some sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against as well as Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against the accused, which is punishable by up to life in prison.

Significantly, the court dismissed NIA's contention that there was no evidence against Sadhvi Pragya, saying it was difficult to accept the claim given that her motorcycle was used in the blast.

"There is evidence to suggest that the accused number one (Thakur) had knowledge about involvement of her motorcycle," the court said in its ruling on the nine-year-old case that had raised worries of Hindu militancy gaining a foothold as a reaction to Islamic extremism.

Sadhvi Pragya "had also expressed dissatisfaction about causing less casualties in the blast. Hence it is difficult to accept submissions on behalf of the NIA and the accused number one that she had no concern with the present crime," it said.

Special judge S D Tekale, who was hearing the pleas filed by seven of the 13 accused and the NIA's application seeking framing of charges, said that charges will be framed against Thakur, Purohit, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Major (retd) Ramesh Upadhyay, Sameer Kulkarni, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Ajay Rahirkar.

The accused will face trial now under sections 16 and 18 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (conspiring for and committing/organising a terror act) and under the Indian Penal Code for criminal conspiracy, murder, attempt to murder and causing hurt besides charges under the Explosive Substances Act and Arms Act.

The charges are punishable by various prison terms up to life, and death for murder.

The NIA, while filing a charge sheet in the case last year, gave a clean chit to Sadhvi Pragya and three others -- Shyam Sahu, Praveen Takalki, Shivnarayan Kalsangra -- saying it found no evidence against them and they should be discharged from the case.

On Wednesday, the court absolved only Sahu, Kalsangra and Takalki from all the charges leaving Thakur to face trial.

Two others, Jagdish Mhatre and Rakesh Dhawde, will face trial only under the Arms Act "before concerned courts", the NIA court said.

The NIA had claimed in its charge sheet that there was no evidence of Thakur ever being part of conspiracy meetings, and though the motorcycle used in the blast once belonged to her, she had sold it much before the blast and had no knowledge of the conspiracy.

The judge, however, also noted that statements of some witnesses supported the charge that Thakur and Purohit had participated in some of the conspiracy meetings in Faridabad and Bhopal.

Six persons were killed when an improvised explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off at Malegaon, a town with sizable Muslim population in north Maharashtra's Nashik district, on September 29, 2008, while 101 persons were injured.

The Anti-Terrorism Squad of the Maharashtra police, which probed the case initially, charged Thakur, Purohit, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Ramesh Upadhyay, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Jagdish Mhatre, Rakesh Dhawade, Ajay Rahirkar, Samir Kulkarni, Shyam Sahu, Shivnarayan Kalsangra, Pravin Mutalik and Ramchandra Kalsangra.

According to the ATS, it was Ramchandra Kalsangra who planted the bomb, and who is still absconding. Thakur gave her motorbike to Kalsangra to plant the bomb, the ATS said.

Thakur filed a discharge plea after the Bombay High Court granted her bail in April. The NIA didn't oppose her bail application. Purohit is also on bail.

The court also said the UAPA sections 17, 20 and 23 have been dropped against all accused. These sections relate to raising funds for a terrorist organisation, being part of a terrorist organisation and aiding someone who is part of a terrorist organisation.

This part of the ruling gives relief to saffron outfit Abhinav Bharat, which was accused by Mumbai ATS of providing arms training to right-wing activists. The ATS also says Purhoit was linked to Abhinav Bharat.
The first ever school Brass Band team from Assam would participate in the Republic day function in Delhi on January 26.

The Brass Band team of students was selected from Bengtal Don Bosco Higher Secondary School and it would participate in the R-Day function under command of Col Javinder Singh of 1st Assam Bn NCC, said an Assam Police press release here today.

The team had undergone 10 days training in Narangi Army camp here and will undergo further 20 days conditioning and other training in Delhi before final participation in the function there, the release said.

The band left for Delhi today with Guwahati Police Commissioner Hiren Nath giving the participants a warm send off on behalf of Assam Police at Guwahati Railway station in the presence of their school Principal Father Siby John Hira.

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An indefinite strike by fireworks factories in and around this town, seeking amendment to the Environment Protection Act to exempt their produce from its purview, entered the second day on Wednesday.

Over 860 factories in the country's fireworks manufacturing hub, went on a strike yesterday, demanding an amendment to the act to exempt their produce from its ambit.

They also sought an expeditious hearing by the Supreme Court of a petition seeking a series of steps to curb air pollution, including a ban on sale, possession and bursting of firecrackers across the country.

The manufacturers said dealers were not paying advances for ordering fireworks in view of the pendency of the petition and this affected the working capital required by the industry.

Industry sources said the indefinite closure would affect the livelihood of eight lakh workers employed directly and indirectly in the units in and around this town which met 85 per cent of the country's fireworks requirement.

The All India Federation of Fireworks Associations functionaries said for several decades the traders from north India used to pay an advance which would work out to more than 75 per cent of the working capital required by the units.

The traders/dealers were not paying an advance as they feared that the court could ban fireworks across the country.

Besides seeking a ban on firecrackers across the country, the petition has sought directions for environment-friendly, cleaner fuels and implementation of regulations on dust from construction activities.

The apex court had on October 9 said that no firecrackers would be sold in the Delhi-NCR during Diwali this year while banning its sale till November 1.
Telangana IT and Industries Minister K T Rama Rao has been invited to attend the World Economic Forum (WTF) annual meeting to be held at Davos in Switzerland next month.

The state government, in a release issued here, claimed that the invitation is in recognition of the active role that the minister played for keeping Telangana in the first rank on ease of doing business.

Expressing pleasure over the invitation, the minister said he will try to showcase some of the investor-friendly policy initiatives of the TRS government and attract investments at the summit.

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Exports of tea during the first 10 months of 2017 showed a marginal rise of 6.7 per cent over the corresponding period a year ago, according to data released by the Tea Board.

During January to October, total exports of Indian tea touched 189.68 million kg as against 178 million kg during the same period in 2016.

Exports in value terms also rose to Rs 3,724.34 crore compared to Rs 3,553.19 crore, the data showed.

However, unit price per kg fell to Rs 196.35 in 2017 from Rs 199.62 in 2016.

In terms of country-wise exports, the Russian Federation as a member of the CIS nations was the largest importer of Indian tea at 37.46 million kg, followed by Kazakhstan and Ukraine.

The other major importers were Iran at 20.98 million kg, UAE at 14.08 million kg, the USA at 11.30 million kg and the UK at 11.20 million kg, the Tea Board said.

Pakistan was also a major importer of Indian tea.

During the reporting period, the country imported an amount of 10.39 million kg as against 9.97 million kg a year ago, the data showed.

The commerce ministry has been exhorting the tea industry to make sustained efforts to raise the quantum of exports to 220 to 240 million kg per annum.

A major dampener during 2017 was the months-long strike in the Darjeeling hills, which affected the premium second flush crop that is entirely exported.

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Congress President Rahul Gandhi today took a swipe at the government's statement in Rajya Sabha that Narendra Modi has never questioned Manmohan Singh's integrity, saying thanks for reminding India that the prime minister "never means what he says or says what he means".

Gandhi's dig came hours after the Leader of the House Arun Jaitley made a short statement in Rajya Sabha to end the impasse over Modi's remarks against his predecessor made during the Gujarat polls campaign.

"Dear Mr Jaitlie (sic) -- thank you for reminding India that our PM never means what he says or says what he means," Gandhi tweeted, using a hashtag "BJPLies".

The Congress president also attached with his tweet a video of the prime minister's speech at a poll rally in which he made the "conspiracy with Pakistan" remarks against Singh, along with Jaitley's statement made in the House.

In Rajya Sabha, Finance Minister Jaitley said Modi in his statements and speeches, "did not question nor did he mean to question the commitment to this nation either by Dr Manmohan Singh, the former Prime Minister, or Hamid Ansari, the former vice president."



"Any such perception is completely erroneous. We hold these leaders in high esteem, as also their commitment to this nation," Jaitley said.

Today's statement came after the opposition and the ruling party leaders worked out a way to resolve the impasse in Parliament, after a series of meetings.

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Uganda's army has claimed that its operations in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo killed over 100 members of a Ugandan Muslim rebel group accused of murdering UN peacekeepers.

"Over 100 terrorists were killed with several others wounded and their logistic stores destroyed," said general Richard Karemire, the defence ministry spokesman, in a statement yesterday.

The ministry said Ugandan forces (UPDF) had launched air and artillery strikes in a joint operation with DR Congo's army (FARDC) on December 22 against the Allied Democratic Forces, a group that the UN says killed 14 of its troops from Tanzania earlier this month.

"It has been established that eight enemy camps were successfully attacked. These were ADF historical strongholds in eastern DRC," Karemire said.

"Those who survived the assault are roaming in different areas of North Kivu (province) but FARDC forces are pursuing them," he added.

Karemire also stressed that no Ugandan infantry troops were deployed in DR Congo nor suffered any casualties in the operation.

The intervention came after intelligence reports that the ADF rebels were planning "hostile activities" against Uganda, the army said.

The ADF, whose basic motives and ideology remain unclear, has been accused of attacking the Tanzanian peacekeepers' Semuliki base in Nord Kivu -- the deadliest attack on UN forces in 24 years.

Both Uganda and DR Congo insist on a jihadist motive to ADF's actions, however many observers and experts say there has been no proven link with the global jihadist underground, and that this is a "simplistic" explanation for their acts.

The ADF started out in 1989 with the aim of overthrowing Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni, who was seen as hostile to Muslims. But it went on to absorb other rebel factions into its ranks and started carrying out attacks in 1995.

Forced westwards by the Ugandan army, the group relocated most of its activities to DR Congo, finding a lucrative niche in the country's lawless, resource-rich east.

It has also been accused by Kinshasa and the UN peacekeeping mission MONUSCO of killing more than 700 people in the Beni region since October 2014.

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Ukraine and Russian- backed rebels today began to exchange more than 300 prisoners in the war-torn east of the country, the largest such swap since the insurgency broke out in 2014.

The swap between the Kiev army and rebels from the self- proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics took place at a checkpoint close to the town of Gorlivka, 40 kilometres (25 miles) northeast of the rebels' stronghold of Donetsk, an AFP reporter said.

In the first exchange since September 2016, the Russian- backed eastern militia was handing over to Kiev some 70 prisoners, officials from both sides said.

The Ukrainian side for its part was releasing some 300 rebels and their supporters.

An AFP reporter at the scene saw a first group of around 15 people driven by bus to Ukraine-controlled territory.

The swap on the eve of the New Year and Orthodox Christmas holidays was agreed following negotiations involving Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's leader Petro Poroshenko.

"President Poroshenko personally coordinated all the work of all our relevant departments," lawmaker Iryna Gerashchenko, one of Ukraine's peace negotiators, said before the exchange.

The prisoner exchange is in line with the so-called Minsk agreements brokered by Germany and France in 2015.

The last prisoner swap between Ukraine and Russian-backed rebels took place in September 2016 when two pro-Kiev detainees were exchanged for four separatist fighters at a checkpoint outside the rebel-held city of Lugansk.

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill helped mediate the talks on today's prisoner exchange.

"I hope that the process that has begun will continue and will guarantee the establishment of a just and long-lasting peace," he said on Monday.

The head of the separatist self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko, thanked the patriarch for his involvement.

"People who have spent more than three years in captivity will be able to return home thanks to the church and the authorities," he said.

The war in the east of the former Soviet republic broke out in April 2014, after Russia annexed Crimea the previous month.

The conflict has already claimed more than 10,000 lives.

A series of truce deals has helped lower the level of violence but not fully end the bloodshed.

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The BJP has removed its Ghaziabad city unit president Ajay Sharma from the post for disrupting the marriage of a Hindu woman with a Muslim man in the Rajnagar area here claiming that it was a case of "love jihad".

Sharma has been removed from the post and Ghaziabad city unit general secretary Man Singh Goswami has been appointed as the officiating city president, according to a letter by BJP Uttar Pradesh State General Secretary Vidyasagar Sonkar.

"I have received the letter from the state head office and will obey the instructions," Sharma said.

A large group of BJP workers led by Sharma, and some people belonging to right-wing groups protested outside the marriage venue on December 22.

The marriage between the man and the woman, who were friends and worked in a multinational company, was later solemnized in a court.

Police said they used mild force to disperse the protesters.
A woman in the US was left stunned after being informed that she had racked up a whopping USD 367 billion electricity bill over the holiday period.

Mary Horomanski from Erie, Pennsylvania, said the bill showed that she had to pay the entire amount by November 2018, CBS reported.

"My eyes just about popped out of my head," she told the Erie Times- . "We had put up Christmas lights and I wondered if we had put them up wrong."



The electricity provider later said the actual amount was USD 284.46.

A company's spokesman said it did not know how the error had occurred.

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Vietnam jailed 15 people today for a foiled terrorism plot to detonate petrol bombs at the country's busiest airport ahead of a national holiday, state media reported.

Terrorism attacks are rare in Vietnam, though the conservative communist government routinely jails dissident bloggers and human rights lawyers who are critical of the state.

A court in Ho Chi Minh City sentenced 15 people to between five and 16 years in jail after they were convicted of planting petrol bombs at Tan Son Nhat international airport in the commercial southern hub, state-controlled Thanh Nien newspaper reported.

The defendants were accused of having online links to foreign groups who financed the foiled operation in April ahead of Liberation Day celebrations at the end of the month, the newspaper reported, without giving further details.

"Via social networks, the defendants cooperated with an overseas reactionary organisation... which financed the purchase of weapons and petrol bombs for terrorism," read the verdict at the two-day trial, according to the newspaper.

State media and officials did not provide a reported motive for the plan, which did not cause any injuries or damage.

Terrorism convictions are punishable by death in Vietnam, a one-party state where independent media is banned and freedom of expression is tightly controlled.

The government yesterday unveiled a 10,000-strong brigade to fight cybercrimes and "wrongful views" on the internet, state media reported.

"As many forces and countries are talking about a real war in cyberspace, (Vietnam) should also stay ready to fight against wrongful views every second, minute and hour," said Colonel General Nguyen Trong Nghia, deputy head of the army's political department, quoted by state-controlled Tuoi Tre newspaper.

The unit, dubbed Force 47, is also tasked with fighting anti-state propaganda on the web.

More than half of Vietnam's population of 93 million have access to the internet, and many dissidents use social media to criticise the government.

This year has been particularly harsh for activists in Vietnam, with at least 15 arrested and several others handed heavy jail terms.

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Vietnam says it will put on trial nearly two dozen former senior oil executives as communist authorities widen their crackdown on corruption.

Among those facing charges are Dinh La Thang, a former member of the all-powerful Communist Party Politburo and a former head of state energy giant PetroVietnam, and Trinh Xuan Thanh, a former chairman of the board of a subsidiary of PetroVietnam.

Germany accuses Vietnamese intelligence services of kidnapping Thanh near a park in Berlin and bringing him back home. He could face the death penalty if convicted of embezzlement.

Thang faces up to 20 years in prison if found guilty. The official Vietnam Agency says the two men will go on trial along with 20 others on January 8.

The trials are expected to last three weeks.

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A 32-year-old man, accused of raping a girl while holding her captive in Delhi's Buddh Vihar for days, has been arrested from Madhya Pradesh, police said today.

The accused had changed his look and grown a beard to throw the police off-track and had been hiding at his native village in Chhatarpur district of MP since November, officials said.

On November 3, the parents of the 14-year-old girl approached the police alleging their daughter had gone missing from northwest Delhi's Netaji Subhash Place.

During probe, police found that a watchman from the girl's neighbourhood had also gone missing from the same date, leading them to suspect his involvement in the case, an official said.

Subsequently the girl was found from Pitampura in Delhi on November 11, while the accused had fled the city, the police official said.

He said the girl had told police that she was offered some spiked food and then kidnapped. She was held captive at a house in Budhha Vihar for a week where she was repeatedly raped by the accused watchman, the official added.

When he learnt that the police were looking for him, he abandoned the girl in Pitampura and fled the city. The girl was counselled and a case was registered.

The accused, whose wife and child were staying in the girl's neighbourhood, also left the city.

The accused man's phone was also switched off. However, during the probe, police found that the accused was hiding somewhere in Madhya Pradesh.

A team was sent there and the accused was nabbed yesterday from his native village in the Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh, the police officer said.

The watchman had undergone a makeover to conceal his identity but was arrested, he added.

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Actor Diane Kruger says the fact that powerful men have lost their jobs in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein sex scandal in Hollywood is a sign of positive change.

The actor said unlike the past these men are no longer being given a chance to come back.

"We're seeing the change as it's happening. All these men are gone. I'm actually amazed how many companies have severed ties with those men immediately.

"They don't get just a slap on the back and then come back. Actually, you know, it's happening," she said at The Hollywood Reporter's Live Roundtable.

Kruger, who won the best actress award at Cannes this year for her film "In the Fade", said she did not go into it looking at it like a revenge film.

"To me this is a movie about grief and a woman's journey of how to find a way to keep going, or not keep going," she said.

Directed by Fatih Akin, the film revolves around a German woman who resolves to avenge the killing of her Kurdish-origin husband and her 5-year-old son by a neo-Nazi couple.

It was selected as the German entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards. The movie has made it to the shortlist of 10 films.

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Maratha organisations in the state have given an ultimatum to the Maharashtra government that it should address their demands -- chief among them reservations for the community -- by February 10.

Maratha organisations had held massive 'silent marches' at 58 places across the state earlier, demanding reservations in jobs and education among other things.

They plan to revive the agitation after February 19, the birth anniversary of warrior king Shivaji, said a community leader today.

Sanjiv Bhor, state coordinator of the Maratha Kranti Morcha, the umbrella organisation of agitators, told PTI that leaders of Maratha organisations held a meeting in Panvel earlier this week and decided to seek views from the community about the future course of action.

"The community is upset that despite assurances from the Government after the August 9 march in Mumbai this year, 75 per cent of promises remain unfulfilled," he said.

"We want the government to address our demands by February 10, before the Shiv Jayanti (birth anniversary of Shivaji) which falls on February 19," Bhor said.

"We are meeting in Jalgaon on February 11 to chalk out the future direction of our movement," he said.

Following the rally in Mumbai, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had announced in the Legislative Assembly that the government would extend educational concessions given to the Other Backward Class (OBC) to Maratha students too.

A cabinet sub-committee would review the implementation of various schemes meant for the Maratha community, Fadnavis had said.

As to the demand of reservations, the government had stated during the recently held session of the state legislature that the matter was pending before the high court.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 45-year-old woman doctor was found dead in her flat in the western suburb of Amboli, police said today.

A case of accidental death has been registered in this connection, police said.

Dr Poonam Satpute, a gynaecologist, was found dead in the second floor flat at Karamveer Apartment in RTO Lane in Amboli area last night, senior inspector of Amboli police station, Bhaskar Gaikwad, said.

"Dr Satpute stayed alone in the flat and the incident came to light last night when her neighbours complained of foul smell emanating from her residence and then informed the police," he said.

Police rushed to the spot and broke open the door, where they found the doctor's body, which had started decomposing, Gaikwad added.

According to the officer, Dr Satpute was a diabetic.

The body was taken to a state-run hospital, where the post-mortem was conducted, he said.

"A case of accidental death has been registered after the post-mortem confirmed that it was a natural death," he said.

Police have informed her husband and son, who stay in Chennai and also her parents.

Further investigation into the case is on, Gaikwad said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The government has ordered the withdrawal of a case against the chief minister and a dozen others for holding a meeting in alleged violation of prohibitory orders over 22 years ago.

The move prompted Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav to take pot shots as to whether Adityanath would himself sign the order withdrawing the case against himself.

"Will the chief minister himself order withdrawal of the case against him?" Yadav, a former chief minister, wondered.

Apart from Adityanath, who holds the home portfolio, Union Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla, BJP MLA Sheetal Pandey and ten others were respondents in the case.

The case was filed at Gorakhpur's Pipiganj police station on May 27, 1995.

The Adityanath government's order to withdraw the case against the chief minister was issued last week, just a day before the Uttar Pradesh Criminal Law (Composition of Offences and Abatement of Trials) (Amendment) Bill, 2017, was tabled in the state Assembly.

Before the Bill was tabled, Adityanath told the House that 20,000 "politically-motivated" cases were filed across the state over protest demonstrations.

The amendment would bring to an end all such cases that were pending before magistrates till December 31, 2015, he said.

Gorakhpur Additional District Magistrate, City, Rajneesh Chandra told PTI that the order for filing an application seeking withdrawal of the case from the court had already been received. The prosecutor has been instructed to file the application before the court concerned, he said.

Gorakhpur is Adityanath's home turf and he represented the Lok Sabha constituency for five terms before being appointed the chief minister earlier this year.

The case was pending in a Gorakhpur court, which had earlier directed that non-bailable warrants (NBWs) be issued against the accused for non-appearance.

In May this year, shortly after Adityanath took over the reins of the state, his government told the Allahabad High Court that he cannot be prosecuted in another case for allegedly making a hate speech that was alleged to have triggered communal riots in Gorakhpur in 2007.

The government refused to grant the mandatory sanction for his prosecution.

Adityanath, who was then the local MP, made the alleged hate speech following the killing of a Hindu youth in a clash between two groups during a Moharram procession. He was arrested and spent 10 days in jail before being released on bail.

The sanction was needed to file a charge sheet against him under IPC section 153-A on the charge of promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion and caste, an offence punishable with imprisonment of up to five years.
By Drazen Jorgic and Henning Gloystein

ISLAMABAD/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - General Electric's flagship gas turbines ran into problems in Pakistan earlier this year, leading to delays and lengthy outages at three newly built power stations, according to several senior Pakistani officials and power executives.

GE has said they were teething problems. But the questions over one of its most important products suggest another setback for the company in a year in which its shares have plunged and third-quarter results were called "horrible" by new Chief Executive John Flannery. GE is now undergoing major restructuring.

There is no evidence that GE's 9HA-Class turbines have fundamental design flaws.

But so far the Pakistani plants, which began running this year, are producing power at levels well below their capacity and the problem was acute in the crucial summer months, when temperatures in the country frequently exceed 40 degrees Celsius (104F).

Data from Pakistan's Central Power Purchasing Agency, seen by Reuters, showed the Bhikki, Haveli and Balloki plants jointly generated only a half of their current maximum capacity in August.

A month later all three plants showed improved output but remained well below capacity. was unable to review more recent data.

"It had terrible consequences because we lost a lot of power which would have come to the grid during the peak summer," Yousaf Naseem Khokhar, the top civil servant in the Energy Ministry's power division, told .

"It is now up to General Electric to rise to the challenge and to take care of these issues... before next summer starts," he said.

In a statement sent to Reuters, GE said "every commercial HA site today is demonstrating exceptional performance levels for both output and efficiency".

On the issues in Pakistan, GE said: "We've encountered and communicated openly about launch challenges and readily resolved issues during this time. It's important to note that challenges are common with power plants of this size and complexity during the commissioning and early operations phase."

GE also said in a separate statement that the three plants are expected to deliver enough power to supply the equivalent of 7.3 million Pakistani homes over their 30-plus-year life cycle, and that will make a "meaningful difference in the everyday lives of the people of Pakistan."

The 9HA-class gas turbines, the GE power division's newest and most prestigious product, entered the Guinness World Records last year for efficiency, based on the amount of electricity generated from natural gas at the power plant in Bouchain, France, where it was first put into commercial operation in June last year.

Both the 9HA and the 7HA turbines - the A stands for air-cooled - are in tough competition with similar products made by Germany's Siemens , Japan's Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems - a joint venture between Mitsubishi Heavy Industries <7011.T> and Hitachi <6501.T> - and Italy's state-controlled Ansaldo Energia.

Flannery said in a GE investor presentation in November that "resolving initial launch issues" with HA class gas turbines would be a future priority.

TOUGH YEAR

GE's shares have fallen more than 40 percent this year, and the 125-year-old company announced this month it was cutting 12,000 jobs in its power division, about a fifth of the workforce, to cut costs.

Operating profit of the power division, once the strongest part of GE's operations, fell 51 percent in the third quarter against the year-ago period. Flannery said the division, which brought in 28 percent of GE's revenue last year, was "challenged" but could be turned around in one or two years.

Pakistan, desperate for additional electricity to avoid crippling blackouts, teamed up with GE to build the power stations at Bhikki, Haveli and Balloki, all in the most populous province Punjab, at breakneck speed.

GE won the contracts to supply Pakistan with six turbines for the three power plants in 2015, based on the lowest priced deal per megawatt of capacity.

The first problem was the deliveries were delayed by up to three months and missed some of the summer months this year, several Pakistani officials said. They said they were told the delays happened because a part of the turbine needed further testing.

The plan was to fire up the turbines in simple cycle mode - delivering around 800 MW per power plant - in the spring of 2017 and then to upgrade to 1,200 MW combined cycle output after the summer.

The delays infuriated Islamabad, because getting additional power during the summer was a crucial factor ahead of 2018 parliamentary elections.

One of the two turbines at the Bhikki power plant was delayed by about a month. At the Balloki and Haveli plants, the turbines were delayed by about three months, two senior Pakistani officials aware of the situation said.

Then, in early May, a combustion seal leak was detected at one of the turbines at the Bhikki plant.

To fix this, and to apply the same remedy to the five other turbines, GE airlifted parts of the units to France for repairs.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who was then the petroleum minister, told in July that GE spared no expense to fix the problems.

"They found the problem, they took out the part, they went back to the vendor, they re-machined them, they came back - all on dedicated transport flights," Abbasi said.

TURBINE DAMAGE

But that meant one Bhikki turbine was offline for about 40 days and the other for about 50 days. The other two plants had not begun operations at the time, but came online in July and August. In a third setback, one of the turbines at the Haveli plant was badly damaged during a power outage three weeks after it was inaugurated in July, the Pakistani officials said.

At such times, batteries and a generator act as back-ups to ensure a pump continues to push lube oil into the turbine.

"Both didn't work," said one of the Pakistani officials, adding the diesel generator had no fuel. The turbine crashed, with damage estimated at $33 million, and although it was refitted with a new rotor by GE, it is still to resume operations.

The power station is being built by China's SEPCOIII Electric Power Construction Corporation. SEPCOIII did not return queries for comment.

"GE and SEPCOIII are working together to determine the cause behind the loss of functionality of the planned backup power system," GE said in a statement.

A senior Pakistani official in Islamabad said the delays and outages had cast GE in a bad light.

"Frankly speaking, they have lost a lot of credibility here in the government because of these plants," the official said.

In September, Pakistan awarded its most recent power contract to Siemens, after bidding by several companies, including GE.

Stephen Tusa, an analyst at JPMorgan in New York, wrote in a recent note that although GE has assured investors that the Pakistan problems have been resolved, they could re-emerge in other plants around the world.

"The risk is that if these issues are not remedied, GE has already 'sold' another around 30 units (around 10 plus of which are in operation), some of which are at higher output ratings," he wrote.

"Remedies would have to be applied up the curve, something we view as a challenge, especially as senior management tries to cut costs aggressively. Stay tuned."

FORCED OUTAGES

Not everyone is complaining, even when performance isn't perfect.

In France, the Bouchain plant suffered 26 forced outages in the 15 months ending November, according to data published by operator Electricite de France (EDF) .

Despite these unplanned outages, GE and operator EDF, with whom GE has a long-standing alliance, say they are satisfied.

"The cause of these events varies, and in certain cases a single event has been interpreted as multiple events. It would not be accurate to link this number to HA technology as fewer than 10 of these events were related to the gas turbine," GE and EDF said in a joint statement.

In a another joint statement, the two said "the Bouchain facility is an example of our HA technology at its very best".

They added: "During the commissioning and early operations phase, we encountered minor issues that are very typical of what you'd expect with a project of this size, but we worked together to quickly resolve them."

(Reporting by Drazen Jorgic in ISLAMABAD and Henning Gloystein in SINGAPORE; Additional reporting by Alwyn Scott in NEW YORK and Geert De Clercq in PARIS; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

(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.)
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean prosecutors on Wednesday sought a 12-year jail term for Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee on appeal after a lower court sentenced him to five years in August for bribery in a case that rocked the country.

The Seoul High Court is expected to rule on the case in late January. Lee, the 49-year-old heir to one of the world's biggest corporate empires, has been detained since February on charges of corruption.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Nick Macfie)

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Former President Barack Obama told Prince Harry in an interview broadcast on Wednesday that people in leadership roles must be careful in their use of and warned against spending too much time immersed in the internet at the expense of the

world outside.

Obama did not, however, directly mention his successor, President Donald Trump, who has made the use of Twitter a centerpiece of his presidency.



All of us in leadership have to find ways to recreate a common space on the internet, he said. One of the dangers of the internet is people can have entirely different realities. They can be just cocooned in information that reinforces their current biases.

He spoke with Harry in the princes capacity as guest editor of the BBC Radio 4 news programme. Both men said the interview, recorded in Canada in September, was Obama's first since leaving the presidency in January. Obama said he felt serene the day he left the White House at the end of his second four-year term despite the vast amount of work that remained unfinished. He said it was hugely liberating to be able to set his own agenda in the morning to have the time to talk with his wife, Michelle, now that he is no longer president.

I miss the work itself because it was fascinating, Obama said of his eight years in the Oval Office, citing his health care reforms as one of his proudest achievements. In a brief live segment at the end of the show, Harry said he did not know if Obama would be on the guest list for his wedding in May to American actress Meghan Markle.

I dont know about that, we haven't even put the invite or the guest list together, who knows if he's going to be invited or not, Harry said. I wouldnt want to ruin that surprise.

The Sun newspaper, a popular tabloid, has suggested that the British government is concerned that Harry and Markle may invite the Obamas but not Trump, possibly straining ties between the two governments. Harry did say his fiancee enjoyed her first Christmas with the royal family. The family loved having her there, Harry said.
If you are an account holder of SBI's erstwhile six associate banks including Bharatiya Mahila Bank, your cheque books will become invalid from today. Earlier, the deadline was September 30, however, the State Bank of India later extended the date to December 31, 2017.

Last week on Friday, the SBI issued a final reminder, saying: "All account holders of banks which were merged with SBI in April 2017 have to get the cheque book bearing the new IFSC code latest by 31st Dec 2017. Visit the branch or apply via internet banking, SBI Anywhere, SBI Mingle (Web App) or at the ATM."

All account holders of banks which were merged with SBI in April 2017 have to get the cheque book bearing the new IFSC code latest by 31st Dec 2017. Visit the branch or apply via internet banking, SBI Anywhere, SBI Mingle (Web App) or at the ATM. More: https://t.co/dZkEdKQwu2 pic.twitter.com/bPc3909bn0 State Bank of India (@TheOfficialSBI) December 30, 2017

The bank in an earlier reminder said: "The validity of cheques of former associate banks has been extended till 31st December, 2017. Apply now for a new SBI cheque book." The bank further asked the account holders to apply for new cheque books before the deadline to avoid any inconvenience. The customers can also apply for the new cheque book by using internet banking, mobile banking or by visiting home branch.

Last year in September, country's largest bank issued a notification asking the customers of SBI's former associate banks to apply for new SBI Cheque books as soon as possible. The notification had come months after the government merged the SBI with its five associates and the Bharatiya Mahila Bank.

The state-run SBI's six subsidiary banks were Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Raipur, State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Hyderabad and Bhartiya Mahila Bank.

The government had in February 2017 approved the merger of these five associate banks with SBI. Later in March, the Cabinet approved merger of BMB as well. With this merger, the state-run bank joined the league of top 50 banks globally in terms of assets. The customers need to submit applications for new cheque books for replacement of the old cheque books.

The new cheque books will bear the new IFSC code. Recently, the SBI changed names and Indian Financial System Code (IFSC) Codes of nearly 1,300 of its 25,000 branches in the country's major cities owing to its merger with five associate banks and a Bharatiya Mahila Bank.

The IFSC is an 11-digit alpha-numeric system that uniquely identifies all bank branches participating in the Reserve Bank of India's fund transfer system. The IFSC Code is mandatory to send or receive money online from one bank account to another. Most changes with regard to name and IFSC Code have been done in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Lucknow.
Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications (RCom) on Tuesday announced a new plan aimed at reducing the company's huge debt burden by about Rs 25, 000 crore through the sale of some of its spectrum, tower and fibre network assets. Ambani also indicated that a strategic investor would be coming on board RCom but did not disclose any name. He told journalists that the new plan has the support of China Development Bank that had dragged RCom to the National Company Law Tribunal to recover dues running into USD 1.8 billion. The RCom stock rallied 35 per cent on the BSE to Rs 22.01 per cent after the announcement.

The company is reeling under a debt mountain of over Rs 44,000 crore. Amabni said the plan entails RCom exiting the structural debt restructuring (SDR) framework with no conversion of debt into equity and zero write-off by banks. He expects the deal to be fully closed by March 2018. He said the deal involved an eight-stage asset monetisation process under an oversight committee headed by former RBI deputy governor S S Mundra with members from Trai and the whole process will be completed in 40 days.

The proceeds from asset monetisation will be used only to pay back banks, including China Development Bank with whom the company sealed an out-of court settlement last evening in Beijing. On lenders not having to face a hair-cut, he said the new plan involves zero equity conversion for lenders and bond holders. The debt resolution also involves part transfer of spectrum instalments that have to be paid to the government, Ambani said. As many as 31 lenders led by SBI had met over the weekend.

RCom has struggled under a heavy debt load and has reported a string of losses during a price war unleashed by Mukesh Ambani-run Reliance Jio in the Indian telecom market. R-Com has been forced to shut down its 2G services as they had turned unviable with the elder Ambani's company offering free voice calls and data at dirt-cheap rates. Ambani has also been focusing on reducing the debt of his other companies to concentrate on upcoming opportunities in the defence manufacturing business as well as in its engineering, procurement and construction businesses.

Reliance Infrastructure had last week signed an agreement to sell its Mumbai power business to Adani Transmission for a total consideration of Rs 18,800 crore. RInfra will utilise the entire proceeds of this transformative transaction to reduce its debt, becoming debt free and garnering up to Rs 3,000 crore as cash surplus. Once all these capex-heavy businesses are sold, the company wants to focus on the defence business under the aegis of the "Make in India" scheme being promoted by the Narendra Modi government.

The Reliance Group's has formed a joint venture, Dassault Reliance Aerospace Pvt. Ltd, with French-aircraft maker Dassault Aviation that is in line to benefit from a Rs 24,500 crore seven-year offset clause in the deal India has sigend with France for the supply of 36 Rafale fighter jets from Dassault.
LOGAN  A 32-year-old Nibley man has been arrested and charged with sexting a teenage girl. Nicholas L. Smith was booked into the Cache County Jail last Wednesday.

Cache County Sheriff Chad Jensen said, his office began investigating Smith after a family member called deputies. They reported finding disturbing text messages on his phone. Online chats were also discovered that were deviant in nature.

Detectives later found pornagraphic videos of Smith engaged in various sex acts. They were allegedly sent to several women, in exchange for pictures and videos of themselves. The relationships were reportedly consensual.

However, Jensen said one of the people Smith sexted with was an underage girl, who lives out of the country. They reportedly had a relationship for more than five-years that started when the girl was 12-years-old.

Smith was arrested December 20. State attorneys charged him a day later with enticing a minor over the internet and sexual exploitation of a minor, both second-degree felonies, dealing in materials harmful to a minor and soliciting or distributing child pornography, both third-degree felonies.

Court records show Smith appeared Thursday in 1st District Court by video from the jail. A judge set bail at $20,000 and ordered him to appear again in court January 2.

Jensen said, Smiths case is a good example of a citizen who found something that concerned them and reported it to law enforcement.

<hr /><p style=text-align: center;>will@cvradio.com
The Minister of Defence urged the soldiers to be professional, courageous and patriotic report CT.

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Some 1,850 new infantry commandos have joined the Cameroon Armed Forces; reinforcing the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) elite unit. The Minister of Defence, Joseph Beti Assomo officially declared them members of the armed forces at a graduation ceremony in the Rapid Intervention Battalion Command Training Centre in Man O War Bay, Limbe on December 21, 2017.



The graduation marked the end of a five-month technical aptitude training during which the recruits were trained in civility and morality, human rights, international humanitarian law, disarming improvised explosives, physical combat, shooting, among others.



2005 boys signed up for the 2017 contingent of soldiers but some failed the training while others were dropped in the course of training, for diverse reasons. The 1850 recruits who put up satisfactory performance were awarded Certificates of Technical Aptitude.



The top ten of the batch which is the tenth of its kind received prizes from the Technical Adviser at the Presidency in charge of the BIR. Minister Beti Assomo told the soldiers that the graduation marks the beginning of their career in the armed forces and urged them to be professional, courageous and patriotic in the exercise of their daily duties, which in conjunction with the duties of every other citizen, will lead Cameroon to emergence by 2035.



Quoting President Paul Biyas recent resolve to stop ongoing hostilities in Anglophone regions and bring perpetrators to book, he emphasised it is now more important than ever for the military to exercise its duty of securing the integrity of the state, and protecting human lives and properties. Minister Beti Assomo ended his stay at the Man O War Bay with a security meeting with top officials of the armed forces.



MBOM Sixtus



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"I think someone was maybe trying to get away from their colleagues at lunchtime perhaps. Maybe it was a tradesman having lunch down there, having a sneaky smoke. We're really not sure."
Lots of elbow grease  mostly from an army of volunteers  keeps the Family Pantry warehouse running smoothly. FILE PHOTO

Harwich residents John and Jane Doe (names and some identifying information has been changed at their request) never thought they would need the services of the Family Pantry of Cape Cod. Natives of Rhode Island, Jane and her husband moved to the Cape when they retired four years ago.

Ive loved this part of New England all of my life, she said.

Jane learned about the services of the Family Pantry from the senior center. I knew folks who used the pantry but I never thought it could be me, she said. Living on a limited income, the couple found themselves struggling to make ends meet.

The Family Pantry was founded in 1989 by a group of fewer than a dozen members of the St. Vincent De Paul Society of Holy Trinity Church who realized that they could not keep up with financial aid to people who needed food so they decided to start a pantry, according to the Pantry website.

Today, the Family Pantry serves over 9,000 people annually and is open Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturday mornings. Housed in a large warehouse on Queen Anne Road in Harwich, the Pantry receives food from the Greater Boston Food Bank for distribution to the 30 pantries and soup kitchens on the Cape and Islands.

The first time I went to the Pantry I was very uneasy about receiving free food, Jane recalled.

Although she felt uncomfortable about using the Pantry the first time, that feeling soon changed. Asked why, she summed it up simply. Because they make you feel welcome.

The Pantry is a non-denominational, non-profit organization staffed by over 500 volunteers, a full-time executive director, a full-time warehouse manager and two part-time staff members serving as a program manager and office manager.

Jane has advice for other retirees who might find themselves in the position she and her husband were in. Dont be hesitant; they will help you and decide your eligibility.

Determining eligibility can happen the first time someone visits the Pantry. In a brief interview, staffers can confirm eligibility for assistance and obtain needed information about the household. Applicants are encouraged to bring their drivers license or other form of identification that shows name, address, and birth date. Similar documentation of the names, addresses, and birth dates of others in the household is also needed.

In our retirement, with limited income, the additional help with food, clothing and miscellaneous items have made it much easier for us to get by, Jane stressed. Among the items most often in her basket are vegetables, breads, meats and cheeses. Toiletries are most helpful, she added.

Jane visits the pantry every two weeks. I have come to know and love the considerate and efficient volunteers, she said. Their dedication is amazing to all of us who come to be helped.

The couple are very grateful for the work of the Pantry staff and volunteers. In a letter expressing her thanks, Jane Doe wrote, Ive been lucky enough to belong to the family of folks who rely heavily on the benefits, kindness and dedication of the Family Pantry organization of Harwich.

As it does each year, The Cape Cod Chronicle is challenging its readers to contribute to the Family Pantry through our annual Helping Neighbors campaign. To help, visit www.CapeCodChronicle.com and click on the Helping Neighbors logo, or send a tax-deductible donation to The Family Pantry, 133 Queen Anne Rd., Harwich, MA 02645 (please write  Helping Neighbors  in the memo line).
When the Toyota Raize came into the picture early this year , it commanded the kind of attention that made you think of it as possibly just ...
Faraday Future and LeEco boss Jia Yueting may have recently secured a $1 billion investment for his Californian EV startup but he still has a few personal issues plaguing his business ventures.



Reuters reports that Yueting has been ordered by Chinas securities regulator to return to his home country and sort out huge debts accrued by his various companies.

In a notice issued to Yueting late on Christmas day, China said be must return to China by December 31 and fullfill his obligation and protect investors rights. This notice follows on from a similar request in September for Yueting to pay off his debts but that government order went unanswered.

According to the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), Yuetings behavior is hurting his companies.

Firms you control owe huge amounts to listed companies, which has not yet been returned. This behavior seriously harms the legal rights of listed firms and the personal interests of a wide range of investors.

A spokesman from LeEco claims Yuetings behavior wont have a major impact on the company.

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A number of people buy classic cars to indulge their passion or treat themselves to something theyve always dreamed about owning. Sometimes their children share their love of cars and sometimes they couldnt care less.



This could be causing an interesting shift in the classic car market as Automotive News reports auction prices have declined while the number of vehicles being offered and sold has increased. This appears to be a result of an aging population which is downsizing to smaller homes, moving into retirement communities, or simply dying off.

In a report earlier this year, The New York Times noted the 2014 census showed more than 20 percent of the population in the United States will be 65 or older by 2030. While younger generations typically inherited their parents possessions, the executive director of the National Association of Senior Move Managers told the publication This is the first time were seeing a kink in the chain of passing down mementos from one generation to another.

While these possessions are usually furniture and various knickknacks that have been collected over decades, a number of seniors are facing a situation where theyre going to have to determine what they are going to do about their vehicles. A number of them will likely be headed to auction and this could further suppress prices as the supply of classics continues to grow.

While lower prices might attract new and younger collectors, there has been a gradational shift in the collectors market. The popularity of trucks and SUVs has spilled over to the classic market and vehicles such as the Ford Bunco and Jeep CJ-7 are seeing renewed interested. This is sharp departure from several years ago when it seemed like the market was dominated by muscle cars.

Theres no telling what the future holds but trends are starting to take shape and it will be interesting to see what becomes collectible in the future.

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MINI offers an impressive array of customization options but the company is taking it one step further by announcing its new MINI Yours Customized service.



Designed to appeal to customization fanatics, the service allows owners to build unique components through a dedicated online shop. Once users customize their parts, they will be created using procedures such as 3D printing and laser etching. The parts will then be delivered to customers who can either install the components themselves or have a dealership do it.

The service will be offered in Europe and other large markets and it will allow owners to create custom side scuttles in Aspen White matte, Chili Red matte, Jet Black matte, Melting Silver matte, or White Silver matte. MINI says the customization options are nearly endless as they could include everything from the owners name to their favorite number.

Another exterior option involves the door projectors which can be modified to include special patterns or even the owners signature. The interior hasnt been overlooked either as the service allows users to create customized illuminated door sill plates and bespoke trim for the passenger side dashboard.

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Adam Ochstein, founder and CEO of Chicago human resources consulting firm StratEx is photographed Dec. 20, 2017, by the office pool table. Ochstein says the lines between professional and social settings are increasingly blurred in todays workplace. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)

If 2017 was the year of a national reckoning on workplace sexual harassment, 2018 may be when reports from victims in cubicles and corner offices start piling up.

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Heres why thats a good thing: Before companies can begin to rid the workplace of inappropriate behavior, observers say, employers need to go beyond handbooks and Powerpoint presentations to create an environment where employees feel safe and supported enough to report it. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission estimates that three-fourths of all workplace harassment goes unreported, so as victims feel empowered, reports of sexual harassment may climb.

In a June 2016 report, more than a year before allegations against Harvey Weinstein were reported, the EEOC suggested managers be praised for an increase in sexual harassment complaints in their departments. Such an uptick would show that victims feel comfortable coming forward, the agency said.

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Sexual harassment reporting has remained fairly steady over the last decade. The EEOC received nearly 27,000 complaints in 2016 that included an accusation of sex-based workplace harassment. Just over 1,300 of those were in Illinois. Thats a slight increase from the previous two years.

Scott Fanning, a labor and employment attorney at Fisher Phillips, is among those who agree that harassment reports will likely increase in 2018 as more victims feel empowered to speak up. He also believes the most serious forms of harassment will decline as some would-be perpetrators curb their behavior in light of extra-vigilant co-workers.

The last thing employers want is to be the next #MeToo story in the news, Fanning said.

In the past month, companies across Chicago have begun meeting with employees to start addressing the issue.

Avant, an online consumer lender, took the rare step in early December of hosting a discussion with a manager from its human resources department as well as an outside expert on employee assistance plans and a prevention educator from not-for-profit Rape Victims Advocates. Chris Armsey, a senior vice president, said the forum was an effort to spark conversation in the tech industry and across other businesses that have been afraid to speak openly about harassment or fearful that a discussion would paint a target on the company. It was the first time the company tackled the issue with all its employees together, as well as the first time it invited the public in to talk about a sensitive subject.

I dont want to say that weve cracked the code, but we have a culture where we can talk about it, Armsey said.

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[ What to do when the boss comes on to you ]

Avant has about 500 employees and women account for about 45 percent of the staff, according to spokeswoman Carolyn Blackman Gasbarra. She declined to say whether the company had received sexual harassment complaints.

The after-work discussion, held in the sleek two-story atrium of the companys Loop headquarters, drew more than 100 people who asked questions about how to help peers if they were harassed and some about how to replicate the discussion at other companies.

Carrie Gibson, head of talent development and the events moderator, admitted to the crowd she thought the #MeToo discussion would be too late to catch the wave of headlines that started with Weinstein. But she quickly realized the discussion wasnt going to fade anytime soon.

For so long companies have been afraid to talk about it, she said. Theres always room for improvement, but we thought our knowledge could be transferable to others. And for there to be any improvement, you need to be able to talk about it.

Chicago tech incubator 1871 will make sexual harassment training mandatory for all its members in 2018, and some companies have expressed interest in hosting their own workshops, said Vanessa Yeh, director of brand, marketing and communications.

[ Will #metoo movement speed up the number of women in leadership - or slow it down? ]

We feel it's important that this conversation is framed within the larger context of making tech and business in general more accessible and hospitable to women through many different avenues, and there are many ways 1871 is driving that forward, Yeh said.

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The tech industry, like Hollywood, has had to grapple with many of its own major players being accused of sexual harassment in recent months, and broader accusations that the male-dominated tech culture breeds an environment where inappropriate behavior toward women is accepted or overlooked.

Adam Ochstein, founder and CEO of human resources consulting firm StratEx, believes the #MeToo movement has put CEOs and other business leaders on notice that they need to address  and prevent  workplace harassment.

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That has included Ochstein himself, who brought up the issue in the companys monthly all-hands meeting in December.

I think people put a check in the box when they talk about the handbook and policies with new employees, but I dont think anyone has brought it to the forefront like it should have been, he said.

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[ Reed: Just saying zero tolerance wont end sexual harassment. CEOs must back that up. ]

But Ochstein also noted the lines between professional and social settings are increasingly blurred in todays workplace. Employees may play a game of pool together at the office or take a weekly trip to a nearby bar together on Friday nights  situations that can increase camaraderie but also could lead to unwelcome advances or harassment.

It used to be one time a year youd have to worry about employee behavior  at the office holiday party, he said. Thats happening all year round now.

Ochstein said he agrees the national conversation will likely raise the number of sexual harassment reports, but hes also concerned about some of the accused being deemed guilty too quickly. I can tell you unequivocally, if one of my male employees were accused, I think Id be quick to jump to the end of the process too, he said.

Ochstein said that despite many companies insistence that their policies and training were sufficient before the public outcry, he believes a hard look in the mirror is unavoidable.

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I guarantee you, every company is having this discussion, Ochstein said.

sbomkamp@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @SamWillTravel













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The 39-foot-tall lobby of Chicago's long-vacant old main post office is seen Sept. 22, 2017. The site is being redeveloped by New York-based 601W Cos. into modern offices and retail space. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune)

Three companies involved in renovating Chicagos old main post office building face more than $220,000 in fines after allegedly failing to protect workers from lead and cadmium exposure.

The U.S. Department of Labors Occupational Health and Safety Administration inspected the post office site in August after both the Chicago and the Illinois public health departments reported that an employee doing sandblasting work had an elevated level of lead in his blood.

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Three companies, American Demolition Corp., Valor Technologies Inc. and Tecnica Environmental Services Inc., were cited for failing to comply with regulations around respiratory protection, failing to provide training and not properly handling protective equipment, OSHA said in a news release Wednesday.

It is well known that exposure to lead can cause chronic adverse health effects, Des Plaines Area Office OSHA Director Angelina Loftus said in the release. Employers must monitor lead hazards and limit employee exposure through proper respiratory use, personal protective equipment, and training.

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Elgin-based American Demolition also allegedly did not have a written lead compliance program  a violation for which it had previously been cited in 2013  and faced the largest penalty: $105,765, the agency said.

OSHA recommended $64,538 and $50,194 fines for Bolingbrook-based Valor and Lemont-based Tecnica, respectively. The companies have 15 business days to pay the penalties or contest the findings.

Valor owner Alex Foracappa said the company, which performed environmental work including removing asbestos and blasting lead-painted surfaces at the site, corrected all issues when OSHA notified them of the citations. Foracappa said he has not yet decided whether to contest the penalties. American Demolition and Tecnica could not immediately be reached for comment.

One other company involved in old main post office renovation work, Dolton-based Mark 1 Restoration, was cited by OSHA for alleged violations involving a respiratory protection hazard, OSHA spokesman Scott Allen said. The citation, issued in October, was resolved with an informal settlement agreement.

lzumbach@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @laurenzumbach
A lawyer accused of helping pharmaceutical entrepreneur Martin Shkreli cover up financial fraud was convicted on Wednesday, a result a prosecutor said should send a "powerful message" through the legal profession.

After an 11-week trial, Evan Greebel was convicted by a federal jury in Brooklyn of conspiring to commit securities fraud and wire fraud. His lawyer, Reed Brodsky, said they were "shocked by the verdict."

"We will continue to fight for justice for Evan Greebel and his family," Brodsky said by email.

U.S. Attorney Bridget M. Rohde said Greebel helped Shkreli steal millions of dollars and cover up Shkreli's fraud while the hedge fund manager was chief executive of Retrophin Inc., a biopharmaceutical company.

"Today's verdict sends a powerful message that this office, together with our law enforcement partners, will hold lawyers accountable when they use their legal expertise to facilitate the commission of crimes," Rohde said in a release.

Greebel was Retrophin's outside counsel from 2011 to 2014, when prosecutors say he conspired with Shkreli to misappropriate Retrophin's assets to pay off defrauded investors. They said he also conspired with Shkreli between 2012 and 2014 to defraud investors and potential investors in Retrophin by trying to illegally control the price and trading volume of Retrophin's stock.

Greebel, who lives in suburban Scarsdale, took deliberate actions to help Shkreli defraud investors, FBI assistant director-in-charge William F. Sweeney said.

"While it's become increasingly more evident that Greebel exploited his knowledge of the law in his efforts to break the law, today we finally see justice served in a case that's spent no shortage of its time in the spotlight," said Sweeney, the head of New York's FBI office.

Shkreli, dubbed Pharma Bro, is perhaps best known for boosting the price of a life-saving drug and for trolling his critics on social media. He was convicted in August in an unrelated securities fraud scheme involving two hedge funds he ran and is incarcerated while awaiting sentencing.

He had brashly predicted in livestreamed rants that he would never see the inside of a prison because of sentencing guidelines and that even if he did get prison time it would be just a few months at a minimum-security "Club Fed."

His online rantings about Hillary Clinton prompted a judge to revoke his bail and put him in a fortress-like federal jail that houses terrorism and mob suspects, the Metropolitan Detention Center, where his lawyer said in September he was in with the general population and was "doing reasonably well under very difficult circumstances."
On CNN on Sunday, however, he said that parts of the bill were worth saving.

"According to the Tax Policy Center, next year, 91 percent of middle-income Americans will receive a tax cut," CNN's Jake Tapper asked Sanders. "Isn't that a good thing?"

"Yes, it is a very good thing," Sanders said. "And that's why we should have made the tax breaks for the middle class permanent. But what the Republicans did is made the tax breaks for corporations permanent, the tax breaks for the middle class temporary."

The first part of Sanders' answer went viral over the sleepy holiday weekend. It was, said Republicans, evidence that the tax cut bill  by some measures, the least popular piece of major legislation in this century  would become hard for Democrats to oppose once it was signed. Like the 2001/2003 Bush tax cuts, the temporary nature of the bill's income tax breaks was not just a budget gimmick, but a dare.

"When Bernie comes back to town, he should pledge to vote with Republicans in 10 years to make the tax cuts permanent for the middle class," said Republican National Committee spokesman Michael Ahrens in a Monday statement.

There is little chance of that, but the politics of the tax cut bill are likely to shift in 2018. Both liberal-leaning economists and Democratic politicians expect the tax bill to slightly boost the economy heading into the midterms. Both acknowledge that some voters who expected to face higher tax bills will see benefits. A CBS News video about the tax cuts, which showed three families surprised and happy to learn that they'd be getting money back, circulated widely as a preview of what to expect.

"In order to fit everything into the box, some things need to be temporary," Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist told The Washington Post before the bill passed. "But just as the Bush tax cut was temporary for 10 years, the goal is always to make things permanent. I've always thought that four or five years was fine. Why? Because it will be so politically popular that it's basically permanent. Even the Democrats won't run against the tax cut for individuals. Ask them!"

In some ways, Democrats' tax answers may resemble those they gave when George W. Bush was in the White House. In both the 2004 and 2008 campaigns, the Democrats' presidential nominees proposed benefits for the middle class that would be paid for, in large part, by ending most of the Bush tax cuts.

"To pay for these tax cuts, I'll stand up to special interest carve-outs, close corporate loopholes and offshore tax havens, and ask the wealthiest Americans to give back a portion of the Bush tax cuts," then-Sen. Barack Obama said in a typical 2008 stump speech. "It's time for folks like me who make over $250,000 to pay our fair share to keep the American promise alive for our children and grandchildren."

With relish, Republicans remember how the story ended  with Obama making all but the high-end Bush tax cuts permanent, and neither party absorbing much voter anger for the growing deficit. Since then, the Democratic Party's left wing has grown stronger. Sanders made a strong run for the 2016 presidential nomination on a campaign platform that included tax increases; Sanders has gotten most of the Democratic senators seen as potential 2020 candidates to sign onto a universal Medicare bill, a proposal that would be paid for by tax hikes.

But as Sanders and others have shown in the past week, Democrats are not promising to undo the entire Republican tax bill. While attacking corporate tax cuts, Democrats  including Obama  had been ready to lower the corporate tax rate from 35 percent had Republicans been willing to deal, or had Hillary Clinton won the 2016 election. In a rundown for the progressive Center for Economic and Policy Research, Dean Baker argued that the bill contained some benefits for poorer people, ones that future Congresses should continue.

"There are some items in this bill that can provide a basis for constructive reform in the future," Baker wrote. "These can be built upon at a time when we have a Congress interested in serious reform."

Few Democrats, so far, have been put on the spot about that. One who has, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., spent most of a 16-minute interview with radio host Hoppy Kercheval on Dec. 20 defending his vote against the bill.

"I was for lowering corporate taxes from 35 to 25," said Manchin, acknowledging what few Democrats will now say. Over the course of the interview, Manchin repeatedly said that there might be a "sugar high" from the bill, and that people might indeed like it.

"Why couldn't you support a bill that will benefit the vast majority of West Virginians?" asked Kercheval.

"The things that you have mentioned are correct," Manchin replied. "Initially, people will benefit."

Manchin's attempts to redirect the questions offered a preview of what other members of his party might say in 2018. Like Sanders, Manchin suggested that Congress "make permanent that anything we did for the working class"  but only as part of a responsible deal that did not blow up the deficit. Manchin also suggested that higher health-care premiums would, for many taxpayers, wipe out any gains from the tax cut, while the idle rich would benefit no matter what.

Later, Manchin found an opening by saying Republicans had failed on a high-profile tax cut promise.

"They talked about the postcard, the simplification? Hop, this is more complicated than what we had before," he said.
One of our city's oldest charities, the Service Club of Chicago, hosted its annual holiday luncheon Dec. 5 amid the splendor of Cathedral Hall in the University Club. Over 200 guests were welcomed by a festively attired Fairy Snow Queen (Jade Nicole Phillips) to the Winter Wonderland-themed event that included performances by the Chicago Gay Men's Chorus.

Traditionally, a charity partner is selected for the luncheon, and this year, each guest was asked to bring a toy for donation to the Howard Area Community Center (HACC), a nonprofit that assists low-income individuals and families in Rogers Park and surrounding communities.

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As gifts piled high, Beth Ulion, HACC's director of development, expressed her joy over the club's outpouring of support. "The Service Club has helped us this entire year, actually. We received a grant earlier to improve the lighting around our children's center, and today, we have these amazing gifts that will bring a smile to so many families' faces. Thanks to the Service Club, we will be able to provide them with a much-deserved year-end treat."

Service Club President Simona Garcia welcomed guests and congratulated the HACC on its 50th anniversary of supporting families in need. She said, "It's been an honor and a privilege to witness the impact our club has in the communities." In 2016, the nonprofit donated $310,797 to 32 agencies that operate in the social service, cultural, educational and civic fields.

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Some of this year's grant recipients included Almost Home Kids (two pediatric vital-signs machines were donated), Center of Concern (four computers and a server were donated), Hyde Park School of Dance (uniforms and speakers), Infant Welfare Society of Chicago (a fetal monitor), Primo Center for Women and Children (a van), Imerman Angels (a printer, projector and iPads) and Lincoln Park Community Shelter (20 bunk beds), among many others.

Chicago Gay Men's Chorus performs in the University Club's Cathedral Hall during the annual Service Club of Chicago's holiday luncheon.

Garcia spoke of one of her more memorable grant recipients this year. The Service Club paid for a fence to surround Refuge for Women-Chicago, a shelter for women who have escaped sexual trafficking and/or exploitation. She said, "I feel that we played a small role in keeping these young ladies safe and away from their perpetrators and gave them a chance to rebuild their lives."

Guests had the opportunity to do some holiday shopping at the event, as well. Nearly 20 local stores displayed gift items ranging from jewelry and fur accessories to home decor and sweets. Participating vendors included Mary Mary, Hinsdale Furriers, Lulu's Vintage, Alioto's Gift Shop and Whimsical Candy.

Before lunch was served, attendees engaged in an interactive singalong to "The Twelve Days of Christmas," led by the Chicago Gay Men's Choir. A live auction, conducted by Kevin Sullivan, included a Decorate Your Home for the Holidays package donated by Kehoe Designs, and a lunch and boat ride in Naples, Fla., donated by Service Club member Cheryl Coleman and Ron Katz.

Co-chaired by club members Lezley Hodes, Rhonda Liesenfelt and Karen Peters, the event raised over $40,000 to support the organization's grant program, which works to expand facilities, improve equipment and initiate new programs for Chicagoland's nonprofits.

Freelance writer Candace Jordan is involved with many local organizations, including some whose events she covers.

More coverage: Find more photos and events at www.chicagotribune.com/candidcandace. Visit Candid Candaces website at www.candidcandace.com, or follow her on Twitter @CandidCandace.

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Emma Silvers and Jonathan Kirchner at a Con Brio show on New Year's Eve 2014 at the Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco. (Courtesy of Emma Silvers / Courtesy of Emma Silvers)

New Year's Eve is just around the corner, which means it's almost time for sparkly outfits, champagne, and for some lucky revelers, a bright new beginning.

Yes, the evening is often overhyped, overrated and overpriced. But sometimes a midnight kiss - or "When Harry Met Sally"-style declaration of love - can lead to a new relationship.

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Whether you've known the person for a very long time, or just met, here are three stories of couples whose spark ignited on New Year's Eve. Maybe they will encourage you to start some fireworks of your own.

Lily Dwoskin, a 27-year-old musical theater writer

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When: New Year's Eve 2013

Where: A bar in Manayunk, Pennsylvania

How: After wrapping up her final performance of "A Christmas Carol" in Media, Pennsylvania, Dwoskin drove to Manayunk, about 45 minutes away, to celebrate the holiday with a female friend. "We struggled to find a parking spot and didn't really make it into the bar - the only one that didn't have a cover charge - until 11:45 p.m.," Dwoskin recalls.

Seconds before the bar's midnight countdown, a stranger approached Dwoskin and asked her to be his New Year's kiss. "I was really excited because things like that don't happen to me," she says. "I was so flattered that I had this impulse to just go for it."

Their kissing led to texting, and ultimately to a five-month relationship. While the romance has since fizzled, Dwoskin believes it wouldn't have been sparked had it not been for that fateful night. "I think the energy of New Year's put me in sort of an open mood, whereas any other night I probably would not have responded to some random guy at a bar coming up to me," Dwoskin says with a laugh.

Her advice for meeting someone on Dec. 31: Stay positive and keep an open mind. "The times that I push myself to jump out of my comfort zone and meet new people are the times I've been most rewarded," Dwoskin says. Also, bring backup. "It could've ended up in a sketchy situation, but I knew I had someone there who had my back, and I likewise had hers," she says.

Emma Silvers, 33-year-old music journalist, and Jonathan Kirchner, 33-year-old bassist for Con Brio

When: New Year's Eve 2010

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Where: The Knockout, a bar in San Francisco

How: The pair became texting pals after Silvers interviewed Kirchner and his band, Con Brio, for the East Bay Express in October. The flirting amped up over the holidays and, while Kirchner was on the East Coast, the pair decided to meet up the day he returned to the Bay Area, which happened to fall on New Year's Eve.

"When he asked if I had plans for New Year's Eve, I remember thinking it was a kind of a crazy idea for a first date. I mean, it's like, 'Hey, do you want to hang out on this night where it's basically assured we will kiss? There's a set time for it and everything!' " she quips. "But it was cool. It felt like an 'anything goes' kind of night."

The two met up just after midnight, made their way to the thick of the dance floor and shared a kiss. "I had a feeling of like, 'Cool! I'm so glad we knocked that out of the way.' "

The two were married this past July, and now Kirchner dedicates a performance to Silvers at each New Year's Eve gig with his band.

Advice: "Prior to that year, New Year's was honestly one of my least favorite holidays," Silvers admits. "The pressure aspect of it is immense - I remember it as a single person thinking, 'This is the worst thing ever.' But I would encourage others to take a chance, go into the night with a positive attitude and an 'anything goes' kind of mentality about it."

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Jenna Jonaitis, a 28-year-old freelance writer, and Joe Jonaitis, a 29-year-old climate and geography graduate student at Appalachian State University.

When: New Year's Eve 2014

Where: A mutual friend's house in Grand Rapids, Michigan

How: Two months leading up to New Year's, the pair had been hanging out as friends after being introduced by Joe's sister. "I had really started to develop feelings for him, but I had no idea where he stood," Jenna says. To test the waters, she invited him to join her at a mutual friend's house on New Year's Eve. He said yes. Lucky for both of them, their pent-up feelings for each other converged at midnight. "As the ball dropped, he leaned down and kissed me for the first time," Jenna says. "And then we just continued kissing the rest of that night." The pair went on their first date the next day and got married this past January.

Advice: "When the kiss happened, it kind of took a lot of the pressure off us," Jenna says. "It was like, this special moment occurred and from then on, we could share everything and bond in an open and honest way." The holiday season gives people the opportunity to be a bit braver than they might ordinarily be, she added. "If you are in the holiday spirit, there are less inhibitions to hold back because you are surrounded by this joyful and optimistic spirit. I think that could be a good time to make a move, share your feelings or even kiss somebody! And, even if it doesn't work out, you have a whole year to move on, do other things and meet some other great new people."

5 ways to make your 2017 resolution work in 2018

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Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 19 In this photo released by Kensington Palace on Dec. 21, 2017, Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan Markle pose for one of two official engagement photos, at Frogmore House, in Windsor, England. (Alexi Lubomirski/AP)
If there is any single trait that defines Americans, it is optimism. We read our history as a journey upward, from the arrival of the first European settlers to the present. We operate with a collective sense that progress may sometimes be slow and arduous  but will be achieved.

That intuition endows us with confidence in our destiny. But what if its wrong? What if all along, we have not been ascending a peak but have been striding toward the abyss? What if our national story is one that ultimately ends in tragic, irreversible failure?

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Optimism can foster naivete and false hope. This is a moment when we need to give serious consideration to the plausibility of pessimism.

Anyone who has grown up in postwar America has been thoroughly schooled in the inevitability of progress. After the horrors of World War II, we achieved material plenty, renounced white supremacy, liberated women, won the Cold War and inspired the spread of free markets and democracy. The 21st century looked to be engineered for liberty, prosperity and peace.

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All this confirmed what Sen. Bill Bradley asserted at the 1992 Democratic convention: The United States is historys greatest experiment in the elimination of despair.

But is it still? The United States has been at war for 16 consecutive years. Terrorism has become a constant threat. We are still recovering from the worst economic meltdown since the 1930s. Around the world, democracy and human rights are embattled, and authoritarianism is gaining ground.

Were not immune from these trends. The rise of Donald Trump has both reflected and aggravated our own dark impulses. We have never had a president so opposed to fundamental American ideals, so contemptuous of truth and so intent on dividing the citizenry.

The governments traditional role in the economy is up for grabs in a way that would have appalled Ronald Reagan. In Trumps warped version of capitalism, corporations do the bidding of the president or suffer swift retribution. Though hostile to many core Republican principles, he has turned the party into his obedient servant.

Its tempting to believe he will destroy himself by bringing on impeachment or defeat in 2020. But neither is assured, and the elements that created Trump wont evaporate regardless. The bleak revelation is that many matters we believed were settled  such as the equality of blacks and women, the value of immigrants and the importance of a free press  are still contested.

We thought we found the answers for those issues. But maybe all we did was reach an accommodation that would prove unstable. Presented with a presidential candidate who pandered to racism, sexism and xenophobia, a near majority of the public was prepared to indulge his bigotry. His dishonest attacks on the news media elicited lusty cheers at his rallies.

Our institutions and political norms have proved more vulnerable than we thought. In electing Trump and enabling his abuses, we turned in a direction that leads toward a banana republic. We assume we can always turn around and find our way home. But a country that sets off on the wrong path sometimes finds that it has burned the bridges it would need to go back.

Just because we survived and overcame the Civil War, the Great Depression and the violent turmoil of the 1960s and 70s doesnt mean well come through this crisis. Plenty of marriages that weather numerous storms nonetheless end in divorce. Some damage cant be repaired  and sometimes its fatal effects can be seen only in retrospect.

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Ta-Nehisi Coates, author of We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy, was recently accused by Harvard professor and left-wing activist Cornel West of profiteering off fatalism. Coates is guilty only of shunning illusions. I was hugely influenced by poetry, he said in a November interview. Poets are not asked to be hopeful.

I am not here to embrace despair. Trump has spurred broad and passionate opposition, and his low approval ratings indicate he doesnt speak for most Americans.

But neither is despair an unreasonable state of mind. No nation or system lasts forever. Ours could have a shorter, grimmer future than we imagine, because of our own failures.

The late writer John Cheever once observed, The most wonderful thing about life seems to be that we hardly tap our potential for self-destruction. We may fully tap it yet.

Steve Chapman, a member of the Tribune Editorial Board, blogs at www.chicagotribune.com/chapman.

Download Recalculating: Steve Chapman on a New Century at chicagotribune.com/ebooks.

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schapman@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @SteveChapman13
Boebert continues to lead Frisch on final day of counting

The election is hovering within the threshold for an automatic recount. Here's the latest in the Colorado race between Adam Frisch and Lauren Boebert.
With the scope and penalties of Chinas social credit system being further clarified in 2021, legal and regulatory compliance has become more important than...
By Dezan Shira & Associates

Cross-border trade at Manzhouli, the Chinese city right at the borders of Russia and Mongolia, has exceeded RMB 200 million (US$30.5 million) this year, including about 45,000 tonnes of cargo. This brings the total turnover of its border trade zone to RMB 300 million since it started trial operation in June 2016.

Manzhouli, which is part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, also issued about 28,000 border resident identity cards and 113,000 visitor cards in 2017, according to officials within the zones administration committee. Most of those visitors were Russian traders, both buying and selling goods.

RELATED: Heading for the Borders: Trade Opportunities along Chinas Frontiers

At the border trade zone, each Chinese national possessing a border residence card is allowed to purchase duty-free goods worth up to RMB 8,000 (US$1,220) each day. More than 1,000 varieties of Russian goods are on sale at the border trade zone, and Russian residents also enjoy lower prices when purchasing Chinese goods there.

Manzhouli is Chinas largest land port, and connects Beijing directly with Moscow as a stop of the trans-Siberian rail route. It is also the home of the worlds only timber exchange, with Russian lumber being processed at many of Manzhoulis timber factories, many of them foreign owned. The exchange provides spot prices for Russian timber.



About Us China Briefing is published by Asia Briefing, a subsidiary of Dezan Shira & Associates. We produce material for foreign investors throughout Asia, including ASEAN, India, Indonesia, Russia, the Silk Road, and Vietnam. For editorial matters please contact us here, and for a complimentary subscription to our products, please click here. Dezan Shira & Associates is a full service practice in China, providing business intelligence, due diligence, legal, tax, IT, HR, payroll, and advisory services throughout the China and Asian region. For assistance with China business issues or investments into China, please contact us at china@dezshira.com or visit us at www.dezshira.com

Dezan Shira & Associates Brochure

Dezan Shira & Associates is a pan-Asia, multi-disciplinary professional services firm, providing legal, tax and operational advisory to international corporate investors. Operational throughout China, ASEAN and India, our mission is to guide foreign companies through Asias complex regulatory environment and assist them with all aspects of establishing, maintaining and growing their business operations in the region. This brochure provides an overview of the services and expertise Dezan Shira & Associates can provide.

Chinas New Economic Silk Road

This unique and currently only available study into the proposed Silk Road Economic Belt examines the institutional, financial and infrastructure projects that are currently underway and in the planning stage across the entire region. Covering over 60 countries, this book explores the regional reforms, potential problems, opportunities and longer term impact that the Silk Road will have upon Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the United States.

Russia-China Trade Corridor Volumes Push Ahead of EU Nations

In the aftermath of the United States pulling out of the planned Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, Russian President Vladimir Putin said this week that Moscow supports the idea of setting up a free trade area in Asia and the Pacific.

Dezan Shira & Associates
A long line of students stood outside a Beijing Normal University building on a recent winter's night. The young people braved the chill while waiting patiently to enter the venue for the start of a highly anticipated lecture. Outside of the campus, hundreds of thousands of viewers waited for the live broadcast of the lecture online.



The lecture, titled LIGO and Gravitational Waves: A New Way to Explore the Universe, was delivered on Dec 19 by two of this year's Nobel laureates from the United States: Rainer Weiss, a professor from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Kip Stephen Thorne, a theoretical physicist at the California Institute of Technology.

In September 2015, Thorne, Weiss and Barry Barish, a professor at the California Institute of Technology, discovered the first gravitational wave created by the collision of two black holes. The waves were predicted by Albert Einstein about 100 years ago.

In October, the three scientists were awarded the Nobel Prize in physics "for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves", said the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

On Dec 17, they were invited to Shanghai to receive the 2017 Fudan-Zhongzhi Science Award. The laureates shared the 3 million yuan ($455,000) prize for their contributions to the research on gravitational waves.

The award, jointly founded by Fudan University and Zhongzhi Enterprise Group in 2015, recognizes scientists who have made achievements in the fields of physics, biomedicine and mathematics.

According to the executive council that decides the winners, Weiss was given the prize for inventing the laser interferometer gravitational-wave detector that became the foundation for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory, or LIGO, which detected gravitational waves for the first time in human history.

Thorne was honored for creating research programs that modeled gravitational waves emitted by astrophysical processes and developed data-analysis methods. He also contributed to the formulation of fundamental concepts in the theory of quantum metrology.

Barish was awarded for leadership in the construction and initial operations of LIGO and the creation of the international LIGO Scientific Collaboration.

The scientists' findings and their research launched a new era of science, says Samuel Chao Chung Ting, a Chinese-American Nobel laureate and chairman of the award committee.

Their research also lays a solid foundation for black hole research, and has propelled the development of different science fields, including nuclear physics and astrophysics, says Ting.

The lecture in Beijing was hosted by the Future Forum, a nonprofit platform devoted to promoting science and scientists in China. It covered an array of physics topics, ranging from the introduction of the Nobel laureates' cutting-edge research to future LIGO improvements.

Weiss and Thorne also answered questions from the audience during the panel discussion moderated by Zhang Fan, an associate professor at Beijing Normal University.

Q&A

Rainer Weiss, US physicist and Nobel laureate

What would happen to the gravitational wave if it's fast enough to reach the edge of the expanding universe?

That depends a lot on what the real model of the universe is.

We have different models of the universe.

The one we now believe in the most is the one which is very depressing, the one which expands faster with time. What happens is the gravitational wave just gets weaker and weaker and weaker ... going out to infinity and there is no edge.

As a scientist, what do you want to say to the media and science communicators?

I like to communicate with people about science, especially young people because they get so excited if you explain it right to them.

If you don't use big words or a lot of mathematics, they grab it, and they really love it. When you explain to somebody how a rainbow works, with little reflections inside the drops, kids get intensely excited about that.

What I like is ... kids get enamored by what they have. Adults shouldn't lose that.

One of the reasons why it's fun to talk to kids and explain science to them is because you really open their eyes to something.

You experience so much more if you understand something. It's like somebody reads you a poem, and the words are there. If somebody explains to you what the poem really says, that makes the poem even more interesting.

I go to talk to high schools, grades schools and even talk to kindergartens. The more you can do that, the more likely they will go home and explain to their parents what they saw. Parents will get drawn in a little themselves. That's the way we are saving the world.

Kip Stephen Thorne, US theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate

Do you believe time travel is possible?

We have an educated guess based on a lot of calculations on the laws of nature that the probability to time travel is very small, but we are not sure.

The issue is there is a physical process, by which no matter how you make the time machine, the moment that it is activated, it will destroy itself.

The first thing that can travel through the time machine, go backward in time and return to where it started is light or vacuum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field or other fields in nature.

When we did the analysis, it looked to us that the explosion becomes sufficiently intenseyou work on such a small time scale that the laws of physics that are used to do the calculation break down. You have to switch to use the quantum gravity that we don't understand.

Stephen Hawking and I agree that we're not likely to get an answer until we have the laws of quantum gravity, which also controls the growth of the universe and controls what happens inside the black holes.

How important is science communication?

Our world has major problems and opportunities that are technological and scientific. Global warming is perhaps one of the most important issues. If we're going to solve these problems, it is necessary that we get an understanding of them and enthusiasm about solving them from a large fraction of the world population.

That means people need to understand scienceat least at the level of understanding that certain predictions are reliable and others are not, and knowing whom you can trust about scientific predictions and having some sense of how science is done.

We don't do well in educating the general population in America. I hope you do better in China.
French artist Timothee Dufresne has turned to Chinese characters to explore art.



His ongoing show at Yishu 8, a nonprofit and art space in Beijing, has installations on which some characters are painted and visitors can play word games by moving them around.

Dufresne has been in the city since September as part of a three-month-long art residency program hosted by the art space for Chinese and French artists. The annual program started in 2011.

"For a laowai (foreigner) like me, Chinese characters are like paintings and sketchesvery beautiful," says the 29-year-old artist from Paris.

All the characters at his exhibition have been painted on big wooden boards.

He produced them by first asking Chinese people he met in the streets, at parks and tourist spots to write different characters with ink brushes on paper, and then he painted them onto large boards, trying to make the characters look as close to their original handwritten forms as possible.

"Each character reminds me of the person who wrote it. To me, the writer and the character seem to share the same personality," says Dufresne, adding that the quality of handwriting didn't matter to him.

Chinese calligraphy stresses the movement of brushes as well as the color of inks, which is why it sometimes took him hours to paint a single character, he says.

He sees the characters as human body in motion. For example, an ancient character he photographed at a Chinese museum appeared to him like "a person walking".

Christine Cayol, founder of Yishu 8, says the young artist has provided "poetic perspective" to his work by trying to establish a connection between Chinese characters and the human body.

At the opening ceremony of his exhibition on Dec 9, Dufresne invited the audience to take part in a game of words by also dancing among the installations wearing masks he made for the show.

"I want to tell the stories of these characters," Dufresne says.

Each character has different parts. Separating or combining these parts create new things. He put the character of lin (forest) on the top of xi (dusk) and it became meng (dream).

"In this case, meng means night in a forest. That's an ideal place and time to make dreams," he says, laughing.

Some of Dufresne's previous works are also about word games, such as French and English letters. Occasionally he uses his own body as part of the works.

Before coming to Beijing, Dufrense knew little about Chinese culture or calligraphy, nor about the language. But his interest has grown during his stay in the capital. His passion for Mandarin and Chinese characters drove him to quickly master the language the best he could.

Zhang Qi, an employee at Yishu 8, says the artist loves to talk to local people. Sometimes he would talk to people for hours.

"People here are so nice. I hope I can come back soon," says Dufresne, who enjoys talking to elderly people in parks and with the younger generations on WeChat, a popular Chinese social networking app.

His art residency ends in December.

If you go

10:30 am-6:30 pm, through Jan 10. Yishu 8, 20 Donghuangchenggen Beijie street, Dongcheng district, Beijing. 010-6581-9078.
The significance of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) reaches beyond China to the global theater. China's development is impacting the world due to both the size and the success of the nation. Emblematic of China's development, beyond becoming a moderately prosperous society towards full rejuvenation, is its proposed notion of "building a community of shared future for mankind." This concept can represent the worthy goal of engaging the interest of the nations of the world that share China's implied definition for a shared future  strengthening society through economic stability, improving the lives of our children, ensuring that women and ethnic minorities enjoy greater access to leadership positions, taking steps towards repairing the damaged environment, and many others.

Leading this endeavor to build a community of shared future for mankind will require strength, fortitude, and courage. These are characteristics that have been portrayed by China's leadership over the past five years. Under the helm of the newly re-elected General Secretary of the CPC, President Xi Jinping, China is entering a new era where it will focus on building its strength. This refers not only to military strength but to the strength of its people and society. Efforts will address a reinvigoration of Chinese culture, thereby strengthening China's identity and that of its people.

Like the Jewish people, the Chinese have survived over 4,000 years of history, mainly due to their strong cultural identity. This is reflected even in the formation of the People's Republic of China where Marxism and Communism were infused with Chinese characteristics. From this firm sense of cultural history and tradition evolved a sense of purpose, such as building multi-lateral bridges between scores of nations through the Belt and Road Initiative. This mega-geo-economic initiative lays the foundation for building a community of shared future for mankind. Globalization, the internet, even cyber currencies are all contributing to the blurring of borders and the growth of interdependence among countries. Economic development has become synonymous with international trade.

The Belt and Road Initiative recognizes the need to increase cross-border economic development  literally building the roads, bridges, trains, tunnels, and ports that cross borders and are essential to facilitating trade. However, because the initiative is a multi-lateral economic concept with Chinese characteristics, it goes beyond just infrastructure. It stresses the importance of people-to-people communication, learning about each other's cultures and developing mutual understanding.

Whereas the Western approach to economics focuses on the bottom line, the deal, the contract, the Chinese approach is more holistic, looking at the larger picture. This has the potential to improve trade as well as cultural understanding and acceptance. Reaching such mutual understanding among peoples will not be without challenges. China itself faces obstacles that limit its ability to really understand the cultures that are so vastly different from its own  such as the deeply religious societies of the Muslim world and the very individualistic beliefs and traditions of the West. These vast cultural gaps will present formidable hurdles as China steps forward to take the lead in building a shared future for mankind.

The initiative is fashioned to lower those hurdles while motivating peoples of different backgrounds to work together for their mutual benefit. In fact, with his initiation of the program, President Xi took a bold step towards advancing an ancient Jewish concept  Tikkun Olam. This is the biblical vision for "repairing the world." Through the Belt and Road Initiative, President Xi succeeded in taking meaningful steps towards contributing to the improved lives of scores of nations across the world. The project by definition supports building a shared future. It gives the world a brilliant opportunity to bridge cultures and conflicts in the name of building a better life for the children of the world and a better world for the future of all.

At the same time, the success of the initiative and of building a shared future requires a true win-win for all the nations and peoples of the world. As a leader in this process, it will be incumbent upon China to work for the success not only of the Chinese but for all the countries participating in the project and beyond. This may require China to open more of its markets to foreign direct investment, as well as facilitate non-Chinese business growth at home and abroad. Building a shared future may also entail China taking on the traditionally Western role of engaging its military to actively support peace and stability in far flung regions. With the recent military reorganization carried out by President Xi, and the promise of a stronger Chinese military, managed by wise leadership, it is conceivable that China could become a great stabilizer within the international community. As a force for peace and harmony, China would have an important say in the success of building a shared future for mankind.

Thanks to the great success of the Chinese people and to decades of careful leadership, China has achieved miraculous success. The success of current achievements and those to come are becoming inextricably intertwined with the future of the world.




You are here: China

China will make more efforts in space remote sensing development in 2018 and prepare for the launch of Gaofen-7 high-resolution remote sensing satellite, said director of the National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation (NASMG).





The goal of the Gaofen series is to provide all-weather, 24-hour services covering the entire globe.





China will also promote the research and development of Ziyuan III 03 and 04 satellites in the new year, said Kuresh Mahsut, the director, at a national work conference on Tuesday.





Citing a national plan on civil space infrastructure (2015-2025), scientists said that seven cartographic satellites including Gaofen-7 will be used in updating maps, resource investigation, urban and rural planning, environmental protection and early warning of disasters.





China will improve its ability to deal with emergencies through surveying and mapping in three years, according to the NASMG.





In 2018, the NASMG will conduct basic, specific and city geoinformation survey and issue an annual report.





China's first national geoinformation survey was released in April this year, saying that China has a total of 7.56 million square kilometers of vegetation cover, and buildings cover 153,000 square kilometers.





As of Nov. 9, 2017, 28 provincial level regions had released reports on local geoinformation.




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Chinese police in 10 provincial-level regions have arrested 177 suspects in a telecom and online fraud case, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) said Tuesday.

The amount of money involved in the case exceeded 10 million yuan (1.52 million U.S. dollars), according to the MPS.

Bank cards, mobile phones, SIM cards and computers were confiscated.

Police in east China's Jiangxi Province investigating a telecom fraud in July discovered gangs illegally obtaining citizen's information from the Internet and extorted victims, said the MPS.

The public should be alert to fraud and call the police when receiving ransom calls, the MPS said.

The case is under further investigation.
Chinese President Xi Jinping's attendance at the 25th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting and his state visits to Vietnam and Laos from November 10 to 14 marked his first overseas trip after the 19th CPC National Congress, charting a new course for China's diplomacy with its own characteristics in the new era.

According to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Xi's talks during the trip are significant in three aspects. Firstly, he illustrated China's development path and broadened the international community's understanding and recognition of it. Secondly, his talks have charted the course of cooperation in the Asia-Pacific, and deepened mutual benefit and mutual trust among different parties in the region. Thirdly, Xi's visit has promoted the Chinese tradition of developing good-neighborly relations, and brought China-Vietnam and China-Laos ties closer.

China's Wisdom and Sense of Responsibility

President Xi'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. "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 underlined 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 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 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.

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.

Interconnected Neighbors

Developing ties with peripheral countries is a priority of China's diplomacy. Having similar paths of development with China, Vietnam and Laos are close to China geographically. Xi's visits are of special importance because China's relations with the two countries are of great significance in its neighborhood diplomacy.

China and Vietnam enjoy a time-honored relationship. Prior to his visit, Xi stressed the "comradely and brotherly" friendship between the two countries in a signed article published on Vietnamese media.

During his stay in the country, Xi specifically visited the former residence of late Vietnamese Communist revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh. Vietnamese leaders said the country will inherit and give full play to the traditional friendship between China and Vietnam, as well as support the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative.

The two leaders emphasized the active role of historical factors in shaping China-Vietnam ties, which were further confirmed by a joint statement issued on November 13. It's fair to say that remembering history is an important guarantee of the positive and healthy development of China-Vietnam relations.

The two leaders also witnessed the signing of a series of documents, including the memorandum of understanding on the construction of the initiatives of the Belt and Road and the Two Corridors and One Economic Circle, injecting new impetus to the future development and cooperation of the two countries. They also agreed to properly handle maritime issues and steadily promote maritime cooperation such as joint development in a bid to safeguard peace and stability in the South China Sea.

The signing of the agreements is a reflection of China's courage to face sensitive issues and its peripheral diplomatic principle of building friendships and partnerships with neighboring countries.

China-Laos ties set an example of good neighborliness and all-round cooperation between China and its neighbors. "When brothers are of the same mind, they have the power to cut through metal," President Xi said, using a Chinese proverb to describe China-Laos friendship. It is high praise for the relationship.

Leaders of the two countries agreed to accelerate the strategic alignment of China's Belt and Road Initiative and the strategy of Laos to transform itself from a landlocked to a land-linked country. They also agreed to jointly build a China-Laos economic corridor, and forge ahead with major projects such as the China-Laos railway, in a bid to better serve the people of the two countries.

In recent years, Laos has proactively supported China on regional affairs, playing a leading role in the synergy of development strategies with China. The China-Laos railway, which officially commenced at the beginning of 2017, is a tangible achievement of cooperation on interconnectivity between China and Southeast Asian countries.

In 2018, Laos will co-chair the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation, a dialogue and cooperation mechanism initiated by China and jointly established by five countries on the Indo-China Peninsula, including Laos and Vietnam.

The mechanism is expected to offer more assistance to these countries. As a major practice for China to benefit its neighboring countries with its own achievements, the mechanism will build a tranquil and prosperous neighborhood.

It is believed that China will progress with its neighboring countries toward more shared goals and at a more coordinated pace, and their cooperation will yield more fruitful results.
Alibaba [File photo]





In raising the bar for others in terms of economic management, financial discipline and technological innovation, China is gradually assuming the role of leadership in high-quality development taking commerce and industry to the next level.





Visionary leadership and rigorous effort are the main catalysts transforming China from a cheap and low-cost manufacturing market to an advanced economy.





Anchoring the world economy is a national resolve that has been truly reinforced by the thoughts of President Xi Jinping on socialist economy with Chinese characteristics in a new era. Recent events, including the 19th CPC National Congress setting the tone for ultimate development to 2025, and the recently concluded Central Economic Work Conference (CEWC), that critically reviewed yearly development performance and charted out the plan for 2018, put the maximum focus on scientific and technical endeavors.





In order to emerge as global leader, China has stepped up efforts to enhance the domestic content of world-class materials. Many years back, foreign content in the local market was quite high, but now is much lower. Through a strenuous struggle, the share of Chinese homemade products in the high-quality sector is about to reach at 40 percent and is targeted to reach 70 percent in future.





Materializing Xi Jinping's thoughts, a number of innovation centers are producing high-end equipment. Given the innovation-driving scenario, many smart manufacturing pilot cities, like Ningbo in China's coastal Zhejiang Province, use smart tools with cloud computing to meet international levels.





These innovation centers, planned to grow to more than 40 over the next seven years, reveal a future agenda of outperforming in high-tech technology, smart manufacturing and advanced new materials. China already has internationally-known Alibaba and Xiaomi as pragmatic examples for other firms to seek inspiration and progress on modern lines.





Determination to rise up as world leader on smart technology is so embedded that research and development spending is set to reach 1.26 percent of GDP soon.





In collaboration with National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and Ministry of Science & Technology (MOST), with in-depth contribution from other ministries, the target for Strategic Emerging Industries (SEI), now 8 percent, is planned to reach15 percent in 2020.





Meanwhile, the central government has been boosting financial assistance up to US$1.5 billion for those economic projects directly or indirectly linked with manufacturing innovation, including the Internet of Things, smart appliances and high-end consumer electronics.





Says Wu Hequan, academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering: "The financial funding is an indication of how China is working on economic restructuring and upgrading."





A collective study session of the CPC Central Committee's Political Bureau emphasized the need of fostering national big data strategy, revamping digital infrastructure improving integration and sharing of digital resources, and protecting data security.





Most of recent accomplishments in high-tech development provide encouragement that what is being dreamed of is never far from reality. Invalidating the predictions of doomsayers, China has made best strides, making the world sit up and take notice.





On scientific development, China surprised many when it rolled out its second aircraft carrier. Launching a complete China-made carrier for the first time, China showed it has reached a stage f no longer needing foreign input.





In aviation, a milestone has been achieved with the C919 twin-engine jetliner. China's first X-ray astronomical satellite, "Huiyan," made headlines when it was launched last June. This has helped China to keep pace with advanced countries in X-ray astrophysics and space science.





In the era of the bullet train, China has made breakthroughs by running trains between Beijing and Shanghai at an average speed of 330 kph, with its own technological craftsmanship. China has also mastered combustible ice mining technology by introducing Blue Whale 1, the ultra-deep-water semisubmersible drilling rig in the South China Sea.





According to the economic vision designed for 2025, high-tech development is part and parcel of economic management. It stresses quality over quantity, along with green development, cultivating human talent and optimizing innovation-driven manufacturing.





Experts believe that if China upgrades its industry, making it more internationally-competitive and integrated, it may reign supreme in the global production chain.





They underscore the need of implementing plans including new advanced information technology, automated machine tools & robotics, aerospace and aeronautical equipment, maritime equipment and high-tech shipping, modern rail transport equipment, new-energy vehicles and equipment, power equipment, agricultural equipment, new materials, biopharma and advanced medical products.





The writer is a senior journalist writing about the economy, diplomacy, international relations, governance and environment. He is a fellow of International Center for Journalist (ICFJ) and is aChina-friendly Netizen 2017. He may be reached at yaseerkhan@hotmail.com or @yasirkhann.





Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.




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Senior members of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Japan's ruling coalition, formed by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its coalition partner, Komeito, met in east China's Fujian Province from Dec. 25 to 26 to convene the seventh meeting of China-Japan ruling party exchanges mechanism.





The representatives discussed politics, the economy and people-to-people exchanges.

Song Tao, head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, said that ruling parties of the two countries should implement the important consensus reached by the two leaders, cement mutual political trust, properly handle the differences, enhance cooperation and reinforce people-to-people exchanges, so as to improve bilateral relationship and promote the ties to develop in a sound way.

Secretary general of the LDP Toshihiro Nikai, secretary general of Komeito Yoshihisa Inoue, and Sadayuki Sakakibara, chairman of the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren), agreed that the meeting was of great significance in advancing mutual political trust and helping improve bilateral ties.

The Japanese representatives said that they are ready to work with the Chinese side to strengthen cooperation and exchanges, so as to accumulate favorable conditions for the improvement of bilateral relationship.
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Foreign ministers from China, Pakistan and Afghanistan on Tuesday agreed to discuss ways to extend the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to Afghanistan.









"In the long run, through Afghanistan, we will gradually connect the CPEC with the China-Central and Western Asia Economic Corridor," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters after China-Afghanistan-Pakistan foreign ministers' meeting in Beijing.





As important neighbor of China and Pakistan, Afghanistan has an urgent desire to develop its economy and improve people's livelihood, and it is willing to integrate itself into the process of regional interconnection, said Wang.





"With regard to specific cooperation projects and ways of cooperation, we will determine through tripartite consultations on an equal footing," he said.





Improving livelihoods in border areas may be an entry point for the extension, said Wang, noting that the three parties agreed to promote wider connectivity under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.





The CPEC is a network of highways, railways, pipelines and optical cables, and a flagship project under the Belt and Road Initiative, currently under construction throughout Pakistan.





The 3,000-km-long corridor starts from China's Kashgar and ends at Pakistan's Gwadar, connecting the Silk Road Economic Belt in the north and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road in the south.





Wang said the CPEC has not targeted at any third party, but hopes to bring benefits to the entire region and become an important driving force for regional integration.





"The CPEC is an economic cooperation project and should not be politicized," he said, noting that it has no relationship with existing disputes in the region, including territorial disputes, nor should it be related.





As the first meeting of its kind since the three countries agreed to establish a trilateral dialogue mechanism in June, the foreign ministers' meeting aims for dialogue between Afghanistan and Pakistan and to reinforce trilateral cooperation in politics, economy and security.
You are here: World

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The British Royal Navy said Tuesday that its frigate had escorted a Russian warship as it passed through the North Sea waters.

The Royal Navy claimed in a statement that Royal Navy frigate HMS St Albans was called upon to sail on Dec. 23 and keep watch on the new Russian warship Admiral Gorshkov as it passed close to British territorial waters.

The British Type 23 frigate remained at sea on Christmas Day to monitor the Russian frigate, keeping track of its activity in areas of national interest, the document said.

British Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson said he will not hesitate to defend the country's waters.

The Royal Navy claimed the festive season "has seen an upsurge in Russian units transiting UK waters."

It said another of its warships, HMS Tyne, was also called to escort a different vessel, a Russian intelligence-gathering ship, through the North Sea and the English Channel on Christmas Eve.

Russia has not responded to the accusation, but the country's media reports said Admiral Gorshkov, a new guided-missile frigate, is still undergoing trials.

The convoys came days after British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson visited Moscow, which described the current state of Russian-British relations as "hardly satisfactory."

Relations between Britain and Russia have remained tense following the Ukrainian crisis. Bilateral ties have soured over the past years as the two countries have constantly accused each other of espionage.
You are here: World

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Turkish security forces on Tuesday arrested 12 people with suspected links to the Islamic State (IS) during anti-terror operations in the southern province of Adana.





The anti-terror police carried out simultaneous raids on several addresses in Adana, state-run Anadolu Agency reported, citing a police official.

Twelve suspects, including two Syrians, were detained during the operations.

According to Daily Sabah, the suspects were planning to carry out lone-wolf attacks during New Year's celebration using vehicles and knives.

Turkey has suffered several bloody attacks since 2015, including a New Year attack this year on an elite Istanbul nightclub during which 39 people were killed by an IS gunman.

The police have stepped up crackdown against suspected IS cells across the country.
 Flash

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani and Pakistani Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif held the 1st China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Foreign Ministers' Dialogue in Beijing on Dec. 26.

Afghanistan and Pakistan congratulated China on the successful conclusion of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and fully supported the initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping to build community with a shared future for mankind.





The three sides reaffirmed their commitment to improving their relations, deepening mutually beneficial cooperation, advancing connectivity under the Belt and Road Initiative, and fighting terrorism in all its forms and manifestation without any distinction. The three foreign ministers agreed to jointly work together on political mutual trust and reconciliation, development cooperation and connectivity, security cooperation and counter-terrorism as three topics of the trilateral cooperation.





The three sides reaffirmed that a broad-based and inclusive peace and reconciliation process, which is "Afghan-led, Afghan-owned", and fully supported regionally and internationally, is the most viable solution to end the violence in Afghanistan. In this regard, they call on the Afghan Taliban to join the peace process at an early date.





The three sides agreed to conduct win-win trilateral economic cooperation, with an incremental approach, starting from the easier initiative to the more difficult ones. The three sides agreed to continue economic development cooperation in areas of mutual interest, and expressed willingness to strengthen people-to-people contacts.









The three sides reiterated their firm resolve to fight the menace of terrorism. They expressed their strong determination not to allow any country, organization or individual to use their respective territories for terrorist activities against any other countries. The three sides agreed to strengthen counter-terrorism coordination and cooperation in an effort to combat all terrorist organizations and individuals without any discrimination. The three sides will communicate and consult on developing of the Memorandum of Understanding on Counter-Terrorism Cooperation.





The Afghan and Pakistani sides thanked the Chinese side for the successful holding of the 1st China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Foreign Ministers' Dialogue and its warm hospitality, and three sides agreed that the 2nd China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Foreign Ministers' Dialogue will be held in Kabul in 2018.
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Senior Chinese and Afghan military officials agreed Wednesday to strengthen cooperation on anti-terrorism and security.

While meeting Afghan Defense Minister Tariq Shah Bahrami, Xu Qiliang, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, spoke highly of the traditional friendship and effective exchange between the two countries.

Xu said China attaches great importance to bilateral ties and will support Afghanistan in defending its sovereign independence and territorial integrity.

He said China also supports Afghanistan in peace talks and reconstruction.

Bahrami said Afghanistan will firmly stick to the one-China principle and is willing to further cooperate with China in various fields.
The Hunan-Europe Express Line will begin operating a daily freight train service from Changsha in 2018, according to officials from the Changsha transportation bureau. Return freight journeys are planned two or three times a week.

The international rail line, which stretches nearly 12,000 kilometers, began operating in October 2014.

For its debut run, two cargo trains loaded with containers of Chinese premium products, including porcela in and tea, departed Xia'ning Railway Port in the provincial capital Changsha to travel directly to Duisburg in Germany and Tashkent in Uzbekistan, respectively.

An inland region, Hunan used to mainly depend on ocean shipping for its international transportation, but this was unable to meet the rapid development needs of the province's export-oriented economy, said Xia Zhaohui, general manager of Hunan Xiang Ou Express Co.

"The launch of the international express line helped break Hunan's development bottleneck," Xia said.

As an operator of several train lines heading to European countries, Xiang Ou Express has played an important role in promoting the province's international trade and logistics.

Its business involves various fields such as electronics, clothes, chemicals, engineering equipment, tea and red wine.

The company exports nearly 100 kinds of goods in over 10 categories, including liquid crystal display panels, microwaves, hammocks, wooden products, toys and oatmeal.

The Hunan-Europe freight train line has one main route and two sub-routes.

The main route starts from Changsha, leaves China through the Alataw Pass in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and passes through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus and Poland before reaching Duisburg in Germany.

It takes 18 days to complete the journey.

With less travel time and cost, an increasing number of Hunan companies have chosen the line to export their products.

The rail company said from October 2014 to October 2017, the line delivered a total of 23,000 TEUs (twenty-foot-equivalent units), of goods worth $1.18 billion.

This year, the line opened new regular routes from Changsha to Minsk in Belarus and Budapest in Hungary, and return routes from Hamburg in Germany and Budapest to Changsha.

(China Daily 12/27/2017 page15)
Taiyuan targets more startups and innovators ( chinadaily.com.cn ) Updated: 2017-12-27

The final for the 2017 international innovation and entrepreneurship competition takes place in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, on Dec 21. [Photo/sxrb.com]

An international innovation and entrepreneurship conference and competition targeting business incubators, startups and investors opened in Taiyuan on Dec 21.

The event hosted by Taiyuan government and China Center for Information Industry Development aimed to stimulate the market for innovation and entrepreneurship, attract more related projects to Taiyuan and offer industrial support for Shanxi province's economic transformation and upgrading.

Experts, startups, internet companies, business incubators, representatives of investment institutions and government officials attended the conference, discussing such topics as industrial innovation, and investment and financing, through the communication platform established by the conference.

An innovation and entrepreneurship competition was also held after the conference, attracting more than 100 teams and individuals from the Chinese mainland and 10 teams from Hong Kong, Macao and overseas areas.

Through the competition, the organizers intended to let startups in those regions learn more about the provinces environment for innovation and entrepreneurship and encourage them to bring groups, programs and businesses to Taiyuan.

Winners of the competition will enjoy bonuses and preferential policies in introducing and incubating projects which benefit the regional economy, according to the Taiyuan government.
Evangelical Christians Fear Knowledge, Are Dumbing Down Their Faith, Christian Author Claims Christian Post Contributor | 27 December, 2017 by Anugrah Kumar

Most American Christians today cannot respond to any question deeper than "Does God love everyone?" as they think such discourse should be reserved for theological universities, argues Colorado-based Ethan Renoe, who identifies himself as "an artist, traveler, and the Lord often speaks to me in poems."

There is a fear in evangelical Christianity of knowledge, Renoe claims in an article on his website, proposing two reasons behind that fear.

"People are scared that if they come to know too much, they'll be like the Pharisees and will just become haughty and judgmental to others, thus weakening their love for God; or they're afraid that they'll learn too much and go off the deep end of liberalism and swim in the risky waters of universalism and other heresies."

Renoe, who graduated from the Moody Bible Institute, says he has found that the more he learns about God, His Word, and "theology which describes Him, the more I can love and worship Him, because now there is that much more to adore and be amazed by."

He quotes Hosea 4:6, "My people are destroyed for their lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you."

Read more about Christian faith on The Christian Post.
Government Raid Revealed Baby Bodies Preserved in Warehouse

DETROIT, Dec. 27, 2017 / Christian Newswire / -- Government investigators found four bodies, appearing to be second-trimester infants, preserved in a Detroit cadaver warehouse owned by Arthur Rathburn. The raid was triggered by information showing that he had provided human organs with hepatitis and HIV instead of healthy tissue to paying clients in December 2013, according to Reuters . Rathburn has pled "not guilty" and is facing trial next month for defrauding both clients and donors. However, the indictment he is currently facing does not even mention the four prenatal bodies. Nor is it clear where they came from or who he was providing them to. The infants were lifted out of a brownish liquid, which documents indicated "included human brain tissue," according to Reuters, which included intentionally pixilated pictures because of their graphic nature in the report.

Liberty Counsel is calling for an investigation into how these babies were obtained by Rathburn. "Rathburn wasn't running a charity," said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. "It's possible these were aborted children. It is also very possible that the illegal profiting and trafficking of aborted human organs is much more widespread than the public knows. These four children deserve an investigation, and if they were among other aborted children who were sold for profit, those children deserve justice as well. We must end aborted organ trafficking and the first step is a detailed investigation," concluded Staver.

Some of Rathburn's bodies were provided by the Biological Resource Center(BRC), which received about 5,000 human bodies, usually those who wished to donate their bodies to science or those too poor to afford burial. Many donors were under the impression that the company would only take skin samples, but in reality, BRC butchered and sold about 20,000 human parts. Sometimes this included calling widows and pressuring them to amend the consent form to allow military or destructive tests on their loved ones, according to Reuters. Investigators discovered and seized more than 10-tons of human body parts still frozen in the BRC warehouse, which the company fought claiming their value was more than 1 million dollars. However, in total, Reuters' investigation uncovered more than 1,600 bodies have been "misused, abused or desecrated."

Two other companies, DV Biologics and DaVinci Biosciences, agreed to settle a lawsuit earlier this month for illegally selling baby body parts supplied by Planned Parenthood to pharmaceutical companies and schools across America as well as 10 countries, making millions of dollars in profit. The companies avoided further investigation and discovery by settling out of court. The companies were forced to pay $7.785 million, turn over more than $10,000 in laboratory equipment and storage containers, and pay $195,000 in civil penalties. Both companies must cease doing business in California. These companies created catalogs of baby body parts and even ran "specials" to sell to pharmaceutical companies and universities.

Liberty Counsel is an international nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989, by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics.


'Merry Christmas' Makes the SPLC's Hate List Contact: Mat Staver, Liberty Counsel , 407-875-1776, Liberty@LC.org



"The SPLC's idea that 'Merry Christmas' is a hateful, violent slur shows how far out of touch it is from reality," said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. "When the SPLC confuses a cheerful 'Merry Christmas' with an obscenity-laced rant threatening harm to a group of people, it loses all credibility," said Staver.



This is one of many inaccuracies and gross over-characterizations that can be found on SPLC's website. The SPLC makes wide generalizations and then seeks to harm those within its self-proclaimed classification of others. In a similar manner, the SPLC targets anyone who disagrees with them on issues related to the LGBT agenda. Then it claims civil disagreement as "evidence" for falsely classifying a peaceful organization as "hateful."



Liberty Counsel has compiled a



"As a pastor before becoming an attorney, my heart then and now is for hurting people," said Staver. "Liberty Counsel exists to help other people; we are a pro bono non-profit organization. We believe that every person is created in the image of God and should be treated with dignity and respect. In direct opposition to the SPLC's false campaign, Liberty Counsel believes in reaching out with kindness and truth to all Americans," said Staver.



In 2016, the Disciplinary Counsel in the Office of the General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice, under then-President Obama, sharply rebuked and reprimanded attorneys for employing the SPLC's "hate group" label to dismiss a conservative advocacy group. It stated that using the SPLC's map "overstepped the bounds of zealous advocacy and was unprofessional." It continued that such behavior is "uncivil" and "constitutes frivolous behavior and does not aid the administration of justice."



Liberty Counsel is an international nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989, by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics.

ORLANDO, Fla., Dec. 27, 2017 / Christian Newswire / -- The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) was caught "monitoring hate" by tracking its 12 top most hateful hashtags, which included: #merrychristmas, which ranks number two, #christmas at number three, #christmaseve at number five, #jesus at number eight, and #merrychristmaseve in the last slot. The SPLC is willing to lump anyone who says "Merry Christmas" or "Jesus" in with the most violent and racist groups in America. This is one more way that the SPLC is exposing its own radical, discredited, anti-Christian hate. View a snapshot of the tracker or visit its page now."The SPLC's idea that 'Merry Christmas' is a hateful, violent slur shows how far out of touch it is from reality," said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. "When the SPLC confuses a cheerful 'Merry Christmas' with an obscenity-laced rant threatening harm to a group of people, it loses all credibility," said Staver.This is one of many inaccuracies and gross over-characterizations that can be found on SPLC's website. The SPLC makes wide generalizations and then seeks to harm those within its self-proclaimed classification of others. In a similar manner, the SPLC targets anyone who disagrees with them on issues related to the LGBT agenda. Then it claims civil disagreement as "evidence" for falsely classifying a peaceful organization as "hateful."Liberty Counsel has compiled a comprehensive answer to SPLC's false name-calling of its non-profit Christian ministry and its pro bono work in the legal field. The SPLC continually grossly misrepresents and labels Liberty Counsel as a so-called "hate group." However, Liberty Counsel is not a "hate group" and hates no one. In addition to its many ministries, Liberty Counsel has a humanitarian relief program, and a prayer ministry."As a pastor before becoming an attorney, my heart then and now is for hurting people," said Staver. "Liberty Counsel exists to help other people; we are a pro bono non-profit organization. We believe that every person is created in the image of God and should be treated with dignity and respect. In direct opposition to the SPLC's false campaign, Liberty Counsel believes in reaching out with kindness and truth to all Americans," said Staver.In 2016, the Disciplinary Counsel in the Office of the General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice, under then-President Obama, sharply rebuked and reprimanded attorneys for employing the SPLC's "hate group" label to dismiss a conservative advocacy group. It stated that using the SPLC's map "overstepped the bounds of zealous advocacy and was unprofessional." It continued that such behavior is "uncivil" and "constitutes frivolous behavior and does not aid the administration of justice."Liberty Counsel is an international nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989, by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics.

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home World Christians continue to spread Gospel in Nepal despite conversion ban

Christianity has rapidly grown in Nepal over the last two decades despite the mainly Hindu country's strict laws against religious conversions.

The influence of Christian missionaries has been growing in Nepal, where Christianity is viewed by many as an escape from the deeply entrenched caste system.

According to Agence France Presse (AFP), Nepal was under the rule of a Hindu monarchy for over two centuries until it was overthrown in 2008. The country also has a strong Buddhist tradition, particularly in the mountainous north.

But in the remote Lapa Valley, many residents have converted to Christianity and the region is now said to be predominantly Christian.

One of the recent converts to the faith was Rika Tamang, who became a Christian after his mother fell ill and the family struggled to pay for animal sacrifices that were recommended by a local shaman.

"Whatever I had, I had to offer as a sacrifice to god. Once I converted to Christianity I didn't have to make sacrifices. I was relieved of that burden," said Tamang, who now serves as a pastor of his village in Lapa Valley.

A government census in 2011 has indicated that Christians make up less than 1.5 percent of Nepal's population of 29 million. Christian groups estimated that actual number could be more than 3 million and locals have noted that the census tended to classify people by the faith associated with their family name, which means that many converts were excluded.

The village of Richet, which is located in Lapa Valley, was one of the first regions where Christianity took hold.

After a powerful earthquake struck the region in April 2015, a group of South Korean and Singaporean missionaries turned up and surveyed the damage. A few months later, bags of cement arrived to repair the damaged church in the village.

Some have accused foreign missionaries of using aid to convert people in the impoverished country. Prashant Tamang, a community leader in the nearby village of Borang that has clung to its Buddhist heritage, lamented that the selective distribution of aid had created tensions between communities.

"Dispute arises sometimes when Christians pressure poor people to adopt their religion by helping them in the time of need," he told AFP.

Proselytizing has long been banned in Nepal, and a new criminal code will be implemented in August 2018, increasing the potential jail sentence for those convicted of the crime from three to five years. The new law also states that foreigners sentenced of the crime will be deported after serving their time.

Activists believe that the new criminal code was aimed at curbing the rapidly growing Christian community. They said that it bears similarities to Pakistan's strict blasphemy laws, which are often used to stir mob violence against minority groups.

Last month, Christian leaders submitted a petition to the government demanding that a new legislation banning religious conversion, signed by Nepalese President Bidhya Devi Bhandari in October, be struck down.

Some members of the evangelical community have expressed concern that the new law could be used against them.

"The church in Nepal is taught in a way that all believers are taking the commandment of Jesus Christ to go out and tell others about Jesus," said Tanka Subedi, a Kathmandu pastor.

"So there is quite a big risk that they may be arrested and given trouble, put in jail and also fined," the pastor added.
Ask the Fool

Who is buying and selling?

Q: The stock market rises and falls as stocks are bought and sold - but just who is doing all that buying and selling? - S.N., Fayetteville, N.C.

A: Many buyers and sellers are individual investors like us, placing small trade orders through our brokerages. There are also big institutional investors, such as mutual funds, pension funds, banks and insurance companies. And in recent years, high-frequency trading companies placing gobs of automated orders account for as much as half of the market's activity.

Stock prices fluctuate due to supply and demand. If a stock is in great demand, its price will rise. If it falls out of favor, there will be lots of sellers, and the price will keep falling until it hits levels at which there are buyers.

We small investors have a bit of an edge if we discover a small gem and invest in it early. When institutions eventually start buying in their usual huge quantities (they often can't get too involved with very small companies), they'll drive its price up, benefiting smaller, earlier investors.

Foolish Trivia

Name that company

I'm the product of a 1989 merger of two companies that traced their roots back to 1858 and 1887, respectively. One company's first product, a laxative mineral salt, was a best-seller. The other had the largest penicillin production plant in the world by 1943. Today I'm a pharmaceutical giant with annual sales topping $20 billion. My cardiovascular drug Eliquis, with sales topping $3 billion in 2016, has treated more than 5 million people globally, while my cancer drug Opdivo's 2016 sales approached $4 billion. I employ roughly 25,000 people and am based in New York City. Who am I?

Last week's trivia answer: Goldman Sachs

The Take

A baby boomer business

HCP (NYSE: HCP) is a real estate investment trust, or REIT, that owns and manages health care properties - particularly senior housing, life science facilities and medical offices. Over the past year and a half or so, HCP has been executing a transformation plan - spinning off its riskiest assets, paying down debt and reducing its reliance on its largest tenants - and as a result, the company is leaner and more focused, with excellent asset quality. Indeed, Standard & Poor's recently upped its credit rating for the company, citing a "positive outlook."

The ongoing retirement of the baby boomer generation is forecast to cause a surge in senior citizens, and HCP is now well positioned to take advantage of the expected growth in senior-focused health care over the coming decades.

HCP was the first health care REIT added to the S&P 500 index. It's a high-yield dividend stock, recently yielding 5.5 percent, and it has a reasonable payout ratio for its industry. HCP is investing in high-quality health care properties, growing responsibly, and generating a predictable and increasing income stream for shareholders.

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The Houston bar scene is full of personalities  bar stars, if you will. Each week in Preview, we'll feature one of these mixologists. Get to know the person behind the pour.

Know a bartender who deserves the spotlight? Email joey.guerra@chron.com.

Length of time working at current place?

Charlie Wells Castellano Find him behind the bar at: Cockpit Bar & Grill, 8101 Airport Hours: 4 p.m.-2 a.m. Monday-Friday, 5 p.m.-2 a.m. Saturday See More Collapse

Seven years as a bar owner. Bartender of 36 years.

Nickname?

Boss man, chief - how I'm addressed by drunk white boys, and I dislike it intensely.

Lamest pickup line you've heard at the bar?

"I don't usually do things like this, but "

Most famous person you've ever served a drink to?

Porn actress Alexis Texas. She was cheap. I guess having sex on camera isn't as lucrative as I thought.

Becoming friends with customers: yes or no?

Very selective, but definitely yes.

Most common customer complaint?

"You don't serve food, and you're called a bar and grill?" Tough, go to Hooters. Besides, food gets in the way of a real good booze buzz.

Song you've gotten sick of at work?

Where do I begin? Journey's "Don't Stop Believing," Garth Brooks' "Friends in Low Places," Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird." And anything from Jimmy Buffett or Blake Shelton.

What's the sloppiest, drunkest thing you've ever seen on the job?

Early in my bar career, a very drunk biker chick felt the need to show me her tattooed labia. I'm still scarred from this incident, but after years of intensive therapy, I'm finally recovering.

What's the most outrageous request you've ever gotten?

While employed at a swingers/fetish club, I was asked to serve a patron a drink from a dog food bowl. I refused.

Best tip you've ever received?

$250 on a $7.50 tab.

Where do you like to go have a drink when you're not at work?

I can usually be found at the Eagle Houston in Montrose or TGI Fridays on Fuqua.

What's your specialty drink, and how do you make it?

Sapphire Kamikaze on the rocks. If I told you, I'd have to kill you.

What's something your customers may not know about you?

My personality is somewhat of an acquired taste, not unlike fine French caviar or hepatitis C. But I guess I would have to say I'm a lot more fragile than what my crabby, geriatric, no-BS attitude and exterior might say.
Houston police have detained two males in connection with a house fire in north Houston.

According to the Houston Police Department, a call came through at 8:37 p.m. from a resident whose home was set on fire.
Barbara "Barbie" Taylor M.D., a retired obstetrician/gynecologist in Houston, has always dedicated her life to helping women, first during her time as a gynecologist, and now as her second career as "Menopause Taylor" educating women in various mediums about menopause.

Taylor attended Rice University in 1977 for undergraduate studies and then went to Baylor College of Medicine. She did her residency at Baylor in obstetrics and gynecology, and then eventually opened her own practice in the Texas Medical Center, which she ran until 2001. She was diagnosed with osteoarthritis, so she retired and sold her practice.

"I pursued my passion of menopause because it is so overlooked. This helps me to help women and not ignore the fact that I have to take care of my own body too," Taylor said.

Taylor believes that even though menopause is basically just puberty in reverse, no one talks about it enough.

"Obstetrics and infertility get more attention, and menopause is something that is a forgotten part of the life cycle for women. We keep living longer and longer, and we are spending about a third of our lives as menopausal women and yet people don't talk about it. Women are falling through the cracks. They really aren't learning facts and taking the time to equipt them with a tool kit to manage their lives," Taylor said.

Taylor has created nearly 100 videos about menopause on her YouTube channel, Menopause Taylor, which cover a range of topics from misconceptions, hormones, health and fitness. She also wrote a book, Menopause: Your Management Your Way ... Now And For The Rest Of Your Life She also holds two-day seminars (which can also be purchased on DVD) and does one-on-one consultations.

"I'm not trying to promote any one thing, any one product, but women should be able to know who they are and each women should be able to do what they want. She doesn't need fear and misconception," Taylor said.

Taylor continued, "I am also working on a mini version of the book and I am working on some apps. I am doing everything I can to give women everything they need, whether they want an in-depth or short version. My goal is to provide every educational resource possible.

Taylor considers herself to be a goofball, and will use the familiar to teach the unfamiliar to make it fun and understandable. Her aim is to explain medical lingo into layman's terminology. For instance, to explain the different types of hormones that a woman has, she uses the story of the three bears.

"Testosterone is papa bears. Estrogen is the mama bear's and progesterone is the baby bear's hormone. Progesterone is a very misleading thing. Progesterone is only there because you get pregnant. People are laughing when I explain this, but they also don't forget it," Taylor said.

According to Taylor, the main thing about menopause is that women lose estrogen, but people tend to think of it as a miserable and hard time of life. Women just need to be prepared for it.

"You need to do something to replace or compensate the estrogen. There are many different ways to do that, but the understanding of the need to do that is huge," Taylor explains. "There is a time frame that is critical. When your body loses estrogen, it starts aging. If you don't do something early, your body can go through so much aging that it can't handle the replacement. It's like a long-time vegan trying to digest meat."

Taylor hopes to turn women's negatives into positives and make the rest of their lives "the best of their lives."

"I knew I wanted to be a surgeon when I was five and loved every second. I never expected to have to retire early from severe arthritis. I was determined to overcome it and make sure I wasn't in a wheelchair. I have done for these women what I did with my arthritis. I want to revolutionize the way women think about menopause. People should feel comfortable with it and embrace it," Taylor said.

Information about Menopause Taylor, links to her YouTube videos and her books and DVDs, can be found online at https://menopausetaylor.me.
Houston's CenterPoint Energy will send crews to Puerto Rico in January, as part of a national effort to repair the island's power grid after Hurricane Maria hit this fall.

CenterPoint, which runs electricity and gas distribution for the Houston area, will send 68 em-ployees to Puerto Rico for six weeks to help repair the island's grid, much of which winds through rugged mountains with little or no road access after Hurricane Maria, according to CenterPoint.


Oil retreated from its highest close in more than two years amid low volume, as a pipeline carrying crude to Libya's export terminal was said to need a week for repairs following an explosion on Tuesday.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude futures slipped after the U.S. benchmark on Tuesday breached $60 a barrel for the first time since June 2015. A pipeline run by Waha Oil Co. that carries crude to Libya's Es Sider terminal exploded Tuesday, reducing output by as much as 100,000 barrels a day. The repair work will take about a week, according to people familiar with the situation.

Oil is heading for a second yearly advance as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies including Russia prolong supply curbs through the end of 2018. Prices gained this month after a separate pipe in the U.K. -- one of the most important conduits in the world -- was shut because of a crack. Partial flows have now restarted at the Forties Pipeline System's Kinneil facility, operator Ineos Group said.

"The market is having a counter-reaction to the jump yesterday," said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank A/S in Copenhagen. "It remains supported by the news out of Libya but at the same time liquidity is very poor."

West Texas Intermediate for February delivery was 45 cents lower at $59.52 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 12:34 p.m. in London. Total volume traded was about 32 percent below the 100-day average. Futures rose as high as $60.01 a barrel in the previous session, when volume was about 30 percent below the 15-day average of 1.1 million contracts.

Brent for February settlement lost 78 cents to trade at $66.24 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Prices climbed 2.7 percent to $67.02 a barrel Tuesday, the highest close since May 2015. The global benchmark crude traded at a premium of $6.70 to WTI.

Output in Libya, where oil fields have endured sporadic shutdowns and disruptions due to protests, power blackouts and fighting, earlier this year peaked at just over 1 million barrels a day, the highest level in four years. Any drop in production due to the blast that occurred 130 kilometers (81 miles) south of Sidra will ease pressure on OPEC-led efforts to drain a glut.

Separately, Saudi Arabia is said to expect oil revenue to jump about 80 percent by 2023 to help the kingdom record its first budget surplus in a decade. Under a six-year program to balance the budget, officials predict rising prices and expanded output will push Saudi income from oil sales to 801.4 billion riyals ($214 billion) from 440 billion riyals this year, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Oil-market news:

U.S. crude production is set to surpass 10.5 million barrels a day by the end of next year because of the growth in the Permian "super" Basin, Reed Olmstead, director for energy research and analysis at IHS Markit, said in a note. The U.S. imported about 114,000 barrels a day of gasoline in the week ended Dec. 21, customs data show; that compares with about 46,160 barrels a day a week earlier, which was the lowest since Nov. 2. Ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel traded in New York dropped 0.7 percent after closing on Tuesday at its highest since February 2015.
The piece: "Telepathic Improvisation"

The artists: Pauline Boudry / Renate Lorenz

Where: Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, through Jan. 7

Why: The transitional week between Christmas and New Year's can make it a challenge to find one's bearings. It's no longer quite this year, but not yet next year, either. What better moment to explore an art installation that imagines a world without temporal or physical boundaries?

"Telepathic Improvisation" puts viewers into a weird space from the moment they enter the CAMH's darkened downstairs gallery. The place looks almost empty save for a pair of huge wooden handcuffs suspended from the ceiling, a fringe-y wall made of black and blond wigs, a trio of white boxes and a gaggle of microphones on a rotating pedestal that make you wonder if you've missed a performance or should wait for one to begin.

These objects also appear as props in the film that plays on a wall in the middle of the room. So, hmmmm - are you a part of what's going on there?

The installation's name comes from the 1974 musical score by the late composer Pauline Oliveros that inspired the project. Oliveros directs musicians to stand on a stage and wait for mind-messages from the audience to determine what they will play. In the same vein, German artists Pauline Boudry and Renate Lorenz ask their viewers to close their eyes and project what they want to see happening onto the screen.

Rationally, you know you cannot change the 20-minute film. No matter what else you might will her to do, the blonde in the red jumpsuit will still roll onto the stage, as if being pushed by one of those white pedestals. She will still recite text from an article by Ulrike Meinhof, a militant who co-founded the terroristlike Red Army Faction in West Germany in the 1970s. (Boudry and Lorenz originally planned to name the show for a line of Meinhof's text that suggested not caring about the weather; but the artists could not turn Hurricane Harvey around, either.)

However, if you watch the film again, your experience of it will change: You're 20 minutes further into your life, and you know what is going to unfold on the screen.

"One of the things that moves me is this moment of imagining what kind of future you want to see," CAMH curator Dean Daderko said during a recent talk with the artists.

Boudry and Lorenz hint at a continuum by using historical political and cultural material, even down to things referenced in the props. They adapted the hanging handcuffs from William Friedkin's 1980 thriller "Cruising," about an undercover NYPD cop hunting down a serial killer of gay men. The motorized units reference a 1966 solo by choreographer Deborah Hay, who was echoing Robert Breer's automated "float" sculptures. There's even some fun woo-woo in the casting: The blonde is the American performance artist MPA, who staged her own spacey show in these same galleries last year.

"Telepathic Improvisation" was filmed in New York last February, as the U.S. government was enacting its first Muslim travel ban. Well before that, Boudry and Lorenz were concerned by growing right-wing movements across Europe.

Halfway through the film, the camera becomes menacing, revealing the action from the perspective of a surveillance drone - but only briefly. As if a viewer, herself in the act of watching, could will the machine to go away.
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The Laredo Police Department issued a statement Friday regarding the ongoing investigation into local social media sensation and citizen journalist Priscilla "La Gordiloca" Villarreal for her alleged misuse of official information.

In their statement, LPD said they are determined to protect and serve the community with a commitment to professional and courteous service.

"Part of that commitment is the fulfillment of protecting everyone's rights under the law, especially to the right of freedom of speech," LPD's statement reads. "Additionally, there is also an obligation to the protection of a person's right to privacy as it relates to sensitive information."

RELATED: Locals react to the arrest of 'La Gordiloca'

Police accused Villarreal of soliciting or receiving information from an LPD cop in order to obtain a benefit. LPD also said the information provided to her had not been made public.

"As a law enforcement agency we are privileged with sensitive information which (relates) to criminal investigations and (citizens') private affairs ... we are also entrusted to properly handle the appropriate disclosure of such information under the law, LPD's statement says.

Police described the criminal investigation as open, fluid and ongoing. They said all the evidence and information regarding the case will be turned over to the Webb County District Attorney's Office for review and evaluation upon completion of the investigation.

LPD's statement comes after public interest in Villarreal's case has gained significant traction with multiple national print and online news outlets reporting on it.

Multiple media law experts and attorneys have said the charges against Villarreal were on shaky legal ground and could be construed as a violation of her First Amendment rights.

READ MORE: Undocumented mother charged with capital murder after allegedly suffocating baby in S. Texas, report says

Villarreal remains a divisive figure in the community. Her large social media following has created a schism in public opinion with some online supporters deeming her as "the face of Laredo" and detractors remaining skeptical of her intentions and actual contributions to the community.

Charges and arrest

Villarreal, 32, was arrested Dec. 13 after turning herself in to police at LPD headquarters.

She was charged with two counts of misuse of official information, a third-degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. State law says the offense is committed when a person, with the intent to obtain a benefit, solicits or receives from a public servant information that has not been made public.

"(Villarreal's) access to this information (from a Laredo police officer) and releasing it on 'Lagordiloca News Laredo Tx' before the official release by the Laredo Police Department Public Information Officer placed her 'Facebook' page ahead of the local official news media which in turn gained her popularity in 'Facebook,'" states the criminal complaint filed against Villarreal.

Villarreal went live on Facebook the night prior to her arrest to tell her followers about her two outstanding warrants.

MORE ON LMTOnline.com: Man who fired round after argument with wife found near four empty liquor bottles, LPD says

She said in the broadcast that the charges were untrue.

Officer involved

LPD had previously confirmed that Officer Barbara J. Goodman, who has worked as an LPD patrol officer for 19 years, had been placed on administrative reassignment due to allegations that she provided Villarreal with information that had not yet been made public.

Police said she'll remain on administrative reassignment pending the outcome of the internal and criminal investigations into alleged misuse of official information.

LPD began investigating the case July 10, when its Office of Professional Standards received information stating that Goodman had been communicating with Villarreal, the affidavit states. The document says that some of the information published by Villarreal on her Facebook page was not available to anyone outside of law enforcement.

Investigators obtained subpoenas for Goodman's and Villarreal's phone records. Police said they discovered that the two "contacted each other on a regular basis and on specific dates that coincide with law enforcement activities."

Villarreal, after receiving information, would go live on Facebook to report details of an incident that were not public at the time, the arrest affidavit states. During one broadcast, Villarreal made a phone call with the device's speaker turned on. The woman who answered the call said, "Mande," records state. That salutation sounded familiar to one investigator.

"(The investigator) is familiar with Officer Barbara J. Goodman's manner of answering the phone and is aware that Officer Goodman answers by saying 'mande' instead of the usual salutation of 'hello,'" the complaint states.

READ MORE: Media law experts say Gordiloca's arrest violated her First Amendment rights

A review of the phone records showed that Goodman and Villarreal called each other over 500 times between Jan. 1 and July 26, according to the affidavit.

When investigators confronted her, Goodman denied disseminating information to Villarreal and requested an attorney before answering further questions.

One case detailed in the criminal complaint was the death of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture supervisory program manager, who jumped from the flyover of Loop 20 and Interstate 35 in April. Goodman allegedly provided Villarreal with information about the incident that was not public at the time, the complaint states.

Sergio Lozano, Villarreal's attorney, said his client denies the allegations.
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It was a discarded cigarette butt that led to the arrest of the Baytown man charged with capital murder in a brutal 2016 Mother's Day stabbing and sexual assault.

Byron Lloyd Collins was collared last week, more than a year and a half after the slaying, but police said Wednesday they still have no idea what motivated the bloody attack on Nataliya Shal.

When authorities picked up the accused killer three days before Christmas, they found him in the same West Baker complex where the mother of one was murdered the year before. Now, he's in jail with no bail, and prosecutors haven't ruled out a death sentence.

"We take these cases very personally simply because we understand how important they are to the victims and their families," Baytown police Lt. Steve Dorris told reporters. "This is one of those cases where the pieces of the puzzle all kind of fall together."

Now Playing: It was a discarded cigarette butt that led to the arrest of the Baytown man charged with capital murder in a brutal 2016 Mother's Day stabbing and sexual assault. Video: Keri Blakinger, Houston Chronicle

A trove of genetic evidence from the scene, a brother with DNA in the system and timely training on lab techniques all coalesced to net an arrest, authorities said.

Police uncovered the crime on May 8, when Shal's husband, who was out of town, called to request a welfare check after the 50-year-old stopped answering her phone.

Officers who went by the couple's home that night at the Lakes of Madera Apartments peered through a window and spotted Shal's lifeless body in a pool of blood.

Not realizing the apartment was unlocked, police kicked in the door and found the mother of one with multiple stab wounds in her back, prosecutors later said in court.

For months, though, the investigation stalled. Authorities tested DNA from the scene, but it wasn't in the system.

In October a witness surfaced offering a description of a man seen talking with Shal at the complex the day of her death. A sketch artist worked up an image of the man, then identified only as a person of interest and not a suspect.

Crime Stoppers put out a $25,000 reward, but it still failed to turn up any substantial leads.

It wasn't until early 2017 when investigators attended a meeting about Combined DNA Index System - better known as CODIS - that they started making steps toward a breakthrough.

There, they found out about the possibility of using familial DNA testing to help identify suspects not already in police databases.

So in June, investigators sent off evidence in the case for testing - and got a hit. The killer was still unidentified, but police realized his brother was already in prison and had DNA in the system.

"That in and of itself doesn't really get us anywhere," Dorris said. "It's just a tool, something to point us in the right direction to get us started."

Then, authorities used a process of elimination to figure out which family members could be suspects. In the end, they zeroed in on Collins. Even though his only priors were misdemeanors, he matched the earlier sketch - and sometimes stayed with family at the victim's apartment complex, Dorris said.

After surveilling the 29-year-old, police picked up a discarded cigarette butt and sent it off to the lab. On Dec. 18, it came back as a match to the crime scene DNA, according to police. Four days later, authorities arrested Collins.

Police questioned him, but "he didn't just outright confess," Dorris said. "Why he decided to do what he did, we just don't know."

Police and prosecutors met that day and decided to pursue a capital murder charge.

Afterward, they called Shal's husband of nine years to give him the news.

"He was extremely grateful, very gracious, very grateful," Dorris said. "I think he really believes in the system, he believes in the process that we go through in these cases."

Ruben Perez with the Harris County District Attorney's Office, praised the inter-agency cooperation that led to the arrest.

"The defendant is now behind bars and charged with capital murder, the most serious charge in our criminal justice system," he said. "We at the district attorney's office have asked for no bond and the court system has agreed with us."

Collins doesn't appear to have an appointed attorney yet and is due back in court Thursday morning.

Perez wouldn't speculate on whether the district attorney's office would seek a death sentence, but said that a committee of senior prosecutors will make that decision sometime after an indictment.

"Now that we do have his DNA," Dorris said, "we'll be interested to see if there's any other cases he's linked to."
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H-E-B is moving back in to the neighborhood.

When Hurricane Harvey claimed the H-E-B at the corner of South Braeswood and Chimney Rock, Meyerland residents lamented losing their local store.

According to a news release, H-E-B has finalized an agreement with Fidelis Realty Partners to develop a 95,000 square foot, two-story location in the northwest corner of Meyerland Plaza.

The new store will house a parking structure, BBVA Compass Bank and an elevator vestibule on the lower level, with shopping situated on the second floor which will be connected to neighboring JC Penney via a sky bridge.

The new store is replacing the much-smaller 19,000 square foot store which closed after Harvey flooded the area.

"H-E-B is committed to Meyerland and stands by this community as it rebuilds from Hurricane Harvey's devastating floods," said Cyndy Garza Roberts, H-E-B Public Affairs, Houston. "We look forward to serving our Meyerland neighbors in a bigger and better way."

The bad news is that area residents are expected to wait until 2019 to begin shopping at the new store.

Construction will begin in the first quarter of 2019 with completion scheduled for the fall of that year.

"We will build a store that caters to the needs of the Meyerland community and we look forward to being a part of the neighborhood's next chapter of growth," added Garza Roberts.

At this time, H-E-B has committed to including a:

Kosher bakery.

Meal simple offering.

Sushi.

Cooking Connection.

Blooms.

Large beer and wine department.

For more information about H-E-B, visit heb.com.
A man has been charged with murder in Fort Bend County in the slaying of a 56-year-old man in Briargate, the Houston Police Department said Wednesday morning.

Houston police said 52-year-old Darrell Holmes shot and killed Terrance Hamilton, 56, on Dec. 21 in the 15500 block of Gateview Lane.
GENNA MARTIN/SEATTLEPI.COM

Police have identified the man gunned down Tuesday in front of a north Houston business, though the killer is still at large.

Sherroin Brentley was sitting in the driver's seat of his car in a parking lot in the 8300 block of Veterans Memorial when an unidentified man opened fire just after 2 p.m., hitting the 38-year-old and his vehicle repeatedly.
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A veteran living with post-traumatic stress disorder is selling an American flag he says was strapped to the last American convoy out of Iraq.

Marion Church, a former specialist with the 1st Cavalry, told Chron.com he's been attempting to work toward a degree - in hopes of eventually becoming a pediatrician - since he got out of the Army in January 2015. However, dealing with PTSD forced him to withdraw from school.

Church said the cycle of enrolling and dropping out to deal with his illness has strained his finances through the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.

COFFEE AND AMMO: Coffee shop for gun enthusiasts, veterans is coming to the Woodlands

"I completely misunderstood how hard it'd be," Church told Chron.com. "As of right now, because I've withdrawn from school, the VA is taking a third of my total compensation. I've got rent, electricity and all kinds of bills and I don't have enough to cover it."

To help cover his living expenses, Church is selling his flag for $1,200, one of his cherished possessions from his service. According to the listing, which was posted on Craigslist Christmas Day, Church had two flags that were tied "to a PVC pipe and strapped that to the backside of my turret. I flew those flags from COB Adder, Tallil, Iraq all the way to the Iraq-Kuwait border, also know as 'K-Crossing' on the very last convoy out of Iraq."

Now Playing: A spotlight is being placed on the heroes out of Ford Hood as the fight for survival by the 1st Calvary Division during the Iraq War is being brought to life in a new National Geographic mini series. FOX 7's Ashley Paredez has more. Video: Fox7

Church also says in the post that he was "medically retired after a gunshot wound to the legs and being diagnosed with PTSD. I was bummed but I saw it as an opportunity to get a head start on my academic career and the long process of becoming a child abuse pediatrician."

NOT FORGOTTEN: Texas veteran gets over 70k texts after heartbreaking viral Facebook post

Due to his PTSD however, Church told Chron.com that he hasn't been able to get very far in his studies. The cost of dealing with his PTSD and dropping out of school has racked up debt. Church says he is now facing eviction.

"I filed for an increase through the VA and they said it could take up to 20 days to be approved for an emergency grant," Church said. "Selling this flag would give me the ability to get out of the eviction and hold me over until everything goes through with the VA. I don't really want to sell it though, it's a very important part of my life."

Church's plan is to move back to North Carolina early next year so he can be closer to family and continue to focus on coping with PTSD.

According to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, about 8 percent of the U.S. population experiences PTSD at some point in their lives, regardless if they were in the military. The department also said about 8 million adults in America have PTSD in any given year.

HELPING VETS: One man's mission is to help Houston-area veterans find work

Laura Marsh, chief of mental health programs at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, said getting early help for people with PTSD is critical.

"Some people may need medication, some people can get by with psychotherapy treatment," Marsh said. "PTSD is a tremendously treatable condition."

Church also encouraged people with mental health concerns to seek treatment as soon as they can, even if they aren't a veteran.

"If you are experiencing any type of mental problems, reach out, don't hesitate," Church said. "Mental wounds are just as real and as harmful as physical ones."

Veterans dealing with mental health issues can contact the veteran crisis line at 1-800-273-8255 or the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center at 713-791-1414.

Will Axford is a digital reporter for Chron.com. Read more of his stories here and follow him on Twitter.
Now Playing: A topless activist from the feminist group Femen tried to snatch the statue of baby Jesus from the Nativity scene in St. Peters Square on Monday but was stopped by police as she tried to grab it. The incident happened about two hours before Pope Francis delivered his Christmas message to the people in the square. A Reuters photographer said the woman jumped over the guard rails and rushed into the Nativity scene shouting God is woman. She had the same slogan painted on her bare back. A Vatican policeman stopped her in the act and detained her. An activist of the same group staged a similar action on Christmas Day 2014 but managed to take the statue out of the crib before being arrested. The goal of the Femen, which was founded in Ukraine is complete victory over patriarchy. Video: Euronews

A topless woman from an activist group tried to escape with a baby Jesus statue at the Vatican on Christmas Day.

According to Euronews, the topless woman is from the feminist group Femen who "considers the anti-war policy of the Vatican a rough medieval attack on the freedom of women and their natural rights."
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Town in City Brewing is branching out.

The Heights neighborhood brewery's first batch of cider - semi-dry, 6 percent alcohol by volume - went on sale in the taproom on West Cavalcade earlier this month. Founder Justin Engle plans to begin packaging it in cans and bottles for wider distribution, perhaps as early as next summer.

He and cider maker Brandon Baldridge sat down on a recent morning to talk about the year-plus effort to get the venture off the ground, as well as the challenges Hurricane Harvey posed for the local beer industry.

After a lengthy startup period, Town in City began selling such beers as Mosquito's Revenge pale ale and City Porter on Aug. 1, 2015. The list has grown to about a half-dozen mainstays, plus seasonals and special releases.

More Information Town in City Brewing Co. Address: 1125 W. Cavalcade Taproom open: Wednesday-Sunday Hours, more information: townincitybrewing.com See More Collapse

Engle says the long-term plan always included cider.

He hired Baldridge in September 2016 after meeting him through a fellow Colorado School of Mines alum. Baldridge brought cider-making experience from Colorado; in Houston, he's been primarily making beer and doing other work around the brewery while Engle secured the necessary licenses.

Baldridge uses cold-concentrated apple juice from the Pacific Northwest and such ingredients as rosemary honey he picked up on a recent trip to Portugal. He plans to make drier, less sweet ciders that should appeal to beer drinkers.

"This is about as sweet as we'll ever make," Baldridge said over a sample glass from the initial batch.

Engle thinks the local cider market, particularly for Houstonians with a European background, is "underserved." He sees growth potential in studies showing cider accounts for about 10 percent of the beer/cider market in the United Kingdom, compared with just 4 percent in the U.S. He also wants to make Town in City more inviting to customers' friends or significant others who, for reasons inexplicable to Beer, TX readers, might not be wild about beer.

Engle is looking to raise $500,000 to $800,000 over the next three to six months for tanks, packaging lines and other equipment upgrades. He's also looking to lease a separate building for the cider operations.

That effort comes at a challenging time, post-Harvey. As Engle monitored the storm's approach in late August, he delayed malt orders and put off brewing to minimize losses should the brewery flood or the power fail.

Though Town in City was spared, the malt warehouse it depends on did flooded. Transportation disruptions worsened delivery problems. Plus, Engle said, about 40 of his 250 accounts closed during the storm, and 22 of them have notified him that they will not reopen.

As a result, sales fell by half in August, "at least a third" in September and about a quarter in October.

"We started seeing some uptick in November," he said. "I'm kind of cautiously optimistic."

Adding cider should give local beer fans another reason to check out Town in City.
WASHINGTON - The enormous magnolia tree stood watch by the South Portico of the White House for nearly two centuries.

Its dark green, glossy leaves shaded politicians and heads of state.

Its ivory flowers bloomed through times of peace and war.

It is the oldest tree on the White House grounds, a witness to Easter egg rolls and state ceremonies, a resignation, a plane crash, all the tumult and triumph of 39 presidencies.

But the iconic magnolia is now too old and badly damaged to remain in place, the White House announced Tuesday.

At the recommendation of specialists from the National Arboretum, first lady Melania Trump called for a large portion of the tree to be removed this week.

The decision, first reported by CNN, comes after decades of attempts to hold the aged tree up with a steel pole and cables. Arboretum experts said that rigging is now compromised and that the wood of the magnolia's trunk is too delicate for further interventions. Any other tree in that condition would have been cut down years ago.

But this is not any other tree. According to White House lore, the stately evergreen was brought to Washington as a seedling by Andrew Jackson. The magnolia was a favorite tree of his wife, Rachel, who had died just days after he was elected. Jackson blamed the vicious campaign - during which his political opponents questioned the legitimacy of his marriage - for his wife's untimely death.

The tree became a fixture in White House events. Herbert Hoover reportedly took breakfast and held Cabinet meetings at a table beneath its sprawling branches. Franklin Delano Roosevelt spoke with Winston Churchill in its shade. Richard Nixon strode past it as he left the White House for the last time after his resignation. In 1994, a Maryland man piloting a stolen plane clipped the tree before suffering a deadly crash against the White House wall. And for decades, the magnolia was featured on the back of the $20 bill.

According to White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham, the first lady requested that wood from the magnolia be preserved and seedlings be made available for a possible replanting in the same area.
The summers final Live on the Waterfront concert was held Wednesday evening at Prince Arthurs Landing. The popular series in Thunder Bay has completed nine weekly shows that began on July 13. Wednesdays concert was unique as it was held one hour later in the evening to mesh with the 10 p.
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BEREA, Ohio -- Joining with municipalities across the state, Berea city officials oppose the Ohio House Bill 49 directive that places net profit income tax collection in the state's hands. Berea currently collects them through the Regional Income Tax Agency, which negotiates a collection fee.

Director of Law and Public Safety Barb Jones told city council at its Dec. 18 meeting legal action is underway.

"We've joined as a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the state legislature in seeking to declare this (legislation) unconstitutional," Jones explained. "It infringes on our home rule ability to collect our own income taxes. There are other cities in counties across the state engaged in lawsuits against the state on the same grounds."

An ordinance municipalities must pass in adopting the new net profit income tax collection process was read in title only during its first public reading before council.

"The state requires we adopt these sections of the Ohio Revised Code by Jan. 31," she said, adding financial penalties otherwise will be imposed. "We're hopeful a temporary injunction will be issued to prevent the law from being enforced Jan. 31, which would make this legislation moot."

If an injunction is not granted, city council will adopt the legislation but have "qualifiers in it stating that in the event it is declared unconstitutional, it would be null and void," Jones said.

"Our counsel is fairly confident it will eventually be declared unconstitutional, whether or not we get an injunction," she said.

Under the new state requirement, Director of Finance Dana Kavander said the state would take a non-negotiated fee from the city's net profit income tax returns before returning the remainder to Berea within no particular timeframe.

"We don't have any bargaining in terms of what we're paying for those services, and they're taking our money and earning interest on it," Kavander emphasized. "We would still need to have RITA because we would still need to collect the individuals' (tax returns)."

Corporations would have two options in paying their net profit income taxes, she said.

"Some will be going to RITA, some will be going to the state" Kavander said. "That's kind of the mishmash of what we're dealing with right now."
CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Producing both halves of the important and influential play "Angels in America" is a big undertaking, but the people at Cleveland Heights' Ensemble Theatre are ready to face the task head on.

"It's an American classic," said the play's director, Celeste Cosentino, who is also Ensemble's executive artistic director. "And, it's now come of age."

Tony Kushner's two-part examination of AIDS and homosexuality debuted in San Francisco in 1991, and then on Broadway two years later.

It features a cast of eight actors playing a total of 21 roles. Several story lines develop during the course of the approximately two-and-a-half-hour performance, some of which intertwine.

Set in the 1980s Ronald Reagan-era, the play opens when a gay man is abandoned by his lover upon his AIDS diagnosis. Another plot line involves a Mormon lawyer's marriage to a pill-popping wife. The lawyer is gay, but having been brought up a Mormon, he does what is expected of him and marries a woman.

Such developments, and others that follow, have characters doing a lot of self examination.

"It's steeped in mysticism," Cosentino said of the play she admires. "And questions arise like, 'What do you fear mostin life?'"

Actor James Rankin, whose credits include work at the Cleveland Playhouse, Great Lakes Theater and Cleveland Public Theater, plays Joe Pitt, the Mormon lawyer who knows who he is gay and, at the same time, who the world wants him to be.

The story's complexity has brought challenges to the actors,

"There are times I can't figure out where he's coming from," Rankin, of Cleveland Heights, said of Pitt. "I have to define my character, but there are things he does that I don't agree with."

Rankin came up with a couple of questions of his own while rehearsing for "Angels In America."

"It asks, 'How far are people willing to fight for each other?' It also asks, 'How far do you allow yourself to be pushed before you make yourself a priority?'"

Jeffrey Grover, one of two Equity Actors in the production, along with Derdriu Ring, a native of Ireland, plays the part of Roy Cohn. The late Cohn is a real-life character, a one-time famed New York lawyer, whose life is fictionally made part of the play.

"He's from the Joe McCarthy era," Grover said. "His claim to fame was getting the death penalty for Julius and Ethel Rosenberg." Cohn also represented future president Donald Trump in the '80s.

Cohn is portrayed in "Angels in America" as a closeted gay, as rumors of his homosexuality were well known. He contracted AIDS, from which he died in 1986, but told the outside world that he had cancer.

Grover read two books about Cohn while preparing for his role.

"I didn't expect to like him," Grover said of Cohn. But learning about Cohn and playing him has changed Grover's mind.

"I'm finding that I'm falling in love with this guy," said Grover.

Grover has found that Cohn's is a complicated story. Cohn's difficult relationship with his mother and father, and dealing with his Jewish heritage created conflicts within the man.

Grover lives in Cleveland Heights and New York City. While in New York he acts on stage and played parts in the recently filmed movies "Galveston," with Ben Foster, and "I Feel Pretty," with Amy Schumer.

His son, Jeremy, 30, died suddenly in August, leading Grover to dedicate his performance as Cohn, and all future performances, to his son.

Ensemble Theatre is presenting the first part of "Angels in America," titled "Millennium Approaches," Jan. 5-28. It will perform the second part, "Perestroika," April 27-May 20.

Productions of both parts are supported in part by the residents of Cuyahoga County through a Cuyahoga Arts & Culture grant.

From January through May, several events will take place pertaining to "Angles in America" and its messages. There will be talk backs, panel discussions, free play readings, poetry slams and other events. These events will be listed on Ensemble Theatre's website.

"('Angles in America') talks about so many things that are relevant today," Cosentino said. "Health care, a (conservative administration), gay issues. There are a lot of parallels to today. It has become known as a classic."

Ensemble Theatre will present "Angels in America: Part One -- Millennium Approaches," as part of its "We The People"-themed season, at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and at 2 p.m. Sundays, from Jan. 5-28 at the Coventry P.E.A.C.E. Campus, 2843 Washington Blvd. in Cleveland Heights. Tickets cost $12-$25, with senior, student and group discounts available. Call 216-321-2930, or visit ensembletheatrecle.org.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Threats to the U.N. made by U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley and President Donald Trump over Jerusalem are unwise.

Haley warned the U.S. would be "taking names" in advance of the General Assembly voting 128 to 9 on a resolution to condemn President Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capitol of Israel and move the U.S. embassy there.

On Facebook and Twitter, Haley posted the following statement:

"At the UN, we're constantly asked to do more and give more -- in the past we have. So, when we make a decision, at the will of the American people, about where to locate OUR embassy, we don't expect those we've helped to target us. On Thursday, there will be a vote at the UN criticizing our choice. And yes the US will be taking names.."

During a Cabinet meeting Wednesday, Trump echoed Haley's warning.

"We're watching those votes. Let them vote against us. we'll save a lot. We don't care. But this isn't like it used to be where they could vote against you and then you pay them hundreds of millions of dollars and nobody knows what they're doing."

Trump's decision on Jerusalem reversed decades of U.S. policy and a 50-year international consensus on the status of the city sacred to the Jewish, Muslim and Christian faiths.

In her Facebook and Twitter post, Haley claimed the administration's Jerusalem decision was made "at the will of the American people." That's yet another Trump administration lie.

Recognizing Jerusalem as the capitol of Israel wasn't "the will of the American people." It was the will of the base of the Trump base. It was the will of Trump donor Sheldon Adelson who backs the Israeli far-right.

Trump's decision to needlessly pour gas on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has resulted in weeks of unrest in the West Bank and Gaza strip.

Clashes between Palestinians and Israelis are now an almost daily occurrence in Bethlehem. Because of the tensions, Bethlehem's mayor, Anton Salman told the Associated Press that Christmas celebrations were impacted.

"We decided to limit the Christmas celebrations to the religious rituals as an expression of rejection and anger and sympathy with the victims who fell in the recent protests," said Salman.

At Bethlehem's Manger Square, Christmas decorations hung alongside a large Anti-Trump banner.

UN budget cut

Sunday, the UN reached agreement on a budget that included $285 million in cuts, which Haley quickly took credit for. Under the United Nation's charter formula , the U.S. is responsible for 22 percent of the UN's operating budget, based on its economic size and other measurements.

Trump and Haley pushing for budget cuts based on political retribution, instead of economic efficiency, would only cut the greater interests of the United States and mission of the United Nations which the U.S. was instrumental in creating.

History also taking names.

Palestinian foreign minister Riad Malki astutely pointed out that Nikki Haley and the U.S. aren't the only ones "taking names."

"History records names, it remembers names -- the names of those who stand by what is right and the names of those who speak falsehood."

Trump's name would be near the top of any list of those speaking falsehoods and inflaming the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
AKRON, Ohio -- An Akron man is facing charges after he robbed a local gas station with a fake gun on Christmas, police said.

Jeffrey Derringer, 48, of Olive Street is charged with aggravated robbery. He was being held in the Summit County Jail, Akron police said in a news release.

The attempted robbery happened about 2 p.m. at the Circle K in the 600 block of North Main Street.

Police said Derringer walked into the store with a hooded sweatshirt over his head and waving what employees thought was a rifle.

Derringer ordered everybody to get on the ground and for a clerk to empty the cash register. One employee managed to get away and run to the back of the store and call police, police said.

Employees told police Derringer is a known customer.

Another employee realized the gun was fake and ran around the counter to confront Derringer. Three store customers helped to confront Derringer, who took off running shortly after, police said.

Employees and customers caught Derringer and detained him until police arrived.

To comment on this story, please visit Tuesday's crime and courts comments section.
AKRON, Ohio -- Akron police are searching for a man who may have been involved in the fatal shooting death of a customer outside a store Tuesday afternoon.

A man walked inside Luei's Market just after 4 p.m. with a gun and demanded money from the store clerk who was behind the counter, Akron police said in a news release.

The market is located at 1012 Hammel Street.

The clerk handed over the money and the man ran away from the store, police said.

A customer witnessed the robbery and sprayed the man with some type of mace while they were in the store parking lot.

The man shot the customer before he continued to eastbound through Parklane Manor Apartments, police said.

The customer was taken to Akron City Hospital for treatment, where he was pronounced dead. The customer's name is being withheld until he is identified and relatives are notified, police said.

The Summit County Medical Examiner's Office will conduct an autopsy.

Anyone with information should call Akron police at 330-375-2096.

To comment on this story, please visit Tuesday's crime and courts comments section.
AKRON, Ohio -- A customer shot and killed during an armed robbery at an Akron store on Wednesday has been identified.

David Dzatko , 59, of Akron, was shot outside Luei's Market on Hammel Street after he sprayed a retreating robber with pepper spray, according to Akron police and the Summit County Medical Examiner's Office.

Police accused 27-year-old Jarvell Henderson in the shooting after they found his Missouri ID left behind on the floor near the cash register, Akron police Lt. Richard Edwards said.

Henderson is being questioned by investigators now, and is charged with aggravated murder and aggravated robbery, Edwards said.

Police said Henderson brandished a gun about 4 p.m. and demanded money from the store clerk. The clerk handed it over and Henderson ran outside, police said.

Dzatko, a customer, saw the robbery and encountered Henderson in the parking lot, police said. Dzatko sprayed him with pepper spray and Henderson shot him, police said. Henderson ran east through Parklane Manor Apartments.

Dzatko was pronounced dead at Akron City Hospital from a gunshot wound to the torso, according to Summit County Medical Examiner Gary Guenther.

Henderson has a prior robbery conviction stemming from an incident in Kansas City, Missouri, Edwards said. He was released from prison in March, Edwards said.

To comment on this story, please visit cleveland.com's crime and courts comments section.
ABC/Randy HolmesIn 2016, Metallica finally released their 10th studio album, Hardwired...to Self-Destruct, the long-awaited follow-up to 2008's Death Magnetic. This year, the metal legends embarked on their first full-length U.S. tour in over eight years.

Metallica's eventful year began with a performance at the Grammys alongside Lady Gaga. The band performed their Hardwired song "Moth into Flame" with the pop star, but the collaboration was marred by technical problems when frontman James Hetfield's mic didn't work during the first half of the song. Hetfield was able to recover the performance by sharing mics with Gaga, but he was visibly angry throughout. Drummer Lars Ulrich later said that Hetfield was "livid" after getting off stage.

Despite the technical malfunction, Metallica had nothing but nice things to say about Gaga. Ulrich called her the band's "quintessential perfect fifth member," and even teased the possibility of collaborating again.

While the Grammys performance wasn't the best representation of Metallica's live show, the band announced the details of their U.S. WorldWired tour the day after the awards show. The stadium trek would kick off in May and run into August. Avenged Sevenfold, Volbeat and Gojira would provide support on the tour.

Leading up to the tour, Ulrich used words like "overwhelming" and "colossal" to describe the production, and it certainly delivered in that regard. On the music side, Metallica played songs from Hardwired, as well as tracks from throughout their 30-year career.

The North American run concluded with a show in Alberta, Canada, that streamed live online. Metallica then kicked off their European tour, which has dates scheduled all the way into May 2018. During a stop at the newly re-opened Manchester Arena, which had been closed throughout the summer following the May 22 terrorist bombing during at the venue during an Ariana Grande concert, Metallica covered the Oasis classic "Don't Look Back in Anger," which became a rallying cry for the English city following the attack.

In November, Metallica returned to the U.S. for a hometown show in San Francisco to headline a benefit concert for the Northern California communities recovering from a series of deadly wildfires.

Along with all the touring, Metallica continued their deluxe reissue series with a box set for their 1986 album Master of Puppets, which featured a host of demos, interviews and live tracks, including recordings from bassist Cliff Burton's final show with the band before his tragic death. Metallica also teased that reissues for 1988's ...and Justice for All and 1991's The Black Album would be forthcoming.

Meanwhile, Hardwired...to Self-Destruct was certified platinum, which gave all of Metallica's 10 studio albums platinum certification.

Metallica's members also had big years individually. Ulrich was knighted in his home country of Denmark and made a cameo in the film Radio Dreams, while bassist Robert Trujillo traveled South America with his son Tye while the younger Trujillo played bass with Korn on their South American tour.

Metallica's 2018 could begin at the Grammys as well: Hardwired...to Self-Destruct is nominated for Best Rock Album, and "Atlas, Rise!" is up for Best Rock Song.

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As 2017 comes to a close, it's time to remember the lives we lost in southwestern Connecticut over the past year.

Some were famous  well known outside of the boundaries of the region, like Greenwich's Mary Tyler Moore, who died on Jan. 25. The Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated actress was best known for her roles in the TV sitcoms "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "The Dick Van Dyke Show."

Bridgeport native Gary DeCarlo, who sang the lead vocals on pop anthem "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye," went to rock 'n roll heaven in June 2017. Popular jazz guitarist John Abercrombie, raised and educated in Greenwich, died just months later, on Aug. 22.

Emmy winner, groundbreaker and longtime New York TV anchor Michele Marsh died of complications of breast cancer at her home in South Kent, Conn., in mid-October.

Related - Final Goodbye: Roll call of celebrities who died in 2017

Other lives lost were famous in their own right  celebrated for their impact on their own communities.

Former South Norwalk postmaster Ralph DePanfilis, who died in February, was heavily involved in local political and charitable organizations. Biddy Roger, "founding mother" of New Milford's Loaves and Fishes Hospitality House, died on April 11, 2017. The "woman who should have been mayor" of Stamford, Dahlia 'Pobie' Johnston  who ran for the seat three times in days when it was uncommon for women to do so  died in June. Retired science teacher and longtime Danbury City Council member Gregg Seabury died just before Election Day.

Some lives were lost tragically. Danielle 'Danni' Kemp of Milford, a star softball player for Foran High School, died in March from an inoperable brain tumor diagnosed the previous August. Six-year-old Mia McCaffrey of Trumbull died on March 17 from a rare childhood cancer. The fatal shooting of Jayson Negron in Bridgeport roiled the city for months, with continued calls for investigations and reform.

Former Sacred Heart Academy student Caroline Dym, along with her mother, were shot to death in their New York home by her father, who later killed himself. Barber Deon Rodney was hailed as a hero for protecting his customers when a masked gunman chased his intended target into the Bridgeport business. Rodney was shot and died the next day.

Others will be remembered for their long lives spent achieving milestones, like Stamford's Frank D'Andrea Jr., a former Superior Court judge who "made Stamford a better place, the courts a better place, and as a result he made the world a better place." Norwalk's first black firefighter Sanford "Sandy" Anderson died at 85 in late September. Gloria Heath of Greenwich, who died in December at 95, capped off a long career in flight safety and navigation with a Congressional Gold Medal in 2010 for her wartime service during WWII.

Look through the slideshow above to remember these lives lost and the many other locals we said goodbye to in 2017.
Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim will reportedly announce his bid for the Democratic nomination for Connecticut governor during the first week of January.

Ganim filed paperwork for an exploratory committee for governor eight months ago after Gov. Dannel Malloy announced that he would not seek a third term. According to a report in Only in Bridgeport, a blog published by former Ganim aide Lennie Grimaldi, the mayor is on the stump raising money the old-fashioned way from large money donors after the State Elections Enforcement Commission denied him access to public funding for his campaign due to his 2003 felony conviction on public corruption charges. A federal court upheld the states decision.
He is justifiably revered as the spiritual father of Indian independence, the man who helped end British rule through his moral leadership, yet Mahatma Gandhis attitude towards the Empire was complex. He once said that: India would be nothing without Englishmen.

Those words are far removed from the current historical orthodoxy, which holds that the British Empire in India was nothing more than a vehicle for ruthless oppression and commercial exploitation.

Recent events have exposed how prevalent this version of history has become. As the Mail reported last week, the eminent Oxford theologian Professor Nigel Biggar has come under ferocious assault from academics for the thought-crime of daring to argue we should take a more balanced, less negative view about the legacy of Empire.

At the weekend, Balliol College, Oxford, confirmed it had removed from its magnificent hall a portrait of the great Viceroy of India Lord Curzon, because undergraduates had branded him a colonialist.

We should be proud of the British Empire writes Dr Kartar Lalvani, the businessman and Indian historian

Legacy

Meanwhile, historian Tony Adler has revealed how even the National Archives has fallen prey to insidious political correctness. It was forced to admit that in some of its displays it had ignored Britains role in the abolition of slavery, and in a blog to mark the 70th anniversary of the partition of India, blamed this nation for the bloodshed that followed.

As a scientist of Indian origin myself, who has spent decades researching colonial history, I am only too familiar with the climate of post-imperial guilt.

I came to England in 1956 to study pharmacy at Kings College, London. After gaining a doctorate from Bonn University, I chose to settle here and founded my vitamins business in 1971. In all my 60 happy years in this country, Ive rarely heard any Briton utter a positive word about the British in India. And yet there is so much to be positive about.

The Empire brought not only wise civic administration but also an advanced physical infrastructure that fuelled both economic progress and a sense of national unity in the vast sub-continent.

Far from looting India, British governance promoted education, fostered enterprise, revolutionised transport, created an impartial judicial system, nurtured intellectual debate and tackled barbarism. It would be no exaggeration to say that the two centuries of British rule were the most progressive 200 years in the last 1,000 years of the sub-continents history.

And with India poised to become the worlds fifth largest economy in 2018, it is fair to say it would not have been possible without the legacy of Empire.

British rule did, of course, have its darker aspects, particularly under the East India Company, a private monopoly occasionally characterised by corruption. However, the companys influence effectively came to an end after the Indian Mutiny of 1857 when the British Government took over direct control of the Raj.

But too much emphasis on these failures ignores the far more beneficent side of the ledger, in which the British brought India a unique mix of liberalism and innovation.

To restore some balance to the debate, last year I wrote a book, The Making Of India, that highlighted the untold achievements of the Raj. I wrote that the sheer audacity and scale of the endeavour have no parallel in human history. I pointed to the incredible efficiency of the Indian Civil Service (ICS) which with fewer than 1,000 officials governed effectively a vast land of 500 million people spread over 1.27 million square miles.

He is justifiably revered as the spiritual father of Indian independence, the man who helped end British rule through his moral leadership, yet Mahatma Gandhis attitude towards the Empire was complex. He once said that: India would be nothing without Englishmen

No authoritarian regime would have been able to establish that kind of legitimacy, but the ICS did so through its reputation for incorruptibility and its willingness to recruit from the indigenous population.

By 1922, 15 per cent of civil servants were Indian and by 1941 that figure had climbed to over 50 per cent. When the British handed over power, they did so to a highly qualified, well-trained bureaucracy.

Imperial rule also built an Indian army, in which high standards and respect for ethnic identities cultivated a profound sense of pride among recruits, as shown by the heroic service of Indian soldiers in both world wars.

The same sense of respect shone through the courts system. In keeping with the tradition of British liberty stretching back to Magna Carta, the Empire ensured justice was available to every inhabitant of the multi-lingual, multi-faith sub-continent.

In 1880 the Marquess of Ripon, the Liberal Viceroy, abolished a rule that Indian judges could not conduct the trials of white defendants in criminal cases. Denouncing opposition to his measure, he asked: Is India to be ruled for the benefit of the Indian people of all races, classes and creeds, or in the sole interest of a small body of Europeans?

The Empires fine administration was matched by a huge infrastructure programme  the founding of great cities like Madras, Calcutta and Bombay, the establishment of Indias universities, technical colleges, hospitals, libraries, museums and public buildings, as well as the development of industry, canals, roads, dockyards, telegraph and postal services.

At the weekend, Balliol College, Oxford, confirmed it had removed from its magnificent hall a portrait of the great Viceroy of India Lord Curzon, because undergraduates had branded him a colonialist. (Pictured: Oxford students call for a statue of Rhodes to be pulled down)

Benefits

London was connected telegraphically to India in 1852, even before New York, while, by the end of the Raj, a quarter of land in the subcontinent was irrigated. Perhaps most impressive was the construction of the huge railway network  10,000 miles of track in 25 years.

The benefits of Empire could be seen in a host of other ways: a smallpox vaccination programme and the improvement in water supplies dramatically improved life expectancy.

Yes, of course, the Empire enhanced Britains wealth, but India also gained enormously. Under British rule, Indian entrepreneurs had the full freedom to engage in commerce, imports, exports and other business opportunities.

Thanks to British belief in free trade and the open market, some of the Rajs most successful enterprises were started by Indians, such as the Bombay Spinning Mill, while the Tata family  now owners of Jaguar Land Rover  were involved in a whole range of industries during the Empire.

Contrary to the misguided modern narrative of oppression, British rule encouraged freedom of speech, a free Press, and political association. Indias first nationwide political party, the National Congress, was founded in 1885 by a British liberal civil servant, Allan Octavian Hume.

British rule had its darker aspects but too much emphasis on these failures ignores that the British brought India a unique mix of liberalism and innovation. (Pictured: Professor Nigel Biggar came under assault from academics for daring to take a more balanced of colonialism)

Vigilant

The Empire also led to vital social reforms that protected human rights, including the prohibition on female infanticide and the ban on the savage practice known as suttee burning alive widows on their husbands funeral pyres.

Furthermore, British administrators and scholars were vigilant in the restoration of Indias heritage, especially its ancient temples, languages, records and artefacts.

If the self-righteous and ignorant Balliol undergraduates understood any real history, they would have known that Lord Curzon devoted much of his energy as Viceroy to remedying the neglect of many of Indias historic monuments  he more than anyone helped save the Taj Mahal. He was the Viceroy most admired by Nehru, the first leader of independent India.

In 2007, the prominent Indian entrepreneur, Jaithirth Rao said: The British gave us a sense of our past, they gave us our feel for the land in real material terms  They mapped our country, analysed and described it.

In fact, without the British, it is unlikely that India, as a nation, would exist at all.

Before the Empire, the sub-continent was divided into numerous kingdoms and principalities, more than 500 in all. When the Raj ended in 1947, Britain left behind the largest democracy in the world.

That should be a source of pride, not shame, for Britain for centuries to come.
Shipping off to college can be tough for many reasons, but one of the toughest is trading a beloved bedroom at home for a cramped dorm room with dim lighting and dingy walls.

However, some college students manage to transform their dorms into stunning spaces that look professionally designed, making that dormitory transition a whole lot easier.

Several spare no expense in the process, adorning their personal spaces with custom drapes, satin headboards, new furniture, decorative poufs, and coordinated wall decor.

Before: The original dorm room of Skylar Bantz at Texas State University

After: With the help of her mom and dad, Skylar was able to transform her dorm into this gorgeous place with loft beds, canopies, and a faux exposed brick wall

One student named Skylar Bantz went above and beyond when she transformed her dorm room at Texas State University.

Skylar turned her tiny dark room into a stunning loft-style apartment with a faux exposed brick wall and canopies draping below two loft beds.

Office: Skylar's mom Sheila Ybarra told Insider, 'the makeover cost about $2,400 and a lot of preparation'

She posted the photos on Instagram, writing in the caption: 'After many many long hours, we're moved in!

'Thank you to my mom for working so hard to make it look amazing and thank you to my dad and Moses for doing all of the heavy lifting.'

The student's 16-by-16-foot room, located in a 50-year-old residence hall nicknamed "Scary Sterry," was completely redone with the help of her mother, Sheila Ybarra.

Sheila told Insider that the room cost approximately $2,400, and that the transformation took 'a lot of preparation.'

'Another thing that was super important was good lighting,' the mother added. 'We purchased lots of extra lighting to update the room and make it feel as homey as possible.'

Before: Moriah Snipes' dorm at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

After: Snipes and her roommate (pictured) went with a faux-fur gray and turquoise motif

Other students have showcased their impressive decorative skills by unveiling their dorm room makeovers on social media. Those who live with roommates  as many do, particularly during their freshman year  do the extra work of planning and coordinating with those roomies before move-in day.

Moriah Snipes, a North Carolina Agricultural And Technical State University student, posted her room makeover on Twitter.

She and her roommate moved into a tiny room with taupe carpeting, cement walls on both sides, and one exposed brick wall.

The girls went with a gray and turquoise color scheme, picking out matching gray bedding, gray and white striped curtains, and turquoise accents such as pillows and baskets.

They added touches of faux fur, with pillows, blankets, and even an ottoman in the middle of the room covered in the fabric.

Before: Lindy Goodson and Abby Bozeman's parents (pictured) moving them into their dorm room at The University of Mississippi

After: The roomies added matching button-tufted upholstered headboards, pillows and bedding, and both added a picture of a llama and ostrich above their beds

Two other students, Lindy Goodson and Abby Bozeman, had their parents move them into their dorm room at The University Of Mississippi and found ways to spruce up their new home.

Students at her school are not allowed to poke holes in the walls, so Lindy, who shared before and after photos on Twitter, told Southern Living that they used stick-on hooks instead in order to hand their belongings.

As for the satin tufted headboards and monogrammed pillows, the girls bought most of the items from T.J. Maxx, Marshall's, and antique stores.

When Heather Loughrid, a University of Oregon student, first moved into her dorm, the place looked rather barren.

But Heather managed to completely revamp it and turn it into a stunning pink-and-gray-themed home, in keeping with the room's gray carpeted floor that was there when she first moved in.

Heather and her roommate opted for scalloped, tufted headboards  one pink and one gray. They added an ottoman at the center of the room for an extra tufted touch that matched their headboards perfectly.

Before: University of Oregon student, Heather Loughrid, went from drab to fab

After: Heather chose a pink and gray color scheme and the mix-matched scalloped headboards make this room look like it's for a princess

Two Austin State University students, Sophie Fondren and her roommate Kate, did not like their dark brown, dimly-lit dorm room.

The two friends turned their space into a much cozier room with a navy blue and pink color scheme.

From the pillows to the bedspreads, throw blankets, and signs above their beds, the room became covered in the girls' monograms.

The two also added matching white headboards and scalloped plaques with their initials above their beds.

Before: Two students from Austin State University were given a dark, brown carpeted dorm

After: Sophie Fondren and dormmate, Kate, made a monogrammed room and they even added a little satin couch

Coffee anyone? The SFA girls even have a little deli and coffee station in their luxurious room

In the center of the room, they placed a gray curtain to cover the window.

A pretty white shelf was also placed in the center of the room to hold picture frames and trinkets.

While the entire room was stunning, two aspects of their space stood out.

One of them is the white satin loveseat Sophie and Kate added at the center of the space in case they invited guests over.

The other is the coffee station they set up on one side of the room, which has everything they need to craft the perfect brews.

To complete their coffee stations, the roommates used a white shelving unit on which they placed silverware in holsters, a coffee machine, K-cups on a rolling stand, mugs, plates, snacks, and more accessories.

Boring: A student from Texas Tech University completely changed her bland wood room

Glam: Diamond, a student at Texas Tech, revamped her gloomy room into a bright pink palace

Diamond, a student at Texas Tech University, turned her side of her dorm room into a glam pink cloud.

After the transformation, her living space featured a baby pink wall outlined in pretty pink string lights, with pictures of lips, diamonds, and quotes hanging on it.

The student accessorized her room with matching pink baskets and bins and faux fur pillows.

Kaelyn Odom from Texas Tech University also made sure to decorate her dorm room to make it completely unique.

She spruced up her space with funky accents and bold colors, using rainbow accessories, patterns likes stripes and polka dots, and a hot pink ottoman as a statement piece.

Swanky: Kaelyn Odom from Texas Tech University transformed her room into a 'babe cave'

Pink: The student's dorm room in Chitwood Hall looks like Hannah Montana and Lizzie McGuire's bedroom in one

Shades of blue: Olivia Stokes and her roomie, Ashlyn Eaves, made their dorm at The University of Mississippi look like a condo in manhattan

Starry surprise: Roommates Lydia Gratwick and Maggie Farmer transformed their Mississippi State University dorm into a glam star-themed room with sequins and fur

Olivia Stokes and her roommate Ashlyn Eaves, from The University of Mississippi, turned their boring space into a picture-perfect room.

From matching gold lamps to matching bedspreads, ottomans, curtains, photographs, and picture frames, the two students crafted a tasteful decor.

Lydia Gratwick and Maggie Farmer also transformed their Mississippi State University room into a starry-eyed surprise.

The duo matched everything from their bedspreads to their lamps, throws, headboards, and even made sure to coordinate their touches.

Among the prettiest parts of their room are the white loveseat in the center, the glass coffee table with elegant accessories on top, and the little star mirrors above their beds, which ties the room together.
Television legend Lorraine Kelly is set to preside over engaged couples' nuptials for a new BBC series Wedding Day Winners, set to air in the spring.

And the TV presenter is more than qualified to offer her advice to contestants on the secrets to a long and successful marriage.

The 57-year-old ITV host has been with her husband Steve Smith for three decades, and married for 25 of them.

Her secret?

'I say don't take each other for granted and make each other laugh,' she told FEMAIL, as she confirmed she and Steve have no plans to renew their vows 25 years after their 'wee' wedding in 1992.

'You could all get in and live in my dress,' she recalled of her Princess Diana inspired gown with statement sleeves.

Lorraine is promoting her new wedding reality series which is set to go head to head in a ratings battle with The Voice UK, which will be making its debut on ITV after switching from the BBC.

Lorraine Kelly will be overseeing the nuptials of 12 different couples poised to tie the knot as they battle it out to win fabulous prizes and a dream honeymoon

The TV presenter has been married to husband Steve Smith for 25 years, after meeting the cameraman 30 years ago

Each week two happy couples, poised to tie the knot, and their friends and family will go head to head in order to win fabulous prizes, a dream honeymoon, and most importantly the most extraordinary wedding ceremony ever - which will be broadcast to the nation.

Lorraine attended each of the 12 weddings featured throughout the series along with her co-host, comedian Rob Beckett.

After witnessing love flourish at each ceremony, she recalled her own nuptials: 'I did not stress at my own wedding. It was such a small wedding. It was wee.

'It was very traditional. It was 1992 so it was big sleeves like Princess Diana. You could all get in it and live in my dress. Oh god that was a dress.'

Lorraine has no plans to renew her own vows with Steve, with the couple having celebrated their silver anniversary year with a trip to Antartica. Instead she's focusing on her upcoming move from her home in Scotland to London.

Celebrity guests like Shirley Ballas and Anton du Bec, pictured with Lorraine and Rob Beckett, will be on hand to help contestants

Lorraine is more than qualified to be the host of Wedding Day Winners - having 25 years of marriage under her belt to her husband

While the Scottish presenter appears on the nation's screens every weekday morning on ITV, overseeing this confetti-filled contest means a switch from her usual TV home to the BBC.

'I never thought I would do a shiny floor gorgeous Saturday nightshow. Its brilliant and ITV are fine.

'I have done lots for the BBC. I have done lots for Sky. I guess as long as I don't do it [during] the time I am on in the morning!' she added.

'This is my first kind of prime time show. When we filmed the promo we said "Oh my god this is Saturday night on BBC". It is very grown up. It has been fun to do.'

Comedian Rob Beckett joins Lorraine as the co-host on the brand new BBC reality show which airs in the spring and will go up against The Voice on ITV

Friends and families of each couple will compete in series of hilarious physical games, high adrenaline stunts, and challenges to win a host of prizes

Tristan and Lucy are just one of the couples ready to say 'I do' - they have to compete in a challenge to win their dream honeymoon

Throughout the series 12 couples will be taking part along with their friends and family as they prepare to get wed

With the help of a celebrity-packed guest list, which includes the likes of Jimmy Osmond, Harry Judd from McFly and former Pussycat Doll Ashley Roberts, plus Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas; its the job of Lorraine and Rob to oversee the frivolities.

Theyll encourage the friends and families of each couple to compete in a series of hilarious physical games, high adrenaline stunts, and challenges, in the hopes of winning a host of prizes.

Each couple will then attempt to win their dream honeymoon before they officially say 'I do' at the end of each episode.

Lorraine said: 'I am so excited about this show. There will be laughter and tears and lots of fun.

'Everyone loves a wedding and it will be wonderful to share such a life affirming event with our couples. It's a show all the family can watch together and perfect for a Saturday night.'

Wedding Day Winners airs on BBC One in spring 2018
With just four days until the New Year begins, many will be turning their minds towards New Year's resolutions.

But, before you go any further, it's worth listening to Beck Wadworth.

The 28-year-old New Zealander founded her own stationery company, An Organised Life, in 2013 - after a fruitless search to find a functional-yet-sleek diary left her with nothing.

Here, as an organisational expert, Beck shares how she gets organised for the New Year before January 1 - and how you can too.

Beck Wadworth (pictured) founded her own stationery company, An Organised Life, in 2013 - after a fruitless search to find a functional-yet-sleek diary left her with nothing

She shared her tips as to how you can get organised for the New Year - and how you can make sure you achieve your goals

For Beck, the first thing she does when she starts thinking about New Year's resolutions is reflect in this period between Christmas and the New Year:

'Once my out of office is on and Christmas is over, I sit down to reflect on the year that's been,' she told FEMAIL. 'What was good, what was bad and what I can improve on.'

Beck explained that she has a routine each month, whereby she writes down her 'favourite moments and I also have a goal planning page in my diary too'.

'By the 1 January, I have a pretty clear direction for what I want to focus on in the New Year,' Beck said.

'From there, I start planning my goals in detail and planning a monthly checklist to keep me on track.'

Beck (pictured) sets three types of New Year's resolutions - personal, financial and professional - then, she sets monthly targets and celebrates the small successes

Speaking about how she sets her goals - and how she would advise you do too - Beck explained it's all about categorising:

Beck Wadworth's New Year's resolutions * PERSONAL: Spending more time with her loved ones and finding a better sense of work/life balance. * FINANCIAL: Committing to an overseas trip that she and her boyfriend have wanted to do for years and years. * PROFESSIONAL: Focusing on expanding her business on several different levels. Advertisement

'I break my resolutions into three categories,' she said. 'Personal, professional and financial.'

In the personal category, Beck might have something like 'work out three times a week or maintain a healthy work/life balance by doing X and Y'.

In the professional, it might be 'build by business by doing X, Y and Z, or get a job promotion by doing X, Y and Z'.

Meanwhile, in the financial sector, Beck said she will get specific - like 'save for a trip to France or for a house deposit'.

'Everyone has different things they want to focus on within these categories, and it's just working out what you want to prioritise and focus on for the next 12 months,' she said.

'Be realistic, but push yourself.'

When it comes to organisational 'hacks', Beck said she'll make sure she makes the most of her 'peak time' - like the mornings, when she'll get through three of her most urgent tasks

While it's easy to fall off the wagon pretty much as soon as we hit January 2, Beck also said there are a few ways she'll make sure she stays on track with her goals:

'In order to keep me focused, I personally set stepping stones each month,' she told FEMAIL.

'So when I was saving for New York, I did so by setting myself smaller targets for each month, then celebrate by booking my flights.

'I think it's really important to celebrate the small successes along the way each month, too. It keeps you inspired, motivated and driven towards those big yearly goals.'

'In the morning, I re-read my to do list and prioritise. What are my top three urgent tasks, what do I need to complete in the morning and the afternoon, and what is flexible?,' Beck said

Next, Beck said she will 'automate and schedule everything I can and set multiple alarms on my phone for different weekly reminders and rent and things'

Finally, Beck shared the organisational 'hacks' she swears by for keeping on top of a busy life.

'I plan my outfits the night before, by checking my diary and the weather first, then I write my to do list each night,' she said.

'In the morning, I re-read my to do list and prioritise. What are my top three urgent tasks, what do I need to complete in the morning and the afternoon, and what is flexible?

'It's important to suss out what you need to do and what you want to do.'

Next, Beck said she will 'automate and schedule everything I can and set multiple alarms on my phone for different weekly reminders and rent and things.'

She recommends planning your outfits the night before, according to the weather and what you've got on in your diary

Finally, she'll make the most of her 'peak times':

'For instance, in the morning I get up and go,' Beck said. 'I have a lot of energy in the morning and I like to power through my three most urgent tasks.

'I usually have an afternoon slump where I do things like editing imagery or replying to emails - and then I get a second win where I feel really creative.

'It's important to know your peak times and how to make the most of them.'

To visit An Organised Life, please click here.
A couple received the best Christmas surprise when their baby boy was born prematurely just moments after getting engaged.

Jacob Kirch, from the Gold Coast, proposed to his partner Erin, who was 35 weeks pregnant, on Christmas Eve.

Surrounded by family and friends, the young mother broke down in tears when her partner pulled out a jewellery box - and she said 'yes'.

But just one hour later, the couple were greeted with another surprise - an emotional Erin went into labour early after her waters broke.

Scroll down for video

Jacob Kirch and his now fiance Erin received the best Christmas surprise when their baby boy Vinnie was born prematurely just moments after getting engaged (pictured together)

Jacob proposed to his partner Erin, who was 35 weeks pregnant, on Christmas Eve

'I think all the excitement out of that had burst my waters,' Erin told 9NEWS.

Shortly after the engagement, the family had another celebration when the mother-of-two gave birth to a baby boy named Vinnie - five weeks before her due date.

'You always wonder how you're going to love a second child as much as your first but the moment they come out, its indescribable,' Erin said.

Speaking to the Gold Coast Bulletin, Jacob said he had planned the proposal with his partner's family weeks before the Christmas Eve lunch.

'Everyone knew but her. We were in for a real shock when the baby decided to arrive,' he said.

Shortly after the engagement, the family had another celebration when the mother-of-two gave birth to a baby boy named Vinnie - five weeks before her due date

Surprise! Newborn boy Vinnie arrived five weeks early shortly after his parents got engaged

The couple's two-year-old son Harley surprised his mother in a T-shirt that read: 'Mummy will you marry my Daddy?' before his father got down on bended knee

The couple's two-year-old son Harley surprised his mother in a T-shirt that read: 'Mummy will you marry my Daddy?' before his father got down on bended knee.

'She burst into tears and said yes. Harley was hugging her and it was all pretty emotional and that's when her water broke.'

As the mother went into labour, her now-fiance initially thought she was 'joking'.

However, the family rushed to the hospital without touching their festive feast - and they welcomed their bundle of joy.

'It was quite spectacular and I don't think our Christmas will ever be the same, especially not for Harley who has a brother to share it with now, and I've got a fiance,' Jacob said.
Move over eyelash tinting, sit down feathered brows - there's a new hot beauty trend in town.

Google has revealed its top ten list of styles and trends for 2017, and eyelash lifts have become one of the top-searched beauty service on the search engine.

Beating out the likes of lip plumpers and feathered brows, the service has become one of the fastest-growing trends this year.

And Sharon Lee Hamilton, who offers the service at her luxury Sydney brow salon Sharon Lee Inc, revealed to FEMAIL why she thinks women are loving lash lifts.

The Bachelor's Lisa Hyde (left) and YouTube star Stephanie Lange (right) are among the thousands of Australian women who got lash lifts this year

Both Hyde and Lange have gotten the $185 Luxe Lash Lift service at Sydney brow salon Sharon Lee Inc (pictured), which is meant to last six to eight weeks

The 'Brow Guru', as she has long been dubbed, told Daily Mail Australia that a quarter of her clients are now having a Luxe Lash Lift with their brow service.

'And it's growing,' she added. 'Once they have it, they're addicted.'

The service, which costs $185, is meant to last six to eight weeks and comes complete with access to a full-service bar as well as canapes, juices, coffee, and tea.

Sharon, who has worked on everyone from Beyonce to Leonardo DiCaprio, believes that the lash lift has become popular because it offers 'immediate results'.

'Lash Lifts are long-lasting and, unlike extensions, are not damaging,' she said.

'Best of all they are cost-efficient compared to extensions, and you're not having to go for infills every other week.'

Sharon Lee Hamilton (pictured) told Daily Mail Australia that a quarter of her clients are now having a Luxe Lash Lift with their brow service

Sharon believes that the lash lift has become popular due to its 'immediate results' and because they aren't damaging (pictured is a before and after from her salon)

A lash lift (pictured) only takes about an hour, and Sharon said it is 'not at all uncomfortable'. Afterwards, she said women look as though they have 'twice as many lashes'

The Brow Guru added that lash lifts are 'fabulous for the time poor', including those who can't regularly top them up.

'Lash lifts don't have an ugly stage either like extensions do,' she said.

'They simply drop back down gradually, whereas extensions often tilt and the glues take your own lashes with them.'

GOOGLE'S TOP BEAUTY TRENDS 2017 1. Beautyblender 2. Mink lashes 3. Halloween makeup 4. Eyelash lift 5. Prom makeup 6. Nude makeup 7. Lip plumper 8. Skeleton makeup 9. Feather eyebrows 10. Lip gloss Advertisement

A lash lift only takes about an hour, and Sharon said it is 'not at all uncomfortable'.

'Essentially it's a solution not unlike a perm,' she explained.

'Lashes are placed over a rod and coerced into position, allowing the operator to separate and fan every individual lash in the process.'

'You'll look as though you have twice as many lashes, and they appear almost an extra 50 per cent longer.'

Sharon recommends the lash lift for everyone, but believes those with 'very sparse and short lashes' should first use a growth serum for a few months.

While fishtail braids took the top spot in Google's 2016 Styles and Trends list, it was the Beautyblender that nabbed this year's top spot.

Eyelash lift was the top-searched beauty service on the list and the four most-searched beauty term overall after mink lashes and Halloween makeup.

Prom makeup rounded out the top five, followed by nude makeup, lip plumper, skeleton makeup, feather eyebrows, and lip gloss.
Australian fashion designer Sarah-Jane Clarke, who stopped drinking for a year, says she's ready to enjoy alcohol again - albeit in a much different way.

Earlier this month, the sass & bide co-founder marked her 365th day of sobriety with a post on social media detailing what she'd learnt over the past year.

Alongside a photo of herself wearing a fluffy pink marabou jacket, complete with a large blue floral brooch reminiscent of Sarah Jessica-Parker in Sex and the City, Ms Clarke shared that her '12 months of #banthebinge is complete.'

According to the Sydney-based fashion maven, the last 365 days without alcohol have been 'transformative'.

Sarah-Jane Clarke (pictured) is a the co-founder of iconic Australian label Sass & Bide. She recently shared how stopping drinking had been 'transformative'

Ms Clarke revealed the past 365 days without alcohol had been a significant turning point in her life

She continued: 'My relationship with alcohol has totally changed.

'I now wont be using alcohol to numb anxious feelings in social situations or to mask my vulnerabilities.'

Ms Clarke has been outspoken about her journey over the course of the last year, detailing her reasons why she decided to stop in a frank and candid interview published in Harper's Bazaar in November.

The fashion forward Sarah Jane Clarke (pictured left) with her business partner and Sass & Bide co-founder sass & bide Heidi Middleton (pictured right)

She revealed to the magazine that her decision was a long time coming after decades of excessive drinking.

At the time of publication, she was non-committal as to whether she'd return to drinking once the year was up.

However, this most recent social media post would indicate she'd reviewed her decision and was considering a return to drinking, although under entirely different circumstances.

'I will drink on my own terms,' she wrote. 'And bingeing will no longer be an option.'

'I've also learnt that it is okay to be imperfect and to make mistakes in life. Though it is important to strive to make them right, and to continue working on being the person we want to be. Our true selves. And our best selves.'

The fashionista along side her husband Daniel Baffsky - the man she labeled her 'number one supporter'

Ms Clarke, who has previously spoken about her struggles with being an introvert, touched on how others stories had helped her over the course of the past year.

'I am so grateful for the messages of support and for those who shared with me their struggles with alcohol and anxiety,' she wrote.

'Your words and stories gave me inspiration throughout the year.'

In a gracious aside, Ms Clarke also acknowledged her husband, architect Daniel Baffsky, for being her 'number one supporter'.

Looking relaxed and healthy: Ms Clarke shared a message of hope and encouragement to those who might be considering a similar course of action

It's clear from the number of likes the post has received - close to 3,000 at time of writing - that Ms Clarke's message has resonated with many of her followers.

By way of encouraging others who might be considering a similar course of action, Ms Clarke closed on a message of support.

'To all who are embarking on the #banthebinge journey. Congratulations,' she said.

'I admire your courage to make the change. It will be one of the best years of your life.'

At the beginning of her journey: Ms Clarke shared with some trepidation she was stopping drinking for the next 365 days

The designer first shared she planned to stop drinking via an Instagram post on December 5, 2016.

'Happy birthday to me...looking forward to 365 days alcohol free! #nomorehangovers #banthebinge #takecontrol #fresheveryday,' she captioned a post, alongside a photo of herself looking slightly nervous.

Over the course of her confessional interview with Harper's Bazaar, Ms Clarke shared how she had struggled with the effects of binge drinking.

'I had a binge drinking problem, definitely. If I have one or two drinks, it is fine. If I have three or four, I lose all judgment,' she said.

Fashion and alcohol go hand-in-hand, said Ms Clarke of the industry she's been a part of for most of her adult life

Ms Clarke began drinking when she was in Year 10 while growing up in Brisbane during the swing of the eighties.

'I learned from a very early age to think it was acceptable to drink irresponsibly, and then used that as stress relief with three young kids, all under four, and through my working years at sass & bide,' she said.

Ms Clarke, who launched sass & bide with Heidi Middleton in the late 90s, said she took it upon herself to make sure she was everyone's favourite party girl.

Though naturally quite shy, alcohol gave her the ability to become the life and soul of the party, she said

The shy designer said she found that alcohol helped transform her into an extrovert, masking her insecurities and banishing any social anxiety.

The label took off after it found a fan in Sarah Jessica Parker, and Clarke soon learned that fashion was intrinsically tied to alcohol.

The fashion label took off after Sarah Jessica Parker said she was a fan

'Fashion and drinking go hand in hand. It was very hard to escape. Everywhere you went, there was champagne,' she said.

Though her lifestyle went unchecked for many years, by her own admission the blackouts were getting bad, and the hangovers were even worse.

As well, Ms Clarke said she found herself plagued with 'hangover-anxiety', racked with guilt over the things she said and the decisions she made while drunk.

Doctors advised the hard-working designer to cut out alcohol after she was diagnosed with adrenal fatigue, but it was the 'mother of all hangovers' that finally convinced the designer to kick her habit.

Ms Clarke was blacked out for four hours after she had four martinis at an intimate dinner party at her house.

Since ditching alcohol Clarke found that her energy is different and said her husband Dan Baffsky (pictured together) 'really likes the fact' she is drinking less as well

Nothing embarrassing had happened and none of her friends had noticed, but the mother-of-three was completely overcome with shame.

It was at this point the designer said she knew she needed to make a major change, and decided to post about it on Instagram to hold herself accountable.

In these last 10 months, Ms Clarke lost some friends but said her life has entered an unaltered state that has completely changed it for the better.

'It is a much clearer way, a clearer life, and you can see things you didn't see before and you can deal with things so much better without alcohol,' she said.
Daniel Camilleri, 25, proposed to his girlfriend with the help of three robots

Most women hope that when their partner proposes to them it will be done in a thoughtful and unique way - but this woman never expected her special moment would involve a troupe of dancing robots.

Daniel Camilleri, 25, from Manchester, serenaded his girlfriend Claire Farrugia, 25, with Just the Way You Are by Bruno Mars as three robots danced beside him.

The hopeless romantic then dropped down on one knee and proposed to his partner of four years - who immediately accepted.

Daniel said: 'Me and Claire have both work in the robotics industry, so it seemed fitting to include them in our proposal.

'It was filmed in the Sheffield Robotics Lab at the University of Sheffield, where I work.'

'I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Claire, so it was only a matter of time before I proposed.'

In the clip Daniel could be seen singing alongside three dancing robots, who had a perfectly choreographed routine.

He explained that they had met while they were studying robotics, so wanted that be a part of the special moment.

Daniel continued: 'We met when we were doing a masters in robotics and during that time we got to know each other a lot, so robots just had to be a part of the event.

Romantic: Daniel Camilleri serenaded his girlfriend Claire Farrugia, 25, with Just the Way You Are by Bruno Mars as three robots danced beside him

Perfect planning: In the clip Daniel could be seen singing alongside three dancing robots, who had a perfectly choreographed routine

Speaking about his romantic proposal, Daniel revealed: 'She didn't realise I was proposing, so it was a complete surprise as she just thought I was doing something to celebrate our four-year anniversary'

Special meaning: Daniel explained that they had met while they were studying robotics, so wanted that be a part of the special moment

'It took a month, where I spent hours extra at work to make the code, so it was a big challenge to come up with the choreography, but it was doubly hard to synchronise them together.

'She didn't realise I was proposing, so it was a complete surprise as she just thought I was doing something to celebrate our four-year anniversary.

'I was feeling very anxious and you can hear my voice wavering at moments during singing as I was getting emotional.

'We went back to Manchester after calling our parents to tell them the news and went out for a lovely dinner.

'We're planning on having the wedding in Malta as that's where we're both originally from, but I'm not sure when it will be.'
There's nothing better than snuggling up on the sofa watching Christmas films with our loved ones over the holidays - particularly the old classics.

But many of our favourite festive movies feature moments that would be unlikely to make it past script editors in the politically correct world of 2017.

Earlier this year Hollywood was rocked by the allegations of sexual harassment and assault against director Harvey Weinstein.

The claims exposed the misogynistic attitude towards women which had been allowed to prevail off screen for decades - and on screen.

Here FEMAIL takes a look at some Christmas classics of yesteryear that include scenes many would consider highly offensive towards women.

In black and white classic It's a Wonderful Life, George Bailey silences Mary during an argument by kissing her - a controversial approach in light of the current conversation around consent.

And in Love Actually, it could be argued that Prime Minister (Hugh Grant) used his position of power to seduce his PA and tea lady (Martine McCutcheon).

The classic musical Oliver! has a series of bar-room scenes in which Nancy the thief is slapped on the bottom by male punters, in an approach that would see any man given short shrift on a night out in 2017.

LOVE ACTUALLY

A prime minister seducing his secretary might not play so well to the public in 2017

It's many people's favourite Christmas film, but Love Actually has come to be regarded as very problematic by some.

The movie sees the Prime Minister (Hugh Grant) use his power to seduce his tea lady Natalie, (Martine McCutcheon), a junior member of staff.

Meanwhile, Andrew Lincoln's character Mark is in love with his best friend Peter's wife Juliet, played by Keira Knightley, and struggles to suppress himself from acting on it.

Tasked with filming their wedding video, viewers later learn that Mark spent the entire ceremony with the lens trained solely on Juliet's face.

He then shows up on the couple's doorstep in the middle of the night to confess his love

Love Actually's Mark is in love with his best friend's wife Juliet, and spends their entire wedding filming close up footage of her face

He later turns on his doorstep with a series of signs declaring his love for Juliet. Despite many considering his actions to be romantic, others have declared his behaviour to be akin to that of a stalker.

In another scene we see unlucky in love Colin (Kris Marshall) manage to take home not one, not two, but three American girls after charming them in a bar with his British accent.

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE

George Bailey shouts in Mary's face in It's a Wonderful Life and kisses her passionately just seconds later

The original Christmas film has been criticised for a fiery scene between its main character George Bailey (James Stewart) and his wife Mary (Donna Reed).

The scene in question from It's a Wonderful Life shows George shouting in Mary's face after an unpleasant phone call.

In the middle of ranting at her he grabs her and gives her a passionate kiss as a visibly shaken Mary falls into his arms.

Mary in no way consents to being kissed and is overpowered by her husband - essentially forced into the act unwilling.

In light of the current global conversation around consent, it's difficult to imagine a scene like this getting past editors in a family film.

SCROOGED

A secretary at the Christmas party in Scrooged photocopies her bottom and hands out copies to men in the office, who leer at it

The classic Bill Murray movie Scrooged was a 1980s spin on A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

And while the film has stood the test of time, some of the scenes certainly place it in a less enlightened era.

In one scene we see Murray's character Frank Cross shown an office party by the ghost of Christmas past, at which some very questionable workplace behaviour unfolds.

One of the secretaries in the company is drunk and photocopies her bottom, pictures of which she then hands out to her male co-workers.

This demeans the women's position in the office, taking her from an equal co-worker to a sex object.

At the same party Frank sees his married boss attempt to flirt with the same secretary, which a cheerful Frank regards as behaviour to aspire to while a modern day audience may consider this an abuse of his powerful position.

OLIVER!

Nancy gets her bottom slapped by a stranger during a dance number in Oliver!

Nancy pulls her dress up to dance while the leering men around her try to peek up her skirts

In another scene Nancy's friend Bet gets grabbed by a stranger in the pub who looks at her chest

Though not strictly a Christmas film, the 1967 musical Oliver! has become a festive favourite.

Now 50 years old, some of its scenes have become dated - and occasionally controversial.

In one scene thief Nancy is seen leading pub punters in a singalong to famous song Oom-pah-pah, and after a dance with a stranger has her bottom slapped in a move that would see any man given short shrift on a night out in 2017.

Later she is seen standing on a table hitching up her skirts to reveal her ankles, at which point a peeping Tom tries to see up her dress even further - inappropriate then, and especially so 50 years on.

And she wasn't the only female character in the movie to have to tackle such bawdy behaviour - Nancy's friend Bet is grabbed by a lascivious man openly leering at her breasts.

We also see plenty of bottom slapping and unsolicited kissing, sandwiched in between cheery singalongs in pubs in what is supposed to be a family film.

The Harvey Weinstein scandal and sexual harassment in Hollywood Since October, at least 75 women have come forward in the media to detail accounts of assault, harassment and inappropriate conduct by movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. Among the first two women to go public with their allegations were actresses Rose McGowan and Ashley Judd. Following that, a raft of other allegations followed, including from Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie, who both said they were harassed by the producer. The Harvey Weinstein scandal has shone a spotlight on a culture of sexual harassment within the film industry, as well as sparking the #metoo movement online. Other Hollywood A-Listers have since faced allegations of sexual harassment, including Kevin Spacey, Dustin Hoffman and Ben Affleck. Advertisement

THE HOLIDAY

Starring Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz The Holiday quickly became a Christmas classic upon its release in 2006 thanks to its heartwarming story of two women unlucky in love, finally finding romance.

However, among the merriment, one plot line has a rather sinister undertone.

In The Holiday Iris (Kate Winslet) asks former flame Jasper Bloom to stay out of contact while she travels to LA to 'get over him'

Just hours after arriving she receives a phone call from Bloom and just a few days later a package, though it remains unclear how he got her address

Iris (played by Winslet) is seeking solace after her former flame and colleague, Jasper Bloom announces her engagement.

While travelling to the home of Amanda (Diaz) in LA as part of a house swap to get away from her problems, she kindly asks that Bloom (Rufus Sewell) doesn't contact her while she tries to get over him.

However, within hours of her arrival Iris receives a phone call on Amanda's home phone from Bloom despite not giving out her number. He also proceeds to question her about what she is wearing asking 'have you put on that little red bikini yet?'

After not hearing from his estranged lover, Bloom turns up unannounced at the house she is staying in having bypassed front gate security

Just a few days later Iris receives a package from Bloom containing his written work, however, once again she had not provided an address to her former flame.

In perhaps the most unnerving scene, having received no reply from Iris, Bloom calls her once again, asking for her to check her front door for a 'surprise'.

Upon opening the door Iris is met by Bloom who has somehow tracked down her address, flown to LA uninvited and bypassed the heavy security on the front gate (which we see Iris struggling with earlier in the film).

Bloom's behaviour in the narrative holds parallels with that of a stalker thanks to the unwanted attention and the obsessive and calculative ways in which he tries to contact and manipulate his target.

BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY

In Bridget Jones' Diary we see the leading lady fall under the spell of her charming boss, played by Hugh Grant, who indulges in some inappropriate workplace behaviour

Bridget Jones is seduced by her lothario boss in the first Bridget Jones movie

The hapless love life of the eternally single Bridget Jones struck a chord with many single women when it came out in 2001.

But certain scenes in the romantic comedy haven't stood the test of time.

Bridget is seduced by her boss Daniel Cleaver, who sends her flirty emails from his work account describing her 'naughty little skirt', and telling her how great her breasts look.

Aside from the clearly inappropriate workplace language, Cleaver could be seen as abusing his position, using his authority to manipulate Jones.

They later get together before he cheats on her with another co-worker.

It's hard to imagine a film in 2017 that depicts a high powered man seducing a junior employee as romantic - or acceptable.

ELF

Buddy the Elf goes and waits in the women's bathroom while his co-worker has a shower

The adventures of Buddy in New York City became an instant Christmas classic when Elf was released in 2003.

And while the film is supposed to be light-hearted and festive, there are a few scenes that are likely to raise a few eyebrows.

In one scene Buddy creeps into the women's bathroom while his colleague Jovie is singing in the shower because he loves the sound of her voice. This would qualify as creepy behaviour from anyone in an office - even someone dressed as an elf.

Jovie's choice of tune is also notable, in that it's lyrics have been called into question on more than one occasion.

She warbles along to Baby It's Cold Outside, a call and response classic which tells the story of a woman trying to leave after a date - while her over-zealous suitor insists she stay for one more drink and 'give it up, give it up, give it up'.

The lyrics have come into question over the past few years with one article in 2012 asking 'Is Baby Its Cold Outside a date rape anthem?'

NATIONAL LAMPOON'S CHRISTMAS VACATION

In this 1989 film, lead character Clark Griswold, played by Chevy Chase, makes a series of sexual innuendos as he ogles at the shop assistant's breasts.

While masked as a comic scene, the remarks he makes to the young woman are in actual fact highly inappropriate.

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation sees main character Clark Griswold ogling at a shop assistant's breasts while making a series of sexual innuendos

He remarks that he is 'just smelling' instead of 'smiling', before saying it is 'nipply' instead of 'nippy' - adding 'What am I saying, nipple?'

Clark then drops in the word adultery, before making a crude reference to his genitals.

His son Russ is seen shaking his head disapprovingly at the end of the scene. His behaviour would almost certainly be considered harassment and in a more modern film Clark would have been escorted out of the store.

SUSAN SLEPT HERE

This 1954 film sees a 35-year-old Hollywood screenwriter Mark, played by Dick Powell, marry 17-year-old Susan, played by Debbie Reynolds.

Susan Slept Here tells the story of a 35-year-old Hollywood screenwriter, played by Dick Powell (left), marrying a 17-year-old teenager, played by Debbie Reynolds, (right) that he takes into his home

It begins with the teenager being brought to Mark's apartment by a police officer after she was abandoned by her mother.

Mark then makes the drastic decision to marry Susan on finding out she would be put in a juvenile detention facility, after she was arrested for vagrancy.

Later on in the movie, he confesses that she is in love with the teenager, despite his concerns about the age gap.

JINGLE ALL THE WAY

In Jingle All The Way, neighbour Ted tells Howard's wife Liz to go and take a shower before taking off her apron against her wishes, and appearing to pull a sexually suggestive face

This 1996 Christmas movie is a family classic - telling the story of two dads competing to get a must-have toy for their sons.

However, one rather inappropriate scene shows Ted (Phil Hartman) trying to convince Howard's wife Liz (Rita Wilson) to go upstairs and take a shower.

He then proceeds to take off her apron for her against her wishes, wrapping his arms around her while appearing to pull a sexually suggestive face.

Liz seems shocked by his forwardness, and decides to retreat upstairs.

His actions are certainly an unwelcome advance and Liz would be more than within her rights to make a complaint against her neighbour.
In a bizarre holiday twist, a Michigan man keeps receiving packages from Amazon that he never ordered, yet they are all addressed to him.

All of the packages that have been delivered to Terry Miller in Chesterfield Township have his correct name, address, and phone number, so they are certainly intended for him.

But Terry told WDIV 4 ClickOnDetroit that he never actually ordered any of it, and he hasn't been charged for it, either.

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Bizarre: Terry Miller man keeps receiving Amazon packages filled with things he never ordered that are addressed to his name, address, and phone number

Packages: The Michigan resident said that his Amazon account has not been charged for the deliveries and they've been coming for about five weeks

'We started receiving boxes from Amazon, and I've made several calls and I can't seem to get them to stop,' Terry said.

'I opened it up to see what was it in, and it was just accessories for cellphones. I got an antenna for a computer and a clothing bag.'

His latest package contained a Samsung Galaxy cleaning cloth.

The packages have been coming for over a month now, and continued even after Terry contacted Amazon customer service and explained the situation.

Amazon told him that his account had not been charged  and despite what may have been a mistake on their end, they told Terry to keep all of the items he received.

Doorstep: Miller called Amazon to try to clear up the situation, but customer service said his account had not been charged and that he should keep the items sent to him

Police: Once he realized there was nothing illegal in the packages, he called the police for help, but there was nothing they could do

Weird: The packages that are being delivered contain mostly cellphone accessories and cases

'I opened up the packages and stuff to make sure it wasn't anything illegal in there,' he said.

Once he determined that it was all legal goods, he went to far as to contact the police. But according to Terry, the local police said, 'You're in the clear if anything should come up with this.'

Of course, Terry considered that the packages might be strange gifts. But when Amazon informed him of the sender's name, it was one Terry had never heard of  which made him quite concerned and nervous.

All of the items being shipped to his house were of no use to him, and he told the local news station that he didn't want to keep any of it. The only thing that even remotely appealed to him was a pair of wireless headphones, but they were pink so he didn't even want them.

Instead, everything has been thrown away, donated, or re-gifted for the holidays.

While a bit unsettled by the whole thing, Terry is still laughing about the odd ordeal. He also had a message for his Secret Santa: 'Quit sending them. I don't want the stuff.'
Forget the stage or silver screen, nowadays savvy parents are turning their super cute offspring into social media stars, and the newest name on everyone's lips is Ben Hampton.

The six-year-old from Fresno, California, already boasts 673,000 Instagram followers, and fans flock to his page to see his outfit-of-the-day posts and carefully composed captions.

Launched in February 2016, Ben's account is the brainchild of his father Branden Hampton, a social media expert who has over 100,000 Instagram followers, and his wife Stephanie, who has a whopping 856,000 followers.

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Strike a pose: Ben Hampton is a six-year-old social media star from Fresno, California with nearly 700,000 followers

Child star: His account is the brainchild of his parents Branden and Stephanie, who are also social media stars

Fan club: The social media veterans were inspired to set up an account for Ben after they noticed photos of him posted to their own accounts were getting the most likes

The social media veterans were inspired to set up an account for Ben after they noticed photos of him posted to their own accounts were the ones getting the most likes.

Speaking to The Daily Beast, Branden explained: 'When Ben was born, my wife decided to go all out on clothes.

'She loves playing dress up and she just decided, "I'm not just going to throw OshKosh B'gosh overalls and SpongeBob T-shirts on this kid. I'm going to dress him all out."'

Ben's account, manned almost entirely by his dad, quickly gained a cult following, and now his father says the first grader wants to develop his brand and his persona on other platforms, namely YouTube.

When asked what his lifelong dream was on a recent vlog, Ben said: 'My goal is to become a famous YouTuber.'

He's since appeared as a guest in several videos with 20-year-old YouTube star Jake Paul, a connection Branden was able to pull off thanks to his day job as a social media consultant.

Although his parents insist his social media activity doesn't impact on his life, his mom gets him ready about 15 minutes early for school every morning so she can take his latest outfit picture for Instagram.

'He's a kid first and a social-media star second,' Branden said.

Natural: The first grader now wants to develop his own YouTube channel

Guest star: Ben has appeared as a guest in several video with Jake Paul videos, a 20-year-old YouTube star with over 12 million subscribers

Keeping it in the family: Ben pictured with his parents, Branden and Stephanie

Prankster: Ben's own YouTube videos include pranks, a cooking video and a taste-test challenge

Meanwhile, in the summer and on weekends, a videographer at Branden's production company, shoots and edits Ben's video before uploading them onto his YouTube page.

So far, he's done pranks, a cooking video and a taste-test challenge, and Branden stressed that these concepts and ideas were all Ben's own.

Despite his newfound fame, Ben is still a student at a public elementary school in Fresno, and his dad said his son's success hasn't really changed his daily routine or their parenting styles.

'We parent Ben the same way we parented our other two kids,' Brandon said. 'If he's not following directions or being rude to people, he's going to get in trouble, it doesn't matter if he's an influencer or not.'

'Having followers doesn't change how much phone time he gets, it doesn't change his bedtime, he doesn't get an allowance, there's no special purchases, and he doesn't get any special treatment aside from some travel opportunities,' he added.

Ben's father was also quick to dismiss any suggestion that he and his wife are exploiting their child.

'This is not a financial game for us. Ben is a natural entertainer and we want him to flourish and do what he's good at. If there is monetary upside, we want him to benefit from that when he's older.

'The money he makes is money he earns for himself,' Brandon explained.
Riverdale star Lili Reinhart has slammed her so-called fans for body-shaming her while cruelly comparing her lingerie-clad body to that of a professional model's.

The 21-year-old actress, who plays Betty Cooper on the CW series, took to her Tumblr page to hit back at online trolls after people posted an image of her wearing a see-through corset next to a picture of Victoria's Secret model Taylor Hill wearing the same black lingerie.

Lili explained that she has seen the comparison photo all over her Instagram page for the past two weeks with degrading captions such as 'Lili vs Model,' 'Who wore it better?' and 'Which one is hotter?'

Hitting back: Riverdale actress Lili Reinhart has slammed her so-called fans who shared a body-shaming image comparing her body (left) to model Taylor Hill's (right)

Provocative scene: Lili, who plays Betty Cooper on the show, stripped down to lingerie while pole dancing in a recent episode of the CW series

In the most recent episode of Riverdale, Lili's character Betty strips down to lingerie to perform a pole dance at a bar. After the photo comparing Lili's body to Taylor's appeared online, some Instagram users commented that 'Betty is fat' and the 'the model looks way better.'

'Its been pretty hard to avoid. And I think its time I finally said something about it. Its disappointing,' Lili said of the public scrutiny.

The actress noted that the body-shaming photo has been posted by the same fans accounts that 'love to talk about amazing female friendships on the show, girl power, Veronica's inspiring feminism [and] body positivity.'

'That is the most hypocritical sh**t Ive ever seen,' she wrote. 'This is a poll. A competition. A comparison of two bodies. Its a feeding ground for comments of judgement and negativity.'

Lili explained that it is ' so easy to say "embrace your curves" [and] "everyone is beautiful,' but it is difficult to get to a point where you truly feel that way.

Response: The Ohio native shared that she's 'disappointed' by her fans and their mean post, which has created 'a feeding ground for comments of judgement and negativity'

Angry: Lili said the photo 'is a perfect way to fuel this delusional idea that it's still okay to put women on a pedestal and compare them'

Comparison: The actress noted that she is fully aware that she doesn't have a '24-inch waist' or a 'thigh gap'

To them I say: Lili (pictured on the show) argued that these types of comparisons lead to eating disorders and suicidal thoughts over body image

Disgusted: Lili said she hopes her message will make people think twice about commenting on another woman's weight or figure

'I do not have that models body. Im fully aware of this. I dont have a thigh gap.. a 24 inch waist.. toned arms or abs,' she wrote. 'I am not her. And how dare anyone assume that I should look like her.

'And the people who are commenting on this photo and weighing in on this poll are the ones who are comparing themselves to the model as well. Its so easy to point out someone elses "flaws," isnt it? Because it makes us feel better about ourselves and about our own insecurities.

'You are the problem, dont you get it?' she continued. 'You are promoting the idea that this model is what all women should look like and that its not okay to look like anything else.'

At the end of her post, Lili pointed out that these types of images are not only hurtful, they are also dangerous.

'This is why we have eating disorders. This is why young teens are suicidal about their body image. This is why people have body dysmorphic disorder. This is why there arent nearly enough plus size models in the industry,' she explained at the end of her post.

'I hope that this makes you reconsider the next time you feel the need to comment on another womans weight or figure.'
Lara Trump celebrated her three-month-old son Luke's first Christmas this week, and the mom is having a blast showing her only child around her home town.

The 35-year-old spent the first half of her holiday vacation with her husband Eric's family at his father's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, before they headed to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, to enjoy Christmas with her family.

Although little Luke is no stranger to the beach, Lara also took her son to visit one of her favorite places in North Carolina: an animal shelter

Animal lovers: Lara Trump took her three-month-old son Luke to visit Paws Place dog shelter in North Carolina the day after Christmas

Look of love: The 35-year-old proudly shared a photo of herself introducing Luke to a rescue pup living at the no-kill shelter

Tradition? Lara posed with pup at the shelter on the exact same day the year before

Paws Place is a no-kill, non-profit shelter that is dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation, and adoption of dogs.

Lara is an dedicated animal rights activist, who adopted her own rescue dog, Ben, last year, and she proudly shared Instagram photos of little Luke meeting some of the dogs at the shelter the day after Christmas.

In the first photo, Lara is holding Luke in her arms while she squats down to show him a rescue dog that is standing behind a metal gate.

Lara and Luke are pictured posing next to a different rescue pup in another photo from the day-trip.

His other grandpa! Lara celebrated her father Robert Yunaska's birthday on Wednesday with this heartwarming photo

Family fun: Lara and her husband Eric took their son and their dogs to Wrightsville Beach in North Carolina on Christmas Day

Home state: Lara tagged Wrightsville Beach as her location when she shared a photo of her pro-Trump coffee mug that morning

Luke is bundled up in a light blue knit hat and matching blanket, while Lara is dressed casually in a leather jacket, jeans, and sneakers.

'Thrilled I got to share one of my favorite places at home with Luke today,' she captioned the images, using the hashtag 'AdoptDon'tShop.'

Visiting Paws Place after Christmas has become somewhat of a tradition for Lara, who stopped by the shelter on the same day last year.

Lara and Eric also have a beagle named Charlie, and the proud mom kicked off the holiday by sharing an adorable photo of the pup lying next to Luke on Christmas Eve.

Ready for Santa: Lara kicked off the holiday by sharing an adorable photo of the pup lying next to Luke on Christmas Eve

First stop: Lara and her family spent the first half of their holiday vacation at President Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, before they headed to North Carolina

'Tis the season: Lara, Eric, and their son are pictured with President Trump and First Lady Melania earlier this month

'These two #brothers,' she captioned the sweet image.

Although it's unclear where they spent Christmas Eve, the family was in North Carolina on Christmas Day.

Lara tagged Wrightsville Beach as her location when she shared a photo of her pro-Trump coffee mug that morning.

She later shared a photo of herself holding Luke and Ben on the beach, while Eric cuddled with Charlie.

It has been a busy week for the family, who celebrated Lara's father Robert Yunaska's birthday on Wednesday.

Lara shared a sweet photo of her dad holding Luke on his lap, writing: 'Happy birthday, Grandpa!'
Questions: Margaret in Belfast with Peter Townsend(far left), who is said to have asked for an adjoining bedroom to the Princess, then 17

For a girl of just 17, she was understandably nervous as she sent the champagne bottle crashing against the bow of the 28,700-ton liner Edinburgh Castle.

Princess Margaret was, after all, launching her first ship, and the crowds at Belfasts Harland and Wolff shipyard went out of their way to help her through the ordeal. They cheered and applauded, and an apprentice presented the royal visitor with a bouquet.

The generous Ulster folk saw what they took to be King George VIs unworldly younger daughter, a novice princess learning on the job. They took to her instantly.

Long before Kate and Diana, Princess Margaret was the royal pin-up, a hugely popular and glamorous figure.

Reports of her visit to the Province described women and children fainting with excitement at seeing her.

But were the crowds seeing the real Princess? For away from the public excitement and cameras, a very different figure was emerging: a wilful young woman who, it seems, had a lover almost twice her age.

The story of the Princesss passionate, but ultimately doomed, affair with her fathers equerry, Battle of Britain flying ace Group Captain Peter Townsend  a married man with children  is one of the best-known episodes of the Queens reign, and has been fertile ground for the Netflix series The Crown.

It is a story that has been repeated in such minute detail that one could hardly expect anything new of significance to emerge now, some 60 years later.

The story of the Princesss passionate, but ultimately doomed, affair with her fathers equerry, is one of the best-known episodes of the Queens reign, and has been fertile ground for the Netflix series The Crown

Were it not for a new biography about Margaret  Maam Darling: 99 Glimpses Of Princess Margaret, written by Daily Mail columnist Craig Brown  the story would seem to have reached a natural conclusion, especially with both Princess and lover being dead, he in 1995, she seven years later.

But last week, Brown used his Mail column to reveal that someone who had read his book has unearthed fresh information which some might view as startling.

What it suggests is that the love affair began years earlier than is popularly accepted. Indeed, it seems that when the Princess launched the Union-Castle liner on October 16, 1947, she was already in a relationship with Townsend, who was then 32 and the father of two young sons.

We must stress that there is no proof they were intimate at that stage. But what we do now know is that for the visit to the shipyard, on which Townsend accompanied her, a request was made for them to have adjoining bedrooms at Hillsborough Castle, the then governors official residence in Belfast.

They also posed for a photograph with the Governor of Northern Ireland, the late 4th Earl Granville.

It was at a book-signing session that a figure approached Brown with the information. He had found notes among official papers of the visit recording that the Group Captain had asked for a different bedroom to the one he had been allocated. He asked to be moved next door to Margaret.

This, remember, was 70 years ago. Even today the idea of a married man in his 30s asking to be in such close proximity to a girl of 17 would raise eyebrows.

Anyone who knew the diffident Townsend and the headstrong Margaret would assume the move was because she wanted it. As Browns book makes clear, what Margaret wanted, she usually got.

Earlier in 1947, Margaret and her sister, Elizabeth, had accompanied the King and Queen on a three-month State tour of Southern Africa. Townsends role was to chaperone the younger Princess. Reports of the tour judged the 5ft 1in Margaret to be livelier, prettier, more sexually charged than her elder sister. Yet she was then still only 16.

Princess Margaret, drives from Allanbay House, Binfield, Berkshire, where she and Group Captain Peter Townsend were the weekend guests of Mrs. John Lycett Wills in 1955

You would expect a teenage princess to be bored being toted from country to country with all the pomp and ceremony involved in State visits. But in future years Margaret would speak of remembering every minute of the tour.

The two were in each others company every day, riding out and taking in the sights. As Princess Margaret herself later told a confidante: We rode together every morning in that wonderful country, in marvellous weather. Thats when I really fell in love with him.

In fact, as is known, she was only 14 when Townsend arrived as Equerry and Deputy Master of the Kings Household, and immediately had a crush on him.

With his quick wit and boyish charm, Townsend rapidly became a popular member of the Kings staff. He rode with the princesses, flew planes in air races for them, played canasta with the Queen and enlivened gatherings at the royal residences.

He was, moreover, a married man who lived with his wife and children in a grace-and-favour cottage in the grounds of Windsor Castle. The then Queen and her daughters were frequent visitors to the Townsend family home.

It was to be six years after that Belfast visit before his affair with the Kings daughter became public, thanks to a famous moment during the Queens Coronation on June 2, 1953, when Margaret was seen tenderly removing a bit of fluff from his lapel.

As everyone knows, two years of royal turmoil followed, during which Townsend and his wife Rosemary divorced, and he and the Princess wanted to marry.

Princess Margaret with RAF officer Group Captain Peter Townsend, left, in South Africa during the royal tour, 1947

The climax came on October 31, 1955, when Margaret announced that, mindful of the Churchs teaching that Christian marriage is indissoluble, and conscious of my duty to the Commonwealth, I have resolved to put these considerations before any others, she would not marry the divorcee.

What remained unsaid was that marrying Townsend would have meant Margaret sacrificing her royal status, its privileges and perks. And Townsend could scarcely keep her in the manner to which she had been accustomed.

For his part, Townsend later claimed to have not developed romantic feelings for the Princess until 1951, by which time she was 21 and he was safely divorced.

It was all very convenient, except for one person  Rosemary Townsend. A brigadiers daughter, she took an old-fashioned view and protected the Royal Family from scandal by declining to divorce Townsend and name the princess as the other woman.

Princess Margaret (right) watches the finish of the Queen Anne stakes at Ascot Racecourse with her friend, Sharman Douglas - daughter of Leavis W. Douglas, US Ambassador to Britain. Left is group Capt Peter Townsend. Picture taken in 1950

Instead, she allowed herself to be the guilty party, admitting adultery with the man who became her second husband.

For the next 50 years, she doggedly refused to speak up for herself. She and her second husband, banker John de Laszlo, had two children, before they, too, divorced. She then married the 5th Marquess Camden and had five happy years before he died in 1983.

Townsends sons were uncomfortably aware their mother took the blame to protect the Royal Familys honour.

From Hugo, a psychotherapist who lives in London, there was virtually silence, his only comment on the death of Margaret that we are all sad for the Royal Family that the Princess has died.

Giles died two years ago still angry that my mother took all the blame. In conversation with us over the years, he never stepped back from that position: She was hurt very much. Everyone knew my father was seeing the Princess. The divorce action could just as easily have gone the other way.

As for Belfast and the launch of the liner, imagine how the news of the adjoining bedrooms of Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend would have gone down just a month before she was a bridesmaid at her sisters wedding.

Princess Margaret and Group Captain Peter Townsend, leaving Windsor Castle, April 12 1952

As an old friend of Margaret says: This was playing with fire, a terrible risk for her reputation and that of the Royal Family. Its a miracle it hasnt come out before. I have to say, though, that having met Peter Townsend, I would be surprised if he was sleeping with the Princess when she was so young.

When Margaret and Townsend met again 37 years after their split, he was happily married to Belgian Marie-Luce Jamagne (with whom he lived in France and had a daughter) and they could talk with the same intimacy as they had before.

It was 1992 and he was in London to attend a reunion of those who had travelled with the Royal Family in 1947. To avoid Press attention, Margaret declined an invitation to the reunion, but invited Townsend to tea.

Three years later he was dead, but Margaret still had his letters, which she decreed could not be read until 100 years from her birth  in 2030.

But for these new details, nothing has ever emerged about when their affair  which plunged the royals into its greatest crisis since the Abdication  actually began. We may have to wait 13 years for that deadline to expire to learn the unvarnished truth.
Women are enduring invasive bottom-enlarging procedures in a bid to emulate voluptuous celebrities such as Iggy Azalea, Amber Rose and Nicki Minaj, according to the cosmetic surgeon Gary Ross.

Even previously waif-like supermodels are embracing their curves thanks to the more voluptuous cover girls Bella Hadid and Emily Ratajowki, Manchester-based Mr Ross adds.

He told MailOnline: 'Celebrities like Kim Kardashian have been championing the more rounded look for almost a decade. But in the last four years or so the more voluptuous bottom has become a very real trend.

'Nowadays, if a woman asks "does my bum look big in this?", the answer they may want to hear is "yes".'

In the past five years, there has been a five-fold surge in the number of women requesting consultations to have buttocks like their favourite celebrities, Mr Ross adds.

One woman even took out a 4,000 loan to have the procedure and imitate her favourite curvy celebrities. Scroll down for her before and after pictures.

Women are enduring bottom-enlarging procedures in a bid to emulate voluptuous celebrities

In five years, there has been a five-fold surge in women requesting 'big bum consultations'

Voluptuous bottoms, as seen on Nicki Minaj, have become a real trend for women

MEET THE WOMAN WHO WAS TOO SELF-CONSCIOUS OF HER BACKSIDE TO LEAVE THE HOUSE AND TOOK OUT A 4,000 LOAN TO HAVE IT ENLARGED - BUT WAS IT WORTH IT? A mother-of-two, known only as Olivia W, got the posterior of her dreams after undergoing a buttock-enlarging procedure from the cosmetic surgeon Gary Ross. The 40-year-old, from Wigan, spent 8,000 earlier this year on Body Jet Liposuction to improve the appearance of her backside, as well as toning up her thighs and midriff after her appearance shattered her confidence to the extent she did not want to leave the house. The procedure involves inserting high pressure fluid into the problem area to remove body fat. Speaking of looking at the results for the first time, Olivia, a dental nurse who took out a 4,000 loan for the operation, said: 'It was a wonderful feeling. My entire shape just looked more womanly and natural. 'If youve tried everything, youve done the dieting and exercise, and its still not working, then consider it an option. 'I for one am glad I did.' Mother-of-two Olivia W felt so self-conscious of her backside and thighs she did not want to leave the house (pictured before the buttock-enlarging procedure) She is delighted with the results and feels her shape is more womanly (pictured after) 'I lost all my confidence' Olivia, who was in recovery for three weeks after the procedure, tried for years to lose weight with strict diets, and regular runs and yoga sessions. Yet years of dance training left her feeling her thighs and backside were too thick. Olivia said: 'Ive always been really active, and because I used to dance I built up a lot muscle on my thighs and bum. 'But when I stopped dancing, I just couldnt shift that bulk no matter how hard I tried. 'I went to the gym, I went running three times a week, and I did yoga. But nothing worked. 'I lost all my confidence, stopped wearing the clothes I wanted to wear, and became reluctant to go out. 'I had a normal-sized waist but every time I tried to put on a pair of jeans I couldnt get them past my thighs. It was frustrating and also demoralising.' After trying to tone through diet and exercise, Olivia took out a loan to cover half the surgery's cost despite her husband insisting she did not need it (pictured before) She is glad she had the operation and encourages others to consider it (pictured after) 'I felt guilty about spending 8,000 on myself' Olivia, who spent one night in hospital after undergoing a general anaesthetic, took out a loan to pay for half of the surgery, despite her family insisting she did not need it. She said: 'My husband kept telling me that I was perfect the way I was, but he could also see how my self-esteem had taken a battering and supported me when I started thinking about surgery. 'I dont drive a fancy car. I dont own a fancy handbag. And, yes, with two children in the family I felt guilty about spending 8,000 on myself. 'But because it was having such an effect on my life, I knew I had to do it.' Advertisement

CURVY MODELS SUCH AS ASHLEY GRAHAM GIVE US A MENTAL HEALTH BOOST Curvy models such as Ashley Graham and Candice Huffine's refusal to conform to ideal body standards is good for us, research revealed back in June. Women experience a mental health boost after seeing plus-size models compared to underweight ones, a study found. They are also more likely to pay attention to, and remember, models who reflect realistic body shapes and sizes, the research adds. It's a point the fashion industry  often criticized for pedaling unrealistic body images  should take on board, according to the researchers from Florida State University. Advertisement

'Supermodels are more keen to show they have curves'

Gary Ross told MailOnline: 'There's no doubt bums are becoming bigger than ever. Celebrities like Kim Kardashian have been championing the more rounded look for almost a decade.

'But in the last four years or so the more voluptuous bottom has become a very real trend.'

Celebrities such as Iggy Azalea, Amber Rose and Nicki Minaj have become poster-girls for bigger backsides.

Mr Ross added: 'Even supermodels, who would traditionally aspire to very slim frames, appear more keen to show they have curves, with people like Bella Hadid paving the way.'

Petite celebrities, such as Emily Ratajowki, use their social media profiles to draw attention to their shapely figures with high-waisted, thong-style swimsuits.

Even reality stars like Charlotte Crosby have released fitness DVDs entirely devoted to building bigger backsides.

Even waif-like models are embracing their curves due to the more voluptuous Bella Hadid

Emily Ratajowki uses her social media profiles to draw attention to her shapely figure

Ideal waist-to-hip ratio is 0.69 to 0.71

Mr Ross added: 'Nowadays, if a woman asks 'does my bum look big in this?', the answer they may want to hear is 'yes'.'

A previous study by Erasmus University in the Netherlands found that the most admired female figure has a waist-to-hip ratio of between 0.69 and 0.71.

This translates into a waist of 25 inches and 36-inch hips.

According to the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, procedures that transfer fat from the stomach or thighs to the bottom increase by around 13 per cent each year in the UK.
A scientist has revealed the three foods you have not been able to put down this festive season due to their 'addictive' mix of sugar, fat and salt that will keep people coming back for more.

Diners should watch out for mince pies, mulled wine and turkey with cranberry sauce, Professor Cammy Crolic from the University of Oxford told MailOnline.

Recent research showed the combination of sugar, salt and fat is almost addictive as complex flavours cause people to find new taste sensations with every bite.

Mulled wine's rich blend of spices including star anise, cardamon and cloves makes people unable to stop at just one glass, according to Professor Crolic.

While mince pies' cinammon and zesty flavours, combined with a buttery crust makes for an interesting flavour combination that keeps people coming back for more, she said.

The combination of meat and fruit in turkey with cranberry sauce creates a more complex flavour than if the two were eaten separately, which makes an extra serving even more tempting, Professor Crolic added.

Science reveals the three foods you are most likely to overindulge in this Christmas (stock)

Mince pies' complex spice, fruit and savoury crust combination makes them hard to resist

Interesting flavours in mulled wine makes drinkers find new sensations with every sip

Combination of meat and fruit makes turkey with cranberry more addictive than on their own

WHY IS SUGAR SO ADDICTIVE? Many scientists believe humans are primed to crave sugar as it was vital to our hunter-gather ancestors' survival. This is because neurones in the brain require glucose, which is absorbed after eating food, as a source of fuel. Humans may be born with a sweet tooth as a study by Washington University revealed babies have a preference for sugary foods over other flavours, while children often enjoy sweets more than adults. This may be because youngsters who craved high-calorie foods in 'caveman times' were more likely to survive when supplies were unpredictable. Sugar also causes the release of the 'happy hormone' serotonin, giving people an instant 'lift'. Yet, this causes the release of insulin to return blood sugar levels to normal, resulting in a 'crash' and often the binge-eating cycle. Source: BBC Advertisement

'Effect is stronger in salty and sweet foods'

Professor Crolic told MailOnline: 'We are learning something new about what we are tasting with each bite.

'We identify different flavours so it drives the food to become more enjoyable.

'Complex foods will be more likely to drive this escalation of enjoyment over a piece of broccoli.

'The effect is stronger in those that have both salty and sweet flavours in food.

She said: 'Mulled wine has spices and flavours that might cause people to overindulge.

'Mince pies have a lot of spices, fruit and a buttery, almost-savoury crust.

'Turkey with cranberry sauce may also be "addictive" because its a combination of flavours, so its more addictive then if you ate just the turkey or the cranberry sauce on their own.'

Even after diners have stuffed themselves full of the main Christmas meal, a change in flavours may create 'extra space' for dessert.

In November, Professor Crolic and colleagues identified salted caramel as being the most addictive flavour in the world due to its unique combination of sugar, salt and fat.

Salt minimises foods' bitterness and enhances sweetness, making the combination of sugar and savoury highly addictive.

This builds on previous research that found eating junk food releases heroin-like feel-good chemicals in the brain.

Sugar, salt and fat stimulate the brain's reward centre, but were difficult to find in 'caveman times', making humans evolve to work hard to track down such flavours since our hunter-gatherer ancestors.
A couple who tragically have two young daughters suffering from a devastating, rare disease nicknamed 'childhood Alzheimer's' is working with research agencies and doctors on a campaign to save lives.

Pam and Chris Andrews were devastated when they were told that their beautiful daughter Belle, now seven, was suffering from the disease which affects just 200 people in America and 500 kids worldwide, killing a majority between 10 and 20 years old.

As it is a very rare, genetic disease, there was a one in four chances that her toddler Abby would have it too, but Pam and her husband Chris refused to believe it could happen again.

Tragically, three weeks after Belle was diagnosed, the couple from Austin, Texas were told Abby was also suffering from Niemann-Pick Type C1 (NPC1) which is fatal.

'Every Christmas we have together we value so much. Christmas is incredibly special for us and we make the most of every single moment. We dont know what the future is going to hold for us so we are thankful for every memory we have with our girls,' Pam says.

Sisters Belle, seven, and Abby, three, suffer from the same rare genetic disorder that could kill them between 10 and 20 years old

The girls were diagnosed with Niemann-Pick Type C1 (NPC1), also known as 'childhood Alzheimer's' which caused them to slowly regress until they cant walk and dementia sets in

Abby and Belle with Santa on Christmas Day this year

Niemann-Pick Type C (NPC) is a disease where patients are unable to metabolize cholesterol and other lipids properly within their cells.

Excessive amounts of cholesterol then build up inside the liver and spleen, and excessive amounts of other lipids accumulate in the brain, causing its deterioration.

In most cases, neurological symptoms begin appearing between the ages of four and 10.

'We had to deal with the thought that we would eventually  and sooner rather than later  lose half of our family to this cruel disease,' says Pam, a 45 year-old business developer.

'It didn't seem fair that both our gorgeous children were going to suffer and eventually die, so Chris and I knew that we had to pick ourselves up and fight for them however we could.'

In their quest for a cure and better treatments, the couple set-up a non-profit called Firefly Fund which is working with some of the world's leading NPC1 experts and other NPC1 families to support scientific research for NPC1 therapies.

Additionally, Firefly Fund is supporting the development of a newborn screening program [LCC1] so that if a child is suffering from NPC1, they can be treated very early on, even before symptoms start.

This could mean that many more kids will live longer with fewer symptoms.

For families like the Andrews, this could make such a difference.

Pam and Chris, a 45 year-old attorney, met in October 2006 and in June 2009 she found out that she was pregnant.

The couple were elated but Pam suffered from the pregnancy-related condition pre-eclampsia which causes dangerously high blood pressure for the mother.

As a result, Belle was born three and a half weeks early and she weighed just five pounds two ounces.

At her two week check, her doctor could feel the tip of her spleen, meaning it was slightly enlarged. This is an indicator of the disease but because it is so rare, the doctor had her tested for cancer.

'We were absolutely terrified,' says Pam. 'When the doctor told me that she could have cancer I was, like what, how does a two-week old get cancer? It didn't make sense.

'The tests came back negative, thank God and nothing more was said as the spleen hadn't got any bigger. We were so happy that she was okay so we went home to live our lives.'

But as she grew older, Belle didn't meet her developmental milestones.

She seemed cautious sometimes when walking and her speech wasn't developing as it should. When she was four and a half, she seemed to trip and fall every time she walked.

Worried, Pam took Belle to see a physical therapist but when PT didn't work, she was advised to see her pediatrician in case of neurological issues.

In April 2015, her doctor could feel an enlarged spleen and visibly concerned, she advised Pam to consider genetic testing for herself, Chris and Belle.

Almost a year later in March 2016, genetics expert Dr James Gibson called with the results.

The Andrews family from Texas were devastated to learn the news after a genetic test revealed Belle had the disease and the chances of Abby also having it were high

Mother Pam, noticed that Belle (left) was slow to reach milestones and would trip when she walked. Abby (right) was diagnosed at 20 months old

Parents Pam and Chris Andrews, 45, have been working with researchers and doctors to find a cure for their daughters and others who suffer from this disease

'We were told to go there the next morning and I was angry because I wanted to know over the phone,' recalls Pam. 'It was torture waiting  I don't think me or Chris slept that night.

HOW TO SPOT NPC Niemann-Pick Type C (NPC) is a disease where patients are unable to metabolize cholesterol and other lipids properly within their cells. Excessive amounts of cholesterol then accumulate within the liver and spleen, and excessive amounts of other lipids accumulate in the brain. Signs and symptoms: Vertical gaze palsy (the inability to move the eyes up and down)

Enlarged liver

Enlarged spleen

Jaundice in young children In most cases, neurological symptoms begin appearing between the ages of four and 10. Generally, the later that neurological symptoms begin, the slower the progression of the disease. NPC causes enlarged organs, lung damage, and slow and steady neurological deterioration. Patients are eventually unable to walk, talk or even breathe. There are an estimated 500 cases diagnosed worldwide. Doctors say there may be more, but that people confuse the disease with a learning disability or clumsiness. There is currently no cure for NPC. Half of children die by age 10 and the majority will die before age 20. A late onset of symptoms can lead to a longer life span, but it is extremely rare for any person with NPC to reach age 40. Source: National Niemann-Pick Disease Foundation Advertisement

'I'd been Googling 'enlarged spleen' and 'tripping and falling' quite a lot and came up with a battery of diseases called lysosomal storage disorders  all of which are life threatening.

'The doctor told us the next morning that Belle is suffering from Niemann-Pick Type C1  it's a horrific genetic disease where in time, children slowly regress until they can't walk, eat or function properly.

'The worst of it is that dementia will set in and eventually the child can't recognize their own parents or siblings. Most children die by the time they are 10 although some do live longer.

'It's caused by both parents having a mutation in the NPC1 gene  both Chris and I are silent carriers of the disease and we never knew about it. It was just bad luck that we were both carriers and we had children together.

'I knew that this was a death sentence for my daughter. The doctor told me to go to call the Make a Wish Foundation, go and enjoy our time together and live life the best we could.

'I was in shock, despair, grief, I felt hopeless because I knew that one day, I would have to bury my child who wouldn't have even lived.'

The doctor also said that Abby, who was born in June 2014, would need to be tested as there was a one in four chance that she would also have it.

When she was 20 months old, her tests came back positive for Niemann-Pick Type C1.

Belle had already started taking part in a clinical trial for a medicine called VTS-270 pioneered by Dr Elizabeth Berry-Travis in Chicago.[LCC2]

Every two weeks, the family was flying to Chicago where the medicine was being injected into Belle's spine. It is the only treatment available to slow down the disease' progress and it is showing excellent promise.

'Hearing Abby has the disease was absolutely horrific,' says Pam. 'But it made us even more determined to fight as hard as we could to keep our kids alive.

'Abby was too young to take part in the in the VTS 270 clinical trial but was able to get the therapy under compassionate use guidelines and Chris and I set up a fund raising campaign to help other families.'

As for now, apart from a slightly enlarged spleen, Abby, now three, has no symptoms. She can run, jump, sing, she does gymnastics every week and she speaks two languages  Spanish and English thanks to the sisters' nannies.

Belle walks with an awkward gait and her speech is slushy, but she goes to school, is very sociable and she loves playing with her friends.

The girls now have their twice-monthly treatments in Austin, which is much easier and affordable for the family, but Pam and Chris are committed to finding a better treatment and ultimately the cure.

'Having two girls with this is totally heartbreaking,' she says. 'And while it is a very rare disease, we are hearing of other families all the time who are suffering and being diagnosed.

'There has to be more research. We need to find a way to slow down the disease but we also need to find a cure and I believe that it is obtainable, I really do.'

Belle is involved in a clinical trial that has slowed the progression of her symptoms though Abby is too young to participate

Abby has been administered drugs to slow the progression of the disease and aside from an enlarged spleen, shows no signs

Dr Elizabeth Berry-Kravis said: 'The VTS-270 protocol is good in that it is really working in slowing down the symptoms in some patients  it's showing such promise in a lot of children.

'Abby is showing virtually no symptoms and we feel that is because she was started on the protocol much earlier than Belle was. Once those symptoms start, there's no turning them back.

'The drug can only slow it right down while we all work together towards an ultimate goal  a cure  but that's a long way off now. That's why this newborn screening process is going to be so important because if we can start treating the patient as early as possible, they stand a much better chance of not developing symptoms so quickly.'

Pam, Chris and leading medicine and family groups along with doctors are committed to working with NPC1 families.

Pam and Chris have started the Firefly Fund, which works hand in hand with other prominent groups, including NCAPS [LCC3] and The Parseghian Fund, a group started by Cindy Parseghian who sadly lost three children to NPC1 and who has devoted her life to supporting research of this disease.

'We actually have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving,' said Pam. 'There is more research being done than ever before into this horrific disease and we are on the cusp of significant medical breakthroughs.

'We are going to fight this all the way. Even though the odds are stacked against all these kids, we won't stop until the cure is found.'
This stomach-churning footage shows a 'gross' cyst oozing with yellow pus after it was popped.

The large lump, filled with the pungent fluid, was located on the unnamed man's back - slightly above his back tattoo.

Donning purple gloves, a Californian doctor tackled the sebaceous cyst using an array of sharp surgical tools.

Dr Michael Lewis, based in Woodland Hills, tries to keep the patient calm and asks him to let him know if he feels anything 'sharp'.

The large lump, filled with the pungent fluid, was located on the unnamed man's back - slightly above his back tattoo

The squeezing of the large cyst began with Dr Lewis swabbing the area with iodine.

After slicing open the swollen head of the mass, he then prises open the cyst to 'tease' the build-up of pus out.

Placing his fingers either side of the lump, pressure is applied to force a string of the yellow liquid from his cyst.

Dr Lewis, who regularly performs such procedures, then tells his patient: 'I'm sure you can smell that. If not, you're about to.'

He then describes the smell as 'gross' before attempting to cut out the sac, which contained the pus, in one gentle tug.

Dr Michael Lewis, based in Woodland Hills, tries to keep the patient calm and asks him to let him know if he feels anything 'sharp' (pictured: the cyst before it was squeezed)

WHAT ARE CYSTS? Cysts are noncancerous, closed sac-like structures that can be filled with fluid, pus or other materials. They are common and can appear anywhere on the skin. Cysts can develop as a result of infection, clogging of the sebaceous (oil) glands or around foreign bodies, such as earrings. They are round, dome-shaped bumps that tend to be yellow or white in colour. Usually painless, they can become tender, sore and red if infected. Most cysts disappear on their own, but some may need to be drained to relieve pain. Self-treatment by squeezing or popping the cyst yourself is not advised as it could exacerbate the underlying cause. Advertisement

With all the fluid removed, the wound is cleaned to prevent any future growths.

Dr Lewis, who runs his own practice, said: 'As a family practice physician, we are taught to treat all ailments.

'Our scope of practice is womb to tomb. Therefore, part of my practice is treating lumps and bumps. I have always enjoyed performing procedures like this.

'Nothing bothers me too much as far as procedures go, however if the smell is bad, it can be really tough.'

Dr Lewis, who regularly records himself popping spots and cysts, has shot to fame in recent months.

Compulsively watching stomach-churning medical videos online appears to have become a big trend in recent years.

Dr Pimple Popper, or dermatologist Dr Sandra Lee, has become a viral sensation with clips of her surgical procedures in removing huge pimples and cysts from patients.

The California-based doctor has amassed more than three million subscribers to her YouTube channel.
Practising yoga on a daily or a frequent basis may help men overcome erectile dysfunction (ED), according to experts.

They say the relaxing, ancient practice is an effective alternative to medicine that works because the condition is often psychological.

Researchers from Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara College of Ayurveda and Hospital in Karnataka, India, note that there is a lack of research but suggest yoga should be considered as a treatment for sexual disorder.

Writing in the Journal of Ayurveda and Integrated Medical Sciences, the India team said: 'Problems related to sex can very well be handled with Yoga as most often these problems are more related to the mind than body.

Yoga may help with impotency because the condition is often psychological, according to experts (stock image)

'Either they are caused by lack of confidence or stress or fatigue or fear and very few times some physical cause is there.

'There is also a cognitive component focusing on meditation and concentration, which aids in achieving the goal of union between the self and the spiritual.'

Based on their recommendations, Pennsylvania-based personal trainer Daniel Bubnis has suggested five poses to help ED  which is said to affect 60 per cent of men over the age of 60.

Writing for Medical News Today, he points to previous research published in 2010 in the Journal of Sexual Medicine which looked at 65 men aged 24 to 60 who carried out 12 weeks of yoga sessions.

At the end of the period, the men reported increases in ejaculatory control, erection, and orgasm.

Here are Mr Bubnis' recommended positions for men to try...

1. Ardha matsyendrasana  half lord of the fishes

Mr Bubnis explains that this pose is said to promote digestion and blood flow to major organs, including the liver, spleen, pancreas, and pelvic region.

This yoga position is known as ardha matsyendrasana or half lord of the fishes (stock image)

How to do it:

Begin in a seated position with your legs stretched forward. Bend your right leg at the knee and cross it over the left, placing your right foot on the floor. Inhale then exhale slowly, turning toward the right, stretch the left arm forwards, resting the left elbow on the right knee. Clasp your hands behind the back while twisting, if you are particularly flexible. Release the pose and start from the seated position. Repeat on the opposite side.

2. Siddhasana  the perfect pose

Mr Bubnis says this classic yoga position, sometimes called the perfect pose, can be maintained for a long period. He says it stimulates the pelvic region and promotes flexibility.

The siddhasana or perfect pose position stimulates the pelvic region (stock image)

How to do it:

Sit on the floor with your legs stretched forward. Cross your left leg at the knee, placing your left foot near the inside of your right thigh. Repeat the movement on the right leg, placing your right foot over your left ankle. The right heel should press against the pubic bone. Remain in this position and practice deep breathing. You can uncross your legs and repeat by crossing the right leg first.

3. Garduasana  the eagle pose

This standing position is called garduasana or the eagle pose

The eagle pose  also called garudasana  is a standing yoga pose that challenges balance and focus while opening the shoulder.

If you feel a little unsteady you can perform it near a wall or some furniture for support.

This position is believed to boost blood flow to the pelvis, making it potentially helpful for ED sufferers, according to Mr Bubnis.

How to do it:

Stand straight on both legs. Imagine your right leg is a root connected to the ground. Lift the left leg slowly, twisting it over the right knee, placing the top of the foot on the back of the right calf if possible. Bend at the knee to deepen the stretch. You can lift your arms to shoulder height and cross one over the other if you want to. Hold the position for 5 to 10 seconds, release, and repeat on the other leg.

4. Pavanamuktasana  the wind-relieving pose

The pavanamuktasana, or wind-relieving pose, gently massages the abdominal organs, offering relief from gas and constipation problems.

Furthermore, it helps to mobilise and warm the pelvic muscles and reproductive organs, claims Mr Bubnis.

The pavanamuktasana is said to offer relief from gas and constipation problems (stock image)

How to do it:

Lie down on the floor with your legs outstretched. Inhale then exhale and bring one knee toward the chest. Circle the arms around the knee, pulling the leg as close to the stomach as possible. Continue to inhale and exhale while in this position. Release and lower your leg. Repeat on the opposite side.

5. Shavasana  the corpse pose

The corpse pose is usually done at the end of a yoga practice. You lie flat on your back with your heels spread as wide as the yoga mat and your arms a few inches away from the body, with palms facing upwards.

Mr Bubnis says that while it's technically an easy position, the skill is being able to be quiet, introspective, and focus on your breathing.

The corpse pose may look easy but the skill is quietening your mind (stock image)

How to do it:

Lie with your back on the floor and arms stretched at your sides. Point your palms upward toward the sky. Visualise each part of your body slowly relaxing. Start with your right toes, then ankle, calf, knee, and so on. Switch to visualising the left leg relaxing and move upward through the body. Breathe deeply while maintaining focus on relaxation. You can remain in this pose for anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes if desired.
Ever wondered why your nose runs when it's cold? It's extremely common  it happens to about 50-90 per cent of people.

It's called 'cold-induced rhinitis' or 'skier's nose'. People with asthma, eczema and hay fever seem to experience it more.

Writing for The Conversation, David King, senior lecturer at The University of Queensland, explains why.

He says the low temperature triggers an automatic reaction in your nose to make the air you breathe in warm and wet so that when it gets to your lungs it does not irritate the cells.

'When inhaling air through the nose at subfreezing temperatures, the air in the back of the nose is usually about 26C, but can be as high as 30C,' he explained.

Cold temperatures trigger an automatic reaction in your nose to make the air you breathe in warm and wet to protect your lungs (stock image)

'And the humidity of air at the back of the nose is usually around 100 per cent, irrespective of how cold the air is we're breathing in.

'This shows the nose is very effective at making sure the air we breath becomes warm and wet before it reaches the lungs.'

So how does it do this?

FAST FACTS: THE HUMAN NOSE Men tend to have larger noses than women, a study has found. The University of Iowa suggest this is because males generally have more muscle, demanding larger noses to breathe in more oxygen. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest human nose on a living person belongs to Mehmet Ozyurek of Turkey. His nose is 3.46 inches (8.8 centimeters) long from the bridge to the tip. The human nose can smell over 1 trillion scents, according to researchers from Rockefeller University in New York. Advertisement

Cold, dry air stimulates the nerves inside your nose, which send a message through your nerves to your brain.

Your brain then responds to this impulse by increasing the blood flow to the nose, and these dilated blood vessels warm the air passing over them.

Secondly, the nose is triggered to produce more secretions via the mucous glands in order to provide the moisture to humidify the air coming through.

The cold, dry air also stimulates cells of your immune system (called 'mast cells') in your nose. These cells trigger the production of more liquid in your nose to make the air more moist.

It's estimated you can lose up to 300-400mL of fluid daily through your nose as it performs this function.

Difficult balancing act

Heat and water loss are closely related: heating the air in the nasal cavities means the lining of the nasal cavity (mucosa) becomes cooler than core body temperature; at the same time, water evaporates (becomes vapour) to make the air moist.

Water evaporation, which requires large amounts of heat, takes heat from the nose, thus making it cooler.

In response, the blood flow to the nose increases further, as the task of warming the air that's breathed in takes precedence over heat loss from the nose (the body's normal response to cold is to shunt blood away from the surface to the deep vessels to minimise heat loss from the skin).

So it's a difficult balancing act to achieve the correct amount of heat and moisture lost from the nose.

When the compensatory mechanism is a little too overactive, moisture in excess of that needed to humidify this cold, dry air will drip from the nostrils.

Mast cells are usually more sensitive in people with asthma and allergies, and blood vessel changes more reactive in those who are sensitive to environmental irritants and temperature changes. So nasal congestion and even sneezing can be triggered by the cold air.

Treatment is usually simply to carry some tissues or a handkerchief. Although the use of anticholinergic (blocks nerve impulses) and anti-inflammatory nasal sprays such as Atropine and Ipratropium have been trialled with some success.
A 97-year-old British woman has become the oldest person to ever be struck down with chickenpox, claim doctors.

The unnamed patient, from London, had already battled the contagious bug as a child before contracting it again nine decades later.

The NHS states it's 'extremely rare' for someone to be struck with it twice because most adults go on to develop shingles - when the dormant virus is reactivated.

Medics who treated the woman, who later died of a complication, at the Princess Royal University Hospital broke the news in the BMJ Case Reports.

They assumed she was too old to have chickenpox - despite having the tell-tale rash that is associated with the usually harmless virus.

The unnamed patient, from London, had already battled the contagious bug as a child before contracting it again nine decades later

They wrote: 'To our knowledge, we present the oldest reported case of primary varicella zoster infection in an immunocompetent patient.

'Although there has been a previously reported case, it was not regarding a patient as old as ours.'

The elderly woman visited the A&E department at the hospital in Orpington after she became concerned about her four-day-old rash.

She told her doctors how the itchy rash initially started on her feet before spreading to her thighs, chest and abdomen.

The woman, who lived alone and was a former smoker, also had been struck down with a fever and bouts of vomiting.

CHICKENPOX: THE FACTS Chickenpox infects about 65 per cent of children in Britain before their fifth birthday  nearly eight million one to 10 year olds in the UK. It is usually mild and clears up in a week or so, but it can be dangerous for some people, such as those with a weakened immune system. Adults can be struck down with the highly contagious virus, which can be spread by touching a contaminated surface or being in close contact with someone infected. Advertisement

Dr Annalan Navaratnam, who reported the case in the medical journal, revealed how they initially misdiagnosed her with pemphigus.

Because they thought she had the rare skin disorder, which causes blisters and sores on the skin, she was given steroids.

But they then became concerned that it could be chickenpox, prompting doctors to conduct various tests to make a diagnosis.

Swabs then revealed the patient had contracted the varicella zoster virus - which is responsible for chickenpox.

Suspicions were also raised that it could have been shingles - which is caused by the same virus becoming reactivated later in life and leaves a similar rash.

But two senior consultants, a geriatrician and a dermatologist diagnosed her with chickenpox, which usually strikes in childhood.

She was given medication to combat the potentially deadly virus.

Despite appearing to be recovering well, she passed away from a heart attack 16 days after she was admitted to hospital.
The overuse of antibiotics may not be solely to blame for the growing crisis of drug-resistant bugs, researchers claim.

Deemed to be one of the biggest threats to humanity, the issue has previously been cited as severe as terrorism and global warming.

Antibiotics have been doled out unnecessarily by GPs and hospital staff for decades, fueling once harmless bacteria to become superbugs.

However, a new Swiss study suggests bacteria can also become resistant to drugs and become deadly by attacking rival bugs.

Deemed to be one of the biggest threats to humanity, antibiotic resistance has previously been cited as severe as terrorism and global warming

University of Basel experts found bugs can catch their competitors' drug resistance genes after killing them in the battle for space and resources.

What did they find?

Certain strains of bacteria inject their rivals with a toxic cocktail of proteins, called effectors, which causes them to die.

The findings were made after analysing Acinetobacter baylyi - a relative of the 'Iraq bug' which caused severe wound infections in some American soldiers.

Scientists found the predator bug can pick-up released DNA fragments, such as drug resistance genes, from the bacteria that it kills.

Professor Marek Basler, lead researcher, said the process 'can also be found in other pathogens such as those which cause pneumonia or cholera'.

The new findings, which follow a surge in cases of so-called super gonorrhoea in the summer, were published in the journal Cell Reports.

WHO confirmed in July that three people worldwide developed the superbug, which is resistant to all forms of treatment.

THE SUPERBUG THAT IS RESISTANT TO ALL A Nevada woman was killed by a superbug that proved resistant to every antibiotic available in the US, a report revealed in January. Doctors tried to cure the 70-year-old patient with 26 antibiotics after she was admitted to an acute care hospital in mid-August 2016. But nothing stood up against the aggressive bacteria. She died two weeks later of septic shock. The unprecedented case was revealed in the Center for Disease Control's Morbidity And Mortality Report. Four other patients were treated in the US for antibiotic resistance in 2016. But this case proved pivotal for the agency. The woman was admitted to a hospital in Reno, Nevada, after an extended trip in India. During her trip, she fractured her right thigh bone. Over the course of a number of hospital visits in India, this developed into an infection of the right hip and thigh bone, leaving her in incredible pain. Advertisement

Doctors also claim medicines including penicillin no longer work on sore throats, skin infections and, more seriously, pneumonia.

A 'post-antibiotic' era

The World Health Organization has previously warned if nothing is done the world was headed for a 'post-antibiotic' era.

It claimed common infections, such as chlamydia, will become killers without immediate answers to the growing crisis.

Bacteria can become drug resistant when people take incorrect doses of antibiotics, or they are given out unnecessarily.

Chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies claimed last year that the threat of antibiotic resistance is as severe as terrorism.

How many people will it kill?

Figures estimate that superbugs will kill ten million people each year by 2050, with patients succumbing to once harmless bugs.

Around 700,000 people already die yearly due to drug-resistant infections including tuberculosis (TB), HIV and malaria across the world.

Concerns have repeatedly been raised that medicine will be taken back to the 'dark ages' if antibiotics are rendered ineffective in the coming years.

A lack of drugs in the pipeline

In addition to existing drugs becoming less effective, there have only been one or two new antibiotics developed in the last 30 years.

In September the World Health Organisation warned that antibiotics are 'running out' as a report found a 'serious lack' of new drugs in the development pipeline.

Without antibiotics, caesarean sections, cancer treatments and hip replacements would also become incredibly 'risky'.
PR fixer Roland Rudd is very keen to become the next Tate chairman

The jostling to succeed ex-BP chief Lord Browne as chairman of the Tate provides welcome intrigue.

Fingers-in-every-pie PR fixer Roland Rudd, 56, is mustard keen but worries that interim chairman, Financial Times editor Lionel Barber, could scupper him.

Relations between them while colleagues at the FT were not warm, and Barber might fancy the position himself.

Meanwhile, the careful consideration being given to dainty Royal Mail boss Moya Greene's credentials threatens to leave both accomplished poseurs disappointed.

Barclays' announcement that it will take a 1billion hit from Donald Trump's tax reforms was an unwelcome birthday present for 8.2million-a-year boss Jes Staley, who was 61 yesterday.

What was Jes's birthday wish for 2018, I wonder? 'Clinging to his job, if that's not too fanciful,' suggests a City observer.

Bloomberg's billionaires' index has no place this year for Poundland owner Christo Wiese, whose 5billion fortune fell to just over 1billion when his firm Steinhoff was embroiled in an accountancy scandal.

Trouble has a habit of following the South African tycoon, 76. He once tried to board a London flight to Luxembourg with 700,000 stuffed in cases, which he nonchalantly explained was less than two week's earnings.

Secretive hedge fund boss Spencer Haber, 49, whose firm H/2 Capital Partners is poised to take over the Four Seasons retirement homes, has a fish named in his honour.

The Lipogramma Haberi, which was discovered last year during a dive Haber funded, is a yellow-banded basslet, and is described as a docile species which has no predatory instincts. Unlike Haber then.

Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich's 533ft yacht Eclipse is moored in St Barts, suggesting he'll press ahead with his New Year's Eve party on Sunday.

Regulars are said to be giving the Caribbean island a swerve this year after the damage caused by Hurricane Irma in September.

A welcome absentee: Thuggish film producer Harvey Weinstein, who's lying doggo after accusations of sexual indecency.
British tycoon Mark Dixon is in line for a 600million payday after Canadian funds made an approach to buy his global office empire.

The 58-year-old built IWG, formerly called Regus, from nothing into a 1.8billion business but is on the verge of selling it.

IWG says joint takeover talks are under way with Onex Corporation and Brookfield Asset Management, the biggest real estate manager in the world.

Cashing in: British tycoon Mark Dixon is selling his his global office empire IWG to Canadian funds for 600m

They have yet to make a formal offer but the prospect of a deal sent shares soaring by more than 27 per cent yesterday.

It was the first time markets had been open since bosses revealed they were considering a deal on Saturday. Analysts said rival bidders could also emerge.

Dixon, IWGs biggest shareholder, holds a 25 per cent stake in the firm.

He is estimated to be worth about 900million by Forbes but could trouser another 600million if IWG is taken over for a reported 2.5billion.

The father-of-five, who sold hot dogs after leaving school in Essex, founded Regus in 1989.

He is said to have had the idea for the firm after sitting in a cafe in Brussels and noticing the lack of office space for travelling business people, as they were holding meetings at tables around him.

WHEELBARROW BOY DONE GOOD IWG founder Mark Dixon was an entrepreneur from the moment he left school. The Essex lads first venture was selling peat from a wheelbarrow to a local housing estate. He then began a sandwich making business called Dial-a-Snack. When this failed he travelled the world and was a barman, a miner in Australia and also sold encyclopedias. Back in the UK he bought a burger van for 600, but having struggled to find good baps, set up a firm called the Good Bread Roll company which he eventually sold for 800,000.

IWG now runs Regus, Open Office and Signature offices across 3,000 locations in 1,000 cities, with annual sales of 2.2billion.

But its shares have fallen over the past year in the face of tough competition from rivals such as US-based WeWork.

Despite having far fewer locations, WeWorks valuation is more than eight times higher  at almost 15billion.

It has attracted trendy technology start-ups with perks such as free beer and prosecco, helping to rapidly expand its presence in London.

IWG took another hit when it issued a profit warning in October, sending its shares plunging by more than 32 per cent in a day.

Andrew Shepherd-Barron, an equity analyst at Peel Hunt, said the company offered a ready-made global brand.

He said: Much depends on founder Dixons attitude, but the approach could lead to IWG finally being taken over after a long and frequently volatile relationship with the equity market.

'The approach is from private equity at the moment, but we see potential bidders from a range of parties.

IWG said it had received an indicative proposal from Brookfield Asset Management and Onex Corporation for a possible cash offer to buy out the company.

In a statement, it added: There can be no certainty that any offer will be made, nor as to the terms on which any offer might be made.

Brookfield and Onex now have until January 20 to put forward a firm proposal.
Co-op is extending a programme of buying local beer following a pilot scheme

The Co-op is increasing the number of supplies it buys from smaller breweries as it aims to sell 5m pints.

The retailer is extending a programme of buying local beer following a pilot scheme in Yorkshire, and is set to complete a UK-wide roll out in the coming weeks.

Almost 200 smaller suppliers will benefit from the move, which is in line with the Co-op's policy of backing British products.

Fierce Brewery of Dyce, Aberdeen, will supply stores with three of its ales, Easy Shift, Day Shift and Moose Mousse.

Hucknall-based Lincoln Green Brewing Co will supply food stores in Nottinghamshire.

The move is also a landmark deal for Derby's Dancing Duck brewery, representing its largest order to date.

The award-winning brewery employs eight people, and will be supplying the Co-op with three of its beers. And Swansea's Boss Brewing is to supply around 100 stores with canned ale.

Jake Woods, Co-op beer buyer, said: 'Locally produced ale is an exciting category.

'We see significant potential for continued sustainable growth.'
Sweeping US tax cuts are to cost Barclays bank 1billion  raising fears it may be unable to hike dividends as quickly as it had hoped.

President Donald Trump last week secured the biggest changes to revenue collection since Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, slashing corporation taxes from 35 per cent to 21 per cent to get the economy moving.

But one side-effect has been to reduce tax credits falling for businesses which suffered losses in previous years.

President Donald Trump last week secured the biggest changes to revenue collection since Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, slashing corporation taxes from 35 per cent to 21 per cent

When firms lose money, they can offset some of this it future profits to keep tax bills down.

But because corporation tax will be lower in coming years, the savings they can make will fall. Barclays said this will result in a one-off 1billion hit in its 2017 results in February.

Oil titan Shell says it could face a charge of between 1.5billion and 1.9billion.

GOLDMAN'S JOB MOVE Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs is moving 20 people from the City to Dublin so its asset management arm is not disrupted by Brexit. International lenders are reorganising operations so that they can continue to serve clients on the Continent after Britain leaves the European Union. They threatened to shift tens of thousands of jobs abroad before the referendum, but this figure has since been scaled back. Goldman is also expected to bulk up investment banking operations in Paris and Frankfurt, but it is widely expected to move substantially fewer than 1,000 staff.

But it added that the reforms will be favourable in the long run, and shares rose 0.7 per cent, or 16p, to 2487.5p.

The Barclays announcement could force it to put off a possible increase to the dividend, following a year in which profits are likely to have been lifted by better global growth and reduced bills for mis-selling PPI.

Despite the extra tax hit, Barclays said: This reduction in the statutory US federal rate is expected to positively impact Barclays future US after-tax earnings.

The bank added it is still working out the implications. Shares were up 0.3 per cent, or 0.5p, to 202.65p.

Other lenders have already warned they will face extra costs because of the new corporation rate.

Credit Suisse is expecting a 1.7billion bill when it reveals 2017 results, potentially dragging the stuttering business to a full-year loss.

Fellow Suisse bank UBS has said that it is expecting a 2.3billion charge.
Mick Davis has closed his mining venture X2 Resources

Tory treasurer Mick Davis has closed his mining venture X2 Resources without making a single deal.

The former Xstrata chief executive, known as Mick the Miner, blamed the failure on his giving six major investors the ability to block any deal.

Davis told the Wall Street Journal: That was really stupid of me. He was on the verge of buying coal assets from Rio Tinto for about 1.8billion in 2015, but investors refused to back it.

Davis, 59, launched X2 in 2013 to buy mining giants assets during an industry downturn.

It raised about 4.5billion from investors, including Noble Group and TPG, but made no deals and is no longer looking for any.

Accounts filed at Companies House this week show turnover at the partnership in charge of the fund rose 10million to 17.3million in the year ending March 31, with profit rising from 1.2million to 12million.

Its main activity is advising mining and metals businesses.
Jackie Martel has lived and worked in the picturesque East Sussex market town of Wadhurst all her life.

The 49-year-olds grandfather was a local bank manager; her mother ran the pharmacy; and Jackie opened her own independent clothes, shoes and accessories store here in 2001 with business partner Gillian Woolnough.

But now she is worried her livelihood and the character of her beloved town is at risk.

Earlier this month, her NatWest bank in Wadhurst was identified as one of 259 branches that will close across the country over the next six months.

It means this community of around 5,000 people will lose their last branch.

Fears for elderly: Jackie Martel, right, and Gillian Woolnough, left, will see their community of around 5,000 people will lose their last Natwest branch

Residents and shopkeepers such as Jackie will have to travel to Tunbridge Wells, seven miles away, for banking.

Jackie says: I dont honestly know how we will cope  for example, how are we going to get change for the shop?

Wadhurst is home to a lot of elderly people who have retired here and rely on having bank facilities at hand. To go to Tunbridge Wells all the time will be hard, especially for the elderly. We also fear people will not shop in the village now.

In total, bailed-out Royal Bank of Scotland, the parent company of NatWest, is closing one in four of its branches by June next year.

The giant cull will leave 24 towns and villages without a single bank. An estimated 680 staff will lose their jobs.

The move will save the company millions of pounds. RBS-NatWest says the number of people going into its branches has fallen by 40 pc since 2014 as customers go online or use their mobile phones to check balances and pay bills.

Blow: David Hope, left, will feel the cut while John Weller, right, says he'll have to travel

In Wadhurst, NatWest says branch transactions have fallen by 38 pc since 2012, with only 29 customers now visiting the branch on a weekly basis.

But critics warn that the closures are a devastating blow for vulnerable people in rural communities  and especially for local shopkeepers such as Jackie.

Of the 197 NatWest closures, 33 are in the North of the country, 70 in the South West and Wales, 36 in Central and Eastern regions and 58 in London and the South East. All of the Royal Bank of Scotland closures are in Scotland.

The branches will be closed over the space of a few weeks at the end of May and early June next year.

NatWest customers and local businesses will be able to carry out basic banking transactions such as withdrawing cash, paying in cheques and depositing money at their local Post Office. In Wadhurst the Post Office is just down the road from the NatWest branch.

But theyll have to travel further afield for anything else.

James Daley, of consumer group Fairer Finance, said: The irony is that the banks tagline is We are what we do. Well 24 towns will no longer have a bank so what does that make them? Heartless?

Ultimately banks need to remember that they have a social responsibility. They shouldnt accelerate branch closures just because it is good for their bottom line. There is still a part of the community that relies on branches.

For Wadhurst residents, the loss of the cashpoint outside NatWest is a major talking point.

Bradlee Sellors, 27, who has worked for ten years at the Wine Rack shop in the town, says: When you do need cash its easy to pull in at NatWest, get money and go. So many people in the village use it, its always busy.

Youre now going to have to go out of your way to visit another cash machine. David Hope, 46, a butcher at W. J. Crouch opposite NatWest, says: Normally we have customers come in who have been over the road getting money out, then come in and buy stuff in here without planning to and I think that will now change massively.

I dont think getting rid of the branch will do the village any good because people enjoy meeting each other there. For us, its going to be difficult giving customers change, so they may start going to other villages.

John Weller, 62, from Ticehurst, the village next door, says: Its inconvenient but I will probably drive to Tunbridge Wells now instead of coming here to bank.

NatWest says there will still be several independent free-to-use ATMs elsewhere in Wadhurst.

But Catherine Watson, 45, a mother-of-one and marketing events coordinator from Wadhurst, says these dont always work. I do some online banking but I like getting cash out, so this is concerning, she says.

In total, bailed-out Royal Bank of Scotland, the parent company of NatWest, is closing one in four of its branches by June next year

However, the remaining free cash machines in towns such as Wadhurst are also under threat.

The powerful Treasury Committee of MPs is investigating a wrangle over the fees passed between banks and independent ATM operators such as Link that could strip 5,000 towns and villages of their cashpoints.

By June, RBS-NatWest will have just 744 branches left  less than half its 2,120 in 2011.

Earlier this year the Mail revealed how in some instances the bank was blocking rivals from using their former premises.

Most big banks are slimming down their branch networks. Earlier this month, Lloyds announced that it would shut 49 branches and Yorkshire Building Society 13. In total, around 1,000 bank branches have been shut over the course of 2017.

Martyn James, of consumer service Resolver, says: If were not careful were allowing vital services to be stripped away for more cost-effective, less compassionate computers and call centres.

A spokesman for RBS says: As customers change the way they bank with us, we must adapt to serve them, so we are investing in our more popular branches and shaping our network.

'We are replacing traditional bricks and mortar branches with alternative ways to branch; including community bankers, mobile banks on wheels, and post offices.

v.bischoff@dailymail.co.uk
That old hag's worse than the cross-eyed one! What Uruguays leader called Argentinas president Cristina Kirchner when he thought no one was listening

Jose Mujica did not know microphone was switched on at time

'Cross-eyed' comment referred to late Argentine president Nestor Kirchner



Argentina's foreign minister makes formal protest over remarks



Argentina has made a formal complaint to its neighbour Uruguay after the country's president called his female Argentine counterpart an 'old hag'.



The famously candid Jose Mujica had no idea his microphone was switched on when he attacked Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, 60, moments before a press conference.



He was heard loudly: 'That old hag's worse than the cross-eyed one,' referring to Ms Kirchner's late husband and former Argentinian president Nestor Kirchner.

The 77-year-old added: 'Cross-eyes was more of a politician, she's just stubborn.'

Complaint: Argentina has made a formal protest after Uruguay's President Jose Mujica (left) referred to Argentine President Cristina Kirchner as an 'old hag'

Meeting: This picture shows Mr Mujica meeting with Ms Kirchner and Nestor Kirchner (left) in Buenos Aires in 2008. Mr Kirchner died of heart failure in 2010

Pouring scorn on his colleague, who has spoken out repeatedly to attack Britain over The Falklands, 77-year-old Mr Mujica then accused of failing to act appropriately when meeting the pope.



Ms Kirchner presented the Argentinian Pope Francisco with a flask to drink traditional 'mate' tea when she visited last month. Mr Mujica said: 'She actually went to the Pope, who has lived 77 years, to explain what is tea and what is a thermal flask.'

Argentina's foreign minister Hector Timermanmade a formal protest to the Uruguayan government about Mr Mujica's 'outrageous' remarks about the country's current and former presidents.



Remarks: Mr Mujica was also overheard referring to late Argentine President Nestor Kirchner as 'cross-eyed'

In a statement handed to Uruguayan Ambassador Guillermo Pomi he stressed Argentina's 'profound unease with the terms' used by Mr Mujica.



He said: 'It is unacceptable that such outrageous comments, which offend the memory of a deceased person who cannot defend himself, have been made by someone Kirchner considered her friend.'



Relations between the two South American countries have deteriorated in recent years as Ms Kirchner has restricted imports and limited access to foreign currencies, measures which have hurt Uruguay's exports and tourism industry.



Nestor Kirchner accused Uruguay of 'stabbing Argentina in the back' in 2007 after president Tabare Vazquez restarted operations at a pulp mill on a river bordering the two countries which Argentina had blockaded.



In 2002 Uruguayan president Jorge Batlle accused Argentinians of being 'a bunch of thieves,' a comment for which he later apologised during a trip to Buenos Aires.



Mr Mujica, a former guerrilla who took office in 2010, last night insisted he had not spoken publically about the Kirchners at the event in Uruguay and would not be offering clarifications.

He made headlines in June 2012, when his government made a move to legalize state-controlled sales of marijuana.

He reportedly said that by regulating the $40 million-a-year illegal marijuana trade in his country the government could take it away from drug dealers.

Tension: Ms Kirchner attempted to hand Mr Cameron a package last June marked 'UN - Malvinas' but the Prime Minister refused to accept it

Tensions between Britain and Argentina have risen under Ms Kirchner's rule, with the president continually asserting her country's claim to sovereignty over the Falkland Islands.

Her ambassador to London caused anger when she dismissed a recent referendum on the islands' future - in which residents voted overwhelmingly in favour of remaining British - as a 'publicity stunt.'



Last June David Cameron was involved in an extraordinary stand-up row with Ms Kirchner over the future of the future of the islands - which are known as the Malvinas by Argentina.



Ms Kirchner appeared to attempt to thrust a package stuffed with documents about her countrys claim to the British territory into Mr Camerons hands at the G20 summit in Mexico.
An animal-loving couple spend thousands of pounds a year looking after orphaned and injured bats inside their house, keeping up to 40 in an upstairs room at one time.

Kiri Green, 36, and Stewart Rowden, 43, take in at least 100 bats a year following calls for help from the public, mending their broken wings and bones in a dedicated 'hospital' before training them to fly again in their living room.

Some of the baby bats need feeding with puppy milk formula every two hours with a tiny syringe, while nine are so disabled they have to be looked after inside the couples five-bedroom terraced house in Bristol on a permanent basis.

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Kiri Green, 36, and Stewart Rowden, 43, take in at least 100 bats a year following calls for help from the public and feed them back to strength inside their house

After the injured bats have recovered in the bat hospital, they are taught to fly again in the couple's living room

Most of the animals are able to return to the wild after three months of care, which includes three weeks of hunting practice at a specialist facility run by another member of the local Avon Bat Group.

Ms Green told MailOnline: We have a spare kitchen upstairs, which is the bat hospital, then we train them to fly in the front room, which is all secured with masking tape to stop them getting behind things.

Caring for bats is very labour intensive, they need feeding every two hours from when they are newborn up to two weeks old and this lasts five or ten minutes.

After about six weeks we wean them onto mealworms and then they go to a flight centre, learning to hunt for about three weeks, before being released back into the wild.

Bats usually give birth around mind-June through to early July, and we get lots of orphans, and plenty of others who have been caught out in bad weather or run into cats.

The couple keep nine bats that were too disabled to be released back into the wild and are taken to schools for educational purposes under a programme licensed by Natural England.

Most of the animals are able to return to the wild after three months of care at the bat hospital, pictured

Ms Green told MailOnline: We have a spare kitchen upstairs, which is the bat hospital, then we train them to fly in the front room, which is all secured with masking tape'

Freya, a young brown long-eared bat, recuperates in the bat hospital after being handed in by a member of the public

One of them, a pipistrelle called Brian, was rescued in 2013 but still has to be hand-fed twice a day due to developmental issues that means he still acts like a pup.

Several of the disabled bats  which recognise their human carers by sight  had their wings amputated due to infections.

The couple keep nine bats that were too disabled to be released back into the wild and are taken to schools for educational purposes

Ms Green said: After undergoing so much hands-on treatment, these bats recognise me and have formed a bond.

At feeding time, some of them will come out of their roosting spots and ask for some food even though they are able to feed themselves.

The hand-reared bats especially like to play up with the people who come to the house for training handling bats for work or learning to rehabilitate them.

The couple began volunteering at an animal rescue centre in Highbridge, 20 miles from Bristol, before starting to look after bats at home for the Bat Conservation Trust in 2011.

Ms Green says that she and her husband, who works at Natural Resources Wales, spend 3,010, on caring for bats each year, excluding fuel costs.

Some of this total is covered by donations to the Bat Conservation Trust.

The couple find the bats to be unobtrusive house guests, which do not merit their negative reputation.

Ms Green says that she and her husband, who works at Natural Resources Wales, spend 3,010, on caring for bats each year, including this one-day-old pipistelle called Jewel

If you find and injured bat, you can find advice from the Bat Conservation Trust by visiting their website or phoning 0345 1300 228. Pictured: A bundle of injured pipistrelles

Bats have always been something humans dont come into contact with unless they are somewhere dark and scary like a cellar, so they are somewhat mysterious, Ms Green said.

After all, Batman used that because he turned into a bat to scare the baddies.

They are not scary at all though, but all have their own character, with some very cheeky and others greedy and grumpy.

In Britain, it is a criminal offence to deliberately capture, kill or injure a bat or disturb a roost.

If you find and injured bat, you can find advice from the Bat Conservation Trust by visiting their website or phoning 0345 1300 228.
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In Homestead, Florida, stands a true labor of love - a castle carved out of 1,100 tons of coral rock.

For almost three decades Edward Leedskalnin single-handedly built the castle as a monument to lost love after being jilted a day before his wedding by his bride-to-be.

Leedskalnin had got engaged to 16-year-old Agnes Scuffs, who he fondly called his 'Sweet Sixteen', in his native Latvia when he was 26.

After she walked out on him he moved to Canada then California and Texas but he developed tuberculosis and decided to move to the warmer climate in Florida to improve his health.

He built the castle for her as a testament to his lost love, initially beginning construction in 1923 and completing it in 1951.

Edward Leedskalnin built the castle as a testament to his lost love, initially beginning construction in 1923 and completing it in 1951

Billy Idol's 'Sweet Sixteen' was inspired by the true story of Coral Castle. Above the entrance to Coral Castle

Above is the bedroom area of the castle showing two beds and a crib up top that Leedskalnin built hopeful that one day he would have a family

Leedskalnin, who was born in Riga on August 10, 1887, initially lived in Florida City when he moved to the state and started building the castle there.

Then in 1936 he moved to Homestead and spent three years moving the structures the 10 miles to where they stand today with the help of a friend who had a tractor trailer.

No one knows exactly how Leedskalnin built the castle as he did it in secret, doing most of the labor at night under the cover of darkness and although people reported seeing the structures moving along the highways no one ever saw him loading or unloading the coral.

Many theories speculate that he was helped by 'aliens' or had learnt how to levitate the heavy rocks.

When questioned about how he moved the blocks of coral, Ed would only reply that he understood the laws of weight and leverage well. He would only say that he knew 'the secret of the pyramids'.

Billy Idol's 'Sweet Sixteen' was inspired by the true story of Coral Castle. Idol wrote the song during the making of his 1983 album Rebel Yell after watching 'The Castle of Secrets', an episode of Leonard Nimoy's 'In Search Of' program which was based on Coral Castle.

No one know exactly how Leedskalnin built the castle as he did it in secret, doing most of the labor at night under the cover of darkness

A picture of Leedskalnin is seen right at the the entrance to the castle and, seen left, his initials carved onto a door of his home

Take a seat! Rocking chairs are scattered throughout the castle grounds like the one seen above

Billy Idol's 'Sweet Sixteen' was inspired by the true story of Coral Castle. Idol wrote the song during the making of his 1983 album Rebel Yell after watching 'The Castle of Secrets', an episode of Leonard Nimoy's 'In Search Of' program which was based on Coral Castle. Stills from the video are seen above

According to the castle's website, in December of 1951 Leedskalnin, who never married or had children, became ill. He put a sign on the door of his saying 'going to the hospital' and died three days later in his sleep at the age of 64.

His nephew inherited it and sold it to a family from Illinois. During the sale a box was found containing a set of instructions that led to his life savings - 35 $100 bills.

He had made his money giving tours of his home to visitors for 10 cents and 25 cents from the sale of his pamphlets.

Today people can still tour the castle to view the manmade masterpiece.

No one know exactly how Leedskalnin built the castle as he did it in secret, doing most of the labor at night under the cover of darkness and although people reported seeing the structures moving along the highways no one ever saw him loading or unloading the coral

Leedskalnin's nephew inherited the castle and sold it to a family from Illinois. During the sale a box was found containing a set of instructions that led to his life savings - 35 $100 bills.

A sun dial in the castle is pictured right and a sign greeting visitors at the entrance is seen left
Holiday homes and Airbnbs are being used as pop-up brothels and drugs dens by inner city gangs who force children to smuggle heroin inside their bodies.

Criminal networks have been setting up prostitutes in tourist resorts across the country, with temporary brothels found in Torquay, the Lake District and the Peak District.

While middle class children from the home counties, as young as 12, are smuggling crack and other class A drugs, while muling for crews from London and Liverpool.

Criminal networks have been setting up prostitutes in tourist resorts across the country, with temporary brothels found in Torquay, the Lake District (pictured) and the Peak District

The worrying new pop-up brothel trend is often used by gangs from eastern Europe, with Rt Rev Dr Alastair Redfern the Bishop of Derby, warning holiday cottages in the Peak District were being targeted.

He claimed the lets in the picturesque national park were being rented out cheaply and the rural location meant gangs moved on before anyone noticed.

Dr Redfern, who regularly meets victims as part of his work campaigning against human trafficking, said: 'Derby is a place where Eastern European women have come over in search for a better life but they have been forced into working in a brothel and they have their life taken from them.

'In the Peak District, there are lots of holiday homes used as pop-up brothels. The organised criminals bring the vulnerable women in and then use a cottage for business. They stay for four weeks and make a lot of money.

'All they are paying is the rent. But they are in secluded areas and, before anyone realises what is going on or becomes suspicious about anything, then they are off to a new place and they take the women with them.

'What a clever business model. It's a very cheap place to rent, especially in comparison to what they would be making.'

Airbnbs are being used as pop-up brothels and drugs dens by inner city gangs

Dr Redfern's comments come after police warned organised gangs were using other holiday hot spots to run transient pop up brothels in cottages and holiday homes.

Devon and Cornwall Police found criminal gangs were using properties in Newquay.

Owners had no idea their second homes had been turned into brothels.

There were similar warnings in the Lake District, after it was revealed human traffickers used hotels and guesthouses as pop-up brothels after block-booking hotel rooms in Barrow and across the south lakes.

A study last year by the Police Foundation found that women in pop-up brothels were more likely to have been trafficked than those in standard brothels.

Earlier this year, police said up to 30 'pop-up' brothels were being opened each week in Swindon. In any seven-day period, up to 40 sex workers market their services in properties in the town for a few days before moving on.

Joints and trash left at an Airbnb property in London after it was trashed by drug users

Wiltshire Police have said that most of the prostitutes were eastern European, working in brothels understood to be linked to crime gangs which traffic women from Poland and Romania.

While pop-up brothels have also been found in Preston, Manchester, Norwich, Bristol, Aberdeen and Cheltenham.

Earlier this year Gloucestershire Police ran a series of raids across rented properties and arrested four people on human trafficking charges.

Sergeant Matt Puttock, the tactical lead for sexual exploitation at the force, said: 'Some of these places visited have been Airbnbs that have been rented out for a week or two.

'These are by their nature often quite hidden places. It's very transient as they often hire Airbnb places or other serviced apartments.

'Many times neighbours do not know what is going on. Landlords have often used us as mediators to try and remove these people once they know what they are up to.

'We collected various bits of information and visited these places not to criminalise the sex workers, but to check on their safety.

Devon and Cornwall Police found criminal gangs were using rented holiday homes in Newquay for pop-up brothels

'We interview all the women and check why they are there and whether they want to be there.

'Generally we have no power to make them leave the situation they are in but we can use various methods to remove women if needs be.

'But it is difficult. Some are brainwashed to not to talk to the police or any other authority.'

But while police are fighting to keep up with pop-up brothels, drugs gangs from major cities are flooding into rural and coastal communities to set up their empires.

Exploiting the young and vulnerable, they use guns, knives and acid attacks to the keep their mules and teenage dealers in check.

Youngsters are attracted by the idea of status and lured by the opportunity to earn sums of cash quickly - but the reality of the situation is far from lucrative.

Often they are forced to work long hours, travelling to and from cities with drugs or quantities of money.

London drug dealers have also set up shop in Thanet in Kent, often targeting children or vulnerable people to mule their narcotics (Margate, in Kent)

Sometimes they will be forced to swallow their stash or 'plug' it, a process of hiding it in their bodies, a concerning report has found.

While vulnerable youngsters from broken homes may seem an obvious target for the dealers, a report found that actually children from all backgrounds are at risk.

An inquiry by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Runaway and Missing Children and Adults (APPG) found 'any child can be groomed for criminal exploitation' from any part of the country.

The report, from May last year, found: 'It affects boys and girls, children from families that experience a range of issues as well those from stable and economically better off families.'

Evidence of 'county lines' networks, gangs heading from cities into rural or coastal communities, or 'going country' as it is known by the criminals, have been reported by 38 of Britain's 43 police forces, with 720 lines currently operating across England and Wales.

London is where the majority of the country's networks originate from, with 283 lines streaming out of the capital, according to a National Crime Agency report.

The gangs see counties such as Kent and Surrey as ideal locations to sell their narcotics, away from competition of rivals and the scrutiny of the police.

In order to create a base in the new location they take over the home of a vulnerable adult by force, in a process called 'cuckooing'.

Teenage drug dealer Fahad Abdi, 18, who left three people with blisters, burns and temporary loss of sight during an acid attack in Canterbury

The report said: 'Of the 33 forces which reported incidents of cuckooing, seven reported possible instances of imprisonment/modern slavery, where vulnerable people were detained against their will and/or denied access to areas within their home.'

Often dealers will attend rehab classes where they will target former users and tempt them with drugs until they become indebted to them.

Dealers have also been known to set up shop in holiday homes, budget hotels or caravan parks along the coast, in areas such as Thanet in Kent.

Earlier this year a teenage drug dealer from east London left three people with blisters, burns and temporary loss of sight during an acid attack in Canterbury.

Fahad Abdi, 18, from Forest Gate, lay in wait for his three victims after suspecting they had stolen his stash of cocaine.

He threw the noxious substance on the faces of Justin Vincent, Janet Durrant and Emily Thompson, causing series injuries.

'Vicious' thug Abdi was later sentenced to nine years in a young offenders' institute for the horrific assault, at Canterbury Crown Court.

Abdi had been staying in the home of one of the victims for a few weeks when he fell out with the group, the court heard.

Last week two London drug dealers were jailed after running an operation in the seaside resort of Margate, also in Kent.

Anis Omar, 18, Fesal Mahamud, 19, had travelled from the capital to sell heroin and crack cocaine with accomplice Mohammed Gedi, 21.

Anis Omar, 18, Fesal Mahamud, 19, (both pictured) had travelled from London to Kent to sell heroin and crack cocaine with accomplice Mohammed Gedi, 21

Their scheme was uncovered when police checked on the welfare of a vulnerable man at his home and discovered the crew inside, surrounded by drugs paraphernalia and wads of cash.

Gedi was found hiding behind the fridge with paperwork concerning the supply of crack cocaine.

Omar and Mahamud had hundreds of pounds in their pockets along with phones that rang incessantly.

Officers seized a set of electronic scales, a tub of Vaseline, cling film, baby lotion and discarded cling film wrapping.

Once in custody Omar was also found to be concealing nine wraps of crack cocaine and seven wraps of heroin secreted inside his body.

All three of them admitted to possession with intent to supply crack cocaine and heroin but only Omar and Gedi were sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court on December 14.

Gedi received six years and three months in prison whilst Omar will serve two years in a Young Offenders Institute.

Mahamud is due to be sentenced in January 2018.
More than 500,000 of taxpayers' money has been spent on replacing the locks in prisons since 2010 because keys have been lost or stolen, new figures reveal.

Nine jails have had to have their locks replaced because of the major security breaches over the past seven years.

Last year, in 2015/16, the Ministry of Justice had to fork out nearly 120,000 to foot the bill of relocking a prison.

Richard Burgon, Labour's shadow justice secretary, said the shock figures raise serious questions about the state of Britain's prisons.

He told Mail Online: 'With prison budgets being hollowed out, our prison service can't afford to be wasting hundreds of thousands of pounds replacing locks.

'When hardworking prison staff are increasingly overstretched due to the government's axing of thousands of posts, such incidents are much more likely'

Riot police head into HMP Birmingham last December when inmates swiped a set of keys to free some 500 convicts and sparking the worst prison riot since Strangeways. Ministry of Justice figures show that hundreds of thousands of pounds was spent on changing the locks on prison cells after keys were lost or stolen since 2010

Members of the police's elite Tornado team headed into HMP Birmingham with riot shields and emerged with paint all over them following the disturbance

The figures, which were released by the Ministry of Justice in answer to a parliamentary question tabled by Mr Burgon, do not detail which prisons had to have their locks replaced because of the security blunders.

The figures come in the wake of a wave of prison riots which, in the most extreme cases, have seen inmates seize control of wings of their jails.

Britain's worst prison riot in a generation was sparked at HMP Birmingham when inmates swiped a set of keys to free some 500 convicts.

What was spent on replacing prison locks since 2010? 2010/11 - 337,553 2011/12 - Cost met by private contractor 2012/13 - 0 2013/14 - 28,812 2014/15 - 46,396 2015/16 - 117,212 2016/17 - Cost met by private contractor Advertisement

In December last year the group of prisoners climbed onto anti-suicide netting in the jail before stealing the keys from a senior prison officer.

They used them to free their fellow inmates from their cells, sparking a 15-hour mutiny and England's worst prison riot since Strangeways in 1990.

The uprising was only quelled when specially trained prison guards, known as Tornado squads, were sent into the jail backed up by about 25 riot police officers.

While in August this year a riot erupted at the Hertfordshire prison The Mount - forcing prison authorities to send in

The 'Tornado Team' of specialist officers was dispatched after staff lost control of part of Nash wing.

A Prison Service spokeswoman told Mail Online that the amount of money being spent on replacing the lock at prisons has fallen sharply in recent years.

She said: 'We will never compromise on the safety of staff or prisoners, and replace compromised locks as quickly as possible.

'Since 2010 there have been half as many lost keys, and we have spent 750,000 less on replacing them.'
The handgun that Shaneen Allen was carrying when she was pulled over on a New Jersey highway could have sent her to prison for years if not for a pardon from Republican Gov. Chris Christie.

Now the legal saga that kept the Pennsylvania mother of two in jail for 48 days has helped inspire a measure that could change handgun laws across the country.

'Hopefully I'll be at the White House next to (President) Trump signing this bill,' said Allen, who has become a face of the Republican effort to break down barriers to carrying concealed firearms between states. 'Republicans put their money where their mouth was.'

The GOP-led House passed legislation this month that would allow gun owners with a state-issued concealed-carry permit to carry a handgun in any state that allows concealed weapons. The bill faces longer odds in the Senate, which didn't vote on it before leaving for the year.

The handgun that Shaneen Allen was carrying when she was pulled over on a New Jersey highway could have sent her to prison for years if not for a pardon from Republican Gov. Chris Christie. She is pictured left campaigning for 2nd Amendment rights and right in her mugshot

The legal saga that kept the Pennsylvania mother of two (above) in jail for 48 days has helped inspire a measure that could change handgun laws across the country

The measure has pit gun control advocates who say it would endanger public safety by effectively overriding states with tighter laws against gun rights activists who say it's needed to allow gun owners to travel freely without worrying about conflicting state laws.

The measure is a top priority of the National Rifle Association and attorneys general from 23 Republican states wrote a letter in support of the measure.

Seventeen Democratic attorneys general have called on Congress to give up the effort, the first significant action on guns in Congress since mass shootings in Nevada and Texas killed more than 80 people.

Even Christie, a Republican who has pardoned a number of out-of-state residents caught up in New Jersey's strict gun laws, is against the change. Christie said it's a state's rights issue that the federal government should stay out of.

Allen's story, along with others who have been caught up in similar circumstances, has helped the measure get this far.

North Carolina Republican Rep. Richard Hudson, who authored the legislation, cited Allen's story as an example about why the measure is needed in a speech on the House floor.

Allen, a phlebotomist and gun activist, was driving on the Atlantic City Expressway when she was pulled over for making an unsafe lane change in October 2013. She told the police officer that she was carrying a firearm and that she had a Pennsylvania-issued concealed carry permit

Attorney Evan Nappen (left) and Allen, talk to media outside Atlantic County Criminal Court in Mays Landing, New Jersey., after a motion to dismiss the gun possession charges against her was denied. She was later pardoned

Christie also pardoned Florida and North Carolina residents who faced charges even though they legally possessed firearms in their home states. On Friday, he pardoned three people charged with handgun possession, including a man with permits to carry a gun in Pennsylvania and New York who was charged after he told police he had a gun following a car accident.

In another case, prosecutors dropped charges against a Delaware man who had a Tennessee concealed carry permit but faced felony gun charges in his new state.

Allen, a phlebotomist, was driving on the Atlantic City Expressway when she was pulled over for making an unsafe lane change in October 2013.

She told the police officer that she was carrying a firearm and that she had a Pennsylvania-issued concealed carry permit.

'I thought my license was just like a driver's license,' she said.

She spent 48 days in jail before she was admitted to a pretrial intervention program. In 2015, while gearing up for his failed presidential run, Christie interviewed her and eventually pardoned her.

She spent 48 days in jail before she was admitted to a pretrial intervention program. In 2015, while gearing up for his failed presidential run, Christie interviewed her and eventually pardoned her. She is pictured above with her two children

Allen's ordeal captured national attention from gun-rights advocates and prompted her to switch from a Democrat to a Republican and vote for Trump over Hillary Clinton. She says it also turned her into an advocate for the 2nd Amendment, including lobbying lawmakers to pass the measure and speaking at rallies.

'When you see the system go wrong in the life of a real person it becomes more compelling,' said GOP New Jersey Rep. Tom MacArthur, who met with Allen and voted for the legislation. 'The woman did nothing wrong and yet her family was thrown into real chaos.'

The legislation includes some limits. It does not allow those barred by federal law  including convicted felons  from carrying concealed firearms across state lines. The measure also requires gun carriers to carry photo identification and a valid carry permit.

The measure also calls for strengthening the FBI database of prohibited gun buyers after the Air Force failed to report the criminal history of the gunman who killed more than two dozen people at a Texas church. Democrats called adding that a 'cynical' maneuver aimed at forcing them to cast an unpopular vote against background checks.

Allen's response to opponents echoes those of the GOP lawmakers who back the bill: Laws aimed at keeping weapons from people intent on committing a crime are essentially futile.

'All I can say is I pray for them. Crime is everywhere,' she said. Every person that is carrying could possibly save your life. A crime could happen anywhere.'
The United States announced sanctions on two North Korean officials behind their country's ballistic missile program on Tuesday, while Russia reiterated an offer to mediate to ease tensions between Washington and Pyongyang.

The new U.S. steps were the latest in a campaign aimed at forcing North Korea - which has defied years of multilateral and bilateral sanctions - to abandon a weapons program aimed at developing nuclear-tipped missiles capable of hitting the United States.

The U.S. Treasury named the officials as Kim Jong Sik and Ri Pyong Chol. It said Kim was reportedly a key figure in North Korea's efforts to switch its missile program from liquid to solid fuel, while Ri was reported to be a key official in its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) development.

Ri Pyong Chol (left) and Kim Jong Sik (far right) have been sanctioned by the US government because they are key figures in North Korea's ballistic missile program . They have been pictured with Kim Jong-un (center) at many launches

Ri (left) is believed to be a key official in its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) development

'Treasury 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 Mnuchin said in a statement.

The largely symbolic steps block any property or interests the two might have within U.S. jurisdiction and prohibit any dealings by U.S. citizens with them.

The move followed new United Nations sanctions announced last Friday in response to North Korea's Nov. 29 test of an ICBM that Pyongyang said put all of the U.S. mainland within range of its nuclear weapons. Those sanctions sought to further limit North Korea's access to refined petroleum products and crude oil and its earnings from workers abroad.

North Korea declared the U.N. steps to be an act of war and tantamount to a complete economic blockade.

The standoff between the United States and North Korea has raised fears of a new conflict on the Korean peninsula, which has remained in a technical state of war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

Washington has said that all options, including military ones, are on the table in dealing with North Korea. It says it prefers a diplomatic solution, but that North Korea has given no indication it is willing to discuss denuclearization.

Kim was reportedly a key figure in North Korea's efforts to switch its missile program from liquid to solid fuel

KREMLIN OFFER

On Tuesday, the Kremlin, which has long called for the two sides to hold negotiations, said it was ready to act as a mediator if the United States and North Korea were willing for it to play such a role.

'Russia's readiness to clear the way for de-escalation is obvious,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Asked to comment on the offer, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, Justin Higgins, said the United States 'has the ability to communicate with North Korea through a variety of diplomatic channels,' and added:

'We want the North Korean regime to understand that there is a different path that it can choose, however it is up to North Korea to change course and return to credible negotiations.'

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who made a similar offer on Monday, told U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in a phone call on Tuesday that 'Washington's aggressive rhetoric' and beefing up of its military presence in the region had heightened tensions and was unacceptable, Russia's foreign ministry said.

It said Lavrov underscored the need for 'the fastest move to the negotiating process from the language of sanctions.'

Another State Department spokesman, Michael Cavey, said Washington remained open to talks, but the onus was on North Korea 'to take sincere and meaningful actions toward denuclearization and refrain from further provocations.'

He said North Korea had 'made clear through its words and actions it is not interested in dialogue at this stage.'

South Koreas Unification Ministry forecast on Tuesday that North Korea would look to open negotiations with the United States next year while continuing to seek recognition as a de facto nuclear power.

Ri (right) and Kim (second right) have blocked any property or interests the two might have within U.S. jurisdiction and prohibit any dealings by U.S. citizens with them

Washington has stressed the need for all countries, especially Russia, and China - North Korea's main trading partner - to fully implement sanctions, including by cutting off oil supplies.

According to Chinese customs data, China exported no oil products to North Korea in November, apparently going above and beyond U.N. sanctions imposed earlier this year.

Beijing also imported no North Korean iron ore, coal or lead in November, the second full month of those trade sanctions, the data showed.

Beijing has not disclosed its crude exports to North Korea for several years, but industry sources say it still supplies about 520,000 tonnes, or 3.8 million barrels, a year to the country via an aging pipeline.

North Korea also sources some of its oil from Russia.

Trade between North Korea and China has slowed through the year, particularly after China banned coal purchases in February.

Chinese exports of corn to North Korea in November also slumped, down 82 percent from a year earlier to 100 tonnes, the lowest since January. Exports of rice plunged 64 percent to 672 tonnes, the lowest since March.

China has expressed concern about the humanitarian effects of sanctions, and has repeatedly called for constructive efforts to ease tensions.
A Pennsylvania man who killed his mother and then fired more than 100 rounds at police as her body lay in a yard during a standoff, was also hoping to kill responding officers.

Police in Bethlehem engaged in an eight-hour standoff with Justin Kephart, 36, before he killed himself. He had a long rap sheet and was not permitted to own firearms. Police believe he obtained the gun from his father- who killed himself a few days after his son's rampage.

'It was his intent to take out other bodies, and they would be wearing blue uniforms,' Bethlehem Township police Sgt. Daryl LaPointe said Tuesday, according to the Morning Call.

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Justin Kephart (pictured left) shot and killed his mother before spending eight hours engaged in a standoff with police at his grandmother's home in Bethlehem, PA (right)

Kephart has a lengthy rap sheet that included and assault and disorderly conduct

State police on Tuesday identified Marylouise Meixell-Moyer as the woman shot 11 times in Bethlehem Township by Kephart.

Kephart began firing at police after an officer responded to a call about the woman's body on Friday, officials said. A bullet whizzed by an officer's head as he peeked from behind a parked car as he tried to figure out where the shots were coming from.

Police called in an armored police vehicle to the quiet suburb about 55 miles (90 kilometers) north of Philadelphia as authorities locked down the area. But Kephart did not relent, shooting continuously at police from inside the house.

Officials don't know what caused the rampage but said Kephart had some 'ongoing issues' with his mother and called his father to tell him that he'd killed her, Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli said.

'It's hard to get in the mind of someone like this,' Morganelli said, adding that the scene was like a 'war zone.'

Police found Kephart with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, officials said.

Surrounding his body were two semi-automatic rifles, a shotgun and dozens of spent rounds.

Kephart had pevious run-ins with the law. He had been arrested for disorderly conduct in Allentown in 2002.

He was also charged with simple assault, harassment and driving under suspension April 30, 2006, in Lehigh Township, Northampton County.

Authorities said because of the criminal record Kephart had, he should have been prevented him from obtaining a gun but said he likely got the weapons from his father.

Kephart's father, Dale C. Kephart, killed himself on Christmas Day, a coroner's office in a neighboring county said.
A father's plan to capture paedophiles has backfired leaving him fighting criminal charges by South Australian police - but the community is showing their support.

Rich Warner, a victim of child sexual abuse himself, waged a private campaign targeting child predators where he set up a fake online profile posing as a boy.

The 42-year-old was able to perform two citizen arrests on alleged paedophiles before police arrested him and charged him with aggravated assault, two counts of using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence and one count of publishing the identity of a person charged with sexual offence on Friday.

Warner would not comment on the specifics of the arrest but he did tell Daily Mail Australia there was a need for it to be done.

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Rich Warner, (pictured) a victim of child sexual abuse himself, waged a private campaign targeting child predators where he set up a fake online profile posing as a boy

Adelaide's self-described 'pedo hunter' as he appears in one of his videos posted online

'It was a disgusting experience talking to these people, it's not a nice thing,' he said.

A GoFundMe page was set up for Warner by the community to raise money for the court fees where they have raised almost half of the $5,000 goal in two days.

'All of what has happened has been done by friends in community,' Warner said.

'I'm overwhelmed with community support and want to say a huge thank you for starting up the support page, for helping contribute to legal costs.'

Raising $2,395 in two days, the paedophile hunter said he thinks there will be a 'fairly big crowd of supporters' at court on February 14.

'My message to other parents is to be very vigilant, be aware of the magnitude of the problem - it's bigger than people think,' Warner told Daily Mail Australia.

Warner said he went online with his fake profile for ten minutes and received a number of messages from people who wanted to meet him, with one alleged paedophile wanting to meet him straight away.

'The public would be completely shocked if they had any idea, completely shocked,' he said.

'If I can talk to five or six and easily bust two by going online quickly twice, I could do five or six every day.

Warner confronted an alleged paedophile (pictured) he lured to a train station

A screenshot allegedly sent by one of the vigilante's targets after he posed as a teenage boy

'How easy it is and how little is being done, the community is completely behind me.'

The self-proclaimed 'paedophile hunter' led South Australian police to two alleged child sex predators posted videos of the two 'stings' on alleged paedophiles who had agreed to meet with him after he put up a profile pretending to be a teenage boy.

The 42-year-old vigilante did not conceal the identity of the men he targeted in the videos, according to The Advertiser.

South Australian law bans the publication of the identity of people charged with a sexual offence until they plead guilty or are committed to stand trial.

During the first sting, Warner allegedly grabbed an alleged paedophile's shirt as he performed a citizen's arrest.

Police were called to an Adelaide train station after Warner 'arrested' an alleged paedophile

Following the first sting operation the father-of-one said he wanted police to conduct their own investigations and said he did not 'mete out my own type of punishment'.

Warner said he embarked on his campaign because of the abuse he suffered as a youngster and wanted to expose child sex offenders.

However, police said the videos were of concern because of the 'risk these may further create to all parties involved.'

The officer in charge of the Sturt CIB, Detective Chief Inspector Wayne Overmeyer, said those who took the law into their own hands could 'expose themselves to facing criminal charges'.

'Let us do our job,' Detective Chief Superintendent Overmeyer said.

'Don't take the law into your own hands in relation to any criminal matter. If you have information, or suspect that a criminal act has taken place - contact the police.

'Anyone who believes they have evidence of criminal behaviour should call police, not create a confrontation which, in turn, could create a risk to personal safety.'

Warner, from Adelaide's western suburbs, has been granted bail and will face Adelaide Magistrates Court.
Thousands of drug addicts and alcoholics are receiving the disability support pension (DSP) for conditions caused by their own substance abuse.

Almost 1,400 Australians get the DSP solely because of drug or alcohol dependence, while about 1,500 DSP recipients have a primary psychiatric or psychological condition caused by substance abuse.

And almost 27,000 jobless Australians on the DSP list alcohol and drug-related conditions among the problems preventing them from working, the Courier-Mail reports.

Almost 1,400 Australians get the DSP solely because of drink or drug problems (stock image)

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull wants some Centrelink welfare recipients to be drug tested

About 1,500 DSP recipients have a primary mental condition caused by substance abuse

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Those figures were revealed as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told the same newspaper fresh legislation to trial drug testing for welfare recipients would be introduced.

For those over 21 or under 21 with children the maximum fortnightly DSP payment is $894.40, while the maximum Newstart Allowance for a single unemployed person is $538.80 a fortnight.

The Coalition's attempt at a drug testing trial for some welfare recipients was blocked by the Senate. That provision was removed so other welfare reforms would pass.

Mr Turnbull told the Courier-Mail the Government still intended to go ahead with the drug testing trial.

'It sure will, it absolutely will,' Mr Turnbull said.

The Coalition's attempt at a drug testing trial for welfare recipients was blocked (stock image)

Former social services minister Christian Porter told the same publication: 'We have been willing to try new things on the basis that more of the same is not the answer to moving more people from welfare to work.'

'People receiving welfare who are affected by drugs are failing to focus on securing work and so the drug testing measure was carefully designed to ensure it had that focus  getting people the help they need to overcome their drug issues.

'We will not give up on trying new things to break cycles of welfare dependency and continue our success in moving people from welfare to work.'

Under the proposed plan, about 2,500 new Newstart and Youth Allowance recipients were to be drug tested in suburbs throughout Logan, south of Brisbane.

Those who failed would lose control of their welfare payment.
His comments sparked calls from Lord Tebbit to strip him of the Tory whip

Lord Heseltine should be stripped of the Tory whip for suggesting Brexit could be more damaging to the country than a Corbyn government, one of his former Cabinet colleagues said last night.

Lord Tebbit, who served alongside Lord Heseltine under Margaret Thatcher, backed a call for Theresa May to put an end to the die-hard Remainers sniping from inside the tent.

The Europhile former deputy prime minister has caused uproar within the party for claiming leaving the EU could have a worse long-term effect than Labour taking power.

The Bow Group think-tank, whose patrons include Lord Tebbit, Lord Lamont, John Redwood and Ann Widdecombe, demanded he lose the Tory whip in the Lords.

Tory grandee Lord Heseltine has suggested Brexit could be more damaging to the country than a Corbyn government

Chair Ben Harris-Quinney said: Heseltine has made clear it is his aim to prevent Brexit at all costs, including the sabotage of his own party and nation, the Conservative Party must therefore withdraw the whip and end the inevitable continuation of his sniping from inside the tent.

Lord Tebbit, the former Tory chairman, said: The Bow Group is absolutely right to make this call and I think the whip should be withdrawn.

Tory MP Daniel Kawczynski MP said: His indifference towards hard working new Conservative MPs who have won marginal seats against all odds at the last election, especially in Scotland, is breathtaking.

His lack of respect and loyalty towards the Conservative Party is deeply regrettable.

Mr Harris-Quinney added: The Brexit negotiations cannot be led by a Conservative Government that allows outright sabotage to go unaddressed within its own ranks.

There should absolutely be room for Conservative politicians to disagree with the Government's approach to Brexit.

'But for a member to be invested in bringing a Corbyn lead government into power in order to ignore the democratic will of the people in voting for Brexit cannot be tolerated by any party or government who wishes to be taken seriously and maintain parliamentary discipline.

Michael Heseltine is best known for bringing down the Thatcher Government, his career is a litany of traitorous and self-serving practices, that he is able to continue to do such things in senility only draws attention to the weakness of the Government and embarrasses it at home and abroad.

Lord Tebbit, who served alongside Lord Heseltine under Margaret Thatcher, backed a call for Theresa May to put an end to the die-hard Remainers sniping from inside the tent.

Lord Heseltine has long been one of his party's most vociferous Europhiles. He walked out of Margaret Thatcher's Cabinet in 1986 following a row over Europe. Later he became a prominent supporter of joining the euro.

Since the referendum he has repeatedly called for the result to be reversed.

Mrs May sacked Lord Heseltine from several advisory roles, including as a national infrastructure commissioner, after he led a revolt in the Lords against the Government's Brexit agenda in March.

Lord Heseltine warned he would try his best to stop Brexit by 'any means' at hand  whether it be a second referendum or a vote in the Lords.

And the former deputy PM said many pro-Remain Tories were considering leaving the party as Mrs May's insistence on driving through Brexit made them question their loyalty to the 'tribe'.

Lord Heseltine also claimed Brexit would become 'more unpopular as people realise what it's all about'.

'If you look at the polls there is probably a bigger majority against Brexit than the referendum secured but that, I think, will continue to happen,' he told the Limehouse podcast.

'I think a second referendum would be a vehicle for ending Brexit, but personally I would rather Parliament to do it  either if this present parliament became hostile or because in an election the issue was rethought and a subsequent parliament did it. My preoccupation is ending Brexit.'

Jeremy's Christmas: A really good apple juice followed by a four mile jog His policies may centre on lavish spending, but when it comes to Christmas Jeremy Corbyn prefers a more austere approach. As a vegetarian, the 68-year-old avoided a traditional Christmas roast while, as his wife Laura Alvarez is Mexican, the family celebrated on Christmas Eve before a low-key December 25. Mr Corbyn said that he starts Christmas Day off as he usually does  with a glass of apple juice. But he told political website Politico: 'On Christmas Day, I make sure it is a particularly good one.' After that, he said he likes to go for a three- or four-mile run on Christmas morning. He told the Daily Mirror that, as he goes through London parks, he often sees swimmers taking a Christmas morning dip. He said: 'They said do you fancy joining in, I said, 'No no no.' Advertisement

In comments Tory Europhiles could see as a further disloyalty to Theresa May, the prominent Remainer said leaving the EU could have a worse long-term effect than Labour taking power
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It's the whitest Christmas on record for Erie, Pennsylvania- with an astonishing total of snow blanketing the area reaching 58 inches, with a whopping 34 inches hitting on Christmas day.

The National Weather Service office in Cleveland says Monday's storm brought 34 inches of snow, an all-time daily snowfall record for Erie.

Another 24 inches fell before dawn Tuesday, bringing the total to 53 inches, the greatest two-day total in commonwealth history. The previous record was the 44 inches that fell in Morgantown in March 1958.

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Patrick Harden clears snow from the roof of his car on Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2017, in Erie, Pa, as the area braces for more snow on top of the already 53 inches residents have endured

Rochelle Carlotti, 28, shovels steps near her home after a record snowfall on Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2017, in Erie, Pa. The National Weather Service office in Cleveland says Monday's storm brought 34 inches of snow, an all-time daily snowfall record for Erie

A man clears snow on Tuesday in Erie, Pa. The National Weather Service office in Cleveland says Monday's storm brought 34 inches of snow, an all-time daily snowfall record for Erie

People dig out the path by their house after the record snowfall in Erie, on Tuesday after a second massive snowfall in two days

Workers from the City of Erie clear snow after a record snowfall on Tuesday, in Erie, Pa. The National Weather Service office in Cleveland says Monday's storm brought 34 inches of snow, an all-time daily snowfall record for Erie

Erie issued a snow emergency, citing 'dangerous and impassable' roads. It asked residents to stay off streets until the snow stops and roads can reopen.

State police and the state Department of Transportation are urging people to avoid travel, citing poor visibility and deteriorating conditions.

According to CNN the massive powder dump is a result of whats called lake-effect snow, a weather phenomenon where cold air combines with lake water to create narrow bands of powerful snow.

Even more of the lake-effect snowfall is expected to bury the area through Wednesday.

Erie, Pa., residents on East 24th Street dig out on Tuesday, after a record two-day snowfall. The National Weather Service office in Cleveland says the storm brought 34 inches on Christmas

A general view of 1925 State Street after the record snowfall in Erie, Pennsylvania, U.S., December 26, 2017 in this picture

A general view of 1925 State Street after the record snowfall in Erie, Pennsylvania, December 26

It may look beautiful- but the snowfall is causing real dangers for residents whose streets are simply impassable.

Kara Murphy of Millcreek Township, Pennsylvania told CNN no matter how often the plows come by- the street is reclaimed by the snow soon after.

'We had a plow come down our street overnight, but it's impassable again,' she said.

The white stuff has managed to cover many areas of the Northeast, Midwest and West Coast and has given way to bitter cold until the New Year for the regions.

Chicago-area National Weather Service meteorologist Amy Seeley says to expect colder-than-normal temperatures the rest of the week. Temperatures hovered around zero degrees in Chicago on Tuesday.

SNOW RECORDS BROKEN IN ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA Snow records were broken in Erie, Pennsylvania when the city received 19 inches of fresh white stuff from midnight to 6am on Tuesday. That brings the total snowfall in Erie to 53 inches within 30 hours. Plus, that was the greatest two-day snowfall total in Pennsylvania, according to the National Weather Service. The previous record was made in 1958 in Morgantown with 44 inches. Advertisement

Meteorologists warn of sub-zero frigid arctic air and dangerously cold wind chills.

Wind chill advisories or warnings are in effect for all of North Dakota and Wisconsin, as well as swaths of South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan, Indiana, parts of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and New York.

Meteorologists say frostbite is possible with as little as 30 minutes of exposure.

New Yorkers are also being warned to bundle up as the bitter cold snap will force temperatures to drop below freezing for the next six days at least.

'Some of these days the high is only 22 degrees,' said National Weather Service meteorologist Dave Stark.

'We're almost talking 20 degrees below the normal high temperature.'

Tuesday is expected to be the warmest in New York City in the foreseeable future with temperature highs reaching 30 degrees.

But by Thursday and Friday, the temperature will drop into the low 20s during day hours and low-to-mid teens at night.

A white Christmas for much of the Northeast, Midwest and West Coast has given way to bitter cold until the New Year for the regions. Pictured above is snow in Washington state

Meteorologists warn of sub-zero frigid arctic air and dangerously cold wind chills. Pictured above is snow in Washington state on Tuesday

Wind chill advisories or warnings are in effect for all of North Dakota and Wisconsin, as well as swaths of South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan, Indiana, parts of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and New York. Pictured above is snow in Washington state on Tuesday

Meteorologists say frostbite is possible with as little as 30 minutes of exposure. Pictured above is snow in Washington state on Tuesday

Jack Frost made an appearance in Rochester, Minnesota on Christmas day, as the mercury hovered near the zero degree mark. A cold week of more of the same is projected for the week ahead

With millions expected to camp out at Times Square for New Year's Eve, officials caution revelers to especially dress for the arctic since the temperature will fall to 12 degrees.

Back in 1961, New York City remained frozen for 16 days in a row beginning on January 19.

This comes after snow wreaked havoc on travel plans in the Northeast on Christmas Day with as much as five feet of snow falling in upstate New York and northern Michigan.

Snow records were broken in Erie, Pennsylvania when the city received 19 inches of fresh white stuff from midnight to 6am on Tuesday. That brings the total snowfall in Erie to 53 inches within 30 hours.

The above map shows the current wind chills across the country on Tuesday

There is currently a cloud cover over the country as temperatures drop from cold to coldest in many parts

The above map depicts the current snow cover in the US from light to heavy

The above map shows the next 48 hours of precipation, rain and snow across the US measured in inches

Plus, that was the greatest two-day snowfall total in Pennsylvania, according to the National Weather Service.

The previous record was made in 1958 in Morgantown with 44 inches.

Towns throughout the Great Lakes snowbelts are likely to see significant accumulation of the white stuff throughout Tuesday and Wednesday.

The lake-effect snow will makes its presence felt on throughout the banks of lakes Ontario, Erie, Michigan, and Superior, according to The Weather Channel.

That is why the National Weather Service in Buffalo has warned of 'difficult to impossible' travel conditions.

Western New York's roads were hit by rapidly accumulating snow as well as whipping 50-mile-per-hour wind gusts.

Heavy snowfall and low visibility prompted Logan Airport in Boston to shut down runways on Monday

The airport in Boston also grounded flights for about 90 minutes on Monday

A winter wonderland scene in the city of Coxsackie, in Greene County, New York, which got walloped with snow on Christmas Day

A general view of skyscrapers are seen during snowfall in Chicago on December 24

Weather experts predict that some areas in western New York are forecast to get up to 50 inches of snow through Wednesday.

Some travel bans are in effect in the Buffalo area, ABC affiliate WKBW-TV reported this morning.

In addition to snow, several areas across the country are experincing super cold winters.

Chicago and Minneapolis both had the coldest Christmas since 1996. For the Windy City, temperatures dropped to 2 degrees on Christmas, then dipped below zero overnight.

Duluth, Minnesota had its coldest Christmas since 1933 with a high of negative eight degrees.
New York City is set to report its lowest murder total in decades, even with the deadly Halloween truck terror attack that killed eight and was the worst since 9/11.

The NYPD released statistics shows that homicide drop was parallel to the decrease in major crimes over 2016, into 2017.

NYPD records show that as of December 17, there was 278 homicides for the entire year. This figure is a 14.5 per cent drop than that of last year, with 325 homicides.

The NYPD released statistics shows that homicide drop was parallel to the decrease in major crimes over 2016, into 2017

According to CNN, the number once was a staggering 2,000 killings in the 1990s.

Data also show that there is a 10 per cent drop in robberies and felony assaults, burglaries and auto theft cases also saw a decrease this year.

'We've seen the lowest number of index crimes here since the '50s,' police Commissioner James O'Neill said at a recent news conference.

'We've seen the lowest number of index crimes here since the '50s,' police Commissioner James O'Neill said at a recent news conference

'With informed, engaged and empowered communities, we're going to keep pushing those numbers down even further.'

According to Detective Sophia Mason, NYPD officers fired their weapons 23 times up until December 17. In 2016, the number was 37 times.

The NYPD started using the neighborhood policing method which both O'Neill and Mayor Bill de Blasio credit for the decrease in crime.

'We are giving our cops the opportunity to make relationships and build on those relationships,' O'Neill added earlier this month.

'Nobody knows what's going on better on a block than the people that live there, the people that worship there, the people that work there.'

NYPD records show that as of December 17, there was 278 homicides for the entire year, a 14.5 per cent drop than that of last year, with 325 homicides

The Commissioner added that under the model, each precinct receives two 'neighborhood coordination officers' who delegate task to 12 'sector' officers.

With neighborhood policing, officers remain in one specific area and establish relationships with the communities that they serve.

O'Neill said: 'We're giving them back the ability to make decisions. No one knows better than the people patrolling those sectors and the people that live there what's actually happening.'

He added that each participating precinct is divided along neighborhood lines.

The NYPD started using the neighborhood policing method which both O'Neill and Mayor Bill de Blasio credit for the decrease in crime

51 out of 77 precincts have implemented the model since 2015 and all have reported a reduction in crime, O'Neill said. He hopes to have all of them doing the model by next year.

'My vision is to fully implement neighborhood policing, and that's to give our police officers the opportunity, the training, and the time to communicate, establish relationships, work together to identify problems, and work together to solve problems,' O'Neill added.

In addition to the neighborhood policing model, O'Neill stated that efforts to curb gang violence have aided in the decrease in crime as well.

'We're also continuing to target gangs and crews who commit the majority of the violence in New York City,' O'Neill added.

'I think that, in conjunction with neighborhood policing, that's why you're seeing the crime numbers go down.'

Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels, claimed that technology has helped with making it easier for police to identity and target different gang members. The volunteer safety patrol organization that he runs is a separate entity from the NYPD

Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels, claimed that technology has helped with making it easier for police to identity and target different gang members. The volunteer safety patrol organization that he runs is a separate entity from the NYPD.

'Nowadays, as a gang task force member, I can sit in an office, and all I have to do is look at social networking,' Sliwa said.

'The gangs are their own worst enemy. They post everything.'

While Sliwa credits the NYPD for making the city safer, he still feels like women are at a greater risk of sexual assault and harassment due to subway perverts.

'It's because there are so many pervs who have sought sanctuary in the subway,' Sliwa said.

The Guardian Angels began an all-female volunteer task force called Perv Busters that patrol subways and make citizen arrest when need be

'Now our focus because of the problems of assaults against women is on the subways. It's become a sort of perv heaven.'

The Guardian Angels began an all-female volunteer task force called Perv Busters that patrol subways and make citizen arrest when need be.

O'Neill shared that with each claim, there has to be a thorough investigation that takes place.

He added: 'It's important that each rape, no matter what the classification is, is fully investigated, and it's something that we have to constantly, when we put people into Special Victims, we have to make sure we select people that are right for that job. So, that's an ongoing process.'
A fundamentalist Muslim sheikh has declared he refuses to wish anyone a Merry Christmas so he can please Allah and go to heaven.

Jamil El-Biza, from Wollongong south of Sydney, told his thousands of Facebook followers shunning a Christian holy greeting would ensure he went to paradise after death.

'I'd rather be resurrected on the day of judgement, with the fact I made a few hundred million unhappy with me because I refuse to say "Merry Christmas", rather then being brought forward before Allah and having to explain to him why I congratulated a Christian who worships Jesus as lord,' he said on Christmas Day.

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Sunni fundamentalist sheikh Jamil El-Biza says he refuses to wish Christians a Merry Christmas

The Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah Association sheikh says it pleases Allah to avoid Christmas

Jamil El-Biza, a Sunni hardliner, says refusing to say Merry Christmas will get him to heaven

The Sunni hardliner, who counts the Grand Mufti Ibrahim Abu Mohamed as a Facebook friend, in September described gay marriage as 'evil' and referred to homosexual men by a derogatory term.

'I see it as a sign of whether the public has openly accepted that f****ts and lesbians have the right to officially claim that they are married,' he told his 3,668 Facebook friends.

His social media circle also includes Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesman Hamzah Qureshi and Islamic Friendship Association of Australia founder Keysar Trad.

Mr El-Biza, who is a member of the Australian National Council of Imams, cleared eight years worth of social media posts in September after Daily Mail Australia exposed his comments on gay marriage.

Mr El-Biza is affiliated with the Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah Association, which tells its followers it is sinful for Muslims to participate in non-Islamic events including Christmas and New Year's Eve parties.

He often accuses critics of Islamist fundamentalism of 'spreading hate' and hoped the late cartoonist Bill Leak would 'never rest in peace' for mocking Islam.

Of Australia's Muslim sheikhs, Mr El-Biza has used the most strident language against homosexuality and even Shiite Muslims, who he said in 2013 needed to be 'destroyed'.

Fellow ASWJ fundamentalist preachers include Abdulghani Albaf, who has denounced Muslim men for using public urinals, and Mohamad Doar, who told teenage girls they would go to hell for having non-Muslim friends or plucking their eyebrows.

It also includes Islamic teacher Nassim Abdi, who says women should refrain from going to university if it means they have premarital sex.
Speaking about Laura's plight, Jayne said today her sister was 'confused' and behaving strangely in prison

The mother of jailed British tourist Laura Plummer is leaving Egypt on Friday and will not return because the experience has been so 'traumatising'.

Ms Plummer's sister, Jayne Synclair, told MailOnline that she is flying to the Middle East next week to take over the responsibility of managing Laura's case.

Yesterday, Laura, 33, fell to the floor after being sentenced to three years in jail by an Egyptian court after powerful painkillers were found in her suitcase.

Stunned, the woman from Hull sobbed before slumping to the floor - after which she was taken to the notorious Qena prison, home to convicted jihadis and other serious criminals.

Speaking about Laura's plight, Jayne said today her sister was 'confused' and behaving strangely in prison.

'Her whole life is flashing before her eyes,' she said.

'Mum said she kept having flashbacks of being a small child. I'm not a doctor, but it might be the brain trying to process everything's that's happening.'

Ms Plummer's sister, Jayne Synclair (right), told MailOnline that she is flying to the Middle East next week to take over the responsibility of managing Laura's case from her mother (left)

Jayne also said her mother, who is in Egypt to be by her daughter's side during the ordeal, is flying back to Hull on Friday - and will not be returning.

She explained: 'Mum's not slept in three days - it's unbelievable. It's been horrible for her as well.

'She can't fly back again - it's been far too traumatising.'

Jayne said that her and her other sister, Rachel, will fly out to Egypt next week to take over from her mother.

'Mum said straight away, "Who's going to come back next time?",' she said.

British tourist Laura Plummer (pictured left) collapsed in shock after hearing she had been given a three-year sentence in a hellish Egyptian prison for drug smuggling.

Ms Plummer's sister Jayne Synclair said today that her sister is an 'absolute mess'

'We're going to have to take it in turns - she's got five siblings so we'll have to sort something out between us.'

The family has already spent 40,000 visiting Laura and providing her with food.

But Jayne said the family just wants 'shy, quiet' Laura to come home after her horrific experience.

She said her sister - who 'can't even watch Jurassic Park because she's scared of dinosaurs' - is not suited to prison and has previously warned she could die behind bars.

Laura's family has previously said she was robbed and beaten while being held for her trial - being picked on because she is foreign.

But Jayne said Laura, who is a Christian, has always been respectful of Egyptian culture.

Egypt also reportedly defied the British Foreign Office by sending Laura to Qena prison.

'I thought I'd be freed - I thought it was the end,' Laura sobbed yesterday.

Laura escaped the death penalty for transporting the opiate Tramadol in her luggage at the start of a holiday. However, she was told she would still be locked up.

Describing the conditions in the Qena prison, Jayne said: 'I've seen pictures and if you kept a dog in there and the RSPCA saw it - you would lose your dog. It's honestly THAT bad'

Today her sister Jayne Synclair revealed the Foreign Office intervened to block Laura being sent to the 'dangerous' Qena prison - but was ignored.

But after turning up to visit her daughter at a jail in Cairo her mum Roberta Synclair, 64, discovered Laura had been moved 150 miles to the notorious hell-hole.

Jayne, 40, said: 'It's really underhand - my mum went to Cairo to where they were told she would be but when she turned up she wasn't there.

'They have slyly taken her to where the British Foreign Office told us she would never be placed - but the Egyptian authorities have already moved her there.

'Our biggest fear with this scenario has been confirmed - she will be sharing a tiny cell with jihadi terrorists and rapists.

'I honestly dread to think. Laura won't survive a day in there - let alone three years.

'She won't even make it through that - I can't believe they've even still sent her there.'

The jail is situated north of Luxor and Jayne is fearful her sister won't make it out alive.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: 'We are continuing to provide assistance to Laura and her family following the court ruling in Egypt, and our embassy is in regular contact with the Egyptian authorities.'

Stunned, the woman from Hull sobbed before slumping to the floor. 'I thought I'd be freed  I thought it was the end,' she sobbed. Speaking after the sentence, her visibly distraught mother, Roberta Synclair, said: 'This is not fair. She's done it in all innocence'

Describing the conditions in the Qena prison, Jayne said: 'I've seen pictures and if you kept a dog in there and the RSPCA saw it - you would lose your dog. It's honestly THAT bad.'

She said the family will be expected to pay for Laura's food and will only be able to visit a maximum of once every two weeks.

Jayne said the family's Christmas - and year - has been ruined following the sentencing of Laura.

She said Laura is covered in mosquito bites, had a scabby face and her hair is falling out.

Jayne said: 'Laura has got three years, but we have got a life sentence with this - our family will never be able to shake this off.

'We come from a privileged background so we did not need the money, her ticket was 500, she had 1,500 and she had 3,500 in her bank.

'There was nothing on the travel guide website when visiting Egypt that says you cannot take Tramadol into the country.

Mr Caboo was reportedly 'very sad' while Laura cried so heavily that her mother has to calm her down. Pictured: Mr Caboo (left) with Ms Plummer's mother (centre) at the court after the sentence

'The evidence was so overwhelming in her favour and yet she still got three years.

'Her solicitor told us that he was expecting to be freed and allowed to leave - but we think she was made an example of.'

Jayne confirmed Laura's shop assistant job in Princes Quay in Hull has been kept vacant until she returned from her Egypt hell hole.

She added: 'Laura isn't the strongest of people, she's on the verge of a nervous breakdown, covered in scabs.

Mr Caboo (pictured) was described by witnesses at the court as being 'very sad' after the sentence was delivered, while Laura cried so heavily that her mother had to calm her down

'She's been bitten from head to foot in mosquito bites and she's like a ghost.

'Her skin is translucent and the muscles in her legs don't work - they're like jelly.

'That's why she had to be seated during the court hearing.'

Ms Plummer said, after her sentence: 'Everyone was saying how strong my case was and that it was only a matter of time. How can this be happening? I can't do three years here, I'm so frightened, I haven't done anything wrong.'

Shop worker Laura, from Hull, was arrested after she was found to be carrying 290 Tramadol tablets in her suitcase, a painkiller which is legal in the UK but banned in Egypt.

Ms Plummer's family, who have described her as 'naive', said she was taking the tablets for her Egyptian partner Omar Caboo, who suffers from severe back pain.

But now a judge at a preliminary court has sentenced her to three years' imprisonment and ordered her to pay a fine of 100,000 Egyptian pounds (4,205).

Ms Plummer's sister Jayne Synclair told Sky News today that her sister - who she described as an 'absolute mess' - will have to wait 60 days before she can appeal.

She said: 'What's going to happen in those 60 days? What's going to happen to her? She thought she was going to come home. It's a living hell.'

Ms Synclair said the Egyptian justice system has 'sentenced her whole family' as they are all 'in a state' worrying if Ms Plummer will ever get out.

Last night, Ms Plummer was moved to a police holding cell next to the court in port town Safaga.

Later, Ms Plummer was told she would be transferred to Qena, 150 miles away, in just a few days, The Sun reports.

Yesterday, her lawyer said Ms Plummer had 'accidentally' confessed in front of a judge after reportedly misunderstanding a question.

Ms Plummer's family previously claimed she was suicidal after sharing a 15ft square cell with 25 women inmates.

It has also been claimed that staff at the jail - which is on the outskirts of the city of Hurgharda - have shown little sympathy for what the Egyptian media are calling the 'Tramadol Tourist'.

Mr Caboo was described by witnesses at the court as being 'very sad' after the sentence was delivered, while Laura cried so heavily that her mother had to calm her down.

Laura Plummer (pictured), 33, has been sentenced to three years in prison

Speaking after the sentence, her visibly distraught mother, Roberta Synclair, said: 'This is not fair. She's done it in all innocence.

'She brought [the drugs] to help someone, to help a family.'

She added: 'She's the kindest person... I was worried about her before, [when she was] in the police station. I'm even more worried now she's in actual prison with real criminals.

'I feel sick - I'm so frightened for her.'

She has now been transferred to a police station, from which she will be sent to jail.

The sentence, however, can be changed as the case progresses through the Egyptian legal system.

It is expected to take a minimum of one month for the second stage of the case to begin.

The family said her lawyers lodged an immediate appeal.

Ms Plummer's sister, Rachel, said their mother Roberta was 'devastated' by the sentence.

Laura Plummer's previous jail - and the prison she has been sent to Laura Plummer was arrested at Hurghada International Airport on October 9 when police discovered she was carrying Tramadol and Naproxen in her suitcase. She was then held in a communal cell in Hurghada packed with 25 other women. Her cell was 15ft by 15ft, her family said, and - they claim - full of 'murderers, heroin addicts and prostitutes'. Her sister Jayne Synclair told The Mirror she was being 'targeted' by other inmates because she is foreign. Jayne said: 'To give you an idea of the place Laura is staying in - this woman [a woman alleged to be caring for Laura] is locked up for slitting her best friend's throat.' She added: 'She's a target in there because she's a foreigner. 'She was being kicked and kicked until apparently the cell leader started watching her.' Al Jazeera, which is based in nearby Qatar, also published a more general story about the state of Egyptian prisons in 2014. Toilets were a hole in the ground with a curtain for privacy In shocking videos leaked to the TV channel, jails in the country were shown to be cramped and dirty Al-Monitor , meanwhile, has reported that female prisoners in Egypt face regular sexual harassment and abuse by guards at jails. Pictured: A grab from a video obtained by Al Jazeera Prisons in Egypt have been repeatedly exposed as hellishly filthy. Pictured: The windows at one prison Jayne has also said Ms Plummer has threatened to kill herself because of the 'repulsive' conditions in the prison, which has no toilet or air conditioning. She reportedly relieves herself in a hole in the ground. Now she has been sent to Qena prison, which is notorious for its cramped and filthy cells. Jihadists and other serious criminals are also kept there. Laura, meanwhile, will have to pay for the food she eats and family will only be able to visit once a fortnight. Describing the conditions in the Qena prison, her sister Jayne said: 'I've seen pictures and if you kept a dog in there and the RSPCA saw it - you would lose your dog. It's honestly THAT bad.' Prisons in Egypt have been repeatedly exposed as hellishly filthy by journalists and rights groups. Al Jazeera interviewed an inmate from al-Qanater prison - which is used for both political prisoners and for regular criminals - who said it was 'full of cockroaches' and 'disgusting'. She said everything was dirty and she regularly felt intimidated by other prisoners. Pictured: Al-Qanater prison, where Ms Plummer could be sent by the Egyptian court Esraa el-Taweel told the broadcaster: 'The prison is scary and horrible. A different world - some [prisoners] are caught for using drugs, some for being prostitutes, some for pickpocketing, and others for stealing public funds. 'I have seen strange people and heard very strange stories. This cell is disgusting, full of cockroaches. Everything here is disgusting and life here is very difficult.' Al Jazeera, which is based in nearby Qatar, also published a more general story about the state of Egyptian prisons in 2014. In shocking videos leaked to the TV channel, jails in the country were shown to be cramped and dirty. Toilets were a hole in the ground with a curtain for privacy. Al-Monitor, meanwhile, has reported that female prisoners in Egypt face regular sexual harassment and abuse by guards at jails. Advertisement

She said the family was trying to find out more details about what happened in the courtroom today.

She said: 'My mum's obviously devastated. She's out there by herself.' She added that she did not know whether the appeal would be heard today.

She said: 'We're just hoping. Even half of that would be better. Anything less than three years. She doesn't deserve that.'

Ms Plummer's MP Karl Turner said the ruling had come as a devastating blow to her family but he was hopeful that good sense would eventually prevail.

Miss Plummer, left, could face 25 years in prison with no parole, life imprisonment or even the death penalty

He said her case had been raised with the Egyptian authorities by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and the Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt.

'I am hopeful that good sense will eventually prevail,' he told BBC Radio 4's The World At One.

'This is a damning indictment actually of the Egyptian authorities in the sense that good sense and fairness certainly hasn't prevailed in this case.

'This is a decent woman who has made a terrible mistake who shouldn't be incarcerated in any prison, never mind an Egyptian prison.'

Neville Plummer, Laura's father, said his daughter is 'on the verge of a breakdown' after the sentencing.

'The family are all absolutely devastated for Laura. It has been very distressing for everyone involved, but we have got to stay strong for Laura,' he said.

'The last time I spoke to Laura was two days after she was arrested.. To be honest, I think she was sentenced on the day she was arrested.

'This has been drawn out and dragged on and on, and in a way a line has now been drawn in the sand and things can only get better.'

'We have now got to stay positive for Laura,' Mr Plummer said.

'I will leave no stone unturned, and will let no money stand in the way of getting her the justice she needs.

Neville Plummer, Laura's father, said his daughter is 'on the verge of a breakdown' after the sentencing. Pictured: Laura

'She pleaded guilty to the trafficking when she did not even mean to plead guilty that is not justice, that is an injustice.

'I will never give up with the help. It is a very sad day for the family, at what should be a happy time of the year.'

Mr Plummer praised the work of the lawyers and legal teams who had represented Laura during the hearing.

He also said Hull East MP Karl Turner had been very supportive of Laura, and was continuing in his work to help the Hull woman.

Mr Turner said: 'I am hopeful that good sense will eventually prevail.

'This is a damning indictment actually of the Egyptian authorities in the sense that good sense and fairness certainly hasn't prevailed in this case.

'This is a decent woman who has made a terrible mistake who shouldn't be incarcerated in any prison, never mind an Egyptian prison.'

Yesterday her lawyer said she had 'accidentally' pleaded guilty during a hearing.

Her mother Roberta Synclair travelled to Egypt for the Christmas Day hearing.

Her lawyer Dia al-Bassal said Ms Plummer was asked yesterday: 'You are accused of smuggling and possessing Tramadol to Egypt?'

She then replied 'yes', with the judge ensuring the clerk recorded she had 'confessed' to the crime.

But when her translator explained what the question was, she denied being guilty of the charge.

Mr Bassal told The Telegraph: 'She meant that she is admitting that she had the Tramadol, but not admitting of being guilty.

'The judge jumped to the conclusion that she confesses before clarifying that she understood the question and this is worrying.'

Ms Plummer then reportedly wept in frustration, stressing 'it's not fair'.

The case revolves around 290 Tramadol Miss Plummer (left) took with her to Egypt for her lover Omar Caboo (right), 33, who suffers from back pain

Her lawyer will submit an explanation today emphasising that she meant to say she had the drug with her but did not intend to sell it.

Her sister Rachel Plummer said the judge adjourned the case for a day because of Laura's condition.

She said: 'She's sleep deprived, she's visibly nervous and upset.

'She's answered some questions wrong because she's not understanding them, she obviously can't think straight.

'You can imagine the pressure - this is her life.'

She said their mother and Mr Caboo were denied access to the hearing as their driver took them to court late.

MP Karl Turner told Sky News yesterday's hearing was adjourned so that Ms Plummer could find another interpreter.

He said: 'Apparently something was lost in translation, the defence lawyer wasn't confident that Laura was understanding the questions first of all, and the interpreter wasn't correctly translating what Laura was saying in her answers.'

Mr Turner said: 'The evidence is pretty clear that she didn't know the drug was banned and she was taking it out there to help her boyfriend, who has come up with the evidence that he does suffer from a severe back problem.'

The Plummer family has previously said she had no idea that what she doing was illegal and was just 'daft'.

Prison visit: The family of a British woman facing the death penalty in Egypt on drug smuggling charges today paid her an emotional visit in prison

They said she did not try to hide the medicine, which she had been given by a friend, and she thought it was a joke when she was pulled over by officials after arriving for a holiday with her partner.

Mrs Synclair said her daughter was being held in terrible conditions in a communal cell with no beds, sharing with up to 25 other women.

She said she looked 'unrecognisable'.

Ms Plummer is being held in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada, where she was arrested at the airport on October 9.

Her family has been told that she could face up to 25 years in jail, with one lawyer even mentioning the death penalty.

Yesterday her lawyer claimed the price of her plane ticket could set her free.

Mohamed Othman said that a plane ticket shows she did not intend to sell the 290 Tramadol tablets found in her suitcase because she paid twice as much for her flight as the drugs are worth.

Othman called the plane ticket a 'key piece of evidence'.

He told The Sun: 'For someone to be found guilty of drug smuggling they have to be aware that they are possessing narcotics. Laura did not know that what she was carrying was a narcotic.

'It is illogical that she was dealing in Tramadol.She had only 320 pills - even the plane ticket is almost double the price of those pills.'

Plummer wept in court as she appeared in front of a judge on Christmas Day.

Christmas Day is a normal working day in the Islamic country, and the shop assistant from Hull appeared in the dock handcuffed.

Miss Plummer's mother Roberta Synclair and Mr Caboo arrived late to the courtroom and stood outside.

Mr Caboo, speaking outside of court, was convinced Miss Plummer would be freed.

He told MailOnline: 'I am sure Laura is innocent. She did not bring the Tramadol for selling or trading.

'I am sure she will be freed. She did not intend to do smuggle or trade.'

When Miss Plummer was arrested on October 9, she signed a 38-page document written in Arabic as she thought it would grant her freedom.

It led to her being locked up and she has already spent ten weeks in prison sharing a 15ft square cell with 25 women inmates.

Last month, her mother Roberta Synclair said: 'She did not realise what she was doing'.

She said Ms Plummer made no attempt to hide the medicine, which she had been given by a friend, and she thought it was a joke when she was first pulled over by officials when she flew into the country for a holiday with Mr Caboo.
Guatemala's decision to follow the US in moving its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem was a 'sovereign' matter that should not affect ties with other countries, its Foreign Minister said today.

Sandra Jovel told a news conference that she did not believe the move would 'create any sort of problems' with other nations.

The announcement by President Jimmy Morales last week made Guatemala the first country to follow the U.S. in saying it was moving its embassy, a decision branded 'shameful' by Palestine.

No probs: Guatemalan Foreign Minister Sandra Jovel said she did not believe moving their embassy to Jerusalem would 'create any sort of problems' with other nations

President Morales announced the move despite a UN vote last week condemning US President Donald Trump's decision to unilaterally view the holy city as Israel's capital.

'These are Guatemala's foreign policy and sovereign decisions,' Ms Jovel told a news conference.

'In any case, we are open to being able to converse with countries that see it as such, but I don't believe it will create any sort of problem with other countries,' she said.

Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its capital, while Palestinians, consider east Jerusalem as the occupied capital of their future state.

A UN General Assembly vote on Thursday resoundingly rejected any attempt to unilaterally define Jerusalem's status.

A total of 128 nations voted to maintain the international consensus that Jerusalem's status can only be decided through peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.

Working together: Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands during a joint news conference in 2016

The United States and Israel mustered seven other countries to their side to vote no to the UN resolution. The other nations were Guatemala, Honduras, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and Togo.

The Palestinian foreign ministry has called Guatemala's decision 'shameful and illegal.'

Jovel told the news conference she had so far received no telephone calls 'from any ambassador in relation to this issue.'

She added: 'What we are doing is returning our embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, where we had it for many years.'

However, the foreign minister said she did not know how long it would take before Guatemala's embassy was in Jerusalem.

'I don't have a time estimate for this move, but I'm not saying it will happen tomorrow.'

She also discounted the possibility of Arab countries exacting economic consequences on Guatemala for its decision -- something that had happened in the past, to reverse a similar move.

A former president of Guatemala, Ramiro de Leon Carpio, who was in power 1993-1996, had made a decision to move the embassy to Jerusalem, but backtracked when Muslim-majority countries shut off access to Guatemalan goods.

Guatemala is today much more reliant on the United States, which is giving $750 million to it and neighboring El Salvador and Honduras to crack down on the crime and poverty that is stirring migration to the US.
Daggers will be drawn next year when the countrys two leading theatre companies stage rival productions of Macbeth.

The ridiculous coincidence is made even more unlikely by the Royal Opera House putting on Verdis Macbeth, and a film of the play coming out  all in the same month.

Toil and trouble may now lie ahead for the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company, whose productions are likely to face heavy comparison.

Rory Kinnear and Ann-Marie Duff will star in the National Theatre's version of Macbeth which will come out a week before the Royal Shakespeare Company version, the pair also played Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in a RSC production in 2016 (pictured)

Only a week after Rory Kinnear and Anne-Marie Duff begin their leading roles in the Nationals version on March 6, Christopher Eccleston and Niamh Cusack will take to the stage for the RSC.

Polly Findlay, director of the RSC version, said: We cant quite believe it.

It is ridiculous, completely ridiculous  all the reviews are going to compare and contrast, she told The Times.

In particular, Kinnear and Miss Duff are likely to be scrutinised because they first appeared together as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth last year  in an RSC production.

Miss Findlay revealed that she and Rufus Norris, director of the Nationals Macbeth, have been sharing notes. She said: Although we have quite similar thoughts about what the text is doing and what it means and what we think is important, when you look at what we are producing I am confident they are going to be completely different.

A new production of Verdi's Macbeth opera (earlier production pictured) will be released in March, the same month as two theatre productions and a film of the Shakespeare play

Oliver Mears, opera director of the Royal Opera House, said the play had endured due to the power of Shakespeares extraordinary text and the themes he explores.

Mr Mears said: In particular, ambition and the thirst for power and the way it can turn human beings into corrupt animal figures is something that I am sure has a resonance with us today. His revival of Phyllida Lloyds production opens on March 25.

British director Kit Monkmans film of the Scottish play, which was shot on green screen and uses computer modelling, will be released in cinemas on March 13.
The congresswoman accused by a United Airlines passenger of bumping her from a first-class seat tweeted Tuesday that she believes the passenger was only upset because she is black.

Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, from Texas, said did nothing wrong when she was bumped to a first class seat on a December 18 flight from Houston to Washington, DC.

She was put in seat 1A, which was originally paid for by a Jean-Marie Simon, a schoolteacher from Washington DC, who has accused the airline of evicting her from the seat so they could give it to a member of congress. Jackson Lee said in a statement Tuesday that she is upset she has to respond to allegations that she demanded special treatment.

'Since this was not any fault of mine, the way the individual continued to act appeared to be, upon reflection, because I was an African American woman, seemingly an easy target along with the African American flight attendant who was very, very nice,' the 67-year-old Democrat tweeted Tuesday.

'But in the spirit of this season and out of the sincerity of my heart, if it is perceived that I had anything to do with this, I am kind enough to simply say sorry. But as an African American, I know there are too many examples like this all over the nation.'

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Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, from Texas, said did nothing wrong when she was bumped to a first class seat on a December 18 flight from Houston to Washington, DC

She was put in seat 1A, which was originally paid for by a Jean-Marie Simon (left), a schoolteacher from Washington DC, who has accused the airline of evicting her from the seat so they could give it to a member of congress

Representative Jackson Lee wrote on Twitter that she was upset she had to respond to allegations that she'd demanded special treatment,

She said she believes that Simon was so offended because she is an African American woman, and said that if it's perceived she did anything wrong she wants to apologize in the spirit of the holiday season

Simon claims that after an hour-long weather delay United carelessly tossed her out of her first-class seat to make way for Jackson Lee, saying in a Facebook post that she saw a uniformed airline employee pull the congresswoman from the boarding line and escort her to a first-class seat.

Then Simon, who was on the second leg of her return flight from Guatemala, said she went to the gate to board and was told her ticket wasn't in the system.

When the attendant asked her if she had canceled her ticket, Simon replied: 'No. I just want to go home.'

After she was seated, she claims she was told by another passenger that her original seat was occupied by a congresswoman and that he had seen her do it twice before.

The airline compensated her with a $500 voucher and another ticket for that flight in Economy Plus.

And on Monday United again apologized to her and said they would reimburse her with a second $500 voucher.

REPRESENTATIVE SHEILA JACKSON LEE'S FULL STATEMENT 'I am disappointed in having to respond to this accusation, but I believe transparency is very important. Unfortunately, it looks like Grinch is trying to steal the spirit of the holiday. Last Monday, I arrived at the airport to catch my flight to Washington to continue my fight to get Hurricane Harvey funds back to Texas and other hard hit areas, along with funding of the Childrens Health Insurance Program and of course, trying to stop a tax bill that was going to cause millions of Americans to lose their health insurance. After receiving my boarding pass, I boarded the plane in the normal process. I did nothing wrong. I asked for nothing exceptional or out of the ordinary and received nothing exceptional or out of the ordinary. I proceeded to take my seat and work on legislative issues on my way to Washington. Although I was not involved, I observed a disruption by an individual walking back and forth in the cabin. I could overhear her speaking with a flight attendant (an African American woman). I saw the gate agent go to the seat of the individual who was walking back and forth before we took off. I later came to understand that the individual had canceled her own flight. However I had nothing to do with that. I noted that this individual came toward me and took a picture. I heard later that she might have said I know who she is. Since this was not any fault of mine, the way the individual continued to act appeared to be, upon reflection, because I was an African American woman, seemingly an easy target along with the African American flight attendant who was very, very nice. This saddens me, especially at this time of year given all of the things we have to work on to help people. But in the spirit of this season and out of the sincerity of my heart, if it is perceived that I had anything to do with this, I am kind enough to simply say sorry. I understand the airline is working to address the passengers concerns. I am glad of that. But as an African American, I know there are too many examples like this all over the nation. I hope one day, we will accept our collective diversity. Happy Holidays.' Advertisement

Immediately after the incident the airline denied Simon's claims.

'After thoroughly examining our electronic records, we found that upon receiving a notification that Flight 788 was delayed due to weather, the customer appears to have canceled her flight from Houston to Washington, DC within the United mobile app,' United said in a statement.

'As part of the normal pre-boarding process, gate agents began clearing standby and upgrade customers, including the first customer on the waitlist for an upgrade.'

Simon denied the airline's claim that she canceled her ticket, leading to the mix-up

Simon denies the airline's claim that she canceled her ticket and claims United staff threatened to remove her from the flight for complaining and for taking a photo of Lee in her seat.

The teacher said she has screenshots of her United app that shows a canceled flight to Houston in August during Hurricane Harvey when she was supposed to visit her daughter, according to the Houston Chronicle.

United says the screenshot wouldn't show the December 18 flight as canceled because Simon did eventually end up taking the flight.

And regardless of the turnout - Representative Jackson Lee said she did 'nothing wrong.'

'I asked for nothing exceptional or out of the ordinary and received nothing exceptional or out of the ordinary. I proceeded to take my seat and work on legislative issues on my way to Washington,' she wrote.

She said she overheard someone say the woman 'cancelled her own flight,' and that she 'noted that this individual came toward me and took a picture. I heard later that she might have said "I know who she is."'

Simon also said she hopes the airline makes everything right with Simon.

But other people on the flight claim they have witnessed the congresswoman carry out similar behavior at least three times before.

'I've seen Lee and IAH cutting in line and rudely taking advantage of her status before. United knows she will play the race card if she isn't treated like royalty so they just give in. They don't care about a hard working teacher vs a privileged idiot,' one person tweeted.

Simon has denied all claims that her anger and frustration with United had to do with race.

'I had no idea who was in my seat when I complained at the gate that my seat had been given to someone else,' she said.

'There is no way you can see who is in a seat from inside the terminal.'

Simon said that five minutes after she snapped the photo of Jackson Lee, another flight attendant sat next to her and asked her if she 'was going to be a problem.'

The teacher said she was so distraught by how the airline treated her that after she arrived home she wrote a letter to the CEO, Oscar Munoz, and posted it on social media.

An airline representative contacted her last Saturday morning and repeatedly apologized.

Simon has asked for a formal, written apology.

'It's just impossible to suspend disbelief and swallow that story that I cancelled my flight,' she said said.

Jackson Lee (seen above giving a speech in Washington, DC on September 20) suggested that Simon, who is white, complained to the airline because she and one of the flight attendants are African American women, thus making them easy targets

United Airlines has experienced a number of public relations headaches in the past year related to its customer service.

The most notorious case was that of Dr David Dao.

On April 9, just before a United flight was set to take off from Chicago to Louisville, security personnel forcibly dragged Dao off a plane to make room for United crew members.

Dao refused to give up his seat and was left bloodied by the experience, which was filmed on cellphone video and posted to social media.

The viral backlash was a black eye for United, which apologized. The airline and Dao reached a financial settlement for an undisclosed sum of money.
Pregnant prisoners - including those in childbirth - have been shackled in South Australian jails in breach of international rules, according to a new study.

La Trobe University law lecturer Anita Mackay found United Nations guidelines known as the Mandela Rules, after the late South African leader Nelson Mandela, had not been universally adopted in Australian prisons.

'Shackling women during childbirth is the most obvious contravention of the Mandela Rules,' Dr Mackay told The Advertiser.

There have been complaints that inmates of both sexes have been treated inhumanely because of the state's lack of 'soft' restraints for prisoners in hospital.

Injuries done to an inmate's wrist by restraints from a South Australian Ombudsman's report

An image of an inmate shackled in bed from a South Australian Ombudsman's report in 2012

South Australian prisons have been criticised for restraining pregnant inmates (stock image)

South Australian Ombudsman Wayne Lines recently told a parliamentary inquiry complaints against the state's Department of Correctional Services made up a huge part of his workload.

'Obviously torture of prisoners is not a common occurrence,' Mr Lines told the committee.

'But with some of the complaints I've seen from the department, it evidences a level of callousness and indifference and carelessness on the part of some officers towards prisoners that should be a concern for us all.'

In his latest annual report Mr Lines said the Department of Correctional Services continued to work with its New South Wales counterparts to develop a 'soft shackle' for vulnerable inmates.

'However, I am concerned that this work has not yet delivered the promised secure soft restraint even though it has been ongoing for more than two years,' Mr Lines reported.

'I note that this Office first recommended that a soft restraint be developed in 2012 and it is disappointing that the work on it has not produced a result yet.'

Australian prisons have been accused of not following the United Nations Mandela Rules

Academic Anita Mackay (left) has written a report highly critical of Australian prison conditions; South Australian Ombudsman Wayne Lines (right) wants change to restraints

Problems with 'hard shackles' were raised in 2012 when it was revealed they had been used on a woman during labour for five hours after her first contraction.

Dr Mackay's study, published in December's Alternative Law Journal, was scathing of South Australia's ongoing practice of shackling.

She said the Department of Correctional Services had repeatedly failed to act on requests by the Ombudsman to change its shackling methods.

A departmental spokeswoman did not deny pregnant women had been shackled during childbirth but said it was not policy to do so. The department had 'accepted or partially accepted' previous Ombudsman's recommendations.

An image of an inmate shackled in bed from a South Australian Ombudsman's report in 2012

Australian prisons have been accused of not following the UN's Mandela Rules (stock image)

The spokeswoman confirmed the department was still working with NSW prisons to develop softer shackles.

The Mandela Rules  formally known as the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners - were adopted by UN's General Assembly in 2015.

The rules state women should never be shackled 'during labour, during childbirth and immediately after childbirth.'

However, despite meetings of Australian prisons ministers over the past two years, those standards had not been adopted throughout the country.

Nelson Mandela, the anti-apartheid revolutionary who served as South Africa's president from 1994 to 1999 and died in 2013, spent 27 years in prison.
Police are desperately searching for a mother-of-three who went missing from a Sydney home on Christmas Day.

Tanya Laws, 39, was last seen at an Engadine property at 8pm on Monday.

Ms Laws, who works as a nurse at St George Hospital, has not contacted family since.

Tanya Laws, 39, was last seen at an Engadine property at 8pm on Monday

Stephen Laws (left) took to Facebook to ask for assistance in finding his wife (right)

Her husband Stephen took to Facebook to ask for assistance in finding his wife.

He posted: 'Have you seen Tanya?

'She went missing around 8pm on Christmas night in Engadine. If you have seen her please let me know.

'Tanya was wearing a black t-shirt and blue denim shorts. She was last seen at the bottom of Kingswood Rd.'

Her husband Stephen took to Facebook to ask for assistance in finding his wife

Ms Laws, who works as a nurse at St George Hospital, has not contacted family since her disappearance

Police said Ms Laws suffers from a medical condition so there are serious concerns for her welfare.

She is described as being of Caucasian appearance, of a medium build, and with long brown hair.

Ms Laws is known to frequent the Engadine and Helensburgh area.

Anyone who has information is asked to contact Sutherland Police or Crime Stoppers.
Police have recovered what's believed to be the body of a young man who drowned in a Christmas Day tragedy on Phillip Island in Victoria.

The human remains were found during the search for a swimmer missing off Cape Woolamai on Tuesday.

Hermant Govekar was spotted by surfers in trouble about 5.30pm on Monday, but quickly disappeared from sight.

It is believed the body is that of the 28-year-old Indian man.

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Police have recovered what's believed to be the body of a young man who drowned in a Christmas Day tragedy on Phillip Island in Victoria (pictured)

The human remains were found during the search for a swimmer (pictured) missing off Cape Woolamai on Tuesday

Hermant Govekar (pictured) was spotted by surfers in trouble about 5.30pm on Monday, but quickly disappeared from sight

Mr Govekar was reportedly swept out in rough surf in front of his terrified sister and her husband.

He had recently finished university in Brisbane and decided to go for a swim after the family attended the Phillip Island Penguin Parade.

The dangerous ocean pulled Mr Govekar out past the surfers, with one woman saying she got within a metre of the struggling swimmer before he disappeared underwater and did not resurface.

The beach was closed on Christmas Day and there were no lifeguards on duty.

'He just went in there from the ramp down got in the water and he was sucked straight away,' Mr Govekar's cousin Abhi Toraskar told Seven.

'I just can't process it. It is just a massive, massive loss.'

His parents are travelling from India to be with the rest of the family that are currently in Australia.

Mr Govekar (pictured) was reportedly swept out in rough surf in front of his terrified sister and her husband

The dangerous ocean pulled Mr Govekar (pictured) out past the surfers, with one woman saying she got within a metre of the struggling swimmer before he disappeared underwater and did not resurface

The beach was closed on Christmas Day and there were no lifeguards on duty

He was the second Indian man to drown on the east coast on Christmas Day after 22-year-old Ravneet Singh Gill was caught in rough surf on the far NSW north coast.

Mr Singh, a student from India who was described friends as 'golden hearted', died after eight people were rescued when swept out to sea at Duranbah Beach on Christmas Day.

The group began drifting into deeper waters around 4pm on Monday, as two surf lifesavers and and surfers raced out to help bring them to shore.

Mr Singh was found face down in the water when help reached him, and despite lifesavers describing it as a routing rescue, he was unable to be saved after 30 minutes of CPR.
A Dallas woman allegedly destroyed at least $300,000 worth of sculptures and original paintings of a well-known lawyer who once hosted President Donald Trump when he was just a nominee.

Lindy Lou Layman, 29, was charged with felony criminal mischief on Saturday for the destruction of Anthony Buzbee's property at the River Oaks, Texas, mansion.

According to local authorities, three original paintings and two abstract sculptures were destroyed.

Lindy Lou Layman, 29, was charged with felony criminal mischief on Saturday for the destruction of Anthony Buzbee's property at the River Oaks, Texas, mansion

Layman was taken to Harris County jail where she was then released after posting a bond of $30,000.

She will appear in court on Thrursday.

Buzbee is known for successfully defending former Texas Governor Rick Perry in an abuse-of-power case, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Three original paintings and two abstract sculptures were destroyed at the multi-million dollar mansion

Layman was taken to Harris County jail where she was then released after posting a bond of $30,000

In June 2016, he hosted a fundraiser for Donald Trump when he was a candidate for president.

But he is said to have 'completely' done with the candidacy after video surfaced of Trump bragging about grabbing women by the p***y.

He claimed to plan to write in Dan Moran on his ballot in October 2016.

The large mansion is listed at a whopping $9,405,588, according to Har.com.

It features six bedrooms and eight full bathrooms and covers 11,813 square feet.

Buzbee is known for successfully defending former Texas Governor Rick Perry in an abuse-of-power case, according to the Houston Chronicle
Salim Mehajer's newly-engaged sister wasted no time tying the knot with her ex-bikie boss fiance - waiting just a day after saying yes.

Saana, 23, and Nomads enforcer Mouhamed Tajjour, 33, said their Islamic marriage vows at a small but lively ceremony on Tuesday afternoon surrounded by family.

Convicted killer Tajjour sat on a plush padded chair as he signed the Katb El Kitab document sitting on an ornate gold-painted table.

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Saana Mehajer, 23, posed with her sisters Kat, Mary, and Fatima who will be three of her nine bridesmaids at her presumably elaborate wedding next year

The youngest sister of Salim Mehajer, she and fiance Mouhamed Tajjour, 33, said their Islamic marriage vows at a small but lively ceremony on Tuesday night

The youngest Mehajer sister stood next to him as he made the union religiously binding, lovingly resting her hand on his shoulder.

The bride then posed with her sisters Kat, who had her own elaborate wedding last year, Mary and Fatima who will be three of her nine bridesmaids.

Saana is already planning a full wedding for 2018 that could rival the infamous street-closing nuptials of Kat and Salim himself.

With formalities out of the way, the intimate ceremony of not more than two dozen guests partied all day at the cosy Sydney venue.

The newlywed couple pose with a friend and Tajjour's brother Sammy (R) after signing the Katb El Kitab document

Tajjour sat on a plush padded chair as he signed the Katb El Kitab document sitting on an ornate gold-painted table

Saana is already planning a full wedding for 2018 that could rival the infamous street-closing nuptials of Kat and Salim himself

The couple began by dancing together in the middle of a circle of guests, including Salim, who clapped while drummers kept a steady beat.

At one point Saana was carried in front of her new husband on the shoulders of two guests as the rest of the party cheered.

Dressed in a figure-hugging, off-the-shoulder blue dress, the law student looked delighted with her new husband as they danced.

Tajjour, a former Nomads vice-president, then posted an video selfie to Instagram of the pair during the celebrations saying 'we're getting f**king married tonight!'

The couple began dancing together and at one point Saana was carried in front of her new husband on the shoulders of two guests as the rest of the party cheered

They danced together in the middle of a circle of guests, including Salim, who clapped while drummers kept a steady beat.

Photos and videos flooded social media of the wedding reception, with Saana showing off her new diamond dazzler (pictured)

When it was all over, the couple walked arm-in-arm down the venue's white steps as drummers played around them and guests looked on.

The Katb El Kitab is an Islamic prenuptial agreement considered an integral part of the marriage process, outlining the rights and responsibilities of the bride and groom.

One of its functions is to make sex between the couple legal under Sharia law, but also defines where they will live and whether multiple wives are allowed.

Just weeks ago, Daily Mail Australia revealed Sanaa was in a relationship with 'Moudi' Tajjour.

Tajjour and his brother, Sleiman Simon Tajjour, spent four years in jail for the manslaughter of Nassour, the brother of Fat Pizza actor George Nassour, in 2006

When it was all over, the couple walked arm-in-arm down the venue's white steps as drummers played around them and guests looked on

The pair have been boasting of their love on Instagram since late November - culminating in a series of December 25 messages.

Tajjour then posted a gushing tribute to his new wife on Monday, announcing their engagement.

'Just got engaged to my beautiful darling future wife to be. Love u (sic) from the bottom of my heart my darling wife to be,' he wrote.

'Thank you for agreeing to be with me for the rest of your life. How did someone so beautiful love a head like mine.'

Tajjour has previously described Ms Mehajer as 'that one person that makes (me) genuinely happy'.

Kat attended the ceremony with her husband Ibraham Sakalaki after they married at their own elaborate wedding last year

Tajjour has previously described Ms Mehajer (front) as 'that one person that makes (me) genuinely happy'

The couple announced their engagement on Monday and have been dating since November

This is not the first high profile wedding for the Mehajer family this year.

It follows the wedding of Ms Mehajer's older sister Aisha to Tajjour's cousin Sam Ibrahim in November.

It's believed the Saana and Moudi may have first met at the Mehajer and Ibrahim wedding.

In a rush to begin their life together, Saana and Mouhamed were married on Tuesday night

Tajjour, a former vice-president of the Nomads motorcycle club, is now a life member having first joined in 1999.

It is understood Sanaa is currently a law student at University of Sydney.

Tajjour and his brother, Sleiman Simon Tajjour, both pleaded not-guilty to the murder of Robin Nassour, brother of Fat Pizza actor George Nassour, in 2006.

They were found guilty of manslaughter and spent four years in jail over the ambush attack, before being released in March 2010.
Thieves are cashing in on the lucrative beekeeping market, with 135 hives reported stolen over the last six years.

Hundreds of thousands of bees have been taken from apiaries across England and Wales since 2011, figures show.

Certain types of queen bee can fetch up to 180, indicating that rising prices could be behind the high number of thefts.

Thieves are cashing in on the beehive market with 135 hives reported stolen over the last six years in England and Wales

Martin Smith, of the British Beekeepers Association, said the rising popularity of beekeeping, combined with amateur keepers possibly buying stolen hives, was encouraging thieves.

He added: A colony of bees that a few years ago might have sold for 25 can now sell for above 200.

Police in Herefordshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire and Lincolnshire recorded the most thefts.

Lincolnshire also had the highest-value theft, at 8,000. Mr Smith said it was a sad fact that most thefts are probably undertaken by beekeepers or at least those with a rudimentary knowledge of the craft.

There are an estimated 30,000 beekeepers in England and Wales.
A father died in a brutal axe attack on Christmas night after claims he was attempting to resolve a dispute.

Victorian man Nick Bruton was allegedly attacked with the weapon after confronting a neighbour about their behaviour.

Steven Dunn, 49, has been accused of killing the father-of-five and appeared in court via videolink on Wednesday.

Victorian man Nick Bruton (pictured with wife Tash) was allegedly attacked with the weapon after confronting a neighbour about their behaviour

The 39-year-old father was rushed to hospital early on Tuesday morning with serious wounds but was unable to be saved.

Police allege Mr Dunn was at his home on Gladstone Ave in Swan Hill when he attacked Mr Bruton.

The tight-knit community are reportedly devastated at the loss of the family man, who leaves behind his wife and children, the youngest just 10 months old.

His daughter Kiara posted a heartbreaking tribute to her father on Facebook on Tuesday, saying: 'it's been a rough day without you dad, I miss you a lot'.

Steven Dunn, 49, has been accused of killing the father-of-five and appeared in court via videolink on Wednesday

His daughter Kiara posted a heartbreaking tribute to her father on Facebook on Tuesday, saying: 'it's been a rough day without you dad, I miss you a lot'

'Tonight I was out late and I waited and waited for your name to pop up on my screen telling me to come home but it never did,' she said.

'I love you a lot dad miss you so much.'

A neighbour told the Herald Sun Mr Dunn was 'known' for his odd behaviour in the area.

He has been remanded in custody and will appear Mildura Magistrates' Court on May 1 in 2018.
Police say Jillian Ramsay was fleeing an earlier car crash when her car plowed into the young family's vehicle

A young Louisiana mother and her infant son were killed by a suspected drunk driver on Christmas Eve just hours she was proposed to.

Shelly Mulkey, 19, was on her way home from a holiday party with her seven-month-old son Ryan and husband-to-be Ryan McCollum Sr., 24, when Jillian Pamela Ramsey, 36, crashed into their vehicle in Tickfaw, according to The Advocate.

Her fiance McCollum, who had popped the question just before the fateful journey, r has revealed she was pregnant with their second child at the time.

Louisiana State Police say that Ramsey was drunk and fleeing a previous crash when her car rear ended the car with Mulkey, McCollum and their infant son inside.

Shelly Mulkey was driving with seven-month-old son Ryan (pictured) when they were rear ended by a vehicle on Christmas Eve

Jillian Ramsay was allegedly fleeing another crash when she read ended a vehicle with the young family inside. Police say she was drunk at the time

The crash ruptured the family's 2005 Dodge Stratus gas tank, causing both vehicles to burst into flames.

Witnesses pulled the mother and father from the car and performed CPR on the mother, but the baby remained inside.

Mulkey and her seven-month-old were pronounced dead on the scene.

McCollum was taken to a local hospital and was treated for burns to his face and ears.

Ramsay, who only suffered minor injuries, was booked at Tangipahoa Parish Jail on two counts of vehicular homicide, hit and run, and careless operation.

Police said she was also driving impaired, according to various reports.

'She was an awesome mama and an awesome friend,' McCollum said of his fiancee. 'I just want to hold them both in my arms again so bad.'

Mulkey's boyfriend of four years, Ryan McCollum Sr, 24, had proposed to her hours before the crash that took her life, and the life of his son. He says they just found out she was pregnant again

McCollum said his Christmas present to the mother of his baby was the proposal.

Jillian Ramsay in her mugshot. She is being held at the Tangipahoa Parish jail

'I got a ring out and asked her to marry me. I got on one knee,' he said.

The couple of four years were expecting a special gift, as they just learned over the weekend that Mulkey was pregnant with their second baby.

Her Facebook bio eerily reads: 'live life to the fullest, tomorrow is never promised.'

The woman's father, Billy Mulkey, told the Advocate he wants to see Ramsay prosecuted to the fullest.

'That's three lives she took from me,' he said.

While the loss of life has devastated his family, Billy says he feels badly for Ramsey.

'That woman is going to have to live with that the rest of her life.'
A family are desperately searching for the precious last photos of their grandmother after their grandparents lost two cameras on their last holiday before she died.

Charlotte Marie, from the UK, took to Facebook for the global search after her grandmother died suddenly the night she returned from the holiday.

'These cameras contain the last photos of my grandparents together and photographs of my Nan fulfilling a life long dream of visiting the Sydney Opera House,' Ms Marie wrote.

A pair of UK grandparents (pictured) lost their two cameras after their final holiday together in Sydney before the grandmother suddenly died the night they arrived back home

Charlotte Marie,(pictured) from the UK, took to Facebook for the global search to find the cameras which hold the precious final photos of her grandparents together

The family believes they lost two cameras after visiting the Sydney Opera House (stock image)

'As her passing was so sudden, she did not get the chance to tell or show our family the highlights of their last big trip abroad.

'It would bring our granddad great joy to have the ever lasting memory that photos can bring about and remember their final trip together especially as our granddad is now of an age where he struggles to recollect in detail.'

Ms Marie's grandparents were on the Ovation of the Seas cruise as a surprise for her grandfather's 80th birthday which went from Singapore to Sydney from November 21 to December 8.

The family believes the cameras may have gotten lost between December 7 and December 9 during the grandparent's time in Sydney.

The pair from the UK visited the Sydney Opera House in that time and travelled to the Cambridge Hotel by taxi.

The concerned granddaughter said the cameras, one black and one silver, were in a black handbag when they were lost.

Ms Marie's grandparents were on the Ovation of the Seas cruise (stock image) which went from Singapore to Sydney from November 21 to December 8

Family have launched a desperate search for the missing cameras (one similar pictured) which hold the precious last photographs of their grandparents together

The family believes the cameras (one similar pictured) may have gotten lost between December 7 and December 9

'The bag could be in cafes or restaurants around the Sydney Opera House,' Ms Marie wrote.

The cameras are Panasonic Lumix brands where the black one is an FX33 model and the silver is an FX55 model.

The serial number for the black camera is FJ7SA005329 and the serial number for the silver camera is FK7JA004534.

The post has been shared more than 13,000 times since it was posted four days ago.

Thousands of people have commented saying they have shared it in different post codes across Australia including towns of Somerset in Tasmania, Grovedale in Victoria and Bridgetown in Western Australia.
A man left paralysed after a shocking accident at one of the country's most popular beaches has married his fiancee in a heartwarming ceremony exactly one year on.

Scott Hoare was swimming at Coogee Beach, in Sydney's east, on December 2, 2016 when he dove off a sandbank and into what he expected would be deeper water.

But the 29-year-old had underestimated the ocean's depth and in a freak accident hit his head on the sand bed, snapping his c5 vertebrae in the process.

Remaining by his side while he was on life support in Prince of Wales Hospital, just two days after Mr Hoare woke up his girlfriend Angie Minucos proposed.

And just one year on from the accident that changed their lives, the pair said 'I do' in a heartwarming ceremony that Mr Hoare admitted seemed impossible when doctors told him he would be a quadriplegic for life.

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Scott Hoare (left) has married his fiancee Angie Minucos (right) exactly one year after hitting his head and being left paralysed while swimming at Coogee Beach, in Sydney's east

Ms Minucos proposed to Mr Hoare just two days after he was taken off life support at Prince of Wales Hospital

Immediately after hitting his head on the ocean bed Mr Hoare's body went limp, with his girlfriend Ms Minucos desperately having to pull him from the waves.

After being told of his heartbreaking prognosis, he created a blog to keep family and friends up to date with his condition and rehabilitation.

Sharing photos from his wedding recently, Mr Hoare said being able to marry the ex-NFL cheerleader after the most difficult year of his life had been a 'magical occasion'.

'Angie proposed to me two days after coming off life support. At this stage, the firm prognosis was that I'd never move anything below my neck again,' Mr Hoare wrote.

'With this knowledge Angie decided to throw away any chance of a 'normal' life, in favour of a life filled with uncertainty, challenge, huge reward, love, loyalty and courage.

'Knowing that this beautiful, strong woman had my back from the first second and promising it until the last, was one of the major driving factors in my aggressive and never give up attitude.'

In the year since his accident Mr Hoare has battled regular sickness, been unable to speak at times and lost more than 20 kilograms - dropping from 96kgs to 75kgs.

His personal trainer who has helped him throughout his recovery, is currently raising money to help him for the rest of his life - and already they are seeing improvements.

Tying the knot at the Narrabeen Surf Life Saving Club, the couple not only had family and friends in attendance but also streamed it live to those around the world

Having been by his side while on life support in the Prince of Wales Hospital, it was just two days after Mr Hoare (left) woke up that his girlfriend Ms Minucos (right) proposed

Mr Hoare openly admitted he initially questioned whether Ms Minucos would 'stick around' after the accident, saying he wouldn't have blamed her if she didn't

'At one stage I was getting so upset because it took me 15 minutes just to open my laptop and now it takes me 15 seconds,' he told Yahoo7.

Mr Hoare openly admitted he initially questioned whether Ms Minucos would 'stick around' after the accident, saying he wouldn't have blamed her if she didn't.

The couple, who met in Canada while travelling, had been friends for less than a year when they moved back to Australia together.

But through it all he said his fiancee had been his strength, giving him the energy to 'keep him going' and improving ahead of their special day.

Tying the knot at the Narrabeen Surf Life Saving Club, the couple not only had family and friends in attendance but also streamed it live to those around the world.

Mr Hoare returned to Coogee Beach, the scene of his horror accident, in the year following

Mr Hoare said the accident had in fact solidified their love and given them a real perspective on life

In his blog post Mr Hoare said the accident had in fact solidified their love and given them a real perspective on life.

'This past year has done more to solidify our love and commitment to each other,' Mr Hoare wrote.

'While giving us the time to spend every day with each other and the perspective to cherish every second of it... It was a truly amazing day filled with love and laughter.'

'The sad reality is that this could happen to anyone of us at any time, life can change in an instant.

'Though this could be perceived as something to be constantly feared, it should be nothing other than celebrated and embraced.'
The man thought to have killed his estranged wife and two children on Christmas is a well-known vegan chef, author and motivational speaker who suffered from depression but recently turned his life around.

Police said Tuesday that Anthony Milan Ross was arrested late Monday night after exchanging gunfire with officers following a six-hour standoff in a Phoenix, Arizona apartment complex, according to AZ Central.

The 45-year-old has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder and more than a dozen counts of aggravated assault on an officer. He wasn't hurt in the police standoff.

Witnesses told police they saw him shoot his estranged wife Iris Ross as she tried to run away from him.

Then when they asked if she was fine, he said 'no' and pointed his gun at them before entering his apartment, where witnesses said they heard two or three more gunshots, according to police.

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Anthony Milan Ross, who is suspected of killing his estranged wife and two children on Christmas is a vegan chef and motivational speaker who recently turned his life around, according to police

The 45-year-old has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder and more than a dozen counts of aggravated assault on an officer. He wasn't hurt in the police standoff. Pictured are Nigel, 11, Iris, 38, and Anora, 10 months old, who were all killed in Monday's tragedy

Police found the bodies of all three in a Phoenix apartment complex. They found the wife lying outside an apartment, and when they tried to enter to see if the children were still alive began a six-hour standoff with Ross

He posted a video to Facebook on Christmas Eve in which he's singing with his 11-year-old son Nigel, the day before he allegedly shot the boy dead alongside his sister and mother

On Christmas afternoon Ross posted a touching video alongside his 11-year-old son, Nigel, singing 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town.'

Just 90 minutes later police said the shooting rampage began.

Ross's social media fans have reacted with shock by the disturbing news, as hundreds of his fans commented their horror on the video, which remains on his page.

Police responded to the apartment at around 4pm on Monday afternoon, finding Iris's body outside an apartment in the complex.

When police began to enter the apartment a standoff with Ross ensued.

Ross, who was commonly known by Milan by his fans, lost a significant amount of weight in his 20s when he switched to a vegan lifestyle.

He then became a chef and started writing and doing inspirational videos about his transformation and new lifestyle.

Ross was also featured alongside celebrities such as James Cameron and Samuel L Jackson in a feature-length documentary about veganism.

His Facebook profile more than 6,200 followers as of Tuesday night, though it seems that number may have dwindled throughout the day as news of the tragedy spread.

However, Ross was also battling depression, according to Iris's sister Mary Wogas.

'I received a text yesterday around 2.52pm,' Wogas told ABC 15, explaining that the texts came from her former brother-in-law.

'Two messages, first one saying "I just killed Iris and the kids. The second message was "with a gun." I knew that man was very unstable. I knew he had a very, very dark side. I didn't know it was this dark.'

Ross, who was commonly known by Milan by his fans, lost a significant amount of weight in his 20s when he switched to a vegan lifestyle

He then became a chef and started writing and doing inspirational videos about his transformation and new lifestyle

Howard said Ross lived in a different town and was in Phoenix visiting the children for Christmas. It's still not clear the motive for the killings

Tuesday morning police confirmed Ross as the father of the two dead children and that he and Iris were an estranged couple.

After finding Iris's body and confronting Ross, they negotiated with him for hours in a standoff, hoping that one or both of them were still alive.

He eventually told them that he'd killed the children, according to Sgt. Jonathan Howard, but not until after he'd changed his stories and said they were alive and threatened to kill them if police didn't leave him.

After several hours the Special Assignments Unit sent a robot into the apartment and it became apparent that the infant, Anora, was dead.

'Throughout the negotiations, he made comments that he had killed the children. He made some notifications to some family members that he had killed the children,' Howard said.

At around 7:30pm they also shut off power before going into the apartment while fending off gunfire from the suspect.

A few minutes later in a different room they found Nigel's body.

Ross surrendered to officers Monday night (scene above) after the killings and a subsequent shootout with police at an apartment complex. He wasn't hurt. An officer was injured by shrapnel and hospitalized in stable condition

Ross and Iris were involved in divorce proceedings, according to court records

Howard said Ross lived in a different town and was in Phoenix visiting the children for Christmas. It's still not clear the motive for the killings.

In the exchange of fire one officer, a 46-year-old on the force for 23 years was injured by shrapnel and taken to the hospital in a stable condition.

Ross and Iris were involved in divorce proceedings after Iris filed the papers in June, according to court records.

It's unclear if Ross has a lawyer who can speak on his behalf.
A Tokyo-bound flight from LAX with Chrissy Teigen and John Legend on board was forced to turn around four hours into its journey after an 'unauthorized person' made it onto the plane.

All Nippon Airways flight 175 took off at 11:36am local time on Tuesday, but was back on US soil eight hours later after the breach forced them to make a u-turn.

The bizarre situation caused confusion among many passengers, including Teigen, who was heading on a vacation with her musician husband.

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John Legend and Chrissy Teigen were on a flight heading to Tokyo for vacation, but the plane made a u-turn four hours into their journey because an 'unauthorized passenger' was on board

Chrissy Teigen tweeted the entire debacle of a flight that took off for LAX bound for Tokyo, but had to be turned around four hours into the trip for an unauthorized passenger on board

What a trip: LAX to LAX and it only took eight hours to complete, per Teigen

According to All Nippon Airways, the unauthorised person was a passenger who had boarded the wrong Tokyo flight.

'During the flight, the cabin crew became aware that one of the passengers boarded the incorrect flight and notified the pilot,' the airline said in a statement to CNBC.

'As part of the airline's security procedure, the pilot in command decided to return to the originating airport, where the passenger was disembarked.'

Ms Teigen, who is pregnant with the couple's second child, shared her frustration with her 9.2million Twitter followers and tried to make sense of what was going on.

'A flying first for me: 4 hours into an 11 hour flight and we are turning around because we have a passenger who isn't supposed to be on this plane. Why...why do we all gotta go back, I do not know,' she shared on Twitter, certainly happy she sprung for the in-flight WiFi.

While the situation was frustrating for everyone on board, Teigen was taking it in stride and saw amusement in the baffling situation. 'I don't know why I'm not more upset about this. The pleasure I get out of the story is worth more to me than a direct flight to Tokyo.'

'Lmao after all this I will have spent 8 hours on a flight to nowhere. Like we were all just havin a great time up here flyin in the sky watching gran torino time to go home now,' apparently the in flight movie playing was Gran Torino, according to the model.

This is the captain speaking, we're gonna have to make a u-turn right here: Four hours into a flight bound for Tokyo an unauthorized person was discovered on-board. It seems the passenger was on the wrong airline- which caused the flight to be diverted back to LAX

Chrissy Teigen tweeted her own experience on a flight to Tokyo that had an unauthorized passenger on board

'This is my dream': The nightmare journey did not end once the flight landed at LAX because passengers would be interviewed for 20 minutes by police before they deplaned

The mystery over the 'unauthorized passenger' continued well after the flight landed at LAX

Police continued to question people seated in the area of the passenger in question- but they may have been just trying to get to the bottom of how this costly mix-up happened in the first place

Once passengers deplaned Teigen was sequestered in a room with a television turned to the channel Bravo

They... they gave me ramen: While in the room where Teigen had been placed, she was given ramen

When the plane finally landed- in its original origin, Teigen cracked: 'LAX > LAX flight complete. Flight time, 8 hours and 20 minutes.'

Teigen shared a video of her and Legend waiting around inside the plane after they landed. She tells her husband: 'Thank you so much for taking me on this awesome vacation babe,' to which Legend deadpans: 'Welcome to Los Angeles.'

LAX Airport Police told local ABC7 officers would have a unit and supervisors on scene when the flight arrived back to its original departure point.

Authorities said the flight's return to it's point of origin was because of a 'mix up and was straightened up.'

'They keep saying the person had a United ticket. We are on ANA. So basically the boarding pass scanner is just a beedoop machine that makes beedoop noises that register to nowhere,' Teigen tweeted.

DailyMail.com has reached out to ANA Airlines, as well as LAWA Police, who did not respond.

The nightmare journey did not end once the plane landed. The model shared that all of the passengers would be interviewed by police for 20 minutes before they could deplane.

However, well after passengers exited the flight, Teigen was tweeting she was sequestered in a room. It was unclear if other passengers were with her.

She said they put Bravo on for her to watch the Real Housewives, while adding they were trying to keep her quiet. Teigen also tweeted 'They... they gave me ramen.'

The All Nippon Airways flight is now scheduled to depart tomorrow morning.
Investigators are baffled by the suspicious death of a DJ who collapsed at a Christmas Day party.

Chris Bradley, known as DJ Dad Bod, couldn't be revived after he passed out at a home in Byron Bay about 11.30pm on Monday.

The 28-year-old moved from Sydney to the seaside town six years ago to pursue his music career, and was a fixture in the local dance music scene.

Chris Bradley, known as DJ Dad Bod, couldn't be revived after he passed out at a home in Byron Bay about 11.30pm on Monday and his death is being treated as suspicious

The 28-year-old moved from Sydney to the seaside town six years ago to pursue his music career, and was a fixture in the local dance music scene

NSW State Crime Command homicide squad launched a criminal investigation along with local police but still couldn't explain what happened.

Detectives refused to say whether he was assaulted or what he died from, but urged anyone who was at the party on Carlyle Street to come forward.

'We're treating it as suspicious and we will continue to do that until we can show otherwise,' NSW Police Detective Inspector Brendon Cullen told the ABC.

Just three days before his sudden death, Mr Bradley played a disco-themed gig at the opening of Asian fusion restaurant Ryce.

Detectives refused to say whether he was assaulted or what he died from, but urged anyone who was at the party on Carlyle Street to come forward

NSW State Crime Command homicide squad launched a criminal investigation along with local police but still couldn't explain what happened

Friends and family flocked to social media to remember the popular bearded musician, including his sister Maddie.

'My heart's so broken to hear this news today. To say the words I've lost my big brother, it's gut wrenching,' she said.

'Who could do such a horrible thing to such an amazing man. You lit up the room with your unique quirk personality and laugh, I'll miss hearing it!

'Love you forever B-rad my big brother bear.'
An unusual looking fish, which appears to have legs, has stumped social media after a photo of it was uploaded by the fisherman who plucked it from the water.

Michelle Garside was fishing on the Sunshine Coast, in Queensland, on Sunday when she caught the black species which in addition to having fins, also had legs.

Sharing photos of her strange catch to a local Facebook group, Ms Garside asked for help from other fishermen to identify what she had caught - with many left baffled by the creature.

What is that? An unusual looking fish (pictured), which appears to have legs, has stumped social media after a photo of it was uploaded by the fisherman who plucked it from the water

At approximately 30 centimetres in size, with dark black scales, three fins and three leg-like features, it confused most who saw the photo

At approximately 30 centimetres in size, with dark black scales, three fins and three leg-like features, it confused most who saw the photo.

The keen fisherman said she had contacted wildlife experts, but also asked for help from others on Facebook.

'Does anybody have any idea what type of fish this is... it has feet?' Ms Garside asked the Sunshine Coast Community Board.

While some were scared by what was clearly swimming around them, others thought it might be a descendant of the famous Three-Eyed fish from The Simpsons.

'Was that caught at Chernobyl?' asked one interested local seemingly concerned for the state of the waterways.

But despite much conjecture between those having a say, the common belief among Sunshine Coast locals was that it was a frog fish.

Despite much conjecture between those having a say, the common belief among Sunshine Coast locals was that it was a frog fish

'Frogfish, used to get a few in the trawl nets. They come in red, yellow, brown and black,' one person said.

'Been confirmed by a marine tank owner that this is indeed a frogfish,' another said.

Commonly found in New Zealand, the Pacific and parts of Australia, they are also known as Anglerfishes.

Ms Garside said she had kept the fish alive in water while taking photos and had put it back into the canal.
Police are concerned for the welfare of a toddler and are searching for two people after a man allegedly punched a woman outside a Sydney pub.

The man and the woman are known to each other, and had an argument outside a pub in Canley Heights in south-west Sydney about 5pm on Saturday.

A child aged between two and three years old was with the pair during the confrontation.

Witnesses told police the man (left) punched the woman (right) and another patron before leaving the premises

Witnesses told police the man punched the woman and another patron before leaving the premises.

The man has distinctive tattoos on his forearm and neck, is of Caucasian appearance, and has a large build and ginger hair.

He was wearing a black Aboriginal-art patterned t-shirt at the time of the alleged attack, blue shorts and black thongs.

The woman is of Caucasian appearance with brown hair, a tanned complexion and a large build.

The man has distinctive tattoos on both his forearm and his neck

She was wearing a pink or beige singlet top and blue shorts.

Police from Cabramatta Local Area Command are investigating the incident and have asked anyone with more information to come forward.

They would like to speak to the man and the woman involved, and with anyone who saw the alleged incident.
Backpackers who were pepper sprayed and shoved to the ground by police breaking up a beach party have slammed the 'unprovoked and violent' response.

Ronja Klaar, from Sweden, was among 3,000 tourists who gathered at Little Bay, in Sydney's east, to celebrate Christmas Day with a boozy party.

The 24-year-old was one of four revellers roughly thrown down by officers after they moved the crowd off the beach and into nearby streets.

Ronja Klaar, 24, from Sweden, was among 3,000 tourists who gathered at Little Bay, in Sydney's east, to celebrate Christmas Day with a boozy party

'I was afraid, it was like a horror film. It was so wrong for them to be pushing people over when we didn't do anything,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

'I couldn't understand what we did wrong. I know the police were trying to do their jobs but there's no need for violence.'

Her friend Hugo Trygg, 24, was also pushed in the back while he was blinded with pepper spray, before being arrested but released without charge.

Ms Klaar, wearing a white dress, was seen in footage of the party's aftermath being pushed seconds after two other women were shoved by the same policeman.

Ms Klaar, wearing a white dress, was seen in footage of the party's aftermath being pepper sprayed in the face at close range

She was later thrown to the ground (pictured centre) when she confronted an officer about why her friend was pushed in the back seconds earlier

She was then helped up and wandered towards the fallen girls until she was pepper sprayed in the face at close range and staggered back in the crowd.

After the women were pushed, the crowd began throwing bottles in the general direction of police, one of which appeared to hit a policeman.

Police fired pepper spray into the crowd, hitting several people, one of whom was Mr Trygg who was seen stumbling around with his hands over his face.

The fellow Swedish backpacker was shoved in the back by another officer in what appeared to be an unprovoked action.

Ms Klaar then confronted the officer who pushed her friend, before she was grabbed and thrown down next to him.

'I was afraid, it was like a horror film. It was so wrong for them to be pushing people over when we didn't do anything,' Ms Klaar said

'They didn't say anything, like warning us to get back, it just came out of nowhere. It was very shocking,' Ms Klaar (R) said

The Stockholm native said she didn't touch the officer and was just questioning why Mr Trygg was pushed.

'They didn't say anything, like warning us to get back, it just came out of nowhere. It was very shocking,' she said.

Mr Trygg said he never made any threatening moves toward police and the pair were just trying to make their way home after the party was broken up.

'There was a lot of people so I guess the police got stressed out but they were six burly men. There was no need for anything like their reaction,' he said.

The tour guide (pictured earlier in his travels) claimed he was left sitting by the side of the road in handcuffs for 90 minutes besides two women who were charged was assaulting police

'I'm considering taking action as I disapprove of this violent and unprovoked behavior but I don't think I can expect to see much come of it.'

The tour guide claimed he was left sitting by the side of the road in handcuffs for 90 minutes besides two women who were charged was assaulting police.

'I was finally released when none of the police officers who actually arrested me were around and none of the others knew who arrested me and why,' he said.

He claimed there was also a police officer who 'called me a "f**king orphan" and said I deserved being pepper sprayed and that I had nothing to do in Australia'.

'[The officer] told me to go home and ruin my own country instead,' he claimed.

Earlier in the video, a woman could be seen walking past an officer and appeared to lightly touch them on the shoulder, then be roughly shoved to the ground.

Seconds later another woman, who was next to the first one when she was pushed, appeared to throw something past the officer's head.

It wasn't clear whether the projectile hit the officer but the policeman responded by shoving her down next to the first woman.

The second woman was then dragged to the ground when she stood up, then handcuffed and led away by the same officer.

These two women aged 23 and 25 from Britain and Ireland, were charged with assaulting a police officer, and the younger was also charged with causing actual bodily harm.

They were granted conditional bail to face Waverley Local Court on January 31.

Police alleged three officers were injured when bottles were thrown at them by the crowd, with one officer suffering a minor cut to the right side of his head.

Earlier in the video, woman could be seen walking past an officer and appeared to lightly touch them on the shoulder, then be roughly shoved to the ground (R)

A woman is pushed to the ground by police seconds after another woman was shoved over, and is seen lying on the grass by the roadside

Superintendent Karen McCarthy defended police present when the party was broken when she addressed the media on Tuesday.

'Police deployed appropriate tactics to deal with the alcohol-fuelled violence and bring the matter safely under control,' she said.

'Officers simply took actions that were required to bring the matter safely under control and keep the majority of the crowd safe.'

Superintendent McCarthy refused to discuss the officers shoving the women to the ground, saying it was before the courts, even though only two were charged.

When asked if the officers' conduct would be investigated she said: 'The matter if before the court and those matters can be raised at the court.'

He is seen being tended to by a paramedic for a facial injury while another man sits next to him

At least 3,000 backpackers flocked to Little Bay beach in Sydney's eastern suburbs for a boozy Christmas Day party

Footage from the beach showed large crowds singing, dancing, and drinking, many wearing Santa hats and other festive costumes

Other backpackers who witnessed the shocking scene slammed the police response as heavy-handed and unnecessary.

Becky Brown, claimed officers punched and 'rugby tackled' multiple woman and blamed police for sparking the violence.

'It wasn't 'out of hand' until the police got there and f**ked everything up,' she wrote on Facebook.

'I witnessed with my own eyes a police man push and punch a girl in the face then pepper spray her. I also got pepper sprayed and I done absolutely f*** all.

'That's why they had two bottles of alcohol thrown at them, not one of the bottles hit the policemen. I can't believe how this has been portrayed.

'Police are supposed to make you feel safe and protected... I have never been so scared like I was when those policemen were punching girls and rugby tackling them. I am absolutely livid.'

Superintendent McCarthy, however, maintained actions by police were appropriate to bring the matter safely under control.

Officers arrived in force to break it up after residents complained it was out of control and the youths were drinking in an alcohol-free zone
An Australian grandmother has been found not guilty of drug trafficking by a court in Malaysia.

Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto, 54, was caught at Kuala Lumpur airport on route to Melbourne with 1.5 kilograms of methamphetamine in her bags.

The verdict comes after she claimed she fell victim to a US military romance scam and was tricked into carrying the drugs.

'She was tricked into carrying the bag by the internet scam, what we call the internet romance,' said Ms Exposto's lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah after the ruling.

An Australian grandmother (pictured, centre) found not guilty of drug trafficking

Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto (pictured), 54, was caught at Kuala Lumpur airport on route to Melbourne with 1.5 kilograms of methamphetamine in her bags

'Over and above this the judge also said that the circumstances at the airport itself was described by the judge as overwhelmingly in her favour.

'Because the judge described her as "naive", not merely innocent but naive.'

Ms Exposto had mistakenly gone through immigration despite not needing to as a transit passenger, and was then caught, her lawyer said.

'It was almost as though she asked for trouble as a trafficker.

'But because she was not a trafficker, because she is an innocent carrier, tricked into carrying a bag, she did all these innocent things.'

Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said Ms Exposto will now be processed by Malaysian immigration authorities for deportation after the three-year ordeal.

Malaysia is amending laws that no longer bind judges to hand down mandatory death sentences for drug mules

That law has not yet been gazetted, however, and therefore Exposto would have faced a mandatory death sentence if convicted.

Australian Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto leaves following her release at the High Court in Shah Alam

Australian Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto leaves her hearing at the Shah Alam High Court after being found not guilty

Co-lawyer, Farhan Shafee said expert testimony from Monica Whitty, cyberpsychologist from Warwick University in the UK, was key to the judge's finding.

Whitty gave evidence that the four stages of a cyber crime had been committed by scammers preying on Exposto.

The first stage is to find a lonely victim, secondly an ideal person is presented - in this case a US officer.

The third stage is the grooming, which for Exposto was a two year online relationship.

The final stage is to create a crisis, Shafee said.

Co-lawyer, Farhan Shafee said expert testimony from Monica Whitty, cyberpsychologist from Warwick University in the UK, was key to the judge's finding (pictured is Ms Exposto arriving at the court)

Pictured are the drugs found in Ms Exposto's luggage at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Exposto's online boyfriend was to be discharged from the military and urged her to fly to Shanghai to pick up his discharge papers - so they could marry - and deliver the papers to the US Embassy in Australia.

The papers were fake and she was asked to carry a bag, with drugs hidden in the lining.

He said that immediately after the verdict Exposto 'was relieved and glad that justice found in her favour. She was more thrilled to be able to call her family in Australia.'

The judge referred Exposto to the immigration department for deportation to Australia but she could remain in custody for months as she awaits the appeal against the not guilty verdict.

The sentence comes after Exposto's (pictured) claims she fell victim to a US military romance scam and was tricked into carrying the drugs

Ms Exposto told the High Court in September she fell for a scam masterminded by a certain 'Captain Daniel Smith', who claimed to be a US soldier based in Afghanistan.

Defence lawyers said that she was lured into carrying a bag - which she believed contained only clothing - by 'Smith' who asked her to take it to Melbourne from Shanghai.

She was in transit at Kuala Lumpur airport when she was arrested.

'He [Smith] made me feel loved, he made me feel wanted,' Exposto told the court, adding that the alleged US serviceman would send her photos of himself.

'Smith would sing to me a few times a day and send love poems as well,' she added.

Hugo Pinto Exposto (pictured), the son of Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto at the Shah Alam High Court

Exposto said Smith had also asked to marry her in September 2013 at a time when her relationship with her husband was getting 'a bit sour'.

Defence lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah told reporters that Exposto's testimony suggests her close online relationship with Smith.

'There are probably thousands, mostly women, who have been conned into similar situations. Captain Daniel Smith is one of the many scammers,' he said.

Two Australians were hanged in Malaysia in 1986 for heroin trafficking -- the first Westerners to be executed in the country.
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Bullfighters from across the Spanish-speaking world took to the ring for a gory celebration of the 60th Cali Fair in Colombia yesterday - with one impaling a bull with a spear after diving through the air.

Considered the biggest festival of its kind in the Americas, the bloody display - which is part of a five-day end-of-year celebration in the western city - attracted many big-name matadors.

Young Venezuelan star Jesus Enrique Colombo was one of the performers, and at one point showed off his agility with a lingering dive before stabbing a bull with banderillas.

Also among the matadors was one-eyed Spaniard Juan Jose Padilla, known as the 'Cyclops of Jerez' or 'The Pirate' after losing his left eye and nearly dying in a 2011 goring in Zaragoza.

Full of bravado, and wearing his menacing eye-patch, Padilla stared down his bull during the gruesome fighting at the Plaza de Toros Canaveralejo as close to 17,000 bloodthirsty spectators cheered him on.

But one performer, Colombian Sebastian Ritter, got himself into a perilous position as a bull rammed its horns into the ground just inches from his skull.

Young Venezuelan star Jesus Enrique Colombo (pictured) also performed, at one point showing off his agility with a lingering dive before sticking his bull with banderillas

Among the fighters yesterday was one-eyed Spaniard Juan Jose Padilla (pictured), known as the 'Cyclops of Jerez' or 'The Pirate' after losing his left eye after nearly dying in a 2011 goring in Zaragoza. Full of bravado, with his menacing eye-patch, Padilla stared down his bull during yesterday's fighting at the Plaza de Toros Canaveralejo as close to 17,000 spectators cheered him on

But one performer, Colombian Sebastian Ritter, got himself into a perilous position as a bull rammed its horns into the ground just inches from his skull (pictured). The fighter was later seen getting the best of his bull, but not before the terrifying moment captured above

Known as the finest festival of its kind in the Americas, the world-famous display - which is part of a five-day end-of-year celebration in the western city - has attracted many big-name matadors. Pictured: Padilla, who was savagely gored by a bull in 2011 and has since been given a hero's welcome across the world

Padilla stares down his opponent at the Plaza de Toros Canaveralejo in Cali, Colombia as the world-famous Cali Fair kicks off with a bang this year

Padilla nearly died when he was fighting a bull in Northern Spain six years ago. A horn penetrated his skill, causing him to lose hearing in his right ear and sight in his left eye, as well as multiple fractures in his jaw and skull. He also suffered facial paralysis

Colombian bullfighter Sebastian Ritter on his feet against a bull in Cali yesterday. The contest is one of the most famous in the Spanish-speaking world

Much-loved Padilla touches his hat as he looks on while performing in the ring. He is known as both the 'Cyclops of Jerez', the city in which he was born, and 'The Pirate'. Both nicknames relate to his eye-patch

The 44-year-old bullfighting star has been in the ring since a young age, and has been a matador de toros since the age of 21

Venezuelan bullfighter Jesus Enrique Colombo gets close to a bull in the Plaza de Toros Canaveralejo in Cali, Colombia yesterday

Colombian bullfighter Sebastian Ritter stabs his bull during the Cali Fair 2017 show - but it was not long before he ended up on the ground

Ritter made a lucky escape after his bull decked him and impaled the ground near his skull with its horns

Ritter being struck by the bull in front of the near-17,000 crowd in Cali. The city's fair also includes a salsa marathon, horse riding parades and plenty of dance parties
A chocolate factory boss was on the run today after he eluded hundreds of Vladimir Putin's national guard troops and police officers following a bloody shoot out at a leading Moscow sweet production line.

Ilya Averyanov, 49, shot one man dead, and wounded three with his Saiga semi-automatic rifle in a violent dispute with state prosecutors who had come to the Menshevik plant.

Law enforcement were left red-faced after putting a cordon round the plant for five hours before storming it - only to find that the candy director had fled through a secret tunnel soon after the shootings.

A chocolate factory boss was on the run today after he eluded hundreds of Vladimir Putin's national guard troops and police officers following a bloody shoot out at a leading Moscow sweet production line. This was the scene outside the factory this morning as police worked to establish contact with the gunman

Law enforcement were left red-faced after putting a cordon round the plant for five hours before storming it - only to find that the candy director had fled through a secret tunnel soon after the shootings

Averyanov caused more embarrassment to the authorities by going on live radio to claim he was the victim of prosecutors acting like a criminal 'gang'.

He is believed to have escaped the factory via a secret underground passageway as a 'mopping up' operation was launched.

One report that Averyanov had been shot dead in the special forces was later withdrawn.

Ilya Averyanov (pictured), 49, shot one man dead, and wounded three with his Saiga semi-automatic rifle

Instead top manager was put on Russia's wanted list after evading arrest, and a huge operation was underway to seize him.

The gun-toting confectionary chief used a Saiga semi-automatic to fire at prosecutors who came to his plant.

The gun was found in the factory - but police admitted Averyamov had fled.

In a radio interview before he was gunned to death, he claimed prosecutors were seeking to rob him of control of the lucrative business.

He evidently faced legal action over alleged debts.

He was 'barricaded' inside the plant where 400 sweet-makers were at work.

In a dramatic development, Averyanov told a Moscow radio station by phone: 'I am the factory's director. I am sitting inside here, barricaded.'

He accused state prosecutors of acting like a 'criminal gang' against him.

'They have been following me for four years. They pulled my factory away from me by using fake documents.

'They are buying everything, they are faking documents and use these fake documents in court.

Averyanov caused more embarrassment to the authorities by going on live radio to claim he was the victim of prosecutors acting like a criminal 'gang'. Police are pictured at the scene

He is believed to have escaped the factory via a secret underground passageway as a 'mopping up' operation was launched

'This morning I came to work and I was stormed, they tried to take me with a gun, with other arms.

'I have arms, too, today I defended myself. I shot one of them, sadly looks like I shot him to death. This is the story. If I live, I'll fight until the very end.

'Now I am being surrounded by special forces. All's well. Now I'll be either shooting myself, or I'll surrender'.

The head of Moscow police General Oleg Baranov was at the scene taking personal control of what turned out to be a debacle.

Some workers leapt from windows to safety.

'People were stricken with panic,' said one female witness.

Alexey Kostikov, 31, was named as the man who died in the factory.
A Japanese couple have been arrested after their 33-year-old daughter was found frozen to death in a tiny room where they had kept her under lock and key for at least 15 years.

Police in Osaka said the body of Airi Kakimoto's was found in a state of extreme malnutrition, weighing just 19 kg (42 lb) after her parents reported her death on Saturday.

Yasutaka Kakimoto, 55, and Yukari Kakimoto, 53, have allegedly confessed to feeding her only once a day and confining her in a 3-square-metre room.

The house where a 33-year-old woman was found dead and in an emaciated state after being confined in a tiny chamber for about 17 years, in Neyagawa, Osaka, Japan

'Our daughter was mentally ill and, from age 16 or 17, she became violent, so we kept her inside the room,' police quoted her parents as saying.



People with mental and physical disabilities - and their families  are often stigmatised in Japan despite recent efforts to change public attitudes.

Police say that Airi's room was monitored by numerous cameras and had a double door that could only be unlocked from the outside. It contained a makeshift toilet attached to a water tank outside.

Other surveillance cameras were also in place outside the single-storey home, which was surrounded by a 2-metre high fence.

Airi is believed to have died around 18 December.
An expensive legal battle to deport two Albanian criminals who posed as Kosovan refugees to win asylum in Britain will now enter its fifth year after a ruling by the Supreme Court.

Dinjan Hysaj and Agron Bakijasi pretended to be victims of ethnic cleansing when they came to the UK in the 1990s, but were ordered to leave the country when their lies were exposed.

Their lawyers successfully appealed, saying lying about their nationality was not enough to remove British citizenship from them in a case that is set to cost Britain taxpayers 1million in legal aid.

Two Albanian men who posed as Kosovan refugees have won the right to remain in the UK. One of the men, Dinjan Hysaj (pictured) was jailed for glassing a man in a pub

Home Secretary Amber Rudd will need to use different laws to force the pair to leave after judges ruled it was 'not clear when the use of false identity to obtain citizenship by one person can lead to nullification'.

The five Supreme Court justices said: 'In the current cases, neither appellant pretended to be someone he was not.'

The ruling could allow thousands more to stay.

It is thought at least 80,000 refugees from Kosovo fled to the UK in the 90s while escaping war - but thousands of Albanians, including serious criminals, exploited the crisis to claim asylum in this country.

One Albanian, Dinjan Hysaj, 40, won the right to stay in the UK in 1999 but in 2011 was jailed for five years, reports The Sun.

He glassed another drinker in a pub in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire.

Agron Bakijasi was caught lying about his nationality in 2007 when his partner decided to return to Albania.

But the 44-year-old reapplied using false details and won UK citizenship.

As soon as their lies emerged the Home Secretary ordered both be deported.

But they took their case to the Supreme Court and their lawyers successfully argued that lying to obtain citizenship was not enough to remove it from them.

The Supreme Court ruling could men thousands more Albanians could win the right to stay in the UK

In their ruling, judges said that it was 'not clear when the use of false identity to obtain citizenship by one person can lead to nullification'.

They added: 'In the current cases, neither appellant pretended to be someone he was not.'

The judgement could now be used in similar cases and the Home Office said it will consider its options.
Bashar al-Assad has finally allowed critically ill children to escape the Syrian rebel bastion of Eastern Ghouta where they have been under siege since 2013.

Aid workers started to move emergency cases from the town area, on the outskirts of Damascus, after months of waiting during which the UN said at least 16 people died.

Families waited in the darkness in the rebel-held town of Douma for their loved ones to board ambulances bound for hospitals in the capital.

Under a deal with the government, five workmen detained by the rebels during fierce clashes with the army in March were released in exchange.

Aid workers begin evacuating emergency medical cases from Syria's besieged rebel bastion of Eastern Ghouta after months of waiting. This baby, among the first four patients to leave, has an autoimmune disorder

Eight-year-old Ingy, pictured, has haemophilia and was another able to leave after Bashar al-Assad allowed people to evacuate the city

Three children were among the first four patients to leave, Red Crescent official Ahmed al-Saour told AFP. He said in total 29 seriously ill people were due to be evacuated.

The first four were a girl with haemophilia, a baby with the autoimmune disorder Guillain-Barre, a child with leukaemia, and a man in need of a kidney transplant, he said.

Eight-year-old Ingy, the girl with haemophilia, gave a broad smile as she boarded an ambulance, wearing a woolly hat and gloves against the cold.

In another ambulance, one-year-old Mohammed lay in the lap of a Red Crescent worker, his mother sitting beside them in a long black cloak and a veil showing only her eyes.

'Tonight the @SYRedCrescent with @ICRC team started the evacuation of critical medical cases from #EasternGhouta to #Damascus,' the International Committee of the Red Cross said on its Twitter account.

The Syrian American Medical Society, another medical relief organisation, said the evacuations covered '29 critical cases, approved for medical evacuation to Damascus. Four patients were evacuated today.'

It said the remainder would be evacuated in the coming days.

The Syrian American Medical Society said the evacuations covered 29 critical cases, approved for medical evacuation to Damascus. Pictured: One-year-old Mohammed has leukaemia

The dominant rebel faction in Eastern Ghouta, Jaish al-Islam (Army of Islam), said the rebels had agreed to free some of their prisoners in return for the evacuations

The dominant rebel faction in Eastern Ghouta, Jaish al-Islam (Army of Islam), said the rebels had agreed to free some of their prisoners in return for the evacuations.

'We have agreed to the release of a number of prisoners... in exchange for the evacuation of the most urgent humanitarian cases,' the group said a statement.

Eastern Ghouta is one of the last remaining rebel strongholds in Syria and has been under a tight government siege since 2013, causing severe food and medical shortages for its nearly 400,000 residents.

While some food is still grown locally, or smuggled in, humanitarian access to the region has been limited despite regular appeals from aid agencies.

Baby among dead

Last week, Jan Egeland, the head of the UN's humanitarian taskforce for Syria, warned that at least 16 people had died while waiting for evacuation from Eastern Ghouta.

He said a list put together several months ago of nearly 500 civilians in desperate need of evacuation was rapidly shrinking.

'That number is going down, not because we are evacuating people, but because they are dying,' he told reporters in Geneva.

'We have confirmation of 16 having died on these lists since they were resubmitted in November, and it is probably higher,' he said, highlighting the case of a baby who died on December 14, as the latest round of Syria peace talks in Geneva ended in failure.

Egeland said evacuations and efforts to bring aid into the region had been blocked by a lack of authorisations from the Syrian authorities.

A child sits in an ambulance during the evacuation of the most seriously ill patients from the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta late on December 26

The Eastern Ghouta region, near the capital Damascus, is one of the last strongholds of rebels fighting the forces of President Bashar al-Assad. Pictured: Red Cross staff distract children inside an ambulance

The Eastern Ghouta region, near the capital Damascus, is one of the last strongholds of rebels fighting the forces of President Bashar al-Assad.

It is one of four 'de-escalation' zones agreed in May in a deal brokered by government backers Russian and Iran and rebel supporter Turkey.

The agreement led to some reduction in fighting but the government kept up its blockade and renewed its bombardment of the enclave in mid-November.

The government stands accused by its critics of using sieges of civilians as a weapon in its war against the rebels.

Rebel fighters pulled out of second city Aleppo and third city Homs, as well as districts of Damascus, only after prolonged blockades caused serious hardship to their families and other civilians.

More than 340,000 people have been killed and millions have been driven from their homes since Syria's conflict erupted with anti-government protests in 2011.
Utah Senator Orrin Hatch was quick to brag about being named 'Utahn of the Year' by a local newspaper, seemingly not realizing the honor was laced with sarcasm.

The Republican was awarded the title by Salt Lake City Tribune, who wrote that Hatch had had the most influence of all Utahns thanks to an 'utter lack of integrity that rises from his unquenchable thirst for power'.

Sen. Hatch, 83, appeared to not have read the reasoning behind his win, as he soon tweeted 'Grateful for this great Christmas honor from the Salt Lake Tribune'.

Questionable honor: Senator Orrin Hatch was awarded Utahn of the Year thanks to an 'utter lack of integrity that rises from his unquenchable thirst for power'

The Salt Lake Tribune wrote in an editorial accompanying the announcement, that it was awarding Utahn of the Year to the person who has had the most influence in the state 'for good or for ill'.

It pointed out that as for Sen. Hatch, it was firmly the latter.

In addition to crediting his win to his lack of integrity and thirst for power, the paper denounced Sen. Hatch for his support of President Trump's new tax cut bill.

The editorial also called for Sen. Hatch, who has served since 1977, to step down or for voters to 'end it for him' in the 2018 election.

The octogenarian senator tweeted a picture of the front cover with his thanks to the Salt Lake Tribune, and was subsequently mocked by several users.

Didn't get the message: Sen Hatch appeared not to have read why he had won, and tweeted his thanks, although the 83-year-old's spokesperson later said it was a 'tongue-in-cheek' message

Anthony Michael Kreis posted: 'When you haven't read the book but present your book report to the class anyway,' linking to Sen Hatch's tweet.

'Picturing Hatchs reaction when the aforementioned aides finally muster up enough courage to explain to him what is actually in the article,' Caryn Lonz added.

Sherry Lucich wrote: 'Haha! Your incompetence is embarrassing. You may want to actually READ the article. It was NOT a compliment.'

However, the senator's spokesperson later claimed that the tweet had been 'tongue-in-cheek' and sarcastic.

Spokesperson Matt Whitlock accused the newspaper of 'baselessly attacking' Sen. Hatch 'to satisfy their unquenchable thirst for clicks.'
The Duke of Edinburgh privately supported nuclear disarmament and was an opponent of the Cold War arms race, newly declassified documents reveal.

Private correspondence between Prince Philip and the anti-nuclear activist Lord Brockway shows that the Duke, a passionate defender of the armed forces who saw active service during the Second World War, was an advocate of detente.

It was reported that Lord Brockway, a Labour parliamentarian, wrote to the Duke on February 12, 1981, and provided a copy of a speech given by Earl Mountbatten in 1979 to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

The Duke of Edinburgh privately supported nuclear disarmament and was an opponent of the Cold War arms race, despite being a passionate advocate of the Armed Forces for 60 years, newly declassified documents reveal

In the address, the Earl  Prince Philip's uncle  said: 'As a military man who has given half a century of active service, I say in all sincerity that the nuclear arms race has no military purpose.

'Wars cannot be fought with nuclear weapons.

'Their existence only adds to our perils.'

According to the Times, the Duke responded to the letter five days later and wrote that he agreed with 'everything' Lord Mountbatten had said.

He states: 'Thank you for the copy of Lord Mountbatten's Stockholm speech. I agree with everything he said.

'I agree that the arms race is ridiculous.'

The Duke  who retired from public life this year at the age of 96  has for the past 60 years been a passionate advocate of the Armed Forces and was Captain General of the Royal Marines until he stepped down this year.

Prince Philip, who retired from public life this year at the age of 96, said he thought the arms race was ridiculous in the recently declassified letters

His correspondence with Lord Brockway also contained references to inaccurate reports that the Duke believed a 'successful defensive nuclear war' was a possibility.

Prince Philip claimed comments made after he gave the inaugural Earl Mountbatten lecture to the Cambridge Union on February 9, 1981, did not accurately reflect his opinion.

He said: 'I said I was in favour of multilateral disarmament and the SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) Treaties. I added that it was possible that there had not been another major war in the last 30 years because world leaders realised what a horror they would unleash on the world.'

In their correspondence, the duke revealed he believed serving in the military conflicted with service people's desire for peace.

Above, the duke during active service in August 1945. He served aboard HMS Valiant and saw action in the Mediterranean when his vessel came under heavy fire during the Battle of Matapan

He said: 'Service people also have a certain idealism.

'Why else should they be prepared to lose their lives?

'It is just because they are so much at risk and because they know the risks, that they are interested in keeping the peace  Security and peace depend upon being prepared for every eventuality, not in creating conflict where none is needed.'

The private letters had been due to remain closed until 2022, but were released to the public and placed in the National Archives after a routine review  the correspondence had been bequeathed to the country.

Prince Philip remains Lord High Admiral of the Royal Navy, having ended his active service in 1951.

The duke's biographer Gyles Brandreth, claimed his interests in worldwide issues including cultures, faith and the environment had been overlooked.

Prince Philip ended his active naval service in July 1951. He remains Lord High Admiral of the Royal Navy but stepped down as Captain General of the Royal Marines this year

'He is pragmatic and thoughtful and likes to challenge accepted ideas  In the 1980s he was particularly preoccupied with the relationship between faith, the environment and the future of the planet,' Mr Brandreth told The Times.

'It hasn't received much coverage over the years simply because the caricature of the gaffe-prone prince took hold and was difficult to shake off.

'I think it frustrated him at times.'

Lord Brockway's private correspondence with the duke was bequeathed to the nation. It was due to remain closed until 2022, but has now been opened to the public and placed in the National Archives at Kew after a routine review.

Prince Philip ended his active naval service in July 1951. He remains Lord High Admiral of the Royal Navy but stepped down as Captain General of the Royal Marines this year.
Child abuse: Robert Resendiz, 30, of Arizona, has been charged with two counts of child abuse after allegedly bending his six-month-old son in half because the baby would not stop crying

An Arizona baby has died after allegedly being bent in half and repeatedly bitten by his father to stop him from crying.

Robert Resendiz, 30, has been charged with two counts of child abuse.

He was arrested on Tuesday after officers with the Phoenix Police Department were called to his home near 12th Street and Camelback Road to a report of an unresponsive child.

The six-month-old boy was found not breathing and a responding officer performed CPR on him until paramedics arrived and rushed him to Phoenix Childrens Hospital.

Doctors determined that the boy had lacerations to his liver and pancreas, which were 'not survivable', as ABC15 first reported.

The young victim also suffered a broken wrist and a bruised thigh.

Boy was taken to Phoenix Children's Hospital (pictured), where he died from his injuries

When interviewed by police, Resendiz allegedly admitted to pressing his son's legs over his head and bending his body in half because the infant would not stop crying.

The 30-year-old man, weighing 210lbs, claimed he did not realize the intensity of the pressure he was putting on his son's body until he stopped moving and went limp.

Resendiz also allegedly admitted to biting the baby twice because he was frustrated.

The man was booked into the Maricopa County Jail on $250,000 bond on Tuesday night.

His next court appearance is set to take place on December 27.

Social media posts suggest that Resendiz also has an older daughter.
Shocking footage has emerged of two men getting out of their cars to launch a ferocious attack on another driver.

The violent clash happened near the intersection of Napper Road and Olsen Avenue in Parkwood, on the Gold Coast in broad daylight on Wednesday.

Witnesses said a grey hatchback was seen driving erratically and speeding before stopping at the intersection shortly after 11am.

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Shocking footage has emerged of two men getting out of their cars to launch a ferocious attack on another driver

The occupants of a two white sedans then got out of their cars and attacked the small car with their bare hands, Seven News reported.

Footage taken by a frightened motorist shows one of the men hammering the driver's side window of the hatchback with his fists.

The window shattered under the force of the blows while the driver of the grey car accelerated out of the line of cars stopped at a red light.

The violent clash (pictured) happened near the intersection of Napper Road and Olsen Avenue in Parkwood, on the Gold Coast in broad daylight on Wednesday

The driver of the small car then took off over the a median strip and made a speedy getaway while the attackers returned to their vehicles.

The assailants then got back in their cars, and witnesses said they continued to pursue the hatchback.

Queensland Police told Daily Mail Australia no official complaint has been made about the incident.
A British Muslim leader wanted by Interpol having been found guilty of war crimes is currently living in a 1m house in a north London suburb.

Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin, who was photographed with Prince Charles in 2003 at an event in Leicester was found guilty of 'abetting and complicity to the commission of the offence of extermination as a crime against humanity' in his native Bangladesh.

The 69-year-old former NHS administrator was put on trial in his absence over the murder of 18 people during Bangladesh's brutal War of Independence in 1971.

Prince Charles, centre, met with Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin, left, during a visit to the Markfield Islamic Foundation in Lecestershire in 2003 - ten years before his war crimes conviction

Mr Mueen-Uddin was not at his 1 million Southgate home this morning. A woman at the property came and spoke through a small gap in the door.

When asked about Mr Mueen-Uddin, the woman in her 40s said: 'He is not here. He has gone away. He wont be back for a couple of weeks now.'

She then shut the door to the 1930s semi-detached home which has a luxury black four door BMW 5 series on the drive which has room for two other cars.

Neighbours of Mr Mueen-Uddin were unaware of his alleged war crimes and were shocked when told about them.

One neighbour, who wished not to be named said: 'All I can say is they are very nice neighbours. They have lived there for 18 years and they are a lovely family.

Mueen-Uddin, pictured, denies the allegations made against him by Bangladeshi authorities

'I dont know anything about war crimes or Interpol but they are a very nice family.'

Another male living in the cul-de-sac, who also wished not to be named, said: 'I have to say I dont know anything about it but we have seen police at the house a few times.

'We knew there was something odd because the police would come and go into the house. This is a quiet little cul-de-sac so everyone notices this sort of thing.

'They (the police) were here quite a few times over a short period of time.

'Its a bit shocking to find out someone with that sort of history is living so close. I have to say we dont know anything about him, and never speak to them.

'Its obvious the police and Interpol know he is here, but they must not be able to do anything about it.'

Mueen-Uddin, who was found guilty in his absence in 2013 on 11 charges.

Bangladesh's brutal war of independence Bangladesh secured independence from Pakistan following a brutal war in 1971. The death toll during the conflict has been disputed, with Bangladeshi authorities claiming some three million people died. Bengali nationalists began protesting against Pakistani rule and demanded independence. Violence broke out in March 1971 after elections in the region which led to calls for increased autonomy. Pakistan sent thousands of troops into the region to protect non-Bengalis who faced threats from the nationalists. The nationalists were supported by Indian forces. The UN condemned the levels of violence but attempts to pass a resolution at the Security Council failed as a result of the Russian veto. Also, at the time, the United States was firmly supporting the Pakistani government and refused to get involved in the conflict. At the time of the conflict there were widespread reports of thousands of women being raped by Pakistani soldiers, although this is denied by the army. In December 1971, after being forced to deal with hundreds of thousands of refugees from the area, India attacked Pakistani troops in the area forcing them to surrender. The surrender led to the creation of an independent Bangladeshi state, with many pro-Pakistani supporters fleeing the country out of fear for their safety. Advertisement

According to Interpol, Mueen Uddin has been 'convicted and condemned to the single sentence of death for the crimes listed in all the charges and they be hanged by the neck till they are dead under section 20(2) of the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act, 1973'.

However, Britain does not have an extradition treaty with Bangladesh and is unlikely to return Mueen Uddin to face his sentence as it is not government policy to send people to face execution.

Mueen Uddin was tracked down to his home in Southgate, north London by The Sun.

A neighbour told the paper: 'Interpol can't be looking very hard.'

Muenn Uddin rejected the finding of the international tribunal declaring the conviction as 'all rubbish'.

He said he is looking to overturn the Interpol red notice which is calling for his arrest.

Bangladesh secured its independence from Pakistan following a bitter nine-month conflict.

Mueen Uddin is accused of being involved in the torture and murder of 18 people including doctors and academics - an allegation he strongly denies.

In response to the guilty verdict in 2013, Mueen Uddin released a statement claiming the judicial process against him was 'neither open nor fair, and does not meet international standards'.

He wrote: 'For the record, let me state clearly where I stand on the events of 1971. I was a journalist at the time, and yes, I supported the unity of Pakistan.

'However, supporting the unity of a sovereign nation is one thing, getting involved in crimes is not what I have taken part in any way, shape or form.

'While I remain interested in events in Bangladesh, I have for the last forty years concentrated my efforts in community work here in the United Kingdom. This includes supporting the welfare of British Bangladeshis, and the lives of fellow Britons. The UK has been my home and has been so for my children.'

Mr Mueen-Uddin had previously worked for the NHS as who was director of Muslim Spiritual Care Provision and chairman of the Multi-Faith Group for Healthcare Chaplaincy.

He is one of 22 Britons on the Interpol most wanted list.
A Russian whistleblower who mysteriously died near his Surrey mansion had taken Viagra, it was claimed today.

Alexander Perepilichny, 44, was found dead near his luxury home on the exclusive gated St George's Hill estate in Weybridge, Surrey, after he had been out jogging in November 2012.

The sudden nature of the death of Perepilichny, who had sought refuge in Britain in 2009, and his role in helping a Swiss investigation into a Russian money-laundering scheme has sparked speculation that he might have been murdered.

Alexander Perepilichny died mysteriously near his home in Surrey in 2012. It has previously been reported he had spent the previous weekend with Elmira Medynska the weekend before

Ms Medynska has said Perepilichny was 'very stressed' and drinking heavily before his death. She said he was so distracted he bought her Laboutins in the wrong size

Surrey Police previously said there was no evidence for this but an earlier pre-inquest hearing was told traces of a rare and deadly poison from the gelsemium plant had been found in his stomach. This was later questioned at an inquest hearing.

Andrei Pavlov, a lawyer linked to the case by Mr Perepilichny's lawyers, has now protested his innocence and highlighted the role of a Viagra may have played in his death.

He told The Times: 'The cause of death was clearly established during the inquest that took place in June 2017: acute heart failure during heavy physical exertion, while having signs of Viagra, alcohol and coffee in his blood after spending the weekend in the company of a Ukrainian model, far from his wife.'

It was previously reported that married father-of-two Mr Perepilichny was with Elmira Medynska, 27, in Paris two days before his death and they stayed at the opulent Hotel Bristol and dined at the nearby Four Seasons.

The businesswoman, who runs a 'haute couture' company, told Buzzfeed on their night together he was 'very stressed', drinking heavily and was so distracted he bought her Laboutins in the wrong size.

There is no suggestion Ms Medynska was involved in his death.

Ms Medynska, who has worked in the fashion industry has said she found Mr Perepilichny 'very charming' and am 'intelligent, handsome man'

Mr Perepilichny collapsed and died while running near his home in Weybridge, Surrey, (pictured) in November 2012

It is unlikely the Viagra would have directly caused Mr Perepilichny's death, although it is possible its use was indicative of underlying health issues.

Perepilichny had been providing evidence against those linked to the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky while in custody in Moscow in 2009. Magnitsky had accused Russian government officials of stealing $230 million.

His case has been likened to the death of Alexander Litvinenko, who died after his tea was poisoned with a rare radioactive isotope in London in 2006.

It has previously been suggested he could have been poisoned, possibly with sorrel soup. It has also been claimed he was on a 'hit list' and had received death threats.

Despite police ruling out foul play at the time, it was later claimed traces of a chemical that can be found in the poisonous plant gelsemium elegans were discovered in his stomach

His wife, Tatiana Perepilichnaya, however, has told an inquest into his death that she she did not believe her husband had been murdered.

She said he behaved normally before his death and there was nothing to suggest her husband was being threatened.

The inquest reopens on January 8.
EU officials are planning to hold the lucrative City of London hostage in the looming Brexit trade negotiations, it has been reported.

Brussels is scared the next stage of talks will expose deep divisions among the 27 member states as countries will not want their trade harmed in order to punish Britain.

Eurocrats are said to be desperately plotting to maintain the bloc's unity in the face of these competing national interests.

Under one plan they will try to block talks on access to the single market for Britain's financial services until the eleventh hour - with one official warning a 'high price' will have to be paid.

And under another strategy the EU are expected to demand the UK is tied in to EU rules and regulations in return for access to the single market.

This would set the stage for a major clash between Brussels and Britain as many backed Brexit to free the UK from EU red tape.

Theresa May, pictured earlier this month with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, managed to get the EU to agree to move on to trade talks this year. And the EU is said to be scared that negotiations will expose deep divisions among member states as countries will not want to see their trade and economies harmed to punish Britain

While many leading Brexiteers, including Boris Johnson and Liam Fox, have called for a new era of more liberal markets when we quit the bloc.

One senior EU official said next year's crunch post-Brexit trade talks will pose far harder problems for the EU as national interests jostle.

They told The Times: 'That is where it becomes frankly complicated for our side. Once you go into individual sectors then interests differ.'

While negotiators will also block talks on the City keeping access to the single market and the flying rights of UK-owed airplanes util the eleventh hour.

One EU Commission figure told the newspaper: 'Why would we give these away? In return for what? The question of financial services and aviation will be settled at the end of the negotiations and the price will be high.'

Theresa May, pictured heading into Church with her husband Philip on Christmas Day, is battling to get Britain a good Brexit deal. But the EU is said to be planning to block talks on access to the single market for Britain's financial services until the eleventh hour - with one official warning a 'high price' will have to be paid.

The EU sells more into Britain than vice versa and a number of industries across the bloc - from French fishing to German car manufacturing - rely on Britain's big consumer market.

And many countries are said to be furious at expectations among some EU leaders that they will back a deal which harms their economy just to punish Britain for Brexit.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that even if Europe finds Brexit painful this will be nothing compared to the UK.

But her comments are said to have sparked a furious response from some countries with one Prime Minister reportedly saying: 'I hope no one is suggesting that my country's interests should be sacrificed in the EU's name.'

Theresa May finally secured agreement from the EU to move on to trade talks earlier this month after intense negotiation and wrangling.
Arthur Collins, the ex-boyfriend of Towie star Ferne McCann who is in jail for injuring 22 in an acid attack, has been charged with having a banned item in prison

Acid attacker Arthur Collins could face another two years in jail for smuggling a tiny phone into prison so he could call ex Ferne McCann while she was pregnant with his child.

Collins was on remand facing trial for an acid attack on a packed nightclub dancefloor when he stashed the miniature mobile inside a hollow shaft of his crutches.

The 25-year-old also had a charger, two sim cards and two USB sticks hidden in the crutch he had with him in prison.

He needed them to walk after fracturing both his heels trying to escape police while on the run for squirting acid over 22 revellers at Wringer and Mangle E8 nightclub in Hackney, east London, in April.

He is said to have called his ex Ferne McCann while in jail on remand when she was pregnant with their daughter, Sunday.

Collins was jailed for 20 years for the attack which left 22 people injured, including 16 with chemical burns and three who were temporarily blinded  one of whom still suffers from blurred vision in one eye.

McCann, who has vowed that neither she nor her and Collins' baby will visit him in jail, was seen out with her daughter, Sunday, last night.

Ferne McCann was seen out with her and Collins' baby, Sunday, yesterday evening

Collins and McCann had enjoyed luxury holidays abroad before he carried out the attack

Collins, the father of McCann's baby, had been partying with Ferne and celebrating her pregnancy shortly before the attack. He was caught on CCTV (right) after the incident

The 'prohibited items' were found by a prison officer in his private shower at HMP Thameside on September 10 when the rubber bottoms of the walking aides were removed.

Collins was charged with one count of possession of prohibited items.

At Bromley Magistrates Court today he appeared via video link from Belmarsh Prison wearing a yellow, blue and white jumper and pleaded guilty.

The court heard Collins had been caught with a phone in jail before, but it was dealt with by the prison staff.

His father and another family member were present in court for the short hearing.

Samantha Mitchell prosecuting said: 'The items were found inside a crutch being used by Mr Collins at the time in question.

'A custody officer searching the cell being used solely by Mr Collins located a crutch in the shower area. He had been using it due to an ankle injury.'

Lauren Trent (left) was celebrating her birthday with her friend Sophie Hall (right in left hand photo). She was left with burns to her neck and chest and has called for a life sentence

Prosecutor Ms Mitchell added: 'The custody officer removed the bottom of the rubber stopper and located the items.

'The SIM cards were download and contained evidence of calls and messages between Mr Collins and his family.

'This is not the first time he has been caught with prohibited items. He has been found with a phone before but it was dealt with inside the prison itself.'

Audrey Morgan defending Collins claimed he only used the phone to avoid his calls being hacked by journalists trying to intercept details of his relationship with the Towie star.

She said: 'He has pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and admitted the offence to the prison guard in question.

'He didn't have a phone for any sinister purposes, he had it to contact his family and friends. It's not a smart phone, it's just one that makes calls.'

Collins had the mobile phone and sim cards while at HMP Thameside in south-east London

District Judge Robert Hunter declined jurisdiction for sentencing and sent the case to crown court.

He said: 'Mr Collins at this stage I give you credit for you guilty pleas, however without prejudice I consider my powers insufficient therefore I commit it to the crown court at a further date you will be notified.'

Collins could be jailed for an additional two years for the offence.

Collins, of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, now in Belmarsh Prison, was convicted of five counts of causing GBH with intent and nine counts of assault occasioning ABH, against 14 clubbers.

The attack took place while they were out celebrating the news of her pregnancy.

Collins will next appear at Woolwich Crown Court at a date to be set.




Israel's transportation minister is pushing ahead with a plan to extend Jerusalem's soon-to-open high speed rail line to the Western Wall, where he wants to name a future station after President Donald Trump.

'The Western Wall is the holiest place for the Jewish people, and I decided to name the train station that leads to it after president Trump  following his historic and brave decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel,' Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz told the Jerusalem Post.

The national daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth was first to report Tuesday that Katz had approved final construction plans for the train, which will include excavating a 2-mile tunnel from the Umma (nation) station at the entrance to the city to the Cardo in the Jewish Quarter.

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Next stop, Trump Station: The rail route to Israel's holiest site will eventually take you through a trail depot named for Donald Trump

The red are on this map, near the Western Wall, shows the proposed site of Trump Station in Jerusalem's Old City

The route will take travelers through downtown Jerusalem and under the politically and historically sensitive Old City. The Western Wall is the holiest site where Jews can pray.

Transportation Ministry spokesman Avner Ovadia said Wednesday the project is estimated to cost more than $700 million and, if approved, would take four years to complete.

Katz's office said in a statement that the minister advanced the plan in a recent meeting with Israel Railways executives, and has fast-tracked it in the planning committees.

Katz said a high speed rail station would allow visitors to reach 'the beating heart of the Jewish people  the Western Wall and the Temple Mount.'

President Trump visited the Western Wall in May as part of an inaugural year swing through the Middle East that also included Saudi Arabia

Trump is on fine terms with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the two men see each other as indispensable allies

Trump's announcement acknowledging Jerusalem as Israel's capital  and his pledge to move America's embassy there  enraged Palestinians and much of the Muslim world.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution last week rejecting the U.S.'s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, with several traditional American allies voting in favor of the motion.

The Western Wall train proposal will likely face opposition from the international community, which doesn't recognize Israeli sovereignty over east Jerusalem and the Old City, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed. The Palestinians seek east Jerusalem and the Old City, home to Muslim, Christian and Jewish holy sites, as capital of a future state.

Digging railway tunnels to the Western Wall would also entail excavating in Jerusalem's Old City, where religious and political sensitivities - as well as layers of archaeological remains from the city's 3,000-year history - could prove a logistical and legal quagmire.

One part of a bridge being constructed for high-speed rail between Tev Aviv and Jerusalem is already completed, but the latest plan is to extend it all the way to the Western Wall

Despite the likely opposition to the project, Ovadia said he expects the plans to be approved in the coming year, barring major complications. The Tel Aviv-Jerusalem high-speed line is expected to open next spring.

'There's no reason why this train won't be built,' he said. 'We already know how to deal with no less difficult opposition.'

Katz has previously proposed other ambitious infrastructure projects, including an artificial island off the coast of the Gaza Strip that would serve as an air and seaport for the Palestinian territory, and a railway connecting Israel with Saudi Arabia.
Labour's deputy leader has been accused of 'staggering hypocrisy' for taking 30,000 in donations from an ex gambling mogul while vowing to crack down on betting.

Tom Watson has campaigned to slash the maximum stake which can be bet on fixed-odds betting terminals - dubbed crack cocaine gambling machines - from 100 to 2.

And he has repeatedly torn into the Conservative Government for not doing enough to curb gambling in Britain.

But it has now emerged he has taken 30,000 in donations from Derek Webb, a former gambling mogul who made millions of pounds when he sold his casino firm.

Tom Watson has campaigned to slash the maximum stake which can be bet on fixed-odds betting terminals - dubbed crack cocaine gambling machines - from 100 to 2.

Mr Webb is a multi-millionaire who made his fortune designing machines for casinos and inventing three card poker he sold the rights to.

He is the founder of casino games developer Prime Table Games, which he sold in October 2011 to the Las Vegas-based Galaxy Gaming for $23m (then 14.5million).

Mr Webb set up the Campaign for Fairer gambling group which campaigns against fixed-odds betting terminals.

And he has previously sparked criticism and his opponents claimed he would benefit from curbs to the betting machines, although he has denied this.

Tom Watson, pictured in 2013 outside Parliament with Derek Webb (pictured immediately to his left) and other members of the Campaign for Fairer Gambling. Mr Watson as been accused of hypocrisy y taking the former casino share-holder's money, but said he started highlighting the dangers of fixed-odds betting machines long before he met Mr Webb

Tory MP for North West Leicestershire Andrew Bridgen told The Sun: 'This is staggering hypocrisy but I wouldn't bet anything on Jeremy Corbyn or Tom Watson ever getting into power.'

Official accounts show that Mr Webb has given 30,500 to Mr Watson in three donations - 25,000 of this went towards helping to bankroll the MP's campaign to become Labour's deputy leader in may 2015.

The rest went on funding two big dinners for Mr Watson and his supporters in his constituency of West Bromwich East.

Mr Watson has accused bookmakers of deliberately 'targeting our poorest communities to line shareholders' pockets' by installing the machines.

Mr Watson said: 'I'd never met Derek when I started to highlight the dangers of these highly addictive machines.

'He is right to take a stand against them and I will continue to campaign alongside him.'
US satellites have spotted Chinese tankers transferring oil to North Korean ships 30 times in three months - despite strict UN trade embargoes, it has been claimed.

Overhead images appear to show ships from the two countries shackled together for a fuel transfer in the West Sea off China.

Such ship-to-ship trades are banned under a UN Security Council resolution adopted in September.

But according to South Korean government sources, American satellites have pictured large vessels from both China and North Korea illegally trading in a stretch of the West Sea on multiple occasions.

US satellites have spotted Chinese tankers transferring oil to North Korean ships 30 times in three months - despite strict UN trade embargoes, it has been claimed. One picture (above), reportedly taken on October 19, shows a ship called Ryesonggang 1 connected to a Chinese vessel in the West Sea off China

One picture, reportedly taken on October 19, shows a ship called Ryesonggang 1 connected to a Chinese vessel, The Chosun Ilbo reports.

The US Treasury Department later placed six North Korean shipping and trading companies and 20 of their vessels on sanctions list.

It said the activity appeared to show attempts to bypass sanctions, though it has not been suggested that Chinese authorities were aware of the transactions.

Cai Jian, an expert on North Korea at Fudan University in Shanghai, said: 'This is a natural outcome of the tightening of the various sanctions against North Korea.

The tightening 'reflects China's stance', he said.

Professor of political science at the Pusan National University in South Korea told the Telegraph the reports were easily believable.

He said: 'There is a lot of under-the-radar on the Chinese side. Beijing does not police the border strictly or enforce the sanctions toughly. This could be that.'

It comes a day after Chinese customs data was revealed claiming Beijing exported no oil products to North Korea in November.

The figures apparently go above and beyond sanctions imposed earlier this year by the United Nations in a bid to limit petroleum shipments to the isolated country.

Tensions have flared anew over North Korea's ongoing nuclear and missile programmes, pursued in defiance of years of U.N. resolutions. Last week, the U.N. Security Council imposed new caps on trade with North Korea, including limiting oil product shipments to just 500,000 barrels a year.

Beijing also imported no iron ore, coal or lead from North Korea in November, the second full month of the latest trade sanctions imposed by U.N.

China, the main source of North Korea's fuel, did not export any gasoline, jet fuel, diesel or fuel oil to its isolated neighbour last month, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Tuesday.

Sanctions have been placed on Kim Jong-un's secretive nation after he accelerated his nuclear and missile programmes

November was the second straight month China exported no diesel or gasoline to North Korea. The last time China's jet fuel shipments to Pyongyang were at zero was in February 2015.

'This is a natural outcome of the tightening of the various sanctions against North Korea,' said Cai Jian, an expert on North Korea at Fudan University in Shanghai.

The tightening 'reflects China's stance', he said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she didn't know any details about the oil products export situation.

'As a principle, China has consistently fully, correctly, conscientiously and strictly enforced relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions on North Korea. We have already established a set of effective operating mechanisms and methods,' she said at a regular briefing on Tuesday, without elaborating.

Since June, state-run China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) has suspended sales of gasoline and diesel to North Korea, concerned that it would not get paid for its goods, Reuters previously reported.

Beijing's move to turn off the taps completely is rare.

In March 2003, China suspended oil supplies to North Korea for three days after Pyongyang fired a missile into waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

It is unknown if China still sells crude oil to Pyongyang. Beijing has not disclosed its crude exports to North Korea for several years.

Industry sources say China still supplies about 520,000 tonnes, or 3.8 million barrels, of crude a year to North Korea via an aging pipeline. That is a little more than 10,000 barrels a day, and worth about $200 million a year at current prices.

North Korea also sources some of its oil from Russia.

Chinese exports of corn to North Korean in November also slumped, down 82 percent from a year earlier to 100 tonnes, the lowest since January. Exports of rice plunged 64 percent to 672 tonnes, the lowest since March.

Trade between North Korea and China has slowed through the year, particularly after China banned coal purchases in February. In November, China's trade with North Korea totalled $388 million, one of the lowest monthly volumes this year.

China has renewed its call on all countries to make constructive efforts to ease tensions on the Korean peninsula, urging the use of peaceful means to resolve issues.

But tensions flared again after North Korea on Nov. 29 said it had tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile that put the U.S. mainland within range of its nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile Chinese exports of liquefied petroleum gas to North Korea, used for cooking, rose 58 percent in November from a year earlier to 99 tonnes. Exports of ethanol, which can be turned into a biofuel, gained 82 percent to 3,428 cubic metres.
South Korea has expressed doubts over a 2015 deal with Japan that was intended to end a festering dispute with Japan over Tokyo's wartime sex slavery.

Seoul and Tokyo signed the agreement to settle the hugely emotional and decades-long issue with a Japanese apology and financial compensation to survivors.

Mainstream historians say up to 200,000 women, mostly from Korea but also other parts of Asia including China, were forced to work in Japanese military brothels during World War II.

The plight of the sex slaves - euphemistically referred to as 'comfort women' - is a hugely emotional issue that has marred ties between the two Asian neighbours for decades. For many South Koreans it epitomises the abuses committed under Japan's 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean peninsula.

Korean women were forced by the Japanese to pack their belongings and become sex slaves

Many South Korean women and their relatives have been left traumatized by their experience of forced sex work under Japanese rule

The few surviving women forced to work as sex slaves have over recent decades made no secret of their hatred for the Japanese

Hundreds of thousands of women across Asia were forced into prostitution by the Japanese

The 2015 deal has been thrown into doubt because of an election pledge made by the new government of President Moon Jae-In. He promised to review the unpopular agreement  arranged by his now-jailed predecessor Park Geun-Hye.

On Wednesday a task force published a report saying the deal was agreed too speedily and did not properly consult women who were forced to work as sex slaves or 'comfort women'.

'The agreement was finalised ... without adequately taking into account the opinions of victims in the process of negotiation,' the report said.

Kang said Seoul would 'take into account any impact on South Korea-Japan ties as it carefully establishes its position' following the report's release.

But she stopped short of saying whether her country might consider calling for fresh negotiations or even walking away from the deal.

US and Chinese troops freed thousands of Koreans forced to become 'comfort women' for Japanese soldiers during WWII from 1944 onwards

The horrors suffered by Korean under the Japanese women remains a hugely sensitive issue in South Korea

Women were forced into sex slavery by their colonial masters

Tokyo for its part had urged South Korea to abide by the terms of the deal.

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha apologised for the deal, arguing that it has 'hurt' victims and had 'failed to reflect' their views.

Observers say any move by Seoul to jettison the deal could harm relations with Tokyo as the two countries strive to present a united front against nuclear-armed North Korea.

Many of 'comfort women' were liberated from their bondage by the Chinese (above)

Many women in Korea had the babies of the men who raped them

The plight of the comfort women has made it harder for Asian nations occupied by Japan to form a united front with Tokyo against North Korea
A man is on the run from police after escaping from a hospital while in custody.

Barry Morris, 20, was arrested on Wednesday and taken to a hospital at Waratah in Newcastle.

He escaped from the hospital while receiving medical treatment about 1.30pm, and police are now hunting for him.

Barry Morris, 20, was arrested on Wednesday and taken to a hospital at Waratah in Newcastle

Police are warning people not to approach him as he may be violent.

He is described as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander appearance, 170 to 180cm tall with a medium build and brown hair.

Morris is known to frequent the Newcastle area, including Carrington, Wallsend and Maryland.

Anyone who sees Morris is asked to call triple zero immediately.
A notorious ISIS fighter has denied being the leader of the Islamic State terror group in Australia.

Melbourne-born Neil Prakash, 26, was questioned by a judge while appearing in court via video-link from his prison in Turkey on Tuesday.

The judge in Kilis, near the Syrian border, asked Prakash, also known as Abu Khaled al-Cambodi, if it was true he is the leader of ISIS in Australia.

A notorious ISIS fighter (pictured) has denied being the leader of the Islamic State terror group in Australia

Melbourne-born Neil Prakash, 26, was questioned by a judge while appearing in court via video-link from his prison in Turkey on Tuesday (pictured is Prakash's passport)

'I am not guilty of DEAS [the Turkish acronym for ISIS] in Australia. I have nothing to do with the leadership in Australia,' he said, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Prakash reportedly appeared confused or worried during the brief hearing, held to establish his identity.

The judge said Australian documents showing his name as as Neil Christopher Prakash and nationality as Australian had arrived and were added to his file.

Prakash made a similar denial during a previous hearing and asked to be released and deported to a Muslim country and not Australia.

The judge in Kilis asked Prakash (pictured, left), also known as Abu Khaled al-Cambodi, if it was true he is the leader of ISIS in Australia

'I am not guilty of DEAS [the Turkish acronym for ISIS] in Australia. I have nothing to do with the leadership in Australia,' said Prakash (pictured)

Born to a Fijian father and a Cambodian mother, he converted to Islam in Cambodia in 2012 and later travelled to the Middle East to join ISIS.

He has admitted making propaganda videos and being responsible for ISIS in Australia, but says he was not '100 per cent responsible' as he was forced to do it.

Prakash has been detained for over a year in the Gaziantep region of southern Turkey, after being captured while entering the country illegally in 2016.

Prakash has been detained for over a year in the Gaziantep (pictured) region of southern Turkey, after being captured while entering the country illegally in 2016

Australia has previously requested Turkey extradite him, and Canberra once reported him as having been killed in a US airstrike in northern Iraq.

Prakash's next hearing was set for February 23, when a verdict must be reached, his defence lawyer Alper Unver said.

'There are no solid accusations against him in the lawsuit files. This trial is to decide whether Turkey would extradite Prakash to Australia or not,' Mr Unver said.
A US refuelling jet has diverted to Scotland after declaring an emergency over the Atlantic Ocean.

The four-engine Boeing KC-135R jet reported a problem off the west coast of Scotland and diverted to Glasgow Prestwick airport.

The jet landed safely shortly after 8am.

The KC-135R jet, declared an emergency while off the west coast of Scotland, file photo

Several KC-135s are based at RAF Mildenhall although other jets regularly cross the Atlantic

According to flight tracking radar, the aircraft declared an emergency at 26,202 feet near the isles of Jura and Mull.

Glasgow Prestwick airport confirmed the pilot of the US Military jet was facing 'technical difficulties' and requested a diversion as a precaution.

A spokeman said: 'We can confirm that an aircraft diverted to Glasgow Prestwick Airport today, due to technical issues. The aircraft landed safely with no further issues.'

The KC-135R is used to refuel other military jets, especially fighters sent to monitor Russian nuclear capable bombers flying towards Nato areas of interest.

The KC-135 can refuel fighter jets and other aircraft mid-air and can carry almost 91-tonnes of fuel in its tanks to top off other aircraft.

The KC-135s are based on the original design of the Boeing 707 passenger aircraft although have been extensively modified since entering service in 1956.

According to the US Air Force, the KC-135 can also be used to transport cargo or evacuate medical patients.

In October, a KC-135R declared an emergency moments after departing RAF Mildenhall because of a problem with its autopilot.
Reality TV star Jeremy McConnell has been released from prison in time for New Year.

The former Celebrity Big Brother contestant had an 18-week suspended sentence activated after breaching the 200-hour community service order handed to him earlier this year for assaulting former girlfriend Stephanie Davis.

He missed his community service was to get a hair and beard transplant in Istanbul.

After leaving prison this week, he told followers on Instagram: 'Thanks for all your messages. I've read so much lies and it's incredible. Have a good New Year.'

Jeremy McConnell has been released from prison after skipping community service. He is pictured, left, before his original assault trial and, right, before he was jailed

The reality TV personality posted this message to his Instagram followers after his release

McConnell, who was jailed last month, had served 34 days, less than five weeks of the 18-week sentence he was originally given.

He had appealed his sentence, but hearings were previously delayed due to an administrative error. His release this week suggests he may have won a cut to the term.

McConnell had been given the suspended sentence after a high-profile trial where he was found guilty of attacking former Hollyoaks star Miss Davis, 24, at her home in Rainhill, Merseyside in March, this summer.

During proceedings in August, a judge said Jeremy had shown no remorse for the attack on his ex-girlfriend or the impact it must have had on their son, Caben.

He then missed eight work appointments in the 200-hour order and the court activated the sentence for failing to comply with his punishment.

Sentencing him at Liverpool Magistrates Court last month, District Judge Wendy Lloyd said she tried to rehabilitate McConnell with a suspended sentence to protect women from future violence.

She added: 'Your enthusiasm for co-operation has been short lived and there's nothing to show in the future things will change. '

McConnell was given the suspended sentence for attacking his then girlfriend, actress Stephanie Davis, pictured outside his trial

Davis (pictured, left, at the time of McConnell's trial) posted a picture of her apparently bruised legs (right) in the days after the March attack

At a trial in August, Davis told the court that McConnell 'threw her around like a ragdoll' as she thought 'this is it; he's going to kill me.'

Davis said McConnell suspected her of a lesbian affair and a fling with a fireman as he attacked her at a property in Rainhill, Merseyside, on March 10.

She described the assault 'like something out of a horror movie', adding that McConnell threatened to smash a bottle over his head.

The prosecution said the assault took place as Ms Davis held their eight-week old son Caben-Albi in her arms, a claim that was denied by McConnell.

The former Hollyoaks actress said: 'He's completely destroyed my life, it's been the worst 18 months of my life.'
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The Manhattan apartment where reclusive Hollywood actress Greta Garbo lived for nearly forty years has sold for $8.5million, $2.5million over the asking price.

Garbo, one of Hollywood's biggest stars in the 1920s and 30s, lived in the luxury flat from 1954 until she died in 1990 aged 84.

The apartment was sold by Craig Reisfield whose mum Gray, Garbo's niece, was the sole heir to the actress's estate.

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Reclusive Hollywood actress Greta Garbo lived in this Manhattan apartment for nearly 40 years. It sold for $8.5million

The asking price for the property was just $5.95million. Garbo lived here from 1954 until she died in 1990 aged 84

Overlooking New York's East River, the three-bedroom apartment has a formal dining room, library and a living room with a balcony and a fireplace

Overlooking New York's East River, the three-bedroom apartment has a formal dining room, library and a living room with a balcony and a fireplace.

The home went on the market with much of Garbo's artwork and furniture but those items weren't included in the sale.

Mr Reisfield said the buyers are Garbo fans who showed 'a reverence for my great aunt' and aren't planning to 'gut' the apartment.

He said: 'I think they're going to be great stewards.'

The apartment was sold by Craig Reisfield whose mum Gray, Garbo's niece, was the sole heir to the actress's estate

The home went on the market with much of Garbo's artwork and furniture but those items weren't included in the sale

Mr Reisfield said the buyers are Garbo fans who showed 'a reverence for my great aunt' and aren't planning to 'gut' the apartment

Gardo starred in her final film in 1941 before moving to New York and retiring.

The Swedish film star never married or had any children.

She refused to talk to the media despite her fame and hated being called 'Greta'.

Letters written by the star went up for auction at Sotheby's in London earlier this month where they were estimated to reach between $20,100 and $26,800.

Gardo starred in many films in the 1920s and 1930s. She starred in her final one in 1941 before moving to New York to retire

Letters written by the star went up for auction at Sotheby's in London earlier this month where they were estimated to reach between $20,100 and $26,800
Facebook is offering political parties direct support to help them win elections.

The social media giant has set up a unit to help politicians with their campaigns as it seeks to boost spending on advertising and increase its own political influence.

Staff members provided by Facebook were embedded in Donald Trumps campaign to become US president.

Mark Zuckerberg's company, which has over 2 billion users, has a little-known government and politics unit which helps political parties around the world use the site to win and hang on to power (file pic)

The firm has also boasted of helping the SNP achieve an overwhelming victory in the 2015 election, when it took 56 of 59 Scottish seats in Westminster.

A former senior employee who ran the European arm of Facebooks politics unit raised concerns last night about how the firm is working with political parties.

Elizabeth Linder, who quit her job in May last year, said: Its not Facebooks job to be so close to any election campaign.

The firms government and politics unit has helped politicians seeking election in countries including the US, India, Brazil, Germany and the UK.

A dedicated page on Facebook's website claims the media giant played a crucial role in helping Nicola Sturgeon's 2015 (pictured last week in the Scottish Parliament) landslide victory

In the US, it offered to second staff members to both Mr Trump and Hillary Clintons presidential campaigns, although the defeated Democrat candidate declined to accept this.

Before the UK general election in June, Facebook contacted more than 5,000 candidates and agents to offer them free training sessions. Its emailed invitation to a workshop said it would help candidates understand how to get the most out of our tools for the campaign period and beyond.

It added: Our free workshop will help provide you with the skills to utilise Facebook best practices for election campaigns, keep your page safe and secure, and make the most of our advertising tools.

It is understood that while Facebook provided candidates with access to workshops and online seminars, no staff were seconded to UK political parties for the campaign. The SNPs 2015 general election campaign is heralded as a success story on a Facebook website aimed at potential advertisers.

It describes how the party turned the disappointment of the No vote in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum into an opportunity by capitalising on a groundswell of support and leaving the remaining parties with only one seat apiece in Scotland.

The Facebook page describes the SNP as the 'pride of Scotland' and talks about how the party managed to reach 1.24million people through Facebook with the average ad costing less than a penny.

It adds: Campaigners across the political spectrum now recognise that using Facebook made a demonstrable difference to the election result.

Facebook staff were embedded in Donald Trump's election campaign (file photo)

Providing direct support to political parties helps Facebook tap into the lucrative political advertising market. The Electoral Commission found the Conservatives spent 1.2million on Facebook advertising during the 2015 general election.

But the firm also risks accusations that it could seek to take advantage of its relationship with politicians to push its own agenda on issues such as internet regulation.

Earlier this month, Facebook was accused of fuelling a tide of vile abuse against Tory general election candidates.

The committee on standards in public life identified social media giants as the most significant factor in harassment.

The SNP said last night: Social media is an increasingly important way to speak directly to voters. Digital campaigning is at the heart of our efforts. Facebook declined to comment.
Police have released pictures of a damaged car after a woman was killed in a hit-and-run collision on Christmas Day.

Mother-of-two Sharon Hamnett was killed as she used a pelican crossing near Manchester City Centre around 9pm on Christmas night.

The 44-year-old victim died a short time later in hospital.

Sharon Hamnett, 44, was killed following a hit-and-run on Christmas night in Manchester

Ms Hamnett, pictured, died in hospital shortly after being struck by the car on Monday

Police believe this Blue Peugeot 2008 on Irish number plates was involved in a hit and run collision which killed 44-year-old mother of two Sharon Hamnett on Christmas night

Ms Hamnett was walking home after spending Christmas Day with family when she was killed.

Friends expressed their shock at the tragedy on social media.

Writing on Facebook, Nicola O'Malley described the news as 'absolutely heartbreaking'.

'I can't believe it,' she added.

'RIP Sharon. Thinking of all her family today. I'm absolutely gutted.'

Angela Speirs Rawlinson wrote: 'Such sad news for all the family, friends and all of Miles Platting.'

Lisa Chinejani said: 'Gutted, thinking of you all. RIP Sharon.'

Sgt Lee Westhead said: 'We sadly had to inform a family on Christmas Day that their loved one has died, a time when other families were enjoying the festivities - our thoughts are with them at this extremely difficult time.

Greater Manchester Police have released photographs of the 2013 Peugeot 2008

'This is a complex and fast moving investigation and I am appealing to the public to help us - we urgently need to speak to anyone who witnessed this collision or anyone who was with or spoke to the driver immediately before or after the collision.

'Although the area wasn't as busy as usual, there were some other people and motorists in the area at the time. If you saw the collision or have any information that can help us, please call us.

'The car involved would have been damaged to the front in the collision. This may be something that people may have noticed.

'I'd also ask anyone with dashcam footage to get in touch if you have anything recorded from the area last night.'

Police have released photographs of a damaged Peugeot 2008 from late 2013 on Tipperary North number plates from the Irish Republic.

Images of the vehicle have been released by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) as they appeal for witnesses.

Police Sergeant Brian Orr, of GMP's Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: 'We are releasing the photos of this vehicle so that people know exactly what information we are looking for in our investigation.

The car was abandoned near the scene of a fatal collision and appears to have been damaged

Officers want to known where the car was in the hours before the fatal collision

'If you saw the Peugeot on Christmas Day prior to the collision in the Manchester area or another area, please get in touch with us as soon as you can.

'We've examined CCTV in the area and are keen to speak to three men who were seen walking along Oldham Road, near to the junction of Queens Road shortly after the collision took place.

'Did you see them? Did you see anyone in the car? We need to hear from you if you did to find out exactly what happened and who is responsible for this tragedy.'

A 32-year-old man arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving has been released without charge.
At least four defectors from North Korea who lived near Kim Jong-Un's nuclear test site have shown signs of radiation exposure, according to South Korean scientists.

The four are among 30 former residents of Kilju county, an area in North Korea that includes the nuclear test site Punggye-ri.

They have been examined by the South Korean government since October, a month after the North conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test.

North Korea has conducted six nuclear bomb tests since 2006, all in tunnels deep beneath the mountains of Punggye-ri. Pictured: Kim Jong-un

They were exposed to radiation between May 2009 and January 2013, and all defected to the South before the most recent test, according to a researcher at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, which carried out the examinations.

North Korea has conducted six nuclear bomb tests since 2006, all in tunnels deep beneath the mountains of Punggye-ri, in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions and international condemnation.

The researcher cautioned that there were a number of ways people may be exposed to radiation, and that none of the defectors who lived had lived in Punggye-ri itself showed specific symptoms.

A series of small earthquakes in the wake of the last test - which the North claimed to be of a hydrogen bomb - prompted suspicions that it may have damaged the mountainous location in the northwest tip of the country.

Experts warned that further tests in the area could risk radioactive pollution.

After the September 3 nuclear test, Chinas Nuclear Safety Administration said it had begun emergency monitoring for radiation along its border with North Korea.

It was reported Kim Jong-un's regime was testing an anthrax tipped warhead

And in early December, a state-run newspaper in Chinas Jilin province, which borders North Korea and Russia, published a page of 'common sense' advice on how readers can protect themselves from a nuclear weapons attack or explosion.

Cartoon illustrations of ways to dispel radioactive contamination were also provided, such as using water to wash off shoes and using cotton buds to clean ears, as well as a picture of a vomiting child to show how medical help can be sought to speed the expulsion of radiation through stomach pumping and induced urination.

It comes after a soldier who defected to the South has been found to have anthrax antibodies in his bloodstream, according to local new reports.

The unidentified soldier, believed to be the man who defected in November this year, would have been either exposed to or vaccinated against anthrax before he defected to the South.

North Korea is thought to have conducted biological weapons experiments to test the possibility of loading anthrax-laden warheads on its intercontinental ballistic missiles.

'Anthrax antibodies have been found in the North Korean soldier who defected this year,' a South Korean intelligence official told local news network Channel A according to UPI.

It is not known who the unnamed defector is, but it could be the young soldier who was caught on camera running across the border and nearly shot dead by his fellow comrades in November.

Oh Chong Song, 24, was shot four times as he made a mad dash for South Korea, and has been recovering in a Seoul hospital since.
As the sharing economy booms, Chinese people have rented bikes, umbrellas and even sex toys with a quick scan of their phone.

And now the country's single women have started sharing a boyfriend.

Hundreds of women last weekend flocked to a shopping mall in Haikou, China, trying to hire a handsome date at a price of one yuan (11p) per hour.

The boyfriend candidates stand in boxes with QR codes attached waiting to be hired in China

Hundreds of single women fight to hire a handsome date at the shopping mall in Haikou

Six bachelors, all six feet tall, stood in neon-lit boxes as the mall launched the service on December 24.

According to the shopping mall, customers could rent any of the six men to be their temporary boyfriend by scanning a QR code outside their respective box. No deposit was required.

One woman was allowed to hire one man for up to one hour, but the couple only spend time inside the shopping mall.

The shopping mall said they had picked six 'good looking' candidates, all six feet tall

One worker at the shopping mall said she and her colleagues didn't expect such good results

Stacy Tian, who works at the mall's event planning department, told MailOnline that she and her colleagues were inspired by the popular sharing culture in China, so they designed the service to help single women celebrate Christmas.

'We've entered an era of single women. There are so many single women in China,' said Ms Tian.

'In addition, most of our customers are female, so we wanted to ensure they would have someone to spend Christmas with.'

The service was available on December 24 and 25 from 3pm to 9pm. Ms Tian said hundreds of women swarmed to the mall on either day to choose among the candidates.

'We didn't expect such good results,' Ms Tian added.

The men could be hired at a price of one yuan (11p) per hour to spend time with their customer

A sign outside the candidates' box says one man could only be hired for an hour within the mall

Apparently, all the six male candidates are workers at the shopping mall. They had been chosen due to their good looks and desirable stature.

Shi Guoshan, the mall's event planning manager, said: 'Our requirements were single, mainly the appearance and height. [They] must be six feet tall.'

Mr Shi said the company had tried to recruit boyfriend candidates from the public, but they failed to find any.

One anonymous female user told local news site, Haikou Net, that she had come here after hearing about the service from a friend.

The woman said: 'I heard the man could accompany me to do shopping and take pictures.

'Today is Christmas. I could take advantage of the service and show off our romance among my Friends Circle (a function on WeChat, a Chinese chatting app).'

One boyfriend candidate, Mr Zhuang, told Haikou Net that he had served four female customers who were in their early 20s.

He said: 'I shopped with them, helped them carry their bags and took pictures with them.'

Mr Zhuang said though selfie-taking was part of the service, excessive physical contact between the couple was not permitted.
At least 300 British ISIS fighters are hiding in Turkey, it has emerged, amid fears they could try to slip home to carry out terror attacks.

Thousands of jihadists fled to Turkey after the terror group lost its grip on the strongholds of Raqqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq this year.

Western security sources have warned of an increased risk of atrocities in Europe as jihadists attempt to return home.

At least 300 British ISIS fighters are hiding in Turkey, it has emerged, amid fears they could try to slip home to carry out terror attacks (file picture)

According to the Times, up to 300 of the fleeing extremists currently hiding in Turkey are believed to be British.

It quotes Syrian-Kurdish intelligence officer Ciwan Xhalil as saying most of the 850 Britons who joined ISIS in Syria had not escaped the country.

In October a report warned that Britain is home to more jihadis who have returned from Syria than almost all other countries.

Only Turkey, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia were home to more people who travelled to fight for ISIS than the UK, said the report written by Richard Barrett, a former director of global counter-terrorism at MI6

Around 850 Britons travelled to the Middle East to take part in the war and around half are thought to be back in the UK - meaning more than 400 are still at large.

The figure is higher than the 300 returnees to Germany and 271 to France.

The report warned there has also been a surge in the number of women involved in attacks - with nearly a quarter of terror plots in Europe from the start of 2017 to May involving women.

Thousands of jihadists fled to Turkey after the terror group lost its grip on the strongholds of Raqqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq this year. Pictured: Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters ride atop military vehicles as they celebrate victory in Raqqa, Syria in October

Meanwhile, fewer than a thousand ISIS fighters remain in Iraq and Syria, the US-led international coalition fighting the hardline Sunni militant group said today - a third of the estimated figure only three weeks ago.

Iraq and Syria have both declared victory over ISIS in recent weeks, after a year that saw the two countries' armies, a range of foreign allies and various local forces drive the fighters out of all the towns and villages that once made up their self-proclaimed caliphate.

The United States has led an international coalition conducting air strikes against Islamic State since 2014 when the group swept across a third of Iraq. U.S. troops have served as advisers on the ground with Iraqi government forces and with Kurdish and Arab groups in Syria.

'Due to the commitment of the Coalition and the demonstrated competence of our partners in Iraq and Syria, there are estimated to be less than 1,000 ISIS terrorists in our combined joint area of operations, most of whom are being hunted down in the desert regions in eastern Syria and Western Iraq,' the U.S.-led coalition told Reuters in an emailed statement.

The figure excludes areas in western Syria under the control of President Bashar al-Assad's government and his allies.

Assad's main ally Russia also said on Wednesday the main battle with ISIS in Syria was over. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the key task in Syria was now destroying another Islamist group, the Nusra Front.

The U.S.-led coalition had said on December 5 that there were less than 3,000 fighters remaining. Iraq declared 'final victory' over the group on December 9.

Most of the fighters had been killed or captured over the past three years, the coalition said on Wednesday. It would not respond to a question on whether some fighters could have escaped to other countries, saying it would not 'engage in public speculation' but said it was working on preventing that.

'We can tell you that we are working with our partners to kill or capture all remaining ISIS terrorists, to destroy their network and prevent their resurgence, and also to prevent them from escaping to bordering countries,' it said.
The pair have both gained online followings through their dedication to health and fitness.

Now engaged, it makes sense that Olympian weightlifter Sam Loch and Frances Abbott, the daughter of Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, spend their days exercising together.

Perhaps trying to work off the last of the Christmas ham, the young couple were seen on Palm Beach on Wednesday, running up and down hills at Sydney's Palm Beach, before cooling off in the surf.

Frances Abbott and her fiance Sam Loch were seen in Palm Beach on Wednesday

The pair were spotted running up and down nearby hills before cooling off in the surf

The fit physiques of the pair, Frances an amateur bodybuilder and Sam an Olympic rower, were on proud display as they frolicked in the water

Frances and Sam were seen walking hand in hand during the day, appearing deep in conversation at times.

The pair were dressed casually for their stroll through their Northern Beaches neighbourhood, and Sam appeared to have brought Tupperware containers of snacks for their day out.

Their eagerness for the cool surf was evident, as Sam stripped his top off in a nearby car park, and Frances began to power walk ahead.

She smiled as she ran, clutching her water bottle and showing off her muscular arms by clutching her wallet between her body and her bicep.

On the same day, the pair were also seen walking hand in hand in Sydney's northern beaches

As the pair came closer to the beach, Sam was seen stripping his top off in preparation for the water

The Olympic rower was also seen carrying a number of Tupperware containers in a plastic bag as he approached the beach

When the newly-engaged couple arrived at the beach, they took turns coating each other in sunscreen as Frances donned a black cap.

Their joint endeavours in fitness were glaringly obvious as the pair appeared toned and muscular.

Sam chose to show off a bit more than most would dare at a public beach, and rocked a pair of speckled Budgy Smugglers.

Frances kept things simple with a black string bikini, which left her abdonimal muscles out on display

Frances, who has established herself as an amateur bodybuilder, made headlines earlier this year for her shock engagement to Sam.

When the couple arrived, they made sure to slip slop slap - and were seen helping each other out in some of the harder to reach places

Sam dared to bare during his time in the sun, choosing a pair of speckled Budgy Smugglers over the traditional choice of boardshorts

After being lathered up herself, Frances moved to help Sam cover his back with sun protection

The 26-year-old first announced the whirlwind romance and subsequent engagement via Instagram with a series of couple snaps taken in a photo booth.

'Two weeks was all it took to know that forever with you was a mighty fine idea,' the fitness devotee wrote.

Mr Loch, 34, confirmed the news with a selfie of the pair captioned 'With the soon to be Mrs Loch'.

The 60-year-old former Prime Minister of Australia also confirmed news of his daughter's engagement on social media.

Using two tweets to post his message, the Liberal MP said: 'Really thrilled at the news of Francie and Sam's engagement.

'We are very proud of her and the Abbotts are looking forward to welcoming Sam into the family.'

A simple black string bikini showed off Frances' muscular frame, and highlighted her rippling abs

The couple appeared to share a joke as they stood together on the sand after exiting the water

The 26-year-old daughter of Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott appeared gleeful as she spent time with her soon-to-be husband

Mr Abbott's enthusiasm may have been fuelled by his first impressions of the Olympic rower, formed when the two met in Melbourne.

At the time the young couple were in the midst of a whirlwind romance and very much in love, but Mr Loch had yet to pop the question.

'I think meeting Tones can be quite intimidating for anyone, but that's what I love about Sam,' the 26-year-old confided.

'He's so grounded, and so settled in his own skin, it felt totally natural. There was no change in voice, no sitting upright. Dad liked him.'

As for her mother Margie, she was as surprised as anyone when her middle daughter told her of Mr Loch's proposal.

Earlier this year, the couple made headlines by announcing their shock engagement, after just weeks of dating

Frances admitted both of her parents were surprised at the speed in which their daughter chose to commit to her new partner, but Mr Abbott took to social media after the announcement to express his happiness at her decision

Frances revealed she had been putting peas in the freezer when her beau popped the question

'Mum was like, "Frances, you are quite impulsive",' Frances remembered, saying her family want the best for her despite the speed of her engagement.

As for the proposal itself, Frances said it happened while she was in the kitchen putting peas in the freezer.

Mr Loch had a bottle of champagne in his hands and cleverly convinced her to ask him why.

When she obliged, he replied that he had brought it to drink after he asked her to marry him.

That was two weeks after they first met, and the couple waited another two weeks before telling the world.

Having already moved in together, Frances and Mr Loch have ordered a ring and will walk down the aisle next year.

Peppered with questions about the speed of the engagement, Frances revealed it could not have felt more natural, saying she believes in trusting her instincts.
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The fascinating story of the oldest house in London which survived the English Civil War, the Great Fire of London and the Blitz has come to light in a new book.

On first glance, there seems to be nothing remarkable about 41-42 Cloth Fair, a four-bedroom townhouse which is tucked away down a narrow, medieval lane in Farringdon.

But it was actually built a staggering 403 years ago, making it the oldest house in the City of London.

Historian Fiona Rule has meticulously researched the history of the house, which today is valued at 5.5million, and its more than 30 owners for her new book 'The Oldest House in London'.

The building was originally part of a larger scheme of 11 houses featuring a courtyard in the middle known as 'The Square in Launders Green', which was the brainchild of a friend of the Royal Family, Henry Rich.

The unremarkable exterior of the four-bedroom townhouse at 41-42 Cloth Fair gives no hint as to its extraordinary backstory. It is in fact the oldest house in the City of London. It was built in 1613 and has had 30 different owners during its long life. Today, it is worth 5.5million. Pictured: The house today (left) and in 1920 (right)

The house has survived the English Civil War, the Great Fire of London and the Blitz. The house boasts a suitably antiquated interior. A fireplace is pictured in one room along with wooden tables and chairs. Originally, the building was let as one house containing 'two cellars, two shops, four chambers and two garrets opening both front and west'

A snapshot of history: This picture was taken in around 1890 and shows the Cloth Fair on the left

The Launders Green houses were completed in the winter of 1614 and 41-42 Cloth Fair - today the only surviving section of the square - became part of London's city scene.

To begin with, 41-42 Cloth Fair was let as one house containing 'two cellars, two shops, four chambers and two garrets opening both front and west'.

Its first tenant was William Chapman, a successful middle aged businessman, who acquired a 31 year lease from Rich on December 14, 1614.

He converted the ground floor and cellars into an alehouse to serve the busy local area.

In addition to ale and beer, early 17th century alehouses often served 'aqua vitae', a devilishly strong spirit distilled from ale dregs which was gradually refined into the beverage now known as gin.

Things did not end well for Rich as he switched allegiance one too many times during the English Civil War and was beheaded at Whitehall on March 9, 1649.

In the 19th century, in the midst of the Industrial Revolution, the bottom floor of the home was converted into a cutlery factory, which it remained until the 1920s.

Since then, it has been exclusively used as a house.

The property still boasts its original staircase from when it was built in 1613. The building was originally part of a larger scheme of 11 houses featuring a courtyard in the middle known as 'The Square in Launders Green' which was the brainchild of a friend of the Royal Family, Henry Rich. He would later be beheaded following the Civil War

This is nearby Old Smith Field Market in 1855. In the 19th century, in the midst of the Industrial Revolution, the bottom floor of the home was converted into a cutlery factory, which it remained until the 1920s. Since then, it has been exclusively used as a house. Today it is owned by psychotherapist Matthew Bell

The original bannister is still in place at the 400-year-old property. The house has survived through several major disasters including the Blitz and today is worth 5.5million

Over the past four centuries, 41-42 Cloth Fair has withstood its fair share of close calls.

In 1666, it survived the Great Fire of London, which wiped out 70,000 homes, because it was protected by a high brick wall built around the parish of St Bartholomew.

The building's future was again placed in jeopardy in 1929 when 41-42 Cloth Fair was put under review for demolition by the City of London Corporation as part of their sanitary scheme.

Many old houses were pulled down by the council in a bid to improve sanitation in the area, but 41-42 Cloth Fair narrowly avoided this fate.

During the Blitz of 1940 and 1941, German bombs flattened the nearby Smithfield Market, but the townhouse once again escaped unscathed.

Following the Second World War, a new appreciation emerged for old buildings with organisations like English Heritage to the fore.

41-42 Cloth Fair was restored in the mid-1990s and for is now owned by psychotherapist Matthew Bell.

In the book, he said: 'I think when people come into the house, they are surprised, perhaps even disappointed, that it is not more palatial.

In 1666, it survived the Great Fire of London, which wiped out 70,000 homes, because it was protected by a high brick wall built around the parish of St Bartholomew. During the Blitz of 1940 and 1941, German bombs flattened the nearby Smithfield Market (pictured), but the townhouse once again escaped unscathed. The house is still standing strong today

This map of the City of London from 1668 shows the location of the house

'The rooms, whilst a good size, are not as huge as the front of the house might suggest, though it is something of a maze and takes people a little time to get used to.

'These were merchants' houses and as such appear from the outside perhaps rather more baronial from our 21st century perspective.'

Author Ms Rule, 50, of Mill Hill, north London, says 41-42 Cloth Fair is a fascinating house which has lived a 'charmed' existence.

She said: 'I wanted to find a property which was built as a house and remained a house, which ruled out quite a lot of others.

'The house has lived a charmed existence. It survived the Great Fire of London because the parish of St Bartholomew was surrounded by a really high brick wall which acted as a barrier to the fire.

'41-42 Cloth Fair withstood the German bombs in the Second World War but even more dangerous to it than Hitler was the local council in the early 20th century who were looking to make sanitary improvements by demolishing old buildings like this one.

'It was not until after the Second World War that old buildings were seen as more valuable and protected by organisations like English Heritage.

'Over the past 400 years, the ground floor, in particular, of the building has seen many changes - it has been an alehouse, a shop, a workshop, an office and part of a private home - and it has succeeded in every incarnation.

'I hope the remarkable story told in the pages of this book goes some way to show that every building in Britain has its own unique history - you just have to uncover it.'

The Oldest House In London, by Fiona Rule, is published by The History Press and costs 20.
A drug-addicted mother who killed her toddler son after giving him methadone to 'knock him out' so she could smoke crack died of an overdose after her release from prison, an inquest heard.

Kelly Emery had only been freed from jail a month before she was found face down on the floor of her boyfriend's bedroom in Maidstone in October.

Emery, 37, originally from Birmingham, had served a little over two years of a six-year jail sentence for the manslaughter of son Fenton Hogan, two.

Kelly Emery, who killed her son Fenton Hogan (right) by giving him methadone, died of an overdose after serving a prison term for the killing, her inquest has heard

She refused to give evidence at her trial, insisting she had not her child the drug but was negligent in leaving bottles of it 'lying around' her house.

But she was found to have deliberately given the toddler the heroin substitute to make him sleep and convicted of manslaughter.

Fenton had no obvious injuries when he was brought to hospital but blood samples showed he had as much of the drug on his system as an adult on methadone maintenance therapy.

Hair samples showed in the months before his death, he had ingested the drug on at least two other occasions.

Emery was given a concurrent 12-month prison sentence after admitting gross neglect of Fenton by allowing him access to methadone in March 2015.

But she was cleared of giving him methadone on two other occasions before his death in July 2013.

Hair samples from the youngster showed he had ingested the drug before his death

Her inquest, which was opened and adjourned in Maidstone this week, heard paramedics twice revived her after she suffered a cardiac arrest on October 12.

But she had a third attack in the ambulance on the way to hospital. A post mortem found she had died from morphine toxicity.

Coroner Kate Thomas adjourned the inquest until March.

Speaking after her death earlier this year, Fenton's father Michael Hogan told MailOnline: 'I'm happy. It's made me feel better.'

Explaining how he heard the news of his son's death while still in prison himself, Mr Hogan added: 'She ruined my life. He was my first child and he died when I was in prison so it makes me feel better that she had a hard time inside.'
Twenty-two-year-old Marquise Byrd died Friday at an Ohio hospital after he was hit in the head by a sandbag thrown from an overpass

Four teenage boys have been charged with murder in an Ohio juvenile court in connection with the death of a man struck by a sandbag thrown from an interstate overpass.

Prosecutors filed the charges Tuesday in Toledo against the boys, ages 13 to 15, The Toledo Blade reported.

The teens initially were charged with the juvenile equivalent of felonious assault.

Marquise Byrd, 22, died Friday at a hospital.

The driver of the car, who has not been identified, suffered minor injuries.

The Warren, Michigan, father of a one-year-old boy was sitting in the front passenger seat of a car traveling south on Interstate 75 in Toledo when a sandbag smashed through the windshield on December 19.

The Lucas County Coroner's Office says Byrd died of blunt-force trauma injuries to the head and neck.

Police and a prosecutor have said the teens threw other objects from the overpass that night.

Byrd, who was engaged to be married, was on his way to visit friends in Toledo.

Byrd was a front-seat passenger in a southbound vehicle on Interstate 75 (above) in Toledo, Ohio, when he was struck by a sandbag

The vehicle in which Byrd was sitting on December 19 is seen in the above photo

His family is demanding that authorities charge the four teens as adults.

'I would appreciate if [the boys' parents] could at least call my auntie and tell her they're sorry,' Byrd's cousin, Shaveontae King, told the Blade.

King said Byrd was like a brother to her.

When asked to describe him, she said: 'Young, energetic, outgoing, lovable. He had a bright smile.'

Officers received a call at 10:10pm on December 19. They responded to the scene and saw the teenagers leaving the area after the incident.

Prosecutors filed the charges Tuesday in Toledo against the boys, ages 13 to 15. One of the suspects is seen right

So far, Ohio prosecutors said there are no plans to transfer the teens' cases from the juvenile department to adult jurisdiction. One of the teens is seen above second from right

King said she has no sympathy for the teens and wants authorities to charge them as adults.

'My auntie has to bury her son. He's gone. He's never coming back,' she King said.

'She's holding up the best she can.'

So far, Ohio prosecutors said there are no plans to transfer the teens' cases from the juvenile department to adult jurisdiction.

Lori Olender, the deputy chief of the county prosecutor's juvenile division, said that since the teens have no prior criminal records, there is a risk prosecutors would lose if they were tried as adults.
A model who bragged about avoiding arrest while selling hundreds of ecstasy pills has been jailed for four years.

Georgia-Lee Lucinda Chapman faced the Supreme Court in Brisbane on December 21 where she pleaded guilty to eight charges, including drug trafficking.

Justice Peter Davis sentenced her to four years in jail, to be suspended after eight months, for trafficking between November 2014 and August 2015.

A model (pictured) who bragged about avoiding arrest while selling hundreds of ecstasy pills has been jailed for four years

Georgia-Lee Lucinda Chapman (pictured) faced the Supreme Court in Brisbane on December 21 where she pleaded guilty to eight charges, including drug trafficking

The court heard Chapman bragged to a friend when police failed to search her and find 150 ecstasy tablets while arresting her boyfriend, The Courier Mail reported.

The 21-year-old sold hundreds of pills to help her boyfriend Kurt Davis, a large-scale dealer, making almost $10,000 profit selling ecstasy to 'runners' in Brisbane.

The runners would then sell the drugs to club goers in nightspots like The Met in Fortitude Valley, sneaking them inside disguised as Eclipse mints.

The former receptionist for the Queensland Performing Arts Centre CEO admitted lying to police after being arrested in April 2015.

She also remotely disabled mobile phones belonging to other dealers after they had been arrested.

Text messages showed she sent 'Mwah hah ha haaah' to a friend when police did not seize her boyfriend's phone used for dealing drugs during his arrest.

The court heard Chapman (pictured) bragged to a friend when police failed to search her and find 150 ecstasy tablets while arresting her boyfriend

Justice Peter Davis sentenced Chapman (pictured) to four years in jail to be suspended after eight months for trafficking between November 2014 and August 2015

Other messages contained information about 57 orders for ecstasy tablets. Some orders were for up to $50 pills, and she made a profit of $14 or $15 per tablet.

When Davis went fishing she stepped in for him to procure 500 tablets, and helped restock Davis' seven runners, either bringing them pills or supplying them from her home.

Chapman's father Rodney told the court his daughter had always been 'an absolute role model'.

'It absolutely shatters me that she became involved with drugs,' he said.

He said his daughter's offences preventing her from 'pursuing her dance career' with two cruise lines.

In her profile on a popular talent directory, Chapman describes herself as a promo model, professionally-trained dancer and performer.
Neighbors in Virginia say a 17-year-old boy charged in the deadly shooting of his girlfriend's parents say the teen mowed a swastika about 40 feet across across into the grass of a community field earlier this year.

Lorton resident Penny Potter tells The Washington Post that after the incident two months ago, neighbors talked to the young man's parents instead of going to the police to report the Nazi symbol in the grass.

The 17-year-old has been charged with two counts of murder in the deaths last Friday of 48-year-old Scott Fricker and his wife, 43-year-old Buckley Kuhn-Fricker. The youth, who turned the gun on himself, remains hospitalized in critical condition.

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Red flag: Neighbors say the 17-year-old boy who has been charged with shooting dead Buckley Kuhn Fricker, 43, and Scott Fricker, 48 (pictured with their children) had mowed a 40-foot swastika into a community field two months prior to the slayings

Family and friends say the couple found a Twitter account they believed to be linked to the youth. Friends say the account retweeted posts praising Hitler and making derogatory comments about Jews.

Fricker and his wife were shot dead on Friday at 5am after allegedly finding their daughter's boyfriend in her bedroom.

He was driven to carry out the killings after Ms. Kuhn Fricker reported him to the private school he and her daughter attend together, it was claimed.

Neither of the pair is being named because they are underage.

The 17-year-old boy was charged with two counts of murder on Saturday afternoon as he clung to life in the hospital.

Potter, the boy's neighbor in Lorton. told The Post that when local residents confronted his parents about the swastika in late October, the couple reassured them that they were going to seek treatment for their son, who was known in the community for being troubled.

The neighbor said that the discovery of the hate symbol in their safe, family-friendly town made her feel fearful that there was someone in their midst who was capable of 'irrational behavior,' she told the paper.

The community lot was later re-mowed by neighbors to obscure the swastika.

According to friends of the Frickers who spoke toThe Washington Post, on Sunday, Ms. Kuhn Fricker sent an email to the Fairfax County private school outlining her concerns.

She had found Twitter messages and posts on her daughter's phone which she believed were written by her boyfriend.

In her email to school staff, she said the boy was a 'monster' who was 'spreading hate'.

Ms. Kuhn Fricker, who ran an elderly care business, was determined to keep him away from their impressionable daughter who she feared he was indoctrinating, they said.

On Wednesday, she and her mother Janet staged an intervention with the girl to try again to persuade her to dump him. It was successful - after a long conversation about Jews and the Nazis, the girl agreed to break off the romance, they said.

It is not clear if the school made contact with the boy's family or if it was the teen herself who told him of her decision.

Ms. Kuhn Fricker believed the issue was settled and told friends of her relief.

But on Friday at 5am, she and her husband went to their daughter's room after hearing a noise and found him inside.

According to her friends, Ms. Kuhn Fricker had been trying for months to split her daughter (above) and the boy up because she was concerned about his anti-semitic views

At 5am on Friday, the couple heard a noise coming from their daughter's bedroom. When they went to check on her, they were confronted by her boyfriend, authorities say

The shootings happened at the couple's $760,000 home in Reston, Virginia, where they had relatives staying. The family had all gathered for Christmas

At some stage afterwards, he pulled the weapon on them, police say.

Authorities have not indicated whether they believe he intended to shoot the teenage girl, himself, or her parents.

It remains unclear how he got the gun and who it belongs to. His family declined to comment when approached.

Scott worked for the US Bureau of Labor Statistics while Buckley was an attorney and author who specialized in elder care and end-of-life issues.

She started a company to help the elderly in 2005 called Buckleys For Seniors, which she ran from home.

Her small team contacted out with seniors who maintained their independence but needed help getting to stores and doctors, and in accomplishing other chores

Four months ago, the Fricker family moved from a smaller home in Reston into the bigger one on Black Fir Court where the fatal tragedy occurred.

Police say several people were inside the home when the shooting happened.

Detectives took away a white Honda CRV with North Carolina plates.
The world's tallest Lego tower measuring 36-metres (118-foot) has been built has been built in Israel's coastal city of Tel Aviv.

The record-breaking structure comprises more than half a million of brightly- coloured plastic bricks donated by the city's residents.

The project was launched just over a year ago by teachers of eight-year-old Omer Sayag who died of cancer in 2014, and who loved building Lego towers during his illness.

Toy story: the finishing touches are put to the tower of brightly coloured plastic bricks in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square

Going up: workers and volunteers build the Lego tower in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square

The huge tower has been mostly put together by a network of volunteers

The building has been painstakingly put together using millions of bricks

The project was launched just over a year ago

The tower has been put together in sections opposite the Tel Aviv municipality building in Rabin Square.

According to Guinness World Records, the previous record was set in 2015 when the Italian subsidiary of Lego built a 35.05-metre (115-foot) tower for the Milan World Expo.

A municipality spokesman told AFP that proof including pictures shot from a drone will now be submitted to Guinness to verify the new record.
Anti-vaxxers are claiming vaccines are derived from aborted babies as they demand religious rights for taxpayer funding.

The Australian Vaccination Skeptics Network (AVN) believes forcing parents to give their children vaccinations is a violation of religious freedoms, according to the Daily Telegraph.

They also claim some vaccines 'contain the proceeds of abortion'.

Anti-vaxxers are claiming vaccines are derived from aborted babies as they demand religious rights for taxpayer funding

The AVN told the federal parliamentary inquiry into religious freedom that some of its members have been forced to quit work, after the federal government stopped childcare subsidies for unvaccinated children.

'To use vaccines prepared with the products of abortion is a moral evil, and a direct violation of the teachings of pro-life religions, which include Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Buddhism,' the group told the inquiry.

Australian Medical Association president Michael Hannon said the group was promoting 'bizarre conspiracy theories'.

'The AMA will not let religious freedom be used in a completely irrational and unscientific fashion.'

Australian Medical Association president Michael Hannon said the group was promoting 'bizarre conspiracy theories'

According to the Australian Immunisation Handbook, some vaccines are grown using 'cell lines', some of which were derived from human foetal tissue in the 1960s.

'These cell lines have been growing under laboratory conditions for more than 40 years, and there has been no further foetal tissue obtained since the 1960s. The cell lines are not included as a component of the vaccine.'

Viruses grown in cell lines are used in vaccines for rubella and MMR, hepatitis A, varicella and rabies.
The annual report is likely to spark fresh calls for a crack down on fat cat pay

Chief executives at Britain's FTSE 100 companies are on average paid 94 times the salary of a typical employee, a new report has revealed.

Boardroom bosses in the UK are some of the best paid in all of Europe - enjoying fatter pay ratios than their counterparts in France and Germany.

But the annual study by the Vlerick business school in Belgium found the best performing companies actually pay their CEOs a 'relatively lower' salaries.

The report's authors state: 'Generally, we can state that the pay ratio in the UK is significantly higher than in continental Europe.'

The revelation will pile further pressure on companies to crack down on executive pay amid fury that some are enjoying fat cat salaries while most Brits have stagnant wages.

Boardroom bosses in the UK are some of the best paid in all of Europe - enjoying fatter pay ratios than their counterparts in France and Germany, a report by the Vlerick business school (file pic of the City of London)

Theresa May vowed to crack down on sky-high boardroom pay when she became Prime Minister.

And the Government plans to introduce new laws to require listed companies to publish their pay ratio every year.

Today's report looks at the full pay packets handed to the chief executives of the top listed companies in the UK and across Europe last year.

CHIEF EXECUTIVES IN BRITAIN TAKE HOME FATTEST SALARIES These are the pay ratios highlighted in the report: Britain: 94:1 Germany: 89:1 France: 91:1 Netherlands: 71:1 Sweden: 41:1 Advertisement

The report found that Britain has a bigger pay ratio than many of its European rivals, with FTSE 100 bosses paid on average 94 times more than their employees.

This is more than in Germany where the ratio stood at 89, in France where it is 91 and the Netherlands where it is 71, according to the report.

Looking at chief executives across Europe researchers found that 59 per cent of CEOs enjoyed a pay increase between 2014 and 2016.

This has largely been driven by more and bigger bonuses and payment in shares in the companies.

Xavier Baeten, professor of management practice at Vlerick, said: 'Companies having a better financial performance, try to make more efficient use of their money.

'It isn't the case that in order to have a better performing firm, you need to have a better paid CEO.'

Researchers looked at how much chief executives at the top firms have been paid over the past seven years and how well their companies performed.

They singled out some 'striking conclusions' and said the best performing companies paid their CEOs 'relatively lower' amount and that the pay ratio between bosses and their staff is smaller.

Labour's shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey said the analysis shows that the 'top get richer' while ordinary families are struggling.
A German backpacker has died after being pinned underneath a ride-on lawnmower on an avocado farm.

Jennifer Kohl, 27, was riding the lawnmower with another man along the side of a hill on December 8 when it rolled over on top of her.

Emergency services were unable to save Ms Kohl, who died at scene near Tamborine Mountain, about 40 kilometres from the Gold Coast.

A German backpacker (pictured) has died after being pinned underneath a ride-on lawnmower on an avocado farm

Jennifer Kohl, 27, was riding the lawnmower with another man along the side of a hill on December 8 when it rolled over on top of her (pictured is a meadow near Tamborine Mountain)

Workplace Health and Safety Queensland are investigating Ms Kohl's death, and will prepare a report for the coroner, The Brisbane Times reported.

Mathias, a friend of Ms Kohl's, paid tribute to his best friend of over a decade, who stuck by him through thick and thin.

'She was the one who gave me the power and motivation not to give up over and over again in just a unique way that I never seen before,' he said.

'I will remember her as a strong woman, as someone who has enriched my life and I'm happy and proud to have met her.'

Emergency services were unable to save Ms Kohl (pictured), who died at the Tamborine Mountain scene, about 40 kilometres from the Gold Coast

He said Ms Kohl, a native of Leipzig, had inspired him to draw and paint, and said he shared her passion for animals.

Ms Kohl's death comes only just weeks after a Belgian backpacker died of suspected heatstroke while working on a fruit farm near Townsville.

Olivier Max Caramin, 27, collapsed as he was picking watermelons in 30 degree heat and was taken to hospital, but died the next morning.

In july the mother of murdered British backpacker Mia Ayliffe-Chung called for more government regulations to protect backpackers.

Rosie Ayliffe called for a reform of the 417 farm work visa scheme, and called for a thorough investigation into Mr Caramin's death

Ms Kohl's death comes only just weeks after a Belgian backpacker (pictured) died of suspected heatstroke while working on a fruit farm near Townsville




The richest billionaires in the world added a cool $1 trillion to their collective wealth in 2017 with Amazon's Jeff Bezos raking in the most.

New figures from Bloomberg show that the world's 500 richest people saw their wealth expand this year from $4.4 trillion to more than $5.3 trillion.

Booming stock markets saw their wealth soar four times more than they did in 2016.

Thanks to a surge in Amazon's share price, Bezos added $34.2 billion to his wealth to round out a standout year for the tech and retail giant.

Bezos is now listed as the world's richest person with a net worth of $99.6 billion.

The richest billionaires in the world added a cool $1 trillion to their collective wealth in 2017 with Amazon's Jeff Bezos (above) raking in the most

He overtook Microsoft founder Bill Gates on the billionaire's list back in October.

Gates, who had held the top spot since 2013, added $8.89 billion to his wealth in 2017 despite donating large chunks of his fortune to charity.

THOSE WHO GAINED THE MOST IN 2017: Amazon's Jeff Bezos: $34.2 billion Chinese developer Hui Ka Yan: $25.9 billion French businessman Bernard Arnault: $23.6 billion Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg: $22.6 billion Chinese businessman Pony Ma: $20.1 billion Advertisement

The Microsoft founder's overall net worth is now $91.3 billion.

Behind Bezos, Chinese property developer Hui Ka Yan was the second biggest gainer in 2017 having raked in $25.9 billion - a 350 percent jump from last year.

The third largest gainer was French business magnate Bernard Arnault, with the head of LVMH adding $23.6 billion to his fortune.

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg added a whopping $22.6 billion in 2017, bringing his networth to $72.6 billion. Zuckerberg saw his profits soar despite his firm encountering the anger of government around the world amid claims they fail to do enough to take down extreme and criminal content.

Other key factors from Bloomberg's report indicate that the US had the largest presence on the Billionaire's Index, with 159 billionaires adding a collective $315 billion.

New figures from Bloomberg show that the world's 500 richest people saw their wealth expand this year from $4.4 trillion to more than $5.3 trillion

The 38 Chinese billionaires on the list added $177 billion in 2017 and Russia's 27 richest people added $29 billion.

It was a also standout year for tech moguls in general with 57 technology billionaires adding a collective $262 billion, which is a 35 percent increase from last year.

In total, 440 out of 500 billionaires on the list added to their wealth in 2017.

The Bloomberg Billionaires Index is a daily ranking of the worlds 500 richest people.

Financial experts have said the stock market is enjoying one of its biggest booms in years raking in stellar profits for big investors.

Mike Ryan, chief investment officer for the Americas at UBS Wealth Management, told Bloomberg: 'It's part of the second-most robust and second-longest bull market in history.

'Of all the guidance we gave people over the course of this year, the most important advice was staying invested.'
Fingerprint-analysis software used by thousands of US law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, could be vulnerable to Russian hacking, it was claimed on Wednesday.

Two former employees of a French defense contractor say the company inserted Russian-made code into software that was sold to the Americans without notifying them of it, BuzzFeed reported on Wednesday.

The extent to which biometric information about millions of Americans could be compromised is difficult to say without seeing the code's specifications, technical experts say.

Nonetheless, the allegation raises fears that Russian hackers could gain access to sensitive information stored on the computers of the FBI, the Transportation Security Administration, and 18,000 other law enforcement agencies throughout the country.

Russia has been accused of employing hackers to break into email accounts and computers belonging to senior American officials, including the upper echelons of the Democratic Party, the military, and the intelligence services.

Fingerprint-analysis software used by thousands of US law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, could be vulnerable to Russian hacking, it was claimed on Wednesday

Moscow has denied the allegations.

The French company, Morpho, is a subsidiary of Safran, a multi-billion dollar aerospace and defense firm.

Two former employees of Morpho say their company incorporated code that was designed by the Russian firm Papillon AO, an IT company that boasts of its close ties to the FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The FSB is the Kremlin's federal security service that is the successor to the Soviet-era KGB.

Morpho then licensed the Papillon technology to enhance its own fingerprint-recognition software in order to boost its chances of winning a contract to sell its product to the FBI.

The 2008 licensing agreement between Morpho and Papillon allows the French company the right to incorporate the Papillon code into its own software and to then sell its products and present them as their own.

In return, the French firm agreed to pay Papillon an annual licensing fee.

A French firm, Morpho, which is a subsidiary of Safran, a multi-billion dollar aerospace and defense company, placed Russian-made code into fingerprint-analysis software which it then sold to the US government - without notifying it of the origin of the code, it was claimed

The contract also stipulates that Morpho would not be permitted to reveal the existence of the agreement.

'The parties agree to keep strictly confidential and not to disclose by any means to any third party the existence and the contents of this Agreement,' according to the contract.

The whistleblowers have been identified by BuzzFeed as Philippe Desbois, the former CEO of the French company's operations in Russia; and Georges Hala, who worked for Morpho as part of its business development team in Russia.

Hala told BuzzFeed that doing business with Papillon is akin to working with a subsidiary of the Russian government.

'Papillon is not an independent company,' said Hala.

'Papillon was an emanation of the Internal Affairs Ministry, so Papillon was always under the control of the ministry.'

The company acknowledges that it is 'closely cooperating with the Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Justice of Russia.'

But Papillon denies Hala's claim that it is not independent.

Papillon AO, a Russian IT firm that boasts of its ties to the Kremlin, is the author of the code used in the software. Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen above in Moscow on Tuesday

'We are fully a private company,' said Ivan Shapshal, the company's deputy director for marketing.

'Do we do special tasks for the intelligence agencies of Russia? No, there is no reason for us to do this. It is just a risk. It does not help us make money.'

BuzzFeed quoted an official Papillon publication which said that 'the company expands its cooperation with' the FBS 'year by year.'

But Shapshal said there's nothing sinister about the arrangement since the company helps Russian law enforcement.

'If our software can help police solve more crimes, we are happy to be 'very close' to them, as you say,' he said.

'We will be happy to be close to any security agency in the world for money.'

The FBI would not comment specifically on the fingerprint-analysis software in question, though it did say: 'As is typical for all commercial software that we operate, appropriate security reviews were completed prior to operational deployment.'

The federal government has been concerned over the use of security software by Russian companies with suspected links to the Kremlin. The Department of Homeland Security in September issued a directive ordering civilian government agencies to remove Kaspersky software from their networks within 90 days

The federal government has been concerned over the use of security software by Russian companies with suspected links to the Kremlin.

The Department of Homeland Security in September issued a directive ordering civilian government agencies to remove Kaspersky software from their networks within 90 days.

It came amid mounting concern among US officials that the software could enable Russian espionage and threaten national security.

Kaspersky, the popular maker of anti-virus software, has vehemently denied that it is helping Moscow spy on other countries.

It has gone to court in an attempt to overturn the US government's ban on its products.

Morpho, which has since been sold and renamed Idemia, brushed aside the claims as 'old allegations' that have long been 'rejected' by authorities.

Editor's note: Since first publication, we have been contacted by IDEMIA who have asked us to make it clear that the whistleblowers' claims were dismissed with prejudice by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in August 2017. Judge Koh further found claims to be "clearly frivolous" and that the individuals who brought the claims did not have any "insider" information suggesting any misconduct by IDEMIA or its predecessor. The U.S. government has subsequently confirmed that the software is not compromised. There is no risk to the biometric data of U.S. citizens.

IDEMIA takes issue with the representations and suggestions contained in media publications whose reports are based on the lawsuit claims that were dismissed with prejudice.
A pregnant critically endangered elephant has been found dead after a 'deliberate poisoning' in a palm oil plantation on Indonesia's Sumatra island, according to authorities.

The animal's body was found near the remote Seuneubok Bayu village in Aceh on December 22 after authorities received a tip off from locals.

'The 25-year-old elephant had been dead for around 10 days when we got there,' Aceh conservation centre head Sapto Aji Prabowo told AFP.

'From the autopsy, we saw that its digestive organs turned black which the doctor said was a general indication of poisoning.'

The pregnant elephant was found dead after a 'deliberate poisoning' in a palm oil plantation on Indonesia's Sumatra island

During the autopsy they discovered she was 13 months pregnant, and her digestive organs had turned black

Sumatran elephants have an average lifespan of 60 years.

The elephant was carrying a 13-month-old male foetus and was at least six months short of giving birth.

Locals told authorities that several days before the carcass was discovered farmers had complained an elephant ate their fertiliser.

Sumatran elephant are critically endangered and a protected species, but rampant deforestation for plantations has reduced their natural habitat and brought them into conflict with humans.

At least 11 wild elephants died in Aceh this year, most of them killed by humans, according to Mr Prabowo.

In January, authorities found a dead elephant without tusks in Aceh, along with its abandoned 11-month-old calf.

Locals told authorities that several days before the carcass was discovered farmers had complained an elephant ate their fertiliser (pictured: part of the internal organs)
Four people found slain inside an upstate New York apartment house the day after Christmas have been identified as two young siblings, their mother and the woman's lesbian partner, in what police are calling a savage targeted attack the likes of which they have not seen before.

Troy police Chief John Tedesco said at a Wednesday press conference the victims were a 36-year-old woman, her 5-year-old daughter, her 11-year-old son and a 22-year-old woman who had a relationship with the mother.

Tedesco told reporters a property manager found the bodies on Tuesday afternoon after being asked to check on the welfare of the residents of the basement apartment, one of five in a house located in the citys Lansingburgh section.

Tedesco noted the slayings were not a random act of violence and characterized the quadruple homicide as the worst he has seen in 42 years in law enforcement.

'I cant describe the savagery of a person [who would do this],' he said. 'I dont have the word... only a person of savagery would do something like this.'

Investigators have not released the victims names or say how they were killed.

Four people, including a lesbian couple and two children, ages 5 and 11, were found dead on Tuesday inside this house on 2nd Avenue in Troy, New York

Troy police investigate multiple deaths at 158 Second Avenue on Tuesday

Based on evidence uncovered in the course of the investigation, police do not believe there is imminent danger to the community. So far, no arrests have been made.

"The emotions of a police officer is something you repress because there is a job to be done, but no one involved in this case is ever going to forget it,' Tedesco added. 'Right now our job is to bring this person to justice.'

Troy Police Capt. Daniel DeWolf said earlier the deaths are 'certainly suspicious.'

The unit where the bodies were found is one of five in a home located in a residential neighborhood along the Hudson Rivers east bank, just north of Albany.

While police have been tight-lipped about the victims, several Facebook users identifying themselves as relatives of the deceased have been posting messages and photos, and sharing links to news articles about the killings in Troy.

Officers swarmed the home at 158 2nd Avenue street shortly before 1pm on Tuesday and cordoned off the area around the residence, a white four-bedroom, two-bath house with a bay window in the front and rows of windows.

Police Capt DeWolf on Tuesday called the deaths 'horrible, terrible' and sad. The incident is being investigated as a quadruple homicide.

All of the deceased were reportedly found in the basement of the 5,852-square-foot residence.

The bodies were discovered in a basement apartment near Albany
John Dalton, 46 and a convicted killer, has been named a person of interest after a triple homicide occurred in North Omaha, Nebraska on Tuesday evening

Police are searching for a convicted killer after three people were shot dead in Omaha, Nebraska Tuesday evening.

John Dalton, 46, has been named a person of interest after the triple homicide, with police revealing he is related to all three of the victims, 3NewsNow reported.

Police were summoned to a home in North Omaha near 37th and Spaulding, which the Omaha World-Herald reported Dalton is the owner of, shortly before 8 p.m. on Tuesday.

All three people were pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

The victims have been identified as 69-year-old John W. Dalton, 65-year-old Jean Dalton, and 18-year-old Leonna Dalton-Phillip. He is the son of victims John and Jean and also the uncle of Leonna.

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The victims have been identified as 69-year-old John W. Dalton, his father, 65-year-old Jean Dalton, his mother (both pictured right), and his 18-year-old niece Leonna Dalton-Phillip (left)

A few hours after the shooting, friends and relatives of the victims congregated near St. Mark Baptist Church on Spaulding St., to grieve and pay their respects to their lost loved ones.

Dalton previously served eleven years in prison for murdering his then 22-year-old wife, Shannon Dalton, by shooting her in the head in 1998.

The couple - who have three children together, aged six, five and three at the time of their mother's death - had been married for five years.

The children allegedly heard the shooting but did not see anything. Her body was discovered on the floor of their shared living room.

The triple homicide took place near 37th and Spaulding in North Omaha, Nebraska

Police arrived at the scene Tuesday evening shortly before 8 p.m. where they pronounced the three victims, who are related to Dalton, dead

Courtesy of WOWT

After the shooting, Dalton escaped in his wifes car but was pulled over a few days later in Tennessee for a traffic violation.

He was taken back to Omaha to face charges. After his eleven years in prison Dalton was released in 2010. Apparently a plea bargain saved him from serving a potential life sentence.

Police have said Dalton will either be driving a red 2007 Chevy Tahoe or a black 2015 GMC Terrain with the license plate VRD559.

They have warned people that he is considered 'armed and dangerous.'

Police have urged people to call 402-444-5656 if they see him or have any information on the homicides.

Police were summoned to a home in North Omaha near 37th and Spaulding, which the Omaha World-Herald reported Dalton is the owner of

Police revealed the three victims include his parents 69-year-old John W. Dalton and 65-year-old Jean Dalton, and also his 18-year-old niece Leonna Dalton-Phillip
The terrifying tale of how an heir to the billion-dollar Getty fortune was kidnapped and then held captive for five months has been brought to the big screen by Ridley Scott in the new film All the Money in the World.

J. Paul Getty III was just 16 years old and living in Italy when members of the Italian mafia grabbed him off the street on July 10, 1973 as he returned home from a night out with friends.

He was thrown in the back of the van and taken 300 miles south to the mountains of Calabria, with his captors soon informing the teenager's family that the boy would be safely returned after they paid a $17 million ransom.

The boy's mother, Gail Harris, and father, J. Paul Getty Jr, had been cut off from the family fortune, and so they asked J. P Getty if he would be willing to cover the amount of money demanded by the kidnappers.

At the time, J Paul Getty was worth a little less than $2 billion, making him not only the richest man in the world but also the wealthiest man in history.

That is when the already shocking incident took the most bizarre twist of all, with J Paul Getty refusing the pay the ransom money.

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Earless heir: All The Money In The World tells true story of the 1973 kidnapping of John Paul Getty III (above in December 1973 with his mother Gail just after his release) who was held captive for five months by members of the mafia

Hard no: The boy's grandfather J Paul Getty was worth close to $2 billion thanks to his oil fortune at the time, but refused to pay any ransom

Dismissed: The Gettys and Italian police believed that the boy was faking the kidnapping to get money because he and Gail were cut off from the family fortune (Christopher Plummer as J paul Getty and Mark Wahlberg as a former CIA operative in Money above)

J Paul Getty said at the time that if he agreed to the demand made by the kidnappers for the return of his grandson, there was nothing to stop financially-motivated individuals from abducting his other grandchildren.

'If I pay one penny now, Ill have 14 kidnapped grandchildren,' he told reporters at the time.

He was known at the time as much for his oil fortune as for his frugality, and some believed at first that J Paul Getty III may have staged the entire kidnapping to get money from his grandfather.

J Paul Getty Jr had been cut off after his drug addiction led to him leaving the family business and wife Gail, who was quickly cast aside by the Getty family.

It was Gail however who pushed back on her former father-in-law, and used the press to launch subtle attacks that eventually shamed the man into paying the ransom.

That took four months however, and after the kidnappers showed just how far they were willing to take the negotiations.

A package was delivered on November with a note that read: 'This is Paul's ear. If we don't get some money within 10 days, then the other ear will arrive. In other words, he will arrive in little bits.'

Inside was the teenager's ear, and a request for $3.2 million if the family wanted to see him come home safe and not returned in 'little bits.'

This forced J Paul Getty to the negotiating table, and he agreed to pay $2.2 million for the return of his grandson while loaning an additional $700,000 to his son which would have to be paid back with interest.

The money was quickly handed over to the kidnappers, who had been keeping their captive in the tiny village of Cicala, and on December 15 J Paul Getty III was dropped off at a gas station in Potenza, just north of where he was being held in the mountains.

Desperate mother: Two days after he was taken off the streets of Rome and driven 300 miles south to Calabria, his mother Gail Harris (left on July 17, 1973 just 10 days after the kidnapping; right Michelle Williams as Harris) received a ransom demand for $17 million

Extreme measures: In November, four months after the kidnapping, a box was sent from the kidnappers containing the boy's ear and a lock of hair (Charlie Plummer as J Paul Getty III in Money above)

Family: J Paul Getty III's son Balthazar (above in June) with his wife Rosetta and their two children Violet and June

Proud son: Balthazar posted a photo of his dad to Instagram last month, writing: 'My Pop ,been thinking about you a lot.  #nips what a player'

Nine people were ultimately arrested for the kidnapping but only two were convicted, and the ransom money was never located despite police efforts.

There was also no great reunion between grandfather and grandson, with J Paul Getty refusing to take a phone call from the recently released captive when he called from Italy.

The Gettys play a major role in Scott's film, with British actor Charlie Plummer playing the young victim and Oscar-winner Christopher Plummer tackling th role of the world's richest man.

It was a part that had initially been filmed by Kevin Spacey, but Scott made the decision to cut him from the picture after allegations of his sexual misconduct with underage boys became public earlier this year.

The star of the film however is not the Getty men, but rather the woman responsible for getting the boy back - his mother Gail.

She is portrayed by Michelle Williams in the film, who along with Plummer and Scott has been nominated for a Golden Globe award.

Gail was followed by the press and did everything in her power to get her son back despite having no access to any of the Getty funds and no support from her drug-addicted ex-husband.

'Get it from London,' she was told by the kidnappers when she explained her predicament, suggesting she call her former in-laws.

That was later followed by a letter from her son, which read: 'Dear Mummy, Since Monday I have fallen into the hands of kidnappers. Dont let me be killed.'

With no money and little timer, Gail began to very adroitly use the press to shame her former father-in-law and his refusal to hand over any of his fortune.

It was also Gail who had to convince the entire Getty family that this was not some prank her son was pulling in a bid to get a multi-million dollar payday.

Pushed aside: he Gettys and Italian police believed that the boy was faking the kidnapping to get money because he and Gail were cut off from the family fortune (Gail and her son in April 1974 after speaking with police about the case)

Right-hand man: J Paul Getty refused to speak directly with Gail (Wahlberg and Williams above in Money) and instead sent a former CIA operative to handle the situation

Safe and sound: A month after his ear was chopped off a $2.9 million ransom was paid, with Getty paying $2.2 million and loaning his son $700,000 at six percent interest to cover the rest (Getty above in 1976 at a party hosted by Andy Warhol)

Tragic: John Paul Getty III was cared for by hius mother after a 1981 drug overdose left him quadriplegic and partially blind (above in 2003 at his father's funeral)

Through this all, Gail was forced to communicate through an intermediary as her former father-in-law refused to speak directly to her or her ex.

That man was J. Fletcher Chase, a former CIA operative played in the movie by mark Wahlberg.

He arrived in Italy to try and get the kidnapped teen back without paying any ransom at J Paul Getty's insistence, and was ultimately accused of almost botching the operation by making a number of foolish moves.

Chase arrived in Rome five weeks after the kidnapping and soon began sleeping with a woman who was reportedly being paid to feed him false leads while suggesting the entire kidnapping was a hoax.

He also botched his first attempt to hand over the ransom to the kidnappers.

'The aftermath of the ordeal left Mr. Getty as a reckless personality; the year after his release he married a German photographer whose name has been variously reported as Gisela Zacher and Martine Zacher,' read J Paul Getty III's obituary in The New York Times when he passed away back in 2011.

'They lived for a time in New York, where they consorted with the art crowd of Andy Warhol. Mr. Getty became a drug user and a heavy drinker.'

He was survived by his son, actor Balthazar Getty, and his mother, who cared for him until his death following a 1981 drug overdose when the young man consumed a cocktail of Valium, methadone and alcohol that left him quadriplegic and partially blind.

His grandfather J Paul Getty died in 1976 and left his son $500 in his will, and his grandson nothing.
Two days of deluges have dumped a month's worth of rain in some parts of the country, causing chaos on the roads and for commuters attempting to get to work this morning. Trains have been delayed this morning after flooding stopped them on the tracks, while some major roads were left shut due to the amount of standing water. The Met Office has warned that some areas could see almost four inches of rain in the coming 24 hours, as the 'atrocious' weather looks set to continue. The service has put in place two warnings for heavy rain which are in force across large part of the midlands and the north, as well as eastern Scotland, while the Environment Agency has issued 25 flood warnings and 99 alerts in England. Photos show cars stuck in deep standing water and lorries partially submerged after misjudging the extent of the flooding in Surrey and West Sussex. The M23 southbound was closed between J10 and J11 as workers tried to remove standing water during Rush Hour this morning, after the road and the nearby A27 was closed overnight due to flooding, with firefighters called in to rescue trapped motorists last night. Emergency services spent the night trying to free those trapped in the horrendous conditions, as well as removing vehicles stuck in the rising water. As of this morning the road's eastbound carriageway remains closed. There was also severe disruption on the trains in and around London this morning, with trains from Essex into the capital delayed after reports a lorry hit a railway crossing barrier, while part of the Piccadilly Line between Rayners Lane and Uxbridge has no service this morning, with Transport for London blaming 'significant leaf fall'
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Prefab housing is returning to the UK after a council started work on 28 new pre-built two-bedroom homes.

Authorities in Reading are spending nearly 2million on so-called 'modular houses' like those thrown up during the 'homes for heroes' campaign of the post-war years.

The 28 homes being built in the Berkshire town are timber clad with uPVC windows and doors and each contain two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen-diner and a living room.

They will be used the house to homeless families who would otherwise be put up in B&Bs in a move the local council hopes will save money over time.

Prefab homes were delivered to a site in Reading this week, where they will be used to house homeless families from the area

A total of 28 homes like these ones are being used to house families who would otherwise being stay in bed and breakfasts

Photos from inside the homes show the modern-looking kitchens and laminate floors which will greet new residents next year

The homes come pre-built to the site on a back of lorries before being hoisted on top of one another using large cranes

Three bedroom semi-detached houses in the same road have sold for as much as 335,000 this year, with the prefabs costing a fraction of that at an average cost of just 71,400 each.

According to the council it costs around 13,000 a year on average to house a family in a bed and breakfast.

The new development itself will also have a children's play area, car parking and bike shed. The council applied for five years of planning permission for the homes, which are described as 'temporary' in official documents.

Each house has an internal area of 50.6 sq m. Each bedroom is 12.2 sq m in area and the living area is approximately 24.4 sq m.

Each unit is timber-clad with UPVC windows and contains two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen-diner and a living room

It is hoped the return to the easy-to-build methods of the 1940s will help councils deal with the UK's current housing shortage

The development, still under construction, features 32 car parking spaces, bicycle sheds, a play area and communal space

The site plan shows seven buildings composed of stack prefab homes at the site in the north of the Berkshire town

The housing crisis affecting Reading In 2016, it was revealed that almost 23,000 people were on the housing waiting list with Reading Borough Council. The Labour-run authority said population growth is being driven by international migration and a high birth rate. Officials also said the amount of people needing a new home had doubled in five years, leaving the council with its highest levels of demand in more than 20 years. The lack of housing has been attributed to several factors, including high land prices and the lack of new affordable housing developments. An increase in Right to Buy sales has also led to reduced social housing. The housing crisis has also forced up the price of homes, with the average house in Reading - 250,000 - costing more than eight times the average wage, while the cost of rent is 200 above the national average. Advertisement

Work is underway to install and furnish the homes and the first families are expected to move in in January.

Thousands of prefab homes were built in the late 1940s as the post-war government threw up homes for returning servicemen and their families.

But the low quality materials and quick construction meant many of the homes became synonymous with being cheap and nasty.

Reading is now among the local authorities hoping the new generation of prefab homes won't suffer the same fate, and will be an answer to Britain's housing shortage.

Cllr John Ennis, Reading's Lead Councillor for Housing, said: 'This development will reduce the number of families requiring emergency accommodation being placed in bed and breakfasts and provide them with a comfortable and well-equipped temporary home.

'Not only will this be much better for the families involved, it will also save the Council money in the long run.'

But the plans did not receive universal approval. A letter from residents of the nearby Caversham Park Village last year accused the council of 'resurrecting a bad and failed solution of the past'.

Last month, it was announced that prefabricated bungalows made from cream corrugated sheets in Moseley, Birmingham had been named alongside Windsor Castle and Blenheim Palace on a list of the top ten historic places in England.

Cranes have this week being hoisting the houses into place at the site of the old caravan park in the Caversham suburb

The plans have been criticised by some locals, who say the idea of return to refabs is a return to 'failed policies of the past'

But the local council says it will save them from having to hand over huge amounts to B&Bs for homeless accomodation

The use of pre-fabs is also taking off in the private sector with home-buyers seeing it as a way of building their own home
The Pentagon will start openly green-lighting new transgender recruits next week unless a last-ditch effort from the White House results in a new level of judicial intervention from the Supreme Court.

President Donald Trump tweeted in July that the federal government 'will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. military.'

Trump at the time also called on the military to 'discharge' transgender personnel and halt funding of 'sex reassignment surgical procedures.'

That appeared to reverse a 2016 policy change under President Barack Obama, who allowed biological males living as females  and vice-versa  to serve openly.

In July, Trump tweeted that he had decided he would "not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. military." The tweet came with little, if any, advance consultation with military officials, who have not shown much enthusiasm for reinstating the ban.

President Donald Trump got coal in his stocking from a handful of federal courts that won't let him ban transgender recruits from joining America's armed forces

Transgender politics have become front and center this year with Trump as president; notable transgenders Chelsea Manning and Gavin Grimm are shown riding in New York's 'Pride' parade this year

The Pentagon's top general, James 'Mad Dow' Mattis, has been forced to side with a 2016 Obama administration directive instead of listening to his own commander-in-chief

But court battles followed, climbing the ladder up to a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Those judges ruled against the administration just before Christmas, leaving the U.S. Supreme Court as Trump's only hope to stand his ground.

Barring an order from the high court, U.S. service branches will be required to ignore the president's tweets and process transgender enlistments beginning January 1.

At least four federal judges have refused to allow Trump's ban to take effect, including U.S. District Judge Jesus G. Bernal in California.

On Friday Bernal rejected the Trump administration's request to throw out a lawsuit attacking the ban.

Bernal agreed with seven plaintiffs that they were improperly discriminated against based on their sex or gender.

The Pentagon is already preparing for the sea change; one memo distributed to commanders orders them to address recruits by the names and gender pronouns they prefer

On the same day, a pair of federal appeals courts  the D.C. court and one in Richmond, Virginia  both refused requests for emergency 'stays' that would have stopped the Defense Department from accepting transgender applications on January 1.

The administration's lawyers 'have not shown a strong likelihood that they will succeed on the merits of their challenge to the district court's order,' the D.C. judges wrote.

Trump tweeted in July that the federal government 'will not accept or allow' transgender individuals to serve 'in any capacity' in the military but federal courts have stopped him

'It must be remembered,' the trop added, that the plaintiffs want 'to serve their nation with honor and dignity, volunteering to face extreme hardships, to endure lengthy deployments and separation from family and friends and to willingly make the ultimate sacrifice of their lives if necessary.'

A Justice Department spokeswoman, Lauren Ersham, responded with a brief statement: 'We disagree with the court's ruling and are currently evaluating our next steps.'

The Pentagon is already preparing for the sea change. One memo distributed on December 8 to sector and battalion commanders advises them on 'transgender applicant processing.'

'As always, every applicant will be treated with dignity and respect,' it said, ordering officers to address recruits by the names and gender pronouns they prefer.
Two people who died following a crash on Christmas Day have been named as Pc Dave Fields and Lorraine Stephenson, South Yorkshire Police said.

The force said the crash happened at 8.15pm as Pc Fields was travelling on the A57 in Sheffield.

He had been responding to another incident when his BMW 3 Series collided with a silver Citroen C3 heading the opposite way, in which Mrs Stephenson had been a passenger.

Father-of-two PC Dave Fields and Lorraine Stephenson died in a Christmas Day crash in Sheffield. PC Fields family said he was dedicated to his job and a loving father

A 63-year-old man who was driving the Citroen was taken to hospital and remains in a serious condition, police said.

A force spokesman said Pc Fields had been in a marked car 'responding to an immediate incident' when the collision happened on the 50mph road, which is one of the main routes into Sheffield from the south of the city.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) was been notified about the crash as a matter of routine and is investigating the circumstances.

On Tuesday, Assistant Chief Constable David Hartley said: 'On behalf of the force I'd like to offer my sincere condolences to all of those left bereaved by this terrible tragedy, our thoughts, love and support are extended to all those affected.

'We are doing everything we can to support them through this difficult time. I ask that their privacy is respected at this sad time.

'We have lost a friend and a colleague from our police family in this incident.

'The officer has been with us for 12 years and was a passionate, professional and universally liked officer. His colleagues, and everyone across the force, are devastated by what has happened.

'Our thoughts are with both families who have lost loved ones during this incredibly difficult time.'

A map shows where the marked police car crashed with the Citroen C3 at around 8.15pm yesterday on the A57 near Sheffield yesterday

Earlier this year, Pc Fields was featured in an article on the force's website highlighting some of the tasks Joint Specialist Operations Uniformed (JSOU) officers deal with on a daily basis.

It described how he initially started out as an officer based in Sheffield before moving across to roads policing with the JSOU, where he had been for the last ten years.

The piece said: 'During this time, it is fair to say Pc Fields has seen and dealt with his fair share of incidents, accidents and offenders.'

It said Pc Fields decided to apply to become a JSOU officer due to his background in engineering and mechanics, with a passion for cars and bikes.

In the article, the officer was asked what he likes most about his job. He said: 'Each day I come into work not knowing what is in front of me or what I will have to deal with. No day is ever the same and knowing that I will be faced with different tasks each day is both exciting and motivating.'

PC Fields was also a football referee and vice-chairman of Sheffield Referees Association.

A statement on the association's Facebook page said: 'Dave wasn't just my best friend, he was vice chairman of Sheffield Referees Association, the greatest mentor to referees, and especially to my kids.

'He was a referee, tutor and one of the good guys, giving up his time to help anyone.

'Most of all he was a dad and husband and my thoughts are so much with his family at such a difficult time.

'He loves football and loves his job as a police officer and his passing will leave a hole in so many lives.'
Seventeen American, British and French businessmen are being held in Saudi Arabia as part of a sweeping anti-corruption crackdown, a source in the secretive kingdom has told DailyMail.com.

The men - eight U.S. citizens, six British and three French - were held in a round-up of billionaires and princes ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the source said.

The prince, known as MBS, has said the arrests were to end corruption but others see them as a consolidation of his power. The targets are known to have included one of the world's wealthiest men, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, whose portfolio includes stakes in Uber, Twitter and Citigroup.

The source - who has knowledge of MBS's thinking - said the men were among those being held at the Ritz Carlton in Riyadh, a five-star hotel, which has become the world's most luxurious prison.

Seventeen American, British and French businessmen were detained by Saudi Prince Mohammed Bin Salman last month. They were taken with other businessmen, princes and officials. Some are allegedly being tortured, a source claims. Pictured: Detainees at the Ritz Carlton in Riyadh

A source inside the secretive kingdom claims: 'They are beating them, torturing them, slapping them, insulting them. They want to break them down.' Prince Salman (pictured) is seeking $100bn in settlements from those charged with corruption

The detainees are being held at the Ritz Carlton in the country's capital of Riyadh (pictured)

The source also said that some of the 17 businessmen were among the detainees who had been tortured by Saudi authorities.

Each of them were in the country on work permits, the source said, suggesting they were long-time expatriate residents rather than visiting businessmen.

'They are beating them, torturing them, slapping them, insulting them. They want to break them down,' the source, who has knowledge of the top levels of the Saudi government, said.

DailyMail.com was unable to verify the source's claims independently.

A spokeswoman for the Saudi Embassy in Washington said the country's public prosecutor was 'complying with the relevant laws and regulations' over the arrests and declined to discuss who had been arrested and whether any non-Saudis were caught in the dragnet.

Under normal circumstances detained foreign nationals have the right to contact their country's embassy to ask for assistance.

The State Department said it could not comment on individual cases due to 'privacy considerations' and declined to say if it had been asked for assistance by attorneys or families of U.S. citizens in the wake of the round-up.

'The Department of State takes its obligation to assist U.S. citizens abroad seriously.

'When we are notified of the arrest of a U.S. citizen, we immediately seek to visit him or her. Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment,' said a spokesperson.

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office said they have not been contacted by any British citizens in Riyadh for assistance, and the French foreign office declined to comment.

If the men had not contacted their embassies through their families or legal representatives, it would be possible for the U.S., UK and France to say they were unaware of the arrested - but the high-profile nature of MBS's actions makes it unlikely that key allies could be unaware that Saudi Arabia was holding its citizens in open-ended detention.

MBS rounded up 11 of his fellow princes, hundreds of businessmen and government officials in an alleged corruption crackdown on November 4, just a week after a high-profile investment conference welcomed leaders of some of the world's largest companies to the kingdom.

The Saudi government claims that detainees, including former princes who have now been stripped of their titles, have admitted to systemic bribery of a network of scores of foreign officials.

Highest profile prisoner: Prince Alwaleed bin Talal (pictured) was hung upside to 'send a message' after being lured to a meeting with the crown prince. He is worth at least $7 billion

The arrests drew praise from President Trump, who tweeted on November 6: 'I have great confidence in King Salman and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, they know exactly what they are doing Some of those they are harshly treating have been 'milking' their country for years!'

Despite the draconian crackdown, Crown Prince Salman, 32, seeks to portray himself as a modernizing influence on the Arab country, advocating women drivers and vowing to promote a 'moderate, open Islam' in Saudi Arabia.

The arrests drew praise from Trump, who tweeted on November 6: 'I have great confidence in King Salman and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, they know exactly what they are doing Some of those they are harshly treating have been 'milking' their country for years!'

Many of the more than 200 detainees have been held under armed guard at the opulent Ritz Carlton Hotel in the country's capital, Riyadh.

DailyMail.com disclosed that despite the five-star status of their prison, they were being made to sleep on thin mattresses on a function room's floor, and that some of the arrested princes and officials have been 'tortured', hung upside down and beaten during interrogations.

Among those said to be hung upside down are Prince Alwaleed.

A doctor at a hospital in Riyadh and a US official told the New York Times that as many as 17 detainees needed medical treatment after interrogations.

The Saudi Arabian prosecutor is seeking $100 billion in settlements from those charged with corruption, while the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry says the revenue lost to alleged grafting by the arrested princes and officials could total as much as $800 billion.

The Crown Prince said last month that '95 percent' of the suspects charged with corruption have agreed to a settlement.

'We show them all the files that we have and as soon as they see those about 95 percent agree to a settlement,' Salman told the New York Times.

'About one percent are able to prove they are clean and their case is dropped right there. About four percent say they are not corrupt and with their lawyers want to go to court.'

Salman added that his public prosecutor says it could eventually 'be around $100 billion in settlements.'

Saudi authorities want at least $6 billion from Prince Alwaleed to secure his freedom, the Wall Street Journal, which quoted sources who said he is trying to strike a deal for his release, reported earlier this month.

The prince is the 57th-richest person in the world with an estimated $18 billion fortune, his own yacht, and a personalized private Boeing 747 with a gilded throne.

His arrest was the most shocking of the crackdown, as he had been a prominent public face of the kingdom until days beforehand.

His final appearance in public was an interview with CNBC's Squawk Box in which he praised President Trump and said bitcoin would implode. Days later he was arrested.

Arrests of expatriate Americans, British and French citizens in Saudi are highly unusual.

Although the country has an estimated 11 million guest workers, the vast majority are from India, Pakistan, the Philippines and African countries, providing the kingdom with a pool of cheap labor.

As the wealthy Saudis are being told to fork over their cash for settlements, Prince Salman has also been shelling out money - but for rare paintings and luxury homes. He was the buyer of this $450.3 million Leonardo da Vinci painting in November

There are no precise figures but Americans are believed to number around 40,000, most of them working in the oil industry or construction and related sectors, and others servicing the expatriate community, particularly as teachers.

Similarly, expatriate Britons are thought to number around 25,000, while French citizens appear to have a smaller community than that.

The lure of no taxes and high wages have proved popular for many years and among the expatriates are businessmen who have found working there lucrative - although if MBS has had westerners arrested, it could have a chilling effect on such engagements.

The scale of the crackdown is matched by MBS's ambitions for the kingdom.

Some of the seized funds may be used to underwrite NEOM, the Crown Prince's planned $500 billion high-tech metropolis.

Proceeds may also go towards servicing the kingdom's $79 billion budget deficit, which has grown from a fall in oil prices and subsequent recession in the country.

As the wealthy Saudis are being told to fork over their cash for settlements, Prince Salman has also been shelling out money - but for rare paintings and luxury homes.

Last week he was revealed as the buyer of a French chateau that became the world's most expensive property when it sold for $300 million in 2015.

And shortly before that, he was named as the buyer of a $450.3 million Leonardo da Vinci painting - and his obscure cousin, who reportedly bought it, was just used as a proxy for the purchase.

The auction was held in November and the artwork will be heading to the Louvre in Abu Dhabi.

A U.S. State Department source told the New York Times that Salman was 'behaving recklessly without sufficient consideration to the likely consequences of his behavior, and that has the potential to damage US interests.'
Navalny(pictured today) unveiled his plan hours after President Putin, who polls suggest is a shoo-in for re-election, registered his candidacy

Opposition leader Alexei Navalny has announced a series of rallies across Russia in January to press home his call for a boycott of next year's presidential election, a move likely to draw a sharp response from the Kremlin and police.

Navalny unveiled his plan hours after President Vladimir Putin, who polls suggest is a shoo-in for re-election, registered his candidacy at the central election commission ahead of the March 18 vote.

The commission ruled on Monday that Navalny was not eligible to run against Putin due to a suspended prison sentence.

A furious Navalny, who says the sentence was part of a fabricated case designed to thwart his political ambitions, responded by calling for an election boycott. That prompted the Kremlin to demand an investigation to determine whether his statement broke the law.

On Wednesday, Navalny upped the ante, saying he and his supporters would organise nationwide rallies on January 28 in 85 towns and cities, including Moscow and St Petersburg, to support his call for an election boycott.

'We refuse to call the reappointment of Putin an election,' Navalny said in a statement on his website.

'We are not going to vote and will convince everyone around us not to vote. We are going to campaign (for a boycott) with all our might.'

A boycott could pose a problem for the Kremlin which is keen to ensure a high turnout in the election to help confer legitimacy on Putin's expected victory amid some signs of apathy among voters.

The commission ruled on Monday that Navalny(seen at a rally on December 24) was not eligible to run against Putin due to a suspended prison sentence

Polls show that Putin, who has led Russia for 18 years as either president or prime minister, is on course to comfortably win another six-year term. He is pictured today at a New Year reception

Under Russian law, the time and place of rallies must be agreed with the authorities who have often declined to authorise them in the past, citing conflicting events or security concerns.

When the opposition has gone ahead anyway, the police have broken up rallies by force and detained attendees.

Polls show that Putin, who has led Russia for 18 years as either president or prime minister, is on course to comfortably win another six-year term, allowing him to rule until 2024, when he'll turn 72.

The former KGB officer is running as an independent, a move seen as a way of strengthening his image as a 'father of the nation' rather than as a party political figure

The former KGB officer is running as an independent, a move seen as a way of strengthening his image as a 'father of the nation' rather than as a party political figure.

The ruling United Russia party, which he once led and which controls three quarters of seats in the lower house of parliament, has said it will support him, as will Just Russia, a pro-government centre-left group.

Allies laud Putin for restoring national pride and expanding Moscow's global clout with interventions in Syria and Ukraine.

But Navalny says Putin has been in power too long and that his support is artificially maintained by a biased state media and an unfair system which excludes genuine opponents.

Navalny has made a name for himself by successfully leveraging social media and conducting high profile corruption investigations into senior officials.

He has also organised some of the biggest anti-government protests in years.

Opinion polls, whose accuracy Navalny dismisses, put his support in single digits while giving Putin an approval rating of around 80 percent.
A restaurant employee burnt the bread in Terminal 2 of Lambert Airport at 6pm

A burnt bagel is being blamed for the evacuation of a terminal at Lambert Airport in St. Louis.

Airport officials say a bagel burned in a restaurant in Terminal 2 around 6pm Tuesday, setting off smoke detectors and prompting a full evacuation.

An estimated 300 to 400 people were required to go outside, where the temperature was 11 degrees.

A burnt bagel is being blamed for the evacuation of a terminal at Lambert Airport in St. Louis

The airport says the evacuation lasted only about five minutes, but passengers had to go back through security checks once they re-entered the building.

A Boston-based journalist named Jacob Long said on Twitter there were hundreds of travelers walking beneath jet bridges as they were evacuated.

Airport officials say a bagel burned in a restaurant in Terminal 2 around 6pm Tuesday, setting off smoke detectors and prompting a full evacuation.

'No idea where we are going or why,' he said.

A few minutes later he posted: 'Okay. Stand down. Apparently it was a burnt bagel that caused the Lambert evacuation. A BAGEL.'

No flight delays were reported.
Residents in China are now able to prove their identity using just their smartphone.

A new virtual identification system has been launched and will be rolled out across the country in January through a popular messaging platform.

The digital ID card has the same legal effect as a physical identification card, which means people could use it to travel within China, apply for credit cards or register a new business.

Two citizens show their digital identification cards on their smartphones in Guangzhou, China

The virtual ID card (left) will have the same legally effect as a physical identification card (right)

The system, known as the CTID, is run as an app on WeChat, the Chinese equivalent to WhatsApp, according to People's Daily Online, citing Guangzhou Daily.

To use the app, the user's would need to download it onto their phone then put their personal information into the app, which is connected to the national police database.

The user would also be required to take a picture of themselves as part of the verification process, and set up a password.

All of the user's information would be sent to the police, who would confirm its authenticity.

Once the registration is complete, the user would receive a digital ID card in their WeChat.

The system is being tested in Guangdong before being rolled out across China in January

The user needs to take a picture of themselves, input personal information and set a password

When the user is required to prove their identity by a third party, they just need to use the app to scan a particular QR code supplied by the third party before using the CTID app to scan their face.

The system would then verify the user's identity by comparing their face to the information in the system and send the result to the third party. The whole process takes just a few seconds.

The Chinese authority launched the system in Guangdong Province, in southern China, on December 25.

It's currently testing the system before activating it across the country next month, according to plan.

Commenting on the app's security, a police officer from Guangzhou, the provincial capital of Guangdong, said the new virtual ID system would be safer than the traditional physical identification card.

The app would send the information back to the police for verification before issuing a digital ID. Pictured, China's first digital ID card is being issued in Guangzhou on December 25

The police officer, named Yan Dong, told Guangzhou Television Station: 'If someone steals your physical ID card, it would be possible for them to make a photocopy of it then go to apply for bank cards or credit cards.

'As for the online ID card, unless he steals your face and fingerprints which is nearly impossible, he would not be able to do the same.'

According to People's Daily Online, if the digital ID user loses their phone, all they need to do is to log into their WeChat account on another machine, then they would be able to delete their digital ID, or change their password.
Melania Trump loves to watch 'Empire' and 'How to Get Away with Murder,' the first lady recently told the New York Times.

Reality TV, where her husband made some of his bread and butter before moving on to politics, didn't come up on her must-watch list, the Times said.

Trump's preferences are notable, as the two series feature strong female characters and star two of the country's most famous and accomplished black actresses, Taraji P. Henson and Viola Davis.

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Melania Trump recently revealed to the New York Times that her two favorite television shows are 'Empire' and 'How to Get Away With Murder'

The hip-hop drama 'Empire' stars Terrence Howard (left) and Taraji P. Henson (right) and tackles a number of issues including incarceration, mental illness, homophobia and drug addiction. Melania Trump has named it one of her two favorite shows

The first lady also said she loves 'How to Get Away With Murder,' starring Viola Davis (center). The Shonda Rhimes produced shows has been called the 'most progressive' and the 'queerest show on network TV' for its portrayal of LGBT characters, among other story lines

'How to Get Away With Murder,' the Davis-fronted drama, is another successful production of Shonda Rhimes, the mastermind behind 'Grey's Anatomy' and the Washington, D.C., drama 'Scandal.'

Rhimes has made it a point to cast a diverse set of actors and actresses in her shows and push society's boundaries, with story lines that include abortions, gay marriage, bi-racial pairings and transgender characters.

In 'Scandal,' for instance, a white President Fitzgerald Grant has a longtime affair with black Olivia Pope, a powerful political fixer, who has an abortion in season five.

As for Melania Trump's pick, Vanity Fair has questioned whether 'How to Get Away With Murder' is 'the most progressive show on television.'

While HuffPost published a piece last year labeling it the 'queerest show on network TV,' for its copious gay sex scenes, along with an episode featuring a transgender character, a character finding out he had HIV and another navigating how to use the drug PrEP, which prevents HIV infection.

'Empire,' which was a ratings record-breaker in its first season and also stars Terrence Howard, is a hip-hop family drama that tackles issues including incarceration, mental illness, homophobia and drug addiction.

And like the first lady's other favorite, 'How to Get Away With Murder,' 'Empire' features some murders too.

The first lady has not often expressed her pop culture preferences since taking on the role, as she's done few interviews with the press.

Earlier this month she did note some of her holiday favorites saying that she liked the song 'Oh, Holy Night,' and enjoyed 'healthy food,' even at Christmas.

She also told a crowd, gathered at the Children's National hospital in Washington, D.C., that she wished to spend Christmas 'on a deserted island, a tropical island, with my family.'

The first lady has instead spent nearly a week in Florida alongside President Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach.

Her most recent publicized appearance was on Christmas Eve talking on the phone with children who had called into NORAD to hear when Santa Claus might arrive at their homes.
The husband of a woman mauled to death by two pitbulls on Christmas Eve has tearfully recalled their last moments together as he called for the owner of the two dogs to be punished.

Lorraine Brock Saylor, 66, had gone outside her Kentucky home on Sunday morning to feed their cat when the neighbor's two pitbulls fatally attacked her.

Her husband, John Saylor, was also attacked when he rushed to help.

John Saylor has tearfully recalled how his 66-year-old wife Lorraine was mauled to death by two pitbulls on Christmas Eve outside their home in Arjay, Kentucky

The couple, who had been married 38 years, both suffered about 20 bites each on their arms, head and neck in the vicious attack.

John was eventually able to break free and grab his gun. He shot dead one of the pitbulls while the other fled after being injured.

By the time John was able to reach his wife, he found her dead on their front porch.

'She was weak and about 105 pounds,' John told WATE. 'I saw her body on the porch and I said, 'Oh God! Oh no! Please no!' I checked her pulse just in case.

'I knew she was gone.'

John, who was only just released from hospital following the attack, said it was heartbreaking that his wife died in such a tragic way.

The couple, who had been married 38 years, both suffered about 20 bites each on their arms, head and neck in the vicious attack

John, who was only just released from hospital following the attack, said it was heartbreaking that his wife died in such a tragic way

John was eventually able to break free and grab his gun. He shot dead one of the pitbulls while the other fled after being injured

'She was a kindhearted woman,' he said.

'I remember the last time I kissed her on the forehead. I said "I love you". I didn't know that would be my last kiss.'

Johnny Dale Lankford, the 42-year-old owner of the two dogs, was already in custody on domestic violence charges when police arrested him for the deadly animal attack.

Lankford was charged with harboring a vicious animal. He had been in prison since December 22 on the other charges.

It is not known who, if anyone, was watching over the dogs when they attacked the Saylors.

John blames their neighbor for the attack and said he wants him punished.

'He's responsible for my wife's death,' John said.

Johnny Dale Lankford, the 42-year-old owner of the two dogs, has been charged with harboring a vicious animal
British MPs have torn into a former US governor for comparing Donald Trump to Sir Winston Churchill - branding the comments 'absurd'.

Mike Huckabee sent a tweet saying the great wartime leader was 'hated by his own party, opposition party and press' just like the US leader.

And he compared Barack Obama to Neville Chamberlain who pursued a policy of appeasement with the Nazis.

The politician turned Fox News pundit wrote: 'Churchill was hated by his own party, opposition party, and press. Feared by King as reckless, and despised for his bluntness.

'But unlike Neville Chamberlain, he didn't retreat. We had a Chamberlain for 8 yrs; in @realDonaldTrump we have a Churchill.'

But Mr Huckabee's comments has sparked an angry backlash from British MPs who said that while Sir Winston helped save the world from Adolf Hitler's fascism, Mr Trump has endorsed racists.

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee has sparked a storm of criticism on Twitter after he compared Donald trump to Sir Winston Churchill (file pic)

Defence minister Tobias Ellwood invited the Republican former governor of Arkansas to meet with Sir Nicholas Soames - a Tory MP and the wartime leader's grandson.

He wrote on Twitter: 'Ummm...Governor Huckabee ...could I invite you to Westminster and meet my very good friend @NSoames who knows a thing or two about this.

'I know he will take you under his wing - and you will emerge much the wiser. @GovMikeHuckabee.'

Huckabee, who himself ran for president in the Republican primary won by Trump is directly connected to the White House as his daughter, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, is the president's press secretary.

The controversy comes after Mr Trump caused an outcry in the UK after he retweeted anti-Muslim propaganda put out by the far right group Britain First.

When Theresa May condemned his retweet of the extremist video he told the PM not to criticise him and to focus on her own country's problems with radical Islam.

Defence minister Tobias Ellwood invited the Republican former governor of Arkansas to meet with Sir Nicholas Soames - a Tory MP and the wartime leader's grandson.

Former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron pointed out that Sir Winston described himself as a liberal, unlike Donald Trump

MP and former Labour leadership contender Chuka Umunna said there is a stark difference between Donald trump and Sir Winston Churchill

Ian Austin, Labour MP for Dudley North, joined in the condemnation writing on Twitter:

And Labour MP for Leeds North West, Alex Sobel, hit out at the comparison pointing out that Donald Trump had retweeted far-right group Britain First

Ian Austin, Labour MP for Dudley North, joined in the condemnation writing on Twitter: 'Trump like Churchill? Absurd Churchill served in army & led world to beat fascism. Chicken Trump backs racists & dodged draft with bad foot!'

MP and former Labour leadership contender Chuka Umunna said: 'Governor, our grandparents fought the Nazis with Winston Churchill. They knew Churchill and relayed his greatness to future generations.

'He was one of our greatest Prime Ministers. Your President in no way shape or form comes close to being the leader that Churchill was.'

Former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron pointed out that Sir Winston described himself as a liberal, adding 'so that's one difference... but I can't be bothered to correct the rest of this nonsense.'

And Labour MP for Leeds North West, Alex Sobel, said: 'Churchill fought Nazis rather than repeated (or retweeted) them.'

Mike Huckabee sent a tweet saying the great wartime leader was 'hated by his own party, opposition party and press' just like the US leader (pictured in Washington last week) but British MPs have hit out at the remarks saying Sir Winston Churchill took on the far-right whereas Mr trump has retweeted them online

Sir Winston Churchill ended Britain's policy of appeasement and helped defeat Hitler's Nazis (file pic)

Relations between Westminster and the White House have taken a battering since Mr Trump moved into the Oval Office.

Mrs May made a big effort to reinforce the special relationship by visiting him soon after his inauguration and inviting him for a state visit to the UK where he would be the guest of the Royals.

But since then Mr Trump has launched a series of outspoken Twitter attacks on the UK - including a high profile spat with London mayor Sadiq Khan who he incorrectly claimed had told Londoners not to worry about terror attacks.

His state visit has been put on ice but the US leader is expected to come to London in February to open the new American embassy.

Police are braced for what could be the country's biggest ever street protests if the President does decide to go ahead with the trip.
Co-creator of MTV Unplugged Jim Burns has died after being struck by a taxi while crossing Fifth Avenue in Manhattan with his service dog.

Burns, 65, was struck on Saturday on the Upper East Side and succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday.

Police say the cab driver turned onto Fifth Avenue from East 87th Street and struck Burns, who had been walking with his seeing-eye dog near his Upper East Side home at 9.30am.

Jim Burns, co-creator of MTV Unplugged, which in its heyday showcased such artists as Nirvana's Kurt Cobain (left) and Bob Dylan (right), was struck and killed by a cab in Manhattan

The MTV alum was rushed to New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in critical condition after suffering a serious head injury, reported the New York Daily News.

The taxi driver remained at the scene; police still were investigating but don't expect criminal charges.

An MTV spokeswoman said the network is deeply saddened to learn of the death, and that Burns' groundbreaking work would live on.

MTV Unplugged with Robert Small debuted in 1989 at the height of the channel's musical and cultural influence in America.

On the hugely popular show, artists such as Nirvana, Eric Clapton, Aerosmith, Jay-Z and Bob Dylan performed stripped-down versions of their hit songs in an intimate venue.

'As co-creator of the beloved Unplugged franchise, his groundbreaking work continues to resonate with audiences around the world. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and loved ones,' says a statement from MTV.

Some artists released their Unplugged recordings as albums. Clapton's sold 7.7million copies, the most-ever for the series, according to Billboard.

Crash scene: A taxi turned onto Fifth Avenue from East 87th Street and struck Burns, who had been walking with his seeing-eye dog Saturday morning

Nirvana sold 5.1million copies when it debuted in November 1994 at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and was the bands first album after Kurt Cobains suicide in April 1994.

The music series was rebooted this year, with performances from locations around the country that hold meaning for the artist performing. It premiered in September with Shawn Mendes.
A probable cause affidavit filed by the Palm Beach Police Department is revealing new details about the arrest of Luann de Lesseps in the early morning hours of Christmas Eve.

Officer Robert Mastrangelo wrote in the report that he arrived to room 407 at The Colony Hotel when security guard Carlos Lopez called to report that de Lessesps and an unidentified male had broken into another guest's room and were refusing to leave after he discovered them in bed together.

That mystery man had fled the scene by the time Officer Mastrangelo showed up at the scene, but de Lesseps was with another woman, her friend Julie Marie Olson.

'It should be noted that both smelled of an unknown alcoholic beverage, had slurred speech and appeared to be highly intoxicated,' stated the affidavit.

'I asked both females to exit the room, Olson left however de Lesseps refused to leave and locked herself in the bathroom.'

Olson then went home it seems, posting a photo of herself standing in her kitchen at around the same time de Lesseps was being booked on four felony counts.

This all comes just months after the collapse of de Lesseps' marriage to Tom D'Agostino after just eight months.

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Friendly face: The probable cause affidavit filed by Officer Robert Mastrangelo reveals that Luann de Lesseps was with two people in a hotel room night of her arrest, inclduiong Julie Olson (Olson and de Lesseps in March)

Smart move: The affidavit reveals that de Lesseps, 52, was with her friend Olson police arrived on the scene, with Olson agreeing to leave the room when asked (Olson above shortly after leaving the hotel early Sunday)

Fonder memories: The Colony is the same location where de Lesseps and her ex-husband Tom D'Agostino had their New Year's day bridal brunch earlier this year (couple above leaving their bridal brunch) before divorcing after eight months

De Lesseps and Olson had been seen earlier in the evening while getting ready to go out in video posted to the reality star's Instagram account.

The Real Housewives of New York star, 52, can also be seen smiling alongside Olson in a photo posted back on March.

'Last weekend with Tom and Luann D'Agostino on their boat! Fabulous time with the best couple ever!!! BFF's! Luann and I go back to the 90's when we were modeling and doing television shows together in Milan, Italy! Amazing memories ... Thank you, Lu!' wrote Olson.

That photo, which shows the two woman out on the water in their bathing suits, appears to dispute de Lesseps' claim that she had not returned to Palm Beach since her wedding to D'Agostino last New Year's Eve.

The couple celebrated their nuptials with a bridal brunch the next day, which was held at the same hotel where Luann was arrested on Sunday.

De Lesseps' charges stem entirely from her treatment of the police officers who arrived on the scene and tried to get her out of the room over the weekend and into her own, which was one floor below in 327.

Officer O'Leary eventually opened the bathroom door to try and detain de Lesseps according to the affidavit, at which point she 'shoved Officer O'Leary with an open palm to the chest, then slammed the door on Officer O'Leary's face, striking him in the forehead.'

She resisted again as Officer O'Leary placed her in handcuffs, and managed to get out of the shackles once she was in the patrol car.

Mugging for the camera: News of her arrest was first reported by The Palm Beach Post

De Lesseps 'attempted to exit the vehicle' at thsat point, and as she was pout back in and cuffed once more she told Officer Mastrangelo: '"i'm going to f***ing kill you.'

At the same time she 'tried kicking the door to keep it from closing.'

She was taken to the station at that point, telling both officers along the way that she was 'going to f***ing kill you all.'

De Lesseps was seen for the first time since her court appearance while enjoying a beachside barbecue on Christmas day at her brother's home in Jupiter.

It is unclear if she was drinking but she was sitting in front of an open bottle of wine.

The reality star, 52, arrived at the Palm Beach Courthouse just after 9am on Sunday, almost eight hours after she was taken into custody and booked by police.

The Real Housewives of New York star got no sleep it seemed as she stood in front of the judge with her limp and greasy hair covering her face, make-up smeared and wearing the same soiled dress she had on Saturday night when she first hit the town.

At one point during the proceedings de Lesseps attempted to respond when Judge Ted Booras mentioned she might have a drinking problem, but was quickly told to remain silent.

'Dont say anything,' ordered Judge Booras, who seemed concerned that de Lesseps might incriminate herself with her response.

News of her arrest was first reported by The Palm Beach Post, while WPVI captured the reality star during her court appearance early Sunday.

Judge Booras informed de Lesseps that she needed to hire a lawyer for the 'serious charges' she is facing, just before releasing her from custody.

De Lesseps was told she could return to her home in New York because this was her first offense according to the judge, who also allowed her to forego posting any bail and instead released her on her own recognizance.

'I dont think it would be that hard to find you,' said Judge Booras of the Housewives star, who had been filming the upcoming season of her show just days before in New York City.

Worse for the wear: De Lesseps, 52, appeared in Palm Beach County Courthouse on Sunday (above) after her arrest earlier that day at a nearby hotel

Multiple counts: She is charged with battery on law enforcement officer, disorderly intoxication, resisting an officer with violence and two counts of corruption by threat

De Lesseps, who appeared with a public defender for her court appearance, is now facing five counts - four felonies and one misdemeanor.

She will be back in court next month to address those charges: battery on a law enforcement officer, disorderly intoxication, resisting an officer with violence and two counts of corruption by threat.

Battery on a law enforcement officer is considered a third-degree felony which is punishable by a maximum of 5 years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

The disorderly intoxication charge is a second-degree misdemeanor which is punishable up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.

Resisting an officer with violence is a third-degree felony which could land de Lesseps behind bars for 5 years and forced to pay a $5,000 fine.

This means that de Lesseps could find herself behind bars for more than a decade in the wake of her arrest.

A few hours after her court appearance, de Lesseps addressed her arrest on Twitter.

'I want to offer my most sincere apologies to anyone that I might have offended with my behavior,' wrote de Lesseps.

'This was my first time in Palm Beach since my wedding and being here brought up buried emotions. I am committed to a transformative and hopeful 2018.'

That 'transformative' 2018 will include at least one more trip to palm Beach for de Lesseps, who is due back in court on January 25, at which point the state with formally file charges in the case.

It almost one year ago to the day that de Lesseps married Tom D'Agostino in Palm Beach, seven years after her divorce from Count Alexandre de Lesseps.

She and the Count have two children, Victoria and Noel, who both appear to have been in France with their father at the time of de Lesseps' arrest.

De Lesseps' marriage to D'Agostino, which her Bravo co-stars all said they thought was doomed from the start, was over by August and the two have since finalized their divorce.

D'Agostino was also in Palm Beach over the weekend with his new girlfriend Anna Rothschild.

Chow down: Luann De Lesseps was seen enjoying a beachside BBQ at Christmas with her brother at his Jupiter home (above)

On the go: De Lesseps was arrested after reportedly breaking into a room at The Colony despite having one on the floor below

Gang's all here: De Lesseps has been busy filming the upcoming season of Housewives (above with the cast last week)

One source claimed earlier this year that de Lesseps' New Year's Eve nuptials were less about true love and more about an aging divorcee desperate to secure her ever-loosening grip on reality stardom.

A close friend of D'Agostino told DailyMail.com that it was Tom who filed for divorce after growing tired of being cuckolded by his new wife during their brief marriage.

'It has been really difficult for Tom because he did love her,' said his friend.

'But she only married him because she was becoming irrelevant on the show and needed a new story line.'

And as D'Agostino's friend explained, that was still just one of the couple's many problems.

'She cheated, she was unfaithful, she was prone to violent outbursts,' revealed the friend, making their way through a laundry list of accusations.

Those violent outbursts allegedly included de Lesseps biting D'Agostino days before their wedding and leaving him covered in blood when she scratched his cheek at a posh Upper East Side eatery in July.

It doesnt take much for her to punch, bite, slap or scratch him,' noted the friend, who described de Lesseps' behavior as 'bats*** crazy' at times.

Another friend who knows both members of the couple tells DailyMail.com that it was clear from the beginning this romance was made for television.

'Stevie Wonder can see what Luann did here,' jokes the friend of the estranged pair.

'She knew shed had a very boring season, except for drunkenly falling into the bushes in Mexico, so she needed something to ensure Bravo cast her for another year.'

The friend then added that de Lesseps has been holding on to her position as one of the show's leading ladies with an iron grip ever since she was demoted back in season six.

'She was downgraded a few years back and it nearly killed her being a friend of the Housewives rather than a fully-fledged cast member,' revealed the friend of the couple.

'If shes filed for divorce before the reunion was filmed in mid-July, she wouldve had to discuss it. So shes filed now after the reunion, so shell have a full season to discuss it next year.'

And while some may find the entire scenario to be a bit uncouth, the friend applauded Luann for her tenacity.

'Its a very smart move by the nurse from Connecticut. No one hustles better or is more cunning than Luann,' said the friend.

It worked out too, as she is a featured cast member in the upcoming season.
Tesco are handing customers whose Christmases were ruined by rotten turkeys gift vouchers to say sorry.

The Food Standards Agency has pledged to look into complaints from furious Tesco shoppers said their festive turkeys were 'rancid' and 'tasted like acid'.

Dozens of families said they were left without a meal to serve and they had to order emergency takeaways after discovering their Tesco turkeys had gone off.

Tesco is now looking at customers complaints and giving those they feel were sold poor quality birds vouchers of up to 75 as a 'gesture of good will'.

Carl Barber took this photograph of his turkey and said it was 'out of date' so he was unable to cook it on Christmas Day

Karen Carter was furious and said that she had to 'throw' her turkey away after it was 'rotten'

Twitter user Ronnie Barnes was 'furious' when he went on Twitter on Christmas Day and said that his turkey crown was 'rancid'

The Foods Standards Agency said today: 'Tesco have confirmed that they are investigating the complaints they have received about turkeys on a case by case basis.

'We have no evidence at present to suggest that there is a problem in their supply chain. Investigations are continuing and we will take appropriate action if necessary.'

Some customers abandoned their turkey dinners before even putting the birds in the oven because of the smell.

Others say they didn't notice until they had started digging into their Christmas meal and complained that their turkey tasted like 'bleach' and'acid'.

Angry customers took to Facebook and Twitter on Christmas Day to complain about turkeys, which cost up to 59 in the store's Finest range.

Carl Barber, from Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, went on Facebook yesterday and posted a picture of the turkey he bought 'only a few days ago'.

He wrote: 'This was bought only a few days ago and it's out of date. 23 quid wasted now have no Xmas turkey for Xmas day. Any customer services available today??'

Mr Barber took this image of his turkey and said that he had 'wasted' 23 because he no longer had a fresh turkey to cook

Sian Jones bought this 'fresh turkey crown' from Tesco and paid 20.95 for it but told MailOnline it was 'stinking' on Monday morning

One Twitter user, Jase @SappninBitton, was forced to order an emergency Chinese takeaway for his family in Glasgow after he discovered their turkey was rotten.

At almost 8pm on Christmas Day, he wrote: 'We're sitting waiting on a Chinese coming after @Tesco ruined #ChristmasDinner.

'Thank the lord for @JustEatUK. Think this is the first time I've ever spent money on Christmas Day.

'What else you gonna do with eight hungry mouths and a rotten turkey. Think I'll send Tesco the bill.'

He added: 'I've seen a lot of people saying the same. Thankfully I noticed before cooking/eating it. I got refunded for my turkey but the whole meal was ruined.'

Tesco has been inundated with messages from customers regarding their fresh and frozen turkeys and the store apologised to people on social media and offered them a refund.

Lisa Baker, from Gloucester, posted two photographs online after her turkey had 'gone off'

Craig Taylor sarcastically 'thanked' Tesco for the 'rotten turkey' he bought and said that he could not cook it because of the 'disgusting smell'

Alison Kendall, from Essex, said that her Christmas dinner had been 'ruined' and described her 'sheer panic' when she realised it had gone off at 6am yesterday.

She said: 'Thank you Tesco for the Finest Turkey Crown with a sell by date of 26/12 that had gone off by the 25th... ruining our Christmas Dinner.

'Imagine my sheer panic at 6am on Xmas Day, opening the turkey wrap to be hit by that 'gone off' smell with 10 people coming to Xmas Dinner.'

Kirsten Shore, from Stafford, wrote: 'Snap! We had the same problem! Our first time hosting and a rotten turkey from @Tesco ruined our day! I'm devastated!

'Thanks @Tesco for selling me a gone off turkey and wrecking my first Christmas day cooked at my home! 250 wasted. An awful meal and eight sick people!'

She later added on Facebook: 'I was very excited and worked super hard to make and prepare Christmas dinner for my family for the first time ever but thanks to the Tesco I served them a rotten, racid turkey that was inedible.

'Not only that - the gravy was made from the turkey so that resulted in everyone's meal ending up in the bin. Thanks Tesco!'

Karen Carter tweeted: 'Thanks @Tesco for ruining our Christmas. Disgusting turkey I had delivered on Friday stinking and rotten. Just had to throw away.'

Natasha Hales, from Braunton, Devon, said that Tesco had 'ruined' her Christmas and that they were 'nearly sick'

Jordan Shore, from Manchester, wrote: 'Hi @Tesco we cooked a turkey from you today to find that it was totally inedible. Acid type taste is all I can describe.'

Julie Duer added: '@Tesco very disappointed as had the worst Christmas ever.

'Bought your Finest Turkey for Christmas lunch and Christmas morning your turkey was off.

'Ruined the whole day as only get all my family together once every two years. Cheers Tesco.'

Some furious, and hungry, customers also took to Facebook to vent about their ruined meals.

Kelly Greaves from Stoke-on-Trent, wrote: 'Huge shout out to Tesco on selling us a rotten turkey - and judging by your Facebook and Twitter, we are one of many!

'The turkey smelt/tasted like bleach! Sadly with us making the gravy from the juices, and pouring it all over our vegetables and potatoes - the whole table of eight went hungry!

'We literally had NO Christmas dinner except a Christmas pudding.'

Julie Duer tweeted this morning that she had the 'worst Christmas ever' after she bought Tesco's 'finest' turkey only to find that it had gone 'off'

Tania Fleming said that her turkey crown was 'extremely off' when she went to cook it on Christmas Day and added she was forced to 'chuck it out'

Jane Plant from Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, contacted Tesco to tell them she had been blaming a strange smell in the house on her husbands feet, only to discover it was yet another rotten turkey.

She said: 'So this evening i went to prepare my turkey like I do every Christmas Eve. The said turkey was purchased from Tesco Uttoxeter on Thursday 21st December.

'I'd actually smelt a funny smell in my house for the last couple of days and actually blamed my husbands feet.

'On opening the turkey I found it was in fact not my husbands feet but the extra large turkey that we were having for Christmas dinner.

'As it was 7.30pm on Christmas Eve there was nowhere I could actually get another one from so my husband went to Tesco Express with no smelly feet to be told there was nothing they could do about it and he had to purchase two joints of beef.

'We now have to have a completely different family Christmas meal so a big thanks Tesco for ruining our family Christmas meal and furthermore making me apologise to my husband for blaming his feet.'

And Scott Barnwell wrote: 'Thanks Tesco! No turkey for Christmas lunch as it is off, even though it is still in date.'

Last year, dozens of disappointed Tesco customers shared images online after cutting open their turkeys and discovering they were green inside.

Leanne Woodman said her 'fresh' turkey smelled 'like rotten eggs' and said that her Christmas dinner was ruined

James Hill said that 'Christmas dinner if off' after he inspected their turkey on Monday morning

The off-coloured meat was thought to be caused by an unharmful degenerative muscle condition in turkeys - commonly referred to as Green Muscle Disease.

It occurs after the inner breast muscle of the bird develops in a way that prevents blood supply from circulating, resulting in the green discolouration.

Last year, Tesco said: 'There's nothing more important than the quality of the food we sell so we were concerned to hear this has happened.

'We've offered a refund to the customers affected and will inform our supplier.'

Tesco replied to Mr Barber on Christmas Day and offered him a refund.

The store wrote: 'I'm very sorry to see that your Turkey has gone off. I'd like to get you refunded so you're not out of pocket.'

A Tesco spokesman told MailOnline today: 'We've sold hundreds of thousands of great quality British turkeys this Christmas.

'We have exceptionally high standards so we will look to address the small number of complaints in recent days.

'We will get in touch with each customer so we can investigate how these instances may have happened.'

A Food Standards Agency spokesman said: 'We are aware of the incidents reported on social media and we are considering our next steps.'
An elderly couple were given the perfect Christmas present when police knocked on their door in Coulsdon, South London and gave them a new car.

Michael and Linda Gibbs, who have been married for 60 years, had been left distraught and struggling after a thief stole their battered old Austin Metro at the beginning of October.

Caring Met police officers asked colleagues and the public for donations to help the devastated pair, who both have cancer.

Overjoyed: The couple were so overwhelmed and delighted with their gift of a 2004 Vauxhall Corsa that they cried

Incredibly, they ended up with a gleaming red 2004 Vauxhall Corsa which was donated by Onodi car dealership in West Wickham. The car is believed to be worth around 1,000, and the couple were also gifted a 2,300 cheque.

A tearful Mrs Gibbs told the police at her front door: 'You've given us our life and our freedom back.

'When Helen rang to see if we'd be in on Christmas morning, I thought they were going to give us a little hamper.

'I had no idea it would be a car. It's an amazing vehicle with electric windows, wing mirrors and no choke. It's amazing.

'Make a note of our registration number so you can give us a wave when you're out on patrol.'

James Onodi, who runs the car dealership with his father Tony, said they decided to help the Gibbs' when they heard about the couple's battle with cancer, as his grandfather had also suffered with the disease.

Kind-hearted: Met Police organised the car donation and the cash, with the Onodi car dealership in Kent donating the vehicle free of charge

Once they decided to help, Mr Onodi rallied help from other garages to fix up the Vauxhall Corsa. Phillip Reygate serviced the car, Alpha Detailing valeted it, Bromley Windscreens corrected the damaged windscreen and Euro Car Parts provided the materials for the service.

He added: 'It just seemed like the right thing to do, really.'

Mr and Mrs Gibbs did not have the money to replace their beloved Austin Metro, which was stolen earlier this year. The Austin Metro is worth very little today.

The car was later found badly damaged and abandoned in a pub car park.

When they heard police were visiting them over Christmas they expected nothing more than a hamper of goodies.

However, they were so astonished that they burst into tears when a Vauxhall Corsa was left parked on the driveway of their home in Croydon.

Detective Chief Inspector Helen Cooper said: 'Our hearts went out to the couple when we saw how upset they were. The car was their lifeline.

'We had to do something to help them. So we all rallied round and raised enough money to cover the costs of the car's insurance and MoT.'

Her husband Michael added: 'We all had a good cry. I'm overwhelmed.

'I've heard of wonderful things happening to people and we try to do our bit for charity, but I never thought this would happen to us,'

Forensic work on the stolen car led to police identifying 19-year-old Fabian Wilfred, of Coulsdon, Surrey. He admitted handling stolen goods and will be sentenced at Croydon Crown Court in January.
Citizens were baffled when blue snow covered the ground in St Petersburg, Russia.

The odd phenomenon was captured on video after the coloured snow fell this week on the city in Leningrad Oblast, President Vladimir Putin's hometown.

Residents were shocked at the incident and became worried it could have been due to toxic chemicals in the atmosphere.

The odd phenomenon was witnessed in Leningrad Oblast, President Vladimir Putin's hometown

Some believe the blue snow was a result of the demolition of the city's chemical-pharmaceutical research institute

Samples were taken to a laboratory for analysis and an investigation into the incident has been launched

Some believed the snow was a result of the demolition of the city's chemical-pharmaceutical research institute.

According to local media, experts said the colours could have been caused by cobalt, a metallic element, or methylene blue, a substance used in some medical treatments.

Samples were taken to a laboratory for analysis and an investigation into the incident has been launched.

In February 2015, blue snow also occurred in the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, some 1,500 miles to the east of St Petersburg.

An investigation was carried out which revealed that the blue colour was due to food colouring used in Easter eggs.

The dye had got into the ventilation system of a factory and been spread all over the area.

It is not clear yet exactly why the latest blue snow has fallen.

But after an average of 1 centimetre (0.39 inches) fell, citizens have been simply shovelling the phenomenon out of the way to go about their daily lives.
Two men who forced a Romanian teenager to work as a prostitute and pay all her earnings to them after she had been trafficked into Britain have been jailed.

Daniel Purea, 33, and Stephan Balog, 22, from Knaresborough Place, Kensington, did not let the 19-year-old woman sleep at night in case a client called.

The woman was eventually freed by police after she sent messages to her mother in Romania describing how she had been enslaved.

Daniel Purea, 33, and Stephan Balog, 22,(left and right) from Knaresborough Place, Kensington, did not allow the 19-year-old woman to sleep at night in case a client called

The victim told police she had arrived in the UK after Purea had organised a passport and paid for her travel to the UK.

He arranged for a set of glamour photos to be taken and he advertised her on London escort websites for which he told her she owed him a 2,000 debt.

Despite the fact she had repaid this debt 'many times over', all of the money she earned was taken by Purea. Balog helped transfer the profits of the evil enterprise.

Both men were sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday, 21 December, after they were convicted of controlling prostitution following a two-week trial.

Purea, who was also found guilty of human trafficking by arranging and facilitating the travel of another person with a view to sexual exploitation, contrary to the Modern Slavery Act 2015, was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment.

Balog was also found guilty of transferring criminal property contrary to the Proceeds of Crime Act and was sentenced to four years' imprisonment.

Officers from the Met's Modern Slavery and Kidnap Unit raided an address in Kensington on Thursday, 6 July after receiving information that a woman was being controlled as a prostitute.

Both men were sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday, 21 December, after they were convicted of controlling prostitution following a two-week trial

A number of ledgers were found, including details of clients, fees and payments.

Purea and Balog were arrested at the scene and the woman was taken to a place of safety.

Detective Inspector Brian Hobbs, of the Met's Modern Slavery and Kidnap Unit, said: 'This vulnerable woman was trafficked to the UK from Romania, then these two men controlled and exploited her.

'She was not allowed to sleep at night in case a client called, and had to surrender all her earnings to Purea.

'Due to effective working partnerships with Romanian Authorities and the NCA, Met officers acted swiftly to safeguard the victim and arrest the two defendants.

'This case demonstrates our commitment to prosecuting those responsible for human trafficking and modern slavery offences.'
A three-year-old girl who lost her arms and legs to meningitis as a baby has been enjoying holiday festivities with her family this winter.

Harmonie-Rose Allen looked festive in a Christmas sweater as she skated on a synthetic ice rink with her family at the Avon Valley Adventure and Wildlife Park in Keynsham, Somerset.

Harmonie was struck down by the killer meningitis bug in September 2015 when she was nine months old with one of the worst cases of the virus doctors had ever seen. She lost her arms and legs to save her life.

Harmonie-Rose Allen looked festive in a Christmas sweater as she skated on a synthetic ice rink with her family at at the Avon Valley Adventure and Wildlife Park in Keynsham, Somerset

Harmonie was struck down by the killer meningitis bug in September 2015 when she was nine months old with one of the worst cases of the virus doctors had ever seen. She lost her arms and legs to save her life

She skated on a Glice Rink in Somerset with her family. The Glice rink - a new synthetic ice surface - is the first of its kind in the UK

Now able to walk through the use of prosthetic legs, she skated with her family on a Glice Rink.

A Glice Rink is a new synthetic ice surface, and the one in Somerset is the first in the UK to be installed for skating.

Her parents Freya and Ross said that Harmonie used liners on the ends of her legs to slide across the synthetic ice.

The liners were fitted at the NHS Bristol Centre for Enablement.

Clinicians advised the couple that it might still be difficult for Harmonie to manage on ice, but she took to it like a natural.

Doctors described the meningitis that Harmonie faced as the one of the worst cases they've ever seen

Harmonie was given a ten per cent chance of survival but pulled through after having all her limbs amputated in order to save her life

'The liners she is wearing have special padding on the bottom so she doesn't slip,' Harmonie's mother, Freya, said.

She added: 'Harmonie doesn't yet like wearing prosthetics all the time so it's great to get her upright and straight.

'When she isn't wearing the prosthetics the liners help her develop the walking motion and build her muscles up.'

The prosthetics are the first pair her parents have bought privately since doctors removed Harmonie's arms and legs to save her life.

Harmonie used liners on the ends of her legs to slide across the synthetic ice. The liners were fitted at the NHS Bristol Centre for Enablement

Clinicians advised the couple that it might still be difficult for Harmonie to manage on ice, but she took to it like a natural

When they were fitted Freya said it was 'just amazing' to be able to walk her little girl into nursery.

Writing on the Hope 4 Harmonie Facebook page about the skating trip, her parents said: 'No such word as can't!

'Harmonie and her family wish you all a Merry Christmas!! And all the best for 2018.'

More than two years ago the Bath community rallied to raise around 240,000 for Harmonie's future.

Harmonie needs new prosthetic legs every six to nine months and will continue to have simple straight legs until she feels ready to progress to jointed prosthetics with a knee.
Dashcam footage shows the moment drivers distracted by a strange white light get in a three car crash in Southern California

Dashcam footage captured the moment three cars collided on a Southern California freeway as a strange white light traveled across the sky on Friday night.

The cars were traveling west on Interstate 10 in Banning, about 90 miles east of Los Angeles when Elon Musk launched a SpaceX rocket.

The video shows a white Toyota Corolla in the left lane getting rear-ended by a minivan, pushing the Corolla into a Toyota RAV4 SUV.

A video shows a white Toyota Corolla in the left lane getting rear-ended by a minivan, pushing the Corolla into a Toyota RAV4 SUV

The cars were traveling west on Interstate 10 in Banning, about 90 miles east of Los Angeles when Elon Musk launched a SpaceX rocket

A man and some children inside the car can be heard reacting to the streak of white light before coming to a standstill in traffic.

Traffic across Los Angeles was brought to a standstill after Elon Musk launched the Falcon 9 from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Local television stations as well as law enforcement agencies received a number of telephone calls from amazed witnesses who were eventually told that what they saw was a rocket launch.

A man and some children inside the car can be heard reacting to the streak of white light before coming to a standstill in traffic

One news report said that at least 130 people in just one part of Los Angeles County called 911.

The launch in the setting sun created a shining streak that was widely seen throughout Southern California and prompted puzzlement and even concern.

Elon Musk fueled speculation with a tweet referring to it as a 'nuclear alien UFO from North Korea'.

SpaceX blasted off a re-used Falcon 9 rocket carrying 10 satellites into orbit, its fourth launch toward a $3 billion upgrade to Virginia-based Iridium's mobile, voice and data network

Residents of Southern California and Arizona were startled just after dusk on Friday when a strange white light which later turned out to be a SpaceX rocket launch appeared in the sky

Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, quipped on Twitter that the object in the sky was a 'nuclear alien UFO from North Korea'

SpaceX launched the Falcon 9 carrying a collection of 10 satellites into low-Earth orbit.

It was the final launch of 2017 for SpaceX, which was contracted to replace Iridium's system with 75 new satellites.

The Los Angeles Fire Department issued an advisory that the 'mysterious light in the sky' was from the rocket launch.

A stunning time-lapse 40-second video was taken by photographer Jesse Watson in Yuma, Arizona, over 400 miles away from the site launch.
Trevor Phillips, the former chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, has condemned critics of an Oxford academic, who has called for a reappraisal of colonialism, as 'Stalinist'.

Fifty-eight staff have signed a statement criticising Nigel Biggar over an article in which he said feelings of guilt about colonialism may have gone too far.

The regius professor of moral and pastoral theology at Christ Church wrote that society should take a more balanced view of the Empire rather than simply remembering it with shame.

Trevor Phillips has condemned critics of Professor Nigel Biggar as using a line of attack of which 'Joseph Stalin would have been proud'

But defending Professor Biggar, Mr Phillips said in a letter to The Times, one of positive outcomes of colonialism was today's multi-ethnic Britain.

'I have no reason to defend colonialism. But we should constantly reappraise its consequences, one of which is today's multiethnic Britain,' he wrote.

'It may be that the 58 Oxford academics would prefer to inhabit the largely mono-ethnic, pre-Windrush Britain (a population mix somewhat preserved in their own university) but it is a fact that we are only here because you were there.'

'Students' misreading of history is entirely understandable if they are instructed by the academics who criticise Nigel Biggar for asking "the wrong questions, using the wrong terms", an attack line of which Joseph Stalin would have been proud.'

Professor Biggar has been at Oxford for a decade and is also a canon of Christ Church Cathedral as well as the director of Oxford's McDonald Centre for Theology, Ethics and Public Life.

He is leading a five year project entitled Ethics and Empire to reappraise colonialism.

Professor Nigel Biggar is leading a five-year project re-evaluating colonialism, which has been condemned by 58 of his colleagues

Professor Biggar drew the criticism for his views after writing an article, also in in The Times, in which he said 'apologising for empire is now compulsory but shame can stop us tackling the world's problems'.

His colleagues claimed he was 'breathtakingly politically naive' and was engaging in 'very bad history'.

They said they 'rejected' his views because they gave the impression that Oxford 'celebrated' imperialism.

The academics also branded his new research project, Ethics and Empire, aimed at re-evaluating colonialism as 'too simplistic to be taken seriously' and vowed not to take part in it.

Criticism was not an attempt to silence the professor or curb free speech, they insisted.

He had 'every right to hold and to express whatever views he chooses or finds compelling, and to conduct whatever research he chooses in the way he feels appropriate'.
Jill Walsh, 65, and her husband David, 66, fear the new campsite could be triple the size of Dale Farm one

Worried neighbours have spoken of fear that a new travellers' site dubbed 'Dale Farm 2' could triple in size.

Basildon Council will discuss plans to build around 39 pitches in the borough, which could lead the farm in Wickford, Essex, to swell.

One pensioner, Jill Walsh, 65, says she suffered seven years of 'hell' from residents of Dale Farm.

She and her husband David, 66, logged gun battles and stabbings among 230 horrifying incidents between 2003 and 2007.

In one particularly terrifying incident a beheaded squirrel was dumped of the mother-of-two's drive.

In 2011, the travellers were evicted from Dale Farm, which cost Basildon Council 7 million.

The couple have lived in peace for the last six years, but in October lorries dropped off 600 tonnes of building materials to the site.

Pictured: Flames engulf a caravan during evictions from Dale Farm travellers camp on October 19, 2011

Mr Justice Singh QC controversially changed an injunction to let travellers remain on the plot across Green Belt land in Wickford, Essex

In June Mrs Walsh said the decision to allow travellers to stay on the site was 'an absolute joke'

Despite two judges ordering the travellers to stop, another lorry dropped off 640 tonnes of supplies days later.

Since the travellers came back, the couple's house has also been attacked with fireworks, stones and marbles.

Speaking to the Sun, Mrs Walsh said: 'I don't know how the council get away with it.

'They are morally disgraceful.'

The site is roughly 3.5 miles away from the infamous Dale Farm which cost Basildon Council more than 7million to clear after a pitched eviction battle

In 2010, the travellers were evicted from Dale Farm, which cost Basildon Council 7 million

Under new proposals, pitches could be set up just 30ft from the Walshs' house in the new year

Pictured: Police are called to the scene as workmen deliver 700 tonnes of building material at the traveller site at Wickford in Essex

Under new proposals, pitches could be set up just 30ft from here house in the new year.

The receptionist added: 'We're prime targets. It's frightening to hear your place being smashed to pieces.

Mrs Walsh previously said: 'They are being very sneaky at the moment and more hardcore is being brought down there in the back to the traveller trucks, it's probably 20 tonnes there every week'

The infamous site was Europe's largest illegal settlement which cost taxpayers more than 7million to clear and culminated in a heated showdown in 2011
Texas sheriff's deputies who sprayed bullets into a trailer home last week, killing a six-year-old boy, were threatened by a wanted felon who warned them that she was armed and would shoot them, according to officials.

Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar told the San Antonio Express-News that 30-year-old Amanda Lene Jones forced her way into the mobile home where the boy, Kameron Prescott, lived on December 21 and then was confronted outside by four deputies.

A person inside the home reported hearing Jones say she would shoot the deputies.

Scroll down for video

Unintended consequences: Deputies in Bexar County, Texas, were pursing wanted felon Amanda Jones, 30 (left) when they accidentally shot and killed Kameron Prescott (right), six

Residents of Pecan Grove Trailer Park in Schertz, Texas, gather to watch Bexar County Deputies investigate the twin shootings of Jones and Prescott on December 21

Ron Lawrence, left, comforts his daughter Kallie Lawrence, 11, who knew Kameron Prescott

Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar gives direction to deputies near the scene of the officer- involved shooting on Thursday. Salazar says his deputies were threatened

Jones had a black metal tube but no handgun. Salazar says deputies, ranging in length of service from two years to 27 years on the force, earlier saw Jones with a gun as they chased her.

Kameron was inside the home when he was struck in his abdomen by a bullet as deputies fired on Jones, killing both.

According to Salazar, Jones had no apparent connection to the child or his family. The Bexar County District Attorney's Office is now reviewing the use-of-force investigation at the request of the sheriffs office.

Amanda Jones, who had an extensive criminal record dating back at least a decade and spanning three counties, was a wanted felon and car theft suspect, according to the San Antonio Express-News.

His alleged aunt, Mercedes Warneke, created the GoFundMe page which has gained more than $18,000 in donations

The boy (pictured right) was inside the trailer when the shooting started

Kameron died at the hospital after he was fatally shot in the abdomen by sheriff's deputies

A deputy had confronted Jones earlier in the day over reports of a stolen car received at 10.48am on December 21.

Officers found Jones hiding in a closet on FM 1518 and she allegedly pointed a gun at them as she fled the scene.

A foot chase ensued and in an attempt to lose the cops, Jones tried to swim across chin-deep waters in Cibolo Creek, forcing a K9 handler to ditch his body armor and pursue her all whilst carrying his dog.

After leading officers on a 90-minute chase through woodland, Jones was tracked to the Pecan Grove Manufactured Home Community.

Rhonda Campbell, 58, told San Antonio Express-News she was in her bed watching TV when the woman forced her front door open trying to find somewhere to hide.

Anthony Fritcher, 33, was closing the back door when he says Jones barged through the front door demanding keys to a car parked outside.

Many faces of Amanda Jones: Jones had an extensive criminal record dating back at least a decade and spanning three counties. Pictured above are just some of her mugshots from the past 10 years

The pair, along with Mrs Campbell's husband, charged her, forcing the fugitive to run away, and towards the six-year-old boy's trailer.

The officers had been tracking Jones for nearly two hours when they finally cornered her on the porch of the mobile home where Kameron Prescott lived with his family, located in the 100 block of Peach Lane.

Police are still trying to locate the gun pointed at officers in the initial fracas.

Online jail records indicate that Amanda Jones had been arrested 14 times between 2006 and 2017, mostly on charges of drug possession, as well as domestic violence, driving without a license, resisting arrest, and most recently, burglary.

Mercedes Warneke, who claimed to be Kameron's aunt, created a GoFundMe page to help cover funeral expenses, which has raised more than $18,000 as of Wednesday evening.
The lions at London Zoo are part of a breeding programme in which 70 per cent of cubs are dying, a study has found.

The lions are all descended from a very small number of founders brought over to Europe in the 1990s.

But the extremely high degree of genetic similarity of the founders offspring is detrimental to their health, according to researchers.

Lions at London Zoo are at risk as they are part of a breeding programme in which 70 per cent of cubs are dying

The European Endangered breeding programme was set up to save the Asiatic lion in the mid-1990s.

The idea was to have a pool of pure Asiatic lions that could be reintroduced to India if the species became locally extinct.

Nine founder lions were brought to Europe, of which four went to London Zoo, while the rest went to Helsinki and Zurich zoos. And even these founders were already highly related  with six of the lions sharing the same grandparents.

In December 2009 the EEP population of Asian lions had risen to 93 individuals across 34 zoos. But the study found 68.4 per cent of cubs from this family were dying at birth or shortly afterwards.

Some 57 lions were born between 2007 and 2009. Of these 39 died after birth, of which 35 died within 20 days, three within two months and one was euthanased at four years old.

The report in the journal Mammalian Biology said the breeding programme at the zoo was not viable long term. There are currently four lions at London Zoo. Dr Paul ODonoghue, one of the reports authors, said the high number of deaths called into question the zoos lion conservation programme.

The Land of the Lion enclosure in London Zoo is designed to like an Indian village where the animals live in the wild

The geneticist at the University of Chester said: Sixty per cent of lion cubs [are dying]. There are situations where theyve bred the grandfathers with the granddaughters. This shows that the concept that zoos are conservation tools is completely false. This research blows that idea apart.

The report said the death rate was much too high considering the lions had access to top grade veterinary care.

There were 523 Asiatic lions in the wild at the last count  a species much rarer than the better known African lion.

The EEP lions are so closely related, the report said, that further matings were not advisable. It suggested new lions from India need to be added to the breeding programme to ensure the long-term viability of the offspring.

Malcolm Fitzpatrick, curator of mammals for ZSL (Zoological Society of London) said: We welcome this study and the advancements in science that will assist in the conservation breeding of Asiatic lions and other endangered species in zoos throughout Europe and India.

[It] may also assist with management of isolated populations in the wild that themselves have limited genetic variability.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle may be surrounded by palace staff, but the planning for their wedding wont be left to anyone but them, according to a report on Wednesday.

A spokesperson for the young royal told PEOPLE on Wednesday that he and his American bride are leading the planning process for all aspects of the May 19 nuptials.

The wedding is set to take place at St. Georges Chapel, which is located on the grounds of Windsor Castle.

So far, Markle, 36, has made a positive impression on palace courtiers, according to PEOPLE.

She is smart and well-liked, PEOPLE quotes one palace staffer as saying.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle may be surrounded by palace staff, but the planning for their wedding wont be left to anyone but them, according to a report on Wednesday

A spokesperson for the young royal told PEOPLE on Wednesday that he and his American bride leading the planning process for all aspects of the May 19 nuptials. Harry is pictured with his fiancee Markle and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at Sandringham

Harry told the BBCs Radio 4 on Wednesday that his fiance enjoyed a fantastic Christmas with her future in-laws.

The prince said the royals are the family she never had.

The family, in turn, is smitten with Markle, according to Harry, 33.

They loved having the actress over, the prince said.

Harry was guest editing the Today program and his interview with Barack Obama - the first since he left the Oval Office - was played live on air.

Harry was guest editing the Today program and his interview with Barack Obama - the first since he left the Oval Office - was played live on air. Harry spoke to Obama in Toronto this past September in an interview which aired on Wednesday

He grilled the former president, who urged world leaders to use social media appropriately and warned it is distorting the public's understanding of complex issues.

Whether Obama is invited to the wedding has been a subject of intense speculation in recent days.

Harry is under intense pressure from His Majestys government not to invite his good friends Barack and Michelle Obama for fear that it will anger President Donald Trump, according to The Sun.

Trump, who loathes Obama, is deeply unpopular in Britain.

UK government officials are said to be worried that an invite to the 44th president would be perceived as a snub to the current White House occupant.

The fear at 10 Downing Street is that an angry Trump would make it much harder for Prime Minister Theresa May to advance British interests with the US president.

Harry, meanwhile, is reportedly adamant that he wants the Obamas there for their wedding.

Harry has made it clear he wants the Obamas at the wedding, so its causing a lot of nervousness, The Sun reported.

Conversations are ongoing about and ministers will eventually have to decide, the source said.

If the PM lays down the law, Harry will just have to suck it up.
A 61-year-old man has become the third British tourist to die while diving off the island of Lanzarote.

The holidaymaker suffered a cardiac arrest after becoming unwell while visiting the underwater Atlantic Museum, just after 10am on Wednesday.

He had been rushed to dry-land by a rescue boat, but passed away before paramedics reached him.

Local reports said the man had been diving with a local club and was with his schoolboy nephew at the time.

A 61-year-old man has become the third British tourist to die while diving off Lanzarote (pictured, the island's Playa Blanca resort)

A Civil Guard source said the diver, named only by his initials L.G, had been around 40 feet underwater when he became unwell.

The tragedy was the third this year involving a British diver in the Canary Islands.

Retired soldier John Walker, 54, from Consett, County Durham, died near the same spot while he was preparing to visit the Atlantic Museum, on September 16.

A week later keep-fit enthusiast Justine Barringer, 44, suffered a fatal cardiac arrest after getting into difficulties while diving off Veneguera Beach in Gran Canaria.

The diver fell ill while visiting the underwater Atlantic Museum off the coast of Lanzarote

Friend Veronica Clinton took to Facebook after the tragedy to say: 'I have just received some very sad news.

'A friend of the family, Justine Barringer, has lost her life scuba diving in Gran Canaria.

'She was young and in good shape. I find it impossible to believe. She was the life and soul of parties. Just 44 years old.'

The latest Brit to lose his life while diving is thought to be an ex-pat. Like Mr Walker he has been described as an experienced diver.

John Walker, 54, from Consett, County Durham, died while he was preparing to visit the Atlantic Museum, on September 16

It is not known where in the UK he is originally from.

Tests will now take place to determine the cause of death although police are understood to be looking at the possibility it may be related to possible cardiovascular problems he is said to have suffered from.

A spokesman for a local emergency services coordination centre said in a statement: 'We received a call from a volunteer rescue association called EMERLAN to say that a boat from a dive centre was taking a diver who wasn't responding out of the water.

'The required emergency response was immediately activated.

'Ambulance staff confirmed the patient was in cardiac arrest when they arrived at the scene and performed CPR on him without success. He was pronounced dead at the scene.'

The Atlantic Museum, which was officially opened in January, is Europe's first underwater museum.

It features more than 300 life-size human figures by British sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor.
Mark Whittow, 60, died along with a 29 year-old man from Warwickshire after a collision involving five vehicles on Saturday

A leading Oxford University history professor who died in a multi-car crash on the M40 has been remembered as 'a warm and loyal friend' with a passion for teaching.

Mark Whittow, 60, died along with a 29 year-old man from Warwickshire after a collision involving five vehicles on Saturday.

Mr Whittow, a medieval historian and archaeologist, had been named as the next provost of Oriel College before his death.

The crash occurred on the M40 northbound in Oxfordshire between junctions 10 and 11, on Saturday at about 11.40pm.

Professor Martin Conway, chairman of Oxford University's history faculty, said: 'The entire Oxford community has been left deeply saddened by Mark's tragic death.

'Mark was an enormous influence on history in Oxford, where his energy and commitment to teaching, research and to the sense of an intellectual community was irrepressible.

'Above all, generations of students, researchers and colleagues knew him as a warm and loyal friend who enriched all our lives. We will miss him enormously.'

Thames Valley Police (TVP) believe that five vehicles were involved in the collision and want to get dashcam footage from motorists who were near the scene.

A tribute posted by The Bodleian History Faculty Library said: 'Desperately sad news of the untimely passing of warm, witty, humane scholar Mark Whittow. The place will be that much sadder and poorer for his loss.'

The crash occurred on the M40 northbound in Oxfordshire between junctions 10 and 11, on Saturday at about 11.40pm

Peter Frankopan, Professor of Global History at Oxford, wrote on Twitter: 'Heart-breaking news about my best, loveliest & most brilliant friend & colleague who has died over Christmas.'

An Oxford University spokesman said Dr Whittow had played a decisive role in the development of a global approach to the study and teaching of the medieval era, which linked Europe to wider networks of trade and knowledge.

Dr Whittow, from Oxfordshire, was a university lecturer in Byzantine Studies, and a fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He was senior proctor of the university in 2016-17, and lectured in history at Oriel College.

Thames Valley Police (TVP) believe that five vehicles were involved in the collision and want to get dashcam footage from motorists who were near the scene

Pictured: Motorists stuck in traffic on the M40 on Saturday after a five-car pile up on the M40

He had been due to take up his new role in August 2018 and his wife Helen, who is a practising QC and Deputy High Court Judge, was set to join him at Oriel, according to a university statement last month which announced his appointment.

A TVP spokesman said one man was taken to hospital with serious leg injuries and three others were treated for minor injuries.

The spokesman said: 'We are still appealing to anyone who witnessed the collision and has not yet spoken to officers to please contact us.

'We are specifically appealing to anyone who may have dashcam footage who was travelling in the area at the time of the collision.'

Any witnesses are asked to call the 24-hour TVP enquiry centre on 101 quoting URN 1669.
A glamorous Russian TV presenter was shot dead by her estranged husband as the couple's nine-year-old son watched on in horror.

Zhanna Veber, 29, was gunned down at close range by Anatoly Leontikov, 36, during a row over custody of their son, Dmitry.

Ms Veber, a popular television personality in the Krasnodar region of southern Russia, was killed by an air rifle, according to police.

She was treated by paramedics, but died on the way to hospital.

Zhanna Veber, 29, was gunned down at close range by Anatoly Leontikov, 36, during a row over custody of their son, Dmitry

TV presenter Ms Veber with her husband Anatoly and their nine-year-old son Dmitry

Leontikov fled the scene with the couple's son, taking him to stay with his family before going on the run. He later gave himself up to police.

Ms Veber split from Leontikov two years ago but the pair were not officially divorced, reports claim.

He arrived at her house and they argued over his access to the Dmitry, which Ms Veber had tried to limit.

Leontikov had been away working as a builder on construction sites near Moscow and when he returned, he had moved into her home for a while, but later left.

On December 26, he returned and 'broke a window' to gain access, an unnamed friend claimed.

'After she died, he took the boy to his relatives', they added.

Ms Veber was gunned down at close range with an air rifle, according to police reports

Ms Veber was killed while arguing with her husband over custody of their son Dmitry (both pictured)

The friend said Zhanna was 'ambitious' and had 'big plans for her life'.

She 'wanted to move to a big city' while he 'worked as a foreman building houses'.

Leontikov was a former policeman who had a permit to carry the air gun, the friend said.

Ms Veber's station - Laba TV - ran a broadcast paying tribute to her life.
A one-legged ISIS fighter with an American accent has condemned President Donald Trump and called on Muslims to take advantage of the gun laws in the US to carry out attacks.

The fighter appeared in a propaganda video released on Wednesday saying Trump's war on Islam was making the US more vulnerable to terror attacks and would help fuel support globally.

Using the name Abu Salih al-Amriki, the fighter wore khaki fatigues and had a gun strapped to him as he condemned President Trump for playing up a clash of civilizations.

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The fighter, who had an American accent, appeared in a propaganda video released on Wednesday saying Trump's war on Islam was making the US more vulnerable to terror attacks

'You entered into the White House on the back of your crusader rhetoric, which the fake media has pressured you to tone down,' he said in the video, speaking in what sounded like a New York City-area accent.

'Your feelings and hatred towards Islam has already been revealed you are now witnessing your fake victory.

'Your war against Islam has only made your homeland more vulnerable and your society is cracking into chaos.'

He referred to President Trump as a 'dog of Rome.'

Using the name Abu Salih al-Amriki, the fighter was shown in the video attaching his prosthetic leg and using crutches to walk through ruins

The fighter, who had a gun strapped to him, condemned President Donald Trump and called on Muslims to take advantage of the gun laws in the US to carry out attacks

The fighter was shown in the video attaching his prosthetic leg and using crutches to walk through ruins.

'Take advantage of the fact that you can easily obtain a rifle or a pistol in America,' he said as he called on ISIS fighters to carry out attacks.

'Spray the kuffar [infidels] with bullets so that their fear of the Muslims rises and they continue to reveal their hatred towards Islam.'

The identity of the man was not immediately known.

The FBI would not comment following the release of the video.

Indeed, Homeland Security and domestic law enforcement have long feared that terrorists could abuse the Second Amendment and easily acquire powerful assault rifles and handguns to carry out attacks.

Indeed, last week, the outgoing director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Nicholas Rasmussen said that US gun laws could enable huge shooting sprees carried out by radicalized Muslims.

'We find ourselves in a more dangerous situation because our population of violent extremists has no difficulty gaining access to weapons that are quite lethal,' said Rasmussen. 'I wish that weren't so.'

The video of the man pertaining to be Abu Salih is another of the tightly-produced propaganda videos released by ISIS called 'Inside the Caliphate'.

They have featured beheadings carried out by ISIS soldiers and calls for attacks across the Western world.

The videos have been filmed and distributed online by ISIS' al-Hayat Media Center and the terror organization's web-mag Rumiyah is published in several languages and both are vociferous in their demands for atrocities.
Scientists have recorded a 'substantial drop' in roo numbers from 2016 to 2017

A mysterious illness has been killing millions of kangaroos which has left experts scratching their heads.

In NSW, wildlife researchers have found the red and grey varieties of kangaroos have died as a result of massive hemorrhaging and internal bleeding around the joints.

'You would see a whole family sitting there but they were all dead,' veterinarian Greg Curran told The Australian.

Red kangaroos have died from massive hemorrhaging and internal bleeding (stock image)

'It's a disease, it's not a genetic problem. We haven't been able to find a bacteria, we haven't been able to find a virus.

'Parasites, they aren't part of it. Given the huge area and different kinds of country and feed, its very unlikely to be a plant poisoning. You've ruled out all the known causes of diseases.

The drop is so great it cant simply be due to culling rates. The number of animals that have been harvested for the meat market is low. It cant possibly be starvation or malnutrition,' Dr Curren added.

Steve McLeod, a NSW Department of Primary Industries senior research scientist told the publication there had been a 'substantial drop in the number of kangaroos from 2016 to 2017, especially on the Western Plains.

The kangaroo population in NSW reached 17.4 million last year - more than double the population in 2010.

Greys in the state dropped to 3.85 million from 6.33 million, while reds dropped by 1.2 million to 5.13 million.

Dr Curran, a former NSW Department of Primary Industry veterinarian, has been studying the decline for years.

To have something like this where the best people have worked on it for decades and havent gotten to the bottom of it... any disease that can claim 40 per cent is worth understanding,' he said.

Scientists are convinced a drop in numbers is because of a 'disease, not genetic' (stock image)
Jarryd Hayne has arrived home in Sydney after leaving the country in secret following the surfacing of rape allegations against him, claims he strongly denies.

Hayne boarded a plane to Tel Aviv on Wednesday evening, the second time he has visited the country in recent weeks after only just returning from a spiritual trip to the holy city of Jerusalem.

Wearing a grey hoodie and a cap, he was ushered through a back door of the international terminal and into a waiting car by his security staff and the Australian Federal Police as to avoid the media circus gathering for him outside.

Civil court documents filed in Santa Clara County Court accused the 29-year-old of having non-consensual sexual intercourse in 2015 with a woman known as 'Ms V'.

Legal proceedings have started in the US against Hayne, who 'unequivocally and vehemently' denied allegations he raped a virgin after a drunken night out.

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Jarryd Hayne has arrived home in Sydney after leaving the country in secret following the surfacing of his rape allegations

Hayne boarded a plane to Tel Aviv on Wednesday evening, the second time he has visited the country in recent weeks

Reporters met the rugby league superstar as he arrived at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel just after midnight local time on Thursday last week

Legal proceedings have started in the US against Hayne, who 'unequivocally and vehemently' denied allegations he raped a virgin after a drunken night out

A woman claims Jarryd Hayne took her home after a boozy night out with other NFL stars before raping her, in a civil suit filed to an American court

Reporters met the rugby league superstar as he arrived at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel just after midnight local time on Thursday last week.

He replied 'nah' when asked if he had any response to the allegations and was led away by a bodyguard.

Hayne, a devout Christian, was baptised in the Jordan River earlier this month. He posted several images to Instagram travelling around the nation.

He returned to Australia following the trip to celebrate the first birthday of his daughter Beliviah Ivy.

Hayne had the baby girl with Amellia Bonnici, a woman he met through Instagram in 2016.

Hayne, a devout Christian, was baptised in the Jordan River earlier this month. He posted several images to Instagram travelling around the nation

Reporters met the Parramatta Eels star as he arrived at Ben Gurion Airport. He refused to answer any questions and was led away by a bodyguard

Documents lodged in a County of Santa Clara court state the woman had previously met some of Hayne's friends when working at a restaurant and a group went out drinking after the December 20 game.

The documents say Hayne later took the woman to a home in an Uber and she passed out in the car 'due to her extreme level of intoxication'.

Hayne said he had previously provided 'all reasonable assistance' to authorities after the woman went to police in May 2016.

'He unequivocally and vehemently denies the allegations which are the subject of the civil complaint,' the player's Sydney lawyer, Ramy Qutami, said in a statement on Wednesday.

The court documents reveal the woman took Hayne's 'undergarment' after the alleged rape in case she needed proof of the incident.

The woman said she had vaginal pain for months and went to the emergency department in April 2016.

A criminal case was previously dismissed by District Attorney on October 25 2016 for insufficient evidence.

FULL STATEMENT RELEASED BY JARRYD HAYNE'S LAWYERS 'We act for Mr Jarryd Hayne are instructed to issue the statement below. 'Mr Hayne and his management are aware of recent media speculation in relation to a civil complaint filed in the United States of America making certain allegations in relation to an event which allegedly occurred in 2015 while playing for the San Francisco 49ers. 'Mr Hayne has not been served with any proceedings or formal complaint relating to the incident. 'Mr Hayne previously addressed a complaint made to the District Attorney's office in the County of Santa Clara, California in 2016 and the District Attorney did not proceed any further with the matter due to insufficient evidence to substantiate the allegations. Mr Hayne provided all reasonable assistance to the District Attorney with that investigation. 'Mr Hayne unequivocally and vehemently denies the allegations which are the subject of the civil complaint. 'Mr Hayne will not be making any further comment in relation to this matter.' Advertisement

The documents say Hayne later took the woman to a home in an Uber and she passed out in the car 'due to her extreme level of intoxication'

Rugby league superstar Jarryd Hayne has been accused of rape in a civil suit filed in an American court. He denies the allegations

The suit was filed in Santa Clara County court accused the 29-year-old of engaging in non-consensual sexual intercourse in 2015 with a woman known as 'Ms V'

'The hospital called the police but the plaintiff declined to speak with them,' the court documents state.

A month later she reported the matter to police but, after an investigation, the Santa Clara County district attorney's office told the woman 'there was not enough evidence to prove the crime of rape beyond a reasonable doubt'.

In the statement of complaint, the plaintiff says she didn't immediately report the incident to authorities because she feared being discredited or blamed.

She met Hayne through mutual friends after attending an NFL match between the 49ers and Cincinnati Bengals at Levi's Stadium, according to the documents

Two days after the alleged rape, Ms V confronted a friend of Hayne's over the evening, according to the suit

AAP understands Hayne would be expected to return to the US if the woman is granted a jury trial as she's demanding.

The action is for sexual battery, battery, gender violence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence arising from the alleged rape.

The woman is seeking monetary compensation for 'emotional pain, anguish and severe distress'.

Hayne's NRL club, Parramatta, said they were unaware of the allegations until Wednesday.

'As with any legal matter it is important we follow due process and ensure we review all relevant information available, including giving Jarryd the opportunity to respond,' the club said in a statement.

The NRL said the organisation's integrity unit would monitor Hayne's case.

'We note the police in the United States did not proceed with any criminal proceedings but we will review the information available and continue to monitor the civil case,' a spokesman said.

A woman claims Jarryd Hayne took her home after a boozy night out with other NFL stars before raping her, in a civil suit filed to an American court

A San Francisco 49ers spokesman said 'this is the first we have heard of this matter and the alarming allegation regarding a former employee'.

Hayne sensationally left the Parramatta Eels and rugby league to join the 49ers in 2015.

He played eight games for the team, including 17 carries for 51 yards and six catches for 27 yards. He also had three fumbles.

He returned to the NRL last year and joined the Gold Coast Titans.

He announced last month he would be released from his record $1.2 million contract to return to Parramatta for the 2018 season.

In a civil suit filed in an American court 'Ms V' alleges Jarryd Hayne raped her in 2015

In a civil suit filed in an American court 'Ms V' alleges Jarryd Hayne raped her in 2015

In a civil suit filed in an American court 'Ms V' alleges Jarryd Hayne raped her in 2015

In a civil suit filed in an American court 'Ms V' alleges Jarryd Hayne raped her in 2015

In a civil suit filed in an American court 'Ms V' alleges Jarryd Hayne raped her in 2015
Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto thought she was going to marry the love of her life when she picked up a bag and got on a plane for Melbourne.

Instead, the Australian grandmother was locked up in a Malaysian jail for three years facing the death penalty after 1.6kg of meth was found in her luggage.

The 54-year-old had fallen for a complex online romance scam that tricked her into believing she was in a two-year-relationship with a US Army officer.

An Australian grandmother (pictured, centre) found not guilty of drug trafficking

Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto (pictured), 54, was caught at Kuala Lumpur airport on route to Melbourne with 1.5 kilograms of methamphetamine in her bags

Ms Exposto was told 'Captain Daniel Smith' was leaving the military and needed her to pick up his discharge papers and take them to the U.S embassy in Australia.

She flew to Shanghai and received a bag from his 'friends' she thought contained the papers and clothes, but had the drugs hidden in the lining.

Ms Exposto was on Wednesday found not guilty of drug trafficking by a Malaysian court after a judge agreed she unknowingly carrier the meth.

'She was tricked into carrying the bag by the internet scam, what we call the internet romance,' said Ms Exposto's lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah after the ruling.

'Over and above this the judge also said that the circumstances at the airport itself was described by the judge as overwhelmingly in her favour.

'Because the judge described her as "naive", not merely innocent but naive.'

Australian Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto leaves following her release at the High Court in Shah Alam

Australian Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto leaves her hearing at the Shah Alam High Court after being found not guilty

At her layover in Kuala Lumpur airport, Ms Exposto mistakenly went through immigration despite being a transfer passenger, where the drugs were discovered.

'It was almost as though she asked for trouble as a trafficker,' Mr Shafee said.

'But because she was not a trafficker, because she is an innocent carrier, tricked into carrying a bag, she did all these innocent things.'

Co-lawyer, Farhan Shafee said expert testimony from Monica Whitty, cyberpsychologist from Warwick University in the UK, was key to the judge's finding.

Co-lawyer, Farhan Shafee said expert testimony from Monica Whitty, cyberpsychologist from Warwick University in the UK, was key to the judge's finding (pictured is Ms Exposto arriving at the court)

Pictured are the drugs found in Ms Exposto's luggage at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Whitty gave evidence that the four stages of a cyber crime had been committed by scammers preying on Ms Exposto.

The first stage is to find a lonely victim, secondly an ideal person is presented - in this case a US officer.

The third stage is the grooming, which for Ms Exposto was a two year online relationship.

The final stage is to create a crisis - 'Captain Smith' needing Ms Exposto to deliver his discharge papers so they could get married.

'He [Smith] made me feel loved, he made me feel wanted,' Ms Exposto told the court, adding that the alleged US serviceman would send her photos of himself.

'Smith would sing to me a few times a day and send love poems as well,' she added.

The sentence comes after Ms Exposto's (pictured) claims she fell victim to a US military romance scam and was tricked into carrying the drugs

Ms Exposto said Smith had also asked to marry her in September 2013 at a time when her relationship with her husband was getting 'a bit sour'.

Mr Shafee told reporters that Ms Exposto's testimony suggested her close online relationship with Smith.

'There are probably thousands, mostly women, who have been conned into similar situations. Captain Daniel Smith is one of the many scammers,' he said.

Mr Shafee said Ms Exposto would now be processed by Malaysian immigration authorities for deportation after the three-year ordeal.

He said that immediately after the verdict Ms Exposto 'was relieved and glad that justice found in her favour. She was more thrilled to be able to call her family in Australia.'

Hugo Pinto Exposto (pictured), the son of Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto at the Shah Alam High Court

However, she could remain in custody for months as she awaits the appeal against the not guilty verdict.

Malaysia is amending laws that no longer bind judges to hand down mandatory death sentences for drug mules.

That law has not yet been gazetted, however, and therefore Ms Exposto would have faced a mandatory death sentence if convicted.

Two Australians were hanged in Malaysia in 1986 for heroin trafficking - the first Westerners to be executed in the country.
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A glass-bottomed suspension bridge measuring a whopping 1,601 feet long has opened in China.

The transparent footpath is the longest glass bridge in the world and is designed to 'sway a little' when tourists walk on it, according to Chinese state media.

It's 191 feet longer than the previous record holder, which is also in China.

The 6.5-foot-wide walkway hangs 755 feet above the ground - roughly the height of a 66-storey building - between two cliffs in the Hongyagu Scenic Area in Hebei province.

Don't look down! The 1,601-foot-long glass-bottomed bridge opened on December 24 in the Hongyagu Scenic Area in China

Daredevils: Tourists jump on the transparent suspension bridge which has been designed to sway 755 feet above the ground

The spectacular tourist attraction, which opened on December 24, is paved with 1,077 glass panels, reported People's Daily Online, citing China Daily.

Each of the panels is 1.5 inches thick and the whole bridge weighs 70 tonnes.

The most thrilling feature of the bridge could be its 'swaying sensation'.

Hebei Bailu Group, the company that built the bridge, told local reporters that they hoped the swinging motion could entertain the visitors as they take in the breath-taking scenery on the vertigo-inducing path.

Previously, the world's longest glass bridge measured 1,410 feet long and is situated in the Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon in Hunan Province, southern China.

Record-breaking: The spectacular footpath is the longest glass bridge in the world, breaking the previous record by 191 feet

Smile, you're on camera: Tourists pose for photos on the see-through walkway suspended over a beautiful canyon

The Hongyagu bridge could support a maximum of 2,000 people. However, to ensure safety the management would only allow 500 tourists to stand on it at any one time.

Last year, the glass-bottomed bridge in Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon was forced to close just 13 days after it opened due to an overwhelming number of tourists. Thousands of people had flocked to stand on the 984-foot-high structure every day, causing safety concerns.

In 2015, a group of Chinese tourists were left screaming in terror on the side of a 3,540-foot-high cliff in Henan, central China, after a glass pane on a new transparent walkway suddenly shattered.

Don't look down! Another Chinese scenic spot has built a transparent walkway that boasts dramatic special effects

Vertigo-inducing: Measuring 1,272 feet in length, the 'Flying-dragon Glass Bridge' is situated on the lush mountains of Wuhu

Would you cross it? The 124 glass panels of on the bridge in Wuhu would appear to shatter when the tourists step on them

Unprecedented: Though many glass-bottomed bridges have been built in China, this is the first with different special effects

Glass-bottomed bridges are hugely popular in China and have been built all across the country.

Just one day before Hongyagu Scenic Area opened the world's longest glass-bottomed bridge, another scenic spot in eastern China unveiled the country's first transparent walkway with special effects.

Situated on the lush mountains of Wuhu, Anhui Province, the 1,272-foot-long glass bridge could appear to shatter when tourists stand on them.

In addition, two dragon statues on top of the 590-foot-high bridge could produce smoke, which makes the mythological creatures seemingly fly through the clouds.
No one relishes being stuck in a queue and new research suggests people at the back are twice as likely to switch to another one - meaning they end up waiting even longer.

This is because we have a fundamental loathing for being last, something economists refer to as 'last place aversion'.

Scientists found that people at the back of the queue are 20 per cent less satisfied than any one else in the line - meaning they often swap queues even if they are already in the shortest one.

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No one relishes being stuck in a queue and new research suggests people at the back are twice as likely to switch to another one - meaning they end up waiting even longer (stock image)

LAST PLACE AVERSION We have a fundamental loathing for being last, something economists refer to as 'last place aversion'. People who earn less or consider themselves at the bottom of the social pile may also suffer from 'last place aversion' but it becomes most clear when people are standing in a queue. Researchers found that people at the back of the queue suffer are 20 per cent less satisfied than any one else in the line. This means they make rash decisions that extend their waiting time - and are four times more likely just to give up altogether. Researchers found people swapped queues (even if they are in the shortest queue) just because they did not feel good about being last. Advertisement

Researchers from Harvard Business School found when a person is at the back of a queue the pressure sometimes causes them make poor decisions.

'It's nuts because the number of people behind you has nothing to do with how long you are going to wait, but it shapes our behaviour,' lead researcher Ryan Buell told the Guardian.

'If we are in last place, we are almost 20 per cent less satisfied than if someone is behind us', he said.

They are also four times more likely just to give up altogether, researchers found.

People who earn less or consider themselves at the bottom of the social pile may also suffer from 'last place aversion'.

However, experts believe this phenomenon is most clear when people are standing in a queue.

Dr Buell says people should think carefully about switching queue just because they are last in line.

People who chose to switch one ended up waiting around ten per cent longer and those that switched twice waited around 67 per cent longer, researchers found.

He found people swapped queues (even if they are in the shortest queue) just because they did not feel good about being last.

'If we see a line moving faster, we might switch without having enough extra information, and we can often get it wrong,' said Dr Buell.

In an unpublished paper, Dr Buell suggests the first ten seconds are the most miserable for people at the back, after which time it becomes more bearable.

Researchers from Harvard Business School found when a person is that the back of a queue the pressure sometimes causes them make poor decisions they later regret (stock image)

QUEUE LIFE HACKS Desmos, a U.S. organisation that promotes maths, technology and data, has spent months analysing supermarket data last year. Their research revealed the best ways to beat the queues. - Choose to be served by female cashiers: Experts suggest that female cashiers are faster - Stand in queues that feed into several tills: These queues will get through customers quicker - Opt for checkouts on the left: Most shoppers are right-handed and so choose to queue on the right - Queue behind shoppers with a trolley: It can be quicker to stand behind one person with a trolley full of items instead of several shoppers with a basket as the face-to-face interaction time is quicker Advertisement

He first looked at queuing behaviour at a grocery store before creating an online survey.

Initially people were told it would take five minutes although it only ended up taking one.

Participants started at the back of the virtual queue on screen. They had three choices - wait, switch queue or leave.

One in five people at the back of the queue chose to switch - even though they ended up waiting around ten per cent longer as a result.

He said the service industry should focus more time on the person at the back of the queue - one way would be for coffee shops to take the person at the back's order when they arrive.

In order to get around this 'last place aversion', Dr Buell recommends people distract themselves by striking up a conversation with the person in front of them as leaving will only extend the wait.
If you've had enough of disappointing first dates, this new app could herald a new era of dating where you have sexual chemistry with every person you meet.

A genetics-based app called Pheramor has pinpointed 11 genes that link to our pheromones and therefore whether we are sexually compatible with someone.

Experts say this information could reveal how diverse someone's immune system is compared to our own - and all you have to do is take a swab from your cheek.

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A new app could look at your genes to match you with the perfect partner, according to its creators who say science dictates sexual attraction

HOW DOES IT WORK? Pheromones are chemical signals secreted in bodily fluids such as sweat that influences the behaviour of the opposite sex - including triggering sexual interest. People can take swabs from their cheek in order to isolate the 11 key genes that control how attracted we are to other people. The data from the swab is then combined with personality traits from the user's social media profile. Unlike other apps, Pheramor involves pulling details from someone's profile - such as what bands they like or what books they read. The app, which is focused on young professionals between the age of 18 and 44, removes the bias associated with creating your own dating profile, the creators say. The co-founders are hoping to launch the app in February. They need 3,000 members before they can officially launch in Houston. Advertisement

Users would take swabs from their cheek in order to isolate the key genes that link to our pheromones.

Pheromones are chemical signals secreted in bodily fluids such as sweat that influences the behaviour of the opposite sex - including triggering sexual interest.

The data from the swab is then combined with personality traits from the user's social media profile.

'When we smell pheromones, what we're actually smelling is how diverse someone's immune system is compared to our own,' Brittany Barreto, who has a doctorate in genetics at Baylor College of Medicine, told Houston Chronicle.

'Evolution is very strong. So we're smelling each other, trying to figure out who is the best person to mate with', she said.

'And that's what love at first sight actually is. It's smelling someone's pheromones from across the room, and your brain says, 'Oh my Gosh, that's the most perfect pheromone profile I've ever smelled in my entire life. I love them.'

Unlike other apps, Pheramor involves pulling details from someone's profile - such as what bands they like or what books they read.

This means the app, which is focused on young professionals between the age of 18 and 44, removes the bias associated with creating your own dating profile, the creators say.

'So many profiles, people just write, 'I love adventure, and I'm super laid back.' And it's like, 'Who are you? What does that mean?', said Dr Baretto.

'And then you meet them, and they're not even adventurous.

The app, called Pheramor, looks at people's DNA and social media posts to pair them with potential partners, according to experts who are developing it

'So us building the profile for users takes away the idea that someone has a standard profile that they write to put up on a dating app', she said.

The co-founders are hoping to launch the app in February in Houston. They need 3,000 members before they can officially launch.

'So, yes you can meet someone on a train and have that initial attraction. But what if you never met that person?', said Dr Baretto.

'The way I see it, we're helping you find those missed connections', she said.

Despite this growing list of known pheromones, researchers know little about the mechanism behind how pheromones actually work.

Experts say this information could reveal how diverse someone's immune system is compared to our own - and therefore how sexual attractive we will find them

Unlike other apps, Pheramor involves pulling details from someone's profile - such as what bands they like or what books they read

The app, which is focused on young professionals between the age of 18 and 44, removes the bias associated with creating your own dating profile, the creators say

Ever since a pheromone secreted by a female moth that attracts males was first identified in 1959, researchers have identified many chemicals that affect behaviour in a wide variety of animal species, from insects to mammals to humans.

In June, researchers found a male pheromone in mice enhances sexual behaviors in females, and at the same time enhance aggression in males.

The team of Japanese researchers based at the University of Tokyo identified specific neural circuits and neurons in mice that generate a particular behavioural response to specific chemical signals.

In most animals, the sense of smells and sensory perception of other chemical stimuli play a critical role in controlling instinctive behaviors.

The pheromone, called ESP1, has been shown to enhance sexual behaviors in females, but elicit aggressive behaviors in males exposed to the pheromone along with unfamiliar male urine.

The co-founders are hoping to launch the app in February in Houston. They need 3,000 members before they can officially launch

By using this method, the researchers found that ESP1 was routed differently in the brains of males and females, by neurons in a region of the brain called the amygdala.

The researchers also found that the activation of neurons that respond to the pheromone in the region of the brain called the hypothalamus enhanced sexual behaviour in female mice - even in the absence of actual ESP-1.

A different study showed a similar discovery in fruit flies.

It showed that a particular sex pheromone enhances female sexual behaviors and male aggression via separate neural circuits between the sexes.

This suggests that a sexually distinct circuit may be a universal strategy for converting male pheromone information into appropriate behavioral output.

The researchers say that further study into the neural basis underlying female sexual behaviours could help provide insight into the origins of sexual dysfunctions.
WhatsApp is preparing to bid farewell to two long-term partners with the start of the new year, ditching support for Blackberry and Windows 8.0 or older smartphones.

Users will be able to continue to use the Facebook owned app but won't be able to create new accounts or re-verify existing accounts.

The move will eventually lead to the messenger crashing and becoming unusable, after update support is withdrawn on New Year's Day.

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The facebook-owned app is ready to move on from Blackberry and some old Windows phones. On New Years Day the app will stop working on phones running Windows 8.0 or older, Blackberry OS or Blackberry 10

PLATFORMS LOSING WHATSAPP WhatsApp is removing itself from old and unpopular platforms to focus on the duopoly of Apple and Android. The Nokia Symbian S60 was cut-off on June 30 this year and was the first to go. As of the January 1, 2018, BlackBerry OS, BlackBerry 10 and devices using Windows Phone 8.0 will no longer support WhatsApp. The next step in slimming down the platforms that WhatsApp is offered on will be the cut-off of the Nokia S40 on December 31, 2018. Android versions 2.3.7 and older will be unable to use WhatsApp on February 1, 2020. Advertisement

The Menlo-Park based developers of the popular platform have said that they will not continue to work on these operating systems.

They plan to phase them out in favour of steering resources into the more popular Android and iOS versions of the app.

If you are using one of the affected models, you will need to upgrade to a newer OS to ensure ongoing support.

This includes Android running OS 4.0 or above, iPhone running iOS 7 or above, or Windows Phone 8.1 or above.

Writing in a support note on WhatsApp's website, a company spokesman said: 'These platforms don't offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app's features in the future.

'If you use one of these affected mobile devices, we recommend upgrading.

Once you have one of these devices, simply install WhatsApp and verify your phone number on the new device.

'Keep in mind that WhatsApp can only be activated with one phone number on one device at a time.

'There is currently no option to transfer your chat history between platforms.

'However, we provide the option to send your chat history attached to an email.'

WhatsApp was first launched in 2009 at a time when there was greater diversity in the operating systems used on smartphones.

Removing support for less popular platforms should not entirely come as a surprise, however, with WhatsApp releasing a blog post in February 2016 signalling its intentions.

Writing in it, the firm said: 'Mobile operating systems offered by Google, Apple and Microsoft  which account for 99.5 per cent of sales today  were on less than 25 per cent of mobile devices sold at the time.

'As we look ahead to our next seven years, we want to focus our efforts on the mobile platforms the vast majority of people use.'

For Windows users, the thought of losing WhatsApp is likely not their main concern after the announcement from Microsoft stating it is giving up on the mobile phone range.

On New Years Day WhatsApp will stop working on phones running Windows 8.0 or older, Blackberry OS or Blackberry 10. The developers called it a 'tough decision' and the app intends to take itself of other platforms in the coming years

Windows phone users will have no problem with the app as long as they have the newer operating systems.

Only devices which still operate Windows Phone 8.0 or earlier will be affected.

The deadline for Blackberry was originally set for the end of 2016, however WhatsApp later announced it would continue support until the end of 2017.

This is the latest in a string of streamlining changes for the messenger, which ended supporting for iOS 6 at the end of 2016 and earlier this year withdrew the Nokia S60 from its roster.

The slimming down of platforms and services is set to continue after Blackberry and Windows 8.0.

The Nokia S40 is to be jettisoned at the end of 2018 and by the end of February 2020, Android versions 2.3.7 will no longer work.
the firm of interfering with their devices without consent

Apple is facing more class action lawsuitsafter admitting it deliberately slows down old iPhone models.

The firm said last week it slows down phones to extend their life and stop them from shutting down as batteries age and become less effective.

The firm is now facing eight lawsuits filed in various federal courts in the week since the company opened up about the year-old software change.

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Apple intentionally throttles the performance of its smartphones when a battery gets too old, a new study has claimed, including the iPhone 6 and 7, once battery life begins to suffer. This image shows CEO Tim Cook at the launch of the iPhone 6 on September 9, 2015

PLANNED IPHONE OBSOLESCENCE? This is not the first time Apple has been accused of deliberately throttling the performance of its older phones. Explanations for the slowness range from Apple's iOS causing problems on older devices to the firm deliberately slowing down old phones to make people buy the new handsets. This latter explanation is known as planned, or built-in, obsolescence. This is the idea that manufacturer's deliberately make their products in such a way that they become out-of-date sooner. By doing this, the companies can encourage customers to buy the latest model of a certain product. This also stimulates demand for products because people return again and again. Advertisement

Some customers are unhappy the company has been less than transparent about the performance throttling feature, which they see as a ploy to drive sales of new handsets.

All the lawsuits - filed in U.S. District Courts in California, New York and Illinois - seek class-action to represent potentially millions of iPhone owners nationwide.

A similar case was lodged in an Israeli court on Monday, the newspaper Haaretz reported.

One of the lawsuits, filed Thursday in San Francisco, said that 'the batteries' inability to handle the demand created by processor speeds' without the software patch was a defect.

'Rather than curing the battery defect by providing a free battery replacement for all affected iPhones, Apple sought to mask the battery defect,' according to the complaint.

The plaintiff in that case is represented by attorney Jeffrey Fazio, who represented plaintiffs in a $53-million settlement with Apple in 2013 over its handling of iPhone warranty claims.

The problem now seen is that users over the last year could have blamed an aging computer processor for app crashes and sluggish performance - and chose to buy a new phone - when the true cause may have been a weak battery that could have been replaced for a fraction of the cost, some of the lawsuits state.

'If it turns out that consumers would have replaced their battery instead of buying new iPhones had they known the true nature of Apple's upgrades, you might start to have a better case for some sort of misrepresentation or fraud,' said Rory Van Loo, a Boston University professor specializing in consumer technology law.

But Chris Hoofnagle, faculty director for the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology, said in an email that Apple may not have done wrong.

'We still haven't come to consumer protection norms' around aging products, Hoofnagle said.

Pointing to a device with a security flaw as an example, he said, 'the ethical approach could include degrading or even disabling functionality.'

The lawsuits seek unspecified damages in addition to, in some cases, reimbursement.

A couple of the complaints seek court orders barring Apple from throttling iPhone computer speeds or requiring notification in future instances.

Stefan Bogdanovich and Dakota Speas from Los Angeles have filed a lawsuit with the US District Court for the Central District of California.

They are accusing Apple of interfering with their devices without consent.

CAN YOU MAKE A CLAIM? In the US, a class action lawsuit is a court case in which a large number of people join together to sue another person or company, or in which a large group of people or companies are being sued. It often saves the time, money and energy of everyone involved to bring cases together into one class action lawsuit, rather than filing individual cases. In general, you don't need to do anything to join a class action. If your legal rights are affected by a class action, you usually will only need to get involved once the case settles. In most cases, you will need to submit a claim, either online or through the mail, to receive your portion of the settlement or judgement. If a class action has already been filed, you may receive a class action notice in the mail stating that your legal rights may be affected by a lawsuit. You should carefully read the class action notice. Some class actions only cover residents of certain states or individuals who suffered a particular type of physical or financial harm. The situation is slightly different in the UK. As a consumer, you're expected to try to resolve things directly with the company involved before taking legal action. Legal action in what's usually known as the 'small claims court' is limited to claims under 10,000. US style class action suits, known as Group Litigation, is becoming more popular, although these differ slightly. They are a way for individuals with similar complaints to join together against the wrongdoer and avoid pitfalls that can be associated with individuals having to make their own separate claim each time. By joining together as a group, individuals can benefit from collective strength in the commonality and sharing of knowledge, and the sharing of the risks and costs. Usually test cases are selected from within the group so the rest of the group members benefit from the decisions in those cases. Defendants in these types of claims are often large multinational companies and the group collectively enjoys the resources to fight on an even playing field. Certain legal firms specialise in this area of the law, and will work on your behalf to prosecute the company in question. Advertisement

The pair are trying to get the case certified to cover all people in the United States who owned an Apple phone older than the iPhone 8.

Their application for the lawsuit states: 'Plaintiffs and Class Members never consented to allow Defendants to slow their iPhones.

'As a result of Defendant's wrongful actions, Plaintiffs and Class Members had their phone slowed down, and thereby it interfered with Plaintiffs' and Class Members' use or possession of their iPhones.'

A second lawsuit, filed by five plaintiffs in the Northern District of the State of Illinois, accuses Apple of deliberately keeping its power management features under wraps to persuade people to upgrade to newer devices.

'Apple's iOS updates purposefully neglected to explain that its purposeful throttling down of older model devices and resulting lost or diminished operating performance could be remedied by replacing the batteries of these devices,' the lawsuit states.

'Instead, Apple's decision to purposefully slowdown or throttle down these devices was undertaken to fraudulently induce consumers to purchase the latest iPhone versions of the iPhone 7, as well as new phones such as the iPhone 8 and iPhone X .'

Geekbench developer John Poole decided to analyse the results of a number of iPhone 6 and 7 models running various versions of iOS. He found an update issued to fix a ' sudden shutdown' issue wit the iPhone 6 was to blame for poor performance

In a statement sent to MailOnline, a spokesman for Apple said: 'Our goal is to deliver the best experience for customers, which includes overall performance and prolonging the life of their devices.

'Lithium-ion batteries become less capable of supplying peak current demands when in cold conditions, have a low battery charge or as they age over time, which can result in the device unexpectedly shutting down to protect its electronic components.

'Last year we released a feature for iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE to smooth out the instantaneous peaks only when needed to prevent the device from unexpectedly shutting down during these conditions.

'We've now extended that feature to iPhone 7 with iOS 11.2, and plan to add support for other products in the future.'

A consumer watchdog that evaluates electronic gadgets' performance sparked the outcry after it found that processing power of older models is limited once battery life begins to suffer.

Apple has come under fire for not being clear with users about the software update, or explaining when throttling happens.

The update reduces this drain on resources, allowing the phones to continue operating.

The drop in performance came to light in benchmark tests, from Toronto-based firm Geekbench.

It found that on certain versions the Apple operating system, phones with older batteries achieved much lower performance scores.

Battery capacity is expected to decrease as they age, but processor performance should stay the same.

However, users with older iPhones with lower-than-expected Geekbench scores have reported that replacing the battery increases their score, as well as the performance of the phone.

Apple said it recently extended the feature to iPhone 7 with iOS 11.2, and said it plans to add support for other products in the future

Geekbench developer John Poole decided to analyse the results of a number of iPhone 6 and 7 models running various versions of iOS.

He found that an update issued to fix the ' sudden shutdown' issue, when users found their iPhone 6 was turning off when its battery reached half charge, was to blame.

This resulted in the poor performance results observed.

Writing in a blog post, Mr Poole said: 'It appears the problem is widespread, and will only get worse as phones, and their batteries, continue to age.

So it's true Apple intentionally slow down old iPhones. Proof: My iPhone 6 was bought 3years ago and recently got really slow. APP 'CPU DasherX' shows iPhone CPU is under clocked running at 600MHz. After a iPhone battery replacement. CPU speed resumed to factory setting 1400MHz. pic.twitter.com/pML3y0Jkp2  Sam_Si (@sam_siruomu) December 20, 2017

'I believe, as do others, that Apple introduced a change to limit performance when battery condition decreases past a certain point.

'If the performance drop is due to the 'sudden shutdown' fix, users will experience reduced performance without notification.

'Users expect either full performance, or reduced performance with a notification that their phone is in low-power mode.

'This fix creates a third, unexpected state.'

Without this warning Mr Poole believes that the fix will cause users to believe their phone is slow so they should replace it, rather than the battery which is actually at fault.

'This will likely feed into the 'planned obsolescence' narrative,' he added.

Apple's iPhone 6s battery fiasco caused some iPhone 6s handsets to shut down without warning. The issue only affected a 'relatively small batch' of the devices manufactured in 2014

Every time Apple launches a new handset people seemingly flock to Google to ask why their current iPhone or iOS is slow.

This trend has been seen every year since Apple released the iPhone 3G in 2008.

Explanations for the slowness range from Apple's iOS causing problems on older devices to the firm deliberately slowing down old phones to make people buy the new handsets.

This latter explanation is known as planned, or built-in, obsolescence.

This is the idea that manufacturer's deliberately make their products in such a way that they become out-of-date sooner.

APPLE SUDDEN SHUTDOWN The technical issue causes some iPhone 6s handsets to shut down unexpectedly. The Cupertino-based technology firm will replace batteries on affected devices. 'iPhone 6s devices made in September and October 2015 contained a battery component that was exposed to controlled ambient air longer than it should have been before being assembled into battery packs,' the company said. The issue only affected a 'relatively small batch' of the devices manufactured in 2014, says Apple. The firm will not disclose the exact numbers or what regions are affected. Advertisement

By doing this, the companies can encourage customers to buy the latest model of a certain product.

This also stimulates demand for products because people return again and again.

Alternatively, the so-called 'slow iPhone phenomenon' may be psychological, as people believe their phone is being sluggish even if its not.

In a blog post Felix Richter, from analytics firm Statista, said: 'Many of us know the feeling: one day we're perfectly happy with the smartphone we've been using for the past 12 months, the next day, after we've seen a colleague showing off his new gadget, ours suddenly feels inadequate, bulky and slow.

'The good news is we're not alone.'

He continued there are two possible explanations for these spikes.

The first is that it is a psychological phenomenon caused when people convince themselves their old phone is slow in comparison to the latest devices, and this could help them justify buying a new one.

Google Trends data (pictured) shows that searches for 'slow iOS' and 'slow iPhone' significantly peaked on the days after each was released. Explanations range from Apple's iOS causing problems to the firm deliberately slowing down old phones to make people upgrade

The second explanation, which Mr Richter said is much more plausible, is down to the operating system not being compatible with the hardware on older phones.

New operating systems are often designed to work most effectively with the more advanced processing power and RAM seen in the newer models meaning older models can struggle to keep up.

In 2014, a study by Harvard University PhD student Laura Trucco appeared to back up conspiracy theories that Apple deliberately slows down older models of its iPhones to encourage users to buy a new release.

The study analysed worldwide searches for 'iPhone slow' and compared those results with similar searches for the term 'Samsung Galaxy slow'.

Interestingly, it discovered the term was unaffected by new releases from Samsung, but this may be due to the fact Android updates aren't rolled out at the same time like iOS ones are.

While some MailOnline readers said at the time they hadn't noticed a slow down, others claimed Apple sabotages older phones through software updates.

'This is common knowledge,' one reader wrote.

'If you want to keep your iPhone running at the same pace do not do the software upgrade that comes out within six months of a new iPhone release,'

Sendhil Mullainathan, a professor of economics at Harvard, described the results of the study as 'striking'.

But added it does not prove Apple has done anything wrong.

No matter how suggestive, he said, the data alone doesn't allow anyone to determine conclusively whether their phone is any slower.

There are other explanations for why an older model iPhone may slow down, he claims.

For instance, the latest version of the Apple operating system, iOS, is always tailored to the newest device and may therefore not work as efficiently on older models.

'Hearing about a new release makes you contemplate getting a new and faster phone,' he said. 'And you suddenly notice how slow your old phone is.'

Dom Ferkin, managing director of UK-based iOS experts, Creation Application, agrees.

He previously told MailOnline he doesn't believe Apple is doing this intentionally.

'On every hardware release they tend to upgrade the chips and they are faster every time they are released,' he said.

'Each year they release a new iOS. If you're running an iOS 7 on a 5 chip, for example, it's comparable to running Windows XP on a Windows 95 machine.
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China's home-grown AG600, the world's largest amphibious aircraft in production, took to the skies on Sunday for its maiden flight.

The plane, codenamed 'Kunlong' according to state news agency Xinhua, took off from the southern city of Zhuhai and landed after roughly an hour-long flight.

With a wingspan of 38.8 metres (127 feet) and powered by four turboprop engines, the aircraft is capable of carrying 50 people and can stay airborne for 12 hours.

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China's home-grown AG600, the world's largest amphibious aircraft in production, codenamed 'Kunlong,' took off from the southern city of Zhuhai for its maiden flight and landed after roughly an hour

THE GIANT PLANE With a wingspan of 38.8 metres (127 feet) and powered by four turboprop engines, the aircraft is capable of carrying 50 people and can stay airborne for 12 hours. Powered by four turboprop engines, the AG600 can carry 50 during maritime search-and-rescue missions, and can scoop up 12 metric tons of water within 20 seconds for fire fighting trips, according to state media. Advertisement

'Its successful maiden flight makes China among the world's few countries capable of developing a large amphibious aircraft,' chief designer Huang Lingcai told Xinhua.

The amphibious aircraft has military applications but will be used for firefighting and marine rescue, with at least 17 orders placed so far with state-owned manufacturer Aviation Industry Corp of China, state media reported.

The design is being heralded as a landmark for Chinese aviation engineering with 98 percent of all the plane's components being made inside the country.

While it is around the size of a Boeing 737, the AG600 is considerably smaller than billionaire Howard Hughes' flying boat, better known as the Spruce Goose, which had a wingspan of 97 metres and a length of 67 metres but only made one brief flight, in 1947.

The AG600's flight capabilities put all of China's island-building projects in the South China Sea well within range.

'Its 4,500-km operational range and ability to land and take off from water makes it well-suited for deployment over China's artificial islands,' said James Char, a military analyst at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University.

The aircraft can fly to the southernmost edge of China's territorial claims - the James Shoal - in just four hours from the southern city of Sanya, state-owned Global Times reported.

The shoal is also claimed by Taiwan and Malaysia, and is currently administered by Malaysia.

Powered by four turboprop engines, the AG600 can carry 50 during maritime search-and-rescue missions, and can scoop up 12 metric tons of water within 20 seconds for fire fighting trips, according to state media.

The design is being heralded as a landmark for Chinese aviation engineering with 98 percent of all the plane's components being made inside the country.

The collection of submerged rocks lies roughly 80 kilometres from Malaysia's coastline and about 1,800 kilometres from the Chinese mainland.

'The plane's capacity and maneuverability makes it ideal for transporting materiel to those maritime features that are too structurally fragile to support runways,' Char said.

Beijing's buildup in the South China Sea, through which some $5 trillion in annual trade passes, is hotly contested by other nations.

The Philippines for many years was one of the region's strongest opponents of Chinese expansionism, and brought a complaint to a United Nations-backed tribunal.

The panel ruled last year that China's territorial claims in the sea were without legal basis, but the Philippines has backed away from the dispute under its new president Rodrigo Duterte.

The AG600's flight capabilities put all of China's island building projects in the South China Sea well within range

The aircraft can fly to the southernmost edge of China's territorial claims - the James Shoal - in just four hours from the southern city of Sanya, state-owned Global Times reported.

The amphibious aircraft has military applications but will be used for firefighting and marine rescue, with at least 17 orders placed so far with state-owned manufacturer Aviation Industry Corp of China, state media reported.

The launch of the new amphibious aircraft further strengthens China's rapidly modernising military.

Earlier this year, it launched its first domestically built aircraft carrier, the Type 001A.

This complemented the Liaoning, a second-hand Soviet carrier commissioned in 2012 after extensive refits.

China's military expenditure in 2016 was an estimated $215 billion, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, putting it in first place in Asia, well ahead of India ($56 billion), Japan ($46 billion) and South Korea ($37 billion).
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Wednesday the failed launch of a 2.6 billion-rouble ($44.95 million) satellite last month was due to an embarrassing programming error.

Russian space agency Roscosmos said last month it had lost contact with the newly-launched weather satellite - the Meteor-M - after it blasted off from Russia's new Vostochny cosmodrome in the Far East.

Eighteen smaller satellites belonging to scientific, research and commercial companies from Russia, Norway, Sweden, the United States, Japan, Canada and Germany, were on board the same rocket.

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Roscosmos said last month it had lost contact with the newly-launched weather satellite - the Meteor-M - after it blasted off from Russia's new Vostochny cosmodrome in the Far East. The rocket carrying the satellites had been programmed with the wrong coordinates, he said, saying it had been given bearings for take-off from a different cosmodrome - Baikonur - which Moscow leases from Kazakhstan.

WHAT HAPPENED? Russian space agency Roscosmos said last month it had lost contact with the newly-launched weather satellite - the Meteor-M - after it blasted off from Russia's new Vostochny cosmodrome in the Far East. The rocket carrying the satellites had been programmed with the wrong coordinates - for take-off from a different cosmodrome - Baikonur - which Moscow leases from Kazakhstan. Advertisement

Speaking to Rossiya 24 state TV channel, Rogozin said the failure had been caused by human error.

The rocket carrying the satellites had been programmed with the wrong coordinates, he said, saying it had been given bearings for take-off from a different cosmodrome - Baikonur - which Moscow leases from Kazakhstan.

"The rocket was really programmed as if it was taking off from Baikonur," said Rogozin.

"They didn't get the coordinates right."

The Vostochny spaceport, laid out in the thick taiga forest of the Amur Region, is the first civilian rocket launch site in Russia.

The Meteor-M - blasted off from Russia's Vostochny cosmodrome in the Far East. However, the rocket had been programmed for take-off from Baikonur - which Moscow leases from Kazakhstan.

In April last year, after delays and massive costs overruns, Russia launched its first rocket from Vostochny, a day after a technical glitch forced an embarrassing postponement of the event in the presence of President Vladimir Putin.

Russian news agencies initially reported the likely cause was the failure of the booster's final stage, the Fregat.

The Roscosmos website earlier said: 'During the first planned communication session an attempt to establish connection failed due to the spacecraft's absence on the target orbit.

'Currently all information is being analysed.'

The unmanned Soyuz-2.1b rocket was sent into space with a Fregat booster but contact was lost with the Meteor-M spacecraft after it reached its intermediate orbit

The booster also carried 18 micro satellites built in Canada, Germany, Japan, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States.

The unmanned Soyuz-2.1b rocket was sent into space with a Fregat booster but contact was lost with the Meteor-M spacecraft after it reached its intermediate orbit.
Lockheed Martin has been granted $110 million to develop low-cost subsonic cruise missiles that can fly in swarms.

The program, dubbed Gray Wolf, aims to build and demonstrate new missiles to initially work with the F-16 aircraft, before eventually expanding to be compatible with several other fighter jets.

There will be four development phases, with the first expected to wrap up in late 2019.

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Lockheed Martin has been granted $110 million to develop low-cost subsonic cruise missiles that can fly in swarms. The first demonstrations will be conducted with an F-16 aircraft. Eventually, it will work with several other fighter jets

PROJECT GRAY WOLF Lockheed Martin received a five-year contract to develop 'Gray Wolf' missiles. These aim to be low-cost, subsonic cruise missiles that can carry out swarming behaviour. Eventually, they'll work with the F-16 aircraft, as well as the F-35, F-15, F-18, B-1, B-2 and B-52. According to Lockheed Martin, these missiles will also be able to operate efficiently in challenging environments. Advertisement

Lockheed Martin announced today that it has received a five-year Phase 1 contract from the US Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) to develop the Gray Wolf missile.

This will be a low-cost missile with built-in networked, collaborative behaviours  or, swarming behaviours.

The first demonstrations will be conducted with an F-16 aircraft.

But, it will ultimately work with the F-35, F-15, F-18, B-1, B-2 and B-52 aircraft in addition to the F-16.

Lockheed Martins concept for the Gray Wolf Missile will be an affordable, counter-IAD missile that will operate efficiently in highly contested environments, said Hady Mourad, Advanced Missiles Program director for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control.

Using the capabilities envisioned for later spirals, our system is being designed to maximize modularity, allowing our customer to incorporate advanced technologies such as more lethal warheads or more fuel-efficient engines, when those systems become available.

Lockheed Martin is also working to develop a high-power fiber laser for fighter jets.

Under a $26.3 million contract from the Air Force Research Lab, the firm revealed last month it will design and produce a directed energy system for aircraft, with plans to test the technology by 2021.

The move comes after a series of successful tests with similar systems in ground-based platforms  but, the experts say developing a laser for a smaller, airborne design will be a challenge.

LOCKHEED MARTIN'S ATHENA LASER Lockheed Martin's laser is a beam combined fiber laser, meaning it brings together individual lasers, generated through fiber optics, to generate a single, intense laser beam. This allows for a scalable laser system that can be made more powerful by adding more fiber laser subunits. Athena uses Lockheed Martins company's 30-kW Accelerated Laser Demonstration Initiative (ALADIN). Its powered by a compact Rolls-Royce turbo generator. Army bosses hope the radical weapon will give protection against threats such as swarms of drones or large numbers of rockets and mortars. Advertisement

The AFRL awarded the contract as part of its Self-protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator program.

This program includes three subsystems, addressing beam control to direct a laser to the target, a pod mounted on the jet to cool the laser, and the laser itself.

The new laser system would allow fighter jets to take down targets from the air, in contrast to previous systems, which were mounted on vehicles or ships.

We have demonstrated our ability to use directed energy to counter threats from the ground, and look forward to future tests from the air as part of the SHiELD system, said Dr Rob Afzal, senior fellow of laser weapon systems at Lockheed Martin.

The Laser Advancements for the Next-generation Compact Environments (LANCE) aims to be a high energy laser that can be trained on, and disable, an enemy target.

The LANCE contract will build upon the technology used in other recent projects, including the Athena system and Aladin laser.

Lockheed Martin is working to develop a high-power fiber laser for fighter jets. Under a $26.3 million contract from the Air Force Research Lab, the firm will design and produce a directed energy system for aircraft, with plans to test it by 2021. Artist's impression pictured

Earlier this year, we delivered a 60 kW-class laser to be installed on a US Army Ground vehicle, said Afzal.

Its a completely new and different challenge to get a laser system into a smaller, airborne test platform.

Its exciting to see this technology mature enough to embed in an aircraft. The development of high power laser systems like SHiELD show laser weapon system technologies are becoming real.

The technologies are ready to be produced, tested, and deployed on aircraft, ground vehicles, and ships.
Some of the worlds most unusual creatures can be found at the dark depths of the ocean floor.

And, lurking in the Gulf of Mexico, NOAA researchers have spotted what could be the strangest yet.

A remotely operated vehicle exploring the region has captured a look at a bizarre sea cucumber as it fed on the seafloor  and, with its oddly truncated body and wing-like protrusions, its no wonder it's come to be known as the headless chicken monster.

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Undulating through the water or slowly crawling across the floor, the strange sea cucumber at first appears graceful. But, when viewed from a different angle, it takes on a much more sinister appearance

NOAA'S GULF OF MEXICO EXPEDITION The Gulf of Mexico dives that wrapped up this month is the first of three planned for the region, according to the NOAA. The ship will conduct 24-hour operations, with ROV dives during the day and mapping operations at night. This expedition will help to establish baseline information in the region to catalyze further exploration, research, and management activities, NOAA says. The next two cruises are set to launch in spring 2018. Advertisement

The so-called headless chicken monster, a sea cucumber called Enypniastes eximia, was spotted during Dive 11 of the NOAA Okeanos mission in the Gulf of Mexico.

And, its far from being the only strange creature the researchers observed.

Before wrapping up the expedition for the year, the team also captured footage of deep-sea crabs, sea spiders, metallic-looking squid, and a colony of pink ice worms.

Incredible footage of the bizarre red cucumber shows how it walks across the surface of the seafloor to feast on the sediments, using tentacles that roll out from underneath its body like feet.

These tentacles, which are modified tube feet, scoop in the sediment, and they are only taking in materials from the surface of the sediment, which is higher in organic material, one of the researchers explains in the footage of the encounter.

Incredible footage of the bizarre red cucumber shows how it walks across the surface of the seafloor to feast on the sediments, using tentacles that roll out from underneath its body to act like feet

The name Enypniastes means dreamer, according to the experts, which they say is certainly an apt name for the way that sea cucumbers swim.

Undulating through the water or slowly crawling across the floor, the strange sea cucumber at first appears graceful.

But, when viewed from a different angle, it takes on a much more sinister appearance.

In one clip from the footage, the blood-red creature looks as though it has wings and the equivalent of tail feathers  and, the wrinkled nub at the top of its body looks like the site where its head should have been.

The so-called headless chicken monster, a sea cucumber called Enypniastes eximia, was spotted during Dive 11 of the NOAA Okeanos mission in the Gulf of Mexico

In a subsequent dive, the team also spotted a remarkable iridescent squid, known as the shortfin squid. And, startled by the ROV, it released quite a bit of ink

As a result, its earned a number of names apart from its scientific moniker.

According to the NOAA researchers, common names include the Spanish dancer and, apparently a favourite among Gulf of Mexico industry ROV pilots, the headless chicken monster.

In a subsequent dive, the team also spotted a remarkable iridescent squid, known as the shortfin squid.

And, startled by the ROV, it released quite a bit of ink.

Before wrapping up the expedition for the year, the team also captured footage of deep-sea crabs, sea spiders, and a metallic-looking squid

They also observed strange creatures known as ice worms living on methane hydrate outcrops. These strange pink worms graze on bacteria on the hydrate

This was likely a defensive strategy; its likely meant to distract any predators or perhaps even blind them and give them a cover to run under, the researchers note.

They also observed strange creatures known as ice worms living on methane hydrate outcrops.

The worms can live in communities as dense as 3,000 individuals per square meter, according to the researchers.

These strange pink worms graze on bacteria on the hydrate.
She's the Australian actress known for her love of expressing the joys of motherhood and family.

And on Tuesday, Teresa Palmer melted hearts once again when she shared a series of precious snaps from her family's Christmas celebrations.

The first shot saw the 31-year-old beauty cuddling up to her husband Mark Webber, 37, who was dressed in a Santa suit and matching hat.

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Happy Holidays! On Tuesday, Teresa Palmer, 31, shared a series of precious snaps from her Christmas celebrations

Another precious photo saw Mark and their two sons, and Bodhi Rain, 3, and Forest Sage, 1, opening their gifts.

'MERRY CHRISTMAS hoping you all had a beautiful day with your beloveds,' she captioned the images.

'I just had the most magical Christmas with mine.'

Spending the day with family and friends: 'MERRY CHRISTMAS hoping you all had a beautiful day with your beloveds'

Santa's arrived! Another precious photo saw Mark and their two sons, and Bodhi Rain, 3, and Forest Sage, 1, opening their gifts

Showcasing a festive spread at their Hollywood Hills home, best friend and newly-single actress Phoebe Tonkin was also in attendance.

Taking to Instagram, Phoebe, who donned a completely black ensemble couldn't help but gush over the couple's three-year-old son.

'Bodhi asked me if I had children and I said no not yet. A few minutes later he said 'Yes you do have children because we're your children,' recalled the Vampire Diaries actress.

He holds a special place in her heart: Taking to Instagram, Phoebe, who donned a completely black ensemble couldn't help but gush over the couple's three-year-old son

Knocked out: Taking to Instagram, the 31-year-old said she had had 'the most magical Christmas'

Teresa and Mark met over Twitter in 2012 after the Adelaide native tweeted her support for his movie End Of Love after watching the trailer.

Spending the next few months writing writing letters to each other via email, the couple eventually tied the knot in Mexico in 2013.

They welcomed their first child, Bodhi, shortly after.
It's the show where a diverse group of viewers critique various television shows.

And Gogglebox's popularity has ensured its stars have become household names, especially popular characters like Adam Densten and Symon Lovett.

The duo spoke with PopSugar on Tuesday, and alongside the reality show's other families, revealed a number of their behind-the-scenes secrets.

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Claim to fame: Gogglebox's popularity has ensured its stars have become household names, especially popular characters like Adam Densten (R) and Symon Lovett (L)

The close friends told the publication something that might surprise viewers - they don't actually live together.

'Adam has just very sneakily copied one of my keys so he always ends up on my couch when I get home from work (and the pantry has curiously always been raided),' Symon explained.

The longtime friends, who met on a university pub crawl, shared one of their most memorable Gogglebox moments was about organ donation on Channel Nine's RBT.

'Adam has just very sneakily copied one of my keys so he always ends up on my couch when I get home from work (and the pantry has curiously always been raided),' Symon explained

Separated: The close friends told the publication something that might surprise viewers is the fact they don't actually live together

'It's a really important topic that people take for granted. Anything that brings awareness to it is a positive thing for society,' Adam said.

Their Gogglebox co-stars, Tom and Wayne, shared an equally sentimental moment as their highlight from the show this year.

Tom described their emotions during a Married At First Sight episode about two men having to marry in New Zealand prior to Australia passing same-sex marriage.

Touching: Their Gogglebox co-stars, Tom and Wayne, shared an equally sentimental moment as their highlight from the show this year

'Wayne turned to me and said, "All mum wanted was to see us married and now she will never get to see it."

'Wayne's mother had passed away six months earlier. I held his hand and looked into his beautiful blues eyes and said, "One day we will",' he continued.

Lebanese-Australian family Matty, Sarah-Marie and Jad, who joined the series this year, offered their popular debut episode was 'a moment we will never forget'.
They've created headlines thanks to sharing snippets of their everyday life to Instagram.

And as 2017 comes to an end, Daily Mail Australia takes a look back at the stars' most-liked posts throughout the year.

From Hugh Jackman dining with Sir Patrick Stewart to Margot Robbie supporting marriage equality, it's certainly been an eventful 12 months.

Fan favourite: At the star of December, Hugh Jackman, 49, delighted his 15.4 million fans when he was seen dining with Sir Patrick Stewart, 77, whom he starred alongside in this year's film Logan

At the start of December, Hugh Jackman, 49, delighted his 15.4 million fans when he was seen dining with Sir Patrick Stewart, 77, whom he starred alongside in this year's film Logan.

The Greatest Showman actor captioned the snap, which garnered 1,172,294 likes, 'Father and son reunion' alongside the hash-tags #Logan #Charles and #wolverine.

Not far behind Hugh's crowd pleaser was Chris Hemsworth's adorable photo on November 8, which saw the star dressed in his famous Thor costume alongside one of his three-year-old twin sons.

Superhero appeal: Not far behind Hugh's crowd pleaser was Chris Hemsworth's adorable photo on November 8, which saw the star dressed in his famous Thor costume alongside one of his three-year-old twin sons

For a great cause: Meanwhile, former Neighbours actress Margot Robbie, 27, shared her support for the same-sex marriage campaign in August, garnering a plentiful 1,505,613 thumbs up

Fashion-forward: Orange Is the New Black star Ruby Rose, 31, showed off her signature edgy style in a photo attracting 887,438 likes on August 14

Booty-ful: Meanwhile, rapper Iggy Azalea, 27, received similar admiration when she flaunted her famous derriere on November 20

Chris' youngster wore a star-patterned cape as he visited his father on set, and the heart-warming image attracted a whopping 1,526,072 likes.

Meanwhile, former Neighbours actress Margot Robbie, 27, shared her support for the same-sex marriage campaign in August, garnering a plentiful 1,505,613 thumbs up.

Sporting a rainbow-striped sweater and tinted heart-shaped sunglasses, the blonde beauty captioned the celebratory snap: 'LOVE IS LOVE any Aussie's living overseas like me, register here to vote before August 24th' along with the hash-tags #marriageequality and #australia.

Hitting the right note: Meanwhile, Rebel Wilson, 37, attracted 348,797 likes for a promotional poster of film Pitch Perfect 3

Assets: While Instagram model Pia Muehlenbeck, 26, flaunted her ample cleavage in a skimpy black bikini on November 14, to earn herself 152,347 likes.

Riding the waves: Bikini blogger Natasha Oakley won over 73,276 Instagram users when she went skinny dipping on August 23

Love helps: Sophie Monk, 38, delighted followers when she posted a promotional photo on October 26 of herself and her chosen Bachelorette beau, Stu Laundy, 44

Orange Is the New Black star Ruby Rose, 31, dazzled fans when she showed off her signature edgy style in a photo that attracted 887,438 likes on August 14.

The actress was photographed in a slim-fitting white T-shirt that revealed some of her arm tattoos.

Meanwhile, rapper Iggy Azalea, 27, received similar admiration when she flaunted her famous derriere on November 20.

Soap star: December 18 saw Pia Miller attract 60,758 likes with an on-set picture of herself as Home And Away's Katarina Chapman

Model looks: While Shanina Shaik's model figure earned the 26-year-old 55,057 likes on November 18.

Page-turner: Model Nicole Trunfio, 31, shared a photo of herself breastfeeding son Zion on the cover of Elle Australia on July 8, which attracted 54,229 likes

Household name: In October, Today show co-host Lisa Wilkinson, 58, thrilled 45,911 fans when she posted a picture from her vow renewal ceremony with husband Peter FitzSimons

Simply captioned with a winking face emoji, the image saw 676,227 people hitting the 'like' button.

Meanwhile, Rebel Wilson, 37, attracted 348,797 likes for a promotional poster of film Pitch Perfect 3, while Instagram model Pia Muehlenbeck, 26, flaunted her ample cleavage in a skimpy black bikini on November 14, to earn herself 152,347 likes.

Bikini blogger Natasha Oakley won over 73,276 Instagram users when she went skinny dipping on August 23.

Her pride and joy: AFL WAG and entrepreneur Rebecca Judd, 34, impressed her legion of followers on April 13 with a cute snap of her one-year-old twin sons Tom and Darcy

A second proposal will do it! PR queen Roxy Jacenko, 37, did not disappoint when she posted a snap celebrating her second engagement from husband Oliver Curtis, on July 15

Instagram sensation: Skye Wheatley flaunted her ample cleavage and slender waist in a racy pic on October 2, which earned her 37,980 likes

She's got a fan base: Swimsuit and lingerie model Natalie Roser, 27, may have felt the chill on December 19, but her holiday snap attracted 34,415 likes

The snap saw the toned blonde drawing the eye to her slim silhouette and was captioned 'This is what freedom looks like'.

Sophie Monk, 38, delighted followers when she posted a promotional photo on October 26 of herself and her chosen Bachelorette beau, Stu Laundy, 44.

The image, which saw the blonde gain 92,158 likes, was captioned 'Finally WE can walk down the street and go to the supermarket'.

Causing a stir: The Today show's Karl Stefanovic, 43, won himself 29,349 likes on November 15 thanks to a picture of himself alongside girlfriend Jasmine Yarbrough, 33

Summer Bay babe: Home And Away newcomer Sam Frost, 28, race day post on November 4 earnt her 26,362 likes

Giving love another chance: Married At First Sight star Cheryl Maitland, 26, had fans gushing over her newfound romance with Dean Gibbs in a post on March 27, which earned her 21,808 likes

Making them green with envy: Lara Worthington (nee Bingle), 30, attracted 21,425 likes on July 8 with a picture of herself relaxing at Blue Lagoon in Iceland

December 18 saw Pia Miller attract 60,758 likes with an on-set picture of herself as Home And Away's Katarina Chapman, while Shanina Shaik's model figure earned the 26-year-old 55,057 likes on November 18.

In October, Today show co-host Lisa Wilkinson, 58, thrilled 45,911 fans when she posted a picture from her vow renewal ceremony with husband Peter FitzSimons.

AFL WAG and entrepreneur Rebecca Judd, 34, impressed her legion of followers on April 13 with a cute snap of her one-year-old twin sons Tom and Darcy.

Nuptials: Jesinta Franklin (nee Campbell), 26, earned herself 20,033 likes on November 4 with a wedding snap alongside husband Lance 'Buddy' Franklin

Screen siren: Songstress Delta Goodrem, 33, posed as Grease's Sandy, garnering 18,514 likes on October 27

Reality TV perks: Former Bachelor star Alex Nation, 26, shared a snap of herself with son Elijah, seven, and ex-boyfriend Richie Strahan on a ride, on January 30, attracting 15,933 likes

The image, which captured the boys dressed in 'copy' and 'paste' onesies, saw 42,730 people hitting the heart button.

PR queen Roxy Jacenko, 37, did not disappoint when she posted a snap celebrating her second engagement from husband Oliver Curtis, on July 15.

The photo attracted 28,397 likes after the mother-of-two posed in a lavishly decorated suite at Sydney's Four Seasons Hotel surrounded by celebratory balloons.

Insta-famous: Glamour model Imogen Anthony, 26, caused a stir with her risque attire in a snap shared to the site on September 10. It saw the girlfriend of radio shock jock Kyle Sandilands receive 10,242 likes
He played the lovable nerd Screech in Saved By The Bell.

But Dustin Diamond took on a decidedly more controversial character in a music video for the band TENLo's new song Kill All the Things: disgraced movie magnate Harvey Weinstein.

The 40-year-old actor, who's had several brushes with the law in real life himself, first appears as Weinstein as he exits a car and enters a hotel.

Timely: Dustin Diamond took on a decidedly more controversial character in a music video for the band TENLo's new song Kill All the Things: disgraced movie magnate Harvey Weinstein

He wears a brown suit with a tangerine shirt as he swaggers past the establishment's door man.

Meanwhile, actress Kelly Cunningham is busy primping in her room, applying make-up and straightening her form-fitting black dress.

She also takes a swig of champagne along with a fist full of mysterious white pills.

Harvey immediately starts having a good time in the bar, taking shots of liquor and soon adjourning to the bathroom to snort what looks to be cocaine.

Infamous: Harvey Weinstein is accused of decades of sexual abuse

Incoming: The 40-year-old actor, who's had several brushes with the law in real life himself, first appears as Weinstein as he exits a car and enters a hotel

Getting ready: Meanwhile, actress Kelly Cunningham is busy primping in her room, applying make-up and straightening her form-fitting black dress

Illicit: She also takes a swig of champagne along with a fist full of mysterious white pills

Bottoms up! Harvey immediately starts having a good time in the bar, taking shots of liquor

Extra curricular: He soon adjourns to the bathroom to snort what looks to be cocaine

Little does he know that Kelly, who is fondling a rosary, spies him from across the room as he is revelling.

She makes a beeline for the one-time Weinstein Company mogul and apparently invites him back up to her hotel room.

Once inside, she pushes the alleged sexual predator onto the bed and menacingly closes the door behind them.

On the way: Kelly shows off a glimpse of her legs thanks to her double split dress

Target acquired: Little does he know that Kelly, who is fondling a rosary, spies him from across the room as he is revelling

Why not? She makes a beeline for the one-time Weinstein Company mogul and apparently invites him back up to her hotel room

Uh oh: Once inside, she pushes the alleged sexual predator onto the bed and menacingly closes the door behind them

In disguise: Several cuts reveal that Kelly is actually a nun with a hidden agenda

Multitalented: Another cut shows her seductively writhing around in an armchair

Several cuts reveal that Kelly is actually a nun with a hidden agenda, and simultaneously show her seductively writhing around in an armchair.

Back in the bedroom, things turn steamy as she climbs on top of Weinstein, and appears to suggest intercourse is up next.

Unfortunately for the Hollywood producer, he instead receives multiple stabs to the chest, resulting in gratuitous blood spatter, and a satisfied looking Kelly.

Suggestive: Back in the bedroom, things turn steamy as she climbs on top of Weinstein, and appears to suggest intercourse is up next

Climax: Unfortunately for the Hollywood producer, he instead receives multiple stabs to the chest, resulting in gratuitous blood spatter, and a satisfied looking Kelly
Today show host Karl Stefanovic, 43, is currently enjoying his annual leave in sunny Queensland with girlfriend Jasmine Yarbrough.

But Channel Nine alerted their Facebook fans on Wednesday that the father-of-three, rumoured to be on a $2 million salary, would be returning to the program on January 22, alongside co-host Georgie Gardner.

However not all viewers were pleased, with one in particular commenting: 'They don't really need the two million man. Sorry Karl, you're wasted space.'

'Don't really need the two million man!' Viewers SLAMMED Karl Stefanovic, 43, on Facebook on Wednesday, as the Today show announced the co-host's return date, as January 22, following his annual leave

Vocal: One Facebook user wrote: 'Just goes to show, they don't really need the two million man. Sorry Karl, you're wasted space'

Another wrote quite harshly: 'Watching the show the last couple of weeks, Tim (Gilbert) has done a magnificent job. Just goes to show, they don't really need the two million man. Sorry Karl, you're wasted space.'

One followed suit with: 'Can we just have Georgie please?'

Another Facebook user added a dose of sarcasm, commenting: 'Does Karl have to come back(?)...lol,' while another stated: 'No more Karl enough.'

Shoes to fill: Tim Gilbert (pictured) has been filling in for Karl while he's on annual leave

However not all comments were negative, with one offering their support for Karl, writing: 'Love watching the show and it will be great to see Georgie on the screen again. Will be great to see Karl again.'

Others followed with: 'Glad they're both coming back' and 'Very excited love Georgie Gardner and Karl it will be great XX.'

Tim Gilbert and Deborah Knight have been filling in for Georgie, 46, and Karl as they take a short break away from the screen.

On vacation: Karl and co-host Georgie Gardner, 46, are currently on annual leave and will return to the network on January 22

Sarcasm: One Facebook user added a dose of sarcasm, commenting: 'Does Karl have to come back(?)...lol'

Direct: While another stated: 'No more Karl enough'

Support: However not all comments were negative, with one offering their support for Karl: 'Love watching the show and it will be great to see Georgie on the screen again. Will be great to see Karl again'

Karl has been relaxing in the sunny climes of Queensland with his former model-turned footwear designer girlfriend, Jasmine, 33.

It has certainly been an eventful year for the TV star with the finalisation of his divorce from wife of 21-years Cassandra Thorburn, 46.

October also saw then Today show co-host Lisa Wilkinson, 58, sensationally quit over claims that her contract with Nine had been 'stalled'.

Another followed with: 'Very excited love Georgie Gardner and Karl it will be great XX'

And also: 'Glad they're both coming back'

Annual leave: Karl has been relaxing in the sunny climes of Queensland with his former model-turned footwear designer girlfriend, Jasmine Yarbrough, 33

Calling time: It has certainly been an eventful year for Karl, with the finalisation of his divorce from wife of 21-years Cassandra Thorburn, 46

Shock exit: October also saw then Today show co-host Lisa Wilkinson, 58, sensationally quit over claims that her contract with Nine had been 'stalled'

The Sunday Telegraph alleged that the former women's magazine editor was holding out on re-signing until she was granted 'pay parity' with Karl.

It was suggested the reason Lisa wanted the same money as Karl because her was 'rumoured to be on twice as much'.

The Australian reported that Karl earns at least $2 million a year in a three-year contract, with a potential bonus that could take his salary to $3 million if ratings are hit.

Former Today show news reporter Georgie was later announced as Lisa's replacement.

The big bucks: The Sunday Telegraph alleged that the former women's magazine editor was holding out on re-signing until she was granted 'pay parity' with Karl

Salary: The Australian reported that Karl earns at least $2 million a year in a three-year contract, with a potential bonus that could take his salary to $3 million if ratings are hit
He's previously risked a ban from Instagram after posting X-rated images to the social media site.

And on Wednesday Jordan Barrett was back at it again, re-uploading a pornographic image to Instagram.

But the 21-year-old erred on the side of caution, sharing a pixellated version of a photo showing a couple having sex.

Fashion 'bad boy' Jordan Barrett risks Instagram ban AGAIN as he re-uploads pornographic photo of a couple having sex in public

Taking to his Instagram story, Jordan shared an X-rated shot of a couple getting intimate.

However the male supermodel protected the modesty of those in the photo by blurring out their private parts.

Jordan tagged his yet-to-be released eyewear line Heavily Sedated in the social media snap.

Protected their modesty: However the male supermodel protected the modesty of those in the photo by blurring out their private parts

'Those photos are all art': Speaking to Daily Mail Australia in August, Jordan defended the racy pictures, arguing they were artistic

The Australian-born model is developing the accessories collection with his friend, artist Alana O'Herlihy.

An account for the forthcoming eyewear line has previously featured X-rated images.

It is highly likely that the racy images breach Instagram's guidelines, with the photo-sharing site banning content that shows 'sexual intercourse, genitals, and close-ups of fully-nude buttocks'.

Social media fanatic: Jordan frequently posts scantily clad photos of himself to Instagram

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia in August, Jordan defended the racy pictures, arguing they were artistic.

'Those photos are all art. It's an art account. It's all art, every image on there,' he said.

Jordan maintains the 'art' account separately to his main, personal Instagram account, which also features racy imagery.

He said: 'What everyone else thinks is raunchy... Some people don't, it's everyone's opinion.'
They are the best friends and business partners who travel the world together to promote their successful Bikini A Day blog.

And Tash Oakley has paid a heartfelt tribute to Devin Brugman on her birthday.

The 26-year-old took to Instagram to share a snap from one of their racy photo shoots together on Wednesday replete with a caption that described what the brunette meant to her.

'Christmas is over and now all that matters' Tash Oakley pays tribute to the 'love of her life' - best friend and Bikini A Day business partner Devin Brugman - with gushing birthday post

In it, the blonde beauty wrote: 'Christmas is over and now all that matters is that it's Devin Brugman's Birthday!!!'

She continued: 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY to one of the loves of my life and my partner in, rare, but serious crimes!'

'Wish I could be with you on your birthday but you have to have a break from me sometimes! Love you!! Everyone go wish her a HB!'

'To one of the loves of my life and my partner in crime!' Tash Oakley described the close relationship she shares with Devin Brugman

Heartfelt: The 26-year-old took to Instagram to share a snap from one of their racy photo shoots together replete with a caption that described what the brunette meant to her

This comes after Devin enjoyed a short break in Hawaii where she flaunted her famous curvaceous body.

Looking stunning in a photo shared to Instagram, she showed off her ample assets in a grey bikini.

Gazing into the distance, Devin displayed her best angles - and a generous amount of cleavage - in the skimpy bikini, which comes from her and Tash Oakley's Monday Swimwear range.

Business partners: 'Wish I could be with you on your birthday but you have to have a break from me sometimes! Love you!! Everyone go wish her a HB!' Tash added

Babe at the beach! Devin recently showcased her enviable curves while soaking up the sun in Hawaii

Soaking up the sunshine, Devin added a pair of sunglasses to her look.

She also tagged Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea in the post, indicating she was staying at the glamorous resort.

'Mele Kalikimaka,' the busty star captioned the shot, which means 'Merry Christmas' in Hawaiian.

The brunette beauty is no stranger to flaunting her enviable physique on social media.

The stunner, who runs her A Bikini A Day blog and fashion lines Monday Swimwear and Monday Active with her best friend Natasha Oakley, often poses in pieces from each.
It's been over 18 years since their beloved newlywed characters Paul and Jamie left our TV screens.

But hit 90s sitcom Mad About You might be about to get a second life, with original stars Helen Hunt, 54, and Paul Reiser, 60, engaged in "informal talks" about reprising their roles, according to TVLine.

According to the site, Sony, who produced the original Golden Globe winning show, 'has begun informal talks with leads Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser about bringing the series back for a limited run.'

Still mad: 90s sitcom Mad About You might be about to get a second life, with original stars Helen Hunt, 54, and Paul Reiser, 60, engaged in "informal talks" about reprising their roles

An insider told the news site that the story for the new series would be about Paul and Jamie coping with their daughter moving out of home.

The plot for the present day set season will involve the couple 'grappling with empty-nest syndrome in the wake of now-17-year-old daughter Mabels admission to college,' claim the site.

'If we can find the story to tell, and anybodys interested, Id be open to it,' Reiser told People in October.

The final frontier? An insider told news site TVLine that the story for the new series would be about Paul and Jamie coping with their daughter moving out of home

The Stranger Things actor admitted to the gossip site that until recently he had been skeptical of returning to the show he co-created.

'For years, I wouldve said, Absolutely no. We never would do it, because I was very proud of how we ended it really well.'

But the veteran actor slowly warmed to an eighth season of the NBC hit, saying:

'To me, its interesting when I see my kids are growing and leaving the house. Its like, Oh. Its like that moment when you get married. Its like were in a new world that we dont know the rules of.'

Undecided: The Stranger Things actor admitted to People that until recently he had been skeptical of returning to the show he co-created

And on Wednesday, his co-star was seen enjoying the waves in Hawaii.

The As Good As It Gets actress was snapped in Maui on a vacation, enjoying the holiday season in the Aloha State just four months after her split with Matthew Carnahan, her boyfriend of 16 years.

The Oscar-winning star of As Good As It Gets wore a pink bikini top with black surfing leggings and sandals as she enjoyed a day in the islands surfing.
The ABC's Sydney New Year's Eve telecast was slammed last year after presenters Jeremy Fernandez and Ella Hooper almost forgot to start the midnight countdown.

And now the baton has been passed to The Weekly's Charlie Pickering - but will his turn as host be enough to save the broadcaster's exclusive contract for the event?

'I'll do my best (to avoid criticism) aided by the awesome Countdown concert,' the 40-year-old told The Daily Telegraph.

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'I'll do my best!' The New Year's Eve hosting gig has been passed onto The Weekly host Charlie Pickering

'2017 has been a total mess  a chaotic cluster-farce and laughter is the only medicine  our only hope,' he added.

In addition to pickering taking up hosting duties there will also be a massive Countdown concert that will feature a star-studded roster of artists covering Australian rock classics.

Molly Meldrum, Jimmy Barnes, Casey Donovan, John Paul Young, Marcia Hines, Kate Ceberano, and The Body Guard's Prinnie Stevens will appear on the billing.

Embarrassing: Last year, hosts Jeremy Fernandez and Ella Hooper were left red faced after they forgot to start the midnight countdown

Experience: Hosting the New Years Eve party big change for Charlie who has served on the panel of The Project from 2009 to 2014 (pictured with Carrie Bickmore)

Hosting the New Years Eve party is a change in tone for Charlie who is best known for hosting satirical news program The Weekly and appearing on The Project.

It will mark a departure for him personally too: 'Usually I'd be having a very quiet night in consoling a Scottish terrier through the fireworks,' he said.

Last year, hosts Jeremy and Ella almost missed the countdown completely as they were starstruck by Hoodoo Gurus frontman Dave Faulkner.

It was the band's drummer Mark Kingsmill who helped them recover by gesturing to let them know midnight was fast approaching.

Host with the most? Charlie is usually behind the desk on ABC's satirical news program The Weekly

The two hosts embarrassingly sped through the countdown with Faulkner to ring in 2017, which was greeted with a spectacular fireworks show across Sydney Harbour.

Viewers inundated Twitter with colourful comments about the show and branded it 'embarrassing', 'pathetic', 'painful' and 'crap' on the social media platform.
Posing on a New York rooftop in an enormous pink couture dress and sunglasses, Carey Mulligan looks a vision of calm.

But what the British actress was hiding beneath her cool exterior was the fact her two-month-old son was also on the shoot, and she was breastfeeding him between shots.

The star of Suffragette and An Education, who also has a two-year-old daughter, has opened up about juggling her work commitments  including this cover shot for Vogue Australia  with motherhood.

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Posing in an enormous pink couture dress and sunglasses, Carey Mulligan looks a vision of calm as she poses for Vogue Australia. But what the actress was hiding was the fact her two-month-old son was also on the shoot, and she was breastfeeding him between shots

Describing the shoot, the 32-year-old said: We had a really fun time; it was mad. I was putting on sunglasses and wearing these absolutely enormous, crazy gowns. I like shoots when you can sort of disappear into it all.

Yet the pressures of having a young child on the shoot were far from new for her, as she said: Its the same as when I had my daughter.

We started press for Suffragette like three weeks after I gave birth to my daughter, so you just get back into it and its fine, because its not like filming, where you need to use your brain all the time. Its much more about kind of showing up.

Doting mother: The Great Gatsby actress also revealed she was six weeks pregnant when she was offered the lead part of the detective in Collateral

The Great Gatsby actress also revealed she was six weeks pregnant when she was offered the lead part of the detective in Collateral.

But she said playwright and director, David Hare, who she had worked with on the theatre production of Skylight when she was pregnant with her first child, barely blinked

She said: I wrote to him and said: Youll never guess, but Im pregnant again. So can I do it pregnant?

Candid: The star of Suffragette and An Education, who also has a two-year-old daughter, has opened up about juggling her work commitments  including this cover shot for Vogue Australia  with motherhood

He said: I dont see why not. I loved that he didnt rewrite my character, that he just didnt make a fuss about it.

It felt more real to life, because when youre pregnant you do just go about your life.

On the recent Harvey Weinstein scandal, she said: I know a lot of actresses, friends of mine, who have felt vulnerable, but I dont think I ever have, in that sense.

Close family: The star of Suffragette and An Education also has a two-year-old daughter with husband Marcus Mumford

I have felt belittled and I think Ive felt kind of lesser-than. Ive definitely experienced sexism in terms of how Ive been treated. When Ive tried to assert my opinion on scripts, for example, I feel Ive had to fight a bit harder to get my voice heard.

Following a two-year hiatus, Miss Mulligan, who is married to the musician Marcus Mumford, is currently starring in Netflix series Mudbound, and will lead the BBC drama Collateral early next year.

In February she will also return to the stage, in a one-woman play by Dennis Kelly, but says she doesnt even know how she will cope with the unbearably nerve-racking previews.
On the face of it, the armadillo does not have much going for it. It is drably coloured and, except to the most sympathetic eye, not particularly beautiful.

It has nothing of the shimmering loveliness of birds, the grace and sleek strength of great cats, the dramatic, slightly horrifying appearance of giant snakes nor the mischievous, near-human intelligence of monkeys.

But armadillos have one quality which, for me, is the most potently fascinating that an animal can possess  a blend of the exotic, the fantastical and the antique  which can only be summed up, inadequately, by the word strange. For me they are like survivors from past geological ages when most of the animals of today had not yet appeared on Earth, a link with the primitive beasts of prehistory.

On the face of it, the armadillo does not have much going for it. It is drably coloured and, except to the most sympathetic eye, not particularly beautiful

Whatever the reason for their continued survival, they are a remarkably successful and varied group, ranging in size from the tiny pygmy armadillo no bigger than a mouse which burrows in the sand of Argentina to the giant armadillo that grows to four or five feet long and roams through the hot, moist forests of the Amazon basin. And it was to find the giant armadillo and collect some smaller animals for London Zoo that cameraman Charles Lagus and I set out for Paraguay in 1958 for the BBCs celebrated Zoo Quest series.

A British wood is a gentle and welcoming place, its boundaries broken by innumerable entrances which invite you to stroll down the sun-dappled corridors to its heart.

But the forests of north-east Paraguay could not have been more different, resisting entry with vicious snatching thorns and tangled creepers and greeting us with hordes of stinging insects, ticks and leeches.

All around us were signs of frantic growth, and of decay. If we did not take a compass we had no way of finding out where we were, with the sun completely hidden from view by tier upon tier of leafy screens above us.

As in our previous expeditions, we had enlisted the help of local people to help us in our mission. Several pairs of eyes are better than just three  those of Charles, me and our interpreter and guide Sandy  particularly if the additional ones belong to American Indian people who know the forests as well as they know each other.

We explained to villagers we were looking in particular for armadillos. We would pay well for any they brought and give rewards to anyone who could show us inhabited nests and holes

We explained to villagers we were looking for birds and mammals, and in particular for armadillos. We would pay well for any they brought to us and we would give good rewards to anyone who could show us inhabited nests and holes.

Initially nobody had seemed very interested, and who could blame them? It was incredibly hot and humid, and the attractions of lying in a hammock seemed to me to far outweigh those of rushing about in a forest.

But within a fortnight or so they had got into their stride and brought us quite a collection of rare and beautiful birds as well as a large, rather bad-tempered tegu lizard.

But we had still not found the armadillos we were so keen to see in the wild for the first time.

Day after day we searched for their holes. This was not difficult as the armadillo is an enthusiastic and energetic hole digger, tunnelling in search of food as well as creating spare boltholes through the forest, which it later abandons.

Armadillos have a quality which is the most fascinating an animal can possess  a blend of the exotic, the fantastical and the antique which can only be summed up by the word strange

But at last we found a burrow that showed every sign of being inhabited. There were fresh footprints near the entrance and scraps of green leaves in the rubbish just outside.

If there were armadillos inside, the only way to get near them would be to dig them out, an idea that, of course, seems quite alien to us today. Our best hope was that there would be youngsters inside, as armadillos tend to make their nurseries close to the surface.

It was very hard work and extremely hot. The ground was matted together with a tangle of roots, but finally we had made enough of an opening for me to clear away the loosened earth and peer inside before I risked putting my hand down the burrow.

I could see nothing whatsoever. The only thing was to try. I lay flat on my stomach and plunged my hand into the pit. I could feel only leaves. Then there was a movement. I made an unseeing grab and caught hold of something that was warm, and wriggled.

I was sure I had an armadillo by the tail, but whatever it was seemed to be resisting hard, bracing its back against the roof of the hole and digging its feet into the floor.

Initially nobody had seemed very interested. It was hot and humid, and the attractions of lying in a hammock seemed to far outweigh those of rushing about in a forest

While I was fumbling and struggling, I discovered one crucial fact about the animal I was tackling: it was ticklish. Inadvertently I touched it under its stomach with my left hand, and as soon as I did it doubled up, lost its grip and out it came like a cork from a bottle.

To my joy, I found that I had caught a young nine-banded armadillo, so called because of the number of movable armoured plates round its middle. There was no time to examine it in detail  there might be others inside. Rapidly I returned to the burrow.

Within 10 minutes I had caught another three. This was exactly the number I had expected, as the nine-banded armadillo has the extraordinary characteristic of giving birth to identical quadruplets  the only mammal known to do so, with all four developing from the same egg. We bore them back to our camp in triumph.

They really were the most delightful little creatures. Their shells were flexible, but polished and smooth. They had small inquisitive eyes and large pink stomachs.

For most of the day the four brothers lay sleeping beneath the hay in the cages wed made for them out of wooden sherry cases  these had also had the useful consequence of providing each animal with a name. In no time we were talking about their occupants as Fino, Amontillado, Oloroso and Sackville.

But at last we found a burrow that showed every sign of being inhabited. There were fresh footprints near the entrance and scraps of green leaves in the rubbish just outside

But at night they rampaged about their boxes, impatient to get at their food. And like most young animals, they had enormous appetites.

With the first part of our mission complete, it was time to return to Asuncion, Paraguays capital, where we were to leave the animals with British friends while we continued our search in the wide open spaces of Argentina.

For the animal collector, there is no more useful room than the bathroom. I had first discovered this truth in West Africa, where we had stayed in a rest house the bathroom of which was so primitive that its amenities were purely hypothetical.

Its only claim to the title was a huge, chipped enamel bath which stood majestically in the middle of the otherwise bare floor.

Its taps were bravely labelled Hot and Cold, but if water had ever flowed through them it must have been a very long time ago. The only running water for miles flowed through the nearby river.

But though that room had little to commend it as a place to wash, it provided marvellous accommodation for animals. A large fluffy owl chick relished the gloom, so similar to the dim light of its nesting hole.

For the animal collector there is no more useful room than the bathroom. I had discovered this in West Africa, where we stayed in a house so primitive that its amenities were hypothetical

Six corpulent toads inhabited the clammy recess underneath the deep end of the bath and later a young crocodile 3ft long lounged in the bath itself.

To be truthful, the bath was not the ideal home for the crocodile, because although he was unable to scale its smooth sides during the day, at night he seemed to draw on extra sources of energy and each morning we found him wandering loose on the floor. We took it in turns, as one of the regular before-breakfast chores, to drop a wet flannel over his eyes, pick him up by the back of the neck while he was still blindfolded and put him back, grunting with indignation, into his enamel pond.

Since that time we had kept hummingbirds and chameleons, pythons, electric eels and otters in bathrooms as far apart as Surinam, Java and New Guinea. Now we were about to put another one to the test on the plains of Argentina.

The invitation to stay at one of the countrys famous estancias had been a last-minute one that both Charles and I were pleased to take up. Its manager was a keen naturalist who had banned hunting on the vast area of land under his control. As a consequence the countrys wildlife flourished in greater numbers than almost anywhere else.

The invitation to stay at one of the countrys famous estancias had been a last-minute one that both Charles and I were pleased to take up. Its manager was a keen naturalist who had banned hunting on the vast area of land under his control

The house where we would be staying was luxurious and opulent  quite unlike the usual BBC Zoo Quest accommodation  with a spacious suite of rooms for Charles and me. I noted appreciatively that the elegantly appointed bathroom was by far the most suitable that we had ever had at our disposal.

Its floor was tiled, its walls of concrete, the door stout and close-fitting and it was furnished not only with a bath possessing fully functional taps but a lavatory and hand basin as well. The possibilities for accommodating wildlife were immense. I found the first lodger for the bathroom one day when I was out riding on the camp shortly after a heavy rainstorm. As I rode past a wide, shallow pool I noticed a small, frog-like face peering above the surface of the water, gravely inspecting me. I put my hand into the puddle and brought out a small and beautiful turtle.

He was not a rare creature but a highly engaging one, and I was quite sure we could find room in the plane back to Paraguay for him, even if he had to travel in my pocket. Two days later, in one of the streams, we found him a mate. Each evening we begged raw meat from the kitchen and offered it to our new guests with a pair of forceps. When they had finished we took them out of the water and let them wander around on the tiled floor while the bath was used for its more conventional purpose.

But we were here to find armadillos, and I was keen to know whether there were any that were not found in Paraguay.

The manager of the estancia told us that although the nine-banded species was the most common, there was another kind, the mulita or little mule, which was native to Argentina and which flourished on his ranch, too.

But we were here to find armadillos, and I was keen to know whether there were any that were not found in Paraguay

He promised to ask his staff to bring one in if they saw one and, to our delight, the very next day the foreman arrived with a mulita wriggling inside a bag. Its shell was not, like those of the others, polished and shiny but rough, black and warty. We must surely find space for him on the plane  and in the bathroom  as well.

We gathered a pile of dry hay, put it in a dark corner by the lavatory together with a dish of minced meat and milk, and released him into his new home.

The armadillo dived straight into the hay and scuffled invisibly to and fro so that the pile heaved and tossed like a stormy sea. Then he trotted over to his dish to feed, huffing and puffing so enthusiastically that he blew bubbles of milk from his nostrils.

We were pleased to see him so happy. But in the morning, when I went into the bathroom to shave, he was absolutely nowhere to be seen.

It was difficult to imagine where he could possibly be hiding in the bare, hygienic bathroom. I looked everywhere: behind the bath, behind the lavatory and at the base of the towel rail.

It was impossible to believe he had escaped  perhaps one of the staff had opened the door and inadvertently released him? All of them were asked, but not one of them had been into the bathroom that morning.

A British wood is a gentle and welcoming place. But the forests of north-east Paraguay could not have been more different

Two days later we were brought a second mulita, a female. Once again we put her in the bathroom and at hourly intervals I popped in to see how she was faring.

She, too, seemed comfortable and fed with as much gusto as her predecessor.

But when I went to visit her at midnight she, too, had gone.

I called Charles and together with the staff we launched a huge search. Perhaps she had dived into the lavatory? We lifted the manhole cover outside but there was no sign.

We crawled round the bathroom floor looking for unseen gratings or nooks and crannies and found none. Then, at last, sticking out of the base of the lavatory, we discovered a black warty tail. She had gone to ground inside the hollow porcelain pedestal.

Getting her out was extremely difficult as she had wedged herself in very tightly  we only managed to do so by employing the stomach-tickling technique we had learned in Paraguay.

Two days later we were brought a second mulita, a female. Once again we put her in the bathroom and at hourly intervals I popped in to see how she was faring

When wed finally got her Charles peered into the porcelain cavern, marvelling that she had squeezed herself into such a tiny space. He sat back and grinned. Have a look, he said. And there, of course, was the original mulita. From then on the turtles moved to the hand basin and the armadillos took up residence in the bath.

You know, said the manager, Im almost sorry we found them. Im sure they would have provided many entertaining hours for future guests. After all, there cant be many bathrooms with resident armadillos in the loo.

Charles and I were delighted to have a second species to add to our collection  but our mission was still incomplete.

The next stage of our journey would take us to the Chaco region of Paraguay, an arid, sparsely populated place described to us by some locals as LInferno Verde  Green Hell. But within its inhospitable terrain was to be found the prize we sought: the giant armadillo.

Adventures Of A Young Naturalist by Sir David Attenborough (Two Roads, 25). To order a copy for 20, visit mailshop.co.uk/books or call 0844 571 0640, p&p is free on orders over 15. Offer valid until January 14, 2018.
She's slowly been building up her sartorial bona fides since becoming a superstar on Modern Family.

And Ariel Winter demonstrated her fashion savviness again on Tuesday when she stepped out in Los Angeles.

The 19-year-old actress definitely wowed in her little black dress, which showed off her shapely legs thanks to its thigh-skimming hem.

Hot stuff! Ariel Winter demonstrated her fashion savviness again on Tuesday when she stepped out in Los Angeles

Black, low-profile platform stiletto heels added a few inches to her 5ft1in frame.

A small pink purse with a long chain strap and a pair of stud earrings were the beauty's only accessories.

Her raven tresses were parted in the middle and fell down past her shoulders.

Crimson lipstick, contouring blush and a smoky eye make-up made the up-and-coming actress glow.

Sophistocated: The 19-year-old actress definitely wowed in her little black dress, which showed off her shapely legs thanks to its thigh-skimming hem

A spot of modeling? It seemed she was apparently working, as she posted a glamorous selfie to Instagram with many of her stylists tagged along with the description 'young savage'

It seemed she was apparently working, as she posted a glamorous selfie to Instagram with many of her stylists tagged along with the description 'young savage.'

While she spent the latter part of the day at a studio, earlier in the day she spent time with boyfriend Levi Meaden.

For that outing she seemed to be channeling an all-black Goth vibe.

She paired a black leather jacket, with tight black leggings and chunky black high-heel boots.

Together again! While she spent the latter part of the day at a studio, earlier in the day she spent time with boyfriend Levi Meaden

Levi opted for a slightly more casual ensemble consisting of a graphic print shirt, torn jeans and red high top sneakers.

He also donned a pair of aviator shades, as it was quite sunny on the day after Christmas.

Back on Sunday, Ariel and Levi shared a sweet smooch in front of a Christmas tree.

Hours later, the 19-year-old actress and her beau, 30, locked lips once again, this time on Christmas day while sporting matching onesies.

In the spirit! Back on Sunday, Ariel and Levi shared a sweet smooch in front of a Christmas tree
She's home for the holidays after missing her trip to New York with girlfriends because of a lost passport.

And Sam Frost has plenty to celebrate this silly season, not least her mother Debbie's youthful appearance.

In a video shared to Instagram on Wednesday, the Bachelorette star turned actress bore a striking resemblance to her mum.

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They could be sisters! Sam Frost shows off striking resemblance to mother Debbie as the Home and Away star spends time in Melbourne after missing New York trip with girlfriends

Sam filmed a video of her mum trying to fish lollies out of a jar while ignoring her 'hack'; using a fork to extract the candy you want to eat.

Sporting blonde locks and a similar petite build, both Sam and her mother Debbie look markedly alike.

The Bachelorette star makes no secret of the close bond she shares with her mum, writing about her mum's mental health battle on her blog in 2014.

Sam revealed how raising kids as a single mother and then losing her second husband suddenly to a stroke had taken its toll on Debbie.

Too cute! Sam filmed a video of her mum trying to fish lollies out of a jar while ignoring her 'hack'; using a fork to extract the candy you want to eat

Like twins: Sporting blonde locks and a similar petite build, both Sam and her mother Debbie look markedly alike

'My mum was having to deal with her marriage break up, working extraordinary hours to try and keep our house and on top of that working through her long battle with anorexia and bulimia,' she wrote.

'She kept her struggles to herself as she feared people would cast judgment. Which in a world where society are so quick to judge and put forward their ignorant opinions, its understandable why she kept her battles behind closed doors.

Fortunately, Sam said her mum is much better now after getting medical help and has since remarried.

Sam is spending the Christmas season with her mum and family in Melbourne after her two week trip to New York with girlfriends fell through at the last minute.

Plan B! Sam is spending the Christmas season with her mum and family in Melbourne after her two week trip to New York with girlfriends fell through at the last minute

Oh dear! On Friday, she took to Instagram to share her anguish at losing her passport, calling herself the 'world's most useless human'

On Friday, she took to Instagram to share her anguish at losing her passport, calling herself the 'world's most useless human'.

But the reality TV star made the best of a bad situation, travelling from Sydney to Melbourne to surprise her mum for Christmas.

Posting a video of her greeting a shocked Debbie with a warm hug on Monday, Sam wrote: 'One lost passport. Two week holiday with my girls to New York in the bin Last minute 10 hour roadie Sydney to Melbourne to surprise my mum for Christmas... totally worth it.'
Dakota Johnson and her mother Melanie Griffith stepped out for a sweet stroll together on Tuesday in Aspen, Colorado.

The 28-year-old actress was a fresh-faced beauty without makeup while walking the snowy streets with her 60-year-old mother.

Dakota wore a furry grey hat over her long blonde hair that was gathered in loose ponytails.

Snowy stroll: Dakota Johnson and Melani Griffth went for a snowy stroll together on Tuesday in Aspen, Colorado

The Fifty Shades franchise star kept warm with a large brown coat over a black and yellow Nirvana top and black leggings.

Dakota completed her ensemble with black ankle boots.

Melanie kept it simple in an all-black ensemble with matching turtleneck, puffy jacket, leggings and knee-high boots.

She also accessorized with black sunglasses and had her blonde hair up in a high messy bun with a small black hairband.

Holding hands: The 28-year-old actress and her 60-year-old mother sweetly held hands

Matching leggings: Dakota and Melanie both wore black leggings while out and about

Melanie trailed behind her daughter while smoking a cigarette and the pair sweetly held hands while walking in the tony ski town.

Dakota can next be seen on the big screen in Fifty Shades Freed reprising her portrayal of Anastasia Steele.

The third and final installment in the Fifty Shades trilogy will be released in theaters on February 9, 2018.

The official Twitter account for the movie shared a new image on Tuesday of Anastasia's wedding with Christian Grey, played by Jamie Dornan.

Wedding scene: The Fifty Shades Freed account on Twitter released an image on Tuesday from the upcoming third and final installment of the franchise

Dakota finally confirmed her romance with Coldplay frontman Chris Martin last week after weeks of speculation.

She was pictured with the 40-year-old British musician last week at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.

They first sparked romance rumors in October after they were spotted enjoying a dinner date in Los Angeles.

Third film: Dakota, shown in a still from 2017's Fifty Shades Darker, will reprise her portrayal of Anastasia Steele in the final installment scheduled for release on February 9, 2018

Chris split with actress Gwyneth Paltrow, 45, in 2014 when they revealed they were 'consciously uncoupling' and their divorce was finalized in July 2016.

They remain close and co-parent their daughter Apple, 13, and 11-year-old son Moses.

Dakota previously dated rocker Matthew Hitt, 29, on and off from 2014 until 2016.

Melanie plays acting teacher Jean Shelton in the biographical comedy-drama The Disaster Artist that was released to critical acclaim earlier this month.
He is one of the most popular stars from The Bachelor franchise.

And Tim Robards proved why he is a smash hit with the ladies on Wednesday, when he stepped out with fiancee Anna Heinrich for some sun.

The 35-year-old turned heads at Icebergs pool in Bondi Beach as he showed off his incredibly muscular physique.

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Sizzling: Tim Robards proved why he is a smash hit with the ladies on Wednesday, when he stepped out with fiancee Anna Heinrich for some sun

Wearing a tiny pair of swimmer shorts for maximum tanning, the fitness enthusiast wasn't shy about flaunting his pecs, bulging biceps and six-pack abs.

The strapping reality star also drew attention to his defined quads, chiseled back and toned legs.

The genetically-blessed couple worked on tanning their already sun-kissed skin, before cooling off in the saltwater pool.

Top shape: The 35-year-old turned heads at Bondi Beach's Icebergs pool as he showed off his incredibly muscular physique

Hunk: Wearing a tiny pair of swimmer shorts for maximum tanning, the fitness enthusiast wasn't shy to flaunt his pecs, bulging biceps and six-pack abs

Cheeky: The strapping reality star also drew attention to his defined quads, chiseled back and toned legs

The lovebirds stood out among the sun revelers, with Anna looking equally as stunning in a white bikini with lace trim.

Tim later changed into a more modest pair of red board shorts and donned a pair of dark sunglasses to protect his eyes from the bright rays.

The couple, who became engaged in May this year, are reportedly well underway with wedding preparations.

Summer loving: The genetically-blessed couple worked on tanning their already sun-kissed skin, before cooling off in the saltwater pool

Hot duo: The lovebirds stood out among the sun revelers, with Anna looking equally as stunning in a white bikini with lace trim

Four years after Tim chose Anna, a former criminal lawyer, to win his season of The Bachelor, the twosome are set to walk down the aisle sometime next year.

The chiropractor proposed to the blonde beauty on a romantic getaway to Broome.

'Love made me do it,' he wrote on social media at the time of the proposal.

Sun smart: Tim later changed into a more modest pair of red board shorts and donned a pair of dark sunglasses to protect his eyes from the bright rays
They went public with their relationship in July.

And it seems Ben Affleck and Lindsay Shookus are still very much in sync with one another, if their Tuesday date night outfits are any indication.

Ben, 45, seemed quite relaxed in a black puffer coat, under which he layered a black sweater and a salmon-colored shirt.

Loved up! It seems Ben Affleck and Lindsay Shookus are still very much in sync with one another, if their Tuesday date night outfits are any indication

Royal blue trainers and some baggy black jeans rounded out his casual ensemble.

His facial hair appeared to be neatly trimmed, while he styled his hair up with a bit of gel.

Girlfriend Lindsay 37, also looked quite laid-back for the evening out in Malibu.

The SNL producer opted for a black and white striped shirt, black leather jacket and her own pair of black jeans.

Ready for the chill! Ben, 45, seemed quite relaxed in a black puffer coat, under which he layered a black sweater and a salmon-colored shirt

Form-fitting: Of course her jeans were slightly tighter than her beau's, and flattered her lithe legs

Of course her jeans were slightly tighter than her beau's, and flattered her lithe legs.

Some high heel side zip boots and a maroon beanie rounded out her look.

She also carried a sizeable black handbag in her right hand, and sported a knotted bracelet on her right wrist.

The couple stayed quite close as the walked to the entrance of Nobu Malibu.

Tuesday's outing came after it was reported last month that Ben and Lindsay are now sharing an apartment together in New York.

Accessory girl: She also carried a sizeable black handbag in her right hand, and sported a knotted bracelet on her right wrist

The Justice League actor is renting a luxury apartment in New York's Upper West Side, which will be his base when he's in the city.

The Saturday Night Live producer moved in around a month ago, sources told People magazine.

The 2,761 sq ft property boasts three bedrooms, stunning views of both the Hudson River and Central Park, round-the-clock butler service, a pool and a private movie theatre, with leases on the building averaging around $28,000 a month.
She's the glamorous My Kitchen Rules star who is known for her lavish lifestyle and expensive designer wardrobe.

And Zana Pali, 26, didn't disappoint fans when she took to Instagram with a pair of happy snaps from her idyllic Gold Coast getaway with husband Gianni Romano on Wednesday.

In the sun-soaked photos, Zana flaunted her slender physique in a skimpy Dolce & Gabbana bikini worth around $450 and a pair of bejewelled sunglasses by the same designer, worth around $550.

She has expensive taste! MKR star Zana Pali flaunted her slender frame and pert derriere as she hit the beach in a designer outfit worth $1,000 this Wednesday

In her selfie, the brunette beauty beamed towards the camera with the turquoise sea splashing in the background.

The former lawyer also showcased her ample assets in her bandeau top.

Her subsequent photo showed her standing in the pristine water with her pert posterior facing towards the camera.

Cooling off: With her back turned away from the camera, the 26-year-old showed off her pert posterior wearing the matching designer bottom

Loved up on the Gold Coast: Earlier in the week, Zana posted a loved up snap of herself with her husband, Gianni's arms wrapped around her

With her back turned as she showed off her pert posterior wearing the matching designer bottom, tagging the Italian luxury brand.

The day before Zana, posted a loved up snap of herself with Gianni's arms wrapped around her from what appears to be the local main street of the seaside Gold Coast town.

She recently told Daily Mail Australia that she is set on opening her own Italian cafe soon in central Melbourne.

From lawyer to cafe owner: She recently told Daily Mail Australia that she is set on opening her own Italian cafe soon in central Melbourne

'It'll be my first hospitality venture with more to come,' she said.

The brunette beauty, who is a lawyer by profession, stepped back from law to work at Lygon Street restaurant 400 Gradi, earlier in the year.

'Ive left Gradi to pursue my own hospitality dreams,' Zana explained, 'I have a business partner who is also a lawyer and we are both opening espresso bars around Melbourne.'

'It's Italian themed/ Florence style with marble bench tops and the tiles all being hand crafted and painted in Italy,' she divulged.

'We are opening on the 15th of January at 91 William Street. Its called Culpa Espresso Latin for guilty as it's near the courts.'
Her figure was internationally lauded when she was crowned Miss Universe in 2012.

And Olivia Culpo was definitely flaunting her famous form again on Tuesday when she stepped out for some grocery shopping in Los Angeles.

The 25-year-old beauty stunned in her all-white outfit.

Head-turner: Olivia Culpo was definitely flaunting her famous form again on Tuesday when she stepped out for some grocery shopping in Los Angeles

On top, she opted for a long sleeve crop top, which revealed her enviable abs.

She also decided to push up the sleeves to expose her forearms.

Down below the Rhode Island native rocked some elaborate leggings which featured numerous embossed geometric patterns.

Of course the tight garment also managed to flatter her astonishingly fit lower body.

Highly stylish: Down below the Rhode Island native rocked some elaborate leggings which featured numerous embossed geometric patterns

The details: Accessories included a small dark brown leather backpack which she slung over her right shoulder, a metal bracelet on her right wrist and some mirrored aviator shades

White trainers completed her sporty ensemble.

Accessories included a small dark brown leather backpack which she slung over her right shoulder, a metal bracelet on her right wrist and some mirrored aviator shades.

Her shoulder length brunette locks were parted in the middle and allowed to fall straight down.

Very subtle blush, rose lipstick and exquisite eye-liner made the American Satan star glow.

Long term squeeze: She has been dating New England Patriots player Danny Amendola since February 2016

Olivia takes her workouts very seriously, but the fun-loving model - who has been dating New England Patriots player Danny Amendola since February 2016 - recently admitted her biggest weakness is her boyfriend's calorific cooking.

She told PEOPLE: 'I love this one guilty pleasure my boyfriend has made for me before.'

'It's fried chicken cutlets with honey mustard and then jalapeno and theyre between two butter biscuits - like a sandwich - a fried chicken butter biscuit sandwich. Its so good.'
She recently told Daily Mail Australia that she won't be walking down the aisle again with husband Oliver Curtis following his second marriage proposal.

But on Wednesday, Roxy Jacenko left fans wondering whether she's planning a secret ceremony in Queensland when she and Oliver met with a rabbi during their lavish holiday on the Gold Coast.

Taking to Instagram, the PR guru shared a snap of herself and her man with Rabbi Levi Wolff from Central Synagogue in Sydney.

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Is Roxy getting married again on the Gold Coast? PR queen Jacenko (L) and husband Oliver Curtis (R) met with h Rabbi Levi Wolff from Central Synagogue in Sydney (second R) during their Queensland getaway this Wednesday

In the snap, Roxy looked relaxed in a blue and white striped dress, while Oliver donned a casual beige top and board shorts.

It seems Roxy - who is Jewish - knows the rabbi from Sydney.

'Wonderful to see rabbi Wolff and his family today on the Gold Coast,' Roxy's caption began.

She'll only do it once! She recently told Daily Mail Australia that she won't be walking down the aisle again to husband Oliver Curtis, after he proposed again after his release from prison

Break: Roxy and Oliver are on the Gold Coast with their family - including son Hunter, three, and daughter Pixie, six, - and will spend New Years Eve there

Roxy and Oliver are on the Gold Coast with their family - including son Hunter, three, and daughter Pixie, six, - and will spend New Years Eve there.

They caught a private jet to get to the destination, and are staying at the ritzy Sheraton Mirage.

In October, Roxy told Daily Mail Australia that she was not having a second wedding, after Oliver proposed again after being released from prison for insider trading, earlier this year.

Roxy said she'd rather use the money to buy property.

No wedding bells: Roxy said she'd rather buy property than have a second wedding. The pair are seen at their 2012 wedding

'Oli wants to get married again, and I don't,' she said, with the pair marrying in March 2012.

'I don't feel like I need the fanfare and I'd rather purchase property.'

'Wedding's are expensive and I just think it's a depreciating asset - property is an appreciating asset,' she continued.

Roxy added: 'I'm in no rush to do it again. I've done it once and I didn't love it the first time. The whole thing was very daunting walking down the aisle and everyone is staring at you and your shoe is catching tulle.'

Marry me again? Roxy is seen after Oliver proposed for a second time, earlier this year

'If we do [have a second wedding], it'd be VERY low-key,' she said.

Also revealing she never had a honeymoon the first time round, the mother-of-two said if she had to pick a destination, it'd be her office.

'As weird as it sounds, I enjoy being at work,' she said.

'I find being anywhere for an extended period of time challenging. My happy place is with the children. Just to have them around - that's honeymoon for me.'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Roxy for comment.
She's a former Page 3 girl who continues to give her fans visual treats with the wide range of scintillating snaps posted to her Instagram account on a regular basis.

And things were no different for Rhian Sudgen on Tuesday, when she returned to the photo-sharing app to put on a festive display for her more than 234,000 followers.

The 31-year-old busty beauty uploaded an image which showed her posing in a lacy red bra, which she teamed with a fluffy Santa hat.

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Festive: Rhian Sugden treated her fans to a racy late Christmas treat on Instagram on Tuesday

Sporting an immaculate palette of makeup, the Bury-born star wore her golden tresses in voluminous waves which fell about her shoulders.

She captioned the image - which garnered over 3,000 likes in a matter of hours: 'Say cheeeeese in a Santa hat! Hope everybody had a happy/food/drink filled day! I DID!'

Rihan also shared a snapshot of herself posing with her fiance Oliver Mellor, noting that her days as an unmarried woman are numbered.

Wedding bells are ringing: She also posed with her fiance Oliver Mellor, noting that it was her 'last Christmas as a Sugden'

Captioning the image - which showed them smiling as they held mimosa-filled glasses: 'Last Xmas as a Sugden. This man will make a Mellor out of me in 2018!'

On Friday, she gave her followers a pre-Christmas treat, when she displayed her svelte physique as she posed up a storm in a selection of skimpy lingerie.

She was a clad in a racy red bra and thong for one snap, captioning the picture: 'Getting a winter bug has is plus points. Dropped a dress size just in time for Christmas! WOO!'

Rhian often shares racy snaps on social media, wearing next-to-nothing to reveal her stunning body.

Lady in red: Teasing fans in sexy red lingerie on Friday, Rhian revealed that she has lost a dress size due to being under the weather

Ample assets: The Celebrity Big Brother star posted another similar post wearing a sheer black bra, which accentuated her cleavage, and matching briefs

The Celebrity Big Brother star posted another similar post wearing a sheer black bra, which accentuated her cleavage, and matching briefs.

Some fans, however, were concerned with the model's weight loss - despite Rhian herself pointing out that it was the result of a recent bout of ill health.

One user said: 'Dropping a ton of weight in a short amount of time is never a good idea. I know you were sick but, maybe you should get checked out. See if there's anything that you missed. Sacrificing health for fashion should not be a priority.'

Food baby: Earlier in the month, Rhian joked that she'd piled on the pounds during the festive season as she posed topless as she showed her bloated stomach

Anti-fur protest: The blonde bombshell isn't just concerned about her looks. She recently joined animal rights group PETA's campaign urging Canada Goose to drop coyote fur

Earlier in the month, Rhian joked that she'd piled on the pounds during the festive season as she posed topless.

She said: 'Christmas belly Imminent! Remind me not to binge every day before I have a shoot. Oops. Definitely not pregnant. Just getting cosy for Chrismas'.

But the blonde bombshell isn't just concerned about her looks. She recently joined animal rights group PETA's campaign urging Canada Goose to drop coyote fur and switch to innovative, cruelty-free faux fur.
Fans were left shocked over Christmas when the vicar survived a terrifying fall off a cliff.

But Billy Mayhew already appears to have bounced back on Coronation Street, as actor Daniel Brocklebank has been spotted back on set.

The actor, who has played the vicar since 2014, was seen shooting tense scenes on crutches with Richard Crehan, who plays his onscreen brother Joe, and laughing with his co-star between takes as he returned to the Cobbles after the near-fatal fall.

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Full health: Billy Mayhew already appears to have bounced back after a near-fatal fall on Coronation Street, as actor Daniel Brocklebank has been spotted back on set

Clad in a casual blue padded jacket and jeans, Billy appeared to be back to his usual self and full health as he made his return to the Cobbles.

Clearly in pain however, the character was spotted with a pair of crutches on set - no doubt providing him support after his shocking and near-fatal fall.

After such a dramatic Christmas on the soap, it is believed the reverend now can't get any lower and tries to get money out of his conman brother Lee.

At war: The actor, who has played the vicar since 2014, was seen shooting tense scenes on crutches with Richard Crehan, who plays his onscreen brother Joe

However, the junkie admits he has nothing to give him during their meeting - leaving a strained Billy to simply nurse his wounds, before hobbling away on his crutches.

Despite the tense scene, the two actors were then seen laughing and joking between takes - proving their close relationship as co-stars.

The scenes appear to show the character bouncing back on the soap, after falling off a cliff during the Christmas special, following a night locked in Peter Barlow's car boot.

Strained: After such a dramatic Christmas on the soap, it is believed the reverend now can't get any lower and tries to get money out of his conman brother Lee

Tense: However, the junkie admits he has nothing to give him during their meeting - leaving a strained Billy to simply nurse his wounds, before hobbling away on his crutches

However fans were left in shock when the vicar survived and was rushed to hospital - despite appearing to fall hundreds of feet.

Peter had kidnapped Billy as an act of revenge, after he admitted his involvement in the murder of his twin sister Susan Barlow.

The accident only adds to a tough time for Billy on the soap, whose adopted daughter Summer was taken from him by boyfriend Todd Grimshaw, played by Bruno Langley, last week.

Bruno's abrupt exit comes after he was axed from the soap, after pleading guilty to groping two women in November amid a police investigation into sexual assault.
Danny Dyer had an 'amazing' Christmas at home with his family after reportedly reconciling with wife Joanne Mas and moving back in.

The EastEnders actor, 40, and Joanne enjoyed a festive day out at a fair in Essex with their three kids, Dani, 21, Sunnie, 10, and Arty, four, in the run-up to the big day.

And Dani hinted that her parents had reunited as she said Christmas was the 'best day she could wish for' - suggesting any rows over alleged affairs and arguments had been smoothed over.

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Sweet: Danny Dyer had an 'amazing' Christmas at home with his family after reportedly reconciling with his wife Joanne Mas and moving back in (pictured with son Arty, four, daughter Sunnie, 10, and wife Joanne)

Dani shared a snap of Danny holding Arty's hand in one shot, while Sunnie and Joanne smiled at the front.

Another photo showed Joanne, who was wrapped up warm against the freezing elements, grinning as she tucked into a burger at a Winter Wonderland.

Dani posted the family snaps on Twitter and wrote: 'Look at these big kids and my mum munching away on a burger greedyyyy. Im the grown up in this family xx.'

The 21-year-old then said the family spent an 'amazing' Christmas together, before repeating the festivities at their grandparents.

Tucking in: The EastEnders actor and Joanne (pictured) were seen enjoying a festive day out at a fair in Essex with their three kids just days before Christmas

Reconciled? Dani hinted that her parents had reunited as she said Christmas was the 'best day she could wish for' - suggesting any rows over alleged affairs and arguments had been smoothed over

'Christmas was amazing best day I could wish for. round 2 at nannies xxx,' she wrote.

MailOnline has contacted Danny's reps for further comment.

The family reunion comes after a tumultuous few months that saw soap star Danny move into a rented flat - leading to speculation over his marriage with Joanne, who he has dated for more than 20 years.

But it appears the clan had moved on from their rumoured woes, as Danny moved back into the family home earlier this month.

Danny was clearly keen to move back in with his wife for the Christmas period, as he gave in his notice despite his tenancy not running out January 2018.

Strong team: Joanne and Danny, who have been dating for 20 years, previously put on a united front for Halloween

Happy families: They were also pictured together to celebrate their daughter Dani's 21st birthday in the summer

After returning his keys to the estate agents, he moved his belongings back into the Essex family home - where Joanne currently lives with Dani.

The exciting move comes amid claims the pair have reconciled, and were planning to spend Christmas together.

Insiders claimed Danny was keen to leave his pad in London and felt ready to 'behave himself', in order to make things work with Joanne.

A source told the Daily Star: 'They thought that they couldn't live with each other, but they can't live without each other either.

'Danny got a flat because it was close to the EastEnders studio and he wanted to focus on his work.

Hmm: The family reunion comes after a tumultuous few months that saw soap star Danny move into a rented flat - leading to speculation over his marriage with Joanne, who he has dated for more than 20 years (pictured in 2014)

United: But it appears the clan had moved on from their rumoured woes, as Danny moved back into the family home earlier this month (pictured in 2006)

'Danny has been given the boot once and he knows that if he doesn't behave himself then Joanne won't hesitate to give him the heave-ho again.'

Meanwhile another source told The Sun things were going 'really well' between them, with the actor planning a belated birthday celebration for his wife Jo.

The pair tied the knot in September 2016, and share three children - Dani, Sunnie and Arty.

Danny had a prolonged absence from EastEnders over the summer due to private issues that involve alleged bouts of anger on-set and an alleged affair with former Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding.
They tied the knot during an intimate and romantic ceremony in New York City in May, following a two-year engagement.

And Emmy Rossum, 31, and Sam Esmail, 40, looked just as loved up as ever last week, when they were spotted enjoying a romantic break in Paris.

Wearing matching black coats, the lovebirds were seen soaking up some culture at the City of Light's Orsay Museum, before heading out for a spot of shopping.

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Out: Emmy Rossum and her husband Sam Esmail were spotted out and about in Paris last week

Shameless star Emmy effortlessly blended in on the streets of the chic metropolis, wearing a long black coat over a leopard-print dress, which she teamed with black tights and matching leather booties.

With a cream woolly hat resting atop her chestnut brown mane, the actress strolled alongside her husband, who looked casually cool in a black sweater under a pea coat, which he teamed with jeans and a pair of rugged boots.

The bespectacled couple appeared to be relaxed as they soaked up the sights thousands of miles away from their US home.

City of Light: Wearing matching black coats, the lovebirds were seen soaking up some culture at the City of Light's Orsay Museum, before heading out for a spot of shopping

Emmy married her first husband, music executive Justin Siegel, in 2008, but he filed for divorce the next year. Their split was legally finalised in 2010.

Mr. Robot creator Sam had never been married before he and Emmy went down the aisle in May. They dated for two years before announcing their 2015 engagement.

The couple will soon be working together, as The Hollywood Reporter recently reported that they're creating a mini-series about mysterious Los Angeles-based celebrity Angelyne, with Emmy taking on the titular role.

Glam: The 31-year-old actress has been a glamorous fixture on the red carpet over the years

Famed for her voluminous blonde hairdo and pink Cadillac, Angelyne gained attention in the 1980s when billboards of her appeared around Hollywood.

She promoted herself to fame for its own sake, but guarded the secret of her real identity - until The Hollywood Reporter writer Gary Baum exposed it this August.

According to his report, her given name is Renee Goldberg and she immigrated to America from Poland with her parents, who survived the Holocaust.

Show: Emmy and her husband recently announced plans to make a mini-series about Angelyne

In a statement on the project, Emmy said: 'I have always been fascinated by the enigma that is Angelyne. At a young age, I can vividly remember staring up at her on a billboard above me and wondering: "Who is that woman?"

'Gary Baum's investigative journalism has finally unearthed the true, complex identity of the infamous woman who has fascinated Los Angeles for over 30 years.

'From the moment I read Gary's recent piece, I knew I had to tell this story. It's a poignant and bizarre tale about the hunger for fame, the sexualization of women and the erasing of past traumas.'
She's known for her love of daring outfits.

But on Wednesday, Skye Wheatley, 23, took to Instagram to post a more demure shot of herself as she prepared for her holiday to the Indonesian Island of Bali.

In the image, the one-time Big Brother star cut a sultry figure, with a signature pout and her long blonde hair cascading past her shoulders.

Demure! One time Big Brother house mate Skye Wheatley, 23, traded in her skimpy bikinis for a more demure look as prepared for her a holiday to Bali, the social media star wore a black tube top and a suede-look skirt

Meanwhile, she swapped her love of skimpy swimwear for a black tube top with a suede-look skirt, which she paired with a oversize cowboy belt.

The social media star completed her look with nude make-up, fishnet stockings and a pair of stylish glasses, while captioning the snap with: 'Hey I have candy'

Earlier this week, the blonde bombshell didn't disappoint fans when she shared a sexy bikini-clad snap with her ample cleavage on show.

Busty: Earlier this week, the social media star posted some racy images of her on a jet ski, showing her ample cleavage

Captioning the image with, 'I'm a mermaid but where's my tail?', Skye flaunted her ample bust in a low cut pink bikini, while perched on a jet ski.

Her look was completed with a pair of sunglasses hanging from the middle of her bikini top, and a straw visor hat.

The star attracted much praise for the sexy shot with one commenting: 'Body goals tho,'

Naughty or nice: The former Big Brother house mate and surgery enthusiast regularly posts bikini clad shots of herself to Instagram, like this one in front of her Christmas tree

Another wrote, 'You slay me OMG.'

The social media star isn't scared of baring a little skin, when it comes to uploading images of herself.

Earlier this week, the stunning beauty was flaunting her surgically-enhanced assets on social media.

Taking again to a jet ski, Skye posed in a series of sexy snaps, flaunting her desirable body.

In shape: The social media star often flaunts to ample cleavage and shapely behind

However, it hasn't always been easy for the bronzed beauty, who revealed she traveled to Bangkok in 2015 for a $3,800 breast augmentation, despite her families pleas for her not to go.

Skye later revealed the surgery was botched and had left her with a 'double bubble' in one breast.

The next year, Skye paid a Sydney surgeon $28,000 to fix the surgical error.
She's the free-spirited beach babe who often takes to social media to flaunt her gym-honed physique and rigorous workout regimen.

But Tiffany Scanlon, 31, raised suspicions that her picture-perfect figure may not be all it seems after she shared a very suspicious-looking snap of her figure in a tiny bikini this Wednesday.

Raising eyebrows, the blonde bombshell posted sexy bikini-clad shot of herself resting on a rock at Rottnest Island near Perth, while adding the caption: 'I got 99 problems but location ain't 1.'

Did she or didn't she? Tiffany Scanlon, 31, raised suspicions that her picture-perfect figure may not be all it seems after she shared a very suspicious-looking snap of her figure in a tiny bikini this Wednesday

She went on to add: 'I love to travel but nothing beats home. I'm starting on the travel goals for 2018. Atm New Zealand is top of my list followed by North Australia and Greece. Open to suggestions?!?!'

However, Tiffany failed to address the decidedly fuzzy-looking areas surrounding her limbs, creating an aura-like effect.

The shadow of her left arm also appears to fall in a strange position on her lower thigh.

Just a trick of the eye? In the shot it appears her shoulder, arm, and backside have been etched out by an editing program

Despite this, Tiffany slammed suggestions she had edited the image, telling Daily Mail Australia: 'It's frustrating that other people use Photoshop to achieve the look that I train to have. I work hard to achieve this fit toned body.'

Despite her denial, the star did admit to using editing program Adobe Lightroom to play with 'colours and lighting', but flatly said 'no Photoshop,' was used.

'I don't think it's a good idea to Photoshop your body as it gives people a false idea of what is natural and achievable,' she continued.

Hitting out: Bachelor Australia contestant Tiffany has slammed the suggestion she re-touches her Instagram images

'I'd hate for people to meet me in person and think my Instagram was not a proper representation for what I am and what I look like.'

Scanlon shot to fame on Season 4 of The Bachelor Australia, who saw Richie Strahan looking for love.

However, she made headlines after finding love with fellow blonde Bachelor contest Megan Marx, with the pair giving a range of steamy interviews.
Ferne McCann looked sombre as she was seen amid claims her ex was planning to 'bombard' her with calls from within prison.

The reality star, 27, shares one-month-old daughter Sunday with convict Arthur Collins, and was spending some quality time with her newborn on Tuesday ahead of her ex's court appearance.

Ferne kept a low-profile on the outing, and seemed pensive as she took her daughter for a stroll around her hometown of Essex.

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Downcast: Ferne McCann looked sombre as she was seen amid claims her ex was planning to 'bombard' her with calls from within prison

Dressed down for the outing, Ferne teamed a black and white striped jumper with a padded coat featuring a fur lined hood.

The former TOWIE star also donned black leggings, whilst she slipped her feet into chunky biker boots for the walk.

Layering up, the pretty brunette accessorised with a black beanie hat, whilst she slung a small cross body bag around herself.

Making moves: The reality star, 27, shares daughter Sunday with convict Arthur Collins, and was spending some quality time with her newborn on Tuesday ahead of her ex's court appearance

Low-key look: Ferne kept a low-profile on the outing, and seemed pensive as she took her daughter for a stroll around her hometown of Essex

Ferne's appearance comes as it was revealed acid attacker Arthur Collins could face another two years in jail for smuggling a tiny phone into prison so he could call Ferne while she was pregnant with his child.

Ferne's ex Collins was on remand facing trial for an acid attack on a packed nightclub dancefloor when he stashed the miniature mobile inside a hollow shaft of his crutches.

The 25-year-old also had a charger, two sim cards and two USB sticks hidden in the crutch he had with him in prison.

Casual ensemble: Dressed down for the outing, Ferne teamed a black and white striped jumper with a padded coat featuring a fur lined hood

Sticking the boot in: The former TOWIE star also donned black leggings, whilst she slipped her feet into chunky biker boots for the walk

Keeping warm: Layering up, the pretty brunette accessorised with a black beanie hat, whilst she slung a small cross body bag around herself

He needed them to walk after fracturing both his heels trying to escape police while on the run for squirting acid over 22 revellers at Wringer and Mangle E8 nightclub in Hackney, east London, in April.

He is said to have called his ex Ferne while in jail on remand when she was pregnant. The reality star has vowed that neither she nor her baby will visit him in prison.

Charged: Ferne's ex Arthur Collins who is in jail for injuring 22 in an acid attack, has been charged with having a banned item in prison

Collins was jailed for 20 years for the attack which left 22 people injured, including 16 with chemical burns and three who were temporarily blinded  one of whom still suffers from blurred vision in one eye.

The 'prohibited items' were found by a prison officer in his private shower at HMP Thameside on September 10 when the rubber bottoms of the walking aides were removed.

Collins was charged with one count of possession of prohibited items.

At Bromley Magistrates Court today he appeared via video link from Belmarsh Prison wearing a yellow, blue and white jumper and pleaded guilty.

The court heard Collins had been caught with a phone in jail before, but it was dealt with by the prison staff.

His father and another family member were present in court for the short hearing.

Samantha Mitchell prosecuting said: 'The items were found inside a crutch being used by Mr Collins at the time in question.

'A custody officer searching the cell being used solely by Mr Collins located a crutch in the shower area. He had been using it due to an ankle injury.'

Strolling: Ferne was enjoying some fresh air with her newborn after celebrating her first Christmas as a mother

Making moves: Ferne was seen pushing newborn Sunday in her pram as they strolled around her hometown together

Under darkness: Ferne went out for some fresh air with her newborn after spending Boxing Day celebrating the holiday period with her family at home

Pretty pinks: Ferne's daughter Sunday had a bright pink pram and changing bag that would certainly catch the eye on a dark night

Doting mother: Ferne looked besotted with her little one as she looked down into the pram

Prosecutor Ms Mitchell added: 'The custody officer removed the bottom of the rubber stopper and located the items.

'The SIM cards were download and contained evidence of calls and messages between Mr Collins and his family.

'This is not the first time he has been caught with prohibited items. He has been found with a phone before but it was dealt with inside the prison itself.'

Audrey Morgan defending Collins claimed he only used the phone to avoid his calls being hacked by journalists trying to intercept details of his relationship with the Towie star.

She said: 'He has pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and admitted the offence to the prison guard in question.

Heading out: Ferne looked determined as she pushed her newborn daughter around the block

Attentive: Ferne looked down lovingly at her newborn daughter on the outing

Chilly: Ferne seemed to be feeling the cold despite sensibly layering up for the outing

Bonding: Ferne and Sunday were enjoying some quality time as they went on their stroll

Eyes front: Ferne seemed to be deep in thought as she strolled around the block

'He didn't have a phone for any sinister purposes, he had it to contact his family and friends. It's not a smart phone, it's just one that makes calls.'

District Judge Robert Hunter declined jurisdiction for sentencing and sent the case to crown court.

He said: 'Mr Collins at this stage I give you credit for you guilty pleas, therefore I commit it to the crown court at a further date you will be notified.'

Moving along: Ferne seemed to be deep in thought as she pushed her little one

Off they go: The pair were no doubt enjoying some fresh air and bonding time together

Sombre: Ferne kept a straight face as she strolled with her pram across the common

Collins could be jailed for an additional two years for the offence.

Collins, of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, now in Belmarsh Prison, was convicted of five counts of causing GBH with intent and nine counts of assault occasioning ABH, against 14 clubbers.

The attack took place while they were out celebrating the news of her pregnancy.

Collins will next appear at Woolwich Crown Court at a date to be set.

Stepping out: Ferne's appearance comes as it was revealed acid attacker Arthur Collins could face another two years in jail for smuggling a tiny phone into prison so he could call Ferne while she was pregnant with his child

Smuggled: Ferne's ex Collins was on remand facing trial for an acid attack on a packed nightclub dancefloor when he stashed the miniature mobile inside a hollow shaft of his crutches

Meanwhile, Ferne recently admitted the situation surrounding her pregnancy had been 'completely out of her control' - and that she is already concerned about how she will tell her little girl of the attack in the future.

The former I'm A Celebrity star admitted 2017 had been one of the worst years of her life due to her ex-boyfriend's shocking crime in April - but that the arrival of her daughter had kept her strong.

Looking back at the attack, she told Fabulous magazine: 'It's been the most difficult chapter of my life to date and the hardest thing I hope I'll ever have to face.

'It was all completely out of my control. The only thing I can control now is how I raise my daughter.'

Out and about: Ferne and Sunday enjoyed some quality time together on the stroll

Stroll: Ferne kept to herself as she stepped out with her newborn to get some fresh air

Off they go: The pair were seen heading back home after the stroll

She has reportedly lost weight as she struggles to cope with the abuse from online trolls after her ex-boyfriend's sentencing,The Mirror reports.

Ferne is said to have been left 'distraught' and isn't sleeping after her seven-week-old daughter Sunday, whom she shares with Arthur, was targeted by 'vicious' trolls.

The source told the publication: 'Ferne isnt bearing up well at all. Were all really worried. She isnt sleeping well and is finding all the unwanted attention hard to deal with.

'People are being really vicious and are even being mean about Sunday. She is distraught.

'Before Arthur was sentenced Ferne was getting a lot of positive support but now the tide seems to be changing  its not nice at all.'

Shock: The former I'm A Celebrity star admitted 2017 had been one of the worst years of her life due to Arthur's crime in April - but that the arrival of her daughter had kept her strong
She's the Married At First Sight star who has never been shy about showing some skin on social media.

And Nadia Stamp did not disappoint on Wednesday when she left very little to the imagination in a revealing swimsuit.

The flight attendant took to Instagram to pose in a black one-piece that showed off her bronzed legs to good effect.

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Racy: MAFS star Nadia Stamp left little to the imagination on Wednesday when she posed in a revealing black bikini

The beachwear also flaunted a generous amount of cleavage and sideboob while Nadia also sported a radiant bronzed glow.

In captioning the photo, Nadia revealed that she had been working on her tan from the comfort of her own home.

Summer stunner; Nadia's beachwear flaunted a generous amount of cleavage and sideboob while Nadia also sported a radiant bronzed glow

Toning up: 'I live for summer. Hot days and warm nights,' she captioned the photo. 'Keeping my bronze in check with @vanit_official.'

'I live for summer. Hot days and warm nights,' she wrote. 'Keeping my bronze in check with @vanit_official.'

She continued; 'Switching to mineral foundation and bronzer with a touch of French kiss lip glaze. loving the mineral products on my skin.'

Nadia's fans were quick to encourage future revealing snaps with such fawning sentiments as: 'You look amazing,' and: 'smoking hot.'

'Trying to keep cool': Nadia Stamp flaunts her stunning curves in a bikini as she awkwardly attempts to beat the summer heat in a kid's pool

Nadia also flaunted her enviable form earlier that day when she awkwardly tried to negotiate a children's swimming pool

The 36-year-old struggled to fit her lengthy frame into the shell-shaped pool.

Taking to her Instagram stories, Nadia shared a Boomerang of her holding up a cider as she surveyed the children's splash pool she had set up on her wooden deck.

'I guess this will have to do,' she captioned the short video.

In another post, Nadia was giving her kid's pool a test drive, awkwardly striking a pose in the shallow water.

Bringing the beach to her! Taking to her Instagram stories, Nadia shared a Boomerang of her holding up a cider as she surveyed the children's splash pool she had set up on her wooden deck

A bit different: Nadia was trying to recreate the experience of an adult pool (pictured)

Flaunting her toned legs and taut stomach in a skimpy bikini, the reality TV star turned social media influencer appeared to struggle to fit her tall frame neatly inside the shell pool, which is usually favoured by toddlers.

'Just trying to keep cool,' Nadia captioned the awkward shot to her 71,000 followers on Instagram.

Nadia is making the most of the summer weather in Brisbane after revealing she was taking a break from actively seeking love.

The flight attendant and part time model had been paired on MAFS with Anthony, who complained that she was 'frigid' during a bitter couple's therapy session.

They split: The flight attendant and part time model had been paired on MAFS with Anthony, who complained that she was 'frigid' during a bitter couple's therapy session

Despite pledging to try and made it work, Nadia and Anthony split soon after the cameras stopped rolling.

'Having so much exposure means your life is no longer private, which can be more challenging initially and you have to find someone who is OK with that,' Nadia told News Corp in July.

'You get inboxed by strangers asking you out  so, if you did go on something like Tinder, you don't know how that would turn out.

'I'm taking a break and I'm just waiting to find the organic match, rather than chasing it.'
They're two of the most powerful moguls in the music industry.

But Beyonce, 36, isn't afraid to show off her supreme fashion game as she shared a series of retro-inspired photographs featuring a chic new haircut to her blog on Wednesday morning.

The Crazy In Love songstress enlisted the help of her doting husband Jay Z, 48, to snap a few photos of her posing on a boat and also in an airport in Miami, Florida.

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Beauty: Beyonce, 36, isn't afraid to show off her supreme fashion game as she shared a series of retro-inspired photographs featuring a chic new haircut to her blog on Wednesday morning

Her new short curly blonde hair was the star of the show as she posed in a series of outfits for her lifestyle blog.

Perched atop a boat with a picturesque skyline and sunset, Beyonce modeled a see-through nude dress covered with delicate black polka dots and black appliques running down the front.

The mother-of-three showed off her long dancer's legs as she slipped on a pair of shiny black heels.

The couple that snaps together: The Crazy In Love songstress enlisted the help of her doting husband Jay Z, 48, to snap a few photos of her posing on a boat and also in an airport in Miami

Wow! Perched atop a boat with a picturesque skyline and sunset, Beyonce modeled a see-through nude dress covered with delicate black polka dots and black appliques running down the front

Jay Z, her husband of nearly a decade, made sure to get a few poses of his adoring wife as he photographed her with his iPhone.

She carried a plush black bag by her side while posing against a white wall with palm tree fronds cascading down.

Beyonce turned the airport runway into her own personal catwalk in another series of photographs.

Gorgeous: She donned a pair of thick white-framed sunglasses and large hoop earrings, with a swipe of plum-colored lipstick across her lips

Strike a pose: The mother-of-three showed off her long dancer's legs as she slipped on a pair of shiny black heels

Looking good: Beyonce sported retro-inspired white sunglasses

World class: Beyonce turned the airport runway into her own personal catwalk in another series of photographs

Sporting a chic taupe sweater and flowing yellow wide-legged cropped pants, the Single Ladies songstress covered her shoulders with a long, bright orange leather trench coat.

Beyonce stood in the middle of the airport carrying an over-sized brown Gucci purse with signature red and green racing stripes down the middle.

She swiped a burnt orange shade across her lips and wore a large pair of brown sunglasses with a tortoise shell frame along the top.

Her oldest daughter, five-year-old Blue Ivy, made a quick appearance sporting jeans, a warm puffy coat and shiny gold sneakers.

The couple's twins, Rumi and Sir, six months, were not featured in the throwback photo spread.

Chic: Beyonce stood in the middle of the airport carrying an over-sized brown Gucci purse with signature red and green racing stripes down the middle

Lovely: She swiped a burnt orange shade across her lips and wore a large pair of brown sunglasses with a tortoise shell frame along the top
They've been dating for two years.

Yet David Guetta, 50, and girlfriend Jessica Ledon, 24, looked more loved-up than ever as they celebrated Christmas together on Monday.

Hitting the beach for the big day, the pair seemed in high spirits as they spent the day with friends.

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Cute couple: David Guetta, 50, and girlfriend Jessica Ledon, 24, looked more loved-up than ever as they celebrated Christmas together on Monday

Showing off her sensational figure on the day, Jessica dazzled in a skimpy white bikini that offered a look at her ample cleavage and toned stomach.

She teamed the garment with denim hotpants that highlighted her model legs, whilst she finished off the look with gold jewellery and sunglasses.

Meanwhile, David showed off his impressively toned physique in black swimming trunks as he joined his stunning girlfriend on the beach.

Beach babe: Showing off her sensational figure on the day, Jessica dazzled in a skimpy white bikini that offered a look at her ample cleavage and toned stomach

French DJ David started dating Jessica in 2015, with the couple going public with their relationship in February 2016 during a state dinner in honor of Cuban President Raul Castro at the Elysee Palace.

David divorced his events organiser wife Cathy, 50, in 2014 after 22 years of marriage and two children together.

The exes shares 13-year-old son Tim Elvis Eric and daughter Angie Guetta, nine.

Cosy: David showed off his impressively toned physique in black swimming trunks as he joined his stunning girlfriend on the beach

That was then... David divorced his events organiser wife Cathy, 50, (pictured) in 2014 after 22 years of marriage and two children together

Last year David placed third in Forbes' list of world's top-earning DJ - making $28 million.

He previously revealed that he finds writing and producing songs therapeutic.

'When you have a problem, if you keep it to yourself, it makes you go crazy. If you speak about it, you feel better,' he explained. 'So if you make a song about it, it really helps.'
'Emotional wreck' Jeremy Piven tried to get the mounting sexual harassment accusations off his mind with a romantic, barefoot stroll on a Maui beach with girlfriend Darcie Lincoln on Tuesday.

The 52-year-old Golden Globe winner represented his Illinois roots with a Chicago Bears cap while the Brighton-born Brit opted for a white floral mini-dress as they continued their Hawaiian vacation.

The Mr Selfridge actor - who lothes snowy winter weather - has been trying his best to relax with the Darker Shades of Elise actress, and they keep one another off their respective social media.

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'Emotional wreck': Jeremy Piven tried to get the sexual harassment accusations off his mind with a romantic, barefoot stroll on a Maui beach with girlfriend Darcie Lincoln on Tuesday

Hawaiian getaway: The 52-year-old Golden Globe winner represented his Illinois roots with a Chicago Bears cap while the Brighton-born Brit opted for a white floral mini-dress

Darcie has clearly fallen in love with the sea sport of paddle-boarding, even wearing her spectacles and Daisy Dukes for a late-night Christmas session.

Last Saturday, Lincoln shared her sense of humor with a bikini-clad snap captioned: 'Sorry, couldn't make it. Had a board meeting.'

CBS is 'looking into' the allegations about Jeremy and shut down crime drama Wisdom of the Crowd - on which he plays tech innovator Jeffrey Tanner - which resumes its four final episodes January 7.

Last Friday, Piven retweeted a Change.org petition calling for the continuation of the series, which still needs 481 signatures.

'Merry Christmakkah to you all!' The Mr Selfridge actor - who lothes snowy winter weather - has been trying his best to relax with the Darker Shades of Elise actress

Oar in hand: Darcie has clearly fallen in love with the sea sport of paddle-boarding, even wearing her spectacles and Daisy Dukes for a late-night Christmas session

Last Saturday, Lincoln shared her sense of humor with a bikini-clad snap captioned: 'Sorry, couldn't make it. Had a board meeting'

'Thank you guys!' the three-time Emmy winner - who boasts 3.7M social media followers - wrote.

'That's the spirit! No matter what I love the effort.'

The petition's creator Jayne Lindsey stressed that they're well aware of the scandal 'but there's currently no proof for either side.'

Ariane Bellamar tweeted that the former Pi Kappa Alpha frat boy 'groped her breasts' on the Entourage set and Playboy mansion, while adult film star Isis Taylor said he 'harassed her' at a 2011 LA party.

Resumes its four final episodes January 7! CBS is 'looking into' the allegations about Jeremy and shut down Wisdom of the Crowd, on which he plays tech innovator Jeffrey Tanner

'That's the spirit! No matter what I love the effort': Last Friday, Piven retweeted a Change.org petition calling for the continuation of the series, which still needs 481 signatures

Starstruck: The petition's creator Jayne Lindsey stressed that they're well aware of the scandal 'but there's currently no proof for either side'

Cassidy Freeman claimed that the Prive Revaux spokesmodel was a 'predator' to her when she was 'far too young,' while Anastasia Taneie said he 'groped her breasts and genitals' on the Entourage set in 2009.

And Washington-based advertising executive Tiffany Bacon Scourby reportedly accused Jeremy of attacking her in his hotel room back in 2003.

On November 9, Piven released a statement calling all the allegations 'absolutely false and completely fabricated' and offered to take a polygraph 'to support my innocence.'

Denying all allegations: Ariane Bellamar (L) tweeted that the former Pi Kappa Alpha frat boy 'groped her breasts' on the Entourage set and Playboy mansion, while adult film star Isis Taylor (R) said he 'harassed her' at a 2011 LA party

Me Too: Advertising executive Tiffany Bacon Scourby (L) accused Jeremy of attacking her in his hotel room back in 2003, while Cassidy Freeman (R) claimed that the Prive Revaux spokesmodel was a 'predator' to her when she was 'far too young'

'We seem to be entering dark times - allegations are being printed as facts and lives are being put in jeopard without a hearing, due process or evidence,' the NYU Tisch drop-out wrote.

'I hope we can give people the benefit of a doubt before we rush to judgement. Continuing to tear each other down and destroy careers based on mere allegations is not productive on any level. I hope we can use this moment to begin a constructive dialogue on these issues, which are real and need to be addressed.'

Jeremy will next play a tow-truck driver in Oscar winner Jamie Foxx's sporty directorial debut All-Star Weekend alongside Eva Longoria, DJ Khaled, Robert Downey Jr., and Jessica Szohr.
He gained critical acclaim for his latest film, Murder on the Orient Express.

But Kenneth Branagh, 57, admitted he would love to play the villain in the next James Bond movie.

Inspired by Spectre's Javier Bardem, the Emmy Award winning actor and director revealed it would be 'delicious' to take on the role as 007's arch-nemesis.

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New Challenge? Kenneth Branagh, 57, admitted he would love to play the villain in the next James Bond movie

'I think as an actor that is always delicious to play,' he told the Mirror.

'I am a connoisseur of those Bond villains but it is a hard one to do.'

The Harry Potter legend added Daniel Craig's Bond villains have been 'Shakespearean'.

He said: 'audiences want... as much complication as possible.'

Taking on Craig: Inspired by Spectre's Javier Bardem, the Emmy Award winning actor and director revealed it would be 'delicious' to take on the role as 007's (Daniel Craig's) arch-nemesis

Master of cinema: 'I think as an actor that is always delicious to play,' he told the Mirror

If Kenneth was to gain the role, he would be the first British Bond villain in 17 years- with Toby Stephens as Gustav Graves playing the antagonist in Piers Brosnan's Die Another Day in 2002.

Despite throwing his name into the hat for the 007 film franchise, the actor is tapped to reprise his role of detective Hercule Poirot, after Twentieth Century Fox green-lit the development of another Christie tome, Death on the Nile, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Kenneth gained critical acclaim for directing Murder on the Orient Express, which was released last month and featured a star-studded cast, including Branagh, Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Willem Dafoe and Josh Gad.

Dark side: If Kenneth was to gain the role, he would be the first British Bond villain in 17 years- with Toby Stephens as Gustav Graves playing the antagonist in Piers Brosnan's Die Another Day in 2002

Branagh explained to NPR how he studied his character's Poirot's essence, while looking to add his own seasoning to Christie's literary creation.

'I basically went through the books with a Sharpie and highlighted anything I thought was part of what might make mine sort of different,' he said.

'And I'd have a little checklist of the things I'd go back to and have your sort of identikit version of who he is, ultimately trying to leap off into something that you thought moment to moment could be spontaneous and real.'

The untitled installment of the next James Bond film is expected to hit cinemas in November, 2019, with Daniel Craig reprising his role as Bond.
Nick Cassavetes is getting the law involved in his battle with his estranged wife Heather Wahlquist about their daughter Barbarella 'Barbie.'

The movie director has filed legal paperwork on Wednesday to penalize his ex for kidnapping their daughter, 13, according to TMZ.

The website also spoke to Heather, who 'wants 100% custody' of their daughter until 'Nick can get a grip,' she said in another report.

Trouble: Nick Cassavetes is getting the law involved in his battle with his estranged wife Heather Wahlquist about their daughter Barbarella 'Barbie'; seen in September 2012

During her video interview with TMZ, she said: 'This came out of the blue. I think it's because maybe Nick had said something or maybe somebody asked Nick in a drunken night or something "where's Barbie" and "oh she's in Oklahoma" and it turned into I kidnapped her and now he can't go back on it. There's no other explanation.'

TMZ noted that Heather signed an agreement that she would hand over Barbie on December 18 to Nick in Los Angeles and have custody of her until January 8.

She didn't turn Barbie over to Nick per the custody agreement and now The Notebook director wants the courts to penalize Heather.

He filed legal documents asking for $10,000 in penalties with the number increasing each day she doesn't hand Barbie over, according to TMZ.

Nick recently claimed Heather kidnapped their 13-year-old daughter Barbie and took her to Norman, Oklahoma; he asked fans for help locating the child who he said he had not seen for a month.

Her side: The website also spoke to Heather, who 'wants 100% custody' of their daughter until 'Nick can get a grip,' she said in another report; seen here in 2009

Heather told the website that at the time of the stipulation: 'Nick had taken my child and he wouldn't let me have her until I signed at.'

She claimed to TMZ in the video: 'He walked out of our mediation in the middle while I went down to feed my car's meter and snuck off and rushed to get my kid and he wouldn't give her back to me until he finished the stipulation, 100% written by him, and made me sign it or I wouldn't get her back.'

While she said her daughter misses her dad and wants them to have a relationship, she thinks he needs to go to an 'adult baby/parenting school.'

She claims that Nick must have done this as 'an attack because he's p****d.'

According to Heather's mother Linda Massad, Nick reportedly 'wants revenge' against estranged wife Heather.

Done: She also told TMZ that she split from Nick five years ago and he is trying to get 'revenge'; seen in 2012

Linda fears for her life and said The Notebook director is 'evil' during a tearful FaceTime interview shared on TMZ Wednesday morning.

During the emotional interview, Linda told the website, 'You don't know what he's done; you have no idea what he's done.'

She then claimed to have witnessed the director beating her daughter, saying, 'My sister saw it too cause she was with me.'

Linda detailed an incident where a stranger was banging on her door at her home in Oklahoma at 11:30 p.m., claiming she's 'afraid he's got some hitman after my kid and me and my sister.'

Massad said that Nick 'wants revenge against my daughter' for leaving him, and reportedly told Heather when she left, 'I will make your life a living hell.'

Cassavetes' filed a crime report on Dec. 25 claiming Heather violated their custody arrangement and stole their daughter, according to TMZ.

Difficult situation: She added that he has been pretty much stalking her and Barbie as he has been waiting outside their apartment

The star has even called in his pal Charlie Sheen for support.

But on Tuesday the actress told TMZ that she has not seen her ex because he's a 'bully' who has done 'shocking' things recently causing her to go 'underground.'

She added that he has been pretty much stalking her and Barbie as he has been waiting outside their apartment.

And the site added she was now 'terrified' because he wants 'revenge' against her.

Wahlquist added that he has sent their daughter some alarming messages.

Heather told the site Nick sent a picture to their daughter 'showcasing his exposed a**.'

Complicated: Wahlquist added that he has sent their daughter some alarming messages. Heather told the site Nick sent a picture to their daughter 'showcasing his exposed a**'

She added that Nick 'posted a meme of Kevin Spacey along with several games with the caption, "Who remembers having to blow these as a kid." The words are followed by emojis of women raising their hands.'

The two split five years ago and Heather told the site he never really got over it, so now he wants 'revenge.'

Wahlquist also sent a note to Twitter. When asked a question about how she would describe her 2017, she responded: '#UnlawfullyUnderAttack.'

Nick is the son of director Nick Cassavetes and actress Gena Rowlands.

Odd: She added that Nick 'posted a meme of Kevin Spacey along with several games with the caption, "Who remembers having to blow these as a kid." The words are followed by emojis of women raising their hands.' Here they are seen in 2004

When they met: She is seen at the premiere of John Q, where she met Nick

He is known for such hit films as The Notebook and The Other Woman.

On Monday he alleged that his daughter - whose birth name is Barbarella - was missing in a post on Instagram over the weekend.

He filed a report with the Los Angeles Police Department accusing his wife Heather Wahlquist of violating their custody agreement by running off with the girl.

'Where is my baby? Why won't her phone turn on? Why has she been stolen from me?' wrote Cassavetes on Friday.

'Is she okay? Does she know I love her, that I miss her everyday? Does she know that I'm coming and will never stop coming?'

He included a photo of himself with Barbie alongside that post.

His parents: Nick is the son of John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands (above in the 1950s)

On Sunday, Cassavetes went a step further and accused Wahlquist of kidnapping their child.

'I miss my daughter on the day before Xmas Eve. I haven't spoken to her in over a month. Wherever she is, i want her to know that I love her more than anything and I will never stop looking for her,' he wrote in that Instagram post.

'Merry Christmas, my love, we all wait for your return, Love, your dad, Sasha, Gina, Chrissy, Loochie, Gena and Bob, your aunties, Chvonshvy, Yuki, Gus, and Theo...'

Cassavetes has been married twice, to Wahlquist and Isabelle Rafalovich before her, with whom he has two daughters - Virginia (31) and Sasha (29).

Second wife: Cassavetes has been married twice, to Wahlquist and Isabelle Rafalovich before her, with whom he has two daughters - Virginia (31) and Sasha (29). Seen in 2006

He met Wahlquist when he directed her in the 2002 film John Q, and the status of the relationship between the two has always been a bit of a mystery.

The two were married though and have since split, with Cassavetes now dating model Christina Virzi.

Out to get her: Nick posted, 'What kind of person keeps a kid away from their father on Christmas?'; here she is seen in 2012

Her posted a photo of his new paramour and daughter Barbie on Sunday as well, writing: 'What kind of person keeps a kid away from their father on Christmas? Thank you for all your notes of support, if anyone sees Barbie or knows of her whereabouts, please call the Norman Police Department 405 321 1600, the Cleveland County Sheriff's Department 405 701 8888, or the National Child Abduction Hot Line 800 843 5678. Thank you and Merry Christmas, everyone...'

His friend Sheen also joined in to lend a hand to the effort, tweeting: 'we have a 911. Barbie, the 13 yr old daughter of my dear pal has been kidnapped by his ex wife, in Oklahoma. its an Amber Alert situation. we need help getting the word out. If you have any info, please call the Normal Police Dept 405-321-1600.'

Sheen tweeted a photo of father and daughter on Christmas writing: '#FathersRights xox.'

The LAPD did not respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com and the details of Cassavetes custody agreement with his estranged wife have not been made public.
Stylist Brad Goreski finally tied the knot with his longtime partner Gary Janetti aboard the luxury cruise ship Seabourn Sojourn Tuesday after a three-year engagement and a 16-year romance.

'We're married!' the Canadian 40-year-old - who boasts 805K social media followers - announced.

'The most magical evening! It was absolutely perfect!'

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Finally! Stylist Brad Goreski (L) tied the knot with his longtime partner Gary Janetti (R) aboard the luxury cruise ship Seabourn Sojourn Tuesday after a three-year engagement and a 16-year romance

The Canadian 40-year-old (L) announced: 'We're married! The most magical evening! It was absolutely perfect!'

The E! Live from the Red Carpet countdown host and the 51-year-old Vicious creator's sunset nupitals were officiated by the vessel's Captain Tim Roberts near the Caribbean isles of Saint Kitts & Nevis.

Brad and Gary wore custom Isaia suits and exchanged custom diamond and platinum wedding bands designed by David Yurman.

'We are so excited to finally be making it official after 16 years,' the grooms told People.

'Having our families celebrate with us in such a beautiful surrounding was everything we wanted it to be.'

Ahoy! The E! Live from the Red Carpet countdown host and the 51-year-old Vicious creator's sunset nupitals were officiated by the vessel's Captain Tim Roberts (M) near the Caribbean isles of Saint Kitts & Nevis

Wedding bling: Brad and Gary wore custom Isaia suits and exchanged custom diamond and platinum wedding bands designed by David Yurman

The grooms told People: 'We are so excited to finally be making it official! Having our families celebrate with us in such a beautiful surrounding was everything we wanted it to be'

Janetti and Goreski's table settings were decorated with red roses and their wedding cake, which appeared to be cheesecake, was topped with white icing, berries, and two tiny grooms.

The four-time Emmy nominee and the USC alum had about nine family members in attendance including their parents and sisters.

The betrothed couple took full advantage of the Seabourn Sojourn - which boasts a two-deck spa facility, two swimming pools, four restaurants and fold-out marina for aquatic sports.

Cheesecake? Janetti and Goreski's table settings were decorated with red roses and their wedding cake was topped with white icing, berries, and two tiny grooms

'The Wedding Party': The four-time Emmy nominee and the USC alum had about nine family members in attendance including their parents and sisters

Weee! The betrothed couple took full advantage of the Seabourn Sojourn - which boasts a two-deck spa facility, two swimming pools, four restaurants and fold-out marina for aquatic sports

Careerwise, Brad keeps busy styling his celebrity clients including Sarah Hyland, Lea Michele, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, Kaley Cuoco, Rashida Jones, and Natalia Dyer.

The former Rachel Zoe style director co-hosted Fashion Police until the E! Network canceled the series, which officially concluded November 27.

Meanwhile, Gary penned a Family Guy episode titled - Send in Stewie, Please - guest-starring Oscar nominee Ian McKellen, which airs next year during the 16th season on Fox.

Career: Brad keeps busy styling his celebrity clients including Sarah Hyland (R, pictured last year), Lea Michele, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, Kaley Cuoco, Rashida Jones, and Natalia Dyer

It's over: The former Rachel Zoe style director co-hosted Fashion Police until the E! Network canceled the series, which officially concluded November 27
They are bonded by blood as the famous offspring of Hollywood legend Johnny Depp and French model Vanessa Paradis.

So of course Lily-Rose and Jack - real name John Christopher Depp III - made a stylish arrival together in Paris to celebrate their mum's 45th birthday on Thursday during the festive period.

The French-American model, 18, swamped her frame with a blue hoodie and a black blazer, while her younger brother wore a patterned shirt open over a T-shirt.

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Christmas time: Make-up free Lily-Rose Depp, 18, and her brother John, 15, made a stylish arrival in Paris on Thursday to celebrate their mum Vanessa Paradis 45th birthday

Stunning Lily showed off her youthful features as she went without make-up for their festive trip to Paris where they would spend Christmas with their mother.

The young model was later spotted in the bustling city streets of the French capital doing some last minute shopping with her famous mother ahead of her birthday on December 22.

Sporting a thick hooded coat, Vanessa had her hands full with six bags while Lily carried a huge box after a successful shopping spree.

Festive season: Lily was later spotted in the bustling city streets of the French capital doing some last minute shopping with her famous mother ahead of her birthday on December 22.

Hollywood star Johnny first met Vanessa while he was filming mystery thriller The Ninth Gate in France in 1998.

The couple were going strong for 14 years together before they went their separate ways for good in 2012.

Murder On The Orient Express star Johnny went onto remarry model Amber Heard, 23 years his junior, in a private ceremony in Los Angeles in 2015.

The former flames, who met on the set of The Rum Diary in 2011, endured a highly-publicised split last year.

Amber filed for divorce from Johnny in May 2016 amid allegations the Oscar-nominated actor abused her, claims which he denied.

She's got model looks: Lily showed off her youthful features as she went without make-up for the festive outing with her famous mother

Their separation was finalised in January, with Johnny agreeing to hand over $9.3 million to his wife of 14 months.

Although Vanessa has not yet remarried, she has been loved-up with her director boyfriend Samuel Benchetrit since 2016 after she was cast in his fifth movie Dog.

It comes as no surprise Lily is following in the star-studded footsteps of her father as she has embarked on a career in acting like her dad and modelling like her mother.

The rising star discussed the realities of being the daughter of one of the most famous movie stars to grace Hollywood's star-studded screens in a recent interview.

She told CR Fashion Book in August: 'A lot of people think Im only acting because of my dad, that I have not had to work as hard to be seen or recognized in the industry, so I think because of that it makes me want to work twice as hard to prove to everyone that Im not just doing this because its easy to do. Im not just doing it because it runs in the family.'
Kevin McKidd has finalized his divorce from wife of 17 years, Jane Parker.

And according to TMZ, the Grey's Anatomy star, 44, has to pay out a lot of money.

The actor has agreed to $22,440 in monthly child support for their kids Iona and Joseph, who are both teens. In addition to that, he will have to pay $65,096 a month in spousal support, plus 20 percent of any income he receives in excess of $3 million a year.

Done: Kevin McKidd has finalized his divorce from wife of 17 years, Jane Parker. Seen in 2010

Ouch: And according to TMZ , the Grey's Anatomy star, 44, has to pay out a lot of money. Pictured in 2011

The Rome star also has to shell out for the children's private school and summer camp.

Kevin and Jane have joint legal custody over the kids.

But instead of the children going from home to home, they stay put as they parents rotate in and out.

The smiles are so yesterday: The Rome star also has to shell out for the children's private school and summer camp. Kevin and Jane have joint legal custody over the kids

It's called a 'nesting arrangement.'

They both have their own homes. And they will 'share ownership' of their Malibu home, it was added by the site.

When the children turn 18, he will no longer have to pay child support, but McKidd will have to up his spousal support payments to Jane by $12,147 a month, TMZ added.

That will last for four years.

In 2016 the star was seen kissing a mystery woman with several tattoos while at an outdoor cafe in Los Feliz, California. It is not known if he was split from his wife then.

Across the years, Kevin also seemed to balance his acting career alongside his family duties and bagged roles in films such as Hannibal Rising and The Last Legion.

Big role: Kidd with Patrick Dempsey, Eric Dane, Jesse Williams on Grey's Anatomy in 2005

The Scotsman's efforts were rewarded and he joined the cast of ABC's mega-hit television series Grey's Anatomy in 2008 as a recurring role but was quickly promoted to series regular.

His time on the show has seen him enjoy a passionate romance with Dr Christina Yang (Sandra Oh) as the new head of trauma surgery and eventually, chief of surgery.

Oh quit the series in 2014 after critics praised their romantic pairing as 'electrifying' and left Kevin wondering if he'd be out of a job as well.

Another flame? In September 2016 the actor was seen with a mystery woman in Los Feliz, California

However, the show's creator Shonda Rhimes believed in the strength of his character and kept him immersed in the series.

His character went on to find love with Derek Shepherd's (McDreamy) younger sister Amelia and the end of season 12 saw them tie the knot.

Speaking about the new on-screen union, McKidd revealed to Melty: 'Owen went through a lot with Christina. She didn't want to give him a baby, they had a lot of struggles, and then she left essentially. So I think he deserves to be happy, don't you?'

He also appeared in the acclaimed 1996 flick Trainspotting which is now being resurrected for release next year. His character died in the initial film, thus ruling him out of the sequel's cast.
She's the former fiancee of billionaire James Packer who rose to fame as a supermodel of the nineties.

And Tziporah Malkah, previously known as Kate Fischer, has spoken about body image and her insecurities in a candid interview.

'I don't feel good. I am still a bit vain,' the 44-year-old, who currently weighs 105kgs, confessed to news.com.au.

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'I don't feel good': James Packer's former supermodel fiancee Tziporah Malkah, 44, candidly spoke about body image and insecurities in an interview with news.com.au...admitting she doesn't have 'good health'

Quizzed as to whether she's concerned about her looks, Tziporah admitted: 'Oh yeah - I care. If I had good health I'd be very good looking for 44. At my age, you don't really get good looks unless you've got good health.'

The personality, who returned to the spotlight with a stint on reality series I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!, went on to say that the glare on her weight shocks her.

'I don't look like I did when I was 23. I'm not rich like I was when I was 23. Who is?' she said.

'I don't feel good. I am still a bit vain. I'd like to look as good as I can for 44. I want to be a good 44 - not an average one.'

Candid comments: The former Vogue Australia cover girl went on to say that the glare on her weight shocks her: 'I don't look like I did when I was 23. I'm not rich like I was when I was 23. Who is?'

'I don't feel good. I am still a bit vain. I'd like to look as good as I can for 44. I want to be a good 44 - not an average one' she said

The brunette rose to fame in the 1990s as one of Australia's top models and lived a life of glitz and glamour on the arm of her then fiance, James Packer.

She began dating the billionaire in 1993, the same year she starred alongside Elle Macpherson, Portia de Rossi and Hugh Grant in the hit film Sirens.

She became engaged to James three years later, but the pair split in 1998.

Fame: The brunette rose to fame in the 1990s as one of Australia's top models and lived a life of glitz and glamour on the arm of her then fiance, James Packer

Screen siren: Tziporah began dating the billionaire in 1993, the same year she starred alongside Elle Macpherson, Portia de Rossi and Hugh Grant in the hit film Sirens

Short-lived: She became engaged to James (pictured) three years later, but the pair split in 1998

Speaking to Woman's Day in 2016, Tziporah admitted that she sometimes regrets her decision to leave Australia after her relationship with James ended.

'Sometimes I think I should have stayed in Australia and battled it out a bit,' she admitted. 'But I was devastated and I felt like he had all the cards.'

Relocating to Los Angeles, Tziporah lived an expensive lifestyle, but never managed to make it in the American market.

She was instead swindled out of $2 million dollars she gave to a lover, later finding out that he had a wife and a family in another country.

New life abroad: Converting to Judaism, she legally changed her name to Tziporah Malkah Bat Israel

Converting to Judaism, she legally changed her name to Tziporah Malkah Bat Israel.

The former cover girl returned home to Australia, living in anonymity in a homeless shelter after falling out with her mother, politician Pru Goward.

She told The Project earlier this year: 'I didn't know anything about homelessness so I thought I had to sleep under a bush so I Googled 'Homelessness Melbourne'.'

Reality TV: Tziporah made a return to the spotlight this year as a contestant on the hit Channel Ten reality show I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!, losing out to former Australian Idol star Casey Donovan

Tziporah made a return to the spotlight this year as a contestant on the hit Channel Ten reality show I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!, losing out to former Australian Idol star Casey Donovan.

She went into the show weighing around 118 kilograms, and lost 14 kilograms, thanks to the program's gruelling conditions.

She now weighs 105 kilograms, and revealed to news.com.au she hopes to drop down to a size 14 with the help of morning beach walks and rock pool swims.

In the jungle: Tziporah went into the show weighing around 118 kilograms, and lost 14 kilograms, thanks to the program's gruelling conditions
The Kardashians are keeping up their legal fight.

Kim and Rob Kardashian along with mother Kris Jenner are firing back at Blac Chyna's claims in a lawsuit that they had sabotaged her reality show Rob & Chyna.

According to a report from TMZ on Wednesday, the Kardashans have filed legal documents asking that a judge toss the case from Rob's ex.

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Not without a fight: Kim Kardashian and Kris Jenner (pictured in June) have filed legal documents asking that a judge toss the case from Blac Chyna, according to a Wednesday report from TMZ

Legal battle: The 29-year-old Lashed founder has filed a lawsuit against the two and ex Rob Kardashian (pictured together in May 2016) claiming that they had sabotaged her reality show Rob & Chyna

The famous family claim that it was due to the 29-year-old Lashed founder's domestic violence restraining order against Rob, 30, which made it impossible to film interactions between the two for the program.

Back in September, Chyna - real name Angela White - and Rob settled their custody battle as the youngest Kardashian sibling offered $20K a month in child support if his ex would also drop the domestic charges against him in return according to TMZ.

This has been quite the legal battle as last month, Chyna had dropped her case against Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian as well as Kendall and Kylie Jenner from the list of defendants. However Kim, Kris, and Rob were still named in the suit.

In happier times: Last month it was reported that Chyna is no longer suing four of Rob Kardashian's sisters. The couple are pictured here in May 2016

Chyna had previously been suing the entire Kardashian-Jenner family including ex fiancee Rob, 30, Kourtney, 38, Kim, 37, Khloe, 33, momager Kris, 61, Kendall, 21, and Kylie, 20.

Chyna's lawyer Lisa Bloom told US Weekly that the Kardashians 'decided to start a war by trashing her online repeatedly, so it's on.'

She claims that the cancellation of season two of her reality show Rob & Chyna can be blamed on the reality family, which led to the ex stripper losing out on income, endorsement deals. appearance fees and promotion of her products.

Bloom alleges that the E! network still had interest in doing a second season of the show even though Chyna, born Angela White, and Rob were no longer together.

Off the hook: Chyna had dropped Kourtney [L] and Khloe Kardashian [R] from the list of defendants

Sigh of relief: Kylie [L] and Kendall Jenner [R] are also out of the ex stripper's crosshairs

In the lawsuit, the reality TV star accused Rob of physically abusing her.

She claimed that the incident occurred when she tried to call ex-boyfriend Tyga - with whom she has five-year-old son King Cairo.

Rob 'immediately grabbed the phone from her hand and violently knocked her to the ground where she landed on her hands and knees'.

Legal jeopardy: Kim [L] and Kris [R] were still named in the suit. Pictured here in November 2017

The wannabe rapper then claims she called King's nanny, who took him away, before locking herself in her bedroom.

However, she then alleged that 'Rob Kardashian lost all control and tore the hinges off of Ms. White's bedroom door. Ms. White then retreated to the bathroom, hid in the bathroom closet, and locked the door'.

Chyna also alleges she 'suffered pain and difficulty walking for days' after the incident.

The court documents stated: 'Ms. White suffered pain and difficulty walking for days following the domestic dispute as a result of Rob Kardashian violently knocking her to the ground.'
If you believe you need long periods in the sun to get your daily dose of vitamin D, think again.

Experts say getting sufficient vitamin D for good health isn't an issue for most Aussies during summer and sun protection should be the priority.

Craig Sinclair at Cancer Council Australia says it only takes minutes of exposure to the sun on most days of the week to achieve adequate levels of vitamin D.

"That could literally be the minutes it takes for you to walk to the front door to the letterbox or to go grab something for lunch at midday," said Mr Sinclair.

This is because at this time of year the UV is very intense, he says.

"There is very little disagreement in terms of what our public health advice is; and essentially that is if you are going to be spending time outdoors at this time of year when UV levels are what they are you should be making sure your sun protected," said Mr Sinclair.

There have been multiple research studies linking vitamin D to numerous health benefits, including for multiple sclerosis and heart disease.

A recent Australian study linked vitamin D to improved brain power in middle-age women.

The observational study, published in the journal Maturitas, investigated the association between midlife vitamin D and cognition in Australian women over a 10 year period. It used data involving 252 participants aged 55-67 from the Women's Healthy Ageing Project.

It found that sufficient midlife vitamin D levels (more than 25 nanomoles per litre) were associated with improved aspects of executive function in ageing.

Executive function includes things like attention, cognitive inhibition and working memory.

"Women (age range 55-67 years) with vitamin D levels above 25nmol/L maintained better executive functioning in late-life, in particular improved cognitive flexibility, attention and psychomotor speed," lead author Dr Alicia Goodwill told the University of Melbourne publication Pursuit.

Given the modern lifestyles often involving long hours indoors at desks or watching TV, Dr Goodwill says it's important people get enough vitamin D.

But even with protection most Australians will still receive adequate vitamin D from the sun, says Mr Sinclair.

"That's because of the intensity of the the UV that we experience over the Summer months," he said.

"It's people who live in institutional care or those who cover up for cultural reasons, particularly elderly people, need to have a discussion with their doctor around their vitamin D levels but for the rest of us we don't need to worry about it."
He dreamt for 30 years of contesting the Sydney to Hobart but Christopher Opielok's race lasted only about 20 hours.

The German's TP52 Rockall was the first boat in the fleet of 102 to retire from the 2017 race.

While LDV Comanche continued to lead rival supermaxi Wild Oats XI by about 10 nautical miles on Wednesday morning, Rockall's campaign ended when it broke a rudder 60 nautical miles south of Eden.

A police boat towed it to the town on the NSW south coast.

With strong northeasters forecast for most of Wednesday over a good portion of the course, conditions are set to test the durability of the fleet.

"It will become challenging especially for the smaller boats," Cruising Yacht Club of Australia commodore John Markos told AAP.

A two-time Admiral's Cup winner, Opielock said before the race he had assembled a crew that hadn't sailed together.

Opielok, who once lived in Perth, didn't have the best luck in a previous Sydney-Hobart attempt with an earlier Rockall.

"It got here late by cargo shipment, it got delayed, so we missed that one in 2010," Opielock told AAP this month.

His enthusiasm to do the race was fuelled by meeting Australian sailing identities.

"We met Alan Bond and his crew and all these famous Aussies and they were telling us about Bass Strait and the Sydney to Hobart," Opielok said.
A man and woman in their 20s have been assaulted in a violent carjacking by four men in a Brisbane shopping centre car park.

The men approached a parked Mitsubishi Magna at 3.45am Wednesday at Sunnybank Plaza before one smashed the passenger window and assaulted the woman inside, police allege.

The same man then allegedly assaulted the driver and took the keys to another car parked nearby, a white 2012 Honda Civic, and all four fled in the stolen vehicle.

Both the man, 26, and woman, 27, were taken to hospital with minor injuries, while two other passengers escaped unscathed.

Police are appealing for anyone who has seen the stolen car to call Policelink on 131 444 or call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
A man who allegedly used a mirror to spy on women in toilets in far western NSW has been charged.

The 18-year-old was arrested in Broken hill on Tuesday, but managed to flee before being arrested a second time.

NSW Police said the man used the mirror in the toilet cubicle of a shopping plaza in mid-October and in a separate toilet block in mid-December.

He is also accused of being in possession of stolen items when he was arrested.

The man was charged with five offences including observing a person in a private act without consent and escaping police custody.

He is expected to appear in Broken Hill Local Court on January 22.
NSW government agencies overspent on consultants and contractors by $250 million, according to the state's audit office.

The 2017 Internal Controls and Governance report found government agencies used consultants or contractors on 82 per cent of major capital projects, with almost a third exceeding their original budget.

The report also found 13 per cent of capital projects were not supported by a business case.

As well as capital spending, the report discovered some salaries were being paid to terminated staff - outlining it as a high risk concern.

Agency spending wasn't the only problem identified in the December report, with IT security also a concern.

It found only two thirds of agencies are complying with their own IT security policies, with most failing to properly monitor or restrict privileged access to their systems.

Some agencies did not even enforce password controls.

The NSW government has been contacted for a response.
Three teenagers have been injured during a fight that spilled onto a Perth street from a house party attended by about 100 people.

Police were called to Crystaluna Drive in Golden Bay just after 12am on Wednesday to disperse the crowd after a fight allegedly began at the back of the property, then spilled to the front and onto the street.

Two 18-year-old men and one 17-year-old boy suffered minor cuts and were treated at Peel Health Campus.

Anyone with information or CCTV or dash cam vision of the fighting is urged to contact police.
Australian documents relating to the extradition trial of Neil Prakash have reportedly arrived at a Turkish court where the Australian jihadist has made a brief appearance.

During his appearance in court in Kilis, Prakash denied having any connection to Islamic State in Australia, Fairfax media reports.

The top IS recruiter is being held in Turkey on terror-related charges after being arrested trying to cross the border from Syria on false documents in October last year.

During a court hearing last September he admitted calling for terror attacks in Australia.

Prakash has been linked to a failed Melbourne plot to behead a police officer, and another attack that saw two officers stabbed outside a Melbourne police station.

Australia has formally sought his extradition but under international protocols, Turkey has the right to deal with him first.

Also known as Abu Khaled al-Cambodi, Prakash left Australia for Syria via Malaysia in 2013. He has featured in a number of Islamic State propaganda videos calling for attacks on Australia and the United States.

Prakash will remain behind bars until his next hearing on February 23 when a verdict must be reached, Fairfax reports.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has been contacted for comment.
A man has been charged after a pigeon coop was torched, killing 12 birds in Sydney's south.

A Rosebery resident was awoken by a neighbour telling him his bird coop was on fire on Wednesday morning.

Firefighters arrived to extinguish the blaze but 12 of the 37 pigeons were killed.

Police arrested a 33-year-old man and searched a nearby home where they found a barbecue lighter, oxycontin - a pain medicine known colloquially as 'hillbilly heroin' - and cannabis.

The man was charged with aggravated cruelty to animals, damaging property by fire and drugs charges.

He was refused bail and is expected to appear before Parramatta Local Court on Thursday.
A man is due to appear in court charged with bashing a policeman in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland after the officer unsuccessfully attempted to stop an attack on him with capsicum spray and a Taser.

Police allege 45-year-old tried to choke the officer on Friday before stealing his helmet which had his police-issued body-worn camera attached.

The man turned himself into police on Wednesday and has been charged with various offences.

In a separate incident three days later a police sergeant was hospitalised after a brutal bashing at a vehicle stop on the Sunshine Coast, prompting a manhunt for a 39-year-old passenger.

Senior police condemned the drug-fuelled attack, which was witnessed by a nine-year-old boy related to the alleged perpetrator.

Queensland police are appealing for public help to find Ashley Dodd who they say seriously assaulted the 49-year-old male officer on a Glass House Mountains road on Christmas Eve.
LDV Comanche skipper and owner Jim Cooney was worried a calm Derwent River would prove the supermaxi's undoing.

Unfortunately for him, his pre-race fear materialised.

The yacht dubbed the "aircraft carrier" held the lead for the majority of the Sydney to Hobart and was in prime position to add a second line honours to its 2015 success on Wednesday morning.

But its 20 nautical mile advantage was whittled away by a canny Wild Oats XI crew, who caught up as the frontrunners flew at speeds of up to 30 knots down Tasmania's east coast.

When both boats lobbed on the home stretch of the notoriously slow Derwent RIver at virtually the same time, Cooney knew he was in trouble.

The lighter Wild Oats XI picked up a breeze and finished 26 minutes ahead of LDV Comanche to claim line honours for the ninth time.

"I did suspect the soft weather in the Derwent would be our Achilles heel," Cooney told reporters at Hobart's Constitution Dock.

"It is a very wide boat and a very big wetted surface area. It is difficult to keep it moving in very light air."

In fact, the boat's stern is wider than Black Jack and Wild Oats XI combined.

Cooney was circumspect when assessing the race.

"It was a fantastic experience," he said.

"That's boat racing. If you are in the wrong place at the wrong time, you miss a little shift and somebody gets by you.

"It's frustrating of course. We had them behind us for 628 miles."
Australians are feeling more stressed than ever, with a lack of sleep, work pressures and even social media playing a role, a survey has found.

The number of stressed Aussies has jumped by about a third to 4.9 million during the past decade, research by health fund Medibank shows.

Most blamed a lack of sleep, trying to juggle too many things and work pressures for causing them to feel stressed.

Housing affordability, pressures from social media and the global political climate also contributed.

The majority of the 1000 people surveyed also believed their stress levels had affected their sleep and social relationships.

Half said they'd been irritable towards loved ones and colleagues, while just over a third were reluctant to take part in social activities and 18 per cent felt they couldn't be 'there' for family members.

Medibank chief medical officer Dr Linda Swan said the research also found people who were affected by stress were more likely to suffer from mental health conditions including depression, anxiety and panic attacks.

"It's clear 2017 has been a tough year for many, with both personal and wider societal pressures being the major contributors to our stress. That's why it's essential we do everything we can to take care of our mental wellbeing and continue to look out for one another as we enter a new year."

STRESSSED OUT AUSSIES

* Number of Australians affected by stress in 2007/08: 3.7m

* Number of Australians affected by stress in 2016/17: 4.9m

* 44pct said lack of sleep was a key contributor

* 39pct blamed work pressures

* 36pct said they juggled too many things

* 17pct said housing affordability was a factor

* 12pct attributed some of their stress to social media

* 11pct said the global political climate was a factor

(Source: Medibank)

Australian readers seeking support and information about depression can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
An innocent driver has been injured in a head-on crash with a 4WD earlier involved in a chase with police in Perth.

Officers were pursuing a Holden Commodore and Toyota Prado in Upper Swan about 11.15pm on Wednesday and when the Holden was stopped with tyre stingers, the Prado U-turned and sped off on the wrong side of the road.

Police say they'd stopped chasing the Prado, which minutes later crashed into a Toyota Corolla, whose driver had to be cut from the car and taken to Royal Perth Hospital with leg and chest injuries.
Has there ever been life on Mars?

A group of Australian scientists hope they can help solve that question and are working with the US space agency NASA on its next Mars mission, planned for 2020.

NASA is sending another car-sized robot - known as a rover - to the red planet for a fresh survey of its rocky landscape.

The last rover to visit Mars was Curiosity, which landed on the planet's Gale Crater in 2012 and has since uncovered geological evidence of an environment that could have supported primitive life early in the planet's history.

It found evidence of a watery history on the slopes of Mount Sharp, with the presence of certain chemicals that suggest Mars had a much warmer and wetter climate in its past compared to its current frigid, harsh environment today.

Scientists from the University of NSW's Australian Centre for Astrobiology are helping NASA select a site for the 2020 rover to explore.

NASA's new rover will carry out seven experiments on Mars, one of which is being spearheaded by Australian field geologist Dr Abigail Allwood, making her both the first Aussie and woman to lead such a project.

The Planetary Instrument for X-Ray Lithochemistry - or PIXL - will identify chemical elements in great detail and take close-up pictures of rock and soil.

Dr Carol Oliver, deputy director at the Australian Centre for Astrobiology, says that information could indicate if there are any chemicals on Mars that typically support life, known as a biosignature.

"You can look at the relationship, that chemistry, to determine biosignatures in the soil, whether they're past or present," Dr Oliver told AAP.

Previous Australian research on how long life has existed on earth could also help NASA solve the puzzle of life on Mars.

UNSW researchers working in Western Australia's remote Pilbara recently provided the most convincing evidence yet that life existed on earth as far back as 3.5 billion years ago.

Dr Oliver said that finding was met with a lot of interest at NASA.

The Pilbara's environment is considered to be similar to that of the Gusev crater on Mars, which is one of the locations the 2020 rover may visit.

"All of this research has implications for this most profound question of all, and that is, are we alone in the universe?" she said.

The role Australians are playing in Mars exploration comes at a time when interest in the planet is high.

US President Donald Trump is among those to have spurred it on, signing a policy directive in December instructing NASA to send astronauts back to the moon - and on to Mars.

SpaceX spacecraft manufacturer Elon Musk has also sparked Mars interest with the ultimate goal of sending humans to live on other planets.

Dr Oliver describes this ambition as "very visionary and inspirational", but doesn't think it will actually happen, at least any time soon, because of the long time it takes to travel to and from Mars and its highly radiated surface.

"You could not live on the surface of Mars, even in a dome of the type that was in The Martian movie. You would be dead within 60 days from radiation," Dr Oliver said.

She said a scientific base below the surface could provide protection from radiation but other factors to consider would be what's in the water supply - if one is found - and the risks of disturbing any life.

"If there's life on Mars, in this pristine environment, you wouldn't want to be disturbing it until you actually understood it," she said.
Tickets to a sold-out Paul McCartney concert in Melbourne donated to the Salvation Army for use by homeless people, were given to the daughter of the charity's leader, it has been revealed.

The seven tickets, donated by good Samaritan Chris McDonald, were initially given to homeless people but hours before the December 5 show, two of the ticket holders were unable to attend and returned them, Salvation Army Major Brendan Nottle says.

"At the last minute, two tickets were returned and (a manager) made the decision to give them to my daughter ... it had absolutely had nothing to do with me," he told 3AW on Thursday.
Hebert Veloza was a leader in the right-wing paramilitary group United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), pictured here in 2004, in the 1990s and 2000s

A former paramilitary chief accused of 3,000 crimes was Tuesday returned to his native Colombia to face justice after being deported from the United States, where he had been incarcerated on drug charges.

Hebert Veloza, 50, alias "HH," touched down in Bogota after being loaded on a plane in Alexandria, in the US state of Virginia, Colombia's migration service said in a statement.

He faces charges in his homeland of murder, forced recruitment of minors and criminal association.

He had been in prison in the United States since 2009 for drug trafficking, after Colombia allowed his extradition.

Veloza had quit as a paramilitary leader in 2004, but then clandestinely returned to the activity in 2006.

He was arrested in 2007 despite invoking a special law that gave criminal leniency to members of armed groups that demobilised, admitted their crimes and paid damages to their victims.

His extradition to the US was criticised by rights groups and victims' associations, which feared his crimes in Colombia would go unpunished.

Colombia was rocked for more than half a century by an armed conflict that over that time involved around 30 leftwing guerrilla groups, extreme-right paramilitary outfits, and government forces. More than 260,000 people were killed, more than 60,000 disappeared, and seven million people were displaced within the country.

The main conflict came to an end with a November 2016 peace accord signed between the government and the main rebel group, the FARC.

Negotiations have been under way since February to strike a similar pact with the smaller ELN guerrilla group, the last insurgent organisation which is observing a ceasefire valid to early January 2018.
Former Ivorian minister for labour and public service, Hubert Oulaye, accused of complicity in the assassination of UN soldiers, hears the verdict in his trial in at the Assize Court in Abidjan on December 26, 2017

A former Ivorian minister was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Tuesday for complicity in a 2012 attack in western Ivory Coast that killed 18 people, including seven UN peacekeepers.

Hubert Oulaye, 64, ex-public works minister under former president Laurent Gbagbo, "provided the financial means to establish a rebellion in the west" of the country, the attorney general said.

"The accomplice is sometimes more dangerous than the perpetrator," she added.

Oulaye dismissed the verdict as a "political conviction" and returned home while his lawyers vowed to appeal the decision.

The attack happened as Ivory Coast was reeling from violence caused when Gbagbo refused to step down after losing presidential polls to current leader Alassane Ouattara.

Gbagbo is currently on trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague for alleged crimes against humanity committed during the crisis, in which 3,000 people were killed.

Oulaye's lawyer Rodrigue Dadje called the verdict "a political decision" and warned it would create a dangerous and vindictive precedent.

"We are going to be in an unending cycle of vengeance. We need justice that is equitable and transparent, not one that hand down 20 year sentences without any proof," he said.

Oulaye was arrested six months after his return from exile in Ghana, and several days after participating in a meeting of the "rebels" of Gbagbo's party, the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI).

The "rebels" consider themselves the guardians of the Gbagbo legacy and boycott all polls.
The rise in the price of copper hit a three-year high on Wednesday, helping lift mining stocks.

London shares pushed upwards in thin holiday season trading on Wednesday, boosted by a rise in commodity prices following a slight lift in Asian markets.

London's FTSE 100 index managed a 0.2 percent gain to 7,606.73 points in late morning trading after a four-day break in trading, holding near to a record high.

Meanwhile in the eurozone, both Frankfurt's DAX 30 and the CAC 40 in Paris were up less than 0.1 percent.

"A thin volume trading is a general theme across the markets," said Naeem Aslam, analyst at Think Markets UK.

"Most traders are away on their holiday and we do not expect much action in the markets, however, the general portfolio rebalancing trade would be the most common feature between now and the end of this year."

London's top seven performers were all miners, with Fresnillo leading the pack with a two percent rise as copper prices hit a three-year high.

Asian markets earlier edged upward as fears over lacklustre iPhone demand eased and commodities rose.

Shares in Apple -- the biggest US company by market capitalisation -- and its Asian suppliers had slumped Tuesday after a report in Taiwan's Economic Daily warned of weak demand for the iPhone X.

But that slide was arrested, with analysts suggesting media reports of supplier order cuts were "confusing the market".

Shares in Taiwan-based Apple suppliers Hon Hai Precision Tech -- better known as Foxconn -- and Catcher Technology rose Wednesday.

Tokyo and Hong Kong both rose by 0.1 percent while Taipei added 0.6 percent.

Seoul gained 0.4 percent after the announcement of a new policy aimed at encouraging trades on the junior tech-heavy Kosdaq market bolstered overall investor sentiment.

But positive news was dampened by record losses at Hyundai Heavy -- the world's largest shipbuilder by sales -- which lost more than a quarter of its share value after announcing a plan to issue new stocks to shore up its ailing finances.

Shanghai fell 0.9 percent, dragged down by heavyweight financial and consumer liquor shares.

On the currency markets, the euro rose slightly against the dollar on Wednesday in a sluggish market, stabilising after losses last week triggered by regional elections in Catalonia, where pro-independence parties won a slim majority.

The pound fell against most currencies, weighed down by disappointing Boxing Day retail sales, which could soften overall growth figures.

Elsewhere, oil-linked shares were boosted by crude prices that remained close to two-year highs.

Oil prices in New York had jumped to a two-and-a-half year high Tuesday and briefly topped $60 a barrel due to a Libyan pipeline explosion and frigid weather in the US, before easing Wednesday.

- Key figures around 1100 GMT -

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 7,606.73 points

Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 0.08 percent at 13,082.67

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.09 percent at 5,369.46

EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.03 percent at 3,554.35

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.1 percent at 22,911.21 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 0.1 percent at 29,597.66 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.9 percent at 3,275.78 (close)

New York - DOW: FLAT at 24,746.21 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1891 from $1.1864

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3417 from $1.3374

Dollar/yen: UP at 113.25 yen from 113.19 yen

Oil - West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 40 cents at $59.57 per barrel

Oil - Brent North Sea: DOWN $1.17 at $65.68
Channel News Asia has published an article dedicated to safeguarding the country's intangible heritage, including the culture and customs of the small local Armenian community.

December 27, 2017, 09:51 Singapore Armenians hope to preserve country's cultural heritage

STEPANAKERT, DECEMBER 27, ARTSAKHPRESS:According to the article, the community now has only 60 people who gather for holidays in the local Armenian Church.

The Armenian community is the example of the intangible cultural heritage of Singapore. In April 2018, the country plans to launch a plan to preserve the country's cultural heritage. The plan is expected to be submitted to UNESCO.

The Armenian community expects that its voice will also be heard. The Armenian ensemble, led by Gevorg Sargsyan and his wife, continues to perform several concerts in the year. Sargsyan also hopes for the opening of the Armenian museum and gallery. We are few, but we make contribution to the history. It is not visible or recognized, but it is happening, Sargsyan said.
Portrayed by the Vietnamese government as a Lexus-driving tycoon who flaunted his wealth while costing the state millions of dollars, Trinh Xuan Thanh fled the country as he fell under the cross-hairs of a corruption crusade by communist authorities

A former Vietnamese official allegedly kidnapped from Germany will go on trial in Hanoi in January on corruption charges, officials said Wednesday, a high-profile case that could see the ex-oil executive put to death.

Vietnam's communist government has jailed or arrested scores of former officials, bankers and state executives this year as part of a sweeping anti-corruption crackdown that some observers say is driven by political infighting.

But Trinh Xuan Thanh's brazen Cold War-style kidnapping from a Berlin park by Vietnamese security agents in July stunned many inside and outside the one-party state, sparking a diplomatic dust-up that Germany called a "scandalous violation" of its sovereignty.

Hanoi had sought Thanh, the former head of state-run PetroVietnam Construction (PVC), for mismanagement and embezzlement causing massive losses.

Vietnamese officials said he returned home voluntarily to face the charges.

But German authorities said he was kidnapped on their soil, where he had sought asylum.

Thanh will face trial on January 8, alongside the former head of PetroVietnam and ex-politburo member Dinh La Thang, a court clerk told AFP.

As head of PetroVietnam, Thang allegedly carved out a deal with Thanh -- then chairman of the construction subsidiary of PetroVietnam -- to build a thermal power plant.

The deal allegedly caused losses of $5.2 million for the state.

Twenty others also face charges in the case.

Officials said the defendants "were mostly key leaders in important economic organisations, trusted by the state and the people to manage state capital", according to the indictment cited by the official Vietnam News Agency.

Thang and Thanh face 20 years in jail for mismanagement, while the former PVC head Thanh faces an additional charge of embezzlement, which carries the death penalty.

Officials had earlier accused Thanh of causing losses worth $150 million, which he could still face in a separate trial.

Thanh appears to have been a marked man ever since he was spotted driving a flashy Lexus car with government plates while serving as deputy head of southern Hau Giang province.

The men are the most prominent officials to face corruption charges as part of Hanoi's massive crackdown that has already seen one senior banker sentenced to death and scores of others face stiff jail terms.

Observers say the anti-corruption sweep, which echoes a graft crackdown in Communist China, is being led by a conservative leadership in place since last year.

Many believe it is as much about cleaning up Vietnam's corrupted ranks as it is about weeding out political enemies aligned with the former leadership.

Vietnam has been ranked 113 out of 176 on the corruption index by Transparency International, worse than its Southeast Asian neighbours Thailand, the Philippines and Myanmar.
China's crackdown has even affected leftist intellectuals, who are often afforded more academic freedom

Hundreds of Chinese scholars, students and journalists have signed a petition calling for a leftist intellectual to be released from police custody in a case that shows how Beijing's crackdown on civil society extends across the political spectrum.

Zhang Yunfan, a recent graduate of China's prestigious Peking University, was detained last month in the southern city of Guangzhou for "organising mass gatherings that disturbed social order", the petition says.

News of the detention comes as China cracks down on all forms of "subversion", imprisoning hundreds of activists and lawyers, typically for "rightist" behaviour such as promoting human rights or democracy.

But China's leftist intellectuals have enjoyed relatively more space to express views that are out of step with government orthodoxy -- authorities have typically been cautious about attempting to silence them for fear of creating a backlash in the Communist country.

Zhang was helming a group discussion at a local university on authorities' response to leftist speech when local police arrived and hauled away some of the participants, the petition said.

By 5pm Tuesday (0900 GMT) the petition had collected more than 350 signatures.

The unnamed organisers of the petition said they had sent it to the local public security bureau in Guangzhou's Panyu district which is overseeing the case.

Police in Panyu told AFP they could not discuss the case.

Two professors from two of China's elite universities confirmed to AFP that they had signed the letter.

"If he's been arrested for simply participating in a study session that's not right," said Tsinghua University professor Kuang Xinnian.

China's outspoken leftists believe the country's political and economic reforms have abandoned Mao's goal of transforming the nation into a Communist utopia -- citing the growing gap between the rich and poor.

The party's official verdict on Mao -- made public in 1981 -- declared his rule 70 percent good and 30 percent bad, but he is still widely praised for his role as the founder of today's Communist China.
These refugees fled from fighting in South Sudan across the border into the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Congolese army has now stepped up arrests of South Sudanese it suspects of being rebel fighters

The Congolese army has stepped up arrests of South Sudanese refugees and tightened the border in a bid to block rebels from seeking sanctuary in its country, officials say.

As hundreds fled into the Democratic Republic of Congo last week, after President Salva Kiir's government army dislodged Riek Machar's rebel SPLA-IO from its headquarters in southwestern Lasu, some 18 suspected rebels were taken into detention.

It is the first time Congolese authorities have detained a significant number of South Sudanese and may signal a change in Kinshasa's policy towards the neighbouring country, riven by a devastating four-year power struggle.

"As of now 15 have been released. They were refugees who were arrested because they had returned to South Sudan without authorisation. Three who remain in custody are suspected of being rebels and investigations are ongoing," said Alexis Kabambi, who heads the National Commission for Refugees (CNR) in the Congolose town of Aba.

- Border tightened -

Until recently, members of the SPLA-IO were able to move relatively freely across the border to Aba, a town they depended on for supplies and medical treatment for their wounded.

But after South Sudan's ambassador visited Aba together with DRC's defence minister in April, local authorities began restricting movement across the border, according to a South Sudanese community leader in Aba and an SPLA-IO official who asked not to be named.

The tightening of cross-border movements is a blow to those who return to South Sudan to harvest their fields in order to supplement their monthly cash allowance, which they say isn't enough to feed their families.

When fighting erupted in Lasu, siblings Grace Gaba and Joseph Moro rushed back to their village to help an elderly family member across the border and to fetch some of the family's livestock. But when they tried to re-enter the DRC, Moro was arrested.

"I haven't heard from him since," said Gaba, insisting her brother wasn't a soldier.

Gaba and her brother didn't obtain the required permission for their trip to South Sudan, which may have drawn suspicion when they tried to re-enter the DRC.

"This back and forth isn't appreciated by the security services," said Kabambi.

"When you return to the other side, you are suspect. You are going there for what, to communicate with those people on the other side?"

- Extradition back to S.Sudan -

Officials in the DRC suspect a close link between the refugee community and the opposition fighters.

"We know that the women and children are here in the camp while the husbands are part of the rebellion," a police officer said at a recent community gathering in Aba's refugee settlement.

The officer called upon ex-combatants to report themselves to the army "for their own protection."

But young men who are sympathetic to the rebellion back home don't trust Congolese authorities.

"I don't know their position, that's why I'm at risk. If I'm arrested, they could torture me and hand me over to the South Sudanese government," said one rebel currently seeking refugee status in Aba.

The young man plans to install his family in the refugee settlement and then return to South Sudan to resume his role in the SPLA-IO.

South Sudanese ex-combatants live confined to camps in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo

Elsewhere in the DRC, in Goma, some 400 mostly former SPLA-IO rebels have been living confined to a camp since fleeing with Machar in 2016.

They live not quite as prisoners and not quite refugees, accepting restriction of their movement in exchange for food and protection from a UN peacekeeping mission.

- Fragile ceasefire -

The SPLA-IO inked a ceasefire deal with the South Sudanese government last week but the truce is already floundering as both sides accuse each other of multiple breaches of the accord.

According to international law, third party countries are obliged to disarm and intern ex-combatants until a ceasefire comes into force or until they genuinely renounce military activities, at which point they qualify for asylum.

But procedures described by Congolese authorities appear to run counter to these provisions.

"Once you've borne arms, you fled and you came here, you are considered a soldier," said Kabambi.

"The Congolese armed forces then cooperate with the government of South Sudan to see how these people can be extradited to their country."
Thai army rangers at the scene of a roadside bombing in the southern province of Pattani in September

The death toll this year from an insurgency in Thailand's Muslim-majority southern provinces was the lowest since the conflict began 13 years ago, monitors said Wednesday, as security improves under the ruling junta.

Thailand's southernmost provinces abutting Malaysia have been in the grip of a low-level but bloody insurgency since 2004 and nearly 7,000 people have died.

The majority of the victims are civilians -- both Muslim and Buddhist -- caught up in near-daily bomb attacks and shootings.

Some 235 people died in 2017 as a result of clashes between the Muslim-Malay insurgents and Thai troops and police, according to figures collected by conflict analysts Deep South Watch.

That compares to 309 in 2016, continuing a downward trend since 2014 and a sharp drop on the peak of 892 deaths in 2007.

"We have seen the incidents going down for the past three years. And this year's death toll is the lowest ever if no significant incidents happen in the coming days," a Deep South Watch spokeswoman told AFP.

Thailand, which colonised the culturally distinct south roughly a century ago, has for decades been confronted by ethnic Malay fighters seeking more autonomy, but the conflict flared up into its bloodiest phase in 2004.

Rights groups have accused both the insurgents and security forces of widespread human rights abuses.

The junta which seized power in 2014 has continued peace talks but they appear to have made little headway.

Discussions to set up so-called "safety zones" have been held with an umbrella group that claims to represent the rebels, but no agreement has been made public.

Deep South Watch said the reduced death toll may be linked to continuing talks and government development schemes.

Don Pathan, a Thailand-based independent analyst, speculated the reduction was likely a combination of factors, including more government informants on the ground, a tighter security operation and more targeted strikes by insurgents.

"The bombs are bigger and more intense," he said, adding that militants were essentially being told to "make it count" and be more careful to avoid collateral damage.
Opposition supporters hold up placards reading 'Kabila - get lost' and 'Transition without Kabila' at a recent protest.

The opposition in Democratic Republic of Congo said Wednesday it had garnered enough signatures to challenge a new electoral reform, which it says is buttressing the ruling party of President Joseph Kabila.

Opposition spokesman Christophe Lutundula said the reform "automatically" banned certain hopefuls from running against Kabila in the next election, scheduled for December 23, 2018.

The opposition says the law automatically excludes certain candidates by setting a minimum threshold of the share of the national vote that a candidate must win in order to obtain a seat.

They also dispute the use of voting machines in ballot stations and the high deposit that candidates must pay, equivalent to several hundred dollars.

The changes "have put into place provisions which exclude independent candidates and are a flagrant violation of the constitution," Lutundula told AFP.

He said more than 50 lawmakers have so far signed a petition to contest the changes in the constitutional court.

The petition has not only been endorsed by opposition members but also by MPs from the parliamentary majority, according to Lutundula.

Some small parties in the ruling bloc had criticised the electoral package passed by the National Assembly on December 4.

Majority spokesman Andre-Alain Atundu accused the opposition of using "delaying tactics to hold up the election".

The reforms mark the first official step in the countdown to next year's ballot aimed at bringing about Kabila's belated departure and restoring stability in the crisis-hit country.

In power since 2001 when he took over from his assassinated father Laurent Kabila, he refused to step down at the end of his second and final term in office in December 2016.

Elections had been due to take place by the end of 2017 under a deal with the opposition aimed at avoiding bloodshed.

But the date has since been pushed back until next December, further heightening tensions.
A general view of Manama, the capital of Shiite-majority but Sunni-ruled Bahrain

A Bahrain court on Wednesday sentenced 10 Shiites to life in jail for forming "terror" groups and manufacturing explosives and bombs, a judicial source said.

The court, whose ruling can be appealed, also sentenced another defendant to 10 years. All were stripped of their Bahraini citizenship, the source told AFP.

Bahrain, a tiny but strategic Gulf state, has been gripped by unrest for years as its Sunni royal family has resisted demands from its Shiite majority for a constitutional monarchy with an elected prime minister.

The main suspect, Murtadha al-Sendi, who was sentenced to death on Monday, formed two "terror" groups, one of which manufactured explosives and bombs and stored them in hideouts, the judicial source said.

The second group received arms and explosives smuggled from Iran by sea and hid them, the source added.

Seven of the defendants were arrested when security forces broke up the two cells and recovered large quantities of arms and explosives.

Another four suspects are still at large.

The court heard that at least four of the accused were trained in the use of arms and manufacturing explosives in Iran and Iraq.

On Monday, Bahrain's top military court sentenced six Shiites to death and seven to seven years in prison for allegedly plotting to assassinate the country's armed forces chief.

It also revoked their citizenship.
The Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab has been fighting to overthrow successive internationally backed governments in Mogadishu since 2007 and frequently deploys car and truck bombs against military, government and civilian targets

The United States carried out an air strike on Christmas Eve against the Shabaab Islamist group that left 13 dead, according to a statement released Wednesday.

"In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, US forces conducted an airstrike against al-Shabaab militants on the morning of Dec. 24, 2017, in southern Somalia, killing 13 terrorists," read the statement from the US Africa Command (AFRICOM).

The United States has stepped up its operations in Somalia in recent weeks, with frequent strikes against Shabaab and a separate self-proclaimed branch of the Islamic State in the Horn of Africa nation.

Three weeks ago the US said it had killed eight Shabaab militants, while an air strike in November reportedly left more than 100 jihadists dead.

The Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab has been fighting to overthrow successive internationally backed governments in Mogadishu since 2007 and frequently deploys car and truck bombs against military, government and civilian targets.

The Shabaab lost its foothold in Mogadishu in 2011 but has continued its fight and still controls vast rural areas.

The group is widely blamed for the country's worst ever bombing which in October left 512 dead.
The construction site of the West Kowloon station in Hong Kong: plans to post mainland officials there are proving controversial

China's top legislative body decreed Wednesday that Chinese officials could enforce mainland law in part of a new railway station in Hong Kong, despite protests that this would erode the city's autonomy.

A high-speed railway linking Hong Kong to the sprawling southern mainland cities of Shenzhen and Guangzhou is due to open next year.

But the proposal for a joint immigration checkpoint, which would see mainland police and other officials stationed at the new terminus in the heart of Hong Kong, has intensified fears among some that Beijing is tightening its grip on the self-governing city.

The station is sited on Hong Kong's famous harbourfront in Kowloon, not on the border with the mainland further to the north.

The Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress approved the project.

"The NPCSC session said the arrangements are in line with the principle of 'One country, two systems', the constitution and the HKSAR Basic Law," state news agency Xinhua reported, referring to Hong Kong's post-1997 mini-constitution.

The immigration checkpoint would not affect "the high degree of autonomy, nor impair the rights and freedoms enjoyed by residents" of Hong Kong, Xinhua said, adding that the rail link would promote the city's economic development.

Britain handed back Hong Kong to China in 1997 under an agreement which preserved the city's own government and legal system and guaranteed rights and freedoms unseen on the mainland.

But there are fears these rights are being gradually eroded. Beijing has recently stressed its overall authority over Hong Kong.

Li Fei, a high-ranking Beijing official, said Wednesday that decisions by the Standing Committee are "unquestionable" and "have the highest judicial power".

Hong Kong supporters of the rail project say the joint immigration checkpoint will be no different to arrangements overseas such as at the Channel Tunnel.

But pro-democracy politicians in Hong Kong expressed dismay.

Legislator Tanya Chan said the plan was the "most serious violation" of the Basic Law since the handover in 1997.

"This is the first time that the NPCSC spoke out so nakedly to affirm its supreme power over Hong Kong," said Civic Party chairman Alan Leong.
Bilawal Bhutto, pictured in November with a photograph of his late mother

Thousands of mourners visited the shrine of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto Wednesday as the country marked 10 years since her assassination, with her killers yet to face justice.

An estimated 20,000 people gathered at the shrine in Garhi Khuda Baksh in the Bhutto family stronghold of Sindh province, television images showed.

They came to pay their respects to the charismatic politician, who was the first woman to lead a Muslim country and a darling of the West.

"I feel we have become orphans after her martyrdom," mourner Allah Varayo, 45, told AFP by telephone from the shrine. Others waved flags in the black, red and green of Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) as well as photographs of the slain leader.

"I could see more vigour among the people, who have come in larger numbers than the previous years," said Ahsan Junejo, a resident of the Bhutto's home town Larkana near the shrine.

Bhutto, a two-time prime minister, was contesting a third election when she was assassinated in a gun and suicide attack at a rally in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007.

Her death plunged Pakistan into political uncertainty and street violence and shocked the world.

Former president and military ruler Pervez Musharraf is alleged to have been part of a broad conspiracy to have Bhutto, his political rival, killed before elections.

He has been charged with the murder but has denied the allegation, and remains in self-imposed exile in Dubai. Earlier this year a Pakistani court declared him a "fugitive" in the case.

"Murderer, murderer, Musharraf, murderer!" Bhutto's son Bilawal, chairman of the PPP, chanted along with the crowd at the shrine Wednesday, an unusual expression of mass defiance against the military.

Musharraf's government blamed the assassination on Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who denied any involvement. He was killed in a US drone attack in 2009.

In 2010 a UN report accused Musharraf's government of failing to give Bhutto adequate protection and said her death could have been prevented.

To this day just two people have been convicted of the assassination -- policemen accused of "mishandling" the crime scene.

Five alleged militants accused of being involved in the killing were cleared earlier this year, though they remain behind bars for now.

The unanswered questions surrounding the assassination have prompted a flood of conspiracy theories.

"There are theories only, and even after 10 years we don't know who was behind the murder," Muqtida Mansoor, a political analyst, told AFP.
Saudi King Salman (R) meets with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on December 27, 2017 in Riyadh

Saudi King Salman and Turkey's premier on Wednesday discussed boosting ties and the status of Jerusalem, in a first high-level meeting since the US controversially recognised the city as Israel's capital.

Firm US ally Riyadh and NATO member Ankara have both slammed President Donald Trump's December 6 decision to upend decades of careful policy by Washington.

But the Saudis only sent a low-level representative to a conference of Muslim nations on the issue hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, amid signs of strains in their relations.

The Saudi SPA agency said King Salman received Prime Minister Binali Yildirim in Riyadh and discussed "means of boosting bilateral ties and developments in the region," without providing details.

Yildirim's office in Ankara said the status of Jerusalem and supporting the Palestinians were discussed at the meeting.

"The importance of the status of Jerusalem was emphasised and that the whole Islamic world should act with unity to protect the rights of our Palestinian brothers," the office said citing Yildirim.

He also said that they discussed bilateral relations with Saudi Arabia "one of the most important countries in the Gulf and the Middle East".

Ties between the sides soured following the 2013 ousting of the Muslim Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi in Egypt, but warmed after King Salman's accession to the throne eighteen months later.

However, analysts say there are signs ties are being tested again as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has shaken up the kingdom and amassed power.

Turkish officials have avoided public criticism of Saudi Arabia but pro-government press have stepped up attacks on the kingdom, especially over its strong alliance with US President Donald Trump.

Erdogan last week also lashed out at the powerful foreign minister of Saudi's chief regional ally the UAE after he retweeted a social media post critical of the early 20th century Ottoman governor of Medina.
Ann Marie Buerkle, an Auburn native and former congresswoman, may not serve as chair of an independent federal agency after all.

The U.S. Senate returned Buerkle's nomination to lead the Consumer Product Safety Commission to President Donald Trump last week, according to congressional records. It was one of nearly 100 nominations returned by the Senate due to objections raised by at least one senator.

The Senate usually rolls over consideration of nominations into the next year. But a nomination will be returned to the president if a senator objects. It's unknown which senator objected to Buerkle's nomination.

Because the Senate sent the nomination back to the president, Trump must renominate Buerkle or select someone else for the post.

"This is a procedural step where the White House submits paperwork again and the Senate Commerce Committee votes again prior to a Senate vote," said Joseph Martyak, director of communications for the Consumer Product Safety Commission. "The acting chairman looks forward to a quick completion of the process early in the new year."

Buerkle's nomination to chair the Consumer Product Safety Commission was criticized by consumer groups and some Democratic senators. At her confirmation hearing in September, she faced tough questions from U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, about her position on regulations, including why she favored a voluntary standard instead of a mandate for manufacturers of portable generators.

A New York Times story published earlier this month didn't help Buerkle's cause. The story, titled "Trump Pick to Head Consumer Safety Board Is Seen as Too Close to Industries," outlined the concerns with her nomination and that she didn't usually support large penalties or tougher standards for the industries the agency regulates.

Public Citizen is one of the consumer groups that opposed Buerkle's nomination. Remington Gregg, the organization's counsel for civil justice and consumer rights, said one reason why they are concerned about Buerkle leading the agency is they don't think she believes in its mission.

"We have not seen a commitment from Ms. Buerkle ... We feel so strongly that she is the wrong person to lead this commission," Gregg said in a phone interview Wednesday.

Buerkle has been serving as acting chair of the commission since February. She ascended to the post not long after Trump was sworn in as president.

In July, Trump nominated Buerkle to chair the commission and serve a seven-year term. The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Technology advanced her nomination in October.

Buerkle first joined the commission in 2013 when she was nominated by President Barack Obama for a seat on the five-member panel. She was recommended for the appointment by current Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The majority of the commission, which oversees safety of consumer products ranging from off-road vehicles and portable generators to children's toys, is typically controlled by the party that holds the White House. When Buerkle was nominated by Obama, it was to fill one of two Republican seats on the panel.

When Trump took office and Buerkle became acting chair, she was in the unusual position of being the commission's leader while in the minority. Buerkle is now the lone Republican member of the commission after the departure of Joseph Mohorovic, who resigned in October to join a law firm.

Trump nominated Dana Baiocco, a Republican, to succeed Democratic commissioner Marietta Robinson on the panel. Robinson's term expired in October. However, like Buerkle, Baiocco's nomination was returned to the president.

Buerkle was born and raised in Auburn. She began working as a registered nurse until graduating from the Syracuse University College of Law in 1994. She was an assistant New York state attorney general for 12 years before opting to run for Congress in 2010. She defeated incumbent Democratic Rep. Dan Maffei by 648 votes.

She served in the House of Representatives from 2011 to 2013. She lost her re-election bid to Maffei in 2012. But she wasn't out of government long. Obama appointed her to the Consumer Product Safety Commission four months after she left Congress.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a press conference with his Tunisian counterpart on December 27, 2017 at Carthage palace near Tunis

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that a political solution to the Syrian conflict was impossible without the departure of President Bashar al-Assad, branding him a "terrorist".

"It is absolutely impossible to advance with Assad in Syria," Erdogan told a news conference after meeting Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi.

"Bashar al-Assad is a terrorist... We cannot just say this person goes on doing this job. If we do then it's unfair" to the Syrians who have been killed, he added.

Turkey has opposed Assad throughout the conflict, now in its seventh year, backing the opposition seeking to oust him and accusing the Syrian leader of war crimes.

Ankara is now a key player in efforts to end the war along with Russia and Iran, Assad's main allies.

Erdogan's comments came just days after the powerbrokers agreed to hold a peace congress for Syria in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi in late January.

A previous attempt to convene the Sochi congress in November failed following a lack of agreement among would-be participants.

More than 340,000 people have been killed and millions have been driven from their homes since Syria's conflict erupted with anti-government protests in 2011.

Several diplomatic attempts to halt the war have stumbled, mainly over Assad's future.
Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi(R) welcomes Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on December 27, 2017

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday signed agreements in Tunis on defence, investment and the environment as he and his Tunisian counterpart expressed their determination to strengthen economic cooperation.

"We affirmed the desire of the two states to strengthen cooperation... taking into account the circumstances affecting Tunisia," the North African country's President Beji Caid Essebsi said.

The Tunisian leader went on to praise "the understanding shown by the Turkish president regarding these circumstances".

Turkey and Tunisia have deep political and commercial ties, but their free trade agreement has been the subject of fierce discussion during debate on financial legislation.

Tunisia's trade imbalance has increased considerably, reaching 1.6 billion dinars ($649 million, 565 million euros) in the first 10 months of 2017, and the country has reinstated customs duties on certain products imported from Turkey.

"Turkey supports Tunisia in difficult times," said Erdogan. "The development of Tunisia is the development of Turkey."

Erdogan said he hoped to "reinforce our economic ties, particularly in commerce and investments, and develop cooperation in the energy, tourism and agriculture sectors".

Agreements were signed on Wednesday for cooperation on defence, including for Tunisian soldiers to be trained in Turkey, as well as investments, said Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui.

The Turkish delegation was keen to increase the importation of Tunisian products such as olive oil and phosphate, he added.

Erdogan arrived in Tunisia along with about 10 government ministers and more than 150 businessmen, on the final leg of a tour that has also taken him to Chad and Sudan.

Journalists staged a protest when Erdogan arrived in Tunisia on Tuesday night to denounce violations against freedom of expression in Turkey and the imprisonment of numerous media workers there.

The Palestinian issue and the crisis in neighbouring Libya were also on the agenda for talks between the two presidents.
Aid workers begin evacuating emergency medical cases from Syria's besieged rebel bastion of Eastern Ghouta late on December 26, 2017, after months of waiting during which the United Nations says at least 16 people died

Aid workers have evacuated the first few ill patients from Syrian rebel bastion Eastern Ghouta under a deal struck after the UN said hundreds are in critical condition following a four-year government seige.

Three children and a man were loaded overnight into ambulances bound for hospitals in Damascus before being transported out past government lines that have held the region's estimated 400,000 residents in a stranglehold since 2013.

A total of 29 emergency medical cases are expected to be evacuated under a deal with the government that saw rebels release five workmen detained during fierce clashes with the army in March.

The four patients allowed out were a girl with haemophilia, a baby with the autoimmune disorder Guillain-Barre, a child with leukaemia, and a man in need of a kidney transplant, Red Crescent official Ahmed al-Saour told AFP.

Eight-year-old Ingy, the girl with haemophilia, gave a broad smile as she boarded an ambulance, wearing a woolly hat and gloves against the cold.

Medical evacuation from Ghouta

In another ambulance, one-year-old Mohammed lay in the lap of a Red Crescent worker, his mother sitting beside them in a long black cloak and a veil showing only her eyes.

"The operation is a positive step which will bring some respite to the people of Eastern Ghouta," said International Committee of the Red Cross spokeswoman Ingy Sedky.

"We hope these medical evacuations are only the beginning."

The Syrian American Medical Society, another medical relief organisation, said the remainder of the 29 critical cases approved for evacuation should leave in the coming days.

- Baby among dead -

The dominant rebel faction in Eastern Ghouta, Jaish al-Islam (Army of Islam), said the rebels had agreed to free some of their prisoners in return for the evacuations.

"We have agreed to the release of a number of prisoners... in exchange for the evacuation of the most urgent humanitarian cases," the group said a statement.

The years of government seige have caused severe shortages in Eastern Ghouta, one of the last remaining rebel strongholds in Syria.

Three of the first four seriously ill patents evacuated from the Syrian rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta late on December 26, 2017 were children

While some food is still grown locally, or smuggled in, humanitarian access to the region has been limited despite regular appeals from aid agencies.

Last week, Jan Egeland, the head of the UN's humanitarian taskforce for Syria, said at least 16 people had died while waiting for evacuation from Eastern Ghouta.

A list put together several months ago of nearly 500 civilians in desperate need of evacuation was rapidly shrinking, said Egeland.

"That number is going down, not because we are evacuating people, but because they are dying," he told reporters in Geneva.

A child sits in an ambulance during the evacuation of the most seriously ill patients from the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta late on December 26, 2017

"We have confirmation of 16 having died on these lists since they were resubmitted in November, and it is probably higher," he said, highlighting the case of a baby who died on December 14, as the latest round of Syria peace talks in Geneva ended in failure.

Egeland said evacuations and efforts to bring aid into the region had been blocked by a lack of authorisations from the Syrian authorities.

- IS 'moving with impunity' -

The Eastern Ghouta region, near the capital Damascus, is one of four "de-escalation" zones agreed in May in a deal brokered by government backers Russian and Iran and rebel supporter Turkey.

The agreement led to some reduction in fighting but the government kept up its blockade and renewed its bombardment of the enclave in mid-November.

The government stands accused by its critics of using sieges of civilians as a weapon in its war against the rebels.

Rebel fighters pulled out of second city Aleppo and third city Homs, as well as districts of Damascus, only after prolonged blockades caused serious hardship to their families and other civilians.

More than 340,000 people have been killed and millions have been driven from their homes since Syria's conflict erupted with anti-government protests in 2011.

The conflict has since evolved into a complex war involving international powers and jihadists, including the Islamic State group who seized large parts of Syria in 2014.

But the jihadists have seen the territory they once controlled disintegrate in the face of two offensives -- one by Russia-backed regime forces and another by a Kurdish-Arab alliance support by a US-led coalition.

That coalition on Wednesday accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of allowing the jihadists to move through territory he controls "with impunity".

"The regime is clearly either unwilling or unable to defeat (IS) within their borders," Major General Felix Gedney of the British army said.

The coalition does not plan to pursue IS fighters into regime-held areas, Gedney said, instead calling on Assad to do so.

burs-tgg/ram/ah/dv
Christmas came to Syria's devastated city of Raqa on December 26

Amid the grey ruins of Syria's devastated city of Raqa, three boys stopped and stared as two Father Christmases walked by with black sacks slung over their backs.

The two men in red outfits and fake white beards rang their bells as they marched through the war-ravaged city on Tuesday, much to the disbelief of a dozen residents following them.

Not since 2013, when war came to their northern city, had they seen such a parade.

In 2014, the Islamic State jihadist group seized Raqa, making it their de facto Syrian capital and imposing its strict interpretation of Islam on everyone.

Leaning on a handcart loaded with electrical cables, the boys grinned as they watched the Santas make their way through streets strewn with rubble and twisted metal.

US-backed forces expelled the jihadists in October after a months-long battle.

Stopping by what remains of an Armenian Catholic church in the city centre, the Father Christmases handed out toy cars and dolls to those few families present.

After they left, a boy came running.

In Syria's Raqa, nothing remains of the Church of the Martyrs but its concrete outer shell and rubble

"Where's Father Christmas?" he asked. "I wanted to see him."

Most Christians fled after IS arrived to avoid the choices offered by the jihadists -- converting, paying a tax or death.

The Church of the Martyrs has been reduced to a concrete shell and rubble, but it was more than enough on Tuesday for the city's first Christmas in years.

- 'Blood, but also light' -

Dozens of people -- mostly Muslims -- milled around inside, curious to see the celebrations put on by the US-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance that had ousted the jihadists.

There was no priest and the only congregants were Christian members of the Syrian Democratic Forces.

Loudspeakers belted out hymns as some set up a large wooden cross on a pile of rubble, near a Christmas tree decorated with red and yellow balls.

"There are no words to describe how we feel right now," said Christian SDF member Harou Aram.

Dozens of people -- mostly Muslims -- milled around the Raqa church, curious to see the Christmas celebrations put on by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces

"All our efforts have not been in vain," said the 24-year-old commander with the Syriac Military Council, a Christian faction of the SDF.

Before the jihadists swept in, around one percent of Raqa's 300,000 residents were Syriac or Armenian Catholic Christians.

Among the crowd, Hajer al-Ahmad, a woman in an Islamic veil, had come to celebrate with three friends.

"We're so happy today" for the Christians, she said. "IS used to forbid these festivities and accused them of being apostates."

Another SDF commander, Chafkar Himo, said freedom had returned to Raqa.

The city "has regained its colours. Everyone can return with their culture and religion," he said.

Elsewhere in Raqa, on a roundabout that was infamous under IS for beheadings or other forms of gruesome punishment, canvases had been set up on easels for artists.

Beyond the fence where jihadists once displayed severed heads, painters and female SDF fighters flicked paintbrushes.

One depicted a jail cell, another a Father Christmas on a black background.

"My painting is linked to Raqa," said Farhad Khalil, 47, as he stood beside a canvas covered in black, red and yellow.

"There's blood but there's also light."
France's President Emmanuel Macron spoke with Saudi Arabia's King Salman over the phone on December 24, 2017

French President Emmanuel Macron has urged Saudi Arabia's King Salman to "lift entirely the blockade" against Yemen so that humanitarian aid can be delivered to the food-deprived state.

The comments came in a phone call between the two leaders on December 24, the French presidency said Wednesday.

A Saudi-led military coalition has since 2015 been intervening in Yemen to support its internationally recognised government against Huthi rebels backed by Iran.

Air strikes and a far-reaching blockade on Yemen's air and sea ports have massively reduced the amount of food reaching the country, heavily critical international aid organisations say.

In early November, the coalition tightened that blockade in response to a missile fired by the Shiite Huthis that was intercepted near Riyadh airport.

Mark Lowcock, the UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said that month unless the coalition ends a blockade of the country, Yemen will face "the largest famine the world has seen for many decades, with millions of victims".

The blockade was partially lifted three weeks later under massive international pressure, namely over the closure of Hodeida port -- key to humanitarian and commercial deliveries.

For France, there is "no military solution to the conflict in Yemen" and it is "essential that both sides return to the negotiating table", Macron told Salman, the presidency added.
Terrorism attacks are rare in Vietnam, but Vietnamese authorities have conducted anti-terror drills in big cities in recent years, especially ahead of important international meetings

Vietnam jailed 15 people on Wednesday for a foiled terrorism plot to detonate petrol bombs at the country's busiest airport ahead of a national holiday, state media reported.

Terrorism attacks are rare in Vietnam, though the conservative communist government routinely jails dissident bloggers and human rights lawyers who are critical of the state.

A court in Ho Chi Minh City sentenced 15 people to between five and 16 years in jail after they were convicted of planting petrol bombs at Tan Son Nhat international airport in the commercial southern hub, state-controlled Thanh Nien newspaper reported.

The defendants were accused of having online links to foreign groups who financed the foiled operation in April ahead of Liberation Day celebrations at the end of the month, the newspaper reported, without giving further details.

"Via social networks, the defendants cooperated with an overseas reactionary organisation... which financed the purchase of weapons and petrol bombs for terrorism," read the verdict at the two-day trial, according to the newspaper.

State media and officials did not provide a reported motive for the plan, which did not cause any injuries or damage.

Terrorism convictions are punishable by death in Vietnam, a one-party state where independent media is banned and freedom of expression is tightly controlled.

The government on Tuesday unveiled a 10,000-strong brigade to fight cybercrimes and "wrongful views" on the internet, state media reported.

"As many forces and countries are talking about a real war in cyberspace, (Vietnam) should also stay ready to fight against wrongful views every second, minute and hour," said Colonel General Nguyen Trong Nghia, deputy head of the army's political department, quoted by state-controlled Tuoi Tre newspaper.

The unit, dubbed Force 47, is also tasked with fighting anti-state propaganda on the web.

More than half of Vietnam's population of 93 million have access to the internet, and many dissidents use social media to criticise the government.

This year has been particularly harsh for activists in Vietnam, with at least 15 arrested and several others handed heavy jail terms.
Four new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, worth $1.1 billion at list price, bring to 60 the number of planes in the Royal Air Maroc's fleet

Morocco's Royal Air Maroc has ordered four 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft from US aviation giant Boeing for delivery at the end of next year, the two companies said Wednesday.

The new aircraft, worth $1.1 billion at list price, would allow the flagship carrier "to expand its services, especially internationally", a Boeing statement said.

The delivery "at the end of 2018" would bring to 60 the number of planes in the airline's fleet, an official at the Moroccan flagship carrier told AFP.

"RAM has five Dreamliner 787-8s, but these new aircraft are more efficient and have greater autonomy," the official added.

Royal Air Maroc currently has around 3,220 employees, and serves a total of 80 destinations.

"Our ambition is to become the leading airline in Africa," said Abdelhamid Addou, head of the Moroccan airline.

Morocco signed an agreement with Boeing in September 2016 to build a new hub for the US aerospace giant.

They agreed to create an industrial zone in the northern region of Tangier where suppliers and sub-contractors could operate.
The family home of Omar al-Abed, a Palestinian convicted of murdering three Israelis, was destroyed in August

The prosecution in an Israeli military court demanded a life sentence Wednesday for a Palestinian convicted of murdering three Israelis at a West Bank settlement in July, military sources said.

Omar al-Abed, 20, was found guilty by the court at Ofer near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank of the premeditated killing of three members of the Solomon family in their home on July 21, 2017.

The military prosecutor has asked that he be given four life terms. Sentence will be handed down later.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman had both called for the death penalty in the case.

Abed entered a house in the settlement of Neve Tzuf and killed the three civilians with a knife and wounded a fourth before being shot by a neighbour who had heard the victims' cries.

Abed was also found guilty of the attempted murder of seven people, all family members in the house at the time of the attack.

His father, mother, an uncle and two brothers were sentenced in August to jail terms of between one month and eight months for not preventing Abed's actions.

On August 16, the Israeli military demolished the Abed family home in the village of Kobar near Ramallah.

In a Facebook post before carrying out his attack, Abed expressed his resentment of Israeli actions against the Palestinians and over the disputed Haram al-Sharif mosque compound in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.

The compound, the third holiest site for Muslims, is also revered by the Jews as the Temple Mount.

Abed's July 21 attack came at a time of high tensions over the sensitive compound.
People in Morocco's former coal mining town of Jerada have taken to the streets to protest what they see as state neglect

Thousands of protesters in northeastern Morocco on Wednesday called for "jobs and development" in the fourth day of mass protests since two miners died in a shuttered coal pit.

"No to marginalisation," cried the mostly young demonstrators in the main square of the impoverished city of Jerada.

On Friday, two brothers died in a tunnel accident 85 metres (280 feet) below ground, sparking the fury of residents over what they view as state neglect.

"We ask the state to find solutions to our problems: unemployment, water and electricity bills that are too high," one 23-year-old protester said.

"Young people go down into the mines because they have no other option. We ask the authorities to find us an alternative," he said.

The national electricity and water board this week however said electricity bills in the Jerada region were calculated in the same way as in other parts of Morocco.

The mine was the economic lifeblood of Jerada, employing some 9,000 workers, until it was shut down in the late 1990s.

Thousands protested in Morocco's northeastern city of Jerada on Wednesday in a fourth day of demonstrations to call for 'jobs and development'

Thousands of people have since left the city and the population has fallen from 60,000 to fewer than 45,000.

But hundreds have continued to risk their lives and lung disease to find coal illegally.

On Wednesday, protesters -- many carrying Moroccan flags -- accused local officials of buying coal at very low prices from those who mine illegally to resell it at huge profit.

The demonstrators allege the officials do this despite having coal mining permits.

Minister of Energy and the Mines, Aziz Rebbah, told AFP the ministry would "withdraw any exploration or exploitation permit in the case of violation of regulations or abuse".

The authorities withdrew more than 1,400 permits nationwide in 2017, he said.
Guatemalan Foreign Minister Sandra Jovel answers questions during a press conference at the Culture Palace in Guatemala City on December 27, 2017

The United States did not pressure Guatemala into announcing it will move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, the Central American state's foreign minister said Wednesday.

"There wasn't any pressure. There wasn't any overture from the United States to make this happen. This was a decision by the government, the state and the foreign policy of Guatemala," the minister, Sandra Jovel, told a news conference in Guatemala City.

Her affirmation follows Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales's announcement on Sunday that his country was to move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The declaration made Guatemala the first -- and so far, only -- country to follow US President Donald Trump's lead in saying its embassy would be relocated to the holy city.

Guatemala, like the United States, has not said when its embassy move would happen.

But the step is highly controversial, and flies in the face of an international consensus that Jerusalem's status can only be decided through peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.

- 'Historical allies' -

Last week, two-thirds of UN members states -- 128 in all -- rejected Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Just nine countries voted against the UN General Assembly resolution: the United States, Israel, Guatemala, Honduras, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and Togo.

Other countries abstained or did not enter a vote.

The United States warned it would look at cutting funding to countries that voted against it.

Jovel told the news conference with an annoyed tone: "We have not had pressure from any country, because we are friends and historical allies with Israel.... We have asked nothing of Israel nor the United States."

Her government insists the embassy is not "moving" but rather "returning" to Jerusalem, where it was originally located until being shifted to Tel Aviv in 1978.

Several mainly Latin American countries had diplomatic missions in Jerusalem until a 1980 UN Security Council resolution condemning Israel's attempt to alter the "character and status" of the city, saying it was a barrier to peace.

Jovel said the plan to put the embassy in Jerusalem "had been considered for the past five months, and things just lined up in a certain way and also the resolutions in the UN and everything contributed to saying that now was the right time."

- Israel predicts more will follow -

Guatemala's assertion that it decided the move alone, without being pressed by the United States, follows criticism from the Palestinian foreign ministry and a focus on how reliant the country is on US aid and trade.

Morales, like Trump, is a former TV entertainer who became elected president as an outsider promising to shake things up.

His political future is fragile as a UN-backed body works with Guatemalan prosecutors to investigate claims of corruption against him.

Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its capital, while Palestinians consider east Jerusalem the capital of their future state.

Israel seized the eastern part of Jerusalem in the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the announcements by the US and Guatemala were "just the start" and predicted "there will be others."

The European Union, however, has ruled out any change to its position.

Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey reacted by saying they both support creating a Palestinian state.
The Springside Inn has been chosen as one of this year's best retreats in the northeast United States.

Earlier this month, travel blogger Malerie Yolen-Cohen published a list of the 18 best northeast hideaways in the Huffington Post, and as it turned out, the Springside Inn made the cut.

One of three New York destinations on Yolen-Cohen's list, the Springside Inn was picked for its prime location near Owasco Lake. The article also cited the inn's history with Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad as a big reason to visit.

Built in 1851, the inn originally opened as a boys boarding school in the town of Fleming. Now owned by Sean and Beth Lattimore, it features seven rooms and offers guests a complimentary continental breakfast in their in-house restaurant, Oak & Vine.

"Spend an enjoyable few minutes perusing the black and white photos on the walls, and you'll get a good idea of what the place looked like when first purchased, and the notables who have dined and stayed here," Yolen-Cohen wrote.

As for the article, Sean Lattimore said he was shocked to see the Springside Inn mentioned in a nationally-known publication like the Huffington Post. While the inn has appeared in some travel magazines and blogs, he said the past attention it's received has been "nothing like this."

"When we saw (the article), it was just so exciting," he said Tuesday in a phone interview with The Citizen. "We really do work hard to try to make sure that the guests are taken care of, but to land in a publication with such a huge following, I think it's a great thing for all of us."

Lattimore said the article was "perfect timing" for local tourism, as the winter months are not really the in (or inn) season, so to speak. He said he and his wife hope the news will attract more guests to Cayuga County and the Finger Lakes as a whole.

"We get a lot of writers that come in, but we never know what will turn up because of it," he said. "Our local tourism office does an incredible job bringing in people such as this writer (Yolen-Cohen) and tour group operators from all over ... and I think this shows it's a really exciting time for tourism here."
GUATEMALA CITY (AP) - President Jimmy Morales' top diplomat defended his decision to move Guatemala's embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, rejecting on Tuesday international and domestic criticism after he followed Washington's lead in announcing a switch.

Foreign Minister Sandra Jovel said the change amounts to "a foreign policy decision, therefore sovereign," and there is no intention to reverse it.

"What we are doing is being coherent with our foreign policy and the ally we have been for Israel," she said

Guatemala's Foreign Minister Sandra Jovel listens questions during a news conference in Guatemala City, Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2017. Guatemala's president announced on Christmas Eve that the Central American country will move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, becoming the first nation to follow the lead of U.S. President Donald Trump in ordering the change. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

Morales announced the change Christmas Eve, becoming the first to follow U.S. President Donald Trump on switching from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its capital, while the Palestinians claim the city's eastern sector, which was captured by Israel in 1967 and is home to sensitive Jewish, Muslim and Christian religious sites. Many governments have long said the fate of Jerusalem must be resolved through negotiations.

Israel welcomed Guatemala's announcement, while Palestinian authorities criticized it.

Guatemala's government has given no timeline for a move, and Trump has also not said when a U.S. switch might be made.

Jovel played down a possible fallout for Guatemala's cardamom trade, for which Arab and Islamic nations are the largest buyers. She noted it represents just 0.37 percent of the country's GDP.

"It is not an issue that should really worry us too much," Jovel said.

Guatemala and Israel have long had close ties, especially in security matters and Israeli arms sales to the Central American nation.

Trump's announcement Dec. 6 upended decades of U.S. policy and set off weeks of clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli security forces that have left at least a dozen Palestinians dead.

The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly Thursday to condemn the U.S. decision in a non-binding resolution. Guatemala was one of nine nations that sided with the United States.

Guatemala's Foreign Minister Sandra Jovel answers questions during a news conference in Guatemala City, Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2017. Guatemala's president announced on Christmas Eve that the Central American country will move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, becoming the first nation to follow the lead of U.S. President Donald Trump in ordering the change. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) - Vietnam will put on trial nearly two dozen former senior oil executives, state media reported Wednesday, as communist authorities widen their crackdown on corruption.

Among those facing charges are Dinh La Thang, a former member of the all-powerful Communist Party Politburo and a former head of state energy giant PetroVietnam, and Trinh Xuan Thanh, a former chairman of the board of PetroVietnam's Construction Joint Stock company, or PVC.

Thang is accused of "deliberately violating state economic management regulations, causing serious consequences" for his role in awarding PVC a contract to build a thermo power plant without a proper bidding process. He allegedly also advanced $67 million to PVC, which did not use the funds for the right purpose, causing losses of $5.5 million to the state.

He faces up to 20 years in prison if found guilty. He is the first former Communist Party Politburo member to stand trial since 1979, when former deputy chairman of the National Assembly Hoang Van Hoan was sentenced to death in absentia for treason after he had fled the country.

Thanh is accused of the same charges in addition to embezzling $186,000 from another thermo power plant. Germany accused Vietnamese intelligence services of kidnapping Thanh in Berlin on July 23 while he was seeking asylum. Vietnam says he voluntarily gave himself in to police.

The incident has strained relations between the two countries. Germany expelled two Vietnamese diplomats in retaliation.

The official Vietnam News Agency said the two men will go on trial along with 20 others, including three other former chairmen of the board of PetroVietnam, on Jan. 8.

The trials are expected to last two weeks.

Scandal-hit PetroVietnam has been in the center of an unprecedented high-level anti-corruption crackdown over the past two years with more than 20 of its current or former senior executives on trial or under investigation.

Vietnam ranks 113 out of 176 countries in Transparency International's 2016 corruption index.
In the heart of Trump Country, his base's faith is unshaken

SANDY HOOK, Ky. (AP) - The regulars amble in before dawn and claim their usual table, the one next to an old box television playing the news on mute.

Steven Whitt fires up the coffee pot and flips on the fluorescent sign in the window of the Frosty Freeze, his diner that looks and sounds and smells about the same as it did when it opened a half-century ago. Coffee is 50 cents a cup, refills 25 cents. The pot sits on the counter, and payment is based on the honor system.

People like it that way, he thinks. It reminds them of a time before the world seemed to stray away from them, when coal was king and the values of the nation seemed the same as the values here, in God's Country, in this small county isolated in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.

Everyone in town comes to his diner for nostalgia and homestyle cooking. And, recently, news reporters come from all over the world to puzzle over politics - because Elliott County, a blue-collar union stronghold, voted for the Democrat in each and every presidential election for its 147-year existence.

Until Donald Trump came along and promised to wind back the clock.

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Brrr! After record snow, bitter cold ahead for northern US

ERIE, Pa. (AP) - Freezing temperatures and below-zero wind chills socked much of the northern United States on Wednesday, even setting a record in a Minnesota city so cold it's called the Icebox of the Nation, and will stay put for days to come as snow-hardened Erie digs out from a record snowfall.

Forecasters warned of hypothermia and frostbite from arctic air settling in over the central U.S. and spreading east.

The National Weather Service reported International Falls and Hibbing, Minnesota, set record low temperatures on Wednesday morning. International Falls, the self-proclaimed Icebox of the Nation, plunged to 37 degrees below zero, breaking the old record of 32 below set in 1924. Hibbing bottomed out at 28 below, breaking the old record of 27 below set in 1964.

Wind chill advisories or warnings were in effect for much of New England, northern Pennsylvania and New York. Those places and states in the northern Plains and Great Lakes were projected to see highs in the teens or single digits and lows below zero for the rest of the week and into the new year.

The National Weather Service said wind chills in many areas Thursday could make temperatures feel below zero.

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Trump's Clinton tweets cut against Comey firing explanation

WASHINGTON (AP) - When President Donald Trump fired James Comey in May, he said he was acting on the recommendation of Justice Department leaders who had faulted the FBI director for releasing "derogatory information" about Hillary Clinton at the conclusion of the email server investigation months earlier.

Yet with each tweet about the Clinton probe, Trump seems to be further undermining his administration's stated rationale for a termination that's now central to special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.

The disconnect between Trump's attacks on Comey's handling of the email investigation and the criticism of Comey by his own Justice Department could muddy the explanation for exactly why Comey was fired, and may complicate efforts by the president's legal team to present a coherent narrative as Mueller and his prosecutors examine whether the dismissal could support obstruction of justice allegations.

Trump has complained for months about the FBI's decision not to pursue criminal charges against Clinton, his Democratic opponent in the 2016 presidential election, for her use of a personal email server. He has suggested the criminal investigation was rigged in her favor, claiming in one October tweet that Comey "totally protected" her. He recently seized on the revelation of politically charged text messages from an FBI agent who worked on that probe to again deride the investigation. And in a Saturday tweet that appeared to suggest Clinton should have been prosecuted, Trump caustically referred to "33,000 illegally deleted emails."

Yet those attacks are increasingly hard to square with a Justice Department memo that the White House held up as justification for firing Comey. That document, authored by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, cited an unusual July 2016 news conference in which Comey described Clinton and her aides as "extremely careless" as well as Comey's notification to Congress, days before the election, that the investigation was being revisited because of the sudden discovery of additional emails.

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Thousands of Puerto Rico police owed overtime call in sick

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - Thousands of police officers are calling in sick every day in Puerto Rico, partly to press demands for unpaid overtime pay for hurricane recovery efforts as concerns grow over people's safety in a U.S. territory struggling to restore power.

The increase in absences recently prompted Puerto Rico Police Chief Michelle Hernandez to recommend that U.S. National Guard soldiers help fill the temporary vacancies.

"We have had an inordinate amount of absences that we haven't seen in years prior," she told The Associated Press, adding that while there has been a drop in major crimes this year, she is concerned that trend could reverse.

However, the administration of Gov. Ricardo Rossello on Wednesday rejected the idea of using the National Guard.

Normally, an average of 550 police officers are absent every day across Puerto Rico, which has one of the largest police departments under U.S. jurisdiction with more than 13,000 officers overall. But recently, more than 2,700 officers on average have been absent daily.

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FEMA sells disaster trailers cheaply despite victim demand

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - The federal government typically spends up to $150,000 apiece - not counting utilities, maintenance or labor - on the trailers it leases to disaster victims, then auctions them at cut-rate prices after 18 months of use or the first sign of minor damage, The Associated Press has learned.

Officials have continued the practice even amid a temporary housing shortage in Texas, where almost 8,000 applicants are still awaiting federal support nearly four months after Hurricane Harvey landed in the Gulf Coast.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency briefly halted trailer sales following Harvey but resumed them in November, online records show. Since then, at least 115 units manufactured this year have been sold for pennies on the dollar, and many of the online auctions have listed such things as dirty mattresses, missing furniture, pet odors or loose trim as the lone damage.

"I don't care what shape it's in, it beats sleeping on a dirt floor," said Christy Combs, who moved with her husband, four children and five dogs into a tent after their rented apartment in Aransas Pass, Texas, was left uninhabitable by floodwater.

FEMA has no written policy or regulation requiring disposal of used trailers, but an official confirmed to AP that it's a longstanding internal policy and that seldom are the housing units given to another family in need after the initial 18-month stint.

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Russia: Explosion injures 10 at St. Petersburg supermarket

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) - At least 10 people were injured Wednesday by an explosion at a supermarket in St. Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city and the site of a deadly subway bombing this year.

The Investigative Committee, the nation's top investigative agency, said a device containing 200 grams (7 ounces) of explosives went off at a storage area for customers' bags. It said the device was rigged with shrapnel to cause more damage.

No one has claimed responsibility for the explosion at a branch of the Perekrestok supermarket chain in the city's northwest Kalininsky district.

Alexander Klaus, the chief of the local branch of the Investigative Committee, said 10 people were hospitalized with injuries.

Andrey Kibitov, a spokesman for St. Petersburg's governor, tweeted that the injured were in satisfactory condition and one had been discharged from the hospital.

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Plane returns to LA because passenger was on wrong flight

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A Tokyo-bound flight returned to Los Angeles hours into the journey after the crew discovered that one of the passengers had boarded the wrong plane, All Nippon Airways said Wednesday.

The pilot of Flight 175 decided to return to the originating airport as part of the airline's security procedures, ANA said in statements that apologized to passengers but supported the decision.

The flight left Los Angeles International Airport at 11:36 a.m. Tuesday and returned at 7:33 p.m.

Model Chrissy Teigen and her singer husband, John Legend, were aboard and she live-tweeted the developments. She wondered on Twitter why the plane was turning around four hours into the 11-hour flight.

"Why did we all get punished for this one person's mistake? Why not just land in Tokyo and send the other person back? How is this the better idea, you ask? We all have the same questions," she wrote.

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Israel minister plans Trump train station at Western Wall

JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel's transportation minister is pushing ahead with a plan to dig a railway tunnel under Jerusalem's Old City, passing near sites holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims - and ending at the Western Wall with a station named after President Donald Trump.

Yisrael Katz's plan, currently in the initial stages, involves constructing two underground stations and excavating over 2 miles (3 kilometers) of tunnel beneath downtown Jerusalem and under the politically sensitive Old City. The project would extend Jerusalem's soon-to-open high-speed rail line from Tel Aviv to the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray.

The route will run close to - but not directly under - the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where tradition holds that Jesus was crucified and buried, and a contested holy site known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. Previous excavations by Israel near the holy site - the spiritual epicenter of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - have sparked violent Palestinian protests.

Because of those sensitivities, the proposal will likely meet with heavy resistance from the Palestinians, neighboring Arab countries and the international community.

Katz, a senior Cabinet official who also serves as Israel's intelligence minister, is a close ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and is seen by many as his likely eventual successor as head of the Likud party.

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911 calls show chaos of Washington state train derailment

SEATTLE (AP) - Whimpering in pain, bleeding from head injuries and dazed by the enormity of the crash, victims in the Amtrak train derailment south of Seattle begged 911 dispatchers for help and said "tons of people" had been hurt.

Dozens of emergency recordings released Wednesday by South Sound 911 Dispatch provided a vivid account of what happened during the deadly Dec. 18 crash.

"My abdomen hurts really bad. I don't feel good," said a crying woman identified as Angela who was bleeding from her head and wailed in panic each time she couldn't find an answer to a dispatcher's questions. "I don't know how old I am off the top of my head. I'm sorry!"

Angela was in Car 5 with her 14-year-old son as the passenger train barreled through a curve at 78 mph (126 kph) in a 30 mph zone, derailing along both sides of the tracks and toppling some cars onto Interstate 5 below.

Angela begged for help and ordered her bleeding son to lie still because he had neck and back pain. He took a hit to his face. They got slammed into a table. She couldn't find her shoes.

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As California legalizes pot, laws collide at US checkpoints

PINE VALLEY, Calif. (AP) - California legalizes marijuana for recreational use Monday, but that won't stop federal agents from seizing the drug - even in tiny amounts - on busy freeways and backcountry highways.

Marijuana possession still will be prohibited at eight Border Patrol checkpoints in California, a reminder that state and federal laws collide when it comes to pot. The U.S. government classifies marijuana as a controlled substance, like heroin and LSD.

"Prior to Jan. 1, it's going to be the same after Jan. 1, because nothing changed on our end," said Ryan Yamasaki, an assistant chief of the Border Patrol's San Diego sector. "If you're a federal law enforcement agency, you uphold federal laws."

The checkpoints, located up to 100 miles (161 kilometers) from Mexico, are considered a final line of defense against immigrants who elude agents at the border. They also have been a trap for U.S. citizens carrying drugs, even tiny bags of marijuana.

About 40 percent of pot seizures at Border Patrol checkpoints from fiscal years 2013 to 2016 were an ounce (28 grams) or less from U.S. citizens, according to a Government Accountability Office report last month. California's new law allows anyone 21 and over to carry up to an ounce.
KUTUPALONG, Bangladesh (AP) - For many Rohingya now living in refugee camps in Bangladesh, all that remains of their old lives in Myanmar are memories captured in photos and videos on their cellphones.

Since late August, more than 630,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh to escape attacks by Myanmar security forces. Few refugees had the chance to grab many of their belongings when they fled the advancing soldiers. But most took their cellphones.

While so much of what they had is now gone - homes, cattle, villages, everything - the phones give them a link to what they lost.

In this Dec. 23, 2017 photo, Mujibullah, 22, a Rohingya refugee watches a video, which he has shot in Myanmar before crossing over into Bangladesh, at Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhiya, Bangladesh. For many Rohingya living in refugee camps in Bangladesh, all that remains of their old lives in Myanmar are memories captured in photos and videos on their cellphones. Since August, more than 630,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh to escape attacks by Myanmar security forces. Few refugees had the chance to grab many belongings when they fled, but most took their cellphones. (AP Photo/A.M. Ahad)

In this Dec. 23, 2017 photo, Mujibullah, 22, a Rohingya refugee watches a video, which he has shot in Myanmar before crossing over into Bangladesh, at Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhiya, Bangladesh. For many Rohingya living in refugee camps in Bangladesh, all that remains of their old lives in Myanmar are memories captured in photos and videos on their cellphones. Since August, more than 630,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh to escape attacks by Myanmar security forces. Few refugees had the chance to grab many belongings when they fled, but most took their cellphones. (AP Photo/A.M. Ahad)

In this Dec. 23, 2017 photo, an unidentified Rohingya refugee watches a video, which he has shot in Myanmar before crossing over into Bangladesh, at Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhiya, Bangladesh. For many Rohingya living in refugee camps in Bangladesh, all that remains of their old lives in Myanmar are memories captured in photos and videos on their cellphones. Since August, more than 630,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh to escape attacks by Myanmar security forces. Few refugees had the chance to grab many belongings when they fled, but most took their cellphones. (AP Photo/A.M. Ahad)
BEIJING (AP) - China's foreign ministry lashed out at the German ambassador on Wednesday after he said Beijing failed to respond to requests to discuss Chinese internet controls foreign companies worry will disrupt business.

Ambassador Michael Clauss told the South China Morning Post newspaper of Hong Kong the two governments agreed in 2016 to set up a group to discuss cyber issues but it "has yet to see the light of day." He said requests for a "meaningful dialogue" about Chinese curbs on virtual private networks, which are used for encrypted communication and can evade Beijing's web filters, have "regrettably not yet received a positive response."

"The remarks by the relevant ambassador are not constructive, and some of them are even wrong," said a foreign ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, at a regular briefing.

Hua said Germany had been invited to send delegations for consultation but was reluctant to do so.

"Instead, they accuse China of lacking sincerity for dialogue. It does not make sense," said Hua. "I hope the German Embassy and the people involved can refrain from unprofessional and irresponsible remarks and do something conducive to development of bilateral relationship and mutually beneficial cooperation."

It is almost unheard of for the Chinese foreign ministry to criticize a foreign diplomat, but Clauss is unusually forthright in talking publicly about import curbs, internet controls and other sensitive issues.

In June, Clauss called on communist authorities to release a detained bishop of the underground Roman Catholic church. He expressed concern about proposed changes in regulations on worship.

Chinese authorities have banned use of unlicensed VPNs as part of a sweeping crackdown on technology to evade controls aimed at preventing the public from seeing material deemed subversive or obscene.

China has the world's biggest population of internet users, with some 730 million people online. Estimates of the number of scientists, businesspeople, students and others who rely on VPNs for work and study run into the tens of millions.

Foreign companies use VPNs to communicate securely with their offices abroad and to see news and other websites that are blocked by Chinese web filters.

Companies already cite internet controls as among the biggest obstacles to doing business in China. Some have expressed concern being required to use only government-approved VPNs could weaken their security.

The VPN crackdown coincides with a Cybersecurity Law that took effect on June 1 and tightens control over data. It limits use of foreign security technology and requires companies to store information about Chinese citizens within this country.

Clauss's comments followed a warning this month by the head of Germany's domestic intelligence agency that Chinese intelligence was engaged in a "broad-based attempt to infiltrate" its government. The official said Chinese agents used social networks to try to cultivate lawmakers and other officials as sources and targeted more than 10,000 Germans.

In the newspaper interview, Clauss said that issue could have been discussed by the German-Chinese cyber group but it has never met.
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) - Bosnia's war crimes court has convicted a former fighter of crimes committed against Bosnian Serb civilians during the country's 1992-95 war. It comes a year after she was extradited from the United States, where she had become a naturalized citizen.

Azra Basic, a former member of the Croatian and Bosnian Croat armies, was sentenced Wednesday to 14 years in prison for taking part in "killing and inhumane treatment, infliction of great pain and violation of bodily integrity and health" of imprisoned civilians.

She killed one man by stabbing him in the neck.

Basic left Bosnia in 1994 and settled in the U.S. She was arrested in Kentucky in 2011 and fought extradition until 2016, when a federal judge approved her deportation.
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - Zimbabwe's new President Emmerson Mnangagwa has appointed the country's former military commander as one of his two vice presidents, state-run media reported Wednesday, deepening concerns about the military's influence after its ouster of Robert Mugabe last month.

The appointment of Constantino Chiwenga was widely expected after his retirement earlier this month. He had to retire from the military to take up the position, according to the constitution.

Mnangagwa took power after Chiwenga led a military takeover in the southern African nation that forced Mugabe, then the world's oldest head of state at age 93, to resign amid impeachment proceedings after 37 years in charge.

FILE - In this Friday, Nov. 24, 2017 file photo, Army General Constantino Chiwenga smiles during the presidential inauguration ceremony in the capital Harare, Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe's state-run media is reporting that new President Emmerson Mnangagwa has appointed the country's former military commander as one of his two vice presidents. The naming of Constantino Chiwenga deepens concerns among some in the southern African nation about the military's close ties with Mnangagwa, who took power last month after Chiwenga led a military takeover to oust longtime leader Robert Mugabe. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi, File)

Mnangagwa has appointed former state security minister Kembo Mohadi as his other vice president, the Zimbabwe Herald newspaper reported, saying they were expected to be sworn in Thursday morning.

Mnangagwa over the weekend appointed Chiwenga and Mohadi as vice presidents of the ruling ZANU-PF party, signaling Wednesday's move.

Two former army generals already hold powerful posts in Mnangagwa's cabinet, while another general was appointed as ruling ZANU-PF party commissar at a congress on Nov.15.

Many Zimbabweans had supported the military's move to step in and force Mugabe's ouster, cheering soldiers during demonstrations and taking selfies. But in response to rising concerns about the military's presence weeks after Mnangagwa took power, new defense forces commander Valerio Sibanda on Dec. 18 announced that the military intervention, dubbed Operation Restore Legacy, had officially ended.

"Normalcy has returned to our country," he told reporters, saying that the military would hand back "normal day-to-day policing duties" to the police.
TROY, N.Y. (AP) - Police worked Wednesday to try and unravel the mystery of who killed a woman, her partner and her two young children, whose bodies were found in a riverfront apartment house the day after Christmas.

"After being in this business for 43 years, I can't describe the savagery of a person who would do this," said Troy Police Chief John Tedesco.

Investigators revealed little about the deaths, declining to identify the victims or say how they were killed. But the chief said the slain children were an 11-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl. The mother was 36 years old and in a relationship with a 22-year-old woman whose body was also found in the basement apartment, the chief said.

Police secure the perimeter of a home in Troy, N.Y., Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2017, after four bodies were discovered in a basement apartment. Troy police say the deaths are being treated as suspicious. (Nicholas Buonanno/The Record via AP)

Tedesco declared during a news conference that the killings were "not a random act," but wouldn't say why he believed that was the case.

A property manager found the bodies Tuesday after being asked to check on the welfare of the residents of the apartment, one of five in a house located in the city's Lansingburgh section along the Hudson River just north of Albany, police said.

"I don't think there's any doubt that a person who committed this crime is capable of anything," Tedesco said, adding that police don't believe there was an imminent danger to the public.

The victims' names were being withheld pending notification of relatives, he said.

Police didn't know when the slayings occurred, but Tedesco said he hoped autopsies being conducted Wednesday would provide clues. State police were involved in the investigation along with New York parole officials, Tedesco said.

"This will be a full-court press, if you will, until we bring someone to justice," he said, adding that police were seeking any information the public may have about the crime.

Investigators remained at the scene Wednesday. Police cars blocked vehicles from approaching the home, which is set amid older, restored houses. Yellow crime tape was stretched across the street, running along the river's east bank. Few people ventured out on the snow-covered sidewalks in temperatures in the teens.

"This heinous atrocity is unimaginable, incomprehensible. I believe it affects the whole community," said the Rev. Jackie Robinson, pastor of Oak Grove Baptist Church in Troy, who did not know the family. "Kids are traumatized. A lot of adults are traumatized too, because this monster is still out there."

Police secure the perimeter of a home in Troy, N.Y., Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2017, after four bodies were discovered in a basement apartment. Troy police say the deaths are being treated as suspicious. (Nicholas Buonanno/The Record via AP)

Troy police investigate multiple deaths at 158 Second Ave. on Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2017, in Troy, N.Y. Police say four people have been found dead and may have been killed in an apartment in New York's capital region. The bodies were discovered Tuesday afternoon in a basement apartment in a house in Troy, a city near Albany. Troy police say the deaths are being treated as suspicious. (Lori Van Buren/The Albany Times Union via AP)

Troy police investigate multiple deaths at 158 Second Ave. on Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2017, in Troy, N.Y. Police say four people have been found dead and may have been killed in an apartment in New York's capital region. The bodies were discovered Tuesday afternoon in a basement apartment in a house in Troy, a city near Albany. Troy police say the deaths are being treated as suspicious. (Lori Van Buren/The Albany Times Union via AP)

Troy police investigate multiple deaths at 158 Second Ave. on Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2017, in Troy, N.Y. Police say four people have been found dead and may have been killed in an apartment in New York's capital region. The bodies were discovered Tuesday afternoon in a basement apartment in a house in Troy, a city near Albany. Troy police say the deaths are being treated as suspicious. (Lori Van Buren/The Albany Times Union via AP)
A Pennsylvania police officer and his wife have pleaded guilty to charges accusing her of plotting to kill her husband and him of plotting to blackmail her over having sex with a 14-year-old boy.

Keith Transue, 43, pleaded guilty last week to misdemeanor criminal coercion. Meanwhile, Robin Transue, also 43, pleaded guilty to felony solicitation to commit aggravated assault and statutory sexual assault.

Authorities say in court documents that Mrs Transue told an informant her husband threatened to expose her 2010 relationship with her underage lover if she left him.

Prosecutors say she suggested several ways to kill her husband, including a drug overdose or a hunting accident.

Twisted case: Pennsylvania police officer Keith Transue (left) and his wife Robin (right), both 43, have pleaded guilty to charges accusing her of plotting to kill her husband and him of plotting to blackmail her over having sex with a 14-year-old boy

The Bushkill Township police officer and his wife are scheduled for sentencing on March 20. Keith remains free on unsecured bail, while Robin was released home after posting $50,000 bail.

Transue, who has been with the Bushkill Township Police Department since 2005, remains on paid leave.

The case began unfolding last year after a friend of the Transues, identified in a statement released by the Monroe County Office of the District Attorney as Richard Warner, went to the authorities, claiming that Robin had approached him asking to kill her husband Keith.

Detectives with the Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department put a wire on Warner and had him meet with Robin Transue in the hopes of capturing details of the murder-for-hire plot on tape.

According to a statement from the District Attorneys Office, Robin met with the informant on multiple occasions, and each time freely talked about arranging for her husbands murder.

Transue, pictured above in 2011, has been with the Bushkill Township Police Department since 2005; he is currently on paid leave

Besides the overdose and hunting accident scenarios, Robin floated several other schemes intended to cause her husbands untimely demise, including tampering with Keith Transues car so he would have an accident on his way to work, slipping him a medication that would make it seem as if he had a heart attack and staging his suicide with the aid of the anti-anxiety drug Valium.

According to the prosecution, Mrs Transue was adamant about having her husband killed because she said she had a whole new future picked out.

It emerged during the investigation that Robin wanted to get rid of her husband because Keith had learned about her 2010 affair with the minor, who was the son of a friend, and was holding that information over his wifes head to prevent her from leaving him.

Prosecutors say that in 2010, Robin had sex on multiple occasions with the 14-year-old, and when her husband later found out about it, he convinced the childs parents not to report the abuse to the authorities and threatened the teen to keep mum.

Murder plot: Wife Robin told a friend-turned-informant she was thinking of making her husband's murder look like a hunting accident (Keith is pictured with a hunting rifle)

Marriage woes: Keith had found out that Robin had sex with a 14-year-old boy in 2010 and was using that knowledge to blackmail her into staying with him, but she wanted a 'new future' without him

He would later tell a fellow police officer that he had dirt on his wife that he would use if she tried to leave him, the DAs press release read. As problems in the marriage continued to mount, Robin became more desperate. She had looked up the statute of limitations for her sexual crimes and realized the time wasnt close to running out.

Robin continued to plot to kill her husband. She would tell Warner that they could make Keiths death look like a hunting accident and offered to bring him a gun and ammunition, and to direct him to the areas her husband would hunt.

During her final recorded meeting with the informant, Robin recounted how she took her husband, who she said has a history of depression, to a psychologist to make it look like she was a concerned and caring wife.

The 43-year-old wife is heard saying on the wiretap that when she and Keith went to a shopping center, she would hold his hand and hug him each time she saw a surveillance camera to make her look good.

She goes into detail on how she needs to test the potency and see how Valium will dissolve and taste, according to a summary of the recording written by the detectives.

Robin also talked at length on DNA, and not leaving fingerprints and evidence and destroying the gun after [the killing], according to the account of the conversation.

She stated if the house caught fire with him inside, it would be "priceless and fantastic" and she could get about a quarter million dollars from the insurance company, the DAs statement reads.

Robin Transue was charged with solicitation to commit aggravated assault and statutory sexual assault in January. Her husband was charged with criminal coercion in May.

When questioned by police, the wife lamented that she was trapped in a 'hellish' marriage, and that her motive for the failed murder-for-hire plot was to get her hands on her text message exchanges with her former underage lover, which Keith had obtained from the teen, reported Pocono Record.
FARGO, N.D. (AP) - He has been the middleman in North Dakota's refugee resettlement program for nearly three decades, helping thousands of refugees and other immigrants navigate their journey to U.S. citizenship. Now Tri Phan wants to see their native countries, such as Nepal, Bhutan and Sierra Leone.

Phan - himself a former refugee who spent three years in a North Vietnamese prison camp after serving as a tank commander for the South Vietnamese military - has been a longtime adviser for newcomers from dozens of countries. He is retiring from Lutheran Social Services in Fargo, the state's lone resettlement agency, at the end of the month.

"I would love to travel," said Phan, who is moving to California with his wife to be close to their three grown children and their grandchildren. "It would be interesting to visit these places I have heard so much about."

In this Dec. 15, 2017 photo, Tri Phan, right, begins the lunch line for his retirement party at Lutheran Social Services in Fargo, N.D. Phan, 66, spent nearly three decades working in the agency's refugee resettlement program, helping thousands of immigrants from dozens of countries become U.S. citizens. Phan, who was born in Saigon, is moving to California to be closer to his grown children. (AP Photo/Dave Kolpack)

As a proportion of its population, the Fargo area takes in more refugees than most American cities. Phan arrived in North Dakota in the early 1990s, when the state was experiencing an influx of refugees from Southeast Asia. He began working as a bilingual case manager at Lutheran Social Services before working his way up to supervisor of immigration services.

"Tri Phan, he came here as a refugee," said Mariam Bassoma, a onetime refugee and one of Phan's co-workers. "For the longest time he worked two jobs. He never complains and he never gets tired. He just makes you feel like you can do it too."

Shirley Dykshoorn, a Lutheran Social Services vice president, figures Phan handled an average of 500 to 600 cases a year. That adds up to about 14,000 people he assisted with processing, technical assistance, counseling and testing for citizenship.

Phan helped Abdiwali Sharif-Abdinasir move to North Dakota from Somalia in 2004, several years after his first application was filed. Later, after Sharif-Abdinasir traveled to Kenya to get married, Phan managed the process for Sharif-Abdinasir's wife, who was granted a visa after about 14 months.

"I would give Tri Phan a hard time," Sharif-Abdinasir said, adding that he would ask Phan: "'When is she coming?'"

"He was really patient with me. I think the city of Fargo should give him an award because of how many refugees he has helped bring here."

Dykshoorn said managers tried to get Phan to stop coming into the office on weekends, to no avail. She said he saw clients even if they didn't have appointments. He returned almost every message left via email, work phone or home phone. The only way he couldn't be reached was by cellphone, because he's never had one.

Phan, who turned 66 on Christmas Day, left Dykshoorn a "to-do" list for his department that stretches into 2019.

"He has taught everybody to fish, as the parable goes," Dykshoorn said. "Nobody is going to be around forever, but he has trained and mentored and helped lots of people."

Phan came to the U.S in 1990 to make a better life for his family more than a decade after his 1978 release from the prison camp.

"There was a strong stigma against people who served in the old Republic of Vietnam and there were many job and work opportunities that would have been barred from myself and even my children if I had stayed there," Phan said.

Phan said his experience at the prison camp taught him to appreciate life and make the most of his opportunities. Sentenced to three years of hard labor and lucky to get one cup of rice per day to eat, his weight fell from 140 pounds (64 kilograms) to 100 pounds (45 kilograms) by the time he was released. His mother didn't recognize him.

"I almost died. Now I feel alive," he said. "Regardless of what happened in your life, you need to be strong and accept it. Deal with it. The opportunity is right here."

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In this Dec. 15, 2017 photo, Tri Phan, right, poses with fellow Lutheran Social Services staff members Abdiwali Sharif-Abdinasir and Mariam Bassoma at the agency's refugee resettlement office in Fargo, N.D. They are holding a poster Phan received when he was honored with the organization's first-ever Dove Award for his dedication and outstanding service. Phan, 66, worked for the resettlement program for nearly three decades. He is retiring at the end of the month. (AP Photo/Dave Kolpack)

In this Dec. 15, 2017 photo,Tri Phan, left, poses for a photo with staff members at Lutheran Social Services, during his retirement party in Fargo, N.D. Phan worked int the agency's resettlement program for 27 years, when he helped about 14,000 people become settled in the U.S. Phan his himself a former refugee who spent three years in a North Vietnamese prison camp after serving as a tank commander for the South Vietnamese military. (AP Photo/Dave Kolpack)
Mr. Katko could have proven he is with working people by voting no against the GOP tax giveaway to the super wealthy. Despite polls and pleas of local elected officials indicating overwhelming opposition for the tax bill, Katko voted yes on this bill. CNY deserves better.

Mr. Katko has stepped up on some issues. He voted against the GOP repeal and replace efforts of the Affordable Care Act. He signed onto a Republican Climate Resolution acknowledging Congress must do something about the harms of fossil fuels on our climate. Working people need him to do more. Where is his plan for guaranteed health care for all? Why doesn't he sponsor a revenue neutral carbon tax based on the market principles he talks about?

I recently contacted Rep. Katko's office to oppose dismantling internet neutrality. I received a deceptively written letter that he opposes regulations of the internet. I suspected this meant he was against net neutrality. I was correct! Polls and public opinion, other than fake comments on the FCC web site, are nearly unanimous on this issue. What consumer would want to give up even more control of the internet to corporations? Imagine having access to news on corporate mergers redirected, slowed or blocked by the company being reported on.

We already cede internet control to telecom companies instead of having public broadband, such as in many cities like Chattanooga, Tennessee. Public broadband has allowed for failing local economies to use the internet to generate local profits to build communities instead of for a few investors.

If Mr. Katko wants to build trust with his constituents, he could have started by voting against this harmful tax bill. Now he could sponsor a middle class guaranteed health care plan like Medicare for All and support fellow GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik's efforts to maintain net neutrality. I don't expect that Mr. Katko can be moved without immense activism on the public's part. Let's get to work.

Sunny Aslam

Jamesville
SELFOSS, Iceland (AP) - Police in Iceland say one person was killed and 12 more were critically injured Wednesday when a bus carrying 46 Chinese tourists skidded off the road after a rear-end collision with a compact car.

The Icelandic blood bank sent out an alert for donations of type O blood following the accident on Route 1, a national road that runs around the island.

The car and bus crashed near the Eldhraun lava field, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) east of Reykjavik, Iceland's capital.

A bus lies on its side on a road near the Eldhraun lava field, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) east of Reykjavik, Iceland, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017. Police in Iceland say one person was killed and 12 more were critically injured Wednesday after a bus carrying 46 Chinese tourists skidded off the road after a rear-end collision with a compact car. (AP Photo/Jonas Erlendsson)

Police say the bus flipped on its side when it went off the road, trapping two passengers underneath. One died at the scene.

Bus company owner Fjalar Ulfarsson said the Chinese group was on the fourth day of a weeklong visit to Iceland when the accident happened.

"The road there is narrow and had some icing from what I gather," Ulfarsson told The Associated Press.

Three helicopters were used to transport the most severely injured to a hospital emergency room in the capital.

A relief station was set up for the other 33 passengers in nearby Kirkjubaejarklaustur village.

The car's driver and a passenger also were tourists, visiting Iceland from Lithuania. They were not injured, officials said.

South Iceland Police said an initial investigation suggested the car slowed down in front of the bus while attempting to turn toward a lookout point.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Prime Minister Erna Solberg of Norway will be the first foreign leader to call on President Donald Trump in the new year.

The White House announced Tuesday that Trump will welcome Solberg to the White House on Jan. 10. The White House says Trump looks forward to exchanging views with Solberg on relations between the U.S. and Norway, as well as on how to make progress on regional and global security issues and economic prosperity.

The leaders also plan to discuss defense and security goals within NATO and the coalition aligned against the Islamic State group, along with trade matters.

The White House announced the visit while Trump was in Florida for the holidays.
MONROE, La. (AP) - Police say a man was shot and wounded during a confrontation with a Louisiana sheriff's deputy.

Louisiana State Police Trooper Michael Reichardt says the shooting happened about 2 a.m. Wednesday after a Ouachita (WAH-shih-tah) Parish Sheriff's Office deputy stopped to assist a stalled vehicle at an intersection near Monroe.

Reichardt says the wounded man was taken to a Monroe hospital to be treated for injuries that weren't considered life-threatening. No deputies were hurt in the encounter.

Reichardt says he couldn't immediately release any other details.

A spokesman for the sheriff's office referred all questions about the shooting to State Police, who are investigating.
NEW YORK (AP) - In a story Dec. 26 on cities suing the Department of Defense, The Associated Press reported that 26 people were killed inside a Texas church last month. The story should have made clear that the gunman killed 25 people at the church and that authorities have put the official toll at 26, because one of the victims was pregnant.

A clarified version of the story is below.

Cities sue Defense Dept. over gun-check system failures

Three cities have filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Defense, saying the system for reporting service members disqualified from gun ownership is broken

By COLLEEN LONG

Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) - Three large U.S. cities filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the Department of Defense, arguing that many service members who are disqualified from gun ownership weren't reported to the national background check system.

New York City, San Francisco and Philadelphia said in court papers that the military's broken system for relaying such information helped spur the massacre of more than two dozen people inside a Texas church last month.

"This failure on behalf of the Department of Defense has led to the loss of innocent lives by putting guns in the hands of criminals and those who wish to cause immeasurable harm," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement. "New York City is joining Philadelphia and San Francisco to stand up to the Department of Defense and demand they comply with the law and repair their drastically flawed system."

Local law enforcement officials rely on the FBI's database to conduct background checks on gun permit applications and to monitor purchases. It must be up-to-date in order to prevent people from wrongly getting guns, the cities' attorneys wrote.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, seeks an injunction and judicial oversight to ensure ongoing compliance with the Defense Department's obligation to submit records.

Military officials previously acknowledged problems with their reporting.

A Pentagon spokesman on Tuesday said he couldn't comment specifically on the lawsuit.

"The department continues to work with the services as they review and refine their policies and procedures to ensure qualifying criminal history information is submitted to the FBI," said Tom Crosson, a Pentagon spokesman.

The Defense Department's failure to report "significant numbers" of disqualifying records to the FBI's national background check system allowed former U.S. Air Force member Devin P. Kelley to buy a rifle and shoot up a Sutherland Springs, Texas, church on Nov. 5, the lawsuit said. The gunman killed 25 people at the church. Authorities have put the official toll at 26, because one of the victims was pregnant.

Kelley had been convicted of assaulting family members in a 2012 court martial and should not have been allowed to purchase a gun.

Air Force leaders already acknowledged that the service failed to alert the FBI to Kelley's criminal history and that they discovered "several dozen" other such reporting omissions. They said that while policies and procedures requiring reporting were in place, training and compliance measures were lacking.

And Army leaders have said their service also has similar gaps.

Earlier this month, the Pentagon's watchdog agency it found a "troubling" number of failures this year by the military services to alert the FBI to criminal history information. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has ordered a far-ranging review of the FBI database.

Philadelphia in particular has been plagued by gun violence and "relies on this reporting when making the crucial decision whether a license-to-carry applicant should be permitted to carry a firearm," said Mayor Jim Kenney, who is a Democrat like the mayors of New York and San Francisco. "We're joining in this suit because reporting these records is absolutely critical to those decisions. The background check system only works if it contains the proper records."

San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera said in a statement that the Department of Defense's failure to accurately report criminal convictions puts Americans at risk.

"We cannot accept the level of gun violence in our country as 'just the way it is,'" he said.

The lawsuit names the armed forces individually, as well as the Department of Defense, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and several other officials.

According to the lawsuit, the U.S. Air Force failed to submit records in about 14 percent of cases, the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps failed to submit records in 36 percent of cases, and the U.S. Army didn't submit records in about 41 percent of cases.

The Air Force said it has already made changes designed to prevent such failures in the future. For example, it is now requiring that leaders up the chain of command verify that criminal history reporting requirements have been met in every case. And, additional training on these procedures is being conducted.

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Associated Press Writer Lolita C. Baldor in Washington, D.C., Janie Har in San Francisco and Ron Todt in Philadelphia contributed to this repor.t
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - The discovery in China of an underground army of nearly 8,000 life-size terracotta soldiers is considered one of the greatest archaeological finds of the 20th century.

More than four decades after they were first seen in modern times, by farmers in Shaanxi province, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has 10 of the majestic figures on display in an exhibit that explores the history of ancient China and the reign of its first emperor, Ying Zheng.

Although various assortments of the terracotta soldiers have been displayed previously in museums in New York, Philadelphia, Seattle and elsewhere, the exhibit in Richmond also includes 40 objects never seen in the U.S., including ancient jade ornaments, precious jewelry and ceramics.

In a Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017 photo, a replica of a bronze chariot with horses is part of the Terracotta Army exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Va., Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017. The Museum has 10 of the majestic terracotta figures on display as part of an exhibit that tells the story of the first emperor of China and the time period he reigned. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

"Terracotta Army: Legacy of the First Emperor of China" is only being shown in Richmond and at the Cincinnati Art Museum, where it goes after its run in Virginia ends March 11.

The exhibit explores the life of Ying Zheng - who declared himself Qin Shihuang, the first emperor - and how he influenced China during his reign from 221 to 210 BC. Historians believe he ordered the construction of the terracotta army, which was buried in pits and discovered 2,000 years later, about a mile east of the emperor's burial site.

"We want visitors to learn who is the first emperor and what people's lives looked then, what technology developed during that time and the architecture of that time," said Li Jian, the co-curator.

"No matter rich or poor, royal emperors or commoners, people had a quest for immortality," she said. "These excavated objects reflect the people's lives at the time."

The first two rooms of the exhibit showcase horse and chariot fittings, arms and armor, works of art in gold and silver, and other cultural relics.

A bucket-shaped mask with an open mouth and cut-out eyes is the oldest object, dating to 3500 BC, when an exorcist would have worn it while performing rituals to ward off evil spirits and misfortune. A necklace of red agate beads and white jade pendants was a type of jewelry favored by Qin nobility. A bronze household lamp would have contained vegetable oil or animal fat, capable of burning for long periods of time in an era before candles.

Visitors encounter an imposing sight as they enter the third room: The terracotta soldiers, 6 feet tall and weighing between 250 and 400 pounds each, are positioned in individual open cases, in various poses of war.

There's the armored general, with detailed carving depicting a protective leather apron overlaid with plated armor. An infantryman stands at attention with both arms at his side. A standing archer and a kneeling archer depict the Qin military strategy, requiring one group of archers to stand and provide cover fire while another group knelt and loaded bolts into their crossbows.

Connie James, a retired kindergarten teacher from Richmond, appreciated the details as she spent a recent weekday afternoon exploring the exhibit with her husband.

"I was expecting them to look like a terracotta flower pot, but they're very intricate," she said. "For those of us who couldn't get to China, this is something very special."

Her husband, David James, liked seeing the ancient weapons used by the warriors.

"I wouldn't have imagined they would have been used in a crossbow at that time, but they were," he said.

Museum director Alex Nyerges said the exhibit attracted nearly 40,000 visitors during its first two weeks in Richmond, putting it on a path to become one of the museum's most popular.

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IF YOU GO

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is Saturdays through Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. There are special holiday hours.

General admission to the museum is free. The cost for the "Terracotta Army" exhibit is $20 for adults; $16 for seniors 65 and older; $10 for youth (7-17) and college students.

Parking: $5

Website: https://www.vmfa.museum

In a Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017 photo, Li Jian, curator of the Terracotta Army soldiers on exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, poses at the start of the exhibit at the museum in Richmond, Va. The Museum has 10 of the majestic terracotta figures on display as part of an exhibit that tells the story of the first emperor of China and the time period he reigned. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

In a Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017 photo, visitors look over some of the Terracotta Army soldiers on exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Va. The Museum has 10 of the majestic terracotta figures on display as part of an exhibit that tells the story of the first emperor of China and the time period he reigned. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

In a Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017 photo, an earthenware mask from 3500 BC, is the oldest artifact in the Terracotta Army exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Va., Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017. The Museum has 10 of the majestic terracotta figures on display as part of an exhibit that tells the story of the first emperor of China and the time period he reigned. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

In a Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017 photo, Terracotta Army soldiers are on exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Va. The Museum has 10 of the majestic terracotta figures on display as part of an exhibit that tells the story of the first emperor of China and the time period he reigned. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

In a Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017 photo, Director of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Alex Nyerges, looks over some of the Terracotta Army soldiers on exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Va. The Museum has 10 of the majestic terracotta figures on display as part of an exhibit that tells the story of the first emperor of China and the time period he reigned. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

In a Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017 photo, visitors look over some of the Terracotta Army soldiers on exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Va. The Museum has 10 of the majestic terracotta figures on display as part of an exhibit that tells the story of the first emperor of China and the time period he reigned. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

In a Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017 photo, visitors look over some of the Terracotta Army soldiers on exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Va. The Museum has 10 of the majestic terracotta figures on display as part of an exhibit that tells the story of the first emperor of China and the time period he reigned. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - A political consulting firm says an ongoing decline in West Virginia's population could eventually threaten one of its three U.S. House seats.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reported Election Data Services says the latest dip in population supports speculation that West Virginia could lose a congressional seat by 2022 - after the 2020 census.

U.S. Census Bureau data show the state's population as of July 1 was 1.81 million, down from a revised estimate of 1.82 million the same time a year ago. It's the fifth straight drop in West Virginia's population.

The reports says West Virginia would need to attract about 19,500 new residents before the 2020 census to keep the seat, assuming the population in all other states remains steady.

There are 435 voting members in the House of Representatives.

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Information from: The Charleston Gazette-Mail, http://wvgazettemail.com.
ST. JOHNS, Ariz. (AP) - An Arizona judge and the family of a teenager who fatally shot two men in 2008, including his father, heaped praise on him Wednesday for the progress he's made as his time on probation comes to an end.

Judge Monica Stauffer told the boy she knows the past nine years haven't been easy but admired him for the way he's handled it. She turned toward the phone in a small courtroom in St. Johns, where he was listening in, her eyes filling with tears.

"I'm real proud of you and you're going to do great things," she said. "So much of your life is still for you to live and enjoy."

FILE - This Nov. 8, 2008, file photo shows the house in St. Johns, Ariz., where Vincent Romero and Timothy Romans, of San Carlos, Ariz., were found fatally shot. Police said Romero's 9-year-old son, who was 8 at the time, used a rifle to shoot the men as they returned home from work. A judge overseeing the case of the now teenager, who was charged in a double homicide when he was 8 years old, heaped praise on him Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017, for the progress he's made. He turns 18 on Friday, marking the end of probation. (AP Photo/Dana Felthauser, File)

Those attending the hearing were not specific about progress the teen has made but said he has shown remorse, learned to manage finances, has set goals for himself and has a good heart.

Wednesday marked the final hearing in the case that troubled police and prosecutors because the boy was 8 at the time of the shootings. The criminal charges were resolved in juvenile court with the boy pleading guilty to negligent homicide in the death of 39-year-old Tim Romans, whom he called for from inside his home and shot with a .22-caliber single-shot rifle as Romans walked up to the door.

Prosecutors said that acknowledging legal responsibility for the death of his father, 29-year-old Vincent Romero, would be too heavy of a burden for a boy to carry and dropped that charge. Romans rented a room in the two-story blue house that Romero shared with his new wife and son.

The boy thanked those who have listened to him and helped him identify what he needs to transition into adulthood Friday when he turns 18. Speaking on the phone, he sounded much older than the days when he sat in the courtroom fidgety and looking nervously at his family.

"I'm just very grateful to everyone in the case," he said.

Other than a trio of probation violations in 2012, the boy hasn't been in trouble.

Stauffer said his life turned dramatically with the involvement of clinical psychologist Dr. Alan Lewis, who helped him mature and understand that he could be known for his future, rather than his past.

The Associated Press is not identifying the boy because of his age at the time of the crimes.

Stauffer credited the boy's grandmother, Liz Castillo, for ensuring the case moved along with the boy's best interest in mind.

Castillo sat in the front row of the courtroom with her daughter and sister nearby, wiping tears from her eyes. She said the last nine years have been treacherous but was grateful for the consideration put into the case.

She said Romero and Romans always would be in her family's mind and hearts.

"We hoped and prayed we could get through this, and the time is here," she said.

Castillo told Stauffer she'd hoped the county would examine juvenile proceedings so people who are appointed to represent children are more involved.

Romans' widow, Tanya, urged change, too. She listened as people in the courtroom thanked each other for involvement in the case but wondered why there was little emphasis on the victims.

"Not once, 'How are your girls? How's everything going?'" she said as her voice cracked over the phone. "Take a look at the victims' side as well. Tim was a great man, he was. It's just sad that two lives were just overlooked."

Still, Romans said she hopes and prays the boy got the help he needs so "whatever he did won't repeat itself." She said she didn't want the boy near her family.

Stauffer apologized to Romans, saying she'd take into account suggestions for dealing with future juvenile cases.

The boy spent time in a residential treatment center, group home and foster care. He has said he wants to continue treatment until he's 21.

Stauffer said she'd let the providers decide what's best for him because the court no longer will have jurisdiction over him.

She ordered his case file sealed, saying the boy's interest in treatment and recovery weighs more heavily than the public interest in the case. Details regarding his treatment already had been sealed.

She denied a request from Castillo to issue an order prohibiting anyone from profiting off the case.

Stauffer said she understood Castillo's request but believes the boy has a story to tell of hope, change and growth.

"I see (the boy) has an important place in life and how he chooses to use his talent and skills and his walk over nine years is important for kids," she said.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - The Latest on President Donald Trump in Florida (all times local):

4:35 p.m.

President Donald Trump is paying a post-Christmas visit to firefighters in West Palm Beach, Florida.

President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up as he arrives to meet with first responders at West Palm Beach Fire Rescue, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Trump is touting his legislative accomplishments, including the GOP tax bill, before the first responders stationed at West Palm Beach Fire Rescue.

The president says the firefighters are "great people" who do "a fantastic job," and he is thanking them for their service.

Trump also says the country is "doing well," with the stock market and 401(k) retirement plans rising.

He says the United States is a "big, beautiful ship" that his administration is turning around.

Trump is spending the holidays at his private Mar-a-Lago estate and club in Florida.

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11:20 a.m.

President Donald Trump plans to start off the new year by meeting with the Hill's top Republicans to plan the 2018 legislative agenda.

The White House says Trump will host Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan at the Camp David presidential retreat during the weekend of Jan. 6-7. Representatives for both lawmakers have confirmed they will attend.

The pow wow follows enactment of legislation to cut taxes - beginning next year - for corporations and individuals. The bill marked a major legislative achievement for Trump and congressional Republicans, who made tax cuts a priority after the Senate failed to close the deal on repealing the Obama health care law.

Trump signed the tax cut bill last week before he flew to Florida for the holidays.

President Donald Trump speaks to first responders at West Palm Beach Fire Rescue, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017, in West Palm Beach, Fla. President Trump who is spending the holidays at his private Mar-a-Lago estate and club in Florida thanked the firefighters for their service. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump speaks to first responders at West Palm Beach Fire Rescue, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - The confusing rollout of marijuana regulations in California has been underscored in Mendocino County, where local authorities licensed a company to deliver pot only to have state police arrest two employees who were trying to do just that with nearly a ton of weed.

The workers for Old Kai Distribution were transporting the marijuana from a farm when they were pulled over Friday afternoon by a California Highway Patrol officer on Highway 101 near Ukiah, according to Joe Rogoway, an attorney for the company. They were driving an unmarked van and were stopped for a traffic violation.

The workers showed the officer the company's county license and a manifest for the marijuana, but the officer insisted it was illegal, called for backup and arrested the men.

In this Dec. 26, 2017, photo, Old Kai Distribution cofounders Matthew Mandelker, right, and Lucas Seymour, who are licensed cannabis distributors, pose for a photo beside a delivery van loaded with product at their warehouse near Ukiah, Calif. Workers for the company were transporting the marijuana from a cultivator when they were pulled over Friday by a California Highway Patrol officer, according to Joe Rogoway, an attorney for the company. The workers showed the officer the company's cannabis license and a manifest for the marijuana, but the officer insisted it was illegal, called for backup and arrested the men. (Alvin Jornada/The Press Democrat via AP)

The company argues it can transport marijuana within the county with its local license, and county spokeswoman Sarah Dukett backed that interpretation. She said Old Kai was issued a distribution license last week that allows it to legally transport marijuana under two local ordinances passed earlier this year.

The workers were cited for unlawful transportation of marijuana and unlawful possession for sale. Investigators also seized all of the marijuana and the company's van.

"It is incomprehensible that this has occurred," said Rogoway, who sent a letter to CHP demanding that the charges be dropped and the marijuana returned to Old Kai.

Acting California Highway Patrol Commissioner Warren Stanley said the arrest was appropriate because a state license also is required for legal transport and those permits don't take effect until Monday, when broad legalization arrives in California.

"They are following the laws that are in place now," Stanley said Wednesday, referring to his officers. "And when Jan. 1, 2018, comes they'll start following the laws that come into effect on that date."

The officer who made the Ukiah stop was not targeting the business, said Stanley, who is not aware of any other arrests of a locally licensed marijuana operation. CHP primarily is concerned with drivers who could be high behind the wheel and the agency has trained 97 percent of its officers and sergeants in advanced drugged driving recognition skills, he said.

Stanley commented after a ceremony for CHP Officer Andrew Camilleri, who was killed on Christmas Eve by a driver believed to be drunk and high.

California has had legal medical marijuana for two decades. In 2016, voters approved broad legalization and the state and communities that want such "adult use" marijuana businesses spent the last year writing complex regulations.

Some didn't get their regulations finalized in time to start issuing local licenses by Jan. 1 while others decided to outlaw recreational pot altogether. Meantime, all forms of pot remain illegal under federal law.

The marijuana that was seized in Mendocino County, about 115 miles (185 kilometers) north of San Francisco, had been collected from a family-owned farm and was being brought to a distribution center to be sorted and tested.

"This was basically their entire harvest," Rogoway said. "Their entire year was in the back of this vehicle. If that cannabis is destroyed, it really puts at risk the safety and well-being of their family."

He worried the arrest could have a chilling effect as the state and local governments encourage marijuana businesses to come out of the shadows and adhere to regulations to ensure a level playing field for all.

"This incident highlights the fear that many people have," he said. "It takes a lot to be a compliant operator. Even if they follow through with the whole process, something bad can happen. This is a perfect example."

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Balsamo reported from Los Angeles.

Warren Stanley, the acting commissioner of the California Highway Patrol, talks with reporters after a bell ringing ceremonies held for CHP Officer Andrew Camilleri Sr., at the CHP academy Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017, in West Sacramento, Calif. Officer Camilleri Sr was killed when the patrol vehicle he was a passenger in was hit by a vehicle that drifted off the highway striking the CHP vehicle as it was parked on the shoulder of Interstate 880 Christmas Eve night. The driver of the other vehicle, who was believed to be under influence of marijuana and alcohol at the time of the accident, remains in the hospital with serious injuries. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

California Highway Patrol Lt. Eric Jones speaks after a news conference in Sacramento, Calif. on Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017. Officials say they fear drugged driving crashes will increase once California legalizes sales of recreational marijuana Jan. 1. (AP Photo/Don Thompson)

California Highway Patrol Officer Rob Cullinan, right, rings the bell at the California Highway Patrol Academy during ceremonies honoring CHP officer Andrew Camilleri Sr, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017, in West Sacramento, Calif. Camilleri Sr was killed when the patrol vehicle he was a passenger in was hit by a vehicle that drifted off the highway striking the CHP vehicle parked on the shoulder of Interstate 880 Christmas Eve night. The driver of the other vehicle, who was believed to be under influence of marijuana and alcohol at the time of the accident, remains in the hospital with serious injuries. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Rosanna Camilleri, right, the wife of late California Highway Patrol Officer Andrew Camilleri Sr, talks with CHP officer Jonathan Velazquez following a bell ringing ceremony held at the highway patrol academy Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017, in West Sacramento, Calif. Camilleri Sr, was sitting into the passenger seat of the patrol vehicle operated by Velazquez, that was parked on the shoulder of Interstate 880 Christmas Eve night when their vehicle was struck by a vehicle that drifted off the highway. Camilleri Sr. was killed and Velazquez, who suffered miner injuries, was treated and released from a nearby medical center. The driver of the other vehicle, who was believed to be under influence of marijuana and alcohol at the time of the accident, remains in the hospital with serious injuries. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Rosanna Camilleri, third from left, the wife of late California Highway Patrol Officer Andrew Camilleri Sr, sits with her family, including daughter Elizabeth, 12, left, son Andrew, 6, second from left and other family members at a bell ringing ceremony held for Officer Camilleri Sr., at the highway patrol academy Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017, in West Sacramento, Calif. Camilleri Sr was killed when the patrol vehicle he was a passenger in was hit by a vehicle that drifted off the highway striking the CHP vehicle as it was parked on the shoulder of Interstate 880. Christmas Eve night. The driver of the other vehicle, who was believed to be under influence of marijuana and alcohol at the time of the accident, remains in the hospital with serious injuries. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

A black band covers the badge of California Highway Patrol Officer Jonathan Velazquez as he is comforted following a bell ringing ceremony held for CHP Officer Andrew Camilleri Sr., at the highway patrol academy Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017, in West Sacramento, Calif. Camilleri Sr, was sitting into the passenger seat of the patrol vehicle operated by Velazquez, that was parked on the shoulder of Interstate 880 Christmas Eve night when their vehicle was struck by vehicle that drifted off the highway. Camilleri was killed and Velazquez, who suffered miner injuries, was treated and released from a nearby medical center. The driver of the other vehicle, who was believed to be under influence of marijuana and alcohol at the time of the accident, remains in the hospital with serious injuries. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Swedish payments services firm iZettle is eyeing further acquisitions in the UK where it expects to at least double its staff size as it prepares for a stock market debut.

IZettle, which is best known for its mini card readers used by small shops and market stalls, bolstered its British staff size last year when it added a Scottish outpost to its portfolio following the takeover of Edinburghs IntelligentPos.

But co-founder and chief executive Jacob de Geer said the company is unlikely to stop there.

Were always on the hunt for more acquisitions and the reason being that its pretty clear that the need from the business segment, the merchant segment that were going after, is massive, he told the Press Association.

It makes sense to scout for companies across all our different markets, but obviously London is a good place to start, he added.

Its acquisition strategy seems in line with its UK focus, having been fixated on the British market since its launch in 2011.

Its now our biggest market across all iZettle markets, so its overtaken the Nordics which I think is extremely good. I mean, London is still the financial capital of Europe and the UK has been our focus market since day one, Mr de Geer explained.

The payments firm is keeping an eye on companies that could expand its services for small businesses  particularly those with one to 15 employees that Mr de Geer says is an under-served market and has become the sweet spot for iZettle.

There is also scope to at least double its UK employee base  with about 40 staff currently in London and around 70 now in Edinburgh  assuming the impact of Brexit is minimal.

In say five years  wed probably have an office here of around 200 plus people. Only time will tell and it depends on what Brexit will actually imply for us as a company.

Jacob De Geer is chief executive of iZettle (iZettle/PA)

Mr de Geer said the company is keeping its ear to the ground as to whether it might have to restructure in order to comply with regulations that arise from a new trading arrangement between the UK and EU.

Its just unfortunate because it creates some internal struggles to abide by certain new situations.

But iZettle is not derailing its current business plans, which include preparations for an initial public offering (IPO).

Weve taken a decision as a company to prepare the company for a listing, not really knowing when in time that is, but were doing everything we should as a company to make sure we have our ducks in a row to follow an IPO track.

He said it was too early to tell whether the London stock market could host its shares.

Whether a hypothetical IPO would take place in London or Sweden or elsewhere eventually would be up to banks and advisers to tell us, Mr de Geer said.

While it secured 40 million euros (36 million) in a recent funding round meant to accelerate its growth strategy, iZettle is staying focused on the European market where Mr Geer says the firm has scalability.

In comparison, entering the US market would mean battling a raft of competitors alongside rival Square.

I wouldnt touch the US with a stick unless I had a very strong sort of partner and it needs to be a partner with massive reach and very deep pockets, the chief executive said.

Its only a matter where we get the best bang for the buck and so far it makes more sense to move into another European market than to become the 151st player to enter the US.
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- According to Dongfeng Honda Automobile Co., Ltd (Dongfeng Honda), by December 25, the cumulative sales of Dongfeng Honda in 2017 have already exceeded 700,000 units which completed the annual target 6 days in advance. Reportedly, it will challenge to accomplish annual sales of 714,000 units by the end of 2017.

At the beginning of this year, Dongfeng Honda's original annual target sales was 650,000 units. Due to the rapid sales growth, the company had already raised its annual target sales twice to 700,000 units.

According to official statistics, in November 2017, Dongfeng Honda reached a delivery volume of 69,463 units and a wholesale volume of 69,814 units, up 13.9% and 10.2% year on year respectively.

To be specific, the monthly sales of new CR-V, CIVIC and XR-V all exceeded 10,000 units in November. Especially, the monthly delivery volume of new CR-V in November reached 22,790 units, up 39% year on year.

Besides, the monthly delivery volume of new CIVIC in November were 16,069 units with a year-on-year 37% growth. Small SUVXR-V reached a monthly sales volume in November of 12,696 units and the delivery volume of midsize SUVUR-V in November were 5,565 units. Moreover, ELYSION's monthly sales in November were 4,031 units with a year-on-year 36.3% growth. New JADE' s monthly delivery volume in November reached 4,064 units, raising 14.4% from a year earlier.

In 2017, Dongfeng Honda has launched a series of new vehicles, such as CIVIC 1.0T, new JADE, SPIRIOR HYBRID, UR-V and new CR-V, which promoted a high-speed growth of sales. In the following time, Honda will release more new vehicles to attract more consumers.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has submitted his endorsement papers to election authorities.

Mr Putin is running for his fourth term in office as an independent candidate.

The law requires all independents to secure an endorsement from at least 500 people. If given the green light, the candidate will then be allowed to collect signatures necessary to be allowed on the ballot.

Vladimir Putin is running for his fourth term in office as an independent candidate (Matt Cardy/PA)

Mr Putins visit to the Central Election Commission on Wednesday comes a day after a group of his supporters, ranging from politicians to athletes, signed up to his nomination.

Mr Putins most formidable foe, Alexei Navalny, submitted his papers on Sunday but the bid was rejected on Monday because of a criminal conviction he and supporters consider political retribution.

With approval ratings around 80%, Mr Putin is poised to easily win the vote in March.
BUCHAREST, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Romania's ruling Social Democrats have filed a slew of new changes to the criminal code that would decriminalise several graft offences, including some abuse of office crimes, their second attempt this year to weaken a crackdown on corruption.

Transparency International ranks Romania as one of the European Union's most corrupt states and Brussels keeps its justice system under special monitoring, although it has praised magistrates for their efforts to root out high-level graft.

A draft bill released on Tuesday showed a group of Social Democrat lawmakers are proposing that abuse of office offences that cause financial damage of less than 200,000 euros ($237,100) should no longer be punishable.

Other changes include serving prison sentences of less than three years at home, lower sentences for bribe taking and other graft crimes, as well as decriminalizing taking a bribe for someone other than the accused. Another proposal would make using one's position to obtain sexual favours no longer a crime.

If approved, the changes would put an end to an ongoing trial of Social Democrat Party leader and lower house speaker Liviu Dragnea, who is accused of abuse of office.

Dozens of lawmakers and mayors across all parties stand to benefit from the changes. Romania's anti-corruption prosecution unit has sent 72 members of parliament to trial since 2006.

A similar attempt to decriminalise some abuse of office crimes triggered the country's largest street protests in decades at the start of 2017. The ruling coalition backed down at the time but has revived the proposals.

Earlier this month, the ruling coalition has used its overwhelming parliament majority to approve a judicial overhaul that puts magistrates under political control.

They have also filed a different set of proposals to change the criminal code that could derail law and order.

Thousands of magistrates, centrist President Klaus Iohannis, the European Commission, the U.S. State Department and seven EU states have all criticized both the approved bills and the criminal code proposals.

The Social Democrats and their junior coalition partner ALDE have denied the changes would affect the independence of the judiciary and have stressed that parliament has the right to legislate however it sees fit.

The proposed changes place Romania alongside its eastern European peers Hungary and Poland, where populist leaders are also trying to control the judiciary, in defying EU concerns over the rule of law. ($1 = 0.8435 euros) (Reporting by Luiza Ilie; Editing by Richard Chang)
BEIJING, Dec 27 (Reuters) - China has criticised officials in the industrialised province of Shandong for deceiving authorities to evade capacity cuts in the polluting coal, steel, aluminium and chemical sectors, and slammed another province for lying about closing golf courses.

In a statement late on Tuesday, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said Binzhou city, China's aluminium smelter hub, used fake certificates and false data to win approval for 2.4 million tonnes of new aluminium capacity in 2014.

The environmental watchdog also said Rizhao Steel, a major producer, continued to run a mill with 5.94 million tonnes of capacity after it had been due to shut in 2015.

The ministry said all the issues with Binzhou and Rizhao had been resolved by the end of October this year, but did not give details.

The sharply-worded statement came after the central government dispatched teams of inspectors to Shandong, Jilin, Zhejiang, Hainan, Sichuan, Qinghai, Tibet and Xinjiang in August and September. A total of 40,706 incidents of environmental damage were uncovered.

The singling out of companies in a specific province will serve as a warning to officials of the potential consequences of not falling into line with Beijing's mandated capacity cuts.

Separately, state news agency Xinhua said the northeastern province of Jilin had lied about closing golf courses it was supposed to shut as part of a crackdown on illegal golf courses announced in 2011.

The province had continued to tell the central government it had closed the golf courses when in fact it had not, Xinhua said, citing environmental inspectors.

The government has targeted golf courses to protect farmland and save water resources, and also because they are seen as popular venues for shady deals by corrupt officials.

President Xi Jinping said in October that fighting pollution was one of China's key tasks through 2020. Beijing has vowed to reduce air pollution across 28 northern cities this winter.

In Shandong, more than 10,000 companies in Shandong were fined a total of 100 million yuan ($15.3 million) by inspectors in August-September, the environment ministry said.

A total of 1,268 officials in the eastern province have been held accountable for cases of environmental damage, the ministry said in the statement, without giving details.

Shandong ranked 18th among 31 provinces and regions in China's first "green development" index released on Tuesday, which listed regional governments that promote environmentally friendly development.

Local officials in Shandong lack awareness of environmental issues, according to the ministry statement.

The Shandong Environmental Bureau did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

An official at Rizhao Steel said the company had not received any notification from the authorities on any further moves. He declined to be named as he was not authorised to talk to the media.

Apart from shuttering polluting factories, China also plans to roll out nationwide by 2020 a system that forces polluters to repair damage to the environment or pay compensation.

($1 = 6.5562 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Meng Meng, Muyu Xu, Ben Blanchard and Ryan Woo in BEIJING; Additional reporting by Ruby Lian in SHANGHAI; Editing by Peter Graff and Richard Pullin)
By Hyonhee Shin

SEOUL, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Japan said on Wednesday any attempt by South Korea to revise a 2015 deal meant to have resolved a row over "comfort women" forced to work in Japan's wartime brothels would make relations "unmanageable" after Seoul said the agreement had failed.

The two U.S. allies, which share a bitter history including Japanese colonisation, are key to international efforts to rein in North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes that it pursues in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha apologised for the controversial deal on Wednesday, as a panel investigating the negotiations leading up to the agreement unveiled its results.

The investigation concluded that the dispute over the comfort women, a Japanese euphemism for the thousands of girls and women, many of them Korean, forced to work in wartime brothels, could not be "fundamentally resolved" because the victims' demand for legal compensation had not been met.

South Korea wants Japan to take legal responsibility and provide due compensation.

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said the 2015 settlement, which includes a 1 billion yen ($8.8 million) fund to help the victims, resulted from "legitimate negotiations", warning any amendment may complicate relations.

"If (South Korea) tries to revise the agreement that is already being implemented, that would make Japan's ties with South Korea unmanageable and it would be unacceptable," Kono said in a statement.

Kang apologised for "giving wounds of the heart to the victims, their families, civil society that support them and all other people because the agreement failed to sufficiently reflect a victim-oriented approach, which is the universal standard in resolving human rights issues".

Under the deal, endorsed by South Korean President Moon Jae-in's predecessor and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan apologised to former comfort women and provided the fund to help them.

They agreed the issue would be "irreversibly resolved" if both fulfilled their obligations.

Tokyo says the matter of compensation for the women was settled under a 1965 treaty. It says that in 2015, it agreed to provide the funds to help them heal "psychological wounds".

The South Korean government will review the result of the investigation and translate it into policy after consulting victims and civic groups that support them, Kang said.

The comfort women issue has been a regular cause for contention between Japan and neighbours China and North and South Korea since the war. Japan colonised the Korean peninsula between 1910 and 1945 and occupied parts of China before and after the war.

"(The Moon government) has said it will seek a two-track policy by separately dealing with the comfort women issue and the relationship in the face of North Korea's threats, but Japan may not agree with that", Lee Sung-hwan, a professor of Japanese studies in Keimyung University in South Korea, told Reuters.

Japan wants South Korea to remove statues near the Japanese embassy in Seoul and the Japanese consulate in Busan city commemorating Korean comfort women. Seoul says the memorials were erected by civic groups and therefore out of its reach.

According to the investigation, however, the sides struck a separate, secret deal in which South Korea promised to persuade the groups to relocate the statues, provide no support for their overseas statue-raising campaign and refrain from calling the women "sex slaves" on the world stage.

In 2014, the U.N. Human Rights Committee requested Tokyo to clarify the "comfort women" euphemism, with an independent expert on the panel calling for it to be replaced with "enforced sex slaves".

"Such an issue of universal value and historical awareness as that of comfort women cannot be resolved through short-term diplomatic negotiations and a political bargain," said Oh Tai-kyu, a former journalist who led the investigation.

Andrew Horvat, a visiting professor at Josai International University in Japan, said that the pact was flawed from the beginning because it failed to produce real reconciliation.

"The agreement was not reconciliation, but an agreement not to talk about it anymore", Horvat said. (Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Additional reporting by Haejin Choi and Yuna Park in Seoul, and Linda Sieg, Kaori Kaneko and Kiyoshi Takenaka in Tokyo; Editing by Nick Macfie)
DUBAI, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday U.S. President Donald Trump would fail in his hardened stance towards Iran, saying Tehran was stronger than during the time of the "more powerful and smarter" Ronald Reagan.

"Reagan was more powerful and smarter than Trump, and he was a better actor in making threats, and he also moved against us and they shot down our plane," Khamenei said in a speech carried on state television.

In 1988, a U.S. warship shot down an Iranian passenger plane over the Gulf, killing all 290 aboard, in an incident which Washington said was a mistake. Tehran said it was a deliberate attack on Iran, then at war with neighbouring Iraq.

"But Reagan is gone and, according to our beliefs, he now faces God's retribution ... while Iran has made great advances in all areas since Reagan's time," Khamenei added.

"This trend will continue under the current American president and any hopes on their part that the Islamic Republic would back off or weaken is futile."

Trump refused in October to certify that Tehran is complying with its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and warned he might ultimately terminate the agreement.

He announced the shift in U.S. policy in a speech in which he detailed a more aggressive approach to Iran over its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes and its support for militant groups in the Middle East.

Under the nuclear deal, sanctions on Iran were lifted in return for Tehran rolling back technologies with nuclear bomb-making potential. (Reporting by Dubai newsroom)
By Alexandra Alper

UYUNI, Bolivia, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Bolivia hopes surging global lithium demand can lure foreign investors to the country where nearly a decade of state-led development has left output far short of goals for the metal, coveted by makers of batteries for devices from laptops to electric cars.

The poor South American nation boasts nearly a quarter of the world's known resources of the world's lightest metal. Still, production lags far behind neighboring Chile and Argentina. Bolivia hopes to sign a deal with at least one foreign partner to invest up to $750 million in factories to meet rising demand from China and other countries for lithium-ion batteries.

The country is eager to cash in on tightening supplies of lithium. Experts say spot prices have more than doubled to around $25,000 per tonne from below $10,000 in 2015.

Rain and other natural challenges, along with execution hiccups, have hampered state-run operations. Foreign companies with more expertise may be spooked by the left-leaning government of President Evo Morales, whose interventionist policies in other sectors have riled some big corporations and made others hesitant to invest, analysts said.

Bolivia had hoped its project at Uyuni, the world's largest salt flat, would produce 40 tonnes per month of lithium carbonate by 2011. Nine years and $450 million into the project, it is producing just 10 tonnes per month.

Elsewhere in South America's Lithium Triangle, Chile produces 70,000 tonnes a year and Argentina 30,000. Total global production is about 230,000 tonnes. Bolivia has sold exports at far below market prices; an employee of state-run lithium company YLB said it was trying to secure market share.

YLB CEO Juan Carlos Montenegro dismissed concerns about slow production.

"That criticism does not hurt us or interest us," he said. "The important thing for us is ... the results we are going to see in 2018 and 2019."

He said Bolivia was talking with potential partners it hopes will invest up to $750 million. He declined to name them but said a deal could be awarded this month for a 49 percent stake in a major expansion that could include up to seven new plants for cathodes, batteries and more.

Next month, bids are due to build an industrial lithium carbonate facility designed by Germany's K-UTEC. That plant, which was slated to produce 30,000 tonnes per year in 2017, is now expected to produce half that in 2019.

However, critics doubt whether foreign industry heavyweights such as Albemarle Corp and Chile's SQM will risk their capital in Bolivia. Morales has expropriated a series of foreign holdings since taking office in 2006.

Last year, Swiss-based mining and trading firm Glencore Plc said it would begin arbitration against Bolivia over nationalization of some assets. (http://reut.rs/2CezVbK)

Foreign companies with the right expertise, including one from Korea, have turned down the opportunity to operate in Bolivia, said Robert Baylis, managing director at Roskill Information Services Ltd, a consultancy.

"They felt either the risk that they would be nationalized or they would face a lot of problems," he said, adding that no one has yet completed a study that shows Bolivian resources could be extracted economically.

JIGSAW PUZZLE

The lithium market is ripe for new entrants. The niche market for electric vehicles is gearing up for substantial growth as regulators globally tighten limits on greenhouse gas emissions.

China, the world's largest auto market, has pledged to make electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles a fifth of auto sales by 2025. Britain and France have pledged to ban sales of combustion engine cars starting in 2040.

Suppliers like Japan's Panasonic Corp and Korea's LG Chem, and U.S. electric car maker Tesla Inc , which makes its own batteries, are eager to secure long-term lithium supplies.

At Bolivia's Uyuni project, lithium-infused brine lies beneath 10,000 square kilometers of shining white salt, the remains of a vast prehistoric lake on a high Andean plateau that draws thousands of tourists each year.

In a corner of the salt flat, turquoise-colored brine slowly evaporates in rows of vast square pools, leaving behind lithium crystals. These are transferred to a pilot plant and turned into lithium carbonate.

Over a hundred miles east, nestled in the arid mountains that ring the historic silver-mining town of Potosi, another pilot plant in an abandoned Russian tin facility turns the lithium carbonate into cathodes. A third plant next door makes these into simple batteries.

The project was designed to show the Bolivian state could exploit its own lithium, unlike top producers Australia, Chile and Argentina where private firms extract the lion's share of the metal.

Rains often flood the salt flats, lengthening the extraction process. Evaporation, Bolivia's chosen technique, leaves around half the lithium in the brine. Also, the ratio of magnesium to lithium at Uyuni is four times greater than in Chile's Atacama desert, making extraction harder.

Marcelo Castro, leader of the Uyuni efforts from 2007 to 2016, said workers went weeks without washing their hair to conserve water in the project's early days, before water and electricity supplies were set up in the inhospitable landscape. He recalled watching evaporation pools near the salt flat fail, contaminated by dirt carried on the wind.

Castro said he had not planned to spend a decade at the Uyuni project, "but when the needs are urgent you stay."

The project aimed to create an integrated supply chain, helping free Bolivia from overreliance on the whims of volatile commodity markets. Yet the battery plant was built in 2013, four years before the cathode plant. Chinese companies still supply the battery plant with cathodes from abroad.

None of the nearly 3,000 batteries sitting in storage has been sold, according to the plant production manager. Bolivia plans to use at least some of these for rural electrification.

Few outside analysts see a clear path for Bolivia to become a major player in the booming industry.

"It is a puzzle with so many missing pieces. Who can put it together?" said Juan Carlos Zuleta, a Bolivian lithium analyst, who called the project "disastrous." "It's a bad use of our scarce resources." (Additional Reporting by Daniel Ramos in Bolivia, Jake Spring in Brasilia and Luc Cohen in Buenos Aires; Editing by Dan Flynn and David Gregorio)
By Michael Hirtzer

CHICAGO, Dec 27 (Reuters) - U.S. wheat futures climbed more than 1 percent on Wednesday while corn was higher for the sixth straight session as technical buying and end-of-year positioning buoyed grain prices, traders and analysts said.

Soybean futures turned lower on the Chicago Board of Trade after an earlier 1-1/2-week high on profit-taking and alleviated dry weather concerns in Argentina, where weekend rainfall benefited emerging soy plants.

Bitterly cold temperatures in the U.S. Plains threatened to damage dormant winter wheat plants, further supporting wheat prices. Trading volumes remained light ahead of Monday's New Year's Day holiday, leaving prices vulnerable to increased volatility due to a relative lack of liquidity.

CBOT March wheat settled up 5-3/4 cents at $4.28 per bushel and CBOT March corn up 1 cent to $3.53-3/4, a roughly two-week high.

"It's too early to determine any kind of threat (of winterkill)," said Frontier Futures wheat broker Joe Nussmeier. "More than anything, it feels like managed money is trying to cover (their short positions)."

Investment funds were holding a near record-large net short position in U.S. wheat futures and had sizable net shorts in corn and soybeans, according to regulatory data released last week.

Funds on Wednesday were net buyers of wheat and corn, and sellers of soybean futures contracts, traders said.

CBOT January soybean futures ended down 3-3/4 cents at $9.55-1/2 per bushel.

"We're making bets on South American weather," said Zaner Ag Hedge chief market strategist Ted Seifried. "They've had some better rains in Argentina. The short-term forecast is kind of dry but there's optimism rains will come in the second week and fix the problem."

An explosion at a port operated by Chinese export company COFCO in Argentina's Rosario grains hub killed one person and injured others, local authorities said. It was unclear how the incident would impact operations at the port.

(Additional reporting by Naveen Thukral in Singapore and Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)
A gabby Diyawanna member of the JO hailing from Kalutara area the other day called on the chief monk of a Buddhist temple in the area.



After placing the basket of fruits he carried on a stool the member went down on his knees and worshipped the monk.



Asked whether he had any special reason to make this visit, the member said: Ehemai, hamuduruwane.



What is it, mantrituma?



I want to make a humble appeal to you, hamuduruwane!



What is it?



The member scratched his head and said: Hamuduruwane, would you mind withdrawing your candidature in support of our candidate?



The monk looked hard at the member and said: I cant take a decision on my own. I have to consult the party high-ups first.



If you withdraw your candidature, our man is sure to win. If he wins, we all will benefit! And I can assure that he will do appropriate justice to you, hamuduruwane, for your sacrifice! he said.



The monk had finally agreed to withdraw his candidature on the promise of justice being done to him in due course, they say.
Sri Lankas microfinance space is likely to benefit from the additional funding the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has committed to its microfinance programme.

An ADB communique said the development lenders board of directors has raised the limit of an existing microfinance risk participation and guarantee programme by an additional US $100 million in assistance for its microfinance institutions (MFIs).



ADBs additional financing will help the programme expand into new markets in the region, such as Myanmar, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, the communique said.

The programme has been successful, supporting growth and employment opportunities for over 3 million borrowers across Asia and the Pacific to-date.

Giving small businesses and entrepreneurs access to finance is one proven tool to improve livelihoods and reduce poverty, said Sabine Spohn, Senior Investment Specialist in ADBs Private Sector Operations Department.



ADB will continue to expand its support for those at the bottom of the pyramid by increasing the size and scope of the microfinance programme.



The microfinance programme is implemented through a risk participation and guarantee structure.



Under the programme, ADB selects partner financial institutions that provide local currency loans to ADB-approved MFIs. ADB risk participates or partially guarantees the default risk of these MFIs, thereby catalyzing private sector participation and mobilizing additional funds for them.

Since 2010, ADBs microfinance programme has supported US $622 million in new loans, and an additional US $327 million in co-financing. The programme has worked with 27 MFIs and operates in India, Bangladesh, and Indonesia.



Among the 3.49 million borrowers served by the programme, more than 90 percent have been women and predominantly in rural areas. Standard Chartered Bank and Citi as well as IFMR Capital, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and RBL Bank are backers of the program in the risk participation structure. With additional funding, the programme will also expand its scope, allowing the programme to guarantee or risk-participate directly with MFIs or as part of a financial institutions overall microfinance portfolio.



The programme will also be able to partially guarantee bonds and securitization transactions issued by MFIs, thereby enabling greater access by MFIs to capital markets and broadening diversification of funding sources. In addition, tenor on ADB guarantees will increase to up to 5 years. Combined, these changes will offer the programmes partners greater flexibility and encourage a broader range of financial institutions to participate in the programme.
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- In 2017, China tire industry undergoes great changes just as the whole auto industry does. As the competition becomes fiercer and fiercer, all tire companies are all striving for more opportunities and market shares.

From the very beginning of this year, tire companies in China started to announce they would increase the price. And in December, another ten tire companies said they would raise the price. The fluctuation in material, the environmental protection policy and the production restriction are all considered to have triggered the price raising. As the competitiveness of Chinese tires lies in its price, Chinese tire industry is expected to make breakthroughs in other aspects after the price raising.

In the past year, Chinese tire industry also experienced great reshuffle, especially Shandong tire companies. Many companies were acquired or integrated after the capital chain rupture. In order to eliminate the negative effect, the local government has set up the integration fund for the tire industry.

Changes also took place in foreign trade environment. In February, the U.S. International Trade Commission has determined the domestic truck and bus tire industry has not suffered material injure because of Chinese imports. As a result, the U.S Department of Commerce will not issue antidumping and countervailing duty orders on the imported products. But new problems also follow. India, Turkey and the European Union have taken measures on the import of Chinese tires.

The past year saw the overseas investment of many Chinese tire companies. Triangle Tire, Wanli Tire has revealed their plans to build factories in America. And also, some companies want to make investments in Southeast Asia.

In 2017, Chinese tire companies also formed cooperative relationships with foreign companies. For example, in June, Zhongce Rubber Group signed strategic cooperation agreement with Belgium's N.V. Bekaert S.A. focusing on the development of steel cord for green tires. Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang and Belgium Prime Minister Charles Michel witnessed the signing.

As the competition gets increasingly intense, the tire industry steps up efforts to enhance the brand power as well as improving the product quality. Local governments also strengthen their support for the tire industry.
The majority of the people in the country use social media such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Viber, and Twitter which give them easy access for communication. People use social media for personal interest while others do so to maintain connections with people in other parts of the world.

Users prefer Facebook for personal interests like earning a living, which is often legal but sometimes illegal.

There are also Facebook users who cheat people. These helpless people are initially added as friends before they are duped!

Several incidents have been reported in the past to the Computer Emergency Readiness Team-Co-ordination Center (CERT|CC) in connection with cheating incidents on Facebook.

Check the availability of the international parcel delivery agents with the received delivery agents images. After several investigations CERT/CC found out that the Facebook cheaters and the bogus Custom officers were from Sri Lanka

The contacted CERT/CC Principal Information Security Engineer Roshan Chandragupta to obtain more details regarding online frauds and crimes on social media.

Chandragupta said that the majority of the people in the country have social media accounts.

Most of them use Facebook to connect with friends, he said.

However he said that with regard to many account holders, who had a myriad of friends, most friends were not known to them personally.

Cheats

He said that the CERT/CC has received complaints where Facebook users have been cheated or defrauded. These cheats have used Facebook to obtain presents and later held the account holders to ransom.

Some fraudsters using Facebook accounts appear to be genuine foreigners. They often provide a full profile background.

First they send friend requests and try to build confidence. If the friend request is accepted they will next move on to chat, share images and even sent wishes and gifts to build confidence in this relationship.

Most of these criminals are inclined towards building close friendships and pretend to be caring. They share every pain, sorrow and happiness in their lives and provide social media users with advice. Shortly thereafter, the criminals send boxes containing presents such as electrical items and jewellery among other things.

These fraudsters will also say that some amount of money has also been put into a gift parcel to pay in the instance it has to be cleared at the customs department.

Then they will share the pictures of what is being sent- the parcel with its packing and postage bills. Once they post the parcel they post a message on Facebook saying that the person had posted a parcel which included foreign currency, the latter being included to pay the bill at the customs department.

Later, they send an SMS stating that the customs department had received a parcel and it could be released only after paying duties. They also send a local bank account number to pay the tax. According to complaints received, the victims had credited the given account with sums like Rs. 20,000, Rs.30,000, Rs.40,000 and Rs.80,000 respectively.

The start of troubles

After the victim pays the tax, he or she will receive another call after a couple of days. A person who claims to be a customs officer then says that the parcel that was received contains undeclared foreign currency, possession of which is illegal. The caller says that the parcel had been seized by the customs department after it went through the scanner. He then requests the victim to release the currencies within a certain period of time after declaring it to the customs officials.The fraudster then asks the victim to pay a Customs duty worth Rs.150,000 to the account number, which details he or she had sent earlier. The criminal would say that the foreign currencies sent with the gift parcel were more than the customs duties.

Then the criminal would demand the victim to compensate the expenses incurred and to keep the change. Meanwhile, another caller, claiming to be the agent delivering the parcel, requests the victim to pay money soon, as he was unable to attend duty for a long time and he had to send details of delivery conformation to the head office. If the victim tries to contact the bogus customs officer, he would say that the foreign currencies within the parcel are more than the Customs declaration duty and its better to pay the amount to get the currencies released.

Threats

They would also threaten these victims that if they attempt to visit the customs department the customs officers would prevent them saying that if they attempted to declare the currencies they may be arrested. They maintain that the foreign currencies were brought into the country illegally .The bogus officer also tells the victim to pay the customs declaration fee to the aforementioned local bank account and then the parcel with the foreign currencies could be released.

After the customs declaration period expires several messages will be sent via the fake Facebook account. Later the account will be deactivated or the profile would be changed, so that no one can trace them.

Chandragupta said that there were no recorded complaints of anyone having made such payments after parcels were seized by the customs department. He requested Facebook users to limit adding known friends and not to upload confidential or personnel details. He also warned Facebook users not to accept friend requests by unknown persons and not to chat with them.

If the Customs receives such a parcel via an international courier service, documents with hard copies will have to be sent to the receiver. We never use soft copies or images. Increasing use of social media makes people to make new connections with unknown persons

He also requested users to ignore if such messages were received and to cross-check the received Customs declaration bill images with the customs department to check whether it is genuine. Check the availability of the international parcel delivery agents with the received delivery agents images. After several investigations CERT/CC found out that the Facebook cheaters and the bogus Custom officers were from Sri Lanka.The delivery officer was also a local person and he used to speak in English with an accent, like a foreigner, he said. When contacted Sri Lanka Customs Acting Customs Media Spokesman Deputy Director Vipula Minuwanpitiya said that no complaint regarding such an incident had been received so far. However, he said that the social media based frauds were becoming a matter of great concern these days.

If the Customs receives such a parcel via an international courier service, documents with hard copies will have to be sent to the receiver. We never use soft copies or images. Increasing use of social media makes people to make new connections with unknown persons. We understand that even educated people fall victim to such frauds, Minuwanpitiya said.

The Customs Department advises the public not to fall victim to such scams.

If anyone receives such images and someone askesthem to pay Customs duty to unknown accounts so that goods can be released, immediately inform the Police, he said.
By Chandeepa Wettasinghe

The depositors of the failed Central Investment and Finance PLC (CIFL) yesterday alleged that the move by the Central Bank to close down CIFL and its group companies is to cover up the irregular and possibly illegal conduct of the Central Bank officials regulating these companies.



Nishantha Attanayake, a Director at City Finance Corporation Limiteda CIFL group subsidiary told a press conference yesterday that the Central Bank officials want to cover up all the illegal activities of former CIFL Chairman Deepthi Perera and said if a forensic audit is conducted, a number of Central Bank officials will be in trouble.



Perera went into hiding in Cambodia for two years after it was alleged that he defrauded the CIFL depositors and mismanaged the company. He was arrested upon return to Sri Lanka and bailed out in 2015 and the legal proceedings are ongoing.



Former Additional Auditor General A.H.M.L. Ambanwala, who was also at the press conference, said that after looking through some of the accounts of CIFL he was presented with, he feels a comprehensive audit is required and that he would extend his expertise if required.



From recent discussions, what became clear to me was that there was a weakness in the Central Banks regulatory and monitoring roles. Deposits are made in finance companies based on the fact that they are monitored and audited by the Central Bank. That duty has not been carried out, he said.

CIFL Depositors Association President Wijeya Gunawardana added that the reputation of the Monetary Board of Sri Lanka, which governs the Central Bank, is now in question and the confidence placed in the Central Bank has now been shattered.



Were evaluating what to do, whether to take to the roads or to the courts. We will tell every Sri Lankan to take their money out of finance companies and put them in a state bank. We will create a situation where the entire financial industry will collapse, Gunawardana said.



He also said from 2009-2013, persons with questionable reputation were appointed to the boards of the CIFL group companies, giving scant regard to fit and proper requirements for such posts, for which the Central Bank bears the responsibility of enforcing.



Gunawardana alleged that senior officials in the Central Bank and the judiciary had conspired to dismiss legal action taken by the depositors in the Court of Appeals against the Central Bank for not managing the situation since taking CIFL into its custody since 2013.



The Central Bank officials had also sabotaged the efforts to take up the issue at the Supreme Court, he alleged.



These allegations against the Central Bank come at a time when the top management of a controversial primary dealer has confessed at a Presidential Commission for conducting insider trading in collusion with the Central Bank officials at treasury bond auctions.



Most of the depositors at the CIFL group companies have not received their deposits back, while some have had their deposits converted to shares and many are not receiving their due interest.

While CIFL was in troubled waters, the then Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal in 2014 had visited Singapore with the Colombo Stock Exchange officials during a roadshow to attract investors to Sri Lanka and had attempted to woo Singaporean investors into Sri Lankas financial sector, which was undergoing consolidation forced upon by the government.

It was then that One Asia Investment Partners Pte Ltd (OAIP)which is currently not allowed to manage funds in Singapore since the Monetary Authority of Singapore revoked OAIPs Capital Markets Services Licence this April for ineffective managementdecided to invest Rs.198 million in the CIFL subsidiary, City Finance, through a local subsidiary set up by OAIP.



However, with the change of government in January 2015, the current government decided to discontinue the policy of forcing the sector to consolidate and the Central Bank had then decided not to honour the agreement the Central Bank had signed with OAIP, which included the Central Bank investing equal amounts of capital that OAIP invested in City Finance, according to OAIP Local Representative Dakshitha Bogollagama.



Bogollagama has currently filed legal action against the Central Bank for not honouring the agreement and this legal action had resulted in City Finances licence not being revoked by the Central Bank at the same time as CIFL.



According to depositors and company officials, CIFL has received offers from German, Swiss and Australian investors to bail out the company and repay the depositors.



But the Central Bank was not that keen to accept investors. They didnt treat the investors properly, Gunawardana said.



He added that these three investors are ready, even today, to invest in CIFL if the Central Bank is willing to reverse its decision to cancel CIFLs licence.



However, the Central Bank, at the time of revoking CIFLs licence, said that it has extended the deadline given to a potential investor on several occasions to prove the availability of funds which has not been fulfilled as yet.



The Central Bank, after considering the plight of small depositors in CIFL, had also offered to expand the Sri Lanka Deposit Insurance and Liquidity Support Scheme limit of Rs.300,000 to Rs.600,000 in order to ensure that 2,501 out of the 4,092 CIFL depositors would be repaid their deposit values.



Gunawardana however said that all depositors are of equal standing in the CIFL Depositors Association regardless of the money deposited and that the association expects justice to be given to all the depositors.
A story how Big Vig from the North had to eat humble pie by trying to be too big for his shoes has gone viral in political circles.



Big Vig had made a direct invitation to the Malay leader who was on an official visit here recently to pay a visit to the North.



Surprised by this direct invitation, which amounted to a serious breach of protocol, the Malay Government authorities had informed about it to Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry.



Following consultations with the Foreign Ministry, the Malay government had informed Big Vig that arrangements could be made for him to call on the Malay leader in Colombo.



So Big Vig had to come down from his pedestal and call on the Malay leader in Colombo, they say.

Thus, Big Vig had to eat crow by failing in his bid to show the foreign visitor the shortcomings in the North mainly for the purpose of placing the Centre in a bad light, say political observers.
Coca-Cola is indeed the brand that comes to mind when getting into the holiday spirit.Truly, Christmas just isnt Christmas without the plump, smiling visage of Santa Claus in his signature red suit, armed with presents, going Ho, Ho, Ho! Merry Christmas!, bringing a smile to the faces of adults and children alike.



While Santa Claus has become synonymous with Christmas, he has also become the face of the worlds best-loved cola, Coca-Cola.



Although the Santa in red image may have been standardised before Coca-Cola adopted it for their advertisements, Coca-Cola had a great deal to do with establishing Santa Claus as an iconic Christmas figure in America at a time when the holiday was still making the transition from a religious observance to a largely cultural celebration. A regular feature in Coca-Colas seasonal advertising over the decades, in many ways, Santa Claus has become synonymous with the beloved beverage across the world.



Coca-Cola helped shape the modern-day image of Santa. In fact, the way most of us see Santa Claus  friendly and plump with a white beard  came from Coca-Cola advertising. Before these ads, Santa was drawn in a variety of ways  even as a scary elf.



A long time ago, Father Christmas was shown in clothes of different colours: green, purple, light-blue, navy blue, brown or red. Some illustrations even depict him as a multi-colour figure wearing blue trousers, a yellow waistcoat and a red jacket. In some cases, he even wore brown, black or white furs. On his head, he used to have a mistletoe crown, a hat, a nightcap, a bishops mitre or a hood.



In 1930, artist Fred Mizen painted a department store Santa in a crowd, drinking a bottle of Coke. The advert featured the worlds largest soda fountain and Mizens painting was thereafter captured in print. Coca-Cola was originally consumed only from soda fountains, but in 1928 drinking from bottles began making its way into homes. By 1937, Coca-Cola bottles had truly risen to popularity, so naturally the holiday ad campaign featured a familiar Santa drinking Coke from a bottle in front of the fridge.



It was in 1931 that the Coca-Cola Company made the decision to start running adverts in popular print magazines and Archie Lee, the executive handling the Coca-Cola account at the DArcy Advertising Agency, wanted a holiday campaign that showed a wholesome Santa. Coca-Cola introduced this new friendly, human image of Santa (created by illustrator Haddon Sundblom) in December 1931.Seeking inspiration, Sundblom turned to Clement Clark Moores 1822 poem A Visit from St. Nicholas, more commonly referred to as Twas the Night Before Christmas. Moores description of St. Nicholas depicted an image of a warm, friendly, pleasantly plump and jovial Santa.



He modelled his creation on Moores poem and his neighbour. The result was incredible and soon the world fell in love with this festive new Santa Claus. Even after his neighbour passed away, Sundblom continued to create his Santa imagery, only he stepped into the role of a model as well.



From 1931-1964, Sundblom created holiday ads for Coca-Cola featuring Santa, and those images continue to be used each year on bottles, cans and 12-packs. During the Depression of the thirties, Sundbloms Santa offered just what people needed at that critical time: A welcome display of warmth and generosity.

As Americans were preparing for war (WWII), Coca-Cola used their 1943 holiday ad campaign to support the war effort by way of showcasing Santa with a Coke in one hand and his toy sack over his shoulder filled with toys and war bonds. Until 1964, Coca-Cola adverts showed Santa delivering toys, pausing to read a letter, enjoying a Coke and visiting children who stayed up to greet him.



Today sharing a Coca-Cola with family and friends during the holiday season is part and parcel of annual festivities. Thanks to Sundblom and Coca-Colas beautiful creation, the snowy white-bearded man, with his rosy cheeks and warm smile that radiates happiness, people around the world have grown to love and cherish a powerful image of Santa that has lived on to delight children and adults alike for nearly a century. Coca-Cola and Santa Claus continue to shape popular culture, a bond which strengthens every year and endures for generations.
JLanka Technologies Operations Director Jayasoma accepts the Provincial Gold Award in the Extra Large Industry category at the 2017 Sri Lanka Entrepreneur of the Year Awards in the presence of (from left): Sharjah Airport International Free Zone Business Development Manager Thomas Joseph, FCCISL President Sarath Kahapalarachchi, Sharjah Airport International Free Zone Director General Saud Salim Al Mazrouei and FCCISL Secretary General/CEO Ajith D. Perera

JLanka Technologies Operations Director Jayasoma accepts the National Gold Award in the Extra Large Industry category at the 2017 Sri Lanka Entrepreneur of the Year Awards in the presence of (from left) Sharjah Airport International Free Zone Business Development Manager Thomas Joseph, FCCISL Senior Vice President and SAARC CCI Senior Vice President Ruwan Edirisinghe, Sharjah Airport International Free Zone Director General Saud Salim Al Mazrouei and FCCISL Secretary General/CEO Ajith D. Perera

JLanka Technologies was once again recognized for its pioneering efforts in innovation and sustainable transformation at the Sri Lankan Entrepreneur of the Year Awards for 2017, with JLanka CEO and Technical Director Dr. Mayura Jayasoma walking away with both the National and Provincial Gold awards in the Extra-Large Industry category.



Organised by the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL), the awards were held recently at the BMICH.



The wins are testament to the visionary leadership of Dr. Jayasoma, who has positioned JLanka as the countrys dominant solar solutions provider today, within a short period of operation since its establishment in 2011. Initiated by Dr. Jayasoma with a vision to resolve Sri Lankas looming energy crisis through the integration of sustainable and renewable energy solutions, the company advocated the adoption of solar power across Sri Lanka, facing a tough challenge to change the consumer perception of solar as a superfluous and exorbitant solution.



With a business model that focused on educating consumers rather than simply promoting products, JLanka has combined locally-based research and development together with global expertise in the subject, producing financially feasible, innovative solar solutions for segmented market groups across the country since its inception.



The company went beyond its operational function to create widespread awareness of the benefits of solar energy, creating platforms for debate and forums for knowledge dissemination. Solar has become a booming business in Sri Lanka today, Dr. Jayasoma commented.



We have always believed in solar solutions as a value addition to the nation and today the results speak for themselves.



With our growing product portfolio and highly customized industrial, commercial and residential solar solutions, we are nurturing entrepreneurs, new business ventures and adding novel revenue streams to improve Sri Lankas economy.



Solar is also sustainably increasing property value across the country today. We have created a mind-shift in our consumers in a period of six short years and are thrilled to be recognized for our efforts with the National Sri Lankan Entrepreneur of the Year Award.



Today, JLanka solutions generate 22MW of clean solar energy, creating a sustainable eco-system that saves 12,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually. Coal consumption has been reduced by 10,000 tonnes and diesel by nine million litres each year. The company has thus far planted 40,000 trees across the island to offset the countrys carbon footprint.



Powered by 350 individuals, representing multiple areas of expertise, 15 JLanka branches across the country offer islandwide coverage to over 2500 clients in domestic, commercial and industrial sectors.

The company is closely working with the government to promote renewable energy education in the country through the establishment of an educational institution in 2018. JLanka is in the forefront of an energy revolution across the country, creating a greener and sustainable eco-system while contributing positively to the national economy.
While stating that the government had given additional priority in voting against Donald Trumps declaration to recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital at the UN, former MP and retired Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera said it had turned a blind eye on the UNHRC resolution in which the Sri Lankan soldiers have been accused.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror, he asked as to why the governments move had been dull on the UNHRC resolution 30/1 which had accused Lankan soldiers over serious violations and abuses of human rights and related crimes that they have allegedly committed during the period 2002 February to 2011 November.

It is visible that Sri Lanka is being humiliated and tarnished on account of unsubstantiated war crimes accusations by the UNHRC resolution 30/1. But it seems that the government and the rest of the political parties are not concerned with the issue whereas the government has categorically announced its stance on the Trumps declaration to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Thats pathetic, Weerasekera stressed.

He said a delegation could have been sent to the UN to respond in a similar way in the wake of Lord Nasebys defence of Sri Lanka and added the issue was why a similar stand cannot be adopted on behalf of our own country. (Sheain Fernandopulle)
The Sri Lanka-Malaysia Business Council of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce had a business meeting with members of the Malaysia-Sri Lanka Business Chamber on December 18th, at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.



The delegation was accompanying the Malaysian Prime Minister Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak during his visit to Sri Lanka on from December17thto 19th.



The Malaysian team was very positive about the potential for trade relations between Sri Lanka and Malaysia and noted that the two ccouncils should strive to increase activities with a proactive approach and mentioned that they are keen to expand business interests in Sri Lanka and that they have been promoting Sri Lanka as an investment destination, among Malaysian investors. The discussion took place on the topic in empowering youth in Sri Lanka and Malaysian delegates mentioned that the Malaysian organizations are happy to help Sri Lanka on vocational training and empowering youth, which will address the current issue on shortage of skilled labor in the country.



The Malaysian team shared their high focus directed towards SMEs in Malaysia and mentioned that SME companies in Malaysia are willing to invest in Sri Lanka, following the success stories in China on the same avenues. The team mentioned that they have confident that the same scenario can be replicated in Sri Lanka to achieve synergies through joint collaboration between Sri Lanka and Malaysian businesses. They also mentioned about an integrated building scheme to provide assistance to build houses and also mentioned about plans of organising a conference with focus on one-to-one meetings with Sri Lankan business community.



Sri Lanka-Malaysia Business Council (SLMBC) President Iqram Cuttilan, also a Director of Aitken Spence Shipping Ltd stated that SLMBC will support and collaborate in making these initiatives successful and mentioned that as per the invitation of Malaysia-Sri Lanka Business council, SLMBC will organise a trade delegation to Malaysia and will plan it to coincide with the international conference scheduled for the same period.



Ambassador Kumaseri, President Kulasegaran, V.J. Balan, Kanesan, Magandran, members from the Malaysia-Sri Lanka Business Chamber, SLMBC President Iqram Cuttilan, Vice President Amrit Canaga Retna, Past President Rohitha Silva, Past President Nilrukshi de Silva, Khalid M. Farouk, Mizha Mizver and members of the Sri Lanka-Malaysia Business Council of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce attended the meeting.
When Minister of Plantation Industries Navin Dissanayake said that unofficial reports suggested that Russias restriction on the tea trade was due to Sri Lankas decision to ban the import of Asbestos roofing materials, it threw some light on how relations between the two countries remained strained despite utterances, couched in diplomatic language, that it was a smooth sail.

Sri Lankas announcement of the ban on White Asbestos roofing materials from Russia was to be effective from January, 2018.

Barely two weeks ahead of the ban coming into effect, the Russian Federation imposed a temporary restriction on the import of plant-origin products from Sri Lanka. Tea accounts for more than 80 percent of the agricultural products exported to Russia. Sri Lankas exported $ 114.18 million-worth Ceylon Tea to Russia between January to August this year.

The restriction on exporting tea to Russia was effective from December 18. The decision was linked to the discovery of the insect called Khaprabeetle in a consignment of tea shipped from Sri Lanka.

It came as a body blow to Sri Lanka as Russia accounts for 25 percent of Sri Lankas total tea market.

The presence of a beetle was the cause cited for the imposed restriction, which was lifted later after diplomatic engagement by none other than President Maithripala Sirisena himself.

Other than Asbestos, there are other irritants to the relations between the two countries

Expecting the same courtesy

Though this was the reason announced publicly, it transpired later that the decision was taken in retaliation to Sri Lankas decision to ban the import of Asbestos. Minister Dissanayake himself admitted to this fact at a press conference. His admission corresponded with action by the Government which lifted the ban, apparently expecting Russia to reciprocate with the same level of courtesy.

Russia is the worlds largest exporter of Asbestos. Asbestos is a fibrous, silicate mineral used for the production of roofing materials. Fifty five countries have banned mining and the use of this mineral over reports that the exposure to it causes cancer.

There are claims for and against this research finding. Russia has been antagonized by Sri Lanka, one of its close allies in the international arena, which joined the anti- asbestos chorus sung by the western world.

Let alone, this is not the only instance when Sri Lankas actions caused resentment to Russia.

In 2015, Russia brought a resolution seeking to remove benefits to the same-sex partners of the UN staff. The resolution failed in the UN General Assembly committee as 80 nations opposed it. The regional countries such as India voted along with Russia for the resolution. Sri Lanka was, however, among the countries that voted against it.

The countries that supported the Russian resolution were India, China, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE and others.

Former Russian Ambassador to Sri Lanka Alexander Karchava, in an interview with Daily Mirror, said that he noted Sri Lankas position in this regard.

If passed, the resolution would have then had UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon withdraw his policy laying out the United Nations current rules for the personal status of staff members for determining their benefits and entitlements.

Tea accounts for more than 80 % of the agricultural products exported to Russia

It came as a body blow to Sri Lanka as Russia accounts for 25 % of Sri Lankas total tea market

55 countries have banned mining and the use of this mineral over reports that the exposure to it causes cancer

In 2015, Russia brought a resolution seeking to remove benefits to the same-sex partners of the UN staff

Another blow by Sri Lanka

In another instance, Sri Lankas position hugely impacted Russias stand at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

Like the countries such as China and Pakistan, Russia too is opposed to country-specific resolutions at the UNHRC. In principle, Russia stood with Sri Lanka when the United States moved resolutions on it year after year. Yet, Sri Lanka had a new practice under the new Government in 2015 when it decided to co-sponsor the resolution.

Sri Lankas decision was, in fact, challenging the stands taken in principle by some countries against the country-specific resolutions.

In this manner, apart from the planned ban on the import of Asbestos, there were areas in which Russia and Sri Lanka had differences in the recent past.

However, President Maithripala Sirisena was keen to foster ties with Russia right from the beginning. In fact, he undertook a state visit, the first by a Sri Lankan leader after former Prime Minister the late Sirimawo Bandaranaike in 1972.

The President tried to use his good office with Russian President Vladimir Putin to get the restriction on tea trade lifted. He directly wrote to President Putin. The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Russia, which received the letter signed by President Maithripala Sirisena and addressed to the Russian President, forwarded to the Administration of the President of Russia.

Visit to Moscow

Afterwards, a technical delegation from the Sri Lanka Tea Board visited Moscow to conduct negotiations with the Russian authorities.

The talks were conducted with the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance and met with the Deputy Head of the Service Ms. Julia Shvabauskene.

Negotiations were very fruitful. At the meeting, the Russian side informed that theyre waiting for a Sri Lankan delegation to arrive to proceed with resolving of the Ceylon tea imports restrictions issue and requested a report from the Plant Quarantine Service of Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan Embassy in Moscow obtained the document from Sri Lanka and forwarded to the Russian authority later on the same day. Also, it was pointed out by the Russian side that the pest found in tea is very destructive and not available in Euro-Asian regions. However, it can damage the entire grain production in Russia, considering that this country is the largest producer and exporter of grain in the world. The Russian officials also informed the Embassy that all tea consignments shipped before December 18th from Sri Lanka would be strictly inspected and released, if no quarantine pest is found.

On the whole, the Russian officials expressed their commitment to the issue of temporary restrictions imposed on the Ceylon tea imports from Sri Lanka and highlighted that they are also interested in the quickest resolution of this situation. That is why there are many positive signs at this moment and I think that the visit of the Sri Lanka Tea Board delegation will be very efficient and productive, Sri Lankan Ambassador in Russia Saman Weerasinghe said.
Negombo City Coroner Dr. Siri Jayantha Wickremaratne who held the preliminary inquiry into the death of a young man who died during a trip to Maldives, ordered police to produce before him the woman who had accompanied him on the journey.

He decided that the circumstance that led to the death had not been established during the inquiry and that the statement of the woman concerned should be recorded.

The deceased Havaragoda Kuruppuge Dasun Tharanga (33) was a resident of Robert Gunawardene Mawatha in Udayapura, Battaramulla.

He had gone to Maldives on December 16 with his fiancee and had died four days later.

Testifying before the coroner, sister of the deceased Kuruppuge Dilshani (31) a SLAS officer said that the deceased was an employee of an insurance company and that he was under treatment for high blood cholesterol.

She also said he left on the trip to Maldives with his fiancee Chamila and that she suspected foul play.

JMO Negombo General Hospital M.N.Rahulhuk who performed the postmortem examination reported that the death was due to drowning. The coroner returned an open verdict pending evidence of eye witnesses. (Hubert Fernando)
Following our recent expose on how the Governments procurement guidelines were brought to question by the Ministry of Education when selecting the bidder to supply computer tabs for the teachers and students associated with the Advanced Level classes, it had now come to light how the higher officials have been unable to utilize the budgetary allocation to provide infrastructure facilities to schools.

The Ministry of Education (MoE), as per the treasury reports, has failed to utilize the 2017 budgetary allocations to provide the basic facilities to schools. Most Government academic institutions lack the facilities required to provide the proper education to the children with there being a shortage of teachers and other infrastructure facilities.

According to MoE statistics, much of the 2017 budgetary allocation has not been utilized as of September 30.

As of September 30, 2017, Rs.54.9 billion had been allocated for recurrent expenditure out of which only Rs.32.4 billion (59.2%) had been used

Under capital expenditure, Rs.12.4 billion had been allocated for school buildings

The MoE has to pay Rs.172 million for the schools in the Central Province

Out of the 10, 222 schools in the country, internet facilities are provided only to 2000 schools

As of September 30, 2017, Rs.54.9 billion had been allocated for recurrent expenditure out of which only Rs.32.4 billion (59.2%) had been used while out of the Rs.52.5 billion allocation on capital expenditure, only Rs.38.1billion (72.6%) had been utilized.

Under capital expenditure, Rs.12.4 billion had been allocated for school buildings, Rs.9 billion for procurement, Rs.5 billion each for the purchase of Computer Tabs, to hire Computers and to purchase Tables/Chairs. However, other than using Rs.1.5 billion from the allocations on procurements, other allocations have not been utilized. Although the treasury had allocated funds to supply necessary chairs and tables for schools, it is questionable as to why the budgetary allocations are retained in coffers without being utilized?, higher officials at the MoE said on condition of anonymity.

According to sources, officials take more time to grant approval to letters highlighting urgent needs. Most of the times these letters are misplaced. The files that are sent to these officials sometimes return to us without approval being granted. In order to satisfy the subject minister they are concentrating more on organizing functions and attending meetings, but not on the paper work, sources alleged.

President Ceylon Teachers Union, Joseph Stalin accused the Education Minister and ministry officials of paying attention only to attend functions rather than formulate and implement proper policies to benefit the countrys education system.

Education is a devolved subject as per the 13th Amendment, yet, given the existence of concurrent lists, there are 353 national schools where the operations and administration of these schools are carried out by the MoE. The higher officials are mostly involved in attending functions in these national schools. It is quite costly to organize school events which are attended by higher officials. The distribution and appointments at these events can be done without much fanfare. The solving of issues pertaining to school admissions, with regard to the national schools, also involve much time of the Ministry officials. These activities demand the time of nearly ninety percent of the higher officials. This doesnt allow these officials the time to focus on formulation and implementing policies to benefit the students. If the MoE can vest powers in the Provincial Councils to manage these 353 national schools the way they manage 9, 600 provincial schools in the country, the Minister and his officials will get more time to focus on Policy Research and Formulation, Monitoring and Evaluation of Educational Delivery, Teacher Education and Teacher Professional Development, Curriculum Development, Examinations and Assessments, Stalin said.

Stalin further said how necessary it is to have a strong structure and coordination between policies and implementation of the respective ministries in order to ensure coherence and provide the required linkages towards a systematic progress in education from childhood to adulthood.

Rationalizing work

According to Stalin, the Ministry of Education, will be able to build good leaders at each level, concentrate on issues appropriate to their main functions of policy development and planning, focus on new processes and structures, in order to bring about an enhanced culture of performance. The Provincial and District Administrations must be strengthened, so that they can focus on the day-to-day administration of the school. The work at the Ministry can be rationalized with more personnel focusing on more consistent and effective policy implementation, identification of gaps and remedial measures in a timely manner. When they concentrate on these important aspects, they can also focus more on Teacher Education, their continuous professional development and appropriate teacher deployments, particularly in the core subjects of Maths, IT, English and Sciences. The schools in the periphery are devoid of receiving this kind of attention. These huge disparities in the countrys education systems need to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

Meanwhile, Starlin further pointed out how the Presidential Investigation Unit had found three high ranking officials to be at fault in printing the Year 7 Geography text book in synthetic paper which had cost the country Rs.128.9 million. This exercise was six times costlier compared to printing it on normal paper.

Had these books been printed using normal paper, it would have cost the country a little more than Rs.21.3 million. Over five hundred thousand copies of the book printed in Sinhala, Tamil and English languages had been printed on synthetic paper. It is reported that the approval for this printing had been obtained by misleading the cabinet of ministers. On whose advice was this printing order given? Now the Presidential Investigation Unit has completed the investigation and had found fault with three officials, but no action has been taken against these officials to date, Stalin underscored.

When contacted Director Presidential Investigation Unit, Ruban Wickremarachchi, it was confirmed that the investigation had been concluded and the report had been submitted to the President.

I cannot tell the media what our findings are, but those who have been found guilty are now threatening us that they are going to courts. We have done the investigation based on what we have unearthed. Anyone has the freedom to go to courts, but the truth will prevail, Wickremarachchi said.

Internet and tabs

Meanwhile Stalin further queried as to how the schools that dont have internet facilities could operate the computer tabs?

Before giving the tabs, the Ministry should provide internet connections to the schools and necessary teachers who have the knowledge to teach the children how to operate these devices. Out of the 10, 222 schools in the country, internet facilities are provided only to 2000 schools, Stalin said.

Director (IT) MoE, P.N. Ilapperuma when contacted said that internet facilities would be provided to all schools that conduct A/L classes before the computer tabs are purchased.

There are 1016 schools that conduct A/L classes in all three streams while 1805 schools have only arts and commerce streams. The schools that have not been provided with internet facilities will get them given soon, Ilapperuma said.

Stalin further alleged that the MoE has plans to grant Rs.800,000 each to 5,000 students to obtain an education degree from a private university, and linked this plan with a powerful official in the Government. Once these students complete the degree and serve in Government schools for three consecutive years, this loan will be waived off. The Government is spending Rs.4000 million on these students who have failed to enter a state university. This concept was the brainchild of this powerful official as it benefits his son-in-law. If the Government has money to spend, why cannot they enhance facilities in state universities and enroll more students which would be viable?, Stalin queried.

Three high ranking officials were found to be at fault in printing the Year 7 Geography text book in synthetic paper which had cost the country Rs.128.9 million

MoE has plans to grant Rs.800,000 each to 5, 000 students to obtain an education degree from a private university

Basic facilities

Meanwhile, a school principal from the Central Province, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Daily Mirror how the MoE, during the past six months, had failed to reimburse the money they had spent to construct toilets and refurbish the old school buildings under the best school is the nearest school concept.

According to this Principal, former Director (Construction), MoE had wanted all the principals to obtain the assistance of their respective school development societies and get the toilets constructed. He also wanted the old buildings refurbished and promised to reimburse the money once the bills are produced.

Initially we were paid an advance of two hundred thousand rupees and one hundred and fifty thousand rupees respectively to refurbish the old school buildings and to construct toilets. When we informed the MoE that we were unable to get involved in these constructions, the former Director (Construction) wanted us to give up our jobs if we were not willing to support their concept. We bought all the construction materials from hardware shops in the locality, but so far the money we spent has not been reimbursed. The MoE has to pay Rs.172 million for the schools in the Central Province. Whenever we make a representation to the Ministry in this regard we are told that they do not have the necessary funds. At a time the ministry has not utilized their budgetary allocations, why cant they reimburse the money, the sources asked.

All attempts taken to reach Secretary Education Ministry Sunil Hettiarachchi through phone calls proved futile.
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- According to Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., Ltd. (GAC), the third vehicle plant of GAC Toyota Motor Co., Ltd (GAC Toyota) has already initiated the trial production. The group plans to put the new plant into production in January 2018. It is predicted that the third vehicle plant will produce C-HR, a TNGA-based all-new SUV.

At present, GAC Toyota has two production lines with total annual production capacity of 380,000 units. Specifically, the first production line is able to produce around 200,000 units per year, mainly making Camry, Levin, Yaris L, etc. The annual production capacity of the second plant is around 180,000 units.

The production capacity of the third plant is expected to reach 220,000 units per year. Once the new plant officially goes into operation, all of the three plants together will gain a production capacity of 600,000 units per year.

It is worth mentioning that the production line of the third vehicle plant has already gone into trial operation. The new plant is designed based on TNGA, involving as much as RMB 3 billion of investment. It will focus on small-size vehicle's production and position itself as a vehicle production line with the highest efficiency and the best quality in the world.

As GAC Toyota's plans, the production line of the third plant will firstly produce C-HR, an all-new model of small SUV, which will be officially released in 2018.




Flagstaff Police arrested a man on Christmas Day on suspicion of second-degree homicide after he allegedly beat his estranged girlfriend and left her outside in the cold in the 2200 block of East Cedar Avenue.

Vaughn Seumptewa is currently being held in the Coconino County Detention Facility on $1 million bail after Nicole Joe, 40, was found dead in Seumptewas apartment.

According to police, the suspect admitted to police that he had been involved in a verbal and physical altercation with Joe on Sunday night. Joe reportedly left the apartment and returned, requesting that Seumptewa let her in because of the cold, according to Flagstaff Police Spokesman Cory Runge.

Seumptewa told police that he grabbed Joe, threw her onto the ground, jumped on top of her and struck her multiple times in the head with his fist.

Vaughn then went back inside the apartment and locked the door, while Joe was unconscious outside.

The woman was found at 3 a.m. Christmas morning after another resident of the apartment went outside to smoke a cigarette. He brought Joe inside and laid her on the floor of the living room.

None of the apartments residents saw Joe conscious during the time they found her, according to Flagstaff Police.

Seumptewa has a long criminal history that consists of multiple assault charges, prescription drug possession and an aggravated DUI.

He spent one year in prison for an aggravated assault in 2011 and more than two years for a 2013 conviction for unlawful use of transportation and aggravated DUI.

This is the fifth recorded murder this year in Flagstaff. Police recorded zero homicides in 2016.
Arizona Daily Sun

Editorial

Flagstaff is such a generous and giving community.

We care about our neighbors and friends and we work to make our community, our state and our nation a better place for each other to live, grow and thrive.

But Flagstaff can be a tough place to live. Our cost of living (driven by our cost of housing) is higher than the national average. Our wages are lower, on average, than those in the big city to our south. And families struggle here with food insecurity, healthcare costs, childcare and housing.

Our nonprofits provide a vital social safety net working daily to meet the growing need and to empower families and individuals to be successful. Local nonprofits help victims of violence escape abuse. They provide job training and support to unemployed individuals and the disabled. They offer healthcare at free and reduced prices to ensure individuals, families and children remain healthy. And, often, these nonprofits do it all on shoestring budgets, cobbling together federal and state grants, foundation gifts and individual donations.

The need is great. But its easier than ever to make a significant, meaningful impact in the lives of our less-fortunate neighbors.

Thanks to the Arizona Charitable Tax Credit, Arizona taxpayers can make a donation to a qualified charitable organization  up to $400 for an individual or $800 for a couple filing jointly  and get that money back, dollar-for-dollar on their state taxes.

While the money comes back to taxpayers to reduce what they owe to the state or increase their refund, the money is in our community, putting people to work, providing food boxes, helping the homeless and meeting a myriad of community needs.

The program is not new. Its been around for years and was known in the past as the Working Poor Tax Credit. But now, the giving limits have increased and the deadline to donate has been expanded. Individuals and couples can take advantage of the tax credit, claiming the credit on their 2017 taxes, as long as they donate before April 15, 2018.

The really great thing about the Arizona Charitable Tax Credit is that its only one tool in the tax credit tool box. Individuals can give to a public school and claim the Public School Tax Credit. They can give to a Qualified Foster Care Organization, taking advantage of the Foster Care Tax Credit. And they can claim a Private School Tuition Tax Credit with a donation to a School Tuition Organization. You can take advantage of more than one tax credit, supporting education, charities and foster care organizations without having to choose.

In the spirit of collaboration, 20 local nonprofit organizations are working together to help increase awareness of the tax credits and to encourage individuals to direct their tax dollars to local qualified organizations.

Through the Flagstaff Tax Credit Coalition, individuals can make one AZ Charitable Tax Credit donation, and split their donation among 20 qualified organizations. The online giving portal is easy to navigate and secure, being managed by the Arizona Community Foundation. Donations can be made at www.flagstafftaxcredit.org. You can also learn about the other state tax credits and get your frequently asked questions answered.

Flagstaff is a generous and giving community. And we look out for each other. With the AZ Charitable Tax Credit, its easier than ever to leverage the money you would already spend on state taxes to keep families safe and secure in our community.
The portal was set up after the winding up of the foreign investment promotion board.

New Delhi: Two foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals, including that of Damro Furniture worth over Rs 400 crore were approved by the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) in the retail sector.

Damro Furniture would undertake single brand retail trading of 'Damro' branded products in India, according to the DIPP's Foreign Investment Facilitation portal.

The company had proposed to invest Rs 402 crore. Supr Infotech Solutions will carry out food product retail trading of milk and other daily need products.

The firm proposes to invest Rs 10.85 crore. The portal was set up after the winding up of the foreign investment promotion board.

FDI into the country grew 17 per cent to USD 25.35 billion during April-September this fiscal.
New Delhi: India will borrow an additional Rs 50,000 crore this fiscal through dated securities, which may result in breach of the fiscal deficit target for the first time in four years. Finance minister Arun Jaitley had set a fiscal deficit target of 3.2 percent for the current fiscal. However, it will be interesting to see if government will asks PSUs to cough up more dividends to generate more revenue. India is having to raise the extra funds as the government has already spent over $200 billion in the eight months to October, about 60 per cent of the budgeted spending,while revenue collections were just 48 per cent of the target.

After the review of the borrowing programme with the RBI, it was decided that the government will raise additional market borrowings of Rs 50,000 crore only in fiscal FY18 through dated government securities, said a government statement. The change in the long term (market borrowings) and short term (T-bills) issuance calendars neither confirm nor rule out a fiscal slippage in FY18, said Aditi Nayar, an economist at Icra. She said that concerns regarding a mild fiscal slippage persist on account of the sequential dip in GST collections for November 2017.

The risk of a slippage relative to the fiscal deficit target for FY18 stems primarily from the growing likelihood that tax revenues, dividends and inflows from other communication services would undershoot the budgeted level. Given the clouded outlook for revenues, sticking to the fiscal consolidation roadmap would entail compression of expenditure, which would dampen the expected economic growth recovery in Q4 FY18, added Ms Nayar.

The finance ministry said that there will be no change in the net borrowing as envisaged in the Budget for FY18. The government will trim down the T-Bills from present collections of Rs 86,203 crore to Rs25,006 crore by March 2018. T-Bills are securities with short-term duration of less than one year while dated securities have maturity of over five years.

The government will thus, between now and March 2018, not be raising any net additional borrowing (T-Bills will be run down by Rs 61,203 crore and additional G-Sec borrowing will be Rs 50,000 crore), it said. In the Budget for FY18, gross and net market borrowing were pegged at Rs 5.80 lakh crore and Rs 4.23 lakh crore respectively with Rs 3.48 lakh crore being raised (net) from dated government securities and Rs 2,002 crore from T-bills, a finance ministry statement said.
With the launch of the scheme, 5,000 new electricity connections were released in Rewa district.

New Delhi: State-run Rural Electricity Corp (REC) on Tuesday said that Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (Saubhagya) was launched in Madhya Pradesh to provide electricity connections to about 45 lakh families.

"Saubhagya was launched in Madhya Pradesh on December 22, 2017, by Power and New and Renewable Energy R K Singh and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan," an REC statement said.

According to the statement, a total of approximately 45 lakh un-electrified households of Madhya Pradesh are proposed to be included under the present DDUGJY (Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana) and Saubhagya Schemes.

With the launch of the scheme, 5,000 new electricity connections were released in Rewa district.

The Saubhagya scheme was launched in September to achieve universal household electrification in all parts of the country at a cost of Rs 16,320 crore including Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) of Rs 12,320 crore from Government of India.

All states and Union territories of the country are required to complete household electrification in their respective jurisdiction by March 31, 2019.

The REC has been appointed as the nodal agency for coordinating the implementation of the scheme.

The prospective beneficiary households for free electricity connections under the scheme will be identified using Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC), 2011 data.
'All the Money in the World' also stars Michelle Williams and Mark Wahlberg in pivotal roles.

Mumbai: Veteran director Ridley Scott did the unthinkable when he replaced Kevin Spacey with Christopher Plummer in his latest movie 'All the Money in the World' due to sexual misconduct allegations.

And it looks we finally have a name of the person who helped the helmer in this undercover re-casting.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the screenwriter of the film 'All the Money in the World' David Scarpa shared that it was none other than 'Wonder Woman' director Patty Jenkins who played a major role in replacing Kevin Spacey with Christopher Plummer.

In a recent interview, he said, "If it gets out, and we don't cast this and we can't make it happen, the movie is dead."

Spacey was initially cast as the role of oil magnate J Paul Getty in 'All the Money in the World'.

After principal photography had already wrapped, numerous accusations of sexual misconduct came out against the House of Cards actor, leading Scott to recast the role and execute hasty reshoots before the film's December release date.

Scarpa explained, "When a call goes out to the casting agencies, 'Ridley Scott is looking for an actor to play a 90-year-old guy,' pretty much everybody knows what movie that is."

So Ridley and team turned to Jenkins, who was working with her screenwriter husband, Sam Sheridan, on a series.

Scarpa explained, "Ridley's casting agents basically asked if they could send the call out for the part under their production's name. So basically it was, 'Patty Jenkins is looking for a 90-year-old guy.' That was basically how they were able to do it. There was a lot of this sort of crafty maneuvers in order to make this thing come off."

Although the movie and Plummer's performance are garnering positive reactions from critics, it remains to be seen how much the last-minute casting change resonates with viewers or pays off in the long run.

Starring Michelle Williams, Mark Wahlberg, Charlie Plummer, and Romain Duris, All the Money in the World has scored three Golden Globe nominations.
Nivetha Thomas was hailed as a hat-trick heroine after the consecutive successes of Gentleman, Ninnu Kori and Jai Lava Kusa. However, the actress is known for being choosy, and has politely turned down several offers coming her way following her super successful stint in Tollywood. Apparently, Nivetha wants to prepare for her architecture exams and hence, has not been signing films.

A source close to the actress reveals, Nivetha was approached for a few big-ticket Telugu flicks recently, but she had to turn down the offers. She wants to use the time to prepare for her exams before making her way back to tinsel town. Her priority has been her studies and she will do movies only when shes free.
Putting an end to speculation surrounding him being approached for a key role in Pawan Kalyan and Trivikrams Agnyaathavaasi, actor Sunil has revealed that it is in fact, true. However, he shares that he had to reject it owing to dissatisfaction with the role.

It is true that we had discussed the same. However, by the time the scripting was done, the role didnt quite shape up the way I was hoping for it to be. And so, I opted out of the film, shares the actor who has been busy promoting his upcoming film, Two Countries, a remake of the hit Malayalam film by the same name.
Visakhapatnam: Year 2017 was a remarkable one in the history of King George Hospital (KGH) for successfully performing a heart surgery to an HIV positive woman. Dr K. Sagar Babu, a cardiac surgeon who has done the surgery, says that the hospital is well prepared to save more such patients in the coming years.

According to the city-based NGOs, the government hospital has dared to do heart surgery to an AIDS patient when other hospitals in the state had refused to do the same in the past eight years. The patient had received around Rs 1.9 lakh from the then Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy in 2014.

After having the angiogram test in a private hospital, the patient was quoted Rs 3.5 lakh for the surgery. During that time, NGO Vihaan Consortium and a local voluntary organisation Balamma Foundation intervened into the matter. They urged the KGH doctors to perform the surgery. Last month, Dr Sagar Babu successfully performed the surgery and discharged the patient in seven days. He said the hospital has taken all the necessary care so that the disease will not spread to other patients. While doing the operation, he has gone for double sterilisation of the instruments and used disposable items more.
One of the Flagstaff City Councils most consequential votes came early in the year, when a supermajority of the council voted to amend the citizens initiative Proposition 414, delaying the requirement that the citys minimum wage must always be $2 above Arizonas.

The amendment required a supermajority to vote twice in favor of changing the law, and it appeared that it would fail at the second reading when Councilman Charlie Odegaard, who originally voted in favor, changed his mind and opposed the amendment.

However, Councilman Scott Overton, who originally voted against the amendment, changed his vote at the second reading to give the change the supermajority vote it needed to comply with Arizonas Voter Protection Act. Mayor Coral Evans, Vice Mayor Jamie Whelan and councilmembers Eva Putzova, Celia Barotz and Jim McCarthy also voted in favor of the amendment.

The amendment prevented the citys minimum wage from jumping to $12 in July after already increasing to $10 in January from $8.05, alleviating some of the worry expressed from the business and social service industries.

However, providers of services for disabled residents in the city said the delay did not address the crux of the issue, which they said was the Legislatures unwillingness to boost state grants to cover their rising payrolls in Flagstaff. Providers approached the city council asking for consideration for funding in the councils 2019 budget.

The city council also ended up divided on another hot button issue in 2017: whether the city should include a three-acre parcel on Schultz Pass and Fort Valley roads in a bundled request for proposals for affordable housing.

In the first several meetings, despite a large amount of public resistance, the council chose to keep the parcel, along with two others on the east side of town, included in the request. However, after a group of citizens approached the council with a petition asking them to rezone the parcel as open space, Mayor Coral Evans and councilmen Jim McCarthy, Charlie Odegaard and Scott Overton voted against including the parcel in the finalized proposal. The group instead opted to include a third parcel on Lone Tree Road in the proposal in place of the Schultz Pass parcel.

However, the council ultimately decided against rezoning the parcel as open space, despite the petition. The group of citizens has since proposed including the open space designation for the parcel in a proposed sales tax to fund open space, parks and recreation.

In December, the city council voted on the first reading of the rezoning of the parcels included in the request for affordable housing. City documents say between 40 and 60 subsidized rental units will be created in the project.

In June, the council finalized the citys 2018 budget, which included a 7 percent increase to the citys primary property tax levy, which City Manager Josh Copley said would be used to help fund new positions for the police and fire departments. The increase to the levy, or the total revenue the city collects, was the first increase after five years of keeping the levy flat.

The levy increase represented a $17 increase on a home worth $300,000.
Google Doodle on Wednesday celebrated the birthday of Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib on his 220th birth anniversary.

Mirza Ghalib, who perhaps has one of the biggest contributions to Urdu literature, was born in Agra on December 27. Honoured with titles Dabir-ul-Mulk and Najm-ud-Daula, he is widely regarded as the last great poet of the Mughal era.

Speaking to this correspondent, Asif Khan Dehlvi, a history buff, the founder and storyteller of Delhi Karavan elaborates upon a few lesser known facts about Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan who became immortalised as Ghalib.

Dehlvi says, It was during the lifetime of Ghalib that the Mughals were eclipsed and eventually displaced by the British. Bahadur Shah Zafar II, the last Mughal emperor of India was deposed following the defeat of the Indian rebellion of 1857, and these are a few of the things that can be found in the later writings of Ghalib.

However, Dehlvi adds that the biggest contribution of the 19th century poet his several ghazals, which have been interpreted, sung and immortalised.

He loved eating, says Dehlvi, adding, Bhuna Gosht, Shammi Kebab, Sheekh Kebab, Lentils, Sohan halwa were just a few of the things that he loved having.

The history buff from Delhi goes on to add that Ghalibs love for food was not restricted to these only. He was extremely fond of mangoes, he says.

Dehlvi goes on to add that there was this one time Maulana Faizal-e-Haque along with others had congregated and were discussing mangoes. Ghalib too was present there and when he was asked about his passion for mangoes, the poet replied,

Aamo main buss do khubiya honi chahiye, ek meethe ho aur bohut saare ho. (Mangoes need to have two qualities, they need to be sweet and there needs to be plenty.)

However, Ghalibs love for mangoes did not end there. Dehlvi explains, There was this one time the poet was out on a stroll with Bahadur Shah Zafar when they came upon a mango orchard at Lal-Qila. Zafar noticed that Ghalib was looking intently at one of the trees which were particularly laden with fruit. Perturbed, the emperor asked him why he was staring at the tree.

Ghalib is said to have replied,

Badshaah salamat maine buzurgo se suna hai,/ Daane Daane pe likha hai Khaane waale ka naam. Ibn falon ka naam, ibn falon ka naam Dekh raha hoon kisi aam pr mere baap dada ka naam bhi likha hai kya.

(Oh emperor, the wise say that each morsel has the name of the person who will eat it, am seeing if any of the trees have the name of my fathers or forefathers etched on the.

Dehlvi goes on to add that the emperor understood what Ghalib wanted and sent him baskets full of mangoes that very same day.

A book on the life of Ghalib. (Photo: Asif Khan Dehlvi)

Dehlvi poignantly further reveals, Even though Ghalib was an extremely renowned poet, there was this one time when he heard something penned by Hakin Momin Khan Momin. The lines went something like this: Tum mere paas hote ho gayo jab koi doosra nahin hota. (You are with me in those times when there is no one else beside me. Such was Ghalibs adoration for the verse that he supposedly told Momin,

Hakim Saab aap mera sara deewan le lijiye aur badle main mujhe apna yeh sher de dijiye. (Hakim take away all my poetry but just give me these verses.)

Ghalib was for the most part lost in his own world, says Dehlvi. He refers to a poem that the legendary poet had written, Hinduyo main koi avatar hua to kya,/ Muslamano main koi nabi hua toh kya, duniya main namvar huya toh kya, aur gumnam jiye to kya. (Hundus might have their avatars and Muslims may have their prophets, there may be the famed in the world, how does it matter if someone is remains unknown.)

Interestingly, Dehlvi adds that Ghalibs memory too was strong, Whatever couplets he would say at night, he would just tie a knot on his handkerchief for the same, early next morning he would open each knot and write down the corresponding verses from his memory.

According to a book written by Ghalibs student Atlaf Hussain Hali, says Dehlvi, while Ghalibs descriptions of Delhi have immortalised the national capital, there were few takers for his poetry during his lifetime. This, Dehlvi feels is mostly because people did not understand his lofty language.

Most people, according to Dehlvi, would say,

Inka likha yeh khud samjhe ya khuda samjhe.

(His writings can be understood by him or his God.)

Other facts about Ghalib that are lesser known include the fact that he has seven children, none of whom survived, he was awarded the title Dabir-ul-Mulk by Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar II in 1850, along with the title of Najm-ud-daulah and it was Bahadur Shah Zafar II who awarded him the title of Mirza Nosha, hence the addition of the word Mirza to his name.

In fact, some of the most poignant accounts of a decrepit Delhi after it was razed by the British soldiers can be found in Ghalibs Dastambu.

Dehlvi says, His diary is a first person account of Delhi during the rebellion and its aftermath. The situation had worsened to such an extent that Ghalib write that Muslims were barely visible in the streets of the Capital. While Hindus were still allowed to burn their dead near the river, Muslims were, at most times, not even permitted to bury their dead on the city outskirts.

Ghalibs brother passed away at this time and the poet recounts how he had to take help from a sepoy from Patiala who along with two of the poets servant stealthily cleaned his brothers body before burying him in the mosque adjacent to their house.

It was during this time, dehlvi believes Ghalib started losing hope. With no money for sustenance, he started selling off his clothes and other household items to make ends meet.

By the time Ghalib reached the age of 70, years of excess, followed by suffering had made his memory diminish. His hearing was gone and his hands trembled, but it is said he was still mentally alert.

And even though Delhi towards the end of his life was cause of much sorrow, it was this same Ghalib who immortalised Delhi, when he wrote,

Ik roz apni rooh se poocha, ki dilli kya hai, to yun jawab main keh gaye, yeh duniya mano jism hai aur dilli uski jaan

(I asked my soul, What is Delhi? It replied: The world is the body, Delhi its soul)

Ghalib who wrote poems about love where the gender of the beloved is unspecified, died on February 15, 1869.
Anantapur: In a bizarre incident, a minor, B. Ramadevi, disguised as a man, married three times, and it was the third wife who lodged a complaint with the police at Jammalamadugu in Kadapa district on Tuesday and brought the matter to light. Police said Ramadevi who comes from Itika-lapadu village in Kasi-nayana mandal, worked in a private spinning mill in Tamil Nadu.

She always dressed like a boy. She became friendly with 17-year-old K. Rambha (name changed) of Bheemagundam village in Peddamudiyam mandal, who also worked at the mill in Pulivendula. The friendship turned into love and they were married two months ago. It took Rambha two months to discover that she had married a girl. She told her parents who went to the police.

Rambha told the police she had been cheated by Ramadevi who acted as a boy. The police have discovered that Ramadevi was married twice before, also to girls  16-year-old Jyoti (name changed) from Proddatur in Kadapa district and 17-year-old Vrinda (name changed) from Kothacheruvu village in Mudigubba mandal, Anantapur district. Police said both girls have been sent for examination as their mental condition wasnt stable.
The accused came on bikes and called Rizwan out. (Photo: Dc)

BENGALURU: Four people were arrested by the DJ Halli police in connection with the murder of a 22-year-old fabricator, who was killed in DJ Halli on December 21 night, a day before his elder brothers marriage.

The police arrested Chota Shahid (25), Chennai Shahid (30), Albaz (22) and Taufeeq (22), who allegedly hacked Shaikh Rizwan to death in front of his house over old rivalry. Chota Shahid and Chennai Shahid are history-sheeters involved in many crimes, the police said.

On the night of December 21, while Rizwan and his family members were busy with the prewedding ceremony of his brother Irfan, the accused came on bikes and called Rizwan out.

When he went out, the accused had a verbal duel allegedly over an old dispute regarding a silver chain. As the fight became intense, Chota Shahid, who is also Rizwans friend, stabbed Rizwan and fled the spot.

Family members who heard Rizwans screams rushed out of the house only to see him lying in a pool of blood.

He was rushed to Bowring Hospital where he died. It is said that the accused were under the influence of narcotic drugs when the incident occurred and a few residents who saw and recognised the accused informed the police, which helped them nab the accused.
HYDERABAD: A shockingly large number of students were involved in the substance abuse case that made headlines this year. They belonged to 10 well known schools in the city. Most of the schools denied the allegations and the excise department refused to give the details of the student alleged to be involved because they said it was illegal to reveal details. Only the parents of the child and appointed counsellors were notified.

Referring to the communication with drug dealers made over mobile phones, Anitha Suresh, a teacher, said, The smartphone rule became stricter after the drug bust. Although phones were not allowed in class, they could be deposited at the security guards office on entering the school and be collected after school hours. However, we informed all parents to not allow smart phones and make it a strict rule for the upcoming academic year.

P. Ushasri, the principal of Johnson Grammar School, said "We have not stopped holding periodic counselling sessions but we will take fresh measures in 2018 with the new batch. It is not a problem that can be solved overnight but we will curb the menace by holding more assemblies from next year and also having regular programmes about drug abuse. We will also ensure that students share their opinions about drug abuse.

Security measures in schools will be tightened in 2018. Other than the existing CCTV cameras, schools will also conduct thorough checks of new staff and many schools have decided to use breathalysers for school bus drivers and other outside staff. Vendors selling ice cream and other eatables outside schools will also be checked and will have to notify the school beforehand. Parents across the state are troubled by the drug taking case and other student issues. The drug bust should not be forgotten, says Seema Agarwal, vice-president of HSPA.
Hyderabad: BJP general secretary P. Muralidhar Rao, who is incharge of party affairs in Karnataka, said the partys next target would be the Karnataka Assembly polls where it was aiming to make a comeback.

He told mediapersons in Karimnagar that the results of the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections portended the end of caste-based politics. People were only concerned about development, and the BJP would work its strategy on that plank in the Karnataka Assembly polls next year.

There is a change in the voters mood that is evident with the people of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh wanting development and reforms to take India forward and nothing else, he said.

Mr Muralidhar Rao said Prime Minister Narendra Modis slogan of Congress-mukt Bharat is gradually picking up with two more states refusing to support the Congress. This will be repeated in the Karnataka and Telangana State elections, he said.

There is no difference between the TRS and the Congress either in their policies or administration, Mr Muralidhar Rao said.

BJP is nowhere in picture: Revanth

Congress leader A. Revanth Reddy on Tuesday asked state BJP leaders to decide whether they needed to continue in the state as its Central leadership had made it a point to praise the TRS government and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.

Speaking to mediapersons at Gandhi Bhavan, Mr Revanth Reddy said BJP leaders cannot claim they will be the political alternative to the TRS as they had lost credibility to fight against the state governments undemocratic functioning.

He said the Congress was the real political alternative to the TRS and all those who oppose the Chief Minister and the TRS should support the Opposition party.

He flayed the state government for the allocation of Rs 50,000 crore towards Mission Bhagiratha, of which it could spend only Rs 20,000 crore. He said the Congress government had sanctioned and executed the Godavari water scheme to Hyde-rabad, but Chief Minis-ter K. Chandrasekhar Rao had diverted the pipeline to Gajwel and Siddipet. This proved costly to the city residents who had to bear a Rs 1,000-crore burden.
Srinagar: A top Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) commander Noor Muhammad Tantray alias Noor Trali was killed after the security forces blew up a residential house in which he had been trapped during a cordon-and-search operation launched in Samboora, Pampore area of Jammu and Kashmirs southern Pulwama district on Monday night.

Director General of Police, Shesh Paul Vaid, said that Noor Trali was planning a terror attack on a security forces convoy along the Srinagar-Jammu highway. A statement issued by the J&K police termed the JeM commanders killing as a significant breakthrough.

The Army and the J&K police said that 47-year-old Noor Trali was the brain behind the JeMs revival in Kashmir Valley and involved in a number of terror acts including the October 3, 2017 storming of a Border Security Force (BSF) base near the Srinagar airport. A BSF jawan was killed and three others and a J&K policeman were injured during the 10-hour long standoff. All the three JeM militants were also killed in the security forces counter attack.

A statement issued by the police here said that the search operation at Samboora near the highway town of Pampore was launched on specific input about the presence of militant commander and two others in a private house. A fierce gun battle ensued during which Noor Trali was killed. He was a convict in a case registered in 2003 in Delhi and was serving his sentence at Central Jail Srinagar until he was released on parole in 2015. Consequently, he remained in Tral (his home town in Pulwama) and became a major over- ground worker of the JeM in the belt, the statement said.

It added that Noor Trali went underground in July 2017 after the killing of three JeM militants during an encounter in Aripal area and soon became the key man of JeM responsible for coordinating and organising attacks at different places. The police further said that he was wanted also in a number of terror offences in South and Central Kashmir.

The security officials had recently termed Noor Trali as a new security headache. He was only three feet tall and had rejoined militancy after jumping parole. Ahead or during the encounter, the authorities snapped Internet services in Pulwama district whereas the rail services were suspended in entire south Kashmir.

Armys 1 Sector deputy commander, Sanjeev Saroch, while speaking to reporters said Noor Tralis killing was a major blow to the JeM and another major success for the security forces. He said the gunfight had erupted after the Armys 50 Rashtriya Rifles, J&K polices counterinsurgency Special Operations Group (SOG) and RPF laid a siege to Samboora on Monday night following inputs about the presence of three militants in area. It is not know how the other militants survived the operation.

Thousands of people attended slain militant commanders funeral in home town Tral. A group of militants also appeared at the scene and offered gun salute to their fallen associate.
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir government on Tuesday issued guidelines to regulate the usage of social media by its employees.

As per these guidelines, all government employees have been barred from placing posts on various social media platforms that may be prejudicial to the government. They have also been asked to refrain from indulging in any indecent behaviour on social media or use their personal accounts for any political activity.

An order issued by the General Administration Department of the J&K government in winter capital Jammu reads, No government employee shall engage in any criminal, dishonest, immoral or notoriously disgraceful conduct on social media which may be prejudicial to the government. It also says, They shall also not use their personal social media accounts for any political activity or endorse the posts or tweets or blogs of any political figure and also shall not use their accounts in a manner that could reasonably be construed to imply that the government endorses or sanctions their personal activities in any manner whatsoever.

They have been barred also from placing inflammatory or/and extraneous messages in an online community with the intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal, on topic discussion.
Jadhav's mother was not allowed to speak to her son in their mother tongue, despite this being the most natural mode of communication. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: A day after meeting Kulbhushan Jadhav in Islamabad, the former Indian Navy officials wife and mother told the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday he spoke to them in an atmosphere of coercion and his responses were also tutored.

Jadhavs mother Avanti and wife Chetankul on Tuesday met Union minister Sushma Swaraj at her residence for a debrief before meeting the officials at the MEA.

The MEA released a statement after meeting Jadhavs family, revealing the details of Avanti and Chetankuls visit to Islamabad.

Pakistan "conducted the meeting in a manner that violated the letter and spirit of our understandings," the MEA said.

This happened despite continuous interaction between the governments of the two countries on the details of the Indian prisoners meeting with his wife and mother in Islamabad.

"Under the pretext of security precautions, the cultural and religious sensibilities of family members were disregarded. This included removal of mangal sutra, bangles and bindi, as well as a change in attire that was not warranted by security," the statement said.

Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother was not allowed to speak to her son in their mother tongue, despite this being the most natural mode of communication. She was interrupted while doing so and "eventually prevented in this regard."

For some inexplicably peculiar security reason, the shoes of Jadhav's wife were not returned to her even when the meeting was over, despite making several requests for it.

According to the feedback of the meeting received from Jadhav's mother and wife, he was "under considerable stress and speaking in an atmosphere of coercion".

Most of his responses were also tutored, in accordance to the false narrative of his activities in Pakistan. His appearance also was gaunt and frail, suggesting he was not keeping well.

However, Pakistan had earlier claimed that Jadhav was in "an excellent healthy condition" in a medical report prepared by a German doctor from a Dubai-based hospital. It also claimed that Jadhav's Body Mass Index (BMI) was ideal for his height.

The date on the report was handwritten and it was not clear where his medical examination was performed.

In addition, India's Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh was kept behind an additional partition that did not allow him access to the meeting as agreed, the MEA said.

This was despite the initial agreement between India and Pakistan to allow Singh to be present with Jadhavs family members during the meeting.

The MEA added that the Pakistani media was allowed to approach Jadhav's mother and wife and on multiple occasions harassed them, hurling accusations and insults about Jadhav, despite a clear agreement that media will not be allowed.

The MEA added that it regretted the fact that the meeting was intimidating to Jadhav's family and lauded the "courage and fortitude" with which they handled the situation despite frictions.

In conclusion, the statement read that, "the manner in which the meeting was conducted and its aftermath was clearly an attempt to bolster a false and unsubstantiated narrative of Jadhavs alleged activities," and termed it an exercise that completely lacked credibility.
Pak Director General (South Asia and SAARC) Mohammad Faisal urged the Indian side to 'respect the 2003 Ceasefire arrangement; investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations; instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire, in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC.' (Photo: PTI | Representational)

New Delhi/Islamabad: Pakistan on Tuesday summoned India's acting deputy high commissioner to protest "unprovoked" firing by the Indian Army that killed its three soldiers and "categorically rejected" claims that Indian commandos crossed the Line of Control (LoC) to carry out a daring operation.

In a statement, the Foreign Office said the Indian actions "got a befitting response from the Pakistani side and their guns were silenced."

It categorically rejected India's claims that the Indian Army commandos crossed the LoC in Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir and smashed a Pakistani post.

"The false claims by India about the alleged cross LoC adventures are a figment of their imagination and counter-productive for peace and tranquillity on the LoC," it said.

The statement said Director General (South Asia and SAARC) Mohammad Faisal summoned India's acting deputy high commissioner and "condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations" by Indian forces in the Rakhchikri sector.

The firing "provided a cover for the planting of IEDs by non-state actors", resulting in the death of three soldiers, it said.

Faisal urged the Indian side to "respect the 2003 Ceasefire arrangement; investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations; instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire, in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC."

Read: In retaliation to ceasefire, Army crosses LoC, kills 3 Pak troops: Sources

The Indian Army sources in New Delhi earlier said a "small group" of 'Ghatak' commandos carried out a tactical level selective targeting of the Pakistani post around 200-300 metres across the LoC on Monday evening in which three Pakistani soldiers were killed and one was injured.

The operation is seen as avenging the killing of four Indian Army personnel by a Border Action Team of the Pakistan Army in Keri sector Rajouri district three days ago.
Hyderabad: The governments of Telangana State and Andhra Pradesh have repeatedly said that they will co-operate with each other in solving pending issues arising out of the bifurcation of erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh. However, even four years after the bifurcation, the asset sharing of institutions listed in the 9th and 10th Schedule of the AP Reorganisation Act has not been done.

The Central governments intervention has not helped and not even the direction of the Supreme Court has moved the matter.

Governor ESL Narasimhan has constituted a committee of ministers of both states. The committee had two meetings with the Governor but there was no follow-up action.

The TS governments argument is that AP has no share in these institutions, and the AP argument is that all the assets, liabilities and employees should be divided betwe-en the two states on the basis of population. Now both the governments are fighting in the courts for these assets.

The ninth schedule of the AP Reorganisation Act has 91 institutions, while the 10th Schedule has 142 institutions.

There are financial implications to this deadlock as about `8,000 crore is parked in various commercial banks since the last four years.

To divide the 9th schedule institutions between AP and TS, the Centre has appointed the Sheela Bhide Committee.

The Committee has recommended the division of the assets and liabilities of only 61 institutio-ns. But it did not divide the employees of these institutions. The AP government has objected to this and said that along with assets and liabilities, the employees also should be divided.

It was estimated that the total value of the assets of the 9th schedule institutions is about `1,40,898 crore at the present market value.

This value does not include the assets and liabilities of Singareni Coll-ieries, TS SPDCL, AP CPDCL, AP Heavy Mach-inery and Engineering, Nizam Sugars, textile park in Medak district and State Institute of Hotel Management Catering Technology in Medak.

In Hyderabad city, 32 institutions have 3,056.55 acres of land. Of the 142 institutions listed in 10th schedule, 57 are government departments, 15 are Universit-ies, 21 are statutory bodies, 45 are societies, and others are four. Of these, 111 are located in and around Hyderabad city, while 16 are located in Andhra Pradesh.

Balance sheet

9th Schedule

Total institutions: 91

Land: Rs 19,569 cr

Buildings: Rs 68,173 cr

Movable assets: Rs 9,561cr

Machinery: Rs 34,135 cr

Bank deposits: Rs 9,460cr

Total: Rs 1,40,898 cr

10th Schedule

Total institutions: 142

Land: Rs 16,800 crore

Buildings: Rs 17,387 crore

Movable assets: Rs 222 cr

Machinery: Rs 37.3 crore

Bank deposits: Rs 3,928 cr

Total: Rs 38,710 crore
A 2-year fight over a 591-bedroom apartment complex being built in the Southside came to a close in April, when a visiting judge from Pima County ruled against an appeal of the Flagstaff Board of Adjustments decision to allow the building to be constructed.

Judge James Marner ruled the citys transect zoning code did allow The Hub, which spans two zoning designations, to be built in the T5 and T4 zones.

The main argument in the case, which was also the main argument to the Board of Adjustment, was whether a commercial block type building, like The Hub, is allowed under the parcels zoning. One list in the citys zoning code that details allowable building types does not include commercial block as acceptable in the T4 zone. However, other areas in the zoning code list commercial block as allowable in that zone.

Marner ultimately ruled in favor of allowing The Hub and said ambiguities in the code must fall in favor of the property owner.

Maury Herman, the owner of 120 Cottage Place, LLC, which appealed the Board of Adjustments decision, chose not to appeal Marners decision, and construction on the apartment complex began soon after the courts ruling.

Farther west on Route 66, demolition began for another housing project geared toward students: The Standard, a 650-bed apartment complex. The project had been dormant for about a year before removal of the buildings on the property began in September.

Nearly 300 NAU students were unable to move into Fremont Station, an apartment complex geared toward students in August, when several of the buildings were not completed in time for move-in. Students were given the option to stay in hotels or find other arrangements until their rooms were completed. All students were able to move in by October 12.

In June, the city was introduced to plans for Mill Town, another proposed student housing development on Milton Road. The project is part of a public-private partnership between the city of Flagstaff, the Arizona Department of Transportation and developer Vintage Partners.

Early plans for the commercial and student housing project include 1,221 beds geared toward Northern Arizona University students, commercial use along Milton and a Milton Road pedestrian underpass. The project would be built where the ADOT facilities are, once the department is moved to the building that used to be the Harkins movie theater on University Avenue.

Development in one neighborhood left residents feeling like they were being pushed out. The construction of stacked triplexes near the university in the Southside left some residents frustrated as their single-story homes were dwarfed by larger structures, which will bring more people and more cars to streets that residents feel are already filled to their limit. Zoning in some of the neighborhoods in the Southside allows developers to build to 60 feet.

Nearly 50 families living in Arrowhead Village Mobile Home Park were notified in November the park would no longer be open for residential use after May 7 and all residents must vacate the park.

Around the city, housing prices continued to climb toward pre-Recession levels. Flagstaff-area housing prices in the third quarter of 2017 set a record high median sale price of $382,000, which is 8 percent higher than the same period a year ago. Many neighborhoods in the city exceeded home prices from 2006 and 2007, which was when prices hit their previous highest points.

Flagstaff employers grappled with two minimum wage increases when the states minimum wage increased to $10 in January and the citys increased to $10.50 in July. The Flagstaff City Council voted in March to delay part of the citys law that requires the citys minimum wage to always be $2 above the states, but the amendment will eventually bring the citys minimum to $15.50 by 2022.
BJP state president Dr K. Laxman on Tuesday said that his party will come to power in Telangana.

Hyderabad: BJP State President Dr K. Laxman on Tuesday expressed confidence that his party will emerge as a political alternative for the people of Telangana in 2018.

He said the year 2017 had been nationally and regionally momentous for the BJP.

In an yearend interaction with media persons, Dr Laxman said that his party has gone deep into hearts of masses in the villages of the state.

We are set to fight and win against the KCR-led TRS government, which has lost faith of people, Dr Laxman explained.

He said the people of Telangana have waited patiently for over three years to see if Chief Minister K. Chandrase-khar Rao could deliver on his manifesto promises, but they were all left totally hopeless.

The state BJP president said that the Congress on the other hand does not have anything new to offer to the people of Telangana.

He said the Congress will be rejected by the people of Telangana as they are being rejected everywhere in India.

The situation of the Congress is pathetic across the country. It is going to be no different in Telangana. Uttam Kumar Reddy and other Congress leaders are only day-dreaming about coming to power in the state, the state BJP president and Musheerabad MLA said.

Reiterating the party stand that it will not have any alliances or tie-ups with any political party in Telangana, Dr Laxman said the BJP will fight the next Assembly elections alone and come to power in the state.

In July, the BJP had said that it was preparing an action plan with the aim of winning the Legislative Assembly in Telangana.

The roadmap includes taking the policies of the Modi government to the voters, fighting against the alleged anti-people policies of the TRS government and reaching out to different sections of the society.
Bengaluru: The hundreds of farmers from north Karnataka feel devastated after BJP state president B.S. Yeddyurappa backtracked on his promise to get them Mahadayi water.

The farmers were hoping to hear some good news when Mr. Yeddyurappa entered the office but he failed to give them any assurance. Bakirava Yamanappa Agasar, a woman from Dharwad district collapsed right after his speech while another woman, Kasthurava from Yamanur also collapsed assuming that all their efforts had gone in vain. Both were shifted to KC General hospital where they are currently being treated.

The farmers have been sleeping right outside the BJP office while the women and children have been staying in a hall. They prepare food on the footpath and got a water tanker to clean themselves and the cooking vessels.

Farmer, Hanumanthappa said that they get drinking water once in every 12 days and there are no borewells in their village. During summer, it it becomes worse as they get water once in a month and have to store it for drinking.

Kaveramma, a protester said her whole family is here for the protest including her ten year old son and is disappointed that even after four days, no progress has been achieved.

Siddappa, another farmer said they are angry with the government for playing dirty politics and do not belong to any party. He claimed the farmers will not be taking part in the coming elections and do not need such leaders.

Congress, JD(S) backing protest, claims BJP

BJP state president, B.S.Yeddyurappa tried his best to convince the farmers that as Goa CM, Manohar Parrikar had agreed to settle the dispute amicably, it was now upto CM Siddaramaiah to initiate talks with him and resolve the dispute. But with no specific assurance coming from the BJP, the farmers decided to intensify their agitation and hold a day and night dharna before the BJP office.

The saffron party later tried to downplay the agitation, claiming the Congress and JD(S) were backing it and released a picture of a leader from Belagavi, Panachanagowda Dyamagowda participating in it. While it claimed he was a Congressman, Mr. Panchanagowda clarified he had resigned from the Congress three years ago and was now fully involved with the farmers' stir.

Meanwhile,Veeresh Sobaradmath, president, Mahadayi Horata Samithi said: "We are very disappointed with the way BJP leaders, particularly state BJP president, B.S. Yeddyurappa treated us. Did he need four days to meet us? We have decided to continue our stir till our demands are met. On Wednesday, 12 noon, we are taking out a peaceful march to Raj Bhavan to meet Governor Vajubhai Vala to submit a memorandum. From there we will go to the office of the Election Commission and then to the home of JD(S) national president, H D Deve Gowda. We will also march to the residence of CM Siddaramaiah.
Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother and wife faced the verbal assault from the Pakistan media as they were forced to wait for their car after emerging from the foreign office after their meeting with the former navy officer. (Photo: Screengrab)

New Delhi: Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother and wife who were in Islamabad on Monday to meet him were heckled, harassed and subjected to outrageous questions by journalists from the Pakistan media after the 40-minute meeting with the former navy officer sentenced to death in Pakistan.

"Aapke patidev ne hazaron begunah Pakistaniyo ke khoon se Holi kheli ispar kya kahengi? (your husband killed thousands of innocent Pakistanis, what do you have to say about that?)'" was a question shouted at Kulbhushan Jadhav's wife Chetankul Jadhav.

"Aapke kya jazbaat hain apne qaatil bete se milne ke baad? (How do you feel after meeting your killer son?)" - a journalist hurled at Jadhav's mother Avanti Jadhav.

The wife and mother of Jadhav, who made innumerous efforts from India, met the former navy officer after over a year.

They faced the verbal assault as they were forced to wait for their car after emerging from the Pakistan foreign office after their meeting with Jadhav across a glass screen.

They did not respond to any of the posers by the Pakistan media and in the footage it was seen that they turned away from the media and went inside. India's Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh was seen throwing up his hands in exasperation.

The officials present at the foreign office also did not stop the media from asking questions to Jadhav's mother and wife and cleared the area for the photo journalists to click pictures.

Jadhav's wife and mother had to wait for almost two minutes for the car which gave the media ample time to heckle them with insensitive questions.

#WATCH Islamabad: Pakistani journalists heckle & harass #KulbhushanJadhav's mother & wife after their meeting with him, shout, 'aapke patidev ne hazaron begunah Pakistaniyo ke khoon se Holi kheli ispar kya kahengi?' & 'aapke kya jazbaat hain apne kaatil bete se milne ke baad?' pic.twitter.com/MUYjPmHY6F  ANI (@ANI) December 26, 2017

India on Tuesday denounced Pakistan over the treatment of the Jadhav family.

New Delhi has alleged that the women were forced to change before meeting Jadhav and were also asked to remove their mangalsutra, bindi and bangles.

Read: Jadhav spoke to kin in atmosphere of coercion, his replies were tutored: MEA

The Government also accused the Pakistanis of refusing to return the shoes of Jadhav's wife Chetankul after she was forced to turn them over to security.

Foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar said: "The Pakistani press was allowed on multiple occasions to approach family members closely, harass and hector them and hurl false and loaded accusations about Jadhav."

Jadhav's family handled the meeting "with great courage and fortitude", said the MEA spokesperson in a statement, accusing Pakistan of using the meeting to try and "bolster a false and unsubstantiated narrative of Jadhav's alleged activities."

The Government said the cultural and religious sensibilities of family members were disregarded and they were prevented from talking in their native Marathi language and "repeatedly interrupted while doing so". Jadhav's mother was also stopped from talking to her son when she was conversing in Marathi.

Jadhav's wife and mother were allowed to see him but behind a glass partition on Monday, eight months after he was sentenced to death. Pakistan projected it as a "grand gesture" but India said its choreographed propaganda had been exposed.

Pakistan's foreign ministry has rejected the accusations.

With inputs from ANI.
Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday expressed displeasure at the state governments of AP and Telangana in delaying the payment to the land owners for years together in land acquisition cases.

A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice G. Shyam Prasad while dealing with a taken- up case based on a letter by Mahbubnagar district judge G. Venkata Krishn-aiah to the Chief Justice, cautioned the state governments that if the situation will continue like this they will not hesitate to stay the ongoing land acquisition proceeding in both states.

The district judge in his letter brought to the notice of the Chief Justice scores of executive petitions moved by the land owners have been pending before the trial courts for years together as the district collectors are not implementing compensation awards passed by the trial court.

The bench directed the Chief Secretaries of both states to file reports before the court explaining the number of cases pending for the compensation and the quantum of amount and the time required to pay compensation in pending cases.

The bench said the land owners have right to move the trial court when they are not satisfied with the award.

Hyderabad HC to TS: reply to nagams plea

The Hyderabad HC on Tuesday granted three weeks time to spell out its stand on a PIL seeking to order a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in revising the cost estimates to purchase the mechanical equipment for Palamuru Ranga Reddy Lift Irrigation Scheme.

A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice G. Shyam Prasad, while dealing with a PIL by BJP leader Dr Nagam Jana-rdhan Reddy as a party in person, directed the state government and BHEL to file their counter-affidavits.

The petitioner submitted that the revision of estima-tes of package 1, 5, 8 and 16 of the project would cause a loss of `2,428 crore to the public exchequer and also give scope for corruption.

He told the court that the officials had fixed a price to purchase the equipment based on the advice of the adviser to irrigation depar-tment and ignoring the prices quoted by the ESCI.

Mr J. Ramachandra Rao, additional advocate general, opposing the contentions, said the petition was moved with political motives.
The exercise involves lifting of prohibitory orders under which documents, materials or articles like jewellery were placed securely in the premises that were raided. (Photo: DC)

Chennai: Income tax sleuths have begun the exercise of examining documents at premises related to recent searches on 187 locations including those linked to jailed sidelined AIADMK leader VK Sasikala, whose nephew TTV Dhinakaran recently won the prestigious RK Nagar seat in Chennai.

Such premises where the procedure has begun include those related to an alcoholic beverages brewery, Midas Distilleries near Chennai where searches were conducted last month. The distillery is linked to Sasikala through her relatives.

The exercise involves lifting of prohibitory orders under which documents, materials or articles like jewellery were placed securely in the premises that were raided. We are lifting the prohibitory orders in stages, a senior official told PTI.

The relaxation covers premises where searches were conducted including at locations connected to Midas Distilleries, he said.

The exercise marks procedural formalities vis-a-vis raids nearing the completion stage.

During this process, documents or items placed under prohibition would be evaluated.

Following this, such items may either be taken into custody by authorities or will be handed back to the assessees.

In November, tax sleuths carried out simultaneous multi-city raids on 187 premises, including those linked to sidelined AIADMK leaders Sasikala, Dhinakaran and Tamil television channel Jaya TV over suspected tax evasion.

The searched premises include those belonging to Jaya TV (Mavis Satcom Ltd), its associates, Jazz Cinemas, Midas Distilleries, a jewellery outlet and other firms.

Dhinakaran had slammed the Centre over the issue.
A statement released by the foreign ministry said if India was serious about the allegations, it could have raised it on the spot with the media, which was available at a safe distance. (Photo: AP)

New Delhi/Islamabad: Pakistan on Tuesday rejected as "baseless" India's contentions that Kulbhushan Jadhav's family was harassed and claimed that his wife's shoes were confiscated on security grounds as there was "something" in it.

The Foreign Office in a statement said Pakistan does not wish to indulge in a "meaningless battle of words" and categorically rejects India's baseless "allegations and twists" about attitude of authorities during Jadhav's meeting with his wife and mother.

"The Indian baseless allegations and twists, that come 24 hrs later, about the visit of the wife and mother of Commander Jadhav, a convicted terrorist and spy, who has confessed to his crimes, are categorically rejected," the statement said.

"If Indian concerns were serious, the guests or the Indian DHC should have raised them during the visit, with the media, which was readily available, but at a safe distance, as requested by India," it said.

Read: Jadhav spoke to kin in atmosphere of coercion, his replies were tutored: MEA

"We do not wish to indulge in a meaningless battle of words. Our openness and transparency belies these allegations," it said.

Responding to India's contentions that Jadhav's wife's shoes were not returned to her after the meeting, Foreign Office spokesman Muhammad Faisal told DawnNews that the shoes were confiscated on "security grounds".

"There was something in the shoe (of Jadhav's wife)," Faisal told the daily, adding that the shoe is being investigated.

He said Jadhav's wife had been provided replacement shoes and all her jewellery was returned to her.

The spokesman said that the fact is that Jadhav's mother "publicly thanked Pakistan for the humanitarian gesture, which was also recorded by the media."

"Nothing more needs to be said on the issue," he said.

India on Tuesday accused Pakistan of violating mutual understandings on Jadhav's meeting with his family, and said the Indian national appeared coerced and under considerable stress during the tightly-controlled interaction.

India also accused Pakistan of disregarding cultural and religious sensibilities of family members under the pretext of security.

"This included removal of mangal sutra, bangles and bindi, as well as a change in attire that was not warranted by security," it said.

During Monday's meeting, whose pictures were released by Pakistan, Jadhav was seen sitting behind a glass screen while his mother and wife sat on the other side.

They spoke through intercom and the entire 40-minute proceedings appeared to have been recorded on video.

India said that "for some inexplicable reason, despite her repeated requests", Jadhav's wife's shoes were not returned to her after the meeting.

Jadhav, who was captured in March 2016, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying, an accusation that India has dismissed as concocted.

New Delhi says Jadhav was kidnapped in Iran where he had legitimate business interests, and brought to Pakistan.

To save Jadhav, India moved the International Court of Justice, which ordered Pakistan in May to stay his execution.
Medical Education Minister Shranprakash Patil said on Tuesday that the project involves over Rs 1,200 crore and the Finance Department has not given its nod.

Bengaluru: The state government's ambitious plan to start medical colleges has suffered a setback with the government deciding to drop six of the 13 medical colleges announced during the 2016-17 budget as the Finance Department has refused to approve the project.

Medical Education Minister Shranprakash Patil said on Tuesday that the project involves over Rs 1,200 crore and the Finance Department has not given its nod. Though there is one more meeting pending before the Finance Department, it is doubtful that the proposal will be cleared, he said.The government has already written to the Medical Council of India for permission to admit 150 students at Bowring hospitals, which is expected to be granted after an MCI inspection. But medical colleges in Chitradurga, Yadgir, Bagalkot, Haveri, Tumakuru and Chikkamagaluru may not see the light of day.
Jadhav's mother and wife had a restricted interaction with him for 40 minutes, separated by a glass screen, in Islamabad on Monday. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: A day after Kulbhushan Jadhav met his mother Avanti and wife Chetankul, India on Tuesday criticised Pakistan for the exercise that lacked credibility as it was conducted in an atmosphere of coercion.

Jadhavs mother and wife were forced to change their clothes, forced to remove bangles, mangalsutra and bindi, not allowed to speak in their mother tongue, Marathi, harassed by Pakistani media and his wifes shoes were never returned, said an angry New Delhi.

India also asserted that the exercise violated the letter and spirit of understanding, and raised questions over the health and well being of the Indian national and added that Jadhav appeared coerced and under considerable stress during the tightly-controlled interaction.

Jadhav's mother and wife had a restricted interaction with him for 40 minutes, separated by a glass screen, in Islamabad on Monday.

Pakistan media harassed Jadhav kin

Countering Pakistans contention that the meeting was a humanitarian gesture, Indias ministry of external affairs in a statement said, From the feedback we have received of the meeting, it appears that Jadhav was under considerable stress and speaking in an atmosphere of coercion.

Jadhavs mother and wife had a restricted interaction with him for 40 minutes, separated by a glass screen, at the heavily guarded building of the Pakistani foreign office in Islamabad.

Indian deputy high commissioner to Pakistan J.P. Singh, who accompanied the two women, was initially separated from them.

Mr Singh could join only after pressing the matter with Pakistani officials, but was still kept behind an additional partition that did not allow him access to the meeting as agreed. On Tuesday, Jadhavs mother and wife held a series of meetings in New Delhi with external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and other top officials, including foreign secretary S. Jaishankar and J.P. Singh, who returned with them from Islamabad after their meeting with the jailed Indian.

Attacking the treatment of Jadhav, the external affairs ministry said that most of Jadhavs remarks were clearly tutored and designed to perpetuate the false narrative of his alleged spying in Pakistan.

Family members, however, handled the situation with great courage and fortitude, the ministry said, adding that Jadhavs appearance also raises questions of his well being.

Despite a clear agreement that the media would not be allowed close access, Pakistani press was allowed on multiple occasions to approach family members closely, harass and hector them and hurl false and motivated accusations about Jadhav, the statement said.

India also accused Pakistan of disregarding cultural and religious sensibilities of family members under the pretext of security.
BJP leaders B.S. Yeddyurappa, Basavaraj Bommai and Ramachandra Gowda try to pacify agitating farmers in front of the party office in Malleswaram in Bengaluru on Tuesday.

Belagavi: The BJP's move to persuade Goa Chief Minister, Manohar Parrikar to agree to release Mahadayi water to Karnataka's farmers, appears to be boomeranging on it. Not only has the Congress party in Goa come down hard on it , but also the Shiv Sena, which has called Mr Parrikar a "bad Santa Claus" for taking the decision on Christmas eve and trying to ruin the future of Goan children.

In a letter to PM Narendra Modi , the Sena appealed to him to intervene and stop the Goa Chief Minister from taking any decision on releasing Mahadayi water to Karnataka. "While Christmas brings joy and hope to people, Parikkar's move on this occasion has left Goa feeling hopeless about a better future," the Sena contended.

Counsel appearing for Goa in the Supreme Court case on the river dispute, Atmaram Nadkarni, too made his opposition clear, contending that instead of utilising its abundant water resources, Karnataka was bent upon diverting the flow of Mahadayiand feared the river would go dry.

AICC secretary from Goa, Girish Chodankar said Parrikar should first provide drinking water to his own voters in Panjim.

Amit Shah pulls up BSY for bungling on row?

With farmers seeming far from happy despite the BJP persuading the Goa Chief Minister to assure release of Mahadayi water to them, party national president, Amit Shah is believed to have pulled up his state unit chief, B.S. Yeddyurappa for bungling in the matter.

He is believed to have asked why BJP state leaders gave an assurance to farmers when the matter was sensitive and involved three states and told them they should have handle their agitation with more maturity.

Following the dressing down received from Mr. Shah, the desperate state leaders reportedly discusssed the matter at length at the party's core committee meeting held at Mr. Yeddyurappa's home instead of the party office, where farmers have been agitating for four days now.

At the meeting, Mr. Yeddyurappa is said to have pulled up party leaders for not handling the issue properly while he was busy with the Parivarthana Yatra and asked why they had not met the agitated farmers and gave room for the Congress and JD(S) to take political mileage from the issue.

Sources close to the former CM said he became emotional, saying despite his honest effort to resolve the Mahadayi dispute, farmers were not ready to give up their protest, causing huge embarrassment to the party.

Later, speaking to reporters, senior BJP leaders, Jagadish Shettar and Basavaraj Bommaiah alleged that the Congress was responsible for the delay in release of Mahadayi water to Karnataka.
Hyderabad: Irrigation minister T. Harish Rao on Monday made a surprise visit to the Kaleswaram project sites on Monday night to inspect works. He interacted with officials and slept at the project site in the night.

After attending day-long programmes in Siddipet on Monday, the minister visited the Sundilla barrage site at around 7 pm and inspected construction works till 3 am on Tuesday.

He told the staff to fast-track the works and complete in all respects by May 31, 2018.

He said these instructions will apply for all other barrage works under the Kaleswaram project as Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao intends to release the Godavari waters from Kaleswaram, Anna-ram, Sundilla barrages from on June 1, 2018 to the command area.

On Tuesday morning, the irrigation minister conducted a review meeting with the irrigation officials and representatives of various contract agencies.

Mr Rao told them that he could stay for another three days at the project sites to oversee the progress of works.

Since all clearances and permissions were obtained for the Kales-waram project, the minister said there should be no complacency on the part of the staff in completing the works as targeted.

He said using two lakh cement bags per day for the concrete works for various structures like tunnels, pump houses and barrages is a record in the country.

Later in the day, the irrigation minister inspected the progress of civil work at Annaram barrage and Kannepalli Pump house.
In August, the Supreme Court by a majority of 3:2 ruled that the practice of divorce through triple talaq among Muslims is 'void', 'illegal' and 'unconstitutional'. (Photo: Representational/File)

Lucknow: A day ahead of the tabling of the triple talaq bill in Parliament, some Muslim women's organisations said on Wednesday that the proposed legislation would not be acceptable if not in consonance with the Quran or the Constitution.

"Nikaah (marriage) is a contract. Whosoever breaks it should be punished. However, if it (Bill) is not in the light of Quran and the Constitution, no Muslim woman will accept it," All India Muslim Women Personal Law board (AIMWPLB) chairperson Shaista Amber said.

"I had sent a letter to the Law Commission requesting it to show the draft bill to the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), AIMWPLB, Jamait Islami, Jamiat Ulma-e-Hind and organisations working for women who were given talaq. I got a reply that if needed, it will be discussed but that did not happen," she added.

Holding the AIMPLB responsible for the present state of affairs, Amber said the board never bothered to take triple talaq seriously, and now it was too late.

Read: Union Cabinet clears bill that makes 'triple talaq' criminal offence

Muslim Women League's president Naish Hasan said that in the Family Court Act there is always a chance to save a family but the proposed bill does not give such a chance.

"Third party has also been given the right to complain in the bill. That is not fair," she said. Hasan added that the bill should be stalled for now and discussions should be held as a law in haste will complicate matters. We will protest if the bill is passed without any discussion, she said.

Demanding withdrawal of the bill, the AIMPLB had earlier said the proposed legislation was against the provisions of the Constitution and violated the rights of women.

Read: Instant triple talaq illegal, husband to get 3-year jail term: Govt draft law

Describing it a "conspiracy", the AIMPLB at its meeting here on Sunday had accused the government of snatching the right of divorce from men.

AIMPLB chairman Maulana Rabe Hasani Nadwi will request Prime Minister Narendra Modi to withhold or withdraw the proposed bill that criminalises the practice of instant divorce, an official spokesperson of the Muslim body said.

In August, the Supreme Court by a majority of 3:2 ruled that the practice of divorce through triple talaq among Muslims is "void", "illegal" and "unconstitutional".

The government then drafted the 'Muslim Women Protection of Rights on Marriage Bill' according to which giving instant divorce will be illegal and void and will attract a jail term of three years for the husband.

The bill seeks to criminalise the practice of instant divorce by repeated the word talaq thrice.
New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government on Wednesday quickly disowned the controversial remarks of Ananth Kumar Hegde, Union minister of state for skill development and entrepreneurship, about changing the Constitution and about secularists, after the Opposition created a huge ruckus in Parliament demanding that he be sacked for disrespecting the Constitution and Dr B.R. Ambedkar, the Father of the Constitution.

Both Houses witnessed repeated adjournments despite the Chair requesting the Opposition members to allow the proceedings to take place. The Opposition members even trooped into the well of both Houses, shouting slogans like Babasaheb ka apman nahin sahega Hindustan (The nation will not tolerate disrespect towards Babasaheb Ambedkar).

I want to clarify that the government is committed to the Constitution and we do not agree with what the minister (Hegde) had said, MoS parliamentary affairs Vijay Goel said in the Rajya Sabha, that witnessed two adjournments till 2 pm.

Mr Hegde had reportedly said on Sunday at an event in Koppal district of Karnataka that people should identify themselves by their religion and those who, without knowing about their parental blood, call themselves secular, they dont have their own identity... they dont know about their parentage.

He also said, We are here to change the Constitution and well change it. Assembly elections are due early next year in Karnataka, which is now ruled by a Congress government.

Leading the Oppositions attack in the Upper House, Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said the Minister of State for skill development needed to clarify his remarks as he was present in the House and that if he does not believe in the Constitution, he has no right to be a Member of Parliament or a minister.

Amid the Oppositions slogan-shouting, chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu also allowed the BJPs Subramanian Swamy to speak, who said Dr Ambedkar had not included the word secularism in the Constitution and that the Opposition had no right to drag his name into the issue, saying that previous Congress governments had denied Bharat Ratna year after year to Dr Ambedkar.

His statement only intensified the protests by the Opposition, forcing the Chair to adjourn the House.

The term secular was incorporated in the Preamble of the Constitution through the 42nd Amendment in 1976 during the Emergency.

In the Lok Sabha, the Opposition virtually paralysed the proceedings demanding action against Mr Hegde. Congress Mallikarjun Kharge said the minister had compared those supporting secularism to children of unknown parentage, besides denigrating Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, the architect of the Constitution.
Mumbai: A special NIA court on Wednesday rejected the discharge application of seven accused, including Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Col Prasad Purohit in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case.

Since the court has not dropped charges of criminal conspiracy and murder, the convicts could be awarded capital punishment if the charges are proved.

However, the removal of the stringent MCOCA charges would mean that the prosecution would not be able to use the confession of the accused against other accused, which would make its task more difficult.

The NIA investigation has contradicted the ATS on several counts resulting in the dilution of sections from the case and the court on Wednesday decided to drop certain sections from the accused.

The court also said the UAPA sections 17, 20 and 23 have been dropped against all accused. These sections relate to raising funds for a terrorist organisation, being part of a terrorist organisation and aiding someone who is part of a terrorist organisation. This part of the ruling gives relief to the saffron outfit Abhinav Bharat, which was accused by Mumbai ATS of providing arms training to right-wing activists.

Special judge discharged Shiv Narayan Kalsangra, Sham Bhawarlal Sahu and Pravin Takalki as it found no evidence against them in the 2008 blast case.
The police have registered an FIR against him and will arrest him once he recovers from the wounds.

Mumbai: A 17-year-old girl from Thane stabbed her father with a kitchen knife after he allegedly tried to molest her and then took him to the hospital with the help of her neighbours.

The man, 43, has been admitted to Mumbais J.J. Hospital. The police have registered an FIR against him and will arrest him once he recovers from the wounds.

He has been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences. According to Naupada police officials, the girl, who was also injured in the scuffle, has been admitted to Thanes civic hospital. A student of Class XII, she was alone at home on Tuesday evening when her father came to her and began talking about sex.

A police officer said, He was drunk at that time and started touching his daughter inappropriately. When he forced himself on her and tried to remove her clothes, the girl bravely pushed him away and ran into the kitchen to find a knife, which she used to threaten him. There was a minor scuffle, in the midst of which she stabbed her father in the stomach. She immediately ran out of her house and called her neighbour for help. They called the police and helped her to take her father to the civil hospital.

The accused is a welding worker and an alcoholic, who used to beat his wife everyday. Tired of abuse, the woman left him and remarried but refused to take her daughter along. The daughter has been living at their home with the accused for the last few years.
New Delhi: Twelve days after Parliaments Winter Session had begun, the impasse in the Rajya Sabha between the ruling BJP and the Congress was finally broken on Wednesday after a statement by finance minister Arun Jaitley, Leader of the House, in which he said that the Prime Minister, in his statements or speeches, did not question the commitment to this nation either by Dr Manmohan Singh, former Prime Minister, or Mr Hamid Ansari, former vice-president.

The Congress had been demanding an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his conspiracy-with-Pakistan allegation relating to former PM Manmohan Singh made during the Gujarat campaign. A middle path was, however, worked out by the BJP and the Congress and Mr Jaitley, in a suo motu statement in the House on Wednesday, added: Any such perception is completely erroneous. We hold these leaders in high esteem, as also their commitment to this nation.
Inspector Ashok Reddy said that an NSS programme was being held on the campus on Wednesday where Vice- Chancellor Prof. S. Ramachandran was participating.

Hyderabad: Tension prevailed in Osmania University after the executive committee meeting of the Indian Science Congress Association on Wednesday decided to shift the venue of the meet from OU to Manipur University in Imphal and the date of the Congress to March 2018.

Student leaders held a protest demanding resignation of the Vice-Chancellor and the Registrar, who they blamed for the prestigious science congress being shifted out of Osmania University.

They shouted slogans such as Resign VC and registrar, ISC should be conducted in OU only. Inspector Ashok Reddy said that an NSS programme was being held on the campus on Wednesday where Vice- Chancellor Prof. S. Ramachandran was participating.

Suddenly student leaders came and gheroed the vice-chancellor and tried to interrupt the on-going programme after which we had to forcefully pick up the 12 students. They were immediately released.
Hyderabad: Vanitha Reddy, wife of Tollywood comedian Vijay Sai, who committed suicide earlier this month, surrendered before the Jubilee Hills police on Wednesday afternoon, following a notice from the police. She alleged that she was facing harassment from her in-laws after the death of her husband.

Speaking to the media before surrendering, she condemned the allegations made by Vijays parents, claiming that they had filed a false case against her.

She said that she was gathering evidence to prove her innocence. We issued a notice to her on Wednesday, giving her three days time to gather evidence and report to us. However, she arrived on the same day with the evidence and surrendered, said Purna Chander, police inspector of Jubilee Hills. She came to the police station with her daughter, Kundana.

Hours before the suicide, Vijay took a selfie video in which he alleged that his wife along with her lawyer had mentally tortured him for money. He also urged his father to teach a stern lesson to them. A few days later, Vanitha defended herself by releasing a selfie from an undisclosed location. She also leaked two intimate pictures of Vijay with a woman to news channels.

We have booked a case under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) of the IPC against her and will proceed according to the evidence, said the inspector.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves to BJP activists as party MLA C. Ramachandra Reddy, national general secretary P. Muralidhar Rao, BJP Floor leader G. Kishan Reddy, party Telangana unit president K. Laxman look on at a reception arranged at the Begumpet airport in Hyderabad on Tuesday. (Photo: Gandhi)

Hyderabad: The state BJP was in for a pleasant surpirse at the Begumpet airport, where it had set the stage for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make a brief appearance upon his arrival in the city.

It was expected that the Prime Minister would accept greetings from the BJP leaders, wave to the cadres and leave. Instead, Mr Modi spent time to speak to the leaders, delivering a message to Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.

The party, criticised for not having chalked out significant activity in the recent past, managed to muster a crowd of over 5,000 activists. The party had set up a stage with chairs and a public address system.

As soon as they saw him, the crowd started shouting Modi, Modi. State BJP president Dr K. Laxman presented a colourful Pochampally handloom shaw; to Mr Modi who, to his astonishment, chose to wear it all through the brief impromptu meeting.

Prime Minister was also presented a coffee table book on Sammakka-Saralamma Jatara, a tribal festival held biennial in the State.

Much to their delight, Mr Modi invited Dr Laxman and Leader of the BJP Legislature Party G. Kishan Reddy to accompany him to all the events in city. They flew in his special helicopter to Miyapur for the inauguration of the Metro Rail and then to HICC, the venue of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit.

Dr Laxman said, Modiji coming to the venue and addressing BJP cadre will help us in building the party in the state.

He pointed out that due to his tight schedule, the Prime Minister could not deliver a speech at the inaugural of Metro Rail, but he preferred to speak at the party reception. This was really great, Dr Laxman said.
Coimbatore: A kumki elephant deployed for elephant safaris at Monkey Falls near Aliyar in Pollachi was temporarily removed from service after an allegedly drunk mahout picked up a quarrel with some tourists during a safari ride inside the forest area.

According to a Forest department official, Kalpana and Bharani the two kumki elephants have been deployed at Monkey Falls for elephant safaris inside the forest to develop eco-tourism.
Kochi: The food safety department has deployed special squads at popular tourist spots across the state to ensure that quality products are offered at reasonable prices, especially to tourists, as the New Year is fast approaching. This time were focusing more on tourist spots. Our mere presence will force the traders to enhance hygiene and avoid malpractices. Weve inducted 85 FSOs (food safety officers) after they completed training and their services will be utilised in full, said Mr K. Anilkumar, joint commissioner of food safety. Special squads have been deployed at tourist spots like Kovalam, Varkala Sivagiri beach and Fort Kochi among destinations.

Well conduct surprise checks on the quality of products like wine and bakery items besides inspecting stalls of small vendors too. The action is being taken in the wake of large number of complaints during the last season, said A.K. Mini, assistant commissioner of food safety in charge of Thiruvananthapuram district.

Food safety commissioner Veena N. Madhavan has directed the formation of the special squads under the direct monitoring of assistant commissioners. The service of the squads should be made available round the clock. The vehicles allotted for the quick reaction teams should be provided for the squads for effective functioning. Action taken report should be forwarded without fail, she said in her order.

The action comes two days after another special drive was held across the state to check food essence, flavouring, colours, preservatives and also the hygiene of bakery manufacturing units, boric food markets and homely food shops among others in connection with the Christmas festival. In the drive held from December 12 to 22, a total of 4,900 institutions (bakery manufacturing units, boric food markets, homely food shops) were inspected and improvement notices were issued against 1,800 of them. Closure notices were slapped against 43 shops found to be in poor hygiene and a fine of Rs 34.5 lakh was levied in total, Mr Anilkumar said.
Residents of the Arrowhead Village Mobile Home Park said they felt a little like Mary and Joseph this Christmas, after they were told there would be no room for them to live in the park that many have called home for decades.

For many, the other residents of the park became like family. Many of the residents primarily speak Spanish, and have formed tight bonds with their neighbors in the park, which houses about 50 families.

Last month, residents were given notice that the park had been sold and the new owner intended to use the property for a commercial use. Residents have until May 7 to vacate the park.

On Friday night, about 30 residents of the park gathered to join in prayer and a feast, to celebrate the last Christmas they would spend together.

This is an opportunity to come together, many are Catholic, to share a rosary as a community in solidarity, said community organizer Roxana De Niz, who does not live in the neighborhood but is working with residents to organize for action. They are putting their faith in God. Jesus needed a place to stay, and they do too.

Rev. Patrick Mowrer from San Francisco de Asis Catholic Church prayed the rosary with the group early in the evening, and the group did a posada together, which is a Latin American Christmas tradition that reenacts the biblical census pilgrimage to Bethlehem done by Mary and Joseph. Hosts in the posada act as the innkeepers and the guests act as those making the pilgrimage.

Later the residents shared a meal with some traditional Mexican staples, like pozole, a stew with hominy and meat, atole, a hot drink, and chicken, tortillas and other hot foods to share on the cold night.

They see themselves as a big family here, De Niz said. If all things were perfect they would all end up together.

Miriam Meza, a resident of Arrowhead Village who has become one of the communitys leaders since the notices were sent out, said the celebration was done to give families some hope for the holiday season. Meza has lived in the park for four years, and said she does not have any plans yet about where she will move when the park closes.

We did a posada and a rosary to ask for something good for all the families here, she said in Spanish with a translator. We want people to know we are all united in this. We want to have a good ending to this process thats coming ahead.

Olga Garcia, who has lived in the park for 11 years and has also become one of the communitys organizers, said the dinner and prayers gave residents a chance to be together before they go in different directions.

Its an opportunity to be together as a family right before Christmas because we know whats coming, she said in Spanish through a translator.

The parcel does not have zoning that would allow for a commercial use without being granted a conditional use permit or a rezoning. The new owner, Kings House Inc., is listed as the owner of the Travelodge on Route 66 near Ponderosa Parkway.

This might be the last Christmas we are together as one community, Meza said. We want to give good wishes.
Malappuram: Six children, four of them girls, drowned when a country boat carrying nine capsized at Naranippuzha near Changaramkulam in the district on Tuesday. The local people have rescued two others. The tragedy took place around 5:30 pm in the backwater part of Biyyam Kayal. Five of the dead were close relatives. The victims have been identified as Adidev,8, Adhinath, 14, Jenisha, 10, Prasanna, 12, Pooja, 14 and Vaishna, 17.

The children were fished out by Fire and Rescue team along with local rescuers and rushed to a private hospital in Changaramkulam where they were declared brought dead. Later the bodies were taken to Government Taluk Hospital in Ponnani for the autopsy on Wednesday. Vaishnav's father Velayudhan Mappilakkal who led the boat managed to swim to safety. Shivangi, 17 and Fatima, 14, were rescued and rushed to the same hospital in Changaramkulam. Velayudhan, who was said to be in serious condition, was later shifted to another hospital in Thrissur.

According to local people, the children ventured into the river in the wooden boat to see the water flow of a broken bund in the Naranippuzha. People who took part in the rescue operation said that the tragic spot was muddy and largely avoided by local people due to safety concerns. The cause of the incident is suspected to be the current due to the broken bund.

The Ponnani Tehsildar G. Nirmal Kumar, who visited the spot, has announced Rs one lakh to be released for the families of the dead from Chief Ministers relief fund. The Kerala State Human Rights Commission has ordered a probe into the incident after registering case suo moto followed by media reports. The rights panel has asked district collector and district police chief to submit a report within three weeks.
KOZHIKODE: Chief of Disaster Risk Reduction in the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Muralee Thummarukudy on Tuesday, raised serious concerns regarding the safety of roads and skyscrapers in the state. Having a huge fan following on Facebook for his columns, Mr Thummarukudy attended an interactive session at a Mall here during a function organised by a clothing store.

Safety is still to make it to the priority list of Malayalis. Maybe during a disaster, the priority level goes up, but everyone starts neglecting the same, once the gravity of the same subsides. On roads and by drowning, on an yearly basis, 8,000 people are dying. In drowning alone, 1,500 people are dying, he said. Regarding the Ockhi Cyclone tragedy, the UN Expert said that instead of putting blame on the mechanism, the state should be thinking about ways to be better prepared in such an event.

The government should seriously think about avoiding taxes for safety equipment, and bring in a policy change. The same should be applicable for allotting Corporate Social Responsibility funds for safety and rescue operations, he added. The more than two-hour long session was attended by people from all walks of life, who had been following his columns for years.
Bengaluru: A section of Congress leaders is working overtime to make sure that Congress president, Rahul Gandhi visits not only temples but also Sufi shrines, churches and various maths during his tour of the state ahead of the assembly polls due next year.

These leaders that believe that Karnataka being dominated by caste politics like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, it is important from him to visit prominent maths to send the right signal to a particular vote block.

"A section of senior leaders in the party feels he must visit the maths as it could get a result similar to his temple visits in Gujarat," said a senior Congress leader, adding that the party could not afford to follow its Gujarat model of campaigning in other matters as Karnataka had nearly a 12 per cent Muslim population and four per cent Christian and had to appeal to them as well.

Noting that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and KPCC chief, Dr G. Parameshwar have been visiting Sufi shrines and defending the state celebrating Tipu Jayanti during their tours of the state as part of the strategy to win over the minorities, he reveals that Mr Gandhi's tour will follow more or less a similar pattern to woo them in the run-up to the state elections.

Meanwhile, the KPCC is preparing to host a major event to felicitate newly elected Congress president, Rahul Gandhi mid-January.

"We have tentatively suggested dates between January first and second week and three places , Hubballi-Dharwad, Chikmagaluru and Bengaluru to host the event and are waiting for a response from his office," sources said.
AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal who is in charge of the Congress in Karnataka claimed in Mysuru on Tuesday that there were no differences between CM Siddaramaiah and KPCC chief, Dr G Parameshwar as rumoured.

Denying the claims of BJP leaders that the two men were on separate tours of the state ahead of the assembly poll because they could not see eye to eye on issues, he told reporters here that they were doing a good job of covering Karnataka.

" It takes at least three months to cover all 224 constituencies. So both are touring in two different directions. The response to both their tours has been good. BJP leaders are unnecessarily creating confusion saying there are differences between them when this is not true," he said.

Asserting that the party was confident of winning more seats than in the last election in the state, he said the sitting MLAs would be given tickets, but refused to elaborate. "We are strengthening the party from the grassroot level," Mr Venugopal added.

Dr Parameswar too reiterated that things were fine between him and Mr Siddaramaiah and they were on separate tours for practical reasons.
The latest Reserve Bank data on the precipitous drop in recovery of bad loans by banks is of concern as in simple terms it means loot of the peoples money. It also impedes banks lending ability and thus affects growth of companies, specially in the small and medium sectors. This has been known for years, yet the situation only worsens, instead of improving. The banks operate on the money people keep as savings, and in the year ending March 2017, public sector banks wrote off `81,683 crores in bad loans against `57,586 crores the previous year. This is a huge jump of 41 per cent. It means that the government dipped into the peoples savings to wipe out these loans. The defaults of a few big borrowers amount to over 70 per cent of bad loans, according to the All-India Bank Employees Association. Most of them are in the steel and infrastructure sector.

This raises a moral issue: is it fair that people of limited means should help fatcat borrowers wriggle out of paying back their loans. Even if their failure to repay is in some cases due to the governments policies, it still doesnt justify the misplaced generosity of loan waivers. The total bad loans amounted to `2.86 lakh crores in 2016-17.

The RBI cant escape its responsibility for these bad loans as its representative sits on the boards of PSU banks. Merely red-flagging possible defaults after onsite inspection has little meaning. The central banker must be more proactive. Interestingly, Indias NPAs are the highest among Brics nations. Brazil and South Africa have a ratio of 3.69 per cent and 2.83 per cent respectively, according to the chief economist of a ratings agency. The only redeeming factor is that India is better off compared to Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy and Ireland. Chinas ratio of bad loans was just 1.75 per cent in 2016s second quarter.

Of equal concern is that the government is pouring in Rs 2.11 lakh crores into these banks as recapitalisation funds in the next two years. It looks like a case of good money chasing bad, and the only saving grace is that the government has abandoned its earlier devious scheme of making the depositors pay for losses incurred by banks. One hopes that when the government recapitalises these banks, it puts stringent conditions to ensure that this money too isnt frittered away, and more non-performing assets created. Its a matter of concern that even while the issue of bad loans is being discussed, newer NPAs are being created. Its hoped that from now the government wont indulge in such suicidal economic policies like demonetisation, that almost brought business to a standstill and had a devastating impact on the rural economy, where most transactions are still in cash.
What little chance Alexei Navalny had in taking on Vladimir Putin in next years Russian presidential polls evaporated with that countrys election panel rejecting his bid. Tainted by a conviction for embezzlement, that is commonplace among many who made a fortune courtesy the regime and then turned against it, the billionaire was unlikely to be allowed to challenge the Kremlins might. We never tire of telling the joke about thieves who broke into the Kremlin and stole next years poll results, which is bound to be overwhelmingly in Mr Putins favour. It couldnt have been otherwise in a year of tough guys like Xi Jinping, Donald Trump, Narendra Modi, and not to forget Kim Jong-un. Its been that kind of year: the world felt the heft of strongmen more than ever before.

The powerful consolidating their hold is the story of the year, though pundits may disagree on whether Mr Trump did enhance his power or actually destroy the White Houses reputation in his unseemly Twitter tussle with North Koreas Kim. Chinas Xi showed he had galloped ahead to claim being the worlds most powerful man, with his party congress deifying him.

As the strongmen were busy consolidating, the year was lesser for the loss of face for Germans Angela Merkel, possible challenger to the top male world leaders, who faced a setback in the elections and is still scrambling to remain at the helm. As the year wanes, the fear lingers about a few tough guys threatening to flex their trigger fingers on nuclear toys.
India is the worlds second biggest wireless market with 1.2 billion mobile subscribers, which is currently dominated by South Koreas Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, and Chinese players including Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo.

Alphabet Incs Google is looking to launch brick-and-mortar stores in India to boost sales of its Pixel smartphones, the Economic Times newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing three people with knowledge of the matter.

Google is exploring the idea of physical stores after finding an encouraging response to more than a dozen pop-up stores opened in malls across the country to showcase the second generation Pixel phones, the newspaper reported.

Google responded to a Reuters query saying that it does not comment on rumours or speculations.

India is the worlds second biggest wireless market with 1.2 billion mobile subscribers, which is currently dominated by South Koreas Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, and Chinese players including Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
Microsoft has always been mum on the existence of the Surface Phone, although it hints that such a project might be in works. However, in the last few months there have been several signs of a new smartphone in development by Microsoft.

An alleged Surface Phone with folding display appeared in several patents. But such evidence doesnt mean that the device will make it to life certainly, however, a foldable display device will make sense at this point.

In a patent, the company explains that the folding phones are necessary in order to provide more screen space without altering the phones form factor.

Along with these enhanced capabilities has come a demand for larger displays to provide a richer user experience. Mobile phone displays have increased in size to the point where they can now consume almost the entire viewing surface of a phone. To increase the size of displays any further would require an increase in the size of the phones themselves. This is not desirable, as users want their mobile phone to fit comfortably in their hand or in a shirt or pants pocket, Microsoft explains.

Previous patents suggest that Microsoft has added an innovative hinge with the folding phone that will enable two separate displays become a single frame when flat.

The hinge design will also offer more form factors, including a laptop-like design that could amplify its productivity aspect.

With a dual-display device, the mobile phone or tablet can include an open, expanded position where both displays are flush so that the user feels like there is a single integrated display. In a closed, condensed position, both displays are face-to-face so as to protect the displays. In a fully-open position, the dual displays can sit back-to-back so the user needs to flip the device to view the opposing display, Microsoft further explains.

Despite all these information about the Surface Phone, theres still no confirmation that Microsoft will push the patent to mass production phase.

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One morning, instead of turning up for class wearing the regulation navy blue smock, a defiant group of adolescent girls came to school in white T-shirts instead, demanding an end to discrimination.

Bizerte (Tunisia): In Tunisian high schools, the dress code is not uniform. Actually, it is: but only for girls. Boys can wear what they like, and now the girls are up in arms. One morning, instead of turning up for class wearing the regulation navy blue smock, a defiant group of adolescent girls came to school in white T-shirts instead, demanding an end to discrimination.

At the elite Bizerte public school, pupils have to sign a school rule stipulating that wearing a uniform applies to girls only. How did the school authorities react? By saying nothing. Thus was born the Manish Lab-setha (I wont wear it) campaign, referring to the offending garment.
In the early hours of Tuesday in the northern UK cities of Sheffield and Chesterfield, armed police blew open doors of homes and a Muslim community centre, arresting four men aged between 22 and 41. Scanty information given to the news media spoke of a planned Christmas bomb attack, now presumably averted. The police, it emerged, were acting on information given by the secret services, probably the domestic service, MI5.

Britain has suffered four Islamist militant attacks this year, with 35 people killed, 22 of these mainly young people at a concert in Manchester. There has been one apparent revenge attack, when a man drove into a crowd of worshippers outside of a London mosque, killing one. Nine allegedly planned attacks have been averted by the secret services  which, with the police, are monitoring some 3,000 people who might prove dangerous. Law enforcers cannot, as they constantly repeat, always foil every plot, but so far they may have stopped the worst.

Fear of attacks  however infrequently they occur  has changed public perceptions of security agencies. The fear prompts support for, even dependence on, the work of the secret services; institutions which now, in the Western world, stand high in popular esteem and with strong public support for more resources and powers. Security forces not been uniformly admired, and usually not at all in liberal society, which maintains a suspicion of their methods and motive. Liberals and leftists can see them  as Noam Chomsky has said of the CIA  as agencies existing to do ugly stuff. Scepticism of the services actions has a long and honourable history, rooted in the fear of loss of democratic control. In his memoirs, former US secretary of state Dean Acheson (1949-53) wrote that he warned President Harry Truman that the CIA, which came into existence in his presidency (1945-53), would become too powerful  neither he, the National Security Council nor anyone else would be in a position to know what it was doing or to control it.

These anxieties were neither groundless nor misplaced. America, unlike several European countries, did not have an organised spy agency until World War II, and the countrys congenital bias against an overweening state, as well as the brutal examples of both the Nazi SS and the Soviet Unions KGB, lay behind Achesons warning. Thus, though constrained by politicians, the judiciary and the press, the US intelligence services remain on constant probation. It is an attitude of suspicion justified, many believed, by the 2014 revelations of Edward Snowden, who disclosed that the National Security Agency was collecting the phone records of millions of Americans and had tapped directly into the servers of international firms like Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo.

The protests over the surveillance have been largely forgotten. In an extraordinary shift in public sentiment, the American secret services, battered by a President who veers between praise and vitriol for the agencies, have now emerged as defenders of constitutional propriety, and thus democracy. To this add the role they and police forces play in uncovering and averting terrorist attacks  with many more successes after the 9/11 attacks to concentrate minds  and the result is an implicit agreement between most of the left and the right that the secret services are the nations stalwart defenders. In Italy, a 2007 law ended the deep and sometimes venomous divisions between the Italian services, placing them under control of a security intelligence department, itself responsible to the Prime Minister. The agencies now claim that past memories of inefficiencies are distant (an optimistic boast), as are alleged secret service links to the 1980 bombing of the Bologna train station that killed 85.

This doesnt mean that the safeguards against the services going rogue should be weakened. Indeed, as part of the reason for increased public support, they have been strengthened in most states  as in the UK and in the United States, especially over the NSA surveillance  in parallel with the strengthening of the services themselves. The change in public attitude has come, certainly, from fear of attack, whether from Islamic militants or the far right or left. But it also stems from a more mature sense that properly supervised secret services can ensure that a democracy stays that way. For that, we owe them gratitude  as long as we also remain vigilant over them too.
Volunteers with the Northern Arizona Red Cross Disaster Action Team are used to giving aid to victims of house fires. However, this December has been an especially busy month.

I would say in Flagstaff we are dealing with double the house fires we normally have, DAT Program Manager Brooke Clanton said.

The DAT team has helped a large number of families during a month where heavy snow would usually prevent the dry conditions that created some of these house fires.

The DAT team has assisted nine families affected by house fires, with money for clothes, food and lodging across Northern Arizona this month, with five of the fires occurring in Flagstaff.

It has been a pretty busy month for us, volunteer Brad Barnett said.

The Red Cross DAT program is meant to give residential fire victims immediate assistance after a fire.

Volunteer Lesly Livingston said her team is essential to helping people who are in shock after a tragedy.

We are trying to give people enough money to buy a couple of outfits, get some food or find some lodging while they wait for their insurance to kick in or they figure out what they are going to do next, Livingston said. A lot of people have just lost everything so they shouldnt have to worry about what they are going to eat or where they are going to stay.

Northern Arizona Red Cross Executive Director Frank Boruget said that the DAT team expects more house fires during the holiday season because people are inside using their heaters.

The holiday season is always a busy one for us because families are inside to escape the cold and they are using fireplaces, space heaters, coal and firewood to heat their homes. We expect house fires this time of year, Boruget said. But we also usually have some rain and snow by this time and I think the dryness has been the reason for this increase in house fires.

The Red Cross finds out about victims through the local fire departments, who give out information about the DAT program.

We have a really good working relationship with all the fire departments, Clanton said. They know who we are and they give our information to people so they can call us if they need help.

The DAT team also helps people get through the emotional and mental toll of a house fire by directing victims to free counseling sessions and helping them navigate through complicated insurance policies.

We try and stay with people through the whole process, volunteer Brad Barnett said. We can help you get counseling if you need it or we can help you with insurance if you need that.

Livingston said that after people have the bare necessities they just need some compassion.

I let people know that I have been through a house fire myself or if they need a hug I give them a hug, Livingston said. We just want people to know that we are here to help and we let them know that we are here to help through our words and actions.
Kosuri launched over a dozen businesses that claimed to provide information technology services. In fact, he admitted, they existed as vehicles to get visas for Indians who would actually work elsewhere.

An Indian-American couple has been convicted on charges of H-1B visa fraud and will face up to 30 years imprisonment, the Department of Justice has said. An Indian-American businessman from Virginia Raju Kosuri, 44, who used shell companies to fraudulently apply for nearly a thousand H-1B visa programme, will spend 28 months in federal prison and then is likely to be deported to India, according to a report on The Washington Post.

His wife Smriti Jharia, 46, of Ashburn, is also being sent back and will be accompanied by the couples US-born son, the report said. U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema said in court last Friday that problems with the prosecution of the case led to a more lenient sentence adding that the H-1B visa programme has the potential to yield great financial rewards. The temptation is there.

Smriti Jharia is one of the immigrants Kosuri had illegally sponsored. She pleaded guilty to falsely obtaining naturalization and agreed on Friday to move back to India immediately and give up her U.S. citizenship. She said their son, a native U.S. citizen who has never lived in India, will go with her. Charges against three other defendants allegedly involved in the scheme were dismissed prosecutors had failed to turn over relevant evidence, according to court records.

A sixth defendant was allowed to withdraw her guilty plea; she went to trial this month, and a verdict has not been reached. Starting in 2000, Kosuri launched over a dozen businesses that claimed to provide information technology services out of Danville, Va. In fact, he admitted, they existed merely as vehicles to get visas for Indian nationals who would actually work elsewhere making $20m in the process.

Kosuri, who emigrated from India in 1999 and was a lawful permanent resident, was paid millions by the companies where those visa recipients worked. He also obtained millions in bank financing by misrepresenting his business, as well as a $5,00,000 grant from the Virginia Tobacco Commission. He and his wife tried, mostly unsuccessfully, to win federal contracts through the Small Business Administration for one of the companies. Seventy-one percent of H-1B visa recipients came from India in 2015, as per a 2016 DHS report. In April, however, Trump ordered a review of the H-1B programme.
The wife (R) and mother (centre) of Kulbhushan Jadhav are escorted by an Indian diplomat after their meeting with Jadhav at the foreign ministry in Islamabad. (Photo: AP)

Islamabad: Pakistani authorities have sent the shoes worn by Kulbhushan Jadhav's wife for forensic examination to determine the nature of the suspected presence of a foreign object, a media report said on Wednesday.

The authorities were ascertaining whether the "metallic object" in the shoes was a camera or a recording chip, Pakistan Today quoted Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal as saying.

A separate report in Dawn reported that the Foreign Office confirmed a "metallic substance" had been detected in Jadhav's wife's shoes that were retained by security officials prior to the meeting with the Indian death row prisoner at the Foreign Office in Islamabad.

Jadhav's wife's shoes were kept for inspection, while all other belongings, including jewellery, were returned, Faisal said, adding that she was given an alternative pair of shoes to wear after her shoes were removed.

In a statement issued on Tuesday night, the Foreign Office made no mention of the "metallic substance" and had said that there was "something" in the shoes.

Read: India's claims baseless, Jadhav's wife's shoes had something inside: Pak

In the statement, Pakistan rejected India's contentions that Jadhav's wife and mother were harassed as baseless and claimed that his wife's shoes were confiscated on security grounds as there was "something" in it.

"There was something in the shoe. It is being investigated. We gave her a pair of replacement shoes. All her jewellery etc were returned after the meeting," Faisal said.

The External Affairs Ministry (EAM) said in a statement on Tuesday that Pakistan went so far as to have the mangal sutra, bangles and bindi of Jadhav's mother and wife removed before they could meet him.

India also accused Pakistan of disregarding cultural and religious sensibilities of family members under the pretext of security.

"This included removal of mangal sutra, bangles and bindi, as well as a change in attire that was not warranted by security," it said.

The Foreign Office said that Pakistan does not wish to indulge in a "meaningless battle of words" and categorically rejects India's baseless "allegations and twists" about attitude of authorities during Jadhav's meeting with his wife and mother.

"The Indian baseless allegations and twists, that come 24 hours later, about the visit of the wife and mother of Commander Jadhav, a convicted terrorist and spy, who has confessed to his crimes, are categorically rejected," the statement said.

If Indian concerns were serious, the guests or the Indian DHC (Deputy High Commissioner) should have raised them during the visit with the media which was readily available, but at a safe distance as requested by India, it said.

"We do not wish to indulge in a meaningless battle of words. Our openness and transparency belie these allegations," it said.

During the December 25 meeting, whose pictures were released by Pakistan, Jadhav was seen sitting behind a glass screen while his mother and wife sat on the other side. They spoke through intercom and the entire 40-minute proceedings appeared to have been recorded on video.

Jadhav, who was captured in March, 2016 was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying, an accusation that India has dismissed as concocted.

New Delhi says Jadhav was kidnapped in Iran where he had legitimate business interests, and brought to Pakistan. To save Jadhav, India moved the International Court of Justice, which ordered Pakistan in May to stay his execution.
Pyongyang is under multiple UN sanctions over its nuclear and missile tests and is prohibited from carrying out any launch using ballistic missile technology including satellites.

Seoul: North Korea is preparing to launch a satellite, a Seoul newspaper said on Tuesday, as outside observers warn that the nuclear-armed regimes space programme is a fig leaf for weapons tests. Pyongyang is under multiple UN sanctions over its nuclear and missile tests and is prohibited from carrying out any launch using ballistic missile technology including satellites. Through various channels, weve recently learned that the North has completed a new satellite and named it Kwan-gmyongsong-5, the Joon-gang Ilbo daily reported, quoting a South Korean government source.

Their plan is to put a satellite equipped with cameras and tele-communication devices into orbit, he said. Pyongyang launched their Kwangm-yongsong-4 satellite in February 2016, which most in the international community viewed as a disguised ballistic missile test. A spokesman for the South Korean military joint chiefs of staff said there was nothing out of ordinary at this moment, but added that Seoul was watching out for any provocative acts including the test of a long-range missile disguised as a satellite launch.

The report came as the Norths ruling party newspaper Rodong Sin-mun reasserted the regimes right to launch satellites and develop its space technology. In a commentary titled peaceful space programmes are sovereign countries legitimate rights, the daily said Pyongyangs satellite launches absolutely correspond with international laws concerning space development.

At a UN General Assembly committee meeting in October, North Koreas deputy UN ambassador Kim In-Ryong said his country has a 2016-2020 plan to develop practical satellites that can contribute to the economic development and improvement of the peoples living. He stressed North Koreas right to produce and launch satellites will not be changed just because the US denies it.

North Korea is believed to have successfully put a satellite into orbit in December 2012 after years of failures dating back to 1998 when it launched a pilot satellite and named it Kwangmyongsong-1. Earlier this month, the Russian newspaper Rossi-yskaia Gazeta quoted a Russian military expert, Vladimir Khrustalev, as saying that North Korea was expected to launch two satellites  an Earth exploration satellite and a communications satellite  in the near future. Khrustalev made the remark after returning from his week-long trip to North Korea in mid-November when he met with representatives of the countrys National Aerospace Development Administration, the Russian daily said.
New Delhi/Islamabad: The government will make a statement in the Lok Sabha on Thursday on the treatment meted out by Pakistan to the family members of Kulbhushan Jadhav, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said on Wednesday

Meanwhile, Pakistan is investigating the shoes of Jadhavs wife who visited him this week for an unprecedented meeting, officials said on Wednesday.

Pakistan foreign office spokesperson Dr Mohammed Faisal said, We do not wish to indulge in a meaningless battle of words. Our openness and transparency belies these allegations. If Indian concerns were serious, the guests or the Indian DHC (Deputy High Commissioner J.P. Singh) should have raised them during the visit, with the media, which was readily available, but at a safe distance, as requested by India, he added.

Dr Faisal said, The fact is that Commander Jadhav s mother publicly thanked Pakistan for the humanitarian gesture and this was recorded by the media.

India objected to the seizure of shoes of Jadhavs wife ahead of the Monday meeting, which has created suspicion on whether there was anything unusual found in them.
The standoff between the United States and North Korea has raised fears of a new conflict on the Korean peninsula. (Photo: File)

Washington/Moscow: The United States announced sanctions on two of North Korea's most prominent officials behind its ballistic missile program on Tuesday, while Russia reiterated an offer to mediate to ease tension between Washington and Pyongyang.

The new US steps were the latest in a campaign aimed at forcing North Korea - which has defied years of multilateral and bilateral sanctions - to abandon a weapons program aimed at developing nuclear-tipped missiles capable of hitting the United States.

"Treasury is targeting leaders of North Korea's ballistic missile programs, as part of our maximum pressure campaign to isolate (North Korea) and achieve a fully denuclearized Korean Peninsula," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

The move followed new United Nations sanctions announced last Friday in response to North Korea's November 29 test of an ICBM that Pyongyang said put all of the US mainland within range of its nuclear weapons. Those sanctions sought to further limit North Korea's access to refined petroleum products and crude oil and its earnings from workers abroad.

North Korea declared the UN steps to be an act of war and tantamount to a complete economic blockade.

Read: Blocking N Korea out: UNs new sanctions act of war, says foreign ministry

The standoff between the United States and North Korea has raised fears of a new conflict on the Korean peninsula, which has remained in a technical state of war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

The United States has said that all options, including military ones, are on the table in dealing with North Korea. It says it prefers a diplomatic solution, but that North Korea has given no indication it is willing to discuss denuclearization.

Leading Experts

The US Treasury named the targeted officials as Kim Jong Sik and Ri Pyong Chol. It said Kim was reportedly a major figure in North Korea's efforts to switch its missile program from liquid to solid fuel, while Ri was reported to be a key official in its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) development.

The largely symbolic steps block any property or interests the two might have within US jurisdiction and prohibit any dealings by US citizens with them.

With their ruling Workers Party, military and scientific credentials, the men are two of three top experts considered indispensable to North Korea's rapidly developing weapons programs.

Photographs and television footage show that the men are clearly among North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's favourites. Their behaviour with him is sharply at variance with the obsequiousness of other senior aides, most of whom bow and hold their hands over their mouths when speaking to the young leader.

Ri is one of the most prominent aides, and likely represents the Workers Party on the missile program, experts say.

Born in 1948, Ri was partly educated in Russia and promoted when Kim Jong Un started to rise through the ranks in the late 2000s.

Ri has visited China once and Russia twice. He met China's defence minister in 2008 as the air force commander and accompanied Kim Jong Il on a visit to a Russian fighter jet factory in 2011, according to state media.

Kim Jong Sik is a prominent rocket scientist who rose after playing a role in North Korea's first successful launch of a rocket in 2012.

He started his career as a civilian aeronautics technician, but now wears the uniform of a military general at the Munitions Industry Department, according to experts and the South Korean government.

Many other details, including his age, are not known.

Kremlin Offer

On Tuesday, the Kremlin, which has long called for the United States and North Korea to negotiate, said it was ready to act as a mediator if the two sides were willing for it to play such a role.

"Russia's readiness to clear the way for de-escalation is obvious," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Asked to comment on the offer, a spokesman for the US State Department, Justin Higgins, said the United States "has the ability to communicate with North Korea through a variety of diplomatic channels", and added:

"We want the North Korean regime to understand that there is a different path that it can choose, however it is up to North Korea to change course and return to credible negotiations."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who made a similar offer on Monday, told US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in a phone call on Tuesday that "Washington's aggressive rhetoric" and beefing up of its military presence in the region had heightened tension and was unacceptable, his ministry said.

Lavrov underscored the need for "the fastest move to the negotiating process from the language of sanctions", it said.

Another US State Department spokesman, Michael Cavey, said Washington remained open to talks, but the onus was on North Korea "to take sincere and meaningful actions toward denuclearization and refrain from further provocations."

South Korea's Unification Ministry forecast on Tuesday that North Korea would look to open negotiations with the United States next year while continuing to seek recognition as a de facto nuclear power.

The United States has stressed the need for all countries, especially Russia, and China - North Korea's main trading partner - to fully implement sanctions, including by cutting off oil supplies.

According to Chinese customs data, China exported no oil products to North Korea in November, apparently going above and beyond UN sanctions imposed earlier in 2017.

China also imported no North Korean iron ore, coal or lead in November, the second full month of those trade sanctions, the data showed.

China has not disclosed its crude exports to North Korea for several years, but industry sources say it still supplies about 520,000 tonnes, or 3.8 million barrels, a year to the country via an aging pipeline.

North Korea also sources some of its oil from Russia.

Trade between North Korea and China has slowed through the year, particularly after China banned coal purchases in February.

Chinese exports of corn to North Korea in November also slumped, down 82 percent from 2016 to 100 tonnes, the lowest since January. Exports of rice plunged 64 percent to 672 tonnes, the lowest since March.
The stalemated war has killed more than 10,000 civilians and pushed the Arab world's poorest country to the brink of famine. (Photo: AP)

Sanaa: Yemeni witnesses and security officials say a Saudi-led coalition airstrike on a crowded market has killed at least 25 people, including children.

They say Tuesdays strike in the western province of Taiz wounded at least 30 others.

The witnesses and officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared retaliation or were not authorized to brief the media.

The coalition could not immediately be reached for comment.

International rights groups have accused the coalition of bombing civilian gatherings, markets, hospitals and residential areas across Yemen since the beginning of its air campaign against Iran-backed rebels, known as Houthis, in March 2015.

The stalemated war has killed more than 10,000 civilians and pushed the Arab world's poorest country to the brink of famine.
Nepal will, however, seek help from India and China for getting crucial data for the exercise, Nepals Survey Departments Director General Ganesh Bhatta said. (Photo: File/Representational)

Nepal has rejected Indias offer to jointly re-measure the height of the worlds highest peak Mount Everest following the massive earthquake in 2015 and will carry out the exercise on its own, the top official of the Himalayan nations survey department has said.

Nepal will, however, seek help from India and China for getting crucial data for the exercise, Nepals Survey Departments Director General Ganesh Bhatta said.

Sources in New Delhi said that China could be behind Nepal refusing Indias proposal to jointly re-measure Mount Everest as the peak is on the Sino-Nepal border.

According to a statement by the Department of Science and Technology which comes under Indias Ministry of Science and Technology, after the 2015 Gorkha earthquake that jolted Nepal, various doubts were raised by the scientific community over the height of the peak.

The 7.8 magnitude quake in April 2015 had devastated the Himalayan nation, killing more than 8,000 people and displacing lakhs of others. The Survey of India, a 250-year-old institute under the DST, proposed re-measuring Mt Everest as an Indo-Nepal Joint Scientific Exercise with Nepals survey department. They have not responded to our proposal.

Now they are saying that they are not involving either India or China. They will be re-measuring Mt Everest on their own, Major Gen Girish Kumar, the Surveyor General of India, said.

Kumar said that a representative from India attended a meeting convened in Kathmandu, where surveyors and scientists from different countries including China were also present.

There was a proposal from India to help us measure Mt Everest, but we are doing it on our own, Bhatta, who is in Nepal, said over phone. When asked whether China had also given a proposal to re-measure Nepal, he replied in the negative. He noted that China had measured Mt Everest in 1975 and 2005 while Indian surveyors had carried out a similar mission in 1956.

The SGI had also measured the Everest during the British era.

India was the first country under Sir George Everests leadership as the Surveyor General of India to have declared the height of Mount Everest and establish it as the highest peak in the world in the year 1855, the Department of Science and Technologys website states.

Bhatta said preparatory work has already begun on the project and they are gathering preliminary data crucial for this survey. The massive earthquake has shook even the basic parameters of Nepal, so data from other countries will be crucial, he said.

India is being requested to provide the levelling data while China has been asked to provide the gravity data. The data will be very important to determine the height of Mt Everest, Bhatta said. We wont be crossing over into the Chinese territory for measurements.

The work of summiting Everest will take place in 2019, he said. Kusalaraj, a scientist at the Centre for Earth Science at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, said minor change in the height of Mt Everest may not have a direct impact on the lives of people immediately.
An all-women platoon will be on duty to protect girls from drunken revellers on New Years's Eve.



It will be a challenging debut for 120 women constables, trained in anti-riot operations, on M G Road and Brigade Road, where boisterous crowds welcome the new year.

Attached to the Karnataka State Reserve Police, they have undergone nine months of training and are equipped to deal with unruly situations, a senior police officer said.

Big numbers

City police commissioner T Suneel Kumar has requested additional forces from the Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) and Home Guards.

Police will patrol the city all night, a policeman involved in the preparations said.

Last year, a girl returning from a party was molested in Kammanahalli in the wee hours, and the police are being extra-careful this year.

The top brass are telling their men they can't afford even a single untoward incident, in the light of Suneel Kumar's promise to the High Court that the celebrations will be safe and secure.

Police are installing additional lights and 200 CCTV cameras on MG Road, Brigade Road and places where large crowds are expected.

They are also installing CCTV cameras that will be monitored from the commissioner's office.

Staff are being trained to communicate with men on the ground in case they notice anything spinning out of control.

A cavalry unit will also be on duty to keep the crowds in check. Policemen mounted on horses will patrol prominent streets.

Among the gear police will use this time are binoculars and cameras worn on their bodies. They are also setting up watchtowers.

With just a week to go for New Year's Eve, police have already intensified their drive against drunk driving.

They have also directed pubs, bars and restaurants not to keep open beyond the 1 pm deadline.



Who's on duty?

9,000 city cops

2,000 cops from districts

120 anti-riot women cops

1,000 Home Guards

Horse-mounted cops

Box

What's the plan?

No entry on flyovers

Action against drunk drivers

No extension of bar deadline

Additional lighting, cameras
Eight people were injured in a violent clash between two groups over a minor dispute in Sambhalhera village here, police said today.



Last evening, two men identified as Rashid and Akhlaq had an argument over some minor issue and it turned into a clash in which sticks were used and stones were pelted, they said.

On receiving information, the police rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control.

Eight people were injured and they were shifted to a hospital, they added.
Two police constables were suspended for alleged dereliction of duty in the case of the killing of a Dalit woman and her five-year-old nephew, officials said today.



Senior Superintendent of Police Anant Dev said Tejbir Singh and Jitender Kumar were yesterday suspended for dereliction of duty in connection with the case of killing of Prachi (22) and her nephew, Sandeep, in Luhari Khurd village.

Their hacked bodies were found on December 20 in sugarcane fields in the village, leading to a protest by locals who initially refused to hand the bodies over to the police.

The two were missing from the previous evening.

On December 25, the police nabbed three accused and recovered a sharp-aged weapon which was allegedly used in the crime.
Police report a Christmas day theft of 48-foot refrigerated trailer containing a large shipment of veal from outside a commercial address at Signet Drive and Fenmar Drive. The thieves struck between 3 and 5 a.m. The trailer is described as a white, 48-foot-long refrigerated trailer with a blue W and White Valley on the side. The rear doors of the trailer are distinctive. The right door is white, the left door is stainless steel. The trailer has Ontario licence plates K5885K. Photographs of the company logo, as well as the packaging in which the veal is contained, are attached.

Related
The bandh called for solving the Mahadayi water sharing dispute in the Malaprabha command area, covering four districts - Dharwad, Belagavi, Gadag and Bagalkot - on Wednesday was total and peaceful. Except minor incidents like stone-pelting, the protest was almost peaceful.



The bandh call was given by Mahadayi and Kalasa-Banduri Horata Samanvaya Samiti and other organisations, seeking the prime minister's intervention in the long-standing Mahadayi issue.

The bandh received overwhelming response in Dharwad district. Various organisations, traders and farmers voluntarily participated in the bandh in Kalghatagi, Kundagol, Navalgund, Hubballi and Dharwad taluks.

The Chennamma Circle in Hubballi became the epicentre of the protests as members of different organisations gathered there to demand settlement of the water dispute.

All business activities in Hubballi came to a standstill as all commercial establishments and markets remained closed. Some protesters who were staging a dharna in front of MP Pralhad Joshi's office broke the window panes of the office. In another incident, two protesters slit their hand with a blade near the railway station to register their anger against the delay in solving the Mahadayi issue.

In Dharwad city, the protest started at 9 am after agitators gathered at Jubilee Circle and the DC office premises. Traders voluntarily refrained from opening their establishments.

Banks and government offices functioned with half-closed shutters. As a precautionary measure, Deputy Commissioner S B Bommanahalli had declared a holiday for schools and colleges.

The North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation and private bus operators stopped the services following the bandh call. It was only after 6 pm that buses started operating.

People extended generous support to the bandh in Gadag district. The protesters blocked the the Vijayapura-Hubballi national highway and burnt tyres to register their anger against the government for the delay in solving the issue.

They threw stones on a petrol tanker as the driver did not stop the vehicle at the protest venue. Traders expressed their support by closing their business establishments voluntarily.

Busy junctions, market places and cinema halls wore a deserted look due to the absence of people. Members of Jaya Karnataka Sanghatane took out a bike rally from Hescom office to Gandhi Circle.

Farmers blocked the national highway at Kudalasangama and the Vijayapura-Belagavi highway at Mudhol in Bagalkot district, demanding an immediate solution to the Mahadayi problem.

The bandh evoked mixed response in Belagavi district. A near total bandh was observed in Bailhongal, Kittur, Ramdurg and Savadatti taluks. Markets remained closed and buses were off the roads.

Heavy police bandobust was made to prevent untoward incidents in all the four districts. Protests were also held in Haveri, Vijayapura, Basavana Bagewadi in Vijayapura district and Hosapete, Ballari district.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday said it has seized assets worth Rs 26.61 of controversial arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari and others for violation of the FEMA law.



It said it has seized the properties "in lieu of undisclosed assets held abroad by him" and the action has been carried out under section 37A of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

Section 37A of the FEMA stipulates that if certain foreign exchange, foreign security or immovable property is held outside India in violation of this law, the equivalent value of asset can be seized within India.

The ED had booked Bhandari, reported to have left India for a foreign location sometime ago, under criminal charges of the PMLA law in February this year as also under the FEMA.

The Delhi Police had also booked him for violation of the Official Secrets Act (OSA) last year.

Bhandari's case first came to light after the I-T department conducted searches against him in April last year and recovered certain "sensitive" official defence documents from his premises.

As part of these raids, the taxman is also said to have recovered certain emails that talk about renovation of a costly apartment in London in 2010 which was reportedly owned by Robert Vadra, brother-in-law of Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

Vadra's legal firm has denied that he owned the London property directly or indirectly. It also denied Vadra has any business ties with an arms consultant or his aides.

The tax department had last year also shared a "seizure memo record" with the defence ministry to apprise it about the contents of these "sensitive" documents.
The United States announced sanctions on two of North Korea's most prominent officials behind its ballistic missile program on Tuesday, while Russia reiterated an offer to mediate to ease tension between Washington and Pyongyang.



The new US steps were the latest in a campaign aimed at forcing North Korea, which has defied years of multilateral and bilateral sanctions, to abandon a weapons program aimed at developing nuclear-tipped missiles capable of hitting the United States.

"Treasury is targeting leaders of North Korea's ballistic missile programs, as part of our maximum pressure campaign to isolate (North Korea) and achieve a fully denuclearised Korean Peninsula," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

The move followed new United Nations sanctions announced last Friday in response to North Korea's November 29 test of an ICBM that Pyongyang said put all of the US mainland within range of its nuclear weapons.

Those sanctions sought to further limit North Korea's access to refined petroleum products and crude oil and its earnings from workers abroad.

North Korea declared the UN steps to be an act of war and tantamount to a complete economic blockade.

The standoff between the United States and North Korea has raised fears of a new conflict on the Korean peninsula, which has remained in a technical state of war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

The United States has said that all options, including military ones, are on the table in dealing with North Korea.

It says it prefers a diplomatic solution, but that North Korea has given no indication it is willing to discuss denuclearisation.

Leading experts

The US Treasury named the targeted officials as Kim Jong Sik and Ri Pyong Chol.

It said Kim was reportedly a major figure in North Korea's efforts to switch its missile program from liquid to solid fuel, while Ri was reported to be a key official in its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) development.

The largely symbolic steps block any property or interests the two might have within US jurisdiction and prohibit any dealings by US citizens with them.

With their ruling Workers Party, military and scientific credentials, the men are two of three top experts considered indispensable to North Korea's rapidly developing weapons programs.

Photographs and television footage show that the men are clearly among North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's favourites.

Their behaviour with him is sharply at variance with the obsequiousness of other senior aides, most of whom bow and hold their hands over their mouths when speaking to the young leader.

Ri is one of the most prominent aides, and likely represents the Workers Party on the missile program, experts say.

Born in 1948, Ri was partly educated in Russia and promoted when Kim Jong Un started to rise through the ranks in the late 2000s.

Ri has visited China once and Russia twice. He met China's defence minister in 2008 as the air force commander and accompanied Kim Jong Il on a visit to a Russian fighter jet factory in 2011, according to state media.

Kim Jong Sik is a prominent rocket scientist who rose after playing a role in North Korea's first successful launch of a rocket in 2012.

He started his career as a civilian aeronautics technician, but now wears the uniform of a military general at the Munitions Industry Department, according to experts and the South Korean government.

Many other details, including his age, are not known.

Kremlin offer

On Tuesday, the Kremlin, which has long called for the United States and North Korea to negotiate, said it was ready to act as a mediator if the two sides were willing for it to play such a role.

"Russia's readiness to clear the way for de-escalation is obvious," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Asked to comment on the offer, spokesman for the US State Department, Justin Higgins, said the United States "has the ability to communicate with North Korea through a variety of diplomatic channels".

"We want the North Korean regime to understand that there is a different path that it can choose, however it is up to North Korea to change course and return to credible negotiations," he added.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who made a similar offer on Monday, told US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in a phone call on Tuesday that "Washington's aggressive rhetoric" and beefing up of its military presence in the region had heightened tension and was unacceptable, his ministry said.

Lavrov underscored the need for "the fastest move to the negotiating process from the language of sanctions", it said.

Another US State Department spokesman, Michael Cavey, said Washington remained open to talks, but the onus was on North Korea "to take sincere and meaningful actions toward denuclearization and refrain from further provocations."
A man was today arrested following a police complaint by award-winning actor Parvathy, who alleged that she was abused and viciously trolled on social media for terming as "misogynistic" some dialogues in a film starring top actor Mammootty.



The man identified as Printo from Vadakkancherry was arrested and charged under non-bailable sections of the Information Technology Act, police said.

He would be produced before the court here later, they said, adding that more arrests would be made in the case.

The 'Qarib Qarib Singlle' actor was trolled and abused on various online platforms after she claimed that the dialogues in the film were "misogynistic".

She had submitted the screenshots of the trolling along with the complaint she lodged yesterday.

At an open forum organised on the sidelines of the International Film Festival of Kerala recently, she voiced her opinion against glorifying misogyny on screen and expressed concern about the absence of women's perspective in cinema.

To prove her point, Parvathy said she had recently watched "Kasaba."

Though she did not mention the actor's name, she said the film had disappointed her as it featured a great actor mouthing "misogynistic dialogues."

She had also said such kind of dialogues from a superstar would give a wrong impression to people.

Meanwhile, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor came out in Parvathy's support on the issue.

He said though he has not seen the film, he strongly supported the actress' right to express her views on misogyny in cinema without being subjected to threats of rape and death.

"I call on senior male actors in the Malayalam film industry to stand by her and start a public debate on the issue," Tharoor tweeted today.

Condemning the online attacks, Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac had tweeted that they were deplorable and praised her for making Kerala proud by winning the best actress award at the IFFI.

Known for a variety of roles in various languages, including Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi, Parvathy bagged the 'Best Actress' award. She has also secured the Kerala State Film Award for the best actress.
"I oppose the brand of Hindutva that BJP practices. I am devoted to the ideal of secularism. But I don't know what the 'soft Hindutva' you refer to is,' replied Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.



He was speaking to reporters who met him at Holalkere, Chitradurga district, Karnataka.

To a question whether he was afraid of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) activists because he had cautioned the Congress rank and file to be vigilant of their activities, the CM retorted: "Why should I be scared?" .

"I asked my party workers to be careful of the RSS during election time to ensure that their activists do not cause communal flare-ups".

To another question regarding the boycott of the meeting with SC/ST communities slated for December 31, the CM said that he had postponed the meeting to January 13, 2018.

As for the section of ST communities protesting against the Sadashiva Commission's recommendations on reservations, on December 29, the CM said, "To protest is everybody's right".

To the demand to increase the reservation percentages, the CM said that soon a census would be conducted and steps would be taken based on it.

As for questions on the Mahadayi river water sharing dispute, Siddaramaiah said that he had written to Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar inviting him for talks.

"Mahadayi agitations are not against the Congress. They are against Yeddyurappa because he is lying to people," Siddaramaiah alleged.

Siddaramaiah said that he would convene a meeting soon to plan the Vishwa Kannada Sammelana at Davangere city this year.
Pakistani authorities have sent the shoes worn by Kulbhushan Jadhav's wife for forensic examination to determine the nature of the suspected presence of a foreign object, a media report said on Wednesday.



The authorities were ascertaining whether the "metallic object" in the shoes was a camera or a recording chip, Pakistan Today quoted Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Mohammad Faisal as saying.

A separate report in 'Dawn' reported that the FO confirmed a "metallic substance" had been detected in Jadhav's wife's shoes that were retained by security officials prior to the meeting with the Indian death row prisoner at the Foreign Office in Islamabad.

Jadhav's wife's shoes were kept for inspection, while all other belongings, including jewellery, were returned, Faisal said, adding that she was given an alternative pair of shoes to wear after her shoes were removed.

In a statement issued on Tuesday night, the FO made no mention of the "metallic substance" and had said that there was "something" in the shoes.

In the statement, Pakistan rejected as "baseless" India's contentions that Jadhav's wife and mother were harassed and claimed that his wife's shoes were confiscated on security grounds as there was "something" in it.

"There was something in the shoe. It is being investigated. We gave her a pair of replacement shoes. All her jewellery etc were returned after the meeting," Faisal said.

The external affairs ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that Pakistan went so far as to have the mangal sutra, bangles and bindi of Jadhav's mother and wife removed before they could meet him.

India also accused Pakistan of disregarding cultural and religious sensibilities of family members under the pretext of security.

"This included removal of mangal sutra, bangles and bindi, as well as a change in attire that was not warranted by security," it said.

The FO said that Pakistan does not wish to indulge in a "meaningless battle of words" and categorically rejects India's baseless "allegations and twists" about attitude of authorities during Jadhav's meeting with his wife and mother.

"The Indian baseless allegations and twists, that come 24 hrs later, about the visit of the wife and mother of Commander Jadhav, a convicted terrorist and spy, who has confessed to his crimes, are categorically rejected," the statement said.

If Indian concerns were serious, the guests or the Indian DHC (Deputy High Commissioner) should have raised them during the visit with the media which was readily available, but at a safe distance as requested by India, it said.

"We do not wish to indulge in a meaningless battle of words. Our openness and transparency belie these allegations," it said.

During the December 25 meeting, whose pictures were released by Pakistan, Jadhav was seen sitting behind a glass screen while his mother and wife sat on the other side. They spoke through intercom and the entire 40-minute proceedings appeared to have been recorded on video.

Jadhav, who was captured in March last year, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for spying, an accusation that India has dismissed as concocted.

New Delhi says Jadhav was kidnapped in Iran where he had legitimate business interests, and brought to Pakistan.

To save Jadhav, India moved the International Court of Justice, which ordered Pakistan in May to stay his execution.
The CBI has booked a senior official of the RDSO and a private cable supplier for reportedly cheating the Railways to the tune of Rs 5.43 crore by supplying substandard cables.



The agency has booked M K Singh Senior Section Engineer of the Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO), Gee Cab Industries Limited and its director Roop Kumar Lal along with unidentified public servants and private persons.

It is claimed that the Southern Railway had placed an order for the purchase of 280.1 km of underground telecom copper conductor cable for a value of Rs 5.43 crore.

The CBI has claimed that the company supplied only 277.6 km of the cable which was duly inspected and certified by Singh.

The FIR claimed that a joint check was conducted by the Southern Railway officials, the RDSO officials and representatives of the company which revealed that the cables supplied were not as per tender and supply specifications, and were substandard.

"It also revealed that the sample cable checked during the joint check was tested and passed by the RDSO during their inspection and sent to the consignees of Southern Railway for laying," it claimed.

The agency has taken note of the complaint from the deputy CVO of the Southern Railways and filed an FIR for reportedly causing a wrongful loss of Rs 5.43 crore.
Opposition parties on Wednesday took strong objection to Union minister Anant Kumar Hegde's remarks on amending the Constitution and said such a person should have no place in the council of ministers.



Hegde should either apologise or Prime Minister Narendra Modi should take a call on whether such a person should continue as a minister, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters outside Parliament.

He said Opposition parties had raised the matter before Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu.

"Opposition parties are of the opinion that any minister who does not believe in the Constitution should have no place in the council of ministers. It is for the prime minister to take a call on him," Azad said.

"Either Hegde should apologise in both Houses and to the nation or the prime minister should take a decision on whether such people should continue," he added.

Both Houses were disrupted by opposition members over Hegde's remarks.

The minister of state for skill development had said at an event in Karnataka that he respects the Constitution but "it will be changed in the days to come".
As many as 20 Tamil Nadu fishermen, who were arrested on charges of poaching in Sri Lankan waters were repatriated today following their release by a court there.



According to police, the fishermen from Karaikal, Ramanathapuram and Pudukottai districts were handed over to the Indian Coast Guard at the International Maritime boundary line this morning by the Lankan authorities.



The fishermen were arrested in January and February this year, they said. More than 130 Tamil Nadu fishermen, arrested on various occasions, are still languishing in different prisons in Sri Lanka, Rameswaram Fishermen's Association leader P Sesuraja said.
Pakistani troops on Wednesday fired indiscriminately from across the Line of Control at forward posts in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, prompting retaliation by the Indian Army, a defence spokesman said.



The exchange of fire between the two sides in Noushera sector continued for nearly four hours but there was no immediate report of any casualty.

Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics and mortars from 8.15 am. The Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively, the spokesman said.

He said the firing stopped from both sides at 12 pm.

The latest ceasefire violation by Pakistan comes five days after Pakistani troops opened fire from across the border, leaving four Army personnel dead and another soldier injured in Keri sector of Rajouri on December 23.

Indian troops also killed three Pakistani troops and injured another in retaliatory action at Rukh Chakri sector in Rawlakot on December 25.

On December 24, Pakistani troops had targeted forward posts and villages in Shahpur sector of Poonch district.
Nepal has rejected India's offer to jointly re-measure the height of the world's highest peak Mount Everest following the massive earthquake in 2015 and will carry out the exercise on its own, the top official of the Himalayan nation's survey department has said.



Nepal will, however, seek help from India and China for getting crucial data for the exercise, Nepal's Survey Department's Director General Ganesh Bhatta said.

Sources in New Delhi indicated that China could be behind Nepal refusing India's proposal to jointly re-measure Mount Everest as the peak is on the Sino-Nepal border.

According to a statement by the department of science and technology which comes under India's ministry of science and technology, after the 2015 "Gorkha earthquake" that jolted Nepal, various doubts were raised by the scientific community over the height of the peak.

The 7.8 magnitude quake in April 2015 had devastated the Himalayan nation, killing more than 8,000 people and displacing lakhs of others.

The Survey of India, a 250-year-old institute under the DST, proposed re-measuring Mt Everest as an "Indo-Nepal Joint Scientific Exercise" with Nepal's survey department.

"They have not responded to our proposal. Now they are saying that they are not involving either India or China. They will be re-measuring Mt Everest on their own," Major Gen Girish Kumar, the Surveyor General of India said.

Kumar said that a representative from India attended a meeting convened in Kathmandu, where surveyors and scientists from different countries, including China were also present.

"There was a proposal from India to help us measure Mt Everest, but we are doing it on our own," Bhatta said

When asked whether China had also given a proposal to re-measure Nepal, he replied in the negative.

He noted that China had measured Mt Everest in 1975 and 2005, while Indian surveyors had carried out a similar mission in 1956. The SGI had also measured the Everest during the British era.

"India was the first country under Sir George Everest's leadership as the Surveyor General of India to have declared the height of Mount Everest and establish it as the highest peak in the world in the year 1855," the department of science and technology's website states.

Bhatta said preparatory work has already begun on the project and they are gathering preliminary data crucial for this survey.

The massive earthquake has "shook" even the basic parameters of Nepal, so data from other countries will be crucial, he said.

India is being requested to provide the levelling data, while China has been asked to provide the gravity data. The data will be very important to determine the height of Mt Everest, Bhatta said.

"We won't be crossing over into the Chinese territory for measurements. The work of summiting Everest will take place in 2019," he said.

Kusalaraj, a scientist at the Centre for Earth Science at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, said a minor change in the height of Mt Everest may not have a direct impact on the lives of people immediately.
As many as 4,886 inmates had died in various jails of the country between 2014 and 2016, Parliament was informed today.



"A total of 1,701, 1,584 and 1,601 inmates died in various jails in the country due to various causes in the years 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively," Union Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir said, replying to a written question in the Rajya Sabha.

He added that 194, 115 and 136 prison inmates had died due to unnatural causes in 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively.

As against the total capacity of 3,80,876 inmates, 4,33,003 inmates were lodged in various prisons of the country, including the Tihar jail in New Delhi, at the end of 2016, Ahir said.
A day ahead of the tabling of the triple talaq bill in Parliament, some Muslim women's organisations said on Wednesday that the proposed legislation would not be acceptable if not in consonance with the Quran or the Constitution.



"Nikaah (marriage) is a contract. Whosoever breaks it should be punished. However, if it (Bill) is not in the light of Quran and the Constitution, no Muslim woman will accept it," All India Muslim Women Personal Law board (AIMWPLB) chairperson Shaista Amber said.

"I had sent a letter to the Law Commission requesting it to show the draft bill to the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), AIMWPLB, Jamait Islami, Jamiat Ulma-e-Hind and organisations working for women who were given talaq. I got a reply that if needed, it will be discussed but that did not happen," she added.

Holding the AIMPLB responsible for the present state of affairs, Shaista said the board never bothered to take triple talaq seriously, and now it was too late.

Muslim Women League's president Naish Hasan said that in the Family Court Act there is always a chance to save a family but the proposed bill does not give such a chance.

"Third party has also been given the right to complain in the bill. That is not fair," she said.

Naish added that the bill should be stalled for now and discussions should be held as a law in haste will complicate matters. We will protest if the bill is passed without any discussion, she said.

Demanding withdrawal of the bill, the AIMPLB had earlier said the proposed legislation was against the provisions of the Constitution and violated the rights of women.

Describing it a "conspiracy", the AIMPLB at its meeting here on Sunday had accused the government of snatching the right of divorce from men.

AIMPLB chairman Maulana Rabe Hasani Nadwi will request Prime Minister Narendra Modi to withhold or withdraw the proposed bill that criminalises the practice of instant divorce, an official spokesperson of the Muslim body said.

In August, the Supreme Court by a majority of 3:2 ruled that the practice of divorce through triple talaq among Muslims is "void", "illegal" and "unconstitutional".

The government then drafted the 'Muslim Women Protection of Rights on Marriage Bill', according to which giving instant divorce will be illegal and void and will attract a jail term of three years for the husband.

The bill seeks to criminalise the practice of instant divorce by repeated the word talaq thrice.
The government on Wednesday informed Parliament that there is proposal to hike railway fares.



In a written reply in Lok Sabha, Minister of State of Railways Rajen Gohain said the national transporter has seen an increase in passenger traffic of 0.68% and a spike of 0.99% between Delhi and Mumbai during April- November 2017 as compared to the corresponding period last year.

"At present there is no such proposal," he said replying to a query on whether the government is reviewing an increase in fares.

To queries on passenger traffic, special trains and their fares, he said Railways runs these trains during peak seasons, festivals, special events for clearance of extra rush of passengers keeping in view the pattern of traffic, commercial justification, operational feasibility and availability of resources.

"Special trains on special charges are introduced based on demand pattern. They run over and above the scheduled time-tabled trains and are charged at the rate of 10% of basic fare for second class for reserved accommodation and 30% of basic fare for all other classes, subject to minimum and maximum", the minister said.
Oregon Coast a Series of Creature Features as of Late

Published 12/07/2017 at 3:55 PM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff





(Oregon Coast)  To say the Oregon coast has been active lately would be an understatement, and it wasn't just the king tides earlier this week. In fact, those highest tides of the year probably yielded some of the least number of oddities. (Photo above courtesy Seaside Aquarium: a vessel from Japan recently landed near Cannon Beach).

The crazed tides of late fall, driven by storms both near and far out to shore, have resulted in a myriad of finds and striking science stories. Massive amounts of pyrosomes, a host of interesting bull kelp and their varied parts, very young velella velella, at least a couple of sea turtles and one big, oddball vessel from Japan that may or may not be tsunami debris: these have all made landfall.

Two sea turtles were caught in cold currents and tossed onshore on the Oregon coast in recent weeks, and both were cared for by the Oregon Coast Aquarium after being rescued by crews from the Seaside Aquarium.

The first was two weeks ago  that one is still doing well. The second earlier this week has recently passed away.

Stranded, Hypothermic Sea Turtle Sent to Recover at Oregon Coast Aquarium. An Olive Ridley sea turtle was recovered from a beach on the southern Washington coast and brought down to the Seaside Aquarium for some first aid, after which it was sent to the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport for rehabilitation. Hypothermic and possibility injured, the 50-pound turtle was cold and skinny but alert. See full story here.







Second Sea Turtle Rescued from Oregon Coast Beaches. Yet another sea turtle was rescued by the north Oregon coast crew of the Marine Mammal Stranding Network, the second in about as many weeks. This time, personnel from the Seaside Aquarium snagged a juvenile green sea turtle off a beach along the Columbia River Sunday morning, a ways upstream from the ocean beaches. This turtle has passed away. See full story here.





Japanese Fishing Boat Washes Up near Cannon Beach, Oregon Coast - No Invasive Species . The latest wild find was a Japanese fishing boat that washed ashore at Arcadia Beach State Recreation Site just south of Cannon Beach. The 38-foot vessel came up on the beach on December 2, and almost immediately state officials were there in various capacities, include salvage personnel and a biologist checking for invasive species.

John Chapman, a biologist with the Hatfield Marine Science Center out of Newport, arrived soon after the wreck did, looking for any biological problems that may have hitched a ride. Chapman told Oregon Coast Beach Connection he found nothing of interest that was still alive. See full story here.

Gobs of Pyrosomes Hit Oregon Coast - Scientists Mystified, But There's a Theory. Great gobs of pyrosomes have again been washing up on the Oregon coast as of late, and it turns out these surreal little guys have regional scientists mystified  and slightly concerned.

What's causing these wee beasties to beach in this region all of a sudden? It appears something is shifting in the Pacific Ocean, and two researchers finally have some working theories. See full story here.

Bull Kelp and Their Holdfasts: Wacky World of Upside Down Forests on Oregon Coast. A fact largely unknown to Oregon coast visitors is that there is a huge underwater forest just out of sight everywhere they go. Moreover, it's an upside down forest. See full story here.

All photographs above and below courtesy Tiffany Boothe, Seaside Aquarium. Oregon Coast Hotels for this - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours

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Former union minister P K Thungon has been acquitted by a special court here in a 21-year-old case relating to the allotment of government quarters. The court said the CBI failed to prove he had abused his official position.



Besides 71-year-old Thungon, the court also exonerated 14 others, including several government officials, while three accused died during the trial.

Special CBI Judge Kamini Lau held that the prosecution has not been able to prove that Thungon, then minister of State (MoS) for Urban Development in the Congress government led by P V Narasimha Rao, had directly entertained applications for out-of-turn allotment of government accommodation.

The court, in its 440-page judgement, said the CBI has also failed to prove that he had used genuine forged application forms wherein forgery relating to particulars of quarter, scale of pay and date of priority were made by conspirators.

During the trial, former Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Thungon had claimed that he was innocent and had been falsely implicated, being a victim of political vendetta and that he had not violated any rules.

He further said that he was a senior citizen and have been forced to live in Delhi away from his native place Arunachal Pradesh for over 22 years due to this case.

The court said there was insufficient material to hold accused Thungon, Varinder Arora, T T Kumarasamay (personal staff of minister), Nima Tshering (ex-MLA of Arunachal Pradesh), Umesh Joshi, Vijaya Daksh, Ved Prakash Kaushik, Sunil Khosla, Roshan Lal Rana, Mahender Singh, Shiv Prasad, Vir Bhan, Chandan Singh Rana, Narender Dhyani and Raj Kumar Joshi guilty of the charges.

It said accused Ashok Kumar Gupta, Narender Kumar Sabharwal and Surati Lal Yadav died during the trial and the proceedings against them were abated.
Operatives of Pakistan's espionage agency ISI are making efforts through moral and financial support to revive pro-Khalistan elements for anti- India activities, the government informed the Rajya Sabha today.



Certain elements in Pakistan are providing funds to separatists for secessionist and terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir as well, Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Gangaram Ahir said in response to a question.

"Inputs indicate that ISI operatives are making efforts towards moral/financial support to pro-Khalistan elements for anti-India activities as well as to revive militancy in Punjab," he said.

He said the government has adopted an integrated approach to counter the attempts to revive militancy. This includes sustained vigilance along the borders, strengthening of mechanisms for intelligence gathering and sharing.

"A close watch is maintained on the activities of various groups known to have been engaged in trying to foment terrorist activities. Necessary action is taken so as to maintain peace and harmony in the State," he said.
One of the beneficiaries of Uttar Pradesh government's decision to withdraw around 20,000 ''politically motivated'' cases is Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath himself.



Besides Adityanath, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and Union Minister Shiv Pratap Shukla were the other beneficiaries of the decision.

According to sources here on Wednesday, the state government has decided to withdraw a case, which had been lodged against Adityanath, Shukla and some others at Pipiganj police station in Gorakhpur district in 1995 for violation of prohibitory orders.

Sources said that the district administration would soon approach the court seeking withdrawal of the cases lodged in this connection. Some other cases lodged against Adityanath would also be withdrawn soon, they added.

The decision to withdraw the cases comes at a time when the Allahabad high court was hearing a petition challenging the refusal of the state government to permit prosecution of Adityanath in a case of hate speech in Gorakhpur in 2007.

The chief minister had said that the withdrawal of ''politically motivated'' cases would benefit all political figures irrespective of their political affiliations.

While the Samajwadi Party (SP) has welcomed the decision to withdraw ''politically motivated'' cases, the Congress decried the decision and said that the BJP was trying to shield criminal elements within its fold.

''It is good as long all such cases are withdrawn irrespective of political affiliations,'' said a senior SP leader here.

The SP government had also during its tenure withdrawn around 2,000 cases against politicians.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday said it has seized assets worth Rs 26.61 crore of controversial arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari and others for reported violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).



It said it has seized the properties "in lieu of undisclosed assets held abroad by him" and action has been carried out under section 37A of FEMA.

The section stipulates that if certain foreign exchange, foreign security or immovable property is held outside India in violation of this law, the equivalent value of the asset can be seized within India.

The ED had booked Bhandari, reported to have left India some time ago, under criminal charges of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in February this year and also under the FEMA.

The Delhi Police had also booked him for reported violation of the Official Secrets Act (OSA) last year.

Bhandari's case first came to light after the I-T department conducted searches against him in April last year and recovered certain "sensitive" official defence documents from his premises.

As part of these raids, the taxman is also said to have recovered certain emails that talk about renovation of a costly apartment in London in 2010 which was reportedly owned by Robert Vadra, brother-in-law of Congress President Rahul Gandhi.

Vadra's legal firm has denied that he owned the London property directly or indirectly.

It also denied Vadra has any business ties with an arms consultant or his aides.

The tax department had last year also shared a "seizure memo record" with the defence ministry to apprise it about the contents of these "sensitive" documents.
The deadlock in Parliament over the prime minister's remarks about Manmohan Singh blew over on Wednesday with the government making it clear that there was no intention to question the commitment of the country's leaders.



The resolution came after a series of meetings between Leader of House in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley and Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad since the beginning of the Winter Session on December 15.

However, this bonhomie is likely to be short-lived as another crisis stares at the government, with the Congress-led Opposition likely to vociferously take up Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde's controversial remarks about changing the Constitution.

As the session re-assembled for the post-noon session after it was adjourned in the morning due to protests over the Hegde issue, Jaitley said the government does not want the stalemate to continue over statements made during elections.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his statements "did not question the commitment to this nation either by Dr Manmohan Singh, the former prime minister, or Hamid Ansari, the former vice president. Any such perception is completely erroneous. We hold these leaders in high esteem, as also their commitment to this nation," Jaitley said.

During the Gujarat poll campaign, Modi had referred to a dinner meeting hosted by Manishankar Aiyar in honour of Pakistan's former foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri at his residence, saying the neighbouring country was plotting with Congress to dethrone the BJP government in Gujarat.

Singh and Ansari were among those who attended the dinner.

Azad thanked the leader of the House that he issued a clarification on the issue which was causing a deadlock for the last one week.

He also said the Congress dissociates itself from any statement made against the personality of the prime minister, apparently a reference to those made by Aiyar.

"If during the elections, any member of our party gave such a statement that was against the stature of the prime minister, then our party dissociates itself from any such statement and we would not want any word to be said against the stature of the prime minister," Azad said.

Later, speaking to reporters, Azad said the Congress did not want to stretch the issue beyond a week as there were other matters that needed to be put before Parliament.

"The prime minister should never even think about a former prime minister and a former vice president in this way. Perhaps the prime minister has now realised that he took the aid of Pakistan to win the (Gujarat) elections," Azad said.

He said that Congress treated the prime minister's remarks as a " big insult" to a party that gave the country its independence.
The dropping of the charges under MCOCA against Lt Col Prasad Purohit is a big relief and the case would now come to a logical end, said Aparna Purohit, the wife of the former military intelligence officer.



"We don't have a copy of the order some charges were dropped some charges remain, we would have to go through it but the case would come to a logical end now," Aparna told a TV channel.

"It is a big relief for us we have been fighting this for long. In 2009, it (MCOCA) was dropped, then on and off it was in courts finally the courts have accepted and MCOCA has been dropped," she said, adding that her husband has been implicated.

"He will come out of all this soon," she said about Purohit, who is now attached to the Indian Army unit at Colaba in Mumbai.
The jewellery industry is unlikely to comply with hallmarking of gold jewellery from January 2018, as the government is yet to issue proper guidelines.



Recently, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan stated that hallmark of gold jewellery will become mandatory from January 2018, which will result in delivery of quality gold to consumers.

"So far, we have not received any information from the government or the ministry concerned. While it is said that hallmarking will be done for jewellery in 14 carat, 18 carat and 22 carat categories, what will happen to 20 carat, 23 and 24 carat that are widely used in our country," questioned Nitin Khandelwal, Chairman, All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation (GJF).

Hallmarking regulations are yet to be finalised by the government, Neeraj Kumar Sharma, head of Hallmarking Department, said.

The industry has also raised questions about the existing non-hallmarked stock and the date of implementation.

Pawan had said that the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) mark is used on some jewellery but that does not sufficiently convey quality of jewellery to consumers.

Though the industry welcomes the mandatory of hallmarking of gold, it also insists on the need to increase the number of hallmarking centres across the country.

At present, there are over 500 hallmarking centres in India. "Almost 70% of these centres are concentrated at the metros. There are over 5 lakh jewellers in our country, and only 35%-40% of them are in urban areas. What will happen to other small jewellers who have to travel all the way to these centres in metros for hallmarking of gold jewellery," asked Shaankar Sen, MD of Senco Gold & Diamonds, stressing on the need to increase the hallmarking centres in Tier-II and Tier-III cities.

Sen said at this point it is premature to make hallmarking mandatory, and that the government has to first address these issues.

At present, not all jewellery are hallmarked and also not reported to the BIS.

Bhaskar Bhat, Managing Director of Titan Company, said that the raw material cost will go up and that hallmarking centres have to invest in equipment and training people. "The government is keen that all jewellery should be hallmarked," he added.
As many as 425 Indian soldiers from the Army, Air Force and Navy committed suicide in the last four years, in yet another demonstration of an unfortunate trend that dogs the armed forces for years.



The maximum number of suicide cases were reported from nearly 12 lakh strong Army where nine officers and 326 soldiers took their lives. This is followed by the IAF which reported suicide of five officers and 67 airmen since 2014.

The Navy is the least affected service with two officers and 16 sailors committing suicides in the last four years, the Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

The maximum number of suicides was reported in 2016 (129) followed by 2014 (109) and 2015 (95). This year 92 cases have been reported so far.

The statistics reflect an abject trend of the Army witnessing more "physical casualties," coming from suicides, road accidents and fratricide cases rather than "battle casualties" that happen in the counterinsurgency and counterterrorism operations.

Physical casualties in the Army is more than 12 times the number of battle casualties with road accidents and suicide being the two major culprits. Multiple directives were issued in the recent months to check the fitness of the drivers, sensitise them on safe driving and punishing the errant drivers as a deterrent.

What adds to the woes of the military is the premature retirement taken by thousands of soldiers to leave the military early at a time when the armed forces are facing a shortage of nearly 60,000 personnel.

According to the details provided by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Lok Sabha, the deficiency of officers in the Army, Navy and the Indian Air Force is 9,259 while the number for below officer rank personnel is 50,363.

Bhamre told the Parliamentarians that nearly 42,000 soldiers took premature retirement from the three services since 2014. The maximum number of the premature retirement was reported from the Army with 803 officers and 38,150 soldiers (up to March 2017) opt for severing their ties with the military.

"Various steps have been taken by the armed forces to create a healthy and appropriate environment for the officers and other ranks," Bhamre said.
Noted historian Prof Upinder Singh has said that Indian historians need to look beyond India and broaden their horizon to unravel various historical aspects that connected India with the world.



Delivering the keynote address at Prof Achuta Rao Memorial History Conference on 'Ancient India-Looking Beyond India into Asia' organised at Manipal Centre for Philosophy and Humanities here on Wednesday, she said that the present Indian historical research is subjected to sub continental and regional boundedness which poses a major barrier to enhance the understanding of ancient India.

She added that though historiographical tradition in India has played an important role in the construction of Indian history, much work needs to be done in this regard, especially in the case of regions whose historical profiles are not well understood.

At the same time, there is an urgent need for Indian historians to move beyond the subcontinental frame. The most obvious area where a broader canvas is not only useful but also essential is the history of trade, which continues to receive a great deal of scholarly attention. Cultural interactions between South and Southeast Asia were on the radar of nationalist historians in the early 20th century, who viewed these interactions through the prism of the idea of greater India, she pointed out.

She added that after a long period of neglect, there has been a revival of interest among Indian scholars in premodern Asian connections due to increased economic interactions within the South and Southeast Asian regions. The question is whether this new interest will be marked by theoretical sophistication and whether it will be possible to move beyond the old and the existing conceptual frameworks.

"Focusing on the first millennium, the basic question posed is how would our understanding of this millennium be enriched if our geographical canvas was broadened beyond India to include other parts of Asia?"' she said.

She also elaborated on the evolution of Asian Buddhist networks and how epigraphic practices of South and Southeast Asian kingdoms paved way for the travel of texts and political ideas. She stressed on the need to reconstruct the movement of ideas in the ancient world that takes into account cultural connectivity and similarity as well as cultural specificity and difference. The reference in Burmese legal texts to the connection between Dharmashastras and Islamic Sharia and that between Dharmashastras and Chinese legal tradition is quite impressive because Burmese society was very different from all other societies of the time, she said.

She mentioned how Panchatantras, which dealt with perennial political and personal issues, travelled widely towards east and west.

Emphasising on re-imagination of ancient India as being part of a larger civilisational gamut that includes several ancient civilisations of Asia, Singh said understanding the travel of texts and political ideas from India to Asia in ancient times can enrich our understanding of this millennium.

"Indian history should be viewed as part of global history," she noted.
The government has identified 46,660 Devadasis in the state, who receive the monthly honorarium. But the actual number of Devadasis and their children is between two lakh and three lakh.

Pradeep Ramavath of National Law School of India University (NLSIU), who is also the co-ordinator for the Centre for Study of Marginalised Communities, said the benefits were not reaching the Devadasis.

"In a sample survey, we found that nearly 90% of the Devadasis belong to the madiga community (SC). The reservation meant for SCs is not reaching this community as it is usually given to previleged people," he said.

"Even today, young girls are dedicated to temples, but the ceremony is a low-key affair," Ramavath said. These young girls are later shifted to red-light areas in the cities. He said the survey shows that mothers who have come out of the practice are landless and are working as labourers. Their children face an identity crisis with a stigma attached to them. They find it difficult to reveal their father's name on application forms.

Government officials, including district project officers, held a meeting here on Wednesday to come up with a Devadasi comprehensive draft policy and law. After the draft policy is ready, it will be submitted to the government in January 2018 for approval.

Officials from the Karnataka State Women Development Corporation, along with district officers, discussed the need to have a rehabilitation policy, which includes housing, healthcare, education and jobs to mothers and children from the Devadasi community.

The government came up with the Karnataka Devadasis (Prohibition of Dedication) Act, 1982, abolishing the practice and punishing those who propagate the Devadasi system. However, there has been no policy in place to implement the rehabilitation process.
The Opposition's plans to corner the Modi government on its handling of Kulbhushan Jadhav issue suffered a setback with Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal's comments on the former Indian Navy officer.



"If Jadhav is a terrorist for Pakistan, they will treat him like one," Agarwal told reporters on Wednesday even as the Congress and other Opposition parties tried to put the government in the dock on the ill-treatment of Jadhav's mother and wife during their visit to Islamabad.

The SP leader appeared to justify the treatment meted out the Jadhav's family in Pakistan.

The Congress also hit out at the Ministry of External Affairs for the "inhuman treatment" meted out to Jadhav's family. "The MEA should have ensured what kind of protocol is arranged for the family. It is a diplomatic failure on part of the MEA and the country," senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily was quoted as saying.

In the Lok Sabha, leader of the Congress Mallikarjun Kharge demanded that Jadhav be brought back to India.

Union Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir described Agarwal's remarks as unfortunate. "An Indian citizen speaks like this. He can protest against the government as he is in the Opposition but this is seen as a protest against the nation," Ahir told reporters here.

BJP spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao said the SP leader's comments were "symptomatic of betrayal of national interest by the Congress-led UPA over Pakistan. He wondered whether the SP leader was desperately trying to challenge Mani Shankar Aiyar as the "chief anti-India propagandist".

With Agarwal's comments threatening to dominate the Opposition voice, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad issued a strong protest on the manner in which Jadhav's family was treated in Pakistan.

"This is not an insult to the mother and wife of Kulbhushan Jadhav but an insult to Indiaa We are Indians first and then opposition members. We would like to discuss and show our displeasure on the floor of the house on Thursday," Azad said, adding that he and several other Opposition leaders have given notices to raise this issue in the Rajya Sabha.
Four pro-Kannada activists slit they hands, using blade, during the Mahadayi protest held in front of the railway station here on Wednesday.

When the protesters tried to enter the railway station, the police stopped them. While arguing with the police, Karnataka Rakshana Vedike Yuva Sene district unit president Vijaykumar and three others slit their hands, and said, "we will shed our blood, but will not stop the protest seeking Mahadayi water."

Assistant Commissioner of Police (South) N B Sakri and others immediately shifted them to a police vehicle and sent them to KIMS for treatment.

Window glass broken

A window glass pane at MP Pralhad Joshi's office near Chitaguppi hospital was broken, when pro-Kannada activists staged a protest there. The office was locked when protesters went there, and they tried to kick the door open. Slogans against Mr Joshi were also raised.

Jaya Karnataka and Karnataka Sangrama Sene members tried to picket Mr Joshi's residence also, but the police stopped them.

The protesters also forced close a few banks at Keshwapur, while material at a coffee shop near Court Circle were ransacked as the shop was open.
At Sangolli Rayanna Circle, a Homa was performed by Karnataka Yuva Sene members during their protest held here on Wednesday, on the occasion of Malaprabha command area bandh.

They prayed the god to give the will to the politicians to respond to the people's problem, and to arrange diversion of water from Mahadayi basin to Malaprabha river.

At Chennamma Circle, Hubballi Autorickshaw Drivers' & Owners' Association members held a mock auction of the photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, State BJP President B S Yeddyurappa, and other leaders.

Members of Padmavati Mahila Mandal displayed empty pots, while unique Bhajan by protesters was also an attraction.

Karnataka State Human Rights Protection & Corruption Eradication Struggle Committee performed semi-nude Urulu Seve, and they also poured water on themselves.

Spitting on Mr Yeddyurappa's photograph, taking out mock funeral procession of politicians, and displaying a monkey with a green towel in support of the agitation were also among the ways of protests. Two children with placard on their bicycles also pulled the attention.

The protesters also garlanded a few bike riders at Chennamma Circle, and asked them to support the agitation.
Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) general body meeting, which was scheduled to be held on Wednesday, was postponed, due to the bandh.

When Mayor D K Chavan come to the meeting hall, he announced that the meeting was being postponed to December 30.

Police help

Police were not just on bundobust duty during the bandh, but they also did their bit to help the people who were stuck due to suspension of bus service.

Passengers coming to Hubballi, by long-route buses, had to alight at the bypass road on Gabbur Cross itself. In the absence of other transport service due for the protests, the police helped them to reach the City taking them in police vans and jeeps.

Nargund agitators visit Hubballi

Villagers from Nargund taluk in Gadag district, who had participated in the protest led by Raitha Sena Karnataka in Bengaluru, could not get bus to Nargund from Hubballi on Wednesday, due to the bandh.

Around 20 persons including women and children came from Bengaluru by train. "We are disappointed after we met State BJP President B S Yeddyurappa, who had promised to resolve the Mahadayi dispute," they said.

After they visited the Sub-urban Police Station, police helped them to reach the Siddharoodamutt by a vehicle, as they had heavy luggage. After having lunch there, they left for Nargund later, the police said.

Loss and profit

Most of the shops in market places remained closed during the bandh on Wednesday, while APMC at Amargol also had no transaction.

As a precautionary measure, the North-Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC) had suspended its bus operations till evening. Due to this, the NWKRTC Hubballi division has incurred around Rs 65 lakh loss, NWKRTC officials said.

Karnatak Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) President V P Linganagoudar stated that around Rs 100 crore loss was incurred in total, due to the Wednesday's bandh, as all business establishments including industries and APMC were closed.

Meanwhile, vendors selling ice cream and juice made a brisk business, bringing their carts to Chennamma Circle, where protests were staged. Some autorickshaw drivers also charged heavy amount for passengers.
Farmers took District In-charge Minister H C Mahadevappa and others to task as the dignitaries disrespected 'Raitha Geethe' during the inaugural ceremony of a two-day Organic and Millets Mela, at Scouts and Guides Grounds here on Wednesday.



The farmers expressed displeasure against the minister, MLA Vasu, Zilla Panchayat president Nayeema Sultana and others, who were present on the stage, for not standing up when Raitha Geethe was sung.

Following the song, the farmers, who went to the stage, took the people representatives and officials to task.

Later, the minister managed to pacify them and the raitha geethe was sung

again.
When the US military dropped the largest bomb in its arsenal on an Islamic State cave complex here in eastern Afghanistan in April, the generals justified it as part of a robust campaign to destroy the group's local affiliate by year's end.



Its force had been reduced to 700 fighters from 3,000, they said, and its area of operation diminished to three districts from 11.

But as the year comes to a close, the Islamic State is far from being vanquished in eastern Afghanistan, even as the group is on the run in its core territory in Iraq and Syria. It has waged brutal attacks that have displaced thousands of families and forced even some Taliban fighters, who had long controlled the mountainous terrain, to seek government protection.

The shifting dynamic has, in turn, threatened the US-backed government's tenuous hold on the region. And two years into the joint US-Afghanistan operation, a clear understanding of the Islamic State affiliate, the latest enemy in the long Afghan war, still evades even some of those charged with fighting it.

Gen John W Nicholson Jr, the top American and Nato commander in Afghanistan, recently said that 1,400 operations and airstrikes had "removed from the battlefield" more than 1,600 Islamic State fighters since March - more than double the estimate from early in the year.

Some Afghan and other Western officials question whether those numbers are inflated, but the Americans say they are an indication that the group continues to replenish its ranks with new fighters.

Part of the reason the two-year joint operation by America and Afghanistan against the Islamic State has made little progress is simply that the two forces are operating in a terrain where they have had little control for years. Airstrikes and commando operations bring bursts of pressure, but the militants have release valves all around them. On one side is the porous border with Pakistan, where many of the fighters come from. Elsewhere is largely Taliban country. "It's like a balloon," Nicholson said. "We squeeze them in this area, and they'll try to move out elsewhere."

A visit this month to Khogyani, a district in the east where Islamic State fighters have shifted, showed that the realities on the ground spoke to the increasing complexity of the Afghan conflict, and underlined how daunting a task it will be to defeat the Islamic State, also known as IS.

The Afghan government's authority in Khogyani, in a remote region of Nangarhar province, has long been confined to the district compound and the immediate surroundings. The Taliban ruled the rest. Opium has been grown all around.

After years of war with no clear victor, the region had settled into a strange sort of calm as the Taliban and the government found ways to coexist, as has happened to varying degrees around the country.

Although the Taliban are known for their opposition to girls' education, in Khogyani, the militants here allowed schooling, showing a willingness to drop a demand that had lost them hearts and minds before. In return for having nominal control, the government has paid the salaries of teachers and health workers that the Taliban could not afford.

Abdul Jabar, who had been displaced from his home near the Pakistan border by recent battles between ISIS and the Taliban, said there was a two-story high school for girls close to his new home, with an enrollment of up to 1,600. Mir Haidar, who distributes vaccinations, said the three clinics there employed women, despite the Taliban's past opposition to women in the workplace.

So established was Taliban rule in Khogyani that when Islamic State fighters started shifting there, many people said they trusted in the Taliban's protection.

That is, until Taliban lines started to buckle.

"The Taliban were puffing their chest - 'We are strong, don't go, we will take care of you,'" said Abdul Qadeem, a father of 13. "Then," he said, the Islamic State "arrived at night, and we left with nothing but this shawl on my shoulder." The Islamic State's local affiliate in Afghanistan first emerged in 2014, swiftly gaining ground across Nangarhar province. It quickly drew the attention of the US military, which had scaled down its presence in Afghanistan to a small counter-terrorism mission against al-Qaida and a larger Nato mission to train Afghan forces to hold their ground against the Taliban.

American and Afghan officials now have little reason to believe that the Afghan group, despite pledging allegiance to IS, maintains regular contact or receives directions from the Islamic State operating in Iraq and Syria. Instead, they say, the Islamic State in Afghanistan is largely made up of Pakistani militants pushed across the border by military operations in that country.

Safe havens

The militants used the Afghan mountains simply as a safe haven at first, before embracing the Islamic State and turning their weapons on Afghanistan. Opinions are divided on how and why. Some officials believe it was only a matter of time before extremists seeking relevance would be attracted to the Islamic State. Others say the Afghan and American militaries miscalculated and fostered a new enemy by going after Pakistani militants seeking safe havens in Afghanistan in the hopes that the Pakistanis would reciprocate with Afghan Taliban leaders on their soil. A third theory blames the cynical designs of Pakistan's intelligence agency, which Afghans have long accused of trying to destabilize their government.

No matter who they are, the militants have brought more violence and suffering to Afghan civilians. In Khogyani, US airstrikes intended to destroy the Islamic State may have temporarily depleted its forces, but they have also upended the relative peace.

Afghan officials say they believe the fighting between the Islamic State and the Taliban has little to do with ideology.

"The reason they are fighting each other is over resources, and over territory," said Mohammed Gulab Mangal, the governor of Nangarhar province, who says both groups "drink from the same spring" - a subtle reference to their perceived Pakistani origins.

People in Khogyani say the Islamic State militants are better armed and fight harder than the Taliban.

"If you tie a Taliban fighter to the trunk of this tree, and then you tell him ISIS is coming, he will run so hard that he will uproot the tree with him," said Malik Makee, a tribal elder who runs a militia of several dozen men in support of the government, helping to maintain a buffer around the district centre.
A 24-year-old interstate gangster from Haryana was arrested in a joint operation by the Cottonpet police and the Central Crime Branch on Wednesday.



Based on a tip-off, the suspect, Deepak Kumar alias Tinu, was arrested from Krantivira Sangolli Rayanna (KSR) railway station. According to the police, Tinu has as many as 28 criminal cases pending against him in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi.

He was earlier accused of firing at the Delhi Police. The Haryana Police had arrested him in July but he was on the run after breaking out of Ambala prison in June. The police said Tinu had graduated from Punjab University and had formed a group called Students of Punjab University comprising 100 armed members who operated around the country. He had made short films on his crimes and glorified himself in videos which he uploaded on Youtube and social media networks under the name Tinu Haryana, where he mocked the investigating agencies.

The police said Tinu was taken into custody. After probing his links to Bengaluru and the state, he would be handed over to the Delhi and Punjab Police for further investigation, said senior police officer.
Authorities are asking for the publics help finding a man who fled deputies on foot during a traffic stop.

A Gage County Sheriffs Office deputy stopped a vehicle in Blue Springs for a routine traffic infraction and the passenger, Thomas D. Sailors, 25, of Blue Springs, ran from the vehicle prior to the deputy approaching the car on Friday.

According to a press release from the department, Sailors refused to stop, went into hiding, and managed to elude deputies and investigators who checked several areas and residences in Blue Springs and Wymore to locate him.

Sailors has a felony warrant issued from Gage County Court.

The traffic stop and Sailors flight occurred a few blocks from Southern Elementary School, however school was not in session and students were not in danger. Due to no students being present, the school was not notified until later in the day, the press release stated.

Citizens who know where Sailors is are asked to contact Southeast Communications at 402-223-4080 and report his location or vehicle. Reports can be made anonymously.
The increasing number of used sanitary napkins and diapers that end up with the pile of solid waste pose a grave threat to human health, as they carry disease-causing microorganisms.



Now, a local company has come up with an incinerator that promises to burn and dispose of them without smoke or ash.

The new incinerator uses water to smother the smoke - possibly toxic, given the

substances used in napkins and diapers - and dilutes the ash.

At schools, hospitals

"This can be easily drained," said Nisha Nazre, founder of the company Zuci Fem Care Private Limited, who hopes to install the mini incinerators in BBMP-run schools and hospitals in 2018.

Made in two categories - with eight- and 12-litre storage capacity and 5 KW or 2.5 KW of power - the machines are currently in the testing stage.

Nazre launched the low-cost incinerators in March 2016 and installed them in BBMP-owned schools and hospitals at a cost of Rs 50 lakh.

"Sanitary pads and diapers need to be disposed of safely. It is appalling to see them lying around in the dumps. They are a source of infection," she pointed out.

The BBMP estimates that the city generates 90 tonnes of sanitary pads and 60 tonnes of diapers a day. The piling waste has been burnt by three privately-managed incinerators, Sarfaraz Khan, the special commissioner at the city body, said.

Lack of awareness

Lack of awareness about segregating them before handing them over to the pourakarmikas remains a huge challenge, he added.

"Educating the public

on segregation is vital because most of the times the sanitary pads are clubbed with the

dry waste and they don't reach the incinerators," Sarfaraz Khan said.

The special commissioner said that Nazre demonstrated the new machine, which

the BBMP would procure after the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board approves it.
Musicians from all over Southern California are invited to perform in a concert in Encinitas next month.

The first-ever Come Together community concert presented by Camarada for free on Jan. 14 at 5:30 p.m. at the Encinitas Community and Senior Center  will host amateurs and students who play string, woodwind, brass and percussion, as well as saxophone, alongside professional musicians.

Beth Ross Buckley, executive and artistic director of the Camarada chamber ensemble, said the group received a $3,500 grant from the city of Encinitas, and she and fellow musician Bridget Dolkas began thinking of what they could do to involve the community.

Bridget brought up this idea, and I thought it was a great idea to get to perform with some of these people who have been coming to our concerts for a long time, said Ross Buckley, who plays the flute. I think its a really good social opportunity for people coming together to meet the professional musicians and perform with them. I think this will inspire a lot of practicing, people dusting off their instruments and getting reignited to play again.

Dolkas, who plays violin in the Pacific Symphony in Orange County, said she has played in similar events. She said participants have often played in more concerts.

She said she thought North San Diego County would benefit from such an event because theres such a large community of people who have enjoyed music but maybe didnt go into it professionally.

Ideally, Ross Buckley and Dolkas are hoping for about 40 community participants, including students, in the concert.

The musicians must be proficient with their instrument and know how to read music fairly accurately, Ross Buckley said.

There will be no auditions. If anyone is interested, they should visit www.camarada.org to sign up and pay a $80 registration fee. Camarada will then send registered participants the music so they can practice before scheduled workshops and rehearsals Jan. 6 and Jan. 14.

The community musicians will play two pieces, including Bolero by French composer Maurice Ravel, and Danzon No. 2" by Arturo Marquez.

Dolkas said she believes the Marquez piece, in particular, will help the musicians express themselves.

Thats going to be a really great example of how people can feel the music physically and express even more and engage even more with the music than just playing the notes, she said. It doesnt really matter that you play everything perfectly; its more about feeling the music a different way.

Roger Kalia, assistant conductor for the Pacific Symphony, will conduct the orchestras.

Dolkas considers him an ideal person to lead such an event.

Hes a young guy whos really thinking about how to engage all kinds of people with classical music, she said. Beth and I feel a very strong connection with him on that level. Hes really done a lot of interesting work on building audiences and connecting musicians from all over together. Hes very excited about this event and has given a lot of helpful input.

Dolkas added she believes she and Ross Buckley have created a program that will be rewarding for anyone who takes part.

Ideally, the women said theyd like to put this event on every year.

Its just a matter of getting the word out to the right people because we know once theyre there, they will be very glad they are, Dolkas said. I think this is the kind of thing that can really take off because people will look forward to getting to play music when they otherwise have no opportunities to.
By Tim Craig

15 December 2017

NOYES, Minnesota (The Washington Post)  Chad Cosley tracks them as if they were deer.

He looks for footprints and frequently checks his network of trail cameras, which had been documenting wildlife along the U.S.-Canada border but now also capture would-be refugees fleeing the United States under President Trump.

I was up there hunting just on November 4, and we had fresh snow, said Cosley, 45, who owns a parcel delivery service. The following morning, we had four sets of footprints walking all the way up to the border with Canada, and there was a glove laying there on the ground  brand new, with perfume on it  so it was definitely a gal.Since the start of the year, more than 1,000 people have made similar journeys through this tiny community in far northwestern Minnesota in an attempt to enter Canada by avoiding official border crossings, part of a nationwide surge as Trump advances his campaign pledge to make life uninviting for undocumented immigrants and some aspiring refugees. The exodus, also playing out in border towns in the Northeast that lead to Quebec and Ontario, is rattling local officials on both sides of the border who are now angry about being shoved onto the front lines of Americas divisive immigration debate.A Ghanaian womans body was found in a ditch near this small Minnesota town in May. She was an asylum seeker who succumbed to hypothermia while trying to cross the border. Residents fear there will be calamities in coming months as travelers encounter winter here, when a frigid northwestern wind scours barren fields separating Minnesota from Canadas Manitoba province, making the traverse through blizzards and across frozen swamps a harrowing and life-threatening trip.The concern has intensified, with county officials publicly calling on the Trump administration and Canada to waive a policy that prevents would-be refugees from passing through official border crossings. That plea has been met with silence.Although rural Minnesota overwhelmingly supported Trump in last years election, some residents are troubled by his hard-line immigration policies, given the impact on their towns.For us, its a shocker to see these people wandering around, said Leroy Clow, 73, a retired farmer and electrician. Its nice-dressed families  like they could be your neighbor  but they are scared and dont know what else to do. [more]
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Jack's Urban Meeting Place in Boise is a five-story complex funded by the family of the Idaho business icon J.R. Simplot.



By KIMBERLEE KRUESI

Associated Press

[enlarge] The five-story complex called JUMP  or Jack's Urban Meeting Place  is a community gathering place and creative center funded by the family of the Idaho business icon J.R. Simplot.





BOISE  The Idaho Supreme Court has ruled that the J.R. Simplot Foundation was not eligible for a tax exemption while constructing its urban meeting place in downtown Boise in the 2015 tax year.





. . .
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LACEY (AP)  The standoff between two groups that wanted to bring a mental health hospital to Thurston County was settled after Providence St. Peter Hospital announced a new agreement.

The Olympian reports the plan paves the way for both US HealthVest and Providence St. Peter Hospital to bring mental health hospitals to Lacey.





. . .
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JUNEAU, Alaska (AP)  The state has approved ExxonMobil's plan to expand a gas field in far northern Alaska, ending months of negotiations after a previous plan was rejected.

Gov. Bill Walker's administration gave approval on Friday for the project that would expand development of the Point Thomson gas field east of Prudhoe Bay, Alaska's Energy Desk reported .





. . .
A Lancaster County judge says the cocaine, marijuana and cash found in an SUV on Interstate 80 last year cannot be used as evidence at trial because the Lincoln police officer lacked probable cause to stop it.

Phillip Plummer, 35, and Andre Plummer, 42, both are charged with possession with intent to deliver cocaine and marijuana as well as possession of money during a drug violation for the stop Sept. 16, 2016, near the 56th Street exit.

That morning, Lincoln Officer John Hudec, a member of the Criminal Interdiction Task Force, stopped a black, 2016 Hyundai Santa Fe with Minnesota plates, gave Phillip Plummer a warning ticket for following too closely, then asked to search.

He declined, but officers ended up searching anyway when one smelled marijuana on the driver as a police dog was sent around the SUV.

In court records, police said the search turned up 3 pounds of marijuana, 2 ounces of cocaine and $15,605 cash.

Phillip Plummer's attorney, Justin Kalemkiarian, and Andre Plummer's public defender, Todd Molvar, filed motions to suppress the drugs and cash from trial, arguing that the officer had no reason to stop the SUV.

In an order last week, Lancaster County District Judge Lori Maret agreed.

She said the officer testified at a hearing on the motion that he spotted the eastbound Santa Fe in an area where the speed limit goes from 75 to 65 mph and the driver was well within the limit.

The officer took the 27th Street exit, then immediately got back on I-80 driving over 90 mph to catch up to the SUV, according to his in-car video, Maret wrote.

The Santa Fe still was going the speed limit in the center lane and became boxed-in. When a car cut in front of the SUV, the officer stopped Phillip Plummer for following too closely. But Maret said the video showed he had begun to create a gap, "and if given more than 14 seconds would have probably done so had the officer not pulled him over."

"The driver was not following," she wrote, "but was rather moved over on, and for that reason the officer did not have probable cause to stop the vehicle."

Maret said the driver, by all accounts, maintained his lane of travel and followed the rules of the road. To follow too closely, the driver must intend to do so, Maret said.

Without the evidence, the cases will probably be dismissed.
China and Pakistan are working on a new strategy of shifting some burden of China's `Belt-and-Road' programme off Pakistan by extending their $57 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to Afghanistan. Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday that Beijing will position itself as a beneficiary of both Pakistan and Afghanistan to push its ambitious Belt-and-Road plan linking China with Asia, Europe and beyond. China's hopes of reaching out to both Pakistan and Afghanistan, however, have been marred by growing animosity between Pakistan and Afghanistan - both uneasy neighbours ever since Pakistan's independence in 1947. Pakistan's support to Taliban insurgents fighting US-backed Afghan forces has further worsened the scenario and made it even more difficult for China to play any worthwhile role in Afghanistan. While Pakistan says it wants to see a peaceful, stable Afghanistan, it is doing everything possible to limit the influence of its traditional rival, India, in Afghanistan. Speaking after the first trilateral meeting between the foreign ministers of China, Pakistan and Afghanistan, Wang said China hoped the economic corridor could benefit the whole region and act as an impetus for development. Afghanistan has urgent need to develop and improve people's lives and hopes it can join inter-connectivity initiatives, Wang told reporters, as he announced that Pakistan and Afghanistan had agreed to mend their strained relations. ''So China and Pakistan are willing to look at with Afghanistan, on the basis of win-win, mutually beneficial principles, using an appropriate means to extend the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to Afghanistan,'' he added. The plan is for the three countries to reach a gradual consensus, tackling easier, smaller projects first, Wang said, without giving details. ''The successful implementation of CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) projects will serve as a model for enhancing connectivity and cooperation through similar projects with neighbouring countries, including Afghanistan, Iran and with central and west Asia,'' he said. India has objected to China building through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir as an infringement on its sovereignty, but Wang said the plan had nothing to do with territorial disputes. At the same time, China wants peace in the region as it fears the spread of Islamist militancy from Pakistan and Afghanistan to the unrest-prone far western Chinese region of Xinjiang. However, China's efforts to bring the Islamists and other militant outfits to the negotiating table have met with little success.








Florida Lottery officials have released an investigative document that explains why the lottery contract with Panhandle Package was terminated a few weeks ago.

Officials say a jackpot-ticket investigation was opened in August regarding the $30 million winning "Lotto with Xtra" ticket from the July 19, 2017, draw, in which the winner received a lump sum of $19 million. The ticket had been purchased at Panhandle Package No. 1 in Campbellton.

Lottery officials, in a transmittal form dated Nov. 30, wrote that all Panhandle Package lottery contracts should be terminated.

After a player submitted the winning ticket, it was forensically examined and an additional verification was performed. During that procedure, officials wrote in the report, there appeared to be unusual factors with the ticket.

The report went on to say that the person who submitted the ticket eventually told officials that shed purchased the ticket through an online service, The Lotter.com. Its a web portal that allows players from around the world to purchase lottery tickets from over 20 countries, officials say.

The owner of Panhandle Package was interviewed and told officials that hed received a laptop, printer and scanner from the outfit and sold Florida Lottery tickets for them. Officials say he also explained that he received orders from them through the laptop and then prints the play slips on their thermal printers. He then ran those slips into the Florida Lottery Altura terminals to print activated tickets. After printing them, he would scan them so that the TheLotter.com customers can see them.

Officials say TheLotter.com charges customers $1.50 per play, so that, for instance, a ticket that cost $5 in Florida would be $7.50 if purchased through that website. Theres an additional service charge that the players are required to pay after theyve ordered their tickets. The retailer, in this case Panhandle Package, does not receive any of the proceeds from the extra charges.

The investigative report included interviews with the winner and an attorney who works with TheLotter.com, in which they provided statements regarding the purchasing procedure and how the ticket was secured and passed on to the winner.

As a result of the findings in the investigation, the Panhandle Package contract was terminated for all four of its locations, three of which are in Campbellton and one of which is in Graceville.

In the letter to Magneshkumar R. Patel and Rony K. Patel, respectively the president and vice president of the company that owns the package stores, lottery officials stated the following:

The Florida Lottery is terminating your Lottery Retailer Contract pursuant to Florida Lottery Rule 53ER07-15. This rule allows the Lottery to terminate a retailers contract if the termination is necessary to ensure the integrity, security, honesty, or fairness of the operation of the Lottery. The Lottery is taking this action because you engaged in activities prejudicial to public confidence in the Lottery. As a result of our investigation, the Lottery has concluded that you are in breach of your Contract. The breach of contract results from, at a minimum, your scanning of unauthorized playslips and your violation of section 24.112(5)(e), Florida Statutes. Section 19(b) of your Lottery Retailer Contract authorizes the Lottery to immediately terminate the Retailer Contract if the retailer has engaged in conduct prejudicial to public confidence in the Lottery. Therefore, the Retailer Contract for the (Panhandle Packages 1-4) is being terminated, effective immediately upon delivery of this notice.

The Florida Lottery also issued the following statement regarding the Panhandle Package termination:

The Florida Lottery follows the law, it reads. Retailers contracts with the Lottery include requirements and prohibitions that could prohibit doing business with courier services like Lotter.com depending on the courier services business model. However, there is no provision in Florida law prohibiting courier services generally. We will be happy to work with the Legislature on this issue.

In the investigative report, officials said no criminal charges are being filed. The investigation included background checks on M. Patel, the holder of the winning ticket, and the attorney associated with TheLotter.com, with no findings of any criminal past and with no irregularities in a review of the Patel bank accounts.
Just about every family has a weird heirloom. For the Hierls, its Shelby.

Shelby is what the family came to call a footlocker that Victor Hierl kept after World War II. The name derives from that of the original owner, Shelby Reynolds, a soldier who was issued the footlocker during the war.

No one in our family is totally sure how the footlocker ended up with my father-in-law, a retired U.S. Army major in Connecticut, Pat Hierl, Victors daughter-in-law, said. The stories are nebulous at best, but what we think happened is that the footlocker was left somewhere and my father-in-law took possession. My father-in-law was in logistics, and traveled from Boston to as far south as Florida to deliver recruits to basic. Its possible that the footlocker was left somewhere and my father-in-law somehow ended up with it.

For decades, the Hierl family used the footlocker for what it was intended for  storage.

Whenever we were looking for something, mom would tell us to go look in Shelby, Dave Hierl, Pats husband, said.

Victor Hierl died in October 2017, and since then family members have been cleaning out his home in Connecticut. While cleaning, the family came across the old footlocker, which intrigued Pat Hierl, Daves wife. Pat began researching the footlocker, which had Reynolds name and service number printed on it.

Using that information, Pat, who resides with her husband in Whitefish, Montana, was able to determine that Reynolds was a draftee from South Alabama who reported for duty at Fort McClellan in 1942. Further online searches determined that Reynolds died in 1979 and is buried in the Lee Cemetery in Ozark.

The Internet is a wonderful thing, Pat said.

Today, the Hierls are seeking family members of Reynolds who may wish to have the footlocker as a memento. Or for storage.

Its in decent enough shape, Dave said. All those years it was used to hold for miscellaneous stuff.

The Hierls are holding on to the footlocker until April. After then, it goes to a tag sale.

To contact the Hierls, email phierl@centurytel.net.
Dear Doctor: I've been having chest pain, and my doctor said that although I shouldn't panic, I should consider a stent. Now I read they're useless. What are my options?

Dear Reader: What you're describing is angina -- chest pain caused by decreased blood flow to the heart via the coronary arteries. Stable angina occurs with exertion, not rest, because the exertion makes your heart work harder. Unstable angina is irregular, can occur even at rest and is a harbinger of an imminent heart attack.

In 1977, doctors began to treat angina with angioplasty, which uses a balloon to open the partially clogged coronary arteries. In the 1990s, they started using stents to keep the arteries open and make them less likely to collapse. In this procedure, a metal stent is placed over a balloon so that when the balloon expands, the stent presses outward to buttress open the artery. Because these metal stents can increase the risk of blood clots, they're often now coated with a drug that prevents clots. Angioplasty has been found to reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes in people with unstable angina.

For stable angina, the picture recently became murkier. The study to which you're referring assessed outcomes in stable angina patients with one or more coronary arteries at least 70 percent narrowed. People were excluded from the study if they'd had a previous heart attack, bypass surgery or another vessel blocked more than 50 percent but not causing symptoms. In the first six weeks of the study, participants received standard medical therapy, including blood thinners, cholesterol-lowering medication, blood pressure medications and long-acting nitrates.

After that, study subjects were randomized into a group that received a stent or a control group that didn't receive a stent. In fact, in the second group, the patients didn't even know if they'd received a stent or not. After another six weeks, all the patients underwent a cardiac stress test and an assessment of symptoms.

No difference in symptoms was found. Even an evaluation of the ability to walk on a treadmill showed no difference between the two groups. However, when given a medication to stress the heart, the stent group showed an improvement in contraction of the heart muscle as seen on ultrasound.

Similarly, a 2007 study showed no difference in death rate or heart attack rate among people with stable angina treated with angioplasty compared to those who received medical therapy. The group that received an angioplasty did report an improvement in symptoms 2 1/2 to seven years after the treatment, but it's possible the placebo effect played a role. That's because, unlike the more recent group, the 2007 study participants knew whether they'd had angioplasty.

That said, stents are not useless. They do prevent heart attacks and death in people with unstable angina, and they may benefit people with stable angina who have symptoms even on medication or who are intolerant to medication. But it seems to me that the robust benefit of stents in people with stable angina is not evident. I'd recommend talking with your doctor further; you do have a choice.
(Photo: Albin Hillert / WCC)Archbishop Thabo Makgoba has been outspoken from the pulpit. Makgoba, the Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, preaches during a July 19 interfaith prayer service, held at the Roman Catholic Emmanuel Cathedral in Durban, South Africa, during the 2016 International AIDS Conference.

The new leadership of South Africa's ruling African National Congress should replace Jacob Zuma as national president as soon as possible, the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town Thabo Makgoba has said in a Christmas message.

Speaking during his Christmas eve sermon at the St. George's Cathedral, Makgoba said: "I cannot see how two centres of power  one centred on the party and the other on the State  can collaborate when their values seem diametrically opposed to one another."

His words follow the election Dec. 18 of Cyril Ramaphosa, the national vice-president as the new leader of the ANC.

The ANC, Africa's oldest liberation movement has ruled South Africa since Nelson Mandela led it to victory in the country's first universal suffrage election in 1994, but its critics says cronyism and corruption are grinding it economy to a halt and not helping the livelihoods of ordinary people.

Makgoba said the only way the ANC could "make a clean break with the past" is to get rid of Zuma and follow it up with a "carefully targeted cabinet reshuffle".

"If Mr. Ramaphosa wants the ANC to get a new lease of life, he and the new leadership will need to cut the umbilical cord which ties them to the Zuma era, quickly and decisively," the archbishop said.

"Our economy is floundering, unemployment is rising and those cohorts of corruption who see they are losing influence are making ever more desperate attempts to loot what they can before their party is over," he rued.

"On top of that, the divisions in the ANC have led to a paralysis in decision-making and the implementation of policy. It is time to say, 'Enough is enough'."

In the election for the ANC leadership Ramaphosa went head-to-head with former cabinet minister and African Union Chairwoman, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. Dlamini-Zuma received 2261 votes against Ramaphosa's 2440.

She is the former of President Zuma and she was his chosen candidate to rule South Africa, running on a populist ticket.

"The crib, no matter how one looks at it, is always the place where Jesus takes on human misery.

"It is the place where the poor and marginalised find the possibility of hope that things might be different, that Emmanuel  'God-with-us'  is located in a stable, outside the spaces of power, amidst the clothes of the poor," said Makgoba in his sermon.

"Although this message of Christmas is never totally absent from our consciousness, so dangerous is it to the powerful and the comfortable that the Church often hides or stifles it.

"But Christmas is about breaking the yoke of oppression, allowing justice and peace to embrace us and enabling hope to shine in dark places, as the Advent readings have stubbornly reminded us," said Makgoba.

He noted Ramaphosa has promised to tackle the rampant corruption of Zuma's rule and has deal with empty national coffers.

"If Mr Ramaphosa wants the ANC to get a new lease of life, he and the new leadership will need to cut the umbilical cord which ties them to the Zuma era, quickly and decisively.

Our economy is floundering, unemployment is rising and those cohorts of corruption who see they are losing influence are making ever more desperate attempts to loot what they can before their party is over.

"On top of that, the divisions in the ANC have led to a paralysis in decision-making and the implementation of policy. It is time to say, 'Enough is enough,'" said Makgoba.
Vietnam biggest supplier of shrimp to Switzerland for past 10 years

Vietnam has served as Switzerland's biggest supplier of shrimp over the past 10 years, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), VNS reports.

VASEP said Vietnamese shrimp accounts for over 50% of total shrimp imports of Switzerland, which buys some 8,500 tonnes of shrimp yearly.

Frozen shrimp and processed shrimp in sealed bags are the two main products imported into Switzerland, of which Vietnam is the largest supplier of these two products, according to VASEP.

Together with Germany, Denmark, Ecuador and Bangladesh, Vietnam enjoys free import duty on frozen shrimp accorded by Switzerland, VASEP said.

Despite the free import duty, German and Danish shrimp are less affordable than Vietnamese shrimp, which has to compete, however, with shrimp from Ecuador and Bangladesh, as well as other Asian countries including Thailand and India.

Switzerland ranks 10th among Vietnam's main shrimp import markets, accounting for 1.03% of the Southeast Asian country's total shrimp exports to all the markets.

As of Nov. 15, Vietnam's shrimp exports to Switzerland has reached US$34.3 million, up 17.3% over the same period last year.










Aviagen holds informative processing school in Malaysia

A highly successful four-day processing school was held in Malaysia for Aviagen personnel to enhance their knowledge and understanding of the impact of the different phases of poultry processing.



The attendees from Asia and Turkey were part of an intense programme that combined classroom learning with half-day, hands-on sessions inside a working processing plant to facilitate the best conditions for learning and experiencing many of the key aspects of processing.



The course involved an analysis of all phases involved in getting birds to the plant, including catching, transportation followed by the various stages of processing. The students also engaged in replicating all the processing procedures by hand to help better evaluate the actual losses and yields that can be generated. Areas of process improvement, equipment efficiency, and the economic performance of processing - including yield produced, yield loss, rejects, kilograms in and kilograms out - were all analysed in the programme.



The team was challenged to complete a plant audit by looking at the operating parameters including correct temperatures, time, speed, electrical current, wastage, product quality and anything that may have an impact on performance.



Learning the correct sequence of processing along with bird welfare, feed management, skin quality, carcass processing procedures, grading, packaging and chilling all came under the examination of the class.



"It was an intense, beneficial week with a lot of information aimed at a very practical approach to processing. The objective was to grow familiarity and knowledge in the economics and individual aspects of a typical poultry processing plant. From day one, the feedback from the team was encouraging and we believe the value generated will result in more training in the future," concluded Michael Longley, Aviagen's technical transfer manager and school director.



Gu Minqing, Aviagen China's technical service manager, said: "The processing course was a very positive experience for me and provided relevant information that will be extremely useful for processors in China. It taught me the overall process and also the importance of the different phases in getting a bird ready for sale to the consumer. Analysis of the key performance indicators and economic impact has brought a new understanding to me."

- Aviagen
The pair began dating earlier this year but officially made headlines in July 2017 after Ortiz-Magro injured his hand during a night out in Las Vegas. According to sources, the Jersey Shore alum was at TAO restaurant with Harley when a scuffle broke out around him and a glass got broken on his hand. Ever since the incident, the couple began to slowly document their relationship on Instagram with subtle photos.

From G-T-L to D-A-D

Fans of the Bronx native might remember that he recently starred on the second season of E! Network's Famously Single. The reality show led to his relationship with Khloe Kardashians' best friend Malika Haqq. Former Jersey Shore cast member DJ Pauly D, formerly known as Paul DelVecchio also appeared on the first season of the reality show. Ortiz-Magro and Haqq began dating in December 2016 but decided to go their separate ways in February 2017.

What's Next For Ronnie?

While Ortiz-Magro begins to prep for his first child, that doesn't mean that the grind stops. In November, it was announced that the television star would be making his way back to his old stomping grounds or tanning grounds. Ortiz-Magro, as well his other cast members Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino, Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, Paul "Pauly D" DelVecchio, Jenni "JWoww" Farley, and Vinny Guadagnino are set to reunite at their former vacation home. The cast will reunite for a new Jersey Shore special, Jersey Shore Family Vacation.

As previously reported, Sammi "Sweetheart" Giancola, declined the opportunity to reunite with her fellow cast members. Sources close to Giancola say that she is working on another project. The MTV star does not want to be anywhere near Ortiz-Magro. Fans of the Jersey Shore definitely remember the drama that occurred between Ortiz-Magro and Giancola during the show. Although, she won't be returning to the shore, she allegedly has an upcoming role on Celebrity Big Brother.

Just in case Ortiz-Magro needs a little advice on being a new dad, he definitely looks to Snooki, JWoww, and DJ Pauly D, as they all are parents as well. In the meantime, fans will be patiently waiting to see the cast reunite!
A year has gone by since movie fans lost a Hollywood treasure and yet, it seems like yesterday that the shocking news made headlines.

Carrie Fisher, best known for her role as Princess Leia from Star Wars, tragically passed away on Dec. 27, 2016, at the age of 60. Fisher suffered a medical emergency while on a flight home from her European book tour. The news left the world and fans devastated as countless people paid tribute to the fallen Star Wars princess.

Fisher's final role in the latest Star Wars: The Last Jedi was said to be a tribute to the late actress and indeed it was. The film's closing credits displayed a beautiful message to Fisher who completed all of her scenes before her death.

For Our Princess Leia

Although Fisher is still deeply missed, her friends and family continue to honor her legacy. Actor Mark Hamill, who starred in the original Star Wars films with Fisher, paid tribute to his costar and friend on Thursday.

The actor uploaded a picture on his Twitter page that featured photos of the two together and a cartoon image of Fisher giving the middle finger.

Hamill and Fisher became close after filming the first Star Wars film. The two played the characters of twins Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa.

Hamill touched on Fisher's passing and her final performance during an interview with PeopleTV.

"I'm selfishly mad that she's not here to make me laugh. But I'm also grateful for all that she was able to give us while she was here. It has not been easy," Hamil stated.

During an interview back in 2015, Fisher touched on her thoughts about reprising her role as the princess turned general and what it meant to her.

"I didn't stop being Leia. I mean, it doesn't go away. It's like a persistent rash. No. But I am...I stayed in character for the last 35 years. People identify me with her so much, and I am the custodian of Princess Leia, so I try and keep her fit and ready for action," she stated.

Fisher also starred in the films: When Harry Met Sally, Blues Brothers, Scream 3, and Sorority Row.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is showing in theaters now.
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Lets look at some numbers, shall we?From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate All from 2013 reporting year.Annual Death Rate per 100 k populationPhilippine 10.5Canada 6.0USA 10.6UK 2.9Australia 5.4The Philippine death rate per 100,000 population was better than the world average (17.4), Africa (26.6) Eastern Mediterranean (19.9) Western Pacific (17.3) SE Asia (17.0) the Americas (15.9) and was only bested by the Europe average (9.3)Per 100,000 vehiclesPhilippine 135Canada 9.5USA 12.9UK 5.1Australia 7.3Local total was 10,379I trust that the other countries numbers include all traffic-related deaths but doubt if the Philippine number included 100% of all traffic deaths, especially from the remote provinces. Wiki indicates that there was some adjustment for underreporting.However even as bad as they drive here the reported death rate is less than in the USA.Some probable causes/factors:Western drivers can drive on freeways and open highways at higher speeds. Increasing accident severity there but decreasing accident frequency as these are usually well-designed roads.Vehicle maintenance is lower here than I what I have seen in the west.In Canada, USA and Australia more distance driven due to bigger countries. (I would have included deaths per billion kms drives but that data was n/a for the Philippines)Philippine emergency medicine is not as good as other countries resulting in more deaths that would survive in the western countries.Local vehicles tend to have a lot of passengers in them resulting in multiple fatalities per accident as we saw over Xmas.Fewer Philippinos own vehicles and not many own multiple vehicles, compared to the West. This results in the much higher death rate per 100,000 vehicles.Less driver education and poor license controls here (People can still pay the no test fee and get a license without any testing at all.) Vehicle safety inspections nonexistent here.Seatbelt laws, only front seat here and not enforced, other countries all occupants and enforced.More motorcycles here. Helmet laws not enforced, especially outside of Manila. (Not sure what the helmet law is here.)Lax traffic enforcement here. In the few traffic stops I have actually seen in here, it is not uncommon to see 500 and 1000 p notes being passed to the police. Openly and in daylight with many people walking past in Manila. Try that in the west and you will be in handcuffs.Quite frankly, given how they drive here, the condition of the roads, the unmaintained vehicles on the road and lax law enforcement I was really surprised at how low the death rate per 100,000 population was. Also Americans with their higher death rate per population (but based on more complete reporting) really have nothing to brag about either.
******, Just this hour I found out that the wife of an expat I met several times in our Barangay passed away,,,,, from FB and my better half some weeks later. His bad or mine as Sam and I never hooked up on the world wide web nor expat sites other than simple meetings within our locale. Sam if you are on this site my thoughts are with you and your family.

Sincerely hope that if you are in Banks Poro in March/April that we can catch up.



Sincerely yours,

Steve.
In the thread on the 26-year-old vet moving here, there was a little discussion on bug out bags.



What is in your bug out bag?



I have



First Aid Kit

Cash ($US and PHP)

Spare credit card, high capacity no debt on it.

Change clothes 2 pair socks and underwear plus pants and shirt, lightweight jacket.

2 l water

Dried fruit packages.

2 week supply of all my medicines.

Swiss army knife.

Critical documents, originals and photocopies.

Pen and paper.

A nifty device that is a combination power bank, flashlight but has a solar cell and hand crank recharging capability. ( Made by Coghlans bought at Cabela at home about $CDN 60). I keep it recharged all the time.

Tactical flashlight (i.e. high intensity)

USB charger and spare laptop charger (I will also grab the laptop on my way out the door). Universal power plug adaptor so I will have power no matter what country we end up in.

Retractable USB and cat 5 cords.

Travel router that also has backup power capability for charging cell phones. (Also kept recharged)

My international cell phone. (Dual SIM model with a UK based SIM that works worldwide plus my Canadian SIM card for when I finally get home.

About 10 m 550 cord (Parachute cord)

Camping towel, soap and toiletries.

Toilet paper, hand sanitizer, wet wipes etc





It is all in a backpack that I can lock up and I have one of those retractable luggage locks so I can secure the complete backpack for when I sleep.



This should be sufficient to get me through the first 48 to 72 hours before aid can arrive in the event of a disaster. The cash is sufficient to buy a plane ticket home or I can always use the credit card and keep the cash for en route expenses.



I am looking at two possible run scenarios. One would be a natural disaster i.e. a storm, earthquake or similar. There would be a period in a shelter or in the open where we would have to stay until we could bet relocated out. The cash will help there.

The second is a political event, riots, martial law etc that would mean a quick trip to the airport and on the first available flight anywhere.



In either case being able to hand out wallet-sized pictures of Ben Franklin will assist in getting out of Dodge faster and safer.



I was a Boy Scout for far too long to not be prepared lol.
After chugging along for 37 hours, the lumbering heavy-lift vessel reached its destination 110 miles off Louisiana. There, the ships powerful cranes lowered a massive steel structure, used to support offshore oil platforms, to the floor of the Gulf of Mexico, 200 feet below the surface.

This location, however, will never produce oil. Instead, the 3,000-ton frame, from a retired platform operated by Royal Dutch Shell, will become home to barnacles, mussels, sponges and other aquatic invertebrates and a way station for migratory fish from red snapper to whale sharks seeking food and shelter.

These platforms are essentially the gas stations or rest stops in the Gulf, said Ruth Perry, a marine scientist and regulatory affairs specialist at Royal Dutch Shell. The artificial reefs allow ecosystems to grow. Weve seen growth within hours or days or weeks.

This new life for an old platform, called Cougar, comes courtesy of a federal program that has recycled more than 450 offshore oil and gas rigs into artificial reefs in U.S. waters. Scientists discovered long ago that as offshore oil production ventured deeper into the ocean waters off Louisiana and Texas, the platforms became magnets for shrimp, snapper, coral and other species that had long clung to scattered hard banks rising from the Gulfs vast floor of mud, clay and silt.

The federal program, created by Congress in 1984, aimed to build on this phenomenon by encouraging oil and gas companies to leave their platform frames in deep water, where they would be transformed into artificial reefs. The program has not only created thriving, aquatic ecosystems, but also saved oil companies the expense of hauling platforms back to land, then dismantling and disposing of them.

The program, called Rigs to Reefs, also provided a public relations boost for an industry often reviled for spills and other environmental damage.

I think basically everyone around the Gulf Coast sees it as a very positive step, said Chris Ross, a finance professor at the University of Houston. Its a great habitat for marine life, and its much cheaper than trying to recycle it.

Besides, he added, What else are you going to do with it?

Oil companies, required by federal regulators to remove offshore platforms from the ocean at the end of their productive life, can opt instead to work with Gulf Coast state agencies to identify which platforms would be suitable to become artificial reefs. The agencies seek permits to do so from the Army Corps of Engineers and Coast Guard, and they assume any liability for environmental damage caused by the reef. Myriad factors go into choosing a spot to deploy a reef. The state agencies avoid putting them too close to natural reefs or too far from the original site, which would drive up transportation costs.

The agencies also avoid shallow waters, shipping lanes and anywhere a ship might strike them. The ideal spot for an artificial reef is close enough to shore to allow fishermen to reach them, in an area where the sediment of the seafloor is strong enough to support a massive structure.

In 1981, Shell deployed Cougar in 337 feet of water, extracting oil and gas from what were the furthest reaches of the oil industrys territory in the Gulf at the time. The platform, one of Shells first ventures into deeper waters, came with one of the first on-site computer systems to monitor wells that would produce a combined 31 million barrels of oil equivalent over their life spans.

Now, a variety of species, Perry said, will be drawn to different sections of Cougars steel frame, already encrusted with aquatic species such as barnacles, bryozoan, sponges, oysters, mussels and coral.

The frame, some 35 stories tall, will sit on its side on the ocean floor, its steel pipes capturing different levels of sunlight that plankton and phytoplankton  a source of food for fish  need to survive and thrive. Larger fish species, including sharks, will dwell closer to the surface of the ocean than smaller ones.

The Coastal Marine Institute, a research center at Louisiana State University, has found that one of these structures, which stand on eight legs, can create habitat for up to 14,000 fish. Each platform leg can have two to 6 inches of encrustation of aquatic invertebrates on the metal, said Larry McKinney, executive director of the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.

Some environmental groups have argued artificial reefs only pull fish and aquatic species away from natural reefs, and essentially turn the ocean into a scrap yard. And whatever environmental benefits oil platforms may offer as artificial reefs, their presence also risks the possibility of major oil spills that could devastate the fishing industry.

The 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster cost the Gulf of Mexico fishing industry up to $1.6 billion in 2010, according to the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which oversees offshore development.

Its ocean dumping, said Linda Krop, chief counsel of the Environmental Defense Center in California. You have birds on telephone wire. Is that the best habitat for them, or is a tree a better habitat for them? The same thing with the ocean. Whats the best habitat for fish?

But teams of scientists have found that these iron islands  both artificial reefs and active oil platforms  relieve the stress on natural reefs by attracting fish with new and bountiful sources of food and space for reproduction. The result is larger fish populations, which is why fishermen cluster their boats around oil and gas platforms in the Gulf, McKinney said.

Over the past decade, the size of the Gulf commercial catch has increased 28 percent, to more than 1.7 billion pounds in 2016 from nearly 1.4 billion pounds in 2006. The value of the catch jumped about 30 percent, to more than $900 million from less than $700 million during that period, according to federal statistics.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates that in 2015 commercial and recreational saltwater fishing in the Gulf of Mexico generated nearly $34 billion in sales as products moved from the docks to consumers through wholesalers, retailers and restaurants, and supported about 250,000 jobs.

The Harte Research Institute said this month it will lead a $12 million effort by 21 fishery scientists to estimate the number of red snapper living in the Gulf today. Commercial landings of the species have climbed nearly 40 percent since 2006, to about 6.5 million pounds in 2016, according to NOAA.

Today, there are more snapper in the Gulf than 10 years ago, and many of those, perhaps even more than we know, are on artificial reefs and platforms, McKinney said.

The Harte Research Institute has received funding from the oil industry for certain publications, McKinney said, but not for any research on artificial reefs, which is funded by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission, which benefits from improving fish stocks. In Texas, revenue for licenses sold for saltwater fishing rose 47 percent between 2005 and 2016 to nearly $600,000, according to the commission.

The major oil companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico  Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp., Shell Oil Co., BP and others  have participated in the Rigs to Reef program for years. Nearly half of the oil companies in the region, mostly smaller, private ones, are interested in the reef program to the extent it saves them money on transporting the platform onto land and dismantling it, McKinney said.

For Shell, towing Cougar 50 miles to the reef site rather than hauling it 100 miles to shore for dismantling and disposal saved the company $1.24 million, said Ernest Hui, Shells decommissioning business improvement lead. Shell donated about half the savings to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to monitor and support the habitat, the company said.

The economics made sense, Hui said. We see reefing as a benefit. Weve been trying to do this around the world.

collin.eaton@chron.com | twitter.com/collineatonhc
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StandardAeros San Antonio facility has netted a five-year, $380 million contract to overhaul engines used in Air Force transport planes.

The facility at Port San Antonio was awarded the contract Dec. 21, according to the Department of Defense. StandardAero will be responsible for maintenance and overhaul work on T56 series 3.0 engines, which are used in Lockheed Martin C-130H transport airplanes and other military aircraft. The facility also will do work to upgrade the engines to the series 3.5 engines, said Vice President of Business Development Dan Gonzales.

The contract has the option to be extended for three one-year terms. Gonzales did not know the value of those additional contracts.

The StandardAero facility has more than 300 employees working on the T56 engine, while another 40 work on the F-110 jet engine.

Gonzales said a previous one-year contract between the Air Force and StandardAero for T56 engine maintenance expired this month. Before that contract, StandardAero had done the work as a subcontractor for Lockheed Martin, which shares the 576,000-square-foot U-shaped building at Port San Antonio with StandardAero. Lockheed Martin is preparing to shutter its facility by mid-2018, and StandardAero took over the lease in June.

Mark Bungiorno, StandardAeros San Antonio general manager, said the long-term contract will allow the company to find cost savings for the Air Force.

An eight-year contract allows you to work with the customer to look for longer term cost-saving initiatives that you simply dont have time to work on during a one-year or two-year contract, Gonzales said.

The contract is at least the second worth more than $100 million awarded to a San Antonio aerospace facility in the past week. San Antonio-based M7 Aerospace, a subsidiary of Elbit Systems of America based at San Antonio International Airport, was awarded a maintenance contract that starts with a one-year term worth $25 million that can be extended another five years for a total of $176 million.

Rye Druzin is a San Antonio Express-News energy reporter. Read more of his stories here. | rdruzin@express-news.net | @druz_journo
San Antonio-based technology investment firm Scaleworks has acquired Keen IO, a company that offers data-analytics tools geared toward software developers.

Keen IO, founded in 2011 and based in San Francisco, will be added to the firms roster of tech companies, which includes Chargify, Earth Class Mail, Assembla, Filestack, Followup and Qualaroo. More than 50,000 developers at 3,500 companies use Keen IOs tools, according to the companys website.

Keen.io, launched in 2011, set out to let developers create a custom analytics back-end, Scaleworks General Partner Ed Byrne wrote in a Medium post announcing the acquisition. It lets companies easily build and embed all sorts of analytics for teams and customers and often powers the dashboards in your favorite SaaS (software-as-a-service) tools.

Scaleworks doesnt disclose financial specifics of its deals, Scaleworks spokesman Drew Olanoff said via email.

Scaleworks says it buys controlling stakes in the companies and operates them for high growth. The firm recently moved into its new 20,000-square-foot headquarters at the Savoy building in downtown San Antonio.

The private equity firm typically brings in new leadership for the companies it acquires, General Partner Lew Moorman said in a September interview with the Express-News.

Generally were buying them from founders and leadership teams that are ready to move on, Moorman said at the time. So it is a very friendly thing, and we go we want to put new teams in, and we get things going.

Keen IOs founders have decided to move on to new projects, Olanoff said.

They felt that their customers and developer base was in good hands with Scaleworks, he said.

During the first three to six months of 2018, Scaleworks will seek out a new leadership team for the company, Olanoff said. Until then, Keen IO will be under Byrnes leadership.

Keen fits the healthy revenue, customer base, product and category leadership that we look for in a company, Olanoff said. Theyre a perfect fit for the Scaleworks family.

When asked if the company would be moved to San Antonio, and if employees would move, Olanoff said that as of right now, the team will remain in San Francisco.

sehlinger@express-news.net | Twitter: @samehlinger
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Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar called on the district attorney's office to help investigate the death of 6-year-old Kameron Prescott, who was killed when deputies opened fire on an unarmed woman last week.

In a statement released Tuesday, the sheriff said District Attorney Nico LaHood will assign an assistant district attorney and an investigator to provide "independent investigative assistance" in the case.

RELATED: 2 dead after BCSO deputy-involved shooting, manhunt through San Antonio suburb

"The additional investigator will help in the review of evidence and witness statements as the case develops," the statement read. "Sheriff Salazar and District Attorney LaHood remain committed to working together in the best interest of the public."

The move comes after the case garnered national media attention.

On Thursday, deputies pursuing suspected car thief Amanda Lenee Jones, 30, tracked her to a mobile home park in Schertz and allegedly caught her breaking into the home where Kameron lived.

READ MORE: Friends, family say Amanda Lenee Jones was troubled but loving, loyal

She was on the home's front porch when four deputies opened fire, killing Jones. One of the bullets also struck Kameron in the abdomen. He was pronounced dead shortly after.

Deputies said they believed that Jones, who had allegedly previously threatened to shoot deputies, was armed with a gun, but it was later discovered she was holding a "tubular object."

The deputies involved in the shooting were also identified as John Aguillon with 27 years of service, George Herrera with 16 years of service, Jesse Arias with 7 years of service and reserve deputy Johnny Longoria with two years of service.

Reporters John Tedesco and Caleb Downs contributed to this report. Fares Sabawi covers crime in San Antonio and Bexar County for mySA.com. Read more of his stories here. | fsabawi@mysa.com | Twitter: @FaresInSA
The Pentagon for years has defied federal laws intended to keep guns out of the hands of felons and domestic abusers by failing to report many criminal convictions in the military justice system to the FBI and to the national gun background-check database.

This is what allowed Devin Patrick Kelley, who was convicted of domestic assault while in the Air Force, to buy, from a store, the rifle he used to kill 25 people, including a pregnant woman whose fetus also died, at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs in November.

Now, after two decades of serious lapses  and one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history  officials from New York, Philadelphia and San Francisco are trying to force a change.

The cities have joined together to file a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Virginia that would require the Pentagon to submit to federal court monitoring of its compliance with the reporting laws it has broken time and again.

This failure on behalf of the Department of Defense has led to the loss of innocent lives by putting guns in the hands of criminals and those who wish to cause immeasurable harm, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

THE GUNMAN'S WIFE: Wife of Sutherland Springs gunman Devin Kelley speaks for first time about day of the massacre

The cities say theyre suing because their police departments regularly access the federal background-check database and rely on it to provide accurate information about who should be prevented from buying guns.

The Pentagon repeatedly has been chided since the 1990s by its own inspector general for woefully failing to comply with the law. In a 2015 report  and another one issued just a few weeks ago  investigators said that nearly 1 in 3 court-martial convictions that should have barred defendants from gun purchases had gone unreported by the military.

Having a federal court oversee compliance, the cities in the lawsuit say, would reduce the chance that a tragedy like the massacre in Sutherland Springs happens again.

If the lawsuit is successful and the military fails to adhere to a court order to demonstrate compliance with the law, a federal judge could hold the defendants in contempt, lawyers for the plaintiffs say.

The lawsuit names as defendants the Defense Department and its secretary, James Mattis; the departments of the Air Force, Army and Navy and their respective secretaries; the directors of the militarys criminal investigative organizations; and the commander of the Navys personnel command.

Generally, the military is required to report felony-equivalent court-martial convictions for crimes that are punishable by more than one year in prison, and any convictions for domestic violence. As with those of similar convictions in civilian courts, the records are supposed to block defendants from buying guns.

The military also must report anyone who receives a dishonorable discharge, which precludes gun ownership. Federal law also bans ownership by drug abusers, people subject to certain restraining orders, and mentally ill people.

I believe the active involvement of the court system will produce the desired results, said Ken Taber, lead lawyer for the plaintiffs. This will impose an outside monitor to make sure that what should have been done for two decades is finally done.

Another lawyer for the plaintiffs, Adam Skaggs, added that the lawsuit was not seeking a new interpretation of law  merely that a judge be enlisted to help ensure the militarys adherence to existing rules.

After 20 years of failure, outside monitoring by the courts is clearly necessary to guarantee that the reporting failures that led to the Texas church shooting never happen again, said Skaggs, chief counsel of the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

The Pentagon had no immediate comment on the lawsuit Tuesday. In the wake of the church massacre, military leaders have acknowledged the severity of their reporting lapses and vowed to improve.

This is a problem across all the services where we have gaps in reporting criminal activity of people in service, the Army chief of staff, Gen. Mark A. Milley, said after it emerged that the Texas gunmans Air Force conviction was never sent to the background-check database.

The Pentagons acting inspector general, Glenn A. Fine, told a Senate committee earlier this month that theres really no excuse for the militarys repeated failure to comply with the reporting rules.

Mayor Ron Nirenberg was traveling with his family and could not be reached for comment on whether San Antonio might consider joining the suit, a spokesman said. Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said hed need more information before saying whether it was a good idea for county officials to consider it.

The Air Force made a mistake (in failing to report Kelleys conviction)  so this is all worth looking at, Wolff said. This isn't about gun control. The idea is to keep guns out of the hands of people who are mentally disturbed. And that has drawn support from both Democrat and Republicans.

Police Chief William McManus said he didnt know enough about the militarys process for getting the required information to the database to comment on the suit, but added: No matter how tight a process for reporting someone who cannot legally possess or own a firearm, guns are bought and sold illegally every day.

Even with bolstered compliance, major loopholes would remain. Had Kelleys conviction been in the background-check database, for example, he still could have purchased a gun in person or online from private sellers, who are not required to run the background check  an exemption known as the gun show loophole.

And while federal law calls for domestic violence convictions to be reported, the rules generally exempt the reporting of misdemeanor convictions where the victim is only a dating partner, an exception known as the boyfriend loophole.

But the sort of federal monitoring that the lawsuit proposes has had successes, including efforts by the Justice Department to rein in police departments that use discriminatory tactics or excessive force.

Some agreements to revamp law enforcement practices  known as consent decrees  that have been overseen by federal courts have been credited with helping spur marked improvements in police forces in Los Angeles and other cities.

Express-News Staff Writer Bruce Selcraig contributed to this report.
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Driving down an empty McAllister Freeway, Kaye Wilkins knew how to handle the icy roads between his Quarry-area home and First Presbyterian Church downtown. He had seen snow before, but this was the first snowfall in San Antonio for his son Allen.

It was January 1985, and a storm had dumped 13 inches of snow all over the Alamo City. The Wilkins family members were on their way to a Sunday service as they drove through empty streets.

Downtown was a ghost town, Wilkins recalled. Someone asked us, How did you get down here? I thought the city was shut down.

Being among 13 congregants to make it to church, the Wilkins family volunteered to help shovel snow from the sidewalk.

There were a couple of city cars, but no one was walking around, Wilkins said.

Without any snowplows, the city made use of what service vehicles it had by adapting street graders to clear streets, according to previous reports.

An image of the Wilkins clan captured by an Express-News photographer became one of the many memorable scenes residents would reflect upon each winter.

It was really great because people had several days to play in the snow, he said. There were people riding sleighs and all sorts of things you can only do in snow.

From a child sledding in an area neighborhood to rare sights at the Alamo that included a skier and two women building a snowman, the snowfall of 1985, along with the citys recent flirtation with the white stuff, would serve as extreme examples of winter in an area where its warm enough for residents and visitors to wear T-shirts and shorts outside year-round.

Today, Allen Wilkins is 48 and a teacher at East Terrell Hills Elementary School. He said hes seen more snow since then, having spent time in Colorado, but this year brought another time of firsts for many of his students.

Many of them stayed up late playing in the snow that fell the evening of Dec. 7, Allen Wilkins said.

None of them wanted to miss out on the snowballs, snowmen and snow angels that were made possible by the nearly 2 inches of snow that fell over the city.

While the light accumulation thrilled some after a decadeslong absence in the city, others described it as nothing more than slush.

By midmorning Dec. 8, the snow of 2017 had melted and the few snowmen that arrived the night before were fighting a losing battle against the sun.

The National Weather Service reported that the recent snowfall was possible thanks to a cold Canadian air mass making its way to the region.

National Weather Service meteorologist Aaron Treadway said South Central Texas climate doesnt get cold enough for snow because the region is so close to the equator.

Usually  by the time these air masses make it to Texas, they are moderating just enough to keep temperatures above freezing, preventing the snowfall, Treadway said.

In San Antonio, the average high temperature is in the mid- to low-50s from December through February. The average low temperature is in the mid-40s, while the highest average is in the upper 60s.

The coldest winter ever recorded was 1977-78, when the average temperature was 47.7 degrees, according to the weather service.

The winter of 1983-84 came close with an average of 47.8 degrees, while the winter of 1898 was slightly higher at 48.1 degrees.

San Antonio hit its lowest temperature on Jan. 31, 1949 when the temperature fell to zero.

While heat can be found at the punch of a button or the twist of a knob nowadays, residents in the 1800s and even early 1900s relied on the construction of their homes and planning to keep warm through cold weather.

Gregory Garrett, an educator with the Institute of Texan Cultures, said many area homes were made of adobe and wood.

Adobe, which is still in use as a building material in many parts of the world, holds in heat in winter and cools well during summer, Garrett said.

A material called chinking thats made from mud, leaves, pebbles and other materials found in nature was placed to cover any holes in the wood.

Chinking was another important thing as far as log cabins were concerned  for insulation, Garrett said.

Some rural South Texas homes that relied on a breezeway to bring in air during summer also had a bedroom with the ceiling built slightly lower than the rest of the home. This made it easier for a single heat source, like a fireplace, to warm up the room.

For many residents in their adobe homes in the 1800s, a potbellied stove was all they had to heat the house.

Then you had one heat source, and that heat source was used universally whether it was for cooking, keeping warm, whatever it may have been, Garrett said.

The kindling for the fire would range from more than just wood to include corn husks, animal fat and even dried cow manure.

If you were a child, your duty would be to maintain that fire all day, Garrett said. If you were shucking corn, you were putting away the husks for the wintertime, he added.

Native Americans who inhabited the area before the first missions were built in the 1700s relied on fire and buffalo skin blankets to keep warm.

Stoves remained the prevailing heating source for homes until the early 1900s, as seen in a 1908 catalog for the Sears, Roebuck and Co. that shows stove tops selling for around $4.25, and ranges priced at around $20.

Some homes with wood floors were built with a metal sheet to allow the inhabitants to place a potbellied stove on without setting the wood on fire. This also meant they could put it in storage for the winter.

Other homes were even lined with newspaper to seal any gaps between wood like a form of wallpaper or insulation.

Once the railroad system came through San Antonio in the late 1800s, advancements in heating soon followed.

Much like the Canadian cold front that pushed winter weather to the city this year, cowboys and soldiers marching through Texas in the 1800s had to contend with freezing blasts called a Blue Northern.

Something like that happens, basically its just hunker down and do what you can to stay warm, Garrett said. Basically, its just go into survival mode.

Soldiers caught out in the cold while marching from area forts would rely on military-issued flint, a steel striker and charcoal paper to start a spark and build a fire. Cowboys, who sometimes suffered the loss of their cattle, would use their horses saddle to cover themselves until the cold front passed.

Thats not to say winter snowfall doesnt produce problems for residents today. While people were able to make it home during the recent snowfall, the accumulation of frost proved most problematic for CPS Energy.

At the height of the snowfall, the utility reported more than 560 power outages affecting more than 80,000 customers. The snow that built up on trees eventually snapped off branches, which in turn broke apart major power lines.

During the winter storm of 1985, snow buildup caused millions of dollars in damage to carports, awnings and roofs that collapsed under the weight, according to previous reports.

An Associated Press story that ran in the New York Times quoted Bo McCarver, then spokesman for the Texas Highway Department, as saying it took one traveler six and a half hours to get from San Antonio to Austin, a 90-mile trip.

All hazards aside, for many, modern-day winters are less about survival than about making memories, as the many firsts that came with this years snowfall join the historic photos woven in the citys legacy for years to come.

jbeltran@express-news.net | @jbfromSA

COMING THURSDAY: S.A. Hispanics earned distinction in the military.
Craig Lang wants to be Iowas next Secretary of Agriculture

By Diego Flammini

News Reporter

Farms.com

The search is on for the next leader of Iowas agriculture department.

Bill Borthey, the Department of Agricultures current leader, is set to take a role in the White House. And perspective candidates have started announcing campaign intentions.

One candidate is already very familiar with Iowas ag landscape.

Craig Lang, who served as the president of the Iowa Farm Bureau from 2001 to 2011, officially launched his campaign on Friday for the Republican nomination to fill Northeys vacancy.

The 66-year-old dairy farmer outlined three goals during his official campaign kickoff at his farm near Brooklyn, IA. They focus on the protection and regeneration of Iowas 29 million farming acres.

Weve had conservation, he said during his campaign announcement on Dec. 22, according to WHOtv. Now, lets add soil health, lets clean the water and (improve) the economic activity. For the 10 years (I served) as Farm Bureau president, that was a priority issue with me.

So, I want to take that (and) call it a renaissance of economic activity across the entire state of Iowa.

Langs other ambitions including introducing five million acres of cover crops in five years and making improvements to the cattle industry.

He also wants to help the rural and urban communities come together to reach common goals.

Theres been a division but I dont want there to be a division, he said. I want everyone working together at the same table.

There havent been any other official announcements, but a U.S. Senator from Iowa thinks a family member could be the right fit to lead Iowas agriculture sector.

State Rep. Pat Grassley, grandson of Senator Chuck Grassley, acknowledged in September that hed like to succeed Northey.

And the senior Grassley hopes hell be appointed by Governor Kim Reynolds, according to the Des Moines Register.

If the Senate confirms Northey as the USDA undersecretary for farm production and conservation, Gov. Reynolds will appoint someone to serve as Iowas agriculture secretary until the 2018 election.
 4-H Canada is excited to announce a new program that will provide $150,000 in scholarships towards first-generation post-secondary students, thanks to a grant from The Coca-Cola Foundation. The scholarship program will focus on supporting students interested in making a positive impact in communities across Canada through skills and knowledge gained in their continued education.



As a Canada 150 signature partner, 4-H Canada is looking beyond 2017 to the next 150 years, and the tools youth need to ensure their personal and professional success. The launch of the First-Generation Scholarship will support this legacy, providing 150 bright young minds with $1,000 towards their postsecondary education. Any 4-H member who is the first in their immediate family attending a postsecondary institution or a post-graduate program is eligible to apply.



This new partnership with The Coca-Cola Foundation supports 4-H Canadas work to help youth explore their career interests, develop new skill sets, prepare for the workforce and become leaders in a widerange of sectors.



By playing an active role in helping students pursue their education goals and encouraging a love for lifelong learning, 4-H Canada aims to empower Canadian youth to become responsible, caring and contributing leaders that affect positive change in the world around them.



At Coca-Cola, we believe education holds an extraordinary promise to change lives, said Helen Smith Price, President, The Coca-Cola Foundation. By providing financial assistance to youth who are pursuing post-secondary education, we hope they are encouraged to pursue their academic dreams and realize their full and unique potential.



We know that education creates opportunities and it makes a positive impact on the minds of brilliant young people, said 4-H Canada CEO, Shannon Benner. We are grateful to The Coca-Cola Foundation for showing their strong commitment to supporting the development of Canadian youth as they find their voice on issues important to them through their academic studies and involvement in 4-H.



Source: 4-H Canada
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A Maryland-based telecommunications company said in a securities filing Friday that it has launched an internal investigation into potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Ciena Corporation said the investigation is to determine if certain payments to an individual employed by a customer in a country in the ASEAN region may have violated the FCPA and other laws.

The ASEAN countries are Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, Laos, and Brunei.

Ciena, based in Hanover, Maryland, disclosed the new investigation in an SEC filing on December 22. The disclosure was first posted by FCPA Tracker the same day.

Ciena Corporation has about 5,600 employees. Revenues last year were $2.6 billion.

The company said in Fridays disclosure that it recently . . . voluntarily contacted the SEC and DOJ to advise them of an internal investigation.

____

Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog.
Le Vot Photo: Nissan Motor Co.

Nissan Motor Co. has appointed Denis Le Vot to oversee North American sales. Le Vot arrives from Renault, where he has held multiple positions since joining the French automaker.

Le Vot has been appointed senior vice president and chairman of the management committee for Nissan North America effective Jan. 16. He will report to Jose Munoz, chief performance officer. Le Vot leaves his role of senior vice president of chairman of the Eurasia region for Groupe Renault.

Since joining Renault in 1990, Le Vot has held multiple positions in aftersales and served as new cars marketing and sales director in Turkey; vice president, marketing and sales for the Eurasia region; chief operating officer of Renault Russia; and vice president, sales and marketing for Europe/G9.

In 2016, he was appointed senior vice president and chairman of the Eurasia region, with the main markets of Russia, Turkey and Romania. He was appointed as a member of the Renault Management Committee in 2015 and as a member of the board of directors of AVTOVAZ in 2016.
Brussels-based International Wool Textile Organisation (IWTO) recently discussed the unfair classification of wool by powerful organisations promoting petroleum-based fibres at its annual Wool Round Table in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Experts termed ranking of wool and other natural fibres below synthetic fibres in sustainability ratings counterintuitive.A big reason for the low rankings is oversimplification  ratings specialists want to come up with a single score, and make subjective weightings to environmental impact assessments such as land use and eutrophication, according to an IWTO press release.

Brussels-based International Wool Textile Organisation (IWTO) recently discussed the unfair classification of wool by powerful organisations promoting petroleum-based fibres at its annual Wool Round Table in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Experts termed ranking of wool and other natural fibres below synthetic fibres in sustainability ratings counterintuitive.#

As wool sheep are run on land that does not support more lucrative crops, to penalize wool for land use when it is probably the best use of the land makes little sense, said Geoff Kingwill, who chairs IWTOs sustainable practices working group. The oversimplification of farm practices is misleading and steers consumers in the wrong direction, he said.Rating charts often fail to consider the complete life of wool products and hence comparisons are skewed, the meeting pointed out. A recent fashion textile report, for example, compared fibres on the materials phase, or production phase, only. For wool this means up to the farm gate, where about 80 per cent of wools environmental impacts occur.Far fewer impacts occur later in the life of a wool product  wool garments need to be laundered less frequently than those of other fibres, and there is evidence that wool products are used for longer than their less-natural counterparts.The environmental footprint score should include all significant impacts. Land use, biodiversity, microplastics  we may not have the methods, but they must be considered, said life cycle assessment expert Beverley Henry. (DS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
A government decision to raise the minimum monthly wage by 6.5 per cent in 2018, over $30 billion in exports revenue, expansion of investments by Chinese and Taiwanese firms, and Indias Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) deciding to join hands with PetroVietnam to restart the Dinh Vu polyester plant marked the year in Vietnams textiles and apparel sector.reviews the developments.Beginning January, the minimum monthly wage in Vietnam will rise 6.5 percent, or an extra 180,000-230,000 Vietnamese dong ($7.94-$10.14), depending on the region. That brings the total monthly minimum wage to between $136 in the lowest rate region and $175 in the highest wage region.The Vietnam Textile & Apparel Association (VITAS) kept opposing the move, saying several enterprises are struggling with wage hikes in the last decade. Minimum wage in domestic enterprises increased by 21.8 per cent between 2007 and 2017, leading many to reduce workers bonuses and use machines instead of labourers, it said.In October, VITAS appealed to the government not to increase import tariffs on polyester fibre from zero to 2 per cent. The request followed feedback from many domestic enterprises that are finding it tough to sustain because of the high cost of importing raw material.The sector attracted more than $750 million in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first six months of 2017, mostly from investment capital increases in existing projects, despite a reduced number of FDI projects in recent years and the US withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in January. In the first 11 months this year, the country imported $5 billion worth of materials for use in the textile, garment and footwear sector.VITAS expects the sector will generate more than $30 billion in exports this year, a year-on-year rise of 10.23 per cent. The sectors exports were worth $28 billion in 2016.The United States, Japan, South Korea, China and the European Union (EU) are the five major destination markets for Vietnamese clothing goods. From January to September this year, the clothing industry grossed $23 billion in export turnover , including yarn exports at $2.6 billion, materials and non-woven fabrics at $1.1 billion and clothes at $19.6 billion.Exports to the US market grew by 6.5 per cent and are expected to reach $13 billion this year. Exports to Europe and Japan have posted slower growth, between 4 and 4.5 per cent. Exports to the South Korean market are expected to hit nearly $2 billion this year. In the first eight months of this year, apparel and textile exports to China rose by 30 per cent to $670 million. Export turnover to the Russian market will likely exceed $200 million this year making it among the top ten export markets.US garment, textile and footwear firms sought investment opportunities in Vietnam after their country withdrew from the TPP, according to American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA). The imports of Vietnams garment-textile and footwear to the United States grew by 8.74 per cent and 11.83 per cent respectively over the past 12 months and Vietnam was the second biggest exporter to the US market, after China, AAFA said.In the first eight months of this year, textiles and garments exports grew steadily to $19.8 billion, with export value increasing by 9.9 per cent over the value during the same period last year. Vietnams cotton imports surged over the past ten years from 150,000 tonnes in 2005 to approximately 1.2 million tonnes in 2016, said VITAS.The country is using purer US cotton more now as its cotton cultivation areas have narrowed down to just 0.04 per cent of the total demand.

On September 12, Ho Chi Minh City hosted the Cotton Day 2017 organised by VITAS and the US Cotton Council International. It exposed enterprises to worldwide cotton demand and consumption trends. CCI granted investment licenses to 12 businesses operating in Vietnam using US cotton.

Vietnamese producers fulfill a mere 0.04 per cent of the total domestic cotton demand. The country imports cotton, with the United States accounting for over 60 per cent of the imports. AAFA and the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam held a series of activities in Ho Chi Minh City, including a workshop on product safety and compliance issues, in late October.



The year also witnessed expansion of operations with substantial investments by a few foreign companies. In February, ThreadSol, the pioneer of enterprise material management for sewn products sector, launched its cost-cutting garment solutions IntelloBuy and IntelloCut in Vietnam.



Worldon Vietnam Co. Ltd under the Chinese Shenzhou Group is likely to expand investment in the country as it established a garment-textile production chain there. The knitwear-manufacturing company operationalised the chains last project worth $310 million at Dong Nam (South East) industrial park in Cu Chi district, Ho Chi Minh City, in December.



In April, Taiwanese textile major Far Eastern New Century completed its expansion project in Vietnam to manufacture 6,000 tonnes of knitted fabrics per year. Another expansion in its garment unit there saw production expand by a million dozen garments per year. The company has earmarked investments of $760 million in the country, to be spent over three years.



US-based biotechnology company Kraig Biocraft Laboratories Inc., a developer of genetically-engineered spider silk-based fibre technologies, received government approval in October to produce high-tech silk in the Quang Nam province.



After discussions with PetroVietnam Petrochemical and Textile Fiber JSC, a joint venture of PetroVietnam and Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group, both state-owned, Indias Reliance Industries in September decided to collaborate with PetroVietnam to restart the Dinh Vu polyester plant in Haiphong. Reliance will provide personnel for maintenance, material supply and sales operations.



Lack of adequate training for workers and trained engineers remained a major challenge for the sector. Some 300-400 engineers are needed every year by the yarn, fabric and dyeing sectors while universities supply only around 30.



The year also saw domestic fashion brands facing increasing pressure from global brands, which spent high amounts in marketing and advertising campaigns. (DS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The German market is modestly higher, with investors, back at the ring after a long weekend, looking to pick up stocks from across various sectors. Thanks to firm commodity prices amid concerns about falling crude supply following an explosion in a Libyan pipeline, resources stocks are edging higher. Technology stocks are finding the going a bit tough on reports that Apple's new iPhone is getting a weaker than expected demand. The benchmark DAX index is up 32.23 points o 0.25 percent at 13,104.02. However, gains are just marginal for most of the stocks as buying interest is a bit subdued due to lack of triggers. Deutsche Boerse, Daimler, Bayer, Deutsche Telekom, BASF, Adidas, BMW, and Vonovia are up 0.5 to 1 percent. Lufthansa, Infineon, Deutsche Bank and Heidelberg Cement are down marginally. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.


BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - Bitcoin may be the wonderkid of the financial markets this year, with the price of the cryptocurrency, once dismissed as something reserved for the geeks, cryptography enthusiasts and the darknet, skyrocketing to unprecedented levels, alternating with several nosedives.



The digital currency world has dubbed it the face of the future and it is exactly such hubris that is making the bubble warnings from observers in the traditional finance grow louder each passing day.



While Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by value, did return to the limelight in 2016 after a lull, it is only this year that it grabbed the entire world's attention as its price soared and there were some measures of acceptance into the mainstream asset market. A clone of the currency, named bitcoin cash, also emerged in August this year.



The price of Bitcoin has surged nearly 20-fold, or over 1,900 percent, this year, from under $900 at the start of the year to a record high of almost $20,000 around December 17.



Amid repeated calls for caution, the price of Bitcoin plummeted nearly 15 percent on December 22 to below $13,000, just days after futures trading in the cryptocurrency began. And it is such wild swings that are raising the crash warnings.



Chicago exchanges CME Group and CBOE Global Markets launched futures trading in Bitcoin in December. The NYSE filed an application with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 20 to list two exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, tracking Bitcoin futures.



Though such moves could add some legitimacy, analysts and observers are keeping their fingers crossed over the future of Bitcoin, thanks to the notorious volatility linked to the cryptocurrency. Welcoming cryptocurrencies into the mainstream could bring them under some regulatory supervision, they hope.



As the crypto-world goes gaga over the recent appreciation of Bitcoin and other crypocurrencies, voices of caution are growing. Some top bankers have called the Bitcoin boom a fraud and central banks have issued repeated warnings of an asset bubble waiting to burst.



Meanwhile, hackers are busy revealing vulnerabilities in the cryptocurrency protocols, challenging developers to come up with more secure solutions to fulfill the decentralized peer-to-peer network dreams.



It is mainly the freedom linked to Bitcoin that is attracting users to the cryptocurrency. The digital currency is not issued or controlled by any government or state-run authorities and hence, it is not regulated.



Another factor that is driving the Bitcoin price is the fact that its supply is limited.



The algorithm that governs Bitcoin generation prescribes that bitcoins will be created when a new block is added to the network, which will be the mining reward. There will be a finite supply of 21 million bitcoins in the currency's lifetime. The number of bitcoins is set to halve every 210,000 blocks, which is likely to occur once in roughly four years.



In July 2016, the Bitcoin mining reward was halved from 25 to 12.5 bitcoins. The next halving is expected to occur in 2020.



Some are also attracted to the intrigue linked to Bitcoin as its origin remains murky. And the perceived anonymity linked to Bitcoin transactions has also retained it as a darling of the darknet.



The real identity of its creator, who used the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto while proposing the digital currency in 2008, still remains a mystery, despite years of investigation by cryptocurrency enthusiasts, journalists, government authorities and so on. Several theories are prevalent and some contenders have also come forward.



Beyond the regulatory control, the relatively young decentralized digital currency Bitcoin and its rival crypocurrencies, still remain a high risk investment for investors. Their highly volatile price also adds to the risk factor.



And governments and regulators are yet to figure out how to approach cryptocurrencies, though they have begun to tax transactions involving bitcoins. In India, tax authorities have started probing Bitcoin transactions of high net-worth individuals.



Bitcoin had already found wider acceptance in the real economy with big companies such as Microsoft and Dell embracing it as a payment option for their digital services.



Reports suggest the Bitcoin boom is largely led by Asian countries. That said, the recent rise of the cryptocurrency prompted authorities in Asia Pacific countries from China to Australia to issue warnings against the use of such currencies.



China banned trading in Bitcoin and initial coin offerings in September. South Korea also plans to ban ICOs and has ordered banks not to buy and hold cryptocurrencies. Indonesia and Vietnam are also mulling over banning cryptocurrencies.



However, many governments and central banks are exploring the possibility of having their own digital currencies that can replace Bitcoin.



The digital currency is also finding use in physical stores and in crowd-funding initiatives. A Japanese company is also planning to pay part of its employee salaries in Bitcoin. In countries with troubled economies such as Venezuela and Zimbabwe, people have been using cryptocurrencies to bypass government controls.



The blockchain technology that is underlying bitcoin has found greater acceptance in fields beyond finance such as pharma, government services and even in distributing aid to refugees. The Dubai government has made a roadmap to embrace blockchain on a large scale to realize the dream of a paperless and cashless society by 2020. The city plans to launch its own crypocurrency emCash.



The future of the cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin depends on how efficiently its developers can scale the size of the network and add more security to transactions so that they can gain greater acceptance and trust in the real world.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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27 December 2017

Clear Leisure Plc

("Clear Leisure" or "the Company")

New Business Venture

Clear Leisure to assign GeoSim holding into a new technology venture and

joint venture investment in a bitcoin mining blockchain date centre

Clear Leisure (AIM: CLP) is pleased to announce that it has established a new technology venture ("Newco"), supported by its largest shareholder, Eufingest SA ("Eufingest"). Initially, Newco will comprise two investments: the Company's 4.53% interest in Geosim Systems Limited ("Geosim"), the 3D mapping company; and, a proposed Bitcoin mining blockchain data centre, further details of which are set out below. Newco, a wholly owned subsidiary of Clear Leisure, will seek to add other Information Technology ("IT") focused businesses to its portfolio followed, in the longer term, by a possible stock market listing of Newco.

Background

Since the current Board was appointed in July 2015, it has sought to find the most beneficial way to monetise the Company's assets. Shareholders will be aware that this has been a challenging task because of the need, in respect of some assets, to establish clear ownership whilst negotiating with, sometimes hostile, creditors. There has been no such issue with the Company's 4.53% holding in GeoSim, the fair value of which is carried in Clear Leisure's audited accounts, at 31 December 2016, at 634,000. Until now, however, there has been limited opportunities to crystalize the value of this non-core asset.

An opportunity has now arisen for Clear Leisure, with Eufingest's support, to participate in establishing a Bitcoin mining blockchain data centre in a UK incorporated joint venture company, Miner One Limited ("Miner One"). The Board believes that this will be an ideal asset to include in the proposed new technology venture.

Clear Leisure has entered into a binding agreement with its joint venture partner, 64Bit Limited, ("64Bit"), a Malta data centre operator specialising in Bitcoin "mining" and powered by low-cost renewable energy. 64Bit's CEO and founder is Mr Marco Mirra who has a long history of working in IT security and data management sectors. Mr Mirra has already successfully extracted tens of Bitcoins with his existing Bitcoin mining data-centres and has extensive experience in setting up and managing data-centres.

Francesco Gardin, will represent Clear Leisure on the board of Miner One. He has extensive experience in the IT industry including lecturing for 30 years at Udine, Milan and Siena Universities in Italy, where he focused on Theory and Application of Computing Machines, the key to understanding the theory behind cryptography and blockchain technology.

Professor Remo Pareschi, former head of Telecom Italia's R&D department, professor of Computer Science at Molise University and co-founder of DLT Labs, a blockchain technology IBM partner, will be advising Miner One.

Bitcoin and Bitcoin Mining

Bitcoin ("BTC" or "XBT") is the first computer generated decentralised "cryptocurrency", which is powered by a public ledger, "the Bitcoin blockchain", that records and validates all transactions chronologically. Bitcoin is thought to have been invented between 2008 and 2009, and released as an open-source software.

Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency and worldwide payment system. It is the first decentralized digital currency, as the system works without a central bank or single administrator standing behind it. The network is peer-to-peer, which is already a familiar concept within the world of finance, and transactions take place between users directly through the use of cryptography, without an intermediary. These transactions are verified by network nodes and recorded in a public distributed ledger called a blockchain.

Bitcoins can be created by the process of "Bitcoin mining", which entails processing the so called proof-of-work system, running on specialised computers, called 'miners'. Bitcoin mining is a computing and energy intensive activity where very fast specialised hardware and cheap energy can confer a material competitive advantage. The analogy with the term 'mining' is based on the uncertainty factor of how much energy and time is required, as with traditional resources mining operations.

Funding and Potential Returns

The projected capital cost of the envisaged data centre is 400,000, of which Clear Leisure will contribute 200,000 for a 50% interest in Miner One Ltd, which will be incorporated in the UK and operate via a wholly owned Malta subsidiary; however, the mining blockchain data centre will be located in a European country chosen for its very low electricity energy costs.

The partners intend on entering a revenue sharing agreement with an identified supplier of low cost renewable energy. 64Bit will receive an additional 15% share of Bitcoins annually extracted in return for managing the data centre and making available proprietary "know how" on load balancing techniques and algorithms to achieve greater efficiency in the exploitation of the specialised mining hardware of the data centre.

The joint venture partners project an extraction rate of about 20 Bitcoins per year at a cash break-even production cost of US$4,752 per coin compared to the current bitcoin price of approximately US$15,500. Actual Bitcoin recovery might be higher or lower than predicted depending upon mining difficulty, hardware effectiveness and actual energy consumption.

Subject to prompt availability of best of class mining ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) hardware, the Bitcoin mining data centre is expected to become operational in Q1 2018.

Eufingest SA

Eufingest has committed to lend to Clear Leisure 200,000 to fund the Company's 50% share of the joint-venture's mining data centre. Clear Leisure is investigating other sources of additional finance, including Eufingest's direct participation, as well as third parties, with whom the Company is already in discussion. The loan will be secured with a charge on Newco's shares, and is repayable within 24 months from the date of drawdown and carries an annual interest of 2.5%.

Eufingest is the beneficial holder of more than 10 per cent of the ordinary share capital of the Company. Eufingest is therefore a "related party" for the purposes of the AIM Rules. The directors of the Company (each of whom is independent from Eufingest), having consulted with the Company's nominated adviser, consider the terms of the transaction to be fair and reasonable insofar as shareholders are concerned. Eufingest, as the largest shareholder, remains fully supportive of the board's efforts to realise value from its investments and fund new investments.

Francesco Gardin, CEO and Executive Chairman of Clear Leisure, commented,

"We have been looking now for some time at reorganising our portfolio of investments, and creating a technology venture vehicle to which we assign our 4.53% holding in GeoSim is the first step. We are seeking further opportunities to generate income whilst awaiting the results of the various legal actions engaged in Italy and in the UK, the outcomes of which could be lengthy and are uncertain as per any litigation.

"This has led the Company into discussions with cryptocurrency experts and the Company believes that this proposed investment is an opportunity worth pursuing. We believe that the combination of cheap energy, available nowadays in certain European countries, combined with the software optimisation skills provided by 64Bit Limited, we can create a competitive edge to better exploit specialised Bitcoin mining and more in general the strategic blockchain technology, of which crypto currencies is one of the many applications.

"We believe this is confirmed by the Australian Securities Exchange, which has recently become the first major bourse in the world to announce the adoption of blockchain technology - the same kind of technology which underpins the bitcoin cryptocurrency - to record shareholdings and manage the clearing and settlement of equity transactions."

-ends-

For further information please contact:

Clear Leisure Plc +39 335 296573

Francesco Gardin, CEO and Executive Chairman

SP Angel Corporate Finance (Nominated Adviser & Joint Broker) +44 (0)20 3407 0470

Jeff Keating / John Mackay

Peterhouse Corporate Finance (Joint Broker) +44 (0) 20 7469 0935

Lucy Williams / Heena Karani

Leander (Financial PR) +44 (0) 7795 168 157

Christian Taylor-Wilkinson

About Clear Leisure Plc

Clear Leisure plc (AIM: CLP) is an AIM listed investment company with a portfolio of companies primarily encompassing the leisure and real estate sectors mainly in Italy. The focus of management is to pursue the monetisation of all of the Company's existing assets, through selected realisations, court-led recoveries of misappropriated assets and substantial debt-recovery processes. Under its existing investment policy the Company can seek new investment opportunities, in different sectors, including information technology. For further information, please visit, www.clearleisure.co.uk
The "Global Social Media Analytics Market (2017-2023)" report has been added to Research and Markets' offering.

The Global Social Media Analytics Market size is expected to reach $11.6 billion by 2023, rising at a market growth of 28.6% CAGR during the forecast period.

The reason behind the market growth can be attributed to organizational need for solutions to measure monitor, and analyze the social media data to understand the customer sentiments. Social media analytics vendors offer software that assist companies in collecting data and analyzing the same to pick out meaningful insights into customer sentiments, voice of the customer, and the volume of posts.

Social media analytics is a system used to gather data from social media websites and analyze the gathered data with the help of social media analytics tools to make business decisions. Social media analytics is used in many functions; however, the fundamental use of the technology is to mine customer sentiments to align marketing and customer service activities.

Companies Mentioned

Oracle Corporation

Adobe Systems, Inc.

IBM Corporation

SAP SE

NetBase Solutions, Inc.

Hootsuite Media, Inc.

Tableau Software, Inc.

Crimson Hexagon

SAS Institute, Inc.

Key Topics Covered:

1. Market Scope Methodology

2. Executive Summary

3. Market Overview

4. Global Social Media Analytics Market

5. Global Social Media Analytics Market by Application

6. Global Social Media Analytics Market by Analytics Type

7. Global Social Media Analytics Market by Organization Size

8. Global Social Media Analytics Market by Deployment Type

9. Global Social Media Analytics Market by Vertical

10. Global Social Media Analytics Market by Region

11. Competitive Study

12. Company Profiles

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/rll8ld/global_social.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171227005286/en/

Contacts:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com

For E.S.T. Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

Related Topics: Social Media
Los Angeles, California--(Newsfile Corp. - December 27, 2017) - Petroteq Energy Inc. (TSXV: PQE) (OTCQX: PQEFF) (FSE: A2DYWC) (the "Company"), a Company focused on the development and implementation of proprietary technologies including environmentally safe extraction of heavy oils from oil shale deposits and shallow oil deposits, and blockchain technology named PetroBloq, released the following letter to Shareholders:

Dear Shareholders,

As 2017 comes to a close I wanted to share with you some of my thoughts on where we have been and where I believe we are as we embark on 2018.

To put things in context, I should start by saying that Petroteq started out as a fuel delivery company here in Southern California. It is a highly competitive and low margin business, not necessarily attractive for public market investment. When I took over as Chairman I chose to reposition the Company as a player in the Energy Technology as being a developer of new technology that brings the opportunity of disruptive profits coming from new revenue streams, and (hopefully) wide margins.

We identified and developed what is now our patented clean heavy oil extraction technology as a means to seek those disruptive returns and profits. We have been successful in proving that technology and we are on the cusp of monetizing it within our Utah resource that stands at 87 million barrels of contingent resource.

We have moved our production equipment next to the mine site to make our process even more efficient and for the first time in a long time - the commodity market is providing some wind at our backs. I am very excited that we have brought in additional equipment which can bring our production capacity to 1000 bpd (barrels per day). Additionally, our recently announced Joint Venture should allow us to grow the capacity much further than that level, but before I get ahead of myself, we're excited to be generating revenues again in the beginning of 2018.

Through discussions with my team, and especially President Jerry Bailey, we have identified an aspect of the energy industry where believe we can have further impact. It was Jerry's experience as head of Exxon in the Middle East that really confirmed the opportunity for bringing the blockchain to the Energy Industry. Through our recently created PetroBloq subsidiary, and a working relationship with First Bitcoin Capital we intend to help reduce the massive administrative costs in the Energy Industry, as a developer and service provider of Blockchain enabled technology products.

In conclusion, through a lot of heavy lifting we now have a lot of things going our way - we are firmly positioned as an Energy Technology Company with multiple verticals of technology on offer. We look forward to reporting our progress on the Asphalt Ridge Facility, and will also keep you updated on developments with PetroBloq.

Best Regards,

Aleksandr Blyumkin, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

About Petroteq Energy, Inc.

The Company is engaged in the development and implementation of its proprietary environmentally friendly heavy oil processing and extraction technologies. Our proprietary process produces zero greenhouse gas, zero waste and requires no high temperatures. Petroteq is currently focused on developing its oil sands resources and expanding production capacity at its Asphalt Ridge heavy oil extraction facility located near Vernal, Utah. Petroteq is also developing technologies to optimize petrochemical industry workflow processes and will bring a team of professionals to expedite the process. For this purpose, Petroteq is developing an advanced blockchain solution for the Energy industry, this project is named PetroBloq.

For more information about Petroteq Energy Inc. visit: https://petroteq.energy For more on PetroBloq visit: https://petrobloq.com

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. and Canadian securities laws. Words such as "may," "would," "could, "should," "potential," "will," "seek," "intend," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect" and similar expressions as they relate to the Company, and the Company successfully increasing production capacity of its extraction plan to 1,000 barrels per day, the recently announced Joint Venture allowing us to grow the capacity much further than that level, and reducing billions in administrative costs in the Energy Industry, as a developer and service provider of Blockchain enabled technology products. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking information. Such statements reflect the Company's current views and intentions with respect to future events, based on information available to the Company, and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Material factors or assumptions were applied in providing forward-looking information, including: our ability to increase production capacity of our extraction plant, our ability to reduce billions in administrative costs in the Energy Industry, as a developer and service provider of Blockchain enabled technology products; and the Company having the funds necessary to complete the expansion of the production capacity. While forward-looking statements are based on data, assumptions and analyses that the Company believes are reasonable under the circumstances, whether actual results, performance or developments will meet the Company's expectations and predictions depends on a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results, performance and financial condition of the Company to differ materially from its expectations.

Certain of the "risk factors" that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's forward-looking statements in this press release include, without limitation:; the ability to implement business strategies or to pursue business opportunities, whether for economic or other reasons; status of the world oil markets, oil prices and price volatility; oil pricing; state of capital markets and ability by the Company to raise capital; litigation; the commercial and economic viability of the Company's oil sands hydrocarbon extraction technology, the SWEPT technology, the S-BRPT technology, and other proprietary technologies developed or licensed by the Company or by Accord, which are of experimental nature and have not been used at full capacity for an extended period of time; reliance on suppliers, contractors, consultants and key personnel; the ability of the Company and Accord to maintain their respective mineral lease holdings; potential failure of the Company's business plans or model; the nature of oil and gas production and oil sands mining, extraction and production; uncertainties in exploration and drilling for oil, gas and other hydrocarbon-bearing substances; unanticipated costs and expenses, availability of financing and other capital; potential damage to or destruction of property, loss of life and environmental damage; risks associated with compliance with environmental protection laws and regulations; uninsurable or uninsured risks; potential conflicts of interest of officers and directors; and other general economic, market and business conditions and factors, including the risk factors discussed or referred to in the Company's annual Management's Discussion and Analysis for the year ending August 31, 2016, filed with the securities regulatory authorities in certain provinces of Canada and available at www.sedar.com.

Should any factor affect the Company in an unexpected manner, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information prove incorrect, the actual results or events may differ materially from the results or events predicted. Any such forward-looking information is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. Moreover, the Company does not assume responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of such forward-looking information. The forward-looking information included in this press release is made as of the date of this press release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information, other than as required by applicable law.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

The securities referred to in this news release have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons absent U.S. registration or an applicable exemption from the U.S. registration requirements. This news release does not constitute an offer for sale of securities, nor a solicitation for offers to buy any securities. Any public offering of securities in the United States must be made by means of a prospectus containing detailed information about the company and management, as well as financial statements.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Petroteq Energy Inc.

Alex Blyumkin

Chief Executive Officer

Tel: (800) 979-1897


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Former US President Barack Obama has warned against the irresponsible use of social media, which, according to him, could lead to the 'Balkanization of society.'



Although he did not name President Donald Trump in a rare interview since stepping down in January, it was an apparent dig at his successor, who is a prolific tweeter. Obama was interviewed by Prince Harry for BBC Radio.



As its guest editor, Prince Harry had met Obama in Toronto in September during the Invictus Games to talk about his memories of the day he left office, his post-presidential work with the Obama Foundation and his hopes for the future.



Obama said that the irresponsible use of social media was spreading misinformation and distorting people's understanding of complex issues.



'All of us in leadership have to find ways in which we can recreate a common space on the internet,' he told the member of the British royal family.



Obama expressed concern about a future where facts are discarded and people only read and listen to things that reinforce their own views.



Technology should be used 'in a way that allows a multiplicity of voices, allows a diversity of views, but doesn't lead to a Balkanization of society and allows ways of finding common ground,' according to the Democrat.



'On the internet, everything is simple, but when you meet face to face, it turns out it is complicated,' Obama said.



Trump continues to make a number of negative remarks over Twitter about what he considers to be unfair media coverage against him, and calls them 'Fake News.'



Trump was the most-tweeted-about world leader of 2017, while Barack Obama eclipsed his predecessor by posting the most-liked message on Twitter this year.



As per figures released by the microblogging site, Trump has 44.1 million followers.



Trump's predilection for Twitter is well-known, as he begins a day's news cycle by sending a series of tweets by dawn, but he is accused of following only a narrow range of users.



Twitter's annual list of 10 most popular tweets features three tweets from Obama, and none from Trump.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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SEOUL (dpa-AFX) - Rumors suggest that Samsung's upcoming flagship smartphone Galaxy S9 could retain the headphone jack. Several Samsung Galaxy users have been concerned regarding whether the Korean tech giant would keep the 3.5 mm headphone jack in its upcoming flagship smartphone after Apple and Google removed it from its iPhone and Pixel smartphones, respectively. The rumor is based on a photo uploaded onto Slashleaks in which the alleged USB-C flex cable component of the Galaxy S9 was revealed. The picture reveals the spot at the very bottom where a headphone jack is supposed fit. Apple had removed the headphone jack from its iPhones in 2016, stating that it is old technology and new smartphones do not need it. Google's Pixel 2 also does not have 3.5 mm jack. Some rumors had suggested that 2018's Galaxy S9 will do away with jack. 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.
MOSCOW (dpa-AFX) - Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has called on the Russian government to take steps to reduce the levels of violence in eastern Ukraine. In a phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday, Tillerson requested that Russia return its representatives to the Joint Center on Coordination and Control and lower the level of violence. A statement from State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert noted the request underscored the U.S. concern with the rising violence in eastern Ukraine. Tillerson and Lavrov also discussed concerns related to North Korea's nuclear program and emphasized that neither the U.S. nor Russia accepts the reclusive communist nation as a nuclear power. 'Both sides agreed that they will continue to work toward a diplomatic solution to achieve a denuclearized Korean peninsula,' Nauert said. The two nations' top diplomats also discussed the importance of supporting the Geneva process to achieve a peaceful resolution of the Syrian conflict. 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.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - December 27, 2017) - RT Minerals Corp. (TSXV: RTM) (OTC Pink: RTMFF) (the "Company") announces an update on the Norwalk gold property located near Wawa, Ontario further to the Company's news release dated December 12, 2017. The Company has completed four HQ core diamond drill holes totalling 93 metres to test the Red Carbonate Zone ("RCZ") and follow up on trenching completed in November 2017. Fifteen grab samples collected during trenching and 66 core samples from drilling have been submitted for gold fire assay or pulp and metallic sieve analysis with fire assay finish to estimate gold content when coarse free gold is present. Results are expected in January 2018.

The current drill program is designed to test the geometry and mineralization of the RCZ at shallow depths below November 2017 trenches. All four holes intersected the targeted RCZ and visible gold was observed in two drill holes. Drill core has been split and samples submitted for gold analysis.

Hole N17-11 was collared in the hanging wall of the RCZ at an azimuth of 200 and an angle of -60. The core drill hole intersected 4.1 metres of sulfide-bearing sericite schist and then RCZ at 10.4 metres depth for 3.1 metres core length. Visible gold was observed in a quartz vein at 11.1 metres depth.

Hole N17-12 was collared from the same location and azimuth as N17-11, but at a steeper angle of -80. This hole intersected 2.3 metres of mineralized sericite schist before intersecting 3.6 metres of RCZ from 13.7 metres.

Drill holes N17-11 and N17-12 were designed to intersect RCZ and measure the dip angle of the RCZ structure. This orientation is not optimal to sample quartz veins within RCZ. Quartz veins within RCZ are oblique to the plane of the RCZ structure and must be drilled at a different orientation.

Drill holes N17-13 and N17-14, collared at 200 azimuth, at -60 and -62 plunge respectively, were positioned to drill down dip of RCZ and intersect quartz veins within RCZ at near-right angles. Down-dip drilling is designed to cut many veins at a more optimal angle so the distribution of gold mineralization in quartz veins within RCZ envelope can be more accurately measured.

Hole N17-13 collared in RCZ below overburden and exited RCZ at 6.3m depth. Hole N17-13 was stopped at 12.0 metres in footwall geology.

Hole N17-14 collared in RCZ and continued in the target to 27.0 metres depth. The hole has been temporarily suspended at 27 metres depth for Christmas holidays. The drill remains on the casing so drilling can resume in January 2018 to complete the hole. A speck of coarse visible gold was observed at 26.7 metres.

RED CARBONATE ZONE ("RCZ")

The RCZ lies within a broad corridor of intense deformation, referred to locally as the Monk deformation zone. Recent property-wide exploration indicates that the Monk deformation corridor has a minimum width of 1.5 kilometres and extends from the northwestern to the southeastern border of the Norwalk property for 2.5 kilometres.

Trenching initially exposed the Red Carbonate Zone along a 25-metre strike oriented at 115 Azimuth, and drilling measures dip to be 65 south. The RCZ is currently known to be 25 metres long and 25 metres deep, and is open in all directions for additional exploration.

The RCZ is a red-brown crystalline carbonate body 2 to 5 metres wide with up to 25% quartz veins that are mineralized with sulphides and gold. Host-rock adjacent to the RCZ is intermediate to felsic metavolcanic schist mineralized with 2 to 3% sulfides locally. Mineralized host rock is also being assayed for gold as part of the samples detailed herein.

Carbonate zones with quartz veining like the RCZ are one of several gold mineralized host units in Timmins and Campbell Red Lake gold camps. Carbonate zones like RCZ are commonly 30 to 60 centimetres wide, and interpreted to be significant channels for hydrothermal fluid movement during gold mineralizing events. The Company's Red Carbonate Zone measures 2 to 5 metres wide in trenches and core drilling at Norwalk. Historical grab sampling of RCZ has returned from trace to 0.43 ounces per ton gold.

The RCZ is situated 600 metres south-southeast of the Company's high grade Gananoque showing, and the gap between RCZ and Gananoque has undergone limited exploration.

The east-southeast strike of the RCZ is similar in strike to other geophysical anomalies mapped elsewhere on the property by a 31-line kilometre IP and magnetometer ground geophysical program completed in September 2017.

2018 WORK PROGRAM, NORWALK PROPERTY

In 2018, the Company proposes to carry out further drilling in the immediate vicinity of the current work on the RCZ. In addition, approximately 4-line kilometres of extended geophysics is planned to cover the area between the Gananoque showing and the RCZ. This work will be followed up with trenching and drilling within this 600-metre gap. Subject to further funding in 2018, the Company also proposes to further review, ground truth and explore up to 64 geophysical anomalies that remain untested out of the 69 targets outlined on the property from the Company's September 2017 geophysical program.

Mr. Kevin Kivi, P.Geo. is the Qualified Person for RT Minerals Corp. and approves the technical content of this news release.

ABOUT RT MINERALS CORP.

RT Minerals Corp. is a junior resource company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and evaluation of primarily gold and diamond properties in Canada. The Company's principal mineral properties include:

Norwalk Gold Property (100% option) is located near Wawa, Ontario and is contiguous to the southern border of Red Pine Explorations Inc.'s Wawa Gold Project;

Ballard Lake Diamond and Gold Property (100% owned) is located ~50 kilometres ENE of Wawa, Ontario and encompasses 366 square kilometres (~141 square miles).

Dill River Gold Property (100% option) is located near Wawa, Ontario and is contiguous to the eastern border of Red Pine's Wawa Gold Project;

Golden Reed Mine Gold Property (100% option) is located near Wawa, Ontario and is staked within Red Pine's Wawa Gold Project; and

Dog Lake Gold Property (100% owned) is located ~59 kilometres NE of Wawa, Ontario.

The Company's common shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "RTM" and on the OTC Pink Market under the symbol "RTMFF" with DTC eligibility for trading in the United States.

For more information on the Company and its properties, please visit the Company's website at www.rtmcorp.com.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Paul Antoniazzi

President and Chief Executive Officer

RT Minerals Corp.

Toll Free: 877-581-3170

Telephone: 604-681-3170

Fax: 604-681-3552

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release relating to the Company's exploration activities, project expenditures and business plans are approximate and are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of securities legislation. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements represent management's best judgment based on current facts and assumptions that management considers reasonable, including that operating and capital plans will not be disrupted by issues such as adverse market conditions, mechanical failure, unavailability of parts, labor disturbances, interruption in transportation or utilities, or adverse weather conditions, that there are no material unanticipated variations in budgeted costs, that contractors will complete projects according to schedule, and that actual mineralization on properties may not achieve any category of resource(s). The Company makes no representation that reasonable business people in possession of the same information would reach the same conclusions. Forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. In particular, fluctuations in the price of gold, equity markets or in currency markets could prevent the Company from achieving its targets. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. There is no guarantee that drill results reported in this news release or future releases will lead to the identification of a deposit that can be mined economically, and further work is required to identify resources and reserves. We seek safe harbour.
ROUYN-NORANDA, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 12/27/17 -- Explor Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE: EXS)(OTCQB: EXSFF)(FRANKFURT: E1H1)(BERLIN: E1H1) ("Explor" or the "Corporation") is pleased to announce that it has closed a second and final tranche of a non-brokered private placement of a maximum of 5,028,572 common shares and/or flow-through shares at a price of $0.07 each, for total gross proceeds of CDN $352,000. Each common and flow-through share is accompanied of one-half of a share purchase warrant, one whole warrant and $0.10 being required for the acquisition of one common share of the Corporation at the latest 24 months from each closing (the "Private Placement"). A first closing to this placement happened on December 11, 2017.

The second tranche of the Private Placement closed today consists in the sale of 31,429 common shares, of 282,587 flow-through shares and the issuance of 157,143 warrants. This represents an aggregate subscription of $22,000, out of which $19,800 will have to be incurred by the Corporation in exploration expenditures on mining properties located in the province of Quebec. There are no finder's fees payable for the securities issued upon this second closing.

The securities issued pursuant to the second closing of the Private Placement are subject to a hold period of four months and a day ending April 28, 2018.

The Private Placement is subject to the final approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

Explor Resources Inc. is a publicly listed company trading on the TSX Venture (EXS), on the OTCQB (EXSFF) and on the Frankfurt and Berlin Stock Exchanges (E1H1).

This press release was prepared by Explor. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the Policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) has reviewed or accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

About Explor Resources Inc.

Explor Resources Inc. is a Canadian-based natural resources company with mineral holdings in Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick. Explor is currently focused on exploration in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt. The belt is found in both provinces of Ontario and Quebec with approximately 33% in Ontario and 67% in Quebec. The Belt has produced in excess of 180,000,000 ounces of gold and 450,000,000 tonnes of cu-zn ore over the last 100 years. The Corporation was continued under the laws of Alberta in 1986 and has had its main office in Quebec since 2006.

Explor Resources Flagship project is the Timmins Porcupine West (TPW) Project located in the Porcupine mining camp, in the Province of Ontario. The TPW mineral resource (Press Release dated August 27, 2013) includes the following:

Open Pit Mineral Resources at a 0.30 g/t Au cut-off grade are as follows:

-- Indicated: 213,000 oz (4,283,000 tonnes at 1.55 g/t Au) -- Inferred: 77,000 oz (1,140,000 tonnes at 2.09 g/t Au)

Underground Mineral Resources at a 1.70 g/t Au cut-off grade are as follows:

-- Indicated: 396,000 oz (4,420,000 tonnes at 2.79 g/t Au) -- Inferred: 393,000 oz (5,185,000 tonnes at 2.36 g/t Au)

This document may contain forward-looking statements relating to Explor's operations or to the environment in which it operates. Such statements are based on operations, estimates, forecasts and projections. They are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and may be beyond Explor's control. A number of important factors could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements, including those set forth in other public filling. In addition, such statements relate to the date on which they are made. Consequently, undue reliance should not be placed on such forward-looking statements. Explor disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, save and except as may be required by applicable securities laws.

Contacts:

Christian Dupont, President

Tel: 888-997-4630 or 819-797-4630

819-797-1870 (FAX)

info@explorresources.com

www.explorresources.com




BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - Japan will on Thursday release November numbers for industrial production and retail trade, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. Industrial production is expected to add 0.5 percent on month and 3.6 percent on year after gaining 0.5 percent on month and 5.9 percent on year in October. Retail sales are tipped to gain 0.7 percent on month and 1.0 percent on year after the flat monthly reading and the 0.2 percent annual decline in the previous month. China will provide Q3 figures for its current account balance; in the three months prior, the current account surplus was $37.1 billion. Hong Kong will see November data for imports, exports and trade balance. In October, imports were worth 378.69 billion HKD and exports were at 334.74 billion HKD for a trade deficit of 43.96 billion HKD. South Korea will see November numbers for industrial production and retail sales. In October, output was down 1.1 percent on month and 5.9 percent on year, while sales fell 2.9 percent on month and 0.2 percent on year. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / December 27, 2017 / Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against The Crypto Company ("Crypto" or the "Company") (OTC PINK: CRCW) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, for the Central District of California, and docketed under 17-cv-09157, is on behalf of a class consisting of investors who purchased or otherwise acquired Crypto securities, seeking to recover compensable damages caused by defendants' violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

If you are a shareholder who purchased Crypto securities between August 21, 2017, and December 18, 2017, both dates inclusive, you have until February 20, 2018, 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]

The Crypto Company is engaged in the business of advising regarding, investing in, trading and developing proprietary source code for digital assets with diversified exposure to digital asset markets. The Company's core services include consulting and advising companies regarding investment and trading in the digital asset market and investing in a manner that diversifies exposure to the growing class of digital assets.

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) Crypto unlawfully engaged in a scheme to promote and manipulate the Company's stock; and (ii) as a result, Crypto's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

On December 19, 2017, the SEC temporarily suspended Crypto stock from trading due to concerns that the stock was being manipulated after the shares surged more than 17,000% in less than 3 months. The SEC said it was alarmed about "the accuracy and adequacy of information" relating to the compensation paid for promotion of its and statements in SEC filings about the plans of the Company's insiders to sell their stock. Crypto stock was trading at $575 per share at the time trading was suspended and the suspension will remain in effect until January 3, 2018.

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
Mumbai: Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani on Tuesday said the company has achieved full resolution of Reliance Communications' (RCOM) debt, reducing it by Rs 25,000 crore to Rs 6,000 crore by monetising assets.

"We have achieved full resolution that involves Reliance Communications exiting strategic debt recast. What we have achieved, in the face of extraordinary challenges, is truly historic and unprecedented in Indian corporate history. RCOM debt will reduce by Rs 25,000 crore. The entire monetisation process to repay debt of lenders will be completed by January-March 2018 in a phased manner," Ambani told reporters here.

Ambani said that in the debt reduction, there would be no write-off for any lender or bondholder. "There will be no conversion of debt to equity as well," Ambani added. Reliance Communications had close to Rs 45,000 crore debt on its books in October 2017, he had said.

The RCOM stock rose sharply on announcement, closing at 30.78 per cent higher at Rs 21.33 on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the stock continued its gallop, rising 19 percent to hit Rs 25.65.

Ambani said the company had faced a lot of headwinds in the last few months with respect to National Company Law Tribunal.

"It was challenge... how do you really manage 35 global and Indian banks to come on the same page," Ambani said.

Saying that going forward Reliance Communications will be a business-to-business (B2B) company, he added the company achieved this debt restructuring by asset monetisation of wireless business and selling real estate. The new company would have a debt of Rs 6,000 crore representing reduction of over 85 per cent of the total debt.

"RCOM's continuing operations will comprise stable and profitable B2B focused businesses, including Indian and Global Enterprise, Internet Data Centres and the largest private submarine cable network in the world. These B2B businesses are stable, capital light and have sustained and predictable annuity revenues and profits, with immense growth potential amidst relatively low competitive intensity," he said.

The company has worked closely with all lenders and SBI Capital Markets Limited, the advisors appointed by the lenders, to monetise its valuable assets comprising 122.4 MHz of 4G Spectrum in the 800/900/1800/2100 MHz bands; over 43,000 towers; 178,000 RKM of fiber with pan-India footprint; 248 Media Convergence Nodes, covering 5 million sq ft, used for hosting telecom infrastructure and real estate located in New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Jigni and Tirupati.

"The commercial development of the DAKC (Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City) campus will lead to reduction of RCOM's debt by a further Rs 10,000 crore, with the SPV holding the real estate assuming non-recourse long-term debt financing of the said amount," Ambani said.

"The combination of the above transactions will lead to 85 per cent reduction in RCOM's total debt and liabilities, the largest ever in the history of corporate India, and has been achieved in a record 40 working days from the time the plan was presented to lenders," he said.

He said for the new RCOM 50 per cent of revenue will come from outside India.

"Reliance Communications will be now one of the strongest enterprise business of India," Ambani said.

All stakeholders of RCOM, including lenders, bondholders, customers, vendors and employees, and over 1.3 million shareholders will benefit from the fast track debt resolution, a company statement said.

He also said that, according to an estimation done by Credit Suisse, the new RCOM will have an enterprise value of Rs 15,000 crore.
While the Bitcoin was created as a cryptocurrency in 2009 by an unidentified person using the alias Satoshi Nakamoto, its popularity has grown manifold in recent months with its per unit price soaring to close to $20,000 (over Rs 10 lakh) earlier this month. However, the price has been swinging wildly and last week itself it fell by almost half to about $10,000, only to again rebound to the near $15,000 level.

Bitcoins was launched with a promise of lower transaction fees than traditional payment methods with a decentralized authority unlike the government-issued currencies in various countries. At present, bitcoins command a market cap of over $240 billion while more than 16 million units are said to be in circulation. The maximum supply is pegged at 21 million.

It is the anonymity of bitcoins, minted through complex computer algorithms, that has made them so famous, but has also increased the risks. These are stored in digital wallets, in the cloud or on the user's computers. Against this background, one can understand why there are several clones or wannabes vying for space in the market for cryptocurrencies, none having even a minuscule share of bitcoins. It has also tantalized services that are rendered on payment of bitcoins especially in the underworld like sex, terrorism financing, among others.

The bitcoin had recently taken a step toward legitimacy with the launch of a product on a Chicago exchange that allows investors to take bets on its price in the future. The new contract on the Chicago Board Options Exchange came as the digital currency jumped another 10 percent, sparking fresh warnings of a speculative bubble -- a 40 percent climb in price.

In India, however, its trade is ostracized if not banned. The RBI (Reserve Bank of India) has been at pains to discourage people especially the hoi polloi from entering this choppy, if not unchartered waters. The income tax authorities have mounted raids on the mushrooming bitcoin exchanges across the country especially in the IT hub, Bangalore and got a list of over lakh investors.

The income tax authorities anxiety is that there should be no tax evasion. It has rightly clarified that it is a capital asset in the hands of investors, and hence liable to capital gains tax. For traders of course it would be their business income. The GST (Goods and Services Tax) too is clearly exigible, being another commodity and not a medium of exchange, as the RBI hasnt conferred its imprimatur on it.

But the concern worldwide including on the part of the RBI is bitcoin is a rogue currency, unregulated and without any underlying asset. True, with the collapse of the gold exchange standard in 1944, most of the currencies are fiat currencies, i.e. guaranteed and regulated by the central banks issuing them without underlying assets. But then the huge stockpile of gold in Fort Knox in the USA held by the US government gives the world some comfort about the greenback that rules the international currency market and transactions. There are commodity currencies implicitly backed by coal for example as far as the Australian dollar is concerned. Even if unsupported by a commodity, fiat from an authority is some comfort.

The bitcoin remains a mystery. Its parentage continues to remain in the realm of speculation. It is unregulated. There is no guarantee as to its value. It is not legal tender in any country. In the event, anyone accepting it as payment is doing so at his own risk. It is his funeral, so to speak. That its supply is pegged at 21 million by its anonymous regulators who refuse to surface lends credence to the theory that its phenomenal and mind-boggling valuations reflects more its scarcity value. Even if this gag order on its quantity in circulation is lifted, it is difficult to mint except by mathematical whiz kids endowed with enormous patience to crack complex algorithms and willing to expend prodigious quantity of computing power, electricity and broadband.

One has heard of commodity currencies as explained above. A currency that rewards mathematical ability is no currency at all.

Anything that goes up has to come down except for gravity-defying objects. The Bitcoin too must come down. And when it does, it would be with a thud because markets the world over have the habit of falling with greater speed than at which they rise.

The Chicago board might have given a bit of legitimacy to the cryptocurrency but that was more to bring it under some semblance of regulation than to proclaim its official status.

The RBI is therefore right. Those hugging it could well stew in their own juice! It could be a bear hug!
New Delhi: Realty major DLF's promoters have concluded the sale of 33.34 percent stake in rental arm to Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC for nearly Rs 9,000 crore.

With the closure of this deal, DLF promoters have received Rs 8,950 crore from GIC and another Rs 1,600 crore from the rental arm, DLF Cyber City Developers Ltd (DCCDL).

The promoters will infuse net proceeds into DLF, which in turn will use the amount to reduce its debt significantly from the current Rs 27,000 crore.

In late August, the promoters had sold the entire 40 percent stake in DCCDL for Rs 11,900 crore. This deal included sale of 33.34 percent stake in DCCDL to GIC for Rs 8,900 crore and buyback of remaining shares worth Rs 3,000 crore by DCCDL.

In a late-night regulatory filing, DLF on Tuesday said subsequent to fulfilment of all conditions precedent specified in the agreement, the sale and purchase of the securities and other closing actions were completed on 26 December.

"Accordingly, the company and the investor (GIC) now hold 66.66 percent and 33.34 percent of the paid-up equity capital in DCCDL, respectively," DLF said in the filing.

According to sources, the promoters have received Rs 8,950 crore from GIC and another Rs 1,600 crore from DCCDL as first tranche of the buyback of shares. The next tranche of Rs 1,400 crore will be due after a year.

On 1 December, the board of directors had approved allotment of debentures and warrants to promoters in lieu of their investment of proceeds from this deal into DLF.

A board meeting will be held on 29 December to consider and approve allotment of debentures and warrants to promoters group entities subject to and in accordance with terms to be approved by the shareholders at an extra-ordinary general meeting to be held tomorrow.

The board had approved the preferential offer and issue of up to 37.97 crore compulsorily convertible unsecured debentures (CCDs) to the promoters for cash.

The debentures would be converted into equivalent number of shares at Rs 217.25.

That apart, the board had approved the preferential issue of up to 13,80,89,758 warrants to the promoters being convertible into shares at the same price.

Upon completion of the issue of debentures and warrants and conversion into shares, "the total additional amount of promoter/promoters groups' equity contribution to the company will be approximately Rs 11,250 crore".

The board had also approved the offer and issue up to 17.30 crore shares to eligible investors, in one or more tranches, in India or overseas, by way of public issue or a private placement or a qualified institutional placement.

India's largest realty firm DLF Ltd plans to raise around Rs 3,500 crore through sale of shares to institutional investors, the sources had said.

Infusion of capital by promoters will lead to increase in promoters' stake in DLF to more than 75 percent. So, the company plans to launch a QIP or public issue to maintain the minimum public shareholding limit of 25 percent.
New Delhi: The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister set up recently has not laid down any road map for job creation and infrastructure financing, but has taken up wide ranging issues on macro economy, agriculture and health, Parliament was informed on Wednesday.

The Council has held three meetings so far and deliberated on wide ranging issues including review of macro-economy, agriculture and rural development, skill upgradation, enhancing investments in health, among others, Minister of State for Planning Rao Inderjit Singh said in a written reply in Lok Sabha.

"Based on deliberations, the Council has been providing advisory inputs to the government from time to time. However, there is no specific policy paper submitted by the Council for job creation and infrastructure financing avenues," the minister said.

He was responding to a question whether the Council has spelt out a clear road map to ramp up job creation and infrastructure financing avenues. The government constituted the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister on September 26, 2017 under the chairmanship of NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy for a period of two years.

The Council has been tasked to analyse issues, economic or otherwise, referred to it by the Prime Minister and advice him, address issues of macro-economic importance as well as attend to any task desired by the PM from time to time.

To a separate question if increase in GDP growth is bound to boost growth in employment, the minister said employment elasticity of growth, referred as rate of employment growth that accompanies every percentage of GDP growth, can be positive, negative or zero.

"The rate of growth in GDP and the rate of growth in employment may not commensurate because the rate of increase in employment generation also depends on various other factors such as improved technologies, adoption of technology, which sectors account for growth, skills, cost of capital, labour participation rate etc," Singh said.

He said besides targeted programmes to boost job opportunities, the government has started flagship programmes like Make in India, Digital India, Swachh Bharat Mission, Housing for All, Sagar Mala, among others and introduced reforms like Goods and Services (GST) that have the potential to generate productive employment opportunities.

Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana incentivises the industry to promote job creation by reimbursing employer's contribution of 8.33 per cent EPS (Employees' Provident Fund) made to new employees, Singh said.

The government has also announced special packages for textile, leather, footwear and accessories sector where in addition to 8.33 per cent EPS, the government will also bear 3.67 per cent of EPF contribution for all new employees enrolling in EPFO for first three years of their employment.

A United Nations labour report earlier this year had projected India's unemployment to increase in 2017 and 2018 because of stagnation in job creation. Unemployment in India is projected to increase from 17.7 million last year to 17.8 million in 2017 and 18 million next year, the report had said.
The State Bank of India (SBI) has clarified that customers who had accounts with its erstwhile associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank can now get new cheque books printed with new IFSC till 31 December, 2017. The cheque books issued by their earlier banks will stand invalid by the revised deadline, according to a statement from the bank.

The largest public sector lender had earlier set 30 September as last date for customers to collect new cheque books but later on relaxed the rule, according to a report in The Economic Times.

IFSC stands for Indian Financial System Code which is a unique identity given to every bank branch. It is used in online transactions that include NEFT, RTGS and IMPS done through internet banking. After the merger with associate banks, the bank has changed names and codes of identified branches in major cities in country.

In April this year, the five associate banks  State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, Sate Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala and State Bank of Travancore  and newly formed all womens bank the Bharatiya Mahila Bank merged with SBI.

Customers can visit their nearest SBI branch for collecting new cheque books. They can also get the document either at ATMs or by logging in to SBI mobile banking app.

However, there is some relief for the SBI customers who still wanted to transact through old codes for some time. In the past the officials at the bank had informed that electronic payments made using old IFSC will be halted by the bank.

The bank has made it clear that the old codes have already been mapped with the new ones so as to remove any hassle from online transactions. Similarly, the IFSC given to any financial institution, for an ECS for mutual fund SIP, should also get through, the report said.
Mumbai: Flagship stock indices on Wednesday were short on luck as they fell off record highs after oil showed signs of heating up amid outflow of foreign capital.

Crude oil surged to the highest level since mid-2015 after a pipeline blast in Libya restricted Opec (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) output, reigniting worries on inflation and the spectre of fiscal slippage.

The BSE Sensex closed at 33,911.81, falling from an all-time intra-day high. It was down 98.80 points, or 0.29 percent, from its previous close.

The gauge had gained 254.33 points in the previous two sessions.

The NSE Nifty slid 40.75 points, or 0.39 percent, to 10,490.75 after scaling a fresh peak of 10,552.40.

"Domestic indices failed to sustain near all-time high as a depreciating rupee and surge in oil price influenced investors to book profit and pushed the market on to a negative note," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

Tensions on the Korean peninsula resurfaced, making investors nervous.

Ahead of this year's last expiry in derivative contracts tomorrow, the participants were seen liquidating their bets at a record level. The drop in GST collection in November only added to the nervousness.

While foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 44.07 crore, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased equities of Rs 544.50 crore on Tuesday, according to provisional data.

Bharti Airtel hit the skids, losing the most by 1.62 percent. ICICI Bank, L&T, SBI, Bajaj Auto and TCS slumped by up to 1.53 percent.

Loss for sectoral indices went up to 0.81 percent.

State-owned oil companies such as IOC, HPCL and BPCL turned sticky, falling by up to 1.73 percent, as crude oil prices surged in global markets.

The small-cap index retreated 0.33 percent, breaking its seven days of gains. The mid-cap barometer followed suit and slipped 0.19 percent after snapping eight sessions of upmove.

Reliance Communications on Wednesday extended its previous rally, soaring 34.74 percent, as investor sentiment remained upbeat following the announcement of a revival plan. It had shot up 30.78 percent yesterday.
When it comes to women in Tamil cinema, traditionally, theyve mostly done roles that can best be described as glamorous eye candy, however 2017 gave us some hope.

In a year headlined by all the controversies around Vijays Mersal, whether superstar Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan will take the political plunge and the phenomenal run of Baahubali 2: The Conclusion; a few films saw the emergence of actresses  against all odds in a hero-worshiping industry.

These actresses not only shone in author-backed roles but gave audiences a reason to cheer for them on screen.

In Rohin Venkatesans Adhe Kangal, Sshivada Nair played a negative character which she pulled off with ease and aplomb. The critics lauded her work; audiences cheered for her when she smiled enigmatically in some of the films best moments. Shes no one film wonder. Among the less-established heroines, she has an impressive body of work with films such as Nedunchaalai and Zero to her credit.

Asked Sshivada if she didnt mind playing a negative role so early on in her career, she said: I was very confident when I heard the script, and the way Rohin narrated my character strengthened my belief. I did have my own reservations but then I realized if Neelambari character (from Padayappa) can be popular even after so many years, what could possibly go wrong if I play a villain. After we shot a scene on the first day, I wasnt satisfied. I remember going back to my caravan and telling my mother if I could do this. But Rohin was very positive from the beginning. He asked me to get more involved with the character and that motivation really helped.

After going solo in 2015 with Maya, Nayanthara left a mark in titular roles in Dora and Aramm this year. Irrespective of how these films fared at the box-office, it was really encouraging to see an established actress back strong content and in the process give first-time filmmakers a big break. Maya, Dora and Aramm were all made by debutant directors.

In Dora, Nayanthara played a car owner (of a possessed car) turned vigilante. In Gopi Nainars Aramm, she played a district collector whose abilities are put to test through the course of a single day in a life and death situation. Whats common between Dora and Aramm is that these are films that solely focused on Nayantharas character. There wasnt even space for romance in her life. In fact, in both these films, we dont even get to see a man in Nayantharas life.

In Dora, shes after her career and revenge; in Aramm, shes after justice  even at the cost of her job - for the people of a small village. Nayanthara, with her choices of films, truly came on top this year and she has just teased us with what shes capable of doing. With an impressive slate of films in 2018, its just a matter of time before shes going to give heroes a run for their money.

Mani Ratnams Kaatru Veliyidai might have elicited mixed response from audiences and critics alike but theres no denying that Aditi Hydari Rao  in a role that received its share of brickbats  was quite impressive. In a romantic drama thats centered on the theme of abuse, Aditi as doctor Leela gracefully portrayed the vulnerability of her character. Karthi and Aditi may not have clicked as a pair, but in her respective role she makes us empathise for her and how.

After making a smashing comeback with 36 Vayadhinile after 8-year-long hiatus, Jyothika wowed once again in Magalir Mattum, in which she played a documentary filmmaker who reunites her mother-in-law with her friends and takes them on a road trip. Its one of those rare films where the women - Bhanupriya, Urvashi and Saranya Ponvannan in excellent roles - overpowered the men and all credit to writer-director Bramma for putting this project together. For Bramma, it was fascinating to write about women from their point of view. Talking about the women in the film, he said every single character was written with a purpose. Bramma strongly believes several young filmmakers are gender sensitive and they try their best to not objectify women. But, there is still a long way to go.

One of the astonishing performances of the year came from debutante Anisha Angelina Victor, who stunned as the possessed girl in Siddharths Aval. She played her part to the hilt, and one can only imagine how physically taxing (and this reminds me of the exorcism scene right before interval) the role would have been on her and yet she was terrific.

Another whistle-worthy performance came from Aditi Balan, as the rebellious yet vulnerable girl from Aruvi, and it is impossible to think of anyone else in her shoes. Aditi is, unarguably, one of the best finds of this year and she deserves to be treasured.

Its worth mentioning that Andrea Jeremiah in Taramani and Thupparivaalan, while Varalaxmi Sarath Kumar in Vikram Vedha and Sathya accepted characters  which go beyond merely looking pretty on screen - and played them convincingly.

In 2018, it has to be seen if these women or their performances can inspire more filmmakers to write better roles for actresses and tread in the right direction.
In a recent announcement to the media, Salman Khan's brother-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Bhushan Kumar's T-series declared that they will join hands to produce Bharat, Salman's next big project  an adaptation of the 2014 South Korean film Ode To My Father.

As Salman celebrates his birthday on Wednesday, there are only good news and surprises in store for him. After Tiger Zinda Hai scored one of the biggest openings of the year, Salman's credibility and capability in pulling the audience to the theates has been reestablished.

Bharat will again have Salman working under the direction of Ali Abbas Zafar, the man who has churned out two other big hits with the actor in Tiger Zinda Hai and Sultan.

On the collaboration, Bhushan told Bombay Times, "We have had a long-standing association with Salman Khan from the time we acquired the music of Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya (1998). We produced his two other films Lucky: No Time For Love (2005) and Ready (2011), both of which were successful collaborations. Atul and I gel well so we decided to join hands on Bharat, a human drama that is bound to strike a chord with the audience."

In life, you just click with some people. Bhushan and I have interacted many times in the past. His sensibility for content matched with ours. So, having his company on board with us for Bharat was a very smooth and organic process," said Atul Agnihotri, to the same publication.

Bharat is slated to release on Eid, 2019.
Malayalam actress Parvathy, who was recently harassed on social media for her calling out the Mammootty film Kasaba as sexist, has now filed a complaint against the cyberbullies, reports The News Minute. According to the latest update from News 18, the Kerala police has nabbed one person for online abuse.

Kerala police takes one person taken into custody for the online abuse against @parvatweets. The actress has spoken about the misogynistic dialogues in mammootty started kasaba @CNNnews18https://t.co/XlemFGMPYd  Neethu Reghukumar (@Neethureghu) December 27, 2017

Shashi Tharoor also tweeted in the actress' favour, calling on senior male members of the industry to stand with her.

I haven't see the film but i strongly support @paro_nair's right to express her views on misogyny on our cinema screens without being subjected to rape&death threats. I call on senior male actors in the Malayalam film industry to stand by her &start a public debate on the issue. https://t.co/J0W6avZSwm  Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) December 27, 2017

"We are monitoring 4-5 accounts on Twitter and other platforms. Most of them are fake accounts, thats what people resort to for abusing people on social media. We have requested Twitter to provide us with the details of these accounts. As and when we receive the information, it will be forwarded to Ernakulam South police station, where the case is filed, DGP Loknath Behera had said, in The News Minute report.

On 12 December, the Qarib Qarib Singlle actress expressed her concern and disappointment over powerful actors mouthing sexist dialogues in their films. She reportedly alluded to Mammootty's film Kasaba.

"I had watched a film recently, to my bad luck. With all respect to the makers, the film disappointed me, as it featured a great actor spitting totally misogynistic dialogues. A lot of people feel cinema reflects life and society, so when a superstar mouths such a dialogue, people might think it's sexy and cool," said Parvathy, as reported earlier by Firstpost.

Soon after, she was trolled, abused and harassed by cyberbullies who reportedly were members of Mammootty's online fan club. However, she also received support from many quarters on social media.

Parvathy told The News Minute, "We cannot control those on social media and we should not take away their freedom of speech. But people need to differentiate between what is abuse and what is not. At least a few who have crossed that line and sent sexual threats against women have to be held accountable."
In their seminal 1988 book, 'Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media', Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky wrote that the smart way to keep "people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum."

Having failed in delivering on the promises made in the 'Agenda of the Alliance', and consequently being shaken by the barrage of criticism on all sides due to the political turmoil last year, the PDP-BJP government in Jammu and Kashmir has turned the nozzle on its own employees, who have been asked to either toe the line or face the music.

In a bizarre 16-page order titled "Social Media Usage Policy for Government Employees" issued by the state's general administration department on Tuesday, new 'guidelines' have been made into law by Governor NN Vohra, specifying how over 4.8 lakh government employees in the state must behave on social media.

The order warns the employees "not to engage in discussions on social media by way of tweets, status updates, posts or blogs which are political in nature" or on "contentious issues violative of applicable service conduct rules and have potential to create governance or law and order issues or are seen to propagate anything which is anti-social, anti-national or illegal."

The employees "shall not use their personal social media accounts for any political activity or be endorsing the posts or tweets or blogs of any political figure", it says. They should "not share public information on matters related to their work or the work of the department. They shall not tweet, re-tweet or share any electronic transmission", the order says.

Interestingly, the 'dependents' of the employees have also been asked to follow these guidelines. 'Dependents' can be defined as parents, spouse, children or even a shopkeeper from whom the employee may be making daily household purchases.

Think about it. How does one control the itch of a Facebook update in a shopkeeper who just sold you a bathing soap? How can be a woman be held responsible for her husband's 'anti-social' acts? And why should a father face the consequences of his son's 'anti-national' Twitter update?

Officially, the trigger of the bizarre order was a video made by a state government employee who was recently travelling to Punjab with his family and got allegedly beaten by Punjab police who called him "Kashmiri stone-pelter" and "terrorist". The video, circulated virally on social media, showed the man chastising the government and the chief minister for their "failure to protect the citizens outside the state".

However, there are other plausible reasons too. Of the lakhs of men and women employed in various departments of Jammu and Kashmir government, thousands are active on social media, including Facebook, Twitter, etc. Hundreds of professionals such as doctors, engineers, teachers and bureaucrats interact on social media regularly.

In a volatile atmosphere, especially in Kashmir, many of these conversations naturally revolve around the political upheaval, which then end up making the elected government the prime accused. This could be the second trigger.

Also, many members of the ruling coalition have faced the wrath of people, including employees, on their social media feeds. For instance, the official Twitter account of the chief minister is spammed by volatile and hateful comments which border on abuse.

A cabinet minister was confronted by a doctor working in a government-run hospital just a few days ago on his Facebook page. He blamed the minister and politicians like "Muftis and Abdullahs for the situation in Kashmir.

"The gag is an acknowledgement of the widespread popularity of the anti-India insurgency. People on the payroll of the government lost no time in expressing their genuine concerns about the murder of innocent people and crushing oppression. This has unnerved the government," Hilal Mir, a senior editor based in Kashmir, wrote on his Facebook wall.

The new rules are draconian. They are dangerous because they give sweeping powers to the government to crack the whip on any sign of criticism, be it in any form, positive or negative.

The employees can face premature retirement, demotion or their due employment benefits can be stopped. But the employees must not stay silent. They must speak out in one voice and demand a rollback.

There's no wisdom in promoting herd-mentality in governance and administration. We learn from each other. Openness flowers transparency and diversity in opinion enrich thought process that positively influences our way of life.

Controlling opinion, on the other hand, is a practice associated with fascist regimes. Kashmir is known for its tolerance and diversity. But it seems that the coalition government is hell-bent on destroying the last vestiges of the state's rich cultural heritage. As 'Manufacturing Consent' notes, "... if we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all". It seems that the Jammu and Kashmir government believes in the latter.
As 2017 comes to a close, diplomatic ties between India and Pakistan again seem to have hit a low point amid a row over the treatment of former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav's family in Islamabad and Indian Army's cross-border operation on Monday, which killed three Pakistan Army soldiers.

India on Tuesday claimed that the manner in which the meeting between Jadhav and his family was conducted and its aftermath "was clearly an attempt to bolster a false and unsubstantiated narrative of Jadhav's alleged activities" and "the exercise lacked any credibility".

A statement by the Ministry of External Affairs also said that ahead of the meeting, the two women were made to remove their mangalsutra, bangles and bindi and were not allowed to converse in their mother tongue Marathi. The Ministry of External Affairs also claimed that the mother and wife of Jadhav were also heckled by the mediapersons outside the Pakistan Foreign Office.

India also said that from the feedback received of the meeting, "it appears that Jadhav was under considerable stress and speaking in an atmosphere of coercion" and that "most of his remarks were clearly tutored and designed to perpetuate the false narrative of his alleged activities in Pakistan. His appearance also raises questions of his health and well being."

Nevertheless, the Pakistan Foreign Office in a statement said that Pakistan does not wish to indulge in a "meaningless battle of words" and rejected India's baseless "allegations and twists" about attitude of authorities during Jadhav's meeting with his wife and mother.

"If Indian concerns were serious, the guests or the Indian DHC should have raised them during the visit, with the media, which was readily available, but at a safe distance, as requested by India," Pakistan said.

The latest diplomatic row came just a day after the Indian Army crossed the Line of Control to kill three soldiers in the Rawalkot sector.

While India was slamming Pakistan over its treatment of Jadhav's family, Islamabad summoned New Delhi's acting deputy high commissioner JP Singh to not only protest "unprovoked" firing by the Indian side but also "categorically" reject claims that Indian commandos crossed the LoC.

In a statement, the Foreign Office said the Indian actions "got a befitting response from the Pakistani side and their guns were silenced."

It categorically rejected India's claims that the Indian Army commandos crossed the Line of Control in Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir and smashed a Pakistani post.

No Indian soldier crossed over LOC. Indian media claim is continuation of their self defeating projections to satisfy domestic audience.  Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor (@OfficialDGISPR) December 26, 2017

"The false claims by India about the alleged cross LoC adventures are a figment of their imagination and counter- productive for peace and tranquillity on the LoC," it said.

The statement said Director General (South Asia and SAARC) Mohammad Faisal summoned India's acting deputy high commissioner and "condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations" by Indian forces in the Rakhchikri sector.

The firing "provided a cover for the planting of IEDs by non-state actors", resulting in the death of three soldiers, it said.

Faisal urged the Indian side to "respect the 2003 Ceasefire arrangement; investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations; instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire, in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC."

The truce between India and Pakistan along the International Border, Line of Control and the Actual Ground Position Line in Jammu and Kashmir came into force in November 2003.

Geo News reported that the Pakistan Foreign Office also urged India to allow United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to mediate in the seven decade-long Kashmir conflict.

The Indian Army sources in New Delhi earlier said a "small group" of 'Ghatak' commandos carried out a tactical level selective targeting of the Pakistani post around 200-300 metres across the LoC last evening in which three Pakistani soldiers were killed and one was injured.

The operation is seen as avenging the killing of four Indian Army personnel by a Border Action Team of the Pakistan Army in Keri sector Rajouri district three days ago.

Hindustan Times quoted sources as saying that Monday's action cannot be termed "surgical strikes", like the one conducted on 29 September, 2016, as the operation was planned at a local level.

The raid was to send a message that the Indian Army will retaliate swiftly and strongly to rogue actions, the report quoted a source as saying.

Monday's retaliation came just a day after two Pakistani snipers, who were trying to target Indian soldiers on the LoC, were killed in Indian firing on the LoC in Poonch and Rajouri districts.

The Indian Army has been adopting a "tough" approach in dealing with ceasefire violations and terrorist activities in the last one year. Pakistan has violated the ceasefire 881 times along the LoC and the International Border in Jammu and Kashmir this year, killing 30 people.

In 2016, there were 449 incidents of ceasefire violations wherein 13 civilians and 13 government forces personnel were killed and 83 civilians and 99 security personnel were injured.

In 2014, there were 583 incidents of ceasefire violation in which 14 civilians and three security personnel were killed and 101 civilians and 28 security personnel were injured.

In 2015, the number of ceasefire violations was 405; 347 in 2013, 114 in 2012, 62 in 2011 and 70 in 2010.

With inputs from agencies
For years now, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's rhetoric has been reigning over the National Capital's politics. But three populist decisions taken by the Delhi government, which were recently turned down by appropriate authorities, show that the Delhi government has to focus more on governance than on rhetoric.

The series of bad news came one after the other across Kejriwal's desk last week. On 20 December, Lieutenant-Governor of Delhi Anil Baijal decided to withhold the most publicised bill to regularise 15,000 guest teachers and intimated the Delhi High Court accordingly.

On the same day, the high court stayed the government's circular on fee hikes in private schools. A day prior to that, the 'Appellate Authority' had stayed the government order cancelling the license of Max Hospital Shalimar Bagh  on the ground of repeatedly defying government order and negligence to the duty of doctors.

All three decisions, which hardly had any legal substance, mark Kejriwal government's preference for rhetoric over governance. They were in addition to the decisions to pass 14 bills last year, which were also returned without assent by the Centre for procedural lapses on part of the Delhi government.

Such 'high on rhetoric and low on substance' decisions have done more disservice to the common man whom he claims to represent, as they result in sheer wastage of time, public resources and energy.

Guest teacher's regularisation bill withheld

Significantly, when the Delhi government announced its decision to table the bill for regularisation of guest teachers on 4 October, the L-G wrote to the chief minister reminding him not to go ahead with the bill as issues related to the service in Delhi government were under his jurisdiction and hence outside the purview of the legislature. But rather than paying any heed to it, Kejriwal resorted to rhetoric deriding the L-G.

"We are the masters of Delhi. The nation runs by democracy and not by bureaucracy," he said addressing the legislature while tabling the bill.

It was not the first time that Kejriwal turned down informed advice for the sake of populism. The government was advised by the law department not to go ahead with the decision to give weightage to guest teachers in their appointment, as it was not legally permissible.

The reaction to this piece of expert advice from the chief minister was apathetic. Instead of listening to it, he directed the law minister to get a new legal team. Sowmya Gupta, director, Delhi education department, puts the reaction of the chief minister aptly in an affidavit filed in the Delhi High Court. "Honble chief minister recorded his views on the functioning of the law department and minister (law) was directed to replace the current officers with a legally sound team."

The curious case of Max hospital

The Delhi government could have avoided the embarrassment it faced in the Max hospital case, in which its decision to cancel the hospital's license was struck down by the appellate authority. The Delhi government issued the order to cancel its license after the hospital authorities erroneously handed over a living newborn as dead to its parents. As per the law, this was a case to be heard by the Delhi medical council and there was no provision in it empowering the Delhi government to cancel the hospital's license.

Soon after the Delhi government's decision to cancel the license of Max Hospital, Ashok Agarwal, a member of the Delhi High Court Monitoring Committee on the treatment of economically weaker section patients in private hospitals, slammed the Delhi government's move as impractical.

"The government can suspend the license of a private hospital only in cases of deficiency in infrastructure it is required to have as per law and not on other grounds," he said.

Even then, rhetoric took the front seat instead of the issue of governance at hand. The chief minister said: "If we had entered into a setting with the hospital, we would not have been able to face our conscience and would have lost the faith of the people."

Soon after, the order to cancel the license of the hospital was struck down by the appellate authority.

Can private schools increase fee at will?

The blanket order to increase fees in private schools in order to pay staffs and teachers as per the recommendations of the seventh pay commission was not only legally untenable but also puts a question mark on the Delhi government's sense of responsibility.

Delhi has more than 250 schools which are situated on land allotted by the Delhi government and are required to take permission from the government to increase fees. A blanket order to all the schools to increase fees without going through the account books of these schools is seen as a case of shaking off the government's responsibility.

Moreover, only this year, the Justice Anil Dev Singh Committee submitted its report where it stated that more than 400 schools had increased school fees on the pretext of paying teachers and staff as per recommendations of the sixth pay commission, even when they had enough funds to meet the new expenses without burdening the parents.

The committee also ordered these schools to pay back the excess fees they collected from parents, which many of the schools are yet to comply with. Hence the Delhi government had more than one legal reasons not to proceed with the blanket order, but still, it did just that to follow its populist agenda of fulfilling the demand of salary increase made by teachers and staffs. No wonder then that the move was stayed by the Delhi high court.

Spurning of all these decisions sends a clear message to the government  no rhetoric can replace effective governance.
New Delhi: With Assam on the edge ahead of the publication of the draft NRC, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Wednesday sought to dispel apprehensions and said "genuine" Indians missing from the citizenship register would get enough opportunities to incorporate their names.

Massive preparations are in place to ensure peace and no one will be allowed to take law in their hands after the publication of the first draft of the National Register of Citizens, a list of the state's citizens, on 31 December, the chief minister said.

"No one should have any apprehensions. If the name of a genuine Indian citizen is missing in the part draft of the NRC, he or she will get proper chance to incorporate it," Sonowal told PTI.

The chief minister also made it clear that the government would tolerate no violence.

"We have received central forces and they are being deployed across the state to ensure peace. No untoward incident will be allowed to take place," he said.

A massive exercise to update the NRC is being carried out in Assam following a directive of the Supreme Court in 2005.

However, the exercise started as late as 2015 under the Congress regime. It got a major push only after the BJP came to power with illegal immigration from Bangladesh as a poll plank.

The apex court had ordered that the first draft of the NRC be published by 31 December after completing the scrutiny of over two crore claims along with that of around 38 lakh people whose documents were suspect.

Sonowal said 40,000 government officials, including deputy commissioners of the districts, sub-divisional officers, and circle officers, are involved in the massive exercise which has been going on in 6,500 NRC centres.

"The district administrations have been holding regular meetings with various socio-cultural, students organisations, senior citizens and writers seeking their help in a peaceful publication of the part draft of the NRC. We hope the process will be completed smoothly," he said.

Union home secretary Rajiv Gauba spent two days in the state last week, reviewing preparations for the publication of the part draft of the NRC and security arrangements, as ensuring peace in the state is a top priority for the Centre and the state governments, officials said.

Of the 3.28 crore applications submitted, there was confusion over the inclusion of 29 lakh people who had submitted certificates issued by 'gram panchayats' as proof of identity, after a Gauhati High Court order in February had deemed 'panchayat' certificates invalid, the officials said.

The Supreme Court set aside the high court order and upheld the validity of the certificates as identity proof if they were followed up with proper verification.

The apex court also asked authorities to stick to the original deadline for the publication of the draft NRC and include names of those whose claims were verified.

The NRC was last updated in Assam way back in 1951. Then, it had recorded 80 lakh citizens in the state. Since then, the process of identification of illegal immigrants in Assam has been debated and become a contentious issue in the state's politics.

A six-year agitation demanding identification and deportation of illegal immigrants was launched by the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) in 1979. It culminated with the signing of the Assam Accord on 15 August, 1985 in the presence of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.
The hit duo who has given us unforgettable films such as Sultan and Tiger Zinda Hai together is now being backed T-Series Bhushan Kumar and Atul Agnihotri of Reel Life Production Pvt Ltd for their next venture titled Bharat. There could not be a better day to announce T-Series Bhushan Kumar joining hands with Atul Agnihotri than today, Salman's birthday.

Bharat which will be directed by Ali Abbas Zafar will release on Eid 2019. About coming on board for Bharat, Bhushan Kumar says, We have had a long-standing association with Salman Khan from when we acquired the music of Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya. We produced Bhais two other films Lucky: No Time For Love and Ready, both of which were successful collaborations. Atul and I gel well and we decided to join hands on Bharat, a human drama that is bound to touch you beyond measure.

Speaking about T-Series coming on board, Atul Agnihotri says, In life, you just click with some people. Bhushan and I have interacted many a time in the past. His sensibility for content matched with ours. So having T-Series on board with us on Bharat was a very smooth and organic process for both of us.

This is a partnered post.
Criticising the government over rise in crimes against women, the Congress asked it to strengthen the criminal justice system to check such crimes.

Congress spokesperson Khushboo Sundar trained her guns on the BJP, alleging that three BJP-ruled states  Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra  topped the list of rapes and abductions of women in the country, even as Delhi continued to be the "rape capital" of the country.

"It is high time the BJP strengthens the criminal justice system and take tangible action to reduce crime against women," she told reporters.

Khushboo said the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) Report 2016 reveals the "hollow claims" of women security and exposes BJP's deception of 'mahila suraksha' (women protection).

She said that a 19-year-old woman was gangraped in a moving car when she was going from Gurgaon to Noida, on a day Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new metro line in Noida.

Earlier, she said, another 20-year-old woman was raped by five men in Delhi and repeated incidents of violence against women and continuous rise in crimes in the NCR region is a matter of grave concern.

"The BJP which heavily politicised the Nirbhaya gangrape and talked about providing security to women is in charge of the same in the capital, yet Delhi continuous to hold this tag of being the 'rape capital of India'," she said.

Citing NCRB figures, she said, total crimes against women in India have increased in 2016 as compared to 2015 by almost 3 percent and 3,38,954 incidents of crimes against women took place in 2016 as compared to 3,29,243. She said while Madhya Pradesh has 4,882 rape cases reported, Uttar Pradesh has 4,816 and Maharashtra has 4,189 cases of rape.

She added that Uttar Pradesh has 12,994 and Maharashtra 6,170 cases of kidnapping and abduction of women. Bihar is a distant third.
Kanyakumari: A four-member central team will visit the Ockhi-affected areas in the district and assess the damage caused by the cyclone, which hit the state coast last month.

The central team led by senior IAS officer Bibin Mallik would also hold discussions with the District Collector Sajjan Singh R Chavan and Revenue officials before submitting its report to the Centre.

The team is currently taking stock of the damage in neighbouring Kerala.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, during his visit to the state, had assured both the beleaguered fishing community and the Kerala government of prompt relief and rehabilitation assistance.

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has sought a Rs 7,340-crore relief package to mitigate the fisher folks' sufferings.

It included compensation for the dead; assistance to the permanently disabled and those who suffered injuries; also for construction of homes; educational assistance; writing off loans and other programmes meant for the overall relief for the fisher folks in the state.
Mumbai: The Dawoodi Bohra community has come up with a health advisory for its members: Switch over from using western toilets to Indian-style ones.

An advisory issued to community members during an awareness drive recently stated that there were "medical benefits" in the use of Indian-style toilets.

"Using western-style toilets is alien to our culture. It is an accepted fact that using Indian toilets has certain medical benefits," a community spokesperson said.

However, he made it clear that the directive was not being forced on community members. "No one is being forced to implement this directive. We realise that senior citizens may find it difficult to use Indian-style toilet," he said.

In a bid to improve the living conditions of members of the community in over 650 towns and cities across India and abroad, the Dawoodi Bohra community had held its third annual 'Upliftment Drive' from 21 December.

The five-day-long drive was aimed at improving basic needs of community members will have participation of over 21,000 community members comprising clergy, doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, businessmen, home makers and students, he said.
Jammu: On the second leg of his latest visit to Jammu and Kashmir, the Centre's special representative Dineshwar Sharma met Governor NN Vohra and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and briefed them about his consultations.

Shortly after reaching here from Kashmir where he met various delegations, Sharma called on Mufti, an official spokesman said.

During the meeting, Sharma briefed the chief minister about his consultations with a cross section of society during his present stay in the state, he said.

"Met with special representative of the Centre, Dineshwar Sharma, today to discuss his consultations with a cross section of the society in the state. We firmly believe that an inclusive dialogue on Jammu and Kashmir is the only way forward," Mufti wrote on Twitter after the meeting.

The spokesman said Sharma also met Vohra at the Raj Bhavan in the evening.

This was their sixth meeting since Sharma's appointment as the Centre's representative on Kashmir.

Sharma informed the governor about his just concluded visit to the Valley and tentative plans regarding future engagements, the spokesman said.
The 73-day standoff between Indian and Chinese troops at the Doklam Plateau in June 2017 proved to be the biggest challenge for Indias military and diplomatic establishment. It also showed up the inadequacy of Indias strategic defence infrastructure.

IndiaSpend highlights five developments in 2017 that show why India must do more to fill the ever expanding holes in its security apparatus.

The Doka la standoff and why border roads are critical

The Doka La standoff began on 16 June, 2017, after Indian soldiers objected to Chinas attempts at building a motorable road at the India-China-Bhutan tri-junction near Sikkim. This is a Bhutanese territory claimed by Beijing. The road, if built, could give China a crucial strategic military advantage over India, altering the status quo.

The standoff proved that India needs better infrastructure along the Sino-Indian border, especially roads. These roads are crucial for the deployment of troops and the supply of resources in remote border regions in the event of conflict.

In 2006-07, India had approved the construction of 73 strategic border roads scheduled for completion by 2012. However, only 27 of these have been constructed by the Border Roads Organization, according to data tabled in the Lok Sabha on 4 August, 2017.

The deadline for the construction of these roads has been extended to 2020.

China, on the other hand, has constructed an extensive network of railway lines, highways, metal-top roads, air bases, radars, logistics hubs and other infrastructure in the Tibet Autonomous Region bordering India, The Times of India reported on 21 August, 2017.

China has started flexing its muscles and is resorting to salami slicing, taking over territory in a very gradual manner, Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat had said referring to the Doka La standoff. He also spoke of the need to remain prepared for situations which could result in conflict.

In Jammu and Kashmir, 30 percent rise in deaths from terrorist violence

There has been a 30 percent increase in deaths from terrorist violence in Jammu Kashmir  from 267 in 2016 to 347 in 2017 (upto 17 December), according to data from the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) run by the New Delhi-based non-profit, Institute for Conflict Management.

This increase indicated an overall worsening of the security situation in the state.

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Source: South Asia Terrorism Portal Note: *Data till December 17, 2017

The number of terrorists killed by security personnel increased 28 percent from 165 in 2016 to 212 in 2017. But the number of security personnel killed in terrorist violence declined 11 percent, from 88 in 2016 to 78 the following year. This can be considered an indicator of the growing effectiveness of counter-terrorism operations in Jammu and Kashmir.

However, civilian casualties increased almost three timesfrom 14 in 2016 to 57 in 2017.

Terrorism-related deaths in Jammu and Kashmir increased 31 percent in the one year since the Indian Army conducted what it describes as surgical strikes in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK), IndiaSpend had reported on 29 September, 2017.

Six new submarines, but 13 wait to be replaced

On 14 December, 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi commissioned INS Kalvari, the first of six Scorpene-class diesel-electric submarines constructed in Mumbai with technology transfer from France.

This development has given Indias fledgling fleet submarine arm some muscle.

The Indian Navy has a planned force level of 18 conventional submarines, according to a Parliamentary Standing Committee Report on Defence.

With Kalvaris addition, the navy has 14 conventional submarines. But, 13 of these are between 13- and 31-years-old and need to be replaced.

The Indian government has also issued a request for information from foreign manufacturers for the Navys Project 75(I) requirement for six conventional submarines which will be manufactured in Indian shipyards.

India currently has two nuclear submarines: the INS Chakra leased from Russia and the indigenously developed ballistic-missile vessel INS Arihant.

Warship shortage as China pushes ahead in Indian Ocean

Chinas Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLA-N) has 191 major surface warships, nearly four times as many as the Indian Navy (50).

The PLA-N has 24 destroyers, according to latest data released by the US Department of Defense. Thats more than twice as many as India (11). Destroyers are frontline warships for both the PLA-N and Indian Navy. They possess powerful radars, can travel long distances and are capable of handling land attack, missile defence, and surface and anti-submarine warfare.

Source: Indian Navy, Military and Security Developments Involving the Peoples Republic of China 2017, US Department of Defense

The PLA-N has 53 frigates, nearly four times as many as India (14). Frigates are not as heavily armed as destroyers but can fulfil similar roles and can operate in open oceans. India has 24 corvettes and missile boats, around one-fourth as many as China (113). Corvettes and missile boats are lightly armed when compared to frigates.

Chinas widening naval capabilities and Indias shortages need to be seen in the context of the PLA-Ns growing presence in the Indian Ocean. Chinese activity in the Indian Ocean has touched a new high in recent months, an Indian Navy official had been reported saying in Hindustan Times on 5 July, 2017.

India is now looking at replacing ageing warships by introducing new ones, according to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence. This includes the development of seven Project 17A stealth frigates and the construction of four Project 15B Visakhapatnam-class destroyers.

Last year, India also ordered four additional Krivak IV-class frigates from Russia. These are upgraded variants of the Indian Navys six Talwar-class frigates.

IAF faces capability gap: Not enough fighter jets

The Indian Air Force (IAF) currently has 33 fighter jet squadrons. Each of these has 18-20 aircraft. But India needs 45 squadrons to counter a two-front collusive threat from Pakistan and China, according to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence. The government has authorised a squadron strength of 42 squadrons, the committee noted.

The present 33 squadrons may drop to 19 by 2027 when the IAF decommissions 14 squadrons of the Mikoyan MiG-21, Mig-27 and MiG -29. This number of squadrons could further drop to 16 by 2032 because of decommissioning.

However, the actual number of IAF fighter squadrons in 2029 and 2032 could be higher, the committee noted. Thats because the IAF will commission at least 36 Dassault Rafale (two squadrons) and 123 indigenous Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Tejas (approximately six to seven squadrons). Then there are the Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter jets previously contracted and currently being licence manufactured at HAL.

However, these would not do enough to reduce the capability gap the IAF is facing. Hence, the force has expressed an interest in acquiring 114 new single-engine fighter jets that will service six squadrons.

These fighter jets are to be manufactured in India under the Modi governments Strategic Partnership policy which entails foreign aircraft makers to tie up with Indian companies to manufacture the warplanes in India.

The Swedish company Saab has tied up with Indias Adani group to pitch the Saab Gripen warplane for this purpose. Meanwhile, the US aerospace major Lockheed Martin has forged a partnership with Tata Advanced Systems Ltd to pitch Lockheeds F-16 to India.

The success stories: Subsonic and supersonic cruise missiles

Indias Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully test-fired the subsonic Nirbhay cruise missile on November 7, 2017. This came after two back-to-back failures.

The missile has a range of 1,000-km and can deliver both nuclear and conventional payloads deep inside enemy territories and once inducted, significantly enhance Indias military capabilities.

On 22 November, 2017, India successfully test-fired a 300 km-ranged BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from a modified IAF Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter jet. The Su-30MKI has an unrefueled range of 3,000 km. And by deploying the short-ranged BrahMos from the Su-30MKI, the effective range of the high-precision missile increases exponentially.

BrahMos travels at a speed of Mach 2.8 (nearly three times the speed of sound) and are purportedly impossible to intercept.

India plans to modify 42 Su-30MKIs to launch BrahMos missiles.
New Delhi: A triple talaq legislation, Haj-related reforms and attacks were some of the issues related to minorities that dominated headlines this year with the government stressing that empowering the community educationally will be high on its agenda in 2018.

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who scaled up in rank as Cabinet minister for minority affairs after Prime Minister Narendra Modi re-jigged his council this year, said the BJP-led NDA government strived for welfare of minorities sans appeasement till now.

While attacks on members of minority communities, including the 17-year-old Junaid killing case, gave fresh ammo to the Opposition to attack the Centre, Naqvi maintained that the government did not allow "destructive agenda to dominate agenda of development".

BJP MP from Madhya Pradesh Virendra Kumar joined as Naqvi's deputy following the Cabinet reshuffle.

The government increased the ministry's budget to Rs 4195.48 crore for 2017-18 from Rs 3827.25 crore in 2016-17, an increase of about 9.6 percent over the last fiscal.

"There was only appeasement of minorities in the name of development during the last six decades. There was zero empowerment. We have tried to change that during the NDA's governance," Naqvi told PTI.

About his ministry's priority in the year to come, he said, "Educational empowerment, especially education for girls, is our focus and our effort is to increase literacy rate of the communities on par with other communities."

A panel formed by the Maulana Azad Education Foundation (MAEF), a non-profit and non-political social services organisation funded by the ministry, this year expressed concerns over educational backwardness of Muslims.

It suggested a three-tier model of institutionscentral schools, community colleges and national institutes to for their empowerment.

According to the 2011 Census data, literacy rate among Muslims was 68.53 percent against the national average of 72.98 percent.

Saudi Arabia increased India's Haj quota from 1.36 lakh to 1.70 lakh, which the central government termed as "biggest expansion" of the quota since 1988.

In a major reform, the government also for the first time decided to allow women aged above 45 to travel without a male colleague in a group of at least four to Saudi Arabia for the pilgrimage.

In addition, the Haj Committee of India also launched 'Haj App' for aspirants to apply for the pilgrimage.

The ministry also carried out an outreach programme 'progress panchayat' in minority-dominated areas, seeking to inform them about the welfare initiatives of the government. The last such programme was held in Rajasthan's Alwar on 17 December.

Naqvi inaugurated various development projects including schools, hostels, primary health centres then.

"So far, two dozen such panchayats have been held," the minister added.

In a bid to offer commercial exposure to artisans and craftsmen from the communities, the ministry organised 'Hunar Haat' (Skill Haat) in the national capital. It plans to organise similar Haats in Mumbai, Kolkata, Bhopal and other cities in the time to come.

In line with the government's push, the ministry went digital in 2017.

In August, the Supreme Court by a majority of 3:2 ruled that the practice of divorce through triple talaq among Muslims is "void", "illegal" and "unconstitutional".

The government then brought out the draft 'Muslim Women Protection of Rights on Marriage Bill' according to which giving instant triple talaq will be illegal and void and will attract a jail term of three years for the husband.

The bill seeking to criminalise the practice of instant triple talaq is set to be introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.

The matter is being pursued by the Law Ministry and not by the Minority Affairs Ministry.
For a change, political leadership and the Indian Army seem to have given themselves clarity on who calls the shots. Unlike the defensive approach towards Pakistans mercenary activities on the border thus far, on Monday night the army crossed the Line of Control (LoC) and killed three Pakistani soldiers in a 'tactical retaliatory strike'.

A small team of commandos of the Indian Army called Ghatak crossed LoC in the Rawlakot-Rakhchakri sector of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and killed three Pakistani soldiers. The action was carried out as a response to the killing of four Indian Army personnel in Kashmirs Keri-Rajouri sector a few days ago.

Planned at the local level, this retaliatory strike is the result of the governments faith in the local military commandant, which has empowered him to take decisions about tactical action.

After winning the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and coming to power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a clear signal that rogue action by Pakistan and terrorist activities from across the border would not be tolerated at any cost. The Centre has maintained this stand. 

According to army officials and defence analysts, this tit-for-tat comes as a motivation pill' for the Indian Army. They think it sends a clear message to Pakistan to cease and desist from such acts. According to some top officials, earlier, especially during the UPA-II regime, for any major action, an approval from the political masters was needed, which was a tedious process.

This has been eased now. Even when Manohar Parikkar was defence minister, he clearly said that the army would do what it felt necessary, a senior army official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Firstpost. The Centres aggressive policy has also ensured that such retaliatory action be known to public, unlike in the past.

The government has reposed its faith at the local commandant level. It has empowered it to take a tactical decision to exploit opportunity to retaliate against such negative or rogue actions and take appropriate steps. A certain level of flexibility has been given to the local military commandant so that no delay takes place in pursuing an offensive action, which could otherwise be damaging, Lt Gen (retd) Arun Kumar Sahni, former commander-in-chief, Indian Army and strategic analyst, told Firstpost.

Though many have been trying to draw a parallel between the retaliatory action of the Indian army and the 2016 surgical strike, defence analysts strongly disagree at the action being labelled surgical strike 2.0.

This action is very different from surgical strike because that one was planned way ahead of time and the attack was launched at multiple points, which was very deep. The action on Monday was limited to a few hundred yards, said Maj Gen (retd) Dhruv Katoch, former director, Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS).

The government has made its intent clear that theres no restraint on army and Border Security Force (BSF) in resolving issues at local level. Now, one thing is clear from top authority: The political leadership is firmly behind the military. This also sends Pakistan a clear message not to indulge in such rogue actions and cold-blooded murder of Indian soldiers. This will definitely motivate Indian Army, he added.

Defence analyst Col (retd) Jaibans Singh said Indian Army always acted aggressively to such type of provocation by Pakistan along the LoC. The difference is that earlier actions were not publicised. The UPA government preferred to maintain a low profile in tactical actions. There is merit in the policy of publicising actions since it exposes Pakistans perfidy to the world. India is now giving a clear message that it will not tolerate Pakistans shenanigans.

Another former army official, who served in Jammu and Kashmir, added, As the head of my unit, I took decision to blow up an enemy bunker along LoC. We kept the incident to ourselves, as in those days, it was unacceptable. Now, the government has taken a bold decision of making such incidents public, which will prove beneficial in the long run.
Drawing inspiration from the Patidar movement in Gujarat, Maratha community outfits announced that they will resume their agitation against the government's failure to deliver on their demands, and will begin the movement on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's birth anniversary on 19 February, media reports said.

On Monday, community leaders in a state-level meet in Panvel decided to name their new agitation "19 se 2019 tak"  from Shivajis birth anniversary in February to the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in 2019, Hindustan Times reported. The report quoted the leaders as saying that the government has failed to fulfil its promises to meet the communitys demands within four months, referring to the resolution achieved after protests culminated in a silent march on 9 August.

However, the community leaders expressed satisfaction over the lower courts decision sentencing all three accused in Kopardi case to death, which was one of the demands raised during 58 mega rallies organised by the community over the past year, The New Indian Express reported.

The report added that the leaders also warned that the community would take out a rally at the state Assembly during the upcoming budget session in February 2018, and wouldn't let the House function.

"We have decided to adopt different forms of agitation, by moving on from silent marches, if our demands are not met by 10 February. Patidars have shown their strength in the Assembly elections in Gujarat. We are a much bigger community by comparison and are all set to showcase our power," another Hindustan Times report quoted Virendra Pawar, one of the conveners of the meeting, as saying.

Pawar added that the government had earlier announced it would include 605 courses in scholarship schemes for economically backward classes, but has dropped medical courses from this list.

Reservation in education and government jobs, scholarships for students in the community, setting up of higher education and research institutes in the state, loan waivers to curb farmer suicides, and avoidance of abuse of the SC and ST (Prevention Of Atrocities) Act are some of demands put forth by the Maratha community to the government.

On 9 August, lakhs of people from across Maharashtra attended the largest protest march of the Maratha community in Mumbai seeking fulfilment of these demands. With more than five lakh members of Maratha community and an additional 10,000 vehicles that entered Mumbai from cities like Pune, Nashik, Kolhapur, Raigad, and Satara, the silent March crippled the city's traffic.
Patna: The Janata Dal (United) lashed out at the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) for alleging that the conviction of its chief, Lalu Prasad, by a court in a fodder scam case was a "conspiracy". JD(U) general secretary RCP Singh also charged the RJD with "shamefully" casting aspersions on the judiciary by making such allegations.

The JD(U) Parliamentary Party leader also trashed the sympathetic comments of his party colleague and former speaker of the Bihar Assembly, Uday Narayan Chaudhary, in favour of Prasad over his conviction.

"The RJD leaders keep saying that they have full faith in the judiciary and that they respect its verdicts. But when a verdict affects them adversely, they shamefully say things which amount to pointing fingers at the judiciary itself," Singh told reporters.

"Nobody is going to take the RJD's allegations of conspiracy seriously. People are wise enough to understand that this is the language spoken by those who indulge in corruption," Singh, a close confidante of Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar, said. He was responding to a query on the allegations levelled

by RJD leaders, particularly its national vice-president, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, questioning the acquittal of former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra in the case, in which Prasad was convicted.

Singh has also been referring to a book authored by a retired IPS officer, which dealt with the multi-crore-rupee fodder scam in details, to buttress his claim that the CBI's action against Prasad was politically motivated. The RJD leaders, including Prasad's son and Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Tejashwi Yadav, have been blaming the BJP and the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar for allegedly targeting Prasad and his family members.

The RJD accusation came in the wake of Prasad's conviction by a special CBI court in Ranchi last Saturday in a fodder scam case, pertaining to the illegal withdrawal of Rs 89.27 lakh from the Deoghar treasury between 1991 and 1994, and the slapping of money-laundering cases against his wife Rabri Devi, daughter Misa Bharti, son-in-law Shailesh and Tejashwi.

Asked if any disciplinary action was being contemplated against Chaudhary, who had come out in support of the RJD supremo and claimed that the latter stood to gain politically due to the court verdict, Singh said, "Serving him with a notice would be a waste of stationery."

He, however, hinted that the former Assembly speaker was in cahoots with the Opposition parties and said, "Everyone knows whose chariot he (Chaudhary) has been riding."

Chaudhary has of late been critical of his own party. A couple of months ago, he had alleged that the JD(U)-BJP government in the state was "anti-reservation". Recently, he had also met Arun Srivastava, an expelled JD(U) leader and a loyalist of former party president Sharad Yadav, who was recently disqualified from the Rajya Sabha.

Singh also said the JD(U) had launched a drive to strengthen its organisational structure, as a part of which training camps would be held next month, where block-level leaders would be asked to apprise the public of the state government's social reform measures such as prohibition and the campaigns against dowry and child marriage.
The Jammu And Kashmir State Board of School Education (JKBOSE) has announced bi-annual results of Jammu division (winter zone). Students can check their results on the official website of the board at jkbose.co.in. Alternatively, students can also access their results uploaded on indiaresults.com  result hosting website.

As of now, the official website of the board is unavailable due to some technical glitch and multiple logins, however, students can visit indiaresults.com to access their results.

Steps to check your results:

1. Visit the official website or the host website- jkbose.co.in or indiaresults.com.

2. Click the results section on the homepage of the official website/choose subsequent section

3. Enter either your roll number or name and click submit.

4. Download a copy of the results for your future reference

According to The Indian Express, there are over 4,225 schools affiliated with the board. It is also the main board of school education of Jammu and Kashmir which conducts exam for Jammu, Kashmir, Leh and Kargil divisions.

The class 12 regular annual exam for Jammu province had begun on 26 October and continued till 23 November, reported NDTV. The report further added that the class 12th annual regular examination in Kashmir Division began on 1 November and as per local media reports over 55,000 candidates appeared for exams at 496 centres.
Mumbai: Senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy said on Tuesday that India should go to war with Pakistan and split it into four parts.

Reacting sharply to the treatment meted out to the mother and wife of Kulbhushan Jadhav, on death row in Pakistan over alleged espionage, Swamy, a Rajya Sabha member, said "serious homework" for the war should begin "right now".

"Whatever treatment was given to the mother and wife of Kulbhushan (Jadhav) is akin to Draupadi's vastraharan that resulted in Mahabharat."

"It's very unfortunate and we are hurt...and now time has come when we should wage war against Pakistan to tear it apart into four pieces," he told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Mumbai.

The mangalsutra, bangles and bindi of Jadhav's wife and mother were reportedly removed before the tightly-controlled interaction he had with them, according to an external affairs ministry statement in New Delhi.

"I don't say that we should do this (declare war) immediately, but we should start doing serious homework for this right now," Swamy said, adding "it's my personal opinion and it often becomes party's opinion also."

Swamy said splintering Pakistan was the only solution to India's running feud with its neighbour.

When asked if Tuesday's surgical strike by the Indian Army, in which three Pakistani soldiers were killed, was a befitting reply to them, he said, "It's okay, but for a permanent solution, Pakistan needs to be split."

Calling Pakistan an "envious and vengeful" country, he ruled out the possibility of other countries joining the conflict in the event of an India-Pakistan war.

He also sought an immediate end to the External Affairs Ministry issuing medical visas to Pakistani nationals. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has been facilitating grant of visas to ailing Pakistani nationals as a humanitarian gesture.
Chennai: The Madras High Court on Tuesday declined to close a contempt petition filed against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswamy and his deputy O Panneerselvam for allegedly violating its order putting a ban on the use of living persons' pictures in banners and hoardings.

Justice S Vaidyanathan posted the contempt petition filed by social activist Traffic KR Ramaswamy to 5 January, rejecting the prayer by the government pleader who wanted the matter to be closed in view of the order passed by the first bench allowing the use of pictures of living persons in banners.

He said the order on the contempt plea can be passed only after going through the observations made by the first bench which set aside his 24 October order imposing a blanket ban on banners or hoardings carrying images of people who are alive.

The petition sought to punish Palaniswamy and Panneerselvam for violating the single judge's order, when it was in force, during the death anniversary of late chief minister J Jayalalithaa.

In its 20 December order, the first bench had made it clear that such materials should not be placed encroaching public or private properties.

However, the bench had made it clear that it was setting aside only the ban on display of pictures of living persons. Other portions of the single judge's order, including those related to steps for preventing disfigurement of walls and other places, would still be operational.

It had passed the order on an appeal by the city corporation which contended that such a ban on the use of pictures of living persons would have adverse impact on the advertisement industry.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) was left red faced on Thursday as the trial court said that Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, and six other accused in the Malegaon blast case, will face trial on stringent terror charges in the politically-sensitive case that had raised speculation of saffron militancy.

The court, however, dropped the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) charges against the accused, which is punishable by up to life in prison.

The accused will now six others will face trial under Section 18 (conspiracy) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention (UAPA) Act and other sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Apart from Sadhvi and Purohit, the other accused who received partial relief in the case are Ramesh Upadhyay, Sameer Kulkarni, and Sudhakar Dwivedi. The court also discharged Pravin Takalki, Shyamlal Sahu, and Shivnarayan Kalsangra from the blast case, whereas Rakesh Dhawde and Jagdish Mhatre will face trial only under the Arms Act.

The court said the accused persons will face trial under sections 16 (committing a terror act) and 18 (criminal conspiracy) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), and sections 120(b) (punishment of criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 326 (intentionally causing harm to others) of the IPC.

Significantly, the court dismissed NIA's contention that there was no evidence against Sadhvi Pragya, saying it was difficult to accept the claim given that her motorcycle was used in the blast.

"There is evidence to suggest that the accused number one (Thakur) had knowledge about the involvement of her motorcycle," the court said in its ruling on the nine-year-old case that had raised worries of Hindu militancy gaining a foothold as a reaction to Islamic extremism. Sadhvi Pragya "had also expressed dissatisfaction about causing few casualties in the blast. Hence it is difficult to accept submissions on behalf of the NIA and the accused number one that she had no concern with the present crime," it said.

The NIA, while filing a charge sheet in the case last year, gave a clean chit to Sadhvi Pragya and three others saying it found no evidence against them and they should be discharged from the case

All the above accused filed pleas to be discharged from the case, which the court rejected. However, the court agreed that MCOCA charges should be dropped. The next hearing in the case will be held on 15 January.

"The UAPA sections 17 (raising funds for a terrorist organisation or a terrorist attack), 20 (being part of a terrorist organisation) and 23 (aiding somebody who is part of a terrorist organisation) have been dropped against all accused," special NIA judge SD Tekale said. MCOCA is a stringent law in the state of Maharashtra which can be invoked only after the police can prove that the gang is organised and committing crime for pecuniary gains. It is also mandatory that at least two separate charge sheets have been filed against the accused people in the last ten years to slap MCOCA charges.

Under the MCOCA, an accused cannot obtain bail easily. Once these charges are invoked, the police is liable to get custody for the accused for a maximum of 30 days, as opposed to the 14-day limit under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The accused is subject to a minimum of five-year imprisonment and a maximum of death sentence, if the charges are proven. Under MCOCA, the police also gets the leeway to file a charge sheet within 180 days, as opposed to the 60 to 90 day window under IPC. The law is essentially based on the premise that the accused will be considered guilty until proven innocent.

However, in the Malegaon blast case, all accused are already out on bail and the NIA court said that all the previous bonds and sureties submitted by them will continue. The case has seen various twists and turns as the investigation was passed on to various agencies.

Soon after the blast in Malegaon, a town in north Maharashtra with a sizeable Muslim population, the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), which probed the case first, booked Noorul Huda, Raees Ahmed, Salman Farsi, Farogh Magdumi, Shaikh Mohammed Ali, Asif Khan, Mohammed Zahid, Abrar Ahmed and Shabbir Masiullah Batteriwala for the blast which claimed six lives when an improvised explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off while 101 persons were injured. The CBI took over the case a year later, and endorsed the line of investigation taken by ATS.

However, the NIA, to which the probe was transferred in 2011, filed a charge sheet absolving them of all charges, and instead named four others, including Sadhvi Pragya and Colonel Purohit, who were members of a Hindu extremist organisation.

Following this, in April last year, a special court in Mumbai discharged them from the case, as the NIA submitted that it had found no evidence against them.

The ATS moved the Bombay High Court against the trial court's order, terming it as contrary to the evidence on record. Assistant Public Prosecutor Mankunwar Deshmukh, ATS counsel, told the court that the special court order had "no legal basis".

A powerful bomb exploded near the crowded Nooraji Mosque in Malegaon on the evening of 29 September, 2008, killing six and injuring 100 others, around 300 kilometres north of Mumbai in Nashik district.

It was the second such blast in the Muslim-dominated powerloom town which was earlier shaken by a similar blast on 8 September, 2006, which claimed 37 lives and injured more than 250.

Initially, the 2008 case was probed by the Maharashtra Police and the ATS. In April 2011, it was taken over by the NIA.

The investigators had charge-sheeted 14 accused in the case, including two  Ramchandra Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange  who are absconding. The involvement of some of the accused was found in other terror acts in the country.

With inputs from agencies
New Delhi: Nepal has rejected India's offer to jointly re-measure the height of the world's highest peak Mount Everest following the massive earthquake in 2015 and will carry out the exercise on its own, the top official of the Himalayan nation's survey department has said.

Nepal will, however, seek help from India and China for getting crucial data for the exercise, Nepal's Survey Department's director general Ganesh Bhatta told PTI.

Sources in New Delhi indicated that China could be behind Nepal refusing India's proposal to jointly re-measure Mount Everest as the peak is on the Nepal-China border.

According to a statement by the Department of Science an Technology which comes under India's Ministry of Science an Technology, after the 2015 "Gorkha earthquake" that jolted Nepal, various doubts were raised by the scientific community over the height of the peak.

The 7.8 magnitude quake in April 2015 had devastated the Himalayan nation, killing more than 8,000 people an displacing lakhs of others.

The Survey of India, a 250-year-old institute under the DST, proposed re-measuring Mount Everest as an 'India-Nepal Joint Scientific Exercise' with Nepal's survey department "They have not responded to our proposal.

Now they are saying that they are not involving either India or China. The will be re-measuring Mount Everest on their own," Major General Girish Kumar, the Surveyor General of India, told PTI.

Kumar said that a representative from India attended meeting convened in Kathmandu, where surveyors and scientist from different countries including China were also present "There was a proposal from India to help us measure Mount Everest, but we are doing it on our own," Bhatta, who is in Nepal, told PTI over phone.

When asked whether China had also given a proposal to re-measure Nepal, he replied in the negative. He noted that China had measured Mount Everest in 1975, and 2005 while Indian surveyors had carried out a similar mission in 1956.

The SGI had also measured the Everest during the British era. "India was the first country under Sir George Everest' leadership as the Surveyor General of India to have declared the height of Mount Everest and establish it as the highest peak in the world in the year 1855," the Department of Science and Technology's website states.

Bhatta said preparatory work has already begun on the project and they are gathering preliminary data crucial for this survey.

The massive earthquake has "shook" even the basic parameters of Nepal, so data from other countries will be crucial, he said.

India is being requested to provide the levelling data while China has been asked to provide the gravity data. The data will be very important to determine the height of Mount Everest, Bhatta said.

"We won't be crossing over into the Chinese territory fo measurements. The work of summiting Everest will take place in 2019," he said.

Kusalaraj, a scientist at the Centre for Earth Science a the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, said a minor change in the height of Mount Everest may not have a direct impact on the lives of people immediately.
Lucknow: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognisance of media reports stating that 32 cataract patients were operated upon under torchlight at a primary health centre in Unnao.

An official statement released by the rights body on Wednesday said the contents of the media reports reveal negligence on part of doctors and are a sad commentary on the status of infrastructure facilities available in the hospitals in Uttar Pradesh, particularly non-availability of backup power supply in operation theatres.

The commission has issued a notice to Uttar Pradesh chief secretary, asking him to furnish information about the incident, within two weeks.

The information sought include details of 32 persons (or the exact number) like the names, addresses and phone numbers of those operated on 25 December at the primary health centre, Nawabganj in Unnao.

The NHRC also wanted to know whether the operated persons were able to see clearly after the procedure; why there was no backup power supply in the hospital, especially in the operation theatre; what action was taken against the doctors and hospital management for performing cataract operations in torchlight; have the doctors been performing operations in such a manner earlier; and finally, in case of power break down in the hospital, what alternative source of light is used by the facility.

The Unnao district administration had on Tuesday suspended the Chief Medical Officer(CMO) after reports surfaced that 32 cataract patients were operated under torchlight for want of steady electricity supply at the state-run facility there.

According to the media reports, some relatives of the patients also complained that they were not provided with any beds after the procedure and that they were made to lie down on floors despite extremely cold weather conditions.
Srinagar: Terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed suffered a major blow on Tuesday when its top commander Noor Mohammad Tantray, considered the brains behind the terror outfit's revival in the Valley, was killed in South Kashmir, police said.

Two of his accomplices, believed to be foreign terrorists, managed to escape under the cover of darkness when the encounter broke out at Samboora village in Pulwama district, they said, adding that the two would be tracked down soon.

According to Director General of Police SP Vaid, the militants had gathered in the area and were planning to carry out an attack on a convoy of security personnel.

There was input about presence of two to three terrorists near the national highway who were "planning to attack convoy", the DGP tweeted.

Terming the killing of 47-year-old Tantray as a "significant development", the police said the terrorist was wanted in various terror incidents earlier this year, including a suicide attack at the BSF camp at Srinagar airport, and had become an irritant for the security forces.

"The divisional commander of JeM, Noor Mohammad Tantray alias Noor Trali, was killed in a gun battle with security forces in Samboora area of Pulwama," the police said in a statement.

The body of Tantray, who was four-feet-two-inches tall, was recovered along with one weapon this morning from the rubbles of the house where the terrorists were hiding.

A crack team of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, acting on a specific input, had cordoned off a cluster of houses at Samboora which resulted in a fierce gunbattle leading to the elimination of the top JeM commander.

A police spokesman said Tantray, who was a close aide of the 2001 Parliament attack case mastermind Ghazi Baba, was convicted in a case registered in 2003 in Delhi.

He served a sentence at Central Jail in Srinagar and was out on parole in 2015, the spokesman said.

Consequently, he remained in Tral at South Kashmir and became a major overground worker of the JeM in the region, the police said.

In July 2017, after the Aripal encounter, in which three JeM terrorists were killed, Tantray went underground and soon became the key man of the terror outfit in coordinating and organising attacks at different places, he said.

He was one of the chief architects of the attack on a BSF camp near Srinagar airport in October, the spokesman said, adding that he was also wanted in connection with a number of terror attacks in south and central Kashmir.

Tantray hailed from Tral area and his death is being seen as a blow to the terror group as he was the key man in reviving the JeM in south and central Kashmir.
Urdu in the internet age: Experts weigh in on how the language must adapt, evolve to become more accessible Far from being a language that is on the verge of extinction, Urdu is gaining more attention now because of the Internet. But experts say that its scope should not remain confined to literature and poetry, that it should become a language of utility
Islamabad: Pakistan on Tuesday rejected as "baseless" India's contentions that Kulbhushan Jadhav's family was harassed, and claimed that his wife's shoes were confiscated on security grounds as there was "something" in it.

The foreign office in a statement said that Pakistan does not wish to indulge in a "meaningless battle of words" and categorically rejects India's baseless "allegations and twists" about attitude of authorities during Jadhav's meeting with his wife and mother.

"The Indian baseless allegations and twists, that come 24 hrs later, about the visit of the wife and mother of Commander Jadhav, a convicted terrorist and spy, who has confessed to his crimes, are categorically rejected," the statement said.

"If Indian concerns were serious, the guests or the Indian DHC should have raised them during the visit, with the media, which was readily available, but at a safe distance, as requested by India," it said.

"We do not wish to indulge in a meaningless battle of words. Our openness and transparency belies these allegations," it said.

Responding to India's contentions that Jadhav's wife's shoes were not returned to her after the meeting, foreign office spokesman Muhammad Faisal told Dawn News that the shoes were confiscated on "security grounds".

"There was something in the shoe (of Jadhav's wife)," Faisal told the daily, adding that the shoe is being investigated.

He said Jadhav's wife had been provided replacement shoes and all her jewellery was returned to her.

The spokesman said that the fact is that Jadhavs mother "publicly thanked Pakistan for the humanitarian gesture, which was also recorded by the media."

"Nothing more needs to be said on the issue," he said.

India on Tuesday accused Pakistan of violating mutual understandings on Jadhav's meeting with his family, and said the Indian national appeared coerced and under considerable stress during the tightly-controlled interaction.

India also accused Pakistan of disregarding cultural and religious sensibilities of family members under the pretext of security.

"This included removal of mangal sutra, bangles and bindi, as well as a change in attire that was not warranted by security," it said.

During Tuesday's meeting, whose pictures were released by Pakistan, Jadhav was seen sitting behind a glass screen while his mother and wife sat on the other side. They spoke through intercom and the entire 40-minute proceedings appeared to have been recorded on video.

India said that "for some inexplicable reason, despite her repeated requests", Jadhav's wife's shoes were not returned to her after the meeting.

Jadhav, who was captured in March 2016, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying, an accusation that India has dismissed as concocted.

New Delhi says Jadhav was kidnapped in Iran where he had legitimate business interests, and brought to Pakistan. To save Jadhav, India moved the International Court of Justice, which ordered Pakistan in May to stay his execution.
Pakistan Army violated ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Nowshera sector on Wednesday, two days after Indian Army soldiers had killed three Pakistan soldiers in a cross-LoC strike.

Mortar shelling and firing from small arms were reported on Indian posts, following which the Indian side retaliated with gunfire, said a report in The Indian Express. It added that firing from Pakistan started at 8.55am and continued for 15 minutes. There were no casualties and no damage to property was reported on the Indian side.

The unprovoked firing from Pakistan came two days after Indian Army commandos crossed the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir's Rawalkot sector on Monday evening and killed three Pakistani soldiers, injuring one.

A small team had gone around 200-300 metres across the LoC and carried out the strike. The operation lasted for 45 minutes and the team returned to their camp without sustaining any injuries.

Pakistan had acknowledged the death of three of its soldiers during a telephone call. Pakistani military's media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations, called it an "unprovoked heavy cross-border shelling by Indian forces".

As mentioned in The Indian Express report, the LoC has been highly active this year, with 820 ceasefire violations, compared to 228 in 2016 and 152 in 2015. The army has lost 14 soldiers in ceasefire violations on the LoC this year, while 17 have died while countering infiltration bids from Pakistan. A total of 59 militants have been killed while attempting infiltration this year, in comparison to 37 and 30 militants in 2016 and 2015 respectively.
Amaravati: It is not often that he stops midway during a public speech, but that is what President Ram Nath Kovind did to indicate his displeasure over the distribution of food packets among the delegates during his address at an Indian Economic Association conference.

Briefly interrupting his address to gently prod the organisers for the faux pas, the president asked them to stop distributing the packets till his speech was over.

While addressing the centenary conference of the association, Kovind noticed that the food packets were being distributed among the participants.

Two minutes into his speech, Kovind paused and looked at the audience as there was a sudden noise.

The volunteers had started distributing the food packets among the delegates and media persons and a group of students had got up from their seats in their hurry to grab them.

"What is happening in the economic world... I see the same picture at this conference also. I think some food packets are being distributed. Of course it is a must, but it has disturbed the system itself.

"Therefore, I request the organisers, will you please keep the distribution of food packets in abeyance for a little while," Kovind said, even as the stunned police personnel and officials intervened to stop the distribution. The president then continued with his speech.
A senior Al-Qaeda commander said that the key to victory in Kashmir lies in waging war on Indian cities and called for "expanding war against India" in a video clip released on jihadist forums online, according to several media reports.

#INDIA#AlQaeda In The Indian Subcontinent (#AQIS) Spokesman Usama Mahmoud

Urges For Expanding War Against India To Defend #Kashmir, Accused the Indian Army & #Hindu Government Made #Kashmir As A War Zone In The 2nd Episode Of An Interview Series. #TerrorMonitor pic.twitter.com/hTt2mWZyrC  Terrormonitor.org (@Terror_Monitor) December 26, 2017

"India is already using 600,000 troops just to hold on to Kashmir," Usama Mehmood, Al-Qaeda's subcontinent second-in-command said in the video, according to a report in The Indian Express. "If it (India) is attacked in Kolkata, Bangalore and New Delhi, it will come to its senses and release its grip on Kashmir."

Mehmood said that in order for the plan to succeed, "it is necessary that the jihadi movement becomes strong at the level of the subcontinent, and Muslims in the whole region stand behind the Kashmiri people."

On Monday, Al-Qaraar, another militant organisation, released a video pledging alliance to the Islamic States head Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, according to a report in Scroll.

In that video, an armed militant who called himself Abu-ul-Braa Kashmiri urged Zakir Musa to join the jihadist group Islamic State. The video appeared to have been shot near the Jamia Masjid in Srinagar using a handheld camera.

According to a report in The Hindu, the Al-Qaraar group released a poster that carried threats of attacks in India on 3 December. Both terrorist groups  Islamic State and Al-Qaeda  have been posting several provocative messages to promote their propaganda in India, as per the report.

The Indian security establishment is particularly concerned with Al-Qaraar, which has been posting Kashmir-centric messages, an unidentified senior officer told The Hindu.
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday, taking to social media, slammed Union minister Anant Kumar Hegdes remarks on the Constitution, saying Hindutvavadis want to convert India into a 'Hindu Pakistan'.

Tharoot tweeted:

Many have pointed out that the Constitution has been amended 100+times. Govt is fully entitled to propose amendements. It is the intent that matters. The Hindutvavadis reject the idea that our nation is a territory &all the people in it. They want HinduRashtra: a Hindu Pakistan

 Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) December 27, 2017

Tharoor's remarks come after Hegde said that while the BJP respects the word secular, it came to power to change the Constitution.

"People agree with the word secular as it is mentioned in the Constitution. It (the Constitution) has changed many times before and we have come to change the Constitution," Hegde said at an event in Kuknur in Karnataka's Koppal district.

Those who call themselves secular are like people "without parentage", the minister added.

The Opposition, reacting sharply to Hegde's comments, demanded his resignation, and forced repeated adjournments in both Houses of the Parliament.

Leader of the Opposition and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad asked if a minister who did not believe in the Constitution had the right to remain a minister.

Naresh Agarwal of the Samajwadi Party said the Constitution was the Ramayana and Bhagavad Gita of democracy and any minister who abused it and its founder Babasaheb Ambedkar should be removed.

The BJP distanced itself from Hegde's remarks, saying his comments did not reflect the party's ideology.

"The party (BJP) doesn't want to get involved with what Hegde has said. What he spoke about is not an issue for us," BJP spokesperson for Karnataka Vamanacharya told IANS.

With inputs from agencies
New Delhi: The government will make a statement in the Lok Sabha on Thursday on the treatment meted out by Pakistan to the family members of Kulbhushan Jadhav, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Wednesday.

During the Zero Hour, members of various political parties, including the Congress, Shiv Sena, Trinamool Congress and AIADMK, strongly protested the way Jadhav's family members were treated by Pakistan authorities when they had gone there to meet Jadhav, who is languishing in a Pakistani prison.

Swaraj, who was present in the House, said a statement on the issue would be made on Thursday. While strongly criticising the happenings, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge demanded that Jadhav should be brought back. Shiv Sena's Arvind Sawant also raised the issue and said India should not keep silent in the matter.

Describing Pakistan as "hypocritical", Trinamool Congress leader Saugata Roy said the incident should be criticised and demanded that Swaraj should speak on the issue. Condemning the incident, AIADMK M Thambidurai said asking a woman to remove her 'mangal sutra' is an insult to the country.

The meeting between Jadhav and his mother and wife took place on 25 December at the Pakistani foreign affairs ministry in Islamabad after repeated requests by India for family access.

Jadhav, who was arrested in March, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying, an accusation that India has dismissed as concocted.

On Tuesday, India accused Pakistan of violating mutual understanding on Jadhav's meeting with his family, and said the Indian national appeared coerced and under considerable stress during the tightly-controlled interaction. Pakistan went so far as to have the mangal sutra, bangles and bindi of his mother and wife removed before they could meet him, the external affairs ministry had said on Tuesday.
Jaipur: The highly-contagious swine flu virus has hit Rajasthan hard, and 253 deaths have been reported since the start of 2017 in the state, an official said on Tuesday.

"From the start of this year till 26 December, 253 people have died due to swine flu in the state. Besides this, 3,380 have been found H1N1 positive," an official of the Medical and Health Department official told IANS in Jaipur.

On Monday, 15 new cases of swine flu were reported from Jaipur alone. Health department officials say that as the day and night temperature will fall, there will be chances of more cases.

At least one legislator and one Rajasthan Administrative Service (RAS) officer have died due to swine flu in the state so far.

In the RAS Training School in Jaipur, seven trainee officers were detected with swine flu virus few days back. Besides this, recently three medical students, and couple of senior doctors of the government-run SMS Hospital in Jaipur have been found suffering from swine flu.

In 2015, swine flu had hit the state hard as over 6,800 swine flu positive cases were reported in the state and death toll was 468.

To curb the spread of the disease, the government has launched a poster and video campaign aimed at educating people on swine flu. Government hospitals all over the state have been asked to keep full stock of medicines used for treatment of H1N1 influenza.

A survey of 50 houses situated near the house where a positive case of swine flu has been reported is also being undertaken.
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is set to get relief in a 22-year-old case against him and a dozen others for defying prohibitory orders as the state government has ordered its withdrawal.

The case against the chief minister, who now also holds the home department portfolio, and Union minister Shiv Pratap Shukla, BJP MLA Sheetal Pandey and 10 others was filed at Gorakhpur's Pipiganj police station in 27 May, 1995, for holding a meeting in violation of prohibitory orders.

The state government order to withdraw the case against the chief minister was issued last week, just a day before the Uttar Pradesh Criminal Law (Composition of Offences and Abatement of Trials) (Amendment) Bill, 2017 was tabled in the state Assembly.

Before the bill was tabled, Adityanath told the House that 20,000 "politically-motivated" cases were filed across the state over protest demonstrations.

The amendment to the law would end all the cases pending before magistrates till 31 December 2015, he said.

Gorakhpur Additional District Magistrate, City, Rajneesh Chandra told PTI that the order for filing an application to withdraw the case from the court had been received from the state headquarters.

The prosecution officer has been asked to file the withdrawal application in the appropriate court, he added.

According to records of the Pipiganj police station in Gorakhpur district, the case under IPC section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) was filed against Adityanath and others on 27 May, 1995 for holding a meeting in Pipiganj town despite prohibitory orders issued by the administration.

Gorakhpur is Adityanath's home turf and he represented the Lok Sabha constituency for five terms before being appointed the chief minister earlier this year.

The case was pending in a local court which had earlier directed that non-bailable warrants (NBWs) be issued against the accused for non-appearance.
New Delhi,: It was a meeting between Union minister Vijay Goel and Manmohan Singh last week that initiated the process to break the government-opposition deadlock in the Rajya Sabha, a top government official said on Monday.

The proceedings of both the Houses of Parliament were disrupted for nearly two weeks over remarks by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Gujarat Assembly election campaign. He had criticised his predecessor Singh for attending a secret" dinner with senior Pakistan officials at former Union minister Mani Shankar Aiyar's residence.

According to the official, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Goel reached out to the former prime minister and showed him the copy of Modi's speech and convinced him that no derogatory references were made to him.

"Singh then agreed to end the deadlock with a statement from the government," the official claimed. Goel's meeting with Singh was followed by a meeting of Leader of the Upper house Arun Jaitley and Goel with Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad and Congress leader Anand Sharma at Azad's residence. The process culminated in a statement today by Jaitley, who said the prime minister has never questioned Singh's integrity and commitment to the nation. However, ahead of Jaitley's statement, there was a small disagreement between the two sides over its formulation that was resolved with the intervention of Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu.

Naidu suggested to the government to drop the contentious word and the government relented, they said. Reacting to Jaitley's statement, Azad said the Congress does not approve of any remarks made against the prime minister, apparently in a reference to the "neech" remark made by Aiyar.
Mumbai is India's fourth largest city, with a total area of 603 square kilometres. It is one of the country's most populous cities, home to 31,700 people per square kilometre. Mumbai also has an alarmingly high number of reported cases of child sex abuse (more than 670 in 2014 and 2015). Some reports suggest that every second child has faced some form of sexual abuse or harassment. The number of rape cases have reportedly only increased in the last few years, and the rise has been the sharpest in Maharashtra. Undoubtedly, a significant number of these victims will be children, who are soft targets.

Self-sabotage, inability to perform, and a tendency to withdraw are only a handful of the harrowing after-effects that survivors of CSA go through.

Which makes this statistic worrying: There is only one psychiatrist for every three lakh people in Mumbai, and most of them are located in urban areas.

One would imagine that a city as prosperous and urbane as Mumbai would be better equipped to help these individuals to lead a more adjusted life, but this is far from the truth. "The number of cases is so staggeringly large that authorities sometimes have no clue about where to rehabilitate all these survivors," informs Rajeshwari Chandrasekar, Chief of Field Office for UNICEF Maharashtra.

The magnitude of this problem is not directly proportional to the dialogue surrounding it. CSA continues to remain a hush-hush topic that is still not spoken about in most schools or even families, especially when the perpetrator is a relative or parent. "CSA has various forms and faces, and it can happen anywhere. Online, it gets murkier and can increase if Internet usage is not regulated," added Rajeshwari.

She highlighted that India is a signatory to the UN convention which talks about the protection of children against sexual abuse, which means that the policy framework to deal with this issue is in place. "There has been an increase in legislation in this space. We need to remember that reporting cases is still the the tip of the ice berg," asserted Rajeshwari. Apart from the prevention of such crimes and early detection of symptoms in children, helping them cope with mental trauma is another aspect that is integral to fighting CSA.

HEAL, a project under The Foundation, conducted a study to understand Mumbai's ability to aid survivors of CSA. In a recent event, the author of the report and its lead researcher Radhika Raturi, Rahul Bose, actor and founder of The Foundation, Neerja Birla, the director of MPower, and Rajeshwari, along with Dr Avinash Supe, Director, Medical Education and Major Hospitals, MCGM, discussed this issue and possible solutions.

This report aimed to assess the quality and accessibility of support that is being provided to CSA survivors in terms of their mental health. This was achieved through a triangulation of data, which included inputs from mental health professionals (MHPs), adult survivors of CSA, and stakeholders, such as NGOs and the police.

The researchers identified 500 MHPs in the city. Notably, only 80 of them responded, and 19 of these did not deal with cases of CSA. The MHPs' own observations from 7,000 cases served as material to understand survivors' state of mind. 19 adult survivors also participated in the study, which provided insight into what survivors go through. 19 can seem like a drop in the ocean when it is estimated that nearly 4 million children are sexually abused in Mumbai alone, but lead researcher Radhika asserted that the survivors' accounts allowed them to make important inferences about the population at large. However, not one parent or guardian of a child who has been sexually abused came forward.

The findings of this research are telling of the lack of understanding about mental health, as well as the stigma attached to CSA.

"83 percent of survivors did not disclose that they had been abused when the abuse occurred, though 66 percent did speak about it during adulthood," said Radhika.

Survivors in the age category of zero to five years are the worst affected, because they are at a pre-verbal stage when it is difficult for them to articulate what happened to them.

The study found that a significant number of MHPs do not possess the requisite skills that are necessary to help survivors deal with the trauma that accompanies CSA. Not just this, the researchers also said that many MHPs don't know how to deal with children adequately well. To make matters worse, there is an absence of a formal system of referrals. "This means that it is not easy for a psychiatrist who feels out of their depth to easily refer the survivor to someone who will be able to help them," said Radhika.

They found that the major reasons why survivors stop going for therapy are the belief that therapy is not needed or that it is not leading to progress, distance of mental health practitioner's clinic to one's home and the finances involved. On the part of stakeholders such as the police, the researchers found that there seems to be a lack of understanding about what counselling entails. "There's also a denial of what the long-term effects of CSA can be on mental health, and these views are held by people in significant positions," Radhika added.

Contrary to popular belief, CSA is not a problem that is limited to lower socio-economic strata of society. However, there is a marked difference in the way that survivors and their families seek help. "While those who are from the lower socio-economic strata oftentimes do not consider therapy as an option they must opt for, the well-to-do prefer private practitioners to government hospitals and NGOs," she explained. It is the middle class that relies largely on the stakeholders who were part of this study.

The researchers found that anxiety, mood disorders and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are the major consequences of CSA. Most survivors begin to experience PTSD about 6 to 12 years after the incident/s of abuse, which they found is one of the reasons why many survivors don't report abuse when it has been inflicted upon them.

Another reason why survivors consider coming forward in their 20s and 30s may be the autonomy that comes with being a young adult, as well as the freedom to spend one's money without having to offer explanations to one's family.

Sexual experiences and encounters which may trigger previous memories are also a reason why young adulthood is the stage when survivors come forward. "Many times, the survivor visits the mental health professional with a different problem, and it only emerges later that the real cause is sexual abuse they were subjected to as children," Radhika explained.

Dialogue about CSA inevitably involves a discussion on Section 19 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), which makes it mandatory for anyone who is aware of an act of sexual abuse committed against a child to report it to the police. If they fail to do this, they could be fined and imprisoned for up to six months, or both. Members of the panel and the audience who work with NGOs all said that their own confidentiality clauses prompt them to respect the victim's wishes with respect to filing a police report, but that this law oftentimes puts them in a quandary.

"One of the merits of mandatory reporting is that it has pushed schools in particular to take up the issue, so they are conducting more awareness workshops, and there's more conversation around the subject. The fact that the abuser is to blame is becoming more normalised; victim blaming is reducing. But reporting at the outset is still quite low," said Suchismita Bose, Advisor to The Foundation.

But not all the findings are bleak; they also found that counselling was received well by many of the survivors. To a certain extent, it has helped them to answer questions such as "What help is expected of the MHP?" Radhika informed, "Many are looking for symptomatic relief, and this is true of adult survivors too." They also observed that a significant number of MHPs offer free treatment, and that 50 percent give therapy to perpetrators. "This is a progressive way of looking at the problem and it shows that incarceration is not the only solution," she explained. Additionally, they found that cognitive behavioural therapy and art therapy are among the preferred choices of therapy options.

A little known fact that the report shed light on is that counselling CSA survivors can cause burnout in MHPs.

"These are the cases that they find the most difficult to navigate, and several times, they feel that they lack the skills to help the survivor," said Radhika. The researchers advocated for more awareness sessions where MHPs can learn about how to help children work through and deal with trauma.

When it comes to schools, the possible solutions are better classes on sexual literacy and more thorough sessions on the difference between a safe and unsafe touch, the creation of a non-stigmatising environment, and the preparation of all staff members to serve as first responders. For teachers and for parents, it is of utmost importance to know what the signs of abuse are, and to treat them with seriousness. "Most survivors don't know who they should speak to. Even when they have spoken about it, the response they received was not positive. This causes them to close up even further. Abuse at the hands of a family member poses an even larger hindrance," said Suchismita.

The recent case of the rape and murder of a Ryan International school student has shown how difficult it can be to ensure that a spectacle is not created. "It's nearly impossible to keep this information contained, especially when teachers have to be told to pay attention to the child or when the child has to go for tests. But it is of essence to aid the child to deal with the trauma," says Suchismita. Radhika echoes this sentiment. "The main idea is to make people understand that there is no shame in reporting abuse. You un-shroud the issue to make the survivor feel comfortable, to capacitate and strengthen them. This is not the end of the child's life, and that is what we want to say through the report," she said.
On Kangaroo Island, 4,500 people coexist with an array of wildlife, flora and fauna. The island is Australia's third largest, and is a great place for naturalists, wildlife enthusiasts and children to see many animals in their natural habitat. On a walk through Lathami Conservation Park, you might see wallabies taking shelter from the days heat, and protecting themselves from eagles that our guide tells us, swoop down to prey on them. The animals, which seem to be a cross between a kangaroo, rat and rabbit, are tough to spot at first, but soon you learn to distinguish their angular faces amidst the woody undergrowth in which they can be found during the day. For the most part, theyre not scared by the humans hovering a safe distance away, though they can be protective of their joeys, who have just moved out of the pouches and out into the world.

The same can be said of the other wildlife of the island. There are kangaroos, which look curiously at the human interlopers that have made their way to spot the large mammals, but also koalas, echidnas and more. The echidna  a spiny round ball with a long snout  is tough to spot, but if youre lucky you will see them while making your way through the island. We spent a day on tour with Exceptional Kangaroo Island, and our guide Luke, did a great job of pointing out the different big animals, but also the bird species that make their home on Kangaroo Island. The biggest national park on the island, Flinders Chase National Park is home to different species of animals, and is a great place to spend some time hiking as well. He did warn us though, that platypuses which are also found only in Australia, are incredibly tough to spot, and thats one animal we didnt see throughout or two week long trip to Australia.

The best way to experience the topography of the island though is to make your way through it on the back of an off-road vehicle, as you tear through mud, rock and dirt, stopping to see kangaroos and koalas in their natural habitat. We spent two hours with Kangaroo Island Outdoor Action as cut a wide circle around the island, ripping past rustling foliage and learning to change gears while also keeping an eye out for the animals that we were hoping to see.

Not to be missed is Seal Bay, where numerous wild Australian sea lions come to shore to rest and spend time with their pups. Besides the animals, who are close enough to snap numerous photos of, theres gorgeous scenery to take in, though be warned, it can get quite windy, so be adequately clad.

Back on the mainland, in and around Adelaide, there are other options for those looking to see, and feed the animals. The zoo, which is close to the CBD, has a pair of giant pandas (the only ones in the southern hemisphere), but a better bet is Gorge Wildlife Park, which is a where you will see everything from white kangaroos (they exist) to bats and more. An added bonus is the ability to feed the kangaroos and wallabies in the park, and get clicked with a koala bear, who will find the eucalyptus branch youre holding on to far more interesting than anything you will do.

Home to exotic animals not seen down under, you can also spot peacocks, lemurs, reptiles and two very curious camels. Its fitting that the park has a range of creatures on display, as it was started by a family taking in exotic pets that people could not take care of. From there, the park has grown into a haven for animal lovers, and a safe home for the animals themselves  as they are looked after and cared for by the conscientious team.

A trip to South Australia would be incomplete without seeing the teeming wildlife, especially since so much of Australias wildlife has evolved differently, into animals that cannot be seen elsewhere, except in captivity. At Gorge Wildlife Park, and locations all over Kangaroo Island, you get to see the animals up close, and appreciate their special adaptations, that have allowed Australia to become home to so many unique species.

In part 2 of this South Australia travelogue, we look at wine tourism.
New Delhi: After victories in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, BJP chief Amit Shah will visit Karnataka on 31 December to review the party's organisational work in the Congress-ruled state which faces assembly polls in the first half of next year.

During the visit Shah is expected to hold a meeting of legislators and MPs and of party's core committee.

The visit comes in the backdrop of BJP's Karnataka unit and the ruling Congress blaming each other on the deadlock over getting Mahadayi river water from neighbouring Goa to the four drought-hit districts in the state's northern region. Goa is ruled by the BJP.

The 77 kilometer-long Mahadayi or Mandovi river originates at Bhimgad in the Western Ghats in Belagavi district of north-west Karnataka and flows into the neighbouring Goa and eventually joins the Arabian Sea.

Karnataka has been asking Goa since 2001 to release 7.6 thousand million cubic feet of the river water to meet the drinking needs of its people in Hubballi-Dharwad, Gadag, Bagalkote and Belagavi districts and irrigating their farmlands.

Karnataka is one of the two major states ruled by Congress and the BJP is making efforts to wrest the state.
For the first time since the Winter Session of Parliament began, the government on Wednesday issued a statement saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not question his predecessor Manmohan Singh's commitment to India.

"Prime minister in his speeches didn't question, nor meant to question the commitment to this nation of either Manmohan or Former vice-president Hamid Ansari, any such perception is erroneous, we hold these leaders in high esteem, as well as their commitment to India," The Times of India quoted Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

The Parliament has been on a deadlock after the Congress raised objections to Modi casting aspersions on Manmohan's meeting with Pakistani delegation.

In response, the Congress softened its approach towards the government. Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said,"We respect the sentiment expressed by leader of the House (Jaitley)."

The Congress also apologised for the comments made against the prime minister in the course of campaigning in Gujarat.

"From our party, I can also say that we also don't believe to demean the post of Prime Minister. So we totally disassociate ourselves with statement or comment made against PM during election, there is no scope for any derogatory remarks against prime minister," India Today quoted Azad as saying in the Upper House of Parliament.

Azad was referring to now-suspended Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar's "neech" remark against Modi.

Attacking the Congress over Aiyar's "neech" remark during a rally in Gujarat's Palanpur, Modi had claimed that Pakistan was interfering in the Gujarat elections. In his speech, he had also cast aspersions on Manmohan and Ansari and hinted at a possible collaboration between the Congress and the ISI.
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Jairam Thakur, a five-time MLA from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), will be the new chief minister of Himachal Pradesh, and will be sworn in on Wednesday.

The swearing-in ceremony will take place at 11 am at Simla's historic Ridge Ground, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party president Amit Shah and chief ministers of at least 10 BJP-ruled states are expected to attend.

Thakur, known for his clean image and a subdued, non-aggressive image, won from Seraj constituency in the Assembly polls defeating Chet Ram of Congress. According to a senior BJP leader, one of the reasons why the 52-year-old BJP leader was selected for the post was that the party would not need to go through a by-election.

Thakur's name was proposed by two-time former chief minister PK Dhumal and seconded by Union minister JP Nadda and another two-time chief minister Shanta Kumar. Thakur met Governor Acharya Devvrat on Sunday to formally stake claim to form the new government in the hill state.

Would have been happy if my father had been alive, says Thakur

The chief ministers of at least 10 BJP-ruled states are likely to attend the swearing-in ceremony. However, Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje is not expected to make it to the swearing-in ceremony due to fever and an sprained ankle, reported IANS.

Jairam Thakur said that his top priorities would be restoring law and order situation, to do away with the VIP culture, to review all decisions of the previous Congress government in past three months, to minimise wasteful expenditure and to develop tourism infrastructure.

However, this does not seem to be the case in Himachal Pradesh as only 9 to 10 BJP chief ministers are likely to attend the swearing-in ceremony. Vasundhara Raje is likely to not attend the event as she has fallen ill.

By inviting chief ministers of all 18 states (19th state would be Gujarat where the ceremony was being held) and other coalition leaders at the Centre, the BJP showcased the ruling NDA's pan-India spread, this article in Firstpost noted. At present, BJP rules 14 states on its own and reigns in five in an alliance. Which explains the BJP's ability to stitch political and social coalitions and run them successfully.

Thakur was a minister in the earlier BJP government and with the exception of a bypoll he lost to Virbhadra Singhs wife Pratibha Singh in the Mandi constituency in 2014, his record in the Assembly election has been stellar.

Thakur was born in Mandi district in 1965. His father, who was a farmer, had to make ends meet to feed three sons and two daughters. His father and brothers worked in the fields to provide Thakur with an education. Their efforts paid off as Thakur acquired an MA degree from Panjab University in Chandigarh.

Central ministers who are likely to attend the ceremony include Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh and Thawar Chand Gehlot, reports Financial Express.

The senior BJP leader has been inducted in the Himachal Pradesh cabinet as a minister.

Chaudhary is the only woman in the 11-member cabinet of Himachal Pradesh.

Virender Kanwar, who won from Kutlehar seat, had earlier offered to resign as a MLA to allow PK Dhumal to become the chief minister.

Govind Thakur, who has been elected from Manali constituency, took the oath in Sanskrit language.

Rajeev Saijal is the last minister to take oath as minister

All ministers take a group photo with the governor as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The senior BJP leader has been inducted in the Himachal Pradesh cabinet as a minister.

Chaudhary is the only woman in the 11-member cabinet of Himachal Pradesh.

Virender Kanwar, who won from Kutlehar seat, had earlier offered to resign as a MLA to allow PK Dhumal to become the chief minister.

Govind Thakur, who has been elected from Manali constituency, took the oath in Sanskrit language.

Rajeev Saijal is the last minister to take oath as minister

All ministers take a group photo with the governor as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Jairam Thakur will be sworn-in as Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday. The ceremony, which is expected to be brief, will be held at the historic Ridge Ground in Shimla at 11 am, reported NDTV. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and chief ministers of at least 10 BJP-ruled states are likely to attend the swearing-in ceremony.

Elaborate security arrangements are being made for the swearing-in ceremony and the prime minister is likely to address people at the Ridge.

The five-time MLA from Seraj in Mandi was elected leader of the BJP legislature party on Sunday after the party ousted the Congress from power in the state by winning 44 out of the 68 seats in the Assembly polls. The 52-year-old Thakur is the youngest to head the government and belongs to the Rajput community, which has a significant presence in the hill state.

"The cabinet will have both experienced and new faces," Thakur told reporters here in his first official interaction with reporters a day after being elected as the BJP Legislature Party leader in the Assembly. However, Thakur, a confidant of Union Health Minister JP Nadda, refused to comment on the size of the cabinet and to reveal the names of his cabinet colleagues.

Thakur said that his top priorities would be restoring law and order situation, to do away with the VIP culture, to review all decisions of the previous Congress government in past three months, to minimise wasteful expenditure and to develop tourism infrastructure.

The likely new ministers in his 11-member cabinet are former Cabinet ministers Rajeev Bindal, Kishan Kapoor, Sarveen Chaudhary, Mohinder Singh, Congress rebel Anil Sharma, Narinder Bragta and Ramesh Dhawala and new faces could comprise Gobind Thakur, Vikram Jaryal, Rakesh Pathania and Rajeev Sahjal, IANS reported.

Sarveen Chaudhary, if inducted, will be the lone woman minister in the cabinet.

With inputs from agencies
Jai Ram Thakur's anointment as Himachal Pradesh chief minister can be attributed to the quirk of fate. He was nowhere in the leadership race in the run-up to the polls, nor he had any overt inclination to pitch for the top post.

On 18 December when the last rounds of votes were being counted it was clear that the BJP was winning the elections hands down but its chief ministerial candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal was losing, political circles in Himachal Pradesh was stirred by the "leak" of "secret" information that the five-time MLA from Seraj in Mandi region Jai Ram Thakur had been summoned to New Delhi by the party leadership.

Though nobody had a definite idea as to why he rushed to New Delhi, the developing circumstancesDhumal and some other prominent leaders in BJP losing their electionsthere was a buzz that luck could smile on Thakur. BJP has seen a series of surprise elevations like Yogi Adityanath, Manoharlal Khattar and Devendra Fadnavis in the last couple of years. Soon it was apparent that Thakur would join that list and was going to don the mantle of the chief minister.

Even as the party leadership took some time to name him for the top post and let the left outs vent their anger whereby the leadership could assess and if the need be undertake firefighting measures but in the end it made everyone know that its decision taken on day one was final.

The swearing-in ceremony at the historic Ridge Maidan in Shimla was a gala affair as has become the norm in all BJP-ruled states.

Now that Thakur has assumed the office of the chief minister by a luck by chance situation, it is upto him to turn the challenge before him into an opportunity for himself and his party.

A retired Himachal Pradesh government official who was present at the swearing-in ceremony was optimistic about the prospects under Thakurs leadership. He has been there on such occasions before and the first change that he noted on Wednesday was not so much about the massive crowd that had gathered there but it was for the first time when ministers (in BJP governments) after taking oath didnt touch the feet of the chief minister and other top party leaders. Looks like that charan sparsh (touching feet) has gone for the good, he said. One reason for that could be the relatively young age of the chief minister. At 52, Thakur is either younger to some of his ministerial colleagues, contemporary to some others or is slightly older to the remaining ones. But then the newly sworn-in ministers didnt touch the feet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah or party veteran LK Advani.

After assuming office Thakur said he would see that "VIP culture" ends in the state and that "tired and retired" persons wouldnt get post-retirement extensions and re-appointment in the state government.

It appears as though by making Thakur the chief minister, Modi-Shah duo have signalled a change of an era in the hill state. It is not just about the age of the new chief minister but also about the overall choice in the government formation. Of the 11 ministers sworn-in on Wednesday, seven have never held any ministerial post in the past. Dhumal and Union Health Minister JP Nadda may have been consulted but as local BJP leaders point out the duo certainly cant claim that they had their say in government formation. Modi and Shah dont want any confusion in the party ranks as to who is now in control in Shimla.

Modi and Shah are seeking to prepare a long-term leadership in Himachal Pradesh. Thakur, whose initial grooming has been in the ABVP and RSS, is sure to see that it happens that way.

Dhumals loss in these elections could prove to be a blessing in disguise for the party. Dhumal is 73 and in the next two years, he would be 75 years old. If he had won and become the chief minister in the next two years, he would have attained the retirement age, as per partys unwritten code and that would have led to a war of succession among the aspirants.

Himachal Pradesh BJP had so far been dominated by Shanta Kumar and the Dhumal faction. Nadda was the third pole. Kumar is 83 and though he still has his pockets of influence, he has almost retired from active politics. Circumstances have forced Dhumal into retirement. That leaves Nadda and Anurag Thakur in the reckoning but for now, they have to focus on national politics.
Jairam Thakur, a five-time MLA from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), will be the new chief minister of Himachal Pradesh, and will be sworn in on Wednesday.

The swearing-in ceremony will take place at 11 am at Simla's historic Ridge Ground, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party president Amit Shah and chief ministers of other BJP-ruled states are expected to attend.

The ceremony is expected to be brief, said the news agency PTI, adding that some ministers will take oath with Thakur but their names are yet to be finalised. Modi is also expected to address people at the venue, it said.

It will be for the first time that a prime minister will be attending a swearing-in ceremony of a Himachal Pradesh chief minister, said ANI.

Thakur, known for his clean image and a subdued, non-aggressive image, won from Seraj constituency in the Assembly polls defeating Chet Ram of Congress. According to a senior BJP leader, one of the reasons why the 52-year-old BJP leader was selected for the post was that the party would not need to go through a by-election.

Thakur's name was proposed by two-time former chief minister PK Dhumal and seconded by Union minister JP Nadda and another two-time chief minister Shanta Kumar. Thakur met Governor Acharya Devvrat on Sunday to formally stake claim to form the new government in the hill state.

In his first remarks after he was elected the BJP legislature party leader, Thakur thanked all party leaders, including Modi, Shah, Nadda, Dhumal and Kumar. "We will try to meet the expectations of the people of Himachal Pradesh. Our dream of a Congress-free Himachal Pradesh has been realised," Thakur then said while speaking to the media.

He will be the first chief minister from Mandi, the second biggest district of Himachal after Kangra. In these elections, the BJP won nine out of 10 Assembly seats in Mandi. Earlier chief ministers of Himachal hailed from Shimla, Kangra and Sirmaur districts. Thakur was also a cabinet minister in the BJP government in the state from 2007 to 2012, under then chief minister Dhumal.

With inputs from agencies
New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily hit out at the government, accusing it of "diplomatic failure", after Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother and wife were harassed by the Pakistani side during their meeting with the Indian national in Islamabad.

Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal hit back at the Congress, saying she does not know to what level the Opposition party can fall, if it could not come together on the issue of treatment of women by a "terrorist" country which always worked towards harming India.

The war of words came in the backdrop of Pakistan's harassment of Jadhav's mother and wife. Pakistan went so far as to have the mangal sutra, bangles and bindi of his mother and wife removed before they met him on Monday. Moily told a television channel that the external affairs ministry should have ensured the right kind of arrangement or protocol for the meeting.

"It (the manner in which Jadhav's family was treated) is absolutely inhuman and violated all codes and ethics of protocol," he said. Moily also said that the external affairs ministry should have spoken with its Pakistani counterpart or Prime Minister Narendra Modi should have taken up the matter with the Pakistani premier.

"This was a total diplomatic failure," Moily said. Badal slammed Congress's reaction as "very shameful and extremely sad". She criticised Pakistan for the treatment meted out to Jadhav's family, saying the neighbouring country stands exposed in front of the entire world.

Pakistan cannot make India "weaker" by doing such things, she told a TV channel. "In fact, our resolve of giving (it) back to them is being strengthened," she said, adding that other nations were also alligning with India against such treatment.
New Delhi: Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday took a swipe at the government's statement in Rajya Sabha that Narendra Modi has never questioned Manmohan Singh's integrity, saying thanks for reminding India that the prime minister "never means what he says or says what he means".

Rahul's dig came hours after the Leader of the House Arun Jaitley made a short statement in Rajya Sabha to end the impasse over Modi's remarks against his predecessor made during the Gujarat polls campaign.

Dear Mr Jaitlie - thank you for reminding India that our PM never means what he says or says what he means. #BJPLies pic.twitter.com/I7n1f07GaX  Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) December 27, 2017

The Congress president also attached with his tweet a video of the prime minister's speech at a poll rally in which he made the "conspiracy with Pakistan" remarks against Singh, along with Jaitley's statement made in the House.

In Rajya Sabha, Finance Minister Jaitley said Modi in his statements and speeches, "did not question nor did he mean to question the commitment to this nation either by Manmohan Singh, the former Prime Minister, or Hamid Ansari, the former vice-president."

"Any such perception is completely erroneous. We hold these leaders in high esteem, as also their commitment to this nation," Jaitley said.

Wednesday's statement came after the opposition and the ruling party leaders worked out a way to resolve the impasse in Parliament, after a series of meetings.
Ghaziabad: The ruling BJP in Uttar Pradesh has removed its Ghaziabad city president Ajay Sharma after he, along with over a hundred others, clashed with police over the marriage of a Hindu woman with a Muslim man which they dubbed as a case of "love jihad".

The state party President Mahendra Nath Pandey took the decision at 11 pm on Tuesday.

The letter, signed by state General Secretary Vidya Shankar Sonkar, said in view of the protest against the inter-religious marriage, Sharma has been removed from his post. The letter also states that Man Singh Goswami, the city general secretary, has been appointed as city president. Goswami took charge at 11:30 pm on Tuesday.

On 22 December, the woman's family had organised a wedding reception at their house in Ghaziabad.

Over 100 workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party and other Hindu outfits, including the Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal and Jai Shiv Sena, staged a sit-in outside the house in Raj Nagar, protesting the wedding, and disrupted traffic.

Police said they removed the protesters by using mild force on the grounds that they were trying to interfere in the personal lives of individuals.

"How can the police allow people to barge into someone's house? We got a distress call and we performed our duty," said Senior Superintendent of Police HN Singh.

Later in the day, a criminal case was registered against Sharma and over 100 others for the clash with police and rioting over the marriage.

The FIR was lodged under sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 336 (endangering life of others), 341 (wrongful restraint), 427 (causing damage), 353 (assault) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 7 of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act (loitering or intimidating).

The police filed a complaint from the bride's father also in support of its own FIR.

The bride's father Pushpendra Kumar told IANS: "I received phone calls asking me to stop the marriage. But both (bride and bridegroom) are mature enough to know what's wrong and what's right. I don't see any 'love jihad' in it."

Bride Nupur Singhal is a psychologist with a PhD in Human Psychology, while her husband Mansoor Harhat Khan holds a Master's in Business Administration and works with a private company. His family originally hails from Aligarh, though his father lives in Delhi but owns a house in Noida as well.

According to Pushpendra Kumar, the boy even offered to marry as per Hindu rituals. "But neither the groom's family nor ours put any conditions and left it to the girl and the boy, and they went for a court marriage," the father added.

The woman is the granddaughter of retired IAS officer Rajendra Kumar who was the District Magistrate here in 1990.
tech2 News Staff

Google is celebrating the 220th birth anniversary of one of the most iconic Urdu poets, Mirza Ghalib, who was popularly known by one of his pen-names Ghalib which means 'dominant'. Ghalib was born on 27 December 1797 and named as Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan in Agra, Uttar Pradesh during the reign of Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah.

The Google Doodle shows Ghalib looking out of one of the arched windows of a palace, holding a pen and paper as though he is set to pen down some memorable couplet or two. In the background we see a pink sky and minarets to the right-hand side, placing this scene somewhere in Delhi, where the poet spent most of his productive years.

Ghalib was educated in Persian, Urdu and Arabic. Many of his verses are characterised by sadness borne from the difficult experiences of his life. The iconic Urdu poet was orphaned at early age and also lost seven of his infant children. He also witnessed the fall of Mughal rule in India.

According to the post on Google, Ghalib struggled financially, never had a full-time job and survived on the patronage of royalty and affluent friends. His contribution to poetry and prose was not fully appreciated during his lifetime, but it began getting traction only posthumously. His prose has been converted into memorable Ghazals.

Ghalib was given the title of "Dabir-ul-Mulk" and "Najm-ud-daula" by the then Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar II. Despite all the financial difficulties and emotional turmoil, Ghalib navigated his life with wit, intellect and a love for life.

Ghalib died at the age of 71 in the house 'Ghalib ki Haveli' located at Chandni Chowk in Old Delhi. The house has now been converted into a museum and attracts a lot of travellers from India and abroad.

You can check out the early concepts of the Doodle on the doodle archives page. The reach of this doodle is limited to the Indian sub-continent.

His contributions still inspire many of us. Here are a few examples of the lines penned by this great Urdu poet.

hazaron khvahishen aisi ki har khvahish pe dam nikle

bahut nikle mere arman lekin phir bhi kam nikle

(I have a thousand yearnings , each one afflicts me so

Many were fulfilled for sure, not enough although)

bas-ki dushvar hai har kaam ka asan hona

aadmi ko bhi mayassar nahin insan hona

(Tis difficult that every goal be easily complete

For a man, too, to be human, is no easy feat)

Source: Rekhta
IANS

Former US President Barack Obama has warned against the irresponsible use of social media that fosters division and leads to the "Balkanisation of society", in what was seen as a dig at his successor and prolific tweeter Donald Trump.

Obama was speaking to Britain's Prince Harry in an interview for the BBC's Radio 4 Today programme which was broadcast on Wednesday morning.

Obama warned that the internet risked reinforcing people's prejudices and leading to a fractured society. "All of us in leadership have to find ways in which we can recreate a common space on the internet."

He expressed concern about a future where facts are discarded and people only read and listen to things that reinforce their own views.

"One of the dangers of the internet is that people can have entirely different realities. They can be cocooned in information that reinforces their current biases," he said.

Obama did not mention Trump by name during the interview, which he said was his first since leaving office. However, Trump's campaign and presidency have been characterized by his outspoken use of Twitter.

"The question has to do with how do we harness this technology in a way that allows a multiplicity of voices, allows a diversity of views, but doesn't lead to a Balkanisation of society and allows ways of finding common ground," Obama said in the interview, which was taped in September.

Asked how he felt on the day he left office in January, Obama described mixed feelings. "The sense that there was a completion, and that we had done the work in a way that preserved our integrity and that we hadn't fundamentally changed, I think was a satisfying feeling," he said.

"That was mixed with all the work that was still undone and concerns about how the country moves forward. But overall there was a serenity there."

Obama also paid tribute to former First Lady Michelle Obama, describing her as a "spectacular, funny, warm person" who despite not being politically inclined herself had supported him throughout the process.

After quizzing Obama, Prince Harry said: "I haven't done that many interviews but it was quite fun, especially interviewing President Obama despite the fact he wanted to interview me."
tech2 News Staff

OnePlus is likely to launch Android Oreo-based Opera Beta for its latest flagship, the OnePlus 5T, by the end of the year. The company promised that it will soon start the Open Beta program for the 5T and it seems like it is planning to deliver on its promise before year end.

The official OnePlus accounts for Netherlands and Germany have posted a teaser on the upcoming Open Beta program that will finally give OnePlus 5T users, a taste of Oreo goodness. According to Google translate, the tweet says that the company is readying a "present" or a "surprise" for its 5T users. Even though the version of OxygenOS released as part of the Open Beta program is in, well, beta, a stable release will not be far behind.

Weihnachten ist zwar vorbei, aber wir haben trotzdem ein Geschenk fur euch!  Wie war's mit der Open Beta fur Android Oreo auf dem #OnePlus5T! pic.twitter.com/LvKR3A6duC  OnePlus Deutschland (@OnePlus_DE) December 27, 2017

Considering the track record of OnePlus and the speed at which it releases the latest updates, we wont be surprised if the company releases the stable version of an Android Oreo-based OxygenOS for OnePlus 5 around the third or fourth week of January.

This teaser comes days after the company launched the stable Android 8.0 Oreo-based OxygenOS 5 for OnePlus 5 users. The company has still not announced any possible date for the launch of the Oreo update for its OnePlus 3 and 3T users after it pulled the update.
Reuters

South Koreas trade ministry said on Tuesday that a committee had approved LG Display Co Ltds plan to build a new organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panel production facility in China.

The approval comes five months after LG Display announced it would invest in large-size OLED production in Guangzhou, China, to respond to the fast-growing demand for the screens in TVs in overseas markets.

The ministry said in a statement that the approval was conditional on LG Display boosting the use of local materials and equipment, subsequent investment in South Korea and strengthening processes such as security checks. An LG Display spokeswoman did not have an immediate comment.
Reuters

Vietnam has unveiled a new, 10,000-strong military cyber warfare unit to counter wrong views on the Internet, media reported, amid a widening crackdown on critics of the one-party state.

The cyber unit, named Force 47, is already in operation in several sectors, Tuoi Tre newspaper quoted Lieutenant General Nguyen Trong Nghia, deputy head of the militarys political department, as saying at a conference of the Central Propaganda Department on Monday in the commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City.

In every hour, minute, and second we must be ready to fight proactively against the wrong views, the paper quoted the general as saying. Communist-ruled Vietnam has stepped up attempts to tame the internet, calling for closer watch over social networks and for the removal of content that it deems offensive, but there has been little sign of it silencing criticism when the companies providing the platforms are global.

Its neighbor China, in contrast, allows only local internet companies operating under strict rules. The number of staff compares with the 6,000 reportedly employed by North Korea. However, the generals comments suggest its force may be focused largely on domestic internet users whereas North Korea is internationally focused because the internet is not available to the public at large.

In August, Vietnams president said the country needed to pay greater attention to controlling news sites and blogs with bad and dangerous content. Vietnam, one of the top 10 countries for Facebook users by numbers, has also drafted an internet security bill asking for local placement of Facebook and Google servers, but the bill has been the subject of heated debate at the National Assembly and is still pending assembly approval.

Cybersecurity firm FireEye Inc said Vietnam had built up considerable cyber espionage capabilities in a region with relatively weak defenses. Vietnam is certainly not alone. FireEye has observed a proliferation in offensive capabilities ... This proliferation has implications for many parties, including governments, journalists, activists and even multinational firms, a spokesman at FireEye, who requested anonymity, told Reuters.

Cyber espionage is increasingly attractive to nation states, in part because it can provide access to a significant amount of information with a modest investment, plausible deniability and limited risk, he added.

Vietnam denies such charges. Vietnam has in recent months stepped up measures to silence critics. A court last month jailed a blogger for seven years for conducting propaganda against the state. In a separate, similar case last month, a court upheld a 10-year jail sentence for a prominent blogger.
Wednesday marks the 10th death anniversary of former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in Rawalpindi on 27 December, 2007, but details of the incident are as murky today as they were a decade ago, with multiple versions and conspiracy theories still doing the rounds.

A court has since dismissed charges against five alleged Taliban militants who were initially accused of being involved in the killing. This makes the two police officers, who were found guilty of "mishandling the crime scene", the only people to be convicted in the case.

However, there are several theories as well. Here are a few of them:

The CIA version

Within a month of Bhutto's killing, CIA had concluded Baitullah Mehsud, a Pakistan tribal leader, was responsible for Bhutto's killing, and that he was aided by members of Al-Qaeda. Agency director Michael V Haydentold The Washington Post in an interview in January 2008 that Bhutto was killed by fighters allied with Mehsud, a tribal leader in northwestern Pakistan, with support from Al-Qaeda's terrorist network.

Following this, the Pakistan government too appeared to back the claim. Interior minister and Bhutto's family friend Rehman Malik had the dreaded militant commander Mehsud killed Bhutto.

However, Mehsud denied any involvement in the attack on the former prime minister of Pakistan. "We don't strike women," he had said through a spokesperson.

Bhutto, who had been a fierce opponent of Islamic extremists in the country, had promised to take the fight to militants based in Pakistan's tribal belt. She was threatened by Al-Qaeda, Taliban, local jihadist groups and elements in the Pakistani establishment (reportedly).

But Pakistani investigators largely focused on lower-level operatives, paying little attention to the hierarchy in the planning, financing, and execution of the assassination.

In October 2008, Mehsud died, although the cause of his death too remains shrouded in mystery. While some, including CNN, say he died of kidney stones at the age of 34, there were also reports that said an air strike killed him in August 2009. Mehsud is said to have died when a drone plane fired two Hellfire missiles at a remote farmhouse where he was sheltering, early on Wednesday, The Guardian report said.

The United Nations theory

At the request of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) government that came into power soon after Bhutto's murder, a three-member UN team of investigators was dispatched to investigate the killing.

In its 70-page report released in 2010, the UN categorically held Musharraf's administration responsible for failing to provide Bhutto with the necessary security to ward off the attack. "Bhutto's assassination could have been prevented if adequate security measures had been taken," the report said.

The team also cited numerous failures by police to properly investigate the murder and preserve the integrity of the crime scene, as reported by AFP.

Less than two hours after the attack, senior police officer Khurram Shahzad hosed down the the scene. He was one of the two officers convicted. The second officer, then-Rawalpindi police chief Saud Aziz, refused on multiple occasions to allow an autopsy of Bhutto's body to go ahead.

The police told the UN commission that they collected just 23 pieces of evidence from the scene, "in a case where one would normally have expected thousands", according to the report.

But the UN team hinted at something beyond police incompetence, saying the official investigation was likely stifled by the country's security establishment. "These officials in part fearing intelligence agencies' involvement, were unsure of how vigorously they ought to pursue actions, which they knew, as professionals, they should have taken," it observed.

However the UN team stopped short of naming suspects in the plot to kill Bhutto, saying the responsibility lay with the Pakistani courts.

Pervez Musharraf's involvement

Back in 2013, Pakistan's former military leader Pervez Musharraf was formally charged by a court with Bhutto's murder. That added to the problems faced by Musharraf, who had only returned to Pakistan from self-imposed exile earlier that year. As reported by The Guardian, the 70-year-old retired general was charged with murder, conspiracy to murder and facilitation of murder, ending a summer where he was entangled in three court cases,barred from contesting elections and put under house arrest.

Later in 2017, a year after Musharraf slipped out of Pakistan, an anti-terrorism court declared him as being an "absconder" in the case. Musharraf was accused of conspiring to kill Bhutto because he perceived her a potential threat to his rule. He was charged with murder, the court said the trial against him would resume once he returns to Pakistan.

Nonetheless, as reported by The Guardian in a separate article, many respected lawyers say the charges in the Bhutto murder case are flimsy. They believe the prosecution will struggle to prove a link between Musharraf and the assassination of Bhutto.

But Bhutto's family and especially her son and political heir Bilawal have continued blaming Musharraf, who is currently in exile in Dubai. As reported by BBC, Bilawal said Musharraf "deliberately" sabotaged Bhutto's security. "Musharraf exploited this entire situation to assassinate my mother. He purposely sabotaged her security so that she would be assassinated and taken off the scene," he was quoted as saying.

Asif Ali Zardari's involvement

Most conspiracy theories hint at Zardari's involvement, saying since he became president after her death, he's the one who benefited the most. They also say that despite having the powers of the presidency, he failed to properly investigate the murder.

The BBC report quoted "secret official documents" relating to the investigation to show that police inquiries were so poorly managed as to suggest they never wanted to find guilty parties beyond the low-level plotters they had already arrested. Zardari has denied all the allegations, however, and said those who point to his involvement should "shut up".

But the conspiracy theories refuse to die down. Musharraf himself pointed the accusatory finger at Zardari, saying the latter is responsible not only for killing Benazir but also her brother Murtaza, who was assassinated in 1996. "Every time there is a murder, the first thing that needs to be seen is who has the most to gain from the death. In this case, I had everything to lose, as I was in power and the murder put my government in a difficult situation," the former military chief said.

"There was just one person who had everything to gain from Benazir's assassination and that was Asif Ali Zardari," he added. "Zardari was in power for five years; why did he not look into the case, why was the investigation not active? Because he was involved in Benazir's murder."

"The evidence is clear that Baitullah Mehsud and his people were involved in the murder, but who had asked them to target Benazir Bhutto? It could not have been me, the group hated me and the feeling was mutual. It is a known fact that I wanted Mehsud dead and so did the Government of Pakistan, after his group had attempted to kill me," Musharraf added.

With inputs from agencies
Beijing: China on Wednesday said Afghanistan's willingness to join the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor should not worry India and warned it against "disturbing" the key project of Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative.

A day after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China and Pakistan want Afghanistan to join the CPEC, the Foreign Ministry said Kabul is willing to join the multi-billion dollar corridor, which cuts through Pakistan-administered Kashmir claimed by India.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying sought to allay India's fear that the project was directed at it and, at the same time, warned New Delhi of not "disturbing and influencing it".

"They are willing to integrate into the regional connectivity process and they are willing to integrate into the CPEC," Hua said at the daily press conference.

However, there has been no public announcement by Afghanistan.

Hua said in the Wednesday trilateral meet of the Foreign Ministers of China, Pakistan and Afghanistan, that the three countries agreed to promote connectivity under the Belt and Road framework.

"Just as Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at the joint press conference, CPEC is not directed at the third party and we hope to bring benefit to the third party and the whole region," Hua said without naming India.

"Afghanistan is the common neighbour of China and Pakistan and it has a strong desire for developing the economy and in improving people's livelihood."

"The trilateral cooperation and dialogue is not directed at any country or any party and the dialogue and cooperation should not be influenced and disturbed," Hua said.

The CPEC  a network of highways, railways, roads and special economic zones, which connects China's Xinjiang with Pakistan's Gwadar port, is opposed by India as it passes through a part of Kashmir held by Pakistan and claimed by India.

China has always sought to allay India's apprehensions about the project, describing it purely as an economic initiative.

Beijing also says the project will not affect its neutral stance on the Kashmir issue.
Tianjin, China: A Chinese court sentenced an activist known by the online pseudonym "Super Vulgar Butcher" to eight years in prison on Tuesday after he refused to plead guilty to charges of "subverting state power".

Wu Gan, who was taken into police custody in May 2015, attracted authorities' attention with performance art and caustic commentary on Chinese society and politics that he published online.

He was "dissatisfied with the current system of governance, and that gradually produced thoughts of subverting state power," a court in Tianjin said in a statement explaining the verdict.

By "hyping up hot incidents", Wu "attacked the national system that is the basis for state authority and the constitution", the court said.

Wu also "spread fake information" and "insulted others online", the statement said.

The prominent activist, with his recognisable bald head and glasses, became the subject of the state's ire for using his larger-than-life online persona to draw public attention to human rights cases.

His nickname was a response to complaints about his use of "crude language".

He became the subject of intense scrutiny by state media in May 2015 in what many activists saw as a sign of a looming crackdown on human rights defenders.

Wu's lawyer Yan Xin said the sentence was aimed at setting "an example so other activists will say they are guilty when accused of crimes against the state".

"It's clear (Wu) was sentenced so harshly because he refused to plead guilty," he said.

The verdict came the same day as a court in Changsha elected to exempt former human rights lawyer Xie Yang from serving a sentence after he pleaded guilty to charges of "inciting subversion of state power".

Xie was released on bail in May after what critics described as a show trial.

He had previously claimed that police used "sleep deprivation, long interrogations, beatings, death threats, humiliations" on him.

But on Tuesday he denied he had been tortured, according to a video on the court's official Weibo social media account.

"On the question of torture, I produced a negative effect on and misled the public, and I again apologise," he told judges.

The court said he would face no criminal penalties following his full confession.

Both Xie and Wu were among hundreds of legal staff and activists detained in 2015's so-called "709 crackdown", where authorities detained more than 200 people, including lawyers who took on civil rights cases considered sensitive by the ruling Communist Party.
Washington: President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the FBI was "tainted" and used a "bogus" dossier to investigate his alleged links to Russia's supposed inteference in the 2016 US presidential election.

"And they used this Crooked Hillary pile of garbage as the basis for going after the Trump Campaign!" Trump said in a Twitter post.

WOW, @foxandfrlends Dossier is bogus. Clinton Campaign, DNC funded Dossier. FBI CANNOT (after all of this time) VERIFY CLAIMS IN DOSSIER OF RUSSIA/TRUMP COLLUSION. FBI TAINTED. And they used this Crooked Hillary pile of garbage as the basis for going after the Trump Campaign!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 26, 2017

Trump was referring to a dossier, presumably harmful to his reputation, compiled last year by a private investigator and paid for, in part, by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign team, Efe reported.

In October, The Washington Post reported that the Clinton campaign and the Democratic Party had funded the investigation, which came to light after the November election and amid allegations about links between Trump and the Kremlin.

Michael Caputo, a former Trump adviser, praised the president's tweets about the FBI, calling his posts an "insurance policy" against political bias in the federal law enforcement agency's investigations.

"The president's tweets are an insurance policy for the American people to make sure that its leading law enforcement organisation remains unbiased," Caputo said on CNN's New Day.

Tump has lashed out repeatedly at the FBI and US intelligence agencies.

In May, the president fired FBI director James Comey, who was investigating alleged connections between Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign.
While the Kulbhushan Jadhav row continues to plague diplomatic ties between India and Pakistan, a senior Pakistan politician has dragged Nawaz Sharif into the ongoing issue.

Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid alleged on Monday that the former prime minister, who was disqualified by the country's supreme court over Panama papers scandal, deliberately weakened Islamabad's case by never directly referring to the alleged Indian spy's role in spreading "terrorism" in restive Balochistan and rest of the country.

Sharif is responsible for deliberately weakening the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav. These people (PML-N) are liars, thieves, looters and dishonest people, Rashid told Samaa TV.

Rashid, a known critic of the PML-N and an Imran Khan ally, added that "dishonest and looters" like Sharif must be gotten rid of by the public in the upcoming general election in 2018.

However, this is not the first time that Sharif has been criticised over the Jadhav case.

Sharif comes under Opposition fire

In fact, the Imran-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had cast aspersions on Sharif's alleged connections with Indian tycoon Sajjan Jindal after the International Court of Justice issued a temporary stay on Jadhav's execution in May 2017. PTI linked Sharif"s business interests with India to the unfavourable verdict and alleged that the PML-N government deliberately adopted an "irresolute and fragile strategy at the ICJ".

PTI had also questioned the appointment of Khawar Qureshi, who had never argued a case in the International Court of Justice. Nawaz should appear before the house to explain why Pakistan did not appoint an ad hoc judge as it had a right to and why the Foreign Office did not take legal advice before initiating correspondence on the issue, The Express Tribune quoted PTI as saying.

Jadhav, 47, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April, following which India moved the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in May. India has said that Jadhav, who was arrested in Balochistan on 3 March, 2016, is innocent and has maintained that he was kidnapped from Iran, where he was on business after his superannuation from the Indian Navy.

In the immediate aftermath of the ICJ verdict, Sharif had come under fire from the Pakistani Opposition.

The PPP, the second-largest party in the country, claimed that Pakistan was ill-prepared to fight the case on the international stage.

"Pakistan did not utilise any option under Article 31 of statute which allows a party to nominate an individual as a judge," PPP was quoted by India Today as saying.

However, despite the Opposition's charges, Sharif chaired a meeting of the country's top civil and military officials a week after the verdict. In the meeting, he had discussed Islamabad's strategy to counter India in the Jadhav case.

The Express Tribune had quoted sources privy to the meeting as saying that the National Security Committee (NSC) meeting discussed Pakistan's options and preparation to defend its stance in the case.

The Panama Papers angle

PTI's opposition to Nawaz Sharif is well known and had played a major role in disqualifying Nawaz Sharif in July this year.

Linking the Jadhav case to Sharif's criticism of the Pakistan judiciary in the aftermath of his disqualification, PTI leader Shafqat Mehmood had said that such anti-judiciary tirade would impact the Jadhav case at the international forum.

Claiming that Sharif is trying to prove Pakistan's judicial system as "kangaroo courts", Mehmood said, "The same impression will go at international level and lessen the respect of Pakistani courts."

Two months after his disqualification by the supreme court, Sharif had slammed the judiciary for "implicating him", "When nothing was proved and they were not able to prove any corruption, they still disqualified me and used the iqama issue (his work permit with the UAE-based company),"

He had said that at least the court should have told the people that no allegation of corruption has been proved against him. "When legal experts themselves did not accept the decision, what could I do? These decisions were passed, punishments were given but they were not accepted."

He said the judges of the Supreme Court made a joint investigation team (JIT), monitored it, announced the decision and told the National Accountability Bureau [NAB] to file corruption cases.

"The same court took control of NAB... If necessary, this same court will listen to my last appeal as well after decision by NAB court. Is this how justice works? Is this what we call the rule of law?" he asked.

"This is the first case that the weight of the law was placed with the petitioner, and the rights of the defence was not implemented," he alleged.

Not just the PTI but also Rashid had raised Sharif's anti-judiciary stance to slam the PML-N, "The two brothers (Sharifs) have started a Ram-Shyam film with one brother (Shahbaz) taking side with the judiciary and the other firing it (Nawaz). Rashid was quoted by Samaa as saying.

With inputs from PTI
The meeting of Kulbhushan Jadhav with his wife and mother became a raging diplomatic issue between the two countries on Tuesday after India slammed Pakistan for violating mutual understandings on the meeting. India, in an official statement, said that the Indian national appeared coerced and under considerable stress during the tightly-controlled interaction.

Pakistan went so far as to have the mangalsutra, bangles and bindi of his mother and wife removed before they could meet him, the external affairs ministry said in a statement.

Also, the ministry said that most of Jadhav's remarks were clearly tutored and designed "to perpetuate the false narrative" of his alleged spying in Pakistan, it said in a no-holds-barred statement against Islamabad's conduct. Summing up its anger, India said the manner in which Pakistan conducted Jadhav's meeting on Monday with his family violated the letter and spirit of understandings that the two countries had.

Countering Pakistan's contention that the meeting was a humanitarian concession, India's statement said "this exercise lacked any credibility."

"From the feedback we have received of the meeting, it appears that Jadhav was under considerable stress and speaking in an atmosphere of coercion," the MEA statement said. "We also regret that contrary to assurances, the overall atmosphere of the meeting was intimidating insofar as family members were concerned," it said.

Family members, however, handled the situation with "great courage and fortitude," the ministry said. The 47-year-old Jadhav's "appearance also raises questions of his health and well being."

The meeting, at the Pakistani foreign affairs ministry in Islamabad, took place after repeated requests by India for family access. Jadhav, who was captured in March, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying, an accusation that India has dismissed as concocted.

Pakistan's statement

Calling India's claims "baseless", Pakistan claimed that his wife's shoes were confiscated on security grounds as there was "something" in it. The Foreign Office in a statement said that Pakistan does not wish to indulge in a "meaningless battle of words" and categorically rejects India's baseless "allegations and twists" about attitude of authorities during Jadhav's meeting with his wife and mother.

"The Indian baseless allegations and twists, that come 24 hours later, about the visit of the wife and mother of Commander Jadhav, a convicted terrorist and spy, who has confessed to his crimes, are categorically rejected," the statement said. "If Indian concerns were serious, the guests or the Indian DHC should have raised them during the visit, with the media, which was readily available, but at a safe distance, as requested by India," it said.

"We do not wish to indulge in a meaningless battle of words. Our openness and transparency belies these allegations," it said. Responding to India's contentions that Jadhav's wife's shoes were not returned to her after the meeting, Foreign Office spokesman Muhammad Faisal told DawnNews that the shoes were confiscated on "security grounds". "There was something in the shoe (of Jadhav's wife)," Faisal told the daily, adding that the shoe is being investigated.

He said Jadhav's wife had been provided replacement shoes and all her jewellery was returned to her. The spokesman said that the fact is that Jadhavs mother "publicly thanked Pakistan for the humanitarian gesture, which was also recorded by the media." "Nothing more needs to be said on the issue," he said.

Bringing up the Kashmir issue in his statement, Faisal added, "One good deed should beget another, and such a decision should serve as a template for others to follow, including in Indian-occupied Kashmir, where innocent blood continues to be spilled." The Foreign Office spokesperson also termed Jadhav as "the face of Indian terrorism in Pakistan."

How Pakistan media covered the issue

The diplomatic strain over Jadhav's meeting with his family grabbed headlines not just in India, but also in Pakistan. Almost all major Pakistani newspapers gave prominence to the issue and carried reports of the Foreign Office issuing statement after India claimed that Jadhav's responses were "clearly tutoured" that the alleged spy was "under duress" during the meeting.

Geo News, Dawn, The Nation, The News International ran the stories on Mohammad Faisal, the Foreign Office spokesperson, rejecting Indian claims and clarifying that Pakistani authorities took the shoes of Jadhav's wife as officials suspected the presence of a foreign object.

Chetankul, Jadhav's wife, was given an alternate pair of shoes to wear after her shoes were removed, Geo News reported. According to the Foreign Office, Chetankul's shoes were taken over after authorities felt there was something fixed in them. Quoting Faisal, the report further added that the shoes of Jadhav's wife were kept for inspection, while all other belongings, including jewellery, was returned. Authorities were ascertaining whether the metallic object in the shoe was a camera or a recording chip.

Claiming that Pakistan permitted the visit "request totally on humanitarian grounds in line with Islamic principles and teachings", Faisal told the media that the meeting had nothing to do with consular access. A medical report by the Saudi German Hospital Dubai was presented too, which claimed nothing was wrong with Jadhav. Another claim which was challenged by India.

A majority of the Pakistan media refrained from commenting on the issue except a couple of opinion pieces in a few dailies.

An oped in The News International says that for Pakistan Jadhav, "plainly remains a spy and terrorist who has been sentenced to death." The oped postulates that India's statement slamming Pakistan for violating "mutual understanding" was expected. "It is hard to predict how India would have reacted had they captured a Pakistani spy with similar credentials," the oped said.

The oped in a not-so-veiled-attack took on the claims made by New Delhi and questions what would have they done in a similar situation. The fact that most of Pakistan was unhappy that their country allowed Jadhav (a terrorist in their country) to meet his family resonates throughut the article. At one point, the author quotes senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor who had said that "it is a step forward... On the other hand, the way in which it all unfolded was deeply unsatisfactory."

Taunting the apparent higher moral ground being taken by India, the author wrote, "One wonders what would men like Mr Tharoor say to mothers, fathers, wives, siblings or children of those killed in activities conceived, coordinated and carried out by men like Kulbhushan Jadhav."

"Doubts were immediately raised in Delhi that the video may have been shot under duress. Credibility of the medical report was questioned too. But Jadhav looked sharp and in shape. India and Indians should have waited before firing the doubt missiles for it were they who did not agree to Jadhavs mother and wife speaking to media and telling their story. Indian officials were also not agreeable to the idea of Indian media being present and possibly asking some painful questions."

The tone betrays the author's apparent exasperation  possibly misplaced  that in the end, regardless of the amount of courtesy Pakistan rolled out, it was never going to be good enough for India, which seeks only to belittle its neighbour.

The editorial in The News International can be summed up in one sentence from the article: "But most Pakistanis want Jadhav punished for his sins and not let out like the notorious American Raymond Davis through a backdoor deal."

Another editorial in The Nation commented on the "cacophony of opinions" circling the issue. The piece in The Nation took a more balanced view of the issue at hand and wrote, "Ultimately however, these are all irreconcilable opinions and each can be considered correct if viewed from their subjective angle."

The timing of the Jadhav conundrum also comes at a time when Pakistan has been accused of cultivating terror on their soil and has been held responsible for not doing enough to control the growth of terrorism in the region. In the view of that, newspapers in the country calling Jadhav 'face of Indian terrorism' fits into the popular narrative and for Pakistan, like this piece pointed out, "Jadhav and his multiple confessions are a proof of Indian activities in the region."

The Nation editorial lauds the Pakistan government's attempts to do what was "necessary in the international scheme of things" and "ignoring the deafening cacophony to do what was necessary."

Who is Jadhav?

Jadhav was convicted of conducting "subversive activities" for the Indian government in Pakistan and has been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on 10 April. Pakistani authorities had reportedly arrested Jadhav in what they termed as a counter intelligence operation in Mashkal, Balochistan on 3 March, 2016. He has remained in Pakistan's custody ever since.

The curious case of Jadhav has seen many twists and turns within a short span of one year since his arrest. While the Pakistani side has repeatedly alleged that Jadhav is a Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) "spy" in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province, India had categorically denied Islamabad's charges.

According to a Firstpost report, Jadhav owned three properties under the alias Mubarak Patel in Mumbai. According to the report, he was learnt to be residing on Delisle Road for a while as well. He also had a house in Powai, but that was shut for the last one year, ever since Jadhav was jailed in Pakistan.

Though India has conceded right from the start that Jadhav was indeed an Indian national and a retired naval officer. The Indian side claims that Jadhav ran a legitimate business from Iran, and might have inadvertently crossed over to Paksitan. And that the Pakistani authorities had harassed him and charged him with spying.

However, according to the press statement put out by InterServices Public Relations (ISPR)  the media wing of Pakistani security forces  Pakistan has claimed that Jadhav was involved in coordinating and organising "espionage activities" with an intent to destabilise and wage a war against Pakistan, as reported by The Nation.
Kathmandu: Nepal's Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, whose party lost the recent polls to provincial assemblies and parliament, is "impatient to hand over power" to a new government after completing the due constitutional process, according to a media report on Wednesday.

The Nepali Congress chief said his government had successfully held the polls to the local bodies, provincial assemblies and parliament in an environment of fear and uncertainties, a report in the Kathmandu Post said.

Claiming that the NC has a history of successfully handling periods of political transition, he said, "The government is able to establish the country as a peaceful and democratic nation by ending the protracted transitional period."

"I am impatient to hand over power," he was quoted as saying, while inaugurating the 14th Elephant Festival in Chitwan yesterday.

The Deuba-led Nepali Congress (NC) stood third  behind the CPN-UML and the CPN (Maoist Centre)  in the historic parliamentary and provincial assembly polls by winning just 23 seats out of a total 165 seats under the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system.

An alliance of left parties  the CPN-UML and the CPM-Maoist Centre  has won a total of 116 seats.

The NC had emerged as the largest party in the 2013 Constituent Assembly elections by winning 105 seats under the FPTP.

The prime minister said his government had focused solely on holding the elections for implementing the Constitution without caring for partisan interests.

"The NC is always committed to the development of Nepal and Nepalis whether or not it is in government," Deuba was quoted as saying in the report.
Sanaa: Yemeni witnesses and security officials say a Saudi-led coalition airstrike on a crowded market has killed at least 25 people, including children.

They say Tuesday's strike in the western province of Taiz wounded at least 30 others.

The witnesses and officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared retaliation or were not authorised to brief the media.

The coalition could not immediately be reached for comment.

International rights groups have accused the coalition of bombing civilian gatherings, markets, hospitals and residential areas across Yemen since the beginning of its air campaign against Iran-backed rebels, known as Houthis, in March 2015.

The stalemated war has killed more than 10,000 civilians and pushed the Arab world's poorest country to the brink of famine.
Ankara: A prosecutor says some 1,000 people could be released from jail after being falsely accused of links to US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Ankara chief prosecutor Yuksel Kocaman told reporters that Gulen's movement is believed to have developed a program that makes innocent people appear to be using an encrypted messaging app which prosecutors say followers used to communicate secretly with each other.

Prosecutors considered the use of the app, Bylock, as evidence of membership in Gulen's network.

Kocaman says Gulen's network developed the program to make it more difficult for authorities to trace real Bylock users. Turkey blames Gulen for last year's failed coup attempt and has outlawed his movement. Gulen denies involvement.

Turkey has arrested some 50,000 people since the coup and purged 110,000 others from government jobs.
Google is said to be planning on opening brick-and-mortar stores in India to scale up sales of Pixel phones where the company is lagging behind in the competition according to a report from the Economic Times.

Furthermore, the report also reveals that the company is aiming at launching the stores in later part of 2018 along with experience centers and another source claims that the company had hired a senior Apple executive as part of its plan.

However, Google declined to comment in this regards. The company is said to have been encouraged by the results it got more than a dozen pop-up stores that it opened in the recent weeks across Mumbai and Delhi-NCR region.

Google is said to have sent a request to at least two prominent malls in India seeking space to setup Google stores. Sources say that Google created a dark room to explain the low-light capabilities of the Pixel 2 phones. This move may be because Google realized the importance of offline stores and how the features of the phone cant be explained online. Apart from just phones, Google will also sell other products like Home speaker, Chrome cast 2, Daydream View and more.

It is unclear at the moment whether Google will apply for a single-brand retailing license in India or take the franchise route like Apple, Samsung, and others.

Source
Paytm has announced that its app has crossed 100 million downloads on Google Play Store in the second week of December 2017. This makes it Indias first first payments app to cross the 100 million downloads mark. It crossed 50 million milestone back in November 2016, so it took over a year to reach another 50 million mark. Airtel, Freecharge and MobiKwik are at still at 10 million downloads in the Play Store.

Paytm said that it is charting the next chapter of its growth from being a pioneer in mobile payments to becoming a mobile-first financial services company, which offers banking, lending, insurance, and payments.

Last month Paytm integrated BHIM UPI payments on its platform to allow users to create their own Paytm BHIM UPI ID on the app to send and receive money easily. It also tied up with ICICI Bank to launch Paytm-ICICI Bank Postpaid, a interest-free short-term digital credit service to offer instant credit to Paytm account. Earlier this month it launched Paytm FASTag across the country for automatic toll fee collection.

Commenting on the new milestone, Deepak Abbot, Sr. Vice President at Paytm said:

We are overwhelmed with the 100 million downloads mark, reaching this milestone is a testimony to the efforts of the incredible team at Paytm. This achievement will offer us a strong boost as we work towards our goal of making India a digital-first economy.

Source
Lenovos standalone Daydream VR; Mirage has been certified by the FCC revealing some basic details like support for Daydream, Bluetooth 5.0 and a 4,000mAh battery. Above everything, the new listing indicates were close to experience what Daydream VR is like without the need for a smartphone.

The upcoming Lenovo VR headset comes with a model number of VR-1541F and also comes with a Daydream VR controller. HTC was the initial partner for the Daydream VR with Google, but the company decided to cancel the project with Google in the USA.

Though the Lenovo Daydream VR was expected to go official before the end of the year which is unlikely at the moment, it is expected to make an appearance at the CES show early next year and ship on a later date.

With competitive brands like Samsung, Huawei lining with their announcements for CES show, it is not unlikely that Lenovo will reveal a teaser, mention it or better yet announce it directly. As for pricing goes, though there is no key information or leak about the same, it is safe to assume that it might be priced steeper than the competition in order to stand as the cheapest option in the market.

Given the lack of competition in the VR market, it is a safe bet for Lenovo to take advantage and move out units in big numbers.

Source | Via
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If youll be hopping on an airplane to travel during the holiday season, be prepared for longer lines at terminals and jam-packed flights.

More passengers will be taking to the skies on U.S. airlines this holiday season compared to the same period last year, according to a new study.

Some 51 million passengers will fly globally on U.S. airlines during the 21-day winter holiday travel periodwhich runs until Jan. 4an uptick of 3.5% from 2016, according to the report commissioned by Airlines for America (A4A), a trade organization representing some of the largest U.S. passenger and freight air carriers.

With affordable fares and expanded route options, flying to see family, friends and loved ones this holiday season is more accessible than ever before, said A4A Vice President and Chief Economist John Heimlich.

Here are some tips from FOX Business to take the headache out of your hectic holiday travels:

GET THERE ON TIME

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) suggests allowing two hours before a domestic flight and three hours prior to an international flight, a familiar guideline that you may want to follow more strictly this holiday season.

In an effort to reduce congestion, San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is introducing express drop-off areas to alleviate airport traffic.

Its like having a remote curb option that is also very convenient to the terminals, but helps spread out that curbside traffic, and gives folks that maybe experience that traffic congestion [the ability] to go into the garage, SFO Airport Director Ivar Satero told FOX Business.

To avoid waiting in long check-in lines, travelers should either print boarding passes at home or have them available on their mobile phones, especially for those not checking bags.

For those checking bags, the key is to have a confirmation number or credit card handy to use at airport kiosks.

Youll just put your credit card in or confirmation number, tell the system how many bags youre checking, American Airlines spokesperson Ross Feinstein told FOX Business. You can pay for your bags right there. Itll print out your bag tags, youll put the bag tags on your bags and youll be on your way.

BE PREPARED FOR TSA

Prior to getting in line, passengers should know the rules and regulations that TSA requires for carry-on items, such as the 3-1-1 rule for liquids.

The better option is to check all of those things through your checked baggage so you dont get delayed passing through the checkpoint process, Satero said, adding that at SFO, TSA lines can sometimes take up to 25 minutes.

USE MOBILE APPS

Many airlines have focused on building their mobile apps in an effort to help passengers during their airport and flight experiences. American Airlines app, for example, allows travelers to re-book their flights right away if there are extensive delays or cancellations and re-route bags to the new destination, especially important as winter weather may impact holiday travel.

The United Airlines app allows customers to change and cancel flights and track baggage. Fliers also can add their MileagePlus and United Club cards to the Apple Wallet.

GET READY FOR RE-ENTRY (INTERNATIONAL)

For U.S. citizens and Canadian visitors traveling internationally, both airlines and airports recommend downloading the Mobile Passport Control (MPC) app from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) to expedite the entry process into America at 24 international airports, similar to the TSAs Automated Passport Control (APC). Passengers using MPC and APC are still required to bring their passports and receipts to a Customs officer to finalize their inspection for entry into the U.S.

Theres also CBPs Global Entry program, which also expedites the re-entry process into the U.S. However, travelers have to be pre-approved for the program.
A New York corporate lawyer who once advised Martin Shkreli was convicted on Wednesday of charges he helped the former pharmaceutical executive steal millions of dollars from a drug company to pay back investors in two failed hedge funds.

Evan Greebel, who was outside counsel to Shkreli's former company Retrophin Inc, was found guilty by a federal jury in Brooklyn of charges that he conspired to commit wire fraud and securities fraud, the U.S. government said.

"We are shocked by the verdict," said Reed Brodsky, a lawyer for Greebel. "We will continue to fight for justice for Evan Greebel and his family."

Greebel, 44, was a partner at the law firm Katten Muchin Rosenman when he was working for Retrophin. He later joined the firm Kaye Scholer, but resigned after his arrest in December 2015.

Shkreli, 34, became notorious in 2015 when he raised the price of anti-parasitic drug Daraprim to $750 a pill, from $13.50, as chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals. The price hike is not related to the criminal case.

The charges he and Greebel faced related to Shkreli's management of his previous drug company, Retrophin, and of two hedge funds, MSMB Capital and MSMB Healthcare, from 2009 to 2014.

A jury in August found Shkreli guilty of defrauding MSMB investors, but not guilty of conspiring with Greebel to steal from Retrophin.

In September, following his conviction, Shkreli was jailed after he placed a $5,000 bounty on former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's hair, prompting U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto to revoke his bail.

According to prosecutors, Greebel faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on the wire fraud count.

(Reporting by Jan Wolfe and Nate Raymond; Editing by Frances Kerry)
Few companies have provided the type of returns this year that investors have seen from Shopify (NYSE: SHOP), which provides a platform for anyone to build an e-commerce presence, and Square (NYSE: SQ), king of easy and cheap digital payment processing.

But of the two companies, which is the better buy today?

That question is impossible to answer with 100% certainty. In fact -- though I judge these match-ups based on a minimum three-year time frame -- when I wrote about these same two companies seven months ago, I sided with Shopify. Since then, Square has out-gained by a whopping 63 percentage points.

Much has changed since May, so when we run the two companies through the gauntlet this time, let's see whose stock comes out looking like a better buy.

Sustainable competitive advantages

In the world of long-term, buy-to-hold investors, there's nothing more important than an underlying company's sustainable competitive advantage, or "moat." A moat is the special something that keeps customers coming back year after year, all while holding the competition at bay.

In May, I called out Shopify's high switching-costs as the primary moat: when companies have all of their e-commerce data on one platform, they are loath to change, both because of the financial costs involved and also the headaches, retraining, and potential downtime that might have to be endured.

Since then, noted short-seller Citron Research has called out Shopify's tactics for recruiting merchants, and challenged the fact that Shopify claims to have 500,000 such sellers using the platform. I'm not worried, but I am disappointed that management has not published a revenue retention metric for its subscription service to help us see just how high the switching costs are.

At the same time, another moat has become more significant since May as well: the network effect. Shopify allows third-party app developers to use the company's platform, and because the company has so many merchants already signed on those app developers are flocking to Shopify. This further incentivizes merchants to join, which could bring in even more merchants.

With Square, my appreciation of the business has changed over the last six months as well. In May I wrote that this was a low-moat business, as payments processing was a very competitive market with low barriers-to-entry. Since then, Shopify has proven its ability to keep customers on board.

Last month, Square announced it was developing a way to support the purchase and sale of bitcoin. This could eventually lead to customers and merchants paying for goods and services with the cryptocurrency. There isn't a huge moat around Square for this reason, but being the first-mover is important, as it could draw early adopters into Square's eco-system.

And that ecosystem has shown broad and robust results over the past year. Subscription and service-based revenue -- crucially, the kinds that have high switching costs and include Square Deposit, Square Capital, and Caviar -- grew 84% last quarter. Just as important, the company launched Square register for larger merchants, which because of its data analytics potential also has potentially high switching costs.

Add all of this together, and I'm willing to call this a tie -- whereas Shopify alone got the nod in May.

Winner = Tie

Financial fortitude

Both of these companies are "growth" stories in nature. That means most investors like to see continual redeployment of sales into new opportunities for the future. While there's certainly a time and place for such investments, there's something to be said for a boring pile of cash laying around.

That's because all companies must be prepared for financial crises. There's no telling when they'll come, but there's also no denying that they'll come. Firms with lots of cash on hand can actually benefit from such downturns by buying back stock on the cheap, acquiring rivals, or outspending the competition to gain long-term market share.

Keeping in mind that Square's market capitalization is about 33% larger than Shopify's, here's how they stack up.

Company Cash Debt Free Cash Flow Shopify $927 million $0 ($22 million) Square $1.14 billion $354 million $106 million

There's a lot to like from both companies. Square is cash flow positive, which is a big deal for a company at this point in its maturation. And while Shopify isn't, it also isn't losing that much money. The fact that it carries no debt is also a huge plus.

In the end, I think the effect of an economic downturn would have relatively the same effect on both, with neither having an upper hand when it comes to profiting from such a downturn.

Winner = Tie

Valuation

There's no single, magical metric that can tell us how cheap or expensive a stock is. Instead, we can consult multiple data points to get an idea for which is the better value.

Company P/E P/FCF P/S PEG Ratio Shopify N/A N/A 18.0 N/A Square 240 132 6.8 0.8

No one would ever call either of these companies cheap. But Square has the definite advantage of at least being profitable and free cash flow positive. Additionally, a PEG ratio -- which takes earnings growth into account -- below 1.0 is very rare to find in today's market.

For those reasons, I give the nod here to Square.

Winner = Square

My winner is...

So there you have it. We have two fairly wide-moat companies with solid balance sheets. But Square's valuation makes it a better deal at today's prices.

This was a surprising finding for me, as I don't own shares of Square, but Shopify accounts for 4% of my real-life holdings. Because of this, I'm going to consider whether Square needs to be added as well, and give the company an outperform rating in my own CAPS profile. The emergence of a moat, and the company's play on crytocurrencies, is enough to warrant further research.

Bitcoin is overhyped: 10 better buys for you nowWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*

David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and investing directly in Bitcoin was noticeably absent from their recommendations! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are better buys.

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Brian Stoffel owns shares of Shopify. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Shopify. The Motley Fool owns shares of Square. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The confusing rollout of marijuana regulations in California has been underscored in Mendocino County, where local authorities licensed a company to deliver pot only to have state police arrest two employees who were trying to do just that with nearly a ton of weed.

The workers for Old Kai Distribution were transporting the marijuana from a farm when they were pulled over Friday afternoon by a California Highway Patrol officer on Highway 101 near Ukiah, according to Joe Rogoway, an attorney for the company. They were driving an unmarked van and were stopped for a traffic violation.

The workers showed the officer the company's county license and a manifest for the marijuana, but the officer insisted it was illegal, called for backup and arrested the men.

The company argues it can transport marijuana within the county with its local license, and county spokeswoman Sarah Dukett backed that interpretation. She said Old Kai was issued a distribution license last week that allows it to legally transport marijuana under two local ordinances passed earlier this year.

The workers were cited for unlawful transportation of marijuana and unlawful possession for sale. Investigators also seized all of the marijuana and the company's van.

"It is incomprehensible that this has occurred," said Rogoway, who sent a letter to CHP demanding that the charges be dropped and the marijuana returned to Old Kai.

Acting California Highway Patrol Commissioner Warren Stanley said the arrest was appropriate because a state license also is required for legal transport and those permits don't take effect until Monday, when broad legalization arrives in California.

"They are following the laws that are in place now," Stanley said Wednesday, referring to his officers. "And when Jan. 1, 2018, comes they'll start following the laws that come into effect on that date."

The officer who made the Ukiah stop was not targeting the business, said Stanley, who is not aware of any other arrests of a locally licensed marijuana operation. CHP primarily is concerned with drivers who could be high behind the wheel and the agency has trained 97 percent of its officers and sergeants in advanced drugged driving recognition skills, he said.

Stanley commented after a ceremony for CHP Officer Andrew Camilleri, who was killed on Christmas Eve by a driver believed to be drunk and high.

California has had legal medical marijuana for two decades. In 2016, voters approved broad legalization and the state and communities that want such "adult use" marijuana businesses spent the last year writing complex regulations.

Some didn't get their regulations finalized in time to start issuing local licenses by Jan. 1 while others decided to outlaw recreational pot altogether. Meantime, all forms of pot remain illegal under federal law.

The marijuana that was seized in Mendocino County, about 115 miles (185 kilometers) north of San Francisco, had been collected from a family-owned farm and was being brought to a distribution center to be sorted and tested.

"This was basically their entire harvest," Rogoway said. "Their entire year was in the back of this vehicle. If that cannabis is destroyed, it really puts at risk the safety and well-being of their family."

He worried the arrest could have a chilling effect as the state and local governments encourage marijuana businesses to come out of the shadows and adhere to regulations to ensure a level playing field for all.

"This incident highlights the fear that many people have," he said. "It takes a lot to be a compliant operator. Even if they follow through with the whole process, something bad can happen. This is a perfect example."

___

Balsamo reported from Los Angeles.
Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSEMKT: LNG) owns or controls a collection of liquefied natural gas (LNG) assets meant to serve energy industry export markets. The company is still building out its business, which is a costly endeavor. In fact, investors should continue to expect red ink on the bottom line for a while. But Cheniere Energy still managed to crush it in 2017, turning an important corner on the top line.

It's ugly down here

Cheniere Energy has lost money every single year for 10 consecutive years. That's not going to change in 2017, and probably not for a while thereafter. All that red ink is the result of the company's efforts to build liquefied natural gas export facilities. Its main hub is its Sabine Pass facility, which sits at the border of Texas and Louisiana.

Sabine Pass is actually owned by Cheniere Energy Partners LP (NYSEMKT: CQP), a limited partnership that yields around 6.4% today. Cheniere Energy is the general partner for Cheniere Energy Partners, which means it gets paid to build and manage Sabine Pass -- including receiving incentive payments for increases to the partnership's distribution. The first increase in the partnership's history took place in October of 2017.

Building a new LNG export facility from the ground up is an expensive and time-consuming process. In fact, Sabine Pass was originally conceived as an import hub, meaning that Cheniere Energy has made some notable shifts as it's progressed through this project. So you can understand the losses at Cheniere Energy. At this point, however, Sabine Pass has four LNG processing facilities, called trains, up and running. It expects to open a fifth train in 2019. So there's still construction taking place, but the vast majority of this facility is operational right now (more on this in a second).

This isn't the only LNG terminal that Cheniere Energy is building, though. It also has a facility in Corpus Christi Texas on which it's working. This hub should start exporting liquefied natural gas from its first train sometime in 2019. A second train should be up and running shortly thereafter, with current plans calling for a late 2019 to mid-2020 completion date.

The upshot is that Cheniere Energy's efforts are only just starting to bear fruit. And the spending it needs to make to complete its growth projects will continue to be a weight on the bottom line. This is why earnings results don't show you how Cheniere Energy crushed it in 2017.

It's a top-line thing

Revenue, however, paints a very different picture, and shows exactly how incredible a year 2017 turned out to be. It was, to put it mildly, an important turning point. For example, through the first nine months of 2016, Cheniere generated roughly $1.3 billion in revenue. Year to date through the third quarter of 2017, however, it posted revenue of $3.9 billion. I think tripling revenue counts as crushing it.

That's basically the result of the Sabine Pass facility starting to hit its stride, operationally speaking. The really exciting piece of the story, however, isn't simply the revenue number. It's the fact that the massive top-line increase shows that Cheniere's growth efforts are actually working, and it provides a compelling picture of the future, when capital spending starts to wind down.

The best part is that the facilities it's building are backed by long-term, fee-based contracts. So once construction is finally done, the company's cash flow will likely be material and very stable. If the success of 2017 is any indication, the future looks bright at Cheniere Energy.

A complex takeaway

So, if you are looking for a way to invest in the growing market for LNG, you should probably be examining Cheniere Energy today. That said, I find the company's business structure a bit too complex. Not only does it control and own a material stake in income investor-friendly Cheniere Energy Partners, but it also owns 6.7% yielding Cheniere Energy Partners LP Holdings, LLC (NYSEMKT: CQH). The primary asset at Cheniere Energy Partners LP Holdings is a roughly 55% stake in Cheniere Energy Partners. And that's just the tip of the iceberg -- the interrelationships here are really complicated. There's just too much going on for me to spend the time keeping track. But if you are willing to put in the extra work, Cheniere Energy's future looks promising.

10 stocks we like better than Cheniere EnergyWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*

David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Cheniere Energy wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.

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*Stock Advisor returns as of December 4, 2017

Reuben Gregg Brewer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The estate of a woman has filed a $3.6 million lawsuit against Backpage.com and the owners of the Portland, Oregon, hotel where she was killed by a man she'd met for sex.

The suit filed Friday says 25-year-old Ashley Benson had been trafficked by an abusive pimp.

It says she was killed in 2014 by Tae Bum Yoon, who found her through the classifieds website and lured her to a DoubleTree by Hilton hotel.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reports that Yoon was sentenced to 18 years in prison after being convicted of manslaughter.

The lawsuit claims Backpage.com and the hotel failed to establish and use practices to protect victims of sex trafficking.

Representatives for Hilton and Backpage didn't immediately return requests for comment. The website has long been criticized but says it doesn't have control over third-party content.

___

Information from: The Oregonian/OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com
Syria's peace efforts cannot include President Bashar Assad, Turkey's leader said Wednesday, calling him a "terrorist."

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke during a visit to Tunisia at the end of a four-day Africa trip focusing on economic issues.

At a joint news conference with Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi, Erdogan called Assad a "terrorist who engaged in state terrorism" and should not be part of Syria's post-conflict future.

"How can we embrace a future with a Syrian leader who has killed close to a million of his citizens?" said the Turkish leader, whose country has seen a flood of refugees from neighboring Syria during the fighting.

Turning to another highly sensitive Middle East issue, Erdogan and Essebsi said their nations would never accept changes to Jerusalem's historic status after President Donald Trump's recognition of the city as Israel's capital.

"Jerusalem is our red line. Any steps against Jerusalem's historic status and holiness are unacceptable," Erdogan said, adding that his country will work toward international recognition of the Palestinian state and seek the support of the European Union.

The Turkish leader also vowed to help support Tunisia overcome economic hardships and combat extremism. Erdogan, who also was attending a Turkish-Tunisian economic forum, was accompanied by a delegation of nine ministers and 200 businessmen.

Erdogan earlier visited Sudan and Chad, where he signed military and economic deals.

Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim was paying a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, where he met Wednesday with King Salman.

The two countries recently have been at odds over regional issues.

Following his accession to power in 2015, King Salman sought to improve relations with Turkey to form a so-called Sunni axis against rival Shiite-led Iran. However, the kingdom's move in June to lead a four-nation boycott of Qatar and cut off ties with the Gulf state led to new tensions with Turkey, which has sided with Qatar.

The Turkish prime minister's office said Yildirim and King Salman exchanged views on "regional challenges and problems." They also emphasized the importance of Jerusalem's status and the need for the Islamic world to act in unity to protect the rights of Palestinian "brothers."

Yildirim was also expected to meet Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

___

Bouazza Ben Bouazza in Tunis, Tunisia; Aya Batrawy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey and Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed.
When you think of life insurance you probably think these policies are for young families, planning for the future of their loved ones to help them cope with debt and the everyday cost of living in the event of the worst happening unexpectedly.

However, Baby Boomers, depending on their financial situation, might still want to consider life insurance. And although Boomers might face a challenge because of their health and age, it is not impossible

Nasser Zaermohammadi, AVP, National Training and Development Director, at Vantis Life Insurance Company discussed what Boomers need to know about life insurance.

Boomer: What is a single premium whole life (SPWL) insurance policy and what does it include?

Zaermohammadi: Single premium whole life insurance is funded with a single premium payment that is often a large amount, or lump sum. The size of the death benefit depends on the premium amount as well as the age, gender, and health of the insured. Like any other life insurance policy, a single premium whole life policy provides the named beneficiary with a guaranteed tax-free death benefit at the insureds death.

A single premium whole life policy builds cash value, which can be borrowed against and is specifically designed as a wealth transfer tool. It is often used in estate planning, mainly to maximize an individuals inheritance to their heirs, tax-free.

Boomer: Are Baby Boomers too old to purchase a SPWL policy?

Zaermohammadi: Born between 1946 and 1964, baby boomers ages range between 53 and 71, a perfect age to purchase a single premium whole life insurance. Baby boomers have a considerable amount of disposable income and, in some cases, seek to pass along part of this wealth to their heirs or favorite charitable organization at their death. Single premium whole life insurance allows baby boomers to maximize the value of pass along dollars to loved ones.

Boomer: If I am in my 50s and have no life insurance, should I purchase a SPWL or term policy?

Zaermohammadi: That depends on a number of factors and individuals circumstances. Events such as, college, career, marriage, family and retirements are part of the natural life cycle. To make sure that the hopes and dreams of individuals for their loved ones are not dissipated upon their premature death, the life cycle should be protected. Life insurance can be used to protect individuals against premature death, so their loved ones may continue their dreams, which may include, paying off their mortgage, funding their childrens education, travelling, and having a comfortable retirement.

Generally, people are more receptive to buying term insurance when theyre younger, have less income and have more responsibilities such as, mortgage payments, college funding, and saving for retirement. The need for insurance is usually changed to final expenses, estate costs, legacy, bequeaths, etc.

Purchasing a single premium whole life policy for any 50-, 60- or even a 70-year old individual who has set aside money is financially strategic, especially if they already have money earmarked for their heirs.

Boomer: What drives the price of a single premium whole life policy?

Zaermohammadi: Single premium whole life pricing is calculated using a number of factors such as, age gender, health, tobacco use and mortality in general. The older the applicant, the lower pass along death benefit. Of course, the proposed insured should be in reasonably good health to be issued a single premium whole life policy. Furthermore, non-tobacco users are provided with more favorable rates than tobacco users. Also, insurance rates for females tend to be lower than males because women generally live longer than men.
IT sector giant Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) is closing out its 2017 with a fresh acquisition. The company recently announced that it signed a deal to buy Australia's Aconex, a developer of team-collaboration, cloud-based software platforms for the construction industry. Oracle will pay 7.80 Australian dollars per share in cash for Aconex, which is 47% above the company's closing stock price on the trading day before the buyout was made public.

All told, the deal is valued at roughly $1.2 billion, net of Aconex's cash. That's a sizable chunk of change, even for a company with an Oracle-sized budget. It looks like it might just be worth the money, though.

A cloudy future

In a press release heralding its buy, Oracle wrote that "[t]ogether, Oracle and Aconex will provide an end-to-end offering for project management and delivery that enables customers to effectively plan, build, and operate construction projects."

The company didn't hesitate to point out that its "Oracle Construction and Engineering Cloud already offers customers the industry's most advanced solutions for planning, scheduling and delivering large-scale projects."

If any of this sounds familiar to Oracle watchers, it should. In mid-2016, the company made a $663 million acquisition in the construction segment by purchasing Textura, a developer of cloud-based payment and contract management solutions for the industry. Oracle combined Textura with its existing construction assets to form Construction and Engineering Cloud.

There is potentially much to gain by building economies of scale in the segment. In a presentation on the Aconex deal, Oracle quotes several dizzying numbers that promise a bright future. The global construction industry is estimated to be worth $14 trillion, and the volume of construction output is set to grow by 85% between 2015 and 2030.

Oracle, of course, isn't the only company that sees an opportunity here. There are many enterprises hawking cloud-based construction management solutions. The list of such providers is long and stuffed with both ambitious early stage companies and the occasional veteran IT player.

Aconex, as it happens, is a favorite in the industry. It often makes it onto the "best of" lists on sites that rank construction management software. Considering that there are hundreds of solutions on the market, that's saying something.

Aconex's revenue has been on a sharp upward trajectory, climbing steeply from A$66 million ($51 million) in fiscal 2014 to A$161 million ($123 million) for 2017. It's been profitable, although not to a great degree, over the past few years.

So Aconex looks like a worthwhile asset for Oracle's expanding construction portfolio. Is it worth $1.2 billion? Yes, assuming the new owner can integrate it more or less smoothly within Construction and Engineering cloud. And, of course, build some economies of scale that will help it carve out more share in the busy construction cloud solutions segment.

The details

The Oracle/Arconex deal is subject to regulatory approval from the relevant authorities, and Oracle anticipates that it will close at some point in the first half of 2018.

The American company did not specify how it would fund the purchase. As of the end of November, the notably cash-rich Oracle had just over $21.3 billion of cash on its books.

10 stocks we like better than OracleWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*

David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Oracle wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.

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Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of Oracle. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
President Donald Trump has been calling for Congress to drain the swamp of corporate lobbyists since the start of his administration but lawmakers who crafted the tax reform bill seem to have ignored his calls for change and continue to finance their campaigns through executives at private equity firms as they pulled off a coup in maintaining the carried interest deduction.

Republican members of the Senate Finance Committee seem to have been the focal point of the lobbying efforts by the titans of the $2.5 trillion private equity industry in Blackstone Group (NYSE:BX), Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) and KKR & Co. (NYSE:KKR) with 10 of the 14 GOP representatives receiving campaign cash totaling more than $600,000 from executives at the three firms this year alone, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research group that tracks the effects of money and lobbying on elections.

Some Democratic members on the committee also received campaign contributions in 2017 worth more than $5,000 from leaders of private equity firms. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., saw a drop in campaign funding this year as his office took in $56,000 from employees at Blackstone compared to 2016 when he received $98,000 from those at the firm. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., was the top money maker on the Democrat side from the three private equity behemoths, with his campaign raking in $106,000 from employees at Blackstone.

Still, in 2017 the three firms have overwhelmingly contributed to Republicans in both the House and Senate. As the Center for Responsive Politics shows, Blackstone representatives have given 70% of their campaign contributions toward Republicans while KKR has given 82% to the GOP. Members of the Carlyle Group have donated 69% of their funds to Republican representatives.

A spokeswoman for Bennet did not return FOX Business requests for comment.

After being asked if Warner was under any influence by lobbyists in crafting the tax reform bill, a spokeswoman said in a statement Senator Warner vocally opposed this budget-busting tax bill, which was crafted by one party behind closed doors. He has no idea why President Trump was unable to keep his campaign promises on carried interest, as Democrats were excluded entirely from negotiations on this bill.

As FOX Business first reported, Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the powerful chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, received $60,000 in 2017 from Blackstone executives. The other top Republican recipients on the committee includes Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, whose campaign picked up $188,000 from private equity heavy hitters, the most coming from those within the Carlyle Group with individual contributions totaling $68,000. Sen Dean Heller, R-Nevada, collected $43,000 from members of Blackstone for his 2018 re-election campaign and the company is ranked fourth on his 2018 financial contributors list. Tim Scott, R-S.C.. has been another favorite of Blackstone executives with the senator drawing a combined $107,000 from people at the company during the 2016 and 2018 election cycles.

Spokespersons for Hatch, Portman, Heller and Scott did not return repeated requests for comment. A spokeswoman for KKR declined to comment. Spokesmen for Blackstone and the Carlyle Group also declined to comment.

Public policy groups and some lawmakers have called for eliminating the carried interest deduction as a form of welfare for the rich, since private equity companies and their investors heavily benefit from the carried interest loophole that allows for profits on their holdings to be taxed at a lower rate than ordinary income. During the 2016 presidential campaign, then-candidate Trump said he would end the deduction for everybody during his populist push to win the White House while noting that average families pay a higher income tax rate than executives from this industry.

But the private equity business has been successfully fighting to retain the loophole in the tax code for years. Through a combination of lobbying key congressional leaders, and it appears, targeted campaign contributions to those same leaders, the industry was able to convince the Trump administration and the GOP Congress not to touch its sacred cow yet again in the current tax bill, a move that will save these firms around $2 billion a year.

Private equity funds typically buy up public companies, turn them private in order to revamp businesses and sell them years later at a profit often to public shareholders. The carried interest deduction in the tax bill allows their investors profits to be taxed at a lower capital gains rate as opposed to the higher income tax rate of 37% as long as the private equity firms hold their investment for three years, as they typically do.

A spokeswoman for the American Investment Council, the lobbying arm of the private equity business, did not return emails for comment.

Since the bill passed, Trump administration officials have been claiming they did everything they could to curb the carried interest deduction, including National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn who said last week that they tried to eliminate the loophole 25 times.

The reality of this town is that this constituency has a very large presence in the House and Senate, Cohn said.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin argued that the bill reflects Trumps campaign promise to drain the swamp and that they absolutely defeated the lobbyists, during an interview on CBS News Face the Nation on Dec. 17.

Others arent as convinced that the administration did everything they could to eliminate, not only the carried interest deduction, but other loopholes that benefit the rich.

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the American Action Forum, a nonprofit research center with ties to the Republican Party, told FOX Business, "It seems to me the president tweeted about 401(k)s and that stopped that cold and if they put eliminating carried interest at the top of the list, they may have gotten this done."
TUNIS (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday called Syrian President Bashar al-Assad a terrorist and said it was impossible for Syrian peace efforts to continue with him.

Syria's foreign ministry quickly responded by accusing Erdogan of himself supporting terrorist groups fighting Assad in Syria's civil war.

Turkey has demanded the removal of Assad from power and backed rebels fighting to overthrow him, but it has toned down its demands since it started working with Assad's allies Russia and Iran for a political resolution.

"Assad is definitely a terrorist who has carried out state terrorism," Erdogan told a televised news conference with his Tunisian counterpart Beji Caid Essebsi in Tunis.

"It is impossible to continue with Assad. How can we embrace the future with a Syrian president who has killed close to a million of his citizens?" he said, in some of his harshest comments for weeks.

Though Turkey has long demanded Assad's removal, it is now more focused in Syria on the threat from Islamist militants and Kurdish fighters it considers allies of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), who it says have formed a "terror corridor" on its southern border.

Turkey says the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which Ankara views as an extension of the outlawed PKK which has fought an insurgency in southeast Turkey since the 1980s, cannot be invited to Syrian peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana.

The YPG is the main element in a force that Washington has assisted with training, weapons, air support and help from ground advisers in the battle against Islamic State. That U.S. support has angered Ankara, a NATO ally of Washington.

Despite its differences with Russia and Iran, Turkey has worked with the two powers in the search for a political solution in Syria.

Ankara, Moscow and Tehran also brokered a deal to set up and monitor a "de-escalation zone" to reduce fighting between insurgents and Syrian government forces in Syria's rebel-held northwestern Idlib province.

"We can't say (Assad) will handle this. It is impossible for Turkey to accept this. Northern Syria has been handed over as a terror corridor. There is no peace in Syria and this peace won't come with Assad," Erdogan said.

Syria's state news agency SANA quoted a foreign ministry source as saying Erdogan "continues to misdirect Turkish public opinion with his usual froth in an attempt to absolve himself of the crimes which he has committed against the Syrian people through advancing support to the various terrorist groups in Syria".

(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu and Ece Toksabay in Ankara; Editing by Dominic Evans and Matthew Mpoke Bigg)
A day after speaking out about his recent altercation with Dustin Hoffman, seven accusers, who have called out the Oscar-winning actor for sexual assault, thanked John Oliver for putting himself at risk in an open letter.

On Wednesday morning, Anna Graham Hunter, a Hoffman accuser, took to Twitter and shared a brief but detailed letter thanking Oliver for confronting Hoffman over claims that the Rain Man actor had sexually harassed some women years ago.

Hunter, along with six other Hoffman accusers, praised the HBO host for asking the hard questions even if the questions you asked may not have led to the constructive conversation you hoped for, but the fact that you asked them at all is what matters most.

The letter goes on to say that while women can continue to tell their assault stories, things will only change if men reflect upon their behavior and inspire others to do the same. Five women signed the letter with their names while two chose to remain anonymous.

On Friday, the Last Week Tonight host made an appearance on The Russell Howard Hour where he was asked by the comedian about his recent public confrontation with Hoffman. During a 20th anniversary screening and Q&A of Hoffmans Wag the Dog in early December, Oliver questioned the actor about the sexual harassment allegations that were made against him.

Though Oliver took a shot at addressing the scandalous rumors surrounding Hoffman, he explained to Howard that he had failed in getting the answers he wanted.

It felt unavoidable and that we had to have a discussion about it, Oliver said Friday on the British comedy news show. It wasnt ideal that it became such a big story because then it became about my questions rather than his answers. The questions werent particularly remarkable, but his answers were kind of not great.

Hoffman denied the allegations during the event.

Oliver also revealed to Howard that he had warned the organizers of the screening that he was going to bring up the allegations in the Q&A, but it is still unclear whether or not the organizers notified Hoffman of Oliver's intentions.
While everyone else was spending Christmas opening presents and eating pie, someone in Canada was busy stealing a trailer full of veal.

The Toronto police sent out a release asking for the publics help in locating the thief or thieves who stole the 48' refrigerated trailer, containing an extremely large quantity of veal, on Christmas day.

BURNT BAGEL PROMPTED EVACUATION AT ST. LOUIS AIRPORT

The white trailer, which has a blue W and White Valley logo on the side, was parked at a commercial location when the perpetrator(s) stole what BT Toronto estimates to be $30,000 worth of meat.

Twitter couldnt help but crack a few jokes regarding the bizarre crime.

I guess you could say these guys are the Veal deal, one user tweeted.

I guess they have a little beef with someone, another wrote.



FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-3100, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), online at www.222tips.com, or text TOR and your message to CRIMES (274637).
Chinese scientists have proudly announced their first cloned puppy  but they purposefully created him with a blood-clotting disorder that could mean early death.

Longlong, a beagle, was cloned by the Beijing-based biotech company Sinogene from Apple, whose genome was edited so it would develop atherosclerosis and scientists could advance the battle against the disease in humans, CNN reported.

"Dogs share the most inheritable diseases with human beings, which makes them the best disease models to study," Feng Chong, technical director at Sinogene, said.

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ACD) is the leading cause of mortality worldwide and it currently afflicts an estimated 15.8 million Americans.

Researchers at Sinogene said Longlong, born in May, hasn't shown any symptoms of the disorder yet.

Animal rights advocates from PETA decried the gene-editing experiment and say Sinogene's research is "unethical."

"Cloning is not only expensive, but also inherently cruel," said Chi Szuching, a representative of PETA Asia, in a statement obtained by CNN.

"The vast amount of money used to clone could help save millions of cats, dogs and other companion animals who are euthanized at shelters every year because there are not enough homes for them," she added.

Longlong marks the first time scientists combined a somatic cell cloning technology  the method used to clone Dolly, the sheep  and a gene-editing tool, Feng said.

According to Shi Zhensheng, a researcher and professor at China Agriculture University, 400 out of 900 genetic diseases in dogs closely match those found in humans.

"Gene-edited dogs are very useful for pharmaceutical companies," he said. "The supply falls short of the demand every year."

Longlong was born from a surrogate mother on May 26th from 2-year-old Apple, who was also born in a laboratory and used to research human diseases.

Sinogene has successfully cloned two more puppies from Apple and plans to clone more in the future.

The companys deputy general manager Zhao Jianping told Shangaiist that Sinogene hopes to clone police dogs and family pets. He said several pet owners have already come forward seeking to clone their beloved dogs.

"We hope to popularize [pet cloning] for the public," he said.

In 2005 South Korea became the first country to ever clone a dog, an Afghan hound named Snuppy.
Smoking marijuana is on the rise among pregnant women in California, a new study has found.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, used the medical records of 279,000 women residing in California who were on Kaiser Permanente, a health care service, Reuters reported.

Participating women were asked to answer a questionnaire and go through a drug test to see if they tested positive for marijuana use. Researchers found that marijuana consumption among pregnant women in the state has risen from 2009 to 2016 from 4.2 percent to 7.1 percent.

Kelly Young-Wolff, the studys lead researcher and Dr. Nancy Goler said their study shows how marijuana might potentially harm an unborn child.

UTAH DAD PREPARED TO TAKE OUT LOAN AFTER PORCH PIRATES STEAL PRICEY MEDS FROM ILL SON

"Our study is important because it addressed key limitations of prior studies by investigating trends in prenatal marijuana use using data from a large California health care system with gold standard universal screening for prenatal marijuana use," Goler and Young told Reuters.

Young-Wolff said marijuana usage increased the most in young females.

"We were concerned to find that the prevalence of marijuana use in pregnancy is increasing more quickly among younger females, aged 24 and younger, and to see the high prevalence of use in this age group," Young-Wolff said.

The researchers noted marijuana was the most commonly used illegal drug during pregnancy, and could impair fetal growth and neuro-development, Reuters reported.

Barbara Yankey, a researcher at Georgia State University, told Reuters marijuana use may be on the rise because of the recent legalization of its recreational use "has made people think of the drug as less dangerous, even during pregnancy."

PIERS MORGAN SAYS VIEWER SAVED HIIM FROM CANCER BY SPOTTING MARK ON HIS CHEST

"Because of the possibility of concurrent use of marijuana and other substances of abuse, the evidence of its direct association with preterm labor, fetal growth restriction, preterm birth, low birthweight and stillbirth is still debatable, though these adverse effects lean more towards an increased likelihood of occurrence," Yankey continued.

The researcher said the amount of marijuana consumed and how often a person uses it is a factor.

Young and Goler did not condone the consumption of marijuana during pregnancy.

Officials in Colorado, where recreational pot was legalized, have warned women not to smoke it during pregnancy, Gizmodo reported. California will make recreational marijuana legal in 2018.
If anyone thought the week between Christmas and New Years might provide respite in the war between President Trump and his myriad critics, Rep. Francis Rooney, R-Fla., has just opened a new and important offensive.

Its been very frustrating that the truth about whats going on with this investigation into President Trump isnt coming out, he told me from his hometown on the Gulf Coast.

The topic to which Rooney was referring is Special Counsel Robert Muellers increasingly broad, unfocused  and taxpayer funded  probe into what Trump, first as a candidate, then as president-elect, was doing, and who he and his coterie of advisors were talking to, and about what.

Rooney, like many voters who elected Trump, thinks the investigation has, as he said on MSNBC Tuesday, gone off the rails.

The problem is, almost no one who agrees with him watches MSNBC.

To set the record straight, the first-term congressman  and former Ambassador the the Vatican  told Bellwether he thinks a thorough investigation is overdue  but of Mueller, his staff, and the FBI, not the president.

He is particularly alarmed by the negative comments from FBI agent Peter Strzok  whom Mueller had to fire  and Justice Department official Bruce Ohr were texting and saying about Trump, while pretending to be impartial.

In terms as strong as any used so far, Rooney says there are real questions about whether Mueller and the FBI can be trusted to do their jobs in a fair manner.

Muellers staff, for instance is composed of individuals who contributed by a 12-1 ratio for Hillary Clintons campaign over Trumps.

That has given rise to suspicions that a so-called deep state of Obama-era holdovers in positions of authority is determined to hound Trump out of office.

I would say maybe the deep state is more pervasive than Mueller realized, and as a result he is having a hard time finding the proper people, Rooney told me.

He also lauds Attorney General Jeff Sessionss pledge to investigate Mrs. Clintons complicated, and possibly improper, campaign contributions.

A supporter of Trumps tax bill and his rollback of excessive regulations, Rooney concedes that the presidents bombastic public style both enrages and emboldens his critics, some of whom have called  less than a quarter of the way through his term  for his impeachment.

Its very unsettling that they are talking in these careless terms about impeachment, Rooney laments. All theyre doing is continuing to undermine faith in our great American institutional solidarity.

Such strong language from a freshman congressman is both unusual and welcome. If Rooney thought his time at the Vatican put him in closer contact with the Divine, he may soon conclude his current gig is more about encountering just the opposite.


What a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago, the country was ending one of the most fiscally irresponsible presidencies of the modern age. Now were wrapping up a year of bold fiscal leadership from President Trump and conservatives in the U.S. House of Representatives.

I became chairman of the House Budget Committee one year ago and have been proud to serve in that role along with our new president. He has pushed an agenda of action  responsible budgeting, repealing ObamaCares worst mandates, and aggressive tax-cutting to get our economy going. This has been exactly the kind of work I came to Congress to do and we have done it.

But my heart has always been at home. This why today Im announcing that I will now step down as chairman of the House Budget Committee, while continuing to serve in Congress, to devote more attention to my next challenge: seeking the governorship of Tennessee.

When I was elected to Congress in 2010, I had three main goals: repeal ObamaCare, reform the tax code and start attacking the growing federal debt and deficits. In just one year, the Budget Committee has taken significant steps to achieve all of these goals.

Last spring, I sponsored the American Health Care Act (ACHA), to repeal and replace ObamaCare. Our bill would have brought down health-care costs by putting patients and doctors  not the federal government  in charge of health-care decisions.

While the House of Representatives passed the AHCA, the Senate let us all down.

Since the Senates initial failure, we successfully repealed ObamaCares individual mandate in our tax reform bill, to reduce this burden on middle-class Americans. This provision is the foundation of ObamaCares entire flawed scheme. With its repeal, the rest of the law will now be much simpler to dismantle. The House is ready to do just that, so lets hope Republicans in the Senate muster the nerve to join us.

Following passage of the American Health Care Act, my committee went about doing the hard work of writing the 2018 federal budget. We recognized that Republicans controlled both houses of Congress and the White House and we were determined to use this trust from the voters to put our beliefs into law.

Some in my own party counseled that we skip the hard work of budgeting and merely pass a meaningless legislative placeholder, but I refused and insisted that our Budget Committee show real leadership.

Our budget was the most conservative budget in the last 20 years. Our resolution balanced the budget in 10 years, by cutting more than $6 trillion in federal spending. We committed to rebuilding our military, decimated under President Obama, by increasing defense spending by $70 billion to get our mission done and our military men and women back home safely.

We paved the way for historic tax cuts for the American people. And we led the House to endorse the largest cut to mandatory spending programs, which make up about two-thirds of all federal spending, in the last 20 years.

It is now up to the U.S. Senate and future Congresses to follow our lead on mandatory spending. If we dont address mandatory spending programs, our country is headed for a sovereign debt crisis  and believe me, this crisis is closer than most will admit.

The budget produced by my committee launched us toward tax relief. When we began writing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, we focused our attention on the middle class. This focus was particularly important to me  I was once a single mom with three children. I worked the night shift as a nurse so I could be home during the day and take care of my kids, and every dollar was important.

I always felt the pressure of stretching my paycheck to the end of the month. A little bit more money in my paycheck every month would have gone a long way. People whose lives are stretched like that drove my actions in this tax cut debate.

Our law cuts taxes for the middle class, giving an average family about $1,400 back. On top of that, we cut taxes for job creators, which will help them hire more workers, raise wages, and invest in research and technology. Were already seeing results, with companies like AT&T, Boeing and Comcast announcing that they will raise wages, give employee bonuses and invest in job creation.

None of these achievements would have been possible this year without the hard work of the Budget Committee, particularly the 21 Republican members I have led.

Great challenges compel bold choices. I have pushed Congress to make those choices and now I hope to lead my state in the same manner. There is no time to waste.
Three major U.S. cities on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the Defense Department for allegedly failing to report criminal convictions of people in the military to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and its national gun background check database.

The lawsuit  filed by officials in New York, Philadelphia and San Francisco  seeks a court order to force the Pentagon to submit to federal court monitoring of its reporting requirements.

The Pentagon recently acknowledged it has failed to comply with requirements dating back to the 1990s.

This failure on behalf of the Department of Defense has led to the loss of innocent lives by putting guns in the hands of criminals and those who wish to cause immeasurable harm, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

The suit argues that having a federal court oversee compliance would reduce the chance of a mass shooting like the recent tragedy in Sutherland Springs, Texas.

In that incident, former airman Devin Kelley shot 26 people to death in a Texas church. Kelley had been convicted in a military court of domestic violence but his case wasnt reported to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which ideally would have prevented him from buying a gun, the complaint claims.

We cannot accept the level of gun violence in our country as just the way it is, San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera said in a statement. Twenty-six people being murdered at church can never be normal.

The Pentagon had no comment on the lawsuit though its acting inspector general testified at a Senate committee earlier this month that there was no excuse for the militarys repeated failure to comply with reporting rules.

Most recently, military investigators found that nearly one in three court-martialed convictions that should have prevented defendants from purchasing guns had gone unreported.

NICS reporting is required for all federal agencies, including the military, and include regular mandatory compliance reports. The federal law was strengthened following the 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech.

The case is City of New York v. U.S. Department of Defense.
Newsweek published a misleading headline on Tuesday that claimed First Lady Melania Trump demanded a historic Jackson magnolia tree be removed from the White House grounds, but it failed to mention that experts recommended the trees removal because it could fall down at any moment.

Melania Trump orders removal of the near-200-year-old tree from the White House, Newsweek tweeted from its verified Twitter account. The same text is used as the headline for the story, which is essentially fake news and paints Melania Trump as a tree-hating villain.

The First Lady did order the historic tree to be removed, but only after specialists determined that it needed to be removed. The tree has long been supported by poles and wires and posed a hazard for anyone standing near it.

Newsweek's bias and disdain for the First Lady and our administration was on full display when they actively chose to use a false headline instead of practicing responsible journalism."  Melania Trump Communications Director Stephanie Grisham

Newsweek's bias and disdain for the First Lady and our administration was on full display when they actively chose to use a false headline instead of practicing responsible journalism. This is why Americans' trust and confidence in mass media continues to fall, Melania Trump Communications Director Stephanie Grisham told Fox News.

Media Research Center Vice President Dan Gainor mocked the publication for partaking in the usual war on Trump that has become a hobby of the mainstream media.

They either find something to attack him on or they just make it up, Gainor told Fox News. Remember, Newsweek sold several years ago for $1. It appears the buyers were cheated.

White House Director of Social Media Dan Scavino Jr. called Newsweeks headline 100% misleading and added the hashtag, #FakeNewsweek.

Newsweek has updated the body of its story but the misleading headline remains. The story now cites a report that reveals the truth about the tree that could tumble at any moment.

Without the extensive cabling system, the tree would have fallen years ago. Presently, and very concerning, the cabling system is failing on the east trunk, as a cable has pulled through the very thin layer of wood that remains. It is difficult to predict when and how many more will fail, the updated story says, citing a document obtained by CNN.

Some industry insiders feel that Newsweek deploys over-the-top click bait on purpose in an attempt to gain coverage from media reporters at respectable news organizations. Even left-leaning reporters and news organizations criticized Newsweek for the misleading tweet.

Another BS Newsweek tweet, HuffPost reporter Yashar Ali wrote. With 280 characters theres no excuse for this.

Another Newsweek headline doing nothing for the credibility of the news industry as a whole. This headline is grossly misleading, NBC News reporter Tom Winter wrote.

Newsweek sold for only $1 back in 2010 when the buyer was forced to assume the magazines financial liabilities. The magazine has issued at least 20 corrections in 2017 and even has a page on its website dedicated to its mistakes  however it has not been updated since September. The magazine admitted to over 50 mistakes in 2016 and recently issued an embarrassing retraction about a story that falsely detailed the life of the Las Vegas shooter's girlfriend with salacious information that turned out to be fake news.

The tree, which was planted in the early 1800s, is scheduled to be removed later this week.
The Justice Department scolded the Obama administration on Wednesday following a report on how sexual harassment of all kinds was improperly handled at the department for years.

The Washington Post reported that the DOJs inspector general had found systemic problems with how complaints were addressed, with offending officials often being let off the hook or even rewarded. The article cited investigative reports on a lawyer who allegedly groped two female attorneys and a top U.S. Marshals official who had sex with approximately nine women in his office.

Though fresh complaints have been filed as recently as August, the IG said some of the worst alleged offenses happened several years ago in the departments Civil Division.

Ian Prior, a spokesman in the Trump Justice Department, would not comment in detail about the allegations but described the problems as largely occurring during the prior administration.

The Department does not discuss specific employee disciplinary actions or comment on personnel actions or matters that may impact personal privacy. That said, the Department was very disappointed with the issues that occurred in the Obama administration and strives for a workplace free of harassment and other misconduct for all of our 115,000 employees, he said in a statement. That is why the Civil Division has implemented additional safeguards and systems to ensure that all misconduct allegations are handled appropriately going forward.

'[T]he Department was very disappointed with the issues that occurred in the Obama administration.'  DOJ spokesman Ian Prior

He said a working group has also been convened to look at the issues raised and will soon have recommendations.

Inspector General Michael Horowitz originally sent a memo in May alerting the DOJ to the potential systemic issues.

The Post reported that the IG found one top attorney in the Office of Immigration Litigation, Victor Lawrence, groped the breasts and buttocks of two female trial attorneys at a happy hour.

He reportedly got a reprimand, a title change and relief from supervisory duties but was not suspended and did not receive a loss in pay or grade. There reportedly was a concern that a suspension would deprive the government of his services.

One woman, who was not identified, told the Post she was terrified to get in an elevator out of concern hed be there.

Several attorneys in the civil division reportedly got performance awards after the complaints. A female attorney, not identified by the Post, said, They got free passes.

Another case involved a woman, former Oregon prosecutor Amanda Marshall, accused of sending harassing texts and emails to a subordinate after an intimate relationship ended. She later resigned and apologized, reportedly calling the relationship wrong and a mistake.

According to the article, more allegations at the department surfaced this summer  with 17 DOJ employees writing to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in August reporting sexual harassment. Its unclear when those incidents may have occurred.

Fox News Jake Gibson contributed to this report.
Israel could end up naming a future train station at the Western Wall after President Trump in honor of his "brave decision" to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Israels transportation minister Yisrael Katz plans to extend Jerusalems soon-to-open high speed rail to the Western Wall. The plan involves constructing two underground stations and excavating over 2 miles of tunnel beneath Jerusalem and under the politically and historically sensitive Old City.

The Western Wall is the holiest place for the Jewish people, and I decided to call the train station that leads to it after President Trump following his historic and brave decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel, Katz told the Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.

Transportation Ministry spokesman Avner Ovadia said the project is estimated to cost more than $700 million and, if approved, would take four years to complete.

Katz's office said in a statement that the minister advanced the plan in a recent meeting with Israel Railways executives, and has fast-tracked it in the planning committees.

Trump's announcement has enraged the Palestinians and much of the Muslim world. The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution last week rejecting the U.S.'s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, with several traditional American allies voting in favor of the motion.

The Western Wall train proposal will likely face opposition from the international community, which doesn't recognize Israeli sovereignty over east Jerusalem and the Old City, which Israel captured in the 1967 Six-Day War. The Palestinians seek east Jerusalem and the Old City, home to Muslim, Christian and Jewish holy sites, as capital of a future state.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A former State Department official with ties to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., was subpoenaed by the House Intelligence Committee Wednesday because of his reported firsthand knowledge of the sources behind the salacious dossier on President Trump, the committee confirmed to Fox News.

Chairman Devin Nunes issued the subpoena to David Kramer, a senior fellow at the McCain Institute for International Leadership, on Wednesday afternoon to obtain the names of sources behind the dossier, the contents of which are not yet confirmed.

INSIDE THE TRUMP DOSSIER HANDOFF: MCCAINS GO-BETWEEN SPEAKS OUT

The committee told Fox News that Kramer visited former British spy -- and author of the dossier -- Christopher Steele in London in November 2016, where he reportedly received information and a copy of the document, which was intended for McCain.

In January, McCain gave the document to former FBI director James Comey, although the agency already had it from Steele.

In an earlier hearing Dec. 19, the House committee confirmed that Kramer told lawmakers he knew names of sources tied to the dossier but refused to provide them.

TRUMP ACCUSES FBI OF USING PILE OF GARBAGE DOSSIER TO GO AFTER CAMPAIGN

The latest subpoena ordered him to appear on Jan. 11, 2018, according to the committee.

Trump has slammed the dossier, calling it a pile of garbage in a tweet on Tuesday, and alleged that the FBI is relying on it to go after his campaign. The Washington Post reported that the FBI, while not repudiating the dossier, has acknowledged its central charges are unsubstantiated.

Former British spy Steele compiled the document, after being hired by Fusion GPS -- an opposition research firm that got funding from the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

Fox News' Ashley Koerber contributed to this report.
The Treasury Department on Tuesday sanctioned two officials described as key leaders of North Koreas unlawful weapons programs.

Treasury said Kim Jong Sik and Ri Pyong Chol are senior officials in North Koreas Munitions Industry Departments. The sanctions will block them from any from any property or interests in property within U.S. jurisdiction, and prohibit them from transactions with American citizens.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said the sanctions are part of the U.S. maximum pressure campaign to isolate Kim Jong Uns regime and achieve a fully denuclearized Korean peninsula.

The United Nations Security Council unanimously approved new sanctions against North Korea on Friday in response to its latest missile launch, which Pyongyang claims is capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.

It sends the unambiguous message to Pyongyang that further defiance will invite further punishments and isolation. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Hailey said after the sanctions were passed.

North Koreas government called the new sanctions an act of war.

Baik Tae-hyun, spokesman of South Koreas Unification Ministry, expressed hope Wednesday that the continuing campaign of sanctions and pressure will eventually force North Korea into making the right decision and engaging in dialogue over its nuclear program.

Baik noted it was the seventh time the U.S. Treasury has imposed unilateral sanctions against the North since the start of President Donald Trumps administration. Baik also pointed out that the two North Koreans had already been under U.N. Security Council sanctions.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
President Trump reportedly blamed Attorney General Jeff Sessions for Republican Roy Moores loss in Alabama earlier this month because his departure from the Senate to lead the Justice Department necessitated the race.

Trump lamented the loss of the Senate seat to the Democrats and partly put the blame on Sessions for taking up the position at the Justice Department, which triggered the special election, according to a report from the Associated Press on Tuesday.

Doug Jones became the first Democrat in over two decades to win a U.S. Senate seat in Alabama, the deep-red state that Trump carried by about 28 points during the 2016 presidential election.

He won the race by a margin of 21,000 votes against Moore, the embattled Republican candidate tainted by sexual misconduct allegations, despite receiving a resounding endorsement from Trump in the run-up to the voting day.

Trump has long expressed his concerns with Sessions, going as far as to say in July that he would have not hired him if he knew Sessions was going to recuse himself from the investigations into the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Sessions should have never recused himself, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job and I would have picked somebody else, Trump told The New York Times.

The attorney general recused himself from the probe amid revelations that he held two meetings with the Russian ambassador. During a press conference announcing the decision, he said he will not take part in any investigation related in any way to the campaign for president of the United States.

The president perceived the move as a sign of retreat and attacked Sessions on Twitter, calling him beleaguered and very weak for not taking a stronger position on Hillary Clintons email scandal.

At the time, he was privately considering the option of firing Sessions but the idea was met with resistance from advisers who said the attorney general is well-supported among his base due to the tough-on-crime approach and it could only further inflame the investigations.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Starfish are fighting their way back to the West Coast, years after a mysterious syndrome killed millions of them.

A catastrophic number of the sea creatures were killed around 2013-2014 by Sea Star Wasting Syndrome. Starfish from British Columbia to Mexico would develop lesions and then disintegrate, with their arms turning into goo.

But four years later, scientists have spotted starfish in Southern California tide pools, The Orange County Register reported.

From Crystal Cove State Beach to Palos Verdes, They are coming back, big time, Darryl Deleske, aquarist for the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro, told the newspaper.

Its a huge differenceA couple of years ago, you wouldnt find any. I dove all the way as far as Canada, specifically looking for sea stars, and found not a single one, Deleske added.

STARFISH RIPPED APART BY MYSTERIOUS DISEASE

Similar die-offs of starfish on the West Coast were reported in the 1970s, '80s and '90s, but the latest outbreak was the largest-ever recorded, according to the Register.

When the syndrome hit the Southern part of the state in December 2013, Deleske said you just started to see [starfish] melt everywhere. Youd see an arm here, an arm there.

But, just this month, four adult sea stars  each about 7 to 8 inches long  were spotted at Crystal Cove State Park in Newport Beach.

KILLER ROBOT IS COMING AFTER YOU, KILLER STARFISH

"It's a treasure we always hope to find, Kaitlin Magliano, education coordinator at the Crystal Cove Conservancy, told The Orange County Register. "We lost all of them. It's good to see we have some surviving and thriving. Maybe the next generation will be more resilient."

Despite recent spottings, the Sea Star Wasting Syndrome never completely disappeared in Northern and Central California and it has reappeared in the Salish Sea region of Washington state, according to a November report by the University of Santa Cruz.
Supermodel Chrissy Teigen live-tweeted her disastrous experience aboard a Tokyo-bound jet that made a U-turn about four hours into the flight due to an "unauthorized person" on the plane.

Teigen, 32, who was on the flight with her husband, crooner John Legend, reported that the All Nippon Airways jet turned around halfway into the flight because we have a passenger who isnt supposed to be on this plane.

"A flying first for me: 4 hours into an 11-hour flight and we are turning around because we have a passenger who isn't supposed to be on this plane. Why...why do we all gotta go back, I do not know," Teigen tweeted.

Teigen, who called the ordeal a flight to nowhere, tweeted that the unauthorized passenger must be so mortified.

This person is so lucky that we will all have to deplane. Imagine having to walk off alone, the model tweeted. The shame!

Teigen later tweeted that the person who boarded the plane, with 226 passengers onboard, was supposed to be on a United flight.

They keep saying the person had a United ticket. We are on ANA, she tweeted. So basically the boarding pass scanner is just a beedoop machine that makes beedoop noises that register to nowhere.

Police interviewed the passengers for information on the mysterious traveler, and Teigen jokingly apologized to her 9.2 million followers for not being able to provide officers with details.

No one will spill anything :( I wish I had more for you guys. I wish I could be your Snowden, Teigen tweeted.

The model was sure to include videos and retweets from fans who were following along. Teigen reported she was on the flight for eight hours and 20 minutes and ended up back to where it all began at Los Angeles International Airport.

Despite the travel hassle, Teigen happily tweeted early Wednesday that her flight was taking off!!! but hoped the menu would not be the same.

Airport police reported that the mix-up was resolved and the flight was rescheduled. Fox News' request for a comment from the airline was not immediately answered.


A hunter was held at a Las Vegas airport after security screeners found a dead cougar in his luggage.

BURNT BAGEL PROMPTED EVACUATION AT ST. LOUIS AIRPORT

The unidentified man was returning home from a hunting trip when Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents discovered the carcass just before 10 p.m. Tuesday, according to Metropolitan Police Lt. David Gordon, the Review Journal reported.

The cougar was tagged by Utah State Fish and Game, but TSA agents had to hold the man at McCarran International Airport to confirm the validity of the tag.

Airport spokeswoman Melissa Nunnery told the Associated Press the man ended up shipping the cougar carcass home instead of transporting it on the airplane.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

The man was not charged with a crime  it is not unlawful to transport legally possessed game on airline flights. However, Gordon points out, airlines may refuse to transport certain items based on company policies.
Border Patrol agents arrested a man Friday, who served 15 years in prison for Aggravated Assault on a Peace Officer, for illegally crossing the border back into the United States.

Eliseo Franco-Ornelas, 60, was arrested with three others south of Van Horn, Texas. That's about 100 miles west of the Presidio Port of Entry. After his capture, agents used fingerprint analysis to learn of his criminal history.

This is another high-profile arrest that stresses the importance of technology, combined with an adequate amount of agents and infrastructure, Big Bend Sector Chief Patrol Agent Robert Boatright said in a statement.

Franco-Ornelas was taken to the West Texas Detention Facility in Sierra Blanca and charged with Aggravated Felon Re-Entry.

The region where agents arrested Franco-Ornelas leads to the Interstate 10 corridor where immigrants can be picked up in a car and driven just about anywhere. It falls under the jurisdiction of Border Patrols Big Bend Sector.

Its the same region where Agent Rogelio Martinez and his partner were found with traumatic head injuries in a culvert off I-10, November 18th. Martinez died of his injuries, while his partner recovered. However, he couldnt remember what happened.

BORDER PATROL AGENT MURDERED, PARTNER ASSAULTED, PER COURT DOCUMENTS

The investigation into the incident is ongoing, but court documents obtained by Fox News said that Martinez was murdered and his partner assaulted.
An infant boy, whose body was allegedly bent in half by his father's efforts to make the baby stop crying, died Tuesday, police said.



The 6-month-old boys father, 30-year-old Robert Resendiz, called emergency authorities in Phoenix, Ariz., on Dec. 19 when his son stopped breathing, according to FOX10 Phoenix. He died two days later.

WISCONSIN FATHER GETS 6 MONTHS FOR BEATING INFANT, BREAKING 20 BONES

Initially, Resendiz reportedly told police he found his son unresponsive when he woke up, which the infants mother apparently contradicted.

Resendiz later admitted he pressed his sons legs over his head and bent his body in half until he was limp, KPNX reported. He also allegedly told police he bit the infant twice out of frustration.

Doctors at Phoenix Childrens Hospital told police the infant suffered lacerations to his liver and pancreas, a wrist fracture and pattern bruising on his thigh.

NEWLY-ENGAGED PREGNANT MOM, INFANT SON, KILLED BY ALLEGED DRUNK DRIVER IN CHRISTMAS EVE CRASH

Doctors said the baby's injuries were not survivable.

Resendiz, who KNXV reports is being held on $250,000 bond on child abuse charges, is reportedly due in court Wednesday.
A bill pending in Congress would vastly increase money available for the management of at-risk species by minimizing long-standing wildlife funding mechanisms.

The Restoring Americas Wildlife Act was introduced last week. Created by a panel of energy, business and conservation leaders, including representatives of the oil and gas industry, it would direct $1.3 billion of existing royalties collected from companies that drill for oil and gas on federal lands and allocate it to state fish and wildlife agencies.

Under the proposed formula that is based on state population size and land mass, Idaho would receive about $18 million per year, Montana would get $28.8 million, Wyoming $19 million and Washington would get $26 million. The royalties now go to the U.S. Treasury and represent a fraction of the more than $10 billion of oil and gas royalties collected annually.

Its a game changer for me as a wildlife professional, said Virgil Moore, director of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game at Boise.

Idaho, like Montana, funds wildlife management through the sale of hunting and fishing licenses and its portion of federal excise taxes that are collected from the sale of hunting and fishing equipment. Moore said most of the money is used to fund management of commonly pursued species like deer and elk and the states game fish such as salmon, steelhead and trout.

But Moores agency is mandated to oversee all of the states wild animals and fish, meaning there is often insufficient resources to properly manage species that are not pursued by hunters and anglers.

This would allow us to fulfill the mission of the 1938 initiative (that created the department and its governing commission) that declares that all wildlife, which is all fish and wildlife in the state, are the trust responsibility of the state," he said, "and they will be, as the mission statement says, preserved, protected, perpetuated and managed. 

The bill was introduced by Reps. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., and Debbie Dingell, D-Mich. It follows the basic principles of the Pittman-Robertson Act, which places an excise tax on the sale of guns and ammunition, and the Dingle-Johnson Act, which taxes fishing equipment sales and forwards them to state wildlife agencies. It is also reminiscent of the Land and Water Conservation Fund that taps oil and gas royalties to be used to purchase important fish and wildlife habitat.

Lacey McCormick of the National Wildlife Federation said the funding would help stave off the listing of many animals under the Endangered Species Act. She said such listings have become more frequent in the last decade.

All indications are that trend will stay the same, she said. How do we take action now to help these wildlife recover before they need extensive and very expensive action under the ESA.

One possible hurdle to the bill could be the requirement of new federal spending to be offset by cuts or new revenue. Moore said if and when the bill gets a hearing before Congress it can be scored by the Congressional Budget Office. He said that agency will be able to estimate how many species might be helped to the point they dont need to be listed. The estimated savings that comes from avoiding federal protection could be used in the offset calculation, he said.

How big an offset that is, Im not in position to estimate, but that would be an aspect that needs to be worked through as we begin to develop a better picture, he said. For Idaho, once we get a hearing, the department would go out and try to sit down with the people of Idaho and look at the State Wildlife Action Plan and talk about if we were to get this, or even part of it, how would we best implement it for success.

He said states would follow existing state wildlife action plans to determine how to best use money allocated from the legislation. Under existing programs, each state must write such plans that outline how they manage at-risk species.

Moore said Idaho has a proven track record of being able to make a difference for species when funding is available. For example, he said Idaho has done good work protecting southern Idaho ground squirrels, pygmy rabbits and wolverines, all of which are at-risk.

More information on the bill is available at http://bit.ly/2kuZXNJ and the text is available at http://bit.ly/2kv0BL9.
Two men in Hawaii, whove been friends for 60 years, celebrated the holidays early on Saturday after telling their families that they were also brothers, KHON2 reported.

Alan Robinson and Walter Macfarlane, who were born 15 months apart, have reportedly known each other since they were in 6th grade and grew up with somewhat similar backgrounds. Robinson was adopted and Macfarlane was never told who his father was, the outlet said.

So when Macfarlane, with the help of his family, decided to research his lineage, they uncovered a truly unexpected surprise.

MARYLAND POLICE OFFICER RESCUES BALD EAGLE ON CHRISTMAS EVE

His daughter, Cindy, told KHON2 that someone with the username Robi737 kept popping up in his DNA matches on Ancestry.com and the information showed that they had the same X chromosome. And to make the results even more convincing, the recurring username was reportedly related to Robinson.

As a nickname everybody called him Robi and he flew 737s for Aloha Airlines, he was a pilot, Cindy told the outlet.

Robinson, who was also trying to research his family, and Macfarlane talked it over and said it was a shock to find out that they unknowingly had the same mother, KHON2 reported.

AFTER 445 DAYS AT KC SHELTER, MASTIFF MIX FINALLY LANDS HOME

It was an overwhelming experience, its still overwhelming, Robinson said. I dont know how long its going to take for me to get over this feeling.

The men said theyre planning to travel and spend more time together, according to the outlet.

This is the best Christmas present I could ever imagine having, Robinson told KHON2.
A family whose cat who went missing from their California home 10 years ago never expected to see him again  but they were in for the surprise of a lifetime when they received a call he was discovered in the aftermath of the states devastating wildfires in October.

Pilot, now 13 years old, was adopted by the Thompson family as a kitten in 2004. He was three years old when he failed to return to the Thompson family's Santa Rosa home one night, Jenn Thompson told the Longmont Daily Times-Call.

But Pilot was found Oct. 31 by a Good Samaritan who was searching for her own cats in the post-fire rubble  a little more than a mile from where Pilot disappeared 10 years ago.

Thompson told the Times-Call she received a call from a pet hospital in Northern California, where Pilots microchip was scanned and traced back to Thompson, now living in Longmont, Colorado.

"It's pretty crazy," Thompson said. "I got off the phone and told my husband, and he's like, 'You're going to go get him, right?'"

The cat underwent two surgeries to amputate five of his toes after suffering severe burns in the fire, but, according to the Times-Call, is settling into his new home just fine.

"I think he recognized my voice and that was pretty cool. When I brought him back, he definitely recognized my daughter, Thompson said. Right away, he went and cuddled up with her. I had no doubt. It's like, OK, he knows my kid."

The family, who said theyre so happy to have their cat back, started a GoFundMe fundraiser in November after discovering how badly Pilot was burned in the California fires. As of Tuesday night, people have donated more than $4,600 for the cost of his surgeries and medical care.

"When I got the first donation, I cried," Thompson told the newspaper. "Everything has been so surreal. And just how many people have been interested and supportive and on Pilot's side, it's been really cool."
A newly-engaged pregnant woman and her infant son were killed Christmas Eve when a drunk driver rear-ended the car they were riding in, Louisiana officials said.

Shelly Mulkey, 19, was traveling home from a Christmas party at a relatives house in Loranger, La., with her fiance, Ryan McCollum Sr., and their 7-month-old son, Ryan McCollum Jr., when a drunk driver hit their car, The Advocate reported.

Louisiana State Police determined Jillian Pamela Ramsey, 36, was driving while drunk and fleeing an earlier car crash when she swerved and struck McCollum Sr.'s vehicle, rupturing the gas tank and engulfing the vehicle in flames, according to The Times-Picayune.

Witnesses reportedly pulled McCollum Sr. and Mulkey from the car, but McCollum Jr. was trapped inside.

McCollum Jr. and Mulkey were pronounced dead by the Tangipahoa Parish Coroner's Office at the scene.

McCollum Sr. said he was treated for burns to his ear and face and injuries to his leg, while state police said Ramsey only received minor injuries.

McCollum Sr., 24, told The Advocate he had just proposed to Mulkey, whom he had been dating for four years, as a Christmas Eve gift.

"I got a ring out and asked her to marry me. I got on one knee," McCollum told the newspaper. The couple learned over the Christmas weekend they were pregnant with their second child.

"She was an awesome mama and an awesome friend," McCollum Sr. said. "I just want to hold them both in my arms again so bad."

Shellys father, Billy Mulkey, said that his grandson, McCollum Jr., was "the best baby you ever seen in the world."

Speaking of the alleged drunk driver, Mulkey told the newspaper: "Thats three lives she took from me. That woman is going to have to live with that the rest of her life."

Ramsey was booked in Tangipahoa Parish Jail on two counts of vehicular homicide, hit-and-run and careless operation, officials said.
A family in Tennessee getting pulled over by a police officer was able to get into the Christmas spirit when their traffic stop didnt turn out as expected.

The Caperton family, traveling to see their relatives in Huntsville on Christmas day, was pulled over by Decherd Police Officer Tristian Delacruz. The stop, Sarah Caperton later admitted on Facebook, was because they were "driving a little over the speed limit."

However, Caperton told WAFF, The conversation started with a Merry Christmas from both parties and we knew it was only going to get better from there.

Delacruz let the family off with a warning. But, as a heartwarming video posted online shows, the officers job wasnt done just yet.

TEXAS POLICE SAVE CHRISTMAS FOR FAMILY AFTER GIFTS STOLEN FROM TRUCK

Delacruz explained to the Capertons two young boys that he also had to pull over Santa the night before for the same offense.

"I told [Santa] that he had to slow it down just a tad bit," said Delacruz. "He said, 'You know what? You're going to pull over a black Toyota today for their speed and their [sic] going to have two younger boys in their car, and I want you to give them this.'

Delacruz is then seen giving the children toy cars and an action figure.

"Officer Delacruz was extremely kind and helped bring a little more Christmas cheer to our day," Caperton told the news station. "[The video] was a good opportunity to remind people of the sacrifice some people have to make on holiday when they can not [sic] be with their families as they are helping protect ours."
A Dallas woman is facing felony charges for allegedly causing more than $300,000 in damages to artwork at the home of a prominent Houston attorney who previously hosted President Trump when he was a presidential candidate.

Lindy Lou Layman, 29, is accused of pouring liquid onto paintings and throwing sculptures across the room with her hands during the Saturday incident at the River Oaks mansion of Anthony Buzbee, court documents reveal.

FLORIDA MAN ARRESTED AFTER PUNCHING ATM FOR 'GIVING HIM TOO MUCH MONEY'

Three original paintings and two abstract sculptures were damaged in the incident, authorities said.

Layman, whose LinkedIn profile says she is a freelance court reporter, was booked into the Harris County jail and released after posting $30,000 bond. She is set to appear in court Thursday.

According to the Houston Chronicle, Buzbee successfully defended former Texas Gov. Rick Perry in an abuse-of-power case and in June 2016 hosted Trump at his multi-million-dollar home.

Read more news from Fox 26 Houston.
A Utah sheriffs deputy saved an 8-year-old boy who fell through an icy pond while chasing his dog, authorities said.

Police said a group of children were playing near a pond in New Harmony on Monday evening when a boys dog ran off, KUTV reported. A boy in the group followed it out onto the pond when the ice cracked and he fell in.



Unable to get him out on their own, the other children ran for help and authorities were called to the scene, the outlet said.

Sergeant Aaron Thompson of the Washington County Sheriffs Office arrived first and made the personal decision to attempt the rescue without using any equipment, according to a press release obtained by Fox 13.

UTAH DAD PREPARED TO TAKE OUT LOAN AFTER PORCH PIRATES STEAL PRICEY MEDS FROM ILL SON

Thompson forced a path through 25 feet of ice to where the boy was stuck, ultimately freeing and bringing him back on land, Lt. David Crouse of the Washington County Sheriffs Office told the outlet.

He and another citizen were actually able to break through the ice, go into the water, and retrieve the boy out of the pond, Crouse said. He was taken to a nearby ambulance.

The boy is believed to have been in the near-freezing water for about a half hour until he was rescued, Thompson said at a news conference Tuesday. The officer previously had served on a search and rescue dive team and located the child in an area where a woman reported seeing his hand minutes before.

I couldnt feel anything. I didnt notice anything when I was doing it, Thompson said. I knew that time was of the essence. I had a very short window to get that child out of the water.

PIERS MORGAN SAYS VIEWER SAVED HIM FROM CANCER BY SPOTTING MARK ON HIS CHEST

As the ice got thicker, I couldnt break it with my arms and my fists anymore, so I had to jump up on top of the ice, putting my weight on it, and then pound on it to get it to break, he added.

Emergency services arrived on scene and flew the boy to Dixie Regional Medical Center, KUTV said. He was reportedly unconscious as they left, but had vitals.

Authorities said Wednesday that the boy, identified only as Jason, was awake and doing well. The sheriff's office said he was coherent and responding to questions from hospital staff.

The deputy also required medical attention because of hypothermia and cuts on his arms and hands, KUTV reported. The dog was reportedly unharmed in the incident.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Four teenage boys have been charged with murder after a sandbag thrown over an interstate overpass smashed through a cars windshield and crushed a man, killing him days later, police said.

The boys  Pedro Salinas, 13; Sean Carter, 14; Demetrius Wimberly, also 14; and William Parker, 15  are accused of killing Marquise Byrd, who was sitting in a vehicles passenger seat on Interstate 75 in Toledo on Dec. 19 when a construction sandbag smashed through his windshield. The 22-year-old was rushed to the hospital, but died Friday.

I would appreciate if [the boys' parents] could at least call my auntie and tell her they're sorry, Byrd's cousin, Shaveontae King, told Toledo's newspaper, The Blade.

The teenage boys appeared in court on Wednesday. They were initially charged with the juvenile equivalent of felonious assault.

Police and a prosecutor have said the four suspects threw other objects from the overpass that night.

Byrd died of blunt-force trauma injuries to the head and neck, according to the Lucas County Coroners Office.

Byrd, who was from Michigan, was on his way to meet friends in Toledo when the sandbag struck. He was engaged and had a 1-year-old son, according to The Blade.

Young, energetic, outgoing, lovable. He had a bright smile, King said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Four teenage boys will remain in an Ohio jail on murder charges in the death of a man struck by a sandbag thrown from an interstate overpass.

The boys, ages 13 to 15, appeared in juvenile court Wednesday in Toledo where they entered denial pleas to the murder charges.

Prosecutors filed the new charges Tuesday against the boys after 22-year-old Marquise Byrd died Friday at a hospital.

The Warren, Michigan, man was in the front passenger seat of a car traveling south on Interstate 75 in Toledo when a sandbag smashed through the windshield on Dec. 19.

The Lucas County Coroner's Office says Byrd died of blunt-force trauma injuries to the head and neck.

Police and a prosecutor say the teens threw other objects from the overpass that night.
An Arizona man was charged Tuesday in the Christmas Day killings of his estranged wife and their two children, authorities said.

Anthony Milan Ross, 45, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder as well as multiple counts of aggravated assault and assault against a police officer. He was being held without bail, police said.

Authorities on Monday responded to a report of gunfire at a Phoenix apartment complex where the shooting had taken place.

Police found the body of Ross estranged wife outside the apartment and later found the bodies of their 11-year-old son Nigel Ross and their 10-month-old daughter Anora Ross inside the apartment.

Ross had barricaded himself in the apartment and after a brief gun battle with police, was taken into custody. Police said Ross had indicated to officers that he had killed two children.

Phoenix police Sgt. Jonathan Howard said one officer was injured by shrapnel during the gun battle with the man. Ross was not injured, Howard said.

Investigators said they believe this was a domestic violence incident, according to Fox 10 Phoenix.

"I've never seen anything like this before," Kristen Alexander, a neighbor, told Fox 10 Phoenix. "All of our neighbors seem normal and nice and we've never had a problem with anybody here."

AZFamily.com, citing court documents, reported that Ross was being held without bail because the killings were being considered as a capital offense. Prosecutors could ask for the death penalty.

Ross is set for a preliminary hearing on Jan. 5.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
At least three people were wounded and four people were detained after a shooting at a Tennessee mall Tuesday night, Fox 13 Memphis reported.

The shooting occurred at around 7:10 p.m. outside the Wolfchase Galleria in Memphis, police said. Four people, including two men and two women were detained, according to authorities.

The three victims were taken to local hospitals in non-critical condition, according to Fox 13 Memphis.

The shooting forced the mall to close early as police launched their investigation.

The station reported that a gun was recovered in a parking lot near JC Penney, but it was still unclear whether the weapon was related to the shooting.
Licenses for a special chronic wasting disease hunt in north central Montana sold out in less than four hours on Tuesday.

The 335 deer B licenses went on sale at 5 a.m. and were all gone by 8:41 a.m., according to a Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Facebook post. The 60 either-sex licenses offered reportedly sold out in less than five minutes.

This is the second special hunt being offered by FWP this winter to sample for the prevalence of CWD. The first, being held in south central Montana's Carbon County, began on Dec. 15.

So far, that hunt has resulted in the killing of 117 mule deer and 55 whitetails for a total harvest of 172. Between Dec. 19 and 25 alone, eight male and 36 doe mule deer were killed for a total of 44, and nine whitetail bucks and 12 does for a total of 21 were shot. The total harvest quota for the Bridger hunt is 200 deer of each species. That means hunters can fill 83 more mule deer tags and 145 more whitetail tags before the quotas are filled.

The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission approved the Sage Creek Special Chronic Wasting Disease hunt north of Chester last week.

The hunt, which will take place mostly on private land, will be stopped when FWP meets its harvest goal of 135 mule deer. The opening day is Jan. 6 with a closing date of Feb. 15.

Each hunter who participates in the Sage Creek Special CWD Hunt should go online and obtain the hunt packet, which includes a map and rules for the hunt. These can be found online at fwp.mt.gov/CWD or at the FWP office in Havre, the check station at the Sage Creek Hutterite Colony or at the FWP Region 4 office in Great Falls. All successful hunters must have their animal sampled either at the check station, which is open from 10 a.m. to one hour after sunset, or at the FWP Havre office, which is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. five days a week.

CWD was found this fall in a mule deer buck harvested in Hunting District 401, which borders Canada.

The Sage Creek hunt area is about 226 square miles in size and just east of the Sweet Grass Hills. It abuts the Canadian border.

Hunters, like always, will need permission to hunt on private lands. Though this hunt is different in many ways from the general season, the same regulations regarding hunter behavior apply. This includes things like: dont shoot from roads or vehicles, ensure youre certain of your target before pulling the trigger and make sure you validate your license before removing the harvested animal from the field. If hunters see illegal activity, please call 1-800 TIPMONT.

CWD is a progressive, fatal neurological disease that effects deer, elk and moose. It is not known to infect humans. The Centers for Disease Control recommends not consuming animals that test positive for CWD. The CDC also recommends getting deer, elk or moose from CWD positive areas tested prior to consumption.

All animals harvested in the hunt must be submitted for sampling.
A California couple were charged on Tuesday after they allegedly used a drone to deliver drugs to customers while a 9-year-old girl lived in their drug-littered home, police said.

The pair, Benjamin Paul Baldassarre, 39, and Ashley Lauren Carroll, 31, were charged with possession of controlled substances for sale, child endangerment and possession of drug paraphernalia, City News Service reported. Carroll pleaded not guilty to the charges and was held on $100,000 bail. Baldassarre was expected to be arraigned on Wednesday.

CALIFORNIA COUPLE TRIED SELLING KIDS FOR MONEY AND DRUGS, POLICE SAY

Police began investigating the couple's Orangecrest neighborhood in Riverside earlier this month after someone reported drugs being dropped to customers from a drone. Last Thursday, police served a search warrant at the pair's house, where they found uncapped hypodermic syringes and unpacked powders, believed to be fentanyl, littering a bedroom.

Detectives also located methamphetamine and suspected LSD-laced candies, as well as the drone used for the delivery of the illegal narcotics, police wrote on Facebook.

Baldassarres 9-year-old daughter was found in a bedroom with a vape pen containing marijuana in it.

The girl was placed with Riverside County Child Protective Services agents and later released to her biological mother, according to City News Service.

Baldassarre and Carroll were charged in a previous unresolved drug-related case, according to court documents. Baldassarre was also convicted in the past for driving under the influence of drugs and being under the influence of a controlled substance.
A Christmas storm dumped more than four feet of snow on Erie, Pennsylvania, breaking a record previously set in 1958.

The storm had brought 34 inches of snow, an all-time daily snowfall record for Erie, on Monday and then another 19 inches on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.

The previous record was the 44 inches that fell in Morgantown in March 1958.

Erie issued a snow emergency, citing dangerous and impassable roads and residents were asked to stay off streets until the snow stops and roads can reopen.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolfe was also planning on calling up national guardsmen over concerns ambulances may not be able to reach those in need, according to The Washington Post.

Erie Mayor Joe Sinnott told The New York Times that he had never seen this much snow before.

Were used to snow, dont get me wrong, Sinnott said. But this amount, trying to deal with this, is very atypical.

City employees from various departments were asked to do their part by helping plow some of the snow during 12- to 16-hour shifts, according to The Times.

State police and the state Department of Transportation are urging people to avoid travel, citing poor visibility and deteriorating conditions.

According to The Washington Post, Erie averages about 100 inches of snow per winter. So far in December, Erie has gotten 97 inches.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
College professors have said plenty of crazy things in the past, but President Trumps first year in office proved to be an especially insane year when it came to the rhetoric heard on campus.

While some students marked Trumps November election by screaming at the sky, a handful of liberal teachers spouted their extreme views in the classroom and on the web, costing many of them their jobs.

MOST BIZARRE COLLEGE COURSES 2017: HOOKING UP, QUEER RELIGION AND SEXY VAMPIRES

1) Drexel prof blames whiteness for Texas massacre

Perhaps the most consistently controversial figure in higher education this year was George Ciccariello-Maher, the liberal professor who was booted from campus for tweets attributing the Las Vegas massacre to Trumpism and white victimization. He later blamed "whiteness" for the Texas church shooting that left 26 people dead.

In 2016, he tweeted, All I want for Christmas is white genocide.

2) Art professor says GOP House should be lined up and shot

Professor John Griffin, of the Art Institute of Washington, posted on Facebook that Republicans should be shot for their passage of an Affordable Care Act replacement bill -- and he was serious, as reported by Campus Reform.

They should be lined up and shot, the professor wrote, clarifying exactly what he meant. Thats not hyperbole; blood is on their hands.

3) Prof said hed be OK with education secretary being sexually assaulted

In September, Austin Community College paralegal studies professor, Robert Ranco, resigned after tweeting: Im not wishing for it  but Id be ok if #BetsyDevos was sexually assaulted.

Ranco later apologized to Devos on Twitter. His tweets were part of several criticisms of DeVos claims that Title IX rules governing campus sex assault cases have led to improper investigations.

4) Reward for a prof who called Trumps election an act of terrorism

A human sexuality professor at Orange Coast College in Southern California was caught on camera calling Trumps election an act of terrorism. Instead of being reprimanded, Professor Olga Perez Stable Cox was awarded Faculty Member of the Year honors in March by the community college -- while the student who recorded her was suspended for violating college rules.

5) The Florida professor who suggested Texans deserved hurricane for backing Trump

A visiting University of Tampa professor was fired this summer after writing that Texans deserved Hurricane Harvey for supporting Trump. Kenneth Story, also an adjunct professor at nearby Hillsborough Community College, apologized after tweeting: I dont believe in instant Karma but this kinda feels like it for Texas. Hopefully this will help them realize the GOP doesnt care about them.



HATE CRIMES AND HOAXES: 10 CAMPUS STORIES DEBUNKED IN 2017
A bad haircut  and a wounded ear  led to a Wisconsin hairstylist's arrest, authorities said.

Khaled A. Shabani, 46, was arrested after he snipped a 22-year-old customers ear, Madison police said.

Police spokesman Joel DeSpain said officers arrested Shabani on suspicion of mayhem and disorderly conduct while armed.

DeSpain said the victim told officers the hairstylist told him to stop fidgeting and moving his head before nicking his ear Friday.

According to The Wisconsin State Journal, DeSpain said the hairstylist then ran the clipper with the shortest attachment down the middle of the customers head, leaving him looking a bit like Larry from The Three Stooges.

DeSpain said Shabani told officers it was an accident.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Remember when a black cadet at the Air Force Academy said he found a racist message in his dorm? That prompted Lt. Gen. Jay Silveria to say, in a speech that went viral, If you cant treat someone with dignity and respect, then get out.

Turns out the episode was a hoax; the cadet had committed the hate crime all by himself.

OK, but what about the 2014 Rolling Stone article A Rape on Campus? That had its own problems: The piece included a discredited story about a rape at the University of Virginia involving the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. And the venerable magazine settled a $1.65 million defamation suit earlier this year as a result of the false claims.

Those are just two examples of a growing national trend, highlighted by The College Fix, in which hate crimes are falsely reported. Following President Trumps election and inauguration, several universities have seen an increase in such reports.

One student at the University of Michigan faked an attack because of what she called a post-election surge in hate crimes. The UM student was fined $660 and is on a suspended 93-day jail sentence, pending probation adherence, for falsely reporting a hate crime. She admitted to having mental health issues when she pleaded guilty, but at the time, she told police she was targeted for wearing a solidarity pin.

She later admitted to scratching herself with her solidarity pin after becoming upset during a womans literature class at the University of Michigan, according to the Ann Arbor Police Department report.

At Michigan State University, all it took was one misplaced item and the entire campus went into a racial uproar. MSU President Lou Anna Simon released a statement commending one student for her courage in reporting a racial incident involving a noose on campus. There was just one problem: The noose turned out to be a lost shoelace, which university spokesman Jason Cody said was not directed at any individual.

But at a school in rural Minnesota, one piece of paper, which turned out to be a hate crime hoax, actually resulted in classes being canceled for a day.

A note that used the N-word and threatened a black female student at St. Olaf College inspired a student-led protest against institutional racism at the school and the cancellation of classes.

Only problem? It was not a genuine threat, according to the schools president. The author of the note confessed to fabricating it to draw attention to concerns about the campus climate.

In Ohio, a Bowling Green State University student accused the school of harboring an active KKK group, but it turned out the evidence was a piece of lab equipment covered with a white cloth. How does this promote diversity and inclusion? the student asked, and the Falcons president responded.

We looked into this, BGSU President Mary Ellen Mazey tweeted. We discovered its a cover on a piece of lab equipment. This is the same campus where a student falsely reported that a group of white Trump supporters threw rocks at her while yelling racial slurs after the election.

In New York City, a Pakistani-American college student claimed that three masked men racially assaulted and robbed him, but the Queens College student recanted his story in May following a police investigation.

Assistant Professor Azhar Hussain of Indiana State University was arrested for allegedly creating fake anti-Muslim threats in March. ISUs chief of police said, It is our belief Hussain was trying to gain sympathy by becoming a victim of anti-Muslim threats which he had created himself. Hussain was charged with obstruction of justice and a misdemeanor charge of harassment.

One day after Trumps election, a Muslim San Diego State University student wearing a hijab claimed Trump supporters stole her purse, backpack, and then her car. She claimed the robbers were saying things like Now that Trump is president get ready to start fleeing, and said she no longer felt safe on campus, adding, My religion, just being so visible, it breaks my hearts that Im such a target for most people just because of the religion that I choose.

It was reported she had just forgotten where she parked her car. After SDSU police disproved her claim in their hate crime investigation, the student then decided not to pursue charges.

At Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, a student claimed to have had a hate-filled note taped to his door with racist and homophobic language  but after campus police investigated, the student admitted to false reports. In 2015, he pulled a similar stunt with a note containing racial slurs and swastikas. The police at the time didnt find a suspect, but the campus community hosted an inclusivity march to combat possible hate crimes.

In the fall of 2016, he also reported being attacked by a white male, which turned out to be fabricated as well.

MOST BIZARRE COLLEGE COURSES 2017: HOOKING UP, QUEER RELIGION AND SEXY VAMPIRES

Laird Wilcox, author of the book Crying Wolf: Hate Crime Hoaxes in America, told Fox News, Its widely recognized now that college campuses have become the perfect incubators for fake hate crimes.

I would say now 80 percent of the events that happen on campus are hoaxes or pranks. Wilcox said. Its a place where consciousness of discrimination, sexism and homophobia is at a peak, and when theres nothing happening, and they need something to happen, they can make it happen.
Even as North Korea whips up anxieties over its nuclear capabilities, New York City has quietly begun removing some of the corroding yellow nuclear fallout shelter signs added to thousands of buildings during the Cold War, saying many are misleading relics that would not be useful in the event of a real attack.

The small metal signs are a remnant of the nuclear arms race between the United States and the former Soviet Union, which prompted President John F. Kennedy to create the shelter program in 1961 in cities across America.

Although New Yorkers may barely notice the signs, many remain in place, a reminder that the threat of nuclear annihilation has not disappeared. Indeed, North Korea is working to develop nuclear-tipped missiles that could hit America, while the U.S. maintains a nuclear arsenal of more than 4,000 weapons.

If there ever is a nuclear strike in the New York City area, the signs, thousands of which linger, would be best ignored, city officials and disaster preparedness experts told Reuters.

Any survivors hoping that the signs point to safety would most likely find themselves pounding on locked doors or breaking into areas that are currently used for laundry rooms and bike storage. The maintenance of the shelter system ended decades ago, according to Reuters.

The citys Department of Education wants to remove some of the signs for these shelters from public schools to eliminate any confusion.

NORTH KOREA DEFECTORS WHO LIVED NEAR NUCLEAR TEST SITE SHOW POSSIBLE RADIATION EXPOSURE

Michael Aciman, a department spokesman, confirmed to Reuters that any designated fallout shelters created in the citys schools are no longer active. He said the department is aiming to finish unscrewing the signs from school walls by roughly Jan. 1. City officials say this is the first coordinated effort to remove the signs.

FEMA does not have a position regarding the signs, Jenny Burke, an agency spokeswoman, wrote in an email to Reuters on Tuesday. Although FEMA does not maintain lists of the old shelter locations, she added, as a part of an ongoing planning effort, the agency is conducting research to retrieve Office of Civilian Defense records.

The citys removal plan has reportedly been somewhat haphazard: on one Brooklyn street, a sign on a school photographed by Reuters this month was subsequently removed, while a second school a few blocks away still had its sign attached, but with a screw missing.

Were a nuclear explosion to occur, those far enough from the blast center to survive would do well to head to the lower interiors of any standard building, preferably a windowless basement, to shelter from radioactive particles outside.

NYC Emergency Management, the agency that runs the citys disaster preparations, was not involved in the decision but staff there welcomed the signs removal. Nancy Silvestri, the agencys press secretary, said that even once the signs are gone from schools, many will remain on apartment buildings and other structures.
Three people, including an off-duty Border Patrol agent, were killed and two others were injured after an SUV collided with a wild hog Christmas night in Texas.

Texas Department of Public Safety Spokesman Sgt. Conrad Hein said Tuesday that a preliminary investigation indicated that a Ford Expedition collided with the hog, causing the vehicle to swerve into oncoming traffic and hit a Mercedes SUV head-on on a rural road near Uvalde.

The two vehicles caught fire, according to the Uvalde Leader-News.

The Expedition's driver, 51-year-old Ruby Garza, and the driver of the Mercedes, 27-year-old Antonio Cordova, the off-duty agent, were pronounced dead at the scene.

Garza had been traveling with three people: Julia Vazquez, 51, Mayra Vasquez and Naomi Acuna, according to the Leader-News. Julia Vazquez died at a hospital. The conditions of Mayra Vazquez and Acuna were not immediately known.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A Virginia teen charged in the shooting deaths of his girlfriends parents mowed a swastika about 40 feet across into the grass of a community field, according to neighbors.

Penny Potter told The Washington Post on Tuesday that after the incident two months ago, residents of Reston talked to the 17-year-olds parents instead of going to authorities.

We live in a very safe neighborhood where kids can ride their bikes and not worry about anything, Potter told the newspaper. For the first time, I was fearful that there was someone living in our neighborhood who was capable of incredibly irrational behavior.

Potter said the parents admitted that their son mowed the Nazi symbol into the grass and that they were planning on getting treatment for him.

They were going to take care of it, she said. They were aware of it.

The unidentified teen allegedly killed Scott Fricker, 48, and Buckley Kuhn-Fricker, 43, of Reston, after the couple tried to get their teenage daughter to end a relationship with the youth over neo-Nazi views.

Police said the teen fatally shot his girlfriends parents after they caught him in their 16-year-old daughters bedroom around 5 a.m. Friday and tried to get him to leave, The Washington Post reported.

The boy then shot himself in the head, but survived, police said. He remains unidentified because of his age.

The police reportedly havent discovered a motive but family members and friends blamed it on the couples struggle to keep hate out of their home, The Post reported, citing family members.

Family and friends say the couple found a Twitter account they believed to be linked to the youth. Friends say the account retweeted posts praising Hitler and making derogatory comments about Jews.

The teen was charged with two counts of murder and, as of Tuesday, was still hospitalized in critical condition.

Fox News Bradford Betz and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
William Graham, a lawyer, philanthropist, investor and son of a former Washington Post publisher, committed suicide last Wednesday, according to his brother  reminiscent of the suicide of his father more than 50 years ago.

Graham, 69, was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Donald Graham told The Washington Post.

The former Williams & Connolly lawyer was known as a humble philanthropist and the founder of an investment firm later in his life. He also taught trial law at the University of California at Los Angeles, according to the newspaper.

Grahams father, Phillip, committed suicide when he was 48 by shooting himself with a shotgun in 1963 days after being released from a psychiatric hospital where he was getting treatment for more than a month, according to the New York Post.

Grahams mother, Katharine, ran The Washington Post when it won a Pulitzer Price for exposing then-President Richard Nixons Watergate Scandal. She is also portrayed in the upcoming film The Post, which tells the story of the papers efforts to publish the Pentagon Papers in 1971.

The Graham family had owned the newspaper since Grahams grandfather Eugene Meyer bought it in 1933. The family sold the Post in 2013 to Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos for $250 million.

Graham is survived by his wife Sally Lasker Graham, two children from the second of his four marriages, his sister Washington Post senior editor Lally Weymouth and brothers Donald and Stephen Graham.
Two Billings residents broke into an AT&T store before dawn on Christmas Eve and tried to load stolen phones into a stolen Oldsmobile, according to charges filed Tuesday.

Dylan Patrick Curtin, 20, and an unnamed 14-year-old male were caught by police around 1 a.m. on Sunday after a woman driving by called to report seeing a burglary in process at the phone store at 644 Broadwater Ave. The two were removing goods through a broken window, the caller reported.

When police arrived, they saw Curtin and the teen loading a box into the Oldsmobile parked in an alley near the phone store, charges state. The two ran and officers ran after them, tackling both to the ground in order to arrest them.

An officer searching Curtin found multiple phones, a smart watch and a money bag with the AT&T logo on it, charges state.

Curtin had multiple active warrants out at the time of his arrest.

Curtin faces felony charges of burglary and theft and a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest. He appeared Tuesday in Yellowstone County Justice Court.
China reportedly did not export any oil to North Korea in November in an apparent attempt to exceed the terms of sanctions placed on the rogue regime this year by the United Nations.

China did not export gasoline, jet fuel, diesel or fuel oil, nor did Beijing import any coal or iron ore, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing Chinese customs data. It was the second straight month China did not export any diesel or gasoline to Pyongyang, according to the report.

As a principle, China has consistently fully, correctly, conscientiously and strictly enforced relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions on North Korea. We have already established a set of effective operating mechanisms and methods, Chinas Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said.

The U.N. sanctions, implemented earlier this year, aimed to dramatically limit oil products to North Korea as retaliation for their nuclear and missile testing.

Tensions with North Korea have flared amidst their Nov. 29 announcement that they had successfully test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States.

China, who is North Koreas biggest trading partner, has repeatedly been criticized for not playing a larger role in easing tensions.

Beijing has not formally disclosed their official numbers on crude oil exports. Reuters reported, citing industry sources, that China supplies North Korea with less than 4 million barrels of crude oil a year. Chinas total trade in November with the rogue regime amounted to less than $400 million  one of the lowest of the entire year.

Click for more from Reuters.
U.S. spy satellites reportedly captured photos of Chinese ships illegally selling oil to North Korean boats some 30 times since October.

Satellite images released by the U.S. Department of Treasury appeared to show vessels from both countries illegally trading oil in the West Sea, The Chosun Ilbo reported Tuesday, citing South Korean government sources.

North Korea was barred in September by the United Nations Security Council from importing natural gas and had its crude oil imports capped in response to Kim Jong Uns nuclear missile program.

The U.S. Treasury in November also sanctioned North Koreas Maritime Administration and its transport ministry, in addition to six North Korean shipping and trading companies and 20 of their vessels, in an effort to block the rogue regimes transportation networks.

The satellite images appear to identify the ships. One of them  Rye Song Gang 1, seen connected to a Chinese vessel  was included in the Nov. 21 sanctions as a vessel of Korea Kumbyol Trading Company possibly transferring oil to evade sanctions.

While Russia exports some oil to North Korea, China is the main source of oil for the rogue nation, according to Reuters. However, the country exported no oil products to the North during the month of November. It was reportedly the second consecutive month China didn't export diesel or gasoline to North Korea.

NORTH KOREA CALLS UN SANCTIONS 'AN ACT OF WAR,' 'RIGGED UP BY THE US'

This is a natural outcome of the tightening of the various sanctions against North Korea, Cai Jian, an expert on North Korea at Fudan University in Shanghai, told the news organization. Cai added the "tightening ... reflects China's stance."

It's unknown if China supplies crude oil to the North, but it's believed by industry insiders that China provides the cutoff nation 3.8 million barrels of crude oil each year through an "aging pipeline," Reuters reported.

A government source told the South Korean newspaper that, "We need to focus on the fact that the illicit trade started after a UN Security Council resolution in September drastically capped North Korea's imports of refined petroleum products."

Robert Kelly, a professor at Pusan National University in South Korea, told The Telegraph that China trading oil to North Korea could be possible.

NORTH KOREA'S OTHER WEAPONS: EXPERT WARNS NUKES AREN'T BIGGEST CONCERN

There is a lot of under-the-radar on the Chinese side," Kelly said. "Beijing does not police the border strictly or enforce the sanctions toughly. This could be that."

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she had no information following Chosuns report, but said the Chinese government has been completely and strictly enforcing Security Council resolutions aimed at discouraging North Korea from developing nuclear and missile technology.

Hua questioned whether any country could make sure "not a single breach will happen, but noted: We are taking a sincere and serious attitude and forceful and effective actions."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The environmental group Sea Shepherd says fishermen fired 25 shots at one of its night-vision drones in Mexico's Gulf of California, bringing it down.

Various drones have been employed to patrol the Gulf, also known as the Sea of Cortez, to combat illegal fishing and save the critically endangered vaquita marina, the world's smallest porpoise.

Sea Shepherd has been the target of demonstrations by fishermen in the past, but said the Christmas Eve shooting represented "a new level of violence."

The group said Tuesday that its drone had located four small boats illegally fishing for totoaba, a fish whose swim bladder is prized in China.

The vaquita population has dropped to less than 30 because gill nets set for the totoaba can trap the porpoise.
German prosecutors have charged an alleged member of the Islamic State group who spent time in Syria with membership in a terrorist organization and committing a war crime.

Federal prosecutors said Wednesday that the 32-year-old German citizen, identified only as Abdelkarim E. B. in line with local privacy rules, left Germany for Syria in 2013 and joined IS. They said he received weapons training and fought for the group.

Prosecutors say that, during fighting near Aleppo in November 2013, the man's unit beat and kicked a captured fighter from an enemy militia and threatened him with torture. The suspect is also accused of filming the scene.

The man is already in custody in a separate case, which prosecutors gave no details of.
A small far-left group in Greece has claimed responsibility for a Dec. 22 bombing at an Athens courthouse that caused extensive damage but no injuries.

The Popular Fighters Group said in a post on a far-left website on Wednesday it attacked the Athens Court of Appeal to protest what it said was bias by Greek judges that favored the rich and powerful in several high-profile court cases.

The group also complained that Greek courts failed to uphold legal challenges against painful income cuts and tax hikes implemented under the country's bailout program.

The group previously claimed responsibility for shots fired at the German ambassador's residence in Athens four years ago and bombings targeting a Greek industry federation in late 2015 and outside a bank in April. No injuries resulted from those incidents.
Guatemalas top diplomat defended the countrys decision to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, rejecting international and domestic scrutiny after following the U.S. lead.

Foreign Minister Sandra Jovel said the change amounts to a foreign policy decision, therefore sovereign, and that Guatemala has no intention of changing their mind.

Guatemala President Jimmy Morales announced the switch Christmas Eve, becoming the first country to follow President Trumps controversial decision to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Guatemalas government has given no timeline for a move, as President Trump has also not said when a switch will be made.

However, Israels Ambassador to Guatemala, Mattanya Cohen, told local television that Guatemala would only move its embassy after the U.S., and that could take years, according to Haaretz.

It wont happen tomorrow morning. It will happen after the United States. Thats how they explained it to me. The announcement of the president and of the foreign minister was explicit that Guatemala would be immediately after the United States, Cohen said.

Trumps announcement Dec. 6 reversed decades of U.S. policy and set off weeks of clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli security forces that have left at least a dozen Palestinians dead.

The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly Thursday to condemn the U.S. decision in a non-binding resolution. Guatemala was one of nine nations that sided with the United States.

Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its capital, while the Palestinians claim the citys eastern sector, which was captured by Israel in 1967. The city is home to sensitive Jewish, Muslim and Christian religious sites. Many governments have long said the fate of Jerusalem must be resolved through negotiations.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Police in Iceland say one person was killed and 12 more were critically injured after a bus carrying 46 Chinese tourists skidded off the road after a rear-end collision with another vehicle.

The Icelandic blood bank sent out an alert for donations of blood type O following Wednesday's accident on Route 1, a national road that runs around the island.

The car and bus crashed near the Eldhraun lava field about 250 kilometers (155 miles) east of Reykjavik, Iceland's capital.

Police say the bus skidded off the road and flipped on its side, trapping two passengers underneath. One died on the scene.

Three helicopters were used to transfer the most severely injured to a hospital emergency room in the capital.
As the first-born son of Joseph Kony, Moses Rubanga Kene is still paying for the sins of his father  but that hasnt stopped him from loving the Ugandan warlord.

Your father can do things that are not good, but still he remains your father, Moses told the Daily Beast in an interview published Tuesday. And I love him like other people love their fathers.

Speaking publicly for the first time ever, Moses opened up about his life in Uganda during his dads infamous reign of terror in the 1990s and 2000s when he was leader of the Lords Resistance Army.

The 26-year-old said that while most people would likely stay away from his father, he hopes to eventually see Kony again one day now that Uganda and the US have ended their decades-long hunt for him.

I believe he will come out of the bush, Moses said. I have hope.

With years of atrocities still fresh in his mind, Moses described how he and his mother were forced to deal with the fallout from Konys crusade of death  despite living in another part of the country at the time.

Since the war hurt so many people, they look at Joseph Konys family as a family of murderers, as a family that dont deserve to live, Moses said. The best thing I can do nowadays is try to keep my identity discreetBecause people will start pointing fingers, start discriminating.

Moses told the Daily Beast that Kony sent him away in the early 1990s to northern Uganda, where he learned about his dads brutal ways through word of mouth.

They said, being the first born, Im going to grow up just like my father, recalled Moses.

He said his mother was repeatedly thrown behind bars and abused when he was a child as a result of her relationship with Kony.

She was being arrested here and there. You know, accusations of being a collaborator with the rebels, Moses said.

On one occasion, soldiers from the Ugandan military came looking for Moses when he was a kid  in hopes of burning him alive  but by the grace of God, he said someone stepped in and saved him.

Moses mother, who was abducted by the LRA as a teenager and forced to be Konys wife, was not so lucky.

According to the Daily Beast, she was physically abused by Ugandan soldiers for years and raped by them on numerous occasions. She later died from AIDS when Moses was just 8-years-old.

My mum was really happy and she loved people, Moses said. She loved bringing people together, sharing stories, laughing. Those are the memories I have of her.

Moses has reportedly met Kony at least two times in the past. The last encounter they had together came during peace talks with the LRA in modern-day South Sudan, sometime between 2006 and 2008, when Moses was a teen.

He wanted to see me and know I was being treated well and I was alive, Moses remembered. He was asking about studies, he was advising me that my future lies in education, that I need to study hard.

While Moses hopes to see his dad again one day, he understands that war has likely changed him forever.

I dont agree with his actions, the things he did, Moses said. The only person who can really explain it is him.

He added, I say: God, I didnt ask to be like this, it was all your plan. So I just ask God to give me the strength to keep going on and keep progressing in life.

Click for more from the New York Post.
The Latest on developments in Syria (all times local):

12:30 p.m.

The International Committee of the Red Cross says evacuations continue of critically ill Syrians from a besieged rebel-held area where conditions have reached alarming levels.

The Army of Islam, a prominent rebel group in eastern Ghouta, said Wednesday the evacuation of 29 critically ill persons was conditional on it releasing an equivalent number of captives it held.

Activists said at least five critically ill were evacuated late Tuesday.

The evacuation was coordinated between the ICRC and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. Mona Kurdi, spokeswoman for SARC, said the evacuees were taken to hospitals in government-controlled Damascus but had comments on their conditions.

The government recently tightened its siege on eastern Ghouta, home to nearly 400,000 people, refusing to allow hundreds of critically ill to reach hospitals minutes away, the United Nations said.

___

12 p.m.

Russia's foreign minister says a Moscow-proposed peace congress scheduled for next month is crucial for reaching a settlement in Syria and is not hampering United Nations-led talks.

Sergey Lavrov's statement on Wednesday comes a day after several dozen Syrian opposition groups issued a series of statements saying the talks in Russia's Sochi next month are an attempt to "circumvent" the U.N.-led peace process.

Lavrov, who was meeting with Syrian opposition leader Ahmad Jarba on Wednesday, told Russian news agencies that the Sochi congress would lay the groundwork for U.N.-led talks. The Russian minister quoted "broad support" for the Sochi talks among Syrians and said Russia's goal is to gather together the largest number of opposition groups possible to help launch constitutional reform in the war-torn country.
Several North Korean defectors who lived near the Hermit Kingdoms nuclear test site showed signs of suspected radiation exposure, the South Korean government said  findings that followed experts previous warnings that the crumbling site could cause radioactive contamination in the area.

Researchers added that they couldnt confirm if the possible radiation exposure found in four defectors was related to the Punggye-ri site, where North Korea conducted all six of its nuclear tests, Yonhap News Agency reported, citing the Souths Unification Ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun.

NORTH KOREAN DEFECTOR HAD ANTHRAX ANTIBODIES IN SYSTEM, REPORT SAYS

Since October, researchers conducted health checkups on 30 defectors out of the 114 who used to live Kilju County, where the nuclear test site resides. The former North Korean residents fled to South Korea before Kim Jong Uns fourth nuclear test in January 2016. The four defectors have chromosome abnormality that may have been caused by radiation exposure, but the ministry added that other factors couldnt be eliminated, according to Yonhap.

One defectors abnormality could have been related to smoking habits and old age. The two other showed no statistical meaning and there was too little information for the last defector.

"The possibility of radiation exposure can be suspected, but it has not been verified whether nuclear tests affected the person as there is a lack of information assessing living environments in North Korea," a ministry official said.

NORTH KOREA'S NUCLEAR TEST SITE CAUSING 'DEFORMED BABIES,' KILLING VEGETATION, DEFECTORS SAY

More radiation tests will be conducted on defectors, the Souths government said. The news also comes a day after a South Korean television station said an unidentified North Korean soldier who defected to the South had traces of anthrax antibodies.

North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test on Sept. 3 that triggered a 6.3 magnitude earthquake followed by months of aftershocks. Experts warned that another test conducted in one of Punggye-ris crumbling tunnels could cause radiation to leak into the area.

NORTH KOREA'S NUCLEAR TEST SITE AFTERSHOCKS ARE 'RELAXATION EVENTS' CAUSED BY NUKE TEST, ANALYSTS SAY

Nearly two dozen defectors told South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo in November that Kilju County was turning into a wasteland where babies were reportedly being born with birth defects.

"I heard from a relative in Kilju that deformed babies were born in hospitals there, one defector said, according to the newspaper.

Another added: "I spoke on the phone with family members I left behind there and they told me that all of the underground wells dried up after the sixth nuclear test."

North Korea previously slammed recent reports surrounding the Punngye-ri test site, calling a Japanese televisions claim that at least 200 people died when tunnels collapsed underground as misinformation.
A man tried to burn down the apartment he was a guest in after having a falling-out with the renter, according to charges filed Tuesday.

Charles Joseph Caplette, 50, appeared in Yellowstone County Justice Court on Tuesday on arson and criminal endangerment charges.

Caplette had been allowed to stay in the apartment on the 200 block of North 18th Street for a few days, the renter told police, because a mutual friend had asked, as a favor to Caplette. But then the mans belongings began disappearing and Caplette started moving in items in that the man did not want. Caplette also became violent, the man said.

When Caplette came over late Friday night, the man changed the locks to the apartment and told Caplette he could not stay there anymore, according to charges. But Caplette returned hours later, knocked on the door, called the mans name and then walked to the back of the building, witnesses inside the apartment told police.

The witnesses heard loud noises coming from the back of the building and found a plastic bedroom window engulfed in flame, they told police. Police on scene smelled gasoline, and neighbors later said they saw a man running from the scene who fit the description of Caplette.

Police found Caplette soon after at the Montana Rescue Mission with gasoline and melted plastic on his boots.

Caplette told one of the men in the apartment earlier in the night that he planned to start a fire, that he didn't care if it killed everyone inside and that he would stab the man, charges state.
North Koreas nuclear program has long triggered condemnation  including the U.N. Security Councils recent decision to apply some of the toughest sanctions in history  but is something far more lethal lurking in the Hermit Kingdoms arsenal?

"They have a large stockpile of chemical weapons, but the one that gets the least attention, and that I worry most about, is their biological weapons program," said Andrew Weber, the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Chemical and Biological Defense Programs from 2009-2014.

When it comes to biological weapons, Weber said, just a tiny amount can bring incredibly lethal results. "Ounces or pounds would be enough. You can have millions of lethal doses of anthrax in a several-pound quantity... With smallpox, maybe just a few grams."

One of the biggest concerns when it comes to chemical or biological warfare - a concern that Weber and the White House seem to share - is the fact that these incredibly lethal attacks can easily be "cloaked in deniability," and difficult to trace back to the perpetrator. Weber pointed out that it takes just one or two people to covertly deliver a strategic biological weapons attack.

North Korea has been accused of using chemical weapons in an apparent assassination earlier this year, one that unfolded beyond its borders. Kim Jong Nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, was killed with the use of the nerve agent VX in the Kuala Lumpur International Airport last February 13.

Adding to the difficulty in tracking the use of weapons like these, Weber said, is the fact that it's usually too late when people realize they've been exposed. Weber added that "to release anthrax into the atmosphere, you'd likely go undetected and it would be a week or so before people start displaying symptoms.

During the 2001 anthrax attacks in the U.S., Weber noted that people were mailed envelopes filled with the deadly substance - along with a letter telling them that they had been infected, and should seek medical attention. Weber said those warning letters are what allowed the government to quickly distribute antibiotics to thousands of Americans, likely saving lives in the process. Without them, the outcome could have been very different.

"If you don't know about an attack until people start showing up sick, its very difficult to treat the inhalation of anthrax," Weber said. He added, "if they can launch a VX attack in Kuala Lumpur, they can launch an anthrax attack in Los Angeles.

The White House seemed to confirm the North's chemical and biological capabilities, writing in its newly released National Security Strategy that "North Korea  a country that starves its own people  has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons that could threaten our homeland.

For his part, Kim Jong Un, said the United Nations committed "an act of war" with its new round of nuclear-related sanctions.

North Korea's most recent test-launch of a long-range missile, one that they claimed could reach anywhere on the U.S. mainland, inspired the U.N. Security Council's unanimous approval of what are considered some of the toughest sanctions in history on December 22.

President Trump suggested on Twitter that the vote indicates The World wants Peace, not Death!

The text of the new UN resolution suggests that the "proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, as well as their means of delivery, constitutes a threat to international peace and security."

In a statement, the North Korean government said it would categorically reject the resolution, which it described as a grave infringement upon the sovereignty of our Republic, [and] an act of war violating peace and stability in the Korean peninsula and the region."

A spokesperson for the foreign ministry of China, one of the rogue regime's few allies, seemed to call for "restraint" from both the international community and North Korea. In a statement, China called on nations to "make positive and constructive efforts to de-escalate tensions on the (Korean) Peninsula," while adding that the resolution was designed with the intention of "not inflicting adverse humanitarian impact" on North Koreans.
THE SHAPE OF WATER (R)

3.5 STARS

This fantasy tale is a wonderful holiday surprise, at least for those who can suspend disbelief and embrace it as an amazing love story about beating all odds.

Because after all, how often does a lonely and damaged mute woman find the glory of love in a captive aquatic creature with gills and healing skills?

If you answered Almost never! youd be right on the money, but thank goodness this film exists.

Sally Hawkins is absolutely and shyly magnificent as Elisa, a cleaning woman at a government defense facility with very little in her life besides a magnificent dream of something much better.

The woman who lost her voice in some horrid bit of violence in her youth lives with an older, gay man (the terrific Richard Jenkins), and fills her days watching old musicals and adding to the one thing that gives her joy: an amazing collection of shoes.

And then one day, shes asked to clean a compartment at work where she sees an underwater animal, looking very much like the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

It cant speak, is being held captive and tortured and is the only one of its kind, and responds to Elisas kindness of bringing it a boiled egg.

Soon enough, theres a sort of psychic, sweet connection, as Elisa sees the creature as a similar lost soul.

The other part of the equation is the militarys cruel captivity, during which a sadistic security chief (Michael Shannon) is battling with a scientist (Michael Stuhlbarg). The security man wants to kill the creature and move on to the next job, while the scientist with a big secret wants to preserve and understand it.

Add in the superb Octavia Spencer as a cleaning woman whose Elises friend, and youve got a stellar cast slowly unwrapping this magnificent film directed and co-written by Guillermo del Toro.

He uses music, dance, romance and amazingly creative visuals to deliver this story of two lost soulshuman and creaturewho somehow manage to connect in a way that just may either save or destroy each of them.

It may not be for everyoneCan you handle a 40s style music and dance number where the guy has fins and webbed feet?but if you can get past that, its special and touching in a way few films are these days.

And it will surely put the name Sally Hawkins on a list of award winners and films to come.

Rated R for sexual content, graphic nudity, violence and language. 123 min. Playing locally at Regal Fredericksburg 14.
The National Womens Law Center has filed an appeal in a feminist groups lawsuit claiming the University of Mary Washington ignored a sexually hostile environment on its Fredericksburg campus.

The appeal, filed Dec. 19 to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, argues that the university broke the law by not taking action to address cyber harassment against female students that began in 2014.

The harassment, directed at members of the Feminists United club at UMW, occurred over the now-defunct social media platform Yik Yak. Feminists United asked UMW administration to ban Yik Yak from the schools wireless network, but the administration declined, citing First Amendment concerns, court papers show.

In September, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit, acknowledging that cyber bulling had become a national problem but stating that the university could not ignore other students right to free speech.

The brief filed earlier this month argues that UMW violated Title IX, the federal law banning sex discrimination in education, by not investigating the harassment. It asks the Appeals Court to reverse the federal judges dismissal of the case.
On Jan. 20, Susan Kosior pulled on a black coat and gray hat, collected her 7-year-old daughter, Leah, and walked out the door of her sunny-yellow house on a quiet street in a southern Stafford neighborhood.

Soften-spoken and articulate, Kosior was a member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fredericksburg who was working on a masters degree in library sciencea self-described political independent and unlikely activist.

Yet on this day, as thousands headed north under gray skies to celebrate the swearing in of Donald Trump as president, Kosior and her daughter joined several hundred others at Hurkamp Park in Fredericksburg for what organizers called a silent inauguration.

For 15 minutes, under a sea of umbrellas and at times holding her daughter close, Kosior stood quietly in opposition to a Donald Trump presidency.

The next day, she joined half a million others in the Womens March on Washington. Over the next several months, she would participate in protests and vigils, become a Stafford County elections official, participate in political fundraisers and write thousands of postcards for candidates she supported.

Kosior had stepped off the sidelines. By summers end, shed be in the headlines.

After the deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville in August, she joined a growing group of voices calling for the removal of a giant Confederate flag flying 80 feet above Interstate 95 in Falmouth. The flag was on private property, though, put there legally, and when efforts to get it taken down failed, Kosior got a permit to erect an equally large flagpole in her backyard on which to fly a Black Lives Matter banner.

An online campaign to fund it raised more than $8,000 toward a $25,000 goal before fizzling out. It was not enough to pay for the flagpole itself, much less its construction, and Kosior said this month that she has decided not to build it after all.

Shell soon be packing up the sunny yellow house for her native New York, where she accepted a job a few weeks ago as a library director. Kosior is offering refunds to anyone who donated to what shed dubbed the Freedom Pole.

Im sad it didnt happen, but Im glad it got people talking, Kosior said. If you can get people talking about hard issues, thats more important than anything else.

A controversial fundraiser

For weeks after the deadly rally in Charlottesville, where white nationalists had taken up the Confederate battle flag, a vocal group of locals carried signs to Stafford County Board of Supervisors meetings and urged its members to do something to take down the one over I95or speak out against it.

After the county attorney announced the boards hands were legally tied over the matter during a September meeting, Kosior applied for a permit to raise her own flag pole. The issue was personal for Kosior, who is white. Her daughter, Leah, now 8, is black. Kosior, whose husband died five years ago, has tried to help the girl learn about her history and culture. That includes sending away for a DNA test that traced Leahs roots to the mid-Atlantic slave trade.

Kosiors efforts to raise her own flag were as controversial as the one behind it. One person said that a flag on either side wouldnt solve any problems.

Others were more critical: Some people are so ignorant of the true meaning of the [C]onfederate flag, one person wrote on her fundraising page. Maybe you should do your history instead of trying to destroy our history. Some people like yourself are trying to make everything a racist issue. Your ignorance is what is dividing this country.

Kosior said she got about two dozen hand-written letters from people who opposed the idea.

In all, 266 people from around the world donated to the fundraiser, giving just under $8,400.

I look forward to seeing this flag fly high, wrote one woman who described herself as a Stafford resident.

Moving on

Kosiors plans to put a flagpole in her backyard caused problems close to home. One neighbor threatened to sue her, she said, and another neighbor, a longtime friend, stopped speaking to her.

But knowing what she knows now, move included, Kosior said shed do it all again.

It was worth it, for sure, she said, and shes sad to leave the area.

Until then, Kosior plans to take advantage of her proximity to Washington, where two weeks before Christmas she took part in a protest that ended in her arrest.

Had she ever been arrested before?

Never, Kosior said with a laugh. Im the last person you would expect to be doing this stuff.

But she was indicative of a wave of activism ignited by the 2016 presidential election.

Capitol Police cited Kosior for disturbing the peace and incommoding, charged her a $50 fine and put her in a holding cell for a few hours.

She spent the time sharing stories with other women from around the country whod come to the nations capital to exercise their own civil disobedience.

No matter what you believe, its patriotic to protest, she said. She has no plans of stopping.
On Christmas Day, Rico Martinez and his family finished packing lunches and hot chocolate into boxes and set out for downtown Billings looking for people in need.

Martinez has been in the giving spirit this year like never before in his life, having taken it upon himself earlier in the week to deliver gifts to every single person in one of his classes at Billings Senior High School.

"At first when I walked into class everyone's looking at me like why does he have a big Santa bag?" Martinez said. There was an awkward silence. By the time he'd finished handing out gifts in his first class everyone in the room was clapping.

Martinez said he gave gifts to a few close friends last year for Christmas and it felt so good that he wanted to give more. He started planning. Earlier in the school year he handed out surveys to everyone in each of his classes. The survey had questions about hobbies and a space for a wish list.

"But little did they know I wasn't in psychology," Martinez said.

Having recently taken a job unloading packages from planes, Martinez said he set aside two paychecks. The rest of the money for gifts came from a GoFundMe page he set up. Some of his friends helped too by securing candy canes to distribute to the rest of Senior High so that everyone would get something.

When it came time to distribute gifts, one student got a guitar, another got a large stuffed bear. In all, he estimated he gave out 12 large gifts and 90 bags of candy to everyone else. Not everyone got something from their wish list.

"Someone wanted a plane ticket to South Africa. That wasn't going to happen," Martinez said.

Monday, Martinez, his sister Rose, his 5-year-old twin brothers Zayer and Donatello, and his mother Toni, drove downtown with 20 bagged lunches, 20 hot chocolates, a sleeping bag, a hat, and a couple of coats. They also had blankets donated by Jennifer Hudson, a teacher at Billings Senior.

"Christmas is all about giving, not taking anything," Martinez said. "I always see a bunch of homeless every other day of the year and most of us never even bat an eye."

Martinez said he was raised not just to respect his elders, but to respect everyone.

"As I got old I realized what that really meant," he said. "It wasn't just silent respect, it was more of an action of giving back."

One of Martinez's teachers contacted The Gazette about Martinez's actions. He said some people think he called the news himself.

"The plan wasn't to make it big. It was just like a small gesture of my gratitude to people but then it became big. So I don't want people getting the wrong idea," Martinez said. "I just want to the main takeaway to be, 'It's not about you. It's never about you. It's about everybody. It's about giving back because you never know, giving back, letting someone know you care, could be the greatest gift they ever receive.'"

He also emphasized that he had not done all of this alone. Family, friends and strangers all contributed, he said. An aunt even baked Rice Krispies bars for the bagged lunches.

With the temperature nearing zero, Martinez and his siblings hopped out of his mother's car to walk around looking for people in need.

Nestled into a corner of First Christian Church beneath a makeshift tent of blankets and a shopping cart was Steven Johnson.

Johnson said he's been homeless since the beginning of the month. "I'm 52 years old, and I never thought I'd be in this spot," he said.

He said he had been living with a friend and paying rent previously but a dispute with the friend's landlord left him out on the street. Johnson said he just has to make it until the end of the month, after which he can start paying rent on a new place a friend helped him find.

After getting a hot drink and some food, Johnson thanked the Martinez siblings and said, "God bless you."

What did the gesture mean to Johnson?
KEARNEY, Neb.  In 1941, Lois Margaret Frandsen of Dannebrog sent a Christmas card to her cousin, Janice (Neicie) Hansen, who was living at a military base with her new husband in Spokane, Wash. The card pictured a Scottish man in a kilt. It said, Merry Christmas to all. That goes double.

In 1942, Hansen sent the card back to Frandsen. In 1943, Frandsen sent it back to Hansen.

Back and forth it went, year after year. Today, 75 years later, its still going.

Why did I keep sending it? Frandsen, 94, who still lives in Dannebrog, said. We had a heck of a lot of fun together. That card traveled a lot of miles. I would keep it in the china hutch so it wouldnt get lost.

The women were both granddaughters of Hans Lemberg. They lived on nearby farms outside of Boelus. Hansen was born in 1915 and Frandsen in 1923, but they were close despite the eight-year age gap because they attended the same one-room schoolhouse, where children of all ages mingled and became friends. Both girls did farm work, too.

Hansen, a prankster, and the spirited Frandsen had a lot of fun. In 1938, they formed a club called The Modern Maids of Today. Its 13 members were young women in their teens and 20s. Their motto was To Heck with Men. Membership cost 10 cents per meeting. The club flower was the Love Me Not. The club weed was Wild Oats. Anyone committing the penalty of getting married had to give a party.

The club met by the Middle Loup River, where they camped, swam and had picnics. Neicie was in charge of getting all the bull frogs ready to eat, Lois Margaret wrote in a notebook that she still has.

Despite the clubs motto, they each married. In 1941, Lois Margaret, who had married Dennis Frandsen by then, sent a Christmas card to Neicie, who was living on a military base in Spokane, Wash., with her new bridegroom, Richard Hansen. The card was mailed around the time that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and pulled the United States into World War II.

In 1942, Hansen sent the card back to Frandsen. It kept going as the Hansens moved to New Brunswick, N.J., while Richard was stationed at Fort Dix and Neicie worked as a draftsman in the submarine design division for General Electric. It followed them back to Nebraska, too.

Just like Christmas, that card always arrived. It never got lost. It was never delayed. I was so glad, Frandsen said.

In 2008, at the age of 93, Neicie celebrated her last Christmas. She died the following year, but the Christmas card tradition did not. Frandsen sent the card to Neicies daughter Bonnie Leahy, who lives near Marengo, Ill., about an hour outside of Chicago. The next year, Leahy sent it back. Its still going. Leahy always mails the card from Union, Ill., the site of the Illinois Railroad Museum, which has a fully operational Nebraska Zephyr train on its grounds.

The Hansen family called Kearney home for many years. Richard Hansen of Dannebrog graduated from high school at age 15 or 16, Leahy said, and went to college for two years until World War II broke out. He then served in the military. While he was at Fort Dix, Neicie returned to Boelus with her infant son and worked on the family farm. When the war ended, Richard came home to finish his degree at Kearney State Teachers College and began a career in school administration.

Neicie established a wild duck breeding business, following in the footsteps of her father, who was a highly recognized breeder of waterfowl. As Richards career in education progressed, he worked in Roseland and Miller and other nearby places, but Neicies plentiful bounty of ducks, pens and ponds made moving difficult. Bonnie was born at Good Samaritan Hospital in 1948.

In 1957, Richard was the superintendent of schools in Miller when they decided they would move to Kearney and stay put. Richard taught industrial arts in junior high school and later focused on botany at Kearney High School. One of two biology teachers at the school, he worked in the old atrium in its center.

Neicie set up her wild duck breeder business on what was then Kearneys outskirts. As the years passed, her ducks were exhibited at national zoos, parks and private estates. She raised many species, including the South American rosybill, the Chinese mandarin, the European widgeon and the American wood duck.

Richard, meanwhile, was one of the few educators in the country trained to teach micronuclear biology in the classroom. He also became a colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserves. He died in 1982.

Frandsen had a more settled life. She and Dennis settled on a farm north of Dannebrog and raised two daughters. I farmed, drove a tractor, all that, she said. She still lives there today. Four years ago, when she turned 90, she gave a barn dance and danced every dance.

As Christmas approached this month, Frandsen pulled the cherished card from her china hutch and sent it to Leahy. It arrived in Marengo on Tuesday, Dec. 12. Frandsen said she needs to sit down with her daughters, one in Omaha and the other 45 steps from my house in Dannebrog, to determine who will send the card after shes gone. I already have future plans for it. One of my daughters will send it to Bonnie, Frandsen said.

Leahy will keep sending it back. She hopes to keep it circulating for 100 years, until 2041, but Frandsen is looking far beyond that. Its traveled a lot of miles, she said. Id hate to lose that.
Virginias State Board of Elections has postponed a scheduled tiebreaker in a Newport News-area House of Delegates race after Democrat Shelly Simonds announced an eleventh-hour legal challenge asking the judges who oversaw last weeks recount to reverse themselves and declare her the winner.

Simonds is expected to file legal paperwork in Newport News Circuit Court on Wednesday asking the three-judge recount panel in the 94th House District to reconsider its erroneous decision to count one additional ballot for Republican Del. David E. Yancey late in the recount process.

The elections board was scheduled to meet Wednesday in Richmond at 11 a.m. to break the tie by picking a name at random from a bowl. Heeding a request for a delay from Simonds attorneys, the board decided late Tuesday afternoon to postpone the meeting to an undetermined future date to give the court time to take up the legal challenge.

While our planned drawing for tomorrow was in full compliance with the Code of Virginia, neutral election administrators should not be choosing election winnersor influencing the next Speaker of the House. Drawing names is an action of last resort, Board of Elections Chairman James Alcorn said Tuesday on Twitter. Any substantive concerns regarding the election or recount should be resolved before a random drawing is conducted. This will best serve the voters of HD94 and the rest of the Commonwealth.

The decision to delay the meeting prolongs the confusion hanging over the nearly evenly split House just weeks before the General Assembly convenes Jan. 10. Democrats picked up 15 other GOP-held seats in the Nov. 7 elections, wiping out what had been a 6634 majority. Barring other developments, if Simonds were to prevail in the 94th District, the House would be split 50-50. If Yancey is the winner, Republicans would have a 5149 majority.

The recount court has already declared Yancey and Simonds tied with 11,608 votes each, but Simonds filing asks the court to nullify its order and declare her the winner according to the one-vote margin she had when the recount appeared to be over.

My opponent didnt like the outcome, Simonds said Tuesday on a conference call announcing the legal challenge. So he made an end run around clear rules of the recount.

In her motion to reconsider, Simonds and her team argue that the ballot in questionin which a voter filled out bubbles for both Yancey and Simonds then put a slash mark through the Simonds bubbleshould have been tossed out as an overvote and not counted as a vote for Yancey. But regardless of the marks on the ballot, Simonds argues, the judges shouldnt have been looking at it to begin with because it wasnt set aside during the recount itself and was only raised as an issue during the final hearing to certify the results.

State law says recounts are final and not subject to legal appeals. Ezra Reese, an attorney from Democratic-aligned law firm Perkins Coie representing Simonds, said the filing is not an appeal asking a higher court to overrule the recount judges, it simply asks the same judges to consider again whether they made the right call.

Theyve got every ability to re-look at this decision and change their mind, Reese said.

A Democratic spokeswoman said legal challenge will be officially filed Wednesday because the court was closed Tuesday.

In response to the new challenge, House Republicans said they followed the recount rules that give the court final authority over all matters.

We believe the court acted appropriately and that the integrity of the process is without question, said Parker Slaybaugh, a House GOP spokesman.

The recount took place last Tuesday, but the challenged ballot didnt emerge until last Wednesday morning when a Republican recount observer wrote a letter to the court saying he was having second thoughts about his decision to agree with a Democratic counterpart who said the ballot shouldnt be counted.

Allowing Yancey and his team to challenge a ballot at the tail end of the process, the filing states, raised questions about the accuracy of the recount.

Further, it sets the precedent that any party to a recount who is not satisfied with the results can wait until after the recount is complete to embark on a fishing expedition to seek out election officials who can be persuaded to challenge a sufficient number of ballots to change the result, Simonds attorneys wrote.

Permitting such late challenges encourages meritless ballot challenges conjured up by recount lawyers and candidates instead of challenges that are properly made by election officials who disagree about or cannot decide how to treat a ballot during the recount.

Slaybaugh noted that in a recount process last Thursday in the 28th House District, which covers parts of Stafford County and the city of Fredericksburg, Democrats got one additional vote using the same process theyre denouncing in the 94th District.

Reese didnt dispute the notion that Democrats have also benefited from late-breaking ballot disputes. But he said the courts actions in the 94th District set a bad precedent that will become the new norm in recounts if the court doesnt reconsider.

Because the ballot in question isnt clearly addressed in the states guidelines on hand-counting ballots with unusual marks, the filing states, the recount judges shouldnt have counted it. To clear up any confusion about whether it should be counted, Simonds team argues, the judges should have consulted with state election officials before deciding whether to accept or reject the ballot.

Under state guidelines, ballots that appear to show votes for multiple candidates in the same race are discarded as overvotes. But the guidelines allow ballots to be counted if a voter selects two candidates and appears to scratch out the erroneous choice or make another mark clarifying which candidate they intended to vote for.

Democrats have also filed a lawsuit in the 28th District asking a federal court to throw out what appeared to be a Republican victory for Republican Bob Thomas over Democrat Joshua Cole. The lawsuit asks for a special election to be called to rectify mapping errors that caused nearly 150 voters in the area to cast ballots in the wrong House district. A hearing in that case is scheduled for Jan. 5.

The recount in the 28th District showed Thomas beating Cole by 73 votes.

Coles campaign manager, Eric Sundberg, said Tuesday that Cole had decided against filing a contest, a separate process that could have led to the General Assembly ordering a special election instead of a judge.

Sundberg said the problems at issue in the election  voters being unable to cast a ballot for one of the candidates who would actually represent them  are best left to the courts.

That can only be handled in a judicial setting, Sundberg said. That is not an issue for a democratically elected body to handle.

Even if Simonds legal challenge fails, she could get another shot to dispute the ballot if she ends up on the losing side of the random drawing. Under state law, the loser of the drawing can ask for a recount, but Simonds attorneys would not say definitively if theyll go that route.

As with many things throughout this process, a lot of it is uncharted territory, said Simonds attorney Jonathan Berkon.
Major Bass departed this life for his final heavenly mission on December 22, 2017 after a four-year battle with cancer. He grew up in the Leland area north of Fredericksburg, Va. in Stafford County, attended public schools and was graduated from Stafford High School in June of 1963. He enlisted in the Navy in August 1963, and was a Hospital Corpsman for 13 years, two of those years being attached to or assigned with USMC infantry as an FMF Corpsman. His multiple naval duty stations included Great Lakes, Ill., Quantico USNH, Va., Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Kaneohe MCAS, Hawaii, I Corps RVN North of DaNang during the Vietnam War and Camps Hansen and Smeadly D. Butler in Okinawa. He attended Memphis State University, where he received his Associate Degree in Nursing in June 1975; he remained in the Naval Reserve at Millington Naval Air Station. He was employed by the Veterans Health Administration as a Critical Care Nurse beginning in 1975 assigned to the Carl Vinson VAMC, completed his Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1980 and was commissioned a 1st Lt. in the ANC, USAR, assigned to the 18th Field Hospital, Augusta, Ga. He returned to Richmond, Va., in 1984 where he worked at the McGuire VAMC, and remained the Army Nurse Corps, SUAR, until 2005, which included service with the 56th Station Hospital in Richmond. He was attached to the U.S. Army 49th Combat Support Hospital in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait and Fort Sam Houston, Texas during the Desert Storm conflict, where he performed critical triage and treatment to all injured military personnel brought in. Major Bass retired from the USAR and VHS in 2005. He was predeceased by first wife Dona (Linder) Bass; their son, Thomas Andrew; and by his parents, Cary Kerney Bass and Iona Belle (Coakley) Bass of Falmouth, Va.; his sister Sharon Kerney Gray of Florence, Ore.; and his brother, Francis William Bass of Phoenix, Ariz. He is survived by his partner, Henry T. Ranson Jr.; by the extended Ranson family in Dillwyn, Va.; and by his sons, James Kerney Bass of Sandy Hook, Va. (wife Carrie and granddaughters Rilie and Loren) and Jared Alan Bass of Richmond, Va. and his brother, Winston Alan Bass of King George, Va. (wife Loretta Mountjoy Bass); and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins in Virginia, Illinois, Colorado, California and Oregon. He was a member of the American Legion, and a life member of the MOAA, VFW, VVA, DAV, AAoNHC, 1st MarDiv, 3rd MarDiv. He was also a member of the Virginia Train Collectors, RF&P Railroad Historical Society, TCA, and other train-related organizations. For many years he sang Lead Voice with the Fredericksburg Barbershop Chorus (SPEBSQSA) where he enjoyed the weekly practice sessions, sing-outs and mid-Atlantic competitions. When back home in Fredericksburg, he found a special joy visiting with relatives and high school friends, walking up and down Caroline Street and remembering how things used to be. He had time in later years to enjoy deer hunting, freshwater fishing, camping and hiking. Visitation will be held at Woody's Funeral Home, 1020 Huguenot Rd., Midlothian on Thursday, Dec. 28 from 6 to 8 p.m. Funeral service will be held at Church of the Epiphany, 11000 Smoketree Drive, Richmond on Friday, Dec. 29 at 1 p.m.
Robert Wayne Thompson, of Falmouth, Virginia, passed away December 22, 2017. He was born in Washington, D.C. on March 1, 1957 to parents Anna Marie and Leonard Thompson. Wayne is survived by his father, Leonard and his siblings Steven, Kevin, and Karen. He was preceded by his mother, Anna. He graduated from Stafford Senior High School and received an Associate degree from Germanna Community College. He was active in local historic preservation and reenactment, volunteering at historic locations such as Chatham Manor, Montpelier, and many of the local battlefields. He often supported local schools by participating in living history demonstrations. A viewing will be held from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. on January 2, 2018 at St. Isidore the Farmer Catholic Church in Orange, Virginia. The funeral service will be held immediately following the viewing at 11:00 a.m. Donations to the Civil War Trust Fund or Catholic Charities are encouraged in lieu of flowers. An online guestbook is available at johnsoncares.com.
After combing through a decades worth of Pennsylvania birth records, researchers have found that pregnant women living within two-thirds of a mile of a hydraulic fracturing well were 25 percent more likely to give birth to a worryingly small infant than were women who lived at least 10 miles outside that zone during pregnancy.

Over these babies lifetimes, their low birth weights raise the likelihood they will suffer poorer health and lower achievement, including reduced earnings and educational attainment.

The authors of the new research estimated that 29,000 of the close to 4 million annual births in the United States  roughly 0.7 percent of babies born each year  were to women who lived within about two-thirds of a mile of a hydraulic fracturing operation during their pregnancies.

The study was published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances.

Nationally, the advent and expansion of hydraulic fracturing operations have reduced gasoline prices, decreased some air pollution emissions and driven down U.S. dependence on foreign oil. But in areas surrounding the nations roughly 1.2 million fracking wells, the extraction technique has increased pollution of air, soil, groundwater and surface water.

Many of the toxic chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing process are known carcinogens. Toxic gases, including benzene, are released from the rock by fracking. And the high-pressure pumping of a slurry of chemical into the ground is widely thought to release toxins and irritants into nearby air and water. The noise and pollution emitted by trucks and heavy machinery also may affect the health of people living nearby.

Research by some of the new studys authors  all economists  has detailed the powerful impact of fracking on local communities, where it boosted employment, household incomes and housing values. It has also made the extraction techniques local effects on human health a subject of heated debate and growing research.

Based on an analysis of more than 1.1 million births in Pennsylvania between 2004 and 2013, the new research found that babies born to mothers who lived within 1 kilometer (0.64 miles) of a fracking well weighed, on average, 1.38 ounces less than babies whose gestation occurred 3 km or more from a fracking site.

The researchers compared the birth weights of babies born to mothers living within 1, 2 or 3 km of fracking wells, both before and after the wells were active. In a bid to capture health influences specifically related to well proximity, the authors compared the birth weights of siblings born at different distances to wells  both close enough to be exposed to fracking in utero, and too far away.

The largest health impacts were found in infants born to mothers living the closest to active wells. Compared to those whose pregnant mothers lived about 10 miles or more away, these infants were 25 percent more likely to weigh less than 5 1/2 pounds and be classified as low birth weight, the authors found.

For babies whose mothers lived between 1 km and 3 km from a well, the researchers found birth-weight effects, but they were greatly diminished  less than half those found among babies born to women living within 1 km of a well.

The findings suggest that frackings impacts on newborns health are highly local, the authors wrote.

This study provides the strongest large-scale evidence of a link between the pollution that stems from hydraulic fracturing activities and our health, specifically the health of babies, said co-author Michael Greenstone, an economist and director of the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago.

The results add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that fracking exacts a toll on the health of populations living in close proximity to wells.

A study of Pennsylvania published in August 2016 found higher rates of migraine headaches, fatigue and nasal and sinus symptoms in people who were at greater proximity to fracking operations. Another study, conducted in southwest Pennsylvania, where fracking wells are heavily concentrated, found an increase in cases of bladder cancer, but not of thyroid cancer or leukemia, that was steeper in counties where well density was highest.

In research that examined a Colorado registry of cancer cases, another study found that people aged 5 to 24 who were diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia were more likely to live in areas with a high concentration of oil and gas activity.

Other studies have focused on pregnancy outcomes and infant health. In one conducted in North Texas  where fracking wells abut diverse populations of urbanites  researchers found an increased risk of preterm birth, and a slight increase in fetal death, among pregnant women living close to greater concentrations of fracking wells. But it failed to find an association between a pregnant womans proximity to fracking wells and her likelihood of giving birth to a child who was either small for its gestational age or who was born at term at less than 5 1/2 pounds.

Many of these studies have been faulted for methodological weaknesses, and their findings have been assailed by oil and gas industry groups.

Weill Cornell public health researcher Madelon L. Finkel, who has conducted some of the early research, acknowledges that the findings are preliminary. Cancer and many other outcomes can take decades to become evident, while the widespread practice of hydraulic fracturing is not quite a decade old, Finkel said.

Firming up conclusions on frackings health effects, she added, will take years of further research. But were beginning to see a pattern: that living near these sites does elevate risk compared to living further away, said Finkel, who was not involved in the Science Advances study.

University of Pennsylvania neonatologist Dr. Rebecca Simmons praised the new studys design and the researchers focus on low birth weight as a factor potentially affected by proximity to fracking wells.

Birth weight is a proxy: It gives us an insight into whats going on in gestation, and we worry a lot when we see changes like this, said Simmons, who is deputy director of the Penns Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology. We know that babies born at low birth weight have a much, much higher risk of diseases such as coronary artery disease, hypertension, diabetes and obesity.

Simmons, who was not involved in the Science Advances study, acknowledged that many factors contribute to low birth weight, including poverty and poor nutrition. Increasingly, however, environmental factors are gaining their share of attention and research.

Co-author Katherine Meckel, an assistant professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, acknowledged that the study could not pinpoint the source of the environmental hazards that affect human health and birth weight.

Until we can determine the source of this pollution and contain it, local lawmakers will be forced to continue to make the difficult decision of whether to allow fracking in order to boost their local economies  despite the health implications  or ban it altogether, missing out on the jobs and revenue it would bring, she said.
CHRISTMAS is a time of goodwill toward mankind, but it can also be a time of good foreign policy. That is, if our leaders do the right thing.

When Dwight Eisenhower became president, he started Operation Santa Claus (aka Operation Reindeer) in 1953 to provide food packages to hungry people overseas.

Eisenhower sought to build world peace and believed one of the most effective ways was through food. The U.S. could keep the Christmas spirit year-round by bringing food and goodwill to the impoverished. Feeding the hungry became a major part of Eisenhowers foreign policy plan.

During his first summer in office, Eisenhower sent food packages to starving East Germans living under Soviet communist control. This was a critical moment early in the Cold War.

Harold Stassen wrote, The East Germans remembered who fed them when they starved and remain grateful to this daythe whole world can thank Dwight Eisenhower for reaching out to feed the hungry Germans.

The Berlin packages and Operation Santa Claus led to the start of the Food for Peace program, the United States main tool for fighting world hunger. And Food for Peace should be a pillar of our national security strategy today.

Earlier this year, President Trump proposed eliminating Food for Peace and other hunger-fighting programs. This would be a terrible mistake.

We need to increase our food aid, which is especially crucial with so many nations suffering from hunger because of war, drought and poverty. With hunger comes instability and chaos. But with food comes hope and the chance for peace and progress.

Food for Peace has brought nutrition and stability to many nations, including South Korea, Germany, Brazil, Japan, Italy and many others, who have now become humanitarian donors themselves.

Today, Food for Peace donations fight hunger in Syria, Iraq and many other nations in distress. Food for Peace is the single largest donor to the UN World Food ProgrammeWFPthe lead organization feeding the hungry.

Other relief agencies like Catholic Relief Services and Save the Children also receive Food for Peace donations so they can carry out their vital relief work.

The Syrian civil war has displaced millions of civilians, leaving them without food supplies. The WFP and other agencies are their only hope, but they need funding. As WFP spokesperson Dina Elkassaby says, Food for Peace often saves the day in Syria, providing relief at the critical moments.

But we need to sustain that funding and also expand it to tackle the many hunger emergencies around the globe. What we need today is more of Food for Peace. Congress should step up the funding, especially as famine threatens four nations: Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia and Nigeria.

Congress gives about $1.5 billion to Food for Peace in a regular year. This must be expanded to at least $3 billion a year to reach more hungry people. Even with a funding increase, Food for Peace would remain a relatively tiny part of the federal budget.

Coupled with the McGovern-Dole global school lunch program, Food for Peace can help bring many nations back from the brink of despair.

During this Christmas season, think of what food packages can mean to a refugee family living in hunger. Then imagine that food coming year-round. That is what Food for Peace can do: feed the hungry and help restore communities and nations to health and stability.

Eisenhower and Santa Claus had it right. Food can make a big difference in winning the peace in our world.

William Lambers is an author who partnered with the UN World Food Programme on the book, Ending World Hunger. He writes on HuffPost, History News Network, The Hill and many other news outlets.
A decorated University of Wyoming graduate and former Wind River Reservation resident has been hired by the college as the first Native American program adviser.

Reinette Redbird Tendore's hiring comes eight months after the university announced the creation of the UW Native American Research and Cultural Center. The center was established after a push by university officials and Sen. Affie Ellis, a Navajo Nation member and UW graduate. The center officially opened earlier this semester.

Tendore's mandate will be to recruit and retain native students as part of a broader university push to increase its diversity. As of fall 2016, less than 13 percent of UW students were minorities. The university in May hired its first chief diversity coordinator.

"It is important to acknowledge the culture and sense of community for Native American college students and to be able to recruit others from many different reservations, Tendore said in a UW press release. I would hope that my own personal story of being enrolled, coming from the Wind River reservation and graduating with both of my degrees at UW would encourage and inspire other students to work toward their higher education goals, also here at UW.

Tendore graduated from the university with a bachelor's degree in 2009 in elementary education and a master's in 2017 in social work. She was named student of the year in the Division of Social Work in 2017 and earned the Dr. Willena Stanford Commitment to Diversity award.

Her parents are enrolled members of the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribe, according to the release.

Tendore will work with programs such as American Indian Studies, the High Plains American Indian Research Institute and the student-run Keepers of the Fire group. She will report to the dean of students.

In the press release, Tendore praised the new Native American center, calling it "crucial to the success of Native students because it provides a safe space for them."

Scholarships

The university also announced the opening of two scholarships for Native students or those with strong ties to the Wind River Reservation.

The Chief Washakie Memorial application deadline is March 1. The scholarships will be varying amounts depending on funds and applicants' qualifications, according to a university press release.

Applications will be evaluated based on scholastic ability; school, community and tribal involvement; the potential to the reservation upon graduation; and financial circumstances, according to the release.

The Northern Arapaho Scholarship Committee is also accepting applications from full-time students through March 2 for the next academic year. Applicants must be enrolled members of the tribe.

Applicants should be juniors or seniors next year. They must also describe their involvement in native activities and how they plan to use their education to benefit the Northern Arapaho tribe.

The scholarship covers tuition and fees and a book allowance. Five to six awards are given each year.

Both scholarships are available to students seeking a graduate or bachelor's degree, or a certificate. The Washakie award is available to part-time and distance learners.
March 8, 1949  December 15, 2017

John Hill, 68, of Albany passed away at the Corvallis Manor on December 15, 2017.

The son of Ival and Charlene (Alvey) Hill, was born in Corvallis, growing up on the family dairy farm in the Fir Grove area of North Albany.

From a very young age he exhibited a great love for nature and its beauty, and a genuine devotion to God.

He was a life-long outdoorsman, hunter, and trapper.

John loved to share his knowledge with other enthusiasts, taking to writing articles for magazines. He was always excited when they were published. His articles caused many folks from around the country to send letters with questions about hunting.

John roamed the countryside, planting trees. He said, A tree planted today is a tree for the future to be enjoyed by many animals.

He is survived by sisters Malena Konek of Frenchglen, Oregon, Ivalene Hickey (Dennis) of Eugene; neice Analisa Hickey Chambers of Eugene; and nephew Andrew Hickey of Tokyo, Japan.

A graveside service will be held at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 27 at the Palestine Cemetery in North Albany.

Fisher Funeral Home is handing services.
When 2017 began, 16 families with nearly 40 children were living in Second Chance Homes in Billings. A program of the Center for Children and Families, these two houses provided safe, nurturing shelters for children whose mothers are getting treatment for substance abuse disorders.

As the year ends, theres only one Second Chance Home still operating in our city. Its residents are now limited to five families with 12 children. In January, two families are expected to move out. No new families will be allowed to move in.

It would be wonderful if the decrease in residents reflected a decrease in need for its services. Unfortunately, the opposite is true.

The number of Montana and Yellowstone County children who have been abused or neglected this year shows an increase over last year, reaching unprecedented highs. Last week, 3,932 Montana children were in the foster system, including 810 Yellowstone County kids. State Department of Public Health and Human Services data indicates that two-thirds of all child protection cases involve parental abuse of alcohol or other drugs, most frequently methamphetamine.

State budget cut

Lack of funding is the reason why fewer children and mothers live at Second Chance Homes today. State budget cuts enacted during the November special legislative session eliminated funding for such family shelters in Billings, Helena and Missoula.

This is a prime example of the pennywise-pound foolish spending reductions forced upon Montanans because the biennial budget written in the 2017 regular session overestimated revenues and mandated cuts. Most Republican lawmakers rejected options for raising revenues, so at least $76 million was cut in November, including the homes that kept children and mothers safely together.

Family-based foster care has proven successful. With the increase in parental drug abuse and neglected/abused Montana children, the need is greater than ever.

Sparing the children the trauma of separation from their mothers is a major benefit of Second Chance Homes.

Protecting newborns

Most of the children served are newborn through age 5. Amy Fladmo, executive director for the Center for Children and Families, said the program worked to bring new mothers and their babies straight from the hospital to a Second Chance Home. In those cases, the babies were born with drugs in their tiny bodies. In other cases, pregnant women and older children lived at Second Chance Homes so the mother had support and 24-hour supervision to stay drug-free and continue in addiction treatment after the baby was born.

If not for Second Chance Homes, the kids would be in foster care and some of the moms would be homeless. All the families served by Second Chance Homes were involved with child abuse and neglect complaints to the state Child and Family Services Division.

Fladmo met with Maurita Johnson, CFSD administrator, and tried to negotiate different rates. In November, the center submitted a proposed new contract to the state that would reduce the states cost of Second Chance Homes to half of the daily rate of the contract now ending. The state previously contracted to pay $234 per family for services that included 24/7 house staffing, parenting education, transportation, room and board and help obtaining permanent housing.

Its expensive, Fladmo said. The cost savings in the long run far outweighs initial costs.

Kids who stay with their mothers spend less time in foster care. The mothers are more likely to be successful in completing their drug treatment when they are still connected daily with their children.

We call on DPHHS and Gov. Steve Bullock to consider every possible way to fit these child-protecting, drug-free homes into the state budget.

Fladmo said she is working to find other funding to sustain Second Chance homes, including grants. She is looking at whether mothers could pay a small amount for rent. Many of the women are unemployed when they arrive at the house; most need months of intensive outpatient addiction treatment. Also, the mothers are responsible for their childrens care while at the Second Chance Home.

Any individuals, community organizations or businesses who want to help keep Second Chance Homes open, should call Fladmo at the Center for Children and Families at 406-294-5090. Yellowstone County needs more resources  like Second Chance Homes  to stem the flood of child neglect cases.
Sen. Steve Daines surprised Montanans by introducing the deceptively named Protect Public Use of Public Lands Act that would put nearly half a million acres of prime public lands in Montana at risk of development and exploitation.

Montanas Wilderness Study Areas were identified 40 years ago as special, wild places, worthy of careful management. They vary greatly in habitat, ecosystems, and recreational offerings. A blanket policy applied across diverse areas is never good management. We therefore oppose Daines one-size-fits-all plan.

Many WSAs are overdue for action, and were not opposed to revisiting and finalizing management plans. But forcing a top-down and broad-brush approach to managing lands that havent been studied in decades is irresponsible.

Review should start with local, thoughtful and diverse discussions involving various stakeholders. Daines didnt hold a single public meeting or ask for input from Montanans about these WSAs. His proposal not only ignores local input, which, apparently, is important to Daines only when it suits his needs; it also selects areas attractive to special interest development and resource extraction.

Many Montanans rely on WSAs. With his proposal Daines once again is ignoring those of us who value them to hunt, fish and reconnect with the landscape.

John B. Sullivan III

board chairman

Backcountry Hunters & Anglers

Missoula
The litmus test for judging the actions by todays politicians will be from our grandkids 50 years from now. Think of it this way: Over the past 50 years the U.S. population has grown from 197 million to 324 million, or 64 percent. Lets assume our junior senator Steve Daines gets his way on his proposals.

So, 50 years from now, when our population stands at 531 million, how will our grandkids view Daines' withdrawing 500,000 acres of protected wilderness? Our national parks are overcrowded today, but imagine what they will be like in 50 years. How will they view Dainess gutting of the Antiquities Act, which prevents additional national monuments from being created? Or his support to downsize our existing national monuments?

What will they think of Daines voting for tax cuts to the wealthy that drives up the national debt by at least another $1.4 trillion, dumping it on our grandkids backs? Or gutting regulations designed to provide for clean air and water? Or ignoring climate change? Or attempting to rush through unpopular legislation without holding hearings and debates, or bothering to meet with constituents?

Is Daines going to be on the right or wrong side of history? My 12-year-old grandson will know that answer in 50 years, and, if Daines gets his way, I predict that my grandson, along with the rest of his generation, will not be happy campers.

Orville Bach

Bozeman
bohlah at 27-12-2017 08:54 AM (4 years ago) (m)

Armed Assailants attacked The Al-Amin Petroleum Filling Station in Pandogari town in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State on Saturday.

Armed Assailants attacked The Al-Amin Petroleum Filling Station in Pandogari town in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State on Saturday.

3 people were killed and the manager, Muazzam was kidnapped along with 3 other people, although 1 was released when the bike carrying him and a kidnapper, to their Alawa forest hideout in Shiroro Local Government Area, stopped working.



1 eyewitness gathered that on Tuesday the assailants came to the fuel station on motorcycles and operated between 8.30 and 9pm.



Suleiman Muhammad, a resident and eyewitness reported that one of those killed was an Abubakar whose was engaged to be married during the 2nd week of January.



Muhammad, who revealed to a PUNCH source over the phone said that when the gunmen arrived the filling station, they shot into the air and operated for about 30 minutes.



The police and the military operatives attached to the area only got to the scene after the gunmen had left.



The abductors had contacted the community leader to demand N3m each before the two remaining victims would be released.



The Police Public Relations Officer of the Niger State Command, Peter Sunday, confirmed the incident. He, however, said that only one of the three people shot by the kidnappers died while the remaining two were on admission at a hospital.



He also confirmed that three persons were abducted but said one of them was rescued by the police. 3 people were killed and the manager, Muazzam was kidnapped along with 3 other people, although 1 was released when the bike carrying him and a kidnapper, to their Alawa forest hideout in Shiroro Local Government Area, stopped working.1 eyewitness gathered that on Tuesday the assailants came to the fuel station on motorcycles and operated between 8.30 and 9pm.Suleiman Muhammad, a resident and eyewitness reported that one of those killed was an Abubakar whose was engaged to be married during the 2nd week of January.Muhammad, who revealed to a PUNCH source over the phone said that when the gunmen arrived the filling station, they shot into the air and operated for about 30 minutes.The police and the military operatives attached to the area only got to the scene after the gunmen had left.The abductors had contacted the community leader to demand N3m each before the two remaining victims would be released.The Police Public Relations Officer of the Niger State Command, Peter Sunday, confirmed the incident. He, however, said that only one of the three people shot by the kidnappers died while the remaining two were on admission at a hospital.He also confirmed that three persons were abducted but said one of them was rescued by the police.

Post Reply I have been reporting on latest news from Nigeria for almost 10 years now. I report on every possible news area I come across, but always ensure my reports are compiled with dignity and fact to uphold my personal values and duty as a journalist Posted: at 27-12-2017 08:54 AM (4 years ago) | Addicted Hero
Our beloved Counsellor George Lutterodt has done it once again. According to the ever controversial counsellor, Ghanaian and Nigerian ladies are killing men in bed. Lutterodt claims ladies from these two countries are so bad in bed that they are leading men to commit infidelity on a massive scale.

Quote

When it comes to s*xual intercourse, their interaction is so bad Lutterodt said of the two groups of ladies. Some wives are having some flimsy excuses that have caused them to lose their spouses to a lot of women in town.

Speaking ahead of his much touted orgasm conference in Accra, Lutterodt said on the contrary, ladies from Francophone countries and East Africa can make you lose your mind with their performance in bed.

Quote

When you meet an East African woman they distress you and some parts of the Francophone countries too, you meet them, and your life becomes better for the nature of God

He categorically stressed that the act of deliberate ******** even when the woman has warned against it is rape and should be considered as a criminal offence. The eristic counsellor made this statement at the 2017 Orgasm Conference at the Ghana International Trade Fair in Accra.The s*x and orgasm counsellor admonished men at the conference to obey when a woman warns against ******** in her s*xual organ during climax process.
xspraise at 27-12-2017 11:34 PM (4 years ago) (m)

A 21- year old man, Israel Oluranti, has been arrested by officers of the Ogun State Police Command for stabbing one teenager, Farooq Olusegun, to death.

A 21- year old man, Israel Oluranti, has been arrested by officers of the Ogun State Police Command for stabbing one teenager, Farooq Olusegun, to death.

Oluranti allegedly stabbed Farooq with a bottle at Ope-Ilu area of Agbado, Ifo local government area of the state on Christmas Day and the victim died shortly after the attack.



The state Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the incident followed a heated argument between the assailant and the victim over a missing phone.



Trouble started when an argument ensued over a missing phone. The deceased accused the suspect of being in possession of the phone.



This infuriated the suspect consequent upon which he took one of the beer bottles around, broke it and stabbed the deceased on the chest.



He was quickly rushed to a nearby hospital but gave up the ghost before reaching the hospital. The father of the victim, Kolawole Abiola, lodged the complaint at Agbado Divisional Headquarter and the Divisional Police Officer, Omonijo Sunday, detailed police detectives to the scene where the suspect was promptly arrested.



However, the Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu, has ordered the immediate transfer of the case to Homicide Section of State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for discreet investigation, Abimbola stated. Oluranti allegedly stabbed Farooq with a bottle at Ope-Ilu area of Agbado, Ifo local government area of the state on Christmas Day and the victim died shortly after the attack.The state Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the incident followed a heated argument between the assailant and the victim over a missing phone.Trouble started when an argument ensued over a missing phone. The deceased accused the suspect of being in possession of the phone.This infuriated the suspect consequent upon which he took one of the beer bottles around, broke it and stabbed the deceased on the chest.He was quickly rushed to a nearby hospital but gave up the ghost before reaching the hospital. The father of the victim, Kolawole Abiola, lodged the complaint at Agbado Divisional Headquarter and the Divisional Police Officer, Omonijo Sunday, detailed police detectives to the scene where the suspect was promptly arrested.However, the Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu, has ordered the immediate transfer of the case to Homicide Section of State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for discreet investigation, Abimbola stated.

Post Reply I am Victor, I write reportage on sport news and latest metro happenings in Nigeria. Posted: at 27-12-2017 11:34 PM (4 years ago) | Hero
Marched today 32 miles and camped on Powder River, journalist Mark Kellogg wrote on June 7, 1876, while traveling with Lt. Col. George Custers 7th Cavalry.

The weather was misty that day with the threat of rain.

Terribly rough country, Kellogg wrote. Gen C- with Col. Weirs troops, used as videttes, scouted ahead & succeeded finding a passable trav route over a country would seem impractical, up, up, down, down, zig zag, twisting turning.

They would make camp along the Powder River in the coming days. Eighteen days later Kellogg would be killed, along with Custer and his men at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. But Kelloggs diary, which he started on May 17, 1876, as he left to join the troops, stands as a testament to the historic journey,

The diary is just one of thousands of records in the State Historical Society of North Dakotas Archives that isnt on display, though the diary has been digitized and can be read in full at http://www.digitalhorizonsonline.org/digital/collection/uw-ndshs/id/2045/rec/1.

The diary is really nothing more than a pile of papers, 3 3/4 inches wide by 9 inches in length and half an inch thick, said Deputy State Archivist Shane Molander. But the journey it took to get to the archives is nearly as storied as the battle.

Kellogg had stayed at the home of John P. Dunn III, who ran a general store located on Main Avenue between Fourth and Fifth streets and would later open the first pharmacy. His daughter would become the towns first medical doctor.

The Dunns were essentially Bismarcks first family, said Ted Quanrud, a Bismarck resident and former Bismarck Tribune employee familiar with Kelloggs diary. Kellogg stayed with them in their home on the corner of North Sixth Street and what was then Meigs.

Meigs is Broadway today. I dont believe the house is there anymore, Molander said.

After Kellogg was killed in battle his belongings went back to the Dunn house. The diary would stay with the family until 1940, when it was turned over to the Bismarck Tribune.

Kellogg wasnt even supposed to have gone with the troops. Bismarck Tribune founder Clement Lounsberry was scheduled to go but a family member fell ill, Molander said.

The diary stayed with family until 1940 when they turned it over to the Tribune. In 1983, then Publisher Glenn Sorlie donated it to the historical society.

Molander said the diary covers troop movements but Kellogg also talks about the weather - they encountered an early summer snow somewhere along the way - the wildlife and the mens daily activities.

Most attractive scenery yet, Kellogg wrote June 7. Spruce & Cedar on Buttes, marched on "hogs back" highest Buttes in country for mile or two, if teams went either side roll down hundreds feet  Saw, what seemed like Ancient ruins. Buffalo seen today, none taken, order no firing. This camp excellent, wood, water, grass plenty. Timber all Cottonwood of smallish or medium size.

The last entry was on June 9.

Unconfirmed about the diarys history is where it was found, Molander said. Some say it was on Kelloggs person when he was killed. Others say it was left back at the Powder River base camp.

The pages are stained and for a long time it was rumored to be blood, Molander said. But in 1995, the state crime lab tested it and was 95 percent certain it was not blood. The stains more likely came from coffee or whiskey or dirty water.

In the early 2000s, a reunion of Custer enthusiasts came to the state Archives wanting to see the diary, Molander said. The person handling brought it out wearing white gloves on and the group was in awe.

Fannie Dunn Quain, John P. Dunns daughter, was about 2 years old when Kellogg was at their home and had some memories of the man from her family talking about him later. She would go on to marry another doctor and Swedish immigrant, Dr. Eric P. Quain.

Because of her interest in children, Fannie Dunn Quain opened the first baby clinic in the state. Later, as tuberculosis ran rampant, she lobbied for the construction of the sanitarium at San Haven. Her husband, along with a partner, would open a clinic and would lobby to have the 60-bed Bismarck Evangelical Hospital built. In World War I, he would organize a Red Cross hospital unit in France with doctors and nurses from Bismarck.

The couple had two children, Marion Margaret and Buell. Their son, Buell, would become a famed anthropologist. He would die in 1939 in Brazil.
District of North Dakota Chief Judge Daniel Hovland has denied two motions to suppress evidence and statements from Red Fawn Fallis from when she was arrested at a pipeline protest last year.

Fallis, 38, is accused of shooting a handgun at officers during her arrest on Oct. 27, 2016, in a fray alongside State Highway 1806 north of Cannon Ball.

Hovlands federal court order came Friday, finding that Fallis "voluntary" statements weren't derived from interrogation, and therefore are admissible at trial next month.

Officers' testimony quoted Fallis as saying, If I wanted to kill you, I would have shot you in the head, and All pigs deserve to die, while laughing or giggling.

Eight witnesses testified in the extended suppression hearing in Bismarck earlier this month, including a protest camp peacekeeper and seven officers who participated in some aspect of Fallis' arrest.

Fallis legal team sought to suppress her statements and evidence on the grounds that her warrantless arrest violated free speech and unlawful search rights.

Pennington County (S.D.) Sheriff's Deputy Thadius Schmit initiated Fallis' arrest and testified he did so due to her physical conduct. She also was reportedly yelling and screaming at officers.

Hovland also wrote there is more than sufficient evidence showing Fallis resisted arrest. Her defense argued she did not resist, and any struggle was the result of a violent and brutal seizure.

Officers testified that Fallis squirmed, kicked, wrapped her legs around a deputy and spread her fingers to hinder handcuffing.

Hovland also wrote that whatever the sufficiency of grounds for Fallis initial arrest, other viable reasons remain.

"(H)er conduct in physically resisting arrest, including brandishing and discharging a firearm, clearly provided an independent grounds for her arrest," he wrote.

After the hearing, Fallis defense filed a motion to compel discovery, alleging the U.S. Attorneys Office has not complied with discovery obligations, including potential body camera footage.

In briefs, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Hagler maintained the prosecution has turned over all available discovery items, describing the defense's requests as "fishing expeditions." He wrote that an "exhaustive review" found no officers' videos depicting the time frame right before or during Fallis' arrest.

Fallis is to stand trial beginning Jan. 29 in Fargo on federal charges of civil disorder, discharge of a firearm in relation to a felony crime of violence and possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon.

She resides in a halfway house in Fargo. Hovland granted her four nights furlough to spend Christmas in Rapid City with family.
People have different reactions when they see service men and women in uniform. Many admire their bravery and thank them for the sacrifices theyve made. But some individuals think of them quite differently, as easy marks.Members of the military are targeted at a high rate for scams perpetrated by landlords or companies selling loans or consumer goods such as faulty cars or computers. There have always been a few shady businesses around the edges of military bases, but now companies run sophisticated campaigns targeting active members of the military on a nationwide basis. According to the Federal Trade Commission, 100,000 cases of fraud were reported by service men and women, their dependents, retirees or veterans in 2016 alone.Deanna Nelson is trying to do something about it. Nelson is an assistant attorney general in New York, running the Watertown office. She knew nothing about military consumer practices before taking on the job nine years ago, but she quickly got up to speed due to the number of fraud cases coming out of the Armys neighboring Fort Drum. Companies in the area and nationally have made it their business to separate the military from their income streams, Nelson says.People in the Army and the other service branches make unusually attractive targets for grifters for several reasons. They typically are young, often living away from home and managing their own finances for the first time. They collect steady paychecks and pay their bills on time, because keeping their credit records clean is a condition of their employment. If they are in any kind of financial trouble, they can lose their security clearances for fear theyd be subject to blackmail or other pressures. So service members pay their bills no matter how blatantly theyve been ripped off. The companies realize that service members are going to pay, Nelson says. Its not worth it to sacrifice their security clearance or military status not to pay.When particular types of scams become common, Nelson and her counterparts in other states are often called in by financial counselors on the bases. As civilians and representatives of the state, there are limits to what they can do. They arent going to represent individual men or women, but they can act as mediators.Nelson and her peers can also file lawsuits against the perpetrators. Due to the national nature of the crimes, state AGs around the country often call on each other for assistance in doing that. Collectively, theyve recovered something in the neighborhood of $100 million in restitution and debt forgiveness in recent years. Frankly, its a real issue of military readiness, says Bob Cooper, a former attorney general of Tennessee who won a $2.2 million settlement against a retailer and financier who violated consumer protection law. We have military men and women who should be focused on their mission, who were being distracted by these fraudulent sales that were creating unnecessary anxiety for them.Thanks to Nelsons work with federal agencies, theres now a regularly refreshed database of current scams going around that AGs can explore. Locally, she offers quarterly updates to personnel at Fort Drum about the newest scams they need to be on the watch for. She never expected to end up working on consumer fraud cases involving the military, but shes demonstrated unreal tenacity, says Tim Crytser, a case manager for the Central New York Veterans Outreach Center in Watertown. Shes small and slight and you wouldnt think theres a mean bone in her body. But this womans serious. Ive never seen such a switch from being that nice to being that fierce.
Three people were arrested Friday with dozens of stolen credit and debit cards, checkbooks, banking account numbers and Social Security cards.

Christina Lee Meyers, 31, and 36-year-old Brandon Allen Christian, both of Wisconsin, and 40-year-old Gerald Jermaine Adderley were arrested and each charged with 30 felony counts of theft of property and one misdemeanor count each of unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia and unlawful possession of a controlled substance.

A Burleigh County sheriff's deputy stopped a Dodge Caravan traveling eastbound on Interstate 94 just outside of Bismarck for license plate violations, according to the affidavit filed in the case.

The deputy identified the driver as Meyers, who, upon questioning, told him the vehicle was a rental from Florida. She also appeared nervous when asked about her travel plans, telling the deputy that she had been visiting friends in Montana.

The front seat passenger, who was later identified at Christian, also appeared "nervous and fidgety."

Both Meyers and Christian have warrants out of Wisconsin, Florida and Colorado, according to jail records. One of Meyers' warrants was for fraud, and Christian had two warrants for burglary and motor vehicle theft, according to the affidavit.

Adderley said he was just riding with Christian and Meyers on the way to Montana.

The deputy searched the suspects and found about $10,000 in cash on Christian and Meyers.

Property belonging to 32 different people, including 46 credit and debit cards, five checkbooks, four banking account number cards, eight Social Security cards and about 30 driver's licenses, were found inside the vehicle.

The cards' owners range from Alabama to Alaska, Washington, D.C., to Idaho, Missouri to Minnesota, according to the affidavit.

The deputy also found 3 grams of marijuana and residue throughout the vehicle.

All three suspects were booked into the Burleigh-Morton Detention Center. Each are held on a $100,000 bond.
A Bay Area federal judge barred the Trump administration on Thursday from authorizing employers to deny birth control coverage to women for religious or moral reasons, saying the government abruptly imposed the sweeping changes in October with no public notice or input.The new contraceptive rules had already been halted last Friday by a federal judge in Philadelphia in a ruling the administration plans to appeal. In issuing his own nationwide injunction, U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam of Oakland cited the potentially profound impact on women who had gained access to contraceptive care, without charge, in the health insurance law championed by President Barack Obama."For a substantial number of women, (the administration's orders) transform contraceptive coverage from a legal entitlement to an essentially gratuitous benefit wholly subject to their employer's discretion," Gilliam said in response to a lawsuit by California, Delaware, Maryland, New York and Virginia.The Obama administration exempted religious institutions from the contraceptive-coverage requirements -- an exemption the Supreme Court broadened in 2014 to include closely held corporations whose owners had religious objections to birth control -- but female employees could still receive coverage subsidized by their employers' insurers or the government.By contrast, the rules announced by the Trump administration on Oct. 6 allowed any private employer to withhold contraceptive coverage for religious reasons, and gave many types of companies the option of denying coverage for moral reasons. The new rules also allowed employers to prevent insurance subsidies, leaving the women without coverage."Almost any employer in the country could obtain a religious exemption or a virtually undefined moral exemption," said attorney Janie Schulman, who filed arguments on behalf of the American Association of University Women and other women's groups and labor unions. "A company could claim that it morally believes women shouldn't use birth control or women don't belong in the workplace."California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said the ruling reaffirmed that "a woman, not her boss and certainly not a politician, should decide what's best for her own health care."The Justice Department disagreed with the ruling and is evaluating its next steps, said spokeswoman Lauren Ehrsam."This administration is committed to defending the religious liberty of all Americans and we look forward to doing so in court," she said.Like last week's decision in a lawsuit by the state of Pennsylvania, Gilliam's ruling focused on the relatively narrow issue of whether the Trump administration had complied with the laws governing executive orders that affect members of the public. One law requires the government to publish its proposed rules in advance and invite public comment before making a final decision.In this case, the administration argued that advance notice and comment would be "contrary to the public interest." Administration officials said the issue had already been debated at length, citing the hundreds of thousands of public comments on contraception submitted during the Obama administration, and argued that delaying the change would be unfair to employers whose rights were at stake.Gilliam disagreed. Except in narrow circumstances, he said, the law entitles the public to comment on proposed rules such as these that could affect their lives, enabling government agencies to "proceed in a fully informed manner, exploring alternative, less harmful approaches."The states, acting on behalf of their residents, "face potentially dire public health and fiscal consequences as a result of a process as to which they had no input," said the judge, an Obama appointee.And although Gilliam did not rule on the administration's argument that its changes were necessary to protect religious freedom, he noted that the Obama administration's rules had been challenged on religious grounds in nine federal appeals courts since 2014.Eight of those courts were "likely correct" in finding that those rules, with narrow religious exemptions and continuing contraceptive coverage, did not violate religious freedom, Gilliam said.
Federal Tax Revision

Health Insurance

Building 5G

Sexual Harassment

Fair Work Schedules

Opioids

Unions Under Siege

State Revenue Projections

Election Cybersecurity

Nothing big happens in election years. At least, thats the conventional wisdom on legislative action in many state capitols.And in a year when 36 states will choose governors and 44 will elect state lawmakers, that feeling is understandable. Political paralysis in Congress is also keeping many states in a holding pattern, as their officials try to judge how best to react to potential changes from Washington.But many state issues are simply too important or too timely to wait. Here are a few that will likely draw a lot of attention this year.Few developments in Washington will have as direct an effect on state budgeting as the Republican efforts to revise the federal tax code. As of press time, lawmakers were still working to reconcile the House and Senate tax plans. But the Republicans priorities are clear.One of the main GOP goals is to simplify tax returns for most Americans. This would be done in part by increasing the amount of the standard deduction while eliminating certain itemized deductions. The idea is to give taxpayers an incentive to use the uncomplicated standard deduction rather than undertaking the often thorny process of itemizing deductions.But in the 43 states with their own income tax, the idea has more sobering implications. A dozen states automatically use the same standard deduction as the federal government. They risk losing out on revenue because residents will have less taxable income. Meanwhile, 31 states and the District of Columbia use the federal list of itemized deductions. Congress is considering eliminating a few of those, such as the student loan interest paid and medical expenses. States that stay linked to federal itemized deductions could see revenues increase. This all means that lawmakers in each state will have to determine how their revenue will react to tax reform and whether or not to stay linked to federal tax definitions.Republican leaders in Congress have also proposed ending the federal deduction for state and local income taxes and capping the deductibility of local property taxes. Proponents argue that this would give high-tax states some incentive to hold down their own rates. But the results might not be so straightforward. In California, for example, the state has a 40-year-old constitutional amendment known as Proposition 13 that artificially caps local property taxes. A new federal tax scheme that favors property taxes over income taxes could spur debate in Sacramento over whether to repeal the measure and lower state income taxes.These proposed changes to the federal income tax, of course, would not directly impact the seven states that dont have one of their own. But the more indirect effects of federal tax revision will impact every state.For instance, some Republicans support eliminating so-called private activity bonds, a move that could affect economic development around the country. State and local governments use these tax-exempt bonds to finance projects built and paid for by private developers. Low-income housing advocates, nonprofit hospitals and infrastructure associations have warned that eliminating private activity bonds would significantly hamper needed projects because it would increase government borrowing costs by as much as 30 percent.The Republican crusade to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) fell short in Washington in 2017, but big changes could still be in store for the nations health-care system this year. Thats especially true for Medicaid, the joint state and federal health insurance program that covers 74.6 million low-income and disabled Americans.Seema Verma, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), announced in November that she will usher in a new day for Medicaid. Verma, who was named to her post by President Trump, outlined a stricter, market-based vision for the program, which has grown by 30 percent since Barack Obama signed his signature health law. Verma is talking about curbing that growth. Many people who gained coverage under the ACAs Medicaid expansion, she said, are individuals who are physically capable of being actively engaged in their communities, whether it be through working, volunteering, going to school or obtaining job training.Several states have already proposed changes that would address these concerns. As of December, 18 states were waiting for CMS to decide whether to approve substantive waivers to reshape their Medicaid programs, many of them by making it harder for people to qualify for or maintain their benefits. Wisconsin wants to implement drug testing. Six states want to impose work requirements, even though 59 percent of adult Medicaid recipients are already working.Maines request would be the most far-reaching. The states Republican governor wants to impose premiums, require Medicaid recipients to work or volunteer, and impose upfront asset tests to prove that the applicants are poor enough to receive Medicaid. The ACA specifically prohibits asset tests, so a waiver allowing them would mark a major change in policy. At the same time, though, Maine voters in November overwhelmingly supported a measure to expand Medicaid. Gov. Paul LePage said he would block the move until the legislature finds funding for it, setting the stage for likely clashes there this spring.Meanwhile, the Trump administration has taken steps that could undermine the success of another key piece of the ACA: state insurance exchanges. The administration shortened the open enrollment period for health coverage under the act by six weeks, cut the outreach budget by 90 percent and stopped funding cost-sharing reductions, which keep out-of-pocket costs down for those whose incomes are between 100 and 250 percent of the federal poverty line. But initial data showed that more -- not fewer -- people were seeking out ACA coverage: 600,000 signed up for coverage on HealthCare.gov during the first week of the open enrollment period in November, breaking a record.States are increasingly being asked to referee fights between mobile phone carriers and local governments, as the wireless industry sets out to build the next generation of data networks.The reason for the clash is that the new 5G wireless net-works are built differently than their predecessors. Existing mobile systems rely on equipment installed on towers and tall buildings that are relatively far away from one another. But 5G technology requires a much denser network of 10 to 100 times as many antenna locations, so that the networks can handle the surging demand for data from mobile phones, driverless cars, wearable devices, surveillance cameras, high-tech streetlights and other building blocks of smart cities.Telecommunications companies are eyeing city-owned or city-controlled infrastructure -- particularly utility poles and streetlights -- as sites for their new equipment. But the companies worry that city zoning and other approval processes, plus the high fees that many local governments charge for permits, could stymie the development of the new networks. Today, it can take a year or more to get a permit, but only an hour to install a small cell. This has to change, says Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure.Instead of seeking approval city by city, the telecom giants have turned to state legislatures, where most of them enjoy comfortable relationships with lawmakers, to preempt local regulations. More than a dozen states, including Ohio and Texas, have passed laws setting statewide rules for phone companies that want to use public infrastructure to build their 5G networks.While the industry sees such efforts as streamlining regulation, many municipalities see them as brazen attempts to preempt local authority and effectively take over public infrastructure. Theyre worried about the loss of revenue and the effect that a proliferation of ugly equipment will have on neighborhood aesthetics.California Gov. Jerry Brown, a former mayor of Oakland, vetoed the telecom industrys bill in his state, and court challenges could threaten recently passed laws in Ohio and Texas. But the industry is pushing forward with statewide licensing bills in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, Washington and Wisconsin. The Federal Communications Commission is examining the issue as well.Sexual harassment has run rampant in state capitols for decades. But now, state officials are being forced to confront it.First on social media and then in more formal venues, women responded to last falls #MeToo campaign with an outpouring of stories that showed lawmakers have too long ignored bad behavior in their workplaces. They told of lawmakers, lobbyists and staff using positions of power to get away with groping, insulting, propositioning, extorting and humiliating the women they work with.Specifically, women accused legislators of inappropriate conduct in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Washington. Half a dozen states were still reeling from recent sexual harassment scandals before the social media campaign began.If coming forward wasnt easy for these women, then what comes next may be even tougher: figuring out how to stop the harassment.The most common step so far has been to require lawmakers and others who work at the capitol to take sexual harassment training -- something thats regularly required of other state workers. The success of those efforts depends both on the quality of the training and on the willingness of lawmakers to participate. Some chafe at any mandates for elected officials, while others complain that training alone is ineffective without clear consequences for future violation.Elected officials cant be fired easily for violating personnel policies, so legislatures have resorted to other forms of punishment for offenders. These include taking away staff, revoking leadership or committee assignments, revealing information about accusations or settlements to the public, and excluding offenders from party caucuses or expelling them from the legislature.An equally difficult question that many legislatures are reexamining is who handles sexual harassment complaints in the first place. Legislators often police their own membership for ethics violations, but many employment law specialists recommend that independent professionals look into the allegations. To be credible, the procedure has to protect both the accusers and the accused in todays politically charged atmosphere.But the stakes are high. If lawmakers cannot enact effective policies, public confidence in the integrity of state legislatures will decline even more than it already has.Some places are imposing new laws or regulations to make the employee workweek more stable and predictable.With the advent of on-demand scheduling software, large retail companies can now staff up or down by the hour. The technology helps business efficiency, but it comes at a cost for workers who sometimes dont know until the last minute when they will be called to the job. Working mothers, for example, who make up a large share of these new irregular workers, cant be sure if they should arrange for child care.Last year, Oregon became the first state to pass a fair scheduling law: Retail, food service and hospitality companies with at least 500 employees worldwide must make work schedules available two weeks in advance. The law includes other pro-employee features such as the right to a rest period between consecutive shifts and the right to express scheduling preferences without retaliation from an employer, as well as the right to receive reporting pay, which requires employees to be compensated when they are sent home early.At the local level, New York City, San Francisco and Seattle have scheduling protections for workers. Chicago may be the next large city to adopt a similar measure.Apart from Oregon, though, states have been slower to enact scheduling protections. Labor advocates are looking to revive legislation that failed last year in Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts and New Jersey.Another state to watch is New York. In November, Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed regulations that largely resemble the Oregon law and could take effect without the legislatures approval.Everyone in government is well aware of the opioid crisis, and most states have taken action to fight it. But year after year, the death count rises.estimates that 59,000 people died of drug overdoses in 2016, and 2017 appears to have been deadlier still.The nature of the crisis, though, is changing. Prescription drugs continue to be responsible for the largest number of deaths, but that rate has leveled off, while heroin has taken an increasingly heavy toll. Most recently, the number of deaths from synthetic opioids such as fentanyl and carfentanil has shot up. Carfentanil is 10,000 times more potent than morphine and was used initially as an elephant tranquilizer. Our current addiction crisis and especially the epidemic of opioid deaths will get worse before it gets better, President Trump said as he formally declared the epidemic a public health emergency in October. But get better it will.Trumps declaration cleared the way for federal officials to relax certain regulations, so that more people can get treatment. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, for example, has been waiving a rule barring Medicaid payments to patients in large mental health or substance abuse treatment facilities. Seven states have received waivers to allow Medicaid to pay for treatment no matter the size of the facility, and more are expected to apply in the coming months.But Trumps action, to the dismay of many public health advocates, did not come with any additional funding.States and cities, meanwhile, are increasingly turning to lawsuits to discourage drugmakers from overzealous promotion of prescription opioids and to recoup the costs that the epidemic has inflicted on localities. More than 100 governments have filed civil cases against pharmaceutical companies, which could lead to high-profile trials or sweeping settlements.In the states, public health advocates will likely continue to press for fewer restrictions on the use of naloxone, which can counteract the effects of opioids, and increased funding to make the antidote more readily available. Advocates will also seek more treatment options for patients with addictions and will push to limit the amount of drugs doctors can prescribe at any one time.Despite crippling setbacks in the private sector, organized labor has remained a force among state and local government workers. The U.S. Supreme Court, however, appears ready to deal public employee unions a big blow.Last year, the court heard a case challenging a 40-year-old precedent regarding agency fees. What that means in a nutshell is that, while unions cant always require workers to join and pay dues, they can require employers to collect fees that are nearly equivalent to the dues and are used for collective bargaining. That way, workers who benefit from unions negotiating on their behalf arent getting a free ride.Conservatives have attacked this arrangement. They frame their complaint as a First Amendment concern where workers are being forced to support organizations they arent choosing freely to join. In 2016, it appeared that a majority of justices on the Supreme Court were sympathetic to that argument. But Justice Antonin Scalia died before the decision was finalized, resulting in a 4-4 deadlock.This year, with the conservative Neil Gorsuch in Scalias seat, union critics are confident theyll prevail. The court has agreed to hear a fresh challenge to agency fees in the case Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Council 31. A decision is expected by June.Labor officials arent willing to concede defeat, but they know that the legal landscape is not promising. An adverse ruling will make their lives much more difficult. A 2015 survey found that only 35 percent of AFSCME members would continue to pay dues if they didnt have to.If the court rules against them, unions will have to devote far more time and effort to recruiting and retaining workers. Critics counter that this is all to the good, that unions should be responsive to the wishes of their members, rather than being able simply to demand fees. But convincing workers that they should pay for services they can get free would clearly result in a drain on union resources.Labor has been able to organize in some places in the absence of an agency fee. Las Vegas is a prime example; many service workers there continue to be unionized without one. But an anti-union decision from the Supreme Court is likely to encourage Republican state lawmakers to put more pressure on labor through legislation. Last year, the Iowa Legislature passed a requirement that each individual bargaining unit hold recertification votes, in which a majority of workers covered by agreements would have to support continued union representation. In most of these elections, unions have been able to win. Still, labor will have to work harder to remain viable if it loses in the Janus case. It can be done, but collective bargaining in the public sector may end up being largely a regional phenomenon.One of the most important things state lawmakers have to determine each year is how much money the state can expect to collect from its taxpayers. But answering that question is becoming increasingly difficult.State revenue levels have been disturbingly volatile since the Great Recession. Consequently, more state forecasters have been missing the mark. Two years ago, 19 states had to make mid-year budget cuts because of faulty forecasts. Last year, the problem got worse: 23 states faced mid-year corrections. In the past, those numbers have rarely been seen outside of a recession.There are two big reasons for the recent difficulty.The first is that states, particularly those with progressive tax rates, are increasingly dependent on income taxes. Income taxes are especially unpredictable revenue sources because they are closely tied to the individual fortunes of high earners whose incomes can swing wildly from year to year.Despite that volatility, many states are doubling down on taxing the rich. Since the recession at least six states -- many of them home to the nations wealthiest households -- have passed a so-called millionaires tax or raised rates on their richest earners. Theres likely to be more: This coming November, voters in Massachusetts will decide on a millionaires tax, while the Democrats who control the New Jersey Legislature have said a tax hike on high-earners is their top priority this year.This increasing reliance on taxpayers incomes hasnt been entirely intentional. Its partly a side effect of the sales tax base shrinking and becoming a less effective revenue stream as more consumers buy goods tax-free online or spend their money on tax-free services. Since 1960, states have gone from collecting about 60 percent of their revenue from sales taxes and 10 percent from income taxes to 45 percent from sales and 35 percent from income.Meanwhile, the prospect of lower rates under federal tax reform has taxpayers acting rather unpredictably. Income tax revenue across all states was down 4 percent in April 2017, compared to the previous year, according to the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government. Although many states had forecast declines in April and May 2017 (the biggest months for income tax returns), the revenue losses were worse than expected. This may be because wealthy taxpayers were shifting income out of 2016, in anticipation of getting a lower tax rate if they waited a year.State budget offices likely wont get an accurate picture of whats really happening until returns start flowing in again this spring.The 2018 elections could provide an opportunity for states and localities to restore confidence in voting systems that came under intense scrutiny during the 2016 presidential campaign.This year is likely to see unprecedented coordination among state and local election officials on security-related issues. Last October, they formed a working group with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to address concerns over hacking. In exchange for partnering with Homeland Security, state election officials now can obtain security clearances, which will allow them to receive intelligence about specific cyberthreats.The cooperation came about last year after Homeland Security notified 21 states that Russian hackers had targeted their voter registration files or websites. No evidence suggests hackers actually tampered with voting machines or vote counts, but the federal agency still moved to designate election systems as critical infrastructure. Under the designation, states and localities should have an easier time getting federal assistance to protect voting machines, storage facilities and voter registration databases.But a wide range of election administrators, including the National Association of Secretaries of State, initially balked at the designation, characterizing it as a potential power grab over an election system that has traditionally been decentralized and locally controlled. The working group was set up in response to those concerns.Voting machines that collect and count ballots arent connected to the internet, so a cyberhack that changes the outcome of an election isnt likely. But the hackers continue to undermine public confidence in the results. Thats why some election advocacy groups say the single most important change jurisdictions can make is switching to paper-based systems, which can help restore peoples trust in election outcomes.With paper ballots, officials can verify vote counts by comparing digital tallies with the paper record. Some 32 states and the District of Columbia now require post-election audits. Last year, Iowa and Virginia joined the list, while at least five other states considered similar bills. Observers say more states are likely to take up such legislation in 2018.As election audits become more widespread, so will paper-based voting. About a month before its general election in 2017, Virginia abruptly decertified its paperless voting machines over cybersecurity concerns; Georgia is piloting paper ballots for the same reason. And Delaware put out a bid for machines that used paper. About a quarter of the nations voters still live in election districts with paperless voting machines, but after Virginias announcement last fall, that number is sure to shrink.
When he was 20 years old, Peter Lumaj and three of his brothers escaped from the closed Communist society of Albania. They left behind seven other siblings and their parents, all of whom were placed in an internment camp as a result. Their father died there.Not speaking any English upon his arrival in the United States, Lumaj got a job at a Burger King. Eventually, he made his way through college and law school and was the Republican candidate for Connecticut secretary of state in 2014. Now, he's running for governor."I'm living the American dream, and I want to make sure I can serve the community," Lumaj says. "I went away from socialism. It has failed everywhere that it's been tried. I don't want to see my kids grow up in a socialistic society."Not all refugee candidates share Lumaj's politics, but many express similar motivations when they run for office."Refugees have a very hard pathway toward U.S. citizenship," says Robert McCaw, government affairs director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "When that goal has been attained, running for office is one of the best ways to pay back the country and contribute."Refugees running for office are not a new phenomenon. Vera Katz, a former Portland, Ore., mayor who died on Dec. 11, was the child of Russian emigres who fled Nazi Germany when she was a child.My mom was the embodiment of the American dream: coming with nothing and making life better not just for herself but for the countless others she touched, said her son, Jesse Katz, upon her death.Ilhan Omar, who was elected as the nation's first Somali-American state legislator in 2016, landed on the cover ofin September. Fue Lee, her colleague and classmate in the Minnesota House, was born in a refugee camp in Thailand.McCaw says some refugees running for office this year and next may have a new source of inspiration: the desire to answer attacks on immigrants and refugees by President Trump.After winning a Virginia House race in November, Kathy Tran, a refugee, tweeted that the election results represented a "rejection of racism, misogyny, xenophobia & hate."During the presidential campaign, Trump referred to a Syrian refugee resettlement program as "a great Trojan horse" that would bring future terrorists into the country. Once in office, Trump imposed a 120-day moratorium on refugee admissions. The administration lifted the freeze in September, announcing it would allow in 45,000 more carefully vetted refugees in the coming year, the lowest total in decades."The security and safety of the American people is our chief concern," a senior U.S. government official told reporters in September.Zak Idan, who came to America as a refugee from Somalia when he was 11, was motivated to run for office by Trump's ban on travel from certain predominantly Muslim countries."I realized, 'That's me. Trump's banning me,'" Idan told the. "It was in that moment I saw I needed to put myself out there."In November, Idan became the first Somali elected official in Washington state, winning a seat on the Tukwila City Council.Not all former refugee candidates are motivated by politics -- or national politics, at any rate.Wilmot Collins, a former refugee from Liberia who won election as mayor of Helena, Mont., in November, said his harrowing life story may have drawn national media attention, but it wasn't an issue in his race. Mayor Jim Smith, whom Collins unseated, noted during the campaign that local governments have little to no say over refugee policy.Voters and citizens elected me on issues pertaining to Helena, Collins told the. Ill be a trumpet for my community.In other words, Collins ran to give something back."Some refugees running for office are looking to respond to those local issues to make their communities the best places possible for their families," McCaw says.
Rep. Diane Black announced Wednesday that she plans to step aside as House Budget chairwoman to focus on her gubernatorial campaign.The Tennessee Republican announced that she will remain in Congress, but will give up her gavel as soon as the GOP Steering Committee picks, and the Republican Conference ratifies, her successor."As we enter a new era under a brand new tax law and as members begin crafting a budget for fiscal year 2019, I am confident the focus will remain on addressing unsustainable mandatory programs," Black said in a statement. "Without question, it is critical that lawmakers take real action to reverse the trajectory of our nation's growing debt. While it requires tough decisions in the short-term, the result in the long-term will secure a bright and prosperous future for generations to come."After announcing her gubernatorial bid in August, many expected Black to step aside after the fiscal 2018 budget resolution was adopted. But she stuck around while Republicans worked on their overhaul of the tax code through the budget reconciliation process, serving as a member of the House-Senate conference committee negotiating the bill.On Capitol Hill, the race to succeed Black on Budget is already in full swing. GOP Reps. Rob Woodall of Georgia, Steve Womack of Arkansas, and Bill Johnson of Ohio have all said they hope to be named chairman once the spot opened up.Whoever is selected will have a tough year ahead getting a budget resolution passed, let alone using reconciliation instructions to enact deficit-cutting legislation.Black had to work exhaustively behind the scenes this year to get instructions for $203 billion in mandatory spending reductions written into the House budget, even though they were ultimately removed from the final fiscal 2018 resolution.How to write the fiscal 2019 budget resolution and what, if any, reconciliation instructions should be included will be a tough decision for GOP leaders to handle as they approach the midterm elections.The fiscal 2019 budget resolution will be released, marked up, and voted on in the middle of midterm primaries next spring and in the middle of a debate over what policies Republican leaders and President Donald Trump should be prioritizing.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Trump are already suggesting that cutting entitlements should take a back seat to a costly infrastructure package, betting that filling potholes and fixing bridges holds more appeal to voters than curtailing their government benefits.The bottom line: Whoever is selected as the new Budget chairman likely faces a thankless and daunting task.
The cities of San Francisco, New York and Philadelphia filed a sweeping federal lawsuit Tuesday accusing the U.S. Department of Defense of failing to live up to its legal duty to notify the FBI when a member of the military is convicted of a crime that would bar them from buying or possessing firearms.The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Virginia, accuses the defense department, the Army, Navy, Air Force and a host of high-ranking Pentagon officials -- including Secretary of Defense James Mattis -- of unevenly feeding reports about convictions and dishonorable discharges to the FBI's criminal background check system for the past two decades.The cities are working with the San Francisco-based Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence and the New York law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, which is representing them.In their joint complaint, the cities contend that these kinds of reporting lapses allowed Devin Kelley -- a former member of the Air Force who was court-martialed and convicted of assaulting his wife and stepson in 2012 -- to purchase the assault-style weapon that he's accused of using to kill 26 people at a church in Texas last month. Kelley, who was discharged from the Air Force in 2014, killed himself shortly after the mass shooting.According to federal law, Kelley's assault conviction should have prevented him from purchasing or possessing a firearm. But the Air Force admitted that it failed to report the conviction to the FBI.The cities said their suit "is intended to prevent such senseless carnage from ever again being inflicted by current or former members of the military who should be blocked from acquiring guns or licenses to carry guns."Since the Texas shooting, numerous federal officials have acknowledged that the defense department has failed to fully inform the FBI of all military convictions, as required.In a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee this month, Glenn Fine, acting inspector general for the defense department, testified that the military failed to tell the FBI about 31 percent of service members' criminal convictions between Jan. 1, 2015, and Dec. 31, 2016.Fine said that the defense department first reviewed its criminal history data-sharing practices with the FBI in 1997. That review, Fine said, found "significant deficiencies in the military services' compliance with the requirement to submit criminal history data to the FBI."Last month, Attorney General Jeff Sessions called the situation "alarming" and "unacceptable." He ordered the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to review the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which is used by law enforcement and gun dealers to determine whether someone is legally allowed to purchase or possess a firearm.Sessions specifically asked the FBI and ATF to identify any "federal government entities that are not fully and accurately reporting information" to the background check system, and to develop a plan to make sure reporting is done correctly in the future.Lauren Ehrsam, a spokeswoman for the Department of Justice, declined to comment on the lawsuit.The cities want the courts to appoint "an independent and apolitical branch of government" to ensure that the defense department complies with its obligation to share information about military criminal convictions with law enforcement in order to strengthen background checks."The national criminal background check system is the backbone of common-sense gun regulations," San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera said in a statement announcing the city's participation in the lawsuit."The Defense Department's failure to fulfill its legal duty and accurately report criminal convictions puts innocent Americans at risk," he said. "It is past time to ensure that we're doing everything we can to keep guns out of the wrong hands."
The two Cambodian refugees living in Northern California had been convicted of crimes years ago and, under the Trump administration's more aggressive immigration enforcement policies, those offenses had placed them on a path toward deportation.But Saturday, Gov. Jerry Brown announced the pardons of both men _ Mony Neth of Modesto and Rottanak Kong of Davis _ saying they had paid their debts to society and now lived honest and upright lives.Immigration is a federal, not state, responsibility, but attorneys for the men hope the pardons will eliminate the rationale for deporting them. Across the country, immigration attorneys are doing the same: seeking gubernatorial pardons in last-ditch attempts to forestall deportations or allow the deported to return to the U.S.Targeting convicted criminals for deportation isn't a new idea; it was a priority under President Barack Obama, who deported more people than any of his predecessors. But during the Obama administration, only those with serious crimes on their records were targeted for removal. President Donald Trump has cast a much wider net.Shortly after his inauguration, Trump signed an executive order directing the Department of Homeland Security to prioritize the removal of people in the U.S. illegally who have criminal convictions. In addition to speeding up the deportation of convicts, Trump's orders also called for quick removal of people in the country illegally who are charged with crimes and waiting for adjudication.And federal officials began to act swiftly.In June, immigration authorities in Michigan rounded up more than 100 Iraqi nationals with criminal backgrounds. A month later, about 40 of them asked Republican Gov. Rick Snyder for pardons.Among those seeking a reprieve was Usama Hamama, 54, who co-owns a market in the Detroit area. Hamama, who came to the United States as a refugee when he was 11, was convicted of felony assault and carrying a gun in a vehicle in 1988. He was sentenced to two years in prison. Since 1992, he has faced the threat of deportation, but that hadn't been a real possibility until the Trump administration.Hamama's attorney, Bill Swor, who works closely with the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, described his client's crime as a low-level road rage incident. Since then, he said, Hamama has raised a family and opened his small business."A pardon would wipe clean this offense and his record," Swor said of Hamama, who is being held in a federal immigration detention facility in Michigan. "He was in the country legally when the offense occurred, so a pardon takes us back to that status."Last month, Hamama's 12-year-old daughter, Lindsey, wrote a letter to a federal judge overseeing her father's case. She also sent a copy to the governor."All I want for Christmas," she wrote, "is my dad home and nothing else."The governor's office has not made a decision on a pardon.Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, a Republican, received a similar plea _ this one from an Army veteran with a felony drug conviction. Miguel Perez Jr., 39, joined the military in 2001 as a legal permanent resident and served two tours in Afghanistan.In 2008, he was convicted of distributing less than 100 grams of cocaine. Perez, a native of Mexico, served half of his 15-year prison sentence but had his residency revoked as a result of the conviction and is being held in a detention center in Wisconsin.Rauner hasn't decided whether he'll grant the pardon.Gubernatorial pardons don't guarantee an immigrant facing deportation could remain in the U.S., but they might have an effect, said Jason Cade, an associate professor of law at the University of Georgia, who characterized it as a case-by-case issue.For example, Cade said, if an immigrant has a drug conviction that makes them subject to deportation and that conviction is pardoned, then deportation should no longer be an option."The bottom line is that full and unconditional pardons should absolutely be effective as a defense against deportation in cases where the conviction triggers certain removal categories _ specifically those targeting aggravated felonies ... or multiple criminal convictions," said Cade, who has written extensively on immigration law.Though the federal government may still have grounds to deport someone, Cade said, a pardon might lead authorities "to exercise favorable discretion."But that hasn't always happened.This year, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, pardoned Liliana Cruz Mendez, a mother of two who lived in the suburbs outside Washington. Cruz Mendez, who was in the country illegally from El Salvador, was stopped for a minor traffic infraction in 2014; her car had a blown-out headlight.George Escobar, senior director at CASA _ an immigrant rights group in the Washington area _ called McAuliffe's pardon "a show of solidarity for her cause and the belief she should not have to leave this country.""We had hoped that it would sway" Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Escobar, who had worked to secure her pardon. "Unfortunately that was not the case."Federal immigration officials deported Cruz Mendez this summer.But for others, especially people with green cards or other legal status, pardons have helped. Another common thread: living in a state with a Democratic governor who perhaps is looking to push back against the Trump administration.In May, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, pardoned Rene Lima-Marin, who in 2008 was mistakenly released early from prison, where he was serving time for a robbery conviction. Lima-Marin, who had fled Cuba in the 1980s, got married, had a son and started working. Six years later, in 2014, Colorado officials realized the mistake and took him back into custody.This year, days after a judge released Lima-Marin, Hickenlooper pardoned him. Even so, Lima-Marin sits in an immigration detention center, though his attorneys are hopeful he will be released."In terms of rehabilitation, he demonstrated an ability to contribute to the fabric of his community and Colorado," Hickenlooper said during a news conference around the time of the pardon. "He rebuilt his life. He's become a law-abiding, productive member of his community."But in a different case this fall, Hickenlooper denied a pardon request from Ingrid Encalada Latorre, who has found sanctuary in churches throughout Colorado for much of the last year. Latorre, a native of Peru, has been living in the United States illegally for 15 years."We carefully look at each case and take a holistic approach when considering an application," Hickenlooper said in an email. "Clemency is not the solution to our country's broken immigration system."In California, Brown, a Democrat, has issued pardons that touched the lives of those facing deportation as well as those already removed from the country.In 2015, Brown pardoned Eddy Zheng, an immigrant fighting deportation after spending more than two decades in prison for a robbery conviction. Zheng and his family immigrated to the U.S. in the 1980s from China. He remains in the U.S. and became a naturalized citizen this year.The pardons announced Saturday were granted to Neth, who was convicted on a felony weapons charge in 1995, and Kong, who was convicted on felony joyriding in 2003. In his pardon message, among several dozen issued, Brown said that since Neth and Kong left prison, both had gone on to become "law-abiding citizens."Of Kong, he added, "Indeed, several individuals wrote in support of Mr. Kong, describing him as kind and generous, and as a role model to those who face insurmountable challenges in their lives."Last spring, Brown pardoned two former Marines, Erasmo Apodaca Mendizabal and Marco Antonio Chavez, as well as former soldier Hector Barajas Varela. All three had received honorable discharges from the military but later were convicted of crimes and eventually deported.An immigration judge reinstated Chavez's green card in November after Brown's pardon. On Thursday, after 15 years in Mexico, Chavez returned to the U.S.Moments after walking across the border near San Diego, he told reporters that he could hardly believe that this year his Christmas morning would begin with a hug from his relatives.
The Limits of Front-End Design

Paper forms and PDFs mean redundant data entry by constituents and city staff, which wastes time and increases errors.

Third-party portals mean users must learn to navigate each different website, which increases complexity.

When multiple websites are involved, multiple vendors manage login credentials, which means more chances for data insecurity.

End-to-End Integration

Homeowner fills out 100-question paper application.

Homeowner submits application to the city (via email or in person).

County worker verifies information and calls homeowner in the event of inconsistencies.

County worker manually enters data into the system.

Homeowner gets a response within five to 10 business days.

Connected Systems, Proactive Services

Its an exciting time for gov tech. Were past simply making paper forms available online and are approaching a world where connected systems improve life for residents and government employees alike.While the technology to optimize and connect city services exists, most places havent yet implemented it. Often, governments invest in changes to their websites that offer aesthetic improvements but lack the fully integrated back-end connectivity to be truly transformative.We shouldnt accept surface-level improvements where full transformations would have meaningful impact. While superficial design changes can improve user experience, full-scale back-end updates are what will revolutionize the way people experience government.First-generation government websites were usually built to reflect government hierarchy: You had to know where to look to find what you needed. Cities and states with upgraded websites have improved their front-end design, making it easier and more intuitive for constituents to find whats important.But these websites often fall short in the back end. For example, a website might require a user to complete a process in person or by emailing a PDF. It might link to a third-party site for online transactions like paying a parking ticket or reporting a pothole.Thats not an ideal experience for a few reasons:Life becomes easier when the front end and back end are integrated. Technical constraints have prevented that integration in the past, but thats starting to change.Want to see end-to-end integration in action? The Consolidated City of Indianapolis and Marion County offers residents a homestead deduction on their taxes. Until recently, the process of getting that deduction worked like this:Notice the redundancies: County staff must re-enter data from a form into the database, adding time and introducing extra opportunity for error.To eliminate this problem, the city/county digitized the form so residents could complete it online. The front end validates their information in real time as its entered. It only asks constituents questions relevant to the county and to their situation, skipping those that dont apply. The digitized form then sends the application to a request management tool for county staff to track, assign and approve. The front end and request management tool are directly integrated with existing back-end systems for address verification and record keeping.Today, residents often receive a response to their homestead deduction applications within 20 minutes. As significant as this change is, though, its just a stepping stone toward what gov tech can look like.In the scenario above, once the resident enters their information, it can be verified against existing data. Thats cool, but it also signifies that in many cases, the local government already has all the information the resident provides.The future of gov tech, then, is a system smart enough to handle these tasks proactively. If you live in Indianapolis and own property there, the city/county technology should be intelligent enough to suggest the appropriate homestead deduction and complete the form based on your authenticated user profile. When you're ready to apply, all you need to do is click submit.Today, most local governments function as dozens of discrete entities. Each agency or department has its own back-end technology, which is why you have to enter all your information every time you want to interact with your local government.Imagine, instead, if a person logged onto their citys website and it said something like, Hi, Charles. Its going to be a cold winter. Want to hear about payment plans from Peoples Gas? His profile indicated that he met certain income criteria. The citys system connected that information with the time of year and the gas companys payment plan options to provide him with serious value.Thats not just convenient; it can prevent someone from falling behind on utility payments and risking a service shutoff. In harsh winter weather, that can be life-altering.This is where government technology is going. A unified platform, resting on top of agency-specific systems, that allows those systems to talk to each other and link relevant information. From a constituents point of view, it will look like local government that not only meets, but also anticipates, their needs.
(TNS)  Two area localities are partnering with the University of Mary Washington and Rappahannock Community College to offer training in cybersecurity.The Fredericksburg Economic Development Authority and King George County each have agreed to commit $7,500 in cash and $3,000 worth of marketing assistance to secure a grant from Go Virginia. Thats a business initiative that looks to create jobs by fostering regional collaborations in business, education and government.The $243,000 grant would be administered by UMW and cover all costs for 30 to 40 students to earn credentials as a certified information systems security professional, or CISSP. The grant would cover the study course at RCC, the two-year program at the Dahlgren campus of UWM and the $700 exam, said Kimberly Young, executive director of continuing and professional studies at UMW.Ruby Brabo, chairwoman of King George Countys Board of Supervisors, was excited that the program would make it easier for residents to seek high-paying jobs at the Naval Support Facility Dahlgren or with other industries. She said the Navy base recruits people from as far away as Oklahoma and Puerto Rico because there arent enough qualified candidates in the region.I think this is definitely a win for us, she said.Brabo said some informational technology positions at the base, which pay more than $60,000 a year, require the certification. The nearest official training for CISSP is in Vienna, although Germanna Community College offers a course that helps prepare students for the CISSP exam.The support by King George and Fredericksburg would guarantee the localities a minimum of 10 participants in the class, Young said.According to technology websites, the CISSP designation is a globally recognized standard of achievement and sought by IT professionals in fields such as security auditor, security systems engineer, security architect and chief information security officer.More than 93,391 people worldwide have attained the CISSP credential since May 2014. The program gives participants the skills to design, engineer, implement and manage their overall information security program to protect organizations from growing sophisticated attacks, according to the website simplilearn.Its not clear when the certification program would be offered at the Dahlgren campus of UMW. For more information, contact Young at 540/286-8076.
(TNS)  Ohio/Indiana UAS Center in Springfield recently completed an agreement to connect to a statewide broadband network that will allow the site to connect with the city, along with several local colleges and universities.The agreement will assist Ohios efforts to connect with researchers to advance drone technologies for a number of industries, local leaders said.A 2013 report from the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International predicted that over the next 10 years, the unmanned aircraft market is expected to be a $114 billion industry nationally, with a potential to create 100,000 jobs over the next decade.The UAS headquarters in Springfield recently joined the OARnet. Thats a statewide, 100 gigabyte network that will link the center to Ohio colleges and universities, as well as several other entities. The goal is to connect the site with researchers and other entities to boost economic development in the industry.Providing network connectivity to the Ohio/Indiana UAS Center through OARnet is truly a win-win scenario, said John Carey, chancellor of the Ohio Department of Higher Education in a statement. Here, we are leveraging the powerful reach of OARnets statewide network to serve economic development, as well as research and education.The agreement with OARnet could also provide an incentive to draw additional business related to the drone industry to the city, said Tom Franzen, assistant city manager and director of economic development for Springfield.Gaining connectivity to OARnets network adds an additional economic-development tool to help attract and support existing businesses and researchers engaged in the development of unmanned aerial systems and their many sub-components, Franzen said.Among other entities, the project is expected to link the UAS Center in Springfield to Calamityville, a training facility for emergency responders in Fairborn. It will also connect to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.People can fly drones and send data over OARnet directly to the universities without having to transport them, said David Gallagher, a spokesman for the UAS Center in Springfield, describing one way the connections will be beneficial. These are huge data files and this capability allows us to transfer big files.According to information from OARnet, the city of Springfield and the Indiana Fiber Network will provide OARnet with access to dark fiber within their networks to complete a section of the project. The construction and installation work to connect the UAS Center to OARnet is expected to be finished by the end of the summer.
(TNS)  Gainesville police officers will be equipped with new body cameras next year.Gainesville City Council members authorized City Manager Barry Sullivan to enter into a 5-year contract with Utility Associates, Inc. to provide mobile video recording equipment, body-worn cameras and a cloud-based digital evidence management system for the Gainesville Police Department.The five-year project is estimated to cost $39,000 annually for a total of $195,000, according to information provided to council members.Gainesville Police Chief Kevin Phillips said there was money earmarked in the 2017-18 fiscal year budget for video equipment.Sullivan and Phillips said there have been issues with the body-worn cameras currently in use and they have been looking at ways to rectify the situation.They have been very unreliable. I believe we currently have six down, Phillips said.Phillips said the new cloud-based storage system will come in handy for those working in the Criminal Investigations Division because the video will be uploaded via the internet and allow investigators to share a link with the Cooke County Attorneys office and the District Attorneys office.Currently, the agency houses an on-site server to store video data which requires investigators to burn DVDs.Sometimes we are burning two or three DVDs per case, he said. The time it takes to burn the discs is really slowing down our CID.Sullivan said the time saved by personnel results in an estimated $80,000 in savings over the course of the five-year contract.Thats not an $80,000 savings that you are going to see in cash, Sullivan said. That represents the time that our detectives will save over five years and can actually focus on additional cases and building additional cases instead of spending time recording videos. That is a huge positive for the department.The city requested bids in September and received five proposals.The winning bid from Decatur, Georgia-based Utility Associates, Inc. includes 32 body cameras and 10 in-car video systems, according to Phillips.The department has 32 patrol personnel, six investigators and four members of command staff, Phillips said.He said he wasnt sure when the new equipment was going to come in but that it could take about 90 days.
1. The government doesnt think much of user privacy

By carrying a cellphone  which communicates on its own with the phone company  you have effectively told the phone company where you are. Therefore, your location isnt private, and the police can get that information from the cellphone company without a warrant, and without even telling you theyre tracking you.

2. Neither do software designers

3. People care, but struggle to find information

"Companies use a privacy policy to demonstrate compliance with legal and regulatory notice requirements, and to limit liability. Regulators in turn use privacy policies to investigate and enforce compliance with regulations.

4. Boosting comprehension

What if a computerized assistant could digest all that legal jargon in a few seconds and highlight key points? Perhaps a user could even tell the automated assistant to pay particular attention to certain issues, like when an email address is shared, or whether search engines can index personal posts.

5. Programmers could help, too

6. So could a new way of thinking about it

As people use online services more in their daily lives, their expectations of digital privacy and freedom of expression will lead them to demand better protections. Governments will respond by building on the foundations of existing international law, formally extending into cyberspace the human rights to privacy, freedom of expression and improved economic well-being.

7. The real basis of all privacy is strong encryption

Increasingly, a number of former senior law enforcement and national security officials have come out strongly in support of end-to-end encryption and strong device protection , which can protect against hacking and other data theft incidents.

Over the course of 2017, people in the U.S. and around the world became increasingly concerned about how their digital data are transmitted, stored and analyzed. As news broke that every Yahoo email account had been compromised, as well as the financial information of nearly every adult in the U.S., the true scale of how much data private companies have about people became clearer than ever.This, of course, brings them enormous profits, but comes with significant social and individual risks. Many scholars are researching aspects of this issue, both describing the problem in greater detail and identifying ways people can reclaim power over the data their lives and online activity generate. Here we spotlight seven examples from our 2017 archives.One major concern people have about digital privacy is how much access the police might have to their online information, like what websites people visit and what their emails and text messages say. Mobile phones can be particularly revealing, not only containing large amounts of private information, but also tracking users locations. As H.V. Jagadish at University of Michigan writes, the government doesnt think smartphones locations are private information. The legal logic defies common sense:But mobile phone companies and the government arent the only people with access to data on peoples smartphones. Mobile apps of all kinds can monitor location, user activity and data stored on their users phones. As an international group of telecommunications security scholars found,  More than 70 percent of smartphone apps are reporting personal data to third-party tracking companies like Google Analytics, the Facebook Graph API or Crashlytics.Those companies can even merge information from different apps  one that tracks a users location and another that tracks, say, time spent playing a game or money spent through a digital wallet  to develop extremely detailed profiles of individual users.Despite how concerned people are, they cant actually easily find out whats being shared about them, when or to whom. Florian Schaub at the University of Michigan explains the conflicting purposes of apps and websites privacy policies:That can leave consumers without the information they need to make informed choices.Another problem with privacy policies is that theyre incomprehensible. Anyone who does try to read and understand them will be quickly frustrated by the legalese and awkward language. Karuna Pande Joshi and Tim Finin from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County suggest that artificial intelligence could help That would certainly make life simpler for users, but it would preserve a world in which privacy is not a given.Jean Yang at Carnegie Mellon University is working to change that assumption. At the moment, she explains, computer programmers have to keep track of users choices about privacy protections throughout all the various programs a site uses to operate. That makes errors both likely and hard to track down.Yangs approach, called  policy-agnostic programming , builds sharing restrictions right into the software design process. That both forces developers to address privacy, and makes it easier for them to do so.But it may not be enough for some software developers to choose programming tools that would protect their users data. Scott Shackelford from Indiana University discussed the movement to declare cybersecurity  including data privacy  a human right recognized under international law.He predicts real progress will result from consumer demand:But governments can be slow to act, leaving people to protect themselves in the meantime.The fundamental way to protect privacy is to make sure data is stored so securely that only the people authorized to access it are able to read it. Susan Landau at Tufts University explains the importance of individuals having access to strong encryption . And she observes police and the intelligence community are coming around to understanding this view:One day, perhaps, governments and businesses will have the same concerns about individuals privacy as people themselves do. Until then, strong encryption without special access for law enforcement or other authorities will remain the only reliable guardian of privacy.
FARGO  The emerald ash borer is getting closer to North Dakota.

Thats according to news from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which reports it has found the pest in Winnipeg.

Winnipeg is only a short 65 miles north of the North Dakota border, North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring said in a written statement.

Even though there are additional precautions in place for movement of regulated articles across the international border, it is still more important than ever for North Dakotans to take action to prevent it from coming here, Goehring added.

The emerald ash borer only attacks true ash trees.

Its larvae feed under the bark, disrupting the movement of water and nutrients, which kill the tree within a few years.

Hundreds of millions of ash trees in the United States and Canada have been killed by the inspect over the past decade.

According to the North Dakota Department of Agriculture, the state has more than 92 million ash trees, making up 48 percent of trees along streets and in city parks.

In Fargo, about 20 percent of the Fargo Park Districts approximately 4,000 trees and about 28 percent of all trees in Fargo are ash trees, according to Sam DeMarais, a Fargo Parks forester.

DeMarais said the news from Canada confirms that emerald ash borers are inching closing from the north and the east.

He said while some people believe the borer may already be in the Fargo-Moorhead area, no conclusive evidence has been found.

DeMarais said one thing foresters watch for around ash trees is a woodpecker, because it may be a sign the tree has borers.

When a borer does invade a tree, it can take four years before the tree begins showing signs of trouble, DeMarais said, adding that the Park District has a plan in place for when emerald ash borers are detected within about 20 miles of Fargo.

When that happens, DeMarais said there is a pesticide that can be injected into trees which helps them fight off borers.

In the meantime, he said both the Park District and the city have been identifying unhealthy ash trees for removal, as well as ash trees that are in locations where removal has beneficial side effects, including trees that encroach on wires and other fixtures.

Moving firewood around is the primary means by which the emerald ash borer is spread, according to DeMarais, who added it is believed the pest originally landed in the United States from Asia via a shipping crate and a Great Lakes port.

North Dakota State Forester Larry Kotchman advised that people should buy firewood from local sources and anyone coming to North Dakota from out of state is asked to not bring firewood with them.

State officials are also reminding the public that moving uncertified firewood out of areas under quarantine for emerald ash borers is a federal offense.

DeMarais said Park District and city officials plan to get together soon to discuss how they would remove the large amount of wood chips that would be generated if a sizeable tree removal program was begun.

Recently, the city of Fargo teamed with a company that uses reclaimed wood as a means of disposing of ash trees the city removed for various reasons.

DeMarais said many of the areas ash trees were planted as replacements for elm trees decimated by Dutch Elm Disease.

He said it is wise for communities to diversity their tree populations, as threats may arise with any type of tree.
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Last week, Congress and President Donald Trump enacted permanent income tax cuts for corporations and other businesses. Then they belatedly gave the Childrens Health Insurance Program an extension that could run out in a matter of weeks.

In fiscal 2017, which ended Sept. 30, the federal government spent $16 billion to provide health coverage at low cost or no cost to the families of 9 million American children. Before leaving Washington, D.C., Thursday for their Christmas vacation, lawmakers approved a stopgap funding bill that includes $2.9 billion for CHIP. Some members of Congress said that will fund the childrens health program until March, but others on both sides of the aisle cautioned that the money will run out sooner.

Congress has known for more than two years that CHIP funding would end on Sept. 30, 2017, if the House and Senate failed to reauthorize it. Republicans and Democrats agree that it should be renewed for five years. However, the parties leaders disagree on how to pay for it.

There was no such pay for requirement on the massive tax cut bill, which is projected to add at least $1 trillion to the national debt over the next decade. In other words, the majority in Congress agreed to borrow $1 trillion to cover the tax cut, but it hasnt reached a compromise on funding $16 billion this year for childrens care.

In Montana, 24,000 children rely on CHIP. Over the past 20 years, federal CHIP funding has allowed Montana children in low income families to have health coverage, even when their parents couldnt afford insurance for themselves.

Gov. Steve Bullock joined Republican and Democratic governors from other states in pleading for CHIP renewal. Fourteen states were expected to start cutting children out of their programs in January, if Congress failed to appropriate more money. Montana was projected to run out of CHIP funds as early as February.

Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, issued a joint statement Friday, promising to seek a five-year extension soon.

We will be vigilant to ensure this program isnt subject to repeated short-term fixes and constantly looming deadlines  families across the nation deserve better, Wyden and Hatch said. And yet CHIP has less than two months of funding when we are already three months into the fiscal year.

Among the funding sources proposed for CHIP is elimination of public health programs and higher costs for some Medicare beneficiaries.

A group of eight childrens advocacy organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, March of Dimes and National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, said in a news release: Right now, the greatest threat to childrens health care coverage is congressional inaction.

We agree. As the childrens health advocates said, What states and families need is stability. Instead, what they get from the House measure is a continuation of a dangerous trend: temporary, inadequate CHIP funding patches, delivered at the last possible moment with no comprehensive relief assurance.

This popular childrens program may be just the first casualty as Congress eventually pays for the massive income tax cut law by reducing spending on Medicaid, Medicare and other domestic programs as outlined in the GOP budget blueprint.

Congress shouldnt allow childrens health care to be used as a political bargaining chip.

-- The Billings (Mont.) Gazette
An astrophysicist from New York City, a med student at Columbia and a UNC school up in the mountains  plus news about N.C. A&T and UNC-Greensboro  are among the most popular higher ed stories I wrote in 2017.

Everyone else is doing a top 10 list to end the year. Here's mine:

I thought Neil deGrasse Tysons Guilford College Bryan Series talk was interesting, but not so interesting that it deserved to hit the front page of Reddit. (Shows what I know, right?) I hate to use the word viral, but thats the only one that described what happened to this story.

Folks loved the story of the Duke graduate from Greensboro who got into a ton of medical schools. When I interviewed Lily Zerihun in April, she had been accepted at 11. By the time WFMY caught up with her, she had gotten a yes from a 12th. Zerihun is a first-year medical student at Columbia University in New York.

The admissions train keeps rolling on. Western Carolina University says it got more than 19,000 applications for its fall 2017 freshman class. Total enrollment broke the 11,000 barrier.

The application deadline for the fall 2018 class of Cheatham-White scholars has come and gone. Scholarship finalists will hear in early February if theyve won. Pre-congrats to the winners.

This story showed what the outside of UNCGs new nursing and science lab building will look like. If you want to see the inside of the new building, click here for floor plans and an architect's rendering of the main atrium. Construction starts this spring. Its supposed to open in 2020.

Muhammad Alis daughter spoke at A&T's undergraduate commencement in May. I covered the event, and here's what she had to said.

My takeaway from the response to this story: People love rankings stories even if they don't mention the colleges I usually write about.

If youre wondering where all of those bright green Lime Bikes came from, heres where it started.

Bennett College announced at graduation that it would rename its honors dorm for Johnnetta Cole. The college made good on that promise in November.

I haven't heard of anything to report, so I don't have an update on this project. I expect it to develop in slow motion, so generations of higher ed reporters after me will be writing about this.

Finally, here are two stories you should have clicked on more than you did:

Fred Pegues (GTCC) and his twin daughters (A&T and UNC-Charlotte) all got their degrees in May.

Congrats to Phil, who got his degree two weeks ago. Hes thinking about working as a substitute teacher. No kidding.

That's it for The Syllabus for 2017. I'll catch you all in the new year. Hope you all have a great holiday season.

Have something to say about something you just read? Email me at john.newsom@greensboro.com.
Tim Sloans first full year as chief executive of Wells Fargo & Co. is ending with him being chosen as one of the 20 worst CEOs in America by financial-research firm 24/7 Wall St.

Sloan was ranked ninth, representing one of two financial-service industry top executives on the list.

All the executives on this list have done serious damage to the companies they lead, the firm said. In some cases, it will take years for the businesses to recover, if they ever can.

Topping the ranking were those from IBM, General Electric, Macys, Under Armour and Blue Apron. There were six retail and six technology companies included in the list.

Wells Fargo could not be reached for comment about the list.

Sloan took over as Wells Fargos chief executive in October 2016 following the abrupt retirement of John Stumpf as chairman and chief executive in the early weeks of the banks fraudulent customer-account scandal that goes back to at least 2002.

The firm determined the CEOs for the list by measuring stock price changes, earnings and revenue, and having at least a two-year tenure as chief executive or being in the No. 2 position at the company.

Although Wells Fargos share price is up 12 percent year to date, the firm did not cut Sloan any slack, saying matters have gotten worse for Wells Fargo during his run as chief executive.

The firm based that opinion on the lingering legal, regulatory and retail ripple effects from the scandal, most of which predated Sloan as chief executive but not as a top bank executive.

Sloans short tenure has been horrible for customers, the firm said in its summation.

Wells Fargo confirmed Aug. 31 that at least 3.53 million accounts were affected by its phony customer accounts scandal, up from the 2.1 million announced in September 2016 when the fraudulent activities initially were made public.

Most of the victims were in Arizona and California, although the bank has said it cannot rule out that at least 38,722 unauthorized customer accounts were established in North Carolina and 23,327 in South Carolina.

On Aug. 5, the bank confirmed it could experience losses reaching $3.3 billion in its attempt to resolve its customer-account scandals.

Sloan has taken responsibility for working with federal regulators, bank employees and customers to resolve the scandal.

The expansion of this agreement is another important step to make things right for our customers, Sloan said in April.

On our journey to rebuild trust, we want to ensure our customers feel confident that we have heard their concerns about retail sales practices, which includes offering them numerous opportunities for remediation.

President Donald Trump wrote in a Dec. 8 tweet that he would not support federal regulators easing up on sanctions and penalties against Wells Fargo related to the scandal.

24/7 Wall St. specializes in rankings that typically focus on corporations, such as the best or worst to work for, or on socioeconomic issues.

For example, in August 2016 the firm listed former N.C. Gov. Pat McCrory as 31st on its list of the 50 least powerful people in the world. Topping that list was Bill Ackman, the billionaire hedge-fund activist who has led a campaign to drive Herbalife Ltd. out of business for more than five years.

In June 2016, the group listed North Carolina among the five worst for the jobless in terms of reduced unemployment insurance benefits.
THOMASVILLE  Police are looking for a woman involved in a Tuesday afternoon bank robbery.

Just before 5 p.m., the woman walked to a teller at the Wells Fargo at 804 Randolph St., pulled out a gun and demanded money, according to a Thomasville police news release.

The woman walked away with an undisclosed amount of cash.

No one was injured.

The woman is believed to be Hispanic, about 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighs about 125 pounds, according to the release. She was last seen wearing a black jacket, black pants, black gloves and a black cap.

Anyone with information about the woman's identity or location is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (336) 476-8477.
THOMASVILLE  A man wanted on attempted murder charges in South Carolina led law enforcement on a two-state chase on Christmas, beginning in Thomasville. Hes accused of committing several robberies during the chase.

Jerrell Carl Richardson, 21, of South Carolina, is charged with attempted murder after an incident in Greenville County, S.C., Thomasville police said.

He is accused of a carjacking about 6:10 p.m. on Dec. 25 at a Sheetz gas station at 1810 Liberty Drive in Thomasville.

The male victim of the carjacking reported to police that the suspect told him to get out of the car or he would shoot. The victims girlfriend also exited the car.

Officers looked at Sheetz surveillance footage and saw the suspect drive to the store in a 2012 Honda Accord. They discovered that vehicle had been stolen in a robbery on Dec. 23 in Greenville, S.C.

Officers used the victims cellphone, which was left in the car, to track the suspect as he drove north on Interstate 85, police said.

The suspect was first located just before a robbery he is accused of committing in Hillsborough. He then crossed into Virginia, and two Thomasville officers began providing Virginia State Police updates on the suspects location, police said.

Using the phone, the suspect was tracked to a Virginia business called McKinney Food Barn, where he is accused of a second robbery, this time firing shots, police said. He fled before law enforcement caught up to him.

The Thomasville officers, still using the phone, then tracked the suspect to a truck stop, where he is accused of a third robbery before officers arrived, police said. The man then drove to a Sunoco gas station on Chamberlayne Avenue in Henrico County, Va.

Virginia law enforcement arrived at that gas station, and a vehicle pursuit began, with the suspect evading officers once again, police said.

The Thomasville officers were again able to provide the location of the suspect, and Virginia State Police caught up to him as he drove north on Interstate 95, police said.

The chase continued into Spotsylvania County, where the suspect is accused of ramming a troopers vehicle before getting out of the car and shooting at law enforcement, police said.

The troopers fired back as the suspect fled into a wooded area, police said.

The suspect was arrested soon afterward, and authorities discovered hed been shot.

Charges are pending against Richardson related to the armed robbery of the vehicle in Thomasville, police said. Its unclear if additional robbery charges are pending.
A representative for Roberta Flack has announced that the legendary musician has ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrigs disease, and can no longer sing. Flacks manager Suzanne Koga said in a release Monday that the progressive disease has made it impossible to sing and not easy to speak" but will not silence this icon. The announcement of the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis diagnosis comes just ahead of the premiere of Roberta, a feature-length documentary debuting Thursday at the DOCNYC film festival. The release says that the 85-year-old Killing Me Softly With His Song singer plans to stay active in her musical and creative pursuits.
COLUMBIA, S.C.  One South Carolina lawmaker wants to increase the fine for drivers who go slowly in the left lane.

State Sen. Ross Turner said his 200-mile round trip commute from Greenville to Columbia helped convince him of the need for a South Carolina law similar to one that took effect last month in Oklahoma.

"I constantly got stuck behind people in the left lane and said, 'That's a great idea!'" the Republican told The Post And Courier of Charleston.

Turner's bill would increase the fine for driving less than the speed of normal traffic in the passing lane of a multi-lane highway by $200.

There is currently a law on the books in South Carolina making it illegal to drive too slowly in the passing lane. Troopers wrote 1,132 tickets under the existing law last year, but the law also includes other violations like crossing the center line.

Turner said he isn't sure how his proposal might be enforced, but he wants to send a message to slow drivers who clog the left lane.

The president of the South Carolina Trucking Association said truckers are worried about the proposal.

Truck drivers should be able to pass slower moving 18-wheelers, but it can take a while because their rigs can be electronically limited to a certain speed, Rick Todd said.

It's ironic that "people don't want a ticket when they're speeding, but they want someone else to have a ticket for slowing up," Todd said.

But Todd said truckers also understand why some people get frustrated.

"With car drivers, the person's either oblivious or has an attitude," Todd said. "The issue is getting worse because of congestion, and people are less patient, and cars speed a lot. Combine all that, and people get irritated."

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Information from: The Post and Courier, http://www.postandcourier.com
William Graham, a member of the family that owned The Washington Post for decades, died at his home of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, his brother said.

Donald Graham, a former publisher and chief executive of the Post, told the newspaper that his brother passed away on Dec. 20 in Los Angeles. William Graham was 69.

William Graham worked as a lawyer in Washington before moving to Los Angeles, where he taught trial law, according to the Post.

Parents Philip and Katharine Graham both served as leaders of the Post. Katharine Graham was publisher when the newspaper's coverage of Watergate helped bring down President Richard Nixon in the 1970s.

Philip Graham died after shooting himself at his farm in Virginia in August 1963 after being released from a psychiatric hospital where he had been for six weeks. His death at age 48 was ruled a suicide.

The eldest Graham had been at the helm of the Post since 1946, and also bought Newsweek magazine in 1961, according to his New York Times obituary.

His son William was 14 at the time of his death, and Katharine took over the paper in 1963. She died from head injuries she suffered after falling on a sidewalk in Sun Valley, Idaho, in 2001. She was 84.

William Graham's death came days before the release of the movie The Post, which chronicled the newspapers fight with the government over the release of the Pentagon Papers. Oscar-winner Meryl Streep plays Katharine Graham in the movie.

His grandfather, Eugene Meyer, bought the paper in 1933, and it stayed within the family for 80 years.

Graham was active in the anti-war movement during the Vietnam era and would graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles law school after attending Stanford, according to the Post. He would later spend 20 years operating an investment company that he founded, according to the newspaper.



(Elizabeth-Elizalde contributed)



2017 New York Daily News

Visit New York Daily News at www.nydailynews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi claims the Republican-passed tax-reform bill is Armageddon, while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says GOP will rue the day it passes. So at least one Democrat thinks the world will continue to exist after the end of times long enough for GOP regret.

Democrats framed much of their outrage at the bills budgetary impact, but I wonder where these same people were while President Obama was contributing to a $20 trillion debt? The Democrats have claimed theyre not against tax cuts, and yet there has not been a significant tax cut in 31 years. What were the Democrats waiting for?

The Democrats have claimed that tax cuts do nothing to rebound our economy. However, the Kennedy tax cuts of 1962-1964 and the Reagan tax cuts of 1981 were examples of tax changes that spurred remarkable U.S. economic growth.

Certainly, America is hoping for a great result. The reduced corporate tax should at least halt U.S. businesses from moving their operations overseas.

One thing is for sure. Middle-class Americans will know soon enough if their take-home pay has increased or not. If the tax bill spurs the expected U.S. economic growth, the tax revenues will increase under this plan.

Steve Salkow

Reidsville
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At least three hundred. I like the title, not the one on the first panel, but the one at the top of each frame, which I have also given as the title of thi...

19 hours ago
Pasha shipbuilder hit with $422 million fine in bribery case

by Michael Hansen, Hawaii Shippers Council, December 26, 2017

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued on December 22, 2017, a press release, Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd. and U.S. Based Subsidiary Agree to Pay $422 Million in Global Penalties to Resolve Foreign Bribery Case, announcing a settlement in the case involving bribery payments in Brazil. The U.S. indictment was brought under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA).

Keppel Offshore & Marine Limited (KOM) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the large privately-held Singapore-based conglomerate Keppel Corporation Limited (2016 revenues U.S $ 4.8 billion). KOM operates the Corporations marine businesses primarily the design, construction and repair of vessels, with 20 shipyards in nine countries, and specializing in offshore oil rigs. One of those yards is Keppel AmFELS LLC, located in Brownsville, Texas.

Pasha Hawaii Transport Line LLC signed on August 23, 2017, an agreement with Keppel AmFELS LLC, to construct two 2,525 TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit) containerships in Brownsville for the Hawaii trade for a total cost of more than U.S. $400 million. There are continuing doubts among those financial analysts who follow the maritime industry as to whether Pasha has obtained financing to trigger the newbuild ship agreement.

Key excerpts from the Department of Justice:

Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd. (KOM), a Singapore-based company that operates shipyards and repairs and upgrades shipping vessels, and its wholly owned U.S. subsidiary, Keppel Offshore & Marine USA Inc. (KOM USA), have agreed to pay a combined total penalty of more than $422 million to resolve charges with authorities in the United States, Brazil and Singapore arising out of a decade-long scheme to pay millions of dollars in bribes to officials in Brazil. The resolutions with KOM and its U.S. subsidiary are the result of a multinational effort to investigate and prosecute a corruption scheme that resulted in the payment by the defendant companies of over $50 million in bribes to Brazilian officials and in profits for the defendant companies of over $350 million from business corruptly obtained in Brazil, said Acting U.S. Attorney Rohde. KOM entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Department in connection with a criminal information filed today in the Eastern District of New York charging the company with conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto. In addition, KOM USA pleaded guilty and was sentenced by Judge Matsumoto on a one-count criminal information charging the company with conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA. Pursuant to its agreement with the Department, KOM will pay a total criminal fine of $422,216,980, with a criminal penalty due to the United States of $105,554,245, including a $4,725,000 criminal fine paid by KOM USA. In related proceedings, the company settled with the Ministerio Publico Federal (MPF) in Brazil and the Attorney Generals Chambers (AGC) in Singapore. The United States will credit the amount the company pays to Brazil and Singapore under their respective agreements, with Brazil receiving $211,108,490, equal to 50 percent of the total criminal penalty, and Singapore receiving up to $105,554,245, equal to 25 percent of the total criminal penalty.

Keppel Corporation issued on December 23, 2017, confirming the settlements and placing the blame on a former business agent in Brazil and former KOM executives.

Key excerpts from Keppel Corporation:

Keppel Corporation Limited (Keppel Corporation or Keppel) today confirmed that KOM has reached a global resolution with criminal authorities in the United States, Brazil and Singapore in relation to corrupt payments made by KOM's former agent in Brazil, Mr Zwi Skornicki. These agreements relate to corrupt payments made by Mr Skornicki in relation to several KOM projects in Brazil, which were made with knowledge or approval of former KOM executives. As announced in October 2016, Keppel undertook a thorough internal investigation, identified certain suspicious transactions involving Mr Skornicki, and cooperated fully and extensively with the authorities to resolve the issues arising from or in connection with those transactions.

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Related:
The modern-day traveller is prepared to travel to far-off destinations specifically in order to take a photo or selfie against a stunning backdrop, such as a sky illuminated by northern lights, indicate data collected by House of Lapland, the official marketing and communications agency for Finnish Lapland.

Those most determined to witness the natural phenomenon are not discouraged even by the fact that a single night in a snow igloo may cost up to 600 euros.

The igloos are a way for travellers to experience something new, explains Kristiina Kylmalahti, the owner and managing director of Levin Igloos. Many of [the visitors] are demanding tourists who have visited many different places around the world.

She reveals that she spends most of the advertising budget on social media and receives enquiries from travel bloggers about co-operation possibilities on a daily basis.

Finnish Laplands growing appeal to people around the world is evident also in the number of charter and scheduled flights to the region: A record-breaking 650 charter flights are to touch down at the regions airports this winter. Finnair, similarly, will operate 52 direct flights a week from Helsinki Airport to Lapland between December and March.

The state-owned airline has already announced its plan to raise the capacity by an additional 15 per cent for the winter season of 20182019.

Charter flights bring masses for the Christmas, whereas direct scheduled flights from abroad serve the growing number of independent travellers, summarises Anna Hakkinen, the acting managing director of House of Lapland.

If the flow of tourists to the region continued to grow at last years pace, the number of overnight stays would surge to ten million over the next ten years. Last year, a total of 2.7 million overnight stays were recorded in Finnish Lapland.

Paivikki Palosaari, the founder and managing director of Hullu Poro, for one is confident that the breakneck growth will continue.

It is the customers who have made the northern lights into such a big business, she reminds. If someone posts a single great photo of the northern lights on social media, the photo may suddenly have a million views. A single photo can help us sell out for the whole season.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Photo: Irene Stachon  Lehtikuva

Source: Uusi Suomi
A ROYAL Navy veteran enjoyed a day out aboard the ship on which he once served.

George Ward, 90, was given a guided tour of the HMS Belfast thanks to the armed forces charity SSAFA (formerly known as the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association), which was supporting him as he recovered from a period of illhealth.

Mr Ward, of Nelson Road, Caversham, broke his hip about four months ago and had also undergone surgery for a faulty valve in one of his arteries.

Karen Scott, a representative of SSAFAs Berkshire branch, was visiting him at home and learned about his service history so she offered to take him to London, where the ship is moored, once he had recovered.

Mr Ward, who was born in London, joined the Navy at the age of 17 and served for 14 years, mostly as a gunner.

He served on HMS Belfast in the Far East during the late Forties and early Fifties.

The petty officer, who was nicknamed Sharky, operated one of the ships twin four-inch guns.

He and his crewmates maintained a peacekeeping presence in the aftermath of the Japanese surrender in 1945.

Mr Ward later served on HMS Delight, a destroyer which was involved in the Suez Crisis in Egypt, before leaving the Navy in the late Fifties.

HMS Belfast is now maintained as a tourist attraction by the Imperial War Museum and moored near London Bridge. Mr Ward said: This was really special for me. It brought back a lot of memories. It was also a real milestone to be able to complete the trip because Ive been so isolated since I broke my hip.

I usually visit every two or three years and think its great that shes in such good condition.

I can see where I used to sleep and get my rum rations or shop at the NAAFI.

I often end up talking to other people about what it was like or explaining different parts of the ship.

Ill hear children asking questions and their parents say, I dont know the answer but that man over there might.

I am lucky to have shared this trip and would encourage any other veterans to speak to SSAFA as it has given me a great deal of personal support.

For more information, visit www.ssafa.org.uk
A CONSERVATION management plan has been drawn up for Gillotts Corner Field in Henley.

The land, off Greys Road, was granted town green status in September 2009 following a campaign by residents and councillors to protect the area from development.

It is known for its wildflowers and is popular with dog walkers and families.

Marcus Militello, the town councils new conservation park warden, drew up the plan with ecological consultant Rod dAyala.

He recommends that yellow rattle seed is sown in the field in the autumn, saying this will lead to a significant decrease in the amount of plant growth and the cost to remove it, providing a cutting regime is stuck to.

The seed would cost about 1,500 and a harrow and seed spreader would need to be hired. Mr Militello says the main cost over the next two years will come from hay-cutting, the wrapping of bales and their removal. This will cost about 3,500 a year.

One half of the field would be cut in late July and the other half in late September and both would have an aftermath cut in March.

After two years, the council could consider whether to put grazing animals on the land.

Mr Militello also recommends slow replacement of buddleia and native species and planting on the western boundary of the field over the next two years.

Members of the councils recreation and amenities committee praised the report.

Mayor Kellie Hinton said: This is exactly why we have a conservation park warden with this expertise. We should listen to his advice.

This is our only designated town green and we should do our best to look after it.

Councillor Sam Evans said the report was incredible but that 3,500 seemed a heck of a lot to spend on cutting grass.

The committee agreed to go ahead with the yellow rattle seed sowing and buddleia replacement while investigating the cutting programme further.

Meanwhile, landowners have been urged to consider dedicating land as a town or village green as a Christmas gift to the community.

The call comes from the Henley-based pressure group the Open Spaces Society, Britains oldest national conservation body.

It says that once land is registered as a green it is protected by law from development and local people have rights of informal recreation there. Kate Ashbrook, general secretary of the society, said: Landowners, including parish and community councils and other local authorities, can dedicate their land as a green to ensure it remains open and available for the public to enjoy forever.

This is especially important now as green spaces are increasingly at risk of development or commercial abuse and the public is likely to lose out.

Unfortunately, this is an under-used provision and we have few examples of voluntary registrations  we want to see many more.

We call on landowners to present the best and most lasting Christmas gift of all to their communities  voluntary registration of a town or village green which can then be enjoyed by local people forever.

Any landowner can voluntarily register land as a green under section 15(8) of the Commons Act 2006.


Are you looking for a nature retreat for a weekend getaway in Malaysia? You came to the right place as I have compiled a master list of the best retreats out of Kuala Lumpur.



This list caters to everyone, especially locals who have little time but need an escape from the city life to somewhere near. Are you looking for a nature retreat for a weekend getaway in Malaysia? You came to the right place as I have compiled a master list of the best retreats out of Kuala Lumpur.This list caters to everyone, especially locals who have little time but need an escape from the city life to somewhere near.





If you are a traveller or tourist that has a couple of free days in Malaysia and want to have an experience for a rainforest retreat, this list will provide you with some valuable information.



Overall, some these nature retreats are located near Kuala Lumpur or just a short drive or flight from here.



The retreats listed here are also based on price, for entire villas or bungalows or by persons, therefore, you need to double check when booking. Weekends and public holidays are always priced higher than weekdays.





Ultimate Nature Retreat Getaway Guide From Kuala Lumpur





Below is a list of 18 rainforest and nature retreats that are built in the lush tropical rainforest of Malaysia.



The list is also for Peninsular Malaysia only, as it is not easy to find resorts or retreats in this genre for this part of Malaysia. They are also in no order and varies from state to state around here.





The Thai style Malihom Private Estate Resort in Penang. (Photo by http://grauboat.jalbum.net)

1. Malihom Penang





One of the much talked about rainforest resorts is the Malihom Private Estate in Penang. This is a luxurious retreat set in the lush rainforest of Balik Pulau on the island of Penang (Pulau Pinang). Malihom is made up of eight Thai style rice-barns which are converted to modern-day resort living.





Malihom feels more like a private estate resort with a 16-acre hilltop property that has an infinity pool overlooking the lush scenery. For those seeking something different, can expect quality over quantity when you stay here.



Slightly on the pricier side, but well worth it for anyone wanting a bit of luxury away from the mainstream tourist places of Penang, but still in reach.





Malihom Penang

Address: Kiri N/T 168, Bukit Penara, Mukim 6 Balik Pulau, 11000 Penang, Malaysia

Price: From RM520+ per night

Website: http://malihom.com/





Luxury in the Rainforest at Sekeping Serendah (Photo by https://www.sekeping.com/serendah/)

2. Sekeping Serendah





A very popular weekend escape from Kuala Lumpur is no other than Sekeping Serendah just outside the Rawang area of Selangor.



This Eco retreat has been the talk of social media for many years and attracts all walks of life, namely millennials, hipsters and the occasional corporate group or family.





Surrounded by five acres of rainforest, Sekeping Serendah brands itself as a luxurious escape with a strong minimalist design that plays with glass and rustic designs. The seclusion is nature perfect with a lot of greens everywhere.



There are a total of 10 units available and a lot of companies use this place for group retreats or events. Avoid long holiday periods here as it can get crowded or booked up fast.





Sekeping Serendah

Address: N3.368050 E101.631150, Malaysia

Price: From RM300+ per night

Website: https://www.sekeping.com/serendah/





The beautiful natural scenery at Awanmulan. (Photo by http://www.goasiaplus.com)





3. Awanmulan





In neighbouring Selangor, you can find Awanmulan which is one of the nature escapes that provide a peaceful and quiet experience.



This rainforest escape is located in Negeri Sembilan and provides eight individual homes with unique names to them. Six of the units cater to four or six people while the remaining two villas are for couples only.





The highlight of Awanmulan apart from the beautiful lush scenery are the two salted swimming pools, a jungle pool and a sky pool, that provides an ultimate relaxation in the rainforest. Nothing beats lounging by the pool with a cocktail in hand and nature surrounding you.



Nature activities like hiking are available for those who want to explore the area and there are transport options available for those needing it to get here.





Awalmulan

Address: Kampung Baru Pantai, Jalan Jelebu, Jelebu, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

Price: From RM774 - RM2,445 per night

Website: http://www.awanmulan.com/





Penang's Fig Tree Hill Resort (Photo by http://www.figtreehill-resort.com/)





4. Fig Tree Hill Resort Penang





The Fig Tree Hill Resort in Penang is another luxurious nature escape which is located in the Sungai Ara area, far from the main tourist and commercial areas.



This beautiful rustic property offers six beautiful wooden villas which are suitable for couples or families.





Each of the villas come with their own names and are themed accordingly, with a spacious living room, a dining area and a private balcony area.



The size of each villa is around 150 to 200 square meters in size, with king-sized beds, LCD television, complete bathroom and coffee amenities.



The showers are quite cool as they provide open-aired bathrooms with outdoor showers. Only breakfast is provided, so you need to get your other meals arranged.



The property can also be rented for private events or photography, but avoid booking during the rainy season.





Fig Tree Hill Resort

Address: Jalan Kenari, mkm 10, Sungai Ara, Balik Pulau, 11900 Penang, Malaysia

Price: From RM500+ per night

Website: http://www.figtreehill-resort.com/





Green Acres is a luxury orchard stay in Penang (Photo by http://greenacrespenang.com/)





5. Green Acres Penang





One of the more unique and interesting weekends escapes is Green Acres in Penang. This getaway is located in a Durian orchard, so if you are a durian lover, this can be considered a heaven for you.



Green Acres is an organic farm which has over 500 fruit trees with a selection of unique spice plants and perfect for the green traveller.





Created with an organic and Eco theme, the resort sits on a 16-acre farm property which has been around for the last 50 years.



The villas are styled towards a very Malaysian 'Kampung' home and are 250 meters above sea level.



Green Acres is suitable for groups, families or even couples and the property is nestled away from commercialization. Oh, and if you love durians or local fruits, this is your mecca and very highly recommended.





Green Acres Penang

Address: Batu Itam, Balik Pulau, Penang

Price: From RM500 per night

Website: http://greenacrespenang.com/





Back to basics at Terra's Treehouse in Cameron Highlands





6. Terras Treehouse Cameron Highlands





This natural experience is well suited for the adventurous traveller or family where you need to take a 4WD into the lush rainforest of Cameron Highlands in Pahang. After reaching your stop, you continue to trek 400 meters to Terra's Treehouse.





An experience suited for the serious outdoor and nature lover, this treehouse accommodation is not your luxury escape, but more of an experiential tourism getaway.



Terra's Treehouse is located in the cool climate of Brinchang in Cameron Highlands, and you can expect the best of nature here.





A total of six treehouses are available with a common kitchen and an activity hall. Electricity is powered by a generator from 6.30 AM to 10.00 PM.



Here, you can expect temperatures from around 14-25 degrees Celsius in a natural and organic kind of retreat. If you are looking for something totally different and back to basic, then this is it.





Terra's Treehouse Cameron Highlands

Address: Address: Jalan Sungai Mansion, Brinchang, Pahang, Cameron Highlands, Malaysia 39010

Price: From RM160+ per person

Website: http://www.terrafarm.com.my/2013/02/tree-house.html





Gunung Pulai's Rainforest Treehouse Accommodation (Photo by https://www.facebook.com/rainforest.treehouse.johor/)





7. Rainforest Treehouse Gunung Pulai Johor





One of the raw-styled nature retreats in Johor is the Rainforest Treehouse at Gunung Pulai. Just like Terra's Treehouse, there are six treehouses available for nature and outdoor lovers.



Four of the treehouses cater to six people while two of them can accommodate up to 12 people.





Very natural but a little modern, there are electrical outlets, proper bedding, mosquito nets, common bathroom and activity area.



All of this was built by the owner who was filled with passion and determination. He worked with the locals in the area to create this amazing place which uses all-natural resources.





Again, this is not your luxury escape, but more of an experience in the rainforest of Johor. Please do not bring your wheeled luggage as you need to trek up to the treehouses.





Rainforest Treehouse Gunung Pulai

Address: Gunung Pulai, 81000 Kulai, Johor

Price: RM250+ per person including food

Website: https://www.facebook.com/rainforest.treehouse.johor/





Bali Villa at Dusuntara Jungle Retreat in Batang Kali. (Photo by http://dusuntarajungleretreat.com/)





8. Dusuntara Jungle Retreat





In Batang Kali, you can find the Dusuntara Jungle Retreat which is only about an hours drive from the city of Kuala Lumpur.



This retreat is more of a modern resort with wood, brick and mortar villas, saltwater swimming pool, Jacuzzi and facilities.





Camping is available, provided you bring your own tents and for activities, there is trekking, fishing, bird watching and anything outdoors. Otherwise, its swimming and just taking a break from the fast city life.





Getting into the resort takes you off-road, and Kamal the owner can arrange the 4WD drive if needed. In total, there are three acres of land here for you to explore the wilderness.



I would recommend coming here on a weekday due to the place being popular on weekends for groups and team-building activities.





Dusuntara Jungle Retreat

Address: No.1, Dusun Drive, Batang Kali Estate | Kg. Sungei Kamin, Batang Kali 48300

Price: RM180+ per person

Website: http://dusuntarajungleretreat.com/





Luxury in the rainforest at The Dusun in Seremban (Photo by http://thedusun.com.my/)





9. The Dusun





One of the old-timers in the rainforest retreats of Malaysia is The Dusun, which has been around since 1984 and turned into an Eco retreat in 2009.



In total, the resort sits in a 12-acre orchard which is 800 meters above sea level in the Berembun Forest Resort here. There are six different bungalows which cater to families, groups or couples.





Operated by Helen and David, they have been living here since the beginning and sharing this beautiful retreat with passionate people who believe in responsible tourism.



Activities include trekking, bird watching, waterfall visits and even a cooking workshop.





Due to the higher pricing, you can expect quality service and accommodations here, and also privacy without mass tourism.



From Kuala Lumpur, it is only an hour and a half to get here and this would be one of the closing weekend retreats from KL.





The Dusun Negeri Sembilan

Address: 3437, Kampung Kolam Air, Mukim Pantai, 71770 Seremban, Negeri Sembilan

Price: From RM400 - RM900

Website: http://thedusun.com.my/





Two of the beautiful villas at The Shorea in Seremban





10. The Shorea





Around the Berembun Forest Reserve, you can find The Shorea Resort, which is one of the new players for the weekend getaway category.



They are branded as a boutique Eco-resort with eight bungalows and a total of 15 rooms.





The Shorea is divided into two sections which is the Shorea Estate and the Shorea Resort, which is built-in line with the rustic and Eco theme surrounded by the lush rainforest.



Swimming pools face the beautifully landscaped forest where sunsets can be enjoyed.





A full-facility resort, The Shorea provides fine dining, Asian dining and private dining hence this is an excellent choice for a romantic getaway for couples.



Activities around here include trekking, waterfall visits and good old nature walks.





Need a family retreat? Book a villa of your own at The Shorea, an architectural wonder built within the tropical forest reserves of Berembun.



Set on natural terrains, meandering paths are leading down to a jungle stream, and even a waterfall. The resort is also constructed using recycled timber, so you know its a real Eco retreat.





The Shorea

Address: Village Kolam Air, Mukim Pantai,, Jalan Jelebu, 71770 Seremban, Negeri Sembilan

Price: RM530+ per night

Website: http://www.theshorea.com/





Farrah Soraya villas by Tanah Aina in Raub, Pahang. (Photo by http://www.tanahaina.com/farrah-soraya/)





11. Tanah Aina - Farrah Soraya Eco Tourism Resort





Located in the Raub area, one hour away from Kuala Lumpur is the Farrah Soraya Resort which is under the Tanah Aina brand of retreats.



Yes, the name sounds confusing as many people seem to think it is Tanah Aina Resort, which is actually the group name.





This multiple resort concept is created by Puan Sri Sharifah Sabrina Syed Akil, who is passionate about protecting and conserving Malaysias rainforests and natural environment.



She has also branded this as an exclusive Eco resort which sits 1,700 meters above sea level. This equals a cooling and private getaway in the rainforest of Pahang.





Activities are abundant with nature-related experiences as they boast of three private waterfalls, trekking and a flying fox through the lush tropical rainforest here.



For accommodations, there is villas and camping available. Based on reviews, Farrah Soraya Resort gets really busy on weekends and long holidays, hence I recommend visiting this place on a weekday.





Tanah Aina Resort (Tanah Aina Farrah Soraya)

Address: 8, Jalan Tras, 27600 Raub, Pahang, Malaysia

Price: RM100+ per night per person

Website: http://www.tanahaina.com/farrah-soraya/





The stunning pool at the Templer Park Rainforest Retreat (Photo by https://www.pinterest.com)

12. Templer Park Rainforest Retreat





The closest rainforest retreat in Kuala Lumpur is the all-new Templer Park Rainforest Retreat which is only about 40 minutes drive from the city. This urban rainforest escape sprawls over three acres on a hilltop of the Kanching Rainforest Reserve here.





There are only two houses located at this weekend escape, making this one of the most private retreats out of Kuala Lumpur.



One unit is a luxurious villa while the other is a container style unit and both a far apart. Activities include trekking and hiking to the Kanching Waterfalls and its surroundings.





Generally, this place is suitable for large families or groups who want to do private gatherings, events, parties or just a massive escape from the hustle and bustle of the fast city life.



After all, if you desire to book the entire place for a romantic escape, that would work, but you need to pay the entire fees.





Templer Park Rainforest Retreat

Address: 22, Jalan 3/2, Templer Heights, Templer Park, 48000 Rawang, Selangor

Price: RM1,000 weekdays, RM1,500 weekends for 6 pax.





The incredible views at Casabrina Villa (Photo by http://www.casabrina.net/)



13. Casabrina Vacation Villas Website: https://www.tprr.net/





Another luxurious rainforest retreat is Casabrina Villas, which is located in the hills of Raub, Pahang and about an hours drive from Kuala Lumpur. There are only two villas here with four suites hence you can expect privacy at its best.





The theme is tropical-rustic, and fine details are not missed. The owners have invested quite a bit to ensure this falls into the luxury category in a rainforest.



Sabrina is perfect for small families or groups that seek a hidden and private property away from it all.





As for activities, there are quite a bit to do around here, meaning trips out of the main resort area to popular tourist places around Raub, Lancang and Karak. I would just recommend staying here and absorbing nature by the pool.





Casabrina Villas

Address: Lot 1460, Jalan Tras, Mukim Tras, 27600 Raub Pahang

Price: RM800+ per night





Natural landscapes surrounding Tanah Larwina (Photo by http://www.tanahlarwina.com/)



14. Tanah Larwina Retreat Website: http://www.casabrina.net/





A nature retreat in an orchard and animal farm in Hulu Langat, Selangor? Introducing Tanah Larwina Retreat which is a single unit getaway for families or friends who want to experience design in a rainforest.









The unit sits just by a river while there is a special campfire site outside the unit. There is also a barbecue and cooking area and for larger groups, there is a campsite available.



The owner is currently in the midst of adding two pods which cater to couples wanting privacy. They are to be opened in early 2018. Extension plans are in the process for an additional villa in 2018 as well.



Tanah Larwina Retreat Address: Lot 4075, Kg Paya Lebar, Batu 23, Jalan Sg Lui, Hulu Langat, Selangor Price: RM1,679 per night for 8 guests



Kampung style villa at Selepas Hujan (Phot by http://selepashujan.com/wp/)



15. Selepas Hujan Website: http://www.tanahlarwina.com/ Overall this is a one-unit resort with four queen-sized beds in an open room concept that lets you be one with nature.The unit sits just by a river while there is a special campfire site outside the unit. There is also a barbecue and cooking area and for larger groups, there is a campsite available.The owner is currently in the midst of adding two pods which cater to couples wanting privacy. They are to be opened in early 2018. Extension plans are in the process for an additional villa in 2018 as well.



Deep in the Berembun Rainforest of Negeri Sembilan lies a retreat perfect for couples, very small families or groups.



There are only two bungalows or villas available here which is traditionally built in wood combined with modern designs and fittings.



Selepas Hujan means after the rain, and it is here that you will find one of the best private escapes to nature.



Consider this place as one of the premium luxuries escapes in a pristine forest reserve near Kuala Lumpur as it only takes about one hours drive here.



Activities include trekking, bird watching and simply doing nothing but relaxing. One of the villas is actually a honeymoon villa, which is perfect for the newlyweds with little time to travel.



Selepas Hujan

Address: 43A (Lot 3154) Pantai Hill Orchard Resort, Jalan Kampung Pantai, 71770 Pantai Negeri Sembilan

Price: RM700 to RM1,500+ per night

Tel: +6012-931 5147





The beautiful Enderong Resort in Janda Baik (Photo by https://enderong.wixsite.com/enderongresort) 16. Enderong Resort Website: http://selepashujan.com/wp/



Located 2000 feet above sea level is a retreat called Enderong Resort, which is in the Janda Baik area of Pahang. This means it only takes you no more than an hour to get here from Kuala Lumpur using the Karak Highway.



The Enderong Resort consists of one villa with eight rooms, a cottage with four rooms, an Annexe with 18 rooms, and a multipurpose function hall.



All of this combined and you get the perfect venue for small gatherings, retreats, weddings and anything else that says 'Out of KL, but near KL'.



The location is pretty close to Bukit Tinggi and Genting Highlands, making this one of the logistically perfect retreats for just about anyone.



The key factor is that it is only 45 minutes from Kuala Lumpur. Tends to get crowded on long weekends and holidays, therefore for privacy, book on a weekday.



Enderong Resort

Address: Lot C21, Persiaran Enderong, Jalan Tanarimba Pine, Tanarimba, Janda Baik, Bukit Tinggi, 28750 Bentong, Pahang

Price: RM370 to RM4,200 per night

Tel: +609 2330533





One of the villas at the Waterway Villas in Bukit Tinggi (Photo by http://www.thewaterwayvilla.com/)

17. The Waterway Villa Website: https://enderong.wixsite.com/enderongresort



Another rainforest retreat near Kuala Lumpur is The Waterway Villa, which is also located in the Bukit Tinggi area of Pahang. This part of Bukit Tinggi is home to numerous retreats and resorts that cater to weekend escapes.



Waterway Villa consists of five different types of villas where each of them represents a different type of materials.



Choose from Balinese, Timber, Stone, Glass and Bamboo design villas as each one provides a different staying experience. The resort also comes with a common swimming pool.



The catch is that you either visit on a weekday when the retreat is less crowded or just book the entire place for your own function or event. Otherwise, you will be sharing the place with other visitors.



Waterway Villa

Address: PT 21564,Bt. 7,Jalan Kuala Lumpur Lama, Bukit Tinggi, Bentong Pahang

Price: RM400 to RM1,920 per night

Tel: +60 3 3343 3888

Website: http://www.thewaterwayvilla.com/



Stand-alone Plasid Villa in Seremban. (Photo by http://gan-lifewalker.blogspot.my)



18. Plassid Villa



Located in the Pantai area of Seremban is the Plassid bungalow or villa, which is perfect for very small groups of travellers.



This villa which is owned by Patrick, and is a stand-alone unit that sits on a hill overlooking the beautiful natural landscapes.



The villa is designed after a traditional 'Kampung House' that is also modern contemporary and simple. For accommodations, the villa comes with two bedrooms, eight beds and two baths with standard amenities.



Privately owned, the owner takes the initiative to complete the villa with almost anything you can think off in terms of snacks or drinks.



Locals from Kuala Lumpur take a quick weekend break here with friends or family to escape the busy city life.



Plassid Villa

Address: Lot 3173 Pantai Hill Resort, Jalan Pantai Batu 8, Kg Orang Asli, Negeri Sembilan

Price: RM1,200 per night





This is what some of the villa retreats look like inside. (Photo by http://www.casabrina.net/)



What To Bring For Your Retreat or Getaway?



Depending on which retreat you book, some of them only provide basic amenities while others will provide full service.



You need to double check when booking. Most of them provide breakfast only and you can buy your own food to cook there or barbecue.



Some retreats also provide fridges, complete kitchen utensils and storage spaces. As for snacks, it is always best to bring them as at nights, there are no places for you to buy them, so stock up if needed.



As for mosquito's, these places are located in the rainforest and some places may have mosquito's so best to bring insect repellent. And if you plan to swim or go trekking or hiking, please bring the necessary attire for them.



And finally, because these are purely nature retreats, please, I repeat, please do not throw your rubbish everywhere. Especially smokers, please use an ashtray or a makeshift one.



We all know this reminds you of a hotel, where you can leave the place in a mess, but please practice good ethics at these places.



Trekking to a waterfall at The Dusun (Photo by http://thedusun.com.my/)



To be very honest, this list was specially created from reader request as many people want to know where they can find some nature resorts or retreats for a family getaway over the weekend from Kuala Lumpur. Personally, I am yet to visit any of these resorts to date. Website: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/3399685Depending on which retreat you book, some of them only provide basic amenities while others will provide full service.You need to double check when booking. Most of them provide breakfast only and you can buy your own food to cook there or barbecue.Some retreats also provide fridges, complete kitchen utensils and storage spaces. As for snacks, it is always best to bring them as at nights, there are no places for you to buy them, so stock up if needed.As for mosquito's, these places are located in the rainforest and some places may have mosquito's so best to bring insect repellent. And if you plan to swim or go trekking or hiking, please bring the necessary attire for them.And finally, because these are purely nature retreats, please, I repeat, please do not throw your rubbish everywhere. Especially smokers, please use an ashtray or a makeshift one.We all know this reminds you of a hotel, where you can leave the place in a mess, but please practice good ethics at these places.To be very honest, this list was specially created from reader request as many people want to know where they can find some nature resorts or retreats for a family getaway over the weekend from Kuala Lumpur. Personally, I am yet to visit any of these resorts to date.









For the serious outdoor and nature lover, I would recommend Sabah as one of the best places for this kind of activity. However, I have been to some of the most beautiful rainforest resorts in Malaysia since 2010 for my work, also for bird watching and wildlife watching activities.For the serious outdoor and nature lover, I would recommend Sabah as one of the best places for this kind of activity.





And if you are looking for something totally different, read about my experiences visiting some of the most beautiful private island resorts in Malaysia , which I have stayed at. And you should know that there are also many different types of resorts found all over Malaysia.





Conclusion





Hopefully soon, I will have the opportunity to visit some of the nature retreats, resorts or villas listed here to fully review them.



Also if you know of any other weekend getaways that are rainforest or Eco related, do share them in the comment form below. I will look into them and list them here as long as they meet the criteria.
A COMMUNITY campaigner will stand for Henley Residents Group at next months town council by-election.

Paula Isaac, 38, is chairwoman of Gainsborough Residents Association, which she founded in September 2013 with David Eggleton, who has since become an HRG councillor.

She says her priorities are helping to provide more affordable housing in the town and family facilities.

Residents of Henley North ward will head to the polls on January 18 for the by-election caused by the resignation of Conservative Simon Smith last month.

HRG will be hoping to tighten its grip on the council after winning two by-elections in May and then taking back control at mayor-making.

Mrs Isaac lives in Gainsborough Road with her husband Rob and three children, Kayleigh, 18, Keri, 14, and Jamie, nine, and works as a senior assistant at Badgemore Pre-School.

She said: HRG members roll up their sleeves and get involved within the community across a wide range of organisations vital to Henley. It really listens to residents and tackles things voters care about. This is how the town council should be run  by local people for local people.

Having lived in Henley for 33 years, I love this beautiful and friendly town. With three children, I feel it is important for them to grow up in a strong and caring community.

This is why I became involved in my local Gainsborough estate community, co-chairing its residents association.

As it grew in popularity, we became more involved in wider town issues like the Henley Skatepark Initiative. Consequently, I was introduced to Henley Residents Group and loved its ethos and independence of national political parties. It consists of residents who care about Henley and its best interests.

Issues important to me as a local mum are providing affordable housing to avoid division in our community, providing more community family facilities, increasing support for residents of all ages who have mental health issues and supporting residents who want to get involved in their own local communities.

I have a long track record of serving the local community and my work at Badgemore means that I am involved with lots of local families and have a true insight into issues that people in the town face.

Councillor Ian Reissmann, leader of HRG on the council, said: Paula is a long-standing Henley resident, who is bringing up a family here.

Shes connected with the community and has been leading community projects for several years.

Were delighted to have someone who is as well connected and committed to the town.

People have been telling us there is a lack of housing, particularly affordable housing, and young people and families are being priced out and are not able to exercise the option to live here so were losing them, which is bad for them and bad for the town.

We believe that the HRG message of local, independent residents is a very good one and it has been successful over many years.

Mayor Kellie Hinton, a member of HRG, called Mrs Isaac a wonderful person and an energetic community champion.

I am so proud to be able to support her for this exciting challenge, she said. Being a councillor is hard work and I have complete faith that Paula is the best person for the position  trustworthy, strong and committed to our beautiful town.

Mrs Isaac will be standing against Donna Crook for the Conservatives and Jackie Walker for Labour.

Ms Crook, a 43-year-old mother-of-one, of Abrahams Road, Henley, is standing just months after her unsuccessful bid to be elected as an independent in May.

Mrs Walker is a 51-year-old married mother-of-one, from Middle Assendon, and a former civil servant.

She stood unsuccessfully for the Henley division on Oxfordshire County Council in elections in May, winning 166 votes.

The council is currently made up of eight HRG members, six Conservatives and one Independent Conservative.
A WOMAN who grew up in foster care after escaping her abusive family has been honoured for her personal and professional triumphs.

Emma Lakin, 25, from Highmoor, has been presented with the Fostering Networks outstanding achievement award, which recognises those who have built a happy life for themselves in spite of their difficult childhoods.

She says she feels honoured to have won and that its important to recognise children who are and have been in care.

Mrs Lakin, who is expecting her own child with husband Chris, was removed from her birth family when she was only four following the death of her mother, who was an alcoholic.

Social services wouldnt let her father bring her up as he was unstable and prone to violence.

Before they intervened, she and her older brother Glen, now 31, were often left unsupervised for long periods and had to fend for themselves, sometimes eating frozen food directly from the freezer as they were too young to cook.

She was fostered by Michael and Lynne Moore in Uxbridge and stayed with them until she was 18.

When she first arrived, she was so afraid of men that she could not look at her foster father for the first year and would hide if she saw anyone resembling her real father while out in public.

However, thanks to the Moores care and patience, she enjoyed a happy childhood and obtained good grades in school before going on to university.

She now works as a sales negotiator at her husbands estate agency and the couple are looking forward to the birth of their daughter early next year.

Mrs Lakin was put forward for the Fostering Network award by the Moores and collected her trophy from Kevin Williams, the charitys chief executive, at a ceremony in London last month.

She said: Chris was very happy and so were my foster parents, probably more so than I was.

Chris lost a parent when he was young so he has some idea of what its like to meet adversity at an early age. It was an honour to win but I had slightly mixed feelings because I know there are people whove had it 10 times rougher than I did.

Its not that I dont feel I deserved it because Ive had to work hard to get where I am in life but there are people whove struggled even more.

Its important to acknowledge children who are or have been in care because, unlike me, many arent lucky enough to get an amazing family and a placement that lasts their entire childhood.

Mrs Lakin and her brother were born in Uxbridge and were first placed with the Moores when she was three and her mother entered an alcohol rehabilitation programme.

The couple, who are now in their sixties, had three daughters of their own and had previously only fostered on short-term placements.

However, they agreed to take the children back when they were taken into care by Hillingdon Borough Council, which prevented them from being split up as Glen was then too old to be adopted.

The siblings were raised by the Moores as full members of the family alongside their girls, Alanna, Georgina and Joanna, who were of a similar age.

Mrs Lakin recalled: It was a major commitment as they had to extend their house but from the very start they made us feel like part of the family and weve been very close ever since.

The first time I celebrated a birthday with them, which wasnt too long after our mum died, they took us to Walt Disney World in Florida for three weeks.

I really enjoyed it because I was too young to take everything in whereas Glen needed a distraction to take his mind off the situation.

Im so glad that we were able to stay together as Glen could have lost his sister as well as his mother, which would have been absolutely devastating.

I got on much better with Lynne from the outset because of the trust issues, but after a year or so I started to build a relationship with Michael.

I also saw a counsellor until I was about eight but that didnt help much because I was so little when all the bad things happened.

Lynne and Michael have done so much for us and its frustrating that so much media coverage of fostering focuses on people whove done bad things.

It does happen, of course, but many get involved for the right reasons and thats crucial because children need stability.

Mrs Lakin, who remained in contact with her birth father until she was nine, when he turned violent towards his new partner and then vanished, remembers her childhood as a happy time.

Mr Moore, a director for Renault, would take the family to events such as Royal Ascot and Formula 1 grand prix , where they could access the hospitality suites.

There were regular holidays abroad and Mrs Lakin fondly remembers one at an all-inclusive Club Med resort in Italy.

She said: It was pretty mental, looking back. Christmases were always really big because of the size of our family. Half the living room would be full of presents and we would spread the opening throughout the day instead of doing it all at once.

It wouldnt have been anything like that if Id stayed with my birth parents. My aunts, who Im still in touch with, would have done their best to make up for it but it could never have been the same.

Lynne and Michael always had lots of people around at Christmas, which was very positive and I think children need to have experiences like that.

Were actually spending this Christmas with them, which could be a little strange because their two eldest daughters are spending the day with their own partners and children.

Throughout her teenage years, Mrs Lakin had to attend regular review meetings with social workers and could not stay overnight at a friends house unless the family had undergone background checks.

She said: Looking back, I guess I was quite lucky. As a teenager, a lot of my friends would stay out late drinking and smoking in the park.

At the time I felt it was incredibly unfair that I couldnt join them but those firm boundaries were really healthy for me.

I was also privileged in a lot of other ways as I enjoyed holidays and trips that my friends parents couldnt have afforded.

Her foster parents encouraged her to achieve academically and she attained 13 GCSEs with grades between A* and C.

However, her A-level results were not as good because social workers were encouraging her to leave the Moores to make space for another child, which neither she nor the family wanted.

She said: Lynne and Michael could see I had potential, though I was a little bit lazy at school and never used my full brain power, which is probably still true today.

They were determined that I was only ever going to university, not that I was ever forced, but Michael knew I was more than capable of doing it and he was right.

It was frustrating dealing with social services as I was approaching 18 and the family were happy for me to carry on living with them. We almost had to fight for me to stay, which I did.

Mrs Lakin moved out after turning 18 and was allocated a flat in Northwood by the borough council.

She enrolled at the University of Westminster to read biomedical science but it didnt suit her so she switched to a business degree at Bucks New University in Uxbridge, graduating in 2015.

She said: Independence was difficult but I managed to get by. It was scary and I do think there needs to be more support than just literally dumping young adults out of care and letting them get on with it.

Its not easy learning to manage your finances and I didnt get much help other than a bursary of 600 a year, which doesnt go far in London.

She met her future husband, who is six years her senior, at a mutual friends party in 2013. While chatting, they realised she had been friends at school with Mr Lakins nephew Tom Hyde, who is now a sales negotiator at Savills estate agents in Bell Street, Henley.

She started working as an administrator at Mr Lakins business in Uxbridge, which he launched in 2007, while still a student.

The couple were married in Bicester last December and moved to Highmoor as they were seeking quieter and more rural surroundings. They now enjoy regular walks in the countryside and eating out.

Mrs Lakin has been studying for a masters degree in human resources at Bucks and is due to hand in her final dissertation next month.

She is considering a new career as a human resources consultant after their daughter is born.

Mrs Lakin said: Its a tough decision because I want to support Chris with the business, which he has built up over the past decade.

However, its never easy working with your partner and because its his baby he has a particular idea of what he wants to do with it.

I was thinking of working in HR but I dont fancy the confrontational aspects of it, like disciplining someone or letting them go, so I might look at consultancy .

Were lucky to have that flexibility as some people cant afford childcare and have to drop their jobs whereas Ill be able to work from home.

She still regularly visits the Moores, who now lives in Chinnor and have fostered another young boy.

Mrs Lakin said: Its an incredibly important role because no one else is looking out for those kids. Theres only so much that social workers can do as they have such large caseloads that their role is largely paper shuffling.

To have a family behind you that cares and pushes you in the right direction is immensely important. There are people who grow up to live successful lives without that but its a good deal harder.

You see people in care who still have contact with their birth families and thats not always a good influence so they can end up getting into trouble.

Mrs Lakin admits the prospect of motherhood is daunting but she will draw on the positive aspects of her own upbringing to give her daughter a good start.

She said: Its definitely scary and I suppose my experiences make me think about it more because you realise how wrong it can go but Ive learned some valuable lessons and remember a lot of really enjoyable things that I can pass on.

There are things I want to teach my daughter like the importance of eating fruit and vegetables, which I still struggle with because I was never exposed to that when I was little.

Lynne and Michael slowly introduced us to new experiences but some things never changed and I still struggle to eat healthily because that just wasnt part of my very early life.

Glen often had to sort out the food even though he was very young himself because there wasnt an adult around.

I look back on things like eating frozen chips and think, wow, my gosh. You dont always realise how much these little things change you.

When youve had very traumatic experiences in early childhood, you remember them more vividly than some people recall that period of their life.

However, its made me more independent and, as awful as those times were, its part of who I am.

I would encourage anyone thinking of fostering to look into it because theres a lot of support available. Its tremendously rewarding and your own family will benefit from it as well.

Im so happy to see Lynne and Michael fostering again because theyve got a lovely little boy who has really settled with them. As far as he is concerned, theyre his parents.
CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee  The case of Robert Doggart, a white man from Signal Mountain,Tennessee, was one of just five terrorism-related wiretaps in the U.S. in 2016, according to the federal Wiretap Report. Before then, 2010 marked the last time a report included an authorization for which terrorism was the cited offense.

While on the phone with a cooperating FBI source, Doggart outlined plans to burn a mosque, school and cafeteria in Islamberg, a Muslim community in New York. He also talked of bringing high-powered weapons including AR-15s, M4s or M16s.

Judge Henry Mattice Jr., of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, authorized Doggarts wiretap March 15, 2015. Less than two weeks later, intercepted conversations were used in an application for a search warrant for Doggarts house, cars and computers. The FBI arrested Doggart on April 10, 2015  five days before the planned date of his attack.

Doggarts attorney sought to suppress all evidence obtained as a result of the wiretap and the subsequent searches, but both motions were denied.

Despite the terrorism label in the federal Wiretap Report, Doggart did not face terrorism charges in court. In February 2016, Doggart was found guilty of solicitation to commit a civil rights violation and solicitation to commit arson of a building. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The 2016 Wiretap Report also included updates on two white men from New York. They too were wiretapped for Muslim-targeted terror. One was sentenced to 30 years for conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction (namely, an X-ray gun he was creating). The other was sentenced to eight years for providing material support to terrorists.

Terrorism cases are rare in the Wiretap Report because many fall under the purview of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, according to law professor Anne McKenna. FISA is primarily designed for intelligence-gathering related to foreign powers and agents of foreign powers.

FISA courts operate in secret and only release the total count of surveillance orders each year. That figure rose rapidly after 2001 and peaked in 2007, according to data compiled by the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

In 2016, 1,401 traditional FISA orders were approved. The majority of these applications were for both electronic surveillance and physical searches.

The American Civil Liberties Union has motioned six times since 2007 for FISA records to be released. Its most recent rejection came this past June.

Federal, state and FISA wiretaps are all nearly unanimously authorized.
The 2015 wiretapping of Marco Bobo in Sullivan County wasnt just rare for district attorney Barry Staubus. The annually released federal Wiretap Report shows no other wiretaps by state authorities between 2012 and 2016.

I think youll find metropolitan areas and more urban areas are more likely to use the wiretap, Staubus said. If we had more resources, if we had more money, if we had more people, we could consider wiretaps more than we do.

Wiretapping expert Anne McKenna agreed that the level of work involved in a wiretap is likely why many jurisdictions  especially those pressed for manpower  rely on the investigative technique so rarely.

Just across the state line, Virginia prosecutors face the same manpower hurdles, plus one. The statutes for wiretapping in Virginia and Tennessee are similar, as both mirror federal law. But while a district attorney can apply for a wiretap in Tennessee, all applications in Virginia must go through the state attorney general, according to the offices press secretary Lara Sisselman.

The attorney general is in Richmond, five or six hours away from most of far Southwest Virginia, Wise County prosecutor Chuck Slemp told the Bristol Herald Courier. We are closer to several other state capitals.

Federally approved wiretaps may make more sense in Southwest Virginia for other reasons, too.

[Virginia] judges can only issue wiretap orders for Virginia, Slemp said. In our region, it is hardly unusual for a suspect to travel to Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee or North Carolina.

None of the 3,168 wiretaps authorized by state or federal judges across the country in 2016 were in Southwest Virginia. Between 2012 and 2016, just four federal wiretaps were approved in the states western district.

Of those, three were narcotics-related. All but one were missing the prosecutors report, which includes details on intercepts, cost and convictions. According to the Wiretap Report, some prosecutors delay filing this information to avoid jeopardizing ongoing investigations.

The 2016 Wiretap Report showed 68 federal wiretapping authorizations in the eastern district of Virginia, costing $2.69 million and resulting in 106 arrests  81 percent of which led to convictions. Over half of the wiretaps were authorized because of suspected narcotics offenses.

Combined, Maryland, Washington, D.C., and eastern Virginia were responsible for 17 percent of all narcotics convictions made from federal wiretaps nationwide last year.
Najah Mahmoud Feior Abulhusson Robinette, age 78, formerly of Bristol, Tenn., went to be with her Lord and Savior on Saturday, December 23, 2017, at Brookdale Assisted Living, Bristol, Va. Nancy was born on August 7, 1939, in Btekhnay, Lebanon, a daughter of Mahmoud Feior Abulhusson and Najla Assad Abulhusson. In 1956 she moved to Bristol and made this her home. Nancy worked throughout the years as a hairdresser and also a certified nursing assistant helping others. She was a member of Eastern Heights Presbyterian Church where she served in various capacities. She is survived by daughters, Mariann Woods, Jennifer Deloris Robinette; sons, David Abulhusson, Douglas Robinette III, Christopher Daniel Robinette, Joseph Travis Robinette; eight grandchildren; brother, Adnan Merdach; nephew, Michael Feior; niece, Linda Feior Gardner. The funeral service for Mrs. Robinette will be held at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, December 27, 2017 in the Weaver Funeral Home Chapel with Dr. Rick Light officiating. The family will receive friends from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. Wednesday, prior to the service. The committal service and interment will be at 11 a.m. on Thursday, December 28, 2017 in Glenwood Cemetery, Bristol, Tenn. The pallbearers will be David Abulhusson, Doug Robinette III, Stephen Woods, Daniel Woods, Matthew Woods, and Ayden Dotson. Online condolences may be registered at www.weaverfuneralhome.net. Arrangements have been made with Weaver Funeral Home and Cremation Services, 630 Locust Street, Bristol, TN, 37620.
The Art of the Steal, blared the front page of the New York Daily News. Many agreed. Sen. Elizabeth Warren called the Republican tax plan a heist. So did The New York Times and many more.

Countless others called it a giveaway, a windfall, and so on.

This is not just silly. It is perverse.

Apparently, the progressive dictionary now defines heist as the act of letting people keep their own money.

The same dictionary apparently also uses that definition for giveaway and windfall.

Because thats exactly what the Republican tax plan does: It reduces the amount of money the government confiscates from the people the money belongs to. Calling that an act of theft or even a mere giveaway is downright Orwellian.

To be fair, some critics of the bill might be under the mistaken, but widely disseminated, impression that the bill raises taxes on the middle class. This is patently false, and the willingness of so many in the media to parrot such a falsehood is a breathtaking example of their innate hostility to conservative ideas.

In fact, its even false to suggest that the bill reduces tax progressivity. The top 1 percent of earners in the U.S. pay 27 percent of all federal taxes, but will receive 21 percent of tax relief under the GOP plan. In other words, they will shoulder more of the total tax burden, not less.

Even if that were not the case, though, it would be ridiculous to describe the bill as a form of theft.

Letting people keep their own money is not theft, but its exact opposite.
Looking at the world through the eyes of the Web
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Ill fortune has pursued the powerful Gandhi family as relentlessly as the Furies in a Greek tragedy. A prime minister often called the Empress of India felled by her own bodyguards. A handsome young former prime minister on a comeback trail blown to bits by an assassin. Close to the epicentre of these cataclysmic events that changed the course of politics in India and devastated by them was the woman who would one day come to control the fortunes of the 132-year-old Congress party and eventually India. Sonia Gandhi may have been a reluctant entrant into politics, pushed to the pinnacle by a party which has never been able to function without the glue of the Gandhi family. When she stepped down as party president earlier this month, the transformation of the political ingenue to consummate politician had become the stuff of legend. The fact that she is still there behind the scenes can only be of comfort to her son as he begins his innings as president after a somewhat chequered career now salvaged by the good showing in Gujarat. It will also be of comfort to her partymen and the millions who support the grand old party.

Many people forget the circumstances under which she stepped into politics. She resisted the entreaties of Congressmen for six years after the death of her husband, an indication of how reluctant she was to join a world which claimed the lives of those closest to her. But once she agreed to become president of the party in 1998, the shy hesitation vanished and she became the unchallenged primus inter pares of the party. Those who challenged her were soon vanquished and excommunicated by a party which tried to prove itself more loyal than the queen.

When she renounced power after the Congress roared back to centrestage in 2004, in one fell swoop, she ascended a rare pedestal in Indian politics. She turned down the prime ministership. There is nothing that Indians love as much as the ascetic who shuns power when it could have been hers for the asking. But behind this decision was a shrewd pragmatic understanding that she would have been constantly assailed by her detractors, among them a then powerful Sharad Pawar, who would constantly question her foreign origin. The choice of the scholarly Dr Manmohan Singh was a masterstroke, seemingly giving her power without responsibility. It is then that she did not play her cards too well. Her National Advisory Council, full of latter-day Nehruvian socialists and what many referred to dismissively as bleeding heart liberals seemed to overwhelm the economist prime ministers governance, pushing through giant social welfare schemes many of which went against the grain of the liberalisation and competitiveness that Dr Singh espoused.

The Sonia mystique remains intact even as she moves away from the spotlight. This has perhaps been nurtured by a great degree of inaccessibility to the media. Yet, with crowds in remote villages and towns, she was the caring matriarch, listening intently to their problems. But even her deft political footwork could not save a party crumbling from inertia and sloth, unable to face an aggressive BJP and the masterly oratory of Narendra Modi. The downhill slide has been on in full force since 2013. The partys improved performance in defeat in Gujarat could mark the beginning of a revival, though, and is perhaps a a fitting parting gift to Sonia.

When learned articles are written on women political leaders in South Asia and Asia, Sonias name features prominently. But unlike, say Sheikh Hasina, Benazir Bhutto, Megawati Sukarnoputri, Chandrika Kumaratunga or even her mother-in-law Indira Gandhi, she was not born into a political family where the mantle of power would one day fall on her. She was a rank outsider, the daughter of working class father, an object of some derision in Delhis notoriously elitist society who dismissed her as the au pair girl who caught the fancy of the prime ministers son. It cannot have been easy for the young Italian girl to marry into the patrician Gandhi family and become part of a household which has never been out of the limelight in independent India. But helped by a doting mother-in-law, she grew into the role using all she had learnt from the mercurial Indira when she herself entered the muscular world of politics. She walked like her, dressed like her and eventually displayed the sharp skills that earned Indira the title of Indias most powerful politician.

For a person so obsessed with legacy, she leaves her son a desperately difficult task of rebuilding the shattered party. But if he has learnt from Sonias ability to forge fortuitous alliances, project an inclusive and secular front, accept that sometimes the party has to play second fiddle to powerful regional parties, then he certainly has a fighting chance. As she moves away from centrestage in her partys politics, we realise that after all these years, we know so little about Sonia as a person, her quirks, her likes. We only know her as a fiercely protective mother, a street smart politician, a people manager extraordinaire, a Nehruvian socialist. That is as far as she will let the public into her private world and that is how she intends to keep it. Whats her favourite dish? What does she read? Does she watch movies? Which are her favourite holiday destinations? As long as we dont know the answers, we will remain endlessly fascinated by this enigmatic woman even as she steps off the contemporary political arena.

Lalita.Panicker@hindustantimes.com

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When Jamuna Devi, an illiterate woman from Bihars Madhubani district impressed Pupul Jayakar, then cultural advisor to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, with her indigenous style of paintings at an exhibition in the 1980s, little did thousands of other artists in her village Jitwarpur realise that Mithila art form would get a new brand name.

Nearly four decades have passed since then. The art form, globally known as Mi- thila or Madhubani art, has of late thrown up an offshoot with a new tag  Harijan painting. Almost every woman and man in scheduled caste families of Mithilanchal, Bihar, is taking to it with gusto.

Art agents with links to the Western markets have packaged the spin-off as the art of the rebel, the oppressed, downtrodden and subaltern folks in a new tactic to commercialise it. The impact is slowly sinking in as it creates a wedge in Madhubani art, which was previously never segregated by caste or class. Today its defined by the caste of the painter.

A look at canvasses of recycled paper made from waste; or mud walls of homes; even the cow dung brushed Aangans (courtyards) in Paswan tola or Chamar tola, provides a touching, yet powerful and all-too-real glimpse into the day- to-day life of the downtrodden castes of Bihar, like Dusaadh, Chamar (cobbler), Keots (water carriers) Musahars and Kahaars (palanquin carriers).

There are rich, colourful scenes and images from the lives and adventures of folk heroes such as Raja Salhes and Deena Bhadri -- gods of the downtrodden-- painted in vegetable dye.

This phenomenon is new; almost like a silent protest, creating distinction between richer, better-off castes and the downtrodden, though in the villages such differentiation was rare, till commercial interests created the feeling, said Kamalnarayan Karn, nephew of the first Padmashri award winning Mithila painter Jagdamba Devi.

There was no sub-art culture like Godna (tattoo)painting or Gobar (cowdung) painting, or the now well known Harijan painting as Madhubani art had actually been democratised so as to be available to all women, irrespective of communities and divides, he said.

Now, the differentiation is visible. It is almost like a rebel art form, challenging the Madhubani style, as is globally known and recognised, and insisting on a separate identity with consciousness and a sense of we-ness backing the subaltern artists. Many variants have emerged.

Karn pointed to the tradition of the Likhiya genre of Mithila painting, which was created over mud walls of houses by every woman in the village on auspicious occasions such as marriage or festivals. They were created with the help of women cutting across castes, but promoted by the original Brahmin and Karna Kayastha families.

On such occasions, especially marriage, art was created on a large scale and many hands were needed to finish the work. While women from Karna Kayastha and Brahmin families created Kohbar designs--another Mithila art variant-- their domestic help from scheduled castes, used to share the work and created designs in the courtyard or outside homes, he said.

Scheduled caste women picked up the art from families they served and learnt the rudiments at convivial occasions. Later, they started decorating their homes. As they were more familiar with their folk heroes and deities like Raja Salhes and Deena Bhadri , these characters and scenes from their lives found a place in their works, instead of the Krishna-Meera, Ram-Sita motifs of upper castes. Some even started drawing incidents from their day-to-day life or themes with roots in the animistic culture of bygone era as opposed to Hindu culture.

Another variant is Godna, tattoos which were earlier used to decorate the human body with sharp, pointed needles.

We call it Godna painting, which is now created on hand made paper. Even the government has recognised it as a distinct style of painting. There are state and national level awards for excellence in this art, said Urmila Devi Paswan , a proponent of this art-form, who received the Kalidas Samman instituted by Madhya Pradesh government.

Now even my niece has started painting. Recently we finished drawing the adventures of our deity, Raja Salhes on the walls of my verandah, she said.

Some of these variants originated by happenstance. According to Rajkumar, a young painter who uses only one name, poorer women used to draw designs over the walls and on the ground with cow dung initially, as they could not afford colours, which gave rise to Gobar (cow dung) paintings.

Over time, some of these variants practices by the under-privileged and the oppressed acquired a rebellious streak, as evident in the work of Jamuna Devi, a painter from a lowly Chamar family.

EXCLUSIVELY FEMININE ART  Madhubani painting is said to date back to the time of Ramayana, when King Janak commissioned painters to decorate his city on the occasion of the marriage of his daughter Seeta to Lord Rama.

 An exclusively feminine school of folk painting, it finds expression on walls, papier mache, floor , canvas, pottery, toy and other products.

 Villages of Jitwarpur, Ranti, Rasidpur, Bacchi, Rajangarh were the hub of such painting, which has spread over to involve several villages and over one lakh women.

 The origin of continuity of the painting style is, however, traced back to 1097 AD under the Karnat and Oinvara dynasties, followed by Khandvalas.

 The style was re-discovered and put before the world initially in 1934 during the Bihar quake, when central teams visited the area and saw the beautiful, stylistic paintings at close quarters.

 While, the paintings were limited to Karna Kayastha and Brahmin women, of late a powerful movement has been built with a rebel genre of painting called Harijan painting emerging in the last decade.

 Mainly done by scheduled caste women, they have moved from giving expression to Ram-Seeta, Krishna-Meera and Shiva Parvati themes to portrayal of deities revered by backward castes.

 The Mithila style of paintings have been acknowledged with over 60 persons bagging national awards and three persons winning Padma Shree since 1970. Madhubani painting is said to date back to the time of Ramayana, when King Janak commissioned painters to decorate his city on the occasion of the marriage of his daughter Seeta to Lord Rama.An exclusively feminine school of folk painting, it finds expression on walls, papier mache, floor , canvas, pottery, toy and other products.Villages of Jitwarpur, Ranti, Rasidpur, Bacchi, Rajangarh were the hub of such painting, which has spread over to involve several villages and over one lakh women.The origin of continuity of the painting style is, however, traced back to 1097 AD under the Karnat and Oinvara dynasties, followed by Khandvalas.The style was re-discovered and put before the world initially in 1934 during the Bihar quake, when central teams visited the area and saw the beautiful, stylistic paintings at close quarters.While, the paintings were limited to Karna Kayastha and Brahmin women, of late a powerful movement has been built with a rebel genre of painting called Harijan painting emerging in the last decade.Mainly done by scheduled caste women, they have moved from giving expression to Ram-Seeta, Krishna-Meera and Shiva Parvati themes to portrayal of deities revered by backward castes.The Mithila style of paintings have been acknowledged with over 60 persons bagging national awards and three persons winning Padma Shree since 1970.

One Harijan painting which won her a national award displays Chamar Tola people taking a carcass of cow out of the village. Jamuna Devi explained, that initially her community was considered a forward caste but poor. Once a cow died in their Tola and as none had money to hire a professional to discard the carcass, her community people took off the Janeu (ceremonious thread used by forward castes; and disposed the carcass themselves). Since then, they have been categorised as scheduled caste, Kamal Narayan, an artist, said. The painting on the theme was a protest against the de-Sanskritisation of the community, he added.

Some experts rue the commercialisation of the art form that, in their opinion, has resulted in the offshoots. There never was this notion of Harijan painting 10 years ago. Its a marketing gimmick. Art brokers and dealers knew a rebel art tag would help sell cheaply bought art work abroad, said Bishwambhar Jha, a senior painter and social activist.

Sharad, a papier machie artist who uses only one name agrees: The divide in art and society here is totally the handiwork of the Bichauliyas (brokers). Unfortunately (some) artists have now become quite aware of the benefits of this tag and are also trying to cash it. Talk to any of them and you will find them demanding awards and benefits on the basis of caste, he said.

Indeed, even those who admire the paintings as a form of protest admit that commercial interests have played a part.

According to Dr Snigdha Prosad, a well known Patna based sociologist and professor: This is a rare genre of protest through art by subaltern classes. However, it is a trend of the times, where outsiders create a divide and stoke differentiation to meet a commercial purpose, which ends up dividing the cohesiveness of the society.  For the painters themselves, though, its all about identity.

Binda Devi, a Madhubani artist and daughter-in-law of Jamuna Devi, proudly introduces herself as a Harijan painter now. Our art is misunderstood and looked down upon because we are low caste. Had we been from an upper caste, our members too would have won a Padmashri, or a national award. The reality shows up here, as to how the better off sections .

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Hazaaron khwahishein aisi ke har khwahish pe dum nikley,

Bahut nikley merey armaan lekin phir bhi kam nikley

Penned by the pre-eminent Urdu poet of his times, Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan, popularly known as Ghalib, who hasnt heard of these lines that have, over ages, been a favourite of ghazal lovers? Born in Agra on the 27 December 1797, Ghalibs first love was always Dilli (Delhi), and he even wrote, I asked my soul: What is Dilli? She replied: The world is the body, and Dilli is its life.

And this love has not been one-sided; the city and its residents have loved him as much, and even after 148 years of his demise, the work of the poet remains alive and breathing, as Ghalib is seen forever manifested in one form or the other in the lives of Delhiites.

Through a Facebook page, Ishq Urdu, Nasheet Shahdani is introducing the work of Ghalib and other poets to people active on social media. (Facebook/Ishq Urdu)

A toast of poetry enthusiasts online

Nasheet Shadani, a 31-year-old artist, is using memes, videos, and GIFs on his Facebook page, Ishq Urdu, to introduce Ghalibs poetry to people. Recently, a GIF-based poll on the page asking people to vote for their favourite poet saw Ghalib emerge as the winner. When we talk about Urdu poets and shayari (a poetic expression), Ghalib has to be a part of it. There are two facets to his poetry  the simple, which comes from the locally spoken language, and the complex, which includes more of Farsi (Persian). We try to bring them both back.

Shadani, who regularly posts quizzes and trivia on the page, recently posted a Ghalib couplet in a fill in the blank form, which attracted tremendous response. I could have used the whole couplet but my motive is to engage the people and hundreds of followers commented on it, says Shadani adding, Ghalib is popular not just because of his poetry but because of his modern ideology and flamboyant attitude.

This autorickshaws interiors, by artist Sanchit Sawaria, are inspired by Ghalibs poetry.

Ghalib, and the motif of journey

An ardent admirer of Mirza Ghalibs work, Delhi artist Sanchit Sawaria gave the citys auto rickshaws a makeover under a project called Taxi Fabric. The artwork composed of a floral illustration formed by drops of blood, ink and tears, depicts Ghalibs journey in a unique way. I thought it would be interesting to theme auto rickshaws on him, and illustrate the intricacy of his poetry and life in the Capital, says Sanchit, adding, The obvious choice was to cover the fabric of the seats with his poetry. But for some, the Urdu script is sacred, and I didnt want to hurt their sentiments. So, I kept the text as minimal as possible, says the 28-year-old.

Ghalibs verses have even found place on t-shirts through Shiraz Husains collective.

Verses take relatable forms

Artist and former assistant professor at Jamia Millia Islamia, Shiraz Husain started the Khwaab Tanha Collective  a celebration of Urdu and Hindi literature in contemporary visual culture, about three years ago. Ghalibs work surpasses time and language. He died in 1869, but is the most popular poet of all times. I receive a lot of mails, and surprisingly, from abroad also, asking about Ghalibs work, says Husain. The collective, which offers mugs, posters, t-shirts with the writers portraits, verses, sold out its entire stock of T-shirts at an Urdu festival in the Capital, some time back.

Truly then, its a deep connect that the rich and the poor, and the young and the old alike have with the poet. Ghalibs verses were used by a courtesan as well as a beggar, and these two will live as long as this Earth exists. Isliye, Ghalib bhi hamesha amar rahenge (Thats why Ghalib will also stay alive forever), says Husain.

Events on Ghalibs Birth Anniversary:

Khwabeeda

Celebrate the 220th birth anniversary of the greatest Urdu poet of the 19th century  at his residence in Ballimaran called Ghalib ki Haveli  and get to listen to the popular verses of the poet.

CATCH IT LIVE What: Khwabeeda Where: Ghalib Ki Haveli, Balli Maran When: December 27 Timings: 1pm to 4pm Nearest Metro Station: Jor Bagh on Yellow Line

Remembering Ghalib

In its second edition, Bhartiya Sangeet Sadan and Ghalib Memorial Movement, with the support of the Government of Delhi, is celebrating Ghalibs birth anniversary. Eminent Shayars such as Gulzar Dehlvi, Radhika Chopra, and many more will recite from Ghalibs poetry.

CATCH IT LIVE What: Remembering Ghalib Where: India Islamic Cultural Centre When: December 28 and 29 Timings: 6.30pm onwards

Nearest Metro Station: Chandni Chowk on Yellow Line

Follow @htTweets for more

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The decision of the Congress Karnataka unit chief G Parameshwara and chief minister Siddaramaiah to tour the state separately just six months ahead of the assembly elections has added fuel to speculations about a rift in the party.

Siddaramaiah is on a tour of the 124 constituencies where the Congress won in the 2013 assembly elections and Parameshwara is visiting the other 100.

The Bharatiya Janata Party called the separate tours an indication that Siddaramaiah, who shifted from the Janata Dal (Secular) to the Congress in 2006, was becoming bigger than the local Congress party.

BJPs member of Parliament Shobha Karandlaje said that the message seemed to be that Siddaramaiah would take credit if the party wins.

If it loses in the elections, clearly he will then put the blame on to the Congress party, Karandlaje said.

However, the Congress said the BJPs claims were merely rumours and that they were desperate attempts by the saffron party to rake up issues, citing an upcoming tour in March, where all party leaders will participate.

The decision for the chief minister and the party president to tour separately was taken by the party high command, KC Venugopal, Congress vice-president in-charge of the state, told the Hindustan Times.

Venugopal said the logic behind the move was that it would take three months to tour all the 224 assembly constituencies in the state. By having two separate tours we can cover this much quicker. Besides, the chief minister has to present the budget in February, he added.

Dinesh Gundu Rao, working president of the state Congress, said there might have been minor differences between Siddaramaiah and Parameshwara, but these were similar to disputes among brothers.

On all the important issues, like the manifesto and our campaign strategy, there is complete unity.

Gundu Rao said the real division was in the BJP, where, he said, there were clear signs of discord among the leaders.

It is because the BJP has no standing in the state that they are spreading these rumours of a difference. When we hit the campaign trail together from March 1, our unity will be there for all to see, he said.

Senior journalist and faculty at the National Institute of Advanced Studies Narendar Pani said the decision to go on separate tours needed to be interpreted as an exercise in coalition building.

In Karnataka, there are no pan-regional leaders and most of them are leaders of their own communities. As a result, there is always a need to build coalitions, which requires each leader to win over their community first, Pani said.

Siddaramaiah hails from the Kuruba caste, which is categorised as backward, and Parameshwara is a Dalit.

Pani said the trend of leaders campaigning separately went back to the times of former prime minister HD Deve Gowda.

He would always address rallies by himself and ask leaders of other communities to bring the votes from their respective communities.

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Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom) has finalised a debt resolution plan that involves the sale of its assets and does not require lenders and bond holders to write off their dues or convert it into equity.

The company has also exited the strategic debt restructuring process (SDR), RCom said on Tuesday.

According to the plan, which includes the sale of spectrum, fibre and tower network, equity injection by global strategic partners and development of real estate assets, RComs debt will be reduced by Rs 39,000 crore from the Rs 45,000 crore it owed lenders at the end of October.

RCom will reduce debt by Rs 25,000 crore by selling assets and transferring its spectrum dues to third parties. The entire proceeds will be used for prepayment to lenders, said chairman Anil Ambani.

Lenders have received the final binding bids and all transactions are expected to be closed in a phased manner between January and March 2018, the company said in an exchange filing.

The process and bids were vetted by an evaluation committee appointed by the joint lenders forum. The panel was chaired by SS Mundra, a former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India.

The company did not disclose the names of the bidders.

RCom shares surged as much as 42% on Tuesday before closing up 31% at Rs 21.33. The shares have gained 82% in the past five trading sessions, reducing this years loss to 37%.

As far as banks are concerned, the plan is positive as there were expectations that the lenders might have to take some haircut for resolution. But over the next few days, more clarity will emerge, said Alpesh Mehta, deputy head of research at Motilal Oswal Securities.

In June, lenders had invoked SDR provisions after the company presented a restructuring plan that involved hiving off and merging its wireless business with Aircel Ltd and selling a majority stake in its tower unit to Brookfield Infrastructure. Under the plan, lenders gave the company a breather on its interest payments until December 2018.

However, the merger with Aircel fell through, and in October, the company presented a fresh debt repayment plan to its creditors, which envisaged raising Rs 27,000 crore through the sale of assets including spectrum, real estate and towers and further reduction of Rs 7,000 crore after lenders converted this into equity for a 51% stake.

According to the SDR norms, lenders had to convert debt into equity by December 28, said bankers.

Ambani said that the new resolution plan also includes development of the Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City (DAKC), which comprises 125 acres of real estate. This will lead to reduction of RComs debt by Rs10,000 crore.

The real estate at DAKC is held by a special purpose vehicle, which will have long-term debt financing on a non-recourse basis, the firm said in an exchange filing.

There will be only recourse to real estate assets that are there in the SPV. It has no other recourse to RCom or anything else at all, he said.

The resolution plan comes at a time when China Development Bank (CDB) has dragged the company to the National Company Law Tribunal for insolvency proceedings. RCom owes around $2 billion to Chinese lenders including CDB.

In response to a question on the pending insolvency petitions, Ambani claimed that RCom had received a go-ahead from all lenders, including overseas ones, for the resolution plan.

Today, the fact of the matter is, we have had an understanding and an arrangement with all the lenders to ensure a substantial prepayment, the residual debt to be duly addressed and a viable business model for the new RCom with no risk to the banks of conversion, write offs etc, he said.

Ambani said that with the completion of these transactions, the residual firm, or new RCom, will be a business-to-business focused company consisting of its private sub-sea cable system, 4G spectrum sharing with Jio, and a data centre business, among others. The residual debt in this firm is expected to be Rs 6,000 crore.

He said the company has started the process of finding global strategic partners for the new RCom and has received nine non-binding applications.

RCom will receive equity infusion from global strategic partners for further debt reduction, consequent upon a stake sale process already underway, and being conducted by Credit Suisse, the company said.
In about three months from now, if Reliance Group chief Anil Ambani has his way, he would have sold the spectrum, tower, fibre and real estate assets of Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom).

The divestments, together with the sale of RComs media convergence nodes and exit from a strategic debt restructuring exercise with its lenders, will mark the end of an era for the company he inherited after a 2005 settlement with older brother Mukesh Ambani.

Under that settlement, the brothers carved up the business empire created by their late father Dhirubhai Ambani. Mukesh Ambani took control of the flagship energy business.

The younger Ambanis plans will lead to the creation of a new RCom, he claimed on Tuesday.

RCom will essentially be transformed from a business-to-consumer (B2C) into a business-to-business (B2B) entity which will provide submarine cable systems that will deliver the latest sub-sea cable technology to meet growing cloud infrastructure and data capacity demand from global enterprises and over-the-top, or OTT, service providers.

Ambani said the new RCom will be valued at Rs 15,000 crore. The business, Ambani said in a presentation, will be based on a capex-light model and will generate sustainable cash flows, with 50% of revenue and 60% of operating profit coming from outside of India.

RCom and other telecom companies have been hurt by intense price competition, and piled on debt in their quest for expansion of market share, offering high prices for purchase of expensive wireless radiowaves.

Reliance Group has made other divestments as part of an effort to reduce Rs 45,000 crore of debt. Earlier this month, group company Reliance Infrastructure Ltd (RInfra) said it had signed a definitive binding agreement to sell its Mumbai power business to Adani Transmission Ltd for Rs 18,800 crore. In November, RCom sold its direct-to-home television subsidiary Reliance BIG TV Ltd to Pantel Technologies Pvt. Ltd and Veecon Media and Television Ltd.

The big question is how Reliance Group, previously known as the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, will look now as it exits from its flagship telecom business.

One emerging business is clearly defence manufacturing. The group has tied up with global defence companies for starting production in India. It recently commenced the construction of a manufacturing facility in Nagpur in a joint venture with French company Dassault Aviation SA to manufacture components for its aircraft.

Reliance Group is making patrol boats for Indian Navy with a total order valued at Rs 2,500 crore. It is also engaged in the construction of a training ship as well as 14 fast petrol vessels for the Coast Guard, an order worth Rs 920 crore.

The company has also signed a master ship repair agreement with the US Navy to undertake servicing and repairing works for vessels of the Seventh fleet. Currently, these vessels visit Singapore or Japan for such works. The company has also submitted bids for two landing platform docks (LPDs), that are likely to be worth Rs 20,000 crore.

Defence has indeed emerged as a great opportunity for Indian businesses, according to Sunil Kant Munjal, chairman of Hero Enterprise.

It is a sunshine sector that will truly exploit Indias manufacturing abilities, Munjal said in a recent interview.

Several other companies think so too and have entered defence manufacturing. One analyst said it is still uncharted territory.

In India, businesses are incrementally grown over other businesses. Look at Sunil Mittal (of Bharti Airtel Ltd), Mukesh Ambani. They have done that. We dont know how this would work for Anil Ambanis defence business, the analyst said on condition of anonymity.

As for now, Anil Ambani wont answer questions on the group.

Do not deny me an opportunity of meeting you again, he said at a press conference at Reliance Centre in Santa Cruz, Mumbai, politely skirting questions.

Still, he added: I think I cant claim to be a subject matter expert on these issues. But, I think I have a little bit of insight into some of these issues. I hope as a Group and as Reliance Communications, we never ever... have to ever understand appreciate, analyse, or face an IBC, an NCLT or SDR or any such process ever, he said.

IBS is short for the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code; NCLT stands for the National Company Law Tribunal. SDR is Strategic Debt Restructuring, which it has exited.
A 32-year-old godman was arrested on Wednesday in Vrindavan of Uttar Pradeshs Mathura district for allegedly raping two women disciples from Maharashtra, police said, in the latest case involving spiritual leaders who have been accused of sexually abusing followers.

Mathuras superintendent of police Shravan Kumar said Bhagwat Acharya Vasudev Shastri was booked under Section 376 (punishment for rape) of the Indian Penal Code and that the women were sent for medical examination.

Member of the District Legal Services Authority in Mathura Pratibha Sharma, who was informed about the incident by the residents on Wednesday, said Shastri brought the two women to Vrindavan from their native village in Pune about three months ago. Both the women are 19 years old.

Sharma said Shastri brought them to Vrindavan after convincing their family members that they would learn Bhagwat from him. She said Shastri took obscene photographs and videos of the women and started blackmailing and raping them.

They were silently bearing the trauma for the last three months. One of the women tried to return to her village but was caught and threatened by the accused, Sharma said.

Shastri used to visit the women at their Nepali Mohalla residence in Motijheel area at night and sexually assault them, according to Sharma.

The two women were being blackmailed and even beaten up by the accused. The owner of the house where the women resided was visually-impaired and the accused used to take benefit of this. When the local residents came to know about Shastris activities, they beat him up and handed him over to the police, she said.

The matter was reported to the Kotwali police in Vrindavan and the women were rescued with the help of local residents.

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DEHRADUN: In his maiden visit to Dehradun, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath spent a quiet Wednesday morning feeding cows and offering prayers at the official residence of his Uttarkhand counterpart.

The 45-year-old Adityanath reached the capital on Tuesday evening and spent night at Trivendra Singh Rawats residence here. The UP chief minister was accompanied by his deputy Dinesh Sharma.On Wednesday, he along with Rawat went to Shimla to attend the swearing in-ceremony of Jayram Thakur who took over as the chief minister of neighbouring Himanchal Pradesh.

Held prayers and offered jaggery to cows today morning at chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawats residence, Adityanath official handle tweeted.

Both Rawat and Adityanath hail from Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand. The UP chief ministers parents and brothers stay in their ancestral village in Pauri. After taking reins of Uttar Pradesh in March, Adityanath arrived in Dehradun for the first time.

According to an official note, the visitor also took stroll at the sprawling CM residence. They (Adityanath and Trivendra) worshiped in the temple in the CMs house and also fed jaggery to cows in the ranch. The yogi appreciated the natural beauty and clean environment of the premises, it said.

Incidentally, the UP chief minister has a cowshed at his Kalidas road residence in Lucknow. The cows were shifted from Gorakhpur to Lucknow. Sources said Adityanath praised the cowshed at the CM residence in Doon.

Sources at the chief ministers office said during the stay, the two chief ministers did not discuss the issues pertaining to the distribution of assets that remains unresolved between Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Later in the day, Adityanath, his deputy Dinesh and Rawat returned to the capital from where the UP chief minister left for Lucknow. Mussoorie legislator Ganesh Joshi was present to receive the UP leaders.

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Police have arrested a 60-year-old man who sexually assaulted two minor girls and then gave them Rs 5 each not to tell anyone about the incident.

The alleged accused Mohammad Jainul, who works as a labourer told police he lured the two girls, aged 5 and 9 years to his house in south west Delhi by promising to give them sweets.

Police said the incident took place on Sunday.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (South West) Milind Mahadeo Dumbere said police learnt of the incident,when the parents of one of the girls called 100 on Sunday evening.

Police said investigations revealed that the two girls were playing outside the house of the 9-year-old girl when Jainul arrived there and promised to treat them with chocolates and sweets. DCP Dumbere added that the parents of both the girls are labourers who had gone out for work when the two kids were abducted.

He took both the girls to his house and assaulted them in front of one another. Before he let them off he warned them not to tell anyone about the assault and handed them over Rs. 5 . The two then went home, said Dumbere.

Terrified of the mans warnings, the two girls reportedly did not talk to anyone till the evening, when 5- year-old girl started crying because of the pain. Police said that the child told her mother about the elderly man who had touched her . The girls mother spotted the injury marks on her daughters private parts.

DCP Dumbere said the two families then approached police after which their statements were recorded. The two girls idenfied the man as the alleged rapists.

 They were then counselled and a case was registered against Jainul. Our team arrested him. he was produced before a court, which sent him to 14-days judicial custody , said Dumbere.

Police said Jainul is married with kids. At the time of the incident, his wife and kids were not at home.

South Delhi rape

Meanwhile, in south Delhi, police have arrested a 22-year-old in connection with the rape of a minor. Police said the 12-year-old girl was allegedly raped many times in the last four months by her landlords relative in south Delhis Yusuf Sarai.

An FIR was registered at the Hauz Khas police station on Sunday. On Tuesday, police arrested the alleged accused, who had fled his house after learning that the victim had filed a police complaint. He was caught from his relatives home in Delhi, said police. The accused Bunty worked as a helper at a shop in the area.

Police said that last week the girls elder sister saw Bunty coming out from her room. When she asked her sister about Bunty in her room, the girl broke down and narrated her ordeal. The family then informed the police, said a police officer.
The Delhi Congress on Wednesday said the Arvind Kejriwal governments claim that more than 87% of Delhis population benefited from the free water scheme was false propaganda, a charge rebutted by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB).

The Congress said the free scheme, the Aam Aadmi Partys (AAP) pre-poll plank, benefited not more than 8% households.

Delhi Congress Pradesh Committee president Ajay Maken, quoting from what he called the outcome budget of the DJB, told reporters that only 4.28 lakh households, which is less than 8% of the total number of households in Delhi (nearly 46 lakh), were beneficiaries of the policy.

Under the scheme, each household is entitled to 20,000 litres of water free of charge every month.

According to the outcome budget of the Delhi Jal Board, just 8% of the households of Delhi are benefiting from the scheme. The government is misleading the people by claiming that 87% people get free water, Maken said.

Maken said the AAP had gone back on its poll promise and asked chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to apologise to the people of Delhi.

DJB vice-chairman Dinesh Mohania, who described the tariff hike as normal, said it was necessary to implement the Seventh Pay Commissions recommendation for the boards employees.

The scheme benefits lakhs of people living across Delhis unauthorised colonies and JJ clusters, which cover majority of the population. I am yet to look at the claim and will need to discuss it with the member, finance. But I am sure it cant be just 8%, he said.

On Tuesday, the DJB hiked water tariff by 20% for residents using more than 20,000 litres a month. The hike will come into effect from February 1 next year.

They (AAP) want to send out a message that they are giving free water to majority of the people of Delhi. Actually, the revised tariff affects a huge population of Delhi, Maken said.

Rebutting the claims, AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said Makens claims hold no water. It is not possible that only 8% people are benefited by the policy, he said.
Four cases of rape and eight cases of sodomy involving children in school premises in the National Capital were registered till December 15 this year. One case of sodomy is yet to be worked out.

One case of rape in a school van was also reported this year. In all, 28 cases of rape and sodomy in school premises and school vans were reported in Delhi since 2014.

The data was provided by minister of state for home Hansraj Ahir in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

The minister said specific data on killing of school children with respect to the Capital, national capital region (NCR) and other parts of the country is not separately available. Similarly, specific data of sodomy and rape of school children with respect to the NCR and other parts of the country is also not available.

As per available information, the Central Board of Secondary Education and the Delhi government have issued various circulars and orders for the safety of children in the schools. The Delhi police have also taken various steps for the safety of school-going children in Delhi, Ahir said in the reply.

According to the data graph provided by the minister, in 2014, 10 cases of rape of school children in school premises and vans were reported in Delhi. One case of sodomy in school premises was also reported that year.

In 2015, one case each of rape and sodomy was reported in school premises/vans.

The next year, three cases of rape were reported in school premises and vans. No case of sodomy was registered.

In 2017, the sodomy cases saw a huge spike with eight cases being registered till December 15, while four cases of rape were also reported from school premises and vans.

The data graph specified that no case of rape or sodomy in school bus has been reported since 2014.
A 28-year-old woman shopkeeper was arrested for allegedly selling drugs and tobacco products to schoolchildren in central Delhis Baljeet Nagar on Tuesday. She was later granted bail, said the police.

The woman was caught red-handed as she sold cigarettes to two minor boys sent as decoy customers by the police.

The boys, aged 12 and 17, were among many schoolchildren who regularly bought these items from the woman.

We learnt that cigarettes were being sold to minors in the area, which is illegal. There are a couple of schools in the area and the woman allegedly encouraged schoolchildren to buy cigarettes. Some students told us that on certain occasions, she allegedly sold them ganja (marijuana), which is a contraband, said a police officer.

The police of Anand Parbat police station then started scouting for some of the underage customers who would pose as decoy customers and finally zeroed in on the two minor boys.

We gave them currency notes of different denominations after noting down the serial numbers of those notes.The two went to the shop on Tuesday evening. One asked for a cigarette while the other asked for a packet of beedi and collected the items after paying her with the money we had given them, said the officer.

As the children left, a police team visited the shop and arrested the woman whose name has not been disclosed.

She was booked under Section 77 of the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act and arrested. She was later granted bail and is now out, said deputy commissioner of police (central) MS Randhawa.

This provision of the JJ Act was amended last year, making the sale of tobacco products to minors punishable by law. It attracts a jail term and a fine Rs 1 lakh.

Last month, a shopkeeper was arrested in Patel Nagar for allegedly selling cigarettes to minors. Then too, the police had roped in a minor boy and his father who conducted a sting and filmed the sale for evidence.
Like any unwieldy metropolis, Delhi is full of extraordinary lives, but how many of those do we know? Take Muhammed Waseem, a homeless man who used to spend all his waking hours in a public library.

We were quite friendly with the frail, elderly Mr Waseem. Six days a week  Monday to Saturday  he was found without fail at the Ghalib Academy in central Delhis Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti. Dedicated to poet Mirza Ghalib, the centres first-floor library is open to all. But our sightings of this man stopped a few months ago. Busy in our own life, we didnt dwell much on it.

Last week, the man who sits beside the Urdu poetry bookstall at Ghalib Academy mentioned casually, during the course of an unrelated conversation, that Mr Waseem died a few months ago  he wasnt sure of the date.

A life with Ghalib and others

I have been coming to Ghalib Academys library for 10 years. At night, I sleep in the rain basera (government-run night shelter). During the day, I come here to read, the late Mr Waseem once told us.

It was the only chat we had with him, in 2014, that went beyond a customary exchange of greetings.

We were sitting with him on a winter afternoon in the librarys claustrophobic cubicle  its only window overlooks Ghalibs tomb.

An Urdu newspaper lying opened in his lap, he said, I read all newspapers, including the English papers. I would read books too but now my eyes... I havent been able to read a novel for years. In the newspapers, I only manage to read the headlines which, thankfully, are printed in bold. Mr Waseem didnt have to read Ghalib  he would often recite the poets verses from memory and explain those difficult Urdu lines in simple Hindi.

Mr Waseems daily life was a book lovers fantasy  all about rummaging for pleasure. His mornings began in a Basti eatery with a glass of milk and a single fen, Delhis classic teatime snack.

He would then cross the road for Khan-i-Khanas tomb in Nizamuddin East. There he lounged for an hour. By 10am, when it was the time for the Ghalib Academy to open, he would walk back to Nizamuddin Basti and stay there till the evening.

I sometimes stand on the lane that goes towards the dargah, he said, referring to the Sufi shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, which gave its name to this settlement. Pilgrims give me food, clothes and sometimes, money.

Going back to his early days, Mr Waseem recalled: I gave up my working life about a decade ago after which I decided to spend the rest of my life reading.

At some point, Mr Waseem was a furniture polisher and an all-round painter in Mumbai. He also briefly lived in Dubai. But it was Delhi he headed to after leaving his hometown Kanpur decades ago.

I must have been 20 then. Im sure my brothers must still be living in Kanpur but I havent had any contact with them for a very long time. I like living alone.

Remembering Mirza Ghalib as he turns 220: The world is the body, Delhi its soul

Mr Waseem never married. I never had mohabbat (romance) with anyone Sometimes, I think I could have experienced at least one relationship but Im a traveller unable to set roots anywhere.

Before his eyesight dimmed a few years ago, Mr Waseem would re-read his favourite novelists  Premchand, Krishan Chander, Khwaja Ahmad Abbas and Diptee Nazir Ahmad Dehlvi. These writers had a style that brought me closer to the realities of our world. The Ghalib Academy often hosts poetry mushairas in its large auditorium in the evenings. Its rarely a full house, but we always spotted Mr Waseem in a seat at the back. Sometimes, he would be dozing.

In the evening, he would kill the hours sitting by a pavement tea stall just outside the Ghalib Academy. It was there that he passed away one evening while having chai his head just fell to one side, the bookstall man told us. Mr Waseems relatives from Kanpur attended his burial, he added.

While talking to us, Mr Waseem had also said: I have no pain, no suitcases and no burdens. My end depends on the will of God. Until then I will continue to be in this library.

(Note: The people at the Ghalib Academy tell us the gentlemans name was Saeed Bilgarami but we used the name he gave us.)
A day after lieutenant governor (L-G) Anil Baijal returned the AAP governments proposal for doorstep delivery of services, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday asked if the L-G was trying to protect the corrupt system by opposing the scheme.

The ruling Aam Aadmi Party has appealed the L-G to reconsider his decision. If he does not, the party said it would launch an agitation to press for the demand.

The L-Gs office on Tuesday sent back the Arvind Kejriwal governments ambitious proposal to provide doorstep delivery of 40 key services to reconsider its present form, suggesting the system be digitised so that citizens are able to avail of the services online.

On Wednesday, Sisodia issued a point- wise response to Baijals observations, saying the L-Gs concerns were unrealistic. He alleged that the opposition to the doorstep delivery services was to protect the corrupt.

I was pained after reading the L-Gs note (on doorstep delivery). What is the problem if people get the government services at their doorstep? Is he doing all this to protect the corrupt system? This raises an apprehension, what is his (Baijals) interest in this corrupt system? Sisodia asked at a press conference.

Responding to the L-Gs suggestion of digitising the services instead of doorstep delivery, Sisodia said the concerns were unrealistic

By merely installing a computer at office or residence will not ensure digital delivery. This scheme, doorstep delivery of services, is the best way to ensure digital delivery. This service, in fact, is super digital delivery, the deputy CM said.

The L-G in his statement had said that out of the 40 services included in the doorstep delivery scheme, 35 were already online.

Though these services are online, on an average, 25-lakh people visit government offices for these 40 services annually. The last government in Delhi introduced the kiosk system, but it failed miserably and corruption went up, he said.

Countering Baijals observation that the scheme would pose a threat to the security of citizens and would lead to corruption, Sisodia said the entire e-commerce system was successful because of home delivery services and there is no security threat.

Senior AAP leader and Delhi unit convenor Gopal Rai said the concerns raised by the L-G were unrealistic and he should reconsider the point-wise response sent by AAP government. He said if the scheme did not take off, the party would launch an agitation.

It seems the L-G under the BJPs influence doesnt want AAP to function. We will hit the streets if the L-G doesnt reconsider his concerns and let us benefit the people of Delhi, Rai said.
Students and a section of faculty members have alleged that the move to make attendance mandatory at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) was an attack on the universitys traditions. The decision they said was unilateral and taken by the vice chancellor without consulting them.

A circular issued by the university on December 22 made attendance mandatory for all students registered in all programmes from the winter semester 2018 and detailed guidelines, including the exact percentage of minimum attendance required, to be made available later.

The decision has, however, has not been received well by students across party lines, with the Left-backed JNU students union calling the new directive irrational, arbitrary and anti student. The RSS-backed ABVP members have called for the burning of effigies of the JNU administration and the student union over the regressive Tughlaqi farmaan.

Though, the circular mentions that the academic council approved to make attendance compulsory in its meeting on December 1, the students union said no decision in this regard had been reached.

Attendance was not discussed in the academic council meeting with students or teachers. It was not even on the agenda. The vice chancellor had mentioned something about this saying they would do it but no decision had been made, said Simone Zoya Khan, vice president, Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU).

Khan further said the decision to monitor attendance of students was an attack on the way JNU has traditionally functioned, and the students body does not accept it.

Ayesha Kidwai, president of JNU Teachers Association (JNUTA) , said the move is unnecessary as JNU doesnt have a problem of absenteeism. This has zero support among the teachers community. We do not have an absentee problem, then why make attendance compulsory? If you miss classes, you miss out and fall behind. That should be punishment enough, she said, adding that attendance has been discussed for undergraduate language courses in the past, but never implemented.

JNU spokesperson said that all questions regarding the matter should be directed to the assistant registrar, Sajjan Singh, for evaluation. Singh, on the other hand, said he was out of town and he had nothing more to add other than what the circular said. The JNU V-C refused to comment.

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A 20-year-old woman has alleged she was raped by three men at a flat in south Delhis RK Puram on Monday, police said. Police have registered a case of gang rape and arrested all the three suspects.

Romil Baaniya, DCP (south-east), quoted the woman, a model, as alleging that one of the suspects had befriended her in Mumbai.

He allegedly offered to help her get acting assignments as he claimed to know film directors, police said.

The duo had arrived in Delhi a few weeks ago and they spent time together, the DCP quoted the woman as saying. On Sunday, the man took her to a mall in south Delhis Vasant Kunj where they met his two friends.

From the mall, the four of them drove to a flat in RK Puram Sector 13. The woman was allegedly lured into having drinks with them. The next day, the three of them took advantage of her inebriated state and took turns to rape her. She informed police on Monday night, said an investigator not authorised to speak to the media.

She identified the three suspects after which police arrested all of them. Police registered a case of gang rape at the Sarojini Nagar police station.
A 32-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly molesting a Class 8 student in a private van engaged to drop children to a school at Indirapuram in Ghaziabad.

The father of the 13-year-old victim had lodged an FIR against the driver following which the accused was arrested. She was dropped to school around 8am but she was not feeling well. She tried to go inside the school to make a call but the driver brought her back to the van and offered to drop her home. He stopped the van at an isolated spot and molested her, the father of the 13-year-old said in his complaint.

The driver allegedly took the van to an isolated area near Amrapali Village high rise. The police said he touched the victim inappropriately before she managed to come out of the van. The driver threatened her of dire consequences if she narrated the incident to police or to her parents, the complaint said.

The police said the victim cried for help and raised an alarm after which some locals came up to her aid. Some of them helped her reach home while the others nabbed the driver.

The accused was later arrested by police and identified as Anil Kumar Nishad who lives in Old Seelampur area of Delhi. The police said the 13-year-old was one of the five schoolchildren whose parents had engaged the van.

We have arrested him and produced him before a Ghaziabad court. We booked him for criminal intimidation, molestation and also levied provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. During questioning, he admitted to his involvement and was arrested, said SC Dubey, station house officer, Indirapuram police station.

We will also check up if he had all the relevant documents for operating the van. Proper action will be taken, he added. The police said that the girl was a state of shock and they will take her statement once she recovers.

The accused is from Banda district and is the father of two children, including a minor girl.

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The ongoing sealing drive will soon target street hawkers and unauthorised colonies, the Delhi Congress said, citing the new amendments in the National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second (Amendment Bill, 2017) passed by the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

The sealing drive will not be limited to the posh south Delhi markets and Chattarpur. Next on the target of the municipal corporation would be street vendors and unauthorised colonies, which were hitherto provided immunity under the Act, Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken told newsmen on Wednesday.

Maken explained that a clause in the Bill, which proposed a three-year extension to the December 31 deadline, removed impunity to street vendors. They were covered by the bill passed in 2014.

The amended bill in 2014 had kept a provision to prevent the street vendors from facing any punitive action. Since this has been removed, over five lakh vendors would be the next target of the sealing drive, said Maken

The Congress leader has written a letter Union minister of state for housing and urban affairs Hardeep Puri, suggesting that the ministry should consider reducing the conversion charges from residential to commercial to 10% from the existing 100%.

Maken said in the 2014 amendment, unauthorised construction in regularised unauthorised colonies, urbanised villages and village abadis were protected till June 1, 2014. But no such extension has been given under the present amendment, he said.

Therefore any construction beyond June 1, 2014, would be deemed unauthorised leading to hardships in unauthorised colonies and village abadis across Delhi, he said, urging the minister to reconsider this aspect and introduce a new bill to protect all construction up to June,2017 in urbanised villages and unauthorised colonies.
The officials of South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) sealed 30 shops, eateries, marble units, offices and other commercial establishments on Wednesday for misusing agricultural land for commercial use as part of its ongoing sealing drive overseen by the Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee in Chhattarpur.

A team of municipal officials assisted by Delhi Police and a company of paramilitary forces reached the Chhattarpur Bhati Road, known for marble trading units at 12 noon.

The shopkeepers who had expected the crackdown lay on the street in a bid to prevent the officials from sealing their business units.

A group of irked shopkeepers even surrounded KJ Rao, a member of the three-member monitoring committee, pleading him to not seal their shops. Some of the shopkeepers turned emotional and could not hold back their tears while asking for 10 days time to submit their reply.

However, the drive continued and SDMC took the help of police to disperse the shop owners. All the three the members were present for some time. Of the 30 shops sealed, most were marble trading showrooms, said the SDMC official.

The shop owners alleged that the municipal corporation sealed the shops without serving prior notices.The monitoring committee members clarified that as per section 345 A of Delhi Municipal Act, they are not supposed to serve notice for the sealing drive.

Notice is served only when a demolition drive is carried, said an SDMC official. After the formation of the committee, a circular was issued in 2006-07 stating that the monitoring committee will not serve any sealing notice before carrying any drive, the official added.

Vinod Mittal, a shop owner, said, We have all the papers issued from the municipal corporation, still the agency is sealing our properties which is unjustified. Also, these shops were constructed two decades back, why were the civic agency and monitoring committee sitting silent since then.

Ideally, the municipal authorities should have taken action against the villagers who had constructed these shops illegally and sold them to others, said Mittal.

The civic agency during the sealing drive, however, did not seal motels that have got all the required approvals from the municipal corporation. The Chhattarpur Bhati Road has been notified as National Highway and motels are allowed on them as per norms, said an official.

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The Central Board of Secondary Education or CBSE is likely to release the date sheets of the class 10 and 12 Board exams by January 10, 2018. The board had released its 2017 date sheet on January 9.

According to an NDTV report, CBSE will release the date sheet after declaration of the election dates for four states: Meghalaya, Tripura, Nagaland and Karnataka.

Students and schools can access the date sheets for the CBSE Class 10, 12 board exams from cbse.nic.in.

CBSEs Class 12 results for 2017 were delayed after a Delhi High Court directive on the moderation policy, which the school board struck down for this year. CBSE was directed by the high court to continue with it for at least this year. The moderation policy refers to a practice of grant of extra marks to students in subjects regarded as unusually difficult, or when there are variations in question paper sets. However, it has been noted that such marks are doled out in excess.

Girls outperformed boys this year in CBSEs Class 12 boards by 9.5%. Girls pass percentage was 87.50 and 78 for boys. Pass percentage for differently abled students was 86.69.

The all India pass percentage for CBSE Class 12 results was 82 in 2017, a point lower than last years 83.

Over 18,000 schools across the country are affiliated to the CBSE. As many as 10,98,891 candidates  6,38,865 boys and 4,60,026 girls  from 10,678 schools registered for the CBSE Class 12 examinations this year.

There was a 2.82% increase in registration for the 2017 edition of the examinations, as compared to the previous year. Around 10,67,900 students  6,21,259 boys and 4,46,641 girls  had taken it then.
Even as 65 acres were handed over to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for shifting the Kherki Daula toll plaza to Sehrawan, the authority may not be able to move the 42-km Toll by March 2018, as the concessionaires agreement expires in 2023.

The 28-km Delhi-Gurgaon expressway from Rao Tula Ram (RTR) to Kherki Daula toll plaza is run by a consortium of five nationalised banks through a special purpose vehiclethe Millennium City Expressway Private Limited (MCEPL). Beyond the Kherki Daula toll plaza, the highway, including the proposed site Sehrawan, which will be called 53-km Toll, is maintained by another concessionairethe Pink City Expressway Limited.

The MCEPL claimed it spent Rs1,200 crore on the Delhi Gurgaon Expressway, including the toll plaza, and their interest stands at Rs800 crore taking the cost of shifting the toll to Rs2,000 crore. In January 2017, the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) and NHAI requested the concessionaire to wave of Rs800 crore and planned to buy the toll by collectively paying Rs1,200 crore. However, the HSIIDC pulled out citing fund crunch.

With this, the NHAI is left with two optionsto buy off the toll completely by paying Rs1200 cr or it can bear the revenue loss likely to happen at new location.

We are working on these options, Ashok Kumar Sharma, NHAI project director, Gurgaon, said, adding that they will call a meeting with the MCEPL and request them to share their feasibility report with the NHAI board.

According to a study conducted by the MCEPL, Sehrawan is a low-potential zone for revenue generation as compared to Kherki Daula, making the shift unviable for the consortium.

About 1.1 lakh vehicles pass through Kherki toll every day. This will reduce to about 60,000 once toll is shifted.

MCEPL chief executive officer S Raguraman said, I will speak with the banks after we get official communication from NHAI. I can say that Kherki Daula Toll is a high-potential site as compared to the one at Sehrawan. Shifting to a very low-potential zone would cause roughly 40% revenue loss to the company. On an average, the Kherki Daula Toll generates Rs40 lakh daily.

The NHAI is under pressure from the Central government to shift the toll.

The government can do anything provided there is a will to bring permanent relief to commuters and ease the business of Manesar industries. The concessionaire had earlier demanded Rs2,000 crore to remove the toll, and this amount would be difficult for any government to arrange, Om Prakash, a resident of Manesar, said.

The industries in Manesar continue to be afflicted by regular jams on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway with long lines of vehicles on either sides of the toll plaza.

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Actor Jessica Chastain has called for more inclusivity in Hollywood after a magazines all-white female cover, that also featured her, sparked outrage on the social media.

Chastain was criticised by social media users for ignoring the white-washing done by the magazine as she is often vocal about gender and diversity issues.

She soon join the debate around the cover that featured actors Annette Bening, Diane Kruger, Margot Robbie, Saoirse Ronan, and Kate Winslet besides her.

Honestly @jes_chastain as an outspoken voice for equality how do you pose for a photo like this and not feel absolutely mortified by the blatant exclusion? How is it possible to not understand the msg this photo sends? pic.twitter.com/nb8caRfVL6  Rebecca Carroll (@rebel19) December 22, 2017

Its a sad look that theres no WOC (Women of Colour) in this pic of us promoting our female lead films. The industry needs to become more inclusive in its storytelling.

What were your favourite WOC lead films this year? I loved Salma Hayek in Beatrice At Dinner posted the actor on Twitter.

Its a sad look that there's no WOC in this pic of us promoting our female lead films. The industry needs to become more inclusive in its storytelling. What were your favorite WOC lead films this year? I LOVED @salmahayek in #BeatriceAtDinner https://t.co/tzoijwy88q  Jessica Chastain (@jes_chastain) December 24, 2017

However, the actor struggled to recount films featuring women of colour in the lead.

Its terrible that I cant think of at least five female lead films with woc this year, Chastain said.

In 12 months theres not even 5?! she added.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Police have arrested a 12-year-old girl for allegedly murdering her adoptive mother with the help of her boyfriend in Fatehpur on Sunday. The woman was reportedly averse to the girls relationship with the Class 9 student, two years her senior in school.

Fatehpur superintendent of police Sriparna Ganguly said the duo has been booked for murder, and sent to a juvenile home. The girl misread the punishment she received from the woman, who adopted her when she was just three months old, as a sign that she did not love her, said Ganguly.

Police said the girl also destroyed two cellphones to cover up the crime, and then told neighbours that her 45-year-old adoptive mother was too unwell to take their calls. The two would have got away with the alleged crime, if not for a neighbour who alerted the police.

Kotwali station house officer Sunil Singh said the girl invited her boyfriend to their house at Turab Ali ka Purva in Fatehpur sadar on Sunday evening, infuriating her adoptive mother. She reportedly slapped her and told the boy to leave. However, she called the boy to their residence again around midnight. That night, while the woman was sleeping, they allegedly strangled her and locked the body in another room.

After committing the crime, the girl left the house with the boy and spent the night with him elsewhere. The next morning, after the duo had breakfast at a restaurant, they destroyed the cellphones, said Singh.

Around noon the next day, the girl returned to the house and approached a neighbour. She told him that her adoptive mother was lying motionless in the house, and obliquely blamed her condition on an ailment for which she had been consulting a doctor in Kanpur.

Upon discovering that the woman was dead, neighbours informed her husband in Mumbai. Everybody in the locality believed her story, and were in the process of preparing the body for burial when a suspicious neighbour informed the police.

The girl reportedly broke down under questioning on Tuesday noon, and confessed to her involvement in the murder. The boy was later picked up by the police.
As many as 20 Tamil Nadu fishermen, who were arrested on charges of poaching in Sri Lankan waters were repatriated on Wednesday following their release by a court there.

According to police, the fishermen from Karaikal, Ramanathapuram and Pudukottai districts were handed over to the Indian Coast Guard at the international Maritime boundary line this morning by the Lankan authorities.

The fishermen were arrested in January and February this year, they said.

More than 130 Tamil Nadu fishermen, arrested on various occasions, are still languishing in different prisons in Sri Lanka, Rameswaram Fishermens Association leader P Sesuraja said.
Seven people, including controversial Hindu leader Pragya Singh Thakur and army officer Prasad Shrikant Purohit, will face trial in the 2008 Malegaon blast case on terrorism and conspiracy charges, a Mumbai court said on Wednesday.

The special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court, however, dropped charges of being members of a terrorist organisation as well as those under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against the accused.

While dropping charges, special judge SD Tekale refused to accept the federal agencys stand that there was no proof against Thakur in the blast that left six people dead and 101 injured.

There is evidence to suggest that the accused number one (Thakur) had knowledge about involvement of her motorcycle, Tekale said.

Thakur had also expressed dissatisfaction about causing less casualties in the blast. Hence it is difficult to accept submissions on behalf of the NIA and the accused number one that she had no concern with the present crime, the court added.

The NIA court said the seven accused will be charged under section 16 (punishment for terrorist act) and 18 (punishment for conspiracy) of the Unlawful Assembly (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The former carries the death penalty as maximum punishment and the latter life imprisonment. The accused would also face conspiracy and other charges under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The court scrapped charges under three sections of the UAPA  section 17 (punishment for raising funds for terrorist activities ), section 20 (punishment for being a member of terrorist organisation) and section 23 (aiding and abetting terrorist activities).

Other than Thakur and Purohit, former army officer Ramesh Upadhyay, Sameer Kulkarni, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi alias Swami Amritanand and Sudhakar Chaturvedi will face trial. The special court dropped all charges against three accused, Shiv Narayan Kalsangra, Shyam Sahu and Praveen Takkalki.

The court also dropped charges against two other accused -- Rakesh Dhawde and Jagdish Mhatre. But the duo will face trial under the Arms Act for allegedly giving arms and ammunition training. The case against Dhawde would now be shifted to Pune while Mhatres case would be conducted in a court in Thane.

All accused are out on bail.

At around 9.30 pm on September 29, 2008, a bomb kept on a motorcycle exploded near Hamidia Masjid in Malegaon, a communally sensitive textile town in the Nasik district of northern Maharashtra.

Investigations into blast became one of Indias most high-profile probes with numerous twists and turns. Within months of the 2008 blast, the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Maharashtra police arrested alleged mastermind Thakur, whose motorcycle was allegedly used for the blast.

The ATS then arrested Lieutenant Colonel Purohit, who was accused of floating an organisation to create a separate Hindu nation with its own Constitution. He allegedly brought explosives from Kashmir during his posting and stored it in his house. Upadhyay is accused of helping the group prepare bombs. Dhawde, who dealt in antique weapons in Pune, allegedly held several training camps for the blast.

In all, the ATS arrested 11 people in October and November 2008 and said the attack was planned by Hindu right-wing groups to target Malegaons Muslim population.

In April 2011, the probe was transferred to the NIA, who added five more people to the list of accused. The agency also re-recorded the statements of 11 of the ATS 452 witnesses who claimed they had been interrogated under duress.

In a chargesheet filed on May 13, 2016, the agency said prosecution against six accused, including Thakur and Purohit, was not maintainable, and revoked MCOCA. The agency also accused the ATS of having coerced and manipulated witnesses.

With agency inputs

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When family of Sukma naxal attack martyr Abhay Kumar was offered Rs 5 lakh compensation by the Bihar government, they refused to accept the amount calling it humiliation to their slain sons honour. No amount of money can compensate for a life lost, but when a familys sole breadwinner leaves behind young children, monetary help can go long way in funding their education and marriage.

In India, martyrs kin face disparity in compensation subject to the states they belong, even if they are killed in similar circumstances. The recent example of this was when Punjab government announced Rs 12 lakh compensation to its martyr soldier killed in ceasefire violation while Haryana announced Rs 50 lakh for its soldier killed in the same event. Both died for the country.

Haryanas Rs 50 lakh is still respectable, but Punjabs Rs 12 lakh compensation is peanuts for a family of four to survive for the rest of their lives.  Major General Satbir Singh (retd)

Haryana government under chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar stood out in honouring martyrs when it hiked the solatium for slain army jawans kin to Rs 50 lakh in 2014.

The state recently also passed a proposal to hike the ex-gratia for kin of paramilitary personnel killed in action, making it at par with the army.

When my brother died, his wife and three school-going children had to survive by borrowing loans from family and friends. Fortunately, the Haryana government hiked compensation for families of paramilitary personnel. Now, even we can think of affording good colleges for our children, said Ramesh Kumar, brother of BSF jawan Rai Singh who was killed last November during ceasefire violation in Kashmir.

As per Haryana government, it has given appointment to 152 dependents of martyrs in the last three years. They include 141 kin of army personnel and 11 of the paramilitary. To do away with the paperwork that causes delay in grant of compensation, the state government recently gave powers to deputy commissioners to release ex-gratia amount to martyrs families taking cognisance of reliable media reports.

Military experts, meanwhile, demand that the Centre should constitute a committee that coordinates with states to decide the compensation for martyrs kin. A soldier does not die for a state, but for the country. So it is the duty of the Centre to ensure their families are fairly and equally compensated, said Major General Satbir Singh (retd), who was at the forefront of One Rank One Pension (OROP) agitation.

Haryanas Rs 50 lakh is still respectable, but Punjabs Rs 12 lakh compensation is peanuts for a family of four to survive for the rest of their lives. The government should consider setting Rs 1 crore as the minimum compensation for martyrs families, he added.

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Parliament on Wednesday amended a law to declare that bamboo is not a tree, a step that the government says will help farmers and tribal people.

The Rajya Sabha passed the Indian Forest (Amendment) Bill by a voice vote as MPs of the Congress, Biju Janta Dal and the Samajwadi Party walked out in protest. The Lok Sabha passed the bill on December 20.

The Indian Forest Act, 1927, defined bamboo as a tree, prohibiting its cutting from outside forests and transporting. Farmers, particularly in north east India, faced harassment because they could neither cut bamboo nor transport it, says this report. The amended bill allows felling and transport of bamboo grown in non-forest areas. Bamboo grown in forest lands will continue to be classified as tree and legal restrictions on cutting and transport will remain.

Opposition parties protested the new bill, saying it was passed without consulting stakeholders and that it would favour industrialists.

Harsh Vardhan, minister for environment, forest and climate change, rejected the allegations. I am really shocked to see that you (opposition ) cant see the benefit of tribals and poor farmers who are going to benefit after the bill is passed, he said.

It took us 90 years to do it [amend bill]. It was long awaited in India. We cannot allow tribals and poor farmers of the country to suffer, he said, arguing that 26 states and union territories had responded on the bill and 24 of them had supported it.

Vardhan said the amendment aimed to promote bamboo cultivation in non-forest areas and improve farm income, keeping in mind the governments ambitious target of doubling farmers income by 2022.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, a former environment minister, called the bill very misleading and said it will work against the interests of tribal people.

After the ministers reply, Ramesh said it was most unsatisfactory on all counts and walked out of the House. He was followed by his other party members.

Ramesh questioned the urgency of promulgating the ordinance when Parliament was in session, alleging that the government was bringing the amendment to benefit private players and taking away the control of the forest areas from the Gram Sabhas.

Several opposition members including D Raja (CPI), Pradeep Tamta (Congress), Viplove Thakur (Congress) also opposed the bill.
United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. KWOK LUN CHOW, also known as KwokLun Chow, also known as Nelson Chow, Defendant - Appellant. No. 16-8115 Decided: December 20, 2017

Before KELLY, MURPHY, and MATHESON, Circuit Judges.

ORDER AND JUDGMENT*

After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist in the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument.

I. Introduction

Defendant-Appellant, Kwok Lun Chow, was charged in a one-count indictment with possession with intent to distribute more than fifty kilograms of marijuana, in violation of 21 U.S.C.  841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C). Chow filed a motion to suppress evidence seized during a roadside search of his vehicle. The district court denied the motion and Chow entered a conditional guilty plea to the charged crime. See Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(a)(2). He was sentenced to thirty-six months' probation with the first eight months on home confinement. Chow then brought this appeal challenging the denial of his suppression motion. Exercising jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C.  1291, we affirm the denial of Chow's motion.

II. Background

The factual background is fully set forth in the district court's order denying Chow's motion to suppress and Chow does not challenge any of the court's factual findings. Wyoming Highway Patrol Trooper Aaron Kirlin stopped Chow for speeding on February 13, 2016. Chow was driving a rented U-Haul truck. Trooper Kirlin asked Chow to sit in his patrol car while he completed the paperwork for a warning. During that time, Trooper Kirlin questioned Chow about his travel plans. Chow first said he was moving to New York, but then said he was moving to New Jersey. When Trooper Kirlin noted the U-Haul was scheduled to be returned in Brooklyn, Chow stated some of the things in the truck belonged to his cousin who was the passenger in the U-Haul and who resides in Brooklyn. Chow told Trooper Kirlin he was moving from San Francisco but also stated he began the journey in Seattle. He explained that his job required him to split his time between California and Seattle. Trooper Kirlin testified that Chow displayed visible signs of nervousness throughout the encounter by stammering, avoiding eye contact, picking at his fingernails, and breathing rapidly.

Trooper Kirlin returned Chow's documents and told him the traffic stop was over. Chow, however, voluntarily agreed to answer additional questions. Among other things, he told Trooper Kirlin his Seattle residence was a two-bedroom home provided by his employer. Trooper Kirlin then asked Chow if he could speak to his passenger. Although Chow agreed, Kirlin testified that Chow's face drained of color when he heard the question.

Chow's passenger, Jia Jun Yu, told Trooper Kirlin that Chow was moving out of a studio apartment in Seattle to New York. He also told Kirlin that he and Chow were friends, not related to each other. Although Chow told Trooper Kirlin that he worked for a security camera company and was a salaried employee, Yu told Kirlin that Chow was moving to New York to do restaurant work. When Trooper Kirlin finished questioning Yu, he returned to his patrol car, told Chow he was detained, and gave him a Miranda warning. During further questioning, Chow admitted there was marijuana in the back of the U-Haul. Approximately 292 pounds of marijuana were found in the vehicle.

Chow was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C.  841(a)(1) and (b)(1(C). He filed a motion to suppress the evidence uncovered during the search of the U-Haul, arguing he was seized in violation of the Fourth Amendment when Trooper Kirlin told him he was detained and read him his Miranda rights. Specifically, Chow asserted: Mr. Chow's main point in this motion is that Trooper Kirlin lacked reasonable, articulable suspicion to detain him based solely on what he observed in this case. In its response, the government argued the conflicting statements given by Chow and Yu gave rise to reasonable articulable suspicion.

The district court denied Chow's motion, concluding Chow's detention was based on Trooper Kirlin's objectively reasonable suspicion that Chow was engaged in criminal activity. See United States v. Arvizu, 534 U.S. 266, 273-74 (2002) (discussing the circumstances under which a brief investigatory stop does not violate the Fourth Amendment). Chow pleaded guilty to the drug charge, preserving his right to appeal the denial of his motion. See Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(a)(2).

III. Discussion

When reviewing the denial of a motion to suppress, this court views the evidence in the light most favorable to the Government and accepts the district court's factual findings unless they are clearly erroneous. United States v. Price, 265 F.3d 1097, 1104 (10th Cir. 2001). The ultimate determination of whether a traffic stop was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment is a question of law reviewed de novo. Id.

Chow does not challenge the lawfulness of the initial stop or the consensual nature of his interaction with Trooper Kirlin after his documents were returned and before Kirlin questioned Yu. He raises only two arguments. First, he asserts the district court erred by concluding Trooper Kirlin had reasonable articulable suspicion to detain him after Yu was questioned and before he admitted the U-Haul contained marijuana. Chow also argues he was arrested without probable cause when Trooper Kirlin gave him a Miranda warning.

As to Chow's first argument, this court must determine whether the totality of the circumstances justify the detention. United States v. Mendez, 118 F.3d 1426, 1431 (10th Cir. 1997). While reasonable suspicion may not be based on a mere hunch, the likelihood of criminal activity need not rise to the level required for probable cause, and it falls considerably short of satisfying a preponderance of the evidence standard.  United States v. Karam, 496 F.3d 1157, 1162 (10th Cir. 2007) (quoting Arvizu, 534 U.S. at 274). We assess reasonable suspicion in light of the totality of the circumstances. United States v. Valles, 292 F.3d 678, 680 (10th Cir. 2002). Individual factors can contribute to reasonable suspicion even if each factor is not by itself proof of any illegal conduct and is quite consistent with innocent travel. United States v. Sokolow, 490 U.S. 1, 9 (1989).

The district court concluded Chow's own conflicting statements about his travel plans were of limited significance because they were not necessarily inconsistent. It did, however, give the following inconsistent statements of Chow and Yu considerable weight.

 Chow stated that he was traveling with his cousin and that he was working for a camera company. Chow told Trooper Kirlin that he was being transferred by the company to New York (although he was going to live in New Jersey). Chow stated that the company was paying him and that he was on the clock at the time. Chow clarified that he was a salaried employee, not hourly. Chow went into great detail about his job, including telling Trooper Kirlin that he had just registered for a convention in Las Vegas, Nevada in April (the stop was in February) and told him about the convention. Chow stated that he was traveling between California and Seattle and the company provided him housing in Seattle, and when asked Chow said it was two-bedroom housing.

 The passenger confirmed Chow was moving to New York, but when asked about his new job, he said Chow was going to work in the restaurant industry. Given how much information Chow provided to Trooper Kirlin about his job with the camera company, with no mention of work in the restaurant industry, this was a significant inconsistency. Finally, after a question from Trooper Kirlin, the passenger stated Chow had a studio apartment in Seattle, not a two bedroom place as Chow had told Trooper Kirlin.

As to Chow's abnormal travel plans, the district court did not consider them a significant factor on their own. Finally, the court noted that nervousness is of limited significance when determining reasonable articulable suspicion but considered Chow's nervousness because it was excessive.

Chow does not challenge any of the district court's factual findings. His argument is confined to an assertion the facts were insufficient to establish reasonable articulable suspicion of illegal activity. We disagree. Under the totality of the circumstances based on the district court's findings, Trooper Kirlin had reasonable suspicion to detain Chow and extend the traffic stop. See United States v. Kitchell, 653 F.3d 1206, 1219 (10th Cir. 2011) (The motorist's or his passengers' inconsistent statements in response to  questions can give rise to reasonable suspicion of criminal activity.); Karam, 496 F.3d at 1164-65 ([C]onfusion about details is often an indication that a story is being fabricated on the spot, and vague and evasive answers may be considered, in conjunction with other factors, as contributing to an officer's determination of reasonable suspicion. (quotation omitted)); United States v. Santos, 403 F.3d 1120, 1127 (10th Cir. 2005) (holding unusual nervousness may be considered as part of the totality of the circumstances a reasonable law enforcement officer would analyze in investigating possible crimes).

Chow concedes that his second argumentthat his detention was an arrest not supported by probable causewas not presented to the district court. In United States v. Anderson, this court held that any theory of suppression not presented to the district court falls outside the scope of the appellate rights reserved by a conditional guilty plea. 374 F.3d 955, 957-58 (10th Cir. 2004). In the written plea agreement, Chow, like the defendant in Anderson, reserved only the right to appeal the adverse determination of his motion to suppress. On appeal, he does not argue he did not knowingly and voluntarily enter into his plea agreement or that enforcement of the appellate waiver results in a miscarriage of justice. See id. at 958-59. Accordingly, we will not consider Chow's second argument because it falls outside the scope of Chow's reserved appellate rights.

IV. Conclusion

The order of the district court denying Chow's motion to suppress is affirmed.

ENTERED FOR THE COURT

Michael R. Murphy Circuit Judge
The ruling BJP in Uttar Pradesh has removed its Ghaziabad city president Ajay Sharma after he, along with over a hundred others, clashed with police over the marriage of a Hindu woman with a Muslim man which they dubbed as a case of love jihad.

The state party President Mahendra Nath Pandey took the decision at 11 pm on Tuesday.

The letter, signed by state General Secretary Vidya Shankar Sonkar, said in view of the protest against the inter-religious marriage, Ajay Sharma has been removed from his post. The letter also states that Man Singh Goswami, the city General Secretary, has been appointed as city president. Goswami took charge at 11.30 pm on Tuesday.

On December 22, the womans family had organised a wedding reception at their house in Ghaziabad.

Over 100 workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party and other Hindu outfits, including the Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal and Jai Shiv Sena, staged a sit-in outside the house in Raj Nagar, protesting the wedding, and disrupted traffic.

Police said they removed the protesters by using mild force on the grounds that they were trying to interfere in the personal lives of individuals.

How can the police allow people to barge into someones house? We got a distress call and we performed our duty, said Senior Superintendent of Police HN Singh.

Later in the day, a criminal case was registered against Sharma and over 100 others for the clash with police and rioting over the marriage.

The FIR was lodged under sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 336 (endangering life of others), 341 (wrongful restraint), 427 (causing damage), 353 (assault) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 7 of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act (loitering or intimidating).

The police filed a complaint from the brides father also in support of its own FIR.

The brides father Pushpendra Kumar told IANS: I received phone calls asking me to stop the marriage. But both (bride and bridegroom) are mature enough to know whats wrong and whats right. I dont see any love jihad in it.

Bride Nupur Singhal is a psychologist with a Ph.D in Human Psychology, while her husband Mansoor Harhat Khan holds a Masters in Business Administration and works with a private company. His family originally hails from Aligarh, though his father lives in Delhi but owns a house in Noida as well.

According to Pushpendra Kumar, the boy even offered to marry as per Hindu rituals. But neither the grooms family nor ours put any conditions and left it to the girl and the boy, and they went for court marriage, the father added.

The woman is the grand-daughter of retired IAS officer Rajendra Kumar who was the District Magistrate here in 1990.
The Narendra Modi government on Wednesday extended an olive branch to the Congress, with finance minister Arun Jaitley praising former prime minister Manmohan Singhs commitment to the nation on the floor of the House.

The statement, made in the Rajya Sabha, was an attempt to facilitate the smooth functioning of Parliaments winter session, which has been disrupted repeatedly over comments made by Prime Minister Modi ahead of the Gujarat elections earlier this month.

Though the Opposition did not get the apology from Modi they had demanded, the Cabinets most prominent minister said: The PM in his speeches didnt question, nor meant to question, the commitment to this nation of either former PM Manmohan Singh or former V-P Hamid Ansari. Any such perception is erroneous. We hold these leaders in high esteem, as well as their commitment to India.

The initial response from the Congress indicated that they had been assuaged. Thank the leader of the House for clarification on what has been issue of contention. I, on behalf of my party, say that we disassociate from any comments made by any member during elections that may have hurt PMs dignity, also we dont want any such thing to be said in future, Ghulam Nabi Azad, leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, said.

Azad, in what appeared to be a show of good faith, was referring to a statement made by Mani Shankar Aiyar that the prime minister was neech (lowly). Aiyar has since been suspended by the Congress.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi, however, tweeted later in the day:

Dear Mr Jaitlie - thank you for reminding India that our PM never means what he says or says what he means. #BJPLies pic.twitter.com/I7n1f07GaX  Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) December 27, 2017

Modi was not in the House when Jaitley spoke. He was in Shimla to attend a ceremony in which the Bharatiya Janata Partys Jai Ram Thakur took oath as the chief minister of Himachal Pradesh. Modi usually attends the Rajya Sabha on Wednesdays, when issues related to the PMO are listed during Question Hour.

While addressing a rally in Gujarats Palanpur on December 10, the prime minister referred to a secret meeting at Aiyars house, attended by some senior Pakistani officials, Singh, and Ansari. He suggested the meeting was linked to the Gujarat elections.

Singh responded by saying he was pained and anguished by the falsehood and canards being spread by the prime minister. Modi is setting a dangerous precedent by his insatiable desire to tarnish every constitutional office, including that of a former prime minister and Army chief, Singh said.

The Congress has not allowed Parliament to function since the winter session began on December 15. Vice-president Venkaiah Naidu tried to broker peace between the two sides last week, but Congress leaders have routinely staged walkouts or shouted slogans in the well of both Houses, demanding an apology from Modi.
The government will make a statement in the Lok Sabha on Thursday on the treatment meted out by Pakistan to the family members of Kulbhushan Jadhav, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said on Wednesday.

During the Zero Hour, members of various political parties, including the Congress, Shiv Sena, Trinamool Congress and AIADMK, strongly protested the way Jadhavs family members were treated by the Pakistani authorities when they had gone there to meet Jadhav, who is languishing in a Pakistani prison.

Swaraj, who was present in the House, said a statement on the issue would be made on Thursday.

While strongly criticising the happenings, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge demanded that Jadhav should be brought back.

Shiv Senas Arvind Sawant also raised the issue and said India should not keep silent in the matter.

Describing Pakistan as hypocritical, Trinamool Congress leader Saugata Roy said the incident should be criticised and demanded that Swaraj should speak on the issue.

Condemning the incident, AIADMK M Thambidurai said asking a woman to remove her mangalsutra is an insult to the country.

The meeting between Jadhav and his mother and wife took place on December 25 at the Pakistani foreign affairs ministry in Islamabad after repeated requests by India for family access.

Jadhav, who was arrested in March, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying, an accusation that India has dismissed as concocted.

On Tuesday, India accused Pakistan of violating mutual understanding on Jadhavs meeting with his family, and said the Indian national appeared coerced and under considerable stress during the tightly-controlled interaction.

Pakistan went so far as to have the mangalsutra, bangles and bindi of his mother and wife removed before they could meet him, the external affairs ministry had said on Tuesday.
Haryana police has decided to double the reward money from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh for information leading to the arrest of absconding Dera Sacha Sauda functionary Aditya Insan, who is alleged to be a key culprit behind the mob violence on August 25.

Panchkula police said on Tuesday that besides Aditya Insan, three other key accused were evading arrest.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Panchkula police was also carrying out raids at various places to trace Aditya Insan.

We have recommended to the government that the reward money in case of Aditya Insan be doubled from Rs 1 lakh. As regards the other three accused, the reward money leading to their arrest will remain Rs 50,000. The informers name will be kept secret, Panchkula DCP Manbir Singh said over the phone.

Aditya Insan was named a key accused by the Haryana Police in connection with incidents of violence that followed Sirsa Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singhs conviction in a rape case.

In September, a lookout notice was issued against Aditya Insan, who was a spokesman of the Dera then. Manbir Singh said that Haryana police had also pasted posters of the four wanted persons at several locations including five in Uttar Pradesh.

Recently, the state was pulled up by a full bench of the Punjab and Haryana high court for its failure to nab Aditya Insan.

During a hearing of the case on the violence that broke out in Haryana following Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singhs conviction, the high court full bench asked the state whether Aditya Insan was such a trained criminal that he has disappeared like Shaktiman.

Most of the jailed sect chiefs confidants including Honeypreet Insan, who was on the run after his conviction, were arrested as Haryana police registered 173 FIRs with nearly 1,000 Dera followers as accused.

Haryana remained on edge after the Sirsa-headquartered sect chief was convicted by a special CBI court, triggering widespread violence and arson, mainly in Panchkula and Sirsa, leaving 41 dead and scores injured.

The Dera chief, now lodged in Sunaria jail in Rohtak, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for raping two disciples.
An Indigo flight to Thiruvananthapuram was forced to return from the taxiway after a fuel leak was detected in the plane at the Delhi airport on Tuesday evening.

It was a close shave for passengers as even a small spark could have led to a major fire. The pilot of 6E-945 decided to return to the parking bay and deboarded the passengers.

There were 173 passengers on board when the fuel leak was detected at 4:35 pm on Tuesday. The fire service was called as a precautionary measure. Passengers were shifted to another plane and it departed at 6:15 pm, said an airport source.

On the December 26, 2017, the 6E-945 (Delhi-Trivandrum) flight crew were alerted by onboard computers about fuel right wing tank overflow. The flight crew carried out their required procedure as per Airbus checklist. The overflow was confirmed by the ground staff. As a precaution, engines were shut down and the aircraft was towed back to bay. 6E-945 operated with an alternative aircraft, said a IndiGo spokesperson.

This is the normal design and must not to be confused with a fuel leak. Such overflows can occasionally be noticed during aircraft turns on ground with the fuel tanks full. The matter was notified to the DGCA office and is being investigated by the IndiGo Safety department, the spokesperson added.
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu termed as inhuman on Wednesday the restrictions imposed by Pakistan during Kulbhushan Jadhavs meeting with his wife and mother in Islamabad, saying it has hurt the sentiments of Indians.

Referring to the restrictions, Naidu said the move to ask Jadhavs wife to take off her mangal sutra has not gone down well with the people of India.

He was of the view that Pakistan did not do any good for itself by its handling of the meeting while showcasing to the world its gesture, a statement issued by the Vice Presidents Secretariat said.

The meeting between Jadhav and his mother and wife took place on December 25 at the Pakistani foreign affairs ministry in Islamabad after repeated requests by India for family access.

Jadhav, who was arrested in March last year, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying, an accusation that India has dismissed as concocted.

On Tuesday, India accused Pakistan of violating mutual understanding on Jadhavs meeting with his family, and said the Indian national appeared coerced under considerable stress during the tightly-controlled interaction.

Naidu made these remarks while interacting with faculty members and students from the universities of Harvard, Stanford and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The Vice President said that while India seeks peace in the region for the benefit of all, some nations were adopting a different approach.

He said during the interaction that the Indian voter has shown great maturity from time to time while casting ballot as was evident in their fierce defence of personal freedoms by voting against the Emergency in 1977.

India faces the challenges of inequality, rural-urban divide, unemployment, border issues, poverty and illiteracy. The ruling and opposition parties need to work together with shared perspectives for further strengthening parliamentary democracy, Naidu said.

He said the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Demonetisation were development-oriented reforms undertaken by the government.
People have shown faith in us and we will try to meet their expectations, BJP leader Jai Ram Thakur, who will take oath as the new chief minister of Himachal Pradesh, said on Wednesday.

Shimlas historic ridge ground has turned into a fortress as it will be the site of the Thakur-led BJP governments swearing-in ceremony on Wednesday.

A host of BJP bigwigs, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, are expected to attend the ceremony and the partys state unit has gone all out to ensure that the event, being held on the ecologically fragile ground, proves to be a success.

Stating that he misses his father who died last year, Thakur told ANI that his mother too was unwell but her blessings were with him.

Thakurs wife Sadhana Thakur called the BJPs victory in the Himachal Pradesh election a win for the common man.

There are a lot of expectations with this government that they will try and solve the problems faced by the public, she said.

Functions on the ridge have often been mired in controversy with environmentalists raising concerns over its delicate terrain. It is for the third time that a swearing-in ceremony is being organised at the ground, which has a British era water storage tank beneath it.

Prem Kumar Dhumal was the first chief minister to take oath here in 2008 along with his cabinet. Later, Virbhadra Singhs oath-taking ceremony was also organised at the same place. Prior to 2008, the ceremony was held at the governors official residence, Barnes Court.

The local administration has made elaborate security arrangements for the VVIPs. Barricades have been erected at the Mall road and the ridge, which has caused inconvenience to both the locals and tourists.

The security checks and barricading are hampering the movement of pedestrians, Ravinder Kumar, a visitor from Chandigarh, said.

Shimla town has only one open space and that too has been turned into a fortress, said another tourist Mohit Chauhan. On normal days, the ridge is off limits for vehicles and only fire tenders and ambulances are excluded from this rule.

As many as 50,000 people are expected to reach the ridge on Wednesday. All arrangements for the swearing-in are in place, deputy commissioner Rohan Chand Thakur told HT. CM-designate Thakur is himself overseeing the arrangements for the ceremony.

Earlier, on Tuesday morning, Thakur called on former CM Prem Kumar Dhumal and reportedly consulted him over the cabinet formation.

Rahul to visit Shmila

Congress president Rahul Gandhi will visit Shimla on Friday to seek feedback from party workers and candidates on the reasons for their recent defeat in the state assembly polls.

Congress general secretary Naresh Chauhan said the party chief will hold two interactive sessions. Rahulji will meet the partys senior leaders, officer-bearers and candidates, to assess the causes of our defeat.
Airline passengers face the maximum inconvenience while travelling by national carrier Air India and private Jet Airways, according to the official data of complaints submitted by the government in Parliament.

The three-year data presented by the minister of state for civil aviation, Jayant Sinha, in response to a question in the Rajya Sabha shows that in 2015, 11,046 air passengers lodged complaints against 10 operators.

This came down to 9,834 in 2016 and the trend continued with 6,884 complaints lodged till October 2017.

On an average, 22 passengers lodged complaints against all airlines every day in 2017 for denied boarding, cancellation of flights, mishandling or loss of baggage, delay in flights, food quality, the behaviour of airlines officials etc.

Jet Airways and Air India continue to lead the pack of offenders even though the number of complaints has come down from 30 per day in 2015.

Complaints per 10,000 customers worked out on the basis of total air passengers each airline reported to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) shows that complaints against Air India have come down from 2.21 in 2015 to 2.07 till October this year and for Jet Airways it was 1.38 to 1.29 for the same period.

But out of the total complaints, their share is on the rise from 47% in 2015 to 63% in 2016 and 66.7% until October 2017.

Indigo has the least number of complaints in all the three years despite the fact that it has the highest market share of approximately 40%.

Senior officials from Jet Airways and Air India said there are a variety of reasons for the increase in the number of complaints.

Air India operates to the maximum number of domestic and international destination among all Indian airlines. With a large network, changing weather conditions in India and overseas where Air India operates, resulted in indirect reasons for an increase in feedback, Air Indias senior manager for customer care Praveen Bhatnagar said.

R Singh, a traffic services official with Air India, said complaints may arise due to perception for example quality of the meal, greeting style, recognition, politeness, and misinformation.

Under Hub and Spoke policy, we bring passengers from smaller towns to connect them to other areas. Any delay in arrival or departure leads to passengers lodging complaints, GP Rao, Air Indias head of corporate communication, said.

As illustrated by the available data, the airline is making tangible progress in its efforts to minimize operational issues, including cases of delays and denied boarding, which can occur due a various reasons, some of which may not be in the airlines control, a statement by Jet Airways said.

A senior official said that overbooking was a major complaint from the passengers.

The government has allowed overbooking and we do it based on our calculations on the percentage of passengers that may not turn up. Though we meet the legal stipulation to compensate our passengers but as far as the inconvenience is concerned, it does cause discomfort and people complaints, he said.

Another reason that the official claim is the high expectation of air passengers from Jet Airways.

We are in the business for the past 25 years. So people have high expectations of services from us. Now since the market has become more competitive, everything has come under stress. But passengers dont realise it and they complain about every single thing, he said.

However, former director of flight safety with Indian Airlines SS Panesar said the problem lies with the airlines.

The number of complaints shows lack of professional etiquettes and ethics among officials. In the time of cut-throat competition, I think, passengers are at the receiving end.

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For the last five years, Oakover  the official residence of the Himachal chief minister  wore a deserted look as incumbent Virbhadra Singh preferred to reside in his private residence  Holy lodge  but it is abuzz with activity again as the state officials began sprucing up the building for its new occupant.

Before Oakover, Eva lodge in Chaura Maidan and old cottage in Benmore were the official residences of chief minister. YS Parmar stayed in Oakover from 1972 to 1977 and moved to his private residence soon when Congress appointed Ram Lal Thakur as his successor.

In 1977, Shanta Kumar formed the first non-Congress government. However, Oakover gained the reputation of being jinxed when Shanta Kumar- led-government was dislodged after its legislators defected to support Congress Thakur Ram Lal in 1980.

Oakover was once the summer retreat of Maharaja of Patiala but became into official residence of Himachal chief ministers when the states founder chief minister YS Parmar moved into the British-era building in 1972.

Thakur Ram Lal remained chief minister till 1983 until Congress replaced him with Virbhadra Singh who was minister for state industries in Indira Gandhi's cabinet.

Virbhadra Singh after taking over reigns preferred to stay in Holy lodge. Shanta Kumar in 1998 again formed the government and moved into Oakover . He renamed Oakover as Shail Kunj but his government Janata Dal-led government in the centre imposed Presidents rule in the state after the demolition of Babri masjid in Ayodhya. Virbhadra Singh again formed the government this time.

Prem Kumar Dhumal who formed the government in 1998 was the first chief minister to stay in Oakover and completed his five-year tenure. Dhumal's detractor in the government triggered a revolt against him but the BJP's high command then intervened to suppress the revolt . Dhumal again completed his tenure from 2007 - 20012.

During the last five years, Virbhadra Singh used his official residence only to meet people and to host central leaders and convene meetings.

Now, chief minister-elect Jai Ram Thakur would soon be moving into Oakover and interestingly, he has directed the officials not to make many changes in contradiction to the usual trend of spending crores in sprucing up government bungalows for new appointees.

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Being a prisoner is no longer a hurdle to get Aadhaar card in Kerala now, thanks to the ambitious programme of the state prisons department.

With a target of linking all people in the state, cutting across age and other social barriers under Aadhaar, the department has made it mandatory for jail inmates also.

Though the drive is broadly envisaged to link all jail inmates under Aadhaar, the initial focus is to bring over 3,500 convicted prisoners, cooling their heels in various state jails, under the 12 digit number, prison department sources said.

Jail authorities have also plans to keep the Aadhaar number of prisoners in their data bank to keep a tab on them even after they complete their term.

The initiative has already been launched in various prisons and as many as 27 prisoners have enrolled for Aadhaar at the Central Prison at Poojappura in Thiruvananthapuram last week.

People from all stratas of society are being linked to Aadhaar. Our initiative is envisaged to help prisoners get enroled for Aadhaar, jail DGP R Sreelekha told PTI.

Arrangements have been made to provide Aadhaar enrolment facilities within jail premises in particular intervals to cover maximum inmates, she said.

However, the DGP said there is no exact data as of now on the number of prisoners in the state jails, both convicted and undertrials, who have already registered under Aadhaar number.

Under the programme, authorities of each jail would prepare a periodical list of prisoners, who do not have Aadhaar number.

Arrangements would be made to collect their necessary certificates and other documents for the enrolment from their home or school authorities.

It would be verified and certified by jail superintendent in his capacity as the caretaker of prisoners before submitting for Aadhaar enrolment, sources said.

As per the request of jail authorities, a team of officials of the state-run Akshaya Centres in respective areas would visit each prison with biometric fingerprint scanner, camera and other necessary systems to enroll the inmates under Aadhaar.

Though the drive is aimed at bringing all prisoners under Aadhaar, the case of undertrials is an issue, Poojappura Central Prison superintendent S Santhosh said.

Even if we include them also in our list and collect their necessary documents, they may go free before the completion of the enrolment process. So, our main focus is convicted prisoners now, he said.

According to rough figures, there are over 8,000 prisoners in various jails across Kerala at present.

There are 3 central prisons, 11 district jails, 16 sub-jails, 16 special sub-jails, 3 women prisons and 3 open prisons including one for women.
Two prominent schools in Kolkata will be the first to be audited by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) in a bid to improve security on school campuses.

Following the murder of seven-year-old Pradyuman Thakur at a Gurgaon school, the CISF had written to various schools last month offering them consultancy services for a security audit.

While the CISF has conducted preliminary meetings with 22 schools and institutions, two approved the proposal and CISF will start the audit by first week of January.

The force, which is responsible for the security of important installations across country, also offers consultancy services, where they visit the installation and suggest measures to improve security. It has done consultancy for all the IITs and IIMs.

We had written to individual schools as well as foundation that run many schools informing about the service we offer. The response has been pretty good. La Martiniere and St Xavier in Kolkata have accepted the proposal while others are in the pipeline. We would be happy to contribute for making school safer, said OP Singh, director general of the CISF.

Sources said that prominent schools carry out a security audit by private companies, which cost Rs 20 lakh while CISF offers the same service for Rs 4-5 lakh.

The force has 130 trained consultants who visit the installation and offer their suggestions.

The force has so far offered consultancy to 197 installations. It receives 4-5 requests every month and accepts each request on a priority and sensitivity basis. It recommends location of CCTV cameras, how to secure entry points and identify vulnerable points. It also offers training to private guards

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Leaders across party lines on Wednesday condemned Pakistans misbehaviour with the wife and mother of alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav during the meeting in Islamabad on Monday, with the issue figuring inside the Lok Sabha as well as in the Parliament galleries. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj has promised to make a statement in the House on Thursday.

The Lower House also saw some members raising slogans against Pakistan.

As soon as the House met, some members from the treasury benches started shouting Pakistan Murdabad.

Amid protests on other issues, Shiv Sena member Arvind Sawant raised the issue and slammed Pakistans action.

The way Pakistan misbehaved with Kulbhushan Jadhavs family is condemnable... We should not stay quiet on the issue till Jadhav is brought back home, he said.

Trinamool Congress leader Saugata Roy supported him, saying making a Hindu woman take off her bangles, mangalsutra and bindi should be condemned.

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said all parties were together on this issue, and urged the government to get Jadhav back to the country. AIADMK MP and Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha M. Thambidurai also condemned the action.

Sushma Swaraj, who was in the House, told the members that she will make a statement on the issue on Thursday.

Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju meanwhile slammed the very irresponsible Pakistani media over the heckling of Jadhavs mother and wife while they were waiting for their car outside the Pakistan Foreign Office building in Islamabad on Monday.

Pakistan media is very irresponsible, it is not responsible like the Indian media, Rijiju told reporters outside Parliament.

He also assured action by the External Affairs Ministry over the heckling of Jhadavs family.

Meanwhile, on a different note, Samajwadi Party MP in Rajya Sabha Naresh Agarwal said: If they (Pakistan) consider Kulbhushan Jadhav a terrorist in their country, then they will treat him that way. We should treat terrorists in our country the same way.

The statement stoked controversy, with Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir calling the comment unfortunate.

This is a very unfortunate statement. An Indian citizen speaks like this. He can protest against the government as he is in the Opposition but this is seen as a protest against the nation, he said.

Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer, is on death row in Pakistan on charges of spying and terrorism. His mother and wife met him in Islamabad on Monday after 22 months, since his arrest by Pakistan. On May 18, 2017, the International Court of Justice stayed the hanging, after India approached it against the death sentence.

India in a strong statement accused Pakistani authorities of making the mother and wife of the death row prisoner remove their bindi, mangal sutra and bangles ahead of the meeting.

For some inexplicable reason, despite her repeated requests, the shoes of the wife of Shri Jadhav were not returned to her after the meeting, India said on Tuesday, and warned We would caution against any mischievous intent in this regard.

The Pakistan Foreign Office on Wednesday said the shoes of Jadhavs wife were confiscated as a metallic substance had been detected in them.
Nepal is set to begin measuring the height of Mt Everest on its own within two weeks after setting aside Indias proposal for a joint exercise to survey the worlds tallest peak in the wake of the devastating 2015 earthquake.

A secretariat has been set up for the work and officials said the task of measuring the height of Mt Everest will take two years and cost more than Rs 250 million.

Though India offered to jointly measure the height of Mt Everest with the Nepalese side, officials here rejected the proposal, saying the country would conduct the exercise on its own this time.

However, Ganesh Bhatta, director general of Department of Survey that is playing a leading role in the survey, contended Nepals decision shouldnt be seen as a rejection of Indias offer.

Before receiving the Indian proposal, we had already started the plan to measure the height with our own resources. So there is no question of rejecting or accepting the Indian proposal, Bhatta told Hindustan Times.

It is a question of self-respect too. So we humbly declined Indias offer to become part (of the exercise). Second, once we measure the height of Everest, the capability of the Department of Survey will be strengthened and we will have more equipment for other tasks too, he said.

Asked if there was any proposal from China to join the survey since Mt Everest is located along the border of the two countries, Bhatta said no such offer had made been made so far.

But they have told us that they are ready to assist Nepal at any time if we need any help. If we need any help and support, we will seek support from both India and China, he said.

In 2011, Nepal had planned to measure the height of Mt Everest and allocated Rs 8 million for the effort. The work was stopped when the finance ministry told officials not to use money for unproductive works.

After the great earthquake of 2015 and speculation that the height of Mt Everest could have been changed by the temblors and aftershocks, the government decided to measure the worlds tallest mountain.

The most important thing is the data that will come out from the survey, Bhatta said. If foreigners measure the data, they will only provide us the height of the Everest but (they wouldnt) share the critical data we need. If we measure it on our own, we can store the data and carry out analysis, which will remain our property and be useful for years.

According to the first scientific measurement conducted in 1856, the height of Mt Everest is 8,848 metres. The new study will not only reveal the actual height but also show the impact of climate change on the mountain.

There has also been speculation of a possible shift in Mt Everests position following the 2015 quake, but there has been no scientific research to check these claims.

Bhatta said it is difficult for technicians to climb Mt Everest and authorities plan to train Sherpa porters, who are expert climbers, to carry the technical equipment needed to measure the height. The trained Sherpas will begin the measurements during the next climbing season.

The Department of Survey will take the help of international experts and scientists in the process, he added.

To make the findings credible and widely accepted, tools and methods such as GPS, gravity survey measurement, vertical height measurement and mathematical survey will be used along with direct measurement and triangulation.
Pakistani authorities have sent the shoes of the wife of Kulbhushan Jadhav, the former Indian Navy officer sentenced to death for alleged involvement in spying, for forensic tests as they contained a metallic substance.

Indias protest over the treatment given to Jadhavs wife and mother during a meeting at the Foreign Office in Islamabad on Monday has added another twist to the controversy over the former naval officer arrested by the Pakistani military in March last year.

After MPs criticised the treatment meted out to Jadhavs mother Avanti and wife Chetankul during their visit to Pakistan, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said she would make a statement on the issue in Parliament on Thursday.

Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal was quoted as saying by the Pakistani media: There was something in the shoe. It is being investigated. We gave her a pair of replacement shoes. All her jewellery etc were returned after the meeting.

The tests will determine if the metallic object was a camera or a recording chip, Faisal told the media. Chetankul Jadhavs shoes were taken away by security officials before her meeting with her husband, who has been repeatedly denied consular access.

Swaraj assured the Lok Sabha on Wednesday that she would respond to the criticism from MPs regarding the treatment of Jadhavs kin. Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant raised the matter and demanded that India should not remain silent.

Mallikarjun Kharge of the Congress demanded Jadhav should be brought back, while AIADMKs M Thambidurai said asking a woman to remove her mangal sutra is an insult to the country. Trinamool Congress Saugata Roy described Pakistan as hypocritical and demanded a statement from the government.

Vice president M Venkaiah Naidu described Pakistans handling of Jadhavs meeting with his kin as inhuman and said it had hurt the sentiments of Indians. Speaking during an interaction with a delegation comprising faculty and students from the universities of Harvard, Stanford and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Naidu said India seeks peace in the region for the benefit of all the countries but some are adopting a different approach.

The removal of the mangal sutra of Jadhavs wife and other restrictions had not gone down well with the people of India, he said, adding Pakistan did not do any good for itself even as it sought to showcase its gesture of allowing the family reunion to the world.

Even before the issue was raised by the MPs, it triggered a fresh row between the two countries. The external affairs ministry complained about the treatment given to Jadhavs wife and mother after India had scrupulously abided by all its commitments for the meeting.

The atmosphere at the meeting was intimidating and the Pakistani media was allowed to approach the women and harass and hector them. Cultural and religious sensibilities of Jadhavs kin were disregarded as the mangal sutra, bangles and bindi were removed.

Pakistans Foreign Office rejected Indias criticism as baseless and twists allegations. We do not wish to indulge in a meaningless battle of wordsIf Indian concerns were serious, the guests or the Indian (deputy high commissioner) should have raised them during the visit..., it said in a statement.

Jadhav was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying, a charge dismissed by India. His ppeal for clemency has been rejected by a military appellate court.

India says Jadhav was kidnapped from the Iranian port of Chabahar and taken to Pakistan. The International Court of Justice stayed Jadhavs execution after it was approached by India.
Income tax sleuths have begun the exercise of examining documents at premises related to recent searches on 187 locations including those linked to jailed sidelined AIADMK leader VK Sasikala, whose nephew TTV Dhinakaran recently won the prestigious RK Nagar seat in Chennai.

Such premises where the procedure has begun include those related to an alcoholic beverages brewery, Midas Distilleries near Chennai where searches were conducted last month. The distillery is linked to Sasikala through her relatives.

The exercise involves lifting of prohibitory orders under which documents, materials or articles like jewellery were placed securely in the premises that were raided. We are lifting the prohibitory orders in stages, a senior official told PTI.

The relaxation covers premises where searches were conducted including at locations connected to Midas Distilleries, he said.

The exercise marks procedural formalities vis-a-vis raids nearing the completion stage.

During this process, documents or items placed under prohibition would be evaluated.

Following this, such items may either be taken into custody by authorities or will be handed back to the assessees.

Last month, tax sleuths carried out simultaneous multi-city raids on 187 premises, including those linked to sidelined AIADMK leaders Sasikala, Dhinakaran and Tamil television channel Jaya TV over suspected tax evasion.

The searched premises include those belonging to Jaya TV (Mavis Satcom Ltd), its associates, Jazz Cinemas, Midas Distilleries, a jewellery outlet and other firms.

Dhinakaran had slammed the Centre over the issue.
The Opposition on Wednesday virtually paralysed the Lok Sabha proceedings demanding dismissal of Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde for his controversial comments on secularism and the Constitution while the government appeared distancing itself from his comments.

Raising the issue in the House which witnessed repeated adjournments, Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge quoting Hegde said the minister compared those supporting secularism to children of unknown parentage, besides denigrating Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, the architect of the Constitution.

He (Hegde) said those who support secularism are like people without parentage. We do not know their bloodline. They do not know their parents but they call themselves secular. If someone says I am a secular, I get suspicious, Kharge quoted Hegde as saying at a function in Karnataka on Sunday.

Calling the remarks totally unacceptable, the Congress leader further said, It means we all who support secular thoughts are not born to their parents.

The Congress members also displayed posters demanding immediate sacking of Hegde, who is the Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

Kharge alleged that Hegde had also denigrated the architect of the Constitution, BR Ambedkar, by his remarks that the current dispensation came to power to change it.

The opposition uproar led to several adjournments of the House.

Rejecting Kharges comments, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar claimed the Congress leader was trying to distort what Hegde had said. He, however, did not comment on Hegdes remarks or try to defend him.

B R Ambedkar is the father of the Constitution and we respect him. The Prime Minister had said the Constitution is our national book (Rastriya Granth). We are committed to it and secularism. The Congress should not teach us secularism, said Kumar, while asking the opposition not to disrupt the proceedings.

The Congress is indulging in pseudo-secularism. You (Congress) did not allow Baba Saheb Ambedkar to contest polls. He was brought to Rajya Sabha by Jan Sangh, he said, listing steps taken by the government to preserve Ambedkars heritage.

Kumar said the opposition was training its guns on the government for not convening the Winter Session of Parliament and when it has been called, it was disrupting the proceedings.

He made the statement amid shouting of slogans against Hegde by the opposition.

At a function in Karnataka on Sunday, Hegde had reportedly said people should identify themselves by their religions and those who, without knowing about their parental blood, call themselves secular, they dont have their own identity...They dont know about their parentage.

He had also said we are here to change the Constitution and well change it.

When the Lok Sabha met at 2:45 PM after the third adjournment and some members entered the Well displaying posters, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan reminded them of the rules of the House.

The House was first adjourned till noon and then till 2 PM due to unabated opposition protest on the issue.

The Lok Sabha was again adjourned at 4 PM for 15 minutes amid uproar in the House over Hegdes remarks.

The demand to adjourn the House was made by RSP MP N K Premachandran when Finance Minister Arun Jaitley introduced the Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Amendment Bill.

As the House was witnessing ruckus, Premachandran said the GST Bill was a crucial legislation and cannot be passed amidst din and urged the Speaker to adjourn the proceedings to ensure smooth discussion.

The TRS members, who were demanding a separate high court for Telangana, were also in the Well, along with members of the Congress. Some other members raised concerns over the treatment meted out to the family members of Kulbhushan Jadhav by Pakistan.

Despite repeated requests from Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, about 20 members continued to protest in the Well of the House.

As the protests continued unabated, Mahajan asked the members to return to their seats. If you dont want the government to say something, then let it go, she said.

She also told Kharge that his party had reservations over lesser number of sitting in the Winter session but was stalling the proceedings when the House was on.

Amid the din, papers were laid and a few members spoke during Zero Hour but as the unruly scenes continued, Mahajan adjourned the House till 2 PM after about 20 minutes of proceedings.

Before this, the House was adjourned for about 50 minutes soon after the Question Hour had begun at 11 AM.

Congress members raised slogans demanding removal of Hegde from the Council of Ministers, while members of the TRS also joined them with placards demanding a separate high court for Telengana.

Some Shiv Sena members raised slogans against Pakistan, apparently over the treatment of Jadhavs family members. Some BJP members also joined them in raising slogans like Pakistan murdabad (down with Pakistan).

During Question Hour, Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha Kharge had then too briefly raised the issue of remarks by Hegde, following which his party members rushed into the Well raising slogans such as Ambedkar ka apman nahin chalega (We will not tolerate the insult of B R Ambedkar -- a key framer of the Constitution).
The project to bring Sikkim into the railway map of India is stuck due to a slew of demands raised by Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) to give the mandatory no objection certificate for tracks to pass through forest land.

The rail link is vital for the landlocked hill state, which shares its border with three neighbouring countries--China, Nepal and Bhutan. Incidentally, China is rapidly expanding its railway connectivity to the border.

The rail line will serve defence needs apart from that of civilian transportation, said Sikkim chief minister Pawan Chamling.

The strategic state also does not have any functional airport.

The proposed broad gauge line between Sevoke in West Bengal to Rangpo in Sikkim are to cover a distance of 44.98-km, of which 41.54 km falls in Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts of West Bengal administered by the GTA, while only 3.44 km is in Sikkim.

Then railway minister Mamata Banerjee laid the foundation stone of the Rs 1,339.48 crore project in 2009. It was to be completed by 2015.

The project requires 86.61 of land inside Mahananda Wild Life Sanctuary in Darjeeling district and other forest areas within GTA territory.

In February 2016, the Supreme Court allowed changing the status of 8.84 hectares of forest land within the wildlife sanctuary. It also asked the Bengal government to denotify the area within two months.

Though the forest department agreed on principle to give its nod, the status of the land could not be changed in the absence of no- objection certificate from the GTA, said Tshering Thendup Bhutia, the additional general manager of Indian Railway Constuction Comapan (IRCON), the implementing agency.

The semi autonomous body that runs the affairs in the north Bengal hills has set preconditions for issuing the NOC.

Among others, it wants first land pattas (rights) be given by the West Bengal government to more than 5,000 villagers in 165 forest villages as per Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006.

Its other demands include GTA should be allowed to monitor the tendering process of the project; permanent jobs for locals in railways and development works be carried out in the affected areas.

The Himalayan Forest Villagers Organisation (HFVO), an influential body, fighting for the implementation of Forest Rights Act 2006, is demanding conversion of the land in 165 forest villages within the GTA area into revenue villages and land rights bestowed on forest village dwellers, before they agree to GTA issuing the NOC.

We will oppose tooth and nail if the GTA makes any move to issue the NOC unless the Forest Rights Act is implemented in the Darjeeling hills. The Act is already implemented in neighbouring districts of Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar, said Lila Kumar Gurung, general secretary of HVFO.

Only 24 forest villages would be affected by the project and the state government is unwilling to meet the HFVO and GTAs demands.

The GTA was supposed to get back to us in June, but the hills came under sudden bandh for 104 days from that month, upsetting the schedule , said Darjeeling district magistrate Joyoshi Dasgupta.

I am not aware of the development and will have to go through the files, said Subrata Biswas, who recently joined as GTA principal secretary.

GTA is now headed by Binoy Tamang, who is close to chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

IRCON officials believe only chief minister Mamata Banerjee can now rescue the project.

Though none would publically admit, the ongoing tension between Bengal and Sikkim over Gorkhaland may also work against the project.

On June 20 the Sikkim chief minister wrote to the Union home minister advocating the creation of the separate Gorkhaland state that has irked Bengal government.

The Mamata Banerjee administration also believes that the Sikkim government is helping Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) chief Bimal Gurung evade the Bengal Police that has slapped UA (P) A against him and several of his associates.

Inside Sikkim the work for tunnel number 14 has already started. The work for tunnel number 5 in the revenue land areas in Bengal has also begun, said Bhutia.

For its connectivity with rest of the country, Sikkim is dependent on NH 10, the only road that remains cut off regularly due to natural causes such as landslides and political unrests such as bandh called to press for Gorkhaland state.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi took everybody by surprise on Wednesday, when he stopped at the local Indian Coffee House for a cup of its trademark beverage on his way back to the Annandale helipad.

Modi was returning from the oath-taking ceremony of Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur when he made the five-minute halt at Mall Road, much to the excitement of everybody around.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chats with people over a cup of coffee. (HT Photo)

The Indian premier stepped out of his car amid loud shouts of Bharat mata ki jai and Modiji ko jai Shri Ram! even as eager crowds jostled for a closer look at him.

One of the busiest points in the city, the Indian Coffee house counts many distinguished personalities  including late prime minister Indira Gandhi, former deputy prime minister Lal Krishna Advani and former Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai  among its customers. This was not Modis first visit to the establishment either.

In April, the Prime Minister had mentioned the Indian Coffee House in his speech at Taka Bench. Recalling the evenings spent there in the late 1990s, when Modi was in charge of party affairs in Himachal Pradesh, he said: I used to sit in the Indian Coffee House along with partymen and mediapersons.

The catering establishment was set up at Mall Road on a plot of land purchased for Rs 85,000 in 1962. Today, it is housed in a three-storied building and frequented by thousands of customers.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit Rajasthan twice in January  first on January 14 to lay foundation stone for HPCL refinery at Pachpadra in Barmer district and then on January 22 to launch the National Nutrition Mission (NMM) from Jhunjhunu.

The all India launch of NMM will take place from Jhunjhunu. The Prime Ministers Office (PMO) has confirmed the visit, said an official, who is not authorised to speak to the media.

The union cabinet approved setting up of NNM on December 1, with a three year budget of 9,046.17 crore beginning 2017-18. The mission will monitor, supervise, fix targets and guide the nutrition related interventions across the ministries.

The proposal consists of mapping of various schemes contributing towards addressing malnutrition and includes introducing a robust convergence mechanism, IT-based real time monitoring system and incentivising states for meeting the targets apart from incentivizing anganwadi workers for using IT-based tools.

The programme through the targets will strive to reduce the level of stunting, under-nutrition, anemia and low birth weight babies. All the states and districts will be covered in a phased manner  315 in 2017-18, 235 in 2018-19 and remaining in 2019-20.

Modi is also expected to lay the foundation stone of Barmer refinery-cum-petrochemical complex at Pachpadra in Barmer district on the occasion of Makar Sanranti on January 14. He will be accompanied by Union minister for petroleum and natural gas Dharmendra Pradhan.

The state machinery has swung into action and Barmer district collector Shivprasad Nakate visited the site on Wednesday to take stock of the situation and held meeting with the officials concerned. At present, construction of boundary wall is in progress at the refinery site. The refinery is expected to become operational in about four years.

According to the agreement, the HPCL has a 74 percent stake, while the state government holds a 26 percent stake in the new firm, which is called HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Limited (HRRL). The total cost of the project is 43,129 crore.

Chief minister Vasundhara Raje at the time of signing of the MoU had said that new agreement led to significant saving of 40,000 crore. Also, the state would receive 12 percent return on investment instead of earlier 2 percent mentioned in the agreement signed by the erstwhile Congress government.
Incidents related to cows hit headlines in 2017. Lynching of alleged cattle smugglers by vigilantes and a killing in police encounter were reported in Rajasthan, the first state to set up a gopalan (cow welfare) department apart from plans for cow therapy centres.

On April 1, Pehlu Khan (55) from Nuh in Haryana was waylaid by a mob near Alwar when he was transporting cows for his small dairy farm and beaten up; he died of injuries two days later. In the case, the police submitted a charge sheet in court and arrested eight accused.

Activists criticised the state government and police for closing a probe against six people named by Pehlu Khan. The police gave a clean chit to the six men, three of whom are linked to Hindu right-wing organisations, based on the statements of the staff of a cow shelter and mobile phone records.

On November 10, 35-year-old Umar Mohammeds body was recovered from railway tracks in Alwar district. He was allegedly killed by vigilantes trying to stop cow smuggling. The police identified eight accused, of whom four, including the mastermind, were arrested.

On December 6, 24-year-old Taleem from Nuh, Haryana was killed in police firing in Alwar when he along with five or six accomplices was allegedly smuggling cows in a pick-up truck. The other accused, who managed to escape, have not been identified. The case has been shifted to from the district police to CID-CB.

The incidents triggered uproar from the Opposition who claimed deteriorating law and order situation in the state.

Rajasthan education minister Vasudev Devnanis statement also made headlines. He claimed, Cow is the only animal that inhales and exhales oxygen and that people need to understand its scientific significance. Diseases, such as cold and cough, are healed if one goes near a cow, Devnani claimed, emphasising the role of youth to promote cow protection. He also claimed that cow dung has ample quantity of vitamin B that results in soaking radioactivity.

The state was news for tagging around 5.50 lakh cows with a unique identification number (UID) at shelters to ensure that the animals are not abandoned. The state was planning to set up a portal to help people buy and sell cows online, encouraged by the success of e-commerce sites, such as OLX and Quikr.com.

After the death of hundreds of bovine at Hingonia cow shelter in Jaipur last year, the state government inked an MoU with Akshay Patra Foundation for maintenance of the shelter.

Going beyond cow milk, ghee, curd and dung, scientists at Mohanlal Sukhadia University (MSU) in Udaipur are working on a cow therapy centre to educate students about the medicinal values of cow urine. The centre plans to offer a three-month skill development course to teach students about the constituents of cow urine and which one to be used to cure a disease.
"We make war that we may live in peace."

--Aristotle

"I exhort you never to debase the moral currency or to lower the

standard of rectitude, but to try others by the final maxim that

governs your own lives, and to suffer no man and no cause to escape

the undying penalty which history has the power to inflict on wrong."

--Lord Acton

"Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the

highest political end...liberty is the only object which benefits all

alike, and provokes no sincere opposition...The danger is not that a

particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern...

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

--Lord Acton

"It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry,

Peace, Peace--but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from

the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the

field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life

so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it,

Almighty God! I know not what course others may take;

but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"

--Patrick Henry

"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine

patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now,

deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we

have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph."

--Thomas Paine

"The way to secure liberty is to place it in the people's hands, that is,

to give them the power at all times to defend it in the legislature and

in the courts of justice"

--John Adams

"Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will

within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I

do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often

but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights

of the individual."

--Thomas Jefferson

"No man has a natural right to commit aggression on the equal rights of

another, and this is all from which the laws ought to restrain hima?the idea

is quite unfounded that on entering into society we give up any natural rights."

--Thomas Jefferson

"An honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over his

fellow citizens."

--Thomas Jefferson

"The protection of our citizens, the spirit and honor of our country, require

that force should be interposed to a certain degree."

--Thomas Jefferson

"To draw around the whole nation the strength of the General Government

as a barrier against foreign foes... is [one of the] functions of the General Government on which [our citizens] have a right to call."

--Thomas Jefferson

"It is our duty still to endeavor to avoid war; but if it shall actually

take place, no matter by whom brought on, we must defend ourselves. If our house be on fire, without

inquiring whether it was fired from within or without, we must try to extinguish it."

--Thomas Jefferson

"I am ever unwilling that [peace] should be disturbed as long as

the rights and interests of the nations can be preserved. But whensoever hostile aggressions on these

require a resort to war, we must meet our duty and convince the world that we are

just friends and brave enemies."

--Thomas Jefferson

"By nature's law, man is at peace with man till some aggression is

committed, which, by the same law, authorizes one to destroy another as

his enemy."

--Thomas Jefferson

"I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against

every form of tyranny over the mind of man."

--Thomas Jefferson

"Our duty to ourselves, to posterity, and to mankind, call on us

by every motive which is sacred or honorable, to watch over the safety of our beloved country

during the troubles which agitate and convulse the residue of the world, and to sacrifice to

that all personal and local considerations."

--Thomas Jefferson

"It is an essential attribute of the jurisdiction of every country

to preserve peace, to punish acts in breach of it, and to restore property taken by force within

its limits."

--Thomas Jefferson

"By nature's law, man is at peace with man till some aggression

is committed, which, by the same law, authorizes one to destroy another

as his enemy."

--Thomas Jefferson

"Peace and friendship with all mankind is our wisest policy,

and I wish we may be permitted to pursue it. But the temper and folly of our enemies may

not leave this in our choice."

--Thomas Jefferson

"We must indeed all hang together, or, most assuredly,

we shall all hang separately."

--Benjamin Franklin

"I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people

by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent

and sudden usurpations."

--James Madison

"Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without

it nothing can succeed."

--Abraham Lincoln

"At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we

fortify against it? Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a

blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted)

in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a

track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years. At what point, then, is the approach of danger to be expected?

I answer, if it ever reach us it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot,

we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time,

or die by suicide."

--Abraham Lincoln

"The probability that we may fall in the struggle ought not to deter us from the

support of a cause we believe to be just; it shall not deter me."

--Abraham Lincoln

"Property is the fruit of labor...property is desirable...is a positive

good in the world. That some should be rich shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement

to industry and enterprise. Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor

diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall

be safe from violence when built."

--Abraham Lincoln

"We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean

the same thing. With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself, and

the product of his labor; while with others, the same word many mean for some men to do as they please

with other men, and the product of other men's labor. Here are two, not only different, but incompatible

things, called by the same name - liberty. And it follows that each of the things is, by the respective

parties, called by two different and incompatible names -

liberty and tyranny."

--Abraham Lincoln

"If all do not join now to save the good old ship of the Union this voyage

nobody will have a chance to pilot her on another voyage."

--Abraham Lincoln

"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points

out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust

and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again;

who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause;

who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at worst,

if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with

those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."

--Theodore Roosevelt

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs,

even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy

much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that

knows not victory nor defeat."

--Theodore Roosevelt

"The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth

of private power to a point where it comes stronger than their democratic

state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism - ownership of government by

an individual, by a group."

--Franklin D. Roosevelt

"War has been waged against us by stealth and deceit and murder.

This nation is peaceful, but fierce when stirred to anger. This conflict was begun on the

timing and terms of others. It will end in a way, and at an hour,

of our choosing."

--George W. Bush

"When the conduct of men is designed to be influenced, persuasion, kind unassuming persuasion, should ever be adopted. It is an old and true maxim that 'a drop of honey catches more flies

than a gallon of gall.' So with men. If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him

that you are his sincere friend. Therein is a drop of honey that catches his heart, which, say

what he will, is the great highroad to his reason, and which, once gained, you will find but little trouble in convincing him of the justice of your cause, if indeed that cause is really

a good one."

--Abraham Lincoln

"To arrive at a just estimate of a renowned man's character one must judge

it by the standards of his time, not ours."

--Mark Twain

"It is with trifles and when he is off guard that a man best

reveals his character."

--Arthur Schopenhauer

"When men speak ill of thee, live

so as nobody may believe them."

--Plato

"He that has light within his own clear breast may sit in the center,

and enjoy bright day: But he that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts benighted walks under the

mid-day sun."

--John Milton

"Character consists of what you do on the third

and fourth tries."

--James A. Michener

"We should be too big to take offense and too noble to

give it."

--Abraham Lincoln

"I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the

content of their character."

--Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

"A man's character is his guardian divinity."

--Heraclitus

"Character develops itself in the stream of life."

--Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

"Do what you know and perception is converted into character."

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Of all the properties which belong to honorable men, not one is so

highly prized as that of character."

--Henry Clay
The recent electricity tariff revision has brought into sharp focus yet again the contradictions that the state-run UP Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL) appears to have with regard to its concern about the unmetered use of electricity in the state and the consequent revenue losses.

The corporation got the regulator to increase the power tariff for the unmetered rural domestic and agricultural farmers by as high as 70-150% at one go last fortnight to encourage them to get metered supply and pay on the actual consumption basis. But the corporation had no plans at all to motivate the states one lakh unmetered power employees and pensioners to fall in line.

Other than Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh is the countrys only state that allows its power employees to enjoy the luxury of unmetered and hence unlimited and unaccounted use of electricity against the nominal fixed monthly charges even as all other domestic consumers are being forced to pay through the nose.

There is no reason why power employees should be exempted from the legal compulsion of consuming electricity only through a working meter when all other unmetered consumers are being penalised, a UPERC official said.

Significantly, the Electricity Act 2003 that everyone swears by clearly prohibits the unmetered use of electricity by any consumer and class of consumers.

Many people may not know that the average per unit energy charges that are realised from the highly-paid power employees are even less than the per unit tariff applicable to the below poverty line (BPL) or lifeline consumers in the state.

Under the current system continuing for decades, the power employees pay fixed monthly charges per connection, regardless of the amount of electricity they may consume. The charges vary from employee to employee depending on the grade they belong to.

A junior engineer, for example, is liable to pay only Rs 180 per connection, per month plus Rs 550 per air-conditioner during summer, if he honestly declares he is using an AC at all.

Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Abhiyanta Sangh general secretary Rajiv Kumar Singh defended the unmetered power supply to power employees.

We use unmetered supply as a staff facility like many other organisations like the Railways and the Army provide various concessions to their employees, he said, adding Moreover, unmetered supply also gives us a sense of social respect.

Countering the argument, Lokhit Manch president SP Khanna said power employees might claim concessional power from the regulator as a staff facility.But they cannot be allowed unlimited and accounted for use of unmetered supply since it is prohibited by the law and more so when they are penalising others to force them to install meters at their premises, he argued.

The unmetered supply, according to sources, is an emotional issue to the power employees and they see installation of meters at their residences as an insult to them. One more reason why they opposed metering tooth and nail, according to sources, is that installation of meters would reveal their actual consumption which many of them would never like to reveal for reasons like selling electricity to tenants from their connection.

These are the reasons that made the then chief secretary Neera Yadav order a drive more than a decade ago to install meters on the premises of powermen. But they took to the streets, short-circuiting the campaign.

A few engineers were so upset that they were publicly seen crying when a team reached to install meters at their colony in Aliganj, Lucknow.

This is why the UPPCL management is overcautious about this issue as it knows that any move to forcibly install meters is bound to send power staff on a collision course affecting the preparations for the power for all initiative, sources said.

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Bareilly: A day after a 16-year-old girl committed suicide in Khutar area here, her family alleged she took the step after being constantly sexually harassed by a boy of their locality. However, the family of the accused alleged that the girl was forced to commit suicide for being in a relationship with their son. Both sides submitted complaints at Khutar police station.

Reportedly, the girl ingested pesticide at her home on Sunday and was rushed to a private hospital where she died on Monday. Her family lodged a complaint against one Nitish Kumar for sexually harassing her.

This was the second complaint lodged against Nitish by the family. In a previous complaint, on 22 August, they accused him of stalking and touching the girl inappropriately. An FIR was registered against Nitish and he was sent to prison on judicial custody. On September 23, he was released on parole.

The girls family claimed that soon after that Nitish started stalking her again.

Meanwhile, Brijesh Kumar, the boys uncle, said, They (girls kin) were against the relationship, as they belong to upper caste. Nitesh is missing since Monday and we fear they may kill him.

Police have initiated preliminary investigation. I have advised the circle officer to look into all aspects before lodging FIR, said KB Singh, SP, Shahjahanpur.
Champagne, it is often said, celebrates the art of blending. In the cellars of the best of the big houses, the chef de cave (the head of the winemaking team) selects from dozens of still wines, taken from different grapes grown in vastly different vineyards from many different vintages.

From these still wines, the chef assembles an ideal combination, which will then be bottled with a bit of yeast and sweetness. The resulting second fermentation in the bottle produces carbon dioxide, which creates Champagnes sparkle.

This is how the best nonvintage Champagnes are produced. By the time these Champagnes are uncorked, the pleasures they offer will have little connection to the lands on which the grapes were grown. Instead, the Champagnes present, year after year, a consistent style embraced by the house.

Even as the vast majority of Champagnes are made in a similar fashion, a growing number now express a different point of view. Instead of wines that convey a house style, these Champagnes  often produced by small farmers who tend their own vineyards  reflect the characteristics of grapes grown in a particular village or area. They are specific, individual and occasionally quirky, rather than smoothly consistent.

Some producers have taken the notion of specificity even further. In the last 20 years, Champagnes in which all the grapes come from a single vineyard, or a single plot within a larger vineyard, have proliferated.

Its related to the return to prominence of vineyards and viticulture, said Peter Liem, whose new book, Champagne: The Essential Guide to the Wines, Producers and Terroirs of This Iconic Region, chronicles the re-emergence of Champagne as an agricultural product rather than an object of urbane sophistication. As people are paying more attention to their vineyards, that increasingly leads to winemakers vinifying different parcels separately.

But in Champagne, such differentiation represents almost a sort of heresy against the art of blending. For decades, Champagne marketing has emphasized the importance of such cellar work over the character of the vineyard.

If you could transform Champagne into Burgundy, you would destroy it, Remi Krug of Krug Champagne, possibly the most prestigious house, told me back in 2003. Krug Grande Cuvee, one of the worlds great Champagnes, is indeed a masterpiece of blending, made up of more than 100 wines coming from dozens of places and vintages.

Yet, Krug is also responsible for perhaps the most famous single-vineyard Champagne, Clos du Mesnil. Since 1979, Krug has produced this blanc de blancs (Champagne made solely from white grapes) with chardonnay grown in a small walled vineyard in the center of Mesnil-sur-Oger in the Cote des Blancs. Krug has also, since 1995, bottled the most expensive single-vineyard Champagne, Clos dAmbonnay, a blanc de noirs  made only from black grapes  from a tiny walled plot in Ambonnay. It runs from $2,000 to $4,000 a bottle.

Back in 2003, Krug called the single-vineyard Champagne a contradiction wine. If so, Champagne has been producing more and more contradictions.

Chartogne-Taillet, an excellent producer based in the town of Merfy in the northern reaches of the Champagne region, makes several fascinating single-vineyard Champagnes, including Heurtebise, a harmonious, savory wine made of chardonnay that is rich with creamy, chalky, umami flavors, and Les Orizeaux, made of pinot noir, that is pure, saline and practically weightless with the telltale scent of red berries.

R. Pouillon et Fils, a small producer based in Mareuil-sur-Ay, east of the city of Epernay, has been making several single-vineyard Champagnes since 2007. Les Valnons is a rare blanc de blancs from the village of Ay, an area renowned for its pinot noir. The wine, grown on chalky soils, is intensely mineral and stony, almost austere, with fine saline and citrus flavors.

Some single-vineyard Champagnes are a result of fashion. Just as with extra-brut Champagnes  which evolved from a laudable effort to make drier wines into a faddish race to jump on the bandwagon  single-vineyard Champagnes are not necessarily better Champagnes. (Shutterstock)

Pouillons Les Blanchiens, by contrast, is made up of pinot noir and chardonnay grown on soils with more clay. As is typical of clays influence, the wine is broad and voluminous, savory with an almost exotic spiciness.

These two utterly distinct wines might have been blended together. They might have made a more-complete single Champagne, though consumers would have lost the pleasure and fascination of comparing the two different expressions.

For Alexandre Chartogne of Chartogne-Taillet, who runs his familys estate, the decision to make single-vineyard Champagnes is a matter of education, of trying to understand through the medium of the wine the character of the land in all its intricate, natural details, much as Cistercian monks did in France centuries ago.

By choosing to work with plots, I continue the work of understanding and interpreting nature, he wrote in an email. I try to capture the natural wealth and translate it in the best way in my cellar, without modification.

Dozens of growers are now seeking to better understand their terroirs through single-vineyard Champagnes. Often, the wines are superb.

The bigger houses, too, are getting in on it. Lanson recently released its first single-vineyard Champagne, Clos Lanson, a 2006 blanc de blancs produced from a tiny enclosed vineyard on a hill in Reims. It is pure, lightly creamy and graceful, a lovely, vibrant Champagne that will get even better with a few more years of age.

No doubt, some single-vineyard Champagnes are a result of fashion. Just as with extra-brut Champagnes  which evolved from a laudable effort to make drier wines into a faddish race to jump on the bandwagon  single-vineyard Champagnes are not necessarily better Champagnes. They are just a different expression.

While the proliferation of single-vintages is recent, the Champagnes have been much-sought-after curiosities for decades. The first of any prominence was Philipponnats Clos des Goisses, a steep, chalky, warm, hillside vineyard in Mareuil-sur-Ay. When Philipponnat bought the plot in 1935, it recognized its singular qualities and started bottling it separately immediately. The 2007 is superb, fully of energy and persistent floral, chalky, red berry flavors.

Other producers here and there began making single-vineyard wines. Cattier started bottling its Clos du Moulin in 1952. In the 70s and 80s, a few others popped up. Perhaps the most influential explorer of Champagnes terroirs has been Anselme Selosse of Jacques Selosse, who over the last 30 years or so has made many different sorts of terroir-specific Champagne and has inspired other producers to do so as well.

Single-vineyard Champagnes are largely a high-end pleasure. Less-expensive bottles, like the Chartogne-Taillet Champagnes, run around $85. But most cost more than $100 a bottle, while the Selosse wines can cost as much as $500 or $600, and Clos du Mesnil, $800 to $1,000.
Sharing of space, ideas and vibes is a concept embraced by new-age entrepreneurs this year. Co-working spaces have been rapidly growing across the country. They are popular not only with start-ups and small businesses, but even among large corporates who opt for such spaces for their office space requirement. Heres a quick look at five co-working spaces that flourished across India in 2017:

* ONE Co.Work

Founded in October 2015 as One Internet, ONE Co.Work has gained exponential recognition and caters to the needs of over 100 start-ups and entrepreneurs. Ramping up its operations to offer comprehensive support services to start-ups and entrepreneurs, ONE Co.Work offers a unique product titled ONE Co.Cafe which converts cafes into vibrant co-working spaces.

The platforms target market comprises solopreneurs, musicians, SMEs, small business owners, freelancers and anyone who desires a flexible and affordable working space. It offers innovative infrastructure like sleeping pods, and divided zones. It entered Bangalore with the launch of a new centre in Koramangla in November 2017. ONE Co.Work is planning to launch a 15,000 sq ft co-working space in Sector 125, Noida and add another 16,000 sq ft of space in Connaught Place, New Delhi by March-end.

Spring House

One of the hubs for entrepreneurs, thought leaders and early adopters, Spring House began as a chain of collaborative work and living spaces that provided a nurturing environment for start-ups. Starting with one co-working centre in Gurugram, Spring House is now a hub of 10 co-working spaces spread over an area of 50,000 sqft in different parts of the National Capital Region (NCR). Spring House has launched one centre in Noida this year and is planning to add more by the end of next year.

* GoWork

Founded by Sanjeev Mahajan (Chairman), Sudeep Singh (Chief Evangelist) and Nimit Mahajan (Co-founder) in June 2017, GoWork has started operations from November with clients like Cox and Kings, Fixxoo and Lifelong and aims to increase the profitability of Indias SMEs and start-ups. With two facilities spread over an area of 8 lakh sq ft, GoWork is the worlds largest co-working campus. It provides customers with a high-tech environment with a capacity of two Mbps internet speed for every individual. The co-working campus also hosts meditation sessions and workshops, hackathon meets and investors sessions.

* Insta Office

Instaoffices technology platform allows office seekers to find an InstaOffice anytime, anywhere and for any duration. It provides a unique opportunity to real estate partners to monetise vacant properties, and earn a higher rental yield. They opened their sixth co-working space in Delhi/NCR in mid 2017. Apart from this, it has presence in Delhi, Bengaluru and GIFT City, Gujarat. The company plans to launch about six to eight co-working spaces in the National Capital Region (NCR) in the first half of 2018.

WeWork

WeWork India, a joint venture between Embassy Group and US-headquartered coworking space provider WeWork, began its India operations with the launch of WeWork Galaxy, a 1.4-lakh sq ft facility in Bengaluru, in July,2017. It plans to set up a total of seven centres across the country by the end of 2017, including one in Whitefield, Bengaluru, and locations in Mumbai and Delhi.

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I wrote, two weeks ago, about a boom in the number of people drinking good wine in India  and then putting their favourites on Instagram and other social media. I still dont have the statistics required to substantiate my claims about a boom but on a purely anecdotal basis, judging from reactions to the column, there is much greater interest in wine than before.

There are also a multiplicity of opinions about this boom and many people rushed to the defence of Indian sommeliers who I dissed in that column (No. I havent seen any reason to change my view. Most of them are useless.)

So here are some more of my prejudices, or at least the ones people have asked about in the fortnight since the column appeared.

Decanting: Sommeliers get into interminable discussions about this. But all we need to concern ourselves with are the two reasons for decanting a wine.

The first is if it is very old and sediment has accumulated. The decanting ritual beloved of sommeliers (candle near the bottle, funnels and other such dramas) make sense in these cases but in reality, few of us are going to drink 1962 Latour so this kind of decanting is of little interest to us.

The second kind of decanting focuses on one of the great mysteries of wine drinking: the relationship between wine and oxygen. We know that wine changes as soon as it is exposed to air. Keep a wine bottle open for too long and the wine will spoil.

But we also know that many wines begin to improve as soon they are exposed to oxygen. The trick lies in knowing exactly how much exposure to the atmosphere will improve the wine and how to stop before it starts to spoil.

It is an inexact science and every sommelier has his or her view and it varies from wine to wine and bottle to bottle. Some wine experts, for instance, say that no decanting is ever needed.

My own prejudice is to decant most young red wines. I find that they improve with exposure to oxygen. The late Simon Hoggart, who wrote wittily about wine, used to believe that even white wines should be exposed to oxygen before drinking. It wasnt necessary to decant them but it helped to keep them in your glasses for a while before drinking them.

Some wines improve with Oxygen. (Shutterstock)

Glasses: For years, I used to laugh at people who said that you needed different glasses for Burgundy and Bordeaux. But after my friend, Sanjay Menon, served me the same wine from different kinds of glasses (all made by Riedel) I have had to admit that I was foolish to scoff.

A glass can change the way a wine tastes. Partly, this has to do with how much of the surface area of the wine in the glass is exposed to oxygen (see above) but it also has to do with taste receptors on our tongue. Each glass sends wine into our mouths in a slightly different way. And so, different taste buds are activated and the wine can taste different.

Unless you are drinking very good wine however, the broad rule of thumb is that a large, broad-mouthed glass works better for red wine. And good champagne should never be drunk from a flute.

A glass can change the way a wine tastes. (Shutterstock)

New World vs Old World: There are people who like only Old World (France, Italy, Germany etc.) wines and those who say that New World wines (America, Australia, etc.) are as good or better.

I find it impossible to generalise because New World wines now have such varied characteristics that comparisons are meaningless. In general though, New World is often shorthand for wines that taste of wood (vanilla flavours), are slightly sweeter (for white wines) or have fewer tannins (for red).

It is worth keeping in mind though that in 1976, at a blind tasting of Californian and French wines, attended by many top French experts, the winners were the California wines. The French responded that California wines tasted better when young. The French wines, they said, would improve with age.

So the same wines were tasted again in 2006 (though only two French experts agreed to take part this time). California won easily, once again. The top French wine, Mouton Rothschild, came sixth. Five California wines, many of which cost much less, came out ahead.

Indian wines: Some are very good. Many are not. But the good wines are not cheap and the question of whether they are as good as foreign wines in their price range is open.

Dont be prejudiced against them. But equally dont feel obliged to drink them only because Indian wine companies have spent a lot of time and money cultivating Indian sommeliers and wine writers. (Foreign wine companies dont usually bother to cultivate Indian wine writers and sommeliers because the market is not large enough.)

You have no obligation to increase the profits of the Indian wine industry by drinking its wines. Your only imperative is to drink the best wine you can afford.

Dont be shy of trying Indian wines, some of them are good. (Shutterstock)

New Zealand wines: Few people realise this but wines from New Zealand have the highest average price in the world. This is not because all New Zealand wines are expensive (they are not) but because New Zealand, unlike say France or America, does not make plonk or cheap wine. So a New Zealand wine is always the safest option on an unfamiliar wine list. It may not be very good or memorable (though the best wines are truly exceptional) but it will almost always never be bad.

A New Zealand vineyard. (Shutterstock)

Spoiled Wine: Can wine go bad? Yes it can and often does. When they offer you a taste of the wine at a restaurant before serving it, they are not asking if you like it. (Even if you dont, it is too late now; you did order the damn thing!) They are asking you to check if it is off or spoilt.

Wines can spoil for various reasons. If the bottles are exposed to too much heat  lying around in a cargo dump awaiting customs clearances, for instance --- the wine will be cooked and taste horrible. If the cork has shrunk or deteriorated (cheap corks can disintegrate), then oxygen may enter the bottle and spoil the wine (see above). There is also a fungal agent that creates a compound called TCA which spoils the taste of wine.

Generally, red wines are as likely to spoil as white, but we tend to notice deterioration in white wine more easily. White burgundy is always the riskiest wine to order because a lot of what is available is spoiled.

If a wine tastes off, return it. Any good sommelier (oh, here we go again!) will take it back and replace the bottle. Its a good idea though not to ask for another bottle of the same wine. The chances are that the whole case is spoiled. Dont be swayed if the hotel tells you how carefully it stores its wine. It did not buy the bottle from the vineyard. It has no way of knowing what happened to the bottle or how it was stored before it reached the hotel.

Prosecco: An Italian sparkling wine from the region around Venice, it is often offered at restaurant brunches in place of champagne. Personally, I dont drink it but lots of people love it because it is not particularly alcoholic and its quality (overall) has improved in this century.

The original Bellini was created by Harrys Bar in Venice from Prosecco and peach pulp and Prosecco is a good (and relatively inexpensive) choice for cocktails.

Prosecco is a good (and affordable) alternative. (Shutterstock)

Wine Grading: Is there an objective way of judging wine? I dont think so. Most judgements about wine have to be subjective though broadly speaking, it is easy enough to distinguish very good from very bad. The problem lies in the middle rank. Also definitions of  very good can vary.

The influential American wine writer Robert Parker popularised a system of giving marks out of hundred to wines. Most people I know dont necessarily agree with Parkers approach but they acknowledge that he has an exceptional palate and will treat his marks as a rough guide to quality while recognising that he likes a certain style of wine and that such wines will get more marks.

But bear in mind that even the most famous wine experts can make fools of themselves at blind tastings. And also remember that how we judge wine depends on many factors: how happy we were when we drank it, what we were eating at the time and what we had heard about the wine.

In 2008, American researchers offered subjects a wine that they were told cost $ 10 a bottle. They then offered them the same wine again and told them it cost $ 40. Not only did the vast majority fail to notice that they were drinking the same wine but they also said that they liked the second wine much more!

Drink slowly: Do you sometimes notice that the waiter at your restaurant hovers by your table? That the moment the level of wine in your glass drops, he rushes forward and tops it up?

He isnt doing it to provide good service. Many restaurants train their staff to do this so that you are nudged towards drinking more quickly than you normally would.

The restaurant wants you to finish the bottle halfway through your meal. Then, the waiter will ask May I get you another bottle, sir? If you are with a guest, you may be pressured into saying yes because you dont want to seem cheap.

So heres what I do. I tell the waiter that I will ask him to pour the wine when I need it. And if I want another bottle, I will let him know.

Because when it comes to wine, never let anyone push you around! You are spending a lot of money. You have the right to enjoy your wine any way and at any pace you desire!

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The Mumbai police and the Shiv Sena-led Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) may soon join hands to crack down on unregulated hookah parlours in the city.

City mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar on Wednesday said such establishments must be banned. He met police commissioner DD Padsalgikar and sought his cooperation in conducting raids and penalising hookah parlour owners.

It is a matter of grave concern for me that a majority of teenagers are attracted to hookah. The BMC will crack down on all parlours in the months to come, said the mayor.

After the meeting, Mumbai police spokesperson Deepak Devraj said, The mayor has informed us that they (BMC) will take action against hookah parlours, which operate under the smoking room licence. The police are ready to raid parlours if the BMC shares information about them, said Devraj.

According to the BMC, Mumbai has between 500 and 650 hookah parlours. Most of them are situated around colleges. Mahadeshwar said, These parlours are not legal and have no permission either from the police or BMC to serve hookah. Parlour owners get permission only to have a smoking zone from a zonal deputy municipal commissioner. The BMC had ruled in 2014 that smoking zones will be allowed in restaurants, with a condition that they were not allowed to sell any other product.

Nitin Dicholkar, a Shiv Sena leader who accompanied the mayor, said, Parlours have become a hub for anti-social activities.
Around 29,000 cataract patients in Maharashtra have got a gift of clearer vision in the past eight days.

State health officials, working to resolve shortage of ophthalmologists, said that specialists are being trained on the job to meet the goal of cataract-free Maharashtra till 2019.

Under the initiative launched by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, 17 lakh cataract patients are likely to undergo cataract surgeries between December 2017 and July 2019. Over 175 operation theaters, across state, will perform surgeries with help of 350 ophthalmologists, working with state health department, municipal bodies and Directorate of Medical Education and Research. Now, we have 155 ophthalmologists out of which 19 are such who have completed their specialisation but dont have much experience. We are sending them to our 16 medical colleges where they will perform two to three surgeries every day to gain experience, said Dr Lahane, head of the campaign.

The state is also readying a team of 40 doctors, who can go and perform surgeries in any part of the state, as and when needed. We have several medical colleges with 7-10 ophthalmologists each. To ensure even distribution of resources, we will create a team of these specialists and send them to distant areas where there are fewer ophthalmologists employed, Dr Lahane added.
A 54-year-old man, who was allegedly evading capture for 15 years after being accused in a Rs one-lakh cheating case, was arrested after he was found hiding in a washing machine in his apartment in Mumbai on Monday.

For three hours, the mans wife allegedly stalled police officials who had come looking for him at the couples three-bedroom apartment in western Mumbais Juhu. When the officials finally convinced the woman to let them in, they still couldnt find the accused. The police were about to give up when they pulled a cloth from a washing machine and found him hiding.

Vasant Wakhare, senior police inspector at the Azad Maidan police station, said a court had declared the accused as an absconder in a 2002 cheating case. He had allegedly cheated three people of Rs 1 lakh on the pretext of getting them admissions in a Bachelor of Education course. The accused is also wanted in a Rs one-crore cheating case in Pune, said Wakahre.

Wakhare said the police team had gone looking for the man after Mumbai police commissioner recently ordered that persons who are absconding after being accused of crimes be traced. The police have also lodged a complaint against his wife for obstructing a government official from doing his duty.
The five-decade old ferry service between Versova and Madh island may soon shut, thanks to a proposed 1km-long bridge. After 54 years in the business, ferry operators fear that commuters and bikers will prefer taking the bridge to the ferry from Madh.

To reduce the travel time, the Brihamumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) plans to connect Versova to Madh with the bridge. The Versova-Madh water transport is one of two short-distance ferry services across creek in Mumbai.

According to the civic officials, the proposed bridge will be a dream-come-true for Madh residents.

It currently takes about an hour to reach Malad station from Madh by road, while the ferry takes five minutes to reach Versova. There are three ferries that are operational between 5 am and 1 am. The proposed bridge would allow people to zoom over the creek in a few minutes, said officials.

According to Madh residents, nearly 20,000 people  including schoolchildren, college students and office-goers  take the ferry daily. There are no proper schools, colleges and even hospitals on Madh island. During the monsoon, children have to walk through ankle-deep muck. It is very difficult during medical emergencies and sometimes, the ferry is closed for a couple of hours during high tide. We need a bridge at such times, said Manoj Miranda, chairperson of Madh Welfare Foundation.

Krishna Koli, head of Madh-Gorai Sangharsh Samiti for fishermen, said minor accidents on the ferries are common. There are no cops at the jetty. Sometimes, children fall overboard, people trip over the boarding plank and boats crash, said Koli.

While the need for a connecting bridge is evident, the livelihood of around 60 employees of the Vesava Machhimar Sahakari Society Ltd, which runs the ferry service, is at stake. Neeraj Tapke, who has been operating one of the three ferries for the past 10 years, said, Half of our passengers come with bikes. If they start using the bridge, what will happen to our business? We do not know if the ferry service will be required anymore.

The project had been in the pipeline for the past eight years, said civic officials. Over the years, the BMC had to change plans after local villagers protested their properties would be affected.

Yogiraj Dabhadkar, local corporator and chairman of the Andheri (West) committee, told HT, Now, the plan is to extend the New Fisheries University road towards Madh, without touching Versova Koli village. The bridge may affect the local ferry business but we have proposed to compensate residents by creating jobs for them.

BMCs chief engineer (bridges) Shitalaprasad Kori said, The project still needs approvals from the Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB). We will soon chalk out the alignment.

The tender for running the Versova-Madh ferry service for 20 years was given to Vesava Machimaar Sahakari Society Ltd in 2010.

The service was started originally for the local fishermen, who travelled to the citys markets to sell their catch.
The decomposed body of a woman doctor, Poonam Satpute, aged around 50 years, was found at her Andheri (West) residence on Tuesday night.

The Amboli police prima facie said there was nothing suspicious found at the spot, but have sent the body to Cooper Hospital for post mortem to ascertain the cause of death.

According to Amboli police, the doctor, a gynecologist, used to live alone in a flat in a building at Four Bungalows area. Her 81-year-old father lived in a building nearby.

The police said that the door was locked from the inside. No valuables in her flat were reported to be stolen, and she had no inflicted injuries, they said.

The police suspect she died at least 48 hours before her body was found. The post mortem report from Cooper Hospital will reveal her exact cause of death.

The police said she was diabetic and may have suffered a heart attack. A senior police official said, There is nothing suspicious, but we are awaiting the post-mortem report to find out the exact cause of death. An accidental death report (ADR) has been filed.
The Chief John Ross Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, on Dec. 19 honored local businessman and philanthropist Fletcher Bright with the DAR Historic Preservation Medal for his work to preserve and promote bluegrass and mountain music. Mr. Bright died on Christmas Day.

CJR Regent Jessica Dumitru noted that equally amazing is that Fletcher Bright has performed every small and large act of historical preservation as his vocation, a continuing demonstration of his love and commitment to the preservation of Bluegrass and mountain music.

For seventy-two years, Mr. Bright worked tirelessly for that preservation while creating a real estate and shopping center development business with national holdings - - and until just a few months ago, he was still fiddling and still developing real estate. Fletcher Bright is a national treasure in the preservation of our historical heritage.

She said many Chattanoogans are aware that in 1945 Fletcher Bright and his McCallie chums got together and began singing and playing Bluegrass music and that the Dismembered Tennesseans, led by Bright and his fiddle, have performed across the United States and in Europe. Many may not know that the group has performed in every venue from Bluegrass festivals to sharing the stage with major symphonies, including performances at the Kennedy Center and on a number of nationally-televised programs.

Linda Moss Mines, CJRs Historic Preservation Chairman, said, What many Chattanoogans also may not know is that Fletcher Bright has endowed several fiddle programs to preserved the music of the Southern Appalachians and the British Isles, including a renowned seat at the Berkelee School of Music. He has devoted his personal time to teaching Bluegrass fiddle in camps and programs throughout the US, Canada and England for more than twenty-five years. As a person who grew up hearing the old ballads and stirring music of the mountains, I am most impressed with his skillful recording of the notes and words of thousands of Bluegrass classic and relatively unknown tunes. Fletcher Bright knew that our history is important and that not all history is including in classroom texts.

"Our history is in the music of our ancestors and the stories that chronicle the real history of the common people. He celebrated that heritage long before people became enthralled with genealogy and local folklore.

"Fletcher Bright was always one step ahead as he thought about music and it is our blessing that he not only helped to save the music but that he has shared his love of Bluegrass and mountain music with several generations who now regularly tap their toes to those melodic tunes heard on Sirius Bluegrass and at music festivals, including his beloved Three Sisters Festival here in Chattanooga.



The DAR Historic Preservation Award must be approved by the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution and the Chief John Ross Chapter assembled an impressive packet of support for the recognition of Fletcher Bright. Samantha Teter, Executive Director of the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, writing in support noted that Fletcher Bright has been a tremendous asset and stalwart supporter of the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera. His collaboration as a musician with the CSO has extended many years, as well as his financial support to the organization. Along with the Dismembered Tennesseans, the CSO recorded a CD several years ago that melded orchestral music with bluegrass - - a unique opportunity for a symphony orchestra. . . The CSO is a better organization because of Fletchers influence and support. Dan Bowers, ArtsBuild President, echoed his support. Fletcher Brights love of this music has manifested itself in countless ways. The band is a staple at numerous events in our region, ranging from an annual Independence Day performance before a crowd of 30,000 people to smaller venues - - all at no charge and all fueled by Fletchers passion for the preservation of this art form.

Mary Larsen, Editor and Publisher of the international publication, Fiddler Magazine, captured Brights generosity and love of the music perfectly in her letter when she wrote, Fletchers enthusiasm shows through whenever he puts bow to strings and whenever he is able to introduce the instrument, or a tune, to others. When we requested a few tune transcriptions to include with his Fiddler Magazine interview, he gladly sent them  along with about a hundred others for my personal use. As he said in that interview, I do feel like its something we need to pass on and give back and share, and I think its vitally important for us to do that.
What began with five people in Mumbai talking about the medical uses of cannabis, or marijuana, three years ago, is now a 100-member group that is part of a worldwide movement working for the legalisation of the herb.

On December 17, members of the group walked 5km from Gateway of India to Chowpatty beach to get support for their cause. Another walk is scheduled on January 7.

Two weeks ago, the Bangalore-based founder of the Great Legalisation Movement (GLM), Viki Vaurora, wrote to the Prime Minister asking him to legalise hemp  leaves that are the source of cannabis  for medicinal, industrial and recreational purposes. Hemp, like jute, is a source of fibre.

Dhaval Panchal, an event manager from Mumbai, who is a member of the group, said he found out about the use of cannabis oil as a cancer medicine when his father had the disease.

When Panchals father was given a dose of the oil, he experienced less pain and could sleep better.

By the time I found out about it, it was too late because my father had already undergone 12 chemotherapy sessions. I wish I had known earlier. But now I am trying to spread awareness about this, and we have been trying to reach out to more people through social media, said Panchal.

Akshay Shetty, another member, said the hardest task for them is to change the mindset. Although around 50% of the youth understand the benefits of cannabis, they face opposition from most of society. There are doctors, too, who understand that cannabis can be used for medicinal purposes, but wont let us speak about it in hospitals because it is banned in the country, said Shetty.

Vaurora says he has been able to help more than 100 patients using hemp oil ever since he started the movement in 2014. The plant we want to legalise is called the Shiva plant, and it has been spoken about in our mythology as well. When we have something that has been a part of culture for the longest time, whats the point of banning it, Vaurora says.

When HT spoke to a botanist from the city, he was of the opinion that the plant needs to be legalised because the ban is filling the pockets of the mafia.

We should legalise the plant, as has been done in 13 states in the US, and use state machinery to treat people who use intoxicants, and not on a legal system to keep on tabs on it, said Rishi Aggarwal, an environment activist.

The movement has been gaining momentum because Member of Parliament from Patiala Dr Dharamvira Gandhis bill seeking legalisation of the non-synthetic intoxicants was cleared for the Parliament last year, and was expected to be discussed in the winter session.

However, speaking to HT, Gandhi said the bill may come up for discussion only in the budget session later next year because it wasnt approved for the current session.

My bill is an A-category bill, which means it is one of the most important bills. It speaks about legalisation of cannabis because the NDPS Act has not been able to curb the use of drugs or de-addict Indians, Gandhi said.
The anti-extortion cell (AEC) of the Mumbai crime branch on Wednesday arrested Akhbar Pasha, 52, father of Badrinujam Badshah alias Sumit alias Suka, main accused in Nashik arms haul case, for allegedly trying to extort Rs5 lakh from a local businessman. Badshah, 27, is also a co-accused in this extortion case and was arrested earlier this month in Nashik while he was on his way to Mumbai with a huge cache of weapons.

On December 22, based on the businessmans complaint, the RAK marg police had filed an FIR under sections 385 (Putting person in fear of injury in order to commit extortion), 387 (Putting person in fear of death or of grievous hurt, in order to commit extortion) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC.

The complainant had told the cops that the father-son duo demanded Rs5 lakh from him while threatening to kill him. The case was later transferred to the AEC, who arrested Pasha and remanded him in police custody till January 2.

Badshah has more than 20 cases against him in RAK Marg, Bhoiwada, Wadala TT and Mulund police stations. His father, who hails from Pakistan, had settled in Sewri after partition and worked as a daily wage labourer. Badshah and his elder brother have cases like extortion, threatening, arms possession and even sodomy against them.
The Mumbai Crime Branch arrested a man from Mumbra for allegedly making bogus documents for the vehicle used by the accused arrested for transporting a large cache of arms in Nashik earlier this month .

Sayyed is an accomplice to the earlier arrested Badudin Juman Badshah alias Sumit alias Suka, 27, a resident of Sewri area. Suka is said to be the mastermind of the crime.

When the crime branch conducted a house search at Sayyeds residence, they found bogus stamp paper, government documents and some other materials used for forging government documents.

Sayyed was produced before a magistrate court and remanded in police custody till Friday.

On December 15, acting on a tip-off, the Nashik rural police had seized a large quantity of arms near Chandwad toll naka on the Agra-Mumbai highway, and arrested three men.

A total of five accused have been arrested in the case so far.

The seizure includes 25 rifles, one machine gun, 19 revolvers and 4,166 live cartridges. This is reportedly the largest arms seizure in Maharashtra since the arms haul in Aurangabad in 2006.
The state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has removed the partys Ghaziabad city president, Ajay Sharma, from the post. The move comes after he had participated in protests in Raj Nagar on December 22 against the wedding of a Hindu woman and a Muslim man.

The protesters had tried to disrupt the wedding and a reception function held at the brides residence in Raj Nagar and had termed the wedding a case of Love Jihad.

The protests were held by Sharma along with BJP workers and members of several right-wing organisations, who were opposed to the idea of the interfaith marriage, which was performed by the couple and also consented by their families.

I will abide by the decision of the party leaders and I will continue to serve the party as a worker. They maintained that I should not have participated in the protest. I will further forward my point of view to the state unit leaders, Sharma said.

In place of Sharma, the party has decided to give the responsibility of the city units president to Man Singh Goswami, a man who served as mahamantri under the city unit led by Sharma.

During the protest on December 22, protesters had also clashed with the police and had also tried to disrupt the wedding reception of the newly wedded couple at the brides house in Raj Nagar.

Following the ruckus, police force from nearly six police stations was deployed at the spot while the blockade by protesters also resulted in a major traffic diversion on Hapur Chungi to Meerut Road.

The brides father, who is a chartered accountant, lodged an FIR against 50-60 unidentified persons while police themselves became a complainant in the second FIR, in which Sharma, 12 others and another 100 unidentified were charged under stringent sections of IPC.

Following the FIRs, Sharma had also approached the state BJP unit and said that he had also conveyed the incident to chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

However, the police are yet to make an arrest in the incident. Our investigation is continuing in both cases and action will be taken accordingly, HN Singh, senior superintendent of police, said.

The decision to remove Sharma was taken by the president of the partys state unit, Mahendra Nath Pandey. The letter, signed by state general secretary Vidya Shankar Sonkar, said that the decision to replace Sharma was taken in view of recent incidents in Ghaziabad.

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Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) on Tuesday, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a company based in Spain called Tknika.

The memorandum was signed keeping in mind the industry-academia exchange for students of the varsity. The move comes after registrar Arvind Shaligram recently returned from a visit to Spain. At the ceremony, it was Shaligram who signed the MoU with Tknikas executive director, Inaki Mujika Aizpurua, on December 26.

The company Tknika, based in Basque region in San Sebastian city of Spain, is specialised in a number of sectors, including energy, Smart City, automation and robotics among others. Prior to the engagement with the Pune University, the company has collaborated with several other educational institutions to impart skill development knowledge.

As per the statement issued by the university, like Tknika, a number of other companies from Basque region have their bases in Pune and the agreement is to open doors for SPPU students to expose and experience cutting-edge modern technology while also harbouring work opportunities abroad.

This collaboration is a great opportunity for us as it is not just our students but also our faculty can greatly benefit from the MoU. This opens the doors for possible exchange of information and interactive experience, enhancing our human resource, said Shaligram.

Caption:

Tknika's executuve director, Inaki Mujika Aizpurua with the registrar of Savitribai Phule Pune University, Arvind Shaligram, at the MoU signing ceremony.
Noted ophthalmologist Dr Daljit Singh, 83, passed away after a brief illness in Amritsar on Wednesday. Considered a pioneer in lens implant surgery, Dr Singh was born in the family of renowned Sikh scholar Professor Sahib Singh on October 11, 1934, in Amritsar. After initial education at Khalsa School, his aunt inspired him to take medicine as profession.

He worked as a general practitioner in rural areas, before completing his PG degree in 1963. He joined the local medical college as senior lecturer in the department of ophthalmology and then worked at Government Medical College, Patiala, for five years. A workaholic, he continued to hone his skills, wrote books on the eye and contributed to studies of cataract from the genetic point of view.

He used to go to Guru Nanak Dev University for research on a cycle. I was his student and we pedalled side-by-side, remembers Dr Baljit Singh Dhillon, his student and later, colleague

He was appointed honorary eye surgeon to the then President of India, Giani Zail Singh. The government honoured him with the Padma Shri for outstanding service to medical science in 1987. He also treated deputy prime minister Chaudhary Devi Lal and Orissa governor BN Pandey.

Bold and uptight, he was a man who lived life on his own terms. He was sensitive towards the concerns of the public. During campaigning for Lok Sabha elections in 2014, he even approached those sections of society that no other politician catered to, said Ashok Sethi, a social worker, and a close friend of Dr Singhs family.

His crowning glory was restoring the vision of 11 children, who lost their sight in a LPG cylinder blast during Independence Day celebrations in Orissa, reads a book titled Amritsar: A city with Glorious Legacy, that senior journalist Varinder Singh Walia has authored.

Dr Singh received the prestigious Dr BC Roy Award for Outstanding service in the field of socio-medical relief from the Medical Council of India in 1994.

His two sons  Dr Ravjit Singh and Dr Kiranjit Singh  and daughters-in-law, Dr Indu R Singh and Dr Seema Kiranjit Singh, also form a formidable team of eye surgeons.

Noted Punjabi author and his close friend Kulbir Singh Suri, son of late legendary Punjabi novelist Nanak Singh, told HT that Dr Singh wrote a book entitled Naroi Akh (Healthy Eye) in Punjabi decades ago. His three poetry books Dharti Tirhai, Sidhre Bol and Babre Bol have been translated into Urdu.

Principled politician

In the last phase of his life, he decided to enter the heat and dust of politics and contested the 2014 Lok Sabha election from Amritsar on an AAP ticket against the likes of Arun Jaitley and Capt Amarinder. The AAP expelled him in July 2015, after he questioned the partys decision-making. Later, he joined the Congress.

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Family of 34-year-old Jeewan Jyoti, a resident of Rurrke-Khurad village near Goraya reportedly trapped in Saudi Arabia, is worrying of her well-being as they have failed to make any communication with the woman for last three weeks.

A video of Jyoti went viral on the social media last week when she appealed to AAP state convener and legislator Bhagwant Mann and the Centre for her rescue.

Sudarshan Kumar, husband of the victim said that to support the family financially, Jyoti decided to go to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia after the local travel agent lured her on the pretext of a handsome salary and free accommodation in the Gulf four months back.

He said that for last three weeks, no one from the family has managed to connect with her even her mobile phone is coming switched off. We have appealed the union government and the AAP MP has also assured his help to ensure her safe return soon. However, so far we have not received any response from anyone, he said.

The family said that they have also registered a complaint against the travel agent before the Jalandhar SSP. But no action has been initiated so far.

Kumar said that they had three had three sons and he worked as a plumber.

But his wife told the family few weeks that she was living a miserable life and her landlord has been exploiting her physically and mentally for the past several weeks. She was held captive in the house by the employer.

In the video, Jyoti said that her life has become a hell here. I am not allowed to sleep before 3 am. I had to do all housework. I appeal to the Indian government and Bhagwant Mann ji to rescue me as soon as possible. I have been held hostage in Saudi Arabia, she said

SSP Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that investigation is on and a case would be registered in the case very soon. Meanwhile, earlier, Sonia Ram Murti, 42, of Atti village near Goraya and Reena from Boparai village of Goraya had returned from Saudi Arabia in November and December month respectively after they shared their plight in the video and appealed Bhagwant Mann for her help.
Shalini Pandey, who made a mark with her performance in Arjun Reddy, has signed her second film in Tamil. She will soon be seen with Jiiva in a crime thriller. She is making her debut in Tamil films with 100 Percent Kadhal, which is the official remake of Tollywood blockbuster 100 Percent Love.

Trade tracker Ramesh Bala tweeted to write: @Actorjiiva and #ArjunReddy gal @meshalinipandey come together for a new movie for #RUM Production house @All_In_Pictures. A Heist Comedy Thriller #Mahabalipuram Dir #DonSandy to direct

The films producer Vijayaraghavendra was quoted by Times of India said, Don Sandy came up with this interesting script, an out-and-out laugh riot with some thriller elements. We wanted someone who can do both comedy and action pretty well, and felt Jiiva would be apt. As for the heroine, the role demanded someone fresh and talented. We chose Shalini Pandey, who has become a hot favourite in Tollywood and Kollywood after Arjun Reddy.

The film will have music by CS, who composed music for Vikram Vedha and is tentatively called Jiiva 29, reports Indian Express.

Shalinis film Arjun Reddy was about a talented but failed medical student, played by Vijay Devarakonda.

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Trolled, threatened and abused but not cowed down, that is actor Parvathy for you. The award-winning actor called out Malayalam cinemas superstar Mammootty and the misogyny in his film Kasaba at the Kerala International Film Festival earlier this month, and the abuse  both online and off it  has not stopped since then.

However, instead of staying quiet, Parvathy approached the police and filed a complaint. A man named Printo of Thrissur has been arrested. He was charged with Section 67 (Punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of the IT Act, reports The Hindu.



It would have been easier to have apologised for the misunderstood statement, but she stood up for what matters. As an actor who has a huge fan following, and a woman who is an idol for many - she has shown how to stand up for what is right.

But what about the other superstar who is a part of this incident? Mammootty is yet to comment and his silence has only encouraged his fan brigade. In this day and age when stars are given to exploiting social media to the hilt while promoting themselves or their films, turning mute when something so inappropriate is engineered in their name is unacceptable to say the least.

Parvathy, probably, was aware of the backlash when she spoke out against Kasaba, which has been criticised for its tone deaf approach when it comes to women. I dont want to say name of the film, she had said at the film festival, I, unfortunately, watched Kasaba. With all due respects to the technicians who worked in the film. I was definitely disappointed to watch an actor (Mammootty) par excellence, happen to say dialogues to a woman in a scene which was not only derogatory but most saddening.

The scene she is referring to has Mammootty, who plays a policeman in the film, telling his senior officer  a woman -- that he would f*** her so hard that she would find it hard to walk for a week. He adds that he can hurt her so badly in the process that she would miss her menstrual cycle.

You dont have to be a feminist to see the problem with this scene. Disgusting just about sums it up. Mammootty fans, however, think otherwise. Parvathy faced death threats, rape threats and trolling over her comments. She was not the one to take it quietly. She wrote on Twitter, Vanamala vannallo!!! #trolls. Welcome welcome- please kindly take my words out of context, remind me that Im just a actress and curse at me. Heres to your sensitive chauvinistic blind hearts! Yours- that annoying feminist.

It was not just the fans. The makers of the film and many from the film industry have also objected to Parvathys stance including director Jude Anthany Joseph, actor Siddique, writer and director Vyasan KP and director Nithin Renji Panicker.

In all of this, Mammootty has stayed quiet. In an industry where a female actor was abducted allegedly at the behest of a star, Dileep, this inherent misogyny is not just wrong but frightening. In this post-truth world where movements such as #MeToo are gaining currency after the Harvey Weinstein disclosure, celebs have a tremendous responsibility. Given that a woman is being attacked by rabid fans, Mammootty needs to break his silence and raise his voice against sexism, misogyny and objectification. And also, not do a film where the hero is issuing rape threats to a woman.

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The author tweets @Priyanka_S_MCC

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Dr. Michael Greer, Dr. Michael Love, Rae Young Bond and the late Tom Edd Wilson will be honored at the Erlanger Health System Foundations annual Dinner of Distinction on Jan. 19. This is the 15th year for Erlangers annual recognition event, which is being held at the Chattanoogan Hotel, from 6-9 p.m.The 2018 honorees were selected for their enduring commitment to foster quality medical services to this community, as well as demonstrating unquestionable character and human compassion, according to Julie Taylor, president of the Erlanger Health System Foundations and chief development officer."Drs.Greer and Love are being honored for their commitment to improving the health of those in our region and contributing a lifetime of healthcare benefits to this community. This award also acknowledges the unquestionable character of both physicians and their commitment to the healing mission and values of Erlanger," officials said.The Erlanger Foundations will also honor Rae Young Bond, CEO of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Medical Society, and longtime civic leader Tom Edd Wilson with the Gordon Street Distinguished Leadership awards. These awards are given annually by Erlanger to community leaders who have championed the advancement of healthcare in the Greater Chattanooga region, committed to improving the health of people throughout our community and to the healing mission and values of Erlanger.Dr. Michael Greer is a board certified vascular surgeon with University Surgical Associates. He has served in numerous leadership roles at Erlanger, including twenty years on the health systems credentialing committee, as well as on surgery, budget and MCEC committees. In addition, he has served as secretary of the medical staff and was a founding member of Assured Care. An Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College, he has served as Surgical Clerkship Director of medical students for the past fifteen years. Dr. Greer has also served for six years on the Alumni Council of UTHSC and 15 years as president of University Surgical Associates.Dr. Michael Love is a board certified cardiovascular disease specialist with UT Erlanger Cardiology. Dr. Love served on Erlangers cardiology, pharmacy and therapeutics committees and currently serves on the health systems transportation advisory committee. He is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and a member of the American College of Physicians and the American Heart Association. In 1981 Dr. Love served as president of the Chattanooga chapter of the American Heart Association. He is also an assistant professor of Internal Medicine at UTHSC.Rae Young Bond is chief executive officer of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Medical Society, the Medical Foundation of Chattanooga, as well as Project Access, a community health partnership that coordinates charity care for low-income uninsured residents of Hamilton County. She is chair of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Health Council and serves on the boards or operating councils of the Association of American Medical Society Executives, Tennessee Physician Quality Verification Organization, Volunteers in Medicine, Chattanooga Medical Group Management Association, Hamilton County Step ONE Health Initiative, the Regional Science and Engineering Fair and Project Access. Ms. Bond has also assisted the Tennessee Department of Health in the development of the 2010 and 2014 Tennessee State Health Plans.Thomas Edward (Tom Edd) Wilson, passed away suddenly on June 10, 2017, less than a week after leading ground-breaking ceremonies for the new Childrens Hospital Outpatient Center at Erlanger. Mr. Wilsons distinguished career and civic involvement enabled him to lend his expertise and support to many major initiatives around the state. Most recently, Mr. Wilson served as co-chair of the Erlanger Children's Hospital Capital Campaign. He was a member of Erlanger's Hospital Board of Trustees; SunTrust Bank Board of Directors; The Economic Development Council, Urban Growth Joint Economic & Community Development Board; Mayor's Task Force on Renewal Communities; Enterprise South Development Board; Local Workforce Investment Board; University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Chancellor's Roundtable; Rail Authority Board; Advisory Board Member of the College of Engineering Computer Sciences Industrial Board and THRIVE, among many other leadership roles.The reception will be held from 6 until 7 p.m., followed by dinner and a program honoring the 2018 Distinguished Honorees.Tickets are $125 per person or $1,500 for a table of eight people. Seating is limited. Reservation deadline to purchase tickets is Jan. 12.For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Rebecca Styles with Erlanger Health System Foundations at 423-778-4803 or Rebecca.Styles@erlanger.org.
Jesse Allen (27) and Pixie Marlan (24), who met at a bar three years ago, have been inseparable since then. The couple is also living a life less ordinary. This Gold Coast-based duo travels to exotic locations around the world for glamourous shoots: In the last 12 months, the two have travelled for at least eight months for work.

When Allen met Marlan, he was working at a coffee shop and had enrolled in an expensive photography school. Pixie was into photography since she was really young, around 14. She told me to leave school and that she would teach me everything I needed to know, said Allen in an interview to Daily Mail Australia. The couple documents its jet-setting life on their individual Instagram accounts, which have millions of followers.

Adios lover @burnt_breakfast  @brielokoa A post shared by PIXIE BELLA (@pixpop) on May 27, 2017 at 5:56am PDT

When the two got together, they spent the first two years working full time jobs and doing most of their shoots over the weekend. Soon, their profiles grew popular and they decided to quit their jobs and start their own company.

Allen and Marlan have done many fashion campaigns across the beaches of Bahamas, US, Europe, Maldives, among others. Theyve made a name for themselves as swimwear photographers. Allen and Marlan feel that working as a couple make models feel a lot more comfortable around them. It definitely helps having another woman there when shooting nudity, I think it makes the model feel more comfortable, he said.

The powerhouse team has taken inspiration from Playboy magazines 2016 revamp. The way Playboy changed their aesthetic was pretty cool. It went from being a semi-corny sleazy magazine to something that a lot of new aged photographers look up to, he said.

Take a look at some of their breathtaking shoots.

Follow @htlifeandstyle for more
China will bring its paramilitary police force, the Peoples Armed Police, under the control of the Central Military Commission which controls the countrys armed forces from Jan. 1, state media said on Wednesday.

Since taking power five years ago, President Xi Jinping has overseen a sweeping modernisation of the Peoples Liberation Army, the worlds largest military, laying off troops, streamlining its organisation and investing in advanced weapons.

In a brief report, the official Xinhua news agency said that from midnight on Jan. 1 the Peoples Armed Police would no longer fall under the purview of the State Council, or cabinet, and instead report to the Central Military Commission.

Xi heads the Central Military Commission in his role as armed forces chief and commander in chief. Xi has steadily consolidated his power over the military, and has appointed allies to key positions of power in the armed forces.

Xinhua did not provide any details on how the new reporting structure would work or why the government had made the decision.

However, the partys official Peoples Daily, in a commentary for publication on Thursday but reported by Xinhua on Wednesday, said the move was needed to ensure security and promote the aim of having a strong military.

The Peoples Armed Police will remain separate, carry out its existing functions and not be absorbed into the Peoples Liberation Army, the Peoples Daily said.

The paramilitary police force serves as a backup for the military in times of war, and domestically has a role in putting down protests and counter-terrorism as well as border defence and fire-fighting.

Xi has radically overhauled the old Soviet-era command structure of the military to make the armed forces nimbler and better able to respond to crises at home and abroad.

That has included condensing the command structure and giving greater emphasis on new capabilities including cyberspace, electronic and information warfare.

Chinas military has not fought a war in decades, but faces what the government calls a complex security environment, such as nuclear-armed North Korea and territorial disputes in the South China Sea and over self-ruled Taiwan, claimed by China as its own.
A gunman opened a fire in a pastry-making factory in Moscow on Wednesday, killing one person and taking an unknown number as hostages, Russian state news agency RIA said, citing a law enforcement source.

The Menshevik factory building, in south-east Moscow, has been cordoned off by the police, which is trying to make a contact with the gunman and free the hostages, RIA said.

At least two people have been wounded in the shooting, another news agency, Interfax, said, adding that the preliminary reports suggest the victim worked as a security guard at the factory, which is located on Ilovaiskaya street.

Interfax cited a source as saying that the former factory owner has opened a gunfire.
Calcium and Vitamin D supplements consumed by 50-plus men and women around the world to fortify aging bones and protect them from fractures beaks probably dont make that significant a difference as commonly believed, according to new study.

The study, conducted by researchers at the Tianjin Hospital in China, was published on Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. It was based on 33 randomised clinical trials covering 51,145 participants above the age of 50 living in the general community.

The use of supplements that included calcium, Vitamin D, or both was not associated with a significant difference in the risk of hip fractures compared with placebo (those given medicines with no benefits) or no treatment, the report said.

These findings do not support the routine use of these supplements in community-dwelling older people.

But some experts warned the study might have missed the impact of these supplements on people with a history of bone problems or family history, or that the doses were not strong enough.

The study also did not address question about these supplements helping the body cope with other ailments or problems caused by the deficiency of calcium and Vitamin D. It is focussed only on the impact of these supplements on bone strength among those over 50. And it found no significant benefit.

This is not the first time the link between calcium and vitamin D supplements and the health of bones has been questioned. In 2013, the US Preventive Services Task Force, an independent body of experts, had reached the same conclusion: The current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of the benefits and harms of combined Vitamin D and calcium supplementation for the primary prevention of fractures in premenopausal women or in men.

But these supplements remain in use. An estimated 70-90% of apparently healthy population, cutting across ages and not just those above 50 year, are Vitamin D deficient in India; and calcium deficiency remains high as well.

Vitamin D, the most abundant source of which remains sunlight, helps the body absorb calcium and help bone growth. It is also found in salmon, sardines, cod liver oil, mackerel, milk, and eggs. Milk, kale (cooked), salmon, broccoli, okra, and almonds are high in calcium.
The second India-Afghanistan air cargo route linking Kabul to Mumbai was officially at the launched on Wednesday, with officials saying it is expected to boost the export of fresh fruits and medicinal plants from Afghanistan.

The second route follows the success of the Kabul-New Delhi air corridor that was inaugurated by President Ashraf Ghani in mid-June.

Afghan officials told the media that 10,640 tons of fresh produce, fresh and dried fruits, medicinal plants and handicrafts worth more than $20 million had been exported to India since the launch of the first corridor.

The second corridor was formally inaugurated by Afghan and Indian officials at the Hamid Karzai international airport in Kabul.

Congratulations, #Afghanistan ! The #IndiaAfghanistanAirCorridor expanded today! His Excellency Afghan Vice President Sarwar Danish inaugurated the first cargo flight from Kabul to Mumbai. Real and unimpeded connectivity for Afghan traders. https://t.co/qBz1VaTmid  Manpreet Vohra (@VohraManpreet) December 27, 2017

Speaking at the launch ceremony in Kabul, the deputy chairman of the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI), Khan Jan Alokozay, said the export of Afghan fruits will increase thanks to the new route.

The government has taken 80% responsibility for exporting fruits outside the country, Alokozai was quoted as saying by Tolo News.

He thanked President Ghani for the governments efforts in this field and said: India is not charging taxes (from) Afghan traders. We are also trying to send fruit to Indias Amritsar city.

Second vice president Mohammad Sarwar Danish said the air corridor is very important for the government. We are hoping that the neighboring countries even consider the economy in their political policy, he said.

India also promised to hold (an) exhibition for Afghan traders in Mumbai city and they also want to create business chambers, Danish said. We hope that our ministry of foreign affairs develops this relationship even further.

ACCI officials said the air corridors between Afghanistan and India are key to boosting exports to India and the rest of the world.

When we look back at our exports in the past six months, the total volume of our exports in which the air corridor had a significant role, we have seen a dramatic increase and it totals  in the six months  to about $398 million, said Atiqullah Nusrat, chairman of the board of directors of ACCI.
China urged India and Pakistan on Wednesday to maintain peace along the Line of Control, which has witnessed a spurt in cross-border firing including the killing of three Pakistani soldiers by Indian Army commandos this week.

China, which maintains a neutral position on the India-Pakistan dispute, asked the two countries to stay committed to the peace and stability of the region.

We have noted the relevant report. As a common neighbour and friend of Pakistan and India, we hope India and Pakistan can continue to properly resolve the relevant dispute through dialogue and consultation and jointly stay committed to the peace and stability of the South Asian region, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said.

She was replying to a question about the killing of at least three Pakistani soldiers by Indian Army commandos who went some 300 metres across the LoC.

India says the operation was conducted after four Indian Army men, including a major, were shot dead in a surprise attack by Pakistan.
China on Wednesday said an earthquake in the Tibet Autonomous Region could have caused turbidity or muddiness in the waters in the lower reaches of Yarlung Zangbo river, which flows as the Siang and then the Brahmaputra into northeastern India.

The foreign ministry, in a statement to Hindustan Times, dismissed reports that said the muddying of the waters of the Siang, which enters India in Arunachal Pradesh, was caused by infrastructure projects being built by China.

The ministry clarified its statement was being issued on humanitarian grounds and did not change Chinas stance on the border issue - Beijing claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of South Tibet.

Experts in India had earlier hinted that the sudden muddying of the river could be a deliberate ploy by China to prove a point against the backdrop of tense bilateral relations following the military standoff at Doklam near the Sikkim boundary during July-August.

We have noted that Indian media recently made a series of reports on this issue. They said China was conducting water conservancy project or exploiting a mine previously ,whereas now (they) claim there is a barrier lake upstream, said the statement from the foreign ministry spokespersons office.

I could tell you responsibly that none of these speculations is true according to the results of the investigation (conducted) by relevant Chinese authorities, it added.

The statement referred to an earthquake in the region in November as the reason behind the turbidity in the river.

In mid-November this year, a 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit the area near Mainling County in Tibet, which might lead to the turbidity in the middle and lower reaches of the river for a certain period of time, the statement said.

Mainling county is in eastern Tibet Autonomous Region, close to Arunachal Pradesh.

The statement further said: After the earthquake, we monitored the water quality of the Yarlung Zangbo River and the results showed that it met the standards of Class III water.

In China, the Class III standard for water denotes fairly clean quality.

The foreign ministry also qualified its statement with regard to the dragging border dispute.

I would like to stress that the above-mentioned investigation is utterly for humanitarian considerations and does not affect Chinas stance on the border issue, it said.

On Tuesday, the foreign ministry had said it would maintain communication with India on cross-border rivers to deal with massive lakes formed by landslides on the Yarlung Zangbo river.

Reports said three lakes had been formed by landslides following the earthquake in the eastern section of the China-India border.

The lakes were caused by natural factors and were not the outcome of a man-made accident, spokesperson Hua Chunying said. I noticed that authorised Indian professionals have made an analysis and clarified," she added, referring to reports of the lakes being detected by satellites.
Israel has formally protested against Indias vote at the UN on Jerusalem even while it prepares for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus four-day state visit next month.

Ahead of the visit that probably begins in New Delhi on January 15, diplomatic sources spoke of the two countries embarking on a new journey where such seeming contradictions will matter less.

According to the current schedule, Netanyahu will spend January 17 and 18 in Ahmedabad and Mumbai. He and his wife will also visit the Taj Mahal.

In Mumbai, he will visit Chabad House, the Jewish centre that was attacked during the terror assault by a Lashkar-e-Taiba team in November 2008. Netanyahu will be accompanied by Moshe, the Israeli child saved by his Indian nanny during the attack.

Israel protested against Indias decision to vote in favour of the UN resolution condemning the US decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem. However, the complaint was conveyed via the right diplomatic channels rather than at political levels, the diplomatic sources said.

Innovation will be the focus of Netanyahus visit, the first by an Israeli premier since 2003. A number of agreements and MoUs are expected to be signed to build a bridge between innovators in both countries. Netanyahu will be accompanied by 75 to 100 executives from leading Israeli firms.

Netanyahu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the diplomatic sources said, will build on chemistry that was evident when Modi became the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel last year.

Despite the UN vote, Israel is confident about its international standing. Israel sees a new dynamic in world affairs in which countries such as India and Israel can shape an emerging new order, the sources said. At the summit, both sides will seek a better understanding of opportunities India and Israel have in each others region.

A large number of countries are also reaching out to Israel in this new scenario, thanks to what Israeli officials call the two Ts  technology and terrorism.

Israelis lead in areas such as water conservation and management, information technology and counter-terrorism have made it attractive to many formerly hostile governments. Israel has begun leveraging this to get itself greater support in multilateral forums such as the UN.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has held former military dictator Pervez Musharraf personally responsible for the murder of his mother, Benazir Bhutto, as the country observed her 10th death anniversary on Wednesday.

Bhutto, the PPP chief and a two-time Prime Minister, was killed along with 21 people in a gun-and-bomb attack outside Rawalpindis Liaquat Bagh during an election campaign rally on December 27, 2007.

In an interview to the BBC, Bilawal Bhutto said: Musharraf exploited this entire situation to assassinate my mother. He purposely sabotaged her security so that she would be assassinated and taken off the scene.

He said that he doesnt hold the man who fired the bullet at his late mother responsible for her murder.

Bilawal Bhutto said that Musharraf, who is in self-imposed exile in Dubai, had directly threatened Bhutto and told her that her security was based on the state of relationship with him. He claimed that on the day of her assassination, the security cordon was taken off from her by the former military ruler.

The PPP chairman said that he personally holds the former President responsible for the murder and as he doesnt have any details of him giving directions on a call or holding a meeting to convey any secret message, he will not unnecessarily blame any state institution.

The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in its judgment on August 31 had declared Musharraf an absconder in the assassination case and acquitted five alleged operatives of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) -- Rafaqat Hussain, Husnain Gul, Sher Zaman, Aitzaz Shah and Abdul Rashid -- due to lack of evidence.

Two police officers were jailed for 17 years each for negligence vis-a-vis Bhuttos security. The court also ordered confiscation of Musharrafs properties.

Bilawal Bhutto added that the ATC hearing Bhuttos case ignored the UN investigation report, ignored the governments investigation, ignored phone call recordings and did not take into account DNA evidence.

He said the court gave a clean chit to the terrorists, awarded punishments to the police officials involved in washing the crime scene but also immediately approved their bail.

He also dismissed the claims that his father Asif Ali Zardari was responsible for Bhuttos assassination. This assumption is like calling an innocent an oppressor.

Bilawal Bhutto and his father will address a PPP rally at Garhi Khuda Bakhsh later in the day. More than a million party supporters and workers are expected to be present.
The chief of the Russian General Staff has accused the United States of training former Islamic State fighters in Syria to try to destabilise the country.

General Valery Gerasimovs allegations, made in a newspaper interview, centre on a US military base at Tanf, a strategic Syrian highway border crossing with Iraq in the south of the country.

Russia says the US base is illegal and that it and the area around it have become a black hole where militants operate unhindered.

Islamic State has this year lost almost all the territory it held in Syria and Iraq. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday the main part of the battle with Islamic State in Syria was over, according to the state-run RIA news agency.

The United States says the Tanf facility is a temporary base used to train partner forces to fight Islamic State. It has rejected similar Russian allegations in the past, saying Washington remains committed to killing off Islamic State and denying it safe havens.

But Gerasimov told the daily Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper on Wednesday that the United States was training up fighters who were former Islamic State militants but who now call themselves the New Syrian Army or use other names.

He said Russia satellites and drones had spotted militant brigades at the US base.

They are in reality being trained there, Gerasimov said, saying there were also a large number of militants and former Islamic State fighters at Shadadi, where he said there was also a US base.

They are practically Islamic State, he said. But after they are worked with, they change their spots and take on another name. Their task is to destabilise the situation.

Russia has partially withdrawn from Syria, but Gerasimov said the fact that Moscow was keeping an air base and naval facility there meant it was well placed to deal with pockets of instability if and when they arose.
The Tennessee Department of Revenue will be holding a series of free tax workshops for new businesses in Chattanooga, Johnson City, Knoxville, Memphis and Nashville in January. Details on the bi-monthly workshops are below.



Chattanooga: Jan. 11, from 8:30 a.m.-noon at the Department's Chattanooga regional office, 1301 Riverfront Parkway, in the second floor conference room.



Johnson City: Jan. 11, from 8:30-11:30 a.m. at the Department's Johnson City regional office, 204 High Point Drive.



Knoxville: Jan. 17, from 8:30-11:30 p.m. at the Department's Knoxville regional office, 7175 Strawberry Plains Pike. The workshops will be held on the third floor.



Memphis: Jan. 4, from 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. CST at the Renaissance Business Center, 555 Beale Street. The workshop will be held in the Memphis Training Room.



Nashville: Jan. 9, from 8:30 a.m.-noon CST at the Department's Andrew Jackson State Office Building, 500 Deaderick Street. The workshop will be held in the Hearing Room (G.201) on the ground floor.



These free workshops are designed to assist those encountering business-related taxes for the first time. Tax specialists will provide the basic information needed to comply with registration and tax requirements. During the session, attendees will have the opportunity to listen to these specialists, ask questions and receive materials explaining tax responsibilities. Areas of discussion will include business tax, sales and use tax and collection procedures.



Space is limited and registration is required. For more information, call 800-342-1003 (toll-free inside Tennessee) or 615-253-0600 (local Nashville-area and outside Tennessee). More information about the workshops is available on their website.
Moscow will limit the scope of US military observation flights over Russia from January 1 next year in retaliation for American curbs on similar Russian flights over the United States, the RIA news agency reported on Wednesday.

The US has accused Russia of flouting the Open Skies Treaty, an agreement designed to build confidence between the countries militaries which entered into force in 2002, and said it plans to take measures against Moscow.

The Wall Street Journal newspaper reported in September that this would include restricting Russian military flights over American territory in response to what it said was Moscow preventing US observation flights over its heavily militarised Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad.

The US is reported to have been keen to restrict Russian flights over Alaska and Hawaii as well as limiting the distance of Russian observation flights.

RIA on Wednesday cited Georgy Borisenko, a senior foreign ministry official, as saying Moscow would take reciprocal steps to respond to the new US measures from January 1 and limit the territory which US observation flights can fly over.
A 1939 luxury Mercedes limousine used to carry Adolf Hitler around Germany will be auctioned in the US state of Arizona next month--one of only four such models ever built.

Powered by a 7.7-litre supercharged engine capable of exceeding 160 kph, the Mercedes-Benz 770K Grosser--known to the world as the Super Mercedes -- was a potent propaganda symbol of the Third Reich which the Fuhrer rode standing in the front seat.

Billed as the most historically significant automobile ever offered for public sale, the imposing four-door convertible will be offered to bidders at the Worldwide Auctioneers event in Scottsdale on January 17 at the citys annual classic car event.

The car--which carried the number plate 1A 148461--was used to ferry Hitler on his victory parade through Berlin following the stunning defeat of France, and for a state visit by Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.

As the conflict turned in the Allies favor, it fell into disuse in France and was captured after the war by US forces who, apparently unaware of its provenance, put it into a military police motor pool. After the war it went briefly to a private owner in Belgium before being sent to the US where it made its way to the Greenville, North Carolina bureau of Veterans of Foreign Wars, which used the car for parades, carrying dignitaries and mothers of American soldiers killed in action.

It then changed hands several more times within the US before being sold to a European collector in 2002, then to a Russian billionaire in 2009.

US media reports say it could sell for million of dollars.

Worldwide Auctioneers did not reveal the current owners identity but it is not thought to have been sold since that time. The purpose of this display is absolutely not to glorify Hitler and his destructive policies, the auction house wrote in a post on its website last week.

It is to show you one of the outstanding cars of the century, built by gifted people, and representing the highest in craftsmanship.

But it is also as a memorial to the fighting prowess of American soldiers that we take pride in displaying this showpiece of a fallen dictator. And above all, as a reminder that the evil which this car symbolizes, must never again be allowed to happen.

It added that 10 percent of the sale price will be donated and used to educate how and why the Holocaust happened and how to effectively prevent such atrocities in the future.
The United States announced sanctions on two North Korean officials behind their countrys ballistic missile programme on Tuesday, while Russia reiterated an offer to mediate to ease tensions between Washington and Pyongyang.

The new US steps were the latest in a campaign aimed at forcing North Korea - which has defied years of multilateral and bilateral sanctions - to abandon a weapons programme aimed at developing nuclear-tipped missiles capable of hitting the United States.

The US Treasury named the officials as Kim Jong Sik and Ri Pyong Chol. It said Kim was reportedly a key figure in North Koreas efforts to switch its missile programme from liquid to solid fuel, while Ri was reported to be a key official in its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) development.

Treasury is targeting leaders of North Koreas ballistic missile programs, as part of our maximum pressure campaign to isolate (North Korea) and achieve a fully denuclearised Korean Peninsula, treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

Chronology on North Korea's missile and nuclear developments, with corresponding UN reactions. (AFP)

The largely symbolic steps block any property or interests the two might have within US jurisdiction and prohibit any dealings by US citizens with them.

The move followed new United Nations sanctions announced last Friday in response to North Koreas November 29 test of an ICBM that Pyongyang said put all of the US mainland within range of its nuclear weapons. Those sanctions sought to further limit North Koreas access to refined petroleum products and crude oil and its earnings from workers abroad.

North Korea declared the UN steps to be an act of war and tantamount to a complete economic blockade.

The standoff between the United States and North Korea has raised fears of a new conflict on the Korean peninsula, which has remained in a technical state of war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

Washington has said that all options, including military ones, are on the table in dealing with North Korea. It says it prefers a diplomatic solution, but that North Korea has given no indication it is willing to discuss denuclearisation.

Kremlin offer

On Tuesday, the Kremlin, which has long called for the two sides to hold negotiations, said it was ready to act as a mediator if the United States and North Korea were willing for it to play such a role.

Russias readiness to clear the way for de-escalation is obvious, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Asked to comment on the offer, a spokesman for the US State Department, Justin Higgins, said the United States has the ability to communicate with North Korea through a variety of diplomatic channels, and added:

We want the North Korean regime to understand that there is a different path that it can choose, however it is up to North Korea to change course and return to credible negotiations.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who made a similar offer on Monday, told US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in a phone call on Tuesday that Washingtons aggressive rhetoric and beefing up of its military presence in the region had heightened tensions and was unacceptable, Russias foreign ministry said.

It said Lavrov underscored the need for the fastest move to the negotiating process from the language of sanctions.

Another State Department spokesman, Michael Cavey, said Washington remained open to talks, but the onus was on North Korea to take sincere and meaningful actions toward denuclearization and refrain from further provocations.

He said North Korea had made clear through its words and actions it is not interested in dialogue at this stage.

South Koreas Unification Ministry forecast on Tuesday that North Korea would look to open negotiations with the United States next year while continuing to seek recognition as a de facto nuclear power.

Washington has stressed the need for all countries, especially Russia, and China - North Koreas main trading partner - to fully implement sanctions, including by cutting off oil supplies.

According to Chinese customs data, China exported no oil products to North Korea in November, apparently going above and beyond UN sanctions imposed earlier this year.

Beijing also imported no North Korean iron ore, coal or lead in November, the second full month of those trade sanctions, the data showed.

Beijing has not disclosed its crude exports to North Korea for several years, but industry sources say it still supplies about 520,000 tonnes, or 3.8 million barrels, a year to the country via an aging pipeline.

North Korea also sources some of its oil from Russia.

Trade between North Korea and China has slowed through the year, particularly after China banned coal purchases in February.

Chinese exports of corn to North Korea in November also slumped, down 82% from a year earlier to 100 tonnes, the lowest since January. Exports of rice plunged 64% to 672 tonnes, the lowest since March.

China has expressed concern about the humanitarian effects of sanctions, and has repeatedly called for constructive efforts to ease tensions.
Equine Tributes

The April 2010 issues Statshot includes a partial image of the memorial in Middleburg, Va., to horses killed during the Civil War. A duplicate of that statue is located on the grounds of the U.S. Cavalry Museum at Fort Riley, Kan. Both were sculpted by Tessa Pullen in 1996.

Fort Riley also boasts two other equestrian statues: Old Trooper, depicting a cavalry trooper in the Spanish-American War, and Duty, which portrays an early 1930s trooper. To find more information on the Cavalry Museum, visit riley.army. mil and click on Recreation and then Museums.

William McKale

Supervisory Museum Curator

Fort Riley, Kan.

Wrong Dedication Day

In the February 2010 article Seeing the War Firsthand, the caption for the sketch on pages 46-47 states that James E. Taylor depicted the 1868 dedication of the 14th New Hampshire Monument at the Mount Hebron Cemetery in Winchester, Va. According to the April 13, 1866, edition of the Winchester Journal, however, that monument was dedicated on April 10, 1866. Sometime between 1866 and 1870, the monument was moved from Mount Hebron Cemetery to the Winchester National Cemetery, where it still stands.

Ben Ritter

Winchester, Va.

In Defense of Lee

I would like to refute some of the statements Daniel Marino made in expressing his dislike for Robert E. Lee in the April 2010 issues Mail Call. First of all, General Lee was a far superior strategist than three-quarters of his Yankee counterparts. In the May 1863 Battle of Chancellorsville, for example, he defeated a force that was more than twice the size of his.

Also, where did Marino get his information regarding the many former slaves and free blacks who were rounded up during the Gettysburg Campaign and sent south into slavery? I have never heard such ridiculous slander about Lee.

Robert Clyde Sapp II

Manassas, Va.

Editors note: Confederate troops did round up and send blacks into Virginia during the Gettysburg Campaign. No surviving records indicate that Lee was aware of the situation, but some highranking officers, such as James Longstreet, wrote messages indicating that they knew it was happening. An objective discussion of the issue can be found at gdg.org/Gettysburg%20Maga zine/gburgafrican.html

Daniel Marino is upset that Robert E. Lee referred to his battlefield foes as those people. But in Looking for Lincoln, the PBS documentary written and produced by Henry Louis Gates Jr., historian Allen Guelzo said, As far as [Lincoln] was concerned the Confederate States did not exist. He would call them those insurgents, the Rebels, but he never referred to them as Confederate soldiers or the Confederate army. In other words, neither side accorded their adversary any special respect.

Marino also alleges that Lee did not admonish his troops, in a specific written order, not to capture African Americans during the Gettysburg Campaign. But how about William T. Sherman during his 1864 March to the Sea?

Sherman, an unashamed racist, was deeply disturbed that former slaves were flocking to follow his army as it crossed Georgia. On December 9, 1864, as Union troops traversed Ebenezer Creek on a pontoon bridge, slaves following the column were held back at bayonet point from crossing the swollen waterway. The Federal soldiers then abruptly pulled the bridge away, leaving thousands of slaves on the opposite bank.

Unable to swim, hundreds drowned while trying to cross the creek to keep pace with the blue-coated troops. Sherman had not specifically ordered the murder of those individuals, but neither had he issued an order to protect their lives!

Jim Forcum

Beavercreek, Ohio

I just received the February 2010 issue, which featured several items on General Robert E. Lee. I found the article Do the Numbers Add Up for Marse Robert? by Gary Gallagher, interesting, informative and hardly unfair. Lees Last Hurrah by Noah Andre Trudeau was also fair and un  biased, and aside from the error of naming Annie Lee as Lees oldest daughteran honor that actually belonged to Mary Custis LeeI enjoyed reading it and found it agreed with many other descriptions of the generals final tour.

But who is responsible for the snide insult on the cover referring to the generals son, claiming that he Stayed out of harms way for much of the war? Custis Lee was a West Point graduate, and he was certainly not hiding from the dangers of war. When his brother William Henry Fitzhugh (Rooney) Lee was incarcerated in a Northern prison, under sentence of death at the direct order of President Abraham Lincoln, should any Union officers be executed by the Confederates, Custis offered himself as a substitute so that Rooney could visit his dying wife.

What that meant was, should some hotheaded officer in any corner of the Confederacy have ordered the execution of a Union officer, no matter how justified, Custiswho held the same rank as his brotherwould have been hanged. I would hardly call that the act of a coward.

Judith McParland

Green Bay, Va.

Editors note: We have received several letters in the course of the past year decrying our treatment of Lee as well as Grant and Sherman, so we must be cutting things right down the middle. Regarding Custis Lee, we never referred to him as a coward, and the caption on that issues Table of Contents makes it clear that Custis took the field and fought.

Also note that in the same issue author Bill Marvel states in his article Staying the Course at Gettysburg that while President Lincoln called for thousands of Northern men to serve, his military-age son Robert would see no service until the last eight weeks of the war, when his father found him a safe spot on Ulysses S. Grants staff.

Give Meade His Due!

I want to thank Gary Gallagher for challenging scholars and biographers to broaden their horizons and pay more attention to some of the neglected officers who commanded Union armies. His call for new, scholarly biographies of officers such as Joe Hooker and William Rosecrans is appropriate and long overdue.

George Gordon Meade also needs a new biography. The Hero of Gettysburg has not been the subject of a full-length scholarly biography since Freeman Cleaves wrote Meade of Gettysburg in the 1960s. Certainly the man who commanded the Army of the Potomac longer than any other, and who commanded the victorious Federals in the Gettysburg Campaign, deserves better!

Unlike many of his brother officers, Meade was never a self-promoter, but he gave much in the name of duty to the Union cause. Certainly someone could correct this blatant oversight. By all means, lets get out of the rut!

Rev. Jeffrey S. Miller

Beaufort, S.C.

Battle of Lake Wood

I was intrigued by the brief piece on the Battle of Lake Wood that appeared in the April 2010 issues Civil War Today section. I once visited a little museum in New Ulm, Minn., where I saw an exhibit on the September 23, 1862, battle and was amazed that I had never heard of it.

As I remember, the battle started with a massacre of white settlers by the Santee Sioux and ended with a massacre of American Indians. I have always wondered why the incident isnt given more attention. James McPhersons Pulitzer Prizewinning Battle Cry of Freedom doesnt mention the incident at all.

Vernon Newbold

Cornwall Manor, Pa.

Editors note: The Brown County Museum in New Ulm has more information on the Battle of Lake Wood. David Nichols book Lincoln and the Indians: Civil War Policy and Politics is another good place to learn more about this topic.

Originally published in the June 2010 issue of Civil War Times. To subscribe, click here.
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The first Christmas of the British royal family with Prince Harry's fiance Meghan Markle (36) was fantastic according to the 33-year-old Royals. "She really enjoyed it and the family loved having her with them," Harry said on BBC radio on Wednesday.

The newlywed couple spent Christmas in the country estate of Queen Elizabeth II (91) in Sandringham, England, and with Harry's brother Prince William and his wife Duchess Kate (both 35) nearby. The two had had special fun while "running around" with Williams children, Prince George (4) and his sister Princess Charlotte (2), Harry said. The coming year will also be fantastic. Harry and Meghan Markle have announced their intention to marry on May 19 in Windsor, west of London.

Prince Harry appeared on Wednesday as a guest host on the BBC radio show "Today," interviewing former US President Barack Obama. To speculation that Obama might be invited to the royal wedding, Harry said evasively, the guest list was not created yet. "Who knows if he's invited or not - I would not want to spoil the surprise," said Harry.

The tabloid "The Sun" had earlier reported, citing government circles, that there was concern in London that an invitation to Obama could upset US President Donald Trump. He has been waiting for months for an appointment for his announced state visit to the Queen in London.

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The 'No Problem' rapper has taken to Twitter to discuss the portrayal of race in Netflix's new movie, Bright.

Directed by Suicide Squad's David Ayer and written by Chronicles Max Landis, Bright is rumoured to be the most expensive Netflix movie yet. The film takes place in a world where humanoid creatures live side by side with humans, and follows a human cop (Will Smith) and his partner to recover a deadly weapon.

On Twitter, Chance expressed reservations over a scene in which an orc is lynched. He interpreted this as a transparent and shallow metaphor for racism:

I always feel a lil cheated when I see allegorical racism in movies cause that racism usually stems from human emotion or tolerance but not by law or systems the way it is in real life, Chance explained. The characters in #Bright live in a timeline where racism is gone cause we hate ork now.

I found the way they tried to illustrate americas racism through the mythical creatures to be a little shallow. #Brightmovie  Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) December 27, 2017

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I always feel a lil cheated when I see allegorical racism in movies cause that racism usually stems from human emotion or tolerance but not by law or systems the way it is in real life. The characters in #Bright live in a timeline where racism is gone... cause we hate ork now ?  Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) December 27, 2017

Asked by a fan if he thinks he could have misinterpreted the scene as a metaphor for racism, Chance replied: I tried to look at it that way but a few minutes into the movie they make wills character say Fairy Lives dont Matter.
The Islamic State group terrorizing parts of Iraq and Syria derives millions of dollars to fund its operation from the same ancient resource that fuels Houston's booming economy - oil.

While it and other Islamic extremist groups also get support from wealthy donors and raise cash through extortion and other crime, oil sales are giving the Islamic State a substantial new revenue source, as much as $3 million per day, said Luay Al-Khatteeb, founder of the Iraq Energy Institute.

He tracks trades by communicating with his network of sources on the ground who have been counting the number of oil tankers leaving fields controlled by the terrorist organization.

The extremist Sunni group, sometimes called the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, has been selling oil seized from wells in Iraq and Syria across vast reaches of isolated Middle East terrain far removed from public scrutiny.

"When ISIS took over the Iraqi oil fields, that's when they hit the jackpot," said Shwan Zulal, a London-based energy consultant who watches oil deals in the area. "The volumes are quite small  but it's significant for a terrorist organization to have that source of financing."

Still, while the sales provide a substantial financial boost for the extremist Sunni group, they are a drop in the 90 million barrel-per-day international oil trade and have had no effect so far on international oil sales or on Houston's thriving energy economy.

From their phones in Houston, a global hub for oil trading, traders from major oil companies regularly broker deals for tankers carrying more than 1 million barrels of oil.

Drop in the bucket

The illicit nature of the Islamic State trade makes it difficult even for the most seasoned experts to say with certainty how much oil the group sells, with estimates ranging anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000 barrels per day.

Even at the upper end, the volumes reportedly sold by the group would be written off as a "rounding error" in most trading books, said one longtime Houston oil trader who would not be identified because of the sensitivity of the business.

"Eighty thousand barrels may seem like a lot to a lay person, but that is a very, very small tanker or two little barges being dragged around at night by an unlit tug," he said.

The situation could change if the terror group moved into Southern Iraq and disrupted production in the country's oil stronghold, but that region has been unaffected by the group's advances.

After gobbling up oil assets in Syria, the group in June moved into Iraq and seized control of several oil fields in the country's northern region.

Based on various accounts, the extremists provide protection and either force workers or pay them to continue pumping oil from the ground. The crude then travels in truckloads or via makeshift pipelines along long-standing black market routes in Kurdistan and Turkey. It's sold to buyers in the region at heavily discounted prices - as low as $25 per barrel, according to some estimates, a quarter of the price the legitimate global market supports.

In one Turkish village, hundreds of illegal rudimentary pipelines constructed from small plastic irrigation tubes carry smuggled diesel fuel to the backyards of some villagers' homes, according to reports and photographs in Turkish media outlets.

And despite the heavy fighting between Islamic State and Kurdish forces called peshmerga, the U.S. government suspects Kurdish involvement in the trade, said a U.S. intelligence official who agreed to speak only on background.

"The area in Iraq where ISIL is operating is associated with long-standing oil smuggling networks which have traditionally had a Kurdish component," the official said, using the abbreviation for the government's preferred name for the group - Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. "So, nobody should be surprised if there were Kurds involved in bringing ISIL-controlled oil to market."

These small cash deals swapped across the hands of multiple buyers along routes long used for black market trades are difficult to monitor.

"Even if you were able to flesh out the networks and figure them out, how would you then disrupt it?" said Matthew M. Reed, vice president of Foreign Reports, a Washington-based consulting firm that analyzes Middle East oil markets.

U.S. monitoring oil trades

Attempts by the U.S. to dismantle the oil trades as a criminal enterprise would require intelligence on the ground with Turkey's help, Reed said. Disrupting the group's supply chain may be less difficult because oil wells, tanker trucks and rudimentary refining facilities can be identified from the air, Reed said.

U.S. Treasury Department officials say they are working closely with regional partners to make sure they have the tools to throw the group's financing off balance, The agency declined to elaborate.

The U.S. intelligence official said the government has been monitoring oil production and manufacturing facilities under the Islamic State's control as well as tracking the group's efforts to sell oil on the black market, but acknowledged the challenges in estimating its production and sales revenue.

"Clearly there are constraints on ISIL's ability to capitalize on the energy infrastructure it controls as it can't sell at market prices, lacks technical expertise, and cannot operate facilities - some of which are shut down entirely - at anywhere near full capacity," he said.

Assuming the Islamic State secured a single large buyer scooping up 20,000 barrels per day - and most experts believe the group instead conducts small, one-on-one cash transactions with a series of shadowy figures in Turkey and Kurdistan - a 20,000-barrel sale would be dwarfed by trades made daily on international trading floors, saidDavid Butter, an associate fellow at the London-based think tank Chatham House and an expert in oil and gas issues in Syria.

"For an ordinary person, that's quite a lot ... but for a serious oil trader, that's nothing," he said. "That's five minutes worth of trading."

Houston oil traders coordinating international deals primarily work with established buyers who ship their crude overseas to U.S. refineries on ships so large they have to anchor offshore to be offloaded, said Rusty Braziel, president of Houston-based energy analysts RBN Energy.

No impact on global market

The Islamic State peddles its crude across vast reaches of isolated Middle East terrain far removed from public scrutiny and well beyond the reaches of a legitimate international oil market.

"If a barrel doesn't get into the international market ... it's normally not going to be something that traders would know or care about," Braziel said. "It has no opportunity to impact the market that affects us here because it never found its way to the water."

In the small, tight-knit world of oil trading, there's no incentive for traders to stray from known buyers and sellers, making it unlikely that Islamic State oil would ever show up in legitimate first-world markets.

"For the big guys ... there's so much at stake, so much to lose," Zulal said.

But the illicit nature of the trades means the Islamic State probably has to sell its oil cheap, said Butter, making it an attractive buy for unscrupulous dealers.
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A curious corner of downtown's Bank of America Center will be transformed into a restaurant topped by a floor of new office or conference space that could open by the end of 2018.

Houston-based M-M Properties tapped Sydness Architects to find a way to utilize the former Western Union building that was wrapped inside the bank tower when it was constructed in the early 1980s. That space, at Louisiana and Capitol, was completely hidden by a granite facade. It has not been used for sending telegrams for decades.

"By '83, when we did this building, it was still cranking away as a transfer station for Western Union," said Jeff Sydness, principal of Sydness Architects, who worked with Philip Johnson and John Burgee on the original design for developer Gerald D. Hines.

The postmodern building opened in 1983 as RepublicBank Center across from Pennzoil Place, another Philip Johnson-designed icon.

MORE: See Houston's favorite skyscrapers as they looked while under construction

Bringing the long-dormant Western Union building out into the open will be part of a $15 million project that could add up to 30,000 square feet to the 56-story skyscraper. Sydness said work is to begin in February or March.

A second phase, which will add two floors of glass encased offices above Bank of America's expansive lobby along with tenant amenities in the lobby, will begin after the namesake tenant vacates in 2019.

Originally, Hines had preferred to clear the block bounded by Rusk, Capitol, Smith and Louisiana but could not easily relocate the Western Union building or, more importantly, the equipment and miles of cable around it without disrupting service. The costs would have run into the millions of dollars.

Rather than build around it, the building was incorporated into the larger design.

"That building housed the heart of Western Union," a Hines spokesperson was quoted in the Chronicle as saying in a 1982. "It contained all the machinery and wires, components and all that was needed to send telegrams."

MORE: Skyscrapers that will join Houston's skyline in 2018

Some of the gabled building's Napoleon red granite, from Sweden, will be replaced with windows in new the restaurant area as well as additions above the bank lobby, according to Sydness. The new restaurant space will have an entry on Louisiana Street and be accessible to tenants from the lobby. Walls currently shared with the lobby will be opened up and glassed in, retaining the structural granite columns.

Other amenities such as a coffee shop will be added to the lobby to make the building more marketable to today's tenants.

"It will be a lot more friendly as a building on the streetscape than it has been," Sydness said on a recent tour of the building.

A tenant for the restaurant has not been finalized, Sydness said. The ultimate buildout and design on the space will be determined by the restaurant that leases it. M-M Properties, which recently refinanced the building with its institutional partner, previously said it is envisions a "white tablecloth" restaurant.

MORE: Downtown Houston a popular spot for Fortune 500 companies

Bank of America will consolidate its three downtown offices to nearby 800 Capitol in 2019. TransCanada, which recently expanded its space at 700 Louisiana, is the building's largest tenant.

Phase II of the renovations will add two floors of offices with glass walls and railings, and new elevators and stairs. The transparent offices will be visible from the lobby of the 100-foot tall banking hall.

"We're just going to kind of slip in these two floor slabs," Sydness said.
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MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, HOUSTON

1001 Bissonnet; mfah.org

"Kid Flix Mix 1"

Selections from the 2017 New York International Children's Film Festival, including Audience Award winners, "Tiger" and "Stone Soup"; and some of the highest-rated shorts, such as "Crocodile," "Mr. Night Has a Day Off" and "Water Path for a Fish." 11 a.m. Thursday

"Kid Flix Mix 2"

Features the 2017 New York International Children's Film Festival Grand Prize winner, "Heads Together," by Oscar nominees Job, Joris & Marieke. The lineup also includes the fest's Grown-ups Award winner, "Riceballs," and Audience Award winner, "Welcome to My Life." 2 p.m. Thursday

"Faces Places"

Director Agnes Varda and photographer and muralist J.R., journey through rural France and form an unlikely friendship. 2 p.m. Monday-Wednesday

DISCOVERY GREEN

1500 McKinney; discoverygreen.com

"Elf"

A man raised as an elf at the North Pole is sent to the U.S. in search of his true identity. 7 p.m. Thursday

LEVY PARK

3801 Eastside; levyparkhouston.org

"Minions"

Minions Stuart, Kevin and Bob are recruited by Scarlet Overkill, a supervillain who, alongside inventor husband Herb, hatches a plot to take over the world. 6 p.m. Friday

MEMORIAL CITY MALL

303 Memorial City Way; memorialcity.com

"Frozen"

When the newly crowned Queen Elsa accidentally uses her power to turn things into ice to curse her home in infinite winter, her sister, Anna, teams up with a mountain man, his playful reindeer and a snowman to change the weather condition. 7 p.m. Friday

"Moana"

In ancient Polynesia, when a terrible curse incurred by the demigod Maui reaches Moana's island, she answers the ocean's call to seek out the demigod to set things right. 7 p.m. Saturday

ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE CINEMA

531 Mason, Katy; drafthouse.com/houston

"The Day of the Beast"

A Catholic priest teams up with a Black Metal aficionado and an Italian connoisseur of the occult to avert the birth of the beast, and with it, the end of the world. 10 p.m. Friday

CENTRAL GREEN PARK

23501 Cinco Ranch, Katy; drafthouse.com

"Tangled"

The magically long-haired Rapunzel has spent her entire life in a tower, but now that a runaway thief has stumbled upon her, she is about to discover the world for the first time and who she really is. Dusk Saturday

RIVER OAKS THEATRE

2009 W. Gray; landmarktheatres.com

"Blazing Saddles"

In order to ruin a western town, a corrupt politician appoints a black sheriff, who promptly becomes his most formidable adversary. Midnight Friday and Saturday

HOUSTON MUSEUM OF NATURAL SCIENCE

5555 Hermann Park Drive; hmns.org

"Museum Alive 3-D"

Witness what it would be like if the museum exhibitions came to life. Multiple screenings daily

"Incredible Predators 3-D"

Deconstructs the world of major predators and looks at the strategies they use to succeed. Multiple screenings daily

"Sea Monsters 3-D"

A prehistoric adventure transports the audience back to the Late Cretaceous, when a great inland sea divided North America. Multiple screenings daily
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A Dallas woman is facing felony charges after police say she destroyed at least $300,000 worth of sculptures and original paintings - including two original Andy Warhol works - at the River Oaks home of well-known Houston trial lawyer Anthony Buzbee.

Lindy Lou Layman, 29, was charged Saturday with felony criminal mischief in the incident, Houston police said in court documents. Police allege that Layman threw two abstract sculptures and destroyed three original paintings at Buzbee's mansion. She was released on $30,000 bond.

In court, prosecutors said Layman was on a first date with Buzbee, according to KHOU-TV.

Buzbee told police he called Layman an Uber after she became intoxicated, the news station reported, after which she refused to leave and hid inside the home.

The suspect allegedly tore down two original Andy Warhol paintings each worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, the news station reported. Police said she also poured some sort of liquid on some of the paintings.

Layman's LinkedIn profile says she has worked as a freelance court reporter.

Buzbee is a high-profile attorney who successfully defended former Texas Gov. Rick Perry in an abuse-of-power case.

Now Playing: Isiah Factor Uncensored Video: Fox 26 Houston

He hosted a fundraiser at his multimillion-dollar home in June 2016 for then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, though he later said he was "completely" done with Trump's candidacy after a 2005 video of Trump bragging about groping woman surfaced that fall. Buzbee said in October 2016 that he planned to write in veteran Dan Moran on his ballot.

Buzbee later donated $500,000 to Trump's inauguration committee, Law.com reported in April.

He also raised more than $100,000 for Houston mayoral candidate Adrian Garcia during a fundraiser at the home in 2014.

Buzbee's landmark victory came in 2009, when he won $100 million for Texas City residents affected by toxic discharge from the local BP plant. It was heralded as the largest verdict ever against the oil giant, winning Buzbee much acclaim. A federal judge cut the award by $99 million months later.

His home, which was listed for $14 million before he bought it, "includes five wood-burning fireplaces, a 17th Century French mantle, limestone floors, mahogany ceiling beams and a slate roof that was cut in Spain."

It set a record for a single-family home sale when Buzbee purchased it in 2013. Buzbee said he paid cash for the house but was reluctant to disclose the final sales price.

"I'm all about setting records, but I'm not sure this is one I should be proud of or not," he told the Houston Chronicle at the time. "All I'll say is the owner wasn't budging that much."

Last year, outgoing Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson personally dismissed a drunken-driving case against Buzbee, who was arrested in March 2016 for misdemeanor driving while intoxicated.

Robert Downen is a metro crime reporter at the Houston Chronicle. Send him news tips at robert.downen@chron.com or follow him on Twitter.
BATON ROUGE, La.  Lisa White knew the repairs would be basic, and still she wasn't prepared.

"Just be careful as you're walking through," she recalled a contractor warning her as she inspected the work.

Hers was one of thousands of homes repaired under a program designed to get flood victims back into their homes quickly after fierce storms hit southern Louisiana last year.

But to White's dismay, the house was little more than a brick shell. There were huge gaps in the walls. Bare earth was visible through the exposed wooden subfloor. She and her two children couldn't live like that.

She began to wonder if she'd have to walk away from the only home she had ever owned.

This is precisely the situation Texas officials are trying to avoid as they ramp up programs to help families displaced by Hurricane Harvey find safe places to live.

Many people like the idea of funding speedy, stop-gap repairs to return flood victims to their communities faster and at a lower cost to the government. Getting it right has proven difficult, however.

Louisiana embraced the strategy after a rainstorm flooded more than 91,000 homes in August 2016. Displaced families would return to Spartan but habitable dwellings: a bathroom door, a working toilet, a hotplate. That was the idea, at least.

The program, called Shelter at Home, served more than 10,000 families by the end of 2016. Yet homeowners, nonprofit leaders and state and local officials say the $157 million initiative, primarily funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, fell short in key areas.

Basic repairs proved a bit too basic: Many families were not willing to live in homes with missing walls, bare floors and fixtures held together with plywood as they waited for flood insurance payments, nonprofit assistance or other government programs to fully rebuild. And because the work was intended to be temporary, homeowners eventually had to redo much of it.

Nearly half of the program participants surveyed by the state did not quickly move back home after contractors completed their work.

Texas has learned from some of these mistakes.

In addition to offering a bare-bones program like Louisiana's, the state and FEMA have drawn up an option that provides families with more extensive, permanent repairs.

Major obstacles remain. Texas had not repaired a single home through its basic repair program as of mid-December, and had completed just two homes through its more comprehensive offering. Additionally, those who witnessed Shelter at Home in Louisiana warned that problems are inevitable with efforts like Texas', in which homeowners have little say.

Home is personal, but government programs rarely are.

A difficult summer

The summer of 2016 had engulfed Baton Rouge in one horror after another.

In early July, white police officers shot and killed a 37-year-old black man, Alton Sterling, in a convenience store parking lot two miles from White's north Baton Rouge home, prompting weeks of protests. Then, on the other side of town, a gunman shot six police officers, killing three. Finally, in August, the rain. An unnamed storm dumped thirty-one inches of rain east of the Mississippi.

White's three-bedroom house? Invaded by two and a half feet of water. The soon-to-be mayor's home? Sixteen inches. The governor's mansion? That, too.

"It took the rich, the poor, the black, the white and drowned them," said Chris Andrews, executive director of Rebuilding Together Baton Rouge, a local nonprofit.

Louisiana suddenly had tens of thousands of flood victims and few places for them to live.

Craig Fugate, then administrator of FEMA, suggested Louisiana consider the rapid repair program pioneered in New York and New Jersey after Hurricane Sandy, state officials said.

It would provide up to $15,000 per house to remove soaked drywall, build a sink in a plywood frame, deliver a mini fridge, and so on. Contractors would be state-selected, and they would be authorized to perform a predetermined menu of work. FEMA would cover 90 percent of the cost, leaving the state responsible for 10 percent.

Afraid that people might desert Baton Rouge the way they had New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, Gov. John Bel Edwards gave the go ahead. More than 21,000 Louisiana families signed up.

Unlike other FEMA programs that required families to move to hotels or apartments temporarily  often putting them miles from work and school  Shelter at Home promised flood victims an opportunity to live somewhere familiar.

It also was less expensive than manufactured housing units, which kept families close to home but had become deeply unpopular after Katrina and typically ran $129,000 to $149,000 apiece.

"The idea is, I think, very, very good," said Layton Ricks, president of Livingston Parish, east of Baton Rouge. "Everybody wants to be in their home. They want to protect what they have left. They want to work on it when they come in in the evening and be right there, and you want to get the kids back in school as soon as possible, and the only way you do that is by putting them in their driveway or their front yard."

Susan Wachter, a real estate and finance professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, said communities can disintegrate if residents are unable to return soon after a disaster.

"There are two damages when a storm hits," Wachter said. "The obvious one is properties are damaged. The second  less obvious but just as lethal, if not more so  is that the neighborhood is damaged. People don't want to live in a neighborhood where there are abandoned homes."

Trouble was, many of the Louisiana families who participated in Shelter at Home did not move back right away.

White, a clerk at the city courthouse, was among them. Instead, she used other FEMA assistance to rent a one-bedroom apartment 11 miles away, in south Baton Rouge. She shared a twin bed with her daughter, and her son slept on a mattress on the floor until they finally moved home in March.

Almost a year and a half after the flood, White counted nine families on her block who had yet to return.

"It don't really feel like a neighborhood anymore," White, 46, said walking down her street after dark, streetlights glowing above silent homes. "It's kind of spooky."

Some Shelter at Home participants who returned home quickly also were dissatisfied with the program.

"That was a waste of money," said Yolanda Jernigan, whose family moved from a Motel 6 back into their three bedroom just a week after the August flood, when the street was empty except for dogs and stray cats.

Jernigan and her husband signed up not knowing all the details of the program, but hoping it would help.

The morning the contractors came, the Jernigans left to get breakfast at McDonald's.

"When we got back, they were ready to leave," recalled Jernigan, 54. The house had a new bathroom door, a kitchen sink on plywood legs and squares of drywall behind the electrical outlets. Otherwise, it appeared unchanged.

"We didn't understand what they did," she said.

By Christmas Eve, the state had completed repairs on most of the nearly 11,000 homes it would serve through Shelter at Home, remarkably fast for a federal repair program.

Yet homeowners and local leaders questioned the value of the investment. At up to $15,000 per household, it was a bargain if it got families back in their homes, but not if FEMA had to pay for other accommodations at the same time.

"They didn't make the houses habitable. Yeah, you could exist there. But I could live in a tent. Who wants to do that?" said Andrews, of the local nonprofit. "And think about the human cost of emotional energy, the stress factor."

Plus, much of the temporary repair work had to be ripped out when it came time to permanently rebuild homes.

"While the program was never intended to transform a home back to its original state, the fact that we were strictly limited to only temporary work left the home's appearance with much to be desired," Edwards, the governor, said in April testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. "Expectations, understandably, were often far above the FEMA restrictions we were bound by."

Better in Texas?

With those criticisms in mind, Texas has coordinated with FEMA to authorize two home repair programs rather than one and tried to set clearer expectations.

The first, known as Partial Repair and Essential Power for Sheltering, provides up to $20,000 for repairs for homes lightly damaged by Harvey. Just like in Louisiana, the fixes will be basic.

"Camping in your home," said Heather Lagrone, deputy director for the Texas General Land Office's community development and revitalization program.

The second program, known as Direct Assistance for Limited Home Repair, authorizes up to $60,000 for longer-term rebuilding. It's the option local and state officials prefer.

However, both initiatives have been undercut by bureaucratic slowdowns.

The land office and FEMA reached a final agreement for the state's basic repair program Nov. 30, long after many Texas families had gutted their flooded homes.

"I think there's still going to be some opportunity to help people," Lagrone said, adding, "Those who have been able to take care of themselves probably have already done so."

Speed aside, Texas is likely to face pushback from homeowners seeking more flexibility in one-size-fits-all programs that have been designed to limit choice.

Many in Louisiana suggested FEMA boost direct financial assistance for home repair, and allow families to select their own contractors and set priorities for rebuilding.

"If they would have given me the $15,000, I could have gotten a lot more done," White said. "I could have gotten all my sheetrock and my painting done with $15,000."

That strategy would, of course, present its own challenges.

Lagrone worried that many families "don't have the capacity to do the repairs directly themselves," while John Carleton, the FEMA official in charge of direct housing assistance in Texas, expressed concern about tracking where the money is spent.

Nevertheless, Carleton said he didn't think many ideas were off the table, and added that FEMA is interested in working more closely with states to design recovery programs.

"This is something that I think everyone agrees is the way of the future," he said. "We just need to make sure we do it smartly."

This story was reported with support from the Solutions Journalism Network, a nonprofit that encourages reporting on responses to social problems.

Rebecca Elliott is a Houston Chronicle reporter covering City Hall. She can be reached by e-mail at Rebecca.Elliott@chron.com or by Twitter: @rfelliott

Multimedia by Jon Shapley

Audience engagement by Rachael Gleason

Design by Jordan Rubio

DEVELOPING STORM:

Hurricane Harvey was the most destructive storm in Houston's history. The late-August storm dumped up to 60 inches of rain on southeast Texas, but the resulting damage was multiplied by actions taken  and not taken  during the past 50 years. Our seven-part series explains why the storm's damage was both a natural and man-made disaster.

Part 1: Nature ruled, man reacted. Hurricane Harvey was Houston's reckoning

Part 2 Build, flood, rebuild: flood insurance's expensive cycle

Part 3: What's in Houston's worst flood zones? Development worth $13.5 billion

Part 4: Harvey overwhelmed some levee systems. Future storms could do worse.

Part 5: Officials patched and prayed while pressure built on Houston's dams

Part 6: For buyers within 'flood pools,' no warnings from officials

Part 7: In 'eternal struggle' with water, Dutch have much to teach



GET ENGAGED:

 Where do we go from here? Seven Houston-area leaders discussed flooding causes and solutions at a Greater Houston After Harvey forum hosted by the Houston Chronicle in early December. Watch Wednesday night's keynote address by Jim Blackburn, co-director of Rice University's Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters (SSPEED) Center. Read his thoughts on living around water.

 Sign up for our Facebook community to share your Harvey story, engage with other community members and ask our reporters questions.

 Join the discussion on Twitter: #HoustonAfterHarvey.

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Sonia Newsom stood in a Harris County courtroom on Friday and faced the man who killed her 26-year-old daughter and unborn grandchild: her son-in-law.

"You've hurt a lot of people," Newsom said as she wiped tears from her eyes. "You're the one who did the crime, so now you have to do the time. Justice is going to be done."

Wearing an orange jail uniform, Matthew Sowders, 29, had just pleaded guilty to murder in the death of his estranged wife, Melissa Renee Sowders. The mother of four was six weeks pregnant.

Sowders accepted a 60-year prison sentence. He was facing life without parole if convicted of capital murder in the deaths of his estranged wife and her unborn child after she disappeared on Dec. 26, 2013.

Expecting child

The couple had filed for divorce in 2013 after being married nine years.

They had four children, and she was expecting her fifth child. Her boyfriend at the time of her death was the father of that child.

Matthew Sowders, who had custody of the children, was to have brought the youngest to a north Houston McDonald's restaurant for a day-after-Christmas visit.

That McDonald's was the last place anyone saw Melissa Sowders alive. Her body was found in Cypress Creek eight days later, after an exhaustive search.

Sowders told two friends that he strangled his estranged wife after she pulled a gun on him that day, prosecutors have said. However, prosecutors said they did not believe it was a case of self-defense.

"We knew that he did it the day that they found our daughter," Newsom said after the plea.

Newsom and other family members were in court for the plea. They nodded in agreement as Sowders was sentenced by state District Judge Brock Thomas.

Newsom's husband said Sowders did not look him in the face during the proceedings.

"I think he's a coward," Jimmy Newsom said. "He's made his bed, and now he has to lay in it."

Possible parole

Sitting next to his attorney, Gerald Bourque, Sowders said little and did not react during the plea.

The 60-year punishment operates the same as a longer sentence, including a life sentence, because under either scenario, Sowders will be eligible for parole in 30 years.

Prosecutors said it was a just result because the victim's family wanted to hear Sowders say he committed the crime instead of going to trial.

"For the first time, the defendant took responsibility for his actions," said Assistant District Attorney John Jordan. "This way they can begin the process of healing."

Prosecutor Jennifer Falk said the district attorney's office considered seeking the death penalty but decided against it.

"Even after we file a capital murder case, our team of prosecutors and investigators continue to re-evaluate whether the evidence justifies what we are seeking," Falk said by email. "In this case, while the murder itself was never in question, we concluded that there were insufficient aggravating facts to merit a death penalty trial."

'Best possible outcome'

Sowders' father also watched the plea deal.

"This is really the best possible outcome," Dave Sowders said after the plea. "I love my son and I love Melissa. They loved each other, but their marriage tore them apart."

He said he hopes his son uses the time behind bars to better himself.

"I'm proud of him for taking responsibility and sparing everybody a trial," he said.
The outlook for affordable housing in Houston is not rosy, nor is it as catastrophic as some had feared it would be.

That's because the Republican tax reform bill signed by President Donald Trump maintains a type of tax-exempt bond that had been on the chopping block and is key to financing new subsidized housing.

However, Hurricane Harvey destabilized the region's already fragile low-cost housing market, and local leaders worry a lower corporate tax rate, coupled with an uncertain federal budget, could make building and maintaining affordable homes more difficult.

ANALYSIS: The near-drowning of affordable housing in Houston

"The safety net the housing authority provides was full before the storm, and it's full now," said Tory Gunsolley, president and CEO of the Houston Housing Authority. "It's looking like we'll get our funding cut, and make our safety net full of holes. So, it's just hard to see how we're able to actually help all of the people that need help."

Diane Yentel, president and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, was similarly apprehensive in a statement about tax reform.

"While the preservation of low-income housing tax credits and private activity bonds avoids an immediate devastating impact on affordable housing, this bill will exacerbate our country's already yawning income inequality and will harm efforts to end homelessness and housing poverty," Yentel said. "At a time when we should be increasing investments in solutions to the housing crisis impacting low income people across the country, the increased deficits created by these tax cuts puts the national Housing Trust Fund and other vital housing and community development programs at risk of deep spending cuts down the line."

Houston is known for being affordable, but housing assistance is harder to come by here for very low-income renters than it is in most other large metropolitan areas in the country, according to an August federal report to Congress.

About 55,000 Houston-area families receive some type of rental subsidy, said Jonathan Spader, a researcher with Harvard University's Center for Joint Housing Studies, leaving hundreds of thousands spending a large portion of their income on housing or living in what the federal government calls "severely inadequate conditions."

It remains unclear how many of these houses and apartments flooded during Harvey, but studies show the storm hit lower- and middle-income residents hardest by inundating their homes or cutting their earnings. Recovery will be particularly difficult for these families, many of whom are renters.

MORE: Putting numbers on Houston's demand for more affordable housing

"The financial circumstances of many of those who were affected by Harvey were tenuous even before the hurricane, and few report having many financial resources to fall back on," a recent survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation found.

Houston's capacity to accommodate these families - not to mention low-income households who survived Harvey unscathed - is limited.

The Houston Housing Authority has not been issuing housing vouchers to new families since April because of a funding shortfall, and, Spader said, the affordability requirements for more than 16,000 of the Houston area's subsidized rentals are set to expire in the next decade.

Meanwhile, disaster recovery funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is months, if not years, away.

"There are still way too many people, thousands of people who are in homes that need to be remediated in some form," Mayor Sylvester Turner said earlier this month. "That remains a major, major issue."

Complicating matters is an open federal finding that faults the city for "blocking and deterring affordable housing proposals in integrated neighborhoods," a violation of civil rights law. The city has denied any discrimination and asked HUD to drop its case.

Layer on an uncertain federal budget and a lower corporate tax rate, and Houston's chances of maintaining or expanding housing options for poor residents only get worse.

Cutting the corporate tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent is expected to further devalue low-income housing tax credits, which companies buy to lower their tax liability. Those tax credits are the primary funding source for new affordable housing.

ANALYSIS: Harvey recovery offers chance for Houston to get it right on affordable housing

Already, the value of tax credits has dropped 16 cents since Trump was elected, as investors anticipated a hefty tax cut, according to Novogradac & Company, a San Francisco-based public accounting and consulting firm.

Jason Aldridge, vice president of originations for the National Equity Fund, a Chicago-based tax credit syndicator, expects tax reform to drive the price of credits another three or four cents lower, making it harder for builders to finance new subsidized housing. Developers then would need to lean more heavily on outside entities, such as the city housing department, to close their funding gaps.

"These projects that are already difficult to find financing for - especially in times when we have rising construction costs and all of the typical headwinds that developers face - it certainly doesn't make their job easier," Aldridge said.

Mike Morris contributed to this report.
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AUSTIN  Texas could become an even larger player in future presidential contests based on new projections that show the Lone Star State's population growing big enough to receive as many as 41 electoral college votes  three more than it has now.

Texas has added nearly 3.2 million people since the last federal census, in 2010, according to population estimates. If the trend continues, the state stands to gain as many as three more seats in Congress while states with dwindling populations  such as Illinois  would lose seats.

More congressional seats means more electoral votes in presidential elections.

With as many as 41 electoral votes, Texas would wield more clout than ever before in presidential elections. If the extra votes had been in place the last decade, for example, Texas would have increased President Donald Trump's 2016 margin of victory in the Electoral College and trimmed President Barack Obama's 2012 margin over Mitt Romney.

The projections for the additional congressional seats come from Election Data Services, a political consulting firm that relied on data released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Dec. 20.

As large states like California and New York have tended to back Democrats in presidential elections, Texas has become an essential state for Republican candidates to boost their totals. Texas has voted Republican in every presidential election since Ronald Reagan defeated incumbent Jimmy Carter in 1980. For all intents and purposes, a Republican cannot win the White House without Texas's haul of electoral votes.

Texas would still trail California, with 55 electoral votes, as a coveted Election Day prize.

But over the last three decades, the Lone Star State has closed the gap. California has added just one electoral vote since 1990; Texas will have added 10 to 11 by 2020.

"It would take a couple of more decades like this, but Texas is catching up," said Kimball Brace, president of Election Data Services, a political consulting firm that specializes in redistricting data analysis.

The gains will also surely set off a battle over where those new congressional seats get located.

Starting in 2021, the Texas Legislature would determine which parts of the state get the new seats.

Although both Harris County and the Rio Grande Valley have seen big population gains, it doesn't mean those areas will necessarily get the new seats, said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston.

That's because of how political Texas has been in drawing congressional district lines over the decades, whatever party has been in charge. The party in power has generally pushed the partisan gerrymandering to its limits and forced the courts to step in. In 1991, a federal court voided primary elections in 13 districts and imposed a court-drawn map after then-majority Democrats tried to use redistricting to hurt GOP numbers. In 2003, the tables turned and it was Republicans that drew a map in their favor that resulted in Democrats hiding out in New Mexico and then Oklahoma in a failed effort to keep the maps from becoming law.

And even now, the state has been operating under temporary court-ordered maps drawn for the 2012 elections and adopted by the Legislature in 2013 that are still part of legal challenges that have yet to be fully resolved.

Texas's messy history of drawing congressional district lines is due to one key reason, Rottinghaus said.

"The stakes are so high and both parties know it," he said.

What is certain is that the increase in electoral votes won't be in place until the 2024 presidential election cycle, when Trump conceivably could be finishing a second term. The Census won't be finished until after the 2020 presidential election is decided.

In 2017 alone, Texas had the largest population growth of any state in the nation  adding 399,734 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Florida was second with 327,811 people added, and California was third with 240,177 new residents.

While Texas is on pace to add at least two seats in Congress and possibly three, northern states stand to lose seats. Illinois, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Minnesota are all expected to lose seats in Congress if population trends continue until 2020, when the next official Census is conducted.

A big unknown is how the 2017 hurricane season could affect the population numbers.

Data for the population estimates were done in July, before Hurricane Harvey hit Texas and Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. Those storms could have shifted populations enough to ultimately affect how seats, and thus electoral votes, are distributed.

"It won't be until next year when we see whether population lost in Houston was enough to keep Texas gaining only two districts instead of three," Brace said.

Florida similarly could be affected by the storms, as reports suggests hundreds of thousands of people from Puerto Rico have relocated to Florida since Maria.

After Hurricane Katrina hammered New Orleans in 2005, the ensuing population loss resulted in Louisiana losing a seat in Congress, instead of gaining one as projected before the storm.

If Texas growth continues, whether it has 38 or 39 U.S. House seats may very well hinge on Montana. Brace said Montana has been growing and could pick up a second seat in Congress. If that happens, Texas could be blocked from getting that 39th seat under a formula used by Election Data Services to project future reapportionments.

Jeremy Wallace writes about state politics and government for the Chronicle. Follow him on Twitter at @JeremySWallace.
AUSTIN - Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton have showcased their support for Israel with trips there to promote business development and cultural ties, at a cost to taxpayers of more than $156,000 for travel by their state security details.

Nearly half of that tally - $74,546.87 - was billed by the state detail that protected Paxton on a trip in late May and early June.

Paxton was part of a National Association of Attorneys General delegation on a weeklong trip to Israel. It included seven attorneys general.

His wife, Angela - now a state Senate candidate - accompanied him, and they extended their stay for a week beyond the delegation trip, according to a Paxton campaign spokesman.

Paxton's direct travel costs were paid by the America-Israel Friendship League, and the attorney general paid personally for his wife's costs, said the spokesman, Matt Welch.

"Texas has a unique relationship with Israel," Welch said. "We are a significant economic partner with Israel."

Welch pointed out that security decisions, as they are with other officials' staffs, are made by the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Security is seen as increasingly necessary for state officials, and the travel costs for the officers who protect leaders are tallied quarterly and made public by the DPS.

Former Gov. Rick Perry's travel included a 2007 trip to Israel and Jordan at a travel cost for his security team of $29,202.36, and a 2013 trip to Israel with a $13,582.09 travel cost for his security detail. Before him, then-Gov. George W. Bush made a trip to Israel in 1998 before launching his presidential bid.

Abbott's direct travel costs for a two-day visit to Israel in January 2016 - part of a trip that also included Switzerland - were paid by the economic development entity overseen by his office, a spokeswoman said. That office isn't funded by state tax dollars.

But the security detail's travel expense, which is covered by state taxpayers, was $31,983.98 for the Israel part of the trip, according to DPS records.

Baptized in the Jordan

The security detail's travel costs include such items as transportation, lodging and food, but not salaries or overtime.

"Texas maintains a long and productive partnership with Israel, our country's strongest ally in the Middle East. As Israel's No. 1 trading partner in the United States, Texas has a strong interest in their economic success, and Gov. Abbott is proud to have further developed our partnership with Israel to advance these interests. Both Texas and Israel have demonstrated a firm commitment to growing this relationship, and Gov. Abbott looks forward to continuing those efforts," said Abbott spokeswoman Ciara Matthews.

The direct expenses for Patrick's seven-day trip to Israel in 2016 were paid by the Republican Lieutenant Governors Association, according to his spokesman, Alejandro Garcia. The travel cost for his security detail totaled $49,800.03, according to DPS.

Patrick was among a number of lieutenant governors on the trip, which drew particular attention because he was baptized in the Jordan River while there.

"It was a truly life-changing trip," Patrick said on Facebook at the time.

Patrick backed a measure approved by the Legislature this year and signed into law by Abbott to keep the state from investing in companies that boycott Israel. The law also requires contractors doing business with cities, counties or school districts to affirm that they will not boycott Israel.

While Abbott, Patrick and Paxton are the only statewide officials with a regular security detail reported by DPS, they aren't the only ones to travel to Israel.

Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller also went there this year. He paid for the trip through his campaign, according to his political consultant, Todd Smith.

'Cost of doing business'

Miller had no state security detail, but he didn't go unprotected, Smith said. Off-duty members of the Israeli Defense Forces volunteered to protect him and those with him, Smith said.

"They volunteered their services because they are such big fans of Commissioner Miller. They knew he was a strong advocate for strengthening ties between Texas and Israel," Smith said.

Texas officials' long-standing support for Israel has been highlighted as President Donald Trump has stirred the international pot by recognizing Jerusalem as its capital.

Abbott issued a statement of support for the move in early December, and Patrick was among those signing a Republican Lieutenant Governors Association letter commending the move Thursday.

Miller supported Trump for president in part because of his promise to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, Smith said.

Rice University political scientist Mark Jones - who said the security expense is "simply the cost of doing business if you want representative government" - called trips to Israel "primarily symbolic."

"Israel is a long-standing ally of the United States in a volatile region, and so that's one reason to go," Jones said. "The other reason to go is that there is very strong support for Israel among evangelical Christians who represent a large proportion of Republican primary voters and also are a significant source of electoral support for Republicans in the general election."
President Trump awarded himself a 10 out of 10 score two months ago for his response to Hurricane Maria, which leveled Puerto Rico.

"If you look at a real catastrophe like Katrina, and you look at the tremendous hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people that died," Trump said as he toured Puerto Rico in October. "What is your death count, as of this moment - 17?"

Last week, we learned the truth. Some 1,065 more Puerto Ricans died in September and October of this year than in previous years, almost certainly storm-related deaths, according to the Center for Investigative Journalism. When all is tallied, the destruction in Puerto Rico will be very much on par with what Trump considers "a real catastrophe like Katrina," which killed about 1,800.

Incredibly, a large portion of the island remains without power - three months after the storm. It was reported last week that power may not be fully restored until May. Puerto Ricans - American citizens - are still awaiting tarps and temporary roofs to shelter them after an untold number of homes were destroyed.

A new report from Refugees International said, "Thousands of people still lack sustainable access to potable water and electricity and dry, safe places to sleep." The group faulted the Federal Emergency Management Agency's "bureaucratic and opaque assistance process" for leaving survivors with "enormous challenges."

Ten out of 10, Mr. President.

In October, when Trump was tossing "beautiful, soft" rolls of paper towels at Puerto Ricans, he offered lavish promises of aid and said Wall Street lenders were "going to say goodbye" to Puerto Rico's $72 billion debt. But the debt was not written off, and disaster-relief aid has been inadequate and piecemeal. Now, Trump and congressional Republicans are hitting Puerto Rico with an additional, man-made catastrophe.

The GOP tax bill, which Trump celebrated last week, treats Puerto Rico as a foreign country, imposing a 12.5 percent tax on the income that companies there receive from intellectual property - a big hit to its crucial pharmaceutical and medical-device sector. Rather than give Puerto Rico special tax treatment, which it urgently needs, Trump and his congressional allies gave employers a powerful reason to move jobs off the island.

You might recognize this pattern, even if you don't care about Puerto Rico and the suffering of the more than 3 million Americans there. Trump comes in with razzle-dazzle and self-congratulation, promising great things to come. Then, when the cameras are off, comes the quiet collapse.

The prototype is the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. In April 1990, it opened with much fanfare as the world's largest casino-hotel complex. Six months later, it defaulted on payments. Nine months after that, it filed for bankruptcy.

Now this happens on a world scale. Trump promises an easy peace in the Middle East but winds up setting off a new wave of violence. He promises a tax cut for the middle class and winds up with a giveaway to corporations and millionaires.

In business, when Trump attended the ribbon-cutting and then moved on while deals went south, people lost their investments. But when the United States walks away from promises, people lose rather more.

Nearly a million low-income Puerto Ricans are in danger of losing health care early in the new year because the territory's Medicaid program will soon be unable to pay providers. Federal law restricts Medicaid reimbursements for Puerto Rico to not-quite 20 percent, about a quarter of what it would get if it were a state. Puerto Rico's leaders have called for a few billion dollars to avert this latest crisis, but the request went unanswered as Congress rushed to complete the tax cut.

Puerto Rico's (Democratic) governor, Ricardo Rossello, made a dumb mistake in October when, appealing to Trump's vanity, he praised the president's hurricane response. That gave Trump cover to do nothing for Puerto Rico. Now Rossello has apparently realized his mistake, and, in an interview with Politico last week, he vowed to mobilize the more than 5 million Puerto Ricans living in the mainland United States. That includes hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens fleeing Puerto Rico since Maria.

They are eligible to vote, in 2018 and 2020. One suspects they might award Trump something less than the 10 out of 10 he gives himself.

Follow Dana Milbank on Twitter, @Milbank.
Nearly 300 Senate and more than 500 House proposals have been filed so far for the 2018 Missouri legislative session. The issues the Republican-controlled legislature are expected to focus on during the regular session include further restrictions on liability lawsuits and abortions, a proposed statewide expansion of charter schools, whether to repeal a minimum wage requirement for public construction projects on things like fire stations and courthouses, proposed restrictions on lobbyist gifts to lawmakers and balancing the next state budget, among many other things.

Heres a look at some of the other measures the General Assembly will also consider in 2018:

State Rep. Mike Moon, R- Ash Grove, wants the state to launch a terrorist offender registry for those convicted, found guilty or have pled guilty to committing, attempting to commit or conspiring to perform a terrorist act. Other state legislatures have considered similar measures.

State Rep. Peter Merideth, D-St. Louis, is proposing to allow Missourians to electronically sign ballot measures that have been approved for circulation. He wants to require the Secretary of State to create a website where petition signatures could be submitted.

State Rep. Lindell Shumake, R-Hannibal, is again proposing to ask voters to support the authorization of $63 million in bonds for Missouris veterans homes. The bonds could be used to make changes to existing facilities and possibly replace the one in mid-Missouris Mexico.

Shumake also wants to eliminate the requirement that the attorney general must reside in Missouris capital city. The measure is in response to a lawsuit filed against Attorney General Josh Hawley for having his primary residence in Ashland  about 15 minutes from Jefferson City.

Sen. Denny Hoskins, R-Warrensburg, is proposing to make Missourians ineligible to receive food stamp benefits during any month an individual is delinquent in child support payments. A disqualification would apply to the individual and not to the entire household. Someone who is delinquent in child support could be exempt if a court has allowed the individual to delay payment, they are complying with a payment plan or the Department of Social Services determines the person has good cause.

Sen. Kiki Curls, D-Kansas City, wants to require cost-of-living adjustments for certain statewide elected officials, legislators and judges if such adjustments are provided to all other state employees. Shes proposing to ask voters for approval of the issue.

Sen. Paul Wieland, R-Imperial, has filed legislation that would repeal the death penalty in Missouri. Wieland has filed the bill each session hes been in the legislature. He has said that its possible to be tough on crime without using the death penalty. A similar measure has been filed in the House.

State Rep. Gary Cross, R-Lees Summit, is proposing to eliminate personal property taxes. The state legislature will consider in the upcoming session Crosss measure that would let Missourians decide on the issue. Similar proposals have been filed by other lawmakers.

Other contentious issues making a return in 2018 include what to do about nursing home and in-home care funding stripped away from about 8,000 Missourians this year. Lawmakers are expected to work together to find a long-term solution to the issue.

The Missouri Legislature will also be asked again to consider ways to increase funding for the states deteriorating roads and bridges. A task force has been working to compile recommendations for the General Assembly to consider next year. Lawmakers are likely to consider an increase in the gasoline tax  an issue they have been butting heads on for years. Missouris fuel tax of 17 cents is one of the lowest in the nation and hasnt been increase in more than two decades.

Changes to ratemaking adjustment methods for public utilities are also expected to make a return. Opponents of such measures say utility rates would drastically increase while supporters say increases would be minimal and would help utilities to make aging infrastructure improvements.

The gavel is scheduled to sound at noon on January 3 in Jefferson City for the start of the legislatures next regular session.

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According to a weekly influenza surveillance report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the state of influenza activity in Missouri has reached widespread levels.

The report is represented by a map of the United States, grading each state using one of 6 categories: no activity, sporadic, local activity, regional, widespread or no report.

A number of states, along with Missouri, have been placed under the widespread category, including Oklahoma, Texas, Illinois and Arkansas.

According to Dr. Cynthia Brownfield with Mosaic Life Care, the H3N2 strain is the culprit. And this years flu shot doesnt seem to be effective on the current strain.

A couple things to always keep in mind with the flu vaccine is that it covers you for four different strains. So even though its not showing very promising results for the current H3N2 thats going around, it still may be great for the other strains that we just havent experienced yet, Brownfield said. So even if you actually have already had the flu  the flu shot will still offer you benefit for the other strains.

Brownfield also thinks its important that people understand the difference between the stomach flu and the actual flu.

I see a lot of people who come in all the time and tell me, Oh, I already had the flu, so I dont need the flu shot, Brownfield said. Unless a doctor told you that you have the flu, you cannot jump to that conclusion. So a lot of people misinterpret the stomach flu as the flu, because the stomach flu is just a virus of your stomach but not technically the true influenza virus that gives you the high fevers, cough and congestion.

Another thing to keep in mind is how the flu spreads. Brownfield said viruses can live on surfaces for a very long time, so its important to make use of wipes provided at grocery stores to clean your cart before shopping. Wash your hands frequently, and make sure not to touch your face.

People, all the time, will touch their mouth, put their fingers in their mouth, touch their nose or touch their eyes. Thats how you take the virus thats on your hand and put it inside of you, so its critically important to avoid touching your face, Brownfield said.

She also recommends teaching good cough etiquette  coughing into your sleeve and not your hand. And if you start to notice symptoms, such as a fever, coughing, chills, congestion or nausea, go see the doctor as soon as possible, and plan to stay home from work or school.

If you have a high fever, a sudden onset of cough, congestion, runny nose, body aches or chills, and it kind of just hits you all at once, you probably have the flu, and you should see the doctor within 48 hours, Brownfield said. We can actually give you the treatment for the flu, which is Tamiflu. That will help reduce your symptoms and reduce the duration of your symptoms. After 48 hours, that medication is not as effective for you.

The flu is more damaging for people who are immunocompromised. Some medications suppress immunity, and the elderly, as well as infants, already have fairly low immunity to begin with.

Youre technically contagious with the flu for two days before you even have symptoms, so that can be very challenging, Brownfield said. So you already exposed people (to the flu) before you even knew you had it.

If you have the flu, Brownfield recommends a lot of rest, drinking a lot of water and asking your doctor about safe over-the-counter medications to help reduce the symptoms.

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A Plato man is held on $750,000 bond in the Texas County Jail and faces a felony assault charge following an incident Tuesday night at a residence in which he allegedly threatened a woman with a knife.

As a result of a Texas County Sheriffs Department investigation of the incident, Scott A. Grim, 29, of 13909 Highway AW at Plato, is charged with first-degree domestic assault (a class B felony).

According to a deputys report, the officer was dispatched at about 8:20 p.m. regarding a report of a domestic dispute. A woman reportedly called 911 and stated Grim had taken too much Ambien, which caused him to hallucinate and become violent. Before the officer arrived, the woman called the TCSD and said Grim had a knife and was trying to break the doors down at the house.

The deputy then asked dispatch to call for assistance from the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Upon arrival, the deputy made contact with an MSHP trooper at the scene who had Grim detained in his patrol vehicle.

During an investigation, the deputy observed a kitchen knife and cell phone sitting on a small shelf by the homes front door, both with blood on them. Also observed was that the door was damaged and was missing its knob.

The deputy spoke with the woman, and she said Grim had become angry when two children who live at the residence had been taken next door to stay with a neighbor, and that he came after her with a knife. The woman reportedly said Grim grabbed her throat with his left hand and held the knife in the other and asked if she was ready to die.

She eventually managed to get away and went inside the house and locked the doors. She tried calling 911 from a landline, but Grim had allegedly disconnected the line, so she used her cell phone.

The woman stated that before the trooper arrived, Grim had tried to break down the front door and garage door with a hammer, and that he was able to break off all the houses doorknobs, but was unable to get inside.
A Houston Police Department officer escaped injury when he was involved in a crash last Friday night that totaled his patrol vehicle.

HPD Chief Tim Ceplina said officer Greg Ryan was following a speeding vehicle on North Highway 17 west of Houston when his car hydroplaned during rainy conditions and went off the left side of the roadway. The car took out the city limits sign and several trees.

Ceplina said the Missouri State Highway Patrol conducted an investigation and found no wrongdoing on Ryans part.
A 6-year-old girl was injured Tuesday afternoon in a crash on West Highway 17 in Houston, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said.

Tpr. Stacy Crewse said an eastbound 2014 Ford SUV driven by Lane A. Haley, 16, of Houston, struck the rear of a truck operated by Joshua L. Green, 31, of Houston. The force knocked the Green truck into a 2007 Ford SUV operated by Jason N. Evans, 34, of Success.

A passenger in the Green vehicle  Ember F. Green  was taken to Texas County Memorial Hospital in Houston with minor injuries.

The patrol said the Haley SUV was totaled. He was not wearing a seat belt, Crewse said. The Green truck had moderate damage and minor damage was sustained by the other vehicle, Crewse said.
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Names are pulled for gift donations at the Chamber of Commerce's holiday party. PreviousNext

North Adams Chamber Holiday Celebration Benefits School Program

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  The North Adams Chamber of Commerce's holiday party raised more than $300 for the city's 21st Century After-School Program.

The party was held recently at Freight Yard Pub and the program was selected as the beneficiary of this year's voluntary collection. A total of $315 was donated.

Joyce Fruscio, a Title 1 reading teacher at Brayton School, singled out program coordinator Noella Carlow for her efforts.

"She started this program, she works endlessly. The kids are at school until 5:30. She's in school before anyone else is, her program doesn't start until 3:30 but she's there at seven, 7:30 in the morning," Fruscio said. "And not only does she help do everything in the after-school program, if we need something during the day, she's right there helping us to do whatever we need and she's the reason why I feel this program is as good as it is."

About 400 children from Grades 1 through 4 are enrolled in the two 16-week after-school session, with the majority attending the Brayton School site. The program partners with Williams College, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Berkshire Children and Families, Kids 4 Harmony, Berkshire Christian Church and the North Adams Public Library to offer a range of programs.

"When this started, it was what, $2 million? I was blown away at the council meeting when she presented," Mayor Richard Alcombrigth said. "I was amazed when you said how much if we had to sustain this program on our own now."

Carlow estimated $50,000 a session to keep the program that has been running for nearly two decades. The program relies on separate grants and donations as the continuation grants have gradually dried up.

"I think what's so encouraging about these programs is she has positioned the program in the city of North Adams for our kids, many of our kids at risk, that we would be able to sustain it if everything else went away," Alcombright said. "I just wanted to point that out. That is an incredible feat. That's Noella."

The holiday celebration was also a farewell to Alcombright as he ends eight years as mayor.

"With his work, he founded Develop North Adams, that became the North Adams Chamber of Commerce," said Brian Miksic, one of DNA's founders. "We couldn't have done that without this guy."

Ricco Fruscio, the chamber's program coordinator, said the mayor had given the business community hope over the past eight years.

"You supported ideas that came from anywhere and if they were good ideas, we kept moving forward," he said. "You need to be applauded for just giving that personal touch, the people touch, because that's what we were lacking and then ideas started happening and it was like magic.

"It started drawing people here and people started investing and we always talk about that when we own businesses."

The mayor said nothing happens in a vacuum and it's never done alone.

"We brought a lot of good folks together over the eight years and many of you are in this room today, folks who contributed in endless and countless ways," he said, noting what the Partnership for North Adams and the chamber have done for the city, as well as the educators and rising leaderss.

He in particular pointed out City Councilor Lisa Blackmer, also ending her elected term, and her work in Boston as a leader of the Massachusetts Municipal Association.

"Lisa Blackmer was very supportive of this administration and certainly many of the things that we did, but the work that you did, Lisa, to get yourself to Boston to get into that leadership of the MMA, put North Adams on the map in a different way than we had ever experienced," he said. "So for that we thank you for your leadership."

He also referred to the four newly elected councilors, with Jason LaForest, Becky Cohen and Paul Hopkins in attendance (the fourth is Marie T. Harpin), as well as Keifer Gammell who barely lost out on the council.

"I think why I want to step back is with respect to the idea of this growing momentum with new people coming in, wanting to come into leadership roles, so I will wish you three all the best as your two years begin," the mayor said. "And Keifer, hang in there and continue with these folks and take leadership roles within this community. This isn't about the young people just, it's about everyone in this community. We created some empowerment here and it feels good."

Carlow, who had also been in business for 20 years, offered some advice for entrepreneurs.

"I would say to all the people that are starting businesses or want to, you never know how you're going to change the world we live in and if you have a lot of problems, and you will in business, because we did ... it is an opportunity to change because if there were no problems, you probably would not do any changes.

"If you get the chance to do something, don't let it slip away. That would be my advice to all. Good luck."
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Star Wars actor Alfie Curtis, who appeared in 1977 film Episode IV: A New Hope, has died at the age of 87.

The London-born star, who also appeared in 1980 film The Elephant Man opposite John Hurt, memorably played the role of Dr. Evazan, the character who threatened Luke Skywalker during the iconic Mos Eisley Cantina scene.

"You just watch yourself - I have the death sentence on 12 systems," he tells Skywalker, the actor of whom - Mark Hamill - paid tribute to Curtis on Twitter.

Alfie Curtis made the #Star Wars Mos Eisley Cantina scene (one of the most memorable I've ever been a part of) even MORE memorable. As horrific as he was on-camera, off-camera he was funny, kind & a real gentleman, Hamill - who stars in most recent Star Wars film The Last Jedi - wrote.

His character is killed by Alec Guinness' Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Curtis' death comes exactly one year after Princess Leia actor Carrie Fisher died at the age of 60 in December 2016.

The actor's other credits include 1980s TV series Cribb.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi official photos Show all 10 1 /10 Star Wars: The Last Jedi official photos Star Wars: The Last Jedi official photos Rey (Daisy Ridley) Star Wars: The Last Jedi official photos Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) Star Wars: The Last Jedi official photos Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) and Finn (John Boyega) Star Wars: The Last Jedi official photos Rey (Daisy Ridley) stares down Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) Star Wars: The Last Jedi official photos Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) and Finn (John Boyega) Star Wars: The Last Jedi official photos Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) Star Wars: The Last Jedi official photos Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) Star Wars: The Last Jedi official photos Rey (Daisy Ridley) Star Wars: The Last Jedi official photos General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson) Star Wars: The Last Jedi official photos

His cause of death has not been confirmed but was confirmed by the website Comic Book Star Wars.
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Theres nothing like a good solar eclipse to distract the news agenda from the misery of global events, whether its Donald Trump looking straight at it without any protective eyewear, or other Americans swapping said protective eyewear to instead squirt suncream in their eyes.

Seven million-plus people are estimated to have watched the event as it swept across the US from Oregon to South Carolina in August this year, but how many of them actually know what a solar eclipse is?

A solar eclipse is when the moon moves between the sun and the Earth so that a shadow is cast onto Earth because the moon blocks the light of the sun.

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There are also three types of solar eclipse, the first of which, a total solar eclipse, is what Americans were treated to this year.

A total solar eclipse occurs only when the sun, moon and Earth are in a direct line, so is only visible from a small area on Earth - from the centre of the moons shadow. The sky becomes dark, as if it were night.

A partial solar eclipse is when the sun, moon and Earth arent exactly lined up, which results in the sun appearing to have a shadow across part of its surface.

The third type, an annular solar eclipse, creates a dark ring around the moon. It occurs when the moon is further away from Earth, so appears smaller and does not block out the sun completely.

 Donald Trump looking directly at the sun during eclipse 'is most impressive thing any presidents ever done, says Fox News host Tucker Carlson

The crucial safety advice, which may have not reached the White House, is that looking directly at the sun during a solar eclipse can damage your eyes.

According to Associated Press, the 2017 total solar eclipse was the most-observed and most-photographed eclipse in history.

The next total solar eclipse anywhere on Earth will be in South America in 2019, but Europeans will have to wait until 2026. Even then, Brits may have to travel to Iceland, Greenland or northern Spain to get a proper glimpse.

What about lunar eclipses?

A lunar eclipse is when the Earth moves between the sun and the moon. We can see the moon at night because it reflects light from the sun, so when the Earth blocks this light, it causes a lunar eclipse.

A total lunar eclipse happens when the sun and the moon are aligned on either side of Earth.

The moon appears red because the small amount of sunlight that reaches the moon goes through the Earths atmosphere, which filters out most of the blue light.

Unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses usually last hours and it is safe to look directly at them.

But why should we care?

Eclipses are not just simply brief spectacles for us to gaze at in awe, but important events used to study the Earth and the moon.

Solar eclipse 2017 Show all 12 1 /12 Solar eclipse 2017 Solar eclipse 2017 A handout photo made available by NASA shows the Moon as it starts passing in front of the Sun during a solar eclipse from Ross Lake, Northern Cascades National Park, Washington, USA, 21 August 2017. The 21 August 2017 total solar eclipse will last a maximum of 2 minutes 43 seconds and the thin path of totality will pass through portions of 14 US states, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) EPA Solar eclipse 2017 The sun is projected on the ground glass (bottom) as photographer C.D. Olsen adjusts his replica of the Kew Photo Heliograph camera, which he will use to make a glass plate photograph of the total solar eclipse, outside the football stadium at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, U.S REUTERS Solar eclipse 2017 The sun emerges through clouds and fog cover before the solar eclipse in Depoe Bay, Oregon REUTERS Solar eclipse 2017 A boy uses solar viewing glasses as the sun emerges through fog cover before the solar eclipse in Depoe Bay, Oregon REUTERS Solar eclipse 2017 First responders and city officials man the emergency operations center in Charleston, South Carolina, on the day of the total solar eclipse AFP/Getty Images Solar eclipse 2017 A man looks through his solar viewing glasses after purchasing them to watch the total solar eclipse in New York City REUTERS Solar eclipse 2017 People are seen lining up outside the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum as a sign indicates there are no more eclipse glasses on the National Mall before an eclipse August 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. The Sun started to vanish behind the Moon as the partial phase of the so-called Great American Eclipse began Monday, with millions of eager sky-gazers soon to witness "totality" across the nation for the first time in nearly a century AFP/Getty Images Solar eclipse 2017 Solar Eclipse in Depoe Bay, Oregon, U. REUTERS Solar eclipse 2017 People watch the start of the solar eclipse and raise their hands in prayer in an eclipse viewing event led by Native American elders, at Big Summit Prairie ranch in Oregon's Ochoco National Forest near the city of Mitchell on August 21, 2017. The Sun started to vanish behind the Moon as the partial phase of the so-called Great American Eclipse began Monday, with millions of eager sky-gazers soon to witness "totality" across the nation for the first time in nearly a century AFP/Getty Images Solar eclipse 2017 People line up on a bridge as the sun emerges through fog cover before the solar eclipse in Depoe Bay, Oregon, U.S REUTERS Solar eclipse 2017 The Sun rises behind Jack Mountain ahead of the solar eclipse in Ross Lake, Northern Cascades National Park, Washington, U.S REUTERS Solar eclipse 2017 The sun rises over Grand Teton National Park on August 21, 2017 outside Jackson, Wyoming. Thousands of people have flocked to the Jackson and Teton National Park area for the 2017 solar eclipse which will be one of the areas that will experience a 100% eclipse Getty Images

Centuries ago, people discovered the shape of the Earth was round by observing the moon during an eclipse, and scientists are still using eclipses to study the moons surface in detail.

This article has been updated. It was originally published in December 2017.
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High-ranking Swedish clergy have expanded on the Church of Sweden's recent announcement that it plans to stop referring to God as a man, instead opting to use gender-neutral terms.

Lena Sjostrand, the chaplain of Lund Cathedral, said the changes are going to take place in order to keep up with the more inclusive nature of contemporary society.

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We have consciousness about gender questions, which is stronger in our time than it has been before, she said in an interview with PBS NewsHour . Of course, this has had an impact on theology and on church life and pastoral reflection.

Uppsala, situated in the north of Stockholm, is the location of the seat of the Swedish church. Antje Jackelen is the Lutheran Archbishop of Uppsala and leader of over six million registered Lutherans.

She will be overseeing the replacement of masculine terms in the Swedish church over the next six months.

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While these changes may seem radical, Ms Jackelen explained how the church has always perceived God as displaying both male and female attributes. Like Julian of Norwich in the 14th century said, as sure as God is our father, God is our mother, she said. So, I mean, this is not something thats newly invented. Its part of our tradition.

Expressions such as: In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit will be altered to gender-neutral phrases such as: In God the Trinitys name."

While Sweden is widely regarded as a forward-thinking country, these proposed changes have inevitably been met with some opposition.

Pastor Mikael Lowegren, for instance, does not agree with the notion that God be referred to in gender-neutral terms. You dont play lightly with the creed, he said. You dont play lightly with the liturgy of the church.

Priests wont be forced to change their use of language in church. However, the Primate in Sweden will strongly encourage them to do so.
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The cost of a vital cancer drug has gone up 15-fold in four years after its new owner hiked prices on nine separate occasions.

Lomustine has been used to treat brain tumours, lung cancer and Hodgkins lymphoma for more than 40 years but is now seen by some patients as too expensive.

In 2013, production of the drug, which was previously called CeeNU, passed from pharma giant Bristol-Myers Squibb to a Miami-based startup called NextSource Biotechnology.

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At that point it was being sold for around $50 a capsule. The same dose now costs $768 (570).

NextSource has increased the price nine times in less than five years. A 20 per cent hike in August was followed by a further 12 per cent rise in November, according to analysis by the Wall Street Journal. Prices of other doses of the drug, which the company has renamed Gleostine, have also been increased exponentially.

Although the patent for lomustine has expired, there is no generic version being produced and so NextSource has no competitors to discourage it from raising prices.

Professor Henry Friedman, a neuro-oncologist at Duke University, said: This is simply price gouging. People are not going to be able to afford it, or theyre going to pay a lot of money and have financial liability.

The Independent has contacted NextSource for comment. Its chief executive, Robert DiCrisci, told the Journal the company bases its pricing on development costs, regulatory fees and the benefit the drug provides to patients. It also gives poorer patients and those without health insurance a discount on products, he added.

NextSource is just the latest drug company to be accused of excessively inflating prices. In 2015, Martin Shkreli, chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals, sparked uproar after increase the cost of anti-Aids drug Daraprim by more than 5,000 per cent, from $13.50 to $750 a pill.

In the same year, Valeant Pharmaceuticals bought the rights to two life-saving heart drugs  Isuprel and Nitropress  and immediately ramped up prices by 525 per cent and 212 per cent respectively.

The US Food and Drug Administration is trying to encourage more companies to produce generic medicines in an attempt to drive down the prices of more than 300 drugs for which patents have expired.
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Once you know him, you see him everywhere. Hes at the airport and in the park. Hes by the hotel entrance and inside the theatre. I even caught a glimpse of him on the side of an armoured bank truck in Managua. Now this poet, diplomat and hero of Nicaragua lay at my feet, very much alive at 101 years dead.

Almost any Spanish speaker will know the name Ruben Dario. He wasnt just a writer. He was the father of Spanish modernism, the one who gave them their language back. For that they are grateful.

Madrid has a Ruben Dario metro station. Youll find Calle Ruben Dario in Mexico City, Panama City, San Salvador and Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Ruben Dario Middle School sits next to Ruben Dario Park in Miami. But Dario was born in, raised in and died in Nicaragua, and to them hes 100 per cent theirs.

Hes everything to us! said a night clerk in Granada.

Hes the identity of our culture! said the musician in Managua.

Want to hear a joke about Dario? asked the waitress. Its naughty.

Id come to Nicaragua in January not to surf or hike or do yoga on the beach but to explore the profound love that Nicaraguans hold for a poet on what would have been his 150th birthday. Politicians would give speeches. Thered be parades and symposiums and recitals. For the moment I was in Leon, the intellectual hub of Nicaragua, where Darios ghost looms largest.

Dario is a Nicaraguan artist in the maximum sense (Rex)

It was not yet 9am when I set out to find his tomb in the Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary on a large, main square. Even at this hour, shade was precious and the sun punished the pavement so cruelly it seemed to exhale a hopeless vapour under my feet. I slipped through the cathedral doors into the cool and merciful air. Darios tomb lay near the altar under a life-size sculpture of a lion with a face frozen in anguish. Ministers had come to lay wreaths. I sat in a pew, alone, watching how no one seemed to come inside for the saints.

This is how his story ends, and yet something timeless still lives. To understand who people are, you can flip back through their pages to see where they were.

My Dario journey began in earnest a few years ago when I got in contact with Immanuel Zerger, a German immigrant who moved to Nicaragua in the 1990s. He looks something like a 19th-century writer himself, with greying hair and lugubrious eyes. He had met his wife to be, Nubia, when she was a widow with five children running a small hotel on the Solentiname Islands in Lake Nicaragua. Immanuel started helping her out and things went from there.

Back then, as Immanuel tells it, the islands were losing their culture and wildlife as the modern world pressed in. Fisherman were letting their boats fall apart. Handicraft traditions were all but gone. Children shot and killed exotic birds with slingshots just for something to do, he said.

In 1999 Immanuel started a company called Solentiname Tours that tried to create a market for what the islanders already had  great landscapes, colourful traditions, awesome birds. The company grew beyond the archipelago. Eventually he was retracing the steps of his adopted countrys writers.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens wasnt Nicaraguan, of course, but in the early days of his career, in 1866, the man we know as Mark Twain spent three days crossing Nicaragua en route from San Francisco to New York, a trip recounted in Travels With Mr. Brown. Immanuel recreated Twains journey on the occasion of its 150th anniversary, in 2016, a moment that caught my attention but that I missed. Theres another anniversary for another writer you should know, Immanuel told me. This one is Nicaraguan, a poet, very famous. I bought a book of poems and booked a flight.

Heavy clouds hung over Managua when I arrived. At the time, Immanuel didnt offer a Ruben Dario tour but I hired him to help me track down experts and get me to the places where Dario would have been and where his spirit lives on. The Ruben Dario National Theatre in Managua came first.

Immanuel fetched me from the Los Robles hotel, a relaxed posada in the heart of the capital. Immediately the legacy of the United States involvement in Nicaragua stood out. A statue of Augusto Cesar Sandino, the guerrilla leader murdered in 1934 and perhaps the only figure more revered than Dario, loomed in the distance.

Dario himself was weary of the US role in Nicaraguan affairs, particularly during the Banana Wars from 1898 to 1934. In 1905 he wrote a poem called To Roosevelt. You think that life is a fire, that progress is an irruption, that the future is wherever your bullet strikes, Dario wrote. No.

Low buildings in pinks, yellows and greens slid past the windows of Immanuels truck. Greater Managua, with about 2.6 million people, felt less like a metropolis than a loose bag of a suburb. In 1972, an earthquake reduced most of the city to rubble and left it with an ill-defined centre and a strange vernacular for navigating. North becomes al lago, meaning towards Lake Managua; east is arriba, as in up. Send a postcard to Managua and the address will read like clues to pirate treasure: Arriba from the little tree, last house al lago.

The theatre has bold Bauhaus-style lines and sits near the lake across from a plaza where Pope John Paul II delivered a fiery sermon in 1983 when the country was deep in a civil war. The theatre survived the earthquake with only cosmetic damage and escaped the war unharmed.

Ramon Rodriguez Sobalvarro, the general director and an accomplished oboe player, welcomed me in his office. He had been rehearsing for a coming performance that would put Darios poetry to music. A keyboard stood in the corner, and above his desk hung a picture of Dario with broad shoulders and a thinkers stare.

For me, Dario is a Nicaraguan artist in the maximum sense, Rodriguez said. He gave us our cultural identity, something that was ours that we could then project out into the world instead of copying what had already been done.

In the theatres early days  it was built in 1969  nearly all of the shows were foreign productions: Duke Ellington, Mexican folk ballets, Marcel Marceau. Now 90 per cent are Nicaraguan. Some 40,000 children come for workshops; subsidies help keep most ticket prices in the $5 (4) to $8 range.

Rodriguez asked if Id be back for the Cantana, the Dario celebration, in a few days. I said Id like that. The theater, Dario, art, it doesnt just happen inside these walls, you know, Rodriguez said as led me outside. It lives out there.

Dario may be the only Nicaraguan to have earned worldwide acclaim as a poet, but others like Azarias Pallais, Salomon de la Selva and Alfonso Cortes (who lived, wrote and went insane in Darios childhood home) come close. All of these men hailed from Leon where Dario grew up.

I visited Darios tomb in Leon on that furnace of a morning at the end of a two-day stay in the city, but I got there thanks to a budding architect and translator named Gabriel Galeano, whom Immanuel asked to accompany me.

Gabe, who had a love for banter, picked me up in Managua for the 60-mile journey north-west. Soon we were whipping down a highway. Old US school buses trundled by, sporting new green bumpers, chrome horns, blue piping and loud checked wraps. It was if all those bluebirds were finally free to ditch the school uniform and become their fabulous selves.

Leon immediately felt more manageable than Managua, with pavements and plazas and people wandering about. Long the left-leaning fulcrum of the country, Leon, with about 210,000 people, was among the first to rebel against the presidency of Anastasio Somoza Debayle, whose father, Anastasio Somoza, had been gunned down here in 1956 by Rigoberto Lopez Perez. Lopez, a national hero with his own statue in Managua, was a poet from Leon.

Gabe led me to the Jose de la Cruz Mena Theatre on the south-west side of the city. The lobby buzzed with TV crews. Girls dressed in Greco-style costumes with winged hats and fanfare trumpets lined up nervously along the wall. The 15th Ruben Dario Symposium was under way, and the whos who of the Nicaraguan literary scene had come to see performances, recite poetry and absorb lectures like The Metaphysical Sensitivity in the Lyrics of Ruben Dario.

You know Dario said this city was like his Rome or Paris, said Eddy Kuhl, an author of numerous books on history and Dario, who also runs Selva Negra, an ecolodge in the coffee highlands. Kuhl, who could pass for a senior Indiana Jones, took me through Darios rise to prominence.

Dario taught himself to read at three and wrote poetry not long after. He left Nicaragua for El Salvador at 15. At 19 he moved to Chile where, at age 21, he published Azul, a collection of poems and prose that came to define the Spanish modernist movement and catapulted him into literary stardom. The book, which built on the work of poets like Jose Marti, shattered the stodgy literary norms of the day and breathed new life into the language.

Everything written in Spanish afterward has been affected in one way or another by that great renascence, wrote Mexican poet and Nobel laureate Octavio Paz in the prologue to Selected Poems of Ruben Dario, translated by Lysander Kemp. As Francisco Arellano Oviedo, the director of the Nicaraguan Language Academy, told me: After so many centuries, Dario sent Columbuss caravan back and freed Spanish literature from Spain.

After a lunch of fried plantains, chicken and repollo salad at a place called Tan Rico, we headed to the house where Dario had moved in with his aunt when he was just 40 days old. Rosa Sarmiento, his mother, fleeing an abusive marriage, would later end up in Honduras and have no relationship with her son. The house of his aunt, Bernarda Sarmiento de Ramierez, sits on Ruben Dario Street, although back then it was Calle Real.

Half of the house is now a museum. A sofa given to Dario from Manuel Estrada Cabrera, the Guatemalan dictator, sat in a main room, along with Darios diplomatic suits from missions to Argentina and Spain. Two large doors opened to the city outside.

I lingered in the doorway and looked out at the street. A woman shredded cabbage into a red bowl. Her mobile phone rang. She looked up and caught me staring at her through the door. Dario, she mouthed, and took the call.

Dario returned to Nicaragua only five times over the course of his career. He spent the bulk of his time travelling on other peoples money as a journalist, envoy and diplomat. He edited some of the days most esteemed literary journals while in Europe and wrote for newspapers in Spain and South America, and The New York Times. He crossed the Atlantic 12 times and explored some 30 countries on three continents.

Perhaps Darios most famous trip was on 23 November 1907, when, now famous, he returned to Nicaragua aboard a steamer that called at the Pacific port of Corinto where a crowd greeted him. More people  tens of thousands  lined the railroad tracks across the countryside as he toured.

Darios return is still embedded in the Nicaraguan consciousness today  there are books and plays about it  although I got the feeling the moment carries some wistfulness. If ones homeland is small, you dream it big, Dario wrote in a poem about his trip, Retorno, and the refrain today still hangs over the Plaza de la Revolucion in Managua.

I said goodbye to Gabe, and Immanuel fetched me in Leon. We drove northward towards Chinandega, a sweltering city not far from Honduras, and on to Corinto. The 4,255ft Momotombo volcano rose behind us, lyrical and sovereign, as Dario described it. The return to the native land has been so sentimental, and so mental, and so divine that even the crystalline dawn drops are in the jasmine of dream, of fragrance and song, he wrote.

Corinto isnt so sublime: Nicaraguas deepest port town, with container yards and cranes and a grey beach lined with shacks. The United States has landed Marines here numerous times, and in 1983 Ronald Reagan, fearing Nicaraguas Communist rise, had the port mined, illegally. After that came more clandestine counterrevolutionary measures, and the Iran-Contra affair was born.

We grabbed a lunch of fish and rice at a beachside shack called Rancho del Cordon thats run by Rafaela Picado, whom everyone calls La Payita. Her daughter, Christina Hernandez, clasped her hands to her chest when I mentioned Dario and dove into a bawdy joke about Darios ordering a fruit salad. She threw her head back and cackled and then segued into a story about the time she went to see flamingos on the salt flats in the distance, how their long slender legs moved in the water and how the fish jumped and flickered in the sunshine.

Erick Aguirre, the 2009 winner of the Ruben Dario prize for poetry, had told me earlier to be on the lookout for stories like these. I think Dario lives on in how people tell them, he said.

Immanuel and I returned to Managua to catch the Cantana, an 18-skit performance, at the grand National Theatre before Gabe met me once again, this time for a trip to the village where Dario was born about 60 miles north of Managua. We drove al lago along the Pan-American Highway until the land cocked skyward.

Dario was born in 1867 near San Pedro de Metapa, which has since been renamed Ciudad Dario. The village sits in the mountains, just across the Dario Bridge. We walked down the paver stones of the main thoroughfare behind a man in a large hat. The sun felt kind; the mood, relaxed. Its not a small village, but its very quiet here, Gabe said. It is also more cowboyish.

At a park across from a mobile phone shop off Poets Boulevard where neem trees reached over the hardened soil, we found sculptures of Dario and the house where he spent the first month of his life: a 200-year-old structure with earthen walls. The kitchen stood outside along with a comal for making tortillas.

Over the next few days, Id do more touristy things. Id meet Immanuel again to visit the beach town of San Juan del Sur. Id peer into the molten, gurgling belly of the Masaya volcano and Id stand in the warm Pacific in San Juan del Sur, where Immanuel helped get a statue installed of Dario sitting on a bench with Mark Twain near a lemon tree. Dario had come to San Juan del Sur on a diplomatic mission in the mid-1880s. Twain had passed through here 20 days before Darios birth. The two never met, Immanuel said, but the Nicaraguan muses kissed them both.

But for the moment, before leaving Ciudad Dario, Gabe and I worked our way to the main cathedral. St Peters had a tired off-white facade with sea-foam green accents and a Spanish colonial bell tower. Inside, paddle fans beat ripples down banners hanging from the trusses. Townspeople filled the pews. Theyd come to bury one of their own, a craftsman whod died in his eighties.

I am an aged tree that, when I was growing, uttered a vague, sweet sound when the breeze caressed me, Dario wrote in his 1907 poem In Autumn. The time for youthful smiles has now passed by: now, let the hurricane swirl my heart to song!

At 10:18pm on 6 February 1916, Felix Ruben Garcia Sarmiento, the man the world knew as Ruben Dario, died in Leon. Gravely ill, he had returned to Nicaragua for his fifth and final time. When the ruler of kings came for him he was lying on his left shoulder, mouth agape, his body hollowed out by a failing liver. A photographer took a picture of him. A doctor removed his brain. Forty-nine years old, and that was that.

The funeral lasted a week. Attendants wrapped his body in a double-breasted frock coat and slipped black gloves over his lifeless hands. Men with flat-brimmed hats and women in long dresses lined the Avenida Central as a carriage ferried his corpse to the cathedral. They lowered him into a tomb carved out of the floor near the altar.

What will you put on my grave, master? Dario had asked sculptor Jorge Bernabe Navas Cordonero, a friend from Granada, whod visited him on his deathbed. A suffering lion, the sculptor replied. It is your beloved people, your Leon, that will forever cry for you.

More than 10,000 people showed up for his procession, but the immense love that Nicaraguans have for this man would only grow like the modernist movement he helped define.

One night near the end of my trip, Immanuel and I drove through Managua to an area packed with food stands, looking for a dish called vigoron: yucca, chicharron and shredded cabbage served on a plantain leaf. The tables along the pavement were taken, mostly by talkative men. I couldnt understand a word but they waved their arms wildly and spoke expressively.

I think everyone here is a poet in some way, Immanuel laughed, only half joking. Did you know that if you ask a couple expecting a child, Will it be a boy or a girl?, do you know what they might say?

What? I asked.

A poet.

 New York Times
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Arthur Collins, 25, who is serving a 20-year jail term for carrying out an acid attack in a London nightclub, has pleaded guilty at Bromley Magistrates Court to hiding a mobile phone inside a crutch while in prison.

Collins injured 22 when he indiscriminately threw acid in the packed Mangle E8 nightclub in April.

Judge Noel Lucas QC described the attack as deliberate and calculated and ordered that Collins must serve at least two thirds of his sentence before he can be considered for parole.

Collins secreted the phone, two SIM cards and two USB sticks inside the medical aid while held on pre-trial remand at HMP Thameside in September.

He admitted one charge of possession of a prohibited item while in prison when he appeared via video link at Bromley Magistrates Court in London on Wednesday.

The court heard Collins, described previously as an accomplished and calculating liar, wanted to use the phone to make private calls to Ferne McCann, his ex-TOWIE star girlfriend.

She was pregnant with their child at the time the mobile was discovered in a search of his cell.

Collins appeared from the maximum security HMP Belmarsh in south-east London, where he is serving his sentence.

Wearing a prison-issue yellow and blue tracksuit he spoke only to confirm his identity.

The court heard the banned items were found when a prison officer removed the rubber stopper from the bottom of the crutch in his private shower during a cell search.

Collins had been using the aid after hurting his feet trying to evade police while on the run for the acid attack at Mangle E8 in Dalston, east London.

The court heard evidence was later found on the phone of calls and messages to family and friends.

Collins lawyer, Audrey Mogan, said he obtained the phone so he could make private calls to Miss McCann.

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She said: He did not have the phone for any sinister purpose.

His partner at the time was heavily pregnant and gave birth the following November.

He had this phone because he and his partner had been hounded by the media.

He knows there was a phone in the cell but he knows the calls are recorded.

Because of that he was afraid that information would get out to the media.

She added that his acid attack trial and subsequent imprisonment had been a difficult and trying time for him.

District judge Robert Hunter committed Collins case to Woolwich Crown Court for sentencing on a date to be fixed.

Additional reporting by agencies
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Britains most senior police officer has said extra resources could be used to fight violent crime amid a dispute with the Government over funding.

Cressida Dick, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, described her force and all public services as stretched.

We need to focus on what matters most and violence on our streets is a big risk for Londoners, she told BBC Radio 4s Today programme.

If you ask any police chief they will always want more resources, of course they will.

"And I know exactly where I'd put them if I had more resources. And it would be into this issue [of knife crime].

Ms Dick said the rising number of stabbings was beginning to stabilise in London, while moped-enabled crimes were beginning to slow.

 Amber Rudd unveils new crackdown on knife crime

"We have got a lot of knife carrying and we are bearing down very hard - we have taken thousands and thousands of knives off the streets, she added.

We are doing stop and search, we are doing it in an intelligent way, and we are stopping and searching those people we know are prolific knife carriers.

The Commissioner championed efforts to send officers into schools, recruit young police cadets and ensure childrens first experience with police was positive after being criticised for comments on young offenders.

Ms Dick suggested harsher jail terms could deter teenagers driving a spate of knife crime in London, amid a prisons crisis and evidence that imprisonment does prevent stop reoffending.

We need a blend of better engagement by public services, more diversion and more imaginative community resolution to help keep as many young people out of prison as possible, she said in November.

For debate, should we couple that with harsher more effective sentencing? It is clear other approaches are no longer working.

Arguing that an increasing number of young people do not fear state action, Ms Dick said Londons crime wave was being driven by a core group of young offenders repeatedly committing assault and robbery with relative impunity.

Defending her comments, the Commissioner said she was proud of a 66 per cent reduction in the number of young people being imprisoned over the past decade.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 17 November 2022 Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt leaves 11 Downing Street, London, for the House of Commons to deliver his autumn statement PA UK news in pictures 16 November 2022 Emma Woolf, great niece of British author Virginia Woolf, and her son Ludovic sit next to a new bronze statue of Woolf, unveiled in Richmond, London Reuters 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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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 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Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA

I think in London we have a cohort of young people for whom violent has become a way of life really quite young, she added.

If somebody is going to go into custody because the public need to be protected, they are very violentall research tends to suggest that short sentences are not particularly effective in terms of rehabilitation.

It doesn't give a young person the chance to change their life in a short sentence, so that's all I was saying.

Her comments came after the Government prompted outrage by calling on elected police and crime commissioners to increase the amount of money taken from council tax to generate the money needed to fight rising crime and terror.

The Home Office used the assumed - but unconfirmed  increase in the policing precept to claim police funding would increase by a total of 450m in the coming financial year.

Police leaders say their officers have become the service of last resort to fill gaps in mental health provision and other public services, despite being at the lowest number since 1985.

Recorded crimes have risen by 13 per cent in a year, including a surge in acid attacks, stabbings, sexual offences and cyber crime.

(ONS (ONS)

The Metropolitan Police has already instructed officers to stop investigating some low-level crimes as it works to save 400m by 2020 and other forces are believed to be enacting or considering similar policies.

Last month, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary said forces were failing to respond to low-priority offences because of significant stress caused by budget cuts and rising demand.

Inspector Mike Cunningham warned that some offences were waiting a long time to be solved or even seeing nothing done at all, adding: Under austerity and under cut-backs, the requirement to prioritise has become more acute in recent years.

Recommended Police failing to respond to some crimes because of budget cuts

According to financial plans drawn up by police forces before last weeks funding announcement, revenue expenditure would fall by 6 per cent from 12.3bn this year to 11.6bn in 2020/21.

The Home Office said the budget for counter-terror policing will go up by 7 per cent in the 2018/19 financial year, seeing a 50m increase to at least 757m.

There will also be 130m extra for Government priorities such as digital technology, and special grants to help forces with exceptional costs.

Police forces will have access to 175m Police Transformation Fund to drive new technology and reform.

The Home Office said it had identified around 100m of potential savings to be made through smarter procurement of everything from cars to uniforms and called on police to save money by increasing productivity and mobile working.

Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary, said the settlement would ensure forces have the resources they need to keep us safe, having previously told senior police officers to stop asking for more money to combat a rise in recorded crime, violence, 999 calls and terrorism.
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Two men have been jailed after a woman they forced into prostitution sent a series of desperate messages to her mother in Romania.

Daniel Purea, 33, and Stephan Balog, 22, who both lived in Kensington, London, were convicted of controlling prostitution after a two-week trial at Southwark Crown Court.

Purea, who was also found guilty of human trafficking and facilitating the travel of another person with a view to sexual exploitation, was sentenced to eight years in prison. Balog was jailed for four years.

Police were alerted to the crimes after the 19-year-old woman sent a series of messages to her mother in Romania in which she said had been forced into prostitution.

Officers from the Metropolitan Polices Modern Slavery and Kidnap Unit then raided an address in Kensington that the pair had been using to run their prostitution business. The woman was escorted to safety and the two men arrested.

Stephan Balog (left) was sentenced to four years in prison while Daniel Purea (right) was jailed for eight years. (Met Police)

Officers found multiple ledgers detailing a series of payments made by clients.

The victim said she had come to the UK after Purea arranged a passport for her and paid for her travel. He then demanded she repay him 2,000. Once she was in London, he arranged for a set of photos to be taken of her and listed her on London escort websites.

The woman said Purea forced her to continue working as a prostitute even after she had repaid the amount many times over. She was forced to stay up all night in case a client wanted to see her, and all the money she made was confiscated by Purea.

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The head of the Confederation of British Industry is urging the UK government to relax immigration rules to help British companies with severe staff shortages, ahead of the chancellors autumn statement EPA UK news in pictures 13 November 2022 England celebrate winning the mens T20 World Cup in Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia AAP Image/Reuters UK news in pictures 12 November 2022 The City of London Pride Group take part in the parade during the Lord Mayor's Show PA UK news in pictures 11 November 2022 City workers attend a Remembrance Day ceremony at Lloyd's of London, in the City of London, to mark Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of the First World War PA UK news in pictures 10 November 2022 A grey heron lands on the river Dodder in Dublin on a sunny autumn morning PA UK news in pictures 9 November 2022 Australia and Spain play during the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup group A match at the Copper Box Arena, London PA UK news in pictures 8 November 2022 A migrant attempting to communicate with journalists is pinned against a fence by members of staff, before being taken out of view, at the Manston immigration short-term holding facility, located at the former Defence Fire Training and Development Centre in Thanet, Kent PA UK news in pictures 7 November 2022 Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorway PA UK news in pictures 6 November 2022 A grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every year in late October, November and December to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, the wildlife spectacle attracts visitors from across the UK PA UK news in pictures 5 November 2022 Demonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of Parliament AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 Florence Kasumba, Letitia Wright, Tenoch Huerta and Lupita Nyongo attend the European Premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in London Getty UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group 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

Detective Inspector Brian Hobbs from the Mets Modern Slavery and Kidnap Unit said: This vulnerable woman was trafficked to the UK from Romania, then these two men controlled and exploited her. She was not allowed to sleep at night in case a client called, and had to surrender all her earnings to Purea.

Due to effective working partnerships with Romanian Authorities and the National Crime Agency, Met officers acted swiftly to safeguard the victim and arrest the two defendants. This case demonstrates our commitment to prosecuting those responsible for human trafficking and modern slavery offences.
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Hundreds of prisoners have been left without running water for three days after an unexplained outage on Christmas Day.

Affected inmates at HMP Risley say their toilets have not been flushed during the period, which has also seen them locked in cells for 22 hours a day because of a lack of unpaid work and activities.

Gary Grace said a close friend in the Warrington prison had been given only a two-litre bottle of water.

Hes really scared, hes got two litres of water over three days  thats just over a pint a day, Mr Grace told The Independent.

None of the toilets have been flushed for a few days on that wing and with it being around Christmas theres no work, so hes been in a little cell for 22 hours a day with it.

The 37-year-old said it was the latest in a long line of failures at HMP Risley, which was locked down over a suspected explosive device discovered in November.

Cheshire Police could not confirm whether the item was found to be explosive but said enquiries are ongoing and no arrests have taken place.

The report comes after a series of failings were found at HMP Risley (Getty)

A damning report by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons resulted in an urgent action plan being submitted in February but Mr Grace said it hasnt had any impact at all.

A spokesperson for the Prison Service said hot running water has been returned to the affected wing, which houses just under 200 inmates.

As a result of a technical issue prisoners in one wing of HMP Risley stopped receiving running water on 25 December, he added.

Since then, they have been provided with bottled and hot water, and were able to access hot showers in other parts of the prison.

Engineers have been working to resolve this as a matter of urgency, and hot running water has now returned to the wing.

While work goes on to return cold water to the wing prisoners will continue to receive bottled water.

It is the latest failure at HMP Risley, where a number of concerns were exposed by a 2016 inspection that found poor amenities, dirty showers and toilets and a need for pest control.

The end of innocence: Inside Britain's child prisons Show all 6 1 /6 The end of innocence: Inside Britain's child prisons The end of innocence: Inside Britain's child prisons The end of innocence: Inside Britain's child prisons GETTY IMAGES The end of innocence: Inside Britain's child prisons GETTY IMAGES The end of innocence: Inside Britain's child prisons The end of innocence: Inside Britain's child prisons PA The end of innocence: Inside Britain's child prisons PA

The category C training and resettlement prison, which holds 1,115 men serving short sentences or coming to the end of longer terms, was described as a jail that seemed to be struggling to own and fulfil its core purpose.

In three of our tests of a healthy prison, outcomes were not good enough, concluded HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Peter Clarke.

He said prisoners were not let out of their cells to work and learn for enough time, while the courses that were being run needed improvement in all areas.

HMP Risley was found to be fundamentally failing to make inmates less likely to offend as a resettlement prison and former legal highs were spreading at the time.

Inspectors warned of poor hygiene in many areas, publishing photos of toilets covered in faeces, mouldy showers, floors ingrained with dirt and evidence of cockroach infestation.

Campaigners have been warning of a mounting crisis in prisons, with recent figures showing self-harm and assaults reaching a record high.

The UKs prison population has almost doubled since the early 1990s and is forecast to rise further as new sentencing guidelines that could see punishments increased for offences including terrorism and domestic abuse are considered.
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Commuters returning to work after Christmas face gridlock after rain, sleet and snow lashed the UK overnight, causing a series of accidents and closures of major motorways.

Air travellers were also hit amid the chaos, with flights cancelled at Heathrow and delays in Luton Airport as crews worked to de-ice planes after temperatures overnight dropped to below -4c.

But road users bore the brunt of the weather misery. The havoc included massive snarl-ups on the M1 after a lorry crashed near Lutterworth, in Leicestershire, causing tailbacks for several miles.

All of the four lanes on the southbound stretch of the motorway were shut from junction 19 early this morning as the emergency services tackled the accident.

They were later re-opened but two lanes were later closed again after a second accident, Highways England said. There were no reports of any injuries in either incident.

All lanes on the M1 have since been re-opened between J21A and J21, it added. There were still delays of up to 40 minutes but they were expected to clear.

Leicestershire Police earlier tweeted that the force was working to tackle the aftermath of the lorry crash and urged motorists to make other travel arrangements to avoid the gridlock after the festive break.

 Snow in Leicestershire on 27th December

Recommended Christmas Day will be hotter than Istanbul and Madrid

A separate tweet read: Please be aware that Snow is falling across the county and in some cases it is settling, causing hazardous conditions for drivers. Please take care and take the necessary precautions.

Elsewhere, a lorry jack-knifed on the M5 at junction 11a in Gloucestershire, with police calling on motorists to take extra care if travelling in the area.

The Eastbound stretch of the A30 near to Cornwall Services at Victoria was also shut down after what police described as a "serious" traffic accident.

An ambulance reportedly collided with a black BMW at just after 5am.

Three persons were released before fire service attendance, and fire crews assisted police and ambulance making scene safe, said a spokesperson for Cornwall Police, reported local newspaper The Herald.

In further headaches for commuters trying to get back to work after the Christmas break, there was disruption on the A14 westbound in Suffolk between junctions 47 Elmswell and 45 due to flooding.

It came as the Met Office issued severe weather warnings over ice, rain and snow. Up to 7cm of it fell in parts of the country overnight, while wind gusted up to 50mph and temperatures plunged to below -4C.

Air travellers were also caught up in the chaos, with British Airways cancelling more than 30 flights to and from Heathrow. Services to Amsterdam, Munich and Paris were among those affected.

BA posted on its website: Sleet and possibly snow are forecast for the Heathrow area this morning so we are making some adjustments to our schedule.

During cold weather conditions aircraft have to be de-iced prior to departure to ensure that they are safe and additional measures are taken to ensure the safety of our operation is maintained at all times."

Eurowings has cancelled a round-trip from Hamburg to Heathrow amid the weather chaos that has struck the country.

London City airport was forced to divert five arriving flights: two on KLM and Flybe, which went to Southend, and one on Alitalia that touched down at Gatwick.

Passengers leaving Stansted Airport were left waiting as the runway was closed temporarily to allow safety checks to be carried out.

Elsewhere, travellers at Luton Airport were also warned to expect possible delays due to sleet and snow, with reported delays of over two hours while crews de-iced their plane.

An airport spokesman said: "The airport is open and the runway operational but air traffic control restrictions are in place.

"There are some delays as airlines de-ice their aircraft. We advise all passengers to check with their airline for the latest status of their flight."

The train network was also hit by the severe weather, with travellers facing closures and delays, National Rail said. Much of the disruption was caused by debris, including trees that had blown onto tracks after a night of gale winds.

All the major train operators were affected including Southeastern, Thameslink and South Western Railway. Commuters are being urged to check the National Rail Enquiries journey planner before travelling.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 17 November 2022 Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt leaves 11 Downing Street, London, for the House of Commons to deliver his autumn statement PA UK news in pictures 16 November 2022 Emma Woolf, great niece of British author Virginia Woolf, and her son Ludovic sit next to a new bronze statue of Woolf, unveiled in Richmond, London Reuters 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

In further misery, thousands were left without electricity as the wintry weather swept in overnight, with Western Power Networks saying more than 14,000 properties had been cut off.

Officials said they were working to restore all power throughout the morning - as late as midday in some areas - across its network which comprises the Midlands, South West and Wales.

Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge said: "We have had some quickly changing weather overnight with a band of heavy rain and hill snow that started in the south west and is gradually moving north and eastwards.

"That's crossed Wales and is just lying over central southern England and it has brought some snow with it."

Up to 7cm of snow was recorded to have fallen over Exmoor, South Wales and the Cotswolds overnight, while other areas also saw flurries.
 Close 'Dangerous conditions' warning as snow and ice hit the UK

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Motorists faced dangerous conditions and air travellers suffered disruption to flights after snow and ice struck parts of Britain.

Thousands of people were left without power overnight, and the Met Office warned of the risk of slips and falls on icy surfaces.

The southbound carriageway on the M1 was closed after a lorry crashed near Lutterworth, while another jack-knifed on the M5 near Gloucestershire in heavy snow.

Please allow the live blog a moment to load

Snow and sub-zero temperatures hit the UK Show all 13 1 /13 Snow and sub-zero temperatures hit the UK Snow and sub-zero temperatures hit the UK Lorries stuck between J2 and J1 after overnight snow PA/Twitter/simontab Snow and sub-zero temperatures hit the UK An overturned car PA/Thames Valley Police Roads Policing Snow and sub-zero temperatures hit the UK An easyJet plane is de-iced at Luton Airport PA Snow and sub-zero temperatures hit the UK A man shelters from the snow and sleet under a foldaway poncho in north London Rex Features Snow and sub-zero temperatures hit the UK Snow has settled in various parts of the UK, including Leicester Rachel Hosie Snow and sub-zero temperatures hit the UK A train battles through the snow at Moy near Inverness Rex Snow and sub-zero temperatures hit the UK Lorries stuck on the A14 being towed as snow causes travel chaos Twitter/@joshuaagdomar Snow and sub-zero temperatures hit the UK Accident on the M1 PA/Northants Roads and Armed Policing Team Snow and sub-zero temperatures hit the UK Wintry conditions at Stansted Airport PA/Twitter/RobertsNiomi Snow and sub-zero temperatures hit the UK Lorries between J2 and J1 PA/Twitter/simontab Snow and sub-zero temperatures hit the UK Wintry conditions in Pollokshields near Glasgow PA Snow and sub-zero temperatures hit the UK A Blue Air flight comes into land at Luton Airport PA Snow and sub-zero temperatures hit the UK Dog walkers enjoying a stroll in the snow near Inverness Rex Features

Birmingham Airport warned passengers flights could be affected by snow while Stansted Airport warned passengers that delays and cancellations were likely to continue as a result of the weather.

The Met Office issued a yellow warning for ice across Northern Ireland, large parts of Scotland and the north-east coast of England.

 Snow in Leicestershire on 27th December

A yellow warning over snow and rain was also triggered for the Midlands, London and the South East, the North West, South West and Yorkshire and the Humber. It will remain in place until 11am on Wednesday.
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Labour councillors in London have written to Shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer, urging him to rethink the partys stance on Brexit.

The letter, seen by The Independent, says the party should be committed to providing the opportunity for people to change their mind.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has been a dedicated Eurosceptic for in Parliament for more than 30 years, but campaigned for Remain in the referendum. He has since whipped his partys MPs on the parliamentary vote to trigger Article 50 and has rejected calls for a second referendum.

Recommended Heseltine says a Corbyn government less damaging for UK than Brexit

Revealing the partys deep division on the issue, the states that changing the partys position would show bravery, maturity and the principled leadership the country so desperately needs.

Conservative peer and pro-European Lord Heseltine recently said that Brexit would do more damage to the UK than a Labour government under Jeremy Corbyn.

Only five of Londons 32 boroughs voted for Brexit, where the vote was 60 per cent in favour of Remain. The letter has been signed by 70 Labour councillors from Lewisham, Southwark and Lambeth, including the mayor of Lewisham, Sir Steve Bullock.

In the boroughs we represent, the reality of Brexit is bleak, the letter states. On the biggest issue facing our country since the Second World War, Labour should be committed to providing the opportunity for people to change their mind.

Doing so would demonstrate bravery, maturity and the principled leadership the country so desperately needs.

The Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable has consistently called for the public to be given the option of an exit from Brexit, most likely via a second referendum.

This letter does not explicitly call for a second referendum, and says that the precise device through which the public might be able to change its mind remains an open question. It states that Brexit is already costing the country billions and risks the breakup of the United Kingdom.

It concludes: The current Prime Minister is the weakest in living memory, her Cabinet the most inept for generations. Their approach to the negotiations has been an embarrassing display of arrogance, under-preparedness and bone-headed jingoism.

But while their particular unsuitability as negotiators has been made plain, the contradictions inherent in the Brexit project itself should concern the Labour Party far more than has been the case up to now.

We should be prepared to offer the electorate the opportunity to say whether leaving the EU is really in the best interests of the country.
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Labour MPs have launched a new drive to push the Government into releasing official assessments of the impact Brexit will have on the economy.

The group of 25 MPs wrote to Chancellor Philip Hammond demanding he publish documents drawn up by his officials, after he mentioned the work had been done at a committee hearing.

It comes after Brexit Secretary David Davis faced intense criticism over the forced release of 60-odd sectoral analyses drawn up by his department.

Recommended Heseltine says a Corbyn government less damaging for UK than Brexit

In their letter, Labour supporters of the Open Britain group said the release of the Treasury documents is essential for Parliament to effectively hold the Government to account.

They said: The public have a right to know what the impact of Brexit will be for them and for their families.

Without access to the latest taxpayer-funded analysis and research, Parliament will be hamstrung in its ability to scrutinise the Governments approach and to present the facts to our constituents.

It is vital that light is shed on the modelling and analysis that the Treasury has carried out. The best way to achieve that would be for the analysis to be published in its entirety.

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

The letter, passed to The Guardian, was sent after Mr Hammond told a Treasury Committee hearing earlier this month that officials had modelled and analysed a wide range of potential alternative structures between the European Union and the United Kingdom.

He said that the work informs our negotiating position in the Brexit talks.

Signatories to the letter include Chris Leslie, Maria Eagle, Stella Creasy and Alison McGovern.

 Tory rebellion leads to defeat of Government over Brexit amendment

The latest move to prise information from the Government comes after Mr Davis came under pressure from MPs over the release of a series of his departments sectoral analyses.

After ministers initially suggested the documents were impact assessments, Mr Davis later admitted no such assessments had been done.

Meanwhile the analyses that were released, after a vote in the Commons demanded documents were published, were released in an edited form.
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Conservative grandee Michael Heseltine has said a government led by Jeremy Corbyn would be less detrimental for Britain that Brexit.

Lord Heseltine said he believed that if there was any damage done by Mr Corbyn then it would be short-lived, but that EU withdrawal could cause irreversible harm.

He warned there are many voters currently supporting Theresa May who do not back Brexit, and who may desert her as withdrawal comes closer.

Recommended The impact on business and the economy in 2017 and beyond

His words sparked an immediate backlash as the internal Tory Brexit row re-ignited after the Christmas break.

Speaking on the Limehouse podcast, he said: Well, we have survived Labour governments before.

Their damage tends to be short-term and capable of rectification. Brexit is not short-term and is not easily capable of rectification.

There will be those who question whether the short-term pain justifies the avoidance of the long-term disaster.

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

The ex-deputy prime minister argued that public opinion is shifting on Brexit, with the polls showing a trend towards remain as negotiations continue.

Gaming Labours strategy, he said Mr Corbyns party may respond by distancing itself from Brexit, leaving the Tories to face the backlash.

He said: When that happens, the Labour party will move, and the present government will be left holding the baby.

But then you have got to realise the present government is supported by large numbers of people as opposed to Brexit as I am. How long will they remain within the tribe and loyal to the party?

The senior Peer recently wrote for The Independent claiming that Tory MPs backing a hard Brexit were betraying the achievements of Conservative Governments going back 50 years.

He also urged those Tory MPs pushing for Ms May to change her approach to stick to their guns.

But Eurosceptic Conservatives reacted furiously to his most recent remarks, with backbencher Nigel Evans telling The Sun: "Only a euro fanatic of the pedigree of Michael Heseltine could believe that a Venezuela loving Corbyn Government would be preferable to leaving his beloved EU.

A run on the pound and a return to the damaging state controlled industries of the 60s would inflict immense damage on the UK.

Its about time Tarzan hung up his loin cloth and got behind Theresa May who is delivering what the UK voted for and is doing it rather well without irrelevant interventions of the Jurassic Park era.
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Prince Harry has said he and Meghan Markle are yet to workout the guest-list to their wedding, following reports of a political spat over the attendance of Barack and Michelle Obama

Asked whether the former US president would come with his wife to the ceremony next year, the Prince said: I dont know about that.

Earlier this week it was claimed that the British Government is concerned that Donald Trump may feel snubbed if Mr Obama makes the guest-list.

Prince Harry is close to the Obamas following their collaboration during the Invictus Games, a sporting event for war veterans, in September.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4s Today programme, which he was guest editing, Prince Harry discussed whether the ex-Democrat president would be invited to his wedding, saying: I dont know about that. We havent put the invites or the guest-list together yet.

So who knows whether hes going to be invited or not? I wouldnt want to ruin that surprise.

He likened the challenge he faces with the guest-list, to that facing every couple looking to get married and said the decision was not all his, but also his fiances, adding: Thats why Im keeping quiet.

Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Show all 30 1 /30 Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Threatening to shut down Twitter after being fact-checked After the president tweeted that voting by post would be "substantially fraudulent", Twitter attached a warning label to his tweet and referred readers to a site which explained how the claim was "unsubstantiated". Trump then said Twitter was "stifling free speech" and that he may have to shut it down, something which he would not have the power to do AFP/Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Flippantly dismissing a serious allegation of sexual assault When author E Jean Carroll accused Trump of raping her, the president responded: Number one, shes not my type. Number two, it never happened. It never happened, OK?" AFP/Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Insulting the Mayor of London as he landed in London Just before touching down at Stansted Airport for his state visit, Trump took time out to @ the London mayor Sadiq Khan on twitter. He said that Khan has done a "terrible job"as mayor and that he is a "stone cold loser" Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Taking plenty of "Executive Time" The president's official schedule sets aside the hours from 8 to 11am daily for "Executive Time". Further intermittent periods of "Executive Time" are scheduled throughout any given day, ranging from 15 minutes to 3 hours. His duties in these hours have not been officially disclosed, though Axios reports that he spends them watching TV, reading the newspapers and tweeting Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Shutdown the government for over a month in an effort to secure funding for his wall With Mexico declining to pay for the wall, the president has faced difficulty in raising the required $5bn at home. Due to his demand that the money for the wall be included in the budget, and Congress's refusal, the government partially shut down on 22 December 2018. It remained shut for over a month, the longest period in history Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Joking about the Nazi occupation of France to President Macron In this tweet from 13 November 2018, the president mocks Emmanuel Macron's suggestion of a "true, European army" by invoking the conflict between France and Germany in the world wars Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Railing against the Mueller investigation The president has repeatedly claimed that the Mueller investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, is a "rigged witch hunt" Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Contradicting a US intelligence report on Russian meddling in the presence of Vladimir Putin In the press conference that followed his landmark meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin, Trump stated that he saw no reason why Russia would have meddled in the 2016 US election. This contradicted a 2017 report by the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence that found evidence of Russian interference in favour of Trump Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Contradicting his contradiction of a US intelligence report on Russian meddling Following furious backlash in the US, the president claimed that he meant to say that he saw no reason why it would not have been Russia who meddled in the 2016 US election. As to why he would have intended to use such bizarre phrasing, he did not comment Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Colouring in the US flag wrong The president coloured in the US flag wrongly during a visit to a children's hospital in Columbus, Ohio. He added a blue stripe where in tradition, and statute, there have been only white and red stripes AFP/Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Firing a Secretary of State over Twitter The president announced on Twitter that he was appointing Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State, much to the surprise of then Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Quoting a catchphrase from a reality TV show when discussing police brutality While addressing the issue of black athletes not standing for the national anthem in protest of police brutality, the president made reference to his catchphrase from reality TV show "The Apprentice": you're fired! Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Calling African nations "S***hole Countries" Ever one for diplomacy, the president reportedly referred to African nations as "s***hole countries". Asked to confirm this when meeting with Nigeria's President Buhari, Trump stated that there are "some countries that are in very bad shape". Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Defending Russian President Vladimir Putin Trump appeared to equate US foreign actions to those of Russian president Vladimir Putin, saying: There are a lot of killers. You think our countrys so innocent? Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Asking for people to 'pray' for Arnold Schwarzenegger At the National Prayer Breakfast, Trump couldnt help but to ask for prayers for the ratings on Arnold Schwarzeneggers show to be good. Schwarzenegger took over as host of The Apprentice  which buoyed Trumps celebrity status years ago Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Hanging up on Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull Early in his presidency, Trump reportedly hung up the phone on Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull after the foreign leader angered him over refugee plans. Mr Trump later said that it was the worst call he had had so far Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... The 'Muslim ban' Perhaps one of his most controversial policies while acting as president, Trumps travel ban targeting predominantly Muslim countries has bought him a lot of criticism. The bans were immediately protested, and judges initially blocked their implementation. The Supreme Court later sided with the administrations argument that the ban was developed out of concern for US security Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Praising crowd size while touring Hurricane Harvey damage After Hurricane Harvey ravaged southeastern Texas, Trump paid the area a visit. While his response to the disaster in Houston was generally applauded, the president picked up some flack when he gave a speech outside Houston (he reportedly did not visit disaster zones), and praised the size of the crowds there AP Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... 'Little Rocket Man' During his first-ever speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Trump tried out a new nickname for North Korea leader Kim Jong-un: Rocket Man. He later tweaked it to be little Rocket Man as the two feuded, and threatened each other with nuclear war. During that speech, he also threatened to totally annihilate North Korea Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Attacking Sadiq Khan following London Bridge terror attack After the attack on the London Bridge, Trump lashed out at London Mayor Sadiq Khan, criticising Khan for saying there was no reason to be alarmed after the attack. Trump was taking the comments out of context, as Khan was simply saying that the police had everything under control Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Claiming presenter Mika Brezinkski was 'bleeding from the face' Never one not to mock his enemies, Trump mocked MSNBCs Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski, saying that she and co-host Joe Scarborough had approached him before his inauguration asking to join him. He noted that she was bleeding badly from a face-lift at the time, and that he said no MSNBC Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Claiming the blame for Charlottesville was on 'both sides' Trump refused to condemn far-right extremists involved in violence at 'the march for the right' protests in Charlottesville, even after the murder of counter protester Heather Heyer AP Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Retweeting cartoon of CNN being hit by a 'Trump train' Trump retweeted a cartoon showing a Trump-branded train running over a person whose body and head were replaced by a CNN avatar. He later deleted the retweet Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Tweeting about 'slamming' CNN Trump caught some flack when he tweeted a video showing him wrestling down an individual whose head had been replaced by a CNN avatar. Trump has singled CNN out in particular with his chants of fake news Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Firing head of the FBI, James Comey Trumps firing of former FBI Director James Comey landed him with a federal investigation into Russias meddling in the 2016 election that has caused many a headache for the White House. The White House initially said that the decision was made after consultation from the Justice Department. Then Mr Trump himself said that he had decided to fire him in part because he wanted the Russia investigation Mr Comey was conducting to stop Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Not realising being president would be 'hard' Just three months into his presidency, Trump admitted that being president is harder than he thought it would be. Though Trump insisted on the 2016 campaign trail that doing the job would be easy for him, he admitted in an interview that living in the White House is harder than running a business empire Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Accusing Obama of wiretapping him Trump accused former president Barack Obama of wire tapping him on twitter. The Justice Department later clarified: Obama had not, in fact, done so Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Claiming there had been 3 million 'illegal votes' Trump was never very happy about losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by 2.8 million ballots. So, he and White House voter-fraud commissioner Kris Kobach have claimed that anywhere between three and five million people voted illegally during the 2016 election. Conveniently, he says that all of those illegal votes went to Clinton. (There is no evidence to support that level of widespread voter fraud.) Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Leaving Jews out of the Holocaust memorial statement Just days after taking office, Trumps White House issued a statement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, but didnt mention jews or even the word jewish in the written statement Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Anger over Inauguration crowd size Trumps inauguration crowd was visibly, and noticeably, smaller than that of his predecessor, Barack Obama. But, he really wanted to have had the largest crowd on record. So, he praised it as the biggest crowd ever. Relatedly, Trump also claimed that it stopped raining in Washington at the moment he was inaugurated. It didnt, the day was very dreary Reuters

However, the Prince did say he had a close relationship with Mr Obama, explaining that he was the easiest interview to get for his special edition of the Today programme.

He went on: We share the same kind of mind-set and the outlook on the charitable sector, on foundations and mainly on the youth of today.

A report in The Sun earlier this week quoted a senior government source, saying that Prince Harry had made it clear he wanted the Obamas at the wedding.

The source reportedly said: Trump could react very badly if the Obamas get to a royal wedding before he has had a chance to meet the Queen.

Mr Trump was invited on an official state visit  including a meeting with the Queen  to the UK earlier this year by Theresa May, on a White House visit in which she was pictured holding hands with the President.

While Downing Street insists the invitation still stands, it is yet to be scheduled and has led to reports that Buckingham Palace was unhappy at the idea of the negative publicity Mr Trump may bring to the monarch.

 Prince Harry and Meghan Markle carry out first royal engagement together

Promises of demonstrations if the President sets foot in the UK have been stiffened by a series of Twitter interventions by Mr Trump in British affairs, including one in which he criticised the UKs response to terror attacks and Londons Muslim mayor, Sadiq Khan.

Most recently, he re-tweeted racist videos from far-right group Britain First, drawing public criticism from Downing Street.

Mr Trump is expected to make a fleeting visit to the UK in February to open the new US Embassy in London.
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A rancher has been trampled to death by an elephant in Kenya.

Gilfrid Powys was director of the 43,000 acre Suyian Ranch in northwest Laikipia.

He was killed near a dam which features as a watering point for wild animals, the Daily Nation reported.

"One of the elephants charged and trampled him to death, Laikipia County police boss Simon Kipkeu told the paper.

Wounded elephant rescue Show all 12 1 /12 Wounded elephant rescue Wounded elephant rescue Ben the elephant arrives looking for help Staff and guests at the Bumi Hills Foundation in Zimbabwe were surprised to see a wounded bull elephant seeming seeking help outside their window. Bumi Hills Foundation Wounded elephant rescue A vet arrives Vet Dr Richard Hoare flew in from Harare to treat Ben. Bumi Hills Foundation Wounded elephant rescue Getting Ben on the ground It takes 12 people to get the tranquilised animal on the ground so his wound can be treated. They also gave him a tracking collar so they can see how he is doing in the future. Bumi Hills Foundation Wounded elephant rescue Ben's gunshot wound The elephant had a septic wound which was 4cm in diameter and 10cm deep. Bumi Hills Foundation Wounded elephant rescue Looking after a tranquilised elephant The team placed a stick in Ben's trunk to make sure he could breathe. They monitored his breathing throughout the procedure. Bumi Hills Foundation Wounded elephant rescue Looking for the bullet Workers at the foundation used metal detectors to locate the bullets, however none were found. Bumi Hills Foundation Wounded elephant rescue Cleaning out the wound The vet and the safari team set about treating the wound, cleaning it out with a probe. Bumi Hills Foundation Wounded elephant rescue Cleaning out the wound A incision was created below the wound to allow fluids to drain out. Bumi Hills Foundation Wounded elephant rescue Elephants need a lot of antibiotics Dr Hoare administered a staggering 120ml of long-acting antibiotics to Ben. Bumi Hills Foundation Wounded elephant rescue In the wars The two bullet holes in Ben's ears show he has been a victim of poachers before. Bumi Hills Foundation Wounded elephant rescue Bumi Hills Foundation Helping Ben was a team effort by those at the foundation. Bumi Hills Foundation Wounded elephant rescue Ben's back on his feet A little unstable, but Ben managed to stand up a few minutes after the team were finished, and made his way tentatively back into the bush. Bumi Hills Foundation

Mr Powys' ranch was used for cattle farming and wildlife conservation, according to the ranch's website.

His family moved from Dorset in the UK to Kenya in 1914.

 Elephant appears to have leg broken in punishment

It comes after an elephant who appeared in Thai films and TV adverts crushed its owner to death at a zoo in the northern city of Chiang Mai.

Earlier this month, disturbing footage emerged of an Asian elephant being beaten by a captors in an attempt to tame it for India's tourism trade.

The video shows men taking turns to beat the mammal with canes, who has one of its front legs tied to a tree, before it collapses to the ground as the beating continues.
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After the bloody Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August, technology companies tightened rules against hate speech and banned many extremists from using web hosting services, social media platforms and online payment systems.

But some on the farthest edges of the political spectrum soon found an effective tool for thwarting this industry crackdown: bitcoin.

Even before Charlottesville, Richard Spencer, a prominent member of the alt-right, a group that espouses racist, anti-Semitic and sexist views and seeks a whites-only state, had gone as far as declaring bitcoin "the currency of the alt right." But far-right political leaders and experts on extremist movements alike say the adoption of bitcoin gained new urgency after Charlottesville as extremists looked for ways to operate beyond the reach of government control and the shifting policies of US tech companies.

Those who began acquiring bitcoin in August already have reaped substantial returns, despite the recent volatility in its price. In the months since demonstrators carried flaming torches and chanted "Jews will not replace us," bitcoin has quadrupled in value. The digital currency began trading on several mainstream financial markets this month, pushing the price of a single bitcoin at times above $19,000. It was worth $16,000 at one point Tuesday.

Extremist figures who invested in bitcoin as a bulwark against efforts to block their political activity now find themselves holding what amount to winning lottery tickets. The proceeds could be used to communicate political messages, organise events and keep websites online even as most mainstream hosting services shun them, experts say.

"Bitcoin is allowing people in the movement to go beyond cash in an envelope or a check," said Heidi Beirich, head of the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center, a not-for-profit group that tracks extremists. "It's really a godsend to them."

First created in 2009 by an anonymous computer programmer, bitcoin is a digital currency that is not issued by any government and has no physical manifestation, such as actual coins or bills. Someone who wants to buy bitcoin can sign up for one of many online exchanges - each account gets a unique identifier of numbers and letters - and pay dollars (or other traditional currency) for the digital currency. People can also send bitcoin to others or conduct transactions at any of a growing list of businesses, not-for-profit groups and financial institutions that accept it.

A secure, continuously updated ledger called the blockchain records all transactions in a publicly visible way, assigning each an alphanumeric record. Unlike the closely government-regulated banking systems that record traditional financial transactions, the blockchain is completely decentralised, relying on complex mathematical calculations across countless computers worldwide.

Such a system makes it difficult for regulators and law enforcement agencies to monitor assets or know the identities of particular account holders. It also allows fringe groups not only to collect money, but to spend it more easily - for example, on foreign online services if US companies restrict their access.

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

Google, GoDaddy, PayPal and others banned some far-right activists from their services after the Charlottesville rally, saying they violated rules against hate speech.

Spencer and others who have lost access to these services - a process they call being "de-platformed" - say they are effectively being denied free-speech rights.

"We have faced enormous problems from being de-platformed," Spencer said. "Bitcoin at least, from what I can tell, is not something from which we can be de-platformed."

Extremists are hardly alone in benefiting from surging bitcoin values. Early buyers include cryptography enthusiasts, libertarians and professional investors - as well as drug traffickers, money launderers and others who regularly conduct transactions on the dark web, a part of the Internet only accessible using specialised software that helps shield online activity.

Also unaffiliated with the far right yet profiting handsomely is WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who tweeted in October that US political pressure on traditional payment processors such as credit card companies to stop handling transactions for the site "caused us to invest in bitcoin - with > 50000% return." In a dig at policymakers who pressured the companies, Assange expressed his "deepest thanks."

It's impossible to know how many on the far right are reaping bitcoin windfalls, but researchers who monitor extreme political activity say they have detected a surge in transactions as people on the far right move assets into the digital currency and increasingly use it for ordinary business purposes. The SPLC is tracking roughly 200 bitcoin wallets - the way users store the currency online - that it says are held by extremists.

Public blockchain records make such monitoring possible. Researchers can study the times, dates and amounts of any transaction, along with what accounts are involved. That does not include the actual names of account holders, but such records can illuminate identities. The SPLC, for example, looks on the donation pages of extremist websites for bitcoin accounts that are seeking contributions.

According to SPLC research, among the most striking recent donations was 14.88 bitcoin paid to Andrew Anglin, editor of the Daily Stormer, a neo-Nazi online publication that lists a bitcoin account number online. The SPLC has labelled the Daily Stormer the nation's "top hate site.

The payment to Anglin came on Aug. 20, as the Daily Stormer - named after the Nazi propaganda tabloid "Der Sturmer" - was scrambling to recover after several Web hosting services kicked it off their platforms. Followers looking for the site at its familiar dailystormer.com address got error messages.

The amount of the donation carried particular significance; 1488 is a reference to a Nazi slogan - 14 words long - about the importance of protecting "a future for white children," and 88 refers to "Heil Hitler," both words of which start with the eighth letter of the alphabet. At the time of the donation, it was worth about $60,000. Had Anglin kept the entire amount, it would now be worth about $235,000.

Instead, it appears that Anglin gradually spent down the donation as he worked to get the Daily Stormer back onto the Web, according to John Bambenek, a cybersecurity researcher and threat-systems manager at Fidelis Cybersecurity who tracks bitcoin transactions.

But Bambenek said the account that made the 14.88 donation - whose owner is unknown - has gradually drained its value over a series of transactions. Bambenek said his research suggests that this account got its money from another, far larger one, now worth more than $45 million.

"The alt-right likes bitcoin the same way criminals and people on the dark Web like bitcoin," Bambenek said. "It's a great way to move around assets, especially when you're under the threat of investigation."

Bambenek has built a Twitter bot, called the Neonazi BTC Tracker, that automatically tweets a record of every transaction affecting 13 accounts he says are affiliated with known extremists and their websites.

Bambenek said there is also evidence that Anglin and others are moving their assets into other digital currencies that are harder to track but have not been growing as quickly in value as bitcoin.

Anglin, in a phone interview with The Washington Post, declined to confirm or comment on the 14.88 bitcoin transaction, but he expressed frustration at Bambenek's Twitter bot, saying that some of the information it tweets is inaccurate. Anglin also said he has used bitcoin almost exclusively since payment services blocked the Daily Stormer beginning in 2014.

"Bitcoin has helped out a lot," Anglin said.

Anglin was sued this year by the SPLC for allegedly inflicting emotional distress on a Jewish woman in Montana by unleashing a "troll storm" on her. In a Dec. 7 article on the Daily Stormer, Anglin noted the surge in bitcoin value and said, "Thank you so, so, so much" to the law centre for its long-running efforts to get him banned from mainstream payment services, prompting his investment in bitcoin. (The Daily Stormer has said in court filings that its actions were protected speech and posed no real threat to the woman, according to news reports.)

The popularity of bitcoin on the political right is not confined to the most extreme elements. Conservative commentator Mike Cernovich - who co-sponsored the Deploraball to celebrate President Trump's inauguration but did not attend the Charlottesville rally and has distanced himself from anti-Semitic and white-nationalist figures - began touting the currency to his Twitter followers in September 2016, when it was worth about $600 per bitcoin.

The goal, Cernovich said, was to protect himself from efforts by tech companies or payment processors to block his political activity.

"That was the only reason I got into it," he said. "I just got really, really lucky."

Conservative publisher Charles Johnson - whose WeSearchr bounty site has raised more than $150,000 for the Daily Stormer's battle against the SPLC as part of what Johnson calls his support of free speech - said he has advocated the purchase of bitcoin since 2015. That's the year Twitter banned Johnson for soliciting donations for 'taking out' a Black Lives Matter activist. (Johnson said afterward that he was seeking not to incite violence but to spur an investigation he believed would undermine the activist.)

Johnson said he has made substantial earnings on bitcoin investments and increasingly uses it to make donations to political leaders and groups.

"It's a form of digital gold," Johnson said. "It's not surprising that a lot of people on the political fringes would move toward an un-censorable currency."

Spencer, however, said he did not begin buying bitcoin when he touted it in the March tweet. In recent months, though, he has set up several accounts to raise money for various sites and causes.

"I really wish I had bought more bitcoin," Spencer said. "I guess we all do."

The Washington Post
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Model Chrissy Teigen vented her displeasure in mid-air when the pilot of a flight she was on bound for Tokyo turned back to Los Angeles because one of the passengers was on the wrong plane.

Ms Teigen was nearly halfway through the 11-hour journey on All Nippon Airways flight 175 when the cabin crew realised one of the travellers on board was not going to the destination on his ticket.

But rather than resolve the mix-up when the plane landed in the Japanese capital, a decision was made to return to LAX airport and, as she put it, majorly inconvenience all of the other 150 passengers.

In a series of tweets over the Pacific, Ms Teigen said the cabin crew told her the passenger got on the flight with a United Airlines ticket and she blamed the blunder on a boarding pass machine error.

The pregnant model had been travelling with her husband John Legend ahead of her tour across Asia in March.

In her first tweet from the sky, she wrote: "A flying first for me: 4 hours into an 11 hour flight and we are turning around because we have a passenger who isn't supposed to be on this plane. Why... why do we all gotta go back, I do not know.

Ms Teigen called for a full explanation and suggested that the person's incorrect ticket had not been picked up by security scanners.

She tweeted: "They keep saying the person had a United ticket. We are on ANA. So basically the boarding pass scanner is just a beedoop machine that makes beedoop noises that register to nowhere.

I wont be able to sleep until I know how this person figured out they were on the wrong flight. Thats all I ask. 150 people have been majorly inconvenienced, please, just tell me, she added.

But despite the debacle, Ms Teigen and Mr Legend were happy to pose for a selfie with a fan.

Twitter user Raffywu wrote: "My first tweet can't be more epic than this: just survived an 8-hour LAX-LAX flight with chrissyteigen and johnlegend on ANA NH175"

ANA flight 175 touched down in LAX eight hours and 20 minutes after it took off, but Ms Teigens travel hiccups were not over. She faced a further delay while police carried out checks.

ANA airline said the pilot of Flight 175 made the decision to turn the plane back to Los Angeles so the passenger at the centre of the debacle could get off.

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. 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"During the flight, the cabin crew became aware that one of the passengers boarded the incorrect flight and notified the pilot," the airline told CNBC in a statement. "As part of the airline's security procedure, the pilot in command decided to return to the originating airport, where the passenger was disembarked."

It added that officials were working to find out how the traveller wrongly boarded the flight after managing to bypass its ticket screening machines and other checks.
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Three US states have sued the Pentagon for failing to maintain a criminal history database that could have prevented the Texas church shooter from purchasing a gun.

New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco filed suit in an effort to make the Defence Department report service members' convictions to the federal gun background-check database. The Department is legally required to submit such convictions, but has a poor record of doing so.

Ken Taber, a lead attorney on the case, believes the military failed to report hundreds, if not thousands of people to the database in recent years.

Its impossible to know how many instances of gun violence are tied to individuals who got guns but shouldnt have, he told The Independent. But the fact is, we know that here are large numbers of people who are disqualified from having guns by virtue of military convictions but are not in that database.

The lawsuit would require the Pentagon to submit all of its compliance records to the court for review.

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

The national background-check database helps gun sellers and law enforcement agencies distinguish legal buyers from those who are barred from having firearms. The military is supposed to report all felony-equivalent court-martial conviction for crimes that are punishable by more than a year in prison to the database. It is also supposed to submit any dishonourable discharges and domestic violence convictions.

Devin Patrick Kelley, a 26-year-old former Air Force member, checked all three of those boxes. Mr Kelley pleaded guilty to assaulting his wife and stepson in 2012, while serving in the Air Force. He was sentenced to 12 months' incarceration and demoted to the lowest possible military rank. After serving his time, he was forced out of the military on a bad conduct discharge.

The conviction and discharge should have barred Mr Kelley from buying a gun at a store  but the military never reported it. Instead, Mr Kelley purchased a gun at a local shop and drove it to Sutherland Springs, Texas, where his in-laws attended services. He walked into the First Baptist Church on 5 November and sprayed the sanctuary with bullets, killing 25 people and one foetus.

 First wife of Texas church shooter says he put a gun to her head over speeding ticket

In the aftermath of the shooting, the Air Force admitted that its failure in this case was not an isolated incident. The Air Force did not submit records in approximately 14 per cent of its cases this year, according to the Department of Defence Inspector General. The Navy failed to submit records in approximately 36 per cent of cases, the Army in 41 per cent, and the Marine Corp in 36 per cent.

The Inspector Generals Office raised similar issues with reporting as early as 1997, and as recently as 2015. In Senate testimony earlier this month, Acting Inspector General Glenn Fine did not mince words in faulting the military for its compliance problem.

They didnt take these recommendations as seriously as they should have, he said.

Mr Taber said he hopes the court will be able to do what the Inspector General could not.

"The Inspector General has been issuing reports for two decades, saying that the Department of Defence and Armed Services are simply not doing what the law requires," he said. "Now we're asking the court to say: Fix it.
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Isis has claimed Donald Trumps war against Islam is making the US more vulnerable to terror attacks while calling for further atrocities.

In a propaganda video released on Wednesday, an African American Isis fighter using the war name Abu Salih al-Amriki delivered a message to the President.

You entered into the White House on the back of your crusader rhetoric, which the fake media has pressured you to tone down, he said.

Your feelings and hatred towards Islam has already been revealed you are now witnessing your fake victory.

Your war against Islam has only made your homeland more vulnerable and your society is cracking into chaos.

The American Isis fighter, whose true identity was not immediately known, was shown attaching a prosthetic leg and walking on crutches amid the ruins of buildings that appear to have been hit by air strikes.

Wearing battle fatigues and carrying a pistol, he repeated calls for Isis supporters to rise and strike the kuffar [disbelievers] and claimed the Isis flag would be raised over the White House.

 Gov. Cuomo: NY attack suspect was associated with Isis and radicalised domestically

The propaganda message suggested that rising Islamophobia and terror attacks in the US could help drive supporters to Isiss cause, with the fighter saying: Take advantage of the fact you can easily obtain a rifle or a pistol in America and spray the kuffar with bullets so that their fear of Muslims rises, and they continue to reveal their hatred towards Islam for the ummah [community] to rise.

Isis has continually sought to exploit political tensions across the West to fuel its narrative of a holy war between its supporters and anyone, including Muslims, who oppose its brutal interpretation of sharia law.

The groups message to Mr Trump came as activists told The Independent American Muslims were more vulnerable to Islamophobia under Mr Trumps presidency than in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

Its not just Americans Muslims [who feel anxious], said Ibrahim Hooper, a founder of the Council On American-Islamic Relations. We have seen white supremacists emboldened under Trump.

Experts have warned of the danger of reciprocal radicalisation, where Islamists and far-right extremists feed off each other to boost their own popularity.

The President has been heavily criticised for what critics labelled a Muslim ban on travel from selected countries, as well as his wider remarks on Islam and alleged failure to confront white supremacism.

Isiss latest video, released via its main propaganda channels, incorporated footage of the aftermath of terror attacks including those in Las Vegas and Orlando, which were both claimed by the group.

Isis also claimed responsibility for a vehicle attack that killed eight people in Manhattan on Halloween, but remained silent over a failed suicide bombing in New Yorks subway system earlier this month.

Investigators said the suspect, Akayed Ullah, had been radicalised by materials including Isis propaganda from 2014 onwards and had watched a video instructing supporters unable to travel to the groups territories to carry out attacks at home.

Shortly before the blast on 11 December, he posted a statement on Facebook reading Trump you failed to protect your nation, as well as a declaration that the attack was carried out in the name of Isis.

Explosion in New York City Show all 14 1 /14 Explosion in New York City Explosion in New York City A fire truck arrives after a reported explosion at the Port Authority Bus Terminal AFP/Getty Images Explosion in New York City Port Authority Police watch as people evacuate after a reported explosion at the Port Authority Bus Terminal AFP/Getty Images Explosion in New York City Port Authority Police watch as people evacuate after a reported explosion at the Port Authority Bus Terminal AFP/Getty Images Explosion in New York City Police and other first responders respond to a reported explosion at the Port Authority Bus Terminal AFP/Getty Images Explosion in New York City Police and other first responders respond to a reported explosion at the Port Authority Bus Terminal AFP/Getty Images Explosion in New York City Police and other first responders respond to a reported explosion at the Port Authority Bus Terminal AFP/Getty Images Explosion in New York City FBI and police respond to a reported explosion at the Port Authority Bus Terminal AFP/Getty Images Explosion in New York City Police respond to a reported explosion at the Port Authority Bus Terminal AFP/Getty Images Explosion in New York City Police and other first responders respond to a reported explosion at the Port Authority Bus Terminal o AFP/Getty Images Explosion in New York City A fire truck arrives after a reported explosion at the Port Authority Bus Terminal AFP/Getty Images Explosion in New York City An armoured police truck occupies the street outside of the New York Port Authority in New York City, U.S. REUTERS Explosion in New York City Port Authority Police watch as people evacuate after a reported explosion at the Port Authority Bus Terminal AFP/Getty Images Explosion in New York City Police and other first responders respond to a reported explosion at the Port Authority Bus Terminal AFP/Getty Images Explosion in New York City Police and other first responders respond to a reported explosion at the Port Authority Bus Terminal AFP/Getty Images

As the terrorist groups self-declared state in Syria and Iraq has dwindled, it has been increasing its calls for attacks around the world, issuing detailed guidance on how to obtain firearms, make bombs or use knives and vehicles to inflict mass casualties.

Another propaganda video released by Isiss affiliate in Somalia on Christmas Day, incited attacks on New Years Eve celebrations, Christmas markets, bars and the Pope.

It also featured an English-speaking Isis militant, who called on the brothers who live among the kuffar to commit atrocities until the groups black banner rises from Washington to Moscow, from Europe to China.

British security services have warned that the risk of Isis-inspired terror attacks continues to grow and evolve despite the groups huge territorial losses, with the battle of ideas far from won.

Military officials say the groups remaining fighters are regrouping in the desert border between Syria and Iraq, parts of Afghanistan, Egypt and Libya.

On Wednesday, US Central Command said there had been a series of raids targeting cave networks used by Isis militants in Syrias Hamad desert.

A spokesperson said coalition forces and US-backed rebel group Maghawir al-Thawra conducted ground clearance operations on 23 December.

It followed previous operations in a fledgling deconfliction zone recognised by the US-led coalition, Syrian government and its Russian backers.

Major-General James Jarrard, Commander of Operation Inherent Resolves special operations joint taskforce, said they had disrupted Isis fighters movements by clearing caves historically used to store weapons, explosives and communications equipment.

Isis was using the area to transit from the Euphrates river valley, where they have enjoyed relative freedom of movement while fleeing the coalitions successful Syrian Democratic Forces partners, a statement added. Isis has repeatedly surfaced in the Hamad desert.
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A vegan chef, author and motivational speaker has been charged with murdering his estranged wife and their two children on Christmas Day following a night-time shoot-out with police.

Anthony Milan Ross, 45, is said to have shot dead 38-year-old Iris Mr Ross and their young children Nigel, 11, and Anora, 10 months, on Monday.

He was also charged with multiple counts of aggravated assault and assault against a police officer.

Police responding to a report of gunfire arrived at a block of flats in Phoenix, Arizona, to find Ms Ross body outside. They later found the childrens bodies inside the apartment where their father had barricaded himself.

Officers tried to talk to Mr Ross when he was inside the unit, Sgt Jonathan Howard said. Several hours later, Mr Ross indicated he had killed the two children and began shooting at officers, said authorities. After a brief gunfight, he was taken into custody.

Mr Ross was not hurt, Sgt Howard said. One officer was injured by shrapnel and taken to hospital in stable condition.

Mr Ross is a vegan cook, author and motivational speaker who promotes a plant-based lifestyle using his middle name. He claims to have lost some 100kg in weight after cutting out meat and dairy products.

On Christmas Day, hours before the shooting, he posted a video of himself singing Santa Claus Is Coming To Town with his son, filmed the day before.

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

Mary Wogas, Iris Ross sister, told ABC15: I received a text yesterday about 2.52pm. Two messages, first one saying I just killed Iris and the kids. The second message was with a gun.

I knew that man was very unstable. I knew he had a very, very dark side. I didnt know it was this dark.

Police had initially indicated Mr Ross no longer lived at the complex in Phoenix and was visiting the area for the holidays, but court documents listed the apartment address as his residence.

Officers did not give a motive for the shooting, which they said they were investigating as a domestic violence incident.

Mr Ross is due in court on 3 January.

Additional reporting by agencies
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Nestle has been bottling and selling water that it does not have the legal right to use, officials in California have concluded.

Fights over water are a constant in California, exacerbated when drought years make the supply especially scarce. Since 2015, officials with the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) had received numerous complaints that Nestle was claiming water from the San Bernardino National Forest to which it had no right and then selling it under its Arrowhead brand.

Because California allocates water rights in part based on who got there first, getting to the bottom of those allegations required a deep dive into history. Nestle cited a 150-year-old claim by a man named David Noble Smith whose property later became the site of the Arrowhead Springs Hotel, for instance.

The companys materials tout its history in California and its commitment to sourcing water exclusively from carefully selected mountain springs, which ensures that every drop is as crystal clear as the water revered by Native Americans for its healing powers.

Westerners have savoured the natural goodness of Arrowhead water since bottling began in the 1890s, the companys website proclaims.

After combing through decades worth of permitting information, the water board declared last week that the company had no basis for much of the water it was draining from the Strawberry Canyon watershed. It said the companys invocation of David Noble Smith was not valid for Nestles current appropriative diversion and use of water from the San Bernardino National Forest.

UNICEF - World Water Day 2017, Thirsting for a Future Show all 9 1 /9 UNICEF - World Water Day 2017, Thirsting for a Future UNICEF - World Water Day 2017, Thirsting for a Future United Nations Headquarters Getrude Clement, a 16-year-old radio reporter from Tanzania and UNICEF climate advocate Unicef UNICEF - World Water Day 2017, Thirsting for a Future Fiji Girls from Nakorovou village in Vuna on Taweuni Island, helping their mothers with laundry on a shore of their destroyed village Unicef UNICEF - World Water Day 2017, Thirsting for a Future Haiti Hurricane Matthew passed over Haiti, with heavy rains and winds Unicef UNICEF - World Water Day 2017, Thirsting for a Future Bangladesh Students make their way to school after heavy floods in Sariakandi Upazila, Bogra, Bangladesh Unicef UNICEF - World Water Day 2017, Thirsting for a Future Alaska An Inupiat girl Amaia, 11, standing on a ice floe on a shore of the Arctic Ocean in Barrow, Alaska in the United States of America Unicef UNICEF - World Water Day 2017, Thirsting for a Future Nigeria A girl pumps water from a borehole provided by UNICEF in Old Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria Unicef UNICEF - World Water Day 2017, Thirsting for a Future Kiribati A boy walks from school to his house in Aberao village in South Tarawa, Kiribati. Kiribati is one of the countries most affected by sea level rise Unicef UNICEF - World Water Day 2017, Thirsting for a Future Zimbabwe Siyephi Village, Bullilima District in Matebeland Unicef UNICEF - World Water Day 2017, Thirsting for a Future Myanmar Fourth-grade students from Hnen Ser Kyin Middle School wash their hands at a community water point in the village of Hnen Ser Kyin, Magway Region Unicef

A significant portion of the water currently diverted by Nestle appears to be diverted without a valid basis of right, the report said.

Ultimately, the board found Nestle had the right to about 26 acre-feet a year, or about 8.5m gallons, but had averaged some 192 acre-feet a year, or about 62m gallons.

The boards report isnt the same as an enforceable order. It issued a series of recommendations for Nestle in a letter to the company, including suggesting the company cease any unauthorised diversions, submit a compliance plan and secure a permit for diverting water beyond its allowance.

 US President Donald Trump holds glass of water with two hands during National Security speech

In a statement, Nestle said it was pleased the water board had vindicated its claim to a significant amount of the water in Strawberry Canyon.

We look forward to cooperating with the SWRCB during the review process and to providing the necessary documents to supplement the SWRCBs report, including producing information requested from over a century ago, to the extent that it is available, the statement said.

While California law does not prohibit private companies like Nestle from bottling the states water, the company is a regular target for environmentalists, Native Americans and other activists.
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The number of pregnant women using marijuana has risen in California since the state relaxed its drug laws, a new study has found.

The increase was especially sharp among young women, rising from 12.5 percent to nearly 22 percent for mothers to be under the age of 24, in the years between 2009 and 2016.

Overall there was a rise from around 4 percent to around 7 percent, researchers from healthcare consortium, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, found.

Researchers examined screening data that encompassed some 280,000 women who were tested between 2009 and 2016.

The findings were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The report does not directly draw a connection between the increase and laxer marijuana laws. But the period covered coincides with California steadily loosening penalties for marijuana use, mirroring a national trend.

But the study's author's wrote that "continued monitoring of trends, exposure timing, and offspring outcomes is important as marijuana potency rises in an increasingly permissive legal landscape."

In 2010, then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a law downgrading possession of an ounce or less from a misdemeanour to an infraction, meaning a punishment of a fine, rather than imprisonment.

In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Show all 26 1 /26 In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies A man wears a marijuana leaf mask during the annual 4/20 cannabis culture celebration at Sunset Beach in Vancouver, British Columbia AP In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies A lady smokes marijuana on Parliament Hill on 4/20 in Ottawa, Ontario Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies James Reed smokes a joint during the Denver 420 Rally at Civic Center Park in Denver, Colorado Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies People sign a 4/20 sign on Parliament Hill on in Ottawa, Ontario Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies A woman smokes marijuana on Parliament Hill on 4/20 in Ottawa, Ontario. Polling released showed strong support in Canada for a government drive to legalise recreational use of marijuana, but many would like the proposed minimum age for consumption to be raised. Sixty-three percent of respondents told the Angus Reid Institute they support legalisation Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies A man smokes marijuana during the annual 4/20 marijuana rally on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Reuters In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Demonstrators smoke marijuana during the '4/20 Santiago' rally in favour of legalisation in front of the La Moneda presidential palace in Santiago, as part of the Global Marijuana March which is being held in hundreds of cities worldwide Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies People play with a mock marijuana joint during a 4/20 party to demand legalisation and to celebrate marijuana culture outside the Senate building in Mexico City, Mexico Reuters In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Adam Eidinger, co-founder of DCMJ, hands out free marijuana joints to DC residents who worked on Capitol Hill as part of the 1st Annual Joint Session to mark '4/20' day and promote legalising marijuana on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Police arrest Rachel Ramone Donlan after she handed out free marijuana joints to DC residents who worked on Capitol Hill as part of the 1st Annual Joint Session to mark '4/20' day and promote legalising marijuana on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC AFP/Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Police arrest Rachel Ramone Donlan after she handed out free marijuana joints to DC residents who worked on Capitol Hill as part of the 1st Annual Joint Session to mark '4/20' day and promote legalising marijuana on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Thousands of people gather to smoke marijuana during the '420 Santiago'rally in front of the La Moneda presidential palace in Santiago Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies People attend the Denver 420 Rally at Civic Center Park in Denver, Colorado Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Kevin Barron and Lasean Moore of Raleigh, North Carolina, share a joint during the Denver 420 Rally at Civic Center Park in Denver, Colorado Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Nic Ruhl takes a pull on a giant hand rolled joint at precisely 4:20pm MDT during the Denver 420 Rally at Civic Center Park in Denver, Colorado Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Various cannabis paraphernalia on display at a vendor's stall during the Denver 420 Rally at Civic Center Park in Denver, Colorado Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Mo Banez, of Austin, Texas, lights a joint during the Denver 420 Rally at Civic Center Park in Denver, Colorado Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies A man displays a large container of cannabis during the Denver 420 Rally at Civic Center Park in Denver, Colorado. The rally, held annually, is a celebration of both the legalisation of cannabis and cannabis culture. Colorado is one of twenty-six U.S. states along with the District of Columbia that has legalised the use of cannabis either recreationally or medically AFP/Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Sitting in small groups on mats shaded by trees in the Rose Garden just across from the Knesset, participants lit up as the clock struck 4:20 for the local version of the traditional worldwide April 20 pro-marijuana events, known as '420' rallies Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies An Israeli smokes a marijuana joint in Jerusalem during a rally at the Rose garden Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Sitting in small groups on mats shaded by trees in the Rose Garden just across from the Knesset, participants lit up as the clock struck 4:20 for the local version of the traditional worldwide April 20 pro-marijuana events, known as '420' rallies Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies An Israeli girl poses with a mock marijuana joint in Jerusalem during a rally at the Rose garden, to celebrate 420 and to express their defiance of current laws Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies aelis pass around a marijuana joint in Jerusalem during a rally at the Rose garden, to celebrate 420 and to express their defiance of current laws Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies An Israeli smokes a marijuana joint in Jerusalem during a rally at the Rose garden, to celebrate 420 and to express their defiance of current law Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies An Israeli smokes a marijuana joint in Jerusalem on April 20, 2017 during a rally opposite the Knesset to celebrate 420 and express defiance of current laws AFP/Getty Images

Californians voted to legalise recreational use of the drug in 2016. The first shops authorised to sell the drug are set to open in the new year.

Opponents of decriminalising or legalising cannabis warn it will undermine public health, pointing in particular to the risk of increased use among teenagers whose developing brains are more vulnerable.

Californias initiative requires marijuana products to bear labels warning of potential health hazards, including that marijuana use while pregnant or breastfeeding could be harmful.
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More than $175,000 (103,000) has been raised for a man shot seven times protecting worshippers during a shooting at a mosque.

Aymen Derbali was praying at the Quebec City Islamic Cultural Centre on 29 January when a gunman walked in and opened fire, killing six people.

Witnesses said instead of fleeing, the father-of-three turned and faced the gunman in a bid to attract his attention long enough to allow others to escape.

He was in a coma for two months following the shooting, while he permanently lost the use of both legs after two bullets lodged in his spinal cord.

"I tried not to panic or flee," Mr Derbali told The Globe and Mail. "I tried to concentrate so that he wouldn't fire on others. I would rather have been paralysed for life than to have fled and been left unscathed, without having done something to help people."

The fund, raised by Canadian-Muslim non-profit organisation DawaNet, will help buy a wheelchair-accessible home for Mr Derbali.

 Kellyanne Conway on why Trump didn't comment on Quebec killing: He doesn't tweet about everything

The former aid worker is due to leave a rehabilitation centre soon, but doctors have warned against moving back into the familys fourth-floor apartment.

Amira Elghawaby, a DawaNet volunteer, told CBC News: "He was trying to actually get his attention so that he would focus on him instead of the others, and he would give the others an opportunity to get away.

"It's an incredible act of heroism that he showed."

She added: "It's critical that we help him find a home as soon as possible so he can spend a night with his family, which, until now - almost one year after this horrible massacre - he still hasn't really been able to do.

Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Show all 30 1 /30 Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Threatening to shut down Twitter after being fact-checked After the president tweeted that voting by post would be "substantially fraudulent", Twitter attached a warning label to his tweet and referred readers to a site which explained how the claim was "unsubstantiated". Trump then said Twitter was "stifling free speech" and that he may have to shut it down, something which he would not have the power to do AFP/Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Flippantly dismissing a serious allegation of sexual assault When author E Jean Carroll accused Trump of raping her, the president responded: Number one, shes not my type. Number two, it never happened. It never happened, OK?" AFP/Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Insulting the Mayor of London as he landed in London Just before touching down at Stansted Airport for his state visit, Trump took time out to @ the London mayor Sadiq Khan on twitter. He said that Khan has done a "terrible job"as mayor and that he is a "stone cold loser" Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Taking plenty of "Executive Time" The president's official schedule sets aside the hours from 8 to 11am daily for "Executive Time". Further intermittent periods of "Executive Time" are scheduled throughout any given day, ranging from 15 minutes to 3 hours. His duties in these hours have not been officially disclosed, though Axios reports that he spends them watching TV, reading the newspapers and tweeting Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Shutdown the government for over a month in an effort to secure funding for his wall With Mexico declining to pay for the wall, the president has faced difficulty in raising the required $5bn at home. Due to his demand that the money for the wall be included in the budget, and Congress's refusal, the government partially shut down on 22 December 2018. It remained shut for over a month, the longest period in history Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Joking about the Nazi occupation of France to President Macron In this tweet from 13 November 2018, the president mocks Emmanuel Macron's suggestion of a "true, European army" by invoking the conflict between France and Germany in the world wars Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... 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Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Calling African nations "S***hole Countries" Ever one for diplomacy, the president reportedly referred to African nations as "s***hole countries". Asked to confirm this when meeting with Nigeria's President Buhari, Trump stated that there are "some countries that are in very bad shape". Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Defending Russian President Vladimir Putin Trump appeared to equate US foreign actions to those of Russian president Vladimir Putin, saying: There are a lot of killers. You think our countrys so innocent? Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Asking for people to 'pray' for Arnold Schwarzenegger At the National Prayer Breakfast, Trump couldnt help but to ask for prayers for the ratings on Arnold Schwarzeneggers show to be good. Schwarzenegger took over as host of The Apprentice  which buoyed Trumps celebrity status years ago Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Hanging up on Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull Early in his presidency, Trump reportedly hung up the phone on Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull after the foreign leader angered him over refugee plans. Mr Trump later said that it was the worst call he had had so far Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... The 'Muslim ban' Perhaps one of his most controversial policies while acting as president, Trumps travel ban targeting predominantly Muslim countries has bought him a lot of criticism. The bans were immediately protested, and judges initially blocked their implementation. The Supreme Court later sided with the administrations argument that the ban was developed out of concern for US security Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Praising crowd size while touring Hurricane Harvey damage After Hurricane Harvey ravaged southeastern Texas, Trump paid the area a visit. While his response to the disaster in Houston was generally applauded, the president picked up some flack when he gave a speech outside Houston (he reportedly did not visit disaster zones), and praised the size of the crowds there AP Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... 'Little Rocket Man' During his first-ever speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Trump tried out a new nickname for North Korea leader Kim Jong-un: Rocket Man. He later tweaked it to be little Rocket Man as the two feuded, and threatened each other with nuclear war. During that speech, he also threatened to totally annihilate North Korea Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Attacking Sadiq Khan following London Bridge terror attack After the attack on the London Bridge, Trump lashed out at London Mayor Sadiq Khan, criticising Khan for saying there was no reason to be alarmed after the attack. Trump was taking the comments out of context, as Khan was simply saying that the police had everything under control Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Claiming presenter Mika Brezinkski was 'bleeding from the face' Never one not to mock his enemies, Trump mocked MSNBCs Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski, saying that she and co-host Joe Scarborough had approached him before his inauguration asking to join him. He noted that she was bleeding badly from a face-lift at the time, and that he said no MSNBC Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... 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Firing head of the FBI, James Comey Trumps firing of former FBI Director James Comey landed him with a federal investigation into Russias meddling in the 2016 election that has caused many a headache for the White House. The White House initially said that the decision was made after consultation from the Justice Department. Then Mr Trump himself said that he had decided to fire him in part because he wanted the Russia investigation Mr Comey was conducting to stop Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Not realising being president would be 'hard' Just three months into his presidency, Trump admitted that being president is harder than he thought it would be. Though Trump insisted on the 2016 campaign trail that doing the job would be easy for him, he admitted in an interview that living in the White House is harder than running a business empire Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Accusing Obama of wiretapping him Trump accused former president Barack Obama of wire tapping him on twitter. The Justice Department later clarified: Obama had not, in fact, done so Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Claiming there had been 3 million 'illegal votes' Trump was never very happy about losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by 2.8 million ballots. So, he and White House voter-fraud commissioner Kris Kobach have claimed that anywhere between three and five million people voted illegally during the 2016 election. Conveniently, he says that all of those illegal votes went to Clinton. (There is no evidence to support that level of widespread voter fraud.) Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... 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The organisation has raised almost half of its $400,000 target, which is hopes to hit by 28 January.

Ms Elghawaby said the family were eyeing an accessible home close to the mosque, which he still attends every Friday in his wheelchair.

This campaign has demonstrated to them why they should remain strong in their belief that fellow Canadians won't let him down. We are going to recognise his heroism, what they've been through, she said.

Canadian police charged Alexandre Bissonnette, a French-Canadian student, with six counts of first-degree murder and five of attempted murder following the attack on the mosque. He is currently awaiting trial.
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A father has said he found his teenage son having sex in the back of a car with a teacher from his Texas school.

Police in Bay City, 80 miles south-west of Houston, have charged the teacher, Rachel Gonzales, 44, with online solicitation and having an improper relationship with the 13-year-old boy.

During the investigation, police inspected the boys mobile phone and found texts from Ms Gonazalez indicating the pair had an inappropriate relationship prior to the alleged incident on 14 December, police said.

Recommended Family of Texas church shooting victim asks public for Christmas cards

At the request of the District Attorney, the Bay City Independent School District, where Ms Gonzalez is a teacher, have turned over the case to the local police.

She was taken to the Matagorda County jail on 22 December but is now out on bond.

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

Ms Gonzalez officially resigned from her post as a fourth-grade teacher at Cherry Elementary School on 15 December, according to the school district. It is not known whether she has yet had the opportunity to enter a plea.

A local newspaper, the Bay City Tribune, said a September report from the Texas Education Agency found the number of cases against educators accused of inappropriate relationships with minor students increased 36 per cent this past year.

A whopping 302 investigations were opened into such matters this year alone.

The state has experienced an increase in the reporting of such incidents for the ninth consecutive year.

As of September 2017, there is a law in the state requiring school principals or district superintendents report such relationships in a timely manner or face charges of a second-degree felony.
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Global perceptions of America are souring even as the country struggles to avert war on the Korean Peninsula, a former ambassador warned.

We are, I think, in the eyes of people overseas, declining, Thomas Pickering  whose resume includes serving as ambassador to Russia, Israel and the United Nations  said on CNN, adding: Thats not something that I think the United States needs or wants in terms of being able to lead the international community.

For evidence, Mr Pickering cited a recent Pew Research Center study finding that attitudes towards the US have taken a dramatic turn for the worse, especially in Western Europe and Latin America. The median mark for America was 49 per cent approval, a steep decline from the 64 per cent approval registered in the waning years of the Obama administration.

At the same time, the study found strong backing for America among South Koreans (75 per cent approval) and a comfortable 57 per cent rating from Japanese people  two nations that have been consistently threatened by Pyongyangs belligerence, which has included firing multiple ballistic missiles over Japan.

Two outcomes of rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula could be armed conflict or chaos Mr Pickering warned. He said the people in the region, particularly China dont want either of those and that Russia was jumping in to see what they can do to prevent chaos on their border.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Thomas Pickering: In the eyes of people overseas the USs influence on the world stage is declining https://t.co/r6M6lujzXo  New Day (@NewDay) December 27, 2017

He praised Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for promoting a diplomatic route to begin to take this military pressure and this sanction pressure in the direction we want to see it go with various steps that are going to lead I hope, toward denuclearisation without conflict.

Kim Jong-un inspects weapon North Korea says is powerful hydrogen bomb Show all 6 1 /6 Kim Jong-un inspects weapon North Korea says is powerful hydrogen bomb Kim Jong-un inspects weapon North Korea says is powerful hydrogen bomb Photos released by North Korea show Kim Jong-un talking to subordinates next to a device thought to be the new thermonuclear weapon. There is no way of independently verifying the pictures STR/AFP/Getty Images Kim Jong-un inspects weapon North Korea says is powerful hydrogen bomb North Korea claims it has successfully tested an advanced hydrogen bomb which could be loaded onto an intercontinental ballistic missile AFP/Getty Kim Jong-un inspects weapon North Korea says is powerful hydrogen bomb A diagram on the wall behind Mr Kim shows a bomb mounted inside a cone STR/AFP/Getty Images Kim Jong-un inspects weapon North Korea says is powerful hydrogen bomb North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (C) attending a photo session with participants of the fourth conference of active secretaries of primary organisations of the youth league of the Korean People's Army (KPA) in Pyongyang STR/AFP/Getty Images Kim Jong-un inspects weapon North Korea says is powerful hydrogen bomb A new stamp issued in commemoration of the successful second test launch of the "Hwasong-14" intercontinental ballistic missile KCNA via Reuters Kim Jong-un inspects weapon North Korea says is powerful hydrogen bomb A new stamp issued in commemoration of the successful second test launch of the "Hwasong-14" intercontinental ballistic missile KCNA via Reuters

The Trump administration recently contradicted Mr Tillersons suggestion that the US might begin negotiating with Pyongyang without preconditions.

And while Donald Trump and his surrogates have consistently said they seek a peaceful resolution, they have also repeatedly floated the possibility of a military intervention  an outcome Mr Pickering believes could come to pass.

The US public is not interested I think in another war, particularly in Asia, but thats whats happening around here and the drums are beating, he said.
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Muslims in America are more vulnerable to bigotry and Islamophobia as a result of Donald Trumps behaviour and actions than they were after the 9/11 attacks, according to a leading Muslim activist.

As the country approaches the anniversary of Mr Trumps first year in office, Ibrahim Hooper said such was the level of anxiety and apprehension, many Muslims were fearful to public display signs of their faith. A number of Muslim women, for instance, were deciding not to to appear in public wearing the veil.

Its not just Americans Muslims [who feel anxious], Mr Hooper, a founder of the Council On American-Islamic Relations, told The Independent. We have have seen white supremacists emboldened under Trump.

The President sparked outcry by retweeting a post by a right-wing British political group (Twitter)

Mr Hooper said many people of colour and members of minority communities had been deeply dismayed by a large number of Mr Trumps actions, including his Muslim travel ban and his administrations crackdown on undocumented migrants.

He said the Presidents failure to speak out against white supremacism and extremism  as in the aftermath of neo-Nazi-led violence in Charlottesville in August which left one woman dead  had the impact of allowing such views to become mainstream.

Many white supremacists, including former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, praised the way Mr Trump responded to the violence, claiming that there was blame on all sides.

Its worse now than even after 9/11. He has empowered and mainstreamed white supremacy and bigotry, he said. After 9/11, bigotry was under the rocks and hidden. Now these bigots are out in the open and saying they are proud of their bigotry.

Asked if he believed the alleged increase in Islamophobia was the result of Mr Trumps presidency, he said: There is no other explanation.

 When asked about Islamophobia, Sean Spicer instead spoke of 'radical Islamic terrorism'

Mr Hooper said several episodes of anti-Muslim violence had made international headlines. Among them was an incident in May, when two men were killed and a third badly injured, after they tried to intervene on a train in Portland, Oregon, when a man started screaming anti-Muslim insults at two women. In Quebec City, Canada, six people were killed and 10 others injured after a lone gunman opened fire.

Mr Hoopers organisation said it had been collating details of other alleged hate crimes and incidents of Islamophobia that did not always get widespread media coverage.

Between January and September 2017, the organisation recorded 1,656 so-called bias incidents and 195 hate crimes. That represented a 9 per cent increase in bias incidents and a 20 per cent rise in hate crimes compared to 2016.

Based on preliminary estimates, its fair to say that 2017 is gearing to be the worst year on record for incidents of anti-Muslim bias since we began our current system of documentation, said research and advocacy coordinator Zainab Arain.

Additionally, this year weve noted a disturbing trend of perpetrators invoking Trump to express racial and religious animosity.

Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Show all 30 1 /30 Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Threatening to shut down Twitter after being fact-checked After the president tweeted that voting by post would be "substantially fraudulent", Twitter attached a warning label to his tweet and referred readers to a site which explained how the claim was "unsubstantiated". Trump then said Twitter was "stifling free speech" and that he may have to shut it down, something which he would not have the power to do AFP/Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Flippantly dismissing a serious allegation of sexual assault When author E Jean Carroll accused Trump of raping her, the president responded: Number one, shes not my type. Number two, it never happened. It never happened, OK?" AFP/Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Insulting the Mayor of London as he landed in London Just before touching down at Stansted Airport for his state visit, Trump took time out to @ the London mayor Sadiq Khan on twitter. He said that Khan has done a "terrible job"as mayor and that he is a "stone cold loser" Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Taking plenty of "Executive Time" The president's official schedule sets aside the hours from 8 to 11am daily for "Executive Time". Further intermittent periods of "Executive Time" are scheduled throughout any given day, ranging from 15 minutes to 3 hours. His duties in these hours have not been officially disclosed, though Axios reports that he spends them watching TV, reading the newspapers and tweeting Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Shutdown the government for over a month in an effort to secure funding for his wall With Mexico declining to pay for the wall, the president has faced difficulty in raising the required $5bn at home. Due to his demand that the money for the wall be included in the budget, and Congress's refusal, the government partially shut down on 22 December 2018. It remained shut for over a month, the longest period in history Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Joking about the Nazi occupation of France to President Macron In this tweet from 13 November 2018, the president mocks Emmanuel Macron's suggestion of a "true, European army" by invoking the conflict between France and Germany in the world wars Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Railing against the Mueller investigation The president has repeatedly claimed that the Mueller investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, is a "rigged witch hunt" Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Contradicting a US intelligence report on Russian meddling in the presence of Vladimir Putin In the press conference that followed his landmark meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin, Trump stated that he saw no reason why Russia would have meddled in the 2016 US election. This contradicted a 2017 report by the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence that found evidence of Russian interference in favour of Trump Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Contradicting his contradiction of a US intelligence report on Russian meddling Following furious backlash in the US, the president claimed that he meant to say that he saw no reason why it would not have been Russia who meddled in the 2016 US election. As to why he would have intended to use such bizarre phrasing, he did not comment Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Colouring in the US flag wrong The president coloured in the US flag wrongly during a visit to a children's hospital in Columbus, Ohio. He added a blue stripe where in tradition, and statute, there have been only white and red stripes AFP/Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Firing a Secretary of State over Twitter The president announced on Twitter that he was appointing Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State, much to the surprise of then Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Quoting a catchphrase from a reality TV show when discussing police brutality While addressing the issue of black athletes not standing for the national anthem in protest of police brutality, the president made reference to his catchphrase from reality TV show "The Apprentice": you're fired! Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Calling African nations "S***hole Countries" Ever one for diplomacy, the president reportedly referred to African nations as "s***hole countries". Asked to confirm this when meeting with Nigeria's President Buhari, Trump stated that there are "some countries that are in very bad shape". Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Defending Russian President Vladimir Putin Trump appeared to equate US foreign actions to those of Russian president Vladimir Putin, saying: There are a lot of killers. You think our countrys so innocent? Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Asking for people to 'pray' for Arnold Schwarzenegger At the National Prayer Breakfast, Trump couldnt help but to ask for prayers for the ratings on Arnold Schwarzeneggers show to be good. Schwarzenegger took over as host of The Apprentice  which buoyed Trumps celebrity status years ago Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Hanging up on Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull Early in his presidency, Trump reportedly hung up the phone on Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull after the foreign leader angered him over refugee plans. Mr Trump later said that it was the worst call he had had so far Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... The 'Muslim ban' Perhaps one of his most controversial policies while acting as president, Trumps travel ban targeting predominantly Muslim countries has bought him a lot of criticism. The bans were immediately protested, and judges initially blocked their implementation. The Supreme Court later sided with the administrations argument that the ban was developed out of concern for US security Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Praising crowd size while touring Hurricane Harvey damage After Hurricane Harvey ravaged southeastern Texas, Trump paid the area a visit. While his response to the disaster in Houston was generally applauded, the president picked up some flack when he gave a speech outside Houston (he reportedly did not visit disaster zones), and praised the size of the crowds there AP Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... 'Little Rocket Man' During his first-ever speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Trump tried out a new nickname for North Korea leader Kim Jong-un: Rocket Man. He later tweaked it to be little Rocket Man as the two feuded, and threatened each other with nuclear war. During that speech, he also threatened to totally annihilate North Korea Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Attacking Sadiq Khan following London Bridge terror attack After the attack on the London Bridge, Trump lashed out at London Mayor Sadiq Khan, criticising Khan for saying there was no reason to be alarmed after the attack. Trump was taking the comments out of context, as Khan was simply saying that the police had everything under control Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Claiming presenter Mika Brezinkski was 'bleeding from the face' Never one not to mock his enemies, Trump mocked MSNBCs Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski, saying that she and co-host Joe Scarborough had approached him before his inauguration asking to join him. He noted that she was bleeding badly from a face-lift at the time, and that he said no MSNBC Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Claiming the blame for Charlottesville was on 'both sides' Trump refused to condemn far-right extremists involved in violence at 'the march for the right' protests in Charlottesville, even after the murder of counter protester Heather Heyer AP Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Retweeting cartoon of CNN being hit by a 'Trump train' Trump retweeted a cartoon showing a Trump-branded train running over a person whose body and head were replaced by a CNN avatar. He later deleted the retweet Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Tweeting about 'slamming' CNN Trump caught some flack when he tweeted a video showing him wrestling down an individual whose head had been replaced by a CNN avatar. Trump has singled CNN out in particular with his chants of fake news Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Firing head of the FBI, James Comey Trumps firing of former FBI Director James Comey landed him with a federal investigation into Russias meddling in the 2016 election that has caused many a headache for the White House. The White House initially said that the decision was made after consultation from the Justice Department. Then Mr Trump himself said that he had decided to fire him in part because he wanted the Russia investigation Mr Comey was conducting to stop Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Not realising being president would be 'hard' Just three months into his presidency, Trump admitted that being president is harder than he thought it would be. Though Trump insisted on the 2016 campaign trail that doing the job would be easy for him, he admitted in an interview that living in the White House is harder than running a business empire Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Accusing Obama of wiretapping him Trump accused former president Barack Obama of wire tapping him on twitter. The Justice Department later clarified: Obama had not, in fact, done so Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Claiming there had been 3 million 'illegal votes' Trump was never very happy about losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by 2.8 million ballots. So, he and White House voter-fraud commissioner Kris Kobach have claimed that anywhere between three and five million people voted illegally during the 2016 election. Conveniently, he says that all of those illegal votes went to Clinton. (There is no evidence to support that level of widespread voter fraud.) Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Leaving Jews out of the Holocaust memorial statement Just days after taking office, Trumps White House issued a statement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, but didnt mention jews or even the word jewish in the written statement Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Anger over Inauguration crowd size Trumps inauguration crowd was visibly, and noticeably, smaller than that of his predecessor, Barack Obama. But, he really wanted to have had the largest crowd on record. So, he praised it as the biggest crowd ever. Relatedly, Trump also claimed that it stopped raining in Washington at the moment he was inaugurated. It didnt, the day was very dreary Reuters

During the 2016 election campaign and after he took office, Mr Trump frequently talked about Muslims in a way many felt was derogatory. In late 2015, he said he would call for a complete ban on Muslims entering the country.

He did so in the wake of a deadly mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, that killed 14 people. The attack was carried out by a married couple, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik. Farook was a US-born citizen of Pakistani descent while Malik was a Pakistani-born lawful permanent resident.

A week after Mr Trump was inaugurated, he signed the first of three executive orders designed to prohibit citizens of half-a-dozen Muslim majority countries from entering the country. While the order was at first blocked by the courts and the White House scrambled to to say it was not a ban on Muslims, Mr Trumps ally Rudy Giuliani said the President wanted a Muslim ban and had asked him how to go about enacting one legally.

The ban is currently active while further legals challenges proceed.

Mr Trump most recently sparked accusations that he was stirring fuelling Islamophobia when he retweeted three inflammatory videos originally posted by the right-wing UK group Britain First.

The videos, which the White House admitted it had not sought to verify, depicted purported Muslims assaulting people and, in one video, smashing a statue of the Virgin Mary.

The White House did not immediately respond to inquiries for comment.
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US President Donald Trump's poll numbers continue to plunge while the popularity of both his predecessor Barack Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden, are on the rise.

The website FiveThirtyEight put Mr Trump's approval rating at just 37.1 per cent over the Christmas holiday. Every other President has had a rating at least 10 per cent higher on the 337th day of their first terms, making Mr Trump the most unpopular leader in modern US history at this point of his time in office.

Mr Obama, on the other hand, has seen his approval rating increase by four points to 63 per cent since leaving office in January, according to a Gallup poll.

At 57 per cent in a CNN poll, Mr Biden's popularity is 20 points higher than that of the current President. The former Vice President's unfavourability rating is at just 27 per cent, nearly ten points lower than in the same CNN poll conducted while he was in office in 2015.

To add insult to injury, Mr Obama's favourability rating in the deeply conservative state of Alabama was at 52 per cent last month, just ahead of Mr Trump's 49 per cent.

That was at the time when the President came out in support of accused child sex abuser and Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore, in the race he ultimately lost to Democrat Doug Jones. That particular poll was run by Mr Trump's preferred television viewing - Fox News.

 Barack Obama says we must set example with social media use, in Prince Harry interview

The former leaders largely stayed out of Washington politics, at first.

Mr Biden devoted time to furthering cancer cure research and writing a book, Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose, about the death of his son Beau from a rare form of brain cancer.

Though he said last month in a speech in Chicago that Mr Trump was part of a history of "charlatans" but empathised with his voters. Mr Biden said the President's supporters in the working class arent prejudiced, theyre realistic about how their lives have become harder and more expensive.

He also said Mr Trump's "America First" foreign policy is "ideological incoherence, inconsistent and erratic decision-making".

Mr Biden, even at 75, is seen by many in Democratic circles as one of few legitimate challengers to Mr Trump's 2020 bid for a second term. The former Delaware senator has dodged the question of whether he will run, however.

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

Mr Obama initially posted pictures of himself and former First Lady Michelle Obama on a fantastic beach vacation after eight gruelling years in the White House.

However, he has weighed in on particularly important pieces of legislation like Congress' effort to replace and repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

In June he issued a rare post-presidential statement in which said the senate bill in its form at the time "is not a health care bill. Its a massive transfer of wealth from middle-class and poor families to the richest people in America."

"Simply put, if theres a chance you might get sick, get old, or start a familythis bill will do you harm," Mr Obama said, adding that he would support any Republican bill that addressed the shortcomings of his namesake healthcare bill.

The former president also stumped on the campaign trail in November for Democrat Governor-Elect Ralph Northam in Virginia.

Despite his poor overall job approval rating, Mr Trump continues to have strong support from his base of supporters going into 2018 according to several polls.
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A city in Pennsylvania has been engulfed by a huge dump of snow  creating travel chaos and breaking records.

Reports said the city of Erie, located 100 miles south-west from Buffalo, New York, and on the edge of Lake Erie, had seen 62.9 inches of snow fall since December 23. This was enough to break previous records and to prompt a disaster emergency declaration by Erie County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper.

Ensuring the safety and welfare of the public is paramount, and this declaration positions Erie County to better help respond to both the needs of our citizens and our municipalities, said Ms Dahlkemper.

Specifically, the move will allow officials to bring in National Guard resources with forecasters predicting more snow.

She told The Independent the city had been prepared for the snow but that the deluge had broken records dating back to at least 1958. The main thing is to try and keep the streets clear, she said. One thing that helped was that we asked people to stay at home yesterday and most of them did.

Local media said Erie has received 93 inches of snow in December, making it the most snow-filled month in the citys history. The city averages about 100 inches of snow in an entire season.

The storm brought 34 inches of snow on Christmas Day, an all-time daily snowfall record.

Another 24.5 inches fell by Tuesday night, bringing the total since 23 December to more than 63 inches.

Erie has issued a snow emergency, citing dangerous and impassable roads. Its asking residents to stay off streets until the snow stops and roads can reopen.

State police and the state Department of Transportation are urging people to avoid travel, citing poor visibility and deteriorating conditions.

The citys 100,000 resident are use to intense weather. During the autumn and early winter, cold air pours over the relatively warm lake waters, picking up moisture and depositing it as snow.

 'Dangerous conditions' warning as snow and ice hit the UK

The last two decades we havent had as much snow as we used to have in the 1970s, Mayor Joseph Sinnott told the Washington Post.

Although we have had snow, not like this, so people are not used to it. We managed to keep the main streets as clear as possible, but the side streets are very deep, and even the SUVs are having trouble.

A white Christmas for much of the north east and Midwest has given way to bitter cold until the New Year.

Residents should expect colder-than-normal temperatures for the rest of the week, according to Chicago-area National Weather Service meteorologist Amy Seeley. Temperatures hovered around zero degrees in Chicago on Tuesday.

Snow and sub-zero temperatures hit the UK Show all 13 1 /13 Snow and sub-zero temperatures hit the UK Snow and sub-zero temperatures hit the UK Lorries stuck between J2 and J1 after overnight snow PA/Twitter/simontab Snow and sub-zero temperatures hit the UK An overturned car PA/Thames Valley Police Roads Policing Snow and sub-zero temperatures hit the UK An easyJet plane is de-iced at Luton Airport PA Snow and sub-zero temperatures hit the UK A man shelters from the snow and sleet under a foldaway poncho in north London Rex Features Snow and sub-zero temperatures hit the UK Snow has settled in various parts of the UK, including Leicester Rachel Hosie Snow and sub-zero temperatures hit the UK A train battles through the snow at Moy near Inverness Rex Snow and sub-zero temperatures hit the UK Lorries stuck on the A14 being towed as snow causes travel chaos Twitter/@joshuaagdomar Snow and sub-zero temperatures hit the UK Accident on the M1 PA/Northants Roads and Armed Policing Team Snow and sub-zero temperatures hit the UK Wintry conditions at Stansted Airport PA/Twitter/RobertsNiomi Snow and sub-zero temperatures hit the UK Lorries between J2 and J1 PA/Twitter/simontab Snow and sub-zero temperatures hit the UK Wintry conditions in Pollokshields near Glasgow PA Snow and sub-zero temperatures hit the UK A Blue Air flight comes into land at Luton Airport PA Snow and sub-zero temperatures hit the UK Dog walkers enjoying a stroll in the snow near Inverness Rex Features

Forecasters warn of sub-zero frigid arctic air and dangerously cold wind chills in much of the US.

Advisories or warnings are in effect for all of North Dakota and Wisconsin, as well as swaths of South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan, Indiana, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and New York.

Meteorologists warn frostbite is possible with as little as 30 minutes of exposure.
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A Utah sheriff's deputy said Tuesday he was desperate and numb from the cold as he punched and stamped his way into a frozen pond on Christmas Day to pull out an eight-year-old boy who had fallen through the ice while chasing his dog.

With cuts on his forearms, Washington County sheriff's Sergeant Aaron Thompson said at a news conference that rescuers believe the child was in the 37-degree water for about 30 minutes until the deputy rescued him.

"I couldn't feel anything. I didn't notice anything when I was doing it," Thompson said. "I knew that time was of the essence. I had a very short window to get that child out of the water."

Sheriff's lieutenant David Crouse said the boy was hospitalised in Salt Lake City but didn't have details on his condition. Thompson said deputies were hopeful.

The boy fell through the ice in the town of New Harmony, north of Saint George.

After arriving at the scene, Thompson, who had served on a search and rescue dive team, began searching an area where a woman reported seeing the boy's hand flail about four minutes earlier.

The child is said to have been stuck in the pond for about 30 minutes AP (REUTERS)

The deputy stomped to break through the ice and work his way deeper, pounding with his hands and fists.

"As the ice got thicker, I couldn't break it with my arms and my fists anymore, so I had to jump up on top of the ice, putting my weight on it, and then pound on it to get it to break," he said.

When he went into the water, his toes brushed against reeds growing on the bottom of the pond and water reached his neck.

He swished his arms and legs around before finding the boy beneath the ice about 25 feet from the shoreline.

Thompson was treated for symptoms of hypothermia and released from a hospital Monday night. He said he lost the feeling in some fingers but sensation had returned by Tuesday.

He expects to return to work by early next week.

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 Spectrum of Saint George reported that Sheriff Cory Pulsipher praised the deputy.

"He hates having the spotlight on him, but he's a hero," Pulsipher said.

AP
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Neighbours said the display of hate in a Lorton, Virginia community was as large as it was shocking: a swastika roughly 40 feet across mowed into the grass of a community field.

Tire marks from a riding mower ran from the lot, up a road to the home of a teen known as troubled in the neighbourhood, leaving little mystery as to the perpetrator, a neighbour said. Residents of Gunston Manor were soon debating how to handle the situation: go to police or talk to the teen's family directly?

The latter plan won out and now some regret that decision.

The incident came roughly two months before the 17-year-old allegedly shot and killed the parents of his 16-year-old girlfriend in their Reston, Virginia, home last week. Scott Fricker, 48, and Buckley Kuhn-Fricker, 43, had forbade their daughter from seeing the teen, after family and friends said the couple discovered a Twitter account they believed was linked to the teen that retweeted tweets praising Hitler, making derogatory comments about Jews, calling for "white revolution," and picturing an image of a man hanging from a noose beneath a slur for gays.

The teen, who has been charged with two counts of murder, remains hospitalised in critical condition after turning the gun on himself.

Penny Potter, a neighbour, agreed to share the story of the swastika because she wanted it to serve as a cautionary tale to report early warning signs before a tragedy occurs. She doesn't know if neighbours had contacted police if the Frickers might still be alive, but believes there is a greater likelihood they would have been.

"We live in a very safe neighbourhood where kids can ride their bikes and not worry about anything," Potter said. "For the first time, I was fearful that there was someone living in our neighbourhood who was capable of incredibly irrational behaviour. If you see something that makes you say, 'huh,' just call police. They can tell you if it's appropriate."

Potter said she first became aware of the swastika around 20 October or 23 October, after another neighbour called her husband about it. Potter said her husband sometimes mows the community lot.

Potter's husband, who described the mowed symbol to her and took a photo of it, said the grass in the field was a little long and the portions making up the swastika were cut close to the turf. Potter said her husband told her the swastika was roughly 40 feet across and about 40 feet tall and was unmistakably the Nazi emblem.

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

A group of neighbours got together to figure out the best way to deal with the situation, said Potter.

Potter said residents decided to send an emissary to the family's home to discuss the swastika a couple days after it was discovered. Potter said the teen's parents admitted he had mowed the symbol into the grass. She said they were aware of his behavioural issues and were getting him treatment.

"They were going to take care of it," Potter said. "They were aware of it."

There was no answer at the 17-year-old's home on Tuesday, and family members previously have declined to comment.

Family and friends of the Frickers said the couple had grown so worried about their daughter's relationship with the 17-year-old that they contacted officials at the private school the two youths attended to share their concerns about his suspected neo-Nazi views. Recently, the Frickers staged an intervention to try to convince their daughter to stay away from the boyfriend. After a difficult meeting, the girl seemed to agree that would be best, said her grandmother, Janet Kuhn.

Kuhn said detectives have told the family that the fatal confrontation unfolded early Friday when her daughter and son-in-law heard a noise in the home. The couple went to check on their daughter and found the boyfriend in her room.

When Scott Fricker confronted him, the youth pulled out a gun and shot, Kuhn said police told the family.

Recommended Immigrants avoiding public services after a year of Trump

Fairfax County police have declined to comment on the family's account. On Tuesday, they said they also would not discuss how the alleged shooter may have gotten the gun.

"We aren't releasing anything further at this point as he is a minor," said Julie Parker, a police spokesperson.

Ed Munz, president of the Gunston Manor Property Owners Association, said he only learned of the swastika after other neighbours had spoken to the teen's family. He said he was not involved in the debate about what to do about it.

Munz said neighbours were "disgusted and embarrassed" by the swastika, so they mowed the field in such a way that the swastika was no longer visible.

On Christmas Eve, Munz sent an email message to members of the community association about the swastika incident. He urged anyone that had information to come forward.

"People who know anything of the event should step forward and speak with the police," Munz wrote in the message.

"My hope in this is that neighbours will understand that coming forward can save people's lives by reporting such behaviour," Munz wrote in an email to The Washington Post.

The Washington Post
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A North Korean soldier who defected to the South earlier this year was reportedly found with antibodies in his bloodstream that suggest past exposure to anthrax.

Signs of the deadly bacterial infection have added to fears in South Korea that the North is developing biological weapons, according to local media.

The soldier was not identified, but South Korea authorities were quoted as saying he had developed immunity to the disease prior to his defection.

 Dramatic footage shows North Korean soldier shot at as he flees to the South

"Anthrax antibodies have been found in the North Korean soldier who defected this year," an unnamed South Korean intelligence official told local news network Channel A on Tuesday.

North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch Show all 13 1 /13 North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch Pyongyang residents react after the news of the successful launch of the new intercontinental ballistic missile AFP/Getty Images North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un signing an order to test-fire the newly developed inter-continental ballistic missile KRT via AP Video North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch A news broadcast displays Kim Jong Un's signed document AP North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch People cheer as they watch the news broadcast announcing Kim Jong Un's order to test-fire the new inter-continental ballistic missile AFP/Getty Images North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch Residents react after the document signing AP North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch Pyongyang residents celebrate Kim Jong Un's announcement AFP/Getty North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch Cheering Pyongyang residents react AP North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch To counter North Korea's missile test, South Korea fired missiles into the East Sea The Defence Ministry/Yonhap via REUTERS North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch The Hyunmu-2 missiles firing during the drill South Korean Defense Ministry vi North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch The exercise was carried out in an attempt to counter Kim Jong Un's order South Korea Defense Ministry via AP North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch The South Korean army continue to carry out military exercises AP North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch Where K-9 self-propelled howitzers were taking part in a drill Rex Features North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch US soldiers are also present in the border city of Paju AFP/Getty Images

Antibodies are molecules that indicate immunity to a disease, as they are produced in response to an infection and help neutralise potential threats in the body.

Their alleged presence in the soldier suggests he was either exposed to or vaccinated for anthrax, a dangerous disease with a history as an agent of biological warfare.

North Korea has long been suspected of developing biological weapons.

Testimonies from defectors suggest a North Korean programme to develop biological weaponry has existed since the 1960s.

When the regime publicised the Pyongyang Biological Technology Research Institute in 2015, US analysts suggested the equipment there  allegedly used for pesticide research  could be used to make biological weapons.

 North Korea TV shows video of ballistic missile launch

It is hard to avoid the conclusion that the institute is intended to produce military-size batches of anthrax, wrote Melissa Hanham, a North Korea specialist at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, in a blog post commenting on the facility.

Regardless of whether the equipment is being used to produce anthrax today, it could be in the near future.

Anthrax is found naturally in the soil, particularly in agricultural regions in developing countries.

Its appeal as an agent of biological warfare comes from the relative ease with which regimes can acquire the microbes responsible, and subsequently release them without arousing suspicion.

Both South Korea's National Intelligence Service and Defense Ministry told CNN they could not confirm the new report concerning the North Korean defector.

The Defense Ministry noted that none of the four soldiers who defected in 2017 are believed to have worked in North Korea's biochemical warfare unit.

Nevertheless, the report comes at a time of heightened tensions surrounding biological weapons in the region.

The recent US National Security Strategy stated: North Korea  a country that starves its own people  has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons.

It went on to say: North Korea is also pursuing chemical and biological weapons which could also be delivered by missile.

The North Korean state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) called these claims groundless.

 Donald Trump says 'we will take care of it' after North Korea fires missile

KCNA also threatened revenge against the US for claiming North Korea is defying the terms of the Biological Weapons Convention, which bans the development, production and stockpiling of biological weapons.

South Koreas military is working on an anthrax vaccine, but according to Defense Ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyun-soo one will only be developed by the end of 2019.

In the meantime, CNN reported that 1,000 doses of anthrax vaccines were imported to South Korea in November to be given to biochemical counterterrorism agents or civilians in the case of anthrax exposure.
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The US and Russia have insisted they will not accept North Korea as a nuclear state, amid a series of missile tests by the East Asian nation and increased rhetoric from both Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke by phone on a myriad of issues, but both agreed on their stance regarding Pyongyangs continued development of nuclear weapons despite United Nations sanctions.

State Department Heather Nauert said in a statement that both sides agreed that they will continue to work towards a diplomatic solution to achieve a denuclearised Korean peninsula.

Recommended Russia offers to mediate between US and North Korea

However, on the same call on Tuesday, Mr Lavrov criticised President Donald Trumps aggressive rhetoric towards North Korea, as many world leaders and the UN have before. Mr Trump has said in the past that the US will rain down fire and fury on North Korea.

The phone call comes on the heels of Russias offer to be a mediator between Pyongyang and Washington, fostering dialogue rather than trading barbs as Mr Trump and Mr Kim have been doing for several months.

The President has repeatedly called Mr Kim Rocket Man as Mr Kim continues to test missiles dangerously close to US ally Japan.

 UN security council unanimously agrees new sanctions for North Korea

Late last week, the UN Security Council also unanimously passed - including votes from Russia and China who have closer ties to Pyongyang - more sanctions on North Korea, further limiting its oil supplies and slave labour market.

Mr Tillerson had previously said during a November news conference that North Koreas fuel supply is already quite constrained as shown by anecdotal evidence and US intelligence sources which show cars lined up at petrol stations or certain stations closing that would normally have fuel.

The issue is that the country only has one refinery that operates internally, so it is heavily reliant on finished fuel imports.

Reuters that according to Chinese customs data, China exported no oil products to North Korea in November - something that was above and beyond UN sanctions requirements. Beijing also imported no North Korean iron ore, coal or lead in last months, the second full month of those trade sanctions, the data showed.

North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch Show all 13 1 /13 North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch Pyongyang residents react after the news of the successful launch of the new intercontinental ballistic missile AFP/Getty Images North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un signing an order to test-fire the newly developed inter-continental ballistic missile KRT via AP Video North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch A news broadcast displays Kim Jong Un's signed document AP North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch People cheer as they watch the news broadcast announcing Kim Jong Un's order to test-fire the new inter-continental ballistic missile AFP/Getty Images North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch Residents react after the document signing AP North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch Pyongyang residents celebrate Kim Jong Un's announcement AFP/Getty North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch Cheering Pyongyang residents react AP North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch To counter North Korea's missile test, South Korea fired missiles into the East Sea The Defence Ministry/Yonhap via REUTERS North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch The Hyunmu-2 missiles firing during the drill South Korean Defense Ministry vi North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch The exercise was carried out in an attempt to counter Kim Jong Un's order South Korea Defense Ministry via AP North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch The South Korean army continue to carry out military exercises AP North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch Where K-9 self-propelled howitzers were taking part in a drill Rex Features North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch US soldiers are also present in the border city of Paju AFP/Getty Images

China has not disclosed its crude exports to North Korea for several years, but industry sources say it still supplies about 520,000 tonnes, or 3.8m barrels, a year to the country via an ageing pipeline.

A day after the UN sanctions, North Koreas state media called the stricter controls an act of war by a frenzied Trump administration.

The US Treasury Department also released a statement regarding the US-specific sanctions on the country. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said the departments finance-related sanctions will be targeting leaders of North Koreas ballistic missile programmes.

Tensions have continued to rise between North Korea and the US, as Pyongyang tested an intercontinental ballistic missile on 29 November that US intelligence officials said would put all of the US mainland within striking range.

The US has declared North Korea a state sponsor of terrorism to enact further financial sanctions and also claimed in the Presidents National Security Strategy that Pyongyang is developing biological weapons.
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Dozens of people have been hurt after a tourist ship hit a road bridge on the Rhine in western Germany.

Police said 25 people were injured when the Swiss Crystal, which had 129 people on board, hit a pillar of the bridge near Duisburg.

The water level was high at the time and the pillar is usually on land, news agency dpa reported.

The ship was heading downstream on the last leg of a Rhine tour starting and ending in the Dutch city of Arnhem. It set off on 22 December.

Another ship took the 103 passengers, most of them Dutch, and 26 crew members to Duisburg.

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

Police said four people with more serious injuries were released from hospital on Wednesday.

The bridge was closed for several hours as a precaution, but structural engineers cleared it to reopen after carrying out checks.

AP
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A new train station close to the Western Wall in Jerusalem is to be named after Donald Trump, Israels Transportation Minister has announced.

Yisrael Katz said the stop, which will be called the Donald John Trump, Western Wall station, was a tribute to the US Presidents decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Mr Katz told the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper: The Western Wall is the holiest place for the Jewish people, and I decided to call the train station that leads to it after President Trump following his historic and brave decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel.

The announcement comes weeks after Mr Trump ordered the State Department to begin the process of moving the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and recognise the latter as the countrys capital.

At the time, he said: Today we finally acknowledge the obvious: that Jerusalem is Israels capital. This is nothing more or less than a recognition of reality. It is also the right thing to do. Its something that has to be done.

The move was criticised by much of the international community amid fears it will harm the prospects of peace, but was backed by most Israeli leaders.

Mr Trump became the first sitting US president to visit the Western Wall when he travelled to Jerusalem in May.

One of the holiest sites in Judaism, the wall is the only remaining part of the of the Second Jewish Temple that was destroyed in 70AD.

It is also considered important in Islam as the place where the Prophet Muhammad is said to have tethered his horse, Buraq.

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 planned train station will be at one end of a new 3km tunnel stretching from HaUma station on the outskirts of Jerusalem to the Cardo in the heart of the citys ancient Jewish Quarter, close to the Western Wall.

The new line is expected to cost more than 500m and, if approved, would take four years to build.

It is likely to face strong opposition from Palestinians and much of the international community because the route will go through East Jerusalem, which is not legally recognised as Israeli territory by the international community. The area is heavily disputed, having been recaptured by Israel during the Six Day War in 1967.

Because the track will pass under Jerusalems historic Old City, construction work could also be delayed if sites of archaeological interest are discovered during excavations.

Mr Katz said he had ordered government officials to make the new line his departments top priority. It will form an extension to the high-speed rail line between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv that has been under construction since 2001 and is due to open next year.
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Medical evacuations have begun from the Syrian rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta to Damascus, the International Committee of the Red Cross in Syria said early on Wednesday.

Almost 400,000 people in Eastern Ghouta are besieged by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, and the United Nations has pleaded for his government to allow evacuation of around 500 patients, including children with cancer.

The Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) said four patients were taken to hospitals in Damascus, the first of 29 critical cases approved for medical evacuation, and the remainder would be evacuated over the coming days.

SAMS advocacy manager Mohamad Katoub said in a tweet that five had been approved for the first group of evacuations, part of a deal on an exchange of detainees between Assad's government and rebel group Jaish al-Islam. It was not clear why only four of the five had left.

The Syrian Red Crescent said the evacuations were the result of "long negotiations". An ICRC spokeswoman declined to give more details, citing the sensitivity of the operation.

On Sunday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey was working with Russia, Assad's ally, on the evacuations.

Last week Jan Egeland, the United Nations humanitarian adviser for Syria, said 494 people were on the priority list for medical evacuations.

"That number is going down, not because we are evacuating people but because they are dying," he said. "We have tried now every single week for many months to get medical evacuations out, and food and other supplies in."

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 United Nations has been waiting for months for the Syrian authorities to provide "facilitation letters" to allow the aid operation to get under way.

Forces loyal to Assad have carried out air raids on Eastern Ghouta, while besieged rebels have fired mortars into neighbouring Damascus.

"That has nothing to do with the right of evacuating, and obligation to evacuate civilians (and) wounded," Egeland said.

Reuters
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Medical workers who have finally been granted access to evacuate patients from a besieged district of Damascus in Syria say a six-month-old baby has died while awaiting rescue.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said evacuations from Eastern Ghouta continued on Wednesday as part of a deal with the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Baby Katr Alnada was among those at the top of a list of 29 people suffering from critical illnesses authorised for immediate evacuation in an operation that began late on Tuesday.

But when doctors from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent arrived in Eastern Ghouta they found she was already dead, according to fellow care group the Syrian American Medical Society. Katr's case highlights the extraordinary isolation of one of the last pockets of resistance near the Syrian capital, which has been subjected to a weeks-long bombing campaign.

Recommended Medical evacuations begin from besieged Syrian province

Katr Alnada a 6 months baby was supposed to be evacuated today in the list of urgent 29 people. When local team reached her they found that she died weeks ago, SAMS advocacy manager Mohamad Katoub tweeted.

The group drew up the list of the 29 critically ill to be submitted to the Syrian government after consulting with local doctors on the ground as well as with the World Health Organization (WHO).

They included those suffering from heart disease, cancer, kidney failure and blood disease along with others who need surgery not available there, the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) said.

SAMS media and communications manager Lobna Hassairi told The Independent its team on the ground in Eastern Ghouta said Katr was found to be dead amid the evacuations.

Almost 400,000 people are trapped in Eastern Ghouta  one of the last strongholds of the rebels in Syria  which is surrounded by government forces and has been under a blockade for eight months.

Aid agencies struck a deal with President Assad to evacuate the 29 people  including 18 children  who are critically ill. The deal, which came after months of tense negotiations, will see armed groups in Eastern Ghouta releasing an equivalent number of prisoners. The rest of the medical evacuation group is expected to be completed in the coming days, SAMS said.

A total of 494 people were on the priority list for medical evacuations from the besieged area, the UN humanitarian adviser for Syria, Jan Egeland, said last week.

"That number is going down, not because we are evacuating people but because they are dying," he said. "We have tried now every single week for many months to get medical evacuations out, and food and other supplies in."

The United Nations has been waiting for months for the Syrian authorities to provide "facilitation letters" to allow the aid operation to get under way.

Forces loyal to Assad have carried out air raids on Eastern Ghouta, while besieged rebels have fired mortars into neighbouring Damascus.

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

"That has nothing to do with the right of evacuating, and obligation to evacuate civilians (and) wounded," Egeland said.

Additional reporting by Reuters
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The United States announced sanctions on two North Korean officials behind their countrys ballistic missile programme on Tuesday, while Russia reiterated an offer to mediate to ease tensions between Washington and Pyongyang.

The new US steps were the latest in a campaign aimed at forcing North Korea  which has defied years of multilateral and bilateral sanctions  to abandon a weapons program aimed at developing nuclear-tipped missiles capable of hitting the United States.

The US Treasury named the officials as Kim Jong Sik and Ri Pyong Chol. It said Kim was reportedly a key figure in North Koreas efforts to switch its missile programme from liquid to solid fuel, while Ri was reported to be a key official in its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) development.

Treasury 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 Mnuchin said in a statement.

The move followed new United Nations sanctions announced last Friday in response to North Koreas Nov. 29 test of an ICBM that Pyongyang said put all the US mainland within range of its nuclear weapons. Those sanctions sought to further limit North Koreas access to refined petroleum products and crude oil and its earnings from workers abroad.

North Korea declared the UN steps to be an act of war and tantamount to a complete economic blockade.

North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch Show all 13 1 /13 North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch Pyongyang residents react after the news of the successful launch of the new intercontinental ballistic missile AFP/Getty Images North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un signing an order to test-fire the newly developed inter-continental ballistic missile KRT via AP Video North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch A news broadcast displays Kim Jong Un's signed document AP North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch People cheer as they watch the news broadcast announcing Kim Jong Un's order to test-fire the new inter-continental ballistic missile AFP/Getty Images North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch Residents react after the document signing AP North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch Pyongyang residents celebrate Kim Jong Un's announcement AFP/Getty North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch Cheering Pyongyang residents react AP North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch To counter North Korea's missile test, South Korea fired missiles into the East Sea The Defence Ministry/Yonhap via REUTERS North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch The Hyunmu-2 missiles firing during the drill South Korean Defense Ministry vi North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch The exercise was carried out in an attempt to counter Kim Jong Un's order South Korea Defense Ministry via AP North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch The South Korean army continue to carry out military exercises AP North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch Where K-9 self-propelled howitzers were taking part in a drill Rex Features North Korea announces intercontinental missile launch US soldiers are also present in the border city of Paju AFP/Getty Images

The standoff between the United States and North Korea has raised fears of a new conflict on the Korean peninsula, which has remained in a technical state of war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice not a peace treaty.

Washington has said that all options, including military ones, are on the table in dealing with North Korea. It says it prefers a diplomatic solution, but that North Korea has given no indication it is willing to discuss denuclearisation.

On Tuesday, the Kremlin, which has long called for the two sides to hold negotiations, said it was ready to act as a mediator if the United States and North Korea were willing for it to play such a role.

Russias readiness to clear the way for de-escalation is obvious, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

 UN security council unanimously agrees new sanctions for North Korea

The US State Department and White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Moscows offer.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who made a similar offer on Monday, told US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in a phone call on Tuesday that Washingtons aggressive rhetoric and beefing up of its military presence in the region had heightened tensions and was unacceptable, Russias foreign ministry said.

It said Lavrov underscored the need for the fastest move to the negotiating process from the language of sanctions.

Washington has stressed the need for all countries, especially Russia, and China  North Koreas main trading partner  to fully implement sanctions, including by cutting off oil supplies.

According to Chinese customs data, China exported no oil products to North Korea in November, apparently going above and beyond UN sanctions imposed earlier this year.

Beijing also imported no North Korean iron ore, coal or lead in November, the second full month of those trade sanctions, the data showed.

Beijing has not disclosed its crude exports to North Korea for several years, but industry sources say it still supplies about 520,000 tonnes, or 3.8 million barrels, a year to the country via an aging pipeline.

North Korea also sources some of its oil from Russia.

Trade between North Korea and China has slowed through the year, particularly after China banned coal purchases in February.

Chinese exports of corn to North Korean in November also slumped, down 82 per cent from a year earlier to 100 tonnes, the lowest since January. Exports of rice plunged 64 per cent to 672 tonnes, the lowest since March.

China has expressed concern about the humanitarian effects of sanctions, and has repeatedly called for constructive efforts to ease tensions.

Reuters
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You have written a new will, havent you? said my neighbour as we were somewhere over the Atlantic, the Namibian coast nipping at our heels.

Hahaha! I said, too loudly. Of course not. Then I remembered he was an amateur pilot. Wait, I said. Have you?

Im flying into one of the most dangerous airports in the world, then going diving in the middle of the Atlantic, he tutted. Of course Ive made a new will.

Im a notoriously bad flyer. Not bad enough not to fly, but bad enough to only fly with certain airlines at certain times of the day, sitting in certain parts of the plane, performing certain rituals that must be performed for us to stay in the air. Ive been known to have panic attacks, both on boarding and onboard. And Im getting worse with age.

So what does the most fearful frequent flyer in the world do to challenge their fear of flying? Book a flight to a brand new airport alternately called the most useless and one of the most dangerous in the world. Think of it as aversion therapy.

The genesis of St Helena Airport has been almost as turbulent as the notorious wind shear that plagues it. A British overseas territory 1,200 miles west of the Angolan coast, until October it was accessible only via a five-to-six-day boat crossing from Cape Town in South Africa. Sometimes, in rough weather, the boat didnt come. It wasnt great  for supplies, for healthcare, for tourism. Serious hikers and old people were the only people who could be bothered to come, as one high-up Saint (as the 4,500 residents are called) told me.

In 1999, local authorities suggested they needed an airport. In 2005, the UK government agreed to pay for it, partly in the hope that establishing tourism would enable the island to stand on its own two feet (its currently propped up by the Department for International Development).

A step by step guide to flying to St Helena Show all 17 1 /17 A step by step guide to flying to St Helena A step by step guide to flying to St Helena Check-in at Johannesburg Julia Buckley A step by step guide to flying to St Helena The elusive boarding pass Julia Buckley A step by step guide to flying to St Helena Boarding in Johannesburg Julia Buckley A step by step guide to flying to St Helena The plane Julia Buckley A step by step guide to flying to St Helena Flying across South Africa Julia Buckley A step by step guide to flying to St Helena A sandwich onboard Julia Buckley A step by step guide to flying to St Helena Coming in to land in Namibia Julia Buckley A step by step guide to flying to St Helena A river in Namibia Julia Buckley A step by step guide to flying to St Helena Landing at Windhoek Julia Buckley A step by step guide to flying to St Helena Touchdown at Windhoek Julia Buckley A step by step guide to flying to St Helena Sharing the runway at Windhoek Julia Buckley A step by step guide to flying to St Helena Inspecting the plane at Windhoek Julia Buckley A step by step guide to flying to St Helena Across the Namibian desert Julia Buckley A step by step guide to flying to St Helena Crusing above the Skeleton Coast Julia Buckley A step by step guide to flying to St Helena Food on the Windhoek-St Helena leg Julia Buckley A step by step guide to flying to St Helena Skimming across the Atlantic Julia Buckley A step by step guide to flying to St Helena Above the ocean Julia Buckley

They scheduled a 2010 opening, but that was before companies bidding for tender had withdrawn their offers, as well as a global financial crash and taking into account the need to level off mountainous landscape  filling in a chasm with eight million cubic metres of rock to construct a single flat surface on this most voluptuous of islands. Five years and 285m of UK taxpayer funding later, the airport was complete, only to find there were operational difficulties that rendered it non-functional.

Building an airport on a cliffside wasnt conducive to landing airplanes, it turned out. Winds gather speed across the open seas, slamming straight into St Helenas sheer cliffs  and the runway built on top of them. They change direction and speed at a split seconds notice. They are dangerous.

So the opening of the airport was delayed as they tested the wind shear. Trial charter flights didnt go well (one former acrobatics pilot apparently called the landing hair-raising). When the first passenger jet  a Boeing 737-800 (in British Airways livery, operated by BA subsidiary Comair)  arrived for a trial run in April 2016, it took three attempts to land: the passengers inside, locals love to tell you, were screaming; the pilot had to sit in a room by himself with coffee and cigarettes for an hour after landing.

And so the airport opening was put on hold indefinitely, and the RMS St Helena ship, which was due to be retired, was given a stay of execution. St Helena International Airport was infamously dubbed the worlds most useless airport.

And then, in July 2017, it was suddenly announced that flights would start.

Not the large passenger planes connecting London to the island via an intermediate stop, as had initially been envisioned, but 99-seater Embraer jets operated by South African carrier Airlink from Johannesburg. A maximum of 76 seats could be filled, it was announced, because of safety issues  the lower weight would allow the planes to use a shorter section of the runway.

The first flight landed on 14 October 2017. And four weeks later, here am I, the nerviest frequent flyer in the world, about to take one of the most notorious flights in the world.

Check-in is at Johannesburg airport, at the ungodly hour of 7am  the 9am flight has been scheduled, I will later be told by the governor of St Helena, in order to have the least wind shear to battle. Tell me Ill be OK, I mutter to the Airlink lady, whos demanded my travel insurance documents as well as my passport (these will be scrutinised again on landing, so expensive is it for sick visitors to be airlifted out). Of course youll be OK, she says. Ive done check-in for all the flights, and everyones been fine. Then she pauses. Of course, Ive only checked them in when theyre going there, she says darkly. Ive never seen anyone come back.

I stop at the airport pharmacy for travel sickness pills and ginger sweets. The woman suggests some homeopathic medicine for stress, and I gratefully accept, even though I dont believe in homeopathy.

On the bus to the plane, nobody looks stressed (later, I will be let in on the secret that some of them were hiding it well). An Airlink representative travels with us, explaining to the entire bus how we will board and sit on the plane, and I wonder: is this a Johannesburg thing, an Airlink thing or is it because this flight is so dangerous we must have the protocol drummed into us in order to survive? I think of a colleague who did this flight in its second week (it had been delayed two days because of fog on the island). She had told me not to worry, that shed spoken to the pilot and hed told her that only four of them are qualified to fly this route. At first Id felt reassured, but then Id thought: hang on. Of all the pilots in all the world, only four are good enough to fly to St Helena? How dangerous is this?

Getting into my seat (by the window, exit row, all the easier to leap from), I introduce myself to my neighbour: Hi, Im Julia, Im terrified of flying. No way! says Brad (not his real name). Im a pilot. He regales me with tales of his near misses and almost fatal errors all the way to Windhoek.

Ah yes, Windhoek. The flight to St Helena touches down, after just under two hours, in Namibia  to pick up passengers from Cape Town, was the initial plan, though thats now not possible (later, a Saint will mutter something about Airlink being a tardy bill-payer, though theres no evidence to suggest that). Instead, we just sit on the tarmac for an hour, not allowed off the plane; not technically allowed, the cabin crew tell us, even out of our seats, unless we need the loo. New (but slightly less inedible  this is an airline, after all) food is brought onboard, a toilet is unblocked, and one of the business-class passengers hops out to inspect the plane under the wing. Later, I will be told  because the Saints are world experts on their airport, even if theyve never flown before  that theres an engineer on every flight to do the pre-take-off inspection at Windhoek and be around in case anything needs a tweak at St Helena. With a landing like this, it needs to be in tip-top condition, nods Brad, knowingly.

Weve checked on the St Helena weather, announces the pilot over the intercom. Its quite normal conditions, standard gusts of 60kmph. We expect to be on the ground 10 minutes behind schedule, and itll be a little bumpy going up now.

It sure is bumpy as we take off from Windhoek, the heat thinning the air and making it feel like were on a particularly lazy horse, doing a slow, uncomfortable transition from walk to trot. Brad sees me gripping the armrests. Gosh! he says. Youre going to be in trouble later. Really, I ask him. Oh yes, he says. But theres nothing we can do now.

So, faced with our impending doom, over the next almost four hours, skimming up Namibias Skeleton Coast and flying out across the limitless Atlantic, away from humanity, Brad and I unburden ourselves to each other. He tells me about his great, lost love; I tell him about the family friend killed in a plane crash when I was a toddler; about a fear of flying so primal that I chose my job partly in the hope that I might rip it out by the roots; about my friend, an aviation journalist, who, when I asked whether I should risk flying to St Helena, told me: Maybe not."

He shares whats in his will, and comforts me when I lament I havent made one. He tells me what to look out for on descent  what the flaps, wheels and landing equipment will do as we prepare to land, what will happen if we cant land safely and need to do a go-around. If all else fails, he says, the runway on Ascension Island  700 miles north-west  is not built on a cliff, and we have enough fuel to get there. Thats what we were doing at Windhoek, he says. I think, if something terrible happens, at least with Brad I have a chance.

Landing at St Helena's notorious airport Show all 12 1 /12 Landing at St Helena's notorious airport Landing at St Helena's notorious airport St Helena's airport is on a cliff on the edge of the lsland Julia Buckley Landing at St Helena's notorious airport Cruising across the Atlantic Julia Buckley Landing at St Helena's notorious airport Approaching the island Julia Buckley Landing at St Helena's notorious airport Coming up to The Barn Julia Buckley Landing at St Helena's notorious airport Skidding down the runway Julia Buckley Landing at St Helena's notorious airport The end of the runway Julia Buckley Landing at St Helena's notorious airport St Helena runway Julia Buckley Landing at St Helena's notorious airport First view of the airport Julia Buckley Landing at St Helena's notorious airport Locals watch the tourists arrive Julia Buckley Landing at St Helena's notorious airport Baggage reclaim Julia Buckley Landing at St Helena's notorious airport The arrivals hall Julia Buckley Landing at St Helena's notorious airport The exterior of the airport Julia Buckley

And then the pilot is back, warning us about the landing. There are scattered clouds at 1,500 feet, and winds are gusting at 55mph, he says  Whew! says Brad. Definitely a go-around. We will be uncomfortable, warns the captain, but these are quite normal conditions for St Helena.

Its possible we will need to do a turnaround, and if we do that, well turn left and go around again, he says. We do expect turbulence on our final approach, but its nothing to be concerned about. He apologises that were running late. I study the emergency landing instructions and practise my grip on the exit handle.

And suddenly were grinding down through thick cloud, the island buried somewhere beneath us. Whoah, says Brad. This is thick. Maybe we wont be able to land. I neck a homeopathic stress pill. They wouldnt do this if it wasnt safe, would they? I whimper. Oof, no, says Brad. It would kill tourism.

And then he says: But this is going to be a close one. He stiffens in his seat.

Well effectively be doing a semi-emergency landing, hes already explained to me  the wind shear is too severe for a gradual descent, so well come in higher than usual and then slam down on the tarmac at the last minute (thats why the plane has to be both small and underweight  theres only so much runway for it to brake on, and a normal planeload of people could tip it over the edge). With the winds this high  or normal conditions for St Helena, I checked  he thinks well need to make at least two attempts at landing. Brad is in ecstasy at the idea of a go-around  Think of that G-force!. I ask, nervously, whether theres some kind of barrier or sandbank at the end of the runway, ready to cushion us if we dont stop in time. He looks horrified. Are you kidding? Wed crash into that if we were doing a go-around. No, he says, for safety reasons, the runway ends at the cliff edge, and beyond it is a sheer drop into the southern Atlantic. If the plane doesnt stop, it goes in.

Brad is getting stressed now. I try to reach for my camera and he snaps at me, forbidding me to move. He, too, is gripping the armrest. Hes still smiling  this is an adrenaline fiend whos booked on a mid-ocean dive the moment we land, after all  but its through gritted teeth.

We slide down, through the banks of clouds  its not particularly bumpy, and I brace myself for it to get worse. And then suddenly were below them, and I can see the island in the distance. Wait  were through the traditionally turbulent bit and I havent so much as gasped? Was it really that easy? Could it be that we will live?

St Helena  brown, cliffy, wart-like, an island that the devil shat out, going from one world to the next", in the words of one of Napoleons retinue in exile  is to our right, outside my window. We glide past huge cliffs shearing vertically into the ocean. Past Jamestown, the islands only town, squatting at the bottom of a seafront canyon and squeezed by two brown cliffs to either side. Past more cliffs, topped with rather luscious green hills. Towards a true monster of a cliff, a behemoth rearing up above all the others, smooth, dark brown, forbidding. The Barn, I will later find out its called. The cliff that Napoleon saw every day and found most depressing of all. The ringmaster of the wind shear.

 Footage shows a non-commercial flight landing at St Helena airport in October 2016

And suddenly the plane is rocking and rolling  a horse again, but a show-jumper this time, tackling Grand National-sized fences. It all happens so quickly  I hear people gasping, I turn to Brad, who looks ashen, I look at the cabin in front of me, rearing up and then down again, and I look at The Barn out of the window, hurtling towards me as we lurch sideways towards it. This is it, I have time to think, this is how it ends, ploughing into an excrement-coloured cliff  and then suddenly theres an almighty bump and were on the ground, brakes squealing.

I breathe were alive, and I turn to Brad to say were alive and the words freeze on my lips as I see him, eyes scrunched shut, gripping the armrest for dear life, and I remember him earlier saying its not over once we touch down, weve got to stop in time. I feel the chill in my stomach that I hadnt had time to feel while we were bucking in the sky just seconds ago, and I see the brand new airport skidding past as we screech down the runway, and then I can feel us slowing down and pray its going to be in time  because Brad had said: Theres a moment at which the pilot will have to decide whether were going to stop or if he needs to take off again. I feel like were not going fast enough to take off again, but were also not going slow enough to stop, not yet  and then suddenly the planes groaning and we really are stopping and I think, please let there be some runway left, and there is, and weve stopped, and I cant even look outside to see how close we were (although I do point the camera out of the window and the photos show us perilously close to where the tarmac spills into nothingness). I turn back to Brad and say: We really are alive now. He smiles, and I burst out crying, and as a planeload of passengers applaud, he says: That was rough. He leans back in his chair, and I reach for my laptop in the seatback pocket in front of me, desperate to get off the plane, and I realise I cant even grab it because Im shaking so much.

Going through customs  because St Helena has a rigorous immigration process that mimics the hard questioning of Donald Trumps border control, and then demands you produce print-outs of your travel insurance and return flight as well  I look so discombobulated that the lady asks if Im sure, absolutely sure, I have nothing to declare. When I explain Im recovering from the flight, she waves me straight through.

Which way did you fly in? Saints will ask over the next week  because, it turns out, the wind shear is much worse coming in from the north (as we did). And when I say, dramatically, past The Barn, they will look gravely impressed.

Youre so fearful, a top-ranking islander will tell me later, when I tell him how I found the flight; even though a man  a manly man, who will spend his entire week on St Helena literally running up and down mountains  has just said the same thing, yet he was not called a wimp. Youre so afraid of everything, Im surprised you ever leave the house. And I will think, well, if you will build an airport on top of a cliff where the wind slams in from both Angola and Brazil, to which only four pilots on the world are qualified to fly (though I think its six, now  there were a couple on my flight whod come to train), you should maybe expect your guests to be a little nervy. In fact, you could make a lot of money by playing on that. Id buy the T-shirt. I settled for a tote bag.

As it happens, on the return flight, I will be fine. Is it because of the adrenaline coursing through me after a run-in with my island nemesis at the airport? The fact that Im mothering someone else more scared than me? A week of island time? Actually, its because we depart to the south  the less wind-sheared side  and take-off is smooth as butter.

Would I fly there again? Actually, yes. It was only a few seconds of abject terror, and with hindsight the captain did his best to warn us  its just that, without an explanation of what exactly wind shear feels like, it was hard to stay calm in the moment. Also, of course, I have that fear of flying, so not everyone will find it so alarming. And if the winds are right and you land from the south, youll be fine. Either way, the island is worth the journey.

Though next time Ill make a will.

Update 30/1/18: The St Helena Government press office has asked to make it clear that there are now 7 Airlink pilots qualified to fly into St Helena Airport for commercial flights; additionally, outside of the scheduled flights, any licensed pilot with category C experience is allowed to fly into St Helena (there are three categories of airports, of which C is the most challenging, requiring additional pilot considerations and posing problems for the approach, landing or take-off). While the launch of commercial flights was indeed delayed, the airport had seen charter flights as well as medical evacuations prior to October 2017.

Travel essentials

Getting there

Return flights to St Helena from Johannesburg cost from 804 with Airlink. Virgin Atlantic flies from Heathrow to Joburg from 609 return.

More information

sthelenatourism.com
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Ill probably be called a snowflake for writing this, but all this dreaming of a white Christmas leaves me feeling very low every December. As a queer Iraqi immigrant in Britain, Christmas is the time I most hotly feel my displacement.

The Christmas season is polluted with national notions of home. Every November and December, my social media channels are assaulted by Christmas promotions, such as a video with Owen Wilson for sofa company Sofolofy which boasted the caption: It doesnt matter who you are or where you are, coming home is the best feeling ever. #whenhomereallymatters.

A cisgender white man reclining on an expensive sofa to tell me that going home is an irrefutable joy? Hardly a comfort.

Ostensibly  as many intersectional queer identities will tell you  I have no fixed notion of what home is. Ive lived in London since I was 11 (though never in a fixed residence), but my family live in Dubai, where they will be for Christmas.

Due to my sexuality and drag career, it would be unsafe to spend Christmas there. In any case, my queer identity has resulted in an intensely strained relationship with family. So the Middle East doesnt really count as home for me, being that its so hostile to such a dominant part of my identity.

Yet London feels an equally inhospitable place during the holidays. Aside from the fact that Oxford Street looks like a Christmas Cracker on psychedelics during the festive season, our city becomes saturated with images of nuclear families, with brands coyly reminding us to shower our relatives with love (where love equals moderately-priced fragrances).

For the queer people who have endured traumatic rejections from their families and communities, the Christmas barrage only aggravates our feeling unwanted. This is intensified by the national rhetoric that December is not a time for work  its a time to switch off, and return to family. It kind of feels like all of your friends and colleagues are returning to their muchly missed real life, with your existence momentarily muted while they do so.

 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn stresses importance of care and compassion in Christmas video

Other queer immigrants share these sentiments. I speak to Dylan Beck, a social care worker in Glasgow, who talks to me about their difficulties during Christmas. They tell me that outside of December, usually one of the first questions somebody would ask upon meeting me would be where Im from. During Christmas time, this question would often be skipped to jump straight to are you going home?

Being asked that is always a reminder that it does not matter how much of a life I have here; I will always need to fight to be perceived as anything but a temporary outsider.

Christmas Day itself is, on a pragmatic level, a very isolating one. London becomes hollowed out as everyone retreats home, with so few people around to alleviate the loneliness. And with all transport on lockdown, Christmas can feel a bit imprisoning.

When I speak to Dylan, they share my experiences, claiming that, during the Christmas time, many of those people would also not be around, and that can make me feel like a stranger in my own city as well. If you dont have any plans, it can become very isolating and lonely.

Recommended How technology has revolutionised Christmas gift giving

These experiences at Christmas are only symptomatic of broader social issues in the UK. The past two years in politics have seen an acute scapegoating of immigrants for Britains problems, and being a nomadic identity is feeling increasingly unsafe here. According to a research study held by migrant and refugee charity, The Forum, loneliness is the most prevalent issue facing migrant identities in the UK, with nearing 60 per cent suffering from it.

Such feelings were only deepened by the EU referendum, which signalled that a majority of the nation was resentful of our contribution and lives here in the UK. As isolationism increasingly plagues our politics, lets be careful not replicate this in our social spaces.

If Christmas really is about love and generosity, try to spend the holidays thinking about how you might better respect and incorporate migrant and queer identities feeling displaced around the country. Perhaps then we might have a happier New Year.
By Dezan Shira & Associates

Following meetings with Indian trade officials in the capital Delhi, Russian Deputy Economic Development Minister Alexy Gruzdev stated that the two countries have approved the creation of a mechanism that will eliminate existing limits and barriers in bilateral trade. Gruzdev was summing up the conclusions of the meeting of the co-chairs of the Indo-Russian intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, scientific, technological and cultural cooperation, which was held in New Delhi on Saturday.

Gruzdev stated, All in all, one of the priorities of our further dialogue on the intergovernmental level should become the enlargement of trade and economic co-operation. The creation of a mechanism for the identification, analysis and elimination of barriers in our bilateral trade has been approved.

Gruzdev also said that the bilateral trade between Russia and India amounted to US $7.3 billion in the first 10 months of the year, which is an increase of 19 percent compared to the same period in 2016.

This trend is likely to continue with even more spectacular results. India has applied for a Free Trade Agreement with the Russia-backed Eurasian Economic Union, which includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia.

The India-Russia Trade Corridor is one to watch, said Chris Devonshire-Ellis of Dezan Shira & Associates. Further, Chris Devonshire-Ellis said, The EAEU has a significant and growing trade volume, while the Indian market has also been growing at significant rates. There is plenty of room for growth in this corridor, and infrastructure is already being put in place to develop this further.

Indian companies have also been investing money in cities such as Vladivostok, which is the home of the Eurasian Diamond Exchange , while the two nations have established a joint investment fund and are working together on bilateral projects in both aviation, pharmaceuticals and agriculture.
Toolz Oniru caused a stir on social media after a cleavage-baring selfie of hers was uploaded on Snapchat causing some puritans and fundamentalists to ask questions about its appropriateness.

Nigerian On-Air-Personality, Tolu Oniru-Demuren popularly known as Toolz set her snaps on fire with this exotic selfie that has her hefty cleavages on full display.

Take me back to the land of beautiful people and amazing cocktails she posted about the seductive picture.

Some social media users question the rationale behind her action considering the fact that she is married. Nigerian celebrities are known to take irrational steps to seek attention of the media.

See the full picture below

-Gistreel
Hausa Actress Rahama Sadau who was earlier this year expelled from Kannywood after featuring in a romantic video shoot is being criticized on social media by some religious fundamentalists.

Some Nigerians took to social media to condemn Hausa movie actress Rahama Sadau after revealing she is not a virgin.

She promised to answer her fans truthfully during a question and answer session which took place on her Instagram page.

One of her male fans asked her whether she is a virgin. The actress answered truthfully by saying NO, knowing fully aware that she is not married.

Now, the actress is receiving backlash from some Nigerians for revealing her secret.

While some are supporting her for saying the truth and living her life, some others are criticizing her for not being religious minded and for revealing what should have been kept hidden.

See reactions on social media:

-GISTREL
The Inside Self-Storage (ISS) Store, an e-commerce website providing research and education products for industry professionals, has released its 2018 Guidebook Series covering all aspects of the storage business. The new series includes the buyers choice of digital or softcover publications available individually or in a discounted package. Created for facility owners, managers, investors and developers, it includes:

Building/Investing Guidebook: Designed to help those interested in self-storage investing as well as those who want to establish or expand an operation, this 84-page book addresses real estate, finance, development and construction.

Facility-Operation Guidebook: Designed for managers and owners, this 164-page book addresses key aspects to self-storage operation, providing insight to revenue, sales, legal issues, marketing, maintenance, liability, technology, security and much more.

The softcover versions come in magazine format and are priced at $59.95 for the Building/Investing Guidebook and $89.95 for the Facility-Operation Guidebook. The pair can be purchased in a bundled discount package for $129. U.S. Postal Service shipping rates apply. The digital versions come in a PDF format thats easy to view on a computer screen or tablet. Theyre available for immediate download upon completion of purchase. The price is $49.95 for the building book and $79.95 for the operation book, while the discount package is $99.

Additional details on individual Guidebook contents can be found at iss-store.com. Previous issues of the annual series are also available for purchase.

Conceived as a central hub that allows self-storage owners, operators, developers and investors to obtain cutting-edge information and resources, the ISS Store is owned and operated by ISS, a dynamic services provider that has served the self-storage industry for more than 26 years. The brand includes ISS magazine, the ISS Expo and Self-Storage Talk, the industrys largest online community.
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Breaking EV Stock News: Mullen (NASDAQ: MULN) Announces Funding to Close on ELMS Assets

BREA, Calif. - November 17, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Mullen Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ: MULN) ("Mullen" or the "Company"), an emerging electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer, announces today receipt of $150 million on Nov. 16, 2022, which will be used in part to close on ELMS assets.

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EV Companies on the Rise: (NASDAQ: MULN) (NASDAQ: TSLA) (NYSE: NIO) (NASDAQ: RIVN)

Vancouver, Kelowna, Delta, BC - November 16, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Investor Ideas Investorideas.com, a leading investor news resource covering EV stocks releases a special report on the continued growth within the sector

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Breaking AI Stock News: FatBrain (OTCQB: LZGI) Acquires UK-based Forecasting Innovator Predictive Black To Help SMEs Optimize Cash Management

NEW YORK, NY - November 15, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) FatBrain AI (LZG International, Inc.) (OTCQB: LZGI), the leader in powerful and easy-to-use artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for star enterprises of tomorrow (some call SMEs), has acquired Predictive Black Ltd, a UK-based innovator of real-time cash management, financial insights and business wellness for SMEs.

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New Fashion Designer Launches this Holiday Season in Kelowna and Online; Sweet Dees Creations  Fun, Flirty and Affordable

Kelowna B.C. - November 14, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) A local fashion designer is launching a new women's line at Kelowna markets and online this Holiday Season that will make heads turn with her whimsical and colourful choices

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Coming out of the holidays, you might need an article to get you back into the groove of browsing the web, and it looks like Fortune has just the ticket, especially if you have an opinion on Apples design quality recently.

Steve Jobs passed away on October 5, 2011. He was a dominating figure throughout his life, especially in the universe of personal technology, so it would certainly make sense that he would be brought up from time-to-time even today, a little more than six years later. But its not usually for the reasons it probably should be. More often than not when you hear Jobss name or see it printed, it is usually tied to some kind of variation of, This wouldnt happen if Steve Jobs was alive.

Youve seen it repeated ad nauseam through the years, just like I have, and now a new article in Fortune makes the case all over again, to some varying degrees. The goal is to ask a pretty straightforward question: Has Apple lost its design mojo? Its certainly not a tired question, because it cant be. As companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft, and others release new products on a regular basis, they will be judged on the design of the hardware and software. Just the way it goes, so even if you might be tired of hearing people ask the question, its definitely not going anywhere anytime soon.

The article itself does a fairly good job of riding the line, showcasing quotes from high-profile names like Marco Arment and developer Steve Troughton-Smith, both of which have been using Apple products for years and are surely not timid about voicing their opinions on the matter. Heres their opinion on Apples current design efforts:

Tumblr cofounder Marco Arment admires most Apple design, but says, Apple designs in the post-Steve era have been a little off-balance. The balance seems too much on the aesthetic, and too little on the functional. Don Norman, a former member of the Apple design team (19931996) who now heads the Design Lab at the University of California, San Diego, beats the drum that Apple has abandoned user-centered design principles. They have sacrificed understandability for aesthetic beauty, he says. Not everyone agrees, of course. Says Steve Troughton-Smith, an Irish developer of sleek iOS apps, I have enough historical context to understand that these things have no relation to [Steve Jobs departure], and are not a new aspect of being an Apple user. Things like USB cables and iTunes were bad for many years under Jobs too, and I have a collection of frayed Firewire-to-30-pin cables to remind me of that.

The articles header image is the Space Gray iMac Pro, Apples most powerful all-in-one PC to date, but which clings onto the iMac design of yesteryear. No minimized bezels, for example. Its an iMac and, maybe even more so due to the color scheme, it is easily identifiable as such. As is the goal with all of Apples products. Its why I wrote about the notch design in the iPhone X, asking if you think its a design choice meant to define the new line of smartphones from this point on  and therefore sticking around for years to come. I dont think the iMac Pro was going to be the device to usher in a new design philosophy for the iMac lineup, considering its main goal was just to be a workhorse desktop machine.

Still, this isnt the first time that Apples design cues have been called into question. The Outline ran a piece entitled, rather to the point, Apple is really bad at design, after the iPhone X was unveiled, for example. And if you peruse Twitter youll probably see someone complaining about something Apple-branded at some point or another.

The article is long and its far-reaching, raising the concerns of software issues weve seen recently, to simply raising questions about whether or not the current iteration of Apples leadership is capable of designing products on the same level that Steve Jobs was able to all those years ago.

Troughton-Smiths quote above really hits the nail on the head for me. This isnt a new dilemma for Apple by any means. iTunes, in my opinion, has never really been that great, save for when it first debuted and it was just a means to store music. But yeah, maybe it is now a vehicle for Apple Music more than anything else these days, but it still serves its purpose if you dont want to use Apples subscription music platform.

I like the design of the iMac (and iMac Pro, because that Space Gray is nice). I like the design of the MacBook, the MacBook Pro, but Im not a fan of the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, because of that computers defining feature. I bought an iPhone X at launch, wasnt a fan of the notch and what it did to the video watching experience, went to an iPhone 8 Plus and couldnt stand the bezels so I went back to the iPhone X and havent looked back since. I love the design of the new iPad Pro with the smaller side bezels, and Im hoping the top and bottom bits get minimized in 2018.

But, let me just say that Im not a fan of the notch design at all. I think it sacrifices the experience of viewing content on your phone just for the sake of a design choice to make the iPhone X stand out in a sea of phones where bezels are getting smaller. This is an aesthetic choice that I feel supersedes the functional, because I want to watch things on that beautiful OLED display, but I dont want a piece of the phone to actually jut into the picture.

Thats definitely not how the director intended for me to watch their movie, Apple.

Has Apple lost its design mojo in the post-Steve Jobs era, now under the stewardship of Tim Cook? I dont think so, but thats because I think Apple has always worked on a slippery slope here, sometimes hitting it out of the park with a new product, and in other cases having to work quickly to adapt to customer demands. As noted in the original piece, the Apple Watch has evolved from just a smartwatch that could open apps so you didnt have to pull out your iPhone, to being a full-fledged fitness and health tracker, with wireless connectivity and other smartwatch features thrown in for good measure.

Apple needs time to evolve the products it launches. All companies do. Apple certainly isnt perfect, and sometimes it gets stuff wrong. But of course what the company gets wrong is 100 percent up to an individual taste. I dont mind the new butterfly keyboards after using them for a while, others still hate them as one example.

But how do you feel about Apples design mojo these days? Do you think Apple has lost its way? If so, do you think they will recover? Or are you okay with what Apple is releasing these days?
The Department of Finance had presented three options that could have raised up to 50m extra from bookies or punters as part of a review of betting tax. However, Mr Donohoe decided he would leave the 1% rate alone and reconsider the increase in next years budget.

The department had received multiple submissions from the betting industry who had warned an extension of the tax could be potentially damaging.

They said it could lead to closure of businesses and job losses, with a particularly stark risk for individual or smaller operators.

The departmental submission explained that there was ongoing pressure to increase the tax on betting, which is among the lowest in the world.

Mr Donohoe was told there were three options open to him, the first simply to increase the rate from 1% to 2%. It would have raised an additional 50m but was being resisted by the bookmaking industry.

The second option was to tax the punter, which the department said would come with its own set of risks.

[There is] the possibility of punters seeking out alternative untaxed forms of betting or a move towards unlicensed operators, the submission explained.

It would also be complicated by having to tax betting exchanges such as Betfair where tax is currently based on the commission charged.

The minister was also told that other countries had suffered a negative experience when they tried to tax the punter.

The last option suggested a special tax on the gross profits of bookmaking firms. Paddy Power Betfair for instance had operating profits of 91m (102.5m) in the first quarter of 2017.

The submission explained: From a revenue point of view, there is less stability around the yield of the tax and it is more susceptible to changes in the trade environment.

However, Mr Donohoe was told that such a gross profits tax would require significant additional work before it could be introduced.

In his response to the document, Mr Donohoe said he had decided not to change this rate in Budget 18 and he would consider it next year.
The shuttle service, which would constantly run on a loop between villages and towns along the Western seaboard, would further boost tourism and provide transport for locals.

Kerry TD and minister of state at the Department of Tourism, Brendan Griffin, suggested the service and has asked his department to provide a cost for the project

A record 10.6m tourists visited Ireland this year, with promoted routes such as the Wild Atlantic Way being a major factor in the growth of the sector.

The Wild Atlantic route covers 2,500km of coastal road from Donegal to Cork and Mr Griffin now wants to open it up to more people.

Mr Griffin said: Its one of our prime tourism experiences that we are marketing now around the world and we need to have that public transport element to it as well.

Anyone who comes to Ireland and is maybe not confident enough to drive, or who cant afford to rent a car or for whatever reason doesnt want to drive or cant drive, they would have a network the whole length of the route.

He said he believes this bus network, which could be run by Bus Eireann or tendered out to private operators, would be viable given the large number of people who are travelling the route.

You would have a bus leaving Cahersiveen at 9am arriving in Dingle at 11am and you can get on and get off anywhere along the way, he said. It turns around and comes back to Cahersiveen and might be back there at 1pm for someone who might be coming from the other direction. The bus turns around in the afternoon and goes back to Dingle again.

But then from Cahersiveen to Kenmare, lets say, you would have another bus doing the same thing, and from Kenmare down to west Cork you have another bus.

Mr Griffin suggested small-type buses could be used and believes that the service would pay for itself given the huge numbers that already travel the route each year.
The Aquaculture Licences Appeals Board (ALAB) has asked for a new environmental impact statement on the risk of sea-lice infestation and assessments regarding any potential impact on the otter, seal, and wild bird population in the area near Bantry. It said it could be next October before a final decision is made.

It follows the receipt of the report of the chairman of the oral hearing into the case, which centres on Marine Harvest Ireland (MHI), Irelands largest producer of farmed salmon.

It already operates salmon farming facilities in Bantry Bay at Ahabeg and Roancarraig, which it proposes to operate in conjunction with the proposed facility at Shot Head.

The present aquaculture licence permits biennial production of 3,500 tonnes of farmed salmon over a 24-month production cycle.

However, there were 14 appellants  13 appellants objecting to the grant of the licence and one the licensee, MHI, who requested amendment of licence conditions relating to production limits and harvesting periods and the removal of some other conditions.

The oral hearing first took place over two days in February, when it had to be rescheduled due to an accidental omission in providing details of a study conducted on behalf of MHI to all parties. The resumed hearing took place in September.

In his report, the chair of the oral hearing, Prof Owen McIntyre, noted the submissions made by appellants including Save Bantry Bay and Salmon Watch Ireland, which he said centred on the suitability of the site, and the likely environmental and ecological effects.

He recommended a number of reviews but said conditional upon the results of the supplemental EIA and desk-top studies, the board should issue an aquaculture licence for the Shot Head facility, subject to conditions.

ALAB said it was now proceeding to seek that additional information, starting with a supplemental environmental impact statement from Marine Harvest Ireland addressing the risk of sea-lice infestation of wild salmonids migrating from/to the Dromagowlane and Trafask Rivers, and any resulting implications for local freshwater pearl mussel populations, based on available research and data, and an assessment of the potential impact of salmon farm waste on water quality.

It has also sought an assessment of the otter population of the Dromagowlane and Trafask catchments, an assessment of the potential impact upon the common seal populations in the Glengarriff Harbour and Woodland Special Area of Conservation, and an assessment of the potential impact upon wild birds within nearby Special Protected Areas.

Arising from the receipt of the report of the oral hearing, the ALAB reviewed again the timescale for determination of this appeal at its meeting on December 13, 2017, and has formed the view it will not be in a position to determine this appeal by January 31 next as it is required to seek and then consider the assessments referred to above, it said.

Accordingly, the board hereby gives notice, as provided for in Section 56 (3) of the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 1997, that it is the intention of the board that the appeal will be determined by it as soon as practicable and by no later than October 31, 2018.
University College Dublin is to receive more than 250,000, the largest amount being paid out for lifelong learning initiatives through the Higher Education Authority. It has determined the allocations to each of 24 third-level colleges based on the number of flexible learners on their courses last year. This can include those who are taking part in part-time courses, or whose courses are delivered online or through distance education.

It might be expected based on student populations that UCD would get the biggest figure, as it is the largest college in the country.

But its funding is significantly ahead of the next-highest amounts, which are not necessarily proportionate to their student populations.

Dublin Institute of Technology, which has one of the largest enrolment figures, has received around 179,500. This is almost exactly the same as the smaller NUI Galway, which is followed closely by similar-sized Trinity College Dublin which gets 1,000 less.

The minister of state for higher education, Mary Mitchell OConnor, said the funding allocations that she will announce today reward those institutions that have made progress in the important policy area of increasing lifelong learning opportunities.

It also signals that this is an area that will be prioritised by my department in the future, she said.

This will be reflected in the outcome of a review she expects to publish in January, which considered how best to decide overall funding allocations to publicly-funded third-level colleges.

The 2m being provided under todays announcement is part of an additional 60m being given to the sector in 2018.

It will support progress towards a target set in the 2015-2019 national plan for equity of access to higher education, which seeks to have 22% of students in part-time or other flexible learning provision. By raising the proportion from the 19% at the time the target was set, around 11,000 extra students availing of such opportunities was envisaged.

This funding will encourage our higher education institutions to continue to be innovative and supportive in targeting prospective students for whom funding, work or family commitments can often be barriers to study, said Ms Mitchell OConnor. By widening access in this way, funding will impact positively on individuals, their families, as well as our economy and wider society.

Other colleges that have fared well based on their numbers of flexible learners are Institute of Technology Carlow, which is to receive almost 156,000 and Dublin City University (135,588). These both exceed that going to the larger University College Cork, whose 121,800 allocation is just over 10,000 more than next-best but much smaller Cork Institute of Technology.

Maynooth University is to receive 87,251, over 20,000 more than the lowest university allocation to University of Limerick. Its 63,726 allocation is lower than three more institutes of technology getting significant additional investment for flexible learning, in Tallaght (108,151), Sligo (86,283) and Blanchardstown (64,433).

Another 62,422 is going to Waterford Institute of Technology), with reducing amounts going to the remaining third-level colleges.
Horse industry groups, as well as local residents living near the Curragh, are mounting a challenge to plans to locate a large solar farm near the heart of the countrys equine industry.

The Irish Racehorse Trainers Association (IRTA), as well as the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Association, are among a number of parties which have lodged an appeal with An Bord Pleanala against the development.

They are challenging the decision of Kildare County Council in November to grant planning permission for the development of a solar farm at Pollardstown near the Curragh by Power Capital Renewable Energy.

The company plans to develop the solar farm with a four-megawatt capacity using approximately 18,000 solar panels over a six-hectare site.

Among other parties challenging the decision are Pollardstown Residents Association and several well-known trainers and stud farm owners including Desmond Swan.

The Irish Racehorse Trainers Association said Co Kildare was currently home to 85 licensed trainers who did not choose their location by chance but by trying to find the most suitable environment for the needs of thoroughbred horses.

IRTA CEO Michael Grassick said the association was not opposed to solar farms in general provided their location was not in the vicinity of racing stables.

The proposed development of Pollardstown Solar Farm is, however, within the vicinity of a significant number of our members who are concentrated in Pollardstown for very good equine and commercial reasons, said Mr Grassick.

The IRTA said a number of training establishments were based in Pollardstown comprising 300 stables, which employed 75 people directly.

For the Curragh to remain a centre of excellence and commercially viable, all its environs including Pollardstown need to be protected from all form of disturbance and incompatible development, Mr Grassick said.

He warned that stables, in which trainers had invested heavily, would no longer be viable if they were in a location where horses could not rest due to noise.

The constant noise from the solar farm will disrupt this time of rest and put in jeopardy the long-term sustainability of racing stables in the Pollardstown area, said Mr Grassick.

By approving plans for a solar farm, the IRTA said council planners were permitting large trucks to use the same lanes used by highly strung, valuable racehorses walking to and from the gallops for months.

This is jeopardising the livelihood of local trainers, not to mention the health and safety of the horses and their riders, the IRTA said.
The Online Verification Code (OVC) which could be produced by the Department of Social Protection would also stop underage children setting up Facebook or other online accounts.

Junior health minister Jim Daly wants to introduce a verification system that would make a unique code created by the Government part of the registration process when setting up a social media account.

He said: There is a growing epidemic of young unauthorised persons registering on social media platforms and also the registration of fake accounts.

Mr Daly hopes to meet Facebook chiefs in the new year after writing to the company about establishing a verification process.

He said the OVC would allow a crosscheck to be performed to confirm that a person wanting to set up a new Facebook account is old enough and that their names match that given on the application.

It is a basic fundamental that we should all know who we are communicating with, said Mr Daly. We must now recognise that social media is an extraordinarily powerful presence in our society and is responsible for much good, but also responsible for too much negative developments in our society.

Writing to Facebook chiefs as both a public representative and a father, Mr Daly said: In years to come, we will all look back at this situation and ask ourselves how did we let it go? We had a chance to do something and we did nothing.

The Cork South-West TD has also been in contact with the Taoiseach, the minister for children, and the social protection minister about setting up an OVC system.

However, he stressed that confidential personal details would not be shared with social media platforms and rather it puts the onus on companies to confirm that applicants details are true and correct.

Mr Daly believes that an authorisation process should be introduced across the European Union and has also written to EU commissioner Mariya Gabriel.

Children who use these platforms cannot escape the dark side of the world wide web as they continue to ping even as they try to sleep at night, he said. There is no escaping the online bully.

Ireland and the EU can be leaders in making efforts to address the gaping hole and irresponsible governance around the world.
As hordes of shoppers descended on stores up and down the county, Retail

Ireland said the sector could be on course for its best sales period since the peak of the boom back in 2007.

There are some clouds on the horizon  including much online retail business going overseas and border areas feeling the pressure due to weak sterling  but Retail Ireland said the overall mood in the sector is positive.

It certainly seemed to be a view shared by shoppers.

The traditional staging posts reported strong business, with the rush through the doors at Brown Thomas on Grafton St, Dublin, preceded by some customers taking their place in the queue from 5.30am.

Brown Thomas Stores director Mark Limby said the St Stephens Day rush was also notable for a new trend  a huge number of young men heading to menswear.

We have been busier than the past number of years, he said.

The big difference is there are still a lot of people going to accessories, getting handbags, but the big change is a lot of younger guys, aged 18 to 28, who would typically come much later in the day  I would say 70% of the queue, and they were all going to menswear.

While the sale in-store got under way at 9am, the online sale started 12 hours later.

Mr Limby said the Brown Thomas regional stores were still performing well but that its Dublin outlets were steaming ahead, so much so that the Grafton St shop had a record non-sales day on December 23.

At Arnotts, the mood was equally buoyant. Managing director Donald McDonald said: There was a great atmosphere in the store this morning as approximately 200 customers charged through the doors seeking out the best offers on their favourite brands. Christmas trade has been very strong right up to closing time on Christmas Eve and the first day of the sale is now well ahead of last year both instore and online.

Debenhams on Corks St Patrick St also had a few early risers waiting official opening, but a supervisor said she expected business to pick up even more in the afternoon. She said it had been the busiest Christmas period for a number of years and particularly during the week of Black Friday.

At Mahon Point Shopping Centre in Cork, the duty manager reported exceptionally busy rates of trade as soon as the doors opened for the sales.

It all signalled what could prove to be the best Christmas period for the retail

sector in a decade, with Retail Ireland, the Ibec representative group, claiming a strong performance over the festive season with most businesses on track to hit or exceed pre-Christmas sales growth targets.

Retail Ireland had predicted industry-wide sales value growth in the region of 2.6%, to 2,654 per household, in its pre-Christmas Retail Monitor, with indications that the industry is on track to hit this target.

However, Retail Ireland also said there had been a significant distortion in trade in the border counties as a weak sterling attracted some shoppers to the North.

Thomas Burke, director of Retail Ireland, said: While certain categories are feeling the impact of this pressure, on the whole, retailers are reporting steady, if unspectacular growth on the same period in 2016.

Most remain on track to achieve pre-Christmas sales growth targets which would result in the best Christmas performance by the sector in close to a decade.

That said, sales will likely remain somewhat off the 2007 peak, and for some retailers it will be a close run thing, with the performance in days immediately post-Christmas, and the January sales, likely to be crucial in terms of the final outcome.

Other trends noted in the run-up to Christmas included a late surge in sales, particularly in the five days before Christmas Day, heavy discounting in food lines, and Dublin stores performing better than their regional counterparts.

Elsewhere, the Bank of Ireland Consumer Pulse index eased back in December to 94.7 from 95.9 in November, indicating that households were a little less positive about the buying climate, although overall the index was up compared with the same period last year.
Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Mr Martin said he is shocked at the lack of progress on the project, which he said is stifling tourism in the city.

Mr Martin has also called for the creation of a business and finance hub in Cork, similar to Dublins IFSC, to keep young professionals working and living in the city.

The 6,000-seater event centre has faced significant delays since contractors BAM and the venues operators, Live Nation, first won a competitive tender in 2014 for a 20m state-aid package.

Last year, Live Nation ordered a redesign of the centre on the former Beamish and Crawford site to make the venue commercially viable and costs have now risen to close to 73m.

As a result, a further 18m in state funding was requested earlier this year which has caused further setbacks.

Mr Martin claimed former taoiseach Enda Kenny and Tanaiste Simon Coveney must have been aware the project was severely stalled when they turned the sod on the centre in February 2016.

The sod was dug  imagine this  the sod was dug before the last general election by Enda Kenny and Simon Coveney and the developers, he said. I would love to ask Enda Kenny what kind of sod did he think he was digging?

Most times when you dig a sod the diggers are in the following day and they are building the centre.

Its probably one of the worst pieces of modern-day electoral cynicism, bar the abolition of USC which was promised as well, but this ranks as the highest.

They must have known it wasnt going to happen and we are now apparently nowhere near the realisation of an events centre for Cork.

Mr Martin said he has been told that the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is currently examining state aid issues around the project.

Its imperative that 2018 would see some movement on the event centre, said Mr Martin.

Its a huge potential winner for tourism for the city centre, and for the wider region but for the city centre in particular and it could be the catalyst to rejuvenate the city centre.

While work on the events centre has yet to start, other developments on the site, including student apartment and retail space have progressed.

Separately, Mr Martin suggested that a business and finance hub, similar to Dublins IFSC, should be established in Cork City.

Financial services would help us keep a lot of younger people from a financial qualification background in the city, he said. A lot of younger people in the professional services are going to Dublin or London and other parts of Britain and that concerns me.

Mr Martin added that the biggest challenge facing the country is the lack of balanced development, with too much of a focus on Dublin.

He said the docklands area of the city would be a perfect location for a new financial services centre in Cork.

I think we have enough brain-power with the new business school in Cork, CIT have very strong programmes as well so there the is the political mass there in terms of education, said Mr Martin.
Tom Powers death six months ago shocked the nation when it emerged he was transferred from the hospital in Waterford to Cork because its catheterisation lab was closed for the weekend.

Over Christmas, it emerged that the cath lab where emergency cardiac care is carried out was closed for two days due to an equipment fault.

A spokesperson for South/South West Hospitals Group later confirmed that it was fully operational again on Friday.

However, the cath lab only operates from Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm and campaigners have been calling for 24-hour cath lab services for heart attack patients in the south-east.

Univesity Hospital Waterford is the only primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) centre in the country with one cath lab.

PCI is a non-surgical procedure used to treat narrowing (stenosis) of the coronary arteries of the heart found in coronary artery disease.

Last September a mobile cath lab arrived at the hospital, but it does not cater for emergency cases.

Minister of state and local TD John Halligan has argued that the output of the mobile laboratory shows two cath labs are needed.

Toms sister, Catherine Power, said she organised the demonstration to make people aware of the vital need for a second cath lab in Waterford.

It is our first Christmas without Tom, and we want to remember him by walking along the last road he would have been alive on, she said.

The cath lab would have saved Tom if it was open the day he went to the hospital with chest pains. When they put him in an ambulance, he only had 13 minutes left to live. 

Tom, 40, died during the ambulance journey from Waterford to Cork.

This is our first Christmas without Tom, and it is very tough, said Catherine.

I never knew until now what people meant when they said Christmas was a hard time for them. It was very lonely, very sad and very upsetting for us.

We will continue to put pressure on the Government to do the right thing and establish a second cath lab.

Catherine said Tom, the only boy in the family, had worked the farm with their parents, Eileen and Michael.

He looked after our parents so well, and they miss him greatly, she said. How many more people like Tom have to die? Our family has been destroyed by Toms death. My parents have very little to live for now  Tom was their whole life.

About 50 people turned out for the awareness walk yesterday. Local politicians were invited, but Catherine said none turned up.
THIS year isnt even finished, and were already looking at the loading screen for 2018. We were busy enjoying turkey and Die Hard, while next year was quietly installing in the background. So what can we expect from the year to come?

Rolling into town on horseback is the years biggest game by far, Red Dead Redemption 2. Coming from the creators of Grand Theft Auto, this is the western equivalent of Rockstars world-conquering crime series.

The first game was a masterpiece of western mythology and gun-slinging action. It combined the wonder of roaming the open plains with one of gamings best stories. Like a trusty horse, its saddled with expectation.

The Ecstasy of Gold is one of Ennio Morricones most famous tracks, and Bioware will be hoping they strike gold with their own Anthem too. Anthem is the companys brand new IP, an online co-operative sci-fi shooter that appears to be Destiny crossed with Mass Effect.

Like anything that EA produces these days, there are question marks over micro-transactions and structure, but Anthem has the budget and pedigree to be a great online

experience.

From Bioware, to Biomutant. This action RPG looks like it could be a breath of fresh, if mutated air for the genre, featuring a vibrant, cartoonish world in which the player can customise their animal avatar to be different shapes and sizes, impacting on how their character plays. In addition, players can pick up robotic enhancement in the world that affect their abilities. Biomutant looks like a really fun take on the open-world genre.

For most of us, hitting the open sea means skimming a rock on the Atlantic, but theres always Sea of Thieves to anticipate. Sea of Thieves is a pirate game from Rare Studios, who were (many moons ago) responsible for some of the best games around. Their goal is to create a persistent online world where you can roam the open seas with your friends, pirating and doing quests together. Well see if the final product can live up to the promise  we certainly hope so.

Another route to hidden treasure might be Project Octopath Traveller. This low-key Nintendo Switch release looks like a cross between Final Fantasy VI and a hand-drawn painting. The beautiful art style and old-school JRPG gameplay has a lot of people excited. For those who want a more certain bet for Japanese RPGS, Dragon Quest XI and Ni No Kuni II are both coming out next year too.

Another thing you can bet on - Kratos is angry. The seething anti-hero of God of War returns, long after laying waste to the Roman gods and taking his revenge on Olympus in the previous games.

Not content to have murdered Zeus himself, Kratos is now after the Norse gods too. We still dont know why  but we suspect the fate of his young son will play a part. Also, hes just plain angry, all the time.

Meanwhile, developer David Cage is trying to join a pantheon of greats himself. Cage has spent his career making ambitious, but flawed adventure games that always fall just short of brilliance. In Detroit: Become Human, Cage is trying his hand at sci-fi, with a game that evokes the spirit of Minority Report and Blade Runner. In a world where androids are used like slaves, where does morality begin and end? Like his previous games, Cage give the player elements of choice in Become Human, meaning you dictate the outcome of the story.

Meanwhile, well dictate the end of this particular story by looking for A Way Out. In one of the bravest moves by a developer in recent history, Hazelight have designed a story-based action game that can only be played with two players. A Way Out will tell the tale of Leo and Vincent, as they break out of prison and stay on the run. Ordinarily, a game like this would include a single-player mode or the option of an AI companion, but Hazelight decided to make co-operative gameplay compulsory. Will both Leo and Vincent survive their prison escape, or will players be forced to make choice? A Way Out could be one of next years, well, break-out hits.
1. Dancing with the Stars

The first big TV rumour of the year was the talk that as soon as Donald Trump was inaugurated on January 20, hed remove Hughie Maughan as a rival for the title of Man With Worlds Maddest Tan. And so it came to pass. Just two days after the biggest crowds in the history of the world cheered Trumps crowning in Washington, Hughie was voted off RTEs dance show. Coincidence? Not if you believe the second big TV rumour that many of the premium line calls used to oust Hughie were traced back to Russia. Overall, however, while Kerry uber-male Aidan OMahony eventually won the first series, there was a particularly Irish outpouring of love for Des Cahill.

2. All is not as it seems

Apple Tree Yard on the BBC was pitched a tale of female empowerment and the sexual reawakening of a middle-aged woman. What actually emerged was a gripping thriller that also served as an unsettling exploration of the aftermath of rape.

Another excellent three-parter from the Beeb came wrapped as a tale of office maternity leave. Vicky McClure shone in The Replacement as the wolf in architects clothing.

3. Licence to investigate

European public broadcasters chipped in for a PR campaign to remind us how important they are, and here in Ireland, RTE Investigates provided several examples of why at least some of the licence fee is money well spent. In February, the show highlighted the amount of time children with scoliosis had to wait for assessment and treatment, as their bodies suffered even more damage. Resulting public outrage forced the Government and the HSE into helping the children.

The health service was back in the spotlight in November when the same show exposed the behaviour of some hospital consultants who are taking huge sums from the public purse while largely focusing on their private practice. We all gripe about the national broadcaster, but no other media organisation in the country would devote such resources to such difficult investigatons on behalf of the public.

4. End of innocence

Big Week On The Farm on RTE was a hugely entertaining series for all the family that set out to bridge the knowledge gap between farm and fork, abbatoir and eater. But might it have backfired? The shows where meat comes from features probably sparked a spike in youth vegetariansim not seen since Morrissey was in his pomp. And any awkward moments around what happens the cute little lambs were easily surpassed as parents searched for age-appropriate answers to questions about the functions of a teaser bull.

5. A nation sheds its tears

Irelands most watched TV programme was, as usual, the Late Late Toy Show, with an estimated audience of 1.3 million. Apparently those viewers shed so many tears following the segment with the Burke family from Midleton, flood warnings were issued for the Shannon basin. Returned army daddy bursting out of the box to surprise the kids was a nice idea, but it was the sight of eight-year-old Adam clinging on with pure love that ensured there wasnt a dry eye in the country.

6. The Handmaids Tale

A journo in this paper described the adaptation of Margaret Atwoods novel as the TV equivalent of eating All-Bran. While the Netflix series wasnt exactly cheery viewing, watching it after news broadcasts that featured ISIS and rise of the religious right in the US made it felt strangely zeitgeisty. For people in this country, it also wasnt a huge leap to imagine the Aunt Lydia character in charge in Bessborough or similar institution from our recent past.

7. Blue Planet

David Attenborough has always been careful not to preach, but over the course of the Blue Planet II series, he felt obliged to highlight the armageddon already under way due to plastic and other pollutants. The 91-yar-old still managed to present a glass-half-full message that we can still choose to preserve some of the magnificence hes spent most of his life on air showing us. We might not have the same choices by the time they get around to Blue Planet III. Ireland also lost an onscreen champion of the natural world with the passing of Dick Warner.

8. Stream Dreams

Netflix is still sending chills through traditional networks with its massive resources and tempting offerings. The streaming service has splurged on a few duds, but it has also hit the mark this year with the likes of Ozark, Mindhunter, The Crown 2, Godless, A Series of Unfortunate Events and Stranger Things 2. Get bingeing!

9. Splitting votes

Thankfully, its not yet illegal for people to actually have different opinions. For some, Better Call Saul is an engaging prequel to Breaking Bad; for others, its an ideal cure for insomnia. Fargo either rose to new heights on the backs of performances by British duo David Thewlis and Ewan McGregor, or the quirky midwest schtick was wearing rather thin. Either way, it wont be returning to our screens for a few years at least.

The Deuce arrived on our shores with glowing reviews, and the mouthwatering prospect of David The Wire Simon back on form for the tale of the early porn industry in New York in the mid-1970s. For many of us, though, no matter how much we rooted for it, the series never quite delivered, despite the brilliant performance of Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Taboo with Tom Hardy also induced Marmite feelings among the viewing populace, and even those who loved it couldnt deny how bonkers it all was.

Agreeing to differ? It might even catch on.

10. Honourable mentions

Vincent Browne, who retired from TV3 in the summer after a decade of head-in-hands expressions of exasperation that often summed up the feelings of a nation. Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon in The Trip To Spain. The children of Prof Robert Kelly who gatecrashed his live interview on CNN. Game of Thrones dragon action and early anxiety about what well do without the show. And finally, all those Russians who voted for the Irish showjumpers as team of the year.
Whether you spend it on the sofa nursing the mother of all hangovers with a greasy takeaway and a movie, or whether you dive determinedly into a fervent new year, new you exercise regimen, New Years Day can often be a bit of a funny one.

With any luck, youve had some time to take stock in that lull between Christmas and New Years Eve: what did you achieve, survive, suffer or learn from in the past year? What do you want to carry forward into the next? What will the coming year hold?

Some of us want distracting from all this soul-searching, while some want to quietly, or even solemnly, mark the occasion. Whether youre determined to keep the festive partying going for one last day or whether youre keen to get on with the virtuous, disciplined and entirely worthy life you have planned for 2018, here are a few ways you could spend the first day of the new year:

Dublin New Years Festival

In the capital, the New Years Eve festivities spill over into a second day for the increasingly popular Dublin New Years Festival, which will see Irish acts Kodaline, Hudson Taylor and Keywest ring in the New Year at the Custom House Quay Countdown Concert.

If you dont want the party to stop, on New Years Day, an array of celebrations will be presided over by Today FM presenter Phil Cawley, and will include music from the Garda Band, the Line Up Choir and the Hit Machine Drummers, as well as Flyboarders performing aerial stunts over the Liffey.

Its a day out for all the family, free, non-ticketed, and will also feature face painting and pop-up performances from jugglers, mime artists and stilt walkers.

Dublin New Years Festival is on at Custom House Quay from 12pm-4pm on New Years Day. www.nyfdublin.com

Beat a Retreat

If youve been the hostess with the mostest for the entire festive season, the last thing in the world you might want to do is socialise for the remainder of the holidays. If the sound of silence is all youre craving, maybe a retreat is in order.

Combining some down-time with a new years resolution to get in shape, there are several Yoga retreats on offer over the New Year; Burren Yoga retreats in Co Galway is offering a week of meditation, Vinyasa Yoga and walks in the incredible Burren landscape from the 27th of December until the 2nd of January: www.burrenyoga.com Dzogchen Beara Buddhist meditation centre, in the glorious wilderness of the Beara peninsula in West Cork is running a five-day retreat with guided meditations, discussion and plenty of down-time to enjoy the surroundings from Thursday the 28th of December until lunchtime on New Years Day: www.dzogchenbeara.org If your Christmas-straightened pockets cant afford one of these options, and if Santa didnt come through with a voucher, why not do the whole thing at home anyway? Light the fire, get out the juicer, switch off all digital devices, and give yourself the gift of a day of physical and digital detox.

Take the plunge

Participants in the Courtmacsherry New Years Day swim in aid of RNLI

The only dips most of us see in December are hummus multi-packs at Christmas parties, but you could brave the elements to join a traditional New Years Day swim. If you want to start the year as you mean to continue, and if go for it is your New Years resolution, plunging into the icy waters is as bold a statement as any.

Bray Lions Club are celebrating 35 years of Co Wicklow New Years swims this year, and have raised nearly 350,000 for their charities of choice. Email brayswim@gmail.com for more information.

Culdaff on the spectacular Inishowen peninsula in Co Donegal is one of the countrys longest-running New Years Day swims, and regularly plays host to over 200 brave souls, raising money for charities including iCare and Irish Cancer Research.

The Courtmacsherry RNLI charity swim in the scenic West Cork village is another popular option, and raises money for the heroic work of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in saving lives at sea, a charity close to the hearts of every coastal community.

And speaking of safety, Irish Water Safety advise a get in, get out, get warm approach to winter swimming, and warn that the danger of hypothermia is all too real. Swimmers should ensure that they have an easy entry and exit point from the water, as energy is rapidly lost in the frigid water. Theyre also keen to let swimmers know that its a myth that alcohol will keep you warm, so save the nip from the flask for after your dip.

New Years Dawn with a Sunrise tour in Wexford

As the sun rises on the first day of 2018, theres no better vantage point to watch the dawn than in the glass watch-room on top of Hook Lighthouse in Co Wexford, the worlds oldest intact working lighthouse.

Early birds who dont mind getting up in the wee hours will be rewarded with the panoramic view of the sunrise glinting over the Celtic Sea and the spectacular South-east coast, with a selection of breakfast canapes made from local produce, including Ballyhack smokehouse smoked salmon on homemade brown bread, as well as bucks fizz, prosecco, or tea and coffee.

Before the dawn, on arrival, a guided tour of the lighthouse takes in some of its history, from its establishment as a beacon by monks in the 5th century up to the lighthouse keepers who tended the light until an automated system was brought in in 1996.

The New Year Sunrise Tour at Hook Lighthouse is 45 per person (adults only). For booking via Hook Lighthouse, call 00353 (0)51 397055. www.hookheritage.ie

Walk it off

For those of us lucky enough to have family, calling up the entire gang and going for a big, brisk, multi-generational ramble is one of the nicest ways to herald the new year: wrap the oldest and youngest members of the tribe up against the cold, bring flasks and all the new wheeled Christmas gifts, and a sense of humour.

In Co Cork, the Timoleague to Courtmacsherry line is one of my favourites; starting next to the beautiful old ruined Timoleague abbey, the tarmacked old train line curves around past a tidal wetland thats home to many bird species, towards the pretty woodland of Courtmac, where there are several cosy pubs if refreshments are in order.

In the Deise direction, The Waterford Greenway is 46km of much-vaunted new cycle and walkway, with many access points and parking options along the way, but less people know about the nearby Anne Valley Walk, a 2.2km linear walkway from Dunhill village to the ruins of Dunhill Castle. Its fantastically accessible, and peaceful too, the perfect place to enjoy a little family time.

After all, in the words of an Irish blessing that seems less comically pessimistic with each year that passes, go mbeirimid beo ag an am seo aris.
The Nebraska Game and Parks officer was investigating one deer camp with Louisiana hunters last month when he got a tip about another.

By the time he put away his ticket book a few days later, he and another officer had written 17 citations to 11 hunters  nine from Louisiana, two from Nebraska. Theyd seized the remains of nine deer  seven bucks and two does. And theyd assessed more than $10,000 in penalties, fees and damages.

This was a pretty egregious case  no permits, loaning permits, not tagging deer, said Duane Arp, assistant administrator of the commissions law enforcement division. There were a lot of things wrong in this situation.

Two situations, actually: The officers busted deer camps in Gage and Jefferson counties, each with a group of Louisiana hunters who didnt know each other, Arp said.

Were a big draw state, he said. We get a lot of nonresident hunters.

Still, the state requires all hunters to follow the law, regardless of where theyre from. And the hunters in the two camps werent. Neither was a pair of Gage County property owners, who were accused of giving or selling their landowner permits to the hunters.

Thats illegal; you cant do that, Arp said. You have to shoot your own deer, and the Louisiana hunters were shooting the deer for them.

The husband and wife each received two tickets, for violations this year and last year, Arp said. Theyve since paid nearly $600 in combined penalties and costs, according to court records.

And all but one of the nine Louisiana hunters have paid their fines, court records show. Including James Squyres of Hineston, Louisiana, who paid $1,149  $100 in fines, $49 in fees and $1,000 for the value of the deer.

The 64-year-old has been making the 900-mile drive north for about 30 years, he said, introduced to the area when he did work at the fertilizer plant near Beatrice.

He and his brother and son lease land in Jefferson County, near Plymouth, and have turned a semitrailer into a hunting lodge.

He always looks forward to the time in Nebraska, he said, sitting around, cooking, shooting the bull.

The quietness up there, we enjoy it. We dont kill deer every year we go up there. I can sit and see thousands of deer and dont shoot. But this year, I decided Id get a little meat and I messed up.

In his case, he took two deer with his bow  all five men in his camp were bowhunters  and intended to report the kills by phone later, when he got home. He said he didnt know that, because November gun season had started, all deer had to be taken to a check station.

There was some little clause that I didnt know anything about. I ended up getting in trouble. But it was my fault, my stupidity.

Arp said deer in that camp had already been cut up, but none of the tags had been canceled by the hunters, meaning they could go back out with their permits. By law, tags must be physically canceled  often by cutting a notch in them  immediately after a kill.

And there was more, Squyres conceded. Some of the other boys only had one tag and they had more than one deer, he said. Thats none of my business, but theyre in my camp, so that makes it look bad on us.

As long as they paid their fines, the men wont lose their right to hunt in Nebraska, Arp said.

Squyres has already returned, driving 14 hours earlier this month for muzzleloader season.

We came back the first week. Each one of us killed a buck and doe and tagged it and did everything we were supposed to.
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Isle of Wight MP Bob Seely has pledged support for a national campaign to get more young people into engineering, in an attempt to fill a skills gap.

The Year of Engineering launches in January and will see government work with hundreds of businesses to raise the profile of engineering among young people aged seven to 16, their parents and their teachers.

This will include offering at least a million direct experiences of engineering to young people from all backgrounds - from behind-the-scenes tours and family days out, to school visits and the chance to meet engineering role models.

Island MP Bob Seely said: "I am concerned that not enough children, particularly girls, are entering the engineering professions and so I very much support this fantastic initiative that I am

sure will do much to spark the imagination of all young people."

"The fact is, engineering qualifications are vital to this country's and this Island's continued prosperity, but the UK faces an estimated shortfall of 20,000 engineering graduates a year.

"This is a serious issue as we move towards leaving the EU. We need a country of young people with the best skills. Around half of companies say the shortage is having a significant impact on productivity and growth so action is needed now.

"I very much hope young people on the Island will get involved."

The campaign is aiming to showcase the creativity and innovation of engineering careers and widen the pool of young people who consider the profession, as presently it is 91% male and 94% white.

More than 350 businesses and organisations across the country have signed up to support the Year of Engineering, including BAE Systems.

More information about the campaign is available at www.dft.gov.uk/year-of-engineering-2018.
I cant think of anything worse than having too many people for the services we can provide," a resident said. "We dont have police. We dont have enough fire. We dont have enough EMTs. We dont have enough school space."
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The former Golden Corral building on University Parkway has been demolished to make way for a Sams Xpress Car Wash.

Mike Hill, chief operations officer for Sams Xpress, said in an email that a ride-thru car wash with free self-serve vacuums and Mobil fuel will go on the site.

The first Sams Xpress opened in December 2012, and there are currently 19 of the car washes in North Carolina and South Carolina.

This will be our first location opening up in the Triad area, Hill said.

He expects construction to begin shortly and the car wash to open in summer 2018.

Hill said that the company has four projects under construction and plans are to continue to rapidly expand throughout the Carolinas.

He also said that the company has additional properties under contract in the Triad and is in the due diligence process.

Car washes at Sams Xpress range from $6 to $17 with free self-serve vacuums. Extra services, including a mat cleaning machine, range from $2 to $3. Customers can also buy memberships for $29.99 plus tax a month.

Hiring for part-time and full-time crew members and management should start 60 days prior to opening and people can apply at www.samsxpresscarwash.com/careers.

Sams Xpress is always looking for good talent, Hill said. We will hire approximately 25 employees.

Hill said that Sams Xpress Car Wash sites get involved in the community through local events, sponsorships and the companys fundraising program for nonprofit organizations.

We are committed to creating an exceptional customer experience by exceeding expectations, utilizing innovative technology and improving the communities we serve, Hill said.

The old Golden Corral building had sat empty since the popular restaurant closed Dec. 30, 2015.

Dave Gronewoller, the president and chief executive of GC Partners Inc., a Golden Corral franchisee based in Winston-Salem, said in a Winston-Salem Journal article Jan. 1, 2016, that GC Partners franchise agreement for that location had expired.

He also said then that Golden Corral, which is based in Raleigh, was working on a new prototype building, and he expected to eventually put at least one of them in Winston-Salem.

Gronewollers first Golden Corral, which opened in Greensboro on Landview Drive in 1993, was bulldozed in June and replaced with Golden Corrals new prototype building design called Gateway.

The new Golden Corral opened last Thursday. It is the first of Golden Corrals restaurants with the new design.

Theres no change in the branding, Gronewoller said.

He said that the new design is aimed at giving Golden Corral restaurants a modern and attractive look where customers can break bread with their friends and family.

Its a very energy-efficient building, Gronewoller said.

The restaurant is about 1,000 square feet smaller than current Golden Corrals.

It has a stone fireplace, bigger tables and fewer seats than currently offered in Golden Corrals.

Weve left more space between tables and wider aisle ways, Gronewaller said.

The food bars have also been reconfigured to provide a flowing layout for customers.

Gronewoller said that all customers favorites are still on the menu, but some new items have been added, including more smoked meats.

For now, plans are to fine tune the new restaurant in Greensboro and complete one in Miami, Fla., but Gronewoller said there is a possibility that he will still open a Golden Corral with the Gateway design in Winston-Salem.

It will probably be at least a year before we get serious, then well have to find the right location for it and make sure that the demographics work, he said.
In an update given recently by St. Francois County Associate Commissioner Patrick Mullins regarding progress on the Bone Hole County Park project, he first offered a brief history of the projects start and then offered some good news about its future.

Gentlemen, on March 20, 2012, [then-Presiding Commissioner] Dr. David Cramp and I attended a meeting with the Department of Natural Resources, he said. We went over the mining history and the fact that we would like to make a county park out of the 37.57 acres we own called Bone Hole.

On Nov. 24, 2015, Gov. Jay Nixon toured Bone Hole and this commission showed him the conceptual plans of the future park. On Dec. 8, 2015, this commission voted unanimously to make the 37.57 acres a first-ever county park.

On April 5, 2016, [Presiding Commissioner] Harold Gallaher and I had a conference call with EPA Region 7 executives. The goal was to get the project out to bid. July of 2016, this commission hired Smith & Company, an engineering company based out of Poplar Bluff, to start the drawings on the structural integrity of the Owl Creek Dam and Spillway. The engineering plans were completed and was way ahead of schedule.

In an email sent to Mullins by Missouri DNR Environmental Specialist Brandon Wiles, he told the associate commissioner that the long-delayed Bone Hole project is once again moving forward.

Wiles wrote: We ran into some budget issues, but we are currently working past them and are still working with our engineer on finalizing the bid documents and designs for the project. We are hoping to get the projects scope and work out the door for bid at the end of January or the beginning of February. Sorry its taken so long for this thing to get started.

Mullins responded to the emails contents, saying, I said from the beginning that this was going to take a while. Have we made improvements from a couple of years ago? Yes, but it continually drags out and I dont know who, why, where, but thats the latest update on that.

Missouri DNR has requested $250,000 from the trustee council to restore wildlife habitat at Bone Hole. DNR was also awarded $812,286 by EPA to remove lead contaminated soil and mine waste from the site, in addition to capping and stabilizing mine waste near Owl Creek. So, Im optimistic  thats all Im going to say about that.

Gallaher commented, But the moneys going down.

Mullins replied, Yeah, yeah.

Associate Commissioner Gay Wilkinson interjected, And the longer it goes
WASHINGTON  As a functional obsessive-compulsive, Im never happier than at years end when I get to make lists. Herewith, my picks for the most important stories of 2017:

This year my list is short: Fake News  from which all cursings flow.

Not only has the presidents frequent fake news defense against any story he dislikes helped codify the idea that the media seek only to misinform, but this strategic deception has created a volunteer class of the arrogantly ignorant.

While such consistent dishonesty is annoying, my greater concern is for the future of the republic. The health of our democratic system of government relies at least somewhat upon a reasonably well-informed citizenry. When truth is relative, facts are fungible and the loudest voice wins the day, why, anyone really can become president.

How do journalists combat the rallying cry of the president himself? Its impossible to argue with a fool or a liar. It is also difficult to convince people of ones earnestness or commitment to standards if they fundamentally dont care. In exasperation, one can be tempted to say such things as Democracy Dies in Darkness, which happens to be the rather self-regarding slogan emblazoned on the Posts masthead  and also happens to be true.

Art, it seems, has come to the rescue. Voila: The Post.

Among the many reasons to love Steven Spielbergs new movie is that The Post may be the best rebuttal yet to the fake news mantra. Its the story of the Posts publication of parts of the Pentagon Papers, a classified history of the Vietnam War, which revealed that three presidents (Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon) had lied persistently about the war and its human toll. The New York Times actually broke the story but was forced to cease publishing under a Justice Department injunction, which ultimately was reversed by the Supreme Court in 1971.

The injunction, nevertheless, provided the Post an opportunity to intercept the ball and run with it, publishing excerpts from its own, subsequently acquired copy of the documents. The movie traces the partnership of then-publisher Katharine Graham (Meryl Streep) and former executive editor Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks) as they struggle with the decision to publish the papers.

Much of the focus is on Graham, who assumed control of the Post after her husband and co-owner, Phil Graham, committed suicide in August 1963. Although the paper has long been considered a Graham family enterprise, it was Katharines father, Eugene Meyer, who bought the paper in 1933 at a bankruptcy auction, eventually handing over the reins to Katharines husband.

Underlying the story of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers was an unsubtle, feminist subtext. In 1963, Kay Graham was the only woman in the boardroom and one of only a few women when she glided through the newsroom. Thus, this wife-turned-publisher had to face not only business challenges for which she was ill-prepared, including a risky public offering, she also had to convince skeptical men that she was up to the job. Her fear, convincingly portrayed and palpably disabling at times, was an obstacle to overcome, which she did with the help of the fearless Bradlee, who was Hollywood long before Hanks (or Jason Robards) played him.

Pivotal in Grahams transformation was the decision to publish the Pentagon Papers, which was portrayed as torturous owing to two concurrent problems: One, she feared the banks would abandon her during the then-imminent public offering; and, two, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, who had commissioned the study that became known as the Pentagon Papers, was one of her dearest friends.

Both she and Bradlee, who had been close to Kennedy, were forced to choose between loyalty to friends  or the truth. Their respective struggles with this essential question was the essence of the film. At one point, Bradlee, apparently hurt that Kennedy had lied to him, reflects on the inherent tension between being friends with newsmakers and his responsibility to report news.

The message embedded therein is that facts and truth matter most of all. In newsrooms where real-life journalists pursue both, the very real struggles on view in The Post are replicated every day. There may be less drama, but the stakes are just as high. In a time of fake news, darkness settles when people can no longer tell the difference.
President Donald Trump raised eyebrows when he invited Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp to fly with him aboard Air Force One for a tax-reform rally in her home state of North Dakota earlier this year.

For a vulnerable Democrat running for re-election in a deep-red state that Trump won by 36 points, appearing with the president was a political gift. Trump called Heitkamp up on stage, shook her hand and heaped praise on her, describing her as a good woman  the perfect visuals for campaign ads portraying her as a moderate willing to defy the Resistance and work with the president.

The move puzzled Republicans, who wondered why Trump was giving a boost to one of their principal targets in the 2018 midterm elections. But then came the moment that Heitkamp must now regret. As he made his case for the tax bill, Trump turned to her and said, Are you listening, Heidi? And then he added this blunt message: Do your job to deliver for America or find a new job.

Heitkamp did not deliver, nor did the four other Senate Democrats running for re-election in states Trump won by double digits: Joe Manchin III of West Virginia (a state Trump won by 42 points), Jon Tester of Montana (by 20), Claire McCaskill of Missouri (by 19) and Joe Donnelly of Indiana (by 19). Now its time for Trump to make good on that threat.

With Trumps national approval rating averaging at just 38.5 percent  among the worst of any president in the first year after his election  some might suggest that he is in no position to impose political costs on his opponents. But his approval rating is between 50 and 60 percent in the five states where these vulnerable Democrats are running (except in Indiana, where it is 41 percent), making him a formidable adversary.

Trump should spend the coming weeks and months holding nonstop rallies in every one of these states to promote his tax reforms and how they will benefit ordinary Americans. He should tour companies that are using their savings from the corporate tax cuts to hire more workers, and businesses that are investing in new plants and equipment because the tax bill now allows them to write off those investments. He should visit small businesses that will benefit from the lower pass-through tax rate, so they can explain what it will mean to their workers. And he should hold town halls with middle-income families who will benefit from the individual rate cuts in the bill so they can share what an extra thousand dollars in their pockets every year will mean to their families.

In each case, he should demand to know why their senator voted against the bill that made these things possible.

Heitkamp explained in a statement that she voted against the tax bill because, among other complaints, middle income families lose out in the long-term because the relatively modest tax cuts they initially receive will expire after 2025. This is patently dishonest. Everyone knows the tax cuts for middle-income families wont ever expire. Even if Democrats are in power eight years from now, there is no way they wont extend the Trump tax cuts for middle-class Americans, just as Barack Obama extended all the George W. Bush tax cuts except for those at the very top.

According to the Tax Policy Center, 91.3 percent of Americans making between $48,000 and $86,100 will get an average tax cut of $1,090 next year. By the time the tax cuts require an extension, most will have saved nearly $9,000 cumulatively on their tax bills. Thats real money. For those in the next income bracket  households making $86,100 to $149,400  92.5 percent will receive an average tax cut of $2,070. Thats more than $16,500 in tax savings before the cuts are set to expire. Are Democrats really going to take that money away?

It was a big mistake for these vulnerable Democrats to vote against tax reform. They had an opportunity to work with the president and make the effort bipartisan  but to do so they had to go against their party. Instead, they cast their lots with the anti-Trump Resistance.

Before the tax vote, Manchin dismissed the pressure from his constituents to support the president. I just dont give a s---, he said, Dont care if I get elected, dont care if I get defeated, how about that? If he does not care whether he returns to Washington, then come next year the 68 percent of West Virginia voters who supported Trump may give him his wish.
For many teachers, going above and beyond for their students is something they just naturally do without thinking about it or looking for any type of recognition. They do it simply for the good of the child and for the love of their profession.

But every once in a while, a teacher is selected and recognized for their achievements and it is usually a complete surprise. This was the case when Melissa Tisher was selected as a recipient of the Unsung Hero award at the Nov. 9 Missouri State Teachers Association conference in Columbia.

Tisher, who is the president of the Farmington chapter of the MSTA and the Library Media specialist at Roosevelt Elementary, admits she thought she was just going to an awards ceremony because of her position as president.

I just took over as president of MSTA and when I got the email about the award I thought it was a luncheon that all presidents were required to attend while at the convention, Tisher said. It wasnt until the end of the luncheon when they called my name that I realized it was an award.

According to MSTAs website, the Unsung Hero Award recipients are chosen by the MSTA field service coordinators. The award acknowledges members who have made a substantive yet unrecognized contribution to MSTA and the organization's mission to advocate for and empower public educators so they can teach.

Tisher laughs when she talks about the award. She says she probably got the award because she was constantly calling their field rep, Bill Sties, and asking a lot of questions.

I was just trying to do everything he said, she said. I guess I asked so many questions that Bill must have thought I was up for the award.

Tisher, who has been with the district for 10 years, comes from a long line of teachers. Both of her parents and many of her aunts and uncles work in the education field.

My mother, Leeta Berry, was a librarian like me. My father, Steve, just retired from the school district last year, she said. My father was actually a MSTA president. So if I have any MSTA questions, I just ask him.

As the Farmington MSTA president, Tisher said she represents close to 200 active members and helps provide a voice for them with the educational organization. In addition, she is also the president of the districts CTA, which is more of the local level.

We do a lot of things in the district, she said, noting their work with the Knight Time Snack Backpack program and ringing the bells during the holiday season.

Tisher said she doesnt think she has gone out of her way for the district. Maybe it is because she is too busy helping others.


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SkillsUSA, the national organization for the career and technical education students at the UniTec Career Center, once again held their annual canned food drive as one of the clubs community service projects.

UniTec Media Coordinator Jennelle Pratte said the project is organized as a competition between classes to see who can collect the most canned goods. The winning class is then rewarded with a Subway sandwich party.

Students at UniTec Career Center collected 5,422 cans this year, said Jennelle. Bruce Prattes Electrical Technology class collected 4,482 cans. Bruce and his classes are known for their outstanding contributions and dedication to the canned food drive.

Jennelle said because of this, they decided to take themselves out of the class competition. So, first place went to Victor Radosevichs class with 484 cans. Machine tool collected 65 cans, Nursing contributed 29 and computer services gave two.

UniTec teachers, students, and staff have always felt this is a very worthwhile and positive community service project that the SkillsUSA club promotes each year so everyone gets involved to help make it a success each year, said Jennelle. The students have about a month to collect canned food or pool their money to buy food items.

Jennelle said they couldnt have done it without the help of Willette Home Furnishings, Boyer Funeral Home, Hubs Pub, A-1 Homecare, Bullseye Equipment and Tool Rental, Belgrade Financial Services-Julie Pratte, Chilton Oil Company, Gillams Lawn Service, Larry Campbell Excavating and Hauling, Bonne Terre Pawn, River Mart-Park Hills and Desloge.

Also Goheen Electric, Mosier Heating and Cooling, Hampton Contracting, J Higgins Plumbing, Holekamps Do It Center, Country Mark Park Hills, Trendz Hair Salon, Save-A-Lot, First State Community Bank, ABC 1-2-3 Daycare, Cozean Funeral Home, Lashley Construction, Belgrade State Bank and Shades of Renee also made contributions to this community service project, Jennelle said.

She added Clint Price, the manager at Save-A-Lot in Bonne Terre, has generously worked with Bruce Pratte for the past 10 years or more to get the most value for the students money to purchase canned food.

This partnership has been very successful and very much appreciated by UniTec and those who will benefit from this project, said Jennelle. The canned goods have been delivered to the local Ministerial Alliance for its annual Christmas Basket program to help those in need.
Former Peru President Alberto Fujimori was pardoned [press release] by President Pedro Pablo Kuzynski on Sunday after serving almost half of a 25-year prison sentence for human rights abuses and corruption committed during his authoritarian regime in the 1990s.

Fijumori, now 79 years old, received a medical pardon after being diagnosed with arrhythmia and tongue cancer. On Tuesday, he issued a public apology for his past wrongdoings, which was his first acknowledgment of his transgressions.

Fijumori was found guilty [JURIST report] for killing 25 people during a violent campaign against the Shining Path rebels. He was also serving time for multiple counts of illegal wiretapping and bribery, paying a former Peruvian intelligence director millions to resign, and ordering a warrantless search [JURIST reports] of former Peruvian intelligence directors wifes apartment.

Current-President Kuzynski, who promised during his Presidential campaign that he would not issue a pardon to Fujimori, explained that this decision was based on humanitarian reasons that he believes are in the best interest for the future of Peru. He encouraged all Peruvians to not get carried away by hatred, and to go through this page and work together for a better future.

Fujimoris pardon has caused widespread protests in Peru, prompted by suspicions that the pardon is a part of a deal to protect current-President Kuczynski from impeachment on corruption charges stemming from accusations that his consulting firm received payment from Odebrecht [corporate website], a company longtime accused of bribing public officials.
A former Ivorian minister was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Tuesday for complicity in a 2012 attack in western Ivory Coast that killed 18 people, including seven UN peacekeepers.

Hubert Oulaye, 64, ex-public works minister under former president Laurent Gbagbo, "provided the financial means to establish a rebellion in the west" of the country, the attorney general said.

"The accomplice is sometimes more dangerous than the perpetrator," she added.

Oulaye dismissed the verdict as a "political conviction" and returned home while his lawyers vowed to appeal the decision.

The attack happened as Ivory Coast was reeling from violence caused when Gbagbo refused to step down after losing presidential polls to current leader Alassane Ouattara.

Gbagbo is currently on trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague for alleged crimes against humanity committed during the crisis, in which 3,000 people were killed.

Oulaye's lawyer Rodrigue Dadje called the verdict "a political decision" and warned it would create a dangerous and vindictive precedent.

"We are going to be in an unending cycle of vengeance. We need justice that is equitable and transparent, not one that hand down 20 year sentences without any proof," he said.

Oulaye was arrested six months after his return from exile in Ghana, and several days after participating in a meeting of the "rebels" of Gbagbo's party, the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI).

The "rebels" consider themselves the guardians of the Gbagbo legacy and boycott all polls.
DEAR ABBY: I have been married for 18 years and have two wonderful kids, ages 14 and 12. Ten months ago, my husband said to me, "I told you I would divorce you if you ever got fat." I was shocked! Yes, I have gained some weight over the years, but at 5 feet 5 inches tall and 150 pounds, I was not exactly obese.

I was frightened by what he said, so I took off 25 pounds. He didn't appear to notice, so I asked him, "Now what do you think?" He said, "You have no muscle tone"!

Abby, nothing I do is good enough. I work part-time and take care of our kids and the house. I go out of my way to cook and bake interesting things for them. Any appreciation? His praise is, "Not bad."

Abby, what should I do? -- BIGGEST LOSER IN NEW YORK

DEAR "LOSER": Before I answer your question, I should point out that the way some abusers maintain control is by withholding approval, love, money, etc.

According to the National Institutes of Health, a woman who is 5 feet 5 inches tall should weigh between 114 and 144 pounds to be considered a normal weight. For your husband to threaten you with divorce if you didn't lose weight was brutal. Nothing you do is good enough because keeping you insecure and always trying to gain his approval is how he maintains the upper hand in your marriage. Losing weight is not easy. You should have been praised for your success.

Since you asked what to do, I'll tell you: Take him at his word. Your husband may have said your muscle tone is flabby, but from where I sit, what's sagging is your self-esteem. Go to the gym. Get into a training program. Improve that muscle tone, and along with it your image of yourself. Then, once you have achieved your goal and feel better about yourself, decide whether you want to remain married to a man who has such poor "muscle tone" between the ears.

DEAR ABBY: I am a 63-year-old widow. I have not been with a man since my husband died 10 years ago. I am now dating a 31- year-old man. I am deeply in love with him. He says he's in love with me, too, but his family says he doesn't know what love is. He was previously in a four-year relationship with someone his own age.

Am I crazy for dating a man who is 31? He's everything I have always wanted, and what I would consider the perfect man for me. He claims his only problem with dating me is that I will probably pass away in 20 years, and he will be alone and devastated. My concern is I feel I am preventing him from future children and a possible wife his own age. He says he doesn't want kids, but I'm not so sure. Please tell me what to do. I have never been in this situation before. -- HELP, PLEASE, IN PENNSYLVANIA

DEAR HELP, PLEASE: As relationships evolve, couples learn more about each other. You didn't mention how long you and this man have been involved with each other, but if it has been less than a year, you would be wise to slow things down. It would be in your interest to know why his family thinks he doesn't know what love is. The answer to that question could be enlightening.

As to your not being certain that he doesn't want to be a father, in spite of the fact that he says he doesn't, not everyone wants children. If you aren't sure that everything he's telling you is the truth, I suggest you wait a few more innings before swinging for a home run.

DEAR ABBY: Seventeen years ago, I had a (minor) tryst with my wife's sister. Months later, it came to light during an unfortunate phone conversation. Since then, my wife and I have gone through years of counseling.

Our family has recovered and all is well -- except with my wife's brother-in-law (the husband). He considers me "persona non grata," and I have been excluded from all family functions, at least those he is involved in.

I took my counselor's advice and sent him a written apology, delivered by my wife. My parents-in-law have forgiven me (as well as their daughter) for the errant behavior, but still a massive wedge remains in our family. My father-in-law is ailing now and is desperate for reconciliation. I've done what I can (I think). What now? What more? -- PERSONA NON GRATA IN ILLINOIS

DEAR P.N.G.: You have already apologized. You can't force your brother-in-law to accept it. Because your father-in-law is desperate for reconciliation, he is the one who should appeal to your brother-in-law to heal the breach.

DEAR ABBY: In a world so vast and beautiful, do you think one person could somehow see it all? I've often dreamed of doing so, but most of the time I sit in front of a computer doing schoolwork. So many days I have wanted to drop out and be a hippie or something, but in these times, there are so many requirements to get to where we want to be and have what we've always wanted or needed.

You know what, Abby? I've got a better question for you. Can you invent a time machine so I can go back to the '50s? Forever wondering ... -- GABRIELLA IN SOUTH CAROLINA

DEAR GABRIELLA: I wish I could provide one, but if I did, I have a hunch it would become very crowded. Your yearning for the '50s may be happening because life in the 21st century has become stressful. It isn't just you -- for many people, the cycle of life seems to spin increasingly faster.

There's nothing wrong with dreaming about visiting faraway places. Once your studies are completed, you may be in a position to do that. In the meantime, make an effort to block out time to go to a gym, do yoga, meditate. If that's not possible, break up your routine with some other form of exercise. I can tell you from experience, it works.

DEAR ABBY: My wife and I have a 15-year-old daughter who has a boyfriend her age. Her boyfriend visits our daughter in her bedroom, where they lock themselves in for hours. I object to them being alone in a bedroom, but my wife says she "knows" her daughter and that there's nothing to worry about. Who is right? -- UNCOMFORTABLE IN THE SOUTH

DEAR UNCOMFORTABLE: YOU are! Your wife is dreaming! Tell your daughter that from now on, her door will remain open when anyone of the opposite sex is in there with her, or the lock will be removed. (Even better -- restrict their visits to the living room.) Do it now. Time may be of the essence.

DEAR ABBY: One of my relatives has bipolar disorder, and as far as I know he takes medicine for it. However, at our Christmas celebration last year he became verbally aggressive and abusive toward a family member who had done nothing to provoke it. Needless to say, it put a damper on the festivities.

Some people make excuses for him because he's bipolar, but I don't want another holiday ruined because of his behavior (which can be unpredictable). Must the rest of us sit on pins and needles hoping he doesn't explode this Christmas? I'd prefer not to invite him until he has better control of himself. Your opinion, please? -- HOPING FOR HAPPY HOLIDAYS

DEAR HOPING: You have a point. A solution might be to talk directly with your relative and explain that if he's taking his medication -- which means there will be no unpredictable outbursts -- he is welcome to be your guest for Christmas. If not, however, he should make other plans.

DEAR ABBY: On Veterans' Day I visited my family's cemetery plot and noticed my closest uncle does not have a military service marker like his two older brothers do. "Uncle Claude" had frequently mentioned to me how important a service marker was to him. I discussed it with his two out-of-state children several times after his death.

Almost two years have passed now, and it appears getting the marker might not happen. Should I inquire about this with my cousins, offer to assist them in getting and placing the marker or let it go? I did place a small flag on his grave later in the day. -- MILITARY SERVICE MARKER

DEAR M.S.M.: Discuss this with your cousins once more and ask if they would like you to pursue getting the marker for your uncle. There may be reasons why it hasn't happened -- including that they may not be able to afford the expense. You will never know unless you inquire.

DEAR ABBY: I'm a 17-year-old girl and a junior in high school. I have a crush on a guy who's 14 and a freshman. I know age gaps don't matter as much later on, but the difference between 17 and 14 can be drastic. "Jake" is really sweet, and he's as interested in me as I am in him (unlike the boys in my grade).

I'm friends with Jake's sister "Julie," who's a year older than me and a senior. Julie has made it clear she doesn't like the idea of a romantic relationship between Jake and me because Jake is only 14.

What can I do? Should I ignore this crush? I have judged people who have dated despite age gaps. (For example, a senior boy dating a sophomore girl.) But now I understand it. If the girl is older, does that complicate things?

I don't want to be seen as creepy or gross, but, to be honest, I'm not that experienced romantically or socially myself. (I have never even been to a real party.) Must I forget my feelings and move on, or do I talk to Julie and try to pursue this? -- TEEN CRUSH

DEAR TEEN CRUSH: Julie has already given you her answer. As you have pointed out, there is a bias against dating someone so much younger, and it could cause you problems not only with your peers, but also with the law if your relationship were to become sexual when you turn 18. That's why I'm suggesting you turn your romantic interests elsewhere. When you're BOTH adults, if you're still interested, you can pursue a romantic relationship then.

DEAR ABBY: My fiance and I are being married in a few days. We are expecting our first child a few days after that. The problem is my mother. We decided on a small ceremony, but my mother is opposed to the marriage because she doesn't like the idea of me marrying -- not just my fiance, but anyone. She has always told me a man will leave me destitute, pregnant with too many kids, and I won't be able to take care of myself. She has repeated it since I was about 10.

Because she has threatened to object at the ceremony, we decided not to invite her. We have invited his parents and my father and stepmother. Mom has said she will not allow my child to see her grandfather because "he is a bad person." She may have good intentions, but dictating who can be around my child is not her choice, considering she has had little to no contact with him in 25 years.

I wish she could be at our wedding, but she has now distanced herself from me and my fiance. Should I let her cool off and hope she comes around, or accept that this is the path she has chosen? Please advise, Abby. -- PROBLEM MOTHER IN KENTUCKY

DEAR PROBLEM MOTHER: Your mother may be anti-marriage because hers failed spectacularly. She appears to be a troubled woman. By all means, let her cool off, but do not allow her to dictate your life. If she does, her anger and bitterness could negatively affect your marriage.

DEAR ABBY: The winter months are hard for me. They remind me that another year has gone by without my father and my younger sister.

Dad had been a smoker since his teens and died from pancreatic cancer at 39. I was 13, and my siblings were younger. In those days, we didn't know that smoking was a risk factor for pancreatic cancer.

My sister smoked from the time she was 13. She died from lung cancer at 44, leaving behind two young sons.

Neither my father nor my sister got to experience the wonderful family milestones and celebrations we have had. Their grandchildren will never know them. Each year during the holidays, I feel a sadness in my heart.

I urge every smoker to make a vow to quit and carry it through, not only for their own sake but also their family's. Stay determined to quit so you won't cause your loved ones sadness and won't miss out on their futures. With all my heart, I wish smokers the best of luck in quitting. -- MISSING DAD AND SIS IN SACRAMENTO

DEAR MISSING: I'm glad you wrote because the American Cancer Society's annual Great American Smokeout will be held on Nov. 16. It's a day when millions of smokers put down their cigarettes -- just for one day -- with the conviction that if they can go 24 hours without one, then they can do it for 48 hours, 72 hours, and stop smoking for good. The idea grew out of a 1970 event in Randolph, Massachusetts, and became a national event in 1977.

Readers, I'm not going to harangue you with death threats. We are all aware of the grim statistics associated with cancer-related deaths caused by tobacco. If you're interested in quitting, this is a perfect opportunity. Call (800) 227-2345 to be connected with counseling services in your community, provided with self-help materials offering information and strategies on quitting for good, and to receive information about medications available to help you quit. This service is free and provided 24/7. Or go online to cancer.org.

DEAR ABBY: I need your help. Over the past few weeks, I have been vacationing at my mother-in-law's home. The other day I was browsing on her computer and accidentally opened her browsing history. It turns out that she regularly looks at and responds to Craigslist personals.

I was shocked when I read some of the perverted requests she has responded to. The language she used would make a sailor blush. Keep in mind, my mother-in-law is a married woman.

I don't know how to react. Should I tell my wife? Keep it to myself? Make a fake Craigslist post and catch her in the act? -- KINKS IN THE FAMILY

DEAR KINKS: If you disclose this to your wife, it could damage her relationship with her mother. If she tells her mother what you found, it will create a breach in the family. If you trap the woman by creating a fake Craigslist post and she realizes she has been made a fool of, it will not -- to put it mildly -- endear you to her. Let it lie.

DEAR ABBY: I am in a predicament. My therapist is great, but sometimes I think she shares too much. Last time I went, she was running late. When I finally got into her office, she told me the previous patient was nonverbal and had painted her nails during the session. Later in the session, she confided that years ago she had been date raped.

Abby, I am in counseling because my father raped me when I was 15 (I am now 24). Her sharing has me worried because I don't want her telling others what I say or do during counseling. Further, her story of the date rape scared me. She described a situation that is not uncommon for me to be in, and it caused something almost like a flashback in me. I think what she did was insensitive, to say the least.

I have nobody else to ask, so what should I do? I'm getting counseling for free now due to my income, and it took months to get set up with a counselor. Should I report her or accept that this was a mistake and say nothing? If I need to report her, how would I go about doing that? -- CONFLICTED ABOUT IT

DEAR CONFLICTED: You should change therapists because it appears this one has more problems than you do. As to what agency you should report her breach of professional ethics to, contact the state organization that has licensed her to practice.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069
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KEARNEY  In a $4.3 billion sale this year, the parent company of one of Kearneys top employers was bought out by Parker Hannifin, a corporation specializing in motion and control technologies headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.

The buyout of CLARCOR Corp., the parent of Kearneys Baldwin Filters, was the Hub Territorys top 2017 business story, as determined by reporters and editors.

In late February, Parker Hannifin announced the multi-billion dollar sale. CLARCOR shareholders overwhelmingly voted to approve the merger. As a result, the Franklin, Tenn.-based CLARCOR became a wholly owned subsidiary of Parker.

Baldwin Filters, a manufacturer of filtration products, staffs around 1,000 people and is the top manufacturing employer in the Kearney area, according to the Buffalo County Economic Development Council.

The deal marks the second time Baldwin Filters has changed hands. The filter manufacturers founder, J.A. Baldwin, founded the company in 1936, but sold it to CLARCOR in 1981 after he suffered a stroke and heart attack.

In addition to the Baldwin facility in Kearney, Parker acquired Nebraska plants in Gothenburg, McCook, Alliance and Lincoln.

Gothenburg plant closed

About nine months after Parker Hannifin announced its buyout of CLARCOR Corp., the company revealed its plans to close the Baldwin Filters plant in Gothenburg.

In early November, the Engine Mobile and Hydraulic Platform of Parker Filtration Group, an operation group under Parker Hannifin, announced the closing of the facility at 300 W. First St. as part of a manufacturing realignment plan.

Gothenburg City Administrator Bruce Clymer said at the time that the closing was a huge blow to the community.

The closing process is expected to be complete in late October 2018. The Gothenburg operation manufactures filtration products primarily for transportation and off-highway markets and employs about 140 people. Parker also has a facility at 1000 12th St., but only the First Street facility will close.

Production will be transferred to the Baldwin Filters plant in Kearney.

Chamber CEO resigns

In late May, Max Kathol, who became president and CEO of the Kearney Area Chamber of Commerce on June 6, 2016, resigned the position.

Kathol said the parting was amicable, and he resigned for personal reasons. He told the Hub that he was thankful for the opportunity to lead the Kearney chamber  Nebraskas third-largest at 826 members  and that the chamber is in good hands with its current board.

Executive board member Josh Erickson of Kearney-based Team Concepts has worked with the staff to help oversee day-to-day operations of the chamber.

The chamber boards search for a new president is still ongoing.

PenAir grounded

Just 10 months after a two-year contract to provide commuter air service to Kearney, Peninsula Airways, the Anchorage, Alaska-based air carrier filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The sudden announcement sent city officials into an immediate search for a replacement airline.

In late December, the federal Department of Transportation selected Skywest Airlines as the Essential Air Service provider for Kearney. The two-year contract awarded to SkyWest will begin upon the fall 2018 completion of the $12 million Kearney Regional Airport primary runway project.

SkyWest will operate 50-seat regional jets with 12 nonstop, roundtrip flights per week to Denver. SkyWest is part of the United Airlines network which will be marketed as United Express. The carrier will feature bookings, connections and baggage transfers that will access United Airlines global network. Flight schedules and prices will be announced this coming summer.

New restaurants

Several new restaurants popped up around Kearney during 2017.

In early November, several Raising Canes fans waited in line for 20 hours for the new Kearney location to open at 3720 Second Ave. The chicken finger restaurant chain serves Texas Toast, crinkle-cut french fries, coleslaw and homemade Cane sauce.

In December, the owners of the historic downtown bar and restaurant Cunninghams Journal announced plans for a second location in south Kearney at 610 W. Talmadge St. on the Younes Hospitality campus. The new location sits southwest of the Fairfield Inn & Suites and overlooks a small lake at the complex.

Firehouse Subs opened a store in February at 1010 Third Ave. Suite B. The sub-shop is a fast-food restaurant chain that specializes in hot sub sandwiches. In the same south Kearney strip mall, Moes Southwest Grill, a fast-food chain serving fresh, made-to-order Southwestern fare, also opened.

Dunkin Donuts, a doughnut company and coffeehouse chain based in Canton, Mass. also opened in the strip mall

Seritage begins construction of former Kmart property

In May, retail developer Seritage SRC Finance LLC of New York City received the approval it needed from the Kearney City Council to carve out four retail shops from the 92,000-square-foot structure that formerly housed Kmart at 48th Street and Second Avenue in north Kearney.

A report previously provided by Seritage indicated construction will begin this year, and the project should be complete in 2018. Total estimated development cost for the 92,500-square-foot Kmart building will be $7.4 million, according to the report.

According to floor plans filed with the city, the PetSmart area will be slightly larger than the next two largest retail spaces. The fourth store will occupy the north end of the building and have the smallest space. All four of the businesses will share a common area on the west side of the building.

In addition to repurposing the main structure, Seritage will realign the Third Avenue frontage road on the east side of the parking lot. The new street will align with the Third Avenue frontage road that snakes around the Sonic restaurant on the north side of 48th Street at Second Avenue. Realigning the frontage road will create space to construct two additional outbuildings for businesses.

@AmandaPush
KEARNEY  Fifty-seat jetliners will provide commuter flights to Denver beginning in fall 2018.

Kearney City Manager Mike Morgan announced Tuesday the federal Department of Transportation selected Skywest Airlines  which operates as United Express  as the Essential Air Service provider for the city of Kearney.

We had recruited SkyWest when we knew jet service was the likely outcome with the pilot challenges, Morgan said about the behind-the-scenes work that led to Kearney acquiring 50-seat jet service.

We stayed in touch and continued to explore them (SkyWest), Morgan said.

He credited Mayor Stan Clouse, Councilman Bruce Lear and others for landing the 50-seat jets for Kearney.

The two-year DOT contract awarded to SkyWest is worth $3,675,276 per year and will begin in fall 2018 when reconstruction of Kearney Regional Airports main runway is complete on Sept. 1 or earlier.

The Federal Aviation Administration is paying 90 percent of the cost for the $12 million runway project, which will open the door for jet service at the Kearney airport.

SkyWest is part of the United Airlines network, which will be marketed as United Express. The carrier will feature bookings, connections and baggage transfers that will access United Airlines global network.

Flight schedules and prices will be announced in the summer.

This is exciting news that was the result of a lot of hard work by staff, City Council, various citizen committees, the Chamber of Commerce and others, Clouse said. United Express operated by SkyWest will provide an outstanding air service choice for not only recreational travelers but business travelers as well.

SkyWest/United Express will replace Alaska-based PenAir. The airline was serving Kearney  as well as North Platte and Scottsbluff  but it declared bankruptcy in August.

Enplanements with PenAir had risen more than 70 percent compared to the prior carrier, Great Lakes, and were on pace to reach 7,000 in 2017. Great Lakes boarded 4,054 in 2016 and 4,545 in 2015.

The DOT had ordered PenAir to continue its service in Kearney until a new carrier was contracted, but PenAir said its lack of pilots made serving Kearney, North Platte and Scottsbluff impossible.

PenAir received $3,513,473 during its first year flying from Kearney to Denver.

SkyWest/United Express currently serves Hays, Kan., with 50-seat regional jet flights to Denver.

This is definitely the goal, especially with United Express branded service, Morgan said. Being a United brand you knew the type of service they provide and it is all very good.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP)  December is summer in Antarctica, but on the mountaintops where a team of scientists is studying plants from one of the warmest periods in Earths history, daily high temperatures average about minus-30 degrees.

You read that correctly. Scientists, many from the University of Kansas, are collecting evidence of warm weather plants in a climate so cold it wouldnt register on a household thermometer.

Thats because Antarctica holds some of the worlds largest deposits of plant fossils from the Permian and Triassic period. Temperatures during the Permian were far colder than during the Triassic, so plants that adapted through the mass extinction in between could hold clues to how life survives climate change, said Carla Harper, a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow in paleobotany at KU.

Thats exactly what were going through today, she said. If we can see how those plants adapted, it might give us clues to how plants on earth, in general, adapt to climate change.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that Antarctica may sound like a miserable place to search for rocks, but Harper, who collected fossils in Antarctica on a similar trip in 2014 and stayed in Kansas this year, said she disagrees. She described the trip as a blast and a dream.

I loved it and I wish I could go back, she said, noting that the journey does take some adjusting. Its obviously winter here, but then you get to New Zealand where its summertime and youre wearing shorts. Then its off to Antarctica where its worse than full-blown winter. Its a lot.

At the teams Shackleton base camp, temperatures are a more tolerable 10 to 20 degrees, Harper said. Its no warmer than a balmy 35 degrees at McMurdo Station, where helicopters and gear are stored.

Its considered warmer, Harper said of the Shackleton camp, built in a valley.

The team has been in Antarctica since November and will return in mid-January. Led by Rudolph Rudy Serbet, the collections manager in paleobotany at KUs Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum, the group includes researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and was funded with a National Science Foundation grant. Theyve collected more than 3,000 pounds of material to be analyzed this spring, Harper said. Many of those fossils could be new species.

(Serbet) was super excited, because at one location they found lots of plants theyve never seen before, she said. Its pretty phenomenal. Thats one of the best things about our job  you can make new discoveries.

Though the team has collected a lot of samples, finding fossils in the coveted Permian/Triassic border is difficult because such rocks are rare in most parts of the world, she said, but Antarctic deposits, especially around the receding Shackleton Glacier, remain undisturbed. The continent also offers better compression fossils, which show the outline of the plant and a type of fossilized peat, like fossilized wood, which gives scientists an understanding of the plants structure.

The samples will likely arrive at KU, the countrys largest repository for Antarctica plant fossils, sometime in April.
OMAHA (AP)  A judge has dismissed a burglary charge against a bounty hunter who broke into and searched an Omaha familys home before realizing he was in the wrong house.

Douglas County District Judge Shelly Stratman ruled that Duane Wilsons actions werent out of line with court rulings that govern the actions of bounty hunters.

Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine told the Omaha World-Herald that he plans to appeal the ruling. He argued that fugitives should be apprehended by officers in the Metro Area Fugitive Task Force, not by armed vigilantes.

Kleine said he might request that the Legislature create more laws pertaining to bounty hunters.

When you allow people to act as vigilantes, it can put a lot of innocent people in jeopardy, Kleine said. Im going to do everything I possibly can to prevent this activity from going on.

Wilson, 25, works for Gallagher Bail Bonds in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Police documents show Gallagher was looking for a 17-year-old who didnt show up to court after being bailed out of jail.
2017 has been the year of the unrelenting news cycle. If it had a soundtrack, it would be the staccato dings of news alerts popping up on cellphones. If it had a color, it would be that hazy blue-ish white hue you see when your eyes start to unfocus after staring at a screen for too long. If it had a smell, it would be burned rubber.
FILE- In this Aug. 10, 2017 file photo, a construction worker walks in front of the St. Nicholas National Shrine in New York. Work on the Greek Orthodox church destroyed in the Sept. 11 attacks next to the World Trade Center memorial plaza has been temporarily suspended by the construction company. It comes amid financial difficulties and questions over how funds have been managed. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
A collection of brightly coloured cloth caps are seen in this undated handout photo. Retired anesthetist Dr. Glenn Gibson believes he was an early trendsetter in slipping on brightly coloured cloth caps before heading into the operating room. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Glenn Gibson *MANDATORY CREDIT*
We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

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An investigator stands inside a supermarket, after an explosion in St.Petersburg, Russia, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017. Russian officials say at least 10 people have been injured by an explosion at a supermarket in St. Petersburg. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
Its that time of year again.

Wisconsin is one of 23 states reporting widespread influenza activity, along with nearby Illinois and Indiana, according to new findings from the Centers for Disease Control.

The state Department of Health defines influenza as a contagious disease caused by viruses that infect the respiratory tract. The viruses cause mild to severe illness, sometimes leading to death. Influenza symptoms often begin suddenly, with fever, headache, tiredness, dry cough, sore throat, nasal congestion and body aches, according to the CDC.

The government is urging people to get a flu shot and people experiencing flu-like symptoms may benefit from antiviral drugs. Such drugs are an important second line of defense that can be used to treat flu illness and should be taken as early as possible, according to the CDC.

By protecting ourselves with a flu shot, were also helping to protect our family, friends, co-workers, and the rest of our community, said state health officer Karen McKeown in a news release.

Those who are strongly encouraged to receive the flu shot include:

People 65 years old and older.

People with chronic health issues, like heart disease and diabetes.

Pregnant women.

People around other people at work or school.

In addition to the flu shot, the Department of Health recommends people:

Wash their hands often with soap and water, or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

Cover their coughs or sneezes, and try to avoid touching the face area.

Never share drinking cups, straws and utensils.

When possible, avoid being exposed to people who are sick with flu-like symptoms.

Frequently clean commonly touched surfaces, like doorknobs, the refrigerator handles, phones and faucets.

National spike

Seasonal influenza activity increased sharply across the nation this month, according to the CDCs FluView report. The number of states reporting widespread flu activity jumped from 12 to 23, and the proportion of samples testing positive for influenza at clinical laboratories rose from about 8 percent to 14 percent.

In addition, the percentage of people seeking outpatient care for influenza-like illness increased from 2.7 percent to 3.5 percent.

Influenza-like illness has been at or above the national baseline for four weeks so far this season. During recent seasons, influenza-like illness remained at or above baseline for 13 weeks on average. H3N2 viruses continue to dominate.
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There are many, varied ways to see out 2017 and this Sunday evening youve much to choose from.

The Mad Hatters Ball takes place at Cleeres Bar & Theatre with music by the Low-Fis playing the music from the likes of The Smiths, Talking Heads, The Pixies, Rolling Stones, The Clash, Big Star & more. DJ Cook will continue the craic there while the annual draw for the much coveted in-house telly takes place while best hat wins a prize.

The Springhill Court Hotel hosts the New Years Eve Charity Ball which is in aid of four local causes. These are Relay for Life Kilkenny, Irish Wheelchair Association, Enable Ireland at the ONeill Centre and SOS Kilkenny. The night begins at 7pm with a drinks reception & canapes followed by a four-course meal and music by The Aces Showband with bubbly to ring in the new year.

This is a formal wear event with black tie optional and tickets cost 45 from hotel reception or the benefitting charities.

Hotel Kilkenny host the Gala Ball in aid of Teac Tom / The Thomas Hayes Trust. It starts at 7:30pm with a drinks reception followed by a four-course meal and music from The Works Band. This event is also formal wear with black tie optional.

For something a little different swing by St Canices Cathedral for the New Years Eve Nightwatch Service which will begin to ring in 2018 at 11.45pm.

If you dont make it to the ringing chamber, watch on a screen downstairs.
ALBANY POLICE

Arrest  2:40 p.m. Saturday, 1355 Goldfish Farm Road. Police received a report of a woman attempting to take items from Coastal Farm & Ranch. Sandra Anne Marie Parker, 34, was charged with third-degree robbery, second-degree theft and second-degree criminal mischief.

Disturbance  8:47 p.m. Saturday, 400 block of Third Avenue SE. Police responding to a report of a disturbance arrested a man who was asked to leave a residence and had allegedly kicked in the door trying to regain entry. Miguel Roberto Perez, 38, was charged with harassment, first-degree criminal trespass and second-degree criminal trespass.

LEBANON POLICE

Disturbance  8:55 a.m. Saturday, intersection of South Main Street and West Rose Street. According to a dispatch report, police responded to a call about a fight in the area and found one man lying in the street and another running from the scene. The man lying down, Rodney Keith Horning, 58, was transported by medics with minor injuries. Police took a report of assault and the investigation is continuing.

Stolen vehicle  5:41 a.m. Friday, 50 block of Walker Road. Police responded to a report of a vehicle taken from a secured employee parking lot. A white 1996 Honda Accord with after-market wheels and gold trim, license plate XJV 454, was reported taken. Estimated total value: $4,000.

LINN COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE

Rollover  8:36 a.m., 32400 block of Denny School Road, Lebanon. Deputies responded to a report of a single vehicle crash. According to a dispatch report, deputies arrested Shandi Saucedo on charges of driving under the influence of intoxicants. She was transported to Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital for treatment of minor injuries.

Theft  6:08 p.m. Saturday, 29800 block of Highway 99E. Deputies responded to a call of a home burglarized while the occupants were at work. Coins, jewelry and multiple firearms were reported stolen. The investigation is ongoing.

Theft  9:27 a.m. Monday, 38300 block of Crawfordsville Drive. Deputies responded to a report of a house broken into overnight and guns and jewelry worth approximately $2,800 reported taken. The investigation is continuing.

SWEET HOME POLICE

Crash  1:11 a.m. Friday, 1000 block of Turbyne Road. A 26-year-old woman received minor injuries when she failed to negotiate a turn on Turbyne Road early Friday. Police Chief Jeff Lynn said an officer was following the vehicle, which had reached a high rate of speed, when it missed the corner and slid on its side to the edge of a field. Whitney Virginia Bogart was charged with reckless driving, driving while suspended and outstanding warrants. She was transported to Samaritan Albany General Hospital.

Counterfeit  7:34 a.m. Saturday, 1500 block of Main Street. Police received a report of a counterfeit $20 bill and took it into evidence.
Welcome to Proven and Probable, where we focus on metals, mining, and more. Im your host, Maurice Jackson. Joining us for a conversation is Bob Moriarty, the Founder of 321gold and 321energy.com and the author of two of my personal favorite books, The Art of Peace, and Nobody Knows Anything. Mr. Moriarty, welcome to the show, sir.

Bob Moriarty:

Thank you. Its good to speak with you.

Maurice Jackson:

Always an honor, sir. Bob, youre one of the most coveted, respected names in the natural resource space, so its an honor to have you here sharing your insights. I would like to begin our conversation with Novo Resources, a company you and I both are shareholders in. Give us a little background on Novo Resources.

Bob Moriarty:

Well, lets talk about what just last happened in the last couple of days. Novo released a press release, and they were talking about samples coming back from three of the trench samples. The really interesting thing is that one of them was 15 grams, one of them was 17 grams, and the other was actually above the pay zone, so it was 1.3 grams, and all of them were important for different reasons. Now, strange enough, the gold grade, overall is around 15 grams and the width identical to that of the Vits.

So, a 15-gram gold deposit, its certainly nothing to be ashamed of, if you got the lateral extent, and that absolutely appears to be the case. Markets go up, markets go down. Youve read that in the book, and people say that when youve got a really great stock, it can only go up, and thats just absolutely not the case. Rick Rule has said, Every major discovery has at least one 50% decline, and its, if you liked it at nine bucks, you have to love it at four bucks.

Maurice Jackson:

Bob, let me ask you this. Quality names usually have a sell-off this time of the year, from tax law selling. How much of a factor is the tax law selling, in this price movement?

Bob Moriarty:

None.

Maurice Jackson:

So this is strictly from the press release, basically?

Bob Moriarty:

Yeah, I think so. Yeah. The problem is, the first results were 67 grams, and that was so extraordinary, that anything less than that, everybody was disappointed, and said, Okay, I dont want to play anymore. Theyre forgetting that Witswatersrand produced two billions ounces of gold. Now, there are some specific issues with Western Australia. The gold is very nugget-y, which means its very difficult to manage it.

But, in this case, this gold thats right at surface, they go down to 15,000 feet in South Africa, and thats very expensive to do, and its very dangerous, and its very difficult. You can mine 15-gram material at surface, youd make a lot of money.

Maurice Jackson:

Yeah, thats certainly nothing to be ashamed about that, though. That, at the 15 grams, is quite commendable.

Bob Moriarty:

Sure.

Maurice Jackson:

When I saw the sell-off yesterday, I saw this as a great buying opportunity, and thats exactly what I did, I bought more shares. Twofold question for you here. Are you buying Novo Resources at these prices? Why, or why not?

Bob Moriarty:

Im not, but the reason Im not is, because, Ive got a very large position. Its been my largest position for five years, and I dont need to. Strange enough that somebodys nervous about Novo. A really high potential, low risk stock would be to buy Kirkland Lake, because Kirkland Lake owns almost 30% of Novo, or has options on 30% of Novo.

Maurice Jackson:

Thats a very good point you make there. Can you share with us some other issuers that have your attention at the moment, and why?

Bob Moriarty:

Well, theres one thats my favorite energy stock, called Jericho Oil, and its simply got the best management that I know, in the junior research sector. Its run by a guy who does everything he says hes gonna do, and he set the company up, that, if the price of oil was going down, they would pick up other projects that other people walked away from, because they couldnt afford them. If the price of oil was going up, he would start drilling.

So its one of those ideal circumstances. It doesnt make any difference if the price of oil is $30 a barrel, or $60 a barrel, they keep moving forward. But its a company Im really pleased to work with. I love the management. Im gonna do a piece shortly. Its just a great company.

Maurice Jackson:

I had an opportunity to meet with Jericho Oil, in the New Orleans Investment Conference, and youre right. Great management and their use of optionality has been, just a great play at this time, and Im looking forward to doing an interview with them as well, in the very near future, so, looking forward to also seeing what you have to say about them. Are there any other issuers that have your attention at the moment?

Bob Moriarty:

me take a look here. My number two, sold stock, behind Novo would have to be, Anaconda theyre up in Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland. They actually have an existing mine. I think theyre producing about 20,000 ounces a year. They have a mine and mill, but theyve got a really exciting property in Nova Scotia, and something that I doubt very seriously, if any of your listeners have ever heard about, theyve got a deposit called a saddle reef.

If you can imagine, 20 or 30 or 50 or 100 million years ago, the land being stretched, and then being compressed, so it looks like an accordion  thats exactly what a saddle reef deposit is, and at the fold of the saddle, youve got a low pressure area. So if youve got fluid movement that contains gold, thats where it accumulates. The beauty of a saddle reef deposit is, you can have 10 or 20 different pay zones, within the saddle reef.

Now, when these were discovered in Nova Scotia 150 years ago, everybody thought they were vein systems, because they look like vein systems, but they always existed in parallel. There were always two vein systems that ran at parallel, and some time during the 1950s through 1960s in Australia, somebody came up with this concept that said, Hey, we should call that a saddle reef deposit. They have a project called Goldboro, in Nova Scotia. Its very high grade. Its going to be very profitable to mine, and its a company thats just been invisible.

Now, you and I were talking a few minutes ago. I think were at an inflection point, and I think that gold and silver are about to go a whole lot higher, where youve certainly seen it with Bitcoin crashing. Which I find very interesting, because thats exactly what I predicted two weeks ago, but Bitcoin is crashing, and it certainly was extracting money from the resource market, and it looks to me as if the stock market is going into a runaway boom, which means its the next thing to crash.

I think theres going to be a lot of money flow into the resource sector, and I think that resources will do very well in 2018.

Maurice Jackson:

Now, since were discussing precious metals, but I do wanna go back, just for a moment, back to Anaconda. One of my subscribers, Mr. Kevin Dougan, he shared with me  yesterday, actually, we were discussing Anaconda. Theyre pretty creative in how theyre generating revenue. I think they were selling off their tailings off to a company in North Carolina, and making a handsome little profit from that. I dont know if youre aware of that, or not, the 

Bob Moriarty:

Yeah, actually I wasnt aware, he was the one who introduced me to the company, and I thank him for that. The interesting to me is, there are multiple saddle reef deposits, in Nova Scotia, and you could look  everywhere on their website, they never mention the term, saddle reef. Now, theres some things, you know, just because you learn it over time. When people talk about porphyry systems, theres no such thing as a small porphyry. Theyre low-grade deposits, but they can be in the billions of tons.

Saddle reef deposits, its very common to have 10 or 20 different zones of gold. So they can be very high grade, and they can be very inexpensive to mine underground. So, one of the things that Ive talked to management about, its, they said, Guys, you have to define saddle reef, and you have to explain this, so investors know what youre talking about.

Maurice Jackson:

Certainly. When you clarify the ambiguity, you certainly see the value proposition. Youve mentioned precious metals. What are you buying right now?

Bob Moriarty:

Silver.

Maurice Jackson:

How about platinum? You and I were discussing platinum in the past, and you saw it as a good buying opportunity. How about now?

Bob Moriarty:

I did buy some platinum recently, but you dont  so you compare it to the five different metals, you got platinum, palladium, silver, gold and rhodium. They rotate leadership. Platinum is nearly the highest, or the largest spread between the price of platinum, and the price of gold. In relative terms, platinums cheap, golds expensive. In relative terms, silvers cheap, golds expensive. The difference between platinum and silver is, theres not a lot of companies you can invest in, to benefit from the price of platinum. Youre pretty much stuck with the metal.

Theres a whole bunch of silver companies, and some really good silver companies, and I think, even though I would rather be buying platinum, metal itself  I think the silver companies will make the biggest moves.

Maurice Jackson:

One of those, I think, we highlighted last time, which was Metallic Minerals, and theyve had some very, very nice results lately.

Bob Moriarty:

Oh, just absolute, extraordinary. Ive been up there, to Keno Hill. Thats an area that was discovered over 110 years ago. It was a big, big, big silver area, and it all shut down around 1989, 1990, and Alexcowent in there. Well, Alexco was founded by the people at Nova Gold, and Greg Johnson was part of that, and Greg took over another company, called Monster Mining, and changed the name. But theyre coming up with some absolutely extraordinary grades. They had 1.6 meters of 2,800 grams gold. They have surface samples  Im sorry, that 2,800 gram of silver, they had surface samples up to 12 kilos of silver It has been a mine in the past, it will be a mine in the future, and it will go into production.

Maurice Jackson:

For our listeners, if youre aware of the history of Metallic Minerals  as you alluded to, they were once Monster Mining, and it just shows you how important it is to have the right people running the ship here. Because these werent the results that we were seeing under the previous management, so kudos to Greg Johnson there, for a job well done, so far.

Bob Moriarty:

Yes.

Maurice Jackson:

Well, how about rhodium? This is one I like. Rhodium is one that you introduced to me over the summer, when you and I were in Japan, with a site visit with Irving Resources. Again, a proud sponsor and shareholder for that company, as well. Talk to us about rhodium.

Bob Moriarty:

Well, rhodium is really interesting, cause rhodium has pretty much doubled, in the last year. Rhodium and palladium have gone up the most. Rhodium, it used to be very difficult to buy. Its a byproduct, its one of the six PGMs. Its a byproduct of nickel and platinum mining. Its very valuable, because it melts at a higher temperature, than either platinum, or palladium. So they use to coat sterling silver, and they use it in catalytic converters. But you could buy a Baird, one-ounce rhodium bars now, and thats quite interesting. But the real benefit is the fact that its gone up so much.

Maurice Jackson:

And theyre very rare. Ive been in precious metals for about 10 years now. I own rhodium, but again, as you mentioned, one-ounce bars are very hard to come by. Bob, last question for you here.

Bob Moriarty:

Sure.

Maurice Jackson:

What did I forget to ask?

Bob Moriarty:

I dont think anything. I mean, we can always do another interview in the future.

Maurice Jackson:

Sounds great, but I want to share this, before we close. Weve referenced your books, The Art of Peace, and Nobody Knows Anything. Ladies and gentlemen, if youre looking for a great read, or a time-treasured Christmas gift for a loved one, do what I did. I purchased my three sons each a copy of both books, so when they get older, they get ahead of their peers. Bob, give us a brief narrative on both of these books, please.

Bob Moriarty:

Well, its interesting that you brought that up. One of the things thats very important for investors, to realize is, what does a bubble look like, and how do you profit from a bubble, and how do you avoid losing money? I was a commodities broker in 1984, and I had a stack, a foot high, of people who had invested into silver in 1979 and 1980, and every single one of them had increased their investment, five to tenfold, and every single one of them lost money, because they wouldnt sell.

Ive got a whole chapter in the book, and many people have told me, its the best chapter in the book, about when to sell. When you buy something, you have to have a plan for selling. There are people who are up 18,000% on Bitcoin, and they refuse to sell. Well, Bitcoin has gone down. Its gone down about 45% in the last week. People had a tremendous opportunity to make money, and they didnt do that. But you need to understand human behavior, you need to understand bubbles, you need to understand mob psychology, you need to understand when to sell.

You need to understand, theres no such thing as a guru, there is no such thing as an expert, but then, there are a whole bunch of fools.

Maurice Jackson:

Very well said! And for our listeners, you can order your copy under our Education tab, on proveandprobable.com. We do not receive any financial consideration for selling or advertising these must have books for your library. But we certainly have benefited financially, from applying the axioms in the books.

For more information on Bob Moriarty and his work, please visit: www.321gold.com, and www.321energy.com, and last but not least, please visit our website, www.provenandprobable.com, where we interview the most respected names in the natural resource space. You may reach us at contact@provenandprobable.com.

Bob Moriarty, the founder of 321gold, and 321energy. Thank you for joining us today on Proven And Probable.

Announcer:

Thank you for joining us today, on Proven And Probable. Remember to like and subscribe for more conversations with the most respected names in the natural resource space. Check out our website at www.provenandprobable.com.
(Adds background, share movement)

By Devika Syamnath

Dec 27 (Reuters) - Bougainville Copper Ltd shares fell on Wednesday following a report that the government of the Pacific island of Bougainville plans to impose a moratorium on mining or exploration at Panguna, once one of the world's biggest copper mines.

Bougainville Copper has been working to restart the mine, which was shut by a civil war in 1989.

Bougainville President John Momis said the island's executive council decided to impose the indefinite moratorium after landowners narrowly failed to support a plan to reopen the mine, the New Zealand-based Asia Pacific Report said on Dec. 23.

"We will not allow this project once again to reignite the wounds of the Bougainville crisis and distract our focus for restoring peace and our preparation for our referendum in 2019," the report quoted Momis as saying.

The Autonomous Bougainville Government could not be reached for comment.

Bougainville Copper said in a statement it was seeking clarification from Bougainville's Department of Minerals and Energy Resources about the report.

Bougainville's quarter of a million people are tentatively scheduled to vote on independence from Papua New Guinea in June 2019. Revenue from the reopening of the Panguna mine is essential for the otherwise impoverished island. There has been a struggle over who will run the mine between Bougainville Copper, backed by the Bougainville and Papua New Guinea governments, and a consortium of Australian investors supported by the head of the landowners.

The abandoned copper and gold mine contains one of the world's largest copper deposits. During its 17-year life until the closure in 1989, Panguna was credited for generating almost one-half of Papua New Guinea's gross domestic product.

Bougainville Copper's shares tumbled as much as 17 percent on Wednesday, compared to a 0.4 percent rise on the Australian benchmark , giving the company a market value of about A$90 million ($70 million). ($1 = 1.2937 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Devika Syamnath in Bengaluru; editing by Richard Pullin)
Editor's Note: View Kitco News' full 2018 outlook coverage

(Kitco News) - As markets work through their last trading week of the year, Kitco News is revealing the results of its latest survey: which metal will outperform in the new year.

Kitco readers were clear in their choice, with more than one-third preferring silver in 2018. In total, 39% of the respondents voted for silver over gold, palladium, platinum, and copper.

Gold was a close second pick, with 27% of the survey participants identifying the metal as their favorite in 2018. Copper was a surprising third, coming in with 25% of the vote, followed by palladium, with 5%.

Readers were least excited about platinum, with only 4% of the respondents voting for the metal. A total of 386 people took part in the survey.

This is the second year retail investors have been bullish on silver. In a 2016 online survey, out of 1,311 votes, 48% of Kitco readers said that silver had the most potential in 2017. Despite the optimism, silver has underperformed within the sector, up 5% since the start of the year. Gold, is up more than 12% since the start of the year. In last years survey, 30% said the yellow metal had the most potential.

In other results, only 14% of respondents said copper would outshine the precious metals. This year copper is up 30%, as prices trade near their highest levels in two years.

For platinum and palladium, only 5% and 4%, respectively, were bullish on the PGM metals. However, palladium has seen the best performance out of all the choices, up more than 50% since the start of the year. Currently, palladium is trading at its highest level in 17 years.

But, regardless of its stellar performance, palladium is largely being ignored by traders.

Despite record highs, record bullish sentiment, and attractive fundamentals, retail investors still havent embraced palladium this year, said Maxwell Gold, director of investment strategy at ETF Securities. Many are cautious of the rapid rise in price since 2016; despite this rally being driven by supply-demand dynamics. If retail investors, however, change gears and begin to move into the palladium market en masse, prices may move higher creating a new leg for the current rally.

Looking forward to 2018, analysts seem to be on the same page as Kitco readers, with majority leaning toward silver as the metal with the best potential.

I would quite probably go for silver next year, given where the gold silver ratio is. Silver looks very cheap. Im confident that the precious metals will rise next year and I expect silver to outperform, Jordan Eliseo, chief economist at ABC Bullion, told Kitco News.

The gold-silver ratio holding at an elevated level of 77.2 points, according to Kitco.com's charts, while the historical average for the ratio is around 60 points.

TD Securities also highlighted silver in its 2018 Global Outlook, stating that the banks trading recommendation for next year is to go long silver with a price target at $20 an ounce. Underperforming silver is set to shine as gold improves amid still low real rates, firm demand, weak supply and higher [volatility], the report said.

On top of that, the Bank of Montreal (BMO) released its own analysis in support of silver, noting that it has more potential than gold in the long-term. Strong investment demand, coupled with expectations of renewed industrial activity demand, support our long-term $20/oz, BMO analysts said.

One key factor to keep in mind as we get ready to start the new year is that the global mine supply of silver is actually expected to rise in 2018.

Metals Focus said it is estimating 2018 silver-mine supply to be at 867.2 million ounces, compared to 856.9 million in 2017. Meanwhile, CPM Group said that global silver-mining output will increase 2.7% to around 817 million ounces in 2018.

Both, gold and silver are looking good this week, hitting four-week highs on Wednesday. February Comex gold was last at $1,291.00, up 0.27% on the day, while March Comex silver was last at $16.76, up 0.94% on the day.
By Trevor Hunnicutt

NEW YORK, Dec 27 (Reuters) - U.S. fund investors walloped domestic equities with the most selling in four months, using the proceeds to buy cheaper stocks abroad that could thrive in a global economic expansion, Investment Company Institute (ICI) data showed on Wednesday.

Nearly $9.6 billion tumbled out of funds focused on U.S. stocks during the week ended Dec. 20, the most in any week since August, while their counterparts focused outside the country took in $8 billion in their best showing since June, the trade group said.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday signed into law the largest tax overhaul since the 1980s, which slashes the corporate rate from 35 percent to 21 percent. That benefit for corporations has stimulated further gains for domestic stocks, but investors have been buying abroad instead, searching for a potentially better value, especially if growth accelerates in Japan, Europe or emerging markets, too.

"I'm more optimistic than I have been in several months," said Tom Stringfellow, chief investment officer at Frost Investment Advisors.

"The emerging markets are not as risky as we anticipated, Europe is getting traction."

Money is also typically shifted in the final weeks of the year in an effort to minimize taxes. Some investors, for instance, sell securities at a loss to decrease their tax liabilities. "As we shift into a lower-tax regime in 2018, especially for corporations, we have been observing clients engaging in more aggressive tax-loss selling before lower tax rates kick in next year, because tax losses are more valuable in a higher tax environment," said Scott Minerd, global chief investment officer at asset manager Guggenheim Partners LLC, in a note distributed to clients.

Bond funds pulled in $1.6 billion, the least amount of cash in five weeks, but still enough to record a 52nd straight week of inflows and nearly a full year without a single week of withdrawals, according to ICI. Funds that invest in commodities, such as gold or oil, posted $434 million in outflows, the most since July.

Overall, domestic equity funds are on pace to post outflows for the third straight year in 2017, according to Thomson Reuters' Lipper unit, while debt and non-domestic stock funds are strongly positive on the year.

Much of the year-end reallocation is benefiting exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which typically track segments of the market relatively cheaply. ICI said ETFs took in nearly $11 billion during the week, compared to outflows of nearly $14 billion for mutual funds, which typically charge a higher fee and attempt to beat the market.

The following table shows estimated ICI flows for mutual funds and ETFs (all figures in million of dollars):

12/20 12/13 12/6 11/29 11/21/2017 Equity -1,594 6,836 8,618 3,133 5,028

Domestic -9,563 5,346 5,961 -645 1,166

World 7,969 1,490 2,657 3,779 3,862 Hybrid -2,123 -1,418 -2,139 -652 -500 Bond 1,604 5,018 6,156 6,537 6,900

Taxable 1,519 4,947 6,468 6,365 6,162

Municipal 85 71 -312 171 737 Commodity -434 5 421 -295 -39 Total -2,548 10,441 13,057 8,723 11,388 (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Tom Brown)
BENGHAZI, Libya, Dec 27 (Reuters) - The damage at a Libyan crude pipeline, blown up on Tuesday, still needs to be assessed, an official at Waha oil company, which operates the line, said on Wednesday.

A team of senior company officials was on the way to the site located about 130 km (80 miles) south of the Es Sider terminal to assess the damage and to see how long repairs will take, the official said.

(Reporting by Ayman al-Warfalli; Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Adrian Croft)
MOSCOW, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday Russia had more proposals to encourage business to repatriate capital from abroad. Putin said on Monday that Russia should scrap the 13 percent profit tax on funds repatriated from abroad and renew an amnesty from penalties for businesses returning capital. (Reporting by Denis Pinchuk; Writing by Polina Nikolskaya; Editing by Andrew Osborn)

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.
HANOI, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Here's a snapshot of Vietnamese dong exchange rates in the official and unofficial markets, indicative SJC gold prices in Hanoi and interbank offered rates at 0518 GMT.

December 27 USD/VND mid-point 22,419 USD/VND interbank 22,710/22,711 USD/VND unofficial 22,740/22,755 SJC gold (mln dong/tael) 36.30/36.57

Interbank offered rates Overnight 0.9-1.5

1 week 1.0-1.7

1 month 2.4-3.0

3 months 4.4-5.0

NOTES: As of Jan. 4, 2016 the State Bank of Vietnam has begun setting the mid-point rate on daily basis, allowing dollar/dong transactions to move in a band of +/- 3 percent around the mid point. The dong's exchange rate against other currencies is not restricted by a band. Interbank offered rates are the latest indicative bid/ask prices, quoted from market sources.

One tael is equivalent to 37.5 grams or 1.21 troy ounces. SJC gold prices are quoted by state-owned Saigon Jewelry Co.

For more interbank rate fixings released at 0400 GMT, click on .

For Vietnam market overview click on: Vietnam's bonds market auctions: Bonds auction results: (Compiled by Hanoi Newsroom)
NEW YORK, Dec 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday sold $34 billion of five-year government debt at a yield of 2.245 percent, the highest yield at a five-year auction since April 2010, Treasury data showed. The ratio of bids to the amount of five-year Treasuries offered was 2.36, the lowest reading since June. This measure of overall auction demand was 2.46 at the prior five-year note sale in November. (Reporting by Richard Leong Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.
Linn-Benton Community Colleges Small Business Development Center has received a $25,000 grant to provide new programming in Sweet Home.

The grant came from the Ford Family Foundation Grant through the Oregon Small Business Development Center Network. It's part of the Ford Family Foundation's OSBDCN Rural Outreach Program, and Sweet Home is the area of focus according to grant initiatives.

This past summer, the SBDC hired George Medellin, a new small business advisor. Medellin is based in Sweet Home and has been operating out of the LBCC Sweet Home Center. Since August, he has been establishing key contacts within the Sweet Home business community.

With help from fellow SBDC advisors, particularly Marlene Peterson, Medellin will be launching several new programs in 2018, including a new rural-based Small Business Management program to coincide with the Ford Family Foundation funding.

SBM is a 10-month program that kicks off in January and ends in November, with a short summer break. The program targets existing small business owners in rural areas who have been in business for at least two years.

Ford funds will be used to pay for programming expenses and provide scholarships for qualified program clients. SBM will be available to any qualified business, but to receive a scholarship, the business must be located in a rural community.

Formal classes will be held each month, and in between class sessions, Medellin and other small business advisors will meet with class attendees at their places of business, assisting them in overcoming specific challenges.

The goal of SBM is to help make the attendees better business owners and help them take advantage of growth opportunities. The instructional curriculum will be modeled after other successful SBM programs in Oregon; the Klamath Community College SBDC in particular was instrumental in providing assistance.

In addition to the SBM program, the SBDC will also be launching a free monthly Going Into Business workshop, which is targeted at community residents who are considering whether or not small business ownership is a good fit for them. Workshops will be held at sponsoring businesses' locations in Sweet Home.
Shenandoah, IA (51601)

Today

A few clouds from time to time. High around 25F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Clear to partly cloudy. Low 16F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph.
Anglers Cure For Winter Blues: Fly Tying Demos And Classes



With the onset of winter weather, a trout anglers thoughts turn to fly tyingand the Clinch River Chapter of Trout Unlimited has two special offerings planned to satisfy both beginning and experienced fly tyers.



Guests look on as fly tyers demonstrate tying a variety of trout patterns during the 2016 winter fly tying demonstration extravaganza sponsored by the Clinch River Chapter of Trout Unlimited. Image courtesy of Frances Oates


Linn County sheriff's deputies arrested a 26-year-old Linn County man early Christmas morning after he led various officers on a 14-mile chase reaching 100 miles per hour.

According to police and court reports, the chase began shortly after 2 a.m. when Lebanon police officers received a call about an attempt to locate a vehicle.

Officers spotted the vehicle, a Dodge Dynasty, near Agan Road and Highway 34, but the driver sped off. Officers started a pursuit, chasing the vehicle at high speeds along the highway to Goltra Road and then north on Seven Mile Lane.

Police put out spike strips to stop the vehicle in the 34000 block of Highway 99E. The driver ran.

Albany police officers responded with a K-9 unit, who helped track the driver. A female passenger was detained at the scene.

Albany police said the K-9 found the driver hiding under a car at the Willow Creek apartment complex. Corey Brandon Ford was taken into custody on two counts of fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, reckless driving and recklessly endangering another person.

Ford was arraigned Tuesday afternoon on those charges and on a previous case involving two counts of identity theft and one of second-degree theft.

Prosecutor Richard Wijers told the court Ford has a previous conviction for elude from 2015.

Judge Fay Stetz-Waters imposed $5,000 security in both cases and set Ford's next court date at 8:30 a.m. Jan. 2. He will be represented by Erik Moeller.
Baby langur birth is a Christmas surprise at Zoo Knoxville











This baby languar was born on Christmas Day at Zoo Knoxville. Image courtesy of Zoo Knoxville





The family of silvered leaf langurs, made up of male Walter, female Teagan and Teagans adolescent daughter Melody, had arrived in Knoxville on December 14 from the Santa Ana Zoo in California. New mother Teagan had shown no signs of pregnancy or labor leading up to the birth. The bright orange infant is healthy and nursing and being closely monitored by their caretakers. Langur babies will keep their striking coloring for three to six months, then begin to transition to darker fur like the other members of their group. It has not been determined if the yet-to-be-named infant is a boy or a girl.



Walter, Teagan and Melody came to Zoo Knoxville on the recommendation of the Silvered Leaf Langur Species Survival Plan, (SSP), which manages the breeding and social placement of the species in zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) nationally. Zoo Knoxville is one of only five zoos in the country to work with this species, which is threatened in their native range in Borneo and Sumatra, and the southwestern Malay peninsula. Their habitat is being destroyed by logging and the development of palm oil plantations. The species is also threatened by hunting and by capture for the pet trade.



The newly arrived langurs will be the first residents of Zoo Knoxvilles Langur Landing, which will be opening in conjunction with the new Gibbon Trails habitats in the Boyd Family Asian Trek in March. While they will not be on public view until the grand opening in March, annual passholders and Circle of Friends members will be given the opportunity to see them in a special preview before this area opens to the public. For more information, visit



KNOXVILLE  Staff caring for the family of newly arrived langurs at Zoo Knoxville discovered a Christmas surprise when they arrived at work on December 21; a bright orange newborn.The family of silvered leaf langurs, made up of male Walter, female Teagan and Teagans adolescent daughter Melody, had arrived in Knoxville on December 14 from the Santa Ana Zoo in California. New mother Teagan had shown no signs of pregnancy or labor leading up to the birth. The bright orange infant is healthy and nursing and being closely monitored by their caretakers. Langur babies will keep their striking coloring for three to six months, then begin to transition to darker fur like the other members of their group. It has not been determined if the yet-to-be-named infant is a boy or a girl.Walter, Teagan and Melody came to Zoo Knoxville on the recommendation of the Silvered Leaf Langur Species Survival Plan, (SSP), which manages the breeding and social placement of the species in zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) nationally. Zoo Knoxville is one of only five zoos in the country to work with this species, which is threatened in their native range in Borneo and Sumatra, and the southwestern Malay peninsula. Their habitat is being destroyed by logging and the development of palm oil plantations. The species is also threatened by hunting and by capture for the pet trade.The newly arrived langurs will be the first residents of Zoo Knoxvilles Langur Landing, which will be opening in conjunction with the new Gibbon Trails habitats in the Boyd Family Asian Trek in March. While they will not be on public view until the grand opening in March, annual passholders and Circle of Friends members will be given the opportunity to see them in a special preview before this area opens to the public. For more information, visit zooknoxville.org Published December 27, 2017










Publix Charities sponsoring Habitat for Humanity homes across Southeast, including Knoxville











Publix employees. Image courtesy of Publix

LAKELAND, FL. - Publix Super Markets Charities (PSMC) has donated $5 million to more than 125 Habitat for Humanity affiliates, including those impacted by Hurricane Irma, and over 30 shelters and other nonprofit organizations across the Southeast. This donation continues the Foundations commitment to meeting the basic needs of the communities it serves through additional financial support for housing, transitional support and client service programs.



No individual or family should have to worry about the basic needs of food or shelter, said Carol Jenkins Barnett, President of Publix Super Markets Charities. I am honored our Foundation is continuing my fathers legacy of supporting the communities Publix serves. And I am so proud of our Publix associates for giving their time and talents to building houses and providing hope to those in need.



The 38 Habitat for Humanity affiliates that will be receiving funding for 40 new houses include:





Publix and Publix Charities set a very high bar for community engagement, said Mario Artecona, CEO, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Miami. Their support is consistent and steadfast. Not only are they incredibly generous, but their associates volunteer with a contagious enthusiasm  be it during regular construction or hurricane recovery, and anything in between. They never fail to be front and center addressing the needs of the community. In related efforts, to help truly make each new house sponsored by PSMC a home, Publix Super Markets will greet the new homeowners with fully stocked pantries.



PSMC began its support of Habitat for Humanity in 1989 with its first contribution to Habitat for Humanity of East Polk County (Winter Haven, Florida). The Foundation has continued its support of Habitat for Humanity affiliates, and other nonprofits that serve the plight of the hungry and homeless. Earlier this year, PSMC made another $5 million donation to Feeding America member food banks, schools and other nonprofits focused on alleviating hunger across the companys operating area. To learn more about the Foundations efforts, please visit



George Jenkins, founder of Publix Super Markets and affectionately known as Mr. George, believed in giving. From the day he opened his first Publix, he made sure his associates, customers and community were taken care of. In 1966, Mr. George established the Foundation with the vision that it would continue giving long after he was gone. Under the leadership of Carol Jenkins Barnett, Mr. Georges daughter, Publix Super Markets Charities remains committed to serving the communities in which Publix operates.



Publix is privately owned and operated by its more than 190,000 employees, with 2016 sales of $34 billion. Currently Publix has 1,164 stores in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. The company has been named one of Fortunes 100 Best Companies to Work For in America for 20 consecutive years. In addition, Publixs dedication to superior quality and customer service is recognized among the top in the grocery business. For more information, visit the companys website,

Publix and Publix Charities set a very high bar for community engagement, said Mario Artecona, CEO, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Miami. Their support is consistent and steadfast. Not only are they incredibly generous, but their associates volunteer with a contagious enthusiasm  be it during regular construction or hurricane recovery, and anything in between. They never fail to be front and center addressing the needs of the community. In related efforts, to help truly make each new house sponsored by PSMC a home, Publix Super Markets will greet the new homeowners with fully stocked pantries.PSMC began its support of Habitat for Humanity in 1989 with its first contribution to Habitat for Humanity of East Polk County (Winter Haven, Florida). The Foundation has continued its support of Habitat for Humanity affiliates, and other nonprofits that serve the plight of the hungry and homeless. Earlier this year, PSMC made another $5 million donation to Feeding America member food banks, schools and other nonprofits focused on alleviating hunger across the companys operating area. To learn more about the Foundations efforts, please visit publix.com/hope or publixcharities.org/hope George Jenkins, founder of Publix Super Markets and affectionately known as Mr. George, believed in giving. From the day he opened his first Publix, he made sure his associates, customers and community were taken care of. In 1966, Mr. George established the Foundation with the vision that it would continue giving long after he was gone. Under the leadership of Carol Jenkins Barnett, Mr. Georges daughter, Publix Super Markets Charities remains committed to serving the communities in which Publix operates.Publix is privately owned and operated by its more than 190,000 employees, with 2016 sales of $34 billion. Currently Publix has 1,164 stores in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. The company has been named one of Fortunes 100 Best Companies to Work For in America for 20 consecutive years. In addition, Publixs dedication to superior quality and customer service is recognized among the top in the grocery business. For more information, visit the companys website, corporate.publix.com

Published December 26, 2017














Wilderness at the Smokies presents $10,000 check to Sevier County Food Ministries





Wilderness at the Smokies presents a $10,000 check to Sevier County Food Ministries raised through annual Holiday Funds for Food Drive. Images, left to right: Phillip Froehlich, General Manager, Wilderness at the Smokies and Jim Davis, Executive Director of Sevier County Food Ministry. Image courtesy of Wilderness at the Smokies



SEVIERVILLE -- Wilderness at the Smokies recently presented a $10,000 check to Sevier County Food Ministries. The check represented the total funds raised through Wilderness at the Smokies third annual Holiday Funds for Food Drive.

On select dates in November, Wilderness at the Smokies welcomed the greater Sevierville community to splash the day away inside the normally guest-exclusive Wild WaterDome, Tennessees largest indoor waterpark, for just $10 per person. Proceeds totaled $10,000 ($8,000 in day pass sales with an additional $2,000 contribution from Wilderness at the Smokies) and will directly benefit Sevier County Food Ministries programs to feed the hungry.



"We are extremely appreciative of Wilderness at the Smokies for their partnership for many years now, and we are thrilled to accept this contribution, said Jim Davis, Director of Sevier County Food Ministries. This provides a huge boost to our capabilities to serve our neighbors in need not only as we head into the holidays but also as we charge into winter, which is our busiest time of the year. Thank you to the folks at The Wilderness who made this happen once again, and to the hundreds and hundreds of local citizens who took advantage of the opportunity to visit the water park and help us at the same time. We are only able to do what we do because of our community."



The Holiday Funds for Food Drive is a win-win opportunity for Sevier County, said, Phillip Froehlich, general manager of Wilderness at the Smokies. Special thanks to Food City, the Sevier County School System, the Sevierville Chamber, the Pigeon Forge Chamber for their contribution in helping to promote the Holiday Funds for Food Drive, and especially to those families who participated and enjoyed a day of fun inside the waterpark.



Sevier county Food Ministries is a voluntary interfaith ministry founded in in 1992 in downtown Sevierville to help assure that no one in Sevier County goes hungry. Food and monetary donations are used to purchase food and contributed by caring individuals, churches, businesses, clubs, groups and man other person and organizations. Their mission is simply to feed the hungry.



Wilderness at the Smokies, Tennessees Largest Waterpark Resort & Family Adventure Center, is situated in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, the #1 most visited national park, in Sevierville. For more information, visit www.WildernessattheSmokies.com.


Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, center, speaks during a Cabinet meeting with Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon, left, to endorse income taxation on clergymen in Seoul, Tuesday. / Yonhap



By Park Hyong-ki



The government's final endorsement of a legal revision enabling it to impose income taxes on the religious community is drawing a backlash from both clergymen and civic groups.



Civic groups such as the Korea Taxpayers' Association (KTA) called it "undemocratic," saying the government pushed forward a tax code revision that was "too lenient and gave preferential treatment" to churches and temples.



On the other hand, religious groups such as the Christian Church of Korea also criticized the administration, arguing that the taxation was "unjust," and its sole purpose was to "meddle in the affairs of the Lord."



At a Cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, Tuesday, the government approved the enactment of the taxation on the religious community with three key decrees.



It will let clergymen decide on the scope of their non-taxable incomes and file taxes accordingly. Also, they do not have to report on money spent for religious activities to the tax authority. Last but not least, if they have made an error or a mistake in their tax filing, they can make corrections before the start of state audits.



In short, the religious community can choose what is taxable and what is not, and the government will leave it to their discretion and goodwill to file the appropriate income taxes next year.



The KTA and other local civic groups expressed their discontent, stressing that this was "unconstitutional, and Korea has become the only country in the world that will not properly audit the financial activities of religious groups."



They urged for a fair and transparent taxation, saying that they will file a lawsuit with the Constitutional Court to review and readjust the tax codes.



Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon promised that he will further revise the codes to suitable levels as the plan proceeds.



He asked the public to be patient until the system was in place, considering that clergymen "had not paid taxes over the last 50 years."



Some religious sects, including the National Council of Churches and the Catholic Church, have been paying taxes, saying that they are obligated to serve not only God, but also the country under the Korean Constitution.



The issue of taxation first came up in 1968 when then NTS chief Lee Nak-sun officially said the country needed to start collecting income taxes from priests and monks.



But succeeding governments continued to hold off on this especially ahead of or during the election season, even despite Korea being the only country in the OECD not levying taxes on the clergy.




The Cabinet on Tuesday approved a controversial law revision that imposes income taxes on clergy members.

Under the revision to the Income Tax Law, religious leaders, such as the clergy, priests and Buddhist monks, will pay income taxes starting in 2018.

There has been heated disputes among the religious circle, with some claiming they should not be subject to taxation as their work is a spiritual service, not labor.

Catholic priests have been voluntarily paying income taxes since the mid-1990s, and a growing number of religious leaders have expressed their intention to pay taxes on their earnings.

Separately, the Cabinet also approved a motion to use taxpayers' money to pay outstanding hospital bills for treating Seok Hae-kyun, then captain of the South Korean freighter Samho Jewelry, who was shot multiple times by Somali pirates.

The bills amounting to 167 million won ($155,000) have been left unpaid as the shipping company was driven into insolvency. Seok has been hailed as a hero due to his contribution to supporting successful naval rescue operations.

In 2011, South Korean Navy commandos raided the South Korean freighter that had been hijacked by Somali pirates in the Arabian Sea, rescuing all 21 crew members, including Seok, and killing eight pirates. (Yonhap)
By Kim Yoo-chul



A supply surge of apartments across the country in 2018 is expected to help stabilize housing prices. The surplus number of apartments will reach 440,000, up 14.5 percent from this year.



The figure is also the most since 1988, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and market research firms said Tuesday.



The incumbent administration is expected to welcome the increase of apartments as it has tried to curb rising real estate prices. For President Moon Jae-in, it has been one of his top economic priorities.



Under the initiative, the government plans to start large-scale construction projects aimed at supplying 2 million residential apartments in Seoul alone.



Koreans have poured their money into apartments as prices have steadily increased over the past few decades. There were a few exceptions to the rising prices such as the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s and the global financial crisis in the late 2000s, though.



In particular, the previous Park Geun-hye administration tried to boost housing prices to invigorate the economy, which led to abrupt appreciation of real estate values. One of its negative side effects is the snowballing household debt, which has topped 1,400 trillion won.



Left-leaning President Moon promised to stop the trend. The oversupply of apartments is expected to help him achieve the initiative.



Broken down by regions, the ripple effect would be most beneficial for Gyeonggi Province, the most populous province in Korea where the supply of new apartments will near 162,000, up 25.7 percent from this year.



Seoul is expected to see 34,700 new apartments next year, an increase of 28.3 percent compared to this year.



Gangwon Province, which faces a real estate boom ahead of the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games slated for next February, will see 16,500 new apartments next year, up by 10,000 from 2017.



The Bank of Korea (BOK) recently expressed worries over a slowdown in the housing market, promising not to take drastic steps in its monetary policies.



The housing market issue is one of the crucial factors when the central bank makes policy decisions. Analysts say the BOK will focus more on monitoring new mortgage rules.



"With tightening mortgage rules and a growing apartment supply, it's unlikely housing prices will jump greatly next year," said Hahm Young-jin, the head of research at Real Estate 114.



Hahm said supply gluts would also cut down on the appetites of home seekers, as an increased supply of apartments will ultimately reduce prices.



Some worry financial markets may face setbacks if property markets suffer a great downturn.



"An oversupply of housing is feared to destabilize financial markets," said Lee Sang-jae, a Seoul-based economist for Eugene Investment & Securities.




By Lee Kyung-min



The government will strengthen measures to better ensure the safety of foods and consumer goods following a chain of scares involving insecticide-tainted eggs, sanitary pads allegedly containing toxic chemicals and undercooked meat patties sold in franchise restaurants. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety unveiled new measures Wednesday that will be implemented next year.



Under the new measures, manufacturers of sanitary pads will be required to identify every ingredient on product packaging using fonts large enough for consumers to read. Currently, pads are not categorized as medical "devices," and therefore manufacturers are not required to disclose all the materials and only need to list a few of the main components used in their products.



The ministry said it will require egg farmers to outsource their packaging process to dedicated egg-packaging companies that can assess their quality.



Ham, sausages and other processed meat products will be subject to Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), a management system through which food safety is addressed. HACCP analyzes and controls biological, chemical and physical hazards involving production, handling and processing of raw materials as well as distribution and consumption of the final product.



The measures come amid heightened public awareness of safety of consumer goods and foods following numerous stories that confirm the public's inclination to believe otherwise. In early August, 49 farms were found to have sold eggs that were contaminated with high levels of harmful chemicals that should have been banned from sale. Many of them were government-approved "organic" farms that used such substances at permissible levels. Their organic licenses were immediately revoked, but this failed to allay public fear and anger.



Less than a month after the egg scare, the country _ mainly women _ was thrown into confusion over toxic chemical-ridden disposable sanitary pads. Kleannara, the local manufacturer of the controversial disposable sanitary pads, initially began refunding customers but ended up shutting down production after their products were removed from shelves at major retail stores. The scare was triggered after a women's rights group, Korean Women's Environmental Network (KWEN), disclosed the names of harmful substances found in 10 types of pads from 22 domestic manufacturers. The alleged chemicals, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), easily become vapors or gases and they are released by burning fuel, gasoline, wood or coal, generating human carcinogens such as benzene and formaldehyde.








By Yi Whan-woo



The government of former President Park Geun-hye kept sensitive parts of its December 2015 agreement with Japan over "comfort women" secret, the chief of an investigation into the deal said Wednesday.



Oh Tai-kyu, who led the Ministry of Foreign Affair's taskforce aimed at uncovering the hidden details behind the agreement, also said Cheong Wa Dae virtually led the relevant negotiations.



The findings implied speculation that the Moon Jae-in government could ditch the controversial agreement.



Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono reiterated his country's view that it will never accept demands to modify the deal, claiming the two countries agreed the matter was settled "finally and irreversibly."



"The agreement was made based on rightful negotiations. We don't find any problematic procedures,"



He insisted that Korea should faithfully implement the deal, saying "The bilateral agreement is highly valued in the international community."



The taskforce's findings are contradictory to the Park administration's explanation that then-Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and his counterpart Fumio Kishida openly shared details in 2015 during their verbal agreement over Japan's imperial-era mobilization of Korean women as sex slaves.



Yun expressed regret over the findings in a statement, saying "It did not assess the accord in a balanced manner."



The investigation has further resolved questions remaining behind the agreement. The mysteries included why Japan, despite Park government's denial, insisted on Seoul's responsibility to remove statues of girls installed outside Japanese diplomatic missions here. Japan has been upset about the "girl statues" that were created to highlight its wartime sex atrocities.



Korea initially did not want to include issues on "girl statues" in the agreement, but later accepted Japan's demand to do so, according to Oh.



Seoul instead proposed to keep relevant parts secret in a bid to avoid angering the public.













It also agreed on giving no support to people's efforts to erect "girl statues" around the world.



Oh said it was Cheong Wa Dae, not foreign ministry negotiators, who held the initiative in drawing up the agreement behind closed doors.



The deal was apparently made following years of talks among director-level officials of the two countries' foreign ministries.



Cheong Wa Dae even ordered officials to refrain from mentioning Japan's sexual slavery after the deal was reached



Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said the Moon administration "earnestly and humbly" accepted the results of months-long investigation into the agreement.



She said the government will listen to victims of Japan's wartime sex slavery before considering Seoul-Tokyo relations and finalizing its new policy accordingly.



The taskforce's 30-page report carried four major conclusions.



It concluded that the previous government did not take the opinions of the victims sufficiently seriously in its negotiation with Japan.



"It has been the international norm to take a victim-oriented approach regarding issues on women's rights during wartime. But the previous government rather struck a bargain mainly based on its own views," it said.



It added that that the conflict over "comfort women" will be repeated unless the victims find a relevant deal acceptable.



The taskforce said Park only worsened the Seoul-Tokyo relations as she underscored "comfort women" issues as a condition to hold a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.



It accused high-level officials of the previous government of holding the negotiations "behind closed-doors from beginning to end."



It said Park, chief negotiators and the foreign ministry were not flexible in coping with change in international politics, either, because they failed to communicate with one other.



"The agreement shows that the government needs to take a wide range of opinions into consideration in its decision-making process and that relevant ministries should discuss sharing their roles."
Nonprofit organizations in Albany, Lebanon, Sweet Home and Corvallis are among the beneficiaries of grants this year from the Oregon Community Foundation.

The Oregon Community Foundation Board of Directors approved $285,789 in grants this fall to nonprofits in Linn and Benton counties. Grants awarded in Linn County include those that support student success, literacy and food for those in need.

In Albany, Signs of Victory Ministries received $34,000. The organization plans to use the funds to convert a warehouse into a commercial kitchen that can be used for preparation of nutritional meals for homeless families. The space would seat 114 individuals. Signs of Victory Ministries has served homeless men, women and children by providing food, shelter and clothing since 1981.

The Boys & Girls Club of Albany received $53,616 for middle school programming that builds character, leadership and career development.

The Friends of Albany Public Library received $6,900 to support a new courier service for sharing resources between five Linn County public libraries and the Linn-Benton Community College library.

United Way of Linn County, Albany, received $10,000 to support the Dolly Parton Imagination Library program, which provides books each month to low-income children up to age 6.

In Lebanon, the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Greater Santiam received $25,000 for a "Be Great by 8th" program, meant to help middle school students build skills, increase community connections and excel academically.

In Sweet Home, United Methodist Church received $3,600 to install a commercial-grade double oven and electric range to be used for community programs.

In Corvallis, the Arts Center received $20,000 to broaden community access to art through program expansion and workforce development for teaching artists and arts administrators.

The Boys & Girls Club of Corvallis received $60,000, also for a "Be Great by 8th" program.

The Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence received $10,000 to expand services for survivors of domestic and sexual violence in Benton and Linn counties.

The Corvallis Bicycle Collective received $3,000 to start bicycle safety and repair workshops, meant to provide hands-on experience for children and adults.

The Marys River Watershed Council in Corvallis received $11,673 to collect information from Benton County residents to inform development of strategic goals for watershed stewardship and education programs.

The Pastoral Counseling Center of the Mid-Willamette Valley received $10,000 to expand behavioral health services for low-income and underinsured families in Benton and Linn counties.

The mission of The Oregon Community Foundation is to improve life for all Oregonians through the power of philanthropy. OCF works with individuals, families, businesses and organizations to create charitable funds to support the community causes they care about.

For full lists of grants awarded around the state and more information about OCF initiatives visit www.oregoncf.org.
Participants pay respects to Japan's wartime sexual slavery victims who died this year at Wednesday Demonstration near the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, Wednesday / Yonhap



By Jung Min-ho



Many people have expressed anger and frustration over the Park Geun-hye administration's "secret deal" over the Korean victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery.



"It is such a shame the Park government excluded the victims from its talks with Japan," said a 28-year-old woman, who refused to give her name. "The government is in no position to make a deal for them unless they agree. Apparently, they never agreed."



On Wednesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the Park government did not make adequate efforts to listen to the surviving victims before reaching the agreement.



The two nations made the "final and irreversible" deal on Dec. 28, 2015, to resolve the longstanding diplomatic issue. Japan apologized to the victims and agreed to contribute 1 billion yen ($8.9 million) to a foundation dedicated to supporting them.



But the news shocked the victims, who had no idea about the government move. They said they could not accept an agreement.



"The deal makes sense only if there were no victims still living. But many are. I do not understand why the government made a rush for it," said a 66-year-old man surnamed Jung. "I do hope the two countries will work together for a better future after resolving the issue, but not that way."



Hundreds of people gathered in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul for the latest "Wednesday Demonstration," which has been held there every week since January 1992.



They urged President Moon Jae-in to scrap or renegotiate the deal, saying there isn't much time left for the victims.



"This year alone, eight of the victims have passed away," lead organizer Han Kook-yeom said. "The government should not ask them to wait any longer. It should start talks with Japan now."



Despite the cold weather, about 500 students and members of civic groups participated in the rally. Some were holding flowers to pay respects to the eight women who died this year.



Baek Mi-soon, head of the Korean Women's Association United, spoke each of the eight women's names and said, "We will remember them as human rights activists who fought for the rights of women and all humans."



Japan has urged Korea to honor the agreed-upon deal. But the Moon government has said there appears to have been procedural problems.



On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha told reporters she would talk to the victims and civic groups before making any decision on future talks with Japan.






Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon speaks during an interview with The Korea Times, Tuesday. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul



SMOE seeks to establish bilingual school in area



By Kim Bo-eun



Southwestern Seoul is commonly perceived as an underdeveloped, Chinese-immigrant enclave.



For parents in Seoul, with their sky-high fervor for education, who largely choose to live in neighborhoods with good schools and high-performing students, southwestern Seoul has not been regarded as a favorable environment to raise their children.



But the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE) is seeking to transform the area into an Asian hub with "international schools" teaching students both in Korean and English.



"The idea is to develop the area into a global hub represented by immigrants with Asian nationalities," SMOE Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon said in an interview with The Korea Times, Tuesday.



Multiracial students in Seoul



The total student population in Seoul is shrinking due to the low birthrate, but the number of multiracial students continues to grow, as the immigrant population grows.



Included in the multiracial student population are children from interracial marriages born both here and abroad, as well as children of foreign parents.



The total number in elementary, middle and high schools has grown from 1.16 percent in 2015, to 1.42 percent in 2016 and to 1.61 percent in 2017.



Elementary schools have the largest percentage of multiracial students _ they accounted for 2.59 percent of the student population this year.



By nationality, Chinese and Korean-Chinese account for the largest number, followed by Japanese, Vietnamese and Filipinos.



Meanwhile, 27 percent of students of Chinese ethnicity are concentrated in southwestern Seoul.



At Daedong Elementary School, 62.4 percent of the students are children of foreign parents and at Youngil Elementary School these students account for 40.7 percent.



The education office devised a plan to not only help these students with their studies by making it possible to study in Chinese, but also enable Korean students to learn a foreign language.



International school, Asian hub



The SMOE has drawn up plans so that these two schools are given the autonomy to teach students both in Korean and Chinese as well as offer classes teaching China's history and culture, to make them an attractive option for Korean students.



The schools took part in a pilot program for two years, after which the education authorities concluded that they helped promote students understanding of their classmates with foreign parents.



"The SMOE will start drawing up more detailed plans for these international schools next year," Cho said.



The schools will remain public schools which are given autonomy in their curriculum _ therefore they will not collect pricey tuition like international schools but offer a special curriculum.



The SMOE has requested the Ministry of Education for support in drawing up or revising existing regulations which will enable this to happen.



The education office has also begun discussions with the Seoul Metropolitan Government and districts in Guro, Yeongdeungpo and Geumcheon in southwestern Seoul to turn the area into a special global district.



"We are envisioning a cosmopolitan area of people of diverse cultures and races," Cho said.



"The plan is also centered on investing in the area to develop and modernize neighborhoods."



While Cho's term ends next June, the superintendent said the plan will likely be carried out.



"Unless there are disputed policies between conservatives and progressives, plans such as those assisting multiracial students or those to counter school bullying will be carried through."



Future of educating multiracial students



Up until recently, most programs for multiracial children consisted of teaching students the Korean language and helping them adjust to life here.



However, as the multiracial student population continues to grow, a shift has occurred on how they are taught at schools.



"In the past, policies for immigrants were mainly centered on assimilation _ there was a distinction between Korean nationals and immigrants as being the host and visitor," Cho said.



"Now, education is centered on embracing diversity, which Korea is still struggling with."



Even among Korean students, there is bullying that stems from the slightest differences.



Therefore in many cases, multiracial students face difficulties in adjusting to school, due to bullying stemming from discrimination. This, along with the language barrier, has contributed to dropouts. The figure for elementary and middle school multiracial students grew in 2016 from 2015.



"Because Korea has long been racially homogenous, its policies for immigrants fall short of those of immigrant nations such as the U.S.," Cho said.



"Our aim is to assist multiracial children so that they are able to grow to become leaders of Korea's future society."




Lee Chang-sup, president-publisher of The Korea Times and chairman of the Foreign Language Newspapers Association of Korea, joins winners of the 2017 excellent journalism awards at the Korea Press Center in central Seoul, Wednesday. From left, Korea Herald reporter Song Su-hyun, Korea Joongang Daily senior reporter Seo Ji-eun, Lee, Aju Business Daily reporter Wang Haina and The Korea Times international desk editor Lee Hee-soon. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
By Yi Whan-woo



Former U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) commanders have thrown their support behind President Moon Jae-in's call to delay annual military exercises between South Korea and the U.S. until after the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.



According to Voice of America (VOA), Wednesday, Burwell Bell, James Thurman and John Tilelli _ all retired U.S. Army generals _ said it was important not to disrupt the Olympics and that it was "legitimate and sound" to consider postponing the joint drills.



Bell led the USFK from 2006 to 2008, Thurman from 2011 to 2013 and Tilelli from 1996 to 1999.



"It's not good to be conducting military exercises when you're bringing in hundreds, even thousands of athletes from over a hundred countries around the world," Bell said.



"So the whole issue of postponing the military drills-exercises between the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the United States, I believe, is a legitimate issue and a sound issue."



His remarks came after Moon mentioned last week the possibility of postponing the joint drills until after the Olympics.



The PyeongChang Winter Olympics will take place from Feb. 9 to 25, followed by the Winter Paralympics from March 8 to 18.



They are set to overlap with two parallel drills -- Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises -- that North Korea has long condemned as "rehearsals for invasion."



Thurman separately told VOA that "it is important not to disrupt the Olympics so there should be some consideration for the ROK and U.S. to work the dates for the exercises out so it is not disruptive to the Olympics."



Tilelli said it is worth it for Moon and U.S. President Donald Trump to consider rescheduling the joint drills to when the Olympics end, according to VOA.



The former USFK chiefs, however, warned of using the military exercises as a bargaining chip to appease North Korea.



"Any notion by anyone that exercises should be postponed to achieve some kind of diplomatic engagement is wrong," Bell said, adding the two parallel drills, if postponed, should be conducted "immediately following the Olympics."



He demanded the U.S. to abrogate the alliance and pull out its forces from South Korea if either side ever chooses to use military readiness as a bargaining chip.



Thurman echoed a similar view, claiming, "We must be careful about appeasing North Korea."



"It has never worked and I do not think cutting deals with them will be effective," he said.


Lee Jae-yong enters the courtroom at the Seoul High Court in southern Seoul, Wednesday. / Yonhap



By Jung Min-ho



Prosecutors are seeking a 12-year prison sentence for Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong on five charges, including offering bribes to former President Park Geun-hye and her confidant Choi Soon-sil.



Special counsel Park Young-soo demanded the prison sentence Wednesday during Lee's appeal at the Seoul High Court, accusing Lee of giving a bribe of 29.8 billion won ($28 million) in return for receiving government support to ensure his control of Samsung Group.



"The defendants claim it was just part of Samsung's philanthropic activities. But the same year the company bought Choi an expensive horse, it stopped donating to a charity group. This reflects their perception about corporate social responsibility," the special counsel said. "The deal is a typical example of the collusion between politics and business."



Park Young-soo said the former president and Lee had three private meetings at Cheong Wa Dae to make the deal.



At Lee's final hearing before the verdict, the biggest controversy was whether the two met on Sept. 12, 2014, as the prosecution alleges. Lee admitted that he had met her twice  on July 25, 2015, and Feb. 15, 2016,  but denied the alleged meeting took place in 2014.



This is important because the merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries  a critical move for Lee to tighten his grip on group management  was decided in May 2015 and completed two months later. According to the special counsel, the help from the National Pension Service (NPS), a key shareholder of the two Samsung units, was part of the deal.



However, without the 2014 meeting, it might be difficult to prove the link between Samsung's donations to Choi's cultural foundations and Park's decision to pressure the NPS to vote for the merger.



If the two did not meet in 2014, as Lee claims, it is doubtful that the former president and the NPS had enough time to orchestrate everything for the deal before the merger.



Under the law, to prove bribery, prosecutors should be able to show that money was given for a specific favor.



Two former presidential aides  Ahn Bong-geun and An Chong-bum  claimed they saw Park and Lee having the 2014 meeting at the presidential office.



But Lee denied that accusation in strong terms.



"I did not meet her on Sept. 12, 2014," Lee said. "That's the truth unless I have dementia."



Lee argued that he only accepted Park's demands in fear of retaliation and didn't expect any favors from her or the government in return.



The court is expected to deliver its verdict on Feb. 5, 2018.






By Ko Dong-hwan







Public transportation services designed for people in South Korea's remote areas  which are as cheap as 100 won (nine cents) to use  will spread to other regions next year.







The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has decided to extend the service from 18 regions to 82. The government-subsidized system began in 2014.







It uses taxis and small buses to provide citizens with access to town centers where they can pay taxes, visit government offices or shop at markets. The system's representative model is the "100 won taxi."







In a rural village in Naju, South Jeolla Province, the city office provides each household with four tickets for the taxi a month. Passengers can go to the town center by giving one ticket to the driver and paying a fare of 100 won.







Normal taxi fares vary but are usually under 2,000 won. In the case of the 100 won taxi, the region's municipal government pays the difference to the taxi company.







In Gokseong, another city in the province, the 100 won taxi started in January 2015 and has carried almost 80,000 people. The city selected 34 remote villages and reached out to 1,476 citizens with the service.







The strategy and finance ministry, the land, infrastructure and transport ministry, and the rural affairs ministry will operate next year's extended service. Financial support will come from the central government (50 percent), the major city (10 percent) and the minor city (40 percent). The service will use 100 won taxies and buses.







The central government plans to transfer control of the services to local authorities, allowing citizens to have a say in how they are run.




People's Party Chairman Ahn Cheol-soo, left, and Bareun Party Chairman Yoo Seong-min, right, shake hands at an event in the National Assembly, Wednesday. / Yonhap



By Choi Ha-young



The People's Party began a party-wide vote on whether to merge with the Bareun Party, Wednesday.



On the first day of the four-day poll, party Chairman Ahn Cheol-soo urged party members to cast their ballots, referring to a rival faction's move to boycott the vote.



"If the party members endorse me, I will carry forward the merger from the beginning of next year. Otherwise, I will step down from my post," Ahn said at a press conference.



"The merger is not simply about making our party bigger in scale. It is to create a young, reformist political group beyond an ideological confrontation between liberals and conservatives."



Later in the day, Ahn took part in an event organized by the Bareun Party.



"My political career is at stake in this vote. I believe the merger can change history," Ahn said. "The considerable voter turnout, despite the opponents' boycott, is a very encouraging sign."



As of 6 p.m. Wednesday, 31,843 people had voted or 12.45 percent of eligible voters. There is no minimum turnout rate, according to the party's legal committee.



Bareun Party Chairman Yoo Seong-min, who also attended the event, said he is looking forward to the outcome of the vote as a breakthrough in the merger. "I am aware of the rough road ahead of us, but we can overcome such hardships once we concentrate on our common goals  the establishment of a future-oriented and reformist group."



The People's Party has vowed to become a powerful third party. Recently, the party said it will arbitrate the two largest parties' dispute over a constitutional revision, as it did during the budget negotiations earlier this month.



If Ahn's bid goes smoothly, the new party will launch in February next year. Before the final decision, the parties should undergo party conventions, another hurdle for Ahn.



This is likely to generate the third-largest party here, but the number of seats could be lower than the existing People's Party, if the anti-merger faction leaves the party. However, the estimate varies  the opponents may stay in the party if less than 20 lawmakers are poised to leave which is required to form a negotiation body.



The anti-merger faction in the People's Party  primarily composed of lawmakers from the Jeolla regions  sought a court injunction to halt the process on Monday, but the Seoul Southern District Court rejected their demand, giving the go-ahead for the poll, Wednesday.



In the vote, party members have been asked: "This is a vote of confidence for party Chairman Ahn regarding his plan to merge the People's Party with the Bareun Party. Are you for or against him?"


By Na Jeong-ju



A South Korean newspaper recently published photos of Chinese and North Korean ships trading oil illegally in the West Sea.



These photos were reportedly taken by U.S. spy satellites in October, only a month after the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) decided to cut petroleum shipments to North Korea to 2 million barrels a year from 4.5 million barrels in response to the North's sixth nuclear test. The UNSC also banned ship-to-ship trade with North Korea on the high seas.



South Korea's foreign ministry was quick to confirm this report, saying the UNSC's sanctions committee is looking into suspected oil trafficking cases spotted since October on the high seas between China and North Korea. A ministry spokesman said Seoul will demand explanations from Beijing directly about the Chinese ships involved.



It is too premature to conclude whether the Chinese government was involved in the illegal oil trades with North Korea. But we can imagine many possibilities: Beijing may have been providing oil to Pyongyang in secret through ships to evade detection. Or it may have been aware of oil smuggling on the seas, but overlooked such offenses.



The problem is that any oil embargo imposed on North Korea cannot be successful as long as these loopholes exist. And the latest case shows why China is not being fully trusted by the international community despite its repeated pledges to implement UNSC resolutions on the North honestly.



Even if the Chinese government's involvement in the oil trafficking is proved, it will never tell the truth. For instance, South Korean companies suffered from massive economic retaliatory measures from China over the deployment of a U.S. missile defense system in South Korea. But China's official stance is that the government has nothing to do with the damage inflicted on Korean firms.



China should keep in mind that the goal of the U.N. measures is not to destroy North Korea, but to bring it back to the negotiating table for a denuclearization deal. This is not possible without help from China.



Beijing is seemingly working closely with the international community to create much-needed momentum in handling the North Korean nuclear crisis.



China's official customs data showed it exported no oil products to North Korea in November, but there are still few signs of an oil shortage on North Korean streets. In early December, the UNSC imposed new caps on trade with the North, including limiting oil product shipments to just 500,000 barrels a year.



The data also showed Beijing imported no iron ore, coal or lead from North Korea in November and did not export any gasoline, jet fuel, diesel or fuel oil to the North. Beijing, however, has not disclosed its crude exports to Pyongyang for several years.



According to the Chinese foreign ministry, the country has consistently fully, correctly, conscientiously and strictly enforced relevant international sanctions on North Korea. China, however, should prove its sincerity first in handling the belligerent neighbor.



In fact, China had long taken advantage of international trade bans on Pyongyang to increase supplies of oil, food and energy to the Kim Jong-un regime. North Korea's economic dependence on China is now heavier than ever. North Korea cannot survive without support from China.



The Moon Jae-in administration recently forecast that North Korea will be open to talks with not only the United States, but also South Korea next year because international sanctions will start to influence its economy seriously. The North is expected to explore the possibility of negotiations while searching for international recognition of its status as a nuclear power.



If the time comes for dialogue, this would be the last chance to make North Korea give up its nuclear weapons. China will no doubt be a crucial part of it as its biggest supporter. China should show faith, because only it can make the North behave.


"Government officials can remove more than 30 percent of administrative red tape if they really try, even without changing laws," Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said in a meeting with reporters Friday.



Acknowledging that legal revisions are not easy, Minister Kim said the government is seeking ways to relax regulations without amending laws. "Particularly we will go all-out to ease enforcement decrees and rules as well as red tape in the drawer," he said. Kim was referring to regulations left to the discretion of bureaucrats without legal grounds.



The deputy prime minister's remarks reflect his frustration with the National Assembly's sluggish legal revision process, and the executive branch's willingness to do what it can.



Few will disagree with this.



"Regulations have built a reward system which in turn has given rise to interest groups," Kim also pointed out. "To eliminate regulations, we should break down these vested rights, and form a social consensus to this end." We can hardly agree more.



Numerous technocrats and politicians have stressed the necessity and urgency of regulatory reforms. The problem is the pace of deregulation in Korea is too slow compared with our foreign competitors. Hampering these efforts are government officials' complacency and self-preservation. According to business associations, there are more than 6,000 regulation-related laws and regulations, which branched to give rise to 39,000 ordinances and rules.



These officials tend to disallow all requests from the private businesses except for those enshrined in legislation, making it all but impossible for the latter to try new ideas. The bureaucrats know too well they have only to wait out the five-year tenure of a new administration, or just the first few years of any new government. The perennially bickering political parties and legislators often waste an entire session without enacting a single law. A special bill on regulation-free zones has been gathering dust in the Assembly since the Moon administration took office.



President Moon and his administration must prioritize breaking this bureaucratic resistance and set entrepreneurs free from regulatory traps. The only exceptions should be regulations related to safety and the environment.








Opposition leader should contain his outbursts



The Supreme Court upheld last week a lower court's ruling which cleared Liberty Korea Party (LKP) Chairman Hong Joon-pyo of charges of taking illegal political funds. He had been accused of receiving 100 million won ($92,600) from the late Sung Wan-jong, the former head of the local construction firm Keangnam Enterprises, ahead of his party's leadership race in 2011.



With the Supreme Court's decision, Hong can put the bribery scandal behind him and put all his focus on rebuilding the conservative party. The LKP has a lot of work to do to win back the voters' trust after the corruption scandal involving former President Park Geun-hye. It is still uncertain whether Hong is the right person for this task due to his immature leadership style and lack of vision for new politics. He has often been criticized for his uncontrollable outbursts. After the Supreme Court's ruling, Hong continued to make inappropriate remarks against the ruling camp, the media and the prosecution. "I am relieved to be cleared of the false charge," Hong said after the ruling, "I will hold the prosecutors responsible for fabricating evidence against me."



Hong should have first apologized for being linked to such a shameful scandal. He seems totally unaware that public opinion does not side with the Supreme Court's decision. Instead, Hong claimed on his Facebook page that the media and the news portals had become subservient to the Moon Jae-in administration. He alleged that the polling agencies were being manipulated in favor of the Moon administration.



He also made some very classless remarks about government's response to the recent fire at a fitness center in Jecheon. During a visit to the fire site Tuesday, Hong blasted the government's lack of attention to fire safety, saying that the Moon administration was probably too busy celebrating victory in the presidential election to properly carry out fire inspection. He also stressed that his party had no intention of using the accident politically. He claimed that the Moon administration's response to the fire was worse than the previous Park Geun-hye administration's response to the Sewol ferry sinking. "We will be closely watching how those who took power using the Sewol ferry sinking will handle the Jecheon incident," Hong wrote on Facebook. Such remarks are insensitive toward many people who are still grieving the Sewol victims and those who have been devastated by the Jecheon fire which killed 29 people.



As shown by the latest polls, public support for his party has been stuck in the 10 percent range, much lower than that of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea. Voters will turn their backs on the LKP in next year's local elections if Hong keeps up his haughty attitude and falls short of providing good alternatives to President Moon's populist policies.








People are at a loss for words over the bizarre controversy of Cheong Wa Dae importing an anthrax vaccine for President Moon Jae-in and some 500 staff of the presidential office in preparation for a possible biochemical attack by North Korea.



The controversy was sparked by a report from a conservative online news outlet Newstown, that the Moon administration purchased the doses of anthrax vaccine in October and officials were vaccinated while the public was left vulnerable.



The report went viral in an instant through social media, which was soon flooded by articles criticizing the presidential office's "selfish" behavior. The presidential spokesman said in a press release Sunday that the purchase was planned early last year by the previous Park Geun-hye government and is being kept at a military hospital, denying that Moon and his aides have already been given shots.



Condemning the report as fake news based on extremely malicious interpretation, the presidential office asked police to investigate the background of the report in a hawkish-ever attitude toward a news report without requesting a correction.



However, the problem is the way Cheong Wa Dae handled the case. Possible biological attacks by North Korea have already become a realistic question with the Kim Jong-un regime continuing to heighten threats against the South.



A recent Japanese news report said that the North has begun experimenting with loading an anthrax bomb on an ICBM. It is no wonder that the Presidential Security Service should take measures to guard the President and his aides first since the North will target the presidential office first of all in biological warfare.



But the Moon administration should have come up with a plan to protect the people's lives at any cost from any potential attack without clinging to explaining who decided to import the anthrax vaccine; and it is not responsible for hurting the public's feelings.



The controversy can be a good occasion for the government to warn the people against any anthrax bacillus attack anew and let them learn how to cope with it. At the same time, proper measures should be taken against ever-flourishing fake news on social media.












Minimum wage hike aimed at reducing polarization



The minimum wage will increase by 16.4 percent to 7,530 won ($7) per hour starting Jan. 1. The rise is in accordance with a decision made by the Minimum Wage Commission in July to that effect. It is also part of President Moon Jae-in's commitment to hike the legally-binding hourly wage to 10,000 won by 2020.



However, the minimum wage has become a contentious issue as labor and management are still poles apart on how much to increase it. Some business lobbyists are trying to neutralize the double-digit hike to stop labor costs from going up. They are also attempting to block a further increase to 10,000 won.



It is meaningless to claim that the minimum wage is set too high. The reason is because many businesses have exploited labor to maximize their profits, although wages have risen substantially over the last decades. They have to admit the minimum wage is still low considering that a large number of part-timers and irregular workers are struggling to pay their bills with the low pay.



Let's look at the broader picture. The exploitation of labor has widened the gap between the rich and the poor. It has also deepened social polarization. If we cannot address this problem, we may face a crisis which is more serious than the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. So raising the minimum wage is a first step toward narrowing the gap and making Korea a fair and just society.



All concerned parties  labor, management and government  should work together to minimize the side effects of the higher minimum wage. Businesses, particularly small companies and the self-employed, are feared to take the brunt of climbing labor costs. Many of them may consider reducing hiring or introducing automation. This may make the job market tighter.



To prevent these side effects, the government created a 3-trillion-won job stabilization fund for small businesses employing fewer than 30 workers. It plans to provide up to 130,000 won in subsidies for each worker to help employers offset the effect of the wage hike. However, this measure is not sufficient for businesses to maintain their employment or hire more workers.



Therefore more fundamental measures should be taken. First it is necessary to transform the labor-driven economic structure into a labor-efficient one that can provide goods and services with added value. For this, the government must offer more financial support for small- and medium-sized businesses to encourage research and development for technological innovation.



Most of all, the authorities should create a level playing field for small businesses and large companies to work together for coexistence and co-prosperity. Only then can President Moon's income-led growth policy produce success benefitting both workers and corporations.




By Frank Ching





It is no secret that China and the United States compete around the world although, in certain areas, they cooperate. The newly released national security strategy of the United States, unveiling the Trump administration's thoughts of national security, focuses primarily on China as its top competitor.



Although North Korea has grabbed headlines in recent months for its attempt to become a nuclear power with ballistic missiles that can deliver death-dealing warheads to North America, the national security document puts the threat from Pyongyang at a lower level than that posed by Beijing and Moscow.



According to the Trump administration, China and Russia "challenge American power, influence and interests, attempting to erode American security and prosperity."



Those two countries "are determined to make economies less free and less fair, to grow their militaries, and to control information and data to repress their societies and expand their influence."



China and Russia are paired in the document, with China always being named first. It is as though the two formed a partnership, with China being the senior partner.



Then, of course, there is the North Korean threat. The national security document sees North Korea and Iran as regional actors, "determined to destabilize regions, threaten Americans and our allies, and brutalize their own people."



After these state actors are named, "jihadist terrorists" and "transnational criminal organizations" are cited as "actively trying to harm Americans."



But America, the national security strategy says, "will respond to the growing political, economic and military competitions we face around the world."



While China and the U.S. cooperate on certain issues, with North Korea currently being a prime example, albeit within limits, this document very much puts the spotlight on competition.



"Although the United States seeks to continue to cooperate with China, China is using economic inducements and penalties, influence operations, and implied military threats to persuade other states to heed its political and security agenda," it says. "China's infrastructure investments and trade strategies reinforce its geopolitical aspirations."



In the section on intellectual property, the Trump administration pledges to reduce the "illicit appropriation of U.S. public and private sector technology and technical knowledge by hostile foreign competitors."



The administration says that it would work with the Congress to strengthen the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), whose role is to ensure that foreign acquisitions do not endanger U.S. national security.



Congress is considering legislation to expand the scope of CFIUS and to enhance its power to address national security risks.



The Trump national security strategy echoes that of President George W. Bush in 2002, which said of the American military: "Our forces will be strong enough to dissuade potential adversaries from pursuing a military build-up in hopes of surpassing, or equaling, the power of the United States."



The Trump document says: "The United States will seek areas of cooperation with competitors from a position of strength, foremost by ensuring our military power is second to none."



Chinese activities around the world are noted. Regarding China's manmade islands in the South China Sea, the document says that the country's efforts "to build and militarize outposts" endanger the free flow of trade, threaten the sovereignty of other nations, and undermine regional stability.



"States throughout the region are calling for sustained U.S. leadership in a collective response that upholds a regional order respectful of sovereignty and independence," it says.



From China's standpoint, the U.S. in refusing to recognize Beijing's South China Sea claims and activities, is threatening what China calls its "core interest."



Aside from its immediate neighborhood, China is also expanding its influence around the world. In Africa, for example, China's trade with the continent has grown phenomenally, from less than a third of U.S. trade in 2000 to today, when it is the continent's largest trading partner.



As for Latin America, the national security document says that China is seeking "to pull the region into its orbit through state-led investments and loans."



In Europe, too, "China is gaining a strategic foothold by expanding its unfair trade practices and investing in key industries, sensitive technologies and infrastructure."



While the Trump visit to China was viewed by many as a great success, with the president saying he didn't blame China for taking advantage of the U.S. over many administrations, the thrust of his statement was that such behavior would not be tolerated in his presidency. That is, he planned to be tough with China.



The national security document confirms that toughness. The North Korea issue means that Beijing can buy some time by cooperating with Washington, but Trump's overall China policy is set.





Frank Ching (Frank.ching@gmail.com) is a Hong Kong-based journalist.


Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) 4K TVs are on display at LG Electronics' booth during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2017 this January in Las Vegas. For CES 2018, the company will raise awareness of its AI-focused ThinQ brand identity. / Courtesy of LG Electronics



By Lee Min-hyung



Artificial intelligence (AI) and connectivity are set to make a big splash at the world's largest tech tradeshow, the Consumer Electronics Show (2018) in Las Vegas next month.
The election of Doug Jones in Alabama delivered much joy to Democrats, and they rightly heralded the huge African-American turnout, without which Jones would not have won. But Democrats should have stopped there. Some of their prominent voices went further with the theme that black voters did them a favor.

Have they considered the strong possibility that Alabama's African-American voters did it for themselves? They had a choice between a man who had convicted Klansmen of murdering black girls at a church and someone who spoke nostalgically of slavery. Let alone that Roy Moore would have tried to take away their health care and Jones will defend it.

Identity politics have long been a vote killer for the Democratic Party. Treating any racial group of voters as a big unthinking lump comes back to bite you. For one thing, it irritates those who don't feel "thanked." For another, it empowers self-appointed spokesmen prone to attacking other groups based on race.

During the Women's March on Washington, "consultant" Angela Peoples carried an insulting sign that read, "Don't forget: White women voted for Trump." It was sort of true, in that 53 percent of white women voted for Trump. But that means 47 percent of white women did not. And on this subject, why wave that sign in front of a huge mass of white women marching in protest of Trump  other than to get attention?

Someone could have carried an equally obnoxious and unfair sign reading, "Black women who didn't vote helped elect Trump." Former Democratic National Chairwoman Donna Brazile writes in her book "Hacks" that "in 2008 and 2012 black women were the highest performing voters for us in the whole country, but in (2016) our numbers fell from 70 percent to 64."

In a column titled "How Democrats can reward black women right now for their votes in Alabama and Virginia," Jonathan Capehart lists several African-American lawmakers as potential replacements for the Senate Judiciary Committee seat vacated by Al Franken.

Of course they're potential replacements. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California would be on anyone's A-list of top candidates. Why diminish them by turning their possible appointment into some kind of race-based reward?

For identity activists, identity is the only issue. During the 2014 midterm elections, some Latino "spokesmen" put their greatest energies into denouncing President Obama over his policy of deporting many who had entered the country illegally.

A news report at the time quoted young Latino voters in Colorado as saying, "Why should I bother to vote?" Basically asking, "What has Obama done for us?"

For one thing, Obama ran himself ragged to get the Affordable Care Act passed. The health reform benefited Latinos more than any other ethnic/racial group. An added irony is that their low participation helped elect a Congress with many leaders opposed to even the baby steps of immigration reform  normalizing the status of those brought here illegally as children.

Brazile says that one thing she learned from her students at Georgetown University is that younger voters especially dislike identity politics. They felt, she writes, "that Hillary spent too much time trying to appeal to people based on their race, or their gender, or their sexual orientation."

This is not to downplay issues of civil rights and voter suppression that especially concern minority groups. They must be addressed for the sake of the democracy. But to do that, their voters have to show up for every election.

Jones was put over the top by African-Americans and white suburban women. It couldn't have happened without both  but others also voted for decency. If you're going to thank anyone, thank everyone.
For the people supporting the tax bill, or those who might be leaning in favor of it, I wonder how many were really aware that the AARP, which is not by any stretch biased politically, has been strongly opposed to this law?

Also, the State of Kansas, which was a testing ground for many of the policies implemented in the bill, basically went bankrupt, and the state legislature had to override the governor's veto of their bailout plan?

Well, we will have another chance to try to learn from the failures and disasters created by these policies. The policies pushed by the ultra rich and Ayn Rand disciples.

Rick Siegert

Lebanon (Dec. 20)
Exercising during holiday season combats calories, improves mental health The cookies are baked and that glass of milk has been set out for Santa but you find yourself low on energy and need to combat those holiday blues. The...

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PRESS RELEASE

Chinese Government Approves Fusion Engineering Test Reactor

Dec. 26, 2017 (EIRNS)The day after the Chinese central government announced it was backing the project for the next-step experimental fusion power station on Dec. 6, a competition began among cities in China to host the project, the South China Morning Post reports today. The reactor will be a follow-on to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), and scientists have been working on the design for an engineering test reactor tokamak that will solve engineering challenges of fusion, anticipating a government go-ahead.

Hefei, where the Institute of Plasma Physics hosts China's Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) experiment, which has been setting records in fusion research, is in the running, with officials saying they are mounting an "all out" effort to have the new reactor built there. The article reports that the days after the government approval, the Shanghais Communist Party secretary and the citys mayor visited Hefei, to discuss cooperation on the project. Shanghai, researchers at Hefei said, has a large pool of scientific talent, and hoped to host the project.

Third, is Chengdu, which has played a major role in Chinas nuclear weapons program, and its bid for the fusion project is backed by the military and the nuclear industry. Sichuan province is also already home to several smaller fusion experiments.

The article accurately asserts that

"with strong financial backing from the Chinese government, Chinese researchers have extended their fusion research lead over the U.S. in recent years, setting records for the longest lasting, most stable plasma and developing new technologies and materials in state-of-the-art laboratories."

The U.S. has no plan for any experiments beyond ITER, and has been shutting down operating fusion machines, for lack of funding.

According to a timetable posted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, design work will continue, and construction will start in 2021. The reactor will, therefore, be built in parallel with ITER, which is not scheduled to start its experiments with a burning plasma until four years later. This a more ambitious plan than waiting for results from ITER, and was the way the U.S. fusion program was carried out in the 1970s, when real progress was being made in the program.
PRESS RELEASE

China, Pakistan, Afghan Foreign Ministers Meet in Beijing; Offer Made to Afghanistan to Join in CEPC China-Pakistan Econ Corridor

Dec. 26, 2017 (EIRNS)In the first-ever trilateral meeting, foreign ministers of China, Pakistan, and Afghanistan reaffirmed their commitment to improving their relations, deepening mutually beneficial cooperation, advancing connectivity under Chinas ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, and fighting terrorism in all its forms and manifestation without any distinction, PTI Islamabad reported today. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosted the first China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Foreign Ministers Dialogue in Beijing with Afghanistan and Pakistan Foreign Ministers, respectively Salahuddin Rabbani and Khawaja Muhammad Asif.

In his proposal to extend their $57 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to Afghanistan, Wang, talking to the reporters, pointed to Afghanistans urgent need to develop and improve peoples lives, and his hopes it can join inter-connectivity initiatives.

"So China and Pakistan are willing to look atwith Afghanistan, on the basis of win-winmutually beneficial principles, using an appropriate way,"

he said, Afghanistans TOLONews reported.

In his bilateral meeting with the Afghan Foreign Minister Rabbani, Wang said China hoped to synergize its development strategy for Afghanistan and expand bilateral cooperation. China expected to see a wide and inclusive political reconciliation process in Afghanistan, led and owned by the Afghan people, he said, Afghanistans Pajhwok reported. Rabbani, welcoming the proposal and hailing China as a reliable partner, said his country was ready to actively participate in the Belt and Road Initiative, and enhance cooperation with China in areas of inter-connectivity, infrastructure and energy.
PRESS RELEASE

South Korean Ministry Assessment for 2018: North Korea Likely To Engage U.S. in Talks

Dec. 26, 2017 (EIRNS)Reporting on their assessment for 2018, South Koreas Ministry of Unification said North Korea will try to pursue talks with U.S. while maintaining its nuclear and missile capability.

"North Korea may continue to advance its nuclear and missile capabilities while searching for an outlet externally. In searching for the recognition of its status as a de facto nuclear-possessing state, [the North] would explore the possibility of negotiations with the U.S.,"

the ministry said, according to Yonhap, reported Sputnik. This is part of the Ministrys assessment for 2018.

According to the Ministry, Pyongyang is also likely to try to engage with South Korea in a bid to restore inter-Korean relations next year.

The Ministry also said the new sanctions against the North are starting to bite, with North Koreas trade turnover with China having dropped 10.2% since January to $4.67 billion, while domestic gas prices have risen almost three times as a result of the United Nations Security Council restricting oil exports to the country.
Companies love wellness programs for a number of reasons. These smoking-cessation, weight-loss and disease-screening programs give workers the impression that their employers really care about their health. Ostensibly they save money, too, since a healthy workforce is cheaper to cover and less prone to absenteeism.

Thats the touchy-feely story. The dark downside is that voluntary wellness programs also give employers a window into their workers health profiles that is otherwise an illegal invasion of their privacy.

Thats the aspect that bothered Federal Judge John D. Bates of Washington, D.C., just before Christmas, when he overturned a federal rule that arguably permitted employers to coerce their workers into giving up private medical information that could be used to discriminate against them. The rule will be nullified as of Jan. 1, 2019, unless the government comes up with a better version before then.

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It is time for employers and policymakers to rethink their enthusiasm for the wellness movement.  Healthcare experts in the paper The Dubious Empirical and Legal Foundations of Wellness Programs

The rule had come from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which oversees how employers comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. Both limit how much information companies can demand from their employees and how they use what they know.

The laws say its alright for workers to give up the information voluntarily, so the legal question became: Whats voluntary? The question is important, because some companies offered generous incentives for participation, such as large discounts on health plan premiums; seen another way, this was the same as equally large penalties for nonparticipation.

In 2015, the EEOC proposed a rule treating wellness programs as voluntary if they involved premium differences of no more than 30% of the full cost of a health plan. Worker advocates were aghast  30% of a full-price premium could amount to thousands of dollars, and since the workers share of their health plan premiums often was only 30% or so, the penalty could double their annual costs. For many families, that made voluntary programs effectively mandatory.

The critics included the AARP, which sued to block the EEOC rule in 2016. In ruling in AARPs favor in August, Bates observed that the 30% incentive is the equivalent of several months food for the average family, two months of child care in most states, and roughly two months rent. He recognized that a fee of that magnitude could be especially coercive to lower-income employees and people with disabilities, who on average have lower incomes than those without disabilities.

Bates found the EEOC rule unlawful but, strangely, left it in place while the EEOC tried to rewrite it, on the grounds that it would be too difficult for employers to rejigger their programs in the near term. On Dec. 20, however, he overruled himself, finding that a year is more than enough lead time.

Before we get further into Bates reasoning, a few words about wellness programs are in order. Weve questioned the usefulness of these programs, and the indulgence theyve been given by the EEOC, in the past. (See here, here and here.) About half of all employers offer wellness programs in one form or another, ranging from nutritional advice, free health screenings and discounts on health club membership (so-called lifestyle management programs) all the way up to proactive therapy for those with such chronic ailments as diabetes, asthma and depression. The lighter versions are by far the more prevalent.

The biggest problem with wellness programs is theres no evidence that they work. The most frequently cited statistic in their favor came from Safeway, whose claim to have saved on per capita healthcare costs after implementing a wellness program prompted drafters of the Affordable Care Act to liberalize the incentive rules. But Safeways story was soon debunked. Other supposed success stories came from wellness program promoters themselves, who were engaged in selling their wares to big employers.

Empirical evidence of the programs efficacy is sparse, and what does exist is of questionable validity. According to a paper published this year by healthcare experts Adrianna McIntyre, Nicholas Bagley, Austin Frakt and Aaron Carroll  the all-pro frontline of the health policy blog the Incidental Economist  the most consistent conclusion is that lifestyle management programs are almost entirely ineffective, but programs focused on managing workers chronic diseases hold substantially more promise.

A 2013 study by the Rand Corp., for instance, determined that participants in workplace weight-reduction programs lost an average of a single pound by the second year of participation, an effect that had all but evaporated by year four. A seven-year study of a large wellness program at PepsiCo, however, found that while the company saved $1.46 for every dollar it spent, the savings came entirely from disease management  lifestyle management lost more than fifty cents of every dollar spent.

If the programs dont save on healthcare costs, their real attraction for employers may be the ability to shift costs to workers  especially sicker and older workers. Coercive penalties that force workers to reveal sensitive information that could prompt employers to discriminate against them, sometimes through the subtle means of steering them away from certain jobs or limiting their promotion opportunities. Millions of Americans dependent on their employment for health coverage may not feel free to deny their employers access to their private lives or a voice in their medical treatment.

That concern was at the heart of Judge Bates rulings. Initially, he found that the EEOC had done nothing to establish that a 30% incentive or penalty was consistent with voluntary participation in wellness schemes. But at first he accepted the commissions argument that vacating its rule immediately, in the middle of the 2017 health plan year, would cause potentially widespread disruption and confusion for employers, their insurance companies and their workers.

But he was uneasy at the EEOCs plan to give itself until October 2019 to rewrite and issue a new rule, which meant that it might not be effective until the beginning of 2021. If left to its own devices, the EEOC will not have a new rule ready to take effect for over three years, he wrote, adding that such a time frame wouldnt meet his order that the commission act in a timely manner. Instead, he said, the old rule will die at the end of 2018. Its up to the EEOC to have a new one in place by then.

But the right approach would be to do more than narrow the definition of voluntary. The EEOC should consider why any incentives and penalties should be acceptable. Most programs do not work, McIntyre and her colleagues concluded. It is time for employers and policymakers to rethink their enthusiasm for the wellness movement.

Keep up to date with Michael Hiltzik. Follow @hiltzikm on Twitter, see his Facebook page, or email michael.hiltzik@latimes.com.

Return to Michael Hiltziks blog.
Even when the devastating October fires kept tourists away from Napa and Sonoma, wine lovers did not turn to the Temecula Valley.

Instead, many vacationers who canceled trips to Napa and Sonoma counties during the fires booked trips to another wine-drinkers getaway: Paso Robles, near Californias Central Coast.

Paso Robles did much better after the fires, said John Kelliher, co-founder of Grapeline Wine Tours, a bus line company that offers tours of wineries throughout the state.

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But the Temecula Valley, determined to shake off its reputation as the states second-tier  or possibly even third-tier  wine region, is taking steps to boost its meager profile among California tourists. The burgeoning Southern California wine region is in the midst of an ambitious, multi-pronged plan that includes improving the quality of its wine, doubling the number of wineries and opening or expanding several hotels and resorts.

We are becoming a destination that people want to come to, said Stephanie Staab, the marketing and business development manager at Avensole Winery, one of about 40 wineries in the Temecula Valley.

The wine region in the southwest corner of Riverside County is smaller and newer to winemaking than its Northern California rivals. The region began to develop into a serious wine producer in the 1980s and is home to only a fraction of the more than 4,600 wineries statewide.

The Temecula Valley hosted nearly 2.7 million visitors last year, generating $718 million in spending, according to a study by consultant Dean Runyan Associates.

By comparison, Napa Valley welcomed 3.5 million visitors last year, generating $1.9 billion in spending, according to Visit Napa Valley, the tourism board for the region.

Industry experts say spending in Napa Valley is much higher because visitors tend to stay longer: three days on average in the Northern California wine region, compared with only two days for Temecula.

But Temecula Valley has a major advantage over its competitors: It is within a 90-minute drive for more than 20 million potential customers in Southern California. In comparison, roughly 7 million people reside in the nine-county greater Bay Area region that includes Napa.

Temecula has a much bigger upside, Kelliher said.

To entice more visitors and spur growth, Temecula wineries have pushed forward a wine country community plan that is designed to make building new wineries easier. The Riverside County Board of Supervisors gave final approval to the plan Dec. 5, changing the zoning on 156 parcels, totaling 2,104 acres.

With the zoning changes, the region would be able to support twice as many wineries in the valley.

Also, businesses in Temecula Valley last year approved a tourism marketing district that adds a 2% tax on room rentals in the area to pay for campaigns to promote the region.

To lay the groundwork for future growth, the Eastern Municipal Water District in Riverside County completed a $19.7-million project in 2015 to hook all the existing wineries along Rancho California Road  the main thoroughfare for the wine region  to the local sewer system.

The wineries previously relied on septic tanks for their sewer service, which were prone to failure, according to water district officials who say the district is now working on approving the infrastructure so new wineries can hook into the sewer system.

In addition to those efforts, individual businesses in the Temecula Valley have been investing heavily to draw more visitors.

The Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula is a few months away from completing a $285-million expansion, which would make it the biggest Indian casino hotel in the state, with more than 1,000 rooms and suites and 13 restaurants.

Also, a 135-acre winery project, the biggest and most luxurious resort proposed for the Temecula Valley, is under review by county planning officials and is expected to come up for final approval within six months. The project, dubbed Twelve Oaks, is expected to include a Marriott-branded hotel.

Europa Village, a tasting room and events center in Temecula, plans to begin major construction next year on a 40-acre expansion that will include three theme villages, each with a different European setting. The project, which will include new wineries, luxury hotel suites, restaurants and shops, is expected to be completed by 2020.

Several other winery projects, many backed by Chinese investors, are under development in Temecula Valley.

Temecula Valleys effort to become a tourist hot spot has been held back by its reputation for wines that dont measure up to the quality of wine produced in Northern California.

But Temecula wine producers say that has been changing. They point out that since 2014, Temecula Valley wineries have won several silver and gold awards in the California State Fair wine competition  a contest that had previously been dominated by wines from Napa and Sonoma counties.

Part of the turnaround dates back to the 1990s, when the infestation of the glassy-winged sharpshooter destroyed hundreds of acres of vineyards.

At that point, more knowledgeable people started to come in and really plant the grape varietals that grow best in that soil, said Jeff Comerchero, a Temecula City Council member and former mayor. The quality of Temecula wines has been elevated exponentially.

Kim Baily, who runs Bailys restaurant in Old Town Temecula, said the valleys reputation has been improving lately, a change she has noticed when she visits Los Angeles.

When I would go to L.A., people would say, Where the hell is Temecula? she said. Now when I go up there, people say, Oh, Temecula, Ive been there for wine tasting.

hugo.martin@latimes.com

To read more about the travel and tourism industries, follow @hugomartin on Twitter.
IPhone owners from several states have filed at least nine class-action lawsuits against Apple Inc. for not disclosing sooner that its software updates deliberately slowed down older-model phones so batteries would last longer.

The lawsuits  filed in U.S. district courts in California, New York and Illinois  allege that Apples silence led the iPhone owners to wrongly conclude that they had to buy newer, pricier iPhones instead of simply replacing the battery.

Three of the lawsuits were filed by Los Angeles-area residents. One accuses Apple of fraud through concealment and unfair business practices. Another accuses Apple of breaching an implied contract  that is, it argues that when people buy iPhones, they do so with the assumption that Apple wont purposefully interfere with the phones usage or value. The lawsuit says Apple did not get iPhone owners consent before meddling with the phones speed. The third alleges a slew of misdeeds, including fraud, false advertising and unjust enrichment.

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And in Israel, iPhone owners filed a class-action suit against Apple on Monday, accusing the company of a breach of duty toward customers by failing to disclose that software updates would slow the performance of older phones, local news outlets reported.

The lawsuits came after Apple confirmed last week what high-tech sleuths outside the company had already observed: The company deployed software to slow some phones. Apple said the software was intended as a fix to deal with degraded lithium-ion batteries that could otherwise suddenly die.

Our goal is to deliver the best experience for customers, which includes overall performance and prolonging the life of their devices, Apple said in a statement. The Cupertino, Calif., company said it released the fix for iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE and later extended it to iPhone 7.

Apple did not respond to a message Wednesday seeking additional comment.

The Illinois lawsuit suggests Apples motive may have been sinister, though it offers no evidence in the filing.

Apples decision to purposefully ... throttle down these devices, it says, was undertaken to fraudulently induce consumers to purchase the latest iPhone.

Kirk Pedelty, a North Carolina resident who is a plaintiff in the Illinois lawsuit, contacted Apple as his frustration grew. However, the lawsuit says: Nobody from Apple customer support suggested that he replace his battery to improve the performance of his iPhone. ... Frustrated by slowdowns and intermittent shutdowns of his iPhone 7, Pedelty purchased an iPhone 8.

James Vlahakis, an attorney representing the plaintiffs in the Illinois lawsuit, said he has been contacted by more iPhone users who say they suffered the same problem and is considering amending the lawsuit to include a request for Apple to provide battery replacements or offer refunds to consumers who bought devices unnecessarily.

A lot of people are upset, because phones arent cheap, Vlahakis said. He said he thinks Apple should have disclosed that a software update could affect the phones performance so consumers would have known replacing the battery was a possible solution.

We think they could have extended the phones life if [Apple] had been more honest, he said.

Attorneys representing Los Angeles residents Stefan Bogdanovich and Dakota Speas said Apple, as a global tech giant, should have been savvy enough to alert customers about their phones diminished performance.

We bought Apples smartphones in part because they were able to run applications quickly, Bogdanovich and Speas said in a joint statement. That is part of what we bargained for. When Apple admitted to this secret practice, it was clear we needed to take legal action.

Karl Manheim, a professor of law at Loyola Law School, said the lawsuits could have merit under state consumer protection or unfair business practice laws.

This could be like the modern version of planned obsolescence, Manheim said.

News of the throttling has led to surging interest in battery replacements, said Kyle Wiens, co-founder and chief executive of iFixit, a seller of repair parts and publisher of repair guides. Three times as many customers have inquired about iPhone 7 battery replacements, he said.

Weve been flat out busy since Apples admission, Wiens said. Replacing batteries in phones is like replacing tires. The difference is car manufacturers say you should be replacing your tires.

The Associated Press was used in compiling this report. Chicago Tribune staff writer Lauren Zumbach contributed to this report.

tracey.lien@latimes.com

Twitter: @traceylien

UPDATES:

3:45 p.m.: This article was updated to include comment from Karl Manheim, a professor of law at Loyola Law School, and Kyle Wiens, co-founder and chief executive of iFixit.

1:50 p.m.: This article was updated with a statement from plaintiffs Stefan Bogdanovich and Dakota Speas.

This article was originally published at 11 a.m.
Here are the 2018 SAG Awards nominees reactions to their nods

The on-camera talent recognized during the 24th Screen Actors Guild Award nominations on Wednesday shared their excitement and gratitude for the special honor bestowed upon them by the acting community.

The SAG Awards serve up laurels for actors and ensemble casts working in television and film as voted by their peers. The awards show, hosted by The Good Place star Kristen Bell, will take place on Jan. 21.

LIST: The 2018 SAG Award nominees

In statements to the Los Angeles Times, several nominees repeatedly thanked their drama families, particularly the casts and crews of their respective projects. Heres what some of them had to say about the recognition:

Alison Brie. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Alison Brie, GLOW

It is such a great honor to be recognized by my fellow actors with this nomination. I am so proud to be part of a show that celebrates the craft of acting, with all its pitfalls and glories, and to be able to work with such a diverse group of insanely talented women. GLOW has meant the world to me and Im deeply thankful for this recognition for me and the cast. Thank you SAG-AFTRA!!

Millie Bobby Brown. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Millie Bobby Brown, Stranger Things

Screen Actors Guild! Thank you SO much for recognizing me and our cast for the second year in a row! This means the world coming from you, our peers. I am so lucky and honored to have the privilege of playing Eleven  a strong, powerful, badass, strange, wonderful character! Cant wait to celebrate with my Stranger Things family!

Timothee Chalamet. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

Timothee Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name

What an incredible morning! This nomination is very close to my heart because its from the actor. When we made Call Me By Your Name, we had no idea what it would turn into. The experience in making the film with Armie [Hammer] was so special, and yet, we just didnt know. Simply put, Ive been blown away by the response this film has received. And, to be included in ensemble along with my Lady Bird family (congrats, Saoirse [Ronan]!) makes this recognition that much more special.

David Harbour. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

David Harbour, Stranger Things

If it isnt wildly apparent by now, Ill say it directly  I love actors! To be recognized by my peers in such distinguished company gives me a special joy. And Millie [Bobby Brown] and the show! Beyond.

When I act, when I create, I feel alive, full to bursting, and I feel of service to the mysterious goodness that firmly exists in this world. I have been rewarded with a life that indulges in the primacy of self, but at its core and at its purest and its best, it is a life of service. A service to audiences. To prod and poke when necessary, to comfort and entertain when times seem dark, to ever expand the human experience, to offer a reason to live, to celebrate to the gods the great gift and scourge that is consciousness. Sometimes it means expressing iron intellect and rigorous truth that bonds us all in the achingly profound wisdom of no escape. Sometimes it means revealing the intimate moments of endurance, of unexpected kindness, unasked for love. And sometimes it simply means making a fierce and joyful noise, to spin, to twirl, to throw your hands up with the relentless dips and climb aboard this roller coaster of life. Ya know, to dance. *insert Hopper dancing gif*

Thank you for recognizing me, as it might mean itll be easier to get more jobs doing it.

Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water

I am beyond thrilled to have received the honor of this nomination. And to receive it from fellow colleagues is huge to me. Guillermo [del Toro], this film and the entire cast and crew hold a very special place in my heart and always will. Each and every one of them made me better. I am truly delighted more than I can really express in words but my heart is fit to burst with pride for us all. Thank you dearest SAG members. Thank you for your embrace.

Sean Hayes. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Sean Hayes, Will & Grace

I am so honored to be recognized in this category with these extraordinary actors. I love acting because I love actors. I also like to bake sometimes.

Richard Jenkins. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water

I am thrilled and humbled to be nominated by my peers for a SAG Award. This union is very close to my heart. Well, the SAG card is in my wallet, so its a little further south.

Zoe Kazan. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Zoe Kazan, The Big Sick

Thank you to SAG for honoring The Big Sick ensemble with a nomination. It means so much to us, especially from our acting peers. I am deeply proud to be a part of this film and to have brought Kumail [Nanjiani] and Emily [V. Gordon]s story into the world, especially at this time. We are particularly moved to have been recognized as an ensemble, as this was such an extraordinary collaborative experience Im excited to be reunited once more with my movie family, and to share this with Kumail, Holly [Hunter], Ray [Romano], Zenobia [Shroff], Anupam [Kher], and Adeel [Akhtar] and everyone else who helped bring The Big Sick to life.

Nicole Kidman. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Nicole Kidman, Big Little Lies

What an amazing morning! Thank you to SAG-AFTRA for recognizing Big Little Lies in such a significant way. Ive been acting since I was 14 and have dedicated an enormous amount of my life to my craft so to be acknowledged by my acting family is the most incredible honor.

Jason Bateman and Laura Linney. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Laura Linney, Ozark

I am so proud to be included in a list of such wonderful actresses who have raised the bar so high. What an amazing year for women in television. And I am especially proud to be representing Ozark with my TV spouse, the ever deserving Jason Bateman! Thank you SAG-AFTRA!

Marc Maron. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

Marc Maron, GLOW

I am stunned and excited to be recognized by other actors in this way. I really never thought this was possible in my life. It helps to be surrounded by amazing actors and to have such a defined and well written character as Sam Sylvia and to be on a show as unique as GLOW. I am just a small part. So, thanks SAG for recognizing me and the mind-blowing ensemble that is GLOW.

Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon, The Big Sick

We are so lucky to have been graced with the enormous talents of every single member of our cast. They each put a piece of themselves into our story and we are thrilled at being recognized. Thank you. And a special shout out to Holly Hunters individual nomination!

Now we have to go tell our real parents that they arent actually nominated.

Bob Odenkirk. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul

I am thrilled to get this nomination from my fellow actors! At Better Call Saul I am surrounded by an ensemble of excellence  Michael McKean, Rhea Seehorn, Jonathan Banks, everybody raises my game. Thank you to SAG-AFTRA.

Gary Oldman. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Gary Oldman, The Darkest Hour

No actor could ever deny the special satisfaction that comes from being recognized by your fellow artists  we all share the same challenges, insecurities, and uncertainties, chief among them, the question am I any good? this nomination, and in the wonderful company of the other nominees, is so very satisfying.

Margot Robbie. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Margot Robbie, I, Tonya

Im so incredibly moved and excited to be nominated by my fellow actors. I feel very fortunate to be able to have had the opportunity to bring Tonyas story to the big screen. Thank you to Steven [Rogers] for his brilliant and unique script, to Allison [Janney] and Sebastian [Stan] for being such incredible screen partners and to Craig [Gillespie] for his amazing direction and perfectly capturing the tone and essence of the film. Im so honored to be recognized among the truly powerful and wonderful women in the category. I cant wait to celebrate with everyone.

Sam Rockwell. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

It is such an honor to be nominated by your fellow actors, I have been a proud member of the Screen Actors Guild for as long as I can remember. To share it with this wonderful ensemble whom I have had the pleasure to work with over the years and others I got to collaborate with for the first time is truly special. I want to thank Martin McDonagh, our director and writer, for crafting these characters, as well as Woody [Harrelson], Fran [McDormand] and the rest of the cast who brought the town of Ebbing to life on screen. I am thrilled.

Ray Romano. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

Ray Romano, The Big Sick

This is awesome but I wont believe it till the recount.
Anarchists in Greece, who call themselves Green-Black Commando, are claiming to have poisoned popular grocery items around Athens including Coca Cola, Coca Cola Light, Yfantis luncheon meat, and Delta milk, according to Vice Munchies. In a statement posted to blog Indymedia titled Green Nemesis Act 3, the group says it injected each of these items with hydrochloric acid and were set to return the items to supermarket shelves in the days before Christmas.

Hydrochloric acid is a colorless, toxic, and corrosive liquid that has the potential to irreversibly damage respiratory organs, skin, and intestines and cause vomiting, diarrhea, lesions, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

According to anarchistnews.org, a site dedicated to news and concern of anarchist activity, a rough translation of Green Nemesis Act 3 reads: In the days leading up to Christmas thousands of people leave their sofas to do their essential shopping for the Christmas table filling their empty existences with consumerist waste packaged with beautiful and glittering wrappings.

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It continues: All this takes place as millions of living creatures are slaughtered in order to reach the tables of the living dead, drained to the last drop of blood to satisfy their taste needs. We realize that this occurs all throughout the year, however during Christmas this phenomenon is accelerated.

At this time, it is unknown whether or not these items were actually returned to store shelves or if anyone has experienced any ill effects.

For more safety frights around the globe - including E. coli and Hepatitis A - here are the worlds biggest food poisoning scares.

View slideshow

More Safety Scares
California legalizes marijuana for recreational use Monday, but that wont stop federal agents from seizing the drug  even in tiny amounts  on busy freeways and backcountry highways.

Marijuana possession still will be prohibited at eight Border Patrol checkpoints in California, a reminder that state and federal laws collide when it comes to pot. The U.S. government classifies marijuana as a controlled substance, like heroin and LSD.

Prior to Jan. 1, its going to be the same after Jan. 1, because nothing changed on our end, said Ryan Yamasaki, an assistant chief of the Border Patrols San Diego sector. If youre a federal law enforcement agency, you uphold federal laws.

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The checkpoints, located up to 100 miles from Mexico, are considered a final line of defense against immigrants who elude agents at the border. They also have been a trap for U.S. citizens carrying drugs, even tiny bags of marijuana.

About 40% of pot seizures at Border Patrol checkpoints from fiscal years 2013 to 2016 were an ounce or less from U.S. citizens, according to a Government Accountability Office report last month. Californias new law allows anyone 21 and over to carry up to an ounce.

The Border Patrol operates 34 permanent checkpoints along the Mexican border and an additional 103 tactical stops, typically cones and signs that appear for brief periods.

Ronald Vitiello, acting deputy commissioner of parent agency Customs and Border Protection, called drug seizures an ancillary effect of enforcing immigration laws. Motorists typically are released after being photographed and fingerprinted. They generally arent charged with a crime because prosecutors consider them low priority.

The clash between state and federal marijuana laws played out on a smaller scale near the Canadian border in Washington after that state legalized marijuana in 2014. California is a far busier route for illegal crossings with many more agents.

State and federal marijuana laws have conflicted since California became the first to legalize marijuana for medical use in 1996. Next week, California will be among seven states and Washington, D.C., with legal recreational pot.

U.S. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, a staunch opponent of legalization, said last month that he was taking a close look at federal enforcement, suggesting a tougher stance than during President Obamas administration.

At highway checkpoints, Border Patrol agents look for signs of nervous drivers, like clutching steering wheels and avoiding eye contact and interrupting when passengers are asked to state citizenship. Some panicked drivers make a U-turn when they spot the checkpoint, a dead giveaway.

One recent morning on westbound Interstate 8 about 40 miles east of San Diego, an agent standing outside a booth under a large white canopy stopped drivers for a few seconds to ask their citizenship or waved them through after peering inside.

In about an hour, three raised enough suspicion to be ordered aside for a thorough vehicle search.

A dog discovered a marijuana stash about the size of a thumbprint inside the pickup truck of a man with Arizona license plates who was taking his elderly uncle to a hospital appointment. It would have taken up to an hour to process the arrest, so agents released him after seizing the pot and warning it was illegal.

I didnt know that, sorry, the driver said, walking to his truck after waiting on a bench a few minutes while the dog searched.

The animal sniffed something in another car but found nothing in the seats or trunk. The apologetic driver said she smoked marijuana a week earlier, implying the odor lingered.

The Pine Valley checkpoint, amid oak- and chaparral-covered mountains on the main route from Arizona to San Diego, gets busy with drivers returning from weekend getaways but is less traveled than others.

Agents say a checkpoint on Interstate 5 between San Diego and Los Angeles can cause a four-mile backup in 90 seconds during peak hours.

The government faces pushback over checkpoints. Some residents complain about delays and trespassers trying to circumvent checkpoints  some even dying from heat and exhaustion. Motorists who consider them a privacy invasion steadfastly refuse to answer questions and post their test encounters on YouTube.

Border Patrol officials insist they are effective. Without them, Vitiello said, smugglers would have open passage to cities like Phoenix and Albuquerque, N.M., once past the border.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1976 that agents can question people at checkpoints even without reason to believe anyone in the vehicle is in the country illegally and that they dont need a search warrant.

Michael Chernis, an attorney who represents people charged with marijuana crimes, believes checkpoint seizures are a waste of resources but acknowledged the government is empowered.

The bottom line is, theres absolutely no protection against federal interaction when it comes to adult use, he said.

ALSO

First rule of California pot legalization: Dont smoke in public

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Move over pot brownies: California prepares for marijuana in wine, trail mixes, tacos and other edibles
Twelve years ago, California air quality officials delivered a warning to cities and counties: Avoid putting new homes in high-pollution zones within 500 feet of freeways.

That advice, which relied on years of research linking traffic pollution to asthma, heart attacks and other health problems, was aimed at keeping children and other vulnerable populations out of harms way, according to the state Air Resources Boards 2005 handbook.

But earlier this year, the air board shifted its stance. It issued a new advisory that emphasizes design rather than distance, recommending anti-pollution features such as air filters, sound walls and thick vegetation as promising strategies to reduce the health risks from freeways. With those measures, communities can build while simultaneously reducing exposure to traffic-related pollution, the air board said.

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In making that change, air regulators acknowledged a stark reality: Despite health risks, cities desperate for more housing at a time of soaring rents keep approving homes near traffic pollution. The Times reported earlier this year that residential development along freeways has surged in the decade since the air board issued its warning.

Business leaders and housing advocates have cheered the pivot by the air board, contending limits on home building near freeways will worsen an affordability crisis. The new advisory has also been embraced by state planning officials, who say urban development near transit is essential to fighting climate change by reducing reliance on cars.

But some worry that amid a push to build homes, the air-quality agency has muddied what had been a clear, if controversial, health warning.

Scott Fruin, professor of preventive medicine at USC, said the air boards latest document presents best-case scenarios and overstates the extent to which air filters and other anti-pollution measures protect residents. By recommending those steps, he said, state regulators may give the false impression that it is now OK to put schools and residences close to freeways.

The best current strategy to reduce near-freeway exposure is not to put schools and residences there in the first place, said Fruin, who previously worked at the Air Resources Board. Even with the best reduction measures available, air pollution in these locations will remain unhealthy.

People walk by apartments built along the 101 Freeway in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times )

Air board officials said they prepared the advisory to give policy-makers the latest, scientifically based options to reduce pollution exposure at a time when the state is encouraging home construction near transit lines that are often next to freeways and other high-traffic corridors.

Those projects are challenging in cities like Los Angeles, where freeways and major thoroughfares abound, air board spokesman Stanley Young said. In responding to that reality we felt it was important to give planners and developers information on how to mitigate the impacts, he added.

Kurt Karperos, a deputy executive officer for the air board, said the April advisory does not change the agencys 2005 recommendation to avoid siting homes within 500 feet of freeways. Thats a very basic health position that the agency has taken and we still stand by.

In recent years, Karperos said, some have suggested the agency replace its recommendation for a 500-foot buffer, since vehicles have become less polluting over the last decade. We disagreed.

Still, one official in Gov. Jerry Browns administration reached a different conclusion, saying the 2005 recommendation was replaced by this years advisory on air filters, sound walls and other anti-pollution strategies.

Ken Alex, who directs the governors Office of Planning and Research, pointed to the April advisory as he defended the states decision to finance affordable housing next to freeways. The air boards position is much more nuanced than dont build  within 500 feet, said Alex, whose agency is responsible for long-range policies on how California grows and develops.

State air regulators say their 2005 guidelines have not, in fact, been replaced.

Air Resources Board officials said they decided to supplement them in light of new science on freeway pollution and the effectiveness of air filters and other measures. Regulators drafted a report  an appendix to be considered in addition to the 2005 guidelines  and presented it to the air board in January 2016.

At that meeting, air board chair Mary Nichols acknowledged that the push for dense urban development, which can reduce driving and overall emissions, also can result in increased exposures for people who live or go to school and spend any time outdoors in areas near roadways.

Trying to optimize both of these strategies has proven to be somewhat controversial and an interesting challenge, Nichols said at the meeting.

The final document, published in April, was an advisory. Air quality officials do not have the power to regulate land use. The document said research shows the public health, climate, financial, and other benefits of compact, infill development along transportation corridors and found alternatives to distance-based guidelines that can protect public health while not dictating development patterns.

Among the suggestions in the report: Lower speed limits to 55 mph or less and install roundabouts to reduce vehicle emissions. Design city streets with parks, bike lanes, wider sidewalks and buildings with varying shapes and heights to disperse traffic pollutants.

Traffic flows below a pair of housing developments being built next to the 110 Freeway at El Segundo Boulevard. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times )

The Air Resources Boards influence has grown considerably over the last decade as its core mission  protecting people from pollution  has expanded to include efforts to slash greenhouse gas emissions. That shift has sparked criticism from some environmentalists, who contend that the board has made tackling health threats from local pollution secondary to the global fight against climate change.

The new focus on anti-pollution design puts the air board in closer alignment with the city of Los Angeles, which has adopted stronger filtration requirements but has not imposed limits on how close homes can be built to freeways. That emphasis also drew praise from housing advocates and developers, who viewed the 2005 guidelines skeptically.

Stuart Waldman, president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association, said the air boards latest advisory just shows that the original policy was unrealistic to begin with.

Alan Greenlee, executive director of the Southern California Assn. of Non-Profit Housing, said he is happy the state seems to have moved in the direction of allowing building where previously they werent interested. With filters and other anti-pollution measures, developers can house people affordably and healthfully in areas where the government says there are air quality issues.

Some environmentalists view things differently.

When the air boards handbook came out in 2005, we thought that was a real step forward, said Bill Magavern, policy director for the Coalition for Clean Air.

Environmental groups have largely favored the states push to concentrate new homes near transit, citing the climate benefits. But without limits on homebuilding near freeway pollution, those policies will have unintended health consequences, Magavern said.

New housing should be well planned so that its not putting residents health at risk, Magavern said. The goal is to have the homes near transit, not near freeways.

In Southern California, officials with the South Coast Air Quality Management District say they continue to send letters to developers suggesting they increase the distance between new homes and traffic. In the Bay Area, air quality regulators last year published interactive traffic pollution maps and planning guidelines that recommend some of the same design measures as the state.

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District advised communities to put new homes as far from freeway pollution as is feasible. The words as is feasible were added at the heavy insistence of developers and affordable housing advocates, said Jackie Winkel, a principal environmental planner with the agency.

tony.barboza@latimes.com

@tonybarboza
Preservation groups have purchased a 17-acre mountain ridge in Laurel Canyon for $1.6 million to set aside the land for permanent preservation.

The purchase is the culmination of a two-year fundraising campaign dubbed Lets Buy a Mountain launched by the Laurel Canyon Assn., a homeowners association, and Citizens for Los Angeles Wildlife, a preservation group.

The 17.3-acre parcel lies between Lookout Mountain Avenue and Stanley Hills Drive and was the largest private parcel on the market in the area, said Jamie Hall, president of the Laurel Canyon Assn.

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More than 400 people donated to the effort, said Tony Tucci, chair of Citizens for Los Angeles Wildlife.

Eagles band member Don Henley, who was living in Laurel Canyon when he was working on the bands second album Desperado, donated $100,000, as did L.A. County Supervisor Sheila Kuehls office. The David Schwartz Foundation contributed the final $300,000.

These resources are precious, both in terms of wildlife habitat, and in terms of the human history that resides there, Henley said in a statement.

The former owners of the property wanted to sell it to someone local, Hall said. The former property owners real estate agent was going door to door looking for buyers when Hall and others decided to launch the land preservation campaign. The owner agreed to the sale and the preservation groups got a large discount on the property and an extended, 26-month escrow, Hall said.

We wanted to get ahead of the curve and take matters into our own hands to preserve this land for the residents and wildlife, Hall said.

The land will be managed by the Mountain Recreations and Conservation Authority, which oversees nearly 73,000 acres of public lands throughout the region. There are no parks or trails on the land, but the conservation authority could decide to develop some, Hall said.

Laurel Canyon has about 1,100 undeveloped, privately owned parcels, Tucci said.

The community dates back to the early 1900s,when developers marketed the area as a series of small, intimate mountain getaways for those already living in Los Angeles. In the 60s and 70s, rock musicians and movie stars began buying homes in the area, which became host to a large counterculture movement that included environmental preservation, Hall said.

Current residents are increasingly concerned that new projects on those private parcels will jeopardize natural habitats. Laurel Canyon is considered part of the habitat for deer, owls, red-tailed hawks and mountain lions.

Hall, Tucci and others hope to buy up more of the properties for natural preservation in the future.

We are enjoying the natural lands and the wildlife is enjoying this habitat, but it can go away if people develop it, Tucci said.

frank.shyong@latimes.com

Twitter: @frankshyong
Edith was born in San Diego, California to Blanch and Gerald Miller. She was raised there graduating from Hoover High School 1945, where she was part of the tumbling squad. Always an adventuresome woman she traveled cross country with her mother in June 1947 to marry her high school sweetheart, James Robert Musgrove who had joined the United States Navy at the end of WWII. They made their home between Boston, MA and Providence, Rhode Island until 1949 when Jim was released from the Navy. They traveled back to San Diego where he reenlisted in the Navy making it his career. Over the next years they would raise three children and enjoy their grandkids. Always up for adventure after Jims death in 1986 Edith would be known to hook up her 5th wheel and go to Elderhostels (college for seniors) around the country. She learned to fly fish on one in Montana. She rafted the Colorado River twice and attended the Calgary Stampede three times with her dog Josh and the trailer. An avid hunter and fisherman she would travel to the lakes and streams of the Sierras to fish and camp sometimes with her children or grandchildren. She traveled to Utah and Nevada for deer hunting with her son. Edith relocated to Elko to be closer to her son and the hunting and fishing. She was active in the Native Daughters of the Golden West, the Elko Library and the Lamoille Womens Club. Edith was a follower of cowboy poetry and attended the gathering in Elko for over twenty years. Baxter Black was one of her favorites, a show she would not miss as long as she could get tickets. She was a 50-year member of the Auxiliary to the Veterans of Foreign Wars serving as president of the Ladies Auxiliary to VFW Post 5867 in Lakeside, California twice. As an Auxiliary member she enjoyed working in the concession stand at the Elko County Fair and the 4th of July Celebrations at the Fairgrounds with the VFW and attending National Conventions all over the country.
If Kirsten Gillibrand wasnt already a household name, a Twitter war with President Trump earlier this month may have made her one.

It started when the 51-year-old junior senator from New York denounced Trumps support for Senate candidate Roy Moore as shameful and said the president should resign.

Trump lashed back, saying Gillibrand used to come to his office begging for campaign contributions and would do anything for them.

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Calling that a sexist smear, she shot back: You cannot silence me or the millions of women who have gotten off the sidelines to speak out about the unfitness and shame you have brought to the Oval Office.

President Trump should resign. But, of course, he won't hold himself accountable. Therefore, Congress should investigate the multiple sexual harassment and assault allegations against him.  Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) December 11, 2017

Lightweight Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a total flunky for Chuck Schumer and someone who would come to my office begging for campaign contributions not so long ago (and would do anything for them), is now in the ring fighting against Trump. Very disloyal to Bill & Crooked-USED!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 12, 2017

You cannot silence me or the millions of women who have gotten off the sidelines to speak out about the unfitness and shame you have brought to the Oval Office. https://t.co/UbQZqubXZv  Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) December 12, 2017

The exchange was great publicity for a politician who is considered a possible candidate in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.

Gillibrand has said she is focused on running for reelection in the Senate and not for the White House. But if Democrats are looking for someone with anti-Trump credentials, she fits the bill.

Born into politics

Her grandmother was a confidante of longtime Albany Mayor Erastus Corning and president of the Albany County Democratic Womens Club, and her father was a well-known lobbyist.

Gillibrand attended Dartmouth College and UCLA Law School, graduating in 1991. She joined the Manhattan law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell and later worked as special counsel to then-Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Andrew Cuomo. She is married and has two sons.

Gillibrand volunteered for Hillary Clintons 2000 Senate campaign and has often described her as a role model.

In my adult life, politically, no one has inspired me to get off the sidelines and truly make a difference more than Hillary Clinton has, she wrote in a post on Medium in 2016 explaining why she was supporting Clinton for president.

Both Hillary and Bill Clinton supported Gillibrand in her successful 2006 bid for a seat in the U.S. House representing the upstate, largely rural 20th District of New York.

Starting out as a conservative Democrat

In the House, Gillibrand was a member of the so-called Blue Dog Democrats, a coalition of moderate to conservative Democrats. She opposed strict gun control, famously stating that she and her husband kept two rifles under their bed, and voted against policies that were seen as offering any sort of amnesty for immigrants who were in the U.S. illegally.

She earned a reputation for transparency, posting records of her daily meetings, earmarks and personal financial disclosures online. And she became one of only a handful of women to give birth during her congressional tenure.

In 2009, when Hillary Clinton vacated her U.S. Senate seat to become secretary of State under President Obama, New Yorks then-Gov. David Paterson appointed Gillibrand, who was still largely unknown outside of upstate New York, to replace her.

Moving left in the Senate

Gillibrand has moved left since joining the Senate, reversing some of her earlier positions. She supported gun control and co-sponsored a version of the Dream Act, which would have provided a path to legal status for immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. She earned wide recognition for securing bipartisan support for legislation that ensured permanent healthcare and compensation for Sept. 11, 2001, first responders.

Gillibrand also made a name for herself on military issues and sexual assault. She worked to repeal the dont ask, dont tell policy banning gay people from openly serving, introduced the Military Justice Improvement Act to remove the decision of whether to prosecute sexual assault cases from the military chain of command, and co-sponsored the Campus Accountability and Safety Act requiring colleges and universities to meet certain standards for training and reporting around sexual assault.

Taking on Trump and sexual harassment on Capitol Hill

In 2017, Gillibrand elevated her national profile by taking bold public stances against Trump. She amassed a record of consistent no votes on the presidents nominees to appointed positions and spoke out against his executive order banning travel to the U.S. by immigrants from majority-Muslim nations.

As public attention has turned to allegations about sexual misconduct, Gillibrand has been out front calling for the resignations of politicians who have been accused. She has also introduced legislation to overhaul policies for reporting and combating sexual harassment on Capitol Hill.

This moment of reckoning about our friends and colleagues who have been accused of sexual misconduct is necessary, and it is painful, she wrote in a Dec. 6 Facebook post calling on Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) to step down. He did so the next day.

In an interview with the New York Times, Gillibrand said she thought President Clinton should have resigned when his affair with Monica Lewinsky came to light, provoking a collective gasp within the Democratic establishment.

Philippe Reines, a past advisor to Hillary Clinton, called Gillibrand a hypocrite on Twitter. Over 20 yrs you took the Clintons endorsements, money, and seat, he wrote. Interesting strategy for 2020 primaries. Best of luck.

In an interview on MSNBC, Gillibrand called Reines response ridiculous.

Bill Clinton did very important things for this country, she said. But my point is about this conversation we are having today, and that we need to have the highest standards for elected leaders.

It was her recent fight with Trump on Twitter, though, that brought Gillibrand the most attention.

Congress should investigate the multiple sexual harassment and assault allegations against him, she wrote, provoking Trumps fiery response.

It appears she had the final word, at least in this battle.

Her last message  telling the president he could not silence her  was retweeted 150,000 times, more than sixfold as many times as Trumps.

nina.agrawal@latimes.com

Twitter: @AgrawalNina
Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. Its Wednesday, Dec. 27, and heres whats happening across California:

TOP STORIES

Why the change?

Twelve years ago, California air quality officials delivered a warning to cities and counties: Avoid putting new homes in high-pollution zones within 500 feet of freeways. That advice, which relied on years of research linking traffic pollution to asthma, heart attacks and other health problems, was aimed at keeping children and other vulnerable populations out of harms way, according to the state Air Resources Boards 2005 handbook. But earlier this year, the air board shifted its stance. It issued a new advisory that emphasizes design rather than distance, recommending anti-pollution features like air filters, sound walls and thick vegetation as promising strategies to reduce the health risks from freeways. With those measures, communities can build while simultaneously reducing exposure to traffic-related pollution, the air board said. Not everyone is happy with this shift. Los Angeles Times

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Accusations at a resort

Last week, Unite Here Local 11, which represents hotel workers in Southern California, filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of State on behalf of Falak Rashid and her fiance, Wahid Rahman. The complaint alleges the Terranea Resort replaced nearly its entire entry-level cook workforce with interns from Asian countries including the Philippines, Malaysia and India. Unite Here asserts that the resort misled interns and violated the State Departments regulations for the J-1 cultural and educational exchange visa, as well as human trafficking and labor laws. A spokeswoman for the resort called the allegations baseless. Los Angeles Times

Checking back in

Steve Lopezs relationship with Nathaniel Ayers was made famous by the film The Soloist. Its been more than a decade since Lopez first met the Juilliard-trained musician in 2005, when he lived on skid row with nothing but a two-string violin and a shopping cart containing his clothes and bedding. So much has changed since then, but a lot has also stayed the same. Los Angeles Times

BEST OF 2017

Over the next week, Essential California will reboot some of the stories that moved us most this year. Have a nomination? Let us know:

Tragic tale: The shocking double life of the former dean of USCs medical school rocked the campus for months after this story by Paul Pringle, Harriet Ryan, Adam Elmahrek, Matt Hamilton and Sarah Parvini was published. Los Angeles Times

Not cut and dry: Californias leadership in the battle over climate change is getting international attention in the era of Trump. But Julie Cart and Laurel Rosenhall show how the climate policies could end up benefiting some big polluters. CalMatters

End-of-life hero: The children were going to die. Mohamed Bzeek knew that. But in his more than two decades as a foster father, he took them in anyway  the sickest of the sick in Los Angeles Countys sprawling foster care system. He has buried about 10 children. Some died in his arms. Sill, Bzeek spends long days and sleepless nights caring for L.A. Countys terminally ill foster children. Hailey Branson-Potts tells the story. Los Angeles Times

A really wild ride: In just 30 hours, a superfit reality TV producer went from the top of his game to the precipice of death. What happened next would teach him everything about grace, resolve, and the power of love. Los Angeles Magazine

L.A. STORIES

A cubs tale: Officials in Santa Paula captured a mountain lion cub whose paws were burned in the Thomas fire and turned it over to veterinarians with UC Davis, who will treat the paws and then help determine whether the cub should be released back into the wild, the Department of Fish and Wildlife said. Los Angeles Times

About that thing in the sky: The launch of the latest SpaceX rocket Friday night wasnt just a hit on social media  it appeared to create at least a couple of actual hits between vehicles on Southern Californias freeways, according to a video posted to YouTube. Los Angeles Times

Get ready: Here are four things every California employer should do before Jan. 1. Los Angeles Times

Up near the Getty Center: Meet billionaire Nicolas Berggruen, who is building a 21st century monastery. It will house his own think tank. Los Angeles Magazine

IMMIGRATION AND THE BORDER

In Texas: Could the Big Bend be the borders weakest link? The smuggling of drugs and migrants is on the rise. Los Angeles Times

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Not so fast: Four state lawmakers who face sexual harassment allegations have $2 million in surplus campaign funds, but experts believe they might not be able to tap the money to defend themselves against ongoing investigations. Los Angeles Times

How should artists respond to a nation in crisis? Playwrights and their collaborators, not wanting to be the proverbial fiddler sawing away as Rome burns, have had no choice but to contemplate their responsibility in a year of stark political turmoil, writes theater critic Charles McNulty. Los Angeles Times

Interesting connection: Theres a surprising administrator pipeline between a handful of East L.A. school districts and a small, turbulent and low-income school district in south San Diego. Inewsource

CRIME AND COURTS

Fun one: Music rolls on at Folsom Prison, 50 years after Johnny Cash made history. Los Angeles Times

Tragic: Detectives believe that a man fatally shot his ex-wife before turning the gun on himself Monday afternoon in Bellflower, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department. Los Angeles Times

New report: California teens are committing fewer crimes than their parents did. KPCC

See you in court: The cities of San Francisco, New York and Philadelphia filed a sweeping federal lawsuit Tuesday accusing the U.S. Department of Defense of failing to live up to its legal duty to notify the FBI when members of the military are convicted of crimes that would bar them from buying or possessing firearms. San Francisco Chronicle

THE ENVIRONMENT

What now? California has the toughest air quality regulations of any state in the country. But theyre not tough enough to satisfy a new state law that requires California to double the rate at which it cuts greenhouse gases. NPR

Major impact: A desperate decision to truck Californias native baby salmon toward the Pacific Ocean during the states drought may have resulted in generations of lost young salmon now hard-pressed to find their way back to their reproductive grounds. Associated Press

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

Good news for Clippers fans: Blake Griffin worked out extremely hard after the Clippers shoot-around Tuesday and may be returning from his injury to play before the end of December. Los Angeles Times

Move over, pot brownies: California prepares for marijuana in wine, trail mixes, tacos and other edibles. Associated Press

Catching up: Here are the 17 film performances of 2017 that deserve a second look. Los Angeles Times

Uh-oh: Pivoting to video is the biggest trend in media  but it may not prove as lucrative as publishers hope. Los Angeles Times

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

Los Angeles area: sunny, 73, Wednesday; sunny, 77, Thursday. San Diego: sunny, 68, Wednesday; sunny, 72, Thursday. San Francisco area: foggy, 57, Wednesday and Thursday. Sacramento: partly cloudy, 61, Wednesday and Thursday. More weather is here.

AND FINALLY

Todays California Memory comes from Emmanuel Hadzipetros:

My first job in L.A. was at Paramount Pictures, where a British immigrant told me that once you check into the Hotel California, you never check out. One day I was strolling through the backlot and saw a guy dressed as a space alien sitting outside a soundstage reading a newspaper and smoking a cigarette. Whats up? I asked. Im in a Star Trek episode, he said. I get killed today. Then I guess youre reading the help wanted ads? I replied. We both laughed. After nearly 10 years in L.A., I moved to New York in 2011; but I never checked out of the Hotel California.

If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. Send us an email to let us know what you love or fondly remember about our state. (Please keep your story to 100 words.)

Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to Benjamin Oreskes and Shelby Grad. Also follow them on Twitter @boreskes and @shelbygrad.
For more than three months, the U.S. military has held an American citizen in secret custody in Iraq  without permitting him to see a lawyer. A federal judge rightly ruled over the weekend that the man, who is suspected of fighting for Islamic State, must be given immediate access to a representative of the American Civil Liberties Union.

The Trump administration should stop resisting and let the ACLU in. And it should make it clear to the military that in future cases, a U.S. citizen who asks for a lawyer for a criminal interrogation must receive one.

The unnamed man at the center of the case was born in the U.S. to Saudi parents. In early September, he surrendered to U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces pursuing an offensive against the Islamic State capital of Raqqa. He was turned over to U.S. forces, who classified him as an enemy combatant and interrogated him, without a lawyer, in an attempt to obtain intelligence. But a second interrogation for law enforcement purposes never began because the man asked to see a lawyer first.

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Despite this clear statement of his intention, the Defense Department has resisted an attempt by the ACLU to talk to the detainee, claiming that the group lacked standing to intervene on his behalf because it hasnt met with him and doesnt know if he wants the group to file a habeas corpus petition on his behalf.

A U.S. citizen who asks for a lawyer for a criminal interrogation must receive one.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan dismissed this ludicrous argument as disingenuous at best, given that the department is the sole impediment to the [ACLUs] ability to meet and confer with the detainee. She also said that she found remarkable and troubling the Pentagons argument that the mans request for a lawyer should be ignored until officials can decide what to do with him. A government lawyer acknowledged that one possibility is that the man would be transferred to another country, presumably Saudi Arabia.

Chutkans order is only the latest example of the federal judiciary  or, as President Trump might call them, so-called judges  acting to ensure that constitutional rights arent extinguished as part of the war against terrorism. In 2004, the Supreme Court ruled that a U.S. citizen detained as an enemy combatant was entitled to due process. In the plurality opinion in that case, Justice Sandra Day OConnor wrote that such a detainee must be given a meaningful opportunity to contest the factual basis for that detention before a neutral decisionmaker. Four years later, the court held that even foreign enemy combatants held at Guantanamo could challenge their confinement in federal court, despite attempts by Congress to limit such appeals.

We know that some Americans balk at legal protections of any kind for suspected terrorists, even if they are U.S. citizens. Sometimes Trump seems to be among their number. In November, after the arrest of an alleged Islamic State sympathizer in a terrorist attack in New York, the president said that these animals  go through court for years and suggested that the way U.S. courts handled terrorism cases was a joke and its a laughingstock.

Thats an alternative fact. Actually, civilian courts have proved to be effective  and usually expeditious  in bringing accused terrorists to justice, even during Trumps administration. But they arent and shouldnt be rubber stamps for the prosecution. In November, a federal jury convicted Ahmed Abu Khattala of several charges connected with the 2012 attack on a U.S. facility in Benghazi, Libya, in which four Americans were killed; but it acquitted him of murder.

International terrorism obviously poses special challenges, including the importance of acquiring intelligence that could prevent future attacks. Even the Obama administration, which emphasized the importance of trying terrorism cases in civilian courts, recognized that Miranda warnings could prevent a suspect from revealing information that might save lives. For example, after Abu Khattala was captured, officials interrogated him without a lawyer for five days on a U.S. Navy warship in search of useful intelligence. Then, after a two-day break, a separate team of FBI interrogators arrived, read him his Miranda rights and started a new line of questioning.

But if officials are going to use intelligence interrogations to evade Miranda rules, the courts should step in.

Judicial oversight of the treatment of suspected terrorists, including alleged enemy combatants, is especially vital because of the open-ended nature of the war against terrorism. Unlike President Obama, who at least gave lip service to the idea of having lawmakers define the scope of anti-terrorist activities in the Middle East and Africa, Trump seems to have no interest in the passage of a new congressional Authorization for Use of Military Force. The Republican-controlled Congress seems equally uninterested in legislating any time limits on this war.

Again and again, the judicial branch has protected the liberties of U.S. citizens when the other branches were willing to see them eroded. The administration should comply with Chutkans ruling and learn from it.

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Petition drive to repeal California gas tax increase temporarily slows down By Patrick McGreevy A motorist prepares to gas up her vehicle in San Rafael, Calif., in 2015. ( (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)) Paid signature-gatherers for a ballot measure that would repeal gas tax increases may be hard to find on the streets of California this week. Organizers say its not a money issue, adding that they needed to briefly halt paid signature-gathering to catch up on collecting petitions from volunteers. The petition drive has so far collected more than 327,800 verified signatures of the 587,407 needed to qualify the measure for the November ballot, according to Dave Gilliard, the political strategist behind the drive. We knew it was popular but the incredible pace is even faster than we expected so we outran the capacity of our verification operation over the Christmas holiday and told our crew managers to slow down so we could catch up, Gilliard said. We will be back up to speed by the end of this week. The gas tax and vehicle fee increases signed by Gov. Jerry Brown are expected to raise $5.2 billion annually for road and bridge repairs and expanded mass transit. The gas tax jumped from 18 cents to 30 cents per gallon on Nov. 1, and vehicle fees of at least $25 kicked in Jan. 1. The gas tax repeal petition is breaking records for both paid and volunteer signatures and were using the next two weeks to catch up on validation of signatures already received, said Carl DeMaio, a former San Diego City Councilman and conservative radio talk-show host. As a grass-roots-funded effort we are also continuously raising funds and volunteer support. We are highly confident well qualify this Initiative for the November 2018 ballot. Facebook

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State pot bureau ready to enforce Californias new marijuana laws as license applications flood in By Patrick McGreevy The state has issued 104 licenses for retail stores to sell marijuana for recreational use in California and 239 other applications for those permits are pending, officials said Tuesday. An official with the state Bureau of Cannabis Control added that the agency is prepared to begin taking enforcement action against pot shops that are not properly licensed. The bureaus enforcement team is ready to respond to any complaints it receives and start doing compliance checks and site visits at any time, said Alex Traverso, a spokesman for the bureau. Selling marijuana without a license is a crime punishable by up to six months in county jail and a fine of up to $500. Those convicted of engaging in any marijuana business activity without a license will also be subject to a civil penalty of up to three times the amount of the license fee for each violation. A new report issued Tuesday indicated the bureau has issued 478 temporary licenses to firms to test, distribute and sell medical and recreational marijuana, which began Jan. 1 after voters approved a legalization initiative, Proposition 64, in 2016. Businesses have received 153 licenses to sell marijuana for medical use. Another 1,458 firms have applied for licenses that are still being processed. The state Department of Food and Agriculture has separately issued 207 licenses to marijuana growers. Facebook

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Two possible instances of discrimination reported after California issues drivers licenses to immigrants here illegally By Jazmine Ulloa The California Research Bureau on Tuesday released its first report on incidents of discrimination under a 2015 state law that has provided drivers licenses for hundreds of thousands of immigrants here illegally. Researchers found no complaints have been made against government agencies tasked with enforcing anti-discrimination laws. But two possible instances of discrimination were reported in focus group interviews conducted by Drive California, a coalition of advocates studying the impact of the new law. In one case, a woman in Fresno was told her license was not a valid form of identification at a retail store, though it was unclear whether the incident reflected intentional discrimination or simple ignorance of the license marking, the report states. A MoneyGram clerk in another case denied a license holder the ability to cash a check. The same person was later rejected again at a bank. The state Department of Motor Vehicles has issued 960,000 AB 60 drivers licenses as of Nov. 30. The state research bureau produced the report for the Legislature as part of the new law, which declares discrimination against an AB 60 license holder a violation of the Unruh Civil Rights Act. Facebook

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California lawmaker proposes requiring panic buttons for hotel workers in response to widespread sexual harassment By Patrick McGreevy More than half of hotel workers surveyed report being sexually harassed at some point. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times) Alarmed by a survey indicating sexual harassment of hotel housekeepers is widespread, a California state lawmaker on Tuesday proposed requiring employers to provide panic button devices to their employees so they can summon help if abused by a guest. The bill to be introduced Wednesday by Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) would also require individual hotels to impose a three-year ban on guests who engage in harassment on the property. We want to protect our most vulnerable women workers, hotel maids who are going into rooms alone, from sexual harassment, said Muratsuchi, who co-authored the bill with Assemblyman Bill Quirk (D-Hayward). The legislation signals that concerns over sexual harassment that dominated the state Legislature last year will continue to be an issue for lawmakers as they begin the new legislative year Wednesday. Harassment allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, comedian Louis C.K. and other high-profile men have involved sexual misconduct in hotel rooms. A survey in July by Unite Here Local 1 found that 49% of female hotel workers in Chicago had experienced a guest answering the door naked or exposing himself. The report titled Hands Off, Pants On, found 58% of hotel workers said they had been sexually harassed by a guest. Californias Unite Here Local 11 has been calling for the action proposed in the legislation. It is the intent of this measure to protect hotel employees from violent assault, including sexual assault, and sexual harassment, and to enable those employees to speak out when they experience harassment on the job, said the introduction to the legislation introduced by Muratsuchi. In addition to requiring hotels to provide panic buttons to employees who work alone in rooms, the bill requires hotels to take written complaints from employees and keep them for five years. Any complaint backed by evidence including a statement given under penalty of perjury would result in a guest being banned from a hotel for three years. Hotels would also be required to post a notice on the inside of hotel room doors warning guests about the consequences of sexual harassment. Updated at 4:10 pm to include comment from Assemblyman Muratsuchi. Facebook

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Money, Republican malaise and Tom Steyer: These are the things to watch for in Californias 2018 statewide elections By Seema Mehta Get ready, California. What had been a behind-the-scenes dash for cash closely watched by few other than political observers is about to burst into public view. Voters this year will decide who will succeed Democrat Jerry Brown as the next governor and whether they will send Sen. Dianne Feinstein back to Washington. Before the June 5 primary, candidates will ramp up their campaigns with messages on television and stuffed into mailboxes. Heres a primer on the states two marquee races. Read More Facebook

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Fickle L.A. County is pivotal in the race for California governor By Phil Willon Home to a quarter of Californias 5.2 million registered voters, Los Angeles County is the biggest prize in Californias 2018 race for governor. For two hometown Democratic candidates especially  former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and state Treasurer John Chiang of Torrance  doing well in L.A. County is essential if they hope to best the front-runner, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom. Yet this overwhelmingly Democratic stronghold continually bedevils even the most adept campaigns. Read More Facebook

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A renewed brawl over single-payer healthcare in California is on deck for 2018 By Melanie Mason Carolyn Angela Chen, a registered nurse, gives a free hepatitis A vaccination to Glenn Gardner, 52, at Joshua House Clinic (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) California officials are bracing for healthcare battles in Washington to have a major impact on the states budget and programs. Activists and politicians are planning a showdown over whether or not to establish a single-payer healthcare system in the state. And prescription drug manufacturers are the target of a number of bills meant to target the rising costs of medication. Sound familiar? Turns out the brewing healthcare battles in California in 2018 arent all that different from those from 2017. Heres a primer on the upcoming healthcare agenda in California: Read More Facebook

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How California lawmakers plan to protect the online privacy of consumers in 2018 By Jazmine Ulloa (Elise Amendola / Associated Press) With federal regulation rollbacks and a rise in data breaches, California lawmakers this year are looking for ways to protect consumers and their personal information. Some legislation under consideration could give people more notice and control over what data is collected, without having to pay for privacy or better services. Other bills could provide free credit freezes for consumers and require new privacy features for products that connect to the internet. Read More Facebook

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2018 will see California motorists pay more to the state to repair roads and bridges By Patrick McGreevy The new year brings with it new vehicle fees in California ranging from $25 to $175 depending on the value of your car, but Republican lawmakers are hoping to qualify a ballot measure in November to repeal the higher charges. The fees and a 12-cent increase in Californias gas tax last year are part of a plan by Democrats to raise more than $5.2 billion annually to deal with a backlog of road and bridge repairs. Petitions to qualify a repeal initiative are circulating now. Read More Facebook

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A rent control battle tops the list of California housing issues to watch in 2018 By Liam Dillon A new-home community in Anaheim in 2016 (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times) California lawmakers arent wasting any time in tackling one of the most contentious issues in state housing politics this year. On Jan. 11, the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee is set to hold a hearing on legislation that could lead to a dramatic expansion of rent control policies across the state. The debate over rent control could spill over onto the 2018 ballot, where Californians also could see proposals to expand or curtail the property tax restrictions ushered in 40 years ago by Proposition 13. Lawmakers will have to wrestle with how to follow up a package of housing bills that passed last year. The measures provided new funding and regulations designed to encourage homebuilding, but are unlikely to make an appreciable difference in housing costs. Read More Facebook

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Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas is resigning By John Myers Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles) (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas abruptly announced his resignation from the California Legislature on Wednesday, citing health reasons. Ridley-Thomas, a Democrat from Los Angeles, informed Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) Tuesday night. The reason for this difficult decision is that I am facing persistent health issues, Ridley-Thomas, 30, said in a written statement on Wednesday. On December 18th, I underwent surgery for the fifth time this year. Although I expect a full recovery, my physicians advise that I will need an extended period of time to recuperate. Earlier this year, Ridley-Thomas was absent from work for more than two weeks. Staff members initially said the absence was a personal leave, then said the time off was due to unspecified medical reasons. His resignation letter on Wednesday offered no additional details. When I resume public life, I intend to remain active in civic affairs, where my passion lies, he said in the statement released by his office. Ridley-Thomas was first elected to the Assembly in a 2013 special election. He is the son of Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. Before winning elected office at age 26, the younger Ridley-Thomas worked as an aide for Los Angeles City Councilman Curren Price and managed a 2012 Assembly campaign in San Bernardino County. In a statement about his sons decision, Mark Ridley-Thomas said he and his wife more than anyone, have seen him struggle with health challenges this year, and we fully support his decision to step down from the state Legislature so that he can recuperate with complete rest, in accordance with his doctors orders. His solidly Democratic district includes the west Los Angeles neighborhoods of Westwood, Culver City, Crenshaw and Baldwin Hills. He is chairman of the influential Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee, which oversees all tax-related legislation. Ridley-Thomas is a proponent of changes in the operation of the state Board of Equalization, though his plan would have allowed the agency to ultimately retain many of its duties. A more substantial shake-up was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown in June. Ridley-Thomas was the author of a bill signed into law in October giving the Los Angeles Unified School District the power to preserve some of its existing single-gender schools. He was unsuccessful, though, in an effort to stop local governments from imposing taxes on streaming video services like Netflix and Hulu. Ridley-Thomas departure will require a special election in 2018. He is the fourth Southern California legislator to leave office this year. The election of Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles) to Congress also required a special election. The other two lawmakers Assemblymen Raul Bocanegra (D-Pacoima) and Matt Dababneh (D-Woodland Hills)  stepped down in the wake of allegations of sexual misconduct, which both men have denied. A special election to fill Bocanegras seat will be held on April 3, with a potential runoff on June 5. A special election date has not yet been set for Dababnehs seat. My colleagues and I wish Assemblymember Sebastian Ridley-Thomas all the best going forward as he deals with his health challenges, Rendon said in a statement. The Assembly will continue to assist the residents of the 54th Assembly District until a new assemblymember is seated. This post was updated with comment from Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, as well as more information about special elections. It was originally published at 11:10 a.m. Facebook

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California Senate Democrats are considering some ideas to counter the GOP tax plan By Liam Dillon Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Democrats in the California Senate are planning to write legislation to lessen the effects of the elimination of popular tax breaks in the GOPs overhaul of the federal tax system. To finance broad-based corporate tax cuts and reductions in individual tax rates, the GOP plan caps the deductibility of state and local income and property taxes  a benefit used often in suburban areas of California. The Republican tax scam disproportionately harms California taxpayers, Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) said in a statement. Our hard-earned tax dollars should not be subject to double-taxation, especially not to line the pockets of the Trump family, hedge fund managers and private jet owners. De Leon, who also is running for U.S. Senate, said the state Senate is working with law professors at UCLA, UC Davis and the University of Chicago to develop the legislation. Ideas being considered, according to a de Leon spokesman, include: Reducing state personal income taxes through a tax credit program and offsetting that amount through payroll taxes.

Allowing individuals to make voluntary gifts to the state of California, which would be deductible as a charitable donation under federal law. The deduction for the donated amount would replace the state and local tax deduction. Lawmakers return to Sacramento in January.

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L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti admits considering a 2020 bid: I am thinking about this By Seema Mehta Eric Garcetti (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) Its no secret Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is interested in running for president. When reporters ask about his intentions, he has used all sorts of ways to deflect, typically by saying hes focused on his day job  for the moment. But speaking in Spanish to a Univision reporter this week, Garcetti edged ever closer to the telltale admission hes actually considering it. I am thinking about this, said Garcetti, who is partly of Mexican heritage but learned Spanish attending private school. The majority of time goes to my work as mayor of Los Angeles, but every [citizen] should think about what our role is in these difficult times, in these dangerous times. Garcetti added that he expects many mayors to run for president, and noted New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio recently visited Iowa, which holds the first presidential nominating contest. Garcetti has long been rumored to be flirting with a White House bid, and he has fueled such speculation by traveling out of state to places such as the early presidential primary state of New Hampshire to campaign for a mayoral candidate. Facebook

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Gov. Brown makes judicial appointments, including attorney who helps train Legislature on anti-sexual-harassment policies .@JerryBrownGov makes two court of appeal and 33 superior court appointments including Lauri Damrell in Sacramento. Damrell, an attorney at Orrick, testified at the Assemblys recent hearing on sexual harassment, outlining the assemblys current prevention efforts.  Liam Dillon (@dillonliam) December 22, 2017 Facebook

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Californias former top cop forms marijuana distribution firm in new age of legalization By Patrick McGreevy Former California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer is going from enforcing laws against marijuana to legally distributing the drug under the states new rules that allow the sale and possession of pot for recreational use. With state-licensed sales of marijuana starting Jan. 1, Lockyer has co-founded a firm, C4 Distro, that will distribute packaged marijuana concentrates and edibles to stores in Los Angeles. He says Californias new regulated system has a chance to be a model for the rest of the country. For me as somebody who was on the law enforcement side for so many years, I saw the inadequacies of the effort to regulate something just by calling it illegal, Lockyer said. I think legalizing will help stabilize and help legitimize this industry and result in better consumer protection and other public benefits. Lockyer, a Democrat who served in the state Assembly and was leader of the state Senate, has co-founded the firm with Eric Spitz, who was chairman and president of the former parent company of the Orange County Register. The businessmen aim to get their products to pot shops in L.A. in late January or early February, Spitz said. Asked if he uses marijuana himself, Lockyer, 76, said, Not in any recent times, but there were college years. He said he sees his involvement in the marijuana industry as a mixture of helping to pay for his kids college tuition and public service to help the new regulations work. This whole industry has to come from the dark side to the light, he said. By focusing on delivery to as many as 700 stores that might open in Los Angeles, C4 Distro hopes to capture a targeted market while other firms distribute statewide. The business has a warehouse in southeast Los Angeles County and is close to applying for a distributors license from the state, Lockyer said. Lockyer served a quarter century in the state Legislature before he was elected as state attorney general in 1999. He left that office in 2007 when he was elected as state treasurer, serving until his retirement from politics in 2015. Before co-leading a group that bought the Register newspaper in 2012, Spitz served as chief financial officer at Narragansett Brewing Company. Spitz left the Registers Freedom Communications in 2016. 2 p.m.: An earlier version of this article mistakenly said Spitz left Freedom Communications in 2015. Facebook

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House passes disaster aid bill with wildfire funding, 18 Californians vote no By Sarah D. Wire (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) Eighteen of Californias 53 House members voted no on an $81-billion disaster aid package Thursday, which includes funds for Californias recent wildfires. The 17 Democrats and one Republican voted no on the bill, which passed the House by a 251 to 169 vote. The Senate is not expected to take up the bill until January, when Congress returns from its holiday break. The entire California delegation had recently signed onto a letter asking for the disaster aid. In a speech on the House floor before the vote, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) pleaded with colleagues not to take a political stance on a disaster aid bill. Dont play politics on a vote to give aid to the people of Texas, to the people of Puerto Rico and to the Virgin Islands, to the people of Florida, and to the people of California that are still fighting the fires. Dont play politics on a bill where you hope to maybe stop another. That would be the worst of any politics Ive seen played here, McCarthy said. Here and now, right before Christmas, dont vote against aid for Americans who just lost everything. Several of the Democrats who voted no also voted against the spending bill Thursday, and said that they felt they could not support either because the bills did not include Democratic priorities for the end of the year, including protections for people brought to the country illegally as children. Others said the aid bill doesnt provide enough money for California and doesnt treat Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands fairly in terms of competing for the funds. The 18 representatives voting no were: Nanette Barragan (D-San Pedro)

Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles)

Tony Cardenas (D-Los Angeles)

Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park)

Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana)

Anna Eshoo (D-Menlo Park)

Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles)

Ro Khanna (D-Fremont)

Barbara Lee (D-Oakland)

Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose)

Tom McClintock (R-Elk Grove)

Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco)

Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Downey)

Linda Sanchez (D-Whittier)

Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough)

Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin)

Norma Torres (D-Pomona)

Juan Vargas (D-San Diego) Facebook

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Three California House members cross party lines on spending bill to keep government open By Sarah D. Wire Three California House members crossed party lines Thursday on a vote to pass a spending bill that will keep the government open until mid-January. Democratic Reps. Jim Costa of Fresno and Raul Ruiz of Palm Desert joined the majority of Republicans to vote for the bill. Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter of Alpine joined Democrats to vote against it. The bill, which funds the government through Jan. 19, passed the House 231 to 188, right before representatives left for the holidays. Costa said in a statement that he voted yes because keeping the government open is Congress job, but he called the vote a continuation of the dysfunction in Washington. It further illustrates the damage that results from partisan politics and irresponsible leadership. It is unacceptable that we have to resort to funding the government for weeks at a time because we cannot sit down together  Democrats and Republicans  and negotiate a real budget bill, Costa said. Hunters staff said the congressman was concerned that military spending in the bill was extended for only a short period. He had wanted the spending to be extended until September. Facebook

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Poll points to all-Democrat runoffs in California races for governor and senator By Seema Mehta Californians could see two Democrat-on-Democrat contests in the states premier races in 2018, according to a new poll released Thursday. In the gubernatorial race, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom remains the front-runner with the support of 26% of likely voters in a Berkeley IGS poll. Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa came in second with the backing of 17%. The poll found notable demographic differences in the two mens bases of support. Newsom had strong leads in the Bay Area, where he once served as the mayor of San Francisco, as well as among white voters, liberals and the wealthy. Villaraigosa saw strong backing in Los Angeles County, among Latino voters and among those who earned less than $40,000. Republicans splintered in the race, placing businessman John Cox and Assemblyman Travis Allen in a tie for third place with 9% each. Two other Democrats, state Treasurer John Chiang and former state schools chief Delaine Eastin, each won the support of 5% of likely voters. If Republicans fail to consolidate behind a candidate in the June primary, voters will for the first time see no GOP candidate on the November ballot for governor. Its a repeat of what occurred in the 2016 U.S. Senate race, and what is likely to occur again in the 2018 U.S. Senate race if the field does not grow. Sen. Dianne Feinstein has the support of 41% of likely voters in her reelection bid, but her rival, fellow Democrat Kevin de Leon, won the support of 27%, according to the poll. There is no GOP candidate in the race. Feinstein, who has served in the Senate for a quarter-century, has enormous advantages in fundraising, name recognition and support among powerful political groups. However, the poll found that nearly one-third of likely voters said they are undecided or would like to support another candidate. Facebook

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California legislator wants to curb sexual harassment in Hollywood and eating disorders for models By Melanie Mason Fashion models show off the BCBG MAX AZRIA Spring 2016 collection during New York Fashion Week. (Richard Drew / AP) A new proposal by a California assemblyman is taking aim at two of the more criticized phenomena in the entertainment industry: sexual harassment and unhealthy body standards for fashion models. The legislation, by Assemblyman Marc Levine (D-San Rafael), would require the states Occupational Safety and Health Standards to adopt guidelines for fashion models in an attempt to combat the prevalence of eating disorders and excessive thinness in the industry. This is the second time Levine has tried to take on the fashion industry. His similar bill to impose standards on models sputtered in 2016. This time, Levine also is trying to address the prevalence of sexual harassment in the entertainment industry by requiring that talent agencies  which represent actors, performers and other artists  provide training on sexual harassment and how to identify and prevent inappropriate behavior. I believed women who told me their stories of abuse when I introduced legislation to provide workplace protections in the fashion industry in 2016 just like I believe them now, Levine said in a statement. Its time that law reflects societys rejection of sexual harassment in all workplaces, including Hollywood. My bill aims to address the problem before it starts, but also empowers survivors with the tools to report these cases. Facebook

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Local Indivisible group picks Democrat to endorse against Rep. Duncan Hunter By Christine Mai-Duc Ammar Campa-Najjar, 28, is running against Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine). (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) With an already crowded field of contenders hoping to unseat Rep. Duncan Hunter and months to go before the candidate filing deadline, one local activist group has made an early endorsement in the race. Indivisible CA50, made up of activists mostly in San Diego County, announced Thursday that its endorsing Ammar Campa-Najjar, a Democrat and public affairs consultant whos challenging Hunter. The endorsement comes as liberal activists and interest groups all over the state are grappling with whether  and how  to winnow down the dozens of candidates vying for 10 GOP-held seats in California. The group held more than half a dozen endorsement meetings to allow members throughout Hunters district to vote on their preferred candidate. One of the candidates, Pierre Beauregard, dropped out of the race recently and endorsed Campa-Najjar. In a statement Campa-Najjar said in a statement that the nod represents the enthusiasm of hundreds of progressive grassroots activists. Indivisibles national political director Maria Urbina said the endorsement was the first made by any California chapter in the 2018 midterms. Aside from Campa-Najjar, two other Democrats are running for Hunters seat: Josh Butner, a school board trustee and former Navy SEAL, and realtor Patrick Malloy, who ran last year and lost to Hunter by nearly 27 percentage points. Hunter will also face at least two GOP challengers: Shamus Sayed and Andrew Zelt. Hunter is not considered to be particularly vulnerable in next years election, but an investigation into his alleged misuse of campaign funds has caused at least one election handicapper to move his race from solid Republican to the likely Republican column. Facebook

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San Francisco is getting a new mayor and creating a political star. Who will it be? By Mark Z. Barabak San Francisco is the city everyone loves, even if they hate it. The stately Victorians, like a gingerbread dream come to life. The majestic Golden Gate Bridge, standing like heavens portal above the fog. The plucky cable cars, scrabbling up its impossible hillsides. It can almost make you forget the bands of ravaged homeless, the paralyzing traffic, the scent of human waste wafting from sidewalks outside the citys posh eateries and palatial tech headquarters. San Francisco is getting a new mayor, owing to the sudden death of incumbent Ed Lee. All of the grandeur, and all of the grit, accompany the position. To say the race is wide open  Lee having died just about a week ago  is an understatement. Read More Facebook

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Sen. Dianne Feinstein is under pressure over a fix for Dreamers By Sarah D. Wire California Sen. Dianne Feinstein is under pressure from activists and fellow Democrats to withhold support for a spending bill that would avert a government shutdown in exchange for protections for people brought to the country illegally as children. Feinstein said in October that protections for so-called Dreamers are the most important thing we can get done, but the senator known for her moderate bent said this week that she wont try to block the end-of-the-year spending bill over it, and has not offered an explanation. Dreamers this week flooded Feinsteins five California offices and her office on Capitol Hill. Two UCLA students refused to leave her Capitol Hill office after three hours Tuesday and were briefly detained by police. On Wednesday, about a dozen students and parents returned and were asked to leave after about 30 minutes of shouting in her office lobby. Read More Facebook

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The GOP tax plan passed. Now Democrats have another big issue to use in the midterms By Sarah D. Wire As GOP leaders in Congress met behind closed doors to hash out the details of their massive tax overhaul, a group of UC Irvine graduate students met in Rep. Mimi Walters district, fretting about how the plan could cost them money. About 20 miles north, dozens of activists in top hats stood outside Rep. Ed Royces Brea office as they chanted, Shame on you! And up in the Central Valley, protesters gathered outside Rep. Jeff Denhams Modesto office to sing Protest ye dreary congressman  Remember that he voted to take healthcare away. To save himself from taxes now, so you will have to pay. Read More Facebook

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Kevin de Leon to Feinstein: Dont come back to California without forcing a government shutdown over Dream Act By Jazmine Ulloa State Senate leader Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles), left, and Assemblyman Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles), right. (Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press) Taking direct criticism to the woman he is attempting to unseat in next years U.S. Senate race, California Senate leader Kevin de Leon on Wednesday urged Democrats to block a year-end spending bill as leverage to pass a Dream Act  clean of GOP demands for increased border security. At a news conference in downtown Los Angeles, De Leon commended Sen. Kamala Harris for pledging to block the measure, saying he could not understand why her colleague Sen. Dianne Feinstein had failed to take a similar stance in pushing for legislation to protect the so-called Dreamers, immigrants brought to the country illegally as children. Dreamers make up hundreds of thousands of Sen. Feinsteins constituents, and while talking a good game on Dreamers, when it comes to standing up and supporting them, she is AWOL, said De Leon (D-Los Angeles), who has attempted to position himself to Feinsteins left as he campaigns for her seat. His statements follow days of demonstrations by young protesters at legislators offices in Washington and California. The coalitions of activists have been calling on Democrats to hold up the spending bill, a move that could force a government shutdown. They want to pass Dream Act legislation that would provide protections and a path to citizenship to young people without legal residency in the U.S. At least two young protesters were arrested Tuesday outside of Feinsteins Capitol Hill office, and more demonstrations took place at her offices in Washington and San Francisco on Wednesday. Feinstein, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) have sponsored Dream Act legislation but have not pledged to hold up the spending deal. A separate bipartisan group of senators is advocating punting the issue to January. President Trump has asked Congress to come up with a solution by March. Standing next to De Leon and immigrant rights advocates on Wednesday, state Assemblyman Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles) said advocates had to double down the shame on any Democrat who thinks its time to wait on the issue. De Leon said they had made that message clear to Schumer, saying, It is time to find your spine, sir. To Pelosi and Feinstein, he said: Dont come back to California if you havent demonstrated your leadership and your courage to stand up for these young men and women. I can tell you this, De Leon said. If the Republicans were on the other side, they wouldnt hesitate for a nanosecond to shut down the government to move forward what they believe in. Facebook

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12 California Republicans vote to support tax overhaul for a second time; Rohrabacher and Issa say no By Sarah D. Wire The House gave final approval for the GOP tax bill Wednesday, with 12 Republicans in the state delegation again voting in favor of the bill. Reps. Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa and Darrell Issa of Vista voted no. The House and Senate both passed the bill Tuesday, but, because Democrats raised procedural objections that forced the bill to be changed in the Senate, the House had to vote on the bill again Wednesday before sending it to President Trump for his signature. Though many California taxpayers are expected to see an initial income tax cut under the plan, a significant number probably will have higher taxes because of the lost deductions. Analysts also expect the biggest cuts to flow to corporations and the states wealthiest residents. Republicans are expected to head to the White House later Wednesday for a celebration with Trump. No House Democrats, including the 39 from California, supported the bill. Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-Norwalk) was not present for the second vote, but she voted no on Tuesday. See the Republican votes here: Facebook

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Californias Democratic senators vote no on GOP tax bill Californias @SenKamalaHarris and @SenFeinstein join rest of Democrats in the Senate in voting no on the GOP tax bill, which passed 51-48 along party lines. Sanders, who is an Independent, voted with Democrats.  Sarah D. Wire (@sarahdwire) December 20, 2017 "At a time when wages have stagnated and working Americans are trying to do more with less, this tax plan pulls the rug out from the middle class to give billions to those who already have so much. This is an attack on our values, and Americans deserve better," Harris said.  Sarah D. Wire (@sarahdwire) December 20, 2017 "Californians will be hit especially hard by the cap on the state and local tax deduction, making it more difficult for communities to pay for services that our families rely on, Its no wonder a bill that primarily benefits the wealthy is so unpopular..." Feinstein said  Sarah D. Wire (@sarahdwire) December 20, 2017 Facebook

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GOP tax overhaul passes House with help from a dozen California Republicans By Sarah D. Wire Despite weeks of consternation from some California House Republicans, a dozen of them joined their colleagues to pass an overhaul of the U.S. tax code Tuesday. Two  Reps. Darrell Issa and Dana Rohrabacher  voted against the plan. In the weeks before the vote, Republican Reps. Mimi Walters of Irvine and Steve Knight of Palmdale cited new caps on popular deductions as reasons they were uncertain about whether to vote for the bill. Both worked behind the scenes on changes and ultimately supported the bill, which passed the House on a near party line vote 227-203. Knight said hes satisfied the changes are enough to to turn what would have been a tax increase into a tax cut for his constituents. Read More Facebook

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More than half of Californians oppose GOP tax bill, according to new poll By Sarah D. Wire House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) arrives for a news conference about the tax plan. (Win McNamee / Getty Images) More than half of Californians oppose the GOP tax bill expected to be approved by Congress today, and just 20% believe it will have a positive affect on their families, according to a poll released Monday. Just over half of California voters, 51%, oppose the tax bill, and 30% support it, according to the newest IGS Poll, a survey by the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley. And the belief falls largely along party lines, with Democrats opposing the bill by a more than 4-to-1 (67% to 15%) margin and Republicans supporting it 3 to 1 (60% to 21%). The House and Senate are expected to vote on the tax bill Tuesday. Californias Republican members of Congress largely support the bill despite some concerns about how cuts to the state and local tax deduction and mortgage interest deduction might affect Californians. Democrats in the delegation oppose it and have said they will use the vote against vulnerable Republicans in the 2018 midterm elections. When asked about the impact they think the bill will have on themselves and their families, just 20% of the polls respondents said they think it will benefit them directly, while 40% foresee a negative impact. About 27% do not expect much of an impact, and 13% said they dont know if theyll be affected. The poll of a random sample of 1,000 registered voters was completed by telephone in English and Spanish from Dec. 7 to 16. Facebook

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A quick look at some of the biggest tax changes for Californians By Sarah D. Wire (Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press) Congressional Republicans are framing their tax cut bill as a Christmas gift that will give Americans an average tax cut of $2,059. For Californians, especially in the wealthier areas along the coast, the situation isnt as clear-cut. When the measure comes up for a vote in the House on Tuesday morning, its expected to pass along party lines. At least two Republicans say they will join Democrats in the California delegation to oppose the plan because they fear it will hurt their constituents bottom line. Take a quick look at what some of the biggest changes in the tax bill might mean for average Californians. Read More Facebook

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Lawmakers, pot growers say Californias marijuana cultivation rules favor big corporate farms By Patrick McGreevy Californias new rules allowing marijuana cultivation favor large corporate farms despite a promise in Proposition 64 that small growers would be protected, according to a group of state lawmakers and marijuana industry leaders who called Monday for the policy to be changed. The California Department of Food and Agriculture issued emergency rules last month that allow for small and medium-sized farms of up to a quarter acre and one acre, respectively, to get licenses for the first five years. That five-year head start for small farms was promised in Proposition 64, the initiative approved last year by voters that legalized growing and selling marijuana for recreational use. Individuals and businesses can get only one license for a medium-sized farm, but the new rules do not set a limit on how many small-farm licenses can be obtained by one person or business. That could allow a corporation to assemble a 20-acre farm by obtaining 80 licenses for a quarter-acre each, opponents worry. Democratic state Sens. Scott Wiener of San Francisco and Mike McGuire of Healdsburg, Assemblyman Jim Wood (D-Healdsburg) and the California Growers Assn. asked for swift action by the state agricultural department to change the rule. This is clearly a broken promise, McGuire said. For two years, every discussion has included a cap on cannabis grows and the Department of Food and Agriculture needs to fix this massive loophole they have created. This last-minute revision rolls out the red carpet for large corporations to crush the livelihood of small family farmers. With cultivation licenses set to take effect next month, the lawmakers also promised legislative hearings on why the rules were drafted to disadvantage small, mom-and-pop farms. California only has one chance to get this right, and it is already on the wrong path with this last-minute change that flies in the face of what the backers of Prop. 64 promised, said Hezekiah Allen, executive director of the California Growers Assn. This single decision will hand over the California marketplace to multinational corporations and a wealthy few at the expense of thousands of growers who are ready to play by the rules and provide economic opportunity in communities that until recently were criminalized or  at the very least  marginalized. The industry estimates there are about 3,500 independent growers on track to get a state license in the first half of 2018. Allens group estimates that number could grow to as many as 10,000 or 15,000 by the end of 2020, but not if large corporate farms are allowed in early. The agricultural agency issued a response later: A one-acre canopy limit has not been in proposed regulations at any point and was not included in the emergency regulations due to the fact that Proposition 64, the law guiding the process, did not provide authority to include it. However, local jurisdictions may impose that limitation on their own if it meets the needs of their constituents. Updated at 5:10 pm to include comment from agricultural agency. Facebook

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Final tax bill dramatically softens blow to mortgage interest deductions in California By Christine Mai-Duc Last-minute changes to the Republican-led tax overhaul seem to be tailor-made to entice support from California GOP lawmakers, several of whom voted against a previous version passed in the House last month. The House version, passed with the support of all but three California Republicans, had proposed capping the mortgage interest deduction at loans of $500,000 or less. Republicans in high-tax, expensive states had voiced concerns the bill would have major effects in their districts. But the final version of the bill dramatically slashed the percentage of new mortgages that would be affected if the package becomes law. *New mortgages over $500,000 include data through Sept. 2017. New mortgages over $750,000 include data through Oct. 2017. Source: Times analysis of data provided by CoreLogic The particulars of the mortgage interest provision and other popular deductions were major sticking points as House and Senate negotiators hammered out a compromise between the two versions. A previous Times analysis showed that more than half of new mortgages this year in Rep. Dana Rohrabachers coastal Orange County district exceeded the $500,000 cap laid out in the House version. Text of the new bill released Friday outlined a cap of $750,000, which would apply to just under a quarter of new mortgages there through October 2017. Rohrabacher was one of three California Republicans, along with Reps. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) and Tom McClintock (R-Elk Grove) who previously voted against the measure. Rep. Mimi Walters (R-Irvine) said she supported the House version after receiving assurances from leaders that the bill would be changed to account for the loss of deductions, The percentage of new mortgages over the cap dropped from 48% to 14%. Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford), whose district had 1% of mortgages exceeding the $500,000 cap proposed previously, saw that share drop almost to zero; 27 of 7,515 mortgages in his congressional district this year have been for more than $750,000. The House is expected to vote on the final tax bill Tuesday. Facebook

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A major change to Proposition 13 takes its first step toward the 2018 ballot By Liam Dillon A commercial property in San Bernardino County that could face higher property taxes under a proposed ballot measure (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times) Proponents of making a dramatic change to Californias landmark Proposition 13 property tax restrictions took their first step to getting a measure on the November 2018 statewide ballot Friday. The change would allow the state to receive more tax dollars from commercial and industrial properties by assessing them at their current market value, an effort known as split roll because existing tax protections on homes would remain in place. Advocates of the measure, including the League of Women Voters of California and community organizing nonprofits California Calls and PICO Network said the change could raise billions of dollars that could be spent on public schools and community colleges. I think the cumulative effects of the unfair tax system have gotten to the point where its created crippling economic impacts on the state, said Melissa Breach, executive director of the League of Women Voters of California. Backers filed their proposed initiative Friday. The attorney generals office will prepare an official title and summary for the measure and it will receive a financial analysis. From there, advocates will decide if they will collect signatures to put the measure on the ballot. Proposition 13 passed in 1978 amid concerns that rising property taxes could force people out of their homes. The ballot measure limited property taxes to 1% of a propertys value at the time of purchase and ensures that the assessed value on which taxes are based can only increase by a maximum of 2% a year  no matter how much a propertys market value goes up. Split-roll measures have been long debated in state politics, but business groups and anti-tax groups have expressed substantial opposition to the idea, arguing that it would cause major harm to the states business climate. Breach said she expected an avalanche of big money against the measure should it go forward, but said that her organization wouldnt get involved without believing it could raise sufficient funding.S For the record 1 p.m., Dec. 18: An earlier version of this post said the split roll ballot measure would allow California to charge higher tax rates on commercial and industrial properties. It would allow the state to assess those properties at current market value, not charge higher rates. Facebook

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Three more women accuse California assemblyman of sexual misconduct By Melanie Mason Assemblyman Matt Dababneh (D-Woodland Hills) (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times) A Los Angeles woman has filed a police report alleging Democratic Assemblyman Matt Dababneh had sex with her without consent four years ago, adding new allegations of sexual misconduct to those that led the politician to announce his resignation last week. He says her claims are false. Nancy Miret, 26, told The Times that when she was 22 and a recent college graduate, she spent time with Dababneh over two months in late 2013, primarily at his Encino apartment. At the time, Dababneh was running for Assembly to represent the western San Fernando Valley. They had consensual sex on one occasion, but after that, Miret said she had multiple nonconsensual sexual encounters with Dababneh that left her traumatized. Miret, who now works in commercial real estate, is one of three women interviewed by The Times who have made new allegations concerning Dababnehs behavior. These allegations are false and Im confident that when all the facts are in, it will clearly show that these claims are not true, Dababneh told The Times. Read More Facebook

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San Diego business is first in California to be issued license to sell marijuana for recreational use By Patrick McGreevy A San Diego medical marijuana business is the first firm to be issued a license by the state of California to sell marijuana for recreational use, officials said Thursday. Torrey Holistics received two of the first 20 licenses granted by the state Bureau of Cannabis Control this week to sell or distribute marijuana, although the licenses do not take effect until Jan. 1, according to bureau chief Lori Ajax. An additional 180 firms have applied for licenses but they are being processed. Last week, we officially launched our online licensing system, and today were pleased to issue the first group of temporary licenses to cannabis businesses that fall under the Bureaus jurisdiction, Ajax said in a statement. We plan to issue many more before January 1. The bureau is issuing temporary, four-month licenses to firms initially, but will eventually require firms to undergo background checks and pay a $1,000 application fee for yearlong permits. Tony Hall left a chemical distribution business two years ago to start Torrey Holistics with a friend and classmate at San Diego State. He said he was ecstatic to have the first recreational permit in California. He also obtained a new license to continue selling marijuana for medical uses. We feel fricking great about it, he said Thursday. Its just exciting. This is a once in a multi-generational event, he added, likening it to the end of prohibition. Added Ruthie Edelson, the firms marketing director, We will be open at 7 a.m. on Jan. 1. Last year, voters approved Proposition 64, which makes California one of eight states that allow the growing and sale of marijuana for recreational uses. Facebook

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Conservative activist group files a lawsuit over Los Angeles County inactive voter list By John Myers A Washington-based conservative-leaning activist group filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday alleging Los Angeles County officials are refusing to cancel the registrations of voters who are ineligible to cast a ballot. The legal action by Judicial Watch comes four months after the organization first accused elections officials across the state of maintaining registration lists that are larger than their voting-age population. The lawsuit also names Secretary of State Alex Padilla as a defendant and alleges the voter lists violate the National Voter Registration Act, or NVRA. They dont care about removing ineligible registration, said Robert Popper of Judicial Watch. I think we have a very strong lawsuit. The lawsuit names four Los Angeles County voters as co-plaintiffs and asserts that a countys two lists of voters  the file of active voters and those whose registration has been placed on inactive status  should be combined into a single total. The inactive list includes people who havent cast ballots in recent elections and havent responded to inquiries from elections officials. Though the names on that list are considered voters, they are not counted in official registration reports and are not mailed election material. Popper led an effort earlier this year to estimate the size of each countys voting-age population using the Census Bureaus American Community Survey. He said the surveys five-year average of county populations was then adjusted by focusing just on the estimate of those over the age of 18, and then comparing that with the combined active and inactive voter lists. Popper dismissed any concern that the resulting number might be skewed by the different standards used by counties for the inactive list, which could include names of voters who moved or died and thus be an imperfect guide. I believe that a court is going to accept our numbers, he said. Dean Logan, the registrar of voters in Los Angeles County, said his staffs practices are consistent with federal law. This lawsuit appears to fundamentally interpret the requirements of the NVRA in a manner inconsistent with ensuring voter enfranchisement and appropriate list maintenance, he said. The lawsuit also alleges that Los Angeles elections officials failed to provide Judicial Watch with requested data about the size of the inactive list, and accuses Padilla of failing to address the groups concerns about California not following NVRA rules. In a statement on Thursday, Padilla said county inactive-voter files are not out of compliance with the law. He criticized Judicial Watch for its baseless assertions, bad math, and flawed methodology. Local elections officials have said very few inactive voters show up on election day, and that any who do would be asked to cast a provisional ballot  one that isnt counted unless the voters eligibility is confirmed through additional review. Popper insisted that if the list is never used, theres no reason to keep it. Judicial Watch, which sued for access to Hillary Clintons emails in 2016, alleged that its calculations show 11 California counties with questionable voter registration totals. Facebook

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Voters in California GOP districts may get calls asking them to thank their member of Congress for tax plan By Sarah D. Wire Voters in four key Republican-held congressional districts could get a robocall starting Friday urging them to call and thank their member of Congress for supporting the tax bill. Its a last minute effort by American Action Network, a politically active nonprofit connected with House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) that has spent millions to shore up Republican support for the bill. The robocalls include the members office number. The four California members being targeted are Reps. Jeff Denham of Turlock, David Valadao of Hanford, Steve Knight of Palmdale and Mimi Walters of Irvine. All four represent districts that backed Hillary Clinton for president in 2016 and are Democratic targets in 2018. Knight and Walters had been particularly vocal about their concerns with the plan, saying it might raise taxes for their constituents. The final text of the bill is set to be released Friday, with a vote expected early next week. In total, American Action Network plans to place 1 million robocalls in 29 districts nationwide. Facebook

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Merry Christmas Republicans in Congress: Funny or Die video goes after California lawmakers over DACA By Christine Mai-Duc As members of Congress try to pass a controversial tax bill and a measure to keep the federal government funded, the political arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus is hitting Republicans hard over another unresolved issue: the legal status of hundreds of thousands of people brought to the country illegally as children who could face deportation if lawmakers dont act. Amid negotiations over a long-term spending bill, Democratic leaders have been pushing their GOP colleagues to include a fix for those who were granted temporary protection under President Obamas Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, known as DACA. President Trump announced an end to the program earlier this year and gave Congress a March deadline to address it. Funny or Die and BOLD PAC released a video Friday featuring comedians skewering GOP members, including two in California, for their inaction. In the video, Oscar Nunez, best known for his role on The Office, calls out Reps. Steve Knight (Palmdale), Ed Royce (Fullerton), Carlos Curbelo (Florida) and John Culberson (Texas), who get to go ahead and celebrate as thousands of Dreamers are banished from the only country theyve ever called home. How many broken promises can fit in a stocking? Nunez asks later. Im asking for a congressman. The political action committee says its spending six figures on the weeklong buy, which will go out nationwide across Funny Or Dies social media channels. They are known for blasting out irreverent, often viral parodies that play to young audiences. The video will also be targeted to constituents in each of the four congressional districts. A separate video released by the ACLU last week also urged members of Congress to strike a deal on DACA. Many California Republicans have remained mum on the issue, particularly those facing tough races in 2018. So far, only Reps. David Valadao (Hanford), Jeff Denham (Turlock) and Mimi Walters (Irvine) have pressured fellow Republicans to come up with a solution before Congress breaks for Christmas. Following Trumps decision, Knight said the issue should receive attention by Congress. Royce, who has taken hard-line stances on immigration in the past, urged his colleagues to provide a permanent, legislative solution that gives certainty to these kids. Neither elaborated on what that solution should be. Facebook

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For a prominent California consumer group and savvy political consultants, documents reveal a close financial relationship By John Myers If theres a clear mantra for Consumer Watchdog, one of Californias most visible and vocal advocacy groups, its that hidden financial relationships shouldnt shape politics and public policy. The Santa Monica-based nonprofit has spent more than three decades reprimanding politicians and interest groups for doing the bidding of those who give them money. Its official motto is expose, confront, change. We are loud, and we speak more of a populist truth than the way people usually talk to each other in Sacramento, said Jamie Court, Consumer Watchdogs president. Read More Facebook

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Regional director resigns from California Democratic Party amid sexual misconduct claims By Jazmine Ulloa A regional director with the California Democratic Party submitted his resignation on Thursday, nearly two weeks after a 23-year-old woman reported that he sexually assaulted her last year, spurring party leaders to seek his ouster. Craig Cheslog served as Region 2 director spanning the East Bay, Napa, Sonoma and the Clearlake areas. In a statement, his lawyer, Mary P. Carey, said she and her client were confident that a full and fair exploration of this matter, undertaken in an appropriate, fact-governed venue, would exonerate Mr. Cheslog. We are prepared, if necessary, to put forward the facts of this matter in just such a venue, she said. Democratic Party Chairman Eric Bauman and other officials initially called for Cheslogs removal in a Nov. 29 letter to state party secretary Jenny Bach. They said he was seen acting in an inappropriate and sexually aggressive manner toward a member of the party in a public area of the Westin San Francisco Airport Hotel, following a Nov. 18 executive board meeting. The level to which this activity advanced made a number of those in attendance uncomfortable, the letter stated. It added that another member reported that Mr. Cheslog raped her at a CDP executive board meeting the previous year. Party officers said the incident occurred during a weekend where the prevention of sexual harassment of women in politics was a dominant theme in the wake of the #metoo movement. Before the meetings conclusion on Sunday, the California Womens Caucus approved a resolution making clear that sexual harassment, bullying and other forms of abuse are grounds to lose endorsements and be stripped of party membership. Maddy Dean, who was not named in the letter, spoke at the meeting about her experiences of sexual harassment in the movie industry, and told the Times that she reported Cheslog. She said she could not provide further details about her allegation as she explores possible legal paths moving forward. This was about protecting other women and in particular other young women, she said of reporting the assault. In his own letter to Bach on Thursday, Cheslog did not acknowledge any wrongdoing. He said he was stepping down to prevent any personal misconduct allegations from creating a distraction with the party at a critical moment in national and state politics. I am confident of the results that would be forthcoming in a fair, fact-based exploration of this matter, he said. Since the report, Cheslog has been fired from his job at Common Sense Media, a nonprofit organization that helps families navigate media and technology. He also has stepped down from his position on the Acalanes Union High School District Board of Trustees. The conduct represented a serious violation of both company policy and the way in which our employees are expected to conduct themselves in the community at large, Common Sense spokeswoman Corbie Kiernan said in a statement. We immediately suspended Mr. Cheslog and conducted an investigation. As a result of the investigation, Mr. Cheslogs employment with Common Sense was terminated. 4:05 p.m.: This post was updated with Cheslogs resignation from the school board. Facebook

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Sen. Bob Hertzberg will cooperate with investigation into unwanted hugs By Patrick McGreevy State Sen. Bob Hertzberg works at his Senate Chambers desk. He faces an investigation into unwanted hugging (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) State Sen. Bob Hertzberg (D-Los Angeles) said Thursday he will cooperate with a state investigation into complaints from a former legislator that she was uncomfortable with his repeated hugs after she asked him not to touch her. Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon said Thursday that a team of outside attorneys will investigate a complaint by former Assemblywoman Linda Halderman that Hertzberg has made her uncomfortable with hugs that were too close and lasted too long. Hertzberg, well-known for hugging other lawmakers, said he supports having any allegations investigated by the two outside law firms. I just learned of the investigation, and will fully cooperate, he said. The use of an independent third party investigator is essential to improving transparency and trust in the system. Halderman said Thursday she was encouraged that her concerns will be investigated, but said it was disturbing  that attorneys for one of the law firms selected, Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher, contributed more than $90,000 in campaign funds to sitting legislators including Hertzberg. Halderman, a surgeon, served in the state Assembly from 2010 through 2012 and said Hertzberg hugged her multiple times even after she asked him to stop because she was uncomfortable. The last incident occurred in a hallway of the Capitol, she claimed. I told him I dont care to be hugged. Dont touch me,  Halderman recalled. He then grabbed me and pinned my arms to my side and used his hands to press my lower back into his groin and he essentially pinned me so I couldnt push off of him to get away the way I ended previous hugs. It was certainly so over the line, she added. Halderman said a current female senator and assemblywoman also have complained about inappropriate hugs from Hertzberg. However, Sen. Cathleen Galgiani (D-Stockton) defended Hertzberg, saying she has known him for many years and he has always acted as a gentleman. I have never felt uncomfortable with him, and have always felt his hugs were a display of affection - which I appreciate, she said. I consider him a dear friend. Updated at 5:30 pm to include comment from Sen. Galgiani. Facebook

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Rep. Maxine Waters asks Justice Department to investigate fake letter tweeted by Republican opponent By Sarah D. Wire (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) Rep. Maxine Waters is asking the Justice Department to look into a fake letter posted to Twitter by her Republican challenger that falsely indicated the congresswoman wants to resettle tens of thousand of refugees in her Los Angeles district. The GOP candidate, Omar Navarro, posted the letter on what looks like official House of Representatives letterhead to Twitter on Monday. The letter, which purports to be from the congresswoman, says the congresswoman wants to bring refugees to her congressional district after the 2018 election and perhaps even once I have secured the Speaker of the House position. Navarro accompanied the tweeted letter with a message: According to this document, Maxine Waters wants more terrorists, like the one who bombed NYC, in Californias 43rd District. As Congressman of CAs 43rd District, I will oppose such policies. Its been retweeted more than 680 times. But the letter is a forgery and a fake, her chief of staff, Twaun Samuel, said in a news release. The letter, dated June of this year, also contains several inaccuracies. It references multiple committees and subcommittees Waters does not serve on, and lists an address for a district office that has been closed for nearly a decade. Waters filed a complaint about the tweeted letter with the House general counsel, who forwarded the complaint to the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California and the fraud section of the Criminal Division for the United States Department of Justice. The complaint states that Waters has not communicated with the letters purported addressee  Teri Williams, who is president and chief operating officer of the Los Angeles-based OneUnited Bank, about any refugee resettlement program. Impersonating a federal official and misusing a federal seal are federal crimes. Navarro, who is backed by big name far-right conservatives, said Thursday that the letter was sent to his campaign through Facebook by a person he didnt know. He said neither the Justice Department or Waters staff has asked him about the letter. I dont know if its real or not, so I put it out there, Navarro said, adding that he believed his followers would help him determine if it is real. It doesnt say that I know. Its according to this document  what, am I supposed to send it to her and get an email back from Maxine? According to this document, Maxine Waters wants more terrorists, like the one who bombed NYC, in Californias 43rd District.

As Congressman of CAs 43rd District, I will oppose such policies. #VoteNavarro2018https://t.co/vO8YUsyPp3 pic.twitter.com/k7ef0H20if  Omar Navarro (@RealOmarNavarro) December 11, 2017 Facebook

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Sen. Tony Mendoza refuses to take a leave of absence amid harassment probe By Patrick McGreevy Sen. Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia), left, talks earlier this year about a pending bill with Sen. Ted Gaines (R-El Dorado Hills). (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Defying pressure from legislative leadership, state Sen. Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia) refused Thursday to take a leave of absence until an investigation into sexual harassment allegations against him is concluded early next year. Mendoza has denied allegations by former employees that he treated three female aides inappropriately, inviting them to hotel stays and asking one to visit his home to work on her resume. I am very disappointed that certain Senate Rules Committee members are apparently asking me to take a leave of absence or resign before any investigation has even begun and without giving me an opportunity to defend myself, Mendoza said in a statement. This is contrary to the very concept of due process, which is a pillar of our American system of fairness and judicial prudence. These actions bypass any process in a rush to judgment. Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) earlier Thursday called on Mendoza to take a leave of absence. Mendoza had previously been stripped of his leadership positions, including chairmanship of the Senates committee on banking and insurance. Mendoza questioned statements urging him to step down, saying they leave him concerned about the fairness of the investigation. He also said he has been disappointed that he has been told he cannot publicly address allegations. I was not appointed to the position I hold, but was elected by the voters in my district, he said. I am grateful to the voters in my district and thank them for their trust and their continued support. The Senate owes them an opportunity to hear the truth. I assure them that I will vigorously defend myself to clear my name. Facebook

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State Senate leader asks Sen. Tony Mendoza to take leave of absence amid sexual harassment investigation By Patrick McGreevy (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) State Senate leader Kevin de Leon said Thursday he has strongly suggested that Sen. Tony Mendoza take a leave of absence until the completion of an investigation by outside attorneys into allegations that Mendoza sexually harassed three former aides. Given the severity of the allegations against Senator Mendoza I do not believe he can perform the duties in Sacramento right now while the investigation is being conducted, De Leon told a packed news conference in his Capitol office. I believe Its the right thing to do, its the fair thing to do, to take a leave, he said. The Senate leader also said the outside attorneys have been asked to investigate complaints by former Assemblywoman Linda Halderman that Sen. Bob Hertzberg (D-Los Angeles) inappropriately hugged her on multiple occasions in a way that made her uncomfortable, even after she asked him to stop. De Leon also announced the hiring of two law firms to handle the Mendoza and Hertzberg investigations, and all future probes of harassment and abuse involving Senate employees. Mendoza, a Democrat from Artesia, did not immediately respond to the request to step aside. De Leon, a Democrat from Los Angeles who had been Mendozas roommate before the allegations were made public, said he made the suggestion to Mendoza in a meeting Thursday morning. If Mendoza refuses to take a leave, the Senate has the power to suspend him without pay, but De Leon said that is not currently under discussion. There is an effort underway to force his expulsion in January when the Legislature returns to Sacramento. Former Mendoza employees have claimed that he gave inappropriate attention to a female fellow and intern, inviting one to his home and hotel and giving the other alcohol in a hotel even though she was underage. Another former female aide told the Sacramento Bee that Mendoza invited her to one-on-one dinners and a weekend at Pebble Beach. Mendoza has denied the allegations. The Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher and Van Dermyden Maddux law firms have been retained for two years, according to Sen. Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles), who participated in their selection. Have you experienced sexual harassment in government or politics? Tell us your story   In addition, the state is contracting with Weave, a Sacramento crisis-intervention organization for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, to provide counseling and to establish a hotline for Senate employees who are victims of sexual assault. The hotline number is 1-800-729-1443. America is finally reckoning with entrenched inequities in our personal and professional relationships and in workplaces of every type, De Leon said. Nowhere is this reckoning more important than in the halls of power  our political institutions. Facebook

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Watch live: California Senate leader addresses sexual misconduct at state Capitol Facebook

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California state senator pledges to bring back net neutrality rules just as FCC votes to repeal them By Jazmine Ulloa Demonstrators rally in support of net neutrality outside a Verizon store in New York on Dec. 7. (Mary Altaffer / Associated Press) Moments after the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday voted to roll back net neutrality regulations, a state senator pledged to introduce legislation that would preserve open internet protections for consumers in California. Net neutrality is essential to our 21st century democracy, and we need to be sure that people can access websites and information freely and fairly, Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) said in a statement. If the FCC is going to destroy net neutrality and create a system that favors certain websites just because they can pay more money, California must step in and ensure open internet access. The announcement of the proposal came shortly after the FCC voted to repeal net neutrality in an expected 3-2 party-line vote, with Republicans calling for an end to the utility-like oversight of internet service providers. The Obama-era rules put in February 2015 barred broadband and wireless companies, such at AT&T Inc., Charter Communications Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. from selling faster delivery of certain data, slowing speeds for certain video streams and other content, and discriminating against legal material online. Before the vote, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai argued loosening the regulations would allow the online economy to flourish. FCC commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, one of the the two Democrats on the commission, said the rollback would inhibit the openness that has made the U.S. internet the envy of the world. Supporters of net neutrality are expected to file suit to try to halt the repeal plan. Weiners attempt to institute net neutrality rules in California could have challenges. The FCC order states that allowing state and local governments to adopt their own separate requirements, which could impose a heavier burden on companies, could disrupt the balance between state and federal regulations. The preemption of state and local net neutrality measures is something that could be challenged in court. Amid such legal battles state legislation could face heavy lobbying efforts from internet providers arguing against uneven regulations. A bill by Assemblyman Ed Chau (D-Monterey Park) was shelved last legislative session over similar disputes. It would have enshrined in state law other FCC regulations that were rolled back this year by President Trump and Congress. The Internet privacy rules limited what broadband providers can do with their customers data. The bills defeat capped a behind-the-scenes battle that pitted telecom companies against state internet service providers and brought other bills to a halt in the state Senate as negotiations unfolded over legislation that would have had national significance. UPDATES 7:57 a.m.: This post was updated with additional information about the potential legal case. LA Times reporter Jim Puzzanghera contributed to this report. Facebook

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L.A. County sheriffs office failed to follow policy for issuing concealed weapon permits, audit says By Patrick McGreevy Handguns are displayed at the Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show in Las Vegas in 2016. ( (John Locher / Associated Press)) The Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department has repeatedly failed to follow its own rules for issuing concealed weapon permits, the state auditor concluded in a report released Thursday. L.A. County Sheriff Jim McDonnell disputed some of the key findings of the audit, saying state officials misinterpreted the policy. The department policy requires applicants to provide convincing evidence of a clear and present danger to life or of great bodily harm to get a license, but the audit found the department issued 24 licenses during the last few years without sufficient evidence. Most of the 197 active licenses in L.A. County as of August went to current or former law enforcement officers, judges and prosecutors, the audit found. The lieutenant in charge of reviewing applications told auditors that people in law enforcement satisfy the departments requirements by the nature of their jobs. However, making that decision based solely on the applicants profession both directly contradicts Los Angeless written policy  which specifically states that no position or job classification in itself shall constitute good cause for issuance  and has led the department to treat applicants inequitably based on their occupations, the audit says. McDonnell said the audit identified some legitimate issues, and the department has added a checklist to the application process in order to show requirements have been met. But he disagreed on the reports sweeping conclusion that the department consistently failed to follow its own policies. The LASD policy simply requires that the applicant provide convincing evidence that his or her life or physical safety is threatened, the sheriff said. He said the policy does not require additional documentation of that evidence if sufficient information is provided in the application. Auditors also concluded that Sacramento County issued some licenses without proper documentation and that San Diego Countys renewal process led it to inappropriately renew some licenses. Facebook

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Anti-Issa effort discloses donors: Leo DiCaprio, Jane Fonda, Ted Danson and more By Joshua Stewart A political group that has brought professional political organizers into the campaign against Rep. Darrell Issa has received its most significant contributions to date  from actress Jane Fonda and other celebrities. Fonda gave $100,000 to Flip the 49th! Neighbors in Action, which recently registered as a political committee to get Issa, R-Vista, out of office. Comedian Bill Maher gave $15,000 to the group, a rebuke of a politician who has twice appeared on his talk show. Former California Sen. Barbara Boxer gave $2,500, as did Academy Award recipient Leonardo DiCaprio. Actor Ted Danson gave $1,500. Flip the 49th gave the The San Diego Union-Tribune a list of donors more than a month before its required to disclose them to the Federal Election Commission. Read More Facebook

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California Senate GOP leader: Release Capitol whistleblowers from non-disclosure agreements By Melanie Mason California Senate Republican leader Patricia Bates is wading into the sexual harassment debate that has swept up the Capitol and is calling on her Democratic colleagues to allow whistleblowers to speak out by releasing them from non-disclosure agreements. Bates (R-Laguna Niguel) wrote in a letter to the Democratic legislative leaders  Senate Pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount)  that Senate Republicans are calling for the Legislature to allow victims or witnesses who may have signed such agreements to share their experiences publicly. This release from NDAs would empower victims of sexual harassment, create a new atmosphere for resolving sexual harassment or discrimination concerns, increase public awareness and transparency, and ensure that both the Senate and the Assembly fulfill their obligations to the public and their employees for providing a safe and welcoming workplace environment, Bates wrote in the letter, dated Dec. 12. The Republican senator also laid out suggestions to improve the Legislatures handling of sexual harassment complaints, such as jointly convening both houses rules committees  which act as the chambers human resources departments  to have a comprehensive, bicameral and bipartisan review. Bates wrote that the Joint Rules Committee should consider the assigning of an outside entity for assuming responsibility for all issues regarding sexual harassment. She said the California Highway Patrol or an inspector general could serve that function. Bates is currently serving on a panel designated by the Senate Rules Committee to select an outside law firm to investigate sexual harassment complaints. De Leon, in a statement, said he agreed with Bates that sexual harassment is a bipartisan, bicameral problem that requires bipartisan, bicameral solutions. Many of these recommendations we are already pursuing and evaluating in some form and we look forward to working in collaboration with Senator Bates  as we did with the independent selection panel  on additional reforms in the weeks to come, De Leon said. With regard to non-disclosure agreements, De Leon spokesman Jonathan Underland said the Senate is discussing with attorneys and anti-harassment experts about what options are available without violating the privacy rights of past victims. John Casey, a spokesman for Rendon, said the Assembly does not ask for NDAs in settlement agreements. The Speaker agrees with both the Legislative Womens Caucus and the Rules Committee chair that any sexual harassment policy should be both bicameral and bipartisan, Casey said. Facebook

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California plans to send out licenses for pot sales this month  but they wont be effective until Jan. 1 By Patrick McGreevy Patrons shop at Bud and Bloom, a Santa Ana marijuana dispensary, last year. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) California officials said Wednesday they plan to use email before the new year to send out some licenses to sell marijuana to speed up the transition to a regulated market. The licenses will not go into effect until Jan. 1. Proposition 64, which legalized the sale of marijuana for recreational use, required the state to begin issuing licenses by Jan. 1. Because that date is a state holiday, the bureau originally planned to begin sending them out on Jan. 2. That has changed. Much of the date discussion  Jan. 1 versus Jan. 2  was based on whether or not wed be able to be open on a state holiday, said Alex Traverso, a bureau spokesman. The solution to that issue was to issue licenses with an effective date of Jan. 1 since licenses will be issued electronically. That eliminates the need to have the office open on Jan. 1. He said that, as of Wednesday, the bureau has not yet sent out any emails with licenses approved to begin operating Jan. 1. Facebook

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Californias budget director makes last ditch effort to urge GOP members to vote against tax plan By Sarah D. Wire House Republicans hold a news conference after the House passed the GOP tax bill. (Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press) As closed-door negotiations over the final tax bill come to an end, the head of the California Department of Finance is making a last-ditch effort to convince Republicans in the states congressional delegation to vote against the plan. In a letter to the entire delegation Wednesday, Finance Department Director Michael Cohen detailed 10 issues in the current tax proposals about which the state is worried. Some of Cohens concerns may be addressed in the deal that House and Senate leaders said they reached Wednesday morning. Details of the agreement are not yet public. Cohens concerns range from potentially billions less in federal funding available to California to offset the $1.4 trillion the plan is expected to add to the federal deficit, to the environmental effect of ending green energy tax credits. Californias 39 Democratic representatives are expected to oppose the final tax bill, which could come before both chambers of Congress by early next week. Three California Republicans  Reps. Darrell Issa of Vista, Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa and Tom McClintock of Elk Grove  voted against the original House version, and several other California Republicans have indicated they might be willing to vote against the final plan. Cohen specifically pointed to issues that have been raised by the uncertain House members, including the proposal to lower the cap on the mortgage interest deduction, the plan to limit state and local tax deductions and the elimination of a deduction for uninsured personal property damaged in natural disasters such as fires. Facebook

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California lawmakers have fought sexual misconduct on military bases, farms and college campuses. Will they police their own house? By Jazmine Ulloa Over the past decade, California lawmakers have worked to help curb sexual violence in the workplace and other spheres of public life. They have pushed college campuses to keep better track of incident reports, created whistleblower protections for military officers who file claims and established sexual harassment training for farmworkers and janitors. Now, as more than 140 women have come forward in an open letter to denounce a pervasive culture of sexual harassment in the California Legislature, activists and employment lawyers say lawmakers have not held colleagues and staffers to the same standards demanded of those in other fields. Members [of the state Assembly and Senate] are quick at pointing the finger at other folks, said Fiona Ma, a former Democratic assemblywoman from San Francisco who is now running for state treasurer. But they dont want to look inside and fix their own house, air their own dark, dirty laundry. Read More Facebook

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Californias cap-and-trade climate program could generate more than $8 billion by 2027, report says By John Myers Gov. Jerry Brown signs an extension of Californias cap-and-trade program in July. (Eric Risberg / Associated Press) Although Californias cap-and-trade program was designed to combat climate change, a new analysis predicts it could also provide significant cash  as much as $8 billion in a decades time  for state and regional programs. The report issued Tuesday by the independent Legislative Analysts Office projects a wide range of revenue generated by the sale of permits for companies to emit greenhouse gases beyond a state-ordered emissions cap. The most recent auction of those emission permits brought in more than $800 million. The analysis warns that annual cap-and-trade revenue beyond 2020 is highly uncertain, and offers a possible range from $2 billion in 2018 to almost $7 billion in 2030  the final year of the program under legislation Gov. Jerry Brown signed in July. The estimate of $8.3 billion in 2027 is the high-water mark for any year in the report. Researchers cite a number of factors that make a specific prediction impossible, including future technology that allows industries to cut greenhouse gas emissions easily and thus pass on purchasing emission allowances. While it is clear that there will be additional revenues to the state beyond 2020, the amount that will be generated annually is highly uncertain, the report reads. Money collected from the sale of pollution permits is required to be spent on programs combating climate change. A portion of the money also is earmarked for the states high-speed rail program. The report urges lawmakers to provide oversight for future decisions made by the California Air Resources Board, the agency that has taken the lead on climate change efforts. In particular, the analysts warn that allowing businesses to stockpile too many permits  ones bought at current low prices  could lead to excessive greenhouse gas emissions in future years, potentially even causing the state to miss its annual benchmark as soon as 2024. Facebook

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Vice President Pence meets with California lawmakers about massive fires By Sarah D. Wire Briefed bipartisan group of California reps on the fed response to #CAwildfires. @POTUS approved an emergency declaration last Friday & @forestservice is providing air & ground assets including 1,000 personnel. Together, we will help the people of CA restore, rebuild & recover. pic.twitter.com/zn7QdbCZOQ  Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) December 12, 2017 A handful of California representatives discussed the federal response to their states wildfires Tuesday with Vice President Mike Pence. Attending the West Wing meeting were House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) and Reps. Ken Calvert (R-Corona), Darrell Issa (R-Vista), Julia Brownley (D-Westlake Village), Steve Knight (R-Palmdale) and Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara). It was a very bipartisan-spirited meeting. He clearly understood the significance of the fires and the impacts, Brownley said after the meeting. She said Pence offered federal assistance and recognized that recovery was going to be very important and that we want to work together to make sure that we can get the resources needed. President Trump signed an emergency declaration for the Southern California fires last week. Pence visited California this fall to view fire damage in Northern California. He stayed engaged and specifically wanted to make sure that FEMA and the other organizations were continuing to meet or exceed all expectations, Issa said after the meeting. We mostly thanked him for the fact that hes taken a personal interest and his team has been at the heart of the domestic coordination. There was no discussion about reinstating a federal tax deduction for uninsured damage repairs that would end up in the House and Senate tax bills, Brownley said. If you cant deduct uninsured property loss, its devastating. It would be devastating, Brownley said. Facebook

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We must talk about the health aspects of climate change, Schwarzenegger says in Paris By Kim Willsher (Thibault Camus / Associated Press) He showed up at Paris City Hall on Monday on a green bicycle and wearing a green tie to talk climate change with the mayor. But Arnold Schwarzenegger almost didnt make the trip from Los Angeles. One of the wildfires scorching Southern California was threatening his home. Luckily we have extraordinary firefighters, he told a group of officials and journalists. The actor and former governor of California was speaking in Paris as the founder of R20, a nonprofit based in Geneva that aims to help regional, state and local governments reduce their carbon emissions by developing clean energy sources. Read More Facebook

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A special recall election for state Sen. Josh Newman would cost a lot more than waiting for the June primary, state says By Patrick McGreevy State Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) faces a recall campaign (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)) State finance officials said Monday it would cost about $2.67 million for a special election on the recall of state Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton), but only $931,000 to put his potential recall on the regular June primary ballot, which will also feature races for governor and congressional seats. The savings  and the time it took to complete the financial assessment  could give ammunition to Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown to put the recall measure on the primary ballot, possibly improving Newmans chance of staying in office. The higher turnout expected in the primary might benefit Newman as he tries to fend off the Republican recall drive. The financial analysis was a new requirement of a law approved this year by the Democrat-controlled Legislature that has slowed the Newman recall. Brown and legislators now have 30 days to review the election cost report. The deadline for calling a special election was last week, 180 days before the June 5 primary, although state officials have been known to extend such deadlines. In this case, that is unlikely. Carl Demaio, a former San Diego City councilman who is leading the Republican-funded recall, denounced the lengthy new process Monday, but said it will not save Newmans political career. This is about a shameful tactic by Sacramento politicians to keep politicians who break public trust and engage in misconduct in office for as long as possible, he said. Republicans launched the recall after Newman voted with the majority of le
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
In just four days, the final grains of 2017s sand will have passed through the hourglass and the dawn of a new year will break.

To be prepared to hit the ground running for the next 12 months, the Burbank Chamber of Commerce recently installed Gema Sanchez as its 2018 president, along with its executive committee and board members during the organizations annual installation luncheon, which was held on the campus of Woodbury University.

Welcomed by Lee Wochner, outgoing president, close to 100 chamber members applauded the accomplishments of the man who led the group throughout this past year.

As 2017 comes to a close, we are not your grandfathers chamber of commerce, Wochner told the assemblage. We have seen a membership growth of 24%, with the highest number of women members in our history. And thanks to the leadership of our [chief executive], Tom Flavin, and an actively engaged board, we saw much-needed capital improvements take place at our office, the passage of Measure B, which approves a replacement terminal at Hollywood Burbank Airport, and the largest turnout in Burbank history for the mayors State of the City address.

Along with the organizations 2017 successes, Wochner also spoke of the personal growth he experienced in leading the chamber over the past year.

Working with the city, the airport, and so many Burbank business and entities has been meaningful work, Wochner said. It has been a joy and an honor to perform this duty and service that I have found to be personally beneficial and energizing. And Im proud to turn over the presidential gavel to Gema with great promise and opportunity for 2018.

Following Wochners remarks, City Councilman Bob Frutos administered the oath to Sanchez, whose presidential theme will be Collaboration, Connection and Contribution.

Sanchez, a veteran of the U.S. Navy, is a dental hygienist who also works for her familys spice import company.

A past president of the local chapter of National Charity League who has also been active in PTA, she thanked her husband, Rey, and daughter, Veronica, who were in attendance, along with chamber members for giving her the opportunity to serve as the chambers 2018 president.

The luncheon, which also included the presentation of recognition to outgoing board members Chuck Rosen and Scott Rife, saw Ernie Burger, Leo Divinsky, Ken Nielsen, Scott Scozzola, Terry Walker, Chad Kelman, Steve Mora, Michael Nicosia and Wochner sworn in as 2018 board members, with Darin Chase, James Hicken, Sunder Ramani, Janet McIntyre and Karen Volpi-Gussow installed as the executive committee.

Established in 1920, the Burbank Chamber of Commerce represents nearly 1,000 member businesses with more than 33,000 employees.

For more information about upcoming events and membership, call (818) 846-3111.

DAVID LAURELL may be reached by email at dlaurell@aol.com or (818) 563-1007.
The Anti-Defamation League is honoring a Laguna Beach police officer for his commitment to eliminating hate and prejudice.

The organization named Cpl. Cornelius Ashton as its 2018 recipient of the Helene and Joseph Sherwood Prize for Combating Hate.

Ashton has been instrumental in promoting acceptance and in welcoming diversity throughout Laguna, the city said in a news release.

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The award, given to law enforcement professionals since 1996, focuses on activities during the last two years that demonstrate dedication to minimizing the prevalence and severity of hate-motivated behavior, according to the leagues website.

Law enforcement departments in Imperial, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties may nominate colleagues.

Award criteria include: Going beyond normal duties to find innovative approaches to enforce or prosecute hate-crime laws and educating people about hate crimes and bias.

A group that includes police chiefs, sheriffs, the Sherwood family and Anti-Defamation League staff members selected Ashton, a San Diego county native who has worked two-and-a-half years with Laguna Beach police.

Ashton has spent 19 years in law enforcement, Laguna Beach Sgt. Jim Cota wrote in an email.

Ashton will be honored at the leagues awards luncheon on March 13.

bryce.alderton@latimes.com

Twitter: @AldertonBryce
Good morning. Its Wednesday, Dec. 27. Heres whats been happening around O.C.

Top story

Fearing deportation, Asian immigrants seek U.S. citizenship

About 400 Asian-born legal permanent residents sought citizenship this year through a series of clinics hosted by Asian Americans Advancing Justice Orange County. The effort included 15 workshops offering free legal services and guidance through the citizenship application process in English, Korean, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Khmer, Chinese and Spanish. The Orange County policy coordinator for the civil rights group said concerns about White House immigration policies were a top issue for clients. TimesOC

Around the county

Huntington Beach hires outside firm to review Police Department

Amid mounting tension between Huntington Beachs police chief and police unions, city officials have hired an independent consultant to study operations at the Police Department. Daily Pilot

Politics

The GOP tax plan passed. Now Democrats have another big issue to use in the midterms

Democrats are hoping Orange County Republicans will have to answer in next years midterm elections for their support of the unpopular effort to abolish the Affordable Care Act, backed by all 14 California Republicans in May, and now, the sweeping tax overhaul that passed with support from 12 of them. Los Angeles Times

Newport Beach beats City Hall critics defamation case

A Newport Beach activist lost his defamation case against the city because the statement in question  that he owed more than $600 in public records copying fees  was a protected form of free speech. Daily Pilot

Courts

Club 33 members sue Disneyland, saying they were booted for speaking out on harassment

An Arizona couple who joined Club 33 in 2012 sued the theme park in Orange County Superior Court, saying Disneyland revoked their membership because they had been speaking out about bullying and harassment of other members at the club. Los Angeles Times

Food

Sarinanas Tamale Factory churns out thousands of traditional treats

Sarinanas Tamale Factory in Santa Ana is an 80-year-old, pocket-sized restaurant. For five generations, descendants of the original owners  Juan and Felipa Sarinana, who immigrated here in 1921  have spent December working long hours in the structures industrial kitchen, kneading, spreading, rolling and steaming thousands of tamales for customers who have made the familys chile-soaked versions part of their own holiday traditions. TimesOC

Life & arts

Salute to Vienna will ring in the New Year

Salute to Vienna mirrors the performance that has taken place in Austrias capital every year since 1939. It has become a popular concert, always featuring the music of the Strauss family  Johann Strauss I and II, Joseph and Eduard Strauss. TimesOC

Obituary

Dominic Luong, first Vietnamese American bishop in U.S., dies at 77

In 1975, when refugees from Vietnam began arriving in America by the thousands, Dominic Luong saw his future. The freshly ordained priest left the seminary in Buffalo, N.Y., where he was teaching biology and working as a hospital chaplain, and headed to New Orleans  a port of arrival for many forced to flee their homeland after the fall of Saigon. Los Angeles Times

Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to dailypilot@latimes.com.
Nonprofit groups may submit announcements of upcoming events to events@elkodaily.com.

A busy month at the Folklife Center

ELKO  The Western Folklife Center 501 Railroad St. has several events planned in January heading into the 34th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering.

Join the free musical jam session Jam On! from 6-8 p.m. Jan. 10. The bar will be open, serving no-host Ruby Mountain beers and other refreshing beverages. Facilitated by Southwind, bring your favorite tunes to share, your instruments, your friends and fans.

Lets Dance will be from 6-9 p.m. Jan. 11. Dance lessons in a selected style are at 6, followed by open social dancing at 7. Admission is $5. Adults and teens are welcome, no partner or experience necessary. Contact ElkoLetsDance@gmail.com.

A training session and chili feed for Gathering volunteers is slated from 6-8 p.m. Jan. 16 at the Pioneer Saloon. Sign-ups are available for unfilled positions  register to volunteer anytime on the Western Folklife Center website.

Drop by the Pioneer Saloon from 6-8 p.m. Jan. 17 and enjoy the lively music of Elko's own Southwind band. The bar will be open for business and there's room to dance.

Toddler Time at the library

ELKO -- The Elko County Library is offering a Toddler Time on the first Saturday of each month. Join them at 10:30 a.m. Jan. 6 for the program designed for babies and toddlers through 2 years of age.

Adults will interact with their toddler by singing songs, playing and reading. This is a free program and no registration is required.

For more information, contact the Library at 738-3066 or visit www.elkocountylibrary.org.

Clay breakers season starts Jan. 6

SPRING CREEK -- The Ruby Mountain Clay Breakers are starting their new season Jan. 6 at the Spring Creek Trap and Skeet in Spring Creek, at 9 a.m.

We are looking for guys and gals, any ability, grades fourth through 12th, to join our group. New shooters please come at 9 a.m. Jan. 6, and returning shooters on Jan. 13 at 9 a.m.

Call Scott Ackley for more information at 397-5704.

The Boy Nevada Killed

ELKO -- On Jan. 8, the Elko County Library Book Club will discuss The Boy Nevada Killed  a true account of juvenile crime and punishment, written by Janice Oberding.

The book club will meet at 6 p.m. in the Library Meeting Room. Copies of the book are available for check-out. All are welcome to attend.

Call Patrick Dunn at the library for more information, 738-3066.

Foster parent training set in Elko

ELKO  An opportunity for Foster/Adoptive Parent Training is coming to Elko in mid-January.

Participants will attend three sessions, each lasting from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Jan. 12-14 at The Terrace at Ruby View, 1795 Ruby View Drive.

Interested persons should call Lori Nichols, Foster Care Recruiter, at 1-888-423-2659 to sign up. All three days are required for applicants who wish to move forward with licensure.

Financial Peace classes begin Jan. 8 in Elko

ELKO -- Ramsey Solutions Financial Peace University will offer a nine-week course at Elko Assembly of God, 700 Front St., beginning Jan. 8

Created by financial expert Dave Ramsey, the course provides families and individuals with practical tools to gain control of their finances and set themselves up for long-term financial success.

Along with Ramsey personalities Rachel Cruze and Chris Hogan, Ramsey teaches lessons on budgeting, relationships and money, getting out of debt, saving for emergencies and investing.

FPU will not only transform the way you handle money, but also your marriage and other areas of your life, says Ramsey. This isnt a boring financial class. We make learning about money fun and easy to understand so people in every situation can benefit from the information.

The Elko classes will be held at 6 p.m. Go to www.fpu.com/1052969 for more information or to register.

Heart and Shield: Family violence prevention

ELKO -- The Heart and Shield program provides parents and children with resources and skills to strengthen family relationships and build resilience. Parent survivors of former domestic violence and their children ages birth -18 may be eligible to participate.

This nine-week education program includes a light meal, separate skill building activities for adults and children, and family activities to practice skills together. Program topics include communication, emotions, problem-solving, healthy relationships, stress management and more.

This free program begins in February. A program demonstration for interested families will be held on Jan. 23 from 5:30-6:30 p.m.at the Elko County Cooperative Extension office, 701 Walnut St.

To RSVP call 340-8360 or email woodburyj@unce.unr.edu.

SBA state director coming to Elko

ELKO -- Joe Amato, the new Nevada director for the U.S. Small Business Administration, will be in Elko on Jan. 25 to discuss the state of small business and SBA priorities,

Small businesses, chamber members, the financial community, development authority members, and economic development partners are invited to the session from 10 a.m. to noon at the Elko County Library, 720 Court St.

To RSVP contact Clint Koble at 775-843-4081 or ckoble@unr.edu.

Faith Lutheran sets annual meeting

ELKO -- The annual meeting of Faith Lutheran Church congregation will be Jan.28 following the 10:30 service.

Agenda items include approval of the annual budget, confirmation of council members, and other items of concern to the congregation.

A potluck dinner will follow the meeting.

Nevada Humanities grant information

LAS VEGAS -- Nevada Humanities will hold a series of free informational grant meetings, including one in Elko from 10-11 a.m. Feb. 2 at the Elko County Library.

These meetings are open to anyone interested in learning more about applying for project grant funding from Nevada Humanities. Nevada Humanities offers grants of up to $5,000 to nonprofit organizations and government entities, such as libraries and schools, to fund public and educational programs in the humanities.

Nevada Humanities funds projects that encourage community engagement and conversation. This may take the form of face-to-face dialogue, such as lectures, forums, and round-table discussions, or through programs that stimulate thought and reflection, such as media productions, film screenings, exhibitions, local history projects, and projects that explore local culture and Nevadas diverse heritage and unique places.

The Nevada Humanities grant application deadline is March 10, 2018, for projects taking place beginning July 1, 2018, and running through June 30, 2019. Applications requesting $1,000 or less may be submitted at any time, at least eight weeks prior to the proposed project date. Grant guidelines are available on the Nevada Humanities website at www.nevadahumanities.org.
Topacio Reynoso was so precocious her mother sometimes joked she was an extraterrestrial.

A farmers daughter from a remote village in Guatemala reachable by a rugged mountain pass, she was playing perfect Metallica riffs on the guitar by age 12. She won beauty contests, filled notebooks with pages of heady poetry and moved through life with a fearlessness that made her parents proud  if also nervous.

At 14, she devoted herself to opposing construction of a large silver mine planned for a town nearby.

Topacio formed her own anti-mining youth group, wrote protest songs and toured the country talking about the environmental risks she believed the mine posed to her community. During a school trip to Guatemalas capital, she led her classmates in refusing the small welcome gifts from a congressman who supported the mine. Then she heckled him so mercilessly that he fled the meeting.

The teenagers efforts were not popular with everyone. Although some in the community worried chemicals used at the mine might contaminate nearby rivers, threatening the corn and coffee fields that have long been the regions lifeblood, others said it would bring needed jobs and tax revenue. The community was split and violence was coming.

Left, community members protest the Escobal silver mine, one of the three largest silver mines in the world, in San Rafael las Flores, southeastern Guatemala. Ranchers feed and water their cattle in fields next to the Escobal silver mine in San Rafael las Flores in southeastern Guatemala. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Topacios father, Alex, knew that speaking out could put the family in peril. Latin America is the most dangerous region in the world for environmental activists, with at least 120 killed last year alone, according to the nonprofit Global Witness.

But Topacio convinced him that it wasnt a choice to oppose the mine, that it was an obligation: His father had left him land that was uncontaminated; it was up to him to pass on clean land to his kids.

ENVIRONMENTAL WARRIORS: Defending the environment has become a suicide mission in many parts of the world 

He threw himself alongside his daughter into the fight.

These days, when he touches the bullet scars on his body or gazes at the memorial to Topacio that the family has erected on the porch, he wonders whether his decision was right.

Top, Irma Pacheco holds her son, Mateo, 2, at their home. The walls are covered with pictures of her daughter, Topacio, who was killed at the age of 16. Bottom left, Mateo Reynoso, 2, looks out a window next to a butterfly drawing by his sister, Topacio. Bottom right, Edwin Alexander Reynoso shows scars from being shot in two attacks. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

The small coffee farm where Topacio grew up might be one of the greenest places on Earth. Half an hour outside Mataquescuintla, a town of 30,000 in southern Guatemala, there are no neighbors in sight, just neat rows of coffee plants, then slopes planted with banana and palm groves, and up near the cloud line, towering pines.

Like her grandparents before her, Topacio grew up living off the land. The corn her family planted, dried and ground into powder was pressed into thick tortillas. Milk produced by a herd of bleating goats was churned into cheese. Yucca root plucked by her younger brothers was fried by her mother and served with salsa and rice.

(Los Angeles Times)

Many nights, Topacio would sit on the porch or in her cramped, dirt-floor bedroom and strum the guitar, draw pictures and write poems. She filled a spiral notebook with drawings of the planet cracking open and butterflies flying out, and wrote verse after verse about the betrayal of cowards against our generous Mother Earth.

Nature, she scribbled in blue pen, is a paradise where we sow dreams and reap happiness. She dreamed of a day when no hero will have to die in defense of his land.

Controversy came to her community in 2010 when a Canadian mining company called Tahoe Resources bought El Escobal silver deposit for more than half a billion dollars. Located on about 250 acres of former farmland in a small town called San Rafael las Flores, just a few miles from Mataquescuintla, El Escobal had never been mined but was believed to contain one of the worlds largest caches of silver, along with deposits of lead, zinc and gold.

Topacio Reynoso had devoted herself to opposing construction of a large silver mine planned near her hometown. Now that she's dead, her father wonders whether it's worth carrying on the fight. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

As Tahoe sought a license from the Guatemalan government that would allow it to start pulling ore from the earth, some locals fought back. They complained the environmental impact report commissioned by Tahoe didnt adequately assess all the risks to the region, and said the company hadnt properly consulted with community members  though the company said it had thoroughly evaluated the impacts and had won popular support.

It was 2012 when Topacio went to her first protest, a demonstration outside the mine entrance organized by the local Catholic diocese. It transformed her, said her mother, Irma Pacheco. The people she met while protesting were deeply principled, she told her parents, especially an articulate teenager with a kind face named Luis Fernando, who would become a close friend.

Soon Topacio had persuaded her parents to join the resistance, as locals called the anti-mining effort. Although the idea made her father nervous, he was well suited to bucking the local establishment. Growing up, he had often fought off bullies unnerved by his long hair and taste for black clothes and heavy metal music that carried a strong political message. In rural Guatemala, most men favored cowboy hats and tight jeans with a gun tucked into their waistband  and listened to brassy ranchera.

Ahead of a 2012 referendum in Mataquescuintla that asked locals whether they supported the mine, Topacio and her father traversed the countryside on behalf of the no campaign. They were successful: More than 98% of voters said they opposed it. There were similar outcomes in referendums in several other towns. Tahoe executives argued that the votes were nonbinding. The company poured millions of dollars into the community to demonstrate the projects benefits, opening a vocational center for young people, giving out free vaccines for livestock and planting tens of thousands of trees.

The mining project had supporters in high places. Decades of civil war had killed 200,000 people and limited international investment in the country. After peace accords were signed in 1996, Guatemalas leaders saw the expansion of mining as an opportunity to get the country back on its feet again. The Ministry of Energy and Mines has approved 307 active mining licenses and is considering 599 more.

In April 2013, Minera San Rafael, Tahoes Guatemalan subsidiary, was granted a 25-year exploitation license. Mining could officially begin.

In the nearby communities, it was the most violent spring many people had experienced since the war.

That March, four leaders of the local Xinca tribe were kidnapped by unknown assailants on their way home from campaigning in favor of a referendum on the mine in San Rafael. Three were released, but another, Exaltacion Marcos Ucelo, was found dead the next day. No one was arrested in connection with the crime. The office of Guatemalas attorney general said it is still investigating the case and could not provide information about possible suspects or motive.

The next month, seven protesters who had gathered peacefully for a demonstration outside the mine were shot by the mines private security workers. In a civil lawsuit filed in Canada, the wounded men say they were shot with lead bullets, some of them at close range, as they were attempting to flee.

Among those badly injured was Topacios friend, Luis, who was shot three times in the face. After multiple operations, he still has difficulty breathing.

Left, two security guards stand at the entrance to the Escobal silver mine in San Rafael las Flores. Right, Luis Fernando was shot, along with several others, during a protest against the Escobal mine. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

The mining company says the guards used rubber bullets, not lead bullets. It also said the company security chief who ordered the response, Alberto Rotondo, was acting outside the scope of his authority and has been dismissed. Rotondo violated the companys rules of engagement, security protocols and direct orders, Edie Hofmeister, Tahoes executive vice president of corporate affairs, said in a statement.

We condemn violence of any kind in the strongest possible terms, and moved swiftly to fire him after this incident, the statement added. (There has been no evidence presented of any company involvement in Topacios death; asked about her familys belief that it was due to the teenagers work as an activist, Tahoe officials reiterated their strong message to employees that violence will not be tolerated.)

In May, Guatemala's then-president, Otto Perez Molina, moved to quell the instability that mine officials complained was disrupting their business. Citing the threat of terrorism and criminal groups, Perez declared a state of siege in the communities near the mine, deploying thousands of troops and temporarily suspending constitutional rights in the region. Several prominent anti-mining activists were arrested.

Rotondo fled to Peru and is awaiting extradition to face charges in Guatemala.

Alex Reynoso thinks he would have been detained too, except for a fortunate mix-up: Although everyone in town knew him as Alex, his real first name was Edwin. When he showed his identity documents to police, they let him go.

A photograph of Topacio Reynoso. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) (Handout ) Top, Edwin Alexander Reynoso and his son Mateo, 2, visit Topacio's grave. Left, a photograph of Topacio Reynoso. Right, Irma Pacheco holds a banner Topacio won in a school contest. She has kept the room as it was at the time of her death. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Topacios parents were growing wary of the threat of worsening violence, but she pressed them to keep fighting. They laughed when she told them about telling off the pro-mine congressman, and looked on in awe when she approached the Mataquescuintla mayor to ask for money for her youth group, and he agreed. When a family friend gave her a silver ring to congratulate her on her high school graduation, she refused to wear it.

Topacio told her family she felt more comfortable when they were together in public. If were attacked, she said, well die together.

On April 13, 2014, Topacio performed with her marimba band at a local festival. Her mother, who was pregnant at the time, went home because she wasnt feeling well. A little after 9:30 p.m., the teenager and her father started walking to their car to head home. Unknown gunmen sprang from behind and opened fire. A few hours later, Topacio was dead.

Her father slipped into a coma that lasted several days, but he eventually regained consciousness. The next year, after leaving an event celebrating the anniversary of his towns anti-mine referendum, he was attacked again, this time with a carload of three other activists. They all survived.

Why they were targeted remains a mystery. Police investigations into both attacks have yielded nothing, despite a letter signed by 36 international human rights organizations demanding that Guatemala's attorney general seek justice for the attack that killed Topacio.

Impunity for killings is normal in Guatemala, where the justice system has been crippled by a lack of resources and corruption. At the national level, the United Nations-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala has led important efforts against graft, including a 2015 investigation that led to the resignation and jailing of Perez, the president who had ordered troops to the communities around the mine.

(Los Angeles Times)

Topacios parents believe the shooting was connected to their activism, but they acknowledge that in a region that had become polarized over the mine, anyone could have pulled the trigger. And in a violent country such as Guatemala, which has one of the highest homicide rates in the world, it could have been something else  a grudge, a case of mistaken identity or just an echo of Guatemalas violent past.

Topacio was buried in a colorful hilltop graveyard, alongside her grandparents.

Every year, during Dia de los Muertos, her parents come and lay down a new wreath of flowers assembled in the shape of a butterfly. You are present in the stars every night/your pupils brightly illuminated in the sky, reads the poem written on her gravestone. You will live forever because your dreams were just and your struggle inspired life.

Topacios legacy continues to grow. Theres a mural of one of her drawings on a wall downtown that shows a young woman with wings and the earth splitting open, spilling butterflies. A Canadian-based environmental group has started giving out a scholarship in her name, and activists in Toronto have honored her in the streets, toting posters that say Rest in Power, Topacio.

At a recent event in Mataquescuintla, the mayor encouraged his constituents to continue their opposition to the mine. Her old friend Luis, his face disfigured by bullet wounds, led a group of young protesters in a rallying cry.

Where is Topacio? he shouted.

In these streets! the group yelled.

Operations at the mine were halted this year. In July, the companys license was temporarily suspended after Guatemalas Constitutional Court ruled that the company should have first consulted with the indigenous Xinca people. Then a group of protesters armed with stones and machetes set up a roadblock on the main highway into town, prohibiting mining vehicles from passing.

The suspension has delivered a massive financial hit to Tahoe, which listed no silver output and a loss of $8.4 million in the third quarter of this year. Those who had come to depend on the mine are also suffering.

After the mine opened, San Rafael restaurant owner Yanet Pozuelos opened a second location to help serve hundreds of mine employees. Since mining has halted, her business has fallen 60%.

The mine helped us so much, Pozuelos, 49, said. Weve never had a business that gives this many jobs. One benefit, she said, is that it keeps young people from leaving for Guatemala City or the United States to find better-paying work.

Hofmeister said the company hopes it can comply with the necessary legal requirements and resume production. With operations resumed, we can continue making significant investments in the country, which benefit thousands of Guatemalans, she said in her statement.

The mine has helped the area to flourish, she said.

On the coffee farm where Topacio lived, her death is ever present.

Large posters the family had made for her funeral hang on the walls. On the porch, a montage of large photos show Topacio at a water park, Topacio receiving her beauty queen sash, Topacio dancing with her father.

Her bedroom is untouched, even though her younger brother now sleeps there. Her guitars hang proudly on the walls. A boombox and a collection of CDs collect dust.

After the attack, her mother came here to cry alone. On a recent afternoon, Pacheco, now 42, entered for a moment of quiet contemplation.

She touched a pair of white leather sandals  the shoes Topacio was wearing when she died. She held up the blouse from that night and smoothed out the pair of jeans that she had scrubbed free of blood. Then she folded them all up again, tucked them in a drawer and walked outside, surrounded by green.

This story was reported with a grant from the United Nations Foundation.

kate.linthicum@latimes.com

Twitter: @katelinthicum

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Ukrainian authorities and Russian-backed separatist rebels conducted a massive prisoner exchange Wednesday, the largest such trade of captives since the start of an armed conflict in the countrys east and a sign of visible progress in the implementation of a 2015 peace deal.

Rebels from the self-proclaimed separatist republics in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions handed over 74 prisoners, and Ukrainian authorities delivered 233. Some had been held for more than a year.

Larisa Sargan, a spokeswoman for the countrys prosecutor generals office, said on Facebook that one of the 74 prisoners released by the separatists said she would stay in Donetsk.

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Carrying their belonging, the prisoners were turned over in the town of Horlivka and the village of Zaitseve, located in an area dividing the separatist regions and Ukraine. One held a cat.

Im out of hell; I have survived, said Yevhen Chudentsov, who served with one of Ukraines volunteer battalions in the east and was taken prisoner in February 2015.

Chudentsov said he faced threats and beatings while in rebel custody, and his front teeth were knocked out. He was initially sentenced to capital punishment, which was later changed to 30 years in prison. He said after his release in Horlivka that he would join the Ukrainian military again.

The exchange was supervised by observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, a trans-Atlantic security and rights group that has deployed monitors to eastern Ukraine.

The OSCE welcomed the swap and urged the two sides to build on the momentum from it.

Allowing such a significant number of people, who have been held on both sides, to return home before the New Year and Orthodox Christmas is a very welcome development, said Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl, the OSCE chairman. Todays exchange is not only a humanitarian act but also a helpful step in confidence-building.

Ukraine was supposed to release 306 people, but dozens chose to stay in Ukraine or had been freed earlier, said Viktor Medvedchuk, who monitored the exchange on the Ukrainian side.

Many of the captives were not combatants; some were activists and bloggers who were charged with spying or treason.

Anatoly Slobodyanik, one of the prisoners traded by Ukraine, said he didnt want to go to the rebel side and would return to his home town of Odessa.

Im not guilty of anything and I dont want to go to the other side, he said.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko praised the Ukrainian prisoners held by the rebels for their endurance.

Thank you for your perseverance, guys, Poroshenko said on Facebook.

The Ukrainian leader then greeted the prisoners who were released by the separatists in the town of Kramatorsk, hailing German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron for helping organize the swap.

We are stronger, we shall win! Poroshenko said.

Merkel and Macron welcomed the prisoner exchange, saying in a joint statement that they encourage the parties to the conflict also to enable the exchange of the remaining prisoners, grant the International Committee of the Red Cross full access and support the ICRCs search for missing people.

The simmering conflict between the separatists and government troops in eastern Ukraine has killed more than 10,000 people since 2014.

The 2015 deal brokered by France and Germany and signed in Minsk, the Belarusian capital, envisioned a prisoner exchange, but the two sides argued continuously over lists of captives, and only a few dozen had been exchanged prior to Wednesday.

Separatist leaders and a Ukrainian government representative finally agreed to the exchange last week, with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church acting as mediator.

Merkel and Macron emphasized that the prisoner exchange and a recommitment to a comprehensive cease-fire should also serve to build up confidence between the parties to the conflict, also with a view to the full implementation of the Minsk agreements.
Tensions between poachers and conservationists in the Gulf of California escalated over the weekend after a fisherman shot down a drone being used to monitor illegal activities.

The drone belonged to the U.S. conservation group Sea Shepherd, which has two ships in the northern part of the Sea of Cortez as part of an effort to save the critically endangered vaquita porpoise.

The vaquita have been inadvertently caught in nets that poachers use to catch the endangered totoaba fish. Fishermen can make huge sums on the black market for dried totoaba swim bladders, which are sold in China for their supposed medicinal properties.

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The environmental group has been searching for nets and pulling them from the water.

[The poachers] dont like us, theyve made that very clear. Weve received a lot of threats, said Paul Watson, the founder of Sea Shepherd, which has a total of 12 ships working to protect marine life around the globe. We are hoping the Mexican government will take this incident seriously.

The drone evaded initial bullets but was shot down around 10:30 p.m. Sunday as crew members on the John Paul DeJoria watched the footage in real time. The drone camera captured a fisherman firing repeatedly from the stern of a small speedboat before the video feed cut out.

Watson said drones have become a key tool in Sea Shepherds work, allowing the group to collect evidence of poaching and locations where fishermen drop their nets under the cover of night. In the morning, the crew members of Sea Shepherd visit those spots and collect the nets before the poachers can get to them.

The vaquita porpoise, a small, comically cute animal that has drawn international attention to the region, claims the Gulf of California as its sole habitat. With no more than 30 animals left, a single death represents a huge blow to conservation efforts.

Fishermen are not after the vaquita, but the animals can get trapped in the nets set out to catch totoaba, whose swim bladders can be sold for $20,000 per kilogram, according to Watson.

In its effort to pull nets, his group has cost the poachers millions of dollars, Watson said. On one occasion, a net contained 32 dead totoaba, which would have been worth $4 million. Humpback whales, sea lions, sea turtles, whale sharks and a great white shark have also been found trapped in the nets. When animals are found alive, they are set free.

Its delicate situation, Watson said. The fishermen dont have fish and are desperate for something that is worth so much money. Some of these fishermen are used to making $20,000 in one night, so they wont be appeased.

While fishermen have thrown rocks and even fish at the drones, the shooting was a first for the environmental group.

In a recent documentary on CNN, a member of the community that benefits from the illegal fishing industry, based around San Felipe in Baja Norte, threatened to defend his turf with machetes and swords. Later, fishermen burned an empty boat labeled Sea Shepherd.

The conservation group has no authority to make arrests. The most it can do is collect evidence and alert the Mexican navy. However, when poachers are discovered they quickly motor to shore, load their boats into trucks and speed off.

Watson said Sea Shepherd will add a third boat to its operations in the Gulf of California.

Were not going to be backing down, he said.

Tillman is a special correspondent.
ELKO  TV watchers in Elko County will have to view NBC programming from Salt Lake City in the new year instead of from a local or Reno-based affiliate.

The change comes as NBCUniversal plans to discontinue its affiliation with the Elko station KENV effective 5 a.m. Jan. 1. After that, NBC programming and local content will be discontinued, and Elko Television Districts channel 10 will become a sci-fi channel.

Furthermore, NBC requires that the Elko Television District air only NBC programming from Salt Lake Citys KSL-TV because Elko is in The Nielson Co.-assigned designated market area, or DMA. Previously, NBC programming came to Elko through the Reno NBC affiliate, KRNV, which serves as the parent company of KENV.

The Elko Television District had planned to continue rebroadcasting KRNV after the change, but a letter from NBC dated Dec. 21 states that Station KSL-TV [out of Salt Lake City] will be the only NBC affiliate in Elko County authorized to carry the NBC programming and brand.

TV district chairman Paul Gardner says that for all intents and purposes, the letter is a cease and desist order. He called the move a network imposed programming blackout that takes away Elko Countys free over-the-air NBC broadcasts until a new distribution system can be installed.

This DMA designation forces Elko, NV residents to receive network programming from Salt Lake City stations, despite a majority of viewer responses requesting news and weather programming from Nevada stations, Gardner wrote in an email.

However, the TV district does not have the ability to import KSL, channel 5, from Salt Lake City under current conditions, Gardner said. Engineers from Elko, Lander and Eureka counties are working with KSL engineers to come up with a solution.

We are working closely to make this happen, he said.

Installing a new distribution system could take three weeks to several months, depending on whether the TV district, a government entity, or the Utah station, a private organization, takes the lead, Gardner said.

We are moving as quickly as we can, but we are handcuffed by the fact that we are a government entity, Gardner said, adding that work on mountaintop infrastructure over winter and through the holidays also presents challenges. NBC has been on the air here for 20 years. They gave us no notice.

Area subscribers to Dish satellite TV and DIRECTV already receive Salt Lake City stations, including KSL, and they will not be affected by the change.

Gardner said the Elko Television District board members will discuss congressional action at their Jan. 11 meeting to make Elko and Lander counties dual DMAs that can receive Salt Lake City and Reno NBC programming.

Reno is a lot more relevant to Elko than Salt Lake is, Gardner said, explaining that audience surveys over the past six years indicate that Elko viewers want local news or Nevada news first. They wont get that on NBC anymore.

Sinclair Broadcast Group referred Elko Daily Free Press to comments already provided for a previous article on KENV losing its NBC affiliation.

Losing our NBC affiliation makes our local news operation financially infeasible, said KENV General Manager Amie Chapman on Dec. 13. We are proud of the news coverage that our station has provided the Elko community over the years and hope that the NBC in Salt Lake City, or other Salt Lake stations for that matter, will continue that tradition.

Chapman added Dec. 29 in an email that KRNV was "prepared to provide NBC programming to the Elko region, but NBC would not give us the rights to do so."

This DMA designation forces Elko, NV residents to receive network programming from Salt Lake City stations, despite a majority of viewer responses requesting news and weather programming from Nevada stations.  Paul Gardner, Elko Television District
More than 10,000 Pennsylvanians have registered with the state's fledgling medical marijuana program and some have received their cards.

Gov. Tom Wolf and the state Department of Health announced Wednesday that so far 10,135 patients have registered and 1,188 are certified by a physician to participate. More than 3,800 patients registered in the first week alone.

"Patients have started to receive their medical marijuana identification cards, bringing us one step closer to getting medication to patients in the next four months," Wolf said in a news release. "Our grower/processors are well underway, and our dispensaries are approaching the point where they will be ready to open their doors. Patients who are desperately waiting for this medication will soon find relief."

The state has approved eight of its 12 licensed grower/processors to start production. The closest to the Lehigh Valley is Franklin Labs in Berks County.

To get the green light to start operations, grower/processors underwent several state inspections. The facilities are integrated with the seed-to-sale tracking system and can now begin to accept seeds and clones to grow medical marijuana.

"We have four grower/processors in the final stages of their inspection process," Acting Health Secretary and Physician General Dr. Rachel Levine said in a news release. "We have been working with them to make sure they are meeting all of the standards set out by the regulations and their facilities are safe and secure."

Doctors are still registering to participate in the program. To date, 550 have registered and of those doctors almost have have completed certification training.

"Physicians play a critical role in this medically-focused program," Levine said. "The response has been encouraging from the medical community as more doctors are becoming educated on how medical marijuana can help their patients."

The Medical Marijuana Program was signed into law by Wolf on April 17, 2016. The program is expected to be fully implemented by 2018.

It gives people under a doctor's care access to medical marijuana if they suffer from an illness on a list of 17 qualifying conditions. The law permits pills, oils, vapor or liquid marijuana, but not marijuana in plant form.

Doctors must certify the illness and patients must obtain an identification card from the health department.

Eligible patients or their caregivers are expected to begin obtaining approved cannabis products by May 1, the current target date for medical marijuana availability statewide.

Qualifying conditions include AIDS, autism, cancer, chronic pain and Crohn's disease.

The state issued the grower/processor permits in June, selecting the 12 winners from among 177 applicants. The department has also issued permits to 27 entities to operate retail dispensaries, including GuadCo LLC's Keystone Canna Remedies at 2467 Baglyos Circle in Bethlehem Township and Mission Pennsylvania II LLC at 2733 W. Emmaus Ave. in Allentown.

Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
By Matthew J. Brouillette



Pennsylvania journalists are no strangers to exposing political corruption. From the midnight pay raise to porngate, sadly our state has given members of the media ample opportunity to serve as watchdogs of the public trust -- a responsibility they've often filled with excellence.

In 2012, for example, one major paper's editorial board zeroed in on the "scandals" in which "public officials illegally squandered state funds to pay for expenses in their election campaigns." The piece noted these officials had "violat(ed) the public trust" and taxpayers should not be charged with their legal fees.

Matthew Brouillette

More recently, another leading media outlet blasted the idea of restoring a public pension to a former lawmaker imprisoned for the "crime" of "using state employees to do political work." The takeaway: Taxpayers should neither fund the use of public resources for political ends nor reward lawmakers who abuse public resources for their own political gain.

And in the capitol, one of the state's most widely-read editorial writers left no room for ambiguity a few years ago in expressing outrage at yet another lawmaker who used taxpayer-funded staff for political purposes. That literary scolding emphasized not once but four times the illegality of using taxpayer resources for politics. So intent was the writer on making his point that the fourth entry appeared as follows: "In case you didn't get that, I'll do it one more time, slowly: It. Is. Illegal. For. You. To. Use. Taxpayer. Resources. For. Political. Purposes."

In countless instances, members of the press have rightly called out corruption, refusing to tolerate breaches of the public trust, regardless of the perpetrator.

That's why the recent lack of journalistic outrage, with a few noteworthy exceptions, over the longstanding systematic abuse of public resources for political gain is mystifying to say the least.

In Pennsylvania, taxpayer resources -- not only at the state level but at school district levels -- are regularly used to collect campaign contributions and funnel them to a select group of organizations that, not coincidentally, are among the largest bankrollers of political campaigns in the state.

And it's no secret. The public has known it for years.

Twice the state Senate has voted to end this this ethical violation, but given the chance recently to do the same, the House -- many members of which have received thousands upon thousands of dollars from these campaign bankrollers -- chose instead to continue endorsing a practice that's sent several of their colleagues to prison.

The fact that a majority of House members would choose to protect their donors or kowtow to pressure from special interests rather than protect the public trust is disturbing but not entirely puzzling given Harrisburg's reputation for corruption and self-preservation.

What is puzzling, however, is the decision by many in the press, longtime leaders in calling out such corruption, to avoid doing so in this case.

Why the change?

Perhaps because when it comes to the use of public resources to collect political campaign contributions for one group of organizations and one group only -- government unions -- union leaders have successfully sidestepped scrutiny of their own guilt and misleadingly spun the issue to center not on their unethical use of public resources for purely political purposes but on public workers themselves.

These leaders claim that what is illegal for anyone else is a "right" for union members, providing them the convenience of engaging in political elections via their government jobs. Worse, these union leaders falsely frame an end to this abuse of taxpayer resources as an attack on the public employees who serve our communities, protect our streets, and teach our children.

Of course, ending the use of public resources for unions' political fundraising would in no way prevent public employees from engaging in politics or limit their ability to do so. They would just have to do so like everyone else, without taxpayer participation. Yet government union leaders have misrepresented these facts in their frantic quest to ensure they can continue using public resources for political purposes.

Pennsylvania's journalists have long seen through attempts by public officials to mask their corruption and self-preservation. Union leaders' longstanding use of taxpayer resources for their own political gain should merit equal detection and denunciation by the fourth estate.

In other words: It. Should. Be. Illegal. For. Anyone. To. Use. Taxpayer. Resources. For. Political. Purposes.

Matthew Brouillette is president and CEO of Commonwealth Partners Chamber of Entrepreneurs and host of

podcast. For more information, visit

.


Slate Belt Regional Police Department is asking for the public's help in identifying three people caught on surveillance camera stealing from a Wind Gap hardware store.

The theft happened Dec. 20 at Cramer's Hardware, 519 N. Broadway. The trio entered the store and removed numerous DeWalt batteries, police said, putting the value of the stolen merchandise at $1,100. They reportedly fled in a dark-colored Honda Odyssey.

The department on Dec. 22 posted photos of the thieves and a picture of the getaway vehicle on its Facebook page, but police Chief David Mettin on Wednesday said the posting hasn't garnered any replies about the identity of the suspects.

He said he's hopeful additional publicity will help track down the culprits, especially given the clarity of the photos.

Anyone with information is asked to call the department at 610-759-8517.

Nick Falsone may be reached at nfalsone@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickfalsone. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
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Pardon us plebs, but we are a tad bit confused about just what is admissible evidence in the Bunkerville standoff trials.

This past week, about a month into the second of three scheduled trials, the judge declared a mistrial because the prosecution had failed to timely turn over potentially exculpatory evidence to the defense.

Federal Judge Gloria Navarro listed six instances in which prosecutors willfully withheld evidence  including information about an FBI surveillance camera, documents citing the presence of snipers, certain maps, FBI logs, threat assessments that showed the Bundys werent violent and internal affairs documents detailing possible misdeeds by the Bureau of Land Management agent in charge, who was later fired.

The judge ruled the material might have been useful in shaping a defense for the protesters who showed up at Cliven Bundys ranch in April 2014 when BLM agents attempted to impound 500 head of his cattle for failing to pay $1 million in grazing fees and fines for two decades.

According to press accounts, Judge Navarro noted FBI log entries said snipers were inserted outside the Bundy home, though prosecutors previously denied any snipers were posted and now say they were unaware of the FBI log showing otherwise. Ignorance is no accuse, the judge chided.

Curious. In an earlier trial, Judge Navarro kicked defendant Erik Parker off the witness stand for trying to mention where a BLM sniper was positioned. He was not allowed to continue his defense.

During that trial the judge had granted a sweeping prosecution motion to bar arguments about the defendants state of mind, such as whether they were provoked by the governments massive show of force.

She ruled that defense could not mention nor show video or audio depicting the arrest of Clivens son Dave Bundy in which he was wrestled to the ground; nor any recordings showing the tasering of son Ammon Bundy or a BLM agent grabbing Clivens sister Margaret Houston from behind and throwing her to the ground; nor any testimony or opinion about the level of force displayed by law enforcement; nor references to Bundys grazing, water, or legacy rights on the public lands; no references to infringements on First and Second Amendment rights; and no mention of the punishment the defendants faced if convicted.

It appears some of the very things not allowed in evidence at an earlier trial are now grounds for a mistrial because the defense was not provided documentation.

To add further to the contortions and machinations of this case, just days before the judge declared a mistrial the prosecution filed a motion similar to the one granted in the prior trial. It asked the judge to not allow the introduction of evidence or argument at trial that relate to instigation/provocation, self-defense/defense of others, entrapment, justification for violent self-help, impermissible state of mind justification, and collateral attacks on the court orders. The motion said presenting any of this to the jury would amount to jury nullification.

In this trial Cliven Bundy and sons Ryan and Ammon, as well as self-styled militia member Ryan Payne, face charges that include obstruction of justice, conspiracy, extortion, assault and impeding federal officers.

Faced with armed protesters during the cattle impoundment, agents released the cattle rather than risk a shootout.

The law does not permit the defendants to expand the legally cognizable defense of self-defense against a law enforcement officer by incorporating instigation and provocation, the latest motion states. To do so would eviscerate the well-recognized elements of self-defense. Defendants, rather, seek to introduce evidence of instigation and provocation to obtain jury nullification. Jury nullification is illegal.

Rather than slap a lien on the Bundy ranch and cattle or freeze the ranchs bank accounts, the BLM instead chose to send in an armed force to oversee the rounding up of Bundys cattle by contracted cowboys. The operation has been estimated to have cost $3 million. Once the cattle were corralled and off the grazing range, there was no hay to feed them and reportedly no one willing to take the cattle.

Additionally, withheld documents reportedly included statements that no threatened desert tortoises were ever found to be harmed by Bundys cattle, the reason the BLM tried to limit his grazing in the first place.

A hearing in the case is set for January. Unless the judge decides to dismiss the charges, a retrial is slated for late February. What evidence would be allowed?
Becoming the Laois Rose was a dream come true for young Mountmellick woman, Maeve Dunne, who was selected to represent the county in the Rose of Tralee.

Ive been obsessed with the Rose of Tralee since I was a kid. Its a dream come true, Im absolutely delighted, she told the Leinster Express.

Also this month, a new vision by Mountrath Community Forum was announced to restore and expand life to the Brigidine Convent, which has been vacant for the past eight years in Mountrath. The Forum plans to turn it into a multipurpose centre for the community.

A peaceful after hours Picnic Protest at Emo Court ended in about 40 people being locked into the estate for over an hour by security staff as darkness fell. Locals had gathered calling for restored longer opening time and walkers access at Emo, with around 40 people locked in without warning.

It was announced that the landmark Shaws department store on Portlaoise Main Street is to be completely demolished to make way for the new county library. The cost has risen from an initial 3.2million to 5million, including the 450k price of buying the building from Shaws in 2013.

A man was arrested following the hijacking of a vehicle in broad daylight in Portarlington in which a woman was threatened with a screwdriver and forced out of her car. Thankfully, the woman was unharmed in the incident.

50 new jobs were announced by the new Midlands Park Hotel and Conference Centre, which was officially opened this month. 7million was invested in the hotel, which marked the rebirth of what was formerly the Portlaoise Heritage Hotel.

A priceless stained glass window by famous Irish stained glass window designer, Harry Clarke, which was feared lost turned up safe and sound at Portlaoise Prison. A tradesman at the prison happened to find it, after it was feared lost for the past five years.

The first ever archaeological dig in Portlaoise was held at the base of the towns historic fort walls, uncovering such fascinating items as glazed pottery from the 1500s.

And the Portlaoise community rallied around the bereaved Dargan and McEvoy families, following the sudden death of young Daryl Dargan in the Algarve. The Lakeglen man was found dead on a stag party and the local community raised some 18,000 to help bring him his body home.
The whole review process was just as upsetting for us as when we first lost our baby, because we just couldnt get the truth out of (the HSE).

- Sarah Jane Burns, whose baby Millie was one of the victims of the substandard care at the maternity unit at Portlaoise hospital.

Youve bought those drugs from a drug dealer, drug dealers who are quite prepared to kill, torture or maim people - thats the people youre supporting.

- Judge Catherine Staines, addressing people caught with drugs at Electric Picnic.

I was contacted by a man recently who was put into emergency accommodation in Laois, who was forced to share a bedroom with three strangers, and a woman who is in a hostel in Mullingar with her four-year-old son because her home is being repossessed.

- Cllr Aidan Mullins calling for more council effort on the housing crisis.

This is exactly what our committee and our parent body have been fighting for, a brand new, state of the art special school, where our children will be treated with the same dignity and respect as those in the mainstream of society.

- Michael Gorman, chairman of St Francis Special School New Building Sub-Committee, as plans start in the new building.

At the moment, there are 90 priests ministering in our diocese, 27 of them are over 75. This stark figure points to the clear realisation that unless there is a radical reappraisal of what a parish community should be, how it should be organised, co-ordinated, funded and ministered, there can be no real progress.

- Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin Denis Nulty, on the impact of a shortage of priests in Laois and other counties.

I would ask you to end your policy of clamping until such time as you're able to provide adequate parking. Some people find that the only space free is a staff space, and they get clamped. It happened to an elderly couple going to a Dublin hospital, and a young mother, and they all had to wait hours to get declamped.

- Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley calls on Irish Rail to stop clamping communters in Portlaoise.
What was your personal highlight of 2017?

The support, respect and trust that our patrons have shown in us throughout the year.

Did you achieve all you wanted to achieve in 2017?

Probably not, but I achieved as much as I possibly could, nonetheless.

What was your biggest disappointment/regret of 2017?

Having had to put our 2 German Pointers to sleep. One in March and one in October.

What was the greatest challenge you faced in 2017?

The flooding of Mountmellick on November 22nd.

What was a standout moment for you in 2017 in the cultural sphere

The release of the album Elwan by African band Tinarawin.

Who was the standout personality for you in 2017?

Boxer Vasyl Lomachenko.

He might just be one of the greatest of all time.

What are your goals/ambitions for 2018?

Im looking forward to us reopening our doors at The Hare's Restaurant in early January and to continuously improve on everything that we do.

I also aim to further develop the offsite catering arm of our business.

What is on your 'To Do' list in 2018?

It is my intention to publish a book of poetry in Spring. Now, there, Ive said it; theres no going back!!

What is your biggest fear for 2018?

The narcissistic sociopathy of Donald Trump and the dark forces that operate within his ranks.

Aside from yourself who would you like to see be successful in 2018?

I would love to see Special Counsel Robert Mueller succeed in destroying the Trump presidency.

What sporting event would you most like to attend in 2018?

A Wimbledon Mens Singles Final featuring Federer & Nadal (not asking for much)!

What cultural event would you most like to attend in 2018?

The Brad Mehldau Trio concert in Dublin next May.

Who you you say is 'One to Watch' in 2018?

The boxer Michael Conlan. I think hell be a world champion before the year is out.

A must watch has to be Katie Taylor unifying the titles in Croke Park in April!

What are your hopes for Laois in 2018?

Keeping things local, I hope that Laois County Council act on the submission of Yarnbombing Mountmellick (to the pre-draft stage of the Area Plan, 2018-2024) regarding the establishment of a 3rd Level College of Textiles at The Maltings in Mountmellick.

A countrywide skills shortage would be addressed and our town would be re-energised as a result.
THE untamed and histroic landscape of Knockfierna has proven to be a draw for film-makers from around the world, most recently a film-crew from Utah, in the USA.

The film-crew stayed on the hill for four days, Pat ODonovan, chairman of the Knockfierna Heritage Society told the Limerick Leader.

They had Googled sites all over the world but eventually came to look at Knockfierna and decided it was perfect, Mr ODonovan explained.

They really like the unique landscape and setting, with the old houses, the boreens and so on.

It was the perfect backdrop for their Irish murder scene.

But a sequence from a much earlier documentary Simon Reeves Ireland has also been enticing people to come and visit.

It seems to be on permanent repeat and its unknown the number of phone calls I get from people asking how they can get there, Mr ODonovan added.

And he has urged people to come and see for themselves on New Years Day when the annual festive walk takes place on the hill.

We start from the Rambling House at 2.15 and by 4pm we should be at the summit of Knockfierna when we light a bonfire to welcome in the New Year, Mr ODonovan said.

Knockfierna is a mile or so outside the village of Ballingarry.
FAMILIES experiencing homelessness in Limerick have been housed in new transitional accommodation units in hubs in the city.

Limerick City and County Council has confirmed that families experiencing homelessness moved into the new Childers Road Family Hub in the city shortly before Christmas.

The Hub, which is the second developed as part of the local authoritys response to the housing crisis, has a total of 30 units.

It will be managed by Focus Ireland and the families will have dedicated wrap-around support services to help them be in a better position to move into their own homes.

This facility will be staffed on a 24-hour basis and will accommodate families in a more homely setting.

The units are all self-contained apartments with individual living, cooking and laundry facilities and they are a significantly better alternative to a B&B or hotel accommodation.

The other Family Hub on the Dublin Road has 10 units, which is supported by Mid West Simon Community. The council said it must be stressed that the Family Hubs are being provided as a stepping stone for families to get their own home.

The authority said that three families, who had been living in the family hub on the Dublin Road, have already been allocated permanent homes.

In addition to the hubs, 33 houses have been allocated to families and 10 extra rooms in newly refurbished accommodation across Limerick city have been allocated to those affected by homelessness.

Director of Social Development with Limerick City and County Council Carmel Kirby, who led the project said: Id like to thank all the staff from across the council who together with the legal team, auctioneers, designers and contractors worked tirelessly to ensure families had a good home in time for Christmas.

It is important to stress that Limerick City and County Council views the family hubs as transitional accommodation and will be working hard to house the families in permanent homes.

The authority added that it had made provision to ensure that all homeless families and individuals will have accommodation available to them over the Christmas and New Year period.

Anyone in need of homeless services can contact the Out of Hours Service on 1800 606060 (24/7) or attend in person on any day at the Intensive Family Support Service at 1 Mungret Street, Limerick between the hours of 12noon and 4pm from Saturday 23 December until New Years Day.
AS CHILDREN across the city and county were tucked into bed eagerly awaiting their presents in the early hours of Christmas morning, one baby woke up to the gift of life at University Maternity Hospital Limerick.

Little Lily Siobhan Duggan was the first baby to be born on Christmas Day in the whole Mid-West region, weighing at 6lbs 3oz, at 12.27am.

Her parents Nadine Keane and Colin Duggan, both 21 and living in Annacotty, were blessed at the arrival of their first child and the first grandchild on either side of the family.

An elated Nadine, who left the Ennis Road maternity on Wednesday afternoon, said that she wasnt expecting to meet Lily until January 7.

I was just at home in bed, and my water broke, and then we got to the hospital and it was all go, go, go from there. It doesnt feel real that she is mine, to be honest.

Colin was delighted, thrilled, over the moon. Our first baby. And its so amazing, it is just so surreal at the moment. I dont think it will hit me for about a week after, she told the Limerick Leader.

Nadine, who attended Castletroy College and is now working for Stryker, said that baby Lily is as good as gold.

Colin currently works for Carphone Warehouse.

All she does is sleep and eat, that is all. Even when I am feeding her, I have to try and keep her up. She is so good, and I am just blessed.

Nadine said that she will now have the double task of preparing her daughters birthday and the festive season at her Annacotty household.

We are going to have to have a birthday week for her, thats what we are going to have to have. She will be spoiled rotten, so she will!
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Ucoms mobile customers will benefit from the best internet roaming rate of 8 AMD/MB when travelling to Georgia, Egypt or the UAE

Ameriabank Launches Google Pay and Google Wallet Support for Card Users in Armenia

Karen Vardanyan donated 112 million drams for the medical equipment for National Center for Infectious Diseases.

UCOM HAS INTRODUCED FUTURE NETWORK WI-FI 6E ROUTERS

Statement by the Spokesperson on the conflict resolution and reconciliation efforts

Foreign Minister of Armenia to participate in the Fifth Paris Peace Forum

Armenia: EU and Armenia Hold annual Dialogue on Human Rights

Todays Shushi, Occupied and Cleared of Armenians, is a Real Example of Turkish-Azerbaijani Policy of Ethnic Cleansing of Artsakh

Ookla, the the global leader in internet testing and analysis has awarded Ucom

Sweden will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union

Ameriabank: At the Vanguard of Armenia's Banking Sector

STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH

SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS

Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders

PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces

There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan

Google Ad

Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia

Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair

Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan

I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General

I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox

UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS

There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur

EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol  Armenia and Azerbaijan  to do so without delay

An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan".

UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT

The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022

Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully

The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces
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A San Francisco Bay Area man who survived the infamous 1942 Bataan Death March and symbolized the thousands of unheralded Filipinos who fought alongside American forces during World War II has died. He was 100.

Ramon Regalado died Dec. 16 in El Cerrito, said Cecilia I. Gaerlan, executive director of the Bataan Legacy Historical Society, which has fought to honor Regalado and others. She did not have a cause of death.

He really embodied the qualities of the greatest generation and love for country, she said.

Regalado was born in 1917 in the Philippines. He was a machine gun operator with the Philippine Scouts under U.S. Army Forces when troops were forced to surrender in 1942 to the Japanese after a grueling three-month battle.

The prisoners were forced to march some 65 miles (105 kilometer) to a camp. Many died during the Bataan Death March, killed by Japanese soldiers or simply unable to make the trek. The majority of the troops were Filipino.

Regalado survived and slipped away with two others  all of them sick with malaria. They encountered a farmer who cared for them, but only Regalado lived.

Afterward, he joined a guerrilla resistance movement against the Japanese and later moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to work as a civilian for the U.S. military.

In his later years, he gave countless interviews to promote the wartime heroics of Filipinos, who were promised benefits and U.S. citizenship but saw those promises disappear after the war ended.

More than 250,000 Filipino soldiers served with U.S. troops in World War II, including more than 57,000 who died.

The veterans have won back some concessions, including lump-sum payments as part of the 2009 economic stimulus package.

In an October ceremony in Washington, D.C., remaining Filipino veterans of World War II were awarded the coveted Congressional Gold Medal, the nations highest civilian award.

Gaerlan said Regalado did not make the trip due to poor health, but he received his medal in December in an intensive care unit in Richmond.

He is survived by his wife, Marcelina, five children and many grandchildren.
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What can you buy with $284 billion?

You could own all of Netflix. Or purchase 747 Boeing 747s, with change to spare. Or erase the national debts of Venezuela, Nigeria, Peru and Iceland, combined.

Or, if you're Mary Horomanski, you could pay for one month's worth of electricity.

Horomanski, from Erie, Pennsylvania, was shocked recently when she received an erroneous electric bill displaying an account balance of "284,460,000,000," with a first payment due of $28,176.

"I opened it up and there it was," she told The Washington Post.

Horomanski, 58, began counting the commas ("Hundreds. Thousands. Millions. Billions . . . Can most people even count that high?"), then taking her glasses off and putting them on again.

"It wasn't due until November of 2018," she said. "It was like, well, I guess we have a year to come up with this billion-dollar bill."

Now Playing: According to Erie news, earlier this month, a pennsylvania woman logged online to check her electric bill, only to find out she owed 284 billion dollars. Buzz60's Natasha Abellard (@NatashaAbellard) has the story. Video: Buzz 60

Horomanski's husband and one of her sons were home with her when she checked her bill online, and they began asking if she was okay.

"I'm looking around the room and they're looking at me now, 'cause I've got this funny look on my face," Horomanski recalled Tuesday. "When you see something like that, your heart starts beating, you break out into a little sweat, like, 'What on earth just happened?' "

In a brief moment of self-doubt, the stay-at-home mother of five boys also took stock of the electricity her household was using.

"We had Christmas lights outside, but we don't have the '[National Lampoon's] Christmas Vacation' lights," Horomanski said. "And I'm looking at my Christmas tree, and I'm like, no, that wouldn't have caused it . . . "

Horomanski texted an image of the bill to her oldest son, who immediately contacted Penelec, their electric company.

The company quickly reassured him it was an error, Horomanski said.

The correct amount was $284.46 - still a little high, to be honest, compared to the previous month's bill of $161, Horomanski thought. But at least not a figure that threatened to send her into cardiac arrest.

She also sent a picture of the bill to her local newspaper, the Erie Times-News, which wrote about the mistake in a story that went viral.

Mark Durbin, a spokesman for First Energy, Penelec's parent company, told the Erie Times-News he didn't know what caused the error.

"I can't recall ever seeing a bill for billions of dollars," Durbin told the newspaper. "We appreciate the customer's willingness to reach out to us about the mistake."

Horomanski said she's been receiving text messages from friends telling her that her surreal electric bill has appeared in the likes of Time magazine and the New York Post.

In retrospect, there was something universally relatable about the mistaken bill, along with the cold horror Horomanski felt at the thought of how much worse it could have been.

"My son Mike and I were both saying, almost simultaneously, 'Holy bologna, could you imagine if I had that automatic payment and it just came out of the account?' " she said. "I could not stop thinking about this."
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As her 7-year-old daughter ripped open the wrapping paper that concealed the dolls and science kit her father had gotten her for Christmas, Christine Miller was thinking of how to tell the little girl she was now fatherless.

On Wednesday, still not knowing how to put the tragedy into words, Miller had some semblance of a plan to tell her daughter that her father, Dominique Johnson, had been shot to death on the streets of Oakland.

Her former boyfriend, Johnson, was gunned down Saturday night  two days before Christmas  on the 2200 block of Brush Street, near the intersection of West Grand Avenue, in West Oakland.

My friend is a psychologist and I asked her, how do I do this? I didnt want (my daughter) to associate Christmas with the passing of her dad, Miller, 28, of Richmond, told The Chronicle on Wednesday. She senses something, but she doesnt know yet.

No suspects have been identified in the slaying.

With four days to go in 2017, Johnsons death marked the 73rd homicide in Oakland this year. The city had 85 homicides in all of 2016, said Officer Johnna Watson of the Oakland Police Department.

Johnson, 30, of Berkeley, was a community activist who first hit the streets in 2011 during the height of the Occupy Oakland movement.

The next year, he was out again to protest the killing of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old African American boy who was fatally shot in Sanford, Fla., by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer.

He was the person in the community. Everybody knew him. He gave back to people. Thats how my brother was, said Johnsons brother, Desmond Johnson, 25, of Concord. He would never say no to anybody. He would give what he could to you.

Johnson volunteered at Qilombo, a community center in Oakland that focuses on social justice issues and services for the homeless. The center hosts open mike nights and poetry slams  which Johnson participated in.

He also focused his activism on the Black Lives Matter movement and criminal justice, Miller said.

He had a really strong voice and a loud voice, Miller said. He was a person that was a voice for everyone.

The night of his death, Johnson left the Qilombo Community Center, 2313 San Pablo Ave., alone about 10:30 p.m. to go to a store. His friends, who left the center after him, stumbled upon his body in the middle of Brush Street  less than a quarter-mile from the center, Miller said.

Desmond Johnson was at work at Walmart in Martinez when he received a call from one of his brothers friends, saying, your brother got shot.

I was the first person to the hospital. I lost my mind. I was hysterical, said Desmond Johnson, adding that his family is still reeling from the loss of their mother to breast cancer in 2015.

Desmond Johnson, and his other brother, Trevor, 29, called Miller.

Her daughter, Priscilla, overheard the conversation and started crying, Miller said.

I said, Your dad is really strong, dont worry, Im going to go down there and everything is fine, Miller said of going to Highland Hospital, where Johnson was pronounced dead. I knew something was wrong once I got there.

Since then, Priscilla has assumed her father is recovering at the hospital, Miller added.

He would always refer to Priscilla as his twin, Miller said. The two would spend their time at batting cages, shooting hoops, swimming or dancing to Michael Jackson songs.

Miller said she plans to tell Priscilla the tragic news on Thursday when Desmond Johnson, her mother and sisters gather at her home in Richmond.

She doesnt know Daddy is not coming back home. I dont know how shes going to take it, her dad being gone, Desmond Johnson said. We need more information to find out who did this to him and why, and the person needs to be brought to justice.

Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani
Poetry

The publication of "The Complete Poems of A.R. Ammons" (Norton) is one of the biggest literary events of this year. Edited by Robert M. West, the 966 poems in this two-volume set begin with the collection "Ommateum With Doxology," which Ammons self-published in 1955, and end with "Bosh and Flapdoodle," published posthumously in 2005.

Despite his multiple awards - including two National Book Awards - Ammons, who died in 2001, never achieved the renown he deserved, in part because he was uncomfortable reading his work in public. "I show off but not up," he once told critic Helen Vendler. "The Complete Poems," arranged chronologically, shows the tremendous range and innovation that, despite Ammons' stage fright, helped establish him as one of America's most original and important 20th-century poets.

The work shows how Ammons consistently addressed philosophical questions by exploring humanity's connection to nature. "No use to linger over beauty or simple effect:" he notes in the expansive poem "Garbage," "this is just a poem with a job to do: and that/ is to declare: however roundabout, sideways,/ or meanderingly (or in those ways) the perfect/ scientific and materialistic notion of the/ spindle of energy." As Vendler wisely points out in her introduction, "Ammons' poems, first to last, are ... a master inventory of the vicissitudes of human life, worked by genius into memorable shapes."

---

Poetry meets activism in "Bullets Into Bells" (Beacon Press), a timely, vital book that addresses gun violence in the United States. In these pages, poems by many of our best-known poets - Billy Collins, Natasha Tretheway, Rita Dove and Juan Felipe Herrera - are paired with prose reflections from gun-control advocates and community and family members affected by the Sandy Hook Elementary School attack five years ago and other shootings. Edited by three poets - Brian Clements, whose wife survived Sandy Hook, and Alexandra Tague and Dean Rader - the book powerfully underscores the devastation guns can cause. "We must end this long winter and break the current cycle of history," writes Nicole Hockley, whose son was killed at Sandy Hook, in response to Collins' bracing poem "Boy Shooting at Statue."

In it the speaker sees a child "pull an imaginary trigger/imitating the sounds of rapid gunfire./ ... shooting blindly into the air."

Writer after writer asks, Why aren't we doing more to prevent gun violence? Poetry has to "stand up and shout. ... It must kick down the doors and open the windows," asserts novelist Colum McCann in his stirring introduction.

Together, the voices in "Bullets Into Bells" do exactly that.

---

Fans of Galway Kinnell won't want to miss his "Collected Poems" (Houghton Mifflin), which reminds readers, three years after his death, why he is still one of our most beloved, essential poets.

Kinnell, whose honors include the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, imbued his poems with resonant images and a breathtaking combination of compassion, fragility and strength.

Whether he was writing in forms or in free verse, his deep awareness of life's fleeting nature informed how he lived.

All of his best pieces are here, including "After Making Love We Hear Footsteps," "Saint Francis and the Sow" and "Blackberry Eating" - from the book "Mortal Acts, Mortal Words" (1980) - along with several new poems, a biographical afterword and a wonderful introduction by poet and critic Edward Hirsch. Kinnell, Hirsch notes, was "socially engaged and identified strongly with people in trouble" and "relied on personal experience to try to transcend the self." Notwithstanding his constant awareness of mortality, Kinnell crafted poems that feel almost mystical and provide readers with heart-rending solace, as with these lines from the poem "Cemetery Angels": "our dead, who will/ erupt into flower as soon/ as memory and human shape/ rot out of them, each bent/ forward and with wings/ partly opened as though/ warming itself at a fire."

---

Lund writes about poetry every month for The Washington Post.
Russian traffic lights preferred (video)

None of the state structures is aware of how the Russian traffic lights appeared on Komitas Avenue and Halabyan Street. Police spokesman said, without specifying, that it happened as a result of the competition. Konstantin Kostanyan, Head of Traffic Police Control Department, said that the company won the tender, as it offered a cheaper price. Three companies, "Elips GA" LLC, "Yerpet" LLC, and "Atlant" LLC applied for the procurement of traffic lights announced by "Lusanshan" NCTS. The winner is not the local producer "Elipse GA" LLC, which already has installed more than 250 traffic lights in Armenia and Artsakh. Konstantin Kostanyan was aware of the peculiarities of the Armenian and Russian traffic lights. "There are about 300 diodes in Armenian traffic lights and 90 in Russian. The Armenian ones are better." If so, then why did the Russian company win? The police representative advised to apply to the Ministry of Finance to understand why the priority had been given to Russian traffic lights. The Ministry of Finance assured that they had nothing to do with it. The police, providing funding, had given instructions to the "Lusanshan" company on where and which traffic lights to install. The "Lusanshan" is the company that preferred the low-cost and less resistant traffic lights of the Russian production, no matter how much it promoted local production. Hakob Stepanyan, Chief Engineer of the company, mentioned that all the information was published on their website and the competition procedure was open and transparent. Tough the company has no website. The architect probably meant the website of the Public Procurement Agency. By the way, the Ministry of Finance assures that next year there will be no such uncertainty. Starting from 2018, all traffic lights will be acquired through a competitive procedure, that is, an open procurement process will take place and it will enter public procurement. Details are available in the video
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A Laredoan has been ordered to prison following his convictions for his role in smuggling firearms into Mexico.

Ruben Arnoldo Madrid, 21, pleaded guilty June 2, 2017.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Diana Saldana sentenced Madrid to a term of 51 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release.

READ MORE: Man shot outside North Laredo business after parking dispute

Madrid participated in a scheme to purchase civilian variants of firearms currently issued to military forces from various local firearms dealers. Between March 2016 and November 2016, Ruben Madrid's brother, Juan Diego Madrid, 27, of Laredo, directed several individuals including Rolando Armando Madrid, 21, (Ruben's twin brother), Edward Alexander Duenas, 20, and Francisco Xavier Martinez, 25, all of Laredo, to purchase the firearms.

The firearms were then transferred to Erik Villasana, 20, also of Laredo, who arranged for the firearms to be smuggled into Mexico. Ruben and Rolando Madrid initiated the scheme, after which their older brother, Juan, took over the operation. The court noted that Ruben Madrid personally purchased nine firearms out of 36 firearms identified by law enforcement as sold during the operation. Three of the 36 firearms have since been recovered in Mexico.

MORE ON LMTOnline.com: Laredo man drove SUV into Rio Grande to avoid drug arrest, police say

The straw purchasers bought AR-15 and AK-47-type semiautomatic rifles, Beretta 92FS and DPMS AR-type rifles from Academy and Kirkpatrick Guns & Ammo stores in Laredo and San Antonio. Juan Madrid would then purchase the firearms from the straw purchasers and then re-sell them at a profit to Villasana who would then arrange for the firearms to be smuggled into Mexico. Juan Madrid was already a convicted felon and thereby prohibited from purchasing, owning or possessing firearms.

On Nov. 16, Saldana sentenced Juan Madrid to a term of 65 months in federal prison, while Rolando Madrid, Villasana, Duenas and Martinez received respective sentences of 51, 63, 27 and 41 months in prison.

RELATED: Texas teacher charged after 13-year-old student's father found the two in car's backseat

Ruben Madrid was permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Homero Ramirez and Special AUSA Lisa Ezra prosecuted the case.
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A hurricane named Harvey wreaked havoc on plans by city and county leaders to deal with exponential growth on the horizon. While the setback was harsh and has left many still dealing with the aftermath, resilient county residents continue to rebuild their lives. Here are some of the year's top stories including the damaging Harvey that captured the attention of everyone for weeks.

Hardin soldier

perishes in

helicopter crash

A stunned throng of mourners, more than 1,200, packed the sanctuary and gymnasium of North Main Baptist Church in Liberty to remember a soldier who gave his life in service for his country.

Chief Warrant Officer II Lucas Maurice Lowe, 33, died Dec. 28, 2016 when his AH-64 Apache Attack helicopter crashed into the water off the Bayport Cruise Terminal near La Porte, Texas. Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Dustin Mortenson of League City, Texas, also died in the crash.

Wade McKinney of River of Life Church in Trinity, Texas, said Lowe was faithful to God, and he wanted everyone around him to know about his faith.

On Dec. 23-24, McKinney said Lucas had shared with some of his brothers in arms that they needed to get their life right.

"He told them they could party all they want, but, he said, 'I'm telling you the real life you need to know is in Jesus Christ,'" McKinney related. Two days later he made his own final flight and died.

A funeral cortege stretching for miles wound through the country roads with U. S. flags posted the entire route. He received full military honors and was buried at Guedry Cemetery.

Knights inspire students to better character, values

Anson Rigby Arena in Dayton was transformed into a castle stable for hundreds of school children from E. R. Richter Elementary in early January as they witnessed the Tournament of Champions sponsored by The Knights of the Guild in conjunction with the kickoff of the EarlyAct FirstKnight character education program at the school.

Sir James, Lady Amber, Sir Cass and a cast of supporting staff yielded an action-packed live dramatic presentation for students that involved medieval games. All set to dramatic music, the program was to reinforce the virtues befitting a knight.

Themed around the adventurous and exciting world of gallant knights and chivalry, EarlyAct FirstKnight introduces the character traits of honesty, trustworthiness, discipline, compassion, citizenship, respect, responsibility among others to the students.

The program was not only successful during a test run at Richter, it has now expanded to all elementary campuses in Dayton ISD and continues to inspire and teach children.

Former Raywood man convicted in 2014 murder

A Liberty County man was led from the courtroom of the 75th District Court in March after he was sentenced to prison following his conviction of first degree murder in the death of his roommate and friend.

In the case of David Earl Mitchell versus the State of Texas, the jury rejected his claim of self-defense and sentenced Mitchell to 10 years in the state prison system for the murder of Spencer Allen Sharp.

The family was happy with the verdict, but angry that the value of their family member's life was reduced to 10 years, maybe only five years if Mitchell achieves parole for good behavior. The family and courtroom observers called the sentence, "shocking."

Mitchell shot his friend when he believed he was making a motion toward him to kill him, but there was never a gun found on the victim or anywhere on the crime scene.

Mitchell was escorted out of the courtroom and taken to jail where he is serving time in a Texas prison.

Council OKAYS MUD, River Ranch Improvement District

Last year, developer Ed Gray announced his intentions to build 14,000 new homes on SH 146 between Dayton and Mont Belvieu. The developer didn't waste any time following the procedures for such a mammoth project and has received approval for a Municipal Utility District (MUD) and River Ranch Improvement District. The vote crosses off yet another to do item on a long list in preparation for the coming River Ranch community for developer Ed Gray.

The city's coffers stand to benefit with the agreement. The agreement also allows the city to receive all of the sales tax off the 7,000-acre development, even though it's not in the city.

"That's a huge plus. There's a limited annexation agreement that allows us to get the sales tax," the mayor said.

The MUD and River Ranch Improvement District will allow the developer to recoup expenses laid out in advance for the infrastructure including water, sewer, and roads.

Gray anticipated turning dirt on the first section in late 2018.

Jury convicts McCarty on two counts

A Liberty County jury in April took just a little over six hours to deliberate and convict sitting Liberty County Pct. 1 Commissioner Mike McCarty on both counts of abuse of official capacity.

A courtroom filled with more than 100 observers, many of them supporters of McCarty, were stunned as the visiting Honorable Joe Ned Dean, judge in the 258th District Court, read the verdict found by the 12-member jury.

The jury assessed both counts as Class B misdemeanor's and under Texas law, a Class B misdemeanor is punishable by up to 180 days in jail, a fine of up to $2,000, or both.

McCarty was sentenced and has appealed his case. He was later removed from office in another case filed by Liberty County Attorney Matt Poston and a San Jacinto County judge. He has yet to go to court on that case and lost an appeal earlier to have that case thrown out.

There should be some resolution in both cases in 2018.

Dayton city council taps Melancon for city manager's post

Following the retirement of former city manager David Douglas, Dayton city council members voted unanimously in June to hire Theogene Melancon as their new city manager to lead the city into the next phase of growth.

According to Dayton Mayor Jeff Lambright, it was enthusiasm he showed toward the job and the community that solidified the vote.

"His attitude, his experience - he just seemed like a good fit for our city and our area," Lambright said.

Melancon has a diverse background having graduated from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 2008 with a degree in history. He also earned a law degree from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University and a master's in public administration, state and local government administration in 2012.

Melancon and his wife have since endeared themselves to the community and working hard to make positive changes for the city.

Eyes on the sky for rare eclipse

From retired teachers to current faculty, community members, students and even a city councilwoman from Dayton, all participated in an eclipse event in August at Liberty Middle School. The rare eclipse attracted curious millions around the country and the world to enjoy the astronomical event.

"I'm having fun," little Keith Vollert told the Dayton News. "This is really cool!"

It was one of those beautiful teachable moments that warmed the heart of LMS principal Rhonda Smith.

According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in a press release, the partial eclipse duration in the Houston and Liberty County areas lasted approximately 2 hours, 59 minutes, reaching its maximum level of 70 percent at 1:16 p.m. CDT.

The umbra, the moon's shadow, passed over the earth at a rate of speed of 3,000 miles per hour racing across the nation's heartland in a 70-mile swath.

Another eclipse is anticipated in the coming years.

Hurricane Harvey devastates area

When Hurricane Harvey made landfall close to Rockport, many breathed a sigh of relief, thinking the upper Gulf Coast might have dodged a bullet. It didn't. The first round of heavy rain hit on Friday night, Aug. 25. But the unrelenting rains that came Saturday and Sunday did the most damage. Winds were fairly light from the outer bands of the storm that hit Liberty County, but the rain set a new national record of 55 inches in Liberty. Dayton suffered some 52 inches and the Cleveland area the same. Among the hardest hit areas in Liberty County was Plum Grove, where most of the homes in the city proper sustained water damage.

While the county has endured flooding in the past, nothing could have prevented this Biblical kind of event. It was the indomitable spirit of the community that would spare the lives of others and help each other through the traumatic displacement and eventual repair of homes.

Help also came from unexpected places around the nation including North Carolina, California, Tennessee, Florida, Mississippi, and many more.

While it was an event that will forever be ingrained in the minds of all residents, so will the kindness and donations shared by neighbors and strangers.

GPI, TxDOT field questions on Grand Parkway

Grand Parkway Infrastructure (GPI) officials were overwhelmed with the turnout at the first of many public meetings scheduled as the final leg of SH-99 completes the Loop around Houston.

The ballroom of the Dayton Community Center on Nov. 14 was buzzing with up to 200 residents who filed in to see firsthand the highway project.

"Today we're showing the aesthetics and landscape plan, but what people are really interested in is the map," said Heather DeLapp, public relations manager, GPI, the design/build contractor on behalf of TxDOT. "Where is it going to go? And when is it going to start."

Plans are to begin in mid-to-late 2018 at the furthermost parts of the project tying in the most northern portion at the US 59/69 interchange and the southernmost portion of the project in Baytown. The middle section is the area that includes Liberty County is expected to begin in 2019. DeLapp said at that point, the entire 50 miles will be under construction. Once underway, the anticipated completion date is 2022.

Dayton council approves Comprehensive Plan

After months of seeking comments from stakeholders, public meetings, and input from as many sources as they could retrieve them, the city council of Dayton has given final approval to the Dayton Comprehensive Plan.

A record turnout for a community meeting last fall was the impetus for the framework of the original draft and since then, additional tweaks to the plan were made and a final draft presented to the community on the city's and the Dayton Community Development Corporation websites.

With no opposition on the plan during the public hearing, Dayton city council voted on the matter and unanimously gave the thumbs up to proceed with enacting the plan.

While many of the aspects of the plan will not come until years later, there are plenty of others that can begin in the near future.

The city manager said infrastructure is something that will need to be planned out and installed over the long term.

"In the short term, moving forward with revitalizing downtown and having land use standards were strongly suggested by the general public. Those are things we are making strides on as we speak," said Theo Melancon, city manager for Dayton.
PARIS - To publish or not to publish. That has always been the question when it comes to Louis-Ferdinand Celine.

In a culture that adores its writers the way mothers adore their sons, the late French novelist inspires a special, almost unparalleled, reverence. There are those who will tell you that "Journey to the End of the Night," his hallucinatory 1932 novel, revolutionized not only the French language, but the sentence.

Yet Celine, who died in 1961, was also something else: an avowed and obsessive anti-Semite. He cheered as Hitler rose to power in Germany and in the years after the Nazi leader cemented control in 1933, published three book-length pamphlets that rank among the most virulently anti-Jewish texts in any language. Even the Nazis found them a touch too lurid: Celine had "correct racial notions," one propaganda official remarked, but his "savage, filthy slang" was beyond the pale.

Since the end of World War II, those three infamous works have been unavailable in France, save for dark corners of the Internet. In the spring of 2018, they are to be rereleased for the first time, following the authorization of Celine's widow, Lucette Destouches, still alive at 105. For decades, she has forbidden their publication, but recently - for reasons no one quite knows - she changed her mind. Gallimard, France's most prestigious publishing house, has taken on the project, and the reaction has been swift and forceful.

When news of the project broke this month, the French government immediately intervened, demanding to know in what form the pamphlets would be published and with what, if any, contextual commentary. Prominent French Jewish leaders voiced outrage and vowed to fight the plan. Literary scholars, for their part, have decried what many see as a rushed project that would take years to carry out properly. For many, the question is why - and why now.

"What I don't want is an anti-Semitic bestseller," said Frederic Potier, head of the French government's delegation against racism and anti-Semitism, in an interview. He insisted that the letter he sent to Gallimard on Dec. 12 was not an attempt at censorship, merely a means of ensuring that precautions would be taken to guarantee the "scientific nature" of the project.

For now, Gallimard's plans remain vague. After rumors began circulating, the publishing house confirmed to the French press that it would be releasing a single volume tentatively titled "Ecrits Polemiques," or "Polemical Writings," which will contain the three notorious pamphlets: "Bagatelles pour un massacre," or "Trifles for a Massacre" (1937), "L'Ecole des cadavres," or "The School for Corpses" (1938) and "Les Beaux draps," or "A Fine Mess" (1941).

But further details seem to be under lock and key. Regis Tettamanzi, the literary scholar slated to edit the new collection, declined to comment. Tettamanzi edited a similar 2012 edition that was released in Quebec but never in France.

For the government, even the new volume's proposed title is problematic. The term "polemical," Potier said, clearly suggests a matter of opinion.

"In France, racism is not an opinion. It's a crime," he said. "Simply put, these [pamphlets] are not literature. These are calls to hate. The risk is that it reinforces prejudice, that it reinforces things you can already see on the Internet - and especially among right-wing extremists."

That is also the position of French Jewish leaders, who point to a climate of constant anti-Semitism here.

In France's recent presidential election, 34 percent of voters ultimately supported the National Front, the extreme-right party founded by Jean-Marie Le Pen, a convicted Holocaust denier. Allegations of continued Holocaust denial and other anti-Semitic views clouded the candidacy of Le Pen's daughter, Marine. French Jews also express concern about manifestations of anti-Semitism in certain segments of France's Muslim population, especially immigrant youths. Violent incidents targeting Jews or Jewish sites are regularly reported.

"That academics should study this book to understand it, or go to the library to consult it - that's not a problem," Serge Klarsfeld, 82, a lifelong Nazi hunter, said in an interview with the French magazine L'Obs, formerly known as Le Nouvel Observateur. "But just imagine. We could go into a bookstore and find it on the shelves. That I find intolerable."

For scholars, however, the issue is what, exactly, these polarizing pamphlets are.

In the late 1980s, Alice Kaplan, an acclaimed scholar of French literature now at Yale University, revealed that much of the content of the three works had been lifted from other sources and quoted liberally without attribution. Further fueling questions about the pamphlets' actual historical significance is the fact that they also recycled widely used anti-Semitic cliches.

"There are two ways to read these plagiarized texts," Kaplan said in a telephone interview. "One is to understand Celine's milieu - here we have a guy who was trying to pass on 'The Protocols of the Elders of Zion' to the French' " - a reference to the 19th-century anti-Semitic tract, later exposed as a fabrication, that was embraced by Hitler.

"But on another level, you can see the pamphlets as a bizarre writing workshop, almost a laboratory. He puts the reader right on the spot, in a modernist universe where you're right there with him in the moment, reading over his shoulder, watching him getting outraged and building his collage," she said. "If you read the pamphlets, you can see Celine evolving as a writer. But of course he was using poison to do it."

To document all the extreme and obscure sources Celine drew on in these pamphlets - as well as to correct all the untruths he circulated - is a massive undertaking, said Pierre-Andre Taguieff, a historian and co-author with his wife, Annick Duraffour, of a door-stopping, 1,182-page study of Celine's understanding of Jews and the concept of race that was published this year. It would be impossible to deliver an appropriate edition as early as May, he said.

Whatever happens with the current project, all of Celine's writings will enter the public domain in 2031, 70 years after the author's death. For Taguieff, that means there is no need to rush publication of the pamphlets; rather, he advocates a "responsible," painstaking approach.

"We live in a society where information is free, a liberal democracy with a digital world where there is no real regulation on the circulation of texts," he said. "The best is thus to do a proper edition. Doing anything else is extremely dangerous."
After the bloody Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August, technology companies tightened rules against hate speech and banned many extremists from using Web hosting services, social media platforms and online payment systems.

But some on the farthest edges of the political spectrum soon found an effective tool for thwarting this industry crackdown: bitcoin.

Even before Charlottesville, Richard Spencer, a prominent member of the alt-right, a group that espouses racist, anti-Semitic and sexist views and seeks a whites-only state, had gone as far as declaring bitcoin "the currency of the alt right." But far-right political leaders and experts on extremist movements alike say the adoption of bitcoin gained new urgency after Charlottesville as extremists looked for ways to operate beyond the reach of government control and the shifting policies of U.S. tech companies.

Those who began acquiring bitcoin in August already have reaped substantial returns, despite the recent volatility in its price. In the months since demonstrators carried flaming torches and chanted "Jews will not replace us," bitcoin has quadrupled in value. The digital currency began trading on several mainstream financial markets this month, pushing the price of a single bitcoin at times above $19,000. It was worth $16,000 at one point Tuesday.

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Extremist figures who invested in bitcoin as a bulwark against efforts to block their political activity now find themselves holding what amount to winning lottery tickets. The proceeds could be used to communicate political messages, organize events and keep websites online even as most mainstream hosting services shun them, experts say.

"Bitcoin is allowing people in the movement to go beyond cash in an envelope or a check," said Heidi Beirich, head of the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit group that tracks extremists. "It's really a godsend to them."

First created in 2009 by an anonymous computer programmer, bitcoin is a digital currency that is not issued by any government and has no physical manifestation, such as actual coins or bills. Someone who wants to buy bitcoin can sign up for one of many online exchanges - each account gets a unique identifier of numbers and letters - and pay dollars (or other traditional currency) for the digital currency. People can also send bitcoin to others or conduct transactions at any of a growing list of businesses, nonprofit groups and financial institutions that accept it.

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A secure, continuously updated ledger called the blockchain records all transactions in a publicly visible way, assigning each an alphanumeric record. Unlike the closely government-regulated banking systems that record traditional financial transactions, the blockchain is completely decentralized, relying on complex mathematical calculations across countless computers worldwide.

Such a system makes it difficult for regulators and law enforcement agencies to monitor assets or know the identities of particular account holders. It also allows fringe groups not only to collect money, but to spend it more easily - for example, on foreign online services if U.S. companies restrict their access.

Google, GoDaddy, PayPal and others banned some far-right activists from their services after the Charlottesville rally, saying they violated rules against hate speech.

Spencer and others who have lost access to these services - a process they call being "de-platformed" - say they are effectively being denied free-speech rights.

"We have faced enormous problems from being de-platformed," Spencer said. "Bitcoin at least, from what I can tell, is not something from which we can be de-platformed."

Extremists are hardly alone in benefiting from surging bitcoin values. Early buyers include cryptography enthusiasts, libertarians and professional investors - as well as drug traffickers, money launderers and others who regularly conduct transactions on the "dark Web," a part of the Internet only accessible using specialized software that helps shield online activity.

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Also unaffiliated with the far right yet profiting handsomely is WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who tweeted in October that U.S. political pressure on traditional payment processors such as credit card companies to stop handling transactions for the site "caused us to invest in bitcoin - with > 50000% return." In a dig at policymakers who pressured the companies, Assange expressed his "deepest thanks."

It's impossible to know how many on the far right are reaping bitcoin windfalls, but researchers who monitor extreme political activity say they have detected a surge in transactions as people on the far right move assets into the digital currency and increasingly use it for ordinary business purposes. The SPLC is tracking roughly 200 bitcoin wallets - the way users store the currency online - that it says are held by extremists.

Public blockchain records make such monitoring possible. Researchers can study the times, dates and amounts of any transaction, along with what accounts are involved. That does not include the actual names of account holders, but such records can illuminate identities. The SPLC, for example, looks on the donation pages of extremist websites for bitcoin accounts that are seeking contributions.

According to SPLC research, among the most striking recent donations was 14.88 bitcoin paid to Andrew Anglin, editor of the Daily Stormer, a neo-Nazi online publication that lists a bitcoin account number online. The SPLC has labeled the Daily Stormer the nation's "top hate site.

The payment to Anglin came on Aug. 20, as the Daily Stormer - named after the Nazi propaganda tabloid "Der Sturmer" - was scrambling to recover after several Web hosting services kicked it off their platforms. Followers looking for the site at its familiar dailystormer.com address got error messages.

The amount of the donation carried particular significance; 1488 is a reference to a Nazi slogan - 14 words long - about the importance of protecting "a future for white children," and 88 refers to "Heil Hitler," both words of which start with the eighth letter of the alphabet. At the time of the donation, it was worth about $60,000. Had Anglin kept the entire amount, it would now be worth about $235,000.

Instead, it appears that Anglin gradually spent down the donation as he worked to get the Daily Stormer back onto the Web, according to John Bambenek, a cybersecurity researcher and threat-systems manager at Fidelis Cybersecurity who tracks bitcoin transactions.

But Bambenek said the account that made the 14.88 donation - whose owner is unknown - has gradually drained its value over a series of transactions. Bambenek said his research suggests that this account got its money from another, far larger one, now worth more than $45 million.

"The alt-right likes bitcoin the same way criminals and people on the dark Web like bitcoin," Bambenek said. "It's a great way to move around assets, especially when you're under the threat of investigation."

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Bambenek has built a Twitter bot, called the Neonazi BTC Tracker, that automatically tweets a record of every transaction affecting 13 accounts he says are affiliated with known extremists and their websites.

Bambenek said there is also evidence that Anglin and others are moving their assets into other digital currencies that are harder to track but have not been growing as quickly in value as bitcoin.

Anglin, in a phone interview with The Washington Post, declined to confirm or comment on the 14.88 bitcoin transaction, but he expressed frustration at Bambenek's Twitter bot, saying that some of the information it tweets is inaccurate. Anglin also said he has used bitcoin almost exclusively since payment services blocked the Daily Stormer beginning in 2014.

"Bitcoin has helped out a lot," Anglin said.

Anglin was sued this year by the SPLC for allegedly inflicting emotional distress on a Jewish woman in Montana by unleashing a "troll storm" on her. In a Dec. 7 article on the Daily Stormer, Anglin noted the surge in bitcoin value and said, "Thank you so, so, so much" to the law center for its long-running efforts to get him banned from mainstream payment services, prompting his investment in bitcoin. (The Daily Stormer has said in court filings that its actions were protected speech and posed no real threat to the woman, according to news reports.)

The popularity of bitcoin on the political right is not confined to the most extreme elements. Conservative commentator Mike Cernovich - who co-sponsored the "Deploraball" to celebrate President Trump's inauguration but did not attend the Charlottesville rally and has distanced himself from anti-Semitic and white-nationalist figures - began touting the currency to his Twitter followers in September 2016, when it was worth about $600 per bitcoin.

The goal, Cernovich said, was to protect himself from efforts by tech companies or payment processors to block his political activity.

"That was the only reason I got into it," he said. "I just got really, really lucky."

Conservative publisher Charles Johnson - whose WeSearchr "bounty site" has raised more than $150,000 for the Daily Stormer's battle against the SPLC as part of what Johnson calls his support of free speech - said he has advocated the purchase of bitcoin since 2015. That's the year Twitter banned Johnson for soliciting donations for "taking out" a Black Lives Matter activist. (Johnson said afterward that he was seeking not to incite violence but to spur an investigation he believed would undermine the activist.)

Johnson said he has made substantial earnings on bitcoin investments and increasingly uses it to make donations to political leaders and groups.

"It's a form of digital gold," Johnson said. "It's not surprising that a lot of people on the political fringes would move toward an un-censorable currency."

Spencer, however, said he did not begin buying bitcoin when he touted it in the March tweet. In recent months, though, he has set up several accounts to raise money for various sites and causes.

"I really wish I had bought more bitcoin," Spencer said. "I guess we all do."
MOSCOW - A bomb exploded in a supermarket in the Russian city of St. Petersburg on Wednesday, injuring 10 and raising new concerns of terrorism just weeks after Russian authorities claimed a tip from the United States helped ward off a major attack in the same city.

The bomb, which authorities called a "homemade explosive device" with the strength of about half a pound of TNT, exploded in a locker at a Perekryostok supermarket in the northeast of St. Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city and the country's cultural capital. The bomb was packed with what authorities called "killing agents," which local reports said were ball bearings.

Russian authorities did not immediately call the explosion a terrorist attack, classifying it instead as the attempted murder of two or more people, without naming the intended targets. No information was released about a suspect.

Nine people were hospitalized, including one in critical condition with shrapnel wounds to the stomach. As of Wednesday evening, none of the victims had died.

Local reports said that the explosion knocked down the door to the supermarket and left a hole in the wall.

The attack came days after Russian President Vladimir Putin called President Donald Trump to thank him and CIA director Mike Pompeo personally for a tip from the CIA that thwarted a planned terrorist attack in St. Petersburg.

According to a White House readout of the call, the tip allowed Russian law enforcement to track down a group of suspects planning to bomb the Kazan Cathedral in the city center among other targets, a series of attacks that "could have killed large numbers of people."

The call was unusual. While countries often share intelligence, their presidents rarely thank one another for it publicly. Both Trump and Putin have said that combating terrorism could provide a shared platform to improve strained relations between Russia and the United States.

St. Petersburg, a sprawling metropolis with a downtown renowned for its Tsarist-era cathedrals and palaces, has recently been a target for terrorism. In April, a suicide bombing by a naturalized Russian citizen from Uzbekistan killed 16, including the bomber.
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - With the outcome of a critical House of Delegates race in legal limbo, Democrats and Republicans appear to be looking for new ways to wield power in a chamber that could be split down the middle.

According to an internal Democratic email warning the caucus to stick together, House Republicans are trying to woo an unknown number of Democrats to side with them when the House elects a speaker on Jan. 10, offering plum committee assignments as enticements.

"Despite their best efforts, Republicans have so far failed to undermine our unity by offering deals to various members in exchange [for] a vote for Speaker," Democratic Leader David Toscano wrote in the email, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post.

Parker Slaybaugh, spokesman for Republican Del. Kirk Cox, who is in line to become speaker if the GOP retains the majority, declined to comment on Toscano's assertions.

Toscano declined to comment on which Democrats the GOP had approached.

"The Caucus is strong and will not succumb to Republican efforts to pick our people off," Katie Baker, a spokeswoman for the House Democratic Caucus, said in a text message.

In his email to Democratic lawmakers, Toscano warned them against calling in sick when the legislature convenes for the 2018 session on Jan. 10 - or even taking an ill-timed bathroom break during the floor session, fearing that even in an evenly split chamber, the GOP might seize any opportunity to call a vote and take control.

"If you are sick, you still need to come, even if we have to wheel you in (with my bad back, this actually might happen), provide cough medicine, or whatever else you need," Toscano wrote. "If you need child care, let us know so we can work something out. Because if you are not in the chamber at the time of the vote on the Rules and Speaker, we will definitely lose the votes, and all of our energized voters will know that your absence kicked control over to the Republicans."

Republicans have led the House for 17 years, and had a 66-34 majority heading into the Nov. 7 elections. But Democrats picked up at least 15 seats, part of a broad backlash against President Donald Trump.

In the 94th legislative district, Republican incumbent David Yancey appeared to beat Democratic challenger Shelly Simonds by 10 votes. Then a Dec. 19 recount left Simonds ahead by a single vote.

The next day, a three-judge panel decided that a ballot that was declared ineligible during the recount should count for Yancey, tying the race at 11,608 votes apiece. The ballot in question contained a mark for Simonds as well as a mark for Yancey, and an extra mark by Simonds's name that the court ruled was an effort to strike out the mark in her favor.

On Wednesday, Simonds filed a legal challenge to that ruling by overnight UPS delivery to Newport News Circuit Court.

The motions to reconsider prompted the state Board of Elections to call off plans to break the tie Wednesday by drawing a name out of a 19th-century pitcher unearthed on Capitol Square. The board said it would prefer that the race be decided on merits, with a random drawing done only as a last resort.

Cheryl Penny, the chief deputy clerk of the court, said no hearing on the motion could be scheduled Wednesday, in part because the three judges are from different jurisdictions and some may have been out of town.

Penny said the judges will communicate and set a date for when they can get together or possibly convene remotely.

If the outcome of the Yancey-Simonds race is not determined by Jan. 10, Republicans would control the chamber 50 to 49. If Simonds wins the seat, the House will be evenly split, forcing the parties into a rare power-sharing arrangement. If Yancey wins, the Republicans will retain their majority by the slimmest possible margin.

If there is a lot-drawing to decide the race, the loser could seek a second recount.

The three-judge panel's decision is not subject to appeal to a higher court. But that would not necessarily not stop either side from filing a lawsuit, perhaps on constitutional grounds.

Democrats also are seeking a new election in the House race that Republican Bob Thomas won by 73 votes, in which an apparent voter-registrar error led to 147 voters casting ballots in the wrong districts. Democrat Joshua Cole is asking a federal judge for a new election. A hearing is scheduled for Jan. 5.

It's not unheard of in Virginia for Republicans to exploit a temporary absence for partisan gain. In January 2013, Republicans in an evenly split Virginia Senate used the one-day absence of a single Democrat - who was in Washington, D.C., attending President Obama's second inauguration - to push through a rewrite of the Senate map.

The scheme drew ridicule on late-night television, and Republican Speaker William Howell eventually tossed out the map on procedural grounds.
The Maryland General Assembly plans to address the state's forensic mental-health crisis during its upcoming session legislative session, weighing funding, hospital staffing and how long a mentally ill criminal suspect may be held in jail before being transferred for court-ordered psychiatric treatment.

A group of judges, including the state's District Court chief judge, recently told a joint panel of state lawmakers that it was important for the legislature to address the shortage of psychiatricbeds for inmates deemed incompetent to stand trial.

Sen. Thomas "Mac" Middleton, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said he expects the legislature to take up the issue during its 90-day session, which begins in January.

Long waits for treatment for such inmates have been a persistent problem in Maryland and across the country. A 2016 survey of 25 states by the Treatment Advocacy Center, a nonprofit based in Arlington, Virginia, found that 1,956 inmates with serious mental illness were waiting for a bed in a psychiatric hospital after being ordered by a court to get treatment.

In Maryland, the number of inmates waiting has dropped from a high of 84 last year, when a lawsuit was filed to compel the transfer of defendants from jails to hospitals, to a low of 14 earlier this month.

Advocates and correctional officers attribute the long waits to more people with mental illnesses being arrested, and state officials shifting resources away from psychiatric hospital beds. The wait list tends to grow during the summer and drop during the winter.

In a court opinion earlier this year about the delays, retired Circuit Court Judge Gale Rasin said the long-standing problem "seems to be all about the money."

District Court Chief Judge John Morrissey said it is typical for judges to see "individuals who are sick," unaware of their surroundings and unable to assist in their own defense in their courtrooms. Judges are increasingly frustrated with the current system, which allows some of those defendants to remain in jail without the treatment the court has ordered.

"It's not just legally required, it is morally, socially and economically desirable" to transfer the mentally ill defendants to hospitals in a timely manner, Morrissey said.

Del. Erek Barron, a member of the House Health and Government Operations Committee, said he will propose legislation to address what he called a "self-inflicted" problem, created decades ago when states closed public psychiatric hospitals with plans to shift resources and patients to private facilities.

Despite recommendations from state health officials to provide more staffing and more beds, administration after administration has failed to appropriate enough money, Barron said. Former Health Secretary Van Mitchell called the bed shortage "a crisis."

Del. Kathleen Dumais, vice chair of the House Judiciary Committee, said she is hopeful Gov. Larry Hogan will include sufficient funding in the budget to address the issue. "If not, we will have to include it in the negotiations with the governor's office," she said. "These things are critical, and we can't just keep kicking the can down the road."

Hogan spokeswoman Amelia Chasse said the governor plans to provide money for additional beds in his 2019 fiscal budget. She would not say how much money Hogan would offer. Chasse said details about the budget plan will be released in January.

Acting Health Secretary Dennis Schrader, who made the budget request, said the administration agrees that the legislature should set clear rules on the amount of time defendants may wait for beds.

Schrader, who took the reins of the agency last year, has been on the hot seat over the issue, much like his predecessors. In September, he and four other health department officials were held in contempt of court for their failure to eliminate the waiting list.

Rasin said the waits persisted despite "years of notice about the problem, internal recommendations to increase bed size, admonitions by the judiciary, oversight of the legislature, civil charges of contempt of court, and commitments by its own secretary."

The administration asked for, and received, a stay in the case from the judge, who ordered the state to fully staff and admit patients to 20-bed units at Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center in Jessup, Spring Grove Hospital Center in Catonsville, Maryland, and a third facility, to be selected in consultation with the state director of hospitals. Eighty-four defendants needed placement at the time the lawsuit was filed.

According to health officials, the state plans to have 60 beds ready for inmates by the end of this year. Another 35 are slated to be available by the end of March.

Schrader said the stay allows the administration to continue "implementing our fixes" while the state's appeal of the lawsuit moves forward next year.

"We need to have this discussion in the legislature this session," Schrader told the panel. He said later in an interview that the administration is considering offering its own legislative proposal.

Schrader said the department placed a 30-day limit on how long the state has to place an inmate in hospital treatment after he or she has been deemed incompetent to stand trial. Previously, there was no cap in place, he said, and the wait time rose as high as 60 days during the summer months.

Even 30 days "is not acceptable," Schrader told the legislative panel.
Ucoms mobile customers will benefit from the best internet roaming rate of 8 AMD/MB when travelling to Georgia, Egypt or the UAE

Ameriabank Launches Google Pay and Google Wallet Support for Card Users in Armenia

Karen Vardanyan donated 112 million drams for the medical equipment for National Center for Infectious Diseases.

UCOM HAS INTRODUCED FUTURE NETWORK WI-FI 6E ROUTERS

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Statement by the Spokesperson on the conflict resolution and reconciliation efforts

Foreign Minister of Armenia to participate in the Fifth Paris Peace Forum

Armenia: EU and Armenia Hold annual Dialogue on Human Rights

Todays Shushi, Occupied and Cleared of Armenians, is a Real Example of Turkish-Azerbaijani Policy of Ethnic Cleansing of Artsakh

Ookla, the the global leader in internet testing and analysis has awarded Ucom

Sweden will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union

Ameriabank: At the Vanguard of Armenia's Banking Sector

STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH

SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS

Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders

PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces

There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan

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Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia

Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair

Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan

I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General

I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox

UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS

There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur

EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol  Armenia and Azerbaijan  to do so without delay

An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan".

UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT

The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022

Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully

The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces
Kid (and adult) friendly theater

It's closing weekend for Stages Repertory Theatre's show that's a lot more kid-friendly, interactive and lighthearted than the average night of theater. "Panto Cinderella" follows in the tradition of British panto, a popular holiday parody of a fairy tale that invites you to cheer and boo during the show. Don't forget the British snacks and candies that Stages sells in its lobby before the show. Because who couldn't use a Cadbury chocolate to snack on while they heckle the wicked stepmother?

When: 7 p.m. Thursday-Friday, 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday

Where: 3201 Allen Parkway

Details: $25-$59; 713-527-0123, stagestheatre.com

Wei-Huan Chen

Texas two-step

Texas' cities can play nice, musically at least. A well-assembled double bill pairs San Antonio's garage-punky Girl in a Coma with Houston's electro-dancey Wild Moccasins.

When: 8 p.m. Friday

Where: White Oak Music Hall, 2915 N. Main

Details: $15-$17; whiteoakmusichall.com

Andrew Dansby

What's up DocFest

DocFest has become an annual joy, a top-flight jazz concert that celebrates a storied educator in Houston while also raising money for a scholarship fund that helps young jazz performers increase their learning at New York's New School. This year the lineup is wonderful, as has become customary. Pianist Bob James (you may know him from the theme for TV's "Taxi") will come to town and play alongside some of the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts' esteemed alumni, including drummer Eric Harland, pianist Helen Sung and bassist David Craig. They're honoring Robert "Doc" Morgan, an HSPVA legend.

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday

Where: Denney Theatre, HSPVA, 4001 Stanford

Details: $25-$100; docfestjazz.org

Andrew Dansby

Musical evolution

Houston native Matt Hammon has spent the past 25 years drumming for others, including Mineral and Bob Mould. All the while he was writing his own songs and stashing them away. The new "Silver Suitcase" introduces him as an insightful writer and one who can put a little musical fuel behind the words. He did a solo gig behind the record earlier this year. This show will be his first with a full band.

When: 7 p.m. Saturday

Where: White Oak Music Hall, 2915 N. Main

Details: $10; whiteoakmusichall.com

Andrew Dansby

Stress-free New Year's

Trying to navigate the year-end scene can be tough. There's something for everyone at bars, clubs and hotels. And no matter where you go, there's going to be a crush of people. That's why this event is a nice option, it's populist and generalized. That isn't a bad thing. You'll get music. You'll get crowds. You'll get fireworks. You'll get the rush of the new year. And you won't get the smugness of some other gatherings. Sometimes, that's a good thing.

When: 9:30 p.m. Sunday

Where: CityCentre Houston, 800 Town and Country Blvd.

Details:citycentrehouston.com

Robert Morast

Texas brothers Al and John Staehely have impressive musical resumes that include a stint playing in the California rock band Spirit from 1971 to 1973. They're going to play two sets this week (for one ticket price). The first set will be acoustic songs they've written that had been recorded by the likes of Marty Balin and Bobbie Gentry, as well as songs from their Staehely Brothers album. Then they'll plug things in for a second set that draws from the Spirit songbook.

When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday Where: McGonigel's Mucky Duck, 2425 Norfolk Details: $20-$22; 713-528-5999, mcgonigels.com

Andrew Dansby
A Wisconsin businessman challenging House Speaker Paul Ryan in next year's congressional primaries denounced "globalists from both parties" on Wednesday, after a series of anti-Semitic tweets prompted Steve Bannon and Breitbart News to distance themselves from his campaign.

Paul Nehlen, who is challenging Ryan for the second time, responded to the accusations of anti-Semitism by saying he was "pro-white" and opposed to double standards.

"Allow me to answer with this question: If pro-White is White supremacy, what is pro-Jewish?" Nehlen told the Washington Post in a text message. "I reject being called a White Supremacist, because clearly Pro-White isn't White Supremacy unless Pro-Jewish is Jewish Supremacy."

CNN's Oliver Darcy first reported that Bannon, who left a political role at the White House to return to Breitbart, had "cut ties" with Nehlen, citing an interview with one of Bannon's advisers. In a series of Tuesday night tweets, Breitbart senior editor-at-large Joel Pollak said that the site was no longer paying attention to Nehlen.

"He's gone off the deep end," wrote Pollak. "We don't support him. Haven't covered him in months."

The hands-off approach to Nehlen's campaign was a major shift; in 2016, Breitbart had sent reporters to Ryan's congressional district to cover Nehlen's challenge, running as many as 30 stories a week. Julia Hahn, one of the Breitbart reporters on the ground for the Nehlen race, would follow Bannon into the White House. After Nehlen was defeated, taking just 16 percent of the vote, he contributed some commentary to Breitbart. His archive on the site has since been deleted.

But as recently as Dec. 11, when Nehlen joined Bannon and a host of conservative speakers at GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore's final rally in Alabama, he was one of the higher-profile insurgent candidates running at the Republican "establishment" from the right. Nehlen, who said he'd raised $150,000 to help Moore, told the Post at the time that he was ready to repel any attack Ryan or the Republican Party launched at him.

"You're going to see candidates like Roy Moore, like myself, like Kelli Ward [of Arizona], standing strong with President Trump," Nehlen told the Post after his speech at the rally. "Paul Ryan took dirty pedophile money from Dennis Hastert, and he never gave it back." Hastert, a Republican who was House speaker from 1999 to 2007, pleaded guilty to a felony in 2015 and admitted at his sentencing hearing that he had sexually abused teenagers in the past.

By Dec. 11, Nehlen's flirtations with the so-called "alt-right" had been widely reported. He had an active account on Gab, a chat site that has positioned itself as a gathering place for white nationalists as Twitter and Facebook have cracked down on "hate speech." On the site, he shared and reposted memes - including the slogan "it's okay to be white" - and accused Ryan of wanting to "replace American whites with anti-white substandard foreign" workers.

On Dec. 9, Nehlen appeared on the white nationalist podcast "Fash the Nation," where he referred to a Twitter ban by saying he'd been "shoah'd for 12 hours" - a reference to the Holocaust - and said that Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., then in the process of resigning from Congress over a sex scandal, had been targeted over his politics.

"I don't think it's a coincidence that Rep. Franks has an A-rating from Numbers USA," said Nehlen, referring to a group that favors restrictions on legal immigration.

Nehlen also recounted a Twitter fight between himself and John Podhoretz, and laughed at how the editor of Commentary had called him a "catamite," a word he had to look up in the dictionary.

"What race even has that word?" Nehlen said, apparently referring to Jews. "Well, there's one, right?"

After Moore's defeat, Nehlen got into more Twitter spats, often deploying alt-right imagery or arguments. He attacked one writer, Ari Cohn, by putting a "bell" made of parentheses around his name - a symbol that racist accounts have used to identify Jews.

He criticized Minneapolis police for removing a memorial that white nationalists had created for a white woman shot by a Somalia-born officer.

And he showcased his copy of a book, "The Culture of Critique," in which author Kevin MacDonald argues that "millions of people have been killed as a result of the failure of Jewish assimilation into European societies."

Nehlen responded to a question about Breitbart and Bannon by sharing the same statement he had given CNN. "Putting America First above all other nations, such as being pro-wall and for freedom of lawful speech, has brought a coordinated attack by globalists from both parties; nevertheless I will continue to stand strong against anti-American sentiment, however it manifests," he said.

On far-right social media and news sites, Nehlen's public brawls with center-right figures have become celebrated.

"Nehlen can comfortably enter the political arena and use his history as a hard-working, productive citizen to back up his aggressive campaign," wrote "Ash Brighton," a contributor to "Fash The Nation," on Dec. 20. "With just twenty people or so like Paul Nehlen in Congress, there won't be enough resources in the anti-White establishment to mount an effective resistance."
Utah's biggest newspaper anointed the state's longtime Republican senator, Orrin Hatch, as its "Utahn of the year," a distinction that came with a nearly full-page photo on the paper's front page on Christmas Day.

The senator seemed to appreciate the recognition, tweeting an image of the front page and thanking the Salt Lake Tribune for "this great Christmas honor."

But the Tribune's distinction wasn't exactly an honor, in the strictest sense of the word.

Along with a news article and the photo, the newspaper published a scathing editorial that took aim at the senator's recent record, most notably his part in the Trump administration's decision to shrink two national monuments in the state, and said that the designation was meant to anoint the Utahn who had had the most impact, "for good or for ill."

Hatch had earned the title because of his part in the "dramatic dismantling" of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, his role in helping to pass the recent tax code overhaul, and his "utter lack of integrity that rises from his unquenchable thirst for power," the editorial board wrote.

"Each of these actions stands to impact the lives of every Utahn, now and for years to come," the editorial read. "Whether those Utahns approve or disapprove of those actions has little consequence in this specific recognition. Only the breadth and depth of their significance matters."

Hatch's retweet of the Tribune's front page - which did not capture any part of the editorial's text - set off a cascade of ridicule on social media from people who accused the senator of not reading it.

But Matt Whitlock, a spokesman for Hatch, said that the senator's tweet was made in jest.

"This is at least the 4th editorial the Tribune has written in the last two years urging Hatch to retire," Whitlock wrote on Twitter. "Might as well have a chuckle about it. On Christmas."

He followed up with a statement that lambasted the newspaper's "unquenchable thirst for clicks."

"We all sincerely hope the members of the Salt Lake Tribune editorial board find joy this holiday season in something beyond baselessly attacking the service and integrity of someone who (has) given 40 years for the people of Utah," the statement said.

Hatch, who is the Senate's longest-serving member with 42 years of service, has long been one of the staunchest conservatives in the chamber. He was seen as one of the driving forces behind President Donald Trump's decision to shrink the two national monuments by about 2 million acres.

The move, which was announced early in December, drew sharp rebukes from Democrats, environmentalists, Native American tribes and others who saw a threat to ecotourism in Utah.

The Tribune was harshly critical of the senator's support for the measures, saying that they had "no constitutional, legal or environmental logic."

"To all appearances - appearances promoted by Hatch - this anti-environmental, anti-Native American and, yes, anti-business decommissioning of national monuments was basically a political favor the White House did for Hatch," the Salt Lake Tribune reported. "A favor done in return for Hatch's support of the president generally and of his tax reform plan in particular."

As chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Hatch had a prominent role supporting the bill. He drew headlines after getting in a heated exchange with Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who insisted, as many critics have, that the bill would primarily benefit the wealthy and not the middle class.

"I come from the poor people," Hatch said in response. "And I really resent anybody saying that I'm just doing this for the rich. Give me a break."

The Salt Lake Tribune was also critical of Hatch's likely decision to run for re-election in 2018. At 83, he is the third-oldest member of the Senate, and he had promised that 2012 would be his last campaign, the newspaper reported.

"Clearly, it was a lie," the Tribune said. "Once again, Hatch has moved to freeze the field to make it nigh unto impossible for any number of would-be senators to so much as mount a credible challenge. That's not only not fair to all of those who were passed over. It is basically a theft from the Utah electorate."

Speculation has swirled that former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney would run for the seat if Hatch retired, as a potential challenge to the president's agenda.

In an interview with the Tribune, Hatch said it was "too early to say" what his 2018 plans were.

"My wife would like me to hang it up," he said. "I have a lot of pressure to keep going, from the president right on down, my colleagues here in the Senate."

The Washington Post's Josh Dawsey and Juliet Eilperin reported this month that an unnamed White House official said that Trump "really likes" Hatch because the senator is supportive of his agenda, defends him on TV, praises his children and has a sense of humor.

"He appreciates his work on the Senate's tax overhaul bill, the aide added, and is hoping the 83-year-old incumbent will run for re-election next year rather than provide an opening for Trump political rival Mitt Romney. The president, who updated Hatch personally on the process, brought him along on Monday's trip on Air Force One and agreed to meet with leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City at Hatch's request," Dawsey and Eilperin reported.
When the Trump administration claimed credit this week for budget cuts at the United Nations, some critics of the organization saw the prudent oversight of taxpayer money, while others questioned Washington's determination to be seen wielding a big stick.

The U.S. mission to the United Nations on Sunday hailed the operating budget of $5.396 billion for 2018 and 2019, slightly less than the $5.4 billion requested by Secretary General Antonio Guterres. In a statement, the mission said the United States had negotiated $285 million in cost savings as well as reducing "bloated" management and support functions.

"We will no longer let the generosity of the American people be taken advantage of or remain unchecked," said the U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley, calling the cost-cutting historic and promising more to come.

Using a calculation based on the size of its economy, the United States pays 22 percent of the U.N.'s operating budget, and 28 percent of its peacekeeping operations. That makes it the largest contributor among member nations, followed by Japan, China, Germany, France and Britain.

The Trump administration has been highly critical of spending at the United Nations, but it is not alone in its concern about costs. Guterres, who took office shortly before President Donald Trump, has vowed to bring efficiencies and reform to the bureaucracy.

"This is all so misleading," tweeted Bathsheba Crocker, who under President Barack Obama headed the State Department office responsible for international organizations such as the U.N. "The US fights hard, together with other countries, every year to cut UN budget & regularly does. This is neither new nor a US 'decision.' "

Negotiations over the U.N. budget were months in the making. A U.S. official said U.S. pressure helped bring about cuts to peacekeeping missions in Darfur and Haiti, freeing money to create a new special envoy for Burma to focus on returning the Rohingya people to their homes. It also involved a number of more esoteric reforms such as a flexible workplace initiative and pension fund oversight to increase accountability.

"These cuts are positive news for the U.S.-U.N. relationship," said Peter Yeo, head of advocacy for the United Nations Foundation, which supports U.N. causes, noting they were not imposed unilaterally but in negotiations with member states.

"The cuts demonstrate that the U.N. is capable of tightening its belt to reflect budget constraints in donor capitals, including the U.S." he added. " Ambassador Haley has formed a real partnership for reform with the Secretary General."

The budget was finalized Sunday, days after Haley and Trump suggested that the United States would link U.S. aid to countries that supported them in significant votes. That rankled several countries that did not side with the United States in a 128-to-9 vote condemning Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

"This reflects a bias in the administration that we see elsewhere in its foreign policy," said John Glaser, director of foreign policy at the libertarian Cato Institute. "Namely, that the way to elicit compliance from both adversaries and allies is to browbeat them, threaten them and economically coerce them. No one in the White House seems to understand how to use the carrots of international diplomacy. It's all sticks."

Glaser said the administration's approach is isolating the United States from its allies even though U.S. leadership at the U.N. can be helpful in pursuing American interests.

"They are throwing this U.N. budget cut out as red meat for Trump's base, which loves the idea that Trump is a successful businessman imposing efficiency on wasteful government elites and anti-American international institutions," he said.

When Haley first became ambassador, she said the United States would be looking for ways to make the organization more efficient, and could cut U.S. contributions to causes and agencies it considers hostile to U.S. interests, such as those that have leveled a disproportionate share of criticism on Israel.

Mark Dubowitz, head of the nonpartisan Foundation for Defense of Democracies, called that a legitimate use of U.S. resources and power.

"It's been quite successful" as a tactic, he said. "There were 66 countries that opposed, abstained or didn't show up for the U.N. vote on Jerusalem. Those were historic numbers. It worked. It should not be a shock the U.S. has decided to play power politics at the U.N., like all other countries."
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A crash in south Texas left three dead early Tuesday morning, officials said.

Julia Vasquez and Mayra Vasquez both of Uvalde and a third person were pronounced dead at a hospital in Uvalde, said Maverick County Sheriff Tom Schmerber.

The Vasquezes were in one vehicle and a 27-year-old was in the other, Schmerber said.

RELATED: SAPD: Man drives off Loop 1604 overpass, gets trapped in car

Officials responded to the crash on FM 481 located near the Maverick and Zavala County lines around 11:45 p.m. Monday.

Schmerber said the crash appeared to be a head-on collision but he was unable to confirm what happened.

No other details were immediately given.
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The unarmed felon shot to death by Bexar County sheriffs deputies at a Schertz mobile home park last week told the officers that she had a gun and would shoot them, words uttered just before they opened fire, killing her and a child inside the home, Sheriff Javier Salazar said Tuesday.

One person inside the home with the child also reported hearing Amanda Lene Jones, 30, make those statements, Salazar said.

The four deputies opened fire, killing Jones as she stood on the porch of the mobile home and fatally injuring Kameron Prescott, 6.

RELATED: D.A.'s office investigating shooting of 6-year-old by deputy

The gunfire Thursday in the 100 block of Peach Lane in the Pecan Grove Manufactured Home Community ended a chase that had lasted several hours. Jones had no connection to the family inside the trailer but had entered and demanded their car keys, Salazar said.

Someone from inside the trailer that (Jones) forced her way into ... said that she had an object in her hand. They believed it could have been a weapon, Salazar said Tuesday. And when she exited the house, the witness heard the suspect proclaim to whoever was outside  we now know that was the deputies  I have a gun, Im going to shoot you.

The sheriffs office is investigating the incident and Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHoods office Tuesday said it would analyze the initial work of the probe and evaluate all additional evidence as it is gathered. The four deputies have been placed on administrative leave, a standard practice immediately following an officer-involved shooting, and Salazar emphasized the investigation is in its early stages.

READ MORE: Friends, family say Amanda Lenee Jones was troubled but loving, loyal

We feel it is important to carefully review all of the facts and circumstances surrounding the officers use of force and not form any premature conclusions before the investigation is finalized, a prepared statement released by LaHoods office said. If the completed investigation indicates the actions of the deputies rise to the level (of) a criminal offense, our office will take appropriate action at that time.

Jones was found to be unarmed when killed, though she was holding a dark, metal tube that looked like a gun before deputies fired their weapons, sheriffs officials have said.

Investigators are still searching for the gun that Jones was seen carrying when deputies confronted her during the chase, Salazar said.

Earlier in the day, there were three different deputies on two different occasions that tell us they were not only physically threatened with that gun - they saw it pointed at them - but she verbalized at that point, too, that she was going to harm them with it, the sheriff said.

A man called authorities Tuesday to report that a woman had stolen his vehicle and gave them an address where she could be found. Jones, who had a lengthy criminal history, was discovered hiding in a closet at a home on FM 1518, displayed a gun and bolted from the residence.

She eluded growing numbers of officers that joined the chase, swam across Cibolo Creek, disappeared into a wooded area and eventually ran to the mobile home park near the creek on FM 78.

One witness, retired landscaper Carl Allen, reported Jones appeared unarmed, dressed in only shorts and a halter top when he saw her walking barefoot up the banks of the creek.

She definitely didnt have (a gun) when I saw her, Allen told the San Antonio Express-News last week. I got a good look, front and back, and there was no gun, even concealed.

Other witnesses reported Jones desperately attempting to break into vehicles, cursing at one and yelling Help me, help me! at another.

She finally forced her way into the mobile home where the child lived and confronted two of his relatives, demanding their car, Salazar said.

She was holding this object they believed might be a weapon, demanding the keys to their car, telling them that if they didnt give her the car, she was just going to go out, break the window and steal it, the sheriff said.

Jones died outside the trailer of multiple gunshot wounds. Kameron suffered a gunshot to his abdomen and was later pronounced dead at University Hospital.

Were not going to rest until we have some answers, Salazar said. I fully realize that (the childs) family is entitled to some answers. And it is my job to give them those answers. Im not going to stop until I have them.

Juan Contreras, president of the Deputy Sheriffs Association of Bexar County said he hopes the investigation is done carefully but said he has been disappointed in the district attorneys office over the years for not giving what he called due justice to deputies.

I would hope and dream that the DAs office and the sheriffs office will take this step by step, and measure twice and cut once, Contreras said.

My main concern are the deputies. Because right now, theres a question out there - what happened to that little boy? And thats a big concern. And its a tragic loss, he said.

Peggy O'Hare is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. Read more of her stories here. | pohare@express-news.net | @Peggy_OHare
Three major cities have filed a lawsuit against the Defense Department for its failure to report many criminal convictions in the military justice system to the FBI and its national gun background-check database.

The Pentagon has for years run afoul of federal laws intended to keep guns out of the hands of felons and domestic abusers by not transmitting to the FBI the names of service members convicted of crimes that disqualify them for gun ownership.

This is what allowed Devin P. Kelley, who was convicted of domestic assault in the Air Force, to buy at a store the rifle he used to kill 25 people, including a pregnant woman whose fetus also died, at a Texas church in November.

Now, after two decades of serious lapses - and one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history - officials from New York City, Philadelphia and San Francisco are trying to force a change. Their suit would require the Pentagon to submit to federal court monitoring of its compliance with the reporting laws it has broken time and again.

"This failure on behalf of the Department of Defense has led to the loss of innocent lives by putting guns in the hands of criminals and those who wish to cause immeasurable harm," Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York said.

Been chided since 1990s

The cities say they are suing because their police departments regularly access the federal background-check database and rely on it to provide accurate information about who should be prevented from buying guns.

The Pentagon has repeatedly been chided since the 1990s by its own inspector general for woefully failing to comply with the law. In a 2015 report - and another one issued just a few weeks ago - investigators said that nearly 1 in 3 court-martial convictions that should have barred defendants from gun purchases had gone unreported by the military.

Having a federal court oversee compliance, the cities in the lawsuit say, would reduce the chance that a tragedy like the massacre in Sutherland Springs, Texas, happens again.

If the lawsuit is successful and the military fails to adhere to a court order to demonstrate compliance with the law, a federal judge could hold the defendants in contempt, lawyers for the plaintiffs say. The lawsuit names as defendants the Defense Department and its secretary, James Mattis; the departments of the Air Force, Army and Navy and their respective secretaries; the directors of the military's criminal investigative organizations; and the commander of the Navy's personnel command.

Outside monitor urged

Generally, the military is required to report felony-equivalent court-martial convictions for crimes that are punishable by more than one year in prison, and any convictions for domestic violence. As with those of similar convictions in civilian courts, the records are supposed to block defendants from buying guns.

The military must also report anyone who receives a dishonorable discharge, which precludes gun ownership. Federal law also bans ownership by drug abusers, people subject to certain restraining orders, and mentally ill people.

"I believe the active involvement of the court system will produce the desired results," said Ken Taber, lead lawyer for the plaintiffs. "This will impose an outside monitor to make sure that what should have been done for two decades is finally done."

The Pentagon had no comment on the lawsuit Tuesday.
BRUSSELS - British ships and a helicopter were dispatched over the Christmas holiday weekend to track an "upsurge" of Russian naval vessels passing near British waters, the British navy said Tuesday, as British and NATO leaders warn of Russian naval activity at levels unseen since the Cold War.

At least four Russian ships, including a warship and an intelligence-gathering ship, passed near British waters starting on Saturday, the British navy said. The traffic on the water meant British sailors on the Royal Navy frigate St. Albans spent Christmas tracking their Russian counterparts. Those sailors planned to return to port on Tuesday, the navy said, although they remained on high readiness.

The ship traffic came days after the head of the British military warned in an interview of the threat of Russian submarine activity near the sensitive undersea data cables that carry internet traffic between North America and Europe.

"I will not hesitate in defending our waters or tolerate any form of aggression," said British Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson in a statement announcing the holiday maneuvers. "Britain will never be intimidated when it comes to protecting our country, our people, and our national interests."

Russian ships routinely sail through international waters near British territory as they pass from ports in northern Russia into the open Atlantic or into the Mediterranean, where they have been involved in Russia's intervention in Syria. Before formally entering Russian naval service, ships are often tested in the international waters of the North Sea, which may have been the case for at least one of the Russian ships when the St. Albans arrived to monitor it.

The British navy did not allege any misbehavior or territorial violations, and because it does not routinely publicize its encounters with Russian ships, it was not immediately clear how unusual the Christmas movements were.

In its statement, the British navy said that "the festive season has seen an upsurge in Russian units transiting U.K. waters."

British Air Chief Marshal Stuart Peach said last week that his nation's doctrine was to closely track Russian vessels that neared British waters. He said that he believed NATO needed to focus on maintaining open lines of communication across the Atlantic in the face of a resurgent Russian navy.

"Of course, we respect freedom of navigation," he said in an interview, "but equally we also shadow and monitor."
The first morning of 2018 is going to be a freezing one.

Temperatures will dip to 32 degrees in San Antonio just hours after the ball drops to commemorate the new year, according to the National Weather Service. The wind chill will be about 22 degrees with gusts of about 22 mph.
Trump Digs Coal became one of the most recognizable slogans of the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, and candidate Donald Trumps promises to scrap the controversial Clean Power Plan, or CPP, and bring back coal jobs struck a chord in Midwest mining states. The vision of an unfettered, resurgent U.S. coal industry resonated with working-class voters, helping tilt the electoral map Trumps way.

The Trump administration is following through on its promises to scuttle the CPP, withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, and abolish other environmental regulations that are odious to the coal industry. However, the coal industry has continued to struggle against economic headwinds, primarily market competition from sustained low natural gas prices.

Wall Street analysts agree that long-term economic forces are working against any federal effort to rehabilitate the U.S. coal industry. They identify the advanced age and inefficiency of many coal-fired power plants; long-term regulatory uncertainty that disfavors investment in new coal plants; reduced demand from countries that import U.S. coal; and, most importantly, sustained price competition from cheap natural gas as the major economic factors that make a U.S. coal renaissance highly unlikely.

In Texas, several utilities have announced plans to deploy more electric power from renewable energy regardless of changes in federal regulations. Luminant has announced plans to close three coal-powered plants  Monticello, Sandow and Big Brown  in early 2018. CPS Energy in San Antonio has long planned to mothball the JT Deely coal plant by the end of 2018, and reiterated its decision after Trumps executive order in March on the CPP. The Austin City Council voted in 2014 to begin phasing out of the citys share of the coal-powered Fayette Power Project starting in 2020, with the goal of getting out altogether by 2022.

As the longed-for coal recovery has been slow to materialize, policy discussions in Washington, D.C., and in Appalachian coal country have moved beyond loosening environmental controls and into direct market intervention in the form of taxpayer-funded coal subsidies.

Ill-conceived policies such as coal subsidies or taxpayer bailouts for coal plants would distort the U.S. energy market and interfere with the well-functioning Texas electric market, delaying or derailing the Lone Star States market-driven transition to clean energy.

The Texas electric market is a model of how free energy markets allow cheaper, cleaner power to thrive. Natural gas and renewables are going to generate the lions share of electricity in Texas within 20 years  if we allow the electric market to function without distortions.

Research commissioned by the Texas Clean Energy Coalition, or TCEC, and conducted by The Brattle Group in 2016 found that if natural gas prices remain low and solar prices continue to drop, over the next 20 years market forces will likely result in a cleaner Electric Reliability Council of Texas electric grid that relies on Texas-produced natural gas, wind and utility-scale solar power. As the low natural gas price drives ERCOT away from coal and toward Texas-produced clean fuels, annual CO2 emissions in ERCOT will drop by an average of 28 percent below 2005 levels  an average of 61 million tons less of CO2 in Texas air every year. And wholesale electricity prices will remain virtually flat in real dollar terms.

Texans in Congress, state leaders and fiscal conservatives should reject attempts to manipulate the energy markets to prop up older, uneconomical plants that burn coal at the expense of cleaner, cheaper electricity produced from home-grown natural gas, wind and solar power.

Elizabeth Lippincott is executive director of the Texas Clean Energy Coalition.
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Culture / Art Republik

Dec 27, 2017 | By Art Republik

Art Stage Singapore will take place from 26 to 28 January at Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre. The eighth edition presents the Southeast Asian art worlds flagship fairs new initiative and theme, Interactions.

The fair will focus on the Thai art scene. Lorenzo Rudolf, President of Art Stage noted that it has been developing rapidly in the past year and a half with the opening of MAIIAM Museum of Contemporary Art for one, and more private museums in Bangkok and Chiang Mai in the works from prominent collectors Petch Osathanugrah and Disaphol Chansiri. At Art Stage, there will be Thai-focused exhibitions featuring artists such as Kamin Lertchaiprasert presented by Numthong Gallery, Arin Rungjang presented by Tang Contemporary and Natee Utarit presented by Richard Koh Fine Art.

The successful Southeast Asia Forum will be presented for the third time. Examining cross-disciplinary practices in art and design, it is titled Art Meets Design: Cultural Trend or Fashionable Lifestyle?. It will comprise an exhibition and a series of lectures. The Artling Collectible Design Showcase, a collaboration with The Artling, will be a showcase of contemporary Southeast Asian designers and studios, featuring furniture, lighting, textiles and other design products from the region.

And following the successful Signature Collectors Visits launched at Art Stage Jakarta back in 2016, collectors in Singapore will open up their homes for the first time, with The Teng Collection by Teng Jee Hum, Samsons Private Collection by Michelangelo and Lourdes Samson and Nijkerks Private Collection by Mr. and Mrs. Richard Nijkerk. The initiative highlights the importance of the role the art collector plays in developing the local art scene, and aims to foster conversations between collectors and the fairs audience.

With UOB as the main partner of Art Stage Singapore 2018, the fair will be a meeting point for key opinion leaders, collectors and audiences in the Southeast Asian art scene.

Here are works from participating galleries to look forward to at Art Stage Singapore 2018:

ART REPUBLIK is an official media partner of ART STAGE Singapore. Come visit our booth at the fair!

More information at www.artstage.com.
New Delhi: In yet another threatening video released online, terrorist outfit al-Queda called for fresh attack on Indian cities. The video pointed that the key victory in Kashmir lies in waging war on Indian cities.

'India is already using 600,000 troops just to hold on to Kashmir. If it is attacked in Kolkata, Bangalore and New Delhi, India will come to its senses and release its grip on Kashmir', said Usama Mehmood, the second in command of the organisation.

The al-Queda video, notably seeks to reach out to young Islamic radicals in Kashmir, also pays homage to local jihad icons. It valourises Burhan Wani, whose killing triggered large scale violence last year, as well as Parliament House attacked Afzal Guru, who was executed in 2013.
Nearly three-fourths of BB&T Corp.s employees will get a one-time $1,200 bonus in January as part of the banks response to the corporate tax rate cut signed into law Friday by President Donald Trump.

The tax cut reduces corporate rates from 35 percent to 21 percent.

About 27,000 BB&T employees will receive the bonus. Most of them are not eligible for incentives or commissions, BB&T said. The bank had 37,189 employees as of Sept. 30, according to a regulatory filing.

The bank also will raise its minimum hourly wage to $15 from $12 on Jan. 1, as well as provide $100 million to the banks philanthropic fund.

The bank will spend $152 million altogether on the three initiatives  $37 million on the one-time bonus and $15 million on the wage increase.

By comparison, BB&T had record net income of $2.26 billion, up 16.7 percent, in fiscal 2016. That means the cost of the three tax-cut initiatives equals 6.7 percent of the banks profit for 2016.

BB&T confirmed the expenditures are made possible through the tax reform package recently signed into law and in light of the new corporate tax rate deductions.

But analysts and critics say many corporations, particularly banks, reached levels of profitability the past two years that would have allowed them to pay the bonuses and increase wages without the tax cut.

Kelly King, BB&Ts chairman and chief executive, said in a statement the pay initiatives reflect the banks recognition of employees hard work.

BB&Ts mission is to make the world a better place to live, so it makes perfect sense to share these benefits and continue making a positive difference in the communities we serve, King said. Were pleased this legislation makes that possible.

Bank of America Corp. and PNC Financial Services Group Inc. made similar financial pledges over the weekend.

For Bank of America, it committed to pay a $1,000 bonus to 145,000 employees, nearly 70 percent of its U.S. workforce. According to the memo sent to employees by Chief Executive Brian Moynihan, employees with total compensation up to $150,000 are eligible. The total cost would be about $145 million.

PNC has a multifaceted strategy: a $1,000 cash payment to 47,500 employees in the first quarter, affecting 90 percent of its employees; raising its minimum hourly wage to $15 an hour by the end of 2018; placing $1,500 in employees defined benefit pension plan; and make a $200 million contribution to the PNC Foundation.

William Demchak, PNCs president and chief executive, said in a statement that the tax reform law creates an opportunity to reward our employees who are working hard each day to serve our customers, build strong relationships in our communities and create long-term value for our shareholders.

First Horizon National Corp. will provide a one-time $1,000 bonus in January, primarily to employees who do not participate in company-sponsored bonus plans.

The Nashville, Tenn., bank completed Nov. 30 its $2.2 billion purchase of Capital Bank Financial Corp., which has 22 Triad branches.

Neither BB&T, PNC or First Horizon have pending acquisitions before federal regulators, although BB&T and First Horizon would benefit from a potential bipartisan bill in Congress that would raise the asset criteria from $50 billion to $250 billion for enhanced regulatory standards that are accompanied by expensive compliance costs.

Raising minimum wage

On Wednesday, Wells Fargo pledged to raise its minimum hourly wage from $13.50 to $15 in March and increase its community philanthropic efforts by at least $400 million.

Wells Fargos tax-cut initiative come as it is still trying to restore public and employee trust in the aftermath of its customer fraudulent account scandals.

We believe tax reform is good for our U.S. economy and are pleased to take these immediate steps to invest in our team members, communities, small businesses and homeowners, Tim Sloan, the banks bank and chief executive, said in a statement.

However, to put Wells Fargos tax-cut related initiatives into perspective, it had $21.94 billion in net income for fiscal 2016.

Some critics say Wells Fargo, as well as AT&T, Comcast and other corporations will similar tax-cut related announcements, may be trying to curry favor with the Trump administration for regulatory and acquisition considerations.

Trump said earlier in the month that federal regulators should not ease sanctions and penalties against Wells Fargo related to its consumer-account fraud scandal.

Its not just national and super-regional banks providing employees with benefits from the corporate tax rate cut.

Aquesta Financial Holdings Inc., based in Concord, North Carolina, said its board has approved a cash bonus of $1,000 to all employees, to be paid the first week of January, and raising its hourly minimum wage to $15 on Jan. 1.

We are very happy to share with our valuable team members some portion of the benefits Aquesta will realize by the enactment of Tax Reform, Jim Engel, the banks president and chief executive, said in a statement.

Decreased tax rates will allow Aquesta Bank to continue to grow by accelerating lending to small businesses and hiring additional team members to help with that growth

Aquesta has branches in Charlotte, Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville, Mooresville and Wilmington in North Carolina.

Richard Craver reports for the Winston Salem Journal
Saying thanks

In recognition of the United Ways 80th anniversary in MHC, a goal of $700,080 was set to support vital programs that address the critical challenges that confront our community.

Each year, we depend on community support to positively impact the lives of individuals in MHC. Without you, our United Way would not be able to continue to increase the financial stability of families, improve the education and development of our children, and advance the health of the community as a whole.

One program that has experienced phenomenal growth over the last year is the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. It provides a free book to an enrolled child, ages birth to five, each month. Over 1800 children are enrolled in the program and over 20,000 books have been distributed this year!

The Dolly Parton Imagination Library is one of the many programs supported by the United Way through community donations. Without your contribution, programs like this would be unable to continue building on the successes of prior years.

We would like to thank everyone who has already supported the United Way this year, and all of the organizations throughout the community that work tirelessly to make MHC a better place. None of us ever knows when we might need the services of a United Way agency. Donations help ensure that these services remain available. This is our community, and our United Way. Lets do our very best in supporting our community!

Dru Ingram, Campaign Chair and Monica Hatchett, 2017 Board President

United Way of Martinsville-Henry County

Thoughts from Congress

For the first time in over three decades, Congress passed a comprehensive overhaul of the nations tax system and delivered on our promise of advancing pro-growth policies. This bill will create opportunity, grow our economy, and establish a simpler and fairer tax system that allows hard-working Americans to keep more of their own money.

The promise of tax reform for working Americans rests in the pro-growth factors. As with Reagan and Kennedy before, these pro-growth incentives will drive innovation, investing, hiring, and increased wages by ensuring that we are more competitive in the global marketplace.

Democrats knew tax reform would be a huge Republican victory, which is why they opposed it. In doing so, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) went so far in her fearmongering saying that H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would usher in Armageddon. In fact, she and every Democrat voted against lowering rates, doubling the child tax credit, and doubling the standard deduction! If our tax reform bill marks the end of anything, its the end of an outdated, draconian tax system that disadvantages Americas families and small businesses. Under the new tax plan, the vast majority of Virginia families will see a significant tax cut, and the proof will be in your paycheck as soon as February.

The Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) is critical to the well-being of our children and has strong, bipartisan support. Despite these facts, the Senate has failed to reauthorize the program's funding. Because of Senate inaction, Virginia and 15 other states, are currently scheduled to run out of CHIP money in January.

I recently voted for legislation funding CHIP for five years so disadvantaged children can get healthcare. Please ask Senators Kaine and Warner to lead as we have in the House, so as to get this done.

CHIP provides essential healthcare coverage to millions of children in Americaincluding more than 190,000 children in Virginia according to the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. So far, Democrats like Governor McAuliffe have pointed fingers to score political points while every Virginia Republican Representative has already voted to fund this program.

Tom Garrett

Virginia 5th District Rep.

U.S. Congress
TODAYS WORD is shindig (shin-dig). Example: Every time they threw a shindig, the old man who lived next door would file a noise complaint.

MONDAYS WORD was decommission. It means to remove or retire (a ship, airplane, etc.) from active service. Example: When he pulled him over for driving with bald tires and no brake lights, the police officer told Bill that his 1978 Ford LTD II should be decommissioned.

TODAY IS: National Thank You Note Day

Now that Christmas has come and gone, today is a great day to write some special thank-yous for the gifts you received over the holidays. Taking the time to thank family and friends with a personalized message has special meaning. Never underestimate the power of a nice thank-you card.

New Years Eve party

If youre looking for a New Years Eve party to attend, head over to the Spencer-Penn Centre. The doors will open at 6 p.m. and music will start at 7 p.m. Acts performing that night include Two Young Two Old, Hubert Lawson and the Bluegrass Country Boys, and The Shelton Brothers. There will be a $5 admission charge, and attendees are asked to bring a covered dish to share. Beverages will be provided.

TRIVIA QUESTION: Many medieval manuscripts feature illustrations of knights fighting what unlikely creature?

MONDAYS TRIVIA ANSWER: What traditional Christmas decoration is actually a parasite? The answer: Mistletoe. You can often spot mistletoe in trees here in Virginia, especially during the winter. The plant is a tree parasite and it looks like a green ball of leaves on the branch of a tree. How did a parasite (one thats poisonous, no less) become a part of the Christmas tradition? There are a few different theories, but one of the main theories is that mistletoe became part of the winter tradition because it miraculously stays green even in the winter  of course, the reason for that is because it steals minerals and water from its host tree.
ATHOL --Arts, crafts and home decor retailer Hobby Lobby had a soft opening Tuesday for its new store in Athol and the grand opening is scheduled for New Year's Day.

The store at 223 Reservoir Drive -- in the North Quabbin Commons near a Starbucks, a Marshall's and a Market Basket grocery store -- will be Hobby Lobby's third location in Massachusetts. The company has stores at the Holyoke Mall, which opened in 2013, and one in Seekonk on the Rhode Island state line.

The company has another location in Manchester, Connecticut.

Earleir this year, the Oklahoma City-based Hobby Lobby said the new Athol store means 35 to 50 jobs paying $15.70 per hour for full-time and $11 per hour for part-time associates, according to a press release.

Hobby Lobby has more than 750 stores across the country, making it the nation's largest hobby and craft retailer.

Each store sells more than 70,000 crafting and home decor products including floral, fabric, needle art, custom framing, baskets, home accents, wearable art, arts and crafts, jewelry making, scrapbooking and paper crafting supplies.

The founding Green family owns the company and and communicates often about how their Christian faith shapes the business to the point of having long legal battles over health care coverage and not being open on Sundays.

Hobby Lobby is open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
The Republican each week will put together a slideshow of select clips and comics from the archive from the past 100 years.

From the December 26, 1917 edition of The Springfield Daily News

This week's selection of clips, headlines and comics from the past 100 years. With Christmas past and Western Massachusetts heading toward the celebration of the New Year, we feature clips from 1917, 1937 and 1957. From 100 years ago we have a Gilbertville man lost at sea while serving on the U.S.S. Sonoma. The Sonoma, one of the largest tugs in the U.S. Navy, was caught in a severe storm off the Atlantic coast. We also have a photo of a line of people waiting to get into the Springfield RMV office to get their 1958 car registration stickers, and a story about a Gallup poll showing that the top two stories for 1957 were, 1. Sputnik, and 2. President Eisenhower sending troops to Little Rock, Arkansas.

From the December 30, 1957 edition of The Springfield Daily News

The pages of The Republican and its predecessors can be found online through the Newsbank Historic archive. The Historic Archive includes editions from 1824 to 1989. Pages and clips can be printed or downloaded in pdf format.
Historic Faneuil Hall, the meeting space which once hosted American revolutionaries and civil rights pioneers, will close for the month of January.

The city of Boston will conduct repairs and renovations on the the historic, 275-year-old brick building that sits adjacent to the Faneuil Hall Marketplace, made up of Quincy Market, North Market and South Market. The marketplace, a mix of retail and dining that attracts 20 million visitors per year, will remain open while renovations to Historic Faneuil Hall take place.

According to a recent message by Boston National Historical Park, the renovations include "upgraded elevator services and improved heating and cooling for the building." The fixes intend to keep the historic site alive and well for another three centuries.

The Faneuil Hall building was completed in 1742 as a gift from Peter Faneuil, a wealthy merchant who emigrated from France and settled in the New York Colony. Originally intended to be a market, the addition of an upper event hall became home to town government meetings and banquets.

It too became a central meeting space during the heat of the American Revolutionary Period. Faneuil Hall held "meetings of the body," or men who wanted to participate in defiant acts like the Boston Tea Party.

In the 19th century, famed Boston architect Charles Bulfinch expanded the hall. City operations were later moved out of the building, but it remained -- and still remains -- a meeting space for political and civic events.

Today, Faneuil Hall also houses a Visitor Center for tourists visiting the city. While the building is under renovation in January, Ranger staff will host a pop-up Visitor Center at 15 State Street. The temporary center will offer maps, books and expert advice from the Ranger staff.
After 10 months of community meetings and an online survey, the members of Springfield City Council's Police-Community Relations Committee have released their findings - and are hoping city officials will listen to their recommendations.

The findings in the report, drawn from community meetings in each of the city's eight wards and an online survey, paint an impressionistic portrait of Springfield's relationship with its police department - one that is statistically limited, but also points to areas of concern and satisfaction the committee hopes will draw the attention of policy makers.

The department's C3 anti-gang and community policing unit, currently operating in Mason Square, Forest Park, the South End and the North End, won compliments for communication with residents and attentiveness to community concerns. The city's police dispatchers earned less glowing reviews, however, with multiple respondents describing encounters with "rude or condescending" operators when calling for police assistance.

And while large majorities in both surveys described their personal experiences with Springfield officers in positive terms, the results showed a sharp racial divide in perceptions of the department. Black and Latino respondents were more likely to report negative encounters with officers and said they felt less satisfied with the police department.

"I'm very satisfied with the way the committee conducted their meetings and did their research," said City Council President Orland Ramos, who created the committee in February. "I think it's fairly obvious from their report that there are some things the police department are doing that are working, and certain areas that could be improved."

It is unclear exactly what reception awaits the report in Mayor Domenic Sarno's office. The mayor released a statement thanking Ramos, Committee Chair Tom Ashe and the committee members for their work, but did not comment on whether he intends to implement any of the recommendations.

"Basically, this report shows that the initiatives Commissioner Barbieri and I have put forth are working in a positive fashion - The Springfield Police Department is doing a good job and is respected by our residents," Sarno said in the statement. "As always, Commissioner Barbieri and I strive to continue to review, enhance, and build on this goodwill."

The committee, a 15-member group including representatives from each city ward, the city council, the Hampden District Attorney's Office, the Greater Springfield NAACP and the Springfield patrolman's union, includes volunteers from an array of professional backgrounds.

Matt Forte, the Ward 6 appointment and the report's chief author, was the training director for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police; Yolanda Cancel, Ramos' appointment, describes herself as a community activist and former Boston police officer; Christine Tetrault, from Ward 5, is a former Assistant District Attorney.

But missing from the committee are two vacant spots reserved for appointments by Mayor Domenic Sarno and Police Commissioner John Barbieri. In a January letter to Ramos, Sarno said he would not participate in the new committee, citing recent drops in the crime rate and calling the committee "redundant" with the city's other public safety initiatives, including the Mayor's Anti-Violence Task Force, the Community Police Hearing Board and the C-3 program.

Sarno has clashed with the City Council over management of the police department before, declaring that the council's vote last December to re-install a civilian police commission was "invalid."



"I'm hoping they will take this report seriously," Ramos said. "These 15 members worked very hard and dedicated a lot of their free time to participate in this very important endeavor."

That endeavor involved holding meetings in each of Springfield's wards. The size and tenor of those meetings varied widely, from sedate crowds of about a dozen people largely complimentary of the department's work, to contentious exchanges at the Rebecca M. Johnson School featuring allegations of police misconduct, to an ill-fated session in Ward Six - at which no residents showed up.

Between the 95 survey responses by people who attended meetings and the 237 who answered a questionnaire online, the committee's report highlights concerns about and praise for the city's police department.

Ninety-one percent of meeting attendees said they felt somewhat or very satisfied with the police department, while 76 percent of internet respondents said the same. That figure was less positive for black and Hispanic website respondents, 36 percent of whom said they were not satisfied with local police.

For public safety, another dynamic emerged. Just 10 percent of residents who attended meetings - a group whose demographics trended towards older residents - felt unsafe. Thirthy-three percent of website respondents said they felt unsafe. And black and Hispanic respondents were both less likely to feel unsafe and to feel very safe.

Minority respondents were also less happy with police responses to problems in their neighborhoods, with 38 percent saying they were unsatisfied.

Ramos acknowledged that the survey was not a full picture of Springfield's views on the police. The self-selecting nature of the survey led to a sample that was disproportionately white and particularly lacked Latino respondents - who made up 14 percent of website survey participants, despite making up nearly 40 percent of the city's population in the 2010 census.

"There were some committee members who were concerned with the lack of participation from certain communities and made recommendations to make a greater, grassroots effort to get people from minority communities to participate in the survey," Ramos said.

But from the 10-month listening tour, the committee said it received enough consistent feedback to make recommendations.

Respondents praised the department's C3 police units - specially trained teams, working in tandem with state police, who both conduct community policing and target gangs and repeat offenders in high-crime neighborhoods. Ramos suggested in an interview that the city should consider expanding the program.

Residents expressed frustration with persistent quality of life issues, including illegal trash dumping, speeding on residential streets and a perceived lack of police response when these issues were reported.

And there was a "consistent frustration" with police dispatchers, with respondents describing incidents of rude or condescending behavior, the report said.

"As the first contact residents have with public safety personnel in any emergency or non-emergency the initial response by dispatchers strongly sends a message about how the city views the resident's concern," the report said. "This is the opportunity to either enhance the view that the police care about our citizens or convey the message that residents' concerns are not important."

The committee recommended that the department improve feedback and transparency, both in promoting efforts made to improve quality of life and publicly responding to complaints. The report also included praise for the city's 311 smartphone app, a recommendation that the city review the entire dispatch process and a request that Barbieri appoint a representative to the committee.

And while most respondents did not report personal negative experiences with officers, several said they had dealt with long response times, dishonest officers and police harassment of young residents, prompting the committee to encourage the department to identify "problem officers" as quickly as possible.

The department has dealt with several high profile police misconduct cases in recent years, including the suspension of Det. Gregg Bigda for his conduct in interrogating and threatening a juvenile suspect and the firing of Officer Conrad Lariviere for Facebook posts mocking the crash that killed protester Heather Heyer in Charlottesville, Va.

"The actions of a very few officers appearing to behave unprofessionally can have a significant impact on the public's view of police in general," the report said.
SPRINGFIELD -- Hampden Care Facility Inc., having received local approval for a medical marijuana dispensary in East Springfield over a year ago, plans to open in early spring, its top executive said this week.



"We are just really excited to be able to open our doors," CEO Mark Zatyrka said. "It's full steam ahead."



The City Council in November 2016 gave Hampden Care Facility the go-ahead to open the city's first medical marijuana dispensary at 506 Cottage St.

The state granted its approval for the company to start cultivating marijuana about seven months ago, Zatyrka said. Indoor cultivation has been occurring at Keystone Mill in Easthampton.



"We wish we could have opened a year ago but we have to grow our product first," Zatyrka said. "That's what we've been up to, making sure we have the best product available."



The company expects to open a dispensary in Easthampton in late January, followed by the opening of the East Springfield dispensary in early spring, he said.



Hampden Care will have extensive security on Cottage Street, including widespread cameras inside and outside the building and the parking lot, Zatyrka said, as required by the city and state. There will also be security personnel on duty at all times, he said.

The company plans to hire approximately 20 full-time and part-time employees, with most being full-time, Zatyrka said. A job fair is planned in late January to assist with the hiring process.

There are two other dispensaries in Western Massachusetts, in Northampton and Great Barrington, operated by other companies.

New England Treatment Access opened a dispensary on Conz Street in Northampton in September 2015, the first in Western Massachusetts. In September of this year, Theory Wellness opened a dispensary in Great Barrington, the first in Berkshire County.

Springfield's retail facility is 7,800 square feet. Zatyrka said it is designed for "high-end retail." There will be products that are smoked as well as edibles and accessories, he said.

To obtain medical marijuana, a patient must have approval from a doctor and be registered with the state, Zatyrka said. Those allowed to purchase must have state-issued patient cards, he said.



Mayor Domenic J. Sarno negotiated a host community agreement with Hampden Care Facility in 2016, and it was approved by the City Council.

There was initially an exclusivity agreement that would have given the company the only medical marijuana sales license in Springfield for five years, but the council rejected the clause. Even so, no other applicants have approached the city.



Under the final agreement, Hampden Care will pay the city 1.5 percent of its gross sales revenue in 2018 and 2 percent of its revenues in 2019, and 2.5 percent of its revenue in each successive year, among other provisions.

Medical marijuana facilities were authorized by voters by way of a 2012 ballot question. Voters subsequently approved the sale of recreational marijuana, but the retail estabilishments have not yet opened pending approval of state guidelines.
SHUTESBURY -- Firefighters and police officers from neighboring towns coaxed two older golden retrievers from thin ice on Lake Wyola over the weekend.

Shutesbury Fire Chief Walter Tibbetts told the Greenfield Recorder that the call came from a local resident at 4:14 p.m. Saturday, and that firefighters and police officers took about 20 minutes to persuade the skittish canines to shuffle toward shore.

Tibbets said he was relieved the dogs did not fall through, which would have required a riskier operation using ice rescue equipment. "We never really know what the situation is until we're there," he said.

The ice, which had a coating of water, was 2-3 inches thick, and not safe, he said.

Because of a mutual aid agreement for ice rescues, personnel from Leverett and Shutesbury responded. The dogs were dried off in a fire truck and returned to their grateful owners.
A Colorado-based development group has provided a $30,000 grant to promote food sustainability at Montanas Fort Belknap Indian Reservation.

The Havre Daily News reports part of the grant will support research in hydroponic growing, in which food is grown year-round in climate controlled water.

The reservation is home to the Gros Ventre and Assiniboine tribes in north-central Montana.

The grant is from the Longmont, Colorado-based First Nations Development Institute https://firstnations.org/ with support from the Minnesota-based Northwest Area Foundation http://www.nwaf.org/ . The foundation promotes economic development among 75 Native nations in eight states.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/montana/articles/2017-12-25/fort-belknap-continues-push-for-food-sovereignty
RA+D have designed the perfect super green building for the future. The Smart Tower will include some of the greenest technology the world has seen.

The ride-share company, Uber, announced that they will be using flying cars as early as 2020.

By Taylor Donovan Barnett

https://interestingengineering.com/this-super-green-tower-will-feature-a-landing-pad-for-your-flying-car?_source=newsletter&_campaign=v0ZvJ95vjkVey&_uid=nXe0N3Xbxr&_h=64cc3b5d9718727b8670189a16e07bec629326aa&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=mailing&utm_campaign=Newsletter-26-12-2017
Missoula offers ClassPass the opportunity to become an employer of choice in a smaller, highly educated location whose culture matches their company mission of promoting healthy and active lifestyles, said Chris Volney, Newmarks managing director. The high quality of life in Missoula and quality workforce will be a perfect fit for the ClassPass team as they put down roots and grow in the community.

The worlds largest fitness network said Wednesday it will open its third North American office in Missoula next year, a nod to the citys growing tech sector, its progressive culture and quality of life.

ClassPass https://classpass.com/try/2week9?utm_source=google&utm_medium=Brand&utm_campaign=K%20-%20US%20-%20Brand%20-%20Exact&utm_content=8d3da04e-13d4-4ede-8cf7-a9950635928a&utm_term=classpass&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIiMKhnIir2AIVkV9-Ch2sfwCYEAAYASAAEgKUNvD_BwE , which also claims offices in New York and San Francisco  and international offices in London and Sydney  plans to open in the Millennium building in downtown Missoula. The company looks to fill 40 positions upon opening and grow to 50 once its established.

By Martin Kidston

***

Montana Career Opportunities  Backend Engineer, Customer Experience Associate, Front End Engineer, Partner Development Associate, Partner Development Manager, Partnerships Intern  ClassPass Missoula, Montana http://www.matr.net/article-80546.html

***

Missoula Economic Partnership [MEP] and the Montana Governors Office of Economic Development [GOED] are pleased to announce that ClassPass, the leading membership to the worlds largest fitness network, has selected Missoula, Montana to establish its third office in North America. The new operations in Missoula will support the expansion of the companys customer experience, engineering, internal sales, and account management teams. Within its first year, the new location is expected to hire up to 50 employees with estimated annual Salaries ranging from $30,000  $150,000 for non-technical and technical roles. ClassPass expects its Missoula team to grow further in subsequent years.

With over 45 million reservations to date, ClassPass introduces new users to fitness by merchandising and surfacing over one million classes available on the platform to the benefit of both its members and its 8,500 studio and gym partners. Recently the company closed a $70M Series C round of funding round led by Temasek, an investment company headquartered in Singapore with 10 global offices and a $180B portfolio.

Newmark Knight Franks Global Corporate Services (GCS) Location Strategy team, which included Brad Lindquist, Senior Managing Director and Chris Volney, Managing Director, worked with ClassPass to conduct an extensive national search and identified a short list of 17 preferred candidate cities. The ClassPass executive team recently visited Missoula and met with various tech businesses, commercial brokers, and government officials to determine if Missoula was the right fit. The site visit was coordinated by MEP and the Montana Governors Office of Economic Development.

Missoula offers ClassPass the opportunity to become an employer of choice in a smaller highly educated location whose culture matches their company mission of promoting healthy and active lifestyles, said Chris Volney, Newmark Knight Franks Managing Director. The high quality of life in the Missoula and quality workforce will be a perfect fit for the ClassPass team as they put down roots and grow in the community

When Missoula made the shortlist, I was ecstatic as I had personally experienced the abundant active lifestyle opportunities in the area and the dynamic and unique character of the city and community, said Fritz Lanman, ClassPass CEO. We wanted to find a city that was a fit for our mission and culture; a place that offers an active lifestyle and access to inspiring experiences, a progressive mindset, forward thinking civic leaders and a respected University. Missoula checks all those boxes and more.

"Montana is quickly becoming a hub of innovation and our business-friendly climate enables us to welcome new high-tech companies, like ClassPass, to Montana, said Governor Steve Bullock. I personally spoke with ClassPass during their deliberations and Im excited they chose Missoula. To have another high-performing team call our state home and share in our excellent quality of life is indeed an incredible opportunity.

ClassPass was ranked the second fastest growing company in North America on Deloittes 2017 Technology Fast 500TM. ClassPass CEO Fritz Lanman credits the companys impressive revenue growth to business model changes, expansion, and new inventory offerings. Lanman was recently appointed CEO, and previously led the companys Seed and Series A rounds of financing.

This company has a sophisticated growth strategy, a global reach, and has undergone extensive fundraising rounds with well-funded VC firms. And, they just happen to have a disruptive technology in an industry where Missoula excels  the health and wellness technology sector, said Jenni Graff, MEPs Economic Development Director.

ClassPass decision to choose Missoula is a strong testament to our growing tech sector. We could not be more enthusiastic about this announcement and ClassPass future in Missoula, said MEP President and CEO James Grunke.

To see open positions and apply, visit the ClassPass Careers page found here https://classpass.com/about/careers#careers

About ClassPass

Founded in 2013, ClassPass is the leading membership to the worlds largest fitness network. With over 8,500 partners in 49 cities worldwide, ClassPass connects members to a variety of fitness experiences, including yoga, cycling, Pilates, barre, running, strength training, dance, sports, videos and more. Recognized as one of Forbess Next Billion Dollar Startups, ClassPass leverages proprietary technology to dynamically merchandise and surface over a million fitness classes for a seamless booking experience that facilitates discovery.

ClassPass currently has offices in New York, San Francisco, Sydney and London. The company was founded by Payal Kadakia.

http://www.classpass.com

About The Montana Governors Office of Economic Development (GOED)

The Montana Governors Office of Economic Development is the states lead organization to help businesses succeed in Montana. The Office focuses on business retention and recruitment, workforce development, technology development, infrastructure development, as well as permitting and regulatory processes.

About Newmark Knight Frank

Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) is one of the worlds leading commercial real estate advisory firms. Together with London-based partner Knight Frank and independently-owned offices, NKFs 15,000 professionals operate from more than 400 offices in established and emerging property markets on six continents.

With roots dating back to 1929, NKFs strong foundation makes it one of the most trusted names in commercial real estate. NKFs full-service platform comprises BGCs real estate services segment, offering commercial real estate tenants, landlords, investors and developers a wide range of services including leasing, corporate advisory services, consulting, project and development management, property and corporate facilities management services, valuation and advisory services, and capital markets services provided through its NKF Capital Markets brand. For further information, visit http://www.ngkf.com.

About Missoula Economic Partnership (MEP)

Missoula Economic Partnership is a public-private partnership founded to promote high growth, high wage jobs in Missoula, MT. MEP is a dedicated, central resource for economic development activities by attracting, retaining, developing and growing jobs and business throughout Missoula and Missoula County.

For information, please contact:

James Grunke, CEO, Missoula Economic Partnership

406-541-6461

Or

Jenni Graff, Economic Development Director, Missoula Economic Partnership

406-531-6430

Or

Ashley Hennings, PR Director, ClassPass

[email protected]
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In Delhi, 23 percent people consulted doctors for Infertility and Contraception, while 31 percent reached out to them for issues related to adolescent/behavioral psychology. In Mumbai, 32 percent people talked about Infertility and Contraception and 31 percent consulted healthcare experts about adolescent/behavioral psychology. Kolkata and Ahmedabad had the highest number of queries around Infertility and Contraception with 36 percent and 35 percent people, respectively reaching out to doctors for the same.Pune (33%) and Bangalore (24%) also had a significant number of queries on adolescent/behavioral psychology. Diabetes too was a major topic of discussion with 33 percent people in Bangalore, 32 percent in Kolkata, 29 percent in Hyderabad and Chennai and 26 percent in Delhi and Ahmedabad consulting doctors on Lybrate for the same.Lybrate released the report post analysis of around 80 million interactions, including booking of lab tests, that happened on the platform over a period of 12 months, starting January 1 this year.The other health issues that witnessed a remarkable rise have been: Respiratory Issues (215%), Diabetes & Hypertension (205%), Vitamin and Mineral Deficiency (220%) and Fitness and Wellness (195%). While Tier 1 cities contributed to the growth of interactions on infertility and contraception, majority of interactions from Tier 2 cities led to a staggering growth in interactions in the sexual health category.Also, following incidences of notorious Blue Whale challenge, Pradyuman murder case and child sexual abuse, parents actively began to seek counselling for themselves and their children. There has also been a rise in number of queries from across age groups around behavioral changes dealing with frustration and anger, hypersensitivity, managing relationship issues, among others, apart from regular queries on managing stress and depression. The trend stands true for Tier 2 cities as well."The trend that people are getting concerned and aware about being psychologically healthy and are reaching out to healthcare experts is a positive development. It becomes all the more significant because parents and loved ones too are seeking help for their children and themselves to connect with each other better and fix any behavioral issue. We all ignore our psychological health, not understanding that it is key to our overall good health. Being psychologically healthy saves us from a gamut of lifestyle-triggered diseases that have become a major concern for people across age-groups as also healthcare infrastructure in the country," said Saurabh Arora, Founder and CEO, Lybrate."For three years, we have been committedly collating data and churning out useful insights which can play a key role in devising healthcare strategies in accordance with the existing healthcare realities prevalent in the country."In Tier 1 cities, women in the age group of 18-24 have become proactive about consulting doctors online. This is on the back of gaining awareness about such platforms and their credibility.The growth though small in other age brackets in Tier 1 cities and across all age groups in Tier 2 and 3 cities is significant in terms of women taking charge of their health issues, the data shows. This highlights the need to consistently work on creating women-centric health programs that they can access online.In Tier 3 cities, penetration of online platform is still low and calls for creating better infrastructure so that people there can avail opinions of quality doctors available online.As per the data, in 2017 while people in North India consulted heavily about respiratory issues, the issue of severe air pollution made people elsewhere also to press panic buttons and consult doctors about the same. Interactions around respiratory issues particularly grew in the month of November in Delhi and Bangalore.During the Dengue and Chikungunya outbreak between July and September, maximum number of interactions with doctors happened in Bangalore. People in Kolkata and Chennai also significantly interacted with doctors about Vitamin D and B12 deficiency, while those in Hyderabad sought advice on fitness and wellness too. In Mumbai, a significant number of interactions happened on hypertension and adolescent psychology.Source: Medindia
LINCOLN TOWNSHIP -- A fire caused around $90,000 in damage and completely destroyed a local residence Christmas night.

According to Kinde Fire Chief Adam Zimmerman, firefighters were called to Jodi Wolschleger's home around 10 p.m. Monday, located at 1415 Church Road, near Crockard Road. The house was fully engulfed upon arrival.

Fighting freezing temperatures, high winds and icy conditions, a total of 45 firefighters battled the blaze for three-and-a-half hours. They were eventually able to contain the fire, but the home was considered a total loss.

Zimmerman said during the effort, hoses and equipment began to freeze up, making things much more difficult.

"It just seemed like everything hampered us on trying to put it out," said Zimmerman. "I can't tell you how nasty it was out there."

Luckily, the homeowners were not home at the time and there were no injuries reported.

They told officials they had left for the evening and kept the lights on their live Christmas tree. Zimmerman said it appears the fire started near the tree.

"The fire definitely started in that room," he said. "But we're going to look into it just a little more."

Kinde firefighters received full assists from the Bad Axe, Port Austin and Sigel Township fire departments. Central Huron Ambulance, Huron County Road Commission, Huron County Sheriff's Office and Thumb Electric also assisted at the scene.
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CROMWELL  For 40 years, Margaret Ashby has called the early 1970s four-bedroom Coles Road ranch her home. Its where she and her ex-husband raised their four children three boys and a girl.

However, an electrical fire in her adult sons bedroom three years ago changed everything.

Ashby and her son were sleeping Oct. 31, 2014, when the blaze began just after 10:30 p.m. She awoke from the sound of her bedroom door slamming shut. The entire home was filled with smoke.

In her hurry to get her son and herself out of the home, Ashby fell down the stairs, breaking her back and splitting her head open, she recalls. Her phone wasnt working but somehow, some way, Ashby made it outside to call for help.

I was able to get up, go to my neighbors and tell him to call 911, she said.

She had no idea she was injured.

I guess I was in shock, but I had no pain, she said. It was drizzling a little bit. What I thought was drizzle was blood.

Ashby and her son were both hospitalized for smoke inhalation.

Their four dogs  all Shih Tzus  died in the blaze. Her cat, a Maine coon, was lost for days until the folks at ServPro, who were cleaning up her home after the fire, put down some food for her. Mikala had been hiding downstairs and was OK.

I visited Margaret for the very first time at the hospital, said Marie Leavitt, accounts liaison at Servpro of Middletown/New Britain, which helps people recover from disasters like fires. I gave her the good news about her cat.

But there was also bad news. Ashbys homeowners insurance had lapsed and wouldnt cover any of the damage from the fire.

I was planning to buy a new policy for my home with my November Social Security check, Ashby said. The fire changed all of that.

Leavitt said Servpro tried to help investigate why there was no insurance on the house and how to get new coverage, but there was no way of getting anywhere until the fire damage had been taken care of and the house was starting to be rebuilt.

After the fire, Ashby spent several weeks in the hospital and then was moved to Apple Rehab in Middletown. While there, she suffered a heart attack.

It was just everything, Ashby said. Knowing that I was homeless. I had the house, but I couldnt live in it because I had no insurance to repair it. I was separated from my son, he had no place to stay and we were always very close.

Then, when she was taken to Middlesex Hospital, doctors found pulmonary edema  excess fluids gathered throughout her body, including her lungs  so she was in the ICU at Hartford Hospital for five weeks.

Ashby has lived with brain tumors her entire life, she said, and doctors found two more while she was recuperating from her other ailments.

My health was failing. I had no help. My house is my pride and joy. To go home was all I wanted, Ashby said.

Leavitt from Servpro came to the hospital several times, bringing flowers and other gifts.

She was someone I had never set eyes on before. I said, This lady is OK, Ashby said when describing the visits.

Last Halloween, Leavitt was at Lowes in Cromwell buying lumber to help the Cromwell Fire Department build a haunted house. She asked one of the employees if Lowes ever gets involved at an individual level, was connected with a store manager and got a team of employees from 10 stores together to help rebuild Ashbys home, Leavitt said.

ServPro Owner Gary Edwards and General Manager Alfred Conroy were touched by Ashbys plight.

They are a dying breed of good men, Leavitt said. Businesses today are all about profit. I am lucky to work for a franchise that really cares about people.

Leavitts manager told her that if Lowes could handle the rebuild, ServPro would clean up the home at no charge.

Along with the Cromwell Fire Department and Margarets son Timothy, we turned over a clean and demoed house to Lowes, Ashby said.

Lowes rebuilt Ashbys home: from insulation to drywall to painting, floorings, a new roof and electrical, even towels, throw rugs and placemats, Leavitt said.

Habitat for Humanity ReStore, with help from the Liberty Bank Foundation, donated a living room set and washing machine. Bobs Discount will soon deliver donated bedding, Leavitt said.

Despite years of setbacks, Ashby remains remarkably optimistic. Shes now staying with family in Meriden and expects to be home by the end of the week.

I have friends and people who love me. People like Marie come along just when Im feeling down. These are the things that keep me going, Ashby said. This is why Im still alive. I dont look at the negative things that happen in my life. I see those things as stepping stones to keep stepping.

Dont let these things push you down, Ashby said. Keep an effort to keep moving forward  get beyond that. My life has not been easy, but Im not going to let that hinder me from enjoying whats left of it.

Leavitt wouldnt let Ashby see her home as it was being rebuilt so shed be entirely surprised. She was given the keys to her new home three days before Christmas.

Honestly, other than having my two children, this has been the most rewarding accomplishment of my life so far, Leavitt said. Margaret was beyond excited. The days that led up to her getting her keys, she barely slept. She was overwhelmed when she saw her beautiful, beautiful home. All the work was 100 percent donated. Not one penny was paid by the homeowner. I am still in awe myself.

Ashby now counts Leavitt as a good friend.

Leavitt has taken away a valuable lesson from this years-long journey.

If you keep asking and have passion and commitment, you can accomplish whatever you set out to do, maybe even more than you expect, she said. I was proud that I could make such an amazing difference in the life of someone who started out as a stranger.

Managing Editor Cassandra Day can be reached at cassandra.day@hearstmediact.com.
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ZEELAND, MI - Lakeshore Advantage said 57 of its member companies will draw $2.45 million in 2018 from a $30 million state fund created to train new and current employees.

The funding from the Skilled Trades Training Fund (STTF) grants is nearly twice the $1.37 million received by 34 Lakeshore Advantage members this year, the economic development agency said in an announcement on Wednesday, Dec. 27.

"Area employers tell us their number one issue is finding talent, particularly skilled workers," said Jennifer Owens, Lakeshore Advantage president.

"Securing these training funds to upskill employees helps reduce this barrier significantly and creates additional opportunities for West Michigan's talent pool," Owens said.

"It is our privilege to come alongside employers with West Michigan Works' strong leadership and expertise to assist with these fund applications that yielded about double last year's award."

Ottawa County has had among the state's lowest unemployment rates this year. In October, the county's unemployment stood at 3.2 percent, the second lowest in the state after Livingston County.

The largest STTF grant will go to Herman Miller, which will use a $229,455 grant to train workers at its facilities in Zeeland and Spring Lake.

Zeeland Lumber and Supply will receive $149,927 to help create apprenticeship programs for structural builders for its wall and truss products and structural designers.

With the assistance of the grant, 48 current employees and 32 new employees at Zeeland Lumber and Supply employees will be increasing their skill levels, the announcement said.

"These apprenticeship programs will allow us to train our current employees and hire new employees who are interested in pursuing careers in the building trades," said Mike Dykstra, president and CEO of Zeeland Lumber and Supply.

"We are very excited to be awarded the STTF grant. It aligns with our value of career-long learning," Dykstra said.

Other large recipients of the state training awards include:

* Magna Engineered Glass of Holland Township, $141,238

* Meridian of Spring Lake, $139,684

* ESPEC North America of Jamestown Township, $139,587

* SoundOff Signal of Jamestown Township, $105,975

* Fogg Filler of Holland Township, $105,467.

Click here for a full list of recipients

"Our business community is in desperate need of skilled talent," said Nancy Manglos, director of Talent and Leadership Development with the Chamber of Commerce for Grand Haven, Spring Lake and Ferrysburg.

Statewide, the STTF grants program has the goal of training 10,000 current employees and 3,300 new employees in 2018, according to the Michigan Talent Investment Agency.
DETROIT, MI - He's currently one of the most hated WWE Superstars in the biz, and that's not a bad thing. We caught up with WWE superstar Kevin Owens ahead of a big event at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.

Owens and other WWE Smackdown Live superstars will be in Detroit on Wednesday, December 27, 2017 at 7:30pm for the WWE Live Holiday Tour.

Owens and his good friend Sami Zayn are wreaking havok on Smackdown Live, and while Owens says he doesn't care whether he gets booed or cheered, he does care about getting a big reaction from the crowd.

"I just try to listen to strong reaction. To me the best reaction is a mix of both boos and cheers. John Cena and Roman Reigns get insane reactions where half the crowd loves them and half the crowd despises them. When you're in the ring waiting for your opponent, whether it's John or Roman, you get hit by this crazy noise. It's people almost competing with each other. The guy who's booing one of them is trying to be louder than the guy cheering. It makes for a special atmosphere. That's really what I'm striving for."

Owens has a lot of memories of Detroit. Two recent ones and one from his early wrestling days come to mind.

"I wrestled in Detroit many times before getting to WWE. There was one match me and El Generico (Zayn) wrestled Nigel McGuinness and Claudio Castagnoli (Cesaro). That was a really fun match that I look back on fondley. I have a lot of memories like that, and WWE Hell in a Cell just happened. I'll never forget fighting on top of a cell with Shane McMahon. That was something really special at Little Caesars Arena."

"I have a friend who lives in Detroit that works at the Detroit Zoo. I had a chance to visit with Sami. My friend took us around. We met the zookeepers. We got a backstage tour of the zoo. It was cool. I have plenty of fond memories of Detroit."

Owens also has fond memories of WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels. He's the one guy he'd love to go back in time and wrestle.

"Michaels is the reason I became a wrestler in the first place. I saw him when I was 11. I was a scrawny kid at the time. People thought I was 7 or 8. So to see the smallest guy on the show be the best guy on the show really spoke to me. I said if he can do it, I can do it. Now I get to share different pieces of his wisdom with him when he comes to a show here or there. I try to sit as close to him as I can and listen to him and discuss wrestling, family and life. It's so great to talk about those things with someone I look up to so much. I can't even imagine what it would have been like to have been in the ring with him."

When he's not wrestling, Owens says he likes to spend what little down time he has with his wife and kids.

"We moved to Orlando recently. We still have a residence in Montreal, but live in Orlando. We like to go to Disney and Universal. Just doing cool stuff with the kids."

Owens says he doesn't care if his kids follow in his footsteps. Whatever makes them happy.

"I don't hope for it, but if they want to then they're more than welcome. I have no preference. I just want them to be happy. I always pursued this dream, but for the first 7 years that I was a wrestler, I worked at a gas station part time. I finished high school, but still needed a job to make money to live on. I was lucky enough to have the boss to give me time off I needed to wrestle. I think you can be happy doing whatever you want in life as long as it fulfills you can you get something out of it."

If you go:

WWE Live Holiday Tour at Little Caesars Arena on Wed., Dec. 27, 2017 at 7:30pm. Tickets are $25 - $115. Other WWE superstars scheduled to appear (subject to change) are: AJ Styles, Jinder Mahal, Randy Orton, Shinsuke Nakamura, Sami Zayn, Bobby Roode and Dolph Ziggler.
Josh Elledge is chief executive "Angel" of SavingsAngel.com, a website that teaches consumers how to save money through a free money savings video eCourse and podcast. SavingsAngel also provides hundreds of 50 percent off or better deals each week to members by matching local grocery and drug store sales with its free database of over 5,000 accessible coupons.

New Year's Eve and Day can be an exciting time but knowing what to do, especially if you want to include the whole family, can be tough. If you don't want to do just the same old party again this year, I recommend you celebrate the new year with traditions from around the world. This is a fun way to spice up the celebration while keeping it kid-friendly.

For the food:

Have everyone pick a culture potluck. Fill the buffet table with traditional New Year's dishes from around the world. Every guest brings a special dish from either their culture of origin or one they find fascinating.

Some general suggestions for which there are countless recipes online are:

Hoppin' John (blackeyed peas and greens, sometimes with pork) - the dish represents plenty and financial success in the coming year.

Pork and cabbage (or sauerkraut) - the dish represents moving forward in the new year with fatness and plenty.

Round foods and cakes or cookies - baked goods often have coins hidden inside to bring the finder good luck in the new year. Round foods symbolized health, wholeness, and prosperity.

Lobster and fish - for health, happiness and good life in the coming year.

Lentils and rice - for abundance in the coming year.

Tower cake - marzipan rings of smaller and smaller sizes, stacked to resemble a "horn of plenty." The dish represents wealth and happiness in the coming year.

Eat seven times on New Year's Day. In Estonia, they eat seven times to represent abundance. It's a filling tradition you'll want to space out throughout the day.

Place 12 shafts of wheat on the food table. In Columbia, they place 12 shafts of wheat on the table to represent an abundance of food on the table in the coming year.

For the fun:

Literally, leap into the new year. In Denmark, everyone stands on a chair or the couch and jumps off right at midnight to bring good luck.

Run around with your suitcase. In Columbia, they run around the house as fast as they can, carrying their suitcase. This tradition is said to ensure lots of travel throughout the new year.

Put on a Mummers Play. Or even have two small groups compete to be crowned the best. Said to be traditional in Ireland and England (among other places), it's a short play with comedy and a battle between good and evil. Sometimes the plays include mock sword battles, which kids especially love.

Drop ice cream on the floor. In Switzerland, celebrations include each person dropping a scoop of ice cream on the floor to symbolize wealth, luck and peace in the new year.

Throw cake at the door. In Ireland, it's customary to throw cake at your exterior door to banish hunger and want in the new year.

Sleep with mistletoe under your pillow. An Irish tradition, unmarried girls sleep with mistletoe under their pillow in hopes they will dream of their future husband.

Fireworks, of course. A tradition in countless cultures, fireworks celebrate sending out the old year with a bang and bringing in the new year with brightness and sparkle.
LAPEER, MI -- A mile-plus long stretch of Davison Road will be resurfaced with $375,000 in state transportation grant funds.

The Michigan Department of Transportation has awarded the funds as part of $3.1 million in Transportation Economic Development Fund Category F grants for a total of nine road projects across the state.

Resurfacing of Davison Road is set to take place from the roundabout east of Lake Nepessing Road to just west of Millville Road, according to MDOT. Work includes drainage improvements and new signs.

"Davison Road serves as a commercial route, providing access to multiple commercial and industrial businesses on the city's west side," reads a statement on the grant funding. "Over the years the road has experienced deterioration; these improvements will improve the road surface and extend the life of the roadway."

Lapeer is providing $303,000, or 45 percent of the project cost.

Additional local projects being paid for, in part, with grant funds includes resurfacing of more than one-half mile of Dove Street, from 1,000 feet east of Range Road to west of Michigan Road, in Port Huron Township.

The work includes shoulder upgrades and drainage improvements.



The overall cost of the Dove Street project is $601,024, including $375,000 in grant funds. The St. Clair County Road Commission is providing $226,024, or 38 percent of the project cost.




FLINT, MI -- Flint Community Schools won't allow the state to flush lines or test water inside any of its 13 buildings, a Michigan Department of Environmental Quality spokeswoman says.

"At this point, MDEQ hasn't been granted access into Flint Community Schools (buildings) to conduct the flushing and testing we've been able to complete at all of the other charter and parochial schools, day cares, and elder care facilities" in the city, said Tiffany Brown, a spokeswoman for the department, in an email to MLive-The Flint Journal.

"Discussions regarding access to (Flint School District) schools are ongoing with the superintendent. State officials have met with the superintendent, requested access to the schools, and stand ready to conduct the testing once granted permission," Brown's statement says.

Flint school officials declined to comment on the lock-out claim and for weeks have declined to comment on what state officials have described as their interest in establishing a model lead elimination program for schools in the city.

Michigan Transformation Manager Rich Baird, senior advisor to Gov. Rick Snyder, announced the effort earlier this month and said he would discuss the details with Flint Schools Superintendent Bilal Tawwab.

Baird said then that the state had secured funding to create a "best in class or best practice protocol for schools" in Flint "that we would like to use across the state."

There is currently no requirement that schools or child care centers have water tested for lead unless school officials operate their own water system.

Plans to establish the pilot school testing program have been developed recently and discussed as increasingly lower lead rates have been found elsewhere in the city.

Just last week, the DEQ announced the results of water testing at every other school, day care and elder care facility in the city, saying 98.5 percent of samples collected at 63 buildings tested below the federal threshold for lead.

The DEQ did not initially announce that the new data -- reflecting testing that started in early November -- included no water samples from the buildings operated by the Flint School District, which serve about 4,500 students.

Initial water tests at a Flint school buildings in 2015 showed toxic lead levels at faucets and drinking fountains in multiple buildings.

At Eisenhower Elementary, for example, 18 of 43 water samples had lead levels above 15 parts per billion, exceeding the action limit set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

At Freeman Elementary School, one water sample in 2015 registered at 101 ppb of lead.

State officials have said the elevated lead levels in Flint schools were the result of old plumbing and lead solder in faucets and drinking fountains interacting with corrosive water from the city.

Flint's water supply was turned much more corrosive when the city changed its water source to the Flint River and began treating water for the first time in decades in parts of 2014 and 2015

Lead-in-water levels surged during those 17 months, fallout from the DEQ failing to require treatment of Flint's water to make it less corrosive, local, state and federal officials have said.

Flint schools are currently supplied with bottled water through donations from Walmart, Coca-Cola, Nestle and PepsiCo.

School officials haven't indicated what their short- or long-term water supply plans are.

The state has funded bottled water given away at distribution sites in Flint, but that support could evaporate next month because of consistently lower levels of lead found in city tap water during recent testing.
Even as the world is moving towards a life more digital than ever before, the threats associated with the digital world are multiplying manifold, threatening to disrupt life as we have now come to know it.

Of course, cyber attacks are nothing new, but their increasing number and growing potency have become causes for concern for governments all over the world. There has been a marked increase in the amount of information getting stolen online every day.

Add to this mix a secret ingredient called crytocurrencies and you have a potential Hindenburg on your hands. Cryptocurrencies are very useful for making discreet transactions and have the added benefit of increasing in value exponentially, which makes them very valuable to cyber criminals.

It is estimated that the total damage on account of various ransomware attacks this year might be in excess of USD 5 billion. It is also estimated that this cost will only increase exponentially over the next 5 years, while the cost of cyber security will correspondingly amount to USD 1 trillion dollars in the next four years.

Heres a quick look at some of the most brutal cyber attacks this year:

Shadow Brokers

This anonymous group of hackers first surfaced in August 2016 when they breached the spy tools of a National Security Agency (NSA)-led program known as the Equation Group.

However, the groups most impactful release came in April 2017 - a trove of NSA tools, including a windows defect called EternalBlue (NotPetya and WannaCry hackers have since exploited this defect to infect targets with ransomware). The tools were auctioned off on the dark web.

WannaCry

The most infamous ransomware attack of 2017 was a strain of ransomware called WannaCry that spread all over the globe.

The ransomware targeted numerous public utilities and large corporations, most notably National Health Service hospitals and facilities in the United Kingdom, hobbling emergency rooms, delaying vital medical procedures, and creating chaos for many British patients.

Though the origin of WannaCry is not yet known, the US government has blamed the Kim Jong-un-led North Korean government for initiating the attack.

Petya/NotPetya

Another dangerous malware that affected people across the globe this year was NotPetya.

The malware, which bore many similarities to the 2016 ransomware Petya (hence NotPetya), began spreading to computers around the world, including those belonging to corporate giants like the US-based pharmaceutical company Merck, Danish shipping company Maersk, and Russian oil giant Rosneft.

The ransomware hit Ukrainian infrastructure particularly hard, disrupting utilities like power companies, airports, public transit, and the country's central bank.

India was affected the most by NotPetya in the Asia-Pacific and region and was the seventh most affected globally, according to the cyber security firm Symantec.

Zomato hack

This one happened closer home than the others. Zomato, which is one of the largest restaurant aggregators in India, was hacked and some of its user accounts were being sold on the dark web.

A post on a blog called Hackread cited how accounts of 17 million users were being sold on the dark web. The vendor had also shared a trove of sample data to prove that the data is legitimate.

Luckily, as Zomato stores its users payment details at a separate location, none of the users encountered a financial loss.

The HBO hack

Game of Thrones is easily the most popular television show to hit the screens in the last decade, maybe more. Everyone loves it, everyone wants more of it, and most of all, everyone wants to be associated with it.

This held true for a bunch of hackers too. In July 2017, hackers claimed to have acquired 1.5 terabytes of data from HBO, which is the producer of the show, and released yet-to-be-aired episodes of shows like Ballers and Room 104 online.

But HBO did not truly feel the heat of this attack before it became known that the script for Episode 4 of Season 7 of Game of Thrones, which was scheduled to be released the following week, was put up online for the whole world to see.

This was followed by a series of threats and ransom demands to HBO, which if not met would result in the leaking of more episodes of the popular show. The details of the ransom demanded by the hackers have been kept top secret and HBO refused to comment on whether it paid the ransom or not.

Equifax

In July this year, a group of hackers penetrated Equifax, one of the largest credit bureaus in the world, and stole personal data of 145 million people.

The Equifax breach is considered one of the worst incidents of hacking ever because of the sensitivity of information stolen (which included credit card numbers, birthday details, social security numbers). The information could easily be used for identity theft or misrepresentation.

The company drew a lot of flak after it took two months to reveal that a breach had taken place.

The Equifax breach raised concerns over the amount of information data brokers collect on consumers, which can range from public records to mailing addresses, birth dates and other personal details.
IndiGo, Jet Airways and GoAir have opposed a proposal that will allow airlines to trade seats between themselves so as to comply with existing government regulations on seat allocation.

According to a Business Standard report, the government needs airlines to have seat allocations based on three categories.

Category-I routes are the profitable routes linking metro cities. Category-II routes are those that are less frequently visited. This includes the states in the North East, Jammu and Kashmir, and Lakshadweep. Category-III represents the most popular cities after the metros like Coimbatore, Kochi and Pune.

According to the rules, airlines have to deploy at least 10 percent of the capacity they deploy on Category-I routes to Category-II routes. Similarly, they have to deploy 35 percent of the capacities deployed on Category-I routes on Category-III routes.

The report stated that Vistara was unable to meet these guidelines last month. The airline, which operates as a luxury carrier, increased its flight frequencies on many metro routes, which would ideally mean a proportional increase in its other routes as well.

This has prompted lobbyists to push for a proposal that will allow airlines to buy seats from other airlines, if they fall short of route dispersal guidelines mandated. A similar scenario is when banks trade between themselves to complete their target of lending 40 percent of total loans to priority sectors like agriculture and small enterprises.

Vistara was buying seats from its sister companies AirAsia India and SpiceJet, both of which have additional capacity on such routes. As a result, the airline's competitors believed it was enjoying an unfair advantage. Among the airlines that cried foul when this came to light were IndiGo, Jet Airways and GoAir.

The buyer will benefit and use these benefits to create distorted competitive dynamics. The seller will also have undue benefit in these markets by making their capacity more viable, a document signed by the three airlines read.

Currently, Vistaras 17 aircraft fly to 21 destinations across the country. So when the government increased the number of Category-I routes from 12 city pairs to 20, the airline was put under a lot of pressure because it was forced to deploy even more capacity to Category-II and Category-III routes.
In the Union Budget 2014, life insurance companies made a plea to the government to make term insurance mandatory for all salaried individuals. Taking a cue from the motor insurance third party product that is mandatory as per the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, life insurers wanted pure protection products to also be made compulsory. But the Budget made no such provisions.

Insurance continues to be a push product in India with most customers preferring an endowment or money-back product that offers the facility of getting the premiums as a lump sum (with some bonuses, if any) once the policy term is over. However, customers do not realise that unlike a term cover, the protection element in other insurance covers is much lower.

According to an earlier report by global reinsurer Swiss Re, there are big gaps in insurance coverage (pure protection) in Indian households. The mortality protection gap report for Asia Pacific by Swiss Re has found that the gap in India was $8,555 billion in 2014.

The study said the sum insured per working person with dependents in India was $2101 in 2014 (about Rs 1.3 lakh), which is much lower than other APAC countries like Australia, which has a sum insured of $303,401 per working person with dependents. Per working person, the protection gap was $35,181 (about Rs 22 lakh) and this has seen a 10 per cent CAGR growth from 2004-2014.

It is estimated that protection as a portion of the life insurance industrys portfolio is less than 20 percent. While there has been an increase in the term product sales in the past two years, the absolute numbers are still low.

We have been trying to encourage customers to buy pure term especially since they are usually the cheapest products as well. However, overall response is lukewarm since policyholders expect some money back at the end of the term. Some mandatory element will be helpful, said a senior life insurance official.

As per the Swiss Re sigma report, life insurance penetration is only 2.7 percent of the countrys gross domestic product. Overall, insurance penetrations stood at 3.44 percent while the world average is 6.23 percent. While the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana has helped deepen the reach of the pure term product at Rs 330 premium, renewal rates of the product have not yet been disclosed.

Considering that there is a standing demand from the life insurers to either incentivise pure term products with tax sops or make it mandatory, that could be the blessing in disguise for policyholders as well as insurers. Whether it will subsidised further, considering online term is among the cheapest products, is a question that remains to be answered.
trends 'India Hoga Clean' initiative Now moving on to the social campaign India Hoga Clean launched by Network 18. India Hoga Clean is an exhaustive campaign that will spearhead the cause to make Indian cities clean and will encourage citizens to take some big steps to ensure that our cities look spick and span. Known for his unique cleanliness drive that he launched in the city of Pune, here is Adar Poonawalla, CEO, Serum Institute of India talking about his clean city initiative.
Canara Bank has announced a qualified institutional placement (QIP) worth Rs 3,500 crore. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, PV Bharathi, ED of Canara Bank spoke at length about the same.

Bharathi said we are looking to raise funds from domestic and overseas market via QIP.

She further said that the total capital plan is of Rs 6,300 crore and QIP will be of Rs 3,500 crore.

We are projecting tier-1 ratio to reach 9.25 percent by end of FY18, said Bharathi.

Government holding in bank will decline to 57.61 percent post fund raising via QIP, she added.

Talking about numbers, she said Q3 of FY18 loan growth is seen at 8-9 percent.
Reports suggest that the US Department of Homeland Security is readying a proposal that will make getting H-1B visas more difficult.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Sudin Apte, CEO & Research Director at Offshore Insights and Sameer Bendre, Chief People Officer at Persistent Systems shared their views and readings on the same.

Bendre said he has not heard any news on H-1B except reports and speculations.

He further said that the IT industry is prepared for tighter visa rules.

Offshore Insights' Apte said that clients have started turning cautious due to H-1B visa issues.

According to him, uncertainty and lack of clarity worries the IT industry.
The Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has directed Axis Bank to conduct an internal inquiry in the WhatsApp leak case. The inquiry needs to be conducted within a period of 3 months from the date of order and the bank will need to file a report on it within 7 days from the completion of the inquiry.

Moneycontrol had earlier reported that the market regulator had initiated an examination into leakage of price-sensitive information through WhatsApp groups.

SEBI, in a release on Wednesday, said that before its earnings on July 25, 2017, "financial results circulated on the groups were either matching in totality or were close to the actual announcements". The only exception, it said, was the slippage figure as can be seen in the following table:

Source: SEBI notice

SEBI noted that prima facie, the incident could not have happened without leakage from person privy to the financial results. However, it also said that the source of leak couldnt be ascertained.

"Such leakage is prima facie attributable to the inadequacy of the processes/controls/systems that Axis Bank as a listed company had put in place," market regulator said.

Leakage of unpublished financial results is in contravention of regulation 3(1) and (2) of SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations2015(PIT Regulations).

Following the inquiry, SEBI has asked the bank to strengthen its system to ensure that such leak does not happen in future.

SEBI had earlier asked the bank to submit information regarding their Unpublished Price Sensitive Information (UPSI) circulation system.

However, the bank said " it has ensured adherence to the applicable laws and has adopted adequate processes/ controls to maintain confidentiality of price sensitive information relating to the bank."

The bank also submitted details pertaining to preparation of the financial results relating to the quarter under probe. "It was submitted that the process for generation of data started from July 1, 2017 and the financial results were formally disclosed on July 25, 2017," the notice said.
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Realty major DLF announced that its promoters have concluded the sale of 33.34 per cent stake in its rental arm to sovereign wealth fund GIC for nearly Rs 9,000 crore.

In late August, the promoters had sold the entire 40 per cent stake in rental arm DLF Cyber City Developers Ltd (DCCDL) for Rs 11,900 crore and proposed to invest proceeds into DLF.

This deal included sale of 33.34 per cent stake in DCCDL to GIC for Rs 8,900 crore and buyback of remaining shares worth Rs 3,000 crore by DCCDL.

DLF will use the funds to reduce net debt, which has surged to nearly Rs 27,000 crore.

In a late night regulatory filing, DLF stated that subsequent to fulfilment of all conditions specified in the agreement, the sale and purchase of the securities and other closing actions have been completed on December 26, 2017.

"Accordingly, the company and the investor (GIC) now hold 66.66 per cent and 33.34 per cent of the paid-up equity capital in DCCDL, respectively," DLF said in the filing.

According to sources, promoters have received Rs 8,950 crore from GIC and another Rs 1,600 crore from DCCDL as first tranche of the buyback of shares.

On December 1, the Board of Directors had approved the allotment of debentures and warrants to promoters in lieu of their investment of proceeds from this deal into DLF.

A board meeting will be held on December 29 to consider and approve the allotment of debentures and warrants to promoters group entities subject to and in accordance with terms to be approved by the shareholders at their Extra-Ordinary General meeting to be held tomorrow.

The board had approved the preferential offer and issue of up to 37.97 crore compulsorily convertible unsecured debentures (CCDs) to the promoters for cash.

The debentures would be converted into equivalent number of equity shares at Rs 217.25.

That apart, the board approved the preferential issue of up to 13,80,89,758 warrants to the promoters being convertible into shares at the same price.

Upon completion of the issue of debentures and warrants and conversion into equity shares, "the total additional amount of promoter/promoters groups equity contribution to the company will be approximately Rs 11,250 crore."

The board also approved the offer and issue up to 17.30 crore equity shares to eligible investors, in one or more tranches, in India or overseas, by way of public issue or a private placement or a qualified institutional placement.

India's largest realty firm DLF Ltd. plans to raise around Rs 3,500 crore through sale of shares to institutional investors, sources earlier said.

Infusion of capital by promoters will lead to increase in promoters stake in DLF to more than 75 per cent. So, the company plans to launch a QIP or public issue to maintain the minimum public shareholding limit of 25 per cent.
The year gone-by was a landmark year for the judicial system with some crucial verdicts by the Supreme Court bringing closure to long-pending cases.

However, not all judgements were easily accepted by the people and some of them sparked major debates on right and wrong.

Heres a look at some of the key judgements passed in 2017:

The Supreme Court this year struck down the practice of triple talaq (unilateral divorce), calling it illegal. A Constitution Bench of five members, including the Chief Justice of India, voted said the practice was unconstitutional by a 3:2 majority.

According to the draft law  the Muslim Women Protection of Rights on Marriage Bill  any instance of triple talaq will result in the husband doing three years of jail time.

In addition to jail time, a fine will also be levied upon the husband. The draft law, which makes the practice of triple talaq illegal in all Indian states except Jammu and Kashmir, also states that it will be a non-bailable, cognisable offence.

In another landmark judgement, the Supreme Court ruled that right to privacy is a fundamental right emerging from personal liberty and guarantee of life under the Article 21.

"The right to privacy is protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 and as a part of the freedoms guaranteed by Part III of the Constitution," the ruling said.

The decision came in response to a petition challenging the constitutional validity of Aadhaar.

The Supreme Court criminalised sexual intercourse with minor wife aged between 15 and 18 years.

While the court clarified that it was not considering the whole issue of martial rape, it struck down an exception in rape law which allowed husband to have sex with wife aged 15 years and above.

The Supreme court amended the Anti-Dowry Law and laid down new guidelines for dowry-related cases, which rules out immediate arrest of the accused. All districts are now required to constitute Family Welfare Committees to investigate dowry cases.

Under the new law, bail application for the accused can be decided on the same day, no impounding of passports for people residing outside India and no physical appearances in the court.

A CBI court acquitted all 17 accused in the 2G spectrum case on December 21, including former telecom minister A Raja and Kanimozhi, daughter of DMK chief K Karunanidhi.

The court ruled that the prosecution had miserably failed to prove any of the allegations against the accused. However, since this was not a Supreme Court judgement, the case cannot be considered shut, especially since the CBI has made known its intention of appealing the verdict in High Court.

The alleged scam had come to light nearly seven years ago when the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), in a report, accused the former telecom minister A Raja of allocating 2G spectrum licenses at low prices and causing a loss of nearly Rs 1,76,379 crore to state exchequer.

More than two decades later, the TADA court in Mumbai convicted five out of the seven accused in the 1993 blasts in Mumbai. While Tahir Merchant, Riaz Siddique and Firoz Khan were awarded death sentences, Abu Salem and Karimullah Khan were sentenced to life imprisonment.

In October this year, the Allahabad High Court acquitted Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, who were accused of killing their daughter Aarushi and their domestic help Hemraj.

Following the verdict, the Talwars walked out of Ghaziabad Dasna jail after having spent four years there.

In May this year, the Delhi High Court upheld the death sentences of four accused in the December 16 Delhi gangrape case. The accused  Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta, Mukesh Sharma and Vinay Sharma  were sentenced to death by a trial court in 2013.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim found guilty of raping two women

A special CBI court sentenced Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh to 20 years in jail in two separate cases.

The religious leader, who had millions following him and subscribing to his faith, was sentenced to two 10-year terms of imprisonment and fined Rs 30 lakh after being found guilty of raping two women.
Have a long-term outlook | Timing investment is logically impossible because the best entry and exit opportunities are known only in hindsight. No one can predict market movements with certainty. Therefore, it is important to allow your investments to compound over a long term.

There are ample opportunities for investors in the government's ambitious Bharatmala project and its success critically hinges on timely land acquisition and adequate funding, rating agency Icra said today.

The Cabinet approved the Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I, along with other programmes in October 2017 involving around 83,000 km, including Bharatmala's 24,800 km of national highway development by 2021-22.

"The Bharatmala programme has the potential to change the entire landscape, if implemented as per the plan... The new approach is unlike the project-based approach adopted in the past (different stretches in different geographies), which led to inconsistent infrastructure development across corridors," Icra said in a statement.

Shubham Jain, Vice-President and Sector Head, Corporate Ratings, Icra, said the National Highway Development Programme (NHDP), the largest highways project ever undertaken in the country till date, had achieved a progress of 26,255 km in 17 years.

"The cumulative awards and execution for the last eight years by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) stood at 61,977 km and 43,307 km, respectively. Given the past track record, completing 83,000 km by FY2022 looks extremely ambitious," he said.

Land acquisition is seen to be the biggest hurdle to road development.

Fragmented land holdings, lack of clear land titles, dependence on local authorities, inadequate land acquisition plan at the time of preparing detailed project reports and lack of methodology for compensation are major difficulties faced during land acquisition, the agency said.

Icra added that in about 80 per cent of the delayed road projects, the reason for delay is attributable to unavailability of right of way, which is the responsibility of the awarding authority.

"Another major challenge for Bharatmala (unlike NHDP) is compliance to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (RFCTLARR), which led to increase in compensation by four times the market value in rural areas and twice the market value in urban areas, thereby resulting in a steep increase in acquisition cost to upwards of Rs 2.50 crore per hectare currently (as against Rs 0.90 crore per hectare in FY2014)," it stated further.
Government bonds (G-Secs) rebounded following renewed demand from corporates and banks, while the overnight call money rates finished lower due to lack of demand from borrowing banks amid comfortable liquidity situation in the banking system.

The 6.79 percent 10-year benchmark bond maturing in 2027 were rose to Rs 97.10 from Rs 96.73 previously, while, its yield moved down to 7.22 percent from 7.28 percent.

The 6.68 per cent government security maturing in 2031 were gained to Rs 94.50 from Rs 94.19 previously, while its yield eased to 7.32 percent from 7.36 percent.

The 7.16 percent government security maturing in 2023 were went-up to Rs 100.20 from Rs 100.00 previously, while its yield edged down to 7.11 percent from 7.16 percent.

The 7.72 per cent government security maturing in 2025, the 7.68 percent government security maturing in 2023 and the 6.84 percent government security maturing in 2022 were also quoted higher to Rs 102.50, Rs 102.43 and Rs 99.11 respectively.

The overnight call money rates ended lower at 5.95 percent from Tuesday's level 6.00 percent. It resumed higher at 6.05 percent and moving in a range of 6.25 percent and 5.81 percent.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF), purchased securities worth Rs 254.80 billions in 41-bids at the overnight repo auction at a fixed rate of 6.00 percent as on today, its sold securities worth Rs 97.81 billion from 35-bids at the overnight reverse repo auction at a fixed rate of 5.75 percent as on December 26.
Tuticorin Alkali Chemicals & Fertiliser | Promoter entities Southern Petrochemical Industries Corporation, Twinshield Consultants and South India Travels to sell 1,05,72,513 equity shares of the company via offer for sale on November 3-4. (Image: Reuters)

Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatna chief and MP Raju Shetti has said he would move two Private Member bills in Budget session of Lok Sabha next year seeking that farmers be legally protected and their bills be waived in case of a damage caused to their crops due to unforeseen factors.

The MP also said that farmers should get 50 per cent higher MSP on crops as a statutory right.

"I will move two private member bills in the Budget session of Parliament demanding that farmers be given a statutory right not to repay loans they have taken from banks and money lenders in case of an eventuality. I would also demand that farmers get 50 per cent higher MSP as a legal right," Shetti, who represents Hatkanangale Lok Sabha seat in western Maharashtra, told reporters here.

He appealed to all political parties to support the passage of bills in the interest of farmers and "show their genuine concern for farmers".

The farmer leader is currently on visit of Vidarbha region in east Maharashtra.

He blamed the government's import-export policy for the indebtedness of farmers.

"We had discussed these two bills during 'Kisan Mukti Sansad' convened in Delhi last month wherein 180 farmer organisations from across the country took part," Shetti said.

He alleged the government failed to take any concrete action against pink bollworm infestation on crops in Vidarbha and Marathwada regions of the state.

"I was expecting that the government would take some concrete decision on the paddy and cotton losses caused to farmers due to the bollworm attack, in recently-held winter session in Nagpur," he said.

Shetti said there was no clarity on when the affected farmers would get the compensation announced by the state government through various agencies and concerned BT seeds companies.

"Similarly, there is no clarity whether the Central government has approved the compensation through NDRF," Shetti said.

He said part of losses should be recovered from the concerned BT seeds companies and the government should put restrictions on them until losses are recovered.

"We are not against technology but against faulty technology which affected farmers," the MP said.

Shetti indicated launching of a massive 'Jan Andolan' (people's movement) against the "injustice meted out to farmers".

To a query on a proposal that the next monsoon session of the state legislature be conducted in Nagpur, Shetti said what matters is the serious discussions on issues of farmers.

He proposed a five-week long special session for farmers in Vidarbha region.

Though he didn't mention Vidarbha, Shetti supported creation of small states for welfare of regions.
Rajiv Kumar, Niti Aayog

Year 2018 for the Niti Aayog, by all means, is going to be challenging -- after all, it has arguably the toughest job of giving shape to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for a New India by 2022 and a sharper focus on agriculture, malnutrition, higher education and jobs.

The Aayog, Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar says, has already met various stakeholders and will soon finalise the New India @2022 vision document.

"In the next calendar year 2018, we (Niti Aayog) will focus even more on agricultural transformation, malnutrition, higher education and employment generation," Kumar told PTI. "We are now trying to work on giving substance to the Prime Minister's call for New India by 2022... so, we will complete that (New India @2022 vision document) soon and once that is over, we will work on the 15-year vision document."

The Niti Aayog is the government's premier think-tank, with the Prime Minister as its chairman.

The Aayog had earlier planned to come out with three documents -- 3-year action agenda, 7-year medium-term strategy paper and 15-year vision document.

Kumar said the Aayog will continue to keep the twin tasks of co-operative and competitive federalism on its radar.

"I think we will continue with our twin tasks of co- operative and competitive federalism, and in this regard, I have already visited 11 states and will visit other states next year so that they seriously consider the Niti Aayog as their outpost at the Centre. And we can together design state specific development plans," the Niti Aayog V-C noted.

About the economy, he observed that private capex investment is on the rise and "we will see more rapid growth and also generation of quality employment".

"And by this time next year, let us say in the next 12 months in the third quarter of 2018-19, I would see the economy at 7.5 per cent and growing upwards. In another two years from now, we would have reached 8 per cent," Kumar asserted.

His bets on a double-digit economic growth during the next five years are based on huge formalisation, ease of doing business and simplification of investment rules.

One of the priorities for the Aayog, he said, will be to push India's export in 2018 as out-bound shipments play a critical role in creating high-quality jobs.

"Export promotion is extremely critical. We have just completed the work of taskforce on employment and exports and submitted our recommendations to the commerce minister. And in our recommendations, we have picked up those exports which are employment intensive," Kumar said.

In 2017, Arvind Panagariya left the Niti Aayog as its first V-C and was succeeded by Kumar.

The Indian-American, who had taken charge at the Niti Aayog in January 2015, was the second high-profile academician-economist after former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan to quit a top job in India to return to teaching in the US.

Like Rajan, the 64-year old Panagariya, professor of Indian Political Economy at the Columbia University, was outspoken on issues, including labour reforms, privatisation of Air India and sick PSUs, for which RSS-affiliate Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) had accused the Niti Aayog of furthering the corporate lobby's agenda.

2017 also turned out to be a year of flip-flops for the premier body.

Its member Bibek Debroy in April created a controversy by making a strong case for bringing agriculture income under the tax net. The Aayog quickly distanced itself from the Debroy's comment, saying it was Debroy's personal view and there was no proposal in the 3-year action agenda to tax farm income.

Taxing agriculture income is a political hot potato and successive governments have stayed away from experimenting with it.

During the year, the government body also faced flak for a survey on ease of doing business, which suggested that it takes longer time to set up business in India than previous estimates. The survey, which was jointly conducted by the Aayog and IDFC Institute, had stated that it takes 118 days on an average to set up a business in India.

The findings were at sharp variance with the World Bank report, which showed that it took just 26 days to set up a business in India in 2016.

During 2017, the Niti Aayog also came out with the National Nutrition Strategy, the draft National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill, 2017, and a report titled 'India Leaps Ahead: Transformative Mobility Solution' on electric vehicles.

It also recommended a list of 23 sick CPSEs for privatisation, which is being looked into by the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM).

The Aayog also organised Champions of Change programme for over 200 CEOs and the 8th edition of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES).
Govt may consider bringing back fixed term employment

Government may bring back the fixed-term employment amendment allowing employers to hire workers for short-term contracts, Business Standard reported following repeated demands from the industry.

December 27, 2017 / 11:22 AM IST

Government may bring back the fixed-term employment amendment allowing employers to hire workers for short-term contracts, Business Standard reported

Earlier this year, the government allowed fixed-term employment in the textile sector, following which the other industries particularly food processing units have been demanding to allow them to hire workers for a fixed contract period.

We have received representations from various industries to allow flexibility in hiring workers in seasonal jobs. The latest demand has come from the food-processing industry. Instead of giving sector-wise relaxation, we may look at allowing fixed-term employment for all the industries, a senior Labour and Employment Ministry official told the paper on condition of anonymity.



Under fixed-term employment, industries can employ workers for short assignments and terminate their services once the projects are completed. Such a proposal is likely to allow industries to hire workers for seasonal or project-based works, for which companies refrain from hiring permanent workers due to the short-term projects and processes involved in their retrenchment.



In cases of termination of a permanent employee, companies are required to follow a process of retrenchment as per the Industrial Disputes Act, which includes giving notice, paying compensation, and intimating the government.



The proposal also entitles every employee to all the statutory benefits available to a permanent worker in the factory including a right to be a member of a trade union.



It is a win-win situation for both worker and employer as on one hand, it provides flexibility for employing workers as per the demands of the market and on the other hand, it ensures worker hired gets equal benefits and working condition at par with the permanent employee, the Ministry of Labour and Employment had earlier said in a statement.



The Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) said in its working paper titled Labour Regulations and Growth of Manufacturing and Employment in India: Balancing Protection and Flexibility that giving fixed-term workers a minimum employment contract for six months and the right to be members of the trade union are important safeguards for fixed-term workers.



On December 15, the Union Cabinet had approved a Rs 2,600 crore special package for the leather and footwear sector, which included a provision to hire workers under fixed-term employment in these sectors. The government stated the move was taken in order to attract large-scale investments at a global scale.

In October last year, the Ministry of Labour and Employment had allowed the apparel manufacturing sector to hire workers on fixed-term contracts after it notified changes to the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Central Rules, 1946.

As per the amendment, employers are not required to give a notice to a fixed-term worker on non-renewal or expiry of his or her contract. It also allows industries to hire a worker for a fixed-term without mediation by a contractor.

The proposal guaranteeing fixed working hours, wages, and allowances to workers, however, has met with strong opposition from Central trade unions ever since it was introduced in 2003 by the previous NDA government.

We are demanding an increase in permanent employment. Contractors terminate the employment of workers at a time when they get skilled while doing the job. So, instead of bringing fixed-term employment, the government should fix the issues related to dealing with contractors in hiring workers, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) General-Secretary Virjesh Upadhyay told the paper.

The amendment was scrapped in 2007 by the UPA government following the pressure from trade unions. In April 2015, the NDA government brought back the discussion on the same by issuing draft rules to amend the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Central (Amendment) Rules, 2015.

In 2016, the then Labour and Employment Minister Bandaru Dattatreya shelved this proposal due to strong opposition from trade unions.
Employees work at a construction site in Kiev, Ukraine, March 4, 2017. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko - RTS11O10

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Jaypee Infratech, subsidiary of debt-ridden Jaypee Group plans to speed up deliveries of over 5,100 apartments and plots by March 2018 to save itself from the continuing battle with the homebuyers and lenders, reports The Economic Times.

The company had, in 2007, planned to construct over 32,000 flats and some plots under the Integrated Wish Town project located on the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway.

For the current financial year, the company is likely to deliver 11,100 apartments and plots in the Wish Town project.

Earlier this month, Insolvency Resolution Professional (IRP) Anuj Jain while replying to Jaypee homebuyers letters had assured them that he will be taking necessary measures for the protection of the interest of homebuyers.

Jaiprakash Associates advisor, Ajit Kumar told the financial daily the construction is being agreed upon, and managed by the IRP. Approximately 600 units have applied for occupation certificates (OC) with the Noida Authority and believe to receive them very soon.

He further added they would apply for OC for another 4,500 units between December and March.
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Although the market has seen rangebound trade in the current festive season, it has been hitting fresh highs day-after-day. The 30-share BSE Sensex crossed another milestone of 34,000 in previous session and maintained that level in Wednesday's trade.

The 50-share NSE Nifty also traded above 10,500 level, rising more than 28 percent, so far, in current calendar year. The rally was largely driven by liquidity on hopes of recovery in corporate earnings & economic growth, and government reforms.

The broader markets also participated in the rally, outperforming frontline indices. The Nifty Midcap shot up more than 45 percent year-to-date.

The market buoyancy is likely to continue in 2018 as well, though it could be volatile due to events like states elections, Union Budget. The Nifty50 is expected to give 10-15 percent return and the midcaps are likely to continue their outperformance in the coming year, experts suggest.

"We expect Indian markets to remain highly volatile in CY2018 led by domestic and global factors. While we do not expect a similar run on Nifty as in CY2017, we do expect it to generate around 15 percent in CY2018," Ajay Jaiswal, President  Strategies & Head of Research at Stewart & Mackertich Wealth Management said.

He expects Nifty to trade around 16.50 times FY20(E) EPS of around 734 towards the end of December 2018, which leads to a level of around 12,111.

However, select stocks and sectors would continue to outperform benchmark returns by a wide margin, he feels.

Geojit Financial Services has come out with a list of top 10 stocks that rallied up to 155 percent in 2017, but can still give up to 25% return in 2018:

Bank of Baroda

Bank of Baroda is one of India's largest banks with strong domestic presence spanning across 5,422 branches. The bank also has significant international presence with a network of 106 branches across 25 countries.

Given the management's focus on cleaning up the balance sheet and laying the foundation for sustainable growth, the gradual improvement in asset quality will lead to better profitability.

As a result, we expect return on assets and return on equity to improve to 0.5 percent and 9 percent, respectively by FY19.

We maintain Buy rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 208.

Can Fin Homes

Can Fin Homes is a south based housing finance company sponsored by Canara Bank with focus on Tier 1 and 2 cities.

Given the strong traction in loan book expansion and sustained healthy asset quality (gross/net NPA at 0.2 percent / 0.0 percent as of FY17) and its premium valuations within the housing finance companies space is justified.

We project Can Fin Homes to deliver around 2 percent return on asset over FY17-19. We recommend Buy rating with a target price of Rs 612 per share.

UPL

UPL is a leading manufacturer of crop protection products and ranks among the top five generic agro-chemical companies globally. It offers a range of crop protection products, such as herbicides, insecticides and fungicides.

We expect EBITDA / PAT to grow at a strong CAGR of 17.4 / 13.7 percent over FY17-19 led by better product mix, backward integration, new product launches and rising market share in high-growth countries like Brazil and India. We value UPL at P/E of 17x on FY19 with a target price of Rs 887 and we have Buy rating for the stock.

InterGlobe Aviation

InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo) is one of the most efficient low cost carriers with a market share of 40 percent in Indian aviation sector.

We are positive on IndiGo given increasing air travel penetration, market leadership position, and strong balance sheet. We value at P/E of 20x on FY19 with a target price of Rs 1,426 and recommend a Buy rating.

NBCC

NBCC is a Navaratna enterprise under Ministry of Urban Development. Its business verticals include - project management consultancy, engineering, procurement & construction, and real estate business.

NBCC is at sweet spot considering its huge order book, limited competition and expertise in executing large projects. More potential opportunities are in pipeline from Dharvi, Railway station redevelopment and irrigation project in Maharashtra.

Given strong execution capability, we expect FY18 EBITDA margin to improve by 34 bps to 6.8 percent and FY19 margin to 6.9 percent.

Given strong earnings outlook, we value NBCC's core business at a P/E of 30x on FY20 and Rs 25 per share for land parcel held to arrive at SOTP target price of Rs 294 and maintain Buy.

Bharat Electronics

Bharat Electronics is a Navaratna enterprise having 37 percent market share in Indian defence electronics. Its core capabilities are in radar and weapons systems, defence communication and electronic warfare.

In recent times, BEL's valuation has significantly re-rated due to strong order inflow and improvement in earnings profile. Given its robust order book and healthy order pipeline we continue maintain a strong Buy rating for the stock. We value BEL at P/E of 22x on FY20 with a target price of Rs 216 per share.

PNC Infratech

PNC Infratech is an infrastructure construction, development and management company; expertise in execution of projects including highways, bridges, flyovers, airport runways, industrial areas and transmission lines.

Given strong order book (Rs 11,148 crore) and lean balance sheet, we maintain our positive view and value standalone business at a P/E of 18x FY20 EPS, and BOT/HAM projects at 1.2x P/B with a change in rating from Hold to Accumulate.

The overall visibility has improved and we expect progress in awarding new road projects by MoRTH, NHAI will drive order book by 19 percent CAGR over FY17-19.

Bharat Forge

Bharat Forge is a leading player in the forgings industry. The company is serving, several sectors including automobile, power, oil & gas, rail & marine, aerospace, construction, mining etc.

We expect Bharat Forge to register 17 percent revenue CAGR over FY17-19 on account of healthy demand from US commercial vehicle, revival of oil & gas sector and new order from domestic auto and non-auto space.

De-risking the utilisation in non-auto segment and ramp up of passenger vehicle sales will support growth. We expect Bharat Forge to trade at a premium valuation given its strong earnings outlook.

We expect the earning to grow by 40 percent CAGR over FY17-19 factoring higher export mix. We maintain our rating as Buy with a revised target price of Rs 810 per share.

Escorts

Escorts is the third largest agricultural tractor manufacturer in India. It has a strong presence in the north and west market, with an overall market share of 11 percent as on FY17.

We believe that the current valuation is justifiable on the back of robust earnings outlook and initial favourable monsoon. We value Escorts at 22x on FY20 EPS with a revised target price of Rs 829 and maintain our rating as accumulate.

Hindalco Industries

Hindalco Industries, an Aditya Birla Group Company, is an industry leader in aluminium and copper. The acquisition of Novelis in 2007 placed the company among the world's leading manufacturers of aluminium.

We maintain our positive stance on the stock on the backdrop of company's continued focus on deleveraging its balance sheet and improvement in free cash flow generation.

Additionally, improving earnings visibility at Novelis with higher proportion of high margin auto sheet business and sustenance of competitiveness in the domestic market led by its low cost of production and higher coal linkages will drive growth going forward.

We value Hindalco based on SOTP, valuing both standalone and Novelis business at 6x EV/EBITDA. Recommend Accumulate with a target price of Rs 287.

: The views and investment tips expressed by brokerage houses on moneycontrol.com are his own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
The bulls failed to maintain their control over D-Street in the last hour of the trading session on Wednesday and closed below its crucial support zone of 10500 levels. The index made a small bearish candle on the daily candlestick charts ahead of December expiry.

The Nifty50 corrected after making a fresh all-time high but bounced back from its 5-days exponential moving average (5-DEMA) placed at 10,474 to close at 10,490, down 40 points. It rose to a fresh record high of 10,522.40.

A Hanging Man type pattern formed in the previous trading session gave a heads up to investors that the momentum is waning. Investors are advised to remain cautious and avoid buying on dips until some signs of strength are visible.

Fear appears to have gripped the traders at higher levels as Nifty50 failed to witness follow-through buying to Tuesdays trading sessions new lifetime highs as it registered a small bearish candle in Wednesdays session, Mazhar Mohammad, Chief Strategist  Technical Research & Trading Advisory, Chartviewindia.in told Moneycontrol.

As our twin momentum oscillators generated a sell signal simultaneously correction should ideally get extended for next couple of trading sessions unless Nifty50 recovers and closes above 10550 levels, he said.

Mohammad is of the view that on the downsides initial supports should be available close to 10400 levels whereas upsides, if any, shall continue to be capped around 10600  650 levels.

As risk-reward ratios also not in favor of bulls, Mohammad advises traders to remain in cash levels and to avoid buying initial dip without signs of strength.

India VIX moved up by 3.65 percent at 12.49. Volatility moved higher for the second session in a row. Overall lower volatility is supporting the Bullish bias of the market, as long as the number stays below 15.

A sudden drop in the index could indicate some caution ahead of December F&O expiry. Till now, the Nifty rolls were 47 percent, up from 30 percent recorded in the previous trading session.

We have collated the top ten data points to help you spot profitable trade:

Key Support & Resistance Level for Nifty

The Nifty closed at 10,490.8 on Wednesday. According to Pivot charts, the key support level is placed at 10,455.87, followed by 10,420.93. If the index starts to move higher, key resistance levels to watch out are 10,539.07 and 10,587.33.

Nifty Bank

The Nifty Bank closed at 25,496.1. Important Pivot level, which will act as crucial support for the index, is placed at 25,372.73, followed by 25,249.37. On the upside, key resistance levels are 25,676.33, followed by 25,856.57.

Call Options Data

Maximum Call open interest (OI) of 54.59 lakh contracts stands at strike price 10,600, which will act as a crucial resistance level for the index in the December series; followed by 10,500, which now holds 45.63 lakh contracts in open interest, and 10,700, which has accumulated 28.36 lakh contracts in OI.

Call writing was seen at a strike price of 10,600, which saw the addition of 9.4 lakh contracts.

Call unwinding was seen at strike 10,500, which shed 9.81 lakh contracts, followed by 10,700, which shed 6.83 lakh contracts and 10,400, which shed 5.46 lakh contracts.

Put Options Data

Maximum put OI of 64.48 lakh contracts was seen at strike price 10,000, which will act as a crucial base for the index in December series; followed by 10,200, which now holds 47.19 lakh contracts and 10,400 which has now accumulated 46.41 lakh contracts

in open interest.

There was hardly any Put writing seen.

Put unwinding was seen at strike 10,400, which shed 12.84 lakh contracts, followed by 10,500, which shed 12.11 lakh contracts and 10,000, which shed 6.41 lakh contracts.

FII & DII Data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 172.32 crore, while domestic institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 206.68 crore in the Indian equity market on Wednesday, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

Fund Flow Picture:

Stocks with high delivery percentage:

High delivery percentage suggests that investors are accepting the delivery of the stock, which means that investors are bullish on the stock.

26 stocks saw long build-up:

38 stocks saw short covering:

A decrease in open interest along with an increase in price mostly indicates short covering.

68 stocks saw short build-up:

An increase in open interest along with a decrease in price mostly indicates short positions being built up.

82 stocks saw long unwinding:

Long unwinding happens when there is a decrease in OI as well as in price.

Bulk Deals:

3i Infotech: Adroit Financial Services traded around 1.05 crore shares at Rs 6.4 apiece.

Reliance Comm: Adroit Financial Services traded around 4.1 crore shares at Rs 27.2 apiece

Dynamic Equities bought and sold 1.7 crore shares at Rs 27.3 apiece.

Purity Trademax traded 2.93 crore shares at Rs 27.3

Shaastra Securities Trading traded 4.4 crore shares at Rs 27.9 apiece.

Analyst Meet/Briefings:

HDFC Asset Management met the management of Astral Poly at Ahmedabad.

Stocks in news:

Corporation Bank: K Srinivasa Murthy nominated as part-time non-official director.

Axis Bank: Allotted 12,650 shares under ESOP scheme.

Dr Reddys Labs: Allotted 6,260 shares under ESOP scheme.

Tech Mahindra: Closure of trading window from January 1

IDBI Bank: Closure of trading window from December 31.

Jubilant Consumer: Pledge and release of some shares of Jubilant Foodworks on December 21.

SBI: Board approves raising Rs 8,000 crore via tier-1 bonds

Maruti Suzuki: Signs pact with government of NCT to set up automated driving centres across 12 locations in the city

Vedanta to buy majority stake in Japan's AvanStrate Inc

Star Cement gets Rs 158 crore as capital investment subsidy

NBFCs retail credit growth seen at 16-18% in FY18: ICRA

Tata Steel raising Khondbond mine output to fuel Kalinganagar plant in Odisha

Indian Overseas Bank to sell Rs600 crore worth exposure in Bhushan Steel

Cairn India acquires 51% stake in AvanStrate from Carlyle Group

DoT suggests cutting GST on telecom services to 12%: Manoj Sinha

Aion-JSW Steel Files . 3,500-cr Resolution Plan for Monnet Ispat

Lupin Drags Govt to Court Over Double Taxation Fear

Moody's lowers OIL's baseline credit rating to baa3 from baa2

Aurobindo gets USFDA nod for deep vein thrombosis drug

13 stocks under ban period on NSE

Security in ban period for the next trade date under the F&O segment includes companies in which the security has crossed 95 percent of the market-wide position limit.

Securities which are banned for trading include names such as Balrampur Chini, DHFL, DLF, GMR Infra, IFCI, HDIL, Jet Airways, Jain Irrigations Systems, JP Associates, Reliance Capital, Reliance Communications, TV18 Broadcast, and Wockhardt.
City planning authority MMRDA signed two agreements for construction of packages 1 and 3 of the ambitious Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) project.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) signed the agreements with L&T and Japan-based IHI Infrastructure Systems Co for 10.38 km package 1 worth Rs 7,637.30 crore.

The Authority entered into a separate agreement with L&T for 3.61 km package 3 involving a cost of Rs 1013.79 crore.

"This is a major step towards attaining faster connectivity with Navi Mumbai and Konkan region and its development," Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on the occasion.

He further said MTHL was a much-awaited project and it will be constructed as early as possible.

"The project will open up innumerable avenues in terms of connectivity, communication, infrastructure and job opportunities," Fadnavis added.

Speaking at the event, Japan's Minister of Transport and Tourism, Land, Infrastructure, Keiichi ISHII said the Indo-Japan relationship will go a long way as the project is financed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

"We are committed to join hands with India for the development of infrastructure as we strongly believe that only efficient infrastructure puts countries on the forward path," he added.

An agreement for package 2 of 7.807 km will be entered into with Daewoo and Tata Projects soon and the cost of the contract is Rs 5,612.61 crore, MMRDA said in a statement.

MTHL is a 21.80-km long, 6-lane bridge with emergency maintenance lane on either side., including a 16.5-km bridge across Mumbai bay with 5.5-km viaducts on land on either side.

The link will have interchanges at Sewri in Mumbai and at Shivaji Nagar and Chirle on NH-4B on Navi Mumbai side.

"The project will help develop Navi Mumbai and part of Raigad District providing faster connectivity with the Mumbai and proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport saving commuters' time and fuel. The project will also help environment with reduced congestion and transportation time," MMRDA Metropolitan Commissioner UPS Madan said.
To avoid the potential conflict of interest, markets regulator Sebi is considering to put a 10 per cent cross-shareholding cap in mutual funds, senior officials said.

The new measure may have an impact on the shareholding pattern of UTI Asset Management Company (AMC).

State Bank of India (SBI), Punjab National Bank (PNB), Bank of Baroda (BoB) and Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) are having their own mutual funds and at the same time they hold 18.24 per cent stake each in UTI AMC.

The issue would be taken up at the board meeting of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) tomorrow, they added.

Under the proposal, any shareholder owning at least 10 per cent stake in an AMC will not be allowed to have a 10 per cent or more stake in another mutual fund house operating in the country.

Further, a sponsor of a mutual fund, its associates, group company and its asset management company will be restricted from holding 10 per cent or more stake in a rival AMC.

In addition, such entities will be barred from having a representation on the board of another mutual fund house.

The new norms are aimed at avoiding any conflict of interest and help in strengthening the governance structure for mutual funds.

In addition, Sebi may come out with a new framework for Investment Advisor in order to segregate advisory and the role of a distributor.

However, mutual fund distributors while distributing the investment product can explain the features of the product to client.

To prevent the conflict of interest that exists between 'advising' of investment products and 'selling' of investment products by the same entity/person, there should be clear segregation between these two activities, the officials said.

Existing registered investment advisers who are offering distribution services through a separate division would be given an option to choose between providing investment advice and distribution service before March 31, 2019.

"From April 1, 2019, any person, including their immediate relatives or holding or subsidiary or associate entity shall offer either investment advice or distribution services," an official said.

Further, the board may come out with a fresh consultation paper in this regard.

Sebi had first issued a discussion paper that outlined the road map of distribution and advice in October 2016 and a revised consultation paper was issued in June.
22:00 That's all for today, readers. Thanks for staying on with our coverage of the day's action. Your enthusiasm encourages us to better our coverage every day. Do come back tomorrow for more news, views and insights.

21:56 PM does not question Singh's integrity, Jaitley tells Rajya Sabha to end stalemate

The government said in Parliament today that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has never questioned Manmohan Singh's integrity and commitment to

the nation, ending a deadlock that had paralysed the House for nearly two weeks.

On its part, the Congress party said it does not approve of any remarks made against the prime minister, apparently in a reference to the "neech" remark made by its leader, Mani Shankar Aiyar.

21:39 Over 3,000 trains delayed due to fog in November-December: Railways

More than 3,000 trains were delayed due to fog between November 1 and December 21 this year, Parliament was informed today.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said 3,119 trains were delayed during the period on account of fog.

21:20 Indian economy to be 5th largest in 2018: World Economic League

India's economy is expected to overtake that of Britain and France to become the world's fifth largest in dollar terms in 2018 and third largest in 2032, the World Economic League Table (WELT) said today.

It would be the first time when the Indian economy will overtake the UK and France in real money dollar terms, the ninth-edition of the report released by London-based Centre for Economics and Business Research showed.

The world economic league table has forecast for 192 countries up to the year 2032. (PTI)

21:03 Government trims small savings schemes interest rates by 20 basis points

The government today slashed interest rates on small savings schemes, including NSC and PPF, by 0.2 percentage point for the January-March period from the rates applicable in the previous quarter, a move that will prompt banks to lower deposit rates.

At the same time, investments in the five-year Senior Citizens Savings Scheme has been retained at 8.3 percent. The interest rate on the senior citizens scheme is paid quarterly.

A finance ministry notification said rates have been reduced across the board for schemes such as National Savings Certificate (NSC), Sukanya Samriddhi Account, Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) and Public Provident Fund (PPF). However, interest on savings deposits has been retained at 4 percent annually.

20:51 Airbus ready to axe A380 if fails to win Emirates deal: Sources

Airbus is drawing up contingency plans to phase out production of the world's largest jetliner, the A380 superjumbo, if it fails to win a key order from Dubai's Emirates, three people familiar with the matter said.

The moment of truth for the slow-selling airliner looms after just 10 years in service and leaves one of Europe's most visible international symbols hanging by a thread, despite a major airline investment in new cabins unveiled this month. (Reuters)

20:35 SEBI orders Axis Bank to conduct internal inquiry, submit report

SEBI has ordered Axis Bank to strengthen its processes to ensure that such of leakage do not recur in future

Axis Bank has been asked to conduct an internal inquiry into the leakage, in accordance with law.

The inquiry shall be completed within a period of 3 months and within 7 days from the completion thereof, Axis Bank shall file a report to SEBI.

20:22 Israel wants to build "Trump station" near Western Wall

Israel wants to name a train station after Donald Trump to thank him for recognising Jerusalem as its capital, but the site of the planned building could be as divisive as the United States President's declaration.

Transport Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday he had chosen a proposed subway stop near the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City - right in the middle of the area that the Palestinians want as their own future capital.

20:05 BREAKING | WhatsApp case - SEBI pulls up Axis Bank for allegedly leaking price sensitive info

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has issued directions to Axis Bank in respect to leakage of unpublished Q1 earnings information through WhatsApp.

SEBI has initiated a preliminary examination over alleged leak. During the course of preliminary examination, SEBI observed that the messages circulated in WhatsApp groups almost matched with the quarterly financial results of Axis Bank for June 2017, which were published subsequently.

19:54 FM Jaitley meets consultative panel members to discuss Budget

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today sought views of members of the consultative committee attached to the finance and corporate affairs ministries as part of the pre-budget consultation process, an official statement said.

This was the 3rd meeting of the committee.

The meeting was called to ascertain pre-budget consultation suggestions from the members, the statement said.

19:41 Jaya death probe panel issues notice to Dhinakaran, 4 others

A one-man inquiry commission on the death of J Jayalalithaa has issued notice to rival AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran seeking information known to him on her hospitalisation and treatment.

Jailed AIADMK leader V K Sasikalas niece Krishnapriya, two government doctors and S Poongundran, who had served as an aide to the late chief minister, have been issued summons, commission sources said today.

19:24 Maharashtra govt mulls passing Budget during winter session

The Maharashtra government is toying with the idea of getting the annual budget passed in the state legislature during the winter session held in December, a senior official said.The official, however, said that the move is still at a discussion stage.

"If the budget presentation is done in December, (instead of March) the implementation of the budget can start in January. This is part of the move to have January-December fiscal format," he added.

19:02 Tibet earthquake caused Brahmaputras turbidity: China

China today said a 6.9-magnitude earthquake in Tibet in mid-November had caused turbidity in the Brahmaputra waters, which had sparked concerns in India.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying also said the recent tests showed that the water quality met the standards of Class III water.

Class III is generally regarded as good for fish regeneration and wildlife.

18:42 Lok Sabha passes Bill for GST cess hike on luxury cars to 25%

The Lok Sabha today approved a bill to hike cess on luxury vehicles from 15 per cent to 25 per cent with a view to enhance funds to compensate states for revenue loss following the rollout of GST.

The GST (Compensation to States) Amendment Bill, 2017, was passed by the Lower House amid uproar by the opposition over controversial comments made by Union Minister Anant Kumar Hegde on secularism and the Constitution.

The Bill seeks to replace the Ordinance which was issued in September to give effect to the decision of the GST Council. The Ordinance provided for a hike in the GST cess on a range of cars from mid-size to hybrid variants and the luxury ones to 25 per cent.

18:29 CBI software programmer arrested for Tatkal tickets scam

The CBI today arrested its software programmer for developing an illicit software to subvert the railways Tatkal reservation system, allowing hundreds of tickets to be booked in one go.

Ajay Garg, an assistant programmer with CBI, worked with IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd) for four years between 2007-11 where he learnt the vulnerabilities of the railway ticketing system, sources said.

18:01 UDAN: No GST on Viability Gap Funding disbursement

The government has decided not to levy the Goods and Services Tax on disbursement of Viability Gap Funding extended to select airlines under the regional connectivity scheme (RCS).

The RCS, also known as UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik), took off earlier this year with five airline operators being awarded 128 routes after the first round of bidding process.

17:48 NBFCs retail credit growth seen at 16-18% in FY18: ICRA

The retail credit growth for non-banking financial companies is likely to be moderate at 16-18 percent in the current fiscal, helped by some asset classes, such as SME credit, says an ICRA report.

NBFC retail credit grew by nearly 16 percent year-on-year to Rs 6.6 trillion as of September, against 15 percent in FY17 and 19 percent in FY16.

17:28 Tata Steel raising Khondbond mine output to fuel Odisha unit

Tata Steel is ramping up production at its Khondbond iron ore mine in Odisha to fuel the expansion of the Kalinganagar plant, a company official said.However, the requirement for coking coal will be met through imports and the company will keep looking for opportunities to bid for fresh leases of coking coal, the official who requested not to be quoted, said.

Last week, Tata Steel Board decided to expand the capacity of Kalinganagar plant in Odisha by 5 million tonne per annum (MTPA) to 8 MTPA with an investment of Rs 23,500 crore.

17:09 Government will borrow Rs 50,000 crore extra via gilts in January-March 2018. The yields may rise tomorrow on higher than expected borrowing. The government is also likely to issue Rs 1.79 lakh crore worth T-bills in this period.

Government will borrow between now & March 2018, not be raising any net additional borrowing (T-Bills will be run down by Rs 61,203 crore and additional G-Sec borrowing will be Rs 50,000 crore)

In Union Budget 2017-18, Gross & net market borrowing were budgeted at Rs 5,80,000 crore and Rs 4,23,226 crore respectively with Rs 3,48,226 crore being raised (net) from dated Government securities and  2,002 crore from T-bills.

Borrowings in FY18 till 26.12.17 has been conducted in line with borrowing calendar for FY18. Gross & net market borrowings in FY 18 Rs 5,21,000 crore and Rs 3,81,281 crore, excluding buyback/switches, respectively

16:38 Malegaon blasts case: All accused are already out on bail and will continue to be on bail, All previous bonds and sureties are to continue according to special NIA Court (ANI)

16:36 DoT suggests reducing GST on telecom services to 12%: Manoj Sinha

The Telecom Department has suggested the Finance Ministry that GST for telecom services be lowered to 12 per cent against the existing 18 per cent, Parliament was informed today.

The recommendation was made during the process of the Budget exercise, and the matter is with the Department of Revenue under Ministry of Finance for necessary action, Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.

16:31 Malegaon blasts case: Sadhvi Pragya, Ramesh Upadhyay, Ajay Rahikar, Lt Col Purohit discharged under MCOCA and 17, 20 and 13 of UAPA and arms act (ANI)

16:27 No job creation road map by PM's Eco Advisory Council so far'

The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister set up recently has not laid down any roadmap for job creation and infrastructure financing, but has taken up wide ranging issues on macro economy, agriculture and health, Parliament was informed today.

The Council has held three meetings so far and deliberated on wide ranging issues including review of macro- economy, agriculture and rural development, skill upgradation, enhancing investments in health, among others, Minister of State for Planning Rao Inderjit Singh said in a written reply in Lok Sabha.

16:15 12-point draft plan formulated to combat air pollution in NCR region

Coordinated action to combat stubble burning, commissioning studies and launch of a hotline and an app to report violations are some of the measures in the 12-point draft plan formulated by a high-level task force to combat air pollution in the NCR region.

The draft action plan also calls for formulating a journey planner app which integrates the Metro, the DIMTS and the DTC services and integrated ticketing across the DTC, cluster and metro within six months.

The high-level task force headed by the principal secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi has formulated the draft 'Air Action Plan Abatement of Air Pollution in the Delhi NCR' and has invited suggestions in 15 days to make it more "effective and practical".

16:06 People have clearly understood the 2G case verdict: A Raja

Senior DMK leader A Raja today said the people have clearly understood the court verdict in the 2G spectrum scam case, which exonerated him and asserted that it would reflect in the next assembly election in the state.

Referring to the 'rousing' reception accorded to him by the party supporters here, he told reporters that it was an indication that people had clearly understood the court verdict in the 2G spectrum allocation case.

16:00 I just want to say that Modi ji and our govt are committed to the constitution of India and ideals of Baba Saheb Ambedkar: Ananth Kumar,Parliamentary Affairs Minister in Lok Sabha on Opposition uproar over Union Minister Ananth Kumar Hegde's remark

15:55 The National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second (Amendment) Bill, 2017 passed in the Lok Sabha (ANI)

15:53 Oil remains near 2015 highs on tight market outlook

Oil prices on Wednesday remained near two-and-a-half year highs from the previous session as the market outlook for 2018 is relatively tight, although the gradual resumption of flows through a major North Sea pipeline prevented crude from rising.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $59.87 a barrel at 0754 GMT, down 10 cents from their last settlement. WTI broke through $60 a barrel for the first time since June 2015 in the previous session.

15:42 South Korea prosecutors seek 12 years jail for Samsung heir Lee in corruption case

South Korean prosecutors sought a 12-year jail term on Wednesday for Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee, in a corruption case that led to the ouster of the nation's president earlier this year.

They made their demand in the Seoul High Court which is hearing an appeal by Lee against a five-year jail term handed out to him in August by a lower court in the case that has gripped the country.

The 49-year-old billionaire heir to South Korea's Samsung Group was convicted by the lower court of bribing the country's former president Park Geun-hye.

15:35 Nepal rejects India's offer to jointly re-measure Mount Everest

Nepal has rejected India's offer to jointly re-measure the height of the world's highest peak Mount Everest following the massive earthquake in 2015 and will carry out the exercise on its own, a top official of the Himalayan nation's survey department has said.

Nepal will, however, seek help from India and China for getting crucial data for the exercise, Nepal's Survey Department's Director General Ganesh Bhatta told PTI.

15:15 JUST IN There was something in Kulbhushan Jadhavs wifes shoe. It is being investigated: Pak Foreign Office, tweets News 18

15:09 PM Modi is the new Santa for new India: Ananth Kumar

"NAMO is the new Santa who brings good news for a new India. In the last three and a half years, the prime minister has only worked hard for the nation and its people," Parliamentary Affairs minister Ananth Kumar told ANI.

14:37 Around 20-25% retail jobs would require new skills by 2022: Report

Almost 20 per cent to 25 per cent of the workforce in the retail sector would be deployed in

jobs that have radically changed skill set requirements in the next five years, according to a recently released report.

The joint report by FICCI-NASSCOM and EY on the nature of jobs pointed out that 95 per cent of industry experts believed that creation of highly optimised supply chains would drive growth in retail in the next five years.

14:25 While returning from oath taking ceremony in Shimla, on way to the helipad, PM Modi stopped by the iconic Indian Coffee House at Mall Road. PM often used to spend time here several years ago, when he was in Himachal Pradesh, for party-related work (ANI)

14:18 Thank leader of the house for clarification on what has been issue of contention. I,on behalf of my party, say that we disassociate from any comments made by any member during elections that may have hurt PM's dignity,also we don't want any such thing to be said in future: Ghulam Nabi Azad (ANI)

14:10 PM in his speeches didn't question, nor meant to question the commitment to this nation of either former PM Manmohan Singh or Former VP Hamid Ansari, any such perception is erroneous, we hold these leaders in high esteem, as well as their commitment to India: FM Arun Jaitley in Rajya Sabha (ANI)

13:59 Lok Sabha adjourns twice amid vociferous Opposition protests

Opposition ruckus on Wednesday forced the adjournment of Lok Sabha proceedings twice as members of the Congress vociferously raised the issue of union minister Ananthkumar Hegde's controversial remarks on secularism and the Constitution.

TRS members, demanding a separate high court for Telangana, trooped into the Well. They were followed by those from the Congress who raised the Hegde issue.

Some other members raised concerns over the treatment meted out to the family members of Kulbhushan Jadhav by Pakistan.

13:52 As we inch closer to the end of this year, heres a look at six brutal cyber attacks that shook the world in 2017. Read the full article here

13:40 BJP chief Amit Shah to meet party MLAs and MPs from Karnataka in Bengaluru on 31 January (ANI)

13:22 Private school fee regulation law constitutionally valid: Gujarat HC, tweets PTI

13:09 Dawood Ibrahim planning to kill Chhota Rajan in Tihar jail, intel suggests

According to intel gathered by Tihar jail authorities, gangster Neeraj Bawana might have been involved in a plot to eliminate Rajan at the insistence of the latter's former boss Dawood Ibrahim. After numerous unsuccessful assassination attempts in Bangkok, the Gulf, and Bali, it looks like Dawood has started targeting Rajan in Tihar jail.

13:03 Tax-free no more: Saudi Arabia, UAE to roll out VAT in 2018

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which have long lured foreign workers with the promise of a tax-free lifestyle, plan to impose a 5 per cent tax next year on most goods and services to boost revenue after oil prices collapsed three years ago.

The value-added tax, or VAT, will apply to a range of items like food, clothes, electronics and gasoline, as well as phone, water and electricity bills, and hotel reservations.

12:58 Amaravati: President Ram Nath Kovind dedicated AP Fibregrid and AP surveillance & drone project to the nation; Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu also present (ANI)

Here are todays top headlines:

- DLF promoters conclude nearly Rs 9000-crore deal with GIC

- Jadhav issue: Sushma Swaraj to give statement in Parlaiment

- Diesel prices touch new high across various states

- E-commerce cos asked to display MRP from Jan 1

- States worried over quality of technical colleges

12:24 India set to surpass China as the biggest importer of LPG

India is set to surpass China as the biggest importer of liquefied petroleum gas. Shipping data in Thomson Reuters Eikon shows LPG shipments to India will reach 2.4 million tonnes in December, pushing it ahead of top importer China, on 2.3 million tonnes, for the first time.

India's LPG purchases have surged from just 1 million tonnes a month in early 2015 on the back of a government programme to bring energy to millions of poor households relying on open fires.

12:11 We can't expect anything better from Pakistan. The way Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother and wife were treated was shameful : Congress leader Kapil Sibal (ANI)

12:09 Rajya Sabha adjourned till 2pm

12:09 ED seizes assets worth Rs.26.61 crore of Sanjay Bhandari & others u/s 37A of FEMA, 1999 in lieu of undisclosed assets held abroad by him (ANI)

12:05 USFDA accepts Sun Pharma arm's ophthalmic drug application

The US health regulator has accepted a new drug application (NDA) for an ophthalmic solution filed by Sun Pharma's wholly-owned subsidiary, the drugmaker said on Wednesday.

"The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has accepted a new drug application (NDA), filed by its wholly owned subsidiary, for OTX-101 (cyclosporine A, ophthalmic solution)," Sun Pharmaceutical Industries said in a BSE filing.

12:01 JUST IN: After winning the RK Nagar by-poll, TTV Dinakaran likely to meet Sasikala tomorrow, tweets News 18.

11:51 Virender Kanwar and Vikram Singh take oath as cabinet ministers of Himachal Pradesh government

11:50 Anil Sharma, Sarveen Choudhary and Ram Lal Markanda take oath as cabinet ministers of Himachal Pradesh government (ANI)

11:39 Mahendra Singh, Kishan Kapoor and Suresh Bhardwaj take oath as cabinet ministers of Himachal Pradesh government (ANI)

11:31 Jairam Thakur takes oath as chief minister of Himachal Pradesh

11:28 WATCH: Oath taking ceremony of Himachal Pradesh CM Jairam Thakur starts (ANI)

11:23 Pak media is very irresponsible: Kiren Rijiju speaks on Kulbhushan Jadhav issue

11:21 Special CBI Court adjourns Sheena Bora murder case till 5th January (ANI)

11:16 Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh & UP CM Yogi Adityanath present for soon to begin oath taking ceremony of Himachal Pradesh CM elect Jairam Thakur; PM Narendra Modi to arrive shortly (ANI)

10:56 Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Shimla to attend swearing-in ceremony of CM elect Jairam Thakur (ANI)

10:49 Kulbhushan Jadhav issue: I condemn Pakistan's inhumane behavior, says Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of Congress party in Lok Sabha

10:42 External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to give a statement in Rajya Sabha at 11 AM tomorrow and at 12 noon in Lok Sabha Kulbhushan Jadhav (ANI)

10:37 Opposition says government must clarify on Kulbhushan Jadhav; demands statement from External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in Parliament, tweets News 18

10:36 DLF promoters conclude Rs 9000-crore deal with GIC

Realty major DLF announced that its promoters have concluded the sale of 33.34 per cent stake in its rental arm to sovereign wealth fund GIC for nearly Rs 9,000 crore.

In late August, the promoters had sold the entire 40 per cent stake in rental arm DLF Cyber City Developers Ltd (DCCDL) for Rs 11,900 crore and proposed to invest proceeds into DLF.

10:30 Mahendra Singh, Suresh Bhardwaj, Anil Sharma, Sarveen Choudhary, Ram Lal Markand, Vipin Singh Parmar, Virender Kanwar, Vikram Singh, Govind Singh and Rajiv Sahjal to take oath as cabinet ministers along with CM elect Jairam Thakur shortly (ANI)

10:27 PM Narendra Modi arrives in Chandigarh; he will be attending swearing in ceremony of Himachal Pradesh CM elect Jairam Thakur and others at Ridge ground in Shimla (ANI)

10:11 United Nations cuts budget by USD 286 million; US claims credit

The UN has approved a USD 286 million cut in its annual budget for the next year, a five per cent "historic reduction in spending" that the US said it had negotiated.

The General Assembly on Sunday approved the regular budget of USD 5.397 billion for 2018-2019, the UN said in a statement.

Taking credit for the budget cut, America's Indian-origin Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said that she negotiated a reduction of over USD 285 million off the 2016-2017 final budget

10:06 JUST IN: Ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Baba Khori in Nowshera sector of J&K's Rajouri.

10:04 US sanctions North Korean missile experts, Russia offers to mediate

The United States announced sanctions on two of North Korea's most prominent officials behind its ballistic missile program on Tuesday, while Russia reiterated an offer to mediate to ease tension between Washington and Pyongyang.

The new US steps were the latest in a campaign aimed at forcing North Korea - which has defied years of multilateral and bilateral sanctions - to abandon a weapons programme aimed at developing nuclear-tipped missiles capable of hitting the United States.

10:01 Two Reuters journalists arrested in Myanmar remanded in custody for a second 14-day period, tweets Reuters

09:54 Apple faces lawsuits after saying it slows down aging iPhones

Apple Inc defrauded iPhone users by slowing devices without warning to compensate for poor battery performance, according to eight lawsuits filed in various federal courts in the week since the company opened up about the year-old software change.

The tweak may have led iPhone owners to misguided attempts to resolve issues over the last year, the lawsuits contend.

09:45 Rupee faces heat from rising dollar, down 10 paise at 64.18

The rupee gave up 10 paise at 64.18 against the dollar today, facing heat from a rising dollar overseas.

The US currency held on to its advantage because of unabated month-end demand from importers and banks amid foreign capital outflows.

The dollar was firm against a few global currencies, but the strength in domestic equities came as a buffer for the rupee losses, analysts said.

09:36 Bohot khushi hoti agar pitaji aaj saath hote, ek saal pehle wo humein chhodkar chale gaye. Mataji aswasth hain, par unka aashirwaad hai aur ye mere liye bohot badi baat hai: Jairam Thakur (ANI)

09:27 Congress has given 'suspension of business' notice in Rajya Sabha under rule 267 over PM Modis statement against former PM Manmohan Singh and others (ANI)

09:27 Bandh call given by farmer groups in north Karnataka today demanding implementation of the Kalasa-Banduri project. Bus services between Goa-Belgaum also not operating (ANI)

09:11 Diesel prices touch new high across various states

Diesel prices have soared in the country, peaking in Delhi and touching three-year highs in Kolkata and Chennai as crude oil surges on good demand and production cuts led by OPEC and Russia, according to a report in The Economic Times.

On Tuesday, state oil companies sold diesel for a record Rs 59.31per litre in Delhi. Prices in Kolkata and Chennai were Rs 61.97 and Rs 62.48 per litre, respectively, highest since September 2014.

Petrol and diesel are not within the ambit of goods and services tax, so their prices vary from state to state according to local levies.

09:01 E-commerce companies asked to display MRP from January 1 or pay fines

A report in The Economic Times said that ecommerce entities may face financial penalties and even jail term if they do not comply with new rules that require them to mandatorily display the MRP among other details on pre-packaged commodities from January 1 next year.

08:57 States express concern over condition of technical colleges

Concerns about the quality of higher education have prompted at least four states to write to the central government urging it to not allow setting up of technical education colleges, including engineering and management colleges, from 2018, as per a report in Mint.

Telangana, Rajasthan, Haryana and Chhattisgarh have also urged the Centre not to allow existing colleges to expand capacity as thousands of seats are lying vacant.

08:47 McDonalds row: CPRL could drag logistics partner Radhakrishna Foodland to court

Connaught Plaza Restaurants, a 50:50 joint venture between Vikram Bakshi and McDonald's India, could drag its logistics partner Radhakrishna Foodland to court for abruptly halting supplies to its stores, according to a report in The Economic Times.

Earlier, Vikram Bakshi said nearly all outlets of the food chain in East India have been shut and several others in the north are on the brink of closure due to discontinuation of supplies by its logistics partner.

08:38 BJP Parliamentary Party meeting scheduled to take place on Thursday at 9.30 AM

08:34 India likely made its second-highest annual investments in US Treasuries in 2017

A report in The Economic Times said that India is likely to have made its second-highest annual investments in US Treasuries in 2017.

The Mint Street bought dollars through the year to prevent the rupee from appreciating to levels that could potentially have hurt the countrys export competitiveness. RBIs holdings of US Treasury bonds have increased by $23.2 billion this year until October, marking the second highest annual investment in the instruments.

08:26 25% of Swachh Bharat cess did not reach dedicated fund

According to a report in The Times of India, the Comptroller and Auditor General has pointed out that nearly a quarter of the collection has stayed outside the dedicated fund.

While collections through the 0.5% cess on all services were meant to be transferred to a non-lapsable Rashtriya Swachhta Kosh (RSK) and used for identified schemes, Rs 12,400 crore was allocated during the last two years, while over Rs 4,000 crore remained outside the RSK schemes.

The rules stipulated that the resources of RSK were to be distributed in the ratio of 80:20 between Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) and Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), CAG pointed out.

08:18 Startup angels seek tax relief, recognition to revive funding

'Angel tax', or tax on capital raised by unlisted companies by issuing shares in excess of their 'fair market value', remains a contentious issue for startups more than 18 months after the government exempted 'innovative' startups from this tax, reports The Economic Times.

Startups and lobby groups are hopeful that the government will resolve the issue in the upcoming Union budget or earlier as angel tax, according to industry estimates, is one of the major reasons for downward spiral in early stage funding in the country, falling every quarter this year.

08:11 Bitcoin struggles to hold above $16,000; crypto marketplace Coinbase reports transaction delays

The digital currency briefly climbed more than 12.5 percent to above $16,100 late Tuesday morning and was trading near $15,965 late in the afternoon, according to Coinbase, the leading US platform for trading major digital currencies, said a CNBC report.

07:57 Jairam Thakur to take oath as the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh today; PM Narendra Modi to attend the swearing-in ceremony

07:51 30 trains delayed, six rescheduled and 18 cancelled due to fog and other operational reasons in North India

Good morning readers. Welcome to Moneycontrol's live news blog. Track this space for the latest updates.
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
Rabobank sponsored private equity (PE) fund has picked up stake in Olive Bar & Kitchen Private Limited for an undisclosed amount.

India Agri Business Fund II became a significant investor in Olive by buying stake from Aditya Birla Private Equity along with a few other selling shareholders.

The investment is entirely secondary as the Olive groups growth plans are funded by its strong accruals, the fund house said in a statement.

The deal offers an opportunity for Rabo Fund to acquire a stake in food services company Olive Bar & Kitchen Private Limited with 33 outlets and revenues around Rs 200 crore.

"The company is known to be backed by a robust back end infrastructure, good internal controls and rigorous Corporate Governance practices...We see Olive as a great opportunity for scaling up our exposure in food services," Rabo Equity Advisors Chairman Rajesh Srivastava said.

This happens to be the first investment in the food services sector by a Rabo Fund in 8 years.

Rabobank which operates on cooperative principles is based out of the Netherlands.
Bull's Eye, CNBC-TV18's popular game show, where market experts come together to dish out trading strategies for you to make your week more exciting and compete with each other to see whose portfolio is the strongest.

Remember these are midcap ideas not just for the day, but stocks that look attractive in the medium-term as well.

This week, Shahina Mukadam, Pankaj Jain and Ruchit Jain battle it out for top honours.

Below their top stock picks and analysis:

Shahina Mukadam, Independent Market Expert

Buy GIC Housing with a stoploss at Rs 440 and target of Rs 480

Buy Prestige Estates with a stoploss at Rs 280 and target of Rs 330

Buy Reliance Capital with a stoploss at Rs 480 and target of Rs 560

Buy Tata Power with a stoploss at Rs 87 and target of Rs 98

Pankaj Jain of SW Capital

Buy Zen Technologies with a stoploss at Rs 145 and target of Rs 162

Buy aurionPro Solutions with a stoploss at Rs 221 and target of Rs 245

Buy HCL Infosystems with a stoploss at Rs 56.50 and target of Rs 62

Buy Granules India with a stoploss at Rs 135 and target of Rs 146

Ruchit Jain of Angel Broking

Buy CESC with a stoploss at Rs 1035 and target of Rs 1102

Buy Radico khaitan with a stoploss at Rs 274 and target of Rs 316

Buy Jindal Saw with a stoploss at Rs 127 and target of Rs 145

Buy Granules India with a stoploss at Rs 132 and target of Rs 145
Ashwani Gujral of ashwanigujral.com told CNBC-TV18, "Aurobindo Pharma is a buy with a stoploss of Rs 687 and target of Rs 710. Sun Pharmaceutical Advanced Research Company (SPARC) is a buy with a stoploss of Rs 475 and target of Rs 500. Voltas is a buy with a stoploss of Rs 660 and target of Rs 685."

"Tata Steel and Vedanta have moved up, now even the dogs of the sectors are likely to move. So Jindal Steel & Power for long time did not participate in the metal rally, but now it is beginning to show more momentum than even the better quality stocks. So, Rs 240-250 is easily possible there."

"I think the one stock that I like and which so far a lot of people maybe dont have is Hindustan Copper. Out there, Rs 125-130 seems possible. So the metal rally is not a young rally, but I think now all the smaller metal stocks are kind of catching up. I think the better rallies, the space for next year could be crude, and crude related plays because that is just getting off the blocks because above USD 65 per barrel, crude seems to be having another USD 10 of headroom. So, those are the sectors of next year; things which were totally beaten and bashed up."

"Balkrishna Industries is around Rs 1,100 thereabouts. It is not a great value, like nothing is in the market, but it is a strongly trending stock and it has come off probably four or five down sessions. So for the moment, keep your stop, buy and keep a stop of Rs 1,100 and look for targets of Rs 1,400-Rs 1,450. However, it is not really bargain basement prices where things cannot go wrong, etc. If Rs 1,100 is taken out, then you need to get out of your positions. It is more a trading stock because all of these stocks inspite of bad results, etc. have been moving higher. So you trade it because the trend is strong, not because it is a great investment value, etc."

"I like to call NBCC as the governments son-in-law. Anything that the government wants to make, they give it to them and they outsource it to Larsen and Toubro (L&T); that is a great life. So keep Rs 220 type of stop, maybe we will see Rs 350-360. Corruption allegations is nothing to get worried about. If construction, infrastructure, and everything else is going to pick up, then anybody who has government backing should be able to do well. They do not have any working capital, etc. issues," he added.
Amit Gupta of ICICI Direct told CNBC-TV18, "If you look at towards Budget what possibly may happen, first of all something from the rural perspective may come, and that is why I think that particular theme is working right now. So Hindustan Unilever (HUL) which moved up by almost  from Rs 1,270 to Rs 1,350, now it is spending some time over there. However, my sense is, over a period of one month it is likely to move up by another Rs 100 towards Rs 1,450."

"How to play this because implied volatility of HUL is still little bit lower, it is not very high. So I think it is time for January series, if somebody can buy HUL 1,360 Call options, so eventually once it becomes in the money, I think he will start making money in the stock. So for January series, we are recommending HUL Call options."

"If you look at Asian Paints, now that is for the December, next couple of sessions, I think the short covering which is panning out in the paint stocks, whether it is Berger Paints or Asian Paints, I think that will continue for another day or two. So, one can start buying 1,140 Call options only of Asian Paints which is I think somewhere around Rs 10-12. So, it can be moved towards Rs 25-26."

"It has formed a good base near Rs 1,100; this is another matter that it is not able to move up very sharply, but when the crude is higher, it should be very negative for the stock, it did not fall below Rs 1,100. So, whatever shorts were formed, I think what will happen, they will start getting covered. So 20-30 percent of short covering we will see in the coming two sessions. So that is why Call options can be bought of December series only in Asian Paints."

"If you look at copper prices in the international market, it has been up for the last 10-11 consecutive sessions, and that is why I think if I have to pick up one theme, it could be Vedanta. Now crude oil is also near USD 65-66 per barrel, so that is where I think both the stories are positive for Vedanta because Cairn is a part in Vedanta now."

"If you look at the F&O setup, when the stock declined towards Rs 280-290 levels, that was the level from where previously we had seen almost 10 correction. So that became a good base and from there it has recovered. There was almost 15 percent of short closure in the stock, and my sense is in the coming series, before Budget itself, this stock can move towards the previous high of Rs 345."

"What we are recommending to our clients is better start buying the January Call options only in Vedanta , which is 330 Call strike, one can buy which is available somewhere around Rs 10 or Rs 9. So eventually what will happen because the downside seems to be limited, it is a long series, the premium decline may not be very fast, and once the delta move starts on the higher side, you will start making money in this particular Call option. So a move towards Rs 345 can easily bring a doubler to this Call, it can be Rs 20-22 in the coming sessions. So better buy this and hold it for January series," he added.
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Khambatta Securities' research report on Libas Designs

Libas is uniquely positioned in the mid-segment of Indias ethnic designer clothes market where there are not many organized players. While the company specializes in customized offerings and boasts of having celebrities in its clientele, it is looking to expand its ready-to-wear line. Libass wholesale business has some marquee corporate clients such as JW Marriot, Novotel, Armani Hotel Dubai, Atlantis The Palm  Dubai, BMW, Skoda Auto, the Emaar Group and the Indian Premier League.

Outlook

We expect PAT margin to increase to 9.2% asthe new stores start generating higher sales with revenue growth outpacing increase in operating expenses. Our valuation informs an OUTPERFORM rating with a target price of Rs. 134

For all recommendations report, click here

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts/broking houses/rating agencies on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

Read More
Sudarshan Sukhani of s2analytics.com told CNBC-TV18, "Reliance Industries is a buying opportunity separately and individually. This stock apparently was in a trading range for three weeks and is now willing to go higher; that is the sense I get."

He further added, "Cipla is a buy. There was a decent and reasonable correction in the stock and that correction was over. Yesterday we had a very good day in Cipla and that is probably a signal that the uptrend should continue."

"My old favourite, Hindustan Unilever (HUL) is a buying opportunity. We have had three down days in it; it did not participate in this 10,500 record at least. However, there is a narrow range and there is an inside day. So HUL is probably willing to join that party again."

"Yes Bank has come in buy list earlier. After that very large decline, it was flat and consolidating, and that consolidation to me is taking the shape of a bullish pattern. So, we are literally buying on a dip if we are right. So Yes Bank is a buy."

"Bank of Baroda from the PSU banks, is a short sell. Keep short sells only intraday."

"Both crude and ONGC are likely to go up higher. Crude itself after that consolidation is inching up, and in ONGC, the bear market is over. There is more of a rally here. I am not sure if they are correlated, they could be, but separately also ONGC is upbeat."

"Tata Steel and Yes Bank are buying opportunities. Both are absolutely on the verge of significant breakouts. So you have to take a position and wait patiently," he added.

Disclosure: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.
Sandeep Wagle of powermywealth.com told CNBC-TV18, "I would go with a buy in a Manappuram Finance stoploss of Rs 118, target Rs 127 and a buy in Vedanta with a stoploss Rs 322 and target Rs 335."

At 13:28 hrs Vedanta was quoting at Rs 327.20, up Rs 5.60, or 1.74 percent.

The share touched its 52-week high Rs 346.80 and 52-week low Rs 205.00 on 03 November, 2017 and 27 December, 2016, respectively.

Currently, it is trading 5.65 percent below its 52-week high and 59.61 percent above its 52-week low.
Shahina Mukadam, Independent Market Expert told CNBC-TV18, "One may hold ONGC. I think with crude oil prices firming up and likely to remain firm for some time, their margins are likely to be pretty healthy for the next couple of quarters. I think the HPCL merger is to some extent digested by the market in terms of the impact on the balance sheet. So I would continue holding. I think from here on definitely a 10-15 percent upside is possible in the stock."

At 15:12 hrs Oil and Natural Gas Corporation was quoting at Rs 192.25, down Rs 1.55, or 0.80 percent.
Over 2.32 lakh patent applications were pending with the Indian Patent Office as on November 30, Parliament was informed today.

Pendency of patent applications is primarily due to shortage of technical manpower in previous years, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry C R Chaudhary said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

However, he added that several measures have been taken to simplify the patent procedures.

"The Patent Rules, 2003 have been amended to streamline processes and make them more user friendly," he said adding a comprehensive online filing module has also been incorporated in the web portal.

Further he informed that in 2016-17, 9,847 patents were granted by Indian Patent Office as against 6,326 in the previous year.

In a separate reply, he said 54 foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals are under consideration at various stages in the ministries concerned as on November 15.

Replying to a separate question on Make in India initiative, the minister said the total FDI inflow was USD 160.79 billion between April 2014 and March 2017.

"In 2016-17, FDI inflow stood at a record of USD 60 billion, the highest ever recorded for a fiscal year ever," he said.
On the midnight of December 31, the Assam government will ascertain verified national citizens in the state as the first draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) will be published listing the names of citizens who have established their lineage, reported Times of India.

The seven-year-long exercise carried out by the Registrar General of India compiles the names of Indians in the state whose citizenship claims have been established by linkages with their ancestors under the supervision of the Supreme Court.

The Assam Accord 1985 provision states anyone who entered the state until the midnight of March 24, 1971, will be treated as an Indian.

As the compilation aims to determine one's citizenship claims, some people hope it will help the state resolve its decade-long issue of illegal immigration.

About one-third of the state's population or 90 percent of the state's Bengali-speaking Muslims are being labelled as Bangladeshis or 'miyan'. The NCR report would help them establish their citizenship freeing them from the stigma of being acknowledged as an outsider.

"It is going to change how the rest of Assam looks at us," Abul Kalam Azad, a researcher working on causes of ethnic conflicts with Tata Institute of Social Studies told the paper.

Azad pointed out the Supreme Court's decision to accept panchayat certificates of Muslim women as a legacy linkage document has helped households verify their citizenships.

"Our girls do not go to schools, aren't born in hospitals, and are married off early. So they have neither a school nor birth certificate to show their legacy linkage," Azad said.

In contrast, lack of eligible legacy linkage documents has made it difficult for over 47 lakh citizens to establish their link with ancestors.

"The NRC officials have been visiting my home for re-verification. I have not been able to provide any document to show my relationship with my father," Samsul Haque, a rickshaw puller, told the paper. Haque is among the citizens who failed to provide valid documents to establish his citizenship.

In such cases, the authorities would hear each case individually to determine whether, or not, they are valid citizens of India.

"There are cases where persons have not been able to establish their linkages with their parents or ancestors. There are bonafide reasons and we will be hearing each case individually. Mala fide cases won't get into the list," NRC state coordinator Prateek Hajela told the paper.

At the same time, a part of the state population including All Assam Students Union (AASU), which spearheaded the anti-foreigner movement in 1979-85, believes the NRC would not be a game changer for illegal migrants from Bangladesh who entered India before 1971.

"Under the Assam Accord, we have accepted them as Indian citizens and so will the NRC but we have a deal with the Centre that in return, there should be a constitutional guarantee of the right to rule for the indigenous people of Assam. We want that only those Bangladeshi migrants whose names appear in the 1951 NRC and their descendants be treated as indigenous Assamese," AASU president Dipanka Kumar Nath told the paper.

At the Centre level, the BJP-led NDA government has been seeking an amendment of the Citizenship Act of 1955 to allow citizenship to people who migrated to India before 1971.
A man walks on the boat along the bank of Rapti River during the foggy winter morning at Sauraha in Chitwan (REUTERS)

Regular activities were disrupted in five north Karnataka districts today following a bandh called by farmer groups over getting Mahadayi river water from Goa to meet the drinking water needs of drought-prone areas of the region.

Shops and establishments downed shutters, schools and colleges were closed and buses and other means of transport were off the roads in the districts of Gadag, Dharwad, Belagavi, Haveri and Bagalkot across the Malaprabha river basin and its neighbouring areas, officials said.

The dawn-to-dusk bandh was called by 'Mahadayi Kalasa Banduri Nala Horata Samanvaya Samiti', an umbrella organisation spearheading the agitation on the issue. Pro-Kannada organisations, including the Kannada film industry, backed the bandh.

Stray incidents of stone-pelting of trucks at Navalagunda, forced closure of shops and burning of tyres by the bandh supporters were reported from some places, officials said. A protest rally was held at Hubballi's Chennamma circle. Terming the bandh as a "warning bell" to the state and central governments, the samiti leaders had yesterday demanded a solution at the earliest, even as they hit out at political parties for playing politics on the issue.

Senior police officials said elaborate security arrangements were made to prevent untoward incidents. Protests also echoed miles away in the state capital Bengaluru, where Mahadayi protagonists and the BJP have launched separate agitations. The protests caused inconvenience to office goers as these caused traffic jam in the city's central business district.

Groups of farmers, including women from north Karnataka districts, protesting near the BJP's state office here since Saturday, staged a march to the Raj Bhavan and submitted a petition.

They are demanding that BJP state chief B S Yeddyurappa resolve the issue as promised by him last month. Yeddyurappa, who had promised he would get a written agreement signed by December 15 for resolving the issue between the two states, yesterday tried to convince the farmers to end their stir citing the letter written to him by Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar but failed. The protesters have accused Yeddyurappa of not keeping his promise, and called him a "betrayer". Parrikar, in a letter to Yeddyurappa on December 21, had said that in principle, Goa would not oppose the release of "reasonable and justified" quantum of water meant for drinking purposes to Karnataka.

Parrikar's letter followed a meeting BJP chief Amit Shah had with the Goa chief minister and party leaders from Karnataka. The leaders of agitating farmer groups also called on the Karnataka chief Electoral Officer (CEO) and urged him not to hold Assembly elections in the state, due early next year, till an amicable solution to the Mahadayi water dispute is found.

They staged a demonstration at the Freedom Park here demanding release of water. BJP leaders, including former minister Ashoka and Lok Sabha member Shobha Karandlaje, tried to lay siege to the Congress's state office here, demanding that the party's leadership do its bit to convince its Goa unit to try and find an amicable solution to the dispute. The BJP leaders were detained by the police for staging a protest without permission. Barricades were erected at different places and traffic was diverted to stop BJP workers from gathering at the venue.

"We all know the agitators sitting in front of our (BJP) office. Congressmen posing as farmer leaders are holding the sit-in demonstration," Ashok said. He alleged that instead of finding a solution to the water sharing issue, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had "stooped low" to send his partymen to stage a demonstration outside the BJP office.

The Mahadayi (called Mandovi in Goa) originates in Karnataka and flows to Goa and Maharashtra. The three states are locked in a protracted dispute over sharing its water.

The Siddaramaiah government in Karnataka has been accusing the BJP's state unit of not doing enough to help bring water to North Karnataka, one of the most parched regions in the country that is the epicentre of the agitation. Karnataka is seeking release of 7.56 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) of water for the Kalasa-Banduri Nala project. It is being undertaken to improve drinking water supply to the twin cities of Hubballi-Dharwad and districts of Belagavi and Gadag.
Ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to India next month, the two countries today reviewed their cooperation in strategic areas such as defence and homeland security.

The review was done during the foreign office consultations in which the Indian delegation was led by Secretary Economic Relations in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Vijay Gokhale while the Israeli side was headed by Director General of Israel's Foreign Ministry Yuval Rotem.

"The two sides reviewed our relations in defence, agriculture, S&T (science and technology), education and homeland security," MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said

Netanyahu is expected to travel to India on a four-day visit in January to meet the country's top leadership.
Kulbhushan Jadhav

Angered by the treatment meted out to Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother and wife in Pakistan, a relative of the former Indian Navy officer said today that the family was "even more depressed" than it had been before the visit.

"We are very disappointed and not in a mood to speak on the family's Pakistan visit," the relative told PTI.

"I can't talk more as this is an international issue and being handled by the Indian government. If we speak something about it, that may hamper the process," he said.

Jadhav's mother Avanti and wife Chetna were in Pakistan yesterday to meet him, but the meeting took place with them being separated by a glass screen.

The treatment received by Kulbhushan's mother and wife from Pakistan was not good at all, the relative said. "We are even more depressed now than we were before the visit," he added.

The relative said he was "horrified" on learning that Pakistani officials had removed 'mangal sutra' and bangles of Jadhav's kin before allowing them to meet him.

"Even the 'bindi' on the forehead of Kulbhushan's wife was not seen while they were meeting him," he said.

Jadhav, 47, who was captured in March last year, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying, an accusation India has dismissed as concocted.

India says Jadhav was abducted in Iran where he had legitimate business interests, and taken to Pakistan. To save Jadhav, India moved the International Court of Justice, which ordered Pakistan in May to stay his execution.
A major accident was averted today when the pilot of a Saudi Airlines flight applied emergency brakes when the nose wheel developed a technical snag during the take-off, an official said.

The Saudi Airline flight number SV895 from Lucknow to Riyadh carrying 300 passengers developed the technical problem on the runway and the pilot had to apply emergency brakes to avert an accident, the senior airport official said.

As a result, the runway was blocked and all arrivals and departures had to be rescheduled, he said.

Six arrivals from various airports were diverted to IGI airport Delhi, while three scheduled departures were held up, the official added.
Representative image

Maratha organisations in the state have given an ultimatum to the Maharashtra government that it should address their demands -- chief among them reservations for the community -- by February 10.

Maratha organisations had held massive 'silent marches' at 58 places across the state earlier, demanding reservations in jobs and education among other things.

They plan to revive the agitation after February 19, the birth anniversary of warrior king Shivaji, said a community leader today.

Sanjiv Bhor, state coordinator of the Maratha Kranti Morcha, the umbrella organisation of agitators, told PTI that leaders of Maratha organisations held a meeting in Panvel earlier this week and decided to seek views from the community about the future course of action.

"The community is upset that despite assurances from the Government after the August 9 march in Mumbai this year, 75 percent of promises remain unfulfilled," he said.

"We want the government to address our demands by February 10, before the Shiv Jayanti (birth anniversary of Shivaji) which falls on February 19," Bhor said.

"We are meeting in Jalgaon on February 11 to chalk out the future direction of our movement," he said.

Following the rally in Mumbai, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had announced in the Legislative Assembly that the government would extend educational concessions given to the Other Backward Class (OBC) to Maratha students too.

A cabinet sub-committee would review the implementation of various schemes meant for the Maratha community, Fadnavis had said.

As to the demand of reservations, the government had stated during the recently held session of the state legislature that the matter was pending before the high court.
A view of the Lok Sabha during the on going winter session, in New Delhi on Tuesday. (PTI)

The Opposition on Wednesday virtually paralysed the Lok Sabha proceedings demanding dismissal of Union Minister Anant Kumar Hegde for his controversial comments on secularism and the Constitution while the government appeared distancing itself from his comments.

Raising the issue in the House which witnessed repeated adjournments, Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge quoting Hegde said the minister compared those supporting secularism to "children of unknown parentage", besides denigrating Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, the architect of the Constitution.

"He (Hegde) said 'those who support secularism are like people without parentage. We do not know their bloodline. They do not know their parents but they call themselves secular. If someone says I am a secular, I get suspicious'," Kharge quoted Hegde as saying at a function in Karnataka on Sunday.

Calling the remarks totally unacceptable, the Congress leader further said, "It means we all who support secular thoughts are not born to their parents."

The Congress members also displayed posters demanding immediate sacking of Hegde, who is the Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

Kharge alleged that Hegde had also denigrated the architect of the Constitution, BR Ambedkar, by his remarks that the current dispensation came to power to "change" it.

The opposition uproar led to several adjournments of the House.

Rejecting Kharge's comments, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar claimed the Congress leader was trying to distort what Hegde had said. He, however, did not comment on Hegde's remarks or try to defend him.

"BR Ambedkar is the father of the Constitution and we respect him. The Prime Minister had said the Constitution is our national book (Rastriya Granth). We are committed to it and secularism. The Congress should not teach us secularism," said Kumar, while asking the opposition not to disrupt the proceedings.

"The Congress is indulging in pseudo-secularism. You (Congress) did not allow Baba Saheb Ambedkar to contest polls. He was brought to Rajya Sabha by Jan Sangh," he said, listing steps taken by the government to preserve Ambedkar's heritage.

Kumar said the opposition was training its guns on the government for not convening the Winter Session of Parliament and when it has been called, it was disrupting the proceedings.

He made the statement amid shouting of slogans against Hegde by the opposition.

At a function in Karnataka on Sunday, Hegde had reportedly said people should identify themselves by their religions and "those who, without knowing about their parental blood, call themselves secular, they don't have their own identity...They don't know about their parentage."

He had also said "we are here to change the Constitution and we'll change it."

When the Lok Sabha met at 2:45 PM after the third adjournment and some members entered the Well displaying posters, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan reminded them of the rules of the House.

The House was first adjourned till noon and then till 2 PM due to unabated opposition protest on the issue.

The Lok Sabha was again adjourned at 4 PM for 15 minutes amid uproar in the House over Hegde's remarks.

The demand to adjourn the House was made by RSP MP N K Premachandran when Finance Minister Arun Jaitley introduced the Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Amendment Bill.

As the House was witnessing ruckus, Premachandran said the GST Bill was a crucial legislation and cannot be passed amidst din and urged the Speaker to adjourn the proceedings to ensure smooth discussion.

The TRS members, who were demanding a separate high court for Telangana, were also in the Well, along with members of the Congress. Some other members raised concerns over the treatment meted out to the family members of Kulbhushan Jadhav by Pakistan.

Despite repeated requests from Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, about 20 members continued to protest in the Well of the House.

As the protests continued unabated, Mahajan asked the members to return to their seats. "If you don't want the government to say something, then let it go," she said.

She also told Kharge that his party had reservations over lesser number of sitting in the Winter session but was stalling the proceedings when the House was on.

Amid the din, papers were laid and a few members spoke during Zero Hour but as the unruly scenes continued, Mahajan adjourned the House till 2 PM after about 20 minutes of proceedings.

Before this, the House was adjourned for about 50 minutes soon after the Question Hour had begun at 11 AM.

Congress members raised slogans demanding removal of Hegde from the Council of Ministers, while members of the TRS also joined them with placards demanding a separate high court for Telengana.

Some Shiv Sena members raised slogans against Pakistan, apparently over the treatment of Jadhav's family members. Some BJP members also joined them in raising slogans like 'Pakistan murdabad' (down with Pakistan).

During Question Hour, Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha Kharge had then too briefly raised the issue of remarks by Hegde, following which his party members rushed into the Well raising slogans such as 'Ambedkar ka apman nahin chalega' (We will not tolerate the insult of B R Ambedkar -- a key framer of the Constitution).
rahul gandhi narendra modi

India's political landscape witnessed a lot of twists and drama this year given that five states went to polls. While, some political parties like the BJP looked to entrench their reign in states further, some like Congress aimed for a revival.

Heated election campaigning saw the BJP extending its reach to 19 states winning the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh elections held late December. The saffron party's juggernaut started with the electoral victory in Uttar Pradesh in March.

Here are some of the key events that unfolded on India's political stage:

The Sasikala saga

The death of Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa in late 2016 brought in political uncertainty for her party All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the state.

Jayalalithaa's close aide VK Sasikala took over party reins at the dawn of 2017. O Panneerselvam, who was appointed chief minister after Jayalalithaa's death, abruptly resigned, saying that he was forced to do so by Sasikala.

Both, Sasikala and Panneerselvam lobbied hard to get enough MLAs to back them during an imminent Assembly floor test.

The Sasikala camp indulged in 'resort politics' and took MLAs to a resort near Chennai, to prevent defection. However, the High Court convicted Sasikala in a disproportionate assets (DA) case and sentenced her to four years in jail before she could prove majority.

Sasikala handed over the party's command to TTV Dhinakaran and appointed Edappadi K Palaniswami as leader of the legislative party, who won the assembly trust vote amid high drama.

In August, the two warring factions of the AIADMK merged after months of deliberation. Palaniswami remained the CM while Panneerselvam took oath as the deputy chief minister.

Trouble with the EVMs

In May, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) conducted an experiment on a dummy EVM in the Delhi Assembly to demonstrate that the machines could be tampered with. The Election Commission, however, rejected the claims.

Accusations that the EVMs were being rigged resurfaced time and again during various local body elections such as the one in Bawana, Delhi, the Gujarat state polls and the RK Nagar bypoll in Tamil Nadu. The EC had to also replace multiple EVMs in Gujarat after reports of malfunctioning.

The crucial 5-state election

Even though the Congress won more seats than the BJP in both Goa and Manipur, the BJP stitched together an alliance with the regional parties and independents, to form governments in both states. Succumbing to demands by coalition partners, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar returned to his home state Goa to take charge of the CM again.

The saffron party also swept the Congress out of power in Uttarakhand after bagging 57 of the 70 seats. Chief Minister Harish Rawat was routed in both the seats he contested.

With 24 rallies, PM Modi led BJP's campaign in India's most populous state. The effort yielded results as the BJP bagged 324 seats in the 404-member Assembly, giving them a two-thirds majority. The Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance bagged 55 seats while Mayawati's BSP managed to win 19 seats. Days after the result, the BJP appointed Yogi Adityanath as Uttar Pradesh's new chief minister.

The Congress, which has rapidly lost ground in the last three years, got a breather in Punjab where they won the election riding on the anti-incumbency factor. The Congress won 77 seats in the 117-member Assembly while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) came distant second with 20 seats. The Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP alliance managed to win only 18 seats. Captain Amarinder Singh was sworn in as the chief minister after a gap of 10 years.

New President and Vice President

In July, Ram Nath Kovind was sworn in as India's 14th President. A month earlier, the former Governor of Bihar and a Supreme Court lawyer had defeated Opposition candidate and former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar. Besides the allies, Kovind received crucial support from several non-NDA parties such as the Janata Dal (United), Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and both factions of Tamil Nadu's ruling party, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).

Two months later, former Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu was sworn in as the Vice President after defeating Opposition's joint candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi. As a result, the country's top three Constitutional positions  the President, the Vice President and the Prime Minister  are currently held by the BJP, for the first time.

External 'Coup' in Bihar

In July, Nitish Kumar, the Chief Minister of Bihar, resigned from his post and broke his party's 'Grand Alliance' with Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress.

Nitish was sworn in as the Chief Minister again in less than 24 hours, but this time with the BJP's support. The following day, Nitish won the crucial trust vote in the Bihar Assembly, with 131 legislators voting in his favour in the 243-member assembly.

The JD (U) formally joined the NDA but was not given any position in the Union Cabinet during the reshuffle.

'Son rise' in Congress

Ending years of speculation, Nehru-Gandhi family scion Rahul Gandhi took over the reign of one of India's oldest political parties  the Indian National Congress.

Gandhi was elected unopposed in the party's election process, which critics said was rigged in his favour. In December, he formally took over from Sonia Gandhi who had lead the party for nearly 20 years. Observers said that the new Congress President had undergone an image makeover in the lead up to his elevation.

Opposition stalls Parliament

The Opposition frequently disrupted parliamentary proceedings and thwarted the governments legislative agenda over issues such as cow vigilantism, demonetisation, passing of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill and PM Modi's remarks about former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The battle in Gujarat

For political pundits, poll results in Himachal Pradesh state were a foregone conclusion. The BJP won 44 of the 68 seats in the hill state. The real battle between the saffron party and its rival Congress was in PM Modi and BJP President Amit Shah's home state Gujarat.

The campaign in Gujarat turned dramatic after a rebranded Rahul Gandhi came to the fore. Gandhi-led Congress gave the BJP a run for its money in Gujarat and improved its vote share significantly in Modi's bastion. Congress also tied up with three young community leaders - Hardik Patel, Jignesh Mevani and Alpesh Thakor. The poll campaign was marred by controversies and jibes from both sides.

Earlier, senior Congress leader and close aide of Sonia Gandhi, Ahmed Patel was successfully re-elected to the Rajya Sabha after a controversial poll. The Congress flew its Gujarat MLAs to a resort in Bangalore to stop defection. On voting day, a Congress MLA flashed his vote to BJP president Amit Shah resulting into both sides seeking Election Commission's redressal.

With assembly elections scheduled to happen in bellwether states such as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka, among others, year 2018 is likely to be a make-or-break year for both the BJP as well as the Congress. It is in the coming year that tone will be set for the 2019 General Election.
Rank 2 | Elon R Musk | Company: SpaceX and Tesla | Net worth: $136 billion | YTD change: Gain by $108 billion (Image: Reuters)

Billionaire entrepreneur and genius Elon Musk might have put his fingers in too many pies over the years  cars, rockets and even infrastructure - but his boundless energy to reach his outrageous goals keeps the world hanging on to his every move.

Despite being late to the Twitter party (Musk's Twitter account was opened in June this year), the man known as the Tony Stark of the real world did not have any trouble in gathering followers.

Such was the anticipation and wait for Musk to start tweeting that in six months, he has amassed over 17 million followers on the social media platform, way ahead of other big names in the business world. In fact, he added close to 37,000 followers to his name on Tuesday alone.

Even when he was not on Twitter, Musk was always a closely-followed man for as long as he has been around. Be it the innovations of his companies, his warnings about artificial intelligence or his tall claims about the future, the fact is that he is perceived as one of the busiest men on Earth.

In that regard, 2017 was no different. Musk had an eventful year with SpaceX holding the record for the largest number of space launches by a private company. It looks like he has taken just another step closer towards achieving his goal of sending humans to Mars.

More recently, Musk surprised the world when he unveiled the new Tesla Roadster, which became the fastest production car in the world and the first one to ever break the 2-second barrier to go from 0-100 kmph.



Space X's reusable Falcon 9 rocket

This was a defining moment in Space Xs journey towards sending people to Mars. Despite nay-sayers and experts maintaining that a rocket could only be used once, Musk proved them wrong by successfully launching a used Falcon 9 rocket, which had an attached spacecraft that carried supplies to the International Space Station.



So if you're wondering what else Musk did this year that is worth knowing about, this is a short recap of his extremely busy year:

The pre-flown booster made a safe landing back on Earth, making it the first reusable rocket in the history of space travel. This is bound to bring down the cost of space travel drastically.

But that is not all for the SpaceX. The company will end the year with the launch another Falcon 9 carrying a Tesla Roadster into space.

A Quartz report states that this would be the 18th flight mission taken up by SpaceX so far. This year saw Space X take the record for the largest number of space launches done by a private company under its belt.



The Boring Company

Musk had an idea in late 2016 to form a company that would tunnel underneath Los Angeles, after he was frustrated with getting stuck in city traffic.

To solve the problem of soul-destroying traffic, roads must go 3D, which means either flying cars or tunnels. Unlike flying cars, tunnels are weatherproof, out of sight and won't fall on your head. A large network of tunnels many levels deep would fix congestion in any city, no matter how large it grew (just keep adding levels), the companys FAQ reads.



However, in a talk posted by TED, Musk admitted that there will be a lot of base challenges towards this reality. Here is what he hopes it will do:



Neuralink

Musks views on artificial intelligence (AI) are antagonistic, to say the least. The man even told a bipartisan gathering of United States governors that AI is a "fundamental risk to the existence of human civilization" and that it needs government regulation.



Also read: Elon Musk's out-of-the-world beliefs and theories

However, that does not mean Musk is blind to AI's limitless potential. Early in March, he launched a company called Neuralink, which is working to integrate AI and processing capabilities with that of the brains biological capacities.

The company is still in its nascent stages as neuroscientists are still trying to figure out how individual neurons communicate with each other. According to Verge report, such companies are looking to reverse the effects of neurological diseases with this technology.

Of course, given that this is Musk we are talking about, one can never be certain of when a far-fetched idea like this might turn into reality. After all, no one successfully deployed a used rocket in space and landed it before his company SpaceX did it earlier this month.



The Tesla Semi and Tesla Roadster:

In what could be considered as one of the biggest developments in the war against use of fossil fuels, Tesla unveiled the Tesla Semi in November this year.

The Tesla Semi is a truck that will be completely electricity-powered and will be able to travel 800 km on a single charge while carrying maximum weight and moving at highway speed. The company will start making the truck commercially in 2019.

While unveiling the Tesla Semi, the trailer of the model truck opened and out came a brand new, never-seen-before, Tesla sports car. Named the Tesla Roadster, this car could get from 0 to 100 kmph in just 1.9 seconds, becoming the first-ever car to be able to do so.





The Roadster is an improved version of the first-generation Tesla and can travel close to 1,000 km on a single charge, which is also a record for an electric vehicle.



Rebuilding Puerto Ricos shattered grid:

They say that in the end, every business is show business. And this is something Musk seems to live by.

Known for making grandiose statements on Twitter about the capabilities of his ventures, Musk did exactly that after Puerto Ricos electricity grid was shattered by Hurricane Maria.







The Tesla team has done this for many smaller islands around the world, but there is no scalability limit, so it can be done for Puerto Rico too. Such a decision would be in the hands of the PR govt, PUC, any commercial stakeholders and, most importantly, the people of PR.  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 5, 2017



The contract was awarded to US-based Whitefish Energy in the end but Tesla nonetheless continued working on restoration of power in Puerto Rico.

Futurism article pointed out that Tesla initiated six separate projects in partnership with the Puerto Rico government to power two islands -- Vieques and Culebra -- after already having restored power to a children's hospital.

Hospital del Nino is first of many solar+storage projects going live. Grateful to support the recovery of Puerto Rico with @ricardorossello pic.twitter.com/JfAu11UBYg Tesla (@Tesla) October 24, 2017

According to a Quartz report, Musk looks to begin the coming year with the launch of another rocket in January. So one can't help hoping that a few other imaginations of ours can become reality in 2018, with a little help from the Tesla man himself.
It has been not long since OnePlus had launched its latest model i.e. OnePlus 5T in the smartphone market just months after the launch of the OnePlus 5 model. Now, new leaks suggest that the Chinese smartphone manufacturers are planning to launch another model called OnePlus 6 early next year.

The new model, as per a report in the tech blog Digit is expected to be launched around next March. It is speculated that the OnePlus 6 will come with an under glass fingerprint sensor that will be placed on the front of the smartphone right below the display. If this becomes a reality, it will be a shift in the design style by the company who had moved the sensor to the rear. The placement of the sensor in the rear was not considered ideal by many users who preferred it on the front.

Also Read: OnePlus has some consolation for OnePlus 5 users - a feature from OnePlus 5T

The new flagship phone is expected to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset. In all other aspects, the smartphone is expected to be similar to its predecessor - the OnePlus 5T. The model too is expected to have a 6.1 inch optic AMOLED screen display with 1080*2160 pixel resolution and an 18:9 aspect ratio similar to most recent models.

While it is not clear whether the model will come in different variants, it is likely that the basic version will come with 6GB RAM. The model could possibly be coming with a dual SIM set up and could have dual-camera set up on the rear along with a selfie camera in the front.

However, the practice of the Chinese manufacturer to launch newer models on such quick succession has created reactions that are not always positive. Recently companys co-founder had to announce the extension of its face recognition feature to OnePlus 5 models after customers raised voice against the presence of the feature only on OnePlus 5T that was launched only a few months after the former.
Xiaomi customers will now be able to track the repair status of their devices online in real time, the company said in an announcement.



Mi Fans! Happy to introduce the all-new Mi Service Order Status feature on https://t.co/lzFXOcGyGQ.

With this feature, you can easily track the status of your device's repair status online and in real time! Visit https://t.co/5EnJJDvAgG to know more! pic.twitter.com/Ui43XmWqsK  Manu Kumar Jain (@manukumarjain) December 26, 2017

Global VP and Managing Director of Xiaomi India, Manu Kumar Jain posted a tweet announcing the rollout of the feature on Tuesday.

Customers will be able to check the status of repair by visiting the company website mi.com, Jain said. There are five common stages of repair, according to the companyunder inspection, work in progress, ready for delivery, delivered and cancelledone of which will be shown to the customers.

How to track

Customers of Xiaomi devices need to follow these simple steps to know the repair status:

1. Enter your contact/order/service/IMEI/SN.

2. Click on Confirm to get an OTP on your mobile number.

3. Enter the OTP and click on Submit. You will get the status of your service order along with the details of your device.

The company said that it (the service) is one of its kind and very few platforms in India have deployed it.

You usually call the service centre executive to know the status of your device given for repair. Now with the help of service order status, you can easily track your device and know its service status online, the announcement added.

Earlier the company had also rolled out the know the status of your order service which would give real-time estimated delivery time (EDT) of the Xiaomi products purchased from Mi Store.
Suspected Indian gangster Chhota Rajan is shown in this photograph taken in Bangkok on September 26, 2000. Rajan escaped on November 24, 2000 from the fourth floor of a Thai hospital, where he had been detained by police since mid-September, by using a makeshift rope made from bedsheets. Rajan, awaiting a hearing to decide if he should be extradited to India to face 17 counts of murder and other mob-related charges, had been receiving treatment for gunshot wounds he suffered during a shootout in Bangkok on September 15, 2000. NWA/CC - RTRB7BJ

One of Delhi's most notorious gangsters Neeraj Bawana might have been involved in a plot to get rid of underworld don Chhota Rajan in Tihar jail, the Times of India reported.

According to intelligence shared with Tihar authorities two weeks ago, Bawana might have been involved in a plot at to eliminate Rajan at the insistence of the latter's former boss Dawood Ibrahim.

The information led to a review of Rajan's security in the high-profile prison. The plot reportedly got busted after one of Bawana's aides boasted about it to another associate in what was described as drunken banter.

Bawana and Rajan have so far shared the same jail but had different cells. However, after this incident, Bawana was shifted to an isolated cell.

A source also revealed that there was information that Bawana may have been contacted by someone from D company to outsource the killing of their most sought-after target for the past two decades.

"Any hit on him in jail or hospital would be a symbolic win for the D company and a big setback for the Indian security establishment. At a time when fugitives like Vijay Mallya are complaining about the lack of security in Tihar and other Indian prisons, we cannot afford to take any inputs on targets such as Rajan lightly," a senior jail official told Times of India.

Threats on Rajan's life are taken very seriously by authorities because Dawood Ibrahim has been trying hard to take him out through local criminals of Delhi and the National Capital Region.

The reason Rajan was sent to Tihar and not any jail in Mumbai or Maharashtra was because authorities felt it would be more difficult for Dawood and his men to get to him inside the high-security prison.

Dawood's right hand man Chhota Shakeel has been making desperate attempts to target Rajan through criminals in Delhi. He had even sent Rs 1 lakh to four criminals who were arrested by special cell, twice. The same men were arrested again in 2017 while planning another attack on instructions of the D company.

Rajan has been on Dawood Ibrahim's hit list since he left the D company after the 1993 Mumbai blasts. After numerous unsuccessful assassination attempts in Bangkok, the Gulf, and Bali, it looks like Dawood has started targeting Rajan in Tihar jail.
Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, head of Jamaat-ud-Dawa and founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba

In what could be seen as an open challenge to civil society, dreaded terrorist Hafiz Saeed has opened an office in Lahore for his political party the Milli Muslim League (MML). The act by Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind behind the 26/11 Mumbai attacks is seen as an evidence to the support he enjoys in Pakistan society and establishment.

According to a report in Pakistani Newspaper The Dawn, the office of his political party, the Milli Muslim League (MML) was opened on Sunday on Lahores Mohni Road. As per the report, the office was opened in the area that comes under NA-120 constituency. Saeed, the leader of the banned terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba was reportedly welcomed by a large crowd during his visit who showered rose petals on his vehicle and complained to him about various troubles they face.

The opening of the new office of his yet-to-be-recognised party in the area gains significance as the constituency is seen as a stronghold of the Sharif clan that has always won the seat since their political debut in 1985.

The MML made a debut into the political arena when it contested the recently held by-election in the constituency and finished fourth. Though its registration as a recognised party with the election commission has been stalled following the opposition by the Interior Ministry, Hafiz Saeed seems least concerned about it. The act of opening the party office is seen by many as the brazen show of disregard to constitutional authorities within and outside the country.

However, this will not be the first occasion where Saeed and his organisation Jamaat-ud-Dawa has mocked civil society. Even after widespread condemnation and bans by countries such as the US and international organisations like the UN, Saeed and organisations like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jamaat-ud-Dawa have continued their work especially targeting India.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif looks out the window of his plane after attending a ceremony to inaugurate the M9 motorway between Karachi and Hyderabad, Pakistan February 3, 2017. REUTERS/Caren Firouz - RTX2ZI70

Nawaz Sharif's daughter has claimed that her father was removed from the prime minister's office because he had ordered registration of a treason case against former military dictator Pervez Musharraf.

A five-member bench of the Supreme Court had disqualified 67-year-old Sharif from the office of prime minister on July 28 in the Panama Papers scandal.

"When he (Sharif) got registered a treason case against Musharraf for abrogating the Constitution, sit-ins began in Islamabad (in 2014) against him. Then came the Dawn Leaks and Panama Papers case and finally he was disqualified on having 'Iqama' (work permit of UAE)," Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz told the social media team of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz while explaining reasons behind her father's ouster.

She further said this happened to her father because he did not bow and never took dictation.

"It was easy for him to choose an easy path (cutting a deal with the establishment) but he didn't. Nawaz Sharif always chose a right path which is a difficult one. When you are on such a path, you have to pay a price," Maryam added.

She termed an attack on the prime minister as "an attack on the people who have voted for him."

Sharif, who was also present during the interaction, demanded action against Musharraf for abrogating the Constitution and committing treason.

He asked would any court dare to bring Musharraf to justice. "Will we see any court in Pakistan hold Musharraf accountable for his crimes?" Sharif asked.

Musharraf is facing treason charges in Pakistan for imposing emergency rule in November 2007, arresting judges and limiting their powers.

He could face the death penalty if convicted.

Musharraf, 74, who came to power in a bloodless coup in 1999, has been living in Dubai since last year when he was allowed to leave Pakistan on the pretext of medical treatment.

The former military dictator who had promised to return to face the cases against him later said former army chief Gen Raheel Sharif had used his influence to get him a relief.
Antibodies against anthrax found in the body of a defected North Korean soldier has raised doubts that North Korea is developing bio-warfare capabilities.

The concerns emerged after South Korea based Channel A reported the finding about antibodies. According to the report, the defected soldier may have developed the antibodies against anthrax by either getting exposed to the virus or by receiving a vaccination.

The fact that the defected soldier was only a mid-level officer indicates that the country may have developed some form of vaccination against the virus and is supplying it on a large scale to its troops. It can also be construed that the Pyongyang regime may be producing the virus in a large quantity.

The deadly anthrax virus is capable of killing around 80 percent of those exposed to it unless they are provided proper treatment within 24 hours.

There have been concerns around North Korea developing arsenal aimed at biological warfare as it flexes its nuclear muscle. The new development puts South Korea, which has not yet developed vaccines against anthrax, in a tight spot.

Earlier, a Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun had reported that North Korea was looking to mount the anthrax virus on its inter-continental ballistic missiles. It had claimed that the country was experimenting with equipment that will enable the survival of virus even when exposed to intense temperatures. Similarly, the White House too had released a report earlier this month claiming North Korea was developing chemical and biological weapons that can be delivered via missiles.

Pyongyang, however, has continued to deny these allegations and accused the US of spreading lies.
Representational picture

The UN has approved a USD 286 million cut in its annual budget for the next year, a five per cent "historic reduction in spending" that the US said it had negotiated.

The General Assembly on Sunday approved the regular budget of USD 5.397 billion for 2018-2019, the UN said in a statement yesterday.

The amount sets the budget level around USD 286 million (or five per cent) below the final approved level for 2016- 2017, and USD 193 million below the initially proposed budget level for 2018-2019, including all "add-ons".

The additional reductions come mainly from across-the- board cuts in non-post resources for most Departments and Offices, including the Special Political Missions, the UN said in a statement.

Taking credit for the budget cut, America's Indian-origin Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said that she negotiated a reduction of over USD 285 million off the 2016-2017 final budget.

"In addition to these significant cost savings, we reduced the UN's bloated management and support functions, bolstered support for key US priorities throughout the world, and instilled more discipline and accountability throughout the UN system," she said in a statement.

"The inefficiency and overspending of the United Nations are well known. We will no longer let the generosity of the American people be taken advantage of or remain unchecked.

"This historic reduction in spending, in addition to many other moves toward a more efficient and accountable UN, is a big step in the right direction," Haley said.

She said that while "we are pleased with the results of this year's budget negotiations, you can be sure we will continue to look at ways to increase the UN's efficiency while protecting our interests".

According to the UN statement, the General Assembly approved resources in the amount of USD 88 million for the establishment and maintenance of the United Nations Mission for Justice Support in Haiti (MINUJUSTH) for the period from October 16, 2017 to June 30, 2018.

It approved resources in the amount of USD 911 million for the maintenance of the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) for the period from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018.

This brings the total overall approved resources for peacekeeping operations for the 2017/18 period to USD 7.316 billion, which compares to approved resources for the 2016/17 period of USD 7.909 billion, a reduction of USD 593 million or 7.5 per cent.

The General Assembly granted a one-year commitment authority for the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, it said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the General Assembly's support to his management reform proposal aimed at enhancing delivery of all mandates and the performance of the Secretariat.

The General Assembly also provided guidance on the comprehensive proposals, including on the restructuring of the Departments of Field Support and of Management to be submitted by mid-2018.

In particular, the General Assembly endorsed the proposal to move from a biennial planning and budgeting period to annual programme budget on a trial basis, as of 2020.

This signals one of the most significant shifts in the programme planning and budgeting process of the Organisation since the 1970s, the UN said.

The General Assembly also requested the Secretary-General to undertake an assessment of the mechanisms and levels of discretionary managerial authorities that may be required in order to address unanticipated programmatic needs and to report in the 73rd Session, the UN statement added.
The chronicle of a life split between urban Manhattan and rural Montana.
NORRISTOWN  The Montgomery County Commissioners, on the advice of the Montgomery County Department of Public Safety, have declared a Code Blue Cold Weather Emergency for Montgomery County based on a review of forecasts from the National Weather Service. The...
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State officials announce $2.85M for new police station in Upper Moreland
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When the price of oil collapsed in 2014 and disrupted drilling operations all across Texas massive Permian Basin shale formation, truckers were among those hardest hit. Rendered unnecessary by the slump in output, they were fired in scores.

Now, three years later, with oil prices inching back higher and production in the Permian soaring once again, the drillers want the truckers back. The feeling, though, isnt mutual. The pain of the 2014 downturn remains fresh for many who went on to find driving gigs in other industries and, whats more, they worry that companies will remain tightfisted with pay as they re-hire.

The result is a growing trucker shortage that threatens to limit just how high drillers can push production. The problem is most acute in the western fringe of the Permian -- known as the Delaware Basin -- where shale companies are moving back into aggressively as prices climb. Given the off-the-beaten-path location of these wells amid the sprawling 75,000-square-mile Permian, the need for truckers to haul the oil over primitive roads to pipelines is greater than in more centrally located spots.

We are able to sell the trucks to the crude haulers, said Wade Black, a salesperson with Premier Truck Group in Amarillo, which is just to the north of the Delaware Basin. But theres no one to drive them.

More for you Truckers are in demand as mines open in the Permian

Permian production is surging, thanks to improving oil prices. Explorers are tapping oil in the furthest regions of the field, which extends from West Texas across into New Mexico. Output may reach 2.79 million barrels a day in January, 30 percent higher from the year before, according to latest government forecast. Led by Permian growth, total U.S. oil output is set to surpass 10 million barrels a day in June, potentially eclipsing OPECs Saudi Arabia.

About 3,000 oil truckers are hauling oil around the Permian, more than the 2,000 to 2,500 just before the 2014 price bust, Willie Taylor, chief executive officer for Permian Basin Workforce Board, said in a phone interview. But companies will need to hire more than 3,000 additional drivers at the rate the patch is growing, he said.

Those drivers are sorely needed, especially in the fast-growing Delaware Basin, which has become the Permians second-largest section. There are as many as 2,000 trucks just servicing the Delaware, each able to transport about 180 barrels, Joey Lee, general manager with Premium Truck of Odessa, said in a phone interview.

He said drivers are worried they wont get paid much, given that most operators are still in austerity mode with prices well below their 2014 peak.

Oil truck drivers are paid about $100,000 per year, some 10 percent to 20 percent below 2014-2015 salaries, according to Joseph Triepke, founder of Tennessee-based oilfield research firm InfillThinking.com. Typically, oil truckers got paid more than frac sand drivers because of the additional skills needed to haul a hazardous substance such as petroleum, he said in a phone interview. But that salary disparity is narrowing as demand grows for frac sand.

Truckers are also concerned about the implementation of digital log books that compute the hours of operations more accurately, instead of the manual logs in which drivers recorded their own hours. Drivers, who get paid by how much time they spend time in a field could manipulate the system with manual entries, Lee said.

The shortage wont cause any kind of slowdown in production or shut-ins, said Lee, adding that more staff likely will be added steadily next year as prices rise.

Rehiring will be a slow process. It wont happen as fast as you need it.

While the race to expand production in the more distant reaches of the Permian boosts demand for truckers, technological developments may slow the hiring.

Advances in horizontal drilling allow fewer wells to produce the same amount of oil and gas, reducing the number of trucks needed to transport the oil to market, Stephen Robertson, executive vice president of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association, said by email.

Also, with so much production coming from a centralized pad site, its cheaper to set up flow lines to transport the oil to storage hubs, Robertson said.

Trucks are still greatly needed to transport people and equipment, its just that we have been able to reduce the number of trips needed to produce an equivalent amount of hydrocarbons.

The Delaware Basin is far from most major cities, with the few hotels, and man-camps the primary form of accommodation. Infrastructure is poor, and trucks travel mainly on dirt roads, which can be bad for equipment, according to Premiers Black. The rutted roads keep travel speeds at under 10 miles an hour to destinations that are as many as 50 miles away.

The manpower shortage is expected to ease soon. Trucking companies are redeploying assets to where there has been a large increase in output to meet demand, said Robert McEntyre, spokesman for the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, in a phone interview from Santa Fe.

The oil industry will simply have to pay up get more drivers, Lee said.

Its offering better incentives like more time off or bigger bonuses. This is the competitive nature of the business.
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Tree-lighting kicks off citys Christmas

Midlands Christmas festivities kicked off Dec. 2 with the tree lighting at Wadley Barron Park. Hundreds of people gathered and counted down to the lighting of the 30-foot tree and its surrounding Christmas decorations, which include candles, deer, several snowmen, a poinsettia and presents.

The nieces and nephews of City Councilman Spencer Robnett helped him flip the switch to light the tree when the countdown ended.

When children saw Santa sitting under the gazebo, they quickly lined up to tell him their Christmas wishes.

Residents in attendance could sign up for raffle items, which included Dominos pizza for a year, cookie cakes, RockHounds memorabilia and restaurant gift cards.

Fountainville becomes winter wonderland

Fountainville Creamery and Soda Fountain turned its ice cream parlor into a winter wonderland oen day early this month.

Guest showed up for sugar cookie decorating, ornament making and to participate in the Name a Fountainville flavor contest. Those who brought an unwrapped toy for Safe Place of the Permian Basin got a free scoop of ice cream.

Santa and his elves were in attendance, and one of the elves served as DJ playing dance music for the kids.

Midland Musicians Club meets

The Midland Musicians Club held its December meeting at St. Lukes Methodist Church. Edith Hardy and Beverly Wise performed two duets -- selections from Fantasies on Christmas -- and Julie Wingfield also performed some holiday tunes.

Hostesses were Peggy Jones and Linda Fox, who distributed bells for Jingle Bells. Program director Violet Singh gave a presentation on Christmas around the world.

Also present were Lou Nelle George, Lee Harley, Thomas A. Hyde, Jo Ann Collett, Benita Bermingham, Martha Lewis and Marge Savage.
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Demonstrators who are denied the ability to hold events at state universities would be empowered to sue for up to $100,000 in damages under new Republican legislation critics say could lead to the proliferation of hateful rhetoric and propaganda on Florida's campuses.

Proposed law bars administrators from denying outside requests to address students

Legislation devised before Spencer speech at UF in October

Lawmakers will consider measure during 2018 legislative session

Under the proposed Campus Free Expression Act, university administrators would be barred from denying requests by outside speakers to address students on campus.

While the legislation was devised before white nationalist Richard Spencer's incendiary speech on the University of Florida campus in October, supporters believe the events surrounding the speech significantly improve its chances of passage.

The UF administration initially rejected Spencer's request to speak on campus. Only later, after lawyers informed them the request couldn't be rejected because it proposed constitutionally-protected free speech on a public university campus, was the decision reversed.

The legislation would effectively codify that finding in state law. It would also bar administrators from creating "free speech zones" that attempt to corral controversial speakers and propaganda to certain areas of campus. Speakers wouldn't, however, be allowed to disrupt regularly scheduled university activities, including classes.

Democrats have assailed the bill as a dangerous affront to common sense curbs on particularly inflammatory speech, and some students agree.

"Maybe certain things are limited on what they bring on to campus," said FSU senior Sarah Smith. "Maybe they're only allowed to bring a sign or so, but they're not allowed to bring hateful gear or things along that nature. It's ok to express yourself, but I feel like going beyond that when it comes to hate speeches and such that it's not necessarily ok."

Lawmakers will further consider the measure during the 2018 legislative session, which begins Jan. 9.
Central Florida will be partly cloudy as we head through the rest of the overnight.

Few cold fronts approaching

Cooling down again

Watching New Years travel forecast

The lows in the area will drop into the upper 50s. A mostly cloudy day is expected on Thursday as a front washes out across the area.

The highs stay near 70 degrees with north winds at 10 mph. The clouds will be sticking around for Friday, but very few showers are expected.

More sunshine returns on Saturday and the first half of New Years Eve day. A 40 to 50 percent chance of rain is expected by New Years Eve and New Years Day.

The highs will also drop into the low to middle 60s  possibly cooler if the jet stream drops more south.

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Boating conditions will be a bit hazardous on Thursday. The winds will be northeast at 15 knots during the afternoon.

Seas will be around 4 to 6 feet. The wave period will be six seconds with choppy conditions on the intracoastal.

Water temperatures are around 68 at Daytona Beach and 70 at Cocoa Beach. The rip risk will be moderate.

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The cities of San Francisco, New York and Philadelphia filed a sweeping federal lawsuit Tuesday accusing the U.S. Department of Defense of failing to live up to its legal duty to notify the FBI when a member of the military is convicted of a crime that would bar them from buying or possessing firearms.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Virginia, accuses the defense department, the Army, Navy, Air Force and a host of high-ranking Pentagon officials  including Secretary of Defense James Mattis  of unevenly feeding reports about convictions and dishonorable discharges to the FBIs criminal background check system for the past two decades.

The cities are working with the San Francisco-based Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence and the New York law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, which is representing them.

In their joint complaint, the cities contend that these kinds of reporting lapses allowed Devin Kelley  a former member of the Air Force who was court-martialed and convicted of assaulting his wife and stepson in 2012  to purchase the assault-style weapon that hes accused of using to kill 26 people at a church in Texas last month. Kelley, who was discharged from the Air Force in 2014, killed himself shortly after the mass shooting.

According to federal law, Kelleys assault conviction should have prevented him from purchasing or possessing a firearm. But the Air Force admitted that it failed to report the conviction to the FBI.

Now Playing: President Trump has called for "extreme vetting" of immigrants from Muslim-majority countries in response to terrorist incidents, but has yet to take any action on gun laws in response to the deadly mass shootings that have occurred during his time in office. Veuer's Chandra Lanier has the story. Video: Veuer

The cities said their suit is intended to prevent such senseless carnage from ever again being inflicted by current or former members of the military who should be blocked from acquiring guns or licenses to carry guns.

Since the Texas shooting, numerous federal officials have acknowledged that the defense department has failed to fully inform the FBI of all military convictions, as required.

In a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee this month, Glenn Fine, acting inspector general for the defense department, testified that the military failed to tell the FBI about 31 percent of service members criminal convictions between Jan. 1, 2015, and Dec. 31, 2016.

Fine said that the defense department first reviewed its criminal history data-sharing practices with the FBI in 1997. That review, Fine said, found significant deficiencies in the military services compliance with the requirement to submit criminal history data to the FBI.

Last month, Attorney General Jeff Sessions called the situation alarming and unacceptable. He ordered the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to review the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which is used by law enforcement and gun dealers to determine whether someone is legally allowed to purchase or possess a firearm.

Sessions specifically asked the FBI and ATF to identify any federal government entities that are not fully and accurately reporting information to the background check system, and to develop a plan to make sure reporting is done correctly in the future.

Lauren Ehrsam, a spokeswoman for the Department of Justice, declined to comment on the lawsuit.

The cities want the courts to appoint an independent and apolitical branch of government to ensure that the defense department complies with its obligation to share information about military criminal convictions with law enforcement in order to strengthen background checks.

The national criminal background check system is the backbone of common-sense gun regulations, San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera said in a statement announcing the citys participation in the lawsuit.

The Defense Departments failure to fulfill its legal duty and accurately report criminal convictions puts innocent Americans at risk, he said. It is past time to ensure that were doing everything we can to keep guns out of the wrong hands.

Dominic Fracassa is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dominicfracassa
A SpaceX rocket that soared over a Southern California freeway Friday generated plenty of "oohs" and "aahs"  and a three-car pile-up.

The rocket, dubbed the Falcon 9, was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 5:27 p.m, leaving a brilliant streak across the sky.

LOOKING BACK AT 2017: See the year's best news photos

Later that evening, a YouTube user with the screen name Mark Sales posted a video of three cars colliding as the rocket passed overhead.

The short clip was filmed along Interstate 10 in Banning via a dashboard-mounted camera, according to the Los Angeles Times. A man and children can be heard in the video, commenting first on the rocket and then on the unfortunate drivers ahead of them. The car that recorded the crash was unscathed.

WARNING: VIDEO CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE

Friday's event marked the 18th and final SpaceX launch of 2017. Calls poured into TV stations as far as 200 miles from the launch site. Witnesses speculated about the rocket's ethereal glow, prompting the Los Angeles Fire Department to issue a statement preemptively debunking any UFO theories.
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A listless day of trading on Wall Street ended with major stock indexes closing slightly lower Tuesday, weighed down by losses among some big technology companies.

Apple slid 2.5 percent amid speculation that the consumer electronics giant might cut its targets for sales of its latest iPhone.

Banks also declined, outweighing gains by energy companies and retailers. Oil prices closed higher.

Trading was light as investors returned from the Christmas holiday.

"It's a low-volume day after Christmas, with hardly anything going on," said Tom Martin, senior portfolio manager with Globalt Investments. "You have one piece of news that is significant on a major company, Apple. That moved some of the components around."

Stocks had finished higher for five straight weeks heading into this week. They are on pace to finish every month this year with gains, when dividends are included.

The major indexes were slightly lower early on and veered little for the rest of the day. It was the lightest day of trading in about a year.

Technology companies pulled the market lower from the get-go, weighed down by chipmakers and Apple, among other big names.

Apple slid after a Taiwanese newspaper reported that the company may cut iPhone X sales targets amid weak sales. The stock declined $4.44 to $170.57.

Despite the slide, technology remains the best-performing sector in the S&P 500 this year with a gain of 37.4 percent.

Energy companies posted the biggest gains Tuesday as oil prices increased.

Investors also bid up shares in big retail stocks and consumer products companies. Kohl's jumped $3.21, or 6 percent, to $56.87, while Macy's added $1.18, or 4.6 percent, to $26.85.

Traders welcomed the latest corporate deal news.

Sucampo Pharmaceuticals climbed 5.9 percent after it agreed to be acquired by drugmaker Mallinckrodt for $839 million, or $18 a share. Sucampo makes a constipation drug called Amitiza, and it had $230 million in total revenue last year. Sucampo added $1 to $18. Mallinckrodt picked up 16 cents to $23.48.
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Donors set to take over operations of the San Antonio Symphony have backed out of the deal after discovering a potential $8.9 million pension liability, leaving the future of the orchestra in doubt.

We thought we had gotten to the finish line. Then they said there might be an unfunded portion of their pension plan, said Bruce Bugg Jr., chairman of Symphonic Music for San Antonio, a nonprofit set up by major donors to take over the symphonys operations. We were hoping to have the transition completed by now. We felt like we were pretty far along. Everything ground to a halt at that point.

The board thats now running the symphony will meet Tuesday to discuss the impact on the current season and future of the orchestra, Chairwoman Alice Viroslav said.

The Symphony Society of San Antonio has been running the orchestra since 1939 and was supposed to relinquish control to the new group earlier this year.

I have to get the board together and allow them to discuss all options, she said when asked whether bankruptcy was on the table. This isnt a positive development. This is very surprising for all of us. Not a pleasant surprise for anyone.

San Antonio supermarket chain H-E-B, the Tobin Endowment and the Kronkosky Charitable Foundation set up the nonprofit and announced plans in July to take over the symphonys assets and operations from the Symphony Society by Sept. 1.

Although they donated about $2 million to keep the symphony going since May, the transfer never happened as the donors struggled to get a handle on the orchestras liabilities, they announced Wednesday.

Bugg said they formally terminated the arrangement with the Symphony Society on Dec. 21.

Theyre just going to have to work through this on their own, he said. These liabilities are insurmountable for us to go forward.

The American Federation of Musicians & Employers Pension Fund sent the organizations a letter Nov. 21 that showed the orchestras pension plan was underfunded by the Symphony Society by about $4.5 million, according to a copy of the letter.

Its not a bill thats necessarily due now. It basically means the symphony owes more on its current and future retirement payouts than it has in its account  $4.5 million more.

Withdrawing from the fund early, however, would trigger a withdrawal liability of more than $8.9 million, the federation said.

The symphony, which has struggled financially for years and was at risk of collapse last year, thought it had paid off almost all of its debt when the board discovered the pension liability in August, Viroslav said.

It wasnt in any of the previously audited statements, and were not sure why, she said.

The organizations were reviewing the musicians employment plan this summer when the pension plan was discovered.

As we were learning more and peeling back the layers of how the organization was working, we uncovered a lot of surprises, said Dya Campos, vice chairwoman of the donor-backed group. There were a lot of financial surprises that our group uncovered.

The musicians current contract expires Sunday, and the orchestras labor union filed charges Dec. 18 against the old and new boards with the National Labor Relations Board for failing to negotiate in good faith, said Brian Petkovich, a bassoon player and the secretary of the local chapter of the American Federation of Musicians labor union.

The union said it refused a demand from Tom Stephenson, the executive director of the new organization, for pay cuts for new musicians and he refused to continue negotiations.

In a statement, the union accused the new team of using the pension plan as a false excuse to abandon contract talks, pointing out there wouldnt be a withdrawal liability of $8.9 million if the it takes over the plan.

The new board members spent months proclaiming themselves the saviors of the San Antonio Symphony, the union said. Now, like spoiled children, they have decided to pick up their marbles and leave because they couldn't get their way on everything, including having to deal with a pesky union that didn't think reducing outstandingly skilled musicians' already-low pay scales was a very good idea.

The San Antonio Symphonys next concert is scheduled for Jan. 6 at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts. About 40 performances remain on the symphonys 2017-18 schedule.

dkopecki@express-news.net

Staff Writer Joshua Fechter contributed to this report.
Perhaps your college friend asked you to support her quarterly magazine for her birthday. Or maybe your neighbor nudged you to donate to his favorite food bank on "Giving Tuesday" the week after Thanksgiving. And then there's that pesky public health nonprofit you've been charitable to in the past.

If you've gotten on Facebook at all this year, you've probably been asked to give money. And if you're like many users, your newsfeed became particularly overrun by fundraisers during the last month or so.

How did we get here? And at what point did Facebook become a hub for this sort of thing?

Started with 19 groups

When Facebook rolled out a new button in 2013, it allowed people to contribute directly to nonprofits through the social media platform for the first time. At first, 19 organizations were listed as partners.

About two years later, officials began testing another new tool: Fundraisers. Using that feature, in tandem with an improved donate button, about three dozen organizations now had a place from which they could raise money for a campaign. And by June 2016, Facebook announced it would expand its Fundraisers tool to allow users themselves to raise money for more than 100 nonprofits in the U.S.

Less than five months later, that group of 100 was expanded to more than 750,000. Facebook teamed up with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Together, they pledged to contribute up to $1 million to Facebook Fundraisers - $500,000 from the foundation in matching funds and $500,000 in waived fees from Facebook.

A high point was Giving Tuesday 2017. The Tuesday after Thanksgiving in the United States has become a focal point for donations on social media in the past five years. In an apparent attempt to raise the bar, the Gates Foundation increased its matching contribution this year to $1 million. Facebook covered all the fees for the day.

What's this about fees?

Before the Giving Tuesday promotion, Facebook took a 5 percent cut of the donations, according to media reports and archived versions of its informational pages.

When Giving Tuesday arrived, the company did away with the fees, and then, the next day, officials announced that those fees would be eliminated moving forward. (Donations made to personal fundraisers - like for a medical emergency - are still charged a 6.9 percent fee in the U.S. and are generally not tax-deductible.)

Do people like it?

In interviews, some Facebook users worried that it would take too long for nonprofits to get their donations. Others groused that inviting friends to donate one by one was time-consuming. And a few said they were confused about whether they would be charged a service fee.

Still, users overwhelmingly said they were amazed by the ease, simplicity and effectiveness of fundraising on Facebook.

A bigger plan?

Facebook has framed the development of its Fundraisers tool as part of a broader effort to do "social good." Experts said that may be true. But they say there is almost certainly another motivation, too.

Keith Quesenberry, an assistant professor of marketing at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pa., said the social network needs to increase the amount of time users spend on its site if the company hopes to keep increasing its revenue. That's part of the reason Facebook has pushed native video and probably part of the reason it built a platform that allows users to donate without leaving the site, he said.

Fundraising platforms such as GoFundMe have always relied on social networks to make campaigns successful, added Jeremy Littau, an associate professor at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., who studies social networks and civic action.

"This is Facebook deciding they're no longer happy playing a middleman role," he said.

Both Quesenberry and Littau said they consider Facebook's decision to eliminate the donation fee to be a bold business move aimed at taking more market share and potentially putting competitors out of business.

"Any features that are popular on other networks, they just end up adopting," Quesenberry said of Facebook.
Ukrainian exports grew by 20% in 2017, Prime Minister Vladimir Groysman said.

"In 2017, total exports grew by almost 20%, it was $35 billion in the nine months. This [amount] was paid to Ukraine for products created by Ukrainian hands," he said while opening a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

In his words, the European Union accounted for almost 40% of Ukrainian exports. He announced the government's plans to approve Ukraine's export strategy at the meeting. What is more, the Export Credit Agency (ECA) is expected to be launched in 2018.

"Literally last week I held a working meeting. I expect by the end of January we will achieve an agreed decision on the support of Ukrainian exports," he said.
A 77-year-old man was in life-threatening condition after he was shot by robbers who targeted him and two other victims at a building in the Mission District of San Francisco, police said Tuesday.

The incident occurred about 5:20 p.m. Saturday in a building on the 2300 block of Mission Street, according to the San Francisco Police Department.
The oak smoked meats that come off the barbecue pits tended by Emilio Soliz at Kings Hwy Brew & Q will be featured on an episode of Eat, Sleep, BBQ at 8 p.m. Saturday on the Food Network.

According to the The Food Network website, the episode will lead off with a spotlight on the restaurant at 1012 N. Flores, as host Rashad Jones visits a family establishment in San Antonio thats serving up a generous four taco plate with all kinds of meat and a side of borracho beans.
BRIDGEPORT  Connecticut State Police are investigating a shooting after city cops determined a person suffered a gunshot wound shortly after 11 a.m. Wednesday while driving on Route 8.

There is no threat to the public as this does not appear to be a random act or road rage-related, said State Police spokeswoman Kelly Grant following a preliminary investigation.
GREENWICH  With winter officially here and sniffles and coughs apparent in nearly every encounter, the town is offering residents some health tips to help avoid the flu.

The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports influenza activity rapidly increasing over the past few weeks in many states, including Connecticut. Flu season officially started in October.

Town Director of Health Caroline Baisley recommended that people get a flu shot if they have not already done so, even though its effectiveness this year, experts said, is low.

Getting vaccinated for seasonal influenza is the best way to provide protection against influenza viruses, Baisley said. Its not too late to get vaccinated. It takes up to two weeks after vaccination for protection, or immunity, to develop in the majority of adults.

According to Michael Long, the towns director of environmental services for the Health Department, the towns October clinics dispensed about 1,400 doses of the vaccine, which pretty much exhausted the towns supply.

People looking to get a flu shot should consult a health care provider, he said.

Flu season traditionally runs from early October through May. Influenza, is a highly contagious respiratory illness caused by a virus which is spread by infected people coughing, sneezing or touching a surface handled by others.

The flu has varying degrees of impact and can be severe in some cases, especially among seniors, young children, pregnant women and people with underlying medical conditions.

Nationally, the flu infects millions of Americans every year and causes more than 225,000 hospitalizations.

Some of the more common effects of the flu include the rapid onset of high fever, a cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy noses, chills, headaches, fatigue and body aches.

Baisley warns residents not to take the idea of getting the flu lightly.

People do take it for granted when they havent experienced it, she said during last years clinics. I had the flu once and it was the worst experience of my life. People compare it to getting run over by a truck and thats very accurate.

Beyond getting a flu shot, the town also recommended that people keep their distance from those who are sick; flu sufferers should stay home from work or school for at least 24 hours after their fever is gone. It can take up to one week or more for people to feel better after the fever dissipates.

Other tips include covering the mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing, washing hands with soap and hot water frequently or, if soap and hot water are not available, use alcohol-based cleaners with at least 60 percent alcohol ingredient as an effective substitute.

People should also avoid touching their own eyes, nose or mouth; eat healthy; drink water; exercise, and get plenty of sleep.

If someone does develop flu symptoms, the town recommends they consult a health care provider immediately.

kborsuk@greenwichtime.com
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Troy

Pedestrians traversing city streets often tread of over history and art with each step.

Take a glance down and you might spot a city of Troy manhole cover that celebrates the city's rich history. The city has 1,836 manhole covers and an increasing number are decorated with the city's ornate coat of arms.

"It's a miniature beautiful piece of art in the streets," said Chris Wheland, the city's superintendent of public works.

The city's seal ended up in the street for a simple reason: It was circular and fit perfectly onto a cast-iron manhole cover. It joined a two-century-old tradition of companies and governments leaving their mark on the street.

"The city seal is round and the manhole cover is round. It just fits," Wheland said.

According to the website Sewerhistory.org, manholes date back about 5,500 years. It was in the 19th century that the modern manhole cover was developed. Some manholes are rectangular though most  like Troy's  are round. They can weigh up to 300 pounds, according to the website.

The Capital Region's urban areas, its cities and villages, grew during the 19th century leaving a great deal of history that is out in the open.

"On your daily walk, slow down to half-speed. Look up, you'll see the art and history in the cornices, the buildings and in the street manhole covers," said Karin Krasevac-Lenz, executive director of the Rensselaer County Historical Society.

If local people notice the historic covers in Troy, they don't call the historical society, Krasevac-Lenz said.

It's when people start traveling that they notice the ties to home, she said. Troy was once home to an impressive iron works industry and manholes with "Troy, N.Y." stamped on them are spotted from time to time in communities around the country.

Those discoveries, she said, often generate excited calls to the historical society.

Scanning local streets, one can see a variety name stamped on manhole covers. There's HRT Co., which is the old Hudson River Telephone Co. There is also NYP&L Corp. for the New York Power and Light Corp. There's NM and NMP for Niagara Mohawk. Or there might be a lightning bolt on a cover for electric power. And the old Ma Bell, the original AT&T, has its own litany of manhole covers with Bell System or just a simple bell. There's also simple designs that adorn the covers.

About the only time a manhole cover is noticed when a spark triggers an underground gas explosion and fire. The detonation can often launch manholes into the air. The blasts that sent manholes in Albany and Troy flung a few years ago were due to underground cable fires.

Albany has its shield printed on its sewer covers. In other communities, they simply say "Sanitary Sewer."

Troy chose to decorate its manholes covers with the city seal about 10 years ago, Wheland said. That's a time when manhole covers were stolen for scrap despite the weight  150 to 200 pounds.

David Badgley, a project supervisor for Troy, learned from sales representative that the city could have custom designed covers. Badgley said they quickly settled on the city seal, because it was round and didn't require extra work to fit on a manhole cover.

"They look good. They're really able to be tucked in securely." Wheland said.

Troy's iron works are history so the city turns to the East Jordan Iron Works, in Michigan. "They're American made," Wheland said.

Wheland said it's becoming more common to see communities getting their own designs placed on manhole covers.

The city seal covers are placed solely on the sewer manholes. Waterlines are pressured and city officials fear a ruptured water main could send one flying.

kcrowe@timesunion.com  518-454-5084  @KennethCrowe
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Nearly half of the businesses in the Lake Houston area were damaged in some way after Hurricane Harvey, according to Jenna Armstrong, president and CEO of the Lake Houston Area Chamber of Commerce.

Armstrong and the chamber have focused on getting area businesses back on their feet, launching the Back To Business Campaign and hosting an office supply drive with chambers across the country. From the beginning, they've pointed to a statistic from the Federal Emergency Management Agency stating 40 percent of small businesses closed because of a natural disaster won't reopen.

"Even more shocking is we found a statistic from the SBA that of those that do open, 67 percent won't be open after two years," Armstrong told a group of business and community leaders at a recent BizCom meeting. "Those are really, really horrifying numbers, especially when we're in an area where more than 90 percent of our businesses are small businesses."

There are 7,500 businesses in the Lake Houston area, and 3,300 were affected by flooding, according to Armstrong. More than 300 closed. The chamber reported in early December that 104 had reopened.

The chamber has committed to contacting each of the businesses that closed and tracking them for 12 months to help them find resources and funds.

The impact has had a domino effect. Many people were displaced, particularly from apartments, and even retail businesses that didn't flood are struggling to find employees.

"So, what the businesses have to face is a huge uphill battle. There is not FEMA for business," Armstrong said. "You've probably heard me say this a lot. This has become a new passion project for me. There's really nothing out there for businesses to help them, to give them that shot in the arm."

Nonprofit organization LiftFund has launched a pilot program with the chamber to assist small businesses through loans. LiftFund is able to provide zero interest loans over 48 months with a four-month deferral on the front end, Armstrong said.

They did a soft launch with three businesses had two more ready to go and are working to obtain more funding from the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation.

Most of the businesses that closed, Armstrong pointed out, didn't have flood insurance. Still, several already have renovated and reopened their doors, to the community's delight. For days and weeks, some Kingwood-area residents didn't have access to businesses often taken for granted, like grocery stores and fast-food restaurants.

Some major businesses affected by the hurricane, like Costco, Best Buy and Randall's, reopened in recent weeks. Randall's donated $100,000 to Humble Independent School District's Education Foundation as the district itself works to repair three buildings damaged by flooding.

Salata and Kirkland's recently reopened. All of Salata's opening day sales were donated to the Houston Food Bank for its Harvey relief efforts.

Torchy's Tacos reopened Dec. 18, with a new sign pointing out how high the flood waters rose.

"The businesses are the ones that are selling products, they're selling goods, they're putting paychecks into those people's pockets that that money's going to be used to help them recover residentially," Armstrong said. "So, if you're helping one side  helping the residents  but you're not helping the businesses, there's going to be a big issue. Not only because of home values, but school systems that really get the most tax base from your businesses."
When Hurricane Harvey's floodwaters swept away the military medals of retired Navy Capt. Michael Penn, he considered the loss just one among many.

"We spent about a week in shock," said Penn, a Vietnam veteran who survived eight months as prisoner of war. "Not medical shock, but mental shock. We had lost so much, so many meaningful things. Our daughter's wedding pictures, all kinds of memorabilia, plus the thousands of dollars-worth of furniture. There was so much lost, and that was just one thing on the list."

About three months after the flooding, Penn was honored with new medals presented by U.S. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Kingwood, in what has become a long recovery for the Penns.

Immediately after the flood, Penn's brother-in-law, Ralph Massengill, helped the couple clear-out their damaged Kingwood home and salvage what was left of their belongings.

"My brother-in-law was at my house cleaning up and found a set of miniature medals I had that were laying on the floor," Penn said. "He goes, 'Where are your other medals?'"

Penn's medals had been mounted by his wife in a shadow-box enclosure, which was destroyed by Harvey's floodwaters.

Massengill, also a veteran, took it upon himself to contact Poe's office and request the medals be replaced.

"(Recently), my office was contacted by (Penn's) brother-in-law, Ralph Massengill, asking if I could help replace the treasured medals and ribbons that were lost during Hurricane Harvey," Poe, R-Kingwood, said on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives in December. "In his heartfelt email, he expressed his desire to present the awards and medals to (Penn) in a shadow-box as a Christmas gift. He felt this would be the perfect gift, as (Penn) hopes to be back in his home by Christmas."

Penn was presented with 11 of his lost military accolades by Poe at his Kingwood office in late November. It was an action Poe said he felt honored to take.

"It was just astonishing finding out about his service and what kind of person he is," Poe said. "He flew 75 missions off an aircraft carrier and landed back on the aircraft carrier after being in combat. Anyone who has ever experienced or knows the history of taking off and landing on aircraft carriers knows how amazing that statistic is."

Penn was on his 75th mission when he was hit by a missile and had to make an emergency ejection from his aircraft. He survived, but was taken as a prisoner of war and forced to live in a 9- by 4-foot cell at the Hanoi Hilton prison for eight months.

"After spending eight months in captivity, the war was over," Poe said while addressing the House. "He returned home on March 29, 1973, as part of the last group that was brought back during 'Operation Homecoming' - 591 American POWs returned home during the operation."

On his way to receive the medals he lost in the flood, Penn said the magnitude of the situation did not fully hit him until he walked into Poe's office.

"There was a big wall there and every inch of it was covered by 8-by-10 color photographs of current and former military, some alive, some that weren't," Penn said. "That's all I needed to see to tell me where his heart is."

Penn was escorted to Poe's office, where staff and friends gathered to celebrate the re-awarding of Penn medals. Poe presented each medal one by one, explaining what each represented. He read a proclamation outlining Penn's commendable service.

But what really moved Penn was when Poe handed him a folded American flag.

"He said, 'On behalf of a grateful nation, this flag was flown in your honor on Sept. 11 in front of the Capitol building and we want to give this to you.' That kind of got me," Penn said.

Every time Penn witnesses a folded American flag being bestowed to someone, like the wife of his squadron buddy who died earlier that year, the gesture impacts him deeply. He said it probably always will.

In fact, one of Penn's most prized possessions is the folded flag he inherited, honoring his grandfather's military service.

"He was in the 112th Calvary in New Guinea and he fought the Japanese in hand-to-hand combat in the jungle," Penn said. "His platoon got ambushed one day and he was shot along with all the other guys. He fell off his horse and his boot got stuck in the stirrups. That horse dragged him two-and-a-half miles through the jungle back to his camp."

Penn's grandfather, like Penn would later in his own military career, survived.

"I lost him when he was in his late 80s," Penn said. "I still have his folded American flag that was given to his wife and it made its way down to me. Fortunately, it was high enough in the flood, and I've still got it."

Penn now has two folded flags to pass down as a reminder of the multi-generational heroism displayed by his grandfather and himself - a heroism Penn continues to display even in his post-military civilian life.

Penn resigned his commission in 1978. After leaving the Navy, he worked as an airline pilot. He stopped piloting at the age of 60 and became a flight manager for Southwest Airlines.

In addition to his position as a flight manager, the now 71-year-old Penn works as a motivational speaker, helping others by communicating his own experiences.

He has turned his experience as a POW in Vietnam into something positive. Through his motivational speaking, Penn helps other veterans work toward overcoming post-traumatic stress disorder and helps individuals and businesses improve their daily lives by applying the virtues he learned while in the military.

"He was in a prisoner of war camp and always remained faithful to our nation," Poe said. "He is one of the great people who lives among us. After the war was over, he went straight to working as a pilot and he's helping other warriors with post-traumatic stress disorder. He's just a remarkable guy in his civilian life and his military career - he's an amazing patriot."

Penn's said his main message is: "It's never a bad day if you have a door knob on your side of the door."

Penn and his wife, JJ, a real estate agent, have been staying temporarily in what was until recently an on-the-market home while their flooded house underwent restoration.

Now, as Penn and JJ navigate life after Harvey, he reflects on all that he and his family have survived over the years, and is able to focus on the victories, not the losses.

"People that I've talked to, they say, 'Geez, I'm so sorry you went through this,' and I say, 'I appreciate your caring, but my wife and I have been through worse,' " Penn said.

When JJ was a flight attendant, she was among the crew onboard a 727 that crashed in Denver.

"The plane broke into three pieces, and she's still here," Penn said.

"When I was shot down, the airplane should have exploded and it didn't. When ejected at 500 miles an hour, my neck should have broken, but it didn't. When I was in the parachute, bullets were going through the parachute, and I didn't get hit. I made it through eight months of being in prison in another country. So, the flood pretty much sucks, but we've been through worse."

The couple are going to live in the second story of their home now that it is safe to live inside their house.

From these experiences, Penn is able to move forward with reassurance of society's respect for veterans, with confidence in his family's ability to survive the worst of circumstances, and with a belief that someone is looking out for them.

"Absolutely," he said. "No doubt in my mind."
2017 has been the year of the unrelenting news cycle. If it had a soundtrack, it would be the staccato dings of news alerts popping up on cellphones. If it had a color, it would be that hazy blue-ish white hue you see when your eyes start to unfocus after staring at a screen for too long. If it had a smell, it would be burned rubber.

Not all the news in 2017 was bad news, though. Some of it was inspiring, gratifying, touching, amusing or mystifying. That being said, a lot of it was bad.

From deadly protests against a foreign policy change to the resignation of a nonagenarian president to milestones in the fight against the Islamic State, here are the global news videos that stuck with us this year.

January

Residents of China's capital city started the year buried in smog.

The pollution levels were so bad, a monitoring device in the home of The Washington Post's Beijing bureau chief warned a mask should be kept on indoors. On Jan. 3, the Air Quality Index was more than 700. Anything above 300 is considered hazardous, whereas a reading under 50 is considered to pose no significant health risks.

On Jan. 4, parents in Beijing fed up with the thick lingering smog sickening their children launched a petition demanding the government put air purifiers in schools. It gathered 2,700 comments in one day.

Chinese authorities tried to reduce the smog by prohibiting the use of coal, but the Associated Press reported that effort backfired, leading to a natural gas shortage.

In mid-January, reporters caught a glimpse of the world's most notorious drug lord, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, at Long Island MacArthur Airport in Islip, N.Y., handcuffed and flanked by DEA agents in dark parkas.

The elusive drug runner was extradited to the United States after escaping from Mexican federal prison twice and losing his last appeal to stay in Mexico.

Post reporters Joshua Partlow and Matt Zapotosky described the political implications of El Chapo's departure for the United States:

"'Officially, Mexican authorities said the timing of the extradition was related to judicial processes and not the U.S. political calendar. But one Mexican official described the transfer of the prisoner as a "farewell gift" to President Obama rather than an overture to President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed to make Mexico pay for a border wall and threatened to deport millions of undocumented immigrants.'"

February

Death came for Kim Jong Nam, half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, on Feb. 13.

He was found with lethal nerve agent VX on his face, "slumped in a chair in a Malaysian airport clinic, his belly protruding from his navy-blue polo shirt, then dying in an ambulance en route to the hospital," Post Tokyo bureau chief Anna Fifield wrote.

CCTV footage appeared to show two women - Indonesia's Siti Aisyah, 25, and Vietnam's Doan Thi Huong, 29 - smearing the VX on his face at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

We later learned Kim was carrying atropine, a potential antidote to the chemical that killed him. Post reporter Adam Taylor reported experts doubted it would have saved him.

March

In March in the United States then-FBI Director James Comey was testifying before Congress and Judge Neil M. Gorsuch was starting his Supreme Court confirmation hearings, but what really captured the attention of news-watchers around the world was a dad being interrupted on live television by his two children.

Robert Kelly, nicknamed "BBC dad," was Skyping into a news program to give his opinion on the ousting of South Korea's first female president. Without his noticing, a dancing toddler and an infant in a walker burst into the room behind him, pursued by their panicked-looking mother.

The comedic moment skyrocketed to Internet fame.

Nine months later, Kelly told the New York Times 4-year-old Marion is still trying to interrupt his interviews.

April

April saw Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's opposition mounting the most intense protests their country had seen since 2014.

The country's highest court had stripped its parliament of power, only to return it on Maduro's orders just two days later. The reversal was supposed to quell criticism. Instead, on April 1, opponents called him and his administration a "circus," and thousands of demonstrators took to the streets to condemn Maduro's "Dictatorship."

Videos from Caracas showed police in riot gear using tear gas against young protesters. That day kicked off months of demonstrations, which continued amid worsening food and medicine shortages.

As 2017 wraps up, Maduro continues to clash with opposition parties, several of whom boycotted Dec. 10 mayoral elections, according to the AP. He will be up for reelection in 2018 and has already attempted to ban those parties from that vote.

Half a world away, another dictator attacked his people on April 4. Syrian President Bashar Assad launched airstrikes on the northwestern town of Khan Sheikhoun. Post reporters Louisa Loveluck and Karen DeYoung wrote it was one of the deadliest chemical attacks of the country's six-year war.

Images of frantic or lifeless women and children surfaced. In one heart-wrenching video capturing the suffering that day, a father clutched the corpses of his 9-month-old twins and stroked their hair. They were killed, along with his wife, two brothers, two nephews and a niece, in the attack.

Days later, the United States retaliated with airstrikes, drawing criticism from Russia and Syria. Russia later vetoed a U.S.-devised United Nations Security Council resolution to investigate the Khan Sheikhoun attack, and the AP reported with less than two weeks left in 2017 that for the first time in years, Assad's troops were edging their way into rebel-held Idlib province.

May

Protests in Washington are common, and they rarely result in much hubbub, let alone an international incident. A demonstration outside the Turkish ambassador's residence in May was the exception to that rule.

On a visit to Washington on May 17, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stopped at the ambassador's home in Northwest Washington. When about two dozen opponents gathered outside to protest Erdogan's harsh treatment of dissent in his country, the president's bodyguards got involved. As Erdogan looked on, security guards in suits kicked and stomped protesters. Video posted to Twitter showed D.C. police attempting to separate the two groups. When asked who had attacked him, an older man with blood smeared all down his face and white shirt turned to the camera and said, "The Turks."

D.C. officials brought charges against 15 security guards in light of the incident. It was one of a number of dust-ups between Erdogan and Trump in 2017, despite early hopes the two countries could have a better relationship than under the Obama administration.

Later in May, President Trump spoke at a NATO summit in Brussels. The world watched, wondering how the president's tough talk on the campaign trail would translate to an international stage. Post reporters Philip Rucker, Karen DeYoung and Michael Birnbaum wrote that the speech was "confrontational" and "scolding."

The image that stuck with us from the event was Trump, physically pushing aside another country's leader. Video showed the U.S. president shoving Montenegro's prime minister, Dusko Markovic, on the way to a photo op.

June

A pair of Islamic State attacks in June marked a new geographic milestone for the militant group. Militants launched deadly assaults on Iran's parliament building and at a shrine at the tomb of the leader of the nation's Islamic revolution - the first time that group had struck inside Iran.

The Post's Amanda Erickson wrote, "an assault on the shrine - akin to a bombing at America's Tomb of the Unknowns - is an attack on the country's political identity and on one of Iran's most important monuments to Shiite Islam."

A London high-rise apartment building erupted in flames, June 14, leaving at least 71 people dead and hundreds homeless. The building was located in one of the city's wealthiest neighborhoods, but it was public housing.

Video posted to social media from those down below showed residents trapped inside, desperate to escape the burning building. One video showed the view of the building through the window of a plane, spewing smoke over the city.

A month later, British police released footage that takes the viewer on a macabre tour of Grenfell Tower's barren lobby, charred stairwells and blown out windows. Residents displaced by the blaze struggled to find new housing options of the same quality as they had had before.

The fire prompted the British government to test other high-rise buildings to see if they contained the same flammable exterior cladding involved in the Grenfell Tower fire. As of Dec. 14, Post reporter Karla Adam wrote, "Thousands of people are still living in structures confirmed to be at risk."

July

July saw a victory in the war against the Islamic State as Iraqi joint forces recaptured the key city of Mosul.

As soldiers and journalists reentered the city, it was clear rebuilding would be no small task.

Five months later, the U.S. military is still figuring out what its role is in Iraq now that the fighting is over.

August

In the beginning of August, Myanmar, also called Burma, began sending troops into the Rakhine state, home to much of the country's Rohingya Muslim minority population. That month, the Rohingya left their country, telling stories of rape and abuse by the Burmese army. Aid group Doctors Without Borders estimates at least 6,700 Rohingya were killed in the violence between Aug. 25 and Sept. 24. As time wore on, the images of people lined up to leave their homes were staggering.

In the months since the clashes began, the United States has declared the violence against the Rohingya community to be "ethnic cleansing" and almost 650,000 Rohingya have fled to refugee camps in Bangladesh.

September

September brought hurricanes to landfall, and with them, destruction of historic proportions to the Caribbean.

The Post's Anthony Faiola, Samantha Schmidt and Marc Fisher wrote, "The storms pushed the islands back to the primitive, basic state that made the sandbars of the Caribbean so alluring to European empires, pirates and tourists for half a millennium."

Hurricane Irma in particular wrecked the island of Barbuda. Homes flattened, trees torn down, debris everywhere. The Post's Andrew deGrandpre wrote that Irma forced Barbuda's 1,800 residents to flee, leaving the island - for the first time in 300 years - empty.

Now the island is in the midst of a legal land fight, as some lawmakers want to change a key law to make it easier for investors to claim a stake in the rebuilding process.

October

The first day in October was a big one historically for the Spanish region of Catalonia.

Despite opposition from the Spanish government, Catalonia held a referendum on whether to form its own independent nation. More than 2 million people voted in favor of independence.

More than three weeks later, secessionists filled the streets, hugging and cheering as Catalonia officially declared itself an independent republic.

Their joy was short lived. The October referendum was intended to give the region more autonomy. In the weeks that followed, however, Spain stripped Catalan officials of their power and threw leaders of the separatist movement in jail.

With its Parliament dissolved, Catalan voters went back to the polls Dec. 21 to elect new leaders and to vote once again on whether to split from Spain. The Post's William Booth and Pamela Rolfe wrote that with record-breaking turnout, pro-independence parties won most of the vote, "setting the stage for another showdown with the central government in Madrid."

It is unclear how that new fight will unfold, but regardless, 2017's upheaval will have a lasting effect on the region. Since the first vote, more than 2,700 businesses have already moved out of Catalonia.

November

Robert Mugabe reigned over Zimbabwe for 37 years, but in November, he stepped aside.

His rule began unraveling when the military placed him and his wife, Grace, under house arrest Nov. 14. This seemed to signal a coup, but military leaders denied that, and Mugabe did not immediately step down. Instead he gave a rambling speech Nov. 19 with no hint at plans to leave.

Facing opposition even from within his own party, the 93-year-old president finally resigned, clearing the way for his former vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa to take the lead.

Images out of Zimbabwe that day showed pure jubilation: a man falling to his knees and shouting with joy, people hugging and dancing in the streets of Harare, and tanks rolling alongside demonstrators waving the country's flag.

The country is still struggling economically, but the AP reported that in his first State of the Nation speech, Mnangagwa promised to combat corruption and court foreign investors.

For more than two months, North Korea had abstained from launching any missile tests. On Nov. 29, that calm period shattered when the country shot up a new kind of intercontinental ballistic missile, one that appeared to be more advanced than any of its predecessors. Kim Jong Un's regime claimed his weapons could now reach the United States, and Post reporter Rick Noack wrote the test "almost certainly put all major European targets within Pyongyang's reach."

The images North Korea released showed a long, dark cylinder blasting up with a flash of light.

The launch prompted President Trump to threaten "additional major sanctions" on North Korea and to call on China to check their neighbor's nuclear ambitions.

The Post's Adam Taylor and Tim Meko looked back at how North Korea's weapons programs evolved in 2017; they found the country's capabilities "stopped being funny" this year and started being scary.

December

When President Trump took office, one of the lofty goals he touted was bringing peace to the Middle East. In a move that critics said made that goal less achievable, Trump upended decades of U.S. foreign policy precedent Dec. 6 when he announced his administration would recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

The move ignited protests around the world: Pakistan, Morocco, Lebanon, Indonesia, New York, Turkey, Syria and of course, in Jerusalem itself. Demonstrators lit Israeli and U.S. flags on fire, marched in the streets and shouted chants. In the West Bank city of Bethlehem, they faced off with security forces spraying tear gas. During the bloodiest protests more than a week after the announcement, The Post's Loveday Morris and Hazem Balousha wrote that four Palestinians were killed, including a demonstrator identified as "a disabled 29-year-old who had previously lost his legs."

Israel launched airstrikes in Gaza, saying they were in response to Hamas rocket fire linked to Trump's decision.

The change also led to a showdown at the United Nations. President Trump threatened to cut off funds to nations who voted in favor of a resolution rejecting his Jerusalem decision. His tactics did not work. The measure still passed with an overwhelming margin of victory. Trump's ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, condemned the resolution, saying the United States would "remember this day."

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Video: The 9-month-old twin children of Abdel Hameed Alyousef were killed along with his wife, two brothers, two nephews and a niece in a suspected chemical attack in the the northwestern Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun on April 4.(Jason Aldag,Sarah Parnass/TWP)

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Video: As the Catalan Parliament in Barcelona cast votes for or against independence from Spain, secessionist supporters watched outside and celebrated the outcome.(Raul Gallego Abellan/The Washington Post)

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Video: The Washington Post's Anthony Faiola and Salwan Georges traveled to Barbuda almost a month after Hurricane Irma struck the island. Here's what they saw.(Anthony Faiola,Salwan Georges,Joyce Lee/The Washington Post)

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Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers has approved a draft presidential decree on Ukraine's accession to the Convention on the European Forest Institute (EFI).

The corresponding decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting in Kyiv on Wednesday.

Ukraine's accession to the convention will facilitate policy changes with the aim of mobilizing scientific and research potential and unite existing resources of many European states in the sphere of forestry studies, as well as the leading methods and technology of forest management.

EFI is an international organization uniting 26 European countries. Some 115 organizations from 36 countries have status of associated or affiliated members in the institute, including two Ukrainian scientific and education institutions.

EFI facilitates and stimulates forest-related networking and promotes the dissemination of unbiased and policy-relevant information on forests and forestry. It also advocates for forest research and for the use of scientifically sound information as a basis for forest policies.
John E. Nolan Jr., former assistant to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and a negotiator with Cuban leader Fidel Castro on the return of Americans captured in the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, died Nov. 18 at his home in Bethesda, Maryland. He was 90.

The cause was pneumonia, said a daughter, Patricia McNeill.

Nolan also was a senior partner at the Washington law firm Steptoe & Johnson.

In December 1962, while in private practice with Steptoe & Johnson, Nolan was asked to join New York lawyer James Donovan in negotiating with Castro for the release of 1,100 men captured in the abortive Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in April 1961.

(Donovan was the lawyer who negotiated the 1962 exchange of downed U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers for the Soviet spy Rudolf Abel, which was dramatized in the 2015 Steven Spielberg movie "Bridge of Spies.")

The two lawyers met Castro during several visits to Cuba over an extended period, and Nolan facilitated the procurement of about $50 million in medical supplies in exchange for the prisoners' release.

In a 1967 oral history interview for the John F. Kennedy Presidential Museum and Library in Boston, Nolan said Castro "was always reasonable, always easy to deal with. There were no tantrums, fits. He was a talker of very significant proportions . . . he would come over at midnight or 1 o'clock in the morning and stay all night talking. But he wasn't a conversational hog . . . He'd ask questions, listen for answers, give his own viewpoints."

In a separate interview with Washington Lawyer, Nolan said Castro, who died in 2016, had "a good sense of humor." Nolan recalled he rode across Cuba with Castro to visit the Bay of Pigs and "fished on his boat while Castro told us stories about the invasion. We also went to three games of the Cuban World Series with him . . . That doesn't mean that Castro is a friend of the United States or that Cuba is a flourishing free-speech democracy."

Nolan took a leave from Steptoe & Johnson in 1963 to serve as an assistant to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. He spent much of the summer of 1963 in the Deep South, taking part in Justice Department efforts during the civil rights movement. He later worked for Kennedy's 1964 successful senatorial campaign in New York and in his 1968 presidential bid in the months before his assassination in Los Angeles.

John Edward Nolan Jr. was born July 11, 1927, in Minneapolis. His father was an inventor and builder who later worked for the 3M manufacturing company.

Nolan graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1950, choosing the Marine Corps as his branch of service. He led his rifle platoon in hand-to-hand combat during the Korean War and was awarded a Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart.

"You have the feeling that you are doing something," Nolan told Washington Lawyer about his wartime experience. "There is a momentum to moving forward, going up hill and throwing off the enemy."

Five decades later, Nolan "still walked with an air of authority and the bearing of a 22-year-old Marine," said a law partner, Roger E. Warin.

Nolan enrolled at Georgetown University Law School while still serving in the Marines. For a time, he also was a U.S. Capitol Police officer working the midnight shift.

He graduated from law school in 1955, then served a year as clerk to Supreme Court Justice Tom Clark. He joined Steptoe & Johnson in 1956 and would continue his association with the firm until 2013.

Nolan's specialties as a lawyer included environmental cases and the rights of whistleblowing federal employees. He represented oil companies building the Alaska pipeline in the 1970s.

He also represented whistleblower Ernest Fitzgerald in a lawsuit against President Richard M. Nixon after Fitzgerald reported more than $2 billion in federal cost overruns and was dismissed from his civilian job with the Air Force. Nolan reached a settlement "under circumstances that were favorable to Fitzgerald."

In the 1990s, he was the mediator in a tangled family dispute involving multimillionaire discount retailer Herbert Haft, Haft's wife, Gloria, and their children.

"There was yelling, tipping over of water pitchers," Mr. Nolan said in his interview with Washington Lawyer, "a venting of a whole lifetime of suppressed feelings."

At one time, Nolan was his law firm's chief recruiter for new talent. "He's no dancing bear," he would say of a candidate who failed to pass muster. He received the D.C. Bar Association's "Legends in the Law" award in 2003.

Survivors include his wife of 67 years, Joan Dobbins Nolan of Bethesda; four children, Carol Klatt of Buck Hills Falls, Pennsylvania, Kelly Spencer and Patricia McNeill, both of Bethesda, and Richard Nolan of Albany, New York; and eight grandchildren. A son, John Nolan III, died in 1980.

In 2001, Nolan returned to Cuba for a 40th anniversary observance of the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. He had lunch with Castro twice, he said, and talked to him a few more times. The Cuban leader sent him a box of Cuban cigars.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's allies are trying to thwart attempts by separatists to form a government in Catalonia and exploit the fact that its two main leaders are in prison or self-imposed exile.

Pro-independence groups together won a majority in the Barcelona regional parliament last week, but Ciudadanos gained the most seats of any single party in the election and opposes any breakaway from the rest of Spain. Rajoy's People's Party is now leaning on Ciudadanos to explore ways to govern Catalonia, which accounts for a fifth of the country's economy.

"There is an alternative and we have to put it to work because anything can happen in Catalonia," Fernando Martinez Maillo, general coordinator of the People's Party, said in a Tweet on Wednesday. "After winning the elections, the logical step would be to try to form a government."

While Ciudadanos officials played down the idea because they don't have the popular support to challenge the separatist majority, the clock is ticking for the Catalans after a vote that laid bare the divisions in the region and did little to put the issue of self-determination to rest following a tumultuous two months. The regional president must be chosen by Feb. 8.

There's much that needs to be resolved before the separatists can turn their election victory into a working administration, not least who would lead it.

Carles Puigdemont, the regional president who was ousted by Spain after he led a unilateral declaration of independence in October, remains in Brussels. He faces arrest if he returns to Spain and said he would come back to be sworn in again only if the "right guarantees" are offered.

Then there's Oriol Junqueras, his former vice-president and stalwart of the independence push. He's being held in jail awaiting trial as a judge ascertains whether he and other pro-independence campaigners participated in a rebellion against Spain.

It's still unclear how either man could be named president if they can't turn up in person for an investiture vote, said Argelia Queralt, professor of constitutional law at Barcelona University. Any decision to let them attend would be in the hands of the Supreme Court judge, she said.

"There's a tussle for power going on here," she said.

Rajoy called the election in Catalonia after dismissing Puigdemont and his government and dissolving the regional parliament. The vote yielded 70 seats for the three parties that back independence, enough to give them a majority in the 135-seat chamber.

Anti-separatists used a Twitter campaign to highlight the divisions in the region with a parody independence push for "Tabarnia," a hypothetical territory comprising parts of the provinces of Barcelona and Tarragona that favor staying in Spain.

More officials from Rajoy's party lined up to urge Ines Arrimadas, the leader of Ciudadanos in Catalonia, to take on the separatists. There are other ways they can influence the outcome of events, perhaps by pushing for a pro-Spain candidate to be speaker of the parliament, Javier Maroto, the PP's vice-secretary for social policy, told Onda Cero radio.

"No one is asking Arrimadas to throw herself from the balcony politically speaking," he said. "But it's not enough to look at the electoral result and say there's no majority."

Miguel Gutierrez, Ciudadanos's general secretary in parliament, said the pro-Spain bloc didn't have enough seats for a majority in the regional assembly. The People's Party, which saw its vote decimated, has no authority to tell his party what to do, he said.

"It looks like it left its calculator at home," he told Onda Cero. "The question is what the separatists do because they have a majority. Let's see if they can use it to govern."

---

Bloomberg's Rodrigo Orihuela contributed.
Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers has approved the additional capitalization of state-run Oschadbank (Savings Bank of Ukraine) to the tune of UAH 5.750 billion.

The decision was taken by the government at its meeting in Kyiv on Wednesday.

According to the cabinet decision, the bank will additionally issue 4,957 shares with the existing face value of UAH 1.16 million.

As reported, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) on December 18 reported on the deterioration in the quality of loan portfolios of Oschadbank and Ukreximbank and studying the need for additional capitalization of the financial institutions. According to the central bank, first of all, the quality of loans granted to large business groups decreased and collateral for such loans depreciated.

The Ministry of Finance the next day confirmed the relevant information and informed that the amount of necessary capitalization will be determined after consultations with the NBU.

According to the NBU, the issue of government domestic loan bonds for capitalization of state-owned banks remains the main component of the quasi-fiscal deficit. According to its data, for the 11 months of 2017 some UAH 48.9 billion, or 1.7% of GDP, was spent on this purpose.

In general, according to the central bank, in the first nine months of 2017 the charter capital of the banking sector increased by UAH 57 billion, or by 13.7%. The main factor was the additional capitalization of state-owned banks by UAH 44 billion.
A 15-year-old Houston girl ran away from home while staying at her great-grandmother's house for Christmas and officials are now looking for her, according to police.

Kennetria Williams walked out of her great grandmother's home around 2 a.m. on Dec. 26 after saying she was going downstairs to get food from the kitchen, according to the Houston Police Department Missing Persons Division.
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Says the Texas General Land Office led by George P. Bush has repaired just two homes since Hurricane Harvey.

 Jerry Patterson on Dec. 8, 2017, in an interview with Ken Herman of the Austin American-Statesman

Jerry Patterson says the fellow Republican who succeeded him as Texas land commissioner, George P. Bush, fixed very few homes in the months since Hurricane Harvey slapped ashore in August 2017.

Patterson, otherwise confirming his 2018 candidacy for land commissioner, a post he held for 12 years, said in a recent interview that the Bush-led General Land Office hadnt accomplished much in the way of hurricane relief.

On Dec. 8, 2017, Patterson said: I mean, who the hells in charge here? And now we have tens of thousands of Texans who are essentially homeless and the land office has repaired two  two homes. And weve got folks waking up that have been sleeping in tents and they got snow this morning. People are still sleeping in tents.

Pattersons comment seemed potent given that the GLO announced in September 2017 it was teaming with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to hasten post-Harvey recovery in part by helping eligible survivors begin to patch up their homes  though full rebuilds werent in the mix.

Bush said at the time: With the magnitude of the damage from Hurricane Harvey, there is no doubt this will require a long recovery. This agreement marks the beginning of a new model for simplifying and expediting the transition out of sheltering to short-term and long-term housing recovery efforts.

We focused this fact-check on Pattersons insistence the GLO had only repaired two homes.

We asked Patterson for the basis of his numerical claim; he told us by phone that he was referring to two homes repaired as of early December 2017 through the federal Direct Assistance for Limited Home Repair (DALHR) program.

Patterson, who said hed drawn his tally of two from state-enlisted contractors and others he declined to identify, urged us to seek insight from elected leaders in counties hit by Harvey.

We heard back from elected officials in two counties.

Galveston Countys county judge, Mark Henry, said by phone that flooding due to Harvey had flooded 22,000 to 24,000 local homes with water an inch to 8 feet deep. Henry, who volunteered that hes a longtime friend to Patterson, said his office daily fields calls from residents awaiting help. Calling delayed repairs frustrating, Henry said: As far as the why repairs have been delayed, Henry said, I dont know and I dont care. I want it to get done.

By email, a GLO spokeswoman, Brittany Eck, specified that as of mid-December 2017, the agency along with FEMA had housed 56 Galveston County applicant households and 446 are in the process of receiving a direct housing solution.

Also by phone, Loyd Neal, Nueces Countys judge, expressed chagrin that no agency advanced dollars enabling the Coastal Bend Council of Governments to hire individuals to consider applicants for short-term housing help.

By email, Eck countered that the GLO had guaranteed up to $200,000 in reimbursed administrative costs to the regional councils asked to help administer post-Harvey housing assistance. Eck said that after the Coastal Bend council declined to participate, GLO employees were carrying out the program in that region.

Neal told us that nearly four months since Harveys arrival, FEMA-funded housing including trailers or manufactured homes had yet to be brought into Port Aransas, the island tourist town where, Neal elaborated, more than two-thirds of local hurricane-damaged condominiums had yet to reopen. Its an absolute disgrace, Neal said, that the state of Texas and the federal government and whoever else is in charge of this have not responded. Its the greatest bureaucratic buck-passing Ive ever seen.

By email, Eck said that per FEMA in December 2017, 52 Nueces County households were in need of direct housing assistance.

We confirmed Pattersons count of two homes whose DALHR repair projects had been completed with Eck and Pete Phillips , a land office administrator.

But those officials said Pattersons claim gave short shrift to everything Harvey-related that Bush and the land office have undertaken and, Phillips said, to FEMAs supervisory governing role.

He is oversimplifying what is going on, Phillips said, and cherry-picking given that the federal government supports housing options including thousands of hotel rooms, two types of home repair and possibly temporary apartments or trailers or manufactured homes.

At the state level, too, Phillips elaborated, were always at the mercy of FEMA. They control the triage process including, Eck said, confidential lists of homeowners for GLO to contact about their possibly seeking partial repairs backed by federal aid.

Patterson, commenting on Phillips general assessment of his claim, said by email that to be clear, I made a statement, and it turned out to be 100% factually accurate. None of the context or cherry-picking BS need apply.

In November 2017, Bush announced the completion of the first DALHR home-repair project in Dickinson, in Galveston County. A GLO press release said the project included electrical and plumbing repairs, wall insulation, sheet rock, siding repair and replacing kitchen and bathroom sinks and a bathtub.

That release said DALHR provides permanent repairs for homeowners with moderate damages who lack available housing resources. But not everybody qualifies, the release made clear, in that beneficiaries must have sustained a FEMA-verified loss of $17,000 or more after 18 inches of interior flooding or more  though Phillips told us the GLO later encouraged FEMA to drop the 18-inch requirement, a change that qualified an additional 2,600 homes for consideration.

According to the release, interested homeowners had to clear another half dozen hurdles such as a lack of other applicable insurance coverage and that eligible damages wouldn't exceed $60,000 or half the pre-hurricane taxable assessed value of the home. Then again, Eck told us by email, the latter limit was subsequently relaxed to allow awards to pay for up to half of a homes replacement value.

The November release also said that funded repairs under DALHR are limited to real property components such as heating, plumbing, ventilation and air conditioning, walls, floors and ceilings, leaving our structural or engineering needs or any items covered by other aid.

Starting Nov. 18, 2017, Eck wrote, the agency through early December 2017 had contacted 664 households judged by FEMA to be potentially qualified for the program. She said those contacts led to 290 expressions of interest and 182 DALHR home inspections  with 67 homes pre-qualified for repairs and 13 work orders issued for builders to start.

To date, two homes have had the work completed, Eck wrote. By email. FEMAs Howard wrote: We believe it is two projects at this point.

Phillips said by phone that his DALHR goal was to complete more than 100 home projects by 2018; he said 36 builders were standing by ready to do the re-work on homes.

Our ruling

Patterson said that since Hurricane Harvey, the agency helmed by Bush has done just two home repairs.

Pattersons figure, confirmed by GLO, was accurate. However, this claim leaves out ample significant information such as FEMAs overriding control of the complicated DALHR program, which isnt open to every homeowner and only funds partial repairs. Notably too, additional homes were poised to qualify for or get repairs through DALHR at the time that Patterson spoke.

We rate this statement Mostly True.
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A former Bexar County deputy was arrested on Christmas Eve after he allegedly choked his girlfriend, who is a San Antonio-area police officer, and smothered her with a pillow to quiet her screams, according to court records.

Jesse Aaron Massey, 30, of San Antonio, was booked into the Bexar County Jail on Christmas on a charge of assault on a family member by choking or strangulation. His bail was set at $50,000 and he bonded out later the same day.

RELATED: SAPD: Man drives off Loop 1604 overpass, gets trapped in car

Massey, who was hired to the Bexar County Sheriff's Office in 2013, according to the Texas Tribune's Government Salaries Explorer, began arguing with his girlfriend around 9 a.m. on Dec. 22 because Massey didn't like that she "talked with other officers," according to his arrest affidavit.

"[Massey] then pushed the victim onto the bed and began to choke her with both of his hands," reads the arrest affidavit from an officer with the San Antonio Police Department. "The victim could not breathe, but she did not lose consciousness. The victim began to scream for help, and the defendant choked her multiple times."

The girlfriend told police Massey first tried covering her mouth with his hand, and when that didn't work, smothered her with a pillow. He then disassembled her service weapon, police radio, stun gun and cell phone, police said.

She did not report the incident to authorities.

The alleged assault came just a few weeks after Massey voluntarily resigned from the Bexar County Sheriff's Office during the first week of December, according to David Barrera, a spokesman for the Bexar County Sheriff's Office. He had been employed for roughly four and a half years.

On Dec. 24, one of Massey's friends called police to let them know that Massey had recently resigned from the sheriff's office and that he was drunk and threatening suicide by cop. The friend, who is a police officer in Austin, also said Massey had told him about assaulting his girlfriend, authorities said.

RELATED: Report: Undocumented mother charged with capital murder after allegedly suffocating baby in S. Texas

San Antonio police responded to Massey's home, and a Hollywood Park police sergeant went to the girlfriend's residence to see if she was okay. He found her at the apartment and discovered she had visible neck injuries consistent with choking, police said.

Back at Massey's residence, more officers had arrived to provide backup, as the Austin police officer had reportedly informed authorities that Massey may suffer from PTSD and possibly had weapons and a K-9 dog in his residence.

Once San Antonio police had been notified by the Hollywood Park police sergeant of Massey's girlfriend's injuries, they were able to obtain an arrest warrant and book him into jail.

Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com

Caleb Downs is a crime reporter for mySA.com. Read more of his stories here.| cdowns@mysa.com | Twitter: @calebjdowns
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Police on Tuesday arrested a 50-year-old man accused of defrauding a local business by posing as a representative of a company that helps businesses comply with state and federal regulations.

The alleged fraudster, Kenneth Rodney Wallace of Katy, Texas, now faces a charge of theft, a Class B misdemeanor. He was booked into the Bexar County Jail and has since bonded out.

RELATED: Woman killed in fiery rollover crash in San Antonio

According to his arrest affidavit, Wallace posed as an employee of Allied Compliance Group, a Texas-based company, in mid-August 2016 and told a manager of a restaurant in the 1700 block of McCullough that their State and Federal labor laws posters were out of date and in violation of federal law.

He offered to sell the manager updated posters, as well as a subscription service for annual updates for $150. The manager complied, wrote Wallace a check and was given a receipt for the service in exchange, the affidavit says.

The manager would later tell police detectives that Wallace was "very convincing," and that he had been worried about violating federal law because he was opening a small business, the affidavit says.

After the encounter with Wallace, the manager became suspicious and contacted Allied Compliance Group, who told him that a man had been "posing" as an employee and taking money from businesses.

The manager's mother went to cancel the check, but it had already been cashed. The bank gave her Wallace's contact information.

RELATED: Witness heard unarmed fugitive tell deputies she had gun

A detective called the number on the receipt that Wallace allegedly gave the manager, and discovered it was for a Vietnamese restaurant in Houston. The manager came in for a photo line-up and identified Wallace as the alleged fraudster.

Surveillance footage from the bank allegedly confirmed Wallace cashed the check the manager had given him.

Police secured a warrant for his arrest in Sept. 2016 and finally booked him into jail this week.

Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com

Caleb Downs is a crime reporter for mySA.com. Read more of his stories here.| cdowns@mysa.com | Twitter: @calebjdowns
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A burglary suspect with a long criminal history was arrested on another charge Tuesday.

San Antonio police were initially called to an apartment complex in the 7900 block of Jones Maltsberger Road on Dec. 5 about a man who was breaking into cars.

RELATED: District Attorney's office assisting in investigation of deputy-involved slaying of 6-year-old boy

A witness tried to confront the suspect, according to an arrest affidavit, and the suspect fled the scene. 30-year-old Robert Georges was found by police at a nearby Walmart.

Officers found that Georges has an extensive criminal history that includes burglary, assault, evading arrest and stealing coin machines, according to the affidavit.

Georges was also found to be out on bond for two pending vehicle burglary charges. He was assessed with a third charge with his bond set at $25,000, according to jail records.

Fares Sabawi covers crime in San Antonio and Bexar County for mySA.com. Read more of his stories here. | fsabawi@mysa.com | Twitter: @FaresInSA
A border patrol agent was struck by a bullet fired from the Mexican side of the Rio Grande River on Tuesday near Brownsville, Texas.

According to a statement from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agent is assigned to the Riverine Unit, which patrols the Rio Grande by boat.
What can you buy with $284 billion?

You could own all of Netflix. Or purchase 747 Boeing 747s, with change to spare. Or erase the national debts of Venezuela, Nigeria, Peru and Iceland, combined.

Or, if you're Mary Horomanski, you could pay for one month's worth of electricity.

Horomanski, from Erie, Pa., was shocked recently when she received an erroneous electric bill displaying an account balance of "284,460,000,000," with a first payment due of $28,176.

"I opened it up and there it was," she told The Washington Post.

Horomanski, 58, began counting the commas ("Hundreds. Thousands. Millions. Billions.  Can most people even count that high?"), then taking her glasses off and putting them on again.

"It wasn't due until November of 2018," she said. "It was like, well, I guess we have a year to come up with this billion-dollar bill."

In a brief moment of self-doubt, the stay-at-home mother of five boys also took stock of the electricity her household was using.

"We had Christmas lights outside, but we don't have the '(National Lampoon's) Christmas Vacation' lights," Horomanski said. "And I'm looking at my Christmas tree, and I'm like, no, that wouldn't have caused it."

Horomanski texted an image of the bill to her oldest son, who immediately contacted Penelec, their electric company.

The company quickly reassured him it was an error, Horomanski said.

The correct amount was $284.46 - still a little high, to be honest, compared to the previous month's bill of $161, Horomanski thought. But at least not a figure that threatened to send her into cardiac arrest.

She also sent a picture of the bill to her local newspaper, the Erie Times-News, which wrote about the mistake in a story that went viral.

Mark Durbin, a spokesman for First Energy, Penelec's parent company, told the Erie Times-News he didn't know what caused the error.
On Tuesday, militants violated the New Year-Christmas truce six times and opened fire on the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as a result of which one soldier was killed, three were wounded, and two were injured, the press center of the ATO headquarters reported.

"Over the past day, the Russian-terrorist forces have violated the silence regime six times. As a result of enemy shelling, three soldiers were wounded, two were injured and, unfortunately, Ukraine lost one defender," reads a statement posted on the Facebook page of the headquarters on Wednesday morning.

In the Luhansk sector, militants did not observe the terms of the truce in the area of the Svitlodarsk arc. Near Luhansk, they used 82-mm mortars and large-caliber machine guns to fire at the defensive fortifications of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for about two hours. Militants shelled the defenders of Stanytsia Luhanska using small arms.

In addition, an UAV belonging to illegal armed formations was seen flying in the area of Luhanske. It corrected militants' mortar fire, which is prohibited by the Minsk agreements.

"Violations of the ceasefire regime have not been recorded at other key areas of our defense," the report said.
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Centro San Antonios embezzlement scandal has gotten worse.

The amount of money allegedly stolen through a complicated fraud scheme has ballooned to $260,000.

The now-former employee who allegedly concocted the scheme never went through a background check.

She was a convicted felon.

This is unfathomable. A basic background check would have prevented all of this. If a background check had happened, the employee in question, Alicia Henderson, would never have been hired, much less been given open access to Centros books. Her bank fraud conviction, past charges of theft by check, and bankruptcy history would have been caught. Pat DiGiovanni would still be Centros president and CEO. And an important community organization focused on revitalizing downtown wouldnt be swamped in an embarrassing scandal.

RELATED: Accountant tied to embezzlement from Centro has history of bank fraud, bankruptcy

But a background check didnt happen. DiGiovanni has been forced to resign, and Centro is regrouping.

A question to consider: With millions of public dollars flowing through Centro each year, how could the environment be so lax that a new hire, and an especially important hire, would not undergo a background check?

DiGiovanni has said he interviewed Henderson but didnt make the hiring decision, according to Express-News reporter Richard Webner. That responsibility fell to Tony Piazzi, Centros chief operating and financial officer.

If so, Piazzi should be held accountable. But that doesnt absolve DiGiovanni. As the organizations leader, the buck stopped with him. It was his responsibility to ensure proper hiring practices were in place, including the very basic step of conducting a background check.

It was his decision to entrust Piazzi and others. This was a very poor decision.

Don Frost, Centros board chairman, has rightfully said as much. But what about Centros board? After all, its filled with top executive talent, and yet a financial scandal persisted for several years under its watch. Clearly, the board must be more involved  and critical  of operations.

That might mean a new board composition or a restructuring of duties. One obvious and needed change is the inclusion of a city official on the boards finance committee.

READ MORE: CEO's tenure at Centro San Antonio began and ended mired in scandal

While Centro is a nonprofit, it is also closely affiliated with the city of San Antonio. City Manager Sheryl Sculley and two other city officials serve on its board. But Assistant City Manager Lori Houston told Webner none of the city officials served on Centros finance board, meaning no one from the city was in a position to possibly catch any financial wrongdoing.

Maybe a city official would have caught the scheme. Maybe not. But this dynamic has to change.

While no public funds appear to have been stolen in the embezzlement scheme, Centro handles millions of city dollars each year to manage the Downtown Improvement District.

City officials should be overseeing how funds are spent to protect public dollars and to preserve the citys image. Centro and the city are inextricably bound.

This scandal is particularly painful because it is self-inflicted and such a breach of public trust. But there is an opportunity here for Centro to emerge as a better organization. That better organization requires a board much more intimately involved in day-to-day operations  not micromanaging but providing better oversight.

This is just as important as hiring Centros next leader, who should offer a much-needed focused vision but also will have to repair the organizations image.
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New Robin Hood

We see a new, Republican version of Sherwood Forest, as seen in the tax bill that takes from the poor, CHIP recipients, older Americans and even the IRS. And it gives President Donald Trump what some analysts estimate at $1 billion.

Millionaires and billionaires will see huge tax cuts in their dividends and pass-through businesses, and an inheritance tax reduction. Middle class folks get a few hundred dollars (if they can find a good job). Four million people will lose their insurance the first year and 13 million during the decade.

An additional fact: The richest 1 percent in the U.S. now own more income than the bottom 90 percent. Sherwood Forest has been cut down!

James C. Berbiglia, Helotes

Threats to freedom

Now we see that the Trump administration does not want the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to use certain words. We see the disparaging comments made by the POTUS regarding the FBI. We have seen the not-so-subtle threat to take the license away from a network, attempts to characterize careful investigative reporting as fake news, efforts to curtail the work of a special prosecutor. We also see the abandonment of world commitment to climate control.

We see allies no longer wanting to consider us as an honest broker in Mideast peace talks. We see a tax bill benefiting the rich at the expense of the working class rushed through Congress, and the not-so-covert gutting of the Affordable Care Act rather than an honest endeavor to try to make it work.

This partial litany should be sufficient to say, Enough is enough of this and the individuals who condone and enable such. We are slowly allowing freedoms and protections to those freedoms being nullified and/or eroded.

Will it take a knock on the door if you disagree or say something the administration doesnt want said, or if you are the wrong religion? Or ethnic background. Or race?

When it come times to vote, if its not too late, look back and see who supported or condoned all of the above. Need I say more?

James L. Larabee

Trump in shambles

Tom Fuentes, a 30-year FBI veteran and now law enforcement analyst, is troubled that President Donald Trump criticizes the FBI by saying this vital agency is in shambles and needs rebuilding.

Rep. Jim Hines also thinks the president is attacking a pillar of justice.

The reputation of the FBI is important to the country and the world.

Ironically, the president nominated two men for judicial posts that the American Bar Association found unqualified. One was asked basic court questions and could not answer any; the other wrote an essay supporting the early KKK. Yet the president, along with cooperative media outlets, is sullying the reputation of the FBI, the federal courts and our overall judicial branch of government.

With all the questionable actions with Russia by his staffers, could it be that it is the executive branch that is in shambles? Congress is already there with the GOP tax reform that has a 30 percent approval in public opinion polls.

Adam Castillo

Old-time Christmas

Re: Restore Christmas, Your Turn, Dec. 17:

I agree with this letter writer.

I know of a family with five or six children who, when they were younger, had a beautiful birthday cake and sang Happy Birthday, dear Jesus on Christmas Day.

I have an old Nativity scene from 1962, with the statues still shaded the original color, Mary in her blue and white outfit for the times. I set it up again before Christmas.

Just think how poor the stores would be without Christmas shoppers.

Ann M. Dwyer
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The Warriors unveiled their new Chinese Heritage alternate uniforms Wednesday morning.

The Chinese Heritage uniforms are a nod to the Bay Areas strong ties to Chinese-American history. Three of the top five Asian populations in the U.S. are Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose, and Golden State has emerged as Chinas favorite team.

The Chinese characters for prosperity are on the waistline of the shorts, with the chest logo combining the Golden Gate Bridge and traditional Chinese symbolism. The Bay appears over the chest logo.

We worked closely with Nike on what could be a cool, more edgy reflection of Chinese culture in the Bay Area, said Chip Bowers, Golden States chief marketing officer. Nike and us went through a lot of the imagery and iconic images around Chinatown, going back to the gold-rush era.

The Warriors will wear their new Chinese Heritage uniforms in the following games:

 Thursday, Jan. 25 vs. Minnesota

 Saturday, Feb. 24 vs. Oklahoma City

 Wednesday, Feb. 28 at Washington

 Thursday, March 8 vs. San Antonio

 Saturday, March 17 at Phoenix

 Monday, March 19 at San Antonio

 Thursday, March 29 vs. Milwaukee

 Saturday, March 31 at Sacramento

 Tuesday, April 3 at Oklahoma City

This will be the fifth Warriors uniform this season, following the Statement Edition The Town uniforms honoring the city of Oakland, the Classic Edition uniforms that are a nod to the teams uniforms from the mid-1980s, and Golden States usual white and blue uniforms.

We look at these Bay jerseys as a way to continue that Chinese Heritage tradition, but we also took a step recently and asked ourselves what the Bays position could mean to us, Bowers said. How do we make sure were celebrating the cultures throughout the Bay Area? Weve got The City now, and weve got The Town. As we think about the Bay, we wanted to think about, What are the cultures more holistically that are embedded in the Bay Area?  For us this year, its Chinese Heritage.

Connor Letourneau is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cletourneau@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @Con_Chron
WILTON  Wilton Public Schools is now one of several districts in the state to be recognized by a leading nonprofit independent organization dedicated to helping children thrive in a world of media and technology.

Common Sense Media looks for districts with at least 50 percent of its schools that are committed to teaching digital citizenship while taking a whole-community approach. Wilton Public Schools was identified as meeting this criteria, particularly through its new Ready Access Initiative. This districtwide plan, which rolled out at the start of the 2017-18 school year, aims to integrate effective and responsible use of technology in schools through curriculum from kindergarten through grade 12, professional development and workshops for parents and the community.

This (recognition) is really about the entire community working together, so were really quite honored to be recognized as a Common Sense Media District, said Fran Kompar, the districts director of instructional technology and digital learning. And it really does show our commitment to ensuring that students use technology in a safe and responsible manner.

Students enrolled in a digital citizenship boot camp at the beginning of the school year and will continue to have mini lessons and refreshers next year, Kompar said. Such lessons are based on materials from Common Sense Media and are adapted to each grade level, with topics ranging from protecting private information to responding to cyberbullying.

The district also educated parents on digital citizenship at the high school and plans to hold similar workshops at the lower-level schools.

Its a very important topic and it is something thats very important we instruct at school but that it gets reinforced at home, Kompar said.

Kompar also noted the importance of making the Library Learning Commons the hub of its digital literacy and digital citizenship efforts. This shift required close collaboration with other school staff, instructional technology leaders and library media specialists, such as Lori Ellis of Middlebrook School.

Without such efforts across the district, the rollout wouldnt have been as smooth, Ellis said. At Middlebrook, more than 1,000 Google Chromebooks were distributed to middle-schoolers this year as part of the initiatives new 1-to-1 model designed to integrate technology and 21st century skills throughout a students time in the district.

Every single one of our staff members, all of whom who took part in helping, expressed the importance and support the idea of we will not be digital citizens but we will be digital leaders, Ellis said. We were all focused on the same message and it was really a powerful message.

Superintendent of Schools Kevin Smith said the distinction reflects the districts overall efforts of teaching digital literacy and promoting awareness about digital citizenship in the schools and in the community.

I really tip my hat off to Fran and her team who have worked so hard over the last year to ramp up our curriculum, to bring plans forward through the Library Learning Commons and to really start to deliver great lessons, Smith said.

skim@hearstmediact.com; 203-842-2568; @stephaniehnkim
1 Korea tension: North Korea will keep improving its nuclear and long-range ballistic missile capabilities next year to gain leverage to force Washington to make concessions, like the easing of sanctions, government and private analysts in South Korea said Tuesday. The isolated North has made major strides this year in its nuclear weapons program but has also faced increasingly tough U.N. sanctions. On Sept. 3, it detonated what it called a hydrogen bomb in its sixth and most powerful nuclear test. It has also launched three intercontinental ballistic missiles this year, demonstrating rockets powerful enough to deliver warheads to all of the continental United States.

2 Afghan bombing: Nine people have been killed in two separate incidents in Afghanistans central Ghazni and northern Faryab provinces. Four Afghan border police officers were killed after their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Dawlatabad district of Faryab province on Tuesday, Wais Ahmad Alamdar, an Afghan border police commander said. Taliban fighters have been laying thousands of improvised explosive devices throughout Afghanistan to hamper or obstruct the advance of Afghan security forces.
Paris court's decision on Oschadbank's claim against Russia over lost Crimea assets expected in 2018 - Zerkal

A decision by the International Court of Arbitration in Paris on a claim filed by Kyiv-based state-run Oschadbank against Russia over lost assets in Russian-annexed Crimea is expected in 2018, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister for European Integration Olena Zerkal has said.

"We expect a positive result in the case initiated by Oschadbank against Russia. We [earlier] hoped the decision would be made this year. Taking into account the volume of materials, the decision will be next year both on the jurisdiction and on the merits of the case," she said on Channel 5 on Tuesday evening.

In her words, Ukraine has somewhat succeeded in cases against the Russian Federation over property in Crimea, and this may encourage private investors to file claims.

As reported, the hearing on this case began on March 27, 2017.

Oschadbank's claim for lost assets and lost business in Crimea amounts to $1 billion.
Ukraine's Ministry of Infrastructure is in talks with two more low-cost airlines in addition to SkyUp on their operation on the Ukrainian market, Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan has said.

"We started negotiations with three companies at the beginning of the year. I did not want to announce that there might be three of them, so we cautiously talked about one, which was negotiated. It announced about itself this year. Talks with the other two is under way. There is an 80% probability that they will enter the Ukrainian market next year," Omelyan said on Espreso.TV on Tuesday.

He stressed that one of the companies - SkyUp - will be wholly Ukrainian, the others will have a Ukrainian controlling stake.

"Now we are talking about the company that has already been formed - SkyUp. This is 100% Ukrainian private capital. The other two will be with 49% of foreign capital and 51% of Ukrainian so that they can conduct domestic Ukrainian flights. They are carefully analyzing the market - these are significant investment injections and they should feel 100% protected and trust the state," Omelyan said.

Yet, he said, none of the low-cost airlines will be given any special conditions in the Ukrainian market.

"It is important for us that it is not only domestic, but also international transportation by air in the format of free competition. We do not want to create preferences or special conditions for anyone - the conditions will be the same for everyone. There should be competition," the minister said.

As was reported, newly created SkyUp will start operations from April 2018. During its first year, it will carry out international charter flights, and launch regular domestic and international routes.

Charter flights in 2018 will be carried out from Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv and Odesa and other cities of Ukraine to 16 destinations. Among them are Antalya, Bodrum, Dalaman, Sharm El Sheikh, Hurghada, Tivat, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Tenerife, Alicante, Tirana, Rimini, Burgas, Varna, Larnaca, Dubai.

Domestic flights will be launched in late May - early June, and at the first stage they will be performed from Odesa to Kyiv, Kharkiv and Lviv.

International scheduled flights in 2018 are planned to be performed from Kyiv to Barcelona, Dubai and Larnaca.
The Ukrainian State Film Agency has signed a contract with FRESH PRODUCTION GROUP on granting government financial support to the documentary "From Ukraine to Hollywood", which is to be completed in the fall of 2018.

This project won the Ukrainian State Film Agency's 10th selection, the agency reported on its website.

The documentary will be directed by Halyna Kuvivchak-Sakhno and Stanislav Suknenko, the script is written by Stanislav Suknenko. The film will be produced by Oleh Shcherbyna and Yulia Cherniavska.

The amount of government funding for the film is UAH 2.705 million with a total production cost estimated at UAH 3.527 million.

"Few people know that our compatriots played a big role in creating the famous 'Dream Factory', establishment of the Oscar Award and helped create best American films that have become a part of the world cinematic heritage. Almost all of them have their own star on the Walk of Fame, an Oscar or a Golden Globe. But most importantly they all made their incredible contribution, enriching Hollywood not only with their talent, but also bringing their own culture, a part of their life and soul into it," the agency said.

The film is planned to be finished in the autumn of 2018.
By Online Desk

On the midnight of July 1 this year, the NDA government launched India's biggest-ever post-independence tax reform in the form of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

The indirect taxation replaced multiple central and state government taxes throughout the country. Under this, goods and services are taxed at rates of 0%, 5%, 12 %, 18% and 28%.

A brief history of GST:

The system was initially conceptualized in 1986 by the Rajiv Gandhi government through the introduction of the Modified Value Added Tax. During the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, a task force was formed under Vijay Kelkar, which, in 2005 recommended the reform's rolling out. The work continued further in the UPA regime, as the then Finance Minister P Chidambaram's plan of a pre-2014 roll-out couldn't be implemented due to CPM leader Asim Dasgupta's resignation from the GST Council following CPM's downfall in Bengal.

After the Modi government coming to power in 2014, Chidambaram's successor Arun Jaitley brought the GST Bill in Parliament, which was passed in August 2016. All states, except Jammu and Kashmir, passed their GST laws before July. The valley state too passed their bill six days after the reform was introduced.

While the country's 13th President Pranab Mukherjee and PM Narendra Modi, along with some business personalities like Ratan Tata attended the launching ceremony, the opposition boycotted the event.

The updated tax slab:

In November, the GST Council decided to lower the tax rates of 177 items falling under the highest slab of 28% to 18 %.

No Tax:

Goods:

Milk, fruits, vegetables, bread, salt, bindi, curd, sindoor, natural honey, bangles, handloom, besan, flour, eggs, stamps, printed books, judicial papers, and newspapers.

Services:

Hotels and lodges with a tariff below  1,000.

5% Tax:

Skimmed milk powder, fish fillet, frozen vegetables, coffee, coal, fertilizers, tea, spices, pizza bread, kerosene, ayurvedic medicines, agarbatti, sliced dry mango, insulin, cashew nuts, unbranded namkeen and lifeboats.

Services:

Transportation like railways and flights, Standalone AC and non-AC eateries and those which serve liquor and takeaway food. Also restaurants in hotels with a room tariff less than 7,500.

12% Tax:

Goods:

Frozen meat products, butter, cheese, ghee, pickles, sausage, fruit juices, namkeen, tooth powder, medicine, umbrella, instant food mix, cell phones, sewing machine and man-made yarn.

Services:

Business class air tickets.

18% Tax:

Goods:

Flavored refined sugar, cornflakes, pasta, pastries and cakes, detergents, washing and cleaning preparations, safety glass, mirror, glassware, sheets, pumps, compressors, fans, light fitting, chocolate, preserved vegetables, tractors, ice cream, sauces, soups, mineral water, deodorants, suitcase, briefcase, vanity case, oil powder, chewing gum, hair shampoo, preparation for facial make-up, shaving and after-shave items, washing powder, detergent, stones used in flooring, marble & granite, sanitary napkins, leather clothing, wrist watches, cookers, stoves, cutlery, telescope, goggles, binoculars, oil, powder, cocoa butter, fat, artificial fruits, artificial flowers, follage, physical exercise equipment, musical instruments and their parts, stationery items like clips, some diesel engine parts, some parts of pumps, electrical boards, panels, wires, razor and razor blades, furniture, mattress, cartridges, multi-functional printers, door, windows and aluminium frames.

Services:

Restaurants located inside hotels with tariffs of 7,500 and above, outdoor catering (input tax credit to be available), IT, telecom, financial services and branded garments.

28% Tax:

Goods:

Over 200 products, including sunscreen, pan masala, dishwasher, weighing machine, paint, cement, vacuum cleaner. Other items include automobiles, hair clippers and motorcycles are kept in this category.

Services:

Five-star hotels, racing, movie tickets and casino & race betting.

GDP and GST:

In August, Indias GDP slumped to a three-year low of 5.7 per cent as manufacturing slowed. During the same month, a Reuters survey predicted that the industrial activities may be dampened in coming months.

Reuters File Photo

While Chidambaram and Manmohan Singh criticized the government for the poor figures, Centres policy think-tank NITI Aayog assured that the July-September quarter numbers will soar to 7.75%. Global financial agencies like Fitch, ADB and World Bank lowered Indias growth projections around October. Things improved last month when the second quarter growth figures rebounded to 6.3%. Fitch and ADB responded by cutting the GDP forecast down to 6.7%.

How other sectors reacted to this game-changer tax reform:

Agriculture:

The GST posed to be an initial headache for the farmers and crop protection product manufacturers as 18% tax was imposed on pesticides. On 9th September, the agricultural fraternity protested outside the GST Council meeting venue in Hyderabad and demanded that raisins, coriander seeds and dried red chillies should not be taxed.

File Image

As for the updated fourth tax slab list, products like fruits, vegetables, bread, salt, natural honey. On the other hand, frozen vegetables, coffee, fertilizers, tea, spices, sliced dry mango and cashew nuts to attract 5% of taxation.

Textile Industry:

In October, the Apparel Export Promotion Council made a presentation to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce in New Delhi, where they discussed the likelihood of shipment decline and job losses. In August, while Telangana pitched for incentives and land allocation for a mega-textile park, reports emerged of traders exporting their products at higher prices.

Reuters File Image

There were protests in Gujarat textile hubs during June, where the stakeholders printed slogans like No GST, No Registration on the garments. In November, the government announced the post-GST rates for claiming a rebate of state taxes under the scheme for Remission of State Levies on exports of ready-made garments and made-ups.

Manufacturing: The sector, already witnessing a slowdown due to demonetisation, faced another setback in the form of GST. While building components like stones, marble and granite have now been kept under the 18% tax slab, the RBI's fourth bi-monthly monetary policy review of 2017- 18 stated that the new tax might delay the sectors investment revival. In September, the sector pulled down the Index of Industrial Production to 3.8%.

Express File Image

However, things got rosier in November, when manufacturing recorded the strongest improvement in 13 months, due to a reduction in GST rates. The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index rose from 50.3 in October to 52.6 in November.

Automobile: While luxury carmaker Ford started discount sales from May, Mercedes Benz, Audi, Jaguar, BMW and Isuzu announced price cuts on select models that benefit from a lower tax incidence through GST. Around June, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley declared that all non-electric cars and two-wheelers will be taxed at a base rate of 28%.

File Image of a Ford Ecosport vehicle

Non-electric cars were taxed an additional cess of 1-15%. SUVs and luxury cars will all attract 15% cess. Two-wheelers with engines bigger than 350 cc to pay an additional cess of 3%. The new rates were implemented from September. The sector registered back-to-back robust sales figures in August. However, in November, the vehicle export hit a roadblock as the makers were unable to file claims since July and pending sum had crossed over Rs 1,000 crore.

MSME: The Small and medium-sized enterprises have been hurt by the GST since July, resulting in only 5.7% economic growth in June. The industry, contributing 50 per cent of the industrial output and 42 per cent of export earnings, constitutes businesses with a lower threshold limit of Rs 20 lakh and used to enjoy exemption from paying indirect taxes.

Express File Photo

While GST brought positives like common taxation and relief from excise duty, VAT and service tax, the industry faced difficulties on filing monthly returns. On October, the GST Council allowed these enterprises to file quarterly returns.

Aviation:

File Image of an Indigo Aircraft. | Reuters

With the introduction of GST, air travel in Business Class now attracts 12% Service Rate Tax. On the other hand, the same rate is now at 5% in the economy class.

Pharma and Healthcare: On December 14, The Indian Medical Association urged the government to exempt health care services offered by private hospitals from the GST. The organizations president, Dr KK Agarwal also stated that healthcare services provided by all types of clinics are exempted from service tax under a 2012 notification.

File Image of Representational Purposes.

So far, insulin and medicines have been kept under the 5% and 12% tax slabs. In the Ayurvedic sector, there were initial fears of the products costing five-seven per cent more, after they were kept in the 12% tax bracket. The Ayurveda Medical Association of India in June said that the high rate will make ayurvedic, Siddha and Unani medicines expensive. Despite a 7% reduction in prices of unbranded medicines in October, there were reports of the drugs being sold in high costs.

Telecom: The telecom sector was kept in the 18% taxation category in May. The Debt-ridden players expressed disappointment. The Cellular Operators Association of India said that this taxation would likely slow down the planned infrastructure rollouts and will affect government initiatives like Digital India, Cashless India.

File Image for Representational Purposes.

They also said that the sector pays around 30 per cent of its earnings in taxes and levies. Till May, consumers were charged 15% in form of tax and cess over their phone bills. The sectors total debt, at that same time, was at around Rs 4.5 lakh crore, while revenues were around than half this.

IT Sector: The Information Technology fraternity has also been placed under the 18% slab. It has also been given the provisions of claiming input tax credits for buying services. NASSCOM, the industrys apex lobby group, in June said that dealing with the compliance issue might make the new taxation difficult.

File Image of an Infosys Building in Bengaluru. | Reuters

KPMG India said, For IT, taxes are going from around 15 per cent to 18 per cent for services. Now, this is unlikely to impact consumers majorly. Buyer can take input credit for services used, but there are issues.

GST and Gadgets: The household gadgets also couldnt save themselves from the tax onslaught.

Representational Image. | AP

While mobiles have come under the 12% slab, physical exercise equipment, cookers, stoves, musical instruments and their parts, functional printers, vacuum cleaners have all been included in the 28% category, guaranteeing more spending from the Indians.

Banking Sector: The banking activities, insurance and investments such as real estate, mutual funds, are now charged from 15% to 18%. In banks, one will have to pay now Rs 3 more for every Rs 100 paid as transaction charges.

File Photo

Also, banks like SBI introduced or increased service charges for multiple transactions exceeding monthly quotas.

On the midnight of July 1 this year, the NDA government launched India's biggest-ever post-independence tax reform in the form of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). The indirect taxation replaced multiple central and state government taxes throughout the country. Under this, goods and services are taxed at rates of 0%, 5%, 12 %, 18% and 28%. A brief history of GST: The system was initially conceptualized in 1986 by the Rajiv Gandhi government through the introduction of the Modified Value Added Tax. During the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, a task force was formed under Vijay Kelkar, which, in 2005 recommended the reform's rolling out. The work continued further in the UPA regime, as the then Finance Minister P Chidambaram's plan of a pre-2014 roll-out couldn't be implemented due to CPM leader Asim Dasgupta's resignation from the GST Council following CPM's downfall in Bengal. After the Modi government coming to power in 2014, Chidambaram's successor Arun Jaitley brought the GST Bill in Parliament, which was passed in August 2016. All states, except Jammu and Kashmir, passed their GST laws before July. The valley state too passed their bill six days after the reform was introduced. While the country's 13th President Pranab Mukherjee and PM Narendra Modi, along with some business personalities like Ratan Tata attended the launching ceremony, the opposition boycotted the event. The updated tax slab: In November, the GST Council decided to lower the tax rates of 177 items falling under the highest slab of 28% to 18 %. No Tax: Goods: Milk, fruits, vegetables, bread, salt, bindi, curd, sindoor, natural honey, bangles, handloom, besan, flour, eggs, stamps, printed books, judicial papers, and newspapers. Services: Hotels and lodges with a tariff below  1,000. 5% Tax: Skimmed milk powder, fish fillet, frozen vegetables, coffee, coal, fertilizers, tea, spices, pizza bread, kerosene, ayurvedic medicines, agarbatti, sliced dry mango, insulin, cashew nuts, unbranded namkeen and lifeboats. Services: Transportation like railways and flights, Standalone AC and non-AC eateries and those which serve liquor and takeaway food. Also restaurants in hotels with a room tariff less than 7,500. 12% Tax: Goods: Frozen meat products, butter, cheese, ghee, pickles, sausage, fruit juices, namkeen, tooth powder, medicine, umbrella, instant food mix, cell phones, sewing machine and man-made yarn. Services: Business class air tickets. 18% Tax: Goods: Flavored refined sugar, cornflakes, pasta, pastries and cakes, detergents, washing and cleaning preparations, safety glass, mirror, glassware, sheets, pumps, compressors, fans, light fitting, chocolate, preserved vegetables, tractors, ice cream, sauces, soups, mineral water, deodorants, suitcase, briefcase, vanity case, oil powder, chewing gum, hair shampoo, preparation for facial make-up, shaving and after-shave items, washing powder, detergent, stones used in flooring, marble & granite, sanitary napkins, leather clothing, wrist watches, cookers, stoves, cutlery, telescope, goggles, binoculars, oil, powder, cocoa butter, fat, artificial fruits, artificial flowers, follage, physical exercise equipment, musical instruments and their parts, stationery items like clips, some diesel engine parts, some parts of pumps, electrical boards, panels, wires, razor and razor blades, furniture, mattress, cartridges, multi-functional printers, door, windows and aluminium frames. Services: Restaurants located inside hotels with tariffs of 7,500 and above, outdoor catering (input tax credit to be available), IT, telecom, financial services and branded garments. 28% Tax: Goods: Over 200 products, including sunscreen, pan masala, dishwasher, weighing machine, paint, cement, vacuum cleaner. Other items include automobiles, hair clippers and motorcycles are kept in this category. Services: Five-star hotels, racing, movie tickets and casino & race betting. GDP and GST: In August, Indias GDP slumped to a three-year low of 5.7 per cent as manufacturing slowed. During the same month, a Reuters survey predicted that the industrial activities may be dampened in coming months. Reuters File Photo While Chidambaram and Manmohan Singh criticized the government for the poor figures, Centres policy think-tank NITI Aayog assured that the July-September quarter numbers will soar to 7.75%. Global financial agencies like Fitch, ADB and World Bank lowered Indias growth projections around October. Things improved last month when the second quarter growth figures rebounded to 6.3%. Fitch and ADB responded by cutting the GDP forecast down to 6.7%. How other sectors reacted to this game-changer tax reform: Agriculture: The GST posed to be an initial headache for the farmers and crop protection product manufacturers as 18% tax was imposed on pesticides. On 9th September, the agricultural fraternity protested outside the GST Council meeting venue in Hyderabad and demanded that raisins, coriander seeds and dried red chillies should not be taxed. File Image As for the updated fourth tax slab list, products like fruits, vegetables, bread, salt, natural honey. On the other hand, frozen vegetables, coffee, fertilizers, tea, spices, sliced dry mango and cashew nuts to attract 5% of taxation. Textile Industry: In October, the Apparel Export Promotion Council made a presentation to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce in New Delhi, where they discussed the likelihood of shipment decline and job losses. In August, while Telangana pitched for incentives and land allocation for a mega-textile park, reports emerged of traders exporting their products at higher prices. Reuters File Image There were protests in Gujarat textile hubs during June, where the stakeholders printed slogans like No GST, No Registration on the garments. In November, the government announced the post-GST rates for claiming a rebate of state taxes under the scheme for Remission of State Levies on exports of ready-made garments and made-ups. Manufacturing: The sector, already witnessing a slowdown due to demonetisation, faced another setback in the form of GST. While building components like stones, marble and granite have now been kept under the 18% tax slab, the RBI's fourth bi-monthly monetary policy review of 2017- 18 stated that the new tax might delay the sectors investment revival. In September, the sector pulled down the Index of Industrial Production to 3.8%. Express File Image However, things got rosier in November, when manufacturing recorded the strongest improvement in 13 months, due to a reduction in GST rates. The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index rose from 50.3 in October to 52.6 in November. Automobile: While luxury carmaker Ford started discount sales from May, Mercedes Benz, Audi, Jaguar, BMW and Isuzu announced price cuts on select models that benefit from a lower tax incidence through GST. Around June, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley declared that all non-electric cars and two-wheelers will be taxed at a base rate of 28%. File Image of a Ford Ecosport vehicle Non-electric cars were taxed an additional cess of 1-15%. SUVs and luxury cars will all attract 15% cess. Two-wheelers with engines bigger than 350 cc to pay an additional cess of 3%. The new rates were implemented from September. The sector registered back-to-back robust sales figures in August. However, in November, the vehicle export hit a roadblock as the makers were unable to file claims since July and pending sum had crossed over Rs 1,000 crore. MSME: The Small and medium-sized enterprises have been hurt by the GST since July, resulting in only 5.7% economic growth in June. The industry, contributing 50 per cent of the industrial output and 42 per cent of export earnings, constitutes businesses with a lower threshold limit of Rs 20 lakh and used to enjoy exemption from paying indirect taxes. Express File Photo While GST brought positives like common taxation and relief from excise duty, VAT and service tax, the industry faced difficulties on filing monthly returns. On October, the GST Council allowed these enterprises to file quarterly returns. Aviation: File Image of an Indigo Aircraft. | Reuters With the introduction of GST, air travel in Business Class now attracts 12% Service Rate Tax. On the other hand, the same rate is now at 5% in the economy class. Pharma and Healthcare: On December 14, The Indian Medical Association urged the government to exempt health care services offered by private hospitals from the GST. The organizations president, Dr KK Agarwal also stated that healthcare services provided by all types of clinics are exempted from service tax under a 2012 notification. File Image of Representational Purposes. So far, insulin and medicines have been kept under the 5% and 12% tax slabs. In the Ayurvedic sector, there were initial fears of the products costing five-seven per cent more, after they were kept in the 12% tax bracket. The Ayurveda Medical Association of India in June said that the high rate will make ayurvedic, Siddha and Unani medicines expensive. Despite a 7% reduction in prices of unbranded medicines in October, there were reports of the drugs being sold in high costs. Telecom: The telecom sector was kept in the 18% taxation category in May. The Debt-ridden players expressed disappointment. The Cellular Operators Association of India said that this taxation would likely slow down the planned infrastructure rollouts and will affect government initiatives like Digital India, Cashless India. File Image for Representational Purposes. They also said that the sector pays around 30 per cent of its earnings in taxes and levies. Till May, consumers were charged 15% in form of tax and cess over their phone bills. The sectors total debt, at that same time, was at around Rs 4.5 lakh crore, while revenues were around than half this. IT Sector: The Information Technology fraternity has also been placed under the 18% slab. It has also been given the provisions of claiming input tax credits for buying services. NASSCOM, the industrys apex lobby group, in June said that dealing with the compliance issue might make the new taxation difficult. File Image of an Infosys Building in Bengaluru. | Reuters KPMG India said, For IT, taxes are going from around 15 per cent to 18 per cent for services. Now, this is unlikely to impact consumers majorly. Buyer can take input credit for services used, but there are issues. GST and Gadgets: The household gadgets also couldnt save themselves from the tax onslaught. Representational Image. | AP While mobiles have come under the 12% slab, physical exercise equipment, cookers, stoves, musical instruments and their parts, functional printers, vacuum cleaners have all been included in the 28% category, guaranteeing more spending from the Indians. Banking Sector: The banking activities, insurance and investments such as real estate, mutual funds, are now charged from 15% to 18%. In banks, one will have to pay now Rs 3 more for every Rs 100 paid as transaction charges. File Photo Also, banks like SBI introduced or increased service charges for multiple transactions exceeding monthly quotas.
YATISH YADAV By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The most frequent question R&AW officers faced in the last 22 months was whether Kulbhushan Jadhav is really a spy or whether Pakistans ISI has created a web on wet weekends to trap a former Naval officer-turned-businessman and scripted a story that appears little plausible.

Top R&AW sources in a candid chat told The New Indian Express that Jadhav never worked for the countrys external intelligence agency and was not even remotely connected to the ultra-secret world of spies.

ALSO READ: India blasts Pakistan for stressed-out Jadhavs reunion

An undercover trained operative never travels with original identity documents, as did Jadhav. He is given complete new identity, a new life. All that we have learned about Jadhavs case goes against the very basic of spycraft.

Kulbhushan Jadhavs wife Chetna is seen wearing shoes (circled in the photo on the left) as she and her mother-in-law arrived to meet her husband but later she was photographed sporting a sandal (circled on the right) as she left the Pakistan foreign office after the meeting. India on Tuesday accused Pakistan of not returning her shoes |EPS/PTI

Reports accessed from friendly agencies give unprecedented insight into Pakistans drama, and they have inflated it so much that a Pakistani may believe that their spy catchers are right. The truth is he is not our man; a civilian has been subjected to extreme torture by Pakistan, sources said.

ALSO READ: Pakistan rejects India's charges on Kulbhushan Jadhav's family being harassed as baseless

The intelligence reports shared by some friendly intelligence agencies with R&AW show that Jadhav was subjected to water boarding and Parilla-electric shock and was given a carefully worded script to read to the rolling camera. For those who work on the frontiers of espionage, the edited footage of Jadhav showing gratitude to Pakistan is crystal clear.

The man trapped and abducted from Iran last year is not the same.

ALSO READ: Pakistan violated understanding with India

He has been turned into a robotemotionless and expressionless by continuous torturing by ISI and by linking him to various terror attacks inside Pakistan that were carried out by ISI-sponsored outfits like the Taliban.

Jadhavs arrest was shown from Mashkel as if he was hunting for a goldmine in the godforsaken region. ISI tried to weave a perfect spy story because of his background, but many glaring loopholes like his real address in his passport, carrying dual identity and his fabricated adventures inside Pakistan was left for the world to see. The only evidence Pakistan claims to have is Jadhavs on-camera confession. In intelligence lexicon, we often use a word-strike force. Anyone under such kind of torture would repeat exactly what you want. If Jadhav is freed, he will say the exactly opposite, sources said.

NEW DELHI: The most frequent question R&AW officers faced in the last 22 months was whether Kulbhushan Jadhav is really a spy or whether Pakistans ISI has created a web on wet weekends to trap a former Naval officer-turned-businessman and scripted a story that appears little plausible. Top R&AW sources in a candid chat told The New Indian Express that Jadhav never worked for the countrys external intelligence agency and was not even remotely connected to the ultra-secret world of spies. ALSO READ: India blasts Pakistan for stressed-out Jadhavs reunion An undercover trained operative never travels with original identity documents, as did Jadhav. He is given complete new identity, a new life. All that we have learned about Jadhavs case goes against the very basic of spycraft. Kulbhushan Jadhavs wife Chetna is seen wearing shoes (circled in the photo on the left) as she and her mother-in-law arrived to meet her husband but later she was photographed sporting a sandal (circled on the right) as she left the Pakistan foreign office after the meeting. India on Tuesday accused Pakistan of not returning her shoes |EPS/PTIReports accessed from friendly agencies give unprecedented insight into Pakistans drama, and they have inflated it so much that a Pakistani may believe that their spy catchers are right. The truth is he is not our man; a civilian has been subjected to extreme torture by Pakistan, sources said. ALSO READ: Pakistan rejects India's charges on Kulbhushan Jadhav's family being harassed as baseless The intelligence reports shared by some friendly intelligence agencies with R&AW show that Jadhav was subjected to water boarding and Parilla-electric shock and was given a carefully worded script to read to the rolling camera. For those who work on the frontiers of espionage, the edited footage of Jadhav showing gratitude to Pakistan is crystal clear. The man trapped and abducted from Iran last year is not the same. ALSO READ: Pakistan violated understanding with India He has been turned into a robotemotionless and expressionless by continuous torturing by ISI and by linking him to various terror attacks inside Pakistan that were carried out by ISI-sponsored outfits like the Taliban. Jadhavs arrest was shown from Mashkel as if he was hunting for a goldmine in the godforsaken region. ISI tried to weave a perfect spy story because of his background, but many glaring loopholes like his real address in his passport, carrying dual identity and his fabricated adventures inside Pakistan was left for the world to see. The only evidence Pakistan claims to have is Jadhavs on-camera confession. In intelligence lexicon, we often use a word-strike force. Anyone under such kind of torture would repeat exactly what you want. If Jadhav is freed, he will say the exactly opposite, sources said.
Haven't bought your Thanksgiving turkey yet? A look at local prices.

While farms like Helgers in Tiverton have already sold out of turkeys, there are still frozen and fresh birds for sale at local markets.
Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. High 29F. Winds W at 15 to 25 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds early will give way to generally clear conditions overnight. Low 17F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph.
Reporter/Columnist

Julie Wurth is a reporter covering the University of Illinois at The News-Gazette. Her email is jwurth@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@jawurth).
News18.com, one of Indias top breaking news websites, held its annual marquee offering  The Tech and Auto Awards in New Delhi amidst the presence of industry veterans. One of the most notable and competitive categories in the 2017 Tech and Auto Awards was the Hatchback of the Year award, won by the Maruti Suzuki Baleno RS. Apart from the Baleno RS, there were four other hatchbacks too, including Maruti Suzuki Ignis, Hyundai Grand i10 and more. Heres the list of the top 5 hatchbacks launched in 2017 and why were they inducted in the nominations (cars launched between 1st November 2016  31st October 2017 were considered).

Maruti Suzuki Baleno RS. (Photo: News18.com)

Maruti Suzuki Baleno RS

Maruti Suzuki is the largest car manufacturer in India and often, they have to lead by example to create a trend in the industry. We have seen this with the mileage factor and also in the case of AMT gearboxes in affordable cars. Now, Maruti has launched the Baleno RS, a sportier version of the premium hatchback with a 1.0-litre Boosterjet engine having a 100 HP output. Theres only 1 version with manual gearbox available, but priced just below Rs 8.5 Lakhs, Baleno RS opens a new segment for buyers looking for a performance hatchback in a budget.

Tata Tiago. Image used for representational purpose. (Photo: Siddharth Safaya/News18.com)

Tata Tiago AMT

Automatic cars are slowly becoming a regular affair in our country, all thanks to the affordable AMT gearbox. The automated manual technology is actually a 2-pedal version of the regular manual gearbox. Tata Motors, who were the first ones to accept this technology has added the AMT to the popular Tiago hatchback. The Tiago hatchback had been already a popular choice among the buyers looking for an affordable compact hatchback option and with the addition of the AMT gearbox it has become more desirable for buyers.

Ford Figo S. (Image: News18.com)

Ford Figo S

Ever since it was launched in India, the all-new Ford Figo has represented the affordable hot hatch segment with over 100 horses on the tap. However, it was the regular selling version that comes with a 100+bhp engine, which in some sorts, is also a problem with Indian buyers. To differentiate this offering from regular hatchbacks, and to cater the customers who prefer branding over anything, Ford added a Figo S variant, with updated suspension and graphics, rivaling the Maruti Baleno RS.

Maruti Suzuki Ignis has a tall boy stance. (Photo: Siddharth Safaya/News18.com)

Maruti Suzuki Ignis

Yet another Maruti Suzuki on the list is the completely new product from the Indias largest car manufacturer  the Ignis. Ignis represents the Japanese design language with a boxy hatchback look and has a completely different cabin too, with a toggle switch design. With the new Ignis, Maruti Suzuki proved that they can indeed experiment with the design, an allegation that has long been associated with the brand. Ignis is also among the limited hatchbacks that offer automatic gearbox both in petrol and diesel engines.

2017 Hyundai Grand i10 Facelift. (Photo: Siddharth Safaya/News18.com)

Hyundai Grand i10

Last on our list is the facelifted Hyundai Grand i10, the hatchback that proved to be the only viable alternative to the hot-selling Maruti Suzuki Swift. Such was the success of the Grand i10 in its segment that it instantly became the highest selling Hyundai model in India. The facelifted Grand i10 comes with a fully loaded cabin, good cabin space, both diesel and petrol engines, automatic gearbox and much more, all of which are not available in the Swift.

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New Delhi: With hours-long traffic jams becoming a daily reality in Indian cities, the Ministry of Highways and Road Transport has sought an additional Rs 25,000 crore as budgetary support for the upcoming fiscal year to address the problem through infrastructure upgrades.

Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, recently wrote to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley seeking around 18 percent increase in budgetary allocation.

For 2017-18, the government had allocated Rs 64,900 crore to the Ministry of Surface Transport. The extra budget sought for 2018-19 is over and above the Rs 79,000 crore, the ministry had asked for other programmes.

The Centre is also likely to announce a Rs 2,000 crore plan for procuring electric buses in the upcoming Union Budget.

The transport department also plans to extend support to states through a special provision for electric bus and personal rapid transport initiatives. Of the extra fund, Rs 2,000 crore will be for the procurement of electric buses and an equal amount would be spent on promoting personal rapid transport like pod taxis.

The government will soon seek expressions of interest for launching the countrys first driverless pod taxi system on a 70-km stretch from Dhaula Kuan in Delhi to Manesar in Haryana.

The Centre also envisages development of bus ports in collaboration with states in major cities and plans to set aside another Rs 2,000 crore as part of viability gap funding for the purpose.

Additionally, in an effort to fasten the process of approval of the Motor Vehicle Act (Amendment) Bill 2017, pending in the Rajya Sabha, Nitin Gadkari is hopeful that the Bill will find the light of the day before the Winter Session comes to a close.

We are trying to push for the Bill so that the Rajya Sabha passes it as soon as possible. Currently, it is with the Rajya Sabha Select Committee due to a difference in opinion the parties had regarding in the last Monsoon Session. However, we are hopeful it will be passed in this session, Gadkari told News18.

The Bill has been passed by the Lok Sabha and is awaiting Rajya Sabha's nod. It will turn into a law after the President signs it.
Ukraine is not ruling out the possibility of adding representatives from the western military industrial complex establishment and international anti-corruption organizations to the supervisory board of the state-owned Ukroboronprom Concern.

"The situation involving the reshuffling of Ukroboronprom's supervisory board mirrors a wide array of internal and external contradictions of the reform of the defense sector initiated by Kyiv with the support of western allies and seems 'unstable,'" a source in the military industrial complex told the Kyiv-based Interfax-Ukraine news agency on Wednesday.

"Until recently, among candidates to head the concern's supervisory board was a person representing an international anti-corruption organization, which showed interest in accelerating anti-corruption reforms in the defense sector. That organization is said to be focused today on reviewing cooperation plans with the state concern, although one should not rule out the possibility of anti-corruption figures being included in Ukroboronprom's supervisory board, taking into account the long-term goal of anti-corruption reform plans," the source told Interfax-Ukraine, adding that the decision could be taken after consultations with Ukraine's western allies.

At the start of 2017, ex-Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) from 2001 to 2009 Anthony Tether was mentioned as a possible candidate to join Ukroboronprom's supervisory board.

Based on a presidential decree issued in 2010, some 130 military industrial enterprises, including the state-owned Ukrspecexport company and its subsidiaries, comprise the Ukroboronprom Concern today.

In keeping with Ukroboronprom's bylaws, its supervisory board is the highest governing body. It consists of five members who are elected for five years. Three of them shall be appointed by the president, another two by the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade.

The list of Ukroboronprom's current supervisory board members has not been made public. In November 2016, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko removed Ukrainian Member of Parliament and head of parliament's defense and security committee Serhiy Pashynsky from the board. Pashynsky said at the time he wanted to be removed to avoid speculation about a "conflict of interest."

According to open sources, from 2014 to the present time, Ukroboronprom's supervisory board includes head of the State Service for Financial Monitoring of Ukraine Ihor Cherkasky, as well as the ex-commander-in-chief of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Yaroslav Skalko. Early in 2017, deputy head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Economic Development and Trade Yuriy Brovchenko and deputy head of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry for armament Ihor Pavlovsky were named among candidates from the Cabinet.

On December 26, the Independent Anti-corruption Committee, formed by Transparency International, issued a statement on the termination of cooperation with Ukroboronprom in connection with the failure of the authorities to agree on the creation of an independent supervisory board of the state concern, which is considered as the basis for the effective implementation of the reform of the state concern and the military industrial sector. The reform was unveiled in 2016.

Plans were announced in December 2017 by Ukroboronprom to finish reviewing its strategy for reforming Ukraine's military industrial complex in stages, including an audit in 2020.
The Pakistan government on Tuesday claimed that Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhavs wife was made to remove her shoes during their meeting on December 25 as there was something in them.

Not only this, Jadhav's mother and wife were made to remove "mangal sutra", bangles, and bindi before they could meet him, the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

For some inexplicable reason, despite her repeated requests, the shoes of the wife of Shri Jadhav were not returned to her after the meeting. We would caution against any mischievous intent in this regard, the statement read.

Under pretext of security precautions, cultural and religious sensibilities of family members were disregarded. This included removal of mangal sutra, bangles and bindi, as well as a change in attire that was not warranted by security: Raveesh Kumar, MEA on #KulbhushanJadhav pic.twitter.com/K0v4Rh0EnG  ANI (@ANI) December 26, 2017

Responding to Indias charge, Pakistans Foreign Office has now claimed that the shoes were removed for security reasons. "There was something in the shoe," Pakistans Foreign Office spokesman Dr Muhammad Faisal was quoted as saying by Dawn News. The spokesman said Jadhav's wife had been provided replacement shoes and all her jewellery was returned to her.

Unhappy with this, outraged users went to war on microblogging site Twitter and trended #ChappalChorPakistan.

How can we tolerate this? The real new year celebration will be if we attack Pakistan & destroy it...#ChappalChorPakistan https://t.co/H3kyC3rZlz  Ashoke Pandit (@ashokepandit) December 26, 2017

#Breaking: After the meeting of #KulbhushanJadhav with his wife & mother, #Porkistan refused to return his wife's shoes!!! We know u're a poor nation so take these shoes & return the shoes of our patriot's wife!#ChappalChorPakistan#ShameOnPakistan#IndiaStrikesBack pic.twitter.com/XfC9Y8LC6I  Cerebrus (@Cerebrus_) December 26, 2017

So shameful that Pakistan has stolen slippers also. #ShameOnPakistan #ChappalChorPakistan  Mili Rajpootani (@milisilichilli) December 26, 2017

Deewaar par Pakistan likha haiOopar chappal chor neeche 500 inaam likha hai #ChappalChorPakistan Amrita Bhinder (@amritabhinder) December 26, 2017

Why this beggar nation Pakistan kept shoes of #KulbhushanJadhav s wife ? Any jihadi jadu-Tona planned? #ChappalChorPakistan https://t.co/HqB2LhYMPj  Freelance bhakt (@ExSecular) December 27, 2017

It was crappy dirt stuck on her shoe when she stepped in your beggar country #ChappalChorPakistan https://t.co/siTWDHo7cP  Gita S. Kapoor (@GitaSKapoor) December 26, 2017

#ChappalChorPakistan has always been fascinated with vastly superior and stylish Indian products. Some poor Paki cop may have stolen the chappals for his wife back home!  RD (@DharRenuka) December 26, 2017

In a Banana Republuc where chappals are used as missiles, the ISI probably confiscated these out of habit!! #ChappalChorPakistan RD (@DharRenuka) December 26, 2017

Madam @SushmaSwaraj , I request you to send an extra pair of chappals with all those pakistani patients to whom you have granted medical Visa.       #ChappalChorPakistan  Zinti (@zinti_) December 26, 2017

@pid_gov we know that your economy is in bad condition but we seriously did not expected that you will resort to stealing chappals#ChappalChorPakistan https://t.co/os7zEBJtAG  Amit  # (@The_AmitSpeaks) December 27, 2017
New Delhi: A lot of women found their voices this year  be it Salma Hayeks essay detailing a history of predatory behaviour by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein or Rose McGowan, who said she was blacklisted by Hollywood because she got raped.

The numerous women who came forward to narrate their unforgettable memories of being sexually assaulted, even in safe spaces, with a simple hashtag, #MeToo, talked one important thing  women are abused wherever there are powerful men.

So when Penguin decided to get Priyanka Chopra at their prestigious annual lecture as their speaker, it wasnt quite a surprise. She was the first woman that Penguin picked in the eleven years of the event.

Last year, creator of the incredible Wimpy Kid series, Jeff Kinney, gave the lecture; in 2015, Ruskin Bond spoke about the joy of writing, and the year before that it was Dan Brown talking about science and religion.

So when Penguins Twitter handle said Priyanka Chopra was to give a lecture about chasing dreams and breaking the glass ceiling, it filled our hearts with a little joy. Finally.

While the critics on social media were quite disappointed that Penguin chose a Bollywood actor to speak on women empowerment, instead of say, a writer or publisher but lets admit it, Priyanka has herself broken the glass ceiling in more ways than one.

With one foot in Bollywood and the other in Hollywood, the actor has been privy to numerous things that goes behind the backdoors of show business, sexism and racism included. In her own words, Priyanka is feisty and opinionated but when it came to talking about breaking the glass ceiling, there was something missing. She forgot to be fearless, quite conveniently.

Amid huge applause, Priyanka took the stage to talk about chasing dreams. There she was looking gorgeous in her red coloured suit, but more importantly the confidence in her resonated.

In a 20-minute long lecture, the actor decided to tell the audience how to become Priyanka Chopra. Yes, you read that right. She listed out the apparent mantras which included surround yourself with good people and fail, fail and fail till you rise like a phoenix almost sounding like Deepak Chopra. You wont be chided for thinking she had memorised lines from a self-help book.

To be fair, Priyanka did touch upon a lot of relevant issues. A slight brush on wage gap when she stated that no actor was to be questioned on the number of zeroes they have on their cheques. She spoke about racism  the time she used to be called brownie and curry in school, and said she felt proud to be on the top 10 of Forbes Celebrity List. The actor did raise an important question though, Why arent there other females there on the list?

But that was that.

On the question of marriage, she claimed shell get married once she finds a man who appreciates all that she has achieved. Yet again, reinforcing the stereotype that a man is indeed needed to appreciate the woman.

She threw-in some more cliches. Mere layek bhi koi milna chahiye na? (I should get someone who is worthy of me) she quipped, and yet again, we got reminded of the numerous times successful women have been told that its difficult to find husbands for them.

When the anchor asked the actor about the ban on Padmavati, Priyanka squirmed. She said she has called director Sanjay Leela Bhansali and actor Deepika Padukone to show her support but there was no way the feisty actor was going to cross the line. Instead, she decided to blame the media for asking her to comment on Padmavati for the sake of TRPs. Why arent these questions asked to politicians? What can I do as an actor? she asked, resulting in thunderous applaud.

When asked if she has ever faced harassment in Hollywood, an industry that has suddenly woken up to the fact in the last couple of months, Priyanka again evaded the question. Instead, she decided to crack a joke talking about her biggest problem with Hollywood, Everyone arrives on time.

The question moved to Bollywood, and we were all hoping that this is when Priyanka will represent womens voice. After all shes so opinionated, right? Asked why most Indian actresses have so far declined to rally against sexual predators in Bollywood after the Harvey Weinstein scandal in the US, Priyanka said that those like author Shobhaa De who talk about it should take the lead in calling out names. I am very feisty, so people get scared

While she did claim that she has been thrown out of films because the director or the producers girlfriend had to be fit in, she stopped short of taking names.

Priyanka spoke about everything, but still there was a deafening silence.
New Delhi: Even as the government plans to expand its Navy over the next ten years to safeguard its interests in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), the naval force faces a severe shortage of sailors or Personnel Below Officer Rank (PBOR).

Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the Lok Sabha on Wednesday that the Navy faces a 20.68% shortage of sailors. The Army is not much better, and faces a 15.38% shortage of officers, she said.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman provided details of shortage of officers and PBORs (Jawans, airmen and sailors) in all three armed forces after Lok Sabha MPs Ashwini Kumar and Vinod Chavda asked what steps the government was taking to mitigate the shortage.

According to ministry data, the Army has an authorized strength of 49,932 officers whereas it has only 42,253 officers in its rans. This gap of 7,679 officers is 15.38% of the required number.

The Army needs 12,15,049 (12.15 lakh) jawans, but it has 11,94,864 (11.94 lakh) in total. The gap of 20,185 amounts to 1.66%. The Navy has an authorized strength of 11,827 officers against the actual number of 10,393  a gap of 1,434 or 12.12%. The Navy needs in its ranks 71,656 sailors but has only 56,835  a gap of 14,821 sailors or 20.68%.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has a marginal shortage of officers compared to the Army and Navy, but has a significant shortage of airmen. The IAF needs 12,550 officers and has 12,404. This is a gap of just 146 officers or 1.19%. However, it needs 1,42,529 (1.4 lakh) airmen and has just 1,27,172 (1.27 lakh). This gap of 15,5357 airmen amounts to 10.77% of the required number.
Bengaluru: Farmers from five districts in North Karnataka sitting on dharna outside the state BJP headquarters over the Mahadayi river water sharing issue called off their strike after five days on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a bandh was observed in these districts, with shops and establishments shut down and inter-state transport was affected.

Their only demand is a quick resolution to the Mahadayi water sharing issue, which would provide them with basic drinking water for the frequently drought-hit districts.

The protesters took out a padyatra from the BJP office to Raj Bhavan to hand over a memorandum to the Governor's office.

Various organisations had extended their support towards the farmers protest. But many say with Assembly polls approaching, such endorsements are merely to gain political mileage.

The Mahadayi water sharing dispute between Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa has been on the boil for two decades. The river originates in Karnataka's Belgaum before flowing through Maharashtra and Goa, draining out in the Arabian Sea.

The disagreements have primarily been between Karnataka and Goa, with Karnataka demanding a share of about 14 Tmcft of water, of which 7.56 Tmcft is needed for drinking water needs alone.

In July last, the Mahadayi tribunal rejected the Karnataka government's request for the release of 7.56 Tmcft of additional water from the river in order to compensate for the acute water shortage in its north.

The issue gained political limelight when state BJP president BS Yeddyurappa last month assured farmers he would convince the CMs of Maharashtra and Goa (both ruled by the BJP) to hold talks and find an amicable solution within a month. This was one of his assurances during his series of rallies as part of the Parivartan Yatra he is holding ahead of Assembly elections.

That month ended on December 15, and while Yeddyurappa did say that the Goa CM Manohar Parrikar had written to him promising to "consider on humanitarian grounds" the request for drinking water, the letter also said he would not compromise anything out-of-court.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah then wrote to Parrikar on December 22, raising questions on why the latter was communicating with a party head when he (Siddaramaiah) had called him for talks which had been snubbed by the Goa government a few months back. He also said he would again request for a meeting with the two CMs to sort out the issue.

The Congress were also quick to retaliate with KPCC Working President Dinesh Gundu Rao saying that this was an insult to the Karnataka CM. "Instead of writing to his Karnataka counterpart, why would the CM write to the BJP state president?" he asked.

Farmers refused to sway by these assurances and shifted their protest to the BJP HQ. Yeddyruppa tried to meet with farmers' representatives on Tuesday, but was booed away. They also said they were giving representation to the Election Commission to not allow any party to contest the next election, if that party had promised to solve the water-sharing dispute in its 2013 manifesto. However, the decision was reversed on Wednesday and they lifted their dharna.

They blamed all three political parties -- the BJP which has MLAs and MPs in this region but hadn't helped, Congress which is ruling the state but failed to solve the issue, and the JDS which has called itself pro-farmer but failed the farmers of north Karnataka.

The BJP, in a counter-offensive, held protests in front of the Congress office in Bengaluru, blaming the ruling party for politicising the issue. BJP leaders like Shoba Karandlaje, R Ashok, Katta Subramanya Naidu and MLAs from the party shouted slogans and tried to jump police barricades, before being arrested.

In the meantime, BJP national president Amit Shah has scheduled a meeting of the party core committee and will be coming to Bengaluru on December 31, worried over the party's mishandling of the situation.
New Delhi: As the battle of language politics picks steam ahead of the Karnataka assembly election next year, union minister and former Karnataka CM DV Sadananda Gowda met HRD minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday to demand autonomous status for Kannada Development Authority.

The KDA is a government agency formed to promote the use of the language. In the past, it has put forward demands such as banking exams, college entrance exams, signboards on Bengaluru Metro and government websites only use Kannada.

Gowda presented a memorandum to Javadekar and was accompanied by a 14-member delegation that also included KDA chairman SG Siddaramaiah Gowda.

KDA demanded from the minister that autonomous status must be given to the authority. They should appoint project directors in classical language and grant more funds. We have been assured that our demands will be addressed, he told News18.

The delegation also demanded the appointment of a project director for Centre for Classical Studies' Kannada wing be finalized soon as the body is currently headless.

Kannada is a classical language. If KDA gets autonomy, it will boost the sentiments of the people. We are attached to regional language, the former minister said.

The government should recommend UNESCO to include Kannada in its tradition of publishing history of classical languages on its domain, the memorandum read.

The delegation also asked the minister to conducting competitive examinations, including NEET and JEE, in Kannada. The HRD Minister assured the delegation that the demands will be considered.
New Delhi: The Bar Council of India has constituted an expert committee to look into an application which seeks to debar MPs and MLAs from practising as lawyers on the grounds that it is against the spirit of Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution of India.

Bar Council of India Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra told News18 that the expert committee is considering an application by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay.

We have appointed a three-member committee, which is looking into the application and the report will be tabled before me within a week. Since the committee is currently working on this, there can be no conclusion as yet, Mishra said, clarifying that he was not part of the committee.

In his application, Ashwini Upadhyay had contended that MPs and MLAs were paid their salaries out of the Consolidated Fund of India and were hence the employees of the state.

The December 18 application stated that many MPs, MLAs appear as an advocate even during Parliament/Legislative Assembly session and participate in matters that affect the financial interests of the country and with a person with whom they have a prospective employment.

Upadhyay said that a legislator enjoys better salary, allowance and post-retirement benefits than members of Executive and Judiciary and hence such a practice cannot be allowed where MPs and MLAs practise as lawyers.

Being an MP or MLA is an honourable and fulltime profession, but does not remain noble merely by calling it as such, unless he is dedicated for the welfare of people. Legislators are expected to put fulltime service to the public and their constituents ahead of their personal interests. Nobility of the profession of Law also has to be preserved and protected. Therefore, provisions of the Advocates Act and BCI rules must be given effect in letter and spirit to maintain clean and efficient Bar to serve the cause of justice (sic), the application said.

The panel, which is considering the application, is composed of top lawyers in the Bar Council of India roll and office bearers Bhoj Chander Thakur, Rameshchandra G Shah and DP Dhal.

Advocate Bhoj Chander Thakur, co-chairman of the Bar Council of India, told News18 that submissions are being examined from every point exhaustively and we will make the report to the best of our abilities. Within a week, the report should be tabled.

Advocate Rameshchandra G Shah, who is a member of Gujarat Bar Council, told News18 that the next meeting is scheduled to take place next week and that the committee has studied the report by Upadhyay and he would be called again if the committee needs him to make or clarify any point.

Upadhyays primary contention relied on the 1996 Supreme Court case of Dr. Haniraj L. Chulani v. Bar Council of Maharashtra & Goa, where the court held that a person qualified to be an advocate would not be admitted as one if he is in full-time or part-time service or employment, or is engaged in any trade, business or profession.

However, one of the hurdles which the committee might face would be the 2012 verdict of the apex court where the court held that, under the Advocates act and Bar Council rules, lawyers who have become MPs and MLAs can continue their practice. The apex court has also said that there is no bar against an elected representative to continue his or her practice in spite of the fact that they are drawing salaries of MP or MLA and are also enjoying other perks.

Lawyers like Arun Jaitley and Ram Jethmalani had stopped practising while they were ministers, but senior Congress ministers like Salman Khurshid, Kapil Sibal and P Chidambaram resumed their legal practice after the partys 2014 Lok Sabha defeat.

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal had recently argued the Triple Talaq case on behalf of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board.
Today marks the 10th death anniversary of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in Rawalpindi on 27 December, 2007. All these years, multiple versions have been doing the rounds, which go into the details of who might have been behind the assassination of Benazir. Now, a detailed investigative report by The Dawn  a newspaper in Pakistan  has shed light on some important factors on how the assassination of Benazir was carried out.

Ziad Zafar, an investigative journalist, has explored the evidence unearthed during the investigation into Benazirs assassination. Apart from linking the assassination to Osama Bin Laden and other senior Al-Qaeda leader, the report also makes one startling link to Benazirs assassination with the mastermind behind 2008 Mumbai attacks.

The report briefly mentions about the arrest of Major Haroon Ashiq in February 2009, two years after Bhuttos assassination. Major Haroon, an influential Al Qaeda strategist and ideologue in the organisations history, was a former Special Services Group (SSG) commando, who deserted the Pakistan army after 2001 and joined hands with the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

Interestingly, Major Haroon, as mentioned in the report, had also been one of the masterminds of the Mumbai attacks in 2008, which claimed more than 180 lives. Major Haroon, involved in many other terrorist attacks in Pakistan, however, had denied being involved in the assassination of Benazir.

During the interrogation, The Dawn reports, Major Haroon told that the assassination of Benazir Bhutto was ordered by Osama bin Laden and that Baitullah Mehsud, the former Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) chief, had been tasked to carry out the plan. Major Haroon also claimed the emissary between Bin Laden and Mehsud was a militant called Abu Obaidah Al Masri who was in charge of Al Qaedas Pakistan operation.

According to the report, Major Haroon also admitted that the information about a possible link between Osama Bin Laden and the assassination of Benazir was given to him by Ilyas Kashmiri. Kashmiri, also a former Special Service Group officer in Pakistan Army, had surged through jihadi ranks to become one of Bin Ladens closest lieutenants and was also tipped by US counterterrorism experts to replace him as the leader of Al Qaeda after the Abbottabad raid in which Bin Laden was killed.

Both, Ilyas Kashmiri and Major Haroon, were believed to be the principal architects of the Mumbai attacks and had earlier worked closely on a number of operations. Major Haroon, according to the report, had also made a confession in which he confirmed that an earlier assassination attempt on Benazir Bhutto on October 18th was also masterminded by Abu Obaidah al Masri and was carried out through Baitullah Mehsuds men. The same network succeeded in assassinating Bhutto two months later in Rawalpindi.

Major Haroon is currently incarcerated in a special security block in Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi, where he is considered one of the most fearsome inmates in the prison.

The report also mentions the most crucial piece of evidence linking Al Masri to the assassination. The evidence was recovered from Bin Ladens compound in Abbottabad after the raid. According to the report, the document contains a memo delivered to Bin Laden just two days after the assassination. The memo from Al Masri, delivered via courier, refers to the special task and informs Bin Laden of the successful operation in Pindi (read Rawalpindi), confirming it was his men who murdered Benazir. The memo read: More good is to come in revenge for our brothers and sisters in Hafsa and Lal mosques.

Earlier, General Parvez Musharraf, former President of Pakistan, had been charged with murder, criminal conspiracy for murder and facilitation for murder in relation to the Benazirs case. Prosecutors had said that Musharraf had phoned Benazir Bhutto in Washington on 25 September, three weeks before she ended eight years in self-imposed exile, warning her not to return to Pakistan.

Later in 2017, a year after Musharraf slipped out of Pakistan, an anti-terrorism court declared him as being an "absconder" in the case. Musharraf was accused of conspiring to kill Bhutto because he perceived her a potential threat to his rule.

All these years, Musharraf has strongly denied making the call and had dismissed allegations that he would have ordered the assassination of Benazir.

Benazir Bhutto was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistan's first democratically elected prime minister. His political career was also brought to a premature end when he was hanged by the military regime of General Zia-ul Haq. Benazir went on to become prime minister twice in the 1990s, but she was always distrusted by the military, which used corruption allegations to remove her from power. At the time of her death she was making a bid for a third term as prime minister. The assassination had caused widespread civil unrest in Pakistan.

Edited by Sheikh Saaliq
New Delhi: It was a perfect December evening; cold, windy and in spite of Delhi, a clear sky.

Three young IPS officers, didn't want to waste the moment and soon a bonfire and the rum began.

As is common these parties, the cadre and departmental gossips started flowing. That's when an officer quipped: Post Gujarat, ED has taken a clear lead, CBI needs to do something now. The rest had a rather sardonic smile on their face.

For the uninitiated, the reference was to the two arrests made by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in an alleged Bikaner land scam with alleged links to Robert Vadra. The CBI, meanwhile, lost the massive 2G case in court with the judge ordering the acquittal of all accused, including DMK leaders A Raja and Kanimozhi, bureaucrats and top telecom executives.

India's premier investigating agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation, has often been called 'His Master's Voice' irrespective of the government in power.

From the 'Congress Bureau of Investigation', as it was called in the hay days of UPA regime to the 'Gujarat Bureau of Investigation' (over the increased presence of Gujarat cadre officers), the names change but the allegation remains the same.

Opposition alleges that over the last three years, there has been a competition among various agencies as to who can arrest the maximum number of opposition leaders.

Of all the cases being investigated by the CBI in recent past, only one had a press conference by a top CBI officer. No prizes for guessing, it was also the most politically relevant case of the period  an FIR against Lalu Prasad and his son in a corruption case.

The case gave Nitish Kumar requisite fodder to dump his erstwhile partners the RJD and Congress, and embrace BJP yet again.

WHAT AILS CBI?

But if you thought that's what is ailing the agency the most, then you are mistaken. While political interference has been the bane of the CBI in successive government, what is crippling the agency further is the lack of staff strength.

As the year draws to an end, and New Year resolutions become fashionable again, the government needs to make one for the agency: to fill up its rank and file.

According to a parliamentary panel report, the agency is short-staffed by at least 20%. Around 1,594 positions out of 7,274 are vacant currently in CBI. This includes about 20% vacancy among executive rank officers and this is what pinches the most since these are the officers who investigate the cases in CBI.

Sources say that among the senior officers there is a vacancy of one Special Director, two Additional Directors, eight Joint Directors, 18 Deputy Inspector General and 54 Superintendent of Police at this time in the CBI. With the sanctioned strength of 7,274, the CBI has the capacity to handle 700 criminal cases a year. A 20 percent vacancy decreases this capacity further.

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha this August, Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said: A total of 1,369 cases are under investigation, 175 of them for more than two years, with the CBI. Of the total, highest 800 are pending for less than a year and 394 for between one to two years.

This means while the CBI can effectively handle only 700 cases a year, just the backlog is more than double the number.

Former Special Director ML Sharma says that though the CBI is the biggest investigating agency, the strength of CBI does not commensurate the workload.

According to him, it is the vacancies in the executive rank which is most vital. The executives are the officers from the rank of Inspectors, Additional SP and Deputy SP. These are the officers who actually investigate the case, SP onwards are supervisory officers. And this is a problem which has been ailing for quite some time.

THE STAFF STRUCTURE

Former CBI director AP Singh points out that this shortage is because of the way the staffing was decided at the time of inception. Around 40% of the staff were supposed to be the direct CBI recruits, while 60% of the staff were to come in on deputation.

The whole idea was that the CBI would benefit from the state police officers in cases of special crimes like murder, rape and others. The state police officers have more experience in these cases. The plan was to get them on five-year deputation to the CBI. But the problem arises because most state police officers are reluctant to join the CBI as they don't get the same power that they otherwise enjoy.

AP Singh says, While a Deputy SP or even an SHO is a big post in state police, in CBI they are just foot soldiers. There is very little independence of working, you are closely supervised. Not just that, the perks that an inspector gets in his police station no way match up to what he gets in the CBI.

The CBI has a system of hiring direct sub-inspectors who can, by the time they retire, reach the position of Joint Director. They form the original CBI cadre. The senior officers are all IPS officers, who are brought in on deputation. For example, the current CBI chief Alok Verma had never been posted in the bureau before he came in as the director.

BANE OF BEING THE FAVOURITE

Across the country, wherever a doubt is raised about a local police probe, first instinctive reaction is to seek a CBI probe. This has led to extraordinary number of cases being handed over to the CBI.

A senior officer currently working in the CBI says while these vacancies were all there, this problem has become more acute of late, as the number of cases allotted to the CBI has gone up in recent times.

The fact that sensational murder cases like the Ryan International School murder probe have turned into a complete new direction, also raise hope among others to refer their case to the CBI.

Cases like Vyapam scam take up huge amount of resources. One of the chargesheets filed by the CBI has over 900 accused. Commenting on the situation, a senior officer of the agency said the hearing might as well be done in a stadium, the only place which can fit over 900 accused, their lawyers, security and the investigating officers.

The government too lists large number of cases referred to the CBI by courts and state governments as the reason behind the delay in timely completion of investigation.

ML Sharma says if only the courts would be a little kind on the CBI and not burden them with innumerable cases, the agency can work better. He mentions that the quality of probe erodes at times because of this overload.

When the same agency has to prioritise politically sensitive cases, the other cases suffer even more and the effect is often visible in numbers.

QUANTITY HITS QUALITY?

Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Jitendra Singh informed Parliament in April that there has been a dip in the conviction rate.

The minister said that in 2014 the conviction rate was 69.02%, in 2015 it was 65.1% and in 2016 it was 66.8%.

AP Singh points out that as it happens in every other place, whenever a new important case comes in, officers who are already part of other investigations are called in.

For example, when Vyapam came up, SP Vivek who was part of the 2G probe was made a part of the Vyapam team. While CBI maintains his role was over in the 2G case, questions remain on whether his assistance could have helped during the trial stage. The question becomes even more pertinent since the CBI has lost the case and the judge has almost blamed prosecution for it.

WHAT IS THE SOLUTION?

AP Singh is candid when he says that till he retired as the director there was no clear cut solution to this complex problem. While there has been some demand internally to increase the strength of CBI cadre officers within the organisation, he says this will hamper the CBI's multi-directional expertise; a view which has also been shared by ML Sharma.

The other option as per AP Singh is to increase the number of officers from the paramilitary forces. The officers from these forces like ITBP, CRPF, BSF, CISF and others are more willing to join CBI, as unlike these forces, the CBI doesn't have such harsh postings.

These officers are often taken for the period of 10 years, and after a training period of 1-2 years, they remain useful to the organisation for a good eight years.

Some like ML Sharma suggest making deputation more lucrative. He suggests visiting the state police forces, encouraging them to join the CBI, make CBI position more prestigious, so that the brightest from the state police feel incentivised enough to join it.

There is a case made out for the various high courts as well.

Indiscriminate handing over of the various criminal cases to the CBI means the work in the existing cases get hampered. Recently, the Delhi High Court ordered the CBI to probe how the famous 108-foot Hanuman statue and a private two-wheeler dealership encroached upon public land in the busy Karol Bagh area here and the officials who allowed it to happen by "abusing their position".

This, according to many officers of the current dispensation, is a fit case for probe by the local police. ML Sharma, too, says to increase the accountability, the court should have made a Deputy Commissioner level officer of Delhi Police directly accountable for the probe, instead of burdening the agency.

THE LAST WORD

It may often be called a 'Caged Parrot', but the CBI remains one agency which still inspires some faith in the common man. But to make the best we have the best in the business, these vacancies have to be plugged.

A case is also made out to decrease political interference in investigation, but when the government has such an overwhelming say in the transfer postings of the agency, it would continue to remain a wishful thinking, not just in 2018, but probably in 2118 too.
New Delhi: The harassment and verbal assault targeted towards Kulbhushan Jadhavs family by Pakistani journalists after their meeting with the former naval officer seems to have been planned in advance by the countrys establishment.

Videos doing the rounds on social media showed Jadhavs mother Avanti and wife Chetankul being subjected to outrageous questions by reporters when they were forced to wait for their car after the meeting. Eventually, they had to turn back inside the building as they grew tired of the attack, the footage shows.

Now, voices from within the Pakistani media have denounced the conduct of the journalists on December 25 and raised questions about the intent of heckling the 70-year-old mother of Jadhav.

Hassan Belal Zaidi, a senior correspondent with Dawn newspaper, tweeted that Pakistans foreign office messaged the reporters, who harassed Jadhavs family, to thank them for a job well done.

There are also questions about whether all of those who were present there as journalists were really from the press, as sources close to developments said some of them may have been planted there by Pakistans intelligence agency, the ISI.

Reporters shouted taunts and slogans at the two women, said they were related to a killer who has blood on his hands. FO even messaged reporters to thank them for 'job well done'. Conduct unbecoming of journalists was on display that day... https://t.co/bNLczGBacb Mighty (@mightyobvious) December 26, 2017

A furious Indian government has condemned the treatment of Jadhavs family.

Foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar said the Pakistani press was allowed to come close to Jadhavs kin, harass them and hurl loaded questions at them deliberately.

Aapke patidev ne hazaron begunah Pakistaniyo ke khoon se Holi kheli ispar kya kahengi? (Your husband played Holi with the blood of thousands of innocent Pakistanis. What do you have to say about that)? and apke kya jazbaat hain apne kaatil bete se milne ke baad (What do you feel after meeting your killer son? are a sample of the kind of insensitive questions directed towards the family.

Interspersed with these questions were taunts like qaatil ki maa and qaatil beta. Another eminent Pakistani journalist, Benazir Shah, said she had no words for the Pakistani journalists who think heckling and harassing a 70-year-old woman is the best way to express patriotism.

No words for the Pakistani journalists who think heckling and harassing a 70-year-old woman is the best way to express patriotism. https://t.co/YOyFfyYOfF Benazir Shah (@Benazir_Shah) December 27, 2017

The government has also accused the Pakistan government of wilfully ignoring the cultural and religious sensibilities of Jadhavs mother and wife. Before the meeting, they were made to remove their mangalsutra, bindi and shoes, and had to change their attire. Pakistan said it was necessary because of security implications.

Jadhav and his mother and wife were not allowed physical contact and were seated across a glass partition. They were also not allowed to speak in their native language, Marathi, and their conversation, which took place through an intercom device, was repeatedly interrupted by the Pakistani officials present in the room.
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the support the Central government after the state was hit by Cyclone Ockhi.

Vijayan has written a letter to the PM thanking him for personally visiting the affected areas.

His letter also stated that there was great support from the central government for efforts to rescue those stranded at sea by the cyclone. The letter was appreciative of Modi's assurance that he would consider the demand of a relief package submitted by the state government, saying that it has given hope to the state.

Modi visited the Cyclone Ockhi affected areas in Lakshadweep, Kanyakumari and Thiruvananthapuram last week.

At Thiruvananthapuram, he visited the fishing village of Poonthura. He spent about 10 minutes with the affected by the cyclonic storm. The PM was seen listening to them patiently.

"I am here to assure you that India stands shoulder to shoulder with all those affected by Cyclone Ockhi. We will leave no stone unturned in the rescue and relief operations," Modi said to the gathering.

Modi held high-level discussions with the chief ministers of Tamil Nadu and Kerala and the administration of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep and reviewed the situation post-Ockhi.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman will ask President Petro Poroshenko to dismiss head of the state-owned Ukroboronprom Concern Roman Romanov for the failure to complete the government's task to repay wage debts at the concern's state-run Mykolaiv shipyard.

Groysman announced this at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday and recalled he had tasked Romanov to repay delayed wages at the shipyard before December 25, which has not been done as of today.

"I've heard the feedback that they cannot do this. I cannot understand this. Therefore today I'm going to sign a motion asking the president [to dismiss Romanov]," Groysman said.

The prime minister said he hoped that "the president will quickly decide on the dismissal of the people who cannot cope with the prime minister's tasks."

"A new head will come and find a solution to the repayment of the debts owed to people," he said.

As reported, in late October, Ukroboronprom informed about the shutdown of the Mykolaiv shipyard (formerly State Enterprise "Shipbuilding Plant named after 61 Communards") due to the lack of a government decision to resume the shipyard's compensation to maintain the unfinished Ukrayina cruiser. The compensation was suspended in February 2015. Ukroboronprom called on the government, in particular Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksandr Turchynov, to assist in resolving the situation involving the debts.

In November, Groysman said that it was Ukroboronprom that should address the issue as it manages the shipyard.
New Delhi: Nepal has rejected Indias offer to jointly re-measure the height of the worlds highest peak, Mount Everest, following the massive earthquake in 2015 and will carry out the exercise on its own, the top official of the Himalayan nations survey department has said.

Nepal will, however, seek help from India and China for getting crucial data for the exercise, Nepals Survey Departments Director General Ganesh Bhatta said.

Sources in New Delhi indicated that China could be behind Nepal refusing Indias proposal to jointly re-measure Mount Everest as the peak is on the Sino-Nepal border.

According to a statement by the Department of Science and Technology which comes under Indias Ministry of Science and Technology, after the 2015 "Gorkha earthquake" that jolted Nepal, various doubts were raised by the scientific community over the height of the peak.

The 7.8 magnitude quake in April 2015 had devastated the Himalayan nation, killing more than 8,000 people and displacing lakhs of others.

The Survey of India, a 250-year-old institute under the DST, proposed re-measuring Mt Everest as an Indo-Nepal Joint Scientific Exercise with Nepals survey department.

"They have not responded to our proposal. Now they are saying that they are not involving either India or China. They will be re-measuring Mt Everest on their own," Major Gen Girish Kumar, the Surveyor General of India, said.

Kumar said that a representative from India attended a meeting convened in Kathmandu, where surveyors and scientists from different countries including China were also present.

"There was a proposal from India to help us measure Mt Everest, but we are doing it on our own," Bhatta, who is in Nepal, told PTI over phone.

When asked whether China had also given a proposal to re-measure Nepal, he replied in the negative.

He noted that China had measured Mt Everest in 1975 and 2005 while Indian surveyors had carried out a similar mission in 1956. The SGI had also measured the Everest during the British era.

"India was the first country under Sir George Everests leadership as the Surveyor General of India to have declared the height of Mount Everest and establish it as the highest peak in the world in the year 1855," the Department of Science and Technologys website states.

Bhatta said preparatory work has already begun on the project and they are gathering preliminary data crucial for this survey. The massive earthquake has "shook" even the basic parameters of Nepal, so data from other countries will be crucial, he said.

India is being requested to provide the levelling data while China has been asked to provide the gravity data. The data will be very important to determine the height of Mt Everest, Bhatta said.

"We wont be crossing over into the Chinese territory for measurements. The work of summiting Everest will take place in 2019," he said.

Kusalaraj, a scientist at the Centre for Earth Science at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, said minor change in the height of Mt Everest may not have a direct impact on the lives of people immediately.
The martyrdom of Major Moharkar and three soldiers while on a routine patrol in the Keri sector of Jammu and Kashmir was followed, after 48 hours, by an Indian Army cross-border strike which killed at least three Pakistani soldiers. This tit-for-tat action is now seen as something that has become the new normal along the Line of Control (LoC) separating India and Pakistan. There is a similar pattern with ceasefire violations (CFV)  one side initiating and the other responding immediately.

Questions are often asked whether these eye for an eye tactics serve any larger purpose. After all, we are not only losing our soldiers but also civilians living in border areas. The civil population is most impacted due to displacement from their homes and the debilitating impact on their daily lives.

Violent incidents close to the border, like the Pathankot attack, also hold India-Pakistan relations hostage as they are seen as being more directly linked to the Pakistani state, as opposed to terrorist actions which take place in the villages of Kashmir valley.

Let me begin by clarifying the Indian Army's tactical thought process. The Army believes that a calm LoC is a preferable operational environment. Indian soldiers deployed on the border in Jammu and Kashmir have two main tasks. The first is to maintain the sanctity of the LoC (which is not marked out on ground) by ensuring that there is no intrusion by Pakistan to grab our territory. The second is to maintain a strong counter-infiltration grid to prevent terrorists from sneaking into our territory.

In the forested and mountainous terrain along the border, these are extremely challenging tasks even under normal conditions, and best performed when the LoC is calm. If hundreds of mortar bombs are raining down you, it is difficult to carry out patrolling and spot a small group of infiltrators who may be attempting to sneak into the area. The fact that our patrols are still carrying out their duty despite the Pakistani firing is reflective of the bravery and dedication of our officers and men. But it comes with a huge risk.

Pakistan Armys view is just the opposite. A calm LoC not only makes the pushing in of terrorists more difficult but is also reflective of an improving situation in Jammu and Kashmir. The latter goes against the Pakistani narrative of a state embroiled in violence.

We have seen this playing out since 2013, particularly in the Jammu region. 2012 was the most peaceful year in the history of Jammu and Kashmir insurgency. The total casualties of terrorists, security forces and civilians were only 117. Terrorism had been almost completely wiped out from areas South of Pir Panjal. In sharp contrast to this improvement, the LoC heated up.

CFVs by Pakistan army increased from 114 in 2012 to 347 in 2013, 583 in 2014 and 720 in 2017. Over 90% of these were in Jammu region. The LoC turned violent with many soldiers martyred in firing, ambushes and BAT actions, and bodies being mutilated, the latest incident being on 1 May this year in the Poonch sector.

How should the Indian soldiers on the LoC react to such provocation? The reality is that the LoC is a brutal place. Any misstep is fatal. It is impossible for any military leader to salute his comrade's coffin without promising retribution. Deaths which remain unavenged will lead to a disastrous loss of morale. Troops are already under tremendous pressure and they need the highs of tactical victories.

This game is playing out daily on the LoC. Some incidents get highlighted in the media but most don't. However, successful actions contribute to a sense of moral ascendancy over your enemy. In warlike situations, as Napolean said, Moral is to the physical as three to one. But is there a war on at the LoC? For a soldier whose post is being bombarded by artillery, mortars, rocket launchers and machine guns, it is as close to war as he can get.

Is it possible to break out of this seemingly endless cycle of violence? The ball is clearly in Pakistan army's court. The Indian Army has made it known to them in border meetings and through the DGMO level talks that calm will only return to the LoC if their army takes actions to check the movement of terrorists from their side and stop cross-border violations. If infiltration, ambushes, CFVs and IED attacks continue, there can be no peace.

Is there any strategic sense to the Indian Army's actions along and across the LoC? In the short term, the answer may appear to be in the negative because Pakistan appears undeterred and continues its support to anti-India terrorists. However, we do not have many options. Diplomacy between the two countries is perhaps at its lowest level. There are no economic linkages that can be exploited.

Dependency on a third country to force a change in Pakistani attitude have not been successful.

Under these circumstances, military pressure seems to be the only path. Pakistan Army cannot be permitted to plan terrorist actions in comfort and without fear of retribution. They must feel the pain of lost comrades. It will be a long and somewhat bloody haul but today there appears to be no other alternative to compel Pakistan to change its ways.

(The author is former Northern Commander, Indian Army, under whose leadership India carried out surgical strikes against Pakistan in 2016. Views are personal.)
Kulbhushan Jadhav, whom Pakistani authorities have sentenced to death on the charges of espionage, terrorism and sabotage, met his wife and mother on December 25 at Pakistan Foreign Office, here in Islamabad.

Surrounded by cameras and journalists ready with their questions, Jadhav's wife and mother came out of a blue jeep, said namaskar, and steadily walked towards one of Pakistan Foreign Office's buildings where they met Jadhav.

Jadhavs meeting with his wife and mother, which took place in a room that was dissected by a window mirror, is an opportunity for both India and Pakistan to improve their ties that have been strained for quite a while now.

"Pakistan has nothing to hide about the meeting, said Pakistan Foreign Office. "Had we wanted the meeting to be a secret, we could have arranged it at any jail or some other place. We didnt because we wanted the meeting to be open to the world. We have nothing to hide, the Foreign Office added.

"The meeting of Jadhav was arranged on purely humanitarian grounds, said Pakistani authorities.

It is also important to note that December 25 is celebrated in Pakistan as the birth anniversary of the founder of the nation, Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Jadhav's meeting with his family on this day also speaks about Islamabads intentions and resolve for peace.

But many in Pakistan and India wonder how could ties be mended when Jadhav has been sentenced to death by the Pakistani authorities already?

The signs at the moment from Islamabad are positive. It is imperative to note that Foreign Office of Pakistan categorically said that this would not be Jadhav's last meeting with his family.

Pakistan wants better relations with India and with other neighbouring states. Pakistan has embarked on a mega economic activity in collaboration with China that Islamabad thinks can benefit not just Pakistan but the neighboring countries like India as well, if India ever decides to benefit from it.

Pakistan is also aware of the fact that India is hostile towards the CPEC project. Any aggression towards CPEC can cost Pakistan much.

Therefore, Pakistan is of the view that confrontation and rift is not going to benefit either Pakistan or India, in future. Ultimately, the outstanding disputes and issues would require amicable settlements. Economy and trade between Pakistan and India can play a larger role in the region, if given a chance.

On both sides of the border, that dissects Kashmir and Punjab, people live in abject poverty. Many of them lack adequate health facilities and sanitation. Yet, both states are nuclear and armed to the teeth.

In times like these, Jadhav's case can either deteriorate the already strained relations or can be utilised as an opportunity for peace.

Though Pakistan's Foreign Office said that this is not Jadhav's last meeting with his family, it is too soon to answer how Islamabad would move forward with Jadhav and his death sentence.

What is more important is to see if Indian authorities would reciprocate Pakistan's initiative and both countries would seize the opportunity for peace.

Hanging Jadhav may not be in Pakistan's interest. Pakistan's equation is simple. Jadhav is an officer of the Indian Navy, who according to the Pakistani intelligence agencies, was involved in espionage, terrorism and sabotage. He is in Pakistan's custody, his group has been intercepted and Jadhav has been sentenced to death.

For Pakistan, at the moment it is enough to show it to the world that India has been instigating unrest in Pakistan; a country that has been fighting world's most notorious terrorist groups in the region, successfully. That is it. Any further development on Jadhav's case would be subject to India's response on it.

Jadhav's mercy plea is now with Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff. If the Chief cancels the mercy plea, then the request can be sent to the President of Pakistan, within 90 days. It is then for the President of Pakistan to decide Jadhav's fate on the issue. There is no time limit for the President of Pakistan to take decision. The decision from the President of Pakistan's office is not time bound, depending on what suits Pakistan.

Pakistan and Indias relations have been shaky. Nonetheless, there were efforts from both sides to mend ties in the recent past. Jadhav's episode can be crucial for the Pakistan-India relations. It can be utilized as a step forward towards peace or another setback for two nuclear states.

(The author is a defence analyst and TV presenter in Islamabad, Pakistan. Views expressed are personal.)
Jammu: Pakistani troops on Wednesday targeted forward posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in Nowshera sector in Jammu and Kashmir for nearly an hour, police said.

The small arms firing from across the border targeting forward posts in Nowshera sector started around 9 am.

Indian troops retaliated and the exchange of fire between the two sides continued till 10 am, a police official said. There was no report of any casualty in the incident, the official said.

The latest ceasefire violation by Pakistan comes five days after Pakistani troops opened fire from across the border, leaving four Army personnel dead and another soldier injured in Keri sector of Rajouri on December 23.

Indian troops also killed three Pakistani troops and injured another in retaliatory action at Rukh Chakri sector in Rawlakot on December 25.

On December 24, Pakistani troops had targeted forward posts and villages in Shahpur sector of Poonch district. Jammu and Kashmir witnessed a total of 881 ceasefire violations this year, highest in the past seven years, along the LoC and the International Border, resulting in the death of 34 people.

According to officials, Pakistan violated the ceasefire along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir 771 times till December 10, and 110 times along the IB till November-end. In these incidents of firing from across the border, 30 people -- 14 Army personnel, 12 civilians and four BSF personnel -- were killed.

The truce between India and Pakistan along the International Border, the Line of Control and the Actual Ground Position Line in Jammu and Kashmir came into force in November 2003.

India shares a 3,323-km-long border with Pakistan of which 221 km of the IB and 740 km of the LoC fall in Jammu and Kashmir.
New Delhi: Taking note of grievances aired by the Swadeshi Jagran Manch on an alleged attempt to introduce the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine for cervical cancer in India, the Prime Minister Office shot a letter to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday.

The letter acknowledged the complaint received by SJM, an RSS affiliate, and stated: The outfit has asked for stoppage of introduction of HPV vaccine as it has highest rate of adverse effect among all vaccine in use for cervical cancer as per the World Health Organization report.

Reacting to the development, the national co-convener of Swadeshi Jagran Manch, Ashwani Mahajan, said that the 72nd report by the Parliamentary Standing Committee castigated the Indian Council Medical Research, Drug Controller General of India, Ethics Committee members, and PATH for the unethical manner in which this clinical trial was conducted.

The letter from the PMO is a positive development in curbing these malpractices in health sector. After the Parliamentary Standing Committee's stand our case has become much stronger, said Mahajan.

SJM claimed this vaccine was used in an unethical trial by PATH, ICMR and Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK), which was associated with the death of many tribal children in Andhra Pradesh.

They said that reports suggest a number of safety signals like complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) have emerged with human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines, which share a similar pattern of symptomatology.

They cannot be passed off as mass hysteria, SJMs letter to the PMO mentioned.

According to American College of Paediatricians new publication New Concerns: The vaccines could possibly be associated with the very rare but serious condition of premature ovarian failure (POF), also known as premature menopause."

The PMO has also taken note of the cost concerns raised by SJM, and brought it to the notice of the Ministry, This vaccine is very expensive as per the study conducted by the International Health Policy program. A cost-benefit study for India shows that if the cost of per vaccinated girl exceeded US 3.30 dollar, vaccination alone would no longer be more efficient than only screening."

Alleging unfair promotion of the vaccine, Mahajan said, The journal Cancer described how authors from PGI Chandigarh falsified science published by others, in an attempt to show that $14/child for the vaccine is cost-effective.

He further added that the various agencies have managed to introduce the vaccine in Punjab selectively, although it does not have the approval of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization.
New Delhi: Imagine being air-dropped to a desired place without having to worry about traffic and pollution.

This will soon be a reality in Delhi-NCR with the much-awaited pod taxi project  Indias first  crossing another checkpoint.

A high-level panel has recommended inviting fresh bids for the project conforming to the strictest safety standards on the lines of those prescribed by an American body.

The pod taxi scheme, estimated to cost Rs 4,000, is a dream project of Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, and the NHAI has been mandated to execute it on the Delhi-Gurgaon pilot corridor (12.30 km) from Delhi-Haryana border to Rajiv Chowk in Gurgaon on a PPP (public-private partnership) basis.

The ambitious project has been plagued by delays as government think-tank Niti Aayog raised some red flags, asking the highways ministry to direct initial bidders to prepare a 1-km pilot stretch as all the technologies were unproved.

Subsequent delays were caused due to formation of the high-powered committee to lay down safety and other specifications.

Pod taxi, also called Personal Rapid Transit (PRT), is an advanced public transport using automated electric pod cars to provide a taxi-like demand responsive feeder and shuttle services for small groups of travellers and is a green mode of uninterrupted journey.

The automated people mover (APM) standards in the US as recommended by the committee for the maiden PRT in India have been prepared by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and these constitute the minimum requirements for an acceptable level of safety and performance for the PRT.

These include vehicle arrival audio and video visual warning system, platform sloping, surveillance/CCTV, audio communication, emergency call points and fire protection, among other advanced systems, it added.

The pilot project, to be taken up on design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) basis is meant for a 12.3-km stretch from Delhi-Haryana border on NH-8 (near Ambience Mall) to Badshahpur via Rajiv Chowk, IFFCO and Sohna Road.

The model is in place in London's Heathrow airport, Morgantown and Masdar city.

Earlier, three global companies, including New Zealand's Metrino Personal Rapid Transit, which later called off its joint venture with Indian partner Gawar construction, were picked during initial bids for the project.

What are pod taxis?

Personal rapid transit (PRT), also known as pod cars or pod taxis, is a public transport system developed for travelling swiftly in congested areas. They operate much like the traditional rail and streetcar network and are built above busy roads and highways. They are automated driverless vehicles and can carry four to six people in at a time.

Pod taxis are futuristic transport concept which is environment-friendly and can be run on solar power and other renewal power, bringing down pollution in densely populated areas.

According to one estimate, a solar powered pod taxi could cost one-tenth of an ordinary running car.

The first pod taxis were run at West Virginia University (WVU) in the 1970s. The other cities where pod-taxis are currently operating are Masdar City, Abu Dhabi running on CyberCab system known as METRINO and London's Heathrow airport. It covers a distance of 3.8 km operational since 2011. The average speed of pods is 60 km per hour.

There are numerous PRT systems that were proposed, but they didnt get implemented. In India, around six states are looking to add pod taxis in some big cities to decongest traffic.
New Delhi: The government will make a statement in the Lok Sabha on Thursday on the treatment meted out by Pakistan to the family members of Kulbhushan Jadhav, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday said.

During the Zero Hour, members of various political parties, including the Congress, Shiv Sena, Trinamool Congress and AIADMK, strongly protested the way Jadhav's family members were treated by Pakistan authorities when they had gone there to meet Jadhav, who is languishing in a Pakistani prison. Swaraj, who was present in the House, said a statement on the issue would be made tomorrow(Thursday).

While strongly criticising the happenings, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge demanded that Jadhav should be brought back.

Shiv Sena's Arvind Sawant also raised the issue and said India should not keep silent in the matter.

Describing Pakistan as "hypocritical", Trinamool Congress leader Saugata Roy said the incident should be criticised and demanded that Swaraj should speak on the issue.

Condemning the incident, AIADMK M Thambidurai said asking a woman to remove her 'mangal sutra' is an insult to the country.

The meeting between Jadhav and his mother and wife took place on December 25 at the Pakistani foreign affairs ministry in Islamabad after repeated requests by India for family access.

Jadhav, who was arrested in March, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying, an accusation that India has dismissed as concocted.

On Tuesday, India accused Pakistan of violating mutual understanding on Jadhav's meeting with his family, and said the Indian national appeared coerced and under considerable stress during the tightly-controlled interaction.

Pakistan went so far as to have the mangal sutra, bangles and bindi of his mother and wife removed before they could meet him, the external affairs ministry had said on Tuesday.
New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has released sketches of individuals it has been looking into for the last one year to keep a tab of their involvement with the Islamic State. The missing 21, as the group has come to be known, had left Kerala around June last year and converted to Islam in order to join the Islamic State.

The NIA has been probing their disappearance and has now released sketches of all the accused. Marked as absconding by the agency, the photos have a red dot marked on those who have been issued notices. Of the 21, 6 are female.

The details that the NIA has released states that 14 of the accused are under the age of 26, with the oldest in the list being Shajeer Managalassery from Kozhikode, who is 36.

Source: NIA

Source: NIA

The group had travelled outside the country broken into small groups. The first two people left on a Bengaluru-Kuwait flight; the second batch had three people, who left on May 31 on the Mumbai-Muscat flight.

Batch number three had three individuals who left on June 2 aboard a Mumbai-Dubai flight, while three others left the following day on a Hyderabad-Muscat flight.

June 5 saw three people leave on a Mumbai-Dubai flight, and the sixth batch on June 16 had two people on a Bengaluru-Muscat flight.

The same route was taken by the next group of two people on June 19, while the last person left on a Mumbai-Abu Dhabi flight on July 5.

NIA sources also told News18 that at least 19 of the 21 people had moved from Tehran and were suspected to have crossed the border to Syria or Iraq.
New Delhi: Pakistan claims to have detected a "metallic substance" in the shoes worn by the wife of Kulbhushan Jadhav during their December 25 meeting and sent the footwear for forensic examination, Pakistani media reported on Wednesday.

The authorities were ascertaining whether the "metallic object" in the shoes was a camera or a recording chip, Pakistan Today quoted Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Mohammad Faisal as saying.

A separate report in Dawn reported that the FO confirmed a "metallic substance" had been detected in Jadhav's wife's shoes that were retained by security officials prior to the meeting with the Indian death row prisoner at the Foreign Office in Islamabad.

Jadhav's wife's shoes were kept for inspection, while all other belongings, including jewellery, were returned, Faisal said, adding that she was given an alternative pair of shoes to wear after her shoes were removed.

In a statement issued on night, Pakistan made no mention of the "metallic substance" and had said that there was "something" in the shoes.

In the statement, Pakistan rejected as "baseless" India's contentions that Jadhav's wife and mother were harassed and claimed that his wife's shoes were confiscated on security grounds as there was "something" in it.

"There was something in the shoe. It is being investigated. We gave her a pair of replacement shoes. All her jewellery etc were returned after the meeting," Faisal said.

The External Affairs Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that Pakistan went so far as to have the mangal sutra, bangles and bindi of Jadhav's mother and wife removed before they could meet him.

India also accused Pakistan of disregarding cultural and religious sensibilities of family members under the pretext of security. "This included removal of mangal sutra, bangles and bindi, as well as a change in attire that was not warranted by security," it said.

The FO said that Pakistan does not wish to indulge in a "meaningless battle of words" and categorically rejects India's baseless "allegations and twists" about attitude of authorities during Jadhav's meeting with his wife and mother.

"The Indian baseless allegations and twists, that come 24 hrs later, about the visit of the wife and mother of Commander Jadhav, a convicted terrorist and spy, who has confessed to his crimes, are categorically rejected," the statement said.

If Indian concerns were serious, the guests or the Indian DHC (Deputy High Commissioner) should have raised them during the visit with the media which was readily available, but at a safe distance as requested by India, it said.

"We do not wish to indulge in a meaningless battle of words. Our openness and transparency belie these allegations," it said.

During the December 25 meeting, whose pictures were released by Pakistan, Jadhav was seen sitting behind a glass screen while his mother and wife sat on the other side. They spoke through intercom and the entire 40-minute proceedings appeared to have been recorded on video.

Jadhav, who was captured in March last year, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying, an accusation that India has dismissed as concocted. New Delhi says Jadhav was kidnapped in Iran where he had legitimate business interests, and brought to Pakistan. To save Jadhav, India moved the International Court of Justice, which ordered Pakistan in May to stay his execution.
Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has got the political rumour mill churning after failing to turn up for the oath taking of Himachal Pradesh CM Jairam Thakur on Wednesday.

This came after Chouhan skipped the swearing in ceremony of Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani as well.

The mystery deepened after Chouhan rushed to New Delhi while he rushed to New Delhi for a meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday.

CM Shivraj called on the PM Narendra Modi in New Delhi and invited him to the conclusion function of Ekatm Yatra in MP. The CM also held detailed discussions about Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana aimed at farmers welfare, CMs official Twitter handle said.

However, political circles drew much more out of this meeting than just what the CM Chouhans twitter handle suggested.

Political circles were abuzz when Chouhan reached Ahmedabad on Tuesday but returned after greeting Rupani and Deputy CM Nitin Patel without attending the oath taking ceremony in which top leaders including PM Modi and CMs of 18 BJP-ruled states remained in attendance.

Speculation soon started making rounds that something happened during the course of the function which forced Chouhan to retreat prematurely. A source also claimed that CMs official tour plan marked his return at 12.50 pm by which time the oath taking would have been over.

Rumours of Chouhans alleged resentment was bolstered further as he did not attend Thakurs swearing in ceremony on Wednesday. The MP Chief Minister, however, went to New Delhi and called on Modi.

Speaking to the media, Chouhan claimed that he had discussions were on range of issues including bhavantar scheme, solar energy development, LPG consumption in MP, Ekatm Yatra, Narmada Seva Mission and other issues.

On Tuesday, at Guna, Chouhan had made it clear that pre-scheduled programmes made him come back from Gujarat and he had sought permission from party chief Amit Shah before leaving.

Senior Congress leader Kamal Nath also meddled in the affairs by tweeting, Shivraj ji, you went to Gujarat but did not take part in oath taking, why. It is still a mystery.
Sixteen Ukrainians held in the so-called 'Luhansk People's Republic' have returned to the territory controlled by Ukraine, the Hromadske TV channel reported.

"Three buses with 16 Ukrainians, who were in captivity of the self-proclaimed 'LPR', returned to the territory controlled by Ukraine," their website said.

In turn, Ukraine is handing over 99 people to the occupied Luhansk.
Chennai: Three days after the DMK lost its deposit in the RK Nagar bypoll, M Karunanidhi's son MK Alagiri blamed MK Stalin for the defeat.

Speaking to a regional channel, Alagiri said: "Whenever a party loses in an election, it says democracy has lost. DMK leaders blame that cash has influenced voters of RK Nagar. This is an insult for the DMK cadre who played an important role in building the party.

As long as MK Stalin is the working president of the DMK, the party will not win a single election," he added.

Alagiri also said that the party should have put in field work during the elections. He recalled how Karunanidhi used to work hard and interact with people and not stand on a van or on a stage and ask for votes.

While he refused to speak about longstanding rivalry between him and his brother Stalin, the current chief of the DMK, he referred to a tweet by his son Dhaya Alagiri which indirectly hints at it. Betrayal never wins, Dhaya had tweeted.

K Anbalagan, general secretary of the DMK, lashed out at Alagiri for his remarks. "Alagiri has no right and no place to comment on Stalin as he is not a part of the DMK. He was the one who was about to attack our 'Thalalpathy'. He is making these statements out of jealousy, he said.

Every vote we got from RK Nagar is genuine and we did not bribe anyone to get votes. It is also common to lose deposit during elections. If he (Alagiri) is going to talk politics with that, nobody can do politics," Anbalagan added.

RK Radhakrishnan, Associate Editor, Frontline said: " Alagiri should have waited till the conclusion of the December 29 review meeting before making his half-baked ideas public. If the issues were not raised, it makes sense to take it to a public forum.

Alagiri's comments at this juncture, when the DMK struggles to make sense of its debilitating defeat in RK Nagar, can only harm the party. I believe that it is his deep seated animosity with Stalin that made him burst out publicly in this manner, and it has nothing much to do with the manner in which Stalin is running the party," he added.

The two brothers have been at loggerheads since Karunanidhi named Stalin as his successor. Since then, Alagiri has never missed a chance to make clear his opposition to his brother.
New Delhi: The BJP and the Congress appeared to leave the bitter Gujarat election campaign behind on Wednesday with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley issuing a clarification on Prime Minister Narendra Modis remarks on predecessor Manmohan Singh.

Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, Jaitley said the perception that PM Modi had insinuated a collusion between Manmohan Singh and Pakistani officials was erroneous.

The PM in his speeches didn't question, nor meant to question the commitment to this nation of either former PM Manmohan Singh or former V-P Hamid Ansari. Any such perception is erroneous. We hold these leaders in high esteem, as well as their commitment to India, Jaitley said.

Jaitleys statement came after days of stalemate in the Winter Session of Parliament over the issue, with Congress leaders demanding an apology from the Modi government.

Replying to Jaitley, Leader of Opposition in the Upper House Ghulam Nabi Azad apparently distanced his party from the chaiwala jibe made by Mani Shankar Aiyar against PM Modi.

I thank the Leader of the House for clarification on what has been issue of contention. I, on behalf of my party, say that we disassociate from any comments made by any member during elections that may have hurt PM's dignity. Also, we don't want any such thing to be said in future, Azad said.

Modi, during campaigning in the Gujarat Assembly polls, had claimed that during a dinner at Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar's house, the guests, including Manmohan Singh, discussed the Gujarat polls with Pakistan's High Commissioner to India Sohail Mehmood and former Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri.

In a strongly-worded statement a day later, Manmohan Singh had rejected the charge as "innuendos and falsehoods", saying he did not discuss the Gujarat Assembly elections with anyone at the dinner.

Wednesdays rare truce, however, is unlikely to ensure smooth functioning of Parliament with Union Minister Ananthkumar Hegdes remark on Constitution and Secularism kicking up a new row.
New Delhi: A united Opposition on Wednesday disrupted proceedings in Parliament, protesting against controversial comments reportedly made by Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde on changing the Constitution.

In Rajya Sabha, Congress, SP and BSP members trooped into the Well of the House shouting slogans seeking removal of Hegde and forcing Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu to adjourn the proceedings till 1200 hours.

The trouble started during the laying of the official papers on the table of the House as opposition members shouted "shame, shame" when Hegde, who is Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, rose to lay the papers listed against his name.

Leader of the Opposition and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad sought a clarification from the Minister as he could leave the House soon after laying papers.

True to this, Hegde sat in the House for a while listening to opposition protests against his controversial statement that the BJP would change the Constitution by excluding Secularism from the preamble. Soon thereafter, he left the House.

Azad asked if a minister does not believe in the Constitution, does he has a right to remain as a minister. "Minister who has no faith in the Constitution has no right to be a minister. He has no right to be a Member of Parliament," he said.

Sukhendu Sekhar Roy (TMC) said secularism is inscribed in the preamble of the Constitution and asked if a minister is allowed to denounce the same preamble in public.

Naresh Agarwal (SP) said the Constitution is the Ramayana and Gita of democracy and any minister who abuses it and its founder Baba Saheb Ambedkar should be removed. At this, Naidu interjected to ask members not to bring Babasaheb Ambedkar into the controversy.

But the opposition members remained unrelenting and trooped into the well raising slogans.

Naidu asked members not to raise slogans and ordered that nothing they were saying would go on record.

He then allowed Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment and Republican Party of India founder Ramdas Athawale to speak.

Athawale praised the Prime Minister for honouring the memory of Ambedkar with a fitting memorial and said it was Congress which had insulted Ambedkar.

"Don't create a ruckus. You are going to be defeated in general elections in 2019 and 2024," Athawale told the opposition.

Subramanian Swamy (BJP) claimed Ambedkar did not include the word secularism in the Constitution.

Naidu tried to restore order but all his efforts went in vain. "How much should I tolerate. This is not acceptable. This is not done," he said as slogan shouting continued unabated.

As opposition members continued their noisy protest and demanded a discussion on the issue, Naidu said no discussion can take place without a proper notice.

(With PTI inputs)
Patna: Senior RJD leader Shivanand Tiwary on Wednesday accused Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of giving up his commitment to secularism in order to cosy up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with whom he had shared cold vibes in the past.

The charge was, however, strongly rebutted by the ruling Janata Dal (United) in the state which accused Tiwary of "siding with protectors" of those guilty in Bhagalpur riots which had claimed hundreds of lives in the 1980s.

"Nitish Kumar used to pause,while giving a speech, whenever he heard a muezzin's call for azaan. He used to do so even when he ran his government in alliance with the BJP in the past.I was in his party then and all party workers used to follow his example in public meetings", Tiwary said.

"But yesterday we saw a fundamental change in Kumar. He was delivering a speech after inaugurating a flyover in the state capital. He did not pause even upon hearing a muezzin's call for azaan from a mosque nearby", Tiwary, RJD vice president, alleged in a ststement.

"The only reason that explains this change is his necessity to ingratiate himself to Modi who has given enough signals that he has not forgotten the insults he had received from Nitish while he was the Gujarat Chief Minister", Tiwary, who was expelled from the JD(U) before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls for anti-party activities, said.

"Nitish had urged Modi, with folded hands, to grant central status to Patna University earlier this year. Modi snubbed him in full public view. It showed that Modi has not forgiven him for the cancelled dinner", Tiwari said to drive home the point.

He was referring to an incident of 2010 when Kumar had cancelled a dinner he was to host for BJP leaders who were in the Bihar capital for a party meeting.

Kumar had taken exception to an ad in newspapers showing him and Modi holding hands at a rally and making a mention of Rs five crore assistance by the Gujarat government for Kosi flood victims.

However, rubbishing Tiwary's charges, JD(U) spokesman and MLC Neeraj Kumar told PTI "it was Kumar who, as Chief Minister, brought to justice those accused in the Bhagalpur riots. The accused were shielded by the previous RJD government in the state and by joining them, Tiwary is siding with protectors of the perpetrators".

"Kumar's secular credentials have been impeccable. He took up issues like fencing of graveyards and establishing an extension campus of Aligarh Muslim University in Kishanganj

while in alliance with BJP", the JD(U) spokesman pointed out.

"In fact, Tiwary seems to be trying to win over Prasad through such baseless allegations. The RJD supremo is unlikely to repose complete trust in Tiwary who was one of the petitioners on whose PIL Patna High Court handed over fodder scam to the CBI", Neeraj Kumar added.
Bengaluru: Sometime in April 2016, the newly appointed president of Karnataka BJP BS Yeddyurappa took one of his close friends for dinner at a Lutyens Delhi five star Hotel. Yeddyurappa was visibly happy after getting the top post for the fourth term. He was behaving as if he were already the CM.

During the dinner, frugal eater Yeddyurappa asked his friend for the advice. He said: what do you think about recommending Hegdes name for the post of national general secretary of the BJP.

His friend nodded approvingly. He knew why Yeddyurappa was asking him that question. After his return at the helm, the stalwart of Karnataka BJP wanted to have his own trusted people in powerful party positions. He wanted to teach a lesson to his rival in the party and Union minister Ananth Kumar.

Both Ananth Kumar and Anantkumar Hegde are Brahmins and entered the Lok Sabha together in 1996. Ananth Kumar has won six consecutive terms from Bengaluru South and made it big in the national politics. Hegde, ten years junior to Ananth Kumar, has won five times from Uttara Kannada. But he was a nobody in Delhi politics till recently. Every time BJP came to power he lost the ministerial post to more articulate and urbane Ananth Kumar.

Ananth Kumar and Yeddyurappa have had a love hate relationship. It is a fact that both are protege of Yeddyurappa and the Lingayat strongman was initially depending on Ananth Kumar as he was his points person in New Delhi.

After Ananth Kumar came out of Yeddyurappas shadow they started drifting apart. Yeddyurappa even held him responsible for all his troubles during his chief ministership. He wanted to cut him to size by backing Hegde. Somehow, he could not get Hegde the coveted national general secretary post. But he made him vice president of the state BJP.

Yeddyurappa thought that it was a masterstroke and Ananth Kumars clout in state BJP will come down with the rise of Hegde. Situation was more or less the same till UP Assembly poll results and Yogi Adityanaths elevation to the post of chief minister.

Yogi, as UP CM, sent tremors across Karnataka BJP. Till then Yeddyurappa had taken the post of CM for granted if BJP was voted to power. People close to him started expressing apprehensions that Modi and Shah might consider Hegde for the post of CM. A few months later, shocking everybody in the state BJP, including Yeddyurappa, they made Hegde Union minister of state.

Post that rumour mills started churning stories non-stop that UP model will be repeated in Karnataka and Hegde will be the CM, if BJP manages to dislodge Siddaramaiah in April/May 2018 polls. Even though Yeddyurappa officially dismissed such claims as handiwork of the opposition to confuse the voters, in private he did not discount such possibilities.

Hegde, who finally realised the dream of making it to the Union Cabinet, suddenly became active in state politics. Until then absent for months in his own Lok Sabha seat, Hegde started touring the state spitting fire making BSY more and more uncomfortable.

On the day of Yeddyurappas three-month long Parivarthana Yathre launch in Bengaluru, Hegde got more applause than the former CM. Wherever he went with Yeddyurappa, Hegde got thunderous applause from the BJP supporters and some openly requested him to stake claim to the throne in Bengaluru. At some places BSY and Hegde did not even look at each other though they sat on the same dais.

All along Hegde has trashed reports about his CM ambitions and Yogi model in Karnataka calling it the work of jobless journalists. But his close confidantes claim that he is not discounting such a scenario. They argue that Yeddyurappa will be 75 next year and wont be eligible for the post of CM under Modi formula.

According to political analysts, choosing Hegde over his guru Yeddyurappa can be suicidal for the party in Karnataka. They argue that majority BJP is still with Yeddyurappa and denying him the CM post will damage the party permanently as he is the most credible and acceptable face. Moreover, the dominant Lingayat caste to which Yeddyurappa belongs wont take it kindly if the party imposes a Brahmin as the CM.

Even though the national media is focusing now on Hegde, he has always been like this. Hegde became a member of the Parliament at 27 and the post Babri demolition riots made him a darling of the Hindutva forces in Karnataka.

Young Hegde proved his mettle and earned his Lok Sabha ticket on his own in 1996. Ever since he has been making extreme statements against the perceived Muslim appeasement by the opposition parties. After his win in the 2014 LS polls, Hegde had said that terrorism would not be destroyed unless and until Islam was eradicated from the World. He had even defended his statement causing a huge uproar in the Parliament.

He has been openly advocating a pro-Israel and anti-Rohingya policies. Hegde may or may not make it to the top post in Karnataka this time. But he has finally arrived on the state scene. Sandwiched between Ananth and Anant, the man who single handedly built the BJP in Karnataka, Yeddyurappa certainly looks worried.
As the year 2017 comes to a close, a look back at the smartphone industrys journey within the year reveals a drastic trickling down of technology from high-end smartphones to more budget-friendly offerings. The most talked about amongst these, are the near bezel-less display and the dual-lens camera setup. First offered only on flagships, the competitive market took almost no time to adopt features like an 18:9 aspect ratio display and several others and make it available at affordable prices globally. Despite the cloning of these features, various flagships have managed to stand apart with their unique as well as revolutionary offerings.

Here are the top flagship smartphones launched in 2017 and how they have more or less revolutionised the smartphone game altogether.

1. Samsung Galaxy Note 8

Samsung had all eyes upon it at the time of the Galaxy Note 8 launch as the company battled to put an end to the scepticism faced by it after the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco. And the South Korean giant did amazingly well indeed. Samsungs flagship for 2017 had everything going to easily rank it as the best flagship smartphone of the year. A large, near the bezel-less display, top of the line specifications and a dual camera setup which was missing from its earlier flagship offerings, the Galaxy S8 and the S8 Plus. In addition, Samsung completely redesigned its S-Pen functionality with the Galaxy Note 8, now making it capable of creating live messages, animations, GIFs, translations, texts inside images, notes on the lock screen and what not. As a first, the Galaxy Note 8 also came with dual OIS on its dual-lens camera setup at the back.

2. Apple iPhone X

Apple celebrated the ten year anniversary of its iPhone line-up with a bang. Along with the regular series additions - iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, Apple introduced a special Tenth-Anniversary Edition iPhone as the iPhone X. There is no doubt that the Cupertino tech company went all out for this, introducing a bezel-less display for the first time along with an all-new A11 bionic chip for powering it and as a highlight  a Face ID technology to do away with fingerprint sensors and other security features. In addition, the iPhone X also boasted of wireless charging support, an all glass cover at both front and the back as well as augmented reality support.

To add a little bit of fun to the class, Apple also unveiled Animoji - animated emoticons wherein the smartphones TrueDepth camera captures and analyses over 50 different facial muscle movements, then animates those expressions in a dozen different Animojis, including that of a panda, unicorn and robot.

3. Samsung Galaxy S8/ S8 Plus

Samsung has been known to introduce revolutionary designs with its Galaxy flagships. In 2016, it was the Edge display with the Galaxy S7 Edge. This year, Samsung built upon that design and unveiled the much appealing, and on many levels, a never-seen-before design with the Galaxy S8 and the S8 Plus. The smartphones sported an edge-to-edge display, which Samsung termed as the Infinity display. An Infinity display at the front and a glass cover at the back certainly made the smartphones stand apart from anything available in the market at the time. And it is not only the looks, as always, the Samsung Galaxy flagships came with the highest firepower available back then, with a Snapdragon 835 processor, latest Android version and more. The only one feature that Samsung skipped out on in its flagships at the time was a dual camera setup. Rest assured, the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus still carry that charm with which they were first unveiled to the world.

4. OnePlus 5T

OnePlus is known for making Flagship killer devices and this holds true to much extent. Being a comparatively new company, the Chinese OEM has not been able to provide as many services to its users as the prevailing players, like the Samsung Pay or iCloud storage. But one thing that the company has completely managed to pull off, and rather marvellously so, is bringing the same technology in its devices as the other flagships and at almost half the price across the globe. A very recent example of this is the Face Unlock feature on the OnePlus 5T, introduced right after Apple iPhone Xs Face ID. Whats more applaud-able is that we found the one on the OnePlus 5T to be faster than the latter. So much so for the gigantic price difference between the two.

Agreed, the device seems to miss out on some things hidden to the eye, like the recently surfaced reports of OnePlus smartphones missing the certification to play HD videos on some video streaming platforms. But looking at the overall picture, there is no way that the smartphone experience on the OnePlus devices can be considered substandard, thanks to their top of the line specifications. And of course, we cant really miss mentioning the Dash Charging here.

5. Honor 8 Pro

Huaweis sub-brand has been known for making affordable flagships, just like OnePlus, and with commendable camera capabilities. Honor was also one of the very first companies to introduce a dual camera setup in its smartphone line-up. Honor 8 Pro comes with all the known Honor positives, backed by Honors own firepower, in the form of an octa-core Kirin processor, EMUI 5.0, a massive 4000 mAh battery and a dual camera setup at the back. Honor successfully managed to give a tough fight to any smartphone in its price range with the Honor 8 Pro at the time of its launch.

Which one is your favourite from this list? Or would you like to add a new name to this? Let us know in the comment section below.
Beijing: China will bring its paramilitary police force, the People's Armed Police, under the control of the Central Military Commission which controls the country's armed forces from Jan. 1, state media said on Wednesday.

Since taking power five years ago, President Xi Jinping has overseen a sweeping modernisation of the People's Liberation Army, the world's largest military, laying off troops, streamlining its organisation and investing in advanced weapons.

In a brief report, the official Xinhua news agency said that from midnight on Jan. 1 the People's Armed Police would no longer fall under the purview of the State Council, or cabinet, and instead report to the Central Military Commission.

Xi heads the Central Military Commission in his role as armed forces chief and commander in chief. Xi has steadily consolidated his power over the military, and has appointed allies to key positions of power in the armed forces.

Xinhua did not provide any details on how the new reporting structure would work or why the government had made the decision.

The People's Armed Police serves as a backup for the military in times of war, and domestically has a role in putting down protests and counter-terrorism as well as border defence and fire-fighting.

Xi has radically overhauled the old Soviet-era command structure of the military to make the armed forces nimbler and better able to respond to crises at home and abroad.

That has included condensing the command structure and giving greater emphasis on new capabilities including cyberspace, electronic and information warfare.

China's military has not fought a war in decades, but faces what the government calls a complex security environment, such as nuclear-armed North Korea and territorial disputes in the South China Sea and over self-ruled Taiwan, claimed by China as its own.
Dubai: Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday U.S. President Donald Trump would fail in his hardened stance towards Iran, saying Tehran was stronger than during the time of the "more powerful and smarter" Ronald Reagan.

"Reagan was more powerful and smarter than Trump, and he was a better actor in making threats, and he also moved against us and they shot down our plane," Khamenei said in a speech carried on state television.

In 1988, a U.S. warship shot down an Iranian passenger plane over the Gulf, killing all 290 aboard, in an incident which Washington said was a mistake. Tehran said it was a deliberate attack on Iran, then at war with neighbouring Iraq.

"But Reagan is gone and, according to out beliefs, he now faces God's retribution ... while Iran has made great advances in all areas since Reagan's time," Khamenei added.

"This trend will continue under the current American president and any hopes on their part that the Islamic Republic would back off or weaken is futile."

Trump refused in October to certify that Tehran is complying with its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and warned he might ultimately terminate the agreement.

He announced the shift in U.S. policy in a speech in which he detailed a more aggressive approach to Iran over its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes and its support for militant groups in the Middle East.

Under the nuclear deal, sanctions on Iran were lifted in return for Tehran rolling back technologies with nuclear bomb-making potential.
Tunis: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday called Syrian President Bashar al-Assad a terrorist and said it was impossible for Syrian peace efforts to continue with him.

Turkey has demanded the removal of Assad from power and backed rebels fighting to overthrow him, but it has toned down its demands since it started working with Assad's allies Russia and Iran for a political resolution.

"Assad is definitely a terrorist who has carried out state terrorism," Erdogan told a televised news conference with his Tunisian counterpart Beji Caid Essebsi in Tunis.

"It is impossible to continue with Assad. How can we embrace the future with a Syrian president who has killed close to a million of his citizens?" he said, in some of his harshest comments for weeks.

Though Turkey has long demanded Assad's removal, it is now more focused in Syria on the threat from Islamist militants and Kurdish fighters it considers allies of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), who it says have formed a "terror corridor" on its southern border.

Turkey says the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which Ankara views as an extension of the outlawed PKK which has fought an insurgency in southeast Turkey since the 1980s, cannot be invited to Syrian peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana.

The YPG is the main element in a force that Washington has assisted with training, weapons, air support and help from ground advisers in the battle against Islamic State. That U.S. support has angered Ankara, a NATO ally of Washington.

Despite its differences with Russia and Iran, Turkey has worked with the two powers in the search for a political solution in Syria.

Ankara, Moscow and Tehran also brokered a deal to set up and monitor a "de-escalation zone" to reduce fighting between insurgents and Syrian government forces in Syria's rebel-held northwestern Idlib province.

"We can't say (Assad) will handle this. It is impossible for Turkey to accept this. Northern Syria has been handed over as a terror corridor. There is no peace in Syria and this peace won't come with Assad," Erdogan said.
Washington: President Donald Trump is probably right: he doesn't get due credit for the volume of achievements he's stacked up during a tumultuous political year.

But to judge his presidency so far simply on bills passed, regulations slashed, executive orders signed and campaign promises kept would be to paint a skewed picture of the most divisive and controversial new administration in generations.

While Trump's supporters approve of his actions and crusade against the establishment status quo, a majority does not, and it is Trump's conduct and personality, more than his list of campaign promises kept, that is dictating how his first 11 months in office are perceived.

The President has shown little sign of examining why he may not be getting full political value for a record that, contrary to his claims, is not the most glittering of any first-year president.

Trump, before leaving for his Christmas and New Years break in Florida, took a sarcastic shot at media appraisals of his record.

"With all my Administration has done on Legislative Approvals (broke Harry Truman's Record), Regulation Cutting, Judicial Appointments, Building Military, VA, TAX CUTS & REFORM, Record Economy/Stock Market and so much more, I am sure great credit will be given by mainstream news?" he wrote on Twitter Friday.

He was still brooding on his unflattering reviews while on vacation at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

"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," Trump tweeted on Christmas Eve.

A Year OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS

For much of the year, it appeared that Trump would end 2017 with a barren record.

But now, he has secured the most sweeping tax overhaul bill in 30 years, one that slashes the corporate rate by 14% and will give most Americans, for now at least, a bump in their paycheck.

The stock market is roaring, up 5,000 points since he took office. Gross domestic product growth was 3.3% in the third quarter after struggling along at around 2% annually while Barack Obama was President. Trump and his Republican partners have installed a new, conservative Supreme Court justice and are confirming appellate judges at a record-breaking clip. The tax deal fulfilled another Republican priority, repealing the individual mandate, a plank of the Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as Obamacare. Trump is also in the defence of hiking defence spending.

"This has been a year of extraordinary accomplishment, by any objective standard," a satisfied Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Friday, reflecting on his party's performance.

Meanwhile, Trump has fulfilled or moved toward honouring campaign commitments on ending the Iran deal, withdrawing from the Paris climate accord, leaving or renegotiating multilateral free trade deals and reorienting US foreign policy with his "America First" philosophy. ISIS has been routed in Iraq and Syria. Trump's administration has secured the toughest-ever sanctions against North Korea, which were reinforced again last week.

The administration has taken an axe to regulations, loosening government oversight in the economy and eradicating Democratic rules in areas ranging from school lunches to the number of dolphins and sea turtles who can be killed in sword-fishing nets off the West Coast.

LIMITED APPEAL OUTSIDE TRUMP'S BASE

So, for a fully paid-up Trump supporter and or even a Republican who has made their peace with the President's anti-establishment crusade in the interests of a solid collection of the conservative movement goals, there is much to praise in Trump's first year.

But a critique of Trump's record would start with the nature of the achievements themselves, and offer a clue as to why he is not getting the plaudits he thinks he deserves. Most of Trump's wins are partisan, many appear to be designed solely to please his political base alone, and some, like Trump's targeting of the North American Free Trade Agreement, are radical and risky and could turn out badly.

Obama's supporters, meanwhile, complain that on the economy and the campaign against ISIS Trump is merely piggybacking on the former President's achievements and claiming them for himself. Trump's transparent habit of seeking to eradicate Obama's legacy whenever he can make it unlikely that any Democrats will ever join him to forge bipartisan achievements that could secure the President credit outside his own dedicated supporters.

Much of the Republican agenda is almost as unpopular as the President. The tax bill, for instance, while a Trump achievement, is disliked by a majority of Americans, partly because it was described by nonpartisan studies as a huge giveaway to the rich.

But at least the tax bill is now law and difficult to overturn. Many of Trump's attempts to reshape the economy and American life using executive power could be swept away if he is succeeded by a Democrat in 2021 or 2025, so they cannot be considered as irreversible long-term achievements.

Trump's foreign policy is just as controversial as his record at home.

Many Americans who do not subscribe to Trump's transactional foreign policy and nationalist-populist worldview are horrified by a diplomatic strategy that they believe goes against everything the US should stand for.

His decision not to make human rights and democratic values an organizing principle of his foreign policy alienates traditionalists and his withdrawal from trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership and hostility to multilateralism are seen by critics as thinning US power and influence abroad.

Trump's immigration policies, including a much reworked ban on travellers from Muslim-majority nations, and his frequent hostile rhetoric toward Islam, sometimes come across to a broad political audience as being in conflict with foundational national values.

A COMBATANT-IN-CHIEF

But even the nature of Trump's achievements and the controversy they stir cannot fully explain why he is not getting more recognition, and why his approval rating in a CNN poll last week had sunk to 35%.

For that, you have to look at Trump's personality, temperament and behaviour -- including his Twitter blasts.

For 11 months, Americans have watched the President tug at the societal, cultural and racial divisions as a method of governing. In episodes like the marching of white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, or his retweets of anti-Muslim videos of a British far-right group, the President has sought discord rather than attempted to heal aggravated feelings.

Such a strategy is more likely to alienate anyone who is yet to make up their mind on Trump and his record than win him new supporters. And even in this polarized political age, the President's failure to reach out beyond his own core power base of political support is remarkable.

The funnel cloud of anger, score-settling, political chaos and divisive rhetoric that swirls around Trump at all times also has the effect of drowning out debate about the nature of his policies and any good press that he does get.

The melodrama in the West Wing, with its firings, leaks and tensions, meanwhile, has created a picture of White House that has often struggled to implement its agenda or get out of its own way.

The constant war with the media is often an effective tactic for Trump, as he seeks to ensure no fraying of his powerful political coalition. But it fosters an atmosphere in Washington where controversy overshadows analysis of the President's evolving legacy and Trump's frequent assaults on objective truth also undermine not just his standing but the prestige of the presidency itself.

The feeling of hyperpartisanship and anger is also fueled by the Russia investigation and attacks by Trump on judicial and law enforcement institutions, including special counsel Robert Mueller and the FBI that continued over the holiday weekend. It is not surprising, then, that Trump's approval ratings are in the tank given that, as a first-year president, he has already seen four associates charged or plead guilty.

All of this helps explain why Trump has the worst approval rating in December of any elected President's first year in the White House by a wide margin -- only the second time since the dawn of modern polling that a President's approval rating sank under 50% at this point. His record of achievement is simply swamped by the deeply set views many Americans harbour about him.

In the CNN poll, 59% said they disapprove of how Trump is handling his job as president. While 85% of Republicans say they are satisfied with the President's performance, 56% of those polled said they believed that his actions had changed the country for the worse.

So, right now, what Trump is doing, and how he is doing it, displeases a majority of voters. It's no wonder he is not getting the credit he says he deserves.
Kyiv, self-proclaimed Donbas republics may hand over more than 100 people to each other in second stage of exchange

The conflict parties in Donbas could again conduct a large-scale prisoner exchange, Viktor Medvedchuk, leader of the movement Ukrainian Choice - People's Right, said on NTV television.

"Some people, presently this is 74 people held by the Ukrainian side and 29 located on the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk, who have been determined and are wanted by Ukraine, will be taken to the second stage," Medvedchuk said on Wednesday.

The second stage will follow the exchange using the "306 for 74" scheduled for Wednesday.

"The procedure [the first stage of the exchange] will take several hours, from two to four. Because there are very many people, more than 300 people. Their personal data need to be determined, documents need to be verified," Medvedchuk said.
Grit your teeth. Persevere. Just a few more days and this awful, rotten, no-good, ridiculous, rancorous, sordid, disgraceful year in the civic life of our nation will be over. Heres hoping that we all  particularly special counsel Robert Mueller  have a better 2018.

Many of us began 2017 with the consoling thought that the Donald Trump presidency couldnt possibly be as bad as we feared. It turned out to be worse.

Did you ever think you would hear a president use the words very fine people to describe participants in a torchlit rally organized by white supremacists, neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan? Did you ever think you would hear a U.S. ambassador to the United Nations thuggishly threaten that she would be taking names of countries that did not vote on a General Assembly resolution the way she wanted? Did you ever think the government of the worlds biggest military and economic power would reject not just science but empiricism itself, preferring to use made-up alternative facts as the basis for major decisions?

We knew that Trump was narcissistic and shallow, but on Inauguration Day it was possible to at least hope he was self-aware enough to understand the weight that now rested on his shoulders, and perhaps grow into the job. He did not. If anything, he has gotten worse.

By all accounts, the president spends hours each day watching cable news, buoyed by the shows that blindly support him  Fox & Friends, Hannity, a few others on Fox News  and enraged by those that seek to hold him accountable. His aides have had to shorten and dumb-down his daily briefings on national security in an attempt to get him to pay attention. Members of his Cabinet try to outdo one another in lavishing him with flowery, obsequious praise that would embarrass the Sun King.

Trump and his enablers have waged a relentless war against truth in an attempt to delegitimize any and all critical voices. He wields the epithet fake news as a cudgel against inconvenient facts and those who report them. Can a democracy function without a commonly accepted chronicle of events and a commonly acknowledged encyclopedia of knowledge? We are conducting a dangerous experiment to find out.

To understand how deviant the Trump administration is, consider this: Since its founding, the nation has treasured civilian control of the military as a restraint on adventurism. Now we must rely on three generals  Trumps chief of staff, his national security adviser and his secretary of defense  to keep this rash and erratic president from careening off the rails.

The presidents Republican allies in Congress, who have the power to restrain an out-of-control executive, have rolled over in passive submission. Many see clearly Trumps unfitness but continue to support him because they fear the wrath of his hard-core base and see the chance to enact a conservative agenda. History will remember this craven opportunism and judge it harshly.

I havent even mentioned Trumps nepotism  installing his daughter and son-in-law as high-ranking advisers, with portfolios they are in no way qualified to handle  or his inability to staff the executive branch with the best-and-brightest types who customarily serve. The Trump administration is not only transgressive, it is also mediocre.

The year has been terribly depressing  but not paralyzing. Lets end on a more positive note.

The day after Trumps inauguration, a much larger crowd descended on Washington for the Womens March, an immense show of resistance. That passion might eventually have faded away, but all evidence suggests it has not. If anything, it seems to have intensified.

In November, Democrat Ralph Northam won the governors race in Virginia, a purple state, by a surprisingly big nine-point margin. His coattails were long enough to elect so many Democrats to the state House of Delegates that control of the chamber is still undecided pending recounts. And then on Dec. 12, Democrat Doug Jones defeated Republican Roy Moore in a special election for a U.S. Senate seat  in Alabama, of all places, one of the most Republican states in the nation.

These races were not about Ds versus Rs. They were about sanity versus insanity, reason versus chaos. They were about Trump, and he lost.

So Godspeed to the Mueller investigation, but let him worry about that. The rest of us  Democrats, independents, patriotic Republicans  should work toward the November election. Our duty is to elect a Congress that will bring this runaway train under control.

Robinson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Washington Post. Email him at eugenerobinson@washpost.com.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has congratulated the first Ukrainian citizens released from captivity of militants, the press secretary of the head of state, Svyatoslav Tsegolko, has said.

"The president has just congratulated by phone the first of our guys released from enemy captivity. Each step of today's swap is overseen by the president," Tsegolko wrote on his Facebook page on Wednesday.

Later he clarified that Poroshenko had talked to Vladyslav Ovcharenko, one of the first 16 Ukrainian hostages released, who had been previously held in certain areas of Luhansk region.

"Vladyslav Ovcharenko spoke with him. He, together with the other 15 civilians and military, returned from Russian-occupied Luhansk," Tsegolko wrote.

According to Russian media, the so-called "LPR" stated that Luhansk had transferred to Kyiv 16 persons in exchange for 74 hostages (it was originally planned to transfer 99 people to "LPR").
Idaho Cops:

Actually, There

Could Be a Threat

to the Community
Barack Obama and Prince Harry are chummy, and that could prove problematic. The UK's Sun tabloid claims the prince "has made it clear" the Obamas will be on the invite list for his and Meghan Markle's May 19 wedding, and that's allegedly causing some hand-wringing among government officials. The issue, per a government source: "Trump could react very badly if the Obamas get to a royal wedding before he has had a chance to meet the queen."

It suggests government conversations about whether to invite them are underway, and notes that "if the PM [Theresa May] lays down the law, Harry will just have to suck it up," which Politico reads as suggesting that May will have the final word. President Trump has been invited to the UK on a state visit, but it has yet to be put on the calendar, and the situation is a bit fraught. (Read more Prince Harry stories.)
The US Treasury Department has issued sanctions against two officials it describes as "key leaders of North Korea's unlawful weapons programs." The sanctions against Kim Jong Sik and Ri Pyong Chol block them from any property or interests in property within US jurisdiction and prohibit them from transactions with American citizens, the AP reports. Treasury says the men are senior officials in North Korea's Munitions Industry Department. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says the sanctions are part of the United States' "maximum pressure campaign" to isolate North Korea and "achieve a fully denuclearized Korean Peninsula."

The two men are among Kim Jong Un's most trusted aides and are often photographed with the leader at missile launches, the BBC reports. The United Nations Security Council unanimously approved tough new sanctions against North Korea on Friday in response to its latest launch of a ballistic missile, which Pyongyang says is capable of reaching the US mainland. North Korea called the sanctions an "act of war" and warned that Security Council members would pay a heavy price. (According to a South Korean TV channel, a North Korean soldier who defected to the South is immune to anthrax.)
When Washington Post publisher Philip Graham killed himself in 1963, wife Katharine took the reins and began a tenure at the paper that would become legendary. Some 54 years after that death via gunshot, a tragic repeat for the Graham family: The Telegraph reports one of the couple's four children, William Graham, took his life in the same manner on Dec. 20 in Los Angeles. He was 69. The Post first reported the news Saturday, and recounted Graham's path from lawyer at a "prominent" DC firm in the '70s before a move to LA, where he taught trial law at alma mater UCLA. He ran the investment firm Graham Partners for two decades, and post-2001 had mainly focused on philanthropy, in particular supporting causes tied to education, veterans, and medical research.

Donald Graham tells CNN his brother had battled a "painful and debilitating" heart condition for years. The Los Angeles Times reports father Philip Graham struggled with manic depression; his death preceded Katharine Graham's by nearly five decades. She died in 2001, and a film about her decision to publish the Vietnam-focused Pentagon Papers was released two days after her son's death. Graham is played by Meryl Streep in the film. Read reviews of the film here. William Graham is survived by his wife, two children from a previous marriage, and his three siblings. (Read more Katharine Graham stories.)
With an 8-year-old boy under the ice of a frozen pond and time running out, "I just made the decision I was going to go get him," says Sgt. Aaron Thompson. The officer in Washington County, Utah, was one of the first officers on the scene after the boy fell through the ice around 5pm Christmas Day while chasing his dog. Thompson, a former member of the sheriff's dive rescue team, removed his police gear, stomped a hole in the ice, and went in. "I knew how cold that ice would be," he told reporters Tuesday, per KSL. "I've dove under the water before." Thompson punched a path through the ice as he searched for the boy, calling out his name as he grew increasingly desperate. He went on tiptoe through reeds as he reached an area where it was too deep to walk.

"I knew time was of the essence," he says. "I had a very short window to get that child out of the water." He finally found the boy under unbroken ice and brought him to shore. The boy was hospitalized and his condition has not been disclosed. He had been in the water for around 30 minutes, though Thompson says it was so cold that they are "really hopeful" he will recover, NBC reports. Thompson was treated for hypothermia and received stitches for cuts he received breaking through the ice, but he was back at work Tuesday. He says he shouldn't be singled out for praise because dispatchers, paramedics, and doctors also played important roles. "If there was a hero that night it's us, its not me," he says. "I'm just the one that went in the water." Authorities say the boy's dog also survived. (Read more rescue stories.)
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has dismissed Nadia Kaznacheyeva as deputy infrastructure minister.

"Kaznacheyeva has been dismissed," Deputy Minister for Economic Development and Trade and Ukraine's Trade Representative Natalia Mykolska said after a government meeting on Wednesday.

Kaznacheyeva has held the post since May 2016. Prior to her appointment as deputy infrastructure minister, she worked for ten years as deputy director, co-director and director of the Altius Investment Company. Before that, she served as an analyst at Alfa-Bank and Castle Finance.

As reported, on November 10, Kaznacheyeva decided to leave this post.
Blood tests on at least one of the North Korean soldiers that defected to the South this year have detected something extremely concerning, according to a South Korean TV channel. Channel A, citing an unnamed South Korean military source, says anthrax antibodies were detected in the soldier, suggesting Pyongyang could be ramping up its biological weapon capabilities, UPI reports. According to Channel A, South Korean authorities have confirmed that the soldier is immune to the deadly bacterium, though it's not clear whether his immunity comes from vaccination or exposure.

Anthrax can kill within 24 hours if people are not vaccinated, the International Business Times notes, and the South Korean military says its anthrax vaccine will not be ready until the end of 2019. The news adds to concerns about possible biological attacks: The White House released a report last week that said Pyongyang had spent "hundreds of millions of dollars on nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons that could threaten our homeland," and Japan's Asahi newspaper recently reported that North Korea has been trying to find ways for anthrax to survive the high temperatures that intercontinental ballistic missiles experience. (Read more anthrax stories.)
If you're a New Yorker who is soothed by the sight of fallout shelter signs on the city's buildings in the face of an increasingly bombastic North Korea, bad news. The Cold War relicsat one time denoting the city's 18,000 fallout shelters, which were intended to provide a safe space for up to 11 million peopleindicate shelters that in large part no longer exist, reported CNBC in October. The government funds that supported the effort stopped flowing in the 1970s, and the basement spaces have found second lives as laundry rooms or storage areas. And as Reuters reports, the city is now quietly doing something about the lingering signage. It reports thousands of them remain affixed to the city's buildings, and the city's Department of Education has been ridding its schools of the signs, with the intention of being free of them by Jan. 1.

Reuters cites city officials who say this is the first "coordinated effort" to take the signs down, and disaster preparedness expert Jeff Schlegelmilch applauds the effort. "At best, they are ignored, at worst, they're misleading and are going to cost people's lives." He told CNBC that recommendations have changed, and that sheltering in place in the event of a nuclear attack is much wiser than fleeing to a hypothetical nuclear shelter elsewhere. Reuters notes it's unclear whose jurisdiction other signslike those on apartment buildingsfalls under. Robert Blakeley, the US Army Corps of Engineers official who designed the signs in 1961, has said of them, "They would have to be usable in downtown New York City, Manhattan, when all the lights are out and people are on the street and don't know where to go." He died on Oct. 25 at age 95, per the Times of London. (Read more nuclear fallout shelter stories.)
The Wall Street Journal illustrates the continuing problem of soaring drug prices by zeroing in on a cancer drug called lomustine. Used to treat brain tumors and Hodgkin lymphoma, the drug sold for about $50 a pill under the brand name CeeNU as recently as 2013. Then owner Bristol-Myers Squibb sold the drug to manufacturer CordenPharma. After no fewer than nine price hikes via seller NextSource Biotechnology, the drug now sells for $786 a pill under the name Gleostine. One example of the fallout: A patient at Duke University School of Medicine with a brain tumor discovered that his out-of-pocket expenses would be more than $2,800 a month and opted to go without. In this case, a big problem for him and other patients is that no generic alternative exists.

"This is simply price gouging, period," says a neuro-oncologist at Duke. "People are not going to be able to afford it, or they're going to pay a lot of money and have financial liability." The chief executive of NextSource says the price is in line with production costs, fees, and the benefits delivered, adding that patients in need receive discounts. Lomustine has been around since 1976, and the patent has since expired, but it is one of more than 300 such drugs for which no generic version exists, notes the Journal. The story explores the reasons for that, which can be especially pronounced for drugs that aren't widely prescribedlomustine fits that definition, with just 1,694 prescriptions in 2015 paid for by Medicare Part D prescription-benefit plans. Read the full story. (Read more cancer drugs stories.)
While many people this week are queued up at retailers to return holiday gifts, "unprecedented" lines are forming at municipal offices around the country as homeowners hurry to prepay 2018 property taxes before the new GOP tax bill goes into effect on Jan. 1, reports the Wall Street Journal. That's because the deduction on state and local taxes, including property taxes, will be capped at $10,000 starting next year. In US states with a higher cost of living, that could mean a larger tax billand so homeowners are hurrying to prepay 2018's taxes before the new year so they can reap the full deduction and not get socked with a bigger tab in 2019. "You can partially prepay or fully prepay and  postpone the pain for one year," says a statement from Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who signed an executive order allowing residents in New York to prepay, per ABC News.

NorthJersey.com notes many municipal offices are therefore extending their hours during a week that's usually one of the slowest of the year, spurring long lines and phones "ringing off the hook," per a tax collector in Montclair, NJ. According to Congress' tax committee, the current uncapped deduction resulted in a $33 billion revenue loss for the feds in 2016, so lawmakers worked the $10,000 cap into the tax bill to recoup some of that revenue. One issue that has experts warning residents to consult with an accountant before breaking out the checkbook is that it's not yet clear whether the IRS will let these prepayments fly for deduction purposes. Another problem with the plan: Not everyone can afford to fork over that kind of money a year in advance. "Not everyone will be so lucky," the head of the New Jersey Society of CPAs says in a release. "It will depend on one's own financial situation." (Read more taxes stories.)
Although pot saw a watershed year in 2016, with a handful of marijuana legalization initiatives that got the green light from voters, 2017 was pretty dry, with no official movement on that front anywhere in the nation. Per Forbes, 2018 is set to see a cannabis comeback, with at least seven states looking at legalization or other major marijuana reforms. The difference between some of these contenders and previous states to end pot prohibition is that a few of 2018's potential laws would be spurred by legislators, not by voters. Here, the seven states to keep an eye on (including Michigan, which would be the first state in the Midwest to give a thumbs-up to legalization), and what they're considering:

Michigan (legalization) Missouri (medical use) New Jersey (legalization) Oklahoma (medical use) Utah (medical use) Vermont (legalization) Virginia (decriminalization)

Check out Forbes to see what other states are mulling legalization (Read more marijuana stories.)
She is arguably the most famous shark in America, but Mary Lee has gone silent. After being tagged with a transmitter by research organization Ocearch back in 2012 off the coast of Cape Cod, Mary Lee gained a legion of loyal followers tracking her ocean journeys. (She has nearly 130,000 Twitter followers.) However, no ping has been registered since June, reports the Post and Courier of Charleston, SC. The good news is that this doesn't necessarily mean the end of Mary Lee: Chris Fischer of Ocearch tells Jacksonville.com that it's more likely the batteries in her transmitter, designed to last about five years, have finally given out. Fischer hopes to see Mary Lee again, but is OK if that never happens.

I feel like shes done so much, its hard to ask for anything else, he says. For any individual shark, shes undone more of the damage from Jaws than any shark in history, and shes the most famous shark in history. Mary Lee was 40 or 50 years old when first tagged, so Fischer figures she has another 20 years of life. Meanwhile, boaters and fishermen are being asked to keep an eye out, particularly off the coast of South Carolina. The 16-foot shark just happens to have a distinctive bite mark in her dorsal fin, raising hopes that if she is still swimming around out there, somebody will spot her. (Read more sharks stories.)
Hillary Clinton may have failed to win the 2016 election, but she's won the title of woman Americans most admirefor the 22nd time, per a Gallup poll released Wednesday. It was her 16th consecutive year, and Gallup sounds skeptical that the streak will continue, as "her popularity [is] at a nadir and the percentage naming her as most-admired the lowest in 15 years" at 9%. The next winningest woman is Eleanor Roosevelt, at 13 times. On the men's side, the 2016 election winner wasn't the, well, winner. The top honor went again to Barack Obama, with President Trump in second place. Of the 71 times Gallup has posed the most admired man question, the incumbent has won 58. Among those who didn't at one or more points in their presidency: Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and George W. Bush. The top 10 for women and men:

Most Admired Woman :

Hillary Clinton, 9% Michelle Obama, 7% Oprah Winfrey, 4% Elizabeth Warren, 3% Angela Merkel, 2% Queen Elizabeth II, 2% Condoleezza Rice, 1% Melania Trump, 1% Nikki Haley, 1% Kate Middleton, 1% Beyonce, 1%

Most Admired Man :

Barack Obama, 17% Donald Trump, 14% Pope Francis, 3% Rev. Billy Graham, 2% John McCain, 2% Elon Musk, 2% Bernie Sanders, 1% Bill Gates, 1% Benjamin Netanyahu, 1% Jeff Bezos, 1% The Dalai Lama, 1% Mike Pence, 1%

(Read more Gallup poll stories.)
Authorities in Leonia, New Jersey, are so tired of out-of-town drivers clogging their streets during rush hour that they're taking what even the police chief acknowledges is "extreme" action: They're outlawing out-of-town drivers at crunch time. Soon, anyone not from Leonia caught driving there between 6 and 10am and 4 and 9pm will face a $200 fine, reports the Star-Ledger. Cops would be able to quickly figure that out because residents are being issued yellow tags to hang on their rear-view mirrors. "It's an extreme initiative, I'll be the first to admit that," says Police Chief Thomas Rowe. "However the traffic that we deal with is completely extreme." The problem is that Jersey drivers cut through the small borough to get to the George Washington Bridge.

And as the New York Times notes, the chief sees traffic apps as the "game changer" in the congestion mess. In the morning, if I sign onto my Waze account, I find there are 250,000 Wazers in the area," Rowe says. "When the primary roads become congested, it directs vehicles into Leonia and pushes them onto secondary and tertiary roads." On some days, residents can't even get out of their own driveways, he says. Town officials insist the move is legal, but a representative from the National Motorists Association says otherwise and predicts the driving ban might be upended in the courts. Leonia is located about a mile from the bridge and has just 9,200 residents and 18 police officers. (Read more traffic stories.)
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Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman has invited the new Prime Minister of Poland Mateusz Moravetsky to visit Ukraine.

On Wednesday he held a telephone conversation with his Polish counterpart, during which the parties confirmed the mutual mood for dialogue and strategic partnership, Groysman said on Facebook.

According to the Ukrainian prime minister, such a partnership raises a range of issues from the economy and the energy future to the formation of the agenda for Poland's work as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in the next two years.

"I invited my colleague to visit Kyiv at a convenient time," the Ukrainian prime minister wrote.
Sixty-eight Ukrainian hostages have already been released as of 16.10 on Wednesday as part of the prisoner swap between Ukraine and the "LPR/DPR," Ukrainian presidential adviser Yuriy Biriukov has said.

"We're already here. We're waiting. Sixty-eight people were released as of 16.10. We're waiting. We're nervous," he wrote on his Facebook page on Wednesday.

The president's press secretary, Svyatoslav Tsegolko, in turn, said that the head of state had already arrived in Donbas for a meeting with the Ukrainians released from captivity of militants.

"Petro Poroshenko is already in Donbas, where he meets our guys from captivity," Tsegolko wrote on his Facebook page on Wednesday.
New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday could not resist the aroma of his favourite mall road coffee and made an unscheduled halt to sip the beverage at his ShmilaasA inconic coffee house.

Modi, who was in the town to attend Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakuras oath taking ceremony made a surprise stop outside a coffee house.

Modi stopped his car and went straight to the crowd assembled outside the coffee house to take a glimpse of the Prime Minister.

The coffee house where Modi stopped was one of his favourite hangout places during his eight years tenure as BJP affairs incharge of Himachal Pradesh.

"In Shimla, relished coffee at the Indian Coffee House and reminisced old days. The coffee tastes as good as it did two decades ago, when I would frequent Himachal for party work,"A PM Modi tweeted.A

In Shimla, relished coffee at the Indian Coffee House and reminisced old days. The coffee tastes as good as it did two decades ago, when I would frequent Himachal for party work. pic.twitter.com/XOYzlpLc43 a Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 27, 2017

PM Modi, at his April 27 rally in Shimla during the recent assembly elections, had also made a special reference to the coffee house.

He even named few journalists who would join him at the coffee house.

Governor Acharya Devvrat had hosted a lunch for the prime minister and other dignitaries. However, Modi did not stay back for lunch and left after having his favourite coffee.

Having tea or coffee at roadside stalls has lately become a leading trend for politicians and PM Modi, Rahul Gandhi have been doing this for some time now.

Recently, during his election campaign in Gujarat, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi was also seen having tea and bred pakoras at a roadside tea stall in Surat.

(With PTI updates)

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New Delhi:

Union Minister Ananth Kumar Hegde, who triggered a massive controversy by saying his party will soon change India's Constitution, has come out with a clarification and said the "Prime Minister Modi and his govt is committed to the Constitution of India."

I just want to say that Modi ji and our Govt are committed to the constitution of India and ideals of Baba Saheb Ambedkar, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Hegde said in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

Hegde changed his tune after the BJP government disowned his views and the Opposition parties in Parliament demanded the minister should apologise for his remarks or be sacked.

Speaking at a function in Karnataka, Hegde had said that those who, without knowing about their parental blood, call themselves secular, they dont have their own identity...They dont know about their parentage, but they are intellectuals.

Some people say the Constitution says secular and you must accept it. We will respect the Constitution, but the Constitution has changed several times and it will change in the future too. We are here to change the Constitution and well change it, he added.

Also Read | We are here to change the Constitution, says Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde

BJP government disowns Hegde

Hegdes change Indias constitution remarks sparked a massive row and forced his govt into the damage control mode.

Union minister Vijay Goel told Rajya Sabha that the Government does not subscribe to views expressed by Hegde.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaking outside the Parliament also disowned her fellow ministers remarks and said, The government has already said it is not on the same page with Hedge. Only five days are left now in the session. I hope Opposition will come on board now.

Opposition demands PM Modi to sack Hegde

However, the issue was more than enough for Opposition parties to gherao Modi government inside the Parliament. Congress party said such a person should have no place in the council of ministers.

Also Read | Siddaramaiah responds to Hegdes letter on Tipu Jayanti celebrations, says he fought wars against Britishers

Hegde should either apologise or Prime Minister Narendra Modi should take a call on whether such a person should continue as minister, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters outside Parliament.

He said opposition parties had raised the matter before Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu.

Opposition parties are of the opinion that any minister who does not believe in the Constitution should have no place in the council of ministers. It is for the prime minister to take a call on him, Azad said.

Either Hegde should apologise in both Houses and to the nation or the prime minister should take a decision on whether such people should continue, he added.

Both Houses were disrupted by opposition members over Hegdes remarks.

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New Delhi:

An aspiring teenage model was allegedly gang-raped by three persons at a flat in Delhis posh colony Sarojni Nagar on Christmas night.

The incident came to light after the victim lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police on Wednesday evening.

A senior officer of Delhi Police said, We have arrested the two. Raids are being conducted to nab the third accused

Police have identified two of the accused as Satish and Jaggi. The duo are businessman. One of the accused is into realty business and another is into sale and purchase of dairy products.

According to the complaint lodged by the victim, she was invited to Sarojni Nagar to celebrate Christmas.

Also read: Teenager raped in Delhi on pretext of job



The victim told the police that she was drugged by the two. They gang-raped me while I was unconscious, the survivor told the police.

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New Delhi:

A triple talaq legislation, Haj-related reforms and attacks were some of the issues related to minorities that dominated headlines this year with the government stressing that empowering the community educationally will be high on its agenda in 2018.

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who scaled up in rank as Cabinet minister for minority affairs after Prime Minister Narendra Modi re-jigged his council this year, said the BJP-led NDA government strived for welfare of minorities sans appeasement till now.

While attacks on members of minority communities, including the 17-year-old Junaid killing case, gave fresh ammo to the Opposition to attack the Centre, Naqvi maintained that the government did not allow destructive agenda to dominate agenda of development.

BJP MP from Madhya Pradesh Virendra Kumar joined as Naqvis deputy following the Cabinet reshuffle.

The government increased the ministrys budget to Rs 4195.48 crore for 2017-18 from Rs 3827.25 crore in 2016-17, an increase of about 9.6 per cent over the last fiscal.

There was only appeasement of minorities in the name of development during the last six decades. There was zero empowerment. We have tried to change that during the NDAs governance, Naqvi told PTI.

About his ministrys priority in the year to come, he said, Educational empowerment, especially education for girls, is our focus and our effort is to increase literacy rate of the communities on par with other communities.

A panel formed by the Maulana Azad Education Foundation (MAEF), a non-profit and non-political social services organisation funded by the ministry, this year expressed concerns over educational backwardness of Muslims.

It suggested a three-tier model of institutions?central schools, community colleges and national institutes to for their empowerment.

According to the 2011 Census data, literacy rate among Muslims was 68.53 per cent against the national average of 72.98 per cent.

Saudi Arabia increased Indias Haj quota from 1.36 lakh to 1.70 lakh, which the central government termed as biggest expansion of the quota since 1988.

In a major reform, the government also for the first time decided to allow women aged above 45 to travel without a male colleague in a group of at least four to Saudi Arabia for the pilgrimage.

In addition, the Haj Committee of India also launched Haj App for aspirants to apply for the pilgrimage.

The ministry also carried out an outreach programme progress panchayat in minority-dominated areas, seeking to inform them about the welfare initiatives of the government. The last such programme was held in Rajasthans Alwar on December 17.

Naqvi inaugurated various development projects including schools, hostels, primary health centres then.

So far, two dozen such panchayats have been held, the minister added.

In a bid to offer commercial exposure to artisans and craftsmen from the communities, the ministry organised Hunar Haat (Skill Haat) in the national capital. It plans to organise similar Haats in Mumbai, Kolkata, Bhopal and other cities in the time to come.

In line with the governments push, the ministry went digital in 2017.

In August, the Supreme Court by a majority of 3:2 ruled that the practice of divorce through triple talaq among Muslims is void, illegal and unconstitutional.

The government then brought out the draft Muslim Women Protection of Rights on Marriage Bill according to which giving instant triple talaq will be illegal and void and will attract a jail term of three years for the husband.

The bill seeking to criminalise the practice of instant triple talaq is set to be introduced in the Lok Sabha tomorrow.

The matter is being pursued by the Law Ministry and not by the Minority Affairs Ministry.

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New Delhi:

The Congress on Thursday condemned Pakistan for harassing Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother and wife, and said it was an "insult" to all Indians.

The Opposition party said the matter was "important" enough to put an end to the impasse in the Rajya Sabha.

"We, as Indians, protest this strongly and condemn strongly this act of Pakistani government and we would like to discuss, show our displeasure tomorrow on the floor of the House. This was the single most important case, we did not want to continue the impasse," Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters outside Parliament.

The Rajya Sabha has not functioned normally since the start of the winter session on December 15, due to disruptions by the opposition over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks against his predecessor Manmohan Singh.

He condemned Pakistan's action of forcing Jadhav's mother and wife change their clothes and remove "bindi" and "mangal sutra", besides shoes.

"This is not just an insult to the mother and wife of Kulbhushan Jadhav but also an insult of India. This is an insult to 1.3 billion Indian people irrespective of religion and caste," he said.

Azad said the way Jadhav's wife and mother were harassed and treated by the Pakistani government, it is something which "simply we should not tolerate as Indians".

"We may be in the opposition but we are Indian first Kulbhushan Jadhav is our fellow citizen. We will cooperate with the government... we would expect that he should get justice," Azad said.

The Congress leader said Pakistan had to succumb to international pressure to allow Jadhav's family members to meet him, but "we did not expect that his family members mother and wife will be separated by glass wall".

"We could never think of that they will not allow to meet, hug and talk to each other face to face. They were allowed to talk through intercom. What is difference between intercom and telephone His family members were watching him over television for the last so many years," he said.

The Congress today ended the week-long impasse over Modi's "conspiracy with Pakistan" remarks against Singh made during the Gujarat poll campaign.

Asked whether this was a climbdown or succumbing to any pressure, he said, "There is no question of succumbing under pressure and we shall never compromise with our commitment. Our commitment is most important for us, commitment to the country, the people are very important to us."

Also read: Jadhav-family meet: Pak restrictions 'inhuman', says VP Naidu



Azad said, "We did not want to continue this logjam for longer period. We have come to the conclusion that the government was feeling happier with this impasse in Parliament."

"We decided that we should not confine ourselves to one issue and hammer in time and again for days and weeks together. That means to let up the government from these issues which come up every day. I think we could smell that the government and the ministers particularly those facing the question hour were very happy," he said.

Also read: Govt to make statement on Kulbhushan Jadhav in both Houses of Parliament tomorrow: Sushma Swaraj



He said talks were on with the government to end the stalemate and that a committee had been formed by the Rajya Sabha chairman and both the sides concluded that other issues needed to be taken up in the Upper House.

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New Delhi:

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday termed as inhuman the restrictions imposed by Pakistan during Kulbhushan Jadhavs meeting with his wife and mother in Islamabad, saying it has hurt the sentiments of Indians.

Referring to the restrictions, Naidu said the move to ask Jadhavs wife take off her mangal sutra has not got down well with the people of India.

He was of the view that Pakistan did not do any good for itself by its handling of the meeting while showcasing to the world its gesture, a statement issued by the Vice Presidents Secretariat said.

The meeting between Jadhav and his mother and wife took place on December 25 at the Pakistani foreign affairs ministry in Islamabad after repeated requests by India for family access.

Jadhav, who was arrested in March last year, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying, an accusation that India has dismissed as concocted.

Yesterday, India accused Pakistan of violating mutual understanding on Jadhavs meeting with his family, and said the Indian national appeared coerced under considerable stress during the tightly-controlled interaction.

Also Read | Pakistan sends shoes of Kulbhushan Jadhav's wife for forensic testing

Naidu made these remarks while interacting with faculty members and students from the universities of Harvard, Stanford and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The Vice President said that while India seeks peace in the region for the benefit of all, some nations were adopting a different approach.

He said during the interaction that the Indian voter has shown great maturity from time to time while casting ballot as was evident in their fierce defence of personal freedoms by voting against the Emergency in 1977.

India faces the challenges of inequality, rural-urban divide, unemployment, border issues, poverty and illiteracy. The ruling and opposition parties need to work together with shared perspectives for further strengthening parliamentary democracy, Naidu said.

He said the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Demonetisation were development-oriented reforms undertaken by the government.

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Bengaluru:

After last years alleged molestation cases during new year celebrations on Bengalurus brigade road, police this time have doubled the security at brigade road and its surroundings on the eve of December 31.

T. Sunil Kumar, Police commissioner of Bengaluru city said, We will deploy 2000 policemen including 500 women personnel and 250 CCTV cameras will be placed in the Brigade road and adjacent streets.

Security will not only be tightened on the brigade road but in the entire city. Fifteen thousand policemen will be deployed in the city which includes 4 additional commissioners, 2 joint commissioner s, 19 DCPs, 49 ACPs and 400 police inspectors.

T. Sunil Kumar, police commissioner Bengaluru said, Drones will also be patrolling the City and Hotel, Restaurants, Bars will remain Open till 2 am.

Taking precautions, Bengaluru police has decided to close all flyovers with alternate routes from 10 pm on December 31.

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Mumbai:

A 54-year-old man, who allegedly evaded arrest for around 15 years after being accused in multiple duping case, was nabbed on Thursday after police found him hiding in a washing machine in his Mumbai apartment.

The accused Manoj Tiwari would have managed to dodge the Mumbai Police again but luck did not favour him this time.

A senior police officer of Azad Maidan police station said, The search team was returning after they failed to find the accused in the house. While leaving one of our constables pulled a cloth out from a washing machine installed in the three-room flat. To our surprise Tiwari was hiding inside it.

The officer further added that Tiwaris wife allegedly stalled police officials at the apartment gate in Mumbais Juhu area for around three hours.

Also read| Gujarat: Newly-elected NCP MLA Kandhal Jadeja and 7 others arrested for rioting thrashing police official in Porbandar district



Tiwari was wanted by for allegedly cheating three people of Rs 1 lakh on the pretext of getting them admissions in bachelors degree course, added the police officer.

He further added, the accused is also wanted for cheating Rs one-crore from a person in Pune.

Also read| Pune: 8-year-old gangraped by 5 minors, 1 arrested



Mumbai Police has also filed a complaint against Tiwaris wife for obstructing police personnel from performing their duty.

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New Delhi:

Pakistan forces on Wednesday violated the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Nowshera sector of Rajouri. The incident comes two days after three of its soldiers were killed by Indian Army commandos in a cross border operation.

As per reports, Pakistani troops resorted to mortar shelling and small arms fire on forward Indian positions in Khori Baba area in Nowshera. The Indian Army has retaliated effectively, officials said.

On Monday evening a group of five aGhataka commandos crossed the Line of Control and killed Pakistani soldiers 200-300 metres inside the Pakistan occupied territory.

Pakistan acknowledged the death of its three soldiers in the Indian action in a weekly telephone call between the two Military Operations Directorate on Tuesday.

The operation began around 6 pm and the team returned to their camp within 45 minutes with no injuries. A temporary post of the Pakistan army was smashed in the strike. The post was under extensive surveillance much before the operation was carried out, the sources said.

The LoC has been highly active this year, with 820 ceasefire violations so far, compared to 228 in 2016 and 152 in 2015. The Army has lost 14 soldiers in ceasefire violations on the LoC this year.

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New Delhi:

As the stalemate in Parliament over Modis colluding with Pakistan accusations against ex-PM Manmohan Singh comes to an end, Congress President Rahul Gandhi has taken a jibe at Prime Minister Modi and Finance Arun Jaitley.

Rahul Gandhi in a tweet shared a two-window video in which one side plays PM Modis speech in which he is accusing his predecessor and others of colluding with Pakistan and the other side shows Union Minister Arun Jaitley praising Manmohan Singh.

The text in Rahul Gandhis tweet read, Dear Mr Jaitlie - thank you for reminding India that our PM never means what he says or says what he means. #BJPLies.

Earlier on Wednesday, Arun Jaitley in Rajya Sabha had clarified Modis election speech in which he accused former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former Vice President Hamid Ansari of colluding with Pakistan.

Jaitley in his statement said, "PM in his speeches didn't question, nor meant to question the commitment to this nation of either former PM Manmohan Singh or Former VP Hamid Ansari, any such perception is erroneous, we hold these leaders in high esteem, as well as their commitment to India."

The Congress, which was initially demanding Modis apology in both the houses of the Parliament seemed to be satisfied with Jaitleys clarification.

Also Read | PM Modi didn't question Manmohan Singh's commitment to nation, clarifies Arun Jaitley in Rajya Sabha

Ghulam Nabi Azad, leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, said, Thank the leader of the House for clarification on what has been issue of contention. I, on behalf of my party, say that we disassociate from any comments made by any member during elections that may have hurt PMs dignity, also we dont want any such thing to be said in future.

While disassociating from any comments that hurt PMs dignity, Azad was referring to suspended Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyars neech remark against Prime Minister Modi.

However, Modi was not present in the house when Jaitley made his statement.

Earlier in the month, Modi, while addressing a rally in Gujarats Palanpur had accused Manmohan Singh, Hamid Ansari and other leaders of conspiring with Pakistan to win the assembly elections in his home state.

Reacting to his successors allegations, Manmohan Singh had said that he was pained and anguished by the falsehood and canards being spread by the Prime Minister adding that Modi is setting a dangerous precedent by his insatiable desire to tarnish every constitutional office, including that of a former prime minister and Army chief.

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The hostage exchange process in Donbas is over, and 74 Ukrainian captives who were earlier held in non-government controlled territories have been released, the Ukrainian president's representative in the Verkhovna Rada, Iryna Lutsenko, has said.

"There's good news about which it is already possible to talk. The exchange process is over. The Ukrainian side has received 74 hostages who were held in captivity in the occupied part of Donbas. They are returning home!" Lutsenko wrote on her Facebook page on Wednesday.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, in turn, thanked the Ukrainians freed as part of the swap for their endurance.

"I have just thanked our guys who are returning from captivity, among them cyborg Oleksandr Morozov and historian Ihor Kozlovsky. Thank you for your endurance, guys!" Poroshenko wrote on his Facebook page.

According to First Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Iryna Gerashchenko, who represents Ukraine in the humanitarian subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group, militants held 162 Ukrainians in occupied territories as of late November. According to her, agreements were reached to exchange 74 Ukrainians for 306 people detained by the Ukrainian side.

She noted that ten women were among 74 hostages. In total, she said, the Ukrainian side managed to find out the whereabouts of 96 Ukrainian citizens who are held hostage in non-government controlled areas.

The one-sided exchange was last held on December 29, 2016 when the Ukrainian side handed over 15 people to representatives of certain areas of Donetsk region. Kyiv made such a step, hoping to finally "unfreeze" the hostage exchange process blocked by militants.

The transfer took place in a neutral zone between Horlivka and Mayorsk.
Lucknow:

A day ahead of the tabling of the triple talaq bill in Parliament, some Muslim women's organisations said on Wednesday that the proposed legislation would not be acceptable if not in consonance with the Quran or the Constitution.

"Nikaah (marriage) is a contract. Whosoever breaks it should be punished. However, if it (Bill) is not in the light of Quran and the Constitution, no Muslim woman will accept it," All India Muslim Women Personal Law board (AIMWPLB) chairperson Shaista Amber told PTI.

"I had sent a letter to the Law Commission requesting it to show the draft bill to the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), AIMWPLB, Jamait Islami, Jamiat Ulma-e-Hind and organisations working for women who were given talaq. I got a reply that if needed, it will be discussed but that did not happen," she added.

Holding the AIMPLB responsible for the present state of affairs, Amber said the board never bothered to take triple talaq seriously, and now it was too late.

Muslim Women League's president Naish Hasan said that in the Family Court Act there is always a chance to save a family but the proposed bill does not give such a chance.

"Third party has also been given the right to complain in the bill. That is not fair," she said. Hasan added that the bill should be stalled for now and discussions should be held as a law in haste will complicate matters.

We will protest if the bill is passed without any discussion, she said.

Demanding withdrawal of the bill, the AIMPLB had earlier said the proposed legislation was against the provisions of the Constitution and violated the rights of women.

Describing it a "conspiracy", the AIMPLB at its meeting here on Sunday had accused the government of snatching the right of divorce from men.

AIMPLB chairman Maulana Rabe Hasani Nadwi will request Prime Minister Narendra Modi to withhold or withdraw the proposed bill that criminalises the practice of instant divorce, an official spokesperson of the Muslim body said.

Also read: Instant triple talaq: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi welcomes SC verdict



In August, the Supreme Court by a majority of 3:2 ruled that the practice of divorce through triple talaq among Muslims is "void", "illegal" and "unconstitutional".

The government then drafted the 'Muslim Women Protection of Rights on Marriage Bill' according to which giving instant divorce will be illegal and void and will attract a jail term of three years for the husband.

Also read: SC declares instant triple talaq unconstitutional, illegal, void; says it is against basic tenets of Quran



The bill seeks to criminalise the practice of instant divorce by repeated the word talaq thrice.

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Lucknow:

The Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government has ordered withdrawal of a 1995 case in which the chief minister, along with one Minister of State (MoS), a BJP lawmaker and 10 others were booked for violating prohibitory orders.

The Uttar Pradesh government on December 20 sent a letter to the Gorakhpur district magistrate directing him to file an application to withdraw a 1995 case which has names of Yogi Adityanath, Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla, BJP legislator Sheetal Pandey and 10 others.

The government order stated that the direction was given on basis of a letter dated October 27 written by Gorakhpur district magistrate to the chief secretary.

The direction was given after scrutinising the facts of the case.

Krishna, Radha Rani: UP CM Yogi Adityanath to attend Holi event in Mathura



The direction was issued by the state chief secretary Rajiv Kumar. He has also directed all district magistrates to withdraw cases under IPC Sections 144, 107 and 109 of CrPC.

Also read: PM Modi lauds Yogi for junking Noida superstition; says blind faith not desirable



Kumar in the official communique has asked the district magistrates to prepare a list of such cases and file appeals in designated courts.

With the new directives, cases against Mulayam Singh Yadav, UPCC chief Raj Babbar, Leader of Opposition Govind Chaudhary and several other SP, BSP and BJP leaders and party workers will be dropped.

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Bogota:

A former paramilitary chief accused of 3,000 crimes has been returned to his native Colombia to face justice after being deported from the United States, where he had been incarcerated on drug charges.

Hebert Veloza, 50, alias 'HH,' touched down in Bogota on Tuesday after being loaded on a plane in Alexandria, in the US state of Virginia, Colombia's migration service said in a statement.

He faces charges in his homeland of murder, forced recruitment of minors and criminal association.

He had been in prison in the United States since 2009 for drug trafficking, after Colombia allowed his extradition.

Veloza had quit as a paramilitary leader in 2004, but then clandestinely returned to the activity in 2006.

He was arrested in 2007 despite invoking a special law that gave criminal leniency to members of armed groups that demobilised, admitted their crimes and paid damages to their victims.

His extradition to the US was criticised by rights groups and victims' associations, which feared his crimes in Colombia would go unpunished.

Also Read: Donald Trump calls on Colombian leader for help in drugs war

Colombia was rocked for more than half a century by an armed conflict that over that time involved around 30 left-wing guerrilla groups, extreme-right paramilitary outfits, andgovernment forces.

More than 260,000 people were killed, more than 60,000 disappeared, and seven million people were displaced within the country.

The main conflict came to an end with a November 2016 peace accord signed between the government and the main rebel group, the FARC.

Negotiations have been under way since February to strike a similar pact with the smaller ELN guerrilla group, the last insurgent organisation which is observing a ceasefire valid to early January 2018.

Also Read: China successfully launches remote sensing satellites

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New Delhi:

Ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to India next month, the two countries on Tuesday reviewed their cooperation in strategic areas such as defence and homeland security.

The review was done during the foreign office consultations in which the Indian delegation was led by Secretary Economic Relations in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Vijay Gokhale while the Israeli side was headed by Director General of Israel's Foreign Ministry Yuval Rotem.

"The two sides reviewed our relations in defence, agriculture, S&T (science and technology), education and homeland security," MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

Shri Vijay Gokhale, Secretary Economic Relations of India and Mr. Yuval Rotem, Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel led the Foreign Office Consultations. The two sides reviewed our relations in defence, agriculture, S&T, education and homeland security. pic.twitter.com/2SsuxTIKWg a Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) December 26, 2017

Netanyahu is expected to travel to India on a four-day visit in January to meet the country's top leadership.

Also Read:A Israel, US team up to block UN vote on Jerusalem

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Islamabad:

Pakistan on Tuesday rejected as "baseless" India's contentions that Kulbhushan Jadhav's family was harassed and claimed that his wife's shoes were confiscated on security grounds as there was "something" in it.

The Foreign Office in a statement said that Pakistan does not wish to indulge in a "meaningless battle of words" and categorically rejects India's baseless "allegations and twists" about attitude of authorities during Jadhav's meeting with his wife and mother.

"The Indian baseless allegations and twists, that come 24 hrs later, about the visit of the wife and mother of Commander Jadhav, a convicted terrorist and spy, who has confessed to his crimes, are categorically rejected," the statement said.

"If Indian concerns were serious, the guests or the Indian DHC should have raised them during the visit, with the media, which was readily available, but at a safe distance, as requested by India," it said.

"We do not wish to indulge in a meaningless battle of words. Our openness and transparency belie these allegations," it said.

Responding to India's contentions that Jadhav's wife's shoes were not returned to her after the meeting, Foreign Office spokesman Muhammad Faisal told DawnNews that the shoes were confiscated on "security grounds".

"There was something in the shoe (of Jadhav's wife)," Faisal told the daily, adding that the shoe is being investigated.

He said Jadhav's wife had been provided replacement shoes and all her jewellery was returned to her.

The spokesman said that the fact is that Jadhavs mother "publicly thanked Pakistan for the humanitarian gesture, which was also recorded by the media."

"Nothing more needs to be said on the issue," he said.

India on Tuesday accused Pakistan of violating mutual understandings on Jadhav's meeting with his family, and said the Indian national appeared coerced and under considerable stress during the tightly-controlled interaction.

India also accused Pakistan of disregarding cultural and religious sensibilities of family members under the pretext of security.

"This included removal of mangal sutra, bangles and bindi, as well as a change in attire that was not warranted by security," it said.

During Monday's meeting, whose pictures were released by Pakistan, Jadhav was seen sitting behind a glass screen while his mother and wife sat on the other side. They spoke through intercom and the entire 40-minute proceedings appeared to have been recorded on video.

Also Read: Pakistani media taunt Kulbhushan Jadhavs mother; calls her qatil ki maa

India said that "for some inexplicable reason, despite her repeated requests", Jadhav's wife's shoes were not returned to her after the meeting.

Jadhav, who was captured in March last year, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying, an accusation that India has dismissed as concocted.

New Delhi says Jadhav was kidnapped in Iran where he had legitimate business interests, and brought to Pakistan. To save Jadhav, India moved the International Court of Justice, which ordered Pakistan in May to stay his execution.

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Svyatoslav Tsegolko, the press secretary of the Ukrainian president, said that in the near future - in 20 minutes - all 74 Ukrainian liberated hostages would come to the territory controlled by Kyiv.

"According to Iryna Gerashchenko, buses with our 58 guys left Horlivka to reach Mayorsk, which means that in 20 minutes all 74 of our hostages will be in the territory controlled by Kyiv," he wrote on his Facebook page on Wednesday.
Panasonic has named a female executive to lead a subsidiary with some 4,000 employees, a highly unusual move for the nearly century-old Japanese electronics company.

Panasonic Age-Free is now led by President Eiichi Katayama, who doubles as the Panasonic executive officer in charge of the eldercare business. The former Merrill Lynch Japan Securities analyst took up the presidency in July to spearhead restructuring and lift the business into the black. Katayama will stay on as executive officer and focus on drawing up medium- to long-term growth strategies after Morimoto starts as president.

Panasonic Age-Free is now led by President Eiichi Katayama, who doubles as the Panasonic executive officer in charge of the eldercare business. The former Merrill Lynch Japan Securities analyst took up the presidency in July to spearhead restructuring and lift the business into the black. Katayama will stay on as executive officer and focus on drawing up medium- to long-term growth strategies after Morimoto starts as president.
Japan's Supreme Court has upheld a lower court verdict of acquittal for a former member of the Aum Shinrikyo cult.

A presiding justice as of Wednesday dismissed an appeal by prosecutors to reverse the verdict on former Aum member Naoko Kikuchi.

The 46-year-old was charged with assisting attempted murder in 1995 by transporting bomb-making materials for the cult. The cult sent a parcel bomb made from the materials to an office of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, seriously wounding an employee.

Kikuchi was arrested in 2012. The district court found her guilty and sentenced her to 5 years in prison, but she was acquitted by the high court.

Points of contention included whether Kikuchi was aware of the motive of the cult's senior members, and how the materials would be used.

The Supreme Court questioned the district court's view that Kikuchi intended to assist with attempted murder. It said she was only abstractly aware that some form of dangerous chemical would be produced from the materials.

The Supreme Court also said the higher court decision was problematic, as it reached a different conclusion than the district court without clarifying the irrationality of that ruling.

An official at the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office expressed regret that the appeal was rejected, but that the office takes the Supreme Court decision seriously.

The decision by the Supreme Court means 59-year-old Katsuya Takahashi is the only former Aum member still on trial.

He has appealed to the Supreme Court after being sentenced to life in prison for his role in the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system and other crimes.

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About 10 outdoor surveillance cameras were installed at an Osaka home where a 33-year-old woman was found dead last week after being confined by her parents for around 15 years allegedly due to mental illness, investigative sources said Wednesday.

Police suspect the parents, who were earlier arrested over the illegal disposal of the body of their daughter Airi Kakimoto, set up the cameras to monitor activity in the area out of fear that her confinement would be discovered.

The police said an autopsy showed that the daughter had frozen to death and was in a state of extreme malnutrition, weighing only 19 kilograms.

Her father Yasutaka, 55, and mother Yukari, 53, admitted to confining their daughter in a room about 3 square meters in size since she was 16 or 17 years old, saying her mental illness made her violent, according to the police.

The wooden single-story home in Neyagawa is surrounded by a roughly 2-meter-high fence, which makes it difficult to view the inside of the house from outside.

In addition to the tiny room where Airi was confined, the cameras were embedded near a nameplate for the Kakimoto family on the fence and on a utility pole so that the nearby street could be monitored, the sources said.

The Kakimotos allegedly told police that recently they had only fed their daughter once a day before she died around Dec 18.
The Japanese government is considering the possibility of upgrading the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Izumo destroyer to an aircraft carrier enabling the takeoffs and landings of fighter jets, informed sources said Tuesday.

It would be the first time for the Self-Defense Forces to possess an aircraft carrier.

The government is apparently considering using the envisaged aircraft carrier for the operations of the U.S. military's cutting-edge F-35B stealth fighters, which are capable of short takeoffs and vertical landings, the sources said.

Tokyo is believed to be aiming to strengthen its cooperation with the United States in a bid to better counter threats from North Korea, which is repeating provocations, and China's increasing maritime activities.

According to the government's view, Japan is not allowed to possess attack aircraft carriers, intercontinental ballistic missiles or long-range strategic bombers under the country's constitution, in light of the country's exclusively defense-oriented policy.
Colonel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Yuliy Mamchur, an MP from the Bloc of Petro Poroshenko, believes that former President Viktor Yanukovych's address to Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 1, 2014, calling for the use of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine, had led to the occupation and annexation of Crimea.

"This statement had led to the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, the legitimization of its actions that occurred on February 27-28, and in the future, after the appearance of this document, the aggressiveness of the behavior of Russian servicemen in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea had only increased," he said during his interrogation as a prosecution witness at Obolonsky District Court of Kyiv in the Yanukovych treason case.

In his opinion, this appeal by Yanukovych to Putin "actually contributed to the occupation of Crimea and its further annexation."

Mamchur also said that from February 20 to February 27, 2014, he had not received in writing any measures taken by Yanukovych.

As reported, on March 22, 2014, the base of the Ukrainian military airfield in Belbek, where the 204th tactical aviation brigade is deployed, was seized by Russian special forces. Ukrainian soldiers were pelted with stun grenades, and the entrance gates were smashed by armored personnel carriers.

The Russian military also arrested the commander of the 204th tactical aviation brigade of the military unit in Belbek, Mamchur, and sent him to prison in Sevastopol. They also captured Deputy Commander of the Ukrainian Navy Ihor Voronchenko.

Mamchur was released on March 26.
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STAMFORD  A vacant 90,000-square-foot building in the citys South End has been sold for $7.6 million to a firm planning to build a production facility there.

ClearRock Properties, Mountain Development Corporation and Gottesman Real Estate Partners sold the property to Stamford Media Village, a new Darien-based firm created by a group of media investors.

Stamford Media Village plans to renovate 860 Canal for multiple tenants. In addition to the production hub, the redeveloped site could also include a brewery. The building, which stands next to a marina, is expected to be up and running by the summer of 2019.

The buyers and sellers declined to comment on the sale beyond a joint press release. City property transfer records confirmed the transaction.

The 860 Canal property belongs to a three-structure campus, which also includes recently refurbished buildings at 850 Canal and 700 Canal. ClearRock, Mountain Development and Gottesman still own the 700 and 850 buildings.

Renovations of the approximately 70,000-square-foot 850 Canal started around the same time as the July relocation to downtown Stamford of professional-services firm RSM, which occupied nearly 30,000 square feet. On the third floor, where RSM had about 9,000 square feet, the owners have subdivided the space into three office suites.

New tenants at 850 Canal would likely take between 1,500 and 10,000 square feet.

Other building improvements at 850 Canal included upgrades to the parking lot, plaza, elevator cabs and lobby and an updated layout to better distinguish between the commercial offices on the upper floors and the U.S. Department of States passport center on the ground floor.

Occupancy at 850 Canal St. now runs at about 75 percent. Among recent deals, shipping firm BRS signed an eight-year lease for 6,800 square feet on the third floor. TV production firm ITV America and financial-services firm GMP Securities also lease space in the building.

The approximately 90,000-square-foot 700 Canal was renovated and largely leased up by 2015.

A Serendipity Labs co-working center, which opened last year, represents the largest tenant. In August, Serendipity announced it would add another 9,000 square feet to its initial 13,000 square feet.

Among other recent arrivals at 700 Canal, the casual dining establishment The Granola Bar opened in May.

Other tenants include financial services, media and technology firms.

Theyre sister buildings  together they are really a campus, Doug Winshall, managing principal of ClearRock Properties, said of 700 and 850 Canal, during a recent interview. Both are targeting small and midsized tenants.

pschott@scni.com; 203-964-2236; twitter: @paulschott
A coalition of eight states, including Connecticut, filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to force it to control pollution from power plants in the Midwest.

The other states are Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Vermont and New York, whose state Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman is leading the lawsuit.

The suit takes issue with a Trump administrations decision to allow nine upwind states to escape tighter smog requirements.

"Connecticut has stringent air quality laws and regulations, but Connecticut suffers from significant pollution and air quality issues because the state is downwind of out-of-state sources of pollution, said Jaclyn M. Severance, a spokeswoman for Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen.

Connecticut is a downwind state and much of our air quality is affected by the pollution produced by upwind states like Ohio, West Virginia and Indiana, said Chris Collibee, a spokesman for the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. The sad reality is that every power plant in the state could be forced to shut down during the summer months because of the pollution that blows in from the Midwest.

This is not the first time that EPA actions  or inaction  have concerned Hartford. In March, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy sent a letter to Trump's controversial EPA chief, Scott Pruitt of Oklahoma, blasting the agency's preliminary decision to exempt nine states, most of which are in the Rust Belt, from tougher scrutiny of coal-fired power plants.

Those states, the governor wrote, should be held accountable for their adverse impact on the air quality in the Northeast.

In October 2016, six Northeastern states sued the EPA to compel the agency to add nine upwind states to its so-called Ozone Transport Region.

Those states were Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

The states already in the OTR are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. These states are required to submit plans and install a certain level of controls for pollutants that form ozone. The states outside the OTR dont have to follow those requirements.

Connecticut leaders fear that the Trump's administration, under pressure from U.S. automakers, will unwind Obama-era fuel efficiency standards and caps on tailpipe emissions of carbon dioxide.

"Obviously, this is a guy (Pruitt) who was a sellout to fossil fuels to begin with and doesn't mind polluting Connecticut's air with (emissions) from Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky and Pennsylvania," Malloy told reporters at the time.

EPA officials could not be reached on Wednesday for comment.

Hearst Connecticut Media writer Neil Vigdor contributed to this story.

jburgeson@ctpost.com
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DANBURY  Tax collectors around the region said Wednesday that they have been fielding hundreds of calls, navigating stacks of mail and managing dozens of drop-ins since a new federal tax code capping state and local tax deductions was signed into law last week.

The law, which limits deductions like property and state income taxes to $10,000, goes into effect Jan. 1. That leaves a tight window for residents who want to finish paying this years tax bill ahead of January due dates, in time to take advantage of the deduction.

There is no way to pay next years state income or property taxes, so this years property taxes  which ranged from $5,127 on average in part of Danbury to $12,823 in Ridgefield in 2015  became the focus for residents hoping to save some money, who then flooded tax collectors with questions and payments.

We cant answer all the calls, thats how many weve gotten, said Jane Berendsen-Hill, tax collector in Ridgefield. You would not believe it.

Payments for bills that go out next year will not be accepted, tax collectors said, because those bills dont yet exist.

Statutorily youre really not authorized to collect that, said Danbury Tax Collector Scott Ferguson. There is no bill and nothing to pay.

More Information Local property tax burdens The average property tax bills in 2015. Bethel - $7,179 Brookfield - $7,382 Danbury* - 06811: $6,158 06810: $5,127 New Fairfield - $7,749 New Milford* - 06776: $6,217 06755: $5,912 Newtown* - 06470: $9,656 06482: $8,604 Redding - $12,581 Ridgefield - $12,823 *Has multiple zip codes See More Collapse

Its not clear what deductions the IRS will accept, according to the Associated Press. The new law specifically bars taking deductions for income taxes paid ahead of time, but it is silent on prepaid local property taxes.

In Ridgefield, for example, property tax bills due in January and April will be accepted because they are installments of a bill from July 2017. Payments due later next year will not be, Berendsen-Hill said.

Danbury, which also allows residents to pay their property taxes in quarterly installments, will also accept payments before due dates in January and April.

Towns that accept two installments a year, such as Redding and New Milford, will allow the second half of this years bill  due next month  to be paid now.

Were authorized to collect the current grand list, but there is no authority to collect July 2018, said Redding Tax Collector Patricia Moisio.

The collectors strategy falls in line with guidance from the Connecticut Tax Collectors Association, which Moisio said contended that accepting early payments for next years bill would conflict with state law.

State Office of Policy and Management Director Ben Barnes echoed the association in a letter to chief elected officials, although he warned that he was not in a position to give an opinion on the issue.

He said because of differences between Connecticut and New York laws it would not be practical for Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to issue an executive order allowing more prepayments like Gov. Andrew Cuomo did for his state Friday.

Cuomo issued an emergency executive order authorizing local governments to immediately issue tax warrants for the collection of 2018 property tax payments.

Barnes also said that paying off this years bill ahead of due dates next year appears to be a lawful way to take advantage of the expiring deduction.

For those interested in trying to snag the deduction, area tax collectors said to come in by Friday, or mail the payment through the U.S. Postal Service  postmarked by Dec. 31  by Saturday.

blytton@hearstmediact.com; 203-731-3411; @bglytton;
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NEW FAIRFIELD  Katie McMorrow, 9, and Claire Miller, 8, scanned the snow-covered yard and, after a pause, took off to one of the nearby houses in the Great Hollow Nature Preserve.

Their mission was to find a good shelter for their Jell-O Babies, or cups of mixed gelatin, to keep them from freezing in the winter.

The friends, both of New Fairfield, found a sunny spot on a porch and set to work hiding their cups in piles of leaves.

Theres a lot of sunlight and its away from predators, Miller said. We covered it up in leaves so it wouldnt get cold.

This was just one of many activities campers are completing this week as part of Great Hollows winter break program. It focuses on teaching children about the environment in a hands-on way outdoors and offers an educational day program for parents to send their children when school is not in session.

Were filling that need a bit in this area, said Chad Seewagen, Great Hollows executive director.

Campers have spent this week in the classroom learning about various environmental topics, then practicing those principles outside, though not as long as initially planned due to the colder temperatures. On Wednesday, campers imitated the flying V formation geese use when migrating, by walking in groups of four in hula hoops. They also used a parachute to mimic how mice travel below the snow and fox hunt them from above.

Its very fun, McMorrow said. You get to learn new stuff and go outside.

She said it complements what shes learning in school too.

Miller said the hands-on component helps her better understand the material.

The winter camp was first offered last year and participation tripled this year, with nine children enrolled at the peak this week. It is open to anyone, with most of the campers coming from New Fairfield, Danbury and Sherman, though the preserve also tends to have residents of New Milford and New York attend events.

Seewagen said its programs are continually growing as the organization itself grows. Great Hollow opened as a nonprofit preserve about a year and a half ago thanks to the donation of a Sherman philanthropist. It was previously a wilderness school for the YMCA and before that a research site for Wesleyan University.

Walter Merritt deeded his more than 1,600 acres to the university when he died in the 1960s with strict stipulations that the land can only be used for environmental education and research. In the 1980s, New York took the portion of the land in that state and gave it to Putnam County, leaving about 825 acres in the current preserve, which straddles Sherman and New Fairfield.

Its never been open to the public before our organization was established, Seewagen said, adding there are about seven miles of trails.

Great Hollow now focuses on offering educational programs for children, the community, as well as research on wildlife ecology. The preserve partners with several universities and the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection on various projects and researchers can apply to stay on site for field work.

The preserve has also started a homeschool program and hosts other community events on the weekends.

Were filling the voids here and there as they arise, Seewagen said.

kkoerting@newstimes.com; 203-731-3345
All 74 freed Ukrainian hostages already in government-controlled area

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said that all 74 Ukrainian hostages released from the captivity of militants as part of the exchange are already in the Ukrainian government controlled area.

"All 74 Ukrainian hostages are already at home, in the territory controlled by our army," he wrote on his Facebook page on Wednesday.

Presidential press secretary Svyatoslav Tsegolko, in turn, reported on Facebook that Poroshenko had held a phone conversation with liberated Donetsk airport defender Oleksandr Morozov.

"A few kilometers before the contact line, the president spoke on the phone with freed 'cyborg' Oleksandr Morozov," he wrote.
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BRIDGEPORT  Fran Schneidau was remembered by colleagues and listeners as a talented, devoted journalist after news of her death was announced Wednesday.

Schneidau, of New Canaan, whose voice was known by news radio listeners throughout the state for her Connecticut coverage, died at the age of 79, according to WCBS 880.

She got her start in Bridgeport, at radio station WICC after a stint as a stockbroker, according to her LinkedIn profile. She went on to work for WCBS, where she covered the news from Westchester County, N.Y., and Connecticut for 39 years.

Al Warren, who worked with Schneidau at WICC, said she was a pleasure to work with and a passionate journalist. He said he remembered her starting in the late 1970s and remained at the station for four or five years.

As time progressed, she got better and better, Warren said. And before she knew it, she was at CBS. She was very talented and was always on-the-ball.

He said she was the type of person who was always working, never stopping to slow down. Warren said he was the midday on-air personality when Schneidau started at WICC.

When Fran started, she was the second female news person that we ever had, Warren said. He said her determination and drive did not go unnoticed.

She was a good news person. She was personable. She had a great sense of humor, Warren added. I really liked her. Everybody liked her. She didnt let any grass grow under her feet. She was always working, and it paid off for her.

Schneidau retired from WCBS radio in February with accolades from colleagues and those she covered.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy commemorated her career with a proclamation Wednesday applauding her lifelong commitment to journalism.

Malloy released a statement following the announcement of Schneidaus death, saying she was the voice delivering news from Connecticut for nearly 40 years.

She dedicated her profession to journalism, and was respected by so many  including numerous young and upcoming reporters who consistently cite her as an inspiration, Malloy said. We will miss Fran.

On Twitter, former colleagues and listeners mourned her passing on Wednesday.

Fran was a good-humored colleague who was always fun to talk with when we found ourselves covering events together, wrote Ken Dixon, Hearst Connecticut Media politics reporter. A great pro who died too soon.

Another amazing voice silenced now, wrote 1010 WINS news reporter Glenn Schuck. May she Rest In Peace.
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DANBURY  Western Connecticut State University has rolled out the first phases of its expanded behavioral health program and is looking to improve on the effort after the winter break thanks to a recent grant.

The $1.6 million grant  the largest the university has received  will be disbursed as four annual payments of $421,000. The funds were awarded through the Health Resources and Services Administration and the Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program, which was reauthorized as part of U.S. Sen. Chris Murphys Mental Health Reform Act.

In the future, it will help schools and clinics have better safety and crisis protocol, said Gabriel Lomas, a professor and the projects director, who applied for the grant.

The money allows the university to hire an additional faculty member and accept 10 more students into the graduate program, bringing the total to 40. It also covers monthly seminars or training sessions, as well as stipends for students who are gaining experience in the field.

Jessica Benson, a graduate student in the program from Milford, said the seminars enhance what they learn in class and allow them to hear from professionals in the field, as well as build connections. If we need to reach out for clients in the field, we have these people in our back pocket, she said.

Benson said the need for mental health training and ways to handle crises is more important in an ever-changing world.

The training sessions are also open to the students site supervisors and other stakeholders, such as the regional crisis team, which assists western Connecticut schools in crisis response preparation.

Lomas said the project wouldnt have been possible without the grant because of the associated expenses.

Brittni Lourenco, a graduate student from New Milford, said in order to meet her internship hours she has to take a day off each week from her job. She said the stipend helps cover the costs of that missed day.

It takes a huge weight off my shoulders, she said.

Brian McCarley, a graduate student and Danbury resident, said its challenging for many students to meet their internship hours while also working full-time and so many have to cut back to part-time positions. He said the stipend helps them cover the costs of bills and rent that their full-time position would have covered.

He said the grant has also allowed more people to get involved in the field.

Its brought a lot more interest and eyes on this program, McCarley said, adding that the field and need for mental health professionals is growing. Its not going anywhere.

The students also said placing students in schools and with primary care doctors helps bring more awareness to the field and reduces the stigma associated with mental health. It also increases access to treatment.

Theres such a lack of accessible care, Benson said. The grant allows more people to have the ability to treat the client in need.

Having mental health professionals in a variety of places increases access for people who need the services and helps place all of the people who interact with the client on the same page. It also opens the care to people who might not have seen a therapist before and can provide help earlier.

Having people integrated into primary care is really going to do a lot to close that gap, Lomas said.

Lourenco said she is most excited about the National Organization for Victim Assistance training next month, which is new to Connecticut. The classes will train the students at the highest level, which will then allow them to train others and increase the number of professionals in the state certified in this type of crisis response.

Its programs like this that Lomas hopes will make the program sustainable and allow it continue after the grant funds end. He said it will also translate to better mental health services in the area.

Most of our students stay in the area and thats why it will make such an impact on this part of the state, Lomas said.

kkoerting@newstimes.com; 203-731-3345
There are some common culprits that people use as excuses for their lack of commitment -- time of the year, the economy, what others may think. If you continue to dwell on these excuses, they begin to control your actions and keep you from being successful. The most successful people focus on what they can control rather than trying to deal with the things they cant control. When you focus on the things you do have control over, magic happens.

You ultimately decide the moment that something wont work. Or you allow a reason, excuse or something else that someone has told you to persuade you from acting. Its in a moment youve lost that opportunity. Your brain conspires to gather all the evidence to support what you are looking for. Your brain is wired to look for the negative.

Related: Tools and Strategies for Effortlessly Improving Your Focus

When we look at the elite players, they all have perfected the art of focus. They know how to manage their time. They focus on their strengths, passions and their vision for success, continuously reviewing their roadmap. Each persons path to success may be unique, but there are commonalities among the worlds most successful people. Let me share with you how the most successful people in the world mastered their excellence and attained human mastery and business greatness.

Leaders are driven, not self-made.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, former governor of California, arrived in America with no money and little belongings. He was fueled by his beliefs, internal drive and passion. Schwarzenegger has been quoted as saying, l know the power of inspiration and if someone can stand on my shoulders to achieve greatness, lm willing to help them up. He is a fine example of someone who pushes himself to his limits. Breaking through the doubt, fear and inner critic is the only way to push you towards your success.

Eliminate the open-door policy.

The open-door policy in business has been running rife in HR wisdom and leadership development for way too long. Having an open door to people was the right thing to do to create a happy and engaged workforce. People have taken it upon themselves to use the open door as permission to bitch and whine about their problems and create stories about events. A 5-minute pop-in would result in a 30-minute portal of drama.

When you decide to keep your office door shut, you gain quality interactions during the limited times you have. You retain your focus by changing the conversation when someone asks for a minute. Instead of passively listening, give yourself permission to close the door at times. When its open, help your people to shift their thinking to a focus on the facts, not the narrative. Focus on the proposed solutions and helpful actions that would propel ecological outcomes.

Tim Ferris, bestselling author and host of The Tim Ferris Show, describes leadership as making the important and unpopular decisions. To be a great leader, you must be less distracted than your competition. Otherwise you drown in the insignificant and trivial.

Related: How Real Leaders Focus on What Really Matters

Focus on one thing.

Being committed to a single vision and refusing to get distracted by other prosperous opportunities creates industry leaders. Success means narrowing down and focusing on one thing. The scatterbrain approach creates chaos and failure. Warren Buffett says that when you put a lot of money in a lot of things, you end up with a zoo. Successful investing takes time, discipline and patience. You cant produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant." -- Buffett

Persistence partners with patience.

There is no overnight success. Steven Spielberg had the rights to "Schindlers list" for 10 years before he was ready to make the movie that won him the Oscar for Best Director. Failure is inevitable. Its feedback, and you choose how the story is to be written. Whether its making a mistake, defining it as a rejection or you not being worthy enough, you determine the meaning of the experience. Feedback must be used as a stepping stone to build upon and to relentlessly move forward. Sound advice from Steven Spielberg -- Replace fear with curiosity.

Manage your energy, not your time.

The most successful people havent figured out how to best manage their time. Instead they have figured your how to best manage their energy. Every human being faces an energy crisis when we stretch ourselves beyond our limits 24/7, without taking time out for self-care and renewal. Successful people combat energy crisis by identifying rituals for building and renewing physical energy by healthy eating habits and sleep.

Related: 15 Unexpected Things That Are Stealing Your Sleep

Ferris spends the last hour before bed drinking decaffeinated tea with honey, getting in a soaking tub and reading fiction, alongside his thermos of iced water. His consistent ritual creates a deep sleep for a previous insomniac.

Schwarzeneggers daily ritual wasnt a walk on the beach. He had a regimented approach to work, training and nutrition. Driven by focus, hard work and incredible discipline, he would wake up in the morning and, without fail, make his bed. His home was immaculate and the discipline of getting up in the morning and straightening up before he left the house was his mantra. He attributed one of his keys to success was his introduction of discipline and control in his life that started when he would wake up in the morning.

Your determination, focus and commitment ensure your arrival. You grow your business when you want to grow it. You become intentional, focused and act. Master this way of being, and you will be untouchable in your field.

Related:

6 Essential Mantras to Refocus Your Life and Business

5 Steps to Develop a Mindset of Success

How Indian E-Commerce Industry Plans to Overcome Existing Challenges in 2018



Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved



This article originally appeared on entrepreneur.com


Ukrainians freed from occupied Donbas expected to arrive in Kyiv at about 21.00 on Wed

The Ukrainian hostages freed from occupied Donbas are expected to arrive at the military airport in Boryspil (near Kyiv) at about 21.00 on Wednesday, presidential adviser Yuriy Biriukov has told Interfax-Ukraine.

"We expect this to happen at around 21.00," he said.

When asked where those who need medical help will be sent, Biriukov said that they would be taken to the Feofania clinic in Kyiv.
CROMWELL  For 40 years, Margaret Ashby has called the early 1970s four-bedroom Coles Road ranch her home. Its where she and her ex-husband raised their four children three boys and a girl.

However, an electrical fire in her adult sons bedroom three years ago changed everything.

Ashby and her son were sleeping Oct. 31, 2014, when the blaze began just after 10:30 p.m. She awoke from the sound of her bedroom door slamming shut. The entire home was filled with smoke.

In her hurry to get her son and herself out of the home, Ashby fell down the stairs, breaking her back and splitting her head open, she recalls. Her phone wasnt working but somehow, some way, Ashby made it outside to call for help.

I was able to get up, go to my neighbors and tell him to call 911, she said.

She had no idea she was injured.

I guess I was in shock, but I had no pain, she said. It was drizzling a little bit. What I thought was drizzle was blood.

Ashby and her son were both hospitalized for smoke inhalation.

Their four dogs  all Shih Tzus  died in the blaze. Her cat, a Maine coon, was lost for days until the folks at ServPro, who were cleaning up her home after the fire, put down some food for her. Mikala had been hiding downstairs and was OK.

I visited Margaret for the very first time at the hospital, said Marie Leavitt, accounts liaison at Servpro of Middletown/New Britain, which helps people recover from disasters like fires. I gave her the good news about her cat.

But there was also bad news. Ashbys homeowners insurance had lapsed and wouldnt cover any of the damage from the fire.

I was planning to buy a new policy for my home with my November Social Security check, Ashby said. The fire changed all of that.

Leavitt said Servpro tried to help investigate why there was no insurance on the house and how to get new coverage, but there was no way of getting anywhere until the fire damage had been taken care of and the house was starting to be rebuilt.

After the fire, Ashby spent several weeks in the hospital and then was moved to Apple Rehab in Middletown. While there, she suffered a heart attack.

It was just everything, Ashby said. Knowing that I was homeless. I had the house, but I couldnt live in it because I had no insurance to repair it. I was separated from my son, he had no place to stay and we were always very close.

Then, when she was taken to Middlesex Hospital, doctors found pulmonary edema  excess fluids gathered throughout her body, including her lungs  so she was in the ICU at Hartford Hospital for five weeks.

Ashby has lived with brain tumors her entire life, she said, and doctors found two more while she was recuperating from her other ailments.

My health was failing. I had no help. My house is my pride and joy. To go home was all I wanted, Ashby said.

Leavitt from Servpro came to the hospital several times, bringing flowers and other gifts.

She was someone I had never set eyes on before. I said, This lady is OK, Ashby said when describing the visits.

Last Halloween, Leavitt was at Lowes in Cromwell buying lumber to help the Cromwell Fire Department build a haunted house. She asked one of the employees if Lowes ever gets involved at an individual level, was connected with a store manager and got a team of employees from 10 stores together to help rebuild Ashbys home, Leavitt said.

ServPro Owner Gary Edwards and General Manager Alfred Conroy were touched by Ashbys plight.

They are a dying breed of good men, Leavitt said. Businesses today are all about profit. I am lucky to work for a franchise that really cares about people.

Leavitts manager told her that if Lowes could handle the rebuild, ServPro would clean up the home at no charge.

Along with the Cromwell Fire Department and Margarets son Timothy, we turned over a clean and demoed house to Lowes, Ashby said.

Lowes rebuilt Ashbys home: from insulation to drywall to painting, floorings, a new roof and electrical, even towels, throw rugs and placemats, Leavitt said.

Habitat for Humanity ReStore, with help from the Liberty Bank Foundation, donated a living room set and washing machine. Bobs Discount will soon deliver donated bedding, Leavitt said.

Despite years of setbacks, Ashby remains remarkably optimistic. Shes now staying with family in Meriden and expects to be home by the end of the week.

I have friends and people who love me. People like Marie come along just when Im feeling down. These are the things that keep me going, Ashby said. This is why Im still alive. I dont look at the negative things that happen in my life. I see those things as stepping stones to keep stepping.

Dont let these things push you down, Ashby said. Keep an effort to keep moving forward  get beyond that. My life has not been easy, but Im not going to let that hinder me from enjoying whats left of it.

Leavitt wouldnt let Ashby see her home as it was being rebuilt so shed be entirely surprised. She was given the keys to her new home three days before Christmas.

Honestly, other than having my two children, this has been the most rewarding accomplishment of my life so far, Leavitt said. Margaret was beyond excited. The days that led up to her getting her keys, she barely slept. She was overwhelmed when she saw her beautiful, beautiful home. All the work was 100 percent donated. Not one penny was paid by the homeowner. I am still in awe myself.

Ashby now counts Leavitt as a good friend.

Leavitt has taken away a valuable lesson from this years-long journey.

If you keep asking and have passion and commitment, you can accomplish whatever you set out to do, maybe even more than you expect, she said. I was proud that I could make such an amazing difference in the life of someone who started out as a stranger.

Managing Editor Cassandra Day can be reached at cassandra.day@hearstmediact.com.
Ukraine's irrecoverable losses during the Anti-Terrorist operation (ATO) in Donbas from the start of 2017 to December 18 amounted to 191 people, and another 174 Ukrainian servicemen suffered injuries, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said.

"Since the start of the year, 191 people have been killed, have gone missing, or have been captured. Another 174 people have been injured. These are the figures as of December 18. The figures are changing every day," the ministry told Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday.
NEW HAVEN  Rick Melita will soon leave City Hall to return to his labor roots.

Melita, 60, next week will exit the liaison position with the Board of Alders for Mayor Toni Harp, a post he took up in March 2016.

Melita will go back to Hartford as the executive director of the Connecticut State Council for the Service Employees International Union.

Melita has spent his career in the Democratic political and labor spheres in Connecticut.

He will be rejoining the union sector at a time when major cases will be taken up at the Supreme Court and Connecticut gears up for the gubernatorial race.

He worked for the council until 2008 when he went to the House Democrats office where he was the policy director for former House Speaker Chris Donovan, D-Meriden, before Donovan ran for the 5th District congressional seat. He was also the field director for Ned Lamonts 2006 Democratic U.S. Senate primary campaign.

Melita did union consultant work and was a lobbyist before he came to New Haven.

Meilita, who got to know Harp during her 20-plus year career in the state Senate, took a leave of absence from his aldermanic job for about eight weeks to help out with her primary campaign this summer from the end of July until after the primary in September.

The campaign is in debt, part of it to Melita, who said so far he has gotten paid for a couple of weeks of his campaign work.

I believe they are still fundraising, Melita said.

It was just helping out, Melita said of his involvement in the campaign where Harp easily beat Marcus Paca in the primary and in the general election by a 8 to 1 margin.

Harp continues to say she is happy to have been elected to a third term as mayor and is not interested in running for governor or a constitutional office although her name continues to be linked on a ticket with Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim or Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin.

Melita said the council consists of six locals: 1199, CSEA, 32BJ, CEUI; the Congress of Connecticut Community Colleges and IPPO.

They all work in tandem on their political activities through the state council, Melita said.

Melita will be watching the governors election, as well as trade union issues before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The governor election  a bit of an uphill, Melita remarked with an open field in both parties after Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced he would not seek a third term.

One of high court cases his is watching, Janus v. AFSME, challenges the collection of union dues for members who disagree with union policy. Melita said the flip side is representing members who dont contribute to the operation, but benefit from negotiated contracts.

It doesnt prohibit collective bargaining and representation, but it makes it harder for unions to collect dues, Melita said. It allows people to be free riders. It is one of the fault lines in trade unionism now.

All of the wage and benefit contracts for the locals in the council have been settled.

Asked how he liked working for municipal government, Melita said, Its been wild. All the things going on here. It is like drinking from the fire hose sometimes.

There has been tension between the administration and the alders as they work out the balance of power.

I have a greater appreciation for the city I have lived in almost all my life. All the working parts of it are kind of amazing, he said.

Melita said he enjoyed working with the alders. They have the citys interest at heart. They are all dedicated public servants.

It was a very good experience for me to be here, Melita said. The mayor does a great job.

Paul Filson, a former executive director of the SEIU council, stepped down in 2016 over a controversial ad involving Dr. William Petit who was seeking election to the 22nd House district. Petit won the seat.
NEW HAVEN  Another proposed major development may be changing hands.

Noel Petras approved development for 299 apartments at 87 Union St., in Wooster Square, is in negotiations with 44 Olive Investors LLC, a Delaware company.

A deal, which is still under discussion until at least March 20, was filed on the land records Tuesday in New Haven and a $1 million deposit put on the property.

Petra and his partner, David Adam Realty of Westport, first started discussing the Wooster Square apartment complex in 2014 and got city approval the next year.

Construction however was stymied for a time by a lawsuit brought by the parent of the nearby Strouse Adler apartments in 2015 in the former Smoothie Garment factory.

It was resolved in Petras favor when the court ruled PMC Property Group did not have standing to bring a challenge to the zone change for the proposal that would bring life to a dead zone along Union Street.

Adam America Real Estate is also named in the contract on the 87 Union St. property.

Adam America, according to its website, is a privately held real estate development and investment company. Founded in 2009, it has built multifamily apartments in New York, particularly in Brooklyn.

Centerplan, which built a 160-unit apartment building on College, George and Crown streets, was recently sold for $70 million, while Randy Salvatores Novela, 136 apartments on Chapel and Howe streets, sold for $40 million.

The Corsair, owned by Andy Montelli of Post Road Residential, a 235-unit apartment complex on State Street is also on the market.

Montelli, in a recent interview, said such sales are typical several years after construction when investors want to see a return on their money.

Spinnaker Real Estate Investments has bought several properties in New Haven, but continues to hit roadblocks in constructing 200 apartments on Chapel Street because of multiple suits by PMC, all of which Spinnaker have won.
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The day after Christmas begins another frenzy, the returning and exchanging of gifts, scouting stores for huge after-Christmas sales and of course, the preparation for New Years Eve celebrations. For those who celebrate in the comfort of their homes or host a home party, the menu is at the forefront. If you are looking for some bite-size finger food that looks sophisticated but easy to prepare, look no further.

Displays of Athens Mini Fillo Cups on display in several supermarkets caught my attention. Filo, also spelled phyllo, means leaf in Greek, and it consists of flaky sheets of paper-thin pastry. Phyllo is one component of a recipe that might not be worth the time and energy to make, especially when there is a quality product available. Common recipes using phyllo are baklava and spanakopita (spinach pie).

I did a bit of research and learned that Athens Foods, founded in 1958, is the worlds largest producer of phyllo dough products. They produce 85 percent of this type of dough in the United States.

Curiosity led me to prepare a few recipes using the mini cups. Whether used right out of the box or heated and served warm, they add a sophisticated and elegant presentation and crispy texture to appetizers, snacks and desserts. One simple and delicious shell with endless possibilities. Perfect for your New Years gathering.

Best wishes for a happy, healthy and food-filled New Year. I look forward to another year of sharing my passion for food with you.

Power Phyllo Bites

More Information CULINARY CALENDAR Jonathan Edwards Winery Dinner: Jan. 10, 6 p.m., Shell & Bones, 100 South Water St., New Haven, 203-787-3466 $100 includes tax, gratuity and a gift from the winery.. Reservations are required. For menu and pairings visit http://bit.ly/2DwDist Consiglio's Cooking Demonstration and Dinner: Jan. 10, 6:30 p.m., Consiglio's Restaurant, 165 Wooster St., New Haven, 203-865-4489 (reservations required), $65 (beverages, tax and gratuity not included). Preparation of a four-course meal is demonstrated. Each course is shown, step-by-step, and then served. Learn how to make some of Consiglio's trademark dishes: Spicy Tuscan Shrimp, Iceberg Wedge with Gorgonzola and Pancetta, Homemade Four Cheese Ravioli with Meat Sauce, Almond Amaretto Cake. Date Night, Cast Iron Cooking Class: Jan. 13, 6:30 p.m., Chef's Emporium, 449 Boston Post Road, Orange, 203-799-2665, $75. Invite a special someone to join you for a fun night out. If you have never tried cooking with cast iron or if you just want some useful tips, then this class is for you. Cast iron cookware is one of the most versatile, and can easily withstand a beating in the kitchen from repeated use. You and your date will also learn the tips to cleaning and caring for your cast iron pan properly. If you don't have a cast iron pan, then you will want one by the end of this class! Bring a bottle of wine or your favorite beverage with you to this class. One Pan Crispy Chicken Legs with Brussel Sprouts, Pumpkin Pecan Skillet Cake with Salted Butterscotch Glaze. Tickets at http://bit.ly/2kH7hWM Consiglio's Murder Mystery Dinner - "... Or Not to Be" Jan. 19, doors at 6 p.m., dinner and show at 7, Consiglio's Restaurant, 165 Wooster St., New Haven, reservations at 203-865-4489, http://bit.ly/2cyB02Y. $55 includes dinner and show (beverages, tax and gratuity not included). An interactive comedy show that goes on as you dig into a three-course dinner. See More Collapse

3/4 cup instant or rolled oats

1/3 cup Yumbutter Almond butter

3 tablespoons dark chocolate, chopped

2 tablespoons hemp seeds

2 packages (15 count, each) Athens Mini Fillo Shells

30 dried cranberries, for garnish

In a medium bowl, thoroughly combine oats, Yumbutter, honey, chocolate and hemp seeds. Form mixture into 30 small balls. Press each gently into mini fillo shells. Garnish with dried cranberries. Serve at room temperature. For added crispness, preheat oven to 350F. Place empty shells on a baking sheet and bake for 3-5 minutes. Cool and fill. In just a few minutes, this easy energy snack is perfect, providing extra energy as you prepare for your guests. They contain healthy and delicious super foods. I couldnt eat just one.

Champagne Phyllo Toast

2 packages (15 count, each) Mini Fillo Shells

1 cup heavy cream

4 egg yolks

1/4 cup sugar

1 2/3 cups champagne, divided (1 1/2 cups + 3 tablespoons)

2 1/2 teaspoons powdered gelatin

1 pinch salt

15 raspberries, cut in half

Preheat oven to 350F. Place empty shells on a baking sheet and bake for 3-5 minutes. Cool. In a medium chilled bowl, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Fill a medium pot 1/3 with water and bring to a simmer. In a small metal bowl, whisk together egg yolks and sugar until combined and light in color. Add 1 1/2 cups champagne and whisk to combine. Place the bowl with the egg mixture on top of the simmering water. Whisk continuously until the mixture thickens and foam subsides. Remove from heat and whisk for 2 minutes as the mixture continues to thicken. Set aside. Pour remaining 3 tablespoons champagne in a microwave safe bowl, sprinkle with gelatin and let sit until absorbed. Once absorbed, microwave for 10 seconds or until gelatin has dissolved. Whisk the gelatin into the egg mixture. Add salt. Gently fold in whipped cream. Refrigerate for about 15 minutes or until firm enough to pipe. Pipe into each shell and top with a raspberry half. This recipe is sure to be all the buzz at your New Years Eve gathering.

Santa in a Phyllo Sleigh

Kids will have fun helping you make these.

2 packages (15 count, each) Mini Fillo Shells

1  cups sweetened coconut flakes, divided

1 cup confectioners sugar

1/2 cup slivered almonds, chopped

1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

30 small candy eyes

15 medium strawberries

30 candy canes

1 tub (16 ounces) vanilla cake frosting

Preheat oven to 350F. Place empty shells on a baking sheet and bake for 3-5 minutes. Cool. In a medium mixing bowl, combine 1 cup of the coconut, confectioners sugar and almonds. Add sweetened condensed milk and vanilla extract, mixing well. Roll the mixture into 15 balls approximately 3/4-1 in diameter. Roll balls in the remaining coconut. Place 2 candy eyes on each ball and squeeze the area between the eyes to sculpt a nose. Hull the strawberries, cut off the tips and set tips aside to be used as hats. Place a strawberry into each of the 15 shells, hulled side up. Gently press the coconut balls onto each. As you press, pull a little of the coconut down to the front of the strawberry to represent a beard. Press strawberry hats on top. Pipe a small amount of cake frosting onto each as a pom pom.

On a plate, pipe two rows of cake frosting approximately 3/4-1 apart and fill in the area between with more frosting. (This will be the glue that will hold the sleigh together.) Press 1 candy cane into each line of frosting. Set the Santa in between the canes towards the front. Place another empty shell behind it to form the back of the sleigh

 Candy eyes can be purchased at most grocery, craft and baking supply stores.

Peppermint Christmas Tree Mini Shells

2 packages (15 count, each) Mini Fillo Shells

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

2/3 cup marshmallow cream

1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract

1 cup whipped topping

4 drops green food coloring

Preheat oven to 350F. Place empty shells on a baking sheet and bake for 3-5 minutes. Cool. In a medium bowl, whip the cream cheese, marshmallow cream and peppermint extract. Fold in whipped topping and food coloring. Pipe filling into the shells using a round pastry tip.

Garnish trees with candy stars, rainbow nonpareils or sprinkles.

Brie & Fig Tartlets

1 4-ounce package sliced prosciutto

1 13 ounce wheel of brie cheese, rind removed, cut into  inch cubes

2 packages (15 count) mini fillo shells

10 ounce jar fig preserves

In a large pan over medium heat, or on a baking sheet in a preheated 375 degree oven, crisp prosciutto. Place on paper towels to cool. Once the prosciutto is cooled, cut it into small pieces. Place one cube of brie into each shell. Spoon a teaspoon of fig preserves over the brie. Bake shell in preheated 375 degree oven for 8-10 minutes until brie is melted. Remove shells from oven and garnish each shell with small pieces of crisp prosciutto.

Tips: substitute prosciutto with raspberries, apples, blueberries or pomegranate. Fig preserves can be substituted with apple butter, pumpkin butter, marmalade. Garnish with pistachios, walnuts, pecans or almonds.

Shrimp Cocktail

A new twist on an old favorite, and so easy.

1 box mini fillo shells

Cocktail sauce

15 medium cooked shrimp

Fresh dill for garnish

Spoon 1 teaspoon of cocktail sauce into each shell, add one cooked shrimp (tail up and garnish with a sprig of dill.

Send us your requests: Which restaurant recipes or other recipes would you like to have? Which food products are you having difficulty finding? Do you have cooking questions? Send them to me.

Contact Stephen Fries, professor and coordinator of the Hospitality Management Programs at Gateway Community College, at gw-stephen.fries@gwcc.

commnet.edu or Dept. FC, Gateway Community College, 20 Church St., New Haven, 06510. Include your full name, address and phone number. Due to volume, he might not be able to publish every request. For more, go to stephenfries.com
The United States on Wednesday assured that it would continue to support Nigerias Armed Forces in the bid to defeat the Boko Haram sect and eliminate all forms of terrorism from the nations territory.

The U.S Ambassador to Nigeria, Stuart Symington, gave the assurance while presenting the Letters of Offer and Acceptance (LOA) in respect of the A29 Super Tucano Aircraft to the Nigerian Air Force (NAF).

Symington, who handed over the documents to the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, at the NAF Headquarters in Abuja, noted that peaceful co-existence in Nigeria was strategic to the security of the entire West African sub-region in particular and the world at large.

According to a statement signed by NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Vice Marshal Olatokunbo Adesanya, the LOA represents the official U.S Government offer to sell U.S Defence articles and services to the Nigerian Government.

The statement said: The United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Stuart Symington, today (Wednesday) presented the Letters of Offer and Acceptance (LOA) in respect of the A29 Super Tucano Aircraft to the Nigerian Air Force (NAF).

The LOA represents the official U.S Government offer to sell U.S defence articles and services to the Nigerian Government.

 Speaking while presenting the LOA to the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, at NAF Headquarters in Abuja, the U.S Ambassador noted that peaceful co-existence in Nigeria was strategic to the security of the entire West African sub-region in particular and the entire world at large.

Accordingly, Ambassador Symington expressed the commitment of the U.S Government to helping Nigeria completely defeat the Boko Haram terrorists and also eliminate all forms of terrorism from its territory.

In addition, he conveyed the U.S Governments belief that the capacity of the NAF could greatly be enhanced by the acquisition of the SuperTucano Aircraft.

According to him, the U.S Government would therefore continue to support the NAF in its capacity building efforts, including the timely supply of needed aircraft spares.

The U.S Ambassador also indicated the readiness of relevant U.S Government officials to work with NAF officials to facilitate the early delivery of the aircraft once payment had been made. In that regard, officials of both the U.S Government and the NAF would be meeting in early January 2018 to jointly study the LOA prior to subsequent endorsements by both parties.
The leadership of National Association of Nigerian Students has vowed to mobilise its members from across the country to occupy the National Assembly on resumption in January over alleged plan to stop the Energizing Education Programme (EEP) in the 2018 Appropriation Bill.NANS President, Comrade Kadiri Aruna, who addressed newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja, said the special electricity project must not be truncated.He noted that Energizing Education Programme was designed by the Federal ministry of power, works and Housing to ensure 24/7 supply of electricity to tertiary institutions in Nigeria and their environs.He added that most of it is to employ alternative, renewable and cleaner energy, to be funded by the World Bank in collaboration with the Federal Government.Aruna, said the project when implemented would solve the problem of the increment in school fees in tertiary institutions and provides 24/7 electricity supply to tertiary institutions and University Teaching Hospitals.He said: In the last few years, since the commencement of the total commercialization of tertiary education in Nigeria, NANS and all her structures, especially the Student Union Governments have been in constant engagement against the managements of different schools and different governments in order to save education and helpless indigent and socio-economically disadvantaged students.In this struggle, we have lost our Comrades to road accidents, murder by unscrupulous operatives of security agencies and other forms of deaths, including unresolved disappearances of student activists.Others have lost their studentship, degrees, liberty, dignity and have their future tainted.And this is because the school managements have resorted to incessant increment in school fees due to utility bills, mainly the purchase of diesel to power electricity in the tertiary institutions.These increments have always been resisted by the leadership of the student movement. Most times, with dire consequences.And due to the constant engagement of the leadership of the Nigerian Students with the Federal Government on averting some of these incidence, the Federal Government graciously introduced the Energizing Education Programme (EEP) in the 2018 Appropriation Bill.Curiously the information at the disposal of the leadership of NANS is that some powerful unpatriotic cabal are set to sabotage the programme under the spurious claim that their constituencies have no electricity and as such, tertiary institutions of learning should not have.Our question is: are these tertiary institutions situated in Cameroun, Niger, Chad or Benin Republic? The truth is that they are demanding the contract for the job or a truncation of the programme, he said.Aruna, said even though the programme would be done in phases, it is one of the best ways of solving the power problem and making our tertiary institutions, real Centres of Excellence.According him, Energizing Education Programme is also a component of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) and is incorporated in the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved Power Sector Reform Programme (PSRP).He said it was inconceivable that any group of Nigerians, especially legislators could for any reason vow to truncate this programme simply because their businesses or selfish interest is not served.Consequently, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) shall be occupying the National Assembly on her resumption in January, and would remain there until the students and Nigerians, especially parents who bear the burden of school fees and other problems associated with service delivery to their children and wards receive the assurance of the National Assembly that this timely intervention called EEP is not truncated.We cannot stand aside and look; enough is enough! The sabotage of our National aspirations in excellence must stop, he said.
The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, has reacted to the call for the resignation of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, has reacted to the call for the resignation of President Muhammadu Buhari.

While reacting to President Buharis claim that he thought he was 74 years old until he was told he was 75, the main opposition party had advised him to turn in his resignation.





The PDP also described the statement as a national disgrace, while calling on INEC to revisit Buharis files.





Responding to the PDPs statement, the National Chairman of the APC, chief John Odigie-Oyegun said the PDP lacked the morality to demand Buharis resignation.





He also said the PDP was calling for Buharis resignation because they dont have rectitude and morality to see anything tangible in his statement.





He said, The comment by Mr. President was too minor an issue for discussion. Why should we start debating over his one-year difference in age?





What should interest anybody is the share honesty and simplicity of that man. The man is so simple, so unassuming, so straightforward and that should be what people should admire. How many Nigerians are like that?





If PDP is calling for his resignation, it is because they dont have any rectitude and morality to see anything significant in President Buharis statement and what it says about the man.





They are in an entirely different world that lacks total morality and any reference to truth. They dont know anything about truth any more.




The only son of President Muhammadu Buhari, Yusuf, was last night involved in an accident.

The only son of President Muhammadu Buhari, Yusuf, was last night involved in an accident.

He was riding his power bike when the crash occurred, daily post reports.





Our correspondent gathered on Wednesday that Yusuf is currently at an emergency ward at Cedacrest Hospital in Abuja, the nations capital.





The extent of the injury is not yet known but doctors are said to be monitoring his condition keenly.





Calls to presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, to ascertain Yusufs health status went unanswered.





Yusuf bagged his Masters Degree in the United Kingdom in July 2016.




Information and Culture Minister Alhaji Lai Mohammed has shed light on the approval of $1 billion by the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF)...

Information and Culture Minister Alhaji Lai Mohammed has shed light on the approval of $1 billion by the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) to fight insecurity nationwide.He said the money was approved to assist the military in tackling serious security challenges, including the Boko Haram insurgency, illegal oil bunkering, kidnaping and cattle rustling.Mohammed took exception to the criticisms of the approval by the opposition, saying that they were unnecessary, uninformed and in bad faith.To the minister, $1 billion is not too much for the military to fight insecurity. Security of lives and property is at the core of the governments existence, he said.He said while Boko Haram had been largely degraded, as claimed by the critics, fighting such an asymmetric war is costlier than fighting a conventional war.The minister reminded the critics that the war against terror had never been fought with budgetary provisions.Mohammed spoke with reporters in Lagos on the motivation for approving the cash and its anticipated impact on the capacity of the military to frontally confront the multi-dimensional security challenges.Justifying the financial assistance to the military, the minister said it had played a dominant role in in resolving the various security problems across the federation.Mohammed said: The annual budgetary allocation to the military is not commensurate with the internal security challenges we face, for which we have had to continuously rely on the military to assist the police and the Civil Defence Corps. When insurgents take over a chunk of our nations territory, we turn to the military. When the farmers/herders clash escalates, we turn to the military.When kidnappers up their game, we turn to the military; when illegal bunkerers and pipeline vandals are seeking to overwhelm our oil production and export, we turn to the military; when ethno-religious clashes occur, we turn to the military. But when it is time to give the military the resources it needs to function, we say it is a waste of scarce resources; we come up with spurious reasons to deny the military its due.The scriptures say to whom much is given, much is expected. That also presupposes that to whom much is expected, much is given. The Nigeria Governors Forum acted wisely in approving the withdrawal of 1 billion dollars from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) to fight Boko Haram and other security challenges in the country.Mohammed said: The aircraft being used for the war, including fighter jets and helicopters, altogether, consume 64,021.08 litres of fuel per day. With the aircraft flying a total of about 30 sorties a day, and at N275 per litre, it costs a total of N15,153,428.25 daily to fuel the aircraft.The spares for the aircraft from January to November 2017 cost N20,019,513,739.88, while consumables for the aircraft, and here I am talking of engine oil, and plugs amounted to N3,863,600 monthly and N46,363,200.00 yearly. What about the cost of ammunition? Just for 42 days, from 5th November to 17 December, the cost of ammunition was over 5 million dollars.Since we are using the Air Force as a reference point here, what about the cost of acquiring Air Force platforms? For example, the 12 Super Tuscano aircraft recently approved for sale to Nigeria by the US Government costs a whopping 490 million dollars, yet this is government to government contract, and the costs of spares, munitions and other consumables are not included.The costs stated above are for the air force alone and restricted to operations in the Northeast alone. We have not even talked of the army or the navy, which are also fully involved in tackling internal security challenges. Nor have we included the operating cost of the Nigerian Air Force in the Niger Delta to curb pipeline vandalism, in the Northwest to contain cattle rustlers, in the Northcentral to curtail herdsmen and farmers clashes or kidnapping, armed robberies and separatism in other parts of the country.Noting that the opposition has the right to offer constructive criticism, Mohammed said that such a right was not a liberty to distort facts, engage in crass sensationalism and play politics with national security.He chided those viewing the security fund from the prism of partisanship for wrong perception, pointing out that the military, as a national institution, serves all Nigerians, irrespective of their religion, ethnicity or political party.Mohammed said if the military had been better equipped to tackle Boko Haram in the early days of the insurgency, thousands of lives, including service mens, could have been saved and the war would have ended long time ago.He added: If the funds meant to equip the military have not been diverted into private pockets, there may be no need today to withdraw any money from the ECA for that purpose.The minister praised the NGF for approving the withdrawal of the money, describing its action as an act of patriotism.He added: Their action, which is not unprecedented, is right. Those who have imputed ulterior motives to the NGFs action are wrong. Their action amounts to a disservice to our service men and women. Just because some people, under a different political dispensation, squirrelled away money meant to equip the military in the past does not mean the military should be left to its own devices, or that every allocation to the military will suffer the same fate.Ours is a disciplined government that does not allow allocated funds to end up in private pockets or spent on prayers. We will always empower the military and other security agencies to be better able to carry out their tough tasks. The controversy over the approval of 1billion dollars by the NGF is absolutely unnecessary and unhelpful.
The business of exchanging Naira mint during the Christmas and New Year celebrations had been on over the years, especially in Anambra State where people usually show off with such mints by spraying the celebrants at ceremonies. In the past, commercial banks used to supply such mints to their customers during this time of the year, but somehow, the mints disappeared from the banks.Rather, the mints which could not be found in the banks became readily available at the various markets in the major cities of the state. The business became so lucrative that some traders left their former businesses to go into the sale of mints.Places where the mints are openly exchanged include the Emeka Ofor Plaza in Onitsha, the Abuja line in the Onitsha Main Market, the Ochanja Market, the Head Bridge Market, the Electronics Market, the Eke Awka Market, the Nnewi Main Market, among many other places. Sometimes the hawkers take the business to venues of ceremonies where the commission is higherAt the various places where the business thrives, N10000 mint is exchanged for N12000 of used currency and it had been on for years. The question that had agitated the minds of the people was the source of the mint exchanged by the hawkers. Since individuals do not have access to the CBN, but to the commercial banks, the belief is that it is the commercial banks that supply the mints to the hawkers. However, some staff of commercial banks say the CBN no longer supplies the mints to them.Last week, seven persons who were hawking the mint naira notes in Onitsha were arrested by the Anambra State police command in collaboration with the Department of State Security, DSS, following complaint by officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.The suspects, made up of six males and a female, were arrested at the drugs and building materials markets in the city, where they were caught with over N4 million, most of which were mint. Some other people doing the business fled when they sighted security agents and the police say they would soon be arrested.Since the raid at Onitsha, the hawkers had gone underground with the result that the commission has increased for those who still want to spray mint at ceremonies. For instance, rather than sell at the designated places, the hawkers have resorted to operating from their homes. One significant thing is that the business is still thriving even with the arrest of some dealers.Efforts by South East Voice to know the sources of the mint proved abortive as the seven people arrested in Onitsha vehemently refused to disclose the sources of supply.Rather, they claimed they usually bought the money from people at the Emeka Ofor Plaza close to the Onitsha Main Market, insisting that they never knew that it was an offense to exchange mint with old notes, with little profit. One of the suspects, who gave his name as Ezeike, said he joined the business in 2015 and had not encountered any problem since then. He said he raised the capital for the business by borrowing from friends and relations. He declined to name those who supply the mint to them. Officials of the CBN who took part during the raid at the booming mint market also pressured the suspects to disclose the sources of their supply to no avail as they kept mum.Anambra State Police Commissioner, Mr. Garba Umar, who paraded them in Awka warned that the command would no longer tolerate the abuse of the Naira in any part of the state. The CP said: The clamp-down on the suspects is hinged on the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) Act section 20 and 21 thereof.Section 20 sub section 4,makes it an offence punishable by a term of imprisonment not less than five years for any person to falsify, make or counterfeit any bank notes or coin issued by the Bank, whereas section 21 sub section 1 makes it an offence punishable by a term of imprisonment of not less than six months or a fine not less than N50,000 or both for any person to hawk, sell or otherwise trade in the Naira notes, coins or any other notes issued by the bankThe command wants to use this opportunity to warn the public to desist from abusing the naira as it is one of the symbols of our national identity.We wish to also remind the general public that the acts of spraying naira notes at occasions, soiling and writing on it, squeezing it are abuse of the naira and are punishable as appropriate.The CP said though the business had been thriving in the past, his command would no longer tolerate the abuse of the countrys currency.In the meantime, the police said the seven suspects would continue to be detained until they reveal their suppliers. There were fears that staff of some commercial banks might ultimately be fingered.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara has said he is not excited about his current position, but by the degrees of impacts, he has made on the lives of people, especially the less privileged in the society.The Speaker also said Nigeria would be a prosperous country if all hands agreed to be on deck to work for its greatness.Dogara made the remarks while reflecting on his sojourn on earth in the last 50 years after donating food items, beverages, clothings, mattresses and toiletries to two orphanages: Treasure Orphanage and Abuja Children Home in Abuja, yesterday, as part of activities to mark his 50th birthday.He said his greatest achievement would be summed up in his ability to better the lots of most citizens of the country.He said: For me, it is not so special as I thought, because all the time, I was determined that I am not going to celebrate any birthdays, until I am 50. So, whether it is special or not, it is very special to me. What I am taking stock of actually, is how I have invested this 50 years that God has given to me. It is not the kind of positions that I have occupied. A lot of people will say oh, it is because you are the Speaker; they call you the Number 4 person in Nigeria and so, you have achieved a lot. To me, thats not an achievement.I am measuring my life by the impact that those 50 years have brought to bear on the lives of others and I have seen it myself and so many people have been able to tell me how I have impacted on their lives these 50 years.So, it is a special moment for me. And as I mark 50, my next journey in life is to be able to reassess where I have not done very well so that I can strengthen those areas and strengthen my resolve to serve humanity better.For me, Nigeria is a great country. It will be greater and thats if all of us do our work. The problem we have now is that virtually everyone looks up to government. Every Nigerian must go to work and if Nigerians go to work and do the right work, I can assure you that in the next 50 years, this nation will be a cesspool of prosperity for all the citizens of this country. Everything we run abroad for, we will have them in this country if all of us make collective effort not just people in government.Earlier at the Treasure Orphanage, Dogara who was accompanied by the member of his immediate family, his deputy, Mr Yesuf Lasun, the Senator representing Federal Capital Territory, Philip Ajuda and a host of other federal lawmakers from the House encouraged the children not to be deterred by their present condition.He advised them to imbibe the culture of discipline, praying that God will enable them fulfil their destiny in life.Also at his visit to Abuja Children Home, where he also made some donations, Dogara enjoined the children to be focused and prayerful.He said that to visit was not a show but a call of duty.
With capacity to serve as stimulus to national development and economic boaster to industrial growth, the steel industry is said to be t...

With capacity to serve as stimulus to national development and economic boaster to industrial growth, the steel industry is said to be the backbone of any nation.Thus, the Ajaokuta Steel Company in Kogi State was envisaged to serve as the bedrock of Nigerias industrialisation.The idea of having a steel industry was conceived in 1958 by the Federal Government and the preliminary market studies were carried out. The studies were initially directed towards the feasibility of establishing Rolling Mills.However, because of the growing awareness of the availability of iron ore in Agbaja, Udi and other areas of the country, emphasis later shifted to establishing an integrated steel plant.The late Sir Abubarka Tafawa Balewa and the late Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe between 1960 and 1966 invited and recieved proposals from foreign firms, including those from the United Kingdom (UK), the United States (U.S.), Germany and Canada, most of these being on the feasibility of establishing steel complexes.The efforts of the government did not yield significant positive result because they were based on the use of iron deposits in Agbaja and Udi which were later found to be unsuitable for direct reduction.In 1967, a team of Soviet experts arrived in Nigeria to conduct a feasibility study on the establishment of an iron and steel plant, as a follow-up on a technical/economic cooperation agreement between the governments of Nigeria and the defunct Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).In their report, they recommended the use of Blast Furnace process of iron making. The report also pointed out that the known iron ore deposits in the country were of poor quality and recommended that further geological surveys be conducted to see if better ore could be found.In 1968, Soviet geological experts came to Nigeria and after a general geological investigation reported that there were high prospects for richer iron ore and coal deposits in the country.However, the Federal Government signed a contract in 1970 with TYAZHPROMEXPORT (TPE), a Russian company, under which they agreed to provide specialised equipment to carry out further geological survey to determine the quantity of the deposits of iron ore, coal resources in the country that could be used for the proposed iron and steel industry.By 1973, Suitable Iron Ore (SIO) deposit was discovered in Itakpe, Ajabanoko and Oshokoshoko all in the region around Kabba-Okene-Lokoja  Koton Karfe axis, now in Kogi State.The TPE was contracted to prepare the Preliminary Project Report (PPR) for the proposed Iron and Steel Industry in Nigeria.In 1975, during the reign of the reign of the late Gen. Murtala Mohammed, the preliminary project report, specifying the raw materials base at Itakpe, in Kogi plant site location (Ajaokuta), first phase production volume (1.3 mmt), process route (Blast Furnace -Basic Oxygen Furnace), Product form (Long products) submitted by TPE was reviewed, discussed and accepted.TPE was subsequently commissioned to prepare the Detailed Project Report (DPR) on Ajaokuta which was completed and submitted in 1977.In 1979, Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited (ASCL)/NIOMCO, Delta Steel Company (DSC), among others, were established under Section 2 of National Steel Council Decree No. 60 of Sept. 19, 1979 and incorporated as Limited Liability Companies.In 1980, former President Shehu Shagari laid the Foundation Stone of an integrated steel plant in Ajaokuta on 24,000 hectares of sprawling green-field landmass, built on 800-hectares.The steel company has four different types of rolling mills inside the plant, such as the Billet Mill which produces billets; the Light Section Mill which produces round, square, strip and angles metals.The Wire Rod Mill, which produces wire rods and rebars used in construction companies and production of nails, fencing wire, rope mesh, bolts and nut and netting and the Medium Section and Structural Mill produces parallel flange channels, equal angles, unequal angles and standard channels.The four rolling mills are bigger than Aladja, Osogbo, Katsina and Jos rolling mills put together while the coke oven and bye products plant is bigger than all the four refineries in Nigeria put together.From 1980 to 1983, the administration achieved 84 per cent of Ajaokuta steel plant as the Light Section Mill of the plant was inaugurated earlier than the scheduled date, while the Wire Rod Mill was also inaugurated in April 1984, earlier than the scheduled month of December.In 1994, equipment erection work at Ajaokuta Steel Plant reached 98 per cent completion.With all these achievements, it was, however, sad that the gigantic steel plant idea conceived and executed by past leaders had failed to contribute to the Nigerias development.The Ajaokuta steel that had reached 98 per cent completion as far back as 1994 had not produced single steel till date.The integrated plant was envisaged to have multiplier effects on all sectors of the economy such as the industrial, agriculture, transport and construction sectors, among others.The steel plant was designed to produce 1.3 million tonnes of liquid steel per annum in its phase one, with a built-in capacity to expand its production to 2.6 million tonnes of flat iron and steel products in its second phase and phase three plan was planned to produce 5.2 million tonnes of various types of steel products, including heavy plates.The steel plant complex also has highly sophisticated assemblage of 43 different plants made up of a web of complex iron, cable and machinery of different sizes and functions.Out of the 43 plants, 40 are already completed and can produce independently.Ajaokuta steel has the capacity to become a major producer of industrial machineries, auto-electrical spare-parts, shipbuilding, railways and carriages.The steel plants first phase has the capacity to provide direct employment for 10,000 technical staff and indirect 500,000 for unskilled upstream and downstream employment if it is in operation.The Federal Government had spent over $10 billion over 34 years and would require another $2 billion to complete the remaining two per cent of the plant.South Korea, which started its steel construction around the same time with Ajaokuta steel now has a revenue base of over N60 billion dollars per annum and employed over 65,000 staff.Ajaokuta steel would have done better if it had started production.According to World Steel Association (WSA) report, South Africa and Egypt produced 6.1 and 5.0 million tonnes of steel in 2016, while South Africa is the 22nd on the list of countries on steel production, Egypt is the 27th.China, the worlds largest steel producer topped the chart with a production of 808.4 million tonnes, representing about 50 per cent of global steel output for 2016, as Japan and India produced 104.8 and 95.6 million tonnes of crude steel to maintain the second and third position on the list.Virtually all the nations that are playing big globally have enhanced capacities for steel production.Even those that do not have any of the key mineral inputs needed for steelmaking had over the years developed the capacity to produce steel.Japan and South Korea, for instance, have no mineral resource for iron and steel, but they rank among the world top 10 countries in steel production.Nigeria that is blessed with raw materials, such as iron ore, coal, natural gas and limestones needed for the manufacture of steel is still struggling with what to do with the dormant plant.In June 2003, former President Olusegun Obasanjo conceded Ajaokuta steel to Messrs SOLGAS ENERGY of USA on a 10-year tenure; in August 2004, the Federal Government terminated the SOLGAS Agreement due to non-performance.Between 2004 and 2005, the Obasanjo administration, again, granted another concession to Global Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (GINL) an India company for the operation of Ajaokuta steel and the Nigeria Iron Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO) at Itakpe in Kogi.However, the Indian company did not live up to the governments expectation in managing the two companies.Consequently, the administration of former President, the late Umaru YarAdua, was compelled to revoke the contract in April 2008 without meeting the requirements of the clauses built into the agreement.The Indian company thereafter took the Federal Government to arbitration court in London, which also crippled the two firms.In 2016, President Muhammadu Buhari fulfilled his campaign promise on Ajaokuta steel by settling the legal bottleneck surrounding the companies out of court.However, the Federal Government signed modified concession agreement with GINL to enable the firm to retain the National Iron Ore Mining Company, Itakpe.The modified seven-year concession agreement was signed on August 1, 2016, while the Federal Government took over the Ajaokuta steel.While the Federal Government was planning to reconcession Ajaokuta steel again, stakeholders in the Nigerian Metallurgical Society urged it to complete the remaining two per cent and operate the plant for few years before concessioning it.The stakeholders also urged government to provide clear and articulated plan for the development and growth of metal production sector as the struggle for functional steel company in Nigeria continued.(NAN)
Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, has told his Manchester United counterpart, Jose Mourinho, that he has spent 21 years not being able to spend as much as his title rivals.Wenger was reacting to Mourinhos comments that the 300m he has spent so far at Old Trafford, is still not enough to compete with Manchester City.When the Gunners boss was asked on Wednesday about the Portuguese remarks, he said: I have been in that position for 21 years so I cant start to complain now.There have always been three or four teams richer than I am. Ive learned to cope with that.We deal with our own situation as well as we can.Man City, Chelsea and Man United are all richer than us. Have to find ways to be successful.
Rivers State governor, Mr. Nyesom Wike, has declared that unless the APC-led Federal Government and its agents apologise for plotting and executing evil against Rivers State, they will continue to falter in governance.He stated that as long as the APC Federal Government continues to execute evil plots against Rivers people, they will never be able to conceptualise meaningful projects.He spoke yesterday during a special meeting with Bolo people at the Bolo Civic Centre, Ogo/Bolo Local Government Area.He said: Anything you do against Rivers State will affect the entire Nigeria. When you see us cry, listen to Rivers State. Until they leave this state alone, they will never know peace. When they try to distract Rivers State, they will never be able to conceptualise projects.Until they come to apologise for plotting and executing evil against Rivers State, they will continue to falter.He noted that despite the evil machinations of the APC, Rivers State remains one of the very few flourishing states in the country. He said APC states have gone under, grappling with the payment of salaries.
Senator Magnus Abe, has said that Govenor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State warned him over the current antagonism he is facing from the Minister...

Senator Magnus Abe, has said that Govenor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State warned him over the current antagonism he is facing from the Minister of Transport, Chibuike Amaechi-led All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state.

Senator Abe said this while reacting to recent accusations by Senator Andrew Uchendu, where he (Abe) was taunted as having inordinate ambition, gaining more than he contributed to Amaechis political dynasty and not supporting the Transport Ministers governorship bid back in 2007





Speaking yesterday in Port Harcourt over the Ministers alleged rejection of his 2019 governorship ambition in preference for Tonye Cole under the party, Abe said it was now clear, from Uchendus remarks, That the decision to stop me (Abe) was taken long ago.





That is exactly what Governor Wike warned me against when he came to my house prior to his decision to leave the group. What is happening in Rivers State APC has nothing to do with building the party, it is all about stopping Abe.





On the contribution to Amaechis political dynasty, Abe said: There is always this attempt to play down Wikes contribution to our success in the court.





Wike was pivotal to what happened in the court, just as I was to how we got the nomination.





When Amaechi was in Ghana, he was talking to me more than five times every day, at a stage I was the only person in (Peter) Odilis Government he was talking to.





When Amaechi came back from Ghana, immediately after he was sworn-in as governor, he appointed Wike as his Chief of Staff and appointed me as Secretary to the State Government.





So if Sen. Uchendu feels the governor, in his wisdom, chose to appoint people who did not support his struggles to such strategic positions in his government, then too bad.




The 2020 Census is about two years away, but researchers already fear that not every person will be accurately counted.

The Census Bureau, which every 10 years conducts its actual count of people as mandated by the U.S. Constitution, has been plagued with problems ranging from budget issues, cancelled tests and a leadership vacuum that has become unusually politicized.

It is especially worrisome in New Jersey, which has growing communities of color and immigrant populations that could effectively be disenfranchised, experts say.

"It's hugely consequential to people's voices that we have a fair and accurate [Census] count," said Indivar Dutta-Gupta, co-executive director of the Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality.

The Census determines the mapping of congressional and state legislative districts so that every resident gets fair representation at the state and federal level. It's how the federal government knows how to provide funding for roads, schools, Medicaid, housing assistance and neighborhood improvements.

In fact, a recent research report found that Census data guided almost $600 billion in federal dollars in 2015, $17 billion of which was directed to New Jersey.

It is often used in public policy planning in all levels of government. The private sector also uses it as a guide on where to do business. Academics use it for research on demographic trends.

"And the list goes on and on," Dutta-Gupta said. "There's no realm of life that won't be directly affected by the Census."

New Jersey is especially vulnerable because of the 1.9 million, or about 21.8 percent, of residents who live in "hard-to-count" areas, according to research by the Center for Urban Research at the City University of New York.

A Census tract is considered "hard-to-count" if the 2010 mail return rate was 73 percent or less, said Steven Romalewski, the center's director.

In the past, the Census questionnaire was mostly sent by mail to every household. If no response was received by the agency from that household, census takers were then sent to that address to try to conduct the survey in person.

"That's the concern, of potentially undercounting people [in 2020]," said Romalewski. "When you go door-to-door, there's a better chance you might miss someone."

The Center has created an interactive map on which you can explore whether you live in a "hard-to-count" Census tract. The map shows that large swaths of Newark, East Orange, Irvington, Jersey City and Elizabeth have "hard-to-count" Census tracts.

Newark, in particular, has tracts in the lower-income southern and western parts of the city where about half of the residents did not mail back their Census questionnaire.

In fact, all of New Jersey's major cities have areas with "hard-to-count" populations.

hard-to-count-cities.jpg

The maps also break down the percentage of the populations living in those tract that are part of historically disproportionately undercounted groups in past Census. These includes racial and ethnic minorities, renters, single-parent households, immigrants, people with limited English proficiency and low-income populations.

According to Census estimates, racial and ethnic minorities and immigrants are the fastest-growing populations in New Jersey. In fact, immigrants are responsible for keeping the total population of the state afloat.

A recent report from The Leadership Conference, a civil rights coalition, also found that 40.7 percent of Hispanics (about 500,000 people) and 21.4 percent of Asians in New Jersey live in a "hard-to-count" Census tract.

PROBLEMS AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL

Even though the actual Census is not for almost two years, preparations have already begun. There are multiple and complex moving parts that involve months of counting everyone, not just in households but also people in places like college dorms, nursing homes, prisons and military barracks. The Census even counts people traveling in circuses.

That's why there is a considerable ramp-up in the Census Bureau's budget in the years leading up to the decennial Census, said Casey Goldvale, policy and research analyst at Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality.

Under the George W. Bush administration, funding for the Census surged by 79 percent from 2006 to 2008 in the lead up to the 2010 Census.

"This year, we're seeing marginal increases that amount to a flat budget," Goldvale said.

The lack of budget led the department to cancel two scheduled field test in 2017. One was to take place in Puerto Rico and test the Spanish-language capabilities of the Census' systems, among other things.

In addition, the 2018 "end-to-end" Census dress rehearsal will now be significantly scaled back with very little advertising budget and will only take place in Providence County, Rhode Island. Tests in West Virginia and Washington State meant to assess rural and Native American districts with a major military base were cancelled.

The 2020 Census is also the first time residents will be able to respond online using personal computers or mobile devices.

Cybersecurity experts have expressed concern over possible fraud and phishing attacks. The Government Accountability Office found the Bureau tested only four of the 43 IT systems needed for the 2018 dress rehearsal run.

The department is also currently without a director after the former one resigned back in May 2017.

Indivar Dutta-Gupta from Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality hopes that the Trump administration appoints someone with a research academic background and with a lot experience dealing with the "serious management task" involved in handling the Census' budget issues.

In addition, the ideal candidate would be someone not seen as partisan and having a career tied to a certain political identity, Dutta-Gupta adds.

Back in November, Politico reported that the Trump administration could pick Thomas Brunell for the job. Brunell is a professor at the University of Texas with no previous government experience who is the author of a book titled "Redistricting and Representation: Why Competitive Elections Are Bad For America."

Terry Ann Lowenthal, a former staff director of the House Census Oversight subcommittee from 1987 to 1994, is also concerned about the "climate of fear" that the anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric coming from Trump administration may have on most hard-to-count populations.

Since ICE is ramping up deportations and the Census is part of the federal government, members of immigrant communities could be wary of participating, regardless of immigration status since some households may be of mixed-immigration status. The Census must count all residents, including asylum-seekers and undocumented immigrants.

Lowenthal said that New Jersey's Muslim communities could also be apprehensive about participating due to its strong distrust of the Trump administration.

In addition, areas of New Jersey ravaged by the heroin and opioid crisis could be undercounted due to a "a lack of interest in civic activity," said Lowenthal.

If these "hard-to-count" communities are inaccurately and unfairly counted, it would be at odds with the spirit of the Census, according to Lowenthal. While the window of opportunity to fix it is closing fast, it's not too late for Congress to act.

"There are no do-overs in the Census," Lowenthal said. "The Census Bureau has one chance to get it right, and we'll have to live with the results for the next ten years."

Carla Astudillo may be reached at castudillo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @carla_astudi. Find her on Facebook.
"Real Housewives of New Jersey" star Teresa Giudice won't be seeing her husband this holiday season.

According to a Page Six report, Giudice has still not been approved to visit her husband Joe Giudice in a federal prison in Pennsylvania, where he is serving a 41-month sentence for bankruptcy fraud, conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and failure to pay his income taxes.

The situation has come about because Joe was recently transferred from the Federal Correctional Institute at Fort Dix to the Federal Correctional Institute in Allenwood, Pennsylvania.

When Joe was transferred, Teresa was required to reapply for visitor clearance at the new prison. The approval process can take six weeks; Joe was transferred around Thanksgiving, so that process is reportedly still ongoing.

But the holidays don't appear to be all bad for the famed table-flipper: According to TMZ, Teresa made do by taking her four children on a trip to Mexico for Christmas.

Joe is set to be in prison until March 2019. His time in prison has been tumultuous.

Shortly after he entered prison in 2016, Immigration and Customs Enforcement placed a detainer on him. Joe's parents immigrated to the United States from Italy when he was 1 year old, and they never had him naturalized as a U.S. citizen. The move means Joe could face more time behind bars and deportation back to Italy.

In September, Joe's immigration status was a reason why he was reportedly barred from entering an alcohol counseling program for prisoners at the Fort Dix facility.

Michael Sol Warren may be reached at mwarren@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MSolDub. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
A Newark native chosen as a Rhodes Scholar -- one of the most prestigious scholarships for young leaders across the world -- says he'll one day return to his city to finish the work he started.

"The people I have met along my journey have been special and it's amazing to see the impact I can have on others," said Jordan Thomas, a senior at Princeton University and graduate of University High in Newark, who was named one of 32 Rhodes Scholars representing the U.S. for 2018.

"I will be coming back to Newark -- I'm not finished yet," he added.

Jordan Thomas was named a Rhodes Scholar.

The scholarship, among the most recognized international academic awards, counts former President Bill Clinton and U.S. Senator Cory Booker, D-N.J., among its ranks. The award pays for two or three years of graduate study at Oxford University in England; this year 97 will earn such scholarships around the world.

"We recognize a young man who has made history not only for Newark Public Schools, but also for the city of Newark," Chairman of the Newark School Advisory Board Marquis Aquil Lewis said.

Thomas will graduate from Princeton next year, earning a Bachelor of Arts from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He is double minoring in Portuguese Language and Culture and African-American Studies.

Thomas also served as a Fulbright Summer Institute Fellow at the University of Bristol and interned at the Office for Civil Rights' Program Legal Group at the U.S. Department of Education. He also previously served as a student representative on the local School Advisory Board.

At Oxford, Thomas will study social intervention and policy evaluation, the district said. He plans to host a discussion with students at his alma mater on Jan. 4.

Superintendent of Schools Christopher Cerf said Thomas "represents the best of Newark Public Schools students and their passion to learn, explore and impact the world. We are proud of Jordan's accomplishments and look forward to an extraordinary future for him."

Other New Jersey natives named 2018 Rhodes Scholars include Christopher D'Urso, a Colts Neck resident who attends the University of Pennsylvania and Jasmine Brown, a Hillsborough resident who attends Washington University in St. Louis.

Jordan Thomas, of Newark, was named a Rhodes Scholar for 2018. (Courtesy: The Rhodes Trust)

Rhodes Scholars have been named since 1903. In 1977, another scholar, Frederick T. Smith, also hailed from Newark, according to The New York Times. A representative from the scholarship program said it does not keep a list of past winners sortable by hometown. But, Thomas is the first scholar from Newark since at least 2001.

"I am truly honored and humbled to stand before you this evening to accept this proclamation from a school district and city I love," Thomas said earlier this month as he was honored by the School Advisory Board.

"I truly believe in my heart this (being a Rhodes Scholar) will help me to come back and serve my city."

Karen Yi may be reached at kyi@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @karen_yi or on Facebook.
The search for a South Jersey man's missing dog and the $5,000 reward he is offering for its return has united a community and drawn social media support from as far away as California and Canada.

Mark Gray took to Facebook to report his Akita, named Kabuki, ran off from his Harrison Township, Gloucester County, home on Dec. 17.

Since then, supporters have offered all forms of help, from walking fields and patrolling roadways to suggesting psychic solutions to bring Kabuki home.

Kabuki and the Grays' other dog, Shika, took off after deer that crossed onto the couple's 11-acre property early that morning. While Shika returned three hours later, Kabuki did not.

Since then, community members have reported seeing Kabuki, who is 2 1/2 years old and weighs about 130 pounds. The dog was first sighted Dec. 22 at Commissioners Pike and Route 538. Sightings followed Christmas Eve near Route 77 and Pine Tavern Road and on Route 45 at Route 538.

Gray originally offered a $1,000 reward, but announced the increase to $5,000 on Tuesday.

All he wants is Kabuki returned, no questions asked.

Mark and his ex-wife, Michelle, jointly own the dog and have been working non-stop to bring him home.

"He loves people. He's friendly," Mark Gray said. "I really, honestly didn't think he would ever run away."

He worries that someone driving past spotted the dog and opened their door.

"That's my worst nightmare," he said. "My only fear is that somebody has picked him up."

When the $1,000 reward didn't work, he increased it drastically in order to make it worth someone's while in case the dog has been found and someone has grown attached to it. He notes that someone could purchase several Akitas for $5,000.

About 200,000 people have seen the Facebook posts and many have offered help. Readers are sharing the posts and offering to help in the search.

A chiropractor by trade, Gray said he spends hours responding to hundreds of emails and Facebook messages as he coordinates the search effort.

"I am blown away at the love shown here in South Jersey," he said.

Dog searchers with bloodhounds, beagles and ATVs have joined the effort. Michelle was out Wednesday with volunteers from a canine rescue group from Jackson, Mark said. They're setting up trail cameras near some of the last locations were Kabuki was spotted.

Gray said he has been told that a dog will go into a survival mode after several days in the wild and may no longer recognize the call of an owner. In fact, the dog may only hear these calls as hostile yelling and run the other way.

"I have been offered every form of dog advice in the world," he said, including advice from dog psychics.

In 11 days of searching, the Grays have actually found other people's lost dogs, but the search for Kabuki continues.

Gray sayid he is now a big believer in GPS tracking for pets. He just wishes he had tagged Kabuki.

"I'm not giving up hope," Gray said as he prepared to return to the search. "I know my dog is out there somewhere."

If you spot Kabuki, the Grays can be reached at 856-981-5400 or 609-617-1245.

$$ Reward Increased $$ $ 5,000.00 Five Thousand Dollars Missing Dog - KABUKI - Mullica Hill N.J. This offer stands... Posted by Mark Gray on Tuesday, December 26, 2017

My Christmas Prayer of Hope: Its going to 25 degrees tonight, way below freezing, and way too cold for a dog outside. I... Posted by Mark Gray on Monday, December 25, 2017

Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattGraySJT. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.
UPDATE: Neighbors recall effort to save fire victim

A woman pulled from her burning home by neighbors on Tuesday has died, according to the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office.

Neighbors saw smoke billowing from the home at 1759 Congress Drive in Washington Township around 4 p.m. and rescued the lone occupant, Carol Nicosia, 68, from the structure. Her husband was not home at the time.

Nicosia died hours later at Cooper Medical Center, Camden, authorities said. An autopsy is scheduled for today.

Firefighters brought the blaze under control in about an hour.

While the cause of the fire remains under investigation, "initial indications were the fire was accidental in origin," according to a statement from the prosecutor's office.

Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattGraySJT. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.
Henry Julien Jr. was appointed by the Louisiana Supreme Court to temporarily fill the vacacny in Orleans Civil District Court left by outgoing judge Tiffany Chase. (Courtesy of Louisiana Supreme Court)
'Just so hard on us': Family mourns pregnant mom, baby killed in crash
The girl made her way in frigid air Tuesday night from her northeast Omaha house to report the slaughter two doors down.

They shot my family, she told a neighbor.

Indeed in minutes, police would find three people shot dead inside a house near 37th and Spaulding Streets.

John W. Dalton Jr., 46, was being sought as a person of interest, said Omaha Police Capt. Thomas Shaffer. Dalton owns the home where the killings occurred and, according to Shaffer, is related to one or more of the victims.

Wednesday morning authorities released the names of the victims: Parents Jean Dalton, 65; and John Dalton Sr., 70; were killed Tuesday night as well as a niece, Leonna Dalton-Phillip, 18.

Dalton previously served more than 11 years in prison for killing his then-wife, Shannon Dalton, in 1998. He was released from the Nebraska prison system in 2010.

A plea bargain in that case spared him a potential life sentence.

Tuesday night was bitterly cold as detectives investigated the killings. The snow crunched beneath the officers feet and their breaths fogged their faces. A police helicopter circled above.

Slowly people from around the area stood in ones and twos near the crime tape. A man who believed he was related to the victims screamed into a phone in the street, Is my sister dead? He threatened to kill someone and then left.

Within a few hours, friends and relatives of the victims had begun gathering at the nearby St. Mark Baptist Church, 3616 Spaulding St., to grieve and comfort each other.

Tuesday nights killings were reported at 7:51 p.m. at 3912 N. 37th St., which is about two blocks south of Ames Avenue and near North High School.

The killings bring to 30 the number of people slain in homicides in the city this year. It was the first time this year that more than one person was slain at the same time. And it was the first triple homicide in Omaha since January 2015, when three people were shot to death at 34th and Parker Streets.

In the September 1998 killing of his 22-year-old wife, Dalton initially faced a second-degree murder charge. The couple had married five years earlier.

The couples three children, who were 6, 5 and 3 at the time, were at their home at 3489 Ruggles St. at the time. They heard, but did not see the shooting.

Shannon Daltons body was found on the floor of the living room at the couples home. After the slaying, Dalton fled in his wifes car. He was stopped a few days later in Tennessee for a traffic violation and returned to Omaha to face charges.

Police on Tuesday night said Dalton may be driving a black 2015 GMC Terrain with Nebraska license plate UKB787, or a red 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe with Nebraska license plate VRD559.

If someone knows where Dalton is, he or she should call 911.

Anyone with information on the homicides should call a detective at 402-444-5656, police said. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 402-444-7867 or omahacrimestoppers.org.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, makes remarks at a meeting with members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held on Monday and Tuesday. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

BEIJING, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping has stressed full implementation of major tasks set at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the integrity of leading officials.

Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks at a meeting with members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held on Monday and Tuesday.

The priority for all members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee is to implement the tasks and realize the goals set at the 19th CPC National Congress, Xi said at the meeting.

"Words are not enough while actual actions are needed. Holding meetings and handing out papers are not enough while actual implementation is needed," he said.

Whether or not to fully implement the policies is a major indicator of loyalty and competence of a leading official, he stressed.

He urged leading officials to understand their duty, identify flaws and weaknesses and work out proper solutions.

Officials in charge should take responsibility, he said, adding that they should be brave to deal with the hardest issues and be competent enough to solve the most difficult problems.

Emphasizing the importance of the authority of the CPC Central Committee and its centralized, unified leadership, Xi urged members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to regard it as a political benchmark.

They should highly identify with, firmly safeguard, willingly obey and closely follow the leadership of CPC Central Committee in terms of "political stance, direction, principle and path," he said.

Warning of barriers and risks ahead as well as profound changes in Chinese society and abroad, Xi noted that requirements for Party's governance and leadership have changed and leading officials should have a stronger sense of urgency and be ready for "a great struggle with many new contemporary features."

INTEGRITY &COMPETENCE

Xi asked members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to be in awe of law and Party discipline and set an example of self-discipline and integrity.

They should not reverse the priority of public interest and personal gains nor confuse right and wrong, righteousness and profit, he said, asking them to consolidate their faith and enhance political and moral integrity.

Nor should they indulge themselves in affection for family and friends, he said, urging them to discipline their family members and close aides and not to grant them privileges.

The Party's campaign against undesirable work styles, which are intractable and recurrent, will not be stopped, Xi said.

"Misconduct of formalities for formalities' sake and bureaucratism are at odds with the nature, principles and the fine work styles of the Party, and are the enemies of the Party and the people," Xi said.

Xi said that members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee should take the lead in fostering the right attitude on performance evaluation, always be honest, and consciously resist formalities for formalities' sake and bureaucratism.

Xi encouraged the whole Party to make decisions based on investigation and research, which are the foundation for doing all work well.

"Every Party member should avoid empty talk; instead, they should make concrete effort to carry out the policies and decisions of the CPC central committee and fulfil the tasks of reform and development that benefit the people," Xi said.

Careful research should be done to settle the most urgent problems that worry or anger ordinary people most and the issues that most directly concern their interests, he said.

A MEETING OF SELF-REFLECTION

At the meeting, all members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee spoke, reflecting their own performance according to Party regulations.

Members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee should set an example by remaining true to their original aspirations and keeping their mission firmly in mind, said a statement issued after the meeting.

Members should take the lead in studying, promoting and implementing the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the CPC and arm themselves with the spirit to guide practice and work, the statement said.

Xi has shown firm faith and will, clear commitment to the people, extraordinary political wisdom and tactics and a strong sense of responsibility, in leading the CPC and China in the great struggle with many new contemporary features, the statement said.

It is the aspiration of the whole Party and the people to have Xi serve at the core of the CPC and its Central Committee, the statement said.

Members of the Political Bureau were urged to consciously safeguard Xi's position at the core of the CPC and the CPC Central Committee, and work harder to uphold the authority and centralized, unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee.

They were also required to take the lead in studying Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and master its essence, innovative ideas, and its political, historical, theoretical and practical significance.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, makes remarks at a meeting with members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held on Monday and Tuesday. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)
The victims of a triple homicide the day after Christmas were identified Wednesday as the parents of a person being sought by police and his 18-year-old niece.

Jean Dalton, 65; and John Dalton Sr., 70; were killed Tuesday night as well as a niece, Leonna Dalton-Phillip, 18.

The man identified by police as a person of interest, John W. Dalton Jr., is still being sought.

Family members of those killed reacted in shock on social media.

I was just with them on Christmas, wrote one relative on Facebook.

There are no words that work right now, wrote another.

Dalton previously served more than 11 years in prison for killing his then-wife, Shannon Dalton, in 1998. He was released from the Nebraska prison system in 2010.

Tuesday nights killings were reported at 7:51 p.m. at 3912 N. 37th St. in Omaha, which is about two blocks south of Ames Avenue and near North High School.

The killings bring to 30 the number of people slain in homicides in the city this year.

In the September 1998 killing of his 22-year-old wife, Dalton initially faced a second-degree murder charge before pleading guilty to manslaughter. The couple had married five years earlier.

The couples three children, who were 6, 5 and 3 at the time, were at their home at 3489 Ruggles St. at the time. They heard, but did not see the shooting.

After the death of their mother, the children were put in the care of their paternal grandmother, Jean Dalton. She was killed on Tuesday.

Police on Tuesday night said John Dalton may be driving a black 2015 GMC Terrain with Nebraska license plate UKB787, or a red 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe with Nebraska license plate VRD559.

If someone knows where Dalton is, he or she should call 911.

Anyone with information on the homicides should call a detective at 402-444-5656, police said. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 402-444-7867 or omahacrimestoppers.org.
RED OAK, Iowa (KMTV) - I woke this morning, and I was like, 'Well, you made it,'  said Ernie Smith, the worlds oldest pilot.

On Thursday, dozens packed the Red Oak Airport to wish Ernie Smith a happy 100th birthday.

It makes me realize, my god, I got a lot of friends, Smith said.

I always knew he was great, but seeing all these people who agree is pretty cool, his great-granddaughter said.

Everyone wanted a photo with Smith  not because he hit the century mark, its because he is a record-setter.

KMTV 3 News Now Anchor Emily Szink was just one of many people who can say theyve ridden in a plane piloted by a man in the Guinness Book of World Records.

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To go up with a man that is twice my age and telling me how to do things, it was amazing, pilot Brenda Nelson said.

Nelson was one of the last people to take flight with Smith. This past summer, at 99-years-old, Smith suffered a heart attack. His daughter, Sherry Lee Davis, said doctors were in her dads corner to get him healthy for this day.

There were people who actually thought we could fast track that and get him up before his 100th birthday, Davis said.

Shortly after the heart attack came a stroke. Even though he is doing great, Smith has been grounded for some time.

Well, I miss it, he said.

On his 100th birthday, everyone was determined to get him back in the sky, but Mother Nature had other plans.

Visibility is only about a mile and three-quarters, Nelson said.

But the weather wasnt stopping him from stepping inside a plane. With Nelsons help, Smith got to taxi the Cessna 150.

"The temptation is to give her some gas and pull up, Smith said.

It wasnt just a present for Smith; it was a special moment for everyone who witnessed it. Smith said maybe he will fly by himself again, but for now, he is just blessed for his time both in the sky and on the ground.

Life is sweet, it really is. So I will take all they are going to give me, Smith said.
DES MOINES (AP)  One woman was sold for sex by her mother, another by her grandfather. One woman was forced into delivering drugs, her body a bargaining chip in securing the best deal.

The women came from all walks of life. And whether they were born in central Iowa or moved here from far-flung places, they ended up in towns and cities with familiar names  Urbandale, West Des Moines, Ankeny.

The womens stories converge at Dorothys House, a home in central Iowa refurbished, repurposed and opened by Kellie Markey in January 2016 to serve survivors of human trafficking. Its a place where 11 women, including those with the stories described above, found refuge and a second chance.

Markey is preparing for the organizations most important step yet. In 2018, Dorothys House hopes to be licensed to care for girls ages 14-17. It would be the realization of a dream that Markey has had since she was shaken into action years ago by the stories she heard from girls she met while volunteering at Des Moines-area shelters.

The earlier that you can intervene in these girls lives, the less solidified the abnormal practices of life are, Markey said.

For Markey, seeing Dorothys House fulfill its mission is the culmination of a lifetime of searching. After a stop in corporate America at the height of the tech bubble, Markey left that all-consuming work and wandered from coast to coast, across the Atlantic Ocean and back to central Iowa  until a house on an unassuming street called to her, and she knew shed found her passion project.

Dorothys House is in the process of securing a first-of-its-kind license from the Department of Human Services, Markey said, and her model of a communal, long-term residential experience that tailors treatment to specific girls needs and focuses on flexibility instead of rigid therapy regimens remains untested.

Jerry Foxhoven, a friend of Dorothys House and a lifelong advocate for children in the justice system, helped ease the thicket of red tape Markey had been struggling to clear when he was named DHS director this summer.

He said he is willing to take a chance on Markeys model because he trusts her and because the house is designed to respond quickly to the demands of a small group of young people at any given time.

I think it is more holistic than a lot of other programs in that it deals with everything from mental health to physical health to job training and educational goals all at the same time, he said.

Markey has always lived life to the beat of her own drum, her sister Margaret Colwell told The Des Moines Register. Not that she was eccentric or the center of attention, but Markey saw her life unfolding in a certain way and she willed that into truth, Colwell said.

Markey went to Central College, where she studied communications.

She always had high aspirations, said her college roommate Susan Healy. She is just one of those people who can do literally anything she puts her mind to.

After a few years in Chicago, Markey took a job at eBay, where she was one of the online retail giants first 200 employees. She rose through the ranks quickly and became a vice president of international business development, racking up miles and passport stamps.

I was working so much that, even as I traveled the world, I lost touch with so much of it, Markey said.

She left her job and marriage and moved to the East Coast.

In 2012, she took stock of her lifes bucket list and decided to check off a hiking trip through Spain. Shed read about walking the Camino de Santiago, a 625-mile spiritual journey.

It took her about a month. At the end of the trip, Markey returned to central Iowa with a new purpose.

Markey tried to get a job in philanthropy, but she lacked the experience to even get an interview.

So I started volunteering with Youth Emergency Services and Shelter of Iowa to see if volunteering would scratch whatever itch I felt like I had, she said.

Two things struck her especially deeply: The nature and severity of abuse against children in our community, she said, and the rate at which girls age out of care systems at 18 without the skills to live independently.

At the time, Markey was making money flipping houses and renting out units in buildings she owned. Driving between job sites one day, she passed a house with a giant sign that just had a phone number on it.

Markey isnt very religious, but the moment she walked in the dilapidated, old structure in the fall of 2013, it was like a God moment. She knew this was Dorothys House, a name she selected to represent all the girls she had met who had survived sex trafficking.

Dont expect you have all the answers to whats in store for your life, Markey said. When you set a course for your life and dont allow for deviation, youll never know whats behind Door No. 3.

And, for me, when I stopped planning and stopped looking so extremely far forward, that was when my life started happening.
Those who provide emotional support and spiritual guidance for local police officers are asking for help from the community, as the trio of chaplains from the Council Bluffs Police Department seeks to bolster their ranks.

On Friday, members of the Council Bluffs Police Department Chaplain Corps met with new police recruits at the Southwest Iowa Law Enforcement Training Center during what Police Capt. Greg Schutlz described as a mini police academy.

The occasion, used to help hone skills like defensive tactics and other facets of law enforcement, was also a good chance for the departments three chaplains to meet the new recruits.

Their message was simple: We are here for you.

However, the chaplains are spread thin and are putting the word out they need more members to better serve those who protect and serve.

The three chaplains currently serving the department are the Rev. Anthony Paff, Rev. Dan Stuck and Rev. Ken Sewing.

Sewing was not present Friday, but Stuck and Paff were joined by Lt. Dan Flores and current Chaplain Liaison Sgt. Jill Knotek.

Flores was the chaplain liaison for nine years until Knotek was chosen to succeed him in May 2017 and handle the program. Flores said the departments first chaplain was brought on sometime in the mid-80s and their numbers grew to four.

But keeping chaplains around was difficult, as ministers often move away to take care of another church, Flores said.

Its difficult to maintain. So, in 2008, we really started focusing on the program and were up to eight chaplains, Flores said.

Flores said a chaplains role in the department is to assist officers and department employees with support through faith. That faith is non-denominational, and proselytizing is not allowed, Flores added.

The three chaplains and Flores himself have undergone training by the International Conference of Police Chaplains which seeks to maintain professionalism in law enforcement chaplaincy.

Chaplains also assist with death notifications, traveling with a law enforcement member when they notify a family someone has died, and do services for ceremonies, for instance.

It means listening to officers and others about their concerns  to support and guide them, Flores said.

The chaplains stress their availability and whatever is discussed remains confidential.

Currently, each chaplain with the Council Bluffs police has a formal background in a faith-based ministry, but Flores said that could someday change. For instance, a layperson, priest, pastor, deacon or other faithful person could become a chaplain.

As long as you have a heart and can be there for others, we encourage you to contact us, Flores said.

Knotek said her role as liaison has been a challenging one as she works to bring more exposure to the community about the program.

She said part of her work is letting the officers and employees at the department know the chaplains are there for them, while letting the community know the program needs more members.

You dont have to be an ordained minister. Its not about a specific denomination. We welcome different faiths, she said. Its not about religion. Its about being able to minister to someone.

To minister, by one definition, means to attend to the needs of others.

Those who are interested in joining the corps need not worry about having training specific to being a police chaplain, she said.

We do desire some kind of background in faith, but its not necessary to be ordained, specifically, Knotek said.

Anyone interested in the corps should email Knotek at jjknotek@councilbluffs-ia.gov or visit the website at tinyurl.com/cbpdchaplain.
With help from China, Pakistan finds common ground with Afghanistan

Foreign Minister Wang Yi is flanked by Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani (left) and Pakistani Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif in Beijing on Tuesday for the first China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Foreign Ministers' Dialogue. [Wang Zhuangfei/China Daily]

China and Pakistan are ready to discuss with Afghanistan extending the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said.

Wang also said at a joint news conference after he chaired the first China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Foreign Ministers' Dialogue in Beijing on Tuesday morning that the corridor does not target any third party.

The gathering worked on repairing Afghanistan-Pakistan ties, boosting the war on terrorism and gearing up Afghanistan's rebuilding process.

As a key neighbor to both China and Pakistan, Afghanistan has a strong desire to improve its economy and public livelihood and become part of regional interconnectivity, Wang said.

Concrete programs and approaches for cooperation regarding the CPEC will be decided through consultation among the three parties on an equal footing, he said, and one of the first options could be improving livelihoods at border areas.

The CPEC is an economic cooperative project and should not be politicalized, Wang said. It has nothing to do with existing disputes in the region, including territorial ones, he added.

Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani said he appreciated China for launching the "unique" trilateral dialogue that aims to promote peace, security, stability and prosperity among the three countries.

The three ministers had "an in-depth exchange of views on win-win development cooperation, with a special focus on infrastructure development, to strengthen connectivity among the three countries, including under the Belt and Road Initiative", Rabbani said.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said the successful implementation of CPEC projects "will serve as a model for enhancing connectivity and cooperation through similar projects with neighboring countries, including Afghanistan, Iran and with central and west Asia".

Lin Minwang, a professor of South Asian studies at Fudan University, said that an increasing number of countries such as Iran and multilateral organizations have displayed an interest in participating in the CPEC.

The CPEC has made remarkable progress in the past few years, and extending it to Afghanistan is a first step for the corridor to become a blueprint with a wider influence, Lin said.

Another highlight of Tuesday's trilateral dialogue is the consensus reached by Pakistan and Afghanistan on repairing their ties.

Afghanistan agreed to fully echo an action plan proposed by Pakistan to boost their solidarity, which aims to introduce five liaison working groups to cover areas such as politics, military, information, economy and refugee, Wang told reporters.

The three countries also agreed to boost their counterterrorism coordination and cooperation to crack down on any terrorists and terror organs.

Rabbani said Afghanistan will continue with China the "resolute fight" against the terrorist and separatist East Turkestan Islamic Movement organization and their support groups and networks.
China launches remote sensing satellites on a Long March-2C carrier rocket from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province, Dec. 26, 2017. As the third batch of the Yaogan-30 project, the satellites will conduct electromagnetic environmental probes and other experiments. (Xinhua/Liang Keyan)

Fruitful year for space ambitions despite rocket setback

China on Tuesday successfully launched a set of remote sensing satellites, as part of its last space mission this year, marking a series of landmark achievements in the country's aerospace industry in 2017, despite the failed launch of a heavy-lift carrier rocket mid-year.

The satellites were launched on a Long March-2C carrier rocket from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The launch is part of the third batch of the Yaogan-30 project, which will conduct electromagnetic environmental surveys among other experiments, further boosting the country's competitiveness in space science, Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday.

"It is a fruitful year for China's aerospace industry," Jiao Weixin, a space science professor at Peking University, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Jiao stressed the importance of China's Tianzhou-1 cargo spacecraft completing three refueling missions with the Tiangong-2space lab in the first nine months of 2017.

Tianzhou-1 not only refuels the space lab, but using its fast-docking technology it can complete the mission within hours, a great enhancement in efficiency from what used to take days. Such advanced technology lays a great foundation for China's imminent space station building and manned space expropriation, Jiao explained.

In November, China successfully launched two BeiDou-3 satellites into space via a single carrier rocket. Since then, China's self-developed BeiDou Navigation Satellite System has officially begun to expand into a global network.

BeiDou will cover countries and regions along the Belt and Roadby 2018, and is set to form a complete global satellite navigation system by 2020, Xinhua reported.

It is also a great year for China's meteorological satellites, with China's new-generation Fengyun-4A geostationary weather satellite successfully sending the first set of images and data back to earth, the sending of Fengyun-3D into space, and the successful use of TanSat - China's first carbon monitoring satellite, Xian Di, head of the National Satellite Meteorological Center's satellite data-sharing department, told the Global Times.

Fengyun-3D is one of China's second-generation Polar-Orbiting Meteorological Satellites, which provides global three dimensional weather and multi-spectral remote sensing images.

The satellite will improve the accuracy of atmospheric sounding and enhance the monitoring of greenhouse gases.

The network it creates will also help with China's disaster relief work.

China has become a leader in the field of meteorological satellites, and it is making good use of this technology to help the world tackle climate change, with China sharing data from Fengyun satellites as well as TanSat with the international community, Xian added.

Progress to be made

China conducted 22 rocket launches in 2016, ranking top in the world together with the US. The number in 2017 is likely to see a slight drop from 2016, as several space projects have been delayed due to the unsuccessful launch of the latest heavy-lift carrier rocket, the Long March-5Y2, in July, an aerospace expert requesting anonymity told the Global Times.

An irregularity occurred with the rocket, which was launched from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in South China's Hainan Province on July 2, causing it to fail to reach its planned orbit.

The failed launch shows that China's rocket engines for heavy-lift launch vehicles still lag behind those of the US and Russia, and it will take time to identify the specific technical problems and run more tests before putting them to use, Jiao said.
Hi! This is Verena filling in for my mother. With the upcoming holidays Mom needed a few extra columns written so I offered to write one. In this column I will write about my recent birthday party.

My birthday was December 10 and I turned 20 years old. These years sure dont slow down! Im officially no longer a teenager.

I cant believe its this time of year again. Snow flying and icy roads. Safe travels for those of you that need to drive in bad weather.

My favorite thing I like about winter is when Mom and my sisters and I all relax around the table with hot chocolate on those cold winter mornings. Oh, and of course we love to chatter and tell stories of days when we were children.

I remember the many fun times of winter sledding. I still enjoy it very much. Of course, Im now the one driving our pony Stormy with a metal sled tied to the back of the pony cart. I drive fast trying to throw someone off into the snow  especially my ornery brothers. We have a nice open hayfield where we go sledding.

On Sunday, December 10, I had my friends and family over for a birthday supper. I wanted to do a little something different, so we had a mystery supper. It was quite interesting such as Idahos pride and joy was mashed potatoes, gold digger was a fork, silvery moon was a spoon and happy harvest was corn. I had no idea what anything was but knowing my mom very well (she made the menu) I figured out a lot. I ended up with a salad but no ranch dressing and no fork. I ate my salad with a spoon which was a little complicated. Also a few people ended up with no fork or spoon. I ended up with mashed potatoes and no gravy. Some got ranch dressing but no salad. One of them had to eat corn without any silverware. We had a good laugh at some of them trying to eat. I appreciated all the gifts I received.

The menu was hot wings, mashed potatoes, gravy, pork chops, corn, salad, veggies and cheese. For dessert we had dirt pudding and birthday bars. Later ice cream and cake was served. After everyone had their plate and we tried to eat what we had with what we ordered, we could go get whatever food (and silverware) we wanted. I had 20 friends here and then Dad and Mom, Timothy and Elizabeth, and Mose and Susan served our food to us. We had to mark six items from the menu. While the servers filled our orders we sang Christmas carols.

Mose and Susan are now happily enjoying their new home. They are loving every bit of it. We really miss not seeing them every day. They still have a lot to unpack so we assisted Susan one day. Sister Elizabeth, Nikiah (who Elizabeth babysits) and my sweet little niece Abigail were also there.

We sure enjoy little Abby. She loves taking my covering off my head and taking out my hair clips. She will then put them all back in my hair. Shoes are another thing shes discovered. Shell take my shoes off and try putting them on her little feet. She likes to walk around with big girl shoes. Shes been getting all her teeth so that makes her unhappy once in a while.

I have a few favorite quotes and Id love to share one with you all (author unknown): If you want to read a powerful love story dont look in romance novels; look in the Bible. Jesus gave his life on a cross. It was the most perfect and painful act of love in history and he did it for you and me.

Merry Christmas and may God be with each and every one of you as you travel into the New Year of 2018. God bless you!

I will share a recipe for white Christmas cookies but they are good any time of the year.

White Christmas Cookies

1 cup Crisco

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

5 cups flour (approximate)

1 teaspoon soda

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup cream or milk

1 tablespoon lemon extract

1 tablespoon vanilla

Cream Crisco and sugar. Add eggs and beat well. Add flour, soda, salt and extracts. Add cream; mix well. Roll out very thin and cut into various shapes. Decorate with colored sugar sprinkles or whatever you like. Bake at 350 degrees for 58 minutes. Store in tightly-covered container.
Diners looking for a casual place to enjoy a good, hearty meal will be more than satisfied with a visit to Frankie V's Bar & Grill.

Frankie V's, on Calumet Avenue in Whiting, is housed in what was formerly Up For Grabs. The intimate pub-style eatery specializes in Italian cuisine.

Upon entering the small restaurant, guests walk right into the bar area with booths located across from the bar. Diners may choose to sit at the bar or at one of the booths to enjoy a meal.

We visited Frankie V's on a recent Saturday afternoon for a late lunch. Our booth was located near the door and across from a large-screen TV. Three televisions, displaying different programs, are set up in the bar area.

Spending time in Frankie V's, it's easy to feel as though you're in an old-time saloon from the 1950s or '60s. The day we visited, the waitress was attentive and gladly answered our questions about the menu offerings.

Various menu categories at the eatery include sections for Appetizers; Soups & Salads; Cold Sandwiches; Hot Sandwiches; Steaks; Pasta; and more.

After checking out the menu, we decided on an old-fashioned meaty offering: the Pork Chop dinner. ($8.95).

Visitors to Frankie V's will, no doubt, be pleasantly surprised at the serving sizes as well as the prices at the restaurant. The $8.95 price tag was a deal for the portion served.

The tender, juicy Pork Chop dinner came with two good-sized chops, a side salad, bread, a side of green beans, choice of potato (we chose baked) and a side of applesauce. There was definitely plenty to enjoy later at home.

Among other menu choices at the restaurant are Fried Calamari ($8.50 for appetizer); Toasted Ravioli appetizer ($6.95); Chicken Caesar Salad ($7.95); Chicken Vesuvio sandwich ($9.95); Meatball Sandwich ($8.95); The Ultimate Grilled Cheese, ($8.95) which is a triple-decker sandwich; Ribeye Steak ($23.95) for a 14-ounce steak; Chicken Dinner ($9.95); Spaghetti Carbonara ($10.95); Homemade Lasagna ($10); and more.

There often are specials featured on a board at the back of the eatery as well. Frankie V's also offers carry-out and delivery.
LAKE STATION  A woman who had dozens of animals seized from her home nearly two years ago has filed a lawsuit against the city and its police.

Rachel Wayne was charged in February 2016, with forgery, a Level 6 felony, and abandonment or neglect of an animal, a Class A misdemeanor, after police were tipped to problems at the home.

Those charges since have been dropped, and Wayne is suing in federal court in Hammond.

In 2016, a Portage woman told police her daughter became ill after the family adopted a cat from the home in the 1800 block of Union Street. A police investigation ensued.

Wayne's lawsuit claims a disgruntled customer purchased the cat and filed a false police report stating the cat was abused and neglected.

Wayne's lawsuit also says she lawfully owned the animals she either rescued or cared for, including cats, dogs and raccoons. The lawsuit claims Wayne had all the necessary documentation and permits to lawfully house and care for the animals.

According to court records, some of the animals that were seized were euthanized by a doctor who works for the Hobart Humane Society, because the animals health problems were severe.

Wayne's lawsuit states other animals were either given away or adopted by others without giving her a hearing, as required by Indiana law.

The lawsuit also alleges the city and police made an unreasonable search and seizure of Wayne and her property.

Criminal charges against her were dismissed in March, Lake County court records show.
GARY  Police are investigating after a man tried to rob a woman Friday night at a church on Cleveland Street.

The suspect was described as about 6 feet tall and white with a long beard. He was wearing a tan camouflage jacket, a spokesman with the Lake County Sheriff's Police Department said.

The victim told police she was at Embassy Christ Church, 4295 Cleveland St., in Gary at about 7:15 p.m. Friday when the man attempted to rob her of her purse.

During a struggle, all of the items in her purse fell out and she screamed.

After he fled, police searched nearby businesses with no success.

Anyone with information about this crime should contact the Report-a-Crime "Hotline" at 1-800-750-2746.
VALPARAISO  A Michigan man has been charged with false informing after police say they found him in the trunk of his wrecked car at Jackson Elementary School over the holiday weekend and tried to claim he was kidnapped, according to a Porter County Sheriffs police report.

Nicholaus Mackenna Martin, 22, of Sears, Michigan, was reportedly snoring in a deep sleep when a sheriffs deputy discovered him in the trunk of his silver 2006 Chevrolet Malibu at about 9:10 a.m. Saturday near North County Road 400 East and U.S. 6.

He was booked at the Porter County jail over the weekend on the misdemeanor charge of false informing.

Prior to finding Martin, the deputy responded to the area at about 8:30 a.m. for a report of an abandoned rusted and dented vehicle with Michigan plates, a cracked windshield and a missing rear driver side tire. The driver side door was ajar and keys still in the ignition.

The officer then contacted Michigan police to have a well-being check conducted on the registered owner of the vehicle to learn why the vehicle was damaged and abandoned in Porter County.

While conducting an impound inventory of the car, the deputy opened the trunk to find Martin asleep and snoring, the report states.

The 22-year-old allegedly claimed he was hit over the head and kidnapped from a rest stop in southern Michigan, but was unable to provide specific details about the suspects description or where, exactly, he was first attacked, according to the police report.

He said he was kidnapped, but was allowed to leave the trunk and sit in the passenger seat while the alleged assailant drove. He said once they arrived at the school in Valparaiso, the suspect popped open the trunk and told him to get inside. Martin said he closed the trunk himself, the report states.

The deputy then asked Martin why the suspect didnt take his wallet or money and why he personally didnt flee on foot or call for help on his phone. Martin said he was too scared, because the man had a gun and his phone was dead.

The deputy interrupted Martin several times to point out inconsistencies while informing him he could be charged with false informing if police determine he is lying.

Martin then admitted he left Michigan on Friday night for Colorado to see family for the holidays, but stopped to have some alcoholic drinks. He then purchased three "tall boys" at an unknown gas station to drink while driving, the report stated.

At some point, he blacked out, he told police, and didn't remember how he crashed and wound up in Porter County.

While being transported to the jail, a handcuffed Martin kept apologizing and thanking the officer for opportunities to tell the truth.

A person who lives nearby told the deputy she heard a strange noise that sounded like a crash due to a tire falling off of a car at about 4:30 a.m. Saturday and noticed a vehicle across the street upon waking the next morning.
LAPORTE  The Indiana Economic Development Corp. has granted a five-year extension of the citys Urban Enterprise Zone, an economic development incentive tool officials say is making a noticeable difference in the downtown.

The enterprise zone is governed by the Urban Enterprise Association, which keeps residents and businesses within the zone, along with the city, informed of any development activity and programs occurring inside the boundaries.

"Our UEA has done some really great things in the city, and were excited to keep that momentum moving forward," said Bert Cook, executive director of the Greater LaPorte Economic Development Corp. and UEA vice president.

Much of the enterprise zone in LaPorte encompasses the downtown and surrounding neighborhoods.

UEA successes include 15 downtown buildings having renovated storefronts in the past two years, with a half-dozen or so more planned in 2018, under a program covering 80 percent of the property owners cost, said Thaddeus Cutler, the citys downtown director and UEA board member.

Cutler said the UEA also recently purchased a building at 518 Lincolnway to renovate and give away under certain restrictions to help spur new business growth downtown.

UEA dollars helped offset the cost of an extensive remodeling of a structure occupied a month ago by RQAW Corp., an architectural and engineering firm at Lincolnway and Michigan Avenue.

Help is also provided by UEA with the stipend paid to the director of the downtown farmers market.

"All of these projects wouldnt be possible without the UEA and their funding," Cutler said.

UEA revenue is derived from the issuance of 100 percent property tax credits for 10 years on new investment. In return, companies pay 35 percent of the tax savings for reinvestment into the zone.

Urban enterprise zones here and elsewhere in the state will expire for good after 2022, though, because of a 20-year sunset under the legislation adopted 15 years ago, unless action is taken to allow them to carry on.

"Im assuming that once these five years are up, I can almost guarantee well push to get some more time out of it if we can," Cutler said.
A press conference on the Chinese oracle bone inscriptions is held at the Palace Museum in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 26, 2017. Chinese oracle bone inscriptions were included on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register, Chinese authorities announced Tuesday. Oracle bones are pieces of ox scapula or turtle plastron, which were used for divination during the late Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 B.C.). They bear the earliest significant corpus of ancient Chinese writing and contain important historical information about the Shang. Around 160,000 pieces of oracle bone have been found so far, but of the 4,300 characters inscribed on them, only 1,600 have been decoded. (Xinhua)

BEIJING, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese oracle bone inscriptions have been included on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register, Chinese authorities announced Tuesday.

Oracle bones are pieces of ox scapula or turtle plastron, which were used for divination during the late Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 B.C.). They bear the earliest significant corpus of ancient Chinese writing and contain important historical information about the Shang.

"Chinese characters have had a far-reaching impact on the world, especially for neighboring countries, and made great contributions to world civilization," said Deputy Minister of Education Du Zhanyuan, also head of the State Language Work Committee.

"The inclusion signals that the value of Chinese oracle bone inscriptions has been recognized by the world," said Du.

Oracle bones from ancient China, hieroglyphs from ancient Egypt, cuneiforms from ancient Babylon, and Mayan glyphs from Mesoamerica are among the world's most famous ancient writing systems, but oracle bones are the only ones that still survive, as they have evolved over time into current Chinese characters.

Around 160,000 pieces of oracle bone have been found so far, but of the 4,300 characters inscribed on them, only 1,600 have been decoded.
MERRILLVILLE  A cold snap remains the biggest weather threat for the remainder of the week, though parts of the Region could see more snow Thursday and Friday.

Dangerously cold temperatures will persist Thursday with wind chill values as low as minus 5 in the morning and a high of 16 degrees. The Region could see less than a half inch of new snow accumulation Thursday night.

Light snow will move across northern Illinois from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. Thursday, spreading east-northeast to Lake and Porter counties. Stronger snow showers and lake-effect snow could be an issue for areas near the lake, according to the National Weather Service.

Friday's forecast includes a chance of snow with wind chill values as low as minus 7 during the day. The greatest chance of snow was north of Interstate 80, but the NWS is closely monitoring lake-effect snow possibilities in Northwest Indiana.

Snow and cold could make roads slick and reduce visibility.

The New Year's Eve holiday will be mostly cloudy with a slight chance of snow and a high near 13 degrees. New Year's Day will be mostly sunny and cold with a high of 10 degrees.

Several communities have opened warming centers for residents in need.

Here's a look at some local warming shelters:
LANSING  The Lansing Elementary School District 158 Board of Education approved its 2017 tax levy by a 6-0 vote last week.

District business manager Mark Crotty said the 2.1 percent increase approved over the previous year's levy is in line with the increase in the Consumer Price Index and will generate an additional $500,000 for the district.

He said the total amount of the levy is $21.2 million.

"I think the board acted responsibly taking into account all factors and did a minimal increase, which is CPI," board President Robert Bonifazi said. "And I think unanimously we felt that was a responsible thing to do both for the students, the district and for the taxpayers of Lansing."

In other business:

* District Superintendent Cecilia Heiberger said eight families have been challenged to prove residency since the start of the school year, and that six have been able to do so.

"Two have been removed from our district," Heiberger said.

She said two or three families are typically removed from the district each year due residency issues.

* Just like its neighbor Sunnybrook District 171, District 158 will take part in a one-year free trial with a company called YellowFolder to place many of its paper documents into a cloud-based file storage system.
EAST CHICAGO  In a community that once billed itself as the most industrialized city in America, elected leaders for the second time this year have voiced opposition to a proposed industrial permit.

The City Council last month voted 8-0 to adopt a resolution opposing an air permit application for Indiana Harbor Coke Co. without "an aggressive schedule of compliance." Mayor Anthony Copeland signed the resolution.

The vote was significant because it shows residents are starting to stand up for themselves, said Councilman Robert Garcia, whose 5th District is home to the Indiana Harbor Coke Co. facility at 3210 Watling St.

The company, a subsidiary of SunCoke Energy, supplies coke for the blast furnaces at the ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor steel mill in East Chicago.

The city struggles with high rates of asthma, cancer and infant mortality, and still is reeling from fallout over the environmental cleanup at the USS Lead Superfund site in the 3rd District.

Garcia said risk of exposure to toxins generated by the many industries in East Chicago is cumulative.

"We have got to take a stand. We're not going to live with the pollution," Garcia said. "We're not going to allow the companies to come in and just pollute the air and pollute us."

Copeland said in a statement the resolution was the strongest possible response and showed the city is united in its opposition to Indiana Harbor Coke Co.'s proposed permit.

"East Chicago is in the midst of a significant transformation from being solely known as an industrial hub," Copeland said. "Although we continue to enjoy a robust manufacturing base, we also recognize the important balance that we must maintain to make the city an attractive place to work and live."

'We don't have to trade health for jobs'

Midwestern cities often side with companies and economic growth, said Mark Templeton, director of the Abrams Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Chicago.

While he was not familiar with the details surrounding the Indiana Harbor Coke Co. permit application, Templeton said it's generally a big deal when communities take a stand like East Chicago's elected leaders have done.

"When a city steps up and says, 'We don't want something' or 'Something has negative consequences, and they need to stop doing it,' that's a pretty big and bold action," Templeton said.

The Southeast Environmental Task Force in Chicago has threatened to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over its handling of the permit renewal process, citing numerous violations during the past decade.

Thomas Frank, a board member for the Southeast Environmental Task Force, East Chicago resident and member of the Community Strategy Group, said residents' values are changing.

"We're seeing the representative leaders following the interests of the community," he said. "They're saying, 'No, we don't want this anymore. We don't have to trade our health for jobs. We don't have to trade our health for economic development. We want both.'"

The Community Strategy Group helped lead an effort last summer to oppose a risk-based permit that would have allowed the Army Corps of Engineers to dispose of highly toxic sediment from the Indiana Harbor Ship Canal at the confined disposal facility, 3500 Indianapolis Blvd., which is near several city schools.

The City Council voted in July to adopt a resolution opposing the Army Corps' proposed permit, and IDEM and EPA announced last fall they would study an off-site disposal option.

In Indiana Harbor Coke Co.'s case, environmentalists want regulators to ensure repeated air permit violations cease or shut the facility down, Frank said.

IDEM: Enforcement action pending

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management is reviewing Indiana Harbor Coke Co.'s air permit renewal application and is aware of the City Council's resolution, a department spokesman said.

"The resolution will be considered and addressed in the response and comments," IDEM said.

The department held a public hearing on the proposed permit in November and is currently reviewing testimony from the hearing and written comments before making a final determination.

"Once IDEM has drafted responses to all comments received during the public review period, a revised draft of the permit documents and the responses to comments will be submitted to EPA for an additional 45-day review period," a department spokesman said. "EPA can provide additional comments at that time, and IDEM would work with them to address those comments."

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb told The Times on Dec. 15 the permit application is being reviewed, but it's too early to comment on any possible decision.

An IDEM spokesman said the department, the EPA and the U.S. Department of Justice also have been working with Indiana Harbor Coke Co. to resolve compliance issues at the facility.

"There is an open enforcement action pending with IHCC," IDEM said. "We anticipate a resolution of these settlement negotiations in the near future."
HAMMOND  City code enforcement officials were able to determine temperatures were adequate Tuesday at a downtown apartment complex where there was a complaint about lack of heat on Christmas Day.

Porter resident Lisa Magura complained that her sister's apartment in the Belvidere Apartments, 237 Highland St., was exceptionally cold when her parents went to visit the Hammond resident on Monday.

After speaking with Magura, Hammond Code Enforcement Commissioner Jaime Prieto said officials checked some of the apartments Tuesday afternoon. The heating system was working at that time, although there had been some problems with it earlier. He said apartments must be able to be kept at a minimum of 68 degrees in the city.

Tina Tucker, who manages the building, said Tuesday morning she had not received any complaints prior to getting phone calls from officials and the media on Tuesday.

A maintenance worker said there was a problem with the heating unit at the apartment building overnight Friday, but that it was repaired by Saturday morning. Prieto said there was a similar issue on Monday. He indicated officials were going to follow up to make sure the issue is not an ongoing problem.

The building did not seem noticeably chilly Tuesday when Tucker allowed The Times to check out some of the units. Some residents who were contacted that day also did not have any complaints about lack of heat. One woman, however, did say it was colder at her apartment on Monday.
Raise the roof for 2018

Make your reservations now and party with the Porter County Expo Center on New Years Eve. From casual to formal attire, all who are age 21 or over are welcome. This all-inclusive event includes open bar, live band, prime rib buffet (with chicken and vegetarian options), coffee and dessert bar, late-night nacho bar, party favors and a champagne toast at midnight! All of this is included for $75 per person, and groups are welcome. Visit www.portercountyexpo.com/nye

Artists Savoldi, Lambing display at library through December

Art by Eileen Kasenga/Savoldi and pottery by James Lambing are displayed at the Hammond Public Library this month. Savoldi, a retired educator, taught art to students in Indiana and Arizona. Lambing, of Chesterton, is a senior at Indiana University Northwest, where he has participated in art shows. Works may be viewed during library hours: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday at 564 State St. Call 219-931-5100, ext. 302.

Hammond Historical Society

The Hammond Historical Society is hosting Steve McShane, co-director and archivist/curator of the Calumet Regional Archives at Indiana University Northwest, at the 10 a.m. Jan. 6 meeting at the Community Room at Hammond Public Library, 564 State St. Call 219-931-5100.

Christmas bird count

Join volunteers for an adventure on Dec. 29. This 24-hour bird count encompasses the INDW 10-mile radius circle in Northwest Indiana. Families, students, amateurs, birders and scientists alike arm themselves with binoculars, bird guides and checklists and go out on an annual mission anytime during this 24-hour period to count the worlds bird populations. There will also be a ranger-led hike offered from 8 to 10 a.m. at the Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk site in Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

Catholics Returning Home series

PORTAGE  Nativity of Our Savior Catholic Church will begin a Catholics Returning Home series at 7 p.m. Jan. 11. The series will run for five consecutive Thursday evenings and will end each evening with fellowship and a chance to meet others who are also returning. Even if you are not from Portage you are still welcome to come to this series and we will help direct you back to the parish of your choosing. This series will be directed by parishioners of the parish, some who were once returning just like you, and also with the help of Deacon Steven Grandfield, and will allow plenty of time to ask questions. Call 219-762-4858.

Soup and salad dinner

MERRILLVILLE  St. Michael's Byzantine Catholic Church will hold a soup and salad dinner from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 4 at 557 W. 57th Ave. There will be more than 30 soups, salad and dessert included. Cost is $10 for adults and $5 for ages 5 to 12. All proceeds benefit the needy.

Junior Parent Night

The Chesterton High School counselors will host a Junior Parent Night at 6 p.m. Jan. 25 in the CHS Auditorium. This informational program is for parents of CHS juniors to learn more about standardized testing options, dual credit, scheduling classes for senior year, Naviance, college admissions, financial aid and scholarships, and options after high school such as college, apprenticeship options, military, etc. Parents please use Entrance 31 for this event. For more information please contact the CHS Counseling Dept. at 219-983-3730.

Annual chamber dinner

Munster Chamber of Commerce will be holding their 63rd annual dinner from 5:30 to 11 p.m. Jan. 27 at the Briar Ridge Country Club, Schererville. They will be honoring 2018 Citizen of the Year, Bill Hasse of Hasse Construction Co., and honoring 2017 Volunteer of the Year, Candice Logue of Peoples Bank. Cocktail hour is 5:30 p.m. Program at 6:30 and dinner at 7 p.m. Dancing 8-11 p.m. Tickets $80 per person. Black tie preferred. Open Bar. Tickets available at MunsterChamber.org. Please RSVP by Jan. 15. Password Al sent me.
Jesse Harper has announced his intention to seek the Democratic nomination next year for Center Township trustee.

Harper, a Valparaiso native, recent graduate of the Valparaiso University School of Law and owner of a commercial production and media management company, said he has a desire to help the township's neediest residents.

"The largest responsibility of township government is to provide short-term financial relief and assistance to residents experiencing financial hardship," he said in a prepared statement. "I believe there needs to be a new era of transparency, outreach and innovation in the Center Township Trustees office so those that need help know where to turn, and those whose tax dollars are being spent know where their money is going."

Harper is a member of the Indiana Dunes Tourism Board of Directors, the Porter County Career and Technical Education Advisory Committee, the Valparaiso Creative Council and the Porter County Substance Abuse Council.

"The recent tax overhaul bill which was signed by President Trump will most certainly affect the budgets and ability of many of Center Townships non-profits who provide much needed help to residents of our township," he said. "Now more than ever, the trustees office needs to be implanting innovative ways in which to maximize the tax dollars of our citizens."

Harper made an unsuccessful attempt in 2016 to unseat State Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso.
PORTAGE  The city's Utility Services Board is seeking inclusion in any action taken by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management regarding U.S. Steel.

Board Chairman Mark Oprisko has asked the board's attorney to send a letter to both agencies, along with the Indiana attorney general "to be included as a party to any negotiations between the EPA, IDEM and U.S. Steel Corporation as to any consent decree which may be contemplated."

Oprisko said Tuesday he sent an email to the board over the weekend advising his intent to act as board chairman, and while he hasn't polled fellow members, who also serve as Portage's City Council, he is asking for their support.

At a meeting earlier this month, the board appointed member Collin Czilli and their attorney to look into what the board could do legally, including joining an "intent to sue" claim filed by the University of Chicago Abrams Environmental Law Clinic on Nov. 13 regarding the steelmaker's alleged continued violations of the Clean Water Act.

Czilli said he, attorney Ken Elwood and Clerk-Treasurer Chris Stidham had a telephone conversation with representatives of the law clinic and learned they had 60 days from the filing of the notice of intent to sue to become a party in the action. Czilli said the board wants to make sure that if there is any settlement on "day 59" of the notice, that the board is a part of the negotiations and settlement.

"It is about protecting the public health and safety of our residents and their drinking water. IDEM and the EPA haven't stepped up to the plate yet and we want to put pressure on the state and federal regulators," he said.

Oprisko said the steelmaker has not been honest with the city since a spill of hexavalent chromium into the Burns Waterway in April.

"At that time, officials repeatedly told this board that the discharge was a 'one-time event' which was the result of a 'fluke mechanical failure' which they did not expect to occur again. Not six months later, it is reported that U.S. Steel Corporation had again violated the clean Water Act by discharging excessive levels of chromium into Lake Michigan," Oprisko said.

City officials said they learned of the second spill after the law clinic filed its intent to sue and that neither the company nor state and federal regulators had contacted them.
Indiana Conservation Officers announced that officer Tyler Brock was selected as the 2017 District 10 Officer of the Year.

Brock, is a six-year veteran of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources - Law Enforcement Division. He is currently serving in Porter County.

Brock graduated from Valparaiso High School in 2008, and then attended Vincennes University receiving an associates degree in conservation law enforcement.

Brock came back to Indiana, after serving two years with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources  Law Enforcement Division, as a water patrol officer.

In 2011, Brock was appointed as an Indiana conservation officer after completing numerous months of rigorous training. He attended the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy-Plainfield and graduated in 2012.

Brock is a dedicated officer who has held many extra duties in addition to his daily patrol responsibilities. He is a public information officer, field training officer and remotely operated vehicle (ROV) operator.

When off-duty, Brock enjoys spending time with family, fishing, hunting and restoring vintage aluminum boats.

The District Officer of the Year Award, was voted on by his peers which includes all of the officers within District 10.

This award not only gives him local recognition, but will make him eligible to compete against nine other officers, from across the state, for the Annual Pitzer Award.
CHICAGO  Cook County officials have filed a lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies over opioid painkillers.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx filed the lawsuit Wednesday against several opioid manufacturers. Cook County officials cited aggressive marketing of opioids that resulted in a rise in overdose and fatality rates. The county is seeking compensatory and punitive damages to cover opioid treatment programs, costs to treat overdose patients and an increase in autopsies.

County data show there were about 650 opioid deaths in 2015, rising 70 percent to more than 1,090 in 2016. There have been about 850 deaths in 2017 as of the beginning of December.

Similar lawsuits have been filed around the U.S. and companies being sued have said they're already taking steps to curb opioid abuse.
An attendant introduces the control system of a China-made high-speed train to a visitor at an exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. [Photo/Xinhua]

A Chinese consortium led by China Railway Corp will participate in bidding for a high-speed railroad linking Singapore and Malaysia in 2018, marking another step in China's ambitious strategy to export its high-speed railway technologies to Southeast Asia.

The media office of the Beijing-headquartered China Railway Rolling Stock Co confirmed this move but declined to give any specific details as the matter is still in progress.

The consortium, consisting of eight companies including CRRC, China Railway Construction Corporation Ltd, China Railway Signal and Communication Co and Export-Import Bank of China, covers the design, construction, telecommunication, financing, operating and maintenance sectors for the high-speed rail network.

A joint tender for the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail project was issued by the Malaysian and Singaporean government-owned utilitiesMyHSR Corp and SG HSR, on Dec 20.

According to a joint statement released by the two companies, the potential bidder would be responsible for the design, construction, financing, operating and maintenance of rolling stock and railway systems for the double-track line with a designed speed of 350 kilometers per hour.

"Judging these companies' size and resources, they will form the largest group to build a high-speed rail network outside China if they win the bid next year," said Feng Hao, a researcher at the Institute of Comprehensive Transportation at the National Development and Reform Commission.

The tender is open to all companies, regardless of their location. A tender briefing will be held in Kuala Lumpur on Jan 23, and proposals need to be submitted by June 29.

Submissions will be evaluated based on technical merit, commercial robustness, financial sustainability and price. The preferred bidder will be selected by the end of next year.

The governments of both countries signed a bilateral agreement late last year to embark on the project.

According to the agreement, the high-speed rail link is expected to become operational by Dec 31, 2026, and will cut travel time between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore to just 90 minutes.

"The move indicates that China's State-owned enterprises have stopped cutthroat competition to hurt each other," said Du Chunbu, a professor of rail transportation at Beijing Jiaotong University.

"Instead, they have started to form a consortium to better compete with rivals from Japan, South Korea, Germany and Canada by bringing their specialties into play."

The construction of the first section of the China-Thailand high-speed railway started last week in the northeastern Thai province of Nakhon Ratchasima.

The 253-kilometer first phase of the railway links Bangkok with Nakhon Ratchasima province. China is responsible for designing the railway, supervision of construction and manufacturing of trains and signal systems, among others.

Once completed, the railway with a maximum speed of 250 km per hour will be the first high-speed railway of Thailand.
After a three-year-long investigation into Busoga Universitys operations, the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) finally closed the 18-year-old institution.



In an October 26 meeting, it was unanimously agreed that: Busoga University has continued ... to violate the NCHEs guidelines as provided for under the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act (UOTIA) 2001, as amended.



Last year, several people accused the university of planning to award degrees to South Sudanese and Nigerian students who had only been there for four months.

Busoga University

Former BU academic registrar Pastor Godwin Batuwadde Sempebwa; Isabirye Ngobi Waiswa, a concerned citizen; and Lual Akol Nhial, the education attache in the embassy of South Sudan in Uganda, led the complaints with the council.



NCHE found that Sudanese students who graduated on September 30, 2016, numbered 1,173 yet the university list indicated 1,169 students.

The council dispatched expert teams and exchanged letters with university officials until revocation of the license, because most issues remained unsatisfactorily addressed, it was reported.

During its 16th graduation ceremony on September 29, 2016 NCHE said the university continued to graduate students prior to accreditation of programmes.



On March 30, 2015, NCHE accredited a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Health and later in March 2016, a Bachelor of Records and Information Management, and Diploma in Procurement and Supply Chain Management.



An NCHE technical officer who attended the ceremony reported that the university graduated students in the programmes earlier than the normal duration of studies, it was reported.



For now, NCHE Executive Director Prof John Opuda-Asibo said in a December 1 letter, the revocation of its provisional license does not affect the validity of any certificate, diploma, degree or other academic awards granted by the university when still under the provisional license.



LIJIF CLOSED



NCHE also revoked the provisional license of Lijif International American College of Health Sciences (LIACHS).

It was found with inadequate finances, poor governance and unaccredited programmes, and lacked premises, having been evicted from Buye road, Ministers Village in Ntinda last year.



In May 2016, media reports indicated that LIACHS had defaulted on rent for two years and owed Dhillon Propertiesmore than Shs 200m. Since then, the council could not trace the whereabouts of the college.



While NCHE permitted Busoga University to reapply for a provisional license after two years from the date of revocation, LIACHS is closed for good.



STAFFORD



The council also put on notice Muyenga-based Stafford University Uganda (SUU). The struggling private university operates on plot 609/611 Zzimwe road in Muyenga-Kisugu.



Complaints against it include; poor governance and disagreements amongst the proprietors, which has affected management of the institution. SUU was given six months to sort itself out or face the fate of Busoga University and LIACHS.



In September, former university director Dr Henry Egesa broke ranks and set up an extension study centre on Tirupati mall in Kabalagala. The other directors led complaints with NCHE, which ruled that the centre is illegal and should be closed immediately.



On October 27, NCHE dispatched a team of three members to investigate reported non-compliance. The team was led by Dr Daniel R. Ruhweza, Fiona Kunihira and Mary Innocent Tumwesige-Asiimwe.



Ruhwezas team found the university to be in poor financial health dogged by unpaid rent arrears and staff salaries of over 10 months and non-submission of the statutory remissions, such as NSSF and PAYE.

SUU also had 37 unaccredited programmes.



The university had an illegal affiliation with Jobkey University in Mogadishu, Somalia, as evidenced by various email correspondences between SUU officials and one Kamal Mohamed, the deputy rector, related to existence of an MoU between the two universities, printing and delivery of academic transcripts to Mogadishu, reads Ruhwezas report.



The investigation team saw a copy of a transcript for a Master of Science in Project Planning awarded to Somali national Ali Abdi Osmani, a list of 79 Jobkey University students and their statement of results in unaccredited masters programmes, notably; international relations, development studies, public health, public international law, business administration, public administration and social work and social administration.



The team recommended that NCHE further investigates SUU for irregularly graduating over 300 students in conjunction with Jobkey University.

The confusion saw a new vice chancellor, Prof Alfred Nuwagaba, appointed. He resigned, a week after the NCHE team visited.



Prof Nuwagaba said: I failed to agree with the micro-management style of the directors. They were not letting me do my work as VC. The situation was getting out of hand for me to handle.

Nuwagaba had worked for one month and a few weeks. He was only paid about Shs 4m of his net pay of Shs 7m.

nangonzi@observer.ug
Medard Sseggona

Busiro East MP Medard Sseggona spoke to Baker Batte Lule about the controversial age limit bill passage and its fall-out.



Your take on the process through which the bill was handled

Parliament engaged in a conspiracy against this country. It is criminal to conspire against this country especially where the conspiracy is by leaders who have no regard for the aspirations of the people of Uganda.

The way in which President Museveni deployed foreign mercenaries to take over parliament including the desecration of our chaplaincies; the Catholic and Anglican, is deplorable.

The way we legislate and amend our Constitution to fit into the whims of a particular individual is politically criminal and we may never be forgiven by the people of Uganda, and Im talking about those well-intentioned Ugandans.



One of the issues you raised while debating was that there were cases in different courts concerning the matter. That debating the bill was offending the principle of sub judice.

There is an English saying that give man a rope to hang himself I think we gave enough rope to parliament to hang itself.

The pressure we mounted drove them into committing bigger mistakes. If we had given up, some of those mistakes wouldnt have been made, and I know quite a number are fatal.



But others argue that you remaining and debating somehow legitimized the process.

Can you legitimize or sanitize something that is illegal? We actually assisted this country by pushing these people to commit more illegalities, which will render this thing unsustainable in the courts of law.

Wait when we file our court papers. They abused the rules, they abused the constitution, and they abused common sense.



There are allegations that within your ranks some people were given money.

If Museveni can pay someone to write a minority report against him, then that is how Ugandans would rate him. I think its too pedestrian to imagine that a person would pay you to do something against his interest.

Museveni wanted this thing so badly; it was a do-or-die for him. Then how would he pay you to write something against a bill that sustains his last vein?

They are just finding a way of equalizing the equation. I dont know whether there is anyone of my colleagues who signed the report that was given money but if that happened, then the person who paid him is stupid. You pay for what?



Others say after the president established that he had the numbers, he had to make the process appear normal

Museveni was not sure of the numbers; thats why up to the last minute he was fishing out all those who were hiding. How could he have been sure of the numbers when he exceeded the threshold by only 17 votes?

What happened to the usual forest? But look at the number of NRM MPs, the unexpected ones, who voted no.

So, he wasnt sure of the numbers and there was no way of balancing it to the extent that he would risk a minority report. I was at the forefront of writing it and Museveni knows he cannot bribe me. There are some Ugandans who are beyond that and Im proud to say Im one of those.



Would it surprise you that there are people within your ranks who would cut a deal?

It would surprise me because by somebody sitting in parliament, listening attentively and then vote no; that is character.

Let everybody use the weapon within his means. If somebodys weapon is to debate. I debated as much as I could. As a member of the committee, Im not allowed but if you noted the procedural issues I was raising, you would see that is my ability.

There are those who managed to jump over tables whenever provoked by the illegalities; those ones also did their part. We need to respect each others contribution. Use every weapon available to you, that is the only way you can ensure success.

I dont judge your loyalty by the height you have been able to jump over the table. I dont think coming up with a minority report is a small contribution. We were able to at least put the views of the people of Uganda on the table because they were ignored by the other side.

Sitting in that House to debate for the length of time we were able to debate, to even listen or to pass chits to colleagues to raise different issues; that is the best we could do for Uganda. We are not going to shoot and kill the whole parliament because the majority is saying this.



Nothing good came out of the Magyezi bill?

You see, if you prepare a delicious meal and pour poison in it, it cant be described as a good meal. I know you are tempted to ask me whether with the restoration of term limits Ugandans should breathe a sigh of relief. I would say no because they mixed it.

If you are talking about one enemy of the state that has caused us all this trouble and say at least we have limited him by the two-term stipulation... You think Museveni is bothered about that? How much time is he left with in which he would be able to stand? Not more than two terms.

If Museveni has been able to bribe his way; to remove term limits in the first place and now the age limit, even in 2030 he can remove those term limits you are talking about.

The most important thing is not even to defeat Museveni but to plant a culture of constitutionalism because that culture has one effect of compelling us all to respect the constitution and not to amend it out of convenience. Today we are working at the convenience of Museveni, tomorrow it will be at the convenience of Lubega.



I have heard some compare what happened to an abrogation and overthrow of the constitution, would you describe it in those terms?

What is the purpose of a constitution that cannot be implemented? You would rather abolish it and have people do things they want to do.



As a lawyer, what do you say about the extension of the tenure of the current parliament?

Its absolutely illegal and it shouldnt stand. I think those who brought that proposal were self seekers. We have a fixed contract under Article 77 of five years and it can only be extended by the person who gave you that mandate.

Because these people went for a bargain, they started bargaining locally with Museveni. He duped them that he would support their extension. Some said well, I would rather have this extension because they know they will not come back.

They need to collect some pension. It was not about the country but, really, about the stomachs of those individuals. They know they have offended the voters.



Does the amendment apply to all elective positions?

Those people dont know the law. We have never received any bill to amend Chapter 11 of the Constitution, which deals with local governments. Once not amended, it cannot apply across the board.

In the 8th Parliament there was this element of resignation when you cross the floor. The speaker then was Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi.

When it came to Beti Kamya who had left FDC to contest for the presidency, even Erias Lukwago, a DP member of parliament who wanted to contest for mayorship as an independent, the speaker I believe interpreted the provision rightly when he said it doesnt apply to people vying for other places because it was talking about remaining in parliament.

There is no corresponding provision in the presidential or local government elections acts. These are three different chapters in the constitution; one on the president, one of parliament and the local government.

So, it is too early for them to celebrate. But you know Museveni can do it notwithstanding the law because there is a law on LCs but have you seen them being elected?



Doesnt the law allow for amending by infection; where you amend one article and it affects other articles?

Yes, there could be a consequential amendment. It is there in constitutional jurisprudence but its illegal. You must then go ahead and also amend the affected article in the constitution.



In the event that you go to court and it withholds what parliament did, what happens when 2021 comes?

We follow the law because court will have pronounced itself.

The court is mandated by the constitution to interpret the law. We are opposing it, we think its illegal but we are not challenging that alone, we are challenging the entire package.



bakerbatte@observer.ug
Government has asked the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council (UMDPC) to open an inquiry into deaths of Ugandans following brain surgeries performed by American doctors at Mengo hospital between October 23 and 29.



The Observer has learned that the ministry of Health recently wrote to UMDPC to find out what went wrong.



Last week, UMDPC registrar, Dr Katumba Ssentongo Gubala, said: We received a letter from the ministry of health on Monday (December 18) signed by acting director general, Health Services, Henry Mwebesa, directing us to investigate the alleged deaths following a neurosurgical camp at Mengo hospital and provide a detailed report of what happened within two weeks.

The visiting American doctors getting themselves ready at Mengo hospital on October 22

The letter titled, Deaths following a neurosurgical camp of Mengo hospital states that while on a TV talk show recently, state minister for Health Sarah Achieng Opendi was asked about the neurosurgical camp at Mengo hospital and five patients who died.



A day after the talk show, the minister met Mengo hospital management who reportedly informed her that the camp was carried out by neurosurgical surgeons from Duke University, USA.



Some family members of the dead have raised fears that among the visiting surgeons were junior doctors not competent to carry out such complex procedures.



Under public pressure, the director of medical services at Mengo, Dr Rose Mutumba, finally agreed to speak to

the media last week, saying 33 patients underwent surgery, 28 successfully, while five died. She said this was normal.



The Observer has confirmed the deaths of Al Hajji Issa Kikungwe (former MP Kyadondo South), Hajji Mustafah Kisayire of Makindye, Francis Angelo Onen of Gulu and two girls. It is expected that the UMDPC inquiry will reveal the exact number of fatalities.



Mengo maintains the ministry of health cleared the camp which was conducted by senior neurosurgeons headed by a professor of neurosurgery at Duke University.

The hospital told Opendi that the camp is an annual event held in conjunction with Mulago hospitals neurosurgery department but last year it started rotating to other hospitals like Mbarara and Mengo. Dr Katumba said UMDPC has since written to Mengo.

UMDPC has been tasked to issue a report concerning the deaths of Ugandans following the neurosurgical camp at Mengo hospital. Section 2(d) and (e) of UMDPC Act, mandates the council to investigate all reported cases of professional misconduct to protect the public, he said.

This is why we asked for a report in three days from receipt of this letter, along with all the patient les handled during this camp. Its part of investigations that should guide the council in making an informed decision into the matter, Katumba said.
On November 27, 2017, The Observer published an article titled Why govts need private partnerships by Morrison Rwakakamba, the country director, Bridge Schools Uganda.

The author was economical with the truth about many aspects that I would like to help the readers appreciate.

Rwakakamba started his article by correctly pointing out the importance of education to any societys development.

This is the reason we should strive to maintain it as a public good and preserve it from all forms of market forces, contrary to Rwakakambas assertion that the education sector should compete for resources with other sectors.

Education is the foundation on which other sectors of the economy such as infrastructure, health and agriculture are built. Its financing should not be considered as competition with other sectors but an obligation for which any reasonable state leader has no option.

Actually, resource allocation to the core social service sectors like education is a question of political will, not the size of the national resource envelope.

According to an article published in the Uganda Argus, October 9, 1962, the countrys education sector budget then constituted 27 per cent of the national budget as opposed to the current 8.5 per cent.

This inadequate funding forms the basis of Rwakakambas call for involvement of private actors. Indeed, for many years, non-state actors have played a critical role in the delivery of education as he pointed out.

Understandably, public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the education sector would not be a bad idea but the experience of implementing PPPs in Uganda has shown that they do not work. Most PPPs are for profit, which defeats the intent and purpose of education as a public good.

The for-profit motive in many cases compromises quality and affordability of education. This is what has informed the ongoing review of the PPP scheme in the implementation of the Universal Secondary Education program.

Government thought private actors would make substantial investment in infrastructural development of their schools like classrooms and sanitation facilities, libraries, laboratories, etc.

However, private players were targeting government resources and they are purely operating on government funds.

Another reason for the promotion of PPPs in the delivery of social services like education is the perception that private actors deliver quality services with less resources. This is not true.

Actually, PPPs are even more expensive especially those for profit. Many PPP schools are charging non-tuition fees like development, library and examinations fees despite receiving capitation grants from government.

Also, performance in most PPP schools is poor, especially when it comes to science subjects due to the low retention of science teachers, thus affecting the government program of promoting science subjects.

The charging of non-tuition fees and lack of adequate infrastructure in most of these schools has made basic quality education inaccessible to children from poor and vulnerable communities.

This is despite the USE policy guidelines and the memorandum of understanding signed between PPPs and government that emphasize accountability in all aspects.

Both financial and social accountability in PPPs is minimal. Financially, inadequate accountability for capitation grants has stood out as a big challenge.

And socially, most private schools engaged in the implementation of the USE program under the PPP arrangement have also fallen short of establishing the required social accountability mechanisms like having functional school boards of governors and parents and teachers associations to enable full participation of communities in their respective areas of operation.

If government is to engage private actors in the delivery of social services like education, it should work with private-not-for-profit schools. Many of these are doing better in the USE program compared to those operating for profit.

Notably, Bridge Schools Uganda, formerly Bridge International Academies (BIAs-Uganda), that Rwakakamba directs and are seeking partnership with government in the delivery of primary education are for profit.

There are also questions about the operation of Bridge schools in Uganda concerning compliance with basic requirement and minimum standards.

There has been a regulation battle between Bridge schools in Uganda and ministry of Education and Sports.

The quality of education for which they brag about is also questionable, the recent report by the UK Parliament committee on International Development revealed the poor quality of teaching in Ugandan Bridge schools.

Lastly, there is a lot of factors contributing to poor performance in our education sector, limited public investment being the major contributing factor.

This is manifested in form of inadequate inspection and monitoring of schools, poor teacher remuneration leading to demotivation and absenteeism, poor infrastructure and lack of feeding programs resulting in high dropout rates and low learning outcomes.

With all this, we cannot conclusively say that PPPs are the solution.



The author is a program officer, Initiative for Social and Economic Rights.
For over a decade, Col Dr Kizza Besigye has been attacking and accusing President Museveni of being a dictator and a selfish individual.

He has accused Museveni of failing and using NRM as a personal party and a vehicle to advance what doctor Besigye calls selfish interests.

In 2015, when NRM announced President Museveni as its sole candidate in the 2016 elections, the good doctor said Museveni was covertly using some party members (especially those who moved the idea of his sole candidature) to ring-fence the ruling partys top position for himself.

He has also accused President Museveni of being intolerant to those who hold dissenting views. Whether this is true or not, I will not discuss it now. What is clear is that he (Besigye) is exactly what he has been accusing President Museveni of.

Last months Forum for Democratic Change presidential contest in which Besigye supported Patrick Amuriats candidature against incumbent General Mugisha Muntu exposed his long-hidden true personality.

He is a bully, intolerant to those with dissenting views and, yes, like President Museveni wants an NRM secretary general who will listen and dance according to his tune, Dr Besigye, too, wants an FDC president who will bow before him.

Even in 2012, when Mugisha Muntu contested for FDCs top position, Besigye did not support him, at least not in public, and many believe he was behind Nathan Nandala-Mafabis candidature.

This of course is his right to support a person of his choice, but we should know that from a political moral perspective, for party cohesion and unity, Besigye should have played a neutral role.

It was after Muntu defeated Mafabi in 2012 that Besigye resorted to almost weekly press conferences at his Katonga road office, literally running a parallel FDC office and activities, thus undermining Muntus leadership.

Besigyes decision to run a parallel office and also campaign for Hon Amuriat against incumbent Muntu was due to his selfish reasons  he wanted a party leader who would follow his demands without asking why. His decision followed the Machiavellian principle: the end must justify the means.

Besigye can speak with all spiritual eloquence, play patriotic games in public, maintain a holy and democratic appearance before the public, but he is opposite of what he preaches.

Like he says of President Museveni, Besigye too believes he is the only Christ Uganda has been waiting for to liberate it. He thinks he is the only man with a vision to lead FDC and others are either moles or can be bought.

This is the reason why Besigye did not caution his camp against party-dividing statements when they started to spread baseless allegations of General Muntu being an NRM mole.

Indeed, on the voting day, Besigye seemed to suggest that Muntus camp was using money to win the contest, words which his close confidant MP Mubarack Munyagwa echoed claiming they had defeated and rejected NRM money, an insinuation that Muntu was funded by NRM to run for the FDC presidency.

As Indira Gandhi taught us, questioning is the basis of all progress, and those who dont question are condemned to live in bondage. This is the time for FDC members to question Dr Besigyes claimed sainthood.

Is he the only Christ FDC and Uganda in general has been waiting for to liberate it?

Is it right for a group of a few people to brand those who dont subscribe to what they believe in as moles or objects to be bought? If it is right, how do we know that these few people are good people and that they are not corrupt or moles? And that their actions are simply patriotic? These are questions Ugandans and FDC members must ask themselves.

As we wait for General Muntus promised personal decision, there is no doubt Besigyes selfishness and his supporters irrational behaviour are throwing FDC in what Professor Nassim Nicholas Taleb called The Black Swan.

This is a moment which can happen and bring disastrous effects when people are seeing but only understand long after it has happened.

As Nassim explains, once a society is infected with Black Swan virus, everybody buries their head in the sand.

This is why many FDC supporters dont see that Besigyes moves are meant to personalise the party. The best way FDC can liberate itself from Besigyes Black Swan virus is by questioning his actions. After all, Albert Eintein taught us that it is important to ask and question everything.

Leave alone being one of its founding members, they must question his morality even if he claims he is incorruptible, question his sanity even though many believe he has never tasted alcohol, there is no need for FDC to assume nothing.



allawissemanda@icloud.com



The author is a Phd student of International Relations and Diplomatic Studies.
A suspected murderer who had evaded capture for 12 years by pretending to be a mute has allegedly lost his ability to speak, Chinese media recently reported.

The Chinese man, identified only by his surname Zheng, had been charged with murdering his wifes uncle, a Mr. Cao, in a dispute over a 500 yuan ($76) rent, back in 2005. During one of their heated arguments, Zheng, then 33, allegedly stabbed Mr. Cai, then ran from his home in Hangzhou, Chinas Zhejiang Province, before authorities could apprehend him. The runaway murder suspect adopted the fake name of Wang Gui and started pretending to be a mute beggar in order to make ends meet.

Zheng eventually settled in a small village in Anhui Province, 700 km north of Hangzhou, where he began working in construction, while staying true to his mute persona. He even got a new wife and fathered a child, but never spoke a word to them, for fear of saying something that could blow his cover.

Photo: Alan Levine/Flickr

Unfortunately for Zheng, his 12 years of self-imposed silence couldnt help him during a household survey conducted by police, earlier this year. His lack of any kind of identification papers made them suspicious, so they took a sample of his blood and used his DNA to check his identity. Thats how they learned that Wang Gui was actually Zheng, the murder suspect who had disappeared over a decade ago.

However, police soon learned something bizarre about the alleged murderer. Even though he had pretended to be a mute for over a decade, he appeared to have truly lost his ability to speak. According to the Zhejiang Daily newspaper, the mans vocal chords had wasted away due to lack of use over such a long period of time and had eventually become useless.

Zheng only communicated with police officers in writing. Asked why he had pretended to be a mute for so long, the man wrote The less I say, the less chance Ill make a mistake.

Its unclear whether Zhengs muteness can be reversed, but that may not matter too much, as he faces a possible death sentence if convicted of the murder he allegedly committed 12 years ago.
The New York Times is claiming that the movie, The Post incorrectly credits the Washington Post with one of its scoopspublication of the Pentagon Papers in 1971.

The Post story on evidence that the Nixon, Johnson and Kennedy administrations lied about the Vietnam war appeared only after NYT published articles quoting from it in the summer of 1971, says the paper.

Meryl Streep plays Post publisher Katharine Graham and Tom Hanks plays editor Ben Bradlee in the Steven Spielberg movie.

NYTs story says the movie should have been called The Times and not The Post. The movie has been in limited release and won't be in wide release until Jan. 12, 2018.

Post Reported on Watergate

The Post gained fame as for its reporting on the Watergate break-in that led to the resignation of President Nixon.

Security guard Frank Wills, patrolling the office complex shortly after midnight on June 18, 1972, found masking tape covering locks on a stairwell door. He took it off but later saw it had been replaced and called police.

Wills discovered what would become known as the biggest political corruption scandal in U.S. history, leading to the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon. Five men who ransacked and bugged the offices of the Democratic National Committee were arrested. Police said they had devices capable of picking up and transmitting all talk, including telephone conversations.

The final scene in The Post shows a security guard with a flashlight making his rounds. Perhaps a sequel is planned that will cover Watergate.



A related tragic development, just as "The Post" was released, is that Wiliam Graham, 69, son of Katharine, shot himself to death in his home in Los Angeles Dec. 20. His father, Philip Graham, committed suicide at age 48 by shooting himself. Katharine Graham died at age 84 in 2001. Jeff Bezos bought The Post and several smaller papers in 2013 for $250 million.



William Graham, a lawyer and philanthropist who taught trial law at the University of California, Los Angeles, is survived by his wife, Sally Lasker Graham; two chidren, Alice Graham and Edward Graham; his sister Lally Weymouth, Post senior associate editor, and brothers Donald and Stephen Graham.

Times Praises Self and Post

The Times is restrained in its treatment of The Post in the film.

It says both media have the protection of their ownersa family in the case of The Times and a billionaire (Bezos) in the case of The Post who are bulwarks against the blind market forces that would have them turn into click-bait versions of themselves.

The leadership of the Sulzberger family and Bezos is said to provide protection against an executive branch that seems all too willing to punish news outlets that dont adopt the standards of that Trump favorite, Fox & Friends.

CNN, described as the presidents other frequent media target, has no family or billionaire protector at a time when it is at the center of AT&Ts proposed acquisition of its parent company, Time Warner.

Times subscriptions and stock price have experienced double-digit growth in 2017," the company adds.

Arthur Gregg Sulzberger will succeed his father Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. as publisher on New Years Day.

Competition between the Times and Post, each now more than a newspaper, has spurred both of them along, says the story.


Kimberley Fritts

The Embassy of Japan has retained Cogent Strategies, the firm formed by ex-Podesta Group CEO Kimberley Fritts, for government affairs work and any other mutually agreed services.

The three-month agreement went into effect December 12 and calls for a $5,250 monthly fee.

The Embassy signed a contract with Podesta Group for work that began April 1, 2017. That one-year deal carried a $16,000 monthly fee.

PG imploded in November after it became ensnarled in Special Counsel Robert Muellers probe into Russias meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

Cogents contract with Japan recognizes that it brings to this agreement pre-existing know-how, skill, techniques, trade secrets, knowledge, methods, forms, designs, and other intellectual property and materials.

Those pre-existing materials are and will remain the sole and exclusive property of Cogent.
Business Roundtable is bringing on Martin Hall as senior VP and chief of staff to CEO Joshua Bolten. Hall will oversee member relations and the execution of the Business Roundtable CEO quarterly meetings, as well as assisting in formulating, planning, and implementing the Business Roundtable agenda. He joins Business Roundtable from FirstEnergy Corporation, where he was VP, energy Policy and federal affairs. Hall was chief of staff at the White House Council on Environmental Quality from 2006-2009 and deputy staff director for the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. A leader in the areas of energy and the environment, Marty will bring his experience at the highest levels of the private and public sectors to Business Roundtable, said Bolten.



Christine Cordova

Focus Media has hired Christine Cordova as a PR manager. Cordova comes to Focus from Delta Children Enterprise, where she was PR & social media manager. Before that, she was a social editor at XO Group, which owns the wedding brand The Knot, as well as its sister brands, The Bump and The Nest. At Focus, Cordova will assist clients in such areas as copywriting, graphic design and social media strategy. Christine brings a breadth of editorial and digital marketing knowledge, and were excited to welcome her to the Focus Media team, said FM CEO Josh Sommers. Her established relationships with New York City media are a huge asset to the agency and its clients as we continue to grow.



Josh Rosenzweig

Gay social network Hornet has made several additions to its sales and marketing team. Josh Rosenzweig will join Hornet as director of marketing, with Jillian Rendace and Sam Sim Morgan leading U.S. sales efforts on the east and west coasts, respectively. Rosenzweig has supervised production at Viacom, and led original programming and integrated marketing as well as acquisition and business development for Here Media. Rendace comes to Hornet from IPG Mediabrands, where she was AD, client advice and management. She has also held executive positions at Conde Nast, Viacom and AMC Networks. Before coming to Hornet, Morgan was video sales director at Pride Media. She has also worked at Participant Media and Viacom. "As we begin the new year, we're thrilled to expand our sales and marketing team to meet the large and growing advertiser demand for our community and cutting-edge technology," said Hornet SVP of global sales Matthew Adam Smith. "The diverse expertise that Josh, Jillian and Sam bring is a differentiator in Hornet's ability to deliver the innovative, effective solutions that our brand partners demand."
Jia Yueting, founder of LeEco, poses for a photo at LeEco headquarters in Beijing, April 22, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

Securities regulator demands firm's ex-chief fulfill due debt obligations

China's securities regulator has ordered the founder of debt-laden internet company LeEco to return to the country before the end of the year to deal with the company's financial woes.

The Beijing branch of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said in a notice late on Monday that Jia Yueting, the controlling shareholder and former chairman of LeEco's listed armLeshi Internet Information and Technology Corp, must return to China before Dec 31 to "fulfill his obligations" and protect investors' rights.

The regulator said it had earlier asked Jia to come back to China in September, but since then had not seen any action taken by the LeEco founder to comply.

According to the notice, the firms that Jia controls owe huge debts to the Shenzhen-listed Leshi, which are yet to be returned. "The behavior has seriously hurt the legal rights of the listed firm and the interests of a wide range of investors, with an extremely adverse impact on the society," the notice said.

Earlier this month, Jia was placed on a national list of defaulters, a move taken by Chinese courts to put pressure on people and entities to repay debts.

Information of Jia, including his name and ID number, were disclosed on the defaulter website after he failed to comply with a verdict by Beijing No 3 Intermediate People's Court. He had been ordered to pay Ping An Securities more than 470 million yuan ($71.7 million).

"Although Jia failed to fulfill his obligations, bearing the moral duties, the calls from the regulator will not bring about actual pressure on the head of the tech conglomerate, and the regulator also has no coercive means to repatriate him," said Shen Meng, director of boutique investment bank Chanson & Co, adding Jia is not the first case.

Dong Dengxin, a finance professor at Wuhan University of Science and Technology, said the probability of Jia returning to the country is low. "I think Jia does not dare to return because he still couldn't pay the huge amounts of debt and dissolve the cash crunch, and will bear legal responsibilities if he comes back."

Jia made his fortune at Leshi, the Shenzhen-listed unit, with a video-streaming service similar to Netflix, but he borrowed heavily against his shares in the company to expand into new ventures, such as smartphones and electronics.

In July, Jia resigned from all his positions at Leshi after having a majority of his shares in Leshi frozen by a local court due to unpaid debt. Jia, who is reported to be based in the United States, is focusing on LeEco's automobile unit and struggling to raise capital to fund a US-based electric car startup Faraday Future.

Li Xiang contributed to the story.
As soon as Karisa Malchows toddlers were issued Social Security numbers, so began the college savings journey for the 3-year-old and 20-month-old boys.

With another baby on the way, this one due in March, Malchow says shes convinced that the family has found the right blueprint to sock money away for education expenses.

Once the federal government assigns Baby No. 3 her nine-digit identifier sometime after shes born, Malchow and her husband will open another tax-advantaged education savings account under the Nebraska Education Savings Trust program.

Known better by the acronym and federal tax code chapter under which qualified tuition programs are exempt from taxation, NEST 529 plans continue to grow in popularity as millennials  roughly, those born between 1981 and 1997, who now comprise the largest living generation in the U.S.  begin to start families of their own.

Collective balances of NEST 529 accounts are up $300 million since August and stand at $4.8 billion, according to First National Bank of Omaha, which administers the program for the Nebraska state treasurer. Balances have more than doubled since December 2010 when First National took over administration duties, and the number of active accounts is up about 40 percent since then to 355,000. Today, about 16 percent of Nebraska families participate in the plans, compared with 11 percent in 2010.

An amendment to the federal tax package that recently made its way through Congress may open the door for even more growth.

The Student Opportunity Amendment allows 529 plans to be used for private and religious schools for kindergarten through 12th grades.

Deborah Goodkin is managing director of savings plans including NEST 529 at First National and says the act would be a big change.

She declined to speculate on just how much of an influx of new savings the change may bring in, but said she anticipates a bill to be introduced in the upcoming Nebraska legislative session to square up state law with federal tax law.

Nebraska has a lot of kids going to parochial schools, especially in the eastern part of the state, Goodkin said.

In Nebraska, about 11 percent of the states roughly 357,000 students were enrolled in nonpublic institutions in the fall of the 2016-2017 school year. Thats slightly more than the 10 percent figure nationally, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Even though the plans $10,000 annual withdrawal limit for K-12 expenses wouldnt cover full payment of tuition at some local private schools  annual tuition at Omaha private schools can cost anywhere from a couple thousand dollars to more than $20,000  multiple accounts for individual students could provide a tax shelter for some.

But it could be more trouble than its worth, said Paul von Hippel, an assistant professor in the Lyndon B. Johnson School for Public Affairs at the University of Texas-Austin.

Von Hippel said the shorter-term investment timeline for primary and secondary education doesnt match up with the longer-term design of 529 plans.

A family that puts away $100 a month as soon as a child is born would save about $50,000 by the time the child is 18, assuming a healthy return of 8 percent. Dipping into that account any sooner would thwart returns.

That means any tax benefits sought by private-school parents plopping $10,000 in every year (thats the maximum income tax deduction allowed for such plans in Nebraska) would maybe be a few hundred dollars, von Hippel said.

Necessarily, if youre using these for elementary school, youll be taking out money sooner than if youre using them for secondary school, and sooner than for college, von Hippel said. As a result, the tax benefits are smaller.

President Donald Trump signed the tax overhaul on Friday.

Meanwhile, some Nebraskans who have been socking away money in 529 plans have other things on their minds.

The biggest concern is that its easy to think Were so far ahead, but will it be enough?  said Malchow, 27, an account director at Omaha-based marketing firm OBI Creative.

Her concern is well-founded: Student loan debt has increased more than fivefold over the past 14 years, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and at $1.36 trillion, it constitutes the second-largest class of household debt behind mortgage debt at $8.74 trillion. That puts loan balances for things like course credits, books and room and board ahead of credit card debt and mortgage debt.

As those costs continue to rise, Shannon Wallace said her concern (or hope) is getting her 15-year-old son, Ted Wagner, through an undergraduate program without taking on any student loan debt. Wallace has been saving money in a NEST 529 account since Ted was about 5 years old.

Now a freshman at Elkhorn South High School, Ted only recently learned that his parents  and grandparents, aunts and uncles  have been contributing to his higher education expenses since before he started kindergarten in 2007.

A lot of times when Ted was little, he didnt know he got money, so being the mom, I just threw it in the NEST account, Wallace said.

Those contributions in addition to an automatic deduction out of Wallaces paycheck, plus investment returns over about 10 years, have doubled the investment in the Elkhorn South students 529 plan over time, Wallace said.

And lately theres been yet another contributor to the students future college education.

Now that hes older, hell put some in savings and then give me some to put in the NEST account, Wallace said.

(Account contributions to NEST accounts must be postmarked by Sunday to qualify for the 2017 tax year state income tax deduction; electronic contributions must be received by 10:59 p.m. Central time on Sunday to qualify.)

Clarification: An earlier version of this story overstated the range of tuition costs at Omaha private schools.
A 52-year-old man was arrested in Plainview in connection with the assault of a Nebraska State Patrol trooper.

The man was taken into custody at a home in the northeast Nebraska town Tuesday around 5 p.m.

Trooper Brandon Viterna, 34, went to the home to follow up with a woman on a car accident, the patrol said, and Viterna was confronted by the man.

The man reached into a vehicle, pulled a machete and yelled at the trooper, the patrol said. The man put the machete back in the car and approached Viterna. A confrontation followed, the patrol said, and the man struck Viterna in the face.

Plainview police, Pierce County sheriffs deputies and additional troopers responded after the trooper called for backup.

The man retreated inside his house and refused to surrender. The man was taken into custody after another struggle.

The man complained of chest pains and was taken to CHI Health Plainview, where he was evaluated and released, the patrol said.

The man was arrested on suspicion of assault on an officer, resisting arrest, obstruction and disobeying a lawful order, the patrol said.

Viterna was also checked at the hospital.
The girl made her way in frigid air Tuesday night from her northeast Omaha house to report the slaughter two doors down.

They shot my family, she told a neighbor.

Indeed in minutes, police would find three people shot dead inside a house near 37th and Spaulding Streets.

John W. Dalton Jr., 46, was being sought as a person of interest, said Omaha Police Capt. Thomas Shaffer. Dalton owns the home where the killings occurred and, according to Shaffer, is related to one or more of the victims.

Police had not released the victims names late Tuesday, and it was not clear whether they were adults or children.

Dalton previously served more than 11 years in prison for killing his then-wife, Shannon Dalton, in 1998. He was released from the Nebraska prison system in 2010.

A plea bargain in that case spared him a potential life sentence.

Tuesday night was bitterly cold as detectives investigated the killings. The snow crunched beneath the officers feet and their breaths fogged their faces. A police helicopter circled above.

Slowly people from around the area stood in ones and twos near the crime tape. A man who believed he was related to the victims screamed into a phone in the street, Is my sister dead? He threatened to kill someone and then left.

Within a few hours, friends and relatives of the victims had begun gathering at the nearby St. Mark Baptist Church, 3616 Spaulding St., to grieve and comfort each other.

Tuesday nights killings were reported at 7:51 p.m. at 3912 N. 37th St., which is about two blocks south of Ames Avenue and near North High School.

The killings bring to 30 the number of people slain in homicides in the city this year. It was the first time this year that more than one person was slain at the same time. And it was the first triple homicide in Omaha since January 2015, when three people were shot to death at 34th and Parker Streets.

In the September 1998 killing of his 22-year-old wife, Dalton initially faced a second-degree murder charge. The couple had married five years earlier.

The couples three children, who were 6, 5 and 3 at the time, were at their home at 3489 Ruggles St. at the time. They heard, but did not see the shooting.

Shannon Daltons body was found on the floor of the living room at the couples home. After the slaying, Dalton fled in his wifes car. He was stopped a few days later in Tennessee for a traffic violation and returned to Omaha to face charges.

Police on Tuesday night said Dalton may be driving a black 2015 GMC Terrain with Nebraska license plate UKB787, or a red 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe with Nebraska license plate VRD559.

If someone knows where Dalton is, he or she should call 911.

Anyone with information on the homicides should call a detective at 402-444-5656, police said. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 402-444-7867 or omahacrimestoppers.org.
Susan Thornton (right). File photo: Bloomberg

Washington (People's Daily) - US President Donald Trump recently nominated Susan Thornton as assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the US State Department, a move closely watched by DC foreign policy analysts.

Steve Bannon, former White House chief strategist, blocked her previous nomination. But Washington think-tanks believed that putting Thornton in a higher diplomatic role would give the US a better grip on Asia foreign policy.

Susan Thornton is one of Americas finest diplomats. She has deep expertise, a healthy combination of grit and creativity, and a proven record of getting things done, said Ryan Hass, research fellow in the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution, during an interview on Thorntons nomination. Before Brookings, Hass served on the National Security Council and at the US State Department.

Ryan Hass. File photo: Brookings

According to Thorntons official CV on the State Department website, she first joined the State Department in 1991 and had spent the last 20 years working on US policy in Eurasia, with a focus on the former Soviet Union and East Asia.

Thorntons previous Foreign Service posts include Deputy Head of Mission in Turkmenistan, Deputy Director of the Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs at the State Department in Washington, Economic Unit Chief in the Office of Korean Affairs, along with other overseas posts in Beijing, Chengdu, Yerevan, and Almaty.

Douglas Paal, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Thornton reflects mainstream American interests in relations with China, including areas cooperation and growing competition.

As for Bannons attack on Thornton, Paal believed it was unfounded.

I dont know beyond what Bannon himself was quoted as saying, that she is some sort of panda hugger, or pro-Beijing figure. As far as I can tell, she is thoroughly pro-American and yet knowledgeable about China, about what works and what does not. I had a very senior Asian diplomat ask me this week, Why do they call her a panda hugger? She is anything but.

Douglas Paal. File photo: Paulson Institute

Thorntons nomination arrived as the State Department was reshuffling and resignations came pouring in, hindering progress.

Last month media reported the US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was on his way out at Foggy Bottom and CIA director Mike Pompeo was poised to take his place. But from the outset of the Trump administration, Thornton has been seen as a Tillerson ally.

In mid-August, Bannon shelled Thornton, publicly stating he wanted to drive her out of the State Department. But the next day a photo of Tillerson shaking hands with Thornton in public was interpreted as a personal endorsement.

Ever since the Trump administration moved in to the Oval Office, vacancies have grown at the State Department and are a source of concern among US foreign policy analysts. Thorntons seat as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs has been vacant ever since Daniel Russel exited, who served during the Obama administration.

Some seats should remain empty, having been created for purposes whose times have passed, but many others need filling to do the business of the American people. There is more damage coming from some appointees at the top of the American administration than from the lower levels where appointees are needed, said Paal.

One of the key tasks ahead for Thornton is to manage Sino-US relations, widely viewed as the most important bilateral relationship on the international stage.

In the first report from the National Security Strategy (NSS) last week, the Trump administration labeled China as a strategic competitor. The report repeatedly drew attention to China and Russia as two countries that "challenge American power, influence and interests, attempting to erode American security and prosperity."

"China is seen as a strategic competitor because China competes effectively across the political, economic, military and informational domains in ways probably not duplicated by our other competitors," a senior administration official said a day before the report was released.

US President Donald Trump speaks his administration's National Security Strategy meeting at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington D.C., on December 18, 2017. Photo: Mark Wilson / Getty Images

In a statement addressing the NSS, a spokesperson from the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC said, On one hand, the US government claims that it is attempting to build a great partnership with China. On the other hand, it labels China as a rival. The self-contradictory rhetoric of the US betrays the truth that China and the US are becoming increasingly interdependent and have growing intertwined interests. The US rhetoric also runs counter to China's efforts to cooperate with the US on bilateral and global issues.

American experts spoke with Peoples Daily following the release of the NSS report, expressing concerns over the harsh language from the Trump administration as it could create tension between the US and China, detrimental to both countries' interests.

Former US Ambassador to China and Assistant Secretary of State J. Stapleton Roy in an earlier interview downplayed the impact of the NSS report.

The only way to address the economic challenges between the US and China is through dialogue and negotiations Other countries should not overreact to this position of the Trump administration because the approach outlined in this national security strategy is not workable," said Roy.

NSSs tend to fade away quickly, and this will be no different. The tough language, however, does reflect a real shift in expert and public opinion in the United States about the quality and benefits of the US relationship with China. Beijing should pay attention to that, said Paal.
Nearly two decades ago, John Dalton Jr. fatally shot his wife in Omaha and spent 11 years in prison.

Prosecutors had agreed to a manslaughter conviction, instead of a more serious murder charge, partly because they did not want to put the couples three children on the witness stand. In the end, Dalton was sentenced to 20 to 30 years, and under a state law that cuts most sentences in half, he was released in 2010.

Now Dalton is accused of killing three more relatives  his parents, John and Jean Dalton, and a niece, Leonna Dalton-Phillip  in a Tuesday evening shooting in north Omaha.

The parents had raised Daltons three girls after he killed their mother. Wednesday, the children either declined to comment or could not be reached.

On Facebook, however, oldest daughter Brittiney Faison wrote:

My dad literally has taken everything from us. He took my mother now my grandparents and my little cousin. I dont think I can handle this pain. ... I know what hate feels like.

On Labor Day in 1998, Dalton shot his wife, Shannon Dalton, 22, in their home at 3489 Ruggles St.

Shannons mother, Floria Cullum, told The World-Herald at the time that her daughter had wanted to get out of the relationship.

She had made up her mind, she said.

Her body was found on the floor of the living room.

The couples children, ages 6, 5 and 3 at the time, were sleeping in a bedroom down the hallway at the time of the shooting, prosecutors said.

Cullum said in 1999 that the three girls saw the gun and heard the shots but did not directly witness their mothers death.

Right now, I dont think the children are old enough to understand, but they talk about it, said Cullum, who died in 2004.

Dalton was charged in a warrant with second-degree murder, and police looked for him for two days before he turned up just north of Nashville, Tennessee, driving his slain wifes Ford Tempo.

Deputy County Attorney Brenda Beadle said at the time that she agreed to reduce the murder charge out of consideration for the children. A weapons charge was added as part of the plea agreement and it gave the judge the option of sentencing Dalton to up to 90 years in prison, Beadle said in 1999.

Instead, Douglas County District Judge Robert V. Burkhard sentenced Dalton to 20 to 30 years in prison.

Cullum said of the sentence at the time, It was just.

Beadle didnt respond to a request for comment Wednesday. Reached Thursday, Burkhard declined to comment.

Dalton wrote a letter to the judge before his 1999 sentencing, expressing remorse for the crime.

I wish I could go back and change that whole day around, Dalton wrote. I miss my wife so much.

He also told the judge he missed his children and wanted to be a father to them.

The children  Brittiney, Shanel and Alysha Dalton  were placed in the care of Jean Dalton. She and her husband remained their guardians until the children became adults.

After a 2010 hearing attended by Jean and Brittiney, the Nebraska Board of Parole voted 4-0 to grant Dalton supervised release, according to board records.

Dalton said he would live in Omaha with his daughter Brittiney.

He was discharged from parole about 2 years later. Absent parole, he would have been released on Sept. 3, 2013, from the State Penitentiary in Lincoln.

Prior to his parole hearing, Dalton had undergone two psychological evaluations. Although the records released by officials did not list details of the evaluations, the Parole Board ordered Dalton to receive outpatient mental health counseling as a condition of his release.

Dalton did not appear before the board again, which indicates that he did not commit any violations to warrant a revocation hearing. Additionally, Nebraska court records indicate that Dalton hasnt been charged with a crime since his release from prison. Nor are there mentions of protection orders.
They were loving grandparents who seemingly never met a stranger. She was a successful student and the apple of her dads eye.

John and Jean Dalton and their granddaughter, Leonna Dalton-Phillip, were being remembered Wednesday for all the good things they brought to the world. The three were slain Tuesday in the Daltons home.

The Daltons own son, who previously spent time in prison for killing his wife, was arrested Wednesday on a first-degree murder warrant. John Dalton Jr., 46, was apprehended outside Jackson, Tennessee, and was being held in the Madison County Jail in that state Wednesday night.

Police have not described a motive.

Claude Phillip said he just saw Leonna, his oldest daughter, over the holiday. A Des Moines resident, Phillip came to Omaha for the holiday and spent time in the Dalton home on Christmas Eve.

They loved everybody, Phillip said. They even treated my other kids like they were their own grandkids.

The violence appears to have unfolded quickly, Phillip said.

Dalton-Phillips car was still running outside her maternal grandparents home at 3912 N. 37th St. when police arrived to investigate the shooting Tuesday night. The 18-year-old Burke High senior had gone to the house to pick up her younger sister, Phillip said.

Leonna was stopping by after work to pick up her sister and get a plate of food from her grandmother, Phillip said Wednesday. Her car was still running. Thats how fast all this happened.

The younger sister, London Dalton, ran to a neighbors house about 7:30 p.m. and said, They shot my family.

Police found John W. Dalton Sr., 70, his wife, Jean, 65, and Leonna Dalton-Phillip all dead inside the home. Dalton-Phillip was Dalton Jr.s niece.

Leonna had a bright future, her father said. She received straight As and had scholarship offers for college.

She thought she might want to go to school in California, he said. We were just investigating that.

Phillip described his daughter as a very loving person who worked at the Target store at Sorensen Park Plaza.

She was so smart and bright, he said. Last April or May, she won an essay contest on the Holocaust. There were 300 entries, and hers was the best one.

Leonna lived with her mother, Jalisa Dalton, a daughter of John and Jean Dalton. In addition to her sister London, Leonna is survived by three brothers and four sisters, Phillip said.

Jalisa is just in shock, he said. We all are. I cant believe this happened.

Even though Phillip and Jalisa Dalton were no longer together, Phillip said John and Jean Dalton always welcomed him into their home. John Dalton Sr. was a retired packinghouse worker and his wife retired from Lozier Store Fixtures last spring.

John Dalton Jr. was pulled over Wednesday afternoon on Interstate 40 in Jackson, Tennessee.

Radio dispatch traffic indicates that Dalton was eastbound in a Black GMC Terrain SUV.

A trooper who was tracking him radioed dispatchers: Hes weaving in and out of traffic. I think hes going to exit the first chance he gets  Looks like there is only one occupant in the vehicle.

After more troopers were in place, they pulled Dalton over about 5 miles farther down the road, on the northeast side of Jackson.

Jackson is about 130 miles west of Nashville, where Dalton was captured in a traffic stop after killing his wife in Omaha in 1998. Following that arrest, he was held without bail because he was considered a flight risk.

Given the chance, hed run again, Jennie Dugan-Hinrichs, a deputy Douglas County attorney, told a judge.

John Dalton Jr. served more than 11 years in prison after being convicted of manslaughter in the death of his wife, Shannon Dalton.

He lived just a couple blocks away, but I dont think (his parents) saw him a lot, Phillip said. Jean would try to talk to him, but she said he was never the same after he got out of prison.

On Wednesday, a woman who came out of the Daltons home said the family is still grieving and trying to deal with what happened. She also said that more family members are coming into town.

A First Responders Prayer Walk has been scheduled for 5:15 p.m. today outside the familys home at 3912 N. 37th St..

The Omaha Public Schools put out a statement after the news of Dalton-Phillips death.

We extend our deepest, heartfelt sympathy to the family, it said. Counselors were available at Burke High on Wednesday afternoon, the district said.

In the 1998 killing of his 22-year-old wife, Dalton initially faced a second-degree murder charge but later pleaded guilty to manslaughter. The couple had been married about five years.

The couples three daughters, who were 6, 5 and 3 at the time, were at their home at 3489 Ruggles St.. They heard, but did not see, the shooting.

After the death of their mother, the children were put in the care of Jean Dalton, and she had custody of them until they became adults.

The oldest daughter, Brittiney Faison, wrote heartfelt tributes to her grandparents and cousin on social media.

This cant be, she posted above photos of them smiling. She recalled the talks they had and her cousin imploring her to come over.

I wish I said yes to her every time she wrote.

World-Herald staff writers Alia Conley and Andrew J. Nelson contributed to this report.
In report after report after Donald Trumps election, career staffers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration kept saying the same thing: climate change is real, serious and man-made.

Thats surprising because Trump has called global warming a hoax. His political appointees at the Commerce Department, which oversees the NOAA, have complained to its staff but stopped short of demanding changes. So the reports, blog posts and public updates acknowledging that climate change is real kept flowing. The bureaucrats won.

Everything coming out of NOAA does not reflect this administration, said David Schnare, a retired lawyer for an industry-backed think tank who was on Trumps transition team and is skeptical of climate change. It reflects the last one.

Thats true across the government as some of the roughly 2 million career employees have found ways to obstruct, slow down or just ignore the president.

Staff at the Securities and Exchange Commission, for example, issued a report contradicting the White Houses position about the harmful effects of banking regulations.

The State Departments embassy staff preserved policies of President Barack Obamas administration to boost the economies of developing countries  at odds with Trumps America First campaign pledges  not by changing the substance of the programs but merely by relabeling them as a way to create markets for U.S. exports.

Perhaps no policy area better illustrates the dynamic than climate change. A report commissioned by the energy secretary to explore the dangers of wind and solar energy to the power grid initially found just the opposite. Pentagon staffers effectively stalled a Trump reversal of an Obama policy on climate change and national security by initiating a review thats apparently still being done nine months later. Federal procurement officials have kept promoting zero-emission vehicles  but by focusing on economic gains rather than environmental benefits.

Two factors may be making it harder for the Trump White House to impose order: a desire to reorient major agencies from their traditional missions and the slow pace at which it has filled key posts.

Less than two-thirds as many appointments have been submitted and won Senate confirmation as were in place at the comparable time during the Obama administration.

But even full staffing wouldnt have fully tamed the permanent government layer of bureaucrats who stay on from president to president, burrowed deep in agencies across Washington.

Its an enormous challenge for a new president and administration to exert influence over the bureaucracy, said David Lewis, chairman of the political science department at Vanderbilt University. They know a lot more than the political appointees who come into the agencies. That gives them an advantage.

Before taking office, Trump repeatedly dismissed global warming as a hoax  a position at odds not only with the vast majority of scientists but also with the long-standing policy of the U.S. government.

In 1990, Congress directed the executive branch to research the effects of global warming and report on that research regularly. Since then, the federal governments involvement in fighting climate change has grown to include regulating emissions and working to mitigate their consequences.

Trump has used his executive authority to reverse some of the most prominent environmental policies initiated by Obama, but when it comes to the more mundane policies and decisions farther from the spotlight, Trump and his appointees have met with resistance.

The bureaucracy is generally resistant, Leon Panetta, who guided Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama through transitions, said in an interview. But when a president sets out to be as disruptive as Trump has, Panetta said, getting career staff to implement those policies is gonna take a hell of a lot longer.

As the case of the NOAA illustrates, the most radical example of bureaucratic resistance may also be the simplest: continuing to issue information or reports that are factually accurate, even when they clash with the administrations policies.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has taken a hands-off approach to the NOAA reports, but political officials in other departments have been more willing to get involved.

Energy Secretary Rick Perry is a case in point. In April, Perry, Trumps secretary of energy, directed career staff at his agency to write a report on the question of whether expanded wind and solar power  and thus reduced coal and nuclear power  would threaten the stability of the electricity grid. Trumps critics suspected that the study would be used to justify curtailing the expansion of wind and solar power and to help coal plants and miners.

But the draft staff report, obtained by Bloomberg in July, reached a surprising conclusion: the growth in renewables wasnt endangering the reliability of electric power after all.

Bureaucrats can also continue programs or initiatives that predate Trump by calling them something new or describing them in different ways.

Take the General Services Administration, which manages the federal governments fleet of more than 640,000 cars, trucks and other vehicles. Since 2011, the GSA has added more than 1,000 electric vehicles to the fleet  a policy that was presented in distinctly environmental terms.

Those goals are now squarely at odds with the Trump administrations view on climate change, which strongly favors fossil fuels. Rather that cutting the program, the GSA staff has focused on its contributions to jobs and cost cutting, rather than reducing emissions.

That messaging workaround was on display in late summer when the GSA promoted National Drive Electric Week with a September blog post that made no mention of environmental benefits.

The career bureaucracy is seen by many in the administration, and by the president himself, as sort of the problem, said Paul Verkuil, who during the Obama administration was chairman of the Administrative Conference of the United States, an independent federal agency charged with improving the efficiency of the bureaucracy.

The irony is, because theyre not confirming their own policy people, the quote-unquote problem is running the government.
LINCOLN  At least 50 Nebraska children, some as young as 4 years old, have suffered sexual abuse while in the states care or after being placed in an adoptive or guardianship home.

Thats according to an investigative report released Wednesday by Julie Rogers, the inspector general of Nebraska child welfare.

All of the cases were reported to the states child abuse hotline from July 2013 through October 2016 and all were substantiated, either by the courts or by child welfare officials.

Rogers said the true scope of sexual abuse of current and former state wards may never be known. Many cases are not reported and others cannot be substantiated.

But she said her offices investigation concluded that the child welfare system has concerning deficiencies in its ability to prevent and respond to the sexual abuse of children in state care.

The state becomes involved to protect children, Rogers said. Any case of maltreatment, including sexual abuse, of a state ward is unacceptable.

The Inspector Generals Office launched the investigation last year after getting a stream of reports concerning sexual abuse of youths with current or former involvement with the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.

The study sought to determine whether the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services and others involved with the child welfare system were taking adequate steps to prevent and respond to sexual abuse of children in state care.

Matt Wallen, the children and family services director for HHS, said the department makes every effort to prevent the abuse of children, whether in the community or state care.

I want to assure the public that we prioritize the safety of every youth in our care, he said, while noting that state records show foster children suffer only 2.87 cases of maltreatment for every 100,000 days in state care.

State Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston, chairman of the Legislatures Health and Human Services Committee, said the inspector generals report is important.

Before we can solve a problem, we need to identify a problem, he said.

Riepe expressed confidence that HHS officials will take appropriate steps to deal with the problems pointed out in the report.

Among the deficiencies found:

 Both caregivers and child welfare professionals held problematic attitudes about child sexual abuse. Some assumed that children who made allegations were lying or acting out because they were troubled. Others blame children for causing the abuse.

 Some child sexual abuse allegations were not appropriately reported or screened for investigation. Some reports were poorly investigated or left incomplete for long periods of time, in some cases, for years. Others were never investigated.

 Child welfare workers were not consistently prepared to prevent or respond to sexual abuse of state wards. Factors included high levels of worker turnover, high workloads, lack of training and workers lack of comfort in dealing with the topic.

 Out-of-home placements, both foster homes and residential care facilities, were not properly reporting sexual abuse in some cases and were not equipped to prevent it. Oversight and standards for both types of placements need improvement.

The report made 18 recommendations for HHS and seven for the broader child welfare system.

Preventing and responding to sexual abuse of children is not, and cannot be, the responsibility of HHS alone, Rogers said. It is a community problem, which will need solutions and action from many in our communities.

For HHS, the report recommended improving the process of deciding which hotline calls to investigate, beefing up the states ability to investigate problems at state-licensed youth residential facilities and enhancing training for child welfare staff.

For the broader system, it recommended fostering a culture of zero tolerance for child sexual abuse, improving the recruitment of foster families and ensuring that law enforcement shares child abuse reports with HHS.

State child welfare officials accepted 14 recommendations for HHS, including three with modifications. The department rejected the recommendation to beef up licensing staff, saying the existing staff have met all requirements for inspecting, licensing and investigating problems at youth residential facilities.

The report summarizes each of the 50 substantiated cases, as well as seven cases in which the sexual abuse allegations were listed as unfounded or were never investigated.

Among the 50 cases were 27 children who were in foster homes, state-licensed residential homes or state-run facilities. The 23 other children were former state wards who were sexually abused in the adoptive or guardianship homes where the state had placed them.

Typical was the case of an 11-year-old girl who became a state ward along with her two brothers because of their parents substance abuse. The children remained at home, with their grandparents as caregivers.

About a year later, the girls mother was arrested and the girl disclosed that she did not want to stay in the home because her grandfather had been touching her inappropriately.

The girl said she had told her mother, who did not report the abuse and just told the girl to stay away from her grandfather.

The grandfather has been sentenced to two years in prison after being convicted of attempted third-degree sexual assault of a child and child abuse.

Rogers said the impact of child sexual abuse can be lifelong. Survivors are more likely to develop physical and mental health problems, face academic difficulties, engage in risky behaviors and earn less over their lives.

National estimates show that one in 10 children will be subject to sexual abuse before the age of 18, either by an adult or another youth.

In 90 percent of those cases, the abuser will be someone the child knows and trusts.

In Nebraska, there were 1,284 children who experienced substantiated sexual abuse between 2013 and 2016. Child sexual abuse can include child rape and molestation; sexual touching; coercing or persuading a child to participate in sex acts; and exposing a child to pornography, voyeurism and sexual communications by phone or via the Internet.

The Nebraska Legislature created the Inspector Generals Office to provide independent oversight of child welfare and the juvenile probation system.
Nebraskas estimated population growth for 2017 is encouraging  the rate of increase was good enough to rank it 20th among the states.

Births exceeded deaths by 11,000 residents  a key statistic. And although Nebraska lost a net of about 3,500 residents to other states, an increase of 5,000 in international migrants helped make for net growth, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates.

Nebraskas population in July was 1.92 million, up 12,473 people over a year earlier, the bureau says. That makes for a growth rate of .65 of 1 percent, not far behind the national growth rate of .72 percent.

David Drozd, a demographer with the University of Nebraska at Omahas Center for Public Affairs Research, highlighted an important indicator: The numbers show that Nebraska has a strong chance to retain three seats in the U.S. House after the 2020 Census.

Nebraska cant do anything about the rough winter weather, but it can pursue goals that help the state grow  boosting economic opportunities and promoting a welcoming climate for all residents, strengthening local communities, supporting educational excellence, building a supportive environment for business growth.

Steady, manageable growth is the right way forward.
Photo: Sina news

I met Hanif at CRRCs manufacturing headquarters during my second visit to the northern city of Perak, Malaysia, in April.

I first met Hanif a few years ago when he was fresh college graduate during railways trial phase. He was a rookie and said he wanted to study advanced technology from the Chinese so he could use the knowledge to give something back to his country.

His dream came true after two years of hard studying and is now leads a fitters group, one of the companys eight tech-backbone groups.

Hanif recently sent me a message that said his factory is busy filling an order of 40 unmanned light rail vehicles.

The order placed by the business group led by CRRC Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co., Ltd. It is the first foreign unmanned light rail bid awarded to a Chinese company. It is a landmark deal for Chinese rail exports.

We are confident that the union will provide the first-class service for the project, said Azim, CEO of Malaysian Infrastructure Limited, during the contract signing in August.

Chinese rail programs have experienced rapid development in the Malaysian market. In August, China Communications Construction Company Limited was contracted to build the East Coast Rail Line Project (ECRL), marking the first time for a standard Chinese rail project to be approved in Malaysia.

At the signing ceremony, locals attended to celebrate the beginning of the construction.

And theres even more good news on the Chinese rail program.

The first stage of the Sino-Thai railway officially got underway on December 21, 2017. And very soon, Thailand will have its first high-speed railway system.

As a foreign correspondent in Southeast Asia, I am honored to see how bilateral cooperation between China and other Southeast Asian countries has gone from good to great. And the friendly relationships will reach new heights.

(Compiled by Yaoran Yu)
Morell is a former deputy director and twice acting director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2010 to 2013. Rogers, a former Republican U.S. representative from Michigan, chaired the House Intelligence Committee from 2010 to 2015. Both are on the advisory council for the Alliance for Securing Democracy. They wrote this for the Washington Post.

Every first-year international relations student learns about the importance of deterrence: It prevented a Soviet invasion of Western Europe during the height of the Cold War. It prevented North Korea from invading South Korea in the same time frame.

And yet, the United States has failed to establish deterrence in the aftermath of Russias interference in the 2016 election.

We know we failed because Russia continues to aggressively employ the most significant aspect of its 2016 tool kit: the use of social media as a platform to disseminate propaganda designed to weaken our nation.

There is a perception among the media and general public that Russia ended its social-media operations following last years election and that we need worry only about future elections.

But that perception is wrong. Russias information operations in the United States continued after the election, and they continue to this day.

This should alarm everyone  Republicans, Democrats and independents alike. Foreign governments, overtly or covertly, should not be allowed to play with our democracy.

In a single week this month, Moscow used Kremlin-oriented accounts to discredit the FBI after it was revealed that an agent had been demoted for sending anti- Donald Trump texts; to attack ABC News for an erroneous report involving President Donald Trump and Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser; to critique the Obama administration for allegedly green lighting the communication between Flynn and then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak; and to warn about violence by immigrants after a jury acquitted an undocumented Mexican accused of murdering a San Francisco woman.

This continues a pattern of similar activity over the past year. Russian operatives have frequently targeted Republican politicians who have been critical of Trump.

In mid-November, after Keurig pulled its advertising from Sean Hannitys Fox News show for comments the host made defending Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, the Russians used their social media accounts to urge a boycott of the company. For two days, #boycottkeurig was the most used hashtag among Kremlin-influenced Twitter accounts. This was a Russian attack on a U.S. company and on our economy.

More troublingly, other countries are beginning to follow Russias lead on social media, according to research provided by the Alliance for Securing Democracy. The Chinese are doing so in Taiwan, where 75 percent of the population consumes media from a Japanese instant messaging app called LINE  a hotbed for fake news, much of it from China.

While those information operations have not yet reached the United States, they most certainly will. Russias use of social media as a political weapon will continue, and more countries will follow suit  until deterrence is established.

The sanctions that the Obama administration and Congress put in place in the aftermath of the 2016 election are steps in the right direction, but they were not significant enough to check Russian President Vladimir Putin.

True deterrence requires policies that prevent adversaries from achieving their objectives while imposing significant costs on their regimes.

So far, we have done neither.
BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee decided Wednesday to discuss a proposal about amending part of China's Constitution at the second plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee in January.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presided over the political bureau meeting Wednesday, which also listened to a work report from the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) and discussed the Party's anti-graft work in 2018.

The campaign to ensure full and strict governance over the Party and curb corruption shall not stop, said a statement issued after the meeting.

The CCDI should take the responsibility to supervise Party members, implement discipline and hold violators responsible under the guidelines of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, according to the document.

While safeguarding the authority of CPC Constitution and regulations, the CCDI should carefully check the implementation of the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress and decisions made by the CPC Central Committee.

Stressing the importance of political discipline and regulations, the statement said discipline inspection agencies will focus on Party members who are disloyal and dishonest to the Party, who comply in public but oppose in private, who disobey the Party's political guidelines and compromise the political environment.

Stressing the significance of the campaign against undesirable work styles, the statement said that the priority is to curb bureaucratism, red tape and privileges among senior officials.

To consolidate the progress of the anti-graft campaign, the CCDI will push forward reform of the national supervision system and fight corruption at the lower ranks, the statement said.

Officials who did not stop their misconduct after the Party's 18th National Congress in late 2012, those who the public have strongly complained about, and senior officials who are likely to be promoted will be placed under strict scrutiny.

Those who develop personal networks and foster interest groups within the Party will face severe punishment, the statement said.

Before the meeting, Xi chaired a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

The 19th CCDI will hold its second plenary session from Jan. 11 to 13, 2018.
3,271 cargo train trips between China, Europe made in first 11 months of 2017

3,271 cargo train trips have been made between China and Europe in the first 11 months of 2017, Chinanews.com reported Tuesday.

Testing for new routes will start next year, said a plenary session of a transport coordinating committee of China-Europe freight trains recently held in Chongqing municipality.

According to Wu Yuntian, secretary of the committee, 6,235 trips have been made between the two places since the start of operations till Nov. 30.

The China-Europe freight train service now links more than 30 Chinese cities with 30 European cities in 10 countries.

The scope of the transported cargo has also expanded from IT products to clothing, vehicles, food, wine, coffee beans, wood, furniture, chemicals, and mechanical equipment.

The service operator aims to increase the number of trips to 4,000 in 2018, with 1,500 ones bound for China.

In addition, a sharing platform of refrigerated containers will be established to meet the growing demand for cold-chain transportation, Wu noted.
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Illuminating Africas Economic Policy Priorities and Challenges from an African perspective

I have been a regular contributor to CGTN over the past four years as a panellist providing independent economic analysis of current affairs in Africa.

2017 saw a rebranding of CCTV Africa to CGTN, although I am not privy to the strategic goals of the change, I can say that I have observed a renewed focus on coverage of news with an African perspective on themes that Africans care about, addressing the key challenges required to spur economic growth, enhancing employment, increasing foreign direct investments, and addressing the infrastructure deficit across the continent.

CGTN places emphasis on getting the views of in-country experts, hosted by respected, award winning journalists of authority, so as to provide balanced insights on topical economic developments within their countries.

One of the global themes to which CGTNs voice has been critical in providing a balanced view, is on the increasing protectionist policies that are emerging across the developed world. These include Americas election of President Trump, Britains Brexit vote to exit the European Union, among other anti-globalization movements across European countries.

CGTN has frequently provided the space to debate these issues, elucidating alternative view-points. Greater cooperation and trade partnerships across the globe will enhance existing value chains thereby creating opportunities for employment, higher income levels and ultimately economic growth. It is noteworthy to recognize the strong position taken by many other world leaders such as Germany and China, which view globalization, not as a zero-sum game where for one to gain another has to lose, but as an opportunity where all countries can benefit through their participation within the global value chains. CGTN has enhanced Africas voice in these global debates by providing opportunity for the articulation of the African perspective and informing on the benefits of a global economy.

Secondly, CGTN has also illuminated the debate on intra-African trade, which has been a major theme of the African Union and its Agenda 2063. Indeed the tripartite initiative to form cooperation between the SADC, COMESA and EAC, to establish a Continental Free Trade Area, will greatly benefit intra-African trade. This will open borders and enhance intra-African trade thereby providing opportunity for employment, industrialization, and economic growth. The African Development Bank (AfDB), notes in its African Economic Outlook 2017 report, that trade between African countries has the greatest potential for building sustainable economic development and integration. It reports that trade among African countries expanded from 10% in 2000 to about 16% in 2014, while Africas GDP and its internal trade expanded fourfold over the past two decades, suggesting that intra-African trade is more resilient than exchanges with other regions of the world, largely because manufactured goods are less susceptible to price shocks which affect primary products that constitute over 50% of trade between the continent and other countries.

Thirdly, CGTN has been keen to articulate for its viewers the implications of major global policy initiatives on Africas development. For example, providing in-depth coverage of the G7 and G20 meetings, and analysing the major decisions and their impact on Africa. Africas presentation at these global forums are often absent or in the minority, therefore a media focus on priorities for Africa from an African analysis and perspective could in one way or the other shine a spot light on relevant themes for Africa.

Fourthly, CGTN has continued to highlight the developments in the Paris climate change agreement. Climate change remains one of the most important issues in the 21st century owing to the danger it poses to the future of humanity. Africa is one of the highly vulnerable to climate change despite the fact that its the least contributor of greenhouse gases. Changing weather patterns, severe drought, amongst other climatic changes adversely affect African economies which are heavily reliant on agriculture. CGTN has followed and informed on climate change impacts in Africa and provided expert analysis on many of these issues. This is especially true in the face of growing global conservatism that has seen western countries oppose the Paris climate agreement. For instance, the USA, the worlds second highest contributor of greenhouse gases, has in 2017 withdrawn from the Paris accord posing a serious threat to other countries commitments. Fortunately, other world leaders have continued to express their commitment to the Paris agreement, including China and India which are the worlds first and third largest greenhouse gases contributor respectively.

Fifthly, Africa has witnessed tremendous economic growth over the past one and a half decades and CGTN has been at the forefront in telling its story. In this time, trade between Africa and the rest of the world increased fourfold; China and India, Africas 8th and 9th largest trading partners in the year 2000, are the countries now in 1st and 2nd place. In spite the geographic diversification of Africas trading partners this has not led to a significant change in the composition of its exports, and Africas Continental Free Trade Area is becoming the worlds largest single free trade area by number of countries.

Lastly, Africas biggest story has been the cooperation with China and CGTN has been at the forefront in highlighting the partnership between Africa and China. In 2016, China announced a USD 60 billion Africa loan and aid fund, Chinese President Xi said that China aims to develop infrastructure, improve agriculture and reduce poverty on the continent.

Chinese investments in Africa have skyrocketed in recent years from $7 billion in 2008 to $26 billion in 2013. Majority of the investments are in Mining and construction sectors, as well as manufacturing, science and technology sectors.

In conclusion, CGTN is growing to be a powerful voice, telling Africas story through in depth analysis, providing valuable insights and positioning itself as a trusted news source among its viewers by offering balanced views on Africas current affairs. 2017 has certainly seen it continue to cement its place in many of Africas living rooms.

David Owiro - Kenyan

Former Economic/Political Analyst at Institute of Economic Affairs Kenya, now an Independent consultant analyst of economic/political affairs in Africa
NORMAL  Shopping for deals the day after Christmas is a tradition for Michelle Clemons of Bloomington and her sister, Ashley Youngsma, now of Franklin, Tenn.

I think it started with our grandmother years ago, Youngsma said while finalizing her sale at the Loft at the Shoppes at College Hills in Normal. But my sister and I love shopping together. We have a lot of fun.

Weve been pretty busy so far, said Beckie Harweger, a sales associate at the Loft. Weve got some pretty good deals.

Youngsma said she was all about finding those deals.

Thats part of what makes it fun, she said.

Youngsma, who grew up in Central Illinois, was enjoying her visit, except for the cold temperatures. Tuesdays high temperature was around 10 degrees, according to the National Weather Service in Lincoln.

Im ready to get back to where its about 40 degrees instead of zero, she said.

While the sisters were shopping for deals, others were exchanging gifts. Thats what brought Travis Lux, and his brother, Lewis, to Best Buy at 2103 N. Veterans Parkway in Bloomington, on Tuesday. Travis was exchanging a set of speakers after receiving some duplicates.

Its such a good gift that everybody had the same idea, Lewis said.

So, Im going to get a little bit of an upgrade, Travis added.

Travis Lux was also looking forward to getting back to his home in Arkansas where there are warmer temperatures and no snow.

The weather didnt cause us too many problems since we got here before it hit, he said of his trip to Central Illinois. We should be fine on the way back, but its really cold up here.

The shopping put the finishing touches on a busy weekend for the family. It was the first Christmas for Lewis Lux of Normal, and his wife, Stacey as pastors of the Nexus Church at 716 E. Empire St., Bloomington.

Its been a great weekend and one that we will remember for a long time, he said. This is a great time of the year.

Seth Braker of Catalyst Construction in Bloomington had a different reason for braving the cold temperatures and crowds Tuesday. He was at Best Buy doing research on mobile devices for the company.

Believe it or not, but the laptops are too bulky to be out on projects today, and so we are looking for devices that are smaller and can still do the work we need, he said. The new systems are changing so fast and we have to keep up.

Best Buy General Manager Dan Waller said the store was busy early Tuesday, but the merchandise return line appeared to be smaller than in years past. Last year, the day after Christmas fell on a Monday, and several shoppers had the day off because Christmas fell on a Sunday.
BLOOMINGTON  Area veterans who become involved with the criminal justice system will have a new avenue for assistance next year when the 11th Judicial Circuit opens the McLean County Veterans Court.

After a year of planning, a team of about 35 people involved in the criminal justice system and veterans affairs recently approved the final procedures for the problem-solving court. After final approval by the Illinois Supreme Court expected early in 2018, the veterans court will begin screening potential participants.

The possibility of a veterans court for McLean County was initially set aside because the number of possible clients was determined to be too low to justify the sources needed to provide the mental health and substance abuse treatment needed by many veterans, said Cassy Taylor, court services and probation director for McLean County.

But the 2016 mandate from the state that each judicial circuit establish a veterans court and a nudge from local judges put the idea back on the table for review, said Taylor.

Judge Robert Freitag, a current member of the U.S. Army Reserve, and Judge Charles Feeney III, who served as a U.S. Marine, served on the planning group. Feeney will be the presiding judge for the new program.

The court will have a capacity of 40 veterans, a number that organizers believe will be reached because the program covers McLean, Livingston, Logan, Ford and Woodford counties.

Honorably discharged veterans are eligible for the intensive probation program that allows them to apply for expungement of their record after they graduate.

Potential clients for the voluntary program will be identified during the intake process at county jails. If needs are identified by jail staff, the Veterans Administration will be called to meet with the defendant and discuss a possible referral to the public defender's office for veterans court.

After coordination with the state's attorney's office and court services, the veteran will be screened for the program aimed at providing treatment for those recovering from the consequences of their military service, including PTSD, traumatic brain injuries and substance abuse.

Jerry Vogler, superintendent of the McLean County Veteran's Assistance Commission, said the attitude of some veterans toward accepting help can be a stumbling block for linking them to the services they are entitled to receive.

"There was a lot of dissatisfaction within the veterans community about having a separate court for veterans. There was a stigma attached to it. Veterans believe they are personally responsible to take care of themselves," said Vogler.

The supervisor of the veterans support agency is hopeful the county's third problem-solving court will be an important resource for military members.

"The veterans court gives them an alternative, a better option, to address the issues that caused them to be involved with the law," said Vogler, who estimated that only about 70 percent of those who are eligible for assistance for a service-related disability apply for help.

Mental health and substance abuse treatment will be provided through the Veterans Administration and local health care providers.

McLean County operates a drug court for about 50 offenders and recovery court for about 20 defendants whose conduct may be linked to a mental illness.
BLOOMINGTON  A woman who went missing on Christmas Day walked into the Illinois State Police office in Pesotum early Wednesday afternoon with a good Samaritan who found her at Hardee's in Mattoon.

Carmon D. Edwards, 53, who may be suffering from a recent cognitive decline, was last seen in Bloomington about 11 a.m. Monday. She was driving from Bloomington to family celebrations in Washington and/or Pekin.

She is safe and has been reunited with her family at the Illinois State Police District 10 Headquarters, said ISP spokeswoman Tracy Lillard.

She appeared to be in good health, police said.

Efforts to reach family members were not successful.

Mattoon police were called to assist Bloomington police after it was discovered that Edwards made a stop at the Hardee's in Mattoon on Tuesday morning, Mattoon Police Chief Jason Taylor said.

Edwards' vehicle was found about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday at the intersection of 21st Street and Richmond Avenue, and she was assumed to be on foot, Taylor said.

Mattoon firefighters and state troopers joined the search, which included a plane conducting an aerial search.

The good Samaritan found her at the restaurant and took her to the state police about 12:50 p.m., police said.

Law enforcement agencies in Central Illinois posted on social media about the missing woman.

We were able to reach over 800,000 people, said Bloomington police spokesman Elias Mendiola.
BLOOMINGTON  When Howard Edmondson woke up about 7 a.m. Wednesday at his home on Bunn Street in Bloomington, he quickly realized he had a problem.

He was cold and his alarm clock was dark.

I knew I was a little late on making my last payment, but I started getting mad that they cut my power on such a cold morning, even though I had mailed it in, he said. Im between jobs right now and was planning on getting an early start to job hunting.

Edmondson spotted a neighbor and quickly discovered he wasnt the only one who woke up cold Wednesday. In fact, power was knocked out at 6:38 a.m. to about 7,000 households on the south and east sides of Bloomington and the south end of Normal.

"We had a fault on a power line and that led to a problem at a substation," said Kelly Hendrickson, a spokeswoman for Ameren Illinois. "Our crews isolated the problem quickly.

Power was restored to all Ameren Illinois customers by Wednesday evening.

Approximately 1,754 Cornbelt Energy customers in Bloomington also were without power in what was described as a transmission issue impacting the Beltline substation that was related to the Ameren failure, according to a company spokesman. Those issues were cleared up by mid-morning.

Still, the outages happened at a time when the National Weather Service said Central Illinois air temperatures ranged from zero to 10-below and a wind-chill advisory was in effect.

Its always an inconvenience when your power goes out, Edmondson said. But when it is this cold, it goes well past an inconvenience. Its almost a nightmare.

Amanda Athena was waiting for a bus near her home on Clinton Avenue in Bloomington during the outage, looking forward to being any place that had heat.

Im chilled to the bone, she said. I need that bus just so I can warm up some.

When Athena realized that she could be without power for several hours, she decided she had to get out of the house.

There isnt any way I am standing around there freezing, she said. Im not even sure where Im going. I think the mall. I just have to warm up. Even the bus is going to be warmer than that house.

Motorists had to contend with several stoplights that were out of commission. There were no reports of serious injuries due to crashes caused by the power outage Wednesday.

The cold weather that made it rough for Central Illinois residents Wednesday is going to stick around, say NWS forecasters in Lincoln.

Thursdays high is expected to be about 17 degrees, and the Friday afternoon high may reach 19 degrees with a chance of light snow. The weekend will remain bitterly cold with afternoon temperatures around 10 degrees and overnight lows below zero.

Temperatures on Monday and Tuesday are expected to be around 14 degrees in the afternoon.
Terry Branstad, U.S. ambassador to China, said that chemistry between Chinese and American leaders is really good at the Iowa-China Business Forum on Dec. 22, 2017 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Han Shasha/People's Daily Online)

We handled at the embassy in Beijing about 4,000 visas a day, said Terry Branstad, U.S. ambassador to China, whose words wowed attendees at the Iowa-China Business Forum in downtown Des Moines, capital city of Iowa recently.

I am always looking for win-win solutions which are beneficial to both countries, the ambassador and former governor of Iowa said during an exclusive interview with Peoples Daily Online on the sidelines of the forum on December 22, during his stay back to Iowa.

Branstad told over 100 business and political representatives that its a great honor to be selected by President Donald Trump to represent the U.S. in the most important bilateral relationship in the world. I feel very fortunate that we have long standing relationship with China going back to the time we established the sister states.

He talked about the history of signing the Iowa-Hebei Sister State/Province agreement with then Hebei governor Zhang Shuguang. In 1985, Xi Jinping, then a county leader in Hebei province, visited Iowa through the sister-state/province program. In 2012, Xi returned to Iowa as vice-president of China. It was his first time back to the state since 1985.

A lot of the media tends to dwell on the negative, but there are a lot of things that we are working on together.

First of all, the chemistry between the two leaders is really good. President Trump and President Xi met in Mar-a-Lago. They were together in Germany. They met at the state visit in Beijing. And there have been ten phone calls between the two leaders. And thats an extraordinary number.

He added: Even though there are differences, they have honest and frank discussions, and progress has been made. He said that both sides are seeing more collaboration and working together to address the threat from North Korea with the nuclear and ballistic missiles. Thats the number one thing we are working on.

He also paid great attention to the bilateral trade. He said that China buys the most soybeans in the world and that the U.S. is excited that China has a market for beef. We are working on that.

This year, Branstad attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the China-U.S. Demonstration Farm, or the Friendship Farm, in Luanping County, Hebei Province, China, in September. It is a recreated version of Kimberley Farms in Iowa, where Chinese president Xi visited in 2012.

Rick Kimberley, president of Kimberley Farms Inc, told the reporter that the 3,000-acre demonstration farm uses the same modern equipment and technology that the Kimberleys use. Its more than a farm, its a building-up friendship. He has traveled several times to China to promote this project. Grant, my son, his job is marketing the soybeans. He has been to China 15 times.

The ambassador also shared his observations and experiences in China with Peoples Daily Online. China gains strength in its economy, has lifted a lot of people out of poverty, and its technology is rising forward. We see people making purchases with their cellphones, and renting bicycles within cellphones. All these kind of things you could not imagine a few years ago.

Branstad said people-to-people relations are very important. Once people get to know each other, appreciate and respect each other, I think things are going to happen.

Swallow Yan, Executive Director of the Chinese Association of Iowa, told Peoples Daily Online that the ambassador always has that spirit to help both sides strengthen communications. Mr. Yan would always bring his students to the open-to-public state executive council meetings when Branstad was the governor. The then-governor would always take pictures with the students individually afterwards. He even received me and my son at the U.S. embassy in Beijing. I told my son that he is the first Iowa boy getting this opportunity.

After Christmas, Branstad will return to Beijing. He told the reporter that he will go to Harbin, capital city of north eastern Chinas Heilongjiang Province, when he gets back to China. I have been to over eight provinces so far, and l am looking to visiting many more, he said with a smile.

At the end of his interview, the ambassador told us that his five-year-old granddaughter can sing happy birthday in Chinese.
It can be said communism ended in Poland exactly at the moment laws on the Supreme Court and the National Judicial Council were signed, because that period's justice system was virtually unchanged, Interior Minister Mariusz Blaszczak announced on Wednesday.

He added that the European Commission has no right to interfere in the Polish judicial system.

Last Wednesday, President Andrzej Duda signed an amendment to the act on the National Judicial Council and a new law on the Supreme Court

Earlier that day, the European Commission decided to launch Art. 7 of the European Union treaty, against Poland. At the same time, Warsaw was given three months to implement EC recommendations on the rule of law. The deputy head of the EC Frans Timmermans said on Wednesday that the independence of the Polish judiciary was in jeopardy.

"There is no doubt that this decision is unfounded, that it violates EU treaties, because the issues of changing the justice system are national, and not communal ones," said Minister Blaszczak in a Polish radio interview. "And the changes that have been carried out, the draft laws of President Andrzej Duda, change the justice system in such a way that ... they establish societys control over the justice system," he added.

According to the minister, before that, "the judiciary was entirely governed by laws of its own."

"One can say it this way: a week ago - because a week ago, the president signed the law  therefore, a week ago, communism ended in Poland, because the judicial system which emerged from communism, in fact, did not undergo any changes," said the minister.

"So why did the European Commission launch this attack? Undoubtedly, it was carried out because of the opposition group in Poland, which uses foreign countries to attack the Polish government," Blaszczak said.

The head of the Ministry of Interior and Administration also stated that the application of sanctions against Poland requires the unanimity of the European Council, and the sanctions are opposed by Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban. Orban announced on Friday that "Hungary is an obstacle which cannot be bypassed in the application of Article 7 of the EU Treaty against Poland."

"Indeed, this is what the procedure looks like, and it is a task for Polish diplomacy to, first of all, make other partners aware that they are next in a situation where they dare to carry out change in their country according to the will of the nation," assessed Blaszczak. (PAP)
'China wants link between Pakistan's Gwadar and Iran's Chabahar ports'

12/27/17

Source: Press TV

Iran says it has received a request from China to establish a connection between Pakistan's Gwadar port - which Chinese companies are developing - and Iran's southeastern port of Chabahar. Abdolrahim Kordi, the managing director of Chabahar Free Trade Zone, was quoted by Iran's media as saying that China had informed Iran that it was interested in using Chabahr to transit goods from Gwadar to regional and extra-regional destination points.



An aerial view of Iran's Chabahar port.

Kordi emphasized that there was no competition between Iran's Chabahar and Pakistan's Gawadr, stressing that the two could complement each other in terms of market access potentials.



Nevertheless, the official emphasized that the advantages of Chabahar were better than Gwadar in terms of road and rail connection facilities to key transportation points in regions as far as Central Asia and Europe.

Iran started an ambitious project to develop Chabahar port in 2007 through an investment that officials previously said already amounted to $1 billion.



The annual cargo tonnage of the port has now almost tripled to reach as high as 8.5 million tonnes.



It can also accommodate 100,000-tonne ships - what officials say can help promote the country's international trade activities.



The overall development project is planned in four phases and is expected to bring the port's total annual cargo capacity to 82 million tonnes.



The development of Chabahr port is being carried out by India. The country has committed $500 million to Chabahar which lies on the Gulf of Oman, aiming to join an increasingly important transport corridor to the resource-rich regional countries.





Related Article:

Iran Opens Extension Of Key Chahbahar Port In Gulf Of Oman



Massive investment plans are already on the cards, with the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi offering to build a sprawling artery of roads and railways which is estimated to cost $15 billion.



When development is complete, Chabahar will link with the International North-South Transportation Corridor (INSTC) which is currently stretches from the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas in the Persian Gulf to Russia, Eurasia and Europe.
Government has rejected as false, assertions that the intention of the bloated figures contained in the 2018 budget estimates presented by the Ministry for Special Development Initiatives, was simply to siphon and dissipate state funds.



In a statement issued today and signed by the Information Minister, Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, government said "whilst we acknowledge that such public scrutiny, especially of budgets, helps to ensure the protection of the public purse, we would urge, especially media practitioners, to focus on the official final appropriations, as well as what the actual processes are, including the inherent checks and safeguards therein.



"Sweeping statements and categorizations which are not informed by the actual official processes and amounts, will lead to flawed analysis, which is unhelpful to Ghanaian democracy," the statement added.





Read the full statement below



Government has taken note of the public discussions generated over the 2018 budget estimates of the Ministry for Special Development Initiatives.



Whilst commending the interest shown by Members of Parliament, sections of the media, and citizens, in ensuring that the State is efficient in its expenditure, it is important, however, to reject the false claims by some that the Ministrys budget intention is to misappropriate or misapply state funds in this case.



1. The matter of the Actual appropriated amounts



The process of budget preparation requires initial estimates, setting of expenditure ceilings by the Ministry of Finance, and the passing of appropriated ceilings by Parliament. It is important to note that, in this case, the final Appropriations Bill, as passed by Parliament, has set forth the true picture, which is significantly different from the document in circulation. The Appropriated Bill is available on the Ministry of Finances website. For example, regarding the Community Water Systems, ambulances and school facilities (including classroom blocks with ICT centres and other amenities), government notes that the projected costs as submitted by the Minister and approved by Parliament are within the market competitive range for such projects. For example, per the specification given the Ministry by the Ghana Ambulance Service, it costs between one hundred thousand and one hundred and fifty thousand United States Dollars to purchase one ambulance. The United States Dollar equivalent of what the Minister stated in the budget is 80,000 Dollars. The kind of water system that is envisaged under this programme has cost other institutions as much as GH167,000 to build. In any event, when the Development Authorities are in place, they will be responsible for the execution of these projects based on competitive pricing. The public will be better served if discussions on this matter are based on the official final appropriated amounts, which are those which bind the public purse.





2. The matter of How much has been appropriated to the Ministry vrs How much is appropriated to the Development Authorities



The Development Authorities Bill (to be signed into law this week) empowers the development authorities to co-ordinate the planning and implementation of integrated development activities at the constituency level for the realisation of the strategic goal of each development zone. Each of the Development Authorities will have a a Governing Board that will be responsible for the approval of annual operatives plans and budget of the Authority and review the quarterly performance of the Authority, including statement of accounts of moneys disbursed from the funds of the Authority. The Minister for Special Development Initiatives therefore plays only a supervisory role over the Development Authorities and, thus, does not execute their projects and programmes directly. Accordingly, out of the over GH1 billion that is at issue, only GH1.5 million is available to the Ministry directly; the rest of the amount is only an appropriated ceiling made available in the 2018 Budget for the three Development Authorities to validate, properly budget with, plan and execute their on-ground projects, once established. The Development Authorities would be required by the Public Management and Financial Act (PFMA) to adhere to strict procedure as outlined by the law, and which aims to prevent wastage and dissipation of public funds.



3. The matter of whether or not the Development Authorities Concept will amount to wasteful administrative expenditure



The establishment of the three Development Authorities is to ensure a bottom-up approach to development, which takes control of local development away from a central authority. With the establishment of the three development authorities, part of the yearly national allocation for capital expenditure, will be taken and directly allocated to all 275 constituencies across the country to be administered by the Development Authorities to ensure that the traditional inefficiencies of centralized capital expenditure is cured. The balance of GH1.198 billion has now been approved for the Authorities to develop projects with and expend accordingly commencing with the 2018 budget. The establishment of the Development Authorities to administer expenditure of the equivalent of $1 million per constituency was a specific manifesto commitment of the ruling New Patriotic Party, as amplified by several pronouncements of its presidential ticket in the 2016 election campaign, and government is determined to implement to the letter this vision which will ensure equitable distribution of amenities and opportunities to every community up and down the country.



4. Protecting the Public Purse



Now that appropriation is complete, there are enough safeguards to ensure that value for money audits are conducted at each procurement stage when the Development Authorities are established and commence their work. The Public Financial Management Act requires processing such as issuance of commencement certificates (which require benchmarking of projected expenditures). The Procurement processes additionally require value for money assessments. The processes for releasing funds at the Finance Ministry since 2017, in strict accordance with the PFMA have been extremely diligent leading to huge savings to the public purse this year, a reason for which government has been accused for not spending enough. The processes will continue to remain extremely disciplined in 2018 and beyond, and are the ones that really determine how safe the public purse is.



5. Conclusion



Whilst we acknowledge that such public scrutiny, especially of budgets, helps to ensure the protection of the public purse, we would urge, especially media practitioners, to focus on the official final appropriations, as well as what the actual processes are, including the inherent checks and safeguards therein. Sweeping statements and categorizations which are not informed by the actual official processes and amounts, will lead to flawed analysis, which is unhelpful to Ghanaian democracy.







signed



Mustapha Abdul-Hamid



(Minister for Information)

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Former Trade and Industry Minister Ekow Spio-Garbrah has identified the millions of Africans in Diaspora as potential agents for the transformation of the African continent.



Dr. Spio-Garbrah delivering a keynote speech at an international conference on the African Diaspora in Nairobi, Kenya hosted by the Kenya Diaspora Network and the Diaspora Investment Club mentioned that the pre-independence movement in Africa was largely propelled by Africans who had gone to study mainly in Britain, France and the United States.



These returnee Africans which included Kwame Nkrumah, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Jomo Kenyatta, Leopold Senghor, Houghbouet Boigny, Julius Nyerere, Kenneth Kaunda, Kamuzu Banda and others, returned to their countries after acquiring knowledge and exposure overseas, and used that experience to liberate their countries from colonial rule, former Trade and Industry Minister indicated.



In the gathering of about 500 politicians, academics, business tycoons, professionals and youth leaders, Spio-Garbrah charged saying that it is time for the current crop of Africans who remain overseas and those returning from the Diaspora with cutting-edge experience in foreign countries to also work collaboratively to liberate the African continent economically.



 . . the time has come for the current crop of Africans who remain overseas and those returning from the Diaspora, who had this time obtained cutting-edge experience in foreign countries to also work collaboratively to liberate the African continent, but this time economically, financially and technologically, he emphasized.



Dr Spio-Garbrah again noted that whereas the pre-independence Africans in Diaspora have to do blue collar works as train attendants, cleaners and washers and blue collar factory workers, the recent and current cadre of Diaspora returnees had been blessed to work in cutting edge environments.



Todays Diaspora returnee is likely to have worked on Wall Street, Silicon Valley, NASA, the financial districts of London or France, or India. Others are returning to Africa after being professors and lecturers in a wide range of fields. If the earlier group of Diasporas, with their relatively limited education, work experience and exposure could succeed in bringing political independence to Africa, then their more fortunate successors in Diaspora cannot have any excuse for allowing Africa to remain in its current conditions, Spio-Garbrah averred.



The former Ambassador to United States of America however told the gathering that some African countries like Ethiopia, Cape Verde and Egypt along with some non-African countries such as the Philippines, South Korea and India seem to be doing better job than others by tracking down their citizens overseas, data-basing relevant information on their nationals, and taking pro-active measures to tap into the brain power and expertise of these nationals.



Giving Africas continued developmental challenges, Dr Spio-Garbrah was of the view that African countries could do much more through their governments, the private sector, academia and professionals to use information and communication technologies (ITCs) to establish networks of knowledge to assist the transformation agenda of most countries.



The former Minister of Education underscored the importance for Africans who travel overseas to invest in acquiring knowledge and technical skills which are relevant to Africas industrialization and modernization.



He therefore lauded African countries such as Cape Verde and Ethiopia for making effective use of their Diaspora communities to harness their remittances and technical knowledge in specific programmes that had helped to transform their countries.



He indicated that most African governments are yet to put in place attractive policies, rules, regulations or laws that would overtly seek out and incentivise their nationals abroad to return.



He mentioned again that the internet and the networking power of social media today, have given tremendous boost to what Diaspora networks could do to identify themselves and mobilize their capacities for the benefit of Africa.



Amongst the speakers at the conference were Speaker of the Kenyan Senate, the Director General for East Africa of the African Development Bank, representives from the African Union, the East African Community and the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA).



Two days earlier, Dr Spio-Garbrah had delivered a lecture on Critical Success Factors that Impact e-Infrastructure and e-Services for Transforming Africa, to some 100 ICT and computer science professors, lecturers, professionals, practitioners and graduate students at a conference in Lagos, Nigeria.



The conference was hosted by the University of Lagos Faculty of Computing Sciences, and was held under the auspices of the European Alliance on Innovation and sponsored by a number of major Nigerian telecom sector companies.

Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









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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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.
President Akufo Addo has assured the people of Ghana that his government will do all it takes to stamp out Child Trafficking in the country.



Addressing the Okyehene and attendees of the Presidents end of year party for the children of Kyebi organised by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, President Akufo Addo said Child Trafficking which is a challenge in Ghana is an affront to the Ghanaian culture and the countrys future. To that end, his administration will take all necessary steps to bring the phenomenon to an end.



President Akufo Addo also observed that his government is looking beyond the provision of free Senior High School (SHS) Education in Ghana. It is his hope that government will develop an all round education system for the children of Ghana.



Okyehene, Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin in a short address admonished parents to be mindful of what their children are watching on TV and the kind of video games they play late into the night. He added that the free SHS programme of the Nana Akufo Addo government does not guarantee a pass for students.



There is the need for the beneficiaries of the free SHS programme to study hard and acquit themselves equitably for the investment made in them and parents have a duty to ensure that their wards achieve this desired results.

Source: Daily Heritage









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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Long queues formed at petrol stations across Nigeria Tuesday, with motorists sometimes waiting up to 24 hours to fill up their tanks, as Africa's number one oil producer faces a crippling fuel shortage.



"I couldn't travel. I would have loved to travel to Osun State (north of Lagos) to spend time with my family (for Christmas), but I cancelled on that one," motorist Tope Alake told AFP as he waited at one of the few petrol stations still open in Lagos, Nigeria's economic capital.



"I am supposed to be at home now," said another driver, Alex Ogunsola. "I am supposed to take the kids to the beach. I am on queue and I am not even sure if I am going to see fuel today."



Monster traffic jams have clogged up Nigeria this Christmas, which had been hoping to enjoy a happier holiday season this year than in 2016, when the country was deep in economic recession.



Given the scale of the shortage, everyone involved is eager to lay the blame at somebody else's door.



The distributors are pointing the finger at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), which does not have sufficient resources to meet the demands of the country, with its population of 190 million people.



Under orders from the government in Abuja, NNPC's chief Maitanki Baru unveiled a national plan on Monday to deliver an additional 300 million litres of petrol to "support the current consumption of 45 million litres per day" -- much higher than the normal demand of 27-28 million litres per day due to the holiday period.



Baru also pointed out that the national refineries in Port Harcourt and Kaduna were producing 3.8 million litres of refined petrol per day, a paltry amount give that Nigeria is Africa's biggest exporter of crude (nearly two million barrels per day).



The NNPC chief also blamed black market vendors for purposely paralysing petrol stations so as to push up parallel selling prices to 400 naira (0.93 euros per litre, $1.11), compared with 145 naira normally.



At the same time, consumers suspect the government of creating a chaotic situation in order to justify an increase in diesel and petrol prices at the pump next year.



The crisis is particularly serious in a country where the public electricity supply is weak and where businesses and private individuals rely on their diesel generator for lighting.

Source: France24









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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Senior Minister Yaw Osafo Maafo has been described as the "most corrupt politician" ever, in the annals of the country's political history, by a former Deputy Minister in the John Mahama-led NDC administration.



Why? Because he (Osafo Maafo) has allegedly managed to construct a building a few months after his appointment as Senior Minister.



Murtala Mohammed therefore wants him (Osafo) to tell Ghanaians how he managed to complete the said building which was at a foundation level for years.



Go to Pillar two (Dome, a suburb in Accra), there is a building there and my understanding is that the building belongs to Mr Osafo Maafo; it was just foundation for over ten years. Mr Osafo Maafo didnt even have a dime to buy blocks to raise it. Go and see that building today in less than a year.



"Mr Osafo Maafo should tell us where he got that money to do thatand let no one tell me that oh he had money. If he had money, is it not curious that he didnt see the need to raise that building for almost ten years or more and he has suddenly raised that building from foundation to completion? he quizzed.



Osafo Maafos Ministry an illegal entity



Parliament recently rejected the 2018 budgetary allocation of GH6 million for the office of the Senior Minister for its planned programmes and policies.



The parliamentarians argued that the office was not a legal creation and therefore could not be allocated any funds from the national budget.



According to the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, an Executive Instrument (EI28) containing a list of ministries signed by President Nana Akufo-Addo and gazetted on 28th February, 2017 did not include the office of the Senior Minister as a ministry. Thus, he said, without any legal backing, the Ministry cannot be allocated funds.



Superfluous Portfolio?



The creation of the Senior Ministers office has widely condemned by sections of the public who argue that it is a superfluous portfolio with no proper designation.



Apart from the Minority Leader, Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga is on record to have claimed that the office was unconstitutional.



According to Mr. Ayariga, the nomination of any person to be vetted for the post of a Senior Minister constitutes a constitutional aberration, adding that nowhere in the Constitution does the office of Senior Minister exist.



Aside the unconstitutionality of the office, Hon Murtala alluded to the issue of the Macmillan scandal which involved the printing of some books for Ghanaian schools supervised by Mr Osafo Maafo, when he was then Education Minister.



It is against this backdrop that the former MP and deputy minister levelled such allegations of corruption against the senior minister.



The former Deputy Trades Minister, who was speaking during a panel discussion on Radio Golds Alhaji and Alhaji programme, added: I cant see any corrupt politician than Osafo Maafo. Perhaps, within the NPP he may not be the most corrupt but I say that he is the most corrupt politician that I have ever seenhe has to explain to us how that building was completed only when he was appointed a senior minister







Source: Rebecca Addo Tetteh/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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Allegations made by Murtala Mohammed against the Senior Minister, Mr Yaw Osafo Maafo have been described as libelous and untruthful.



Murtala Mohammed a former Deputy Minister for Trade Minister in the John Mahama-led NDC administration during a panel discussion on Radio Golds Alhaji and Alhaji programme over the weekend alleged that Osafo Maafo is the "most corrupt politician" he has ever come into contact with.



I cant see any corrupt politician than Osafo Maafo. Perhaps, within the NPP he may not be the most corrupt but I say that he is the most corrupt politician that I have ever seenhe has to explain to us how that building was completed only when he was appointed a senior minister



Murtala Mohammed wants him (Osafo) to tell Ghanaians how he managed to complete a building which was at a foundation level for years immediately after being appointed as a minister.



Go to Pillar two (Dome, a suburb in Accra), there is a building there and my understanding is that the building belongs to Mr Osafo Maafo; it was just foundation for over ten years. Mr Osafo Maafo didnt even have a dime to buy blocks to raise it. Go and see that building today in less than a year.



"Mr Osafo Maafo should tell us where he got that money to do thatand let no one tell me that oh he had money. If he had money, is it not curious that he didnt see the need to raise that building for almost ten years or more and he has suddenly raised that building from foundation to completion?



However, Alhaji Ibrahim, an estate developer in charge of the construction of the building in question has denied claims made by the former MP.



According to him, the building does not belong to the Senior Minister.



It is never true that the building Murtala Mohammed is referring to was built by the senior minister and also started, ten [10] years ago. The land belongs to him [Mr Osafo Maafo] but he didnt invest a penny into the construction of the building.



I am an estate developer and all that I do is to build and rentI met Osafo Maafo few years ago and told him of my intention to build on his land. After glancing through my contract submitted to him [Mr Osafo Maafo] he agreed and gave me the go-ahead to take over his land. There was nothing on that land until I started developing



He also added that I started the building long before Mr. Osarfo Marfo was elected as the Senior Minister for the current government.

Source: Elizabeth Semiheva/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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Initiated by the Consulate General of the Peoples Republic of China in Brisbane and hosted by Peoples Daily Online Australia, the 2017 China-Australia Short Video Contest entered its judging period on December 16, 2017. On Dec. 22, five judges generated a list for three awards, including Best Story Award, Best Editing Award, and Most Creative Award.

Short Video Contest individual awards judging held in Brisbane (Photo by Jing Xu)
The attention of the Office of the President has been drawn to a false news report that President Akufo-Addo has congratulated one of the contestants in Liberia's Presidential run-off.



Unsurprisingly, this fake news is making the rounds on news portals belonging to political opponents of government, and being circulated on social media by political opponents.



We wish to state categorically that the President has made no such call, and we urge Ghanaians to disregard this false news. Just like the rest of the world, we will await the results of the run-off as declared by Liberia's Electoral Commission.





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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FILE - In this April 27, 2016 file photo, Tavis Smiley appears at the 33rd annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards in Los Angeles. Smiley said that he isn't just angry at PBS for firing him on sexual misconduct charges. He's angry about his depiction in the media. (Photo by Rich Fury/Invision/AP, File)
Doll with traditional Chinese elements designed by a Chinese company

Slightly slanted eyes, gently curved forehand, delicately embroidered silk tunic, these once neglected Chinese elements are now being applied to dolls made in China, challenging the traditional aesthetics of the global doll industry.

A glimpse into Chinas largest children store, the New China Childrens Store, will definitely change your understanding of what a doll looks like. Occupying most shelves of the toy shop, dolls wearing traditional Chinese costumes have become the center of Barbie land, with many little young enjoying their unique beauty, gasping in admiration.

Dolls featuring traditional Chinese elements have been prevailing in the toy market in recent years, taking up the largest toy shop in our store, a salesperson from New China Childrens Store told Beijing Morning Post.

I bought two Chinese dolls for my 3-year-old. Compared to their blonde counterparts, Chinese dolls may covey more cultural connotation, providing my daughter more knowledge about her own country and culture, said Chen Yuxin, a 36-year-old mother.

Chinese dolls dilemma

Dolls with Chinese facial features and cultural elements are quite rare compared to their blonde and blue-eyed counterparts. According to statistics from the official website of Barbie, the most renowned doll company in the word, very few Barbie are clearly labeled as Chinese.

Chinese doll designed by Barbie.

Despite the fact that some famous doll brands have attempted to create dolls with Chinese features, their lack of knowledge of Chinese culture and aesthetics has led to barely satisfactory results.

In 2014, Ivy Ling doll, which was first released in 2007 by famous doll brand American Girl, was discontinued. Lings retirement was met by fans and costumers with sadness and anger, with Olivia Oguma, co-founder of the Broadway Diversity Project, tweeting that we should not underestimate the power of seeing ourselves represented.

Ivy Ling doll designed by American Girl.

I had always dreamed about having a doll with dark eyes and yellow skin, or to be more accurate, a miniature me, but its really hard to find dolls with Asian features, let alone well-designed ones, said Alex Wong, a 21-year-old Chinese American based in New York.

Even more ironically, though Ling was recognized by the public as a representation of Chinese beauty, Chinese girls actually liked the blonde Barbie better than the localized one, according to a Forbes report in 2012.

Clearly those foreign companies have failed to understand what Ling would represent in order to appeal to Chinese girls. Their perpetuating stereotypes of China and Chinese people have molded their Chinese dolls into petite and lifeless figures, without any cultural connotation, said Wong.

Dolls play an important role in cultivating childrens aesthetics, while well-designed Chinese dolls can raise kids sense of identity and acceptance of good traditional culture, Zong Chunshan, a child educator, told Beijing Morning Post.

New Cultural icon

The demand for authentic Chinese dolls has pushed Chinese companies to produce more well-designed products, which now occupy the market, said Hu Binchang, a 36-year-old online toy retailer.

According to statistics from Kurhn Toys Company, a doll manufacturer located in Guangdong province that features dolls with traditional Chinese elements, the companys products are exported to more than 50 countries worldwide, covering Europe, America, and Africa.

By using Chinese legendaries as our inspiration, weve designed over 1,000 Chinese dolls, with authentic Chinese elements such as traditional embroidery, Chinese painting, and calligraphy, read an announcement on the companys website.

I bought a white snake lady doll for my little cousin as a New Year gift, hoping that it will help him understand the relevant stories. From my perspective, Chinese dolls can serve as a new cultural icon, and can introduce our traditional culture to the world, Wong said.
Cannabis seedlings at the new Aurora Cannabis facilty Friday, November 24, 2017 in Montreal. The Ontario Securities Commission has issued a cease-trade order for any securities issued by CanniMed Therapeutics Inc. under a shareholder rights plan thatas being used as a defence against a hostile takeover by another marijuana company. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
Darrell James Matt in an undated photo from his Facebook page. Police havent ruled out the possibility he was struck and killed by his own snowmobile.
A police car is parked outside an apartment building where the bodies of sisters aged four and six were found by police on Boxing Day in the community of Oak Bay in Victoria, B.C., on Wednesday, December 27, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
The RCMP in Saint-Leonard, N.B. are asking for the public's help in locating the owner of a Pepsi vending machine, shown in a handout photo, found in a potato field southwest of Grand Falls, THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-RCMP
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, listens to an official after submitting endorsement papers at the Central Election Commission in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017. Putin is running for his fourth term in office as an independent candidate. (Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
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Audemars Piguet celebrated the unveiling of its 3rd Art Commission during Art Basel Miami Beach 2017. Spanning the size of a city block on the Miami Beach oceanfront, Slow-Moving Luminaries created by artist Lars Jan, was presented on Tuesday, 5 December 2017. For the 3rd Audemars Piguet Art Commission, guest-curator Kathleen Forde was invited to oversee the project and work alongside the Los Angeles-based artist.

The Manufacture marked the debut of its 3rd Art Commission with a press conference and cocktail party, which were hosted by Vice-Chairman of the Board, Olivier Audemars, and attended by over 500 guests.

Olivier Audemars welcomed guests saying: The most rewarding aspect of our engagement with art and the annual commission has been the thoughtful exchanges that weve been privileged to have with artists and curators. When Lars Jan came to visit our home in Le Brassus, he asked us about winters here, and we realised that it used to snow much more in the past than it does now, which highlighted a new connection for us to Miami Beach and its climate. It was also extremely interesting to see the inspiration that Lars took from learning about our legacy of watchmaking, particularly of creating complicated watches by hand, and the study of the philosophy of time. These encounters have challenged us to shift our vision not only of art, but also of ourselves. Artists see the world differently from the rest of us, and express their unique vision in their work. These artists have in turn helped us see our own work and lives in a different light.

 Audemars Piguet

Artist Lars Jan described the project and his collaboration with Audemars Piguet, saying: It has been hugely rewarding to work with such a wonderful team. When I visited the home of Audemars Piguet in Switzerland, I was struck by its untouched beauty and the astonishing savoir-faire demonstrated by the watchmakers. The complexity of their work led me to view watches as philosophical objects that possess incredible mechanisms, calculations and gears that are in fact imperfect approximations of celestial happenings. Just like the sun and the moon, we are in constant motion, swinging like pendulums from a state of meditation to one of crisis. This notion lies at the core of this project.

Lars Jan  Audemars Piguet

During Art Basel in Miami Beach, Audemars Piguet also unveiled the final evolution of their 2017 booth concept in the Collectors Lounge, imagined by Chilean artist and designer Sebastian Errazuriz. Inspired by forests native to the home of the Swiss watchmaker in the Vallee de Joux, the stand includes a large-scale tree sculpture created from wood that debuted at Art Basel in Hong Kong with bare branches earlier this year, grew seasonally from Winter to Spring at Art Basel in Basel, with the addition of buds at Art Basel in Miami Beach. The designer also presented his new lounge concept for 2018 which will complete the trilogy of his creative interpretations of the Manufactures origins and natural environment.
The Philadelphia port is getting four new cranes, capable of unloading cargoes from the world's largest container ships. The first two cranes are ready and will arrive in March. The port signed a $23.5 million deal to buy two additional post-Panamax gantry cranes expected to be delivered in April 2019. Read more

At the Port of Philadelphia, two harbor cranes, as large as any in the world, will arrive in early March. The first ship taking used-car exports will leave Philadelphia for Africa next month, and the largest ship ever to sail up the Delaware River will dock here in January with cargo from South America.

Work will wrap up soon to strengthen ship berths at the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal. The design of new warehouses at the former Philadelphia Produce and Seafood Terminal will be completed and go out to bid. Ground will be broken on a 100,000-square-foot warehouse at the Tioga Marine Terminal in Port Richmond. Building a vehicle-processing center for Hyundai and Kia imports is also expected to begin at the Southport terminal at the Navy Yard.

"Construction of the warehousing improvements will all be done in 2018, a really significant growth expansion process," said Gregory Iannarelli, senior director of business development and chief counsel for the port, known as PhilaPort.

Sounds like a busy 2018. It follows on the heels of a bang-up 2017 at the port, which saw more containerized freight, more cars, more cargoes such as wood pulp, and the promise of those larger cranes, capable of unloading larger ships.

The first two cranes, as big as any in New York Harbor, are on their way from Shanghai, China. Port officials recently announced the $23.5 million purchase of two additional New Panamax-size container gantry cranes, which will arrive in April 2019 and enable Philadelphia to double container cargo volumes and create jobs.

The changes came after the Wolf administration pledged $300 million, the first major capital investment in four decades for terminal improvements, wharves, warehouses, and cranes. The state is landlord and owner of 16 piers and terminals on the Delaware River.

PhilaPort, which leases and manages the piers and terminals, spent $10 million in June to buy the former Produce and Seafood Terminal from Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp. The 29-acre parcel at Third Street and Pattison Avenue will be used to relocate warehouses and increase container capacity at Packer Avenue.

All these improvements at the port are expected to create up to 2,000 waterfront jobs, and nearly 7,000 total jobs for truckers, rail workers, suppliers, and port-related businesses over the next decade.

"Right now, we can't build fast enough," said port CEO Jeff Theobald. "We have to get through this construction as quickly as possible to get those jobs going. And then move on to Phase Two. Clearly, we need more warehouse space. We're trying to look at properties available."

Holt Logistics, which operates the Packer terminal for PhilaPort, has shifted empty containers, chassis, and other equipment from the main yard to a 45-acre lot next door, increasing space at the dock. Containerized cargoes are up about 20 percent over last year, said Eric Holt, vice president of sales and marketing.

"The goal right now is to free up as much terminal operating area as possible, because the number of containers has grown to the point where, if we don't, we're going to become congested," Holt said.

For 2017, the port is on track to reach a record in containers handled in one year.

"All forecasts are indicating another exceptional year," Iannarelli said. "We have topped a half-million containers, which is the first time ever." Last year, the port handled 459,000 TEUs (20-foot-equivalent units, the standard size of international containers). "This year, we are going to handle roughly 540,000. That's pretty good growth."

By another measure, the port expects 6.8 million metric tons of cargo in 2017, up from 6.2 million last year. "We exceeded all of 2016's cargo by the end of November," Iannarelli said. The goal is to position Philadelphia to attract shippers that currently go to rival ports in New York and Baltimore.

Instead of retrofitting an existing terminal at Tioga, port officials shifted gears and decided to add 100,000 square feet of "food grade" warehouse space for wood-pulp shipments. Fibria Celulose, the world's largest producer of eucalyptus pulp, sends 400,000 tons of pulp from Brazil to Tioga annually. A second pulp customer, CMPC Celulosa, also ships to Tioga, and now other wood-pulp producers want to come, too.

"We have a lot of interest from not only expanded Fibria volumes, but also from other customers," said Robert Palaima, president of Delaware River Stevedores, the terminal operator at Tioga. "This new warehouse will give us a lot more flexibility to really become a premier forest products distribution center in the Northeast."

With the 103-mile deepening of the Delaware River navigation channel to 45 feet from 40 feet, begun in 2010, nearly completed, bigger ships are coming to Philadelphia through the expanded Panama Canal.

Next month, the largest ship ever to sail up the Delaware  a vessel 11,000 TEUs operated by Mediterranean Shipping Co.  is scheduled to bring cargo from Chile and Peru, port officials said.

More than 154,000 new Hyundai and Kia vehicles arrived at the port from South Korea as of Nov. 30, headed to dealer showrooms. The state will invest $93 million at the Southport site to build a new processing center and provide additional acreage for autos.

In January, a twice-monthly shipping service will take used-car exports from Philadelphia to Tema, Ghana; Cotonou, Benin; and Lagos, Nigeria, Iannarelli said. The first ship, MV Glovis Cosmos, is due to load cars on Jan. 10.

Looking to the future, the port's chief executive wants to develop a ship berth on 30 to 40 acres and 2,000 feet of waterfront at the eastern end of the Navy Yard. It would be welcome news to the International Longshoremen's Association and others, who have long wanted a marine terminal at Southport.

In November 2016, the port suspended the bid process for the 195 acres known as Southport. Although six groups initially expressed interest in developing the property, five dropped out. The port required that any developer of the 119 waterfront acres had to build a wharf and two ship berths, making the project expensive  about $500 million.

At that time, the state was looking predominantly for private money.

"I want to have a group seriously look at how we would start developing that additional berthing capability at Southport," Theobald said recently. "We have a permit already for Southport, adding a berth there. We have the ability to do it, and I don't want to lose the permitting right."

Who would finance such a project?

"That's a tough one, because it's a lot of money," he said. "But I think that's the next step to expand the berth capabilities" between Packer and Southport "just south of Pier 124. It's about 30 or 40 acres of land that we could use and about 2,000 feet of berth. We'll probably be dusting off our studies to see what that would cost, and how would we finance it, and who would be interested. We'll probably go down that path again.

"It's a challenge, but I think there may be a way to put that deal together again," Theobald said. "It's good for the port. It's good for jobs. That's the only piece of berth that we actually have available to grow. We'll have to try to work our way to make that happen."
St. Charles Borromeo Seminary registered $2.2 million in expenses in fiscal 2017 related to its plan to move operations to Neumann University and a legal settlement over the sale of its campus. Read more

Years-long efforts by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to decide on the future of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary hit the Wynnewood school's bottom line in the year ended June 30, according to financial statements released in mid-December.

St. Charles Borromeo recorded $2.2 million in expenses related both to a study of the feasibility of moving the seminary to a local Catholic university and to the settlement of a lawsuit over the proposed sale of a portion of the seminary's campus.

"With this matter settled, the seminary will now focus on continuing the process for the development of a sustainable model for the seminary, which would involve the sale of the Wynnewood campus and a potential affiliation with Neumann University," spokesman Ken Gavin said Wednesday.

In May, the archdiocese and Neumann announced their agreement to pursue a potential deal that would have the seminary, formally known at the Philadelphia Theological Seminary of St. Charles Borromeo, move to the university's campus or nearby. Those talks continue, a Neumann spokesman said.

The seminary, which Archbishop Charles J. Chaput once called "the heart of our church in Philadelphia," also recorded a $1.5 million write-down related to an earlier plan, announced in March 2013, to consolidate operations in older buildings on 30 acres at the back of the property at City and Lancaster Avenues.

Those expenses caused an overall $2.6 million loss in fiscal 2017, the seminary reported. Without them, the seminary's bottom line would have been $1.1 million in the black.

A lawsuit filed by Bill Burris, a developer of senior-care facilities, was settled in October. The lawsuit survived a bid for summary judgment in June.

Burris, part-owner of a senior-living firm in New Jersey, had eyed a portion of the seminary property for a mix of senior apartments, assisted-living units, and a nursing facility, potentially in partnership with Main Line Health, where people could get short-term medical care after surgery or an illness.

Main Line Health executives appeared to be on board with Burris, he said in legal filings, but in August 2015 the health system decided to make the purchase without Burris.

"I've got to believe we can craft a much more attractive offer  and then get the land and sit on it until we decide what we want to do. We can't lose this one," Lydia Hammer, Main Line Health's senior vice president of marketing and business development, wrote in an email in September 2015.

Burris filed his initial lawsuit against Main Line Health and St. Charles Borromeo in Montgomery County Court two years ago. In February 2016, he filed a second complaint in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, where the settlement was reached.

Burris' lawyer, Paul R. Rosen of Spector Gadon & Rosen PC, did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

Main Line Health is still in talks on the possible purchase of the property, a spokeswoman said Wednesday. It had previously offered $28.5 million for the lower 40 acres, with a $15 million option on the seminary's 29-acre upper campus, court documents in Burris' lawsuit showed.

St. Charles Borromeo did not say how much it paid to settle the lawsuit, but its financial statement said it recorded a liability related to the settlement in "accounts payable and accrued expenses."

In fiscal 2017, that line of the seminary's cash-flow statement was $1.94 million, compared with $23,695 the previous year and negative in earlier years.
Silvia Barreto holds photos of her children, both victims of fatal gunshots. Her son, Andre Reyes, left, died 20 years ago. Her daughter, Cristina Tosado, was fatally shot in Feb. Relatives and friends of the victims of gun violence stand on the Art Museum steps on June 15, 2017. Read more

That's a wrap, 2017, and what a year you've been. Time to take stock and suit up for the year ahead. Considering what this year's been like, I'm currently sizing armor.

Above all, what I try to never lose sight of during the year is that my job as a metro columnist is a privilege, one that I try to never take for granted, especially as one of the too few women of color, specifically Latinas, with this platform.

The people and stories and causes I champion in this space may change, but the goal is always the same: to amplify the lives that those in power  whether in boardrooms or newsrooms  often overlook, and to have a lively, meaningful ongoing conversation with readers that teaches us all a little something.

To fill my notebook and smartphone and head with facts by hitting the streets and talking to people and then writing straight from the heart, no punches pulled.

I don't always know for sure if I succeeded, but often readers will let me know that something I wrote left an impression:

"Hey," they ask, "whatever happened to "

As we end the year, here's an update on a few columns and causes that resonated with readers.

Ismarie Gomez: The world could use a little more Ismarie, I wrote when I shared the story about an inspiring little girl whose family lost everything to Hurricane Maria, but was still willing to give up what little she had for those less fortunate. After hearing her story, donations poured in. She and her mom were able to go back to Puerto Rico to reunite with her father, who had stayed behind, for Christmas.

@Wallo267: Wallace "@Wallo267" Peeples is one of those people whose story and spirit just keeps on giving long after I profiled how he had built a huge Instagram following with contraband cellphones while still in prison. Just 10 months out, he's well on his way to building a motivational movement while lifting others up with him. When Wallo took over my Instagram for the day, he introduced us to some great people, including Brian Ward, a young balloon artist whose story reminded us all of how much potential there is in this city's young people. Since the column, he's focused on his booming balloon business and paying it forward, the @Wallo267 way. He's partnered with friends to start a project to help people living in shelters get back on their feet.

Ancestry Brothers: The brothers who went on the genealogy research website in hopes of finding their father and instead found each other finally met in person in Philadelphia, and cemented their brotherly bond in the most Philly of ways: over cheesesteaks. Dalessandro's Steaks, to be exact. The two are still searching for their father, but in the meantime, they've found each other and a shared love of sandwiches.

Hurricane Couple: A little over a month after Tobi Russeck was airlifted out of St. Thomas with contractions after Hurricane Irma, she and her husband, Ray Sperbeck, welcomed Baby Harry. Everyone is healthy and happy and looking forward to a hurricane-free new year.

Moms of murdered children: I spent a good part of the year chronicling the heartbreaking stories of mothers who lost their children  and of one who lost two  to this city's gun violence. With 315 homicides as of Saturday afternoon  the first time murders have surpassed 300 since 2012  I could have told one of these stories nearly every day. Of those lost, 30 were teenagers. For the second year in a row, this spring, I called those affected by gun violence in this city  which as I've said is every single one of us in one way or another  to the Art Museum steps to call attention to an epidemic that continues to lack sufficient attention. More than anything, I wanted to at least be able to write that some of the pain the mothers live with was eased by the people who killed their children being caught. But most of the murders remain unsolved.

Trump and the Pandora's Box of -isms that his presidency has unleashed took up a lot of space in our heads and hearts, and in this column. And here's where I'm at as we all struggle to keep up with the twisted reality show our country has become: The assault on women, on black and brown people, on Muslims and Mexicans, and on gay and transgender people, on truth, and on reality-based journalism must be resisted with every fiber of our American beings.

Speaking of the resistance, no other group inspires me more than the grassroots and frankly fierce Tuesdays With Toomey group, which has never, ever, not once taken its eyes off the daily assault against our democracy.

If 2017 should have taught us anything, it's that even the most imaginative among us probably can't come up with what likely lies ahead. But whatever it is, I'm going to follow Tuesdays With Toomey's lead and take it all on with the words written on my new favorite resistance T-shirt: sin miedo.

Without fear.

Happy New Year!
Earlier this week Sudan claimed that a border region between the two countries falls under its electoral constituency, which Egypt has dismissed

Egypt's foreign ministry on Wednesday reiterated its sovereignty over the border region of Halayeb and Shalateen, over which a dispute with neighboring Sudan has lingered for decades.

The Halayeb Triangle region, located on Egypt's southern borders with Sudan and comprising three cities, has been a source of tension between both countries since Sudan gained independence from joint Britain and Egyptian rule in 1956, with rows occurring at times over the right to manage the region's petroleum resources.

On Wednesday, Sudan's supreme electoral committee said Halayeb is among electoral districts of the country's 2015 presidential and parliamentary elections, due in April 2015  remarks Egypt has swiftly quashed.

Later in the day, foreign ministry spokesperson Bader Abdel-Atty said the "claims" are meant to "incite a rift between Egypt and Sudan," as quoted by Egypt's state news agency MENA.

"Egyptian lands are not subject to retail and Egypt has full sovereignty over its territory," Abdel-Atty said.

It is not the first time that the region has been listed amongst Sudan's constituencies.

Abdel-Atty added that the media's tackling of the issue, whether in Sudan or Egypt, is aimed to disturb relations between the two states.

Cairo currently exercises control over the territory, inhibited by tribes that trace their roots to both Sudan and Egypt. The triangle comprises the cities of Halayeb, Abu Ramad and Shalateen.



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The SRC voted to dissolve itself at a Nov. meeting. A state education official has given the OK for the state-run panel to disappear June 30. Read more

It's official: The School Reform Commission will be no more as of June 30, 2018.

Pennsylvania's top education official this week certified the dissolution of the SRC, which voted last month to abolish itself after 16 years of existence.

Gov. Wolf announced the move Wednesday, saying the Philadelphia School District has improved to the point where it is no longer distressed and that "local control with strong state support will make the district stronger."

"Restoring district operations to a locally selected board of education will only allow those improvements to continue, and will better serve the needs of the district's students and schools," Wolf said in a statement. "I commend Mayor Kenney, Superintendent Hite, and the administrators, teachers, and parents of the Philadelphia School District for their commitment to improving public education in our largest city. I also want to thank the members of the SRC for their efforts and work over the years."

Secretary of Education Pedro A. Rivera signed off on the move, citing the "financial and academic improvements made during the tenure of the SRC." He also said that he did not believe the end of the SRC would negatively affect the district.

"Over the past 16 years, the district has overcome many challenges, despite the many difficulties facing public school districts all over the country and the limitations imposed on the powers of the SRC," said Rivera, a former Philadelphia teacher, administrator, and union official. "After an extensive review, the Department of Education has determined that the district has made financial and academic improvements during the tenure of the SRC and the district no longer exhibits the factors that caused it to be placed in distress."

Rivera said he was satisfied with the district's plan to transition control from the SRC to a nine-member local school board.

But he acknowledged that the new board would have a lot on its plate.

"While I commend the SRC and the district for its work to improve the academic and financial condition of the district, I am also aware that the mayorally appointed board of education will continue to face many challenges as it becomes the governing authority for the district, including addressing the district's projected deficit," Rivera wrote in a letter to Joyce Wilkerson, the current SRC chair.

Ultimately, Rivera wrote, the SRC would be no better able to face those challenges than a local board.

"Indeed, I put considerable weight on the representations of the SRC, the district's administrative leadership, and Mayor Kenney, City Council, and other city leadership that control of the district by a local board of education will increase opportunities for collaboration by local officials in order to address the potential deficit and other challenges," Rivera said.

The city must quickly pivot to a new governance structure for its public school system, which educates 130,000 students in traditional public schools and an additional 65,000 in 84 charter schools.

Wilkerson, in a statement, thanked the Education Department for its work.

"This is an important next step to return our schools to local control," Wilkerson said.

Mike Dunn, a spokesman for Kenney, said the timeline for a new school board remains the same: The city will soon announce a nominating panel to gather suggestions and recommend 27 names for consideration as board members. Ultimately, Kenney will make the final selections.

City Council will have some say, though the details of that have not been finalized.

"We appreciate that the secretary of education agreed with our conclusion that now is the time to return to local control," Dunn said in a statement. "We look forward to announcing the nominating panel in January and releasing a public form in which interested applicants for the school board can submit their information."

Though the nominating panel has not yet been announced, jockeying for positions on the new board has already begun.

Our City Our Schools, a grassroots group that has been key in pushing for an end to the SRC, has announced its slate of 11 candidates  nine adults and two students  that it wants named to the board, a list heavy on public school parents and champions of progressive causes.
John Rhoden, who passed away in 2001 and is best known in Philly for the landmark sculpture outside the African American Museum, will have a new presence at PAFA thanks to a gift from the sculptors estate of 278 works. PAFA plans to keep about 20 pieces and finding home for the rest. Read more

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is acquiring a major cache of work by the American sculptor John Rhoden and will become the primary steward for raising his artistic profile.

PAFA is taking responsibility for a total of 278 works gifted to it from Rhoden's estate  all sculptures. It plans to keep about 20 pieces and has taken on the role of finding homes for the rest. As part of the gift, PAFA also expects to receive about $5 million, which it will use to fund a curator of the Rhoden Collection, a full scholarship for a PAFA student, a major book about the artist, and other activities.

"We feel that the best thing we can do for John is not to create a museum, but to get his work into lots of collections where it can be appreciated by audiences around the country," said PAFA president and CEO David R. Brigham.

PAFA curatorial fellow Kelli Morgan called Rhoden "very much a world-class sculptor," with a lot of visibility in Europe generally, particularly in Italy and Russia, who "just never really established a market for himself in the States. A lot of that had to do with the times. It was hard for African Americans to get into museum shows, let alone gallery shows."

His presence will be felt anew both temporarily and permanently at PAFA. The museum aims to mount a show on him tentatively slated for 2020. About 10 of the sculptures will be displayed in alcoves being built into PAFA's new performing arts center, under construction and slated to open in about a year. The space, in the basement of the Hamilton Building, will be funded in part by the Rhoden estate gift and named for the artist and his wife as the John and Richanda Rhoden Arts Center.

His wife died in 2016, a few months shy of age 100, and they had no children. She left a will designating no specific beneficiary, but a wish that the estate go to an institution that would care for his sculptures as well as her pieces, said Robert T. Anker, the executor. (Richanda Rhoden was a painter, but PAFA has no plans to collect her work.)

Anker had read about a few museums nationally, including PAFA, that were building a strength in work by African American artists, and wrote to several museums to gauge their interest in taking Rhoden's work. Some museums said they would take a few pieces, and some did not respond.

PAFA did respond, and Brigham and Morgan went to Brooklyn to meet Anker and choose a few works. "We had a lovely day, and selected some pieces that we were going to have brought in front of the collections committee and board of trustees," Brigham says. "And we thought that was the whole story."

Then he woke up the next morning and a light bulb went off. "I called Robert and said, what if we came in as a bigger partner? What if we took on full representation, with a book, exhibited his work here and sent it on tour, and we could help give John the credit he deserved?"

Anker bit. It was PAFA's ability to take on the entire collection and give it exposure that appealed to him, he said. "They've been forthright in telling us how they intend to proceed. That is reassuring  not just, 'Give us the money and we'll see you around.'"

The exact amount of the cash portion of the gift hinges on the sale of the Rhodens' house in Brooklyn.

Born in Birmingham, Ala., Rhoden was not considered enough of a major artist at the time of his death to get more than a 205-word obituary in the New York Times that read like a terse rundown of career notches. He attended Talladega College, served in the Army in World War II, and studied at Columbia University with William Zorach. He was a Fulbright Fellow and studied at the American Academy in Rome.

He was a prolific sculptor, working in metal, stone, and wood in the stylistic realm of modernist figuration. His work fits broadly into cubism and surrealism, said Brigham, "and also references global art, particularly African and Indonesian sculptural traditions."

Race and history were occasionally referenced; "Frederick Douglass is a theme that recurs in his work," he said.

Rhoden's sculpture has been shown at some major venues, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and the Art Institute of Chicago. His work, which ranges from miniature to monumental, might be well suited to a number of different types of venues, from museums and sculpture parks to college campuses.

"He really had earned a lot of the kind of accolades that mark a distinguished career," said Brigham. "We felt what was missing, what we are hoping to do, is to help him to get to the next level of recognition he deserves."
The young male snowy owl, his wounds treated and wrapped, is recovering at Centre Wildlife Care in Port Matilda. Read more

Maybe it was less than a full-on Christmas miracle, but the saga of a rare snowy owl rescued Monday at a Pennsylvania prison has given the staff and inmates some holiday cheer.

Lisa Hollibaugh, assistant to the superintendent at State Correctional Facility Smithfield, near Altoona, said the story began the Friday before Christmas, when the owl was first spotted, perched atop razor wire on the prison perimeter. Smithfield, a 1,300-inmate facility, is situated on 61 acres adjacent to game lands, about 152 miles west of Philadelphia as the owl flies.

"The staff were just in awe of it," Hollibaugh said. "They are spectacular birds. I got my camera and tried to photograph it, but it kept flying away." Snowy owls, creatures of the Arctic well known to Harry Potter fans, aren't typical visitors to the area, but have been spotted since fall in more significant numbers than usual in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

This particular owl, which had been seen feeding at a nearby dumpster, soon ran afoul of the razor wire around an outdoor visiting area used when the weather is nice.

Late on Christmas Eve, prison staff doing routine checks saw blood on the bird's white feathers. It appeared to them that the bird had injured a wing and couldn't fly.

First thing Christmas, Wildlife Conservation Officer Amanda Isett's phone was buzzing with a text from a friend who works at the prison. Armed with sturdy welder's gloves, a net, and a pet crate, Isett was at the prison within an hour.

"I had always wanted to see a snowy owl," said Isett, who works for the Pennsylvania Game Commission. "So I was really excited to help. I'm calling it my Snowy Christmas."

Isett, along with Smithfield staffers Lts. Susan Gaff and Justin Lear, began trying to trap the owl. Despite its injuries, it wasn't going willingly into her crate. Isett said it tried to fly away three times, but could get only a few feet off the ground and glide for a short distance. Eventually, the trio cornered the owl and, using a net, safely got it into the crate.

Robyn Graboski from Centre Wildlife Care, a nonprofit that helps injured wild animals, arrived soon afterward to take the owl for treatment. She has bandaged the bird's cut wing and given it antibiotic and pain medications.

"We're hopeful that it will make a full recovery," she said.

Graboski said the owl, which she is thinking of calling St. Nick, is a juvenile male that migrated from northern Canada. Her only concern is that St. Nick might be missing more than a few feathers. If so, it won't be able to make the arduous trek back home in the spring and would have to wait until it molts in the summer to grow new feathers. That would mean it would not be released until after next winter.

She plans to monitor the owl and slowly introduce it into a flight cage so it can rehabilitate.

Meanwhile, the owl was all the buzz at the prison.

"Things spread by word of mouth," Hollibaugh said. "Inmates knew about it and were asking staff about the owl. It was a nice thing for Christmas morning."
The School District of Philadelphia  headed by Superintendent Dr. William R. Hite (left)  banned suspensions for non-violent classroom misbehavior during the 2012-13 school year. Early in 2014, former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan (right) encouraged school districts to reduce suspensions. Read more

Under an Obama-era directive and the threat of federal civil rights investigation, thousands of American schools changed their discipline policies in an attempt to reduce out-of-school suspensions. Last year, education-policy researchers Matthew Steinberg and Joanna Lacoe reviewed the arguments for and against discipline reform in Education Next and concluded that little was known about the effects of the recent changes. But this year, the picture is becoming ever clearer: Discipline reform has caused a school-climate catastrophe and Philadelphia is the latest city to fall into this crisis, according to a new study conducted by Lacoe and Steinberg.

The school district of Philadelphia serves 134,000 students, about 70 percent of whom are black or Latino. In the 201213 school year, Philadelphia banned suspensions for non-violent classroom misbehavior. Steinberg and Lacoe estimate that, compared to other districts, discipline reform reduced academic achievement by 3 percent in math and nearly 7 percent in reading by 2016. The authors do report that, among students with previous suspensions, achievement increased by 0.2 percent. But this only demonstrates that well-behaved students bore the brunt of the academic damage.

Lacoe and Steinberg also report another small improvement among previously suspended students after the policy shift: their attendance rose by 1.43 days a year. But again, this development was more than offset by the negative trend in the broader student body. Truancy in Philadelphia schools had been declining steadily before the reform, but then rose at an astonishing rate after, from about 25 percent to over 40 percent.

Perhaps students were staying at home because they were scared to be at school. Suspensions for non-violent classroom misbehavior dropped after the ban, but suspensions for "serious incidents" rose substantially.

In a sad irony, the effort to reduce the racial suspension gap actually increased it, and African-American kids spent an extra 15 days per 100 students out of school.

What in the world was going on inside these schools? Fortunately, Steinberg and Lacoe's quantitative studies are complemented by qualitative research from the University of Pennsylvania's Consortium for Policy Research in Education. The researchers' findings are bleak: The district has taken away a disciplinary tool that teachers believe in, and made meager efforts at training them in an approach that they don't find credible. Over 80 percent of Philadelphia teachers believe that suspensions work, but their administrators say they're just wrong.

Early in 2014, Arne Duncan, the education secretary under Barack Obama, accused teachers who suspended unruly kids of "racial discrimination," and threatened their superintendents with federal investigation if their districts didn't reduce suspensions. Duncan declared that schools needed to shift to "evidence-based" discipline, such as the Department of Educationbacked "Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports" (PBIS.) PBIS is a multi-tier, whole-school approach to instilling socially-appropriate behavioral norms. Regarding discipline, "the emphasis is on the use of the most effective and most positive approach to addressing even the most severe problem behaviors. Most students will succeed when a positive school culture is promoted, informative corrective feedback is provided, academic success is maximized, and use of prosocial skills is acknowledged." PBIS de-emphasizes punishment, and instead encourages schools to "remove antecedents and consequences that trigger and maintain problem behavior."

There is evidence that PBIS can work, if schools have extra funding, training, and deep teacher buy-in. But those conditions don't hold in major urban school districts. In Philadelphia, three years after banning suspensions for bad behavior, only 30 schools had received extra funding from the district to implement PBIS. According to the consortium's study, many teachers harbor doubts about policies they see as too soft; teachers at one school set up a "shadow" disciplinary system to circumvent the principal and do what they think works. Teachers report feeling unsupported by administrators, and were no more likely than teachers at non-PBIS schools to report that their principals handle discipline effectively. Even administrators dedicated to PBIS have their doubts; one said, "I feel it's kind of like banging your head against the wall. So, all the things that I want to do are just not working."

Philadelphia did this to itself, before Arne Duncan used the threat of a federal civil-rights investigation to make other districts follow suit. Last year, we knew next to nothing about the consequences of discipline reform. But the more we learn, the more reason we have to fear that Duncan's deeply misguided federal guidance has put at-risk children at far greater risk. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos must rescind Duncan's guidance on discipline. And parents must press their teachers and principals about what's happened to their children's schools.

Max Eden is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. This piece was adapted from a piece that ran in City Journal, a quarterly magazine of urban affairs, published by the Manhattan Institute. @MaxEden99.
Egypt's National Media Authority has said in a statement that it will broadcast a new weekly television and radio programme from the countrys southern Halayeb and Shalateen region in the Red Sea Governarate with the aim of "enhancing the sense of belonging for Egyptians in this area."

The authority, which is one of three bodies recently established to regulate media outlets in the country, said it will air Friday prayers on 29 December from Halayeb and Shalateen.

The foundation stone of a new state-owned radio station's headquarters was set in the city of Halayeb in March 2014.

Red Sea Governor Ahmed Abdallah said in statements to Al-Masry Al-Youm news website that the new broadcast building is established on 40,000 square metres at a cost of EGP 10 million.

Egypt's Radio and Television Union established the first radio broadcast station in Halayeb in 1995 under the name Voice of the South.

On Thursday, a statement by Egypt's foreign ministry again rejected Sudanese claims that the Halayeb and Shalateen area falls under Sudanese sovereignty and is being occupied by Egypt.

The Egyptian statement came in response to a recent letter sent by the Sudanese foreign ministry to the United Nations to declare Khartoum's rejection of the April 2016 Egyptian-Saudi border demarcation agreement.

Egyptian foreign ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid said that Egypt plans to send a letter to the UN secretary-general to state its rejection of the Sudanese letter and the claims included therein, and to confirm that Halayeb and Shalateen are Egyptian lands inhabited by Egyptian citizens under Egyptian sovereignty.

The Halayeb Triangle, located on the southern border with Sudan, has been a source of tension between the two countries since Sudan gained independence from joint British and Egyptian rule in 1956.

Cairo exercises complete political and administrative control over the 20,580 square-kilometre region, which is inhabited by tribes that trace their roots to both Sudan and Egypt. The triangle comprises the cities of Halayeb, Abu Ramad and Shalateen.

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Sylvester Stallone attends the 74th Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton on January 8, 2017 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, Calif. Read more

It's been 35 years since Sylvester Stallone commissioned the famous Rocky statue that stands at the foot of the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps. But now, Sly finally has his own identical version  all nine feet and 1,800 pounds of it.

Stallone, 71, recently won an auction for the original statue's backup, paying more than $400,000, according to TMZ. It's one of two he commissioned from artist A. Thomas Schomberg in 1982 for the release of Rocky III.

The backup statue had been housed at the San Diego Hall of Champions, which recently closed, prompting an auction for its collection of memorabilia last month by SCP Auctions. SCP confirmed online that the statue sold for $403,657 but did not indicate who won. TMZ reported that "a source connected to the auction" confirmed it was Stallone.

On Christmas Day, Stallone posted a picture to Instagram of himself and fellow action star Arnold Schwarzenegger posing in front of the statue in Stallone's home, with a caption that read, "Well look who drop [sic] by on Christmas! @schwarzenegger always fills the room with positive energy!":

Reports of Stallone's interest in buying the backup surfaced in October, when his wife, Jennifer Flavin, told TMZ she wanted it. At the time, the piece was valued at about $1 million, so $400,000 is something of a steal.

Stallone is about to start production on Creed II, expected to be released on Nov. 21. Stallone wrote the script with Luke Cage showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker. He was also initially slated to direct but was recently replaced by The Land director Steven Caple Jr.

For those who want their own version (and have the cash to spend), a third identical statue is available. According to fan site TotalRocky, Schomberg Studios created a third statue in 2006, more than two decades after Rocky III's release, which the studio indicates online is for sale.

Since last month, Stallone has faced accusations of sexual assault. Most recently, a woman accused him of raping her in a Santa Monica office in the early 1990s, which is beyond the statute of limitations in California. Police are investigating.

Stallone's representatives have denied the claim, saying the actor "wants to file a claim against the woman for filing a false police report."

Another woman last month accused him of sexually assaulting her in a Las Vegas hotel room in 1986, when she was 16. Stallone's representatives also denied that claim.

"This is a ridiculous, categorically false story. No one was ever aware of this story until it was published today, including Mr. Stallone," they said in a statement. "At no time was Mr. Stallone ever contacted by authorities or anyone else regarding this matter. It never happened."
President Donald Trump waves as he walks with First Lady Melania Trump during the inauguration parade on January 20, 2017. Read more

As we approach the end of President Donald Trump's first year in office, the list of extraordinary things he has done  for both good and ill  is nothing short of remarkable. Trump inspires such deep emotions in his critics and supporters that many have struggled to objectively assess his presidency. Some are so blinded by their hatred of Trump that they refuse to acknowledge the good he has done, while others are so blinded by devotion that they overlook almost any transgression.

In my columns, I've tried to give Trump the credit he deserves when he does the right thing, while calling him out when he does the wrong thing. So, here is my list of the 10 best things Trump has done in his first 11 months. (In a subsequent column, I will give you my list of the 10 worst.)

10. He enforced President Barack Obama's red line against Syria's use of chemical weapons. When the regime of Bashar Assad used a toxic nerve agent on innocent men, women and children, Trump didn't wring his hands. He acted quickly and decisively, restoring America's credibility on the world stage that Obama had squandered.

9. He has taken a surprisingly tough line with Russia. Trump approved a $47 million arms package for Ukraine, sent troops to Poland's border with Russia and imposed new sanctions on Moscow for violating the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

8. He recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Four American presidents promised to do it, but only one actually did. This is why the American people elected Trump. He does what he promises to do, for better or for worse  in this case, definitely for the better. Even Jeb Bush tweeted his approval.

7. He withdrew from the Paris climate agreement. After George W. Bush pulled out of the disastrous Kyoto treaty, U.S. emissions went down faster than much of Europe. The same will be true for Trump's departure from the Paris accord. Combined with his approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, and opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to exploration, Trump is helping usher in a new age of American energy development.

6. He got NATO allies to kick in $12 billion more toward our collective security. Decades of pleading by the Bush and Obama administrations failed to get NATO allies to meet their financial commitments to the alliance, but Trump's tough talk and reticence to affirm America's Article V commitment did the trick. NATO is stronger as a result.

5. He has virtually eliminated the Islamic State's physical caliphate. Trump removed the constraints Obama placed on our military and let it drive the terrorists from their strongholds.

4. He admitted he was wrong on Afghanistan and reversed Obama's disastrous withdrawal. In a rare admission, Trump declared: "My original instinct was to pull out . . . But all my life, I've heard that decisions are much different when you sit behind the desk in the Oval Office. . . . A hasty withdrawal would create a vacuum for terrorists."

3. He enacted historic tax and regulatory reform that has unleashed economic growth. Trump signed the first comprehensive tax reform in three decades and removed the wet blanket of Obama-era regulations smothering our economy. We are now heading into our third consecutive quarter of above 3 percent growth.

2. He is installing conservative judges who will preside for decades. With his appointment of Neil M. Gorsuch, Trump secured a conservative majority on the Supreme Court, and he is moving at record pace to fill the federal appeals courts with young conservative judges.

1. He, not Hillary Clinton, was inaugurated as president. Trump delivered the coup de grace that ended the corrupt, dishonest Clinton political machine.

There are many other significant achievements that did not make the top 10. Trump has taken a clear, strong stand against the narco-dictatorship in Venezuela, and he renamed the "Asia-Pacific" the "Indo-Pacific" to include India in the larger task of preventing Chinese hegemony in Asia. Trump has made clear that he is willing to use force to stop North Korea from deploying nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of destroying U.S. cities  which has prompted China to finally put real pressure on Pyongyang. We'll see if it works.

The record of achievement suggests that, despite the noxious tweets and self-inflicted wounds emanating from the White House, Trump has the potential to become one of the most consequential conservative presidents in modern American history.

The question is: Does all this good outweigh the bad? Here's my list of the 10 worst things Trump has done in his first year in office.

Marc Thiessen, a fellow with the American Enterprise Institute and former chief speechwriter to President George W. Bush, writes for the Washington Post.
Emily Foote was on an important conference call when her days-old newborn started wailing. She quickly hit mute.

Foote, cofounder of an educational technology start-up called Practice, was about to pitch a corporate client while her company's potential acquirers  an education software company Foote had long admired, called Instructure  listened in. Its executives wanted to see Foote in action.

But now, Hazel was hungry. So Foote turned her video camera off and started breast-feeding. Eventually, the child now quiet, Foote switched back the sound (camera still off) and made the pitch  while still breast-feeding.

It worked. Three months later, on Nov. 22, Foote and her team closed the deal.

Conference call after conference call (and a few funny mishaps) with Hazel by her side is how Foote, 38, will remember the months leading up to the deal. The baby was so ever-present  Hazel was born the week official acquisition talks began  that lawyers included her in roll call.

The timing was, of course, not ideal  so long, maternity leave  but there was no question for Foote: Instructure was the company in the ed-tech industry on which Practice had modeled itself. She knew it was the right decision for her start-up, but more importantly for her staff of 21, which includes her husband, David Williams, the director of marketing, she knew their job prospects would grow if the acquisition were to go through. So she skipped any semblance of a real maternity leave and headed straight back to work  with Hazel.

Nowadays, Hazel, 4 months old, is part of the team  popping up on the screen during a video conference or being passed around the client success team as they take a break. She's usually by her mother's or father's side, but if one of them needs to run to the bathroom, someone on staff will happily watch her. Client success specialist K'Shelle Waller says that when Hazel comes in, it's a "special treat." She's become the office baby.

Foote knows her situation  what can be a blessing and a curse  is rare, that most mother-workers could only dream of such accommodation, such acceptance. It works partly because she can afford a nanny to stay at home with her older daughter, Louisa, partly because she works in a nontraditional environment where she's the boss.

"I realize we are extremely lucky," she wrote in an email. "The majority of working moms and dads don't have the flexibility we have at Practice."

Pennsylvania actually ranks among the lowest in the country for workplace policies that are family-friendly, according to a 2016 report from the National Partnership for Women and Families, because the state offers no regulations for private-sector workers that go beyond federal law. (The federal Family and Medical Leave Act requires private-sector companies to offer employees unpaid leave, but it covers just over half of private-sector employees, in part because the law only applies to companies with 50 or more employees.)

In Philadelphia, City Councilman Bobby Henon is developing a plan for a bill that would offer up to 12 weeks of paid leave to private-sector employees. Henon's chief of staff, Courtney Voss, said Henon hopes to introduce it this spring.

But at Practice's office, in the WeWork coworking space at 16th and Market, Foote, now Instructure's vice president of customer engagement, calls the shots. That means sometimes you will find Williams lifting Hazel into the air at his desk to keep her happy while Foote is on a call, or Foote stepping out to pump in the mother's room at Industrious, the Center City coworking space that Practice recently outgrew.

It's a way for Foote to live out her belief that a work environment that's supportive of employees' families ultimately helps a company's bottom line.

"I want our team to know that we are not one-dimensional," Foote said. "We aren't just mothers. We aren't just fathers. We aren't just children of aging parents. We aren't just employees."

Navigating the professional world as a mother isn't new to Foote, who raised $1.8 million in start-up funding in 2015  a feat for any entrepreneur, but especially in Philly, especially for a woman, and especially for a woman who was pregnant (that time, with Louisa). But she still had to grapple with questions like: When do I tell my prospective investors? No matter how progressive or respectful they seem, would they unconsciously assume she couldn't meet the demands of running a company that would make them a return on their investment?

And then there was the comment of one female investor  before she was even expecting  that Foote couldn't shake: Don't get pregnant if you're raising a round. It'll hurt your chances.

Foote ended up disclosing her pregnancy to her investors only once she knew the financing round was a sure thing, which, she admits, was difficult because she's usually a very transparent person.

But not everything is tough decisions and high-stakes breast-feeding. We're talking about an office baby here.

There was the time Foote was interviewing a woman for a job over a video call and started breast-feeding a 5-day-old Hazel. Foote threw on a cover, making sure she wasn't exposed: "You don't mind, right?" She didn't; the woman, Trish Delude, is now senior client manager. Foote laughed as she relayed her coworkers' later commentary: "That was wildly inappropriate! You should've turned off the video!"

Or the time that Hazel had an explosive dirty diaper in the middle of a conference call, forcing Foote to change her right after the call, amid her coworkers. It was all over Foote's arm. She looked up to see one of the team's younger members, account executive Tristan Hough, his face white. He appeared to be gagging.

It's hard not to see Foote's maneuvering as a feat of motherhood  a crew of women at the Industrious coworking space cooed #momgoals when they saw Hazel sleeping on the conference room table while her mother ran a meeting. But Foote said this setup is not ideal.

Sometimes, she said, "you feel like a failure at both: work and motherhood."

And though she's been able to make it work so far, Foote doesn't want her employees to follow her model.

"I want both mothers and fathers to focus on their newborns and not worry about work," she said. "We should have a culture where you should be able to work and be there for your families. Our country isn't there, and it should be."
The accused killer of Caleer Miller, left, and Salvatore DiNubile, right, was held for trial on Dec. 27, 2017. Read more

An Instagram beef among feuding teens may have led to the October slayings of two high school students in South Philadelphia, a crime that stunned the city, devastated several families, and for weeks left a neighborhood on edge.

But just as prosecutors unveiled the possible motive in court Wednesday, their lone witness  a 15-year-old who is friends with the accused killer, Brandon Olivieri  suddenly turned hostile, refusing to answer their questions and testifying that his initial statement was full of lies he told police or fabrications by detectives.

The striking turn of events came during the preliminary hearing for Olivieri, 16, charged with fatally shooting Salvatore DiNubile and Caleer Miller, both also 16.

Judge Patrick F. Dugan ordered Olivieri held for trial on all counts, then punctuated the morning-long hearing with a thundering soliloquy about the toxic mix of teens, violence, and easy access to guns in Philadelphia.

"When the hell are we going to stand up in our society and stop this crap?" he said.

The proceeding was the latest development in one of the year's most shocking crimes, a case that sparked retaliatory violence against Olivieri's family home and spurred hundreds of mourners to attend memorial services for both DiNubile, a junior at St. Joseph's Preparatory School, and Miller, a junior at a Mastery charter school.

The courtroom was packed with friends and relatives of Olivieri, DiNubile, and Miller. The families declined to comment afterward, although a DiNubile family spokesman, Frank Keel, said they were still reeling from their unexpected loss.

Olivieri, wearing a black T-shirt, sat with his hands clasped and displayed little emotion during the hearing.

The lone witness to testify, a high school sophomore, repeatedly declined to answer questions from Assistant District Attorney Carlos Vega, leading the prosecutor to read from the statement the witness allegedly gave to police days after the crime.

The Inquirer and Daily News are not identifying the witness due to the sensitive nature of the case and because he is a juvenile.

The narrative presented in the statement painted a tragic portrait of a trivial teen feud gone wrong, with Olivieri, Miller, and the witness  all of whom were friends  walking around South Philadelphia after school Oct. 24, looking to fight with people they had been sparring with on Instagram. The statement did not specify what the feud was about.

The teens couldn't find their first set of potential targets, according to the statement, but they eventually made their way to 12th and Ritner Streets, where Olivieri pulled a gun on DiNubile, then shot him and accidentally shot Miller during a scuffle while the witness ran away.

Both DiNubile and Miller were declared dead that night.

The witness allegedly told police that he and Olivieri, a student at SS. John Neumann and Maria Goretti High School in South Philadelphia, later went to the home of another friend's grandmother to avoid being picked up by investigators. He also told police that Olivieri was the shooter, and identified him in photos and surveillance videos, according to his statement. Prosecutors also read text messages he allegedly exchanged with Olivieri in the days after the crime.

But the witness testified that most of that information was either a lie or concocted by detectives. Olivieri's defense attorney, James Lammendola, sought to portray the witness as being scared of police, prosecutors, and even his own lawyer  willing to say anything to appease them and avoid being charged with conspiracy or other crimes.

William J. Brennan, the teen's attorney, said such allegations were "wildly irresponsible."

"Any suggestion that there was intimidation is ridiculous and a rank obscenity," Brennan said in an interview after the hearing.

The teen now faces a court hearing of his own: Because of his refusal to answer dozens of Vega's questions, a judge will have to decide next month whether to hold him in contempt of court.

Olivieri remains in custody without bail while awaiting trial. A date has not been set.
Gail Trachtenberg and Lewis Eron prepay part of their 2018 property tax bill at the township building in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2017. People across the country have been trying to prepay property taxes before a federal tax overhaul kicks in and caps deductions for state and local taxes. (AP Photo/Geoff Mulvihill) Read more

The week after Christmas is usually a quiet one in the Haddonfield Borough offices, with few phone calls or visitors and employees on vacation.

But this week is different, as hundreds of residents in the South Jersey town rush to beat the clock on federal tax reform by prepaying their 2018 taxes.

Because other employees are off, tax collector Terry Henry has been sitting at his office's front desk, answering phones and collecting checks. About 159 people came in Tuesday, he said, and he expected that pace to keep up all week.

"There haven't been lines outside the door, but it's been constant," said Henry.

The rush is not limited to Haddonfield  the tax collector in Moorestown said she collected $1.5 million in prepaid taxes on Wednesday alone  and is thanks to the new federal tax bill President Trump signed into law last week.

Under the changes, the state and local tax deduction, a popular write-off in high-tax states and for those who itemize taxes, will be limited to $10,000. So by prepaying next year's taxes before the end of this calendar year, taxpayers hope to reap the full benefit of the deduction before the new ceiling takes effect.

But, as communities across the country grapple with the issue, the IRS on Wednesday sparked new questions and uncertainty when it issued an advisory warning that prepayments might not be deductible on properties that had not been officially assessed.

That's likely to further scramble things in places like Haddonfield, where the tax collector has been allowing residents to estimate and prepay their 2018 bills, since they will not receive their invoices for the second half of the year until August.

The news landed late on the same day Gov. Christie signed an executive order instructing state officials to instruct all municipalities to accept all payments postmarked by New Year's Eve. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo did much the same. And in Montgomery County, Md., lawmakers had rushed to pass legislation that would allow prepayment.

But not every town is taking prepayments, and the rush to save money before the year runs out has sparked confusion and frustration in some Philadelphia-area communities. Some Pennsylvania school districts have said they are unable to take early checks. And Montgomery County has declared that none of its municipalities can accept early tax payments.

Meanwhile, just over the border in Delaware County, Radnor Township is accepting prepayments. So is Philadelphia, where officials were quick to remind residents that prepayment there comes with another benefit: A 1 percent discount on the real estate tax.

For Rick Goldstein of Abington Township, attempts to prepay ended in frustration. Eager to pay his 2018 taxes and claim a state and local tax deduction, he calculated his tax bill and was at the township's offices with his checkbook by 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.

But the tax collector's office would not take Goldstein's check. Instead, he walked away with a letter from the Montgomery County Treasurer's Office explaining that 2018 taxes cannot be prepaid.

Pennsylvania law allows local tax collectors to take payments once a county gives them the tax rolls at the beginning of the year, John Zurzola, a solicitor for Montgomery County, wrote in a memo to the Treasurer's Office.

"Such authority remains with the local tax collectors until they settle the following year with the county," Zurzola wrote. "This process is still incomplete for 2017 and will not begin for 2018 until the settlement of 2017 taxes has been accomplished  sometime in January 2018."

Lower Merion Township posted a message to residents on its website stating that, in response to "numerous inquiries from residents," the township's lawyers reviewed the matter and agreed with the county's position on state law.

"To me it is the worst kind of bureaucracy possible, where multiple people are going to be willing to give you a pile of cash  and nobody will take it," said Goldstein, a doctor.

Only "home rule" municipalities, which have more freedom to pass their own laws that other local governments, can collect prepayments, according to Montgomery County's memo.

Radnor, a home-rule township in Delaware County, is accepting prepayments through New Year's Eve if taxpayers appear in person at the township building.

The benefit of prepayment has caused a steady stream of taxpayers to visit the offices of Moorestown Township in recent days. Tax Collector Jennifer DellaValle said that she took $1.5 million in prepaid taxes on Wednesday alone, and the flow of taxpayers arriving to pay "hasn't stopped." Last year, she said the township processed a total of just $880,000 in prepaid taxes.

But even prepayment can cause some confusion. In a message on its website, Radnor warned taxpayers that the township "is not providing tax advice" and advised them to contact their own tax advisers. Prepaid taxes are also only estimates  once bills are finalized next year, residents may owe more or they may be issued refunds by the township.

In New Jersey, Christie's executive order instructing all municipalities to accept prepayment offered some assurance for residents of the state with the highest property taxes in the nation.

"The action I took today will ensure that local governments are flexible and accommodating of their local property taxpayers as we transition to the new federal tax code for 2018," Christie said in a statement Wednesday afternoon.

The governor's order came after Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester) said over the weekend that the state should issue guidelines to municipalities to ensure that they take prepayments.

Meanwhile, accountants and lawyers are scrambling to understand the new tax bill and its ramifications so they can advise their clients.

Katherine Jordan, an attorney specializing in tax law with Chamberlin Hrdlicka's Philadelphia office, said only property taxes can be prepaid under the new bill, which prohibits prepayment of state and local income taxes.

"My fun holiday reading is  going through the bill page by page," she said.
President Donald Trump smiles to the media as he speaks on the phone with children as they track Santa's movements with the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) Santa Tracker on Christmas Eve at the president's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., Sunday, Dec. 24, 2017. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Read more

Good morning, pals. How many of you said "Merry Christmas" for the first time in eight whole years this weekend without getting carted off to literal jail by the "happy holidays" police?

This newsletter covers President Trump and how his policies affect greater Philadelphia. You can sign up here to get it in your inbox, for free, every week. You can send suggestions/complaints/questions my way by email or on Twitter, and if you like this newsletter, please forward it to a friend!

 Aubrey Whelan

Today, lets talk about Obamacare.

Whats at stake

This was supposed to be the year Obamacare died. There were the summer's failed repeal attempts, and the fall's failed repeal attempts, and, finally, the successful repeal of the individual mandate through the tax bill (which does not, as President Trump has been proclaiming, count as a full repeal). And there have been attempts to dismantle the law from within, with executive orders designed to raise premiums and a drastically shortened sign-up period that analysts feared would slash enrollment numbers.

But the Affordable Care Act has proved to be a resilient beast.

The local angle

A lot of people signed up for healthcare this year  fewer than last year, mind you, but the drop was not nearly as severe as health analysts had been predicting. Several states (many of them Trump havens like Kentucky and Missouri!) actually saw an enrollment increase, despite the truncated sign-up period. Pennsylvania enrolled about 30,000 fewer people during this year's enrollment period, which state insurance officials are counting as a victory.

"It's a testament to the public's desire for this health coverage," the state's acting insurance commissioner, Jessica Altman, said in a statement. She said she was "thrilled" by the numbers, but still concerned about Pennsylvanians who didn't sign up due to the confusion surrounding the law this year.

Whats ahead

Supporters of the ACA have framed the unexpected enrollment numbers as a rebuke to Republican efforts to dismantle it. (Tell that to Donald Trump, who spent the holiday weekend crowing about repealing the law on Twitter.) And we haven't even seen full enrollment numbers from the states that run their own insurance exchanges, many of which did not slash their sign-up period and are already reporting higher enrollment numbers.

Still, now that the individual mandate has been repealed, the real test will come during next year's enrollment period, when, technically, no one will be required to buy insurance. It's unclear what happens then (though the Huffington Post has a good article on what insurers predict: higher prices, mostly).

What theyre saying

"People are proud to be saying Merry Christmas again. I am proud to have led the charge against the assault of our cherished and beautiful phrase. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!"  President Trump, on Twitter, honoring the brave veterans of the devastating War On Christmas.

"I confess to being very surprised that ACA marketplace enrollment is down only slightly. That didn't seem possible with a 90% reduction in outreach, an enrollment period cut in half, and a constant refrain that the program is dead."  Kaiser Family Foundation analyst Larry Levitt, on Twitter, after the enrollment numbers came out.

"It was pure organic horseshit, just like everything that administration's done so far."  The Los Angeles psychiatrist who sent a pile of horse manure (really!) to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin's house last week.

In other news

What Im reading

A non-political palate cleanser

My colleague Kristen Graham's story on a formerly homeless Central High student will break your heart and lift your spirits.
According to a new report from the Washington Post, the words diversity, entitlement, evidence-based, fetus, science-based, transgender and vulnerable are no longer allowed at the nations leading public health agency. Read more

In 1972, the comedian George Carlin performed a monologue called the "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television." The routine was a humorous reflection of how we in America give power to words and can be put off by certain words. The truth is there are words that can be hurtful and divisive. But censuring or striking words from the scientific lexicon can be just as hurtful and even deadly.

On Dec. 15, the Washington Post reported that employees of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had been given their own list of forbidden words. According to the report, the words diversity, entitlement, evidence-based, fetus, science-based, transgender and vulnerable are no longer allowed at the nation's leading public health agency. And, like we did when we heard Carlin's monologue, many Americans laughed at the lunacy  initially. Then, we worried. These words describe the human experience and methods of arriving at best practices in public health and health-care delivery. Censoring our country's leading scientists and public health professionals has no place in a democracy and could have deadly health consequences.

In Florida, official organizations such as the Department of Environmental Protection are not permitted to use the term climate change in official statements and reports, yet this fall Hurricane Irma hit Florida as one of three severe hurricanes to hit the southern Atlantic region of the United States. Additionally, as a result of rising sea levels, the streets of Miami frequently flood during king tides.

Not addressing an issue does not make it go away. It makes it worse. In the case of not addressing groups of people, the evidence has demonstrated that those in the group that is not addressed recognizes the discrimination and typically does not participate within the health system until they are very ill. This leads to greater illness, loss of life, and rising health care costs for that group.

When we allow words describing our fellow citizens to be stricken from the lexicon, we strike from the record their American experience; we strike from the record the factors that influence their health; we strike from the record our ability to learn the unique needs of specific groups of Americans; we strike from the record our ability to study groups of people  yes, groups of vulnerable Americans.

All this in turn, has the ability to make our public health system weaker, which by the way, impacts the vulnerable, the entitled, and us all. Words by themselves are not dangerous and cannot harm public health, but denial and not acknowledging groups of people and the science most certainly will.

Ruth McDermott-Levy is an associate professor and director of the Center for Global and Public Health at Villanova University's M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing. Robert Leggiadro is an adjunct professor of biology and geography and the environment at Villanova's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
A criminal court in Egypts Sharqiya governorate issued on Wednesday 10-year prison sentences against 11 people for joining a group with ties to the terrorist organisation Daesh.

In 2015, the prosecution charged the defendants with communicating with the terrorist group, plotting to undergo advanced military trainings abroad and carry out terrorist attacks against vital facilities in Egypt.

The defendants can appeal the sentence.

Over the past three years, Egyptian authorities have arrested and charged a number of people in the Nile Delta governorate with being members of terrorist cells with ties to Daesh, and plotting attacks in the country.

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Meghan Downey, 22, a recent graduate from the College of William & Mary, reacts outside an auditorium after Education Secretary Betsy DeVos spoke about proposed changes to Title IX in September 2017. Read more

Imagine if NBC News had not been able to conduct its own investigation of Matt Lauer's alleged sexual misconduct unless it received an OK from the New York Police Department. Or if Miramax Pictures had needed approval from the LAPD to fire Harvey Weinstein.

It sounds absurd, right? Yet that would become standard operating procedure at America's universities under a sweeping House Republican higher education overhaul unveiled on Capitol Hill late last month.

One provision would allow colleges to delay sexual-assault investigations at police request. If approved, the measure would be the latest in a series of efforts to roll back several years of expanding campus protections against sexual assault.

Since it was signed into law in 1972, Title IX has never been well-enforced but earlier this year the Obama administration's guidance to universities  which supported Title IX's effort to more aggressively investigate sex-assault allegations  was rescinded. This happened just weeks after vital statistics on campus assaults vanished from a federal website.

An estimated 250,000 women are sexually assaulted each year on college campuses, yet somehow higher ed is moving backward on sexual abuse when the rest of society  from Hollywood to the large media corporations to Congress itself  is boldly moving forward. This historical shift is the result of women raising their voices and uniting under banners like the #MeToo. (I also started the hashtag #LostChance to memorialize the opportunities lost due to sexual harassment and have been moved by the response.)

I stood up in higher education. But it was too soon: I was alone and my voice was not heard.

My personal experience with discrimination began in 1999, when I was hired in the vice president's office at Yale. My mission was to interact with students, faculty, and staff to improve campus safety. But in doing so, I instead witnessed how silence  and failing to comply with Title IX  was the default setting for campus leadership who, when confronted with reports of sexual assault, harassment and retaliation, were more concerned about image and marketing than safety and equality for women.

For more than a decade, I saw how colleges ignored responding to sexual predators, and how they have fallen short. My proposals promoting safety as defined by Title IX and the Clery Act  requiring the proper collecting of campus crime data  were discarded and ignored. And then I was discarded, too, pushed out of my job just before Yale paid a $165,000 fine for multiple violations of the Clery Act in 2013.

For me, Title IX proved to be a lifeline after this damage to my reputation and career. I learned the Supreme Court had decided in 2005's precedent-setting Jackson v. Birmingham that Title IX protects educators from retaliation when they challenge gender discrimination. In 2012, I became the first-ever non-sports university administrator to pursue justice under this provision.

My case resolved favorably this year with support from the American Association of University Women. My case spotlighted a reality that often gets lost in the heated debates over Title IX's role in promoting gender equality and safety on campus: That university employees trying to address sex-based discrimination, including sexual assault, too often have their hands tied by administrators who pressure them to sweep problems under the rug.

I stood up in higher education. But it was too soon: I was alone and my voice was not heard. I speak out now because university environments deserve at least the same protections as workplace environments.

The silence breakers of the #MeToo movement have shone a powerful light on predatory sexual behavior in the workplace.

We're finally talking about the fact that 48 percent of women have reported some form of harassment in the workplace. That's a good thing  but we risk forgetting that our colleges, unfortunately, serve as an incubator for sexual misconduct. The numbers of female university students reporting harassment is actually greater than in America's offices  more than half.

But unlike high-profile silence breakers like Salma Hayek or Fox News' Gretchen Carlson, campus survivors of sexual assault, and their advocates in the faculty or administrative offices, are fighting in relative obscurity. We need to amplify their voices and empower university leadership and staff to uphold Title IX  to get people talking about the rollback of Title IX and the Clery Act, and how to stop it, as much as we talk about Harvey Weinstein. The alternative  watching the next generation of female achievers thwarted by our failure to stop predators on campus  is unthinkable.

Susan Daria Landino is founder of the educational foundation Allies Reaching for Equality, which seeks to engage university staff to address campus sexual violence as a public health issue. sdaria.landino@outlook.com
The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayeb expressed felicitations on Wednesday to Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II for the upcoming Christmas celebrations during a visit to the Coptic Cathedral in Abbasiya on Wednesday.

El-Tayeb urged Muslim and Christian clerics in Egypt to promote national cohesion in the face of extremism that uses false religious beliefs, according to a statement by Al-Azhar, the worlds foremost institution of Sunni Islamic learning.

Coptic Orthodox Christians, who comprise the majority of Egypt's Christians, celebrate Christmas on 7 January, almost two weeks after most Western denominations, including Catholics and Protestants, hold their celebrations on 25 December.

A number of top Muslim leaders accompanied the senior cleric during the visit.

Pope Tawadros told the grand imam that Egypt will remain undeterred by attempts to undermine the unity of the Egyptian people.

"These attempts will eventually fail," the pontiff said.

Tawadros stressed during the meeting that the unified stance of Al-Azhar and the Coptic Orthodox Church in rejecting the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israels capital underlines the concord between the two religious entities.

"We were united [over the matter] without talking" about it, Tawadros added.

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One of the top things to do in Dunhuang is visit the Mogao Caves. Dunhuang sits at the crossroads of the Silk Road trading route on the edge of the Gobi desert. The Mogao Caves have religious, historical, and cultural significance in China. They served as places of meditation for Buddhist monks and worship sites for people who were setting out into the desert and praying for a safe journey and for those returning to give thanks for surviving.

This UNESCO World Heritage site preserves 492 caves that were carved beginning in AD 366 and still house thousands of years of Buddhist art and statues. The caves range in size from small closets with relics and paintings on the stone walls to the nine-story "Cave 096," which is the most prominent on the site. The towering Buddha statue inside is 35 meters tall surrounded by intricate paintings.

To aid in preserving the caves, only 6,000 visitors are allowed per day. It is a guided visit, and each group gets access to approximately eight caves. The caves that are open to the public rotate each year. Due to the limited access to this attraction, you will need to plan ahead and purchase tickets prior to your visit. No photographs are allowed inside the caves, but books detailing many of them are available in the gift shop. It is wise to take a small flashlight on your tour, as the caves are dark inside.
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As 2017 draws to a close, Donald Trump has blown the record for presidential first year vacation days out of the water. Trump spent nearly one-third (111 days) of his first year in office on vacation. In contrast, Barack Obama took 26 vacation days during the first year of his presidency.

MSNBCs The Beat With Ari Melber highlighted Trumps excessive and nearly constant vacation travel:

According to CBS News Mark Knoller, Obama took 26 days of vacation during his first year. Trump took nearly three times more vacation days than Ronald Reagan, who took 42 vacation days during his first year in office. George H.W. Bush spent 40 days on vacation. George W. Bush took 69 days of vacation. On the opposite side of spectrum Democrat Jimmy Carter took just 19 days, and Bill Clinton had 21 days of vacation during their respective first years in office.

Trump claimed on the campaign trail that Hillary Clinton did not have the energy to be president, but now that he is in the White House, Trump is setting records for presidential laziness that may never be touched. George W. Bush set off a national firestorm by vacationing so frequently as president, but W. looks like a workaholic next to Trump.

Donald Trumps biggest first-year accomplishment as president wasnt the tax cut bill that was low hanging fruit for a Republican-controlled Congress that a trained chimp could have gotten it passed.

Trumps biggest accomplishment in 2017 was reminding America that not everyone can be president. A President needs to show up for work and lead the country. Trump has failed on both of these measures, and when it is time to elect a president again in 2020 voters will not take for granted that they need to choose a president who will not treat the office like a paid vacation.

Editors Note: The story has been correct to refect the fact that by MSNBCs numbers, Trump has taken 4 times, not 5 times more vacation than Obama.
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Gallup has revealed their yearly most admired man and woman poll for 2017, and Barack Obama beat Trump to be named the most admired man in America. Obama is the second former president to beat a current president for the honor.

Here are the Gallup results:

Trump finished with just 14% support for the most admired man. Trump is the first incumbent president since George W. Bush in 2008 to not be named the most admired man in America. (Bush also lost to Obama). Dwight Eisenhower is the only other former president to win in the honor after leaving office. Ike won it in 1967 and 1968.

The most admired woman was once again, and probably will be for the rest of her life, Hillary Clinton. Former First Lady Michelle Obama gave Clinton a close contest. Current First Lady Melania Trump finished with 1% support.

Donald Trump is president, but Barack Obama is still the most popular figure in US politics. The Obama factor is a big reason why Joe Biden should not be underestimated if he runs for president in 2020.

The majority of Americans are yearning for Obama to come back, and Joe Biden represents the closest thing to an Obama candidacy that voters will get in 2020. Plus, nothing would get the Obamas back on the campaign trail faster than their friend former Vice President Bidens nomination.

The election results in Alabama showed that the Obama coalition remains the winning formula for Democrats, and in the eyes of most Americans, Trump will never be able to measure up to Obama.
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MSNBCs Katy Tur left former Trump campaign adviser Michael Caputo stumbling by asking a simple question about Trump and Russian election interference.

Video:

Tur asked, If Russia is such a threat, if the president believes that it is such a threat, what is he doing about it?

Caputo answered, Im not privy to that. I dont work in this administration, but I do know from the results of the Obama administration, they did nothing either 

Tur followed up, Im not talking about the Obama administration. The Obama administration has not been in office for almost a year, Michael. The Trump administration is the one currently in power. What are they doing to make sure that Russia doesnt successfully meddle or try to meddle in our elections in 2018? Thats a year away. 2018 or 2020.

Caputo went back to the blame Obama well, Im not privy to that information. I do know that the recommendations that Obama administrations gave were not followed by his own administration.

The MSNBC host knocked that down too, They were given at the end of the year. At the end of the year, right before Donald Trump took office, according to this Washington Post report.

Trumps own former campaign advisers cant provide a single piece of evidence that Trump is doing anything about Russian election interference. If the press wants to help the American people understand the facts, this is the sort of questioning that is required.

The ongoing struggle that the Trump White House has been unable to overcome is the transition from campaigning to governing. Trump and his supporters still are trying to get by with the campaign tactic of blaming Obama or Hillary Clinton, but Katy Tur asked the right question. Trump is in charge now, so what is he doing?

The Russia scandal is more than a Trump problem, as the video above demonstrates, the scandal is also a Republican Party problem.
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Mika Brzezinski and her Morning Joe co-host Joe Scarborough have both been attacked by Donald Trump on Twitter this year, and in a new interview with POLITICO, Brzezinski revealed how being singled out by the president of the United States has multiplied the hate she gets and has taken the joy out of her job.

Trump lashed out against Brzezinski and Scarborough in June after apparently being told that the pair had talked about him negatively on their show. Though he gave them both insulting nicknames  Low I.Q. Crazy Mika and Psycho Joe  the comment that drew the most disgust was his insult on Brzezinskis appearance.

She was bleeding badly from a face-lift, Trump wrote.

I heard poorly rated @Morning_Joe speaks badly of me (don't watch anymore). Then how come low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe, came..  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2017

to Mar-a-Lago 3 nights in a row around New Year's Eve, and insisted on joining me. She was bleeding badly from a face-lift. I said no!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2017

I was on the set, I was finishing the show, and everybody looked really uncomfortable, Brzezinski told POLITICO, recalling the day Trump blasted off the tweets. Willie [Geist] showed it to me, he was sitting next to me. I felt like people were more upset than I was.

Brzezinski explained that at the time of Trumps tweets, shed already been going through two years of personal tragedy and grief following the deaths of her father and best friend, a divorce, two heart attacks her mother suffered, and a scare she had when she thought her daughter had been kidnapped. The show host said the level of Trumps tweet was below zero for her and, at the time, she felt numb in the face of the attack.

The ones about the facelift were humorous, she said. I wasnt on the same page as everyone else. I feel embarrassed if people think I was embarrassed. I got Botox. Im very open about that stuff. It didnt hurt me.

But the hate shes continued to receive has taken on toll and made working on Morning Joe a less enjoyable experience than what it once was.

Im getting more hate now than Ive ever gotten in my life, said Brzezinski. I cant read it. Im working on unplugging more because its the worst Ive ever seen it.

She explained that the show is a job I used to love, now its a job I have to do every day.

I make a point of taking days off, because I have to keep my thoughts in check, she continued. One shrill moment will be ripped on the internet. I dont love it as much, but I feel really like, dammit, Im going to work.

Perhaps realizing how grim the quote sounded, Brzezinski published a tweet after the interviews publication to assure her followers that shes grateful to have her job.

I love working at my job on Morning Joe, she wrote. But this moment we find ourselves in is deeply challenging and makes me more determined than ever to speak truth to power. I am very blessed.

I love working at my job on Morning Joe. But this moment we find ourselves in is deeply challenging and makes me more determined than ever to speak truth to power.

I am very blessed.  Mika Brzezinski (@morningmika) December 27, 2017

Brzezinski revealed that she plans on revealing details of the night at Mar-a-Lago Trump mentioned in his tweets attacking her and her co-host.

Im actually rewriting my book, Knowing Your Value, she said. Im going to be telling some behind the scenes stories and that night.

Update: Mika clarified on Twitter that she loves her job:

I love working at my job on Morning Joe. But this moment we find ourselves in is deeply challenging and makes me more determined than ever to speak truth to power.

I am very blessed.  Mika Brzezinski (@morningmika) December 27, 2017

Image: MSNBC
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LONDON (Reuters)  Former U.S. president Barack Obama said the way people communicate via social media risked splintering society and leaders had to ensure the Internet did not cocoon users within their own biases.

All of us in leadership have to find ways in which we can recreate a common space on the Internet, Obama said in an interview conducted by Britains Prince Harry, broadcast on BBC radio on Wednesday.

One of the dangers of the Internet is that people can have entirely different realities, they can be just cocooned in information that reinforces their current biases.

Obama has previously warned that social media platforms can lead people to make snap judgments about complex decisions although he has refrained from criticizing his successor Donald Trump who regularly uses Twitter.

Obama said in the interview broadcast on Wednesday that social media should promote diverse views in a way that doesnt lead to a Balkanisation of our society and moving online communities offline helped people to see that many issues were not as simple as they might seem in a chatroom.

Its also by the way harder to be as obnoxious and cruel in person as people can be anonymously on the Internet, he said.

Meet in the pubMeet at a place of worship. Meet in a neighborhood and get to know each other.

WEDDING DIPLOMACY?

Obama spoke to Harry in an interview conducted by the prince as a guest editor for BBC radios daily morning news show and focused on their shared interest in promoting causes. The interview took place in September.

Harry was asked by the BBC whether he would invite the Obamas to his wedding next year with U.S. actress Meghan Markle.

I dont know about that, Harry said. We havent put the invites or the guest list together. Who knows whether they are going to be invited or not. I wouldnt want to ruin that surprise.

The Sun newspaper said on Tuesday that British government officials had urged Harry not to invite the Obamas to his wedding for fear of angering Trump.

In the BBC interview, Obama spoke of being able to take a longer-term view on issues such as climate change.

Take some of the tragedies that have happened recently, with hurricanes devastating first Houston and parts of Florida and now Puerto Rico, he said.

Today those arent my direct responsibilities but I can focus over the next 20 years in making sure that we dont have more hurricanes and natural disasters that are accelerated as a consequence of climate change and the ability to focus long term I think is a great luxury.

(Writing by William Schomberg; Editing by Ralph Boulton)
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Earlier this month, President Trump fired off a tweet insinuating that New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has in the past offered him sexual favors in exchange for campaign contributions. Trumps attack came after Gillibrand called on him to resign as a consequence for the sexual assault and harassment allegations that have been lodged against him by over 20 women.

Trump responded the following morning on Twitter, writing, Lightweight Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a total flunky for Chuck Schumer and someone who would come to my office begging for campaign contributions not so long ago (and would do anything for them), is now in the ring fighting against Trump. Very disloyal to Bill & Crooked-USED!

Trumps use of the word begging and the claim that Gillibrand would do anything for political contributions raised red flags for pretty much anyone whod ever heard sexual insinuations be made about a woman before.

The senator shot back that she refused to be silenced.

You cannot silence me or the millions of women who have gotten off the sidelines to speak out about the unfitness and shame you have brought to the Oval Office. https://t.co/UbQZqubXZv  Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) December 12, 2017

In a new POLITICO report detailing the experiences of a handful of Trumps Twitter victims, Gillibrand reveals that when she told her 9-year-old son shed had a rough day after a fight with the president, he proceeded to press her for more details.

He really wanted to know, she said, and I was not going to tell him, because I dont want those words in his brain, I dont want to explain what it meant, I didnt want him to have the knowledge that the president of the United States said something so outrageously disgusting about his mother.

Later, when she was taking her older 12-year-old son to visit a high school, she had to turn off the car radio after hearing broadcasters covering the story of Trumps remarks about her. She again kept the details to a minimum and repeated the line of simply having had a fight with the president.

Later that night, though, her husband let the two boys know that what their mother had done was in the benefit of all women. Boys, you need to be really nice to Mommy, she had a really tough day, but she did something so brave, and she protected millions of women and its important that she does that for her job,' Gillibrand said, quoting her husband.

Though she was specifically targeted by Trump, Gillibrand told POLITICO that she doesnt accept Trumps comment as a personal attack. I see it in that lens, I dont accept his tweet as a personal insult, she said. Im fighting for something thats important, Im not going to be silenced on it.
MINNEAPOLIS  In the 1990s, Joe and Andrea Hoelzel were running a catering business in the Twin Cities area. As a throw-in to their catering events, the Hoelzels included some homemade hot sauces.

The catering business has stopped, but the Hoelzels and their three employees are still cooking up hot sauces that don't try to ruin taste buds, rather to add a unique flavor.

"We're not trying to make them insanely hot," said Joe Hoelzel said. "We want them to be user friendly."

Creature Comfort Hot Sauce sells five different types of hot sauce, ranging from Thai chili, a jalapeno-cayenne that could be an alternative for buffalo sauce, and a citrusy habanero blend. They also sell a barbecue rub.

What's most important to the company is where the couple buy their ingredients. Hoelzel said they scour farmer's markets all over Minnesota and Wisconsin, finding the freshest produce they possibly can, while also supporting local farmers.

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"We want to support Minnesota and we want to support the farmers," Hoelzel said. "If we're sourcing peppers, onions, all of that from our region, it's just healthier."

They don't use dried peppers either. Hoelzel said they get more of an earthy flavor using fresh peppers.

Creature Comfort Hot Sauce is sold in Lund's and Byerly's grocery stores in the Twin Cities, and the Hoelzels are working to expand to other markets in Minnesota. For one, they hope to be a vendor at next summer's Thursdays on First in Rochester, Minn.

Breaking into larger markets is a challenge, Hoelzels said. Participating in national conventions get the name and flavors into the competitive world of hot sauces.

"It's not in my nature to be a pest, but you have to be a pest," Hoelzel said. "I'm learning that."

The hot sauces and rub are named "The Stuf,f" "LV426" and "Zombie Poison," all references to horror movies.

The names have helped them standout, as well as being a hit at horror conventions.

To order from Creature Comfort Hot Sauce, visit: www.creaturecomforthotsauce.com/.

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Recently I was ready to step out the front door when the home phone rang. Since it was only 8:30 a.m., I thought the call may be important. I headed to our upstairs home phone, dropping an item, kicking it, as well as tracking dirt on the carpet with my boots.

When I got to the phone, I saw that it was a nonprofit organization calling. This was the eighth call in nine days from this organization. (Just got the ninth call in 10 days while typing this paragraph.)

I understand why so many people are getting rid of their "landlines," or home phones. Friends have also mentioned that they are deluged with phone calls asking for donations.

The high percentage of calls on these phones are now calls we don't want to answer. Despite this, as my friend Nancy told me, we still get the privilege of paying $20 or $30 a month for the phone that we don't answer or use as much as we used to.

Always having a home phone, I am having a tough time with the thought of giving it up. There are pros and cons to this argument and everyone's situation is different, but I'm guessing that there will not be many around in the future.

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A familiar ring to it

These past few weeks I have had two organizations in particular calling our home number almost on a daily basis. This becomes frustrating. I understand there are many things we can do to combat this.

We can answer the phone and tell them not to call again. We can use 'block caller' technology. Of course there's the Do Not Call registry, etc., etc. There are steps to take, but it's all a hassle.

Growing up, baby boomers remember if the phone rang in your house, somebody answered it. The phone, typically attached to a wall, was an important component of the household. If your phone rang, it meant something.

We also recollect that whatever was said was heard by everyone, as the one phone might be on a kitchen wall or on a living room table. We treasured those longer phone cords so maybe we could at least duck around a corner as we talked to our friends.

The telephone has indeed come a long way. In fact, it's come so far that some people stare at them a lot. I can still recall the "party line" days that my aunt, uncle and grandparents had in rural Kansas in the 1960s.

I would have a hard time trying to explain this phenomenon to my grandkids and I don't think I will even try. I'm not sure if my kids would even understand the party line concept. Our generation was the last to experience this.

I can picture the location of those old phones at my grandparents' and my aunt's homes. In a recent conversation with my Aunt Velma, who will soon turn 86, she said probably six to 10 families were on one party telephone line.

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She said you had to know your ring. Your ring might be a long-short-long ring. If you heard that particular ring, you knew to answer the phone as the call was for you.

You might pick up the phone to make a call and others would be talking. You would then hang the phone up and wait until they were done before you could make your call.

Party crasher

My aunt recalled one particular neighbor, who in her words was a nasty old man, was someone who liked to listen in on others' phone calls. One time she knew he was on the line and told him to "get his a** off the line."

The next day the telephone company called my aunt informing her they had a complaint that she was swearing on the telephone. My aunt was a hard-nosed, strong farm woman who had much work to do every day feeding hired hands and helping her husband. She might have taken a frying pan to the guy if she would have seen him that day.

I contacted the organization that called our home (now 10 times in 11 days) and they apologized. They told me they would add my number to their Do Not Call list. They indicated this is part of a campaign to recruit volunteers to send out letters in neighborhoods.

They were professional about my compliant. This work is outsourced to a vendor telemarketing company. I think all of us understand there are a number of great organizations that need donations to continue their good work.

Maybe the contracts should read "after four unanswered phone calls to one number  STOP."

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Each year our lives are impacted by different events. We recognize what organizations or charities we wish to support or donate to.

There was a great song released in the 1970s by the rock band Sugarloaf. It was called, "Don't Call Us  We'll Call You."
Learn how animals cope with the cold at Quarry Hill Nature Center's Critter Sunday: Animals Surviving Winter. Part of Quarry Hill's Sunday at Quarry Hill programming, the one-hour program begins inside the nature center.

"We'll talk about the adaptations animals make to make it through the winter," said Lori Forstie, public relations and outreach coordinator, Quarry Hill Nature Center. "Where they live, what they eat, how they survive the winter weather."

Then it's time to head outside to search for signs of animals that are spending the winter in the park.

"If the landscape is snow-covered, we'll look for deer tracks near the bird feeders," said Forstie, noting that deer often come to the feeders for a snack. "We'll look for signs of animals that are hidden under the ice on the pond. And we might find scat  evidence of animals who are out and about in the park."

Open to family members of all ages, the cost to attend Critter Sunday is $2 for adults, $1 for kids and free for Quarry Hill Nature Center members. Walk-ins are welcome as space allows, though pre-registration via phone is suggested. Remember to dress for the outdoors.

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"Critter Sunday will be held New Year's Eve day. Come out and get some fresh air before you head indoors for a New Year's Eve party," Forstie said. "Ring in the new year with some outdoor, nature-filled fun."

More winter fun at Quarry Hill

 Sundays at Quarry Hill offers programming, many Sundays, year round. Up next it's Bird Banding (Jan. 7 and Feb. 4).

 Quarry Hill Nature Center is open 361 days a year, including New Year's Day. Open noon to 5 p.m., admission is free (as it is every day). Inside the nature center enjoy a visit with Minnesota-native animals (turtles, fish, snakes). Or borrow equipment (GPS, binoculars, Discovery Packs) inside the nature center then out into the park to geocache, bird watch or explore the pond.

 Family members of all ages and sizes can rent cross country ski equipment and snowshoes at Quarry Hill. Half-day, full day, and weekend rates available starting at $4 (snowshoes) and $5 (skis). Discounts available for members. Equipment may be taken off site. Before heading out to Quarry Hill, call to confirm availability and snow conditions.

 WinterFest runs Jan. 18 through Feb. 18. The month-long winter celebration includes plenty of indoor and outdoor, family-friendly activities including Quarry Hill's Ski By Candlelight (Feb. 2) and It's Snow Crazy (Feb. 11). Details online, www.rochesterwinterfest.com/event-list .

What : Critter Sunday: Animals Surviving Winter

: Critter Sunday: Animals Surviving Winter Where : Quarry Hill Nature Center, 701 Silver Creek Road NE

: Quarry Hill Nature Center, 701 Silver Creek Road NE When : 1:30 p.m. Sunday

: 1:30 p.m. Sunday Phone : 507-328-3950

: 507-328-3950 On the web: www.qhnc.org

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The case involves current and former members of the Daesh-affiliated terrorist group Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis

Related Egypt military court sentences 13 to death for deadly Farafra Oasis attack in 2014

An Egyptian military court sentenced 10 people to death on Wednesday, including two key fugitive terrorists Hisham El-Ashmawy and Shady El-Manaei, on various terrorism charges.

The court also sentenced 22 other defendants in the case to 25 years in prison, and four others to 10 years in prison. It also sentenced one defendant to 7 years in prison and two others to 5 years.

The sentences can be appealed.

The court also acquitted 83 defendants.

The military court also referred one defendant to a civilian court.

There are 155 defendants in the case, known in the media as the 'Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis 3 trial,' with 89 standing trial in absentia.

In October 2017, the military court had issued a preliminary death sentence for 13 defendants, referring the verdict to Egypt's Grand Mufti for a non-binding consultation per Egyptian law.

In 2014, El-Ashmawy defected from Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis terrorist group after it declared its allegiance to Daesh. El-Ashmawy then formed a new terrorist group, Al-Morabetoun, which is affiliated with Al-Qaeda.

Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, which is based in North Sinai, has claimed responsibility for most of terrorist attacks against security forces and churches in Egypt since July 2013.

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Backers of an effort to expand U.S. Highway 14 are warning that proposed changes to how the state scores projects could put future funding for the project in jeopardy.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation has released a draft set of criteria for how it will rank projects competing for Corridors of Commerce funding. The grant program, created by state lawmakers in 2013, has been a vital source of funding for U.S. 14 expansion projects. But area leaders are concerned the new scoring criteria would put the southern Minnesota highway at a major disadvantage.

"Our biggest concern is that the Highway 14 projects would not score enough points to receive funding through Corridors of Commerce," said Karen Foreman, president of the U.S. Highway 14 Partnership and member of the Mankato City Council.

Up for grabs is $400 million in Corridors of Commerce funding over the next four years. The cost of expanding U.S. Highway 14 from two lanes to four lanes from Rochester to New Ulm is expected to cost $300 million. Left undone is a deadly 12.5 mile stretch of roadway between Dodge Center and Owatonna, which is projected to cost $190 million.

One of the biggest worries for U.S. 14 supporters is MnDOT's decision to re-examine whether Corridors of Commerce funding should be divided evenly between Greater Minnesota projects and those in the metro area. Since the grant program started in 2013, those dollars have been split 50-50. But some metro-area groups are pushing for more money to go to Twin Cities roadways. Moving away from the 50-50 model would be bad news for U.S. 14 and all other highway projects in Greater Minnesota, Foreman said.

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"We are not in favor of (MnDOT) changing it. We feel that a 50-50 split is fair," she said.

Members of the Highway 14 Partnership are also anxious about language in the scoring system that would only allow corridors that end in the Twin Cities to get the maximum points available.

Mark Gieseke, director of MnDOT's Office of Transportation System Management, said the agency just wrapped up an open comment period on the draft scoring system. MnDOT received more than 200 comments about the scoring system.

"We are reviewing comments, and we'll be preparing to evaluate them and decide on any changes to what we have proposed," Gieseke said.

The final scoring system is expected to be announced by Jan. 15 when the public recommendation process for Corridors of Commerce funding opens up.

Gieseke said the vast majority of comments have centered on whether the grant money should be split evenly between the metro and Greater Minnesota. State law requires that the money be distributed in a way that is regionally balanced but Gieseke said, "the law doesn't prescribe what regional balance means. So what we really want to hear is what people think that should be and how we should decide that."

As for the boost in points for corridors that serve the metro area, Gieseke said that would be a difference of 10 points out of a total possible of 690.

One state lawmaker is warning MnDOT against moving away from the 50-50 split for Corridors of Commerce funding. Sen. John Jasinski, R-Faribault, said he would push to pass a law to prevent it.

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"If they are going to change the way they do that, maybe we have to ask for legislation that says it has to stay 50-50," Jasinski said.

He added that he fought to get $90 million to help expand U.S. 14 from Dodge Center to Owatonna in this year's construction borrowing package. But the governor's office required the language be taken out because of opposition to earmarks. As a result, he said Republicans put more money in the Corridors of Commerce program with hopes some of those dollars would go to U.S. 14. Jasinski questions whether MnDOT's decision to revisit how dollars are divvy up is related to frustration over the GOP-led Legislature's unwillingness to go along with the governor's proposal to boost the gas tax.

Also keeping a close eye on the draft scoring system is Rep. Duane Sauke, DFL-Rochester. He said he is aware of a push from metro-area lawmakers to make sure more Corridor of Commerce dollars head to the Twin Cities. Sauke said he is willing to look at legislation that would help make sure U.S. 14 can keep getting funding.

"It's languished way too long," Sauke said. "It doesn't make any sense in the world at all."
MANKATO  The coldest Dec. 26 in more than 20 years didn't stop Dakota riders and runners and a large crowd of onlookers from memorializing the 38 Dakota executed in Mankato in 1862 and continuing the reconciliation effort of today.

"We're here for the dream, the message  healing, reconciliation, cultural diversity," said Wilford Keeble, who for the third year was the staff carrier. He and other Dakota spoke in Dakota and English at Reconciliation Park on Tuesday morning in downtown Mankato.

Around them were dozens of riders on horseback, many of whom set out two weeks ago from South Dakota for a journey of more than 300 miles. A large crowd of onlookers filled the street and park as temperatures hovered just above zero. A group of Dakota runners also arrived, having started out on Christmas Day from Fort Snelling in St. Paul.

Keeble said many people know little or nothing about the U.S.-Dakota War and the devastating aftermath for the Dakota and other tribes.

"The untold chapter in American history, the dark history no one wants to talk about."

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The Dakota 38 + 2 Wokiksuye Ride honors the 38 Dakota warriors who were hanged in Mankato on Dec. 26, 1862, as well as two additional chiefs who were kidnapped from Canada three years later, brought back to the United States and then executed.

The riders and others started gathering in Land of Memories Park on Monday with more arriving Tuesday morning.

In an open area where the annual powwow is held, a group tended to a large fire that was kept burning from the time the group of runners left Fort Snelling Monday. Among them was Ned Reese who was placing 40 twig markers with red ribbons in a circle around the fire.

A retired professor from La Crosse, Reese is married to a Ho-Chunk and has been coming to the commemorative event in Mankato for several years. He was friends with the late Bud Lawrence and tribal elder Amos Owen, who started the powwow together. Reese said their work created the reconciliation that has grown stronger over the years.

"The people who came before us gave us a lot so we can enjoy the rewards of it today," Reese said.

Carol Charging Thunder, a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux who lives in St. Paul, has been coming to the Dec. 26 event for a few years . "It means a lot to me. I always knew about this but I just started coming."

She said that while it is important to honor the men who were hanged in Mankato, she grieves for many Native American men today.

"We remember the men in the prison system who will never come home," she said.

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"I have struggles with my own sons and I feel helpless. It's the system and it just keeps going on and on. I try to protect my sons as much as I can but I can't."

The Wokiksuye Ride came in a dream in 2005 to Jim Miller, an elder from Cheyenne River and a Vietnam veteran. A few years later, in 2008 the ride began and has continued since.

The execution in Mankato was held in the area of what is now Reconciliation Park.

In 1862, the Dakota were spurred to action against the U.S. after government officials went back on previously agreed land treaties and delayed payments to the starving tribes.

Decreasing resources and no aid sparked a series of battles between Dakota and settlers after they rejected the tribes' offer to buy food on credit.

The U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 lasted fewer than two months and ended that September with the Dakota surrendering to the U.S. Army. Three hundred and three Dakota men were tried and sentenced to be executed for their part in the war, but many objected to the court proceedings  some were convicted after only a few minutes, among other issues.

President Abraham Lincoln reviewed each case and ultimately pardoned 265 men. That left 38, who were executed at 10 a.m. on Dec. 26, 1862.
MOUNDS VIEW  On a recent Sunday, the parking lot at Bethlehem Baptist Church was packed, and cars had overflowed onto nearby side streets.

About 1,500 people attend the Mounds View church on any given weekend. And this is just one of three Bethlehem Baptist churches in the Twin Cities. Last Easter weekend, all told, more than 5,000 people walked through their doors.

While those people might not agree on every political issue, said one of the pastors, they do share a broad consensus on some controversial topics  namely, the definition of marriage and the sanctity of life.

"We're pretty clear on how we've defined marriage," said the Rev. Steven Lee, a pastor at Bethlehem Baptist. "We see from the Bible that it's one man and one woman."

That tends to keep away the more politically liberal. "There could be some who could find this to be a place where they could worship, but my guess is not many," he said. "Although we would welcome them."

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Abortion and same-sex marriage are the two major issues that divide more conservative churches from the more liberal. They also divide many Republicans from Democrats.

Those divisions also might play a role in one finding of a recent survey commissioned by MPR News and the APM Research Lab: Minnesotans are far more likely to go to church every week if they identify as Republican than if they identify as Democrat.

"One of our values is we don't pick and choose which parts of the Bible we like or that we'll preach or teach on," said Lee. "We take all of it."

2016 ELECTION

Church elder Andy Naselli, who teaches theology at Bethlehem College and Seminary, said last year's presidential election was divisive for the congregation. Some members felt they had to vote for Donald Trump because of his stance on abortion. Others, including Naselli, couldn't vote for someone they thought was not of good moral character.

"So, I'm at the point now where I don't even identify as a Republican," Naselli said. "I'm theologically conservative, politically conservative, but I'm not in the pocket of any political party at all. I did not vote for President Trump, and I'm embarrassed to be a Republican because of him, so I don't call myself a Republican."

What brings him and his family to church each week, Naselli said, is his deep love of Jesus and the Bible.

"We most glorify God when he most satisfies us, and one of the ways he satisfies us is when his people come together, sing together and pray together and hear the word preached," he said. "And that's something that happens weekly, according to the practice of the New Testament. That's why it's every week for us. And it's something we love  it's kind of hard because we're so big here, but we're a big family, and we love it."

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The church has several social service programs  food banks, car repair funds, crisis care for church families in need. But by far, its largest effort is to share the faith by translating the Bible into different languages and by starting up new congregations.

Lee said about 110 Bethlehem Baptist families are serving as missionaries around the world, reaching out to communities that have never read the Bible.

"We want to alleviate both physical suffering in the temporal sense, and we also want to alleviate spiritual, eternal suffering, which we believe will come in the afterlife," Lee said. "We would feel like we would be doing someone an injustice if we helped them get a meal and did not address their eternal state."

RETURNING TO CHURCH

Compared to Bethlehem Baptist, Mayflower United Church of Christ in Minneapolis is a modest congregation.

The church serves about 800 households. About 400 people show up on any given Sunday.

Mayflower identifies itself as both theologically and politically liberal. Anyone can take communion, whether or not they've been baptized. The congregation is actively involved in several social issues, including climate change. The church has installed 200 solar panels and seeks to be carbon-neutral by 2030.

Alix and Holly Magner joined Mayflower this past year. Alix said they both grew up attending church but stopped going and stayed away for years.

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"Being gay, being part of the queer community, we just had incredibly negative experiences with church," said Alix. "When I would meet someone that would say they go to church, I would think, 'I can't be friends with you because you probably don't like gay people, and your church is probably preaching against gay people.'"

When the Minnesota marriage amendment was put on the ballot in 2012, Alix got involved at a phone bank. There she overheard other volunteers quoting the Bible as they worked to persuade people to vote against a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. Intrigued, Alix found out they were members of Mayflower. Soon after, she and Holly started attending church again.

But hardly any of their other liberal friends do.

"We've both said it feels like coming out of the closet again," Holly said. "It's like this weird feeling of coming out as churchgoers now because people, our friends, are going, 'Whoa, wait a minute  you go to church?! But you're queer! And you're liberal, and you're educated, and you're logical. Holly, you're a public school science teacher! You believe in God enough to go to church?'"

The Magners say they value the intergenerational community at Mayflower and how the church encourages them to step outside their own bubble.

Three nights a week, volunteers such as Mayflower member Jack Forsman go to the Creekside Commons apartment building next door to help kids with their homework. Mayflower, working with Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative, built Creekside Commons to fill a need for affordable housing. The 30 families who live in it are predominantly Somali and Muslim. The church also runs an early childhood center that welcomes people of all faiths.

The Rev. Sarah Campbell said while some people think liberal churches are light on religion, Mayflower is anything but that.

"We know our Bible stories; we read them," Campbell said. "They mean everything to us. We are religion-intense, and so we welcome everyone, but we are also very clear that we are on the Jesus path, and that's less about certain beliefs about Jesus and God, and more about the path being about compassion, justice, nonviolence ... a very joyous, rigorous path."

Campbell acknowledged her church does not get the same attendance as a church such as Bethlehem Baptist, but she said the congregation is growing. People don't need religion to be moral and good, she said, but it helps:

"There's so much distraction that would take us away from living generous, forgiving lives, and I do believe that spiritual practices or religious practices do help people be more moral."

Both the Rev. Campbell and the Rev. Lee agree: While their beliefs occasionally might align them with specific political parties, the work of Jesus goes deeper than that of either the Republican or the Democratic party.
2017 was a very good year for the U.S. economy and for domestic policy in general. But what about foreign policy?

CNNs Peter Bergen points to three foreign policy wins by President Trump. First on Bergens list is the enforcement of the red line against the use of chemical weapons in Syria:

On April 4, 2017, the Syrian regime used sarin, a nerve gas, against civilian targets in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun, killing more than 80 people. . .Two days after the sarin attack, American warships launched 59 cruise missiles at a Syrian military airfield, the first direct military action that the United States has taken against Assads regime. Assad hasnt used chemical weapons against his own people since Trump ordered those cruise missile strikes in April. The enforcement of the important international prohibition against the use of nerve gas is certainly an achievement for the Trump administration.

It stands in marked contrast to President Obamas humiliating failure to enforce his own red line against Assad.

Second on Bergens list (it should be first if were ranking by importance) is the defeat of ISIS. Bergen correctly gives some of the credit to Obama, who (after a long delay) initiated policies that eventually would have led to victory over ISIS. However, says Bergen, the Trump national security team helped to hasten the defeat of ISIS in two ways.

First, Trump decided to equip the anti-ISIS Syrian Democratic Forces  a largely Kurdish militia  with mortars, anti-tank weapons, armored cars and machine guns. Those forces captured ISISs de facto Syrian capital, Raqqa, in October. Second, Trump allowed American ground commanders greater latitude to carry out operations in war zones such as Iraq and Syria without consulting higher up the chain of command. Pentagon brass had long chafed at what they considered to be the micromanagement of military operations by the Obama White House.

Bergen says the demise of ISIS brings a measure of stability to Iraq and reduces the scope of the terrorist threat that the group poses. He is right.

Trump has also improved our policy in Afghanistan. This is the third item on Bergens list:

In late August Trump announced a plan to bring some modicum of stability to Afghanistan, where the Taliban have asserted more control in the past year or so. In addition to sending a mini-surge of several thousand more troops to the country, Trump made it clear that the US commitment to Afghanistan is long term and conditions-based. Trump did not impose any timetable for withdrawing US forces from the country, which was the counterproductive approach that the Obama administration had taken. The Afghan government has welcomed this long-term American commitment to Afghanistan.

I see this as a win only if Trumps plan actually improves the situation. However, I agree with Bergen that, at a minimum, Trumps plan reduces the possibility that the country could slip back into an anarchic state conducive to groups such as ISIS securing a large presence in the country. That seemed to be where things were headed under President Obama.

Bergen sees two foreign policy losses for Trump: the rejection of the TPP and the decision to move our embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. But whether these are really losses depends on what happens (or doesnt happen) as a result of the decisions and what one thinks of such consequences.

By contrast, the military defeat of ISIS and Syrias cessation of the use of chemical weapons are undisputed facts and indisputably good developments. Moreover, the defeat of ISIS is obviously a big deal, while the response to Assads chemical attacks will help restore our credibility.

However, Year One of Trumps foreign policy was dominated not by wins but by incompletes e.g., on North Korea, Russia, and post-ISIS Levant. Thats normal for a first year. By this time next year, well know a lot more.
 You just knew this was going to happen sooner or later:

TWO HETEROSEXUAL MEN MARRY TO AVOID PAYING INHERITANCE TAX Two Irish men married each other in Dublin, Ireland. Not for any kind of romantic love: athough they are best friends, they are both heterosexual. Their main goal was to avoid paying an inheritance tax. Matt Murphy and Michael OSullivan made the decision to tie the knot after they realized Murphy, 83, cant leave his house for his caretaker OSullivan, 58, without paying 50,000 ($59,312 USD) in tax, The Irish Times reported. Ive known Matty for 30 years. We became very friendly after my second relationship broke up, OSullivan, told the Irish Mirror. I have been bringing Matt out in my car to various parties and all that kind of thing. He became friends with all my friends, they all loved him.

 I have hitherto avoided treating here the debate about whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie, because the answer seems self-evident to me. But this comparison has come to light, and it seems very persuasive on another front (click to embiggen):

 News you can use (1)a handy tax chart to annoy your liberal friends:

 News you can use (2): The year in campus hate crime hoaxes.
A Dearborn Heights educator known for using her passion for reading and literacy to inspire students and for creating literacy and mentoring programs in her school, community and hometown has been honored with an Excellence in Education award.

Kerri Moccio, is a first grade literacy intervention specialist at Bedford Elementary School, recently earned the honor from the Michigan Lottery, which established the Excellence in Education awards in 2014 to recognize outstanding public school educators across the state during the school year.

For earning the honor, Moccio received a plaque, a $1,500 cash prize and a $500 grant to the classroom, school or school district. Shell also be featured on a news segment airing Thursday on WXYZ-TV. In addition, shes in the running to be selected from among the other weekly winners as the Educator of the Year and receive a $10,000 cash prize.

Moccio said her love of reading led her to a career in education. I have always been an avid reader and had some wonderful language arts teachers growing up, she said. That love for reading and for books is something that I knew I wanted to instill in others.

She said her favorite part of being an educator is putting books into the hands of students who need them and seeing their smiles and excitement. Thats the absolute best!

Since my students are beginning readers, they have to work very hard at literacy every day. But when that light bulb moment comes and it all finally clicks and they start reading on their own, I am reminded why I love being an educator. I know in my heart that this is what I was meant to do, she said, adding: Seeing our community come together to support programs to provide books to children is a huge inspiration as well.

Moccio said that her students and her belief in the power of literacy motivate her to do her best every day. My goal is to level the playing field of literacy for my students and community, she said. Literacy should never be compromised, no matter what a childs circumstances are. Im always on the lookout for resources or strategies that will help make my students the best readers, learners and citizens they can be.

The nomination for the Excellence in Education award described Moccio as a champion for literacy. In her 25 years as an elementary reading specialist, she has taken childrens literacy development far beyond her classroom walls.

The nomination said that Moccios passion for literacy inspires excellence in her classroom and also has served as a catalyst for the rest of the school, district, and her community.

As founder of her schools summer book drive, Kerri collected nearly 20,000 new and used books so that in the last year and a half, students received 28 free books for their own at-home library, a luxury many Bedford Elementary School families are not able to afford, the nomination said.

Because of Kerris work on this project, she is featured in a new exhibit at the Illinois Holocaust Museums Take a Stand Center. The exhibit highlights the social justice work of regular people leading the way for positive change in their community and beyond.

Kerri also has established several reading programs and community partnerships in her school and district: Books & Bites Under the Lights, Books for a Benefit Literacy Days, Family Reading Nights, Roving Readers, Teacher Feature Summer Storytimes, Reading with Rover (literacy program at local animal shelter), Meet Up, Eat Up & Read Up Summer Meal Program, and three new community Little Free Libraries. She accomplished all this by getting staff to donate their time, rallying and organizing hundreds of volunteers, and applying for thousands of dollars in grants and donations.

The nomination noted that Moccio also coordinates a mentoring program that pairs up community and Ford Motor Company literacy volunteers with first graders in her reading class for 23 years now. Those special bonds help students learn to read in a one-to-one setting with a trusted adult. Most mentors have been coming for more than 20 years, a testament to the relationship between Kerri, her students and her volunteers.

Kerri is also coordinator and co-founder of the schools Multi-Tier System of Supports program (a framework for providing instruction to students), meeting with classroom teachers monthly to gather data and work collaboratively on instructional plans for the schools neediest students. Her literacy-based Facebook page for families, The Bedford Bookshelf, provides childrens literature recommendations and helpful reading tips, among other things.

She doesnt stop there. In her hometown of Milan, Kerri is a school board member attending classes and conferences, advocating for students throughout Michigan. She also is co-founder (with her daughter, Sophie) of the Book Fairy Pantry Project at Aid in Milan, providing free books each month to the children of families who visit the food pantry as well as the Milan Book Fairies founder, hiding books around her community for people to find, read, and then hide again to surprise other Milan residents.

The nomination letter goes on to say: Its difficult to grasp the dedication, effort, and expertise that go into these initiatives, but above all that is what Kerri is truly about: heart. When you meet her, it shines through. I think that is why so many people have jumped on board with all her projects! Hearing a student read independently for the first time, seeing a family excitedly visit one of Little Free Libraries she got installed, watching a six-year-old find the perfect books to take home and keep forever, helping a parent figure out how to help their struggling reader at home or finding an unexpected box of donated books on her desk is what this educator and literacy champion lives for.

Moccio earned a bachelors degree in secondary education and English from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh and a masters degree in reading education at Binghamton University. She has been an educator for 25 years, the last 23 with Dearborn Heights School District No. 7.

Outstanding public school educators may be nominated for an Excellence in Education award at bit.ly/ExcellenceInEducation.
MPs also said most of the information Congress receives on the situation of Copts and human rights in Egypt are incorrect. Gamal Essam El-Din reports.

In a meeting held by the Egyptian parliament's committees on foreign affairs and defence and national security on Wednesday, the head of Egypt's State Information Service (SIS) Diaa Rashwan said that there should be a dialogue and intensive contact between Egyptian MPs and US Congress members on issues related to Copts and human rights in Egypt.

Rashwan said six Congress members received last week a memorandum from a US-based organisation called Coptic Solidarity, which claimed that there is systematic discrimination against Copts in Egypt by the government under President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi's administration.

"As a result, a hearing session was held by Congress with some members expressing concern over what they called increased attacks on Coptic Christians in Egypt," said Rashwan.

A number of US media outlets have reported that on 21 December, some Congress members adopted a resolution titled "Expressing concern over attacks on Coptic Christians," which received strong bipartisan support.

Rashwan said that "what is strange about this resolution is that it is based on incorrect and misguided information, and that no Egyptian officials were invited to respond to the accusations levelled by the Coptic Solidarity organisation."

"Everybody knows that Egyptians  Muslims and Christians  have become a target of terrorism in recent years and that allegations about government discrimination against Copts are entirely unfounded," said Rashwan.

What do US Congress members have to say about Muslims who were killed in a mosque in Sinai, or about police and army soldiers who lost their lives in terrorist attacks?"

"Does this mean that the Egyptian government also does not provide Muslims with enough protection?" asked Rashwan.

"The government and parliament should issue a public statement about the number of Muslims and Christians in Egypt who lost their lives to terrorism in recent years," Rashwan said.

"This statement should show that all have become targets of terrorism, and that [the notion that] followers of a certain religion do not receive adequate protection or suffer from systematic discrimination is incorrect."

Rashwan, the former head of Al-Ahram's Centre for Strategic and Political Studies, urged parliament to open channels of communication with the US Congress and American media to discuss issues regarding Coptic and human rights in Egypt on a regular basis.

"Coptic MPs in particular should play a greater role in responding to misguided information about Copts in the US," said Rashwan, asking "who should represent Copts living abroad or speak on their behalf, especially in the US? Is it immigrant Copts, the Coptic church, or Coptic MPs in Egypt?"

Rashwan also deplored that "there is not enough information about the US-based Coptic Solidarity organisation."

"It is clear that the US Congress members opted to base their resolution about Copts in Egypt on information provided by this organisation alone without listening to any other parties," said Rashwan.

Rashwan reiterated that there should be a dialogue between Egypt and the US administrations on sensitive issues related to Copts and human rights.

"If the relations between Egypt and the US are strategic as officials on both sides like to describe them, then it is OK for officials and parliamentarians on both sides open a dialogue on issues of mutual concern," said Rashwan.

He added that the Coptic Solidarity organisation might seek to use the resolution to exert pressure on US Congress members to cut American military and economic assistance to Egypt.

Rashwan also urged Egypt's parliament to hurry up in issuing laws related to anti-discrimination and personal litigation on Coptic affairs.

"The 2014 constitution says that these laws should be a priority, so the sooner these laws are issued the better, and the easier it will be to defend Egypt's image on discrimination issues," said Rashwan, praising parliament for issuing a law last year easing regulations on building churches in the country.

MPs, including Coptic parliamentarians, said that it is regretful that some US Congress members insist every now and then on listening to "misguided information" on the situation of Copts in Egypt.

Magdy Malak, a Coptic MP from the Upper Egypt governorate of Minya, said that "Copts living in Egypt are against receiving protection from foreign powers."

Malak said that Minya governorate is home to 2,688 villages, and that the number of incidents involving sectarian strife stands at only 37, or just 2 percent of Minya, adding that "this is not a phenomenon that can be exploited by some to allege that there is discrimination against Copts."

Coptic MPs heaped praise on Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II, who said in a meeting with Grand Imam of the Sunni Islamic institution of Al-Azhar that "Copts seek the protection of two only: our Muslim brethren and God."

Tarek Radwan, head of the foreign relations committee, said parliament will issue a statement in response to the resolution issued by some US congress members on the situation of Copts in Egypt.

"The statement will be sent to the US Congress very soon," said Radwan.

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Atlantic City artist Lennox Warner likes to joke that he keeps area galleries busy. The prolific artist, who in recent years has cut back to about three shows a year, has displayed his work all over South Jersey from Atlantic City to Ocean City, Millville to Newtonville and beyond.

The West Indies native moved to Atlantic City in 1980, and fell into work in the casino industry.

I was frustrated, Warner admits. I liked it (casino work), but I wasnt able to be creative.

His frustration grew even more when he realized that there were no local schools or classes that taught the kind of art he wanted to do  West African-inspired sculpture.

Not one to be easily discouraged, Warner took the bull by the horns and began carving and chiseling just about anything he could get his eager hands on.

It was basically just busting out of me, effuses Warner about his creative desire. It was there  I just had to put my hands to it.

Warner began commuting to New York City and Philadelphia to attend wood carving classes and would even meet up with local decoy carvers, just to learn some tricks of the trade.

His hard work and dedication to his craft has paid off, as Warner is one of the most highly respected artists in South Jersey. More than 20 of his recent works can presently be seen at Atlantic Cape Community Colleges art gallery in One Space, Two Artists, an exhibit he shares with painter Tyrone Hart that runs through Feb. 3.

Inspiration and technique

Influenced by classic African motifs, this sculptor now considers himself more of a mixed media artist who can find inspiration in anything from nature to the civil rights movement, as demonstrated in his most recent work Selma, an intricately carved piece that illustrates the historic march with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that took place over 50 years ago.

Because of the amount of work Warner puts into each work of art, he tried to only produce just one piece a year. His next is already in the works  in his mind, anyway. Part of his artistic process is to keep a envisioned work moving and shifting around in his head until he can carve it out. He never puts his ideas to paper.

I dont sketch it out. I feel that drawing and sketching is a skill and an art form, he says. So if I draw it out, I feel like I dont want to do any more  that its finished. So I memorize a 3D image of it in my head  I have it ingrained in my mind.

Ocean City returns with its town-wide First Night and First Day, kid-friendly celebrations of the New Year On a holiday as synonymous with drinking as New Years Eve, whats a dry town like Ocean Cit

But bringing it out  materializing it  is a must. You have to produce is. If you just keep imagining things, youre just dreaming them. If you make them, youre an artist.

The Thinker

How can I describe it? asks Warner of his work with the same title as, but vastly different from, the famous Auguste Rodin statue. Its two African figures  (and) its basically saying whats in my head. Theres a calm serenity to it. Yet its very complicated. Its showing the world: this is who I am. I am offering myself to the world on a hand ... being of African heritage, this is what I am. Its actually like a self-portrait.

Sharing the spotlight

This is the first time that Warner is exhibiting with his partner Tyrone Hart. It was Warner who suggested to Atlantic Cape that the two artists show simultaneously.

Hes a creative painter and Im a creative sculptor. Some artists recreate other artists work. We both prefer to create something thats never been seen before, Warner explains.

Warner describes Harts paintings as simplistic on the surface, but (actually) very complicated.

It took me a long time to figure out what hes doing. The more you look at it, theres coherence to what hes done. Thats what keeps him looking fresh. It takes time to like his work  (but) the more you see it the more you get to like it.
Few things in the world of bars, pubs and lounges are more fun than the speakeasy. Sure, they can be a bit divisive  some folks find the whole concept of the hidden bar to be a bit pretentious  but most of the time you can count on a great speakeasy providing a hip atmosphere and, at the very least, some interesting mixology.

Such is the case with Okatshe, the speakeasy/sushi bar that opened last year in Tropicana Atlantic City. Okatshe is the brainchild of Iron Chef Jose Garces, who also owns its sister restaurant Olon.

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I had never been to Okatshe before, so I was looking forward to checking it out. In classic hipster speakeasy style, you enter the bar through a secret door inside what appears to be a Japanese candy store. Pro tip: Japanese candy stores are rarely located in the middle of bustling casino floors, so any sight of one should be a huge red flag that something secretive is going on behind those doors.

Once through the candy shop (the woman behind the counter at the candy shop is actually the maitre d), I headed into the bar area. Okatshe feels both vast and intimate at the same time. Dark tones of gray and black blend well with artsy lighting fixtures and a constant pulse of dance music courtesy of the in-house DJ. The cocktail menu was on the short side, but no matter, as each drink was delightfully uncommon, mixing ingredients that would be hard to find elsewhere in Atlantic City. I started off with the Bonzai  a mix of vodka, ginger shrub, grapefruit and lime that made for a refreshing start.

One of the staff members suggested I try The Green Beatle  a blend of unfiltered sake, apple syrup and yuzu. While Im not a huge sake fan, this drink was well balanced, and I enjoyed it more than I expected to.

Fans of sake really should make a point to stop in here, as they serve man varieties, both filtered and unfiltered, along with a long list of Japanese whiskies.

Being a huge fan of Japanese food, I couldnt resist ordering a few sushi rolls, as well as an order of their chicken wings, which are prepared with ginger and scallion and really surprised me. Not that a spot owned by an Iron Chef shouldnt be able to make a decent chicken wing, but I had feared that it may have been put on the menu just to appease less daring eaters, and therefore would be bland and uninteresting. I was wrong.

The sushi rolls were outstanding as well, with the best that I tried being their signature Okatshe roll, which consisted of lobster tempura, eel, asparagus, spicy sauce and avocado salsa.

The appetizers here are set up as small plates, which is a fun way to eat, because you can order up a bunch of stuff and not feel that it is going to be too much food. It also suits the style of bar well. Standouts include the seaweed salad and the chashu buns  a mix of pork belly, hoisin and daikan all resting in a beautifully steamed Asian-style bun.

Lennox Warner memorizes, then materializes his art Atlantic City artist Lennox Warner likes to joke that he keeps area galleries busy. The prol

On the night I came the crowd skewed a bit younger, and the DJ is something that you are either going to love or hate, depending on what kind of experience you are looking for. But if you enjoy unusual, well-balanced cocktails and are a bit adventurous in your dining choices, Okatshe is not to be missed. Heck, even if you arent adventurous, they have got you covered, too. Come check it out.
When winter break ends and students and staff return to Stockton University in January, a staple of the Galloway Township campus will be missing. Sharon Schulman, executive director of the colleges William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy, is leaving her post after 10 years.

In her time at Stockton, Schulman has organized and moderated candidate debates for state Legislature, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, and, most recently, New Jerseys gubernatorial primary.

She also established the Hughes Center Honors to recognize civility and leadership in government. This years ceremony feted namesake William J. Hughes with a guest appearance from former Vice President Joe Biden.

In the meantime, Schulman has grown the centers endowment to more than $2 million.

Shes a dynamo. I wish I had as much energy in any part of my life as she has, said Ann Harlan, former executive director of the FAA Tech Center and a member of the Hughes Policy Center steering committee in the early 2000s.

Schulman has led the Hughes Center from its infancy in 2008, but that was just one incarnation of the Vineland natives eclectic career.

I tend to take on new challenges after I accomplish what I want, said Schulman, 70, who now lives in Gloucester Township with her husband, Sheldon, 74.

Ever energetic, Schulmans retirement likely wont involve much down time, her husband noted.

My wifes going to have a lot of problems slowing down in retirement. She has to keep busy and has to have projects, Sheldon Schulman said. I have no doubt that once we retire, there will be other opportunities presenting themselves to her.

After she and Sheldon got married, and three children later  Andrea, Dara and Stephanie  Schulman decided she wanted to finish college. In 1980, she graduated from then-Stockton State College with a degree in biomedical communications and took a job at Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia. At the same time, Schulman started her own public relations firm in Vineland.

Four years later, she earned her masters degree in public relations from Glassboro State College, now Rowan University. At the time, she was working as the executive director of the Cumberland Tourist Association in Bridgeton. Then she got a call to work on Ed Salmons campaign for state Assembly.

So I moved on to the next thing, she said.

Salmon, of Fairfield Township, said Schulman was a very important player in his campaign  so much that when he was appointed to the New Jersey Board of Regulatory Commissioners in 1992, he took Schulman with him to be his chief of staff in Newark.

Shes just done an amazing job, Salmon said. She had a number of very important qualities. She knew how to organize, a terrific writer, she had a propensity for excellence. When she took on a chore, it had to be the best.

From state government, Schulman took a job in 1994 in the private sector managing public and regulatory planning for Atlantic Electric. While there, she also dabbled in corporate public relations. Her next job came one year later, when she was asked to lead Aqua New Jersey Inc., a water utility in Hamilton Township, Mercer County, as its president and CEO. Schulman served in that role for more than 10 years before Stockton came calling.

She left a very important, high-paying job in the private sector to run the William Hughes Center for Public Policy, which is probably her first love: politics. Public policy stirs her interest the most, said Sheldon.

Schulman said when she heard about the position at Stockton, it felt right.

Its a voice for South Jersey. Its Stockton, and Im a graduate, Schulman said. How often do you get something like that?

Harlan said she was impressed immediately by Schulmans skills.

She said it was Schulman who acquired all of Ambassador Bill Hughes memorabilia for the center, as well as an initial $1 million in fundraising to get everything going.

As the founding executive director of the Hughes Center, Sharon has been a visionary leader, said Stockton President Harvey Kesselman. Her experience in both business and politics were invaluable in the centers development.

Of all of her accomplishments at Stockton, Schulman said she is most proud to leave behind the legacy of creating a voice for South Jersey in public policy.

Im feeling really good about creating something here, she said.

Whats next for Schulman?

I dont know. But something meaningful, she said.
Protections for breastfeeding mothers were unanimously approved by both the state Assembly and Senate this month, and the bills now head to the governors desk.

A bill that would extend civil rights under the states Law Against Discrimination and make it illegal to discriminate against women who choose to breastfeed or express milk in the workplace got final legislative approval last week. It now needs Gov. Chris Christies signature to become law.

Rather than discourage it, employers should help make it easier for nursing women to provide for their babies while at work, Assemblyman Bob Andrzejczak, D-Cape May, Atlantic, Cumberland, said in a statement.

Breastfeeding, recognized as the best source of nutrition for infants, is on the rise nationally and in New Jersey, where nearly 84 percent of new mothers reported breastfeeding in 2014, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusive breastfeeding, when possible, for the first six months of a babys life for the benefits of nutrition and disease-fighting substances that protect babies from illness.

The legislation would also require employers to provide reasonable break time each day and an appropriate location, other than a bathroom stall, for an employee to pump milk in private.

No woman should ever be shamed for, or prevented from, feeding her child the best food possible, Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle, D-Bergen, said in a statement. This allows working women to breastfeed or pump at work without fear or repercussions.
ATLANTIC CITY  Just before sunrise on a December morning, police Officer Jose Gonzalez led a small group through the sand under the Boardwalk, looking for signs of life.

The group got on their knees and crawled under piers looking for camps, jackets peeking out from under concrete crevices and blankets sprawled out under the boards. But they were mainly looking for people.

Come out, sir. Are you alone in there? Gonzalez yelled through a slit under the Playground pier. Youre not in trouble.

Gonzalez, 36, an Atlantic City native, is the homeless outreach officer in the resort and leads the beach and Boardwalk sweeps to find people who are homeless and connect them to services. This is part of an organized monthly effort by the department, Jewish Family Service, Volunteers of America, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the courts. Sweepers gather before 6 a.m. every second Tuesday of the month and cover the whole Boardwalk.

During the most recent trip Dec. 12, the group found five people under the boards and engaged several others on the Boardwalk to see what kind of help they needed.

Most of the people I encounter, theyve at least seen me before, said Gonzalez, who has been with the department for 13 years. My truck is pretty well known.

A total of 422 people were identified as experiencing homelessness in Atlantic County this year, 54 fewer than in 2016, according to the 2017 Point-in-Time Count survey. Atlantic City Police Chief Henry White said fewer people are being found during the sweeps since it began.

And the fewer people found, the more its clear theyre being connected to services, he said.

City Lights ministry hands out shoe boxes of necessities to A.C. homeless Christmas morning Stephanie Howard, of Egg Harbor City

This homeless problem is not something thats specific to Atlantic City. This is a nationwide problem, White said. But were trying to come up with ways to combat it and to help these folks to come back.

If the team finds someone during the sweeps, they approach them to have a conversation. While sleeping outside or staying on or underneath the Boardwalk is not allowed per city ordinance, Gonzalez reminds them and tells many, Youre not in trouble and I believe your story.

The idea is to connect them with whatever services they say they need  even if its just a conversation or a bottle of water. Every person gets a Blessing Bag created by the department, which includes hats, scarves, gloves, socks, toiletries and snacks inside, along with a list of services available for people struggling.

Gonzalez sees a multitude of reasons people live on the streets, including addiction, mental health issues or a poor family situation.

When you get stuck in a pattern, its so hard to get out of it, he said.

During the December sweep, people were found under Central and Steel piers, hiding under concrete ramps and shacks in the sand. Some wondered whether they were getting arrested, and some shied away from speaking at all.

The team will call for an ambulance if they need one, and they end each interaction by making sure each person has a place to go, whether its a ride somewhere or an appointment with an agency.

Gonzalez encourages many to go to the Turning Point Day Center  hes there every day during lunchtime, so hed know if they show up, he said.

He and the team knew many of the people by name  as well as their stories  before even encountering them. The group strayed off the Boardwalk and behind a store at one point, looking for Carlos.

The 55-year-old Cuban refugee exited a makeshift shack that had wrappers, jugs, plastic tarps and blankets covering the wooden walls and floor. A lock was on his door, and the man, Carlos Martinez, emerged after Gonzalez banged on the outside.

Atlantic City lights candles to remember those who died homeless in 2017 ATLANTIC CITY  A crowd gathered Monday afternoon in front of the William L. Gormley Atlanti

Theres no way to get a job, nothing, Martinez said. They want to help me, theres no way to help me. Its been a long time.

Farther down the Boardwalk, a jacket was buried in the sand under a concrete structure.

Rassel Pinda, 57, emerged from the sand. He said he came to Atlantic City from New York over a month ago to gamble, but he hasnt found his way back.

Its cold, especially when youre homeless, he said. This is the first time I encountered this. I see a lot of people sleeping all over.

He declined an offer to get a bus ticket back to New York.

The interactions then turn to the social-service agencies, who assess the persons needs, see what they are willing to do for help and set up an appointment or give out information.

Jewish Family Services Atlantic Homeless Alliance runs a countywide intake center that works with several partner agencies to match people with housing, aid and recovery programs.

AtlantiCare to hold vigil for those lost to homelessness Community members will come together this afternoon to remember people who had died homeless

Jeffrey Willson, an outreach specialist with mental health/justice-involved services, and Erin Bowes, an outreach specialist with Project Assistance Transition from Homelessness, or PATH, will take people to the county building from the sweeps if they are willing and ready.

But the main goal is to engage, maintain relationships with people and show them theyre out there, Bowes said.

They have to know that they can trust you, and they have to know youre going to follow through, she said.

There is constant follow-up either at the agency appointments, the day center or the shelters.

At one point during the sweep, a peek under the Playground revealed movement and a camp, tucked under a concrete ramp. A box stuck out, along with a backpack and a moving jacket.

Gonzalez, lying on his belly on the sand looking into the makeshift cave, convinced the man to emerge through the slit that couldnt have been more than a foot tall.

After chatting for a while, the man saw Gonzalezs card and said he recognized his name.

Thats me. Who told you about me? Gonzalez asked the man.

Ive heard a lot about you, the man said. We met for a reason.
ATLANTIC CITY  Outgoing Mayor Don Guardian is set to be named the new business administrator in Toms River, a position that comes with a $175,000-a-year salary.

The Toms River Township Council approved a resolution at its Tuesday meeting appointing Guardian, a Republican, to the position.

While serving as mayor, Guardian received a $103,000-a-year salary. According to the resolution, he will not be required to live in the Ocean County municipality.

I believe my experience over the past four years has helped me tremendously in preparing for this important municipal government position, Guardian, 64, said in a statement. Although I will still be living in Atlantic City, I look forward to commuting each day to Toms River and bringing with me all the local government knowledge that I gained over the past four years as mayor and previous 20 years as director of the local business improvement district.

Guardians appointment is contingent upon current Toms River Business Administrator Paul J. Shives resignation Jan. 12 and the approval of a contract for Guardian by the council.

I knew that he was going to be available and there are not a lot of experienced, mature people out there for this job, said Thomas Kelaher, the Republican mayor of Toms River. Toms River is the eighth-largest municipality in the state. We cant afford to have people doing on-the-job training in that position.

During his term as mayor, which will end Sunday, Guardian has had to deal with a state takeover of the citys finances and the closing of five casinos.

His new position sees him return to Ocean County, where he worked at the Joseph A. Citta Scout Reservation in Barnegat Township after college.

It completes a circle that started for me personally 42 years ago, Guardian said. I have nothing but great memories of Toms River and Ocean County.

In November, Guardian lost his mayoral re-election bid to Democratic Councilman Frank Gilliam, who will take office Jan. 1.

For the past couple of weeks, Guardian had been coy about his future once his term as mayor ends. Last month, he said he was contacted by the National Republican Congressional Committee and was considering a run for Congress in New Jerseys 2nd Congressional District in 2018. Incumbent Rep. Frank LoBiondo announced on Election Day he will not seek re-election.

Over the past few weeks, I have looked into some great opportunities concerning what I would do next after my term as mayor of Atlantic City was completed, Guardian said. During that process, I discovered how much I really love serving residents in municipal government. To me, there really is no other form of government that can so greatly improve a residents life than through municipal government.
Two bills to encourage volunteers to plant milkweed on state lands to help the monarch butterfly, whose population has fallen 90 percent across the U.S. in the past 20 years, await signing by Gov. Chris Christie.

Christie has not indicated whether he supports them.

The bills would allow people to plant milkweed  the food plants of the monarch caterpillar  in stormwater drainage basins and on other public lands and parks. They would also allow them to adopt tracts of milkweed and nectar plants like goldenrod and other flowers they would then maintain.

While this years monarch migration was stronger through Cape May Point than it has been in four years, it was still below 2012s numbers, according to the Monarch Monitoring Project at New Jersey Audubons Cape May Bird Observatory.

Monarch butterfly numbers up dramatically this year, data show 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.

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 project. In 2012, it was 183 per hour.

Its too early to report on numbers of overwintering monarchs in Mexico, where the monarchs that migrate through New Jersey meet up with those that migrate through the Midwest, said Project Director Mark Garland.

We wont know the acreage they cover until sometime in February, Garland said.

They let the monarchs settle and then go in and do a careful survey, Garland said of researchers in the Transvolcanic Mountain Range, about 62 miles north of Mexico City. It takes quite a while.

Chip Taylor, director of Monarch Watch, a nonprofit associated with the University of Kansas, predicted on his blog that the overwintering population will increase from 7.25 acres last year to 10 acres or better this winter.

Late season monarchs put on show at Cape May Point CAPE MAY POINT  So many monarch butterflies are still migrating through the southern tip of

The Midwestern migrants have been hit hardest by population declines, said Kelly Mooij, New Jersey Audubon vice president of government relations.

Its mainly due to habitat loss and pesticides, she said. Farms that used to have a lot of milkweed scattered among crops now eliminate it all through stronger pesticide use and use of seeds impregnated with pesticides.

Garland is leading a CMBO trip Feb. 23 to March 1 to three monarch butterfly reserves in the Transvolcanic Mountain Range. The trip is full and has a waiting list, he said.

We are hoping it will be an annual event, he said.

Milkweeds are the only plants monarchs will lay eggs on, and the only plant their larvae will eat. But as their name implies, they have been considered weeds, and so not wanted by many landowners. Huge swaths of them in open fields have been replaced by housing and other development.

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There are several types of milkweed that can be planted, Mooij said.

Common milkweed is a favorite of monarchs, but its tall and weedier-looking than other natives such as swamp milkweed and butterfly weed, she said.

The neat thing about swamp milkweed is its a great native wetlands species, with the added benefit that it holds onto water, said Mooij. Its good for water quality and will reduce and alleviate flooding issues as well.

The milkweed bills  S1986 and S1732  passed both houses of the Legislature Dec. 7.

Christie leaves office when Gov.-elect Phil Murphy is sworn in at noon Jan. 16. State law says Christie can either sign the bills before then, veto them in full or in part, or do nothing and they will become law.

The governor does not comment on legislation until he takes action, a spokesman said.

For us this is a really commonsense approach to citizens being able to provide support for an amazing species, said Mooij. Her organization was behind the legislation and helped garner support for it.

The programs wont stretch the budget or staffing of the state Department of Environmental Protection, Mooij said.

It enables citizens to make a difference by adopting waystations and doing planting, providing resources, things like that, she said.
2017 has been the year of the unrelenting news cycle. If it had a soundtrack, it would be the staccato dings of news alerts popping up on cellphones. If it had a color, it would be that hazy blue-ish white hue you see when your eyes start to unfocus after staring at a screen for too long. If it had a smell, it would be burned rubber.

Not all the news in 2017 was bad news, though. Some of it was inspiring, gratifying, touching, amusing or mystifying. That being said, a lot of it was bad.

From deadly protests against a foreign policy change to the resignation of a nonagenarian president to milestones in the fight against the Islamic State, here are the global news videos that stuck with us this year.

January

Residents of China's capital city started the year buried in smog.

The pollution levels were so bad, a monitoring device in the home of The Washington Post's Beijing bureau chief warned a mask should be kept on indoors. On Jan. 3, the Air Quality Index was more than 700. Anything above 300 is considered hazardous, whereas a reading under 50 is considered to pose no significant health risks.

On Jan. 4, parents in Beijing fed up with the thick lingering smog sickening their children launched a petition demanding the government put air purifiers in schools. It gathered 2,700 comments in one day.

Chinese authorities tried to reduce the smog by prohibiting the use of coal, but the Associated Press reported that effort backfired, leading to a natural gas shortage.

In mid-January, reporters caught a glimpse of the world's most notorious drug lord, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, at Long Island MacArthur Airport in Islip, N.Y., handcuffed and flanked by DEA agents in dark parkas.

The elusive drug runner was extradited to the United States after escaping from Mexican federal prison twice and losing his last appeal to stay in Mexico.

Post reporters Joshua Partlow and Matt Zapotosky described the political implications of El Chapo's departure for the United States:

"'Officially, Mexican authorities said the timing of the extradition was related to judicial processes and not the U.S. political calendar. But one Mexican official described the transfer of the prisoner as a "farewell gift" to President Obama rather than an overture to President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed to make Mexico pay for a border wall and threatened to deport millions of undocumented immigrants.'"

February

Death came for Kim Jong Nam, half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, on Feb. 13.

He was found with lethal nerve agent VX on his face, "slumped in a chair in a Malaysian airport clinic, his belly protruding from his navy-blue polo shirt, then dying in an ambulance en route to the hospital," Post Tokyo bureau chief Anna Fifield wrote.

CCTV footage appeared to show two women - Indonesia's Siti Aisyah, 25, and Vietnam's Doan Thi Huong, 29 - smearing the VX on his face at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

We later learned Kim was carrying atropine, a potential antidote to the chemical that killed him. Post reporter Adam Taylor reported experts doubted it would have saved him.

March

In March in the United States then-FBI Director James Comey was testifying before Congress and Judge Neil M. Gorsuch was starting his Supreme Court confirmation hearings, but what really captured the attention of news-watchers around the world was a dad being interrupted on live television by his two children.

Robert Kelly, nicknamed "BBC dad," was Skyping into a news program to give his opinion on the ousting of South Korea's first female president. Without his noticing, a dancing toddler and an infant in a walker burst into the room behind him, pursued by their panicked-looking mother.

The comedic moment skyrocketed to Internet fame.

Nine months later, Kelly told the New York Times 4-year-old Marion is still trying to interrupt his interviews.

April

April saw Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's opposition mounting the most intense protests their country had seen since 2014.

The country's highest court had stripped its parliament of power, only to return it on Maduro's orders just two days later. The reversal was supposed to quell criticism. Instead, on April 1, opponents called him and his administration a "circus," and thousands of demonstrators took to the streets to condemn Maduro's "Dictatorship."

Videos from Caracas showed police in riot gear using tear gas against young protesters. That day kicked off months of demonstrations, which continued amid worsening food and medicine shortages.

As 2017 wraps up, Maduro continues to clash with opposition parties, several of whom boycotted Dec. 10 mayoral elections, according to the AP. He will be up for reelection in 2018 and has already attempted to ban those parties from that vote.

Half a world away, another dictator attacked his people on April 4. Syrian President Bashar Assad launched airstrikes on the northwestern town of Khan Sheikhoun. Post reporters Louisa Loveluck and Karen DeYoung wrote it was one of the deadliest chemical attacks of the country's six-year war.

Images of frantic or lifeless women and children surfaced. In one heart-wrenching video capturing the suffering that day, a father clutched the corpses of his 9-month-old twins and stroked their hair. They were killed, along with his wife, two brothers, two nephews and a niece, in the attack.

Days later, the United States retaliated with airstrikes, drawing criticism from Russia and Syria. Russia later vetoed a U.S.-devised United Nations Security Council resolution to investigate the Khan Sheikhoun attack, and the AP reported with less than two weeks left in 2017 that for the first time in years, Assad's troops were edging their way into rebel-held Idlib province.

May

Protests in Washington are common, and they rarely result in much hubbub, let alone an international incident. A demonstration outside the Turkish ambassador's residence in May was the exception to that rule.

On a visit to Washington on May 17, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stopped at the ambassador's home in Northwest Washington. When about two dozen opponents gathered outside to protest Erdogan's harsh treatment of dissent in his country, the president's bodyguards got involved. As Erdogan looked on, security guards in suits kicked and stomped protesters. Video posted to Twitter showed D.C. police attempting to separate the two groups. When asked who had attacked him, an older man with blood smeared all down his face and white shirt turned to the camera and said, "The Turks."

D.C. officials brought charges against 15 security guards in light of the incident. It was one of a number of dust-ups between Erdogan and Trump in 2017, despite early hopes the two countries could have a better relationship than under the Obama administration.

Later in May, President Trump spoke at a NATO summit in Brussels. The world watched, wondering how the president's tough talk on the campaign trail would translate to an international stage. Post reporters Philip Rucker, Karen DeYoung and Michael Birnbaum wrote that the speech was "confrontational" and "scolding."

The image that stuck with us from the event was Trump, physically pushing aside another country's leader. Video showed the U.S. president shoving Montenegro's prime minister, Dusko Markovic, on the way to a photo op.

June

A pair of Islamic State attacks in June marked a new geographic milestone for the militant group. Militants launched deadly assaults on Iran's parliament building and at a shrine at the tomb of the leader of the nation's Islamic revolution - the first time that group had struck inside Iran.

The Post's Amanda Erickson wrote, "an assault on the shrine - akin to a bombing at America's Tomb of the Unknowns - is an attack on the country's political identity and on one of Iran's most important monuments to Shiite Islam."

A London high-rise apartment building erupted in flames, June 14, leaving at least 71 people dead and hundreds homeless. The building was located in one of the city's wealthiest neighborhoods, but it was public housing.

Video posted to social media from those down below showed residents trapped inside, desperate to escape the burning building. One video showed the view of the building through the window of a plane, spewing smoke over the city.

A month later, British police released footage that takes the viewer on a macabre tour of Grenfell Tower's barren lobby, charred stairwells and blown out windows. Residents displaced by the blaze struggled to find new housing options of the same quality as they had had before.

The fire prompted the British government to test other high-rise buildings to see if they contained the same flammable exterior cladding involved in the Grenfell Tower fire. As of Dec. 14, Post reporter Karla Adam wrote, "Thousands of people are still living in structures confirmed to be at risk."

July

July saw a victory in the war against the Islamic State as Iraqi joint forces recaptured the key city of Mosul.

As soldiers and journalists reentered the city, it was clear rebuilding would be no small task.

Five months later, the U.S. military is still figuring out what its role is in Iraq now that the fighting is over.

August

In the beginning of August, Myanmar, also called Burma, began sending troops into the Rakhine state, home to much of the country's Rohingya Muslim minority population. That month, the Rohingya left their country, telling stories of rape and abuse by the Burmese army. Aid group Doctors Without Borders estimates at least 6,700 Rohingya were killed in the violence between Aug. 25 and Sept. 24. As time wore on, the images of people lined up to leave their homes were staggering.

In the months since the clashes began, the United States has declared the violence against the Rohingya community to be "ethnic cleansing" and almost 650,000 Rohingya have fled to refugee camps in Bangladesh.

September

September brought hurricanes to landfall, and with them, destruction of historic proportions to the Caribbean.

The Post's Anthony Faiola, Samantha Schmidt and Marc Fisher wrote, "The storms pushed the islands back to the primitive, basic state that made the sandbars of the Caribbean so alluring to European empires, pirates and tourists for half a millennium."

Hurricane Irma in particular wrecked the island of Barbuda. Homes flattened, trees torn down, debris everywhere. The Post's Andrew deGrandpre wrote that Irma forced Barbuda's 1,800 residents to flee, leaving the island - for the first time in 300 years - empty.

Now the island is in the midst of a legal land fight, as some lawmakers want to change a key law to make it easier for investors to claim a stake in the rebuilding process.

October

The first day in October was a big one historically for the Spanish region of Catalonia.

Despite opposition from the Spanish government, Catalonia held a referendum on whether to form its own independent nation. More than 2 million people voted in favor of independence.

More than three weeks later, secessionists filled the streets, hugging and cheering as Catalonia officially declared itself an independent republic.

Their joy was short lived. The October referendum was intended to give the region more autonomy. In the weeks that followed, however, Spain stripped Catalan officials of their power and threw leaders of the separatist movement in jail.

With its Parliament dissolved, Catalan voters went back to the polls Dec. 21 to elect new leaders and to vote once again on whether to split from Spain. The Post's William Booth and Pamela Rolfe wrote that with record-breaking turnout, pro-independence parties won most of the vote, "setting the stage for another showdown with the central government in Madrid."

It is unclear how that new fight will unfold, but regardless, 2017's upheaval will have a lasting effect on the region. Since the first vote, more than 2,700 businesses have already moved out of Catalonia.

November

Robert Mugabe reigned over Zimbabwe for 37 years, but in November, he stepped aside.

His rule began unraveling when the military placed him and his wife, Grace, under house arrest Nov. 14. This seemed to signal a coup, but military leaders denied that, and Mugabe did not immediately step down. Instead he gave a rambling speech Nov. 19 with no hint at plans to leave.

Facing opposition even from within his own party, the 93-year-old president finally resigned, clearing the way for his former vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa to take the lead.

Images out of Zimbabwe that day showed pure jubilation: a man falling to his knees and shouting with joy, people hugging and dancing in the streets of Harare, and tanks rolling alongside demonstrators waving the country's flag.

The country is still struggling economically, but the AP reported that in his first State of the Nation speech, Mnangagwa promised to combat corruption and court foreign investors.

For more than two months, North Korea had abstained from launching any missile tests. On Nov. 29, that calm period shattered when the country shot up a new kind of intercontinental ballistic missile, one that appeared to be more advanced than any of its predecessors. Kim Jong Un's regime claimed his weapons could now reach the United States, and Post reporter Rick Noack wrote the test "almost certainly put all major European targets within Pyongyang's reach."

The images North Korea released showed a long, dark cylinder blasting up with a flash of light.

The launch prompted President Trump to threaten "additional major sanctions" on North Korea and to call on China to check their neighbor's nuclear ambitions.

The Post's Adam Taylor and Tim Meko looked back at how North Korea's weapons programs evolved in 2017; they found the country's capabilities "stopped being funny" this year and started being scary.

December

When President Trump took office, one of the lofty goals he touted was bringing peace to the Middle East. In a move that critics said made that goal less achievable, Trump upended decades of U.S. foreign policy precedent Dec. 6 when he announced his administration would recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

The move ignited protests around the world: Pakistan, Morocco, Lebanon, Indonesia, New York, Turkey, Syria and of course, in Jerusalem itself. Demonstrators lit Israeli and U.S. flags on fire, marched in the streets and shouted chants. In the West Bank city of Bethlehem, they faced off with security forces spraying tear gas. During the bloodiest protests more than a week after the announcement, The Post's Loveday Morris and Hazem Balousha wrote that four Palestinians were killed, including a demonstrator identified as "a disabled 29-year-old who had previously lost his legs."

Israel launched airstrikes in Gaza, saying they were in response to Hamas rocket fire linked to Trump's decision.

The change also led to a showdown at the United Nations. President Trump threatened to cut off funds to nations who voted in favor of a resolution rejecting his Jerusalem decision. His tactics did not work. The measure still passed with an overwhelming margin of victory. Trump's ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, condemned the resolution, saying the United States would "remember this day."
A Virginia man is accused of stealing two cars, one on Christmas Day, and crashing them in Stafford and Barnegat townships.

Christian Zolea, 27, was involved in a three-car accident just before 10 p.m. Monday outside a Wawa at Route 9 and Cedar Bridge Road and ran from the scene before police arrived, Stafford police said in a news release.

The car Zolea ran from was recently reported stolen from New York City, police said.

About 45 minutes later, police received a notification that a man matching Zoleas description had broken into a house on Route 9 and forcibly took car keys and stole the car from the owner inside. Stafford police and neighboring agencies searched the area and found Zolea 15 minutes later hiding in the car behind a hunting lodge on Taylor Lane in Barnegat, police said.

When police found him, Zolea had attempted to drive the car through the woods behind the lodge but crashed into a tree, the release said.

Police charged Zolea with burglary, theft, robbery, possession of stolen property, resisting arrest, reckless driving, leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident and failure to maintain lane.

He was taken to the Ocean County jail pending a detention hearing.

 John DeRosier
State radio building erected in Halayeb, southern Red sea, where sovereignty continues to be disputed between Sudan and Egypt

The foundation stone of a new state-owned radio station's headquarters in the city of Halayeb was placed in the presence of information minister, Dorreya Sharaf El-Din on Tuesday.

Halayeb is located south of the Red Sea governorate.

According to Red Sea governor Ahmed Abdullah, El-Din's visit came as part of "the state's interest in developing Halayeb and Shalateen" and to meet requests for development by locals last February during a visit by presidential media advisor, Ahmed El-Muslimany.

During his visit, El-Muslimany vowed to enhance development in the "neglected area".

On 18 February, Egypt's former prime minister, Hazem El-Beblawi, established Halayeb as its own city, separating it from Shalateen in a move the government stated was for development purposes.

Located near the Egypt-Sudan border, Halayeb and Shalateen have been a source of dispute between the two countries for decades.

Both Egypt and Sudan claim sovereignty over the land.

Last January, a Sudanese minister stated that Halayeb and Shalateen were 100 percent Sudanese, adding that there are currently talks with Cairo regarding the issue.

His statement was slammed by Egypt's foreign ministry spokesperson who stressed that the disputed land is considered to be 100 percent Egyptian, and that there is no room for compromise.

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As the war in Yemen passes the 1,000-day mark, aid workers and diplomats say the humanitarian crisis is ongoing, with nearly 7 million people facing starvation and no clear solution in sight

With the year drawing to a close, there seems to be little hope of a breakthrough in the current humanitarian crisis that has hit Yemen.

As of 20 December, the Saudi-led war on Yemen had been ongoing for 1,000 days, and workers in several diplomatic quarters and humanitarian organisations, including those of the UN, say it is nowhere near ending.

Indeed, one informed diplomatic source said the conflict could well see some much harsher phases, despite some possible improvement in the restriction of humanitarian aid, despite various diplomatic attempts by the UN and other concerned capitals to promote a political settlement to the war there.

On Tuesday, the office of the UN envoy to Yemen announced that, starting on Sunday, a team from his office had visited both Aden  the temporary capital  and Sanaa, which has seen more flexing of power by the Houthi rebels, the main target of the Saudi-led military campaign.

The mission of the UN diplomatic team comes at a time of intensified Saudi-led strikes on Yemen, with at least 40 civilians reportedly killed in recent strikes. It also comes as diplomats and humanitarian groups point to an expansion of the Houthi presence in Sanaa.

In the words of one European diplomat working on Yemen, We are hopeful that the UN mission could set the ground for an agreement on the inspection process of goods and relief material that should be coming into Hudaydah port, in order to secure a Saudi commitment to the opening of the port to allow for the necessary foods and medicines to come in.

She added, I dont expect that things would go much beyond that, because I dont think that the key players, either in Riyadh or in Tehran, are ready for a deal on Yemen yet.

"In fact, I dont think that Yemen could be resolved soon, given that the Saudis feel they have lost to Iran in almost every single battle, including Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. The Saudis would not want to admit defeat in Yemen too, so they would fight a bit harder, at least for now.

However, the visit by the UN team was announced as being intended to prepare the ground for peace talks. And a New York-based Arab diplomat said that the Americans have received some kind of a nod from the Saudis indicating a willingness to consider a settlement in Yemen that would, of course, take into consideration the Saudi determination not to let the Iranian-supported Houthis take control of the capital in Yemen."

The Saudis see Yemen as their immediate backyard, and since the start of pro-democracy protests in 2011, they made a point of supporting Yemen's then President Ali Abdullah Salah. Saudi Arabia only agreed on him stepping down  and seeking refuge in the Gulf  as part of an agreement designed in Riyadh.

The Saudis had been hoping to have the Yemeni leader eventually replaced by his son. However, the failure of their plan, combined with the increased power of the Houthis, prompted the start of the Saudi-led coalition's military campaign.

The aim of the campaign was to undermine the Houthis and to reinstate the legitimate Yemeni President Hadi Mansour, who has been residing in Saudi Arabia for months.

Saleh, meanwhile, changed camps more than once, first entering into an alliance with the Iranian supported Houthis, then returning to the Saudi side. In early December, one day after returning to the Saudi side, he was killed.

The former president's shifting allegiences confused the calculations of Saudi Arabia.

Today, what the Saudis seem to be looking into is a deal whereby the Houthis would not be completely abolished but would not have a big share in running the country either, said the European diplomat.

I think this is what they have told the Americans, and I think that the Iranians would eventually settle for this agreement  but the question is how much more time would pass before a deal is reached, she said.

The war, which has been raging for nearly three years, has caused a humanitarian crisis on a massive scale in Yemen.

UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock appealed for the full lifting of the Saudi-imposed blockade in order to provide the necessary aid to the estimated 7-8 million Yemenis who are on the brink of famine.

The number of suspected cholera cases in war-torn Yemen has reached one million, according to an announcement made earlier this week by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

In their recent statements, humanitarian organisations said that Yemen is facing the worlds worst humanitarian crisis, with over 20.7 million people (80 percent of the population) in need of aid, including 6.8 million at imminent risk of famine.

The conflict, according to the same statements, has had a devastating impact on civilians, both directly from the violence on both sides and from its impact on Yemens economy and critical services.

The assessment of humanitarian and diplomatic sources does not excuse either the Saudi-led coalition or the Iran-backed Houthis from blame for the current situation.

On 5 November 2017, the Saudi-led coalition closed all land, air and sea ports in Yemen in response to the firing of a ballistic missile from Yemen into Saudi territory. While the Saudi government has since announced a partial lifting of the blockade, imports of vital food, fuel and medicines remain severely restricted to the rebel-held north, home to 78 percent of the population.

Humanitarian workers dealing with Yemen suggest that the Saudi blockade caused UN humanitarian flights to be grounded for over two weeks, also blocking deliveries of food, fuel, vaccines and medical supplies desperately needed for the survival of Yemeni civilians, and causing devastating spikes in food and fuel prices. Recent shipments are hopelessely insufficient to address Yemens needs.

According to the assessment of humanitarian bodies, Yemen requires 350,000 metric tons of food imports each month.

Statistics shared by humanitarian organisations working on the ground, including those of the UN, suggest that around 130 children die every day from hunger or disease in Yemen, and the ongoing blockade is likely to increase the death toll beyond the estimate of 50,000 children who died in Yemen this year.

The WHO announcement earlier this month that seven million people are on the brink of famine points to the severity of the situation.

On 19 December, 355 celebrities, Nobel Laureates, academics, politicians and other public figures came together to mark 1,000 days of war in Yemen and demand urgent action by world leaders at the UN Security Council to address the world's largest humanitarian crisis.

In a joint statement, they called on President Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Theresa May and President Donald Trump to take urgent action on Yemen.

The signatories urged the leaders of France, the UK and the US to do the following: ensure an immediate ceasefire; end all blockades on food, fuel and medical supplies; and invest in a new, inclusive peace process.

"The international community has failed to take the action needed to end this man-made catastrophe. Millions of Yemeni women, men and children feel abandoned by global leaders who seem to put profit and politics above human lives," read the statement.

"Throughout 1,000 days since the conflict escalated, quiet diplomacy has failed to curb violation after violation by the warring parties."

According to the New York-based Arab diplomat, it is hard to anticipate any serious attention being dedicated now to Yemen.

It is so sad to say it, but I think Yemen will have to wait for 2018, and then we will see; maybe some mediation could work out.

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Astute Medical Says New Study Shows NephroCheck Test Can Expose Risk of AKI Stemming From Nephrotoxic Antibiotics and Other Renal Insults.

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hospital clinicians have long been frustrated by the prospect of intensive care unit (ICU) patients developing acute kidney injury (AKI), a stealthy and potentially deadly condition that can arise from renal insults stemming from treatments and care intended to help patients. The complication may be avoidable if clinicians can identify those at risk and apply countermeasures, but they lacked reliable tools to do so until the introduction of Astute Medical's NephroCheck Test, which measures urinary biomarkers linked to AKI, said Daniel T. Engelman, M.D., associate professor of surgery at the University of Massachusetts-Baystate.

Patients in the ICU are frequently exposed to measures that could be potentially harmful to renal function, often simultaneously and/or in succession, including medications, transfusions and efforts to maintain hemodynamic stability, said Engelman. These renal insults can include broad-spectrum antibiotics used to fight infection in the ICU.

According to Astute Medical, a multicenter study recently published online in the journal Critical Care Medicine1 showed the NephroCheck Test detected sharp rises in levels of biomarkers indicative of AKI risk on the first day of exposure to broad-spectrum antibiotics vancomycin and piperacillin/tazobactam in patients who developed moderate-to-severe AKI within 48 hours. The study also showed distinct biomarker level increases indicating when major surgery and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs put patients at risk of AKI. The biomarkers did not elevate at any time following exposure to the same renal insults in patients who did not develop AKI within 48 hours of exposure.

"Early use of the biomarkers could potentially help clinicians to identify patients with renal stress who may benefit from early intervention to prevent progression of kidney injury," wrote the study authors.

This hypothesis may be borne out as more clinicians put the test into practical use. "The biomarkers provide an early-warning for AKI by telling us when the kidneys are stressed by any of these insults and not yet injured," Engelman said. "It's like decades ago when we figured out that cardiac enzymes can show when someone is in the early stages of having a heart attack. It directly impacts the quality of patient care and safety because it gives clinicians more information to determine how to direct our attention and resources properly," he said.

Identification of patients at risk of AKI can help advance quality of care by improving AKI outcomes, shortening hospital stays, including time in the ICU, and reducing costs, as shown by randomized controlled trials.2 A recent estimate of AKI-associated increases in U.S. hospitalization costs ranged from $5.4 billion to $24.0 billion,3 while a study published last month in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology reported that the incremental cost of AKI in Canada was approximately CAN $200 million a year, with hospital stays for patients with Stage 2 and Stage 3 AKI averaging 14 days with an average cost of CAN $17,817.4

Results from the study published in Critical Care Medicine suggest that testing to assess risk of AKI could also be useful in determining when to move patients from the ICU to a lower care unit, Engelman said. In the study,1 surgery patients' biomarkers peaked at 24 hours. This correlates with how Engelman said the NephroCheck Test is used in a Springfield, Massachusetts hospital where he performs surgery. Routinely, on the day after surgery, clinicians there evaluate whether the patient is ready to leave the ICU, and its higher levels of monitoring and nursing care, for a step-down unit that allows the removal of many lines, catheters and monitors, he said.

"The biomarkers alert us that a patient might not be doing as well as we thought and may not be ready to make that move, but requires more attention to maintain their stability for a little longer," he said. "And it allows us to move the other 80 percent of patients out of the ICU with no delay, injury or increased costs," he said.

The study results also help clinicians understand how a patient's exposure to a renal insult may relate to the timing and need for further testing, said John Kellum, M.D., a critical care physician, past president of the Acute Dialysis Quality Initiative (ADQI) and an author of the study.

"If I'm faced with a patient who's had an exposure and I may want to do a urine or blood test, I need to understand how those tests relate to each other in specific ways, not just in ideal cases, and that's what this study does," Kellum said.

The negative predictive value of the test is another important finding, he said.

"Now we know that very few patients without an increase in the biomarkers will go on to develop AKI. If I gave a potentially nephrotoxic drug such as vancomycin to a patient and the test results are negative, I have confidence I'm not hurting the patient's kidneys as a result of the drug. I might have to test again later, but it helps me with regard to determining the patient's treatment," he said.

AKI, which has no obvious symptoms,5 strikes up to half of critically ill patients6 and has been linked to longer hospital stays and a tenfold increase in mortality.7 Recent clinical articles have called for the pursuit of innovative strategies to combat AKI, calling it a major public health concern.3

The NephroCheck Test measures levels of the urinary biomarkers TIMP-2 and IGFBP7, which play a role in cell-cycle arrest, a protective mechanism that prevents stressed cells from dividing in case of DNA damage.8

The current standard measurement for AKI is serum creatinine levels, which often do not increase for at least 24 hours, after kidney damage has already occurred.9 "In a nutshell, this has been the problem," Engelman said.

About Astute Medical

Astute Medical is dedicated to improving the diagnosis of high-risk medical conditions and diseases through the identification and validation of protein biomarkers that can serve as the basis for novel diagnostic tests.

The Company's focus is community- and hospital-acquired acute conditions that require rapid diagnosis and risk assessment. Astute Medical's current areas of interest include abdominal pain, acute coronary syndromes, cerebrovascular injury, kidney injury and sepsis.

Astute Medical is a founding corporate partner of 0by25, a human rights initiative aimed at eliminating preventable and treatable deaths from AKI worldwide by 2025. Astute Medical's NephroCheck Test received 510(k)-clearance through the FDA's de novo classification. The test is CE-marked and available in Europe. For additional information, please visit AstuteMedical.com.

The NephroCheck Test Intended Use (United States)

The NephroCheck Test System is intended to be used in conjunction with clinical evaluation in patients who currently have or have had within the past 24 hours acute cardiovascular and or respiratory compromise and are intensive care unit (ICU) patients as an aid in the risk assessment for moderate or severe AKI within 12 hours of patient assessment. The NephroCheck Test System is intended to be used in patients 21 years of age or older.

For more information on the NephroCheck Test visit NephroCheck.com.

Astute Medical, the AM logo, Astute140, NephroCheck, the NephroCheck logo, and AKIRisk are registered trademarks of Astute Medical, Inc. in the United States. For information regarding trademarks and other intellectual property applicable to this product, including international trademarks, please see www.astutemedical.com/about/intellectualproperty. PN0654 2017/12/18



1 Ostermann M, McCullough PA, et al. Kinetics of Urinary Cell Cycle Arrest Markers for Acute Kidney Injury Following Exposure to Potential Renal Insults. Crit Care Med. Published online November 10, 2017.

2 Gocze I, Jauch D, Gotz M, et al. Biomarker-guided intervention to prevent acute kidney injury after major surgery: the prospective randomized BigpAK Study. Ann Surg. Published online August 29, 2017.

3 Silver SA, Chertow GM. The Economic consequences of AKI. Nephron. 2017;137:297-301.

4 Collister D, Pannu N, et al. Healthcare Costs Associated With AKI. CJASN. November 07, 2017 vol. 12 no. 11 1733-1743.

5 Ronco C, Ricci Z. The concept of risk and the value of novel markers of acute kidney injury. Crit Care. 2013:17:117-118.

6 Mandelbaum T, Scott DJ, Lee J, et al. Outcome of critically ill patients with acute kidney injury using the AKIN criteria. Crit Care Med. 2011;39(12):2659-2664.

7 Hobson C, Ozrazgat-Baslanti T, Kuxhausen A, et al. Cost and mortality associated with postoperative acute kidney injury. Ann Surg. 2014;00:1-8.

8 Kellum JA, Chawla LS. Cell-cycle arrest and acute kidney injury: the light and dark sides. Nephrol Dial Transplant. (2015) 0: 17.

9 Martensson J et al. Novel Biomarkers of Acute Kidney Injury and Failure: Clinical Applicability. Brit J Anesth. 2012;109(6):843-50.

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SOURCE Astute Medical, Inc.
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Kozhikode (Kerala), Dec 23 : In a rare disclosure, Kerala state unit Congress president M.M. Hassan on Saturday revealed that in 1995 A.K. Antony had asked some party leaders not to unseat then Chief Minister K. Karunakaran.

Hassan said this while speaking at the eighth death anniversary of Karunakaran, one of the tallest Congress leaders of his time and a four-time Chief Minister of the state.

"Soon after the turn of events in the ISRO spy case, I along with a group of Congress leaders with Oommen Chandy wanted that Karunakaran should step down. Chandy along with me, after pressing for the removal of Karunakaran, went to Antony's house. Antony was adamant that there should be no such move as it could lead to the weakening of the Congress party, similar to what happened in the '60s, when P.T. Chacko left the Congress," said Hassan.

He added that now looking back, there is a feeling of guilt.

"I feel, I should not have done that," said Hassan.

Ever since Karunakaran became a powerful Congress leader in Kerala in the early '70s, the party till the early 2000s was seen as having two factions - one headed by Karunakaran and the other by Antony, but the master brain was Chandy.

When reporters met Chandy on Saturday in the state capital and asked him if he too felt it was a mistake to unseat Karunakaran, Chandy asked, "Who said this?" and when told it was Hassan, Chandy with a smile walked away.

But in 1995, Karunakaran eventually had to move out and he was replaced by Antony.
Lucknow, Dec 23 : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday assured the farmers that the state government was committed to a turn around in their fortunes and was initiating many schemes in this direction.

After paying rich tributes to former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh on his anniversary, the Chief Minister was speaking at a function here when he rued that despite so many years of independence, the farmer community continues to suffer.

"Ours is the first government in 70 years which, in a short time of nine months, has rolled out many schemes for the farmers. We have also waived off crop loans worth Rs 70,000 crore in just nine months," Adityanath said.

He also felicitated farmers who have done commendable work in farming.

A total of 32 farmers were honoured by the Chief Minister of which ten were given Rs 1 lakh each, 10 Rs 75,000 each and 12 Rs 50,000 each.

Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi also assured the farmers that the government was committed to doubling their income by 2022, as desired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A visit by the Ethiopian prime minister to Cairo should allow negotiations to proceed on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Ethiopian ambassador to Egypt Taye Stke-Selassie Amde tells Dina Ezzat

Ethiopian ambassador to Egypt Taye Stke-Selassie Amde had just come back from a visit to the Egyptian foreign ministry when he spoke to Al-Ahram Weekly, adding that he had had discussions with the Egyptian authorities on the possible dates of a visit by Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn to Cairo.

The visit, Amde said, would be in December. However, earlier this week, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said it would be in January and after a visit he was planning to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to meet his Ethiopian counterpart and the countrys prime minister.

Amde had not sounded very convincing about the date of the possible visit. He said it should happen when the atmosphere was positive enough to allow for an overdue meeting of the joint Egyptian-Ethiopian Higher Committee on the building of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) that should have taken place last year in Egypt. The first round of the Committee meetings took place in Addis Ababa two years earlier.

2017 cannot be described as a year of positive movement in the negotiations, essentially between Egypt and Ethiopia, over the impact of the Dam that Addis Ababa is building on the Blue Nile. This provides Egypt with over 80 per cent of its annual share of Nile water, with this already falling far short of its needs.

Amde acknowledged that there had been ups and downs in the negotiations, which also include Sudan, in the process launched in the Sudanese capital in 2015 under the title of the Khartoum Declaration of Principles (KDP). In that Declaration Egypt acknowledged the right of Ethiopia to build the Dam in return for undertakings related to its safety and the water rights of downstream states like Egypt and Sudan.

However, he said the negotiations under the KDP were not the only reason for the delay in the meeting of the Joint Higher Committee. The delay was the result of tensions in bilateral relations that were not just about the GERD, but also about the attitude of the Egyptian media to Cairo-Addis ties, he said.

The KDP is supposed to allow Ethiopia, the upstream country of the Nile, to discuss with Egypt and Sudan, the two downstream countries, its plans to continue the construction and then to start filling the reservoir of the GERD, which it started building in 2010 without agreement from Egypt.

Egypt, according to the official narrative, was not happy to see Ethiopia expanding the capacity of the GERD reservoir from 14 billion cubic metres of water, as was originally announced, to 74 billion cubic metres.

However, according to the same official narrative, Cairo chose to act in good faith in the hope of reaching an agreement that would accommodate the development aspirations of Ethiopia and its own water-shortage worries.

Sudan, with much larger water resources than Egypt, does not share the worry over a drop in its annual share of water from the Blue Nile. However, it still needs, at least in theory, reassurance on the safety of the GERD, since if this were to crack or even collapse the resulting floods could inundate Khartoum.

The objective of the negotiations thus far has been to grant Egypt and Sudan, which have not denied their differences within the process, reassurances on the safety of the Dam and on plans to fill the reservoir in a way that will not cause harm to Egypts water rights in accordance with prior agreements.

Over the past two years, especially 2017, there have been hardly any positive messages from the Egyptian delegation. Both the political and technical teams working on the Dam have shared growing scepticism about what they found to be a lack of commitment on the side of the Ethiopian delegation with regard to a clear plan for the filling of the reservoir or a transparent sharing of information on the safety of the body of the Dam.

Late in November, Egypt announced the close-to-total failure of the KPD negotiations. The announcement was made by the Egyptian minister of irrigation following a round of talks in Cairo. Speaking to the Weekly a few days later, the ambassador of Ethiopia insisted that the process didnt fail it is still going on. He argued that the leaders cannot afford the talks to fail.

No one wants to go into uncharted territory, Amde said. And nobody said the process has died there is a meeting scheduled to take place in Khartoum in a few weeks time, for example, he added.

Amde sounded confident that the possible meeting between Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and Desalegn could help things to move on. However, he insisted that it was the job of the technical teams to come up with ideas rather than to throw the ball into the court of the political leadership.

He denied accusations coming from government bodies in Cairo to the effect that Ethiopia is simply playing games and trying to buy time while it continues its construction of the GERD. He insisted during a 40-minute interview with the Weekly that it was not at all the intention of Ethiopia to cause harm to Egypts water interests, especially since the water that would be amassed in the GERD reservoir would be used to generate electricity rather than for agricultural purposes.

As for the questions of whether Ethiopia would start filling the reservoir without a conclusive agreement with Cairo and how many cubic metres of water would be subtracted from Egypts annual share, Amde said only that these were matters for the technical teams to discuss.

He insisted that the Egyptian announcement of the failure of the talks was not about the reluctance of his countrys delegation to negotiate in good faith, but was rather about a disagreement over technical elements of the report presented by a consultancy firm on the construction of the Dam.

Today, ahead of an anticipated visit by his prime minister, the ambassador of Ethiopia said that technical experts on both sides should be able to find ideas to share with the political leaders in order to help them give a positive push to the negotiations whose success was in the interest of all parties.

He acknowledged some technical disagreements, including the interpretation of current uses of water and how to assess possible averages for the annual use of the downstream countries, Egypt and Sudan, to allow for the fair definition of a baseline.

But this is an impasse at most Amde said. He added that it was not the first to face the negotiating teams and that it could be solved by the technical committees.

Meanwhile, he would not acknowledge the complaints made by Egyptian official quarters about the reluctance of Ethiopia to commit to a Nile water-sharing agreement signed in 1959. He argued that Addis Ababa was not obliged to commit to this agreement, to which it was not a party. Nor, he added, was Ethiopia required by the KDP to acknowledge it.

We have an obligation to work on the basis of the Declaration of Principles and we have an obligation to cooperate so we are going to keep on discussing, Amde said. He added that we are trying as much as possible to keep all avenues open.

Amde suggested that this was an essential part of his talks with Egyptian officials while examining the preparations for the possible visit of the Ethiopian prime minister to Egypt. However, he was not willing to hide his blame for what he called the negative narratives that some in the Egyptian media had been offering about the path of the negotiations so far.

For the most part, commentators have been sharing their concerns about the true commitment of Ethiopia to reciprocate Egypts accommodation of Ethiopias desire to build the GERD to provide it with electricity with a commitment to work out a way that will not mean the Dams having a devastating effect on Egypts already insufficient agricultural land and water share per person.

Some commentators have argued that the time has come for the talks to be suspended and for the Egyptian authorities to pursue legal means to secure the compliance of Ethiopia to Egypts rights as a downstream Nile Basin country.

For Amde, this kind of discourse does not help pave the way to successful cooperation between the two countries on their matters of disagreement. He said that for a successful outcome of the anticipated talks between al-Sisi and Desalegn to be guaranteed, there needed to be less tension in the air.

He said that the Ethiopian authorities were not happy last year with the expected date of the second round of the joint Egyptian-Ethiopian Higher Committee and the line taken in the Egyptian media and thought it wise to postpone the meeting.

That said, he insisted that the meeting would convene this year. He also insisted that the two leaders would be able to send a positive message to dispel concerns in Egyptian public opinion and to reassure Egyptians that Ethiopia would never act in such a way as to harm Egypt. They would also attend to the concerns of Ethiopian public opinion, he said.

This process shouldnt be driven by emotions or by combat diplomacy. With serenity, we can bring about a solution, he said.

Amde said that he was expecting the joint Egyptian-Ethiopian Higher Committee to discuss matters of common concern to the two countries that go beyond the GERD to the benefit of both.

*This story was first published in Al-Ahram Weekly.

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New Delhi : The struggle for autonomy has been going on within the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) from inception.

Initially, this was addressed by just staying away from the main system and awarding Post-Graduate Diplomas in Business Management (PGDMs). Registered as societies and not coming under the purview of any of the controlling institutions like the University Grants Commission (UGC) or the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) helped in this process.

The pull and push from the Ministry of Human Resources Development (HRD) was to bring it comprehensively under its umbrella, especially in the first IIM Bill draft brought in by the then minister. However, an about-turn happened with Prakash Javadekar taking over as HRD Minister. He and the Prime Minister's Office ensured a draft Bill that had "autonomy" at its centre.

The Indian Institutes of Management Bill, 2017, stands passed by both houses of Parliament as on December 19, 2017. The Bill witnessed unanimous support across the political spectrum. It is the element of "increased autonomy" that swung the majority opinion in its favour. The Bill recognises IIMs as Institutions of National Importance and aims to provide them an independent statutory status to ensure uniform governance. And, yes, the IIMs will be able to award an MBA degree.

Now, all IIMs have been instituted as body corporates. The autonomy to take administrative decisions, approve development plans and grant degrees now lies with the Board of Governors. The importance accorded to the alumni in matters of governance is evident from the provision that up to five members of the Board will be from amongst the alumni. The power to appoint the Director and the Registrar of the Institute also solely rests with the Board. This is a significant step towards establishing independence in the functioning of the IIMs.

The passage of this bill will also stimulate India's research ecosystem. It is hoped that this legislation will play a pivotal role in improving the ranking of Indian educational institutions among higher education institutions globally. The IIMs must capitalise on this reform as it also gives individual IIMs primacy over their curriculum design.

As the only representative of the IIM community in the Lok Sabha, I understand it as a great privilege to be part of this landmark legislation. I salute my political mentor, Pawan Chamling, the Chief Minister of Sikkim, who sent me to represent my state in Parliament.

This huge systemic reform will propel our premier management institutions nationally and, indeed, globally. These institutions, including the IITs, have served our country well. They now deserve to be promoted through such legislation which will allow them to innovate and re-think and rebuild their institutional capacity. The 21st century demands such landmark ideas and those can only happen if we allow many more heads to grapple with the issues rather than being directed from Shastri Bhawan (where the HRD Ministry is located).

The IIMs are built on the solid foundation of knowledge garnered through teaching, consulting and research. Faculty thus impart cutting-edge curriculum to young minds who are the leaders of tomorrow. One important outcome of increased autonomy would be that, like the Ivy League institutions and other universities that offer management courses abroad, the IIMs will be able to propel themselves forward. This will also ensure that there are innovative means by which no student who is worthy of an IIM admission would be left behind.

Speaking on the bill in parliament, I responded to the questions raised by fellow members on elitism and the need to respond through service to society. I understand where my colleagues are coming from and that is certainly a genuine concern. I listed out instances where the alumni of IIMs have contributed to development in great measure, within and outside India.

The IIM alumni who have become entrepreneurs in diverse streams are today giving back to the society and India. They are doing this through building angel funds and by being a medium for more start-ups to thrive and succeed. Let us also consider the Jawaja experiment of Ravi Matthai, the first full-time Director of IIM-A, after he stepped down. It is an example of how a project on educational innovation went on to become a successful rural development initiative and resulted in the formation of the Institute of Rural Management, Anand.

Another example is the launch of incubation centres that give the required fillip to start-ups. The incubation centre of IIM-Calcutta boosts start-ups in Odisha, West Bengal and the entire northeastern region.

Today, the IITs are body corporates and are recognised as Institutions of National Importance. However, they are still governed by the IIT Council at the Central level of which the UGC Chairman forms a part. With the successful passage of the IIM Bill, devolution of greater autonomy to these premier technical education institutions will surely be addressed soon. The new act is, no doubt, seen as the harbinger for the next generation of IIMs and IITs.

In the present educational ecosystem, the next challenge would be knowledge generation for India by Indians. Investment on infrastructure and human capital to encourage research and development is essential to steer our technical education in the right direction. Keeping ahead in this global race is crucial for India strategically as also to solve the burden of poverty and disease in the long run.

This is truly the first significant reform in the higher education space that the NDA Government has ushered in with the full and unstinting support of all the parties represented in Parliament. It is a fine example of bipartisanship.

Now the ball is in the court of the IIMs to use this as a pivot to attain the glorious heights the nation expects of them.

(P.D. Rai, an IIT and IIM alumnus, represents Sikkim as MP in the Lok Sabha. The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at pdrai8@gmail.com)
New Delhi, Dec 24 : The proposed bill that criminalises the practice of instant divorce "empowers" Indian Muslim women by giving them a larger say in dissolving marriages, custody of minor children and the right to seek maintenance from their estranged husbands, according to the cabinet-cleared controversial legislation opposed by Muslim groups.

The bill defines triple talaq as "any pronouncement (of divorce) by a person upon his wife by words, either spoken or written or in electronic form, or in any other manner". It proposes to make the practice a punishable offence and is set to be introduced in the Lok Sabha next week.

IANS has exclusive access to a copy of the cabinet-cleared version of the legislation drafted after the Supreme Court's decision against the gender-discriminatory practice that is not followed even in major Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan.

The draft bill says the practice against "constitutional morality" and "gender equity" is to be considered "void and illegal".

Anyone who pronounces instant divorce "shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and a fine", the bill proposes.

In its statement of objects and reason, the draft mentions the landmark Shayara Bano case in which the Supreme Court invalidated the practice of instant triple talaq. The statement would be read by Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad when he introduces the bill in the Lok Sabha to explain why the government had to formulate the legislation.

Shayara Bano, a 38-year-old woman from Uttarakhand, fought a long legal battle seeking an end to the the patriarchal custom after she claimed to have suffered for 14 years in her marriage.

"This judgement gave a boost to liberate Indian Muslim women from the age-old practice of capricious and whimsical method of divorce, by some Muslim men, leaving no room for reconciliation," the minister says in the bill's statement of objects.

The judgment vindicated the position taken by the government that "talaq-e-biddat", which allows men to pronounce divorce thrice in one sitting, is against "constitutional morality, dignity of women and the principles of gender equality, as also against gender equity guaranteed under the Constitution".

Clerics and several Muslim organisations, cutting across sects and schools of jurisprudence, protested against the Supreme Court judgment and termed the government's stand as "uncalled for interference" in the personal laws of the community.

Ravi Shankar Prasad, however, in the bill's objects and reasons says the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), which was also a respondent in the Shayara Bano case, had contended that it was not for the judiciary to decide matters of religious practices such as talaq-e-biddat but for the legislature to make any law on the same.

"They had also submitted in the Supreme Court that they would issue advisories to the members of the community against this practice," the minister explains.

The bill notes that "there have been reports of divorce by way of talaq-e-biddat from different parts of the country" even after the Supreme Court invalidated the practice and the assurance by AIMPLB.

"It is seen that setting aside talaq-e-biddat by the Supreme Court has not worked as any deterrent in bringing down the number of divorces by this practice among certain Muslims. It is, therefore, felt that there is a need for State action to give effect to the order of the Supreme Court and to redress the grievances of victims of illegal divorce," the minister says.

The bill states that urgent suitable legislation was necessary "to give some relief to...the hapless married Muslim women who suffer from harassment due to talaq-e-biddat.

"This is essential to prevent this form of divorce, wherein the wife does not have any say in severing the marital relationship.

"The legislation would help in ensuring the larger constitutional goals of gender justice and gender equality of married Muslim women and help subserve their fundamental rights of non-discrimination and empowerment."

(Anjali Ojha can be contacted at anjali.o@ians.in)
Shimla, Dec 24 : Five-time legislator Jairam Thakur, who rose through the ranks and is known for his humble, clean and low-profile nature, will be the 14th Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, the BJP announced on Sunday.

A decision on his name was taken unanimously at the Bharatiya Janata Party Legislative Party meeting here, where central observers -- Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Narendra Singh Tomar -- were present along with Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda and state party incharge Mangal Pandey.

"Thakur was elected BJP Legislature Party leader in the (Himachal Pradesh) Assembly," Tomar told reporters, adding that "no proposal was made for any other candidate".

Thakur's name was proposed by two-time former Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal and seconded by Nadda and another two-time Chief Minister Shanta Kumar.

The Chief Minister-elect met Governor Acharya Devvrat to formally stake claim to form the new government in the hill state.

In his first remarks after he was elected the BJP Legislature Party leader, Thakur thanked all party leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party chief Amit Shah, Nadda, Dhumal and Shanta Kumar.

"We will try to meet the expectations of the people of Himachal Pradesh. Our dream of a Congress-free Himachal Pradesh has been realised," Thakur told reporters.

The BJP took almost a week to decide on the Chief Minister after its chief ministerial candidate Dhumal lost the election. Several names were doing the rounds for the past few days, including those of Nadda, MLA Suresh Bharadwaj, Dhumal and Thakur.

Thakur -- who will turn 53 on January 6 -- belongs to the Rajput community with a significant presence in the hill state.

Thakur won his fifth consecutive assembly election from Seraj, earlier known as Chachiot in Mandi district, defeating Chet Ram of the Congress.

He will be the first Chief Minister from Mandi, the second biggest district of Himachal after Kangra. In these elections, the BJP won nine out of the 10 assembly seats in Mandi.

Earlier Chief Ministers of Himachal hailed from Shimla, Kangra and Sirmaur districts.

Thakur was a Cabinet minister in the BJP government led by Dhumal from 2007 to 2012.

The Chief Minister-elect, known for his proximity to Nadda, did his graduation from a Mandi college and post-graduation from Panjab University in Chandigarh. Thakur is married to Sadhna Singh, a doctor by profession.

"My son has seen extreme poverty in his childhood," his emotional mother Bikrumi Devi, 79, told reporters at her ancestral house in Tandi village in the interiors of Mandi district.

Thakur's father Jhethu Ram, who was struggling to make ends meet, died on December 25 last year.

Thakur, the fourth of five siblings, lost his maiden assembly election in 1993. He contested the assembly election again in 1998 and since then has won all five assembly elections consecutively with huge margins.

A senior BJP leader told IANS: Thakur has suitable credentials for the top post as he has been a member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarathi Parishad, the student wing affiliated to the BJP's ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

The BJP wrested power in Himachal from the Congress, winning close to a two thirds majority with 44 seats in the 68-member Assembly. The Congress won 21 seats, independents two and the Communist Party of India-Marxist one.

Thakur emerged as a front runner after Dhumal and state party chief Satpal Satti were defeated in the November 9 elections. The poll results were declared on December 18.
Srinagar, Dec 25 : The Centre's Special Representative Dineshwar Sharma on Monday visited the border district of Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir, official sources said.

It is the third visit of Sharma -- a former head of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) -- to the state after his appointment by the Centre to start a multilayered, sustained dialogue to address the Kashmir problem.

After landing in Srinagar, Sharma went in a cavalcade to Kupwara district where, authorities said, around 40 delegations were scheduled to meet him at the Kupwara Dak Bungalow.

Local journalists said authorities did not allow them to enter the Dak Bungalow where Sharma's meetings were being held.

"Delegations from border towns of Machil and Karnah are also meeting the Special Representative during his visit," informed sources said here.

A 1979-batch former Indian Police Service officer, Sharma is believed to have a clear understanding of the problems faced by the people in Kashmir, thanks to his stint in the IB.

He has so far not directly engaged with separatist leaders, although some media reports said Sharma met senior separatist leader Abdul Gani Bhat during his last visit to the Valley. Bhat, however, denied the reports.

Senior separatist leaders, including Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik have dismissed the possibility of engaging in a dialogue with Sharma, describing the entire process as an "eyewash by the Indian government".
Seoul, Dec 26 : Jailed former South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday refused to be questioned about illegal financing she allegedly received from the National Intelligence Service (NIS) during her time in office.

Prosecutors from the Central District of Seoul visited the detention centre here where Park has been detained since her dismissal in March, to question her over the new allegations, but Park refused to answer, judicial sources told Yonhap News Agency.

The prosecution believes that the presidential office, then led by Park, received about 4 billion won ($3 million) from the NIS between 2013 and 2016, and, therefore, wants the former president to share her knowledge of the illicit funding and whether it was used for personal or political purposes.

However, the former President has refused to testify on these allegations, citing her poor health, which was the same reason she gave to avoid the previous court hearing on her alleged involvement in the corruption scheme.

Park, 65, has also claimed that the conditions in the prison where she is detained are inhumane, which resulted in her physical problems, and she has refused to meet with the five public lawyers assigned to her.

The former president was accused of conspiring with her friend, Choi Soon-sil for her intimacy with Park, to establish a corruption scheme, reports Efe news.

The pair was believed to have extorted several million dollars from various major South Korean firms, including Samsung, in exchange for a favourable government deal, for which Park could be sentenced to a minimum of 10 years in prison or a maximum of life imprisonment.

South Korean justice has also spent years investigating the links between the NIS and the Park administration as it believes that Park might have received help from the intelligence agency to win the 2012 elections, which could lead the prosecution to present new charges against the former president.

In August, NIS Director Won Sei-hoon was sentenced to four years in prison for his meddling in Park's presidential campaign, after a previous sentence against him was overturned.
New Delhi, Dec 26 : India on Tuesday slammed Pakistan for the manner in which the meeting between death row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav and his wife and mother were conducted, saying Islamabad "violated the letter and spirit of our understandings" over the meeting.

In a statement, India said the manner in which the meeting was conducted and its aftermath "was clearly an attempt to bolster a false and unsubstantiated narrative of Jadhav's alleged activities" and "the exercise lacked any credibility"

It also said that ahead of the meeting, the two women were made to remove their mangal sutra, bangles and bindi and were not allowed to converse in their mother tongue Marathi.

It said that Jadhav's wife, Chetankul's shoes were taken away and not returned, while some media persons outside the Foreign Office in Islamabad, where the meeting was held, hurled invectives at the women.

India also said that from the feedback received of the meeting, "it appears that Jadhav was under considerable stress and speaking in an atmosphere of coercion" and that "most of his remarks were clearly tutored and designed to perpetuate the false narrative of his alleged activities in Pakistan. His appearance also raises questions of his health and well being."

The statement was released after Jadhav's mother and wife met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj at her residence earlier in the day. They were accompanied by Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar and the ministry spokesperson.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a statement. "Prior to the meeting, the two governments were in touch through diplomatic channels to work out its modalities and format.

"There were clear understandings between the two sides and the Indian side scrupulously abided by all its commitments.

"However, we note with regret that the Pakistani side conducted the meeting in a manner which violated the letter and spirit of our understandings.

The violations included the Pakistani press being "allowed on multiple occasions to approach family members closely, harass and hector them and hurl false and motivated accusations about Shri Jadhav.

"This was despite a clear agreement that the media would not be allowed close access."

The MEA statement said that under the pretext of security precautions, the cultural and religious sensibilities of family members were disregarded.

"This included removal of mangal sutra, bangles and bindi, as well as a change in attire that was not warranted by security.

"The mother of Jadhav was prevented from talking in their mother tongue, although this was clearly the natural medium of communication. She was repeatedly interrupted while doing so and eventually prevented from proceeding further in this regard."

It said that Indian Deputy High Commissioner J.P. Singh, who accompanied Jadhav's mother Avanti and wife Chetankul, was initially separated from the two women who were taken to the meeting without informing him.

"The meeting was started without his presence and he could join only after pressing the matter with concerned officials. Even then, he was kept behind an additional partition that did not allow him access to the meeting as agreed.

"For some inexplicable reason, despite her repeated requests, the shoes of Jadhav's wife were not returned to her after the meeting.

"We would caution against any mischievous intent in this regard," he stated.

"From the feedback we have received of the meeting, it appears that Shri Jadhav was under considerable stress and speaking in an atmosphere of coercion. Most of his remarks were clearly tutored and designed to perpetuate the false narrative of his alleged activities in Pakistan. His appearance also raises questions of his health and well being."

Kumar said that India regrets that contrary to assurances, "the overall atmosphere of the meeting was intimidating insofar as family members were concerned".

"Family members, however, handled the situation with great courage and fortitude.

"The manner in which the meeting was conducted and its aftermath was clearly an attempt to bolster a false and unsubstantiated narrative of Jadhav's alleged activities. You would all agree that this exercise lacked any credibility," the statement said.

In a meeting described as a "humanitarian gesture" by the Pakistan government on the birth anniversary of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Jadhav was allowed a face-to-face meeting with his mother and wife after a gap of 22 months, at the Pakistan Foreign Office in Islamabad on Monday.

However, they were separated by a glass partition in the heavily-guarded building and spoke through an intercom, watched at a distance by the Indian Deputy High Commissioner J.P. Singh who escorted them to the meeting.

Jadhav, 47, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April, following which India moved the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in May.

India has said that Jadhav is innocent and has maintained that he was kidnapped from Iran where he had gone for handling his businesses after superannuation from the Indian Navy.

Despite the death verdict, Pakistan last week reiterated that he was not under threat of an immediate execution as his mercy petitions were still pending.
Agartala, Dec 26 : Tripura's opposition BJP and Trinamool Congress, which unexpectedly observed the 13th death anniversary of veteran communist leader Nripen Chakraborty, on Tuesday criticised the ruling CPI-M for "disregarding the legendary Left Leader".

Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Tripura President Biplab Kumar Deb, while talking to media, said that the present leaders of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) forgot the role and dedication of former Tripura Chief Minister.

"All the present generation leaders of CPI-M are disciples of Nripen Chakraborty. But they totally forgot his role, dedication and talent towards the growth of CPI-M in Tripura and nurturing the present day leaders," he said.

Deb and other senior BJP leaders highlighted the inspirational works of Chakraborty to pursue development of the state and people-centric approach of his government.

"Chakraborty was not only a genuine communist in true sense but also set a model for the leftists of the country," Deb added.

The BJP and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Monday observed the 13th death anniversary of veteran communist leader, who died on December 25, 2004 in a Kolkata hospital.

Trinamool's Tripura unit convenor Ashish Lal Singha said that following the direction from party supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the death anniversary was befittingly observed on Monday in the party headquarters here.

"CPI-M leaders may forget the immense role and dedication of Nripen Chakraborty towards the development of Tripura, but we can not disregard or overlook him," he said.

The opposition Congress however condemned the BJP and Trinamool for "doing politics" in the name of Chakraborty ahead of the upcoming assembly elections.

"Why the BJP and Trinamool did not observed the death or birth anniversary of Nripen Chakraborty in the previous years? They are trying to capitalise the sentiment of people before the assembly elections," said party's state Vice President Tapas Dey.

He also censured the CPI-M for not commemorating the death anniversary.

The CPI-M meanwhile also accused the opposition parties for their "ignorance" about the functioning of the Left party and observance of death or birth anniversaries.

CPI-M Tripura State Secretary and party's central committee member Bijan Dhar said that except the birth day of Muzaffar Ahmad, who was popularly known as "Kakababu" or few international Communist leaders, the CPI-M do not observe death or birth anniversary of other Indian Marxist leaders on annual basis.

"We observe the centenary of those Indian communist leaders who had crossed 100 years of their birth. Accordingly we have observed the birth centenary of Nripen Chakraborty, Dasaratha Deb and other veteran CPI-M leaders in Tripura," he said.

Chakraborty was the Chief Minister of first Left Front government in Tripura and governed the state for ten years since 1978. He along with former Chief Minister Dasaratha Deb (1993-1998) and others expanded the Left's political base in Tripura.
Rome, Dec 27 : Italian prosecutors are investigating a Moroccan-Italian woman, who was arrested by its anti-terrorism unit, media reports have said.

The 35-year-old woman, known only by initials R.M., reportedly went to Syria with her three small children for the love of an extremist from the Islamic State (IS) group, whom she had met online, ANSA news agency quoted DIGOS anti-terrorism police as saying on Tuesday.

She was arrested in Milan's Malpensa airport on December 23 on an international warrant from France, where the Italian father of her children lives and where he had reported her missing.

The woman, reportedly seven months pregnant, could face charges of international terrorism in Italy, Xinhua news agency reported.

Authorities tracked her down in November, when she was expelled from Turkey on her way back from Syria.

French prosecutors will try to determine whether she intended to draft her children into IS child combat units, according to ANSA.

The woman has been incarcerated in Milan's San Vittore prison ahead of a December 29 extradition hearing.

Returning foreign fighters, or Europeans who went to fight in IS ranks in Syria and Iraq, are considered a major terrorist threat now that IS has largely been militarily defeated.
Amman, Dec 27 : Japan will not relocate its embassy from Israel's Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono has said.

In talks with his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi, Kono on Tuesday said that Tokyo considers Jerusalem as one of the final status issues that need to be settled through direct negotiations.

Kono reiterated Japan's support for the two-state solution and the need to reactivate efforts in this regard, Xinhua news agency reported.

He also voiced appreciation for Jordan's efforts to attain peace in the Middle East.

US President Donald Trump's decision to relocate the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem violates international law and UN resolutions, said Safadi.

He called for intensified efforts on an international level to facilitate the two-state solution that ensures the creation of an independent state of Palestine on the basis of the 1967 borders with east Jerusalem as its capital.

In 1967, Israel took over East Jerusalem from Jordan and declared the whole city as its "eternal indivisible capital" in 1980. However, it has not been recognised by the international community.

Jordanian Prime Minister Hani Mulki has said during his meeting with Kono on Tuesday that Trump's decision was "null and void" and in contradiction with the international law.

He added that the Palestinian issue was a central issue in the Middle East. Japan's support for Jordan, which hosts more than 1.3 million Syrian refugees, was also discussed.
New Delhi, Dec 27 : Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar on Wednesday asked all opposition parties to help pass the Triple Talaq Bill in Parliament on Wednesday.

"I appeal to all the opposition parties to help pass the bill on Triple Talaq in the Parliament unanimously," Kumar told reporters after arriving in Parliament here.

His remarks came amid continued logjam over Congress' demand for apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his remarks against his predecessor Manmohan Singh during the Gujarat assembly election campaign.

The Parliament resumed on Wednesday after a four-day break -- a weekend and two-day holiday on Christmas.

The government is trying to bring a bill to criminalise instant triple talaq, which has been listed for introduction on Thursday.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday called Syrian President Bashar al-Assad a terrorist and said it was impossible for Syrian peace efforts to continue with him.

Syria's foreign ministry quickly responded by accusing Erdogan of himself supporting terrorist groups fighting Assad in Syria's civil war.

Turkey has demanded the removal of Assad from power and backed rebels fighting to overthrow him, but it has toned down its demands since it started working with Assad's allies Russia and Iran for a political resolution.

"Assad is definitely a terrorist who has carried out state terrorism," Erdogan told a televised news conference with his Tunisian counterpart Beji Caid Essebsi in Tunis.

"It is impossible to continue with Assad. How can we embrace the future with a Syrian president who has killed close to a million of his citizens?" he said, in some of his harshest comments for weeks.

Though Turkey has long demanded Assad's removal, it is now more focused in Syria on the threat from Islamist militants and Kurdish fighters it considers allies of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), who it says have formed a "terror corridor" on its southern border.

Turkey says the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which Ankara views as an extension of the outlawed PKK which has fought an insurgency in southeast Turkey since the 1980s, cannot be invited to Syrian peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana.

The YPG is the main element in a force that Washington has assisted with training, weapons, air support and help from ground advisers in the battle against Islamic State (IS) militants. That U.S. support has angered Ankara, a NATO ally of Washington.

Despite its differences with Russia and Iran, Turkey has worked with the two powers in the search for a political solution in Syria.

Ankara, Moscow and Tehran also brokered a deal to set up and monitor a "de-escalation zone" to reduce fighting between insurgents and Syrian government forces in Syria's rebel-held northwestern Idlib province.

"We can't say (Assad) will handle this. It is impossible for Turkey to accept this. Northern Syria has been handed over as a terror corridor. There is no peace in Syria and this peace won't come with Assad," Erdogan said.

Syria's state news agency SANA quoted a foreign ministry source as saying Erdogan "continues to misdirect Turkish public opinion with his usual froth in an attempt to absolve himself of the crimes which he has committed against the Syrian people through advancing support to the various terrorist groups in Syria".

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Jammu, Dec 27 : The Pakistan Army resorted to unprovoked firing at Indian positions on the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district on Wednesday.

Using small arms and automatics they targeted Indian positions in the Nowshera sector, Defence Ministry sources said.

The ceasefire violation by Pakistan started at 9 a.m. Indian positions retaliated effectively. Firing exchanges between the two sides continued for nearly one hour, defence sources said.

The Pakistani Army had killed four Indian soldiers, including a Major, on Saturday in Keri area of Rajouri.

The Indian Army carried out a retaliatory action on Monday when a group of five soldiers went 300 to 500 metres into Pakistan controlled territory across the LoC and killed three Pakistani soldiers in Rawalakot area.
New Delhi, Dec 27 : This is one area where the gender gap may be closing. Women are considered avid online shoppers but men are now giving them stiff competition in the apparel categories and taking the lead in foot-wear and accessories.

"Over the years, we are seeing the otherwise active e-com shopper -- who is male -- foraying more and more into fashion online. Market size of both men's and women's clothing online is at neck and neck now. However, in terms of footwear and accessories, men's market online is far ahead," Rishi Vasudev, Vice President (Fashion, Home and Furniture) at Flipkart, told IANS.

According to Vasudev, men's footwear was the highest e-commerce penetrated fashion category and was expected to grow the fastest in the next two years with an online penetration close to 18 per cent (while clothing will be in the 5-6 per cent range).

He says that with men's footwear exploding in the next few years, Flipkart was poised to take up a large share of this market, close to 45 per cent.

A report by Boston Consulting Group says that between 55 and 60 million consumers are currently buying fashion products online, with the market becoming bigger. Male fashion buying is expected to give an extra fillip to this growth.

According to Kabir Mehra, co-founder of Herringbone & Sui -- a brand that creates made-to-measure suits and Indian formal wear -- with more men likely to shop online as opposed to in brick and mortar shops, there was an increase in portals introducing menswear to engage with this growing clientele.

"As a trend men are more likely to shop on occasions, as opposed to indulging in the activity as leisure. They are also shoppers of habit and tend to research thoroughly on any expenditure they make when it comes to luxury ensembles. Given this, the online landscape has drastically changed," Mehra told IANS.

Another trend in India is women tend to shop for their partners or male family members and find it a task to get them to come out and shop, hence they end up finding the e-retail platform convenient.

"They can simply share link of what they think is a good purchase and all the men need to do is check this on their phones, thereby making the process quicker," added Samarth Hegde the other co-founder of Herringbone & Sui.

Arun Sirdeshmukh, Head of Amazon Fashion says that they had witnessed an almost 100 per cent growth in menswear category from 2015 to 2017 and that's why they were tapping the market with new innovations and developments.

"With the growing appetite for up-to-date trends, men are getting increasingly fashion forward," he said.

Men are very confident to buy online as they know what they want and shop directly for these products and that is the reason their visits to online shopping had increased, feels Samantha Chilton, Head of Design at KOOVS.COM.

"Online shopping is now making men more trend-aware as it enables brands to showcase looks and help men to evolve their look," Chilton told IANS adding that Koovs menswear had grown consistently since its launch in 2014 to 40 per cent of their sales now.

Obviously, men no longer feel shy in storming a female bastion.

(Nivedita can be contacted at nivedita.s@ians.in)
New Delhi, Dec 27 : The Lok Sabha was disrupted on Wednesday amid protests over comments by Union Minister Anant Kumar Hegde and a demand for a separate High Court in Telangana.

The first adjournment came within minutes after the House met at 11 a.m., when Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the House till 12 p.m.

When the House resumed, members from the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) trooped near the Speaker's podium, displaying placards and raising slogans demanding a separate High Court for the newly carved out state of Telangana.

Congress members also raised slogans demanding suspension of Hegde, who had said that the ruling BJP was "here to change the Constitution" and remove the word "secular" from it.

The Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship at a function in Kukanur in Karnataka on Monday urged people to "claim with pride that they are Muslim, Christian, Lingayat, Brahmin, or a Hindu", and said: "Those who, without knowing about their parental blood, call themselves secular, they don't have their own identity...They don't know about their parentage, but they are intellectuals.

"Some people say the Constitution says secular and you must accept it. We will respect the Constitution, but the Constitution has changed several times and it will change in the future too. We are here to change the Constitution and we'll change it soon."

"It's a sensitive issue, the whole country is watching..." Congress leader in the House Mallikarjun Kharge said.

Members also protested against the treatment given to the family of Kulbhushan Jadhav in Pakistan.

Amid noisy scenes, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the House till 2 p.m.
Lucknow, Dec 27 : Following a major security breach in the movement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's motorcade during his Christmas Day visit to Noida, the Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday ordered a probe into the matter.

The investigation into what led to the lapse and who were the officials and police personnel responsible has been assigned to Noida's Superintendent of Police.

Senior officials of the Home Department told IANS that when the Prime Minister's motorcade was returning from the inauguration ceremony of Delhi Metro's Magenta Line section at Amity University on Monday, the fleet took a route other than the sanitized one.

As a result, the vehicles of Modi and many other VIPs were caught in a traffic snarl at the Mahamaya flyover. Also, a motorcycle and a bus came very close to the VVIP fleet.

After being caught in the jam for around three minutes, the convoy proceeded after traffic and police officials rushed to the spot to clear the bottleneck.

An official said the Prime Minister's fleet was to take the HCL cut to go on to the expressway, but took a turn 200 metres before the designated one.

There were no markings on this route which did not have adequate security for the Prime Minister.

Senior IPS officer Nitin Tiwari was in charge of the traffic plan and subsequent arrangements for the Prime Minister's cavalcade and other VIP fleets. A complete rehearsal was also done on Sunday, a day before the actual event.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who was present during the security breach, has reportedly given a dressing down to the officials and sought an explanation.

A detailed report is likely to be submitted to the government in the next two days. Some action might follow against the police officials found responsible, an official said.
Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 27 : The central team that is touring Cyclone Ockhi-hit villages in Kerala to assess the damages on Wednesday sanctioned the first instalment of Rs 133 crore to the state government.

Cyclone Ockhi struck the southern districts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu on November 30.

The team, consisting of disaster management experts, led by Vipin Mallik, a top official in the Home Department, has split themselves into two separate teams, with one team touring the districts of Ernakulam, Thrissur, Malappuram and Kozhikode, while Mallik is going around the coastal hamlets in the state capital.

"We have today sanctioned Rs 133 crore, which is part of the Rs 422 crore that the state government had sought first," Mallik told the media here.

With the body of one more fisherman being recovered off the coast of Kozhikode on Wednesday, the total number of dead has touched 75, while according to the Latin Church authorities, the number of missing is more than 250.

Earlier in the day, a delegation led by state Congress president M.M. Hassan met Mallik and briefed him about the situation and on the urgent need for the release of funds. The Congress also pinned blame on the Pinarayi Vijayan state government for "failing to rise to the occasion" when the tragedy struck.

The central team will be in the state till Friday .

Vijayan has sought a Rs 7,340 crore relief package to mitigate the fisher folks' sufferings. It includes compensation for the dead, assistance to the permanently disabled and those who suffered injuries and also for construction of homes, educational assistance, writing off loans and for other programmes meant for the overall relief for the fisher folks in the state.

Popular actress Manju Warrier on Wednesday visited the grieving families at Poonthura fishing village, where many fishermen died and several continue to be missing.

"I decided to spend some time with the grieving families and I will do whatever I can to help them," said Warrier.
San Francisco, Dec 27 : The founder of the debt-laden technology conglomerate LeEco has been ordered by the Chinese authorities to return to his country by the end of December to take care of the company's debts.

According to a notice served to Jia Yueting by China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) in Beijing, the company's failure to repay debts is "a serious violation of the legal rights and interests of listed companies and the interests of investors, with an extremely negative social impact".

"Our bureau issued to you on September 13, 2017 'Regulatory Concern Letter to Jia Youting' (Jing Zheng Jian Fa, 2017, No.256), which explicitly requires that you immediately return home after your presentation. Since then, many listed companies have also conveyed to you the request to return to their country, but so far we have not seen any action taken by you," the notice said.

"In order to protect the legitimate rights and interests of listed companies and investors, we hereby order you to return before December 31, 2017 to effectively fulfil the obligations of the actual controller of the Company, cooperate with the Company in resolving the problems of the Company, properly handle the risks of the Company and earnestly protect the legitimate rights and interests of investors."

According to a report in Tech Crunch, shares of LeEco's parent, Leshi Internet Information and Technology Corp, were traded on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange until April, when trading was halted to allow the company to review a restructuring plan.

In 2016, the company expanded under the LeEco brand, which included an agreement to buy American TV maker Vizio for $2 billion (the acquisition was later called off), the launch of smartphones, smart bikes and other consumer electronics and a financial partnership with Los Angeles-based electric vehicle startup Faraday Future.

To fund those ventures, LeEco borrowed billions of dollars from investors.

LeEco's expansion failed to take off, the pressure from lenders mounted and in July Jia resigned as Chairman of Leshi Internet and promised to repay LeEco's debts.
Agartala/Kolkata, Dec 27 : The CPI-M's West Bengal state committee will observe a "Solidarity Day" on Thursday in Kolkata to protest the "BJP's conspiracies" in Tripura and its "violent activities to undermine the law and order situation" in the poll-bound state, party sources said here on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also held "padyatras" on Wednesday in all the 60 assembly constituencies across Tripura to protest the "misgovernance and deteriorating law and order situation" in the state.

Tripura BJP spokesperson Mrinal Kanti Deb said 25 legislators from neighbouring Assam also took part in these "padyatras".

"The West Bengal state committee of the CPI-M would on Thursday hold a 'Solidarity Day' in Kolkata..." the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)'s Tripura state committee sources said.

"CPI-M politburo member and Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar would be the key speaker at a public meeting to be held as part of the 'Solidarity Day'."

The sources said the West Bengal state committee of the CPI-M would raise a "Tripura Solidarity Fund" and the fortnight-long fund-raising drive would start at different places in Kolkata and other parts of the state from Wednesday itself.

Meanwhile, taking part in a "padayatra" in Tripura on Wednesday, state BJP chief Biplab Kumar Deb alleged that the ruling CPI-M cadres were attacking the BJP workers in different parts of the state almost every day.

"Several BJP members have been killed in the past few weeks in Tripura. CPI-M cadres are behind these killings. Police remained totally inactive and are shielding the killers. The CPI-M has targeted its violent activities against the BJP from Kerala to Tripura," Deb said and warned the Left party to desist from violence against the BJP workers.

Denying the BJP charges, CPI-M central committee member Gautam Das said the BJP was trying to come to power through the back door and concocting issues to obtain electoral mileage before the February elections.

"Even in case of an unnatural death or one killed due to personal rivalry or a family dispute, the BJP gives those a political colour and starts an agitation," Das told the media.
New Delhi, Dec 27 : The week-long impasse in the Rajya Sabha over Narendra Modi's attack against his predecessor Manmohan Singh during the Gujarat polls ended on Wednesday with the government making a climbdown saying the Prime Minister did not question Singh's commitment to the nation.

The Congress also reciprocated by disapproving Mani Shankar Aiyar's criticism of the Prime Minister after which the House resumed normal business. The Rajya Sabha was repeatedly rocked in the last one week with the Congress demanding Prime Minister's apology and refusing to allow transaction of business.

After backroom negotiations between the treasury benches and the opposition, a compromise was reached with both the sides agreeing to do their bit to resolve the situation.

"The statement (by Modi) did not question nor did he mean to question the commitment to the nation of Manmohan Singh or Hamid Ansari, the former Vice President. Any such perception is completely erroneous. We hold these leaders in high esteem as also their commitment to the nation," said Jaitley, who is Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha, breaking the ice.

Modi had accused Manmohan Singh of conspiring with Pakistanis to defeat the BJP in the Gujarat election after the former Prime Minister and Ansari participated in a dinner hosted by former Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar at his residence in honour of former Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri at which the Pakistan High Commissioner was also present.

Following Jaitley's brief statement, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad also read out from a prepared statement in which he thanked Jaitley for his statement in ending the impasse. On his part, Azad distanced the Congress from Aiyar's statement against Modi saying the Congress disassociates itself from any attempt to bring down the dignity of the Prime Minister's Office.

Aiyar had during the Gujarat polls described Modi as a "person of low level". The Prime Minister said the Congress leader had called him a low caste. The Congress subsequently suspended Aiyar and issued him a showcause notice and asked him to apologize.

Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu thanked leaders of both the sides for resolving the issue.
Bengaluru, Dec 27 : Over 200 farmers from the state took to the streets here on Wednesday and submitted a petition to the Governor, Chief Minister and other political leaders, demanding release of the Mahadayi river water by Goa.

"We have submitted a memorandum to the Governor (Vajubhai R.Vala)'s office and the Chief Minister's office requesting for the release of water from Mahadayi river (from neighbouring Goa) to the drought-hit state of Karnataka," general secretary of the state farmers' association Rait Sena Karnataka, H.S. Madiwalar told IANS here.

The farmers, who have been staging a protest in the city for the past four days outside the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s state unit office in the western suburb, have also met the leaders of the Janata Dal (Secular).

"We hope that JD(S) leader and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda will support us and help us in getting drinking water from the river as both parties in the state -- Congress and BJP -- have only been blaming each other over the issue," Madiwalar said.

The BJP state unit leaders were whisked away by the police from the Congress office in the city centre after they staged a demonstration on Wednesday against the ruling party's failure to resolve the issue.

Several Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) members, who were also staging protests along with the farmers outside the Governor's official residence Raj Bhavan and other locations, were detained by the police.

The 77-km-long Mahadayi or Mandovi river originates at Bhimgad in the Western Ghats in Belagavi district of northwest Karnataka and flows into neighbouring Goa and eventually joins the Arabian Sea off the west coast.

Although the river flows 29 km in Karnataka and 52 km in Goa, its catchment area is spread over 2,032 km in the southern state as against 1,580 km in Goa.

Karnataka has been asking Goa since 2001 to release 7.6 tmcft (thousand million cubic feet) of the river water to meet the drinking needs of its people in Hubballi-Dharwad, Gadag, Bagalkote and Belagavi districts and irrigating their farmlands.

Karnataka plans to build two canals at Kalasa and Banduri, which are the tributaries of the river in the state, to divert and supply the water to the four districts.

While Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene in the inter-state dispute over sharing of the river water, BJP's state unit chief B.S. Yeddyurappa said the state Congress leaders should convince their Goan counterparts to allow their Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to settle the issue amicably.
Lucknow, Dec 27 : The Uttar Pradesh government kicked up a political storm on Wednesday with the process of withdrawal of 20,000 'political cases' being initiated, including eight against present Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

According to sources, Governor Ram Naik has okayed the withdrawal of "many cases" based on recommendations sent by the ruling BJP in the state.

The cases included many against BJP leaders, a present Union Minister and the Chief Minister.

As many as eight cases against the monk-turned-politician are to be withdrawn, sources said.

One of the cases to be withdrawn is against Union Minister of Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla.

The state government recommended the withdrawal of cases a day before it tabled an amendment Bill - Uttar Pradesh Law (Composition of Offences and Abetment of Trials) in the state assembly during the winter session on December 21.

Yogi faces many cases, including breach of prohibitory orders in 1995. In this matter even a non-bailable warrant was issued against him when he was Gorakhpur MP.

A case is also against Union Minister Shukla, legislator Sheetal Pandey, BJP leaders Rakesh Singh, Sameer Singh, Narendra Singh, Vishwakarma Dwivedi, Vibhrat Chand Kaushik, Upendra Shukla, Shambhu Sharan Singh, Bhanu Pratap Singh and former state Minister Ramapati Ram Tripathi.

Chief Minister Adityanath had announced on the floor of the House, during the winter session that his government would withdraw all such cases which were slapped by predecessor governments against "political opponents and innocent people".

Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders have lashed out at the decision. Spokesman of the party Naved Siddiqui told reporters that the decision has proved that the ruling BJP has nothing to do with the people and was only concerned about "white washing its own wrong doing".

Congress' Akhilesh Pratap Singh said that since the Supreme Court was soon to hear cases against tainted politicians, the BJP government in the state was trying to shrug off the taint by withdrawing cases against its leaders, including the Chief Minister.

Congress legislator Deepak Singh accused the state government of double speak.

"On one side they were introducing UPCOCA-like legislations and on other they are allowing their own Chief Minister go scot free in serious cases," he said in a statement released by the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee.

The SP government under its previous tenure had also withdrawn 1,800-plus cases.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday signed agreements in Tunis on defence, investment and the environment as he and his Tunisian counterpart expressed their determination to strengthen economic cooperation.

"We affirmed the desire of the two states to strengthen cooperation... taking into account the circumstances affecting Tunisia," the North African country's President Beji Caid Essebsi said.

The Tunisian leader went on to praise "the understanding shown by the Turkish president regarding these circumstances".

Turkey and Tunisia have deep political and commercial ties, but their free trade agreement has been the subject of fierce discussion during debate on financial legislation.

Tunisia's trade imbalance has increased considerably, reaching 1.6 billion dinars ($649 million, 565 million euros) in the first 10 months of 2017, and the country has reinstated customs duties on certain products imported from Turkey.

"Turkey supports Tunisia in difficult times," said Erdogan. "The development of Tunisia is the development of Turkey."

Erdogan said he hoped to "reinforce our economic ties, particularly in commerce and investments, and develop cooperation in the energy, tourism and agriculture sectors".

Agreements were signed on Wednesday for cooperation on defence, including for Tunisian soldiers to be trained in Turkey, as well as investments, said Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui.

The Turkish delegation was keen to increase the importation of Tunisian products such as olive oil and phosphate, he added.

Erdogan arrived in Tunisia along with about 10 government ministers and more than 150 businessmen, on the final leg of a tour that has also taken him to Chad and Sudan.

Journalists staged a protest when Erdogan arrived in Tunisia on Tuesday night to denounce violations against freedom of expression in Turkey and the imprisonment of numerous media workers there.

The Palestinian issue and the crisis in neighbouring Libya were also on the agenda for talks between the two presidents.

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New Delhi, Dec 27 : The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed the Indian Forest (Amendment) Bill, 2017, which excludes bamboo from the definition of "tree", even as the opposition members, opposing the Bill and questioning the government's intentions behind bringing this legislation, walked out.

The Bill will replace the Indian Forest (Amendment) Ordinance that was promulgated by the President on November 23 this year.

The Indian Forest Act, 1927, placed bamboo in the definition of "tree", besides palms, stumps, brush-wood and canes, and hence felling and transportation of bamboo required permit.

The government argued that the exclusion of bamboo from the definition of "tree" would promote bamboo cultivation and reduce the country's dependence on imported bamboo.

"The bamboo, though taxonomically a grass is treated as 'tree' for the purpose of the said Act, and therefore, attracts the requirement of permit for transit under the said Act. Although many states have exempted felling and transit of various species of bamboos within the states, the inter-state movement of bamboos requires the amending measure," Environment and Forest Minister Harsh Vardhan told the House as he presented the Bill.

"The farmers face hardships in getting the permits for felling and transit of bamboos, which has been identified as a major impediment in the cultivation of bamboos by farmers on their land.

"Hence, it was decided to amend Clause (7) of Section 2 of the said Act, so as to omit the word 'bamboos' from the definition of 'tree', in order to exempt bamboos grown on non-forest area from the requirement of permit for felling or transit under the said Act, and would encourage bamboo plantation by farmers resulting in the enhancement of their income from agricultural fields," the minister said.

However, the opposition MPs from the Congress, Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress, Biju Janata Dal, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Communist Party of India opposed the Bill contending that it would only benefit the big industrialists, timber mafia and the rich and not the farmers as claimed by the government.

The opposition members expressed concern that the amended law would encourage illegal felling of bamboos in the forests as there was no way to differentiate between privately cultivated bamboo and the forest bamboo while being transported.

They also claimed that the law would pave the way for encroachment on the tribal people's and forest dwellers' rights. The opposition also wanted to know as to what was the hurry to amend the law through an Ordinance just ahead of a Parliament session.

Another objection raised by some of the opposition MPs was that states were not consulted before bringing the Ordinance or the Bill.

In his reply, Harsh Vardhan said that India produces only half the quantity of bamboo consumed by it in various industries and the rest had to be imported.

However, Congress member and former Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh said his party was not satisfied by the minister's reply and hence they were walking out.

A few other MPs from other parties followed suit and walked out of the House before it passed the Bill with a voice vote.
Washington, Dec 27 : A woman in the US state of Pennsylvania got the shock of a lifetime after she received a multibillion dollar electricity bill for the month of December.

Mary Horomanski from Erie went online to check her electricity bill earlier this month, only to find that she owes the power company a staggering $284 billion. However, the amount was wrong.

"My eyes just about popped out of my head," she told the Erie Times-News on Tuesday. "We had put up Christmas lights and I wondered if we had put them up wrong."

The electricity provider Penelec later said the actual amount was $284.46. The company's spokesman said it did not know how the error had occurred, stating that Horomanski had to pay $284,460,000,000 with a first payment of $28,176 due later in December.

"I can't recall ever seeing a bill for billions of dollars. We appreciate the customer's willingness to reach out to us about the mistake," Mark Durbin said.

Horomanski's husband and one of her sons were home with her when she checked her bill online, and they began asking whether she was okay.

"I'm looking around the room and they're looking at me now, 'cause I've got this funny look on my face," Horomanski recalled. "When you see something like that, your heart starts beating, you break out into a little sweat, like, 'What on Earth just happened?'"

Horomanski said she's been receiving text messages from friends telling her that her surreal electric bill appeared in the likes of Time magazine and the New York Post.
Bhubaneswar, Dec 27 : Flight operations, under a regional connectivity scheme, will start from Odisha's Jharsuguda airport by the first week of February next year, said an official on Wednesday.

The air service will connect Jharsuguda, Raipur and Jagdalpur under the Central government's subsidised Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) scheme.

It was discussed at the state-level Coordination and Monitoring Committee meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi here.

Pointing out that the infrastructure of the airstrip at Rourkela is ready for flight operations, the Chief Secretary directed that the process for finalisation of operational details for Rourkela airstrip be expedited.

Padhi also directed that Utkela and Jeypore airstrips be readied by March 2018.

The flight operator company informed the government that regional connectivity from Kolkata to Rourkela has been scheduled to be started from January 23.

Director General of Police Rajendra Prasad Sharma apprised the meeting that a total of 135 police and 27 fire personnel from Odisha government have already been trained for providing security and fire services in the regional airports.

Available data shows that five airstrips of Odisha, including Biju Patnaik International Airport, have been selected for Phase-I of Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS)-UDAN. The other four airstrips are Rourkela, Jharsuguda, Utkela (Kalahandi) and Jeypore (Koraput).

The Biju Patnaik International Airport will serve as mentor airport for RCS, said the official.

The Jharsuguda airport has been developed under the joint aegis of Airport Authority of India and Odisha government.

The Rourkela airstrip will be operated by AAI with security and fire personnel support from the state government. The other airstrips at Jeypore and Utkela are being developed with funding from both the state government and AAI.

Notably, the Odisha government is providing both the manpower and financial support to make the regional connectivity scheme viable during initial periods.

The state government has decided to reduce Value Added Tax from five per cent to one per cent on Aviation Turbine Fuel and provide 20 per cent of the Viable Gap Funding. Electricity and water would also be provided at a minimum rate.

It is expected that such subsidies and financial assistance will keep the ticket cost at an affordable level.

Routes like Bhubaneswar to Utkela, Utklela to Raipur, Bhubaneswar to Jeypore, Bhubaneswar to Jharsuguda, Jharsuguda to Ranchi, and Bhubaneswar to Rourkela have been suggested for regional connectivity.
Thiruvananthapuram, December 27 : KPCC president M M Hassans comments the other day that he regretted having played a part in ousting late congress stalwart K Karunakaran as chief minister in 1995 over the ISRO espionage case has kicked up a row within the congress party.

Little did Hassan knew that what he intended as benign comments on the occasion of the eighth death anniversary of Karunakaran would end up raking up the old controversy over the ISRO spy case and revive a debate on whether the former congress chief minister had been the victim of a conspiracy hatched by his fellow partymen.

Escalating the row within the party, specifically within the I faction of the party, congress spokesperson Joseph Vazhakkan on Wednesday came out strongly against Karunakarans son K Muraleedharan over the latters response to Hassans comments.

Shedding his silence on the controversy sparked by Hassans comments, Muraleedharan the other day alleged that a conspiracy had been hatched within the party against his father in the palmolein and ISRO spy cases.

Muraleedharan also alleged that his father was betrayed by even those closest to him, sparking speculation that he was alluding to congress I faction leader Ramesh Chennithala.

This has provoked I faction leader Joseph Vazhakkan into launching a scathing attack on Muraleedharan.

Alleging that Muraleedharan was acting sanctimoniously, Vazhakkan charged him with having hurt Karunakaran the most.

Vazhakkan also reminded Muraleedharan that it was not appropriate to take a jab at others after having initially sought to douse the controversy himself.

K Karunakaran stepped down as chief minister in 1995 over the ISRO espionage case following calls for his resignation from the congress (A) faction led by A K Antony.

However, M M Hassan the other day revealed that A K Antony had been against Karunakarans removal as chief minister but that he and Oommen Chandy paid no heed to Antonys words and carried on protests demanding Karunakarans resignation.
New Delhi, Dec 27 : Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday slammed Pakistan for its "inhuman" handling of the meeting between Kulbhushan Jadhav and his family in Islamabad, saying it had hurt the sentiments of Indians.

Naidu said that India seeks peace in the region for the benefit of all the countries but "some are adopting a different approach".

He noted that Pakistani authorities' insisting on removal of 'mangalsutra' by Jadhav's wife and other restrictions did not go down well with the people of India.

"Pakistan did not do any good for itself in this regard even as it sought to showcase its gesture by allowing the family union to the world," Naidu said during an interaction with faculty and students from Harvard, Stanford and MIT.

During the 40 minute interaction, Naidu responded to queries on India's strengths, opportunities and challenges besides its emergence as a global power, a statement said.

The Vice President noted that Indian voters had shown great maturity from time to time while casting their vote as was evident in their fierce defence of personal freedoms by voting against the Emergency in 1977.

He observed that after long years of single party rule at the Centre, India transited through coalition governments till the people gave an absolute majority to the present government in 2014.

"India faces the challenges of inequality, rural-urban divide, unemployment, border issues, poverty and illiteracy. The ruling and opposition parties need to work together with shared perspectives for further strengthening parliamentary democracy," Naidu said.

He stated that the mood of the young and aspirational India was in favour of 'development and reforms' and the government had taken several initiatives in this regard, as was evident in the introduction of GST and demonetisation.

Responding to a query on India's role in global politics vis-a-vis some leading countries, Naidu stated that as one of the oldest civilisations which accounted for 27 per cent of world's GDP before foreign invasions, India never believed in hegemony and would only like to harness its potential as an economic power-house that benefits the people of India and other countries as well.

"India would like to take full advantage of its huge man-power through necessary skill upgradation and empowerment," he said.
Hyderabad, Dec 27 : Telangana's Commerce Minister K.T. Rama Rao has received an invitation to the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Switzerland next month -- an invite generally restricted to Union Ministers or Chief Ministers, said an official statement on Wednesday.

The Information Technology, Industries and Commerce Minister has been invited to the prestigious meet in recognition of his active role in making Telangana the number one state in the ease of doing business ranking, said the statement from the Minister's office.

More than 2,500 business leaders, economists and politicians from around the world will attend the meeting scheduled to be held in Davos.

The forum, while extending the special invite, took into consideration the key role played by the minister in organising Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Hyderabad last month and his efforts over last three years in attracting investment to the state.

Rama Rao, the son of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, will meet business leaders and CEOs of leading companies during the four-day meet starting from January 23.

KTR, as the minister is popularly known, said he would highlight the policies of the state government, especially the industrial policy and the enormous investment opportunities in the state.
Islamabad, Dec 27 : Osama bin Laden was supervising the plot to assassinate two-time Prime Minister and PPP leader Benazir Bhutto and for this the former Al Qaeda chief had shifted to Afghanistan, according to intelligence gathered by Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence, a media report said on her 10th death anniversary on Wednesday.

According to a report in The News International, the explosives to execute the assassination were provided by the courier of Osama bin Laden.

This information was provided to the Interior Ministry in December 2007 by the Pakistan Army and the ISI in three reports as well as in letters obtained from the former Al Qaeda chief's residence.

In the secret intelligence reports, the Interior Ministry was warned that bin Laden had issued orders to kill then-President Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan People's Party's former chairperson Benazir Bhutto and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Fazlur Rehman.

Bhutto was killed along with 21 people in a gun-and-bomb attack outside Rawalpindi's Liaquat Bagh during an election campaign rally on December 27, 2007.

According to the documents received by The News International correspondent, the most important letter by the ISI to the Ministry of Interior was written on December 19, 2007. The letter was directed to the Interior Ministry's then-director coordination of the Crisis Management Cell Colonel Muhammad Imran Yaqub.

The letter, titled "President Musharraf, Benazir Bhutto and Fazlur Rehman's murder plan", read: "We have received this information that Osama bin Laden has issued the order to kill President Pervez Musharraf, Benazir Bhutto and Fazlur Rehman. He (Laden) has planned to send his courier, who is a national of Pakistan and a resident of Multan, named Musa Tariq, through Waziristan with explosives to be used in executing the murder plots.

"On coming Sunday -- which is December 22 -- this person will be in the area of Dera Ismail Khan," it read.

The letter's last three lines read: "Osama bin Laden is personally supervising this entire plan and for this reason, he has shifted to Afghanistan."

The ISI requested the Interior Ministry to make urgent security arrangements. The copies of the letter were also dispatched to the Military Intelligence Directorate, General Staff Branch and General Headquarters, Rawalpindi.

After receiving the letter from the ISI, the General Staff Branch of the Military Operations Directorate of General Headquarters, sent a letter to then-Interior Secretary Syed Kamal Shah on December 20 .

Six days before Bhutto's assassination, another letter was issued warning about the murder plots.

Before both of these letters were written, on December 11, 2007, ISI's then-chief Lt. Gen. Nadeem Taj's Colonel for DG Intelligence Fayyaz Hussain Chaudhary had written a letter to then-chief of the Crisis Management Cell of the Interior Ministry.

It was mentioned in the third letter that the terrorist and extremist groups related to Al Qaeda had planned to murder Bhutto and her then-security adviser Rehman Malik during the election campaign.

In the letter, the Interior Ministry was requested to make adequate security arrangements. Following Bhutto's assassination, a short letter was sent to Laden after two days.

The text of the letter read: "We have taken revenge for our brothers and sisters of Jamia Hafsa and Lal Masjid." It was recovered from Laden's home.
Patna, Dec 27 : More than 300 leaders and workers of the ruling Janata Dal-United in Bihar on Wednesday resigned from the party in support of senior party leader Uday Narain Choudhary who has revolted against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Most of the workers, including three block unit heads, resigned from the primary membership of the party in Maoist-affected Imamganj assembly constituency in Gaya district, considered a stronghold of Dalit leader Choudhary, said a leader close to him.

This comes a day after Choudhary, former Speaker of Bihar Assembly, openly expressed his support for Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad, the main political rival of Nitish Kumar.

Lalu Prasad is currently lodged in a jail in Jharkhand's Ranchi after being convicted in a fodder scam case by a court last week.

In last three months, Choudhary has repeatedly attacked his own party government in the state and targeted Nitish Kumar, who is also the party President.

However, JD-U senior leader R.C.P. Singh, known as the eyes and ears of Nitish Kumar, said that party will not issue notice to Choudhary and there is no decision to take action against him.

"It will be a wastage of paper to issue notice to him," he said.

In last assembly polls in 2015, Choudhary was defeated by former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi in Imamganj assembly seat after which he was sidelined.

But after Nitish Kumar dumped the RJD and the Congress to join hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party to form the government in July, he has publicly rebelled against the Chief Minister.
Mumbai, Dec 27 : State Bank of India on Wednesday said it has received board approval for raising Rs 8,000 crore to meet Basel III capital adequacy norms through various instruments, including masala bonds.

The state-run lender said it has time till March 2018 to raise the funds required to meet the Basel III capital adequacy norms put in place to guard against a repeat of the situation following the 2008 US financial crisis.

"The Central Board at its meeting held today accorded approval to raise additional tier 1 (AT 1) capital by way of issuance of Basel III compliant debt instruments in USD and/or INR to the tune of Rs 8,000 crore from domestic/international market including masala bonds," the SBI said in a stock exchange filing.

Rupee denominated debt instruments that can be floated in overseas markets only to raise capital are known as Masala Bonds.

According to estimates earlier, public sector banks would need additional capital of up to Rs 2,40,000 crore by 2018 to become Basel III compliant.

Banks in India have to comply with these norms of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision by March 2019, which is three months later than the internationally agreed deadline of January 2019.
Dharwad (Karnataka), Dec 27 : Normal life was disrupted on Wednesday in four districts in northern Karnataka due to a day-long shutdown, called for the release of Mahadayi river water by Goa to the drought-prone region in the southern state.

"Barring stray incidents of burning tyres on roads, blocking movement of trucks and forcible closure of shops and eateries by the agitators, the dawn-to-dusk (6 a.m. to 6 p.m.) shutdown was peaceful," a senior police official told IANS here.

As a precautionary measure, the state transport corporations did not operate bus services during the 12-hour shutdown in the affected districts of Bagalkote, Belagavi, Dharwad and Gadag, about 400 500km from Bengaluru.

"Schools, colleges, shops, markets, hotels, theatres, and private offices remained shut for the day in support of the shutdown observed by farmers, traders and pro-Kannada organisations," said the official.

Inter-state bus services to and from Goa across the border were also suspended.

Government offices and banks reported thin attendance due to lack of public transport and closure of petrol bunks in the cities and towns of the affected districts.

Security was tightened and vigil stepped up to maintain law and order and ensure peace during the shutdown, which received overwhelming response from the people.

Though additional police were deployed across the four districts, organisations were allowed to hold rallies and stage demonstrations in protest against the delay in releasing the river water to meet the drinking needs of the people in the state's northwest region.

The 77km-long Mahadayi or Mandovi river originates at Bhimgad in the Western Ghats in Belagavi district of north Karnataka and flows into the neighbouring Goa where it eventually joins the Arabian Sea.

Though the river flows runs 29 km in Karnataka and 52 km in Goa, its catchment area is spread over 2,032km in the southern state as against 1,580km in Goa.

Karnataka has been asking Goa since 2001 to release 7.6 thousand million cubic feet of the river water to meet the drinking and crop irrigation needs of its people in the drought-prone four districts.

Karnataka plans to build two canals at Kalasa and Banduri, the river's tributaries in the state, to divert and supply the water to the four districts.

The Mahaydai Water Disputes Tribunal, headed by Justice J.N. Panchal, on July 28, 2016 rejected the state's petition for releasing the river water, citing various grounds, including ecological damage the twin canal projects may cause. The Tribunal, set up by the Central Government on the Supreme Court's directive, however, suggested the two states resolve the issue amicably.

With the state assembly election due in April-May 2018, BJP's National President Amit Shah prevailed upon Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to consider releasing the water on humanitarian grounds and boost the party's poll prospects in the state.

Parrikar then wrote to BJP's state unit president B.S. Yeddyurappa on December 21 that he was open to discuss the issue with his Karnataka counterpart Siddaramaiah and release a certain quantity of water from the river to meet the needs of its people.
Spokesperson for the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) Noemie Charton told Ahram Online on Wednesday that Hosni Mubarak "did not hold assets in Switzerland," confirming a statement made three days earlier by the former Egyptian president's lawyer.

Mubaraks lead defence lawyer Fareed El-Deeb reiterated on Sunday that his client has never possessed assets in Switzerland, saying this has been unequivocally proven by a statement released by the Swiss Federal Council last week.

El-Deeb was referring to a part of the council's statement which reads: "In the Egyptian context, the freeze dates back to 2011 and covers an initial amount of approximately $700 million. In keeping with the preventive nature of the measure, however, the fact of being listed in the ordinance on frozen assets does not necessarily mean that the persons concerned hold assets in Switzerland. In particular, this was not the case with former president Hosni Mubarak."

El-Deeb issued a lengthy statement on Sunday detailing in chronological order the developments in the case of Mubarak's assets since his 2011 ouster.

"There is no doubt that this conclusive statement from Swiss authorities decisively stresses what we have always stressed, that there are no overseas assets of any kind owned by President Mubarak," he said. "It also confirms [...] that he has never undergone judicial prosecution in any country in the world."

Mubarak was tried for multiple charges in Egypt over the past years while in detention following his toppling. The 89-year-old was set free last March.

The Swiss Federal Council has lifted an asset freeze imposed since 2011 on assets owned by Egyptians in Switzerland. The "realistic prospects of the restitution of these assets no longer exist within the framework of mutual legal assistance," the council said without revealing the names of the asset owners.

When asked about their identities, Pierre-Alain Eltschinger, another FDFA spokesperson, told Ahram Online that "in accordance with data protection, the FDFA does not communicate individual amount but only the global amount of the frozen assets."

The Swiss Federal Council said the amount of Egyptian assets frozen in Switzerland has been progressively reduced to about $438 million following the delisting of names from the ordinance upon the request of Egyptian authorities.

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SVN | Commercial Realty, one of the nations premier self-storage advisory firms, has completed the sale of two self-storage properties in the state of New York for a total of $41.1 million. Nicholas J. Malagisi, SIOR, Managing Director of SVN | Commercial Realty and Chair of the Self-Storage Product Council for SVN International Corp., advised the sellers in the two high-value transactions, comprising the sale of 31-40 Whitestone Expressway in Flushing and 13 Brady Avenue, Hawthorne in Westchester County. Hans Hardisty, MBA, Managing Director of SVN | Deegan-Collins Commercial Realty assisted Malagisi in both transactions.

Each of these transactions offer a distinct opportunity for both the sellers and buyers in a sector seeing rising demand, said Malagisi. The self-storage industry delivers buyers foreseeable economic value in a desirable market with strong rents in an undersupplied sector of real estate. For sellers, this asset class offers the opportunity to capitalize on a robust fiscal transaction.

31-40 Whitestone Expressway is a self-storage facility located in the College Point neighborhood of Flushing. The 70,368 square-foot building sits on 1.9 acres with an additional 55,000 square feet of floor to area ratio. The property was sold by Whitestone Expressway Realty, LLC for $27 million to 3104 Whitestone Expressway, LLC.

130 Brady Ave., Hawthorne within Westchester County, is a 40,452-square foot self-storage facility situated on 1.5 acres of land. The newly remodeled property includes the opportunity for expansion with space for an additional 2,450 square-foot building. Goodfriend Self-Storage sold the property for $14.1 million to US Storage Centers, Inc.

About SVN | Commercial Realty:

SVN | Commercial Realty is an independently owned and operated SVN office. The SVN organization is a globally recognized commercial real estate entity united by a shared vision of creating value with clients, colleagues and our communities. The SVN Brand is comprised of over 1,600 Advisors and staff in more than 200 offices across the globe. Our brand pillars represent the transparency, innovation and inclusivity that enables all our advisors to collaborate with the entire real estate industry on behalf of our clients. SVNs unique Shared Value Network is just one of the many ways that SVN advisors create amazing value with our clients, colleagues and communities. For more information, visit http://www.svn.com.
Clear your closet out of shoes that hurt you, says Dr. Joe Schoppe.

New Years resolutions come and go, but one worth keeping is becoming smarter about buying shoes. Buying shoes solely on appearance is great until bunions, blisters, sore feet, aching backs and knees flare up. Start from the ground up for overall body health in the new year. Here are simple solutions from foot experts when buying new shoes:

1. THREE SIMPLES LETTERS TO REMEMBER - When buying shoes, there are 3 letters to remember: FSS - Flexible, Soft, and Supportive, says Dr. Joe Schoppe of Schoppe Foot & Ankle in Stuart, Florida. Patients with bunions, bone spurs, diabetes, and arthritis can help themselves by buying shoes designed to flex with the foot while offering support. A soft, no-seam interior is also important to reduce the chances of rubbing the foot and causing blisters.

2. TALK TO AN EXPERT  In my 35 years of experience, the number one mistake I see over and over is women wearing the wrong shoe size, says Tim OBrien, Merchandising Manager at Village Bootery in Stuart, Florida. He continues, They go to a big box store and are not properly measured and fitted and continue to buy that size of shoe. Independent shoe retailers are trained in fitting customers as well as learned the foot structure to match up the right style for different foot shapes and ailments. Making the shoes the customer buys, a pair that will benefit them for life.

3. TREAT YOUR FEET  Clear your closet out of shoes that hurt you, says Dr. Joe Schoppe. He continues, Women come into my office with foot ailments that can be solved by buying shoes anatomically designed to promote good foot health. They complain about their favorite shoes which constantly hurt them, but they love the style. I tell them to throw or give them away, these shoes are only doing harm. It is best to invest in a good pair of shoes that are designed to keep your foot and body healthy.

4. KNOW YOUR FOOTWEAR PROVIDER  A customer trust is everything in our business, says OBrien of Village Bootery. We work closely with podiatrist and buy our merchandise for the store with confidence that we will have many repeat customers. We host trunk shows to give our customers a firsthand experience with experts from the shoe brands we stock  all to earn our customers trust.

5. KNOW YOUR SHOE - We could sell Arcopedico footwear in large retailers, but we feel the knowledge of the shoe and proper fit would be lost, says Arcopedico USAs Marketing Manager Sydney Simas. Simas continues, We want retailers to make the connection between what the podiatrist tells their patient they need and the retailer finding the ideal shoe for them. Only a professional could offer this knowledge. Arcopedico has spent the past 50 years engineering comfort shoes to meet the needs of its customers and the independent shoe retailer can share this information with its customers.

For an opportunity to meet directly with a representative from Arcopedico USA, Village Bootery in Stuart, Florida will be hosting an Arcopedico Trunk Show on Friday, January 26, 2018. Please call Village Bootery at (772) 283-3833 for more information.

ABOUT: Dr. Joe Schoppe, has practiced podiatry at Schoppe Foot & Ankle in Florida for over 20 years. Dr. Schoppe is Board Certified in Ankle and Foot Surgery by the American Board of Podiatric Surgery, graduated with honors from Barry University School of Podiatric Medicine, and completed a 3-year residency in Foot & Ankle Surgery at the Department of Veteran Affairs Medical Center, Miami, FL and at Jackson Memorial Hospital, Miami, FL. Schoppe Foot & Ankle is a two-generation family-owned practice serving the needs of the Stuart, Florida community by delivering exceptional podiatric care. Schoppe Foot & Ankle is located at 2220 South East Ocean Blvd., Ste. 201, Stuart, Florida, 34996. For more information, call (772) 221-1193, or visit http://www.SchoppeFootandAnkle.com.

ABOUT: Village Bootery has been a family-owned business since 1962 in the northern Palm Beach and Martin counties of Florida. With two locations in Florida  Tequesta and Stuart, Village Bootery has featured a wide selection of womens and mens comfort footwear and accessories. Village Booterys headquarters are located at 2641 S. E. Ocean Blvd., Stuart, Florida, 34996. For more information, call (772) 283-3833, or visit http://www.villagebootery.com.

ABOUT: Arcopedico USA shoes can be purchased at independent shoe retailers throughout the United States. Simco Imported Shoes, Inc. is the sole U.S. distributor of Arcopedico shoes. A family business, the company was formed in 1983 by Manuel and Virginia Simas after discovering Arcopedico shoes during a trip to Portugal. Arcopedico shoes are hand-made in Portugal. Arcopedico is located at 1480 Kleppe Lane, Sparks, NV 89431. For more information, contact the company at (775) 322-0492, or visit http://www.ArcopedicoUSA.com. For more information, samples or images, editorial media may contact Karen Beaudin at Karen(at)bullpenpress.com.
C&P CEO, Greg Simpson commented, As Cuhaci & Peterson has had a longstanding relationship with Walmart, being able to support the hurricane relief efforts and one of our largest program clients simultaneously is a meaningful thing for the firm.

After Hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated the island of Puerto Rico in September of 2017, Cuhaci & Peterson employees Leginska Perez, Nicole Richner and Sharleen Betancourt stepped up to mobilize support for relief efforts within the firm. In addition to collecting a total of 94 gallons of water, 237 cans & 43 boxes of food, along with milk, baby food, diapers, plates, cups, silverware, paper towels, bed sheets, blankets, pet food, toilet paper, personal hygiene items, medications, batteries, flashlights and other necessity items that were given to Enlaces por el Noroeste at an October 7th collection event, they coordinated with Cuhaci & Peterson executives to start an internal relief fund.

Seeded with an initial donation by the firm of $2,000 and a promise to match dollar for dollar what employees would donate, a total of $8,750 was raised within a few weeks. After reaching out to various organizations to figure out where the donations could do the most good, $5,250 was sent directly to Urban Health Plan, where President and CEO Paloma Hernandez heads up efforts and coordinates via Off the Grid Relief.

Additionally, the C&P team determined that there was also a need for funds that could be used to purchase necessities quickly and easily by local residents. As there are numerous Walmart locations across the island of Puerto Rico, the remainder of the funds was allocated to purchase 35 $100 gift cards that could be given to those recovering to use for what they personally need most.

C&P CEO, Greg Simpson commented, As Cuhaci & Peterson has had a longstanding relationship with Walmart, being able to support the hurricane relief efforts and one of our largest program clients simultaneously is a meaningful thing for the firm. C&P Architectural Graduate Leginska Perez traveled to Puerto Rico on Christmas Eve and will distribute the cards throughout Centro Comunal Hucares, as well as, meet with the 35 families during her trip.

When all was said and done C&P Architectural Graduate Sharleen Betancourt shared, When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico back in September I felt the need to take care of my family, friends, and everyone else back home. In the hopes of providing some kind of relief to them I decided to reach out to my C-P family and friends. This effort quickly took off in a much bigger way than what I could have imagined. The support we received at C-P has allowed us to help in many ways and Im truly thankful. But, Puerto Rico still needs us. My hope is to show everyone how much we care and inspire others to do the same.

About Cuhaci & Peterson

Cuhaci & Peterson is a national A/E/P firm specializing in commercial design. Headquartered in Orlando, Florida since 1978, the firm also has offices in Philadelphia, Boston and South Florida and is licensed in 49 states. Cuhaci & Peterson offers Architectural, SMEP Engineering, Fire Alarm/Protection, Lighting Design, Construction Administration, Landscape and Planning services as well as, In-House Government Relations and Interior Design on a variety of project types.
Mobile Star Awards This award is a reflection of our success and serves as motivation to continually work towards offering the most innovative and trusted solution for application modernization and workflow mobilization to businesses worldwide.

PowWow Mobile, the leader in enabling enterprises to simplify and extend business apps to mobile, today announced that it has been recognized as Best of 2017 in the 16th annual Mobile Star Awards program, for its innovative solution that accelerates and streamlines mobile app development for enterprise customers. This rounds out a robust year of award wins for PowWow Mobile, including the AOTMP Mobility Award for Most Innovative Startup and the Compass Intelligence Mobile and Wireless Award for Top Solution for Internal Business Operation Apps.

Its an honor to receive this recognition from the Mobile Star organization, said Kristen Rachels, Vice President of Marketing and Communications, PowWow Mobile. We have been working hard to satisfy the demand from global enterprises to leverage mobile business apps to improve employee engagement, customer experience, and business operations. This award is a reflection of our success and serves as motivation to continually work towards offering the most innovative and trusted solution for application modernization and workflow mobilization to businesses worldwide.

In its 16 years, the Mobile Star Awards has become the largest annual mobile innovations and software / apps awards program. The program promotes and honors innovative new and established mobile products, leaders and success stories in over one-hundred categories including the greatest mobile apps, devices, and enterprise or operator services.

A Best of 2017 Mobile Star Award is an accomplishment thats recognized by the entire mobile industry, customers and buyers, said MobileVillage Founder and CEO Jon Covington. Mobile Star Awards winners and nominees truly stand out and shine among millions of other mobile products as the greatest innovators and stars.

PowWow Mobile disrupts the speed, complexity and economics commonly associated with delivering productivity-enhancing apps to an increasingly mobile-first workforce. The PowWow SmartUX Platform simplifies and extends business apps to mobile, delivering modern omni-channel experiences that transform how work is done in the digital era. With SmartUX, users can easily connect to any application or data source and rapidly design and deploy personalized, intelligent and secure apps that run anywhere, on any device (PC, laptop, tablet, phone or watch), and any OS (iOS, Android, Windows 10 or HTML5).

For more information on PowWow Mobile, visit http://www.powwowmobile.com and follow @powwowmobile on Twitter.

About MobileVillage

Since its founding as PDA Inc. in 1993, MobileVillage has led in customer and user-focused mobile technology development by promoting and uniting tech innovators around the world. The company fosters mobile engagement, trust, knowledge and alliances through its popular annual Mobile Star Awards program, the worlds most extensive mobile events calendar, Mobile University event partnerships, mobile news, success stories, consulting, and online directory.

About PowWow Mobile

PowWow Mobile is redefining the mobile enterprise. Our rapid mobile app solution, SmartUX, enables organizations to simplify and extend business apps to mobile by modernizing and streamlining existing processes to deliver new and intelligent enterprise to edge experiences. Built on best of breed open technology, SmartUX provides a low-code, drag and drop environment for rapidly creating and deploying secure cross-platform mobile apps. With unmatched accessibility and ease-of-use, our solution facilitates collaboration between IT and the business, significantly reducing backlogs and accelerating time to value. Enterprises in the financial services, manufacturing, telecom, software, transportation, consulting and the public-sector industries trust PowWow Mobile to empower their anytime, anywhere workforce; increase agility and competitive advantage, and drive innovation and productivity through smart business mobile apps. Based in San Francisco, PowWow Mobile has garnered prestigious awards and recognition from AOTMP, Compass Intelligence, Gartner and more. Learn more about how PowWow Mobile is redefining the mobile enterprise at http://www.powwowmobile.com, on Twitter @powwowmobile or on Linkedin.
CEO Brian Rahill delivered winning pitch Each company was judged not only on the quality of their pitch but also the long-term growth potential of their company.

CourseStorm, a company based in Orono, Maine, recently won episode 3.7 of Greenlight Maine, putting them one step closer to winning the $100,000 grand prize! They went head-to-head against the creator of College Helpers in front of a panel of three judges: Tom ODonnell, the principle of Macpage; Mike Duguay, the executive director of the Harold Alfond Institute for Business; and Becky Conrad, the president of the LA Metro Chamber of Commerce. Each company was given time to pitch their business and was judged not only on the quality of their pitch but also the long-term growth potential of their company.

Greenlight Maine encourages entrepreneurs in Maine, providing resources and a wealth of support for budding local companies. The affiliated television show is an opportunity not only to showcase the vast array of talent in the state, but also to encourage, support, and assist local businesses.

Look for CourseStorms next Greenlight Maine episode early this Spring!
ConnecPath - Top 10 Edtech Startup 2017 Certificate Our vision is to increase the college and career readiness of young students on a massive scale to steer them towards a better career path.

ConnecPath has been recognized as one of the top 10 Edtech Startups of 2017 by Education Technology Insights magazine. The acknowledgment was given in the December edition of the publication where ConnecPath founder, Leo Sanada, described how the app has been revolutionizing the college application process.

Our vision is to increase the college and career readiness of young students on a massive scale to steer them towards a better career path, Sanada said.

The founding team of ConnecPath includes Sanada. a tech-savvy CEO with an education background, and Pradeep Reddy, a CTO with a strong tech background.

Sanada met with Reddy in Silicon Valley in July 2017 and quickly assimilated the tech genius/expert into ConnecPath.

We saw a great fit as a founding team, Sanada said.

The origins of ConnecPath go back to where Sanada was doing an internship at Skyline High School in Ann Arbor while he was completing his MBA at the University of Michigan. During his time at the high school Sanada recognized a need in the college counseling process and set out to solve it with a AI-power chat-bot app that acts as a virtual career counselor.

Reddy has been working in the software development industry for over 10 years. He has a passion for AI and a background as a VR researcher and data scientist and his skills and talent fit into the ConnecPath vision.

Thanks to the help of StartupHouse Foundry Program, an incubator program based in San Francisco, the company incorporated and fast-tracked their growth.

The biggest lesson I learned was that without proving the concept of business by gaining traction, hardly any investors get interested in a startup business, Sanada said of the program.

The experience made me more prepared to talk with stakeholders such as target users and investors.

By September, ConnecPath launched its mobile app in both the Apple App Store and Google PlayStore, making it accessible to a large group of students on both OS. They released a web version early in December.

The company has been rapidly growing since their inception and earning recognition and respect across the industry.

In November, ConnecPath won the Edvation Summit 2017 competition, which was held in Tokyo. The award is a feature booth at the SXSWedu conference to be held in Austin, Texas March 5-8.

The startup was pitted against five other finalists but was able to win over the judges with its AI-focused app.

The fact that high school seniors receive around 10 minutes of time to make one of the biggest decisions of their lives in what college to apply for  and even if that is the right choice for them  formed the backbone of our winning pitch at Edvation Summit, Sanada said at the time.

Its our objective to provide more support and faster access to information, unleashing the power of AI to save time, orchestrate teamwork and enrich subsequent student and guidance counselor conversations.

Over the past few months, ConnecPath has developed a fabulous user experience for students on a massive scale. The founders are dedicated to delivering personalized support to each teen using the power of technology and scalability. They have also heavily invested time and effort to polish the AI-driven solution.

The app continuously adds new features for counselors to help make their job easier with a more positive impact for high school students.

Users can anticipate big updates to the mobile interface in the Spring 2018, which will increase student engagement even more.

About ConnecPath

ConnecPath Inc. is an education technology company that increases college and career readiness of young people in massive scale to maximize their future potentials.

Students have historically had to make important decisions about college and careers independently and with limited information. Not any more.

ConnecPaths collaboration platform brings the power of artificial intelligence to students and educators, putting an end to that uncomfortable journey. With ConnecPath, students find pathways that fit their individual passions and competencies with amazing speed. ConnecPath was founded in September 2017 and is headquartered in Silicon Valley.
Our continued investment in new and innovative technology is focused exclusively on delivering value back to our associates and to the clients they serve every day.

TTR Sothebys International Realty, one of the top residential real estate brokerages in the nation, is on a mission.

As the firm concludes its best year ever  finishing with over $3 Billion in closed gross sales  TTR Sothebys International Realty is doubling down on technology with the launch of Bloom, a fully-integrated digital marketing and customer relationship platform.

Bloom, which supports a suite of digital marketing capabilities, including: property marketing, customer relationship management, and business intelligence, is the first of many new digital applications TTR Sothebys International Realty plans to release in the months and years ahead.

In anticipation of Blooms release, TTR Sothebys International Realty worked with Bright MLS and Sothebys International Realty to redevelop the brokerages underlying data platform  a platform upon which the brokerage will develop new tools and services for its 350+ agents across Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. As part of the platform overhaul, TTR Sothebys International Realty implemented a direct data feed linking the brokerages listings to the global distribution destinations exclusive to Sothebys International Realty.

Our new data platform is the foundation of a truly integrated, digital-first brokerage, says Mark C. Lowham, CEO and Managing Partner at TTR Sothebys International Realty. As the first true product of our new data platform, Bloom represents a huge step in the right direction.

The launch of Bloom comes at an inflection point for the residential real estate industry. As legacy firms are learning, competition is no longer at the brokerage next door, but rather from everywhere else, with upstarts entering the industry from the world of design, finance, and consumer technology. Each with their own vision for the future of residential real estate, many pose different  if not conflicting  views of the traditional brokerage model that has powered the industry for decades.

Our continued investment in new and innovative technology is focused exclusively on delivering value back to our associates and to the clients they serve every day, says Lowham. With that, we also acknowledge the larger trends in the marketplace, and that consumers  both established and emerging  often have different expectations and in turn require a different experience.

Bloom, which will serve over a growing roster of agents at TTR Sothebys International Realty, was developed in partnership with the New York-based web development firm Gabriels Technology Solutions.

Gabriels has been a valued partner since day one, says Lowham. So when we started looking for partners to help us build a product that would serve our needs  partners who really understood our business, understood the urgency of the problem we were trying to solve, and understood the direction we wanted to take our brokerage  they were the clear choice.

Gabriels has been providing technology solutions for the real estate industry since the inception of the consumer web, says Tom Morgan, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Gabriels Technology Solutions. Its clear, based on the feedback we receive from our partners, both domestic and international, that the need for integration at all levels is key.

At the highest levels of the residential real estate industry, Chief Executives are collaborating with management consulting firms like Boston Consulting Group to chart a course for the future.

Its my belief that agents and brokers arent going anywhere, particularly at the higher end of the market, says Kevin Thompson, Chief Marketing Officer at Sothebys International Realty. With that said, we have to understand the needs of the emerging consumer  the next generation  and how to build an experience that meets, and then exceeds those expectations. Brand and customer service are fundamental elements of a great experience, and those elements cascade across platforms.

According to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index  regarded as one of the leading indicators for the health of United States real estate market  housing has never been stronger, with the National Index settling at 195.63 as of October 2017 (the highest ever). With the growing value of the United States real estate market, along with additional revenues surrounding the typical transaction, the industry has drawn the attention of giants like Facebook, Google, and Amazon, all of which are rumored to enter the space in 2018.

Despite the fact that these events can trace their origins back at least a decade, neither the traditional brokerage sector nor organized real estate has created adequate defensive or competitive positions, states Jeremy Conaway of Recon Intelligence Services, a real estate consulting firm based in Traverse City, Missouri which recently advised top Sothebys International Realty affiliates on market dynamics. While the focus of these trends have changed over this period their basic objectives have remained consistent. We are witnessing the formation of a new real estate marketplace environment.

The customer journey has changed, says Lowham. Bloom is about furthering our commitment to staying ahead of that change, and by continuing to find new and innovative ways to infuse customer service excellence in all that we do.

About TTR Sothebys International Realty

TTR Sothebys International Realty is the exclusive Sothebys International Realty affiliate for the Washington Metropolitan Region. With seven offices located strategically across Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, our 350 real estate professionals are ranked among the highest performing in the nation, and are regarded for their integrity, professional service, and community leadership. Through our relationship with the venerable Sothebys auction house, TTR Sothebys International Realty produces extraordinary results for our clients by leveraging proprietary global marketing, cutting edge digital strategies, and unrivaled access to the most affluent and discerning global clientele. To learn more about TTR Sothebys International Realty, visit TTRSIR.com.
Shaper Pro and Retopology Course Rendering by Hiba Husanyi The ABCs are an easy way to remember what the full program is about. Our course of studies is circular, not linear, so students can begin anywhere. Past News Releases RSS Valani Atelier Elevates Ruby...

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The New York Jewelry Design Institute (NYJDI) will be kicking off the 2018 spring calendar with an entrepreneurial focus, providing professional development opportunities for those looking to jumpstart a career in jewelry design. This January, five courses will commence covering the institutes Art, Business, and CAD (ABC) pillars. Together, the ABCs inspirit the collective passion and diligence needed to develop a designer brand, and have it flourish.

Jenine Lepera Izzi, Creative Director of NYJDI, explains, The ABCs are an easy way to remember what the full program is about. Our course of studies is circular, not linear, so students can begin anywhere. There is no starting, or ending point. Some students gravitate more towards one pillar (Art, Business, or CAD) over the others. By compartmentalizing the different classes, it is easier for them to gain the well-rounded skills needed to become great designers.

Art, as a pillar, refines a designers ability to create hand painted and digital executions of a vision. Beginning the second week of the new year, Rapid Rendering and the Adobe Illustrator for Jewelry Design courses focus on honing in on artistic talent. Each meet once a week in the evenings, with a great amount of personal attention given to students. The Rapid Rendering program, where students are trained by Lepera Izzi, teaches critical shading, coloring, and texturing skills, for those looking for a true-to-life representation of their piece, and is also available year-round as a private course. During the Illustrator class, Martinu Schneegass teaches an intensive beginner class that shows designers how to execute masterful technical drawings. Schneegass says, Illustrator is an industry standard required for every jewelry designer. As an Art pillar, it is a powerful and precise tool for designers, looking to create eye catching professional drawings for production, which are a key element for mass production. Illustrator files can be imported into Photoshop and CAD to create realistic 3Dimensional images, which add drama and context to a digital, or print, presentation. Throughout the year, other courses at NYJDI will embody the art pillar, including: Advanced Rendering, Watercolor, Photoshop for Designers, and Unearthing Color.

The second ABC pillar puts the spotlight on business. A designer can have incredible talent and vision, but without the business savvy to turn the vision into reality, success is hard to achieve. Vashti de Verteuil will be leading the conversation in Jewelry Branding and Marketing, distinguishing each, and guiding students on defining ones purpose and brand position in the accessories marketplace.

The C in the ABCs centers around CAD, and the importance of mastering 3D skills in the digital age. Shaper Pro and Retopology in 3Design enhances a students ability to turn ideas into intuitive and complex models. Hiba Husanyi teaches how to restructure, and create, both 2D and 3D designs across metalwork techniques and textures, guiding students with hands-on training. In the class Husanyi discusses, complicated, free-form shapes and models, from vintage rings to sculpting and scroll work, with the simple tools. Students will also get a better understanding of 3D jewelry. These tools will bring one to the next level of jewelry designing, giving unlimited possibilities to achieve the most complex, creative, and organic designs and shapes imaginable. In addition, Understanding Jewelry CAD offers an in-depth introduction to 3Design, where students work one-on-one in a private class, to learn the various features of the program, discerning how to use it for creating professional designs and models.

From concept and proficient design, to brand building, the New York Jewelry Design Institute is leading the conversation on training and encouraging the next generation of emerging designers to take hold of their careers.

For more information about the courses, contact NYJDI 212-951-1314 or email info(at)nyjdi(dot)com. For questions regarding this release, contact info(at)pietrapr(dot)com or call 212-913-9761.

About NYJDI

An educational haven for budding designers and jewelry pros looking to enhance their skills, the New York Jewelry Design Institute was founded in 2013 by Jenine Lepera Izzi, an interior designer turned jewelry designer who was inspired to pursue the field while living in Florence, Italy. The school was conceived out of a passion for design; a belief that the same design process used by the worlds leading artists and designers could be applied to the jewelry industry. NYJDI has since expanded the curriculum to include many practical courses.
The toy drive was especially important this year in light of the recent fire tragedy. - Jeffrey Nadrich

Nadrich & Cohen, LLP, a Santa Rosa Personal Injury Law Firm, just completed its sponsored toy drive for North Bay Fire Victims, Toys for Tots program. The purpose of this years effort was to provide toys for children in fire victims families. The Law Offices of Nadrich & Cohen funded the program with other local Santa Rosa community groups and accepted donations of brand-new toys for the Marine Toys for Tots program. Donated toys were dropped off for distribution to children in the fire-affected communities. The program was a resounding success.

The Toys For Tots program was started in 1947 and has continued ever since. This year marks the organization's 70th Anniversary. Since it began, the organization has distributed over 400 million toys to more than 188 million needy children throughout the country.

Lead partner, Jeffrey Nadrich, notes that "The toy drive was especially important this year in light of the recent fire tragedy. Families have been displaced, people have lost their jobs and many in the community are struggling financially after the fires. We wanted to do something to give back to the community."

About The Law Offices Of Nadrich & Cohen, LLP

The Santa Rosa Wildfire Lawyers of Nadrich & Cohen, LLP and its law partners are currently representing over 130 Sonoma County and Napa County homeowners, renters and business owners, who suffered injuries, damages or losses as a result of the recent fires. The attorney consortium has filed lawsuits against the utility company and its contractors which are believed to have caused or contributed to the recent fires.

Lead partner, Jeffrey Nadrich is a graduate and active alumnus of UC Berkeley and UC Hastings College Of The Law. He is a member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates forum and the American Association of Justice.

For more information please visit: http://www.personalinjurylawcal.com

Media Contact: Eric Valencia

Email: info(at)personalinjurylawcal(dot)com

Organization: Nadrich & Cohen, LLP

Address: 131 A Stony Circle #500, Santa Rosa, CA 95401

Phone: (707) 525-1188
we cant ignore that access to safe water and safe sanitation practices is something that everyone has.

Bill Howe Plumbing has been an established company serving San Diego for 38 years. Operating from the mission to provide the highest quality work, the highest trained plumbers, and fair and honest prices, it is no wonder that they have been chosen by their local communities as the best San Diego plumber on multiple occasions and can be seen in the Bill Howe Difference. The company also has a giving spirit and routinely donates their time, resources, expertise, and financial contributions to many local organizations and charities.

Their mission does not stop at home in their own backyard, however. Coming across a recent article in PMMag.com by Julius Ballanco, Jaime Howe had the idea to take their giving spirit global. The article resonates with everything that we stand for, said Jaime Howe-Stolis, Bill Howe Office Operations Manager. I through it was a great opportunity to do what we do for our own team; provide tools and resources to help them succeed; give them resources that we take for granted.

The ultimate project, Tools for Plumbers in Ghana, mission is to collect power tools nad plumbing resources to send to the 4-year plumbing school in Ghana. Reading about the students installing entire plumbing applications by hand is sobering. That is why Bill Howe is rallying the community to donate power tools and plumbing resources in time for the Anidaso Health Mission's next trip in February 2018. Mission Valley Pipe & Supply House is joining the cause and using their influence with suppliers to collect power tools, and Bill Howe Plumbing is starting off with a $1,000 tool donation for the 4-year program.

Bill Howe knows that plumbing protects the health of the nation. This is why they pay for 100 percent of the tuition and training for their plumbers to attend the 4-year federally accredited academy through the San Diego Plumbing-Heating-Cooling-Contractor's Association. I would like to see every San Diego plumbing contractor licensed and employing trained field employees, said Bill Howe, President Bill Howe Plumbing, Inc. We have a responsibility to protect our own community, but we cant ignore that access to safe water and safe sanitation practices is something that everyone has.

The original article, Training to be a Plumber in Ghana by Julius Ballanco, P.E. can be read online at PMMag.com. Clicking the link will take you to PMMag.com. You can also see Human Resource Manager, Amber Rush, discuss the project on CW San Diego Morning Extra Wednesday,December 27.

For more information about Tools for Plumbers or how you can help, visit http://www.billhowe.com, or to speak with Bill or Tina Howe regarding this announcement, contact Bill Howe Marketing Director, Julie Riddle at Julie(at)billhowe(dot)com.

About Bill Howe Family of Companies

Bill Howe Family of Companies is comprised of Bill Howe Plumbing, Inc.; Bill Howe Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc.; Bill Howe Restoration & Flood Services, Inc. The family-owned and operated company began in 1980 with the plumbing division and has grown into San Diego Countys largest low-cost one-stop-shop for service, repairs and installation, offering both residential and commercial services. 9085 Aero Drive, Suite B, San Diego CA 92123. Call 1-800-BILL-HOWE because We Know Howe!
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will provide Egypt with $200 million to invest in increasing the energy efficiency of the natural gas transport infrastructure, according to a Wednesday statement by the Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation.

Minister Sahar Nasr signed the investment agreement with the head of Natural Resources at the EBRD Eric Rasmussen on Wednesday to fund increasing the capacity and energy efficiency of the Dahshur gas compressor station.

The deal is to accommodate the natural gas produced from newly discovered gas fields ahead of their transport from the north to the centre and south of the country, the petroleum ministrys first deputy Mohamed Abdel-Wahab said.

The project will be implemented by the Petroleum Ministrys Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS).

The project will also decrease operating costs and fuel imports.

Egypt began pumping gas from the Mediterraneans supergiant gas field Zohr last week.

Part of the funding will also be allocated to developing the pipeline to transport gas to power plants at the new administrative capital, Abdel-Wahab said.

These are necessary and urgent projects to increase capacity and efficiency of operations of the Dahshur Compressor Station amid the increasing gas discoveries, the ministry statement read.

The EBRDs investments in Egypt recorded 2.7 billion euros in 52 projects in infrastructure, energy, wastewater, and transport.

We are very happy to support Egypt in the development of the gas infrastructure, as the project we are signing today represents a big step forward, which shows that the EBRD is committed to supporting Egypt and sustainable development in [the country], Rasmussen said.

The EBRD will also contribute to installing new gas metres, as a way to push for a more efficient use of energy, he said.

The EBRD supported renewable energy projects in Egypt worth $500 million in 2017.
XLMiner SDK in C# XLMiner SDK is a toolkit that developers can count on to build commercial-grade applications.

Frontline Systems has released XLMiner SDK V2018, a next-generation version of its Software Development Kit for data mining, text mining, forecasting, and predictive analytics. XLMiner SDK offers application developers working in C++, C#, Java, Python or R a powerful, high-level API for quickly creating applications that use predictive analytics.

Data mining and machine learning software has proliferated, but there's a difference between common libraries and truly robust, high-performance software  especially if youre working in C++, C# or Java, said Daniel Fylstra, Frontlines President and CEO. XLMiner SDK is a toolkit that developers can count on to build commercial-grade applications.

Full Support for Popular Programming Languages

XLMiner SDK provides full API support for five popular programming languages: C++ 11 or later, C# 4.0 or later, Java 8, Python 2.7 or 3.6 (both are supported), and R 3.4. In Microsoft Visual Studio and R Studio, developers will benefit from automatic recognition and command completion for XLMiners objects, properties and methods. And the new SDK is ready for REPL (Read-Eval-Print-Loop) style execution with C# Interactive.

XLMiner SDKs R support uses R-native types, including Rs own DataFrame type; hence it can be used easily with a wide range of R packages from CRAN. XLMiner SDK provides its own R package that can be loaded with one command from R itself, or an IDE such as R Studio.

For C++, C# and Java developers, XLMiner SDK should be especially welcome, since quality data mining tools have been hard to find for these popular languages. But even R and Python developers will find that XLMiner SDK offers a far better integrated, comprehensive data mining and text mining toolkit.

Support for Popular Databases and Files, Text, and Big Data

XLMiner SDK has built-in tools to read data from SQL databases using ODBC (Open Data Base Connectivity), with special support for Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server and Access databases; OData ("the "web successor to ODBC") data sources exposing a REST API; JSON (JavaScript Object Notation); and CSV (Comma Separated Value) and Excel files.

The SDK also handles unstructured text data, and provides stemming, term normalization, vocabulary reduction, creation of a term-document matrix, and concept extraction with latent semantic indexing. It even has built-in facilities to draw a statistically representative sample from an Apache Spark Big Data cluster, running a Frontline-supplied component on one of the cluster nodes.

Model Export in PMML, and Export/Import in JSON

The new SDK release can export a wide range of trained/fitted models in industry-standard PMML (Predictive Modeling Markup Language) format, from data transformations to linear and logistic regression, decision trees, neural networks, and k nearest neighbors for both classification and prediction; discriminant analysis, naive Bayes, time series models, association rules, and even ensembles with boosting, bagging, and random forest methods. Few other products provide such extensive PMML support.

XLMiner SDK also provides its own JSON serialization format, more general than PMML, for its full range of objects (DataFrames, Estimators and Models) and properties.

Faster and More Robust Algorithms

Statistical and machine learning algorithms in XLMiner SDK are optimized for performance on current Intel-compatible processors. In the new release, the Naive Bayes algorithm is much faster and less memory-intensive, while K Nearest Neighbors is an order of magnitude faster in k-parameter tuning, and handles distance matrices that would exceed available memory in other software.

Category Reduction and Missing Data Handling algorithms are also extended for multivariate use, with new "missing value options" for different data types, and One-Hot-Encoding is faster and enhanced for categorical variables. The new release even offers Vector and Matrix objects that enable developers to write high-level "linear algebra expressions" with high-performance, parallel multi-core execution.

Free Trial Version Available for Download

XLMiner SDK V2018 is available now for both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows. Developers can register for a free account at https://www.solver.com, and download and install a fully-functional version of XLMiner SDK with a free 15-day trial license. Paid licenses are available at two levels of power and capacity  XLMiner SDK Pro and XLMiner SDK Platform  with several options for license terms, and for single or multiple developers.

Frontline Systems Inc. (https://www.solver.com) is the leader in analytics for spreadsheets and the web, helping managers gain insights and make better decisions for an uncertain future. Its products integrate forecasting and data mining for predictive analytics, Monte Carlo simulation and risk analysis, and conventional and stochastic optimization for prescriptive analytics. Founded in 1987, Frontline is based in Incline Village, Nevada (775-831-0300).

XLMiner is a registered trademark of Frontline Systems, Inc. Random Forests is a registered trademark of Minitab, Inc.
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Though many previous US presidents contemplated the idea of moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, they didnt see the move through. Whether it is out of recklessness and irrationality, lack of diplomatic experience and perception, pressure from the Israeli lobby, or wanting to be different from previous US presidents who passed the decision over to following presidents, we may never know, but President Trump defied the world and did it.

For a brief moment, the world stood still in disbelief. You see, it hasnt happened before that an occupier is given the green light and the nod of approval to continue with aggression and occupation. This is exactly what President Trump did.

Since then, the decision to recognise Jerusalem as the Israeli capital has triggered a dynamo effect of reactions, a trajectory that the US must have expected but didnt think much of, even if it prompts widespread international criticism and fury.

The Arab and Muslim worlds were swift to denounce the decision. In Turkey, delegates from various Muslim countries convened in a summit of Islamic nations where President Erdogan stated that Israel is an occupying state, a terrorist state, straining ties between the two countries, ties that had just been restored last year.

The United Nations voiced dismay; Britain said the move would not help peace efforts as Theresa May called it a mistake; and Canadas government stated that it will not move its embassy to Jerusalem saying that Canada still does not recognise Jerusalem as Israels capital city.

Thousands took to the streets and gathered outside US embassies is Indonesia, Yemen, Lebanon, Turkey, Morocco, and the West Bank.

Still, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, emboldened by Trumps move, visited France only to hear President Macrons disapproval openly of the decision: the US had "unilaterally recognised something that is not complying with international law, said Macron.

And from there off Netanyahu went on his first-ever official visit to the European Unions capital, Brussels, with, as The Wall Street Journal says, wind in his sails. But the EU bloc's diplomatic chief, Frederica Mogherini, berated him for suggesting that the EU follow the same path the US took saying, Netanyahu can keep his expectations for others since there would be no change to the EUs stance on the holy city.

Mogherini also said: "The EU and member states will continue to respect the international consensus on Jerusalem until the final status of the holy city is resolved, through direct negotiations between the parties.

Palestinians raged. Four protestors died in clashes with Israeli soldiers or from Israeli air strikes in retaliation for rockets fired at southern Israeli communities from Gaza.

Palestinians also concluded that Trumps administration, having taken this step, will not submit an impartial peace plan in the future and cannot remain an unbiased mediator in the peace process. President Mahmoud Abbas confirmed this notion saying that the US abdicated its role as a peace mediator.

The above is all cursory talk. but real ramifications of Trumps decision exist.

According to The Times of Israel, almost half  or 45 percent  of Palestinians believe the Palestinian Authority should cut all contacts with the US, submit a complaint to the International Criminal Court and launch an armed uprising.

Ismail Haniyeh called last week for a new Palestinian uprising against Israel. Abdel Bari Atwan, editor-in-chief of Al-Quds Al-Arabi, reiterated the same thought on BBC Arabic, calling for a third Intifada.

Still, analysts believe that another Intifada cannot be sustained as the Palestinians right now are fatigued. Many Palestinians who went through the second Intifada don't want to repeat it, says Ghaith Al-Omari, a senior fellow at The Washington Institute. The Intifada killed over 3,000 Palestinians and left thousands others wounded.

Unfortunately, the Arab world is not in a position to support retaliatory measures. It has a lot of other challenges and conflicts on its plate, and many Arab countries are working on their internal conflicts with Daesh (the Islamic State group). Despite its dismay at the US decision to move the embassy, the Arab world can do little to effect change.

Even peaceful efforts, such as cutting ties with the US, are unlikely. Though President Abbas has not called for a third Intifada, his announcement to no longer work with American peace negotiators is the first major upshot of the decision.

What is most worrisome is the retaliatory rage that may take place at the grassroots level. Al-Omari says: When there is despair, there is no way to predict what will trigger people.

During a Friday sermon, Ayman Elkasaby, a New Jersey mosque imam, raged against Israel calling for genocide. Elkasaby closed his sermon with this prayer: "Allah, make us among your armies ... Allah, we ask you to grant us martyrdom on the threshold of Al-Aqsa Mosque ... Count them one by one, and kill them down to the very last one. Do not leave a single one on the face of the Earth."

In Beirut, at a march led by Hizbullah, tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets. An announcer leading the crowd called out Death to America! Death to Israel!

Hamas called for a new Intifada against Israel encouraging Palestinians to confront soldiers and settlers and allowing thousands of Gazans to confront Israeli troops at the Gaza border. Its leader, Haniyeh, praised the blessed Intifada, hoping to intensify violence.

And many will literally take these spokespersons up on their words, sparking violence, rage, even terrorism across the world.

Trumps unilateral decision will not change facts: Jerusalem remains occupied territory.

And the struggle continues.

The writer is an academic, political analyst, and author of Cairo Rewind: The First Two Years of Egypt's Revolution, 2011-2013.

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Paedophiles are using YouTube to showcase indecent images of children to other predators, according to an investigation by The Times.

The newspaper found one channel which had posted several short videos showing alarming footage of children dancing and licking their lips. One video reportedly showed a child aged around ten years old saying: "Hey guys, I got new underwear."

The Times found that the videos advertised the predator's email address. When contacted, the person boasted of having 315GB of images of "naked" children.

Another reported abuser called himself Horny Pastor on YouTube had already been flagged to US and Canadian child abuse authorities, but still had a YouTube channel. He had posted five videos including one apparently showing a 12-year-old girl twerking. The user also put a link to the encrypted chat app Telegram to swap explicit content.

Legal experts, researchers, and politicians criticised YouTube's parent Google after the findings.

Yvette Cooper, the Labour MP currently chairing the Home Affairs Select Committee, told The Times: "I find it beyond belief that this disgusting and illegal material is still being posted on YouTube. It calls into question Googles fitness for purpose and capability to keep its platform free from illegal material." Cooper has written to Google for an explanation.

Only last week, Cooper tore into Google, Facebook, and Twitter for effectively "grooming" users by suggesting unsuitable content. "Your algorithms are doing that grooming and radicalising," she told executives from the three firms.

The Times found that Google had actually recommended the paedophiles' channels in its "recommended channels" section, and displayed one channel as a "related link." This, according to one lawyer, is potentially illegal because YouTube is helping abusers find illegal content.
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But the fact is, they are constantly in the public eye working long hours and so the way they express themselves and dress should also come under scrutiny.

In Ghana even though these politicians have often looked good in their choice of clothes this year, some have overshadowed the rest.

Below are some of the stylish politicians we found. The list is in no particular order of preference.

Samira Bawumia

The wife of the vice president, Dr Mahamadu Bawumia has indeed proven that she is perhaps the most fashionable Second Lady of all time in Ghana. Always stepping out in style, the beautiful woman and mother of four was recently adjudged Style Icon of 2017 at the third edition of the Glitz Style Awards. She indeed makes headlines with her impeccable style, no matter the occasion.

Adwoa Safo

The lawyer and Member of Parliament for the Dome-Kwabenya Constituency is always looking glamorous. She is yet to fail with her make-up and sense of fashion.

Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings

The former First Lady of the Republic of Ghanas ageless personality is always demonstrated in style. The 68-year-old never fails to look classic and stunning no matter the event she goes to. She often wears African Print, Kente, Lace and other colourful fabrics sewn into the popular 'Kaba and Slit' style. One of her major signature pieces is the headwrap which comes in vibrant fabrics and colours.

Obuobia Darko

The 39-year-old failed parliamentary hopeful of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Weija-Gbawe Constituency is always looking stunning. The gorgeous politician is often seen in African print with beads. Whether or not she is s in the political spotlight, she definitely has something that cannot be ignored  her sense of fashion.

Otiko Afisa Djaba

She is one of the controversial politicians in Ghana but this does not stop her from stepping out in style no matter the occasion. She is currently the minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection. Im sure you will remember her hairstyle which got people talking for months.

Bibi Bright
They were remanded by an Asokwa District court and will re-appear on January 3, 2018.

The prosecutor told the Asokwa juvenile Court on Wednesday, 27 December that investigations have not been concluded.

READ MORE:4 boys gang rape teenage girl

Aside from rape, they have also been charged with conspiracy to rape.

The boys were among seven teenagers who were seen on video gang-raping another teenager at Bantama in Kumasi.

The police are also on the heels of other teenagers whose identities are known but who have gone into hiding.

READ MORE: Police arrest 3 over gang rape video

The seven suspects attend either senior high or junior high schools at Bantama.
They were remanded by an Asokwa District court presided by his Lordship Peter Oppong-Boahen.

READ ALSO: 4 boys gang rape teenage girl

The three were arrested after the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service launched an investigations into the matter.

They were among seven teenagers who were seen on video gang-raping another teenager at Bantama in Kumasi.

The police are also on the heels of four other teenagers whose identities are known but who have gone into hiding.

READ MORE: Police arrest 3 over gang rape video

The seven suspects attend either senior high or junior high schools at Bantama.
Another person who saw the young men negotiating the payment with the cop reported the issue and the police responded immediately.

They were all arrested at the Atomic roundabout and taken to the station for further investigations.

When a search was conducted on them, a wrap of dried leaves suspected to be narcotic drug was found in the pocket of Yakubu Mole, a foreign pistol with No. Sigarms 60482330 and live ammunition were also found under the front passenger seat of the car, a sergeant cup and a Police Uniform were also found in the car.
He explained that the party in its current state is disorganized, and does not need the battle for positions now.

We are not there yet, why are people so interested in candidacy and leadership? We are reorganizing the party to make it stronger, to make it a voice that reflects the mode of the people. So I dont think that it is time for leadership yet because the leader will come from a reorganized party, not a leader imposed on a party that is disorganized.

READ ALSO: Former President hosts end of year dinner for NDC bigwigs

A reorganized strong party at the branch level will elect the leader that represents the best interest of our country, he added.

The former Vice president was speaking after he and his wife, Mrs Matilda Amissah-Arthur, made some donations to Children on admission at the Ho Regional and Municipal hospitals in the Volta Region on Monday.

His comment comes after some party members have declared their intention to contest for the flagbearer position in the NDC ahead of the 2020 general elections.

Some of them include the former boss of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Sylvester Mensah, former Vice-Chancellor of the University for Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), Prof. Joshua Alabi, former Trades and Industry Minister, Dr. Ekow Spio Garbrah, former Member of Parliament for La Dadekotopon Nii Amasah Namoale, Member of Parliament for Nadoli Kaleo, Alban Bagbin and Stephen Atubiga.

Meanwhile, former President John Mahama does not seem worried over the number of people expressing interest to lead the party.
According to him, the NPP government could have done much better in one year adding that what Ghanaians expect from the current government is to resolve their problems.

He said Nana Addo has failed Ghanaians since nothing meaningful has happened to the economy.

Speaking to the media in Ho after spending Christmas with his wife Matilda Amissah-Arthur after donations to the children on admission at the Ho Regional and Municipal Hospitals, he said a lot could have been done under the current administration.

He added that most of the programmes of the immediate past National Democratic Congress government that have been adopted and implemented by the NPP government are without the full conceptualization and appreciation of the cost involved.
China depends on Afghanistan and Pakistan to help control Xinjiang's borders, where analysts say Beijing's repressive policies have engendered riots and terrorist attacks by members of the mostly Muslim Uighur ethnic minority that calls the area home, although China disputes the claim.

Beijing regularly accuses exiled Uighur separatist groups such as the shadowy East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) of orchestrating attacks in resource-rich Xinjiang and other parts of China.

It has expressed concern about Uighur militants finding sanctuary in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"We agreed to cooperate in fighting terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and without any distinctions of any sort," said Afghan foreign minister Salahuddin Rabbani after the meeting.

Afghanistan will continue its "resolute fight against ETIM and their support groups and networks, and overall counterterrorism cooperation", he added.

China has long pushed the international community for support in addressing the problem, which it says stems from the infiltration of "radical" religious groups into Xinjiang.

In response, Beijing has placed strict controls on religious practice in the region, turning it into a virtual police state, in a campaign that analysts say has enflamed separatist sentiment.

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said the three parties had reached complete consensus in fighting terrorism, adding that China would also "fully leverage" Xinjiang as a base for economic cooperation with the bordering countries.

China's Belt and Road infrastructure project seeks to revive ancient trade routes, including a massive overland network stretching through Xinjiang and neighbouring Afghanistan and Pakistan towards Europe.

China's expanding economic presence in Pakistan and Afghanistan has also brought some terrorism related setbacks.

This summer two Chinese citizens travelling on business visas to Pakistan were kidnapped in Quetta, the provincial capital of mineral-rich Balochistan province. The Islamic State group claimed responsiblity for killing them.
After landing at the airport in the capital N'Djamena, where he was met by his counterpart Idriss Deby, the two leaders made deals in a number of areas, including income tax, cooperation on youth and sports, technical development, investment and information-sharing, according to a statement by the Chadian presidency.

Erdogan headed a delegation of a dozen ministers, including defence and foreign affairs, as well as 100 Turkish businessmen.

On a trip which the Chadian presidency said would "open a new page in the deepening of relations between the two countries", the two leaders also expressed agreement on key international issues, such as terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

As fresh tensions simmer in the Israeli-occupied West Bank following US President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, Erdogan and Deby said the move could have a negative impact on peace and stability in the region and would entail a risk of completely destroying the foundations for peace.
The FBI Agents Association (FBIAA) reported a "significant uptick" in the number of donations it received in December compared to the same time last year, according to spokesman Paul Nathanson, amid President Donald Trump's repeated efforts to undermine public confidence in the bureau.

"T

Over the past month, Trump has tweeted that the bureau's reputation is "in tatters," attacked the FBI's deputy director, Andrew McCabe, and taken a swipe at the FBI's top lawyer, James Baker.

Following Trump's attacks, Lawfare editor-in-chief Ben Wittes started the hashtag #thanksFBI and urged his 214,000 Twitter followers to donate to the FBIAA, which says its mission "

"I just donated $1,000 to the @FBIAgentsAssoc in their names. I urge others to give as well and tweet that you did so to #thanksFBI."

Several high-profile former intelligence and national-security officials followed suit, including former CIA Director John Brennan and former Homeland Security adviser

ealDonaldTrump fears them, along with the rest of FBI. I just donated to @FBIAgentsAssoc as a small way of saying #thanksFBI. Heres how you can too: https://fbiaa.org/ways-to-donate."

Dozens of Twitter users then screenshot their FBIAA donations, most of which were made in McCabe and Baker's names.

@benjaminwittes @FBIAgentsA... @ Pauli #emo##emo#

@benjaminwittes @FBIAgentsA... @ Xmas Lumpia Jade

#thanksFBI And thanks @benj... @ Amy Maguire

Following @benjaminwittes#emo# ... @ Joe Scarborough

Anyone can be attacked for partisan gain
A Bush administration ethics lawyer says the newly installed FBI director, Chris Wray, is not doing enough to counter President Donald Trump's attacks on the bureau.

"FBI Director Chris Wray in allowing himself and the FBI to be humiliated by Trump and by political hacks in Congress," Richard Painter said on Tuesday. "Wray needs to do his job and tell all of them to cut it out. If Wray can't do that he should resign."

Painter added later: "It's time for Chris Wray to stand up or stand down."

Those comments follow what has been a dramatic escalation in attacks on the FBI and the US Justice Department from Trump and some of his supporters in recent weeks.

The cohort has publicly questioned the political leanings of law-enforcement officials at the highest levels of government in what some observers have characterized as a manifestation of Trump's fears about the federal Russia investigation, which is being led by the special counsel Robert Mueller. The latest example of that came Tuesday when a GOP congressman called for a "purge" at the FBI.

In the past 30 days alone, Trump has tweeted disparaging comments about the FBI 10 times, most recently on Sunday when he shared false information about the wife of Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe.

Wray has not publicly commented on Trump's latest attacks, but according to a December 4 report from The New York Times, Wray once sent an email to FBI employees saying, "We find ourselves under the microscope each and every day  and rightfully so. We do hard work for a living." He urged employees to "continue to keep focused on our critical mission."

"Keep calm and tackle hard," Wray added.
Prince Harry managed to avoid political drama on Wednesday when he refused to reveal the guest list for his wedding during an interview with BBC radio, following speculation that the prince could offend President Donald Trump if he invited former President Barack Obama but not him.

"We haven't put the invites or the guest list together yet, so who knows whether he's going to be invited or not," Harry said when asked if Obama was going to be there. "I wouldn't want to ruin that surprise."

A Christmas Day report from British tabloid The Sun claimed UK government officials were worried that extending an invitation to Obama but not Trump could cause UK relations with the US to deteriorate even further.

"Harry has made it clear he wants the Obamas at the wedding, so it's causing a lot of nervousness," a senior government official reportedly told The Sun. "Trump could react very badly if the Obamas get to a Royal wedding before he has had a chance to meet the Queen."

Following massive protests in June, the UK government put Trump's official state visit on hold for the foreseeable future.

Prince Harry will marry Meghan Markle on Saturday, May 19 at St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, so the two have a few months to get the guest list together. Though the Queen may not attend the wedding, Buckingham Palace will still play a sizeable role in its planning.

How a Trump snub could worsen relations

Fears about the political fallout from a Trump snub in the UK come amid a deepening rift between the two allies.

The spat even fueled speculation that the US president might be be arrested for violating British law if he were to arrive. UK House of Commons Speaker John Bercow said Trump would be barred from speaking in parliament because of the retweets.
The Justice Department has serious and pervasive problems with how it addresses sexual misconduct complaints made by its own employees, the department's inspector general found in a recent report obtained by The Washington Post through Freedom of Information Act requests.

Among DOJ employees determined to have behaved improperly, many received little punishment, maintaining their rank and pay without any suspension, and some even later received performance awards. In his report, the IG found that complaints about sexual harassment, in many cases perpetrated by high-ranking officials, have increased over the last five years, have been consistently mishandled across the country, and require "high level action."

"We're talking about presidential appointees, political appointees, FBI special agents in charge, U.S. attorneys, wardens, a chief deputy U.S. marshal, a U.S. marshal assistant director, a deputy assistant attorney general," Michael Horowitz, DOJ's Inspector General, told The Post.

In one case, Victor Lawrence, a senior attorney in the Office of Immigration Litigation, groped the breasts and buttocks of two female attorneys and made inappropriate sexual comments to them during an office happy hour. This came after he was previously reprimanded for sending sexual emails to colleagues.

Lawrence was eventually reassigned to a different division, which the IG found was given "no notice" of his misconduct, and later given a performance award. He wasn't disciplined with any drop in pay or title.

Another supervisory attorney in the immigration division, Theodore Atkinson, received a written reprimand, a demotion in title, and was prohibited from entering a DOJ building after he stalked a female attorney, hacked into her personal email, and conducted "a catfishing operation" by creating a fake online profile to "entice" her.

Atkinson was moved to a different department within the Civil Division, but was never suspended, did not have his pay or grade reduced, and recently received a "special commendation" award. Atkinson's name was redacted in the version of the report that The Post received, but he was named by sources who spoke with The Post.

Horowitz wrote that Atkinson's case "raises potential criminal concerns, yet we found no evidence that a referral was made to [the Inspector General] or any other law enforcement entity."

Yet another unnamed top attorney still working in the Office of Immigration Litigation allegedly "

"I'm shocked and really disappointed," a female attorney with knowledge of the incidents told The Post. "They got free passes. They got awards. They got to continue with their careers. It sounds like nothing is going to be done."

Horowitz called the department's mishandling of sexual misconduct allegations "systemic."

"Without strong action from the Department to ensure that DOJ employees meet the highest standards of conduct and accountability, the systemic issues we identified in our work may continue," Horowitz wrote in a May 31 memo to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
The woman who is also deceased died on Sunday, October 29, 2017, in a car which belonged to one of her flirty company identified as Lukmon Olowo. They were found dead in his Toyota Corolla vehicle located around the Area G Police Command, Ogba.

However, there have been reports that the second lover Femi, a 35-year-old Disc Jockey was expected to die in place of Olowo.

According to the New Telegraph News, community members resided in the area where the deceased once lived confirmed that Clement's husband had initially laid down a trap for the DJ who was reportedly warned against sleeping with his wife.

Though Femi successfully evaded death in an earlier attempt, he wasn't so lucky in subsequent moves allegedly made by the husband of the late housewife. He suffered an attack during a church service that made it compulsory to have him admitted at a hospital. His father who believed that his condition was beyond a medical attention insisted on having him discharged. His death came shortly after this.

The DJs father moved him from the hospital to a church for prayer. After a while, he was returned to the hospital.

The DJ later died at the hospital. He had since been buried by his family. The church and hospital couldnt say what was wrong with him.

"His death came as a shock to every one of us in the community. In fact, since the death of Lukmon, we have not been seeing Femi in the area," a resident of Clement's community told the New Telegraph.

Confirming the rumours that Clement's husband was responsible for the death of the lovers, another resident said:

I suspected that Femis death was caused by Promises husband. He must have punished Femi for sleeping with his wife.

"Promises husband had before the incident warned Femi several times to stay away from his wife. In fact, when the incident happened, Femi told some of us that the trap that Lukmon fell into, was meant for him.
Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected!
Dzierzek was diagnosed with skin cancer at age 21, and in late April 2015, the then-27-year-old nurse posted a picture of herself, hair wrapped in a towel and face splotched with raw red scabs. "If anyone needs a little motivation to not lay in the tanning bed and sun here ya go!" she wrote. "This is what skin cancer treatment can look like."

"Don't let tanning prevent you from seeing your children grow up," she added. "That's my biggest fear now that I have a two year old boy of my own."

Dzierzek went on to explain that, in high school, she used tanning beds frequentlysometimes as much as four times per week. By the time she hit her late twenties, she'd had basal cell carcinomagrowths or lesions that look like open soresfive times and squamous cell carcinomaraised, wart-like growthsonce. Nearly every time she visited her dermatologist, which was once or twice a year, she had a cancerous growth removed, she wrote. While she'd been lucky enough to avoid potentially deadly melanoma, Dzierzek said, the damage she did incur still left its marks on her face.

At the time, the post sparked conversationand since then, it's had been shared over 100,000 times and generated 17,000 comments. Not bad, right? Well, turns out those shares may have had a huge impact: According to a study by researchers at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Google searches for "skin" and "cancer" spiked in the aftermath of the post: Search queries were up 162 percent on May 13, 2015, 155 percent on May 14, and sustained momentum through May 17, the period when Dzierzek's selfies garnered media attention. All told, searches for skin-cancer prevention were 232 percent higher than usual, while searches for skin cancer and tanning came in 489 percent higher.

"When the public sees 'real' stories, they gravitate toward them," the study's co-author, San Diego State's John W. Ayers, Ph.D., said. "It turns out that when people speak up to share their stories, their voices can resonate far more than we had imagined."

The study's lead author, UNC School of Media and Journalism professor Seth Noar, Ph.D., agreed.

"A growing body of research shows that stories can be very impactfulmore impactful than didactic informationin delivering a health message," Noar said. "This event was really a perfect storm of a compelling story and graphic selfie, which seems to have led this Facebook post to go viral."

Since the study came out, Dzierzek has shared coverage on her Facebook page.
You certainly were not alone in this agony.

What does Nigeria need to do to break out of this endless cycle of petrol scarcity especially around Christmas time?

What do we need to do as a nation to prevent this suffering that comes with petrol scarcity from recurring?

Heres a list of six commonsense solutions our leaders dont want to think about.

1. Liberalise the market

Government has no business running any business. Yeah, you read that right.

The petroleum downstream sector is a huge business that should be weaned off government control. Yes, crude oil accounts for over 70 percent of government revenue, but that doesnt mean government should continue to dictate what happens in the sector.

A country where the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) still imports petrol for everyone, is not a serious country.

The NNPC doesnt even have the capacity or the storage facilities to continue with this herculean endeavor. Why then dont we allow Uche, Musa, Effiong and Babatunde to venture into the business, import petrol and sell as the market dictates?

Petrol is a product. Economics says if Mr. A, B, C and D all sell the same product, competition will someday make Mr. C sell at a lower price to beat Mr. A.

Its called market forces.

Demand and supply is what drives any economy. Not government regulation.

Yes, petrol pump price could spike initially in a deregulated market, but someday, competition could force pump price of petrol down like every other product in the market.

Besides, the NNPC would also be a player in this market and could decide to sell its own petrol at government subsidized, friendly price.

But to allow the NNPC to continue as the sole importer of petrol in a government regulated market is economic madness.

2. Refine our own petrol

Point me to another country that exports crude oil and imports the finished product.

Nigeria is a basket case. Literally.

A sorry case, I beg your pardon.

We have refineries in Warri, Port Harcourt and Kaduna that cant cater to our domestic needs because corruption has made them comatose.

In any case, the refineries are probably so outdated right now that even a turnaround maintenance cant bring them to life.

To get out of this perennial fuel scarcity, Nigeria has to begin to produce and refine the petrol it consumes. Its not rocket science.

The reason we have scarcity now is because NNPC imports petrol. So, the product is sometimes inadequate or remains at sea for God knows how long, or is subject to the whims and caprices of the international market.

Our refineries have to start working. Nigeria has to refine its petrol and not sell its crude and import same. That is the definition of idiocy.

Private firms should be handed licenses to run modular and standard refineries alongside government ones. If we have as little as 100 refineries serving the domestic market, we won't be here.

Well keep having this problem every time the landing price of petrol at the port goes above the government approved pump price.

I wont import petrol for N175/liter and sell for N145/liter because Buhari says so.

One of the mantras of the Buhari administration is we must produce what we consume and consume what we produce.

That isnt happening in the downstream sector at the moment. Time to fix up.

3. Deal with the marketers

Independent marketers are so powerful, they can decide to store the product in depots or tank farms while anticipating a price hike from government in the New Year.

Thats one of the reasons why we keep having these shortages of gas.

The action of the marketers is called economic sabotage and economic sabotage is a crime.

I have been buying a liter of petrol at a nondescript gas station near my house for N200 per liter since this latest crisis began.

Basically because I need to power my generator to be able to write for Pulse, I end up at this petrol station where attendants take me behind the scenes, point me to gallons of petrol and ask me to buy petrol above the government approved pump price.

I and other buyers do nothing because we have no choice in the matter.

This is what happens across the land. There is petrol, but it makes more economic sense to the marketers to hoard, make the product scarce and sell at a higher price. When demand surpasses supply, prices go up.

Thats where we are right now. Theres demand, artificial scarcity and greed from marketers. Its the perfect recipe for queues at gas stations.

The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and relevant government agencies need to arrest some major and minor marketers and make them cool their heels in jail for a while, just to serve as a deterrent.

Otherwise, well be back here in December 2018.

4. Kill corruption

One of the biggest challenges confronting Nigeria is the scale of corruption across all sectors of the economy.

The oil sector is no different.

Petrol tankers divert the product meant for the Nigerian market to neighbouring countries by paying off Customs officials or other border patrol units.

Its more profitable selling Nigerian petrol in Benin or Niger than selling same in a government regulated market back home.

This has been going on for years and its something weve got to stop.

5. NNPC has to improve storage facilities

So, NNPC imports this petrol and because it has no capacity to store the volume of petrol it imports, it hands the task of storage to major marketers.

Some of these major marketers wait for December when the demand for petrol is high and strike. They make more money by telling you and I that theres little petrol in their tank farms.

They then sell the product at the black market while you and I sweat it out on long, agonising queues. Its a vicious cycle.

Why cant the NNPC have as much as it can manage and call off the bluff of these independent marketers?

Why does the NNPC need to come to Apapa to get petrol that would be distributed round the country when it can establish depots in all major cities that would serve adjoining towns?

ALSO READ:

Why do we need tankers to lift petrol from Lagos when we can distribute petrol through sophisticated and secure underground pipes across Nigeria?

The NNPC seriously needs to up its game.

Until the corporation proves to the independent marketers that it can do this business without them, Nigeria wont get out of this scarcity problem.

6. Buhari has to hand over petroleum ministry

I have so Im going to be very brief on this one.

The president has no business keeping the role of substantive petroleum minister for himself. Its a huge task that one shouldnt combine with running what is a difficult country.

Buhari has to trust Kachikwu with the job of overseeing this ministry or hand over the ministry to someone else he can trust.
In his words: In view of the shortage of petrol throughout the country it is indubitably clear that Messrs Kachukwu and Baru deliberately set out to deceive the Nigerian people when they gave the misleading impression that there was enough fuel to cater for all consumers.

On December 7, 2017, the federal executive council (FEC) was reported to have ordered the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the ministry of petroleum resources to address the fuel scarcity in some parts of the country at the material time.

The decision was conveyed to Nigerians by the minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed at the end of the FEC meeting which held in Abuja on that day.

The minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachukwu who could not attend the meeting was said to have given FEC assurance that there was no cause for alarm. According to Mr. Mohammed, Kachikwu had told the FEC that there was enough fuel in the country to last till January 2018. And that there was no intention by the federal government to increase the pump price of fuel.

Nigerians were also informed that the group managing director of NNPC, Maikanti Baru, had cut short his trip to London as queues returned to the countrys filling stations.

Before leaving for London, Baru had said, For the umpteenth time, I wish to call on all Nigerians to stop panic buying. We have said times without number that NNPC has sufficient products to cater for the needs of all consumers.

Baru was further reported to have directed that more truckloads of petroleum products be dispatched to various parts of the country to cushion the effects of excessive demand caused by panic buying, the statement said.

Continuing, Falana said: Since the assurance was given over three weeks ago, the fuel crisis has been compounded without any solution in sight.

Up till now, both highly placed officials have not tendered a public apology for engaging in public deceit. Neither has the substantive minister of petroleum resources, President Muhammadu Buhari explained the cause of the ongoing fuel crisis which has subjected the Nigerian people to untold misery and agony.

Although the federal government has continued to assure the nation that there is no plan to increase the price of petrol, the independent marketers have said that they can no longer import refined fuel and sell at N145 per litre.

Convinced that the government lacks the political will to deal with them the marketers have illegally increased the pump price of the product to N300 per litre in several parts of the country.

The cheap blackmail of the importers ought to be rejected because they were importing the product, selling at N145 per litre and smiling to the banks when a dollar exchanged for over N500 last year.
Ashikeni explained that apart from the children vaccinated against polio, the same number of under five children were provided with vitamin A vaccine across the country.

He said that not less than 800,000 of them were also dewormed during the exercise that lasted for one week.

According to him, the Vitamin A which the children receive twice in a year will help to improve vision and boost their immunities.

The secretary disclosed that Nutrition Screening was also conducted for the children with a view to treat those children that were malnourished in the territory.

We gave virtually all vaccines required for children during the one week exercise including BCG.

We had 90 per cent coverage across the FCT because of huge awareness creation and media sensitisation before the commencement of the programme in November.

We even received a lot of calls from residents, asking us to come to their houses to immunise their children.

There was some pockets of non-compliance in our October SIPD because of the rumour of monkey pox in the territory that time but that has been corrected and people really came out for this vaccination, he said.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some of the motorists that NAN correspondent met at the filing station on Wednesday morning were busy washing their faces with water.

One of the motorists, Bolaji Oguntuase, told NAN that he was disappointed with the fuel marketers for hoarding the product and making them to suffer under the sun all day.

He said many of the marketers had fuel, but deliberately decided not to sell to create artificial fuel scarcity.

 I slept inside my car outside the compound of NNPC before I could buy fuel this morning, he said.

Another motorist, Bidemi Owolabi, said he did not expect the marketers to punish motorists by hoarding fuel.

He called for understanding of the marketers, saying that inadequate fuel in circulation could distabilise all forms of businesses in the state.

Owolabi said most of them had to sleep in filing stations, while others bought from black markets to carry on with their daily business.

He said BOVAS and NNPC were the two filing stations that were consistent in selling fuel.

The State Commissioner for Information, Youth and Sports, Mr Lanre Ogunsuyi, described the situation as unfortunate.

He expressed displeasure that Ekiti residents could go through the problem.

Ogunsuyi said the state government had appealed to the fuel marketers not add to the sufferings of the people by inflating the price of fuel and hoarding the commodity as well.

I am so much disappointed at the attitude of the marketers who are hoarding this fuel, they should have sympathy on the people and sell the fuel to them.

We have been appealing to the fuel marketers to sell to the people, but we cannot force them with task force because it is only the Federal Government that has the power to punish or close any filing stations that refuses to sell, he said.
The Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), CSP Moshood Jimoh, told NAN that the practice was against the police rules and regulations.

Anybody found selling police uniforms in the open market would be arrested and prosecuted because it is against the police rules and regulations, Jimoh said.

He also said that it would be wrong for any policeman in the rank and file and Inspector category to say that he or she obtained uniforms from the open market.

It is not correct. I wouldnt know who you must have spoken with, but it is not the practice in the Nigeria Police Force for policemen to obtain their uniforms from the open market,he said.

He explained that Inspectors and rank and rifle under this category were entitled to be issued uniforms by the Nigeria Police Force.

The spokesman said that senior police officers were expected to buy their uniforms from the officers shop of the force.

The rank and file are not to buy their uniforms whether outside or within the force.

If anybody wants additional uniforms aside the ones issued, he or she does not have to go to the open market to buy.

He said that uniforms allowances were already paid to officers from the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police to the rank of Inspector-General of Police.

He said that Inspectors and rank and file are being issued uniforms periodically through their station officers and the Quartermaster of their various commands with the approval of the Inspector-General of Police.

On bail, Jimoh urged members of the public to resist demand by any police officer to pay money for bail, as it is free.

The public should resist any demand from any police officer to pay money for bail because bail is absolutely free,he said.

He explained that offences that were not bailable at the level of the police could only be granted by the court.

Jimoh said that the police could not admit suspects to bail for offences such as murder, armed robbery, arson and rape.

He said that the police could only admit suspects to bail in cases such as theft or minor offences where they had the discretion.

He said that the force had launched so many campaigns in the past on the issue of bail.

Recently, the Inspector-General of Police reintroduced another strategy for spreading the campaign by distributing flyers and stickers to members of the public."

We want Nigerians to know that bail is free, absolutely, and if anybody tries to extort money from them they should report through the avenues provided, the police spokesman said.
In a statement released by the corporation's spokesperson, Ndu Ughamadu, on Wednesday, December 27, 2017, the corporation said the accusation by DAPPMA was unfounded as it is still supplying DAPPMA members despite a N26.7 billion debt.

On Tuesday, December 26, DAPPMA had accused the NNPC of being responsible for the fuel crisis, indicating that it is as a result of the corporation assuming the role of 'sole importer'.

In its Wednesday reply, NNPC said DAPPMA's inability to competently carry out its role in the distribution chain was the reason why it has become the sole supplier of petrol to the Nigerian market.

The statement read, "DAPPMA had taken receipts of products from Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of NNPC, and owed the company to the tune of N26.7 billion as at December 21, 2017.

"The statement by DAPPMA that the current hiccups in the supply of products was due to the inability of the Direct Sales Direct Purchase (DSDP) partners of NNPC to deliver on their business obligations is unfounded and self-indicting as many of DAPPMA members patronise the same DSDP international counterparts as the corporation.

"Despite the concession by the government giving access to DAPPMA to obtain FOREX at an official rate of N305 per dollar for petrol import, their members have not been able to do so, leaving NNPC as the sole supplier of petrol to the Nigerian market."

NNPC promises to end fuel scarcity soon

In his statement Ughamadu further promised Nigerians that the corporation is doing its best to put a definite end to the crisis.

He said, "NNPC assures the public that despite the increase it effected in the supply of petrol in December 2017, it has, nonetheless, programmed to supply 1.2 billion litres of the white products in January 2018, translating to about 40 million litres of petrol supply per day.

"This will translate to about 40 million litres of PMS supply per day, against about 700 trucks (about 27million  30million) litres per day that Nigerians ordinarily consumes.

"The NNPC will continue to maintain exdepot price of N133.28 per litre, which guarantees the pump price not exceeding the N145 per litre capped by the government.

"All stakeholders are implored to support the efforts of government to bring a speedy end to the current fuel distribution challenges being experienced in parts of the country. This is not the time to play the blame game."

Fuel scarcity crisis

The country has been plagued with the crippling crisis of fuel scarcity since the opening week of December, with fuel queues at filling stations growing longer every passing day.

The NNPC has made several promises to solve the problem with the commission blaming the problem as a sabotage by marketers who are hoarding fuel.

On Sunday, December 24, 2017, a combined team of the NNPC, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and security agents uncovered illegal reservoirs of fuel in Abuja.

Hundreds of jerry cans, 200-litre drums, and 500 litre tanks were uncovered in a sting operation by the team in the city center.

Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr Maikanti Baru, said it was saddening to make such discoveries in the city center when less than 500 meters away, motorists were on endless queues.
In a press statement released in Owerri on Tuesday, December 26, 2017, the governor told party members to be proud and boastful of the achievements of the party and expect to be rewarded for it at the polls.

He said the APC administration has surpassed the previous governments and will return to power in the 2019 general elections, both in the state and national levels.

The statement read, "The governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha has called on leaders and members of All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state to remain steadfast and also be proud that their party is in power both in the state and at the federal level.

"The governor equally told the party members to be boastful of the monumental achievements of the party's administration in the state which have exceeded all that the administrations before him had achieved.

"He assured the party members that APC would retain power in the state and at the national level for a long time and urged them to disregard the claims by other parties that they would return to power in 2019.
Nasralla conceded on December 22 shortly after Honduras' key ally Washington endorsed Hernandez's re-election, following a month of deadly street clashes.

Former president Manuel Zelaya, coordinator of the leftist alliance opposed to Hernandez, filed the appeal with the Supreme Electoral Tribunal late Tuesday.

Zelaya, who was ousted in a bloodless coup in 2009, cited "the fraud in the vote counting, the alteration and falsification of precinct vote results" among other irregularities that resulted in Hernandez's triumph over Nasralla, the "legitimate victor."

Early vote returns in the November election showed a strong Nasralla victory, but vote counting then slowed down and took more than a week to complete, with mysterious breaks in the process.

'Poor quality'

International monitors from both the Organization of American States and the European Union noted irregularities in the process. The OAS said the election process had been of "poor quality" and endorsed opposition calls for a re-election before Nasralla conceded.

According to election officials, the final results showed the conservative Hernandez winning with 42.95 percent of the vote, over Nasralla's 41.42 percent.

After the results were announced, protesters took to the streets where they clashed with police and troops who fired tear gas to try to disperse the demonstrations.

Zelaya's Opposition Alliance Against the Dictatorship said that 34 people were killed in the street clashes, and the United Nations voiced concern over "excessive use of force."

When he conceded last week, Nasralla said that if the United States -- Honduras' biggest trade partner and aid donor -- was siding with his opponent, he had little chance of success.

"With the decision by Washington, I am no longer in the running," he told HCH television station at the time.

The senior US State Department official had told AFP that Washington had not seen "anything that alters the final result that the (electoral authority) has come out with."

Hernandez, 49, stood for re-election against Nasralla, a 64-year-old former TV presenter, despite a constitutional ban on presidents having more than one term.

His conservative National Party said that rule was scrapped by a 2015 Supreme Court ruling.
"It appears that Jadhav was under considerable stress and speaking in an atmosphere of coercion," the Indian foreign ministry said in a statement shortly after top Indian officials debriefed his family in New Delhi.

The ministry alleged that Jadhav's conversation during the meeting was "tutored and designed to perpetuate the false narrative of his alleged activities in Pakistan."

Pakistani officials say Jadhav, who was arrested in the restive southwestern province of Balochistan, confessed to spying for Indian intelligence, and describe him as "the face of Indian terrorism in Pakistan".

Jadhav was found guilty in a closed trial by a military court and sentenced to death on charges of espionage and terrorism.

India took the case to the International Court of Justice which suspended his execution until it passes final judgement in the case.

Pictures released by the Pakistan government on Monday showed Jadhav and his family speaking through a glass barrier at the foreign ministry in Islamabad.

An Indian diplomat was present during the meeting, which lasted 40 minutes, but was not allowed to talk to the prisoner or listen to the conversation with his family.

New Delhi said Pakistan disrespected the cultural and religious sensibilities of Jadhav's family, alleging they were asked to change their clothes, and that his wife was ordered to remove her "mangal sutra" -- a necklace worn by married Hindu women.

The Indian foreign ministry added that Pakistani authorities did not return the shoes Jadhav's wife was ordered to remove.

It also accused Islamabad of allowing local journalists to "harass and hector" the Jadhav family, violating an understanding between Islamabad and New Delhi to not allow the media "close" access.

India also raised concerns over Jadhav's health, although he was seen sitting up in the grainy pictures. Pakistani officials said he was in good health.

New Delhi has maintained that Jadhav is innocent and that he was kidnapped by Pakistani authorities, also accusing Islamabad of violating the Vienna Convention by denying Jadhav consular access.

The nuclear-armed neighbours routinely accuse one another of sending spies into their countries.
After landing at the airport in the capital N'Djamena, where he was met by his counterpart Idriss Deby, the two leaders made deals in a number of areas, including income tax, cooperation on youth and sports, technical development, investment and information-sharing, according to a statement by the Chadian presidency.

On a trip which the Chadian presidency said would "open a new page in the deepening of relations between the two countries", the two leaders also expressed agreement on key international issues, such as terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

As fresh tensions simmer in the Israeli-occupied West Bank following US President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, Erdogan and Deby said the move could have a negative impact on peace and stability in the region and would entail a risk of completely destroying the foundations for peace.
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Under the contract awarded by the projects design-build contractor Laurson & Toubro, India, CAF will provide 18 seven-section Urbos low-floor LRVs, together with signalling, an automatic vehicle location system, transit system signal priority system, depot equipment, and a driving simulator.

The initial 13km section of the route from Port Louis to Rose Hill is scheduled to open in 2019, with the remainder of the line to Curepipe due for commissioning in 2021.
Jim has decades of railroading experience and the Board is confident of his ability to lead the company, says CSX chairman Mr Edward Kelly III. He has already had a markedly positive impact.

I worked alongside Hunter for over a decade and his pioneering approach to railroading unlocked significant efficiencies and value, and we remain focused on delivering on this vision for CSX, our customers and our shareholders, says Foote. The execution of Precision Scheduled Railroading is well underway, with the most critical components of the implementation completed and beginning to generate measurable operating improvement.

Foote began his railway career in 1972 as a labourer in the mechanical department of Soo Line Railroad. For nine years, he worked full time in operating positions with Soo Line and Chicago North Western while earning his undergraduate and law degrees.

Foote joined Canadian National Railway (CN) in 1995 as vice-president of investor relations to assist with CNs privatisation. He then served as executive vice-president, sales and marketing. Foote became president and CEO of Bright Rail Energy, a company set up in 2012 to design, develop and sell products that allow railways to convert locomotives to natural gas power. Foote joined CSX as executive vice-president and COO in October 2017.
Brightline, the in-process South Florida private passenger service operator, announced the U.S. Department of Transportation approved a $1.15 billion Private Activity Bond allocation, and that Brightline also secured the final two South Florida Water Management District permits needed to construct the planned high-speed segment between Orlando and Cocoa.

The company said it plans to start construction on the Phase 2 high-speed line in early 2018.

In another major step forward for Brightlines Phase 2 extension to Orlando, U.S. DOT approved a $1.15 billion Private Activity Bond allocation, said Dave Howard, Brightlines Chief Executive. After a successful $600 million PAB closing this week, we are pleased to have this financing option available. We appreciate the leadership of U.S. DOT as they work to move major infrastructure projects forward, creating thousands of jobs and stimulating hundreds of millions of dollars in economic development.

A Private Activity Bond allocation typically comprises tax-exempt bonds issued by or on behalf of local or state government for the purpose of providing special financing benefits for qualified projects. The financing is most often for projects of a private user, and the government generally does not pledge its credit.

Brightline said it is still analyzing all financing options for Phase 2, including a Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing loan. With all federal approvals in place, Brightline is finalizing the engineering and design for the rail infrastructure. Additionally, it is working on the installation of a new signal system and Positive Train Control (PTC) for the entire system between Miami and Orlando. PTC will be in place between Miami and West Palm Beach in 2018 and will be operational along the entire 235-mile route at the time the extension to Orlando opens.

Brightlines station in Orlando is planned for the Orlando International Airports new Intermodal Terminal Facility that will be the hub of the future South Terminal complex.

The company said it continues working toward operational readiness with the Federal Railroad Administration for the launch of introductory service between West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale, and will release details soon.
Gazprombank demands $19 mln from Russian lawyer

MOSCOW, December 27 (RAPSI)  Gazprombank has filed a petition with the Moscow Region Commercial Court seeking to include a 1.1-billion-ruble debt ($19 million) of businessman and lawyer Dmitry Yakubovsky in the list of creditors' claims, according to court records.

The application will be considered on February 15.

On December 15, the court initiated a debt restructuring process against Yakubovsky. His 2.2-billion-ruble debt (about $38 million) to a regional inspection office of the Federal Tax Service has been also added to the creditors list.

The lawyers bankruptcy hearing has been set for March 20.

Yakubovsky acted as a TV host, a lecturer in Moscows Griboyedov Institute of International Law and Economy, a chairman of Presidium of the First Moscow Bar Association. Since 2007, he has run real estate development business. Yakubovsky owns the Swiss company Engelberg Industrial Group.
Russian prosecutor demands 11 years in prison for NYC socialite Janna Bullock

MOSCOW, December 27 (RAPSI, Lyudmila Klenko)  A prosecutor has asked the Basmanny District Court of Moscow to sentence the U.S. citizen and real estate mogul Janna Bullock charged in Russia with embezzling about 11 billion rubles (about $190 million) to 11 years in prison in absentia, the courts spokesperson Yunona Tsareva has told RAPSI.

Sentencing of Bullock has been scheduled for January 23, according to the courts representative.

Defense objected to the prosecutors position saying that the demanded term is indecent, lawyer Shamil Arifulov told RAPSI.

The court began considering the case against the New York socialite in May. Russias investigators believe that Bullock along with her ex-husband, former Moscow Region Finance Minister Alexey Kuznetsov, and other accomplices embezzled over 11 billion rubles from several organizations in the Moscow Region between 2005 and 2008.

According to the Prosecutor Generals Office, the U.S. authorities have dismissed a request for Bullocks extradition to Russia. Therefore, she is being tried in absentia.

Bullock has made a name for herself on New Yorks real estate and social scenes. She was described in a 2010 New York Post article as a gorgeous and [glamorous] real estate mogul [who] rose from Brighton Beach baby sitter to New Yorks best-known Russian socialite without anyone knowing much about her private life or past.

In 2012, The New York Times described her as a glamorous Russian-born real estate developer and art scene fixture who retreated from life on the party circuit to spend nearly two years combatting accusations against her and her husband.
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Questions on the efficacy of the governments drive towards filing of more returns by individuals and on whether raising tax exemption levels has led to reduced compliance in filing of returns by those who go out of the tax net, says A K Bhattacharya.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes may (CBDT) celebrate the arrival of acche din with the latest income-tax returns data showing a 23.5 per cent increase in the number of individuals reporting an annual gross total income of over Rs 1 crore to 59,830.

But it may also need to closely examine the rapid decline in the number of returns by individuals who are at the lower ranges of reported income.

This raises questions on the efficacy of the governments drive towards filing of more returns by individuals and on whether raising tax exemption levels has led to reduced compliance in filing of returns by those who go out of the tax net.

In 2012-13, the share of returns by individuals declaring an annual gross total income of less than Rs 250,000 was 43 per cent of the 33.58 million returns filed that year.

In the following year, the last year of the Manmohan Singh government, that share declined to 37 per cent of the 36.51 million returns filed.

And during 2014-15, the first year of the Modi government, the share of such returns dropped to a low 20 per cent of the 40.73 million returns filed by individuals. The absolute numbers are even more startling.

Individuals with an annual gross total income of less than Rs 250,000 filed 14.71 million returns in 2012-13.

The figures for 2013-14 and 2014-15 were 13.71 million and 8.19 million, respectively, showing a drop of 7 per cent and a whopping 40 per cent.

The decline during this period is also noticeable in each of the four sub-categories of an annual gross total income of below Rs 250,000.

The number of returns has been steadily declining even for those individuals who declared zero income, those who earned less than Rs 150,000, those who earned between Rs 150,000 and Rs 200,000 and also those who reported an income between Rs 200,000 and Rs 250,000.

These numbers have been released by the CBDT through its latest report on income-tax return statistics for the 2015-16 assessment year.

An assessment year captures income earned in the previous year.

Gross total income is what taxpayers report to the income-tax authorities in their annual returns and this amount includes salary, income from house property, income from business/profession, capital gains, and income from other sources.

Tax experts point out that this sharp decline could be attributed to two factors. One, many individuals may be graduating to the higher-income ranges with every passing year.

Indeed, almost all income ranges above Rs 250,000 (barring a couple of high-income ranges) have seen a steady rise in the number of returns in these three years.

For instance, the number of returns by individuals earning between Rs 250,000 and Rs 500,000 in 2014-15 stood at 21.45 million.

This represented a rise of 55 per cent over 13.84 million returns filed by the same group of individuals in 2013-14. Growth in returns filed by this group in 2013-14 was just 20 per cent over the previous year.

According to such analysis, the decline in the number of returns in the category below Rs 250,000 has been more than made good by the rise in the returns filed under higher-income categories.

In effect, this has improved the tax administrations productivity with a rise in revenue collections per return.

The second factor cited by these tax experts is the governments decision to raise the tax exemption level from Rs 180,000 to Rs 200,000 (Rs 250,000 for those above 60 years of age) in 2012-13 and further to Rs 250,000 (Rs 300,000 for those above 60 years of age) in 2014-15.

These decisions implied that a large number of individuals, including senior citizens, were no longer required to file returns as they fell below the tax exemption level.

That could be one reason for the decline in the number of returns among those who had annual gross total incomes of less than Rs 250,000.

The challenge that the CBDT will have to grapple with in the coming days would be to prevent any further erosion in the tax returns base as and when the government further raises the exemption levels.

What needs to be done to encourage individuals to continue filing returns will have to be examined.

Tax experts admit that one of the pitfalls of raising tax exemption levels is the loss of the tax base and taxpayers data.

Growing middle: 2.95 mn Indians with income of over Rs 10 lakh

In sharp contrast to this decline in the number of returns from lower income-earning individuals is the rise in the category of those who have been earning over Rs 1 crore.

Their number at 59,830 during 2014-15 represented a jump of 23.57 per cent over 48,417 such individuals in 2013-14.

The increase stands out particularly because the number of individuals with an annual gross total income of over Rs 1 crore grew at a much lower rate of 10 per cent in 2013-14, the last year of the Manmohan Singh government.

The latest data also provide interesting pointers to the reported income levels in India.

For instance, how many individuals in this country are reporting an annual gross total income of over Rs 50 lakh?

The CBDT data reveal that in 2014-15 there were as many as 176,741 individuals who reported an annual gross total income of over Rs 50 lakh.

Significantly, their number went up by 20 per cent over 147,232 such individuals in 2013-14. In 2012-13, this figure was 124,798, showing how the top income earners in India have been growing in this period.

The number of individuals reporting an annual gross total income of over Rs 10 lakh was higher at 2.95 million in 2014-15.

Compare that with the steadily rising numbers of such individuals (2.44 million in 2013-14 and 2.02 million in 2012-13), you can get a sense of the forces of Indias growth in the consumption of cars, two-wheelers, and a host of white goods like refrigerators and air-conditioners.

Growth is a little higher at the lower end. The number of individuals with an annual gross total income of over Rs 5 lakh in 2014-15 rose almost 24 per cent at 11.08 million.

In 2013-14, growth for this group, estimated at 8.95 million, was lower at 22 per cent.

This also underlines the skew in Indias income profile. Indias per capita income in 2014-15 was only Rs 86,454, estimated by the Central Statistics Office, and the average household income was Rs 160,000, estimated by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, or CMIE.

Long-term capital gains

The CBDT numbers also have serious implications for the future treatment of capital gains from the taxation point of view.

Total long-term capital gains reported by all taxpayers rose to an estimated Rs 84,847 crore in 2014-15, a 31 per cent rise over Rs 64,521 crore in 2013-14.

In 2012-13, total long-term capital gains were estimated at Rs 49,154 crore.

However, companies have reported a much higher rise of 44 per cent in their long-term capital gains at Rs 41,735 crore in 2014-15.

The increase in 2013-14 was much higher at 75 per cent with long-term capital gains of Rs 28,899 crore.

Individuals showed a lower level of long-term capital gains of Rs 37,269 crore in 2014-15, recording a lower growth rate of 18 per cent over Rs 31,631 crore in 2013-14.

A similar trend of companies accounting for the largest chunk prevailed in respect of short-term capital gains as well.

If the government does indeed consider removing the concessional tax treatment for long-term capital gains, companies will take a bigger hit.

And even among individuals, the burden will be borne largely by those earning an annual gross total income between Rs 1 crore and Rs 5 crore, who accounted for about one-fourth of such gains in 2014-15.

The CBDT data also show how individuals reported a much lower house property income of Rs 27,221 crore, a decline of 39 per cent over the previous year.

The real estate slowdown seems to have adversely affected individual income growth also.

Photograph: Reuters
The ministry also wants to extend support to states through a special provision from the proposed Rs 25,000 crore fund for electric bus and personal rapid transport initiatives.

Planning to decongest cities and improve transportation, the Union road transport ministry has sought an additional Rs 25,000 crore as budgetary support for 2018-19.

Union Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari recently wrote to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley seeking around 18 per cent increase in budgetary allocation for his ministry.

For 2017-18, the government allocated Rs 64,900 crore to the ministry of road transport and highways.

The Rs 25,000 crore sought for 2018-19 is in addition to Rs 79,000 crore the ministry has asked for other programmes.

The government is also likely to announce a Rs 2,000 crore plan for procurement of electric buses in the forthcoming Union Budget.

The road transport ministry is looking at decongesting major cities, supporting innovative solutions like personal rapid transport and electric buses, developing bus ports, and assisting state transport undertakings in improving their bus fleets.

The ministry has also drawn up Rs 15,000 crore plan to decongest cities.

The plan is to decongest cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru through innovation in urban transportation. The states require financial aid for this from the central government, which cannot be met through the standard budgetary support the ministry receives every year, an official said.

The ministry also wants to extend support to states through a special provision from the proposed Rs 25,000 crore fund for electric bus and personal rapid transport initiatives.

Of this, Rs 2,000 crore will be for the procurement of electric buses. An equal amount will be spent on promoting personal rapid transport like pod taxis.

The government will soon seek expressions of interest for launching the countrys first driverless pod taxi system on a 70 km stretch from Dhaula Kuan in Delhi to Manesar in Haryana.

The Centre also envisages development of bus ports in collaboration with states in major cities and plans to set aside Rs 2,000 crore as part of viability gap funding for the purpose.

The road ministry has envisaged a model of operation for state transport undertakings on the lines of Transport for London, a local government body responsible for the transport system in Greater London.

In the plan, state transport undertakings will not incur any capital cost in buying fleets of buses and will instead invite tenders from companies seeking a guaranteed number of kilometers a bus will ply per day.

The fare will be decided by the state government, which will, in turn, be supported by the Centre.

Photograph: B Mathur/Reuters
Fifteen stations might be taken up in the first stage with an investment of Rs 6,000-7,000 crore.

The Ministry of Railways is set to approach the Cabinet in January to overhaul the Rs 1-lakh-crore station redevelopment plan that would increase the lease period for a developer to 99 years.

The move, which would give the real estate sector a boost, would also give more financial independence to Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation (IRSDC) and the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA), including powers to raise money from the markets for station redevelopment.

The ministry is floating a Cabinet note for inter-ministerial consultation to take the opinion of the finance and law ministries.

"We expect the policy to be cleared by the second half of January, said a source close to the development.

The government had gone ahead with the decision to overhaul the station redevelopment policy despite lukewarm response from industry for a tender floated for 23 stations.

Industry majors such as the Tata group, Shapoorji Pallonji group, GMR, the Essel group and L&T had raised their concerns over the terms of the policy with Railway Minister Piyush Goyal in October.

According to the proposed policy, IRSDC will be the nodal agency for station redevelopment.

The company can raise money from the market and invest in engineering, procurement and construction contracts.

After getting all clearances, IRSDC would invite private players for commercial development, which according to the Railways would reduce the risk factor for an investor.

We are looking at 400 prospective stations for this. The move is to instill confidence among investors.

"Once railway subsidiaries like IRSDC and RLDA invest Rs 20-30 crore on each project, the new investor can chip in, he said.

Fifteen stations might be taken up in the first stage with an investment of Rs 6,000-7,000 crore.

The policy might also appeal to real estate majors, as a developer can now use 20 per cent of the redeveloped area on the station for residential purposes.

The remaining 80 per cent would be used for commercial purposes.

However, the new policy might not be applicable for stations such as Habibganj, Kozhikode, and Jammu, for which contracts have already been awarded.

According to the earlier policy, private players were supposed to come up with a design through the Swiss challenge mode.

But the railways might now appoint architects to come up with a few standard designs.

As part of giving more financial autonomy to IRSDC, it was converted into an equal joint venture between Ircon and the Railway Land Development Authority early this year.

Before that, it was an Ircon subsidiary. IRSDCs annual general meeting on September 25 cleared the sale of one per cent of Ircons stake in the company to RLDA for about Rs 40 lakh.

Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters
Under fixed-term employment, workers are entitled to all statutory benefits available to a permanent worker in the same factory. However, employers may not give notice to a fixed-term worker on non-renewal or expiry of his or her contract.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is exploring the possibility of bringing back a controversial proposal to allow industries to hire workers on fixed-term contracts.

The move, if given a go-ahead, will allow industries to employ workers for short assignments and terminate their services once the projects are completed.

We have received representations from various industries to allow flexibility in hiring workers in seasonal jobs.

"The latest demand has come from the food-processing industry. Instead of giving sector-wise relaxation, we may look at allowing fixed-term employment for all the industries, said a senior labour and employment ministry official, requesting anonymity.

The Union Cabinet had approved a special package for the footwear, leather, and accessories sector on December 15.

The package included allowing fixed-term employment in these sectors in order to attract large scale investments at global scale.

In October last year, the Ministry of Labour and Employment had notified changes to the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Central Rules, 1946, allowing the apparel manufacturing sector to hire workers on fixed-term contracts.

Under fixed-term employment, workers are entitled to all statutory benefits available to a permanent worker in the same factory.

The benefits include the same working hours, wages, and allowances.

However, employers may not give notice to a fixed-term worker on non-renewal or expiry of his or her contract.

In addition, employers can directly hire a worker for a fixed-term without mediation by a contractor.

It is a win win situation for both worker and employer as on one hand, it provides flexibility for employing workers as per the demands of the market and on the other hand, it ensures worker hired gets equal benefits and working condition at par with the permanent employee, the ministry of labour and employment had said in a statement in October last year, while announcing fixed-term employment in the apparel sector.

Companies in seasonal work usually refrain from hiring permanent workers for project-based jobs because termination requires going through the process of retrenchment under the Industrial Disputes Act.

This includes giving notice, paying compensation, and intimating the government.

The NDA government had mooted allowing fixed-term employment in April 2015 by issuing draft rules to amend the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Central (Amendment) Rules, 2015. However, Bandaru Dattatreya, who was then labour and employment minister, had shelved the proposal last year after strong opposition from trade unions.

The previous NDA government in 2003 had allowed hiring fixed-term workers but the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in 2007, following pressure from central trade unions, scrapped it.

Central trade unions continue to oppose fixed-term employment.

We are demanding increase in permanent employment. Contractors terminate the employment of workers at a time when they get skilled while doing the job.

"So, instead of bringing fixed-term employment, the government should fix the issues related to dealing with contractors in hiring workers, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) General-Secretary Virjesh Upadhyay said.

At present, most countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and emerging nations allow using workers on fixed-term contracts with several conditions.

The Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (Icrier) said in its working paper titled Labour Regulations and Growth of Manufacturing and Employment in India: Balancing Protection and Flexibility that giving fixed-term workers a minimum employment contract for six months and the right to be members of the trade union are important safeguards for fixed-term workers.

Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters
Experts call for consistency in government policies to enable Indian exporters to frame a long-term strategy.

India is steadily losing its presence in the global fresh fruit and vegetables markets owing to stringent quality norms of importing countries.

The data compiled by the government-owned Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda) shows Indias exports of fresh vegetables declined by 26.3 per cent to 1.44 million tonnes during April-October this year from 1.95 million tonnes in the corresponding period last year.

Indias shipment of fresh fruit also declined 17 per cent to 321,220 tonnes in the first seven months of the current financial year compared to 386,063 tonnes in the same period last year.

Concerned about the decline in Indias fruit and vegetables exports, Apeda chairman D K Singh has drafted an export promotion strategy to boost shipments of Apeda-registered products.

The strategy highlights the need for capacity building, appropriate branding, infrastructure upgrade, poor handling practices of consignments at exits, and improvements in trained manpower to address trade-related issues.

Since air freight costs are exorbitant and have a direct bearing on export costs, Apeda proposes to work in tandem with Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) institutions like the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research and Central Institute of Subtropical Horticulture to get a robust scientific sea protocol developed for export by sea.

"This is likely to reduce freight costs and improve exports.

"Also, Apeda proposes to plan promotion programmes in various potential and emerging markets in consultation with trade and the Indian Missions in target countries.

"Apart from that, buyer-seller meetings need to be organised regularly in target countries, said Singh.

The decline in Indias fruit and vegetables exports can be attributed to frequent changes in governments norms.

Thus, experts call for consistency in government policies to enable Indian exporters to frame a long-term export strategy.

Meanwhile, all large and small countries of the world have started adopting stringent quality norms set by the European Union.

That has made Indias exports of fruit and vegetables difficult.

By virtue of its wide-ranging agro-climatic zones, geographical location, long history of agricultural production and its extensive range of products, India has the potential to become the outsourcing destination for agriculture and processed food products for the world, in addition to its famed information technology services, Singh said.

Indian planters are focusing on quality improvement of exportable commodities with minimum pesticides residue limits as specified by importing countries.

Canada, which opened up its market for Indian fruit and vegetables in August, has now relaxed inspection rates for grapes exports from India.

Our volumes have not been impacted due to stringent global quality norms.

"In fact, we are looking at around a six-fold increase in our exports to Canada in the 2018 season.

"We have been working very closely with farmers to grow products of exportable quality.

"Our deep understanding of market requirements as well as customer preferences enables us to achieve such growth year on year, and we expect this to continue in the following seasons as well, said Ashok Sharma, managing director and chief executive officer, Mahindra Agri Solutions Ltd, a subsidiary of auto giant Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd.

Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters
The precautions are being proposed to ensure that other cattle varieties are not exported or transported outside the state as Nagori cattle

Nagori bull calves are all set to bear the stamp of approval of the Rajasthan government.

The government plans to stamp and register them to ensure that only this specific bovine species is traded intra-state and inter-state.

The state government has permitted the much-in-demand calves for trade to be subsequently used for ploughing.

Nagori is a bovine species whose origins can be traced to the Nagaur district of Rajasthan. The Nagori bull, which is bigger than other species, can fetch up to up to Rs 500,000 for a pair.

The state government also plans to allow transportation of these calves only to those states that have cow slaughter laws in place.

Besides, the buyer will have to produce an undertaking that the animal is being transported for farming purposes.

The precautions are being proposed to ensure that other cattle varieties are not exported or transported outside the state as Nagori cattle.



The state cabinet earlier this month amended the Rajasthan Bovine Animal (Prohibition of Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export) Act to allow farmers and cattle rearers to sell Nagori bull calves over two years of age.

The precautions also assume importance in view of the growing incidents of lynching of cattle transporters in the state by cow vigilante groups.



Officials said in the amendments, which were awaiting presidential assent, proper care had been taken to ensure that a particular variety of cattle was sold or bought only for agriculture purposes and not for slaughter.

In April this year, dairy farmer Pehlu Khan was lynched while transporting cattle to his hometown in Alwar by a mob of alleged cow vigilantes.

Very recently, reports said an alleged cattle smuggler was thrashed by a mob for illegally transporting cattle for slaughter to Haryana.

Officials said relaxing the rules without proper safeguards could invite trouble.

As cattle fairs and other platforms have died out and people requested the government to allow them to legally sell their animals, we moved the amendments, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje told Business Standard.

She said the people believed these animals were so expensive that nobody would slaughter them.

This is a very loving breed and the people of Nagaur are extremely committed to this animal, Raje added.

The Rajasthan Bovine Animal Act defines a bovine animal as a cow, calf, heifer, bull or bullock.

The original law defines a calf as a castrated or uncastrated male of the age of three years and below belonging to the species of bovine animal.

According to the Breed Survey 2013 by the central government, there are over 500,000 heads of Nagori cattle in India, which is less than 1 per cent of the total indigenous cattle population.

According to the 19th Livestock Census, almost 79 per cent of the cattle population in the country is indigenous, while the rest are exotic or cross-bred.

Risk criteria to classify districts

The central government, along with the National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology, has developed a mobile application that classifies districts on the basis of their degree of risk in animal disease.

The app, which uses various models to predict diseases, classifies them as very high risk, moderate risk, low risk, etc, based on the models. The app will be launched soon.

Photograph: Kind courtesy, Pavanaja/Wikimedia Commons
The judgment in the 2G case is a huge, huge, indictment of the criminal investigation and justice system, says R Jagannathan.

IMAGE: Former telecom minister A Raja speaks to the media after he was acquitted by a CBI special court in the 2G scam case on December 21, 2017. Photograph: Kamal Singh/PTI Photo

The CBI special court's decision to acquit all the accused in the 2G scam -- including Andimuthu Raja and M K Kanimozhi, M Karunanidhi's daughter -- is essentially a big win for crony capitalism.

Or, rather, crony socialism, since the whole justification for giving spectrum in 2008 at 2001 prices was post facto justified by the need to make telecom prices affordable.

This was the crux of then communication minister Kapil Sibal's 'zero-loss' theory.

Judge O P Saini -- who previously exonerated former finance minister P Chidambaram because no case was made out that he benefited from going along with Raja's flawed decisions -- has essentially ruled that the prosecution has to prove actual skulduggery to make an executive decision a mala fide one.

Without closing the financial loop connecting ministerial decisions to favours, the case does not stand.

No less than three politicians (Raja and Kanimozhi of the DMK, and Chidambaram of the Congress party), two bureaucrats working with Raja (Siddharth Behura, then telecom secretary, and R K Chandolia, Raja's private secretary), and 15 businessmen and top executives, including those from two big business groups (Anil Ambani and the Ruias) were among the accused at various stages.

Chidambaram, who was finance minister when Raja was busy pulling off his 2G caper, was the target in a separate case filed by the irrepressible Subramanian Swamy who wanted him included as one of the accused in the scam.

He got his reprieve early in 2012 when the same judge exonerated him by observing that merely going along with Raja's decisions on spectrum pricing or allowing companies who got under-priced spectrum to sell shares at huge premiums did not amount to any criminal conspiracy on his part.

This is a huge, huge, indictment of the criminal investigation and justice system that what looked like an open-and-shut case of favouritism by A Raja -- which both then prime minister Manmohan Singh and then finance minister Chidambaram probably suspected and tried to prevent ineffectually -- is now being made to look like a case of major victimisation of the innocent.

The damage done to the cause of justice is incalculable.

The Saini verdict also indirectly shows the Supreme Court in bad light, for the highest court had in 2012 cancelled all the 122 licences allocated by Raja on the ground that this was done in a 'totally arbitrary and unconstitutional' manner, with three telecom companies being asked to pay a fine of Rs 5 crore each for offloading their shares to foreign partners without starting any business.

An inkling of the CBI court's final verdict could probably have been discerned in 2012 itself when Judge Saini let off Chidambaram from being added as an accused in the 2G scam case. The judge said in his order: 'In the end, Mr P Chidambaram was party to only two decisions, that is, keeping the spectrum prices at 2001 level and dilution of equity by the two companies (Swan and Unitech). These two acts are not per se criminal.'

'In the absence of any other incriminating act on his part, it cannot be said that he was prima facie party to the criminal conspiracy.'

Last Thursday's verdict only takes the same logic forward. The CBI, which put the losses due to Raja's 'arbitrary' decisions on spectrum allotment at Rs 30,000 crore, has been told that its entire case is built on sand -- a mere conjecture that losses to the exchequer effectively meant that there was some hanky-panky and corruption.

The need to prove the financial trail by linking executive decisions to actual pecuniary advantage gained by them has not been proven.

The logic given to exonerate Chidambaram has probably been used to give the same benefit of the doubt to the main and subsidiary accused.

It is possible that the CBI will try to seek a review of the judgment by filing an appeal, but in the absence of direct evidence of someone making money from the decisions, it is difficult to see the possibility of a total reversal of the verdict.

Even if it comes, it may take years to come.

While we will have to wait for Judge Saini's full judgment to figure out the logic that decided his verdict, there is little doubt that a crime was committed, and most of the key players knew something wrong was about to happen in 2007-2008.

From then PM Manmohan Singh, who tried to dissuade Raja from allotting spectrum at 2001 prices, to Chidambaram and his finance secretary D Subbarao, who wanted spectrum sold through a market-discovered price, the top ministers knew what Raja was up to, and what he was about to do may be morally indefensible.

More so when Raja additionally and arbitrarily advanced the cut-off date for licence allotment from October 10, 2007, to October 1, thus eliminating 408 of the 575 applications for telecom licences, which included free spectrum to anyone who paid Rs 1,650 crore for the licence.

If Manmohan Singh was not worried about Raja's decision, his principal secretary would not have written to the telecom ministry after the licences were allotted on January 10, 2008, that 'the prime minister wants this informally shared with the department (that) he does not want a formal communication and wants PMO to be at arm's length.'

However, this was not to be, and Raja's principal argument throughout his trial, in which he represented himself, was that there can be no conspiracy when he had kept everyone informed of what he was doing.

By bringing in Manmohan Singh and Chidambaram, he effectively made it impossible for the judicial system to convict him without implicating -- at least morally -- the highest political executives in the land.

The worst indictment of the system is that a decade after the alleged crime, all those who went after the corrupt have egg on their faces while the accused are celebrating.

The scam happened in 2007-2008, the comptroller and auditor general came out with his revenue loss figure of Rs 1.76 lakh crore in November 2010, Raja was arrested in February 2011, the charges were framed in October that year, the trial began in November 2011, the Supreme Court cancelled 122 licences in February 2012, and five-and-a-half years later, no one is guilty.

R Jagannathan is Editorial Director, Swarajya.
'The decline in BJP seats tells us that despite the rote incantation of the development mantra, Gujarat is not immune to the economic pain the country is feeling and is telling the ruling party so,' says Shreekant Sambrani.



IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra D Modi with Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit A Shah at the swearing of the Vijay Rupani government in Gujarat, December 26, 2017. Photograph: Santosh Hirlekar/PTI Photo

It would be no exaggeration to say that the most thrilling moments of the exhausting battle for the Gujarat assembly occurred in the half hour between 9.30 am and 10 am on December 18.

The leads changed from one moment to another, from one channel to another.

News anchors known even otherwise for their hyperkinetic manner were nearly apoplectic with excitement as they announced, 'Congress ahead!' But thereafter, it was a continuation of the Bharatiya Janata Party's long-foretold ascendancy.

Spin-meisters of both the BJP and the Congress are already at work: 'We lost about 10 to 15 seats despite the double anti-incumbency, but we won, didn't we?' goes one lot, while the other says, 'Our best showing since 1985, and we managed to slow the BJP juggernaut, so ours is the moral victory.'

Pollsters and pundits of all stripes, many of whom were wide of the mark as before, will consume quantities of newsprint and face time on television to justify their labours.

Gujarat does not seem to have heeded the frequently shrill and divisive appeals of caste leaders.

The Patidar population is evenly distributed in the state. The supposed bastion of the Patidar Arakshan Andolan Samiti (Paas), Surat, had returned a number of Congress candidates to the municipal corporation in 2015.

The Paas leadership -- read Hardik Patel -- was confident of a good response from Surat. That did not quite materialise.

The Patidar community in central Gujarat has been even more lukewarm to the reservationists' cause. It seems that the emotive appeal of the caste factor is not necessarily strong enough in all regions to prevail over other concerns including loyalty to the ruling party.

But it is altogether a graver concern that the Muslims, who constitute 9 per cent of the population, are completely voiceless.

They mattered little to the BJP and now even to the Congress. That was reflected in not just Prime Minister Narendra D Modi's references to Pakistan's conspiratorial intentions after Mani Shankar Aiyar's ill-timed and execrable remarks.

The popular coinage of HAJ, referring to Hardik (Patel), Alpesh (Thakore) and Jignesh (Mevani), who were the Congress frontline warriors, was none too subtle a reminder of the communal fears.

The decline in BJP seats this year as compared to its earlier tally tells us that despite the rote incantation of the development mantra, Gujarat is not immune to the economic pain the country is feeling and is telling the ruling party so.

The continued dominance of the BJP in the cities suggests that these concerns are not quite confined to the note ban or the disruption due to the goods and services tax which would have affected the urban voters relatively more.

What seems to worry the population is the general sense of economic drift and discomfort caused by it: Uncertain growth prospects affecting job creation, and creeping commodity price rise defying seasonality.

This is all the more evident among the peasantry and the villages where the electorate vented its displeasure by increasing the Congress votes.

Agrarian distress is real even in Gujarat which not so long ago boasted of a booming agricultural economy. Bumper harvests have not always brought prosperity in their wake.

Nevertheless, there is still enough appreciation of the progress Gujarat has made in the present century.

The evidence is all too obvious: Good roads, 24x7 power supply even in villages, gleaming new factories, relatively stable law and order, to list just a few. The Congress effort to discredit these did not quite succeed.

The Gujaratis had grievances all right, but they were not strong enough for voters to punish the ruling dispensation, especially since the election was effectively a referendum on Modi.

What is the real impact of this result? The short answer is not really, either in Gujarat or in the country. Both the major parties have no local leaders worth of any consequence. The Gujarat control rests in Modi's hands as it has for 16 years now.

The Congress can protest all it wants with no likely results. Nationally, the BJP dominance continues, but it needs to guard its flanks in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, all of which elect new assemblies next year. Murmurs of dissatisfaction are already audible in these states.

That was the case in Gujarat for the past several months. Not keeping the party ear firmly glued to the ground has caused it considerable harm.

The Congress has little hope of any boost to its fortunes despite the new-found energy its new president, Rahul Gandhi, put into a basically hollow campaign for so long in Gujarat.

Its prospects in the upcoming Karnataka assembly election are at best dicey, with anti-incumbency affecting it in that state.

Modi's leadership remains most formidable even in the face of vociferous opposition and not just from the Congress or in Parliament. But the challenge of transcending the original mass base to become the undisputed leader of the entire country is still distant.

His party apparatchiks see to it that he remains loyal to the original cause. In the process, basic considerations of a liberal democracy -- tolerance, respect for other opinions, and freedom of expression -- are increasingly observed in default.

This quick take of the Gujarat poll must end on a sombre note. This campaign was the shrillest and ugliest this passionate follower of Indian politics has ever seen. And he is not alone.

The 68 per cent voter turnout, albeit just 3 percentage points lower as compared that in 2012 (but far short of the 80+ per cent in other states lately), indicates that the electorate, too, was mot as enthusiastic as before.

It appears to have seen this election not as an exuberant dance of democracy, but a bothersome ritual it could not avoid.

Shreekant Sambrani is a long-time resident of Gujarat and a keen observer of its politics.
Pervez Musharraf is contemplating a political front with jihadi groups to contest Pakistan's 2018 election.

Should the jihadi groups win a few seats, terrorist outfits will gain legitimacy in Pakistan, warns Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).

IMAGE: Muhammed Saeed, the Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist. Photograph: Mohsin Raza/Reuters

US President Donald J Trump outlined the blueprint for his country's national security on December 18, 2017. Trump asked Pakistan to take 'decisive actions' against terrorist groups operating from Pakistan.

The US, Trump said, would encourage Pakistan to continue demonstrating that it is a responsible steward of its nuclear assets. However, the terror groups only increase its footprints in Pakistan and pursue greater legitimacy.

An example of such a trend is Muhammed Saeed.

Saeed is the founder of the Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Lashkar-e- Tayiba. He had been under detention since January 31, 2017 and was set free on November 24.

Saeed has launched a political party, the Milli Muslim League, and started a campaign to contest Pakistan's general election scheduled for 2018.

A UN designated terrorist who carries a bounty of $10 million, Saeed is the mastermind behind the November 26-29, 2008 terrorist rampage in Mumbai.

The process of gaining greater acceptance by the Pakistani people was initiated by jihadi groups some time ago when they floated NGOs that provided assistance during natural disasters.

The fact that these NGOs often responded faster than Pakistan's federal and provincial governments during calamities gave them some traction among that nation's people.

Having engineered some acceptance in Pakistani society, Saeed now plans to enter politics.

Essentially, it is an extension of attempts to mainstream the jihadi establishment. Terrorist groups have been fielding candidates in Pakistan's elections for some time now. However, their success at the hustings has not been substantial enough to draw media attention.

The implications of Saeed's Milli Muslim League contesting the 2018 election have surely not been lost upon the Americans whose reactions thus far have been muted at best.

US Defence Secretary General James Mattis visited Pakistan on December 4 and met Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Defence Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan, army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Lieutenant General Naveed Mukhtar, director of the Inter-Services Intelligence agency which trains, tasks, finances and operates many jihadi groups.

The reports that emanated after Mattis' talks didn't reflect the bite in Trump's speeches where he ripped Pakistan apart, stating: 'We have been giving Pakistan billions and billions of dollars, at the same time they are housing the same terrorists that we are fighting. They will have to change.'

Mattis was not in sync either with Zalmay Khalilzad, the Afghanistan born US diplomat, who felt the US must impose sanctions against senior Pakistani generals who play a direct role in supporting the terrorists. The ISI chief is amongst those who merit sanctions in Khalilzad's view.

The tone and tenor of General Mattis' outreach seemed conciliatory rather than compelling Pakistan to make a choice.

General Pervez Musharraf -- Pakistan's former military dictator -- last month announced the formation of a coalition of parties to fight the 2018 election.

'I am the biggest supporter of LeT and I know they like me,' Musharraf, who is in exile in Dubai, stated.

Musharraf's statements make it obvious that he is contemplating a new political front -- which will include jihadi groups -- to contest the next election.

Should the terrorist groups join hands with Musharraf, they will have a leader who retains some influence in Pakistan.

Should the jihadi groups win a few seats, terrorists like Saeed will gain legitimacy.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson recently stated that Pakistan's political leadership will lose control over the country if it does not begin the process of changing its relationship with terrorist groups like the Haqqani network.

The Pakistani government has already conceded much ground to the jihadis. Loss of political territory will be a cause for alarm not just for India, but the world.
Stalemate in the Lok Sabha continues over Union minister Ananthkumar Hegde's controversial statements on secularism and changing the Constitution.

The government said in Parliament on Wednesday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has never questioned Manmohan Singh's integrity and commitment to the nation, ending a deadlock that had paralysed the house for nearly two weeks.

However, a fresh row over Union minister Anant Kumar Hegde's controversial comments on secularism is likely to keep the House astir.

On its part, the Congress party said it does not approve of any remarks made against the prime minister, apparently in a reference to the neech remark made by its leader, Mani Shankar Aiyar.

The proceedings of both Houses of Parliament were repeatedly disrupted over the past two weeks over remarks by Modi during the Gujarat assembly election campaign. He had criticised his predecessor Singh for attending a 'secret' dinner with senior Pakistan officials at Aiyars residence.

The Congress said Modi's remarks implied that Singh and other public figures who attended the dinner were conspiring with Pakistan, and demanded an apology from the prime minister.

Rajya Sabha

Leader of the House Arun Jaitley said Modi, in his statements and speeches, did not question nor did he mean to question the commitment to this nation either by Dr Manmohan Singh, the former Prime Minister, or Hamid Ansari, the former vice president.

"Any such perception is completely erroneous. We hold these leaders in high esteem, as also their commitment to this nation," Jaitley said.

Earlier, the Upper House was adjourned in the morning due to protests over Union minister Ananthkumar Hegde's remarks on secularism and changing the Constitution.

Jaitley said many statements had been made on all sides during the Gujarat elections, and added that the government does not want the stalemate as a result of this to continue.

Responding to his statement, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said: I want to thank the Leader of the House that he issued a clarification on the issue which was causing the deadlock for the last one week.

Azad sought to assure the government on behalf of the Congress that the party dissociates itself from any statement made against the personality of the prime minister, apparently in reference to those made by its MP Mani Shankar Aiyar.

"If during the elections (recent assembly polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh), any member of our party gave such a statement that was against the stature of the prime minister, then our party dissociates itself from any such statement and we would not want any word to be said against the stature of the Prime Minister," Azad said.

The Congress had suspended Aiyar from its primary membership and slapped a show cause notice on him for calling Prime Minister Modi a neech aadmi or a lowly person.

After the two statements, Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu thanked all members of the House for their cooperation in resolving the stalemate.

However, Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal stood up to object, charging that the fate of the proceedings in the House could not be decided based on statements by only two people.

To this, Naidu said, "We discussed it in the morning in the business advisory committee. Every member of the House is important. Let us not sidetrack the issue".

Lok Sabha

Having called a truce on one front, the rivals opened another over Hegde's controversial remarks on secularism and the Constitution that could keep the cauldron on the boil over the next few days.

The Opposition forced adjournment of the Lok Sabha several times over Hegde's comments that those supporting secularism were children of unknown parentage, and demanded that he be sacked as a minister.

Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of the Congress in the House, called Hegde's remarks unacceptable, and said it meant we all who support secular thoughts are not born to their parents.

Kharge alleged that Hegde, Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, had also denigrated the architect of the Constitution, B R Ambedkar, with his comment that the current dispensation came to power to change it.

Rejecting Kharge's comments, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar claimed the Congress leader was trying to distort what Hegde had said.

He, however, did not comment on Hegde's remarks or try to defend him.

"B R Ambedkar is the father of the Constitution and we respect him. The prime minister had said the Constitution is our national book (Rastriya Granth). We are committed to it and secularism. The Congress should not teach us secularism," said Kumar, while asking the Opposition not to disrupt the proceedings.

"The Congress is indulging in pseudo-secularism. You(Congress) did not allow Baba Saheb Ambedkar to contest polls. He was brought to Rajya Sabha by Jana Sangh," he said, listing out steps taken by the government to preserve Ambedkar's legacy.

At a function in Karnataka on Sunday, Hegde had reportedly said people should identify themselves by their religion and those who, without knowing about their parental blood, call themselves secular, they don't have their own identity...They don't know about their parentage.

He had also reportedly said, "We are here to change the Constitution and we'll change it."

A senior Congress leader, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the party would press for a debate on the harassment of the wife and mother of Kulbhushan Jadhav, on death row over espionage and terrorism charges in Pakistan, during their visit to that country.

He said after that gets over, the party will once again raise the issue of Hegde's controversial remarks.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is scheduled to make a statement on the Jadhav episode in Parliament on Thursday.

Photograph: PTI Photo
The Pakistan Foreign Office said that it didnt wish to indulge in a meaningless battle of words rejected Indias baseless allegations about attitude of authorities during Jadhavs meeting with his wife and mother.

Pakistan rejected as baseless Indias contentions that Kulbhushan Jadhavs family was harassed and claimed that his wifes shoes were confiscated on security grounds as there was something in it.

The Foreign Office in a statement said that Pakistan does not wish to indulge in a meaningless battle of words and categorically rejects Indias baseless allegations and twists about attitude of authorities during Jadhavs meeting with his wife and mother.

The Indian baseless allegations and twists, that come 24 hours later, about the visit of the wife and mother of Commander Jadhav, a convicted terrorist and spy, who has confessed to his crimes, are categorically rejected, the statement said.

If Indian concerns were serious, the guests or the Indian DHC should have raised them during the visit, with the media, which was readily available, but at a safe distance, as requested by India, it said.

We do not wish to indulge in a meaningless battle of words. Our openness and transparency belies these allegations, it said.

Responding to Indias contentions that Jadhavs wifes shoes were not returned to her after the meeting, Foreign Office spokesman Muhammad Faisal told Dawn News that the shoes were confiscated on security grounds.

There was something in the shoe (of Jadhavs wife), Faisal told the daily, adding that the shoe is being investigated.

He said Jadhavs wife had been provided replacement shoes and all her jewellery was returned to her.

The spokesman said that the fact is that Jadhavs mother publicly thanked Pakistan for the humanitarian gesture, which was also recorded by the media.

Nothing more needs to be said on the issue, he said.

India on Tuesday accused Pakistan of violating mutual understandings on Jadhavs meeting with his family, and said the Indian national appeared coerced and under considerable stress during the tightly-controlled interaction.

India also accused Pakistan of disregarding cultural and religious sensibilities of family members under the pretext of security.

This included removal of mangal sutra, bangles and bindi, as well as a change in attire that was not warranted by security, it said.

During Mondays meeting, whose pictures were released by Pakistan, Jadhav was seen sitting behind a glass screen while his mother and wife sat on the other side. They spoke through intercom and the entire 40-minute proceedings appeared to have been recorded on video.

India said that for some inexplicable reason, despite her repeated requests, Jadhavs wifes shoes were not returned to her after the meeting.

Jadhav, who was captured in March last year, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying, an accusation that India has dismissed as concocted.

New Delhi says Jadhav was kidnapped in Iran where he had legitimate business interests, and brought to Pakistan. To save Jadhav, India moved the International Court of Justice, which ordered Pakistan in May to stay his execution.

Image: Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav's mother, Avanti, and wife, Chetankul, leave after meeting with him at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad on Christmas day. Photograph: Faisal Mahmood/Reuters
Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Lt Col Prasad Purohit and six others accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast will stand trial on stringent terror charges, a special National Investigation Agency court on Wednesday ruled in the politically-sensitive case that had raised speculation of saffron militancy.

The ruling left the NIA red-faced which had given clean chit to Sadhvi Pragya.

Rejecting the pleas of the accused for discharge from the case, a special NIA court, however, dropped some sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against as well as Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against the accused, which is punishable by up to life in prison.

Significantly, the court dismissed NIA's contention that there was no evidence against Sadhvi Pragya, saying it was difficult to accept the claim given that her motorcycle was used in the blast.

"There is evidence to suggest that the accused number one (Thakur) had knowledge about involvement of her motorcycle," the court said in its ruling on the nine-year-old case that had raised worries of Hindu militancy gaining a foothold as a reaction to Islamic extremism.

Sadhvi Pragya 'had also expressed dissatisfaction about causing less casualties in the blast. Hence it is difficult to accept submissions on behalf of the NIA and the accused number one that she had no concern with the present crime', it said.

Special judge S D Tekale, who was hearing the pleas filed by seven of the 13 accused and the NIA's application seeking framing of charges, said that charges will be framed against Thakur, Purohit, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Major (retd) Ramesh Upadhyay, Sameer Kulkarni, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Ajay Rahirkar.

The accused will face trial now under sections 16 and 18 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (conspiring for and committing/organising a terror act) and under the Indian Penal Code for criminal conspiracy, murder, attempt to murder and causing hurt besides charges under the Explosive Substances Act and Arms Act.

The charges are punishable by various prison terms up to life, and death for murder.

The NIA, while filing a charge sheet in the case last year, gave a clean chit to Sadhvi Pragya and three others -- Shyam Sahu, Praveen Takalki, Shivnarayan Kalsangra -- saying it found no evidence against them and they should be discharged from the case.

On Wednesday, the court absolved only Sahu, Kalsangra and Takalki from all the charges leaving Thakur to face trial.

Two others, Jagdish Mhatre and Rakesh Dhawde, will face trial only under the Arms Act 'before concerned courts', the NIA court said.

The NIA had claimed in its charge sheet that there was no evidence of Thakur ever being part of conspiracy meetings, and though the motorcycle used in the blast once belonged to her, she had sold it much before the blast and had no knowledge of the conspiracy.

The judge, however, also noted that statements of some witnesses supported the charge that Thakur and Purohit had participated in some of the conspiracy meetings in Faridabad and Bhopal.

Six persons were killed when an improvised explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off at Malegaon, a town with sizable Muslim population in north Maharashtra's Nashik district, on September 29, 2008, while 101 persons were injured.

The Anti-Terrorism Squad of the Maharashtra police, which probed the case initially, charged Thakur, Purohit, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Ramesh Upadhyay, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Jagdish Mhatre, Rakesh Dhawade, Ajay Rahirkar, Samir Kulkarni, Shyam Sahu, Shivnarayan Kalsangra, Pravin Mutalik and Ramchandra Kalsangra.

According to the ATS, it was Ramchandra Kalsangra who planted the bomb, and who is still absconding. Thakur gave her motorbike to Kalsangra to plant the bomb, the ATS said.

Thakur filed a discharge plea after the Bombay high court granted her bail in April. The NIA didn't oppose her bail application. Purohit is also on bail.

The court also said the UAPA sections 17, 20 and 23 have been dropped against all accused. These sections relate to raising funds for a terrorist organisation, being part of a terrorist organisation and aiding someone who is part of a terrorist organisation.

This part of the ruling gives relief to saffron outfit Abhinav Bharat, which was accused by Mumbai ATS of providing arms training to right-wing activists.

The ATS also says Purhoit was linked to Abhinav Bharat.
Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Aggarwal on Wednesday kicked up a row by controversially stating that if Pakistan considers Kulbhushan Jadhav a terrorist, it would treat him like one -- remarks the Bharatiya Janata Party dubbed 'betrayal of national interest'.

Aggarwal also hit out at the media, saying why it was only talking about Jadhav when hundreds of Indians were lodged in Pakistani jails.

The comments came in the backdrop of Pakistan treating Jadhav's mother and wife in a humiliating manner.

Pakistan went so far as to have the mangal sutra, bangles and bindi of his mother and wife removed before they met him on Monday.

"What ideology a particular nation follows, it is known only to that nation. If Pakistan considers Jadhav a terrorist, then they will behave with him accordingly," Aggarwal told a TV channel.

"Our nation should also treat terrorists in the same way, in a tough manner. I don't understand why the media is only talking about Jadhav. There are hundreds of Indians lodged in Pakistani jails. Why they are not being talked about?," he said.

Reacting to Aggarwal's remarks, BJP spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao said his comments were 'symptomatic of betrayal of national interest by the Congress-led UPA (United Progressive Alliance) over Pakistan'.

'They side with Pak, wine and dine with Pak leaders, abuse Indian Army chief, question surgical strikes, call Kulbhushan Jadhav a terrorist. Alas!' he said in a tweet.

Rao also wondered if Aggarwal was doing so as his Rajya Sabha term was expiring in a few months.

'Is he trying to become like-minded betrayers' coalition candidate in UP RS polls? OR is he desperately trying to challenge Mani Shankar Aiyar as 'Chief Anti-India propagandist' to host next secret dinner for Pakistan?' he asked.

Jadhav, who was arrested in March, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying, an accusation that India has dismissed as concocted.

On Tuesday, India had accused Pakistan of violating mutual understanding on Jadhav's meeting with his family, and said that the Indian national appeared coerced and under considerable stress during the tightly-controlled interaction.

VP says Pak restrictions on Jadhav family were 'inhuman'

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu termed as 'inhuman' the restrictions imposed by Pakistan during Jadhav's meeting with his wife and mother, saying it has hurt the sentiments of Indians.

Referring to the restrictions, Naidu said the move to ask Jadhav's wife take off her 'mangal sutra' has not got down well with the people of India.

He was of the view that Pakistan 'did not do any good for itself' by its handling of the meeting while showcasing to the world its gesture, a statement issued by the Vice President's Secretariat said.

The Vice President said that while India seeks peace in the region for the benefit of all, some nations were 'adopting a different approach'.

'Harassment of Jadhav's mother, wife an insult to all Indians'

The Congress condemned Pakistan for harassing Jadhav's mother and wife, and said it was an 'insult' to all Indians.

The opposition party said the matter was 'important' enough to put an end to the impasse in the Rajya Sabha.

"We, as Indians, protest this strongly and condemn strongly this act of Pakistani government and we would like to discuss, show our displeasure tomorrow on the floor of the House. This was the single most important case, we did not want to continue the impasse," Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters outside Parliament.

He condemned Pakistan's action of forcing Jadhav's mother and wife change their clothes and remove bindi and mangal sutra, besides shoes.

"This is not just an insult to the mother and wife of Kulbhushan Jadhav but also an insult of India. This is an insult to 1.3 billion Indian people irrespective of religion and caste," he said.

Azad said the way Jadhav's wife and mother were harassed and treated by the Pakistani government, it is something which 'simply we should not tolerate as Indians'.

"We may be in the opposition but we are Indian first... Kulbhushan Jadhav is our fellow citizen. We will cooperate with the government...we would expect that he should get justice," Azad said.

The Congress leader said Pakistan had to succumb to international pressure to allow Jadhav's family members to meet him, but 'we did not expect that his family members -- mother and wife -- will be separated by glass wall'.

"We could never think of that they will not allow to meet, hug and talk to each other face to face. They were allowed to talk through intercom. What is difference between intercom and telephone? His family members were watching him over television for the last so many years," he said.

'A diplomatic failure of the Centre'

Senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily hit out at the government over the issue, accusing it of 'diplomatic failure'.

Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal hit back at the Congress, saying she does not know to what level the opposition party can fall, if it could not come together on the issue of treatment of women by a 'terrorist' country which always worked towards harming India.

Moily told a television channel that the external affairs ministry should have ensured the right kind of arrangement or protocol for the meeting.

"It (the manner in which Jadhav's family was treated) is absolutely inhuman and violated all codes and ethics of protocol," he said.

Moily also said that the external affairs ministry should have spoken with its Pakistani counterpart or Prime Minister Narendra Modi should have taken up the matter with the Pakistani premier.

"This was a total diplomatic failure," Moily said.

Badal slammed Congress's reaction as 'very shameful and extremely sad'.

She criticised Pakistan for the treatment meted out to Jadhav's family, saying the neighbouring country stands exposed in front of the entire world.

Pakistan cannot make India 'weaker' by doing such things, she told a TV channel.

"In fact, our resolve of giving (it) back to them is being strengthened," she said, adding that other nations were also alligning with India against such treatment.

IMAGE: Kulbhushan Jadhav meets his mother and wife, Avanti and Chetankul, at the ministry of foreign affairs in Islambad. Photograph courtesy: Pakistan foreign office.
The Trinamool Congress and Nationalist Congress Party have indicated that their party chiefs have better credentials for the post than the newly-elected Congress head, reports Archis Mohan.

There is uncertainty on whether Congress president Rahul Gandhi would also succeed his mother Sonia Gandhi as the chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance, particularly after key former and potential constituents, like the Trinamool Congress and Nationalist Congress Party, have indicated that their party chiefs have better credentials for the post.

On Tuesday, senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily said in Hyderabad that no decision has been taken on whether Sonia Gandhi would continue to occupy the position of UPA chairperson or make way for new party president. He said there were calls for her continuation in the position, but said Rahul Gandhi was also capable of holding the post.

Moily said the decision on the UPAs chairmanship has not yet been taken and it is left to them (Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi).

Rahul Gandhi officially took over the reins of the party on December 16. As mandated by the Congress constitution, Rahul Gandhi will soon succeed his mother as the leader of the Congress parliamentary party.

Trinamool Congresss leader in the Rajya Sabha Derek OBrien has said her party chief, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has the best credentials to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2019. OBrien pointed to four decades of Banerjees political work, her multiple stints in the Union Cabinet and how Trinamool would play the catalyst to remove the BJP in 2019.

Over the past year, Banerjee has crafted for herself a national role. Last week, she received phone calls from youth leaders of Gujarat, Hardik Patel and Jignesh Mevani. Her lieutenants also highlight the lead Banerjee took to oppose demonetisation, and her protest march from Parliament House to Rashtrapati Bhavan was joined by Aam Aadmi Party and Shiv Sena. When she was in Mumbai earlier this month, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and son Aditya called on the Bengal CM.

Just as Trinamool Congress believes Banerjee is much senior to Rahul Gandhi in the Congress, the NCP is also keen that their chief Sharad Pawar, an old Congressman, lead the UPA.

An NCP member said last week that Rahul Gandhi was unfit to lead the UPA, when senior leaders such as Pawar are still around. Janata Dal-United leaders still insist how Nitish Kumar was made to leave as the Congress wasnt willing to accept him as the leader of the coordination committee to select the Oppositions candidate for presidential election.

Needless to say, any person who will lead the UPA will also be the undeclared prime ministerial candidate of the Opposition. Of late, Pawar has spent time reaching out to the Congress after party leader Praful Patel snapped his partys alliance with the Congress in Gujarat, and fielded NCP candidates. Pawar has taken part in Congress-led protests and demonstrations on farm issues and also welcomed Rahul Gandhis elevation as the Congress chief.

Last Sunday, the Congress organised a farewell dinner for their outgoing party chief Sonia Gandhi. The table where Sonia Gandhi sat also seated Pranab Mukherjee, M Hamid Ansari and Manmohan Singh. From among the allies, leaders of the Trinamool, Left parties and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam joined Sonia Gandhi and others. Rashtriya Janata Dals Misa Bharti, NCPs Praful Patel, Samajwadi Partys Ram Gopal Yadav sat at another table.

It was evidence that the Trinamool and DMK are the key Congress allies for 2019, a leader said. Currently, neither Trinamool nor NCP are officially members of the UPA.

However, Moily disagreed with OBriens claim that Banerjee has the finest credentials. It is not an objective assessment, Moily said.

Seniors like Moily want Sonia Gandhi to continue to be a part of the decision-making process and give her counsel to Rahul Gandhi. Moily said Sonia Gandhi provided best leadership for the party and also the UPA.

Most of the coalition partners, including the Left, TMC  everybody joined. That kind of leadership should be holistic, comprehensive and it should be inspiring. That kind of inspiring coalition was done under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi, he said.

In the run-up to the 2004 Lok Sabha polls, Sonia Gandhis role in reaching out to regional parties and allies had eventually resulted in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government being thrown out of power. The next UPA chairperson will be expected to reprise that role for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Photograph: PTI Photo.
'... it must network its battlefield units quickly, securely, robustly,' notes Ajai Shukla.

Senior Indian Army generals, who grew up before smartphones became a part of our daily lives, are blundering in scrapping as 'too costly' the Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 5 billion) project to indigenously design and develop a battlefield management system.

More tech-savvy junior officers understand the importance of the BMS which will provide frontline combat soldiers with a real-time tactical picture of the battlefield to help them deal with the 'fog of war'.

But generals call the shots, and now a defence ministry okay is all that is needed to cancel this promising initiative.

The success of the United States army in the Gulf War I in 1991 when Saddam Hussein's well armed and battle hardened Iraqi army folded in less than 96 hours amply demonstrated the power of a networked force.

The defence ministry must also evaluate the army's wish to foreclose the BMS in the light of the Chinese BMS (named Qu Dian) which began deployment 10 years ago.

Even Pakistan is working on its own BMS named Rehbar.

If the Indian military wishes to avoid the fate of Saddam Hussein's forces, it too must network its battlefield units securely and robustly.

Then there is the need to prioritise 'Make' category projects -- including the BMS, there are only three in the pipeline.

These harness Indian defence industry to develop 'complex, high-tech systems' with the government reimbursing 80 per cent of the development cost.

Such projects build design and development skills and systems integration capability, which is far more important than 'Make in India' projects which merely involve assembling imported components and systems to blueprints provided by a foreign 'original equipment manufacturer' under 'transfer of technology'.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's decision -- whether to kill the BMS 'Make' project or nurture it -- will be a revealing indicator of her commitment to building real indigenous capability in defence.

Why is the BMS more important than buying the tanks and guns for which the army wants to save its money?

A BMS is a 'force multiplier' that uses information and communications technology to enhance the effectiveness of the field force and the weapons they operate.

An example of this in civilian life is Google Maps.

Buying a fast (and expensive) car has limited benefits in terms of reaching one's destination sooner, but Google Maps' software does that more effectively.

It chooses the fastest route by 'crowd sourcing' traffic conditions, with user inputs updating this dynamic element in real time. This allows for the most efficient use of the road.

Extrapolating this cheap and commonsensical solution to the battlefield, the 'crowd-sourcing' of inputs from friendly elements on the battlefield -- soldiers, weapons systems or surveillance devices that form a part of one's own force -- builds up a common operating picture of the battlefield that is updated in real time.

The 'battlefield transparency' this creates enables soldiers and combat commanders to react to emerging situations faster than the enemy.

Network centricity is all about being faster on the OODA loop -- the action sequence of Observe, Orient, Decide, Act -- than the adversary.

In non-military terms this means being quicker in picking up and identifying the enemy, deciding how and with what weapons to engage him, and then actually doing so.

A strong BMS system that provides battlefield transparency, and enables the immediate use of firepower and manpower, creates greater combat effect than expensive tanks, guns or fighter aircraft that are unable to use their capabilities to full effect.

Although creating a BMS combat network would be cheaper than buying weapons platforms, it still requires the expenditure of significant sums.

In 2011, the defence ministry approved the BMS for an overly optimistic Rs 350 crore (Rs 3.5 billion).

Other worldwide benchmark projects indicate $1.5 billion to $2 billon in initial investments towards developing BMS-type 'force multiplier capabilities'.

Today, the combined cost quoted by the two 'development agencies' -- one, a consortium of Tata Power (Strategic Engineering Division) and Larsen & Toubro; the other between Bharat Electronics Ltd and Rolta India -- is a more realistic Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion).

This would be paid out over five years, but the army is unwilling to earmark even Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) per year for this revolutionary project which would harness India's demonstrated skills in information technology.

Given the range of technologies that it would galvanise, the BMS would be not just a 'force multiplier' for the military but equally for the ICT economy.

Why does developing two BMS prototypes cost so much?

The other ICT-based networks the army is developing -- such as the 'artillery command, control and communications system' which integrates fire support from artillery guns; or the 'battlefield surveillance system' that integrates surveillance systems -- are basically software systems.

These will ride on a communications network called the 'tactical communications system', which is being developed as a separate 'Make' programme.

The BMS, however, is intended for the combat soldier, who would outpace communications networks like the TCS, especially in situations like an advance into enemy territory.

The BMS, therefore, requires its own communications backbone, built on sophisticated 'software defined radio' that provides enormous flexibility with its ability to function on disparate 'wave forms'.

This means the BMS must have advanced communications technology on which the information technology component is fully integrated. All these must be engineered as part of the project.

The US army tried in vain to ride its BMS on a generic radio, the Joint Tactical Radio System. Some $15 billion later, they realised the hardware and software had to be engineered together in a 'system of systems' approach.

Each element and device in the BMS has to be planned for SWAP (size, weight and power), and a range of waveforms have to be created.

The day of reckoning for the BMS is December 29 when the two DAs must submit their 'detailed project reports', including final price estimates, to the Defence Production Board, which the defence secretary currently heads.

The ministry is currently squeezing the DAs to bring down their prices by over 30 per cent, even if that means reducing the scope of the BMS project.

It is mind-boggling to see a government that claims to be committed to defence preparedness and indigenisation haggling with defence industry over a project that would bring to the Indian military a 'revolution in military affairs' albeit three decades after it transformed the US military's way of warfare.

It is time for Ms Sitharaman to step in and end this nonsense.

Photograph: Kind courtesy US Army
MORRIS -Family, friends and neighbors in the greater Morris community are invited to gather in the Morris Community Hall at 3 East Street on Friday, Jan. 12 from 5-7 p.m. for a dinner to benefit a 2-year-old Morris boy who is battling a rare kidney disease.

Greysen Gregory has been a patient at Connecticut Childrens Medical Center in Hartford for the past several months, under the care of five Nephrologist specialists.

The dinner will feature an all-you-can-eat smorgasbord featuring homemade chili, soups, grilled cheese, lasagna, casseroles, mac n cheese, pizza, rolls, bread and cornbread, hot cocoa and coffee, and homemade desserts including whoopee pies.

There will be door prizes, face painting, chance to win gifts and a childrens activity to make-a-card for Greysen. All proceeds of the dinner will support a fund opened by his father at Thomaston Savings Bank for the toddlers medical and educational needs.

Those seeking information or to purchase tickets can contact Jo Ann Jaacks at 860-567-4456. Volunteer servers and donations of food items are also greatly appreciated.

Cub Scouts to collect Christmas trees

WINSTED  The local Cub Scouts of Pack 1027 are collecting old Christmas trees from area residents again this year. On Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 6-7, the Scouts will collect trees from residents of the towns of Winchester and Colebrook as part of an annual fundraiser.

Suggested donation is $10. More information can be obtained by email to: pack1027cubs@gmail.com or by telephone at: (860) 480-1312

Armchair Traveller series continues at library

SALISBURY  The Scoville Memorial Librarys Armchair Traveller Series: Ghana and Me presented by Juliet Moore, will be held Saturday, Jan. 6 at 4 p.m.

She says, My visits to a small fishing village on the coast of West Africa and how the courage and the beauty of the people changed me forever, will be viewed through slides, video clips, and narrative.

Moore began her professional life in NYC as a fashion model and then in the development, production, publicity, and syndication of network television programs. She then moved to the Berkshires and, for over 21 years, she restored homes and three historic commercial properties and operated the Old Mill Restaurant, Mill House Clothier, and the White Hart Inn.

While a business and marketing consultant in 1999, she entered into commercial and then residential real estate. She is a former director of the NW CT Arts Council, the Housatonic Child Care Center, and the local Rotary Club and is a board member of the Litchfield County Board of Realtors.

The event is free; to register go to scovillelibrary.org.

Workman Memorial to host King celebration

TORRINGTON  Members of Fellowship Hall at Workman Memorial AME Zion Church, 60 Brightwood Ave., Torrington, invite all to join them as they celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Saturday, Jan. 13 at 9 a.m.

Special guest is Mark McEachern, director of the Torrington Historical Society.

A hearty breakfast will be served at 8:30 a.m. The event is being sponsored by the Brotherhood of Diversity; a local mens group supporting the growth and development of youth.

Library to host cookie contest

Gunn Memorial Library in Washington is hosting a Cookie Contest during the Museums Annual New Years Tea Party. This will take place on Saturday, Jan. 6, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. in the librarys Wykeham Room. A snow date is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 9, 4-6 p.m.

Do you have a special cookie recipe that you think is a real winner? Our contest will give home cooks an opportunity to have their culinary creations judged by three professionals.

The judges are: Marty Rook, trained pastry chef and owner of New Preston Kitchen Goods, plus acclaimed cookbook authors, Ann Hodgman and Susan Purdy.

Those interested in participating should pre-register by calling the library or signing up at the circulation desk. Entrants should submit 3 dozen cookies arranged on a disposable plate to the library at least  hour before the event.

Plates are to be submitted with an entry form which can be picked up at the library. Cookies should be homemade and baked by the contestant. This fun event is open to bakers of all ages.

Free and open to the public. Registration is requested. Please call the Library for further information or visit www.gunnlibrary.org

Scoville Library series continues Jan. 11

SALISBURY  A special presentation: World Around Us Series. Is the Moon Still There When Nobody Looks? An Introduction to Quantum Physics presented by Matthew Deady, will be held at the Scoville Memorial Library on Thursday, Jan. 11 at 6 p.m. Snow date is Jan. 25.

Quantum M\mechanics is the most successful physical theory ever developed, and yet its foundations and interpretation have remained an ongoing dispute over the last century.

Among its counter-intuitive consequences are Heisenbergs Uncertainty Principle, the role of the observer as captured in the Schrodingers Cat paradox, and the spooky action at a distance exemplified in entanglement experiments.

All of these have implications for our understanding of reality and causality, and continue to be investigated by physicists and philosophers. This talk will provide a historical survey of Quantum Mechanics, leading up to current experiments and theories that weigh on the questions that bedeviled Einstein, Bohr, and many others

Deady is a physics professor and director of the physics program at Bard College, where he has been teaching since 1987. He received his Doctorate from MIT, and was an Assistant professor of physics at Mount Holyoke College. His current research includes nuclear physics, mathematical physics, and musical acoustics.

He is extensively published in journals including Physical Review, Technology Review, and American Journal of Physics.

The event is free. To register, go to scovillelibrary.org
Pembroke Pines, FL -- (ReleaseWire) -- 12/27/2017 --With 25 years in the business, Pizza Machine is without a doubt the best among all other pizza restaurants in Weston and Hollywood Florida. The pizza delivery company has accumulated a lot of fame within a small time while giving their competitors a hard time. It is difficult to cut a niche in a place where there are other pizza companies. However, Pizza Machine has accumulated goodwill and captured the hearts of their clients, because of the quality their food, the quick service, and customer satisfaction. Those who have tried pizza from them once, come back for more.



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The pasta that Pizza Machine is imported from Italy. The juicy tomatoes are carefully hand-picked from the San Joaquin Valley for the best taste to the pizzas. When it comes to quality, there is no reason to doubt Pizza Machine. Apart from serving pizzas, Pizza Machine also offers catering in Miramar and Weston Florida for business events, parties and family gatherings. They offer wings, burgers, sandwiches, salads, wraps, pasta, Italian entrees, and desserts. The pizza restaurant is also recognized for offering school lunch catering program.



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About Pizza Machine

Pizza Machine is one of the best pizza restaurants in Weston and Hollywood Florida. They also offer catering in Miramar and Weston Florida for family gatherings, corporate events and more.
Cambodias Tonle Sap, a lake known as the countrys beating heart, faces a more rapid decline than previously estimated, according to a new study.

Experts say that urgent countermeasures are needed to save Southeast Asias largest freshwater lake, which has served Cambodia for millennia.

Millions of Cambodians depend on the Mekong River and the Tonle Sap for fish catches that provide them with their main source of protein.

Cambodian fishermen pull more than 400,000 tons of fish out of the Tonle Sap each year, making the lake the worlds largest and most productive inland fishery.

The new study focusing on the sediment flow in Southeast Asias longest river was produced by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), an independent nonprofit research organization.

The damage done to fish migration to and from the Tonle Sap by upstream dams in China and Laos has already been widely reported.

The dams and their reservoirs block adult fish trying to migrate upstream and larvae and juveniles trying to migrate downstream.

But the damage to the Tonle Sap caused by a decline in sediment flows which have been disrupted by the dams has been less well studied.

Robust sediment flows to the Tonle Sap lakebed help to nourish the plants and smaller organisms on which the fish feed. Without this sediment, the lakes food chain is likely to collapse.

According the SEI report, factors leading to a drastic reduction in sediment loads in the Mekong include hydroelectric dams, riverbed mining for sand, land-use changes, and climate change.

Among these factors, the report says, the most important are the dams reservoirs and riverbed mining.

Climate change, which has brought extreme weather changes, including increasingly intense floods and drought, exacerbates the situation, it says.

The sand dredged from the Mekong riverbed goes mostly into concrete. The concrete has been used in the dams and in other Chinese projects being built along the riverbanks and for the Chinese-backed construction of a China-Laos railroad and its tunnels.

The Stakes

The stakes are huge. According to the World Wildlife Fund, the Mekong counts for up to 25 percent of the global freshwater catch and provides livelihoods for at least 60 million people.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) says that the Mekong is the second most biodiverse river in the world after the Amazon.

The river supports the largest inland fishery in the world. But dams have been disrupting the migration of more than 100 species of fish.

In Cambodia, researchers have warned in recent years that a loss of fish resources caused by dam building could devastate the health of rural children.

And experts have documented signs of chronic malnutrition in a number of villages.

In 2010, The Mekong River Commission (MRC) recommended that all damming be postponed through 2020.

The MRC was formed in 1995 through an agreement among the governments of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam to ensure the reasonable and equitable use of the Mekong River system.

But the commissions findings are nonbinding, and China is not a member of the MRC.

The importance of sediment

Sediment might sound like an arcane subject studied by no one but agricultural experts. But for farmers and fishermen living downstream from China, it can mean life or death.

According to Thanapon Piman, a researcher for the SEI and lead author of its report, sediment is critical for the formation and stabilization of deltas and the ecosystems they support.

Sediment, or silt, enrichs the entire Lower Mekong Basin and supports farms, irrigation, fisheries, water quality, and water-based plants.

Dr. Thanaphon says that if all of the dams proposed for the Lower Mekong Basin are developed, including dams that are planned or ongoing, this could prevent more than 90 percent of Mekongs sediment load from being transported downstream.

The SEI report isnt the first of its kind to warn of looming, mostly man-made disasters on the Mekong.

A 2012 study by the Washington, D.C.-based National Academy of Sciences identified Cambodias Lower Sesan 2 tributary dam as the most destructive to fish biodiversity of the countrys dams.

The dam was expected to endanger 56 fish species. That impact will be felt across Cambodia as well as in the neighboring countries of Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam.

In June 2014, The New York Times reported that a growing population of fishermen at the Tonle Sap were engaging in overfishing. The cutting of mangrove swamps that shelter fish added to the damage.

During the dry season, the Tonle Sap feeds the Mekong River, releasing water that irrigates and nourishes crops to the southeast

But during the rainy season, the Mekong backs up into the Tonle Sap.

In brief, the waters of the Tonle Sap ebb and flow with the annual cycle of the river that feeds it. The Tonle Sap River connects the lake to the Mekong.

The ebb and flow of its waters gives Southeast Asias largest freshwater lake the nickname Cambodias beating heart.

The good news is that many internationally recognized scientists have been monitoring and reporting on the Mekong and Tonle Sap.

A team involving some of these scientists has been studying the impact of upstream dams in China and Laos on the Tonle Sap since 2012 and has built a computer model to track developments there.

International organizations such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the European Union have been supporting studies on environmental flows and food security in the region.

The U.S. State Department runs a Lower Mekong Initiative in support of such activities.

The SEI report was published with the support of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Last year, Radio Free Asia sent a cameraman to document changes occurring along the Mekong. When he visited the Tonle Sap a representative for five communes depending on the lake spoke of its importance to Cambodia.

If the Tonle Sap is alive, he said, then the Mekong is alive.

But over the past five to six years, the water flow has been unpredictable and the fish catch declining.

As RFAs cameraman reported in a series of blogs titled A River in Peril, fishermen working on the Tonle Sap on a daily basis report that they sometimes find no fish at all.

Some fishermen have given up. Young men are leaving to find work elsewhere. Some head to neighboring Thailand or even as far away as South Korea.

Writing for The Phnom Penh Post on Aug. 1 of this year, Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon summed up the view of many experts that Cambodias most important ecosystem is in crisis.

The ecosystem of the gigantic lake is set to spectacularly collapse, he wrote.

At least, he says, if drastic measures arent takenand soon.

Such was the prevailing sentiment he says, at an International Symposium on Flood Pulse Ecosystems held in Siem Reap, Cambodia, where researchers convened in late July this year.

Sassoon said that the tone at the conference alternated between frustrated and funereal.

What can be done?

Any solution to saving the Tonle Sap and other fishing grounds in or near the Mekong River would have to begin with a curb on dam building, much of it carried out by Chinese state-owned companies.

In all, more than 15 countries companies are engaged in dam-building.

In China, six dams have been completed with 13 more under construction or planned.

Laos has plans for 140 dams with roughly 30 percent of them completed. Most of them are dams located on tributaries.

According to Brian Eyler, an expert on the issues, tributary dams can disrupt environmental flows, such as fish migration and sediment distribution, just as seriously as mainstream dams do.

Eyler directs the Southeast Asia program at the Stimson Center, a nonpartisan research center based in Washington, D.C.

Two mainstream dams in Laos, which are still under construction, have designs intended to mitigate damage to fish built into them, such as fish ladders.

Laoss Xayaburi dam has extensive fish modifications, including a fish elevator never tried before and accommodations for fish passage in the navigation lock system, Eyler says.

Xayaburi also has installed expensive sediment flushing gates.

The Don Sahong dam uses a modification of natural passages in channels adjacent of the dam site to permit fish passage. The developer deepened and widened these passages to permit fish passage in the dry season.

But it remains to be seen, Eyler says, whether these innovations will produce predicted results.

The simple truth is that we still dont know enough about the dams impacts on fish migration to determine before and after impacts of these two projects, says Eyler.

According to Eyler, this is why The Mekong River Commission recommended in 2010 that all damming on the Mekong mainstream be postponed through 2020 until more data is collected.

These dams use untested fish-mitigation technology, so even modeling results from the developer should be questioned and scrutinized, says Eyler.

Cambodia itself has plans for 60 dams, with about 10 percent of them completed. But only one of the completed dams, the much-criticized Sesan 2 dam, is located in the Mekong Basin and relatively near the Tonle Sap.

At a workshop held in Ho Chi Minh City on Nov. 30, experts argued that a growing awareness of the inefficiencies and high costs of hydropower should induce Laos and other countries to take another look at renewable energy.

Eyler, who chaired the workshop, has long argued that the current hydropower system in Laos favors the needs of investors, which are short-term and driven by the bottom line.

In Eylers view, the energy infrastructure in Laos, while designed to make Laos the battery of Southeast Asia, is highly inefficient.

Nikky Nkiruka Avila from the Energy and Resources Group at the University of California, Berkeley, said that hydropower dams are becoming more costly.

She advocated the increased use of other renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar powered energy, noting that the prices for the equipment needed for these sources have plummeted.

Laos and Cambodia offer ideal conditions for solar and wind power generation.

These renewable energy sources could potentially substitute for dams now in the planning stage. If built, those dams could become the most disruptive for environmental flows yet.

Dan Southerland is RFA's founding executive editor.
A government crackdown on Cambodias opposition, NGOs, and independent media has led to a deterioration of the countrys system of checks and balances, according to observers, hampering democracy and deterring the public from engaging in politics.



Following a strong showing by the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) in the countrys 2013 elections, Prime Minister Hun Sen delivered a six-hour televised speech calling on officials from his ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) to undertake significant reforms and win back popular support.



Firstly, you need to look at yourselves in a mirror, he said at the time, adding that CPP officials should then scrub your bodies to rid yourselves of all the dirty things.



You have to learn to accept reality based on criticism from stakeholders, the people, civil society and the opposition.



Last week, Hun Sen convened a meeting of his top officials, during which he reiterated several key points of the same message.



In the five years since the last general election, however, the CPP has expended much of its energy discrediting critics of its governance, harassing lawmakers, rights monitors, activists, the media and even representatives of the United Nations.



Since the CNRP won nearly 44 percent of all votes in Cambodias June commune elections, authorities have arrested opposition chief Kem Sokha on charges of treason and the Supreme Court dissolved the party for its role in his alleged plot to topple the governmentredistributing its parliamentary seats and councilor positions to pro-government parties, and banning 118 of its officials from politics for five years.



CPP spokesman Sok Eysan recently defended the dissolution of the CNRP and said criticism from the opposition party was not welcome in Cambodia.



We dont need an opposition as our mirror, he said, adding that the CNRPs position is evil and they criticize us just for the sake of criticism.



They intend to sink us and make us look bad for their own political gain. They fool the people for their votes.



Eng Chhai Eang, a deputy president of the CNRP who has been living in self-imposed exile in recent months, told RFAs Khmer Service that after an initial period in which debate was encouraged, Hun Sens government no longer welcomed engagement.



After the 2013 election, civil society, the opposition, the public, and the media had some freedom to engage and help steer the government in the right direction, he said, noting that debate had compelled Hun Sen to half the terms of land concessions, return management of revenue collection at the Angkor Wat temple complex from a private company to the state, and cancel contentious road tolls.



Unfortunately, that is no longer the case since the government dissolved the opposition party, and enacted bans on [certain organizations within] the media and civil society.



Weary of elections



Political analysts and members of civil society agreed that the current crackdown on the opposition, NGOs, and the media had all but eradicated the means to ensure government accountability and presented a major challenge for the fledgling democracy ahead of a general election scheduled for July 2018.



Yoeung Sotheara, legal and monitoring officer at the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (COMFREL), told RFA that civic engagement had faltered in the country since the CNRP was disbanded.



The opposition played a significant role in helping people to register to vote, he said, noting that the CNRP gone directly to the people in their homes and encouraged them.



Now that the CNRP is dissolved, opposition activists are gone or restrained from doing their work the way they had previously done it, and the people have grown weary of the elections.



Political analyst Lao Mong Hay agreed that recent tensions had affected public interest in politics.



The government no longer has a viable opponent and now the National Election Commission (NEC) cant even rely on public volunteers who had previously assisted with elections, he said.



Everyone is a victim



Housing Rights Task Force executive director Sia Phearum, who is currently living in the U.S. to avoid persecution, told RFA that since the government has restricted NGOs it accuses of working to unseat the ruling party, victims of land grabs and other rights abuse have lost crucial representation in the country.



Everyone is a victim nowcivil society, the opposition party, the media, he said, adding that democracy is sinking in Cambodia.



Thun Saray, president of the rights group Adhoc, who has been living in self-imposed exile since last year, said Cambodia is becoming a one-party state and that the dissolution of the main opposition party had seriously undermined democracy in the country.



He urged Hun Sen to be brave and allow a fair fight by reinstating the opposition.



He should not be afraid to engage in a democratic competition, he said.



He can do many good things if he so chooses, and if he does, he will secure a good legacy in Cambodias history.



In recent weeks, the U.S. and EU said they plan to compile lists of individuals who spearheaded the dissolution of the opposition and other rights violations in Cambodia, with a view to level sanctions against them, and have pledged to review trade agreements with the country.



Both the U.S. and EU have withdrawn funding of the election next year, and Washington recently placed visa restrictions on individuals responsible for undermining Cambodian democracy in response to the arrest of Kem Sokha and the dissolution of the CNRP.



Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Nareth Muong. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
China on decreed that part of a high-speed railway station linking the former British colony of Hong Kong to the mainland will be subject to its laws, as pro-democracy commentators warned that the city's once-promised autonomy will soon be a thing of the past.



China's rubber-stamp parliament, the National People's Congress (NPC), said on that it would extend Beijing's authority to the high-speed rail terminus to enable a streamlined process for passengers boarding the trains in Hong Kong, in spite of the city's status as a separate immigration, policing and customs jurisdiction.



The "co-location" arrangement has been criticized as unconstitutional for violating Article 18 of the city's Basic Law, which says that mainland Chinese laws, with the exception of some governing affairs of state, don't apply in Hong Kong.



In a legislative document on the decision, the NPC said the arrangements didn't count as an encroachment on the city's autonomy, however.



"It is appropriate ... that the Mainland Port Area within the West Kowloon station would be regarded as belonging to mainland China," the NPC document said.



"Setting up a Mainland Port Area inside the West Kowloon station does not change the administrative area of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, does not affect the [city]s right to a high degree of autonomy accorded by the law, [nor does it] reduce or harm residents rights and freedoms accorded by the law," it said.



Li Fei, deputy secretary-general of the NPC standing committee, said the decision is Beijing's final word on the controversy.



"The NPC standing committee is empowered to legislate on national laws, interpret the law and monitor their implementation," he said. "This includes the power to interpret Hong Kongs Basic Law, and the duty to monitor the implementation of the Basic Law."



"The standing committee has the final say on whether the laws in Hong Kong, and everything that happens there, violate the Basic Law," he told reporters on .



'Death of Hong Kong'

The planned U.S.$11 billion Express Rail Link will connect Hong Kong with the rest of Chinas high-speed rail network, slashing the journey time between Hong Kong and the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou to just 48 minutes.



Under the new ruling, passengers boarding the train in Hong Kong will clear customs and immigration before taking their seats, removing the necessity for passengers to disembark for checks at the internal immigration border between the two.



Opposition lawmaker Tanya Chan, who heads a group that campaigns against a Chinese police presence on Hong Kong soil, said the issue represents the most serious violation of the Basic Law since the 1997 handover.



"Li Fei talks about the weight carried by words," Chan said. "I think we can say that this decision from the NPC standing committee will be the death of Hong Kong."



"This has now gone much further than just a co-location arrangement at a port; we now see the central government directly wielding total political power in Hong Kong," she said.



"They used to talk about a high degree of autonomy, and Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong," she said. "But , we have zero autonomy, and the NPC standing committee ruling Hong Kong."



Hong Kong political commentators agreed that the move strikes at the heart of the post-handover political arrangements agreed between the U.K. and China ahead of the handover.



"The central government in the past used to rely on the law and the established system in its dealings with Hong Kong, but now Li Fei seems to be saying that it is just using its naked power to weigh in on the debate," commentator Poon Siu-to told RFA. "This sets an extremely dangerous precedent, which says that the NPC can just issue a decision and dispense with any kind of due process."



"Basically he is saying that anything the central government does is legal by definition," he said. "This is a huge blow to the rule of law."



End of 'one country, two systems'

According to long-time China analyst Willy Lam, the move spells the end of the promises of "one country, two systems" enshrined in the handover agreements.



"Li Fei espouses the rule of the party over the rule of law, and now he is bringing that approach to Hong Kong," Lam said. "It has destroyed the essence of one country, two systems at a fundamental level."



"This means that from now on, the NPC standing committee can just issue a ruling to smooth out any rough edges."



Hong Kong's administration under chief executive Carrie Lam said it would table new laws to its Legislative Council (LegCo) by early February to enable the plan to proceed.



"This decision sets out a stable legal and constitutional basis for the cooperative [checkpoint] arrangements to be implemented," Lam told reporters. "It has now laid to rest any doubts and concerns about the co-location arrangement."



"The Hong Kong government will now cooperate with the mainland authorities to enter into consultation on and implement the arrangements for the joint checkpoint at Kowloon West Station," she said.



Recent high-profile interventions by the NPC have triggered a series of court decisions resulting in the loss of six pro-democracy seats in LegCo, meaning that the plan is unlikely to meet with effective opposition once tabled.



Reported by Wen Yuqing and Lam Kwok-lap for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Gao Feng for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
The first group of North Korean workers earning foreign currency for the Kim Jong Un regime in Mongolia has returned home following sanctions brought in response to Pyongyangs most recent nuclear test, according to sources, who said most of the remaining laborers will have left by early 2018.



North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test on Sept. 3 and claimed to have detonated a hydrogen bomb. Later that month, the United Nations Security Council adopted resolutions prohibiting any country from accepting North Korean workers in response to the test, and on Dec. 22 passed an additional resolution requiring North Korean workers abroad to return home within two years.



A source in Mongolia told RFAs Korean Service Wednesday that Mongolian authorities had stopped issuing one-year visa renewals for North Korean workers, who mainly earn foreign currency in construction in the country, and said that a group of them had recently left on a train from the capital Ulaanbaatar.



North Korean workers got on a Beijing-bound train in Ulaanbaatar not so long ago, he said, referring to the capital of neighboring China, where the workers will transfer and continue their journey home by rail.



It seems like the rest of the workers will be pulled out by early next year.



It was not immediately clear how many North Korean workers had left in the group.



The source, who is familiar with foreign investment in Mongolia and spoke to RFA on condition of anonymity, said that Mongolian authorities had asked the North Korean workers to leave to ensure that Ulaanbaatar was in compliance with the U.N.



Due to the U.N. resolution, Mongolian construction companies are not able to sign new contracts with North Korean workers, he said.



Mongolia is in need of large-scale foreign investment, and it wouldnt be easy to bring in investors if there are North Korean workers in the country.



Faithful and skillful



Firms in Mongolia began hiring large numbers of workers from North Korea in 2008 amid a construction boom, and Ulaanbaatar and Pyongyang reached an agreement to send as many as 5,300 North Koreans there over the next five years.



But the number of North Koreans in Mongolia has dropped annually since a high of more than 2,100 in 2013, when the country began dealing with an economic crisis. As of November 2017, nearly 1,200 North Koreans were employed in Mongolia.



Construction firms prefer to hire North Koreans because they work long hours for little money, a source in Mongolias construction industry told RFA.



Their North Korean handlers also routinely forbid them from leaving the construction sites, where they sleep and eat, enduring poor living conditions.



North Korea workers were popular at construction sites because they were faithful and skillful, said the source, who also asked to remain unnamed.



[The workers] were hoping they might be allowed to stay in Mongolia up until the last minute before they left.



According to a U.N. estimate from September, around 100,000 North Koreans working abroad send some U.S. $500 million in earnings to Pyongyang annually.



Most of the workers are stationed in Russia and China, where they regularly work more than 12 hours per day for wages they see as little as 10 percent of, after the Kim regime takes its cut.



Other North Koreans in Mongolia find work in cashmere factories and as acupuncturists or practitioners of Korean traditional medicine.



Reported by Jaewan Noh for RFAs Korean Service. Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Abdul Masood, a Rohingya refugee in Bangladesh, worries that he may soon be forced to return to Myanmar, where, he alleges, the military killed his relatives and burned his entire village a few months ago.

Masood joined a massive influx of Rohingya Muslims who crossed into southeastern Bangladesh in 2017. They were fleeing violence and atrocities allegedly committed by the military and Buddhist militiamen in the neighboring Myanmar state of Rakhine, in a campaign that U.N. and U.S. officials branded as ethnic cleansing.

If we are sent back, there is no hope for us. We will all be killed, or worse, tortured to death. Ask any Rohingya, and they will tell you they dont want to go back, no matter the promises the Myanmar government makes regarding our safety, Masood, 28, told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.

He and his wife and three children were among at least 655,000 Rohingya who escaped from Myanmar since late August as part of a refugee crisis that Bangladesh had never seen, although some 400,000 Rohingya were already sheltering in the southeast after having fled previous spasms of violence in Rakhine.

We were certainly not ready for such an influx, but we have taken measures to the best of our ability, Md. Shah Kamal, the secretary of Bangladeshs Ministry of Management and Relief, told BenarNews. But it would be unbearable for us it we had to continue this for long.

The scale and pace of the latest influx led United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to describe it as the worlds fastest developing refugee emergency,  as he urged U.N. member-states in September to help avert a humanitarian disaster in Bangladesh, while he called on Myanmar to end its military crackdown in Rakhine.

The crackdown was provoked by raids against Myanmar police and army posts by Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) insurgents on Aug. 25.

At least 6,700 Rohingya were killed during the first month of the crackdown in Myanmar, including 730 children under the age of 5, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

The victims died from being shot, burned inside their homes, beaten and other grisly causes between Aug. 25 and Sept. 24, the Geneva-based international NGO reported earlier this month.

The numbers of deaths are likely to be an underestimation as we have not surveyed all refugee settlements in Bangladesh and because the surveys dont account for the families who never made it out of Myanmar. We have heard reports of entire families who perished after they were locked inside their homes, while they were set alight, Sidney Wong, MSFs medical director, said.

Myanmar government officials have repeatedly denied such allegations and have blamed the violence on ARSA.

In early September, [Myanmar] soldiers entered our village and ordered us to leave or get killed. They began firing indiscriminately, killing my mother, my father and two brothers, and several other villagers, said Masood, who lives with his family in a makeshift hut at the sprawling Kutupalong refugee camp in Coxs Bazar district.

They then started setting each house on fire. Nothing was left of our village.

Francis: I ask for your forgiveness

Such accounts from newly arrived refugees about alleged abuses carried out against Rohingya incensed Muslims and precipitated massive anti-Myanmar street demonstrations this year in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia and other Islamic-majority countries.

The Rohingya, a stateless minority group, have for decades faced discrimination and persecution in Myanmar. The country has refused to grant them citizenship and its Buddhist majority refers to them pejoratively as Bengalis, or illegal migrants from Bangladesh.

In 2017, the plight of the Rohingya caught the attention of Pope Francis, who travelled to Myanmar and Bangladesh, where he had an emotional encounter in Dhaka with a group of Rohingya refugees.

In the name of everyone, of those who persecute you, of those whove done you wrong, above all, the worlds indifference, I ask you for forgiveness, the pontiff told the refugees during an interfaith gathering on Dec. 1. I now appeal to your big heart, that youre able to grant us the forgiveness we seek.

BenarNews interviewed Masood two days after Bangladesh Health Minister Mohammed Nasim confirmed that, starting in January 2018, Myanmar would take back hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees as part of a bilateral repatriation agreement that the two countries signed in November.

On Dec. 19, Bangladesh and Myanmar formed a joint working group (JWG) to oversee the voluntary repatriation of the displaced Muslim community.

But refugees like Masood said that they and their families would not feel safe, should they opt to go back.

What is the guarantee that this will not happen again once we go back? After all, this violence against our community has gone on for several years. Suddenly, Myanmar is assuring us that we can return safely. Its hard to believe, Masood said.

Skepticism about repatriation deal

The repatriation deal inked between Bangladesh and Myanmar looks more like a public relations effort by Burma to quickly close this ugly chapter, Bill Frelick, refugee rights director at Human Rights Watch, said in a recent report.

Burma has yet to end its military abuses against the Rohingyas, let alone create conditions that would allow them to return home safely, Frelick said.

Ajai Sahni of the New Delhi-based Institute for Conflict Management (ICM), which has documented the repatriation of Rohingya since the early 1990s, agreed.

Myanmars announcement to take back Rohingya is merely a stunt to ease mounting global pressure. Myanmar has never been serious about letting the Rohingya community settle on its soil, Sahni told BenarNews

It was highly unlikely that the refugees would agree to return to Myanmar, where their villages had been reduced to ashes, he said.

A total of 236,495 Rohingya were repatriated from Bangladesh to Myanmar between 1992 and 2005, according to information on the website of the Myanmar State Counsellors website.

Despite the repatriation and several assurances of keeping Rohingya safe, the violence and persecution against the community has never stopped, Sahni said.

According to another analyst, a large majority of Rohingya would refuse to go back to Myanmar.

But the reality is that Bangladesh has to maintain bilateral discussions with Myanmar, and at the same time maintain international relations to pressure Myanmar into ensuring the safe and dignified repatriation of the Rohingya community, Tarek Shamsur Rahman, professor of international relations at Dhakas Jahangirnagar University, told BenarNews.

A former Bangladeshi foreign secretary, Mohiuddin Ahmed, predicted that the repatriation process would fail.

Right since 1992, Myanmars conduct regarding the repatriation indicates they are not interested in it at all. This latest agreement was made only to avoid international pressure, he told BenarNews.

Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.
Reuters journalist Thet Oo Maung (L) is greeted by his wife Pan Ei Mon (R) outside a courthouse in Yangon, Myanmar, Dec. 27, 2017.

A Myanmar court extended the detention of two Reuters reporters on Wednesday during their first public appearance following 15 days of interrogation by police for allegedly violating the colonial-era Official Secrets Act.

Thet Oo Maung, also known as Wa Lone, and Kyaw Soe Oo were arrested on Dec. 12 for possessing illegal government documents about security forces in northern Rakhine state, where a military crackdown has driven hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims into neighboring Bangladesh.

The journalists were working on stories about the crackdown when authorities accused them of sending important security documents regarding security forces in Rakhine state to foreign agencies abroad.

The two obtained the documents from two police officers, who had been stationed in northern Rakhine, during a dinner meeting in Yangon. The policemen were also taken into custody but have not been charged.

Police have questioned the two reporters at the Aung Tha Pyay interrogation center in the citys Mayangone township for the last 15 days.

They have been charged under Section 3 of the Official Secrets Act and will be held in custody for another two weeks. If found guilty, they could be sentenced to up to 14 years in prison.

We did everything in accordance with the media law or ethics, Thet Oo Maung told reporters at the courthouse. We didnt violate them.

He also said that the police have not beaten or mistreated them.

Wednesday was first time since their arrest that the two journalists were allowed to meet their families and attorney.

They shouldn't been charged under this act, defense lawyer Thant Zaw Aung said. They were gathering information and were doing their jobs as journalists without violating the Media Law.

Than Zaw Aung said Thet Oo Maung and Kyaw Soe Oo signed documents that allowed him to represent them in court.

I didnt get much time to discuss the case with them, he said. I think the police must have finished questioning the two because they were taken from Mingaladon courthouse to Insein Prison straightaway.

Than Zaw Aung also confirmed that police had called the two journalists to the meeting, after which they were arrested.

Another lawyer will also help defend the two reporters, he said.

How can a reporter gathering news be charged under the Official Secrets Act? said veteran news photographer Khin Maung Win. Of course, a reporter will look for information anywhere he can, and he shouldn't be charged like this. Ive worked in the media world for 20 years and have never seen a case like this. It's a huge blow to media freedom.

The journalists next court hearing is scheduled for Jan. 10.

Protest in Pyay

About 100 journalists, lawyers, young people, and farmers staged a protest in Pyay (formerly called Prome), 180 miles north of Yangon, demanding the release of Thet Oo Maung and Kyaw Soe Oo and calling for press freedom in Myanmar.

Protesters sat draped in chains before a statue of General Aung San, Myanmars independence hero and father of State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, in a public square in the town center.

Some reporters from Yangon joined about 30 local reporters in the protest, said Tharlon Zaung Htet, a member of the Myanmar Committee for the Protection of Journalists who participated in the demonstration.

We chained our hands and collected signatures from passersby to show our solidarity with the arrested journalists, he told RFA, adding that similar protests would be held soon in other cities.

Domestic and international rights groups as well as the governments of some western nations have called for the reporters immediate and unconditional release.

Reported by Htet Arkar, Thiri Min Zin, and Tin Aung Khine for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Tibetan advocacy and human rights groups today welcomed the safe arrival in the U.S. of Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen following what was described as an arduous and risky escape from Tibet and China.



Wangchen, 43, had previously been jailed for six years for his role in producing the documentary film Leaving Fear Behind, containing interviews with Tibetans describing the harsh conditions of their lives under Chinese rule.



The film was produced outside China after he managed to send footage out of Tibet before he was taken into custody by police. It was later shown to foreign journalists in Beijing during the 2008 Olympics, angering and embarrassing China.



After many years, this is the first time Im enjoying the feeling of safety and freedom, Wangchen said following his arrival in San Francisco on Dec. 25.



I would like to thank everyone who made it possible for me to hold my wife and children in my arms again. However, I also feel the pain of having left behind my country, Tibet, Wangchen said, quoted in a Dec. 27 statement by the Swiss-based film group Filming For Tibet, which had campaigned tirelessly for his freedom for almost a decade.



Released from prison in 2014 after serving his sentence, Wangchen was forced to live under harsh restrictions and was not allowed to leave Tibet to join his family in exile, Wangchens brother Jamyang Tsultrim told RFAs Tibetan Service in an interview on Wednesday.



It has been three years since he was released from prison, but his political rights were taken away, and he continued to suffer immense mental problems, so that it became impossible for him to continue to live like that, Tsultrim said from his home in exile.



Under those circumstances, and with no concern for the dangers involved, he decided to escape, Tsultrim said



Denial of rights



In making his film, Wangchen had attempted to raise international awareness of Beijings denial of the fundamental rights of the Tibetan people, Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) said on Wednesday.



The six years Dhondup Wangchen had to spend in jail are a stark reminder of the human costs that Chinas policies continue to have on the Tibetan people, ICT president Matteo Mecacci said in a statement.



Dhondup Wangchen should have never had to pay such a high personal price for exercising his freedom of expression, Mecacci said.



Also on Wednesday, rights group Amnesty International noted in a statement that during his time in prison, Wangchen had been tortured and denied medical care, and had been held for around six months in solitary confinement.



Ethnic Tibetans continue to face discrimination on their rights to freedom of religious belief, expression, association and peaceful assembly, Amnesty International said on Wednesday.



Overly broad and vague charges of separatism and subverting state power continue to be used to prosecute Tibetans who peacefully exercise their human rights, Amnesty International said, while calling on Beijing to release all prisoners of conscience held in Tibetan-populated areas and throughout China.



Reported by Thaklha Gyal for RFAs Tibetan Service. Translated by Benpa Topgyal. Written in English by Richard Finney.
A Tibetan monk jailed two years ago for celebrating the birthday of exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama is in failing health in a prison in Sichuan, Tibetan sources say.



Choekyi, a monk of Phurbu monastery in Sichuans Serthar (in Chinese, Seda) county, was already in poor health before his arrest in 2015 on a charge of conducting separatist activities, a local source told RFAs Tibetan Service.



He had kidney problems, jaundice, and other health-related issues which then got worse because he was tortured in detention, RFAs source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.



And though he was already severely ill, prison authorities forced him to perform hard labor, resulting in a further weakening of his health, the source said.



After being charged, Choekyi was briefly held in a prison in Kardze (Ganzi) prefectures Dartsedo (Kangding) county, and was finally sent to Sichuans Mianyang prison to serve a four-year term, the source said.



Family members and other relatives were allowed at first to visit Choekyi twice a month in prison, but in October of this year orders were passed to prison authorities that family meetings would be limited to five to ten minutes, the source said.



Family members are also not allowed now to bring food or medicine for him, he said.



The Dalai Lama, who turned 82 this year, fled Tibet into exile in India in the midst of a failed 1959 national uprising against Chinese rule, and displays by Tibetans of the Dalai Lamas photo or public celebrations of his birthday have been harshly punished in the past.



Self-immolations and other sporadic demonstrations challenging Beijings rule and calling for the Dalai Lamas return have continued in Tibetan areas of China since widespread protests swept the region in 2008.



Reported by Dawa Dolma for RFAs Tibetan Service. Translated by Benpa Topgyal. Written in English by Richard Finney.
Jay DeBoer remembers feeling physically sick at the ugly spectacle in the House of Delegates, the angry chaos of members shouting and pounding on desks.

David B. Albo thinks about the young page, a middle-schooler, breaking down in tears amid the furor. It struck him as a scene from a developing country, not the august Virginia chamber that bills itself as the oldest lawmaking body in the New World.

So, no, the last time Virginias House was evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, it didnt get off to a very good start.

That was 1998, and all kinds of things were breaking  the sense of decorum, but also more than 110 years of single-party control by Democrats. The painful spasm at the beginning of that years General Assembly session, as Democrats faced sharing power for the first time, cleared the way for Republicans to take over two years later and build a juggernaut of their own.

Which lasted until approximately now.

The House of Delegates is once again on the verge of parity, though its exact divisions remain unclear. State officials were scheduled to resolve the tied Newport News-area delegate race on Wednesday that could leave the House at 50-50 or Republicans with a 51-49 advantage, but it has been postponed.

Beyond that, Democrats are challenging one more election in federal court, so the final balance might not be known before the General Assembly session starts on Jan. 10.

That means the parties have to come up with some way to govern together, either actual power sharing or an approach that recognizes one side is no longer in total control.

A national climate of hyperpartisanship led to a Democratic surge in the November elections, destroying the Republican order in Virginias legislature. But now the only way lawmakers can get anything done is through close cooperation.

It is ironic, said House Minority Leader David J. Toscano, D-Charlottesville, who had to be persuaded not to step down from leadership two years ago but now harbors at least a slim hope of winding up as speaker of the House.

We have a very toxic political atmosphere out there right now, and yet throughout it all, we have a chance to do something very special in Virginia, and that is to come up with a way of operating our General Assembly thats quite different than in Washington and a lot of the rest of the country, he said. It remains to be seen whether we can do it, but we do have a history in Virginia of working in a bipartisan way to get things done.

There are, in fact, several policy areas where the two parties are not that far apart and could make progress in the upcoming session.

But the Republican posture is hard to read. When it briefly looked like that Newport News recount was going to produce a 50-50 House split, the GOP leadership displayed equanimity in a statement pledging to establish a bipartisan framework under which the House can operate efficiently and effectively over the next two years.

But what happens if Republicans hang onto a 51-49 advantage? On that, the partys leadership has stayed mum. Majority Leader M. Kirkland Cox, R-Colonial Heights, who was in line to be speaker before all the uncertainty, declined to comment.

The Republicans had a 66-34 edge before the elections, and they arent going to let the hard-won advantages of power slip away easily. Control of the House affects which bills get taken up and which ones disappear.

Cox has signaled, though, that he recognizes the need to steer his party toward the middle on some issues. He announced that if he becomes speaker, he will offer paid parental leave for all House employees and support the same for all state employees.

There are several other major policy areas where Republicans and Democrats could find common ground, if they can avoid partisan distractions.

Gov.-elect Ralph Northam, a Democrat who spent six years in the state Senate before becoming lieutenant governor, recently suggested that Medicaid expansion could be done in tandem with cost-cutting reforms. Some fellow Democrats criticized that position, but Republican leaders praised Northams comments, leaving the door to expansion ajar in a way it has not been before.

But whether they can work together, or even agree on how to organize the operation of the House itself, remains up in the air. Much depends on the tone set by both sides in the next couple of weeks.

The random drawing to settle the race for Newport News delegate could turn ugly if the losing side fights the outcome. The lawsuit over a contested race in Fredericksburg, set for federal court on Jan. 5, is another powder keg. That case  in which Democrats are seeking a new election because some 100 residents of a split precinct got the wrong ballot on Election Day  could further cloud the picture if a judge decides the Republican who won the race should not be seated. If that happens in conjunction with a Democratic win in Newport News, there could be a temporary one-seat Democratic majority until the court case is resolved.

In other words, everything could easily blow up like it did in 1998.

Over the last 20 years, there has been a real Washington-ization of politics in Virginia. Both parties increasingly have become armed camps with very few moderates in the middle to broker compromises in times like this, said Stephen Farnsworth, a political scientist at the University of Mary Washington. My guess is that if there is power-sharing, it will look at least as ugly as in the past.

And that was pretty ugly.

In 1998, recently elected Republican Gov. Jim Gilmore set the stage for the meltdown by plucking a handful of Democrats out of the legislature to take agency or Cabinet positions  a tactic Northam has said he will avoid. Republicans won the open seats, bringing their total in the House to 49. With an independent delegate agreeing to caucus with them, that created a 50-50 split  the first time Democrats had lost sole power since the 1880s.

Except that three new Republican delegates had not yet been sworn in when Democrats convened the House to select a speaker, a position that dictates committee assignments and legislative priorities.

Parliamentary trickery ensued as both sides tried to gain the upper hand. When Democrats used their remaining power to muscle Republicans aside and install their own speaker, the House erupted in a way no one had ever seen.

Old-time Democrats were desperate to keep power, and old-time Republicans were desperate to get it, but some on both sides were horrified at how things had broken down.

Cooler heads prevailed, and a small group of us got together and worked out how we might share power, said John Jack Rust, another former Republican delegate from Fairfax.

The bipartisan group cooked up a plan for each committee to have two chairs  one from each party  and equal representation among members. With that blueprint, the House spent the next two years under an uneasy truce.

As the carefully balanced committees weighed whether legislation would live or die, members were afraid to get up to go get a drink of water or talk to another member or go out of the room to meet a constituent. You were afraid someone would push a vote while you were gone, said DeBoer, who at the time was a Democratic delegate representing Petersburg.

But others said those shenanigans were the exception, not the rule. For Thomas Jackson Jr., a former Democratic delegate from Wythe County, those two power-sharing years were invigorating.

You were forced to work together, Jackson said. Instead of jamming bills through with a monolithic majority, delegates had to work both sides of the aisle on the strength of their ideas, he said. I just thought it was the purest form of democracy that one could find, he said.

Thats the lesson Jackson would like to pass along from 1998  that power sharing can be in the public interest.
A man who exchanged gunfire with police in Chester on Wednesday was found dead inside a home, authorities said.

Chesterfield police later identified the man as Kenneth J. Perna-Rutsky, 38.

Officers had responded about 10:34 a.m. to the 300 block of Sunset Boulevard for a report of a man who had barricaded himself in a house, said police Lt. Peter Cimbal.

There were reports that shots had been fired, but not at anyone.

But Cimbal said that when police approached the residence, the man fired at the officers. The police returned fire and the man retreated into the home.

No officers were injured.

Shortly before 1 p.m., police approached the house after making several unsuccessful attempts to contact the gunman, said Daniel Kelly, interim police chief.

Authorities used a camera to look through a window and saw the man lying on the floor, Kelly said. Officers entered the home and found him dead.

Kelly said they do not know if the man died of a self-inflicted wound or if he was killed by police gunfire.

Earlier Wednesday, police said they believed the man was alone in the home.

Jim Winegar, who lives in the 300 block of Bermuda Hundred Road near the shooting scene, said his daughter in-law called the house around 11 a.m. to tell him that a lot of police were in the area.

I came out in the yard, said Winegar. The cops were here ... They came up to my fence and said, Get back in your house. We got a situation over here. So I went in my house.

Police continue to investigate the incident and ask anyone with information to contact the Chesterfield County Police Department at (804) 748-1251 or Crime Solvers at 748-0660 or through the P3 app.
A woman shot in the head on Christmas night was discovered in a car at a South Richmond business about a mile from where police believe she was shot.

Richmond police responded to the 7000 block of Forest Hill Avenue around 10:25 p.m. Monday where they discovered a 24-year-old woman in a car in the parking lot of a business.

Police said they determined the woman was shot a few minutes earlier in the 2300 block of of East Tremont Court at the Stratford Hills and Bethany Springs Apartments and Townhomes.

The woman was taken to the hospital for life-threatening injuries.

Police said they "do not believe there is an ongoing threat at this time," according to a statement.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call Major Crimes Detective G. Bailey at (804) 646-6743 or contact Crime Stoppers at 780-1000 or at www.7801000.com.

Submit tips to GUN250 about persons illegally possessing guns by texting Crime Stoppers at 274637, then using keyword GUN250 followed by your tip. Rewards of up to $250 are available. Crime Stoppers reports are anonymous.
That dull roar you heard a few days ago? It came from the countless gasps of horror when The Washington Post reported that the Centers for Disease Control had discouraged the use of certain words.

According to The Post, policy analysts were told not to use seven particular terms: fetus, transgender, vulnerable, entitlement, diversity, evidence-based, and science-based. This led to stern editorials about thought control, Trump-style, warnings that the directive was an attack on science, and so on. Having the government tell people which words they may and may not use is doubleplusungood, was the widespread consensus.

And of course it is. But to borrow from Kipling, you need not stop work to inform us; we knew it ten seasons before. Those exercised over the news about the CDC are coming rather late to the party.

Whats more, the backstory may be less dramatic than the initial alarms about the dark night of fascism spreading across the land. Apparently career staff, not political appointees, suggested eschewing the seven dirty words so as to avoid inflaming conservative members of Congress who would be voting on CDC funding.

Yet you cant blame people for thinking the administration was checking off box No. 1 on the How to Impose a Dictatorship in 10 Easy Steps worksheet. After all, the Trump administration has, in the grand tradition of Soviet censors, been erasing references to climate change and global warming from government websites almost since it entered office.

So why should the Trump administration be any different? Its hardly the first to declare certain words off-limits, and it wont be the last.

Guffaws erupted across the country in 2000 when the Clinton administration announced that it no longer would refer to outlaw regimes as rogue states. We are now calling these states states of concern, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said.

The Obama administration likewise was extremely skittish about linking terrorism to radical Islam, going so far as to refer to the Fort Hood shooting as an act of workplace violence and to purge FBI materials that were deemed Islamophobic.

California has adopted legislation that, under rare circumstances, could lead to jail time for anyone who uses the wrong pronoun when referring to a transgender person.

But when it comes to Orwellian efforts to erase politically incorrect terms, politicians cant hold a candle to the nations colleges and universities.

Last year Princeton banished the word man from the campus lexicon in an effort to be more gender-inclusive.

James Madison University went even further, distributing a list that was seven pages long, rather than seven words. Among the things you should avoid saying at JMU: I know exactly how you feel, Love the sinner, hate the sin, calling disabled people courageous, and calling old people cute.

The University of Michigan warned students to avoid numerous other words, from crazy and insane to gypped and illegal alien. A professor at Washington State threatened to flunk students who used the words male and female or other racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic, classist or generally offensive  hateful or oppressive language. (She was later overruled.) Elon University banned freshman.

At the University of New Hampshire, American is problematic. The University of California system doesnt want people to say that America is a land of opportunity, or that Everyone can succeed in this society, if they work hard enough. Gwinnett College in Georgia shut down student Chike Uzuegbunams Christian proselytizing because it constituted fighting words.

The list could go on and on. Indeed, many universities still maintain speech codes that prohibit a wide range of expression, and limit demonstrations, pamphleting, and the like to small free-speech zones, effectively rendering the rest of campus a watch-what-you-say zone.

Is this mere whataboutism  the attempt to deflect criticism by bringing up something off-topic, as when Trump supporters deflect concerns about the president by bringing up Hillary Clintons emails? Far from it. In fact, its quite the opposite.

The concern over Trump administration censorship, real or imagined, is justified and sensible. The price of liberty is eternal vigilance, as a fellow said. So consider the results of a recent poll, which found that only 40 percent of college students think the First Amendment protects hate speech, and 20 percent agree that its acceptable to use violence to shut down a speaker.
Anyone hoping for a quick end to the debate over who will control the House of Delegates when it convenes next month had better set those hopes aside. It could be a long wait.

The State Board of Elections was to have broken the 94th District tie between Shelly Simonds and David Yancey on Wednesday by a random drawing. But members have put off that drawing into the indefinite future now that Simonds, the Democrat, is filing suit. She appeared to have won the seat by a single vote, until a three-judge panel awarded a questionable ballot to Yancey. Simonds contends it shouldnt have done so, and should reverse its decision.

Regardless of the outcome in the 94th District, however, control of the House still wont be resolved, because another district  the 28th  remains up in the air as well. Questions about voters receiving the wrong ballots in the 28th have led Democrats to challenge Republican Bob Thomas victory. They have demanded a new election. Until that contest is settled, nothing else can be.

Simonds could win her contest three ways. Either the three-judge panel could reverse itself. Or she could win the random drawing held by the Board of Elections. Or she could lose the drawing, demand another recount, and win that way. A Simonds win by any method would produce a 50-50 split in the 100-seat House of Delegates. If a new election were to take place in the 28th District, and Democrat Joshua Cole were to win, then Democrats would claim 51 seats and be able to seize control.

In the event of a Simonds loss, on the other hand, a victory by Cole would split the chamber 50-50, leading to a power-sharing arrangement. Thus, no matter what the outcome in the 94th District, control of the chamber still turns on the outcome in the 28th. (Or, to be more precise, it turns on the outcome in both races, not just one of them.)

A federal court will hear the lawsuit over the 28th District on Jan. 5. Theres no indication yet what course Simonds lawsuit will take. The General Assembly is scheduled to convene on Jan. 10. The way things look now, the House will open for business with 50 Republicans (counting Thomas, in the 28th) and 49 Democrats (since nobody has yet won the seat in the 94th).
Hillary Clinton was supposed to break the glass ceiling, which she said has kept a woman from becoming president, but the Heritage Foundation, a conservative public policy think tank based in Washington, D.C., has actually done it.

Its new president is Kay Coles James, a female, an African-American and a conservative, who fits no ones mold. While her background is formidable  former director of the Office of Personnel Management, Virginia secretary of health and human resources, and dean of Regent Universitys School of Government, among other accomplishments  her vision is even more compelling.

Perhaps that is because she agrees with me on the issue of liberating poor and minority children from failing public schools and building a foundation that will give them a better future.

In a telephone interview, James tells me school choice for these kids is one of her top priorities. The left has tried and failed to improve the lives of African-Americans through government programs. As Donald Trump said during the 2016 presidential campaign, why not try a different approach? President Trump has also placed welfare reform as a top priority in 2018. The last time it was tried, under Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich, it succeeded. As president of Heritage, James can give Trump the intellectual and factual resources to make further reforms and achieve this and other goals.

A return to the intellectual heft of William F. Buckley Jr. and outgoing Heritage president Edwin Feulner is much needed in a conservative movement that has been hijacked by nastiness and anger. Winning an argument is preferable to destroying ones opponent. It can also produce better results.

James inaugural address hit just the right tone: Heritage has always promoted economic growth and opportunity  and ... it has never wavered in opposing those who would burden our freedoms and future with the suffocating force of mindless regulations and punitive taxes.

Who opposes growth and opportunity? The debate has been over how to get there. History shows which ideas worked and which failed.

Success in politics is about issues, ideas, and the vision we have for our country in the world, James said. George H.W. Bush dismissed the vision thing, but Without a vision the people perish. (Proverbs 29:18)

Some liberals might accuse James of being insufficiently black because of her conservatism; let them respond to this: When I was 12 years old, I started attending an all-white middle school. To say we werent welcome is an understatement. Despite the Supreme Courts Brown versus Board of Education ruling, Virginia Democrats insisted on keeping the public schools segregated.

So 25 incredibly brave black kids and I tried to change that. For a while, navigating the packed hallways meant being jeered at, stuck with pins, shoved, and even kicked down the stairs. I see it on your faces  yes, it was awful. But it was worth it. You see, Id been given a great gift  the opportunity to fight for something I believed in. And it changed me forever.

When a conservative favorably quotes Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. you might expect a new day may be coming for the conservative movement. James noted Kings remarks the day before he was murdered 50 years ago: We have an opportunity to make America a better nation ... to make America what it ought to be.

That is an ongoing and never-ending quest, but James, whom I have known for several decades, will do it with a cheerful spirit, a confidence based on ideas that have proved their worth, and a charm that can disarm her most ardent critics.

Thats a pretty good package that offers an opportunity to retreat from battling each others personalities, integrity, and patriotism and instead to focus on the best ideas that will improve any American who embraces them.
The former North American Housing Corp. complex looks very different today than it did when the town of Boones Mill purchased it in 2011.

Today, its known as the Village Park at Boones Mill. The town hall was moved to the property, along with a historic train depot. This spring, major renovations were completed on a building that now houses two businesses. Planning is underway to convert another structure on the property into a year-round farmers market.

But work on the property is far from finished, and the Boones Mill Town Council is still considering options for its continued revitalization  most recently, apartments.

The town was awarded a grant by the Virginia Housing Development Authority to study the potential for mixed-use, mixed-income development in Boones Mill. Roanokes Hill Studio identified the Village Park at Boones Mill as a site that could support such a project.

But the idea of selling approximately 6 acres of the Village Park property to a developer for a project with commercial and residential elements  around 60 apartment units  has yet to gain traction with council members. At least four are opposed to doing so.

Councilman Mike Smith said Boones Mill is a small, close-knit community and people move there to get away from the big city living, a category he feels includes apartments.

I think I need to represent the people, Smith said, stressing the importance of community input. Ive talked to a lot of people, believe me, and I just ask their opinion. I havent had one yet thats said, hey, I think its a good thing. 

Smith, who has been closely involved with the restoration of the towns train depot, said he isnt comfortable with having housing of any kind so near the railroad tracks and the historic depot.

It would be wiser for the town to take a page from Roanokes book and convert vacant buildings in Boones Mills downtown district into apartments, Smith said. Several other council members agreed.

The town property to me is kind of like gold because its the only really developable property that we have in Boones Mill, because everythings flood plain. To me, I just want to hang on to it.

Smith said hed like to see the discussion about apartments  which he says would change the culture of our town completely  put to bed.

Vice Mayor Dale Fisher said he did not support the idea of apartments at the Village Park.

Some of his apprehension is about selling a piece of the property and losing control over it, particularly given the proximity to other town efforts like the train depot and farmers market.

Councilwoman Sarah Eames said the councils priority should be making Boones Mill a better place to live for its existing residents, rather than attracting new ones. Attracting an urgent care facility, medical offices or a new restaurant would improve their quality of life, she argues.

I dont think it is a good idea to have apartments located on town property, across the railroad tracks, and near the depot. The town can not [sic] afford the project and for us to allow a developer to build it, we would have to sell an integral portion of our property, Eames wrote in an email.

Councilman Keith Chrisman said he felt the Village Park site was not appropriate for apartments, citing the proximity to the railroad tracks as a safety hazard and new construction so close to the historic train depot.

To raise money is a good idea, but I dont really think that that particular piece where they talked about putting those apartments is the place to do it, he said.

Chrisman said the town has more pressing concerns at the moment, like paying down its debt for the completed building restoration and getting the upstairs space filled with tenants.

Weve just got an awful lot on our plate, he said. We need to get some off before we take on any more.

Mayor Ben Flora, who seemed to express some interest in the apartment idea at a November town council work session, did not respond to requests for comment.

Town Manager Matt Lawless said selling a piece of the Village Park property to develop a mixed-use project like this would be a big decision, one that requires input from town residents, business owners and potential investors.

I think it will play out in the next few months as we continue to think it over and hear more from community members about what we think is going to fit best in Boones Mill, he said.

Lawless said the Village Park, as the largest developable parcel of land in town, provides the greatest opportunity for a transformative impact.

Its an important strategic question and philosophical question: How long should we be retaining ownership of the largest parcel in town and what use should it serve in the community? Lawless asked. Once you sell it and break it up, its really hard to redevelop ever again.
Pathfinders for Greenways expects on Thursday to purchase land near Hanging Rock that will eventually connect the Roanoke River Greenway in Salem with Carvins Cove.

Its a huge deal to us, said Liz Belcher, Roanoke Valley Greenways coordinator, who has had her eye on public ownership of the 200-plus acres since 2009.

The Roanoke County land, which is held jointly by two Hinchee family trusts, abuts Carvins Cove to the west.

It contains two of the 12 miles of the Brushy Mountain Fire Road and will provide a connection from the fire road in Carvins Cove to the Hanging Rock Battlefield Trail near the Interstate 81 exit that serves Virginia 311 and 419. The Hanging Rock trail extends toward Salem. Plans call for it to connect to the Masons Cove trail near Salem and then to the Roanoke River Greenway.

Its an incredible connection being able to connect the greenway with 12,000 acres of Carvins Cove, Belcher said.

She cautioned that the land transactions are complicated, and it will take about a year before all of the land is donated to the county and open for public use.

Once people are allowed on it, Belcher said, theyll find steep woodlands with lots of oaks, a creek and beautiful winter vistas. This is a woods road, she said. Its a little steep, so not everyone is going to be able to ride a mountain bike on it.

But she envisions it could become as popular for dog walking as the fire road leading to McAfee Knob, and maybe more so because it will connect directly to an urban area.

The transaction has been a long time in the making, although its pace picked up in the last year. Belcher said she identified the tract when working on the Carvins Cove trail plan for Roanoke in 2009.

The 240 acres is split into three parcels. The largest is jointly owned by the Margaret R. Hinchee Trust and the Lloyd M. Hinchee Trust. The heir of the Margaret Hinchee Trust will donate her share of the mountain property to Roanoke County, but for tax reasons, that will not occur for about a year, Belcher said.

Pathfinders on Thursday will purchase the Lloyd Hinchee share of that parcel, along with a separate parcel from that trust.

Meanwhile, the Roanoke County supervisors last week approved on the first of two readings acceptance of a nearly $70,000 matching grant from the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation and $23,550 from the Preservation Trust Fund. The county expects to use $42,200 to purchase the third and smallest of the parcels near the interstate from the trusts.

Kemper Fant, president of Pathfinders for Greenways, made the announcement Tuesday on Facebook.

Eventually, you will be able to travel by trail out of Carvins Cove, down Hanging Rock Battlefield Trail, maybe stop in at Parkway Brewing Company, then continue on to the Roanoke River Greenway and the network of trails it currently does and eventually will provide, he wrote. Whoa!!

Pathfinders is using a Preservation Trust Fund grant and all of the money it has raised to come up with the purchase price, he said. With expected costs of $255,700, the nonprofit will deplete its reserves and is seeking donations.

Without Pathfinders this could not have been done as there is no money in our local government coffers to purchase land like this when it becomes available, he wrote. Sadly, I have to admit that Pathfinders is now just as broke, running on empty, near completely void of funds due to the expense of this vital purchase that preserves this land for the people, not private development.

Fant and Belcher said donations are needed to develop the Hinchee and other trails and can be made through greenways.org.
A South Carolina man is accused of leading Virginia State Police on a Christmas Day pursuit from Henrico County up Interstate 95  with speeds topping 120 mph  before being shot after firing at troopers in Spotsylvania County.

The suspect, Jerrell C. Richardson, 21, of Greenville, S.C., was wounded during an exchange of gunfire with one of the troopers, state police said.

Richardson was treated at a hospital for injuries that were not life-threatening.

He is now being held at the Rappahannock Regional Jail in Stafford County on charges of eluding police, felony assault of a police officer, possession of marijuana, driving without a valid license, reckless driving and operating a vehicle without headlights. Additional charges are pending, police said.

Police said the events unfolded about 8:40 p.m. Monday when state police received a bulletin from the Dinwiddie County Sheriffs Office to be on the lookout for a 2015 Ford Escape, which had been reported stolen at gunpoint at a gas station Monday evening in Thomasville, N.C..

About one hour later, Henrico police and state troopers located the vehicle at a gas station. When a Henrico officer and a trooper approached the car, the suspect vehicle fled, police said.

As the vehicle entered Spotsylvania, police said, it rammed a troopers vehicle at least twice.

The driver  later identified as Richardson  jumped from the vehicle as it was still moving and fired shots at troopers . One trooper returned fire, but Richardson ran into the wooded median.

Police closed I-95 in both directions

until they found Richardson about 12:50 a.m. He surrendered and was taken into custody without further incident.
A MOTORIST who mounted a pavement and ran into his ex-partners friend has been freed by merciful judges.

Glenn Paul Shore (30) who was angry after his ex burnt his clothes was able to go home to spend Christmas with the disabled brother he cares for.

Shore, of Redscope Crescent, Kimberworth, was jailed for six months at Sheffield Crown Court on November 23.

He admitted common assault and driving without due care and attention, Judge Mark Lucraft QC told Londons Appeal Court.

Shores relationship with Sara Swinbourne, which began in October 2015, had come to an end, the court heard.

In April, he told her he was going to collect his clothes from her home and she said she would burn them, which she did, said the judge.

Shore drove to her home but she did not answer the door so he parked by a junction in a nearby street.

When he saw her friend, Lea Shelton, walking down the street he mounted the pavement and collided with her.

There had been tension between Ms Shelton and Shore, added the judge.

She ended up on the bonnet of the car and was carried a short distance before falling to the ground.

Shore drove off and, fortunately, his victim was not seriously injured.

He had no previous convictions but had a reprimand for possessing a weapon in public and a caution for assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

A probation officers report said he accepted his behaviour towards his former partner had been controlling and he deeply regretted his crimes.

Ms Hannah Walker, for Shore, argued his jail term was far too tough and should have been suspended, as recommended by the probation officer.

He should have received more credit for his personal mitigation, including being the carer for his severely disabled twin brother, the barrister argued.

Judge Lucraft said: There were good reasons for marking this offending with a custodial sentence.

But it could and should have been a little shorter in length and suspended.

The judge, sitting with Lord Justice Irwin and Mr Justice Picken, quashed the six-month jail term and replaced it with a three-month suspended sentence.

The suspended sentence includes a rehabilitation requirement, and a 12-month driving ban remains in place.


Snow has been forecast on Friday

AFTER a flurry of the white stuff this morning, Rotherham could be in for up to 10cm of snow on Friday.

The Met Office has issued a yellow be aware warning, which said snow was likely between 3am and noon on Friday.

A spokesman said: A band of rain, heavy at times, is expected to move eastwards over the UK.

With cold air in place, a spell of snow looks likely to develop on its eastern edge.

Above around 100m, 2 to 5cm is possible quite widely, and up to 10cm over higher ground.

Some places to the east of the Pennines may see some accumulating snow to lower levels.
ROTHERHAM has been ranked in the top ten towns where house prices have not recovered from the financial crash  but estate agents insist there are reasons to be cheerful.

A study by online estate agent HouseSimple found that the average property price in the borough was 3.8 per cent down on ten years ago, while prices in some parts of the country have soared by almost 70 per cent.

Rotherhams average house or flat now costs 128,544  more than 5,000 down from 133,572 in 2007.

Blackpool and Sunderland are bottom of the pile, with 15.3 per cent and 13.3 per cent lower prices than a decade ago respectively, while nine of the top ten slump locations are in the north.

Clear evidence of a north-south divide on property can be seen by the ten biggest boomers, with all of them in the south or East Anglia, the most northern being Cambridge and Milton Keynes.

Top of the lot is London, where the average house price shot up from 286,000 to 482,000 over ten years, while Cambridges 64.5 per cent increase amounts to more than 170,000 and the average home is 447,839.

HouseSimples research, carried out using Land Registry data for 60 towns and cities, revealed that in more than a quarter (28 per cent) of locations, average property prices today are still below 2007 values.

Ten biggest winners (per cent rise in brackets):

1 London (68.5)

2 Cambridge (64.5)

3 Stevenage (58.5)

4 Slough (55.9)

5 Oxford (54.7)

6 Luton (47.5)

7 Reading (46.3)

8 Southend (45.9)

9 Winchester (45.5)

10 Brighton (45.3)



Ten biggest losers (per cent fall in brackets)

1 Blackpool (15.3)

2 Sunderland (13.3)

3 Middlesbrough (9.7)

4 Preston (8.1)

5 Stockton-on-Tees (5.7)

6 Gateshead (3.8)

7 Rotherham (3.8)

8 Newport (3.7)

9 Bolton (3.6)

10 Newcastle-upon-Tyne (3.6)

Alex Gosling, the estate agents chief executive, said: Many of these homeowners will have been in negative equity for a decade.

It must be galling for anyone who bought a property ten years ago, at the top of the market, and are sitting in a home that is still worth less today than it was when they bought it pre-2008.

Estate agent Richard Badger, of Wickersley-based ELR, painted a more positive overall picture, saying prices were up on 2007 and steadily rising but admitting the value of some types of homes was lagging behind.

Prices are up and down all year but in the past 12 months they have gone up a bit, he said.

There are some areas, however, that are not selling.

First-time buyers are getting together a larger deposit and buying semis rather than terraces so they are skipping that first step in the ladder.

Chris Holmes, managing director of rental agents Bricknells, said data from property website Right Move suggested the average property price in Rotherham was currently 132,700  down 1.7 per cent from the 2007 figure of 135,400.

Their lowest levels during the slump were in March 2012, when the average asking price was just 112,100, since when they have risen by almost a fifth.

But there was some room for optimism, Mr Holmes said, as Land Registry data suggested property values in Rotherham and surrounding areas were 1.58 per cent up on a year ago and 9.12 per cent higher than January 2015, which he put down to a shortage of properties for sale.

He added that auncertainty around the Brexit process was encouraging people to stay put and improve their current accommodation rather than seriously consider moving.

However even with this short term decrease in the number of properties for sale in Rotherham, I believe property prices will remain stable and strong in the medium to long-term, Mr Holmes said, noting that property firm Savills was predicting a ten per cent rise across the region by 2021.

He said Rotherhams long-term fortunes were tied to the whether the borough councils plans to improve the town centre came off.

Centres of employment, university towns with high student demand, good connectivity and the positive perception of a place all increases the demand, he said.

Thats why I feel it is important that Rotherham moves forward with its plans to develop and improve the town centre as a vibrant and attractive hub, making investment attractive and adding to the general prosperity of its population.
Fancy color diamond prices up 1% in Q3 2022, yellow showed highest increase The Fancy Color Research Foundation's (FCRF) results of the Fancy Color Diamond Index (FCDI) for the third quarter of 2022 demonstrate that after an increase of 0.8% in Q2 2022, the average price of all colors and sizes of fancy...

NDC continues efforts to distinguish between natural, laboratory-grown diamonds The Natural Diamond Council (NDC) has launched a new ASSURE 2.0 online portal, which helps build industry capability to correctly verify natural diamonds and ensure pipeline integrity.

Orion secures pre-development funding for Okiep copper project Orion Minerals has entered into definitive agreements that will see the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC) acquire 43.75% of the shares in the New Okiep Mining Company (NOM). This triggered pre-development funding...

Angolas SODIAM realises $28,7mln from fifth international diamond tender Angola's state-owned diamond trading company, SODIAM realised $28,7 million from the sale of 1,819.79 carats at its fifth international rough tender held in the capital, Luanda. The diamonds sold were special productions from Lulo, Catoca, and Luele...
The revamped corporate website of jewellery company Chow Tai Fook was recently recognised at the iNOVA Awards 2017 for its enhanced functionality and user-friendly interface, as per JNA report.

Chow Tai Fook won the Bronze Award under the category Investor/Shareholder Relations  Asia/Pacific from MerComm Inc, an independent awards organisation in New York. The company was the only jewellery company among three other Hong Kong-listed firms that won in this category.

The revamped corporate website's new features include Interactive and user-friendly charts and appealing design with visual enhancements bring convenience for viewers to browse using different devices. The animated infographics also provide an overview of stock price movements, while its multimedia capabilities can also support streaming of videos and photos.



Aruna Gaitonde, Editor-in-Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished




Swiss watch exports continued to rebound in November as shipments to China grew by the highest margin in more than two years.

Total exports across all watch categories rose 6% year on year to $2 billion, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry announced.

Hong Kong recorded its eighth positive month for the year, with a 4% rise to $263.1 million, while exports to China surged 40% to $164.8 million, Japan saw a jump of 23% to $125.7 million, linked to higher demand brought about by increased tourism. The US, the second-largest market for Swiss watch exports, is continuing to recover, though it still recorded a modest 0.4% decline to $199.4 million.

All watch materials saw overall growth, with steel timepieces showing the largest increase in exports at 8%. As for price categories, exports of watches valued under $203, dropped 11%, while higher price ranges all advanced. Shipments of watches with a price tag of $203 to $507 rose 19%, and those between $507 and $3,039 grew 11%. Exports of timepieces worth more than $3,039 climbed 4%.




The German market is modestly higher, with investors, back at the ring after a long weekend, looking to pick up stocks from across various sectors.

Thanks to firm commodity prices amid concerns about falling crude supply following an explosion in a Libyan pipeline, resources stocks are edging higher.

Technology stocks are finding the going a bit tough on reports that Apple's new iPhone is getting a weaker than expected demand.

The benchmark DAX index is up 32.23 points o 0.25 percent at 13,104.02.

However, gains are just marginal for most of the stocks as buying interest is a bit subdued due to lack of triggers.

Deutsche Boerse, Daimler, Bayer, Deutsche Telekom, BASF, Adidas, BMW, and Vonovia are up 0.5 to 1 percent.

Lufthansa, Infineon, Deutsche Bank and Heidelberg Cement are down marginally.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Giving relief to Bitcoin traders and investors, the cryptocurrency has rebounded after losing more than 30 percent of its value in one day and sinking to a pre-Christmas low of $11,000.

The price of bitcoin surged by 13 percent on Tuesday, and crossed the $16,000 mark again on Wednesday.

The currency changed hands at around $16,200 Wednesday morning UK time, according to the Coinbase exchange.

Despite repeated warnings from renowned economists and analysts that a Bitcoin crash is looming, the value of the most popular digital currency had gone up to an all-time record of $19635 on December 17.

But in the next five days, the bitcoin exchanges witnessed a deep fall, slipping below the $11,000 mark last Friday.

As an instance of how quickly the situation can change, bitcoin dropped by almost $2,000 in just an hour at one point.

Panicked investors were unable to cash out last week when Coinbase temporarily halted transactions due to a spike in traffic on its website.

Analysts and finance professionals across the world have made clear their concerns over Bitcoin and similar cryptocurrencies.

Recently, Israel made it clear that cryptocurrency companies were not welcome on its stock exchange.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Congresswoman Diane Black, R-Tenn., announced Wednesday she is stepping down as Chairman of the House Budget Committee in order to focus on her campaign for Governor of Tennessee.

Black, who will continue to serve in Congress, indicated she will step down as leader of the budget committee once a successor is chosen next year.

In a statement, Black said she is proud of the committee's hard work and accomplishments, especially offering real reforms for mandatory programs and unlocking pro-growth tax reform.

"As we enter a new era under a brand new tax law and as members begin crafting a budget for fiscal year 2019, I am confident the focus will remain on addressing unsustainable mandatory programs," Black said.

She added, "Without question, it is critical that lawmakers take real action to reverse the trajectory of our nation's growing debt."

Several Republican lawmakers told Politico that Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., is the early front-runner to replace Black as budget committee chairman, while Rep. Rob Woodall, R-Ga., is also eyeing the position.

In August, Black jumped into an already-crowded Republican field in the race to replace Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam, who is prohibited from running for a third term.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Political News
Report: Over 118 Yemeni civilians killed, injured in 47+ airstrikes





SANAA, Dec 27 (Saba)  At least 118 civilians were killed and wounded in more than 47 airstrikes launched by the US-backed Saudi-led aggression coalition warplanes on several Yemeni provinces over the past 24 hours, officials and medics told Saba on Wednesday.



In Sanaa province, the aggression warplanes waged an air raid on Belad Al-Russ district, damaging residents homes and properties.



In Nehm district of Marib province, one civilian was killed when aggression coalition airstrike hit his house in Eyal-Mohammed area.



In Taiz province, southwestern the country, at least 100 civilians were killed and injured in several airstrikes on Shohrah popular market. Most of the injured were in critical conditions.

In Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, 14 civilians were killed in Saudi aggression airstrikes on a farm in Tahtiah district.



Also in Hodeidah, the US-baked Saudi aggression warplanes carried out more than thirty air raids on Khokhah district, causing heavy damage to residents properties.



In northern province of Saada, three civilians, including a child, were seriously wounded in a hostile US-Saudi air raid on a house in Razih district. Also in Saada, the aggression warplane waged an air raid on Baqem border district, as well as ten airstrikes on Kutaf district, and other three air raids on Mandabah area of Baqem district.



In Boqaa border crossing, about 150 km north of Saada, the fighter jets of the aggression conducted four airstrikes.



In Hajjah province, northwest of the country, the US-backed Saudi aggression coalition fighter jets waged eight airstrikes on Haradh and Medi districts.





Writing by Sameera al-Mahdi, Editing by Zak

Saba

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[27/December/2017]
New massacres of US-Saudi aggression leave over 120 dead, wounded





SANAA, Dec. 27 (Saba)  The US-Saudi aggression war jets committed new massacres against Yemeni people over the past few hours, leaving more than 120 martyrs and wounded in several provinces, a military official told Saba on Wednesday.



The enemys warplanes waged several raids on Shahra Souk in Alhaima Alsufla area of al-Ta'ezzya district in Taiz province, which led to the killing and injuring of more than 100 citizens in an initial toll, the official said.



He pointed out that the aircrafts launched a raid on Al-Omari Schools in Thubab district and four raids on different areas of Mawza district, while the enemys mercenaries shelled with artillery the areas adjacent to the Paint Factory and Ibn Sina Hospital in Sala district, which resulted in material damage.



In Hodeidah province, the official said 14 citizens of one family were killed after a raid on a farm in Tuhita district, indicating that the aggressions warplanes launched more than 30 raids on Alkhokha district and its coasts and Apache planes implemented more than four sorties on the district and its suburbs.



A woman and a girl were killed in a raid on al-Jatham district in Razeh district of Saada province, while a woman, a man and a child were seriously injured in a raid on the home of a citizen in Bani Maeen area in the same district, according to the military official.



The warplanes also carried out seven raids on Boqa area of Kutaf district and a raid on Mandaba area in Baqem district in Saada province.



The official said that the aggressive aircrafts launched a raid on the village of Eyal Mohammed in Nehm district, which led to the death of a citizen and the destruction of his home and caused damage in the nearby houses.



He added that a hostile air raid struck Sabra Camp in Belad al-Ros district of Sanaa province.



Meanwhile, the aggressions aircrafts launched a raid on Bahra Mountain in Serwah district of Marib province, eight raids on the areas of Harad and Medi in Hajjah province, and a raid on the Red Mountain in al-Zaher district of Jawf province.



In Najran, the aggressive planes waged two raids on al-Talaa site.



BA



Saba

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[27/December/2017]
Another Christmas has come and gone.

For the majority of Samoans, all is well that ends well.

With Sunday preceding Christmas, it was a relatively quiet build up. It was a world away from the wild celebrations leading up to Christmas in previous years.

Many people attributed this to Christmas Eve falling on Sunday.

Churches throughout the country conducted two services on Sunday, the regular Sunday service in the morning and one at midnight to welcome Christmas.

One such service was the 13-days of Christmas finale held at the E.F.K.S. Vaitele-uta.

Televised live by TV One, the two week programme had featured groups such as the Police officers, schools, choirs and many different organisations.

Groups from Fasitootai and C.C.C.S. Vaitele-uta performed in the finale.

Reverend Muao Sua, of C.C.C.S. Vatitele-uta thanked all those who made the programme possible.

He thanked everyone involved with preparations, TV1 who provided live coverage, the different groups who performed beautifully and the audience.
The government has finalised the list of successful N.U.S. Foundation scholarship winners who will be pursuing scholarship awards at tertiary educational institutions in Australia, New Zealand and the region.

For 2018, 67 new N.U.S Foundation students will be sponsored.

The annual government reception for the N.U.S. Foundation awardees was held at Le Papaigalagala Campus last week, hosted by Deputy Prime Minister, Fiame Naomi Mataafa.

Scholarship awards are aligned closely with key human resource priorities identified by the Government in collaboration with the development partners.

Awards are merit based with the allocation to ensure a fair representation of the fields of Arts, Science, Commerce and General agreed to by the three Governments.

The Foundation Students compete within their own faculties. Awardees who do not meet citizenship eligibility criteria of the Governments of Australia and New Zealand can be considered for study in institutions in the region and sponsored by the Government of Samoa. The exception is if a student is placed in the top 15 overall ranking where he/she can then be considered for a partial award in New Zealand or Australia depending on the dual citizenship status held.

The list of the 67 awards by country of study and sponsorship for the NUS Foundation Year are listed as follows (61 awards funded by Australia & New Zealand; and 6 awards funded by Samoa):

Name Country of study Sponsor

1 Ms Anastasia Lei Sam Australia Australia

2 Ms Tauatua Taioalo Australia Australia

3 Mr Jeremy Eteuati Australia Australia

4 Mr William Bourke Australia Australia

5 Mr Nathaniel Fau Australia Australia

6 Ms Gustina Lee Australia Australia

7 Ms Faiesea Anina Latu Australia Australia

8 Ms Cheria Cheshire Australia Australia

9 Ms Joycemariella Toafa Australia Australia

10 Ms Grace Faaiuga Australia Australia

11 Mr Romario Pose Australia Australia

12 Ms Lupe Taulesulu Malifa Australia Australia

1 Mr Vensel Julian Rapi Margraff New Zealand New Zealand

2 Mr Harley Cronin New Zealand New Zealand

3 Mr Achatz Ott New Zealand New Zealand

4 Ms Christine Ah Him Peters New Zealand New Zealand

5 Mr George Fepuleai New Zealand New Zealand

6 Mr Montini Ott New Zealand New Zealand

7 Mr Adrian Roma New Zealand New Zealand

8 Mr Tuiala Ah Sam New Zealand New Zealand

9 Mr Charles Salevao New Zealand New Zealand

10 Mr Orion Ioane Soti New Zealand New Zealand

11 Mr John Paul Lauano New Zealand New Zealand

12 Mr Naoupu Soo New Zealand New Zealand

13 Mr Benaiah Une New Zealand New Zealand

14 Mr Lester Kamu New Zealand New Zealand

15 Ms Jachelean Manamea Rivers New Zealand New Zealand

16 Ms Solialofi Tricia Potoi New Zealand New Zealand

17 Ms Aunoa Uele New Zealand New Zealand

18 Ms Laura Alama New Zealand New Zealand

19 Ms Laila Stanley New Zealand New Zealand

20 Ms Alverina Okesene New Zealand New Zealand

21 Ms Jessica Narayan New Zealand New Zealand

22 Ms Piliopo Wallwork New Zealand New Zealand

23 Ms Dorize Avia Esera New Zealand New Zealand

24 Mr Xavier Pasese Tanielu New Zealand New Zealand

25 Ms Siliafai Chong Wong New Zealand New Zealand

26 Ms Tapatu Susan Reupena New Zealand New Zealand

1 Ms Nelle Merle Laban Fiji Australia

2 Ms Nafanua Julia Brown Fiji Australia

3 Ms Emma Peters Fiji Australia

4 Ms Mili Talomoto Penaia Fiji Australia

5 Ms Jemimah Fau Fiji Australia

6 Ms Tamalupe Paulo Fiji Australia

7 Ms Lydia Lealona Moananu Fiji Australia

8 Ms Tiare Vaai Fiji Australia

9 Ms Jasmine Potifara Fiji Australia

10 Ms Romania Pose Fiji Australia

11 Mr Jeremy Faamau Fiji Australia

12 Mr Tavita Benjamin Sesega Fiji Australia

13 Mr Hokmah Tariu Fiji Australia

14 Mr Alpha Talalelei Fiji Australia

15 Ms Kalisi Potania Aiafi Fiji Australia

16 Mr Tua Peniamina Vaai Fiji Australia

17 Ms Carrie Nafanua Mulinuu Fiji Australia

1 Mr Leilua Afatia Fiji New Zealand

2 Mr Romeo Tulemoe Toailoa-Sabbath Fiji New Zealand

3 Ms Cyprian Fruean Fiji New Zealand

4 Mr Aliilelei Junior Tenari Fiji New Zealand

5 Mr Tuitaofiti Zachary Galuvao Fiji New Zealand

6 Mr Apollos Paysent Flutey-Paramore Fiji New Zealand

1 Ms Louisa Elia Australia Samoa (tuition partial)

1 Ms Theodora Fepai Kolia Fiji Samoa

2 Ms Syra Ivala Fiji Samoa

3 Ms Rachel Reti Fiji Samoa

4 Ms Soimavi Lili Brown Fiji Samoa

5 Ms Fiona Maria Sapatu Fiji Samoa

Open Category & Distance Education

The Open Category scholarship awards are made available for those already employed in the public and private sector, N.G.O. and civil society. Forty awards have been provided for the Open Category 2018 intake.

The Open Category awards enable successful applicants to undertake higher education study at tertiary educational institutions in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific region with the intention to build capacity, attain skills and knowledge that can contribute to Samoas economic and social development. The Open category scholarships also provide an additional 15 distance education scholarships sponsored jointly by the Government of Australia and Samoa.

The list of the Open Category scholarships by country of study and sponsorship are as follows:

OPEN CATEGORY

Name Country of Study Sponsor

1 Moimoi Tauave Australia Australia

2 Ivapene Faumuina Australia Australia

3 James Mauai Australia Australia

4 Mareta Sefo-Faalafi Australia Australia

5 William Sene Kuma Tupai Australia Australia

6 Alesana Malo Australia Australia

7 Noelani Tapu Australia Australia

8 Merina Litara Gaee-Afoa Australia Australia

9 Fua Gloria Lameko Australia Australia

10 Yvonne Sapatu Toaivao Australia Australia

11 Etevise Moananu Australia Australia

12 Tagiilima Neemia Australia Australia

13 Vanessa Pelenato Australia Australia

14 Sophia Laifai-Oloapu Australia Australia

15 Isamaeli Time Australia Australia

16 Lilian Jacinta Penaia Australia Australia

1 Tafafunai Steve Chan Chui New Zealand New Zealand

2 Mary Risepa Aperaamo New Zealand New Zealand

3 Fiapaipai Tanea-Sakuma New Zealand New Zealand

4 Samoeleoi Laauoleola Vai New Zealand New Zealand

5 Moira Avalii - Vitale New Zealand New Zealand

6 Felila Saufoi Amituanai New Zealand New Zealand

7 Ann Matalasi New Zealand New Zealand

8 Mose Sepulona New Zealand New Zealand

9 Andrew Nuuausala Faumuina McCarthy New Zealand New Zealand

10 Rosa Filoi New Zealand New Zealand

11 Jolivette Thompson New Zealand New Zealand

12 Juliuspatrick Matthes New Zealand New Zealand

13 Pesega Faavae New Zealand New Zealand

14 Tilialo Atinae Samuelu New Zealand New Zealand

15 Sapati Fili New Zealand New Zealand

16 Euta Collins New Zealand New Zealand

17 Maserota Ofoia New Zealand New Zealand

18 Premna Pedebone New Zealand New Zealand

19 Tausala Aiavao New Zealand New Zealand

1 Florita Tupai-Harmon Fiji Australia

2 Cecilia Vaai Bartley Fiji Australia

3 Tuifao Luatua Fiji Australia

4 Samuelu Elia Afamasaga Fiji New Zealand

5 Timothy Faasoo Fiji New Zealand

Distance Education awards

Name Country of Study Sponsor

1 Soane Leota In country (Aust) Samoa

2 Dennis Margraff In country (Aust) Samoa

3 Kassandra Betham In country (Aust) Samoa

4 Marshall Maua In country (Aust) Samoa

5 Ida Tifitifi Fuimaono In country (NZ) Samoa

1 Salote Peteru In country (Aust) Australia

2 Litara Esera Tulifau In country (Aust) Australia

3 Faagutu Natalie Samuelu In country (Aust) Australia

4 Frysna Rimoni In country (Aust) Australia

5 Muliufi Nickel In country (Aust) Australia

6 Dan Terrance

Sua In country (Aust) Australia

7 Violet Roebeck Faasavalu In country (Aust) Australia

8 Margaret Leone

Sua-Mailo In country (Aust) Australia

9 Roseanne Mereseleisa

Faaiu In country (Aust) Australia

10 Ioane Iosefa In country (Aust) Australia

New Zealand has introduced an online application system for the Open Category application process this year, 2017. This online application system will apply for the first time next year in 2018 for students at Foundation level.

The online system will change altogether the way the New Zealand scholarships for Foundation level will be assessed where not only academic merit will determine selection, but other attributes will be taken into account.

This system must ensure that it provides a robust, transparent and efficient selection process. Australia will also introduce the online application system but at a later stage. The Government of Samoa will continue to work together with the Governments of Australia and New Zealand to ensure this is a smooth and transparent process for students and parents.
The Deputy Commissioner of Samoa Prisons and Corrections Services, Ulugia Niuia Aumua, has rejected reports that more inmates have escaped from Tafaigata Prison - in addition to the two inmates who remain on the run.

That is not true, he told the Samoa Observer yesterday.

The only prisoners who we are tracking with the Police are Aniseko Vaelei and Uili Manuleleua, who are still on the run.

Vaelei, Manuleleua, Lauititi Tualima and Vailoa Solia escaped from prison last week Thursday.

However not long after, Lauititi and Vailoa were recaptured.

Since then, the Prisons and Police have beefed up their search for Vaelei and Manuleleua.

Yesterday, Ulugia called on the public to remain calm and contact the Prisons Service and the Police if they ever come across the prisoners.

Our procedures in place when prisoners escapes are to first inform the Police who will help with the search and then we inform the public."

Its a costly operation, but these policies have been adhered to since the escape of the prisoners last Thursday.

He reminded the public that creating false rumors will not help the issue at hand.

Asked as to how the Prisoners escaped, Ulugia declined to comment, noting that an investigation is in progress.

We are currently conducting our investigations into whether our policies in place were adhered to and looking at how the inmates escaped from jail.

Last week, a mother of three expressed anger with Samoa Prisons and Correction Services for failing to keep the prisoners locked because she was attacked in her own home at knifepoint.

The mother, a prominent businesswoman, was left with facial injuries and nightmares about the ordeal.

Speaking to the Samoa Observer, the woman who asked for her name to be withheld, said she is scarred for the rest of her life.

According to the woman, she is convinced that it was Tualima who was in her bedroom.

He leaned towards me with a knife and pushed me onto the bed, she said. He threatened to stab me and then he punched me on the face."

At some point, my youngest daughter woke up and was screaming and he pulled her off the mattress."

I then had to take control of the situation. I just told him, just relax and that my purse is there, just take it. He just took my iPhone and ran off.

The woman said she was afraid for her familys safety.

My daughters were in the kitchen with some other knives trying to fend off the others who were outside."

I thought it was just Lauititi there and it wasnt, until I spoke to my daughters. When I screamed they saw another guy running out of the house and thats when I realized there were two guys in the house. Im not sure where the other guy was.
The health sector is mourning the passing of a woman widely considered as the Florence Nightingale of nursing in Samoa.

The President of the Samoa Nurses Association, Taulapapa Fesolai Talailelotu Faamanatu Faletoese Nielsen, passed away peacefully at the Nurses Home, Motootua, last Friday.

She was 84. Born on 3 September 1933, at Lano Moataa, shes the fifth of nine siblings.

Her parents are the late Rev. Kenape Tuuu Faletoese and Faapiomalo Asi Vatau.

She married the love of her life, Fainuulelei Etuale Osasa Nielsen, in 1960.

Along with her husband, Taulapapa is survived by her seven children, Farah, Faapio, Edna, Junior Etuale, Faamanatu Jr, Pasila and Edwina.

During her service in the nursing sector, Taulapapa won the hearts of many with her dedication towards her work, including her children.

Her son, Ulutautogia Etuale, said so as he expressed grief of the passing away of his mother.

Our dearest mother was a devoted wife to our father, Fainuulelei and everyone, he said.

She cherished time with us, especially her field of work at the nursing sector.

Her special love in helping others was reflected in her work as a registered nurse for many years.

We know for sure that her work in the nursing field for the past 50 years will be remembered.

Ulutautogia said his mother enjoyed praying, scolding and cooking.

Faith was also an important aspect of our dearest mothers life and being an active member of the Congregational Christian Church of Samoa, he said.

As Ive mentioned earlier, our mother was a loving wife and mother, she simply loved, adored and treasured her family especially our children.

She will be greatly missed.

Taulapapa attended Saleimoa Primary and continued on to Malifa (1951-1953) before she became a registered nurse in 1956.

Her first line of duties was at the Savaii hospitals from 1958-1959.

After her years of dedicated work, she became the President of the Nursing Association in April, 1979.

Taulapapa is one of the longest serving deacons of the Congregational Christian Church at Moataa.

Her final service is 10am on January 6 at the C.C.C.S. Moataa.
The Samoa Submarine Cable Company Limited (S.S.C.C.) and Alcatel Submarine Networks (A.S.N.), part of Nokia, has announced the completion of the marine installation of the Tui-Samoa submarine cable system. The final splice was done on Tuesday.

As a result, Samoa, Fiji, Wallis and Futuna islands are now inter-connected with a submarine optical fiber system which spans more than 1,470 km, providing an advanced broadband highway for inclusive social and economic growth.

Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Afamasaga Rico Tupai, said the milestone re-enforces Samoas commitment to broadband connectivity.

This is a significant milestone for our Samoa Connectivity Project, which has been possible with the enormous support and commitment of multiple development partners and by Alcatel Submarine Networks, he said.

This reinforces the Government of Samoas commitment to universal access and high speed broadband connectivity for all our people.

Leiataua Alden Godinet, Chairperson of S.S.C.C. said: This is another step forward to deliver fast, reliable and affordable internet services to the people of Samoa and to enhance broadband capacity and connectivity for the institutions and businesses to foster social and economic development.

Philippe Piron, President of Alcatel Submarine Networks, said: We are pleased to support S.S.C.C. in delivering new connectivity that can give broader opportunities to Samoan and neighbouring people. A.S.Ns technology and expertise will contribute to deliver a new service experience to end-users that will be able to access advanced on line applications efficiently and rapidly.

Strengthening Samoas domestic and international connectivity, the Tui-Samoa submarine cable system have landing points in Apia and Tuasivi (Samoa) and Suva (Fiji) and delivers a capacity of at least 8 Terabits-per-second (Tbit/s) using 100 Gbit/s transmission technology. The system also has extensions to the islands of Vanua Levu  Savusavu (Fiji) and Wallis & Futuna.

ABOUT SAMOA SUBMARINE CABLE COMPANY LIMITED

S.S.C.C. is a private company incorporated in Apia Samoa and will build, manage and operate the Tui-Samoa submarine cable between Apia Samoa and Suva Fiji. S.S.C.C. will operate a Cooperative Sustainable Wholesale Model (C.S.W.M.) with the mandate to deliver fast, reliable and affordable internet services to stimulate I.C.T. innovation and development as an enabler of economic growth and social prosperity for the people of Samoa.

ALCATEL SUBMARINE NETWORKS

Alcatel Submarine Networks, part of Nokia, leads the industry in terms of capacity and installed base with more than 590,000 km of optical submarine systems deployed worldwide. From traditional telecom to new oil and gas applications, A.S.N. provides every part of a global undersea transmission network, all tailored to the customers needs. An extensive service portfolio completes its comprehensive offering for the submarine business, including project management, installation and commissioning and marine operations and maintenance performed by its fleet of cable ships.
The Police are looking for the driver of a Suzuki vehicle involved in a hit and run incident involving a 16-year-old boy in Vaimea.

This was confirmed by the Police Superintendent and Media Spokesperson, Auapaau Logoitino Filipo, in response to questions from the Samoa Observer.

He did not have all the details but said the Police are investigating the incident.

Apart from that, he confirmed the Christmas holidays were relatively safe.

Aside from the two drowning in Savaii and two who allegedly took their own lives here in Upolu, the Christmas holiday was quiet, he said.

Members of the public heeded the advice by the Police to have a designated driver."

The amount of traffic citations and accidents is very minimal compared to last years holiday operations, said Auapaau.

As of last Friday, D.U.I. arrests were close to 20 and that was the last time we made a D.U.I. arrest."

On Saturday up until yesterday, the drivers that we have encountered are sober, which is very good."

We are thankful to members of the public for considering and taking action on the appeal from the police."

Drunk driving will never end well for anyone, not only for the safety of the pedestrians, but also the drivers, said the Police Superintendent.

There was one traffic incident on Tuesday night in Ululoloa, a drunk driver crashed into an electricity pole.

Fortunately it was an electrical pole. The driver was taken to the hospital because he sustained injuries and upon release from the hospital, he has been criminally charged with drunk driving and operating a vehicle without a valid drivers license.

The one issue that was highly emphasized by Auapaau was members of the public who do not drink responsibly.

We responded to more than 100 peace disturbance calls around Upolu on Christmas Day alone."

But then its to be expected, its the holidays and of course we urge members of the public to drink responsibly. "

And our holiday operation will continue throughout next week, he said.

Auapaau also commended the assistance provided by the Village Councils who have been very helpful with police work.

On behalf of the Police Service, we want to thank all our people, our village councils who offered assistance and continue to help the police in their line of work and most especially keeping the peace within the villages."
From December 15 through December 23, several churches from throughout Upolu were praising God and celebrating the birth of His Son, Jesus Christ, in front of the Fiame Mataafa Faumuina Mulinuu II government building in downtown Apia.

Following the first Christmas lighting display and programme in 2015, the Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi asked the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (L.D.S.) to continue the programme.

Speaking of the tremendous effort required to produce this event, Sapele Faalogo, Director of Public Affairs for the L.D.S. Church in Samoa, said, We would like to thank all of those who have helped make this event possible. It has required a team effort.

We are grateful to those who have generously shared their talents to make this event such a success over the past three years. We also express appreciation to the government of Samoa for use of the land in front of the government building and to TV3 for their extensive live television coverage each night.

This year marked the third year of My Island Christmas Lights and Caroling.

It has now become a Christmas tradition in Samoa.

Performances were offered free of charge to the public each night and the event was carried live on TV3 from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. TV3 Apia Broadcasting Limited co-sponsored the event.

In addition to the television coverage, they also provided tents to shield both the performers and the audience from the rain.

This year the Christmas lighting display included a large Christmas tree utilizing a three-storey high flood light pole covered with white and gold led lights. All of the Christmas lights were donated and installed by volunteers of the other co-sponsor, the L.D.S. Church.

The opening ceremony on December 15 featured choirs from the Apia Samoa Central Stake (a stake is a group of several congregations of the L.D.S. Church), the Apia Samoa West Stake and another from the Samoa Ministry of Police. More than 18 other choirs, dance companies and individual artists joined in the celebration during its nine-day run, including choirs from the Catholic Church, the Methodist Church, Congregational Christian Church and the Assembly of God Dance Group visiting from Australia.

Lee Anne Kinghorn, a Church missionary from America viewing the My Island Christmas Lights and Caroling commented, This is our second year attending the My Island Christmas programmes in Samoa. Because of our wonderful experience last year, we started getting excited about attending weeks ago.

We love the power of Samoan voices, the traditional music and dancing. We also enjoy seeing how much fun the performers have singing and dancing!

This is such a beautiful opportunity to gather together to celebrate the birth of our Saviour and the Light of the world, Jesus Christ.
New real estate recording fees will rise from $75 to $225 as of Jan. 1, under a new state law.

The total is expected to generate as much as $300 million statewide to aid homeless, produce more affordable housing and support local planning changes.

San Diego County Assessor-Recorder-Clerk Ernest Dronenburgs office said staff at five locations will likely stay late Friday to handle last-minute documents.

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The bill, SB2 by state Sen. Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, applies to a long list of real estate-related documents but exempts those involving transfer taxes on sales of commercial and residential real estate.

Also exempt are real estate transfers of owner-occupied homes, such as from a deceased relative.

Examples of documents that will be subject to the fee include mechanics liens involving property construction projects, quitclaim deeds and affidavits of death related to real estate.

The base increase is $75 per document on top of the regular recording fee of $12 to $18.

If more than three documents are being recorded at the same time, there is a $225 cap on the increase.

County Assessor-Recorder-Clerk Ernest Dronenburg Jr. estimated about 40 percent of his 900,000 recordings a year will be subject to the fee.

At $75 per item, that would work out to $27 million generated locally, before factoring in the multiple recordings that might occur on one property.

Thats our best guess at this time, he said. Since this is so new, we dont really know.

The state allows the county to deduct administrative costs for processing the new fees. Dronenburg currently estimates those costs at about 10 percent.

The first quarterly payment from the county to the state is due at the end of April.

When the state Assembly passed the bill in September, Atkins said the new fee was needed to address what she termed a crisis in housing.

There is no single silver bullet that will solve the crisis, she said. However SB2 is a step in the right direction.

According to a state Senate analysis of the bill, half the money generated in 2018 will go to local governments for technical assistance and expediting local housing production.

The other half will be dispersed by the state Housing and Community Development Department to deal with homelessness.

The department is required to ensure geographic equity in distributing the funds.

Starting in 2019, 70 percent will go to local governments and the remainder to the HCD department for state programs and local grants.

If $250 million is collected statewide that year, the estimate for local allocations in the fiscal 2019-2020 state budget is projected at about:

$4.8 million, San Diego city

$1.6 million, county government

$900,000, Chula Vista

$540,000, Oceanside

Lesser amounts to the other 15 cities in the county

The formulas are based on the federal Community Development Block Grant program.

The bills analysis noted that nearly $5 billion in voter-approved bonds in 2002 and 2006 financed 183,000 new and rehabilitated homes. But that source is nearly exhausted.

Redevelopment programs set aside portions of new local property taxes for low- and moderate-income housing, but the Legislature terminated that program in 2012.

California receives about $627 million in federal housing funds, but that is after a 34 percent cut over the past decade and two programs face a two-thirds reduction under a Trump administration budget plan.

The report said the state is short 1.5 million rental units for low-income households and many of the poor risk adding to the 118,000 Californians who are homeless.

See related:

April property taxes: Paying now could save fed tax later

April property taxes: Paying now could save fed tax later

April property taxes: Paying now could save fed tax later

For more information:

Online: County assessor-recorder-clerks office website, arcc.sdcounty.ca.gov

County assessor-recorder-clerks office website, arcc.sdcounty.ca.gov Phone : (619) 531-5007

: (619) 531-5007 Offices: 1600 Pacific Highway downtown; 9225 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Kearny Mesa; 141 E. Carmel St., San Marcos; 200 S. Magnolia Ave., El Cajon; and 590 Third Ave., Chula Vista. They are open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. but remain open after hours if customers are waiting in line.

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roger.showley@sduniontribune.com; (619) 293-1286; Twitter: @rogershowley
Houzz, a 5-year-old website devoted to interior design and home improvement, has opened a San Diego office to market to designers nationwide.

The Palo Alto-based company occupies the west side of the sixth floor of DiamondView Tower with 30 staff overlooking Petco Park in East Village and is building out the east side for continued expansion. It represents an expansion from its Orange County location.

Our growing sales and client services team is based in these offices, said company spokeswoman Gabriela Hebert. They support Houzz Pro+, our premium local marketing program and subscription service for home professionals, which is only available in the U.S. and Canada.

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The company also has offices in London, Sydney and Berlin.

The firm is but the latest high-tech, Internet company to set up shop in downtown San Diego. Boosters hope to create a new employment hub that appeals to people eager to live, work and play in an urban setting. Cruzan, the commercial real estate firm which owns DiamondView together with Cigna Investments, cited the new tenant as exactly the type of business East Village office building owners, as well as others in the region, hope to attract.

Landing a company like this speaks volumes about the development of the area and the vibe that development has created, said Dennis Cruzan, founder partner. We expect that innovative, growing tech companies will continue to seek out unique office environments throughout San Diego County.

The company was founded by husband-and-wife immigrants from Israel who moved to the Silicon Valley to work in tech and were frustrated by their own home improvements problems. Forbes called the couple, Alon Cohen and Adi Tatarko techs newest power couple who recently raised $165 million in venture capital. (They have yet to finish their home improvement project.)

The website currently attracts more than 25 million unique users per month, offers 5 million images supplied by some 500,000 designers and contractors who can use Houzz web tools to create their own free web pages. They can also pay annual listing fees of several hundred dollars per month to increase their online presence. It is those companies that the San Diego staff will be signing up and servicing.

For consumers, Houzz offers design tips, information articles and an Amazon-like way to order home products from manufacturers.

The mission from Day 1 was about providing the best experience for this industry, Hebert said.

Renee Bishop, who oversees the San Diego office, led a brief tour around the workspace, which she said after only a month does not yet sport the trendy, tasteful design flourishes the home-improvement company expects to show off when construction is completed in March.

But there hints of whats to come, such as a black-and-white shelf with nine little plants and a handwritten greeting posted on the common fridge, Welcome to Houzz. The staff also has a ringside seat of the Petco Park playing field and access to small outdoor balcony.

Numerous San Diego consultants and contractors already have signed up for free Houzz profiles, including Anne Kellett, president of the local chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers.

She said other apps and websites, such as Pinterest, offer tips and eye candy to homeowners wanting to up their lifestyle look. But Houzz focuses exclusively on the residential market, she said.

It can also generate business, she said. Ive gotten a couple people inquiring after seeing me on Houzz. It appeals to younger, middle-budget, DIY (do it yourselfers), though I think its becoming more sophisticated now. There may be more people with resources looking at it.

She called the website very, very simple and elegant and easy.
A man in Stuart, Florida was arrested after he called 911 twice to complain about the size of his clams at a seafood restaurant. According to King 5 News, an MSNBC affiliate in Seattle, Washington, Nelson Agosto ordered the dish at Crabbys Seafood Shack where an employee warned him about its petite size.

After receiving his food, the 51-year-old complained to restaurant staff and they gave him another order for free. But he apparently didnt want to pay for his first meal; he called 911 and said, I ordered something, and it was extremely so small.

The dispatcher reportedly told him to hang up and call a non-emergency police line. Although he told him the non-emergency phone number twice, the clammy customer called 911 again claiming he couldnt get through.

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When police made contact with Agosto, he alleged that he called 911 because he forgot the non-emergency number, King 5 News reports.

Agosto was arrested via summons on a misdemeanor charge for misuse of 911 after consuming a meal and complaining about his food from a restaurant, Stuart Police Department said on Twitter. He is scheduled to appear in court on January 11.

Perhaps the man should have just taken them to Small Clams Court.

For more unconventional run ins with the law, here are the 10 funniest drunk arrests in history.

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With the surge of interest in small-production distilled spirits, tequila is finally attracting the respect and attention it deserves.

Centered in this spotlight is Oceanside resident and entrepreneur Phillip Felipe Soto Mares, maestro catador (master tequila sommelier/taster) and co-founder and master distiller of The Bad Stuff, his award-winning extra anejo tequila, a special reserve golden liquor aged three years in oak barrels.

Recently, Soto Mares introduced local sales of his ultra-premium, limited production sipping tequila, choosing for the launch Carlsbads restored Charles Kenneth Speakeasy, the hidden bar under the Land & Water Company Restaurant, which once stocked his grandfathers hooch-quality bootlegged tequila and now sells the grandsons prestigious extra anejo.

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For Soto Mares, now 65, an adventurous man with eclectic interests, making tequila is a family tradition. When he was 16, his uncle Roberto Mares, a teacher, came from Mexico to visit the family in San Diego County, bringing a jug of his homemade tequila. He instructed his nephew in how to drink it properly.

First you look at the color. Then you smell the aroma. How is the body? Then you sip it to taste all the flavors, he recalled his uncles advice.

The young Soto Mares, born to migrant workers in Fresno and raised in Vista and San Marcos, never lost his fascination with fine tequila as he studied architectural drafting at a nearby community college. Following in his fathers footsteps, he first pursued a career with the Santa Fe Railroad, then worked in several construction and other businesses, bootstrapping himself up, his entrepreneurial instincts inspiring him always to seize better opportunities.

For one client, he designed and built a facility to make pet shampoos. When the chemist hired to compound the shampoos failed to show up, Soto Mares offered to take over the task. He created a successful line of human food-grade shampoos popular also with humans, while experimenting and acquiring a skill-set which proved useful in blending and refining his tequila formula.

In 1994, his uncle decided he was ready to learn to make tequila. He invited Soto Mares to his small hacienda in Atequiza, Jalisco. There he spent six months passing along the techniques and knowledge handed down from his father, also Roberto, who, as a refugee from the 1920s Cristero War in Mexico, supported his family by producing bootleg tequila in Los Angeles during Prohibition. (Technically, his grandfather made agave spirits from California agave, since true tequila can now be made legally only from blue agave in specified locations in Mexico, mainly in the Jalisco region.)

I went down to learn. I hadnt thought of it as a business. I wanted to learn to make the best tequila, he explained.

His first effort was so bad his uncle spat it out. Then, recalling his uncles instructions on when to harvest the agave, he went back to the fields and looked for the tears at the base of the mature plant, a sign of the sweetness allowing caramelization of its juices during the cooking process.

Soto Mares uses traditional methods to craft his tequila, but what distinguishes his product is the nuances. He uses only pesticide-free, estate-grown blue agave whose cultivation he controls. He oversees the harvest when the agave is 8 to 12 years old, with the leaves cut away to reveal their inner pinas. These agave plant hearts are baked in traditional steam ovens, enabling the sugars caramelization. This baking process shapes the tequilas ultimate flavor before the pinas are mashed, releasing the liquid.

The agave nectar is first fermented and then distilled twice, once in stainless steel and then in copper tanks to draw out any impurities. He filters it through cellulose rather than activated charcoal to produce a crystalline tequila with brio thats not too polished, he explained.

After distillation, all tequila is clear, or blanco. With two months to a years age in oak barrels, tequila becomes a reposado (rested), and with one to under three years aging in small oak barrels it becomes an anejo (aged). Extra anejo (extra aged) requires three or more years aging in oak barrels, which imparts smoothness, flavor and color to the distilled tequila. The variety and newness of oak and the use of any charring also affects the flavor, as does the blending process.

Soto Mares prefers new French oak barrels with a medium char to achieve his desired flavor profile.

After the agave nectar is drained, Soto Mares turns over the residue, called bagaso, to Tequila, Jalisco-based, Norma Macias, whose local company, Papel de Agave, handcrafts the paper for his labels. He designed a special oven to speed drying of the paper.

Her company is very small, employing women from her town to empower them and become financially stable, he explained.

The quality and purity of the water used in making tequila is critical, he stressed. His water comes only from two deep artesian wells.

For 20 years, Soto Mares created his own tequila in small quantities at a distillery in Arandas in the highlands of Jalisco, home to the sweetest blue agave plants and the best quality tequilas, producing only a few thousand bottles for his friends and family. He expects to ramp up production in the near future, drawing on additional blue agave he grows on nearby estates.

In a chance encounter at the Del Mar Races several years ago, Soto Mares shared a glass of his special tequila with an appreciative new acquaintance, George Molsbarger, who eventually persuaded him to market it in the U.S. It was Molsbarger who dubbed the tequila The Bad Stuff.

Soto Mares never intended to sell his tequila but kept refining his methods to bring out the aromatic creme brulee notes he prefers.

All I wanted to do was create the best tequila on the planet. The process makes it distinctive, our attention to detail. Its the equivalent of the fine cognac of tequila. I designed it to appeal to the Scotch and Cognac palettes, he said, explaining he uses only special bottles made of recycled glass.

Critics and competitions seem to bear him out. In the Made in Mexico Competition, The Bad Stuff won gold and best of class awards in the extra anejo category against 67 tequila brands currently sold. He also took home the best of show award.

Soto Mares, also a professional consultant in tequila formulation for family-owned tequila making firms, is one of only a handful of maestro catadores, or master tequila sommeliers, honored by the Guadalajara-based Academia Mexicano de Catadores de Tequila for his contributions in conducting educational seminars and tastings and providing training in how to evaluate and taste tequilas. He also served as the Academias director within the state of California.

Although Soto Mares never planned to become a tequilero, he has created his own niche.

Ive lived life on my own terms  and enjoy life, he said.

For restaurants serving and stores selling The Bad Stuff, visit www.thebadstufftequila.com.

Larson is a San Diego freelance writer.

Pairing tequila with food

Be adventurous and serve versatile tequila to accompany a meal. For appetizers, Felipe Soto Mares recommends matching it with queso fundido or carnitas street tacos.

The Bad Stuff stands up well with exotic meats such as venison, elk or other game, and shines with a reduction sauce made with the same tequila, he explained. It pairs well also with lean pork or beef, particularly Angus cuts and filet mignons, but also goes well with shellfish, such as lobster and scallops.
The Navy has honored a Coronado native with one of its most prestigious training awards.

Aviation Boatswains Mate (Handling) Petty Officer 1st Class Jared Whitefield was recently named a finalist for Naval Education and Training Commands Military Instructor of the Year in the category of mid-grade enlisted sailors.

A Master Training Specialist who has demonstrated highly effective teaching skills and a comprehensive understanding of how to run a military schoolhouse, Whitefield serves at the Center for North Islands Security Forces Detachment as an instructor in Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape techniques.

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Called SERE in the military, those are the skills service members can use to endure captivity or isolation, often in austere conditions.

I truly believe in what we teach at SERE, and I put everything I have into the course, said Whitefield in a written statement emailed to the San Diego Union-Tribune. We arent teaching these things for fun or because its cool. Were teaching people how to survive in the absolute worst-case scenarios. I feel that believing in what you teach is the key to inspiring students to listen, ask questions and, once they understand, apply what they have learned.

A noted leader in mentoring, instructing and evaluating both instructors and the SERE curriculum, Whitefield was one of two finalists who emerged from a pool of nearly 8,000 instructors within Naval Education and Training Command.

A 1995 graduate of Marshland High School in Cambridgeshire, the United Kingdom, Whitefield was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal for his achievements during a special Dec. 14 ceremony at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida.

I firmly believe that you get out of the military, what you put into it, Whitefield added. Helping junior sailors understand that will be one of the biggest things I take back to the fleet. You can either be on the sidelines complaining about things you cant control or you can take control of those things and make the best of it.

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cprine@sduniontribune.com
San Diego expects to get a windfall of new revenue from the citys tax on recreational marijuana sales that begin Monday, but officials concede they are taking guesses at how many millions per year the tax will generate.

Estimates presented to the City Council this month predict $5.5 million per year initially, with steady increases up to $13.7 million in the budget year that ends in June 2023.

Thats below the $22 million to $35 million of annual revenue predicted last year by the citys independent budget analyst, and the finance officials responsible for the new estimates say they erred strongly on the conservative side.

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The numbers are based on sales tax the city now receives from medicinal marijuana sales at legal dispensaries, but most expect legalization of recreational sales to prompt a sharp surge in demand.

The estimates also only include tax from the roughly 20 legal dispensaries expected to operate in the city, not tax from as many as 40 businesses expected to operate marijuana cultivation, manufacturing and distribution businesses.

Revenue could also spike if San Diego sees a sharp increase in sales from marijuana tourism, which had a strong impact in the first two states to legalize recreational marijuana: Colorado and Washington.

Another variable is the rate of the citys marijuana tax, which was approved by 69% of city voters in November 2016.

Its slated to start at 5% and increase to 8% in July 2019, but the City Council has the discretion to boost it to 15% at any time.

The size of San Diegos marijuana black market, comprised mostly of illegal delivery services, is another factor.

If legalization of recreational marijuana significantly shrinks the black market, the city will collect more tax revenue. But if the city tax allows black market operators to charge significantly less for the drug, the black market could grow.

A state analysis completed last summer projects illegal marijuana in California, now estimated at 75% of the market, will eventually shrink to just under 30% after recreational sales begin next week.

The analysis, conducted by the UC Agricultural Issues Center at the request of the state Bureau of Marijuana Control, predicts recreational sales will eventually be 61.5% of the overall market and the black market will be 29.5%.

The analysis predicts sales of medicinal marijuana, now estimated at 25% of the market, will end up at about 9%. It also says legal sales will increase from $2 billion total to about $5 billion total.

City officials didnt use that analysis in their estimates, which were based only on sales at existing medical dispensaries and estimates of how many dispensaries beyond the current 11 would eventually operate in the city.

We dont have a whole lot of data at this point to really come up with our projections, Matt Vespi, the citys deputy director of financial management, told the City Council during a recent public hearing.

Another factor that could affect revenue from San Diegos marijuana tax is medicinal purchases, which are exempt from the tax, making up a large share of the market despite the availability of recreational marijuana.

Critics of the citys tax say many customers will choose medicinal marijuana, which will remain available at local dispensaries, because its exemption from the tax will make prices lower.

Leaders of the local marijuana industry disagree. Alex Scherer, who owns and operates a legal city dispensary, said recreational sales are expected to significantly outpace medicinal.

Thats because there are hassles associated with buying medicinal marijuana and because legalization of recreational marijuana will eliminate a stigma, prompting more people to try the drug.

Medicinal customers must continue to get a doctors recommendation, which costs $40 to $60 and must be updated annually.

And California will begin requiring a state identification card on Monday that costs $100 per year and is necessary to avoid paying taxes on medicinal marijuana.

The final variable affecting revenue from San Diegos marijuana tax is whether the city continues to have a near monopoly on the legalized industry, making it a sort of mecca for sales. San Diego is the only city in the county to have legalized an entire supply chain for the drug.

david.garrick@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @UTDavidGarrick

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A Tokyo-bound flight from Los Angeles that turned back to widespread attention on social media was carrying two brothers, one of whom was not authorized to be on board, the Transportation Security Administration said Wednesday.

The unauthorized passenger had a boarding pass for a United Airlines flight, but boarded the All Nippon Airlines flight with his brother, who had the correct ticket for the flight, said Mike England, a TSA spokesman.



For the record: A previous version of this story said that two unauthorized passengers had boarded the flight.

Both were aboard Tokyo-bound All Nippon Airlines Flight 175 when it departed Los Angeles International Airport about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday. About four hours after it departed, it turned around and headed back to Los Angeles, where it landed about 7:30 p.m.

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Model Chrissy Teigen, who was on the rerouted flight, kept her Twitter followers entranced for hours after she recounted the incident in a series of tweets starting before 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

a flying first for me: 4 hours into an 11 hour flight and we are turning around because we have a passenger who isnt supposed to be on this plane. Why...why do we all gotta go back, I do not know  christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 27, 2017

At the time during the flight, the pilot in command was presented with information about the discrepancy in the passenger manifest. Based on the available information in flight, he made the correct decision to return to LAX, the airline said in a statement. ANA supports the decision of the pilot, out of the abundance of caution and safety for the passengers and crew onboard.

The unauthorized passenger had moved through security checkpoints with his sibling and gone through the TSAs 20 layers of security  both seen and unseen  before they made it to the terminal, a government official said.

It was up to the airlines employees to ensure the passengers had the proper boarding passes for the flight, authorities said.

Once the flight returned in Los Angeles and passengers exited the aircraft, the FBI interviewed the brothers and several other passengers, the government official said.

No arrests have been made, according to the FBI.

By early Wednesday morning, Teigen and her fellow passengers were back on board and headed for Tokyo.

Yoda is in a seat and theyre playing Star Wars music  christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 27, 2017

They keep saying the person had a United ticket. We are on ANA. So basically the boarding pass scanner is just a beedoop machine that makes beedoop noises that register to nowhere  christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 27, 2017

There were 208 passengers on the flights manifest, a spokesman for the airline said Wednesday.

Teigen was on the flight with her husband, John Legend. Other passengers joined in their social media commentary.

Teigen and her fellow passengers boarded a second flight for Tokyo early Wednesday. The flight departed after 12:30 a.m. and was expected to arrive in Japan less than 12 hours later.

Taking off!!! Please dont be the same menu please dont be the same menu  christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 27, 2017

joseph.serna@latimes.com

Twitter: @JosephSerna.

Times staff writer Frank Shyong contributed to this report.

UPDATES:

12 p.m.: This article was updated to clarify the TSAs statement that there was only one unauthorized passenger, who was traveling with his brother.

10:30 a.m.: This article was updated with information about a second unauthorized passenger.

6:30 a.m. Dec. 27: This article was updated with the flights second departure to Tokyo.

10:55 p.m.: This article was updated with details from an interview with airport police.

This article was originally published at 9:25 p.m. Dec. 26.
A Los Angeles man convicted of operating an unlicensed, uninspected shuttle service at the San Ysidro-Tijuana border crossing was placed this month on probation, San Diego City Atty. Mara Elliott announced Tuesday.

Noberto Romero Corona, 70, was found guilty Dec. 14 of unlawful sale of transportation services, a misdemeanor. He was fined $1,000 and placed on probation for three years.

San Diego police arrested Corona on July 3 on the U.S. side of the border crossing on suspicion of crimes related to illegal sale of transportation services, said Cheryl Nolan, a spokeswoman for Elliotts office.

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People unlawfully selling transportation services, a practice sometimes called wildcatting, at the border look for customers traveling from Mexico to California, Elliott said. They offer unfairly low prices that licensed, insured transportation providers are unable to match.

morgan.cook@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @morganecook
So many people fleeing persecution in their home countries have asked for help in San Ysidro in recent weeks that federal officials have not been able to process all of them, leaving some stranded and running out of money while they wait in Tijuana.

U.S. border officials are trying to work through the backlog, but they can go only as fast as migrants can be processed and moved from temporary holding cells to immigration detention.

An official with U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the agency remains committed to meeting the care and safety needs of people in custody, and is working actively with partners, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to resolve the backup.

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There are potentially a number of reasons causing the San Diego area ports of entry to reach capacity; we do not have a definitive reason to offer at this time, the official added.

Because of the backlog, close to 100 migrants lined up last week in the plaza outside the walkway that leads to PedWest, the pedestrian border crossing that opened earlier this year, Tijuana media outlets reported. Migrants slept in line, afraid of losing their places and having to wait longer for CBP to process them.

Then, Mexican officials told them they couldnt stay in the plaza.

On Monday of last week, about 25 migrants were jailed overnight for waiting in the plaza outside the port, according to several Eritrean migrants.

In the days since, some found refuge in Tijuanas migrant shelters, particularly the Casa del Migrante. Each morning, they return to the port to ask if there is room in CBPs processing area. When theyre turned away, they walk over to a nearby plaza and wait until shelters open for the night.

We cant give up. We dont have option, said Mesfin Tesfaldet, a 33-year-old man from Eritrea seeking asylum in the U.S., who has been waiting to be processed for at least a week.

He was again shooed out of El Chaparral plaza on Friday along with about a dozen others from Eritrea and Cameroon.

When someone arrives at a port without documents for entry, CBP officials interview that person, take photographs and fingerprints and check law enforcement databases for records. If that person reports being afraid to go back to his or her home country, CBP is required by law to transfer that migrant to other federal agencies for a potential asylum case.

Most of the asylum process happens once the person has been transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement  or ICE  custody, and back-ups in that transfer system can leave CBP with limited space in its temporary holding cells at the border. Large groups of migrants arriving at once can also clog the system.

In the fall of 2016, San Diegos ports were overwhelmed by thousands of Haitian migrants. In partnership with Mexican officials, CBP established a ticketing system that scheduled appointments for migrants to be processed. As of November, the most recent data available from CBP, arrivals hadnt reached the levels of the wave of arriving Haitians.

In October 2016, more than 6,000 people came to San Diegos ports of entry asking to come in despite not having documents permitting entry to the U.S. That number included asylum seekers  CBP does not distinguish between those seeking asylum and other inadmissibles in its data collection. (In addition to asylum seekers, inadmissibles are those looking for better economic opportunities or anyone else who has asked to enter the U.S. at a port without the proper documents.)

In November 2017, the number of people deemed inadmissible was 2,824, more than double the low of 1,313 reached in March of this year.

Under current policy, asylum seekers are detained by ICE until they get results from credible fear interviews, which determine the likelihood that they will win their cases in immigration court.

If asylum seekers dont pass the interviews, they are sent back to their home countries. If they do pass, many stay in detention for the remainder of their cases, which can take a year or more to finish. Some are released from detention on parole or by paying bond while they wait for their turns to tell their stories to immigration judges.

Asylum seekers, like refugees, must prove that theyve been persecuted or fear persecution because of their race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group.

Tesfaldet said he fled Eritrea to Sudan after he was jailed for his political views. In Sudan, he said, he couldnt go to a refugee camp because the two governments were working together to send Eritreans back to their home country.

He hid for several years before finding a way to fly to Brazil. From there, he followed a grueling and potentially fatal migrant trail up to Tijuana.

It was hard. Its very bad, that jungle. Many people is dying, especially in the river, Tesfaldet said. We sacrificed ourselves already. We dont expect to have a problem when we get here.

He saw children swept away by the water at river crossings  pulled right out of their mothers arms, he said.

He left his 5-year-old daughter in hiding in Sudan while he made the journey because he didnt want to risk losing her on the way. He hopes that if he is able to win his asylum case in the U.S., hell be able to bring her to join him.

He thinks about his daughter every day, he said. He doesnt care where he lives in the U.S. as long as he is allowed in.

I want safe. I want peaceful, Tesfaldet said.

Some of the migrants from African countries expressed frustration that they were the ones left outside after Mexican officials intervened.

We are human beings, said one man from Eritrea. They dont respect. Im feeling racism here, a big discrimination here. We dont want to be here in Mexico. Our target, our way is USA.

When Tijuana media first reported the line of migrants, many of those interviewed were Mexican asylum seekers fleeing gang violence in other parts of the country. By Friday, most of them did not appear outside the port.

An official from Mexicos immigration agency told a Mexican media outlet that his agency had asked CBP to find a way to take in more people because of concerns about how migrant children waiting in line could be affected when temperatures drop overnight.

The group of Eritreans and Cameroonians outside El Chaparral on Friday said many of those who didnt make it into the U.S. had traveled on to Mexicali or even Texas to try at other ports.

Friday afternoon, several of the remaining Eritrean men decided to try their luck in Mexicali as well.

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Rep. Darrell Issa is under political siege on several fronts. The latest is far from his district: Hollywood.

In an effort to gain the offensive, Issa has raised the controversial past of one of his most highest-profile detractors: Hanoi Jane.

Actress Jane Fonda contributed $100,000 to a political committee dedicated to getting Issa voted out of office. Other notables also made donations, including actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Ted Danson

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In a plea to bolster his own campaign finances, the Vista Republican reminded potential donors of Fondas trip to North Vietnam 45 years ago, where she was famously photographed sitting behind an enemy anti-aircraft gun.

My opponents are bought and paid for by Hanoi Jane Fonda, a woman who said our POWs returning from Vietnam were hypocrites and liars who shouldnt be hailed as heroes. Chip in $5 to help fight back this traitor and stand with our veterans! Issa said on Twitter, with a link to his fundraising site.

Issa is in the fight of his political life in the 49th Congressional District, which straddles north San Diego and Southern Orange counties. Weekly protests outside his district office started by local constituents have lasted for a year, attracting national media coverage and, more recently, outside support from national Democratic organizers and now Hollywood A-listers.

Fondas anti-war activities and the iconic photos from that 1972 trip are as much a part of her biography as her two Academy Awards. While it rarely comes up these days, her Hanoi visit often is included historical pieces about the era, most recently in Ken Burns 10-part documentary The Vietnam War.

She went to Hanoi the same year she won the Oscar for best actress in the movie Klute, giving her an even bigger megaphone for her causes.

Though it was nearly a half century ago, the mention of all that still triggers raw emotions, particularly among many veterans.

I can never forgive Jane Fonda, David C. Yorck, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel, said recently. I was deeply upset.

Yorck, 74, lives Carmel Valley, just outside of Issas district. He has long supported the congressman, himself an Army veteran, for his strong stance on the military, among other things.

Yorck graduated from Colgate University in New York and then served in Vietnam from 1966-69. He returned to study international affairs at Colombia University, a hotbed of protests against the war that divided the country  even families.

I felt let down, Yorck said. Some of my family were leftists.

While he said the tension among his kin has subsided, Fonda is a different matter.

Im still really pissed about Jane Fonda, he said.

Fonda, who just turned 80, has always stood by her activism against the war, but not the iconic photograph.

There is one thing that happened while in North Vietnam that I will regret to my dying day, she said in a 2011 post on her website.

She said it all started with friendly interaction with North Vietnam soldiers. The atmosphere was festive and they sang songs.

...someone (I dont remember who) led me towards the gun, and I sat down, still laughing, still applauding. It all had nothing to do with where I was sitting. I hardly even thought about where I was sitting, she wrote. The cameras flashed. I got up, and as I started to walk back to the car with the translator, the implication of what had just happened hit me. Oh my God. Its going to look like I was trying to shoot down U.S. planes.

She said she pleaded with her overseers not to let the photograph be published. Later, she wondered whether it was all a set-up.

But if they did I cant blame them. The buck stops here, she wrote.

She was already a lightning rod for her criticism of the war and U.S. personnel sent to fight it. The trip and the photos led to the nickname that will stay with her forever.

It also made her a lifelong tool for political fundraising by conservatives  even years later after becoming a video workout maven and the wife of media mogul Ted Turner.

Is it still effective? Yes, according to Issas campaign. Issas social media posts on Hanoi Jane have been clicked on and shared far more than any others from the campaign, spokesman Calvin Moore said.

While he didnt have numbers, Moore said the campaign experienced a major influx of donations on its fundraising website around the time of the Fonda posts, suggesting people saw them and clicked on the link to contribute.

That sort of comes as no surprise to me, given the military presence in our district, Moore said, noting that its the home of Camp Pendleton and many retired veterans.

He said since the posts, veterans have reached out to Issa to offer assistance. They may already have been in his camp, but were stirred to act by the mention of Fonda.

As Lt. Col. Yorck said, It still resonates with me.
A Los Angeles man convicted of operating an unlicensed, uninspected shuttle service at the San Ysidro border was placed this month on probation, San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott announced Tuesday.

Noberto Romero Corona, 70, was found guilty Dec. 14 of unlawful sale of transportation services, a misdemeanor. He was fined $1,000 and placed on probation for a term of three years.

San Diego police arrested Corona on July 3 on the U.S. side of the San Ysidro border on suspicion of crimes related to illegal sale of transportation services, Cheryl Nolan, a spokeswoman for Elliotts office, said.

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People unlawfully selling transportation services, a practice sometimes called wildcatting, at the border look for customers traveling from Mexico to California, Elliott said. They offer unfairly-low prices that licensed, insured transportation providers are unable to match.

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morgan.cook@sduniontribune.com
A 22-year-old believed to be the driver in a Vista hit-and-run crash fatally shot himself while deputies were looking for him Tuesday night, sheriffs officials said.

The mans mother was nearby and told deputies he had phoned her, asking her to pick him up, Deputy Sean Gallagher said in a statement.

Authorities did not release his name.

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The collision occurred about 6:40 p.m. Tuesday when the man was southbound on Melrose Drive in a Honda Civic. He ran a red light at Shadowridge Drive and crashed into a Hyundai Santa Fe, Gallagher said. One of the cars overturned.

The Honda driver took off running. The Hyundai driver was unhurt.

Deputies started looking around the neighborhood for the Honda driver. Then, Gallagher said, a woman flagged down one deputy and said the man they were looking for had just shot himself.

He was found, severely wounded, lying in some bushes at Countryside Drive and Club Heights Lane. Deputies started CPR until medics came and took the man to a trauma center, Gallagher said.

The man died at the hospital.

Gallagher said the man had called his mother, asked her to pick him up and gave her directions to the location.

Authorities did not immediately know if the man was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time. No reason was given for his suicide.

pauline.repard@sduniontribune

Twitter: @pdrepard
Mayor Margaret Gentle stood before a room of residents and city employees in North Port, Fla., explaining why, after almost 15 years as their leader, she would be stepping down.

Her reelection race had ended in a tie, with Gentle and her challenger, Frank Coulter, each receiving 1,554 votes.

The city attorney determined that the race would be decided by a coin toss, but Gentle wouldnt stand for that. That, she said, would demean the voters of North Port, a city south of Tampa.

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''I will not in any way participate in a coin flip for the highest office of this city, Gentle said that day in 1987. I wont degrade the office.

Three decades later, no one has figured out a more advanced way to handle a tied election  other than by chance or, in some cases, holding another election.

Soon, the question of whether Republicans will remain in the majority in the Virginia House of Delegates could be determined by two film canisters, placed in a bowl.

If the film canister pulled has Democrat Shelly Simonds name inside, then the House of Delegates would be split between Democrats and Republicans. If Republican David Yanceys name is pulled, then Republicans would maintain their 51-49 majority.

However, Simonds attorneys are set to file legal motions Wednesday, their argument being that three judges made a clear legal error in how they certified the election results.

State Board of Elections member Clara Belle Wheeler said Tuesday that the panel has postponed the morning drawing, but expects the court to act on Simonds motion quickly.

Determining a tied election by drawing lots might seem archaic, but in least 23 states, its allowed at some level for general elections, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Ties are more common in American politics than people may think, but to have one make such a crucial difference at a relatively high level of government  11,608 votes each for the two candidates in Virginias 94th District  isnt.

To have the entire balance of the state legislature dependent on one seat, and that seat being dependent on one vote  that does not happen often, said Barry Burden, director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin.

Rather, tied elections are usually found at a more local level and involve a smaller number of overall voters  for example, the race for a school board seat.

A coin flip is often used to decide such races, but in several cases, settling a tied election is left up to local leaders. Election outcomes have been determined by drawing names out of hats, jars and even cardboard boxes.

Earlier this year, an election for village president in Colp, Ill.  population 224  was determined by coin flip after both candidates tied with 11 votes each.

Last year, after a tie in the race for a seat on the city council in West Jordan, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City, the winners name was drawn  thanks to a council members large collection of hats  from a pilgrim-style hat.

In 1992, to settle a tie in a Republican primary race for a state House election in Arizona, two candidates  Richard Kyle and John Galord  settled on a game of five-card stud.

Seated at a table in a courtroom, Arizona House Speaker Jane Hull, a Republican, wore a green casino visor and arm garters as she shuffled the cards. Kyle won, with a pair of sevens.

In 1990, a tied mayoral election in a coastal town in Greece was determined by a judge pulling a name from a jar.

The winner, leftist candidate Dimitris Kounenakis, didnt choose the path of humility in his subsequent comments.

I believe luck confirmed reality  that we were the better party, he said.

Graham Butch Lenton, a mayoral candidate in Winton, Australia, likely captured the attitude of many candidates when chance doesnt go their way in settling a tied contest.

In 2008, Lenton and his opponent, Ed Warren, each received 423 votes. Warren won after his name was drawn from a hat.

What gets me is that the election is run fair and square according to the rules and then you get knocked off by Lady Luck, Lenton told a Brisbane newspaper, the Courier-Mail.

Reema Amin, a reporter with the Daily Press of Newport News, Va., and The Washington Post contributed to this report.

jaclyn.cosgrove@latimes.com

Twitter: @jaclyncosgrove
A Washington Post investigation of how the U.S. has responded to Russian cyberattacks over the past three-plus years is simultaneously disheartening, troubling and maddening.

The most important takeaway from the analysis is the need for the Trump administration to follow through on plans finalized late in the Obama administration to launch cyber operations to counteract and minimize the effectiveness of Moscows efforts to spread disinformation, misinformation and falsehoods through social and traditional media to undermine the United States and its allies. Instead, the White House continues to operate under a presidential finding that covers cyberattacks from anywhere in the world  not Russia specifically.

This must change. But it is unlikely to change until President Donald Trump realizes he is overseeing a Russian policy that is at war with itself.

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On the one hand, his administration has issued a strategic policy overview that describes Russia as a predatory, hostile power; has kept up the pressure for international sanctions against Moscow over its seizure of part of Ukraine; and has sanctioned five Russians for human-rights abuses, invoking the Magnitsky Act, the 2012 U.S. law that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin loathes. The idea that Trump is a Putin stooge is undercut by most of what his administration has done.

On the other hand, Trump continues to reject the vast evidence that Russia sought to interfere in the 2016 presidential election on his behalf, seeing the assertion as part of a nefarious scheme to delegitimize his victory. Yes, this in fact is the goal of many partisans. But if the president wants to protect American democracy and future U.S. elections, he needs to accept the consensus of U.S. and European intelligence agencies that Russia was and is trying to manipulate Western democracies.

Which brings us to the Obama administration. The Post probe paints a picture of an administration that was until its final year stuck in a naive 1990s rut  believing the Cold War was distant history, that Russia was more or less an ally and that it was no longer an important global power  even after Russia hacked the State Department and the White House and after European allies repeatedly warned the U.S. about Russian meddling in their elections. President Barack Obamas famous 2012 debate gibe at Republican challenger Mitt Romney after Romney declared Moscow our No. 1 geopolitical foe  The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back  will haunt him.

Way back in 1983  when he was a moderate Democrat writing speeches for politicians like Walter Mondale  Charles Krauthammer identified the key weakness in a common strain of idealistic American foreign policy: the mirror-image fallacy. It holds that the men and women running the nations of the world are generally alike and largely hold the same views, goals and ambitions as Americans. The result of this kumbaya mindset, Krauthammer warned: When the comfortable encounter the unimaginable, the result is not only emotional but cognitive refusal.

Russias cyberattacks on the U.S. show the danger of this cognitive refusal to acknowledge grim realities. Donald Trumps reasons for thinking as he does about Moscow are different than those of past presidents. But he must not become the latest to hide his eyes from the truth about Putin.

Twitter: @sdutIdeas

Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & Opinion
Let me be upfront about this: There are holes in our argument....

Friday was National Doughnut Day, the one day all year Americans are required to partake of this pastry, so we set out to save you the headache of deciding which doughnut would give you a stomach ache.

We determined San Diego's best doughnut.

Conversation Request Dont miss The Conversation Sign up to receive your daily CONVERSATION newsletter. Submit

Our approach was hardly scientific: We asked for your favorite San Diego doughnut shop on Facebook and Twitter, and you told us.

I'll tell you before too long, but first some research involving indigestion and the Internet.

In March 2014, I and seven other highly-trained (aka hungry) U-T employees set out to settle the score once and for all in a blind taste test recorded on video and for posterity. That day, Krispy Kreme edged out Mission Hill's Donut Star and Cardiff's VG Donuts, and readers (rightfully) complained that Mary's Donuts & Coffee in Santee and Peterson's Corner in Escondido, among others, weren't represented.

Elsewhere, Thrillist, in a post titled, "Stop eating the wrong San Diego donuts," put Peterson's Donut Corner in Escondido at the top.

Zagat rated San Diego's three-best 24-hour doughnut shops as Donut Star in Mission Hills, Peterson's Donut Corner and Mary's Donuts in Santee, a pretty good cross-section of the county.

Discover SD ranked VG Donuts first on its list.

And Red Tricycle listed "San Diego's 5 best donut shops" as downtown San Diego's Donut Bar, VG Donuts, Donut Star, Peterson's Donut Corner and -- an underdog -- Tierrasanta's Fresh Golden Donut.

On my Facebook page Thursday, the voting went like this:

Three votes for VG Donuts, two votes (one citing the peanut butter and jelly) for StreetCar Merchants in North Park, one vote for Nomad Donuts in North Park, one vote for Peterson's Donut Corner, one vote for Great Maple and its maple bacon doughnuts in University Heights, one vote for Sunny Donuts in Spring Valley (the vanilla cream in particular), one vote for Stardust Donut Shop in Imperial Beach and one vote for Mary's Donuts.

One friend wrote: "Anyone who is posting anything but 'VGs' on this thread has never had a good donut. Case closed."

Came a response: "VGs is the best, but try 'Golden Donut' at Texas and University in North Park. Finger-lickin' good!!!"

Onto the more divisive Twitter conversation -- and our definitive winner.
BABSON PARK, Fla.  Dr. Richard Culyer of Hartsville has spent more than 30 years making sure students at Dale R. Fair Babson Park Elementary School in Babson Park, Florida, become better readers.

That work, which continues today, will not be forgotten: The schools media center was named in his honor during a recent ceremony.

Elizabeth Tyler, the school's current principal, outlined the school's vision of Comprehensive Strategies in Reading, while explaining Culyers continued role in the students' success.

CSR is to enable all students, pre-K to 12th, to achieve the highest possible level of reading comprehension in order for them to reach their potential, she noted. The mission is to prove a comprehensive set of strategies using a systematic and sequential approach that is integrated through each grade level and across the curriculum.

She said the concept is to promote prevention and not just remediation, correlate with state and federal standards and to hold high expectations based on students individual levels of performance.

Richard provides recommendations on which sets of strategies to implement and then trains school personnel, Tyler said. And he provides on-site training to teach the strategies in reading to staff, identifies the relevant research base, demonstrates teaching techniques and conducts classroom observations using written criteria for the specific components being taught.

She noted he even helps staff members decide on which reading materials are most effective.

He recognizes that students learn the most when the material is neither too easy nor too hard, she said.

But his work doesnt stop there.

We monitor student progress on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, we disaggregate and analyze student data, and Richard compiles annual reports encompassing current progress and longitudinal trend data for the administrative team, Tyler said.

Former Principal Dale R. Fair began the program explaining how Culyer became the reading consultant at the school. Former Principal Ken Henson spoke on his years as principal and why he continued using Culyer as the consultant. Fair served 35 years as school principal, and Henson served for 11 years before Tyler took the helm four years ago.

Also speaking were Lake Wales Charter Schools Superintendent Jesse Jackson; Max Linton, retired principal at another local school, who was instrumental in bringing Culyer to his school: Fair from Babson Park Elementary; and retired Babson Park teacher Randy Portwood.

Culyer, who was surprised by the dedication, has served the school as a program development specialist for 35 years and was lauded at the dedication for his passion for reading and compassion for at-risk children.

As a boy who grew up in a home without books, being associated with the most comprehensive media center I have ever seen is a significant honor, he said.
As we approach the end of President Donald Trump's first year in office, the list of extraordinary things he has done - for both good and ill - is nothing short of remarkable. Trump inspires such deep emotions in his critics and supporters that many have struggled to objectively assess his presidency. Some are so blinded by their hatred of Trump that they refuse to acknowledge the good he has done, while others are so blinded by devotion that they overlook almost any transgression.

In my columns, I've tried to give Trump the credit he deserves when he does the right thing, while calling him out when he does the wrong thing. So, here is my list of the 10 best things Trump has done in his first 11 months. (In a subsequent column, I will give you my list of the 10 worst.)

10. He enforced President Barack Obama's red line against Syria's use of chemical weapons. When the regime of Bashar Assad used a toxic nerve agent on innocent men, women and children, Trump didn't wring his hands. He acted quickly and decisively, restoring America's credibility on the world stage that Obama had squandered.

9. He has taken a surprisingly tough line with Russia. Trump approved a $47 million arms package for Ukraine, sent troops to Poland's border with Russia and imposed new sanctions on Moscow for violating the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

8. He recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Four American presidents promised to do it, but only one actually did. This is why the American people elected Trump. He does what he promises to do, for better or for worse - in this case, definitely for the better. Even Jeb Bush tweeted his approval.

7. He withdrew from the Paris climate agreement. After George W. Bush pulled out of the disastrous Kyoto treaty, U.S. emissions went down faster than much of Europe. The same will be true for Trump's departure from the Paris accord. Combined with his approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, and opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to exploration, Trump is helping usher in a new age of American energy development.

6. He got NATO allies to kick in $12 billion more toward our collective security. Decades of pleading by the Bush and Obama administrations failed to get NATO allies to meet their financial commitments to the alliance, but Trump's tough talk and reticence to affirm America's Article V commitment did the trick. NATO is stronger as a result.

5. He has virtually eliminated the Islamic State's physical caliphate. Trump removed the constraints Obama placed on our military and let it drive the terrorists from their strongholds.

4. He admitted he was wrong on Afghanistan and reversed Obama's disastrous withdrawal. In a rare admission, Trump declared: "My original instinct was to pull out . . . But all my life, I've heard that decisions are much different when you sit behind the desk in the Oval Office. . . . A hasty withdrawal would create a vacuum for terrorists."

3. He enacted historic tax and regulatory reform that has unleashed economic growth. Trump signed the first comprehensive tax reform in three decades and removed the wet blanket of Obama-era regulations smothering our economy. We are now heading into our third consecutive quarter of above 3 percent growth.

2. He is installing conservative judges who will preside for decades. With his appointment of Neil M. Gorsuch, Trump secured a conservative majority on the Supreme Court, and he is moving at record pace to fill the federal appeals courts with young conservative judges.

1. He, not Hillary Clinton, was inaugurated as president. Trump delivered the coup de grace that ended the corrupt, dishonest Clinton political machine.

There are many other significant achievements that did not make the top 10. Trump has taken a clear, strong stand against the narco-dictatorship in Venezuela, and he renamed the "Asia-Pacific" the "Indo-Pacific" to include India in the larger task of preventing Chinese hegemony in Asia. Trump has made clear that he is willing to use force to stop North Korea from deploying nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of destroying U.S. cities - which has prompted China to finally put real pressure on Pyongyang. We'll see if it works.

The record of achievement suggests that, despite the noxious tweets and self-inflicted wounds emanating from the White House, Trump has the potential to become one of the most consequential conservative presidents in modern American history. The question is: Does all this good outweigh the bad? We'll review the 10 worst things Trump has done in a forthcoming column.
Windstream, Riverbed, Comcast Business, MegaPath, TELoIP, Aryaka Networks and TPX Communications to Keynote at SD-WAN Expo

Trumbull, CTDecember 27, 2017  TMC today announced the keynote line up for SD-WAN Expo being held February 14-16, 2018 at the Greater Ft. Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The in-depth agenda delves into the topics that enterprise executives, service providers, and technology vendors need to know in order to make the most of the SD-WAN opportunity. Attendees will also have ample time to network with colleagues, industry leaders and vendors to exchange ideas, product information and best practices. Collocated with ITEXPO, one the largest remaining communications and technology conferences in the world, SD-WAN Expo is the leading forum for the industry to come together and learn.







The SD-WAN industry is exploding with opportunity and the popularity of our February event is a testament to that, said Rich Tehrani (News - Alert), CEO of TMC and conference chairman. Each of the companies keynoting offers a unique insight that will assist our hundreds of attendees to capitalize on SD-WAN. We are thrilled to welcome Windstream, Riverbed, Comcast Business, MegaPath (News - Alert), TELoIP, Aryaka Networks and TPX Communications to our conference program.

SD-WAN Expo keynotes include:

SD-WAN: Unprecedented Visibility & Control - Brad Wood, Chief Technology Officer, Riverbed (News - Alert)

GIG + SDN: A Generational Moment -Jody Hagemann, Comcast Business

Navigating the SD-WAN Landscape - Dan Foster, President & COO, MegaPath

Building a Software Defined Perimeter  TELoIP

Is SD-WAN Ready for Global Deployments? - Gary Sevounts, CMO, Aryaka Networks

SD-WAN Buyer's Guide - Larry Cushing, Chief Technology Evangelist, TPX Communications

SD-WAN Expo / ITEXPO (News - Alert) Keynote Presentation- Layne Levine, President, Enterprise Business Unit, Windstream

Keynotes, speakers, networking opportunities and vendors will be added to the website daily, so check back for updates.

Questions regarding speaking opportunities at SD-WAN Expo should be sent to Dave Rodriguez at 203-852-6800 x146 or Erik Linask at 203-852-6800 x284.

SD-WAN Expo is supported by diamond Sponsor, Windstream; platinum sponsors, Citrix, Comcast Business, MegaPath, Riverbed, Silver Peak (News - Alert), TeloIP, TPX Communications; gold sponsors, Airespring, Aryaka, Bigleaf Networks, Fat Pipe, Granite, Hughes, Versa and ZeroOutages.

For more information on SD-WAN Expo, contact [email protected]. For media inquiries, contact Jessica Seabrook. Companies interested in exhibiting, sponsorship or advertising packages for SD-WAN Expo should contact TMC's Joe Fabiano at 203-852-6800 x132 or Maureen Gambino at 203-852-6800 x109.



For the latest SD-WAN Expo news, updates and information follow the event on Twitter at @SDWANexpo.

About TMC

Global buyers rely on TMCs content-driven marketplaces to make purchase decisions and navigate markets. This presents branding, thought leadership and lead generation opportunities for vendors/sellers.

TMCs Marketplaces:

Unique, turnkey Online Communities boost search results, establish market validation, elevate brands and thought leadership, while minimizing ad-blocking.

Custom Lead Programs uncover sales opportunities and build databases.

In-Person and Online Events boost brands, enhance thought leadership and generate leads.

Publications, Display Advertising and Newsletters bolster brand reputations.

Custom Content provides expertly ghost-crafted blogs, press releases, articles and marketing collateral to help with SEO, branding, and

overall marketing efforts.

overall marketing efforts. Comprehensive Event and Road Show Management Services help companies meet potential clients and generate leads face-to-face.



For more information about TMC and to learn how we can help you reach your marketing goals, please visit www.tmcnet.com.

Media and Analyst Contact:

Jessica Seabrook

Marketing Director

TMC

203-852-6800 x 170

[email protected]

Edited by Mandi Nowitz
The backdrop is that US President Donald Trump, seemingly stymied on legislative initiatives at every turn throughout the year, can now claim a major victory.

Unlike Congressional representatives and senators who will return home to their districts, members of the accounting profession will spend their holiday period unraveling all the meanings and nuances of the new legislation. The Republicans, the party of President Trump, are hoping for an economic boom, with job creation and wage increases, that would counterbalance a likely expansion of the Federal deficit. Time will tell.

A hot-button issue for the port community was the continued ability of investors to deduct interest payments on debt instruments, usually in the category of tax-exempt bonds. Kurt Nagle, the president and ceo of the influential American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA), said in a prepared statement: Public port authorities throughout the country are investing billions of dollars in needed infrastructure improvements. With private activity bonds (PABs) providing a significant source of financing for these projects, AAPA worked with several transportation and bond-related coalitions to strongly advocate against the elimination of tax exempt status for PABs. Were extremely pleased that the final legislation keeps the tax-exempt status for PABs.

Noting the role of ports within the broader US infrastructure (often described as being in disrepair), a continuing theme for the Trump administration, Nagle added: This provision will help foster investments, not just in and around ports, but also in needed infrastructure development throughout the nation.

Around Washington, DC numerous industry groups have been lobbying Congress for additional infrastructure funding. One group, the Coalition for Americas Gateways & Trade Corridors (CAGTC), along with representatives of states served by the Ohio River, testified in front of a House of Representative sub-committee dealing with allocations of funds. In a discussion on a bridge straddling the Ohio River, an officer of the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI) told the legislators that  its congestion and structural deficiencies cost the economy $750m annually. The Brent Spence Bridge, which links Cincinnati, Ohio to Covington, Kentucky, is illustrative of freight system inefficiencies across the nation  improvements are necessary to meet the growing demands of our economy.

With alternative energy growing in importance, the AAPA, in its report on the new tax legislation, also noted the final tax legislation included a continuation of the existing level of wind energy production tax credits. The APPA explained that: A sizable number of ports on the east, Gulf, and west coasts and the Great Lakes handle wind energy components as part of their cargo mix.
A candidate in a tightly contested race to represent San Franciscos Marina district is financing a June ballot measure to set lifetime term limits at the Board of Supervisors, which would disqualify his main challenger.

Nick Josefowitz, who serves on BARTs Board of Directors, has thrown $82,000 toward a measure that would bar anyone from serving as mayor or supervisor in San Francisco for more than two four-year terms. It would prevent former Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier from running against him in November to represent District Two, the posh northern area of the city that includes the Marina, Cow Hollow, Pacific Heights and the Presidio.

Alioto-Pier, who has announced her intention to run, would oppose Josefowitz and two other candidates for the seat of termed-out Supervisor Mark Farrell.

The measure would shift the axis of power in San Francisco, blunting career politicians and opening the door to newcomers. The term-limit question plunges the city into a classic American debate over whether voters are best served by frequent turnover among their representatives, or whether its better for politicians to take the time to learn the job and form relationships with their colleagues.

Term limits vary in other California cities. If the San Francisco ballot measure passes, then the city would more closely resemble Los Angeles, which restricts its City Council members to three lifetime terms and its mayor to two terms. Oakland, by contrast, has no term limits for City Council members. As a result, one council member, Larry Reid, has held his seat since 1997.

Josefowitz and the measures main proponent, Corey Smith, have gathered more than 2,500 signatures since submitting their proposal to the Department of Elections last month. The department will have to certify 51,340 signatures for the measure to qualify in June.

Michael Macor/The Chronicle

Smith and Josefowitz insist that they are simply trying to fix what they view as a loophole in the Citys Charter. The current law, enacted in 1990, limits every mayor and supervisor to two back-to-back terms, but allows them to run again after four years.

It wasnt supposed to be a big political kerfuffle, Josefowitz said of his proposal.

Supervisor Aaron Peskin won a third term to represent District Three  Chinatown, North Beach and Telegraph Hill  in 2015, years after his stint from 2001 to 2009. He would not be affected by the ballot measure, which says that supervisors who have served twice but are in office when the measure is approved can complete their term and run for re-election.

Even so, Peskin called the measure a self-serving political move.

Josefowitz parried, stressing the need for new energy, new ideas and new leadership to confront the challenges were facing today.

He and Smith said a small class of entrenched politicians could ossify in City Hall unless term limits were clearly spelled out.

With younger folks, theres a feeling of frustration with how stuff is being handled, said Smith, executive director of San Franciscos moderate-leaning United Democratic Club and an organizer for the San Francisco Housing Action Coalition, a group that exhorts city leaders to build more housing.

At one point, Smith also stood to benefit if the ballot measure passed. Before Mayor Ed Lees sudden death on Dec. 12, Smith was considering a bid in 2020 to succeed Supervisor London Breed in District Five, which includes the Haight, Fillmore and the Western Addition. He anticipated a challenge from former Supervisor Bevan Dufty, who represented District Eight  the Castro and Noe Valley neighborhoods  from 2003 to 2011. Duftys home in the lower Haight was lumped into Breeds district after the lines were redrawn in 2012.

Smith said that after Lees death he set his own political ambitions aside and will support a candidate in the June race for mayor. Dufty, who serves on the BART Board with Josefowitz and is a friend of Alioto-Pier, said he wont run for the District Five seat, which could open in November if Breed enters and wins the mayors race in June.

Breed is serving as acting mayor, a temporary position that does not require her to give up her supervisor seat. The board is expected to appoint an interim mayor in January.

Dufty opposes the term-limits measure.

Im astounded that someone who is seeking to be elected as supervisor is basically trying to curtail voter choice, he said of Josefowitz.

Alioto-Pier called it bad public policy for Josefowitz to draft a Charter amendment that would impede the person he perceives as his main opponent.

She said that San Franciscos existing law, with its mandatory four-year break, prevents anyone from attaining an insurmountable amount of power.

She added that long-serving politicians get better with experience.

Take Gov. Jerry Brown, for example, she said. Brown, who is serving his fourth term in office, was exempted from a state term-limit law approved in 1990 because it passed after he had served two terms.

Theres definitely a learning curve for these types of jobs, said Joe Tuman, a professor of communications at San Francisco State University who ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Oakland in 2010 and 2014.

Josefowitz argued that some politicians become complacent and insulated after holding office for a number of years.

The problem with incumbency became clear to Josefowitz, he said, when he ran for the BART Board of Directors in 2014 against James Fang, who had held the seat for 24 years.

He wasnt showing up to meetings, he didnt have new ideas, he was thinking about other stuff, said Josefowitz, who beat Fang in a surprise upset.

Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com

Twitter: @rachelswan
As a child, Victor Rodriguez remembers helping his immigrant parents clean buildings in Livermore, including the local branch of the Alameda County Municipal Court. In the first and second grades, he recalls, he spent nonclassroom hours dusting courtrooms, emptying wastebaskets and cleaning the courthouses holding cell.

Next month, Rodriguez, now 42, will be sworn in as an Alameda County Superior Court judge.

For me, its a particularly exciting feeling, like Im coming full circle, said Rodriguez, currently chief of staff for Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuellar of the California Supreme Court, where he has worked as a staff attorney since 2006.

He sometimes encountered prosecutors and judges at the Livermore courthouse, he said, and I remember having my parents tell me who these people were, their role in accessing and giving justice to community members.

Becoming a judge in that court system, he said, is a testament to California and the opportunities that are available in this state.

Rodriguez was one of 33 judicial appointees announced by Gov. Jerry Brown last Friday to Superior Courts throughout California. The new judges, already screened by a State Bar commission that provided confidential evaluations to the governor, will take office as soon as their positions are vacant  in Rodriguezs case, when Judge Keith Fudenna retires Jan. 26. They will later come before the voters for six-year terms.

Other local appointees include attorney Richard Darwin to the San Francisco Superior Court; Virginia George of Martinez, a lawyer and former prosecutor, to the Contra Costa County Superior Court; and Danny Chou of Millbrae, an assistant Santa Clara County counsel, to the San Mateo County Superior Court. Superior Court judges make $200,042 a year.

Rodriguez attended the University of Southern California and the UC Berkeley law school, spent two years at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, worked as a law clerk for a federal judge and then joined the staff of the states high court. He was a staff attorney for Justices Carlos Moreno, Goodwin Liu and Carol Corrigan before becoming chief of staff for Cuellar in 2015.

He hasnt forgotten where he came from. His parents, immigrants from Mexico, found work in the vineyards in Livermore and got a second job cleaning local buildings, when he was 5 years old.

His mother, Carmen Rodriguez, later became a social worker for the county, and his father, Andres Rodriguez, worked as a custodian, mostly at local elementary schools. Both are now retired and live in Oceanside (San Diego County).
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From the late Billy Higgins to Terri Lyne Carrington, theres a rich history of jazz drummer greats whose smiles are as infectious as their polyrhythms. Scott Amendola is a member of this prestigious society of bandleaders, and his joie de vivre is just as apparent in the name of the untraditional big band he plans to bring to San Francisco this weekend.

One of my favorite Italian words is pazzi, which means crazy, says the 48-year-old musician from his home in Berkeley. I have some Italian friends so I asked them, What about Orchestra di Pazzi? Does that work? And they said, Oh, thats awesome! Yeah, that totally works.

The all-star assembly of local musicians features Pamela Z (voice, electronics), saxophonist Larry Ochs (of Rova fame) and haegeum (two-string Korean fiddle) player Soo Yeon Lyuh. The guitar is well represented by Henry Kaiser, Fred Frith and John Schott (Amendolas former T.J. Kirk and current Damn Skippy bandmate). Theyll all come together Saturday, Dec. 30, at Slims.

Its this sort of community orchestra, if you will. For right now, its really about the musicians here in the Bay Area I love playing with, he says. Its also about this wealth of just incredible musicians here.

Orchestra di Pazzi , which has a rotating roster, made its debut at the Ivy Room in Albany in March. A follow-up date at the Berkeley Art Museum saw the group take a more extemporaneous approach.

We ended up just free improvising for two sets, and I just had little (musical) launching points. So for this show on Saturday, Im still not sure how Im going to structure it, he admits, with a chuckle. But Ill come up with something.

Amendola has been promoting this pre-New Years Eve concert by proclaiming on social media that its the night before that REALLY counts. Given the camaraderie of the musicians involved, its indeed as likely to be as celebratory as any concert the following night.

There will be some introspection mixed in, too, given some of the losses suffered within the Bay Area community this year.

One of the things that hit me and a lot of people hard is the loss of Ralph Carney, he says. Im still processing losing Ralph.

Carney, a multi-instrumentalist who was a fixture in the local music scene before moving to Portland, Ore., in 2015, died Dec. 17 after suffering injuries from an accident at his home. He was the famed sideman to many artists, from Tom Waits to Elvis Costello, but for Amendola was most importantly someone who embodied improvisation and mastery and just the beautiful and also the comedic and the deep.

His death was a hard blow after losing double bassist John Shifflett, who died of pancreatic cancer on April 28. Shifflett, who Amendola called an understated pillar of the Bay Area community, was scheduled to perform SFJazz and Kuumbwa Jazz centers in February as a member of Amendolas quintet.

That was really hard, Amendola says, with a sigh. John Shifflett was someone who finished my sentences. He and I had been playing together since the 90s. ... You can never replace those relationships.

Amendola is thankful, however, to have met 25-year-old bassist Zachary Ostroff, a Stanford graduate student and an alumnus of the prestigious Vail Jazz Workshop who completes Amendolas rock-oriented duo called Turning Into a Butterfly.

The serendipity of meeting Zachary is really interesting. Were completely connected musically, and he brings this thing to the music that is similar to John in a lot of ways, Amendola says.

Bassist Ostroff, who jams with Amendola in both Orchestra di Pazzi and Damn Skippy, admits losing those musical stalwarts hit him hard too. But hes also glad to keep the tunes flowing with such musicians as Amendola.

Scotts really incredible as both a bandleader and a collaborator, he says. Then to quote Sun Tzus The Art of War, to further describe Amendola, Ostroff adds: When the master governs, the people are hardly aware he exists.

Yoshi Kato is a freelance writer.

Scott Amendolas Orchestra di Pazzi: 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 30. $20-$44.95. Slims, 333 11th St., S.F. www.slimspresents.com

To see Scott Amendola improvise on melodica, cymbals and drums: https://youtu.be/QyLhpYndOVE
LONDON - In his first interview since leaving office, former President Barack Obama didn't mention President Donald Trump by name, but he really didn't have to: He told his host, Prince Harry, that leaders shouldn't use social media to stoke division.

"All of us in leadership have to find ways in which we can recreate a common space on the internet," Obama said.

The interview took the form of a warm chat between the 44th U.S. president and the prince, who was serving as guest host on BBC Radio 4's popular "Today" program.

"One of the dangers of the internet is that people can have entirely different realities. They can be cocooned in information that reinforces their current biases," Obama said. "It is harder to be as obnoxious and cruel in person as people can be anonymously on the internet."

He continued, "The question is, how do we harness this technology that allows a multiplicity of voices, a diversity of views but does not lead to a Balkanization of our society but rather continues to promote ways of finding common ground?"

The interview was recorded in September in Toronto, when Obama was in Canada to attend the Invictus Games, a charity and sporting event created by Harry to honor wounded soldiers.

As a radio host, Harry provided a sympathetic ear for a back-and-forth between two global celebrities. The royal didn't really grill, and mostly he kept his opinions to himself, but he did ask questions that might be on a listener's mind.

Such as: What were Obama's feelings upon leaving office?

The former president joked, "I used to cause traffic, I now experience traffic."

He said his life after vacating 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. at first felt like it was moving in a slower motion.

"We had run a good race," Obama said.

Obama said he could now enjoy taking 45 minutes to have breakfast or talk with his wife, Michelle Obama, "who had been my partner through that whole process."

The former president called his wife "a spectacular, funny and warm person. She is not someone who is naturally inclined to politics, so in some ways though she was as good a first lady as has ever been, she did this largely in support of my decision to run."

Obama also spoke of his marriage and family: "For us to be able to come out of that intact - our marriage strong, we are still each other's best friends, our daughters turning into amazing young women - there was a sense of completion, and that we had done the work in a way that maintained our integrity and left us whole and fundamentally unchanged."

On his life now, the former president said, "It is wonderful to be able to control your day. The job entailed a wide range of responsibilities and a constantly full inbox. Now when I wake up I can make my own decisions on how to spend my time, and what to do to forward the things I care deeply about. That is obviously hugely liberating."

"I don't have the same tools," Obama said. "I have to rely more on persuasion than legislation, but a lot of the things that still motivate me and move me continue until this day."

Asked by Harry about what he would do now, Obama answered, "The things that are important to me haven't changed. I still care about making the United States and the world a place where kids get an education, where people who are willing to work hard are able to find a job that pays a living wage, that we are conserving the amazing resources of our planet so that future generations can enjoy the beauty of this place like we did."

During his session as guest host Wednesday, Harry was asked by a BBC reporter if he and his fiancee, the American actress Meghan Markle, would be inviting the Obamas to their wedding in May.

The prince laughed.

"Well, I don't know about that," Harry said. "We haven't put the invites or the guest list together yet so who knows whether he's going to be invited or not. I wouldn't want to ruin that surprise."
You will not replace us, the white nationalists chanted carrying their Ku Klux Klan-inspired torches, marching through the August night on the University of Virginia campus in Charlottesville.

The chant goes to the central grievance of the white nationalist worldview. White identity is the heart of their politics and their fundamental conviction is that contemporary America is being taken over by nonwhites. You will not replace us is at once a cry of defiance to the multicultural trends of American society and an angry promise to restore the white nationalists gauzy-eyed image of an earlier age of white domination, when people in this country knew their proper places.

Neo-Nazis and KKK types have persisted in corners of the United States since their last years of prominence in American politics, the 1920s and 30s. With the Internet, they began to network as never before, overcoming their isolation.

But what seriously mobilized white nationalism in America, and restored it as a potent force in national electoral politics, was Donald Trumps presidential campaign. Suddenly, at the level of presidential politics, someone was talking the white nationalists language.

Trumps famous words from his first days announcement of his candidacy condemned Mexican immigrants without the slightest bow to the political correctness of either the Democratic or Republican establishments: They are bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists. When Trump doubled down by promising to end Muslim immigration, he was speaking directly to white nationalists view of how to Make America Great Again.

David Duke, the most well-known KKK figure in the United States, confirmed Trumps role in bringing about the events of Charlottesville. (Charlottesville) represents a turning point for the people of this country, he said. We are determined to take our country back, were going to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump, and  thats why we voted for Donald Trump.

The white nationalists were joined in their support for Trumps campaign by the populist base of the Republican Party. These are the people who flocked to the Tea Party in the wake of the 2008 financial meltdown and the election of Barack Obama. They are the ones who furiously marched against Obamacare, who moved the Republican Party to extremes by voting out less radical Republicans in primaries for the House and Senate, and who, polls consistently told us, harbored the stubborn beliefs that Obama was either a secret Muslim or that he was born outside the United States.

Trump had softened up this populist base prior to his presidential run when he emerged as the countrys strongest voice of birtherism  the delusion that Obama was born abroad and that his presidency was therefore illegitimate. The motor of Trumps electoral success in the primaries and then in the general election was the migration of the Republican Partys populist base from the Tea Party to Trumps America-first, anti-immigrant politics. Today, the populists are the backbone of the persistent 35 percent of Americans who avidly continue to support his presidency.

Much of this populist base is made up of sons of industrial workers in small cities and rural workers in the exurbs and the countryside. More than any other sector of the American population, these are the people who have suffered from the transition of the American economy from labor-intensive manufacturing toward information technology and the service and financial sectors. They are those who suffer most from the epidemic of opioid addiction and from declining lifespans. Their bleak employment outlook is tied to marginal positions like security guards or Walmart clerks.

The central question for the future of American politics is whether the populists remain in the Trump, America-first-voting bloc with the white nationalists. Steve Bannons political bet is that they will, and he is aiming to be the leader of the successor movement to the Tea Party. Bannon tries to play down the white racist appeal of what he calls his killing machine, the political operation he runs with Breitbart News at its center. But even a casual look at the stories on Breitbart, its readers commentaries and the continued support of the neo-Nazi and KKK right reveals the duplicity of Bannons claims that his economic populism is not rooted in white nationalism.

The very migration of the right populists to Trump/Bannonism in 2016 illustrates that this is a voting bloc whose attachment to doctrine is only skin-deep  hardly the dedicated ideological warriors Bannon is imagining for his movement. Can they really come to an enduring standpoint where racist scapegoats explain the ills they suffer in their economic lives or in their sense of dignity? Is this, finally, a direction in which a stable and decisive national electoral bloc wants its country to go?

What will happen to populist support for Trump when the jobs he promised dont come back, when health insurance becomes increasingly unaffordable and when it becomes plain to the populists that policies like the tax law that passed Congress last week make mainstream Democratic and Republican corruption look dainty by comparison to Trumps Washington swamp?

Will the old standby of war or other foreign adventures lead the populists to stick with Trump, the leader? Will the populists defy their tendency to stray ideologically and stick with the racism of the white nationalists? Or can the Democratic Party, perhaps its Bernie Sanders-Elizabeth Warren wing, offer a vision that can cut through the populists resentment toward liberals, bring some back to the party their working-class fathers used to support and return the white nationalists to the fringe of American politics?

Lawrence Rosenthal is the chair and lead researcher for the Berkeley Center for Right-Wing Studies at UC Berkeley.
Depending on what media you consume, 2017 probably didnt look like a great year to you, either. Wildfires, hurricanes, a global refugee crisis, a mass reckoning with our societys sexism, the death of Tom Petty  and on top of it all, The Emoji Movie.

This can only be good news for bars.

2017 in Bay Area bar openings may not have been the banner year that 2016 was: Its hard to beat that 12-month period in which we got Pacific Cocktail Haven, Wildhawk, Louies Gen-Gen Room, Pagan Idol, the Treasury and High Treason.

Nevertheless, 2017 certainly looked good for Matt Conway, Anthony Healy-London and Josh McAdam. The trio, which owns Hayes Valley standard bearer Brass Tacks, opened two new bars this year: Anina, directly next door to Brass Tacks, and Junior on 24th Street. Colorful and bright, with a large outdoor patio that gets packed on weekend afternoons, Anina is the citys best new spot for day drinking. The menu is heavy on spritzes, aperitif cocktails, Sherry and vermouth  a context that allows onetime Bar Star Conways longtime signature, the irresistible Knife in the Water cocktail ($10), to shine.

This years Resurrection Award goes to Biig , the Non Plus Ultra groups new incarnation of their short-lived and much-hyped Vantaggio Suites bar, Big. Slightly larger than its 400-square-foot antecedent, Biig is decadent, lacking menus and encouraging reservations. Its luxuriousness may feel a little out of place in the Tenderloin (it replaced the 21 Club), but it delivered one of the most fun nights of drinking I had all year.

Leah Millis/The Chronicle

Still, Biig cant match the hedonism of Cold Drinks , the Scotch bar at China Live conceived (and since abandoned) by veteran bartender Duggan McDonnell. The click bait is its menus $52 cocktail, a Rob Roy variation made with Chivas Royal Salute 21, but its the other cocktails  a vegetal take on a gimlet; a tower of mango and habanero; a Peking duck fat-washed Old Fashioned  that form the deeper story here. It may be the most photogenic new bar in town, and  you heard it here first  wins the prize for Best Cocktail Name of the Year, for its Long Islay Iced Tea.

Most Memorable Cocktail, meanwhile, goes to the Elote, which lives at the Douglas Room, the new cocktail bar from Mo Hodges and Brian Felley of nearby Benjamin Cooper. The Elote is the sort of drink that reads as a gimmick  the main ingredient is roasted corn, Vitamixed and cheeseclothed  but makes perfect sense when you taste it. With mezcal, green chile liqueur, orgeat, brandy and lemon, its savory, creamy, barely smoky, a little bit funky. I can still taste it.

Then there was Charmaines , the rooftop bar at the Proper Hotel led by Josh Harris and Morgan Schick, also of the Bon Vivants consulting group. Stylish, cozy and answering to San Franciscos endless hankering for more rooftop drinking spaces, Charmaines showcases a mellower, less polarizing cocktail style than what weve come to expect from the Bon Vivants signature bar, Trick Dog.

Paul Chinn/The Chronicle

Not all of this years top-notch cocktail bars came in flashy packaging. In Oakland, Jenny Schwarz and Jackie Gallanagh opened Slainte , a homey Irish pub thats about a lot more than just Guinness and Bushmills. Schwarz, who also owns nearby Hopscotch, has created a smart collection of Irish whiskeys and a menu of simple, balanced cocktails, quietly inflected with Celtic accents  an Earl Grey-added Bee Sting; a Bitter Lemon made with Tequila.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

The Bay Area got a new legend-status restaurant wine list, too, at Great China in Berkeley. The restaurant itself isnt new  the Yu family has operated it since 1985  but it was in 2017 that owner James Yu, son of the restaurants founder, debuted a killer wine list that hes been building up for years. Its become the favorite destination for wine-industry folks, thanks to its deep Burgundy selection and benevolent markups (some wines cost literally hundreds of dollars less here than at other Bay Area restaurants). Im still thinking about a bottle of 2002 Nikolaihof Vom Stein Federspeil  a Riesling aged under flor, a veil of yeast  from Austrias Wachau Valley ($90).

In Napa, Ryan Stetins and master sommelier Matt Stamp opened wine bar-cum-shop Compline. The name may be hard to pronounce (its COMP-lyn), but the bar is easy to like and has quickly revealed itself as a watering hole for locals. The wine list has a few opportunities for balling out (2007 Leroy Les Boucheres Meursault, $885) but is generally geared toward casual drinking, and most of the retail shelf is devoted to bottles under $40. There are weekly blind tasting flights, in case you want to show off. Naturally, the selection is #NapaStrong, but it wades into every classic wine region.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

Another great wine bar masquerading as restaurant opened in Oakland: Perle , run by former Fleur de Lys sommelier Marcus Garcia. An extensive wine list hews closely to the classics, with much of its menu devoted to wines made from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Although the space feels laid back, Perle practices serious wine service, taking particular care with wine temperature (more important than you likely realize).

Brewery openings seemed to slow down this year; then again, how could they have kept up with prior years? This year brought a new Henhouse taproom, another Woods outpost in the Sunset, Old Kan Beer & Co. in Oakland and, most notably, Almanac Beer Co., which found a home on 24th Street and became my favorite new place to drink beer this year. (OK, Almanac opened on Dec. 30, 2016, but were calling it 2017.) Like many local breweries, Almanac releases new beers nearly every week, but few others have Almanacs stylistic breadth  its impossible to keep up with the brewerys fast-rotating cast of fruit beers, barrel-aged sours, bright IPAs and rich stouts. The taproom just introduced brunch, and owners Jesse Friedman and Damian Fagan are working on opening another taproom in Alameda.

That, however, might be for next years roundup.

Esther Mobley is The San Francisco Chronicles wine, beer and spirits writer. Email: emobley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Esther_mobley Instagram: @esthermob

Esther Mobleys favorite new places to drink in 2017

Anina, 420 Hayes St., S.F. www.aninasf.com

Biig, 98 Turk St., S.F. www.barbiig.com

Cold Drinks, 644 Broadway, at China Live, S.F. www.chinalivesf.com

Douglas Room, 345 Taylor St., at the Tilden Hotel, S.F. www.thedouglasroom.com

Charmaines, 1100 Market St., at the Proper Hotel, S.F. www.properhotel.com

Slainte, 131 Broadway, Oakland www.slainteoakland.com

Great China, 2190 Bancroft Way, Berkeley www.greatchinaberkeley.com

Compline, 1300 First St. #312, Napa www.complinewine.com

Perle, 2058 Mountain Blvd., Oakland www.perlewinebar.com

Almanac Beer Taproom, 2704 24th St., S.F. www.almanacbeer.com
Amsterdam is known for its pretty canals, old canal-houses and bicycles, but take a short trip across the River IJ and youll come to a whole different world, where an old shipyard houses studios for artists, colorful shipping containers make homes for students and an old crane is a tiny boutique hotel. Add in outdoor markets and gigs, street art, clubs and some quirky hotel accommodation and you have a buzzing, creative hub to explore  and an alternative side of the Dutch capital from the tulips, museums and canal boats.

 Yvonne Gordon, travel@sfchronicle.com

Morning

Rent a bike and go to the back of Amsterdam Centraal station, where you can hop on the free ferry (for pedestrians or bicycles) across the River IJ to Buiksloterweg. From here, walk or cycle to the EYE Film Museum, the asymmetrical white building on the waterfront. Here you can take in films (there are four cinemas) and exhibitions, or enjoy drinks or coffee on the riverside terrace while watching the maritime traffic go by. On EYEs lower floors there are small booths where you can watch a selection of some of the 37,000 titles in the archive (free) and film-buffs should check out the gift shop which has all sorts of movie-themed goodies from Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt wine to David Lynch coffee and Twin Peaks trays.

Koen Smilde Photography/I amsterdam

Midday

Cycle over to the NDSM area (or take another ferry from Centraal station) and explore the old shipping yard. To set the scene, on the way in on the ferry, youll pass an old Russian submarine, a floating boat-hotel and some tall ships tied up on the quay. This area was abuzz with shipbuilders in the 19th century but the shipyard closed in 1984. Artists then moved into one of the old NDSM warehouses and Kunststad (Art City) is now thriving with 400 artists, architects and designers. At another hangar, IJ Hallen, theres a huge flea market once a month, with everything from books and CDs to furniture and food (you can rent a stand yourself from 31 per day, in case you have excess luggage to offload). In the shipyard, youll also find old trams which are now lived in, painted shipping containers which are student accommodation and an old crane which is now the three-room Faralda Hotel.

For lunch, check out Pllek which is also partly made from converted shipping containers and has a popular man-made beach. Keeping with the industrial theme, floors are bare concrete and furniture is recycled materials and salvaged maritime objects. On weekend nights, the restaurant turns into a club.

Afternoon

Noord is not all derelict shipyards - take your bike to Noords pretty areas like the long narrow street Nieuwendammerdijk which is lined with wooden houses which date back to the 18th century. Many of the houses belonged to old shipping captains and number 204, De Halve Moen (half moon), was built for a wealthy shipbuilding family and named after the Dutch East India Company ship that took the first Dutch settlers sailed to New York in 1609. Or take your bike and explore some of the rural scenes in the countryside with farmland, meadows, old farmhouses with the typical Dutch cheese-cover shape and small villages like Broek in Waterland. You can also explore the area by boat or kayak, going through locks and under bridges.

Philipp Benedikt/I amsterdam

Evening

Wherever you are in Noord, you wont miss the landmark ADAM tower - the former Shell building right on the waterfront which has clubs, restaurants and offices and the ADAM Lookout, a 360 observation deck on the 22nd floor. Try the swing over the edge if youre brave enough and then tuck into burgers from the hole-in-the-wall bar at the Butcher Social Club on the ground floor. Then head upstairs to rest your head  ADAM tower is also home to the trendy Sir Adam hotel which has music-themed features like record players in all rooms and a room-service menu of guitars (the hotel is run by a well-known trio in the Dutch music scene). Or, for a budget option, check into nearby ClinkNOORD, where creativity is also the theme. The hostels events space hosts everything from beer tastings to yoga (depending on what day it is) and visiting artists or writers can take part in the Stay and Play programme in return for treating guests to a free gig or exhibition.

If you go

Ferry: For the Eye Film Institute, ADAM Tower and Clink NOORD, the Buiksloterweg ferry (free, see www.gvb.nl) takes bikes and pedestrians, and journey time is around five minutes; for the NDSM shipyard, IJHallen and Pllek, the NDSM-werf ferry takes around 15 minutes.

Bike hire: Mac Bike, www.macbike.nl

Eye Film Institute: IJpromenade 1,

www.eyefilm.nl

Kunststad (Art City): Tt Neveritaweg 15, www.ndsm.nl/gebouw/kunststad

NDSM: www.ndsm.nl

IJ-Hallen: Tt Neveritaweg 1, www.ijhallen.nl/en/

Faralda Hotel: NDSM-plein 78, www.faralda.com

Pllek: Tt Neveritaweg 59, www.pllek.nl

ADAM Toren: Overhoeksplein 1, adamtoren.nl; Sir Adam, www.siradamhotel.com; ADAM Lookout, www.adamlookout.com; Butcher Social Club, www.the-butcher.com.

ClinkNOORD: Badhuiskade 3, www.clinkhostels.com/Amsterdam/clinknoord

More information: www.iamsterdam.com.
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Charles Renfrew, a former San Francisco federal judge and accomplished lawyer whose affiliations ranged from Chevron Corp. to the NAACP, died of heart failure on Dec. 14. He was 89.

He served as a judge from 1971 to 1980 and was known for taking a personal interest in the criminal defendants in his court.

He went to all the prisons, stayed in touch with the people he sentenced, said San Francisco attorney John Keker, who tried many cases in Renfrews court and later provided an office in his firm for Renfrews private law practice.

After initially imposing a lengthy sentence, Keker said, he would ask the person to write him from prison, tell him how things were going, and, based on the replies in the first 120 days, would often reduce the sentence, as federal law then allowed.

He could be stern if he thought someone was playing games with the law, Keker said. But he was a wonderful, even-tempered judge. He loved the law.

For defendants who were to be released on probation, particularly white-collar criminals, Renfrew would often require them to give talks to students and other groups explaining what they had done wrong and the lessons theyd learned, said Vaughn Walker, a former law firm colleague who also served as a federal judge from 1989 to 2011.

Walker said he followed Renfrews example in some of his own cases. One was a 2003 case in which Walker required a defendant, after serving two months in jail for mail theft, to spend 100 hours outside a San Francisco post office wearing a sandwich-board sign that declared, I have stolen mail. This is my punishment.

Renfrew, born in Detroit, enlisted in the Navy after high school and served three years in the Pacific during World War II. He also enlisted in the Army for two years and served in the Korean War. In between, he attended the University of Michigan on the GI Bill, and later attended its law school, graduating with honors from both institutions.

He began his legal career in 1956 with the San Francisco firm of Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro, becoming a partner in 1965. Six years later, Renfrew, a Democrat, was nominated to the U.S. District Court by Republican President Richard Nixon under an arrangement with Californias Democratic senators, Alan Cranston and John Tunney, who agreed not to obstruct Nixons judicial nominees in the state in exchange for being allowed to recommend one-third of them.

He left the bench in 1980 to join Jimmy Carters administration as deputy attorney general.

If Carter had been re-elected, I think Renfrew would have been on the Supreme Court, Keker said.

But Carter was defeated in 1980 by Ronald Reagan  leaving office as the first president in more than a century with no Supreme Court appointees  and Renfrew soon returned to private law practice. He spent a decade with Chevron Corp. as vice president and general counsel, starting in 1983, and in 1984 supervised its hotly contested $13.2 billion acquisition of Gulf Oil, then the largest corporate merger in U.S. history.

He served on the boards of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, and was president of the American College of Trial Lawyers in 1995-96. His last legal venture was a law practice he began in 1998, at age 70, specializing in arbitration, mediation and internal corporate investigations, and continued for more than a decade.

Renfrew was also an avid fly fisherman.

He is survived by his wife of 33 years, Barbara Jones Renfrew, and eight children, 21 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. A memorial service is scheduled Jan. 6 at the Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin, 2325 Union St., San Francisco. The family suggests donations in his name to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko
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A collision between two sport utility vehicles at a Santa Clara intersection Tuesday afternoon left a woman injured and sent one of vehicles careening into the front of a house, police said.

The crash occurred about 5:40 p.m. at the intersection of Los Padres Boulevard and Bohannon Drive, according to Lt. Dan Moreno of the Santa Clara Police Department.

Moreno said the injured women was in a Honda Pilot SUV that collided with a Acura MDX. He said the crash caused the driver of the silver Acura to lose control of the vehicle, which ended up going through the front window of the house.

He said the injured woman, who was taken to a hospital with back pain, was in the Honda Pilot with another person.

While the cause of the crash remained under investigation Wednesday, police suspect the driver of one of the vehicles ran a stop sign, Moreno said.

The crash caused a little bit of structural damage to the house, Moreno said.

The damaged home was unoccupied at the time of the crash, he said.

The homeowners are out of town, but became aware of the crash through Twitter, Moreno added.

No other injuries were reported.

The cost of damage to the house has not yet been determined.

The drivers were not impaired at the time of the crash and speeding was not a factor, Moreno said, adding, I think it was just the running of the stop sign.

Once the officer determines who was at fault based on witness statements and driver statements, they will most likely get a citation, he said.

Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani
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Story update, Dec. 27 at 2:15 p.m.: The Santa Barbara News-Press employee who changed another employee's name and byline to reflect an offensive slur is no longer an employee at the newspaper.

***

The Santa Barbara News-Press sparked outrage after printing its Christmas edition with a gay slur added to a reporter's byline.

On a story about last-minute Christmas shopping appearing on page A3, the last name of staff writer Paul Gonzales was changed to "Gayzalez." The following line read "News Press Faggoat."

An unnamed employee made the change, and news editor Donald Katich says Gonzales is the victim of a hateful act.

ALSO: Ex-NFLer grapples with violent urges and memory loss. He thinks it's CTE.

"It was a very poor decision made by an employee who is no longer in a position to make that same mistake," Katich said.

The paper ran an apology in an editor's note on Wednesday: "The News-Press has taken immediate and swift action with this employee; we do not tolerate any form of harassment in the workplace. We apologize to our readers."

As for the employee who changed the byline, Katich says, "The employee is represented by the Teamsters. There is a process we are obligated to follow when it comes to discipline or termination. The employee is no longer in the building."

ALSO: Court seeks justification for unusual hate crime order

The News-Press made national headlines in September when it was the only newspaper in California to endorse Donald Trump for president.
SACRAMENTO  A desperate decision to truck Californias native baby salmon toward the Pacific Ocean during the states drought may have resulted in generations of lost young salmon now hard-pressed to find their way back to their reproductive grounds.

With fewer native fall-run Chinook salmon able to make their way back home to the leading salmon hatchery in the state, that hatchery could have only about half as many young salmon as usual to release next spring, the Sacramento Bee reported Tuesday.

For those involved in safeguarding Californias struggling native salmon, it had always been understood that resorting to tanker trucks to carry tiny salmon to the ocean during the drought was a trade-off, John McManus, executive director of the fishing industrys Golden State Salmon Association, told the Bee. Getting a lift on their migration saved countless salmon, but disoriented them.

Everybody kind of acknowledged and understood at the time the consequences, McManus said.

Native salmon historically anchored food chains and habitats on both land and in the water in California. Salmon still boost the states economy by $1.4 billion annually, the salmon industry says.

Dams that cut native salmon off from their former upstream spawning grounds, and general human demands on water, have helped cut salmon numbers drastically in the state, making state and federal hatcheries crucial for the fish.

Californias drought, declared over just last spring, included some of the driest spells ever recorded in the state. In 2014 and 2015, hatchery managers resorted to sucking baby salmon into tanker trucks for their 280-mile migration toward the ocean, biologists say. Chinook salmon spend two or three years in the ocean before heading back upstream to reproduce.

Since the 2014 class of salmon didnt learn the route by swimming it on their own power, many have gone astray as they head back upstream now.

Biologists say only a small fraction of those made it back to what would be their usual point of return, at the Coleman hatchery. Salmon managers are tracking now how many of the strayed salmon wound up in other watersheds.
Google said it will extend commitments made five years ago to antitrust officials related to how developers use its advertising platform and the scraping of third-party content in search results.

The Mountain View company said Tuesday in a blog post that it will continue the practices that were about to expire, saying they provide additional flexibility to developers and websites.

The move comes as the biggest technology firms are facing criticism across the globe over their dominance of markets from online shopping to social media. Google is grappling with an antitrust investigation in Europe that led to a $2.7 billion penalty in June, while German officials said last week that Facebook may be taking advantage of its popularity to bully users into agreeing to terms and conditions they often dont understand.

Googles commitments, made in December 2012 and set to expire Wednesday, arose out of an antitrust investigation by the Federal Trade Commission into the companys search practices. The case was closed without an enforcement action.

The company agreed to remove restrictions on the use of its online search advertising platform, AdWords, that the FTC said could make it more difficult for advertisers to coordinate online campaigns on AdWords and on competing platforms.

Australia

Tesla battery

performs well

Less than a month after Tesla unveiled a backup power system in South Australia, the worlds largest lithium-ion battery is already being put to the test. And it appears to be far exceeding expectations: In the past three weeks, the Hornsdale Power Reserve has smoothed out at least two major energy outages, responding even more quickly than the coal-fired backups that were supposed to provide emergency power.

Teslas battery kicked in just 0.14 seconds after one of Australias biggest plants, Loy Yang in the state of Victoria, suffered a sudden, unexplained drop in output last week, according to the International Business Times. And the week before that, another failure at Loy Yang prompted the Hornsdale battery to respond in four seconds  less, according to some estimates  beating other plants to the punch. State officials have called the response time a record, according to local media.

The effectiveness of Teslas battery is being closely watched in a region that is in the grips of an energy crisis. The price of electricity is soaring in Australia, particularly in the state of South Australia, where a 2016 outage led 1.7 million residents to lose power in a blackout. Storms and heat waves have caused additional outages, and many Australians are bracing for more with the onset of summer in the Southern Hemisphere.

Retail

Holiday sales

beat forecast

Consumer confidence, increased online shopping and a slew of procrastinators helped boost holiday retail sales this year to record-setting numbers, preliminary reports show.

Holiday sales increased 4.9 percent over the previous year, marking the largest increase since 2011, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse. Its figures do not include automotive sales.

This year was a big win for retail, said Sarah Quinlan, senior vice president of market insights at Mastercard.

Many retailers had aggressive promotions early in the holiday season, and it showed with jumps in sales the first three weeks of November, but shoppers continued spending right up until the last minute: Saturday was second only to Black Friday for spending in a single day this year, Quinlan said.

Chronicle News Services
Perhaps your college friend asked you to support her quarterly magazine for her birthday. Or maybe your neighbor nudged you to donate to his favorite food bank on Giving Tuesday the week after Thanksgiving. And then theres that pesky public-health nonprofit youve been charitable to in the past.

If youve gone on Facebook at all this year, youve probably been asked to give money. And if youre like many users, your news feed became particularly overrun by fundraisers during the past month or so.

How did we get here? And at what point did Facebook become a hub for this sort of thing?

It all started innocuously enough  with a modest Donate button.

When Facebook introduced the button in 2013, it allowed people to contribute directly to nonprofits through the social media service for the first time. At the outset, 19 organizations were listed as partners.

About two years later, officials began testing another new tool: Fundraisers. Using that feature, in tandem with an improved donate button, about three dozen organizations now had a place from which they could raise money for a campaign. And by June 2016, Facebook announced it would expand its Fundraisers tool to allow users themselves to raise money for more than 100 nonprofits in the United States.

Less than five months later, that group was expanded to more than 750,000. Facebook teamed up with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Together, they pledged to contribute up to $1 million to Facebook Fundraisers  $500,000 from the foundation in matching funds and $500,000 in waived fees from Facebook.

But they werent done. In August, the company announced that users in the United States would be able to create fundraisers in honor of their birthdays.

A high point was Giving Tuesday this year. The Tuesday after Thanksgiving in the United States has become a focal point for donations on social media in the past five years. In an apparent attempt to raise the bar, the Gates Foundation increased its matching contribution this year to $1 million. Facebook covered all the fees for the day.

Before the Giving Tuesday promotion, Facebook took a 5 percent cut of the donations, according to media reports and archived versions of its informational pages.

When Giving Tuesday arrived, the company did away with the fees, and then, the next day, officials announced that those fees would be eliminated moving forward. (Donations made to personal fundraisers  like for a medical emergency  are still charged a 6.9 percent fee in the United States and are generally not tax-deductible.)

In interviews, some Facebook users said they worried that it would take too long for nonprofits to get their donations. Others groused that inviting friends to donate one by one was time consuming. And a few said they were confused about whether they would be charged a service fee.

But users overwhelmingly said they were amazed by the ease, simplicity and effectiveness of fundraising on Facebook. A Washington woman said she started a fundraiser by accident and raised almost $500 in hours. Many said they were stunned by the number of people who donated  particularly extended family members  even though they are seldom in touch.

Kelly Hewitt, 31, of Chicago, saw the banner advertising the Gates Foundation match this year and decided to open her first fundraiser. So many donations poured in that Hewitt had to increase her fundraising goal  twice.

I do think its a really powerful tool that connects people, she said of Facebook. If it can be leveraged to do something great like this, then I dont know why we wouldnt use it.

In its news releases and presentations, Facebook has framed the development of its Fundraisers tool as part of a broader effort to do social good.

Experts said that may be true. But they say there is almost certainly another motivation, too.

Keith Quesenberry, an assistant professor of marketing at Messiah College in Pennsylvania, said the social network needs to increase the amount of time users spend on its site if the company hopes to keep increasing its revenue. Thats part of the reason Facebook has pushed native video, and probably part of the reason it built a way for users to donate without leaving the site, he said.

Fundraising sites such as GoFundMe have always relied on social networks to make campaigns successful, added Jeremy Littau, an associate professor at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania who studies social networks and civic action.

This is Facebook deciding theyre no longer happy playing a middleman role, he said.

Both Quesenberry and Littau said they consider Facebooks decision to eliminate the donation fee to be a bold business move designed to take more market share and potentially put competitors out of business.

Any features that are popular on other networks, they just end up adopting, Quesenberry said of Facebook.

In an email on Tuesday, Stephen Rocco Rodi, a spokesman for Facebooks social good team, said that giving is growing  and having more options will help.

People have always come together on Facebook to support the causes they care about, and we build products to make that easier, he said. Weve seen people raise money for disaster relief, education, the environment and for friends and family in need. Our goal is to help make this even easier for people who are already using Facebook for this reason, and for people who want to support causes they care about on and off Facebook.

A spokeswoman for GoFundMe, which claims to be the worlds largest social fundraising site, said in an email that its community has continued to grow despite new competition.

That community includes more than 50 million people, the spokeswoman said.

GoFundMe does not charge a fee for new personal fundraising campaigns based in the United States. But it does charge a processing fee of 2.9 percent for donations made by credit card.

In addition to expanding its core business in the U.S., spokeswoman Kelly Galvin said in a statement, We are also rapidly expanding into new international markets as well as the charity fundraising space.

Gabi Jubran, 28, of Menlo Park was planning on running a Giving Tuesday campaign for the nonprofit organization he recently founded.

Since Jubrans organization is in its infant stages, he worried about how long the money might stay in limbo if he used Facebook to raise funds. So he chose a different service, Classy, and added a Donate button to his nonprofits Facebook page that redirected users to the alternative service.

(Facebook says it takes about two weeks to pay charitable organizations that are registered with the sites payment system; it can take closer to six weeks to get a check to nonprofits that arent registered.)

Jubran soon found that when friends clicked the donate button on Facebook, the social network displayed a pop-up box forcing them to click again if they wished to leave. And when he posted a video about his organization on its Facebook page, Jubran discovered that although the video got more than 5,000 views, far fewer people departed Facebook to visit his nonprofits site.

Knowing all this, Jubran is now contemplating a change in strategy. Instead of raising money exclusively on Classy and ignoring Facebook Fundraisers, he concedes, I may end up just doing both.

Matt Stevens is a New York Times writer.
Every week, dozens of people walk into Petals N Wax, a gift store in the Los Angeles County coastal city of Marina del Rey, to return items they bought from online retailers.

They bring in blouses from Eloquii, shorts from Chubbies and bags from Everlane.

The practice would be totally bizarre were it not for the fact that Petals N Wax is working with Happy Returns, a Santa Monica startup trying to make money by making it easier for people to send back e-commerce purchases.

The company sits at a unique intersection of frustrations: Customers who buy things online dont like the arts-and-crafts experience (packing tape, shipping labels, boxes) of online returns. Online-only retailers, feeling pressure from the likes of Zappos and Amazon to offer free returns, are bleeding cash to do the same. And brick-and-mortar stores losing foot traffic to online competitors are struggling to entice people back.

Happy Returns frames itself as a solution to each of those problems.

David Sobie, who co-founded Happy Returns with Mark Geller, said that given the choice of returning something by mail or in person, people overwhelmingly prefer to return in person.

About 8 percent of items bought in the U.S. end up being returned, according to the National Retail Federation. In 2015, this translated to $260.5 billion in goods returned, not including the cost of processing and shipping. In online retail, the retail federation estimates that the figure for returns is 15 to 30 percent. For some online clothing retailers, it can be as high as 40 percent.

Despite the considerable number of e-commerce returns, online retailers have struggled to make returning items as easy as buying them.

Happy Returns is among the first to build a business on returns. The startup has so far enlisted 20 online retailers and has 50 return bars across the country that include the concierge desks at malls operated by Westfield, Simon and Macerich; Evelyn Taplins Petals N Wax store in Marina del Rey; and Eloquii stores in Ohio, Chicago and Washington, D.C.

Under the Happy Returns system, customers can take items theyve bought from partner online retailers (such as Everlane or Chubbies) to a participating mall or brick-and-mortar store. The refund is processed on the spot.

The mall or store then bundles together returned items and ships them to Happy Returns warehouse in Santa Monica, where the companys 25 employees sort and ship the goods back to the e-commerce seller. Online retailers pay Happy Returns a fee per item returned. Sobie and Geller declined to reveal how much the company charges, but said its cheaper than if the retailers were to handle returns themselves.

Happy Returns doesnt pay the brick-and-mortar stores and malls it works with, but store owners like Petals N Waxs Taplin arent complaining: Since teaming up with Happy Returns in August, she said, shes seen a 10 percent increase in her own stores sales. She estimates that of the 20 to 50 people who come to her store each week to return goods via Happy Returns, nearly half end up buying something from her store.

The whole transaction takes us two to three minutes, Taplin said of the returns. Happy Returns provided her store with an iPad, training and tech support. The company also provides return bags and shipping labels. UPS visits her store once a day to pick up the returns.

Happy Returns doesnt yet have direct competitors, but Amazons recent acquisition of Whole Foods signals that online retailers are increasingly interested in obtaining a brick-and-mortar presence to handle both pickups and returns, according to venture capital investors. Startups such as Shyp will pick up, package and ship items  removing some of the hassle of online returns  but customers have to pay to use the service. Happy Returns is free for customers.

Returns are the next battleground for the next generation of commerce, said Greg Bettinelli, a partner at Los Angeles venture capital firm Upfront Ventures, which along with Lowercase Capital, Maveron, Brilliant Ventures, Menlo Parks U.S. Venture Partners and other private investors has helped Happy Returns raise $14 million.

These returns are driving foot traffic, and the foot traffic is converting into sales, he said. Most retailers are killing to get more traffic into their stores.

Theyre also proving popular with shoppers.

Fashion retailer Eloquii, which has three brick-and-mortar stores and does most of its sales online, started working with Happy Returns when the service began in early 2016. In that time, its volume of returns has remained steady, but the number of customers returning items through Happy Returns has increased twentyfold.

More than a third of all of the calls and emails Eloquii used to get were about returns, according to Chief Executive Officer Mariah Chase.

People would ask, Wheres my return? When am I going to get my refund? How do I track my return package? Chase said. Its a pain point for us, and working with Happy Returns eliminated that pain point.

Happy Returns declined to discuss its revenue, but Geller and Sobie said the volume of returns handled by the company has doubled every two months this year, and it plans to expand into more locations in 2018.

Free shipping is now table stakes, Sobie said. We see the same things happening with in-person returns. This will become the expectation everyone has, whether you have a store or not.

Tracy Lien is a Los Angeles Times writer.
Two men, including a practicing attorney, were arrested in San Francisco on unrelated child pornography charges, officials said Tuesday.

Michael Connell, 66, an attorney, and Gilbert Francisco, 41, both of San Francisco, were booked at the San Francisco County Jail within a week of each other, police said.

Investigators executed a search warrant on Dec. 21 at Connells residence on the 1700 block of 23rd Avenue, according to the San Francisco Police Department.

During the search, officers seized a laptop that had child pornography images and videos on it, police said.

The police departments Internet Crimes Against Children Unit began investigating Connell in August after learning he was using a chat messenger application to trade child pornography, police said.

He is facing charges for possession and distribution of child pornography.

Connell is a licensed attorney who practices law out of his home.

He attended the University of San Francisco School of Law, where he graduated in 1976, according to his LinkedIn page. He graduated from UC Berkeley in 1973 with a degree in political science and government.

Investigators served a search warrant on Dec. 14 at Franciscos home on the 100 block of Curtis Street and discovered a computer that had thousands of images and videos depicting child pornography, police said.

The police departments Internet Crimes Against Children Unit began investigating Francisco in November.

Francisco was arrested for possessing more than 600 files of child pornography and three counts of distribution of child pornography, police said.

Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani
Ron Chapple/Getty Image

A 24-year-old man was shot and killed in downtown Fairfield on Christmas afternoon, and police are looking for his killer.

The victim, identified as Jakkari Sampson of Fairfield, was found lying in the street in the 1000 block of Second Street with a gunshot wound, police said. He died a short time later in a local hospital.
Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle

Galeria de la Raza, one of the Mission Districts oldest and most respected art institutions, is throwing a New Years Eve bash that will double as a fundraiser for the nonprofit art gallery. The location for the shindig is another Mission staple, Virgils Sea Room, and the Galeria is pulling out all the stops.

The partys DJ lineup includes not only local favorites, like Hard Frenchs DJ Carnitas, but also two imports from Los Angeles: DJ Sizzle and Crasslos, one of the organizers behind L.A.s much loved La Disco es Qultura.
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When one considers the mythic potential of California, Sacramento is generally omitted from the conversation.

Raymond Carver set a few short stories along the banks of the Sacramento River, and Sam Mendes panned the city's tree-lined suburbs in a shot from "American Beauty," but besides the rare cameo, the state capitol is oft overlooked as a suitable setting for cinematic and literary ventures.

Then came Greta Gerwig's "Lady Bird," an unabashed love letter to the state capitol, where much of the movie was shot.

Since its premiere in early November, the buzz around "Lady Bird" has grown, and it became the best-reviewed movie ever on Rotten Tomatoes.

In a twist of irony, the film follows the teenaged Christina "Lady Bird" McPherson, played by Saoirse Ronan, who longs to leave her hometown.

ABOVE GALLERY: Sacramento landmarks in "Lady Bird" you can visit in real life.

"I hate California, I want to go to the East Coast," Lady Bird says in the opening scene. "I want to go where culture is, like New York, or Connecticut or New Hampshire."

Story continues below.

Now Playing: If you've seen the movie "Lady Bird," written and directed by Sacramento-native Greta Gerwig, you know the iconic blue house that played the role of Lady Bird's dream home. That home is real, occupied by a family and located in the Fabulous 40s neighborhood in East Sacramento. Video: KCRA

For Lady Bird, Sacramento is the antithesis of the East Coast bourgeois values she idealizes. Lady Bird longs to attend college in Manhattan; her mother sees her at nearby UC Davis.

SEE ALSO: Bay Area residents are flooding Sacramento. Here's what it's really like.

"It paints a picture that perhaps a lot of young people feel when they're young and in Sacramento," city film commissioner Lucy Steffens, who worked on the film, told SFGATE.

"They might have felt there wasn't a whole lot to do and see, just as Lady Bird did. But once you leave, you realize what a good base the city is for growing up."

Michelle Robertson is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at mrobertson@sfchronicle.com or find her on Twitter at @mrobertsonsf.
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So youre seeing Mary Poppins at Oaklands Paramount Theatre on Friday, Dec. 29, right?

If you want to make your Julie Andrews weekend complete with a sing-along for her other great musical hit, The Sound of Music, head to the Castro Theatre, where its playing through Monday, Jan. 1.

The Sound of Music is a sweet one, Laurie Bushman, a local performer in comedy and musical theater who will co-host the sing-alongs, told The Chronicle in 2011. A lot of families come. A grandma can come, or a 5-year-old. Theres something in it for everybody.

Bushman is still at it; she and co-host Sara Moore will hand out goody bags (brown paper packages tied up with string?), judge a costume contest (come as your favorite character) and lead the singing.

 G. Allen Johnson

The Sound of Music sing-along: 7p.m. Thursday-Friday, Dec. 28-29; 1p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 30; 1 p.m. Sunday-Monday, Dec. 31-Jan. 1. $16 general, $11 seniors, children 12 and younger. Castro Theatre, 429 Castro St., S.F. (415) 621-6120. www.castrotheatre.com
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A famous, bratty young artist (Ami Tomite) cant decide whether shes a virgin or a whore, and until she makes that decision, shell antagonize everyone around her, especially her fawning older assistant (Mariko Tsutsui), whom she humiliates  until the assistant turns the tables.

With Antiporno, provocative director Sion Sono (Suicide Club) harks back to the Roman Porno days of the 1970s and 80s, when Nikkatsu churned out a series of fetishistic softcore pink films as a way to draw theatergoers from their TV sets back into the cinemas.
John Todd John Todd/S.F. Chamber Orchestra

Beethoven strode into Vienna in his early 20s, a young man from the provinces determined to make a name for himself as both a composer and keyboard virtuoso in what was then the musical capital of the world. It didnt take him long.

Conductor Benjamin Simon and the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra celebrate that period with a free concert program titled The Young Beethoven. Rin Homma is the soloist for the Piano Concerto No. 1 (which was actually composed after the Piano Concerto No. 2, but why quibble) and the Symphony No. 1.
PINE VALLEY, San Diego County  California legalizes marijuana for recreational use Monday, but that wont stop federal agents from seizing the drug  even in tiny amounts  on busy freeways and backcountry highways.

Marijuana possession still will be prohibited at eight Border Patrol checkpoints in California, a reminder that state and federal laws collide when it comes to pot. The U.S. government classifies marijuana as a controlled substance, like heroin and LSD.

Prior to Jan. 1, its going to be the same after Jan. 1, because nothing changed on our end, said Ryan Yamasaki, an assistant chief of the Border Patrols San Diego sector. If youre a federal law enforcement agency, you uphold federal laws.

The checkpoints, located up to 100 miles from Mexico, are considered a final line of defense against immigrants who elude agents at the border. They also have been a trap for U.S. citizens carrying drugs, even tiny bags of marijuana.

About 40 percent of pot seizures at Border Patrol checkpoints from fiscal years 2013 to 2016 were an ounce (28 grams) or less from U.S. citizens, according to a Government Accountability Office report last month. Californias new law allows anyone 21 and over to carry up to an ounce.

The Border Patrol operates 34 permanent checkpoints along the Mexican border and an additional 103 tactical stops, typically cones and signs that appear for brief periods.

Ronald Vitiello, acting deputy commissioner of parent agency Customs and Border Protection, called drug seizures an ancillary effect of enforcing immigration laws. Motorists typically are released after being photographed and fingerprinted. They generally arent charged with a crime because prosecutors consider them low priority.

State and federal marijuana laws have conflicted since California became the first to legalize marijuana for medical use in 1996. Next week, California will be among seven states and Washington, D.C., with legal recreational pot.

The government faces pushback over checkpoints. Some residents complain about delays and trespassers trying to circumvent checkpoints  some even dying from heat and exhaustion. Motorists who consider them a privacy invasion steadfastly refuse to answer questions and post their test encounters on YouTube.

Elliot Spagat is an Associated Press writer.
The Environmental Protection Agency has ignored many years of evidence of dangerous levels of lead paint in millions of Americans homes and must propose tighter standards within 90 days to protect children from lead exposure, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.

Lead-based paint was banned by federal law in 1978, but it remains on the walls of many homes built before then. It is particularly dangerous to children and has been described by the EPA in past years as the No. 1 environmental threat in the U.S. for children ages 6 and younger. A federal study found that 23.2 million homes had hazardous levels of lead paint in 2005-06, including 3.6 million homes with children younger than 6.

The agency set standards in 2001 for lead contamination levels in dust and soil at the homes, but has acknowledged since then that scientific research has shown the need for tougher restrictions. The American Academy of Pediatrics has said the current rules allow 50 percent of children in older homes to be exposed to potentially dangerous levels of lead.

In response to requests for new rules in 2009 by organizations that included California Communities Against Toxics and the Sierra Club, the EPA, under President Barack Obama, agreed to take action, without specifics. When the same groups went to court in August 2016, the agency said it would issue new regulations by about 2023.

That is not enough to comply with a 1992 law that was meant to reduce, and eventually eliminate, the risk of lead poisoning to children in older homes, said the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

Congress did not want EPA to set initial standards and then walk away, Judge Mary Schroeder said in the 2-1 ruling. EPA is under a clear duty to act.

The court ordered the agency to draft new rules within 90 days and issue final regulations no more than a year later. The court said it would modify those deadlines only if the EPA provided new information showing the need for a further delay.

The rules will not require homeowners to take immediate action, but they must disclose lead-contamination information when selling or renting a home and must reduce lead to safe levels when renovating their homes.

California law goes further and requires paint companies to pay for the cost of removing lead paint from many of the older homes, according to a state appeals court ruling last month. The court ordered three paint companies to fund lead paint removal in homes built before 1951 in 10 cities and counties, including San Francisco, San Mateo and Alameda counties.

In Wednesdays ruling, Schroeder was joined in the majority by Lawrence Piersol, a federal judge from North Dakota temporarily assigned to the appeals court. Judge N. Randy Smith dissented, arguing that federal law established only the grand goals of eliminating lead paint risks and did not require the EPA to change its rules.

The ruling is a much-needed win, said Hannah Chang, a lawyer for the environmental groups. EPA doesnt dispute any of the science. They realize that these standards are outdated. Now theyre forced to do something about it.

The EPA said it was reviewing the ruling. It could ask the full appeals court for a rehearing or seek review in the Supreme Court.

Lead exposure remains a significant health threat to children, the EPA said in a statement. The agency said it will continue to work diligently on a number of fronts to address issues surrounding childhood lead exposure from multiple sources, although no details were provided.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@egelko
ORLANDO, Fla.  The shooter rapidly fires through the front doors of an elementary school with an assault rifle and blasts his way down the hallway. Screaming children are running for their lives or frozen in fear. Teachers quickly try to decide: barricade the doors, or make a run for it with their students?

Police officers arrive with guns drawn, working their way through the school. Finally they confront the shooter and end the threat.

Using cutting-edge video game technology and animation, the U.S. Army and Homeland Security Department have developed a computer-based simulator that can train everyone from teachers to first responders on how to react to an active shooter scenario. The training center is housed at the University of Central Florida in Orlando and offers numerous role-playing opportunities that can be used to train anyone in the world with a computer.

With teachers, they did not self-select into a role where they expect to have bullets flying near them. Unfortunately, its becoming a reality, said Tamara Griffith, a chief engineer for the project. We want to teach teachers how to respond as first responders.

The $5.6 million program  known as the Enhanced Dynamic Geo-Social Environment, or EDGE  is similar to those used by the Army to train soldiers in combat tactics and scenarios using a virtual environment.

Originally designed for police and fire agencies, the civilian version is now being expanded to schools to allow teachers and other school personnel to train for active shooters alongside first responders. Homeland Security officials say the schools version should be ready for launch by spring.

Each character has numerous options, including someone playing the bad guy, said project manager Bob Walker. For example, each teacher has seven options on how to keep students safe, and some of the students in the program might not respond or be too afraid to react. So that becomes another problem to be solved.

Once you hear the children, the screaming, it makes it very, very real, Walker said.

The program can have the shooter be either an adult or a child.

We have to worry about both children and adults being suspects, he said.

The programs designers listened to real dispatch tapes to understand the confusion and chaos that goes along with such frightening situations, Griffith said. They also talked to the mother of a child killed in the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., who walked them through everything that happened that tragic day.

Curt Anderson is an Associated Press writer.
Getting that pristine summer campsite at your favorite park in California isn't always the easiest thing in the world. You can duke it out virtually in a clunky online reservation system, or loiter around first-come-first-served campsites, waiting for any sign someone is leaving. Unfortunately, the latter takes a lot of time and effort, so it's probably easier to just bite the bullet and book online.

Here are some key dates that will hopefully help you land the campsite of your dreams next summer.

Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National park is a hotspot in California, and campsites often are taken within seconds of becoming available on Recreation.gov.

The park requires reservations year-round for car camping in Yosemite Valley, and only during summer months for sites in Hodgdon Meadow, Crane Flat, Wawona and half of Tuolumne Meadows.

You can make a reservation up to five months in advance on the 15th of every month right at 7 am, when Yosemite makes a one-month block of campsites available to reserve.

For example, if you want to book a campsite anywhere within the date range of July 15th-August 14th, you'll have to be hovering over your keyboard at 7 am on March 15th. If you want to book from August 15th to September 14th, the day to make reservations is April 15th, and so on.

According to Yosemite's website, some spots are completely booked within seconds of the clock striking 7 am.

If you don't luck out with a car campground reservation, you can instead take a backpacking trip. Those are easier to get last-minute and there are often backpacking campsites available where you can spend your first night.

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks

If you can't land a campsite at the popular Yosemite National Park, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks are just to the south, and also offer incredibly large trees and amazing views.

Booking a campground here isn't as big of a pain, either. Just log onto Recreation.gov and choose among the six reservable campgrounds. Sites can be reserved six months in advance, and it's a lot easier to get a spot here than at Yosemite.

For example, for a campsite in June, you can book starting in December. For a campsite in July, book in January, and then February corresponds with August.

There are several campgrounds at Sequoia that are first-come-first-served, even in summer, so that's another option if you want to take a risk.

California State Parks

California State Parks is using a new online reservation system at www.ReserveCalifornia.com. This site is really easy to use and lets you book sites all over California up to six months in advance in what's known as a rolling window.

So, for example, if you want to book a campsite in a California State Park for June 2nd, 2018, you'd need to log into the website right at 8 am on December 2nd, which is exactly six months in advance to the day.

If you want a site for July 15th, you'll need to book on February 15th, and so on.

The California State Parks system includes a lot of awesome parks, like Humboldt Redwoods State Park, Big Basin Redwoods State Park, Big Sur State Park and Mt. Tamalpais State Park right here in the Bay Area.

Lake Tahoe campgrounds

Only two campgrounds at Lake Tahoe are open year-round, and those are Tahoe Valley and Zephyr Cove campgrounds. All the other ones are typically open May-October, so if you want a warm, summertime site, the time to book is in the next couple of months.

Reserving a campsite at Lake Tahoe can be confusing. Some of the campsites are operated by the state, like Sugar Pine Point State Park and D.L. Bliss State Park, and reservations can be made online at www.ReserveCalifornia.com up to six months in advance.

Other campgrounds are managed by the U.S. Forest Service, like Nevada Beach, Fallen Leaf and William Kent, and can be reserved up to six months in advance on Recreation.gov.
MONTCEAU-LES-MINES, France  It is like giving up your Nobel, rejecting your Oscar, pushing back on your Pulitzer: Jerome Brochot, a renowned and refined chef, decided to turn in his Michelin star.

He is renouncing the uniquely French distinction that separates his restaurant from thousands of others, the lifetime dream of hundreds. But Brochots decision was not a rash one, born of arrogance, ingratitude or spite. Rather, it was for a prosaic, but still important, reason: He could no longer afford it.

It is a drastic step that says everything about the crushing reality of the other France  the provinces where on average more than 10 percent of storefronts are vacant, the old jobs have gone, and the cafes are empty on cold mornings.

Even in a region famed for its culinary traditions, this declining old coal mining town deep in lower Burgundy could not sustain a one-star Michelin restaurant. Brochot, a youthful-looking 46, had gambled on high-end cuisine in a working-class town and lost.

In November, the chef wrote to the Guide Michelin, the fat red gastronomes bible in Paris that bestows the honor, to say he wanted out. He could no longer make ends meet at his bright orange hotel-restaurant Le France, he said. He could no longer pay for the personnel, produce and precision that go into charging one-star prices.

What Im doing today, Im not doing lightly, but because I have no other choice, Brochot wrote to Michelin.

Turning in ones stars isnt unprecedented, but it is rare. A handful of three-star chefs have done so over the years, crushed by the expense and pressures of maintaining their temples of gastronomy.

To step out of Brochots gleaming kitchen and immaculate, angular dining room is to wonder how he got here in the first place. It seems an extravagance in a faded industrial town whose glory days were 100 years ago.

The for sale signs on the worn pastel storefronts down Brochots street are faded with age. A renowned tea salon, its windows clouded over, has been closed for two years. Unemployment is 21 percent in Montceau, more than twice the national average.

The population, around 18,000, has been in steady decline for years, and the last coal was pulled out of the earth nearly 20 years ago. For Brochot, hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt from a kitchen renovation, it was a question of self-preservation.

Now, his strategy appears to be working. Brochot has cut his prices and is offering a more down-to-earth cuisine of stews.

Since we changed the formula, weve gotten a lot more people, Brochot said. Above all, the effect has been psychological.

In the heads of people, a one-star, its the price, he said.

Adam Nossiter is a New York Times writer.
SEOUL  A South Korean government-appointed panel faulted on Wednesday a final and irreversible deal struck with Japan in 2015 to resolve a decades-old dispute over Korean women who were forced into sexual slavery during World War II.

The panels findings offer President Moon Jae-in a potential opportunity to change or even scrap the agreement reached between Japan and his predecessor as president, Park Geun-hye.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said her ministry humbly accepted the panels conclusion that the government had failed to represent the victims demands when negotiating the deal.

As foreign minister, I bow my head deeply, expressing regrets for causing pains for the victims and their families, their advocacy groups and the people in general, Kang said.

In the deal, which both governments at the time called a final and irreversible settlement, Japan expressed responsibility and made a new apology to the victims that the Japanese military called comfort women, promising an $8.3 million fund to help provide old-age care. In return, South Korea promised not to criticize Tokyo on the issue again.

But some of the women complained that the deal had ignored their demands that Japan take legal responsibility and provide official reparations.

Kang said the government would not make a final decision until it had consulted again with the women and their families.

In Tokyo, Foreign Minister Taro Kono warned that any attempt to revise the agreement would be unacceptable.

Historians say that at least tens of thousands of women, many of them Korean, were lured or coerced to work in brothels catering to the Japanese army from the early 1930s until 1945. The Korean women who survived the war lived mostly in silence because of the stigma, and many never married. A total of 238 women have come forward in South Korea since the early 1990s, of whom 36 are still alive.

Choe Sang-Hun is a New York Times writer.
WASHINGTON  President Trump couldnt stop talking about the red carpets, military parades and fancy dinners that were lavished upon him during state visits on his recent tour of Asia. Magnificent, he declared at one point on the trip.

But Trump has yet to reciprocate, making him the first president in almost a century to close his first year in office without welcoming a visiting counterpart to the U.S. with similar trappings.
HONG KONG  A court in Myanmar extended the detention of two Reuters journalists for another 14 days, despite international condemnation of their arrests as an attack on press freedom.

Wa Lone, 31, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 27, were arrested while reporting on Rakhine state, where Myanmars military has taken part in a campaign of killings, rape and arson that has sent more than 655,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing into Bangladesh. The two were charged with violating Myanmars Official Secrets Act, a broad colonial-era law that carries a maximum sentence of 14 years.
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context: ... 21: </%method> 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: </%perl> 28: <table width="90%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 29: <tr> ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25

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Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 125 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 157 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f0132800)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 948 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612e249a5a8)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f0132800)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1302 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 955 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612e249a5a8)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f0235958)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1300 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 433 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612e249a5a8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612e249a5a8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612e2499ab8)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f012d9f8)') called at (eval 592) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f012d9f8)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
System error

error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.

context: ... 21: </%method> 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: </%perl> 28: <table width="90%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 29: <tr> ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25

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Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 125 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 157 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612efe88508)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 948 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612e2499e78)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612efe88508)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1302 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 955 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612e2499e78)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612efeaff18)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1300 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 433 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612e2499e78)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612e2499e78)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612e2499cc8)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612e2499c38)') called at (eval 592) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612e2499c38)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
An inmate locked-up inside the Alexander Maconochie Centre was found hoarding photos of other criminals' children, prison search records reveal.

A cell search in June this year uncovered the photos, with guards immediately confiscating the pictures after they made the menacing discovery.

A flat-head screwdriver, a sharpened toothbrush, and a tennis ball with a hole in it - items of contraband seized by guards at the Alexander Maconochie Centre. Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong

The search was performed by the prison's incident response team, suggesting the photos were found in a targeted raid rather than one of the many routine cell inspections conducted every day.

A spokeswoman for the Justice and Community Safety Directorate did not comment further on how the photos made their way inside the prison or the consequences of the find.
A five-year-old public housing block in Braddon has sat empty for almost two years after tenants were moved when the ACT government identified what it says are fire safety and construction issues.

ACT Housing said despite urgent preliminary rectification works that followed, a number of concerns remained.

11 Lowanna Street, a public housing complex made up of 10, one- and two-bedroom units has been vacant for more than a year. Credit:Dion Georgopoulos

The government is now in a dispute resolution process with the builder, Bellerive Homes, which argues the building was designed and signed off by the government in 2012.

The Lowanna Street complex, made up of 10 one- and two-bedroom units, was completed in 2012. But in early 2016, tenants were relocated and the building was fenced off.
Subcontractors say they are owed a combined $2 million by a property development company that has just been placed under administration.

It is understood as many as 15 subcontractors have not been paid after working on the 90-unit Esque apartment building in the Canberra suburb of Franklin.

The Esque building on the corner of Flemington Road and Manning Clark Crescent in Franklin. Credit:Rohan Thomson

On December 22 consultancy firm Deloitte was appointed as the administrator of the M and A Group property development company, according to documents filed with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission.

Carpenter Jeremy Solway said the M and A Group still owed him about $60,000 for work he had finished in March.
A disabled woman tried to set her Canberra house on fire because her support provider failed to stop abuse from her housemate for over a year.

That's one of the horror stories Advocacy for Inclusion has heard over the years that shows the additional hurdles victims with a disability face when experiencing domestic violence.

Bonnie Millen, Advocacy for Inclusion acting chief executive. Credit:Dion Georgopoulos

The disability advocacy group has written to an ACT Legislative Assembly inquiry looking at the effectiveness of the ACT's policy response to domestic and family violence to call for government to broaden the relationships covered by the Family Violence Act.

Advocacy for Inclusion acting chief executive Bonnie Millen said there was a "grey area" for people with disabilities who lived in group homes.
Our photographers are The Canberra Times' eyes and ears on the ground, recording Canberra's news and history one photo at a time.

They are the unsung heroes of our newsroom, and chances are you've had your photo taken by one of them in the past year.

They don't like to boast about their work, but as 2017 draws to a close, we've asked them to do to just that and highlight their favourite photos of the year. Follow The Canberra Times on Instagram to stay up to date with all our photographers' best shots.

Karleen Minney gives you her personal best:

My unofficial and unintentional tribute to the "weaker sex". I found without conscious favour this year my favourite images were mostly female moments.
It's the perfect start to the new year for Ms Hitchcock, who was raised watching The West Wing.

Ms Hitchcock will intern in the office of California Democratic Congressman Mark DeSaulnier for two months. The placement will see her involved in everything from sorting mail to attending briefings, she said.

UC student Kate Hitchcock will intern with a US democrat senator in Washington in January for two months. Credit:karleen minney

The University of Canberra student, studying a double degree in politics and international relations and communication in media and public affairs, was one of 14 Australians to receive a place in the Uni-Capitol Washington Internship Programme.

Politics devotee Kate Hitchcock will travel from the capital to Capitol Hill in January after receiving a prestigious internship with a Democrat senator.

"I'm really looking forward to it," Ms Hitchcock said.

"I think looking at the political climate in the US at the moment compared to previous years, there's a lot going on at the moment so it'll definitely be an interesting time to get over there and have a firsthand look.

"Thankfully I feel fortunate that I'm paired with a congressperson who I think, looking at everything that's going on, he's very calm and in a good space and I think not as frantic as some of the others."

Ms Hitchcock is scheduled to finish her degree in 2018 but is yet to settle on a career. She said she hoped her internship would help give her some certainty.

"I've done a bit of work with Seven News in the press gallery at Parliament House as well as the Department of Employment in an effort to kind of figure out exactly where I see myself, so I've always leaned towards the political side of things, but hopefully this paints a pretty good picture of what it might be like," she said.
Franchisees across the scandal-ridden industry giant Retail Food Group are questioning how millions of dollars of advertising funds collected from them, across brands including Gloria Jeans, Michel's Patisserie, Brumby's and Donut King, are spent.

It comes as advertising funds across the $170 billion franchise sector are under scrutiny, with evidence building that some franchisors are misusing the funds to artificially boost profits. Some industry experts estimate that more than $1 billion a year is collected from franchisees in marketing fees.

Disgruntled Brumby's franchisees formed a group known as the High Horses and wrote to the ACCC requesting help.

Under the Franchising Code, a franchisor must prepare an annual financial statement for each advertising fund, detailing all the fund's receipts and expenses for the past financial year then releasing a set of audited accounts.

It sounds good in theory, but the reality is the marketing fund accounts are often scant in detail, lack transparency and are left to the franchisor's discretion, including how much they allocate to overheads and administrative costs. This lack of rigorous external governance means they can be easily manipulated and misused  and they are.
Christmas Day at one family home in western Sydney this year was a flick of the wrist away from going horribly wrong, after a child found a sharp, rusty blade resembling "something from a prison" inside a bon-bon.

The McNeilage family was sitting down to lunch at Northmead on Monday afternoon when 11-year-old Bobby alerted the adults to what he had discovered after ripping his bon-bon in half with his older brother.

Bobby McNeilage, 11, discovered the blade inside a bonbon purchased from Woolworths.

"I pulled it out and I tipped it upside down to get it out onto the table," Bobby told Fairfax Media. "I noticed that it was a knife thing, so then I showed everybody else."

The "knife thing" was a large, sharp, rusty blade, wrapped in tape at one end. Did it scare him? "Kinda."
The chef, who goes by the pseudonym Kenji Fujimoto, was Kim's personal chef from 1989 until 2001 and has published several books about this time in the secretive country. He told reporters in Beijing on his way back from the North that he met Kim Jong-un at a welcome party for him and that Ri was also present.

Late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's former sushi chef visited the North for the first time in 11 years spent mostly telling tales out of school, but there were apparently no hard feelings as he met new leader Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol-ju, according to Japan's Kyodo News.

Fujimoto's 2003 memoir offered a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the North's ruling household. The young North Korean leader called Fujimoto by his real name, said "Long time no see' and told him he was always welcome in the North, according to the chef.

The two discussed no hairy issues like the North's bizarre abductions of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 80s or Pyongyang-Tokyo relations in general, Fujimoto said.

Kim's younger sister Yo-jong also came to the party, but his older brother Jong-chol was not there. Fujimoto treated the young North Korean leader to blue-fin tuna that he brought with him. He went to North Korea on July 21 and also met his family in Pyongyang during the visit.

Why Kim Jong-un invited Fujimoto back remains something of a puzzle. The chef virtually fled the North back in 2001 after being accused of spying, leaving his North Korean wife and children in Pyongyang.

"Kim Jong-un has recently been showing signs of opening up his country and may be seeking to send some kind of message to Tokyo with this treatment of Fujimoto," an informed source said.

Japan's TBS TV reportedly funded the trip and sent a camera crew to film it. Japanese authorities will thoroughly debrief Fujimoto about his conversations with Kim.

The chef's gossipy books about the Kim family are not overly critical of the regime, though he was among the first to point out Jong-un as the likeliest successor to the throne. In an interview with the Chosun Ilbo in 2010, Fujimoto said the former leader's middle son Jong-chol, who might seem a more natural choice, "is timid and feminine, but [Jong-un] is masculine."

Fujimoto added the tubby young leader seem to have been fed well so he would become more heavy-set and "look more like a leader."
Swathes of suburbs in Sydney and Melbourne are falling behind the internet revolution, with data showing one in 10 households have no connection from home - not even from a smartphone.

More than 190,000 households in Sydney, and 185,000 in Melbourne, said they didn't have access to the internet through any device, including tablets, phones, games consoles, laptops or computers in the 2016 Census.

Mapping out the suburbs to show where there are more disconnected households in both cities shows a clear correlation between low-socioeconomic neighbourhoods and the likelihood that the home has remained internet-free.

In Sydney, these blackout suburbs roughly align with the city's "latte line" - a guideline that shows the split between low-socioeconomic areas in the west and south-west and wealthier areas in the north and east.
Almost 100,000 Australian homes and businesses will be disconnected from their internet and landlines in January if they havent moved over to the national broadband network.

Next month, premises across the country will be reaching the 18-month NBN cut-off date, with potentially 95,590 homes and businesses affected if they have not yet made the switch.

The 18-month cut-off period for the NBN Co is coming for almost 100,000 Australians.

Usually, when an area is declared NBN ready a resident has a year and a half to choose a provider and a plan and to move onto the network before their home or business is disconnected.

Now, 173 suburbs across the country are reaching this crucial cut-off point.
Shares in Retail Food Group have rebounded more than 10 per cent after the embattled franchisor extended the life of $150 million worth of debt facilities to 2020.

The move sets at rest speculation over the company's financial health after its shares dived nearly 50 per cent following a profit warning and allegations it is driving franchisees to the wall by charging them exorbitant fees.

Retail Food Group, which owns brands including Gloria Jean's and Donut King, said its lenders had agreed to extend a $100 million facility to January 2020 and a $50 million facility to December 2020.

Both facilities were previously set to mature in December 2018.
Labor says it would consider forcing employers to turn casuals to permanent staff after six months, halving the amount of conversion time ordered by the Fair Work Commission earlier this year.

In comments that are set to further inflame tensions between Labor and business groups as they kick-start another year of battle over industrial relations, the Opposition's employment spokesman Brendan O'Connor accused some employers of being "their own worst enemy"

"They employ hundreds of casuals and then they wonder why the turnover in their workplace or their business is so high," he said on Wednesday.

"One of the reasons why turnover happens so quickly is because people cannot live indefinitely in work that's so precarious.
John Travolta "can't wait" to visit the Illawarra.

The Hollywood star has used a special video message to express his excitement at bringing his donated Boeing 707 to the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) at Albion Park Rail.

Hollywood star John Travolta in the video. Travolta's standing in front of the Boeing 707 he's donating to the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society at Albion Park Rail. Credit:Facebook/@OakFlatsCommunityBankBranchandShellharbourBranch

"I can't wait to see everybody at the Illawarra Regional Airport when we touch down in the 707," Travolta said in the short video clip.

The video shows Travolta sitting at a desk next to a model of his 707, as well as him standing alongside the actual aircraft at Brunswick's Golden Isles Airport.
As Eddie Obeid languishes behind bars for a second Christmas and New Year, the family of the corrupt former Labor MP is being pursued in court for hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash they received from the Circular Quay cafes at the centre of his trial.

Fairfax Media can reveal the liquidator appointed to Circular Quay Restaurants, the failed front company which ran the cafes, is suing the Obeid family patriarch, his wife Judith and five of their nine children in the District Court for just over $708,000.

The figure includes $433,382 in cash payments the family members allegedly received from the businesses, plus interest and costs.

Circular Quay Restaurants, which operated three cafes on or near the bustling ferry wharves at the quay, went into liquidation in 2014 owing taxpayers almost $1 million in unpaid rent and other costs.
O'Connor MP Rick Wilson has called on the state government to broaden its shark mitigation practices, following the Senate inquiry into shark mitigation and deterrent measures.

Mr Wilson said more funds needed to be diverted to the south coast, after the inquiry revealed the previous state government had spent $2.62 million to cover the south west over the holiday period.

OConnor MP Rick Wilson and Esperance Ocean Safety and Support Group founder Mitch Capelli.

"Now, as you know, we've seen the recent footage of the two sharks," he said.

"It is getting very serious and, for whatever reason, there are no surveillance methods being employed along the south coast."
Acquited: Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto would have faced execution if she had been found guilty. Credit:Sadiq Asyraf She said her relationship with her husband was "getting a bit sour" at the time. Ms Exposto said she was lured into carrying a bag from Shanghai to Melbourne - transiting in Kuala Lumpur - which she believed to contain only clothing by a supposed acquaintance of the soldier. "He (Smith) made me feel loved, he made me feel wanted," she said. The scam involved the supposed soldier sending her photographs .

"Smith would sing to me a few times a day and send poems as well," she said. Defence lawyer Shafee Abdullah told reporters that Ms Exposto's testimony revealed what she strongly believed was a close relationship with the fictional Smith. "There are probably thousands, mostly women, who have (been) conned in similar situations," he said. Ms Exposto arrived in court on Wednesday wearing a black blazer, white top and black slacks, having lost weight during more than two years in a Kuala Lumpur jail. She smiled and chatted with lawyers before the verdict was delivered.

A judge said he found that Ms Exposto had no knowledge of the drugs in the bag, rejecting a prosecution submission that her story about the love scam was an afterthought. The judge said he believed Ms Exposto's love for the online scammer was genuine and that they been in contact for two years. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has warned that scammers targeting Australians in love scams will go to "great lengths to gain your interest and trust, such as sharing personal information and even sending you gifts". "Scammers may take months to build what seems like the romance of a lifetime and may even pretend to book flights to visit you, but never actually come," the ACCC said. The commission warned there are dozens of scams including those involved in dating and romance, identity theft, get-rich investments, money transfers, jobs and employment.

Fraudsters often personalise scams to fit the profile of their victim. Often scammers use fake webcams, video changing programs and photographs of other people to build a false identity and then prowl the internet for victims. The US military has described the scams as a "growing epidemic". Australian defence personnel have also had their identities stolen by scammers. Defence lawyers say Ms Exposto, a former social worker in East Timor, has never wavered in her account of the scam.

Mr Shafee said Ms Exposto is a "responsible mother" who told him she is so anti-drugs that if her four children ever got involved in drugs she would kill them herself. Her family and friends in Sydney, including a son who travelled to Kuala Lumpur for the verdict, were shocked by her arrest after she volunteered to put her bag with the drugs through Customs screening. The drugs were sewn into a hidden compartment in the bag and she insists she never knew they were there. Malaysia has hanged more than 440 convicted drug offenders since 1960. Two Australians, Kevin Barlow and Brian Chambers, were the first Westerners to be executed under Malaysia's then new drug laws in 1989, after being arrested with 141.9 grams of heroin.

Michael McAuliffe, another Australian, was hanged in Kuala Lumpur in 1993 after being found with heroin in his pocket at a Penang airport checkpoint. Malaysian government officials say despite the law change giving judges discretionary powers on capital punishment, authorities are not going softer on drug trafficking. "We do not want the judges' hands tied," said Azalina Othman Said, a minister in the prime minister's department. After the acquittal, Ms Exposto was sent back to jail on Wednesday night. Lawyers said her passport had expired while she was awaiting trial and they would apply for another from the Australian embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
Kilis, Turkey: Australia's most notorious Islamic State fighter, Neil Prakash, has told a Turkish court he has no connection to Islamic State in Australia.

In a brief hearing on Tuesday to establish Prakash's identity in relation to an extradition request by Australia, the presiding judge said Australian documents regarding his identity and charges had arrived and were before the court.

He asked Prakash about the Australian authorities' accusation of his involvement with the Islamic State terrorist group.

"You are accused of being the leader of DEAS [the acronym for Islamic State in Turkey] in Australia. Do you have anything to say about this?"
New York: Princess Leia is tough, idealistic and frequently sardonic. She is also quiet.

Women in the original Star Wars trilogy spoke fewer than half as many words as their male colleagues did. Leia's limited dialogue in Star Wars went unchallenged in 1977, but 40 years later, the lack of meaty roles for women and people of colour in Hollywood is under new scrutiny. While those in the film industry ponder how to better reflect the diversity of human experience in their scripts, at Lucasfilm, a small group of women and men may have found one answer.

Daisy Ridley, as Rey in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, has a large share of the script. Credit:AP

Five days a week, in the foggy hills of San Francisco, 11 writers and artists discuss the minutiae of storm troopers. This is the Lucasfilm story group, and its members hold the keys to everything Star Wars: Under their guidance, the franchise's narratives are linked no matter the platform, whether it's television, games, theme parks, publishing, merchandise or, of course, film.

With their ideas shaping each character and setting, they don't see themselves as gatekeepers but as partners furthering the stories their creators want to tell.
Late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's former sushi chef was full of praise about the North under new leader Kim Jong-un after a trip there. "So much has changed," Kenji Fujimoto told the Chosun Ilbo at Japans Narita International Airport on Tuesday.

Fujimoto (not his real name) was Kim Jong-il's personal chef from 1989 until 2001 and has published several books about the secretive country. "The people of Pyongyang I ran into in the streets looked cheerful. So much has changed since Kim Jong-un became leader. It is all because of leader Kim Jong-un," he said.

Kim threw a welcome party for Fujimoto, who told reporters during a stopover in Beijing that the new leader has become a "man of stature."

Fujimoto promised to give more details about his visit on TV. One intelligence source in Japan said Fujimoto's trip to North Korea was financed by a private Japanese broadcaster and highlights will be shown in a special TV program. The source added, "It looks like North Korea wants to publicize Kim Jong-un and his leadership in Japan."

Fujimoto apparently has a wife and children in the North and met them during his trip.
In the second incident, police say a male is hospitalized in critical condition after he was stabbed by his father.
North Korea invited U.S. nuclear expert Siegfried Hecker in October 2010 and showed him its uranium enrichment facility in Yongbyon. It was the first time the North gave a foreigner access to the top-secret facility. North Korea had also shown Hecker its nuclear facilities after reprocessing 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods in January of 2004 and following its first nuclear test in October of 2006. Every visit by Hecker was followed by intense debate in the U.S. between doves who called for negotiations with Pyongyang and hawks who urged increased pressure on the secretive regime.

Regardless of Hecker's intentions, North Korea used him every time it needed to make a deal with the U.S. with its nuclear weapons as leverage.

People like Hecker, who have some access to the reclusive North Korean regime, command respect and attention in Washington. They publish books based on what they saw and heard in North Korea and perform advisory services to the U.S. government. Former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson is another such person. He visited North Korea just after it shelled South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island and said the North refrained from retaliating against the South when it conducted firing drills near the island following the shelling incident because it wished to hold talks with Washington. These people often fall into the trap of saying what Pyongyang wants them to say in order to guarantee a return ticket to the North that will allow them to make a living as North Korea experts.

The former sushi chef to late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, who goes by the pseudonym Kenji Fujimoto, has also made a career out of peddling his inside stories about the secretive lives of the Kim family. In early 2009, Fujimoto predicted that Kim Jong-il's third son Jong-un would succeed him, and when his prediction came true two years later, sales of his books took off and the press lined up to interview him. There was talk in Japans media circles that the amount of information he divulges changes with the amount of money he is paid for interviews.

The Chosun Ilbo interviewed Fujimoto at the end of 2010 but on condition that he was not paid for his comments. When a photographer tried to take his picture for the article, Fujimoto put a scarf over his head and donned a pair of sunglasses saying he feared for his safety if his identity was exposed. "Kim Jong-un was interested in girls, smoked and was very masculine when he was a boy," Fujimoto said at the time. In retrospect, he seemed to want to stress that Kim Jong-un showed charisma and leadership ability from a young age. Fujimoto always referred to Kim as "leader." At the end of the interview, Fujimoto said he had a message for Kim and said, "Leader Jong-un, I am confident that you will do a good job of ruling North Korea."

During his latest trip to North Korea, Kim and his wife Ri Sol-ju duly threw a party for him. If he is telling the truth, the North must still find him to be of some use. "Stores in Pyongyang were brimming with products and people in the streets looked cheerful," Fujimoto said. "North Korea has changed a lot since Kim Jong-un assumed power. All of this is because of leader Kim Jong-un."

Fujimoto's comments may be calculated, but taken with a grain of salt, they could offer some clues about the reality in the North.

By Chosun Ilbo columnist Jeong Woo-sang
The United States has imposed sanctions on two North Korean officials for their role in Pyongyang's ballistic missile program.

A Treasury Department statement said Kim Jong-sik and Ri Pyong-chol are "key leaders of North Korea's unlawful weapons programs."

"Kim Jong-sik reportedly is a key figure in North Korea's ballistic missile development, including efforts to switch from liquid to solid fuel, and Ri Pyong-chol is reported to be a key official involved in North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile development," the Treasury Department said.

"Treasury is targeting leaders of North Korea's ballistic missile programs, as part of our maximum pressure campaign to isolate [North Korea] and achieve a fully denuclearized Korean Peninsula," said Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. "These actions follow Friday's United Nations Security Council Resolution, which imposed strong new sanctions on North Korea further shutting down its ability to raise illicit funds."


Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland issued a statement Monday announcing that Wilmer Omar Barrientos Fernandez, who has been recalled by President Nicolas Maduro, is no longer welcome in the country. Freeland also declared Angel Herrera, the Venezuelan embassy's charge d'affaires, or second in command, as persona non grata, stripping him of his diplomatic credentials and ordering him out of Canada.

Canada says it is expelling Venezuela's ambassador to the country in retaliation for a similar action against Canada's envoy to the South American country.

The diplomatic row started on Saturday, when Caracas declared Canada's charge d'affaires, Craig Kowalik, persona non grata. Kowalik was expelled after he was accused by Delcy Rodriguez, the president of Venezuela's pro-Maduro constituent assembly, of meddling in Venezuela's internal politics and tweeting "rude and vulgar" comments about the nation.

Canada has joined the United States and other nations in denouncing Maduro's tightening grip on power in response to Venezuela's worsening economic crisis.

Freeland said Kowalik's expulsion is "typical of the Maduro regime, which has consistently undermined all efforts to restore democracy and to help the Venezuelan people."

"Canadians will not stand by," Freeland added, "as the government of Venezuela robs its people of their fundamental democratic and human rights, and denies them access to basic humanitarian assistance."
China mulls law to punish those who 'slander heroes and martyrs'







Beijing (AFP) Dec 22, 2017





China is considering a law that would punish those who "insult or slander heroes and martyrs," according to a report Friday from the country's top legislature. The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) said on its website that it is examining a proposal on the "Protection of Heroes and Martyrs Law" in order to "promote the spirit of heroic martyrs and patriotism." Since President Xi Jinping took office in 2012, he has stressed a drive to infuse every aspect of Chinese educat ... read more
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Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori remained in a Lima hospital on Monday, a day after he was granted a medical pardon for his 25-year sentence for crimes against humanity.

Protesters clashed with police who lobbed tear gas to break up the crowds gathered in several plazas across the Peruvian capital.

Many Peruvians are angry that Fujimori, 79 and ailing, was pardoned by President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, despite the gravity of his crimes. Fujimori was found guilty of human rights abuses, corruption and the sanctioning of death squads.
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Deep Sea Nine Hours in the Deep

What's it like diving to the bottom of the sea, surrounded by darkness and cold and protected only by a 7.4-centimeter thick layer of titanium? An interactive expedition to the deep seas of Mexico's Guaymas Basin aboard the world-famous Alvin submarine.
Above all, it's the independence that Norah appreciates most about the aid from GiveDirectly. "We have the freedom to spend the money the way that we want," says Norah. "Nobody tells us what to buy or how much to save. It's different from our previous experiences." For years, aid organizations would show up in their village with cement, school books or sacks of rice. Aid came mostly in the form of in-kind donations. And it usually wasn't the locals themselves who determined what they most urgently needed, but development experts and charity organizations.

Some countries, including Germany, began experimenting with direct payments in the late 1980s in Mozambique. But since the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016, when then-United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon called for "cash-based programming" to become the "preferred and default method of support" in humanitarian assistance, more attention has been paid to the method. GiveDirectly has been working with direct payments since 2011 and views itself as a pioneer in the field. The organization is also convinced that recipients like the Odhiambos know best how to put the money to the best possible use.

To determine how much money to give the residents of the village on Lake Victoria, GiveDirectly relied on statistics from the World Bank and the Kenyan government, which indicate that every adult Kenyan needs at least $22 a month in groceries to get by. Norah and Erick are aware that the sum is only intended to cover their basic needs. But Norah views the money as a kind of backstop. "It allows us to go about our real work without having to worry whether we will be able to earn enough for the next week with simple jobs. It's nice to know that enough food will be available at home after a hard day's work."
Paris (France) Dec 27, 2017 (SPS) - The year 2017 was special in France as Western Sahara Issue has gained visibility in spite of France's position in favour of Morocco and French media blackout on the Saharawi people's legitimate struggle.

Morocco's colonization of Western Sahara, human rights abuses in the occupied Saharawi territories for more than 40 years and the trial of Saharawi activists took centre stage in France with the holding, in Vitry-sur-Seine (Paris' south) last October, of the 42nd session of EUCOCO (the European Conference for Coordination of Support to Western Sahara People) and a Parliamentary meeting, at intervals of one day, at the French National Assembly.

The two major events took place in France, a key supporter of the Kingdom of Morocco which illegally occupies Western Sahara, a territory considered "non-autonomous" by the United Nations and, thus, eligible to self-determination.

The 42nd session of EUCOCO laid the foundation stone of a new, "more offensive" and more promising strategy for the extension of solidarity with the Saharawi people, especially in Europe.

The Task Force is due to federate all promising actions towards the countries, institutions, MPs and groups which attach little importance to the issue of Western Sahara.

The participants, activists, academics, elected officials, former officials and lawyers, stressed the deadlock at the United Nations Security Council, because of France's veto, whenever there is a resolution against Morocco.

France criticized for its double standard policy

The decolonisation of Western Sahara and Europe's role in the settlement of the conflict were discussed at a Parliamentary meeting, in the French National Assembly, on October 20, the second after that held in April 2016.

At the initiative of MP Jean-Paul Lecoq, fervent defender of the Saharawi cause, the meeting brought together many Eurodeputies (MEPs) from Spain, Italy and Sweden, in addition to Saharawi officials, Algerian MPs and representatives of different organizations.

Jean-Paul Lecoq said that he had proposed to the Committee on Foreign Affairs at the French National Assembly to put Western Sahara issue on its agenda, with the participation of Horst Koehler, the special envoy of the UN secretary general for Western Sahara.

Deploring the attitude of French media which "do not cover the sessions devoted to Western Sahara conflict, Lecoq said he is undertaking a struggle on a daily basis in France, a country that "contributes to the deadlock with its support to Morocco," he said.

But France is not only the governors, but also MPs and the members of the associative movement who contributes in making things progress for the implementation of the international law in Western Sahara, he added, criticising France's double standards policy in dealing with this issue.

In contrast with the official position, the associative movement in France have spared no efforts in 2017 to proclaim loud and clear, through meetings, rallies, and news conferences, the human rights violations against Western Sahara people, including the trial in Rabat of Saharawi political prisoners, given heavy sentences.

In this respect, the University Paris-Sorbonne held in October, for the second time in a row, a conference on the role of major Western nations in the settlement of the Saharawi conflict and the protection of human rights in the territory.

"Alarming" conditions of detention for Saharawi prisoners

At the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, a seminar was held early 2017 about "Saharawi prisoners in Morocco: the role and resolutions of the PACE (Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe)," calling this institution to take notice of Morocco's violations of the human rights of Saharawi people.

Morocco willingly signs the international conventions (against torture, against arbitrary detention, etc.), but rarely or never implements them.

In this respect, a lawyers' international collective, last November, called on French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe to take action over the "alarming" conditions of detention of the Saharawi political prisoners.

French, Belgian, Spanish, Italian and German lawyers said the health state of several Saharawi political prisoners jailed in Morocco is very worrying, as they do not receive the medical treatment adapted to their diseases.

They asked the French Prime Minister to mention, during his visit to Morocco, human rights situation in that country, and its close relationship with any diplomatic and economic cooperation.

They also asked him to stress, in Rabat, the "urgent need to grant Saharawi political prisoners a dignified and respectful treatment, protect them from any kind of torture and inhumane treatment and allow them to get access to medical care."SPS

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Do you ever struggle to get into a flow state when writing? Unfortunately, it can happen to the best of us.

When you need to meet deadlines, theres no time to deal with writer's block. Try these seven tactics to get focused, enhance your creativity and become a writing machine.

1. Eliminate all distractions.

Its no secret that distractions are all around you. The email inbox and social media are two of the most common productivity killers, and you deal with them on a daily basis. When those notifications start sounding, people often drop whatever it is they're doing to check on new information.

Eliminate these interruptions that compete for your attention. First, silence your phone. Put it in airplane or "do not disturb" mode so text messages, calls and emails can't threaten to tear you away from writing.

Another great option: a browser extension that limits the amount of time you spend on certain websites. If you use Google Chrome, you can download an extension such as StayFocusd to help you out. It gives you a set amount of time to visit certain sites -- think Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Reddit and the like. Once youve used up your allotted time, its back to work! The sites youve chosen to block will be inaccessible for the remainder of your day. It may sound a bit harsh, but its easily the best way to stop you from surfing aimlessly when you have real work that needs doing.

Related: Are You Constantly Distracted by Technology? Here's What to Do.

2. Listen to instrumental music on a loop.

Many people enjoy listening to music while working. Did you know there's a way you can make your playlist much more productive for you when youre writing? Choose one to three songs without vocals and add them to a special playlist you can turn on whenever you sit down to write. Musical repetition helps get you into the zone so your brain can focus more intently, without becoming distracted by other noise. Ultimately, your brain registers the tones as background noise instead of a competing sound. Classical music or some type of white noise typically produces the best results.

3. Stay hydrated.

A variety of side effects can creep up on you when your body becomes dehydrated. Some people get headaches when they havent had enough to drink. Others experience severe brain fog. Often referred to as brain fatigue, this essentially is an episode of mental confusion. It can leave you unfocused and reeling from reduced mental acuity and/or poor memory recall.

When your body becomes dehydrated, brain fog can appear without any warning and make it much more challenging for you to enter a flow state. Keep a water bottle at your desk or other work area as a subtle reminder to keep sipping. Make certain you drink at least eight, eight-ounce glasses of water per day.

Related: Here's Why You Can't Stay Focused

4. Supplement your nutrition.

Nootropics provide many benefits for mental performance. They often are used to enhance attention levels, but they can also serve as mood boosters or aid in preventing fatigue. Some nootropics aim to improve creativity, which is sure to come in handy for writers.

Research your options to see which supplements on the market might be the best fit for you. Examine the benefits they offer, study the ingredients lists, and read reviews from people who've taken the specific nootropics you're considering. Then, try ingesting a nootropic before a long writing session to gauge its effects on your body chemistry.

Related: Every Entrepreneur Needs Flow. Nootropics Can Get You There.

5. Don't depend on stimulants.

Although it may seem nice to put a few cups of coffee in the tank before you sit down to write, you should be mindful about how much caffeine you're actually consuming. Too many stimulants can leave you feeling jittery and unable to focus. And when youre trying to get some writing done, that's not what you want to deal with. Instead of loading up on multiple cups of coffee or tea, try restricting yourself to just one or two throughout the day.

Related: Is Caffeine Boosting or Sabotaging Your Productivity?

6. Take a nature break.

If you feel as if youve come down with a case of mental fatigue, give yourself the freedom to take a break. Ideally, you'd step outside your work zone and leave the office environment behind for a dose of mother nature.

A University of Melbourne study found that looking at grassy rooftops helped people reduce the number of errors they made and also improved their concentration. Even a small break to get some fresh air can help decrease stress levels and re-energize your senses.

If it's too cold to get outside, you might be surprised to learn that looking out your window can do the trick, too. Whatever you do, make sure to incorporate short breaks throughout the day.

Related: 6 Benefits of Unchaining Yourself From Your Desk to Take a Break Outside

7. Fit in exercise.

It's probably not the advice you want to hear, but there's no escaping it: Physical exercise is crucial for a healthy mind and body. Regular movement makes a tremendous difference.

In fact, getting out for a walk can actually help improve your concentration and focus, even when done just a few times per week. Researchers at the University of Illinois found that walking for 40 minutes, three times a week, improved cognitive function. It enhanced the connectivity of brain circuits, helped combat declines in brain performance associated with aging and increased performance on cognitive tasks.

Related:

7 Simple Ways to Get Into a Flow State When Writing

How to Train Your Brain for Maximum Creativity. (Here's What the Science Says.)

Stop Trying to Be 'Mindful.' It Might Be Killing Your Creativity.



Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved



This article originally appeared on entrepreneur.com


Liquor is packed with calories. If an adult male drinks two bottles of soju, he is consuming a third of the daily recommended calorie intake of 2,400 kcal.

For people trying to watch their weight, year-end office parties and other engagements are unwelcome events. Many people faced with this dilemma often opt to drink rather than eat, but in fact that is counterproductive.

Although calorie levels differ by type of liquor, most are fattening, and the slimmest-looking often have the most calories.

According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, a bottle of soju has 403 kcal, which is more than a bowl of rice (300 kcal). A bottle of makgeolli or rice wine has 420 kcal and a 500 ml glass of beer is packed with 185 kcal.

Only wine is relatively slimming, with white wine at 74 kcal a glass and red wine at 70 kcal.

As a rule of thumb, says Jang Jae-young at Soonchunhyang University, the higher the alcohol content, the more calories. Four shot glasses of Chinese kaoliang wine contain 276 kcal, vodka 295 kcal and whiskey and brandy 237 kcal.

Also, drinking alcohol without food increases the risk of stomach inflammation and throat irritation. Food also protects the liver from alcohol by containing beneficial vitamins and minerals.
Egypt executed 15 Islamic militants convicted of carrying out a deadly attack on an army outpost in the Sinai Peninsula in 2013.

Tuesday's executions, carried out simultaneously in two prisons located north of Cairo, is the largest mass execution in Egypt since six convicted jihadists were hanged in 2015. All 15 militants executed on Tuesday were hanged.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi has ordered the military to step up efforts to crush Islamic State militants following the massacre of more than 300 people in an attack on a Sinai mosque last month.

Sinai-based Islamic forces have killed hundreds of policemen, soldiers, and civilians in the region for years.


GERING  With the increasing demand for independent senior housing, Heritage Estates in Gering will soon help fill that need.

Heritage Estates recently purchased 29 acres at the corner of M Street and Five Rocks Road in Gering from Community Christian School, which still plans to build a new school at the site.

In approving the sale, the Community Christian School Board retained seven acres on the southeast corner of the property, which is ample space for its new school, according to a press release.

Heritage Estates has plans to expand its campus.

We will be expanding our independent living cottage campus, said Kim Johns, community relations coordinator for Heritage Estates. Right now were pretty much landlocked and all the available space has been utilized.

She said the independent living cottages have been a successful project. There are 22 current cottages that are all leased, plus theres a waiting list. They plan to build more cottages on the other side of Five Rocks Road, east of the current Heritage Estates.

Its exciting to have the property available for future expansion, Johns said. Well probably start with six new cottages. The campus will be developed over a period of time. Right now, the project is in its infancy.

Heritage Estates parent company, Vetter Senior Living, has two other building projects in the works. The company owns 30 senior living facilities around the five-state region.

We appreciate our companys investment in our campus and in our community, Johns said.

The new cottages will be phased in like their initial construction on campus, built in 2006. Heritage started with eight independent living cottages, which were spoken for in a short time. Phase two and three construction started soon after, bringing the total to 22 cottages.

Our area has kind of become a retirement hub, Johns said. Its important for seniors to have different options to choose from. The independent living cottages have been popular for many seniors.
The home of an 83-year-old LaGrange, Wyoming, woman was destroyed in a fire Christmas Day.

Alice Yuill is now staying with her grandson, Brandon Yuill and his wife Sarah Yuill, in Gering, as she gets back on her feet after the fire. Some may be familiar with Alice Yuills home, the former Rodeo Bible Camp, located 7 miles east of LaGrange.

Sarah Yuill said Alice Yuill had been having trouble sleeping and she woke at 1 a.m. She got out of bed and found a fire burning behind a pellet stove in the home. She put out the fire with an extinguisher, but it started back up. Alice Yuill had to quickly try to get out of the home, calling 911. As she left the home, Sarah Yuill said, she suffered some minor burns on her ear and her hair was singed as she was struck by falling debris.

Alice Yuills son, Carl, lives about 4 miles away from Alice Yuills home, so he was able to come quickly.

LaGrange fire Chief Tracy Pragnell said that the department responded within 15 minutes and crews were on scene for over eight hours battling the fire. The Hawk Springs Fire Department provided mutual aid. When firefighters responded, he said, the home was fully engulfed and with below zero temperatures, it was a struggle to fight the fire. More than 22,000 gallons of water were used in battling the blaze. The department was able to save a garage and an outbuilding.

They (Alice and Carl) had to watch the house burn down, Sarah Yuill said, saying Alice had lived in the home since 1996. She said it was the hardest thing.

All of Alice Yuills belongings were destroyed, with Alice Yuill only able to grab a blanket and her cell phone as she fled the home.

Firefighter Ministry has assisted by providing a gift card for her to get some necessities, which they were able to pick up on Tuesday. With Monday being the Christmas holiday, the family wasnt able to get some necessities immediately.

Alice Yuill will be staying with Brandon and Sarah until she locates another home. Sarah Yuill said the woman is hoping to stay in the LaGrange area, or possibly Pine Bluffs.

Anyone wishing to assist the Yuill family can contact Sarah Yuill at 308-641-7862.
Scottsbluff Police are investigating an attempted armed robbery that occurred at the Route 26 Mart in Scottsbluff Tuesday.

According to scanner traffic, the suspect is a white male, wearing a black hoodie and a tie-dyed shirt. The man is described as having blue eyes and light facial hair. He fled on foot, going east from the business and possibly having been picked up by the driver of a Ford Taurus.

The robbery occurred at about 1 p.m. No one was injured in the robbery, police Capt. Tony Straub said.

In an alert issued at 2:44 p.m., a Scotts Bluff County Communications dispatcher advised police were searching for a dark blue 1998 Ford Taurus with the license plates of 21-AN92. It was advised that the vehicle may be occupied by two males, believed to be armed, and authorities should use caution. At about 5 p.m., the stop and hold order was dismissed as the vehicle was located.

However, Straub told the Star-Herald he could not confirm whether any additional suspects had been involved or the information regarding the vehicle. No arrests had been made as of press time.

Police searched a gray sedan parked at the business and also cordoned off the business as officers did an initial investigation at the scene.

Straub said police are reviewing a lot of video footage of the robbery to gather information and confirm as much as they can. He said police may release that footage at a later date to help identify the suspect.

In a press release issued at about 5 p.m., Straub said the investigation is active and anyone with information can call Scottsbluff Crime Stoppers at 632-7867 (STOP) or the communications center 632-7176.

Stay with starherald.com for more on this developing story.
Growing up all over the Midwest led Heather Silva, of Scottsbluff, never really knew a permanent home.

As a pastors daughter, Silva grew up in the church, knowing all the Bible stories and verses. However, even with a firm foundation, she drifted, as many do.

I never got into hard drugs, Silva said. Pot was kind of my thing. I did quite a bit of it and I did it because I was depressed because I strayed really far from my faith. #newsletter1

After stepping away from her faith in God, Silva got married and surrounded herself with people who didnt have faith as part of their lives.

Instead of staying strong in my faith as I should have, I fell into temptation, Silva said.

She explained she has ADHD and SPD.

SPD is sensory processing disorder, she said. Pot was kind of my way to self-medicate.

Though Silva only did pot, she had many people in her life who did much harder drugs.

Even though I didnt partake, it was very much a part of my life. It led to making a lot of really bad choices and thinking that I wasnt worth anything.

Silva talked about one of the turning points in her story.

One of my hardest memories is when I was depressed to a point where I tried to commit suicide, she said. I was rushed to the hospital by a friend and I got a call two days later that my brother was in intensive care.

She explained how her brother had a heart transplant when he was 10 years old. He had just turned 21 in 2001 when his heart began to give again.

I came and said my goodbyes, Silva said, choking on tears. Its always stuck of why God chose to take him instead of me.

She had many more years of making bad decisions before Silva realized she needed to make some serious changes.

About eight years ago, Silvas parents had just moved to Scottsbluff to pastor at First Baptist Church. Silva made the difficult call to her mother to ask if she could come home and bring her two young kids with her.

Silva brought her 10-month-old son Josh and 3-year-old daughter Rachel to Scottsbluff, where she decided she wanted to go back to college.

When I went back to college, my whole life changed, Silva said with a small smile. All of a sudden I felt like I had a purpose. I felt like I could actually achieve something. I discovered I was smart; I had thought I was the dumbest person on the face of the earth and I realized that was wrong.

Though she originally went to school with the intention of studying radiology technology, her psychology professor recognized her true talents.

I got my associate's in psychology at WNCC and then I decided I cant stop there, Silva said. I went through Bellevue University online and I just completed my bachelors in behavioral science.

Silva described her overwhelming desire to help people similar to herself. She plans on continuing her education by becoming a certified therapist.

I plan on going through the Star Institute in Denver, she said. They are one of the leading organizations on SPD.

Taking her new determination to help others and share the joy shed found again in God, Silva volunteers with the childrens and music ministries in her church.

I adopted a philosophy of motivate, inspire, encourage and uplift, she said. My journal that I keep at home has that written on the front so that I always remember that is the creed I need to live by.

Silva also started a fellowship group that meets every other week to encourage and pray for each other.

The overwhelming joy that has come from being able to help people and giving of myself is so much better than anything I have ever done, Silva said, smiling. Drugs arent even a part of my life now because theres no room for it, theres no need for it.
A Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary has decided to remove its idle crude oil rail tankers from a New York forest preserve after the states governor objected to their storage there.

Chicago-based Union Tank Car said Tuesday that all 65 cars it has in the Adirondack Forest in northeast New York will be removed by mid-January.

That ends the brinksmanship started by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo last week over the storage of the tankers leased by freight railroads to haul crude oil.

After residents complained, Cuomo sent a petition to federal rail regulators asking for the storage site to be shut down.

He also called out Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway, saying the firm led by Chief Executive Warren Buffett should do the right thing and remove the cars voluntarily.

The message was received.

As we have previously explained, all railcar owners store idle railcars from time to time until they can be returned to active service, said William Constantino, general manager-leasing for Union Tank Car. We select the storage provider, but not the precise storage location. We regret the railroads decision to place some of our railcars in the Adirondack Park, which raised public concern about their effect on the parks beauty and environment.

The railroad doing the storing is called Iowa Pacific and is also based in Chicago. It operates short-line railroads and related businesses, such as the tanker storage one. The company didnt respond to requests for comment Tuesday.

Last week, Cuomo said in a statement that he was opposed to Iowa Pacifics plan to store as many as 2,000 idled crude oil tankers in the forest on rail lines it controls.

And now, Cuomo has the cooperation of Union Tank Car. GM Constantino said Tuesday the company will store the tankers  idled due to a dropoff in North American crude oil production that is slowly now rebounding  at alternate locations outside the state of New York ... and ensure none of our cars are stored in the Adirondack Park in the future.

The Omaha World-Herald is owned by Berkshire Hathaway.
By Michael Boyd, jr. STE. GENEVIEVE HERALD While Ste. Genevieve County residents voted no to Amendment 3, the rest of the Show-Me State said yes to legalize marijuana, passing the measure on Tuesday (Nov. 8), according to unofficial results from the 2022 midterm elections. Missouri now is one of the 21 states, along with Washington,
Developed by four-year-old startup Skyroot Aerospace, the event marks the private sector's maiden foray into the launch vehicle segment after the space segment was thrown open to private players in 2020.
The richest people on earth became $1 trillion richer in 2017, more than four times last year's gain, as stock markets shrugged off economic, social and political divisions to reach record highs.

The 23 percent increase on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a daily ranking of the world's 500 richest people, compares with an almost 20 percent increase for both the MSCI World Index and Standard & Poor's 500 Index.

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and owner of The Washington Post, clocked in as the world's richest person, gaining $34.2 billion in wealth in 2017. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates came in at No. 2. Bezos is worth about $99.6 billion, according to Bloomberg. Gates, who is donating much of his fortune to charity, is valued at $91.3 billion.

George Soros also gave away a substantial part of his fortune, revealing in October that his family office had given $18 billion to his Open Society Foundations over the past several years, dropping the billionaire investor to No. 195 on the Bloomberg ranking, with a net worth of $8 billion.

By the end of trading Tuesday, Dec. 26, the 500 billionaires controlled $5.3 trillion, up from $4.4 trillion on Dec. 27, 2016.

China's 1 percent did particularly well. There are 38 Chinese billionaires on the Bloomberg index, and they gained a combined $177 billion this year. That 65 percent jump was the largest for any of the 49 countries represented. Hui Ka Yan, founder of China Evergrande Group, a property developer, saw his personal bank accounts swell by $25.9 billion, a 350 percent jump from last year.

Ma Huateng, co-founder of Tencent Holdings, a Chinese technology investment firm, saw his fortune double to $41 billion, making him the second-richest person in Asia. The number of billionaires in Asia has surpassed the number in the United States for the first time, according to a recent UBS Group and PricewaterhouseCoopers report.

Russia's 27 richest residents did well, too, adding $29 billion to grow to $275 billion, despite the international economic sanctions imposed after President Vladimir Putin annexed Crimea in 2014.

Global losers included Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the richest person in Saudi Arabia, whose fortune dropped $1.9 billion to $17.8 billion after he was arrested as part of a corruption crackdown by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Several other Saudi royals, government officials and business leaders were scooped up, as well.

Bloomberg's findings are yet another indication that massive accumulation of wealth at the top of the economic ladder is leading to spiraling inequality.

The 2017 "World Inequality Report" (compiled by economists such as Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez) found that the 1 percent reaped 27 percent of the world's income between 1980 and 2016. The bottom 50 percent, by contrast, got just 12 percent of the pie.

In China, the 1 percent has accumulated 15 percent of all income growth since 1980. (About 13 percent flowed to the bottom 50 percent.) In the United States, the bottom half of Americans has captured just 3 percent of growth since 1980. In Russia, the economic assets of the bottom half of the country have shrunk since 1980. Even Europe saw its top 1 percent accumulate 18 percent of growth, while the bottom half gained 14 percent.

Economists say economic inequality isn't inevitable. Aggressive income tax and a strong social safety net matter, as do equal access to education. In fast-growing China and in some developing nations, massive investments in infrastructure and a deepening base of manufacturing jobs have helped.

Unfortunately, few countries have aggressively pursued such policies.

Of course, it's not just the poor who are suffering. As Bloomberg put it, it's hard out there for a billionaire:

With wealth surging to new highs, billionaires may quickly learn that a billion dollars doesn't buy what it used to. The price of housing has topped $300 million, the cost of divorce has hit $1 billion and a rediscovered painting by Leonardo da Vinci sold for $450.3 million at a Christie's auction in November, the most expensive work sold to date.

"Would you believe it?" Eli Broad, who has a $7.4 billion fortune and his own museum in Los Angeles, said after the sale. "It's wild."

Includes reporting by Bloomberg and The Washington Post.
ABUJA  The Nigerian Air Force said on Wednesday the United States has agreed to sell a dozen light-attack turboprops to Nigeria, as the West African country continues its eight-year conflict with Islamist insurgency Boko Haram.

The sale of the 12 A-29 Super Tucano aircraft, with weapons and services, is worth $593 million.

W. Stuart Symington, the U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, presented the letters of offer and acceptance, the official agreement to make the sale, to the country's air force earlier on Wednesday, the air force statement said. (Symington is the grandson of Stuart Symington Jr., who represented Missouri in the U.S. Senate from 1953-1976.)

The agreements are expected to be signed and necessary payments made before Feb. 20, the statement said, adding that the U.S. State Department has already approved the sale.

The Super Tucano, designed for counter-insurgency and other missions, is assembled at a plant in Melbourne, Fla., that's owned by Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer.

Nigeria has tried to acquire the aircraft since 2015, according to published reports, but was blocked by the Obama administration after the Nigerian Air Force accidentally bombed a displaced persons camp, renewing questions about Nigeria's human rights record.
ST. LOUIS  A teenager who stole a car with a baby inside on Christmas Day has been arrested, according to St. Louis police.

The car was taken about 11 a.m. Monday. A woman put her 6-month old son inside of her car in the 3400 block of South Spring Avenue before going back to lock up her house, police said.

When she turned around, she saw a teen getting in the car and driving away, with the baby still in the vehicle. The thief apparently drove only about a block before leaving the baby on the front porch of a house in the 3400 block of Giles Avenue, and again driving off.

Police pursued the suspect, a 16-year-old male, a few blocks away to the 3600 block of Wyoming Street, where he abandoned the car. After a foot chase, he was arrested in the 3500 block of Humphrey Street. He was turned over to juvenile authorities, police said.
My New Years wish is for the health and resurgence of democracy. What follows is a slightly edited version of a morning prayer I offered last month at the Appleton Chapel of the Memorial Church at Harvard University.

Let us say a prayer for democracy. But let us do more than pray. Lets ask ourselves what it means to live by a democratic ethic. Here on earth, as John F. Kennedy said, Gods work must truly be our own.

We know that democracy, particularly in its liberal form, is embattled, facing threats within nations that have long been proud of their democratic traditions, and competition from systems that tout themselves as better able to deliver many of lifes good things.

But the greatest threat to democracy may be our own indifference.

Democracy properly encourages open-mindedness. But are we so open-minded that we are not willing to say, unequivocally, that a system providing for free speech, freedom of conscience, a free media, freedom of religion, and genuinely free elections is both morally and practically better than alternative systems? Are we so concerned about our tendency to deify our own culture and our own traditions, are we so turned off by the invocation of democracy in defense of wars we might have opposed, that we are unwilling to assert that democracy is worth defending across cultures and nations?

Democracy is and always has been imperfect in practice. Vaclav Havel, the Czech dissident who became his countrys president, told Congress in 1990: As long as people are people, democracy in the full sense of the word will always remain an ideal. One may approach democracy as one would a horizon, in ways that may be better or worse, but which can never be fully attained. In this sense, you, too, are merely approaching democracy.

In embracing democracy, as the historian James Kloppenberg has written, we are standing up for three contested principles: popular sovereignty, autonomy and equality. We are also embracing three premises: deliberation, pluralism and reciprocity.

We know that in its liberal form, democracy must at times resist popular sovereignty  a majority of the people cannot vote away their own rights or anyone elses. We know that our own quest for autonomy can conflict with our obligations to the communities to which we owe debts. We know that many democracies, including our own, are a long way from true equality.

Yet in the face of these tensions and imperfections, which values would we place above popular sovereignty, autonomy and equality  and also above deliberation, pluralism and reciprocity? If we would uphold these commitments, we should be prepared, with Havel, to defend the democratic ideal.

We should also be prepared to live it. For religious people, the grounding for democracy is a belief that all human beings are endowed with equal dignity by God. But one need not be religious to insist on the equal dignity of our fellow human beings. One need only be a small-d democrat.

A devotion to democracy thus ought to affect how we treat others. We often have to deal with hierarchies, but we should never internalize them. Those at the bottom of formal authority structures see things and know things that cannot be seen from on high. We should, as Pope Francis has said, seek the wisdom available only on the peripheries. We learn from experience  and from the news  that the distributions of virtue, compassion and judgment are not correlated with the distributions of power and wealth.

Democracy, finally, is rooted in two intuitions, about our aspirations to transcendence, which allow us to imagine a better world, and about our proclivities to sin and failure, which require limits on the power any of us can wield. Thus Reinhold Niebuhrs aphorism: Mans capacity for justice makes democracy possible; but mans inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.

The conservative writer William F. Buckley Jr. once said that he would rather be governed by the first 2,000 names in the Boston phone book than by the Harvard faculty. I no doubt have a higher opinion of the Harvard faculty than Buckley did, but the instinct behind his provocation should stay with us.

Democracy imposes a discipline. It demands that no fortunate group should ever claim, by virtue of its position or its educational attainments, the unchallenged right to impose its will on others. To invoke the late Benjamin Barbers lovely phrase, the only aristocracy democracy fully sanctions is an aristocracy of everyone. It is the one sort of aristocracy worth praying for.

E.J. Dionne

Copyright The Washington Post
St. Louis city and county decision-makers have an opportunity to give local economies a boost, helping local businesses and bringing a range of benefits to homeowners. The clean-energy economy is growing jobs across the state and the Midwest. We can easily increase our participation in this trend in metro St. Louis by expanding the availability of Property Assessed Clean Energy financing to area residents.

PACE holds great promise for the St. Louis business community. It provides financing to help homeowners make renewable-energy and energy-efficiency upgrades to their homes, such as new roofs, energy-efficient windows and doors, replacement HVAC systems, and even rooftop solar. Homeowners then pay back the financing over the useful life of the technology through an additional line item on their property taxes. This model has a proven track record of bringing in private investment; growing businesses and creating jobs in construction, home improvement, and the clean-energy sector; and improving homes in local neighborhoods. All of this is done at no cost to local government budgets.

The St. Louis metro area is a prime region for PACE to thrive. Our business community welcomes and supports minority-owned contractors. The Missouri Clean Energy Districts PACE model has a track record of partnering with and boosting small businesses that provide quality jobs to local residents. And, St. Louis is one of Americas remaining cities where there are more older homes than new ones. For cities like ours, preventing aging homes from falling into disrepair is a major priority.

Missouri cities and counties can gain access to PACE by joining the Missouri Clean Energy District, a governmental subdivision created to meet public policy objectives around strengthening local economies and reducing carbon emissions. The district offers financing through their partner Renovate America, the nations largest PACE provider. Communities throughout St. Louis, St. Charles, Jefferson and Franklin counties have joined the district over the past year, making the financing program available to their residents. Already the St. Louis metro area has seen an estimated $4 million economic boost and the addition of an estimated 20 regional jobs.

The city of St. Louis and St. Louis County are currently considering joining the Missouri Clean Energy District. Projections show that, if these governing bodies decide to join, PACE activity will create an additional 550 jobs and $75 million in economic stimulus in the St. Louis metro area within the first five years.

Another option, called Set the PACE, is currently offered as the sole PACE provider for the city of St. Louis. Yet, despite being active since 2013, Set the PACE has funded only a small number of projects. The time is right for more competition in this space. Residents of the city of St. Louis and St. Louis County deserve the same access to residential PACE that is available in other Missouri communities.

Dozens of communities around the state have joined the Missouri Clean Energy District over the past year; this effort has already invested $15 million in Missouri communities, improved almost 1,000 homes and contributed to the creation of an estimated 125 jobs. These are true Show Me results.

As a local contractor and a St. Louis-area resident, I see great promise in PACE for our local business community. I encourage the St. Louis Board of Aldermen and the St. Louis County Council to join the Missouri Clean Energy District and make this tool for economic growth available to our community.

Brian Kremmel is a sales manager at Academy Air, based in Maryland Heights.
Missouri voters cant claim they werent warned. During last years gubernatorial campaign, then-candidate Eric Greitens made it clear that he would lean heavily on brawny theatrics and minimally on substance if he became governor. He has remained true in both word and deed during his first year in office  a year in which little of the states news escaped that special Greitens touch of melodrama.

Greitens entered office as a proud novice  he bragged about not being a career politician. Unfortunately, that meant he had to learn on the job. He ignored and subverted bipartisan democratic processes and managed to anger just about every major political figure in Jefferson City, including fellow Republicans who should have been his natural allies. Greitens, who had little support from the GOP establishment in winning the partys nomination in 2016, shrugs off their reaction as typical of career politicians discomfited by his self-declared maverick style.

What he discounts are the years that those Republicans have devoted to public service and learning how government works, and the wisdom theyve gained about what Missouri voters want from their elected officials. Starting with the upcoming legislative session in 2018, Greitens will either learn the art of political give-and-take, or he will find himself increasingly isolated and unable to advance his own agenda. Nobody likes to be insulted, especially those who have sacrificed on the political battlefield for their party. They dont take kindly to second-guessing by a gubernatorial neophyte.

While the Legislature slogged through a tough and divisive 2017 session, including two special sessions called by Greitens supposedly to take care of unfinished business, the governor himself took advantage of his new position to travel the world. His trips abroad included the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Israel, China and South Korea. Domestically, he crisscrossed the nation with campaign-style trips to Iowa, Washington, D.C., Florida, New York, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Virginia, Nebraska, Texas, Nevada and two trips to Colorado. He also vacationed in Washington state.

His cumulative time outside Missouri: Seven weeks. Even as the governor implied in statements that legislators lacked focus on their jobs and forced lawmakers to come back to Jefferson City to work on abortion restrictions and jobs bills, the governor took off on jaunts to raise campaign money and burnish his national image.

An us-versus-them tone typically made it look as if he were fighting for Missourians while legislators were goofing off or partying with lobbyists. He stated in May: We are fighting to bring more jobs to the people of Missouri. Some career politicians failed to do their jobs and then went home. Thats wrong. Were cancelling their summer vacations and calling a special session to get this done.

Yet his own activities were veiled in secrecy, as if the public had no right to know what their governor was up to. The Post-Dispatch had to file Sunshine Law requests just to get access to his travel logs, and the governors aides tried various methods to delay the release of information that his predecessors gladly handed out to the news media.

While he traveled, conditions grew worse at the Missouri Veterans Home despite months of repeated warnings Greitens had received that mismanagement and neglect were threatening veterans lives. He belatedly forced a management shakeup this month  portraying himself as a hero for doing so.

By evading reporters, Greitens has escaped having to answer difficult questions about his ill-defined policies and legally sketchy actions. As he indicated to this editorial board before the November 2016 election, questions that require evaluation, experience and knowledge make his head hurt. By avoiding reporters, we guess, Greitens is simply promoting good head health. Or avoiding embarrassment.

Twitter and Facebook, never known for in-depth discussion of big issues, are his preferred means of communicating with the public, even though only a small percentage of Missourians actually follow him via social media. Greitens wrongly assumes that, for those who dont follow his social media postings, ignorance is bliss.

Greitens not only hides his travel schedule, he appears to evade transparency and accountability by using a phone app that automatically deletes text messages shared with senior aides. Text messages between government officials can be subject to state document-retention laws, and Attorney General Josh Hawley, a Republican, is looking into the apps legality.

Two other statewide elected Republican officials have challenged the governor recently about his cancellation of Missouri matching funds for the federal low-income housing tax-credit program.

More Republicans are standing up to Greitens in the Legislature. Sen. Gary Romine, R-Farmington, has accused the governor of installing his puppets on the bipartisan Missouri Board of Education in order to win Margie Vandevens ouster as education commissioner. Greitens appointees took the action even though their appointments had not yet been confirmed by the Senate.

Romine now plans to challenge the move in the upcoming legislative session. He predicts more trouble for the governor if he doesnt improve his political skills.

Communication is the key to any success, Romine told St. Louis Public Radio. Were going to have some struggles with this governor.

Romine, however, was delighted that Greitens signed a controversial bill he sponsored, Senate Bill 43, that will make it harder for workers to sue their employers for workplace discrimination. Whistleblower protections also will be reduced. The measure is so controversial, the national NAACP cited it when issuing a travel advisory for blacks planning trips to the state.

Greitens also joined Republicans in curtailing St. Louis power to impose a minimum wage law that had raised worker pay to a minimum of $10 an hour. It remains a curiosity to us that a Republican Party steeped in the philosophy of states rights over an overbearing federal government can somehow rationalize the exercise of overbearing state authority over local self-governance.

The governors relations with Republican lawmakers grew particularly prickly when they questioned the legality of certain actions by Greitens, such as the awarding of a no-bid $250,000 contract to Express Scripts, a major Greitens campaign donor, to develop a prescription drug monitoring program. Challenges by state Sen. Rob Schaaf, R-St. Joseph, led to the senator being targeted by a Greitens nonprofit organization, which gave out Schaafs cellphone number and encouraged callers to harass the senator.

In an op-ed on our pages, Schaaf fired back, effectively calling Greitens a hypocrite for campaigning on pledges of transparency, only to immerse himself in subterfuge and secrecy. Of particular concern was Greitens ongoing refusal to release his tax returns or divulge the sources of millions of dollars in dark-money campaign contributions. Greitens asserts, bizarrely, that he is protecting his dark-money donors First Amendment rights.

Several of us in the Missouri Senate have fought to restore transparency, proposing common-sense legislation that Missourians widely support. However, those who prefer secrecy have blocked this legislation, and the governor has chosen to take their side, claiming that transparency can expose political donors to ill treatment by those who disapprove of their donations, Schaaf wrote.

This intra-party warfare occurs amid a near-perfect alignment of the political stars for the Republicans. The party controls the governors office, both chambers of the Legislature, as well as four of the five other statewide elective Missouri offices. Greitens has turned natural allies into enemies. Many who celebrated his inauguration now loathe him.

Meanwhile, he persists with meaningless antics such as rappelling into an arena and crawling through the dirt in a military-style obstacle course, as if his past as a Navy SEAL officer somehow translates into progress for Missourians. The state could use a lot less pizzazz and a lot more transparency, accountability and focus from Greitens in 2018.
A 15-month-old Murupara girl has been airlifted to Rotorua hospital in a serious condition after suffering from a number of seizures earlier this morning.

A spokesperson for the BayTrust Rescue Helicopter says the child required an urgent transfer.

The girl was suffering seizures and required immediate specialist care.

The Bay Trust Rescue helicopter was dispatched to Murupara at around 7.30am and a suitable helipad was established at the scene by a local New Zealand Fire crew.

An onboard paramedic stablised the girl and she was flown to Rotorua Hospital in a serious condition for further treatment.
Using a unified voice to amplify its message, the Water Safety sector is urging people to make water safety a top priority this holiday season as a bumper summer approaches.

There have been 11 more preventable fatal drownings so far this year compared to the same time last year and there are fears that it is set to grow even further as Kiwis head out in droves to enjoy New Zealands beaches, rivers, lakes, swimming pools and other water spots this Christmas.

High temperatures are expected in the coming weeks, leading to increased participation across multiple environments and activities in, on and around the water.

Surf Life Saving New Zealand, Coastguard and Water Safety New Zealand are concerned about the impact this could have if people dont have the presence of mind to think about water safety for themselves, friends and family.

Water Safety New Zealand CEO Jonty Mills says drowning remains the number one cause of recreational death and the number three cause of accidental death in New Zealand.

He says the rise in fatal drownings of toddlers and under-fives is particularly disheartening, with seven occurring this year to date versus a five-year average of four.

The only fool-proof solution is constant adult supervision and keeping toddlers at arms length at all times around the water.

Jonty says the breadth of activities and environments makes drownings a complex problem and all Kiwis need to take responsibility for themselves and others in order to change our attitudes around water.

Surf Life Saving New Zealand CEO Paul Dalton says the long awaited summer is here at last and wants people to go out and enjoy it safely by visiting one of the 80 patrolled locations nationwide.

Taking a few minutes to plan a day out at the beach could just save your life. There is a very important reason why we urge people to choose a patrolled beach and swim between the flags. The fact is, it is always the safest place to swim," he says.

Paul says so often, the people rescued by surf lifeguards have overestimated their ability and underestimated the risk and before they know it, they are in trouble.

Take a moment to stop and think before entering the water and if in doubt, stay out," he says.

Coastguard CEO Patrick Holmes says his Christmas wish is that everyone who goes out boating this summer comes home safely.

There are two simple things that people can do to ensure this happens - wear a lifejacket and carry two forms of waterproof communication so that you can call for help if you do get into difficulty.

Patrick says most accidents on the water occur suddenly, with no warning.

There may be no time to grab a lifejacket and its extremely difficult to put one on in the water. A lifejacket never ruined a day on the water so take them and wear them.

Coastguards Old4New Lifejacket Upgrade campaign is currently touring the country enabling people to trade their old, damaged, or out of date lifejackets for a great discount on a brand-new, quality Hutchwilco lifejacket. Find out more at www.old4New.nz

While enjoying the water is part of New Zealands way of life, the dangers are real and things can change quickly.

This summer everyone needs to remember the four rules of the Water Safety Code and avoid alcohol while taking part in aquatic activities.
Summer, the beach, Surf Lifeguards and ice blocks. Theyre the perfect partners, and as Surf Life Saving New Zealand heads into another summer, theyre proud to announce a new partnership with Nice Blocks.

Nice Blocks was founded in 2010 by friends Tommy Holden and James Crow, who were on a mission to create a better summer treat for their kids.

Their ice blocks are ethically produced and made from all sorts of good-for-you, natural and organic ingredients. They source their fruit locally whenever they can and use as little added sugar as possible.

The one-year partnership will see a raspberry flavoured Surf Life Saving Nice Block, which will be specially wrapped in the iconic red and yellow Surf Life Saving colours and feature the Swim Between the Flags safety message.

It will be stocked at BP Connect and BP 2 Go stores nationwide throughout summer, with 30 cents per unit being donated to Surf Life Saving New Zealand.

Surf Life Saving New Zealand CEO Paul Dalton says its exciting to partner with Nice Blocks ahead of what will hopefully be a long, hot summer.

Not only are they helping us to raise much needed funds through sales of Nice Blocks, but they are helping to keep Kiwis safer at New Zealands beaches by featuring our all-important message of swimming between the flags, says Paul.

Nice Blocks co-founder Tommy Holden says he and James have always been up for supporting their community.

This essential rescue service and amazing charity is protecting our community in the water and we think they could use some help. Our donations will go towards helping Surf Lifeguards save lives this summer.

To find out more about Nice Blocks visit: www.niceblocks.co.nz
Fire crews have attended an incident at Mount Maunganui Intermediate School, where a skip bin was on fire earlier this evening.

A Fire and Emergency Services New Zealand spokesperson says crews attended the incident just after 3.30 pm.

"Fire crews were alerted to reports of a skip bin on fire at the school.

"Three crews attended the scene and the fire was extinguished.

"There were no buildings involved in the fire."

The fire is not under investigation and the cause remains unknown.
Good morning beautiful people of the Bay!

We hope youre having a relaxing holiday break and recovering from all that Christmas cheer.

Its been lovely seeing so many people out and about enjoying the sunshine. Arent our beaches gorgeous!

The place to be today is Baypark Family Speedway where some of America and Australias top midget car drivers will be taking on New Zealands best from 6.30pm.

Also racing are the best sprint car drivers in New Zealand, as well as F2 midgets.

Gates open at 5pm if you want to take a walk through the pits to get an up-close look at the cars.

Tickets can be purchased via the Baypark Family Speedway website www.bayparkspeedway.co.nz or at the gate.

Or if youre looking for thrills of a different kind why not head to the Mount Summer Carnival at Blake Park.

Enjoy all the fun of the fair from 6-10pm with great favourites such as the Dodgem Cars, Hurricane, Ferris Wheel, the Extreme Turbo Boost, candy floss, hot dogs, carnival games and more. See Facebook/Mountsummercarnival for more details.

For a more sedate evening you could head to Dinner in the Domain at the Papamoa Domain from 5.30-8.30pm for the best food trucks in town, coupled with local chefs performing live food demonstrations. There is also a licensed area so you can wash down all that yummy food with a glass of locally brewed beer.
Maintaining citizen involvement in the oversight of Smyth Countys public library is so important to at least two groups of its supporters that they plan to fight a move they see as a threat to such governance on the local and state levels.

Early this week, Marvin Leslie, a spokesperson for the Friends of the Marion Library, and Lynn Pease, president of the Friends of the Chilhowie Library, made their case to the Marion Town Council and asked for its support.

The Friends groups are opposing a resolution adopted by the board of supervisors Dec. 12. The resolution asks the General Assembly to allow the county to operate the library without a board of trustees. The document asks the legislature to add the county to Section 42.1-36 of the Code of Virginia, which already exempts Chesterfield and Shenandoah counties specifically and counties that use the county manager, county executive, urban county manager, urban county executive form of government, or charter. Smyth County uses the county administrator form of government.

The resolution goes on to ask that the change be effective July 1, 2018.

The supervisors cite financial savings as their reasoning. At the Dec. 12 supervisors meeting, Supervisor Rick Blevins, who also serves as the chairman of the library trustees, said that as a county department the library could be incorporated into consolidated services already available such as maintenance, security, insurance and other needs.

However, opponents question that motivation, saying they believe those savings could be accomplished without this move. They also note that the citizens who serve as library trustees receive no compensation.

Leslie told the Marion Town Council that the Friends had not been made aware of any empirical evidence that showed eliminating the trustees would save money.

The one-time government teacher also emphasized that the library should be governed by citizens. The library belongs to citizens of the community -- to all of us, Leslie said.

He also noted that the decision to adopt the resolution was made without public input as was a decision earlier this year to dissolve the regional system that the library had operated under for 45 years.

Leslie emphasized the importance of the library and its programs to the community. He said the Friends concerns focus on the reality that anything could happen if the state legislature approves the resolution. Noting that the countys three towns provide significant funding to the library, Leslie begged the council to give the matter serious consideration. The councils opposition would be influential to legislators, he noted.

Marion has $36,000 allocated to library funding in its current budget, while Chilhowie and Saltville each have about $22,000 budgeted for the institution, which has branches in each of the towns.

Pease, who has served as president of the Chilhowie Friends for about a decade, said he supported Leslies statements and emphasized the importance of bringing the issue to the public for community discussions. He asked that the three towns work together. He addressed the Chilhowie Town Council last week.

Pease noted, Time is of the essence, and he hoped a best approach could be found quickly.

The General Assembly session begins Jan. 10, 2018.

Town Manager Bill Rush said for the council the issues bottom line is determining if the town of Marion agrees with the supervisors that the library doesnt need a citizen board.

For me, Rush said, I like citizen participation. However, he added that he hadnt had the time to get additional information about the countys decision.

In addition to the $36,000 annual budget allocation, he said that the town provides about 50-60 hours of maintenance work at the library each year. Were trying to be good municipal neighbors, he said. As well, Rush noted the towns citizens pay county taxes.

The council members agreed that they wanted more information and voted to ask Rush and Town Attorney Mark Fenyk to research the matter.

Last week, the Chilhowie council directed its town manager, John Clark, to research the matter.

In an interview Thursday, Leslie confirmed that after Christmas he and Pease plan to develop a petition for citizens to sign asking the General Assembly to reject the supervisors request.

Also after Christmas, the Saltville Town Council will hold a special called meeting to discuss the issue. That meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 27, at 4 p.m. at town hall.

As part of the discussions, Friends members have called on the supervisors to return the trustees board to seven members -- one for each of the countys magisterial districts. After the dissolution of the regional system, the supervisors dropped the size to five members.
 on a daily basis make people feel like human beings and know that we really care about them.

Rather than pick a few interesting personal stories out of the millions of displaced people across the globe, Ai Weiwei keeps his focus on the scale of the worldwidein his new documentary.By stretching the narrative across 23 different countries, Ai Weiwei also zooms out from the handful of countries normally associated with refugees and fills in gaps in western public consciousness. Twenty three countries are visited over a year including Bangladesh, Gaza and Mexico as well as Germany, Greece, Iraq, Italy, Kenya, Lebanon, Macedonia and Pakistan.A mixture of cinematography showcases serene drone shots which demonstrate the scale of movement with handheld footage getting up close and personal with refugees. Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei often somewhat self-indulgently wanders into shot, filming what he sees on his camera phone and talking to people on the move. A UNHCR spokesperson adds the scale marker to the picture that the filmmaker is creating: 65 million people have been forcibly displaced across the world.The opening scene of a bird flying across a blue sky is quickly contrasted with an overhead shot of a small boat packed with people making its way across the blue sea. Freedom vs organised smuggling or trafficking. Theres poetry and unspoken narrative in these moments of high quality cinematography, later repeated with shots that soar over refugee camps, showing off the block layout and fire breaks between rows of tents and semi-permanent huts and caravans. But these arty shots are not allowed to dominate the imagery.The shaky bodycam and phone footage shows refugees being given blankets and warm tea as they step onto the European shore. Women describe living under the rain of missiles, fired and landing without warning, and drone footage once again takes viewers to the flattened suburban landscapes from which they fled.Over 140 minutes Ai Weiwei tours areas of displacement across the world, walking and talking alongside families and individuals making their way towards safety. The white infectious disease protection jumpsuits worn by rescued refugees are suggestive of dehumanisation. While the ethnically cleansed Rohingya community now living in Bangladesh are labelled as stateless people and boat people, the film notes that they are primarily humans.One contributor sums up her aim:The contrast between beautifully-crafted footage and guerrilla filming (complete with the howl of the wind in the uncovered mics) prevents the audience from sitting back in their seats to take a clinical at the problem. It is rough and ready, and in our faces. The films editing is deliberately ragged: some cuts are very sharp, other shots are allowed to linger and give space to think.Fifty minutes into the film theres a sobering reminder that this is not a travel documentary, and that while sea crossings are inherently dangerous, crossing land brings with it risks of rape, torture, slavery and death.Wherever Ai Weiwei takes his camera, there are long trails of people walking along roads and tented camps of different shapes and sizes. There are flows of people seemingly perpetually on the move, never staying still, searching for alternative security and overcoming natural obstacles like rivers.The only thing that halts the movement are man-made barriers: border fences have multiplied six-fold since the fall of the Berlin Wall. The film visits politically-sealed borders with barbed wire and guards between Greece and Macedonia, as well as the patrolled border between the US and Mexico. Grown men cry with the helplessness of neither being able to step forward, nor step back to return home.Palestinians living in Gaza speak about the difficulty of younger people growing up with stereotypes, not knowing the area before the walls and not having the opportunity to get to know and understand Israelis. Symbolically Ai Weiwei includes footage of Laziz the tiger being rescued from a cramped Gaza zoo. In a cruel irony, the tiger is helped to escape through Israel to enjoy a new life in South Africa, unlike the humans left behind in the caged-in region.With 26% of global refugees hosted in sub-Saharan Africa, the cameras call at Dadaab in Kenya, a cluster of five refugee camps. They also visit the refugee camp inside Berlins former Tempelhof Airport, an Ideal Home Exhibition-like vista of roofless cubicles built indoors. Normal patterns of life  births, marriages, deaths and even haircuts -Cash grants are used as an incentive for Afghans now living in Pakistan to return home. With the best will in the world, after 30 or 40 years they cannot always return to their familys plot of land, and their villages may still be insecure. So they remain displaced and dislocated, just no longer in Pakistan.The reality of arriving in Europe is somewhat at odds with the continents reputation of human dignity and respect. In my screening, applause broke out when former Syrian astronaut Muhammed Faris gave his perspective of looking down on Earth and realising how humankind shares the planet.Watching the film I couldnt help but wonder at the effort and ingenuity that governments invest in securing and surveilling borders as opposed to changing the many different reasons that continue to cause forced migration around the world.s distribution in UK cinemas was brief and patchy: however you will still find it playing in London screens and some larger independent cinemas. And the producers welcome opportunities for churches, museums, schools and other organisations to register their interest in showing the film Avoiding the temptation to over-moralise or point too many fingers  though European Union policies do come under its microscope provides a global perspective on a global problem and its duration is sufficient to give each audience member time to react to the scale of the story on screen.is being screened in Queens Film Theatre from Friday 5-Thursday 11 January
More than 100 Louisiana-based banks could be freed from a range of federal regulations if Congress passes a major rollback of banking rules pu
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Derrick Shepherd has carried on well the long standing tradition of crooked Louisiana politicians from Huey Long to Edwin Edwards to Dollar Bill Jefferson.

In April of 2008, the Feds indicted Shepherd, a state representative, on three counts of mail fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. They accused Shepherd using his law office to launder $141,000. The Feds say he kept of $65,000 of the laundered cash.

At first Shepherd accused prosecutors of pursuing an indictment against him after he refused to give them dirt on other elected officials. But eventually he had little choice but to plead guilty after one of Shepherds co-defendants struck a plea deal with prosecutors and agreed to cooperate.

In October of 2008, Shepherd plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. He was sentenced to more than three years in prison in February 2010, serving time both behind bars and in a halfway house before being released in March 2012.

Just months before Shepherd plead guilty in federal court, he was arrested in July after a domestic violence incident involving his jilted lover. His estranged girlfriend accused him of breaking down her door at three in the morning attacking her. She says it was the third time he had attacked her. Shepherd was subsequently placed on house arrest, stripped of his legislative committee assignments, and forbidden from practicing law.

If you believe our leaders should be held to the highest of standards, since they are typically given the most potent of power, then Derrick Shepherd should never be allowed to run for office again. Nor should he be a part of governing in any way. In other words those who do govern should not have him as a part of their inner circle.

It obviously raised eyebrows last week when Shepherd showed up for a meeting called by New Orleans Mayor-Elect LaToya Cantrell. Cantrells meeting was supposed to be with several members of the New Orleans legislative delegation. The Advocate reported a rumor that Shepherd would be a part of the Cantrell administration had been spreading in political circles. Cantrells transition team was asked multiple times over several days about those rumors. The transition was also specifically asked to explain Shepherds presence at the meeting and was given multiple opportunities to say that he would not be playing a role in the administration. In response to those questions, a spokesman for the transition would say only that no hiring decisions had yet been made. He did not directly address Shepherds presence at the meeting.

But after several days had passed and a number of stories were published questioning whether Shepherd would be a part of the Cantrell administration, the mayor-elect removed all doubt.

His presence at the meeting was solely of his own accord. Shepherd does not now nor will he ever have any role in my transition or in my future administration, Cantrell said.

When asked before Saturday about whether he would be playing a role in Cantrells administration after she takes office in May, Shepherd responded, I defer all question to Madam Mayor-elect.

Well never know for sure if Cantrell was considering Shepherd for her team and changed her mind after the media questioned the decision. But this we do know. Shepherd is still politically ambitious. He signed up to run for his old House seat in 2015 but was disqualified since he was a felon. Shepherd challenged the constitutionality of a law prohibiting felons from running for office, pointing out that the language passed by the voters differed from the wording that had been approved by the Legislature. He won the case, but months after the election had passed without his name appearing on a ballot.

State lawmakers have yet to remedy the problem, so at this point Shepherd is free to run for office. And the fact that he appeared at Cantrells meeting shows he still has some political clout and friends in high places.

I suspect we have not seen the last of Derrick Shepherd.

Dan Fagan is a former TV and radio broadcaster who lives in Metairie. Email him at faganshow@gmail.com.
Rayne's Cherri Foytlin, state director of Bold Louisiana, speaks into the intercom, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2017 in the driveway of the Governor's Mansion, asking where she could send letters on the subject of the Bayou Bridge Pipeline so that Gov. John Bel Edwards would receive them. Bold Louisiana, 350 Louisiana, Gulf Restoration Network and the La. Bucket Brigade demonstrated to urge the governor to halt work, or at least require more study, of the proposed Bayou Bridge Pipeline, which is still under review by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.
There are many reasons why it was wrong for a court to excuse a man  in a September judgment published last week  for not voting in the most recent federal election. Although not religious himself, the man was claiming a religious exemption under the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 because, he argued, his devotion to liberty was equivalent to a religious belief. Australia is one of only 32 countries to have compulsory voting. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen He is wrong, as is the magistrate who accepted his argument. Devotion to freedom, however heartfelt, is not a religion. Freedom is a human idea, attitude or preference, with nothing of faith  the essence of religion  about it. Moreover, to be asked for an opinion every three years about the future of your community is not an abridgement of liberty worth the name, particularly when it is perfectly legal to vote informal  that is, in effect, to say: "I have no opinion; I do not wish to vote for any candidate."

Voting is compulsory across Australia for sound reasons. It is not some capricious infringement on individual liberty. Nor is the pursuit of those who fail to vote merely, as some have suggested, a cynical way for governments to raise revenue. As citizens, Australians enjoy certain rights under the law. They are also subject to various duties, including obeying the law, paying taxes, serving on juries and defending the country against aggressors. Voting in elections is another of these. That is not so in all countries; only 32 have compulsory voting, and of those only 19, Australia included, enforce it with legal sanctions. Some have said Australia is out of step here, and doubts about compulsory voting have made the system fragile, the law notwithstanding. Voter apathy is worst at local elections. At the 2016 local government elections in Victoria, the turnout was just 72 per cent. Fewer go missing at federal elections, yet the trend is down. The federal election that year saw the worst turnout since the 1920s. Governments and the community cannot be complacent about falling participation. It is vital for the political health of the community that all parts of society, at every level, express, by voting, their opinion on the community's future. In countries where it is optional, non-voters tend to be concentrated among the poor and the marginalised in society. When large sections of the population fail to vote, they quickly slip out of political calculations.
These past few months, the debate over gay marriage in Australia hasn't always been dignified. Thankfully, a resounding "yes" to equality brought needed clarity to the discourse. And now Parliament has legalised gay marriage, affording LGBTI Australians the dignity they have long deserved. Undoubtedly, when Mardi Gras floats stamp up and down Oxford Street in March, there will be an extra celebratory flair to everyone's high-heeled step.

Yet as each float pauses at Taylor Square for its TV close-up, there will still be a glaring reminder of our community's ongoing indignity: our civic heart  this square  remains a tired public space few are proud of. With newfound equality at our back, positive change for "our place" should be considered as well. The square can be reimagined to represent a dignified gay Sydney and importantly, a place that favours culture over cars.

Celebrations for the "yes" vote at Taylor Square, which for decades welcomed Sydney's colourful counterculture warriors. Credit:Louise Kennerley

Inner-city residents know Taylor Square well. It's a natural meeting point between Darlinghurst, Paddington and Surry Hills, dissected into three small plazas by Oxford and Flinders streets. On any day other than Mardi Gras, when Oxford Street is pedestrianised, there is barely enough space for a critical mass of activity. You won't find many locals gathering or lingering on a sunny day. Instead, fast cars and loud buses dominate the landscape. The square's design actively discourages socialising and the unkept grassy knoll, awkward spray jets and lack of seating make the space unusable. No, this isn't a place for people. It's a traffic-laden interchange.

Compounding these design flaws, the lockout laws have hurt local business. And now, the T2 building's Aboriginal mural Always Was, Always Will Be has been erased, a move reminiscent of the rainbow crosswalk removal five years ago and signals that Taylor Square's future as a colourful "civic heart" appears condemned to beige monotony.
Augmented reality will become a better-known phrase as a superior version of Google Glass arrives. Imagine walking into a store, putting on techie glasses and learning immediately about product bargains, quality ratings and items you might want to buy, as you do now when shopping on the web. That kind of useful information will seep into our public spaces, and you will be able to speak a command and have your favourite cheese waiting for you at the grocery checkout, at a discount of course.

For instance, the coming year will see a major expansion of the internet of things, especially home and other smart devices subject to our commands. So much of our time with information technology has been taken up by texting and Facebook, pure communications of symbols and photos and videos. The next steps will be controlling our doors, heating systems, lights, stoves and refrigerators, and moving toward driverless cars. The virtual world will be managing our older physical processes more and more.

The onset of a new year brings plenty of predictions, and so I will hazard one: Many of the biggest events of 2018 will be bound together by a common theme, namely the collision of the virtual internet with the real "flesh and blood" world. This integration is likely to steer our daily lives, our economy, and maybe even politics to an unprecedented degree.

Integration will shape the financial world too. Bitcoin has been an online sensation since its origin in 2009, but it has existed as a kind of closed universe, both intellectually and in terms of its impact on other financial markets. Late in 2017, futures contracts for bitcoin started on both the Chicago Board Options Exchange and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which means Bitcoin now intersects with a world of collateral, margin requirements, potentially insolvent traders, and publicly verifiable values for contract settlement. So far this process has gone fine. But whatever your prediction for the future, this integration of real and virtual worlds will either make or break Bitcoin and other crypto-assets.

Yet more of the advances on the tech side are troubling, such as how artificial intelligence is being used for facial surveillance in China, and how Chinese social credit rating systems are assessing the suitability of individuals as both credit risks and loyal citizens. I expect many other autocracies to adopt similar technologies, and so "control of information" will mean "control of people" more and more.

In America, social media has split foreign policy to proceed along two very separate lines. There is the process-oriented, expertise-based approach emanating from some of President Donald Trump's advisers, and also from the State Department. Then there is Trump, who conducts much of his personalised, individualised foreign policy on Twitter, including threats to North Korea and insults to various allies. So far the process-oriented and Twitter-oriented foreign policies have coexisted, however uneasily. I see 2018 as the year where these two foreign policies converge in some manner. Either Trump's tweets end up driving actual foreign policy and its concrete, "boots on the ground" realisation, or the real-world policy prevails and the tweets become far less relevant.

As for conflict, cyberwar will escalate to the point where it is seen like an act of physical aggression, comparable to bombing civilians, rather than existing in its own separate sphere.

One under-discussed feature of the internet to date has been its role as an add-on in human affairs. Internet use brings extra benefits, but if you don't want to use the internet, you still can get most things done, in the physical world at least, though you probably are relying on other people to use the internet for you. People therefore can partake in the internet to varying degrees, while still intersecting broadly through the same common public institutions. Even without using email you can vote, buy groceries, drive your car, and send your kids to school.
Saeed Noori, 32, wore a white T-shirt and kept his eyes downcast during the hearing.

Flanked by two corrections officers and seated behind a glass screen, the man accused of mowing down 18 pedestrians in Flinders Street with the intention of killing or seriously injuring as many people as possible, appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

Mr Noori, an Afghan refugee and Australian citizen with a history of drug and mental health problems, has been charged with 18 counts of attempted murder and one count of reckless conduct endangering life.

His court appearance came as two victims from Thursdays incident still fight for their lives.

Mr Hardy remanded Mr Noori in custody until May 30 for a committal mention.

Police will be required to provide a hand up brief to Mr Nooris solicitors by April 18.

Im sure your lawyers will be speaking to you as soon as they get that material, Mr Hardy said.
Eight cars were damaged after crashing into counterweights that fell off a crane truck on the Western Ring Road on Thursday morning.

Cars travelling behind the crane truck sustained flat tyres, dented bumper bars and scratches after hitting the weights just after 7am.

Nobody was injured in the collision.

It's not yet clear what caused the counterweights to fall from the truck.
What a load of croc.

At least four people have laid claim to a freshwater crocodile found roaming the streets of Melbourne late on Christmas Day.

Snake hunter Mark Pelley said he had been inundated with calls after he caught the reptile in Heidelberg Heights with the help of five police officers.

"One person claimed it was theirs and said they lost it a week ago," Mr Pelley told The Age.
Virtually everyone is on holidays and hardly anyone is driving into the city at the moment, so getting around by car should be a breeze, right?

Not entirely. Since it's the time of year where the streets are less cluttered, VicRoads is taking the opportunity to carry out some important upgrade works, which are causing delays on some key roads.

At the moment there are works underway on the West Gate Bridge and the Monash Freeway, which are adding up to 20 minutes to travel times.

A cavalcade of Melburnians rushing to seaside tourist spots such as the Mornington Peninsula and Lorne has also caused some minor delays in these areas.
if the people of Biafra want Republic of Biafra, it will be a reality during my administration. ----Donald Trump Donald Trump I wi...
Its that time of year again, magpies: were counting down the ten best royal jewelry moments of 2017! Were kicking things off with a surprise appearance from an important Portuguese royal tiara

#10: The King Luis Diamond Tiara

This sparkling diamond tiara dates to the last years of the Portuguese monarchy. It was a wedding gift to Queen Amelie of Portugal from her father-in-law, King Luis. She kept it after the monarchy was abolished, and she left it in her will to her godson, the current Duke of Braganza.

His wife, Isabel, wore the tiara on her wedding day in 1995. Portugal is now a republic, but the Braganzas would be the nations king and queen if the monarchy hadnt been abolished, and they sometimes attend official events. Their wedding was even broadcast on television. But although Isabel attends white tie events on a semi-regular basis, she doesnt often wear this sparkler, which is the grandest of the family tiaras.

But when King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands made a state visit to Portugal this October, it was thrilling to see Isabel attending  and wearing the King Luis Tiara! Its wonderful to see these relics of monarchies past sparkling in public once more.
The Restaurant Monitor is a weekly listing of scores for restaurants inspected by the Brazos County Health Department.

Inspections scores are on a 100-point scale. Generally, scores below 80 might cause the department to schedule a follow-up visit. A score below 70 results in the suspension of an establishment's health permit.

The following inspections were conducted Dec. 14 through 21.

BRYAN

Buppy's Catering, 506 Sulphur Springs Road - 100; Knight Club, 4353 Wellborn Road - 100; Kroger Signature, 2303 Boonville Road - 100; Santa Teresa Catholic Church, 1212 Lucky St. - 100; Taco Bell, 920 S. Texas Ave. - 100; Village Cafe, 210 W. 26th St. - 100.

4 Corner's Market, 3239 Wilkes St. - 93. Environmental contamination, toxic substances improperly identified/stored/used, nonfood contact surfaces not clean, food and nonfood contact surfaces improperly designed/used.

B-5 Country Store, 18746 W. OSR - 98. Thermometers not provided/accurate/calibrated.

Casa Rodriguez, 300 N. Bryan Ave. - 92. Improper cooling method, food contact surfaces not clean and sanitized, improper cold-hold temperature (41 F/45 F).

Easy Shop - Chhantyal Shrestha LLC, 3510 S. College Ave. - 90. Inadequate hand-wash facilities, physical facilities improperly installed/maintained, manager not present/knowledge not demonstrated, thermometers not provided/accurate/calibrated, food and ice obtained from unapproved source.

E-Z 4U, 3300 Finfeather Road - 95. Food contact surfaces not clean and sanitized, inadequate hand-wash facilities.

Farm Patch, 3519 S. College Ave. - 91. Physical facilities improperly installed/maintained, improper date marking and disposition, improper cold-hold temperature (41 F/45 F), improper procedures and records.

Finish Line, 1403 Briarcrest Drive - 85. Physical facilities improperly installed/maintained, improper cold hold temperature (41 F/45 F), improper hot-hold temperature (135 F), eating/drinking/tobacco use, wiping cloths improperly stored/used, improper procedures and records, food contact surfaces not clean and sanitized.

Frittella Italian Restaurant, 3901 S. Texas Ave. - 94. Wiping cloths improperly stored/used, improper cooling method, improper cold-hold temperature (41 F/45 F).

Highway 21 Truck Stop, 2714 W. Texas 21 - 81. Toxic substances improperly identified/stored/used, improper cooling method, physical facilities improperly installed/maintained, evidence of insect/rodent contamination, environmental contamination, inadequate hand wash facilities, manager not present/knowledge not demonstrated, unauthorized persons, warewashing facilities improperly installed/maintained/used, improper hot-hold temperature (135 F).

Jose's Restaurant, 3824 S. Texas Ave. - 87. Toxic substances improperly identified/stored/used, hands not washed/improper glove use, physical facilities improperly installed/maintained, improper cooling method, improper hot hold temperature (135 F), wiping cloths improperly stored/used.

Miramont Country Club, One Miramont Blvd. - 97. Inadequate hand wash facilities, inadequate ventilation and lighting.

Nueva Vida, 2805 N. Texas Ave. - 94. Hands not washed/improper glove use, unauthorized persons, evidence of insect/rodent contamination.

Rana Grocery, 1501 Groesbeck St. - 85. Food contact surfaces not clean and sanitized, water from unapproved source/improper plumbing, unapproved sewage/wastewater disposal system, thermometers not provided/accurate/calibrated, ware washing facilities improperly installed/maintained/used, food and nonfood contact surfaces improperly designed/used.

COLLEGE STATION

First Baptist Church of College Station, 2300 Welsh Ave. - 100; La Familia, 4152 Texas 6 - 100; Max Food Mart Inc., 4150 Texas 6 - 100; Old Brazos Biscuit Company, 16611 Royder Road - 100; Texas Roadhouse, 1601 University Drive - 100.

555 Grill - 2501 S. Texas Ave. - 98. Thermometers not provided/accurate/calibrated.

Blackwater Draw Brewing Co., 303 Boyett St. - 96. Inadequate ventilation and lighting, eating/drinking/tobacco use, food and non-food contact surfaces improperly designed/used.

Chili's, 1063 Texas Ave. - 91. Unauthorized persons, nonfood contact surfaces not clean, bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat foods, food contact surfaces not clean and sanitized.

Days Inn, 2514 S. Texas Ave. - 98. Inadequate hand-wash facilities.

Gumby's Pizza, 107 Dominik Drive - 94. Food and non-food contact surfaces improperly designed/used, utensils and linens improperly stored/used, unauthorized persons, inadequate ventilation and lighting.

Kamei Japanese Restaurant, 951 William D. Fitch Parkway - 92. Improper procedures and records, single-use articles improperly stored/used, toxic substances improperly identified/stored/used, other violations.

Manor Inn College Station, 2504 Texas Ave. - 97. Inadequate hand wash facilities, physical facilities improperly installed/maintained/clean.

McDonald's, 1750 Rock Prairie Road - 94. Unauthorized persons, eating/drinking/tobacco use, improper cold-hold temperature (41 F/45 F).

Ninfa's Mexican Restaurant, 1007 Earl Rudder Freeway - 97. Manager not present/knowledge not demonstrated, other violations.

Ramada BCS, 506 Earl Rudder Freeway - 95. Improper cold hold temperature (41 F/45 F), improper cooling method.

Taz Indian Cuisine, 2416 Texas Ave. - 98. Food and nonfood contact surfaces improperly designed/used.

The George Hotel, 180 Century Court - 91. Environmental contamination, food not separated and protected during preparation, improper date marking and disposition, improper procedures and records.

The West End Elixir Company, 100 Church Ave. - 95. Physical facilities improperly installed/maintained, eating/drinking/tobacco use, thermometers not provided/accurate/calibrated, nonfood contact surfaces not clean.

Vineyard Court Designer Suites Hotel, 1500 George Bush Drive - 93. Improper cold-hold temperature (41 F/45 F), improper cooling method, thermometers not provided/accurate/calibrated.

HEARNE

Blue Moon BBQ, 18746 OSR - 100.
A Texas A&M mathematician is one of four at universities across the country to serve as co-principal investigators on a $1.3 million National Science Foundation-funded project seeking to move forward the field of quantum computing.

Eric Rowell, professor of mathematics with a research area of algebra and quantum computation, will lead the project alongside researchers from Louisiana State University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of California, Santa Barbara.

The objective of the three-year collaborative project is to pursue development of a working, scalable topological quantum computer, according to Texas A&M College of Science officials.

"It is really exciting to be a part of this project, which beyond having the potential to leave a major impact on science and technology, involves some truly beautiful mathematics," Rowell said in a statement.

Each project lead will bring a different area of focus to the team, including expertise in the areas of physics, topology and algebra -- which Rowell will contribute to alongside Richard Ng of LSU.

The team's proposal for the project states a plan to develop the "theoretical foundations of topological quantum computation, leading to an eventual theoretical foundation for the second quantum revolution," according to its abstract. The members believe the project could "fundamentally transform the landscape of information science and technology," if successful.

"This focused research group aims to formulate the theoretical foundations of topological quantum computation, leading to an eventual theoretical foundation for the second quantum revolution," Rowell said. "Imagine a loop of knotted string with the ends fused. ... If you wiggle the string slightly, the string does not become unknotted because the string's 'knottiness' is a global property. The idea of this topological model came from Alexei Kitaev and Michael Freedman around 1997, and relies upon very deep theoretical mathematics and physics, such as quantum topology and topological phases of matter."

The field of quantum computing using topological phases of matter was recently recognized on the international scale in 2016 with the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Physics to a team pursuing early work on the topic.

Rowell's Texas A&M research team, comprised of graduate students and Ph.D. candidates, will also participate in the project.

To learn more about the project, titled "Collaborative Research: Mathematical Foundations of Topological Quantum Computation and Its Applications," visit nsf.gov.
The last time Rhett Butler was in college, he admits he cared more about his music than studying for exams.

But his late brother Ashley's battle against cancer turned the 44-year-old in the direction of a different career -- and he's taking his journey to becoming an oncologist seriously.

Now in his first year of medical school at Texas A&M, Butler is nearly a decade short of being the oldest member of his class, which contains several "nontraditional" students who have brought with them varying life experiences and motivations for wanting to become physicians.

Fernando Vasquez, director of admissions at the Texas A&M College of Medicine, said these nontraditional students bring with them benefits ranging from a higher maturity level, proven responsibility and focus to a clear commitment to the career and more fully formed communication and interpersonal skills.

Butler's own nontraditional path to pursuing a degree in medicine was both winding and deeply personal. In what he describes as his "gap-career," Butler studied music at the University of North Texas and went on to have a career as an independent Dallas-based musician and performing artist.

It was his relationship with his brother, however, that he said gave him the truest insight into the health care system and inspired him to consider the significant career change. Butler said his younger brother's near-lifelong battle with cancer, which began when Ashley Butler was 2, and Rhett Butler's own role in his brother's care sparked a desire to take a more active, educated part in the health field.

Through his journey caring for his brother, Butler made the documentary Chasing Miracles -- which debuted in the Dallas International Film Festival -- and wrote the book The Patient and Caregiver's Guide to Cancer.

He said although he has loved his career in music, the death of his brother in 2010 signaled a change.

"I got into medicine because I was taking care of him as we grew up," Butler said. "After he passed away in 2010, I couldn't stop. I just kept asking questions, and it eventually landed me into taking some science courses, then eventually going all the way."

Although he had reservations about pursuing the career path -- "I would be 50 by the time I finished all the necessary training," he said -- Butler said he received a piece of advice from one of his brother's former doctors that helped to push him forward.

"He said, 'Well, you're going to be 50 anyway,' " Butler said with a laugh. "He said the question is, 'What do you want to be doing when you're 50?' When I told that to my wife, she just looked at me and said, 'Well, now you have to go do it.' "

Butler said after returning to the University of North Texas to begin his path toward medicine at its Health Science Center campus in Fort Worth -- and receiving the encouragement and support of his family -- he began preparations for pursuing his medical degree.

After his acceptance to the program at the Texas A&M College of Medicine earlier this year, Butler said, he and his family relocated to College Station in February so his wife and two young sons could begin to settle into their new home before classes began in July.

"It would be impossible to do this without my family," he said. "And it's not only my wife, who is spending more time with the kids when I have to be studying, but my parents, too. They moved into a house in Bryan to be here so they can be supportive. They want to make sure we have the tools in place to get this done. It's really been a team effort."

Returning to rigorous academic studies as an adult, a father and a husband has been an adjustment. Butler said, but one he has embraced. He said he particularly finds the same principles that helped him find success as a guitarist -- focus, hard work, dedication and consistency -- can be applied to his studies as well.

When those skills are not enough, Butler said the culture of the school and his class is such that he and his peers are more than willing to lend each other a helping hand whenever possible.

"That's a strength of this particular medical school," Butler said. "It's not that cut-throat kind of competitive environment that you find at some of the other medical schools. Here, generally, people are willing to help if you're struggling with some particular thing and really help each other along."

He said the inter-generational mixture, while at times challenging, has proven to ultimately be a beneficial combination that has provided the opportunity for everyone to learn from their peers.

Butler said while he and the other nontraditional students bring with them diverse life experiences and often more real-world examples to draw upon, his younger classmates have been able to offer a different set of perspectives and approaches to various problems.

Vasquez said the admittance of nontraditional students to medical school is far from uncommon and that life experiences such as Butler's have the potential to add an extra layer to the educational experience for not only the individual students but their peers as well.

He said nearly 30 percent of the students accepted this past year were 25 or older, and that for the past five years each class has had 19 percent or more of its members in that age range.

"It's a win-win for everybody," Vasquez said. "... It just becomes a better environment for everybody."

Butler said when his studies are complete, he hopes to take his newly acquired skills and knowledge and use them for the benefit of his patients, to give them a resource and an advocate who will make sure they are getting the best care possible.

"I know from personal experience being on the patient side of that relationship that the public wants a doctor that's going to go the extra mile for them," he said. "They want to know that their doctor is going to go all the way to the mat with them."

In addition to making a difference in the lives of his future patients, Butler said he hopes his journey will serve as both an example and inspiration to his sons as they grow up.

"I want my little boys to be able to see their dad do what he has to do to fight for family," Butler said. "I'd hope that they would treat each other the same way."

More than anything, Butler said he is thankful to Texas A&M for giving him a way to continue participating in the fight against cancer.

"Texas A&M, they have this thing about how Aggies fight," he said. "They really have given me a chance to do just that. They've given me a chance to stay in the fight, and there's a lot of pride that I have in this school."
July 28, 1958 - December 24, 2017

Valorie Ann Greer, 58, traveled to the stars to meet her celestial guide on December 24, 2017. She was born on July 28, 1958, in El Paso, Texas. Her early years were spent in Nacogdoches, Texas. She moved to Bryan to start 8th grade, finishing her education with a degree from Bryan High School & Texas A&M University where she majored in Psychology & minored in Business, Sociology & Women Studies. She was a member of PSI CHI National Honor Society.

After college, she remained in Bryan & worked as the Assistant Director & Volunteer Coordinator for the (then) Brazos County Rape Crisis Center. She later moved to the Dallas area & worked as the Corporate Office Manager for S&W Beverages. She returned to her hometown after that and worked as the Sales Representative for the Bryan/College Station Chamber of Commerce. She then entered the hospitality field and moved to Galveston, Texas, where she acted as the Manager of Lasting Impressions for the San Luis Hotel, Spa & Conference Center. She ended her career in Houston as the Guest Services Manager for the Omni Houston Hotel. During her life and after retiring, she was a professional organizer. She enjoyed gymnastics, playing fast-pitch softball, dancing & teaching dance, photography, working with the public and helping others in any way she could.

Valorie is survived by her mother, Wanda Knight Greer; her brother and sister-in-law, Gregg Only Greer & Beverly Dunham-Greer; and her nephews, Liam Scott Harrison Greer & Benjamin Only Greer. She was preceded in death by her father, John Only Greer. Visitation will be held on Thursday, December 28, 2017 from 4-6 pm. A Celebration of her life will be held on Friday, December 29, 2017, 2pm at Hillier Funeral Home of Bryan.

In Lieu of flowers, please send your support to Brazos Valley Hospice, SARC or the National Endometriosis Association.

Please visit Valorie's tribute page at www.hillierfuneralhome.com to share memories and stories.
Franklin County teeters just on the edge of a potential economic boom. With the promise of high-quality new jobs at the Summit View Business Park as part of a wide array of development efforts, our county and state cant afford to lose any ground in the race to draw employers attention.

While its easy to talk about the business-friendly climate of our region, we need to take concrete policy measures at the state level to entice companies. Recently the Virginia Association of Counties  basically the advocacy group for county governments -- developed a blueprint for lawmakers and state officials that gained the formal backing of Franklin County supervisors. This blueprint is an important step to show companies we mean business.

A draft of the policy paper covers the gamut of issues in both Richmond and Washington that affect counties, but also zeroes in on several priorities keyed to economic growth. Among these are:

 Developing more broadband. Franklin County has taken steps in this area by creating a county broadband authority that should increase the confidence of potential employers about high-speed internet. The advocacy group says the state and federal governments need to help local communities deploy universal, affordable access.

 Maintaining local authority to plan and regulate land use. The group opposes any bills that weakens local control and backs legislation granting localities more tools to meet the growing need for services tied to development, without real estate tax hikes.

 Changing the conditional zoning law to allow greater flexibility in the process for determining impacts when considering a development application.

 Improving coordination between the work force system and education, and supporting innovative models, as VACo puts it, for schools to give academic credit for students who earn industry work force skills through certifications, or licensure from an approved education or training provider.

 Opposing any legislation that limits or restricts local authority to regulate home-based businesses, including short-term rentals, regardless of whether services or goods are purchased through an online hosting platform.

This paper goes on to pinpoint the groups stances on specific proposals at the state and federal levels.

As a general rule, many of the economic growth positions pressed by the Virginia Association of Counties  and by extension, our own supervisors -- deserve our support, particularly as they focus on maintaining as much local authority as possible. We especially favor strong local control of land use regulations and zoning as tools to spur business recruitment.

We hope Franklin Countys elected officials continue to advocate policies that attract quality employers in the years ahead, and that the areas representatives also push for this agenda.

Perched on the edge of the growth possibilities offered at Summit View and in areas such as the highly developable North Main Street corridor in the town of Rocky Mount, Franklin County is ready to take the plunge, and needs policy makers in its corner.
On Dec. 6, best-selling author Beth Macy met with more than 50 high school students at the Franklin Center to discuss her award-winning book Truevine.

After 25 years, Nancy Saunders granted Macy permission to tell the story of her great-uncles George and Willie Muse.

The English students have been reading Truevine as a part of their dual-enrollment course offered by Virginia Western Community College and Franklin County High School. Throughout the course of reading the book, students were surprised to learn how much they did not know about local history.

Truevine tells the story of the kidnapped Muse brothers, who were forced to work in circus sideshows without pay. After their kidnapping, the brothers were told that their mother, Harriet Muse was dead.

Harriet Muse searched for information about her boys for 13 years; then she finally learned they would be coming to Roanoke, the same place she had relocated to work as a maid.

She entered the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus to order her sons to return with her.

While reading this it just shocks me that this happened locally and Im just now learning about it, Dakota Gashaw said in a journal entry. I live in Sontag, and it is weird to me that these things happened right here, because I never would have guessed. Reading this shows how many of us probably dont know about some of our local history.

Circus promoter Candy Shelton refused to let Harriet Muse take her sons home with her. She later found a lawyer willing to sue the circus, forcing the circus to pay the brothers for their work, but Shelton continued to underpay George and Willie Muse.

Macys book also portrays the hard economic, social and legal obstacles faced by African Americans during that time.

I always thought lynching and racism was in the deep South, Ilene Hurley said. Its hard to read about well-educated people  making laws in the Virginia Constitution knowingly being racially biased and proud of it. I have always learned about the poll taxes and literacy tests, but seeing the effect it had on Harriet Muse makes it so much more real  People should take the time to learn from this to ensure something of this nature never happens again.

Before reading this I was unaware that black survivors of the Jim Crow era were still alive here in Franklin County, Kevin Kirkham said. While I knew that blacks werent treated fairly or with respect, I was unaware of the extent of the insult. I have never thought about it before, but I wonder, could there still be remnants of the Jim Crow era?

During Macys presentation she offered the students stories of how she became a journalist and a college graduate, after growing up poor and under difficult circumstances. She was the first of her family to attend college.

Macy also told of her interest, as a reporter, for stories that are often overlooked. She has written two books, both with ties to Franklin County.

Most journalists feel a need to move, Macy said. But I would not have gotten either story if I hadnt stayed in one place.

Before meeting with the students, class teacher Raymond Williams shared the students journals with Macy, who was impressed with their insight and the quality of their writing.

She praised the students for their questions and observations, including that the subject is not covered in depth by the states standardized tests.

This information is a sad reality, because when our generation looks back to see the awful treatment African Americans in the early 20th century we forget to focus on the actuality of injustices still occurring, Ashley Johoske said.

In addition to learning about local history, the students learned more about research skills and how a writer can craft information for an audience.

At the conclusion, one student, Jessica Hernandez thanked Macy for telling the stories of Truevineand Factory Man, saying she believes that they were stories that need to be told.
Smith Mountain Lake State Park is encouraging people to kick-start 2018 with its eighth annual First Day Hike.

On Jan. 1 at 1 p.m., Interpreter Jet Lawler will meet hikers at the Visitor Center, where they can hike on their own or with a ranger.

The 1,148 acre state park is located on the second largest freshwater lake in Virginia. The park offers numerous activities including swimming, boat rentals and ramps, family picnic areas, an amphitheater, special programs, around 14 miles of marked trails with the longest being close to three miles one way, and much more to keep people active all year long.

On New Years Day visitors can choose to hike with Lawler along Beechwood Trail, which is about one mile long and weaves through the woods surrounding the campground.

Hikers will follow a stream and marvel at the lake views as they pass an old home and tobacco barn.

Beechwood Trail is rated as easy.

More adventurous hikers can choose to experience the Walton Creek to Striper Cove Trail. This trail is about a mile and a half long and is rated moderate.

These hikers will get the chance to pass through a newly created opening to see signs of early forest succession and enjoy the winter scenery.

We do this each year because most people have New Years resolutions to exercise more and get out more, said Tammy OConnell, administrative specialist. This is more of an encouragement to help people be more active.

Last year the First Day Hike brought in nearly 150 people and according to OConnell, each year the event gets bigger and gains popularity.

Smith Mountain Lake State Park will have the event in sun or snow, so it has been advised to dress properly and bring water.

Hikers can feel free to bring other hiking material, binoculars, well-behaved dogs on leashes and a camera to participate in the parks photo contest.

All participants will have the opportunity to win a $500, $250, $100 or $66 state park gift certificate after the hike.

To participate, take a photo during the hike and upload it to http://bit.ly/VSPFSHPhoto2018 before 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 1.

The winners will be selected by the parks marketing staff.

For anyone else who would like to be more active, but may not be able to make the First Day Hike, Smith Mountain Lake State Park will host the 16th annual Winter Lecture Series: Butterfly Journeys, Near and Far with Mark Adams on Jan. 14 at 3 p.m.

The lecture series will include photos of butterflies that Adams took in Peru, South American, Ghana, Africa and Virginia.

For more information about ticket prices, the First Day Hike and contest or other upcoming events, contact the park at 540-297-6066.
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A well-known name in Connecticut pizzerias is setting up shop in downtown Bridgeport.

Pappas Pizza and Grill is preparing to open at 1006 Broad St.; it will be the third location to open under the Pappas name including Original Pappas Pizza Downtown and Pappas Pizzeria, both in Stamford.

Owner Harry Zoupounidis said he wanted to expand the family-run business to the downtown area as business development in Bridgeport continues.

Theyre doing a lot of building, and they are talking about bringing a casino in, but for me its mostly for the customers who are there, he said. A lot of them are customers that I used to have in Stamford that now live in Bridgeport.

Pappas Pizza was founded in 1958 by the Pappadopoulos family who came to the U.S. from southern Greece and opened the first Pappas location in at 201 Main St. in downtown Stamford.

It served an array of quick menu items for a few years before shifting to pizza to meet the demand of the customers in the 1960s.

Zoupounidis ended up taking over the downtown Stamford restaurant in 1985 with his then-wife, Sue Sgouris, and her parents.

They opened a second location in Stamford years later at 306 Hope St., which is run by Zoupounidis sister Eva.

Zoupounidis is preparing to open the Bridgeport restaurant in a 1,300-square-foot space that once housed Tito & Oliver, which closed earlier this month.

With a mix of traffic coming from the Fairfield County Courthouse, the Margaret E. Morton Government Center, local colleges and downtown patrons, the Norwalk resident said the Broad Street address will be prime real estate to gain exposure for the restaurant.

The main attraction, according to Zoupounidis, will be Greek pan pizza made from the same recipe used when the business was founded back in 1960.

Not to be mistaken with Italian-style pizza, Zoupounidis said the crust is made crispier as the pizza is cooked in a pan and is not in direct contact with the brick oven.

Along with its popular pizza selections, Pappas will also serve an array of entrees and appetizer items like salads, wraps, burgers, pasta and more. The restaurant is slated to feature a sports-themed layout and will serve alcohol.

Out of the three locations it will be the only one that has a bar, Zoupounidis said, adding that he plans to have happy hour specials.

Once completed, Zoupounidis said he wants to hire six employees while he handles operations and the kitchen as head chef.

Along with hiring locally, the Norwalk resident said he wants to get involved with city youth, adding that he wants to eventually work with the Cardinal Shehan Center.

I did that a lot in Stamford with the Stamford youth, and I plan to do that in Bridgeport, he said.

Pappas Pizza and Grill is slated to open in mid-January, Zoupounidis said.
NORWALK  The holidays have come and gone, but many of your neighbors are still in need.

The Norwalk Hour and Family & Childrens Agency are joining together for the second year in a row to offer a chance for local families or groups to sponsor someone less fortunate for the holiday season. The Giving Fund features local residents who need a small money boost to buy presents, visit relatives or get a breather from a shaky financial outlook.

Each case includes an estimated dollar amount that would help the featured clients face everyday challenges like rent payments, child care costs and transportation. Every dollar donated to the Giving Fund goes directly to the clients in need. The families and individuals who benefit from the Giving Fund often dont know they have been submitted, and aliases are used in the published stories to protect privacy and dignity.

The Norwalk Hour will publish new cases in print every Thursday, with a coupon for donations, and maintain a full list online. Click here to donate to The Giving Fund.

Bernie  Case 250

Bernie is the only child of a single mom living in Norwalk. Bernies mother, Janet, periodically works as a housekeeper. Recently Janet had knee surgery, which affected her ability to go back to work. She is slowly recovering, but without work, household bills have begun to pile up. Ultimately, Janet and Bernie were forced to leave their home, and move in with a family member until Janet can get back on her feet. A gift of $500 would help this family toward saving for a security on an affordable apartment.

Peter & Mary  Case 251

Peter and Mary live locally with their three children, ages 4, 6 and 9. Recently, the family discovered that their home was infested with bedbugs. Due to the infestation, the family was forced to leave the home and throw away all of their mattresses and bedding. Currently in transition to new housing, a gift of $400 will help this family purchase mattress and bedding so that they do not have to sleep on palettes.

252: For seven months, Samantha and her 6-year-old daughter lived in transitional shelters or in the homes of friends and families. While sleeping on couches, Samantha created a tradition called the snuggle couch. Before bed on the snuggle couch is when Samantha and her daughter would read together, tell stories from their day and dream about their future home. The now have a home, but they dont have much furniture or a snuggle couch. A donation of $350 would help Samantha bring back the snuggle couch tradition in her new home.

Katie  Case 253

Katie is a 17-year-old living with her mother, older brother and her mothers steady boyfriend. Katie and her family are undocumented, and came to the U.S. when she was an infant. Katie moved to Norwalk last year and began to struggle with anxiety and depression about starting a new school. Katie and her family were previously evicted from their apartment in Stamford due to frequent late rent. Katies mother works at a community center teaching art classes but only receives limited hours. Katies mother also speaks little English, causing her greater difficulty in navigating resources. The family has struggled to pay bills on time and has frequently lived without power. The family is in need of additional financial support and a gift of $325 would help pay past due electricity bills.

Crystal  Case 254

Crystal is a sophomore in high school who has a history of abuse and neglect from her biological mother, as well as a sexual abuse by a relative. Crystal has been removed from multiple homes, and now lives in Stratford with her eighth foster mother. Despite her traumatic past and current school struggles, Crystal has the desire and potential to excel in school with support and resources. A gift of $450 would allow Crystal to have a laptop of her own to do her academic work and be prepared and successful for school.

Marsha  Case 255

Marsha is an 80-year-old woman living in senior housing in Fairfield County. Marsha suffers from several health issues including high blood pressure and spends most of her time at home with her feet elevated. Marsha is in need of a new reclining chair, as her current one is broken and barely operable. Marsha lived a very active lifestyle before her health issues significantly impacted her abilities. Being limited has been very difficult and having this new chair will lift her spirits. A gift of $300 will help purchase a new chair.

Jimena & Gilberto  Case 256

Jimena and her husband Gilberto recently arrived in the United States and are living in Norwalk with their three daughters. Jimena arrived in the country pregnant with a high risk pregnancy and gave birth five months ago to a baby girl who has medical problems for which she is being seen at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Gilberto and Jimena have been working alternate shifts to be able to take care of their children; however, Gilberto lost his job for a period of time. Even though Gilberto is now working again, the time of unemployment led to the family falling behind on rent and utilities, and they are now at risk of being disconnected for lack of payment. As gift of $300 would help them keep the power on.

Eva & Jonas  Case 257

Eva and Jonas are young parents of a 15-month-old boy. Eva and Jonas were recently forced to move out of the room that they were renting from family members. Eva takes care of their baby while Jonas works long hours with little pay to support the family. The young parents moved to a one-bedroom apartment to live independently and to offer their son a better environment and a bigger space to grow and explore. Unfortunately, they were only able to leave with their clothes and a few toys. Jonas was able to gather the money for the first months rent and security deposit but the family would benefit greatly if they receive a gift of $300 to buy bedding and a mattress and basic needs and cleaning supplies.

Sue  Case 258

Sue is a single mother with two adopted teenagers. Sues children mean everything to her and both boys struggle with severe mental health issues, which often affects Sues ability to consistently work. Over the years Sue has saved and set aside a rainy day for rent; however, her savings has dwindled and the family is now in jeopardy of losing their home. A gift of $500 would help Sue and her family remain in their home and allow her sons to complete their specialized school programs.

Brian  Case 259

Brian is a 68-year-old man who has been living in Bridgeport for almost a year after being homeless since 2015. Before moving to Bridgeport, Brian was at a local shelter where he worked very hard with the professionals helping him in order to get out of homelessness and begin a new chapter in his life. Once Brian moved into his new apartment, he began suffering from anxiety and depression due to the living environment he was in. He became so afraid of being in his own home that he suffered Bells palsy, which briefly left him hospitalized. Now Brian is working with FCA to help him move back to Norwalk so that he can continue to stay out of homelessness. Brians goal is to be housed in a place that allows him to grow and become part of the community because he knows that being homeless is a very traumatic experience no should ever go through. Brian would like a donation of $500 to make his new apartment comfortable.
Funded and founded by evangelicals, the new Museum of the Bible sticks out for something its leaders clearly wanted to emphasize: Jews.

The eight-story, cutting-edge $500 million institution, which opened last month and is already one of the world's largest Bible museums, devotes more space to stories of the Hebrew Bible (Jewish texts) than to the New Testament (the part of the Christian canon featuring Jesus and his teachings), highlights a special permanent exhibit on Israeli antiquities, sells Jewish items in its gift shop like menorahs and mezzuzahs, and pipes the sound of people praying in Hebrew through its speakers. A real, live yarmulke-wearing rabbi from Israel is seated at the end of the final major exhibit, writing the letters of a Torah scroll, deliberately there to emphasize museum leaders' perspective that "God started with the Jewish people, and he is still with the Jewish people," said Cary Summers, the museum's president.

Then why do some Jews express skepticism about the museum?

The answer blends politics, culture, theology and the question of whether it's possible for disparate groups to ever share the Bible in a meaningful way. While modern liberal rhetoric aspires to religious pluralism, the reality is that Christians and Jews see the Bible in fundamentally different ways - from what counts as "the Bible" to how to read and understand it. Not to mention the significant differences within faith groups.

Shmuel Herzfeld, a modern Orthodox rabbi who leads the Ohev Shalom synagogue in Washington, wanted to go weeks ago, when the museum opened, but members of his study group weren't willing. He finally went alone last week and said he felt awed and a bit weird walking through a bustling museum that to him seemed more about Jews than for them.

He noticed a stack of Star of Davids placed in the gift shop next to statues of a girl in what appear to be God's hands - which was jarring to Herzfeld since Jews avoid statues, idols or images of anything Godlike. He felt uncomfortable watching the experiential, Disney-like "Jewish Bible" show, much of which is told through impressionistic video. That it was presented without noting the post-biblical Talmud and other rabbinical commentary Jews consider crucial parts of their canon seemed to him to imply that God's story continues through Christianity - not Judaism. He shook his head as the show depicted Abraham kneeling before God - an image much more in keeping with Christian than Jewish prayer.

"You're seeing the Bible the way Christians do," he said of the museum.

"I don't want to sound cranky because they went out of their way to be nice, and certainly we're not opposed to teaching what Judaism is about. But there is an uneasy feeling that we're part of this marketing campaign where the point is to convince people of the prophetic message of Christianity," he said.

A panel at this month's annual Association for Jewish Studies conference, entitled "the Museum of the Bible As Mediator of Judaism," included panelists who all agreed that the museum's "self-description as religiously neutral" was inaccurate, said Mark Leuchter, professor of Hebrew Bible at Temple University and a participant in the panel.

However, while some Jewish visitors said they felt like props, or felt they were being proselytized to, or had concerns about the legality and authenticity of some items (Hobby Lobby, a craft chain whose owners founded the museum, paid a $3 million fine this summer for smuggling ancient Iraqi artifacts), other Jews are happy with the museum.

The museum collaborated with a number of paid Jewish consultants - including Bible scholars, community advocates and rabbis. The consultants sit on an international advisory board or are expert guides. The Museum's director of content, Seth Pollinger, said 35 to 40 percent of the board and of the guides are Jewish, a dramatic number when you consider Jews are less than 2 percent of the adult U.S. population, according to the Pew Research Center (and less than a half of 1 percent, worldwide, Pew says).

The consultants lean to the more Orthodox side (which represent about 10 percent of U.S. Jews), but the list also includes people from across the religious and ideological spectrum.

"We are pursuing exhibits that present balanced descriptions that highlight broad consensus views . . . without taking up causes for the 'religious right' or the 'political left.' Although this is our goal, we will need to constantly host discussions that are open to critical and constructive suggestions on points to improve so we can advance a more 'centrist' presentation," Pollinger wrote in an email.

Among the consultants was prominent Brandeis University historian Jonathan Sarna, whose specialty is American Judaism. He hasn't yet toured the museum but reviewed the museum exhibit wording in detail for curators.

Sarna said the museum officials did the best they could, but there's no escaping that the Christian Bible is organized in a way that anticipates the coming of Jesus, while the Hebrew Bible (the older part, often called the Old Testament by non-Jews) is organized differently and does not. Some Jewish visitors felt the museum's main storytelling exhibit - the "narrative" floor - emphasized the Christian version of the shared stories, such as highlighting Ruth - someone Christians see as a foremother of Jesus - and not Sinai, an essential spot for Jewish understanding of the Bible.

"The Bible is really almost a Rorschach test, people see different things in it. At its best the museum does reflect that. In other places it more reflects the Bible as seen by the funders of the museum," Sarna said.

There are endless ways to see both the Jewish and Christian traditions, but one core difference is that many Christians see the Bible itself as the highest authority. Jews typically see the Bible as a starting point, to be read and translated through the lens of centuries of rabbinical commentary. This is one reason Sarna thinks most Jews aren't rushing to the museum - they don't focus on the Bible.

"When someone from my congregation says: 'I'm reading the Bible,' I get worried," half-joked Stuart Weinblatt, a rabbi from Potomac, Maryland, who spoke at the museum's dedication and who thinks it's wonderful. "I say: 'Just make sure you read it with a Jewish commentary.' That's the filter that makes it Jewish."

Weinblatt said the grand, huge museum is an opportunity for Jews to engage with biblical texts and to find a common ground with others.

Many Jews are wary of evangelical interest, Weinblatt said, because they think it's motivated primarily by a desire to convert them. While the need for conversion to Christ remains a basic tenet of evangelicalism, many evangelicals today express a more general commitment to the idea that God in the Bible promised to "bless those who bless Israel," and interpret that in various ways.

"There has been a radical change over the past 20, 25 years and the Jewish community hasn't woken up," Weinblatt said.

Weinblatt is touching on a reality: There are key cultural and political challenges in making evangelical Christians and Jews genuine partners. While Orthodox Jews work often with conservative evangelicals on social issues like opposing same-sex marriage, securing public funding for religious private schools and on their shared idea of how to support Israel, the typical American evangelical and the typical American Jew are on opposing sides of many issues in America.

In research released earlier this year, Pew analyzed religious groups' feelings toward one another. White evangelicals ranked Jews more "warmly" than they did almost any other group, while Jews ranked white evangelicals near the bottom.

Rabbi Scott Perlo of Sixth and I, a D.C. nondenominational synagogue focused on younger Jews, said he hasn't seen the museum yet but is planning to go soon.

"The proximity to the Mall makes us worried. Because the combination of church and state hasn't worked out well for the Jews. It feels like a statement is being made about American government and we do not know how to interpret that, what that will lead to," he said.

American Jews are far more liberal than the American public, particularly on social issues and on the ideal size of government. The museum's board is almost entirely evangelical, a group that falls on the opposite side of such issues. One of the primary donors to the museum is Hobby Lobby, which sued - and beat - the Obama administration at the Supreme Court after objecting to providing certain types of birth control for employees. The case for many attached conservative political associations onto Hobby Lobby, whose president, Steve Green, is chairman of the museum's board. His father, Hobby Lobby's billionaire founder, David Green, wrote an op-ed endorsing Trump for president.

Evangelicals' tendency to view scripture as orthodox and unchanging clashes with the perspective of most Jews. Pew Research Center found 55 percent of evangelical Protestants said scripture should be taken literally, compared with 11 percent of Jews who said the same.

There are points where museum staff sought to accommodate beliefs shared by the museum's conservative Christian leaders and their Orthodox Jewish advisers - beliefs not necessarily widely shared by Jews, said Gordon Campbell, an expert on the King James Bible who is on the museum's advisory board. For example, there is an exhibit on the history floor about early writing, he said, which is meant in part to honor the perspective of more literal believers that the Torah was written very early - perhaps, one could say, by Moses, inspired by God. Mainstream academics date it nearly a millennium later, he said.

The museum worked hard to make Jews comfortable in the museum, Campbell said - for example, taking care to focus on major Protestant figure Martin Luther - a raging anti-Semite - as a Bible translator rather than as a hero.

Summers, the museum president, disagreed with the premise that Jews are staying away and said museum staff reports hearing that visitors regularly include Jews. He said the museum's main challenge is the months of articles in the run-up to the opening expressing skepticism about the intentions of the institution. The initial mission statement of the museum talked about promoting the literal word of God.

A day after his visit, Herzfeld was still mulling his sentiments about the museum.

"You get a little children's version of the Bible, which might be good for some, but that's not to me why it's meaningful. It's the interpretation, Jews believe . . . and literalism is often the opposite of the rabbinical tradition," he said, describing himself as "uneasy . . . I'm still thinking about it all."
NORWALK Police are investigating the theft of a work vehicle from an East Norwalk business over the weekend.

Police were notified Tuesday morning of the apparent theft of a Dodge truck from a service station at 216 East Ave. Employees told police that the truck was last seen early Saturday morning.
NORWALK  A New York woman is accused of attempting to purchase electronics with a fraudulent ID at a Connecticut Avenue store on Tuesday.

Chantee Fraser, 20, of Springfield, N.Y., was charged with second-degree forgery, credit card forgery and interfering with an officer.

Police were called to Best Buy at 330 Connecticut Ave. around 1:30 p.m. on a report by store staff of an individual who was attempting to purchase products with a suspected fake ID.

According to police, Fraser produced a New York state identification card in an effort to open an account to purchase a Mac Book Pro laptop and an Apple watch. When staff told her that those items were not available, she reportedly left the store briefly and came back asking about applying for a store credit card to purchase an iPad Pro.

As they processed her application, store staff noted that the ID did not look right, which aroused their suspicions.

The ID that Fraser reportedly produced belonged to an individual who was already in the Best Buy system. When employees told Fraser that there was already an existing account in that name, she asked how much credit was available, police said.

When police responded to the store and approached Fraser, they say that she pushed an officer and tried to run away before being apprehended.

Frasers bond was set at $5,000 and she was given a court date of Jan. 3.
Over the long holiday weekend, the most treacherous driving was on Friday, according to the Hall County Sheriffs Department.

Driving conditions were really bad Friday, said Sgt. T.J. Arends. In many cases, motorists slid off slick roads into the ditch.

The Sheriffs Department had 20 weather-related calls between 3 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. Tuesday. Thirteen of those calls involved assisting motorists. Five were accidents with no injuries. The other two were accidents with minor injuries. One of those accidents was Sunday.

Driving was better on Tuesday, but there were still some accidents.

The Nebraska State Patrol and Hall County Sheriffs Department responded to an accident at about 8:50 a.m. Tuesday on Interstate 80. A semi and a Chevy Impala collided near mile marker 305 on Interstate 80, about five miles east of the Wood River exit.

Peyton Ellis, the driver of the Impala, was transported to CHI Health St. Francis by Wood River Fire and Rescue. The semi was driven by John Miller, 35, of Iowa.

The Impala was in the right-hand lane and went onto the shoulder, said Cody Thomas, the State Patrols public relations director.

Ellis, 21, lost control and moved into the passing lane, where the Impala collided with the semi, Thomas said. The accident pushed both vehicles onto the median.

Both drivers were wearing seat belts. Alcohol was not involved. The semi sustained minimal damage.

As of mid-afternoon Tuesday, Grand Island Police Sgt. Kevin Sheeks said there had been five or six accidents that day.

In Grand Island, snowplows hit the streets Saturday night for the first time since February.

Plowing began at about 10:30 p.m. Workers were able to cover the snow routes twice Saturday night and early Sunday morning, said Streets Superintendent Shannon Callahan.

Nobody likes to work during the holidays. But for the people running snowplows, conditions were actually good, Callahan said.

For one thing, the snow was pretty light and fluffy, which makes it easier to clear off, she said.

The snow actually came at a good time, Callahan said.

Because it was Christmas weekend, there wasnt as much traffic as normal. It helps when snowplows get to the snow without it getting too packed down, she said.

Callahan was happy about how much workers got done Saturday night.

When it started to snow, workers went out to start salting the streets.

Once the snow began to accumulate, the salt trucks were called off and the snowplows went out.

Sunday morning, plows started on the residential streets, finishing up Sunday night.

On Sunday night, workers hauled the snow from downtown to the snow pad, which is south of the JBS plant.

On Tuesday, plows went out to finish up the cul-de-sacs that remained.

Also Tuesday, trucks were dropping a mixture of salt and a product called Ice Slicer.

With temperatures as low as they were Tuesday, the salt was meant to help only with traction. The Ice Slicer, which is a natural product, helps with melting the ice and slush. The sun also helps with melting, Callahan said.
A trailer is a total loss and a family is displaced following a fire Wednesday morning.

The Grand Island Fire Department was called to a structure fire at 2323 Bellwood Drive No. 166 at 10:50 a.m., Shift Commander Ed Carlin said. While the call came in as a smoke investigation, he said the first unit on-scene noticed fire coming from the exterior walls of the trailer and upgraded it to a structure fire.

Carlin said that in talking to the occupants of the trailer, it was revealed that the cause of the fire was a wood burning stove, with the ignition occurring where the chimney goes through the ceiling and roof. He added the trailer home suffered severe damage and is likely not salvageable.

The Red Cross issued a press release saying it is assisting the family.
The stock market is booming. Consumer confidence is soaring. The unemployment rate is falling. The economy is getting more robust every day. And President Donald Trumps approval ratings have just hit a new low.

Congratulations, Trump. You are the president of a loyal base whose members adore you. The bad news, Mr. President, is that almost no one else does.

According to a new CNN poll, just 35 percent of Americans approve of the way the president is handling his job. Fifty-nine percent disapprove. The poll was taken before Congress passed the new tax law, so he may get a bump in the next round of polls. But its unlikely to be more than just a bump. The economy is already barreling ahead  and that hasnt done much for his approval numbers.

So whats going on? Im not exactly going out on a limb to suggest his low approval numbers have a lot to do with his tweeting, his bluster and his pettiness. In short, a lot of Americans think hes temperamentally unfit for office.

But you dont have to admire this president, or even like him, to acknowledge the obvious: that more than a few journalists  like most other liberal Democrats  wont rest until hes out of office.

Trump thinks they just make stuff up to hurt him  or at least thats what he says. Who knows if he actually believes it. His loyal base believes it and that may be all he needs to keep the fake news narrative going.

But heres another explanation: Contrary to popular belief, journalists are only human and so, from time to time, they make mistakes.

But mistakes, if theyre really just that and not something more nefarious, should go in both directions. Funny, but when reporters make mistakes about this president, they all seem to go in just one direction  the anti-Trump direction.

If these were simply honest errors, some of them, just by chance, would help the president. But they dont. So what should we make of it?

To say journalists have a liberal bias and detest this president isnt exactly breaking news. When it comes to Donald Trump, a lot of journalists figure if the sun rose in the east today, he must have done something wrong and theyre going to prove it. So they let their journalistic instincts lapse; they let their guardrails down. Instead of being skeptics, they become gullible patsies, taking in all sorts of later discredited information peddled by anonymous sources  as long as it makes the president look bad.

They put out false information about collusion with the Russians, for example, because they want to believe that he conspired with his pal Vladimir Putin to rig the election. Collusion, after all, could lead to impeachment, the holy grail.

And if, heaven forbid, you criticize them for sloppiness or for going overboard, youre accused to being a Trump sycophant who wants to put a stake through the heart of the First Amendment and democracy itself.

But how would these same journalists respond if it were Barack Obama or President Hillary Clinton who was under investigation by a special prosecutor who loaded up his team with Republican donors? How would they react if a lead FBI investigator texted his mistress that candidate Clinton is a (expletive) idiot and that they needed an insurance policy in case she somehow won the election?

We know how theyd react: Theyd say the deck was stacked against the Democrat. Theyd be outraged. And for good reason.

Yes, Donald Trump, with his egocentricities, his thin skin, his unnecessary quarrels with critics, and a lot more, gives the media plenty of ammunition to use against him. Its as if hes saying, I just loaded the gun for you reporters who hate me; here it is; ready, aim, shoot me.

Still, there are times when I wonder why he wastes so much time and energy beating up on the press when, thanks to their not so hidden contempt for him, they do such a good job beating up on themselves.
In 1980, the 1.5-million-acre Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was designated by Congress for further study of its oil and gas potential. Most of the rest of ANWRs 19 million acres remains protected by federal wilderness designation.

The Coastal Plain, at its widest, spans roughly 100 miles and averages about 30 miles deep. The arctic tundra is an almost featureless expanse; barren, pitted with thousands of shallow ponds, and cloaked in darkness and bitter cold most of the year.

To the south, gently rolling, treeless hills and glens lead to the foothills and then to the distant, northernmost edge of the magnificent Brooks Range. The image of ANWR etched into the American conscience over decades by environmental activists is of the green, verdant hills, teeming with herds of caribou. The barren Coastal Plain of winter is rarely depicted with any mention of ANWR.

In the summer of 1963 geologist Gil Mull discovered an oil-saturated sandstone formation in ANWR. That discovery was eventually followed in 1986 by the only exploratory well ever drilled in the refuge. The exploring consortium included British Petroleum, Chevron and two Alaska Native corporations  subsurface landowner Arctic Slope Regional Corp. and the Kaktovik Inupiat Village Corp. The findings of the test bore were immediately sealed and stand to this day as the best kept secret in the oil industry.

Subsequent seismic studies by U.S. Geologic Survey estimate between 4.3 billion and 11.8 billion barrels of high-grade oil may exist in the Arctic Refuges 1002 area, which comprises just 2,000 acres. This tiny speck in the massive refuge was cleared for drilling with authorization from Congress and the presidents signature decades ago.

Though the provision for drilling in the Coastal Plain is included in the new tax law, many hurdles must be crossed. It is certain that every existing state and federal environmental sufficiency test will be met. Todays oil extraction, transport and recovery methods are vastly more efficient and less harmful to the environment.

Nonetheless, vigorous headwinds will come from anti-energy-development groups. Drilling in the harsh arctic conditions is expensive. Low oil prices and new discoveries in the lower 48 states may leave few oil companies interested in taking risks on the two leases that will be awarded over the next seven years.

Under the best-case scenario, the first barrel of oil to reach the surface will be 10 years into the future.

The new tax law is an important milestone for taxpayers and the U.S. economy. The ANWR provision is a victory for Alaska and comes at a time when the states mineral-based economy is in crisis. ANWR oil will ensure Americas energy security, replenish the flow of the North Slope pipeline, create thousands of jobs and generate significant revenues for Alaska and the federal government.
The Village of Glen Carbon has dropped its 2017 tax levy by $40,000.

At the last regular meeting of the full board, trustees approved a total levy of $2,816,025.

This amount is $40,000 less than the previously proposed amount of $2,856,025.

Director of Finance Scott Borror said after some discussion about lowering the levy at the last board meeting, the Finance & Administration Committee took action to reduce the street and bridge portion of the levy by $40,000.

The ordinance as presented represents an increase of $93,956 from last years final extension which equates to a 3.5 percent increase, Borror said. While the exact tax rate cannot be accurately calculated until the spring, we estimated the villages EAV will increase approximately 3.5 percent to a total of $359 million. If accurate, this proposed levy coupled with the EAV would lead to the villages tax rate remaining virtually the same as last year.

At the Nov. 28 board meeting Mayor Rob Jackstadt made a case to lower the proposed levy citing increased sales tax revenue would warrant a lower levy.

During that meeting, Jackstadt said he believed the estimated retail sales tax revenues were too conservative.

Borror reported that the village is anticipating a 1.5 percent increase in sales tax revenue.

As for expenditures, Borror estimated that personnel expenses would increase by 7.5 percent. This includes salaries, health insurance, estimates for labor negotiations and the proposed addition of two new patrol officers. The estimated expense for each new officer, not including pension costs, is $101,000.

As for where the tax money will go, the majority will be put towards pensions, insurance and the debt fund. Of the $2.8 million, $506,025 will be earmarked for the 2011A General Obligation Debt Fund, $390,000 toward the Police Pension Fund, $305,000 to the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund and $270,000 to liability and property insurance.

Also, $255,000 goes toward police protection.

While the levy was reduced by $40,000, one board member thinks the levy could be lowered more.

Trustee Steve Slemer said he believed the village could cut the levy even more.

I know we discussed and reduced the levy by $40,000, Slemer said. This is a nice gesture but I think there is money that we could cut out of the budget and we could do more for the taxpayers.

Slemer and Trustee Mary Beth Williams cast the only no votes for the levy amount.
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Linkedin Ary Hermawan (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, December 27, 2017 08:55 1787 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2f12eed 1 Opinion #commentary,Indonesia,Muslim,religious-tolerance,Islam,clerics,Islamic-cleric,Muslim-clerics,Gus-Mus,#GusMus Free

Indonesia has made global headlines for the wrong reasons in recent years, with numerous foreign media outlets highlighting the fact that Islamic radicalism is gaining ground in the country, threatening to change its politics and forever alter the smiling face of the Indonesian Islam they once knew.



Such a sinister outlook on the nations future is justified, particularly after the highly sectarian election in its capital, Jakarta. However, it is wrong to think Indonesia has lost all hope to retain (or regain) its title as a tolerant nation.



There is still hope for religious pluralism in Indonesia. That hope is embodied in a 73-year-old charismatic cleric and poet who won this years Yap Thiam Hien award: Mustofa Gus Mus Bisri.



The judges behind the award, who selected him from dozens of other worthy candidates, made the right call. The naming of Gus Mus, a Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) cleric, as recipient of the award could not be timelier.



It has sent the right message to the world that forces of religious tolerance remain alive and well in the country with the worlds largest Muslim population, and, more importantly, it serves as a reminder for other Muslim leaders and intellectuals about the need to spread tolerance the way Gus Mus  a modern Sufi poet  has done for years: with compassion and wisdom.



Gus Mus is no ordinary Muslim cleric. In his book, Religious Authority and the Prospects for Religious Pluralism in Indonesia, Muslim scholar Asfa Widiyanto differentiates Gus Mus and Muslim poet Emha Ainun Nadjib, or Cak Nun, from other Indonesian Muslim pluralists, particularly the younger thinkers who describe themselves, or are portrayed by other people, as liberal.



Using the concepts of role, agency and authority as analytical tools, Asfa argues that both Gus Mus and Cak Nun have what many pluralism advocates do not: an authority that has turned them into role models and sources of wisdom. The two, Asfa says, have solid traditional credentials of religious authority, which serve as capital in gaining credibility from society.



Gus Mus and Cak Nun have different backgrounds. Cak Nun is not officially affiliated to either NU or Muhammadiyah. He left a pesantren (Islamic boarding school) to complete his basic education at Muhammadiyah schools, and dropped out of Gadjah Mada Universitys School of Economics.



Gus Mus, meanwhile, is a top NU cleric and completed his pesantren education before he acquired a degree in Islamic studies from the prestigious Al-Azhar University in Cairo in 1970.



Nevertheless, Gus Mus and Cak Nun are similar in that they are not ivory tower intellectuals. They directly engage with people, speak in their language and are comfortable with how millennials communicate (Gus Mus tweets through his handle: @gusmugusmu).



Certainly, Gus Mus and Cak Nun are not the only ones. In the past, Indonesia had Abdurrahman Gus Dur Wahid, who became Indonesias fourth president. Like Gus Mus, the late Gus Dur was a major proponent of the so-called pribumisasi Islam (the indigenization of Islam) movement, which attempts to translate the universal values of Islam into local idioms.



Within Muhammadiyah, one pluralism defender who is on par with Gus Mus in terms of influence and credibility is former chairman Ahmad Syafii Maarif, who won the Ramon Magsaysay award in 2008.



However, given his position, influence and strong Islamic background, Gus Mus serves as the perfect model of the Muslim pluralist that Indonesia needs, an example not only for Muslims in general but also for leading Muslim intellectuals who wish to fight the tide of extremism.



Gus Mus stands in stark contrast to many other pluralism proponents, particularly those linked to the Liberal Islam Network (JIL).



According to Asfa, the proponents of liberal Islam are unlikely to play a strategic role in promoting pluralism for three simple reasons: They do not have any strong basis at the grass roots level, their messages are seen as sophisticated and elitist and they have been stigmatized as illegitimate.



Meanwhile, he went on, other Muslim intellectuals who describe themselves as moderate have done nothing but preach to the choir by holding numerous interfaith dialogues involving other moderate groups.



Gus Mus may not be the smartest Muslim intellectual in Indonesia, which has already had a thinker as brilliant as Nurcholish Cak Nur Madjid, but he is arguably one of the most effective in bringing civic values to Muslim society.



In a telling example of how Gus Mus works, in 2002, the cleric wrote an opinion piece criticizing not the substance of JIL founder Ulil Abshar Abdallas provocative piece about the need for rejuvenation of Islamic thoughts but the way he conveyed his message, suggesting that his son-in-law had been driven by anger when he wrote the piece that infuriated many Muslims.



Alas, the problem with Indonesia today is not that it is experiencing a deficit of bright and erudite Muslim scholars who can devise a theological basis for religious pluralism. It is basically running short of role models or figures of authority that can translate the virtues of pluralism in everyday language.



In other words, the country lacks figures like Gus Mus, an influential ulema who could teach the basic principles of Islamic tolerance to lay people without having to force them to swallow all the big words about pluralism.



Indeed, at a time when many people look to some angry Muslim televangelists for life guidance, there is no question that we need more people like Gus Mus to counter their often sectarian, exclusivist and hateful narratives.
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Linkedin Lydia Lam (The Straits Times)  Wed, December 27, 2017 20:03 1786 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2f31379 2 Lifestyle family,friendship Free

Ever felt so close to a friend you felt like they were family? For two best friends in Hawaii, this turned out to be reality, as they found out after 60 years of friendship that they were actually biological brothers.

Hawaiian news channel KHON2 said in a report on Christmas Eve (Dec 24) that Mr Alan Robinson and Mr Walter Macfarlane were best friends for 60 years.

Both of them were born and raised in Hawaii and first met in sixth grade. Mr Macfarlane did not know who his father was, while Mr Robinson was adopted.

Mr Macfarlane had reportedly been searching for his father for years through social media and the Internet, turning to DNA matching websites as a last resort.

He found that a top match - someone with identical X chromosomes - had the username Robi737. Mr Robinson's nickname was Robi and he flew 737s for Aloha Airlines.

Mr Robinson had also been seeking answers about his family on such websites.

Read also: Girl reunited with family after 3 years

After putting two and two together and checking back and forth, the two men realised they had the same mother.

"It was a shock," Mr Macfarlane told Khon2.

Mr Robinson added: "Yeah it was shock, definitely, and then we thought about it and compared forearms."

"Hairy arms, that did it!" Mr Macfarlane chimed in.

Mr Macfarlane told Hawaiian news site KITV.com that it never crossed his mind that they could be brothers.

"Never crossed my mind either, that's what really amazing, we go 60 years," Mr Robinson said.

He added that Mr Macfarlane, who is 15 months older, had been like a big brother to him all along.

"You know we'd go to Punaluu to go skin-diving, I'd be making noise in the water splashing around, he'd be teaching me how to do it right," he told KITV. "He'd always come out of the water with the biggest string of fish and I had the smallest."

After getting over the shock, the newly reunited brothers said they plan to travel and retire together. They told their families and friends the news over the Christmas weekend.

They called it the best Christmas present and miracle they could find.

Topics : family friendship

Topics :

This article appeared on The Straits Times newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post
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Linkedin Duncan Graham (The Jakarta Post) Malang  Wed, December 27, 2017 09:21 1787 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2f1455a 4 People children,storytelling,#children,Education,#education,artist Free

If the name Johannes Aziz Suprianto doesnt ring any bells, try Aziz Franklin.

Franklin is a name of distinction  two United States presidents were so labelled, Pierce and Roosevelt after the last name of founding father Benjamin; and also a school-going turtle who could count by twos and tie his shoes, the star turn in a series of Canadian childrens books and a TV series.

Ive long liked turtles because theyre independent, inquisitive and always go forward and carry their home, Aziz said.

So Ive made a puppet to tell about the importance of developing a sense of curiosity about the world. Thats Franklin; on the stage he talks to me and I respond because Im also Franklin.

The Malang-based teacher and entertainer is a master of the sapeh or sape, a traditional lute from Kalimantan, which he finds more satisfying than the guitar he played until three years ago.

Along with green Franklin, the unusual flat-bed sapeh captures kids attention as the two Franklins subtly urge them to do well, stay the distance and beat down the barriers.

What will you do when you grow up? he asks around 50 elementary school children at a home-grown kampong arts festival while parents look on.

As the youngsters are scratching for answers, Franklin throws in suggestions: Whos going to be a doctor? Or a scientist? Hands up those wholl be teachers. And wholl be a pilot?

The idea is to aim high and not clip the wings of the riverbank children where their adult role models are largely day workers and snack sellers. Franklin reminds them to open books. In this community some of the far-sighted leaders have set up a small library and reading room.

But without the money for private colleges theyll still have to rise above the schooling on hand. Independent research shows that although attendance is up, quality is not.

Every three years, Indonesia participates in the OECD Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). The latest report tested 540,000 students from 72 countries. Although there have been some improvements, particularly among girls, Indonesia ranks 62, far behind most of its neighbors, including Vietnam.

Commenting on the findings in the online journal The Conversation, Dr Arnaldo Pellini of the Overseas Development Institute in London said inequality and school performance remains an issue in Indonesia: The percentage of low performers in science among disadvantaged students is among the highest globally.

Although Indonesia spends 20 percent of its budget on education it bumps along the bottom 10 nations in reading, science and maths. Singapore tops all; educationists say this is because it invests in teaching.

We, the people, and not just the parents must work to improve schooling, said Aziz, 51. That means using every means possible and not just sticking to old techniques.

He recalled that in the Soeharto era, people knew little about world events because information was tightly controlled. In his case, he had to work it out himself, seeking secret sellers of illegally printed or second-hand books by overseas and local authors. I found writers like Pramoedya Ananta Toer and Muchtar Lubis who were banned, he said.

Among the books he scavenged were fairy tales of 19th century Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen. He found European yarns also had a place in Indonesia alongside the indigenous fables told by his grandmother to help him sleep and inspired me to become a storyteller  though my talents come from God. He is Catholic.

After training as a teacher, Aziz joined the Teater Keliling (Wandering Theater) troupe that was founded in 1974 by director Rudolf Puspa to take drama to ordinary people beyond Jakarta.

Performances were licensed and restricted, and scripts checked. Apart from local works by authors like the late dissenting poet and dramatist Rendra, they also staged the anti-establishment theater of Romanian-French playwright Eugene Ionesco.

He said at that time, they were constantly followed by intelligence agents and questioned about their work. We always had to be careful. It was a frightening, exciting and challenging time, learning parts in buses and trains, a new town every night or so, not knowing how the authorities would react.

The group toured several countries, including Pakistan, Thailand, Malaysia, Germany and France.

Now we have freedom. The problems today are fake news and getting youngsters to realize their potential.

From this mix plus embellishments has come Franklins present repertoire. His skills, drawn from working with the other knockabout creatives in Teater Keliling include ventriloquism, magic, singing  even hypnotism.

I want to help open their minds [] There are many creatives in Malang, but if you want to be famous you have to go elsewhere, he said.

Now anything is possible. But each individual has to make the effort themselves. Thats Franklins message  strive to be the best.

The big green turtle then smiles and nods vigorously. The kids laugh and clap. Their spirits have been lifted, and perhaps their futures.
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Linkedin A. Kurniawan Ulung (The Jakarta Post) Yogyakarta  Wed, December 27, 2017 09:57 1787 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2f15de3 4 Art & Culture Yogyakarta,Tino-Sidin,local-painters,Painter,#painter,Indonesian-artists,local-artists Free

Budiati couldnt hold back her tears while talking about her late father, painter Tino Sidin.

She remembers the day before colon cancer claimed her fathers life at Dharmais Hospital in Jakarta on Dec. 29, 1995. He didnt appear sick as he chatted and laughed with reporters.

He was always cheerful, the 63-year-old said.

Budiati believes that her father is smiling in heaven following the opening of the Tino Sidin Museum on Jl. Tino Sidin in Yogyakarta.

The museum is actually Tinos house. Before being turned into a museum, it was named Tino Sidin Park.

At home, he once told us that he wanted to have a park like Ismail Marzuki Park in Jakarta, Budiati said.

Education and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy inaugurated the museum on Dec. 14, on the occasion of which a statue of her father was unveiled along with the opening of an exhibition entitled Tribute to Tino Sidin set to run until Dec. 31.

Muhadjir said Indonesia was proud and grateful for Pak Tino, who he said was not only a teacher but also a motivator.

He is an important figure in developing childrens characters at an early age through art, the minister said in a statement.

You might not be familiar with Tino if you are a member of Generation Z, a label given to those born after 1995.

Pak Tino, as he was fondly called, was known for Gemar Menggambar (Like to Draw), which he hosted on TVRI every Sunday afternoon from 1979 to 1989.

In the TV program, Pak Tino taught children to draw. He taught children that drawing was fun.

Born on Nov. 25, 1925 in Tebing Tinggi, North Sumatra, Pak Tino was also known for his famous catchphrase, Ya, bagus [yes, its nice], which he always used when he commented on drawings and sketches that children had sent to him during Gemar Menggambar shows.

Before airing nationwide in 1979, Gemar Menggambar first aired on local TV station TVRI Yogyakarta, from 1969 to 1978.

Pak Tino had been a teacher since 1951. He first taught at Taman Siswa school in Tebing Tinggi. In 1960, he went to Yogyakarta to study at the Indonesian Academy of Arts (ASRI), which was the first fine arts campus in the country, now known as the Indonesian Art Institute (ISI).

He, however, did not complete his studies at ASRI on account of the 1965 communist purge.

During the ongoing exhibition, more than 50 paintings and sketches are on display. They include paintings by 19 figures,  from Superhero di Dalam Toples (Superhero in Jars) by renowned contemporary artist Heri Dono, Carangan by painter Nasirun, Idola (Idol) by painter Putu Sutawijaya to Bunga (Flower) by Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati.

For Putu, Pak Tino is an icon who made all children in his era interested in learning art. For Nasirun, he was a legend of TVRI that was close to the hearts and minds of Indonesian children at that time.

Among Pak Tinos works are the sketch Empat Anak Main (Four Children Play) and paintings Membuat Topeng (Making Mask), Patung Budha (Statue of Buddha) and Kambing-Kambing Mencari Rumput (Goats Look For Grass).

Budiati said Pak Tinos works were always inspired by simple things. Empat Anak Main, for example, depicted his four daughters.

While accompanying us while we studied or played, he sketched us. He also sketched my mother, she said.

Pak Tino, the father of five daughters, rarely got mad, according to Budiati.

He was friendly and patient. He never scolded us, maybe because we were all girls and not naughty, she said. If my mother got mad at us, he always calmed her, she said.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, December 27, 2017 19:30 1786 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2f306e6 1 National #diphtheria,diphtheria,vaccination,#vaccines,outbreak,#outbreak Free

The majority of diphtheria cases nationwide show children as the infected party. However, adults should also be concerned following a recent outbreak, doctor associations have said.

The Health Ministry recently reported that the number of cases had risen from 591 in November this year to 903 as of Dec. 24, with adults accounting for 18 percent of the infected persons. The ministry has also found that the infected persons in 80 percent of the cases had not completed the series of diphtheria vaccinations.

Adults, such as parents, relatives, peers or medical workers, who have direct contact with those who have contracted diphtheria must be vaccinated for preventative reasons, Soedjatmiko from the Indonesian Pediatrician Association (IDAI) said on Wednesday.

Soedjatmiko also called on adults who did not undergo a complete series of vaccinations in their childhood to get vaccinated immediately.

Mostly they do not have records of having completed immunizations during their childhood, so it is important to get vaccinated, he said.

Similar concerns were echoed by Indonesian Doctors Associations (IDI) chairman-elect Daeng M. Faqih, who suggested that adults get revaccinated.

Immunity will weaken overtime, [therefore] getting vaccinated, especially during an outbreak, is important to boost [adults] antibodies, Daeng said.

The government conducted the first phase of the outbreak response immunization (ORI) program in Jakarta, Banten and West Java on Dec. 12, following an outbreak that killed dozens of people. (nmn/ipa)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, December 27, 2017 18:28 1786 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2f2ec0e 1 Politics #NorthSumatra,North-Sumatra,#election,election,pilkada,army,PKS,Gerindra-Party,PAN Free

The Gerindra Party, the Islam-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the National Mandate Party (PAN) have agreed to throw their support behind Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) chief Lt. Gen. Edy Rahmayadi in his bid for the post of North Sumatra governor next year.

The three parties have also endorsed Musa Rajekshah, a figure famous among the youth in the province, as Edy's running mate, kompas.com reported.

PAN secretary-general Eddy Soeparno said that the decision was made during a meeting between Gerindra chairman Prabowo Subianto, PAN chairman Zulkifli Hasan and PKS chairman Sohibul Iman on Sunday.

The three-party alliance controls a total of 32 councillor seats in North Sumatra, which is enough to field a gubernatorial ticket.

PKS and Gerindra are among the opposition parties in national politics; while PAN is a pro-government party.



The three-star general, according to Soeparno, will resign from his military post after he officially registers his candidacy at the General Elections Commission (KPU) in January.



Upon submitting [his application with the KPU], [he] will resign , Soeparno said.



Edy was previously set to be assigned to another post at the Army headquarters ahead of his planned early retirement, in a decision made under former TNI commander Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo. However, Gatots successor, TNI commander Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto, canceled the rotation. (afr/ipa)
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Linkedin Aman Rochman and Kharishar Kahfi (The Jakarta Post) Malang/Jakarta  Wed, December 27 2017

It has been another joyous season as Christians celebrated Christmas this year without any major incident.

While Muslims across the country are still debating whether to congratulate Christians over the festive season, a 55-year-old Muslim man in Malang, East Java, has been using his name to settle the debate and spread religious tolerance.

The man was named Slamet Hari Natal, meaning Merry Christmas, by his mother because he was born on Dec. 25, 1962.

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) London  Wed, December 27, 2017 17:28 1786 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2f27727 1 World Obama,Prince-Harry,interview Free

Former US President Barack Obama said in an interview with Britain's Prince Harry he is concerned that social media is "corroding civil discourse", in his first interview after leaving the White House.

Obama said as quoted by The Telegraph that people in a position of power should exercise care when posting messages on social media.

Although Obama did not mention his successor Donald Trump by name, he said that social media is "corroding civil discourse" and stopping normal conversations.

In the interview, the 44th president also looked back on the day he handed over power to Trump and despite feeling satisfied he says it was "mixed with all the work that was still undone". He added: "Concerns about how the country moves forward but, you know, overall there was serenity there."

Prince Harry interviews Barack Obama in Toronto. (The Jakarta Post/YouTube)

The interview between Harry and Obama was recorded in Toronto in September during the Invictus Games and will be broadcast on December 27.

In a teaser video for the interview posted by BBC Radio 4, Obama joked to Harry if he should use English accent in the interview.

"Do I need a British accent?" Obama quipped.

'Do I need a British accent?' @BarackObama is interviewed by Prince Harry for his guest edit of @BBCr4today. In this warm-up, the prince jokingly warns the ex-president he'll get "the face" if he pauses too long between answers #r4today pic.twitter.com/2887dGlJkG  BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) December 17, 2017
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Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, December 27, 2017 19:04 1786 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2f2f88b 1 Business president,quizzes,bicycles,fund Free

When meeting with people, President Joko Jokowi Widodo usually throws out quiz questions and gives them bicycles as a reward if they answer correctly.

Recently, however, the President has also started to grant funds in this manner, particularly for those who want to open businesses.

During his visit to the Manpower Ministry's Vocational Training Center (BLK) in Bekasi, West Java on Wednesday, Jokowi invited Warman, a participant, to come forward

Warman, who is a fish breeder from Subang, West Java, told the President that he wanted to construct new ponds to breed decorative fish.

"You say you need to construct four fish ponds and buy fish eggs to start your business. How much money do you need?" Jokowi asked.

When Warman explained that he needed Rp 10 million (US$738) to open the business, Jokowi generously promised to grant him the funds. Warman also received a bicycle from the President.

He praised Warman for aspiring to open a business, instead of applying to become a civil servant with the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry. He just wanted to open a business and I appreciate people with such spirit," he said.

On Dec. 8, Jokowi also granted funds in Bandung when he met a number of young people, who also told the President that they wanted to open businesses.

"People needed capital injections and motivation to open businesses. We need to encourage young entrepreneurs to start businesses, the President added. (bbn)

Topics : president quizzes bicycles fund
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post)  Wed, December 27 2017

Once an industrial boomtown and part of a free trade zone within the Indonesia-Malaysia-Singapore Growth Triangle set up in 1989, Batam is facing its worst economic downturn due to a combination of maladministration, mismanagement and low world oil prices. The Jakarta Post Batam correspondent Fadli analyzes the root of the economic downturn and how the new management could make the bustling island great again.



Batams economic figures, released by the provincial Riau Islands Statistics Agency (BPS) in August, set off a shockwave that not only shook the local administration but also ruffled the central governments feathers in Jakarta.



The agency reported that Batams economic growth had plunged further to 1.52 percent in August from 2.02 percent in the second quarter of 2017. This meant that Batam, an island city of 1.2 million people and the provinces economic backbone, shared the blame for placing the Riau Islands in the league of eight among the countrys 34 provinces that grew less than the national rate of 5 percent as of August.



The news hardly took economic observers by surprise. The free trade zone began showing signs of trouble in 2014, when global oil prices dropped and Batam took a hit, forcing many investors  foreign and domestic  out of business. This year, 300,000 migrant workers lost their jobs as a result of company closures, according to the Batam manpower agency, while 169 companies went bankrupt as of 2015.



Batams near-zero growth in the first semester especially dismayed the central bank, Bank Indonesia (BI), which had an optimistic forecast. BI had reckoned that the island city would grow after the local administrations budget allocation was eventually disbursed this fiscal year, and on the back of substantial consumer spending spurred by the Idul Fitri holiday in June.



Last month, Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution replaced the seven members of the Batam Indonesia Free Trade Zone Authority (BP Batam) as part of efforts to turn around the freefalling economy.



Jakarta is determined to scrap Batams free trade zone status and upgrade it to special economic zone, doubling the incentives on offer to lure investors.





The shambles follows a 17-year limbo caused by the overlapping powers of BP Batam and the Batam mayor  the two administrators of the island that was billed to rival neighboring Singapore. Their enmity is well known among local businesses that often fall victims to red tape and dubious levies.



Officially, BP Batams authority includes distributing land for industry, issuing business licenses and developing infrastructure, while the municipal administration takes care of public services and administrative affairs. The division of power, however, often led to inefficiency. For instance, to build a factory, an investor must obtain land allocation from BP Batam, but has to apply for the building permit with the municipal government.



Critics say that the central government also shares the blame for the chaos: Jakarta has yet to make a long-term blue print since Batam was developed into an industrial zone in the 1980s. This has led to the public cynicism that every president had their own agenda for Batam.



Suyono Saputro, an economist at Batam International University, notes that the islands economic downturn began in 2014 along with plunging world oil prices and the ensuing domino effect.



The sluggish global economy was the most telling factor, Suyono said. The global demand for oil dropped, spelling doom for the supporting industry in Batam, he said, referring to the production of oil and gas mining equipment components.



Batams economy has been largely driven by the manufacturing industry, which dominates its exports. BPS statistics showed that last years manufacturing exports was worth US$7.60 billion, or 90.30 percent of its total export value, whereas oil and gas exports were worth $820 million, or 9.70 percent of its export value.



The continual outflow of thousands after thousands of laid-off migrant workers from other provinces has, in turn, dealt a heavy blow to the economys property and real sectors. The workers constitute major subscribers to property and consumer goods. The banking system is bearing the brunt of the crisis, too.



Politically, the predicament has been attributed to the well-known poor coordination among the Batam Free Trade Zone Authority, the municipal administration and the provincial government.



The rivalry between the Batam zone authority and the government began in 1999 following the establishment of the Batam municipal administration, which  like other regency-level administrations  wields considerable power thanks to the autonomy laws that practically make them little kings of a region.



The Batam mayoralty claims greater authority because it is established upon a higher law, while BP Batams authority is confined to trade-related matters in accordance with the mandate of the lower presidential decree. They often have overlapping powers that result in unresolved conflicts. An epic constitutional blunder is the central governments failure to issue a regulation as required by a subsequent 1999 law, which is needed to standardize relations between the mayoralty and BP Batam.



Consequently, the two institutions and the Riau Islands provincial administration have been engaged in endless bickering over power, instead of coming together and developing Batam into a competitive, regional Singapore-style business hub as they are meant to.



Had they joined hands, Batam would have been extraordinary. Imagine if there had been two machines delivering cash into the central governments coffers, Suyono said. But look at whats happened. No one promotes Batam to the world, because none of the authorities thinks its their responsibility.



Mook Sooi Wah, the general manager of PT Batamindo Investment Cakrawala at Gallant Venture Ltd, voiced a similar concern.



The three should have worked together as a machine, but instead they acted like three captains commanding the same ship, each setting their own destinations. No wonder Batam is going nowhere, he said. It needs the central governments presence as coordinator.



Today, Batamindo houses 68 foreign electronics investors, a quarter of which are from Singapore, and employs 60,000 workers, down from more than 100,000 during the industrys heyday.

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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Beijing, China  Wed, December 27, 2017 15:50 1786 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2f245d4 2 World China,communist,arrest Free

Hundreds of Chinese scholars, students and journalists have signed a petition calling for a leftist intellectual to be released from police custody in a case that shows how Beijing's crackdown on civil society extends across the political spectrum.

Zhang Yunfan, a recent graduate of China's prestigious Peking University, was detained last month in the southern city of Guangzhou for "organizing mass gatherings that disturbed social order", the petition says.

News of the detention comes as China cracks down on all forms of "subversion", imprisoning hundreds of activists and lawyers, typically for "rightist" behavior such as promoting human rights or democracy.

But China's leftist intellectuals have enjoyed relatively more space to express views that are out of step with government orthodoxy -- authorities have typically been cautious about attempting to silence them for fear of creating a backlash in the Communist country.

Zhang was helming a group discussion at a local university on authorities' response to leftist speech when local police arrived and hauled away some of the participants, the petition said.

By 5pm Tuesday (0900 GMT) the petition had collected more than 350 signatures.

The unnamed organizers of the petition said they had sent it to the local public security bureau in Guangzhou's Panyu district which is overseeing the case.

Police in Panyu told AFP they could not discuss the case.

Two professors from two of China's elite universities confirmed to AFP that they had signed the letter.

"If he's been arrested for simply participating in a study session that's not right," said Tsinghua University professor Kuang Xinnian.

China's outspoken leftists believe the country's political and economic reforms have abandoned Mao's goal of transforming the nation into a Communist utopia -- citing the growing gap between the rich and poor.

The party's official verdict on Mao -- made public in 1981 -- declared his rule 70 percent good and 30 percent bad, but he is still widely praised for his role as the founder of today's Communist China.

Topics : China communist arrest
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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Seongnam, South Korea  Wed, December 27, 2017 16:40 1786 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2f263ca 2 World Japan,South-Korea,comfort-women,Dispute Free

South Korea said Wednesday a 2015 deal intended to end a festering dispute with Japan over Tokyo's wartime sex slavery was faulty, reopening a historical wound as the two countries try to rein in North Korea.

Seoul and Tokyo signed the agreement to settle the hugely emotional and decades-long issue with a Japanese apology and payment of money to survivors.

Following an election pledge, the new government of President Moon Jae-In ordered a review of the unpopular deal which was struck by his now-jailed predecessor Park Geun-Hye.

On Wednesday a task force published a report saying the deal was rushed and did not adequately seek out the opinions of the women forced to work as sex slaves, often known by the euphemism "comfort women".

"The agreement was finalizsed ... without adequately taking into account the opinions of victims in the process of negotiation," the report said.

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha apologized for the deal, saying it "hurt" the victims and had "failed to reflect the victims' views".

Observers say any move by Seoul to abandon the deal could damage relations with Tokyo as the two countries face off against a nuclear-armed North Korea.

Kang said Seoul would "take into account any impact on South Korea-Japan ties as it carefully establishes its position" following the report's release.

But she stopped short of saying whether Seoul might consider calling for renegotiation or walking away from the deal.

Tokyo urged Seoul to stick with the 2015 agreement.

"Japan's position remains unchanged, that we ask the South Korean government to abide by the deal," a Japanese foreign ministry official told AFP.

Mainstream historians say up to 200,000 women, mostly from Korea but also other parts of Asia including China, were forced to work in Japanese military brothels during World War II.

The agreement was meant to put an end to the hugely emotional issue with a Japanese apology and payment.
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Linkedin Kharishar Kahfi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, December 27, 2017 19:21 1786 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2f2feaf 1 National #KPK,KPK,#corruption,corruption Free

The majority of individuals arrested by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in 2017 were high echelon state officials, the antigraft body has reported.

KPK data released on Wednesday said 43 out of the 120 people arrested by the KPK on allegations of corruption and bribery throughout the year were state officials.

Businesspeople, as well as lawmakers and regional councillors were in second and third place with 27 and 20 people arrested, respectively.

Last year, state officials stood in fourth place, with 10 individuals arrested by KPK investigators. In total, the KPK arrested 99 individuals from different backgrounds in 2016.

KPK deputy chairman Laode Muhammad Syarif said state officials were the most prone to corrupt practices on account of their authority.

This [number] could also show that the public has better awareness and are filing reports more against corrupt officials in a number of regions, Laode added.

The year 2017 was a busy one for the commission with 19 operations that led to the arrest of 72 suspects, including eight regional heads. The KPK has also recovered around Rp 2.9 trillion (US$203 million) in stolen state assets this year. (ipa)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, December 27, 2017 17:33 1786 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2f2801a 1 Business bri,building,construction,Rini-Soemarno Free

State-Owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno on Wednesday led a groundbreaking ceremony for state-owned lender Bank Rakyat Indonesia's (BRI) office tower project, called Menara BRI Gatot Subroto, in the city's main business district Mega Kuningan in South Jakarta.

The building is expected to be completed in early 2020.

"We [the government], as a shareholder, want the SOE to verify its assets so that it can be utilized for the interests of the people and of course for the company itself," said Rini in her speech.

Apart from utilizing the tower's office space for improving services for BRI customers, she added, management had to accommodate a hall of fame for BRI's notable figures.

The building is being constructed on Jl. Gatot Subroto. The location used to be the training center for the lender's employees when it was established in 1963.

Meanwhile, BRI's president director Suprajarto explained that the office space would be used by the companys subsidiaries and other BRI working units, as they currently have to rent office space in other buildings.

"We hope that when it begins operation, the tower will boost our performance in providing services to our customers, who come from all levels of society." he said in a press statement, adding that some of the office spaces will be leased to other companies.

Suprajarto said the company would invest around Rp 1 trillion (US$74 million) for the initial construction of the tower that stands on an 8,600 square-meter plot of land. In addition to its 37 floors, the tower will also have five-basement levels. (srs/bbn)
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, December 28 2017

The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Indonesia has conveyed its concern about rampant attacks on journalists, calling on the government to ensure a safer reporting environment for the press.

Widely praised for its commitment to ensuring freedom of the press, the country still lacked control in protecting journalists, it said.

Journalists have also reportedly fallen victim to violence committed by the Indonesian Military (TNI) and National Police personnel, as well as government officials.

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, December 27, 2017 17:39 1786 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2f29443 1 News Gunung-Padang,Tourist,tourism,West-Java,destination Free

Around 500 hundred people visited Gunung Padang megalithic site in Campaka district, Cianjur, West Java, over the Christmas weekend.

One of the site's attendants, Nanang, told Antara news agency on Tuesday that the number of visitors significantly increased from regular weekends, when 300 people per day usually visited.

"For today, the number is estimated to be more than 500. People are still coming late in the afternoon, despite road repairs slightly disrupting traffic," said Nanang.

The management expects the number of visits to increase further until school holidays end.

Read also: Gunung Padang to have tourist train next year

As more tourists are coming, more attendants have been assigned.

"Their task is to remind visitors not to sit on or damage the site," said Nanang.

Among the visitors to Gunung Padang that day were dozens of groups from Jakarta who came with family members to provide the children with knowledge.

"We learned about this place a long time ago from television, but it's only this year that we've been able to visit with the family. Gunung Padang is full of cultural and educational value for children, hence we decided to come here over the holiday," said 40-year-old Gina from South Jakarta. (kes)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, December 27, 2017 13:19 1787 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2f1d35d 1 News Airport-facilities,Airport,soekarno-hatta-airport,Soekarno-Hatta-airport-train,skytrain Free

After repeated delays, people finally welcomed on Tuesday an airport train linking Jakarta and Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten.



Sudirman Baru Station in Central Jakarta, also known as BNI City Station, where the railway route starts, was packed with people who wanted to experience a congestion-free trip to the airport.



During a trial period from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1 passengers are charged Rp 30,000 (US$2.2) for a one-way ticket. On Jan. 2, the fare will increase to Rp 70,000, and eventually it will increase to Rp 100,000 per trip.



Pritha Elisa, a 26-year-old civil servant from Bekasi, told The Jakarta Post that she wanted to try out the airport train after reading about it on the internet. She bought her ticket through the Railink smartphone application.



I dont like to stand in line for tickets, so I just booked my ticket through the Railink app on my phone, Pritha said.



Passengers can also purchase tickets through ticket vending machines (TVM) at the station or book their trips on the website reservation.railink.co.id.



The app is available on iOS and Android platforms. It is called Railink on Android and Indonesia Airport Railway on iOS.



Payments are accepted by debit card, credit card and electronic money (e-money) from various Indonesian banks.



Pritha said she used to take a taxi to the airport, which would cost her hundreds of thousands of rupiah and take hours for each trip, making the train a more convenient alternative.



Departing from Sudirman Baru at 12:51 p.m., she said the trip took only 55 minutes, as scheduled, getting her to the airport on time.



The only downside she experienced that day was that passengers could not choose a seat other than the one they had booked. I find that quite troublesome, she said.



Some passengers were also puzzled about the cashless ticketing system and annoyed about chaotic queues that day.



Dini, 32, from Rawamangun, East Jakarta, had trouble buying her ticket as hundreds of passengers scrambled to reach the TVM.



Once she got to the machine, she had no clue how to use it.



If only I had known about this earlier, I would have booked my ticket from home [online], she said.



The airport train, a project that had been in the pipeline since the administration of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, was originally scheduled to begin trial operations on Dec. 1.



Heru Kuswanto, the president director of airport train operator PT Railink, explained that the trial had been postponed due to delayed agreement between the Transportation Ministry and the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry.



The railway service spanning 36.3 kilometers is planned to eventually stop at five stations, including Manggarai Station, the central hub of the inter-city train in South Jakarta. As construction work on some stations is still ongoing, the train so far only stops at Batuceper, Tangerang, before reaching the airport.



As the airport train still shares its tracks between Manggarai and Batu Ceper stations with regular commuter trains, several trips on the Duri-Tangerang route have reportedly been eliminated to make way for the airport train, and some commuter train services were apparently delayed because of the airport train trial.



PT Railink spokesperson Diah Suryandari assured that there would be no delays during the airport train operation.



To ensure that there wont be any delays, Railink will refer to the train trip graph arrangement [Gapeka] created by railway operator PT KAI for scheduling trains, Diah said.



The airport railway is connected to the Skytrain that connects all terminals at the airport. (dpk)
The science community has been quite busy this year on Twitter.

From passionately debating about silent gifs and farting animals to astronauts eating pudding and pulling epic pranks in space, heres how science Twitter absolutely excelled in 2017.

1. When zoologists kick-started an epic debate about farting animals

@AlongsideWild a family member asked me the other day if snakes fart and i did not know the answer to their question. So do they?  Dani Rabaiotti (@DaniRabaiotti) January 8, 2017

The world was not ready for a Twitter debate about farting animals but one thing led to another and soon the hashtag #DoesItFart became a raging hit.

It started when Daniella Rabaiotti, a PhD student at the Zoological Society of London, asked on Twitter whether snakes fart. Soon biologists, ecologists, zoologists and everyone else started listing animals that break wind.

Don't know if it's been covered yet, but yes, bonobos fart. A lot. And loudly. #DoesItFart  Kirsty Graham (@kirstyegraham) January 12, 2017

#DoesItFart..Yes! My pet male Indian cat. I heard him doing it many times.  Subesh Bhattacharjee (@subesh1980) January 15, 2017

Then Nick Caruso, a PhD student at the University of Alabama, created a database of trumping animals.

Editable (let me know if it doesn't work) google sheet, for all your #DoesItFart needsFeel free to share & update!https://t.co/6doRyMXDS2 https://t.co/eQaobC5r8k  Nick Caruso doesnt study plethodon right now (@PlethodoNick) January 8, 2017

The internets combined efforts led to a handy book aptly titled Does It Fart? The Definitive Field Guide to Animal Flatulence , compiled by Rabaiotti and Caruso.

2. When Jack Fischer gave us a masterclass on eating pudding in space

Its not easy to eat when you are floating around on the International Space Station (ISS) in microgravity, but Jack Fischer was not one to give up easily  especially when it came to sweet treats.

The Nasa astronaut, who described the spacecraft that took him to the ISS as a burrito of awesomeness, smothered in awesome sauce, gave the world a masterclass on how to eat pudding in outer space.

Unsurprisingly, Fischers video posted on Twitter shows the cream-coloured sweet treat floating around, but the 43-year-old doesnt let his leaning tower of yumiosity go to waste.

So as his dessert jiggles around unfettered by the shackles of gravity, Fischer chases a chunk of it and chows it down, making for some rather interesting scenes.

3. When this student made a rap video about cell division and posted it on Twitter

Professor: Make a music video over any subject weve covered and Ill curve your overall grade. pic.twitter.com/uO6IBMl2CS  Julien Turner (@JuicyJu11) November 3, 2017

The complex process of cell division may not be the stuff of rap music, but this US college students biology-themed video defied expectations to become a major hit online.

Julien Turner, a sophomore at Morehouse College in Georgia, was asked by his professor to create a music video about any subject covered in class as a way to get extra credit.

With help from his younger brother Justen, the 19-year-old marketing student took inspiration from Lil Uzis XO Tour Llif3 to belt out a rather surprisingly catchy number.

4. When Nasa asked Twitter to help name seven newly-discovered planets

Clearly not learning from the Boaty McBoatface fiasco (success), Nasa decided to enlist the help of the Twitter public to come up with a name for the planets in the TRAPPIST-1 solar system.

And you can imagine how that went

#7NamesFor7NewPlanetsPluto Long Live Pluto Pluto Forever We Love PlutoScrew You For Killing Pluto Planet of the KeksPluto  Idiocracy Rising (@TideOfFools) February 24, 2017

In case you were wondering, the US space agency decided to go with its original suggestion.

5. When Neil deGrasse Tyson gave his scientific analysis of Game Of Thrones

Bad Physics in #GameOfThrones: Pulling a dragon out of a lake? Chains need to be straight, and not curve over hill and dale. pic.twitter.com/VIJlIuDz3L  Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) September 24, 2017

The internets favourite celebrity astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson, decided Game Of Thrones was worthy of interest from a scientific perspective.

Using the hashtag #GameOfThrones, Tyson dissected a few scenes from HBOs hit show.

He questioned the fact that the chain used to pull Daenerys Targaryens dragon, Viserion, from the lake didnt appear to have any tension.

However, he did praise the wingspan of the CGI dragons on the show, saying they are sensibly large, as their body weight would require for flight.

6. And trolled flat-Earthers with one single tweet

A Lunar Eclipse flat-Earthers have never seen. pic.twitter.com/HuApDwa85n  Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) November 26, 2017

As the most retweeted science communicator of 2017 (with 85K RTs), Tyson takes the responsibility of separating fact from fiction quite seriously.

So naturally, when flat-Earthers dominated media headlines, he decided to post a fake photo of a lunar eclipse, with the caption: A Lunar Eclipse flat-Earthers have never seen.

The photo pokes fun at those  including famous faces such as B.o.B. and, more recently, Freddie Flintoff  who reportedly believe that the Earth is not spherical-shaped.

7. When this science communicator rose to defend the humble dung beetle

"It rolls poo". Yeah so lemme talk about that for a second. You can either roll poo, or you wait to ambush another beetle rolling poo  Kylo Jen (@GeneticJen) August 14, 2017

Jennifer Harrison, a science communicator who once tweeted an entire genome, made sure that just like every living thing on the planet, the humble dung beetle deserves your utmost respect.

When told by someone that this insect wasnt as amazing as other creatures that walk the planet because they roll poo, Harrison sprang into action with an enlightening Twitter thread , pointing out that the dung beetle is actually quite clever and uses the Milky Way to navigate in a straight line.

Dung beetles might be lowly, smelly, poo-pushers but hey they're the only insect we know that observes our galaxy and I think that's cool  Kylo Jen (@GeneticJen) August 14, 2017

How do dung beetles keep such a straight line? Marie Dacke, a biologist at Lund University in Sweden found they observed the sun and moon  Kylo Jen (@GeneticJen) August 14, 2017

She wrote: Dung beetles might be lowly, smelly, poo-pushers but hey theyre the only insect we know that observes our galaxy and I think thats cool.

8. When Peggy Whitson pulled this epic prank in space

Zipped inside a cargo bag @Thom_astro & @astro_kimbrough took me over to the Russian segment. They were quite surprised when I popped out! pic.twitter.com/om59WVfzwE  Peggy Whitson (@AstroPeggy) February 13, 2017

Peggy Whitson set new records by becoming the oldest woman on the ISS and the oldest woman to do a spacewalk. But judging by the epic prank she pulled on fellow astronauts, she may as well add the best space prankster to her impressive resume.

While in space, the 57-year-old Nasa astronaut tweeted a photo of herself floating around in a white cargo bag that fellow astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Thomas Pesquet zipped her into.

Whitson said the two astronauts then took the cargo into the Russian side of the ISS and gave their cosmonaut colleagues Andrey Borisenko, Sergey Ryzhikov and Oleg Novitskiy a surprise when she popped out of the bag.

Does anyone in visual perception know why you can hear this gif? pic.twitter.com/mcT22Lzfkp  (@lisadebruine) December 2, 2017

When a silent gif caused people to question their mindsThe internet always loves a good old puzzle but people were left utterly baffled when they heard this silent animation. The gif, created by Twitter user HappyToast and posted by psychologist Dr Lisa DeBruine, shows a skipping pylon appearing to emanate a thudding sound that clearly only exists in our heads. Experts chalked this down to the brain trying to fill in missing information that we think should exist. The gif actually first made its appearance in 2008 but went viral in 2017, thanks to the indomitable power of social media.
The Northern Lights, otherwise known as the Aurora Borealis, is an impressive natural phenomenon that many spend their lives searching for.

Natures fascinating performance is best seen between September and March in the Northern Hemisphere. Now that some of the best places to see the Northern Lights have been established, its time to explore some of the weird and wonderful myths and legends surrounding the aurora borealis.

visual guides If youre still getting to grips with the scientific mystery behind the northern lights, Expedia Norways handyare useful in explaining all you need to know about the Aurora Borealis.

1. Babies with supernatural abilities

Nordic myths from Finnmark (thats Finland and Denmark, by the way) tell that children conceived during the occurrence of the Northern Lights will be born with supernatural abilities.

2. And good fortunes

National Post Similarly, Chinese and Japanese beliefs insist that a child conceived within the Northern Lights will be born with the luxury of good looks and good fortunes. In fact, last year thereported that Canadian city Yukon hosts between 4,000 and 5,000 Japanese tourists during the winter season, with all-season resorts in Alaska also reporting clientele compromised of up to 90% Japanese.

3. Fox fires

Before scientists identified the causes of the Aurora Borealis, an old Nordic belief was that foxes running over the tundra wag their furry tales and emit sparks in the sky, leading to the Finnish word revontulet or, in English, fox fires.

4. Dragons breath

A less cuddly myth originating from ancient China led people to believe that the Northern Lights were in fact the breath of a fiery dragon.

5. A time for waving

Well leave it up to you to decide whether this particular myth, still believed by many, is good or bad. It is said that merely waving at the Northern Lights will enable you to be carried away. Where youd be carried, we cannot guarantee.

6. Dont whistle

Maybe its best to save whistling to Christmas tunes for when youre safe, cosied up by the fire because even the simple action of whistling also has dangerous mythical roots. In Sami mythology, its considered bad luck to whistle at the Northern Lights, since most people believed they were old souls or gods in the sky.

7. War outbreak

One of the most dangerous myths surrounding the Northern Lights is that a red Aurora Borealis is a bad omen. Soldiers in medieval Europe believed that a red Aurora Borealis signified the outbreak of war.
No one can control where they are born, it's just one of those things.

Some may feel like they slot perfectly into their environment - others not so much.

Based on data collected from people across the world, JWTs Personality Atlas has reorganised the world based on humanitys most defining feature: personality. This is the

sorting hat that will tell you where you should really live.

The Introspection Map is made up of eight new continents from Funlandia and Spiritania to Schemany and Techistan, sorting countries into continents based on predominant personality traits formulated from how participants view themselves.

Schemany

Russia, South Africa, Argentina, and Czech Republic

Predominant personality traits in Schemany include stubbornness and scheming but also positive traits such as humour, fun, and a tendency to be welcoming. Russia tends to accentuate its heroic traits such as intelligence whereas Argentina admits to being assumptive.

Culturis

Italy, France, and the UK

Culturis is a hub of  you got it  culture. Predominant traits include a focus on family, cultured, well-humoured, and content. It may not be a surprise to hear that the average person in the UK believes themselves to be very polite and respectful, a contrast to the dominant perception of the UK by other countries as, simply put, smug.

Dilligance

China and South Korea

Family-focused and respectful are the traits that bring China and South Korea together in the Introspection Map, besides Religious Reef. Whereas South Korea boasts itself as tech-savvy, China instead defines itself as welcoming and consensus builders.

Spiritania

Indonesia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, India, and Thailand

Religion is the primary concern of countries in Spiritania, though they also tend to demonstrate qualities including a focus on family, respect, and content.

Techistan

USA

It may be no surprise that the USA, home to the American Dream, is ascribed its own continent, Techistan, surrounded by seas such as the Trench of Innovation, Modern Penninsula, and Leader Straits.

Funlandia

Brazil, Spain, Colombia, and Mexico

The continent of fun groups countries where occupants value fun, humor, and passion above other qualities. Though Brazil admits to being a bit decadent, Colombia and Mexico like to think they are welcoming and polite.

Balancia

Canada and Australia

Adjacent to Zen Sea, Canada and Australia are united in their efforts to form a balance between work and play. Balancia is welcoming and democratic with a dash of fun.

Uniformany

Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Germany, and Finland

Hard-working, disciplined, and tech-savvy, the countries sorted into Uniformany share traits which contribute to their work-ethic and consistency.

Who else wants to sign a petition for the world to be rearranged according to personality?

Lead image courtesy of JWT
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Indias largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki says that government incentives will be needed to make electric vehicles (EVs) affordable as the country moves towards the eco-friendly solution for mobility.

The company, which plans to launch its first EV in India by 2020, also said it will conduct a study to find consumer insights to prepare for the journey.

Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) Chairman R C Bhargava said affordability is a major challenge that EVs will face and for them to be successful, focus has to be on manufacturing of batteries and other components within the country to bring down cost.

I think it will be required My gut feeling is that yes, some kind of intervention would be required but I dont know to what extent, he told reporters when asked if government incentives would be needed to support electric vehicles transition in India.

As electric vehicles are a new development for the Indian auto industry it would be difficult to say in details how much government support would be needed, he added. The company will conduct a study to understand more about consumer insights on electric vehicles, which will also help in estimating how much of government support will be needed, he said.

Before that I cant really say with any kind of confidence that this the kind of government intervention is required, Bhargava said. The aim of the study would be to find out as to what is the ground reality, where people park their cars and charging infrastructure and what is their thinking about EVs, he said.

It will gauge what average consumer thinks about EVs. This survey is going to provide us the first reliable data from the ground. We will start it within two to three weeks and by about end of February we would have some authentic basis to answer queries on EVs, Bhargava said.

Stressing on the need for cost of electric cars to be within the reach of consumers, he said, 75 percent of cars are small cars. How to make small cars electrified and affordable?

I think this is one of the challenges which we will have to face because making an affordable large car is different from making an affordable small car. We need to keep that in mind. So what kind of government support, policy is required needs to be worked out.

The government has set eyes on 100 percent EVs for public mobility and 40 per cent electric for personal mobility by 2030.

In a white paper submitted to the government, auto industry body SIAM had proposed 40 percent of all new vehicles sold in the country to be electric by 2030 and 100 per cent by 2047.

When asked about MSIs EV launch plans, he Bhargava said the first one will hit the market by 2020 and the company will also set up charging stations.

On the future of conventional internal combustion (IC) engine vehicles, he said it will continue to grow. The company has done an assessment, assuming an annual growth rate of 8 percent between now and 2030, that 71 million cars will be sold, of which 14.4 million will be electric and 56.6 million will be IC vehicles, he said.

So, conventional cars will continue to be four times that of electrics, he added.
As medical services in Rajasthan remained paralysed for the 11th day on Tuesday and deaths were reported due to the strike by doctors, state Health Minister Kalicharan Saraf said the government would not take any action against doctors who had joined duty by December 26, but would follow the state High Court orders and act against doctors who had failed to do so.

Meanwhile, sources said the Rajasthan Civil Service Appellant Tribunal has directed Ajay Chaudhary, who is leading the doctors protests, to join duty by December 29.

The sources claimed that the Tribunal has also directed that FIR be filed against doctors due to whose dereliction of duty around 300 patients have died in the state.

The doctors strike has left medical services paralysed with several deaths reported in different parts of the state. The Congress has claimed that more than a dozen persons have died in Ajmer.

Meanwhile, most doctors have gone underground fearing arrest after the High Court on Monday directed the state government to deal strictly with striking doctors.

The Rajasthan High Court for the first time remained open for routine work on Christmas on Monday.

The division bench of Rajasthan High Court, which was headed by Chief Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and D.C. Somani directed the state government to deal with the striking doctors with an iron hand.

Apprehend the doctors under the law and even under the Rajasthan Essential Services Maintenance Act (RESMA) 1970, ordered the High Court.

The court remained open to hear a PIL filed by Abhinav Sharma, advocate of Rajasthan High Court, who requested the Chief Justice to take up the matter urgently as doctors had called for closure of all kinds of medical services, including private medical hospitals and medicine shops, on December 25.

The doctors strike has also taken political overtones with the Congress party accusing the state administration of instilling fear among the doctors fraternity.

Congress leader Sachin Pilot speaking to media, held the BJP government responsible for the crippling of medical services in Rajasthan.

The government should leave its adamancy and start a dialogue with doctors to ensure the strike ends at the earliest.

How can the government be so insensitive? Why cant it see so many people dying owing to lack of medical services in the state. More than a dozen people have died in Ajmer which speaks a lot about the failed medical services here. However, the state government is yet to listen to the problems of doctors, he added.

Earlier the All Rajasthan In-Service Doctors Association lawyer at a press conference said that the doctors would resume work only after the vindictive action against them is stopped.

The lawyer had said the government should withdraw the transfer orders of 12 in-service doctors, including the President of All Rajasthan In-Service Doctors Association.

Initially, the doctors had planned to go on mass leave on December 15 against the transfers, but the government invoked RESMA and started arresting doctors, he had said on behalf of the striking doctors.
The wife of alleged mastermind in a Rs 3,700 crore Ponzi Scheme has been arrested by Special Task Force of Uttar Pradesh Police, an senior police officer said on Tuesday.

Ayushi Aggarwal, wife of Anubhav Mittal, was arrested on Monday from Pune.

Mittals father Sunil Mittal was arrested earlier and Ayushi was declared as accused in the FIR in the case.

During investigation it was found that Sunil Mittal was one of the two directors of the Ablaze Info Solutions Pvt Ltd while Ayushi was made an additional director after she got married to Anubhav. She was directly responsible for the affairs of the company, Deputy Superintendent of Police, STF, Rajeev Narayan Mishra told IANS.

Aggarwal, a native of Uttar Pradesh, was changing his locations frequently to evade her arrest. Finally, our team traced her from Sai Ganga Society in Khondwa area of Pune. She was absconding since after the ponzi scam was busted in Noida and a non-bailable warrant was issued against her, he said.

The company launched an online social media portal named Socialtrade.biz, swindling Rs 3,700 crore from around 7 lakh people, who were promised handsome returns by clicking on web links, the officer added.

UP-STF busted this biggest internet scam in February and had arrested Anubhav along with two of his colleagues, he added.

Aggarwal was booked under the Prize Chits and Money Circulation (Banning) Act and other relevant charges including cheating registered against her in various police stations of Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad districts, he said.
It seems to have become a national sport to blame judges for all that goes wrong in Pakistan. From prosecutorial misconduct, negligent inquiries by investigating agencies and loopholes in the law itself, to executive collusion, Pakistani judges are, unfortunately, held responsible for anything and everything that is found to be wrong with the system.

In pointing fingers, it is forgotten that the judges are only one cog in the larger wheel of the judiciary. The larger system is made up of a plethora of stakeholders, including the legislature that is making the laws, the executive which is supposed to implement them, and, of course, the lawyers themselves. At each level, there are shocking failures leading to overall paralysis.

The federal legislature, for example, is infamous for passing laws which discriminate against minority groups and strip them of their rights to practise their own faith, whatever it may be. They have also passed laws allowing persons disqualified from contesting elections to head major political parties, and have codified laws that have been criticised for allowing murderers to get off by paying the victims families.

The provincial legislatures have been found to pass laws reinstating politically aligned individuals in employment  individuals who had previously been removed on charges of misconduct.

The judges, even if disapproving of such laws, would be bound by the same. Although it is true that they retain the power to judicially review laws, such powers have their limits, and cant be used to transport the judges from the realm of interpretation to that of law making.

Investigative agencies like the FIA and NAB and even the police are no better. Their incompetence has been testified to by the Supreme Court itself. Whether it has been the investigative abilities shown in the Benazir Bhutto killing case, NABs apparent penchant for preferring plea bargains in order to obtain lucrative pay days, or the procurement of false confessions, these agencies have been guilty of letting down the prosecution, whether through complicity or ineptness. No wonder the judges often have to acquit parties on account of insufficient evidence.

Further, the police and other law-enforcement agencies also have a responsibility to ensure compliance with the courts orders. When a judge passes an order, the state must ensure it is implemented. Being an organ without any enforcement wing, the judiciary relies solely on the executive for upholding its verdicts. If not implemented, the sanctity of such orders, the judiciarys prestige, rule of law, and respect for institutional space diminish over time, leaving violators emboldened and victims frustrated.

Unfortunately, that is exactly what happens. On any given day, judges pass orders against the land mafia, delinquent builders, individuals violating court orders and other deviants. However, the lack of law-enforcement support renders such verdicts ineffective, or their delayed implementation serves to frustrate the very object of the orders.

In addition, the larger system is fed by lawyers, who not only represent their clients, but are also paradoxically court officers. They are responsible for providing assistance to the courts in reaching the correct legal position in a given case and upholding a decision. They are supposed to do this by giving well-researched legal arguments to the judges, inculcating and advising clients to abide by the law, and by not subverting any decision which may have been passed against them or their client.

However, the reality is different. In Pakistan, the lawyers community consists of many types of individuals, including those who openly assist in subverting the rule of law. They may do this by helping their clients flout the law, resorting to misrepresentation before the court to procure benefits for their clients, assisting their clients in fleeing the courtroom on rejection of bail, or using intimidatory tactics to obtain favourable verdicts. If nothing else, they may advise their clients to disregard court orders, telling them that any such violation can be atoned for by a mere apology to the court.

In a nutshell, solely blaming judges for the current state of the judiciary is unfair to say the least. In order for the judiciary to become more robust and authoritative, each stakeholder will have to work in tandem with, and in support of, the judges in question. Without such synchronisation and unity, like all else in Pakistan, the judges will likely be banished to the annals of history as just another group of lone rangers who had been trudging along in the purported pursuit of an effective and just system that is responsive to the masses.

(The writer is a partner at a Karachi-based litigation firm.)
How is a judge appointed in the High Court or elevated to the Supreme Court, how is a judge appointed as the Chief Justice of a High Court and how and when is a judge transferred from one high Court to another high court? The simple answer is, the public does not know. The reason has been the Supreme Courts general attitude towards Right to Information, despite its judgments declaring how vital the publics right to know is for a democracy, how sunlight is the best disinfectant and that the public has a right to know how its public institutions with public functionaries are functioning.

The decision of the Supreme Court collegium to bring reasons for its recommendation or rejection concerning initial elevation to the High Court Bench, confirmation as permanent judge (s) of the High Court, elevation to the post of Chief Justice of High Court, transfer of High Court Chief Justices/Judges and elevation to the Supreme Court in public domain was indubitably a welcome departure from the deep-rooted culture of secrecy surrounding judicial appointments.

But a letter written by Justices Kurian Joseph and Madan Lokur to the Chief Justice of India asking for further deliberations on the matter have once again eclipsed the first transparency move by collegium. Both these judges contend that there is a need to value the rights of privacy, confidentiality and dignity of potential appointees which might be affected by the lucid attempt. The argument is based on analogy where students failed in the exams but didnt want it to be public knowledge as to how many subjects they failed and what their percentage of marks is. It may breach right to privacy, dignity and confidentiality.

Secrecy Breeds Corruption

But can we apply this analogy to the performance of public officials? Certainly not. A public official cannot be allowed to hide his inability, inefficiency or malfunction in the guise of privacy and dignity. If secrecy is permitted in the working of government and it is kept away from public scrutiny, it would tend to encourage oppression, corruption and abuse of authority. It would all be shrouded in the veil of secrecy without any public accountability.

The debate on openness in governance does not mean openness merely in the functioning of the executive arms of the state, but the same openness must portray the functioning of the judicial apparatus including judicial appointments and transfers. This was perhaps one of the prime reasons for hijacking the power of appointments and transfers in higher judiciary from executive to collegium.

Justice Bhagwati, with whom five judges agreed in the first judges transfer case (S. P. Gupta vs. Union of India) and which has not been overruled at this point, supported the concept of openness. While overruling the claim of privilege for non-disclosure of communications relating to appointments and transfers of judges, the court observed: The citizens right to know the facts, the true facts, about the administration of the country is thus one of the pillars of a democratic State. And that is why the demand for openness in the government is increasingly growing in different parts of the world.

Objective Parameters

The functioning of collegium has been condemned for not being transparent and objective, the reasons for which it was evolved. It failed to institutionalise the process and the parameters of appointment, elevation and transfer of judges. It has been about two years since the five-judge Constitution Bench, after striking down the governments NJAC (National Judicial Appointments Commission) law, tasked the Centre (December 2015) to draft a fresh Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) with the objective of making judicial appointments transparent.

However, the Supreme Court and the government conjointly failed to develop objective standards (seniority, intelligence report on personal and professional integrity, commitment to pro-bono lawyering, number and quality of judgements, pending inquiries etc. to mention a few) carrying apposite weightages so that comparative merit is determined. Display of reasons for recommendations or rejection would not only display the performance of judges and ensure accountability but also place on the collegium the burden to be more objective and truthful.

Anxiety of Lawyers and Judges

Lawyers and Judges are anxious as exposing their names and the reasons for rejection for appointment or elevation may dent their personal and professional reputations. This anxiety seems legitimate because decision of collegium is final and cannot be challenged. What if recommendations or rejection are based on mala fide and irrelevant considerations? Judicial review was available against executive action if the consultation was illusory, with ulterior purpose, non-application of mind or the mala-fide exercise of power. Why is the same rule of law not applicable to the collegium?

The Supreme Court recently in Riju Prasad Sarma etc. vs. State of Assam & Ors (Civil Appeal No.3276-3278 of 2013) has laid down law that while acting in its judicial role, the judiciary cannot be considered as State under Article 12 of the Constitution, but when the court acts purely in administrative capacity, they may fall within the definition of the State for attracting writ jurisdiction.

In Prem Chand Garg v. Excise Commissioner, U.P. (1962) the Supreme Court has struck down its own Rule 12 of Order XXXV of the Supreme Court Rules, which required the furnishing of security in a petition under Article 32, on the ground that it abridges right of constitutional remedy under Article 32. The work of collegium is entirely administrative and therefore it must ensure compliance with its own dictates. Developing objective performance index for lawyers and judges and making collegiums recommendations/rejection subject to judicial review seem to be sine qua non to bring accountability and transparency failing which, it will continue to face credibility challenge.

(The writer is Associate Professor of Law at NLU Odisha and Deputy Registrar, Supreme Court of India. The views expressed are personal)
Expressing concern over the gang rape of a 19-year-old woman in Noida, the Congress on Tuesday asked the Narendra Modi government to strengthen the criminal justice system and take tangible action to reduce crime against women.

Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was inaugurating the new Metro line in Noida, a 19-year-old was gang-raped in a moving car when she was on her way to Noida from Gurgaon, said Congress spokesperson Khushboo Sundar.

Earlier, another 20-year-old girl was raped by five men in Delhi. Repeated incidents of violence against women and continuous rise in crimes in the NCR region is a matter of grave concern, Sundar said.

The BJP, which politicised the Nirbhaya gang-rape case to the hilt and talked about providing security to women, was in charge of the capital now, yet Delhi continued to hold the tag of rape capital of India, she said.

It is high time the government strengthens the Criminal Justice System and takes tangible action to reduce the crime against women, the Congress leader said.

Pointing to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) Report 2016, the Congress said it exposed the hollow claims of women security under the present regime.

Total incidents of crime against women in India had increased in 2016, as compared to 2015, by almost 3 per cent and 3,38,954 incidences of crimes against women took place in 2016, as compared to 3,29,243, she said.

Referring to the NCRB data, the party also highlighted how crime against women had increased in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states.

Three BJP states  Madhya Pradesh (4,882), Uttar Pradesh (4,816) and Maharashtra  top in the number of rape cases (4,189), while two BJP-ruled states  Uttar Pradesh (12,994) and Maharashtra (6,170)  top in abduction of women.

Bihar is a distant third, according to the report.

Delhi reported 33 per cent (13,803 out of 41,761 cases) of total cases of crimes against women, followed by Mumbai (12.3 per cent or 5,128 cases) during 2016. Delhi also reported the highest crime rate (182.1) compared to the national average of 77.2.
Ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus expected visit to India early next year, India and Israel on Tuesday reviewed bilateral ties across multiple sectors in the 15th Round of Foreign Office Consultations here.

According to External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar, Vijay Gokhale, Secretary (Economic Relations) in the ministry and Yuval Rotem, Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel participated in the talks.

The two sides reviewed our relations in defence, agriculture, S&T (science and technology), education and homeland security, Kumar tweeted.

India and Israel are celebrating 25 years of diplomatic relations this year.
Five-time legislator Jairam Thakur will on Wednesday take oath as the 14th chief minister of Himachal Pradesh in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, officials said.

The ceremony will be held in Shimla, a day after Vijay Rupani and Nitin Patel took oath as Gujarats Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister respectively in a grand ceremony in Gandhinagar.

Along with Modi and Shah, chief ministers of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled states and senior ministers will attend the ceremony to be held at the historic The Ridge in Shimla.

Thakur, who will turn 53 on January 6, is seen as a gentle leader and is a close aide of Union Minister JP Nadda who too hails from the hill state and was in the race for the post of CM until Thakurs name was finalised on December 24.

As per reports, Thakurs name was proposed by two-time former Chief Minister PK Dhumal and seconded by Nadda and another two-time Chief Minister Shanta Kumar.

Belonging to the Rajput community, who has a significant presence in the hill state, Thakur won his fifth consecutive assembly election from Seraj, earlier known as Chachiot in Mandi district.

He has risen through the ranks and is known for his humble, clean and low-profile nature.

The BJP wrested power in Himachal from the Congress, winning close to a two thirds majority with 44 seats in the 68-member Assembly. The Congress won 21 seats, independents two and the Communist Party of India-Marxist one.

Thakur emerged as a front runner after Dhumal and state party chief Satpal Satti were defeated in the November 9 elections. The poll results were declared on December 18.
A desperate Pakistan on Wednesday violated the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Nowshera sector of Rajouri, two days after three of its soldiers were killed by Indian Army commandos in a cross border operation.

As per reports, Pakistani troops resorted to mortar shelling and small arms fire on forward Indian positions in Khori Baba area in Nowshera. The Indian Army has retaliated effectively, officials said.

On Monday evening a group of five Ghatak commandos killed the Pakistani soldiers 200-300 metres inside the Pakistan occupied territory from the LoC.

Pakistan acknowledged the death of its three soldiers in the Indian action in a weekly telephone call between the two Military Operations Directorate on Tuesday.

The operation began around 6 pm and the team returned to their camp within 45 minutes with no injuries.

A temporary post of the Pakistan army was smashed in the strike. The post was under extensive surveillance much before the operation was carried out, the sources said.

On Saturday, the Border Action Team of the Pakistan Army had killed four Indian Army personnel including a Major in Rajouri.

The LoC has been highly active this year, with 820 ceasefire violations so far, compared to 221 in 2016 and 152 in 2015.

The Army has lost 14 soldiers in ceasefire violations on the LoC this year, while 17 soldiers have died countering infiltration bids from the Pakistani side.

A total of 59 militants have been killed while attempting infiltration this year, in comparison to 37 and 30 militants killed in 2016 and 2015 respectively.
Yeanur Rahman came to Dhaka with big dreams. She studied hard, aced her final exams maintaining a good GPA and got admitted into a public university in the Bangladesh capital. Things were going exactly as she had envisioned. Better yet, the freshman thought she had fallen in love with someone in her very first year.

However, the relationship did not work out. It was a mature enough break-up, she thought, as the couple mutually decided to move on. Days later, all of Yeanurs assumptions took a pounding. She was horrified to find nude pictures of herself trending on her Facebook timeline. She became physically ill thinking of the consequences of her parents, relatives, friends  everyone  seeing these pictures.

Her face had been cropped onto a nude body and it was being shared by strangers. Some of them found it funny, some of them were saying horrible things about her. Living the dream in the capital turned into a nightmare.

The photo appeared with objectionable text, inappropriate comments and was posted in such a way as though she was making sexually provocative statements. It was clear that her ex was on a mission to destroy her reputation. He posted her pictures as a means of revenge for discontinuing the relationship. She called the man, but found his mobile switched off.

Twenty-five-year-old Naina Rahman from Brahmanbaria experienced something similar. A stranger had opened a fake account and photoshopped her face onto images of naked bodies. While she did complain to the Brahmanbaria Sadar Police Station she did not get any help. Desperate, Naina contemplated suicide, but was thankfully talked out of it.

Cases of sexual abuse online have been on the rise. While the country now has more than 80 million internet subscribers, issues like these havent been addressed properly.

We receive 2025 complaints from girls a day, says Jennifer Alam, President of Crime Research and Analysis Foundation (CRAF), an NGO that works on issues related to social media harassment.

The problem is that most adolescent girls are unaware of this new type of crime. In this digital age, access to the internet and smartphones has made it possible for almost anyone to have a social media account. This is why more and more teenage girls are falling prey to some sort of sexual harassment or the other, she adds.

Jennifer explains that the absence or dearth of sex education and the lack of awareness on harassment in social media are some of the reasons so many girls face harassment. People think its a safe place to abuse a girl, whether it is out of revenge or hatred, she says.

According to Minhar Mohsin, General Secretary of CRAF, these cases take different forms. Some blackmail girls for revenge, while others do it for money.

Although jilted lovers are the common offenders, there have also been cases where couples claim that their Facebook profiles have been hacked and they are being threatened that their intimate photos will be shared online or shown to their parents if they dont pay money, states Minhar.

Aside from data provided by CRAF, the number of cases filed under Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology Act also suggests that sexual harassment online is quite common. More than 70 per cent of the cases filed under the section are filed by teenage girls, according to a public prosecutor.

In addition, M Najmul Islam, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Social Media Monitoring of Counter-Terrorism and Cyber Crime said that cases of intimate videos of girls are also being uploaded on pornographic websites without the victims knowledge.

CRAF believes that one of the key ways to alleviate this problem is to spread awareness based on internet literacy. CRAF initiated activities last November to teach girls how to take legal steps. Cyber crimes on Facebook are alarming. I believe that if the perpatrator gets exemplary punishment then he will think twice before participating in such heinous acts, says Jennifer.

However, activists say that law enforcement agencies are not well-equipped to deal with such matters.

Human rights activist, Nur Khan Liton, says, These cases are not solved in a legal manner because law enforcement has limited knowledge as far as technological advancement is concerned. Police fail to trace perpetrators because they do not have the capability to fight cyber criminals.

Another issue that Nur points out is the absence of a regional Facebook office in Bangladesh. If Facebook authorities operate from Bangladesh, the number of harassment issues can be minimised as the victims can directly report the culprits, he says.

The fear of public humiliation is another reason why such cases are often dismissed. A girl is reluctant to complain to law enforcement because authorities would want verification and that would paint a poor picture of her in society, he adds.

According to Mahtabul Hakim, Programme Analyst, Ending Violence Against Women, UN Women Bangladesh, there is a need for dynamic prevention of cyber harassment. The perpetrator feels that attacking someone online is not a crime and thus is not as harmful as other crimes. But the truth is that such crimes attack the privacy and mental wellbeing of the victim; they can cause lifelong damage to the victims reputation and even lead to suicide. Such online harassment should be considered violence against women and treated as such by the legal system.
From a strictly military perspective there is much cause to applaud the commando raid across the Line of Control in the Poonch sector on Monday that took out three Pakistani soldiers without any casualty for the raiding party. It was from that perspective a highly successful action. From the same perspective it might have attained the desired objective of avenging the killing of an Indian major and three soldiers by a Border Action Team of the Pakistan army in the Rajouri sector a few days previous ~ the signal sent out, ostensibly to the other side, was that such sneaky moves would not be taken lying down, two can play the same dirty game. That signal would also serve to reassure the rank and file of the Indian army that its men were not treated as cannon fodder, a price would be extracted from Pakistan for killing Indian troopers.

Though official spokespersons kept silent, meticulously prepared sources provided rare details to the media ~ the composition of the raiding party, the depth to which they had penetrated the Pakistani defences, the initial use of explosives to disorient the enemy soldiers of the Baluch regiment and to then gun them down. All part of a larger design to stress that the Indians were capable of striking back ~ hard. That Pakistan was hurting was evident from its trying to underplay the incident: recall how it had denied the surgical strikes of September 2016. Perhaps aware of the political spin given to that mission, the army refrained from using high-profile terminology, calling Mondays action a localised, tactical strike. It is too soon to gauge the political impact of the raids but the lesser lights of the ruling entity lose no opportunity for gloating.

Yet it would be relevant to ask if revenge ensures rewards in a larger perspective, or merely sustains the inane cycle of violence that has enslaved two supposedly-civilised people. Sure being belligerent yields political dividend but probably it would be in the best interests of both nations to de-escalate debilitating tensions, create the climate for economic and social betterment of their people. Confining the conversation to a military level (the DGMOs use their hot line as an invective-exchange), or the frequent slanging matches between the foreign offices (the climate has deteriorated after the shoddy treatment of Kulbushan Yadavs family) serves only limited, one-upmanship purposes.

Diplomacy cannot be derailed indefinitely or Track II channels permanently blocked. Prestige comes in the way of someone making a first move: Mr Narendra Modi did try, but not as hard as Atal Bihari Vajpayee did: even if he received a poor response he elevated his reputation as a statesman. Presently both New Delhi and Islamabad are trapped in a whirlpool that deems peace as an antonym of honour.
Through December CBI, Special Courts have been in the news. Verdicts handed down in infamous scams spanning two decades have triggered a political maelstrom. In the backdrop of the setback to the BJP in the Gujarat elections, the impact is stunning. It may not be in the same league as the demonetisation experience of 2016 year-end but it promises to hand out many unpleasant surprises going forward.

To begin with the latest of these verdicts, on 23 December, Shivpal Singh, Special CBI Judge, convicted Lalu Prasad, the still-in-the-saddle RJD head honcho and 15 others for fraudulently withdrawing Rs. 89 lakh earmarked for the Animal Husbandry Department from the Degaru Treasury between 1991 and 1994 and sent them to Birsa Munda Jail, Ranchi. The sentencing would take place on 3 January 2018. This was Lalus second conviction in the fodder scam, the first having been in September 2013, for illegal withdrawal of Rs 37.7 crore from the Chaibasa Treasury, which carried a five- year prison sentence, consequent disqualification from the Lok Sabha and debarment from contesting elections for six years after completing his jail sentence. However, the Supreme Court granted him bail in December 2013, after only two months behind bars. There are four more cases which according to a May 2016 Supreme Court directive are to be decided by February 2018.

Predictably, while swearing by the mantra of respecting judicial verdicts and the rule of law, the well-orchestrated reaction of the RJD painted Lalu as a hapless victim of political conspiracy, vendetta and vile upper caste machinations , as a man who had to be fixed because of his principled stand against the scourge of communalism and his potential to disrupt the 2019 general elections. The frenzied tweetathon to his 3.5 million followers verged on the delusional. Had people like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Baba Saheb Ambedkar failed in their efforts, history would have treated them as villains. They still are villains for the biased, racist and casteist minds. No one should expect any different treatment. It was alleged that the verdict was deliberately pronounced on Saturday to pre-empt filing a bail petition during the ensuing break for the courts over Christmas and New Year.

It was a diluted throwback to June 1996 when Lalu was first sent to Beur Jail, Patna. Then he was the undisputed messiah of the backward castes and his party capitalised on his pilgrimage to prison as an attack on the honour of the underprivileged masses. Lalu was able to place his home-bound, stately illiterate wife, Rabri Devi in the Chief Ministers gaddi and rule the State with supreme ease by proxy. The fact that it took the opposition ten years to dislodge him from power and that he bounced back in the 2015 state elections with the trophy of the largest single party in the Assembly is proof that Lalus culpability has been overlooked by sizeable sections. This is precisely what the cynical, power-crazed RJD is seeking to again harness in its favour.

Riding precariously on this bandwagon, the Congress has come out with a strangely convoluted statement. It says that since the fodder scam broke in the 1990s, it has had an alliance with the RJD which was part of UPA I and the Mahagatbandhan. According to the underlying warped logic, criminal cases and political tie-ups are two distinct issues. This is not one of your typical foot-in-the -mouth gems of the many spokespersons of the Congress. The only niggling problem is that some people do remember it was Rahul Gandhi, now president of the invigorated Congress, who had torn ~ in public ~ the Ordinance brought in by the UPA II Government under Dr Manmohan Singh, with the exclusive agenda of saving the convicted Lalu from disqualification. And Rahul loves to preen about having his heart in the right place, unlike suit-boot wallahs who can only come up with hollow jumlas of na khaayenge aur na khane denge. It is evident, much filth has flown down the already polluted Ganga and now it is power at any cost, scruples be damned. Rank opportunism reigns.

The same sickening obsession with getting the better of political opponents came through strongly in the utterly shocking 2G scam verdict of 21 December. The case had, along with others, come to symbolise the worst of crony capitalism that allegedly flourished under the UPA regime, fueling popular fury and sweeping it out of power in 2014. O P Saini, Special CBI Judge, delivered a historic verdict holding that there was no criminality or conspiracy in spectrum allotment and acquitted all the accused. A scam was created by some people by artfully arranging a few selected facts and exaggerating things beyond recognition to astronomical levels. He held that the former Telecom Minister, A Raja of the DMK, did no wrong and pinned the blame on multiple Government agencies from Dr. Manmohan Singhs PMO, to the Ministries of Law, Finance as well as senior DoT officials. Saini also came down heavily on the CBI for its extreme shoddiness. Analysts and stakeholders are still in a daze trying to get their collective heads around the implications of such an extraordinary verdict. This is no closure.

Be that as it may, given the dismissal of all charges, the DMK and its key actors in the saga, A. Raja and Kanimozhi, both of whom had served time in Tihar Jail, were expectedly jubilant and received a rapturous welcome from party leaders and cadres. But for the Congress to jump in at this juncture and pillory the BJP for spreading lies about the scam and demand an apology from Vinod Rai, the former C&AG on whose report of presumptive loss to the exchequer the investigative and judicial proceedings were based, was outright disgraceful. It was shameless politicising of a judicial process, yet incomplete, only to attempt to show the present Government in a poor light. So much for high principles it unceasingly tom-toms.

While the Congress and other political parties have come out all guns blazing in support of their leaders embroiled in the fodder and 2G scams, it cannot escape disappointing notice that there has been no comparable reaction to the indictment ~ and a three- year prison term ~ for the IAS officer, former Coal Secretary, H C Gupta in the Coalgate scam by Bharat Parashar, Special CBI Judge on 13 December. There were a few angry, distressed tweets by colleagues. Disturbingly enough according to unconfirmed accounts, some of these had to be deleted under pressure.

Very interestingly, the judgment had underscored that neither was it alleged by the prosecution nor any such evidence was available to show that Gupta obtained allocation of coal blocks for accused companies by any corrupt or illegal means! As Anil Swarup, HRD Secretary, Government of India sums it up with tremendous effect, If we hound the honest, society and administration will be left with either dishonest performers or dishonest non-performers. The choice is ours.

Clearly, the political class has voted overwhelmingly to band together. Supporting the tainted is kosher in the craze for power. For upright civil servants, no such impregnable shield is available. They are condemned to perish.

(The writer is a retired IAS officer and comments on governance issues.)
The dire uncertainty has deepened in Spain. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoys gamble, to nip the Catalonian independence movement in the bud, has backfired with last Fridays victory ~ wafer-thin though it was ~ of the pro-independence parties. The triumph can be attributed in part to the robust jingoism, in part to its violent suppression, and no less crucially to the arrest and exile of prominent leaders. And yet that triumph ought not to be perceived as a mandate for Catalan independence; nor even for the status quo. Hence the country as well as the restive swathe may be in limbo for some time yet. As a year of stirring history draws to a close, it would arguably be useful for both sides to reflect whether one side had provoked the other.

While the government in Madrid mobilised its forces against the movement, there is little doubt that the separatists had defied the central authorities by organising an illegal referendum. The rest is history. Was it really necessary for the Rajoy government to go on overkill by unleashing violence, jailing political leaders, and imposing direct rule in Catalonia? It is now pretty obvious that voters have not readily concurred with the official counter-mobilisation. Hence the psephological swing with the vote for the ruling party declining by half. The trend of voting suggests that the electorate has generally favoured the decidedly centrist unionist party, called Citizens, which ranks as No. One in the election tally. The success of the partys leader, Ines Arrimadas, must seem remarkable in Spains polarised political scenario.

Given the overwhelming uncertainty in the aftermath of the result, it is imperative that parliamentary politics resumes in quite the most fractious country in Europe, which has been grappling with an economic crisis for the past several years. A patchwork quilt could at this stage be a viable option. The government in Madrid should revoke direct rule and ensure amnesty for jailed and exiled Catalan leaders, including Carles Puigdemont. Markedly, the exiled President won the vote from Belgium, a fact that makes his achievement still more impressive. At another remove, the separatists should accept that the 1 October independence vote is null and void. The three parties in the Opposition are deeply divided and this has made the result rather quirky ~ the secessionists have won in terms of seats, but have suffered a loss of votes.

The two sides must negotiate in order to ensure a more rational form of devolution for Catalonia, a region that showcases Spains diversity of identities. An agreeable formula towards a halfway house needs urgently to be devised. The outcome has been a major embarrassment for Rajoy, but with only 47.5 per cent of the votes, the separatists are scarcely in a position to form the next government in Barcelona. Spain cries out for a compromise based on firm principles as never since the days of Franco.
Lebanese and Palestinian protesters, including children from Palestinian refugee camps, participated in a protest in Beirut on Tuesday to show solidarity with a teenager and other Palestinian minors being held in Israeli prisons.

The Khiam Rehabilitation Centre for Victims of Torture organised the protest in front of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) offices, Efe reported.

The group also presented a letter of protest to the ICRCs head in Lebanon, Christophe Martin, stating that the arrest, torture, trial and house arrest of children constituted both a human rights violation and a war crime.

In addition, the center called on the Red Cross to denounce the arrest of Palestinian children and all inhumane practices against the Palestinian people in the occupied territories.

Palestinian teenager Ahed al-Tamimi was arrested last week after appearing in a video that shows her scuffling with Israeli soldiers.

The video, which went viral on the Internet, shows al-Tamimi shouting, pushing and slapping two Israeli soldiers.

The 16-year-old girl and her mother, Nariman, were later arrested.

People all over the world have condemned their detention and taken to social media to call for their release.
Russia is ready to serve as a mediator between North Korea and the US if both sides agree, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

You cant become a mediator between two countries just on your own will. It is impossible, you need both sides to be willing, Peskov told CNN on Tuesday.

Peskovs comments came just days after the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a new set of US-drafted sanctions on North Korea in response to its November 29 ballistic missile test.

US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley called the latest sanctions as the toughest yet as they were aimed to further restrict energy supplies, tighten restrictions on smuggling and the use of North Korean workers overseas.

The vote was unanimous but Russias Ambassador to the UN criticised the resolution saying that the US had rushed it through with several last-minute amendments that targeted North Korean workers abroad.

The resolutions requirement of a 24-month period for North Korean workers to return home is the minimum acceptable period necessary to deal with the logistical aspects of the issue, said Russias Permanent Representative to the UN Vasilly Nebenzia.

Unfortunately, our call to preclude a further escalation of tensions, to revise the policy of mutual intimidation, was not heeded, he said.

The US also issued sanctions on two North Korea citizens over their alleged involvement in the countrys ballistic missile programme.

Meanwhile, during a telephonic conversation with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it was inadmissible that Washington heightened tension on the Korean Peninsula with aggressive rhetoric and military buildup.

The two sides believe that Pyongyangs nuclear missile development violated the requirements of the UN Security Council, the Russian Foreign Ministry said, underscoring the need for an early transition from words of sanctions to a negotiation process.

The two top diplomats also considered steps to overcome the conflicts in Syria while maintaining its territorial integrity, including the plan to hold an inter-Syrian national dialogue in Russias Sochi.

They also agreed to intensify dialogue on issues concerning strategic stability.
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Young Montrealer is trying to save her fathers life in Haiti

As 25-year-old Youveline Dorvilma builds a life for herself in Montreal, marrying last May and working toward a bachelors degree, she has had to watch from afar as her family falls on hard times nearly 3,000 kilometres away in Haiti.

Her teenage brother died of anemia a year ago and her older sister succumbed to diabetes in late October. Now her 64-year-old father may face a similar fate unless his family can raise the CAD$41,000 needed for a kidney transplant. It will cost that much because, after thoroughly exploring every possible option, it appears that flying her father to Cuba for the procedure will give him the best chance of survival.

Its so very frustrating, she said. So frustrating to know that all it will take is money, money we dont have, to make him better.

Dorvilma and her husband have turned to crowdfunding, hoping strangers will cover the travel, operation and recovery costs. Those costs are for both Dorvilmas father and his donor, assuming a match is found. Doctors think it likely that one of Ereste Dorvilmas 11 children will be a compatible donor.

Youveline Dorvilma said her family is aiming for Cuba because it is better equipped to provide top-quality care. Not just the surgery, but the recovery as well. That recovery could take weeks, if not months.

A family friend that works in medicine in Haiti advised us to do the procedure elsewhere, said Youveline Dorvilma. If his body rejects the transplant, Haiti would have no way to keep him alive.

To do this, she has sought the assistance of Cuba Heal, an organization that specializes in coordinating medical treatment in Cuba. The next step is coming up with the money.

A few weeks in, however, and the GoFundMe campaign appears to have plateaued at under $1,000 despite widespread sharing on social media.

Doctors arent sure how long her father has left to live, but the hourglass is clearly draining fast. Currently he receives twice-weekly dialysis treatments that are costing the family over CAD$250 a week.

With kidney failure taking its toll, Ereste Dorvilma is unable to continue working as a labourer in the agriculture industry. His family is struggling to cover the costs of the weekly treatment  buying what little time they can while praying the crowdfunding campaign will take off.

My sister died while my father was in the hospital, said Youveline Dorvilma. Now my fathers health is really deteriorating fast. After the funeral, thats when everything started getting worse and, due to the funeral, we dont even have the funds to get him to the Dominican Republic for a second opinion.

With her husband, Dimitry Pogorely, at her side, her eyes grow misty as she speaks. Together they sit on a couch in their small LaSalle apartment, her hand in his, with one of Dorvilmas bright, abstract paintings hanging over their heads.

It hasnt been easy, said Pogorely, noting they regularly send money to their family in the Haitian arrondissement of Les Cayes. It affects me as well. Were doing everything we can while trying to carry on with our daily lives.

Both Pogorely and Dorvilma came to Canada when they were young. Pogorely, a 27-year-old IT technician, was born in Ukraine and spent most of his childhood in Israel before coming to Montreal with his parents as a teen.

With her adoptive parents help, Youveline Dorvilma became a Canadian citizen in 2000. She didnt learn that she was adopted until age 10 but, since then, she has rekindled and developed a strong bond with her blood relatives, including her birth father, Ereste Dorvilma.

When she was born, Ereste Dorvilma thought she would have a better life with adoptive parents. As it turns out, Youveline Dorvilma is now much closer to her biological family than her adoptive parents.

Youveline Dorvilma goes to school full time, studying for a double major in social services and nursing assistance. Meanwhile, she has been selling her art on the side, advertising mostly on Facebook, with every dollar she earns going to her family in Haiti. Pogorely has been helping where he can, promoting the crowdfunding campaign and earning a living for the two of them.

Once an organ donor is confirmed in the coming weeks, Pogorely said, if the money materializes, Cuba Heal will plan everything from start to finish, including transportation and the lengthy recovery stay as doctors monitor for infection, organ rejection or other complications.

Youveline Dorvilma only hears from her family in Haiti intermittently when they have access to electricity. She wanted to attend her sisters funeral last month, but couldnt, knowing it would be better to save the money for her fathers treatment. Instead, she stays in Montreal and pushes on with her life, feeling, she said, sad and agitated as she waits and hopes for a wave of support from strangers on the internet. Her donation page can be found at: www.gofundme.com/erest-transplant-fund

You never know, she concluded. Sometimes these campaigns work. Maybe it will for us.
Montreal, CA (H4T1V6)

Today

Occasional snow showers. High 33F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 70%. Snow accumulations less than one inch..

Tonight

Overcast. A few flurries or snow showers possible. Low near 25F. Winds light and variable.
Bears beat LaGrange, advance to Rd. 2 The Bears traveled to Calloway Stadium last Saturday, beating the number two seed LaGrange Grangers 23-20 and will advance to the second round of the GHSA playoffs for the second year in a row. Burke County will have another long road game and face a stiff opponent in the AAAA...

AAAA PLAYOFFS  ROUND 2 Burke County at Bainbridge Bearcats Friday, Nov. 18, 2022, at 7:30 pm Centennial Field 725 East Louise Street, Bainbridge, Ga 38919 Tickets are $10 and only available at www.gofan.co.

Lady Bears receive all-region honors The softball season is officially over, and many of the BCHS Lady Bears have been recognized for outstanding performance. A total of three players were awarded with all-region honors. Arliyah Crumbley was the only Lady Bear to receive a first team all-region award. Liyah was incredible for us all season...

EBA shines in students memory Friday night's game was dedicated to EBA junior, Morgan Tedder who passed away Thursday, Nov. 10th. The junior class and their families made a circle at midfield and released her favorite color blue balloons. Morgan will be missed by so many but her memory will live on. EBA won against...
Job Title: Programmes Assistant

Organisation: Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of

Africa (SIHA)

Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda

About US:

The Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa  SIHA Network

 is a coalition of civil society organisations from Sudan, South Sudan,

Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Somaliland and Uganda. Founded in 1995,

the organisation advocates for social change and gender equality in the Horn

region and works specifically on protecting womens human rights, promoting

womens access to justice, supporting economic empowerment and activating

womens political participation. SIHAs secretariat/HQ is located in Kampala,

Uganda and SIHA maintains field offices in Sudan and South Sudan.

Job Summary: The Programmes Assistant

will specifically support and provide assistance in all the operations of the

Secretariat Programmes. Working directly with), Regional Programmes Officer

(RPO), Project Coordinator and collaborating with all SIHA programme team. The

PA will support programme reporting and monitoring, conducting local-level data

collection and establishing a link between SIHA projects and the targeted

communities in Uganda. The PA will coordinate elements of the programme

occurring in and around the targeted communities in Uganda as directed by SIHA

Regional Programmes Officer. The Programmes Assistant will take on a primary

role in organizing project related meeting, writing reports, reviewing partner

and correspond with partners in the field as directed by the programmes team.

The PA will also contribute to project planning and reporting and grant writing

as needed. The PA will provide work-related support and facilitate work tasks

delegated by and SIHA Regional programmes officer and Projects Coordinator



Key Duties and Responsibilities:

Work closely with the programme team to

support implementation of projects; support project monitoring, monitoring

project work plans, following up on donor reporting deadlines for Uganda

Projects. .

The jobholder will also periodically

monitor and amend programmes work plans, and ensure timeliness and

effectiveness of activities to be conducted;

As requested, contribute to the project

planning, grant writing, and other programme-related tasks;

The jobholder will make contributions

towards SIHAs engagements, communications and capacity building of our

grassroots partners across the region. Focusing mainly on dedicated women

activists, grassroots and youth groups and advocates for womens rights,

equality, political and social empowerment;

Support the Regional team in the

implementation of day to day programme work through setting up

discussions, meetings and overall engagement in programme activities,

engaging with stakeholders at the local level;

Taking part in the monitoring and

evaluation field visits and documenting the outcomes of these meetings in

an organized format and filed appropriately.

Undertake any other tasks as assigned by

the Regional Programmes Officer, and the overall Programmes and management

team.









Qualifications, Skills and

Experience:

The applicant must hold a University-level

Bachelors Degree in human rights, womens rights, project management,

development / humanitarian studies, gender studies, law, or a related

field, a Masters degree is an added bonus;

The candidate for this position should

have strong knowledge and understanding of Uganda , strong knowledge of

the Horn of Africa is an added advantage, specifically, Sudan, South

Sudan, Somalia, Somaliland, Djibouti, Kenya and Ethiopia. A commitment to womens

rights and the principles of gender

equality and interest in social movements is essential, with proven

track-record on right-based programming being a precondition for

shortlisting. SIHA will be interested in individual applicants with

commitment to indigenous civil society organizations and their essential

role in promoting the improvement of conditions for women and girls across

the Horn of Africa.

Keen interest in gender and womens rights

/ empowerment and improving conditions for women and girls in the Horn of

Africa;

Hard-worker, with ability to put in extra

hours during peak periods of activity;

Proven knowledge of local-level political

/ social / cultural dynamics;

Punctual, attentive, and enthusiastic;

How to Apply:

All suitably qualified and interested candidates should send an updated

C.V., contact details for three professional references, application letter and

two samples of writing, preferably proposals you have written, to

humanresourcesiha@gmail.com. Please enter Application Materials: SIHA

Programmes Assistant in the subject field.

Deadline: 9th January 2018



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One person was arrested after actor Parvathy filed a complaint of cyber harassment, under Section 67 of the IT Act. According to reports, the Ernakulam Police identified the arrested as Printo.

Actor Parvathy, who was a bull's eye for online abusers after her comments challenging superstar Mammootty's comments in movie Kasaba, had filed a complaint before DGP Loknath Behera and the cyber cell.

Parvathy had faced a slew of death and rape threats.

ALSO READ: I can act on screen, but I no longer want to act in real life, says Parvathy in an exclusive interview with THE WEEK

The fans lashed out at her on social media, calling her a "cheap feminist".

Meanwhile, Parvathy received support from various quarters including state Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac and "Women in Cinema Collective", an outfit of women in Malayalam cinema.
It is not everyday that Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra chooses to share her success mantra with people. But when she agrees, she makes sure to share it in such a way that people learn from her experiences and be inspired.

The Quantico actor recently spoke at The Penguin Annual Lecture 2017 at Siri Fort auditorium in New Delhi, where she presented sure shot ways of becoming the best version of yourself.

Talking about the theme, 'Breaking the glass ceiling. Chasing the dream', the actor, who is also a singer, author and a producer, said that she is not fond of the term 'breaking the glass ceiling' as the term just puts all her achievements in a box.

When I was a child, my father asked me why do you want to fit inside the glass slipper like Cinderella did when you can shatter the glass ceiling? But I don't like the meaning of 'breaking the glass ceiling' as it takes all my achievements and hard work and puts them in a box; as if my ambition was to find a glass ceiling and break it. I was not here for breaking and shattering anything but all I wanted to do was to chase my dreams, evolve and to become the best version of me, she said.

Priyanka Chopra has been lauded for playing lead characters in not just Indian films but also conquering the west. After working in Quantico and Baywatch, she has created a milestone that many of her contemporaries failed to do. She said that anyone can achieve it by identifying oneself and constantly evolving.

There's only one because there is no one like you. I don't mean the superfluous and superficial parts but your values, beliefs and flaws. Once you understand who that person is you can find your unique self. So my first rule is change is the only constant thing in life. I am living my dream by being fierce and fearless, she said.

Let your dreams fly and give them wings. Be what you want to be. Opportunities don't come very often. So no matter where you are in life, you have never arrived enough to explore these opportunities, she said.

Advising women, Chopra said it is important to become ambitious to follow your dreams. There's nothing wrong in being ambitious. Don't let anyone tell you who you need to be. Fight for your dreams because no one else will. I have turned down so many roles and opportunities because they did not fit what I wanted but today my failures, successes and journey are mine. So, do not compromise.

Though the actor said that she hates failures, she is not one to wade in self-pity. Always learn that you will never truly enjoy success until you have tasted failure. So fail, fail, fail again and then rise as a phoenix, she adds.

The actor also believes in taking calculative risks as she said, it helps a person to evolve. If you have not explored the full extent of your possibilities, you will always remain stagnant. People have written me off several times in my career. When I played a negative character in Aitraaz very early in my career, someone told me that no one will cast me as an actress. Also, when I did a female-centric film like Fashion, people told me it was not a norm. Each time the risks were huge and stakes were high and repercussions could be career-ending. But I chose to take risk.

Chopra, who is also UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador said that success is nothing if you are not bold, kind and compassionate. Learn to laugh at yourself and situations and find a moment to appreciate life as it comes. When I was very young, my mother taught me that there will always be someone who will be less fortunate. So, give back and always remember where you came from.
Facing public flak for its ban on head gears for Muslim female students and parents on the premises, the principal of Mumbra Symbiosis in Thane said the school had to take the decision due to security reasons.

The principal's statement has come after reports surfaced that Muslim female students and their parents were banned from wearing hijab in school.

School principal Kamal Raj Dev said, "On December 4, guards objected to two women wearing veils. No parents are allowed to roam in school but they started arguing. When I turned my back, they ran. What wrong have we done? Student security is on us."

Reportedly, earlier this month, the school had issued a circular, saying students would not be allowed to cover their faces in the premises and even while leaving the campus as well. Infact, the family of the students would also have to lift their veil to reveal their face while entering the school campus.

Meanwhile, parents expressed their worries over the decision. However, the school administration clarified that the decision did not mean to hurt any religious sentiments.
"We have decided to respond in the same coin, and quickly," a senior army officer sitting in the Army Headquarters told THE WEEK, giving his reaction to the Indian Army's cross-border raid on Pakistani Army posts to avenge the recent killing of four Indian Army men, including an officer of the rank of major.

According to the military establishment, the Indian Army over a period of time, especially after the June 2015 'hot pursuit' into Myanmar, has changed its strategy to react immediately to enemy action. And also to publicly acknowledge it.

"Nowadays, we are always in 'hurry' to react. It not only sends a message to the outside world, but is also good for the morale of the unit and to bring back its confidence, as it lost its men in enemy action,"an officer explained.

The Army was rattled by the deadly ambush on a convoy of 6 Dogra Regiment in a border district of Manipur that killed 18 soldiers in June 2015. Days later, special forces of the Indian Army carried out a cross-border operation and neutralised 30-40 NSCN (K) insurgents hiding in the jungles of Myanmar. Calling it a 'hot pursuit', the then Director General of Military Operations, Lt. General Ranbir Singh, came out on camera and claimed to have inflicted massive damage to the insurgent camps.

And a similar strategy was adopted last year after the September 18 attack on the Uri brigade, in which 19 Indian Army troops were killed by militants with the help of regulars of the Pakistani Army. Exactly 10 days later, the Indian Army carried out a 'surgical strike' in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and caused massive damage to the militant camps based in the area. And the same Lt. General Ranbir Singh came out with a statement before the media, publicly admitting to the cross-border commando operation on enemy soil.

"From Myanmar to the surgical strike, we have adopted a strategy to take revenge as early as possible. And our stance was also changed and we don't hesitate to admit our soldiers' daring act. Over a period of time, it has become a norm to react immediately,"said a senior army officer, while adding that political leadership has left the decision with the Army to respond in a manner it wants to.

Speaking with authority and command, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat recently told in a public event that the Indian Army will not hesitate to repeat surgical strikes. "The surgical strike was conducted to send a message and if our adversaries do not understand, it will be repeated, the Army Chief reportedly said.

Army sources also maintained that it has become a necessity to admit to operations publicly before it takes a wrong sentiment. They gave the example of the beheading of two Indian soldiers in January 2013 by a border action team comprising militants and regulars from the Pakistani Army. The then Army Chief General Bikram Singh reportedly responded by saying that Indian Army will take action at the time and place of its choice. Eventually, it led to lot of public anger and put the political leadership under pressure.

While explaining about the situation on the Line of Control, Army sources claim that the present year of 2017 has seen the maximum number of ceasefire violations by the Pakistani Army in comparison with previous years.

According to the figures available with the establishment, the Pakistani Army has violated the ceasefire along the International Border and the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir more than 720 times this year, the highest in the past seven years. Last year, the Pakistani Army violated the ceasefire 221 times on the LoC, while the 2015 figure was only 60 such incidents. Repeated firing on the border led to the killing of 61 Indian troops in 2017.

"This year, the number, intensity and calibre of ceasefire violations have been so high. We also decided to respond in the same manner, which led to increase in number of casualties on both sides," an officer told THE WEEK.

Major Moharkar Prafulla Ambadas, Lance Naik Gurmail Singh, Sepoy Gurmeet Singh and Sepoy Pargat Singh, belonging to 2 Sikh Regiment and posted in Chingus area of Rajouri, were killed in the border action team action carried out by the regulars of Pakistani Army, along with militants, on December 23.

Within hours, the Poonch Brigade of the Indian Army launched a cross-border attack with five-seven commandos of its Ghatak unit and targeted posts of the 59 Baloch Regiment under 2 PoK Brigade, also called as Rawalkot Brigade of the Pakistani Army. There were at least three confirmed casualties and one injured, but unconfirmed reports claim casualties could be more.

Without calling it a surgical strike, a senior defence ministry official told that it was a 'local tactical level' action taken by the local commanders of the brigade level. It was a short-distance raid about 200-300 metres inside the LoC, the official explained.

Army sources claim that Sunday's strike was in retaliation to the Pakistani Army's action, in which they infiltrated into the Indian side by nearly 400 meters to target Indian soldiers.

It was a tit-for-tat action involving selective targeting. Such actions do not last very long. The commandos targeted a group of Pakistani soldiers on patrol near a temporary post. An explosion was triggered near the Pakistani patrol, which may have led to the killing of Pakistani soldiers," the officer added.

An officer maintained that such tactical-level operations keep happening on the border, especially when the situation is volatile. However, the tactics have changed. Instead of waiting for the enemy to be less alert or careful, the Indian Army is retaliating 'quickly and strongly'.
Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar has appealed to all opposition parties to pass the contentious triple talaq bill unanimously when it is introduced in Parliament on Thursday. Kumar was interacting with mediapersons at Parliament on Wednesday.

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017, seeks to criminalise the practice of triple talaq (or instant talaq) among Muslims and specifies a three-year jail term and fines for violators. Some sections of the Muslim community have criticised the bill and claim they were not consulted on its contents.

Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad is scheduled to introduce the bill in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. The BJP has issued a whip to all its MPs to be present in the House on Thursday and Friday.

The CPI(M) has declared its opposition to the bill. CPI(M) leader Mohammed Salim claimed that the government's move was politically motivated as the Supreme Court had already banned the practice of triple talaq.

Among other parties, the Biju Janata Dal has expressed reservations about the penal provisions in the bill. CPI leader D. Raja had demanded that the bill be referred to the standing committee of Parliament.

(With agency inputs)
Union Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Anant Kumar Hegde has 'no right' to be in the House or in the government, the opposition said on Wednesday, disrupting the Rajya Sabha over the Karnataka MP's controversial remarks that the ruling BJP was "here to change the Constitution" and remove the word 'secular' from it.

Opposition members vociferously raised the Hegde issue as soon as the House convened after a four-day break amid continued logjam over Congress' demand for an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his remarks against his predecessor Manmohan Singh during the campaign for the Gujarat elections.

Leader of opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad lashed out at the government and the BJP and said if any person lacked faith in the Indian Constitution, he did not deserve to be in the House or in the government.

"The minister has no trust in the Constitution and has no right to be the minister. He has no right to be a Member of Parliament either," Azad said.

Hegde at a function in Kukanur in Karnataka on Monday urged people to "claim with pride that they are Muslim, Christian, Lingayat, Brahmin, or a Hindu" and said, "Those who, without knowing about their parental blood, call themselves secular, they don't have their own identity... They don't know about their parentage, but they are intellectuals.

"Some people say the Constitution says secular and you must accept it. We will respect the Constitution, but the Constitution has changed several times and it will change in the future too. We are here to change the Constitution and we'll change it soon."

As the Parliament met for the first time after an extended weekend, the opposition sought a discussion over the issue.

Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu denied the request but allowed the opposition members to briefly make a mention about it in the Zero Hour.

Samajwadi Party MP Naresh Agarwal said Hegde had abused the Constitution and insulted its architects like B.R. Ambedkar.

"It is like abusing the Constitution. Can anyone remain minister by abusing the Constitution? It is an insult to Babasaheb Ambedkar," Agarwal said.

The ruling BJP members took objections to Agarwal unnecessarily dragging Ambedkar into the row. They also protested, triggering slogans from the opposition.

Naidu then adjourned the House till 12pm.
Taiwan will gradually get used to Chinese air force drills that encircle the island, China said on December 27, while Taiwans premier reiterated the self-ruled islands desire for peaceful relations with its giant neighbour.

China considers democratic Taiwan to be its sacred territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring what it views as a wayward province under Chinese control.

It has taken an increasingly hostile stance towards Taiwan since Tsai Ing-wen, from the islands pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, won presidential elections last year and has stepped up its rhetoric and military exercises.

Beijing suspects her of pushing for the islands formal independence, a red line for China. Tsai says she wants peace with China, but also that she will defend Taiwans security and way of life.

Chinese state media has given broad coverage to island encirclement exercises near Taiwan this month, including showing pictures of Chinese bomber aircraft with what they said was Taiwans highest peak, Yushan, visible in the background.

Asked about the continuing drills and the footage released by the air force, Chinas policy-making Taiwan Affairs Office said it and the defence ministry had repeatedly described the exercises as routine.

Everyone will slowly get used it, spokesman An Fengshan told a routine news briefing, without elaborating.

Chinas air force has carried out 16 rounds of exercises close to Taiwan in the past year or so, Taiwans defence ministry said in a white paper this week. Chinas military threat was growing by the day, it warned.

Proudly democratic Taiwan has shown no interest in being run by autocratic China, and Taiwans government has accused Beijing of not understanding democracy when it criticises Taipei.

Taiwan Premier William Lai told a year-end news conference in Taipei that the United States, Japan and South Korea were all paying close attention to the activities of Chinas air force.

Lai said his government would take its lead from the president, who was in charge of relations across the Taiwan Strait.

Under the presidents leadership the Executive Yuan pushes forward government affairs, stabilising cross-strait relations towards peaceful development, Lai said, using the formal name for Taiwans cabinet.
Argentine Cabinet officials have honoured the crew of the submarine ARA San Juan, which disappeared last month, during a naval ceremony here.



"Our respect and our recognition go out to the families," Defence Minister Oscar Aguad said at the ceremony on December 26 marking the departure of the icebreaker ARA Almirante Irizar on the 2017-2018 Antarctic Summer Campaign.



"Let us remember the 44 countrymen from the submarine San Juan because they represent courage and the defence of our interests at sea, in our continental sea," Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie said.



Read more: US Navy plane scours South Atlantic in search for Argentine sub



The ARA San Juan's crew was on a tactical mission that was essential for protecting Argentina's maritime lanes, Aguad was quoted as saying by the media.



Ships from several countries continue searching for the submarine in an area about 400 km off Argentina's coast but no trace of the missing vessel has been found.



On December 25, the Navy said it was trying to determine whether three objects found at sea were from the submarine. The objects were found on December 24 at different depths.



The ARA San Juan, a TR-1700-class submarine built in Germany, last made contact with the Navy command on November 15 while travelling from the southern port of Ushuaia to its base in Mar del Plata, near Buenos Aires.
Former US president Barack Obama said the way people communicate via social media risked splintering society and leaders had to ensure the Internet did not cocoon users within their biases.

Obama said in an interview with Britains Prince Harry, broadcast on BBC radio on December 27, that social media should promote diverse views in a way that doesnt lead to a Balkanisation of our society.

All of us in leadership have to find ways in which we can recreate a common space on the Internet, Obama said.

One of the dangers of the Internet is that people can have entirely different realities, they can be just cocooned in information that reinforces their current biases.

Obama has previously warned that social media platforms can lead people to make snap judgements about complex decisions although he has refrained from criticising his successor Donald Trump who regularly uses Twitter.

Obama said in the interview broadcast on Wednesday that moving online communities offline helped people to see that many issues were not as simple as they might seem in a chatroom.

Its also by the way harder to be as obnoxious and cruel in person as people can be anonymously on the Internet, he said.

Obama spoke to Harry in an interview conducted by the prince as a guest editor for BBC radios daily morning news show and focused on their shared interest in promoting causes.

Harry was asked by the BBC whether he would invite the Obamas to his wedding next year with US actress Meghan Markle.

I dont know about that, Harry said. We havent put the invites or the guest list together. Who knows whether they are going to be invited or not. I wouldnt want to ruin that surprise.

The media said on December 26 that British government officials had urged Harry not to invite the Obamas to his wedding for fear of angering Trump.
China and India have far greater shared strategic interests than concrete differences. This was the view expressed by Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi at a foreign policy symposium in Beijing recently. Wangs statement offered a hopeful endnote to what has been a rocky year for Sino-Indian ties. It is, of course, true that Beijing and New Delhi do share key strategic objectives, such as the reform of international institutions, ensuring rights of developing countries at the WTO, pursuing domestic economic development and combating climate change. Despite this, however, 2017 has been a year during which their concrete differences also garnered strategic dimensions.

For starters, Chinas vehemence in blocking the designation of Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar as an international terrorist at the United Nations and its opposition to Indias Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) membership appear to be elements of a policy of containment. Beijings objective in adopting such a policy is undeniably strategic, i.e., appeasing all-weather friend Pakistan and denying New Delhi a seat at an elite table where members shape global norms, while ensuring that it remains occupied with immediate concerns in its neighbourhood.

However, the effectiveness of such a policy is debatable. For starters, over the past 18 months, India has acquired membership into the Missile Technology Control Regime and the Wassenaar Arrangement  two of the four key multilateral export control regimes. India has also indicated its desire to become a member of the Australia Group, with formal discussions likely to begin as early as June 2018. It is important to note that Beijing is not a member of any of these three groups. Yet Indias membership to them boosts its credentials as a responsible global stakeholder and builds support for its NSG bid. Moreover, Beijings obstructionism only further contributes to the mistrust that pervades Sino-Indian ties and alienates Indian public opinion.

Strategic competition between India and China is also evident in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative. BRI is Chinese President Xi Jinpings flagship foreign policy agenda. It envisions mega infrastructure projects linking together to establish land and sea corridors cutting through Asia, Africa and Europe, which will facilitate trade, investment and greater regional economic integration. From very early on, keeping in mind geographic, economic and strategic considerations, China has sought to court India to become a BRI partner. In fact, leading up to the Belt and Road Forum in May, Beijing repeatedly invited Indian participation.



Read more: Belt & Road will lead to India-China conflict

India, however, has consistently maintained a skeptical view of BRI. For New Delhi, BRIs positioning as an economic endeavor masks a larger foreign policy design to undercut Indias influence in South Asia and the Indian Ocean Region. The diplomatic jostling culminated in the Ministry of External Affairs May 13, 2017, statement, which formally declined Beijings invitation. New Delhis argument is that connectivity projects must not impinge on a countrys territorial integrity and sovereignty and must also be based on openness, transparency and equality along with the principles of financial responsibility.



Rejection of BRI as it stands today is just one arc of a three-pronged Indian response. The other two being the Asia Africa Growth Corridor and the revived Quadrilateral grouping. The former, which is a product of conversations between India and Japan, is pitched as an alternative that envisages infrastructure, connectivity and economic projects based on principles of financial responsibility, sustainability, respect for sovereignty and generating employment for local populations. The latter, meanwhile, is an budding strategic partnership premised on a commonality of purpose, i.e., ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific region and countering proliferation and terrorism.

Finally, the long-standing boundary dispute between India and China cast a dark shadow over the bilateral relationship through much of 2017. The Doklam standoff began in mid-June as Indian soldiers, acting on Bhutans request, blocked Chinese attempts to extend a road along a disputed piece of land between the two countries. For Bhutan, the Chinese were encroaching into its territory in violation of past agreements. India viewed Chinese road-building as a security threat, given its proximity to the strategically significant Chickens Neck area, and a violation of a 2012 deal on settling tri-junctions after due consultation. China, meanwhile, saw Indian actions as illegal trespass, violating its territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Read more: China, India push for early resolution of border dispute



With both China and India digging their heels, it appeared that a prolonged confrontation was on the cards, with conflict being a possibility given the provocative rhetoric emanating from media and spokespersons in Beijing. In contrast, the Indian side repeatedly called for calm diplomatic engagement. The eventual resolution in late August saw status quo restored and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi travel to Xiamen for the BRICS summit. But, with Chinese President Xi Jinpings speech at the 19th CPC Congress in October hinting at a tougher stance on issues of territorial sovereignty and Beijing reportedly eyeing permanent troop presence in the area, a recurrence of boundary tensions in the near future is all too possible.

After a year of ups and downs, Indias National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met with Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi in Delhi in late December. This was the first talks between the Special Representatives of India and China on the Boundary Question since the end of the Doklam standoff.

The MEA statement following the meeting said: They (the Special Representatives) underlined the need for the two countries to build on their convergences, while seeking mutually acceptable resolutions of their differences with due respect for each others sensitivities, concerns and aspirations.

This sentence captures the inherent complexity of the Sino-Indian relationship going forward. The strategic aspirations of each side are going to continue to impinge on their sensitivities and concerns.



The author is a senior multimedia journalist and Chinese affairs analyst based in New Delhi
Clarifying its stance, Pakistan has claimed that the Kulbhushan Jadhavs wife's shoes were confiscated on security grounds as there was something in it.

There was something in the shoe (of Jadhav's wife), the media has quoted Pakistans Foreign Office Spokesman Dr Muhammad Faisal as saying.

The shoe is being investigated, he added.

Pakistans Foreign Office, in a statement, said, We do not wish to indulge in a meaningless battle of words. Our openness and transparency belies these allegations and categorically rejected India's baseless allegations and twists.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday stated that, For some inexplicable reason, despite her repeated requests, the shoes of the wife of Jadhav were not returned to her after the meeting. We would caution against any mischievous intent in this regard.

Pakistan had disregarded the cultural and religious sensibilities of Kulbhushan Jadhav's family, who met him on December 25 in Islamabad, the MEA added.

Under the pretext of security precautions, the cultural and religious sensibilities of family members were disregarded. This included the removal of mangalsutra, bangles and bindi, as well as a change in attire that was not warranted by security, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

Kumar added the Pakistani press, despite prior agreement that the media would not be allowed close access, was allowed on multiple occasions to approach the family members closely, harass and hector them and hurl false and motivated accusations about Jadhav.

"We note with regret that the Pakistani side conducted the meeting in a manner which violated the letter and spirit of our understandings," he said.

Kumar further said that the Indian Deputy High Commissioner in Pakistan, who was supposed to be with the family all the time, was initially separated from family members.

The MEA spokesperson concluded by saying that the manner in which the meeting was conducted and its aftermath seemed clearly to be an attempt to bolster a false and unsubstantiated narrative of Jadhav's alleged activities, adding the exercise lacked credibility.
The United States and Germany called on China to immediately release a prominent human rights activist who was jailed for eight years on December 26 for subversion, the harshest sentence passed in a recent crackdown on activism.

Wu Gan, a blogger better known by his online name Super Vulgar Butcher, regularly championed sensitive cases of government abuses of power, both online and in street protests. He was detained in May 2015 and charged with subversion.

In a separate case, also on December 26, rights lawyer Xie Yang avoided criminal punishment despite being found guilty of inciting subversion, because he admitted his crimes.

We call on the Chinese authorities to release Wu immediately, the US and Germany embassies in China said in a joint statement.



Read more: Chinese activist Wu Gan sentenced to prison

As Xie has been exempted from punishment, we urge China to allow Xie to resume his professional activities without preconditions and be free of any restrictions.

Chinas Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Beijing frequently denounces foreign concern about rights cases as an interference in Chinas internal affairs and says China is a country with rule of law.

Wus sentence was the most severe in what rights groups have called an unprecedented attack on Chinas rights activists and lawyers, known as the 709 crackdown, which began in full force on July 9, 2015.

The hardline approach has shown no sign of softening as Chinese President Xi Jinping enters his second five-year term in office.
The United States announced sanctions on two North Korean officials behind their countrys ballistic missile program on December 26, while Russia reiterated an offer to mediate to ease tensions between Washington and Pyongyang.

The new US steps were the latest in a campaign aimed at forcing North Korea  which has defied years of multilateral and bilateral sanctions  to abandon a weapons program aimed at developing nuclear-tipped missiles capable of hitting the United States.

The US Treasury named the officials as Kim Jong Sik and Ri Pyong Chol. It said Kim was reportedly a key figure in North Koreas efforts to switch its missile program from liquid to solid fuel, while Ri was reported to be a key official in its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) development.

Treasury 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 Mnuchin said in a statement.

The largely symbolic steps block any property or interests the two might have within US jurisdiction and prohibit any dealings by US citizens with them.

The move followed new United Nations sanctions announced on December 22 in response to North Koreas November 29 test of an ICBM that Pyongyang said put all of the US mainland within range of its nuclear weapons. Those sanctions sought to further limit North Koreas access to refined petroleum products and crude oil and its earnings from workers abroad.

North Korea declared the UN steps to be an act of war and tantamount to a complete economic blockade.

The standoff between the United States and North Korea has raised fears of a new conflict on the Korean peninsula, which has remained in a technical state of war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

Washington has said that all options, including military ones, are on the table in dealing with North Korea. It says it prefers a diplomatic solution, but that North Korea has given no indication it is willing to discuss denuclearization.

Kremlin offer

On December 26, the Kremlin, which has long called for the two sides to hold negotiations, said it was ready to act as a mediator if the United States and North Korea were willing for it to play such a role.

Russias readiness to clear the way for de-escalation is obvious, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Asked to comment on the offer, a spokesman for the US State Department, Justin Higgins, said the United States has the ability to communicate with North Korea through a variety of diplomatic channels, and added:

We want the North Korean regime to understand that there is a different path that it can choose, however it is up to North Korea to change course and return to credible negotiations.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who made a similar offer on Monday, told US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in a phone call on Tuesday that Washingtons aggressive rhetoric and beefing up of its military presence in the region had heightened tensions and was unacceptable, Russias foreign ministry said.

It said Lavrov underscored the need for the fastest move to the negotiating process from the language of sanctions.

Another State Department spokesman, Michael Cavey, said Washington remained open to talks, but the onus was on North Korea to take sincere and meaningful actions toward denuclearization and refrain from further provocations.

He said North Korea had made clear through its words and actions it is not interested in dialogue at this stage.

South Koreas Unification Ministry forecast on December 26 that North Korea would look to open negotiations with the United States next year while continuing to seek recognition as a de facto nuclear power.

Washington has stressed the need for all countries, especially Russia, and China  North Koreas main trading partner - to fully implement sanctions, including by cutting off oil supplies.

According to Chinese customs data, China exported no oil products to North Korea in November, apparently going above and beyond UN sanctions imposed earlier this year.

Beijing also imported no North Korean iron ore, coal or lead in November, the second full month of those trade sanctions, the data showed.

Beijing has not disclosed its crude exports to North Korea for several years, but industry sources say it still supplies about 520,000 tonnes, or 3.8 million barrels, a year to the country via an aging pipeline.

North Korea also sources some of its oil from Russia.

Trade between North Korea and China has slowed through the year, particularly after China banned coal purchases in February.

Chinese exports of corn to North Korea in November also slumped, down 82 percent from a year earlier to 100 tonnes, the lowest since January. Exports of rice plunged 64 percent to 672 tonnes, the lowest since March.

China has expressed concern about the humanitarian effects of sanctions, and has repeatedly called for constructive efforts to ease tensions.

 Reuters
This has been a bumper year for letters to my Ask Tony column, with thousands of you writing in with your consumer disputes.

While thats kept me busy, it raises concerns about the way some companies are so dismissive of legitimate complaints.

Often it is not the amount of money involved, but the energy and time wasted chasing the problem.

It may be tempting to let the company pocket 20 or so just to avoid hassle  but that would mean they benefited from their poor service.

These smaller complaints often involve the telecoms industry, which seems to have turned poor customer communications into an art form.

Busy 2017: This has been a bumper year for letters to my Ask Tony column, with thousands of you writing in with your consumer disputes

More worrying is the number of times I have had to face down debt collectors which are chasing people who dont owe a penny and operating at the fringes of legitimacy.

One of the most troubling, published in March, concerned PRA Group of Kilmarnock asking for 133.50 to be paid on a debt of 1,966.87.

PRA agreed the debt had become statute-barred in 2012 but argued that this did not extinguish it and that it had not threatened enforcement action.

Debt specialists warn that firms sending out such letters could be attempting to get the recipient to acknowledge the debt, which would allow the firm to chase it.

On an optimistic note, regulators and lenders are finally moving to address the issue of older borrowers being denied mortgages.

One reader feared losing his home because his Santander mortgage was nearing its end. I spoke with Santander which moved him to a cheaper deal, saving more than 1,000 a year in interest and allowing him to tackle the loan.

Your letters can alert us to wider issues, as when some individuals told us they had been wrongly advised by HMRC to top up their National Insurance for the promise of a bigger state pension and were struggling to get their money back.

But proof that the taxman does have a heart came in March with the case of an 87-year-old woman with dementia who was in care and received a tax demand for 2,057. HMRC admitted mistakes calculating her pension, and wrote off not only that money but also the underpaid tax for the previous year, before correcting her tax code to make sure things went smoothly in future.

YOU HAVE YOUR SAY Every week Money Mail receives hundreds of your letters and emails about our stories. Here are some from our report about how Basildon Council has billed residents of an Essex estate 2,000 each to fix water pipes under their homes: The council should pay for these repairs as they operate the pipes. This is callous, especially just before Christmas. T.M., Skipton, N. Yorks. It is unfair that these people have to pay for repairs. They did not choose this unusual heating system with a central boiler; the council did. This is poor management and planning. M.E., Essex. I am fed up with being mugged by the council for ever-increasing amounts  and being threatened if I dont pay. Councils need to be radically transformed. T.N., London. Councils and local authorities have become a law unto themselves. They issue spurious summons and liability orders and penalise millions of people who are struggling to pay. D.W., Cleveland, N. Yorks. I had to replace my boiler recently at a cost of 2,200. The council didnt pay for it  I did. This is the same. L.F., Huddersfield, W. Yorks.

Energy firm disputes cropped up with depressing regularity. My award for the daftest goes to British Gas, which insisted a bowling club treasurer photograph a smart meter to prove usage.

A spokesman said it had a disputes process that hasnt evolved at the same speed as our smart offering. Stuck in the last century, then? Those photos triggered a 2,314 refund and a hamper.

Scottish Power wrote off 19 months of bills, worth 2,307, after putting a reader on the wrong tariff. Dont forget that as long as you provide meter readings and co-operate with an energy company, they can only send bills dating back up to 12 months if they fail to bill you properly.

Lost accounts and old passbooks are a regular entrant. Often these contain little or no money because theyve long been closed. But on one occasion Barclays came up trumps, digging up 887 in an account that had been opened in 1993 and sat dormant since 2004.

The best place to trace lost accounts is mylostaccount.org.uk or phone 020 3934 0329 for banks, 020 7520 5900 for building societies and 08085 007 007 for NS&I.

Travel insurance disputes or ruined holidays crop up all too frequently. The travel industry can feel like the Wild West, where you must stand your ground to have any hope of a fair outcome.

In May I covered the case of a woman who took her 86-year-old mother on a Thomson cruise with a request for assistance because she was a wheelchair user.

When they arrived there was no assistance and she told me the reps were not interested.

Thomson tried to blame the reader, dodged the issue and then offered 200 in vouchers. I eventually squeezed 730 out of them, yet throughout Thomson tried to cut me out of the loop. Im afraid this has been another emerging theme with certain firms trying to exclude me when I make contact with one of your complaints.

They foolishly fail to realise the tight bond that we at the Mail have with our readers. Why should you want to collaborate against us with a firm that has behaved unreasonably towards you?

Last Christmas I had to take Samsung to task for trying to cut me out when a reader complained that it had taken a year to replace a damaged television.

Now  just to prove I have problems too  I am dealing with a firm over a new fridge/freezer. Its call centre is consistent in that each time I phone I am cut off and they have failed to call back. I hope that by next Christmas I will be able to report an update.

The volume of letters I receive means I cant take on every single case. So how can you get yours closer to the top of the pile?

For starters include all the relevant information. I need your name, address, a contact phone number and email if you have it, plus the name of the organisation youre complaining about  my bank is not enough!

I need any complaint, order or customer number you may have been given and I need to know the amounts of money involved.

I like to see evidence that you have given the company a chance to sort out the problem. Youre expecting the press office and me to spend time on your complaint, so you should be prepared to invest time too.

With financial companies in particular it is important to tell them that you want your problem to be registered as a complaint  that forces them to put it on to official data and means they will take you more seriously.

You, or the person youre writing on behalf of, must sign a waiver giving the firm permission to speak to me. Without this they are prevented from discussing your case by the Data Protection Act.

You can find a form at thisis money.co.uk/permission. Theres no need to send stamped addressed envelopes.

I also need you to be reasonable and flexible. You may be at the end of your tether, but I am trying to arbitrate so if you wont pick up the phone and speak to a company we will get nowhere.

And one final thing. The truth will always out in these cases. If the firm is in the wrong then they will usually own up but, sadly, I seem to be receiving increasing numbers of letters from people who, to put it kindly, are economical with the facts.

If that proves to be the case, not only will you not win, but I may well write about it.

Happy New Year  and if a firm tries to pull a fast one, you know where to come.
Your snazzy new smartphone may have survived the cat knocking over the Christmas tree and Grandad spilling his whisky this week  but there is no guarantee your luck will continue.

Given the number of gadgets we typically have in our homes, there is a high chance that one of your household will lose or break something over the next 12 months. So should you insure them?

In the past, gadget insurance has been considered a waste of money. Better to self-insure by putting away a tenner each month in case something happens. Then if it doesnt you still have the cash.

Tech cover: Given the number of gadgets we typically have in our homes, there is a high chance that one of your household will lose or break something over the next 12 months

But the new iPhone X alone costs almost 1,000. Even if you put aside 20 each month into a top-paying easy access savings account at 1.3 per cent youd still only have 242 at the end of a year, including interest.

And its not uncommon for one family to own a few smartphones, a couple of iPads, a Kindle and a laptop.

To replace all of these would be enormously expensive.

It might be that you rarely take your gadgets out of the house and so the risk of breaking them or having them stolen is small.

In this instance you may just want to keep an old phone or laptop in a drawer somewhere so you have a spare to fall back on.

But if you bought a new mobile phone for the kids that they will take everywhere, insurance may prove a good investment.

So what are your options?

James Daley, of Fairer Finance, says: Whatever you do, dont buy your insurance from the retailer or your mobile phone provider without shopping around first. This is almost always more expensive.

Before you buy a new policy you should also check your home insurance policy and any bank account perks to ensure you arent doubling up on cover.

Many home contents policies cover your gadgets as standard. Better policies will also cover your belongings outside of home and for accidental damage. You can usually pay extra to have this cover added to your policy.

If you do, it means everyone under your roof is protected on one policy.

Threat: Moped muggers snatch a mobile phone from the hands of a City businessman

Check the excess you would have to pay in the event of a claim. A good policy would have an excess of 100 or less, but some cheap deals have much higher excesses of around 250 or even 500.

You should also check any cover limits and declare any very expensive gadgets as a high-value item. Be aware that if you need to make a claim, your premiums will likely increase the following year.

If you pay a monthly fee for your current account you may find you already have gadget or mobile phone insurance as one of the perks.

Barclays current account customers, for example, can choose to pay an extra 9.50 for its so-called tech pack, which includes mobile phone and gadget insurance.

This covers up to four mobile phones worth up to 1,000 each and 1,500 worth of gadgets including laptops, satnavs, smartwatches, tablets and cameras  worldwide against loss, theft, accidental damage and breakdown worldwide.

In February, the price will increase from 9.50 to 12.50. But youll be able to cover as many gadgets as you like worth up to 1,500 each, as well as four mobile phones.

At present the excess is between 25 and 100 depending on what type of mobile phone you have and what happened to it. From February it will be 75 for all claims.

Nationwides FlexPlus account costs 13 a month and you get smartphone insurance for the family, worldwide travel insurance up to the age of 74 and UK and Europe car breakdown cover. The account also pays 3 per cent interest on balances up to 2,500.

The Halifax Ultimate Reward Account also offers mobile phone and worldwide travel insurance for the family, as well as breakdown and home emergency cover. You get 75 for switching your account.

Premium: The new iPhone X alone costs almost 1,000 making it expensive to self-insure

It costs between 12 and 15, depending on whether you meet criteria which include paying in at least 750 a month. But for these deals to be good value you must use all the perks.

Alternatively, consider specialist gadget insurers such as Back Me Up, CoverCloud, Debenhams, Protect My Bubble, Switched On or Trov.

Competition among companies offering these types of deals has rocketed in recent years, pushing prices down.

Premiums vary depending on the type of gadget you need to insure, the level of cover you choose and the excess. This can mean that the price you end up paying is different to the one you saw advertised.

With CoverCloud, for example, it would cost between 3.71 and 7.14 a month to insure an iPhone 6s (16GB).

An iPhone X (64GB) would cost between 6.99 and 10.99 and an iPad Air 2 (16GB) between 3.71 and 7.14.

The exact price you pay depends on whether you want cover for, loss, theft, unauthorised calls and accessories and whether you pick a 50, 75 or 100 excess. Youll get a discount if you pay the full years premium in one lump sum and a 10 per cent discount if you insure more than one item.

With Debenhams you can cover up to ten gadgets on one policy. Its five-gadget bundle, for example, costs between 17.50 and 27.50 a month  210 or 330 a year.

You get a 10 gift card and a discount bringing the total to 175 or 275 if you pay the years premium in one go.

All policies will also have different exceptions and exclusions in their small print.

Back Me Ups Fully Flex deal, for example, will not cover mechanical faults.

Protect Your Bubble will not cover laptops for loss.

Most policies exclude cover for wear and tear or scratches that dont affect how the item works.

Some will only cover gadgets purchased within the past 12 months and limit how many claims you can make in a year.

Others will only insure gadgets in the UK or offer worldwide cover for a limited number of days.

Insurers will also refuse to pay out if you were negligent and left your phone unattended in a cafe, for example, or in full view on the front seat of your car.

v.bischoff@dailymail.co.uk
Zeek.me lets you advertise your gift card online where other shoppers can buy them

You can turn unwanted gift cards into spare cash by flogging them online.

With little-known website called Zeek.me, you can advertise your gift card online where other shoppers can buy them. Zeek lets you offer discount on the face value of the card.

Cards on the website are currently selling with discounts of between 1 per cent and 25 per cent.

So if you had a 20 gift card you could offer it at 10 per cent off  or 18.

The bigger the reduction you choose, the quicker it is likely to sell.

Those offering the biggest savings tend to have shorter expiry dates. Cards from troubled retailer Toys R Us have been on offer at a 25 per cent discount.

You have to pay a fee to Zeek for the service. It charges 7 per cent commission when you sell the card. So if you sold a card at 18, Zeek would bill you 1.26.

To become a seller, youll need to register on the website and type in the code on the back of your gift card along with its expiry date.

l.milner@dailymail.co.uk
Bad taste: Restaurants and takeaways are among the most likely to default on tax

TAX DODGERS Restaurants and takeaways are among the most likely to default on tax.

They make up nearly a fifth of the businesses and owners named and shamed as deliberate tax defaulters by the HMRC, according to research by accountants Moore Stephens.

It said HMRC was now automating most checks on the restaurant industry by taking data from card readers and cross-referencing it against a restaurants declared takings.

BOSSES OPTIMISTIC Business leaders are confident in their own firms ahead of Brexit. A poll by the Institute of Directors found that almost half of all business leaders feel optimistic about their own prospects ahead of 2018.

The British Chamber of Commerce has called on the Government to make securing a business-friendly trade deal with the EU a priority.

TRADE HOPES Businesses believe western, central and eastern Europe will be key trading markets over the next three years, according to research by the British Chambers of Commerce. However, they fear tariffs, customs procedures and local regulations will cause unnecessary barriers.

BITCOIN ACTION Israel is the latest country to crack down on bitcoin amid fears a toxic bubble is building that could ruin speculators.

The Israel Securities Authority has banned firms which focus on online currencies listing on the Tel Aviv stock exchange.

It follows a ban in China and regulation in the US and Singapore, as well as warnings from UK watchdogs. The currency rallied 13pc to nearly $16,000 yesterday.

JOBS BOOST A huge stimulus package has brought Japanese unemployment down to its lowest level in 24 years.

The jobless rate dropped 0.1 per cent to 2.7 per cent  the best figure since 1994, and significantly below the UKs 4.3 per cent, following a five-year battle to boost growth.

Deals sought British Gas owner Centrica is seeking deals to expand its production arm, a top executive said. Division head Chris Cox said the business would seek joint ventures with rivals. It follows a tie-up with German firm Bayerngas Norge.
Chinese tourists snap up designer goods at the Bicester designer shopping outlet

Tourists will spend a record 27billion in Britain next year as the number of overseas visits passes 40m for the first time, official estimates suggest.

National agency Visit Britain said there will have been 39.9m trips to the UK this year, an all-time high, with more expected in 2018.

It comes after the post-Brexit fall in the pound triggered a boom in tourism by making Britain a much cheaper destination.

The pounds fall also sucked in shoppers from the Middle East and Asia looking to spend their cash on luxury goods.

Department store Harrods notched up 2.1billion of spending in its last financial year, with total transactions up 23.3 per cent.
Bill: Tech entrepreneur Dan Wagner has been ordered to pay back a 1.5m loan

A shamed tech entrepreneur has lost a court battle to avoid repaying 1.5million to a former business partner.

Dan Wagners mobile shopping firm Powa Technologies collapsed last year following multi-million pound losses amid tales of wild partying and corporate excess.

Wagner, who once sent staff a picture of himself dressed as David Bowie character Ziggy Stardust, borrowed thecash from former Powa director Ben White in 2015, as he battled to keep the company alive.

White demanded his money back after the firm went into administration, but Wagner, 54, sought a High Court order to avoid repayment.

He claimed White pushed for administrators to be appointed so he could buy valuable product Powatag, which was sold to a company jointly owned by White and Wellington Management, a leading creditor.

Wagner claimed Wellington conspired with White but the court found nothing to suggest this was true.

Wagner has now been served with a bankruptcy petition and still owes the money to White.

Wagner says he has been granted permission to appeal.
#FIFA World Cup Ghana coach 'happy' to see old pupil Son Heung-min in Qatar When South Korea and Ghana square off in their second Group H match of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar later this month, it will also set up a reunion for a coach and a former player o...
Model train shows start chugging in the Beaver Valley

Pulling into the station for Christmas will be model train shows in Ambridge, Monaca, Rochester, Darlington & Pittsburgh
Our country stood divided politically and ideologically in 2017, and the local arts scene both reflected those differences and displayed how we could get beyond them. Here is a look at what our writers thought were the highlights of this year, and, like our society, it is all over the map.

CULTURAL TOUCHSTONES

The Erie Canal's 200th Birthday Party

Many dates, many locations

July 4, 2017, marked two centuries since the first shovel of dirt was dug on the Erie Canal, and scads of celebrations kicked off across the state. Among the many were seven free concerts in the Albany Symphony's Water Music NY series, which traveled from Albany to Lockport with programs mixing new patriotic tunes, splashes of Handel and newly commissioned music focused on hyper-local history.

Other events locally included "Spotlight: Erie Canal" at the Albany Institute of History & Art and "New York's Erie Canal: Gateway to a Nation," a long-term, in-depth exhibition at the State Museum that opened its first phase in September  and features, as its centerpiece, a 14-foot windlass that once hefted heavy goods at a canalside warehouse. But the best part of this birthday party: It ain't over. The Erie, after all, took eight years to build, so it deserves eight years to celebrate it.

Mass MoCA's Mondo Reopening

Memorial Day Weekend, North Adams, Mass.

This past May 25, after its $65 million Phase III expansion, the erstwhile textile mill and electric company opened the doors at Building 6, a ship-shaped structure hosting six exhibitions of work by significant artists: Louise Bourgeois, Jenny Holzer, Laurie Anderson, Gunnar Schonbeck, Robert Rauschenberg and James Turrell.

It was a big deal for a big museum that just keeps getting bigger. With 130,000 square feet added in gallery space alone, MoCA now ranks as the largest contemporary art museum in the country. The exhibits themselves are stunning, summoning the quiet inspiration of singular art in a singular environment. Beyond that, the expansion reflects MoCA's exploding status both regionally and nationally, where it stands at the forefront of museums pushing for inclusivity and outreach to a broader populace. As imposing as it stands, as large as it now looms, nothing about it feels stuffy or off-putting. It's just more MoCA.

The Year of the Woman

All year long, everywhere

Where to start? How about Tuesday, Nov. 6, 1917? That's when women won the right to vote in New York state. The centennial received much attention at arts institutions around the region, including exhibits at the Albany Institute and State Museum and an opera, "The Mother of Us All," at the newly opened Hudson Hall (formerly Hudson Opera House).

But beyond that, the year behind us was filled with dialogue about the continued role and rights of women  starting with the Women's March held in January. Pussy hats popped up everywhere. Time Magazine named the #MeToo movement "person of the year"; Merriam-Webster named "feminism" word of the year. And if much of the conversation was rough to hear and even rougher to articulate  especially the revelations of sexual misconduct in every field and facet of life  it felt necessary, like the latest few steps in a long march toward true equality.

 Amy Biancolli

THEATER

''Ragtime'' Times 2

June and July, Park Playhouse, Albany; and Barrington Stage Company, Pittsfield, Mass.

Area audiences had the privilege of seeing two productions of "Ragtime" this past summer, and as it happened they opened within a week of each other. Both understood that "Ragtime," with its themes of racism, radicalism and anti-immigrant bias, is dishearteningly, shockingly relevant to today's America. And both were musically magnificent, from soaring ensemble numbers that induced goosebumps to heartfelt duets and trios and tear-welling solos.

In Albany, Park Playhouse's version was grand in scale, its epic set reflecting the historical sweep of the story, adapted from E.L. Doctorow's novel of the same name, about three groups at the beginning of the 20th century in metropolitan New York City. The production was the most musically expansive and emotionally complete show Park Playhouse has ever produced. It's as if the company wanted to herald its 30th anniversary, this coming summer, a season early with a truly remarkable production.

Barrington Stage's production was intimate in scale, its set evoking the attic of a large, Victorian-era home. Characters initially entered from a trapdoor in the floor, suggesting a climb into a communal past, and the final stage picture, of a trio of kids, offered audiences, despite the grim preceding scenes, a positive nod to the future.

''Company''

August, Barrington Stage Company, Pittsfield, Mass.

Aaron Tveit, returning to BSC after a decade during which he achieved significant success on Broadway, television and film, brought a riveting magnetism to the leading role of Bobby in this revival of the Stephen Sondheim-George Furth musical. Tveit has the presence but not the remoteness of a star  he's a standout, yet also fully part of a remarkable ensemble.

Emotionally generous and exquisitely observed, with moments of raucous comedy and others of genuine pathos, director Julianne Boyd's production did full justice to one of the most sophisticated examinations of romantic relationships in the canon.

From a scene involving a karate demonstration to a pot-smoking session that leads to a character performing a headstand, and from a racy sexual encounter to a shake-the-rafters rendition of "Ladies Who Lunch" by Ellen Harvey as Bobby's rich old friend Joanne, this "Company" worked on every level.

"Cymbeline''

July and August, Shakespeare & Company, Lenox, Mass.

"Cymbeline" had the feeling of a valedictory for both Shakespeare and director Tina Packer. The play, believed to be The Bard's last, is rarely produced, largely as a result of initially seeming to be a peculiar blend of comedy, drama, romance and fantasy. Making it work requires exactly the right tone and style.

But Packer, who founded Shakespeare & Company 40 years ago and was directing "Cymbeline" for the first time  it also was the only of Shakespeare's works she hadn't previously directed  perfectly figured out the play. She, a creative team that included three assistant directors and a nine-member ensemble, delivered a production that was witty, knowing, dramatic and wholly satisfying. It was a remarkable accomplishment, one that resolved the play's many difficulties with such assurance, supreme professionalism and joy that you didn't recognize until afterward what a challenge it must have been to balance a play that incorporates so many devices and elements Shakespeare used earlier in his career.

 Steve Barnes

CLASSICAL

Recital by Mitsuko Uchida, piano

March 27, Union College Memorial Chapel, Schenectady

Pianist Mitsuko Uchida lived up to her reputation as a preeminent artist of our time with a recital that left listeners in a state of wonder. She began the program with what might be considered a cute trifle, Mozart's Sonata in C-Major, K. 545. She delivered it as a polished gem. Snippets of the Mozart reappeared in Jorg Widmann's "Sonatina facile," a collage of old and new that was both feisty and elegant, thanks to Uchida's attentive touch.

The balance of the program was devoted to Schumann. In his "Kreisleriana," Op. 16, all of the composer's joys and sorrows spill out in profusion. With the Fantasie in C-Major, Op. 17, Uchida gave the audience safe passage through a craggy landscape. An encore by Mozart concluded the memorable program.

"The Cradle Will Rock"

July 9, Spa Little Theatre, SPAC

Piano accompaniment and minimal staging have been the norm for this musical ever since its famously bare-bones debut in 1937. But the show was conceived and scored on a grand scale, and Opera Saratoga stepped up to the challenge of putting the pieces back together. The imaginative production featured a cast of 25 members and a chamber orchestra conducted by John Mauceri.

The show takes aim at all institutions of power, with each scene a pointed vignette. The revolutionary message was always as clear and bold as the propaganda posters that framed the set. Lawrence Edelson's boxy and robotic choreography for the prison inmates was one of many surprises. Soprano Ginger Costa-Jackson's rendition of the ballad "The Nickel Under the Foot" was on the money.

Dogs of Desire Perform Viet Cuong's "Re(new)al"

June 2, EMPAC Theater, Troy

Hydro, wind and solar energies formed the tripartite structure to "Re(new)al," a concerto for percussion quartet and chamber orchestra written by Viet Cuong. Debuting at the Dogs of Desire concert, the piece was the highlight of the ASO's American Music Festival.

The members of Sandbox Percussion first clinked tuned wine glasses (that's the hydro). The piece ended with them playing glockenspiels, which were meant to suggest the image of solar panels. The ingenious central movement used choreography inspired by wind turbines. The quartet members were arranged in a circular formation, around a single snare drum. Each player also had his own bass drum and cymbal on the perimeter of the circle. At certain points they processed around the circle in time to the music. Leaving aside the clever visuals, the music was snappy and intricate and easily held its own.

 Joseph Dalton

VISUAL ARTS

"Graphite Vision" at Schick

The beautiful little Schick Art Gallery in the Art Building at Skidmore College can be dwarfed by the adjacent Tang Museum. But every year the art department curates one or two really fine shows there, filled with challenging new work. Graphite Vision was part of its regular exploration of specific media (the stunning ceramics show was last year, and a show of woven work just came down). Last spring, the humble pencil had its day. The artand there was a lot of itwent from sculptural ingenuity to simple renderings to stunning abstractions. Hats off to those responsible. Get the Schick on your radar.

"James Turrell: Into the Light" at MASS MoCA

These experiential rooms of light are installations by James Turrell that make a viewer rethink what is an aesthetic experience. Here, large interior spaces lose their boundaries. In one room, vivid celestial color, in another, near darkness. A visitor's vision is unmoored. People experience floating, or leaving the body, or psychedelic dizziness. You might argue these effects are not really "art," and personally I was more interested than affected. But I've never heard so many peopleinformed art lovers and initiatesbe so deeply and genuinely moved by their time in these rooms. They say you can't experience art in books or online, and that's true. But here it is so true it's startling. Remains on view into 2018, so no excuses, please.

"The Coffins of Paa Joe and the Pursuit of Happiness" at The School

The converted public school building that the New York City-based Jack Shainman Gallery inhabits in Kinderhook is a dream, and not just because it's huge. The exhibitions can be bold, like the extensive Andres Serrano show, also this year, or wonderfully eccentric, as with The Pursuit of Happiness. There was work of every kind here, sometimes in styles and intentions that would seem conflicting. But that's where the derring-do reveals itself. This was not just about some great art, but about how art can change its meaning depending on its context. Eye-opening. Remains on view until Jan. 6.

 William Jaeger

POPULAR MUSIC

Sylvan Esso

May 24, Jupiter Hall

The combination of a fun, energetic performance with Jupiter Hall's state-of-the-art LED light display and a crowd eager for the group's Capital Region debut made for a memorable evening when the electronica-cum-indie pop duo of vocalist Amelia Meath and producer Nick Sanborn hit Albany.

The 14-song set included material from both Sylvan Esso albums and large swaths of fans sang and danced along to nearly every word. Meath whirled, twirled and nailed every track's vocals, while Sanborn jumped, danced and cajoled fans from behind his Macbook. Fans who missed this sold-out show need not fret; Sylvan Esso will be at MASS MoCA in March and Upstate Concert Hall in July.

Drive-By Truckers with the Seratones

July 25, The Egg

Alabama-based Drive-By Truckers is one of the pre-eminent rock bands in America, and the show at The Egg last summer showed that status is merited. Drawing on the band's experiences as Southerners and concerned Americans, the politically charged two-hour set incorporated rockers and ballads alike with thoughtfulness and an urgency that never ebbed.

The Seratones opened with a performance worthy of a headlining slot. The band's mix of garage rock and frontwoman A.J. Haynes' outsized personality and voice honed on gospel and blues was loud and entertaining. The band, only one album into its career, has a bright future ahead.

Regina Spektor

Nov. 16, Palace Theatre

Regina Spektor has built a reputation for idiosyncratic songcraft. Her solo stop at the Palace presented an opportunity to hear songs spanning her two-decade career, stripped of accoutrements and presented in a way that highlighted Spektor's personal charm and skills as a lyricist, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist.

Spektor told witty anecdotes and bantered with an appreciative audience, telling stories behind songs and pulling out rarely performed deep cuts. Her a capella cover of Billie Holiday's "My Man" was one of the most exquisite song renditions I've heard in person and was a standout in a night of consistently excellent performances.

 Jim Shahen Jr.

DANCE

Ephrat Asherie Dance

Aug. 25, PS21

Ephrat Asherie is known as "Bounce" among her fellow b-girls and boys, and she's got a ton of energy, for sure  but also strength, speed, precision and a visceral sense of power and presence. Her roots are in club and street dance, and she seamlessly incorporates hip-hop and elements of jazz, tap and modern into her choreography.

Asherie's 2011 work "Brothers" is a great example of her ability to bring together intense, electric movement with warmth and heart. It's a solo accompanied by a recorded conversation between her older brothers Neer and Gil (a third brother, Ehud, is a musician with her troupe). As they lovingly reminisce about their little sister, she glides and slides across the floor, completely controlled and yet totally loose and fluid. You can't help but smile.

Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company

May 5, The Egg

In her troupe's 25th year as The Egg's resident dance company, Ellen Sinopoli didn't slow down. Instead, she made an impressive seven new works, two of which were on the program at her spring concert. In "After," a new multimedia collaboration with digital artist David Allen and composer/guitarist Maria Zemantauski, the dancers' gestures were reflected by projected images, light, color and melody.

Another high point was the return of the 2009 work "Brink," with bold, brash yet intricately patterned movement set to foot-tapping jazz by Dave Douglas. All in all, the program was a beautiful representation of the depth and breadth of Sinopoli's work, and showcased the skill and growth of her dancers.

Justin Peck's "The Times Are Racing,"

July 5, SPAC

Justin Peck, New York City Ballet's resident choreographer, just keeps getting better. "The Times Are Racing," which had its SPAC premiere this summer, represents a leap forward for Peck in terms of innovation, daring and emotional resonance  and it's a leap performed in sneakers, not toe shoes.

Every aspect of the work  the costumes (colorful street clothes emblazoned with words like "Unite" and "Act"), the urgent mood, the blend of movement styles, Dan Deacon's mesmerizing scorepushes the form into the future. This is not your grandmother's ballet.

 Tresca Weinstein
When it comes to compliments, there's one that means the most to Arianne Zucker.

"I have had some really wonderful fans tell me I have changed their lives," Zucker said. "The best thing I can do as an actor is make a difference in somebody's life."

She's done that through a variety of acting roles, including her latest project, the Lifetime movie "Web Cam Girls." The film looks at the world of sex camming, where women earn money by performing on web cameras. This turns deadly for one high school student when she's kidnapped and forced to perform or die in front of an audience on the worldwide dark web.

Zucker plays the aunt of the girl in danger, who begins searching for the location of the imprisoned teen when the police prove ineffective.

More Information Tune in "Web Cam Girls" When: 8 p.m. Saturday Where: Lifetime See More Collapse

"When I first heard about this movie I didn't know this really happens," Zucker said. "I really try to live my life as a very positive, strong woman. I just didn't understand how young ladies would put themselves in these situations.

"It was an exciting movie to do because this is something we need to put forward. It is a good thriller, but in light of what is going on in this day and age, it is a good time for it to come out."

Zucker hasn't touched people only with her acting. She co-created the nonprofit organization Arrow-Heart Adventure Camps in 2007 with her brother, Todd Zucker. The mentoring program is a way to give teens a chance to live to their full potential.

Zucker first began work was as a model. Zucker  who was 16 at the time  was skating on California's Venice Beach when a man approached her and told her she could be a model. It was Zucker's mother who investigated the agency and reluctantly agreed to go with her to an audition.

That launched a career in front of the camera during summer breaks or on weekends until she turned 18. Then she started traveling to Paris, Australia, Japan and New York for work.

"It was very scary, because all I had ever known was where I grew up in California," Zucker said. "The first time I went, I was three weeks in Paris and I was ready to come home. But, it was good for me, because it made me look at ... how could I prepare myself to travel better."

The one piece of advice her mother gave her that scared her the most was to never leave a drink unattended, because something could be added to it. Zucker praises her mother for showing her how to protect herself. And, Zucker is passing that forward through work like "Web Cam Girls" that she hopes will make young women think twice before taking such a risk.

In recent years, Zucker has found herself being cast as mothers, a role she knows well because of her own child. Even if it isn't written into the script, Zucker always thinks about how she would want to protect her daughter if she were in a similar real-life situation.

"In 'Web Cam Girls,' here's a mother who is trying to have a career in a business where she has to work triple as hard as the men," Zucker said. "Her daughter is a good kid, but there is a separation."

A lot of her acting work has been overshadowed in the past year as she found herself in the middle of a political whirlwind. It was Zucker who greeted Donald Trump after he made his graphic remarks in 2005 on the "Access Hollywood" bus in which he bragged about groping women. In recent weeks, Trump has insinuated the audio recordings sound fake. Billy Bush, who was on the bus, denied Trump's false claims.

Zucker is surprised Trump has questioned the authenticity of the tapes, but she has used his comments as another way of trying to make a difference. She's OK with how the Trump situation often becomes as big a topic with her as her acting career.

"I think we have to talk about this, because the question is: 'Where do we go from here?'" Zucker said. "What happened has to be put out there and repeated. I am coming from the position of 'what can I do?'
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Seattle

In perhaps an unexpected twist, historically conservative strongholds like Oklahoma and West Virginia are leading efforts to bring preschool to all.

"They have in common a low-wage workforce, relatively low education levels and the desire to change that," said Steven Barnett of the National Institute for Early Education Research. "Whatever they say, politicians in West Virginia know the future of their state is not coal miners."

Other red states that have notable programs include Alabama and Georgia. But some liberal-leaning cities like Seattle and New York also are running public pre-K programs.

Advocates say more universal programs are needed to address what they call an alarming increase in child care costs. Studies have shown that children who attend a high-quality preschool are more adjusted for the rest of their academic lives and have better outcomes as adults, from higher incomes to healthier lifestyles.

Around the country, some budding programs say there are not enough seats to meet demand and not enough money to make it happen.

Programs in Seattle and New York enjoy overwhelming support locally, which in turn puts pressure on their state lawmakers to act as they face growing inequity in public education and research that touts the benefits of high-quality education in the critical early years.

"Clearly, a statewide program would be so much better, and it should be available to all 3- and 4-year-olds. It's the best investment we can make to right the wrongs of generations," said Tim Burgess, a retired Seattle mayor and city councilman credited with creating the Seattle Preschool Program.

It is now in its third year, serving 979 children with a sliding scale tuition model. About 80 percent of them go for free. Burgess is now pushing for a universal statewide offering in Washington, beyond its program for low-income children.

Aanchal Mehrotra's 4-year-old son is one of 300 kids now on the waiting list for the Seattle Preschool Program, but she says she doesn't have much hope that he'll get in. The Seattle preschool class would cost the family just $365 a month. She's paying almost four times that much for a month at a private day care franchise.

"It's so expensive and become so difficult to afford," said Mehrotra, a research scientist. "I'm just waiting for him to turn 5 so he can get into kindergarten."

The universal preschool movement hit peak momentum under the Obama administration but has been unaddressed by President Donald Trump.

A report by Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee in Congress this year indicated that less than half of the nation's 3- and 4-year-olds were in a pre-K program, ranging from 75 percent in Washington, D.C., to 30 percent in Idaho. The programs vary in quality and structure. Some offer just a few hours a week while others are more similar to a full school day.

One of the central goals of preschool is social development, which advocates say will help children get adjusted to learning in a structured setting and is especially important for low-income children.

But for many families, cost is a major factor.

Child Care Aware of America reports that the average cost of child care per year for a 4-year-old in a licensed facility ranged from $14,000 in Massachusetts to $4,500 in Mississippi.

In Oklahoma and West Virginia, preschool is offered to virtually all 4-year-olds.

West Virginia's program last year cost $142 million  nearly a third of which was covered through federal funding  to educate 14,940 children, including 3-year-olds with special needs and all 4-year-olds.
ALBANY  Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo issued pardons and commuted sentences on Wednesday to 18 immigrants, 39 people who committed non-violent crimes as teenagers, and two convicted felons.

"These New Yorkers have proved their rehabilitation, in some cases for decades, but have been unable to gain legal status or fully re-enter society due to the stigma of conviction," Cuomo said in a statement announcing his actions. "While the federal government continues to target immigrants and threatens to tear families apart with deportation, these actions take a critical step toward a more just, more fair and more compassionate New York."

The pardons "reward their rehabilitative efforts and ... remove the barriers that their criminal records present to their immigration status," Cuomo said.

Cuomo's office said his pardons were awarded to immigrants who have "given back to their communities and families in a variety of ways, and ... demonstrated a substantial period of crime-free, good citizenship."

The number of immigrants who received pardons this year from Cuomo was unprecedented, and comes amid tighter federal scrutiny of immigration violations by the administration of President Donald Trump.

Cuomo's office highlighted three cases:

Lorena Borjas, 57, a transgender woman from Mexico, was convicted of criminal facilitation in 1994 after being "entrapped" as a human-trafficking victim. Borjas is a transgender advocate and has helped run HIV testing programs for transgender workers. Borjas hopes to obtain citizenship and avoid deportation to continue her advocacy work, the governor's office said.

Alexander Shilov, 35, from Estonia, was convicted of petit larceny in a string of minor crimes from 2000 to 2004 that officials said were attributed to drug addiction. "For the past 13 years, Mr. Shilov has remained sober, and has worked his way from obtaining his GED to becoming a distinguished nurse at a Brooklyn long-term managed care provider."

Freddy Perez, 53, from the Dominican Republic, was convicted of drug dealing in 1993. "Since then, he was worked as an electrician and has taken care of his autistic younger brother," the governor's office said.

All of the immigrants granted pardons have lived "crime-free" for 10 years or more, according to Cuomo's announcement.

Nick Turner, president of the Vera Institute of Justice, commended Cuomo "for using his constitutional power of clemency to act on behalf of our deserving neighbors. Too many immigrants with prior criminal convictions are subjected to the gratuitous punishment of deportation, despite being longstanding contributing members of our community."

The governor also granted two pardons for purposes other than immigration-related relief.

Christopher Cavallo, 66, was convicted of drug sales in 1977 and has been crime-free since then. He owns a licensed security agency in Florida, and is active in charitable endeavors, including running a 12-step addiction recovery program for seven years in a women's prison in Florida, and supporting a shelter for children with HIV and cancer in Bogota, Colombia, where his security firm has an office, Cuomo's office said. Cavallo sought the pardon to be able to run for public office in Florida and to get an advanced security license.

Mary Snook Downing, 58, was convicted of possession of stolen property and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle in 1987. She began using drugs after the unexpected deaths of her husband and son in 1985. She entered rehab after her conviction and has remained crime-free since then, the governor's office said. Downing applied for a pardon to petition for legal guardianship of her 88-year-old mother, who suffers from dementia.

Cuomo also issued conditional pardons to 39 people convicted of crimes at age 16 or 17, including misdemeanors and non-violent offenses.

"These pardons will remove barriers to employment and community-involvement opportunities," Cuomo's office said. The pardons increased the number of youth pardons issued by Cuomo since last year to 140. But the governor's office said the number of applicants fell due to the "Raise the Age" legislation that took effect this year and allowed many people convicted of crimes as teenagers to petition for the sealing of their past convictions.

Cuomo also commuted the sentences of two state prison inmates who have demonstrated "a substantial evidence of rehabilitation and dedicated their efforts to the work of violence interruption," his office said:

Michael Flournoy, 42, who served 21 years of a 25- to 50-year sentence for attempted murder, "has a strong record of rehabilitation and volunteer service, and, since his incarceration, has cultivated a deep friendship with the victim and her son who now consider him a member of their family," Cuomo's office said. Flournoy is a state certified AIDS/HIV counselor and has volunteered hundreds of hours counseling prisoners. He earned associate's and bachelor's degrees from Bard College, where he was the commencement speaker in 2009, and has a masters of arts from New York Theological Seminary.

Dominic Dupont, 39, served more than 20 years of a 25-years-to-life sentence for murder and weapons possession. The slaying took place during a fight in which Cuomo's office said two groups of young men fought as Dupont, then 19, defended his twin brother. Dupont has been "remorseful" and served for the past nine years as the director of the Youth Assistance Program, a volunteer group that works with at-risk young people.

"Dominic Dupont has not only met but exceeded the requirements for consideration for Executive Clemency," said Thomas Griffin, superintendent of Green Haven Correctional Facility. "In the time I have known him he has displayed personal growth and through his actions demonstrates positive leadership qualities and behavior for other inmates."
Washington

China has now assumed the mantle of fighting climate change, a global crusade that the United States once led. Russia has taken over Syrian peace talks, also once the purview of the American administration, whose officials Moscow recently deigned to invite to negotiations only as observers.

France and Germany are often now the countries that fellow members of NATO look to, after President Donald Trump wavered on how supportive his administration would be toward the North Atlantic alliance.

And in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the U.S., once the only mediator all sides would accept, has found itself isolated after Trump's decision to declare that the U.S. recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

In his wide-ranging speech on national security last week, Trump highlighted what he called the broadening of U.S. influence throughout the world.

But one year into his presidency, many international leaders, diplomats and foreign policy experts argue that he has reduced U.S. influence or altered it in ways that are less constructive. On a range of policy issues, Trump has taken positions that disqualified the United States from the debate or rendered it irrelevant, these critics say.

Even in countries that have earned Trump's praise, such as India, there is concern about Trump's unpredictability  will he be a reliable partner?  and what many overseas view as his isolationism.

"The president can and does turn things inside out," said Manoj Joshi, a scholar at a New Delhi think tank, the Observer Research Foundation. "So the chances that the U.S. works along a coherent and credible national security strategy are not very high."

As the U.S. recedes, other powers including China, Russia and Iran are eagerly stepping into the void.

One significant issue is the visible gap between the president and many of his top national security advisers.

Trump's national security speech was intended to explain to the public a 70-page strategy document that the administration developed. But on key issues, Trump's speech and the document diverged. The speech, for example, included generally favorable rhetoric about Russia and China.

The strategy document listed the two governments as competitors, accused the Russians of using "subversion" as a tactic and said that countering both rival powers was necessary.

Russia reacted angrily: America continues to evince "its aversion to a multipolar world," said President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitri Peskov.

At the same time, Trump's refusal to overtly criticize Russia, some diplomats say, has emboldened Putin in his military actions in Ukraine, where Russian-backed rebels are battling a pro-West government in Kiev. Kurt Volker, the administration's special envoy for Ukraine, said that some of the worst fighting since February took place over the last two weeks, with numerous civilian casualties. Volker accused Russia of "massive" cease-fire violations.

Nicholas Burns, who served as a senior American diplomat under Republican and Democratic administrations, said the administration's strategy was riddled with contradictions that have left the U.S. ineffective.

Trump "needs a strong State Department to implement" its strategy, he said. "Instead, State and the foreign service are being weakened and often sidelined."

Trump's "policy of the last 12 months is a radical departure from every president since WWII," Burns said in an interview. "Trump is weak on NATO, Russia, trade, climate, diplomacy. The U.S. is declining as a global leader."

The most recent example of U.S. isolation came with Trump's decision to formally recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, delighting many Israelis, but angering Palestinians and reversing decades of international consensus.

On Thursday, an overwhelming majority of the U.N. General Assembly, including many U.S. allies, voted to demand the U.S. rescind the decision.

For the last quarter-century, successive U.S. governments have held themselves up as an "honest broker" in mediating peace between the Israelis and Palestinians. Trump insisted he is not giving up on a peace deal, but most parties involved interpreted his announcement as clearly siding with Israel.

"From now on, it is out of the question for a biased United States to be a mediator between Israel and Palestine," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a summit of more than 50 Muslim countries that he hosted in Istanbul. "That period is over."

Daniel Kurtzer, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel and Egypt under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, said that if a peace deal is to be made now, "it won't be from American policy."

"Trump took himself and the administration out of the peace process for the foreseeable future," he said.
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ALBANY  Joel Giambra had a long career in politics.

2018 could be the capstone.

The Republican, a former Erie County executive, is floating his name as a 2018 candidate for governor, making him one of a handful of GOPers sizing up Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo as he seeks a third term.

In an interview with the Times Union Tuesday, Giambra positioned himself as decidedly moderate. He was as unabashed about his desire for campaign finance reform, his backing of taxed and regulated marijuana and his past support of Democrats  including Cuomo and Hillary Clinton  as he was about his more conservative desire to tackle high tax burdens through government consolidation.

He seemed unconcerned about toeing any lines he might need to walk for institutional Republican support and was clear that while businessman Harry Wilson could reshape next year's gubernatorial race, Giambra currently sees nothing currently dissuading him from pursing the challenge to Cuomo.

"I'm willing to raise those issues that heretofore elected officials who want to make a career in politics are apprehensive about raising," said Giambra, who added he has no intention of serving as governor for more than four years. "Am I going to ruffle some feathers? I suspect I will. I've done that my whole career. But I'm going to try to do what I think is right. I have absolutely nothing to lose."

Giambra, a former Buffalo city comptroller and councilman, wasn't bashful about formerly being a Democrat. Nor was he shy about expressing sustained reservations about Republican Donald Trump's presidency.

Still, he noted that the Republican establishment is likely skeptical of his previous involvement with and support of Democrats. That includes donations to Cuomo and state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman during the 2014 campaign cycle and to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2013.

"My job is to convince them that I have the ability to win," Giambra said, pointing to Republican divides in Washington and potential adverse impacts on New York of Republican policies (tax reform to name the most recent and arguably biggest) as evidence of moderate appeal.

State Republican Chairman Ed Cox told the Buffalo News last week that he has not sensed enthusiasm for the kind of moderate Giambra is positioning himself as.

As Cuomo heads into his eighth year and his administration weathers a multi-billion dollar budget deficit and corruption trials involving some of his economic development policies, a handful of GOPers see potential in challenging an incumbent in a heavily Democratic state. Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb was the first to officially announce a bid earlier this month. And like Wilson, state Sen. John DeFrancisco of Syracuse and Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro continue to mull runs.

One of the most significant challenges facing Republicans is Cuomo's war chest, which as of July hit $26 million. Wilson is seen as the Republican who could best compete financially, with personal wealth to burn on a bid.

Giambra is critical of the campaign finance system in which he and others must play.

"It's very difficult to have change occur when the special interests are on both sides of the aisle, and the special interests are giving hundreds of thousands of dollars and millions of dollars," he said.

Giambra called public financing of elections "probably the most effective way to achieve better outcomes."

Away from elected office for the past decade, Giambra has lobbied for Park Strategies, the firm founded by former U.S. Sen. Alfonse D'Amato. (Giambra, who also has done development work recently, has left the lobbying firm)

Among his former clients are Verizon, Microsoft and taxi owners opposed to ride-hailing, as well as the governments of Madison and Rockland counties to name only a handful, according to filings with the Joint Commission on Public Ethics.

"I can assure you that we will attempt to put in place the most transparent government we could," he said when asked about potential conflicts.

And if changes in transparency or campaign finance or regional shared services  a big Giambra push  create enemies, "to me, it's not about who is going to like or dislike you because, again, it's not like I'm looking to run for governor because I want a career in politics," he said.

"I already had a career in politics."

mhamilton@timesunion.com  518-454-5449 @matt_hamilton10
BUFFALO 

When it comes to being arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, there is no difference between a violent felon and an undocumented worker with a traffic ticket.

If you are in the United States without the proper papers, you are subject to deportation, Tom Feeley, the upstate New York field office director of ICE, said Wednesday.

"We were ordered not to fully enforce the law under the previous administration," said Feeley, who is based in Buffalo, said. "Under President Trump, we are enforcing the law the way Congress wrote it. If it's a heinous crime, like a Columbian drug lord who was a cartel member who we just deported or a rapist, a murderer, a pedophile or somebody who is here illegally, we are going to enforce the law. We make no apology for that."

This year in Saratoga Springs, ICE arrested 36 Mexican and Guatemalan men, many of whom worked in local restaurants. Mayor Joanne Yepsen, City Court Judge Jeffrey Wait, other leaders and concerned citizens said immigrants accused of minor infractions should be treated differently from those facing felony charges. The arrests, which began in the spring and went through the fall, rattled the hospitality industry. Farther afield, dairy farmers were shaken too.

More for you ICE rocks Spa City restaurants in 2017

"ICE doesn't target employers," Feeley said, "But, illegal immigrants work where they can blend in."

Feeley's field office made 1,736 arrests in the 2017 fiscal year from October 2016 through September 2017. In the previous year, Buffalo ICE arrested 1,454. In general, monthly arrests of noncriminals were half of criminal arrests  except this past September when criminal and noncriminal arrests in upstate New York were equal at 81.

Some of those arrests took place in courthouses. "It's a safe environment," Feeley said. "Everyone has already gone through security."

Last month, Saratoga Springs City Court was the scene of a confrontation between a judge and ICE when a 21-year-old Mexican national appeared on a DWI charge. Judge Wait barred ICE from the courtroom but the ICE agents arrested the man when he walked out.

His case was taken up by the Immigrant Defense Fund, a New York City advocacy group lobbying to ease what it sees as "aggressive ICE enforcement."

One local immigration attorney, Siana McLean who and has been practicing for seven years and works for the Tully Rinckey law firm, said the change at ICE complicated life for immigrants.

"It used to be if you overstayed, you were released on your own recognizance as the case worked its way through the court," McLean said. "Depending on the personal circumstances, we would look at the options available. Now, people are packed up and detained."

The 36 men arrested in Saratoga Springs were sent to ICE's 650-bed detention center in Batavia where most detainees get free legal counsel through the Volunteer Lawyers Project. Cases are heard by a judge who decides if an immigrant should be deported. When they are, they are usually sent to the capital of their home country. The Saratoga Springs men, if deported, would be taken to Mexico City or Guatemala City and from there find their way back to their hometown.

Feeley said that people who think that ICE is going too far must take that up with Congress.

"Only Congress can change the law," Feeley said. "The American people need to act if they want it changed."

For now, he said, "Our director, Tom Homan, says it best. When people speed, they fear being stopped. If people don't pay their taxes, they fear the IRS. If you are in New York state illegally, you fear being removed."
[December 27, 2017] 3D Semiconductor Packaging Market Investment Research Report 2025

?3D packaging implies the use of 3D schemes based on conventional methods, such as wire bonding for vertical stacks and flip-chip interconnection. PoP configurations that are connected to stacked memory dies are also included in the global 3D semiconductor packaging market. Flip-chips are largely related to the 3D SiPs which have a great deal of applications in mainstream manufacturing and in infrastructure that are already established.







The research report provides a detailed examinations of the global 3D semiconductor packaging market, including data on the market history. The report thus provides a qualitative analysis of the market based on its historical and current data, as well as market drivers, restraints, and trends, in order to gauge the likelihood of success for players over the coming years. The report also presents factors such as threats from substitute products and new entrants through a descriptive Porters Five Forces analysis, while enumerating the leading profiles of the market in a SWOT analysis. The key segmentations of the global 3D semiconductor packaging market, as elaborated on in the report, are based on market regions, types of products, types of technologies in use, and the top applications of 3D semiconductor packaging.



Global 3D Semiconductor Packaging Market: Trends and Opportunities: Of the key factors driving the global 3D semiconductor packaging market, a common one for all regions is the increasing use of portable electronics. The demand for miniaturized circuits is increased at a tremendous rate across the globe, and thanks to technological advancements and technical support, the use of 3D semiconductor packaging is finding favor with manufacturers from several end-use industries. Another key trend to look out for is the boom in all technologies related to the Internet of Things concept.





Based on applications, the global 3D semiconductor packaging market is dominated by the high demand shown for 3D wire bonding. The tremendous spur in the use of flash memory devices is creating a high demand for 3D wire bonding in electronics, primarily due to its already widespread usage and high market penetration. Flash memory is also being used on a large scale in robotics and consumer electronics, further fuelling the demand for 3D wire bonding.



Request Sample @ : https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=22061 From a geographical perspective, the global 3D semiconductor packaging market can be divided along the key market regions of the world: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. The overall demand for 3D semiconductor packaging has been exceptionally high in Asia Pacific and this region is expected to lead the market in terms of growth rate over the reports forecast period. North America and Europe are expected to continue their steady increase in demand for 3D semiconductor packaging as the market in both regions is considered mature. A great deal of manufacturers in the global 3D semiconductor packaging market hold capacities in Asia Pacific, allowing it to be the leading region in the market currently.



Companies Mentioned in the Research Report: The leading entities in the global 3D semiconductor packaging market so far, have included Amkor Technology Inc., Jiangsu Changjiang Electronics Technology Co. LTD., International Business Machine Corporation (IBM), Qualcomm Technology Inc., Intel Corporation, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd., Stmicroelectronics N.V., Siliconware Precision Industries Co., Ltd (SPIL), Suss Microtec AG., and ASE Group. As a community-building service, TMCnet allows user submitted content which is not always proofed by TMCnet editors. If you feel this entry is of inferior quality or wish to report it for some reason, please forward the URL to "webedit [AT] tmcnet [DOT] com" with your comments.

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[December 27, 2017] Electronic Paper Display (EPD) Market: Emergence of Advanced Technologies and Global Industry Analysis

An electrically charged surface replicating the looks of ink on paper is called Electronic Paper Display (EPD). Electronic Paper Display is extremely thin and require power only when a new page is requested. The main use of the electronic paper technology is to ease and develop the comfort of e-book reading. During the recent years this market has grown with efficient advancements in the Electronic paper display devices.







Presently, the Electronic Paper Display market is in a phase of growth and expected to rise further by 2024. This is primarily because of the new applications of EPD in a wide range of outdoor and indoor displays such as digital signage, electronic shelf labels, and traffic lights.



Obtain Report Details @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/electronic-paper-display-market.html The prime factors driving the growth of the Electronic Paper Display market are rising demand of on the move information, increasing number of electronic readers, and the development of easy to use display devices. Moreover, the added benefits of low power consumption seems to be crucial in propelling the global EPD market.





Global warming is a recent event of crucial importance which is attracting the attention of global audience. The main cause of global warming is the worldwide deforestation. With the rising public awareness regarding the importance of environment and the harmful effects of global warming, initiatives are taken to reduce the consumption of paper. And, since Electronic Paper Display is a close substitute of paper this is another important factor driving the global EPD market.



Although, despite of all the above mentioned factors, global Electronic Paper Display market is restrained by the fact that its growth is dependent on the worldwide consumer acceptance of the digital Content. The Electronic Paper Display (EPD) is mostly used in the Electronic reading devices and presently a decline in the e-readers market, has restrained the EPD market to some extent. The prime reason for such a decline is the increasing usage of smart phones and tablets. Tablets and smart phones are close substitutes to EPD (Electronic Paper Display), as they are also used for reading applications and documents besides having a host of other functions. Moreover, the prices of these smart phones and tablets are very competitive with respect to EPDs. This is a crucial factor holding the market back.



Furthermore, high manufacturing cost, electronic complexity, and low switching speed might hinder the growth of the Electronic Paper Display market. However, the rise in investment and a potential to explore virgin markets can be expected to provide avenues for the growth of the EPD market.



The global Electronic Paper Display market can be segmented on the basis of application, technology and geography. By application the global E-paper display market can be categorized into mobile displays, wearable technology, public displays, retail, and Electronic book reader.



EPD is compatible with various other applications. Although, the main application of EPD is to provide comfortable reading. Moreover, the technology can also be used for in-store advertising and advertisement at public places. In addition, EPD (Electronic Paper Display) is also used for displaying public messages such as schedule for public transport. During the recent years the EPD is also being increasingly adopted by a large number of companies for products such as smartcards and wristwatches.



Obtain Brochure Of Report @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=15026 In addition, by geography the Electronic Paper Display market can be segmented into Europe, North America, Middle East & Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America. North America dominates the EPD market, as a high proportion of the population in this region are early adopters of the EPD technology.



The key vendors in the market are Plastic Logic (Germany), Pervasive Displays, Inc. (Taiwan), NEC (Japan), and Amazon.com, Inc. (U.S). Other major vendors include Seiko Epson Corporation (Japan), Samsung (South Korea), Qualcomm (U.S), LG (South Korea) and Delta Electronics (Taiwan).



The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.



About Us Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.



Each TMR Syndicated Research report covers a different sector  such as pharmaceuticals, chemical, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, our syndicated reports thrive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.



Contact Transparency Market Research 90 State Street, Suite 700 Albany, NY 12207 Tel: +1-518-618-1030 USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453 Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com As a community-building service, TMCnet allows user submitted content which is not always proofed by TMCnet editors. If you feel this entry is of inferior quality or wish to report it for some reason, please forward the URL to "webedit [AT] tmcnet [DOT] com" with your comments.

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[December 26, 2017] End-of-Year Deadline Approaches for Ohio's 529 College Savings Plan

With 2017 coming to a close, Ohioans have until 4 p.m. ET on Friday, Dec. 29, 2017, to make a final contribution to Ohio's 529 Plan for this calendar year. Families who open a CollegeAdvantage account before 4 p.m. ET Dec. 29, 2017 can still take advantage of the $2,000 annual deduction to their State of Ohio taxable income for 2017. All taxpayers in Ohio are eligible - this includes parents, grandparents, family members, and friends - to contribute directly to a CollegeAdvantage 529 savings plan. Each contributor, or married couple, may claim a deduction of up to $2,000 per beneficiary, on their Ohio taxable income. While $2,000 is the maximum deduction per year, it is not the maximum contribution. The State of Ohio has an unlimited carry forward which means if you contribute more than $2,000 this calendar year, you may continue your deductions into following years. Contributions for each beneficiary must be received in good order, no later than 4 p.m. ET on Dec. 29, 2017. Families may open an account with a minimum of $25 online at CollegeAdvantage.com to start saving for future college expenses. Money saved in CollegeAdvantage accounts can be used at any accredited college in the U.S. to pay tuition, fees, books, room and board, and for any electronic equipment required. CollegeAdvantage account owners pay no taxes on account earnings and withdrawals used for qualified higher education expenses are exempt from both federal and state taxes.



About CollegeAdvantage CollegeAdvantage is Ohio's 529 college savings program, offered and administered by the Ohio Tuition Trust Authority, an office within the Ohio Department of Higher Education. Ohio is the sixth largest state-sponsored 529 plan in the country. CollegeAdvantage is offered as the CollegeAdvantage Direct 529 Savings Plan and the CollegeAdvantage Advisor 529 Saving Plan, which is offered and marketed through BlackRock and sold through professional financial advisors. The CollegeAdvantage program, which offers families a tax-advantaged way to save for college, has nearly $10.9 billion in assets under management and over 633,000 total accounts as of Sept. 30, 2017. To learn more, visit CollegeAdvantage.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171226005218/en/

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[December 27, 2017] JSC. Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam joins SWIFT gpi

HANOI, Vietnam, Dec. 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- SWIFT announces today that JSC. Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) signed up for its global payments innovation initiative, SWIFT gpi, confirming its digital banking strategy. Since 2009, BIDV has consistently ranked first in terms of readiness for IT implementation in the Vietnam ICT Index of the Ministry of Information and Communications of Vietnam and Vietnam Association for Information Processing (VAIP) among Vietnamese commercial banks. The bank joins more than 120 of the world's major transaction banks that are already committed to the largest change initiative that the world of cross border payments has seen in the last 30 years. Since the go live of SWIFT gpi in January 2017, the service has taken off very rapidly and over 5 million payments have already been exchanged between 34 banks live around the world. With SWIFT gpi, cross-border payments no longer take 2 to 3 days, in fact 50% of the payments are completed within 2 hours and one third of them are completed in less than 30 minutes. Future releases of SWIFT gpi will include the ability to stop and recall payments and SWIFT is also engaging the global FinTech community to build additional services over SWIFT gpi. In parallel, the initiative is also exploring the use of distributed ldger technology. With SWIFT gpi, banks in Vietnam are able to offer their clients an enhanced cross-border payments experience in the emerging and rapidly growing market of Vietnam.



Tran Phuong, Senior Executive Vice President, BIDV said: "SWIFT gpi is the answer to the growing needs of our corporate customers as it removes the friction that used to exist in correspondent banking. We trust SWIFT gpi is the new norm for cross-border payments and we look forward to providing our clients with the best services available to support their evolving needs". Sharon Toh, Head of ASEAN Region, SWIFT said: "By joining SWIFT gpi and with strong ambitions in banking digitalisation, BIDV confirms their commitment to offer the best services to their clients. As Vietnamese corporates are increasingly working at an international level, the speed of settlement, certainty, transparency and traceability are critical and we trust SWIFT gpi will strongly support their ambitions".

About SWIFT SWIFT is a global member-owned cooperative and the world's leading provider of secure financial messaging services. We provide our community with a platform for messaging, standards for communicating and we offer products and services to facilitate access and integration; identification, analysis and financial crime compliance. Our messaging platform, products and services connect more than 11,000 banking and securities organisations, market infrastructures and corporate customers in more than 200 countries and territories, enabling them to communicate securely and exchange standardised financial messages in a reliable way. As their trusted provider, we facilitate global and local financial flows, support trade and commerce all around the world; we relentlessly pursue operational excellence and continually seek ways to lower costs, reduce risks and eliminate operational inefficiencies. Headquartered in Belgium, SWIFT's international governance and oversight reinforces the neutral, global character of its cooperative structure. SWIFT's global office network ensures an active presence in all the major financial centres. For more information, visit www.swift.com or follow us on Twitter: @swiftcommunity and LinkedIn: SWIFT Contacts: Jaime Lee

+852-2107-8860

[email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20160127/8521600559Logo SOURCE S.W.I.F.T.SCRL

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[December 27, 2017] Semiconductor Clock Market: Market Development, Overview and Forecast upto 2024

A real-time clock (RTC) or a semiconductor clock is an Integrated Circuit(IC) that not only keeps track of current time but also ensures smooth functioning of electronic devices by maintaining proper time among device components. The semiconductor clocks are used in embedded systems, servers and personal computers among others which needs to keep track of accurate time.







A Semiconductor Clock has various advantages, such as low power consumption, the ability to free the main system for time critical tasks, and capability to provide more accurate time than the other methods. The most crucial among them is the lower power consumption which is acting as the primary force driving the growth of the global semiconductor clock market. An integrated clock enables all electronic devices to maintain current time even when the device is switched off. However the amount of power consumed in integrated clocks is high, and it eventually leads to the loss of power of the device completely, within a short span of time. A RTC, on the other hand, is able to perform the same function for the device thereby ensuring minimal power consumption.



Obtain Report Details @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/semiconductors-clock-market.html In addition, advancements in the MEMS technologies is also driving the global semiconductor clock market. Increasing focus on funding and rising number of investors on MEMS oscillators has enabled the RTS manufacturers to introduce variety of innovative features that includes packaging and fabrication in MEMS oscillators. These oscillator manufacturers are continually upgrading features such as power consumption, noise jitter, and frequency stability. Technological developments in the MEMS oscillators are making the semiconductor clock devices faster, cost effective, and energy efficient.





Semiconductor clocks faced with the issue of poor accuracy as it can only be updated per seconds and not per fraction of seconds. The accuracy of a semiconductor clock is determined by a time base oscillator which typically has a 32.768 kHz crystal. These crystals are very cheap but fall behind in terms of timekeeping, thereby reducing the accuracy of the semiconductor clocks. All these factors are acting as a restraining factor in the growth of global semiconductor clocks market.



Obtain Brochure Of Report @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=15023 The global semiconductor clock market can be segmented on the basis of application and geography. By application the global semiconductor clock market can be sub-segmented as telecommunications sector, automotive applications, industrial devices, computing devices and consumer electronic devices. In terms of application, the consumer electronic devices sector held the largest market share and is expected to continue its dominance throughout the forecast period from 2016 to 2024.. The consumer electronic devices segment includes essential electronic devices such as cameras, washing machines, TVs, refrigerators, smartphones, tablets, ACs, and wearable and display technologies. Since almost all of these devices run on the basis of time-based information, the demand for RTC clocks in these markets is expected to rise significantly over the next few years.



By geography the global semiconductor market can be categorized as North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Rest of World (Row). Among the regions, a significant portion of the worldwide Real Time Clock (RTC) market is held by Asia Pacific. And the prospect of growth in this market is propelled by the recent shift of chip manufacturing units from the developed countries such as U.S to Asia-Pacific regions. These shift of chip manufacturing units to Asia-Pacific regions is primarily being fueled by the abundance of cheap labor available in this part of the world.



The key-players in the global semiconductor clocks markets include TXC Corporation (Taiwan), Si Time (U.S), Murata (Japan), Kyocera (Japan), Daishinku Corporation (Japan), IQD (U.K), Integrated Device Technology (U.S), Abracon Corporation (U.S), Texas Instruments (U.S), STMicroelectronics (Switzerland), Ricoh (Japan), NXP Semiconductors (Netherlands) , Maxim Integrated (U.S), and Epson (Japan).



The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.



About Us Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.



Each TMR Syndicated Research report covers a different sector  such as pharmaceuticals, chemical, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, our syndicated reports thrive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.



Contact Transparency Market Research 90 State Street, Suite 700 Albany, NY 12207 Tel: +1-518-618-1030 USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453 Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com As a community-building service, TMCnet allows user submitted content which is not always proofed by TMCnet editors. If you feel this entry is of inferior quality or wish to report it for some reason, please forward the URL to "webedit [AT] tmcnet [DOT] com" with your comments.

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[December 27, 2017] Twin Wins for Affle - mTraction Audience Engagement Platform Gets SG:D Accredited, Awarded Solution Under Tourism Innovation Challenge; Files Seven New Patents

GURGAON, India and SINGAPORE, December 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Affle has achieved twin wins, its flagship audience attribution and engagement platform mTraction has been newly SG:D Accredited and it has won a grant as one of the 18 awarded solutions under the Singapore Tourism Board's (STB) Tourism Innovation Challenge for Hotels, for a solution that uses the same product. Affle further announced that it is filing for 7 patents ranging from blockchain, audience intelligence and fraud detection methods in order to strengthen the mTraction product suite. (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/623045/Affle_Logo.jpg )

Affle's mTraction helps deliver end-to-end mobile commerce and marketing solutions with greater ROI and transparency for marketers, commerce marketplaces, app developers and publishers through unique intent insights derived from behavioral signals, attribution and transactional data. Currently, the platform is used by multiple brands, app developers and advertising agencies across ecosystem for mobile development, audience engagement, audience intelligence and validation. The platform is a composite suite of various services like - App Reusable Components, Event Attribution, In-app analytics, Customer Data Platform for CRM and Mobile Ad Fraud Detection (mFaaS). Clients can use the whole suite or can pick one of the products which are integrate-able through SDK or APIs. Mr. Edwin Low, Director of [email protected] Digital, said, "AI is one of the frontier technology focus areas that will help lay a strong infocomm media foundation for Singapore's Digital Economy. We are pleased to work with promising AI-centric companies like Affle to accelerate their growth and drive Singapore's digitalisation in both the government and enterprise sectors." Talking abou being an SG:D Accredited company, Mr. Anuj Khanna Sohum, Founder, Chairman and CEO, Affle said, "This is a great milestone for the company and we are pleased that IMDA has identified us as an innovative company which follows the highest standards in product development and business practices. Over the last decade, our teams have built robust and reliable products to help businesses globally engage with their audiences and grow sustainably. We have gone through the comprehensive evaluation process by the IMDA team, which involves them vetting through our financial, operational and technical capabilities. This reassures our self-belief in our motto of serving our clients in the best way via our technical endeavors. Moreover, we are glad that this accreditation coincided with a grant awarded by STB for a solution that leverages the SG:D Accredited mTraction platform. We would be working on some exciting IoT automation process for an AI-driven chatbot, which would not only help hotels in streamlining the guest experience, but also make it a delightful one from pre-booking to post stay."



Addressing the same, Pradeep Harikrishnan, CEO, IPG MediaBrand Indonesia, said, "Affle has been a front-runner in the field of technology and a key partner for IPG Mediabrands Indonesia. We congratulate Affle on securing this prestigious accreditation from IMDA. Being users of Affle's various products like mTraction, it is indeed re-assuring to learn that Affle's products have been developed according to highest standards on lines of compatibility, security and scalability, as approved by one of the leading technology benchmarking organizations in SEA." According to Affle, the partnership with [email protected] Digital will enable Affle to identify and seize opportunities in the ecosystem to enable data driven decision making and audience engagement, thereby not only helping businesses grow and enhance user experiences, but also bolster government engagement with citizens with improved efficiency of service experiences over the course of time.



About Affle: Affle is a Singapore headquartered company, has built leading 'Mobile Audience Intelligence and Analytics Platforms'. These platforms help deliver end-to-end mobile commerce and marketing solutions with greater ROI and transparency for marketers, commerce marketplaces, app developers and publishers through unique intent insights derived from behavioral signals, attribution and transactional data analysis. Having started in 2006, Affle has been a pioneer in the field of mobile technology and has built significant scale and intelligence backed by its robust profile of data and insights about millions of users. Affle's investors include Microsoft, D2C (An NTT DoCoMo subsidiary), Itochu, Bennett Coleman & Company Ltd. (BCCL), Centurion Private Equity amongst others. For more information: visit - affle.com || faas.mtraction.com || enterprise.affle.com

About Tourism Innovation Challenge for Hotels: The Tourism Innovation Challenge for Hotels was launched in May 2017 by Singapore Tourism Board to crowd-source innovative solutions to address key pain points and opportunities in the hotel industry to raise productivity and enhance customer experience. The challenge is held in partnership with Singapore Hotel Association (SHA).

Media Contact:

Ayush Aggarwal

[email protected]

+91-8586957525

Associate Director

Affle







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[December 27, 2017] Management of GZCI Appointed as DC Holdings' Board Members To Drive the Company's Development of [email protected] City and Big Data Businesses in Guangdong Province

HONG KONG, Dec. 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital China Holdings Limited ("DC Holdings" or the "Company", Stock Code: 00861HK) announced that the nomination of Mr. Yu Ziping and Mr. Peng Jing by its largest shareholder, Guangzhou City Construction Investment Group Co., Ltd. ("GZCI"), as the Company's non-executive directors was approved today by shareholders at the special general meeting. DC Holdings believes that as they possess extensive experiences in [email protected] City and Big Data operations, their appointment to the board will help the Company to further expand related operations in Guangdong Province. GZCI is a major state-owned enterprise authorized by the People's Government of Guangzhou Municipality to carry out urban infrastructure construction investment and financing, construction, operation and management. The iconic projects it have invested and developed in Guangzhou include the Canton Tower, Huacheng Square, Mall of the World and Haixinsha Asian Games Park. With total assets of RMB116.8 billion as of early 2017, GZCI is committed to creating a "Smart and Flourishing Guangzhou". As of 8 December 2017, it directly and indirectly held approximately 369 million shares in DC Holdings, which represented approximately 22% of the Company's total issued capital. Mr. Yu Ziping currently serves as the General Manager of Guangzhou Environment Energy CCI Capital Ltd. (''GEE''), the Chairman of Guangzhou Wisdom City Science and Technology Development Co., Ltd. (a joint venture set up by the Company and GEE), the Director of Guangzhou Chengtou Runze Technology Co., Ltd., and the Legal Representative and General Manager of Guangzhou Wisdom Shipping Marketing Data Services Ltd. He is also a member of the Investment Committee of GZ Investment Group. Mr. Yu previously worked at several large state-owned enterprises and joint ventures. During the period, he was responsible for the formation of various companies, port shipping, urban infrastructure construction and investment operations and management, as well as the development of new industries and other businesses. In recent years, he has mainly focused on the development of smart city and Big Data businesses. Mr. Peng Jing serves as the General Manager Assistant of GZCI, the Director and General Manager of Guangzhou City Investment Micro Loan Co., Ltd., and the Supervisor of Guangzhou City Jiapeng Investment Fund Management Co., Ltd. He previously worked at several large-scale listed financial institutions and state-owned conglomerates. Mr. Peng possessed nearly 10 years' experience in financial investment and financing businesses. During the period, he was responsible for bank credit, trade finance, international business and corporate financial investment. In recent years, he has focused on financial investment and financing and participated in the establishment of Big Data funds and construction funds, and got involved in the group's smart city investment projects. The management of GZCI said, "DC Holdings is a leading Big Data services provider and [email protected] City expert in China. It boasts extensive experience in [email protected] City development, commands leading Big Data technologies and has developed an ecosystem for cross-sector development. The cooperation between both parties are coherent with the government's policy to promote the mixed-ownership reform of state-owned enterprises and the 'Internet Plus' strategy. Moreover, it fits into the overall industrial development plan of Guangzhou, facilitates the city to attract high-tech innovation enterprises and accelerate its integration into the global innovation system, thereby enhancing the development of smart city and Big Data industries in the region. We believe that our cooperation will continuously create added-values and a win-win situation to both sides and drive our sustainable development." Mr. Guo Wei, Chairman of DC Holdings, said, "GZCI's nomination of Mr. Yu Ziping and Mr. Peng Jing to the board of the Company demonstrated that it is fully confident about our future development. GZCI is the powerhouse of infrastructure and smart city development in Guangzhou, while DC Holdings is the leading enterprise in China's smart city sector. The cooperation between two companies will combine DC Holdings' sophisticated technology and GZCI's strengths in urban development together. It will become a good model of information technology applications in urban development. We believe that our cooperation will surely produce great synergies to both sides and drive the development of smart city and Big Data industries in China. DC Holdings will continue to pursue strategic transformation and innovative development. Through the cooperation with different parties, we will accelerate the pace of our strategic transformation, create new profit growth drivers, promote our sustainable and healthy development so as to create greater returns to shareholders." About Digital China Holdings Limited Digital China Holdings Limited was incorporated in 2000 and listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong in 2001 (stock code: 0861.HK). Since its establishment 17 years ago, DC Holdings has adhered to the mission of creating a "Digitalized China". It has kept pace with the market developments and made persistent efforts to drive business breakthroughs and transformation. Moreover, DC Holdings has vigorously developed a complete value chain for its IT services to offer point-to-point integrated IT services to customers and become the largest integrated IT services provider in China. In 2010, the Company announced the [email protected] City strategy. Since then, it has gained extensive experience in smart city development in more than 30 provinces and 120 cities in China. The Company outperforms peers in terms of business concept, strategy, execution and core technology. Boasting an unparalleled expertise in [email protected] city development, it has been actively involved in the development of [email protected] city standards in China. Besides, it has leveraged Cloud computing, Big Data and artificial intelligence to drive inovations in its business models. Through its smart applications platform and Big Data services, the Company will vigorously expand into the following vertical value chain: [email protected] City Management, [email protected] Medicine, [email protected] Transportation, [email protected] Agriculture, [email protected] Education, [email protected] Manufacturing, finance services, credit investigation and supply chain operations. By integrating all resources effectively, DC Holdings aims to create an ecosystem for the integration, co-sharing and collaboration of smart cities in China. Information technology is reshaping our world. DC Holdings strives to create a "Digitalized China" and drive the transformation in Big Data industry which will generate trillions of dollars worth of businesses. lIt will leverages innovative technology to drive the transformation from an industry IT services provider to an industry IT services operator. It is evolving to be a leading smart city enterprise and innovative Big Data services provider in China. For additional information about DC Holdings' products and businesses, please visit the Company's website at www.dcholdings.com.hk. For media inquiries:







Guo Lei Digital China Holdings Limited Tel: 86-10-8270-7252 Email: [email protected] Charles Chan PRChina Limited Tel: 852-2522-1838 Email: [email protected] David Shiu PRChina Limited Tel: 852-2522-1838 Email: [email protected]

For investor inquiries: Digital China Holdings Limited Tel: 852-3416-8000 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Digital China Holdings Limited

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[December 27, 2017] Tauriga Sciences, Inc. to Diversify $25,000 of its Balance Sheet Cash into Groestlcoin and Gain Exposure to the Crypto Currency Sector

NEW YORK, NY, Dec. 27, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tauriga Sciences, Inc. (OTC PINK: TAUG) ("Tauriga" or the "Company"), engaged in building business through the development, distribution, and licensing of proprietary products as well as the evaluation of potential acquisition opportunities/equity investments, today announced that the Company has decided to purchase, in total, $25,000 of the crypto currency called Groestlcoin (Crypto Currency Code: GRS). This $25,000 aggregate purchase will be funded by the Companys available cash and is expected to be completed over the next 90 days (this $25,000 purchase will occur in several distinct tranches on several distinct dates). As of December 27, 2017, the Company has already transferred $10,000 to San Francisco based digital currency exchange COINBASE -- to facilitate the purchase of the initial tranche of Groestlcoin. The Company anticipates that the purchase of this first Groestlcoin tranche will be completed by January 10, 2018. Once this initial tranche purchase is complete, the Company will notify shareholders on Form 8K to disclose the specifics of the completed transaction(s). The Company has been evaluating multiple opportunities to gain a degree of exposure to the crypto currency market sector. The Company has opted to acquire $25,000 of Groestlcoin, due to the comparatively low current market capitalization of Groestlcoin and the specific features of this crypto currency that Tauriga believes differentiates it from the more than 1,000 other choices (available to the Company for gaining exposure to this sector). Taurigas Chief Executive Officer, Seth M. Shaw, expressed, The Company has decided to provide its shareholders with a degree of exposure to the crypto currency sector. The Company believes that it has accomplished this corporate aim in both a measured and responsible manner. After carefully evaluating a number of crypto currencies, which incorporate block chain technology, the Company believes that Groestlcoin has incorporated some important features that differentiates it from other crypto currencies. The Company also understands that any exposure to this sector, at this point in time, arries a high level of inherent risk. Therefore, the Company has limited its downside to $25,000 but is hopeful that this exposure to Groestlcoin will ultimately be successful for its shareholders.



Please see the two below links for additional information on Groestlcoin: https://www.groestlcoin.org

https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/groestlcoin/



The long term strategic plan for Tauriga Sciences Inc. remains as disclosed in the Companys press release dated November 15, 2017; to consummate one or more significant acquisition and/or licensing transactions during the calendar year 2018 to both restore and create long term shareholder value. ABOUT TAURIGA SCIENCES, INC. Tauriga Sciences, Inc. (OTC PINK: TAUG) is engaged in building business through the development, distribution, and licensing of proprietary products as well as the evaluation of potential acquisition opportunities/equity investments. The Company is presently focused on its upcoming contemplated launch of a Cupacu Butter based lip balm product branded under the name: Herman. The Company believes that one of its most important strengths is its access to and relationships with potentially substantial distribution systems and networks. The Company intends to capitalize on distribution opportunities and will continually update shareholders on such developments. Please visit the Corporate Website at www.tauriga.com

NON SOLICITATION: This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any of these securities, nor will there be any sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale is not permitted. Any securities offered or issued in connection with the above-referenced merger and/or investment have not been registered, and will be offered pursuant to an exemption from registration. DISCLAIMER: Forward-Looking Statements: Except for statements of historical fact, this news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, without limitation: expectations, expects, anticipates, believes, hopes, beliefs, plans and objectives regarding the development, use and marketability of products as well as the attainment of certain corporate goals and milestones (i.e. SEC Periodic Filings, Filing of Proxies, etc.). Such forward-looking statements are based on present circumstances and on Tauriga's predictions with respect to events that have not occurred, that may not occur, or that may occur with different consequences and timing than those now assumed or anticipated. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, and are not guarantees of future performance or results and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from the events or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include general economic and business conditions, the ability to successfully develop and market products, consumer and business consumption habits, the ability to consummate successful acquisition and licensing transactions and other factors over which Tauriga has little or no control. Such forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this release, and Tauriga assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. Readers should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Risks, uncertainties and other factors are discussed in documents filed from time to time by Tauriga with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

CONTACT INFORMATION Tauriga Sciences Inc. 555 Madison Avenue, 5th Floor New York, NY 10022 Chief Executive Officer Mr. Seth M. Shaw Email: [email protected] cell # (917) 796 9926 www.tauriga.com

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[December 27, 2017] Smart Circle Has Been Named One of the Top Workplaces in Orange County by the Orange County Register

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Dec. 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Orange County Register has recognized Smart Circle (www.smartcircle.com), a leading face-to-face marketing and direct sales company, as one of the top workplaces in Orange County! The Top Workplaces program, run by Energage, LLC (formerly Workplace Dynamics), is set-up to recognize companies that have healthy and employee-focused work environments in the Orange County area. The evaluation, conducted through a 22-question employee survey, is based purely on employees' opinions of their companies. "Smart Circle strives for excellence in service to our clients, independent corporate distributors, and to our employees," says Jigna Patel, General Counsel of Smart Circle. "Smart Circle is dedicated to providing a top workplace and is eager to continue our growth and success with our most valuable assets  our people." "The Top Workplaces award is not a popularity contest. And oftentimes, people assume it's all about fancy perks and benefits," says Doug Claffey, CEO of Energage. "But to be a Top Workplace, organizations mst meet our strict standards for organizational health. And who better to ask about work life than the people who live the culture every day  the employees. Time and time again, our research has proven that what's most important to them is a strong belief in where the organization is headed, how it's going to get there, and the feeling that everyone is in it together. Claffey adds, "Without this sense of connection, an organization doesn't have a shot at being named a Top Workplace."



About Smart Circle Located in Newport Beach, California, Smart Circle is a worldwide leader in face-to-face marketing, and direct and outsourced sales. We provide successful sales and marketing solutions for our clients, which include Fortune 500 companies, nationally recognized brands and regional and local business. Connect with us at www.smartcircle.com.

About Energage, LLC Headquartered in Exton, Pennsylvania, Energage specializes in employee feedback surveys and workplace improvement. This year alone, more than two million employees in over 6,000 organizations will participate in the Top Workplaces campaign  a program it conducts in partnership with more than 40 prestigious media partners across the United States. Energage also provides consulting services to improve employee engagement and organizational health. Energage is a founding B Corporation member, a coalition of organizations that are leading a global movement to redefine success in business by offering a positive vision of a better way to do business. View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/smart-circle-has-been-named-one-of-the-top-workplaces-in-orange-county-by-the-orange-county-register-300575581.html SOURCE Smart Circle

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[December 27, 2017] Ron Caithness appointed as General Manager for Ziyen Inc. Scottish Office in Aberdeen

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 27, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ziyen Inc. is pleased to announce the appointment of Ron Caithness as the new General Manager for Ziyen U.K. in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Ron will be largely responsible for strategy, budgets, financial outcomes and will be in charge of all revenue and cost elements of the company. Ron will work with Head of Business Development, Greg Simpson and Business Development Manager, Cameron Murray who were also recently appointed to their roles at Ziyen U.K. after holding previous roles in a leading procurement company. With over 35 years of corporate banking experience and most recently as head of U.K. Branch Network for the Bank of Scotland, Ron will lead the effort to increase revenue as well as establish effective business strategies and targets. Greg Simpson, Head of Business Development at Ziyen UK, said, We are very pleased have such an experienced executive lead our Ziyen Inc. U.K. team. Ron will help build upon our existing strengths and ensure the company experiences sustained growth. Rons professional experience in banking and customer service will further augment our teams capabilities and will ultimately help us provide better service to our valued customers. Click to watch Ron Caithness Interview about joining the company and the role at Ziyen Inc. Ron was awarded a Fellowship from the Institute for Services to Banking (FCIBS) and following his banking career set up a consultancy business which supported small businesses and the agricultural industry, specializing in financial planning and loan negotiation. AlastairCaithness, CEO at Ziyen Inc., said,



Opening the UK Division of the company was one of the significant milestones met by the company in 2017, and I believe that the Software Division run out of Scotland is key for the growth of the company in 2018. Bringing in my Dad as General Manager, not only brings in a wealth of experience into the company but will allow Greg Simpson and Cameron Murray to focus on sales, product development and customer retention. About Ziyen Inc.

Founded in 2016, Ziyen Inc. is a Scottish-American company developing cutting edge procurement software to provide clients with industry specific government and private contracts via procurement portals. In 2017, Ziyen diversified, instating the Ziyen Energy Division, with intent to produce oil in the U.S. with advanced extraction methods and technology implemented and guided by career experts in the oil and gas industry. In June 2017, Ziyen acquired the mineral rights to its first oil field in Indiana, and now has two assets. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently qualified Ziyen Inc. in November 2017 for our second round of funding, with a pre-IPO share price of $1.50. More information may be found in its Offering Circular filed with the SEC, or on their website www.ziyen.com

About Granite PR

Founded in 2008, Aberdeen-based Granite PR offers the full spectrum of PR services with an emphasis on the energy, technology, hospitality, food and drink, professional services and healthcare sectors. The company has developed strong links in domestic and overseas markets, particularly the US and Scandinavia, and these have been enhanced by Granite PRs Gateway series of business events which encourage trade between key locations. For more information visit www.granitepr.co.uk Forward Looking Statements: Certain statements in this press release including, but not limited to, statements related to anticipated commencement of commercial production, targeted pricing, performance goals, and statements that otherwise relate to future periods are forward-looking statements. These statements involve risks and uncertainties, which are described in more detail in the Company's periodic reports filed with the SEC- specifically the most recent reports which identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are made and based on information available to the company on the date of this press release. Ziyen Inc. assumes no obligation to update the information in this press release. Contact:

Brett Jackson

Managing Director

Granite PR

[email protected]

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Celebrate Kansas City Freedom Tour

Lamonte McIntyre says freedom still seems surreal He was in prison for 23-and-a-half years for a double murder that he didn't commit. Now he's had around two months of freedom and Lamonte McIntyre says it all still seems surreal. But, he's enjoying getting used to it. "It feels like winning the lottery, that's what it feels like," McIntyre said.

Massive Winter Power FAIL

Over 2,300 without power north of the river in Clay County Over 2,300 residents are without power north of the river. Six outages were reported just after 8 p.m. on Tuesday night. This came about two hours after outages occurred in Liberty. Kansas City Power & Light tells KCTV5 that multiple crews are addressing the outages. It's unknown what caused them, according to a KCP&L spokesperson.

Show-Me Stagnation

Missouri among states with slow population growth - St. Louis Business Journal Missouri ranks 31st when it comes to percentage growth of the state's population, according to estimates released by the U.S. Census, which put the state's population growth at 0.4 percent year-over-year. Missouri ranks 24th when it comes to population change numerically, having added 22,356 people from July 1, 2016, to July 1, 2017, the report said.

Creeper Suspect Caught On Camera

KC mom freaked out after stranger gets caught on camera trying to take her three kids from day care KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- For the last year, Donisha Taylor says her three children have been going to Emmanuel Family and Child Development Center near Swope Parkway and Prospect in Kansas City without any problems. However, last Monday Taylor said a stranger gave her the scare of her life.

Talking Kansas Trade

Changes To NAFTA Could Have Big Effect On Kansas Agriculture After pushing for changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement, President Donald Trump earlier this year kicked off negotiations among the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Any major changes to the agreement could have a big impact on Kansas. Kansas Republican Sens.

Need After Happy Rock Blaze

25 residents displaced after flames rip through Northland apartment complex Residents at a Northland apartment complex were forced into the cold after their home caught fire early Tuesday morning. The fire broke out at about 1:13 a.m. at the Crown Heights 58 apartment complex near 58th Street and N Oak Trafficway. Firefighters say flames were shooting from the bottom floor when they arrived.

Kansas City Deep Freeze Morning

Kansas City's Most Accurate Forecast KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Share in our weather experience on the weather blog. Click on the blog for more information. For a full list of weather alerts, click here. Lows tonight dropping down to near zero in KC -15 wind chills through tomorrow morning A break from the Arctic air by Thursday before it returns for the weekend KANSAS CITY'S MOST ACCURATE FORECAST: High:Wednesday: Partly cloudy and cold.

Thebring us some of the most important news links of the day.Take a peek:is the song of the day and this is thefor right now . . .
KCK firefighter dies while on duty A Kansas City, Kansas, firefighter/paramedic died early Tuesday while on duty, the Fire Department announced. Fire officials said Jason Garrett, 46, was found unresponsive in his bed by coworkers at Station 19 near 80th Terrace and State Avenue. He was pronounced dead at the fire station.

This 1st responder passing deserves special notice given that the guy showed up to work in order to die. Read more:
Kansas City Hobo Salvation

KCK church opens its doors to homeless during cold days KANSAS CITY, Kan. - During cold nights like these, The Bridge of Hope Community Church turns into a cold-weather shelter. "A safe place, safe haven for them until the morning," Pastor Luther Eatman said. This is the second year the church has served as a cold weather shelter, the only one of its kind in Wyandotte County.

Naming Kansas City Christmas Dead

KC police ID man shot to death on Christmas Eve Kansas City police have identified a man shot to death on Christmas Eve. Abdi D. Sanweyne, 27, was found suffering from a gunshot wound in the 300 block of Garfield Avenue. He was taken to a hospital, but died a short time later. The shooting was reported at 6:11 p.m.

Year Of D-Bags Ahead

Top 5 KC conventions and events in 2018 - Kansas City Business Journal This week, the Kansas City Business Journal ranks the area's largest conventions and events scheduled for 2018 by projected room nights. The accompanying gallery shows the top five on The List. For the full List, subscribers can take a look at the weekly print edition of the Kansas City Business Journal.

Kansas City Holiday Housing Crisis

KCMO residents displaced with no notice and nowhere to go after landlord boards up their homes KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- At least four people were without a place to stay over the holiday weekend in KCMO after they say their landlord shut them out of their homes. The boarded building on 30th Street and Indiana Avenue sits empty and unlivable. The residents say they just want a warm place to sleep.

Kansas City Doggie Rescue

After 445 days at Kansas City shelter, Mastiff mix finally lands home KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - A big Mastiff mix with droopy eyes that endured a heartbreakingly long stay at a Kansas City animal shelter has finally found a home. After 445 days at the Kansas City Pet Project shelter, where more than 10,000 pets pass through annually, Polina was finally adopted.

Really Nice KCMO Auto History

Car made from scratch inducted into Kansas City Automotive Museum The Kansas City Automotive Museum inducted a new car this month. Dick Kelly built the car out of scratch.

Best Shots Of The Day From One Of The BEST Kansas City Photogs

Winter Color Photography Blog

Quick glimpse at all of the top news stories for today that might be worth a peek for news denizens drowning real work during the day.. . . Let's take a peek:Take a peek at the KC Metro news scene without all of the clutter. Checkit:And this is thefor right now . . .
Oman's Ministry of Transport and Communications aims to float tenders for its four-lane Muscat-Bidbid Expressway project next year, said a report.



Also plans are afoot to open the Al Batinah Expressway up to Wadi Al Jizi in April, reported Oman News Agency.



In another development, the ministry has awarded Oman Global Logistics Group (Asyad), a government holding company, the contract to manage the tunnels on Bidbid/Sur road.



The agreement was signed by Salim bin Mohammed Al Nuaimi, the undersecretary of the ministry and Abdul Rahman bin Salim Al Hatmi, the CEO of Asyad, said the report.



It implements the national economic diversification program ' Tanfeedh'. The project is the first of its kind using this approach, it added.



"Work is underway at the tunnels in Bidbid- Sur road at Wadi Al Uqq. The first-of-its-kind tunnel experience in the sultanate is one of the initiatives of Tanfeedh program with relation to establishing a company to manage transport and communication public projects," stated Al Nuaimi.



"Diba-Lima-Khasab road needs more than eight tunnels - each between 1.5 km to 2 km - to meet the technological developments in road projects," he added.
The Saudi government plans to build 31 new technical education institutions in Makkah province at an investment of SR1.3 billion ($346 million) through its Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC), said a report.



The TVTC in co-operation with the Ministry of Education plans to encourage 32 per cent of high school graduates to join its programmes, reported the Saudi Gazette.



The corporation had opened 45 branches of technical colleges in different regions to provide training to young Saudis in their hometowns. It also equipped 13 colleges to offer bachelor programmes besides employing 864 Saudi trainers and 50 expatriate trainers.



The corporation has trained 45,600 students in telecommunication jobs. The training was offered to both men and women to help Saudization of the sector, stated the report, citing a senior official.



"By 2020 they hope to train 950,000 males and females in various technical and vocational trades," revealed Faisal Kadasa, the governor of the TVTC.



Kadasa pointed out that several other training programs were under way to achieve the objectives of Vision 2030.



Work is also in full swing at the second technical college for girls in Jeddah where 83 per cent of the project haas already been completed, he added.


Oman Air Cargo, one of the leading air cargo carriers in the region, recently hosted its second awards ceremony recently to honour local cargo agencies, at the Crowne Plaza Muscat.



The Oman Air Cargo Awards recognise outstanding achievements among the local cargo agencies and acknowledge the companys close partnership with the public-private establishments, said a statement.



At the event, Mohammed Al Musafir, senior vice president, Oman Air Cargo  commercial, expressed his highest appreciation and gratitude to the partners for their confidence and loyalty to Oman Air.



The official then thanked the attendees for their constant support to the company.



Al Musafir said: Oman Air will always be on track to achieve its goals and aspirations, along with becoming an industry standard-setting airline.



The national carrier of Oman continues to extend full support and backing to its partnership network, he added.



Oman Air Cargo took the opportunity to thank its core staff for their relentless commitment, dedication, and eager attitude to achieve year-on-year success amid industry challenges and increased competition.



Oman Air Cargo Awards is a pan-Oman forum to recognise the success of the local air cargo industry that operates in partnership with Oman Air cargo division.



As the airline looks to strengthen its presence in the market, the awards are a great testament to our partners who work so hard for our clients world-wide, also comes as part of continuous professional development.



Winners at the awards are as follows: Agency of the Year: National Travel & Tourism (NTT); Highest Growth Year-on-Year: Eagle Freight Express; Highest Yield Return: Reliance Freight Systems; Partnership Appreciation: Oman Air SATS; Partnership Appreciation: Directorate General of Customs  Royal Oman Police; Partnership Appreciation: Directorate General of Airport Security  Royal Oman Police.



With a soon to be completed state-of-the art cargo handling facility at its hub in Muscat International Airport, and a 100 per cent cloud based cargo platform, Oman Air Cargo offers access to over 150 online and offline destinations across the globe, it stated.  TradeArabia News Service
SGI Dubai 2018, a leading imaging and printing trade show, will feature exclusive textile focused brands that will showcase their equipment to cater to the needs of Saudi textile industry stakeholders, said event organisers.



The 21st edition of the show will be held from January 14 to 16 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.



The SR15 billion ($4 billion) Saudi textile industry is on the threshold of several major advantages due to the current reforms in the country and rising population. The Saudi textile imports are increasing at 13-15 per cent annually as per reports and this in another indicator of the robust growth and demand that the industry is witnessing. Textile printing therefore, becomes an extremely competitive tool for the industry when compared with global markets.



Event organisers International Expo Consults (IEC) part of Falak Holding, stated that the LED and textile printing industry is slated to grow exponentially in 2017 across the UAE and the Middle East region and is set to propel the retail sector. SGI Dubai is one of the most eagerly awaited events of the year in the region that caters to the needs of exhibitors and visitors in the textile printing industries apart from signage, outdoor media, screen and digital printing industries.



The Saudi consumers are evolving and so is the countrys retail market. They are looking at modern retail environments, state-of-the-art designs and high-quality fabrics in their home country, said Abdul Rahman Falaknaz, chairman, International Expo Consults.



Textile industry is further triggered by its growing population and their purchasing power. This makes Saudi Arabia one of the most promising and sought-after growth markets. While the pursuit of artificial intelligence has endured for the past several decades, it is only recently that dramatic technological enhancements have truly triggered the march of the machines. This will have a definite impact on textile printing industry as well.



As per the Global Industry Analysts report, printed textiles market is projected to touch 29.8 billion sq m by 2020, due to the technology enhancements aimed at improving print speeds, design and efficiency.



This region was earlier known as the trading hub but is transforming itself as the manufacturing hub and will soon entail manufacturing and exporting of textiles. The textile printing industry is all set to flourish in Saudi Arabia and the greater Middle East region in the next few years, added Falaknaz.



SGI Textile 2018, an integral part of the SGI Dubai show will display and introduce innovative textile printing technology products. The worlds leading textile printing entrepreneurs will converge at the show to provide the stakeholders with the right insights to lead the industry. Some of the key highlights of SGI Textile 2018 will include; heat transfer printing; digital textile printing; other fabric printing; custom flags for tradeshows and conventions; POS displays; table covers with logos and banners and; wall graphics among others.



Sign and Graphic Imaging (SGI Dubai) is a key platform where visitors can reach out to exhibitors who comprise of architects, sign makers, print and production manufacturers, media agencies, real-estate developers, brand and image consultants among others. The show is a globally recognised business forum which entails seminars and workshops led by industry pioneers.



SGI Dubai 2018 is roping in exhibitors and trade visitors across the globe including, the US, the UK, Germany, China, Japan and close to 70 plus countries.



Billion-dollar contracts were signed at the three-day show last year. The exhibition also hosted seminars and workshops conducted by industry experts. The show welcomed over 400 global exhibitors from across 36 countries spread over 22,000 sq m and registered over 40 new exhibitors.  TradeArabia News Service
Senior government officials of Iran Brazil recently discussed the possibility of Iran constructing an oil refinery in Maranhao in north-eastern Brazil, a report said.



Brazil's participation in deep-sea oil extraction and manufacturing oil equipment was also on the agenda in a meeting between Brazil's Minister of Mines and Energy Fernando Coelho Filho and Iran's Ambassador Ali Saqqaeian, reported Iran Daily.



Iran had shown interest in investing in the construction of the Premium I and Premium II refineries in Brazil's north-eastern states of Maranhao and Ceara, which are designed to produce low-sulphur fuels, the report said.



Brazil is Iran's main trading partner, with most business conducted in the mining and agriculture sectors. Between March 2016 and March 2017, Brazil exported goods valued at about $2.2 billion to Iran while importing $75 million in return, according to the head of Iran-Brazil Joint Chamber of Commerce, Kaveh Zargaran.



Brazil's top exports to Iran include food, medication, minerals and automobiles. Agricultural products account for the major portion of Brazil's overseas sales to Iran, and it sells $400 million worth of meat to Iran per year.



In 2016, Iran also reached an agreement with Brazilian airplane manufacturer Embraer to purchase 10 passenger jets.



Iran's ATA Air recently received its first second-hand 50-seat ERJ 145 light passenger jet from the company, the report said, noting that more Iranian airlines are expected to receive airplanes from the Embraer by March 2018.




The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has signed a long-term sales agreement with the OCP Group of Morocco (OCP) for the supply of granulated sulphur.



Under the agreement, Adnoc, one of the worlds largest exporters of sulphur, will steadily supply OCP, the largest worldwide sulphur importer, until 2025. The two parties agreed to consider a gradual increase of the contracted annual volumes. Adnoc exported more than 2 million metric tons of granulated sulphur to Morocco in 2016.



Abdulla Salem Al Dhaheri, marketing, sales and trading director at Adnoc, said: This landmark agreement, which is unique in the sulphur industry, strengthens Adnocs position as one of the worlds largest exporters of sulphur. It will reinforce the sustainable supply of sulphur to Morocco and enhance our ability to achieve positive margins.



Significant synergies exist between Adnoc and OCP, allowing the two companies to explore various opportunities for a larger cooperation.



Mustapha El Ouafi, managing director at OCP, said: Since 2008, OCP has initiated the largest investment program in the fertilizer industry with the objective of doubling its mining capacity and tripling its fertilizer capacity. Our ambitious program will see OCP further strengthen its position as the worlds largest fertilizer producer and a leading player in the agribusiness value chain. As such, we are committed to further developing a reliable and strategic partnership with Adnoc.



As a by-product of its sour gas operations, Adnoc and partners produce more than 6 million tons of sulphur annually, exporting it to customers from its state-of-the-art sulphur handling facilities in Ruwais, UAE. The amount of sulphur available for export will increase over the next decade as Adnoc and partners bring new sour gas projects on line, as part of its plans to achieve gas self-sufficiency by 2030. - TradeArabia News Service
Jordan's Queen Alia International Airport (QAIA) welcomed a total of 536,185 passengers during the month of November, marking an impressive 9.8 per cent increase in comparison to the same month last year.



According to the November 2017 statistics announced by Airport International Group, 5,132 aircraft movements (ACM) and 9,671 tons of cargo were registered throughout November, representing a minor 2.8 per cent decrease and a substantial 19 per cent increase, respectively.



As for year-to-date passenger traffic figures, QAIA recorded 7,338,238 passengers passing through its facilities since the beginning of the year until the end of November, indicating a notable 6.8 per cent rise from last years numbers. Meanwhile, year-to-date ACM settled at 68,577 movements with 1.1 per cent increase from the same period last year, and cargo came in at 100,104 tons with a significant 8.5 per cent increase.



We are delighted with the success as presented by Novembers statistics. These promising figures can be attributed to the increase of passenger traffic to and from Cairo, Doha, Istanbul, Dubai, Baghdad, Jeddah, Frankfurt, Kuwait, Alexandria and Muscat. We look forward to the contributions Decembers holiday season will have to the overall results of the year 2017 and to reviewing the end-of-year results of what is looking to be one of our most fruitful years yet, said Airport International Group CEO, Kjeld Binger. - TradeArabia News Service


Indeco Applauds Clayton Statement on Cryptocurrencies and Initial Coin Offerings

David Levine, CEO of Indeco, released the following statement in response to SEC Chairman Jay Claytons Statement on Cryptocurrencies and Initial Coin Offerings. Indeco recently announced the worlds first crypto asset pre-sale under the SECs rules for Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF) at Token Summit in San Francisco. Reg CF allows everyone, regardless of their net worth or income level, to invest in securities issued by startup companies.

Indeco is encouraged by SEC Chairman Jay Claytons Statement on Cryptocurrencies and Initial Coin Offerings. We believe all blockchain industry participants, including issuers, investors, exchanges and promoters, will benefit from a rigorous set of rules and protections. Indeco plans to issue its token as a security, complying with relevant SEC regulations governing the issuance of securities. By leading the movement to develop compliant tokens, we intend to lead the blockchain movement to the mainstream.

Crypto assets can and will grow to be a major component in investor portfolios around the world. We can accelerate the transition to the blockchain, reducing waste in the system and increasing the benefits of participation, by recognizing the critical role of securities laws and the regulators who enforce them to protect market participants.

David Levine, CEO, Indeco

For more information on related topics, visit the following channels:
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New Delhi, December 27

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had recommended to the Department of Revenue during the process of the Budget exercise that a standard rate of GST at 12 per cent for telecom services should be fixed, the Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday.

Communications Minister Manoj Sinha, in a written reply, said DoT on December 1, 2017, had recommended to the Department of Revenue during the process of the Budget exercise that a standard rate of GST at 12 per cent for telecom service should be fixed in place of existing 18 per cent.

The minister further said that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on June 23, 2017 had noted that as regards the suggestion of TSPs (telecom service providers) about treating the telecom sector as core infrastructure sector and reduction of GST rate is concerned, the TRAI finds considerable merit in their proposition as this would be in the interest of end consumers of telecom service and would help in realising the goal of Digital India. DoT may consider actively taking up these issues with the Ministry of Finance. IANS
Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Madhuban (Karnal), Dec 27

Personnel of the State Crime Records Bureau (SCRB) in Madhuban have come up with an exemplary initiative  Roti Bank  in keeping with the motto Sewa, Suraksha, Sehyog. They provide food at least once a day to the needy.

Inspired by the SCRB, personnel of the Haryana Police Academy, Haryana Armed Police, Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) and State Crime Branch have joined hands in this noble effort.

Under this initiative, families living inside the police complex drop two, three or four chapatis daily in baskets at 10 locations in the complex.

Other eatables like vegetables and rice are cooked by personnel in the complex. After preparing more than 250 silver foil packets, the food is distributed at various places, including bric-kilns and slums.

Shrikant Jadhav, Inspector General, SCRB, is the brain behind this initiative. He started this initiative with 40 to 45 staff members of the SCRB in June.

Later, he approached various IAS, IPS and HPS officers, inspectors, sub-inspectors, ASIs, head constables and constables through letters and over telephone to come forward to contribute Rs300 each for this noble cause.

Now, the Roti Bank has around 500 members. They deposit money into a bank account specifically for this purpose. Several residents have joined the initiative and have been contributing to it.

We started this initiative to provide food at least once a day to the homeless and the needy. For smooth running, we have constituted a body comprising police officials, who devote their time daily for feeding the needy, said Jadhav.

My staff enthusiastically participate in various activities, including collecting chapatis from all points in the complex and preparing, packing and distributing food, he added.

Participants who have joined this initiative are happy with their contribution. I joined this campaign around three months back. It gives me immense pleasure and spiritual satisfaction, said Rani Hooda, Senior Scientific Assistant, FSL.

It is team work and all members of Roti Bank work with dedication and generosity, in addition to their office work, said Ramesh Chand, president of Roti Bank.

We have displayed the bank account number with the IFSC code and contact numbers at various places for those who want to contribute for the social cause, he added.

Homemakers are also contributing enthusiastically. Neelam and Manju, residents of the police complex, said they felt good about their participation in this initiative.

Banking on support
Tribune News Service

Panipat, December 27

A team of the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) led by a junior engineer (JE) was assaulted by the residents of Attaulapur village of the district early this morning when they reached there to check power theft.

The angry villagers not only thrashed the team members, but also held them hostage for more than one hour. The villagers allegedly broke their camera, mobile phones and also tore government documents. After getting information, the police rushed to the village and got them freed.

Praveen Dahiya, SDO, UHBVN, Bapoli, said, The team, led by JE Sunil, SSA Yogesh Kumar, assistant line man (ALM) Munish, and Rahul reached the village at 6 am in an official vehicle for taking action against those indulged in power theft. A group of villagers intercepted the officials and attacked them when they started checking power supply in the houses. Meanwhile, more villagers gathered and they did not let the officials return.

SSA Yogesh and driver Shree Om were injured and have been admitted to the general hospital.

Satpal Malik, XEN, Samalkha division, along with other officials visited the hospital and reported the matter to the higher officials.

Inspector Subhash, SHO, PS Bapoli, said the injured had been admitted to the hospital. If they filed a complaint, a case would be registered accordingly.

Besides, Tej Pal, member of the All-Haryana Power Corporation Worker Union (AHPCWU) alleged that the employees were attacked due to negligent behaviour of the higher officials.

This was not the first incident in which the power officlas were attacked. Similar incidents have been reported earlier in Samalkha area, he said.

He said police help should be provided if officials go for checking power theft in any area.
Shimla, December 27

Remembering his early years spent at The Mall Road here in Himachal Pradesh and at the Indian Coffee House with his journalist friends, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday didn't miss an opportunity to sip a cup of coffee.

As he was on his way to the airstrip, Modi's cavalcade stopped outside the popular cafe Indian Coffee House on The Mall.

Modi spent more than 10 minutes outside the Coffee House and enjoyed a cup of coffee as hundreds of BJP workers and others assembled there.

"In Shimla, relished coffee at the Indian Coffee House and reminisced old days. The coffee tastes as good as it did two decades ago, when I would frequent Himachal for party work," Modi said in a tweet.

In another tweet, he thanked the people of Shimla for the warm welcome.

Armed with mobiles, Modi was mobbed by fans as they tried to take selfies with him outside the Indian Coffee House that was set up in 1943.

The Prime Minister was here along with his cabinet colleagues and BJP President Amit Shah to attend the oath-taking ceremony of Jai Ram Thakur as the Chief Minister and his 11 cabinet colleagues.

Shimla's famous outlet has seen many prominent customers -- late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and former Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, who was also here on Wednesday to attend the swearing in ceremony.

When he studied in India, former Afghan President Hamid Karzai was a frequent visitor, too.

Modi, during his earlier visit here in April, recalled that he used to spend hours at the Coffee House with his journalist friends to keep a tab on the state's political developments.

Many from Shimla's academic, legal, art and journalistic circles were regular clients too.

In March 2000, then Home Minister Advani spent time at the Coffee House with his party colleagues over coffee. He again visited it in August 2009 along with then Gujarat Chief Minister Modi.

Modi had said at a public rally here in April: "Sitting at the Indian Coffee House along with my journalist friends, I used to get an insight into the state's political developments." Modi, who was the BJP's in-charge of Himachal Pradesh from 1994 and 2002, added in a lighter vein that he never paid for the coffee he had. His journalist friends used to foot the bill. - IANS
As many as six chief ministers of BJP-ruled states, including Yogi Adityanath, Trivendra Singh Rawat, Manohar Lal Khattar, Devendra Fadnavis and Sarbananda Sonowal, attended the swearing-in ceremony of Jai Ram Thakur as the Chief Minister. Among the family members present on the occasion were Jai Ram Thakur's wife Sadhna Thakur and daughter and Union Minister JP Nadda's wife Mallika Nadda and son.

More people outside venue

There were more people outside the venue as The Ridge ground could accommodate limited people. Hundreds of residents saw the oath ceremony on nine LCD screens installed at vintage points in the town.

Selfie with CM Yogi in vogue

Selfie with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was in vogue and a large number of people clicked selfies with him. The CM also interacted with the public.

Banners torn for PMs glimpse

As big banners around the venue made it difficult for the public outside the venue to see the happenings, BJP workers tore the banners to have a glimpse of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the oath-taking ceremony.

Residents, tourists hassled

Residents and tourists faced great inconvenience as the town was converted into a fortress and most of the roads were blocked to give passage to the VVIP motorcade. Even the shops around The Ridge were not allowed to be opened in the morning.

Ministers fight for space

There was utter chaos and confusion in the state secretariat as there was scramble among the ministers to grab office room of their choice. The allotment is made by the General Administration Department in consultations with the ministers, but some of them barged into a room of their choice, making the situation awkward for the officials. The confusion was created more due to the last-minute addition of Kishan Kapoors name to the list of ministers, just before the oath.

CM performs puja at sectt

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur started his first day in the CM office at the Himachal Secretariat only after performing puja with his daughter and wife by his side.
Amir Karim Tantray & Shyam Sood

Tribune News Service

Jammu/Rajouri, December 26

Two days after four Indian soldiers were killed in the Keri sector of Rajouri district, the Army on Monday avenged the killing by neutralising four Pakistani soldiers and injuring one opposite Poonch sector. The Army also decimated a Pakistani post along the Line of Control (LoC).

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Sources in the Army told The Tribune that in retaliatory action, reportedly in a surgical strike, a small group of Armys Special Forces commandos gunned down four Pakistani soldiers, including a Major, in Rawlakot sector, opposite Gulpur sub-sector of Poonch district.

Commandos entered 200-300 metres inside the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) territory and destroyed a forward post of the Pakistan army on Monday afternoon, said sources.

The slain Pakistani soldiers have been identified as sepoy Sajjad, sepoy Abdul Rehman and sepoy M Usman, while sepoy Ahtzaz Hussain was injured. The identity of the officer killed was not disclosed yet, said sources.

The strike was carried out by Special Forces commandos in response to the killing of four soldiers, including a Major, of a Sikh unit in the Baratgala area of Keri sector on Saturday.

Pakistans Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) confirmed the killing of their three soldiers, but said they died in cross-border shelling i.e. in ceasefire violation. Pakistani media also reported the killings in unprovoked ceasefire violation. India had initiated the unprovoked ceasefire violation that led to an exchange of fire between the two countries border forces, Dawn reported, quoting ISPR.

A senior Army officer said the action wasnt enough. We have to avenge the death of each and every soldier killed on the LoC, the officer said.

On Sunday, in the first retaliatory action after the killing of four soldiers, the Army had gunned down two Pakistani snipers.

This is the second strike by the Army inside PoK since September 2016, when Ghatak commandos had conducted a surgical strike following a deadly terror attack on an Army camp in Uri.

Major Moharkar Prafulla Ambadas, Lance Naik Gurmail Singh, Lance Naik Kuldip Singh and Sepoy Pargat Singh  all of 2 Sikh Regiment  were killed in an apparent Pakistan armys Border Action Team (BAT) attack on December 23. The Indian Army, however, maintained they were killed in ceasefire violation.

Pak summons diplomat

In Islamabad, Pakistan on Tuesday summoned Indias acting Deputy High Commissioner to protest unprovoked firing by the Indian Army. Its Foreign Office rejected reports that the Indian Army commandos had crossed the LoC along Poonch sector and smashed a post.
Dinesh Manhotra

Tribune News Service

Jammu, December 27

In October 2016, the state government had sacked its 12 employees for participating in anti-India protests.

The sacked employees were among 150 government servants, including some gazetted officers, identified by the CID wing of the J&K Police for instigating violence or challenging the integrity of the nation on the social media.

The employees were identified after intelligence agencies kept a strict vigil on their posts on the social media during the unrest in the Valley following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8, 2016.

The J&K Government issued an order on Tuesday to set guidelines on the usage of social media by the government employees.

Highly placed sources said the order was issued after getting feedback from various intelligence agencies.

Intelligence agencies have informed that a large number of government employees are propagating separatism and encouraging violence, an intelligence officer in the J&K Police said.

Even some employees are using official computers or laptops to preach secessionist ideology through social the media, the officer said.

Sources said although the state government had blocked 125 Twitter accounts and 79 WhatsApp groups following the violence in 2016, more than 100 WhatsApp groups and 125 Facebook accounts with over 6,000 mobile phones were spitting venom against the country through the social media.

While setting the guidelines for its employees, the government has made it clear that Employees should be aware that the law enforcement agencies will observe content and information made available by them through social media. They should use their best judgement in posting material that is neither inappropriate nor harmful to the state.

On April 26 this year, the state government had banned 22 social networking sites and applications, including Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter, in Kashmir on the ground that they were being misused by anti-national and anti-social elements to fan trouble. However, the ban was lifted after a month on May 26 following opposition by the civil society and other groups.
Our Correspondent

Khanna, December 26

The Khanna police claimed to have recovered a large quantity of illegal liquor and poppy husk in two incidents.

Khanna SSP NS Mahal told the media that in the first incident, the Samrala police had laid a naka near Samrala. Two vehicles  a Xylo and a Corolla  coming towards the Samrala side were stopped for checking, but the occupants left the vehicles and fled. When the police searched the vehicles, they recovered 100 cartons of illegal liquor. The SSP said a case under the Excise Act was registered against unidentified persons and the vehicles have been impounded.

In another incident, a naka was laid on the Khanna road. The police stopped a motorcyclist. During the search, the police recovered 3-kg poppy husk from him. The accused has been identified as Harmeet Singh of Samrala.

The SSP said a case under the NDPS Act was registered in this regard against the accused who was presented in a local court which remanded him in 14-day judicial custody.
Smita Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 27

In further boost to bilateral connectivity, the second air corridor between India and Afghanistan was inaugurated today. Expanding the cargo corridor, the inaugural flight departed from the Kabul International Airport for Mumbai.

In June earlier, the first dedicated air freight corridor was inaugurated between Kabul and Delhi by President Ghani.

Welcoming the move, Indian Ambassador to Kabul Manpreet Vohra wrote on twitter: Congratulations, #Afghanistan ! The #IndiaAfghanistanAirCorridor expanded today! His Excellency Afghan Vice-President Sarwar Danish inaugurated the first cargo flight from Kabul to Mumbai. Real and unimpeded connectivity for Afghan traders.

Quoting Afghan officials, local media reported that some 10,640 tonnes of fresh produce, fresh and dried fruits, medicinal plants and handicraft worth over $20 million had been exported to India since the launch of the first corridor.

The aim is to provide landlocked Afghanistan greater access to Indian markets even as Pakistan continues to be a hurdle in road transit. Air cargo connectivity is facilitating direct access to Indian markets for Afghan farmers for their perishable produce.

Afghanistan exports fresh fruits, dried fruits/nuts, raisins, vegetables, oil seeds, precious/semi-precious stones among others to India. With Phase 1 of the Shahid Beheshti Port at Chabahar also operational, India is now able to ship wheat to Afghanistan through the sea route as well. Connectivity for trade and development remains top priority for war-torn Afghanistan.

Interestingly, after the inaugural meeting of Foreign Ministers of Afghanistan, Pakistan and China this week, there were indications that Afghanistan could in future join the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the flagship project of Beijings grand Belt and Road Initiative, for greater access to regional and global markets.

India has strong objections to CPEC as it passes through Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. Indian official sources maintain Afghanistan remains sensitive to Indian concerns. During his visit to India in October, President Ashraf Ghani had stressed that Afghanistan wanted to become an Asian roundabout and not a cul-de-sac. Asked specifically about Pakistan being a hurdle to India-Afghan land trade, Ghani had asked if Pakistan could be linked to Central Asia without Afghanistan.
Beijing, December 27

China on Wednesday said that its ambitious China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is not directed against India and the project should not be influenced or disturbed by any third country, a day after Beijing offered to extend the USD 50 billion project to Afghanistan.

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At the first trilateral meeting of Foreign Ministers of China, Pakistan and Afghanistan here on Tuesday, China offered to extend CPEC to Afghanistan as the three sides pledged to step-up counter terrorism cooperation and not to allow any country, group or individual to use their soils for terrorism.

Besides Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, his counterparts from Pakistan and Afghanistan Khawaja Asif and Salahuddin Rabbani, respectively, attended the meeting.

When asked about reports that Chinas plans to extend the CPEC to Afghanistan sparked concerns in India, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said the project extension is not directed at any third country.

She said the project serves the common interests of the three counties.

This cooperation is not directed at any country and any party. The dialogue and cooperation should not be influenced or disturbed by any country, she said.

Though Hua did not directly name India, she was responding to a question on reports about Indias concerns about CPEC, which passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

We stressed many times, CPEC is not directed at any third party and we hope it can bring benefits for third country, Hua said, referring to Indias concerns.

The CPEC, a flagship project of Chinas prestigious One Belt One Road, links its restive Xinjiang region with Pakistans Balochistan province.

It is an economic cooperation programme and it should not be politicised and has nothing to do with territorial dispute, she said, adding that the project will bring the benefit to the third party and the whole region.

Afghanistan is a common neighbour of China and Pakistan.

They have strong desire to develop economy and improve livelihood. They are willing to integrate into the regional connectivity process and willing to integrate into CPEC, she said.

The three sides have agreed to promote connectivity under Belt and Road Initiative framework and follow the principle of starting from easy and smaller projects step by step to identify cooperation projects for common development, she said.

During the trilateral meeting, a consensus has been reached on eight point plan to bring peace between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The consensus included a security mechanism to enhance counter-terrorism cooperation to fight all forms of terrorist organisations and terrorists, she added.

She said Afghanistan and Pakistan will promote the exchanges between their clerics and avoid the spread of religious extremism.

Under the trilateral framework of the dialogue, the countries should follow the principle of mutual benefit and equal consultation, she said.

She said the three sides have agreed to stay committed to the four goals - support Afghanistans peaceful reconstruction and reconciliation peace process, help Afghanistan and Pakistan to improve and develop ties, promote joint security of the region, promote regional connectivity, and BRI.

The three sides reaffirmed their commitment to an Afghan- led and Afghan-owned Afghan peace process. Afghanistan and Pakistan have agreed to align their development strategies to BRI and actively explore the trilateral cooperation under it.

China and Pakistan have also agreed to provide assistance to Afghanistan in areas such as public health, human resources, and agriculture, Hua added. PTI
New Delhi, December 27

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday said it has seized assets worth Rs 26.61 of controversial arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari and others for alleged violation of the FEMA law.

It said it has seized the properties "in lieu of undisclosed assets held abroad by him" and the action has been carried out under section 37A of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

Section 37A of the FEMA stipulates that if certain foreign exchange, foreign security or immovable property is held outside India in violation of this law, the equivalent value of asset can be seized within India.

The ED had booked Bhandari, reported to have left India for a foreign location sometime ago, under criminal charges of the PMLA law in February this year as also under the FEMA.

The Delhi Police had also booked him for alleged violation of the Official Secrets Act (OSA) last year.

Bhandari's case first came to light after the I-T department conducted searches against him in April last year and recovered certain "sensitive" official defence documents from his premises.

As part of these raids, the taxman is also said to have recovered certain emails that talk about renovation of a costly apartment in London in 2010 which was allegedly owned by Robert Vadra, brother-in-law of Congress President Rahul Gandhi.

Vadra's legal firm has denied that he owned the London property directly or indirectly.

It also denied Vadra has any business ties with an arms consultant or his aides.

The tax department had last year also shared a "seizure memo record" with the defence ministry to appraise it about the contents of these "sensitive" documents.  PTI.
Mukesh Ranjan

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 27

Protests continued in Lok Sabha on Wednesday over Union Minister Anantkumar Hegdes remarks over amending Constitution, forcing the House to adjourn repeatedly.

The House adjourned four times after Congress and Telangana Rashtriya Samiti held protests in the Well of the House over different issues.

Congress wanted the Union Minister to resign over his remarks of changing the Constitution to delete the world "secular"  statements that have drawn protests from various quarters. TRS members were asking for a separate high court for Andhra Pradesh  which currently shares the court in Hyderabad.

Adding to the din were slogans against Pakistan for the treatment they gave to Indian death row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhavs wife and mother on Monday. Protesters demanded a statement in the House from External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who promised to make a detailed one later.
Smita Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 27

In a further boost to bilateral connectivity, the second air corridor between India and Afghanistan was inaugurated on Wednesday.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Expanding the cargo corridor, the inaugural flight departed from Kabul International Airport to Mumbai.

Earlier in June, the first dedicated air freight corridor was flagged off between Kabul and Delhi by Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani.

Welcoming the move, Indian Ambassador to Kabul Manpreet Vohra wrote on Twitter, Congratulations, #Afghanistan ! The #IndiaAfghanistanAirCorridor expanded today! His Excellency Afghan Vice President Sarwar Danish inaugurated the first cargo flight from Kabul to Mumbai. Real and unimpeded connectivity for Afghan traders.

Quoting Afghan officials, local media reported that some 10,640 tons of fresh produce, fresh and dried fruits, medicinal plants and handicrafts worth more than 20 million USD had been exported to India since the launch of the first corridor in mid-June.

The aim is to provide landlocked Afghanistan greater access to Indian markets even as Pakistan continues to be a hurdle for road transit.

Air cargo connectivity is facilitating direct access to Indian markets for Afghan farmers for their perishable produce.

Currently, Afghanistan exports fresh fruits, dried fruits/ nuts, raisins, vegetables, oil seeds, precious/semi-precious stones among other things to India.

With phase 1 of the Shahid Beheshti Port at Chabahar also operational, India is now able to ship wheat to Afghanistan through the sea route as well.

Connectivity for trade and development remains top priority for war-torn Afghanistan.

Interestingly, after the inaugural meeting of foreign ministers of Afghanistan, Pakistan and China this week, there were indications that Afghanistan could in future join the China-Pak Economic Corridor (CPEC), the flagship project of Beijings grand Belt and Road Initiative.

India has strong objections to CPEC as it passes through illegal territory in Pak-Occupied Kashmir. Though Indian official sources maintain Afghanistan remains sensitive to Indian concerns.

During his visit to India in October, Ghani had stressed that Afghanistan wants to become an Asian roundabout and not a cul-de-sac.

Asked specifically about Pakistan being a hurdle to India-Afghanistan land trade, Ghani had asked if Pakistan can be linked to Central Asia without Afghanistan.
New Delhi, December 27

With members in the Lok Sabha condemning ill-treatment meted out Kulbhushan Jadhavs mother and wife on their visit to Pakistan and demanding the government to clear its position on the issue, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj informed the House that she will make a detailed statement tomorrow.

During the zero hour, members of various political parties, including the Congress, Shiv Sena, Trinamool Congress and AIADMK, protested the way Jadhavs family members were treated by Pakistan authorities when they had gone there to meet the Indian national languishing in a prison.

As the members demanded that the government should clear its position on the issue, Swaraj said a statement on the issue would be made tomorrow. Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge demanded that Jadhav be brought back. Shiv Senas Arvind Sawant said India should not keep silent in the matter.

Describing Pakistan as hypocritical, Trinamool Congress leader Saugata Roy said the incident should be criticised and demanded that Swaraj should speak on the issue.AIADMK member M Thambidurai said asking a woman to remove her mangal sutra is an insult to the country. The meeting between Jadhav and his mother and wife took place on December 25 at the Pakistani foreign affairs ministry in Islamabad after repeated requests by India for family access.  TNS

Pakistan sends wifes shoes for testing
Lucknow, December 27

A 14-year-old boy accidentally hanged himself to death while trying to imitate the image of Goddess Kali from the television serial 'Maha Kali' in the state capital, police said on Wednesday.

The boy, Chitranajan, was a student of Class 9 and was playing with his younger sister Gunjan, 9, and other neighbours late on Tuesday night and told them that he would show them the 'Kali Avataar'.

He then playfully tied a dupatta around his neck and put a noose on the door. By the time someone could understand the seriousness of the act he had been choked to death due to strangulation, an official probing the incident informed. Scared children raised an alarm but by the time the parents rushed to the child's rescue, he was dead.

Children playing with the boy told the police that Chitranjan was trying to enact the 'Maha Kali' serial being aired on television and told them that he will do something because of which his tongue will pop out as that of Goddess Kali.

The family said that some time before the incident his mother had chided him for trying a similar act and had told her son that the Gods will get angry if he repeated it again.

She got busy with her household chores and the second time round the boy was not so lucky and died trying to imitate the Kali avataar (incarnation). The body has been sent for post mortem. IANS
Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 27

The stalemate between the ruling BJP and the Opposition Congress in the Rajya Sabha over Prime Minister Narendra Modis remarks during the Gujarat elections ended on Wednesday with Finance Minister Arun Jaitleys clarification in the afternoon session.

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Jaitley said Modi did not question, nor did he mean to question the commitment of his predecessor Manmohan Singh and former Vice-President Hamid Ansari.

The statement (by Modi) did not question nor did he mean to question the commitment of Manmohan Singh or Hamid Ansari, the former Vice-President. Any such perception is completely erroneous. We hold these leaders in high esteem and their commitment to the nation, Jaitley said, putting to an end the dispute that saw vociferous protests from the Congress party in the first few days of the Winter Session.

Welcoming his statement, the Congress also dissociated itself from Mani Shankar Aiyars neech remark against Modi. Responding to Jaitleys statement, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad said he thanked the Leader of the House for clarification on the contentious issue.

I, on behalf of my party, say that we disassociate from any comments made by any member during elections that may have hurt PMs dignity. We also do not want any such things to be said in future, Azad said, after which the House started functioning.

Sources said the reconciliation was achieved following a meeting between Jaitley and Azad on Tuesday evening. We have made our stance clear on the issue and decided to accept the clarification so that the House could function, Congress sources said.

The Congress was demanding a clarification from Modi, who during the Gujarat election campaign alleged Pakistan interference in the polls.

The Prime Minister also claimed that Singh and Ansari secretly met former Pakistani officials at Aiyars residence in New Delhi. Accusing Modi of spreading falsehoods and canards, Singh wanted him to apologise.
Ravi S Singh

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 27

The Rajya Sabha was on Wednesday adjourned till 2 pm amid ruckus with Opposition members pressing for discussion on remarks of Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entreprenurship Anantkumar Hegde that his government would amend the Constitution to remove the word 'secular' from it.

Chairman Venkaiah Naidu said he could not allow the discussion for which demanding members had to give notice.

The opposition members pressed for it, though. They trooped into the Well of the House and raised slogans. Naidu adjourned the House chiding the Opposition members that the entire country was witnessing their conduct.

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Earlier, the Chair allowed Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad to make a mention of Hegdes remarks. Azad said the minister who had no regard for the Constitution could not continue to be a member of the Council of Ministers.

While some Opposition members said Hegde had denigrated architect of the Constitution BR Ambdekar, and started sloganeering on the issue, Minister of State for Social Justice Ramdas Athawale said the Congress had no regard for Ambedkar. He said this was the reason for which he had quit the Congress and joined the BJP.

Further countering the Opposition members who were on their legs raising slogans, Athawale said the Congress had resisted the Bharat Ratna to Ambedkar.

Dr Subramanium Swamy rose to counter the Opposition to say that Ambedkar had not included the word secular in the Constitution. His voice as well as that of Athawale was drowned in the din.
Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 27

The stalemate in the Rajya Sabha over Prime Minister Narendra Modis remarks against his predecessor Manmohan Singh and others at a poll rally in Gujarat ended today with a clarification from Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

PM Modi did not question, nor did he mean to question the commitment of former PM Manmohan Singh and former Vice-President Hamid Ansari to the nation. Any such perception is completely erroneous. We hold these leaders in high esteem and their commitment to the nation, Jaitley said.

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The Congress reciprocated by distancing itself from senior leader Mani Shankar Aiyars neech comment. Without naming Aiyar, Leader of Opposition in the House Ghulam Nabi Azad said his party also disapproved of any attempt to bring down the dignity of the Prime Ministers Office.

Thanking Jaitley for clarifying on the contentious issue, Azad said: I, on behalf of my party, say we disassociate from any comments made by any member during elections that may have hurt the PMs dignity. We also do not want any such things to be said in future.

However, Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal objected, saying the fate of the House could not be decided on the basis of statements by only two persons.

To this, Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu said: We discussed it in the morning in the business advisory committee. Every member of the House is important. Let us not sidetrack the issue.

Following this, the House functioned to clear legislative business. Sources said the reconciliation was achieved following a meeting between Jaitley and Azad yesterday evening. We had made our point and decided to accept the clarification so that the House could function, Congress sources said.

Last week, the Congress indicated it would not let Parliament function until Modi either proved the serious anti-national charges he levelled against Singh and other dignitaries, or withdrew his words with regret.

In the middle of the Gujarat elections, Modi had accused Pakistan of interfering in the polls. He also alleged that Singh and Ansari secretly met Pakistani officials at Aiyars residence in New Delhi.
Rajmeet Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 27

Questioning the intent of the draft policy to regularise about 6,500 illegal colonies in the state, the Cabinet today decided to set up a five-member sub-committee to finalise the policy and the legislation concerned.

The agenda item of the Housing and Urban Development Department to approve the policy was deferred for the second time in a week.

The sub-committee will submit its report in a month. It will also fix composition fee rates for the regularisation of unauthorised residential colonies under various categories.

A senior government functionary said most of the Cabinet ministers were of the view that the draft policy was aimed at giving benefit to illegal colonisers who had been demanding covered area up to 80 per cent against the department norms that allow up to 55 per cent.

Sources said Rural Development Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa brought to the notice of the Chief Minister and other ministers a recent order of the Himachal High Court that had struck down the HP Town and Country Planning Regularisation Amendment Act-2016 that allowed regularisation of unauthorised structures.

Ministers Brahm Mohindra and Charanjit Channi also expressed reservation over the draft policy. During the last Cabinet meeting, Navjot Singh Sidhu had raised the issue, before being informed by a government functionary that the draft had been prepared after taking the Local Bodies Department in the loop.

Another Cabinet minister said the move to regularise illegal colonies that did not even qualify on the basic parameters was fraught with problems. In many colonies, the builders had not left enough land for roads, parks and other amenities.

In the draft agenda prepared after consulting the forum of the colonisers, the illegal colonies had been divided into three categories: up to 10 per cent covered area, 10 to 50 per cent, above 50 per cent and a special category where construction has already been done. But the ministers opined that the facts and figures of the colonies needed to be checked.

During the Akali-BJP rule, about 3,000 illegal colonies had been regularised as per the norms approved by then government.
A QUESTION was asked at the meeting of C.P. Legislative Council about the resignation of Tarabai Modak, B.A., first assistant lady teacher of Amraoli Girls' High School, owing to her supersession by Ms Pascal, an Anglo-Indian lady teacher of no University qualifications. Government admitted that Ms Pascal had no University qualification and was put over Mrs. Modak but said the latter "was unwilling to reside in the hostel" and unprepared to undertake hostel work, for which Miss Pascal had been trained. It does not stand to reason that Mrs. Modak should be superseded by a new-comer, especially when it is recognised that the presence of a high-class Hindu lady of University qualifications will induce Hindu parents to send their girls to higher classes more than that of any English or Anglo-Indian lady.
NOT the least interesting part of Mrs. Besant's presidential address is that in which she deals with the position of India as imperial asset. "India alone," says Mrs. Besant "has a man-power which can effectively maintain the Empire in Asia, and it is a short-sighted, a criminally short-sighted, policy not to build up her strength as a self-governing State within the Commonwealth of Free Nations under the British Crown." The European agitators say their interests would be jeopardised if the system is changed. This is her reply:-"What can this mere handful do to protect their interests against attack in the coming years? Only in a free and powerful India will they be safe." Talk of the capital invested by Englishmen? Her reply is the reply of every well-informed person. "Englishmen in India must give up the idea that English dominance is necessary for the protection of their interests amounting in 1915 to 365,399,000 sterling."
Karachi, December 27

Al-Qaeda's slain chief Osama bin Laden had shifted to Afghanistan to supervise a plot to assassinate Pakistan's former premier Benazir Bhutto and then military dictator Pervez Musharraf, a media report said today.

Citing intelligence gathered by the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), the News reported that the explosives to execute this plot were provided by the courier of bin Laden.

Bhutto was killed in a gun-and-bomb attack during an election campaign rally on December 27, 2007 outside the Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi. The revelation comes exactly on the 10th anniversary of Bhutto's assassination.

This information was provided to the Interior Ministry in December 2007 by the Army and the ISI in three reports and the letters obtained from the bin Laden's residence.

In these secret intelligence reports, the ministry was warned that bin Laden had issued orders to kill then President Musharraf, Pakistan People's Party's chief Bhutto and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief Fazlur Rehman, the paper said.

The most important letter by the ISI to the Interior Ministry was written on December 19, 2007; the letter was directed to the Interior Ministry's then-director coordination of the Crisis Management Cell Colonel Muhammad Imran Yaqub, the paper said, citing the documents.

The letter, titled 'President Musharraf, Benazir Bhutto and Fazlur Rehman's murder plan', signed by Lt Col (retd) Zaigham Islam Butt for DG Intelligence said bin Laden has issued the order to kill Musharraf, Bhutto and Rehman.

"He (Osama bin Laden) has planned to send his courier, who is a national of Pakistan and a resident of Multan, named Musa Tariq, through Waziristan with explosives to be used in executing the murder plots. On coming Sunday  which is December 22  this person will be in the area of Dera Ismail Khan," the letter read.

"Osama bin Laden is personally supervising this entire plan and for this reason, he has shifted to Afghanistan," read the last three lines of the letter.

The ISI had requested the interior ministry to make urgent security arrangements, the paper said, adding that this information was so important that the copies of this letter were also dispatched to the Military Intelligence Directorate, GS Branch and General Headquarters, Rawalpindi.

After receiving the letter, the General Staff Branch of the Military Operations Directorate of General Headquarters, on the next day  December 20, 2007  sent a letter to then- interior secretary Syed Kamal Shah.

Six days before Bhutto's assassination, another letter was issued with the signature of then-chief of the general staff Lt-Gen Salahuddin Satti's Lt-Col Staff Khurram Shahzad, warning about the terror plot.

Following the assassination of Bhutto, a short letter was sent to bin Laden after two days.

"We have taken revenge for our brothers and sisters of Jamia Hafsa and Lal Masjid," read the letter which was recovered from bin Laden's home.

Bin Laden was killed by US Navy Seals in a covert raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan in May 2011.- PTI
Washington, December 27

A group of Muhajirs in the US has lauded the Trump administration for putting Pakistan on notice for harbouring terror groups.

The term Muhajir is used to describe the Urdu-speaking immigrants who left India in 1947 and came to Pakistan. A large chunk of them settled in the Sindh province.

US Vice President Mike Pence, during an unannounced trip to Afghanistan to assess the ground realities in the war-torn country, said that President Donald Trump had put Pakistan on notice for providing safe havens to the Taliban and other militant groups.

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As the President said, so I say now: Pakistan has much to gain from partnering with the US, and Pakistan has much to lose by continuing to harbour criminals and terrorists, Pence had said, issuing another stern warning to Pakistan.

In a letter to Trump, the World Muhajir Congress (WMC) welcomed the recent statement in this regard by Pence in Afghanistan.

This is a bold policy in placing Pakistan on notice regarding its ill-fated policy of harbouring and supporting terrorist organisations in South Asia, particularly through the powerful Pakistani military establishment and intelligence wing, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the WMC said.

The WMC claimed that due to Muhajirs strong opposition to radical Islamist voices in Pakistan, they were being singled out by military establishment through political persecution, extra-judicial killings, forced disappearances of Muhajir men, and a state-sponsored media trial that continued to portray them as agents of India and anti-state.

In its letter, the WMC also offered to assist the Trump administration in formulating policy matters for South Asia as it relates to Pakistan.

Trump, while announcing his South Asia Policy in August, had criticised Pakistan for not doing enough to combat terrorism.

Observing that Muhajirs are the most liberal, progressive and pro-Western people in Pakistan, the WMC said they were Americas natural allies in the region.

Given a chance, Muhajirs can play a leading role in eliminating terrorism and violence from the region, the WMC said in the letter.

The group offered unequivocal support to the Trump administration as it formulates a tougher approach in dealing with Pakistans duplicitous behaviour in the region, the letter added. PTI
Islamabad, December 27

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has held former military dictator Pervez Musharraf personally responsible for the murder of his mother, Benazir Bhutto, as the country observed her 10th death anniversary on Wednesday.

Bhutto, the PPP chief and a two-time Prime Minister, was killed along with 21 persons in a gun-and-bomb attack outside Rawalpindis Liaquat Bagh during an election campaign rally on December 27, 2007.

In an interview to the BBC, Bilawal Bhutto said: Musharraf exploited this entire situation to assassinate my mother. He purposely sabotaged her security so that she would be assassinated and taken off the scene. He said that he doesnt hold the man who fired the bullet at his late mother responsible for her murder.

Bilawal said Musharraf, who is in self-imposed exile in Dubai, had directly threatened Bhutto and told her that her security was based on the state of relationship with him. He claimed that on the day of her assassination, the security cordon was taken off from her by the former military ruler. The PPP chairman said he personally holds the former President responsible for the murder and as he doesnt have any details of him giving directions on a call or holding a meeting to convey any secret message, he will not unnecessarily blame any state institution.

The anti-terrorism court in its judgment on August 31 had declared Musharraf an absconder in the assassination case and acquitted five alleged operatives of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan  Rafaqat Hussain, Husnain Gul, Sher Zaman, Aitzaz Shah and Abdul Rashid  due to lack of evidence. Two police officers were jailed for 17 years each for negligence vis-a-vis Bhuttos security. The court also ordered confiscation of Musharrafs assets.

Bilawal Bhutto said the ATC hearing Bhuttos case ignored the UN report, ignored the governments investigation, ignored call recordings and did not take into account DNA evidence.

He said the court gave a clean chit to the terrorists, awarded punishments to the police officials involved in washing the crime scene but also immediately approved their bail.

He also dismissed the claims that his father Asif Ali Zardari was responsible for Bhuttos assassination. This assumption is like calling an innocent an oppressor. IANS

1,000 acres for Pak army HQ, offices

The Pakistan army will be allotted over 1,000 acres by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) for the construction of a general headquarters and other military offices in Islamabad. The decision was taken at a meeting held at the CDA headquarters last week.

Sharifs daughter too trains guns on Ex-Prez
Lahore, December 27

Nawaz Sharifs daughter has claimed that her father was removed from the prime ministers office because he had ordered registration of a treason case against former military dictator Pervez Musharraf.

A five-member Bench of the Supreme Court had disqualified 67-year-old Sharif from the office of prime minister on July 28 in the Panama Papers scandal.

When he (Sharif) got registered a treason case against Musharraf for abrogating the Constitution, sit-ins began in Islamabad (in 2014) against him. Then came the Dawn Leaks and Panama Papers case and finally he was disqualified on having Iqama (work permit of UAE), Sharifs daughter Maryam Nawaz told the social media team of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz while explaining reasons behind her fathers ouster.

She further said this happened to her father because he did not bow and never took dictation.

It was easy for him to choose an easy path (cutting a deal with the establishment) but he didnt. Nawaz Sharif always chose a right path which is a difficult one. When you are on such a path, you have to pay a price, Maryam added.

She termed an attack on the prime minister as an attack on the people who have voted for him.

Sharif, who was also present during the interaction, demanded action against Musharraf for abrogating the Constitution and committing treason.

He asked would any court dare to bring Musharraf to justice. Will we see any court in Pakistan hold Musharraf accountable for his crimes? Sharif asked.

Musharraf is facing treason charges in Pakistan for imposing emergency rule in November 2007, arresting judges and limiting their powers.

He could face the death penalty if convicted.

Musharraf, 74, who came to power in a bloodless coup in 1999, has been living in Dubai since last year when he was allowed to leave Pakistan on the pretext of medical treatment.

The former military dictator who had promised to return to face the cases against him later said former army chief Gen Raheel Sharif had used his influence to get him a relief.  PTI
Yangon, December 27

The detention of two journalists in Myanmar was extended for two more weeks, a court said on Wednesday, in the pair's first public appearance since their December 12 arrest under a draconian colonial-era secrecy law.

Wa Lone, 31, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 27  Myanmar nationals who had been reporting for Reuters on a military-led crackdown on Rohingya Muslims  were arrested after being invited to meet police for dinner on the outskirts of Yangon.

They face up to 14 years in jail under the Official Secrets Act for allegedly possessing documents related to the army crackdown in Rakhine state  a highly sensitive issue in Myanmar.

The UN says the army is likely guilty of ethnic cleansing and may have committed genocide against the Muslim minority, some 655,000 of whom have fled the country since the military launched a crackdown on Rohingya rebels in late August.

Myanmar denies the allegations and has tightly controlled media and UN access to the conflict area.

Myanmar officials have refused to comment on where the Reuters journalists were being detained or when they would be released.

On Wednesday, the pair appeared in public for the first time in a court on the outskirts of Yangon, where they were embraced by tearful relatives who have been denied any contact with the two men.

"They have not mistreated me," Wa Lone told AFP inside the courthouse.

The other reporter, Kyaw Soe Oo, urged other journalists to be cautious in brief comments to AFP.

"Please tell journalist friends to be careful. It's really scary. We didn't do anything wrong," he said.

Judge Ohn Myint extended their remand period until January 10, telling the court "the interrogation is still ongoing."

The arrests have been widely condemned as the latest sign of eroding press freedoms in Myanmar, which is still shedding a 50-year legacy of brutal junta rule.

The emerging democracy is now led by former democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, who was swept into office in the 2015 elections.

But her civilian administration must share power with an army that retains firm control of security policy and other key levers of government.

At least 11 journalists have been arrested in Myanmar in 2017.  AFP.
Saint-Denis De La Reunion, December 27

The French coast guard has rescued a Polish sailor in the Indian Ocean who says he spent seven months with only his cat for company in a broken-down boat.

Investigators are seeking to piece together the itinerary of the 54-year-old who says he took to the sea in his makeshift vessel from the Comoros Islands off the coast of Mozambique in May with the aim of reaching South Africa.

The journey of more than 2,000 kilometres would have seen him travel south down the Mozambique Channel, a busy shipping route with strong currents for his vessel, a modified lifeboat from a cruise ship.

Instead of reaching South Africa, he was plucked from the waves well off-course, near the French island of Reunion, on Sunday after being spotted by the crew of a yacht.

Madagascar, the worlds fourth largest island, lies between Reunion and Mozambique.

The sailor said he and his cat survived on half a packet of Chinese soup per day as well as what he caught by fishing.

The instruments on his boat had been smashed and the man had no means of communication, Frances SNSM coast guard service told AFP.

According to his telling, his odyssey started in 2014 when he travelled to India from his home in the United States and bought his boat with the intention of sailing it back to Poland.

After spending time modifying it himself, he took to the water but the boat broke down after leaving port because of a problem with its mast.

The sailor drifted in the Indian Ocean before washing up on the Comoros Islands.  AFP
Photo via Teamsters

Thirty-four drivers at the XPO Logistics facility in Albany, N.Y., filed for representation with the Local 294 chapter of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the union has announced.

The drivers from the former Con-way Freight operation are planning to join XPO freight workers in Laredo, Texas, Vernon Calif., Miami, Fla., Aurora, Ill., King of Prussia, Penn., and Trenton N.J. that have already joined the Teamsters union. Warehouse workers at the XPO facility in North Haven, Conn., have also joined the union.

The XPO workers in Albany reached out to us because they are tired of having no say on the job, said John Bulgaro, president of Local 294 in Albany. We look forward to helping these workers form their union and then negotiate a first contract that improves their livelihoods.

According to the Teamsters, the drivers are seeking "decent, affordable health care and retirement security."

Like the XPO workers in other locations, the Albany drivers are fed up with higher health care costs and reduced coverage and no voice on the job, said Ernie Soehl, director of the Teamsters National Freight Division.
SemGroup Corp. and NGL Energy Partners announced Tuesday that they have completed the sale of the Glass Mountain Pipeline for $300 million each.

The pipeline, which was jointly owned by the Tulsa-based energy companies, was sold to a fund managed by BlackRock Real Assets in partnership with Navigator Energy Services.

We are extremely pleased with the valuation of the Glass Mountain sale, which represents a significant step in our capital raise plan to fund the final payment for the acquisition of Houston Fuel Oil Terminal Company, said SemGroup President and CEO Carlin Conner in a statement.

SemGroup subsidiary Rose Rock Midstream will continue as the pipeline operator for a time following closing.

NGL said in a statement that it intends to use the proceeds to repay a portion of its outstanding debt.

The Glass Mountain Pipeline runs from the Mississippi Lime formation of northern Oklahoma into the Cushing oil hub. A 44-mile extension was recently built to the STACK play in west central Oklahoma.
TAHLEQUAH  The Cherokees historic commitment to natural resources and ties to their land took a step into the future recently.

Last month, the Cherokee Nation became the first Oklahoma tribe to open a solar canopy car-charging station.

It is only a first step but a first step worth celebrating in regards to conservation of our natural resources, said Sara Hill, Cherokee Nation secretary of natural resources.

For tribal citizen and employee Ben Phillips, it was an early Christmas gift. Phillips, of Fort Gibson, works at the tribal complex in Tahlequah and has driven a hybrid car for four years. He chose the vehicle for its technology and low maintenance and now uses the tribes charging station daily, which saves him time and money.

When I heard we were doing this, I was very excited, Phillips said. It is great that our tribe is doing something about renewable energy for the good of the environment.

I think anything you can do to help the environment is great. Im so happy the Cherokee tribe is committed to green, renewable energy.

The car-charging station is in the main parking lot at the W.W. Keeler Tribal Complex. It is capable of charging eight electric vehicles at one time and provides about 58,000 kilowatt hours of electricity to the tribal complex. That is enough to power three or more homes for an entire year.

I have a charging station at home and now one here at work, Phillips said. One of the things this has done is get a lot of my friends and co-workers to ask me about my car and how it works.

I look at it as an opportunity to educate people about renewable energy and what a great thing it is for all of us.

Cherokee National Principal Chief Bill John Baker made it clear that the project is aimed at promoting a green environment for generations to come.

The Cherokees have embraced recent initiatives to reduce carbon emissions and promote environmentally friendly projects.

When Chief Baker appointed me two years ago to this Cabinet-level position, it was with the intention of spreading these initatives, Hill said. Our mission is to work on these sort of issues, and Chief Baker has made it a priority.

We are working on a strategy of how to bring these charging stations all over our 14-county area in northeast Oklahoma. We would like to see the day when people could travel throughout the Cherokee Nation and have charging stations available.

Northeastern Oklahoma is our home and will always be home. We want our home to thrive, and this is one way to preserve what we have.

The new conservation initiatives include leasing land to a company for the development of a wind-energy farm on Cherokee Nation trust land in Kay County in north-central Oklahoma.

Embracing solar panels and adding electric vehicles to our fleet is consistent with Cherokee Nations leadership in clean-energy and footprint reduction, Baker said.

We have always been a good steward of the land, and this is another example of exceptional natural resource conservation, a legacy established by our ancestors.

Additionally, the structures design enhances the beautification efforts we have made at the tribal complex.

The solar canopy was a joint project of the Cherokee Nation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. It was built by Francis Renewable Energy of Tulsa. Construction costs were about $300,000.

In addition to the station, the tribe has purchased two 100 percent electric-powered autos. Each of its two Nissan Leaf compact cars can travel about 107 miles on one charge and produces zero emissions.

Plus, at a recent event, tribal employees were invited to drive electric vehicles owned by OG&E and Auffenberg Chevrolet of Muskogee.

No question the canopy charging station has gained peoples attention, Hill said. People might be intimidated by the new technology.

However, by providing this charging station, it has generated so much attention. People are asking questions and seeing how it works.

People are getting the information they need to access the technology. We hope this expands as people become more comfortable with it.
It sounds absolutely crazy  because it is absolutely crazy  but shopping at the mall the day after Christmas is for many a ball.

And bah humbug to all the Scrooges who would dare say otherwise.

How else to explain the crowds coursing through Woodland Hills Mall on Tuesday, or the parking lot full of cars at Tulsa Promenade mall?

Santa may be gone, but the spirit of giving  and, lets just say it, receiving  is still in the air.

ShopperTrak, an industry website that measures retail sales, forecast that the day after Christmas would be the fourth busiest shopping day of the year behind Black Friday, Dec. 23 and Dec. 16.

Sabriah Hoover came to Tulsa from Haskell with her grandmother, Della Hoover, to free herself of a little of her Christmas cash. By 11 a.m., they had spent enough time in Woodland Hills Mall for Sabriah to buy a Vera Bradley wallet and some lotions from Bath & Body Works.

This is just the beginning, the 17-year-old said as she and her grandmother rested in the mall courtyard. We are going to go to other places, but not today.

Like many of the people storming the stores Tuesday, the Hoovers have turned shopping on the day after Christmas into a tradition. This year marks the fifth year in a row they have ventured out.

Its fun, or I wouldnt be here, said Della Hoover.

The same goes for Loretta Radcliff. She is 77, and for her the day after Christmas 2017 was the first day of shopping for Christmas 2018.

I love the crowds  it makes you in the holiday spirit, Radcliff said.

She hit Dillards for the great deals on Christmas ornaments  the place was packed with crazy people  bought some clothes, tossed all of it into her car and then came back for more.

I buy all year long, so by the time Christmas gets here, I really dont have that much shopping to do, and everything is paid for, Radcliff said.

As hectic and harried as this all sounds, there was room amidst the post-Christmas chaos for calm. That is surely the word to describe Frances Paresa and her therapy dog, Benjamin.

They walked through Woodland Hills Mall on Tuesday morning as if strolling the beach with not a worry in the world.

But there was shopping to do, of course. Paresa, 71, proudly displayed some fox-themed slipper socks she had bought on sale and said she expected Benjamin, a 6-year-old Labradoodle, to land a present or two for his good work.

Hes got plenty of toys, Paresi said. So I may get him one of those healthy chew bones.

Shontonna Reed, 41, wouldnt have chosen to be at the mall the day after Christmas, but she didnt want to disappoint her mom, either. So she used her lunch break to stop by JCPenney at Tulsa Promenade mall to exchange a pair of pajamas for her.

And maybe, just maybe, the pull of Christmas will compel Reed to make another trip to the mall come payday.

I wish I had money to get the Bath & Body Works sale today, she laughed.
A man fatally shot by police after reportedly pointing a gun at an officer while naked on Christmas had a history of mental illness and may have been high on mushrooms, according to his mother.

A Tulsa police officer shot and killed 31-year-old Jacob Craig about 4:45 p.m. Monday in the 1100 block of South Wheeling Avenue.

The officer, whose name has not been released, was responding to a report of a disturbance with a weapon when authorities say Craig approached him while carrying a handgun and wearing no clothes. Police say the officer gave several commands for the man to put the gun down, but opened fire when Craig pointed the gun at him.

Craig was taken to an area hospital and died from his injuries.

The initial police call reportedly came from a neighbor who said Craig threatened him with the gun. Officers also were told of multiple previous disturbances.

Although it is too early to determine whether Craig was intoxicated at the time of the shooting, homicide Sgt. Dave Walker said officers found mushrooms and some AR-15-like guns inside the home he shares with his family on Wheeling Avenue. Walker said he does not believe the incident was captured by the officers dash-cam.

Craigs mother, Kim Flanagan, told the Tulsa World her son was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression after witnessing the death of his pregnant fiancee about 10 years ago.

The woman reportedly died after their vehicle was struck by a drunken driver. She said Craig tried to revive her but couldnt.

Flanagan said her sons issues with mental illness surfaced after the death of his father when he was 8.

That was trauma one, she said. With his fiancee, that just pushed him over the edge. He couldnt recover from that.

Continued struggles

Craig, who had an 8-year-old son, began experiencing significant paranoia and depression to the point where he rarely left his room. Before, according to his mom, he was outgoing and funny. The tragedy changed his entire personality.

Medication he took for the paranoia and depression helped relieve the symptoms. Flanagan said he stopped taking it about 6 months ago because he could no longer afford insurance and the price became too high.

Since then, he had struggled to overcome his emotions and made multiple attempts to kill himself, she said. He also experienced bouts of anger but nothing that was extreme, she added.

It just got worse and deteriorated, she said. I could tell he was getting more and more depressed. It was just a mess.

He also was known to use illegal drugs in the past, namely marijuana. Craig earlier this year received a deferred sentence following a plea deal on charges of reckless handling of a firearm, possession of drug paraphernalia and public intoxication, according to court records.

Following the shooting, Flanagan learned from her daughters that Craig got a hold of something and informed officers. That something turned out to be mushrooms.

It had to have been laced with something, she said. I told the officers they better find out who sold that to him.

Craig also frequently made money from trading guns, but she said she did not know about the rifles he kept in his room.

Flanagan, a licensed counselor and a therapist for a local drug-abuse program, said she is irate at the state of Oklahoma for the steep budget cuts affecting mental health. She believes her son would still be alive if he had better access to treatment.

Our Legislature is a failure, she said. They want to cut mental health and substance abuse. They want to increase incarceration. That does nothing for these people.

The way I watch police officers deal with mental health in this city is criminal. Its criminal. They lunge at them. They scream at them. That is like going at a rabid dog.

Neighbors speak out

Leslee Byrd, who moved next door to Craigs home with her two roommates about two weeks ago, said she was taking a nap when she heard a man screaming like a crazy person. She then heard another voice  a police officer, who had arrived at the scene after another neighbor had called  repeatedly yelling for the man to put the gun down at least four times, followed by the distinct sound of at least six gunshots.

The shots sounded so close to her house that her first impulse was to drop to the floor.

I was just thinking, Am I going to die?  Byrd said. I was afraid there might be more shooters. I didnt know what to do.

When she felt safe, she glanced outside and saw a man lying naked in the street. She instantly recognized Craig, who she said had caused problems for her and her roommates since they moved into the neighborhood.

Although she had never spoken with Craig, she said she became frustrated with the constant noise coming from his house. She recalled frequent shouting matches and horns honking through all hours of the night.

Her roommate, Shane Ryals, said he had a handful of arguments with Craig because his familys car kept blocking the driveway. Two days ago, Ryals said, he parked in front of Craigs home after his own driveway was blocked.

The guy who got shot came over and asked me to move my car, he said. He got real aggressive with me. I asked him if he could just not park his car there anymore. I wasnt rude about it or anything. He got upset and turned around in an aggressive manner and said, You dont talk to me that way. You dont know who youre talking to. 

Not everyone in the area shared the same feelings toward Craig.

Marilyn Smith, a caregiver whose client lives across the street, said she first met Craig while playing with a neighbors dog. Craig approached her and struck up a conversation.

He seemed to be very nice. Very polite. Very talkative, Smith said. Ive talked with him a few times since then because we have a common interest in dogs.

Smith has struggled to process Craigs death and doesnt understand the behavior police said he exhibited. She approached his mother Tuesday to offer condolences.

It didnt seem like his character, not from the person that Ive met, she said. It just didnt seem like something he would do.
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Increasing public safety and preventing reoffending in Indonesia through prison-based work programmes

18 December 2017 - Indonesia's 450 prison facilities currently house over 250,000 prisoners - the mere number indicating the challenge with which the prison administration is faced in ensuring their safe, secure and humane custody. In running these, the country's Directorate-General of Corrections (DGC) is presented with additional issues, such as severe overcrowding, staff shortages, and - an aspect which is often less well known among the general public - the task of preparing prisoners for their eventual social reintegration into society. This undertaking, however, is crucial, as it is rooted in the understanding that imprisonment alone is incapable of addressing the social reintegration needs of offenders, and that without educational and vocational training programmes, many prisoners fall into the cycle of re-offending upon release.

To assist countries in meeting this challenge, UNODC is working with authorities across the world to establish a more rehabilitative approach to prison management. Part of the Global Programme for the Implementation of the Doha Declaration - a multi-year initiative funded by the State of Qatar - this builds on the organization's long-standing experience and expertise in providing technical assistance and advisory service in the field of penal reform. In particular, it draws on, and is guided by, UNODC's work and role as the guardian of the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules).

Within this context, a national workshop on enhancing prison-based work programmes in Indonesia was jointly held by UNODC and DGC in December. Importantly, the event provided a forum to create a common understanding of the minimum conditions governing prison-based work programmes as per national law and international standards. It also offered an opportunity to take stock of good practice examples from Indonesia and the wider Southeast Asia region - including from Thailand and Malaysia - around efforts to increase prisoners' ability to earn an honest living after release.

The opening session remarks reflected the common theme that echoed throughout the three days of the workshop. Haru Tamtomo from the Indonesia Government, UNODC's Philipp Meissner, and H.E. Mr. Ahmed bin Jassim Al-Hamar, Ambassador of Qatar, all ultimately emphasized the importance of prison-based work programmes as a critical element to support the successful return of prisoners to society.

Expressing Qatar's commitment to this area of work, and reiterating his Government's support for UNODC's Global Programme, Ambassador Al-Hamar warmly welcomed the workshop as a response to the call in the 13th UN Crime Congress Doha Declaration, for enhanced efforts in the field of rehabilitation and social reintegration of prisoners. Around this, Mr. Meissner, UNODC's Prison Reform Focal Point, n\oted that "the core objectives of prison-based work programmes should be to maintain or increase prisoners' ability to earn an honest living, to improve their prospects for employment upon release, and to thereby contribute to reducing recidivism."

After three days of in-depth discussions, the workshop concluded with the endorsement of an outcome document. This reiterated the DGC's commitment to enhancing the number of prisoners enrolled in suitable work programmes, in full compliance with national law and the Nelson Mandela Rules, and in cooperation with the private sector and relevant civil society organizations. A further emphasis was placed on the need to amend the current regulatory framework governing prison-based work programmes, and to better market and brand prison products as 'social products', through which the consumer contributes to the rehabilitation and social reintegration of prisoners. In this regard, participants also expressed their interest in UNODC's on-going consideration of supporting national prison brands.

During the closing remarks, Collie Brown, UNODC's Country Director in Indonesia, expressed appreciation to the DGC for its partnership with UNODC, noting the "significance of prison work programmes as a core element of prison management and security." He further remarked that "without proper programming, a vacuum is left for prisoners to idle, engage in activities detrimental to prison order and security, and to remain ill-equipped for their social reintegration upon release." The Acting Director-General of the DGC, Mr. Ma'mun, meanwhile congratulated participants for their constructive discussions, and pledged his follow-up on the recommendations that came out of the workshop. Mr. Ma'mun reiterated that "efforts to enhance prison-based work programmes should be considered as an important component of our overall move towards a correctional system, including increased humanity and human rights compliance in prison settings".

In support of the Directorate-General's objectives, UNODC intends to provide material support and further advisory service to DGC and other relevant stakeholders for the initiation of a pilot prison-based work programmes in selected facilities.

Additional information:

Assessing compliance with the Nelson Mandela Rules: A checklist for internal inspection mechanisms

Introductory Handbook on the Prevention of Recidivism and the Social Reintegration of Offenders

Outcome document

Roadmap for the Development of Prison-based Rehabilitation Programmes

United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules)
Editors note: UTSA students, faculty, staff and alumni are building a legacy of excellence locally, across the nation and around the world. Theyre tackling societys grand challenges and making impactful contributions through research, innovation and engagement.

To celebrate Roadrunner Nations biggest accomplishments, UTSA Today is looking back at the top news stories of 2017. Heres number five.

(Dec. 27, 2017)  Class is back in session for the 2017-18 academic year at UTSA. Nearly 31,000 start classes today, including 8,000 new freshmen and transfer students. The new Roadrunners comprise the largest incoming class in university history.

They also have strong academic credentials. In addition to having the highest average SAT scores of any incoming class in UTSA history, 20 percent of the students in the Class of 2021 were ranked in the top 10 percent of their high school graduating classes.

More than 165 degree programs are offered at UTSA. Among them, this fall marks the start of UTSAs first fully online degree program for undergraduate students. The B.B.A. in Cyber Security, offered through the College of Business, expands UTSAs nationally recognized offerings in cybersecurity, providing a new option for working professionals, post-bac students, and transfer students.

Additionally, this fall, UTSAs welcomes its first group of freshmen majoring in chemical engineering. The bachelors program will prepare graduates for careers in a wide variety of industries, including oil and gas, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals as well as environmental and materials engineering. As students proceed through the program, they will have the option to specialize in petroleum and energy systems, environmental engineering, materials engineering, bioengineering or technology management.

Other new academic programs beginning this fall include undergraduate minors in jazz studies, music marketing, music technology, and politics and law, an undergraduate certificate in professional writing and rhetoric, and two graduate certificates: one in cloud computing and another in linguistics. Dozens of new courses also will be offered at UTSA this fall.

At the same time, UTSAs students, faculty and staff are going back to school, the Roadrunner community welcomes its sixth president. Taylor Eighmy begins at UTSA on September 1.

Eighmy joins UTSA from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, where he has served as the vice chancellor for research and engagement. Trained as a civil and environmental engineer, Eighmy served as senior vice president for research at Texas Tech University, where he was instrumental in working with the community to realize National Research University status for Texas Tech. He also spent several years at the University of New Hampshire in a variety of roles, from professor to director of strategic initiatives to assistant vice president for research and interim vice president for research.

The new academic year also brings with it a new cohort of faculty. More than 30 professors share their diverse expertise in everything from physics to cybersecurity, account and biomedical engineering. They come to UTSA from a host of prestigious institutions, including Columbia University, Rice University and Cairo University in Egypt.

UTSA undergrads and graduate students will have the chance to work alongside these exciting new world-renowned researchers this fall to study some of the most pressing global issues of the 21st century. These types of opportunities are one of the many reasons why UTSA continues to be a destination for top ranked students across Texas and abroad.

New and veteran students will also enjoy many new changes that will enhance campus life. Stylish new furniture fills Sombrilla Plaza. A new parking lot near the Roadrunner Cafe provides more spaces for the growing Roadrunner Nation. Another parking lot next to the Business Building is almost complete. Construction is also underway on the new Science and Engineering Building. Over the summer, the first phase of the project began with mostly underground work. Mass excavation and deep foundation work is the current focus of construction at the site.

Also, remember that Roadrunner Days is in full swing. From now through Sunday, Aug. 27, UTSA is hosting a variety of back-to-school activities and events designed to start the new academic year off right.

The Student Success Series is from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. today in the University Center Retama Auditorium (UC 2.02.02). These engaging sessions will explore student success topics including time and financial management.

Students will wrap up the first day of class at the President's BBQ on the Lawn from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, August 22. Theres also the President's BBQ on the Plaza at the Downtown Campus from 4 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, August 23.

UTSA is ranked among the top 400 universities in the world and among the top 100 in the nation, according to Times Higher Education.
Editors note: UTSA students, faculty, staff and alumni are building a legacy of excellence locally, across the nation and around the world. Theyre tackling societys grand challenges and making impactful contributions through research, innovation and engagement.

To celebrate Roadrunner Nations biggest accomplishments, UTSA Today is looking back at the top news stories of 2017. Heres number six.

(Dec. 26, 2017) -- Ruyan Guo, Robert E. Clarke Endowed Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), has received a $50,000 I-Corps grant from the National Science Foundation to commercialize a chip that can make lower power electronics, like cell phones, work more efficiently.

Guo's team developed the technology, which is about the size of a pin's head, with UTSA researcher Shuza Binzaidin the UTSA Multifunctional Electronic Materials and Devices Research Laboratory alongside graduate student Avadhood Herlekar.

"The purpose of this grant is to better identify the commercial opportunities for technology created at universities," Guo said.

Guo and Binzaid are currently working with marketplace experts, as well as UTSA technology and IP management specialist Neal A. Guentzel, to understand the needs of consumers so they can determine which industry their chip is best suited for. It's an odd problem to have, since the device is applicable to several different uses, from every day electronics to medical apparatuses.

"This chip can be used with anything that runs on a battery," said Binzaid. "It manages power so that the device can last longer."

Cell phone users in desperate need of a charge, for example, put their devices on low power mode and reduce its regular functions to extend the battery life of their phones. The chip can keep a phone working at top functionality with much less power. Moreover, it facilitates the use of smaller batteries, since the object itself is so small.

The chip also tackles another common annoyance for electronics users: how hot devices get when they're being used for several minutes.

"The heat is a result of a lot of power being used," Guo said. "It's a nuisance, but with our device there is less power consumption, which means the heat will be much less of an issue."

Guo noted that as the "internet of things" becomes more integrated into the average person's daily life, battery power will continue to become a valuable resource. Beyond lower power devices such as cell phones, the chip could be used in fire sensors, fitness monitors and even medical apparatuses.

"We hope to make a significant leap forward in defibrillators and pacemakers," she said. "Invasive surgeries to replace medical devices that are running out of power could become much less frequent."

For now, Guo's team is focusing on developing the chip for customized sensors, with more possibilities on the horizon.
Evacuated people in Vi Thanh city of Hau Giang province

Soc Trang authorities moved about 30.000 local residents to safe places.

According to Chairman of the provincial Peoples Committee Tran Van Chuyen, ferries crossing rivers have resumed operation, while fishing vessels have been asked to wait for local authorities permission to go out to sea.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Tien Hai, Chairman of the Peoples Committee of Ca Mau province said that about evacuated 82,000 people whose houses are in risky areas in the locality also returned home from their shelter on December 26.

On December 26, heavy rain and strong wind have been seen in many localities. Locals are warned not to neglect safety measures to protect themselves and their property.

At the same time, all agencies, sectors and locals of Ben Tre province have resumed their normal activities. About 21,000 Ben Tre people were displaced due to the storm.

In the coastal district of Can Gio of Ho Chi Minh City, all evacuated people are allowed to return their home, but students have still had day off and ships are still banned to go out to sea.

In Tien Giang province, the weather has become better on December 26, allowing all people to return their normal life.

About 50,000 people in the two coastal districts of Go Cong Dong and Tan Phu Dong were evacuated, while nearly 800 fishing boats were banned from operating at sea before Typhoon Tembin, the 16th of its kind in the East Sea, approached.

At 4am on December 26, the centre of the low pressure was in the waters offshore Bac Lieu and Ca Mau provinces with the strongest wind speed of 40-60km per hour.

In the next 12 hours, it will move west at a speed of 15-20km per hour.

The low pressure is forecast to bring heavy rains along the coast from Binh Dinh to Phu Yen, posing a risk of flash flood and landslides.
EVN proposed the prime minister to pick another contractor

In October 2016, EVN took over the Quang Trach 1 thermal power plant project, located in Quang Trach Power Centre in Quang Binh province, from Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam).

Previously, in 2011, when PetroVietnam was still the investor of the project, under the PMs approval, it signed contracts, including a contract on "designs and drawings" and "procurement of equipment, construction, and testing" of the EPC package with PetroVietnam Construction Corporation (PVC). Accordingly, PVC would be the general contractor of the project.

In April 2012, PetroVietnam proposed the PM to convert PVC into PVC-Lilama joint venture, with PVC as the major contractor. The PVC-Lilama joint venture remained the general contractor of the Quang Trach 1 project.

However, after four years of the signing ceremony, the construction of the project had yet to be completed on schedule.

According to EVN, Quang Trach 1 is expected to come into operation by 2021. This means that it only has 50 months left to implement the construction. Meanwhile, EVN said that PVC-Lilama does not have the financial capacity and credibility to implement the project.

Notably, in terms of financial potential, according to statistics of Deloitte Vietnam, as of December 31, 2016, PVC operated with an accumulated loss of VND2.88 trillion ($126.8 million). The short-term debt was VND561 billion ($24.66 million) higher than its short-term assets.

Regarding the credibility of the company, according to EVNs opinion, PVC has implemented a number of projects most of which had been delayed in construction, causing delay in operation of the plant . These projects include Thai Binh 2 thermal power, Dung Quat, and Phu Tho bio-ethanol projects.

Due to these reasons, EVN proposed the PM to select another contractor with enough capacity and experience so that it can ensure the timely construction of the Quang Trach 1 project.

Quang Trach 1s construction was kicked off in July 2011 with total investment capital of $1.7 billion. The plant has a designed capacity of 1,200MV to be produced by two turbines, which were expected to come into operation in June and December 2015, and contribute to the national grid an annual capacity of 8.5 billion kWh.

However, over five years after the ground-breaking ceremony, the construction has been immobile, except a finished office building.
File photo of section of an oil platform in the North Sea, around 160 kilometres east of Aberdeen, Scotland. (AFP PHOTO/POOL/ANDY BUCHANAN)

The benchmark US contract, West Texas Intermediate for February delivery, rose US$1.50 to US$59.97 a barrel after earlier breaching US$60 for the first time since June 2015.

Brent North Sea crude for February delivery advanced US$1.77 to US$67.02 a barrel, a level not seen since mid-2015.

Phil Flynn, of the Price Futures Group in Chicago, said while there were several factors behind the price jump, "the headline today is Libya, which is raising concern about the oil supply."

The blast occurred on a pipeline to the Al-Sidra export terminal and was expected to curtail Libyan oil output by 70,000 to 100,000 barrels a day, the National Oil Company said .

"NOC continues to investigate the causes of the explosion" north of the town of Marada, according to the statement.

The Libyan outage adds to worries about European supply following a weeks-long disruption to the Forties pipeline in the North Sea after a crack was found in the line.

In addition, Flynn said cold weather in the US would lift demand for heating oil and natural gas, pressuring supply. Temperatures in New York City are expected to approach the single digits Fahrenheit in the coming days, while Chicago could fall below zero.

The price increase also follows a move by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to extend its agreement on production limits through 2018.

Saudi Arabian officials are forecasting their first budget surplus in a decade amid expectations of higher oil prices, Bloomberg News reported, citing unnamed sources.
The visa exemption has been proved an effective measure to attract foreign arrivals.

Vietnam has set a target of welcoming 20 million foreign visitors in 2020 and developing tourism into a key economic sector, and one way of achieving that goal is to provide visa waivers for important markets, the insiders said.

Luong Hoai Nam, Deputy General Director of Vietstar Airlines, said that the open visa policy is one of preconditions for attracting arrivals, adding that most of tourists dont care about visa costs but feeling uncomfortable when applying for a visa.

According to Nam, tourism visa is not a bilateral issue, which means that expanding or tightening visa depends on tourism policies of each country.

Vietnams visa policy has been considered a bottleneck of tourism. The complicated procedures and visa costs make Vietnam less attractive for foreigners than neighboring countries.

Visa exemptions are a global trend and Vietnams tourism competitors in the region are very open with their policies, Vu The Binh, vice chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association, said.

Currently, Vietnam offers visa waivers to visitors from only 23 countries including ASEAN co-members. Indonesia, one of the worlds most liberalized countries for visas, grants visa-free travel to 169 countries. Singapore allows 158 nationalities to enter visa-free, while the figure for Malaysia is 155 and Thailand 61.

The visa exemption has been proved an effective measure to attract foreign arrivals to the country.

According to Binh, the visa-exemption policy for citizens from the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy that has been in force since July 2015 has boosted the number of European tourists to the country and did not decrease tourism revenue, he said.

The exemption policy attracted 720,000 tourists from these countries in the first 12 months  an increase of 96,000 tourists compared to the period in 2014  yielding total revenues of US$126 million, while the deficit in visa fees caused by the exemption was $21.6 million, Binh said.

Similarly, 58,000 more European tourists visited the country last year and yielded $76 million in revenues, while the deficit in visa fees was $2.3 million, he said, adding that the increased number of tourists and revenues created development opportunities for several types of tourism service.

Binh also suggested that the government should extend its visa waivers by five years instead of reviewing them annually.

Travel firms also said they cannot use the visa exemptions for promotional campaigns as the policy could change after a year.

This short-term policy only works for individual tourists while businesses that offer large tours need a more stable policy, they said.
At the first-instance trial (Photo: tuoitre.vn)

Dang Hoang Thien (born in 1992, residing District 3, Ho Chi Minh City), Nguyen Duc Sinh (born in 1985 in Quang Ngai) and 13 accomplices are accused of conducting terrorism against the peoples administration, under Article No.84 of the Vietnam Penal Code 1999. Meanwhile, Le Thi Thu Phuong (born in 1996, Thiens girlfriend) was prosecuted for not denouncing the crimes.

According to the indictment, Thien, Sinh and several other accomplices used petrol bomb to set fire to a police warehouse where motorbikes of traffic rule violators were in Bien Hoa city, the southern province of Dong Nai, on April 8, 2017. Sinh was the person who planned the scheme and set fire himself.

On April 22, 2017, Thien and three others planted two petrol bombs at Tan Son Nhat International Airport. One bomb was detonated but the relevant forces were able to prevent it from causing any destructive consequences. Thien was the instigator of the terrorism case.

The suspects are alleged to act under the instruction of Dao Minh Quan and Pham Lisa, who led an oversea reactionary terrorist group, which used social networks to entice many people in Vietnam to set up terrorist groups planning to conduct terrorist acts and sabotage in the country.

The suspects are also charged with illegal trade of weapons and making bombs for terrorism activities.

The trial will last until December 29.
Madelyn Velez Santiago, center, plays cards with her 7-year-old daughter, Fabiola, left, and her 15-year-old son, Luis, in the Lancaster Township, Pa., apartment where they are staying. Velez Santiago, who is from Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, now shares a modest apartment with her children and a childhood friend after Hurricane Maria devastated the island.
His Excellency the Governors Christmas Message

"Merry Christmas Gibraltar. Lorraine and I trust that everybody watching, like us, is enjoying the unique spirit and pleasure of a Gibraltarian Christmas with family and friends. I say trust, rather than hope, because, typically, I am in no doubt that the People of Gibraltar will have gone out of their way to ensure that everyone, including the sick, deprived and lonely, are able to enjoy some Christmas sparkle and cheery festive companionship on this most precious of days."

"As I reflect on another privileged and enjoyable year as Governor, my thoughts gravitate, as ever, to the power of Gibraltars inclusive, respectful and generous multi-faith and multicultural Community. It is something wonderfully reassuring and uplifting to be a part of; and something that must not go unheralded, as I believe it offers an enlightening example of what makes a positive difference to our beautiful yet troubled world  unity.

As the local writer, Mark Sanchez, so astutely pointed out in his talk about Representing Gibraltarianness during last months Literary Festival it is incumbent on all of us to immerse ourselves in the daily realities of Gibraltar and not allow the outside World to know us only through the prism of their perceptions.

The source of the power of Gibraltarianness became vividly apparent to me during this years National Day Celebrations when we commemorated the brave and inspired Referendum Generation of 1967. In the midst of Casemates, it struck me that Gibraltarianness draws its power from its respected and celebrated heritage. A heritage that is inclusive and reconcilable. A heritage that gives Gibraltar its identity, its belief and its ambition.



Moreover, from your heritage, you, the People of Gibraltar, draw a deep and clear sense of who you are; what made you who you are; and where your future lies. Essentially, unlike many, Gibraltarians do not have to leave the place they are from, to find out who they are. This is important, because anywhere that does not respect and celebrate its heritage, has no future. I believe Gibraltar has a great future, because it is proud of its great heritage.

Over the past year, there have been many times when I have been humbled by the power of Team Gibraltars unity of purpose and compassion; however, two stand out. The first was Gibraltars extraordinary contribution to the United Kingdoms response to Hurricanes Irma and Maria which devastated huge swathes of the Caribbean; including three fellow Overseas Territories, the British Virgin Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands and Anguilla. Without a moments hesitation, once it was known that HMS OCEAN was calling into Gibraltar to take on humanitarian aid supplies and equipment, en route to leading the relief effort in the Caribbean, Gibraltar, as a Community, stood up to help.

From the donation of ten all-terrain vehicles by the Government, to three days of non-stop harbour and airport operations by the Civilian, Military and Police Authorities, to the provision of food and building materials by the Rocks business community, to the collection of clothes by the 1st/4th Scout Group, everybody did their bit.

Why did Gibraltar do its bit? It did it because Gibraltar knows, through shared experience, that the only way you get through hard times is to stand together. Misfortune may befall everybody; but good fortune favours a Community that thinks of the collective before the individual.

For me, this years second compelling manifestation of when Team Gibraltars unity of purpose and compassion has created a beacon of example for others to follow, is the manner in which Gibraltar cares for its Mental Health Service Users. Put simply, working together, the combined effort of Gibraltars Health Authority, Private Service Providers, and the Alzheimers and Dementia Society, has turned Hillsides, Bella Vista and Ocean Views into a truly world-leading campus for caring for those of us with mental health challenges.

There is nothing more vital, decent and admirable than caring for the vulnerable and challenged in ones Community. It shows that our Community is something real; it is something that can change lives; it is something to be a part of; and it is something to be proud of.

On behalf of us all here in Gibraltar, may I also take this opportunity to wish Her Majesty and the other members of the Royal Family a very Merry Christmas. Especially so, given that The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh celebrated their 70th Wedding Anniversary this year.

A magnificent milestone for our Sovereign and Her most steadfast Consort; and an inspiring example to us all. To paraphrase Her Majestys in her own praise of her husband on Their Golden Wedding 20 years ago we owe Them both a great debt, greater than they would ever claim, or we shall ever know.

May I offer our heartfelt best wishes to Prince Harry and his Fiancee, Meghan Markle, as well. We wish them every possible happiness in their future lives together. What a fantastic occasion their Wedding Day on the 19th May is going to be.

As ever, many of you will be working over the holiday period. So, to those of you unable to take a proper break with your loved ones and friends over Christmas and New Year, particularly the Rocks outstanding Medical, Carer and Law Enforcement Organisations, I offer my deep respect and gratitude for the amazing work you do, so selflessly, for our Community day in, day out. Your readiness and commitment to do so is yet another example of what special people you are.

Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, during this festive season, Lorraine and I wish you a wonderful Christmas and a healthy and happy New Year.

Merry Christmas Gibraltar."
Photo: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images

For once, Hollywoods leading gentlemen are going to defer to some women. Following a joint announcement from prominent actresses earlier this month that they will be dressing in all-black ensembles at the Golden Globes out of solidarity with victims of sexual assault and harassment, Dwayne Johnson has confirmed that many male actors will be doing the same. Yes, the men will be standing in solidarity with women on this wearing-all-black movement to protest against gender inequality at this years Golden Globes, celebrity stylist Ilaria Urbinati wrote on Instagram this week. At least all my guys will be. Safe to say this may not be the right time to choose to be the odd man out here  just sayin Johnson, whos a client of Urbinati, excitedly responded with: Yes we will! As EW notes, the stylist also reps other high-profile actors such as Tom Hiddleston and Armie Hammer, who are both expected to be attend the ceremony.

We wonder what Matt Damon is going to wear!
Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser. Photo: Rachel Murray/Getty Images for Clinique/Screen Media Films

NBCs Mad About You ran from September 1992 to May 1999, earning a Golden Globe, a Peabody, and four Outstanding Lead Actress Emmy wins for Helen Hunt in a row. So it makes sense that Mad would be the next sitcom to join the ongoing television-revival  revival. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sony Pictures Television is reportedly interested in producing an eighth season of the show, which starred Paul Reiser and Hunt as a newly married couple in New York, with both leads returning to reprise their roles.

Interestingly, much like recently revived hits Will & Grace and Roseanne before it, Mad About Yous series finale laid some pretty definitive groundwork for any future seasons, jumping ahead 22 years to introduce the couples adult filmmaker daughter, as well as revealing the couples separation and eventual reunion. However, THR says the new season would allegedly pick up in the present day and follow Paul and Jamie in the wake of their 17-year-old daughter Mabels college acceptance. Just as long as Janeane Garofalo can return to play Mabel, well go ahead and let it slide.
Matt Damon and Christoph Waltz in Downsizing. Photo: George Kraychyk/Paramount Pictures.

Alexander Paynes Downsizing begins with a momentous breakthrough. A Norwegian scientist, Dr. Jrgen Asbjrnsen (Rolf Lassgard), has perfected a procedure that downsizes people, shrinking them down to five inches tall. Though downsizing is initially marketed as being environmentally friendly, it quickly catches on for another reason: Smaller people use less money. For instance, when Paul (Matt Damon) goes in to get a consultation, hes told that, if he chooses to go through with the procedure, the $52,000 that he has would effectively turn into $12,500,000. Thats nothing to sniff at.

Assuming that downsizing technology could be safely developed, we wanted to know: Is Paynes vision realistic? So we spoke to economist Ethan Pollack, associate director of research and policy for the Aspen Institutes Future of Work Initiative, to go through Downsizing inch by inch. It turns out that the utopian vision posited by the Norwegian scientists isnt exactly true to life. But, like the movie itself, the discrepancy between what makes sense and what doesnt just provides further food for thought.

The idea that life will be cheaper for downsized folks is one that only extends so far. According to Pollack, what will or wont be cheaper depends entirely on what the thing in question is. Where material goods are concerned, some would be cheaper, given the lesser amount of raw material required and reduced shipping costs  but this gets complicated when considering how much extra work would be required to make things small enough to be practical for a downsized consumer.

For some goods, says Pollack, that [effort] would be minor. With food, for example, you could just take existing products and chop them up into smaller pieces. But not everything is so easy. Clothes, for example, will require an entirely different production process, and would initially be a niche market. Eventually if the market for small clothes grew, the cost would fall as the production process would achieve economies of scale  but in the near-term, tiny clothes would probably be quite expensive.

The example of clothing also brings up questions of how production will change. It wouldnt be enough to just miniaturize the production process. Textile producers might actually need to use different materials to get the clothes to move on a miniature body the same way cotton does for full-sized humans, says Pollack. This may be more difficult than just switching to a new material, because cotton has been specifically bred to be a good clothing material for full-sized humans, so we might actually need to breed a new plant for small clothes. And, again, this whole process would consume both time and money, and wouldnt do anything to alleviate costs until such miniature clothing was mass produced.

That life post-downsizing would be cheaper is a notion also complicated by the fact that not everything we pay for is material. As Pollack puts it, In the last 75 years or so, our economy has shifted away from goods and towards services: Services now represent over two-thirds of consumer spending, with only a third for goods. And services  things like health care and education, which cant exactly be shrunk  would likely not change in price, or possibly be even more expensive.

To Paynes credit, however, the movie does get a few things right when it comes to how downsizing would affect the overall economy. Throughout the film, people complain about fluctuations in the housing market as well as in the job market due to downsizing, and its likely that downsizing would indeed prompt that kind of change. Smaller people would need smaller houses and, in accordance, a smaller amount of land. The demand for land would fall, says Pollack, but the supply would remain the same, so the price would fall. Where jobs are concerned, the effect of downsizing would depend on whether or not smaller people actually spend less money, which, as discussed, is an uncertain prospect. But assuming that that would indeed be the case, downsizing could actually be responsible for a recession and job loss.

Downsizing would also have an effect on the income of people whove undergone the procedure, with that divide between goods and services serving as a distinguishing line. For high-skill, knowledge-economy jobs that require little-to-no physical activity, the income should remain the same, says Pollack. But the wages for low-skill workers would probably drop significantly. This could create massive inequality within the population of mini-humans. This is a problem thats only vaguely touched upon in Downsizing, as Ngoc Lan Tran (Hong Chau) reveals to Paul that theres an entire community of downsized people who are living in squalor rather than the resplendence that Paul enjoys.

Overall, were downsizing ever to become a reality, the growing pains involved would likely be much more severe than the movie presents. There would likely be a recession and a sharp disparity between haves and have-nots in downsizing communities, and it would take a significant amount of time and effort for the economy to balance out, if not separate into different entities, period. According to Pollack, eventually mini humans will create their own supply chains and production, leading to a separation between normal-sized and downsized economics, with only a few areas of trade between them. Then theres the matter of how this would all affect the world at large: The value of money would alter depending on how many people per country were downsizing, as well as the rate at which that change would continue. In other words, though downsizing is presented as a cure for all your ills  for monetary woes, for ennui, etc.  practically speaking, it might actually make your troubles loom larger.
As Waco residents ring in the new year this weekend, the Waco Transit System will once again offer a lifeline to keep the streets clear of drunken drivers.

Waco Transits 13th annual Safe Ride Home program will offer free shuttles to New Years events and back home between 6 p.m. and 3 a.m. Sunday, according to a press release from the transportation system.

Its just about offering people a safe alternative, Waco Transit General Manager Allen Hunter said.

McLennan County had 261 alcohol-related crashes in 2016, according to the latest data available from the Texas Department of Transportation. Of those, seven were fatal.

Statewide last year, about one in four deaths on Texas roads between Dec. 1 and Jan. 1 were alcohol related, according to a TxDOT press release. There were 2,321 alcohol-related crashes during that time, according to TxDOT.

Tragically, there are many families who experience the holidays without a loved one due to a drunk driver, TxDOT executive director James Bass said in the press release. We need to remember that each time someone dies or is seriously injured on our roadways, it affects a family and an entire community. Dont make a bad decision that could cause heartache for your family and others. Make a plan to get home safely. It could save lives.

But Hunter said Waco Transits Safe Ride Home event this year might be different than years past, because New Years Eve celebrations fall on a Sunday night. More people are likely to stay home or go to private parties instead of local bars, he said.

Attendance has also fluctuated since the start of the program, said Hunter, who has been with the transit system for 13 years and started as general manager in October. Last year, Safe Ride Home served 133 people, and two years ago it served 97, he said. But the program served 323 people in 2011, 310 in 2010, 357 in 2009 and 285 in 2008, according to Tribune-Herald records.

The drop in the number of people taking advantage of the service may be because there are more options for safe rides available in Waco than there used to be, he said. But as long as the Safe Ride Home program has sponsors, Waco Transit will continue to offer the service, he said.

The Sparkle and Shine New Years Eve party, hosted by arts space Cultivate 7twelve and Luna Juice Bar will also offer sober rides home, provided by Sunshine Recovery Homes.

And the Milo Biscuit Company + Wine Shoppe New Years Eve celebration will be partnering with Uber to offer ride shares to and from the event.

Its not a competition, Hunter said of the alternatives to Waco Transits Safe Ride Home. Were excited to see other opportunities out there to offer more choices.

Safe Ride Home shuttle rides should be scheduled in advance by calling 750-1620, but same-day requests will be accepted based on availability. Group bookings are available, and Waco Transit will send whatever size vehicle is necessary to pick up everyone, he said. No group is too big or too small, he said.

The Safe Ride Home shuttle operates in Wacos urbanized area, and residents can also call 750-1620 to find out whether transportation will be available to their residence or event.

For partygoers who find themselves unexpectedly needing a ride, Tow King will also offer free vehicle tows between 6 p.m. Sunday and 3 a.m. Monday.

Those in need of a tow can either call Tow King directly at 666-5484 or by coordinating with Waco Transit, Hunter said.

As long as we get one person home safe, as far as Im concerned its a success, he said.
Baylor University continued Tuesday to press plaintiffs in a federal Title IX lawsuit to disclose more details of personal communications from women who allege they were sexually assaulted by fellow students.

In a filing with the U.S. District Court for the Western District, Baylor said the plaintiffs have no legal basis for redacting information such as the names of friends who discussed the assault allegations with the plaintiffs online. The university also defended itself against accusations that an investigation into one of the alleged assailants was closed prematurely because of his ties to top administrators. The investigation resulted in a no-contact order issued against the man, according to the filing.

The 10 plaintiffs in the Title IX lawsuit are claiming Baylor put them in danger by failing to take sufficient action against sexual misconduct reports.

In the filing Tuesday, Baylor attorneys ask the judge to compel the release of redacted information so that the university could determine the factual merits of the claims.

Only after the Jane Does, the John Does and pertinent witnesses have been questioned about their knowledge of plaintiffs allegations can the parties and court explore whether Baylor is legally responsible for causing an assault, Baylors attorneys wrote.

Baylor has been seeking the information since last month, and in this case it was responding to a plaintiffs reply that argued communications with non-party friends should be protected. Plaintiffs attorney Jim Dunnam has argued that witnesses or others who communicated with the plaintiffs should be notified before their identities are disclosed.

He has criticized Baylor for behaving according to a double standard as it has fought against disclosure of records of current and past students not party to the Title IX case. In Tuesdays filing, Baylor responded that it is trying to uphold FERPA, or the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which protects educational records. That law does not apply to private correspondence, the filing asserts.

In an interview Tuesday, Dunnam said student privacy is important regardless of FERPA, and he hopes the judge will find a reasonable solution.

I think Baylors hypocrisy on student privacy is astounding, Dunnam said. The issue is the privacy rights of these students.  Baylor is very cavalier about their privacy rights.

He said the non-party individuals in question are in many cases fellow rape survivors, which makes privacy even more important.

The filing also gave Baylor an opportunity to push back against Dunnams suggested that one of the alleged assailants, whom Baylor called John Doe 3, got favorable treatment from administrators, including former president Ken Starr.

Starr and vice president Kevin Jackson wrote a character reference letter in March 2015, after John Doe 3 graduated and found that a juvenile record of sexual misconduct was an obstacle to getting a job.

Baylors attorneys say Dunnam confused the timeline of events with the alleged assailant, and argue that Starr and Jackson couldnt have known about the plaintiffs sexual assault allegation, which she didnt report until February 2016.

Dunnam stood by his earlier criticism and said Starr and Jackson should have known, as the previous filing states, about an unrelated sexual harassment allegation that took place while the alleged assailant was at Baylor.

Dunnam suggested Baylor was lax in dismissing that allegation after only a day of investigation. But in its latest filing, Baylor says it was not indifferent to those sexual harassment allegations and gave the complainant what she sought: a no-contact order that would keep the male student away from her.
Johnny Rincon Rodriguez, 67, of Fort Worth, Texas, on December 22, 2017. Graveside services will be 11:30 a.m., December 29, 2017, at Oakwood Cemetery, with the Rev. Florencio Rodriguez, officiating. Visitation will begin at 6 p.m., and Rosary will be at 7 p.m., Thursday, December 28, 2017, lead by the Forth Degree Knights of Columbus, at OakCrest Funeral Home, 4520 Bosque Blvd., Waco, Texas.
Copyright laws have been fundamental to American culture since the founding of our nation  they are one of the specific powers granted to Congress under the Constitution. And come January, we celebrate 40 years of operating under the 1976 revision of the copyright law. [The revised law went into effect in 1978.] Simply put, the revision has been one of the best upgrades in a long time and has been critical in the success of the arts in our nation. But today, copyright law faces new challenges, particularly with the explosion of social media.

Forty years ago, I was barely out of law school and had started a new job when a magazine client wanted advice about the new copyright law. Never having studied copyrights, I read and read and read, learning about copyright. What I found was a congressional bipartisan effort to create an intellectual infrastructure that worked for artists and authors, publishers and moviemakers, and creators in media formats that had not been invented yet.

The elegance of the revised copyright law is what set it apart. The previous law was not artist or author friendly. The new law anticipated technological change by simply providing that copyright attaches to original works of authorship, fixed in any tangible medium of expression. No need to worry about whether a digital image is a photograph or a YouTube video is a movie. It is all eligible for copyright. This is a good thing.

The 1976 law created an intangible property right that could be registered like a land title and carved up anyway the owner liked. And for artists and authors with little bargaining power, it offered the promise that, no matter what the agreement, at a future date they or their heirs had the right to terminate any copyright transfers and have the rights revert to them. It also made the copyrights inheritable, granting heirs of the authors and artists an opportunity to enjoy the benefits of their copyrights.

The law also helped clarify copyright ownership when the creation occurred in the course of work for another: the work-made-for-hire doctrine. Although the U.S. Supreme Court did have to weigh in twice on the issue, in general the copyright laws structure has facilitated an explosion in creativity and wealth.

But now things have changed, and the law faces new hurdles with social media and the sharing by regular folks who have not considered, or worried about, the repercussions of copying a photograph or news article and pasting it on their blog or Facebook page. Newspaper and magazine publishers along with major news organizations do worry about such things because, among other things, they are a bigger litigation target. Think about it: Someday a successful (and well-heeled) blogger with a cavalier attitude about sharing is going to get hit with a big lawsuit and discover that sharing a copy of someone elses copyrighted piece online without permission can have serious consequences.

Perhaps one of the biggest problems with the current copyright law is the absence of clarity on what constitutes fair use. Fair use is intended to recognize that certain types of uses of copyright material are fair and not the basis for an infringement claim. But beyond four general, nonspecific criteria in the law, there are few clear standards. This gray area can hamper artists who sample the works of others or rely on parody for their creative work. Often the answer cannot be determined till the last court rules. Clearer standards are needed  either in the law or as a result of industry recognition of basic best practices  and would go far to improve the copyright regime.

Is the copyright law perfect? No, but it is a good bedrock upon which the law can work to address the new challenges that arise from changes in technology and advances in creative works. And in these troubled political times, we should draw some comfort in realizing this bipartisan, nuts-and-bolts structure was formed in the midst of another politically charged, troubled time in 1974 when the Watergate crisis was at its peak. If a bipartisan effort like this could be created for the advancement of the arts then, perhaps we can still address the basic issues of our physical and intellectual infrastructure without political bias. That would be refreshing.
With tensions continuing to build between the United States and North Korea, theres growing talk by politicians and TV pundits that we are on the brink of war. In truth, we shouldnt be anywhere close.

This increasingly hot war of words  including loose talk about the probability of war  does nothing to bring us closer to where we need to be on North Korea, especially when military options short of war remain on the table. In fact, with millions of lives at stake, waging a war of words is a distraction from the serious task at hand. Any kind of war  especially nuclear war  should not be an option till all other options are exhausted. And, in the case of North Korea, several roads remain not taken.

First, North Korea is not, as some claim, sanctioned-out. We are nowhere near to applying the same type of restraints on North Korea that were successful in bringing Iran to the negotiating table.

In fact, the breadth of sanctions we have placed on North Korea to date are far less than what was applied in earlier crises on Russia, Syria and Iran. While our sanctions on North Korea have clearly escalated, we still have the option to penalize and seize the assets of North Koreas enablers in other countries that enable Pyongyang to evade the full brunt of financial measures. We can expand our focus on shipping and work with our allies to deny maritime insurance to the vessels heading to or from North Korea. Last month, we targeted sanctions on 20 such vessels. Many more North Korean vessels are active and engaged in illicit activities.

We also can do more to expose those who use North Korean slave labor and to block any remittances back to Kim Jong-uns regime.

Second, none of this will work without more pressure to hold the reluctant Chinese government accountable for the commitments it has made and to target more Chinese entities that support the North Korean government. The overwhelming majority of North Koreas trade  90 percent  is with or facilitated by China. Despite agreed-upon U.N. sanctions, much of this economic activity continues. Actions should include targeting a greater number of Chinese banks that deal with North Korea, fining their U.S. subsidiaries and freezing their U.S. assets.

This year, the international banking transaction network, known as SWIFT, moved to prevent North Korean banks from using the global messaging system to facilitate international transactions, but that doesnt impact Chinese banks that transact for the North Koreans. We should consider expanding this ban to include Chinese banks with any North Korean connections.

Finally, where are our allies on all of this? Instead of threatening a bilateral war between the United States and the North Korea, we should be working with allies  including South Korea and Japan  to threaten increased multilateral pressure to choke the North Korean regime. While economic sanctions have not proved to be effective yet, they have not been fully exhausted and tested. Part of the reason the previous administration succeeded in bringing Iran to the table  regardless of the flaws of their final deal  was due to internationally coordinated sanctions. Thankfully, the U.N. Security Council has adopted three rounds of such sanctions this year.

With millions of lives hanging in the balance, the last thing we need is to have politicians and pundits predicting war. Its neither an accurate nor a helpful way to treat a complex international challenge.
Up with wages

In response to the Trump administrations tax overhaul, Wells Fargo and Fifth Third Bancorp will raise their minimum wages to $15 per hour. AT&T and Comcast also pledged to pay a $1,000 bonus to each of their U.S. employees. Its a good example of how lawmakers can incentivize higher wages instead of universally mandating them.

This year, we saw an opposing example in Seattle. A team of city-funded economists at the University of Washington found that Seattles $15 minimum wage mandate had caused employee pay to decrease. Thats because the mandated increase in hourly pay was offset by a drop in work hours when businesses with razor-thin profit margins couldnt offset the labor-cost increase with higher prices.

When employers have the freedom to manage their businesses, less-skilled workers benefit. But forcing employers to pay higher wages costs employees their jobs.

Michael Saltsman, managing director, Employment Policies Institute

Voting by mail

If property owners have not noticed their taxes have gone up, they will shortly. Businesses increase their prices when their taxes go up, so in a sense we pay their taxes too.

It seems our politicians are well versed on taxes. On the other hand, most state and local governmental workers are not paid enough. Not many college students are planning to teach due to the low salaries. Our state and local police have very dangerous jobs dealing with robbers, thieves, murderers, etc., yet they are not paid very well. What can we do to find ways to come up with more money to increase the salaries and keep good trained workers? If working people make more money, they subsequently will spend more. They sure wont hide it in offshore banks to avoid paying taxes as the wealthy, who have whatever they want. Our businesses will thrive and hire more and we will have much less spending on welfare.

One way to more smartly spend tax money in our state involves voting. Texas spends tens of millions on our voting system. Counties spend hundreds of thousands or more just in buying voting machines. We have to hire and train poll workers locally, which costs many more dollars and requires the learning of meticulous rules. Lets all get together and force the state to do what many states are doing by demanding we vote by mail. We already have it for those over age 65, handicapped, military, etc., so why not have it for all and use the money saved to pay workers better salaries which will help our people? If you dont want to do that, the politicians will come up with a billion ideas to spend it. Why cant Texas voters do what many other states do, which allows them to sit at their kitchen tables and vote at their convenience and not have to rush from work and stand in long lines on the only days they can vote? If they vote by mail, they have up to 15 days. Think about it and lets get it done.

Jim Denton, Gatesville
WAHOO  An outpouring of donations last week and quite a few volunteers once again pushed the 55th Annual VFW Christmas Drive to success.

With the aid of monetary donations last week of $6,593.21, the final drive total is $16,482.21.

The toy bags and food boxes were delivered last Saturday to nearly 200 families.

Drive Coordinators Lorraine Syverson and Jason and Michelle Libal reported that more than 200 children benefited from this years campaign.

Once again, it is an honor and a pleasure to have the ability to give to those in need, Jason Libal said. We would not be in such a position without the support of the Wahoo and Saunders County communities. We feel so very fortunate to live in a community that is willing to give to others and to help thy neighbor.

Once again we would like to thank all of those that donated to this project.

The weather for Saturdays deliveries was a stark reminder that Nebraska winters can be tough.

The number of volunteer drivers braving the frigid conditions and that were willing to make deliveries on Saturday was outstanding, Libal added.

All of the volunteers that helped deliver and put the baskets together are simply doing so out of the kindness of their hearts and for the gratification of helping others. They do not make a cent by helping with the drive.

The drive to help families in need at Christmas time was started 55 years ago by the late Ray Syverson and a few of his Wahoo VFW friends. The VFW and its members still play a huge part in the annual campaign.

There is no possible way that this program could have been sustained for so many years without their support, Libal said. We look forward to the partnership with the VFW to continuing in the future and the drive to continue to grow.

It is our goal to maintain and to build upon this program throughout the future. All of those that donate to this years drive have allowed us to continue this goal.

Recent donations

$814: Wahoo Public Schools.

$490: Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Wahoo.

$400: Grace Luther League; VFW Post 9844, Yutan.

$362.92: Swedeburg Church

$300: Everett and Patricia Inbody; In honor of Quinn McGill, Diamond Outdoor Services by Denise Lawver.

$250: Womens Group of St. Johns Lutheran Church, Yutan; Wahoo Gun Club; Women of ELCA St. Johns Lutheran Church, Yutan.

$215: Don and Wilma Jansen family.

$203.29: First Presbyterian Church Sunday School, Wahoo.

$200: In Memory of Mitch Hanke by Gary and Nancy Hanke.

$150: Employees of Farmers Mutual Insurance, Wahoo; Anonymous.

$121: Valparaiso Red Hatters.

$117: Robert Copperstone.

$100: Michael and Teresa Urlacher; American Legion Post 262; Kabourek Farms; Myron Johnson; John and Mary Horsham; Loarraine Beaman; Lana Krumpus; Erik and Elain Alm; Jesse Ford and Rita Dockweiler; Anonymous; Anonymous; Anonymous.

$50: Bryan and Ann Divis; Adele Jackson; Doris and Richard Benal; Tim and Mary Lorenz; Women of the ELCA at Edensburg Lutheran Church, Malmo; Don and Dorothy Bern.

$40: Tommy and Maurene Johnston.

$30: Richard and Mary Ann Tvrdy; Lyle and Leona Torrens.

$25: Columbian Squires Circle 253; Marlene McDonald; Anonymous; Rural Belles Extension Club.

$20: Rich and Linda Zimmerman.

Toy Donations

Toys: Columbian Squires; Wahoo Public Schools FBLA; Joshua, Makenna, Mike and Teresa Urlacher.
WAHOO  Chemigation rules and regulations are changing for irrigators in the Lower Platte North Natural Resources District.

The NRD had a public hearing slated for 4:30 p.m. Dec. 27 to discuss new permit fees and enforcement.

New permit costs will increase from $60 to $90 per injection site and renewal permits will increase to $300 per injection site.

In addition to the permit cost change, NRD Subdistrict 8 Board Member Jim McDermott said the board is also giving NRD staff the authority to file complaints with the county attorney, when they see chemigation or fertigation taking place without permits.

Chemigation and fertigation are injecting fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides through irrigation systems.

The fine for chemigating and fertigating without a permit is anywhere between $500 and $1,000, McDermott said.

The NRD board gives approval to permits, but without a permit applying chemicals or fertilizers through an irrigation system is subject to a fine.

Its the law. And its a very serious law. We want to protect our water, McDermott said.

NRD Water Resources Manager Daryl Andersen said the new rule changes give more guidance to staff, including steps for enforcement.

We plan to be more aggressive in reporting to the county attorney, he said.

There are only 550 permits issued at this time and there are lots of people chemigating that dont have permits, Andersen said.

New permits are inspected annually and renewals are inspected every three years.

During inspection, Andersen said staff is looking at six required pieces of equipment: the irrigation pipeline check valve, vacuum relief valve, inspection port, low pressure drain, chemical injector check valve and simultaneous interlock device.

Signs must be posted in fields where chemgation is being used to apply restricted use pesticides and violations can consist of Class I, II, III, or IV misdemeanors or a civil fine.

Andersen said he has spoken with county attorney offices within the NRDs jurisdiction and all have agreed to follow through with penalties.

Saunders County Attorney Steven Twohig said the law will be enforced, but he has discussed with the NRD the possibility of a warning first.

McDermott said the boards water committee has discussed a warning, but thought the issue is too serious for just a warning.

Everybody knows about it and its been published. We stress it at every meeting, McDermott said.

Nebraska state statute changed several years ago, upping the fine from $100.

We prompted the legislature to change the fine and they did up it. There was not a lot of teeth in it, McDermott.

It was time for change.

The bottom line is for us to step up and protect our water, he added.
Bitcoin rallied past $US16,000 ($20,705) on Tuesday US time as traders of the world's biggest digital currency sought to draw a line under its rollercoaster five-day slump.

The tokens rose 16 per cent to as much as $US16,132.09, the biggest gain on a closing basis in more than two weeks and the first in six days. It traded higher by 14 per cent to $US15,659.9 as of 1.36pm in New York. Rival currencies litecoin and ethereum were up 4.4 per cent and 2.6 per cent, respectively, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

High trading volumes at Coinbase, one of the biggest exchanges, forced the company to issue a warning on its website that transactions for bitcoin and ether may be delayed by several hours.

The gains will be a welcome relief for crypto bulls, after bitcoin declined 26 per cent in the five days through Monday in what was seen as a big test for the nascent digital currency industry. The advance suggests that, even as financial authorities issue warnings about the risks of a bubble in the asset class, investor interest remains intact, at least for now.
The Greens will use Phillip Ruddock's review of religious freedoms to build momentum for an Australian bill of rights and with Labor's support it could be put before a Senate inquiry as early as next year.

The Coalition, the Greens and the Opposition will clash over religious freedoms when Parliament resumes in February after Treasurer Scott Morrison vowed to defend Christianity from discrimination following the passing of same-sex marriage legislation.

Mr Morrison fired the first shots in the post same-sex marriage debate by declaring he would "call out" offensive remarks against religion and attacked Greens Senator Nick McKim for puportedly advocating for non-denominational celebrations at Christmas.

Senator McKim believes a charter or bill of rights could satisfy both religious conservatives and advocates for greater social freedoms.
On a scorching day at Narrabeen Lakes last summer, five-year old Amina Anderson almost drowned in the blink of an eye.

"We turned around and saw her submerged underwater. When we pulled her out of the water, she wasn't responding, and her chest was making a cracking noise  I thought she was going to die," Amina's mother Tdjanaya Anderson-Rosser said.

Tdjanaya Anderson-Rosser with her daughter, Amina, 5, who nearly drowned at Narrabeen Lakes last year in Sydney. Credit:Janie Barrett

Amina was one of the lucky ones. She was quickly rushed to hospital, where doctors carefully monitored her and treated her for possible pneumonia. She was eventually discharged later that day fully healthy.

But tragically, many are not as fortunate. In NSW, 461 children have drowned in the last 15 years. For every child that dies, up to nine others are hospitalised for drowning. Many who survive suffer from permanent brain injuries which can leave them with lifelong learning difficulties.
Borax is sold as a household cleaning chemical and sometimes used as a pesticide, but it's also the best binding agent for slime when it's mixed with PVA glue. Parental fear about Borax was spurred by a news piece from America about a young girl who reportedly received chemical burns to her hands from playing with slime that had borax in it. Genevieve Adamo, a spokeswoman from the NSW Poisons Information Centre, says Borax is most concerning in its raw, powdered state. "If it's handled correctly and prepared by an adult then the quantities in the slime is unlikely to pose any risk of serious poisonings. "There have been a couple of cases reported where people have gotten quite bad rashes or a burning sensation after playing with slime but we can't be sure that borax was the cause."

However, she says ingestion of reasonably small amounts of borax powder can cause harm. The NSW poison hotline advises parents to lock raw borax away from kids along with cleaning chemicals. Mrs Adamo says it's important that any spare Borax solution is disposed of instead of being stored in the fridge, as it could be confused with water. She says there has been one case of a person accidentally making pancakes out of an old mixture of water and borax. The number of calls regarding borax to the NSW poison info line has shot up 76 per cent in the past year. 2. What is MSG?

MSG appeared twice in the list of Australia's top "what is" Google searches of 2017 (1st and 7th). This chemical is believed by many to be the cause of so-called Chinese restaurant syndrome (CRS). The syndrome was first described in 1968 by Dr Ho Man Kwok, who wrote in a letter to an American medical journal that he would get a strange numbness in his neck, back and arms, followed by heart palpations, after eating at a Chinese restaurant. However, Chinese restaurants are not the only places you will find MSG. MSG is a glutamate, which is a very common amino acid found naturally in foods that contain protein like meats and vegetables. In fact, our bodies produce glutamates in the process of metabolising food. Glutamates trigger your "umami" taste receptors. Umami is Japanese for "pleasant savoury taste" and although it's lesser known, it's one of the five basic tastes.

But Dr Kwok's research didn't conclusively prove a link between MSG and the symptoms some claim to experience after consuming it. In 2003, Food Standards Australia New Zealand concluded in a technical report that there was no convincing evidence that MSG had caused any reactions resulting in serious illness or death. The real takeaway is this: the current scientific consensus is that MSG can temporarily affect a select few when consumed in large quantities on an empty stomach. But for the large majority of people, it's perfectly fine to consume. However, nutritionist Tracie Connor says MSG is dangerous for a different reason. "MSG is added to foods to increase the desire to eat the food while increasing our appetite for it," she says.

"This scenario is not what we need in an age where most Australians are overeating." She says MSG flavour enhancer is typically added to packaged and processed foods like chips and crackers and is displayed in ingredients as flavour enhancer 621. 3. How to use Snapchat map "How to use snapchat map?" was one of the most Googled "how to" questions this year (7th), after the release of the new feature fostered both excitement and confusion. The Snapchat "Snapmap" allows users to view the location of other users, as long as they have consented to their location being shared, however, many users were unsure how to access the feature.

To get into Snapmaps on the Snapchat app, users simply have to swipe inwards on the photo screen, as though they are zooming out. The feature offers users the opportunity to view Snaps submitted to a communal Snapchat story from across the world, showing off user-submitted posts at spectacles like sporting events, celebrations, and even breaking news. If the user wants to keep their location services on but not have people know their location, they have the choice to go into "Ghost Mode". While many embraced the map as an opportunity for relatable memes, others had serious concerns about security.

Founder and director of Future Human Academy, Dr Kate Raynes-Goldie, says the difficulty with new features like Snapmap is keeping track of the information being shared. "This app didn't have this feature before, so users constantly have to be vigilant about how the apps that they are using are changing privacy settings," she says. "We are already so busy so to have all these extra things we have to manage can be very overwhelming, especially for parents." Dr Raynes-Goldie adds that the app doesn't give clear feedback about what information is being shared. "The way that the app is laid out is confusing," she says.
Three teenagers had to be taken to hospital in the early hours of Wednesday after being injured in a fight at a party south of Perth.

Police were called to a Crystaluna Drive home in Golden Bay about 12.15am following reports of youths fighting in the street.

A fight at a Golden Bay party left three teenagers with injuries. Credit:Sebastian Costanzo

Up to 100 people were at a party at the home when the altercation broke out.

The fight spilled out into the street before police arrived and found three males - two 18-year-olds and one 17-year-old - with lacerations.
By The Associated Press Dec. 26, 2017 | 06:34 PM | CAIRO, IL

An Illinois panel in Springfield is expected to hear a case against a troubled public housing authority facing allegations of unfair labor.The Southern Illinoisan reports that the unfair labor practice charge comes after federal housing officials directed an end to the collective bargainingagreement between the Alexander County Housing Authority and the union representing employees.The charge filed by the Laborers' International Union of North America Local 773 alleges that the housing authority "failed and refused to bargain in good faith."Records obtained by the newspaper under the Freedom of Information Act show that the executive director of the Illinois Labor Relations Board moved to have the complaint heard after determining the state panel has jurisdiction over the matter. The case is expected to go before the board sometime next year.By sometime next year, if all goes as planned, federal housing officials will have assisted all residents of McBride Place, and nearby Elmwood Apartments, in relocating to other places. Both facilities are run by ACHA.The 75-year-old complexes are no longer considered safe, and Housing and Urban Development officials have said its too costly to renovate them. The Southern Illinoisan reports HUD doesn't plan to build new public housing in Cairo, so some families have been moving to other nearby communities.

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By West Kentucky Star Staff

Dec. 26, 2017 | WEAKLEY COUNTY, TN

By West Kentucky Star Staff Dec. 26, 2017 | 05:22 PM | WEAKLEY COUNTY, TN

A western Kentucky man is dead after an officer-involved shooting Tuesday in Weakley County, Tennessee.



The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says it was called to investigate the incident, which happened on State Line Road.



TBI learned that an officer from the Hickman County Sheriff's Department began pursuing a vehicle about 1:15 am Tuesday after the driver did not stop at a sobriety checkpoint. The driver, 34-year-old Salvador Byassee, was reportedly able to avoid arrest after wrecking his car in Tennessee.



Police say Byassee stole another vehicle, leading to another pursuit by Hickman County authorities who were still in the area. When this pursuit ended, Byassee allegedly got out of the vehicle with a knife, which led to the officer-involved shooting.



TBI said in a news release that they will present their investigative findings to the District Attorney General for his review and consideration. They did not release the name of the officer involved, but said that no officers were injured in the incident.
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If the Winona public school board had taken the advice of the districts Facilities Task Force, Lindsy OShea would have been a cheerleader for the district as it pushed to consolidate its aging elementary schools.

But instead of adopting one of two facilities plans recommended by the task force, board members this spring tinkered with the plans until they had essentially created their own.

So they lost that built-in group of cheerleaders, said OShea, a mother of three district students and a member of the now-defunct task force. And the boards subsequent bond referendum was shot down by 91 percent of voters.

It was incredibly disappointing and frustrating to see the board go with a different plan, said Julie Heinrichs, another parent and task force member. It felt like our time had been wasted.

The sound defeat of the referendum sent board members back to square one in their search for a solution to the districts increasingly complex facilities issues.

Three of Winona Area Public Schools five elementary schools were built around the 1930s  Jefferson, Washington-Kosciusko and Madison  and as the cost of maintaining them continues to climb, the condition of the buildings continues to slide.

These are what schools have looked like since the 1880s, Superintendent Rich Dahman said in October. You have square or rectangular rooms, kids sitting in rows. Thats what our schools look like. We really need a 21st century learning environment.

And, he said, the board needs to find a way to straighten out the districts budget, which was projected to get an annual $1.1 million lift from a successful referendum.

To some voters, and many task force members, the problem isnt that the district is trying to close elementary schools  the problem was which schools it tried to close.

Last December, the task force approved one plan that would close all district elementary schools but Jefferson and Goodview, and one plan that would close all but Jefferson, Goodview and W-K.

For several months, the school board weighed in on these plans and slowly reshaped them.

It was important to have a school on Winonas east end, some board members said, and it was worthwhile to keep Rollingstone Community School as a small-school option.

In June, the board passed its ill-fated facilities plan, which would have kept open Goodview, W-K and Rollingstone, while closing Jefferson and Madison.

The big advantage of Jefferson is all the available space, said Heinrichs, who questioned the sense in vacating that 12.5-acre property while attempting to buy up homes for an expansion of W-K. Expanding that school would have taken up an entire city block. That was a giant hurdle that we wouldnt have had to clear at Jefferson.

Added task force member Nicole Schossow: What was suggested by the task force is nothing like what (was) being brought forward by the district.

Though her children attend school elsewhere, Schossow said she felt compelled to learn more about plans to close public elementary schools  an issue that will affect Winonas students and families for decades.

We had a good mix of people and a good mix of viewpoints  people from schools and from the business community, people who were experienced builders, she said of the task force. By the end, you could see that people had looked at the data and evaluated everything that was there. The two we put forward, I felt those were the best two options. They were the best situations for students and for our district financially.

District officials and school board members have spent recent weeks considering what went wrong.

It was a bad look, they say, for the board to stray as far as it did from the task forces recommendations.

Others say a wave of misinformation and negative sentiment all but sank the referendum.

And others say the $82 million referendum was just too expensive.

To drum up support ahead of a potential second referendum, the district is planning to survey all interested Winona-area residents about district facilities and other issues.

The school board also has considered asking the Facilities Task Force to reconvene, although some board members arent sure whether task force members would return to the table.

They did all that work  made a huge gesture of good faith, and we did not, said board member Karen Coleman. Are they even going to want to come back?

Added member Steve Schild, who sat on the task force and has consistently supported its recommendations: The board went with what the board went with because it didnt agree with what the task force said  period. If we get them together (again), are we prepared to go with what they say?

OShea, Heinrichs and Schossow said they would all be happy if the board simply adopted one of the task forces recommendations.

And while they admit they now feel varying levels of distrust toward the school board, all three said theyre open to serving on the task force again.

Thats a group of people who needs to support the decision, whatever it is, moving forward, Schossow said. I hesitate only because I dont want to put in all that time and energy again, only to have our recommendations disregarded.

Added OShea: Id be open to it  with the caveat that not just the spirit, but the content of our recommendations should be honored. If we argue green space is important for learning, green space should be considered. And if we argue serving students with special needs is something we should do, then that should be considered, too.

It was incredibly disappointing and frustrating. ... It felt like our time had been wasted. Julie Heinrichs, parent and task force member.
Winona

23 alternate side parking tickets issued over the weekend

Friday

12:54 p.m.  A woman on the 50 block of Greenview Court reported that after receiving a call from a man in Pennsylvania claiming to be her grandson who was in jail, she had sent $2,500 via Walmart, and it was a scam.

2:13 p.m.  Oren Nyah Homeii Wright, 19, Winona, was cited for theft by shoplifting at Shopko.

5:27 p.m.  A woman on the 1350 block of West Third Street received a letter and a check allegedly from Publisher's Clearing House as part of a sweepstakes and put it in the bank. Then a person calling from the false company asked her to send four $500 checks through Walmart money transfer, which were sent. Then it turned out the check was false.

Saturday

12:19 a.m.  A woman reported that a charger, headphones and gum were missing from her car in the Target parking lot.

6:40 a.m.  Stephanie Marie Sveen, 30, Winona, was cited for obstructing after refusing to identify herself after being found sleeping in a hall in a building on the 50 block of East Fourth Street.

9:50 a.m.  A man reported a 2002 Dodge Caravan was missing from the 100 blockof Oskamp Circle, recovered later in Olmsted County.

10:18 p.m.  John Curtis May, 45, Mabel, was cited for possession of hypodermic needles, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a small amount of marijuana in a motor vehicle after being stopped on the 950 block of Frontenac Drive for a license plate light out.

10:45 p.m.  Charges of violating a harassment restraining order with two or more prior convictions were referred against Shad Michael Swanson, 45, Winona, after police responded to a call at the Sugar Loaf Motel for a woman potentially being beaten up, and found him in a room with a woman who had a restraining order against him.

Sunday

1:09 a.m.  Charges of receiving stolen property were referred against David Michael Kronebusch, 41, Winona, after he was seen pumping gas on the 850 block of West Broadway Street and police ran the plates of the vehicle and found it stolen.

10:04 a.m.  Johnetta Sherry Walker, 42, Winona, was cited for theft by shoplifting at Walmart.

11:41 p.m.  A woman on the 1700 block of West Fifth Street reported a lock cut off her shed.

Monday

12:13 a.m.  Charges of gross misdemeanor domestic assault were referred against Michael Perrin Staats, 46, La Crosse, after he threw a woman to the ground on the 1050 block of West Broadway Street in an argument.

Tuesday

1:08 a.m.  A man reported his coat missing from Legendary Tavern on the 100 block of West Third Street.

Winona County

Friday

10:18 p.m.  Charges of fourth-degree drunken driving were referred against Seth Vincent Bonow, 42, Winona, after he was stopped for an improper turn at Hwy. 61 and Orrin Street adn had a blood alcohol of .08.

11:36 p.m.  Charges of driving under the influence of a controlled substance were referred against Jhavon Markus-Quinton Cox-Vey, 20, La Crosse, pending the results of a blood test, after he was stopped for not having headlights on near Orrin and Fifth streets.

Saturday

11:07 p.m.  Charges of fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance, driving after suspension, possession of a stolen vehicle and possession of drug paraphernalia were referred against Sarah Jean Christian, 20, Rochester, after deputies ran the plates of a car she was driving on Debi Lei Drive, and the plates came back stolen and the vehicle had been reported missing on Dec. 21.

After being stopped they discovered her license was suspended and while searching the vehicle found a material that tested positive for methamphetamine, a broken up pill and a hypodermic needle.

Monday

2:31 a.m.  Deputies responded to a single vehicle crash on County Road 14 near Altura that is still under investigation where the 22-year-old driver was taken to Winona Health by ambulance.

11:00 a.m.  Charges of damage to property are being referred against Michael David Kronebusch, 41, Winona, after allegedly damaging a pipe on the water fountain in the Winona County Jail.
What I know is this, Dr. Dorothy Duran deserves better from Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, the faculty (current and former) and staff, and local and state elected officials. Dr. Duran faced obstacles before the gate even opened. It saddens me the way she was treated, sabotaged and forced to resign.

Within Dr. Duran's first weeks and months I heard first hand, and more than once, from faculty the negativity, i.e. "We've tried that before", "That won't work." Many staff and faculty did not want to accept change after having the same president for nearly 20 years. In plain terms, Betsey Bittle Woodward called it "venom" and she was correct. How a few negative people can spread inaccuracies and have others buy-in, and instead of communicating directly with Dr. Duran, bypass her and make decisions on her future. Is this living by the "Golden Rule"?

In closing, Dr. Duran had/has only the best of plans for the college and the students. To that point, I am a former instructor of a program that Dr. Duran made the difficult decision to suspend a year ago. It was the best decision for the college. She is a woman of integrity and I will support her.

Brenda Edwards, Minnesota City
Move over Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson. Make room for President Donald J. Trump!

Honestly, all the praise and exaltation galled me; I wanted to vomit! What's next, do all in his presence have to genuflect? Just on Trump's body language one could tell he was relishing all the admiration bestowed upon him.

Judged upon many of the executive orders that President Trump has exuberantly cancelled, tax reforms to foreign relations, perhaps he needs to study the philosophies of Mahatma Ghandi and Theodore Roosevelt. According to Ghandi, "A country's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members."

I believe Theodore Roosevelt would be appalled by President Trump's foreign relation policies (Nobel Peace Prize Recipient 1906). Also, President Roosevelt was a conservator of our nation's natural resources and looked out for consumer protection by "trust busting" the big corporations and companies that were taking advantage of the public in order to accumulate huge wealth.It is amazing to see the sharp contrast between these two men.

The direction this country is currently headed surely questions the meaningful lyrics of "My Country 'Tis of Thee."

Fred Orlowske, Winona
WASHINGTON  Vice President Mike Pences obsequiousness at a recent Cabinet meeting  Thank you for seeing through the course of this year an agenda that is truly restoring this country ...  and on, and on  might be appropriate at a Communist Party Central Committee meeting, or at a despots birthday party. But it is not the language of any self-respecting republic.

The divestment of self-respect is a qualification for employment in the Trump administration. Praising the Dear Leader in a Pence-like fashion seems to be what the Dear Leader requires  not in the way we might need dessert after dinner, but in the way an addict needs drugs. President Trump divides the world into two categories: flunkies and enemies. Pence is the cringing, fawning high priest of flunkiness. It is hard to know whether to laugh or puke (and difficult to do both at the same time).

It is precisely the claim of miracles by mediocrities that makes it hard for some of us to judge Trumps first-year record with any objectivity. In comparison to his claims of world-historic change, Trump has accomplished little. But how does Trumps record compare to more realistic expectations?

The Republican case for Trump comes down to: the appointment of conservative judges, including Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court; the defeat of the Islamic State; and tax and regulatory reform. Whatever your view of the merits of these actions, they are consequential. Add to this the facts that Trump hasnt blown up the world or suspended the legislature, and Trump is gaining a strange new respect among some conservatives.

There is less here than meets the eye. Trump chose Gorsuch from a Federalist Society list, and didnt fatally undermine Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnells careful confirmation effort. The demolition of the Islamic State was largely the continuation and culmination of an Obama-era strategy. And the tax overhaul, with serious virtues such as the cut in corporate rates, also has serious distributional and deficit problems.

This agenda was remarkable only for being so typical. Any Republican president from the 2016 primary field would have appointed conservative judges, continued the offensive against the Islamic State and cut taxes and regulations. (He or she would also, in all likelihood, have succeeded at Obamacare replacement.) But this is precisely the point. Trump spent the political capital of his first year  the highest it will ever be  on a few, generic GOP goals. Despite the fulminations of the left, this is not as frightening as some of the alternatives.

It is important to count our blessings, even when they are meager. But for Republicans and conservatives, it is also important to count the costs  the tonnage on the other side of the balance.

The war against terrorism has been rebooted on the basis of anti-Muslim bigotry, which undermines domestic law enforcement and anti-radicalization efforts. Authoritarian regimes around the world  now shielded from human rights criticism  feel more secure. Dissidents and democratic activists feel more lonely and abandoned. Fleeing refugees feel more desperate and friendless. The president is conducting delicate nuclear negotiations with demeaning pet names. Morale at the State Department is in collapse, leading to the hemorrhaging of diplomatic talent and experience. Trump has alienated important allies with demands for protection money. America has stepped back from effective economic competition in Asia, leaving China a more dominant regional power. Russia, in all likelihood, has helped elect a favorable American president in the largest intelligence coup of modern history.

Trump has tried to undermine the credibility of important institutions  the courts, the FBI, intelligence agencies, the media  that check his power and expose his duplicity. He has used his office (and Twitter account) to target individual Americans for harm without due process. He attacks the very idea of truth in a daily torrent of despicable lies. The moral authority of the presidency is in tatters. He has made our common life more vulgar and brutal and complicated the moral education of children. Racists are emboldened and included in the GOP coalition. He has caused a large portion of Republicans to live in an alternate reality of resentment and hatred, which complicates the possibility of governing and is likely to discredit the party among the young, minorities, women and college-educated voters for decades to come.

Trumps domestic agenda ... requires another column. But after a year, this much is clear: Almost all Trumps accomplishments are the work of traditional Republican policy staffers and congressional leaders. Almost all Trumps failures are functions of his character. And that isnt going to change.
Sauk County prosecutors say a woman who agreed to handle her hospitalized neighbors finances secretly helped herself to more than $8,000.

Lynn M. King, 65, of North Freedom, faces one count of felony theft from an at-risk individual and four counts of felony forgery in connection with multiple bank withdrawals between May and June.

A social worker brought the allegations to the attention of a detective with the Sauk County Sheriffs Department in July.

Prosecutors say the neighbor was hospitalized in April, and that King agreed to make withdrawals from her account so she wouldnt get behind on rent.

The criminal complaint says King admitted to the woman that she had taken $600 more than she should have, and the hospitalized woman later asked a different person to handle her finances.

King allegedly left a phone message for that person in which she said: I know shes very, very angry with me, especially since she has seen her balance. Um, just let me know if she is doing well and still improving and I am still praying for her.

The detective allegedly found withdrawals that totaled about $8,000 beyond what King was authorized to take from the womans account.

Each of the seven felony charges against King carries a maximum possible prison sentence of six years. She has been booked and released on a $5,000 signature bond, and is scheduled to appear in court Jan. 23.
Pat yourself on the back, America. Unless President Trump accuses Kim Jong Uns mother of wearing Army boots in the next few days, we will have survived 2017.

Some good things happened this year, but they got lost amid the presidential tweets, sexual harassment scandals and storms. Who knew that when Hurricane Harvey made landfall on the Gulf Coast in August, it only would be the second-most dangerous Harvey of the year?

Allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct against Harvey Weinstein, movie mogul and casting couch creep, set off a national wave of accusations that had every man in America nervously wondering whether hed ever misplayed a hug and brushed something he shouldnt have. That is, except for the Tweeter in Chief, who delights in grabbing whatever he can, including headlines.

The Trump staffers who werent indicted quit. The president unapologetically made waves with China and North Korea. Mounting evidence indicates Russia interfered to get him elected. But Trump dismissed such reports as fake news or covfefe.

NFL players taking a knee during the national anthem, hipsters sporting man buns, gunmen and terrorists targeting innocent people, O.J. Simpson getting paroled  it seemed the only time things were looking up was during the total solar eclipse.

There were a few bright moments, though. The Dow hit the 20,000 mark. Unemployment reached historic lows. Wonder Woman totally rocked. Scientists proved Einstein was right on relativity, and inventors launched the prototype of a flying car. And chances are anyone reading this wont face the prospect of drinking the water in Flint, Michigan, or any beverage prepared by Bill Cosby. So we have that going for us, which is nice.

Theres good news here in the fourth estate, too. Newspaper subscriptions and television news ratings surged thanks to Trump, as consumers rebelled against the presidents fake news and alternative facts campaign. They were rewarded when old media  newspapers and magazines  outed Weinstein and other powerful lechers. Consumers were reminded that having dogged journalists on the watch is what it takes to topple titans and ensure guys in bathrobes no longer get to call business meetings in their bedrooms. Or win election to the U.S. Senate from Alabama. Are you ready for 2017 to be over? Me, too.

They call what youre reading right now the first draft of history. I suspect 2017 will go down as a year to forget. Itll be remembered as a time when airline staff beat up  sorry, re-accommodated their passengers, the internet was sold to the highest bidder (anybody have any bitcoin?) and audiences were subjected to another crappy Batman movie. The tax code got rigged for the rich, wildfires burned California, the Oscars bungled the announcement of the Best Picture winner, and the third-hottest year on record saw an ice sheet the size of Delaware break off Antarctica. This marked the only time Delaware made news in 2017.

All this came on the heels of 2016, when one otherworldly talent after another died, while most of the worlds pathetic hacks tragically continued to live. As we wave goodbye to a cloudy 2017, lets look for the silver lining: Were due for a good year. Lets raise a toast  of New Years Eve champagne, not Flint water or Cosby cocktails  to the hope that 2018 is it.
Thanks to the following: Consumers Coop for the use of their facility, and to Joe Spurgeon from Consumers who went the extra mile in helping throughout the process. Thanks again to Universal Die & Stamping for boxes to pack gifts, to Culvers for the value basket and kids meal gift certificates, Sauk Prairie Eagle Inn for gift cards, McDonalds for discounted Happy Meals, and Subway for discounted meal coupons. A huge thanks to the Sauk and Prairie post offices for delivering cards to the elderly in both communities. Thank you to St. Vincent de Paul for organizing the printing of gift tags, labels, applications, for donating trees and signs that were in various businesses, and for donating grocery store certificates. Thanks to our volunteers who donate their own time during this already busy holiday season. Mostly, thanks to the community for choosing names off the trees and making Christmas special for more than 750 individuals on the receiving end.
Six law enforcement officials were honored with Life Saving Awards on Dec. 21.

Mauston Police Officers Adam Noe, Brian Raabe, and Mike Sturek and Juneau County Sheriffs Deputies Zac Board and Danica Gordon were presented with Life Saving Awards by Mauston Police Chief Mike Zilisch. They all performed exceptionally this year, Zilisch said.

Zilisch also received a Life Saving Award. The Life Saving Award is presented to law enforcement officials whose actions saved the life a citizen. The awards are produced by the national organization the Police Hall of Fame.

Two of the officers here are not from my department, Zilisch said. However they were on a call with me and one of my officers when we saved a life So I felt it was appropriate to present them with a Life Saving Award as well.

Zilisch said he was proud of each officer and they handled themselves with professionalism.

Officers Sturek and Noe received their awards for actions taken on Jun. 5. Both were recognized by the Mauston Area Ambulance Service in a letter stating without the officers, the individual in need would have passed away. They knew exactly what they had to do and they performed perfectly, Zilisch said.

Sturek received a previous Life Saving Award in 2013.

Officer Raabe, Deputy Board and Deputy Gordon received their awards next. Because the emergency call was at the edge of Maustons city limits, officers from both the Mauston Police Department and Juneau County Sheriffs Department responded. We kind of all got sent to the same place at the same time, Zilisch said.

Zilisch described the call as Raabes first real test and said he was proud of what he saw. The event did not shake him up at all, Zilisch said.

Zilisch also responded to the call and received an award for his actions. It took all four of us to do what we did, Zilisch said We all worked very well together.

Zilisch said had it not been for the deputies, he and Raabe would have been overwhelmed.

Juneau County Sheriff Brent Oleson said he was proud of the officers. They did an extremely good job, Oleson said. (were) thankful for the great men and women.

Fire Chiefs Report

Mauston Fire Chief Kim Hale reported seven calls for the month of November. Its been quite a year Hale said. We average about 86 calls a year, and now were at 130.

Hale said he was pleased with performance of individuals in the fire cadets program. Theyre learning pretty well Hale said. The cadets were recently made to do an exercise that involved getting their fire gear on and breathing apparatus operational within two minutes, and all cadets passed. The kids are really getting into it real well they really like that kind of hands-on stuff.

Hale hopes the program will begin to include cadets from across the county, and not just Mauston. Its coming along real well, Hale said.




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Kashiwazaki-Kariwa units pass safety inspections

27 December 2017

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Units 6 and 7 of Tokyo Electric Power Company's (Tepco's) Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture meet Japan's new regulatory standards, the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) announced today. They are the first of the country's boiling water reactors (BWRs) determined to meet the standards.

Kashiwazaki-Kariwa units 6 and 7 (Image: Tepco)

Under Japan's reactor restart process, plant operators are required to apply to the NRA for: permission to make changes to the reactor installation; approval of its construction plan to strengthen the plant; and, final safety inspections to ensure the unit meets new safety requirements. Operators are required to add certain safety-enhancing equipment within five years of receiving the NRA's approval of a reactor engineering work programme.

Tepco filed for safety assessments of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa 6 and 7 in September 2013. The units - 1356 MWe Advanced Boiling Water Reactor units built in the late 1990s - were the first Japanese BWRs to be put forward for restart.

The NRA approved a draft document on 4 October this year that concluded the units meet new safety standards that came into force in July 2013 following the accident at Tepco's Fukushima Daiichi plant in March 2011. That draft document was then released for public comment. The NRA today announced its official approval of the review reports, thereby approving revision of the reactor installation permit of the two units, the first stage in the restart process.

Tepco said: "We would like to express our heartfelt appreciation to the members of the Nuclear Regulation Authority, and all those involved with inspections, for all their hard work during the four-plus years since we applied for permission. Going forward, Tepco will continue to carefully and earnestly take all actions required by inspections relating to our applications for revision for construction permit and safety regulations."

Kashiwazaki-Kariwa was unaffected by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami which damaged the Fukushima Daiichi plant, although the plant's reactors were previously all offline for up to three years following the 2007 Niigata-Chuetsu earthquake, which caused damage to the site but did not damage the reactors themselves. While the units were offline, work was carried out to improve the plant's earthquake resistance.

Although it has worked on the other units at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa site, Tepco is concentrating its resources on units 6 and 7 while it deals with the clean-up at Fukushima Daiichi. Restarting those two units - which have been offline for periodic inspections since March 2012 and August 2011, respectively - would increase the company's earnings by an estimated JPY100 billion ($883 million) per year.

Tepco said today, "As we have mentioned during NRA meetings, Tepco will meet our responsibilities to help Fukushima recover, decommission the Fukushima Daiichi plant and provide compensation, whilst striving to improve nuclear safety and further improve the safety and reliability of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant. In doing this, Tepco will succeed in managing Kashiwazaki-Kariwa whilst prioritising the local community and offer our complete cooperation to the three investigations being conducted by Niigata Prefecture."

Niigata Prefecture Governor Ryuichi Yoneyama has said he will not discuss their restart until Tepco has completed a review into the accident at Fukushima Daiichi, a process expected to take up to four years. The mayor of Kashiwazaki, Masahiro Sakurai, has also called for at least one of the plant's seven reactors to be decommissioned as a precondition to the restart of units 6 and 7.

Of Japan's 42 operable reactors, five have so far cleared inspections confirming they meet the new regulatory safety standards and have resumed operation. These are: Kyushu's Sendai units 1 and 2; Shikoku's Ikata unit 3; and Kansai's Takahama units 3 and 4. Another 19 reactors have applied to restart.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

Related topics
A man who was convicted of taking indecent images appealed the decision, claiming he had right to take the upskirt photos, according to court documents in Australia.

Andrew Leslie Toth admitted to taking upskirt photos of a girl at the New South Wales Court of Appeal.

The incident unfolded at the Town Hall train station in Sydney.

Toth was walking behind a girl wearing a short skirt and used a camera pen to take photos of her private parts.

A man behind Toth noticed what the old man was doing.

He alerted the girl and they held him down until police arrived at the scene.

Toth was arrested and charged with taking indecent images.

In court, Magistrate Alison Viney found Toth guilty and ordered him to stay out of trouble for 18 months.

Toth was not happy with the conviction and appealed to the District Court.

District Court Judge Helen Syme rejected the appeal and reaffirmed the lower court ruling.

Toth did not back down and appealed to the New South Wales Court of Appeal.

He claimed that the lower court judges did not consider all the facts in this case.

Toth told the court he had the girls consent to take the upskirt photos because she did not hold her skirt down.

He also said that he did not take the photos for sexual gratification purposes as he took the images for research.

Toth wrote two books, one about taking upskirt photos and another about female flashers.
Prime Minister Theresa Mays Conservative government is establishing a $1 billion investment fund with China to back Chinas Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Her predecessor, David Cameron, will become vice-chairman of the fund, which is being set up by Camerons friend and Tory Peer, Lord Chadlington, on whose behalf Cameron lobbied Beijing. Douglas Flint, the former group chairman of HSBC bank, will become Britains envoy to the project.

The BRI, also known as One Belt One Road (OBOR), is a massive infrastructure investment project for high-speed rail, roads, Internet links and port facilities aimed at more closely integrating the Eurasian land mass.

As well as boosting economic growth, Beijing regards the project as a means of establishing closer ties with Europe and thus bypassing the US, which has opposed European participation as part of its broader effort to isolate China diplomatically, economically and militarily.

Chancellor Philip Hammond announced the fund along with a raft of new investment agreements finalised during his two-day visit to Beijing, as part of Britains efforts to boost its global trade and investment links before leaving the European Union in 2019. There will be export credit guarantees to support up to 25 billion in investments in BRI projects. There will also be a $50 million matching contribution with China to the $100 billion Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to expand operations into less developed countries. The AIIB was set up in 2015 as Chinas equivalent to the World Bank. Britain was the first Western country to pledge its participation.

Other measures include a direct channel for trading Chinas renminbi on Londons foreign exchange markets via R5, a London-based fintech (financial technology) firm that will provide the trading platform for Chinese banks, and a Shanghai-London Stock Connect that will allow companies in each market to list depositary receipts in the other.

The former prime minister and his chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne, made economic ties with China, centring on Chinese investment in the UK, a central axis of their economic policy. In March 2015, Cameron defied pressure from the United States and Britains own security agencies and joined the Chinese-sponsored AIIB, a decision that reflected the interests of the City of London in exploiting the opportunities that could open up.

Camerons new job testifies to the revolving door between high political office and a financial career. He follows Sir Danny Alexander, a Liberal Democrat chief secretary to the Treasury in Camerons Conservative/Liberal coalition, who became vice-president of the AIIB in Beijing after losing his parliamentary seat in 2015.

Camerons role was approved by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA), which gave him special dispensation to circumvent the normal two-year ban on former British ministers taking jobs that capitalise on their insider knowledge of government.

The British economy has become ever more dependent on the speculative and parasitic activities of its major banks and finance houses, which view participation in the AIIB as an opportunity to profit from enhancing the global role of Chinas renminbi as Beijings economic and financial power increases.

The announcement points to the divergence between Britains commercial interests and those of its foremost ally. For most of the post-World War II period, Britain has been able to punch above its weight because of its supposed special relationship with the United States. Now that relationship is coming under increased strain as President Donald Trumps increasingly reckless policy in both the Middle East and East Asia cuts across Britains commercial interests.

While May was initially cautious about making overtures to China, ordering a review of the Hinkley nuclear power station in which China is involved before giving it the go-ahead, she has now given the nod to BRI and Britains involvement in it. A major factor in her calculations has been the importance of securing trade deals and attracting investment after leaving the EU, the worlds second-largest economy, in 2019.

This has become urgent, given that Trumps promises of a favourable post-Brexit trade deal with the US are both vague and problematic, not only due to Trumps America First policy, but also in the wake of high-profile rows over Trumps re-tweeting of a fascist Britain Firsters anti-Muslim videos and Britains refusal to join Washington in recognising Jerusalem as Israels capital.

Washingtons intense opposition was made clear. An opinion piece in the Washington Examiner described Camerons appointment as undercutting a US-led international order built on fair commercial law.

This divergence of interests is echoed throughout Europe. When Cameron announced, with little if any consultation with the US, that Britain would become a founding member of the AIIB, other major European countries swiftly announced their intention of joining. Washington viewed the bank as a strategic rival to the US-dominated World Bank and the Japan-led Asia Development Bank and denounced the move by the European powers as part of a trend towards constant accommodation with China that was not the best way to engage a rising power.

Then-Chancellor Osborne could not afford to ignore the fact that Chinas economy is expected to be twice that of the US economy by 2030, and that Chinese investment in Britain had grown by 85 percent annually since the Cameron-led coalition government took office. He went to Chengdu, China and urged firms there to bid for seven contracts worth 11.8 billion covering the first phase of a proposed high-speed rail service between London and Birmingham. He also invited bids for 24 billion in further Chinese investment in northern England under the governments Northern Powerhouse project, designed to link deindustrialised northern cities so as to facilitate the exploitation of a 15-million-strong population by international corporations.

In October 2015, Cameron feted Chinese President Xi Jinping during his state visit to Britain, when trade and investment deals worth 40 billion were agreed.

China has become Britains seventh largest trading partner, making China the UKs second-largest non-European trading partner. Bilateral trade rose to more than $80 billion last year, up 8.9 percent from 2015.

Chinas investment in the UK has also risen, reaching $11.15 billion (8.4 billion), double the amount in 2015, far more than in Germany, France and Italy combined. This includes the 19.6 billion project to build a nuclear power station at Hinkley Point, in which Chinas state-owned CGN has a one-third stake; Chinese developer ABPs Royal Albert Dock re-development in east London; and the Cheesegraterthe tallest buildings in Londons Square Mile financial districtwhich was sold to Hong Kong-based CC Land for 1.15 billion this year.

Last April, the first UK-to-China freight train left its terminal in Essex to begin a 7,500-mile, two-and-a-half-week journey to Zhejiang province.

As far as the US is concerned, the advance of Chinas economic influence in Asia and Europe expressed by the rail link and the enhancement of its military and strategic capacities are inseparably linked, and together represent a growing threat. This places Britain in a quandary: How far can it go in pursuing its own interests without jeopardising the strategic relationship with the US, the worlds dominant military power?
State health officials throughout the United States are preparing for major cutbacks or outright shutdown of the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The plans are going forward despite stopgap legislation enacted by Congress December 21 and signed into law by President Trump that supposedly averted an immediate collapse of CHIP, which provides health care coverage for nine million low-income children.

In Colorado, Connecticut, Utah and Virginia, state agencies sent out letters notifying families of children enrolled in CHIP that the program is likely to terminate January 31 without additional congressional action. The state of Alabama delayed its own shutdownoriginally set to begin January 1until the end of the month.

The legislation passed last week provides only a short-term patch to the program, funneling $2.85 billion into CHIP through March 31. This is entirely inadequate, since funding authorization expired September 30, at the end of the last fiscal year, and full annual funding would require $16 billion, or about $4 billion every three months. That means the $2.85 billion does not even cover spending for the October through December period, let alone the first three months of 2018.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which manages the allocation of CHIP funds to the states, has averted the programs shutdown so far by shuffling funds from states with temporary surpluses to those which were imminently running out of cash. The imbalances between states are themselves a product of the patchwork character of CHIP, which is treated by some states as part of Medicaid, and by others as a free-standing program.

The redistribution of funds between states can only go so far, and ultimately has the effect of bringing forward a nationwide collapse of the entire program, since all states will now run out of funds more or less simultaneously. According to a report by Georgetown University released last week, 25 states will run out of funds during the month of January and six more during the month of February.

In those states where CHIP funding is exhausted, those children covered through Medicaid will remain covered, under a provision of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) which requires that states maintain eligibility levels under Medicaid. But those children covered through CHIP as a separate program will be dropped.

According to the Georgetown study, the January cutoffs could affect nearly 2 million children, while another million children would be targeted in February. The largest statewide totals include 719,612 in Texas (February); and 424,976 in New York; 238,317 in Pennsylvania; 201,703 in Florida; 166,948 in Georgia; and 118,016 in California, all in January.

In some states, funding will dry up even before beneficiaries and providers can be properly notified, since IT systems that handle the payment of benefits have to be reprogrammed and web sites updated. Some states cannot meet the required 30 days of advance notice to families that their benefits are being terminated.

In some cases, states plan to dump families into the Obamacare exchanges, which, even if they can find an insurance plan, will cost much more. CHIP caps cost-sharing like deductibles and premiums at 5 percent of a familys income, but there is no such ceiling on the cost of insurance on the exchanges.

The passage of a supposed temporary fix to the CHIP funding crisis that actually resolves nothingand may bring forward the total collapse of the programis an indictment of the congressional Democrats as well as the Republicans and the Trump White House.

The year-end continuing resolution required a 60-vote margin to pass the Senate, where the Republicans control only 52 votes, giving the Democratic caucus significant leverage in how to structure the legislation. On the two most salient issuesextension of CHIP and protection for immigrant children under DACAthe Democrats caved in and essentially did the bidding of the Republican majority.

Moreover, many of the state governments that are implementing the CHIP cuts, including three of the four states (Colorado, Connecticut and Virginia) that have recently sent off mass cutoff notifications, are under Democratic Party control. At the state level, both capitalist parties are pursuing austerity policies with a vengeance.

There are many additional cuts in health care coming in the New Year, some incorporated in the continuing resolution passed by the House and Senate to fund the federal government through January 19, others being enacted by state governments on their own authority, using the flexibility provided by executive order from the Trump administration.

* One provision takes $750 million out of the Affordable Care Acts Prevention and Public Health Fund to pay for community health centers and other programs that would otherwise have been defunded, essentially robbing Peter to pay Paul.

* Two measures that assist rural hospitals, the Medicare dependent hospital program and the low-volume adjustment program, also expired September 30 and were left out of the continuing resolution.

* The state of Arkansas is awaiting rubber-stamp approval by the federal Department of Health and Human Services of its request to reduce the qualifying income for Medicaid down to the official US poverty line. The effect would be to eliminate insurance coverage for about 60,000 people currently enrolled in the program in Arkansas, an action that Governor Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, said would contain costs and eliminate waste.

Meanwhile the growing need for health insurance coverage is reflected in the ongoing surge in enrollment into the Affordable Care Act health plans, including 9 million people so far during the federal open enrollment, despite it being shortened by several weeks in one of many Trump actions to sabotage Obamacare. Several million more are expected to sign up in state-run exchanges that have longer enrollment periods.

This increased enrollmentnearly matching last years totaldoes not express any popular enthusiasm for Obamacare, where premiums continue to rise and coverage networks shrink. Rather it reveals the growing desperation on the part of millions of people who have no other alternative, given the cutbacks in employer-based coverage and in other federal health insurance programs.
Over 100,000 pages of documents relating to the post-World War II former head of the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) Reinhard Gehlen (1902-1979) have been leaked to the Suddeutsche Zeitung (SZ). In its edition of December 1, SZ reporters Uwe Ritzer and Willi Winkler devote four pages to an overview of the documents.

The archive includes reports from spies, political situation reports, dossiers on politicians, artists and personalities from the academic world, correspondence and personal records. All of this material was unknown to historians until now.

Much of it appears to be historically worthless snippets such as receipts for daily expenses, condolences and greeting cards, but there is also information of major importance. Over the course of two decades, Gehlen meticulously collected everything and placed it under wraps in a private archive when he retired in 1968, thus ensuring its secrecy even after his death.

The material confirms and embellishes well known facts with many photos, film footage, documents recorded on microfilm, names and detailed information. According to the SZ, it explains how Gehlen prepared for the period after just weeks before the capitulation of the German Army (Wehrmacht) at the end of World War II.

During the war, Gehlen was head of the Foreign Army East Division of the General Staff, in charge of collecting information on the social, economic and political life of Nazi Germanys main target in the war, the Soviet Union. His role in the war was crucial to his career after it.

The SZ documents reveal how Gehlen and his closest associates secretly buried the files in the mountains of Upper Bavaria to be used as a bargaining chip for his personal negotiations with the victorious Allied powers. Shortly after Germanys surrender, Gehlen was feted by the US Army for his expert knowledge and was flown to the United States. There he struck a deal that allotted him the task of heading a secret service in Germany at the behest of the CIA. In this way, the SZ reporters write, Gehlen rose to become one of the most powerful men in the Federal Republic without any break in his biography.

A transfer company for former Nazis and right-wing Wehrmacht officers

It is already known that after the war, Gehlen worked with Nazi criminals, generals and Wehrmacht officers as well as former SS and Nazi Secret Service officers. Details of such collaboration were revealed by the historical commission set up some years ago to investigate the history of the BND. What is new is the documentation of the systematic character and scale of his activitiesand the extent to which he was supported and protected by Germanys first post-war government under the Christian Democratic leader Konrad Adenauer.

The SZ authors write that the Gehlen Organization, as the BND was called before 1956, was the best conceivable job-creation office for ex-officers and old Nazis following the downfall of the Nazi dictatorship. Equally fitting would be the designation transfer company.

However, in contrast to todays transfer companies, Gehlens apparatus did not serve to smooth the path of employed workers to unemployment, but rather facilitated the smooth transfer of the repressive apparatus and leading staff of the Third Reich to the post-war German Federal Republic.

In keeping with its continuity with the Nazi apparatus, the Gehlen Organization moved its operations in December 1947 (70 years ago) to the Reichssiedlung Rudolf Hea secluded residential quarter in the community of Pullach in the forests to the south of Munich that had housed high-ranking Nazis.

The driving force behind this apparatus was a profound hatred of communism. For Gehlen, this meant not so much the Stalinist rulers in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. As the documents show, at a later stage Gehlen helped his close confidant Berthold Beitz, representing the Krupp Group, to establish economic contacts with Eastern countries in the face of opposition from the German government. In return, Beitz operated as an informant for the BND, reporting extensively after every one of his visits abroad.

For Gehlens apparatus, communism was everything relating to the working classits organizations, political leaders and parties, and the October Revolution and Soviet Union, which continued to exist despite its Stalinist degeneration. Gehlens conception corresponded exactly to what Adolf Hitler designated in Mein Kampf as Marxism or Bolshevism, and which Hitler declared to be the main enemy of the National Socialists.

Hence, it goes without saying that politicians and personalities from the sphere of cultural and academic life who were opponents of National Socialism during the Third Reich were among the first targets of the Gehlen Organizations persecution of communists.

The archive material includes a carefully composed dossier on the lawyer and political scientist Wolfgang Abendroth, who was banned from working as a legal trainee in 1933 due to his socialist leanings. A few years later, Abendroth was sent into a punishment battalion of the Wehrmacht active in the war in Greece. He deserted from the Army and joined the Greek resistance movement.

After the war, he commenced teaching as a lecturer at the University of Leipzig. This was sufficient to place him in the first ranks of Gehlens list of enemies of the state. Abendroth was surrounded by Gehlens agents, who diligently sent their observations and notes to Gehlen, all of which are found in the 100,000 files of his private archive.

An open question is how many other cases of BND persecution and harassment of Nazi opponents, socialists and Trotskyists are to be found in the mountain of files.

Uncontrolled co-ruler of the German Republic

Probably the most spectacular discovery in this initial review of the archive material is the evidence that the BND planted an informant and probably a provocateur in the leadership of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) at a very early stage. Through the work of his agent, Gehlen was able to observe over many years his most prominent target, SPD leader Willy Brandt, who was foreign minister in the grand coalition (SPD and Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union) from 1966 and in 1969 chancellor of the coalition between the SPD and the Free Democratic Party (FDP). As foreign minister, Brandt was spied upon by his own foreign intelligence service.

The BND collected photos and other material about Brandts private life, which it used to blackmail him and subsequently engineer his resignation as chancellor in May 1974. Federal Police (BKA) Chief Horst Herold had an entire dossier compiled on the basis of this material. The unmasking of Chancellor Brandts confidante Gunter Guillaume and Guillaumes wife as agents of the East German Stalinist regime was passed on to the FDP and SPD leadership and to Brandt himself to prove the latters susceptibility to blackmail and make his resignation appear inevitable.

The BND had known that Guillaume and his wife were East German agents since 1954 but had kept this knowledge to itself, only to use it 20 years later to initiate Brandts downfall and a decisive turn in West German politics. Gehlens most important agent in the SPD leadership for this operation behind enemy lines was SPD Information Director Fried Wesemann. As the archive footage shows, Wesemann passed on to Gehlen information about the internal discussions, decisions and personal details of the SPD leadership and was able to influence them by virtue of his position within the party.

This revelation is not just a colorful anecdote from a story long past. Rather, it is a serious warning of the dangers to the working class and its democratic rights emanating from the BND today. The SZ authors rightly draw the conclusion from the documentary evidence that the Gehlen Organization had risen to become an uncontrolled co-ruler of the German Republic. It became and remains a state within the state, founded and built by former Nazi functionaries and fascist criminals who recruited and trained its staff and agents without a trace of democratic control over its reactionary operations, involving mass surveillance, provocations, repression and manipulation of political life.

Today, the BND no longer resides in a secluded Bavarian forest. It recently moved to a huge new complex in the middle of the capital, Berlin, with a staff of over 6,500 office workers, which does not even count the agencys thousands of agents. The complex of buildings is larger than the federal Chancellery and the German parliament (Bundestag) combined.

The BND is still beyond any democratic control. On December 8, the SZ reported on a 39-page secret report by an independent body set up last spring to control the BND, after it became known that it, in collaboration with the US National Security Agency (NSA), had illegally tapped, stored and evaluated billions of items of internet data. The lawyers leading the investigating bodytwo federal judges and one federal prosecutorcomplained in their report that they were unable to complete their work because they were denied access to important information.

BND traditions rooted in the Holocaust

Based on the archive documents, it is now possible to confirm a long-standing suspicion of reputable historians, but one that the Christian Democrats and the German Chancellery continue to denynamely, that the Adenauer government was involved in maintaining links and utilizing a relationship with one of the main criminals of the Nazi period, Alois Brunner.

Brunner was the deputy and right-hand man of Adolf Eichmann in the organization of the Holocaust. He personally oversaw mass deportations and mass executions and exhibited exceptional sadistic cruelty in detecting, hunting down, torturing and murdering Jews, especially Jewish women and children, in Austria, France, Italy and Greece. After the war, he worked under a false name for the US occupation forces, and later in Essen at the Carl Funke mine.

When his true identity threatened to emerge in 1954, Gehlen used his apparatus to help Brunner flee to Syria, where he again lived under a false name, presumably until 2009 or 2010.

In 1961, Brunner believed he had detected an opportunity to make himself useful to the German government and thus end his life in a foreign country under a false name. In the course of the trial of Adolf Eichmann, who had been abducted by the Israeli intelligence service in Argentina in 1960, Hans Globke, head of the Chancellery of Adenauer, was in great danger of losing his reputation and position.

Globke was responsible for both the personnel and day-to-day policy of the federal cabinet. He was the closest confidant of the chancellor. He was also the author of the Nazi race laws of 1936 and a leading commentator on Nazi jurisprudence.

These facts were well known and Globke had been the target of public criticism for his role under the Nazis, but Adenauer insisted that he remain in office with the argument that You cant throw away dirty water as long as you dont have any clean water. But now Globke had been requested to appear as a witness in the Eichmann trial, which would have made his role as the latters henchman a matter of public record.

With the support of Adenauer, Gehlen was able to persuade the prosecutor in Israel that Globke should not take the stand. The SZ quotes Gehlens note: Attorney General Hausner already told me on the third day of the trial that Dr. Globke is taboo to him.

However, a number of daily papers cited the trial testimony of former Wehrmacht officer Max Merten, who had stated that Globke personally ordered the deportation of about 20,000 Jews from Thessaloniki in Greece, thereby confirming that he was directly involved in the Holocaust.

It was at this critical point that Alois Brunner offered his services as a witness for the defense of Globke. Gehlen helped establish the contact with the German chancellors office and discussed with Globke multiple times all the pros and cons, along with the organizational and legal issues involved in accepting Brunners offer.

In the end, they decided to use another weapon from the arsenal of the BND, which promised more success and less risk: a targeted media campaign. Gehlen noted in his files: Secretary of State (Globke) agreed to the idea cited, to attempt, regardless of the truth, to present Merten as an agent of Eastern propaganda, on the basis of existing findings.

Influence on the media

The method of denouncing in the media any serious opponent who threatened to reveal the truth about the role of Globke in the Third Reich as an agent of Pankow (Pankow in East Berlin was at that time the seat of government of the Stalinist regime in East Germany) was also used against other opponents.

Beginning in 1958, Reinhard Strecker had organized an exhibition titled Unatoned Nazi Justice, which toured throughout West Germany. The exhibition documented the manner in which innumerable Nazi judges had been retained or restored to their exalted positions in the post-war Federal Republic under Adenauer and Gehlen. Based on intensive archival research in Poland and Czechoslovakia, Strecker published a book in 1961 titled Dr. Hans M. GlobkeStatements from the Files. Documents, in which he exposed Globke as an active organizer of the Holocaust.

The BND set in motion a huge media campaign, using what would today equal hundreds of thousands of euros to defame Strecker and (successfully) prevent the further distribution of his book. The BND continued to persecute Strecker for decades (according to Strecker himself, until 2014), but from this time period we, of course, cannot expect new findings from these files.

However, what can be clearly studied from the files from Gehlens term of office is how a network of compliant scribblers and informers was set up in the editorial offices of German and probably also foreign media and deployed time and again to directly influence politicians and policies.

Thus, the SZ reporters describe the campaign set in motion by the BND against Willy Brandt when Brandt stood as the SPDs choice as chancellor against Adenauer in the early 1960s and first raised the notion of a policy of detente relating to the Soviet Union and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany): The notes in Gehlens secret documents repeatedly raise the question of whether Brandt could somehow be discredited.

Eventually they found a means to defame Brandt in the eyes of Catholic, arch-conservative layers of the population and those who were still shaped by Nazi ideology: Brandts origins as an illegitimate childhis original name was Herbert Frahmwere portrayed as shady, sinful and dishonorable. His involvement in his youth as a socialist against the Franco regime in Spain and against Hitler, as well as his exile in Norway, where he adopted the political name of Willy Brandt, were denounced as evidence of treason.

The author of this article can still remember very well the infamous election campaign speeches by Adenauer, who repeatedly referred to Brandt alias Frahm. Today we can read in the files: Adenauer was citing from the script provided him by his man in the shadows, Gehlen.

The BND has its spies and mouthpieces in all of the major daily newspapers, referred to by Gehlen as special connections. One can read in the files that Marion Grafin von Donhoff, the editor of the weekly Die Zeit, was overwhelmed by the charm of Hitlers General Gehlen and his old-style European manners. The countess responded with a number of particularly obsequious tributes to Gehlen and his honorable services in the critical year of 1963, when Gehlens reputation had suffered badly as a result of the Globke affair.

In this context, the following passage in the SZ report by Winkler and Ritzer is highly relevant: The documents left behind by Gehlen show the extent of the collaboration with German journalists, who willingly made their contribution to the Pullach brotherhood. The most important connection was soon established with the news magazine Der Spiegel, and this is also confirmed by the documents. Time and time again Gehlens service takes pride in the number of Spiegel stories that had been deliberately leaked to the editorial board, rewritten or stopped before publication.

One can justifiably claim that Der Spiegel was the most important organ of the Federal Intelligence Service. Hans Detlev Becker, the magazines editor and later publishing director, showed slavish devotion to the BND. The founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief Rudolf Augstein also requested that important articles be read beforehand by the BND, including his famous report from 1962 about the condition of the Federal Armed Forces titled Partially Operative, which triggered the so-called Spiegel affair of the same year. Three other agents on the Spiegel editorial board are cited in Gehlens notes from the 1950s and early 1960s.

If one assumes that the number of BND field staff and unofficial collaborators on media editorial boards has grown in line with its army of office workers, one has an idea of the extent of the BNDs infiltration of the media and influence on policy-making.

In this respect, it is telling that the revelations published in the Suddeutsche Zeitung have been ignored by Germanys other major daily newspapers. Only one report appeared five days later in Die Welt, authored by Felix Kellerhoff, who in the past has often found appreciative words for Globke. In his comment, Kellerhoff claimed that the latest batch of files produced nothing new.

That Willy Brandt had been spied on as foreign minister and chancellor and treated like a public enemy? Thats not surprising, according to Kellerhoff. At a very early stage, Adenauer had requested information from the BND about the career of the then-mayor of Berlin.

According to Kellerhoffs line of argumentation, the intelligence services were obliged to intervene. Their procedure could be described only as logical and consistent, he writes.

The fact that Gehlen protected and defended Globke? Kellerhoff responds: Even the CIA considered protecting Globke from constant attacks from East Berlin, as everyone has been able to read on the internet since 2006but these attacks did not lead to anything. In other words, CIA approval is sufficient to warrant a state within a state and all of its illegal operations.

However, Kellerhoff continues, that the BND or CIA would have protected Eichmann, as is occasionally assumed by authors, is not backed up by the evidence cited. In fact, the SZ reporters never make this claim or attempt to provide evidence to support it. However, they do reveal the smooth cooperation between the BND and journalists ready and willing to function as informers and mouthpieces for an intelligence service founded and run by Nazis. On this issue Felix Kellerhoff has nothing to say.
On December 13, a Cook County judge quashed an anti-press subpoena against independent journalist Jamie Kalven that would have forced him to disclose his confidential sources in court. Kalven was the first to bring to light the coverup of the police murder of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald in 2014 by Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke, who faces charges of first-degree murder.

Were it not for Kalven, who works with the independent news organization Invisible Institute, there would have been no exposure of the police murder of McDonald and the subsequent coverup by the Chicago Police Department (CPD), the Democratic mayor Rahm Emanuel and the entire political establishment.

Kalven wrote an explosive article in Slate in 2015 entitled Sixteen Shots that shattered the official fake news and coveruppromoted by the CPD, the Emanuel administration and the media. In the article, Kalven revealed that McDonald had been shot sixteen times across his entire body, according to the autopsy report he had obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.

He also cited an unnamed witness who contradicted the entire official police narrative, which claimed that the teenager was lunging at a police officer with a knife while under the influence drugs. The witness stated instead that McDonald was shying away from the police officer when he was shot multiple times. Finally, Kalven revealed that there was a police dashboard-camera video documenting the entire incident, which he learned from an unnamed source.

The subpoenaissued by Van Dykes lawyers in an attempt to delay his trialthreatened to undermine basic democratic rights afforded to reporters under the First Amendment of the US Constitution. Such rights include a reporters constitutional privilege to be protected from being compelled to testify about confidential information or sources, critical to reporting freely on matters of public interest. At the same time, attacks on the press have steadily increased over the last few decades by multiple administrations, Democratic and Republican.

Van Dykes lead attorney, Daniel Herbert, himself a former police officer, issued the subpoena against Kalven claiming that his reporting influenced witnessesthereby tainting the investigation. Kalvens lawyers countered that the witnesses in question had already spoken to law enforcement prior to Kalvens discussions with them. In reality, the spurious subpoena issued by Herbert is part of a counter-offensive to intimidate and threaten reporters who uncover crimes committed by police officers or other agents of the state.

In demanding the subpoena, Herbert also accused Kalven of being an activist, rather than a neutral reporter of the facts. He argued therefore that Kalven could not make use of his reporters privilege to maintain the confidentiality of his sources. While Kalven certainly has taken a point of view in his reporting on police brutality for many years, and has been a partisan for the voices of the poor in Chicagos south side, he is also a conscientious and objective reporter.

Kalvens lawyer highlighted the spuriousness of the assault on his rights. Compelling Kalven to testify about his sources, they noted, violated the Illinois Reporters Privilege Actwhich forbids courts from forcing reporters to disclose the source of information they have obtained (confidential or not), except where no other law can prevent its disclosure, and all other sources of information have been exhausted.

An amicus curiae brief filed by the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press (RCFP) and eighteen other media organizations noted, When a subpoena demands information about confidential sources, the specter of enforcing that subpoena has a chilling effect on all future sources who may have valuable information about matters of public concern, but need an assurance of confidentiality before sharing it.

In light of the spuriousness of the charges made by Herbert, Judge Vincent Gaughan was forced to quash the subpoena. Gaughan, however, maintained he did so not because of Kalvens protected status as a reporter, but because of the inadequacy of the subpoena itself. While the dismissal of the subpoena was a victory for Kalvens rights as a reporter, the courts have only maintained a qualified and limited assertion of a reporters privilege.

After months of legal and court battles, the Emanuel administration released the video of the shooting on a late night in 2014. The video confirmed what the witnesses and autopsy reports showed. Laquan McDonald, an impoverished ward of the state, unknown to the public until his untimely death, was shot sixteen times by Van Dyke as he walked away from the officer. The first few shots took the teenager down. Van Dyke subsequently shot him multiple times as smoke emerged from his shaking, dying body.

The video of McDonald finally released in November 2015 engulfed the Emanuel administration in a full-blown political crisis. Protests ensued nightly and there were widespread calls for Emanuel to resign for his role in the cover-up. Instead, the Democratic Party and the political establishment thereafter began a process of damage control.

Emanuel, who bears chief responsibility for the murder, remains in office and no high-level political figure has been charged. In December of 2015, Emanuel called for the resignation of Superintendent Garry McCarthy, the head of the CPD at the time of McDonalds death. Van Dyke was then indicted on six counts of first-degree murder and one count of official misconduct. Multiple officers on the scene were involved in a conspiracy to cover up what happened. The official organs of police oversight, such as the Independent Police Review Authority, sanctioned the false statements of the officers.

The mainstream press, for their part, uncritically reported what CPD officials told them, which was that McDonald had lunged at the officer with a knife. Kalvens reporting, however, was instrumental in bringing to light the real circumstances of the murder of McDonald and added to the growing public outrage against police brutality.

In the wake of the release of the video, Emanuel also vowed to create a task force for police accountability, in order to cover up his own tracks. Emails released by the Chicago Tribune later revealed the entire administration in City Hall was aware of the video and chose to suppress it. The Justice Department also opened an investigation, which released its report earlier this year. The report revealed a damning pattern of constitutional abuses by the CPD. It detailed a history of police brutality and violence in Chicago, but it only offered mere palliatives and half-measures.

Despite the reporting by Kalven and widespread outrage against police brutality in Chicago, there has been no fundamental change in the course of the CPD and its policies. Far from ushering in an era of police reform, as promised by Emanuel in the wake of release of the video footage of the police murder of McDonald, police violence and brutality continue unabated, in Chicago and across the country.
Over the past year, the Democratic Party and leading American media outlets have been monomaniacally focused on unsubstantiated allegations that the 2016 US elections were undermined by Russian interference.

It is worth considering these claims as one assesses the response to the decision of Russian officials to block Alexei Navalny from participating in the upcoming presidential election. The move has been met with self-righteous denunciations in the American and international press. Newspapers have run articles lauding Navalny as an anti-corruption crusader and the democratic face of popular opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Washington Post published an editorial condemning the move to bar Navalny. It declared that Navalnys real offenses were helping to lead opposition to Putins authoritarian government and bringing out tens of thousands of followers in cities across Russia this year to denounce the regime.

The hypocrisy and cynicism here are breathtaking. While the alleged Russian meddling in the US elections consists of several tens of thousands of dollars in Facebook advertising, Navalny is almost entirely a creature of the US State Department.

A graduate of the Yale World Fellows Program, Navalny is listed on Yales website as a cofounder of the Democratic Alternative Movement, an organization shown in a leaked diplomatic cable to have received funding from the US government-backed National Endowment for Democracy, a fact it had concealed for fear of appearing compromised by an American connection.

The World Socialist Web Site gives no support to the Putin governments crackdown on political opposition, but the posturing of the US press in defense of human rights and democracy is preposterous. The United States, the most unequal and undemocratic developed country in the world, the leading force for war and dictatorship worldwide, is in no position to lecture others about democracy.

There is no other country that intervenes in the political affairs of foreign states so directly, regularly and shamelessly as the United States. American foreign policy is one massive intervention in the politics of other countries, running the gamut from propaganda, destabilization, financing of opposition parties, electoral fraud and coups to military bombardment and occupation, all of which taken together have killed more people than any government since Nazi Germany.

Professor Dov Levin of Carnegie Mellon University has assembled a database documenting as many as 81 occasions between 1946 and 2000 when Washington interfered in elections in other countries. This number does not include military coups or regime-change operations following the election of candidates the US opposed, as in Iran, Congo, Guatemala, Chile and many other nations.

The intervention of the US government and President Bill Clinton personally to secure the reelection of Boris Yeltsin in the 1996 Russian election was so brazen that Time magazine featured on its July 15, 1996 cover a caricature of Yeltsin holding an American flag, accompanied by the headline Yanks to the Rescue.

For its part, the US electoral systemwith the vast influence exerted by billionaires and corporations and the maze of antidemocratic rules that impose huge hurdles for third-party candidatesblocks the overwhelming majority of the US population from having their voices heard.

Reporting on his visit to the United States this month, the UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights declared, There is no other developed country where so many voters are disenfranchisedand where ordinary voters ultimately have so little impact on political outcomes.

Despite substantial evidence that the entire Navalny campaign represents an effort by the US intelligence agencies to intervene in Russian politics, the US press has found a way to tie Putins moves against Navalny to the claim that the Kremlin is subverting American democracy.

Even as he outlaws political competition in Russia, Mr. Putin continues to oversee attempts to undermine and tilt elections in the West, wrote the Washington Post in its editorial. For him, democratic contests are a vulnerability, to be avoided at home and exploited abroad. In that sense, Western governments and Russias democrats have a common cause in countering Mr. Putin.

According to the intelligence agencies for which the Post is a mouthpiece, the Russian government sought to intervene in the US election by promoting third-party candidates. Last week, the Senate Intelligence Committee announced that it is investigating Jill Stein, the Green Partys 2016 presidential candidate, on the grounds that her campaign received coverage on RT, the Russian-based TV network. This can be seen as nothing other than an effort to intimidate third parties and their supporters.

Through an incredible sleight of hand, the Post denounces the suppression of a third-party candidate in Russia while legitimizing efforts to brand supporters of the Green Party in the United States as traitors.

There is another problem with the official presentation of Navalny as the voice of popular opposition to the Russian oligarchythe fact that he is a right-wing extremist who enjoys only marginal support among the Russian electorate.

While masking his right-wing politics behind the catchall of opposition to corruption, Navalny has a long history of extreme nationalism, connections to neo-Nazi groups, and the promotion of racist conceptions. In one YouTube video, he compares minorities within Russia to cockroaches, adding that while cockroaches can be killed with a slipper, for humans he recommends a pistol. During the 2008 Russian-Georgian war, Navalny repeatedly called Georgians rodents and demanded the eviction of all Georgians from Russia.

Writing in Salon, Danielle Ryan noted that while the US-aligned press hails Navalny as a hero, What is reported less often about Navalny are his nationalist leanings, ties to neo-Nazi groups, xenophobic comments and extreme anti-immigrant views. References to Navalnys nationalism in the West are usually buried or brushed off, while the headlines sing his praises.

The State Departments money is indeed backed up by overwhelmingly uncritical support in the US and international press. The New York Times has published 387 articles referencing Navalny, the Washington Post has published 344 and the Financial Times has run 299.

Despite the international coverage his campaign receives, and broad popular hostility to social inequality, which is almost as high in Russia as it is in the United States, Navalny has the support of just two percent of the electorate, according to a recent independent poll.

The political conflict between Putin and Navalny ultimately represents a struggle within the Russian kleptocracy, into which the United States is forcefully intervening. It is up to the working class of Russia to sweep away Putin and the oligarchy for which he speaks, not the US State Department and intelligence agencies.
The European Commission announced December 20 the imposition of sanctions on Poland under Article 7 of the European Union treaty. The Polish government, led by the nationalist Law and Justice Party (PiS), had prior to this effectively abolished the independence of Polands courts. The conflict between Brussels and Warsaw is an expression of the ongoing breakup of the European Union.

The PiS laws, which subordinate the judiciary to the government, have provoked bitter conflicts for two years between the PiS and the European Union and stoked liberal opposition within Poland. The two latest laws concern the Supreme Court and the National Judicial Council. One of the laws enables politicians to determine membership of the Council, which, in turn, appoints judges throughout the country. The second law reduces the retirement age for judges on the Supreme Court, making 40 percent of its current occupants no longer eligible to serve.

Polish President Andrzej Duda vetoed aspects of the latest laws last summer because domestic and foreign policy tensions had risen sharply. However, he fell into line with the government in the autumn and signed the new laws in December.

Magorzata Gersdorf, chair of the Polish Supreme Court, compared the laws in an open letter to a coup.

In its 20 December statement, the EU Commission warned of the judicial reforms consequences for foreign investors and the European single market. The EU gave Poland three months to rescind the laws. If this fails to occur, the EU member states will discuss the initiation of a package of sanctions described by the German daily Die Welt as a partial ejection from the EU.

Poland could lose its right to vote in the EU as a result. To initiate the sanctions, the EU requires the votes of 22 of the EU Councils 28 members.

The European press use of military terms to describe the conflict gives an indication of the EUs internal state. Die Welt described the sanctions as the nuclear option. Frances conservative newspaper Le Figaro spoke of the use of heavy artillery. The Spanish newspaper ABC wrote, Brussels is launching a war with Poland over attacks on the rule of law.

German media outlets such as Die Welt and Suddeutsche Zeitung have applauded the measures as a tough but necessary step. However, Stefan Kornelius warned in the Suddeutsche Zeitung that in the aftermath of Brexit, a Polexit could be the last resort.

The Polish media responded with panic to the EU Commissions announcement. Gazeta Wyborcza, the most important mouthpiece of the pro-German and pro-European liberal opposition, referred to judgement day. The conservative Rzeczpospolita, which often supports the government, was no less horrified. An initial comment stated, The worst is yet to come. The newspaper compared Polish politics to a speeding car which has been driving towards a wall for months and has now spectacularly crashed into it.

Rzeczpospolita also warned of the withdrawal of foreign investors from Poland and predicted severe economic consequences for the country. Another commentator wrote in the same newspaper, Some colleagues are already discussing where would be the best place to emigrate following a Polexit. We hope that these discussions are groundless. He then listed a number of factors that could prevent Polands exit from the European Union, including the geographic isolation of the Baltic states that would result from them having no border with the European Union after a Polexit.

The fact that the EU has initiated sanctions against Poland that could ultimately result in the country leaving the EU is a symptom of bitter national divisions within Europe and the advanced state of the EUs breakup. Nationalist movements are on the march throughout Europe. In Ukraine, they were supported directly in their seizure of power by Berlin, Brussels and Washington. In several European countries, including Hungary and other Eastern European states, as well as Austria, right-wing nationalist forces are in government.

Like the PiS, these governments frequently pursue domestic and foreign policies that run counter to the interests of Germany and the EU. Over recent years, the PiS has pursued a so-called Intermarium strategy, which involves the establishment of an alliance of far-right, anti-Russian nationalist forces in Eastern and Central Europe. This alliance, which has been promoted with particular vigor this year, aims to create political, economic and military structures to compete with the EU.

During his visit to Warsaw in the summer, US President Donald Trump assured the Polish government of his full support, encouraged its nationalist agenda, and indicated that he views Poland as an instrument to combat Germany as well as Russia.

The British government is also trying to exploit the Polish-EU conflict for its own nationalist interests. Prime Minister Theresa May traveled with her chancellor, Philip Hammond, State Secretary Amber Rudd, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson and Economy Secretary Greg Clark to Warsaw to conclude wide-ranging bilateral accords.

May and the new Polish prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, who replaced Beata Szydo just a few weeks ago, signed an agreement on security and defence cooperation. In it, Poland agreed to assist Britain against the very dangerous EU protectionism following Brexit. May declared at a press conference, I am determined that Brexit will not weaken our relationship with Poland. Rather, it will serve as a catalyst to strengthen it.

Even prior to the Brexit referendum, Britain was one of Polands closest allies, since it not only pursues the same hard line anti-Russian policy as Warsaw, but also opposed the dominance of France and Germany in the EU.

The EU, which imposed brutal austerity measures on Greece, Spain and other countries without even the semblance of democratic mechanisms, is now seeking with its sanctions program to whip Warsaw into line. Britains Independent welcomed this by stating, It is becoming increasingly clear that the nationalists of Europe lack a deep understanding of and commitment to liberal values or economic progress in equal measure. Time for them to be taught a lesson: you cannot have your cake and eat it.

The PiS initiatives in domestic and foreign policy in Poland over the past two years were thoroughly reactionary and represent a serious threat to the working class. PiS has assumed control of the intelligence agencies, effectively abolished independent courts, weakened the Polish parliaments powers, placed public media outlets under government control and taken major steps to enforce the militarisation of society. The demonstration of some 60,000 fascists in Warsaw in November was a direct product of the policies adopted by the PiS, which has promoted right-wing and outright fascist tendencies since coming to power and propagandised on their behalf.

But the PiS did not emerge out of the blue. The forces united in the party grew out of capitalist restoration, which was encouraged by Western European states and the United States. They have been strengthened by the social catastrophe bound up with capitalist restoration and Polands entry into the EU, which have transformed Poland into a cheap-labor paradise for European, and in particular German, big business. The establishment of Poland as a NATO bulwark in Eastern Europe, which has led to the militarisation of Polish society, was part of a deliberate policy.

The same forces in Brussels now attempting to bring Warsaw to heel by means of sanctions bear responsibility for the rise of PiS and similar forces in Europe. The EUs response to this crisis will strengthen these forces and fuel the rise of the nationalists throughout Europe.
For the fourth year in a row, police killed over a thousand people in the United States in one year. The four-year bloodbath is a stern warning to the working class in America and across the world. Social inequality is reaching unprecedented levels. Three billionaires own as much wealth as the bottom half of the population of the United States. The killings of thousands by police in the span of few years is an indication of the ruling elites fear and hatred of the vast working class majority.

As of this writing, killedbypolice.net reports police killed 1,164 people in 2017. With a few days left in the year, the death count will likely increase, marking 2017 as second deadliest year since 2013, when the web site began tabulating the figures. Last years count stands at 1,165.

Other police killing aggregators show similar totals. Mapping Police Violence places the count at 1,049. The Washington Post, which only tracks police shootings as opposed to other forms of police killings, by means of tasering, beatings and the like, places the count at 952 as of December 25.

Murder by police is effectively legal. Police officers can kill anyone, as long as they claim some kind of perceived threat, whether real or not. Hundreds, many of whom are unarmed, are murdered by officers who will never face a trial. According to Mapping Police Violence, in 2015, under the Obama presidency, 99 percent of all police killings did not result in any police officer being convicted of a crime by the so-called justice system. The capitalist state shoots and kills with one hand and washes the blood off with the other.

In November, released video footage showed an unarmed Daniel Shaver murdered by an Arizona police officer after begging for his life on his knees. The officer was acquitted of all charges after claiming he feared for his life. In September, St. Louis police officer Jason Stockley was acquitted of murder for the 2011 killing of Anthony Lamar Smith. After shooting Smith six times from close range, Stockley planted a gun on Smiths dead body. Stockleys fingerprints were later found on the gun.

Following the verdict, protests erupted in St. Louis. St. Louis police responded, dressed in riot gear, illegally kettling protesters and arresting many all the while shouting, Whose streets? Our streets!

The protests were largely organized by Black Lives Matters (BLM) and pseudo-left groups such as the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and Socialist Alternative, who sought to portray the killing by Stockley as an act solely due to racism. Slogans such as white silence is violence were heard during the protests.

Three years earlier, in the aftermath of the killing of Michael Brown by Ferguson, Missouri police officer Darren Wilson, pseudo-left groups put forth the same narrative: the fundamental cause of police violence is racism. Often cited to bolster this argument is the fact that blacks are killed in disproportionately higher numbers compared to whites. According to the Washington Post, African-Americans comprised a quarter of all police killings in 2017. This clearly suggests that racism is an element in police killings, but these statistics only reveal part of the picture. The victims of police killings include all races and ethnicities. As any good doctor will point out, one must not confuse a symptom for the disease, and the disease is class oppression, claiming the poorest and most vulnerable sections of the working class.

The police, along with the state machine as a whole, exist as an instrument in the irreconcilable conflict between the ruling class and the working class. The police are not neutral actors who can be pressured to act in a certain way. They serve the interests of the capitalist class, and carry out its orders. The thousands that lay dead at the hands of the police, regardless of skin color and gender, come almost entirely from the ranks of the working class. Police roam working class and poor neighborhoods hunting perpetrators of petty crimes. If you are stopped by the police, you are de facto guilty. If you fidget or do not follow a command directly, you may very well be shot and die. Whatever part racism plays in these murders, it is ultimately secondary to that of class.

American society is divided by massive inequality, intensified by decades of social counterrevolution. Social tension is palpable, with most working people increasingly angry and moving to the left. There is deep concern within the ruling class that social explosions of revolutionary dimensions are on the horizon. Preparing for such events, police more and more act as an occupying force, carrying the same weapons used overseas in occupied countries by the United States. In 1989, Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act. It has made possible the transfer of $5.4 billion worth of military gear to police departments across the United States. A report published by the US Department of Justice in 2015 states that local police departments swelled to 477,000 full-time personnel in 2013, a 35 percent increase since 1987. This three-decade period coincides with a drastic decline in crime, while the forces of law and order have been swelled and armed to the teeth.

History demonstrates the real role of the police. In 1937, for example, Chicago police shot and killed 10 striking workers during the Little Steel Strike. During the Detroit Rebellion of 1967, police were given order to shoot to kill, claiming 16 victims. In some of the other social explosions of the mid- and late 1960s, the death toll at the hands of the police was even greater.

Under the Trump presidency, the police will operate more openly and ruthlessly. Police violence will grow, accompanied by increased attacks on democratic rights. Social and political opposition will be met with brutal violence, directed not only against individuals but also mass struggles.

The efforts of the proponents of identity politics to place the blame of police violence on racism effectively denies the role of the state and its class character. This serves to create divisions within the working class along ethnic and racial lines. It leads to the counterproductive and reactionary conclusion that the police can be reformed by increasing the number of minority officers, or through such techniques as community policing, racial-sensitivity training and similar nostrums.
Last Thursday, 1,000 autoworkers at the Ford Craiova plant in southern Romania, 114 miles (184 km) west from the capital city of Bucharest, walked off the job the day after the union signed a sellout agreement with the US-based multinational corporation.

The deal would do nothing to offset a new tax hike by the social democratic government, set to start on January 1, that forces workers to pay the full cost of social insurance, instead of sharing the payment with employers, resulting in a pay cut of at least 22 percent. New Ford workers are paid as little as 300 Euros (US $356) a month.

Workers began their job action by tying cloths around their arms to protest the collusion of the unionknown as Sindicatul Ford Automobile Craiovawith the company. As demands for a strike grew, workers refused to go back to work after lunch and walked out, chanting slogans denouncing the union leaders, including thieves, this is slavery, resign, and strike!

Workers forced the resignation of recently elected union leader Maria Manea after evidence emerged of her collaboration with the corporation. While the workers are currently back at work, tensions remain high and they are preparing to take further action when their current contract expires on December 31.

Ford acquired the facility, previously operated by Korean carmaker Daewoo, from the Romanian government in 2008. In October, the company announced it would build its EcoSport SUV at the plant for export to Germany, the UK, other European markets and North America. The strike is the most recent in a series of autoworkers struggles, including walkouts earlier this year by VW workers in Slovakia and Fiat workers in Serbia, against low wages and sweatshop conditions in Eastern Europe.

A Romanian Ford worker who participated in Thursdays walkout and viewed the WSWS video on their struggle spoke with this reporter about the workers strategy going forward.

* * *

WSWS: Greetings to you and your coworkers from the World Socialist Web Site. Can you tell us more about last weeks strike?

FW: Hello! We saw your video on Facebook. There are 2,340 of us.

WSWS: What were you striking over?

FW: We have a corrupt union that works for the company. Here the trade union is paid by management and they receive special perks from Ford Corrupt.

WSWS: In the United States and elsewhere around the world, the situation with the trade unions is the same. The trade unions, like the United Auto Workers in the US, do not defend the interests of workers; they are bought off by the corporations. They steal workers dues money and the company pays the bureaucrats with millions of dollars that they spend on cars, shoes, shotguns and vacations. Meanwhile workers face serious economic difficulties and high living expenses.

FW: We must dissolve this union and build a new organization supported by us. One month ago, trade union elections were held. A new official, Mrs. Maria Manea, was elected. After the negotiations for the new contract started, negotiations with the trade union were suspended for 30 days under very suspicious circumstances. The negotiations were thrown into chaos.

WSWS: What is in the new proposed contract?

FW: There have been several informative bulletins with various proposals to our disadvantage. The last company proposal and also the trade union agreement are unsatisfactory. Although we are no longer on strike and last weeks strike was really a spontaneous protest, we want to organize a general strike in January.

WSWS: What type of organization are you and your coworkers proposing to create? Are you affiliated with a national trade union or are you trying to establish your own, independent organization?

FW: An independent organization would be good. The current trade union must be sued and disgraced. But the status of the current trade union does not allow us to get rid of it or opt out.

WSWS: And what are the current wages you face? Is it enough to live?

FW: New workers get a maximum of just 300 Euros per month. The minimum wage in Romania is very low for unskilled workers, although unskilled workers are used as skilled workers on certain jobs. Workers at Dacia [another auto factory in Romania] have higher salaries. Its a big difference.

Prices are expensive and rising, so we have little salary left and face great economic hardship. Ford wants to produce in Craiova to sell in Europe but they want to pay us very little to work without rights. In Germany, autoworkers earn 2,000 Euros a week, not a month, but in Romania we earn just 300 Euros a month.

WSWS: What message would you send to autoworkers in Germany, the US, and around the world about your struggle?

FW: Let us be as united as possible to earn a living for a decent life on this earth for the good of all workers.

WSWS: The position of the World Socialist Web Site is that the fight against international corporations like Ford requires the international unity of the working class.

FW: Yes, it would not be bad, we should support ourselves internationally, cooperate for rights. The unions and the company are a big mafia. There was much intimidation over our protest. Many colleagues were moved to harder jobs (those who participated in the protest) in order to frighten the others. The company also monitors our social media groups.

WSWS: It is the same in the United States. Workers recently kicked a union official out of one of their Facebook groups so they could discuss issues at the plant without the UAW spying on them.

The issue of setting up independent organizations is key, but the central element is the fight to unite workers internationally, because you cannot fight an international corporation like Ford with a national program. This is the root cause for the betrayals of the trade unions around the world and their increasingly friendly relationships with management. Workers in the US, Germany and elsewhere face the same issues you and your coworkers face. We propose the setting up of independent rank-and-file committees to link workers all over the world in a common fight against the corporations.

FW: I have contacted a national union and theres a lady who seems to want to help.

WSWS: We support your struggle, but for that reason we emphasize that the main task is for international unity and a break from a nationalist approach. If Ford is your enemy, you will be strengthened by mobilizing the support of Ford workers in the US, Turkey, Brazil, Germany, and around the world. The company uses the same scare tactics against you that it does against workers everywherethey threaten to send their products to other factories with lower wages unless you accept their sellout.

FW: Thats right, but until this discussion I did not think anyone could help us. Yes, we should cooperate with independent trade unions. We basically are organizing from scratch.

WSWS: There are many American Ford workers who are following your struggle and who send you support.

FW: Thank you!

WSWS: What is necessary is discussion between you and your coworkers and autoworkers internationally who are fighting against the union-corporate alliance.

FW: Representatives for such a discussion must be chosen. There is much to be done now.
A large fire at a fitness center in Jecheon, South Korea last Thursday left 29 people dead and close to three dozen injured. The eight-storey building housed a gym, public sauna and restaurants. The fire was the deadliest in South Korea since 2008, when 40 people died in a warehouse fire in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province. Jecheon is a small city located in North Chungcheong Province, 168 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

The fire began in the ceiling of the first floor parking garage, which was undergoing maintenance work. Within seven minutes, the entire building was engulfed in flames, fueled by highly flammable cladding on the structures exterior. Authorities revealed that the sprinkler system had been shut off and the emergency exit in the womens sauna on the second floor was blocked by storage shelves.

Of the people killed, 20 were found in the womens sauna, which had only one remaining exit. A witness told Kyunghyang Shinmun: The bathhouse entrance is narrow, and its difficult for two to three people to enter at the same time. The people would not have been able to see because of the smoke, so it wouldnt have been easy for them to find the exit.

Saunas in South Korea are typically inexpensive and ubiquitous throughout the country. The cheap, highly flammable cladding on the building is commonly used by construction companies to cut costs. On top of burning quickly, it also releases a toxic gas that likely contributed to the deaths.

Comparisons were immediately drawn to a January 2015 fire at an apartment building in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, which killed four and injured 124. That structure similarly had been covered in flammable cladding. The latest blaze also calls to mind the Grenfell Tower tragedy in London, England that left at least 71 dead.

Kong Ha-sung, a professor in the Department of Fire Safety at Kyungil University, told the Korea Herald: So many more buildings have already been wrapped by the flammable cladding, so the government should come up with solutions to ensure fire safety.

However, little or nothing will be done to improve fire and safety regulations, which are often weakly enforced, allowing landlords to skirt around them in order to boost profits. A law was passed in 2015 banning construction companies from using flammable cladding on buildings six storeys or more, but did not require the removal of these materials on existing structures.

Constructed in 2012, the Jecheon fitness center had been purchased by a new owner over the summer, renovated and then reopened in October, giving ample time and opportunity to remove the dangerous material from the buildings exterior.

Survivors and family members of those killed have criticized the firefighters for being slow to bring in ladders and break windows to rescue people trapped in the fitness center. The fire, however, revealed the large gap in firefighting capability between large cities like Seoul and small-to-medium sized cities like Jecheon.

According to the Hankyoreh newspaper, Jecheon is able to immediately mobilize just half the rescue workers and three quarters the number of vehicles of the average fire station in Seoul. Even given the population differences, it is clear Jecheons fire station, as well as others throughout the country, are undermanned, an effect of government cost-cutting. Throughout North Chungcheong Province, only 70 rescue personnel were recruited in the second half of 2017 despite the stated official intention to hire 90.

President Moon Jae-in made a publicity appearance in Jecheon on Friday to deflect anger from the government. He instructed rescue workers to make utmost efforts for speedy rescue and firefighting operations. This is an empty and meaningless expression often utilized by officials around the world to give the appearance of leadership at a time of crisis.

In the same vein, authorities issued arrest warrants Tuesday for the building owner and its manager. The two men, identified only by their family names Lee and Kim respectively, were first detained on Sunday. The owner will be charged with manslaughter by professional negligence and violation of the fire code. The manager will only face the manslaughter charge. The government hopes to make scapegoats on these two and sweep the common practice of ignoring safety regulations under the rug.

Manslaughter by negligence conviction carries a sentence of up to five years in prison and maximum 20 million won ($18,500) fine. Violation of the fire code comes with a maximum 10-year prison term and up to 100 million won ($92,900) in fines. For the wealthy, these fines are little more than slaps on the wrist.

Authorities stated last week: The cause of the accident and issue of responsibility will be available after the investigation is over. We are putting all of our efforts into supporting those who have lost their relatives due to the fire, for example, we are first going to provide administrative support for them to go through funeral procedures.

In other words, the governments failure to enforce regulations and halt the use of deadly construction material will not be genuinely addressed. Any information that does come out of any inquiry will be delayed until after anger has died down and designed to deflect blame.

Disasters leading to major losses of life are all too frequent in South Korea, where companies regularly cut corners to save money and then receive minimal punishment, if any, when a catastrophe does occur. Such tragedies, however, are increasingly provoking widespread resentment and opposition. Anger over the Sewol ferry sinking in 2014 that killed 304 people, mostly high school students, contributed to massive protests against the previous administration of President Park Geun-hye in late 2016 and early 2017.

Moons government is conscious of this public hostility, compounded by deteriorating social conditions for working people. However, the government, which defends the profit system, has nothing to offer except crocodile tears.

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(WTXL) - Authorities are warning you to look out for counterfeit money.

Many law enforcement agencies have been responding to calls for fake $20 bills, particularly in south Georgia.

Authorities say the counterfeit bills have the word "replica" on them.

If you have received any change, especially from convenience stores, authorities recommend you check the bills for authenticity.

If you've received some of this fake money contact your local police department or the U.S. Secret Service.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury says "There is no financial remuneration for the return of the counterfeit bill, but it is doing the 'right thing' to help combat counterfeiting."

MOBILE USERS: Download our WTXL news app on your Apple and Android devices for the latest from South Georgia and North Florida. Also, download our WTXL Weather Now app for Apple and Android devices to get the latest local weather wherever you go.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for additional local news and hourly updates.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Three Georgians were arrested after a theft of Adidas and Nike brand clothing at the Kohl's store in Tallahassee.

Mack Aaron Edwards, 23, of Albany, Ga.; Dontevious R. Hosley, 24, of Albany, Ga.; and Lakeenya Delorse Logan, 22, of Leesburg, Ga., were booked into the Leon County Detention Center on Dec. 19, 2017, in the theft of 18 clothing items valued at $1,005.

Edwards, who was first booked into jail under the name Desmond D. Brown, faces 14 counts, including grand theft and one count for giving law enforcement a false identification.

Edwards was being held on several warrants out of Okaloosa County for theft and resisting an officer. He remained in jail Wednesday on bonds that total $33,000.

Hosley, who remained in jail on $15,300 bond on Wednesday, has charges that include five counts of grand theft of $300 or more but less than $5,000 and two counts of petit theft for property valued at more than $100 but under $300.

Logan, who was released from jail without having to post bond, faces a charge of grand theft of $300 or more but less than $5,000.

"Brown has two convictions for retail theft in Georgia," the court document said. "Dontevious has an active warrant out of Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office for petit theft. Logan has one prior conviction for retail theft out of Georgia."

The three met up in Kohl's Nike department, according to a probable cause affidavit, and were observed on closed-circuit television selecting clothing.

Two suspects were holding large amounts of un-paid-for merchandise, the store's loss-prevention officer said, and all three suspects were putting items into a Kohl's shopping tote bag.

The associate said he called the Tallahassee Police Department based on his belief that the three may have participated in an earlier, un-reported theft of suspects running from the store.

The suspects passed all points of sale near the front of the store without paying for the property, all of which was recovered and never left the store, the court document said.

After waiving her Miranda Rights, Logan told the officer she did not come to the store to steal and believed that the other suspects were going to pay for the merchandise because they had money.

MOBILE USERS: Download our WTXL news app on your Apple and Android devices for the latest from South Georgia and North Florida. Also, download our WTXL Weather Now app for Apple and Android devices to get the latest local weather wherever you go.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for additional local news and hourly updates.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-26 22:42:33|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BEIJING, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese lawmakers have called for all-round efforts to improve health care.

During panel discussions on Tuesday afternoon, legislators discussed a draft law on basic medical and health care submitted to the ongoing bi-monthly session of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee for first review.

Despite their overall support for the draft, many focused on health care, which has not been good enough for some.

"The State Council last year suggested the focus of medical and health care work switch from treatment to health," said Wang Longde, member of the standing committee, who referred to a guideline released by China's cabinet last December.

"However, some departments have taken little action during the year," he continued. "The major responsibilities of each department should be written into the law."

Chen Zhu, vice chairman of the NPC Standing Committee agreed, asking for clarification of the duties of departments including taxation, education, agriculture and others, so that they can work together to ensure the people's health.

For instance, agricultural departments should take responsibility for preventing diseases of animals from infecting humans, as cases including SARS and bird flu were all lessons, Wang added.

Some suggested schools play a bigger part.

"Exams serve as an important 'baton' for students," said Zhou Qifeng, another member of the standing committee. "Knowledge of health care should be included in exams."

Yong Ruisheng, deputy to the NPC, asked for at least one physical education class per day for primary school students, which, if implemented by law, would be more effective than merely suggesting the amount of physical exercise per day.

Issues such as tobacco control, privacy of health information and food safety were also discussed.

Lawmakers also discussed a draft of China's first law on soil pollution, which was submitted for its first reading on Friday, when the session opened.

They highlighted the significance of quality agricultural products, risk management and control of polluted farmland, as well as the responsibilities of local governments.

The session of the NPC Standing Committee is scheduled to close on Wednesday.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 01:02:56|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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WASHINGTON, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Short-term exposures to air pollution were associated with a higher risk of death in older American adults, even at levels well below current U.S. safety standard, a new study said Tuesday.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, examined health impacts of fine inhalable particles (PM2.5) and ozone, particularly "warm-season ozone," which occurs from April to September.

"We found that the mortality rate increases almost linearly as air pollution increases," Professor Francesca Dominici, co-director of Harvard University Data Science Initiative and senior author of the study, said in a statement. "Any level of air pollution, no matter how low, is harmful to human health."

Under the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), long-term exposures to PM2.5 are considered safe if they average 12 micrograms per cubic meter of air (12 mcg/m3) or less per day over the course of a year, while the 24-hour standard is 35 mcg/m3.

For warm-season ozone, there is no annual standard, but the eight-hour standard is 70 parts per billion (ppb).

The researchers assessed daily air pollution exposures using prediction models that provided accurate estimates of PM2.5 and ozone for most of the United States, including unmonitored areas.

They then linked the air pollution data with mortality data from the entire U.S. Medicare population from 2000 through 2012 living in 39,182 zip codes, or 93 percent of all the zip codes in the United States.

During the 13-year study period, 22 million people in the study population died.

The study found that, for each 10 mcg/m3 daily increase in PM2.5 and 10 ppb daily increase in warm-season ozone, the daily mortality rate increased by 1.05 percent and 0.51 percent, respectively.

"While this may seem a small increase, the public health impact is enormous if it's applied to the whole U.S. population of seniors," said the study authors.

For example, an increase of just 1 mcg/m3 in daily PM2.5 over the course of one summer in the U.S. would lead to 550 extra deaths per year and 7,150 extra deaths over the course of the 13-year study period, they said.

An increase of just 1 ppb in daily ozone over the summer would lead to 250 extra deaths per year or 3,250 extra deaths over 13 years.

A June 2017 study by some of the same Harvard researchers found that long-term exposure to air pollution was linked with an increased risk of premature death, even at levels below the national standards for long-term exposures.

"No matter where you live--in cities, in the suburbs, or in rural areas--as long as you breathe air pollution, you are at risk," said Qian Di, lead author of the study and a PhD student in the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard University.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 02:13:06|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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KIEV, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Ukrainian government said on Tuesday it will step up support for the culture sector in 2018, with a special focus on cinema development.

Next year, Ukraine will increase spending on culture by 52 percent year-on-year to 218 million U.S. dollars, said a statement on the government's website.

Out of the total sum, about 35.8 million dollars will go to the development of cinema industry, the statement said.

In October, the Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman has pledged that in 2018 the government will either finance or co-finance the production of 80 Ukrainian films and other movie projects.

In September, Ukraine signed a framework agreement with China to push forward joint cooperation in film and media industries. The deal, among other things, lays the foundation for the joint production of movies and other media content between the two countries.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 08:34:10|Editor: pengying

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SYDNEY, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Population growth, fueled notably by skilled migrants, is set to help grow Australia into the world's 11th-largest economy in the coming decade, according to a major economic report.

The position is two notches up from Australia's current 13th spot, the London-based economic analysis group Centre for Economics and Business Research highlighted in its latest ranking of the worlds economies released on Tuesday.

Migrants with skills that are in high demand heading to Australia are expected to help boost the economic growth that will increasingly depend less on natural resources, but toward technology and other facets of new global development, the report said.

China is also expected to overtake the U.S. to top the list by 2032, with three out of the four largest economies -- including India and Japan -- being Asian by that time, the center said. Indonesia and South Korea are also ranked in the top 10 largest economies by then.

"The interesting trend emerging is that by 2032 five of the ten largest economies will be in Asia while European economies are falling down the ranking and the USA loses its top spot," the report's co-author and economist Oliver Kolodseike was quoted as saying.

"Technology and urbanization will be important factors transforming the world economy over the next 15 years."

More than 120,000 people were granted Australian skilled migration visas in 2015-2016, making up most of the permanent migrant visas issued, government figures showed.

The outlook on the Australian economy going into the new year is positive, including a business sector in "great shape" and companies "spending, investing and employing," and economic growth "expected to lift from around 2 percent to near 3 percent over 2018," Australian CommSec analysts said in a report earlier this month.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 09:49:22|Editor: Yang Yi

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by Zhu Ruiqing, Jamila Najmuddin

COLOMBO, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Hambantota, located at the south end of Sri Lanka, only 10 nautical miles from the international shipping route in the Indian Ocean, is now racing along a developmental fast-track.

From the foundation stone of the Sri Lanka-China Industrial Zone being laid in Hambantota at the beginning of this year, to the official launch of operations at the Hambantota Port through a Sri Lanka-Sino joint venture at the end of the year, cooperation between Sri Lanka and China in Hambantota has flourished in 2017, with the vision of further developing Hambantota gradually becoming the reality.

PORT: BUILDING, OPERATING IN UNION

On the construction site of the almost-finished second phase of the Hambantota Port, gantry portal cranes and some other port facilities raise their heads upwards to the sky.

Liu Zhaohui, the Assistance Project Manager from China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd. (CHEC) said, "we had finished all the civil engineering of the project by Nov. 2015 and most of the handling facilities will have been delivered to the project site within this year. Only two bunkering barges will be remaining, by mid-May next year, and the second phase will be entirely completed."

On Dec. 9, Sri Lanka and China officially launched the operations at the Hambantota Port through a joint venture between Sri Lanka Ports Authority and China Merchant Port Holdings.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said on the day of the official launch that, "we have made arrangements for the management and long-term success of the Hambantota Port. The Sri Lankan and Chinese joint venture, which has taken over the management of this port, and its operations, will ensure an additional port in the Indian Ocean."

The Sri Lankan side is highly confident in the future operations of the Hambantota Port, so are the Chinese.

"We are aiming to turn the Hambantota port into a major hub connecting neighboring countries as well as the rest of the world. That is the national vision of Sri Lanka and it is also our mission as an operator," Deputy General Manager of CM Port, Hang Tian, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Hang said, "we strongly believe that the Hambantota Port will play a more important role in Sri Lanka's shipping industry than the Colombo Port, since the former is located closer to the international shipping route. CM Port will apply their advanced experience of running ports in Shenzhen, China, to the Port of Hambantota."

EXPRESSWAY: DIFFICULTIES OVERCOME, GOALS ACCOMPLISHED

Twenty kilometers north of Hambantota, lies the construction site of the fourth section of Sri Lanka's Southern Highway Extension Project. On a daily basis, Sri Lankan and Chinese workers hustle and bustle together to build the highway, while precast beams are piled up on the ground. One after another, bridge piers are being erected with parts of the bridge floor which have already been well laid.

"We have finished half of the overall work this year despite elephants, peacocks and monkeys living in the jungle close to the construction site causing some difficulties to our work," Yang Senyan, the Contractor's Representative of this CHEC project said.

Yang added, "it is clear to us that the wildlife is of great value to both human and nature, therefore, in order to reduce the impact of construction on the local wildlife, we built two special bridges as part of our project, with the space beneath the bridges left for the animals to ramble from one side to the other."

Sixty kilometers west, is the first section of the Southern Highway Extension Project. With mountains, gullies and swamps, the condition of the terrain here is much more complicated than the fourth section of the project.

China National Aero Technology International Holding Corporation's Vice Project Manager, Zhou Yue, explained that the first 13 kilometers of the section traverses the well-known Ellewela flooded area, while the last 17 kilometers is a hilly terrain.

What's more, Sri Lanka's heavy rains this year gravely impacted the project.

Zhou said many of the construction materials and equipment were washed away and the culverts under construction were also severely scoured. The project was forced to be suspended for several days due to the torrential rains.

"However, we quickly adjusted ourselves to the restoration work following the rain. By the end of the year, we have accomplished more than 50 percent of the workload in the project. Even though we ran into many difficulties this year, we have successfully turned the tide," Zhou said.

From Matara to Hambantota, the Southern Highway Extension Project is divided into four sections, all contracted to Chinese companies.

The Sri Lankan Road Development Authority's senior Project Director of the Southern Highway Extension Project, R. M. Gamini, told Xinhua that the construction of the Hambantota Highway was progressing well and they hoped to finish it by the end of 2019.

He said this Highway would connect many parts of the country such as the Eastern Province, the Uva Province and even other Southern districts.

"This Expressway will benefit the local communities as it will ease the movement of goods. The expressway will also help vendors along it to transfer their goods to Colombo within a short period of time and this will improve their livelihoods," Gamini said.

INDUSTRIAL ZONE: FROM HERE TO THE FUTURE

The Port serves as a hub of cooperation between Sri Lanka and China in Hambantota, and the Highway will provide essential infrastructure support for the area.

China and Sri Lanka are also eyeing cooperation on the Industrial and Logistics Zone in Hambantota.

China's Ambassador to Sri Lanka Yi Xianliang told Xinhua, "in the future, China will continue to push forward cooperation with Sri Lanka on the Zone."

In January, the foundation stone of the Sri Lanka-China Logistics and Industrial Zone was laid in Hambantota, and an office for attracting investments for the Zone was established there later in November.

Currently, the CHEC is negotiating with the Sri Lankan government on the development of the Zone, and both parties are now seeking potential investors to join the Zone. More than 30 enterprises have visited the Zone and expressed their willingness.

CHEC's Joint Managing Director of Representative Office in Sri Lanka, Zhang Lianjiu, told Xinhua that more than 10 enterprises have forwarded their Letter of Interest.

The Sri Lankan cabinet has approved the state-run utility, the Ceylon Electricity Board to jointly develop a 400-megawatt liquefied natural gas power plant in the Zone with the China Machinery Engineering Corporation.

According to the proposal, the Sri Lanka-China Industrial and Logistics Zone, covering an area of 50 square kilometers, will not only provide basic shipping services, but also embark on port-related industries, such as refining and sea-product processing industries.

Sri Lankan Ports and Shipping Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe believes with the Port of Hambantota being the start of Sri Lanka-Sino cooperation in the region, a promising future lies in the Zone.

"There will be several industrial zones in the Hambantota district as well as other selected districts where we are expecting Chinese companies to set up, invest and contribute further," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 10:04:26|Editor: pengying

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MOSCOW, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Tuesday it is "inadmissible" that Washington heightened tension on the Korean Peninsula with "aggressive rhetoric" and military buildup.

Lavrov made the remarks during a phone conversation with Tillerson, according to a press release of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The two sides believe that Pyongyang's nuclear missile development violated the requirements of the United Nations Security Council, it said, underscoring the need for "an early transition from words of sanctions to a negotiation process."

During the phone call, the two top diplomats also considered steps to overcome the conflicts in Syria while maintaining its territorial integrity, including the plan to hold an inter-Syrian national dialogue in Russia's Sochi.

They also agreed to intensify dialogue on issues concerning strategic stability and to remain in close contact.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 10:04:26|Editor: Yamei

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Iraqi armored vehicles take part in a parade in Mosul, Iraq on Dec. 14, 2017. Ninevah Operation Command of the Iraqi military on Thursday paraded in Mosul to celebrate the full liberation of Iraqi lands of the Islamic State (IS) group. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood)

BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- After three years of fighting, the ground war against the Islamic State (IS) is coming to an end. However, the long-simmering rivalry between global and regional powers in the Middle East now threatens to spill over from war-torn countries and further divide the region.

By recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, the United States earlier this month sparked a new wave of hostility in the region, which is already witness to clashes between the Sunni and Shiite sects of Islam.

Regional and global rivals are exploiting every opportunity to enhance their standing across the Middle East in the post-IS era and dislodge those endangering their interests, which makes it difficult to achieve a win-win result.

SHAKY PEACE

Russia, Turkey and Iran, key stakeholders and power brokers in the region, this month agreed on holding Syrian peace talks in Russia's Black Sea resort Sochi in late January after previous attempts to hold such a conference bringing together both the Syrian government and the opposition parties collapsed.

Osama Danura, a Syrian political expert, said toppling any regime due to foreign interests will not produce peace on the ground but negotiations can.

"Cooperation between Russia, Turkey and Iran has proven to be influential in terms of linking politics with the military situation on the ground," Danura said. "They have succeeded (in establishing a) ceasefire and de-escalation zones in Syria because (they) are directly involved in the Syrian crisis."

After confronting Washington in the past six years by supporting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Moscow is now working to reach out to Turkey, a NATO member, to resolve the crisis.

However, the United States and Saudi Arabia are not happy at the increasingly closer ties among the three countries.

"Riyadh doesn't want to see a growing influence of Turkey as Ankara supports the Muslim Brotherhood," a pan-Arab group Saudi Arabia has designated a terrorist organization, Danura said.

"Saudi Arabia also hates to see (greater) Iranian sway in the region, which explains its support to the rebels in Syria," he added.

While Washington would not be happy to see a Turkish shift toward the east, such as forming an alliance with Russia, it knows that Turkey has a recorded history of standing on the U.S. side and any current shift is only temporary, the expert said.

TRIGGER FOR NEW CRISIS

In a region already filled with conflicts, including a sectarian one between Iran and Saudi Arabia, the Kurdish independence movement may provide another excuse for regional and international powers to intervene.

The Kurds, most of whom live in Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria, have been consolidating their territory during battles with the IS as a step to statehood, a goal they have been pursuing since a century ago. It is also a goal seen by the four countries, especially Turkey, as an imminent threat to their own territorial integrity.

"Turkey and Iran share a similar goal -- to prevent the establishment of an independent Kurdish state on their common border, as well as fighting Kurdish insurgent parties which they believe have bases in the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq and Syria," Iraqi political analyst Nadhim al-Jubouri said.

In September, the Kurdish autonomous region in Iraq held a referendum with more than 90 percent votes cast in favor of independence. The result angered Baghdad and almost all stakeholders in the Middle East that want to maintain the balance of power.

"There are catastrophic consequences for the Kurdish region after the referendum as the Kurds lost much of their gains ... since 1991," said Ibrahim al-Ameri, a political analyst in Iraq. One of the losses was the resignation of Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani in November 2017.

Fearing that the separatist sentiment of the Kurds in Syria could infiltrate Turkey, inspiring millions of Kurds living there to seek independence, Ankara is striving to address the problem and protect its territorial integrity in the post-IS period.

Russia, on the other hand, has delicately kept the balance of power with various countries and factions by fostering peace talks, obtaining as much support as possible to cement its interest in the region.

According to Danura, given Washington's stance against the Kurdish independence referendum in Iraq, it will possibly give up on the Kurds in Syria in exchange for broad interests or any chance to spoil the plans of its rivals, especially Russia and Iran.

BALANCE OF POWER

Since U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in in January, he has threatened to scrap a nuclear deal struck between Iran and six world powers, including his own country, though the pact is widely seen as being conducive to regional peace and stability.

Trump made an unexpected decision to pick Saudi Arabia and Israel as his first overseas visit destinations after assuming presidency, revealing his ambition to improve Israel-Arab relations to forge an alliance against Iran.

However, his controversial decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital may jeopardize the interests of his allies and further endanger the balance of power in the region.

Closer and more open coordination between Israel and Saudi Arabia can be seen as a signal of increasing military pressure over the proxies of Iran throughout the Middle East, said Mehmet Akif Okur, a professor with Yildiz Technical University in Turkey.

"The perspective of Israel is clear. It sees Iran and its proxies (as) a threat of priority. Saudi Arabia shares the same feelings. In this context, Turkey may take a stand open to changeable positions, on an issue-by-issue basis," he added.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 10:09:27|Editor: pengying

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AMMAN, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Japan will not relocate its embassy from Israel's Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said here Tuesday.

In talks with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, the Japanese official said that Japan considers Jerusalem as one of the final status issues that need to be settled through direct negotiations.

The Japanese official reiterated Japan's support for the two-state solution and the need to reactivate efforts in this regard.

He also voiced appreciation for Jordan's efforts to attain peace in the Middle East.

Safadi said Jordan welcomed Japan's role in addressing regional crises and its support for peacemaking efforts.

U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to relocate the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem violates the international law and United Nations resolutions, said the Jordanian official, stressing Jordan's efforts to find a solution following the decision.

Safadi called for intensified efforts on an international level to facilitate the two-state solution that ensures the creation of an independent state of Palestine on the basis of the 1967 borders with east Jerusalem as its capital.

In 1967, Israel took over East Jerusalem from Jordan and declared the whole city as its "eternal indivisible capital" in 1980. However, it has not been recognized by the international community.

Also on Tuesday, Jordanian Prime Minister Hani Mulki said during his meeting with the visiting Japanese foreign minister that Trump's decision was void and null and in contradiction with the international law.

He added that the Palestinian issue was a central issue in the Middle East.

Japan's support for Jordan, which hosts more than 1.3 million Syrian refugees, was also discussed.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 10:34:35|Editor: Lifang

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YANGON, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar local authorities extended the curfew order in Maungtaw, a sensitive area of conflict in the northern part of Rakhine state, for another two months to ensure further security, stability and rule of law, Myanmar News Agency quoted the Maungtaw District General Administration Department as reporting Wednesday.

The order, which has taken effect from Monday, continues to ban assembly of more than five persons and going outside from dusk to dawn between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m local time.

The original curfew order was imposed shortly after the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) extremist terrorists launched coordinated attacks on police outposts in Maungtaw on Aug. 25, displacing residents from a number of areas in Maungtaw area.

Meanwhile, all displaced people taking shelter in Sittway, capital of Myanmar's Rakhine state, have returned homes as the situation in the state has returned to normal.

The local authorities are allocating land to those who lost their homes in the conflicts and provide food and security to all communities in the area.

Under the program of the Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development (UEHRD), formed with State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi as Chairperson, construction of the infrastructures in northern Rakhine including buildings, roads, water and electricity supply have been underway since November.
Bao Bao is having her 4-year-old birthday cake at the Dujiangyan base of the China Panda Conservation and Research Center.(XINHUA/Yang Di)

By Zou Wenyong, panda keeper at the Dujiangyan base of the China Panda Conservation and Research Center

American-born giant panda Bao Bao has been living in the Dujiangyan base of the China Panda Conservation and Research Center in southwest China's Sichuan since her return from America on Feb.22. Like other giant pandas that were born and raised overseas, Bao Bao has had trouble adjusting to her new surroundings. The Keeper's diary follows Bao Bao's new life in Sichuan.



March 24, 2017 Cloudy Going back in time

Bao Bao is put in the enclosure that used to house her grandfather Pan Pan. A family reunion meant to be, sadly. Pan Pan died just last month when his granddaughter was isolated in quarantine.



When she first arrived, Bao Bao seemed a little bit nervous in her family's old home, walking, gazing and sniffing around. But after 20 minutes, she began to calm, even eating some carrots and bamboo shoots. Now she's settled. It's time for her to meet fans and reporters who had been waiting for her.



Lively young pandas like Bao Bao require the breeder's constant, careful attention. I'm going to have my hands full with this one!



April 6, 2017 Cloudy Adaption to Chinese Intonation and Food

It's been a month, and Bao Bao still isn't over her jet lag, dashing and rolling around at midnight sleeping through the day. Right now her top priority is to get used to the Chinese time zone, Chinese commands and Chinese food.



To help her get familiar with my voice and smell, I feed her chopped carrots, apples and bamboo shoots strip by strip, keeping eye contact with her, talking with her and touching her nose occasionally. I tried giving her some wotou' (steamed bread made from corn and sorghum), but bamboo is still her favorite.



May 3, 2017 Sunny Interaction with Brother Tai Shan

Bao Bao's brother Tai Shan, who was also born in the United States, has been in Chengdu since 2010. He just returned from the Ya'an base, to meet his sister for the first time. Bao Bao hung around for a while, I wonder if she recognized her family's smell?

To encourage Bao Bao's development, we put toys out for her. But her favorite activity seems to be gazing at her reflection in the window. As she gains interest in the toys during the day, I've started to see her body clock return to normal. No more nocturnal panda!



August 23, 2017 Sunny Happy birthday Bao Bao!

Bao Bao turns 4 today!

This is the first time she has celebrated her birthday in her homeland, Sichuan. We have made a bamboo birthday cake for her.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 12:59:58|Editor: Yang Yi

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RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Rio de Janeiro's tourism sector is expected to start 2018 with good figures, with 2.7 million tourists arriving to spend the New Year holiday in the city.

The New Year holiday is the most crowded season for the city. The city's tourism authorities expected the tourists to bring 2 billion reals (604 million U.S. dollars) to the city, but foresaw about 80 percent of them will be Brazilians.

So far, the occupation rate of hotels in the second largest city of Brazil has already been 80 percent, up from 70 percent in the same period last year.

According to local news website G1, good figures have been registered in both the cheap and expensive accommodation options, as the city offers both hostels with prices below 100 U.S. dollars a night and luxury hotels with daily rates surpassing 5,000 U.S. dollars.

Rio de Janeiro traditionally hosts the most spectacular New Year events in Brazil. This year, there will be eight stages spread over the city's beaches to present all sorts of music concerts.

The fireworks show is expected to last 17 minutes, five minutes more than those in 2016.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 13:25:01|Editor: pengying

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WASHINGTON, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- The nearly two-century-old iconic magnolia tree standing by the South Portico of the White House is scheduled to be cut down later this week, CNN reported Tuesday.

"The overall architecture and structure of the tree is greatly compromised and the tree is completely dependent on the artificial support," said specialists at the U.S. National Arboretum in a statement obtained by CNN.

"Without the extensive cabling system, the tree would have fallen years ago," they said, adding that its trunk is too delicate for further interventions.

The final decision to bring down the tree was made by first lady Melania Trump after she consulted a wide range of professional information and historic documents.

But the wood from the tree will be preserved, the first lady's communications director Stephanie Grisham told CNN.

The magnolia, with its enormous canopy extending beyond the second floor of the White House, was first planted by former U.S. President Andrew Jackson to commemorate his wife Rachel, and it has witnessed the ups and downs of 39 presidencies and many state ceremonies.

CNN has learned that another magnolia, born directly from the original's healthy branches, will soon be planted in its place, for history to live on.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 13:30:05|Editor: pengying

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PHNOM PENH, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia exported products worth 9.5 billion U.S. dollars under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) in 2017, up 19 percent from 8 billion U.S. dollars in 2016, according to a Commerce Ministry's annual report on Wednesday.

The country's export from its 11 special economic zones was valued at 1.19 billion U.S. dollars this year, up 12 percent from 1.06 billion U.S. dollars last year, the report said.

In its status as a Least Developed Country, Cambodia has received GSP from many countries which allow its products to be exported to their markets with reduced tariffs or duty-free.

Ouk Ty, director of the Commerce Ministry's administration and finance department, said Cambodian products, mostly garment and footwear, have been shipped to Europe, the United States, Canada, and some Asian countries including China and Japan.

"In sum, the 2017 export has remarkably increased if compared to that in 2016," he said during the Commerce Ministry's annual meeting.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 13:40:08|Editor: pengying

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PHNOM PENH, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen on Wednesday expressed his deepest sympathy to the Philippines over the heavy casualties and property damage caused by tropical storm Tembin that ripped through parts of southern Philippines in the past few days.

"On behalf of the Cambodian government and people and in my own name, I'd like to extend my heartfelt sympathies and profound condolences to the government and people of the Philippines for the great loss from this natural disaster," he said in a speech during a get-together with about 14,000 garment factory workers in the southwestern Phnom Penh suburb.

The prime minister believed that under the leadership of the Philippine government, its people would overcome this natural disaster and rebuild their nation.

Tropical storm Tembin started lashing parts of Mindanao in the southern Philippines last Friday and triggered massive flash flooding and mudslides, leaving more than 300 people dead or missing and 70,000 people homeless.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 13:45:12|Editor: pengying

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NEW DELHI, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- At least six children were killed and three were rescued after a boat capsized in southern India, police said Wednesday.

The boat capsized late Tuesday in backwaters near Ponnani Kole in Malappuram district, about 359 km north of Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala state.

"Last evening a boat carrying nine people capsized here, following which six children drowned. Three people including the owner of the boat were rescued and immediately hospitalized," a police official posted in Malappuram told Xinhua, adding that "the children had come on a vacation to stay with their relatives."

Officials said the condition of the boat owner was stated to be critical.

Reports said the boat capsized 200 meters off the banks. Following the accident authorities pressed in rescue boats and divers and fished out six bodies.

Police said the deceased included four girls and two boys, aged between four and 18 years.

Local government officials have ordered a probe into the incident.

Boat capsizing tragedies are not unusual in India, mainly because of overloading.

Last month 19 people drowned after a boat capsized in Andhra Pradesh.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 14:15:19|Editor: pengying

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XINING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- China's largest inland salt lake contained around 80,000 tonnes of naked carp in 2017, 30 times the number in 2002, according to local authorities Wednesday.

"Qinghai Lake has seen a 14-percent annual growth of naked carp stock this year," said Wang Hai, head of the fishing bureau of northwest China's Qinghai Province.

Owing to over-fishing and environmental deterioration, the population of naked carp sharply declined in the 1960s and 1970s.

In order to protect the species and restore the Qinghai Lake environment, the province banned naked carp fishing at the lake in 2001, following a series of temporary prohibitions from the 1980s onward.

More than 94 million artificially-bred fry have been released into the lake since 2002 to preserve the rare species. There has also been a crackdown on the illegal fishing, selling and processing of the fish.

The naked carp is endemic to Qinghai Lake, which is classified as endangered and on the China Species Red List.

The fish are critical not only to the existence of local bird species, but to the whole ecological balance of the highland lake.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 15:05:28|Editor: Yurou

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SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- South Korea on Wednesday confirmed the existence of secret agreement with Japan in the 2015 deal between the two countries over the sexual slavery victims of South Korea who were forced into sex enslavement for Japanese military brothels during World War II.

The task force team under Seoul's foreign ministry announced a review result on the deal with Japan, reached on Dec. 28, 2015 under the previous South Korean government to reach a "final and irreversible" agreement on comfort women victims.

Comfort women refers to the Korean women who were kidnapped, coerced or duped into sex servitude for Japan's Imperial Army during the Pacific War. Historians say up to 200,000 girls and young women fell victim to the war crime against humanity.

The review result said some of the bilateral agreements was not disclosed to the general public, noting that Japan demanded South Korea persuade civic groups supporting the sex slavery victims to accept the 2015 deal.

Then South Korean government under impeached President Park Geun-hye promised to make efforts at persuading the advocacy groups for the victims, actually accepting the Japanese side's demand, the task force team said.

The South Korean victims harshly protested against the deal after foreign ministers of the two countries announced it. Under the deal, Japan vowed to provide 1 billion yen (about 9 million U.S. dollars) for a foundation dedicated to supporting the sex slavery victims in return for South Korea's final and irreversible agreement to the wartime atrocity.

The victims said the Japanese government had yet to take its legal responsibility and make its sincere apology for the wartime brutality, demanding the annulment of the 2015 deal.

The new South Korean government under President Moon Jae-in who took office in May, said the 2015 deal was not "emotionally" acceptable to ordinary South Koreans, ordering a review of the whole procedure in reaching the agreement.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 15:15:29|Editor: liuxin

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BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- China has sold over 50 million domestically manufactured chips connected to the BeiDou navigation and positioning system in the past five years.

The chips have been downsized to their smallest size at 28 nanometers, down from the previous 0.35 micrometers, and the cheapest are priced at only 6 yuan (0.9 U.S. dollars) each, said Ran Chengqi, a BeiDou spokesperson, at a press conference Wednesday.

He said the performances of the China-made chips were as good as or better than similar products made in other countries.

Ran said China could not manufacture a single chip connected to the BeiDou system five years ago, but now China-made chips have realized scale application in the country.

"High-accuracy OEM boards and receiver antenna made in China now account for 30 and 90 percent of the domestic market, respectively," Ran said.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (L) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attend a joint press conference in Moscow, Russia, on April 12, 2017. (Xinhua/Bai Xueqi)

MOSCOW, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Tuesday it is "inadmissible" that Washington heightened tension on the Korean Peninsula with "aggressive rhetoric" and military buildup.

Lavrov made the remarks during a phone conversation with Tillerson, according to a press release of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The two sides believe that Pyongyang's nuclear missile development violated the requirements of the United Nations Security Council, it said, underscoring the need for "an early transition from words of sanctions to a negotiation process."

During the phone call, the two top diplomats also considered steps to overcome the conflicts in Syria while maintaining its territorial integrity, including the plan to hold an inter-Syrian national dialogue in Russia's Sochi.

They also agreed to intensify dialogue on issues concerning strategic stability and to remain in close contact.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 15:45:36|Editor: Yurou

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MOSCOW, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Russia will deploy a naval unit permanently in the eastern Mediterranean after the military operation in Syria ends, a top Russian military official said Wednesday.

"We will not withdraw... Our group of vessels is permanently operating in the Mediterranean now," Chief of General Staff of Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov told the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper.

Earlier, Russia had pulled out most of its troops from Syria, keeping only the Hmeymim airbase and the Tartus naval base there.

The Tartus naval base in northwestern Syria, established in 1977, is currently Russia's sole support facility in the Mediterranean.

In January, Syria agreed to let Russia keep its naval facility in Tartus for at least 49 years, and expand and overhaul the maintenance infrastructure there.

Russia is allowed to deploy up to 11 warships, including nuclear-powered combat vessels, in the Tartus base.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 15:55:37|Editor: liuxin

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BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- China is working to have its BeiDou navigation and positioning system included in the International Civil Aviation Organization and other international systems.

The effort aims to make BeiDou more international and support completion of the BeiDou global system network, according to Peng Siyi, who is in charge of the Ministry of Transport's comprehensive planning department.

The system has already been recognized by the International Maritime Organization and the International Satellite System for Search and Rescue, Peng said at a press conference Wednesday.

He said the system is now compatible with the Global Positioning System of the United States, and that users of either one of the systems could use the other without much extra cost.

Peng said he was optimistic that the BeiDou system would eventually be compatible with all other positioning systems, but it still had a long way to go to cover the entire globe.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 15:55:37|Editor: Yurou

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MOSCOW, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Sergey Chemezov, chief executive officer of Russia's hi-tech giant Rostec Corporation confirmed that Turkey has purchased four Russian S-400 missile defense systems worth 2.5 billion U.S. dollars, local media reported Wednesday.

Chemezov also confirmed that the deliveries will start in March 2020.

Turkey will pay a 45-percent advance while the rest will be covered by Russian loan funds, he added.

The S-400, Russia's most advanced long-range anti-aircraft missile system, can carry three types of missiles, including ballistic and cruise missiles.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 16:05:39|Editor: Yurou

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SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- South Korea on Wednesday confirmed the existence of a secret deal with Japan in the 2015 agreement between the two countries over the sexual slavery victims of South Korea who were forced into sex enslavement for Japanese military brothels during World War II.

Then South Korean government under ousted President Park Geun-hye agreed with the Japanese government led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to persuade South Korean civic groups supporting the victims to accept the 2015 deal and agreed not to assist the erection of a so-called "girl statue" symbolizing the young victims of sex servitude.

The secret deal was not made known to the general public when then foreign ministers of the two countries announced the agreement in Seoul, which was reached on Dec. 28, 2015, a task force team under South Korea's foreign minister said in a 31-page report.

According to the report, the Japanese side demanded South Korea persuade the advocacy groups for the victims to accept the agreement. Then South Korean government pledged to make efforts to prod the groups into actually accepting Japan's demand.

The Japanese side also demanded South Korea not use the word "sex slave." The South Korean side said it used the word "comfort women" in the past, also actually accepting Japan's demand, the report showed.

Comfort women euphemistically refers to the women who were kidnapped, coerced or duped into sexual servitude for Japan's Imperial Army during WWII. Historians say up to 200,000 girls and young women fell victim to the war crime against humanity.

The Japanese side also asked South Korea to remove the girl statue erected outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul. Then South Korean government replied that it will make efforts to appropriately resolve that issue.

The girl statue, which symbolizes the comfort women, was placed in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul in December 2011 to mark the 1,000th rally demanding Japan's sincere apology and legal responsibility for the wartime atrocity.

Surviving South Korean victims and peace activists have held rally outside the Japanese embassy for more than two decades.

South Korea's governments had maintained a position that it has no right to move the girl statue as it was funded and placed by private citizens voluntarily, but the Park Geun-hye administration agreed with Japan on efforts to remove the girl statue, the task force team said.

The Park government also lacked communications with the victims and failed to get understanding and agreement from the victims, the report said, noting that the 2015 agreement was reached from the government's perspective.

Under the 2015 deal, South Korea and Japan reached a "final and irreversible" agreement on comfort women issues. In return for it, Japan vowed to provide 1 billion yen (about 9 million U.S. dollars) for a foundation dedicated to supporting the sex slavery victims.

The victims harshly protested against it, saying the Japanese government had yet to take its legal responsibility and make a sincere apology for the wartime brutality, and demanded the annulment of the pact.

The new South Korean government under President Moon Jae-in who took office in May said the 2015 deal was not "emotionally" acceptable to South Koreans, ordering a review of the whole procedure in reaching the agreement.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 16:10:42|Editor: Yurou

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NEW DELHI, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- India's northern hilly state Himachal Pradesh got Jairam Thakur as its new chief minister on Wednesday.

His swearing-in ceremony took place in state capital Shimla, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president Amit Shah, and a host of other senior party leaders.

Besides Thakur, 11 other ministers also took oath of office and secrecy from state Governor Acharya Devvrat.

In the state election held earlier this month, the BJP won 44 seats in the 68-member state assembly, thereby replacing the erstwhile Congress government.

Thakur, 52, is a five-time state legislator from the BJP. He emerged as the unanimous choice of his party for the post, after chief ministerial candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal lost the election.

He is the 14th chief minister of Himachal Pradesh, a state famous for picturesque tourist destinations.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 16:10:42|Editor: Yurou

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DOHA, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Qatar announced that more Turkish troops had arrived at a military base in Doha, Qatar News Agency reported Wednesday morning.

A statement released by Qatar's Ministry of Defence said this new batch includes elements of the Turkish Joint Forces Command.

The move came according to the joint defence agreement signed between Qatar and Turkey in 2014, which had been started to activate its terms on June 2017, especially after the eruption of the ''Gulf crisis.''

The report said that the new batch will begin military exercises with the Qatari armed forces to increase joint military capabilities.

Ankara has backed Qatar after Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain have diplomatically isolated Qatar. The blockading countries accused Doha of supporting Islamist extremists and of being too close to Iran, Riyadh's arch-rival.

Qatar which is home to the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East with roughly 10,000 personnel, has vehemently denied all charges by Saudi-led blockading countries.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 16:30:53|Editor: Yamei

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U.S. President Donald Trump waves as he leaves the White House en route to Mar-a-lago Estate in Florida after signing the tax cut bill into law in Washington D.C., the United States, on Dec. 22, 2017. U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday signed a 1.5-trillion-dollar tax cut bill into law, as well as a spending bill to keep the federal government running through January 19, 2018. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

By Matthew Rusling

WASHINGTON, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- At the end of 2017, topping the list of U.S. President Donald Trump's achievements is the tax overhaul that Congress passed just before the year's end, while the biggest failure is his inability to repeal the controversial healthcare laws, experts said.

TAX-CUT BILL PRAISED

Trump has dominated the news this year like no other president in American's recent memory. He has grabbed headlines with his bombastic remarks and frequent social media posts, an ongoing scandal over the White House's ties with Russia, among others.

Before wrapping up his first calendar year in office, the president passed a major tax overhaul -- the biggest change in the nation's tax system in three decades. He has claimed on various occasions that his plan, in addition to harnessing economic growth, gives incentives to U.S. corporations to return home.

Supporters say it will not only lift the economy and encourage investment in the United States, but also boost markets and spur companies to create jobs.

The tax bill comes at a time when the United States has one of the world's highest corporate tax rates. Statistics from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), a group of advanced economies, show that the top corporate tax rate in the United States, a combination of federal, state and local taxes, was at 39 percent this year -- well above that in other OECD member countries.

"I think the business-side reforms are pro-growth and should boost investment and wages," Aparna Mathur, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, told Xinhua.

The bill also has political value for Trump, some experts pointed out.

"Trump's tax cut bill will also starve the government of money and make it much more difficult for Democrats to propose new programs," said Darrell West, a senior fellow at Brookings Institution.

However, critics say it's the wealthy who will witness the biggest tax cuts; the middle class will see comparatively fewer benefits.

Others say the cuts will boost growth, investment and wages, but at the same time are concerned that the bill will add to the nation's deficit.

FAILURE TO REPEAL OBAMACARE

While cutting taxes was Trump's biggest achievement in 2017, he was unable to repeal and replace the healthcare overhaul by his predecessor Barack Obama, known as Obamacare. The law is deeply unpopular with Trump's base, and marks his biggest legislative failure this year.

"Republicans campaigned for years on that issue but did not have the votes to get rid of it. That has been very upsetting to the conservative base and has led to negative press coverage of the president," West said.

The party's inability to replace Obamacare underscored deep divisions internally, Dan Mahaffee, senior vice president and director of policy at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, told Xinhua.

Indeed, Trump has been embroiled in a major spat with members of his own party this year, in particular with longtime senator and 2008 presidential contender John McCain.

The split widened in September and tensions began to simmer when McCain refused to back Trump's healthcare legislation, which would have repealed and replaced Obamacare.

That caused the legislation to derail, and sent the president into writing a flurry of angry social media posts aimed at McCain. Trump also said in a radio interview that McCain's actions were a "slap in the face" to the GOP.

TOUGH YEAR AHEAD

While Trump has been able to pass the tax bill with relative ease, experts say his next legislative battle -- likely a massive infrastructure bill -- won't be so easy.

It remains unknown whether the president will be able to make good on the myriad promises he made on the campaign trail. While Trump was able to unify the GOP on the tax bill, he will likely have to tread muddy waters in his next legislative battle.

The next legislation will be difficult, Gregory R. Valliere, chief strategist at Horizon Investments, told Xinhua, emphasizing the challenges that lie ahead of the president.

No one can figure out how to pay for infrastructure, there is little support for entitlement reform, and there will be a huge budget fight in January, he said.

To complicate matters, many Republicans may abandon him once they get the tax cuts they want, Valliere added.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 16:51:02|Editor: Yurou

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SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's independent counsel on Wednesday sought 12 years in prison for Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong in an appeals court for bribery charges.

Special Prosecutor Park Young-soo asked a Seoul appellate court to sentence Lee, heir apparent of Samsung Group, the country's biggest family-controlled conglomerate, to 12 years in jail.

It was the identical sentence demanded by the independent counsel in the fist trial. Lee has been taken into custody and was sentenced in August to five years behind the bars.

The special prosecutor said the case involving the Samsung heir was the prototype of collusive ties between political power and businessmen, claiming that Lee offered bribes to impeached President Park Geun-hye and her longtime confidante in return for getting assistance to inherit management control from his ailing father Lee Kun-hee.

Park and her friend Choi Soon-sil have been identified as criminal accomplice for multiple charges such as abuse of power and bribery. The first trial of them had yet to be completed.

Meanwhile, the special prosecutor demanded 10 years in prison for four other Samsung executives and seven-year imprisonment for another Samsung executive for their involvement in the bribery charges.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 17:11:08|Editor: Liangyu

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BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- The current Taiwan authorities have attempted to interfere with and prevent cross-Strait communication and such activities go against the will of the people, said a Chinese mainland spokesperson Wednesday.

An Fengshan, spokesperson with the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, made the remarks at a press conference Wednesday, when commenting on the current Taiwan authorities' decision to reject Taiwan-based Kuomintang (KMT) Party Vice Chairman Tseng Yung-chuan's application to visit the mainland.

"The current Taiwan authorities restrain themselves from communicating with the mainland, and also deprive others of their right to communication," An said.

The Communist Party of China and the KMT have increased cooperation on the common political foundation of adhering to the 1992 Consensus and opposing "Taiwan independence." "Such cooperation is conducive to maintaining cross-Strait peace and stability, and promoting the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations."

An said that the mainland has issued 2.69 million travel permit cards for Taiwan residents since 2015 and would develop more convenient functions for permit cards.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 17:21:10|Editor: Liangyu

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by Xinhua writer Wang Jinye

MEXICO CITY, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- In 2017, Latin American economies have shown signs of recovery and growth, thanks to their look-to-the-east approach, or seeking synergy in development plans with China, which has maintained dialogue and trade cooperation with the region despite rising threat of protectionism and isolationism.

DEVELOPMENT SYNERGY

An Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) report said in 2017 Latin American and Caribbean exports will register a 13-percent increase, thanks to greater shipments to China.

The rise reflects a 30-percent upturn in exports to China amid a recovery in the price of raw materials and growing demand, the report said.

Currently, China is a major trade partner and an important source of investment for Latin America, as many Latin American countries have sought synergy with China in development strategies.

The relatively unitary economic structure of the region and its lagging infrastructure have been improved by the interactions.

The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, which proposes better infrastructure, trade and people-to-people exchanges between Asia, Europe and Africa, has been welcomed by Latin America. The region will be a natural extension of the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road, a component of the initiative along with the Silk Road Economic Belt.

In May, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and Argentine President Mauricio Macri traveled to China to take part in the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing.

At the event, Macri said the initiative will boost connectivity between China, Argentina and the rest of the world.

IDB head Luis Alberto Moreno said the initiative will play a key role in promoting China-Latin America cooperation.

Chinese companies have built hydroelectric plants and solar projects, laid down high-voltage transmission lines, and erected highways and bridges.

Trains, vehicles, electric buses, mobile phones and air conditioners manufactured in China, online sales services offered by Chinese firms, as well as everyday products made in China have facilitated daily life in Latin America.

FRIENDS DESPITE DISTANCE

A report by the Pew Research Center in August says that Latin Americans, especially Mexicans, Chileans, Peruvians and Argentinians, see China in a more favorable view.

Based on the principles of equality and mutual benefit, the strategic cooperation between China and Latin America has advanced and is multifaceted.

People-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and Latin America have also seen vigorous development.

Today, there are 39 Confucius Institutes and Confucius classrooms in 20 countries in the region, showcasing Chinese language and culture. Chinese is taught in many schools in Brazil, Chile and Costa Rica.

Latin America's interest in the Chinese language and culture is rising.

Tomas Alcocer Gonzalez is a face of China-Mexico cultural cooperation. The Mexican doctor learned acupuncture in Beijing and since then has been treating patients in Mexico with the branch of low-cost and holistic traditional Chinese medicine for over 30 years.

Argentine artist Martin Mazia has found his calling in Chinese painting and calligraphy, after his first fascinated acquaintance with the art forms more than two decades ago.

Now he gives classes in calligraphy and Chinese painting at the Confucius Institute at the University of Buenos Aires and also in Medellin, Colombia, where he lived for 10 years.

POINTERS FROM CHINESE EXPERIENCE

Latin America is also following the Chinese plan for development.

Javier Miranda, president of the Broad Front party of Uruguay, said the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in October indicated the direction of China's development and will exercise a profound influence in Latin America as well as the rest of the world.

Miranda said he saw firsthand the enormous successes gained by the CPC during his visit to China in April.

Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela, who also visited China this year, took note of the people-centered policies of the National Congress and China's great achievements in social and economic development and poverty alleviation.

Panama is ready to be an important friend of China in Latin America, he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 17:31:13|Editor: Liangyu

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NEW DELHI, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Indian authorities have ordered a probe after 32 cataract patients were operated upon at a government hospital in Uttar Pradesh state in torchlight.

The operations were carried out under the light of two torches by a team of doctors at the hospital in Nawabganj in the state's Unnao district during a 12-hour power outage Monday.

Fortunately, there have been no reports of any patient losing eyesight after the operation.

Officials said on Wednesday that the district's top health official has been transferred for giving permission for the operations and a doctor suspended for negligence and violation of norms.

"This is height of negligence. A probe is on and no one will be spared," Unnao's district magistrate Ravi Kumar told the media.

Many rural areas in Uttar Pradesh reportedly get only 12 hours of electricity daily.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 17:41:16|Editor: Yamei

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An Fengshan, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council (Xinhua photo)

BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- It is futile for Taiwan to use military force to resist reunification, given the widening strength gap between the island and the Chinese mainland, a mainland official said Wednesday.

The way to safeguard peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is to abandon "Taiwan independence" and a hostile mentality, said An Fengshan, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, at a press conference.

"Separatist attempts for 'Taiwan independence' in any form will be firmly rejected by people across the Strait and doomed to failure," An said.

Asked about the detention of four officials from the pro-reunification New Party in Taiwan, the spokesman condemned Taiwan authorities for indulging the separatists while suppressing and persecuting those who support peaceful reunification.

Prosecutors in Taiwan took them away and searched their homes on Dec. 18 for alleged violations of the island's security regulations.

An spoke highly of parties and groups in Taiwan that have been upholding the one-China principle and peaceful reunification, saying that realizing the country's complete reunification is the shared aspiration of all Chinese people and in the fundamental interests of the Chinese nation.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 18:11:25|Editor: Yurou

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SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Troops of India and Pakistan Wednesday exchanged heavy fire and targeted each other's positions on Line of Control (LoC), dividing disputed Kashmir, officials said.

The two sides exchanged fire on LoC in frontier Rajouri district, about 222 km southwest of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

The firing continued for couple of hours intermittently, according to an Indian local government official.

Officials said so far no reports of damage or casualty were received from Indian or Pakistani side.

On Monday evening three Pakistani troopers were killed and one wounded in deadly skirmishes between the two sides.

Earlier on Saturday, four Indian army troopers including an officer were killed in similar skirmishes in the district.

Both New Delhi and Islamabad accused each other of resorting to unprovoked firings and violating cease-fire agreements. And both sides maintained that their troops gave befitting reply. The troops of India and Pakistan intermittently exchanged fire on 720 km-long LoC and 198 km IB in disputed Kashmir, despite an agreement in 2003 to observe a cease-fire.

LoC is a de facto border that divides Kashmir into India and Pakistan controlled parts.

Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan, is claimed by both in full. Since their independence from Britain, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 18:16:29|Editor: Yurou

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COLOMBO, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- A team of technical experts from Russia will visit Sri Lanka in January to examine plant quarantine procedures in the island country, the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

The move came after Russia temporarily suspended all tea imports and other agricultural products from Sri Lanka after a beetle was found in one of the tea consignments sent from the island country.

The ban, however, will be lifted from Dec. 30 after successful talks between the two sides.

"During the discussion, the Russian side indicated that they were satisfied with the measures proposed by the Sri Lankan side to ensure the shipping of pest-free plant products consignments to Russia," the ministry said in a statement.

"It was also agreed that a team of technical experts from Russia would visit Sri Lanka in late January or early February next year for familiarization with the current plant quarantine procedure in Sri Lanka," the statement added.

Russian agricultural safety watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor, placed temporary restrictions on imports of all agricultural products from Sri Lanka, including tea from Dec. 18 on, after it found an insect, known as the Khapra beetle, in the packaging of one consignment of tea from Sri Lanka.

Russia is the second largest tea market for Sri Lanka following Iran. Russia imported 143 million U.S. dollars worth of Ceylon Tea in 2016, which was 11.3 percent of Sri Lanka's tea exports.

During talks held in Moscow, the Sri Lankan side indicated that there were no records found since 1978 of this identified pest and this was a probable contamination due to the use of disinfested container.

However, the Sri Lanka side assured that it would take stringent measures to further strengthen the current phytosanitary procedures to avoid any repetition, the statement said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 18:53:26|Editor: liuxin

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Villager Liu Erzhao cleans the toilet at home in Zouping County, east China's Shandong Province, Dec. 24, 2017. By the mid of September, 2017, the County has finished the transformation of pit latrine. Zouping County has set a special fund to boost the development of rural area. Up till now, the county has completed the construction of 65 provincial and municipal model villages and 207 improved villages.(Xinhua/Dong Naide)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 18:46:35|Editor: liuxin

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HANOI, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam has welcomed over 4 million Chinese visitors so far this year, up 48.6 percent against the same period last year, the General Statistics Office said on Wednesday.

Since the beginning of this year, Vietnam has received a total of 12.9 million foreign visitors, up 29.1 percent year-on-year, with the highest growth of 56.4 percent in the number of visitors from South Korea, followed by China (up 48.6 percent) and Russia (32.3 percent).

The biggest-ever increase in international arrivals this year is mainly due to Vietnam's hosting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Year 2017, including the APEC Leaders' Week in November in central Da Nang city, its promotion campaigns and international fairs in China, Australia, Japan, European countries and Southeast Asian nations, and exemption of visas for five Western European countries, said the office.

Of the international arrivals this year, 10.9 million came to Vietnam by air, up 32.1 percent; 1.8 million by road, up 19.5 percent; and 258,800 by sea, down 9.1 percent.

Meanwhile, nearly 9.8 million visitors are from Asia, up 34.4 percent; roughly 1.9 million from Europe, up 16.6 percent; 817,000 from the Americas, mainly from the United States, up 11.1 percent, 420,900 from Oceania, up 14.3 percent, and 35,900 from Africa, up 25.6 percent.

Last year, Vietnam hosted over 10 million international arrivals, including 2.7 million Chinese visitors, posting respective rises of 26 percent and 51.4 percent.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 19:06:39|Editor: Yurou

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YANGON, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- About 1,137 Myanmar migrant workers returned home from Thailand on Tuesday, a day after Christmas, according to the Home Affairs Ministry Wednesday.

They came back through Myawaddy No. 1 Friendship Bridge, HteeKhee, Tanintharyi and Kawthaung border gates respectively.

The return in a single day has brought the total number of returnees since June 29 to 162,621.

Undocumented Myanmar migrant workers have been fleeing back home although Thai authorities had delayed the full enforcement of a new labor law introduced in late June.

The law, which was originally aimed at tackling human trafficking concerns and regulating foreign workers in Thailand, sparked panic and prompted more than 60,000 foreign workers to flee the country, many of them are from Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia.

The influx has overtaxed social agencies and border crossing as border gates restricted the number of crossing to only 100 people a day, causing hardship for many Myanmar migrants to have enough food and lodging while waiting for the border crossing, reports said.

The new decree imposes heavy fine on employers and employees who do not have work permits.

In a bid to solve the problem of undocumented Myanmar migrant workers who are returning home out of fear of the new labor law, authorities of the two countries negotiated on issuing official documents to the workers, the authorities said.

There were about 4 million legal and 1 million illegal Myanmar workers reportedly staying in Thailand.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 19:11:41|Editor: Yurou

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TIRANA, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Albania's Prosecution Office has requested the Central Election Commission to revoke the mandates of two lawmakers for providing false self-declaration, local media reported Wednesday.

Aqif Rakipi from Party for Justice, Integration and Unity, and Gledjon Rahovica from Socialist Movement for Integration, have been under investigation since February 2017, sources from the Prosecution Office said.

The office found that the two lawmakers were convicted for robbery in Italy, after it received their fingerprints from Interpol in Roma.

In February this year, the mandate of another lawmaker, Armando Prenga, was revoked for the same reason.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 19:16:44|Editor: liuxin

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BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Talking about the "China Threat" has long-been a way for confused ideologues to grab attention, but such claims are clearly out of date, indicative of a zero-sum-game attitude and cold war mentality.

Former White House strategist Stephen Bannon was the latest in a long line of people to ramp up the China Threat rhetoric, in a speech at the J-CPAC political summit in Tokyo earlier this month, making groundless accusations based on pure conjecture.

Bannon argued that the United States was now a tributary state of China after decades of acquiescence on China's economic development, and that changes were now taking place as China was being pressed on trade deficit between the two countries.

It is absurd to say that the United States, which has the world's largest GDP, a strong U.S. dollar and considerable influence on the world stage, is a tributary state to any country by economy.

On the contrary, it is the United States that has been taking advantage of its own economic hegemony, and pointing fingers at China's economic interests.

The United States has disregarded WTO rules and refused to drop its "surrogate country approach" in anti-dumping investigations, by labeling China a non-market economy.

As for trade imbalances between China and the United States, the latter should reconsider its trade policy to make full use of its competitive advantage, such as expanding high-tech exports to China.

While the United States has a deficit with China in goods trade, it had a surplus in service trade of 55.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2016, about 40 times that of 2006.

Bannon also called on the United States and its East Asian allies to unify to constrain China's "frightening," "audacious" and "global" ambitions.

By painting China as an imaginary enemy, based on a fabricated China Threat, Bannon's agenda is clear: to unify U.S. allies, undermine China's relations with its neighbors and justify American hegemony.

As western countries have played such a leading role in the economy and technology in recent history, many of their politicians seem to have developed a sense of superiority and seem unwilling to treat certain non-western countries equally.

With a cold war mindset, they have a prejudiced attitude to the socialist politics, ideology and values, and wrongly see China's development as a threat.

China, however, has always followed a path of peaceful development and has never sought hegemony or engaged in expansion.

History has shown that China's development will bring more opportunities to other countries, not threats.

In the past five years, China has contributed a series of plans on international relations, global governance, economic globalization and security cooperation under the framework of "building a community with a shared future for mankind."

Those plans are being translated into action, especially in terms of open cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative.

Nothing can stop China's rejuvenation, but a rising China will not become a threat to world peace and development. China will continue its efforts to contribute to global development and uphold international order.

In addition, China is pushing for a bigger say for developing countries to improve the global governance system against hegemony, unilateralism and power politics.

It is now time for commentators and politicians to face reality, give up the paranoia, attention-seeking and misplaced jingoism, and bring an end to the China Threat mindset.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 19:16:45|Editor: Yurou

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JERUSALEM, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- An Israeli military court convicted on Wednesday a Palestinian youth on charges of murdering three people in a West Bank settlement in July.

The Ofer Military Court found 19-year-old Omar al-Abed guilty of murdering Yosef Salomon, his daughter Chaya and his son Elad in a knife attack in their home in the settlement of Halamish.

He was convicted of three counts of murder, in addition to attempted murder, incitement and stone-throwing.

Al-Abed, a resident of the village of Kobar in the central West Bank, said he carried out the attack "for Al-Aqsa," a mosque and a major holy Muslim compound in East Jerusalem, which was at the center of a Palestinian uprising after Israel installed new metal detectors at the entrance to it.

The Military General Attorney asked the court to punish al-Abed with four life terms, one for each murder and a fourth for the rest of the offenses.

The family of the victims told local media that they demand death penalty for al-Abed.

The Israeli military law allows death sentence but this count has never been used.

Israeli politicians, predominantly hawkish Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, have been urging the enactment of the death sentence against Palestinian attackers.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 19:31:50|Editor: liuxin

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BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Senior Chinese and Afghan military officials agreed Wednesday to strengthen cooperation on anti-terrorism and security.

While meeting Afghan Defense Minister Tariq Shah Bahrami, Xu Qiliang, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, spoke highly of the traditional friendship and effective exchange between the two countries.

Xu said China attaches great importance to bilateral ties and will support Afghanistan in defending its sovereign independence and territorial integrity.

He said China also supports Afghanistan in peace talks and reconstruction.

Bahrami said Afghanistan will firmly stick to the one-China principle and is willing to further cooperate with China in various fields.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 19:46:55|Editor: Yurou

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JAKARTA, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Free zone authority in Batam (Badan Pengusahaan Batam) of Indonesia has given opportunity for foreign investors to own lands on the island, a move aimed at luring foreign investment, an official said on Wednesday.

Lukita Dinarsyah Tuwo, head of Badan Pengusahaan Batam, said that the ownership rights were given for 30 years and it can be extended for 20 years or 30 years.

Lukita said the problem of overlapping land ownership has been well settled in the island situated near Singapore.

"These all aim to smooth flows of investment into the country," he was quoted by Kontan.co.id.

Indonesia obtained credit rating upgrade to investment grade with stable outlook from S&P Global rating in May after the country got similar level of upgrade from Fitch's and moody rating agencies.

The Indonesian government has undertaken a massive improvement in regulation, procedures and incentives in a bid to improve investment climate in the country.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 19:46:56|Editor: Yurou

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COLOMBO, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Sri Lankan police has seized narcotics valued 130,000,000 Sri Lankan rupees (852,800 U.S. dollars) during raids conducted so far this year, a minister said on Wednesday.

Issuing a statement to the media, Law and Order Minister Sagala Ratnayake said the Special Task Force (STF), attached to the police, was deployed to conduct raids against narcotics, and vowed to eradicate the drug menace and the underworld criminal activities from the country as soon as possible.

He added, the 5,385.266 grams of heroin were seized during raids conducted up Wednesday by the STF.

About 303 suspects involved in drug peddling have been arrested by the STF. Besides, the Organized Crimes Prevention Division of the police has also conducted 160 raids and arrested 167 suspects, he said.

The minister said there is a nexus between narcotics peddling and the underworld criminal activities.

"The underworld is operated by some individuals living overseas. We have made plans to arrest and bring them back to be charged. We will continue with our raids," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 19:57:00|Editor: Zhou Xin

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BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson on Wednesday criticised the stance of German Ambassador to China on issues concerning bilateral cyber security consultation.

Hua Chunying was commenting on recent remarks by German Ambassador to China Michael Clauss, at a daily press briefing.

The ambassador allegedly said in a recent interview that in June 2016, Germany and China agreed to establish a consultation mechanism on cyber issues, but up to now such consultation has not been held due to China's lack of sincerity.

Hua said that some of the acts and remarks of the ambassador were not constructive, even wrong.

"China is always open to exchanges and cooperation with Germany in the field of cyber security," said Hua, noting that the two sides conducted thorough exchanges on the issue within the framework of the China-Germany high-level security dialogue in this June.

China has also repeatedly invited the German side to send a delegation to China for cyber consultations, but they never sent it, said Hua.

"It makes no sense that the German side now accuses China of lacking sincerity."

She said that as an ambassador, Clauss should well know the details. China expects the German Embassy in Beijing to be professional and responsible, and do what is conducive to the development and promotion of mutually beneficial cooperation.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 19:57:01|Editor: Yurou

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LONDON, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Former U.S. President Barack Obama has warned against the irresponsible use of social media in an interview by British Prince Harry on BBC Radio 4's Today on Wednesday.

In the interview, which is rare since the ex-president's stepping down nearly a year ago, Obama said that the irresponsible use of social media was distorting people's understanding of complex issues, and spreading misinformation.

"All of us in leadership have to find ways in which we can recreate a common space on the internet," he said.

Obama told Harry that one of the dangers of the internet is that people can have entirely different realities.

They can be cocooned in information that reinforces their current biases, he added.

Obama's successor Donald Trump has been accused of overusing Twitter, and involved in a number of rows over his expressions in the cyber space.

Prince Harry is one of several prominent figures who are guest-editing the BBC program over the Christmas period.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 19:57:02|Editor: Liangyu

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JAKARTA, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- The construction of all facilities for the Asian Para Games 2018 in Indonesia is expected to be completed at the end of this month, a minister said on Wednesday.

Public Work and Housing Minister Basuki Hadi Mulyono disclosed that all the works will meet the scheduled on contracts.

"All the facilities will be completed in construction on Dec. 31," he said in a statement issued by Asian Para Games Organizing Committee (Inaspqoc).

The minister said that after the compliance of the construction it will be followed by a contract for maintenance for six months.

Minister Basuki said that the construction included sport venues, athlete's villages and other facilities.

The Asian Para Games is scheduled to be held in Indonesia's capital from Oct. 8 to 16 of next year.

It is expected about 3,000 disable athletes to compete in the regional sport.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 20:02:04|Editor: Liu

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Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, makes remarks at a meeting with members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held on Monday and Tuesday. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Twenty-five members of China's top leadership reached consensus, and highlighted Xi Jinping's position at the core of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and its Central Committee, at a two-day meeting, which ended Tuesday.

"It is the aspiration of the whole Party and the people to have Xi, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, serve at the core of the CPC and its Central Committee," said a statement issued after the "democratic life meeting."

"Under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Xi at the core, China has made historic achievements and witnessed profound changes since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012.

"Xi has shown firm faith and will, clear commitment to the people, extraordinary political wisdom and tactics and a strong sense of responsibility, in leading the CPC and China in the great struggle with many new contemporary features," the statement said.

"The meeting has laid an ideological foundation for the whole Party and the nation to embark on a new journey in the new era," said Jing Junping, a professor with the school of Marxism at Wuhan University in central China's Hubei Province.

The meeting was the first of its kind by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee since the landmark 19th CPC National Congress, when "Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era" was written into the newly revised CPC Constitution.

Delivering a report to the 19th CPC National Congress, Xi gave a 14-point list of fundamental principles that underpin the endeavors to uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era.

The principles ranged from ensuring Party leadership over all work to promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

Xi's Thought represents the latest achievement in adapting Marxism to a Chinese context and is a long-term guide for action that the Party must adhere to and develop.

The meeting held from Monday to Tuesday reiterated the importance of studying Xi's Thought, upholding the centralized, unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Xi at the core, as well as realizing the goals set at the 19th CPC National Congress.

Stressing the importance of the authority of the CPC Central Committee and its centralized, unified leadership, Xi urged members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to regard it as a "political benchmark."

On Wednesday, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee decided to discuss a proposal on amending part of China's Constitution as a major part of the agenda at the second plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee in January.

The democratic life meeting, a long-time CPC tradition, saw members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee reflect on their own performance and criticize themselves and each other.

They should "highly identify with, firmly safeguard, willingly obey and closely follow the leadership of CPC Central Committee in terms of political stance, direction, principle and path," Xi said at the meeting.

"The meeting showed the CPC Central Committee's determination to implement the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress and set an example for local authorities in terms of closely following the leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Xi at the core," said Dai Yanjun, a professor with the CPC Central Committee Party School.

Dai said that undesirable work styles were "intractable and recurrent," and that "only by containing misconduct of formalities for formalities' sake and bureaucratism, can the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress be implemented in practice."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 20:02:06|Editor: Yurou

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KUALA LUMPUR, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- A 54-year-old Australian woman was cleared of drug trafficking charges on Wednesday by the Malaysian high court and thus escaped the mandatory capital punishment.

According to media reports, a Malaysian judge ruled that Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto, a mother of four, did not know about the drugs in her bag when she was arrested at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Dec. 7, 2014. The judge said the defendant did not try to evade airport search at the airport.

At that time, customs officers discovered 1.1 kg of methamphetamine in her backpack. But Exposto claimed she was tricked into a romance scam, during which she was asked to carry the bag to Kuala Lumpur and then to Melboure.

Exposto will be deported immediately, according to the judge.

According to anti-drug laws of Malaysia, anyone caught with carrying drugs exceeding 50 grams will face drug-trafficking charges punishable by death.

Malaysian lawmakers voted on Nov. 30 to remove the mandatory death penalty for drug offences, but the changes have not take effect.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 20:02:07|Editor: liuxin

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NEW YORK, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Ten years back, China was known to Americans as "the workshop of the world." And also as one of the biggest foreign holders of the U.S. sovereign debt.

But today that perception has changed. China is now regarded as an export destination and a source of investment contributing to American jobs and growth.

Cooperation with China means "unparalleled opportunities" for Alaska, which boasts rich resources but needs to explore markets and woo capital, said Bill Walker, governor of the largest U.S. state by area, in an earlier interview with Xinhua.

In November, the governor accompanied U.S. President Donald Trump on the latter's first state visit to China. The visit saw U.S. and Chinese organizations inking a cooperation agreement worth over 40 billion U.S. dollars to exploit Alaska's huge liquefied natural gas (LNG) reserves.

The project is expected to create some 12,000 jobs for Alaska, which has a population of about 750,000.

Closer economic and trade ties between the world's two largest economies are creating dividends for both peoples. American beef and lobsters hit the dining table of Chinese households this year, while commuters in U.S. metropolises like New York and Boston are enjoying the convenience of "green buses" and new subway cars made with Chinese technologies.

By the end of 2016, Chinese enterprises' total direct investment in the United States reached about 110 billion dollars, creating over 140,000 jobs, according to a report released by the Rhodium Group and the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations.

The inflow of Chinese capital and opening of more Chinese-run plants have brought dying Rust Belt towns back to life and revived the dreams of many blue-collar Americans hit by recession and lackluster economic recovery.

Though naysayers paint China and the United States as opponents locked in an inevitable "economic war", many say win-win cooperation is the only viable option for the two major powers that have such a significant bearing on global wellbeing.

After the presidents of both countries held a historic meeting at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, in April to chart the course for the future development of bilateral ties, China and the United States completed their first-round of talks under four high-level dialogue mechanisms, addressing each other's concerns and finding ways to deal with regional and global challenges unitedly.

China's increasing role of a "responsible stakeholder" is in the interest of the United States and the world at large, Stephen Orlins, president of the U.S. National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, told Xinhua.

Along with economic and trade cooperation, cultural and people-to-people exchanges are also growing. Arabella Kushner, Trump's six-year-old granddaughter, hit the headlines in both countries after a video clip showing her reciting ancient Chinese poems and singing Chinese songs was played during Trump's China visit and immediately went viral on the web.

Statistics showed that Chinese language learners at U.S. primary and secondary schools doubled from 2009 to 2015. Earlier this month, a Confucius Institute for Global Finance, the first of its kind, was launched in New York City to train specialized bilingual talents for both countries.

China is also receiving increasing attention and respect in leading international organizations.

For the United Nations (UN), World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), China's consistent support support of and unique contribution to the existing global governance system has effectively offset the impact of the anti-globalization sentiments in many parts of the world.

Since the beginning of 2017, a series of Chinese terms and concepts, such as "a community of shared future for mankind" and "the principle of extensive consultation, joint efforts and shared benefits", have been included into resolutions or other official documents of the United Nations.

In May, the heads of the UN, the World Bank and IMF all flew to Beijing to participate in the China-hosted Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. In October, on the sidelines of the World Bank/IMF annual meetings in Washington, D.C., a high-level seminar on the Belt and Road Initiative was held for the first time.

"China's role has dramatically increased, and China has an impact on everything that goes on virtually anywhere in the world," Robert Hormats, former U.S. undersecretary of state, told Xinhua.

Lauding China's tremendous progress over the past four decades of reform and opening up as "one of the greatest stories of human history," Hormats stressed: "We Americans and Chinese need to figure out how we can develop a better sense of strategic thinking on how we can work together as we move into the 21st century."
A picture taken on December 25, 2017, shows Guatemalan flag hanging outside the building housing the offices of the Central American Embassy, in the Israeli city of Herzliya, near Tel Aviv. (AFP PHOTO)

RAMALLAH, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Saeb Erekat said on Wednesday that the Palestinian leadership will resort to the UN to "punish" Guatemala for its decision to move embassy to Jerusalem.

Erekat told official Palestinian radio station Voice of Palestine that Guatemala's decision is in breach of international law, the UN charter and the 12 UN Security Council resolutions related to Jerusalem.

The 1980 Arab League summit resolutions call for boycotts against any country that recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital or move its embassy to the city.

Last week, 128 states members of the UN voted in favor of a resolution that rejected any changes to the status of Jerusalem, targeting Trump's recent declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 20:22:17|Editor: liuxin

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BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislature on Wednesday confirmed that the qualification of Zhang Yang, a former member of the Communist Party of China Central Military Commission (CMC), for deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC) has been terminated.

Zhang, also former head of the CMC Political Work Department, committed suicide at his home in Beijing on Nov. 23 after authorities launched an investigation into his links to two corrupt former senior military figures, Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou.

Investigators said that Zhang seriously violated discipline and law. He was also suspected of offering and accepting bribes and holding a huge amount of property from unidentified sources.

In addition, the top legislature finalized the resignation of Chen Xiang'en, a senior official with the supervision committee on state-owned enterprises in central China's Henan Province, as an NPC deputy. Chen resigned earlier for law and discipline violations.

The NPC now has 2,898 deputies.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 20:52:24|Editor: liuxin

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BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- China will allot revenue from the environmental protection tax to local governments to motivate participation in the fight against pollution.

China's Environment Tax Law will be effective on Jan. 1, 2018, according to a decree by the State Council signed by Premier Li Keqiang.

China has collected a "pollutant discharge fee" since 1979. However, some local governments exploit loopholes and exempt enterprises which are otherwise big contributors to fiscal revenue. For years, regulators have suggested replacing the fee system with a law.

Under the new law, which targets enterprises and public institutions that discharge listed pollutants directly into the environment, companies will pay taxes for producing noise, air and water pollutants as well as solid waste.

Tackling pollution has been listed as one of "the three tough battles" that China aims to win in the next three years, according to the Central Economic Work Conference that concluded last week.

Official data showed from January to November, China investigated over 35,600 violations of environmental protection laws and regulations, up more than 102 percent year on year.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 20:52:25|Editor: liuxin

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TAIPEI, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Starting from Jan. 1, 2018, Taiwan will expand restriction on the use of free plastic bags in shops to reduce waste.

The new measure will apply to about 80,000 additional shops. Violation of the rule may incur a fine of up to 6,000 new Taiwan dollars (about 200 U.S. dollars).

According to the environmental authorities of Taiwan, the restriction on free plastic bags will be expanded from seven types of store to 14 types, including pharmacies, electronics stores, book stores, stationery shops, laundries, beverage shops and bakeries.

The ban was first introduced to the island in 2002, covering shops such as supermarkets, chain stores and convenience stores. Since then, at least two billion plastic bags have been saved each year. It is estimated that another 1.5 billion plastic bags will be saved annually after the extension of the ban.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 20:57:25|Editor: Yurou

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by Tao Jun, Bui Long

HANOI, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- As early as 2006, the Communist Party of Vietnam considered corruption as "one of the biggest threats to the existence of our party and regime."

Now Vietnam's anti-corruption campaign has expanded into once sensitive spheres, dealing with major cases and interest groups with an iron hand, said Vietnamese scholars.

Vietnam is swiftly taking vigorous measures similar to prevent and combat corruption in party organizations at the highest level as well as in the army, Vo Dai Luoc, former director of the Institute of World Economics and Politics under the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, told Xinhua.

Vietnam has sacked and detained a member of the Political Bureau (Politburo) under the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee (CPVCC), and is going to prosecute him.

Vietnam has also disciplined some leaders and former leaders of cities and provinces and corporate executives who were once police or army officers.

On Dec. 20, only 12 days after detaining ousted political bureau member Dinh La Thang, Vietnamese police proposed prosecuting him and six other defendants on two counts of intentionally violating state regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences, and on abusing position and power to misappropriate assets at the state-owned National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam or PVN).

Earlier in May, Thang was removed from the Politburo and relieved of his post as secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee.

On Dec. 8, Thang, CPVCC member and deputy head of the CPVCC's Economic Commission and former chairman of the PVN board of members, was detained for his role in the losses of 800 billion Vietnamese dong (nearly 35.4 million U.S. dollars) related to PVN's investment in OceanBank.

Some other former PVN executives and Thang's younger brother, a businessman, were also detained for their involvement in serious legal violations that caused great economic losses and negatively affected the prestige of the party organization and related individuals.

In October, one month before the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Leaders' Week, Vietnam's biggest external relations event in 2017, took place in Da Nang, the country's third-largest city, Nguyen Xuan Anh was dismissed from the positions of secretary of the Da Nang Party Committee, and member of the CPVCC.

In December, the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security issued a wanted notice for Phan Van Anh Vu, better known as Vu "nhom" (aluminum) because of his metalwork job in the past, a realty tycoon in Da Nang, for deliberately disclosing state secrets. Vu, according to local media reports, previously served as a police senior lieutenant colonel with close ties to Anh.

Local media in December also reported that another business tycoon, Dinh Ngoc He, better known as "Ut troc", (bald Ut) has been disciplined by the army. He was an army senior lieutenant colonel, heading an infrastructure development affiliate of Thai Son Corporation under the Ministry of Defense.

Vietnam has disciplined officials in office, but also those who have already retired.

In mid-December, the CPVCC decided to dismiss Pham Van Vong, former secretary of northern Vinh Phuc province's Party Committee from 2010 to 2015, from the position for the 2010-2015 term.

Vong was found to have violated the principle of democratic centralism, the working regulations of the provincial Party Committee and other regulations of the party and the state when making decisions to appoint officials.

Also in mid-December, the CPVCC decided to relieve Ngo Van Tuan, former Secretary of central Thanh Hoa province's Party Committee, from all posts he held in the party. From 2010 to 2015, as secretary of the Thanh Hoa Party Committee and director of the provincial Construction Department, Tuan violated the principle of democratic centralism and the regulations of the party and the state on personnel work.

Earlier in January, Vu Huy Hoang was stripped of his title as former Minister of Industry and Trade in the 2011-2016 tenure due to his violations in personnel work. Later, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Ho Thi Kim Thoa was removed from office for her violations when she led a local company.

To prevent and fight against corruption, Vietnam is centering on improving party construction and patching loopholes in political and economic institutions.

Regarding party construction, in the past, Vietnam focused on only three fields, Luoc said. The first is party construction in terms of politics. The second is party construction in terms of ideology and thought. The third is party construction in terms of organization. In 2016, Vietnam added party construction in terms of virtue.

"This new addition is very important. If party members, who are often officials in state agencies, are virtuous, they will devote their whole life for the life of other people, they will not become corrupt," Luoc stated.

The Vietnamese scholar said there are three ways of minimize corruption -- making officials not want, dare not, and unable to be corrupt.

"I think the third way is the best way, making officials unable to engage in corruption," he said, proposing that the state should consider the private sector a fundamental economic force, reduce state ownership in most sectors, and let private firms invest and do business in these sectors.

Being allowed to be in charge of such sectors as rubber, steel and minerals, private firms will use land and capital much more effectively than state-owned enterprises, gradually eliminating the current "ask-give" mechanism which incubates corruption, Luoc stated.

"But I think it is very hard to take this measure because corrupt officials, and interest groups will protest it very strongly. But if we don't do this, we will never develop," he said.

Do Tien Sam, former director of the Institute of Chinese Studies under the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, recently told Xinhua that no matter how hard it is, more effective measures should be taken to prevent power from being abused, and party members as well as public servants from becoming corrupt and from forming interest groups.

Last month, Vietnam's Central Steering Committee on Anti-Corruption agreed on plans to finalize the investigation, prosecution and judgment regarding 23 corruption and economic cases in 2017 and in the first quarter of 2018.

Addressing a meeting of the steering committee's standing board in November, CPVCC General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, who is also the head of the steering committee, urged authorized agencies to smoothly coordinate to accelerate the investigation, prosecution and judgment of urgent corruption cases.

Like the CPVCC, which is combating corruption vigorously at all levels, the Vietnamese government is doing the same.

The government has recently issued a resolution on its action program on anti-corruption until 2020, defining eight main groups of tasks to be performed by then.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 20:57:25|Editor: Yurou

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JUBA, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- At least 20 people have been killed and 18 others injured in South Sudan's Jonglei State after two rival communities clashed over renaming of a contested village, a local government official said Wednesday.

Jacob Akech Deng, Jonglei State Information Minister, told Xinhua by phone that clashes erupted in Bor South County over the weekend after rival groups disagreed on changing the name of their village.

He said one faction demanded their village's name to be changed to Anuet instead of Panweel, a move that divided the community and resulted into the deadly clashes.

He said calm has returned to the area after the army and police created a buffer zone between the rival factions.

Akech added that seven people suspected of being ringleaders of the violence have been arrested and they would soon be arraigned in court.

"It was unfortunate that a dispute over naming of a village reached to level of confrontations which killed 20 people and 18 injured others in Bor South County," Akech said.

"We have issued warrant of arrest for the ringleaders of the violence. Seven people have been locked up and the police are still doing its work. We are going to implement the law with full gear because we cannot entertain violence in our communities," he added.

The Jonglei region has suffered decades of communal and tribal violence, mainly caused by rivalry over livestock and grazing land. Last month, ethnic violence in the same region killed over 50 people.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 21:02:28|Editor: Yurou

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by Julius Gale

JUBA, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- The South Sudanese army and the main rebel group have accused each other of breaking a truce that came into effect on Dec. 24.

The cease-fire agreement signed between the South Sudanese government and several rebel groups on Thursday last week was brokered by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an East African regional bloc.

The truce asked warring parties to stop military operations and keep forces in their bases while calling for release of political detainees.

Lul Ruai Koang, Spokesman for the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) told Xinhua Wednesday that rebels loyal to the country's former deputy president Riek Machar launched multiple attacks on government-controlled areas in northern and southern parts of the country between Dec. 22 and 25.

He said the rebels, known as Sudan People's Liberation Army-In Opposition (SPLA-IO), attacked the town of Koch during Christmas Eve and further carried out similar attacks in the regions of Kajo-Koji and Yei on Dec. 25.

"This is a very serious violation of the cessation of hostilities agreement because their intention is to capture more territory from the SPLA before the peace monitors arrive for verification," Lul said.

He said the SPLA would not go into offensive as they still respect the terms of the truce, urging the IGAD to investigate the latest escalation in violence across the country.

"It is our right to defend ourselves from hostile forces. So we call upon IGAD to investigate and do verification so that they know who violated the cessation of hostilities agreement," he added.

Lam Paul Gabriel, SPLA-IO deputy military spokesperson, however, accused the government of launching attacks on their bases in many parts of the country.

"Our forces repulsed the attackers and pursued them to their base in Kansuk where more than 20 of them lost their lives and several injured. Our forces also destroyed their store full of weapons and ammunition," Lam said in a statement posted on his Facebook page.

The warring factions had previously violated several cease-fires since the conflict erupted four years ago.

In his Christmas massage, South Sudanese President Salva Kiir promised peace and stability in the war-torn East African nation in 2018.

South Sudan has been embroiled in four years of conflict that has taken a devastating toll on the people, creating one of the fastest growing refugee crisis in the world.

A peace deal signed in August 2015 between the rival leaders under UN pressure led to the establishment of a transitional unity government in April, but was shattered by renewed fighting in July 2016.
NAIROBI, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- China has made great contributions to narrowing Africa's power deficit, a perennial problem that still leaves two thirds of the population in sub-Saharan Africa without access to reliable electricity supply.

In 2017, Chinese firms have successfully built or are in the process of building many hydro-power plants across the continent.

These projects are located in a good many African countries including Cote d'Ivoire, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo).

When all projects are finished, they are expected to create nearly 3,700 MW of electricity for the continent. (1 MW=1,000 KW)

The construction of all these projects have also created tens of thousands of jobs for the locals.

The following is a list of six Chinese-constructed hydro-power plants, some of which are already commissioned, or still under construction in 2017.

1. Soubre hydroelectric power station, Cote d'Ivoire

Photo taken on Nov. 2, 2017 shows the Chinese-built Soubre hydroelectric power station. Cote d'Ivoire on Thursday inaugurated the Chinese-built Soubre hydroelectric power station, the largest of its kind in the West African country. The project has a total installed capacity of 275 MW. (Xinhua/Li Baishun)

2. Kariba South Expansion Project, Zimbabwe

Photo taken on June 3, 2017 shows Kariba Dam in Kariba, Zimbabwe. Work on Kariba South Expansion Project by Sinohydro, China's power engineering and construction heavyweight, is now 85 percent complete and the first unit is expected to come on stream in December 2017 while the second one will be commissioned in the first quarter of 2018. The expansion will add another 300 megawatts into the national grid. (Xinhua/Chen Yaqin)

3. Isimba Power Plant Project, Uganda

Photo taken on Aug. 8, 2017 shows the construction site of Isimba Power Plant Project in Kayunga district, Uganda. As River Nile, the longest in the world, snakes through central Uganda, Chinese engineers and their local counterparts are constructing a multi-million U.S. dollar power plant on its bank in the remote Kayunga district. The plant has an installed capacity of 183 MW. (Xinhua/Zhang Gaiping)

4. Karuma Hydro Power Project, Uganda

Photo taken on Sept. 6, 2017 shows a view of the Karuma Hydro Power Project site in Kiryandongo district, Western Uganda. The 1.4 billion dollar Karuma Power Plant along River Nile in northern Uganda is being financed by the Chinese government and is the first underground power plant in the East African region. When completed, the plant is expected to provide over 600MW of electricity. (Xinhua/Zhang Gaiping)

5. Zongo II hydro-power plant, DR Congo

About 160 km from DR Congo's capital Kinshasa, the Zongo II hydro-power plant is being constructed by Chinese firm Sinohydro with financing from the Export-Import Bank of China. The project, when finished, will add 150 MW of electricity to the country. (Xinhua/Wang Bo)

6. Caculo Cabaca Hydropower Project, Angola

Then Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos (front) inaugurated the construction of the Caculo Cabaca Hydropower Project in Dondo, Angola on Aug. 4, 2017. Located at the North Kwanza province, the hydropower project will be constructed by China Gezhouba Group Co., Ltd. The project has a total contractual value of 4.5 billion U.S. dollars and has a planned installed capacity of 2,172 megawatts. The project will be completed within 80 months, and during the peak construction period nearly 10,000 jobs are expected to be provided for the locals. (Xinhua)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 21:27:35|Editor: liuxin

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BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- China's service trade deficit rose in November after two months of declines, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said Wednesday.

The deficit stood at 120.8 billion yuan (about 18.4 billion U.S. dollars) last month, up from 117.5 billion yuan in October, the SAFE data showed.

Income from trade in services was 124.9 billion yuan, while expenditures totaled 245.7 billion yuan.

Trade in services refers to the sale and delivery of intangible products such as transportation, tourism, telecommunications, construction, advertising, computing and accounting.

China regularly registers a deficit in service trade due to huge domestic demand.

The government has channeled more energy into improving the service sector, including measures to gradually open up the finance, education, culture and medical industries.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 22:02:45|Editor: Yurou

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COLOMBO, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Sri Lankan government has successfully negotiated a long-term credit package of 200 million U.S. dollars with the Credit Suisse Bank in order to keep its debt-ridden national airline afloat, local media reported Wednesday.

The cabinet which met earlier this week has approved to obtain the funds. State Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeyardena said that out of the 200 million dollars, 50 million dollars was obtained as a short term loan facility.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said last year that Sri Lanka's national carrier, Sri Lankan Airlines, had been facing a massive debt of 3 billion dollars and was a "landmine" for the country's economy.

Wickremesinghe blamed the previous administration for mismanaging the national airline which led to colossal losses.

He said the government was in search of an international investor to manage the airline on a Public and Private partnership.

However, with this loan, Yapa said, it was expected to strengthen the government's guarantee for the ongoing discussions with several investors to run SriLankan Airlines.

Yapa said the government did not intend to liquidate the national carrier under any circumstances but the massive debts stood as an obstacle to the successful conclusion of negotiations with private investors.

The Sri Lankan government, led by President Maithripala Sirisena after being elected to office in 2015, ordered a criminal investigation into alleged corruption at the national airline during the previous regime, saying it involved "billions of dollars".

As a result of its mounting debts, Sri Lankan Airlines suspended its flights to Paris and Frankfurt from October and November last year, stating that the government had made it clear that it will no longer fund continuing losses.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 22:02:45|Editor: liuxin

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GABORONE, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Morupule B Power Station, a coal-fired power station built by the China National Electric Engineering Corporation, has been credited to spurring electricity production in Botswana, Statistics Botswana said Wednesday.

In its latest figures on electricity generation and distribution, Statistics Botswana said the volume of electricity generated in the third quarter of 2017 stood at 893,831 MWH, an increase of 32.4 percent from 675,047 MWH in the second quarter.

"This increase is mainly attributable to improved performance of power generators at Morupule B power station due to all the four units being operational during the period under review," said Statistics Botswana.

Morupule B Power Station, located some 270 km north of the capital Gaborone, accounts for 90 percent of the country's domestic power generation.

The generation of electricity in Botswana started in 1985 with a coal-fired thermal power station at Morupule operating at a capacity of 132 MWH. Prior to that, most of Botswana's electricity was imported from South Africa's power utility, Eskom.

In 2008, South Africa's electricity demand started to exceed its supply, resulting in the South African government restricting power exports.

The volume of imported electricity decreased by 62.6 percent from 333,355 MWH during the third quarter of 2016 to 124,612 MWH during 2017 third quarter.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 22:02:45|Editor: Liangyu

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XINING, China, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Harbin's first men's team beat all its competitors during the first three days and led the table of China's curling tournament with a 4-0 win-loss record on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Heilongjiang's first women's team kept topping the group standings with 4-1 win-loss record.

On the women's actions on Thursday morning, Heilongjiang's first team romped against Beijing century star 10-2. As the first thrower, Heilongjiang stole three points in the first end and got a flying start 3-0 and extended their lead to 4-0 before Beijing century star got one point back in 3rd end. In the fourth end, Heilongjiang made use of the advantage as the second thrower and won 5 points. Beijing century star had to concede their defeat after Heilongjiang took another on point from the 6th end.

On the men's actions, the competition between Harbin's first team and Jilin's first team was very tight. They fought tit for tat with each other and tie for 2 in the first five ends, and after Jilin won two points in the 6th end, Harbin beat Jilin 6-4 by taking 3 points and one point respectively in the 7th and 8th end.

"I didn't show my best performance today, and I think we should still draw our experiences and make a better preparation for tomorrow's matches, but after all, our team toped the group for now, and it gave us much confidence," said Xu Jingtao from Harbin's first team.

The six-day National Curling Tournament kicked off on Dec. 24, attracting 30 teams from all over China.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 22:32:55|Editor: huaxia

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NAIROBI, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Kenya shilling declined slightly against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday amid rise in dollar demand after markets resumed following Christmas break on Monday and Tuesday.

The shilling traded at an average of 103.05 to the greenback, down from a strong position of 103.00 at the end of Friday last week.

The Central Bank of Kenya quoted the local currency at 103.08 per dollar, a level the local shilling ended in the Friday trading session.

However, commercial banks placed the shilling in the Wednesday trading at between 103.00 and 103.10, a drop from Friday's margins of 102.95 and 103.05.

Forex traders in the financial institutions blamed the decline of the currency on increased demand for dollars from retail importers, especially those importing oil.

Against the British pound, the shilling declined to close at 137.93 from 137.68, continuing a downward trend from the previous session.

The shilling appreciated marginally by 0.1 percent against the dollar last week to close at 103.1 from 103.2 as remittances exceeded demand from oil importers. Analysts expect the shilling to be stable in the short-term. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 22:42:57|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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CAIRO, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- An Egyptian court sentenced on Wednesday 11 militants affiliated with the regional Islamic State (IS) group to 10 years in prison, official MENA news agency reported.

Zagazig Criminal Court in Sharqiya Province, northeast of the capital Cairo, convicted the 11 defendants of forming a terrorist cell in an attempt to join the IS abroad and carry out anti-state activities back home, MENA said.

Formed in late 2015 and led by a merchant, the cell includes five high school students, a medicine college student, an arts college graduate, a shoe store owner, an electrician and a restaurant worker.

The verdict came a day after the Egyptian authorities executed 15 defendants convicted of involvement in deadly attacks against security forces in the restive northern part of the Sinai Peninsula.

North Sinai is home to the IS-affiliated regional group that has claimed responsibility for most of the terrorist attacks in the country over the past few years.

Last week, a shelling attack on Arish airport in North Sinai killed an officer, wounded two others and caused damage to a helicopter during the visit of defense and interior ministers to the city.

On Nov. 24, also in Arish, a terrorist attack against a mosque in a small village killed at least 310 Muslim worshippers and wounded more than 120 others, marking the bloodiest terror operation and the first against a Muslim mosque in Egypt's modern history.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the mosque attack, but the Sinai-based IS branch is the main suspect.

Following the mosque attack, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi ordered the army's chief of staff to restore security and stability in Sinai within three months.

Terror activities in Egypt have so far killed hundreds of security personnel and civilians since the military toppled former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to mass protests against his one-year rule and his now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian security forces have killed hundreds of terrorists and arrested a large number of suspects during the country's anti-terror war declared by Sisi, the army chief then, following Morsi's ouster.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 22:53:01|Editor: pengying

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CHENGDU, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- A cargo train loaded with 41 containers of electronic products departed from Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, for the Netherlands on Wednesday.

It brings the total number of cargo trains from Chengdu to Europe to 1,000 this year, and 1,700 since the city launched the service in 2013.

The city has rail routes to 14 European countries.

"Rail freight is one of the fields where the Sino-European cooperation has made very important progress and will continue to do so in the future," said Filippo Nicosia, Italy Consul General in Chongqing.

In 2018, at least 1,000 cargo trains are expected to run from Chengdu to Europe.

Demand for rail cargo between China and Europe, an alternative to slower and riskier sea freight and much costlier air cargo, has exploded in recent years.

About 35 Chinese cities run cargo trains to Europe.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 22:58:03|Editor: pengying

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BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- China has made remarkable progress in its farm sector and rural land ownership reform during the past five years.

AGRICULTURAL SUPPLY-SIDE REFORM

Unlike the past, farmers in the northeast Heilongjiang land reclamation area chose to sell their corn to a mill in southern Guangdong Province rather than to local grain depots.

Zhao Jun, head of Fengshun Farming Cooperative, said the corn was transported to the nearby city of Jinzhou by railway, and then by ship to Guangzhou Port.

Such a move is a good showcase for the country's supply-side reform in farming, especially in corn production, given bumper harvests and surplus grain stockpiles, according to Li Guoxiang, a researcher with the Rural Development Institute.

After one year of reform, corn planting area in the country dropped by about 2 million hectares, while soybean plantation increased by more than 660,000 hectares

RURAL LAND OWNERSHIP REFORM

The country is also expanding its rural land ownership reform.

A total of 300 counties will be covered in the pilot program next year, up from current 129, Vice Agricultural Minister Ye Zhenqin said earlier this month at a meeting in Tianchang in central China's Anhui Province, a major grain-producing region.

Ye said local governments could also take the program to more places, dependent on their needs.

"The reform should be basically completed by the end of 2021," he said.

China initiated the reform in 2014 to grant farmers more rights to benefit from collective land in villages. The pilot program, as a significant link in the country's rural revitalization strategy, has expanded rapidly.

During the past three years, much progress has been made. Farmers started to own a share in collective assets and receive returns each year. The rural land ownership system was streamlined and grassroots governance improved.

BATTLING RURAL POVERTY AND POLLUTION

The countryside is also a major battlefield for two of "the three tough battles," namely preventing and defusing major risks, targeted poverty alleviation and tackling pollution, according to a statement released after the Central Economic Work Conference concluded last week.

For the battle against poverty, policymakers pledged to work to ensure the quality of poverty reduction efforts, focus on helping special groups and eradicate abject poverty.

"We must ensure that by the year 2020, all rural residents living below the current poverty line have been lifted out of poverty, and poverty is eliminated from all poor counties and regions," according to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

The country "will strengthen control of soil pollution and the restoration of polluted soil, intensify the prevention and control of agricultural pollution from non-point sources, and take measures to improve rural living environments."

Last year, China's use of agricultural fertilizers saw almost zero-growth for the first time since the country's reform and opening-up.

According to a Chinese plan, key growing areas for fruit, vegetables, and tea should cut chemical fertilizer use by at least 20 percent by 2020.

Currently, each year less than 50 percent of the country's 3 billion tonnes of livestock excrement undergoes proper treatment.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 23:18:09|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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WUHAN, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Chinese constructors wrapped up work to connect the main part of Brunei's first cross-sea bridge on Tuesday.

The 2,680-meter-long Pulau Muara Besar Bridge, which connects the mainland to the western shore of Pulau Muara Besar, is expected to open to traffic in April 2018, according to the Second Harbor Engineering Company (SHEC) of China Communication Construction Company.

The bridge has four lanes and a designed speed for vehicles of 100 kilometers per hour, said SHEC based in central China's Wuhan City.

It is a major part of a construction project which also involves a main road on Pulau Muara Besar and development of power, telecommunication and water pipeline networks. The project is expected to cost around 1.27 billion yuan (194 million U.S. dollars).
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 23:38:17|Editor: Chengcheng

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Policemen work at the site of a shooting in Moscow, Russia, Dec. 27, 2017. A security guard at a confectionery factory was shot dead on Wednesday in clashes between the former owner and the current management, the Russian Investigative Committee said. (Xinhua/Wu Zhuang)

MOSCOW, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Moscow's police and the National Guard are searching for the man who shot dead a security guard at a confectionery factory in the northwest of the capital city on Wednesday, the Russian Interior Ministry said.

Earlier in the day, the Russian Investigative Committee said in a statement that a security guard at the factory was killed in clashes between the former owner and the current management.

Local media reported that the suspect, Ilya Averyanov, the former owner of the factory, took hostages in the factory building.

But the Interior Ministry denied these reports in a separate statement.

After an inspection of the factory, it was established that the suspect had left the building before a police cordon was set up, the ministry said.

The weapon used by the suspect was seized, it said.

Moscow Prosecutor Vladimir Churikov took control of the situation at the Menshevik confectionery factory, his office said in a statement, which also said that earlier in the day bailiffs came to the factory to collect money from the indebted factory following a ruling by the Moscow Arbitration Court.

Averyanov said that he was the victim of an illegal seizure of his property and of an armed attack, where he had shot one person, and that he intended "to fight to the end," according to a transcript published by Business FM Radio, which managed to reach the suspect via phone.

The Russian Investigative Committee said it had initiated a criminal case.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 23:38:18|Editor: Chengcheng

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KIEV, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Ukrainian government said on Wednesday that a Ukrainian army serviceman was killed and five others were injured in six attacks carried out by independence-seeking rebels. This is the first report of a casualty by the government since the start of the new ceasefire.

The insurgents did not report any casualties, but said that the Ukrainian army has launched an assault against rebel-held positions during the last 24 hours.

The conflict in eastern Ukraine has started since April 2014, killing more than 10,000 people, including civilians and combatants on both sides.

On Dec. 20, the Trilateral Contact Group reached an agreement for a cease-fire starting from Dec. 23 for civilians to be able to celebrate the winter holidays.

More than 30 previous rounds of truce attempts have failed, with the two sides accusing each other of cease-fire violations.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 23:43:19|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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ANKARA, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Around 100 people with suspected links to Gulen Movement were arrested in Turkey on Wednesday, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

The police arrested a total of 59 suspects, including 26 women, in simultaneous raids conducted in 29 provinces, said Turkish security officials.

On early morning, at least 10 suspects, including doctors, academicians and teachers, were detained in southern province of Antalya.

In southern province of Osmaniye, police arrested 16 people in an operation, Osmaniye Prosecutor's Office said in a statement.

Fethullah Gulen, the U.S.-based preacher, is accused by Ankara of orchestrating a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016. At least 250 people were killed and over 2,000 people were injured in the attempt.

The Turkish government declared a state of emergency and launched a massive crackdown on Gulen's supporters in the aftermath of the coup attempt.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 23:43:19|Editor: Chengcheng

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KIEV, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Ukrainian government and pro-independence insurgents in the eastern part of the country started their prisoner exchange on Wednesday.

The first stage of the prisoner swap, which was carried out at Majorsk checkpoint in Donetsk region, saw the exchange between Kiev and the self-proclaimed Lugansk republic, said the rebel-run Lugansk Information Center.

The government has released 75 rebel supporters, but two of them refused to return to Lugansk, according to the information center.

Meanwhile, Svyatoslav Tsegolko, a spokesman for Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, wrote on Facebook that 16 Ukrainian soldiers and pro-government civilians have already returned to the Kiev-controlled area.

By day's end, the Ukrainian government will carry out a prisoner swap with the self-proclaimed Donetsk republic.

Earlier, the sides have agreed that Kiev will release 306 Donetsk and Lugansk supporters in exchange for 74 soldiers and pro-government civilians.

If the agreements are implemented, the exchange will be the largest prisoner swap between the rival parties since the start of the conflict in April 2014.

The prisoner swap is a key part of the Minsk ceasefire agreement designed to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine that has killed some 10,000 people.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 23:53:20|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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TEHRAN, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry condemned the recent airstrike by Saudi-led coalition on Taiz market in Yemen, which claimed scores of lives, IRAN Daily reported on Wednesday.

Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi said it is "a pity and surprise" that the "hysteric attacks carried out by U.S. deadly weapons (at the disposal of Saudi Arabia)" do not provoke the reactions from human rights advocates.

"During more than a thousand days since the beginning of the devastating war on (Yemen), Saudi Arabia has shown that whenever it faces failure and defeat in battlefields and operational areas, it seeks to take revenge by bombarding the defenseless people and killing innocent women and children," Qasemi said, according to Tasnim news agency.

Warplanes of the Saudi Arabia-led coalition struck a crowded popular market in the southwestern province of Taiz in Yemen on Tuesday, killing over 40 people.

The Saudi-led coalition has intervened in the Yemeni conflict since March 2015 to roll back the Shiite Houthi rebels and support President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who was forced into exile by the Houthis.

The war has killed over 10,000 Yemenis, mostly children, and displaced 3 million others, creating one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-27 23:58:23|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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MADRID, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Spanish government will pass laws requiring vehicle and home rental companies to keep a register of people who hire vehicles or rent houses, with the aim of allowing security forces easier access to information over terrorist suspects.

The measure and others were confirmed by Spanish Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido following a meeting of the parties included in Spain's Anti-Terrorist Pact on Wednesday.

It is the first meeting of the Pact to be held since Aug. 21, days after the terror attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils. Nearly all of the parties represented in the Spanish Congress were represented at the meeting, although Podemos was there in a merely observational role.

During the meeting, Zoido informed of the current state of the investigations into the attacks, adding the government was working on a series of measures which will come into effect in 2018.

The tighter controls on home and car rentals are among those measures, as are plans to make it harder for prospective terrorists to purchase butane gas bottles or similar products.

Zoido also discussed plans for the transmission of data on flight reservations in order to identify possible terrorists.

The minister confirmed that in 2017, 77 jihadist suspects have been arrested in Spain.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-28 00:03:24|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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ANKARA, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli on Wednesday confirmed that the S-400 missile deal with Russia had been concluded, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Speaking to journalists in Tunisia, Canikli said the deal between the two countries was completely done with 2.5 billion U.S. dollar.

Turkey has bought two systems of the S-400 air defense missiles and four batteries in total, he was quoted by the report.

"What was at stake during the negotiations was whether to take out a loan or finance it themselves," he said, adding "but the idea of paying a portion of the total amount by getting a loan prevailed in the end."

Sergei Chemezov, CEO of Russia's state-run defense company Rostec, told Russian daily Kommersant that the finance ministries of Turkey and Russia had completed the negotiations on the purchase and the only thing left is to approve the final documents.

The first system's delivery is planned for March 2020, Chemezov said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Dec. 14 that Turkey was training its technical staff in both Turkey and Russia on technical work.

The S-400 is Russia's most advanced long-range anti-aircraft missile system with a capacity of carrying three types of missiles capable of destroying targets including ballistic and cruise missiles.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-28 00:03:25|Editor: Chengcheng

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NAIVASHA, Kenya, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- With a freshwater lake and flower farms, Kenya's Naivasha has continued to live up to its billing as the "second coast" after Mombasa, a coastal attraction famous for its white sandy beaches.

Despite harsh economic times, hotels and recreation facilities at Naivasha, a town lying northwest of capital Nairobi, recorded impressive turnout as families made merry while celebrating Christmas.

According to the hoteliers, 90 percent of the tens of thousands of visitors were Kenyan while 10 percent were international tourists.

Naivasha in Nakuru County in western Kenya is the second town in Kenya after Mombasa in terms of visits by tourists, the number of hotels and destination sites, thus the tag "second coast."

The picture generated hope for local tourist sector after the political impasse created after the last general election period, spanning from August to October, led to a drop in the numbers of international visitors around the lakeside town.

According to Peter Mehta, the chairman of Lake Naivasha Hotel Owners Association and CEO of Crayfish Hotel, the repeat presidential elections held in Oct. had adversely affected their international bookings.

"The number of visitors this year's had dropped significantly due to the political anxiety but we hope that is now behind us," he said.

He noted that tourism around Naivasha town was picking up recently.

He said Naivasha is giving Mombasa a competition due to the many facilities around, which are easily accessible and have ample security.

The sentiments were echoed by Rosemary Njenga, a trader, who noted that the country had passed through a turbulent duration. The trader who was accompanied by her family members noted that it was time to forge forward and develop the country.

Elizabeth Gathungu, a visitor, was full of praise for Naivasha over the services and security offered by various institutions.

"As we end the year, we have decided to visit Naivasha and enjoy the services offered here, hoping that next year will be better," she said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-28 00:13:28|Editor: Chengcheng

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ACCRA, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) on Wednesday denied reports that former Liberian refugees are entitled to continued protection in Ghana.

Early this month, some Liberian refugees were seen picketing outside the offices of the UNHCR in Accra, demanding that they be given some relief packages and relocated to different countries, following a demolition exercise at their camp at Budumbura in the Central Region of Ghana, where they previously lived.

According to the UNHCR, following the conflict in Liberia between 1989 and 2003, some 40,000 Liberian refugees found safety and hospitality in Ghana.

Among the durable solutions made available to them, voluntary repatriation and local integration were proposed, as well as resettlement to third countries for the few most vulnerable families, and only when the two solutions were not possible.

A release issued in Accra said after the fundamental and durable changes that had taken place in Liberia, a cessation of refugee status took place on June 30, 2012, recognizing that the circumstances in connection with which they have been recognized as refugees have ceased to exist.

"With the cessation of the refugee status some years ago, except the 350 Liberians exempted from the cessation and still considered refugees, UNHCR does not consider as persons of concern or in need of international protection, the former Liberian refugees who did not opt for either a voluntary repatriation to their country of origin or local integration in Ghana," said Loli Kimyaci, the UNHCR Representative in Ghana.

"We concentrate our efforts on the 13,506 refugees currently in Ghana," she said.

The end of the refugee status consequently means former Liberian refugees residing in Ghana are no longer under the umbrella of UNHCR, and do not qualify any more for durable solutions, including resettlement to a third party which was limited to a few and most vulnerable families.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-28 00:23:30|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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TEHRAN, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Qatar is keen on the expansion and facilitating maritime trade with Iran, Financial Tribune daily reported on Wednesday.

This was underlined by Qatari Minister of Transportation and Communications Jassim Saif Ahmed Al Sulaiti in a recent meeting with CEO of Ports and Maritime Organization of Iran, Mohammad Rastad, in Doha.

During the meeting on Monday, the two sides stressed eliminating obstacles to exports and transit from Iran's southern ports to Qatar and of increasing private sector investments from both countries in the fields of logistics and maritime transportation.

A delegation of Iranian public and private shipping companies as well as maritime officials was accompanying Rastad in his visit to Doha.

Most Iranian shipping lines have now switched their transport services to Qatar, instead of the UAE and Oman, according to Adnan Musapour, a member of the Export Committee at Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mining.

Torang Darya Shipping Line, the biggest private shipping company in Iran, has announced that it intends to expand its business in Qatar.

The role of cargo movement through sea route has increased in Qatar after a number of Arab states, which are led by Saudi Arabia, severed diplomatic relations with Doha early June and imposed a blockade on the Persian Gulf country, accusing it of supporting terrorist groups.

According to the latest data released by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, Iran exported 139 million U.S. dollars worth of non-oil goods to Qatar during the seven months until Oct. 22, registering a remarkable 117.5 percent increase compared with the same period of last year.

Notably, exports saw a significant growth during the month ending on Oct. 22. Iran exported about 50 million dollars of non-oil products to Qatar during the one-month period, which shows a fivefold rise year-on-year.
The S-400 is Russia's most advanced long-range anti-aircraft missile system with a capacity of carrying three types of missiles capable of destroying targets including ballistic and cruise missiles. (Reuters photo)

ANKARA, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli on Wednesday confirmed that the S-400 missile deal with Russia had been concluded, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Speaking to journalists in Tunisia, Canikli said the deal between the two countries was completely done with 2.5 billion U.S. dollar.

Turkey has bought two systems of the S-400 air defense missiles and four batteries in total, he was quoted by the report.

"What was at stake during the negotiations was whether to take out a loan or finance it themselves," he said, adding "but the idea of paying a portion of the total amount by getting a loan prevailed in the end."

Sergei Chemezov, CEO of Russia's state-run defense company Rostec, told Russian daily Kommersant that the finance ministries of Turkey and Russia had completed the negotiations on the purchase and the only thing left is to approve the final documents.

The first system's delivery is planned for March 2020, Chemezov said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Dec. 14 that Turkey was training its technical staff in both Turkey and Russia on technical work.

The S-400 is Russia's most advanced long-range anti-aircraft missile system with a capacity of carrying three types of missiles capable of destroying targets including ballistic and cruise missiles.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-28 00:38:33|Editor: pengying

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Zhang Dejiang (1st L), chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress ( NPC ), presides over the closing meeting of the 31st session of the 12th NPC Standing Committee in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 27, 2017. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) closed its bimonthly session Wednesday, adopting new laws, revisions and decisions on laws and reforms.

Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, presided over the closing meeting, as well as a meeting attended by the chairman and vice chairpersons beforehand.

Zhang said last Wednesday's annual Central Economic Work Conference laid out a blueprint for the country's economic work in 2018, and lawmakers should do their work in legislation and supervision according to decisions and policies of the conference.

BILLS TO INVIGORATE RURAL AREAS

The top legislature adopted two bills, including a revision to the Law on Farmers' Specialized Cooperatives and a decision to extend a pilot program allowing farmers in selected areas to mortgage their land use rights and housing property rights, amid efforts to invigorate rural areas.

The revision to the Law on Farmers' Specialized Cooperatives grants farmers' specialized cooperatives equal legal status with other market entities, as well as rights to invest in enterprises in accordance with the law.

Approved in December 2015, the pilot program for mortgaging contracted land use rights tried out in 232 localities including Daxing District of Beijing, and that for mortgaging rural property rights was tested in 59 localities including Jixian County in Tianjin.

Wednesday's decision means the pilot program, scheduled to expire on Dec. 31, 2017, will be extended for one year until Dec. 31, 2018.

The pilot program over the past two years has achieved strong results, with improvement in rural financial services and higher incomes for farmers.

ONE-STOP BOUNDARY CONTROL ARRANGEMENT IN HKSAR

The top legislature adopted a decision to apply a one-stop boundary control cooperation arrangement in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

In the decision, the NPC Standing Committee confirmed that the cooperation arrangement, signed by Guangdong Province and the HKSAR on Nov. 18, complied with the Constitution of China and the Basic Law of HKSAR.

The decision said that the HKSAR should ensure implementation of the cooperation arrangement through legislation.

Under the arrangement, a port will be established at the railway station in West Kowloon in Hong Kong, which is part of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link.

NEW SUPERVISION LAW SLATED FOR FURTHER DELIBERATION

China's draft supervision law, which was given a second review at the session, will be submitted to the NPC for third reading next year.

The draft, which was submitted to the top legislature for its first reading in June, makes clear regulations on the national supervision system, ways to form supervisory organs, responsibilities and powers, and means of investigation to ensure such organs act in accordance with law.

Also on Wednesday, the top legislature adopted new laws on tobacco leaf tax and ship tonnage tax, which will take effect on July 1 next year in a bid to make the country's taxation more law based.

Both laws were enacted based on provisional regulations promulgated by the State Council in 2006 and 2011.

Lawmakers also adopted minor changes to the laws on tendering and bidding and metrology mainly to cut red tape.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-28 00:38:33|Editor: Liu

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File photo: German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks during an election rally for Germany's federal election in Fulda, Germany, on Aug. 25, 2017. (Xinhua/Luo Huanhuan)

BERLIN, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) is experiencing a decline in her public approval ratings due to the protracted formation of a new government, an opinion poll published on Wednesday has found.

47 percent of Germans surveyed want Merkel to step down before the end of what would be her fourth term in office in 2021, according to the survey conducted by the "YouGov" institute.

Only 36 percent of respondents indicated a preference for the CDU leader to retain the post of Chancellor for another four years.

The survey results marked a significant deterioration in Merkel's public approval ratings.

As recently as October, another "YouGov" poll had suggested that 44 percent of Germans wanted to see the veteran stateswoman serve another full term as Chancellor, while 36 percent called for her resignation before 2021.

"YouGov" interpreted the trend as evidence that German voters were increasingly disenchanted by the lack of progress towards forming a new federal government following elections in September.

Official discussions between the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Christian Social Union (CSU) and German Social Democrats (SPD) over the potential re-launch of a "grand coalition" are scheduled to commence on Jan. 7.

Germany faces the likely prospect of re-elections should this second round of negotiations again fail to result in a viable legislative alliance following earlier unsuccessful "Jamaica" talks between the CDU, CSU, Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Greens (Gruene).

The FDP has announced that it might still return to "Jamaica" negotiations which it caused to collapse with its departure back in November. The party reiterated, however, that it would only do so on the condition of Merkel's resignation.

Speaking to the "Funke" media group on Wednesday, FDP Vice-President Wolfang Kubicki blamed Merkel, rather than his party leader Christian Lindner, for the failure of "Jamaica" talks and demanded that the CDU undertake personnel and strategic changes.

Kubicki accused Merkel of having purposefully sabotaged negotiations with the FDP and Greens as part of a plan to ensure the continuation of the acting "grand coalition" between the CDU, CSU and SPD.

"Today she has the SPD in exactly the spot where she wanted it to be," Kubicki said, adding that his preference would be for a coalition between the FDP and renewed CDU and CSU parties, an alliance that Kubicki believed would not be unfeasible after re-elections.

Meanwhile, the CDU, CSU and SPD became embroiled in quarrels over refugee policy and Europe on Wednesday.

Armin Laschet, CDU Vice-President and Governor of North-Rhine Westphalia, provoked a spat over refugees' right to family re-unification when he urged his party to partially accommodate SPD demands on the issue.

In turn, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU), Governor of Saarland, rejected this proposal in the newspaper "Welt" and insisted that a new government would have to maintain an existing temporary ban which prevents migrants who have received subsidiary protection (instead of political asylum) from bringing their families to Germany.

The SPD and Greens have repeatedly advocated for Berlin to fulfill its obligations under the Geneva Convention to grant refugees the rights to family re-unification.

Also on Wednesday, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel (SPD) identified support for reforms of the European Union (EU) outlined by French President Emmanuel Macron as another condition which had to be met for the SPD to join a new "grand coalition".

Highlighting potential for related strife between the prospective coalition partners, CDU governor Kramp-Karrenbauer responded by ruling out agreement to Macron's proposals to create a new Eurozone budget and supra-national Finance Minister for currency union. Instead, Kramp-Karrenbauer said she could envision establishing a European Monetary Fund as the next step in the Single Currency's development.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-28 00:43:34|Editor: Chengcheng

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HO CHI MINH CITY, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- A court in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday passed jail terms of 5-16 years on 15 defendants on the charge of conducting terrorism against the people's administration.

Dang Hoang Thien (born in 1992, residing in Ho Chi Minh City), got 16 years in prison for his main role in making and planting petrol bombs at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in the city on April 22, and his involvement in setting fire to the warehouse of Bien Hoa city police in southern Dong Nai province on April 8, Vietnam News Agency reported.

The instigator of the April 8 arson attack on Bien Hoa police's warehouse, Nguyen Duc Sinh (born in 1985 in central Quang Ngai province), was given a 10-year sentence. He and his accomplices were also ordered to pay 1.2 billion Vietnamese dong (53,000 U.S. dollars) in compensation to Bien Hoa police.

Thirteen other accomplices were sentenced to between five and 14 years in prison for "conducting terrorism against the people's administration."

According to the verdict, the defendants acted under the instruction of Dao Minh Quan and Pham Lisa, who led an overseas terrorist group which used social networks to entice people in Vietnam to set up terrorist groups planning to conduct terrorist acts and sabotage in the country.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-28 01:03:38|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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DAMASCUS, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) evacuated four people with tough medical conditions from the rebel-held eastern Ghouta countryside of the capital Damascus, the ICRC spokesperson told Xinhua Wednesday.

The evacuation took place late time Tuesday, right before midnight, and included three children and one grownup, Inji Sidki told Xinhua.

The families of the children have also accompanied them to hospitals inside Damascus, Sidki said.

She added that the evacuees have different illnesses such as cancer, kidney failure, and immune deficiency.

The four evacuees are part of 29 people suffering similar conditions that are set to evacuate within days.

Meanwhile, opposition activists said the evacuation is part of a deal that will also see the release of 29 detainees from opposition jails in eastern Ghouta, where around 400,000 people live.

Humanitarian workers sent an outcry about the tough humanitarian situation inside eastern Ghouta, which is under the government siege.

Eastern Ghouta has emerged as a stronghold for various strong rebel groups, mainly Jaish al-Islam, and other groups affiliated with al-Qaida such as the Levant Liberation Committee.

The area has been a launching pad for attacks on the capital and various battles have been launched by the army with the backing of airstrikes to quell the momentum of the rebel groups inside the sprawling area that contains several towns and agricultural terrains.
Ivanka Trump (L), daughter of U.S. President Donald Trump, attends the Chinese Embassy's New Year reception with her daughter (front L) in Washington, D.C., the United States, Feb. 1, 2017. (Xinhua/Liu Yang)

NEW YORK, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Ten years back, China was known to Americans as "the workshop of the world." And also as one of the biggest foreign holders of the U.S. sovereign debt.

But today that perception has changed. China is now regarded as an export destination and a source of investment contributing to American jobs and growth.

Cooperation with China means "unparalleled opportunities" for Alaska, which boasts rich resources but needs to explore markets and woo capital, said Bill Walker, governor of the largest U.S. state by area, in an earlier interview with Xinhua.

In November, the governor accompanied U.S. President Donald Trump on the latter's first state visit to China. The visit saw U.S. and Chinese organizations inking a cooperation agreement worth over 40 billion U.S. dollars to exploit Alaska's huge liquefied natural gas (LNG) reserves.

The project is expected to create some 12,000 jobs for Alaska, which has a population of about 750,000.

Gerry Cushman, a six-generation lobsterman, shows a lobster he just caught off the coast of Port Clyde, Maine, the United States, March 29, 2017. In 2016, China bought 40.9 million dollars' worth of lobsters from Maine, where most of America's lobsters are caught. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

Closer economic and trade ties between the world's two largest economies are creating dividends for both peoples. American beef and lobsters hit the dining table of Chinese households this year, while commuters in U.S. metropolises like New York and Boston are enjoying the convenience of "green buses" and new subway cars made with Chinese technologies.

Photo taken on Oct. 31, 2017 shows Angus cows at Bill's farm in Omaha, the United States. (Xinhua/Han Fang)

By the end of 2016, Chinese enterprises' total direct investment in the United States reached about 110 billion dollars, creating over 140,000 jobs, according to a report released by the Rhodium Group and the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations.

The inflow of Chinese capital and opening of more Chinese-run plants have brought dying Rust Belt towns back to life and revived the dreams of many blue-collar Americans hit by recession and lackluster economic recovery.

Though naysayers paint China and the United States as opponents locked in an inevitable "economic war", many say win-win cooperation is the only viable option for the two major powers that have such a significant bearing on global wellbeing.

After the presidents of both countries held a historic meeting at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, in April to chart the course for the future development of bilateral ties, China and the United States completed their first-round of talks under four high-level dialogue mechanisms, addressing each other's concerns and finding ways to deal with regional and global challenges unitedly.

China's increasing role of a "responsible stakeholder" is in the interest of the United States and the world at large, Stephen Orlins, president of the U.S. National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, told Xinhua.

Along with economic and trade cooperation, cultural and people-to-people exchanges are also growing. Arabella Kushner, Trump's six-year-old granddaughter, hit the headlines in both countries after a video clip showing her reciting ancient Chinese poems and singing Chinese songs was played during Trump's China visit and immediately went viral on the web.

Statistics showed that Chinese language learners at U.S. primary and secondary schools doubled from 2009 to 2015. Earlier this month, a Confucius Institute for Global Finance, the first of its kind, was launched in New York City to train specialized bilingual talents for both countries.

Students from Houston Independent School District read a poem of Tang Dynasty during the opening ceremony of the 10th National Chinese Language Conference of the United States in Houston, Texas, the United States, on April 6, 2017. (Xinhua/Zhong Jia)

China is also receiving increasing attention and respect in leading international organizations.

For the United Nations (UN), World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), China's consistent support support of and unique contribution to the existing global governance system has effectively offset the impact of the anti-globalization sentiments in many parts of the world.

Since the beginning of 2017, a series of Chinese terms and concepts, such as "a community of shared future for mankind" and "the principle of extensive consultation, joint efforts and shared benefits", have been included into resolutions or other official documents of the United Nations.

In May, the heads of the UN, the World Bank and IMF all flew to Beijing to participate in the China-hosted Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. In October, on the sidelines of the World Bank/IMF annual meetings in Washington, D.C., a high-level seminar on the Belt and Road Initiative was held for the first time.

"China's role has dramatically increased, and China has an impact on everything that goes on virtually anywhere in the world," Robert Hormats, former U.S. undersecretary of state, told Xinhua.

Lauding China's tremendous progress over the past four decades of reform and opening up as "one of the greatest stories of human history," Hormats stressed: "We Americans and Chinese need to figure out how we can develop a better sense of strategic thinking on how we can work together as we move into the 21st century."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-28 01:43:45|Editor: pengying

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BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislature on Wednesday adopted a revision to the Law on Farmers' Specialized Cooperatives.

The revision was adopted at the six-day bi-monthly session of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, which opened on Friday.

According to Zhang Fugui, head of the law office of the agricultural committee of the NPC Standing Committee, one of the most prominent changes to the law is that farmers no longer have to engage in the same kind of agricultural production to form a specialized cooperative.

The revised law reads that such cooperatives can be formed by agricultural producers and those who provide or utilize services in agricultural production and management.

"Such limits have been canceled, which expanded the range of the adjustments to the law," Zhang said.

Another major feature of the revision lies in the provision that grants the country's farmers' specialized cooperatives equal legal status with other market entities, which for Shen Yueyue, vice chairwoman of the standing committee, "addresses the major problems in the implementation of the law."

Members of cooperatives now have the right to invest non-monetary assets that can be evaluated and transferred, such as their land management rights and forest rights in enterprises, according to the revision.

A few specific provisions to support the cooperatives have been added to the revision, including that electricity used during preliminary processing of products will be charged according to agricultural production price standards, which are lower than the price for industrial production.

The revision received a round of commendations from the lawmakers at the session.

"It fits the reality of our countryside and meets the needs of our reform and development," said Eligen Imibakhi, vice chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, who believes the revision will help regulate the organization and conduct of the cooperatives."

"It also helps the cooperatives become a platform where smaller farmers are linked with the development of agriculture," he continued.

Ji Bingxuan, another vice chairman of the standing committee, highlighted the necessity and urgency of the revision.

"It's not only the requirement of the situation and agricultural development, but also the urgent need of the farmers," he noted.

The draft revision was revealed at the NPC Standing Committee's bi-monthly session in June, when it received a first reading.

Since the law took effect in 2007, allowing farmers to pool resources, it has played an important role in increasing rural incomes, promoting new agricultural management systems and boosting modern agriculture.

"The law indeed revitalized the countryside, where farmers volunteer to form such cooperatives," said Yang Zhen, member of the NPC Standing Committee.

"It's a protective umbrella for the farmers, whose rights and incomes are ensured," Jiao Wenyu, deputy to the NPC added, recalling the days when farmers struggled to sell their products and went to work in urban areas, before choosing to return and start up specialized cooperatives.

The revised law will take effect in July next year.

Lawmakers at the session also approved a decision to extend pilot program allowing farmers in selected areas to mortgage their land use rights and housing property rights on Wednesday.

Previously scheduled to expire on Dec. 31, 2017, the pilot program will run for one more year until Dec. 31, 2018, and is expected to further improve rural financial services and raise farmers' incomes.

By the end of September, the program saw 44.8 billion yuan (about 6.8 billion U.S. dollars) of loans issued in the 232 regions and 26.1 billion yuan issued in the 59 regions.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-28 02:08:51|Editor: huaxia

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CHICAGO, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) agricultural commodities opened mixed Wednesday, as extremely cold weather moves into the U.S. plains, threatening the hard red wheat crop.

Corn is following wheat higher, while soybeans, which gained overnight, are back to lower level amid light volume and conflicting fundamentals.

March corn were up 1.25 cents at 3.54 U.S. dollars per bushel as of 1545 GMT in the morning trading, March wheat was up 3.5 cents at 4.22 dollars, while March soybeans was down 2.5 cents at 9.68 dollars.

As for international market, Egypt's General Authority For Supply Commodities (GASC) received 7 offers of Russian wheat and just 1 offer of Romanian wheat in an overnight tender for February 1-10 shipment.

The lowest offer was Russian wheat at 192.35 U.S. dollars per tonne. It's expected that GASC will secure mostly Russian wheat in this tender with Black Sea prices generally stable.

China released final trade data for November overnight. China imported a record 8.7 million tonnes of soybeans with the U.S. supplying 4.66 million tonnes. China also imported 155,817 tonnes of wheat and 21,756 tonnes of corn. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-28 02:13:52|Editor: Chengcheng

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LUSAKA, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- A Rwandese national is nursing wounds in a hospital in Lusaka, the Zambian capital, after criminals shot at him whilst in his shop, the police said on Wednesday.

Zambia Police Spokesperson Esther Mwaata-Katongo said the 29-year-old Rwandese national was wounded on Tuesday night when armed criminals stormed his shop situated in one of the city's densely populated slums, Kanyama where they also stole undisclosed amounts of money.

He sustained a deep cut on the back of the head, she added.

The police spokesperson added that the criminals further injured two clients found in the shop, with one dying on the spot after sustaining a deep cut on the back of the head while the other client sustained a painful neck.

In December last year, a Rwandan businessman died after criminals shot him in another part of the Zambian capital.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-28 02:13:53|Editor: Chengcheng

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NEW YORK, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Authorities have made nearly 150,000 arrests of illegal immigrants in the United States this year, according to a latest report.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in its annual report that it has made 143,470 administrative arrests in fiscal year 2017, increasing 30 percent year-on-year.

An administrative arrest is the arrest of an alien for a civil violation of the immigration laws, which is subsequently adjudicated by an immigration judge or through other administrative processes.

Of the total arrests, 110,568 occurred after Jan. 20, which is a 42 percent increase over the same time period last year, according to the report.

U.S. President Donald Trump took the oath of office on Jan. 20 this year. On Jan. 25, Trump issued an executive order to set forth the Administration's immigration enforcement and removal priorities.

Trump's controversial policies to put a travel ban on citizens of some Muslim-majority nations, scrap the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program shielding immigrants who came to the country illegally as children from deportation, and withdraw from the global migration compact, a United Nation-led process toward safe, orderly and regular migration, have ignited protests across the country.

While supporters cheered tough immigration policy, citing national security concerns, others slammed it as discriminatory.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-28 02:23:54|Editor: Chengcheng

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BERLIN, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- German companies have seen a surge in demand from international investors in 2017, a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) showed on Wednesday.

The volume of corporate takeovers which involved foreign parties rose to 99.8 billion euros (118.6 billion U.S. dollars) until November compared to 38.5 billion euros during the same period last year. For the entire year of 2017, PwC expected record international transactions of 119.8 billion euros in total.

According to the study, the strong increase in acquisitions of German firms was partially due to a few very large transactions such as the merger between the rail divisions of Siemens and French rival Alstom and the purchase of carmaker Opel by French Peugeot.

Measured by the number of announced transactions, most foreign buyers in 2017 were from the United States (158), followed by Switzerland (80) and the United Kingdom (72).

However, investors from France accounted for 55 percent of the total value. Chinese investors (including Hong Kong) sealed a total of 47 deals in Germany during the reported period.

The same as in the previous year, the majority of takeovers occurred in the industrial production sector (24 percent). Retail and consumption goods producers (24 percent) were the second most popular firms among foreign investors, while the third place was occupied by technology firms (16 percent).
Two police officers walk near the building of the confectionery factory "Menshevik", where a gunman earlier opened a fire, in Moscow, Russia on December 27, 2017. (Xinhua/Wu Zhuang)

MOSCOW, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Moscow's police and the National Guard are searching for the man who shot dead a security guard at a confectionery factory in the northwest of the capital city on Wednesday, the Russian Interior Ministry said.

Earlier in the day, the Russian Investigative Committee said in a statement that a security guard at the factory was killed in clashes between the former owner and the current management.

Local media reported that the suspect, Ilya Averyanov, the former owner of the factory, took hostages in the factory building.

But the Interior Ministry denied these reports in a separate statement.

After an inspection of the factory, it was established that the suspect had left the building before a police cordon was set up, the ministry said.

The weapon used by the suspect was seized, it said.

Moscow Prosecutor Vladimir Churikov took control of the situation at the Menshevik confectionery factory, his office said in a statement, which also said that earlier in the day bailiffs came to the factory to collect money from the indebted factory following a ruling by the Moscow Arbitration Court.

Averyanov said that he was the victim of an illegal seizure of his property and that he intended "to fight to the end," according to a transcript published by Business FM Radio, which managed to reach the suspect via phone.

The Russian Investigative Committee said it had initiated a criminal case.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-28 02:28:55|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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CAIRO, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Arab League Assistant Secretary General Ambassador Hossam Zaki on Wednesday said the pan-Arab organization is optimistic about achieving progress on the situation in war-torn Yemen.

"In spite of the difficult situation in Yemen and the humanitarian crisis there, we are optimistic that progress could be achieved in the Yemeni file next year," he said in press statements.

The AL official rebuffed the possibility of holding an Arab-Iranian dialogue in an endeavor to bring a solution to the Yemeni crisis, noting that Iran is interfering in Arab affairs.

"Threats by Iran do not go in harmony with the calls for dialogue," he pointed out.

The impoverished Arab country has been locked into a civil war since the Houthi rebels overran much of the country militarily and seized all northern provinces, including the capital Sanaa, in 2014.

Saudi Arabia leads an Arab military coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015 to support the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after Houthi rebels forced him into exile.

The war has killed over 10,000 Yemenis, mostly children, and displaced 3 million others, creating one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

The United Nations has listed Yemen as the world's number one humanitarian crisis, with 7 million Yemenis on the brink of famine and cholera causing more than 2,000 deaths.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-28 02:53:59|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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NICOSIA, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Drilling ship "Saipem 12000" has completed its journey to Cyprus in preparation for an exploratory natural gas drilling on behalf of Italian ENI energy company, a Cypriot official said Wednesday.

"The ship is on target in block 6 and ready to put a drill on Kalypso field in Cyprus's Exclusive Economic Zone," an energy minister official said on condition of anonymity after returning from a visit to the drilling ship.

The ship anchored on Tuesday night over the drilling target and support ships that sailed from Larnaca with equipment and provisions.

Cypriot media reported that Turkish warships monitored the drilling ship from a distance.

Turkey, which does not recognize Cyprus since it occupied its northern part in a 1974 military operation in reaction to a coup inspired by the military rulers of Greece at the time, objects to hydrocarbon drilling, claiming that the estranged Turkish Cypriot community should be part of the process.

The exploratory drilling is expected to start in the next few days and is scheduled to end in about a month.

ENI's chief executive Claudio Descalzi said recently that the company was optimistic about the prospects of discovering natural gas and this was the reason for investing 150 million euros (179 million U.S. dollars) in exploration.

After the drilling in block 6, ENI will carry out another exploration in a target in block 3 of Cyprus's EEZ.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-28 03:14:02|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BUJUMBURA, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Over 245 groups of criminals were dismantled in 2017, making the country peaceful, said Burundian security minister Alain Guillaume Bunyoni on Wednesday when presenting the security ministry activity report for 2017.

"Throughout this year that we are ending, police made 12,675 search operations during which over 245 groups of criminals were dismantled. 132 firearms of different types were also seized during those operations," said Bunyoni in a press conference held in Burundian capital Bujumbura.

According to him, during those police search operations, 392 grenades and six mortar shells were also seized.

Bunyoni indicated that some sporadic acts of criminality were reported including acts of human trafficking, thefts in households and grenade explosions.

He added that a quantity of over 18 tons of hemp for smoking was destroyed while 16,000 balls of hemp were seized and 1,575 plants of hemp were destroyed.

He said the security situation of Burundi highly improved in 2017 compared with 2016, adding that criminality cases reduced from 400 to 277 and terror acts reduced from 143 cases in 2016 to 11 cases in 2017.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-28 03:19:03|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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KIRKUK, Iraq, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Unidentified gunmen on Wednesday shot dead two intelligence members affiliated to the Iraqi Defense Ministry in the volatile city of Kirkuk, a local security source told Xinhua.

The attack took place in the afternoon when the gunmen opened fire on a car carrying the two intelligence members while driving on a highway in northern Kirkuk, some 250 km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, the source said on condition of anonymity.

The attackers fled the scene after the attack, as the security forces began a search campaign in the area, the source said.

In mid-October, the Iraqi federal security forced took control of Kirkuk province, including its oil oilfields and military bases, after the withdrawal of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces.

Since then, the city witnessed attacks by gunmen against the Iraqi forces and civilians from time to time, while the western and southern part of the oil-rich Kirkuk province have been witnessing attacks by remnants of Islamic State (IS) militants.

Earlier in the day, an official from neighboring Salahudin province told Xinhua that some 200 families returned to refugee camp in Salahudin province after they left their homes in towns and villages in southwestern Kirkuk due to increasing attacks by IS militants.

Earlier, hundreds of families left refugee camps and returned to their homes in Hawijah area after the Iraqi security forces dislodged IS militants from their redoubts in Hawijah, but almost daily attacks, killings and abductions by remnants of IS militants recently pushed the families to flee their homes again, the official said.

The extremist militants are controlling the areas near the rivers Tigris and Zab and Himreen mountainous area, and are carrying out attacks on the towns and villages of Hawijah area, he added.

During the past few months, dozens of IS militants fled their former bases in Salahudin province and Hawijah area west of Kirkuk after the Iraqi forces cleared these areas during major anti-IS offensives.

On Dec. 9, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi officially declared full liberation of Iraq from IS militants after Iraqi forces recaptured all the areas once seized by the extremist group.

However, small groups and individuals of IS militants melted in urban areas or resorted to deserts and rugged areas in many areas in Iraq looking for safe havens.

They are still capable of carrying out attacks from time to time against the security forces and civilians.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-28 03:39:05|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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SKOPJE, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Macedonia's largest opposition party VMRO-DPMNE decided late Wednesday to continue its parliamentary boycott for an undefined period of time.

"VMRO-DPMNE lawmakers won't attend Thursday's plenary session where Members of Parliament (MPs) address questions to government," Vllatko Gjorcev told reporters, adding that the boycott would continue.

Gjorcev explained that the reasons that led the opposition party to make the decision related to Wednesday's ruling by a Skopje court to extend the detention measure for 29 suspects connected to events in Macedonian Parliament on April 27 in which protesters stormed parliament, resulting in violence and destruction.

The court extended the 30-day detention of 23 people, four will remain under house arrest, and two people will be put under home confinement as a replacement for detention.

Among the 29 suspected are six VMRO-DPMNE MPs. This was the main topic of a meeting held late Tuesday between Macedonian premier Zoran Zaev and VMRO-DPMNE newly-elected leader Hristijan Mickoski.

Mickoski asked Zaev to release the detained lawmakers.

But Zaev's press office informed that the prime minister declined the request, arguing that the courts were the ones to decide based on evidence and facts.

Earlier, Zaev told reporters he expected opposition VMRO-DPMNE lawmakers to attend the Q&A parliamentary session scheduled for Thursday.

"If they fail to attend, the session would be rather brief, as I've no intention to take questions from the MPs representing the majority," Zaev told reporters.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-28 03:49:07|Editor: pengying

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by Zheng Jianghua

BRUSSELS, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- The year 2017 has seen a sequence of elections across Europe, in most of which populist parties were outgunned. Still, the results fired a warning shot across the mainstream parties' bows, begging the question of whether they will stage a comeback in the future elections.

For the time being, there is no easy answer to that question. But what the outgoing year's elections signaled hardly boded well for Europe's established parties.

NETHERLANDS: PVV LOST GROUND?

Deemed as the opening chapter of Europe's election year, the Dutch legislative election in March was thrust into the spotlight, amid concerns that the far-right populist Freedom Party (PVV) headed by Geert Wilders would chalk up a victory.

In a country traditionally subscribing to the value of diversity, the anti-immigration, eurosceptic PVV won 20 seats in the 150-seat lower house of parliament, carving out a niche as the second largest party, only after Prime Minister Mark Rutte's liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), which won 33 seats.

All other parties refused to govern with the PVV, and after a record-breaking 209-day talks, VVD struck a coalition deal on Oct. 9 with three other parties. The new cabinet was officially sworn in on Oct 26.

A salient fact is that the coalition deal took a tougher line on migration, which in no small measures bore the hallmarks of the PVV, aiming to offset the appeal of the latter.

Joris Larik, senior researcher at The Hague Institute for Global Justice, summed up the Dutch government's plan on migration as "those who can stay have to participate fast" and "those who cannot stay have to leave fast."

In this context, though the PVV was kept from the new government, it by no means lost ground.

FRANCE : FN'S ELECTORAL BASE MAKES PROGRESS

In France, Marine Le Pen, head of the far-right National Front (FN), was outplayed in the May presidential run-off by Emmanuel Macron, a political novice who led The Republic on the Move Party (LREM).

If anything, the result -- 66.1 percent to 33.9 percent -- was attributed to a tacit understanding among those who were against Marine Le Pen.

Be that as it may, it merits serious attention that Le Pen, way ahead of other candidates, snapped at the heels of Macron in the first round presidential election in April.

In the ensuing parliamentary elections in June, Le Pen's FN secured 8 seats, a leap from 2 in the last elections in 2012.

Luc Rouban, a researcher with the Center of Political Research of Science Po (CEVIPOF) said the FN was an extremely powerful opposition pole, whose electoral base had made significant progress in the past three presidential elections.

"It is true that Le Pen was criticized within the party after her defeat, but we must not forget that she had ten million votes," he said.

GERMANY : FAR-RIGHT PARTY ENTERS BUNDESTAG

In Germany, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party racked up 12.6 percent of votes in the federal election in September, becoming the third largest party in the Bundestag, or the Federal Parliament, in only four years since its inception.

It was the first time a far-right party had entered the Bundestag after the Second World War.

Like what happened in the Netherlands, Germany's established parties have no intention of teaming up with the AfD.

However, Chancellor Angela Merkel's effort to form a "Jamaica coalition" fizzled out in late November after a time-consuming negotiation, as the mission to bridge the yawning gap between the Liberals and the Greens proved to be a tall order.

The ensuing negotiation with the Social Democrats (SPD) was anything but a low-hanging fruit, as SPD, led by former president of European Parliament Martin Shultz, seemed to be fed up with playing second fiddle in Merkel's government.

It remains to be seen whether Merkel could cut a deal with SPD, and if she could, with what strings attached. But it's widely believed that the AfD is on course to garner more votes if Merkel fancies a new election.

AUSTRIA: FAR-RIGHT FPO IN COALITION GOV'T

In Austria, a new coalition government, consisting of the conservative People's Party (OVP) and the far-right Freedom Party (FPO), was sworn in on Dec. 18, following protracted negotiations after the Oct. 15 election.

OVP won the election with 31.5 percent of the poll, while FPO ranked third scooping 26.0 percent of the ballot.

The incumbent Chancellor Christian Kern's center-left Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPO), secured 26.9 percent of the votes, ranking second.

The new chancellor is 31-year-old Sebastian Kurtz, the head of OVP and Europe's youngest leader. FPO leader Heinz-Christian Strache took up the post of vice-chancellor.

At a joint press conference presenting programs in their upcoming five-year term on Oct. 16, Strache said the two parties have very good chemistry and share common ground on about 75 percent of their governing program.

The two leaders saw eye to eye on tougher refugee policies, including quicker processing of asylum application and faster deportations of illegal migrants. They also spoke out against the current refugee quotas in European states.

Former Austrian vice-chancellor Erhard Busek told Xinhua that the result of Austrian election showed a general political movement to the right, even including the center-left or the conservative parties.

Busek's comments also hold true regarding Europe's other elections. Then a question ensues: if political parties of all stripes have the "right" attributes, then what matters when it comes to wooing voters?

Observers have pointed out that traditional left-right divide in western politics is on the wane, giving way to identity-based politics, which places emphasis on race, community, and globalization.

If the trend continues -- quite likely it does -- the established parties will once again feel the populists breathing down their necks in Europe's next poll year. The Italian parliamentary election, slated for March 2018, is just the starter.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-28 04:34:16|Editor: Jiaxin

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Prisoners from the Ukrainian armed forces gather during the prisoners swap in Donetsk region, Ukraine on Dec. 27, 2017. The Ukrainian government and pro-independence insurgents in the eastern part of the country on Wednesday carried out their largest prisoner swap since the start of the conflict in April 2014, according to the reports from the rival parties. (Xinhua/Alexander Ermochenko)

KIEV, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Ukrainian government and pro-independence insurgents in the eastern part of the country on Wednesday carried out their largest prisoner swap since the start of the conflict in April 2014, according to the reports from the rival parties.

During the exchange, the rebels in Donetsk and Lugansk have transferred 74 Ukrainian soldiers and pro-government civilians to Kiev, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko wrote on Facebook.

Meanwhile, the insurgent-run Lugansk Information Center said that the government has released 75 supporters of Lugansk rebels, but two of them refused to return to the insurgent-controlled area.

The prisoner swap between Kiev and Donetsk has also been completed, said Daria Morozova, the self-styled ombudsman of the self-proclaimed Donetsk republic. She, however, did not specify the number of people, who were handed over to Donetsk.

Ukrainian media said later that Kiev has transferred a total of 238 people to the rebel-held area and 165 of them went to Donetsk.

The Ukrainian ombudsman Valeria Lutkovska told reporters that many people, who were listed as Kiev hostages, had been released from Ukrainian prisons earlier and did not arrive at the scene of the swap.

According to local media estimates, more than 100 Ukrainian soldiers and pro-government civilians and 86 insurgent supporters still are kept hostage by the sides.

On Dec. 20, during the meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine's crisis in Minsk, Belarus, the conflicting parties agreed to carry out the exchange of the detained persons before the winter holidays.

The prisoner swap is a key part of the Minsk ceasefire agreement designed to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine that has killed some 10,000 people.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-28 04:49:21|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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ANKARA, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- The European Union fulfilled its commitment of 3 billion euros aid under the facility for refugees in Turkey with all money now fully contracted, ambassador of the EU delegation to Ankara Christian Berger said on Wednesday.

The EU had signed on Tuesday the last contract with KfW, or German Development Bank, which means that now the entire amount of the 3 billion Euros EU offered in 2016 are now contracted, hence a total of 72 projects were contracted in Turkey by the end of 2017, the ambassador told reporters.

The entire amount of 3 billion Euros allocated by EU for two years, 2016-2017 is "legally bound and being implemented," Berger stated.

Under the facility for refugees program, humanitarian projects for more than 3 million refugees are carried out with cooperation of the EU, the Turkish government and various ministries, the UN family, and with international and local NGOs, he said.

The first component of the humanitarian projects address basic needs of those refugees with roughly 1.4 billion Euros, stated the ambassador.

This allocation is being used for projects such as cash transfers, food, equipments and clothes for the winter, health, and for support specific vulnerable groups, he noted.

For their long term needs, the EU has a big program on education together with the Turkish Ministry of Education and organizations worth of 705 million Euros, he said, noting that one of the most important component of this project included construction of more than 175 schools.

This projects not only aims at helping refugees, but also sharing the burden of hosting society in Turkey, the ambassador said, adding that 5,600 teachers had language training to be able to communicate with refugee students.

Around 32 million Euros is used for scholarship programs to access to university education.

Other component of the projects is health for which 400 million Euro is allocated, aiming to provide primary and secondary health support, in addition to construction of two state hospitals in Turkey's southern Kilis and Hatay provinces, he stated.

Another component of the program is enhancing skills and capacities of the refugees, in a bid to provide better labor opportunities for them.

The EU member states now will consider the extension of this fund for the upcoming two years, he said referring to additional 3 billion Euros that Brussels pledged to give for the term of 2018-2019.

The Turkish government has long been accusing the EU of failing to meet its promise of 3 million Euro under a program to resettle Syrian refugees.

Turkey and the EU have reached a refugee deal in March 2016 to prevent the flow of illegal immigration toward Europe in return for visa-free travels for its citizens, revival of its long-stalled accession talks and financial aid for refugees in Turkey.

The number of illegal migrants being smuggled into Europe via Turkey has fallen sharply as a result.

"By the end of this year, 1,500 people have been returned from Greek islands to Turkey," Berger said, adding that more than 11,700 people have been resettled in the EU from Turkey.

According to statistics released by the Turkish Interior Ministry, there are over 3.3 million Syrians registered with biometric IDs in Turkey, of whom about 227,000 are living in refugee camps, while the rest are living across the country.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-28 04:49:22|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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HELSINKI, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Bank staff in Finland will mount a two-day strike on Thursday and Friday, forcing nearly all the banks to shut down, the Central Organization of the Financial Sector said on Wednesday.

The major dispute that causes the strike is about weekend work. Banks in Finland have offered weekend consultative services, based on agreements with the staff members.

The trade unions want, however, good compensation for weekend work. Marita Kortehisto, the negotiator from the Pro Liitto, one of the major unions representing bank staff, told media that Sunday work must be voluntary and well compensated.

The next negotiation under the state mediator Minna Helle is scheduled for next Tuesday. If no agreement is reached, there will be a second stage of strike on the fourth and fifth of January.

During the first strike on Thursday and Friday, teller automats and internet banking are supposed to function, but telephone services will heavily reduce. Debit and credit cards are expected to function, said the Central Organization of the Financial Sector.

The strike takes places against the backdrop of impending major layoffs in banks. The unions are upset that banks treat the personnel harshly when the profits of the sector are high.

Background backing work has also been transferred from Finland to Poland and Baltic countries where labor is cheaper.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-28 04:54:23|Editor: Chengcheng

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Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi (L, front) shakes hands with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R, front) in Tunis, capital of Tunisia, on Dec. 27, 2017. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was on a two-day official visit to Tunisia at the invitation of his Tunisian counterpart Beji Caid Essebsi. (Xinhua/Adele Ezzine)

TUNIS, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Tunisia and Turkey signed Wednesday four cooperation agreements concerning security, economic and environmental issues during Turkish president's visit to the north African country.

In terms of security, the convention stipulates military cooperation between the two countries in addition to training courses of Tunisian military competencies.

"Our two countries will make concerted efforts to boost bilateral cooperation, particularly in tourism and trade," said Erdogan at a joint press conference with his Tunisian counterpart Beji Caid Essebsi.

Excluding a 300 million dollars grant already pledged to Tunisia, the Turkish President has announced his intention to grant 300 million dollars in additional funding.

Referring to certain regional and international issues of common interest such as the Libyan conflict and the Syrian crisis, the Turkish President said his country's position and that of Tunisia "are similar."

With regard to the Libyan affair, Erdogan confirmed the upcoming opening of an embassy in Tripoli.

This is Recep Tayyip Erdogan's third visit to Tunisia and the first as president, following the visits in 2011 and 2013 as prime minister.

Since 2011, Turkish funding in Tunisia has reached 500 million dollars, including 200 million dollars in security.

Throughout the year 2016, the volume of trade between Tunisia and Turkey was one billion dollars, including 240 million dollars for Tunisian exports and 760 million dollars for Turkish exports.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-28 05:14:26|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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PARIS, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday welcomed Ukraine and pro-Russia separatists' prisoners' swap, calling on both parts to release the remaining captives and press for full implementation of peace deal.

In a joint statement released by French presidency, the two leaders called the exchange of prisoners "an important result," that "should contribute to building trust between the sides, with a view to the full implementation of the Minsk Agreements."

Macron and Merkel also urged Kiev and pro-Russia rebels to exchange all the remaining detainees, ensure full access of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to all prisoners and facilitate search for missing persons.

Earlier on Wednesday, Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists exchanged more that 300 prisoners as part of Franco-German backed peace deal signed in February 2015.

The agreement included a complete cessation of fighting, a pullback of heavy weapons from front lines and release of prisoners of war.
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Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-28 05:14:27|Editor: Liu

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Photo taken on Dec. 30, 2016 shows Chinese telescope AST3-2. Chinese scientists on Monday announced observation of the "optical counterpart" of gravitational waves coming from the merger of two binary neutron stars using a survey telescope in Antarctica. The gravitational waves were first discovered by the U.S.-based Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors on Aug. 17. The Chinese telescope independently observed optical signals resulting from the merger the next day, according to the Chinese Center for Antarctic Astronomy. It was the first time humans have detected gravitational waves and the corresponding electromagnetic phenomena resulting from a binary neutron star merger. (Xinhua/Chinese Center for Antarctic Astronomy)

WASHINGTON, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- From gravitational waves seen in neutron star collision to life-saving gene therapy, the year of 2017 has seen major science breakthroughs, trends and events that will potentially shape the future of human life.

Following are ten science events, which have major impact on the world in 2017, and for many years to come.

GRAVITATIONAL WAVES USHER IN NEW ERA FOR ASTRONOMY

On Aug. 17, scientists detected gravitational waves -- the ripples in space and time, and light from the collision of two neutron stars. It was the first time a cosmic event has been "seen" from Earth in both gravitational waves and in light. In other words, the event helps to bring together traditional light-based astronomy with gravitational wave astronomy for the first time.

"I think this is a really major discovery in the history of astronomy," David Reitze, executive director of U.S.-based Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), told Xinhua in an interview shortly after he announced the discovery.

Gravitational waves were originally predicted in the early 20th century by Albert Einstein, but they were only detected for the first time by LIGO in 2015, a discovery that was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics this year.

LIFE-SAVING GENE THERAPY WITH HEFTY PRICE TAGS

Decades of research on gene therapy is finally paying off. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved not one but three life-saving gene therapy products this year.

The first, called Kymriah, was approved in August for certain pediatric and young adult patients with a form of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Kymriah, known as "a living drug," uses a patient's own immune system cells, called T cells, after these cells have been modified to better recognize and kill the patient's cancer. The one-time drug is now priced at 475,000 U.S. dollars.

Two months later, the U.S. FDA endorsed Yescarta, a similar gene therapy, to treat adult patients with certain types of large B-cell lymphoma. The initial list price of Yescarta, also a one-time treatment, is similarly expensive at 373,000 dollars.

Then in December, the regulator green lighted a gene therapy called Luxturna to treat patients with a rare inherited form of vision loss that may result in blindness. The treatment delivers a normal copy of the mutated gene directly to retinal cells, leading them to produce a key protein that converts light to an electrical signal in the retina to restore patient's vision loss. Luxturna reportedly has a possible price tag of as high as one million dollars.

"I believe gene therapy will become a mainstay in treating, and maybe curing, many of our most devastating and intractable illnesses," FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in announcing the approval of Luxturna. "We're at a turning point when it comes to this novel form of therapy."

CRISPR GENE EDITING SPEEDS INTO CLINIC AMID ETHICS DEBATE

The revolutionary gene-editing technology CRISPR is moving rapidly into the clinic, with a report from the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine recommending in February that clinical trials for gene editing of a human embryo "could be permitted in the future, but only for serious conditions under stringent oversight."

This year, scientists using the five-year-old tool have made advances in fighting diseases, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, mosquitoes and much more. For example, researchers from the Temple University made the first successful attempt to use CRISPR to remove HIV from a living organism. In August, a team at the Oregon Health and Science University reported the first known attempt at creating genetically modified human embryos in the United States.

Meanwhile, major improvements have been made in the technology itself. The newly-developed systems are now able to target the smallest units of our DNA or RNA, and Chinese researchers demonstrated the power of the so-called base editing by fixing a disease-causing point mutation in human embryos.

Scientists have also made breakthroughs in their quests for solutions for the worldwide shortage of transplant organs. In January, U.S. researchers announced they have used CRISPR to successfully create the first human-pig chimera embryos, bringing us a step closer to growing human organs inside pigs. In August, researchers from the U.S., China and Denmark reported that they have edited the pig genome to deactivate a family of retroviruses in order to create piglets that can't pass the viruses on to transplant recipients.

BRIGHT FUTURE FOR QUANTUM COMMUNICATIONS & QUANTUM SUPREMACY

The past year has also seen a series of major advancements in quantum communications, which are currently described as "unhackable."

In June, Chinese researchers announced that they had transmitted pairs of "entangled" photons from the Micius satellite to two ground stations located more than 1,200 kilometers apart. Previous efforts to entangle quantum particles, such as photons, have been limited to about 100 kilometers.

"The experiment shows that long-range quantum communication is indeed technologically feasible and holds out the promise of the construction of long-range quantum communication networks in the near future," Seth Lloyd, director of the Center for Extreme Quantum Information Theory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told Xinhua at that time.

In August, China inaugurated the world's first line of quantum communications between the cities of Beijing and Shanghai, which covers a total length of over 2,000 kilometers. "We hope to form a ground and space integrated quantum communications network in about 10 years, and apply it widely in fields such as national defense, government affairs, finance and energy," Pan Jianwei, lead scientist of the Micius project, said earlier this year.

Meanwhile, Google, IBM and several other tech giants are now in a seemingly tight race for quantum supremacy, a state which allows quantum computers to beat even the strongest supercomputers.

In November, IBM announced that it has successfully developed and tested an operational prototype processor that handles 50 qubits, which are believed able to exhibit what's known as "quantum supremacy."

Google was reportedly to unveil a 49-qubit device soon. Intel is also betting on a quantum-enabled future, with the revelation of a 17-qubit processor in October. There are also many other groups around the world pursuing different approaches to achieve the "supremacy."

"It's obvious that there's now a worldwide race to build quantum computers able to do things that are classically hard," Professor Scott Aaronson, director of the Quantum Information Center at the University of Texas at Austin, explained to Xinhua. "I'm just excited that it looks like someone will win this race within the next year or so."

ASTRONAUTS SET TO GO BACK TO MOON

In July of 1969, the U.S. space agency NASA succeeded in sending astronauts to the moon. About half a century later, U.S. President Donald Trump instructed NASA to do so again, with an alleged goal of laying a foundation there for an eventual mission to Mars.

The Trump administration has not yet laid out a detailed plan for returning Americans to the lunar surface, but NASA is exploring a concept of building a small space station around the moon known as Deep Space Gateway that would serve as a waypoint to the lunar surface and deep space.

China, the third country which has independently sent humans into space, is also working on an idea for manned lunar landing.

According to Wu Yansheng, general manager of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the mission will consist of a manned spaceship, a propulsion vehicle and a lunar lander. The manned spaceship and the lunar lander will be sent into circumlunar orbit separately.

Yang Liwei, deputy director of the China Manned Space Engineering Office, said that China is in the preliminary stage of its manned lunar program and estimated that Chinese astronauts will be able to walk on the moon around 2030.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE COMES OUT OF LAB

Artificial intelligence (AI) is not only challenging and defeating human players in the ancient Chinese board game Go, it's also predicted to penetrate and even transform industries from manufacturing and transportation to finance and healthcare.

And scientists scouring data from NASA's Kepler Space Telescope even used AI to discover an eighth planet around a star 2,545 light years away this year, making the distant solar system the only one besides our own that has eight planets orbiting a single star.

By 2025, annual worldwide AI revenue will grow to 89.8 billion dollars, according to Tractica, a U.S. market-intelligence firm, an increase from only 3.2 billion dollars in 2016.

"I think AI industry is now in its infancy and what we are seeing is just the tip of the iceberg," Zhang Yaqin, president of China's tech giant Baidu, told Xinhua earlier this year. "The impact of AI on human beings would surpass that of the steam engine, electricity and the Internet. It will open up a new era and transform business, lifestyle and society."

U.S. WITHDRAWS FROM PARIS AGREEMENT ON CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate change has become a global challenge that requires action from all countries across the world. But to the regret of almost all, Trump Administration announced in June that his country would withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change, which is regarded by many as the "best chance we have to save the planet."

"All nations much cut their emissions sooner and deeper than called for in the Paris agreement for the world to have any realistic chance of limiting global warming to no more than two degrees Celsius," John Sterman, professor at the Sloan School of Management of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told Xinhua at that time in responding to the withdrawal.

"U.S. withdrawal makes the greater ambition needed to avoid the worst risks of climate change more difficult."

The Paris Agreement, agreed on by almost every country in the world in 2015, aims to tackle climate change by cutting greenhouse gas emissions and sets a global target of keeping the average temperature rise no higher than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

In the face of the U.S. change of heart over the landmark deal, other major players including the European Union, China and India have reiterated their willingness to step up efforts to tackle the climate change.

NEW CANCER DRUG DEFEATS MULTIPLE TUMORS

In May, the U.S. FDA granted accelerated approval to a treatment for patients whose cancers have a specific genetic feature. This is the first time the agency has approved a cancer treatment based on its DNA rather than the location in the body where the tumor originated.

The drug, called Keytruda, which has previously been approved to treat metastatic melanoma and a handful of other tumor types, can now be prescribed for any advanced solid tumor that carry a common genetic defect referred to as microsatellite instability-high or mismatch repair deficient.

"This is an important first for the cancer community," said Richard Pazdur, acting director of the Office of Hematology and Oncology Products in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research and director of the FDA's Oncology Center of Excellence.

"Until now, the FDA has approved cancer treatments based on where in the body the cancer started -- for example, lung or breast cancers. We have now approved a drug based on a tumor's biomarker without regard to the tumor's original location," Pazdur said.

FIRST GENETICALY-MODIFIED ANIMAL HITS SHELVES IN CANADA

AquaBounty Technologies, a U.S.-based biotechnology company, announced in August that it has sold approximately five tons of fresh genetically-modified (GM) salmon fillets at "market price" to unnamed customers in Canada.

"Our salmon is only approved for production, sale and consumption in the United States and Canada," Dave Conley, a company spokesman, told Xinhua at that time. "It will not be sold in China until it is approved by your national biotechnology regulatory authority."

"This is an important step for the company and for the technology as a whole," William Muir, genetics professor at the Purdue University, commented in an email to Xinhua. "This will be the first GM animal approved for human consumption and now the next step is consumer acceptance... I see no scientific reason to be concerned about the sale or consumption of AquaBounty GM salmon."

7 EARTH-SIZED EXOPLANETS DISCOVERED AROUND NEARBY STAR

NASA announced on Feb. 22. that a compact analogue of our innersolar system about 40 light years away from the Earth has been discovered.

"The discovery gives us a hint that finding a second earth is not just a matter of if but when," Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate said.

An international team of astronomers using powerful space telescopes and ground-based observatories have discovered the first known system of actually seven Earth-sized planets orbiting the nearby TRAPPIST-1, which is relatively close to us, in the constellation Aquarius.

And three of these planets are firmly located in the habitable zone, the area around the parent star where a rocky planet is most likely to have liquid water.

The discovery sets a new record for greatest number of habitable-zone planets found around a single star outside our solar system, according to NASA.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-28 05:24:30|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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LISBON, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa proposed on Wednesday that Prime Minister Antonio Costa and his fellow parliamentarians seek prior approval from the Constitutional Court (TC) before putting new party finance rules into law.

Rebelo de Sousa, writing on the President of the Republic's website, was commenting on controversial changes to party finance rules approved by parliament in an electronic vote on Dec. 21.

There has been criticism that the changes overstepped their remit and were pushed through parliament during the Christmas holidays, ensuring minimal public scrutiny.

The new law was drafted to meet a TC request, made over a year ago, that changes be made to party finance accountability models. Specifically, the TC called for the independent Political Finance and Accounting Body (ECFP) to approve party accounts at the first instance. The ECFP would thus have the power to implement fines and sanctions.

The new party finance law does as the TC requests, but includes more amendments besides.

There will no longer be an upper limit on how much money a party can collect through fundraising initiatives. Furthermore, VAT will be waived on all political party activities.

The Central Social Democratic-Popular Party (CDS-PP) and the PAN (People Animals and Nature Party) voted against the new law, objecting to the fundraising amendment. On Wednesday, Assuncao Cristas, leader of the CDS-PP, called upon the president to veto the decree.

The president himself said he has yet to read the new law. He was presented with the draft on Dec. 22 and is obliged by protocol to wait eight days before commenting.

His suggestion that proponents of the new law consult the TC directly is thus seen as a means to make use of the eight days and defuse the argument via an independent verdict.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-28 05:24:32|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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JERUSALEM, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel has the strongest air force against threats, with the ability to reach targets at all distances.

"Israeli Air Force is at the prime of its capabilities, with the very best technological tools, aircraft, pilots, possessing defensive and offensive capabilities, with immense fire capabilities, which can reach near and far targets," said Netanyahu at a graduation ceremony for air force pilots at the Hatzerim Air Base in southern Israel.

Netanyahu also warned that "we will not let the Iranian Armed Forces establish themselves in Syria in order to harm the State of Israel and we will work in order to prevent the manufacturing of deadly weapons to be used against us."

Netanyahu gave similar warning that Israel won't allow Iran to establish a military presence in Syria for several times.

As for the Gaza Strip, he said "we want the local population to live peacefully, but the peace in Gaza depends first and foremost on Gaza."

Thirty-six pilots, including one woman, received their symbolic wings after graduating from the three-year long IAF Flight Academy on Wednesday.

Beginning next week, these graduates, who are now combat air crew, will be assigned to various air force squadrons and will begin their operational training, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

The F-35 fighter, the newest and most advanced U.S. fighter jet, flew an aerial show at the graduation ceremony. IAF announced in early December that its new squadron of F-35 fighter jets is fully operational.

IAF has several technological advancements like unmanned aircraft, the Iron Dome, David's Sling and the Arrow system, said Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman at the graduation ceremony.

In the coming years the IAF will remain the decisive force of the IDF, said Lieberman. "In those years there will be challenges that we have never dealt with before."

Upon the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018, Israel faces many threats from the north and the south, said Gadi Eizenkot, Chief of the General Staff of IDF.

Eizenkot said that the IDF has been operating on all frontiers, with creativity and determination, in order to ensure the security of Israel.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-28 05:29:35|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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ANKARA, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- At least nine members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) were killed in airstrikes in northern Iraq, Turkish military said Wednesday.

Operation launched by the Turkish Air Forces targeted the Hakurk, Zap, Avasin-Basyan and Metina regions in northern Iraq, the General Staff said in a statement.

The group members were planning attacks on Turkish military bases along the Iraqi border, according to the statement.

The military said the PKK's shelters and ammunition depots were destroyed during the raids backed by air.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and the EU, resumed its 30-year armed campaign against the Turkish state in July 2015 after a brief reconciliation period.

The Turkish military has been carrying out anti-terror operations against PKK positions in northern Iraq since July 2015, with main focus on Qandil region, where the group's main base is located.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-28 05:39:38|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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DAMASCUS, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Syria's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday held Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan responsible for the bloodbath in Syria, as Erdogan called President Bashar al-Assad "a terrorist."

In a statement, the ministry said the "aggression of Erdogan and the entry of his forces into Syria is one form of supporting the terrorists."

The ministry charged that the Turkish president is "misleading the public opinion by his usual bubbles in a desperate attempt to exonerate himself from the crimes he committed against the Syrian people through his unlimited support to the terrorist groups in Syria."

The sharp condemnation came following remarks by Erdogan, who said during a televised news conference in Tunis that "Assad is definitely a terrorist who has carried out state terrorism."

The remarks came ahead of the anticipated talks on Syria in the Russian city of Sochi early next year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L-back) speaks with newly qualified Israeli air force pilots during their graduation ceremony at the Hatzerim Israeli Air Force base in the Negev desert, near the southern Israeli city of Beer Sheva, on December 27, 2017. (AFP Photo)

JERUSALEM, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel has the strongest air force against threats, with the ability to reach targets at all distances.

"Israeli Air Force is at the prime of its capabilities, with the very best technological tools, aircraft, pilots, possessing defensive and offensive capabilities, with immense fire capabilities, which can reach near and far targets," said Netanyahu at a graduation ceremony for air force pilots at the Hatzerim Air Base in southern Israel.

Netanyahu also warned that "we will not let the Iranian Armed Forces establish themselves in Syria in order to harm the State of Israel and we will work in order to prevent the manufacturing of deadly weapons to be used against us."

Netanyahu gave similar warning that Israel won't allow Iran to establish a military presence in Syria for several times.

As for the Gaza Strip, he said "we want the local population to live peacefully, but the peace in Gaza depends first and foremost on Gaza."

Thirty-six pilots, including one woman, received their symbolic wings after graduating from the three-year long IAF Flight Academy on Wednesday.

Beginning next week, these graduates, who are now combat air crew, will be assigned to various air force squadrons and will begin their operational training, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

The F-35 fighter, the newest and most advanced U.S. fighter jet, flew an aerial show at the graduation ceremony. IAF announced in early December that its new squadron of F-35 fighter jets is fully operational.

IAF has several technological advancements like unmanned aircraft, the Iron Dome, David's Sling and the Arrow system, said Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman at the graduation ceremony.

In the coming years the IAF will remain the decisive force of the IDF, said Lieberman. "In those years there will be challenges that we have never dealt with before."

Upon the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018, Israel faces many threats from the north and the south, said Gadi Eizenkot, Chief of the General Staff of IDF.

Eizenkot said that the IDF has been operating on all frontiers, with creativity and determination, in order to ensure the security of Israel.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a press conference with his Tunisian counterpart on December 27, 2017 at Carthage palace near Tunis. (AFP Photo)

DAMASCUS, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Syria's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday held Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan responsible for the bloodbath in Syria, as Erdogan called President Bashar al-Assad "a terrorist."

In a statement, the ministry said the "aggression of Erdogan and the entry of his forces into Syria is one form of supporting the terrorists."

The ministry charged that the Turkish president is "misleading the public opinion by his usual bubbles in a desperate attempt to exonerate himself from the crimes he committed against the Syrian people through his unlimited support to the terrorist groups in Syria."

The sharp condemnation came following remarks by Erdogan, who said during a televised news conference in Tunis that "Assad is definitely a terrorist who has carried out state terrorism."

The remarks came ahead of the anticipated talks on Syria in the Russian city of Sochi early next year.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-28 05:54:45|Editor: Chengcheng

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HAVANA, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Cuba's Che Guevara Mausoleum in eastern Santa Clara has been visited by more than 4.8 million people since it was opened 29 years ago, the site's director Noris Cardenas said on Wednesday.

Cardenas said foreign visitors come from various countries, mainly Argentina, Guevara's birthplace, and Germany, France, Italy and the UK.

What they have in common is admiration for the Argentinean revolutionary who joined the Cuban leader Fidel Castro's cause of liberation.

The mausoleum is dominated by a 6.8-meter-high statue of Che Guevara that has come to symbolize Santa Clara, the town liberated by the guerrilla forces under his command in December 1958.

The site opened on Dec. 28, 1988, but it wasn't until October 1997 that it became the official resting place of Che Guevara, who had been assassinated 30 years earlier in Bolivia.

For 2018, the mausoleum has prepared a special program of activities to mark what would have been Che Guevara's 90th birthday on June 14.

The mausoleum tells the story of Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, known worldwide as Che Guevara, or simply Che, an Argentinean doctor, revolutionary, statesman and writer.

After helping to liberate Cuba, Che went to Bolivia to continue his mission to free the oppressed indigenous peoples of Latin America, but was ambushed in 1967 by mercenaries.

His remains were located three decades later by a team of experts and returned to Cuba.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-28 05:54:46|Editor: Chengcheng

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HAVANA, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Cuba's state-run telecommunications company Etecsa has been inundated with hacking complaints from users of its public Wi-Fi hotspots, local media reported on Wednesday.

Etecsa said it registered 672 complaints up to November, mainly from users whose credit was stolen by hackers tapping into their accounts while they were surfing the net at a park, plaza, shopping center or other public Wi-Fi enabled zone.

Average Cubans have no private internet access at home, and must resort to these hotspots to check emails and browse the web.

Jorge Sacre, head of the company's anti-fraud unit, said "small illegal Wi-Fi points," otherwise known as fake APs, or access points, set up near hotspots by con artists were to blame for the rash of stolen credit.

He also blamed users, saying they could be more careful.

"People lend their mobiles and passwords, they share their browsers, they use so-called 'connectify' (hotspots) to make connecting cheaper, they accept (balance) transfers from strangers ... all of that provided swindlers with an opportunity," said Sacre.

However, he admitted that when Etecsa first began to offer public Wi-Fi in 2015, it did so without a valid security certificate "in order to not keep postponing a service the people were clamoring for."

The company has tried to compensate users, paying a total of 5,300 U.S. dollars so far in reimbursements for "unjustified consumption or transfer of balance."

An estimated 4 million Cubans access the Internet, and the vast majority do it via 505 Wi-Fi hotspots set up by the company.

The service is not free: an hour costs one dollar.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-28 06:24:50|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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MOSCOW, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- A total of 10 people were injured on Wednesday in an explosion at a supermarket in the Russian city of St. Petersburg, the Russian authorities said.

The Russian National Anti-terrorism Committee said in a press release that its operational headquarter is coordinating the activities of emergency services, security agencies and law enforcement forces, and that measures are taken to search for those involved in committing this crime.

The incident took place at about 18:45 (15:45 GMT), when an explosive device placed in a locker went off at a supermarket in a shopping center in the northern part of the city, causing injuries and damaging the shop.

"10 people have been taken to hospitals. The wounded people's lives are not in danger," head of the Russian Investigative Committee's St. Petersburg department Alexander Klaus said.

Dozens of people were evacuated from the building after the explosion, and traffic control surrounding the crime scene was temporarily lifted, local media reported.

The Investigative Committee has initiated a criminal case over the incident, and an investigative team consisting of experts and officers from the committee, the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the

Interior Ministry is currently working on the site of the incident, the committee said in a statement.

According to a preliminary assessment, it was an improvised explosive device stuffed with striking elements equivalent to 200 grams of TNT, a chemical compound usually used as an explosive material, the statement said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-28 06:44:53|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BUENOS AIRES, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- A total of five Argentine, Russian and U.S. ships are combing South Atlantic waters off the coast of the South American nation in a bid to locate a missing submarine, Argentina's Navy (ARA) said on Wednesday.

The ARA San Juan submarine sank on Nov. 15 with 44 crew on board, following an unidentified explosion in the vicinity of the ship.

The Argentine navy ships ARA Sarandi, ARA Islas Malvinas and ARA Puerto Argentino, along with the Russian Yantar and U.S. Atlantic, both oceanographic vessels, are involved in the operation to sweep the sea floor for signs of the submarine.

The Panther Plus, a Russian remotely operated underwater vehicle, or ROV, is aiding the search operation.

"According to the United States' Secretary of Defense, after concluding the sweeps of up to two times the designated area," the ROV will be deployed, the navy said.

Right after the submarine sank, an initial search and rescue operation was launched in hope of saving the crew, but the submarine was never found. Eight days later, on Nov. 23, the navy announced there was no hope of finding survivors, but it would continue to search for the vessel.

The submarine, a German-made TR-1700 acquired in 1985, was last located in the San Jorge Gulf, 432 kilometers south of the Valdes Peninsula.
Over the course of this week, we will be featuring some of the most notable moments in this community during 2017. We reviewed the stories that were the most read online, the stories of success, moving moments, the stories of change and events that that had impact during 2017.

Starting today and running through Saturday, we will look back at five stories (each day, for a year-end total of 20) that stood out in the past year.

Towers of York

In 2017, the York community was adorned with 25 pieces of very special art.

In a variety of locations, residents and visitors alike were treated by seeing the Towers of York  a project that involved local artists who created their version of Yorks iconic water tower.

Through efforts of the York Chamber of Commerce, local businesses, city workers . . . and of course, the artists . . . these showpieces created lots of conversation and helped shape community pride.

Then in October, a grand event was held downtown as the towers were auctioned off and proceeds (from the sale of the large towers) will be used to help finance the annual Firecracker Frenzy event held on July 3.

The proceeds from the 10 smaller towers (which were created by local students) will be split between the Firecracker Frenzy and the schools from which each piece was submitted.

And the bidding was impressive. By the time all was said and done, nearly $50,000 was raised for the community event.

The top bid was $5,000 for a single tower.

The project began in November 2015 started with making the pitch to the senior Organizational Management Class at York College, said York Chamber Director Madonna Mogul. They did the legwork in the spring semester of 2016.

The blank towers arrived in town and were distributed to the artists on a November 2016 night on the parking lot at the Holthus Convention Center.

Later, they went to Autocraft Collision and Graphics which sprayed layers of clear coat protection against the elements at no charge in March of this year.

The pieces were on display by late that same month thanks to the City of York Public Works Departments equipment and personnel.

It exceeded all of my expectations, Mogul said. I cannot say enough how proud I am of this community for its support of this project from the beginning.

Mogul declared herself definitely willing to do it again. I can envision it happening in about a three to five year time frame.

Vietnam Honor Flight

Fourteen men from the York area share a common bond: All served and survived the Vietnam War and went on to live long and productive lives.

And this past spring, they were a small part of the massive troop movement of 654 men and women who were flown in four passenger jets to visit the wall that commemorates comrades whose lives ended decades too soon in that years-long struggle with communism.

This was the most recent of many such flights hosted by Bill and Evonne Williams of Omaha and was paid for entirely by private donations. The couple has declared it will also be the last in a series of flights for World War II, Korea and now Vietnam vets.

Among the group from the York area was Rich Hankel, a Navy veteran who served offshore aboard a 174-foot mine sweeper protecting against attacks from sea along the coast of the bitterly divided, embattled Southeast Asian nation.

Hankel said it took a full months sail to get to the war zone and another months journey back home when his hitch was up.

It was an amazing thing, said Hankel of this years trip during which he shook hands with most of Nebraskas congressional delegation.

Senator Ben Sasse, he said, ignored pre-dawn rain to properly greet and visit with the Nebraska delegation.

Others from York on the trip manifest were: Eugene Buhman, Kirby Chapman, Adam Broughton III, Marlin Hartig, Max Hoover, Larry Joy, David Rea and Fred Stuertz.

The roster included Jim Staehr and Clinton Buller from Utica, Eugene Cotter and Dallas Puntney from Stromsburg and Bradly Sundberg of Polk.

This flight marked the largest group of Vietnam veterans from any single state to ever visit the wall en masse.

Many of these men and women have waited better than 50 years to be remembered themselves and also to pay tribute to those who died and whose names are etched on the wall.

The iconic Vietnam Wall is approximately 500 feet long and nearly 11 feet tall at its highest point.

Unlike the 2016 flight to D.C. this years final salute was a three-day affair.

The veterans visited the Lincoln Memorial, Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown, Arlington Cemetery as well as the World War II and Iwo Jima memorials.

As wonderful as the journey certainly was, the best part of it for Hankel was the reception he and others received when they walked down the boarding ramps and into the Lincoln Airport.

They were swept away upon seeing the thousands of people who waited to cheer, cry, shake hands, wave flags and  at long last  give these patriot warriors a proper Welcome home!

It was an absolutely awesome day, declared Hankel. Tiring, but so rewarding.

It was an emotional thing, he said, struggling to get the words out through the tears of memory. With a sheepish grin and a helpless shrug he stated the obvious. It still is.

Construction starts on $25 million city investment

In the early spring, an area several miles east of York was just a quiet field.

But that quickly ended as dirt moving equipment arrived . . . to be followed shortly by many construction workers.

Over the course of the year, remarkable changes became more and more obvious as progress continued on the citys $25 million investment  a new wastewater treatment plant.

After years of discussion, planning and engineering, the actual construction started and continues at this time.

And the good news is that the project is right on schedule.

The plant is supposed to be fully operational in 2019. Construction-wise, the plant is supposed to be finished by September, 2018, which will be followed by a six-month transition period as the city gradually moves operations from the old site to the new.

The majority of the transmission line has been installed which runs along the west side of Road O and on the south side of Road 12.

While it has been noted that this is an extremely expensive venture, it is also completely necessary as the current wastewater treatment plant is very old and will not meet federal and state regulations in a few years.

City pursues and receives grant for downtown revitalization grant (conceptual photo ran on Sept. 19)

In late 2016, the York community made a pitch to be chosen for a downtown revitalization study and the grant from the Nebraska Department of Economic Development was made a reality.

Then last spring, Clark Enersen representatives arrived in York  to physically see the town, talk with local business owners and community leaders, to visit with residents and shoppers, to see how the traffic flows, to review parking and housing and many aspects of that area of town.

They held a number of public meetings and took input from every interested person who had something to say.

After months of conducting the study, Clark Enersen representatives presented their findings and made recommendations.

While the city council rejected the idea of changing the traffic patterns from one-ways to two-ways, as well as the theory of installing roundabouts on both the south and north entrances to the downtown area . . . they did solidly stand behind the findings and the recommendations on how to make the downtown a more inviting and economically vibrant place.

Then it was time to see if grant money would go toward a future project that would include the utilization of the courthouse square and beautification efforts.

As the year began to wind down, the word finally came. York will be a recipient of a $350,000 grant that will be used to begin this process.

City pursues and receives grant for downtown revitalization grant

In late 2016, the York community made a pitch to be chosen for a downtown revitalization study and the grant from the Nebraska Department of Economic Development was made a reality.

Then last spring, Clark Enersen representatives arrived in York  to physically see the town, talk with local business owners and community leaders, to visit with residents and shoppers, to see how the traffic flows, to review parking and housing and many aspects of that area of town.

They held a number of public meetings and took input from every interested person who had something to say.

After months of conducting the study, Clark Enersen representatives presented their findings and made recommendations.

While the city council rejected the idea of changing the traffic patterns from one-ways to two-ways, as well as the theory of installing roundabouts on both the south and north entrances to the downtown area . . . they did solidly stand behind the findings and the recommendations on how to make the downtown a more inviting and economically vibrant place.

Then it was time to see if grant money would go toward a future project that would include the utilization of the courthouse square and beautification efforts.

As the year began to wind down, the word finally came. York will be a recipient of a $350,000 grant that will be used to begin this process.

Mother, son reunited after 56 years apart

After 56 years apart, a mother and son were finally reunited.

It was a heartwarming conclusion to an exhaustive search that had been conducted by Connie Cervenys children, as they wanted to find the two biological brothers their mother had placed for adoption many, many years ago.

Even after so many decades, just minutes after meeting Ed Bauer, Connie Cerveny said, You are my Michael.

He was born with the name Michael, a name she gave him as her son when she was just a teenager.

At the age of 16 months, Michaels name was changed to Ed Bauer when he was adopted.

Did you have a good life? Did they treat you good? Mrs. Cerveny asked.

He said he did.

She learned he has a 27-year-old son.

Oh boy, another grandchild, she said with a smile. There are 13 more. I have a bunch.

Ed explained that his parents had not been able to have children, hence the adoption. But four years after he arrived in their household, they gave birth to a daughter.

I have a sister, he told Mrs. Cerveny, showing her a picture.

Oh, good for you, she exclaimed.

Through the years, Mrs. Cerveny said she wondered about the boys she gave up. She had been promised pictures and updates . . . which never came.

It was a different time, the now elderly woman said. People didnt tell me things, things were done different back then.

She moved on with her life . . . she got married and gave birth to four girls and a boy.

She explained to him how she wanted to know where he was, how he was . . . that she didnt want to give him up but she really had no choice.

It was a different time, she said again.

He said he understood.

He, too, thought now and again about being adopted . . . but never pursued walking into that unknown portion of his life.

His parents even presented him with an envelope, when he graduated from high school, which apparently held information about his biological mother.

For whatever reason, I guess I was never ready, I just never opened it, Ed said. And then it went missing after a fire. And I have no idea what the information said.

A few years ago, the Cerveny siblings launched an effort to find him and Jimmy. They were going on vague information that his name was Michael Brown.

And I thought my original name was Michael King, Ed said, smiling.

Susan (Stearns, one of the siblings) posted a photo on Facebook, in which she held a poster that explained they were looking for their two brothers. She included information about possible birthdates, locations and names.

It was pushed around the internet and this newspaper published a story that was shared many times over.

Still, nothing happened.

Then they decided to subscribe to ancestry.com and provide a DNA sample from Mrs. Cerveny that could be included in the organizations data base, should someone ever do the same and be flagged as a possible match.

Incredibly, last May, Ed decided to submit a DNA sample of his own to ancestry.com  not necessarily to find his biological mother and family, but rather to discover his genetic make-up, he says.

Shortly afterward, he received an email from the organization that said: Match of parent/child. Confidence extremely high. Relationship  C.C. is your mother.

He was obviously taken aback . . . and then he saw an email address that belonged to Wes Cerveny (a biological brother) as the contact person.

Wes also received an email from ancestry.com but it was accidentally deleted.

All Ed really knew was that his mothers initials were C.C. and the name Cerveny was in the contact information.

There I was, living in Valley, where Ive always been, and not knowing my family was just over here, in York and Polk Counties, Ed said.

Eds residency in Valley was intriguing to Wes. He had lived there, also, from 1997 to 2001. Amazingly, upon meeting, the two men realized that every day, during that four-year span, they had been working and living just a half a block apart. Wes even worked for one of Eds good friends.

And we never knew, Ed sighed as he learned his brother drove past his house on a regular basis during that timeframe.

So in May, Ed tucked away his ancestry information. May turned into June, the summer went by.

Then, on a September night, Susan decided to re-post that old photo of her and the poster, asking for information about their brothers.

As the post floated around social media, it was Eds sister that noticed it. Somehow, it had landed on her feed as Susans Facebook friends and her Facebook friends intermingled.

And thats when my sister called me and said, I think this is too much of a coincidence, Ed explained. There was too much matching information. And then I saw the name Cerveny on Susans post and remembered that was the name in the email notification I had received.

Ed said he sat at his home, working to get up the nerve to message the woman who originated the post.

I didnt know if I wanted to walk into all that, he told them. And then I thought, what the heck.

He private messaged Susan and asked questions about the dates and other information.

Then I asked him, Do you think you know him, do you know my brother? Susan recalled.

Ed chuckled. And I responded, Well, I think I am him.

I freaked out, Susan said, laughing with tears in her eyes. I called Lisa and we all started talking and well, its been a busy couple of days.

Over the course of the next day, between the sharing of information from both sides, recognizing Eds undeniable resemblance to Mrs. Cerveny and the DNA results confirming nearly a 100 percent match . . . it was determined that he is their long-lost brother.

And he is Mrs. Cervenys son.

He is now part of the Cerveny family, as they stay in touch, have frequent get-togethers . . . and continue to search for their other biological brother.
Stiri pe aceeasi tema

- The Government approved, on Wednesday, Romania's participation with a national pavilion at the 2025 World Expo "Designing Future Society for Our Lives", which will take place in Osaka, Kansai, Japan, on April 13 - October 13, 2025. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro

- Foreign exchange reserves at the National Bank of Romania were, at the end of October, at the level of 46.291 billion euros, up by 5.9%, compared to 43.711 billion euros recorded on September 30, 2022, the National Bank of Romania (BNR) informs.During the month, there were inflows of 3.638 billion euros,

- The direct investments of non-residents in Romania amounted to 6.474 billion euros in the first eight months of this year, by 46.47% higher compared to the 4.420 billion euros in the same period of 2021, according to data published on Friday by the National Bank of Romania BNR). Fii la curent

- As many as 64,905 people, including 7,505 Ukrainian citizens, up 0.4% on a daily basis, entered Romania on Tuesday, October 11, the General Border Police Inspectorate (IGPF) reported on Wednesday, told Agerpres. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro pe Facebook

- The Regional Center of Advanced Research for Emerging Diseases, Zoonoses and Food Safety (ROVETEMERG), developed with investments amounting to almost 8 million euros, will be inaugurated on Wednesday, October 12, at Ion Ionescu de la Brad Iasi University of Life Sciences (IULS). Fii la curent

- Foreign exchange reserves at the National Bank of Romania were, at the end of September, at the level of 43.711 billion euros, up by 2%, compared to 42.851 billion euros recorded on August 31, 2022, according to the National Bank of Romania (BNR). Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste

- The General Inspectorate of the Border Police (IGPF) informs that on Wednesday, a number of 79,222 people entered Romania through border points throughout the country, of whom 9,560 were Ukrainian citizens, increasing by 12.5 percent compared to the previous day, told Agerpres. Fii la curent

- The Romanian Ornithological Society (SOR) will organize in southeastern Agigea, the Black Sea coast, between September 30 and October 2, the fourth edition of the Ornithological Marathon, an event that will take place in parallel with the traditional EuroBirdwatch - the observation of migratory birds
Drawing strength from Article 370 (1)(d) of the Constitution of India, Article 35-A was inserted by the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 1954. Article 370 (1)(d) empowers the President to make any exceptions or modifications with the concurrence of the Government of the State. The Supreme Court in Puranlal Lakhanpal v. The President of India AIR 1961 SC 1519 held that the President has the power to modify the Constitution under Article 370. However, it did not clarify whether he has the sole power to amend the Constitution. The Constitutional validity of Article 35-A was challenged by an NGO called We the Citizens, claiming whether an amendment shall be made without invoking Article 368 of the Constitution of India. The petition also intends that the Court shall review and revisit the provisions of Article 35-A, which it has claimed to be discriminatory to women, violating Article 14, and also Articles 14, 19 and 21, the 'Golden Triangle' of Indian Constitution.

Article 35-A reads as follows,

"Saving of laws with respect to permanent residents and their rights. - Notwithstanding anything contained in this Constitution, no existing law in force in the State of Jammu and Kashmir, and no law hereafter enacted by the Legislature of the State:

(a) defining the classes of persons who are, or shall be, permanent residents of the State of Jammu and Kashmir; or

(b) conferring on such permanent residents any special rights and privileges or imposing upon other persons any restrictions as respects-

(i) employment under the State Government;

(ii) acquisition of immovable property in the State;

(iii) settlement in the State; or

(iv) right to scholarships and such other forms of aid as the State Government may provide,

shall be void on the ground that it is inconsistent with or takes away or abridges any rights conferred on the other citizens of India by any provision of this part."

Thus, the Article defines the rights of permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir with reference to employment, acquiring immovable property and settlement but non-permanent residents have not been given such rights.

The then Dogra ruler of the princely state of J&K, Maharaja Hari Singh, imposed a law that defined state subjects and their rights by way of notifications issued in 1927 and 1932. The law also regulated migrants to the state. To recall, the Princely state of J&K was incorporated into the territory of India through the Instrument of Accession signed by its ruler Hari Singh in October 1947. In 1949, the then leader of the state Sheikh Abdulla negotiated the state's political relationship with the Central government, which led to the inclusion of Article 370 in the Constitution.

Article 370 (1)(b)(ii) and Article 370 (1)(d) of the Constitution state that the concurrence of the state government is needed when making decisions under the Union List and the Concurrent List, apart from the subjects under the Instrument of Accession. Such concurrence is also needed for the extension of Articles of the Constitution of India to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The power of extending laws to the state of Jammu and Kashmir was to be exercised through orders issued by the President of India. Article 370 (2) states that when the Constituent Assembly is convened, the concurrence given by the state government shall be placed before it and it can make decisions regarding the same. This indicates that this was an interim measure to determine legislative and executive relations with the state till the Constituent Assembly had been formed. Article 370 (3) states that the President can declare Article 370 to be inoperative, but only with the recommendation of the Constituent Assembly. The Supreme Court in Prem Nath Kaushal v. State of Jammu & Kashmir AIR 1959 SCR 749 had clarified that the framers of the Constitution wanted the Constituent Assembly to finally determine the relationship between India and the state. The Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir came into force in 1957, with Article 147(c) stating that no amendment can be made to the Constitution in relation to the provisions of the Constitution of India as applicable to the state; this would, for all purposes, include the relationship enshrined under Article 370. In 2015, the J&K High Court observed that Article 370 is a permanent provision of the Constitution and it cannot be abrogated, repealed or even amended as mechanism provided under clause 3 of the Article is no more available.

The Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir was framed in 1956 which retained the definition of permanent residents, as provided in the notifications issued by the Dogra ruler Hari Singh. The definition said:

- All persons born or settled within the state before 1911 or after having lawfully acquired immovable property resident in the state for not less than ten years prior to that date.

- All emigrants from Jammu and Kashmir, including those who migrated to Pakistan, are considered state subjects. The descendants of emigrants are considered state subjects for two generations.



It is to be noted that the law regulating the permanent residents prohibits non-permanent residents from permanent settlement in the state, acquiring immovable property, government jobs, scholarships and aid. It was also interpreted as discriminatory against J&K women. It disqualified them from their state subject rights if they married non-permanent residents. But, in a landmark judgment by the J&K high court in State of J&K v. Dr Sushila Swahney AIR 2003 (1) J&K, 35 held that women married to non-permanent residents will not lose their rights. However, the children of such women don't have succession rights.



The issue of possible repeal of Article 370 has always been under debate, however, the Supreme Court while hearing a PIL recently refused to entertain such a PIL which wanted Article 370 removed from the Constitution. The Bench said that the Court cannot issue such directives and it cannot ask Parliament to delete a provision because it is not for the Court to do so. It further said that the Court can strike down a provision if it is unconstitutional but it cannot ask Parliament to remove a provision.

The Constitution of India has made special provisions not only for J&K but also for a number of other states, such as Maharashtra and Gujarat (Article 371), Nagaland (Article 371 A), Assam (Article 371 B), Manipur (Article 371 C), Andhra Pradesh (Article 371 D), Sikkim (Article 371 F), Mizoram (Article 371 G) and Arunachal Pradesh (Article 371 H). The basic idea behind making special provisions for certain states is to ensure special protection of the cultural identity and customs, the original inhabitants and the economic and political interests of these areas. This is in tandem with the liberal and democratic principles and values enshrined in the Constitution. Another important feature of Indian Constitution has been that Parliament has the power to make terms and conditions as it thinks fit for organisation of a new state. This is for ensuring equitable distribution of power so that the social, cultural, economic and strategic interests of the nation are well protected.

So far as the repeal of Article 370 is concerned, it must be kept in mind that Jammu and Kashmir has been a bone of contention between India and Pakistan since 1947 and in the last few decades the separatist and terror activities have been on the rise. In this context, it is extremely important to protect our geo-strategic interests. For this, it is essential that the population of Jammu and Kashmir shall be completely integrated into India's socio-cultural milieu. Any step contradictory to this might lead to aggravate the problem of separatism.

(CBP Srivastava is an expert on the Constitution of India. He is President of the Centre for Applied Research in Governance, New Delhi.)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)
Chennai: Former Union Minister MK Alagiri on Wednesday blamed his brother MK Stalin for the big defeat of the party in the RK Nagar by-election saying he did not do enough field work.

He told media persons here that the reason trotted out by Stalin, working President of DMK, that money power had played a major role in the DMK defeat was not acceptable.

"I am not sure of that," he said.

"Though I am out of the party now, I cannot accept it. It is a big defeat. There is a strong resentment against both the ruling party and the main opposition party in RK Nagar. Otherwise, how come an independent candidate Dinakaran, placed 33rd on the ballot box list, got a resounding victory? Alagiri asked.

"See, you should get down to the ground and do fieldwork. Merely going around in a jeep cannot fetch you votes," Alagiri said of his younger brother.

Alagiri, who was expelled from the party by Stalin, said he was reflecting the voice of the cadres who have been ignored by the party`s working President.

Reacting to his remarks, South Chennai District Secretary J Anbazhagan said Alagiri was speaking out of jealousy and there was no need to react to a person who is not even in the party.
New Delhi: One of the most eligible bachelors in B-Town Salman Khan has turned 52-year-old. To share the joy with his fans, the bollywood superstar has announced upto 50 percent discount on his Being Human merchandise.

Salman took to twitter to announce the 'return gift' for his fans. The offer is available only for today. He wrote:

Ab Birthday hai toh mere loved ones ke liye kuch special toh banta hai . Rush to your nearest #BeingHumanClothing store & get flat 50% off on select merchandise only for today #2712 ! Only today .. Kyuki Birthday sirf ek hi din aata hai ! pic.twitter.com/tgOu0aEbzR December 27, 2017

Being Human brand brand currently has over 600 point-of-sale globally with stores in Europe, Middle East, Nepal and Mauritius.

Launched in the year 2012, the Bollywood actor's Being Human brand forayed into the jewelery segment last year.

The collection includes fashion and fine diamond jeweleries, designed by Style Quotient Jewelery, which is exclusive licensee to manufacture, distribute and retail the brand.

Salman's latest latest film "Tiger Zinda Hai" had a roaring start as it crossed the Rs 100 crore mark in the first three days since its release on December 22.
NEW DELHI: The Congress has given a suspension of business notice in Rajya Sabha over Prime Minister Narendra Modis statement against Former PM Manmohan Singh and others.

The notice was served under Rule 267 of Rajya Sabha's General rules of procedure.

PM Modi had accused former PM Manmohan Singh of conspiring with Pakistan to influence the outcome of the Gujarat Assembly elections.

He further claimed that Pakistani officials and Singh met a day before Mani Shankar Aiyar made the 'neech' jibe against PM Modi.

The meeting took place at Aiyar's residence, he added, further raising questions on the alleged appeal by former director general (DG) of the Pakistan Army Sardar Arshad Rafiq for making senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel the CM of Gujarat.

Denying all allegations made by PM Modi, Singh issued a statement which said, I am deeply pained and anguished by the falsehood and canards being spread to score political points in a lost cause by none less than Prime Minister, Narender Modi.
NEW DELHI: In yet another shocking incident of sexual crime against women, a model has been allegedly gang-raped in the national capital.

As per news agency ANI, the woman was sexually assaulted by a group of men in the Sarojini Nagar area of Delhi.

The accused were reportedly known to the woman.

The incident came to light after the victim approached the police and registered a complaint against the accused.

She told police that she had met the accused around 15-20 days ago here and that they had promised her to arrange a meeting with a film and TV director in Mumbai, the police said.

She met them on December 25 at a mall from where they took her to their flat where they raped her, they added.

She informed the police on December 26, following which the three accused were arrested.

Police is further investigating the matter.
Patna: Bihar Police 2017 results for constable post is expected to be released soon. The results will be available on the official website - csbc.bih.nic.in.

In order to check the results, candidates should click on the Bihar constable written exam result notification and enter roll number and password. Then click on 'submit' and download the result.

Those candidates who will clear the written test will be called for the next round called the called the Physical Evaluation Test (PET). Approximately, 50,000 candidates are expected to be shortlisted for the next round.

Then there will be a medical examination. Finally, 9900 posts are to be filled by the exams.

The exam was conducted on October 15 and 22, 2017 across various centres in the state. The written examination was of 100 marks of two hours of duration. A minimum of 30 percent marks is required for the candidate to qualify.

The syllabus will consisted of Hindi, English, Maths, Social Studies (Geography, Political Science, History) and General Science (Physics, Chemistry, Biology).
New Delhi: Nepal has rejected Indias offer to jointly re-measure the height of the worlds highest peak Mount Everest following the massive earthquake in 2015 and will carry out the exercise on its own, the top official of the Himalayan nations survey department has said. Nepal will, however, seek help from India and China for getting crucial data for the exercise, Nepals Survey Departments Director General Ganesh Bhatta told PTI.

Sources in New Delhi indicated that China could be behind Nepal refusing Indias proposal to jointly re-measure Mount Everest as the peak is on the Sino-Nepal border. According to a statement by the Department of Science and Technology which comes under Indias Ministry of Science and Technology, after the 2015 Gorkha earthquake that jolted Nepal, various doubts were raised by the scientific community over the height of the peak.

The 7.8 magnitude quake in April 2015 had devastated the Himalayan nation, killing more than 8,000 people and displacing lakhs of others. The Survey of India, a 250-year-old institute under the DST, proposed re-measuring Mt Everest as an Indo-Nepal Joint Scientific Exercise with Nepals survey department. They have not responded to our proposal. Now they are saying that they are not involving either India or China. They will be re-measuring Mt Everest on their own, Major Gen Girish Kumar, the Surveyor General of India, told PTI.

Kumar said that a representative from India attended a meeting convened in Kathmandu, where surveyors and scientists from different countries including China were also present. There was a proposal from India to help us measure Mt Everest, but we are doing it on our own, Bhatta, who is in Nepal, told PTI over the phone.

When asked whether China had also given a proposal to re-measure Nepal, he replied in the negative. He noted that China had measured Mt Everest in 1975 and 2005 while Indian surveyors had carried out a similar mission in 1956. The SGI had also measured the Everest during the British era. India was the first country under Sir George Everests leadership as the Surveyor General of India to have declared the height of Mount Everest and establish it as the highest peak in the world in the year 1855, the Department of Science and Technologys website states. Bhatta said preparatory work has already begun on the project and they are gathering preliminary data crucial for this survey.

The massive earthquake has shook even the basic parameters of Nepal, so data from other countries will be crucial, he said. India is being requested to provide the leveling data while China has been asked to provide the gravity data. The data will be very important to determine the height of Mt Everest, Bhatta said. We wont be crossing over into the Chinese territory for measurements. The work of summiting Everest will take place in 2019, he said.

Kusalaraj, a scientist at the Centre for Earth Science at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, said a minor change in the height of Mt Everest may not have a direct impact on the lives of people immediately.
NEW DELHI: Noor Mohammad Tantray, the dreaded Pakistan-based terrorist, wanted to join the Bharatiya Janata Party and kill several senior members of the party.

Tantray, also known as the "merchant of death", wanted to join the BJP in 2003, reported the DNA.

The JeM terrorist even visited the BJP headquarters in New Delhi, where he obtained a form to register as an active member of the party. His plan was to spy and later attack the unsuspecting BJP leaders.

But before the plan could materialise, the Anti-Terror Unit of Delhi Police's Special Cell, then headed by Deputy Commissioner of Police Ashok Chand, arrested him and his associates from Delhi with a huge cache of arms and ammunition.

The four-feet-tall terrorist went by several aliases such as Peer Baba, Gulzar Ahmed Bhat, Uwais, etc.

In a massive setback to JeM, a terror outfit banned by the United Nations and several countries across the world, the Special Unit of the Jammu and Kashmir Police on Tuesday killed its divisional commander Tantray.

Tantray, who was out on parole, died in a fierce gunbattle in South Kashmir's Pulwama district. He was killed during the intervening night of December 25-26 at Samboora in Pulwama - not too far from his home in Tral.

After his arrest in 2003, Tantray had spent nearly eight years in Delhi's Tihar Jail and later intensified his activities since release on parole in 2015.

Tantray was a member of JeM, a terrorist organisation banned under Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 and was arrested for entering into a criminal conspiracy with four others (Rashid, Mohd Sahid, Habeeb and Khurshid Ahmed Butt, all said four others having since been killed in different encounters with security forces), to commit terrorist acts and wage war against India, Chand told DNA.
New Delhi: Chai may be his first love but coffee from Indian Coffee House in Shimla's Mall Road brought back fond memories for Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday.

In Himachal Pradesh's capital for the swearing-in ceremony of the new state government, PM Modi took a brief break at the Indian Coffee House - a place he often used to spend time at during party-related work years ago. An absolute delight in the cold hills of the state, the piping hot coffee brought back memories from years gone by for the Prime Minister. He was BJP's in-ccharge for Himachal between 1994 and 2002.

In Shimla, relished coffee at the Indian Coffee House and reminisced old days. The coffee tastes as good as it did two decades ago, when I would frequent Himachal for party work. pic.twitter.com/XOYzlpLc43 December 27, 2017

His Wednesday's stopover was not like from times past. While the coffee itself may have been the same - and now with a large dose of fond memories, the place itself wasn't as hundreds of locals gathered to catch a glimpse of their Prime Minister. Chants of 'Modi, Modi' reverberated as PM Modi's cavalcade made its way through Shimla's streets.

Some locals who managed to get close enough were even seen clicking selfies with PM Modi - and his cup of coffee - in the frame. It was a sight to behold just weeks after the state voted BJP to power. Jai Ram Thakur, who won from Seraj constituency, took oath as CM in the presence of PM Modi and several other dignitaries. The ceremony took place at the Ridge Road - a popular tourist spot.

Most of the VVIPs and guests attending the ceremony landed at Jubbar-Hatti airport and then flown to Annandale helipad by choppers. Following this, they were taken to the venue of the rally in a carcade.

Security was beefed up in and around the Ridge Ground area since Wednesday morning, with nearly 1,000 security men deployed in the are. Intelligence men in plain clothes, sharp shooters were also deployed at several locations. All entry points at interstate borders were under vigil, said Himachal Pradesh DGP Somesh Goyal.
New Delhi: The government and the Opposition reached a truce on Wednesday in the Rajya Sabha after Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the PM had no intention of questioning former PM Manmohan Singh's integrity towards the nation.

"The statement (by Modi) did not question nor did he mean to question the commitment of Manmohan Singh or Hamid Ansari, the former Vice President. Any such perception is completely erroneous. We hold these leaders in high esteem and their commitment to the nation," said Jaitley, who is Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha, over Congress` demand for an apology from the Prime Minister.

Following Jaitley`s statement, the Congress also reciprocated by disapproving Mani Shankar Aiyar`s criticism of the Prime Minister after which the House resumed normal business.

The Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad read out from a prepared statement in which he distanced the Congress from Aiyar`s statement against PM Modi saying the Congress disapproves of any attempt to bring down the dignity of the Prime Minister`s Office.

Aiyar had during the Gujarat polls described PM Modi as 'neech'. The Prime Minister had said that Aiyar had called him a low caste. The Congress had subsequently suspended Aiyar.

On the other hand, during the campaigning for recently concluded Gujarat Assembly elections, PM Modi had mentioned the dinner at Aiyar's house, where Singh was a guest. The PM had questioned as to whether state polls were discussed with Pakistan's High Commissioner to India Sohail Mehmood and former Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri.

Later, Singh issued a statement saying, I am deeply pained and anguished by the falsehood and canards being spread to score political points in a lost cause by none less than Prime Minister.

He had added that he sincerely hoped that PM Modi will show "maturity and gravitas", as expected of the high office he holds.

The Upper House had been witnessing repeated adjournments over Congress' demand of an apology or clarification from PM Modi.

(With IANS inputs)
NEW DELHI: Dawood Ibrahim is plotting to kill underworld don Chhota Rajan, intelligence agencies have warned Tihar jail authorities. They have also asked the jail authorities to review the security arrangements inside the high-profile prison.

The information was revealed to the intel agencies by an aide of Delhi's top gangster Neeraj Bawana. The aide, who is out on bail and a known gangster himself, revealed the information while speaking to another aide over phone in a drunken state.

Reports quoted officials as saying that the D company got in touch with Bawana for the contract killing of Rajan, who they have been trying to get eliminated for over two decades.

Neeraj Bawana, who has been kept in the same jail as Chhota Rajan, was moved to another cell after the intelligence agencies took up the case. Reports suggest that a couple of cellphones were also recovered from Bhawana's cell before he was shifted to the other prison.

The jail authorities, however, have said that it would be difficult for both Dawood or any Bhawana's aid to reach out to him in Tihar.

Chhota Rajan has reportedly been kept by jail authorities in an extreme end of jail no 2 of Tihar while Bawana has been kept in a separate isolated ward. Rajan also has special guards and cooks to ensure his security, said a report.
Mumbai: The wife and mother of Kulbhushan Jadhav, the former Indian Navy officer who has been given a death sentence in Pakistan, are very depressed with the kind of treatment meted out to them by the authorities there during their visit to the neighbouring country earlier this week.

A close relative of Jadhav said that the latter's family was "even more depressed" than it had been before the visit.

"We are very disappointed and not in a mood to speak on the family's Pakistan visit," the relative was quoted as saying by PTI.

"I can't talk more as this is an international issue and is being handled by the Indian government. If we speak something about it, that may hamper the process," he added.

Jadhav's mother Avanti and wife Chetna were in Pakistan recently to meet him, but the meeting took place with them being separated by a glass screen.

The treatment received by Kulbhushan's mother and wife from Pakistan was not good at all, the relative said. "We are even more depressed now than we were before the visit," he added.

The relative said he was "horrified" on learning that Pakistani officials had removed 'mangalsutra' and bangles of Jadhav's kin before allowing them to meet him.

"Even the 'bindi' on the forehead of Kulbhushan's wife was not seen while they were meeting him," he said.

The meeting between Jadhav, his mother and wife took place on Monday (December 25) at the Pakistani Foreign Affairs Ministry in Islamabad after repeated requests by India for family access.

The meeting came nearly eight months after Jadhav was awarded the death sentence by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying.

Jadhav, who is languishing in a Pakistani jail, met his family for the first time across a glass screen, through an intercom.

The 40-minute interaction was recorded and tweeted by the Pakistan Government.

The alleged ill-treatment to Jadhav's kin evoked a sharp response from the Indian government, which alleged that both women were forced by Pakistani officials to change their clothes and asked to remove their bangles, 'bindi' and 'mangalsutra'.

Jadhav's wife Chetankul was forced to remove her shoes, which were not returned at all. Pakistan later claimed that her shoes had "something metallic in them".

The Narendra Modi government accused Pakistan of violating mutual understanding on Jadhav's meeting with his family and said the Indian national appeared coerced and under considerable stress during the tightly-controlled interaction.

Amid widespread condemnation and outrage, the Narendra Modi government will now make a statement in Parliament on the issue on Thursday.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will make a statement in Lok Sabha, clarifying the NDA government's stand on the issue tomorrow.

The Government of India had earlier rejected Pakistan's charge that Jadhav was its spy as ''concocted'''and ''baseless.''

(With Agency inputs)
NEW DELHI: Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday confirmed to have seized Rs 26.61 crore assets of arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari under the FEMA law.

Earlier, the ED had said it had attached properties worth Rs 21 crore belonging to controversial arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari in Delhi over his involvement in a money laundering case.

The Enforcement Directorate had said the assets, including commercial properties in Panchsheel Shopping Complex, Panchsheel Park, residential house in Vasant Vihar in south Delhi and another house in Gurugram, were registered in his name, his wife's name as well as the various companies he ran.

Some jewellery and bank deposits of Bhandari were also seized.

The ED had said Bhandari has acquired assets worth over Rs 150 crore outside India, which he had not declared for taxation purposes before the Income Tax authorities.

Earlier this year, the Income Tax department had also booked Bhandari under the new and stringent anti-black money Act and was mulling attaching his foreign and domestic assets as part of a tax evasion probe against him.

Officials had said the agency slapped provisions of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015 in addition to the case being probed against him as per the existing Income Tax Act of 1961.

They said the department had identified about half-a-dozen foreign assets in the name of Bhandari and his associates.

Under the new anti-black money law, cases of overseas illegal assets, which till recently were probed under the Income Tax Act, 1961, attract a steep 120 per cent tax and penalty on undisclosed foreign assets and income, besides carrying a jail term of up to 10 years.
New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad on Wednesday condemned the manner in which Kulbhushan Jadav's wife and mother were "harassed and treated" by the Pakistani government and said it was an insult to the nation.



He said his party would like to discuss and express its displeasure on the floor of the House on Thursday, as the impasse was over now.



"Kulbhhushan Jadav is our fellow citizen. We will co-operate with the government. He is an Indian, would expect that he gets justice... Pakistan had to succumb to the international pressure," said Azad.



He said that they never expected that Jadhav's family members -- mother and wife -- would be separated by a glass wall.



"This is not just an insult to them, but an insult of India. This is an insult to 1.3 billion Indian people," Azad added.
NEW DELHI: A day after Kulbhushan Jadhav met his family in Islamabad, Pakistan government came up with a bizarre explanation for removing his wife Chetankul's shoes during the monitored meeting.

There was something in the shoe [of Jadhav's wife], Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal told Pakistan daily Dawn News on Tuesday.

The shoes were reportedly confiscated on security grounds of containing something metallic and are currently being examined.

Jadhav's wife was provided with replacement shoes, said Faisal, further adding, "She (Chetnakul) acknowledged that she has got back all her stuff, except the shoe."

Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesperson was responding to Ministry of External Affairs' statement on Jadhav's meeting with his mother, wife.

Under the pretext of security precautions, the cultural and religious sensibilities of family members were disregarded. This included removal of mangal sutra, bangles and bindi, as well as a change in attire that was not warranted by security, said the statement.

For some inexplicable reason, despite her repeated requests, the shoes of the wife of Shri Jadhav were not returned to her after the meeting. We would caution against any mischievous intent in this regard, it further added.

Responding to the above, Pakistan, in a statement said, "The Indian baseless allegations and twists, that come 24 hrs later, about the visit of the wife and mother of Commander Jadhav, a convicted terrorist and spy, who has confessed to his crimes, are categorically rejected. We do not wish to indulge in a meaningless battle of words. Our openness and transparency belies these allegations."

"If Indian concerns were serious, the guests or the Indian DHC [deputy high commissioner] should have raised them during the visit, with the media, which was readily available, but at a safe distance, as requested by India."

Jadhav on Monday met his wife and mother at the Pakistan Foreign Affairs Ministry in Islamabad for the first time since his arrest in March 2016. He spoke to them from behind a glass screen and through an intercom device.

The meeting was held at the Foreign Ministry's Agha Shahi Block. While leaving, both mother and wife were heckled by Pakistani journalists.

#WATCH Islamabad: Pakistani journalists heckle & harass #KulbhushanJadhav's mother & wife after their meeting with him, shout, 'aapke patidev ne hazaron begunah Pakistaniyo ke khoon se Holi kheli ispar kya kahengi?' & 'aapke kya jazbaat hain apne kaatil bete se milne ke baad?' pic.twitter.com/MUYjPmHY6F  ANI (@ANI) December 26, 2017

After returning to India, Avanti and Chetankul Jadhav held a three-hour-long meeting with Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj.

Forty-seven-year-old Jadhav was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of 'espionage' and 'terrorism' in April 2017, following which India moved the ICJ in May. The ICJ halted his execution on India's appeal pending the final verdict by it.

Pakistan claims its security forces arrested Jadhav alias Hussein Mubarak Patel from its restive Balochistan province after he reportedly entered from Iran.

India, however, maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Indian Navy.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jai Ram Thakur, who won from Seraj constituency in recently concluded Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections, on Wednesday took oath as the new Chief Minister of the state.

Those in attendance at his swearing-in ceremony in Shimla included Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, among others. As many as 13 chief ministers from different states attended the ceremony.

As it happened: Swearing-in ceremony of Jai Ram Thakur

The swearing-in ceremony was held at the Ridge Road in Shimla, which is usually thronged by tourists.

#WATCH Oath taking ceremony of Himachal CM elect Jairam Thakur and others in Shimla in the presence of PM Modi https://t.co/UmlrABGVsI  ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2017

Other MLAs to take oath as ministers in Thakur government were Kishan Kapoor, Suresh Bhardwaj, Anil Sharma, Ram Lal Markandey, Vipin Singh Parmar and Virendra Kanwar, Govind Thakur Singh, Vikram Singh, Mahendra Singh Thakur. Sarveen Choudhary is the first female face in the Cabinet.

Before swearing in as the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Thakur told mediapersons that his government would try to meet all expectations of people who voted BJP to power in the state.

Most of the VVIPs and guests attending the ceremony landed at Jubbar-Hatti airport and then flown to Annandale helipad by choppers. Following this, they were taken to the venue of the rally in a carcade.

Security was beefed up in and around the Ridge Ground area since Wednesday morning, with nearly 1,000 security men deployed in the are. Intelligence men in plain clothes, sharp shooters were also deployed at several locations. All entry points at interstate borders were under vigil, said Himachal Pradesh DGP Somesh Goyal.

In the recently concluded state polls, the BJP managed to win on 44 seats, gaining absolute majority to form government in the state. However, partys chief ministerial candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal could not secure a win, sending the party leadership in a huddle to decide on the name of the new CM of the hilly state. Jai Ram Thakur and J P Nadda were the frontrunners for the post of Chief Minister, but the former was later picked by the BJP for the post.
New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday took a dig at Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and addressed him as Jaitlie.

Taking to Twitter, he 'thanked' the FM for "reminding India that our PM never means what he says or says what he means."

The official account of the office of Rahul also posted a video of what Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said during an election rally in Gujarat. Alongside it, the handle posted the clarification made by the senior BJP leader in Parliament.

Dear Mr Jaitlie - thank you for reminding India that our PM never means what he says or says what he means. #BJPLies pic.twitter.com/I7n1f07GaX  Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) December 27, 2017

The government said in the Parliament on Wednesday that PM Modi has never questioned Manmohan Singh's integrity, ending a deadlock that had paralysed the House for nearly two weeks.

"The statement (by PM Modi) did not question nor did he mean to question the commitment of Manmohan Singh or Hamid Ansari, the former vice president. Any such perception is completely erroneous. We hold these leaders in high esteem and their commitment to the nation," Jaitley, who is Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha, had said.

On its part, the Congress party said it does not approve of any remarks made against the PM, apparently in a reference to the 'neech' remark made by Mani Shankar Aiyar. The Congress had subsequently suspended Aiyar.

Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad read out from a prepared statement in which he distanced the Congress from Aiyar`s statement against PM Modi saying the Congress disapproves of any attempt to bring down the dignity of the Prime Minister`s Office.

The proceedings of both Houses of Parliament were repeatedly disrupted over the past two weeks over remarks by PM Modi during the Gujarat Assembly election campaign.

He had questioned his predecessor for attending a dinner with senior Pakistan officials at Aiyar's residence.

The Congress had said that PM's remarks implied that Singh and other public figures who attended the dinner were conspiring with Pakistan and demanded an apology from the PM.

Singh too had issued a statement saying, I am deeply pained and anguished by the falsehood and canards being spread to score political points in a lost cause by none less than Prime Minister.

He had added that he sincerely hoped that PM Modi will show "maturity and gravitas", as expected of the high office he holds.

(With PTI inputs)
MUMBAI: A Special NIA court on Wednesday is expected to pronounce its order on framing of charges against 2008 Malegaon blasts case accused, including Lt Col Shrikant Prasad Purohit.

Purohit, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast who was granted bail by the Supreme Court on August 21. He was released from the Taloja Jail on August 23.

Six people were killed in a bomb blast on September 29, 2008 at Malegaon, a communally-sensitive textile town in Nashik district of north Maharashtra.

It was the second such blast in the Muslim-dominated powerloom town which was earlier shaken by a similar blast on September 8, 2006, which claimed 37 lives and injured more than 250.

Initially, the (Malegaon 2008) case was probed by the Maharashtra Police and the Anti-Terrorist Squad, and later in April 2011 it was taken over the National Investigation Agency.

The investigators had charge-sheeted 14 accused in the case, including two - Ramchandra Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange - who are absconding so far. The involvement of some of the accused was found in other terror acts in the country.

Earlier, another prime accused in the case, Sadhvi Pragnya Singh Thakur, had been released on bail by the Bombay High Court on health and other grounds after nearly nine years in custody.

A Special NIA court on September 19 granted bail to Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Suhakar Dwivedi, two prime accused in the blast case, on grounds of parity.

The Bombay High Court September 26 granted bail to Major Ramesh Upadhyay (retd), anotehr accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, on grounds of parity.
NEW DELHI: More than 660 fishermen remain missing whereas over 250 people have been killed after a deadly cyclone battered India's south coast and parts of neighbouring Sri Lanka, Indian authorities said on Wednesday.

At least 27 deaths were reported after Cyclone Ockhi originated near Sri Lanka over the Bay of Bengal on November 29.

Winds of up to 130 kilometres (80 miles) per hour uprooted trees and damaged electricity and telephone infrastructure as well as tens of thousands of homes.

India's Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told parliament that 661 fishermen were still missing. However, it was not confirmed if the missing fishermen were presumed dead. While 400 were from Tamil Nadu state, 261 were from Kerala.

The Defence Minister said the military and other services had rescued about 845 people up to December 20.

Hundreds of fishermen in mostly rudimentary boats were caught in the deadly cyclone that emerged in the Bay of Bengal and swept over Sri Lanka and south India before entering the Arabian Sea.

There have been allegations that insufficient warnings were given to fishermen. Relatives of the missing have accused the authorities of not doing enough to find those still unaccounted for.

India's east coast, including major cities like Chennai, is prone to storms that strike each year between April and December. In 1999 more than 8,000 people were killed when a cyclone battered the eastern state of Orissa.
New Delhi: A united Opposition today disrupted proceedings in the Rajya Sabha protesting against controversial comments reportedly made by Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde on changing the Constitution and secularism.

Congress, SP and BSP members trooped into the Well of the House shouting slogans seeking removal of Hegde and forcing Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu to adjourn the proceedings till 1200 hours.

The trouble started during the laying of the official papers on the table of the House as opposition members shouted "shame, shame" when Hegde, who is Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, rose to lay the papers listed against his name.

Leader of the Opposition and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad sought a clarification from the Minister as he could leave the House soon after laying papers.

True to this, Hegde sat in the House for a while listening to opposition protests against his controversial statement that the BJP would change the Constitution by excluding Secularism from the preamble. Soon thereafter, he left the House.

Azad asked if a minister does not believe in the Constitution, does he has a right to remain as a minister.

"Minister who has no faith in the Constitution has no right to be a minister. He has no right to be a Member of Parliament," he said.

Sukhendu Sekhar Roy (TMC) said secularism is inscribed in the preamble of the Constitution and asked if a minister is allowed to denounce the same preamble in public.

Naresh Agarwal (SP) said the Constitution is the Ramayana and Gita of democracy and any minister who abuses it and its founder Baba Saheb Ambedkar should be removed.

At this, Naidu interjected to ask members not to bring Babasaheb Ambedkar into the controversy.

But the opposition members remained unrelenting and trooped into the well raising slogans.

Naidu asked members not to raise slogans and ordered that nothing they were saying would go on record.

He then allowed Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment and Republican Party of India founder Ramdas Athawale to speak.

Athawale praised the Prime Minister for honouring the memory of Ambedkar with a fitting memorial and said it was Congress which had insulted Ambedkar.

"Don't create a ruckus. You are going to be defeated in general elections in 2019 and 2024," Athawale told the opposition.

Subramanian Swamy (BJP) claimed Ambedkar did not include the word secularism in the Constitution.

Naidu tried to restore order but all his efforts went in vain. "How much should I tolerate. This is not acceptable. This is not done," he said as slogan shouting continued unabated.

As opposition members continued their noisy protest and demanded a discussion on the issue, Naidu said no discussion can take place without a proper notice.

He then adjourned the proceedings till 1200 hours.
Mumbai: Amid outrage and widespread condemnation of Pakistan's alleged ill-treatment to the wife and mother of former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena on Wednesday rebuked Islamabad and said that the incident exposed the hostile neighbouring nation's doublespeak.

In a strongly-worded article in its mouthpiece, 'Saamana', the Maharashtra-based party said, ''Pakistan has an incorrigible habit of demeaning our country. No matter how dignified treatment we give them here, they will always possess hatred against India.''

"The reality came in front the way they had arranged the meeting between Kulbhushan Jadhav and his family. They were sitting in front of each other, but could not hug because of the glass barrier," the Sena article said.

The article also rebuked the Pakistani authorities for asking Jadhav's wife and mother to remove mangal sutra, bangles and bindi and even change the attire.

"The family was not allowed to speak in their native language, Marathi, as well. Guests are not welcomed in Pakistan and this they have proved vehemently. Through this meet, Pakistan also made it clear that it stands as a cheat on the international platform," the article read.

The party further said a video conference meeting could have been arranged for the family instead of humiliating them in this way.

The Shiv Sena also gave a piece of advice to the Narendra Modi government on how it should handle Pakistan over the Kulbhushan Jadhav case.

"India has to come out strongly in this context. Only verbal and paper threats are not going to do any good. Strict action has to be taken in order to show Pakistan its place," the article concluded.

After the meeting, Jadhav's mother and wife were allegedly harassed in the heavily-guarded Foreign Ministry Office in Islamabad.

During a press interaction, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had on Tuesday said that Pakistan had disregarded the cultural and religious sensibilities of Jadhav's mother and wife, who were asked to remove various articles, citing it as a security measure.

Almost all political parties have strongly condemned Pakistan for its alleged ill-treatment to the wife and mother of Kulbhushan Jadhav, the former Indian Navy official who has been given a death sentence by a military court there.

The Narendra Modi government will make a statement in Parliament on the issue on Thursday.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will make a statement in Lok Sabha, clarifying the NDA government's stand on the issue tomorrow.

Jadhav is on a death row in Pakistan over charges of terrorism and spying for India's intelligence agency - Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

On May 18, 2017, the International Court of Justice stayed the hanging after India approached it against the death sentence.

(With ANI inputs)
New Delhi: Vice President Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday described Pakistans handling of Kulbhushan Jadhavs meeting with his family members as inhuman.

He also said, while interacting with 17 member faculty and students from Harvard, Stanford and MIT of the USA, that the incident has hurt the sentiments of Indians.

Referring to the restrictions, Naidu said the move to ask Jadhav's wife take off her 'mangal sutra' has not got down well with the people of India.

He was of the view that Pakistan "did not do any good for itself" by its handling of the meeting while showcasing to the world its gesture, a statement issued by the Vice President's secretariat said.

India seeks peace in the region for the benefit of all the countries but some are adopting a different approach, Naidu said.

Press Release: Pakistans handling of Sh. Kulbhushan Jadhavs family union inhuman, says Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu https://t.co/kn07Vzo9QY  VicePresidentOfIndia (@VPSecretariat) December 27, 2017

Interacting with a delegation of Students and Professors from Harvard, Stanford Universities and MIT of USA, in New Delhi today. @choksinamit pic.twitter.com/AOadunsfXY  VicePresidentOfIndia (@VPSecretariat) December 27, 2017

The meeting between Jadhav and his mother and wife took place on December 25, 2017, at the Pakistani foreign affairs ministry in Islamabad after repeated requests by India for family access.

On Tuesday, India said that Pakistan had violated mutual understanding on Jadhav's meeting with his family and had added that the Indian national appeared coerced under considerable stress during the tightly-controlled interaction.

Statement on Shri Kulbhushan Jadhavs meeting with his family. https://t.co/rAVB5t6klQ  Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) December 26, 2017

"From the feedback we have received of the meeting, it appears that Jadhav was under considerable stress and speaking in an atmosphere of coercion," the External Affairs Ministry statement had said.

"We also regret that contrary to assurances, the overall atmosphere of the meeting was intimidating insofar as family members were concerned," it added.

Family members, however, handled the situation with "great courage and fortitude," the ministry said. The 47- year-old Jadhav's "appearance also raises questions about his health and well being."

During the meeting, whose pictures were released by Pakistan, the former Indian Navy official was seen sitting behind a glass screen while his mother and wife sat on the other side.

They spoke through an intercom and the entire 40-minute proceedings appeared to have been recorded on video.

Jadhav, who was arrested in March 2016, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged 'spying', an accusation that India has dismissed as concocted.

(With PTI inputs)
NEW DELHI: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Wednesday demanded parliamentary action against Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Naresh Agarwal for making an objectionable statement about Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is facing a death sentence in Pakistan.

"Parliamentary Affairs Minister should introduce a resolution seeking Naresh Agrawal's apology to the house and deep regret," Swamy told ANI.

He demanded that if the SP leader refused to do so then proceedings should be initiated to terminate his Rajya Sabha membership.

"If he (Agarwal) refuses, we should move a motion to examine whether his conduct is befitting that of an MP and therefore his membership should be terminated," the BJP MP said.

Earlier in the day, Agarwal created a controversy by saying that if former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav was a terrorist for Pakistan then he would be treated as a terrorist.

"If Pakistan has declared Kulbhushan Jadhav as a terrorist in their country, then they will treat him like one. In our country also, we should treat terrorists in a similar manner. Terrorists have to be dealt strictly," Agarwal told ANI.

When the issue snowballed, Agarwal said he did not mean what was being reported.

Meanwhile, there has been an outcry over the treatment meted out to Jadhav's mother and wife who reached Islamabad on Monday to meet Jadhav.

The wife and the mother of Jadhav were asked to remove mangalsutra, bangles and bindi, besides having been asked to change the attire, citing it as a security measure.

After the meeting, Jadhav's mother and wife were also harassed in heavily guarded foreign ministry office by Pakistani journalists.

Jadhav is on a death row in Pakistan over charges of terrorism and spying for India's intelligence agency- Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

On May 18, 2017, the International Court of Justice stayed the hanging, after India approached it against the death sentence.
New Delhi: Amid outrage and widespread condemnation of Pakistan's alleged ill-treatment to the wife and mother of Kulbhushan Jadhav, the former Indian Navy official who has been given a death sentence by a military court there, the Narendra Modi government will now make a statement in Parliament on the issue on Thursday.

According to reports, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will make a statement in Lok Sabha, clarifying the NDA government's stand on the issue tomorrow.

During the Zero Hour today, members of various political parties, including the Congress, Shiv Sena, Trinamool Congress and AIADMK, strongly protested the way Jadhav's family members were treated by Pakistan authorities when they had gone there to meet Jadhav.

Allaying their concerns, Swaraj, who was present in the House, said a statement on the issue would be made tomorrow.

While strongly criticising the happenings, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge demanded that Jadhav should be immediately brought back.

"We condemn the way Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother and wife were treated in Pakistan. Kulbhushan Jadhav should be brought back to the country," Kharge said in the Lok Sabha.

Shiv Sena's Arvind Sawant also raised the issue and said, ''India should not keep silent on the matter.''

Describing Pakistan as "hypocritical", Trinamool Congress leader Saugata Roy said the incident should be criticised and demanded that Swaraj should speak on the issue.

Condemning the incident, AIADMK M Thambidurai said asking a woman to remove her 'mangal sutra' is an insult to the country.

The meeting between Jadhav, his mother and wife took place on Monday (December 25) at the Pakistani Foreign Affairs Ministry in Islamabad after repeated requests by India for family access.

The meeting came nearly eight months after Jadhav was awarded the death sentence by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying. Jadhav, who is languishing in a Pakistani jail, met his family for the first time across a glass screen, through an intercom.

The 40-minute interaction was recorded and tweeted by Pakistan.

The alleged ill-treatment to Jadhav's kin evoked a sharp response from the Indian government, which alleged that both women were forced to change their clothes and asked to remove their bangles, 'bindi' and 'mangalsutra'.

Jadhav's wife Chetankul was forced to remove her shoes, which were not returned at all. Pakistan claims the shoes had "something metallic in them".

The government accused Pakistan of violating mutual understanding on Jadhav's meeting with his family and said the Indian national appeared coerced and under considerable stress during the tightly-controlled interaction.

The Government of India had earlier rejected Pakistan's charge that Jadhav was its spy as ''concocted'''and ''baseless.''

(With Agency inputs)
New Delhi: Congress on Wednesday came out all guns blazing against Union Minister Ananth Kumar Hegde's remarks about changing the Indian Constitution. There was a massive uproar in Rajya Sabha against the comment made by the minister earlier this week.



Leading the attack was Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad who slammed Hegde and questioned his right to be a member of Parliament. "If a person has no belief in the Constitution, he has no right to be a member of Parliament," he said on the floor of the house.

A Minister who doesn't believe in the constitution, should he be in the cabinet? It is the basic question. The Minister must come to the house & tender an apology to the house & the nation, if he doesn't he should be suspended from the cabinet: GN Azad, Cong on #AnanthKumarHegde pic.twitter.com/dsPgZ0JF8Y  ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2017

Hegde had stoked controversy during a function in Koppal district of Karnataka when he said that the ruling party would change the Constitution because it has the word 'secular.' "Seculars do not know what their blood is. Yes, Constitution has given that right to say 'we are secular and we will say it'. Yes, I know but Constitution has been amended many times, we will also amend it. We have come to power for that," the 49-year-old minister had said. "If you say you are a Muslim, Christian etc., I feel proud that you have a connection with your religion and caste, but who are these so-called seculars? Seculars don't have any parentage."

This is not the first time that Hegde has made a controversial remark. Last year, he was booked for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Islam.

In November, he refused to participate in the annual Tipu Jayanti celebration in Karnataka, as BJP, unlike Congress, views the Mysore ruler as a tyrant monarch and considers him of being biased against Hindus.



(With agency inputs)
New Delhi: Planning to travel around UAE next year? Your trip might get costlier as United Arab Emirates, long known for being tax-free, is bracing for 5 percent value-added tax (VAT)from next year.

Hard hit by a drop in oil income, energy-rich Gulf states will introduce VAT from January 1, on a majority of goods and services including hotels, city tours and car rentals.

The UAE is one of the six Gulf Cooperation Council states to have agreed to introduce VAT at five percent as they seek to revitalise their economies.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia had in October that said they will implement VAT from January 1, 2018, while the other GCC states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar are expected to follow suit during the year.

VAT, a consumption tax imposed on goods and services, is generally paid by individual consumers to businesses, which then transfer the funds to tax authorities.

Economies in the Gulf  home to the worlds biggest exporters of oil and liquefied natural gas  took a major hit after a global supply glut triggered a drop in prices in 2014.

Their balance sheets have remained in the red despite government austerity measures recommended by the International Monetary Fund, including freezing wages, benefits and state-funded projects, cutting subsidies and raising power and fuel prices.
JAMMU: Pakistan on Wednesday resorted to firing and shelling on forward posts and civilian areas along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Nowshera sector of Rajouri district, prompting the Indian Army to give a befitting response

According to information given to Parliament by the government, 771 ceasefire violations were reported on the LoC up to December 10 this year and 110 on the International Border till November 30.

A total of 30 people - 12 civilians, 14 Army personnel and four Border Security Force (BSF) personnel - were killed in these ceasefire violations.

Ceasefire violations on the LoC, under operational control of Army, this year were threefold higher compared to 228 in 2016. There were 152 ceasefire violations in 2015 and 153 in 2014 on the LoC.

However, there was a steep decline in ceasefire violations on the IB, manned by BSF, compared to 221 incidents in 2016. A total of 253 ceasefire violation were reported on the IB in 2015 and 430 in 2014.

India shares a 3,323 km long border with Pakistan, of which 221 km of the IB and 740 km of the LoC fall in Jammu and Kashmir.
Mumbai: A special National Investigating Agency (NIA) court on Wednesday ruled that Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Lt Col Prasad Purohit and six others will stand trial on stringent terror charges in connection with the Malegaon blasts in 2008.

The special NIA court while rejecting the pleas of the accused for acquittal in the case, however, dropped some sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against as well as Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against them.

Conviction under these acts is punishable by up to life in prison.

The special court's ruling in the politically-sensitive case that had raised speculation of saffron terrorism left the NIA red-faced, which had earlier given a clean chit to Sadhvi Pragya.

The court dismissed NIA's contention that there was no evidence against Sadhvi Pragya, saying it was difficult to accept the claim given that her motorcycle was used in the blast.

"There is evidence to suggest that the accused number one (Thakur) had knowledge about the involvement of her motorcycle," the court said in its ruling on the nine-year-old case that had raised worries of Hindu terrorism gaining a foothold as a reaction to Islamic extremism.

Sadhvi Pragya "had also expressed dissatisfaction about causing fewer casualties in the blast. Hence it is difficult to accept submissions on behalf of the NIA and the accused number one that she had no concern with the present crime," it said.

Special judge SD Tekale further directed the probe agency to frame charges against Thakur, Purohit, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Major (retd) Ramesh Upadhyay, Sameer Kulkarni, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Ajay Rahirkar.

Judge Tekale passed the order while hearing the pleas filed by seven of the 13 accused and the NIA's application seeking framing of charges against them.

The accused will face trial now under sections 16 and 18 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (conspiring for and committing/organising a terror act) and under the Indian Penal Code for criminal conspiracy, murder, attempt to murder and causing hurt besides charges under the Explosive Substances Act and Arms Act, the court order implies.

The charges are punishable by various prison terms up to life, and death for murder.

The NIA, while filing a chargesheet in the case last year, gave a clean chit to Sadhvi Pragya and three others - Shyam Sahu, Praveen Takalki, Shivnarayan Kalsangra - saying it found no evidence against them and they should be discharged from the case.

Today, the court absolved only Sahu, Kalsangra and Takalki from all the charges leaving Thakur to face trial.

Two others, Jagdish Mhatre and Rakesh Dhawde, will face trial only under the Arms Act "before concerned courts", the NIA court said.

The NIA had claimed in its chargesheet that there was no evidence of Thakur ever being part of conspiracy meetings, and though the motorcycle used in the blast once belonged to her, she had sold it much before the blast and had no knowledge of the conspiracy.

The judge, however, also noted that statements of some witnesses supported the charge that Thakur and Purohit had participated in some of the conspiracy meetings in Faridabad and Bhopal.

Six persons were killed when an improvised explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off at Malegaon, a town with a sizeable Muslim population in north Maharashtra's Nashik district, on September 29, 2008, while 101 persons were injured.

The Anti-Terrorism Squad of the Maharashtra Police, which probed the case initially, charged Thakur, Purohit, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Ramesh Upadhyay, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Jagdish Mhatre, Rakesh Dhawade, Ajay Rahirkar, Samir Kulkarni, Shyam Sahu, Shivnarayan Kalsangra, Pravin Mutalik and Ramchandra Kalsangra.

According to the ATS, it was Ramchandra Kalsangra who planted the bomb, and who is still absconding.

Thakur gave her motorbike to Kalsangra to plant the bomb, the ATS said.

Thakur filed a discharge plea after the Bombay High Court granted her bail in April. The NIA didn't oppose her bail application. Purohit is also on bail.

The court also said the UAPA sections 17, 20 and 23 have been dropped against all accused. These sections relate to raising funds for a terrorist organisation, being part of a terrorist organisation and aiding someone who is part of a terrorist organisation.

This part of the ruling gives relief to saffron outfit Abhinav Bharat, which was accused by Mumbai ATS of providing arms training to right-wing activists.

The ATS also alleged that Purohit was linked to Abhinav Bharat.

(With PTI inputs)
Pune: Aparna Purohit, wife of Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, on Wednesday expressed happiness after the charges of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) was dropped against her husband. She added that she will continue to fight against other charges.

"Dropping of MCOCA charges is a big relief and we will fight the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) charges. This verdict has just proved that the charges framed against him are all false," Aparna told ANI.

Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Purohit and six others accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast will stand trial on stringent terror charges, a special NIA court on Wednesday ruled.

Rejecting the pleas of the accused of discharge from the case, a special NIA court, however, dropped some sections of the UAPA, as well as MCOCA against the accused, which is punishable by up to life in prison.

Significantly, the court dismissed NIA's contention that there was no evidence against Pragya, saying it was difficult to accept the claim given that her motorcycle was used in the blast.

"There is evidence to suggest that the accused number one (Thakur) had knowledge about the involvement of her motorcycle," the court said in its ruling on the nine-year-old case.

Pragya "had also expressed dissatisfaction about causing less casualties in the blast. Hence it is difficult to accept submissions on behalf of the NIA and the accused number one that she had no concern with the present crime," it said, as per PTI.

Special judge SD Tekale, who was hearing the pleas filed by seven of the 13 accused and the NIA's application seeking framing of charges, said that charges will be framed against Pragya, Purohit, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Major (retd) Ramesh Upadhyay, Sameer Kulkarni, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Ajay Rahirkar.

The accused will face trial now under sections 16 and 18 of the UAPA (conspiring for and committing/organising a terror act) and under the Indian Penal Code for criminal conspiracy, murder, attempt to murder and causing hurt besides charges under the Explosive Substances Act and Arms Act.

The charges are punishable by various prison terms up to life, and death for murder.

The NIA, while filing a chargesheet in the case in 2016, gave a clean chit to Pragya and three others - Shyam Sahu, Praveen Takalki, Shivnarayan Kalsangra - saying it found no evidence against them and they should be discharged from the case.

On Wednesday, the court absolved only Sahu, Kalsangra and Takalki from all the charges leaving Pragya to face trial. Two others, Jagdish Mhatre and Rakesh Dhawde, will face trial only under the Arms Act "before concerned courts", the NIA court said.

The NIA had claimed in its chargesheet that there was no evidence of Thakur ever being part of conspiracy meetings and had said that though the motorcycle used in the blast once belonged to her, she had sold it much before the blast and had no knowledge of the conspiracy.

The judge, however, also noted that statements of some witnesses supported the charge that Thakur and Purohit had participated in some of the conspiracy meetings in Faridabad and Bhopal.

Six persons were killed when an improvised explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off at Malegaon in north Maharashtra's Nashik district, on September 29, 2008.

(With Agency inputs)
Mumbai: Expecting economic recovery and strong earnings growth, brokerage Kotak Securities predicts the benchmark Nifty to touch 11,600 by end December 2018.

According to Kotak Securities market outlook report for 2018, GDP growth is likely to recover as negative effects of demonetisation and GST is expected to recede, while 23 percent earnings growth is expected for Nifty during the next fiscal.

The earnings growth is after a disappointing growth of about 4 percent in the current fiscal, the report noted.

"We set the Nifty target of 11,600 by the end of 2018 (i.e. Upside potential of about 11 percent from current levels), " Kotak Securities said.

As Kotak estimates FY19 GDP is expected to grow by 7.1 percent. "GDP growth is likely to recover as negative effects of demonetisation and GST recede," the report added.

The report also noted that government expenditure on rural economy and investment cycle to pick up in the second half of 2018. Besides, government spending on affordable housing and infrastructure will have a multiplier effect, it added.

Also, robust markets are expected as the share of equities in the overall financial savings is seen to be rising in the future.

"Assuming only 3-4 percent of incremental household savings going into equities, it equals USD 16-18 billion per annum," it said.
Mumbai: The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) on Wednesday opened on a positive note during the morning session of the trade on the back of a rally in healthcare, power and oil stocks.

Oil prices surged to the highest level since mid-2015, breaching above the USD 60 a barrel, after a pipeline blast in Libya restricted Opec production.

The 30-share Sensex was up 76.71 points, or 0.22 percent, to scale a new high of 34,087.32, breaching its previous intra-day record of 34,061.88 hit yesterday.

The gauge had gained 254.33 points in the previous two sessions.

The broader Nifty was however flat, up 1.75 points, or 0.01 percent, at 10,533.25.

On Tuesday the Sensex closed at 34,010.61 points.

With Agency Inputs
Mumbai: Make-up artiste Preetisheel Singh, who had transformed Nawazuddin Siddiqui's look in 'Mom', has once again worked on the actor's get-up for him to suit the lead role in 'Thackeray', a biopic on late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray.

The striking resemblance that Preetisheel has managed to give Nawazuddin for the role with prosthetics and make-up has found praise and a positive response.

"I'm grateful to the makers for having shown faith and trust in my work. When a legendary personality like Balasaheb Thackeray is being brought to life on celluloid, the responsibility is tremendous," Singh said in a statement.

Impressed by Nawazuddin's dedication, she said: "He is not only a brilliant actor but one who treats his art and profession like prayers. During the three-odd hours that it took to get him into the look, his studious silence and study of his face were inspiring. It was as if he was in a meditative mode."

She says he was worried and anxious about getting the look right.

"When Nawazuddin finally emerged out of the make-up room for the first time in the get-up, everyone had a very judging look on their faces. And then, suddenly I saw huge smiles everywhere," she said about the moment when she heaved a sigh of relief.

Directed by Abhijit Panse and written by Sanjay Raut, the film 'Thackeray' will release on January 23, 2019, in Hindi and Marathi
Los Angeles: Actor Jessica Chastain has called for more inclusivity in Hollywood after a magazine's all-white female cover, that also featured her, sparked outrage on the social media.

Chastain was criticised by social media users for ignoring the white-washing done by the magazine as she is often vocal about gender and diversity issues.

She soon join the debate around the cover that featured actors Annette Bening, Diane Kruger, Margot Robbie, Saoirse Ronan, and Kate Winslet besides her.

"It's a sad look that there's no WOC (Women of Colour) in this pic of us promoting our female lead films. The industry needs to become more inclusive in its storytelling.

"What were your favourite WOC lead films this year? I loved Salma Hayek in 'Beatrice At Dinner'" posted the actor on Twitter.

However, the actor struggled to recount films featuring women of colour in the lead.

"It's terrible that I can't think of at least five female lead films with woc this year," Chastain said.

"In 12 months there's not even 5?!" she added.
New Delhi: We can't get enough of Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli for sure. The duo got married in Tuscany, Italy on December 11, 2017. They kept it a private affair with just family and close friends in attendance.

The couple hosted a lavish reception in New Delhi on December 21, 2017, where the high and mighty came and wished the couple well. In fact, Prime Minister Narendra Modi too attended the wedding reception and congratulated the duo.

On December 26, 2017, a grand reception was held in Mumbai's St Regis hotel where all the stars descended to meet the newlyweds. Their wedding and reception videos, pictures wooed the fans on social media as several fan clubs flooded the internet with awesome inside photos and dance videos.

Anushka had even shared one picture on social media from their honeymoon diaries.

The duo was seen enjoying at the backdrop of the snow-capped mountains. Although some speculated it to be either Rome or Switzerland, turns out they were chilling in Finland.

An Instagram user named Janne Honkanen shared Virushka's unseen picture from their honeymoon diaries. He captioned it: It was so great meeting with you @virat.kohli and @anushkasharma. You are amazing and lovely couple I look forward to see you soon again."

On their wedding and receptions, the duo looked simply ethereal and pristine in their attire by ace designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee. It looked like a fairytale romance finally sealing their love with a stamp of marriage.

Here's wishing them a happily ever after!
New Delhi: Cheque books of account holders of SBI Associate banks that include Bharatiya Mahila Bank, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Raipur, State Bank of Travancore, and State Bank of Hyderabad will not work post December 31.

The account holders of all the associate banks will have to get new cheque books bearing the new IFSC code.

After the merger, cheque books of the erstwhile associate banks were supposed to have been invalid after September 30. However, SBI later extended the due date for availing new cheque books of the former associates till December 31, 2017.

The validity of cheques of former Associate Banks has been extended till 31st December, 2017. Apply now for a new SBI cheque book. pic.twitter.com/wkeuM2M9oI  State Bank of India (@TheOfficialSBI) October 11, 2017

Here's how you can get new cheque books

To apply for the new cheque books, customers can visit the nearest SBI bank branch or use the ATM or bank's mobile app.



However, the website address for availing net banking services post-merger will be: https://www.onlinesbi.com.

If you were an account holder the associate bank, you will not have to register afresh. Your login username and login password for the website will remain same.

Post the merger, SBI has changed names and IFSC codes of nearly 1,300 of its branches. The country's largest lender has changed the names and IFSC codes of branches located in major cities such as Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Lucknow, among others.

Indian Financial System Code, or IFSC, is an 11-digit alpha-numeric code used to uniquely identify all bank branches participating in any RBI regulated funds transfer system.

The IFSC code is required to transfer money from one account to another using RTGS, NEFT or IMPS methods.
The life cycle funds are the type of asset-allocation mutual funds which is structured according to the age of the investor.



An aptly chosen life cycle fund can be made more conservative by selling the stocks after retirement. By purchasing more fixed income investment the risk of earlier investments can be reduced and thus the fund would be more suitable for lifestyle, according to India Infoline.



Let us have an understanding of the life cycle fund:



These age-based funds are very easy to understand and the behaviour of the assets become more conservative as the year of retirement approaches, and they are invested in safer government bonds as they are less risky funds.



Although most of these funds are used for retirement investing, they can be used for any need in future.



These funds are generally used by investors with a specific goal, requiring capital at a specific utilization date.



Generally these funds are very transparent in nature and follow the traditional path of decreasing the risk as one approaches the age of retirement.



The funds start an automatic diversion of the allocation after an investor is advised about the structural changes of the funds. For say, if an investor is approaching retirement in order to reduce risk the fund is nearing its completion stage, then the fund manager allocates the fund in safe return funds.

Click here to read the full story.
Jaipur: Doctors in Rajasthan, on a strike for 12 days, on Wednesday agreed to end their agitation following the successful conclusion of a fresh round of talks with the state government officials.

The doctors were on a strike over demands for better work conditions, including salary benefits, in Rajasthan.

Today's meeting between a delegation of doctors led by Ajay Chaudhary, president of All-Rajasthan In-service Doctors Association (ARISDA), and state Health Minister Kali Charan Saraf and others lasted for about 8 hours.

The agitators had also pressed for cancellation of transfer of 12 doctors.

"A meeting was held with the striking doctors and the deadlock was resolved," PTI quoted an official as saying.

The Rajasthan High Court had on Monday directed the state government to take action against the striking doctors, following which the state gave 24 hours time to the agitators to resume work.

The doctors went on strike on December 16 against the arrest of some of their colleagues.

They have accused the state government of not fulfilling the promises made to them last month and taking vindictive actions including transfers.

The health services across the BJP-ruled state was badly hit due to the 12-day long strike by the in-service doctors.

(With PTI inputs)
Kochi: The Kochi police on Wednesday arrested a fan of superstar Mammootty for 'cyberbullying' actress Parvathy after she publicly stated that some of the dialogues in the Mammootty-starrer Kasaba were strongly prejudiced against women.

Pinto, a person hailing from Wadakanchery near here, was arrested by the police and, during questioning, he said he is part of the Mammootty fan club from his area.



The police probing the complaint of the actress have indicated that more arrests were likely.



Trouble started for the young award-winning actress ever since she expressed her reservations regarding the dialogues in the film at the recently concluded International Film Festival of Kerala.



She, however, never took any names when she expressed her reservations in the dialogues of the film.



Since then, social media was full of angry responses against the actress and when it crossed all limits, she filed a police complaint here, following which the cyber police swung into action.



In the 2016 released film, Mammootty plays the role of a police officer and the comments from the young actress had irked a section of the huge fan base of the superstar, who for the past two decades is the number one actor in the state.
CHENNAI: Expelled DMK leader M K Alagiri has lashed out at his younger brother and party working president M K Stalin for the party's drubbing in the R K Nagar bypoll, saying it cannot win any election under his leadership.

"Not just R K Nagar bypoll. DMK will not henceforth win in any election. There is no chance for that till this Working President (Stalin) is there (at the helm of affairs)," he said in an interview to a Tamil magazine.

The Madurai-based former DMK strongman, son of party president M Karunanidhi, wielded tremendous clout in south Tamil Nadu during the 2006-11 party rule.

"Such a situation (DMK finishing third in the R K Nagar bypoll) would not have emerged if Leader (Karunanidhi) was active," Alagiri said.

Alagiri and Stalin had been involved in a long-running feud in the DMK's first family with both contending to be their father's political heir.

A former Union minister, Alagiri had once famously asked if the DMK was a 'mutt' where a senior pontiff could appoint his successor, indicating that he was always in the reckoning.

However, Alagiri was expelled from DMK in 2014 for alleged anti-party activities and has largely remained low profile since then.

The ruling AIADMK latched onto Alagiri's comments to take potshots at Stalin.

"Alagiri has said DMK cannot win (under Stalin's leadership)... His (Stalin's) own brother has said so," senior AIADMK leader and Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar said, without elaborating.

The DMK lost the December 21 R K Nagar bypoll, where its candidate N Maruthu Ganesh polled 24,000-odd votes, which was way below the 57,673 votes secured by the party in the 2016 assembly elections, and lost deposit.

Shimla Muthuchozhan of DMK had then lost to late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who emerged the winner with 97,218 votes in the constituency.

Rival AIADMK leader T T V Dhinakaran, contesting as an independent, won the December 21 bypoll getting 89,013 votes. He defeated his nearest rival, AIADMK's E Madhusudhanan, who got 48,306 votes.

Alleging that the victory was due to "money power", Stalin has claimed that it was "a Himalayan defeat for the Election Commission rather than the DMK candidate".

The DMK has appointed a three-member committee to look into the byelection outcome and submit a report beore December 31.
Lucknow: As the Narendra Modi government prepares to bring a bill which seeks to criminalise the practice of instant triple talaq, a fresh case of instant divorce was reported from Rampur's Azimnagar in the Uttar Pradesh.

According to ANI, a young Muslim woman in Rampur's Azimnagar was given triple talaq by her husband because she woke up late in the morning.

Gul Afshan, a resident of Rampur's Azimnagar says her husband beat her and gave her #TripleTalaq because she woke up late in the morning pic.twitter.com/JOY8Oklk42  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) December 27, 2017

The woman was also mercilessly beaten up by her husband, who, in a fit of rage, gave her instant divorce by pronouncing the word 'talaq' thrice.

The victim has been identified as Gul Afshan, a resident of Rampur's Azimnagar in Uttar Pradesh.

The fresh incident has come at a time when the Narendra Modi government is gearing up to table a bill which seeks to criminalise the practice of triple talaq in the Parliament next week.

This was announced by Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar.

The bill was cleared by the Union Cabinet last week.

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2017 criminalises instant triple talaq and imposes a prison term of up to three years on husbands who violate the law.

It also makes a provision for alimony for the woman on whom instant triple talaq has been pronounced and grants her the custody of her children.

In a historic judgement on August 22, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court struck down instant triple talaq as illegal.

Meanwhile, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has said that if the Modi government considers it necessary to enact a law in this regard, it should first consult the stakeholders including the AIMPLB.

"You are requested to not pursue the said bill (Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2017) and rather withdraw the same. In case your government considers it necessary to enact law in this respect, consultations must be held with the AIMPLB and such Muslim women organisations that are true representatives of Muslim women," it said in a letter to Prime Minister Modi dated December 25.
New Delhi: Taking suo motu cognizance of the eye surgeries performed under torchlight at a health centre in Unnao, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Wednesday issued a notice to the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government in Uttar Pradesh.

According to ANI, the NHRC notice was issued two days after it came to light that at least 32 people were operated for cataract at a government hospital in torchlight in Unnao.

The shocking incident prompted the authorities to transfer the districts top health official and suspend a doctor for negligence and violation of norms.

The surgeries were conducted on Monday under the light of two torches at the primary healthcare centre (PHC) in Nawabganj, which like many rural areas of Uttar Pradesh gets electricity for only 12 hours a day.

This is a height of negligence. No one will be spared, Unnao District Magistrate Ravi Kumar N had said on Tuesday.

Kumar ordered a probe by joint magistrate Manish Bansal and additional chief medical officer RK Gautam after he was told about the surgeries, which were carried out during an outage.

The area was under dark as the electricity city supply was cut around 7 pm on Monday night and restored in the morning next day, according to reports.

The permission for the surgeries was given by Chief medical officer (CMO) Rajendra Prasad, which was in clear violation of norms, the authorities later said. While Prasad was transferred, PHC superintendent Dinesh Dass was suspended for negligence.

Meanwhile, some relatives of the patients complained that they were not provided with any beds after the procedure and that they were made to lie down on floors despite extremely cold weather conditions.

A five-bed facility, the Nawabganj PHC took in 32 patients even though it is not equipped for eye surgeries.

PHCs are the cornerstone of rural health care that typically has one physician and provides basic care.

There is an acute shortage of ophthalmologists in Uttar Pradesh and to bridge the gap, the state government has entered into a contract with non-government organisations.

The NGOs bring in people who need surgeries and also arrange for cataract surgeons, with the government providing the infrastructure.

For Mondays surgeries, the NGO was to be paid Rs 1,000 per patient, said reports.

(With Agency inputs)
LUCKNOW: The Yogi Adityanath government on December 21 ordered the withdrawal of a 1995 case in which the Chief Minister, along with Shiv Pratap Shukla (now Minister of State for Finance at the Centre), Sheetal Pandey (BJP MLA from Sahajanwa) and 10 others were booked for violating prohibitory orders.

On December 20, the state government sent a letter to the District Magistrate, Gorakhpur, directing that an application be filed to withdraw the case before the court. The government order stated that based on a letter received from the District Magistrate on October 27 and after scrutinising facts of the case, it had been decided to withdraw the case. The letter mentioned the names of Yogi Adityanath, Shiv Pratap Shukla, Sheetal Pandey and ten others.

The Chief Secretary Rajive Kumar has issued directions that all District Magistrates of the state withdraw cases under Sections 144 of the IPC 107 and 109 of the CrPC. The Chief Secretary has asked DMs to prepare a list of such cases in their respective districts and file appeals in designated courts in the light of the state government order.

Besides Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, cases against Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, UPCC Chief Raj Babbar, Leader of Opposition Ram Gobind Chaudharay and several BJP, SP, BSP and Congress MPs, MLAs, leaders and workers would be dropped.

A home department spokesperson said that the state government will also file an appeal in the Allahabad High Court requesting directions to the lower courts for withdrawal of cases against politicians in the light of Amendment into the Act.

It is, however, a different matter that crime graph in UP is on the rise even after police tightening noose around hardcore criminals. It was due to this reason, the state government had introduced UPCOCA (UP Control of Organized Crime Act) which was passed by the UP Assembly but requires assent from the Upper House.

During debate on UPCOCA, the Chief Minister had announced that his government has initiated a process to withdraw as many as 20,000 cases against politicians across party lines. He had stated that the move was aimed at reducing the pendency of cases in lower courts.

These cases were usually petty cases registered by the police against political leaders and workers for staging a dharna and holding demonstrations. They go on in lower courts for years and need to be closed, he had stated in UP Assembly.

The opposition has welcomed the state governments decision. We welcome the step but along with politicians, the state government should also withdraw cases against innocent people, suggested Rajendra Chief Chowdhary Spokesperson, Samajwadi Party.

The former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had also withdrawn about 1800 cases against party leaders and workers during his tenure.
NEW DELHI: In yet another case of 'triple talaq' reported from Uttar Pradesh's Rampur, a man gave triple talaq to a woman after she reportedly woke up late in the morning.

The victim has alleged that she was first beaten up by her husband and then was given the triple talaq by him.

The incident has taken place even though the Supreme Court has outlawed the draconian practice of triple talaq.

Earlier today, a Muslim woman from Hyderabad, claimed that she was allegedly divorced by her Omani husband over a phone call and requested the government to take cognisance into the matter.

Ghousia Begum, a resident of the Old City of Hyderabad, told ANI, "In 2008, my marriage was solemnized with 60-year-old Omani national Zahran Al Rajhi, after he fulfilled all the rules and regulations of his country to marry me. He had promised to take me to Oman and also buy me a house in Hyderabad, but he betrayed me."

"My husband used to visit Hyderabad and stay with me. He used to send Rs 16, 000 - Rs 17, 000 per month from Oman. On August 15, 2017, I received a call from him when he pronounced Talaq over phone. I tried to contact him again, but he is not taking my calls or calling back," she added.

Ghousia has sought the help of Minister of External Affairs (MEA) Sushma Swaraj and the Telangana government.

Meanwhile, as per a report, the BJP has issued a fresh whip to all its MPs to attend the Parliament session on Thursday as the government is all set to table the 'controversial' bill in the House tomorrow.

Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad will introduce the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights and Marriage) Bill that seeks to protect the rights of married Muslim women and prohibits "any pronouncement (of divorce) by a person upon his wife by words, either spoken or written or in electronic form, or in any other manner".

The bill proposes to make the triple talaq practice a punishable offence and describes it against "constitutional morality" and "gender equity". Anyone who pronounces instant divorce "shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and a fine", the bill proposes.

On the other hand, clerics and several Muslim organisations, cutting across sects and schools of jurisprudence, have opposed the bill, terming the government`s stand as "uncalled for interference" in the personal laws of the community.

Earlier, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar asked all opposition parties to help pass the bill in Parliament.
MATHURA: A priest in Vrindavan was thrashed by followers and villagers for allegedly sexually exploitation two of his followers.

The incident was captured and then circulated on the social media.

In a video shared by news agency ANI, the accused is seen being thrashed with sticks by a group of girls, while he is being held with his hair by another man.

At least two female devotees from Maharashtra alleged that priest Baba Basudev Shastri exploited them.

The accused brought the two girls from Maharashtra for teaching them Bhagwat Geeta but after few months started sexually exploiting and beating them.

The police have arrested the accused and have registered a case against him.

Meanwhile, the victims have been sent for medical inspection.

Watch the video here:
LONDON: Former US President Barack Obama said the way people communicate via social media risked splintering society and leaders had to ensure the Internet did not cocoon users within their own biases.

"All of us in leadership have to find ways in which we can recreate a common space on the Internet," Obama said in an interview conducted by Britain`s Prince Harry, broadcast on BBC radio on Wednesday.

"One of the dangers of the Internet is that people can have entirely different realities, they can be just cocooned in information that reinforces their current biases."

Obama has previously warned that social media platforms can lead people to make snap judgements about complex decisions although he has refrained from criticising his successor Donald Trump who regularly uses Twitter.

Obama said in the interview broadcast on Wednesday that social media should promote diverse views in a way that "doesn`t lead to a Balkanisation of our society" and moving online communities offline helped people to see that many issues were not as simple as they might seem in a chatroom.

"It`s also by the way harder to be as obnoxious and cruel in person as people can be anonymously on the Internet," he said.

"Meet in the pub...Meet at a place of worship. Meet in a neighbourhood and get to know each other."

WEDDING DIPLOMACY?

Obama spoke to Harry in an interview conducted by the prince as a guest editor for BBC radio`s daily morning news show and focused on their shared interest in promoting causes. The interview took place in September.

Harry was asked by the BBC whether he would invite the Obamas to his wedding next year with U.S. actress Meghan Markle.

"I don`t know about that," Harry said. "We havent put the invites or the guest list together. Who knows whether they are going to be invited or not. I wouldn`t want to ruin that surprise."

The Sun newspaper said on Tuesday that British government officials had urged Harry not to invite the Obamas to his wedding for fear of angering Trump.

In the BBC interview, Obama spoke of being able to take a longer-term view on issues such as climate change.

"Take some of the tragedies that have happened recently, with hurricanes devastating first Houston and parts of Florida and now Puerto Rico," he said.

"Today those arent my direct responsibilities but I can focus over the next 20 years in making sure that we dont have more hurricanes and natural disasters that are accelerated as a consequence of climate change and the ability to focus long term I think is a great luxury."
Moscow: At least four people were injured due to an explosion at a busy supermarket in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg on Wednesday.

The Russian media initially claimed that the explosion occurred in a storage locker at the Perekrestok supermarket in Saint Petersburg.

"According to preliminary information, an explosion of an unidentified object occurred in a store," Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said in a statement.

"At least four people have been hospitalised," she added.

Svetlana Petrenko further said the incident has been classed as an ''attempted murder'', without mentioning terrorism as a possible cause.

According to the Saint Petersburg Police, the blast occurred in a supermarket north-east of the city centre, with sources telling Russian agencies that the exploding object was traced to a storage locker.

"About 6:30 pm there was the sound of a blast. As a result, several people were been injured," the Saint Petersburg Police said, giving the incident's location.

"There was a bang. All the shoppers have been completely evacuated, and there was no fire," an Emergencies Ministry representative told Interfax, adding that police and investigators were at the scene.

Footage aired by local Russian channels showed multiple medical and police vehicles parked outside the Gigant Hall Leisure Center, where the Perekrestok Supermarket, in which the incident occurred, is located on the ground floor.

(With Agency inputs)
FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar: Cristiano Ronaldo to Lionel Messi, stars likely to play their last WC
Horlivka: Ukraine and pro-Russian separatist rebels on Wednesday conducted the largest exchange of prisoners since conflict broke out in 2014, sending hundreds of captives home to their families ahead of New Year and Orthodox Christmas.

More than 10,000 people have been killed in the conflict and casualties are still reported almost daily despite a ceasefire that froze the frontlines in place since 2015.

"My son rang," the mother of a Ukrainian prisoner Oleksandr Oliynyk told the Ukrainian news channel 112.

"I have not heard his voice for three-and-a-half years, just letters. He said, `Mum, I`m already here.` You cannot imagine what it means for a mother, to not see your child for three-and-a-half years, since August 2014."

According to the terms of the deal, Kiev was meant to hand over 306 prisoners to the rebels and receive 74 prisoners in return. A Reuters photographer at the scene saw the Ukrainian prisoners being loaded onto buses in the town of Horlivka and taken to territory controlled by the Ukrainian government.

"All 74 Ukrainian hostages are already at home, on the territory controlled by our army," Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko wrote on social media.

According to Poroshenko, among the prisoners handed to Ukraine were a historian and a "cyborg" -- the nickname Ukrainians gave to soldiers who defended Donetsk airport in one of the conflict`s most intense battles in 2014.

The exact number of prisoners exchanged is uncertain. Viktor Medvedchuk, Ukraine`s representative to ongoing peace talks, said some captives held by Ukraine refused to return to rebel-held areas, according to the Russian news agency TASS.

More prisoners are expected to change hands in 2018, TASS cited Medvedchuk as saying. The Ukrainian state security service said 103 prisoners remained in separatist hands.

There was no immediate comment from the authorities in Moscow, which Ukraine and its Western allies accuse of supporting the pro-Russian separatists with troops, cash and heavy weapons, an accusation Moscow denies.

Germany`s foreign ministry said the prisoner exchange was a significant step in implementing the ceasefire agreement agreed in the Belarus capital Minsk.

"Above all, it is also an important humanitarian gesture before the New Year and Orthodox Christmas," a foreign ministry statement said.

The Minsk agreements, intended to end the fighting in Ukraine, were signed by Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France in the Belarussian capital in early 2015.

The exchange came as U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson asked Russia to "lower the level of violence" in eastern Ukraine.
Award-winning documentary filmmaker and fine-art photographer Miguel Gandert shows his work highlighting his mestizaje heritage, and the fusion and tension of the relationship between Spanish Colonial and Native Cultures of the Americas. Runs through 12/29.

Querer means to want, to desire, to be in a place, with its people. In folk terminology, querencia is such a place, the center space of desire, the root of belonging and yearning to belong, that vicinity where you first beheld the light. Querencia, in collective terms, is homeland. ~Enrique Lamadrid, Nuevo Mexico Profundo

Miguel Gandert tells stories. He tells stories of his homeland, New Mexico (and beyond), its people and the cultural practices that distinguish communities from each other while simultaneously revealing their kinship. You will have to form your own words, however. Ganderts stories are told through penetrating, black and white photos. A primary focus of his work is his own mestizaje heritage and the fusion and tension of the relationship between Spanish Colonial and Native Cultures of the Americas.

Miguel Gandert, a native of Espanola, NM, is an award-winning documentary and fine-art photographer and filmmaker. His photographs have been shown in galleries and museums throughout the world and are in numerous public collections including the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the National Museum of American History and Art at the Smithsonian.

Querencia: Rituals of the Rio Arriba opens Friday, October 6 at the New Mexico Humanities Council, 4115 Silver Ave SE, Albuquerque. An artists reception will be 6:00 pm  8:00 pm with an artist's discussion at 7:00 pm. The exhibit closes December 29, 2017.
The Art of Christmas: New Mexico Style

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!)
President Trump has taken steps to ensure the Ukraine and Argentina uphold their commitments to participate in the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), but the duty-free program will expire at the end of the year without congressional reauthorization.



U.S. President Donald Trump has recently taken steps to enforce eligibility requirements for countries enrolled in a U.S. trade preference program that allows them to export certain products into the United States duty free.

The president partially suspended the Ukraine from the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) due to its failure to adequately protect intellectual property rights (IPR), despite years of encouragement and assistance from the U.S. government. As part of this suspension, the White House has decided to provide 120 days notice, since the Ukrainian government has promised to correct the problem, including toughening the current laws governing royalty reimbursement to right holders organizations, the administration said in a statement.

Argentina, on the other hand, will be reinstated to the GSP program starting Jan. 1, following the resolution of certain arbitral disputes with U.S. companies, new commitments by the Argentine government to improving market access for U.S. agricultural products, and improved protection and enforcement of IPR. However, due to certain lingering IPR concerns, the United States at this time will not restore GSP benefits to certain eligible products.

Trump also restored African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) duty-free benefits to Gambia after it lost this eligibility in 2015 due to human rights abuses. Gambia held democratic elections in December 2016, and the Trump administration praised the country for strengthening the rule of law, improving human rights, and supporting political pluralism.

Swaziland lost its AGOA eligibility in 2015 due to restrictions on freedoms of speech. The United States set a series of benchmarks for Swaziland to reach in order to have its AGOA benefits restored. According to Trump administration, these benchmarks were achieved by the country in November 2017.

Meanwhile, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is conducting a separate AGOA review for Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda in response to a petition asserting that their phased ban on imports of used clothing is negatively impacting U.S. jobs. This review is ongoing.

President Trump has sent a clear message that the United States will vigorously enforce eligibility criteria for preferential access to the U.S. market, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said of the moves.

Beneficiary countries choose to either work with USTR to meet trade preference eligibility criteria or face enforcement actions, he added. The administration is committed to ensuring that other countries keep their end of the bargain in our trade relationships.

About 120 developing countries and territories currently participate in GSP. In 2016, the total value of imports that entered the United States under the trade preference program stood at $18.9 billion.

However, GSP is expected to expire on Dec. 31, costing companies that import from GSP countries about $75 million in duties per month until the program is renewed by Congress.

In recent years, Congress has been unable to pass long-term GSP reauthorizations. Businesses argue that between the period when GSP expires and is eventually renewed, they are saddled with costly supply chain disruptions.
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 26, ARMENPRESS. Armenia airline will operate flights to the two European destinations starting from April of 2018, the companys general director Robert Hovhannisyan told reporters, reports Armenpress.

He said for that purpose they are going to acquire Embraer plane with 190 seats, and at the moment talks are underway on transporting it.

This plane is quite in a good condition. When it arrives in Armenia, we will start operating direct flights to Europe. The first flight is scheduled on April 19 to Lyon and then to Cologne on April 23, he said.

Robert Hovhannisyan informed that they have received discounts both from the Lyon and Cologne airports to operate flights. After the talks with the Lyon and Cologne airports we have received 50% discount for three years for using the services of the airport. Zvartnots airport is also ready for discount, they support opening regular flights to Europe, he said.

The airport of Cologne even agreed to give 70% discount if the airline doesnt postpone the flights.

These are the destinations from where we expect tourists, including Armenians who live in France and Germany. We also plan to bring tour-operators from there, he said, adding that if everything goes well, the flights will be operated twice a week both in summer and winter.
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. The creation of the first solar car in Armenia is a program of volunteers and enthusiasts. Something that is done for professional pleasure and with a dream that a production of solar electric vehicles will be established in Armenia.

Deputy minister of energy infrastructures and natural resources Hayk Harutyunyan told Armenpress that this is a personal initiative which aims at creating interest towards solar technologies, in particular, electric transport in Armenia. We have divided the first meeting with the interested persons in two parts: the first one is to design and build a solar car from zero, and the second one is to make any old car into a vehicle with electric motors. We want to show that the current cars can be replaced by electric motors, and later we hope that it will become a common practice in Armenia, Hayk Harutyunyan said.

According to the official, on the other hand, the worlds leading companies engaged in production of electric cars find their main engineers and employees from the groups that are taking part in such events. Australia holds the Solar Challenge competition for already 30 years, and all universities are actively participating in it, each team designs its own solar car. We also want to create a similar vehicle here with the hope that we will create a certain interest among the specialists. They will work on this path with a dream that a production of solar electric cars will be set up in Armenia, the deputy minister said.

Hayk Harutyunyan couldnt mention dates since this work is being done completely on voluntary basis. In addition, financial resources will also be needed since this idea is not being implemented under any project. An active work is being carried, a working group has been formed, and we try to move forward. It is completely a new field, and its difficult to find car designing specialists in Armenia. Certain financial resources are also needed, we will most likely apply to the private companies and donor organizations with a funding request, he said.

In November the deputy minister posted on Facebook calling on people interested in creating a solar car to join this idea.


YEREVAN, DECEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. Armenia will begin a recognition and condemnation process of the Armenian Genocide in several European countries in 2018, Vice-Speaker of the Parliament Eduard Sharmazanov told a press conference.

In 2018, we will launch this process in at least 2-3 European countries. I cant say that it will have a successful end at once in 2018, but the process must be launched, he said.

He added that the process must begin regarding one issue, which President Sargsyan talked about at the UN summit. 2018 is the 70th anniversary of the UN Convention on condemning genocides. And at the basis of the adoption of this convention, Raphael Lemkin put forward the genocide term, which was based on the Armenian Genocide. The 70th anniversary of this convention must unite all states, all human rights organizations, for democracy, for protection of human rights and against the occurrence of genocide. And we must do our best so that both the Armenian Genocide and other genocides of the 20th century receive clear punishment, he said.

Sharmazanov found the current year to be positive in terms of the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide, citing the Czech Republics Parliamentary adoption of a relevant resolution.
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. Vice Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Eduard Sharmazanov considers the joint statement of the three Minsk Group Co-Chair countries and foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan after Sargsyan-Aliyev Geneva meeting as an important achievement.

Sharmazanov told a press conference in Armenpress that after the meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents in Vienna and St. Petersburg following the April war Azerbaijan torpedoed the negotiation process over the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

However, thereafter another meeting was held in Geneva which was followed by the five-sided statement of the Co-Chair countries and the Armenian and Azerbaijani FMs for the first time in 4 months according to which Azerbaijan signed under a document which is about the implementation of the same mechanisms as during the Vienna and St. Petersburg summits, and which they constantly wanted to ignore for a year, Sharmazanov said.

The Parliaments Vice Speaker stated that after the April war the Armenian diplomacy has clarified and toughened its position. Unlike Azerbaijan, we are not building an anti-Azerbaijani or anti-Turkish society. We build a society which serves the Republic of Armenia, where there is no hostility. And the fight of the Artsakh people is for the sake of independence and freedom, the Vice Speaker noted.

The last meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev was held on October 16, 2017 in Geneva. After the meeting the Co-Chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group  US, France and Russia, and the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan issued a joint statement in which they assessed the meeting of the Presidents as constructive. According to the statement the Presidents agreed to take additional measures to move forward the negotiation process and reduce tension in the line of contact.

The Co-Chairs expressed satisfaction over the direct talks held after a long pause. They are ready to continue the mediation activity with the sides for the peaceful and negotiated settlement of the NK conflict. As a next step the Co-Chairs will hold working discussions with the ministers in the near future.
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. The signing of the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the European Union once again proves that Armenia conducts a foreign policy which derives exclusively from the interests of official Yerevan, Eduard Sharmazanov  Vice Speaker of the Armenian Parliament, told a press conference in Armenpress.

We highly appreciate our allied relations with Russia, our allied presence in the EAEU and CSTO, but in line with this we also attach a great importance to the development of the political dialogue and implementation of institutional reforms within the frames of the agreement signed with the EU, Sharmazanov said.

He stated that the CEPA is very important for Armenia in terms of making institutional reforms in different spheres and developing a political dialogue.

Armenia and the EU signed the CEPA in Brussels on November 24, 2017.
YEREVAN, 27 DECEMBER, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 27 December, USD exchange rate is up by 0.34 drams to 482.31 drams. EUR exchange rate is up by 1.80 drams to 573.37 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate is up by 0.01 drams to 8.36 drams. GBP exchange rate is up by 2.67 drams to 646.58 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price is up by 13.82 drams to 19608.9 drams. Silver price is up by 0.18 drams to 250.82 drams. Platinum price is up by 10.03 drams to 14219.58 drams.
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. Black ice is formed on some roads of Armenia by 20:30, December 27.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Armenia, black ice is formed on some parts of Sotk-Karvachar roadway and on Vardenyats pass. The Ministry urges all the drivers to use only winter tires.

No precipitations are predicted on December 26-31.

The Department of Emergency Situations of the Ministry of Interior of Georgia informs that Stepantsminda-Lars highway is open for all types of vehicles.

According to the information received from the CMC of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the North Ossetia of the RF 385 trucks are massed at the Russian part.
CYBERSPACESomeone inside the Irish parliament has quite a taste for porn, at least according to public records released to Irelands media this week. The records, which log visits to web sites through wifi networks serving the Houses of the Oireachtasthe two branches of Irelands national legislaturerevealed 684 visits to 306 different porn sites just since October.

The records, released to the Irish Daily Star newspaper, did not identify exactly where each site visited originated. While it remains possible that Irish politicians were actually looking at porn from their official government accounts, the visits could also have come from staff members, reporters who cover the Irish parliament or even tourists and other visitors to Leinster House, the 370-year-old castle that since 1922 has served as the seat of Irelands parliamentary government.

The porn visits occurred despite the fact that Leinster House IT staff blocked access to porn sites through the Oireachtas wifi network three years ago. But clearly numerous loopholes still exist. Similar issues were spotted at this same time last year when thousands of attempts were made to access hardcore pornography sites on Irish parliamentary computers, according to a report in The Irish Mirror newspaper.

In just three weeks of December 2016, according to records obtained by The Irish Independent newspaper, nearly 400 visits to porn sites, or at least attempted visits, were logged by the Oireachtas computer network, and the latest statistics show that the Irish parliament remains a hotbed of online porn surfing.

Xvideos.com was a popular site with Irish legislative computer users, with sites such as HotMale.com, BustyTeenGallery.com, CumOnMy.com and BestXXXPics.cm also making the list of those visited via the wifi network inside Leinster House.

Online dating sites, including Olderdating.com and naughtyolderdating.com, were also popular with Houses of the Oireachtas web surfers, as were gambling sites. Indeed, it appears that the one thing more popular than sex in the Irish parliament is wagering money.

The legal betting sites Skybet and Paddy Power were among the leaders in the more than 13,000 attempted visits to gambling sites on the Irish parliament wifi network since October.
Earlier in the week Under the Dome ran a piece by N&O reporter Will Doran where he relays Governor Cooper's apprehension about having enough money for next year's state budget. Doran notes that state revenues are running about $91 million behind revenue targets and officials are uncertain about the impact of tax cuts on state revenues. Doran also notes a laundry list of expanded and new spending priorities for which Gov. Cooper may advocate.It's fair to report on the Governor's budget concerns. But let's not forget that Republican super-majorities in the House and the Senate means they will have the major say on spending decisions.Doran fails to note two points relevant to this discussion. First, as part of the last budget, Republicans transferred an additional $363 million in funds to the state's "Rainy Day" fund. Earlier this year the balance stood at about $1.8 billion, an all-time high and very close to the recommended balance of 8 percent of the state's previous year's operating budget.Second, last year the House and Senate passed - and Governor Cooper signed - legislation ( S.L. 2017-5 ) that: a) requires the automatic annual transfer of funds to the state's reserve fund each fiscal year (The amount is to be equal to 15 percent of the expected growth in the state's tax revenue) and b) limits the uses for which reserve funding can be used.These two actions go a long way in allowing state government to address the needs of all North Carolinians. Equally important, the changes also bring much-needed stability to a budget process that is had been ravaged by recent economic downturns.The General Assembly should be commended for taking these actions and exercising prudence.Next time let's tell the whole story.For more information on the impact of the Rainy-Day Fund on North Carolina's fiscal health, see here
While the Salvation Army is best known for ringing bells and red kettles, the organization does much more than collect spare change during the holiday season. The Salvation Army has over 1.5 million members and assists 25 million Americans annually, including thousands of North Carolinians. Other services it provides include aid for disaster survivors, help for domestic abuse victims, shelter for the homeless, food and clothing for those living in poverty, assistance programs for those combating addiction, services to veterans, and more.In 1865, in London's East End slums, William Booth and his wife, Catherine, founded the "Christian Mission" to minister to those living in destitute conditions. Booth said,Fourteen years later, the Christian Mission rebranded itself the Salvation Army and declared that its mission was toIn 1880, Salvation Army member George Railton officially brought the Salvation Army to America along with seven "army lassies." When they entered slums to minister and offer aid to the people living there, however, they were faced with violent opposition. Salvation Army members, dubbed Salvationists, were subjected to attacks from gangs and bystanders who showered them with mud, rotten vegetables, and even dead animals. Although it seems inconceivable today, five Salvation Army officers were killed between 1880 and 1896 while tending to the poor.Despite such harsh and sometimes violent opposition, the Salvation Army grew rapidly. In 1882, there were only 11 officers. That number increased to 79 officers in 1883 and 200 officers in 1884. Between 1881 and 1885, Salvationists converted 250,000 to Christianity in the British Isles despite the persecution and violence against them. Their successes helped the Salvation Army gain worldwide recognition, and the organization soon spread to the United States, Canada, Australia, central Europe, India, and South Africa. Today, the Salvation Army operates in 128 countries worldwide.North Carolina's history with The Salvation Army starts even before the organization officially came to America. In January 1879, a visiting Salvationist began to hold meetings at a Raleigh penitentiary, leading to the establishment of the first North Carolina corps later that year. The Salvation Army reached Charlotte in 1887. As time went on, the Salvation Army confronted less hostility and resistance, but it still encountered setbacks. Police officers occasionally arrested members for disturbing the peace.In the 20th century, the United States faced the worst economic downturn in the nation's history, The Great Depression. The ensuing years of extreme poverty and desperation made the work of the Salvation Army indispensable. In North Carolina, Salvationists distributed food and clothing to the severely impoverished and provided temporary lodging for tens of thousands of homeless North Carolinians. In Greensboro alone, the Army was able to provide 1,245 meals and 400 articles of clothing for the needy in just one month during the depression.More than 80 years after the onset of the Great Depression, the Salvation Army remains an important source of charity in North Carolina. The organization has been especially crucial in the wake of storms from Hurricane Hazel in 1954 to Hurricane Matthew in 2016. The Salvation Army also sends care packages to North Carolina troops stationed overseas and operates Camp Walter Johnson, a children's camp in Denton, North Carolina. Salvation Army corps are located in over three dozen North Carolina cities from Asheville to Wilmington.So whenever you toss some spare change into that familiar red kettle, remember that you are supporting an organization that has done more than just tend to the spiritual and material needs of the poor; it has improved the human condition.While the Salvation Army is best known for ringing bells and red kettles, the organization does much more than collect spare change during the holiday season. The Salvation Army has over 1.5 million members and assists 25 million Americans annually, including thousands of North Carolinians. Other services it provides include aid for disaster survivors, help for domestic abuse victims, shelter for the homeless, food and clothing for those living in poverty, assistance programs for those combating addiction, services to veterans, and more.In 1865, in London's East End slums, William Booth and his wife, Catherine, founded the "Christian Mission" to minister to those living in destitute conditions. Booth said,Fourteen years later, the Christian Mission rebranded itself the Salvation Army and declared that its mission was toIn 1880, Salvation Army member George Railton officially brought the Salvation Army to America along with seven "army lassies." When they entered slums to minister and offer aid to the people living there, however, they were faced with violent opposition. Salvation Army members, dubbed Salvationists, were subjected to attacks from gangs and bystanders who showered them with mud, rotten vegetables, and even dead animals. Although it seems inconceivable today, five Salvation Army officers were killed between 1880 and 1896 while tending to the poor.Despite such harsh and sometimes violent opposition, the Salvation Army grew rapidly. In 1882, there were only 11 officers. That number increased to 79 officers in 1883 and 200 officers in 1884. Between 1881 and 1885, Salvationists converted 250,000 to Christianity in the British Isles despite the persecution and violence against them. Their successes helped the Salvation Army gain worldwide recognition, and the organization soon spread to the United States, Canada, Australia, central Europe, India, and South Africa. Today, the Salvation Army operates in 128 countries worldwide.North Carolina's history with The Salvation Army starts even before the organization officially came to America. In January 1879, a visiting Salvationist began to hold meetings at a Raleigh penitentiary, leading to the establishment of the first North Carolina corps later that year. The Salvation Army reached Charlotte in 1887. As time went on, the Salvation Army confronted less hostility and resistance, but it still encountered setbacks. Police officers occasionally arrested members for disturbing the peace.In the 20th century, the United States faced the worst economic downturn in the nation's history, The Great Depression. The ensuing years of extreme poverty and desperation made the work of the Salvation Army indispensable. In North Carolina, Salvationists distributed food and clothing to the severely impoverished and provided temporary lodging for tens of thousands of homeless North Carolinians. In Greensboro alone, the Army was able to provide 1,245 meals and 400 articles of clothing for the needy in just one month during the depression.More than 80 years after the onset of the Great Depression, the Salvation Army remains an important source of charity in North Carolina. The organization has been especially crucial in the wake of storms from Hurricane Hazel in 1954 to Hurricane Matthew in 2016. The Salvation Army also sends care packages to North Carolina troops stationed overseas and operates Camp Walter Johnson, a children's camp in Denton, North Carolina. Salvation Army corps are located in over three dozen North Carolina cities from Asheville to Wilmington.So whenever you toss some spare change into that familiar red kettle, remember that you are supporting an organization that has done more than just tend to the spiritual and material needs of the poor; it has improved the human condition.
Tom Campbell

Our legislators are due to return to Raleigh on January 10th, another continuation of the 2017 session they just can't seem to conclude. The January date was set to spend a day or so passing judicial reforms, a prospect that doesn't seem likely.As the legislative session was coming to a close in July, Representative Justin Burr proposed a judicial redistricting bill to redraw the districts for superior and district court judgeships, as well as those for District Attorneys. The 11th hour proposal drew immediate opposition, as much because it was thrown into the hopper at the last minute as because of opposition to the proposal itself. No system-wide redistricting had occurred since the 1955 creation of our state's court system and during that time we have gained millions of residents and population centers have shifted, accompanied by major shifts in judicial workloads.After more deliberation opposition shifted away from the concept of redrawing judicial maps to who would redraw them and how it would be accomplished. Bluntly stated, too few had confidence in turning over the process to the same group who re-drew Congressional and legislative districts in 2011 and, rather than attempting to allay concerns by establishing a fair and deliberative process that allowed sufficient input, legislative leadership seemed intent to make it happen quickly. Public doubts were confirmed when proposed new maps revealed that 12 district court districts would double-bunk judges and that 53 percent of those were African Americans. The proposed maps also contained 10 districts where superior court judges were double-bunked, 28 percent of them African Americans.To make the optics of this redistricting worse, lawmakers, wanting to put the new maps in effect for the 2018 election cycle, recognized there wasn't sufficient time to both pass the new districts and hold judicial primaries in the normal time frame, so instead of waiting to establish the new districts another year, decided to eliminate judicial primaries in 2018, triggering lawsuits claiming again that their actions were unconstitutional.Isn't this another replay of the redistricting movie we've already watched? But wait. It gets even more curious. The Nightmare on Jones Street producers weren't content with the level of angst already generated and decided to create almost total maelstrom.The 2017 legislative session had already passed laws requiring that all judicial candidates list their political party affiliation on the election ballot. Voters freely admit they don't know much about those who run for the bench and evidently lawmakers didn't think the voters were selecting enough Republican judges, so now we will politicize judicial elections. Add to this mix a proposal to limit judicial terms to two years instead of the eight-years currently called for in our Constitution for appellate and superior court judges and four-year terms for district court judges. And while we're throwing the judicial system into turmoil let's raise again the suggestion to take away the popular election of judges and develop some undefined process for judicial selection.I'm neither a lawyer, judge nor lawmaker, but I think I have enough common sense to rule that this whole concept of judicial reform needs to tabled until such time as reasoned, fair-minded and adequate debate can come up with something better than what we've seen and heard so far.
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.
As a United customer for a decade (Gold Elite) and a reader of the Washington Post for 20 years, I never thought I'd be posting this: the WP killed the story because they thought it was "too much ambiguity about exactly what happened," despite the fact that I sent them copies of my boarding pass, my original receipt, my letter to United CEO Oscar Munoz, and the photo of Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee. So they got suckered by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) and the absurd claim that a passenger headed for home in DC would cancel the second segment of her flight. Moreover, as the WP was killing the story, I received three voicemails from United customer service, with "apologies" for what happened and asking me to get in touch with them.

Here is the photo of Jackson Lee in my seat, the one I paid for, on United flight #788, sitting next to the man who apologized to me for her behavior.

Does anyone recognize the gentleman next to Jackson Lee? He may be a congressman.

Please share this story: although I want an apology from United, this is really more about how this kind of behavior by an airline continues to go unchallenged.

She said the plane took off at 12:50 p.m. and she arrived home that night, still upset. Simon wrote a letter to airline's CEO and posted it on Facebook and Twitter. A "resolution manager" called her Saturday morning and apologized at least a half-dozen times, she said.

She said she wants a formal, written apology from United.

"It's just impossible to suspend disbelief and swallow that story that I cancelled my flight," Simon said.

Jean-Marie Simon, a 63-year-old attorney and private school teacher, was on a loooooong trip back home.On December 3, Simon had used 140,000 of her frequent flyer miles to buy a first-class, round-trip ticket from Washington, D.C. to Guatemala. On December 18, she was heading back home, flying from Guatemala to D.C. through George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.But when Simon went to board her flight for the final leg of her trip, the gate attendant who scanned her paper ticket told her she wasn't in the system - at all. No trace.she said.The attendant asked Simon if she had canceled her ticket, and she said, "No. I just want to go home." But Simon was told that the seat she had purchased, 1A - the seat she held a hard ticket for - was already taken. United Airlines offered her a $500 voucher and another ticket in Row 11, Economy Plus. She took it.When Simon boarded, she saw someone in "her" seat, but not until later did she learn it was Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas Democrat.Simon posted a lengthy narrative about her ordeal on Facebook, alleging that The Washington Post killed the story:That's right: United said Simon had canceled the second leg of her flight home. Not exactly the move you'd expect from a savvy Gold Elite flyer.United said in a statement.Simon said not true, that she never canceled her ticket.Jackson Lee issued a statement on Saturday afternoon saying:But Jackson Lee did get special treatment. Simon said she saw the Democrat - whom she didn't know at that point - board the plane with a flight attendant before all other passengers. Simon said that during a weather delay, she snapped a photo of Jackson Lee in "her" seat.And that prompted the congresswoman to do what she does best: Charge racism.Jackson Lee said in the statement.But Simon said she complained about her lost seat before she knew who was in it.she said, according to the Houston Chronicle the Chronicle reported.But Simon was lucky. At least United Airlines didn't have her dragged off the plane after knocking her unconscious, like they did to Dr. David Dao.
Another Bill Passed and Signed Click image to expand. Official White House Photo.

President Trump is enforcing our immigration laws, protecting American communities and American jobs. President Trump has laid out his principles for reforming our immigration system to serve hard-working Americans instead of harming them. In particular, President Trump has called on Congress to fund a wall along the Southern border, close legal loopholes that enable illegal immigration, end Chain Migration, and eliminate the Visa Lottery program. President Trump pulled the United States out of negotiations for a "Global Compact on Migration," a plan for global governance of immigration and refugee policy that would have had far-reaching implications for U.S. sovereignty. Under President Trump's leadership, the Department of Homeland Security took action to wind down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in an orderly fashion, following the assessment of the Department of Justice (DOJ) that DACA lacks legal authorization. This action gives Congress the opportunity to consider appropriate legislative solutions, as required by our Constitution. President Trump's Administration rescinded the unlawful Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) program. In keeping with President Trump's campaign promise, the Department of Homeland Security launched the office of Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE). From President Trump's inauguration through the end of FY 2017, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) made 110,568 arrests of illegal aliens, a 40 percent increase compared to the same time period the prior year. Over the same time period, removals that resulted from arrests increased by 37 percent. Of the illegal aliens arrested by ICE, over 92 percent had criminal convictions or pending criminal charges, were ICE fugitives, or were illegal reentrants. The number of counties participating in the 287(g) program, which gives state and local law enforcement entities delegated authority by ICE to enforce immigration in their jurisdiction, has doubled. In FY 2017, 36 percent more criminal gang members were removed by ICE compared to FY 2016. President Trump's Administration is cracking down on sanctuary cities by improving the administration of Federal grants to increase information sharing on illegal aliens.President Trump is protecting American communities and restoring law and order so that every American can feel safe in their community. The Department of Justice announced more than $98 million in grant funding to hire 802 additional full-time law enforcement officers. President Trump signed an Executive Order to restore state and local law enforcement's access to surplus Defense Department equipment through the 1033 program, including safety equipment. The DOJ has worked with Central American partners to arrest and charge about 4,000 MS-13 members so far this year. This includes the alleged leader of MS-13's "East Coast Program." The Department of Homeland Security arrested 796 MS-13 gang members and associates in FY 2017, an 83 percent increase from the previous year. In February, President Trump signed three Executive Orders aimed at cracking down on international criminal organizations. In June, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the creation of the new National Public Safety Partnership, a cooperative initiative with cities to reduce violent crimes.President Trump is following through on his promise to drain the Washington swamp and make the Government accountable. President Trump fulfilled his promise to the American people by placing Neil Gorsuch on the United States Supreme Court. As of December 14, President Trump has nominated 73 Federal judges. Twenty-two judges have been confirmed, including a record-setting 12 circuit judges. President Trump implemented higher ethical standards to make sure his Administration works for the American people. President Trump signed an Executive Order on lobbying that included a five-year ban on lobbying and a lifetime ban on lobbying for foreign countries. President Trump has donated his salary, following through on his promise to the American people. To ensure the Government serves the needs of all Americans, President Trump has called for a comprehensive plan to reorganize the executive branch and has begun to implement this plan. President Trump has commenced a comprehensive overhaul of digitally delivered Government services. President Trump has called for "conducting a full audit of the Pentagon." The Department of Defense (DOD) responded to the President's call to action and has begun its first full financial statement audit. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has called for business reform in the DOD to instill budget discipline and effective resource management.President Trump and his Administration are fighting back against drug addiction and opioid abuse. President Trump directed the declaration of a Nationwide Public Health Emergency to address the opioid crisis. The President's Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) recently found that evidence suggests drug overdoses involving opioids are underreported by as much as 24 percent. In April, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) laid out a comprehensive five-point strategy to combat the opioid abuse crisis. The DOJ announced it was scheduling fentanyl substances as a drug class under the Controlled Substances Act. Anyone who possesses, imports, distributes, or manufactures any illicit fentanyl-related substance will be subject to criminal prosecution similar to other controlled substances. The DOJ announced its first-ever indictments against two Chinese nationals and their North American-based associates for distributing large quantities of fentanyl and other opiate substances. In an opioid fraud crackdown, the DOJ charged more than 400 people, including doctors and medical facilities, for prescribing unnecessary opioids, fueling the drug crisis. In 2017, the Administration provided nearly $500 million to States to prevent and treat opioid abuse. The President's FY 2018 Budget requests another $500 million. On National Drug Take Back Day, the Drug Enforcement Administration collected a record-breaking 912,305 pounds - 456 tons - of potentially dangerous expired, unused, or unwanted prescription drugs at more than 5,300 collection sites.President Trump recognizes the precious gift of life and protects the sanctity of life at all stages. During his first week in office, President Trump reinstated and expanded the Mexico City Policy that protects $9 billion in foreign aid from being used to fund the abortion industry. President Trump de-funded a U.N. agency for colluding with China's brutal program of forced abortion and sterilization. President Trump worked with the Congress to sign a bill overturning an Obama midnight regulation that prohibited States from defunding abortion service providers. The Trump Administration published guidance promising to enforce the Obamacare requirement that taxpayer dollars should not support abortion coverage in exchange plans.President Trump is making sure the government fulfills its commitment to our country's veterans. The President signed the Veterans Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act to allow senior officials in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to fire failing employees and establish safeguards to protect whistleblowers. Under President Trump, the VA has fired 1,298 employees, suspended 425, and demoted 73, as part of President Trump's efforts to restore accountability. President Trump signed the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act after it passed the Senate unanimously in August. The legislation streamlines the lengthy process that veterans undergo when appealing disability benefits claims with the VA. The President signed the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act, an important step in providing our nation's heroes the support they have earned. This funds the Post-9/11 GI Bill, which provides educational benefits to veterans, service members, and their family members, including tuition, fees, books, housing, and additional costs. President Trump signed the VA Choice and Quality Employment Act of 2017 to authorize $2.1 billion in additional funds for the Veterans Choice Program (VCP). Fulfilling President Trump's promise, the Administration created a new White House VA Hotline staffed by veterans and family members. The VA increased transparency and accountability by launching an online "Access and Quality Tool," providing veterans with a way to access wait time and quality of care data. President Trump and VA Secretary Dr. David Shulkin announced three initiatives to expand access to healthcare for veterans using telehealth technology: "Anywhere to Anywhere VA Health Care" allows VA providers to use telehealth technology to serve veterans no matter where the provider or veteran is located. VA Video Connect allows veterans and providers to connect by video across the country. The Veteran Appointment Request (VAR) application allows veterans to schedule appointments at VA facilities on digital devices.White House 
Tax Reform: They Got it Done (from left to right: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell; Speaker of the House Paul Ryan; President Donald Trump; Vice President Mike Pence) Click image to expand. Official White House Photo.

The Trump Administration published guidance promising to enforce the Obamacare requirement that taxpayer dollars should not support abortion coverage in exchange plans.President Trump is rebuilding our military, defeating terrorist organizations, and confronting rogue nations to protect America and our allies. Immediately upon taking office, the President directed the rebuilding of the United States military, a new national defense strategy, a comprehensive nuclear posture review, and fielding state-of-the-art ballistic missile defenses. President Trump has worked with the Congress to increase defense spending, fully reverse the defense sequester, expand our military capacity, and modernize its capabilities. The President has empowered the Secretary of Defense and our military commanders to make decisions, seize the initiative, and win - without micromanagement from Washington. The President directed the revival of the National Space Council to develop and implement a new national space policy and strategy. President Trump directed the elevation of the U.S. Cyber Command into a major warfighting command, to advance U.S. efforts in cyberspace. President Trump reasserted American sovereignty over our borders by announcing our withdrawal from the U.N. Global Compact on Migration. President Trump restricted travel from certain countries that do not have sufficient security or share enough information. Under President Trump's leadership, ISIS has lost nearly all of its territory and its most important cities and towns in Iraq and Syria, including Mosul and ISIS's declared capital in Raqqa. President Trump has taken strong action to end North Korea's aggressive actions and its continued development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. With U.S. leadership, the United Nations Security Council unanimously sanctioned North Korea for its continued rogue actions. The Trump Administration sanctioned Chinese financial institutions aiding the North Korean regime. President Trump signed an Executive Order sanctioning North Korean trade and financing, signaling to the world that they have to make a choice: deal with the United States or the rogue regime in North Korea. President Trump announced a new Afghanistan strategy that strengthens our support for Afghan security forces, delegates authority to military leaders, and demonstrates our resolve to defeat terrorism. In reaction to the new U.S. South Asia strategy, NATO allies and partners increased troop contributions to NATO's Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan. President Trump approved a new Iran strategy focused on neutralizing Iran's regional destabilizing influence, sanctioning Iran's ballistic missile program, and decertifying Iran's compliance with the multilateral nuclear deal. President Trump ordered missile strikes against a Syrian airbase after the Assad regime used it to launch chemical weapons attacks against civilians. President Trump prevented further chemical weapons attacks by announcing detection of their preparation and warning Syria that they would be struck again if the attacks were carried out. President Trump imposed new sanctions on the Maduro dictatorship in Venezuela, targeting the regime itself, and not just individuals, for the first time. The new financial sanctions prohibit dealings in new Venezuelan debt and its corrupt oil company. The regime will no longer be able finance its debt using U.S. banks.President Trump has used an America First foreign policy to restore respect for the United States throughout the world and to advance our interests. President Trump has worked to release American citizens held abroad, often using his personal relationships with world leaders. Three student athletes from the University of California, Los Angeles, were released from China after President Trump's personal intervention. An American, a Canadian, and their three children were released from Taliban custody after United States Government and Pakistani forces secured their release. The Trump Administration secured Otto Warmbier's release from North Korea. Sandy Phan-Gill was released from Chinese detention after President Trump and his Administration intervened. Aya Hijazi was released from an Egyptian prison and welcomed to the White House by President Trump. President Trump followed through on his campaign promise and recognized Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel. President Trump conducted a historic 12 day tour through Asia including visits to five countries and attending three regional summits to promote America's interests. South Korea and Japan both pledged to build closer defense relations with the United States, and the President underscored the U.S. commitment to providing advanced military equipment. President Trump boosted cooperation between the Quad countries (the United States, Japan, India, and Australia) on the sidelines of ASEAN in Manila. President Trump reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to promote prosperity and security in the region, including by modernizing America's development finance institutions and increasing their coordination with Japanese counterparts. President Trump travelled to the Middle East and Europe to solidify relations with our allies in both regions and push for greater commitments and cooperation. President Trump visited Mecca, Jerusalem, and Rome, three of the world's holiest places. While in Saudi Arabia, President Trump pushed for a coalition of nations to confront Iran and attended the opening of the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology. At the May 2017 NATO Leaders' meeting, President Trump persuaded our allies to agree to develop national plans to boost defense spending to 2 percent of GDP by 2024, and for NATO to formally join the defeat-ISIS coalition. President Trump visited Poland and a meeting of the G-20, where he pushed for closer cooperation and American First policies. With G-20 partners and the World Bank, the United States championed the establishment of the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (WeFi), which could leverage in excess of $1 billion in financing to support women entrepreneurs.White House 
In April, Mexicos Senate put the final stamp of approval on a comprehensive law that bans all dogfighting in the country and establishes tough penalties, including imprisonment and fines, for anyone involved in dogfighting activities. Photo by iStockphoto

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In 2017, there were some mean-spirited, aggressive attacks on animal welfare that stirred the conscience and passions of tens of millions of Americans  particularly the readers of A Humane Nation. These maneuvers made so many of us question the wisdom and judgment of some elected officials at the federal level. In one of the most stomach-churning of the attacks, Alaskas Congressional delegation invoked the Congressional Review Act to nullify Interior Department rules to stop ruthless predator control actions on our federal lands (national wildlife refuges and national preserves) in the state. After the House and Senate narrowly approved the measure (on a party-line vote in the Senate, and with just 10 Republicans in the House objecting), President Trump signed the measure to repeal the wildlife protection rule for national refuges in Alaska. On the other hand, the presidents positive intervention on the issue of rich Americans killing elephants and lions from Zimbabwe and Zambia and bringing their tusks, heads, and other body parts into the United States caused the opposite reaction, especially after The HSUS called out this maneuver by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to abet trophy killing of rare species, right here on this blog.

So many other consequential issues also provoked fierce reactions and in some cases recriminations  including the Interior Departments rescinding of a policy on the use of poisonous lead ammunition in our national wildlife refuges. You expressed joy and excitement about the agencys announcement of a rule to stop abuses of Tennessee walking horses  but sadly the new administration stopped the horse reform in its tracks (were now seeking to get this reform done through Congress). You responded in extraordinary numbers in celebrating other outcomes, including Gucci and Michael Kors going fur-free, Mexico adopting felony-level penalties for dogfighting, and The HSUSs rescue of 84 Great Danes languishing in deplorable conditions in a New Hampshire mansion. You liked my blog about the devastating expose of puppy mills by Rolling Stone reporter Paul Solotaroff, but were furious about the USDA just weeks later starting to suppress inspection reports of mills, research labs, and roadside zoos.

It was a year of high drama for animals chronicled in A Humane Nation, and I am glad so many of you liked, shared, commented, and otherwise acted once you learned about the biggest issues of our day for animals.

House sanctions killing wolf cubs, hibernating bears on federal refuges in Alaska

In February, at the bidding of the NRA, the Safari Club, and some hunting guides and outfitters, the U.S. House voted in favor of H.J. Resolution 69 to overturn a federal rule, years in the works and crafted by professional wildlife managers at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to stop some of the most appalling practices ever imagined in the contemporary era of wildlife management. The resolution, authored by Alaskas Rep. Don Young, sought to allow killing wolf pups in or near their dens in spring, killing hibernating bears, spotting grizzly bears from aircraft and then shooting them after landing, and trapping grizzly bears and black bears with steel-jawed leghold traps and snares on 16 national wildlife refuges covering 76 million acres, all in the state of Alaska. In March, the Senate followed up with a party-line vote to rescind the rule, and President Trump signed the resolution, eliminating the rule in April.

Interior Department announces it will allow imports of elephant, lion trophies from Zimbabwe and Zambia

In November, in yet another action kowtowing to Safari Club International and its band of wealthy trophy hunters, the Department of Interior reversed critical elephant and lion protections established during the previous administration, allowing imports of elephant and lion trophies from Zimbabwe and Zambia. Listed under the federal Endangered Species Act, hunting trophies of elephants and lions can only be imported if the federal government finds that killing them positively enhances the survival of the species. This was an especially reckless decision, given that it came to light on the very day of an attempted coup to remove Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwes ruthless and corrupt dictator, who had been operating the countrys wildlife management program as something of a live auction. Fortunately, just days later and in response to the furor The HSUS propelled through social media and other channels, President Trump announced in a tweet that he was putting the Interior Departments decision on hold. In another tweet, he declared trophy hunting of elephants and other animals a horror show.

USDA bans torture of Tennessee walking horses

Pushed to act by a series of HSUS undercover investigations and bipartisan support from the U.S. Congress and public comments by more than 100,000 groups and citizens, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in the last week of the Obama administration in January 2017, announced strict new rules to crack down on the barbaric practice of horse soring  the intentional infliction of pain on the legs and hooves of show Tennessee walking horses and related breeds, to force them to perform the artificial, pain-based Big Lick gait. As requested in a rulemaking petition submitted by The HSUS, the USDA rule, years in the making, banned the use of pain-inflicting stacks and chains on Tennessee walking horses and racking horses, both breeds that have been chronic victims of soring. The rule also eliminated the failed industry self-policing program, and put the USDA squarely in charge of enforcing the rules to eliminate these abuses. But the Federal Register, the journal of the U.S. agencies, failed to publish the rule in a timely manner after the USDA announced it, and as a result, the rule got swept up in a broader Trump administration policy to freeze any rulemaking actions still in progress, after the new president assumed office on January 20th. The USDA has so far ignored our pleas to revive the rule over the last 10 months.

Key House committee votes to reopen horse slaughter plants in the U.S.

In July, the Appropriations Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives voted narrowly to give the green light for the reopening of horse slaughter plants in the United States. There were 27 members of Congress who voted against the bipartisan amendment offered by Reps. Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-Calif., and Charlie Dent, R-Pa., to bar horse slaughter operations in the United States, and 25 who supported it. The vote on the amendment was unimaginable because American horses deserve a better fate than to be gathered up by a disreputable kill buyer who outbids a rescuer at an auction, loaded onto an overcrowded truck, and then stunned, hoisted up by a leg, and pulled apart piece by piece  which is exactly what the 27 lawmakers who voted against the Roybal-Allard/Dent amendment were trying to sanction. Fortunately, a week later, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee  whose members constitute nearly a third of the entire chamber  voted in favor of an amendment to bar any horse slaughter plants from opening in this country. The issue will be settled in January when Congress works to finish up the spending bill to operate the government for the bulk of 2018. There is no question that a solid majority of the House, along with the Senate, oppose horse slaughter for human consumption, so we are urging negotiators on the final spending bill to keep that in the forefront of their thinking.

The HSUS challenges the USDA over mass removal of online animal welfare records

In February, The HSUS sent a notice of violation to the U.S. Department of Agriculture over its decision to delete from its website annual reports from research facilities and inspection reports on some 9,000 licensed facilities that use animals, including commercial dog breeding operators, Tennessee walking horse show participants, roadside zoos, animal research labs, and other operations regulated under the federal Animal Welfare Act and Horse Protection Act. The HSUS sued the USDA in 2005 over public access to AWA reports concerning animal use in university and other laboratories. That case was settled in 2009 in exchange for the USDAs agreement to post certain data on its website concerning research on animals. The USDAs outrageous action in February undermined longstanding consensus about public access to information concerning these laws, and frustrated state, local, and industry efforts to help enforce them. Weeks later, bowing to a massive national campaign demanding restoration of the records, the agency said it would repost some annual reports and inspection data on animal research facilities. But so far, the agency has continued its near-total eclipse of horse soring, roadside zoo, and puppy mill reports, redacting them so they are virtually useless.

Mexico adopts felony-level penalties for dogfighting

In April, Mexicos Senate put the final stamp of approval on a comprehensive law that bans all dogfighting in the country and establishes tough penalties, including imprisonment and fines, for anyone involved in dogfighting activities like organizing fights, owning or trading a dog, and attending a fight as a spectator. Dogfighting has been a persistent and widespread animal welfare problem in Mexico. In 2016, soon after opening an office in Mexico, and under the guidance of executive director Anton Aguilar of Humane Society International/Mexico, we launched a major anti-dogfighting campaign along with local animal protection organizations. The Mexican law will have a beneficial impact on our work to stop dogfighters here, in the United States, where we have established a strong federal policy on animal fighting over the last 15 years. For years, American-based dogfighters have trekked to Mexico to avoid law enforcement in the United States where, largely due to The HSUSs work, dogfighting is a felony in every state, and also a federal felony.

Guilty verdict for New Hampshire breeder who kept Great Danes in deplorable conditions

Earlier this month, a New Hampshire court convicted a New Hampshire Great Dane breeder, Christina Fay, of 10 counts of animal cruelty. Fay kept 84 Great Danes in deplorable conditions in a mansion in Wolfeboro, N.H. When our rescuers, working with the Wolfeboro police department, arrived at the mansion in June to remove the animals, they found the dogs in obvious distress and varying states of illness. The judge who handed down the convictions for Fay noted that a veterinarian experienced in investigating animal cruelty cases testified that the conditions within the Defendants home [were] the worst she had ever seen. Fay was sentenced and ordered to pay more than $790,000 in restitution to The HSUS and other groups. In addition to caring for the dogs since they were rescued, The HSUS has been working with state lawmakers and Gov. Chris Sununu on passing state legislation to reform commercial breeder regulations, strengthen penalties for egregious cruelty, and address the enormous financial burden on taxpayers and non-profit organizations in caring for animals legally seized from cruelty investigations. My June blog announcing the rescue also was among the most read blogs of the year.

Rolling Stone article on puppy mill trade

In early January, Paul Solotaroff took a deep dive into the puppy mill business with a remarkable feature in Rolling Stone magazine entitled The Dog Factory: Inside the Sickening World of Puppy Mills. Solotaroff piggybacked on a raid that the HSUS Animal Rescue Team carried out with the Cabarrus County Sheriffs Office in North Carolina, seeing first-hand what our rescuers encounter when they carry out these rescues. It was pitch-black inside, and the smell was a hammer, wrote Solotaroff, in describing the house where the dogs were confined. Here were the parent dogs in desperate shape: blinded by cataracts and corneal ulcers, their jaws half-gone or missing entirely after their teeth had rotted away. Some were so feeble, they couldnt stand erect; their paws were urine-scalded and their wrists were deformed from squatting on wire their entire lives. Solotaroff saw our rescue team carry 105 dogs to safety from filthy, dark wire cages surrounded by cobwebs and trash. Solotaroff also visited a dog auction in Missouri with my colleague, John Goodwin, and wrote not just about the plight of the dogs but also the financial burden placed on law enforcement and animal welfare groups that get saddled with the costs of caring for the animals. The article covered the deficiencies at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the very rare circumstances when the agency shuts down a mill. Compounding that problem, weeks later, the USDA took down all inspection records for this taxpayer-funded inspections program.

Gucci and then Michael Kors go fur-free

In October, the fashion house Gucci rocked the fashion world by announcing, in partnership with The HSUS, that it was going fur-free. It reverberated through the industry, and just weeks later, Michael Kors (including its Jimmy Choo brand) joined the fur-free movement by announcing that it is going 100 percent fur-free. In November, Burlington Stores (formerly Burlington Coat Factory), after discussions with The HSUS, announced it was going 100 percent fur-free. In June, Yoox Net-A-Porter, the online retailer for such brands as Prada and Burberry, announced it will stop selling all items and accessories made with fur. In short, it was perhaps the biggest year ever for the fur-free movement.

Interior Secretary reverses ban on lead ammunition on national wildlife refuges

In January, as his first action as Interior Secretary, Ryan Zinke undid a directors order to phase out the use of lead ammunition and fishing tackle over the next five years on more than 150 million acres of National Wildlife Refuges and other agency lands and waterways. The original policy, adopted as a Directors Order by outgoing Fish and Wildlife Service director Dan Ashe, was designed to stop the needless, incidental poisoning of millions of wild animals each year by lead thats left behind by hunters and anglers. As the primary wildlife manager of tens of millions of acres of federal lands, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has a statutory duty to act to protect and conserve wildlife, and thats what it did by establishing the policy after careful deliberation last year. Less toxic forms of ammunition and fishing tackle are effective, cost-competitive, and readily available in the marketplace. Leaders of hunting groups huddled around Zinke for his first official action, cheering on an action inimical to the imperatives of conservation and wildlife enhancement.

To all of you who took action, shared my blog and supported our cause this year, thank you. Weve faced many challenges  mainly at the hands of the federal government  but we will continue to do battle there and also fight on a hundred other fronts. It is our commitment to multi-channel change that is bringing about game-changing results for animals, and we are poised for more of those successes.

P.S. If you havent already subscribed to A Humane Nation, please do so here, to keep up with our work in the new year.


In 1936, Hugo Green, a postal worker in Harlem, published his first "Negro Motorist Green Book," a guide to the places that black travelers could eat, sleep, gas up, and be physically present and alive without being discriminated against, harassed, threatened, beaten or murdered.

The guides were an essential part of black life in America until the 1960s. They are available online thanks to the New York Public Library's excellent public domain repository, and they feature heavily in Matt Ruff's must-read 2016 novel "Lovecraft Country" (it's being adapted for TV by Jordan "Get Out" Peele).

Now the guides are available in print again, thanks to facsimile editions from About Comics, a California press owned by Nat Gertler.

The books have sold more than 10,000 copies since they were published in 2016.











The Green Book was sold through mail order and in service stations  specifically Esso branches, as a note in About Comics' edition explains: "Esso not only served African American customers, it was willing to franchise its stations to African Americans, unlike most petroleum companies of the day."



In a foreword to one edition of his guide, Green wrote: "There will be a day sometime in the near future when this guide will not have to be published. That is when we as a race will have equal opportunities and privileges in the United States. It will be a great day for us to suspend this publication for then we can go wherever we please, and without embarrassment." Green died in 1960. The Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964.



The Negro Motorist Green Book facsimile editions [Victor H Green/About Comics]





Travel guides to segregated US for black Americans reissued [Alison Flood/The Guardian]
Peter Thiel thinks that it was a mistake to let women vote; that democracy is incompatible with "freedom" (because poor people will tax rich people if they get to elect their own leaders); that the major problem with the mass government surveillance that Edward Snowden revealed was that it was incompetently conducted (which is why he started Palantir, a mass surveillance contractor that sells spying services to authoritarian states); that free markets are inefficient and should be replaced with monopolies; and that marketplace of ideas should be replaced by secretly funded litigation campaigns that eliminate publications that say things you don't like.



He calls himself a "libertarian."

He gave $1.25 million to Donald Trump's presidential campaign.



Yet, cut through Thiel's eccentricities and harsh language and you discover that Thiel is simply articulating the Know-It-All worldview as best he knows how. In Thiel's ideas one finds Frederick Terman's insistence that the smartest should lead, as well as his belief in using entrepreneurism and the market to introduce new technologies to the people. There is the hackers' confidence that technology will improve society, as well as their suspicion of ignorant authorities who would try to rein in or regulate the best and brightest. There is the successful entrepreneur's belief that the disruption that has made him fabulously wealthy must be good for everyone. The main difference between Thiel and his peers is that he acts forcefully and openly in support of his ideas, while they are inclined to be more cautious and circumspect.

As we noted above, Stanford may embrace the idea that its students should become entrepreneurs, but only Thiel pays students to drop out and start a business. Larry Page of Google may propose the creation of "some safe places where we can try out some new things and figure out what's the effect on society, what's the effect on people, without having to deploy it into the normal world," but only Thiel backs floating sea-based states. Those peers may privately worry that democracy isn't the ideal way to choose our leaders, but Thiel will write straightforwardly in a 2009 essay for the libertarian think tank the Cato Institute that "the vast increase in welfare beneficiaries and the extension of the franchise to womentwo constituencies that are notoriously tough for libertarianshave rendered the notion of 'capitalist democracy' into an oxymoron." For these reasons, Thiel names the 1920s as "the last decade in American history during which one could be genuinely optimistic about politics," though presumably 2016 restored his faith in the electoral process.
News / Local

by Staff Reporter

A Form Three pupil from Entumbane High School in Bulawayo has appeared in court after he allegedly raped his nine-year-old niece.The accused allegedly raped his niece several times while they were home alone.The 17-year-old from Mabutweni suburb would summon the minor to his grandmother's bedroom, lock the door and allegedly rape her.
News / Local

by Staff Reporter

A WOMAN from Cowdray Park suburb in Bulawayo has been sentenced to nine months in prison for making a false rape report to the police.Rejoice Nyoni (34) was observed through CCTV walking with the man she accused of violating her to the back of a shop but later alleged he had dragged here there before raping her.Ultimately, she was lucky to end up performing 210 hours of community service.Nyoni pleaded guilty to a charge of obstructing the course of justice before Bulawayo magistrate Ms Sharon Rosemani.Ms Rosemani sentenced her to nine months in prison."Three months is suspended on condition that you do not repeat a similar offence in three years. The remaining six months are suspended on condition that accused person completes 210 hours of community service at Cowdray Park Primary School," she said.Nyoni said she made the false report after the man refused to pay her $50 as they had agreed.Prosecuting, Mr Mclean Ndlovu said the two had consensual sex on November 2 this year."Around 8PM, Nyoni went to Bulawayo Central Police Station where she reported that she had been raped by an unknown man behind Solatek shop corner second Avenue and Jason Moyo Street," he said.Mr Ndlovu said: "Nyoni stated that she had been grabbed by her shirt, forcibly pulled into a sanitary lane where the man had raped her. Investigations revealed that the scene of the crime was under CCTV monitoring and the investigative officer managed to have access to the video footage.""The two were observed in the footage walking together without Nyoni being dragged," he said.Mr Ndlovu said they were seen having quality time together without any form of aggression being used."Nyoni was questioned and she revealed that she had made up the story after the man refused to pay her for sex as he had promised," he said.
News / National

by Staff Reporter

THE Professor Welshman Ncube-led MDC will not field candidates outside the agreed 32 constituencies allocated to it in the MDC Alliance, the party's secretary general, Ms Miriam Mushayi, has said.Ms Mushayi revealed this in a memorandum to the party's provincial chairpersons which also stated that aspiring candidates should start forwarding their applications for vetting.Her memo follows contradictory statements by MDC-T secretary general Mr Douglas Mwonzora who has previously said the MDC-T will field candidates in all the country's constituencies. Mr Mwonzora was quickly shot down by the opposition party's leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai who assured his MDC Alliance partners that the MDC-T was still bound by Alliance agreements. MDC was allocated 32 seats under the MDC Alliance.The MDC-T is divided over the formation of the MDC Alliance with a faction led by its deputy Thokozani Khupe allegedly against the Alliance especially in the Matabeleland region.Ms Mushayi said no party members would be allowed to run outside the 32 constituencies."The constituencies allocated to the MDC by the MDC Alliance agreement from which applications are set out below in respect of each province. No application will be entertained from outside the constituencies allocated to the MDC," said Ms Mushayi.MDC will contest in eight constituencies; four in Matabeleland North province and four in Matabeleland South province, six in the Midlands, five in Masvingo and four in Mashonaland East. In Bulawayo, Harare, Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland West and Manicaland, the party will have two constituencies in each province.Ms Mushayi said aspiring MPs should submit their applications on Wednesday next week."You are hereby notified that the process of candidate selection will commence on January 3, 2018 and is expected to be completed by 31 January 2018.Accordingly you are hereby requested to receive applications from interested candidates and forward them to my office for vetting. The closing date for the receipt of applications shall be 14 January 2018," she said.
News / National

by Staff Reporter

The late national hero General Josiah Magama Tongogara had a premonition about his death and knew that he was never going to see a free Zimbabwe. This was revealed by Zanu-PF Vice President General Constantino Chiwenga (Rtd) at a memorial service to mark the 38th anniversary of the death of General Tongogara at the National Heroes' Acre yesterday."There are a lot of things which I will not be able to say, but I have already talked to maiguru Mai Tongo about what he said to me. But what you want to know is that I knew by that time that this was going to be it. I was not going to see him."He told me, 'My brother this is it, go and take the forces there in Chimoio . . . I want you to be in Marondera before the end of this ceasefire'. I said, but when is the ceasefire? Have you agreed?' And he said we will agree, but it was on the 4th and the ceasefire was signed on the 21st of December."He said, 'go, but we will not meet'. And I said where will you be and he said, 'but I told you we will not meet. Ndomirira ipapo," General Chiwenga (Rtd) told a bemused gathering of the Tongogara family and senior Government officials, standing in soaking rain.The widow of General Tongogara, Mrs Angeline Tongogara, said she was happy with the recognition her husband had received following the renaming of the King George VI Barracks to General Magama Tongogara Barracks.The service was attended by various dignitaries who included Minister of Presidential Affairs Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, Mashonaland West Provincial Affairs Minister Webster Shamu, members of the Tongogara family and trustees of the General Tongogara Trust.General Tongogara died in a car accident in Mozambique on December 26, 1979, just a few days after the ceasefire.The late national hero was recently honoured when the King George V1 Barracks was renamed after him.
News / National

by Staff Reporter

The Zanu PF National Chairperson, Oppah Muchinguri Kashiri, National Political Commissar, Retired Lieutenant General Dr Engelbert Rugeje and the principal of the Chitepo Ideological School, Munyaradzi Machacha have agreed that Zanu PF has to change its work ethic, adding that the era of bussing people around is over.The three were addressing Zanu PF provincial chairpersons and provincial commissars in Harare this Wednesday.They also responded to President Emmerson Mnangagwa's speech of valuing unity of purpose and that there should be no retribution.The three also called for people to register to vote in next year's general elections.Muchinguri-Kashiri said during the cabal's reign of terror people were living in fear as expulsions and suspensions were the order of the day without following due process.Retired Lieutenant General Rugeje said the era of bussing people around is over as he will be visiting people at grassroots level while Machacha said the ideological bankruptcy created all the challenges the party faced.He also said there will be a basic orientation course for people who want to be party members and cadreship training for those who want to serve in government.Meanwhile, today three remaining provinces, Manicaland, Masvingo and Mashonaland central have also welcomed the appointment of the Zanu PF vice presidents.The other seven provinces had made their endorsements yesterday.
News / Regional

by Staff Reporter

THE case of a man who allegedly outpaced police officers while in leg irons and made a suicidal dive into a deep gorge in Victoria Falls has taken a new twist after he told a court that cops cuffed and dumped him at the gorge.Police allegedly gave up on Stanley Muzamba (33) from Chisuma Village under Chief Mvuthu outside Victoria Falls town, thinking he had drowned.He turned up at Victoria Falls Police Station four days later after allegedly failing to remove the leg irons, which were cutting into his swollen ankles.Muzamba told Victoria Falls magistrate Ms Rangarirai Gakanje that the unlawful entry and theft charges he was arrested for were fabricated after he turned down sexual advances from his former employer Mrs Abigail Nyamawunga (41).Muzamba pleaded not guilty to unlawful entry and theft as well as escaping from lawful custody.Ms Gakanje remanded him in custody to January 8 for judgement.Muzamba said: "I didn't run away from police custody. The police took me to the gorges after assaulting me for telling them that Abigail Nyamawunga had given me the soap as a gift. They dumped me there and I could not walk and I stayed there for three days. I fell on a rock."Turning to the love advances Muzamba said: "Abigail Nyamawunga always gave me goodies and she wanted to make me her man but I would always turn her down."Muzamba said he turned himself in after recovering at the gorge."Although they dumped me at the gorges, I was still in their custody that's why I surrendered myself," he said.Mrs Nyamawunga denied making sexual advances towards Muzamba."He is lying. The soap he claims I gave him, I handed it to his wife as she worked as a maid at the lodge.""We suspected Stanley could have stolen the television set and the piece of soap because these things had gone missing on the same day he had moved out as he had resigned from work," said Mrs Nyamawunga.The prosecutor Mr Listen Nare said: "On December 1, Muzamba, who is an ex-employee at Africa Premier Safaris, unlawfully entered the premises through a window and stole a 32 inch TV set and a piece of soap.""The accused was later arrested and he offered to do indications and recoveries in Chisuma area where he said the stolen goods were hidden. He was secured with leg irons and while he was making indications, he escaped and went into Jembwe Gorges."The court heard that the cops failed to locate him and went back to the station. Muzamba allegedly turned up at the Victoria Falls Police Station after breaking the chain joining the cuffs but failed to remove them from around his ankles. The value of the stolen goods is $451 and only the soap was recovered.
Opinion / Columnist

Zimbabwe is not in this political and economic mess by accident. We are where we are because we, as a people, have not stopped to think through what is it we want and hence for the last 37 years we have blundered from pillar to post. Some of our social media based protest groups have been have had their share of blundering."I think it's important for us to note that there have to be a moment with which we distil what has happened before we react," Pastor Evans Mawarire of #Thisflag told New Zimbabwe."It's important for now to just respond and not necessarily react. There is still need for analysis really on which direction are these people (government) taking."Pastor Mawarire has never really understood what it is exactly the nation has been fighting for these last 37 years. His understanding of anything has been very superficial at best. Admittedly it is impossible to have an intelligent debate on any subject much less on politics with someone whose starting baseline is zero and stick to the 140 characters maximum twitter limit.Pastor Mawarire's latest blunder emanates from his failure to appreciate that the military coup that forced Mugabe to resign and in the purge of all G40 loyalists from Zanu PF had everything to do with the dog-eat-dog factional war that has been raging in that party for the last three years. The coup had nothing to do with advancing the ordinary Zimbabwean's fight for democratic changes to restore individual freedoms and basic human rights including the right to free and fair elections."Operation Restore Legacy", as the coup plotter call the coup was about stopping Mugabe handing political power to his wife Grace and her G40 faction and handing it back, restoring it, to the Joint Operation Command (JOC), the Junta comprising of security services top brass and headed by Mnangagwa and Mugabe himself until the coup. JOC has ruled the country all these last 37 years with an iron fist, it has master minders and executed all the corruption, vote rigging, tyrannical oppression and murders.All the coup has done is effect a change of JOC leader from Mugabe to Mnangagwa otherwise nothing else has changed. It is only those who are political naive and gullible who equate the departure of the dictator, Mugabe, with the demise of the Zanu PF dictatorship.Mugabe lost the March 2008 elections to Tsvangirai by a staggering 73%, for example. It was Mnangagwa and the other JOC members who told the tyrant not to throw in the towel. They masterminded the six weeks recount to reduce Tsvangirai's victory to 47% and thus force the run-off. Again, it was Mnangagwa & co. who masterminded and executed Operation "Mavhotera papi!" (Whom did you vote for!) in which the electorate were subjected to barbaric abuse and wanton violence to punish them for having voted Tsvangirai in the March vote. Mugabe won the run-off by a warping 84%.The most immediate proof of the JOC being perfectly capable of carrying on without Mugabe, is the November coup against the tyrant. It is clear that Mugabe himself never doubted Mnangagwa & co. were capable of staging a successful coup against him because his wife told us the tyrant was "sleeping with one eye open".Mugabe was the figure head of JOC but one the Junta could do without when push came to shove. Mugabe was no more than the tail of the autotomy gecko, when the JOC members were threaten they forced him to resign just as readily as the gecko, captured by its tail, will shed-off the tail to make good its escape.The 2008 to 2013 GNU presented the nation a golden opportunity to implement the democratic reforms necessary to restore the individual freedoms and human rights the Zanu PF dictatorship had systematically eroded away. Sadly, Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends failed to get even one reform implemented and the chance was wasted.The dog-eat-dog infighting in Zanu PF has left the party divided and weak, other than the GNU years, the weakest it has ever been in all its 37 years in power. This is another half chance for povo to their demands to implement the democratic reforms."I think these are all moments which are helping us to locate ourselves in this new dispensation; how do we posture ourselves in relation to this new government, what is our messaging, what are our key concerns so far in these first 50 or 100 days as we go," argued Mawarire.Wait, wait for what? Wait for Zanu PF to regroup and consolidate its power? No, you hit the metal whilst it is still hot, you press for reforms whilst Zanu PF is weak!President Mnangagwa has promised "free, fair and credible" to take people's attention off the demands to implement reforms before elections. Of all the Zanu PF leaders, he knows all there is to know about rigging elections and why the reforms are important because he, unlike the likes of Joice Mujuru who were spectators, masterminded and executed all Zanu PF's vote rigging schemes in the past. He wants everyone to go into next year's elections believing the elections will be free because he said so although he has not implemented even one reform.President Mnangagwa is aware Zanu PF is already rigging next year's elections. As Minister of Justice, he delayed the start of the on-going voter registration knowing ZEC will not have the time release a verified voters' roll before the elections. He also knows that many of the party's vote rigging schemes would have been exposed if ZEC had produced a verified voters' roll for the July 2013 elections. The party does not want a verified voters' roll for next year's election for the same reason.If people are naive enough to allow Mnangagwa to get away with yet another rigged election; he will willingly take full advantage of their naivety."I think it's still premature for protest movements to go into the streets and protest because the president has only been there for less than a month now and we have to give him a long rope to hang himself," chipped in Linda Masarira, another human rights campaigner who heart is in the right place but, sadly, her intellect has not been sound."We also have to consider that he has an obligation to try and reform Zanu PF and the system per se and reform does not happen overnight."Madam, that is precisely the point; Mnangagwa is not even trying to reform Zanu PF. He and the JOC cabal risked life and limb to stage a coup to restore their iron grip on power; many JOC members are now in his cabinet; those thugs are not going to risk being booted out of power by allowing free election especially when they are not under any pressure to implement any democratic reforms.President Mnangagwa is not a democrat and he and his JOC Junta have no intention of reforming themselves out of office.We made the mistake of giving Mugabe and his Zanu PF thugs a long rope in 1980 and for the last 37 years they have frog-marched the whole nation into this hell-on-earth; harassing, beating, raping and even murdered over 30 000 along the way. We must not make that mistake again.If next year's elections are free, fair and credible; then they will be the country's first free and fair elections. The nation's priority then would be to make ensure they are not the last free and fair elections by voting to end Zanu PF's reign of terror.If next year's elections are NOT free, fair and credible; which is a certainty given the party has failed to implement even one reform, there will be no verified voters' roll, etc.; this will be proof that Zanu PF is not going to change. The nation must unite and demand reform BEFORE elections. The people must have nothing to do with the flawed elections.SADC leaders advised Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends, and through them the Zimbabwe people, not to contest the July 2013 elections with no reforms. The regional leaders accepted the futility of participating in a flawed process and then complain about it afterwards. If MDC and/or the Zimbabwe electorate had heeded SADC leaders' advice then the regional grouping would have had no problem declaring the rigged July 2013 elections null and void.Making sure the democratic reforms are implemented before any elections has been the number one priority on Zimbabwe's national agenda since the 2008 rigged elections. It was foolish of the MDC leaders to take their eyes off the ball during the GNU. It equally foolish of the nation to do so again when Mugabe resigned because that, in itself, had nothing to do with implement the reforms. If anything, his resignation should have prompted us to push even harder for the reforms."Give Mnangagwa a long rope to hang himself," says Masarira. We made the same mistake with Mugabe and he and his Zanu PF thugs thrived whilst we languished poverty and despair. It is insane to make the same mistake with Mnangagwa with the same team of Zanu PF thugs; they will string us up!
Opinion / Letters

According to the Standard paper dated 24 December, 2017, the wounds and painful memories of the Gukurahundi atrocities are still fresh in the victims' minds. The victims and their children cannot forget what happened in the early 1980s even though the perpetrators of that unprecedented and wanton violence insist that bygones be bygones, which of course is a travesty of justice.I'm writing to you , Mr President, without the intention of adding salt to the already septic wounds and inciting the public to hatred against you as a person but to challenge the President, who was the Minister of State and Security during the infamous Gukurahundi, to own up for what transpired.This bold challenge is based on the latest news that you are on course to revive your Methodist roots, which is commendable from a Christian perspective.Mr President, it is indisputable that you were the Minister of State and Security and consequently, you have full knowledge of what transpired during that sad era. You cannot also deny that somehow you were either directly or indirectly involved in the execution of the Gukurahundi extermination master plan of some ZIPRA forces, their innocent relatives and the Ndebele people in general in Matabeleland and Midlands .Now,Mr President, you are on record saying that people must forgive each other. I totally agree with you on this point since Christianity demands that we do so. However,the same bible you now purport to believe teaches that forgivesness must be preceded by confession. As far as I know , since the birth of Zimbabwe in 1980 there is no record of you and others in government, who are privy to the Gukurahundi era happenings, divulging information about it in order to own up and seek reconciliation and healing. What we know is the former President's description of it as ' a moment of madness'. Apart from that, there's total blackout on the part of government. In this climate of secrecy, do not expect to be forgiven.Mr President, since you are tracing back your Christian roots, it is incumbent upon you to own up for what transpired during that violent era. You cannot ask people to forgive in a vacuum. What are they forgiving you for, if you still remain tight- lipped about the issue? Forgiveness is based on confession, repentance and demonstrated willingness to right the wrongs of the past.You aptly described your ' coup' as 'Operation Restore Legacy' . I'd like to propose that you move on to 'Operation Restore Justice' particularly for Matabeleland and Midlands people as they were butchered mercilessly by the notorious North Korean trained 5th Brigade. I also believe these soldiers suffered psychological trauma as a result.Finally,Mr President, your 'new' religion demands that your government with your directive embarks on a comprehensive truth and reconciliation and restitution exercise for the victims. It is up to your government to investigate and compute the extent of damage in monetary terms and also psychologically . As the President, you are obliged to do so.You are also on record saying that the voice of the people is the voice of God. If the victims are crying for justice, then Mr President , it is fair to treat these grieving voices as the voice of God. Ignoring and suppressing them will be viewed as being inconsiderate and unchristian on your part.In conclusion, l hope your 'new' found faith is not to be seen as a camouflage for hiding the Gukurahundi crimes and also a political gimmick to buy votes from the Christian community.Mr President, it's either you own up or remain a dishonest Christian.Amen Mpofuamen72mpofu@gmail.com
Back in 2016, Steve Saka and Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust released their second regular production line, Mi Querida. This was Sakas long-awaited Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper offering. When Mi Querida was first introduced, there were four sizes that were made generally available to retailers. Simultaneously, there were also four additional sizes which were introduced in a more limited fashion. The reason for doing that is that, at the time, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had an August 8, 2016, deadline by which any cigars released after that date would require pre-market approval. To avoid the red tape, Saka decided on a limited release for the four additional sizes rather than waiting for a future wider release. Fast forward to the 2017 IPCPR Trade Show and Saka decided to make two of the additional four sizes generally available. One of those sizes is the 4 x 48 Mi Querida Gordita  the cigar we will take a closer look at today.

The name Mi Querida is Spanish for my dearest, but it is also a term commonly referring to a husbands mistress. In particular, in Nicaragua it refers to ones secret mistress (since it is often common for a wife to know about the mistress). This secret mistress is the dirty little secret and thus plays into the connection of the cigars profile. Saka says this also fits into the theme of the cigar as he has described this as a cigar that is more gritty and a bit dirtier than the more refined Sobremesa release.

Without further ado, lets break down the Mi Querida Gordita and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Blend Profile

In addition to the Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, the remainder of the blend consists of Nicaraguan tobaccos. The cigar is produced at the NACSA factory under the supervision of master cigar maker Raul Disla via Sakas direction.

Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf

Binder: Nicaraguan

Filler: Nicaraguan

Country of Origin: Nicaragua (Nicaragua Cigars America SA (NACSA)

Vitolas Available

Four regular production offerings were launched for Mi Querida. Each of these sizes are offered in 20-count boxes except for the Churchill-sized SakaKhan.

Gordita: 4 x 48

Fino Largo: 6 x 48

Ancho Corta: 5 x 52

Ancho Largo: 6 x 52

Muy Gordo Grande: 6 x 56

Mas Sucia: 7 x 64

Pequeno Pequeno : 4 x 44 (Limited Distribution)

SakaKhan: 7 x 50 (Limited Distribution)

Appearance

For a dirty and gritty cigar, I found the Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper of the Mi Querida Gordita to have some elegance to it. This wrapper had a classic coffee bean color to it. Upon closer examination, some subtle darker marbling could be seen on the surface. There was light coat of oil on the wrapper. There were very thin veins and well-hidden wrapper seams making for a smooth surface.

When Mi Querida was announced, Saka mentioned he opted to go with simpler packaging and banding than he did for Sobremesa. The band is blue with gold trim that has a perforated look to it. On the band is the text Mi Querida in a gold cursive font.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

I opted to use a straight cut on the Mi Querida Gordita to commence the cigar experience. Once the cap was removed, I proceeded with the pre-light draw. The dry draw provided a mix of earth, coffee, and a slight red pepper notes. I considered this to be an excellent pre-light draw. At this point, I was ready to light up the Mi Querida Gordita and see what the smoking phase would have in store.

Flavor Profile

The start to the Mi Querida Gordita produced a mix of earth, cocoa, natural tobacco, citrus, and red pepper. Throughout the smoking experience, the earth notes had a musty quality to it  which is something that contributed to the dirty and gritty theme of the Mi Querida. It was also something that was favorable for the cigar experience. As the Mi Querida Gordita moved through the first third, the cocoa notes moved to the forefront with the other flavors settling in the background. On the retro-hale, I detected an extra layer of red pepper.

By the second third, the earth notes moved into the forefront. Once this happened, both the cocoa and citrus notes started floating between the forefront and background. Meanwhile, the natural tobacco and red pepper notes remained grounded in the background, but toward the latter part of the second third, there was an increase in the red pepper.

The last third of the Mi Querida Gordita saw the earth notes remain primary. The red pepper notes had become a close secondary note. By this point, the cocoa and citrus remained in the background with the natural tobacco notes pretty much dissipated. This is the way the Mi Querida Gordita came to a close. The resulting nub was firm to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn and Draw

The Mi Querida Gordita scored nicely when it came to burn and draw. The cigar maintained a relatively straight burn path and maintained a straight burn line. In terms of the ash, this wasnt an overly firm ash, but it was wasnt loose or flaky. It had a silvery-gray color to it. The burn temperature was ideal. I did find this cigar to be a slow burner, but all this did was provide some additional smoking time and didnt have any other adverse effects.

The draw to the Mi Querida Gordita also performed quite well. While this cigar had a touch of resistance, this is something I consider to be a positive. Even with some resistance on the draw, the Mi Querida Gordita produced an ample amount of smoke.

Strength and Body

In terms of strength and body, I found the Mi Querida Gordita to fall in the medium to full range. Throughout the smoking experience, I didnt find there was much in the way of variance of the intensity levels of the strength and body. When looking at strength versus body, I found both attributes balanced each other nicely with neither overshadowing the other.

Final Thoughts

Very simply, Mi Querida is one heck of a blend and with the Gordita format, I found the blend really shined in the 4 x 48 format. The musty a.k.a damp earth (or as Saka calls it dank) qualities of the Mi Querida Gordita are its strength  and something that gives it a unique quality. The sweetness and spice from the other flavors round out this profile nicely. Overall, I found this cigar fired on all cylinders  flavor, complexity, balance, and construction. The Mi Querida Gorda is a cigar Id recommend to an experienced cigar enthusiast. Its also a nice cigar to graduate a novice to something in the medium plus range. As for myself, the Mi Querida Gordita is not only worth going out and buying a whole box, but its one worthy of a fight with Chuck Norris over it.

Summary

Key Flavors: Damp Earth, Cocoa, Natural Tobacco, Citrus, Red Pepper

Burn: Excellent

Draw: Excellent

Complexity: Medium to High

Strength: Medium (1st Half), Medium to Full (2nd Half)

Body: Medium (1st third), Medium to Full (Remainder)

Finish: Excellent

Rating

Assessment: Fight Chuck Norris for Them

Score: 93

References

News: Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust to Showcase Mi Querida Gordita at the 2017 IPCPR

Price: ~$8.35

Source: Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust

Brand Reference: Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust

Photo Credits: Cigar Coop
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 27, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Powerful magnetic fields created during an MRI scan were thought to play havoc with some pacemakers, but a new study says these scans are safe for people with the heart devices.

Researchers tested the safety of MRIs on more than 1,500 people who had older pacemakers or implantable defibrillators -- called legacy devices -- that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not consider safe for MRIs. The result: No long-term adverse effects were found.

"Many patients have implanted pacemakers or defibrillators that were not designed to be used with MRI scans," said senior study author Dr. Henry Halperin. He's a professor of medicine and co-director of the Johns Hopkins Imaging Institute of Excellence in Baltimore.

A majority of people who have these devices will need an MRI at some point, he noted. The study results show that "it's really safe to do MRIs in these patients," he added.

When MRIs were first introduced, problems with scanning those patients with implanted devices did exist, according to Halperin.

"There were some real issues, like the devices would stop working, and there were 13 to 15 deaths reported," he said. Based on those reports, the FDA said that people with these devices should not have MRIs.

Since 2000, devices have been modified to make them safe during an MRI. But many people still have legacy devices that the FDA does not consider MRI-safe.

MRIs are also safe for people who have wires that connect the devices to the heart -- called leads -- left in place after new leads were implanted, Halperin added.

According to Dr. Byron Lee, a professor of medicine and director of electrophysiology laboratories and clinics at the University of California, San Francisco, "This is important research that affects patient care immediately." Lee was not involved with the new study but was familiar with the findings.

"Contrary to the official word from the device manufacturers and many doctors, almost all patients with pacemakers and defibrillators, and even those with older-generation devices, can get MRIs," Lee said.

To do the scan safely, however, special equipment and extra personnel are required, he explained.

"Currently, many facilities cannot or choose not to provide this service," Lee said. "Therefore, patients sometimes need to advocate for themselves and push for referral to capable centers."

For the study, Halperin and his colleagues tested the safety of MRIs in just over 1,500 people who needed an MRI to diagnose various conditions. However, they had either a pacemaker or an implantable defibrillator not considered to be safe for MRIs.

Before the scans, the investigators changed the pace setting on pacemakers or the defibrillating mode on implanted defibrillators so they would not react to the electromagnetic field created by the MRI.

Halperin's team found no long-term significant problems when the devices were reset after the scan.

In one patient, the battery in the pacemaker was near its expiration date and could not be reset. This patient had a new pacemaker implanted, the study authors noted.

Although some patients experienced changes in the pacemakers' function, these changes were not life-threatening or significant and did not require the device to be reset, the researchers said.

Dr. Saman Nazarian, the study's first author, said, "Given the results of our study and others, it is hard to understand the position of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to restrict access to MRIs in patients with implanted pacemakers and defibrillator systems."

Limiting people with legacy pacemakers and defibrillators from access to the potentially lifesaving diagnostic data attainable from an MRI is outdated, said Nazarian, who is associate professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.

"If you are one of the millions of patients with a pacemaker or defibrillator system in place and have been told you need an MRI, contact a center with the expertise to enable the imaging," he said.

The study was published in the Dec. 28 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

More information

The American College of Cardiology has more on pacemakers and MRIs.
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 27, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- An analysis of urine samples from roughly 300,000 California women finds that more than 7 percent used marijuana while pregnant.

What's more, rates of pot use in pregnancy have steadily risen over the years -- from 4.2 percent of women in 2009 to 7.1 percent just seven years later.

That's according to the new report from Kaiser Permanente Northern California, a major regional health care group.

"Use among [pregnant] females younger than 18 to age 24 years increased the most," added the team led by Kelly Young-Wolff, a Kaiser researcher in Oakland.

Among this youngest group, use of pot during pregnancy rose from 12.5 percent in 2009 to nearly 22 percent by 2016.

Rates of use were highest among the young, and dropped steadily as age rose during pregnancy, the researchers said.

There was one important caveat to the survey: Urine samples were taken at eight weeks of gestation, so pot use might have occurred before many of the women realized they were pregnant. Pot can linger in the system for up to 30 days, the researchers noted.

But the researchers believe that urine samples are likely to provide the most accurate picture of marijuana use in pregnancy, because people tend to hesitate about admitting such behaviors.

Prior U.S. studies had suggested that marijuana use was on the rise in pregnancy, "however, [those] studies are limited to self-reported surveys," Young-Wolff's group noted.

Even in the Kaiser study, women's self-report of marijuana use in pregnancy was considerably lower than that revealed by urine samples.

Why the trend? The growing acceptance of marijuana may be a driving factor, the researchers said.

"In California, medical marijuana was legalized in 1996, and prenatal use may further escalate in 2018 when recreational marijuana is available legally," the Kaiser team noted.

Whatever the reasons, the findings could be bad news for babies, since "initial evidence suggests that prenatal marijuana may impair fetal growth and neurodevelopment," Young-Wolff's group said.

Many women may not understand the potential risk, however. According to one survey conducted between 2007 and 2012, 79 percent of women "reported perceiving little to no harm in prenatal [pot] use," the Kaiser team noted.

The study was published Dec. 26 in JAMA.

More information

Find out what doctors think about pot use in pregnancy at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
What Tax Reform Will Bring

Mickey Levy, E21



The tax reform legislation will have larger positive impacts on economic performance - including business investment, employment, and wages - than the consensus and the Federal Reserve currently forecast.



Is the legislation good or bad? A glass-half-full assessment is that the legislation is a step forward from the current arcane tax system, particularly the sweeping changes in corporate taxes and the simplification of individual taxes; a glass-half-empty assessment focuses on the legislation's weaknesses compared to earlier "blueprints" for tax reform, its sunsetting of key provisions, higher deficit projections, and the initial incidence of legislation - the initial distribution by income bracket - without consideration of the economic responses to the policy changes. Read more here...
The United States continues to be deeply concerned by the escalating violence and the worsening humanitarian situation in eastern Ukraine.

On December 18, Russia-led forces shelled the town of Novoluhanske with GRAD rockets, wounding eight civilians and damaging dozens of homes, a school, and a playground. Russia-led forces have also resumed attacks around the Donetsk filtration station and its system of pipes carrying poisonous chlorine gas. This is considered extremely dangerous, warned State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert. If those were to go off in this area, which is close to where people live, it could be potentially devastating.

The filtration plant and nearby coke factory help provide drinking water, electricity, and central heating to approximately 345,000 people. Threatening water supplies and also home heating in the dead of winter is simply unconscionable, said Ms. Nauert. She called on Russia-led forces to immediately withdraw from their new positions surrounding the water treatment plant. We again call on Russia to stop artillery and rocket attacks against Ukrainian civilian areas and to honor the ceasefire called for in the Minsk agreements.

The humanitarian situation in eastern Ukraine is the worst it has been in three years and is deteriorating. More than 1 million people in the Donbas region are food insecure and civilian casualties have increased significantly over the last year. Ms. Nauert called for Russia to put an end to the attacks in eastern Ukraine, withdraw its forces and heavy weapons from the sovereign territory of Ukraine, and agree to a robust UN peacekeeping mission.

The United States remains committed to securing a lasting peace in eastern Ukraine through the full implementation of the Minsk agreements. However, as the Secretary of State Tillerson said in Vienna recently, We should be clear about the source of this violence. Russia is arming, training, leading, and fighting alongside anti-government forces.

The decision to end the violence in eastern Ukraine and secure better relations with the United States and the international community lies squarely with Russia.
Stored in a warehouse, the complete collection of religious art is finally back at the Monastery of Santa Maria de Sijena. inma flores

Sister Encielada welcomes us to the Monastery of Santa Maria de Sijena in the region of Aragon. This is the convent where Sancha of Castile, Queen of Aragon, lies in her mysteriously decorated tomb. Visitors are warned to be aware of falling debris and, though there is a ubiquitous chirping of birds, the cold us mind-numbing.

We pray, but we freeze, whispers the Sister, who appears to be in her twenties.

When asked about the return of the religious art sold off illegally sold off by the nuns of the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem over the course of a century, she replies, Ah, now. That has nothing to do with us.

Isabel of Aragons coffin. inma flores

Well, it does or it almost certainly will do soon. The Sijena artifacts are currently lying in boxes in the huge warehouse of this beautiful convent dating back to 1183. In the past two weeks since Huescas High Court rejected the Catalonian Governments appeal and ordered the last of the artifacts to be returned from the Lleida Diocese Museum, experts have been opening the boxes and unwrapping the artworks responsible for the worst wrangle involving politics and heritage for over 100 years. However, further action brought by the Catalan government is yet to be addressed before the matter can be considered definitively closed.

The collection includes alabaster reliefs from the 16th century, mortuary chests from the 15th century, religious paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries and polychrome Mudejar doors. Their sale to the Catalan government began at the end of the 19th century and continued until 1994, despite the fact the nuns had abandoned the monastery in 1970.

Competing ownership claims

Curator Laura Asin gets up and stares with excitement at Isabel of Aragons coffin. Its one of the pieces that was on show in the Lleida Museum until the early hours of Monday, December 11, when it was removed by the National Guard and the regional Mossos dEsquadra police in compliance with a court order issued in Huesca in 2015 and upheld at the end of November this year.

Asin, head of the Aragon governments office for the promotion of cultural heritage, archives, museums and libraries, explains: Because of certain legalities, we still cant begin on the restoration of the pieces.

The treasure is currently in the hands of the Aragon government, but its owner is still to be established. Our lawyers say that the actions brought by the Catalan government wont come to anything, says a spokesman for the Aragon governments Department of Culture. But

Meanwhile, the director of the Lleida Museum, Josep Giralt who has demanded the power to inspect the conditions in which the pieces are being kept in Sijena, has said, I am convinced that the Supreme Court will rule on our side and that the pieces will be returned to Lleida Museum.

The section of the Santa Maria de Sijena Monastery open to the public. inma flores

In response, Laura Asin says, Well I would have liked to have inspected Lleida Museum before removing the pieces, but they wouldnt let us.

Ana Armillas, director of Aragons Huesca Museum, also participated in the removal of the art from Lleida. It was very tense and sad, says Armillas. It was a difficult night and putting ourselves in the shoes of our colleagues in Lleida, it must have been hard. Some of them were crying as the pieces left the museum, just as we cried when they arrived in Sijena.

While experts and politicians continue to clash over the cache, locals in Villanueva de Sijena are rubbing their hands with glee. Its great news, says Maria Jesus, owner of La Bodega, the sole restaurant in this village of 400 people. When the first pieces arrived in the summer of 2016, buses rolled in on Saturday and Sunday and we were full all weekend.

The jewel in the crown

Should the court dismiss the actions brought by the Catalan government, the nuns now inhabiting the Sijena monastery from the orders of Belen, San Bruno and Asuncion de la Virgen will be given the right to exhibit not only the art but the monastery too, which is a work of art in itself. Already Zaragoza-based architect studio Peman and Franco is working on a museum project to this end. They will have to extend visiting hours to allow people to see the monastery, says the mayor of Villanueva, Ildefonso Salillas, who believes that the judges ruling in Huesca left no room for appeal.

Currently, the Sijena monastery only allows groups of 25 to visit on Saturday mornings but it will admit any lost souls who turn up on the doorstep. In the case of the latter, Sister Encielada shows them right in, since this is still in no mans land just like the treasure that is all but repatriated.

English version by Heather Galloway.
Spain's King Felipe during his Christmas message. BALLESTEROS (EFE)

The three political parties opposed to independence in Catalonia  the so-called constitutionalist bloc  have interpreted the Christmas message of King Felipe VI as an invitation to embark on a much-needed national reform project that is currently stalled in a Spanish Congress handicapped by deep divisions and a minority government.

The Popular Party, the Socialists (PSOE) and Ciudadanos  which together failed to win a majority of seats in the recent Catalan election  highlighted the fact that the monarch had, in his traditional Christmas message, stressed that no one wants a paralyzed and conformist Spain.

The Popular Party is concerned about how any eventual changes to the Constitution might look

Against the backdrop of the Catalan crisis, there are a number of reforms on the table of differing degrees of urgency. The most ambitious is the reform of the Constitution being called for by the PSOE  a project the PP wants to downplay over concerns about how any eventual changes might look. The party of Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is reluctant to set out on a constitutional reform project without a clear consensus as to what changes are desired.

But there are other reforms, like the financing of Spains regions  that regional governments of all stripes are calling for  which are also at an impasse.

The PP vice secretary for communication Pablo Casado said the party backs the kings Christmas message. The page has to be turned and a reformist agenda begun, said the leader of a party that has shown itself unwilling to promote change during periods of uncertainty and which has found it difficult to forge congressional majorities during this legislature. Casado said the Catalan crisis had delayed for too long several key reforms.

The secretary for organization of the PSOE, Jose Luis Abalos, also gave a positive evaluation of King Felipes message, interpreting his words as a commitment to the future.

Catalonia deserves a government concerned and occupied with the problems of the Catalans. We want a Catalonia in Spain and a Spain in Europe  a Spain which is also open, modern and inclusive, said Abalos, adding the PSOE would push through the reforms necessary to achieve this objective.

The current Spanish Congress handicapped in reform efforts by deep divisions and a minority government

The secretary general of Ciudadanos, Jose Manuel Villegas , said the kings Christmas message  which was widely criticized by pro-independence figures in Catalonia  represented the majority of Spaniards who feel proud of the a project that has allowed for democratic coexistence.

We agree with the monarch that this has been a successful project, said Villegas, referring to King Felipes listing of the achievements of Spanish democracy over the last 40 years. But we also agree that we need to recognize what had been done badly and things which dont work as well as they should, and for this reason Spain needs, at this time, a new reform and modernization push.

But not everyone was happy with King Felipes message. The leader of the anti-austerity party Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, accused the king of embracing the argument of the PP by saying Spains economic crisis is over and reforming to corruption in general terms. Spain doesnt need kings: it needs high-quality public services, decent work and dialogue, Iglesias tweeted.

Meanwhile, the PNV spokesperson in Congress, Aitor Esteban, said the king had continued to ignore the existence of nationalities within the state, and said the monarchs Christmas message sounded more like a warning than dialogue.

English version by George Mills.
Map of the Tabarnia and the rest of Catalonia. EL PAIS

Freedom for Tabarnia. Catalonia robs Tabarnia. Catalonia has never done anything to win Tabarnia over. The corruption of Catalan politicians has left Tabarnia in misery. Thats why the citizens of Tabarnia have the right to decide their future. The people of Tabarnia just want to vote. Tabarnia is not pro-independence, Tabarnia is pro-democracy. If Tabarnia declared itself independent, it would be assured its place in the European Union. Tabarnia, Catalonias Crimea.

A petition demanding Tabarnia be a new autonomous region within Spain and independent from Catalonia garnered 25,000 signatures

Tabarnia is a hypothetical union of parts of the provinces of Tarragona and Barcelona. It does not exist: it is a myth. Its really just a joke  an impossible idea that has emerged again in the wake of the snap regional elections held last week in Catalonia, called by the Madrid central government using emergency constitutional powers in response to the recent independence push in the region.

But the Tabarnia story has flourished over the holidays, stepping into the void left by the politicians unusual silence.

Its plausibility is all thanks to the separatists themselves  all the above sound bites have been used to bombard the people of Catalonia for years  just substitute the name Tabarnia for Catalonia.

Now social media enthusiasts have turned the sound bites on the separatists. The same economic, cultural, demographic and ethnic arguments are being used to defend the splitting of Barcelona and Tarragona from a supposedly independent Catalonia and its return to Spain as an autonomous region.

If the nationalists claim an inexistent right to split, anyone can.

The proposal is not in fact new. The Bcnisnotcat.es website created in September 2015 on the Barcelona is not Catalonia platform reads: Catalonia is composed of two areas clearly differentiated from an economic, linguistic, identity, demographic and social point of view. One side is pro-independence and the other, among other things, constitutionalist (Tabarnia).

In May 2017, a website called El Magacin interviewed the supposed president of the Barcelona is not Catalonia platform, Carla Arrufat who said: Each time there are elections, it shows that the vote from the majority of the population in the metropolitan area of Barcelona and all Tabarnia goes to the non-separatist political parties.

The Tabarnia story has flourished over the holidays, stepping into the void left by the politicians unusual silence

Arrufat, who has little online presence, was shown to be right. In the elections on December 21, the parties supporting the constitution  Cuidadanos, PSC and PP  had a clear majority in the area between La Selva in the north and Baix Camp in the south, with Barcelona and Tarragona included. It was in this area that Cuidadanos consolidated its position as the most-voted party in Catalonia.

Now, the brains behind Tabarnia have made the most of these five days of respite to air the new flag on social networks. The posts include Tabarnias census of 6 million people, its proposals for the future and even the date for an imaginary referendum to split from rural Catalonia and the interior  October 2019. Yesterday, Tabarnia was trending.

Faced with this reflection of their own demands, the separatists seem paralyzed, though Repubican Left politician Gabriel Rufian managed a jocular remark. Otherwise, the discomfort was palpable. Aleix Sarri, assistant to pro-independence Eurodeputy Ramon Tremosa, was moved to criticize the idea of Tabarnia without a hint of irony, comparing it to Italys Lega Nord with its invented borders, ethnic nationalism and economic populism based on imaginary grievances.

Tabarnia is a merciless mirror for the nationalists; its the reflection of their lack of solidarity and clumsiness. But its also the very real cost that will be paid by those who promote an independence referendum. In Quebec, it was a godsend.

The leaders of Ciudadanos were keen on Tuesday to keep the prank going. Tabarnia is a merciless mirror for the nationalists; its the reflection of their lack of solidarity and clumsiness, said Juan Carlos Girauta. The leader of the party in Catalonia, Ines Arrimadas, meanwhile had this to say: Nationalism champions a homogeneous Catalonia and stumbles easily over its own contradictions. And finally, Albert Rivera weighed in with, If the nationalists claim an inexistent right to split, anyone can.

For some, Tabernia has turned into something close to reality  on Tuesday a petition to Spanish Congress was drawn up to demand that Tabarnia be a new autonomous region within Spain and independent from Catalonia. It contained 25,000 signatures.

English version by Heather Galloway.
The Spanish government has committed to increasing its military spending by 80% over the next seven years in order to meet the benchmark set by NATO in 2014. At the NATO Summit in Wales in 2014, members of the 28-nation organization promised to commit 2% of GDP to defense spending. While Spains promise to increase spending falls below the 2%, representing between 1.5% and 1.6% of GDP, it equates to around 18 billion in total defense spending.

A Eurofighter at the Moron de la Frontera base in Sevilla, in 2015. Uly Martin

NATO countries have until December 21 of this year to explain how they will meet the 2014 goal. This goal has become more urgent with the arrival of Donald Trump in the White House. In his first meeting with NATO leaders in May, the US president said NATO countries owed massive amounts of money and claimed that 23 of the 28 member countries are still not paying what they should be paying This is not fair to the people and taxpayers of the United States.

The United States, United Kingdom, Greece, Estonia and Poland are the five NATO countries which do dedicate 2% of GDP to defense spending. Spain is one of the last in line, spending 0.92% (2017 forecast), just ahead of Belgium and Luxembourg.

Spain is one of the countries that contributes least to NATO, ahead of just Belgium and Luxembourg

In a letter addressed to NATO secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, the Spanish government has explained its plan to increase military spending above GDP growth in the next seven years until this hits 18 billion in 2024. This figure represents an increase of around 80% on the governments current spending but does not equate to 2% of Spains GDP.

Depending on GDP growth and in terms of constant price, the amount could reach between 1.5% and 1.6%. The best possible scenario will see Spain reach the 2% goal by 2028.

The Spanish government believes that with this plan it meets its commitments to NATO, which in Wales, in contrast to what is believed, did not oblige countries to dedicate 2% of GDP to NATO in 10 years. What was agreed upon at that time, was that countries which did not meet this goal should stop military spending cuts and increase defense expenditure in real terms with GDP growth as well as move towards the 2% guideline within a decade with a view to meeting their NATO Capability Targets and filling NATO's capability shortfall.

The declaration also outlines that NATO countries should spend more than 20% of their defense budgets on major equipment, including related research and development. In this area, Spain is much better positioned as 19.31% of its military spending already goes toward such equipment, according to NATO data.

19.31% of Spain's military budget is spent on equipment

NATO members must dedicate 10% of their defense budget to operations but almost no NATO country meets this goal. Spain has participated in all of the European Unions military missions  this year it has been the major contributor  and in almost all of the missions led by NATO.

In order to measure the increase in defense spending, it must be first determined whether a spending item can be classified as such. NATO has forecast Spanish spending for 2017 at 10.74 billion, a rise upon 2016 figures (9 billion, 0.81% of GDP) which dropped as a result of the political stalemate following two general elections.

This figure not only includes the defense budget (7.7 billion) but also, among other items, foreign operations (1.1 billion forecast for 2017) and the pensions of retired military members which have social security.

In order to increase military spending and reach the NATO goal, the finance ministry has proposed including the budget of the Civil Guard, an organization which is military in nature. Including the budget of the Civil Guard would add 2.7 billion and increase the GDP percentage by two decimal points. The Ministry of Defense has rejected this as accounting trickery and demanded a real budget increase, but it is logical that the cost of Civil Guard military missions will be included.

Where are Spanish troops deployed? The Ministry of Defense has asked for "more flexibility" to manage the country's contingents participating in international missions. The ministry wants the freedom to increase the number of troops in Mali, partially reduce the number in Congo and maintain the number of troops deployed internationally, as necessary. Defense Minister Maria Dolores de Cospedal is planning on asking Congress for authorization to increase troop numbers in Mali from from 140 to 292. Spain also hopes to lead a UN mission in Libya and has stated that it would be willing to increase its forces there to 750. In 2018, Spain will also increase its Iraqi contingent with 30 more troops, bringing the number to 480, and send 65 more troops to Afghanistan, bringing the number to 95.

Defense Minister Maria Dolores de Cospedal, has asked for advice from the opposition in order to pass a law that protects military spending from political changes and guarantees funding for the duration of armament programs.

The litmus test will be whether the government can pass the 2018 budget. The defense ministry wants to use the 1.82 billion which was included in this years budget to pay the outstanding bill for the 2016 and 2017 special armament programs (PEAS) and substantially increase the amount allotted to maintenance  a figure which is seriously in the red. It would be the launch pad for Spain to meet its NATO commitments but the finance ministry has a more pressing priority: getting Spain out of its ongoing debt with the EU.

English version by Melissa Kitson.
Buffalo broadcasting legend Irv Weinstein dies at 87Associated PressMore from Associated PressPublished:December 26, 2017Updated:December 26, 2017 11:46 PM ESTIrv Weinstein was a long-time anchor at WKBW in Buffalo. (WKBW/HO)BUFFALO, N.Y.  A longtime local television news anchor in Buffalo, New York, known for his rapid-fire delivery and famous alliteration has died. Irv Weinstein was 87.WKBW-TV, where Weinstein had worked for 34 years, says he died Tuesday in Costa Mesa, California, after a long battle with Lou Gehrigs disease, also called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.The television station says Weinstein was hired by WKBW-Radio as a newscaster and news director in 1958. Six years later, he became an anchor and news director at WKBW-TV. He retired on Dec. 31, 1998, a day that was proclaimed Irv Weinstein Day in Erie County.Weinstein was inducted into the Buffalo Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1998, and the New York State Broadcasters Association in 2006.He moved to California after his retirement.
BUENOS AIRES, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Alberto Nisman, the Argentine prosecutor who was found dead days after accusing former President Cristina Fernandez of covering up Iran's role in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center, was murdered, a federal judge said on Tuesday.

In a 656-page ruling, judge Julian Ercolini said there was sufficient proof to conclude that the shot to the head that killed Nisman in January 2015 was not self-inflicted.

That marked the first time any judge has said the case was a murder.

Fernandez and others had suggested the death was a suicide, but a prosecutor investigating the case last year recommended it be pursued as a murder probe.

"Nisman's death could not have been a suicide," Ercolini wrote in Tuesday's ruling, which also charged Diego Lagomarsino, a former employee of Nisman's, with accessory to murder.

Lagomarsino has acknowledged lending Nisman the gun that killed him the day before he was to appear before Congress to detail his allegation against Fernandez. But he has said Nisman asked him for the gun to protect himself and his family.

Fernandez, now a senator, was indicted for treason earlier this month over Nisman's allegations that she worked behind the scenes to clear Iran of blame for the attack on the AMIA Jewish center, which killed 85 people, in an effort to normalize relations and clinch a 2013 grains-for-oil deal with Tehran.

Human rights groups and the former head of Interpol have criticized that indictment. Tehran has denied links to the attack.
Yahya Sanwar, the head of Hams political bureau in Gaza has announced that IRGC Quds force commander Qassem Soleimani told him that Hamas will be provided with all the resources in the battle to defend Jerusalem.

The pro-Iranian al-Mayadin television in Lebanon broadcast an audio recording of Sanwar, describing a recent telephone conversation he had with Soleimani.

Sanwar quoted the Iranian commander as saying that The Islamic Revolutions Guards Corps and the Quds force stand by Hamas in the defense of Quds, which is the Arabic name for Jerusalem.

Sanwar added that Soleimani asked Hamas, the Islamic Jihad and all resistance forces to devote their resources to the fight for Jerusalem.

The Hamas leader confirmed in his statement that Hamas and the Islamic Jihad are in contact with Soleimani, although he did not specify what kind of practical cooperation the two sides might have.

IRGCs news service had announced earlier that Soleimani had made phone calls to Hamas and Islamic Jihad commanders five days after President Donald Trump announced his decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital and also his decision to move the American embassy there.

It is not clear if Sanwar was speaking about the same phone call in his statement, but IRGCs Fars news agency on Sunday confirmed that Soleimani has pledged Irans full support to Palestinian resistance groups.

The term resistance forces is used by the Islamic Republic to describe all groups and armed militants in the region who cooperate with Tehran.

Since the election of a new leadership for Hamas in February 2017, the groups relations with Iran have improved, after a bit of tension over Irans role in the Syrian civil war.

Sanwar was a Hamas military leader before he was elected as the head of the organizations political bureau in Gaza in February.

Meanwhile, the U.S. decision on Jerusalem has given Iran a new opening to try to re-establish its patronage of Hamas and other militant Palestinian groups.
The Islamic Republic Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has accused some individuals inside Iran of doing the enemys job.

Addressing members of the Islamic Publicity Organization on Wednesday, Ayatollah Khamenei lambasted those who hold, or used to hold, all means in the country" saying that "they do not have the right to play the role of the opposition. This was an apparent reference to former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his team who have engaged in an intense war of words with the Judiciary.

The Islamic Publicity Organization, is one of the propaganda entities within the Iranian theocracy tasked with promoting the Islamic revolutions ideology.

Khamenei also warned about the consequences of recent tensions feeding Western media.

Today they [Ahmadinejad and his close aides] say something and it gets a massive coverage on the British Radio and the American Radio, such approach makes the enemy happy, the Iranian leader stated.

American Radio and British Radio are apparent references to Radio Farda and BBC Persian that have been denounced on several occasions by Khamenei. He accuses Western powers, led by the US and Israel of having waged a "soft war" against the Islamic Republic.

Ayatollah Khamenei also compared the cyber space to a war front, saying that "Western artillery" is targeting the Islamic government therein.

Elsewhere in his speech, Ayatollah Khamenei taunted Western media: "the first day after the victory of the Islamic revolution they said it would last only six months, then they said it would fall after two years. They kept repeating similar statements but the Islamic Republic has survived and lived its blessed life for forty years".

Today they [Ahmadinejad and his close aides] say something and it gets a huge coverage on the British Radio and the American Radio, such approach makes the enemy happy.

In another indirect criticism of Mr. Ahmadinejads camp, Ayatollah Khamenei reiterated I, having all means at my disposal, cannot be a claimant, I have to be held accountable as to what I did with all those means.

He voiced his displeasure, accusing the critics of lacking reverence: Their religion is political, instead of having religious politics, their religion is politicized.

Every child can throw stones and break windows, this is not a virtue. The virtue is if one speaks logically and justly and does not speak in order to seek power, one has to deem God witness to their deeds, the Islamic Republic leader stated.

Meanwhile, Ayatollah Khamenei, admitted he was aware that the Islamic judiciary was not faultless: I am not unaware of the problems with the judiciary and the executive branches of power ...however...we do not have the right to treat everyone alike.

In 2009, following the street protests to the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a highly disputed election, Ayatollah Khamenei came full force to the aid of Mr. Ahmadinejad. In a famous statement, the Islamic Republic leader announced that Mahmoud Ahmadinejads views were close to his.

The war of words between Ahmadinejad and judiciary flared up when Hamid Baghaei, a senior former aide of Mr. Ahmadinejad, was detained last June charged with financial corruption. Baghei was later released on a heavy bail.

Meanwhile, according to a former member of Irans parliament, there are seven definitive legal verdicts issued against Ahmadinejad, who is charged with financial violations amounting to around $3 billion, asserts a former member of the Iranian Parliament.

The Iranian Parliaments Audit Court has also announced that Ahmadinejad, in the last 18 months of his presidency, spent 4.6 trillion Tomans or approximately $1.3 billion of Irans oil income illegally.

The court ordered the former president to repay the money, according to parliaments website. The ruling said that during his tenure, Ahmadinejad spent oil revenues without proper transfer from the Oil Ministry to the treasury.

Although the court found Ahmadinejad directly responsible, it has issued no other measures against him.

The Audit Court has limited powers of punishment. It can reduce an officials pay or at most fire officials from government jobs but is not empowered to issue harsher verdicts.
TUNIS, Tunisia (AP)  Syria's peace efforts cannot include President Bashar Assad, Turkey's leader said Wednesday, calling him a "terrorist."

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke during a visit to Tunisia at the end of a four-day Africa trip focusing on economic issues. At a joint news conference with Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi, Erdogan called Assad a "terrorist who engaged in state terrorism" and should not be part of Syria's post-conflict future.

"How can we embrace a future with a Syrian leader who has killed close to a million of his citizens?" said the Turkish leader, whose country has seen a flood of refugees from neighboring Syria during the fighting.

Turning to another highly sensitive Middle East issue, Erdogan and Essebsi said their nations would never accept changes to Jerusalem's historic status after President Donald Trump's recognition of the city as Israel's capital.

"Jerusalem is our red line. Any steps against Jerusalem's historic status and holiness are unacceptable," Erdogan said, adding that his country will work toward international recognition of the Palestinian state and seek the support of the European Union.

The Turkish leader also vowed to help support Tunisia overcome economic hardships and combat extremism. Erdogan, who also was attending a Turkish-Tunisian economic forum, was accompanied by a delegation of nine ministers and 200 businessmen.

Erdogan earlier visited Sudan and Chad, where he signed military and economic deals.

Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim was paying a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, where he met Wednesday with King Salman.

The two countries recently have been at odds over regional issues. Following his accession to power in 2015, King Salman sought to improve relations with Turkey to form a so-called Sunni axis against rival Shiite-led Iran.

However, the kingdom's move in June to lead a four-nation boycott of Qatar and cut off ties with the Gulf state led to new tensions with Turkey, which has sided with Qatar.

The Turkish prime minister's office said Yildirim and King Salman exchanged views on "regional challenges and problems." They also emphasized the importance of Jerusalem's status and the need for the Islamic world to act in unity to protect the rights of Palestinian "brothers."
Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 27

Trend:

Azerbaijans defense minister, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov and the officials of the Defense Ministry, who are currently in the frontline zone, visited tank units, the press service of the ministry said in a statement on Dec. 27.

After checking the combat capability and the possibility of using armored vehicles, the minister was informed that the military equipment is in the state of combat readiness.

After inspecting the training equipment in the simulator complex meant for the crews of armored vehicles to practice shooting and driving, the minister of defense highly appreciated the educational opportunities of the training center.

It was noted that the center provides improvement of practical skills on management and combat use of armored vehicles by means of simulators.

Having met with the military personnel involved in the training within the center, Hasanov conveyed holiday congratulations of the supreme commander-in-chief to the military personnel, as well as rewarded the distinguished servicemen.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 27

Trend:

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has received Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Republic of Azerbaijan Beibit Issabayev, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told Trend.

At the meeting it was noted that the relations between the people of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are based on common history, ethnic and cultural roots, and sincere friendship and high-level dialogue between the leaders of the two countries gave a significant boost to the development of comprehensive partnership.

In this regard, the visit of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev to Azerbaijan and the documents signed within his visit were particularly emphasized.



At the meeting, the importance of the East-West transport corridor was highlighted and cooperation between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan to this end was praised. The sides also exchanged views on cooperation within international organizations.

At the meeting, Issabayev presented The 25th Anniversary of Independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan medal upon the decree of President Nazarbayev to Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov for his contributions to the development of bilateral relations and the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Azerbaijan.



Mammadyarov expressed his deep gratitude and appreciation for the award.
Representatives of Ethylene-Polyethylene Plant of Azerikimya Production Union including Deputy Director Natig Beydullayev, Head Metrologist Zeynal Guliyev and Head of Human Resources department Mehri Asadova visited Baku Higher Oil School (BHOS) and met with the students.

The main purpose of the gathering was to provide the undergraduates with information about the plant and its facilities as well as about employment and career opportunities.

At the meeting with the guests, BHOS Rector Elmar Gasimov told them about the Higher School latest developments and achievements. During the meeting with BHOS Process Automation Engineering students and graduates, Deputy Director of the Ethylene-Polyethylene Plant Natig Beydullayev made a presentation, provided general information about the plant and its facilities and spoke about operations and industrial equipment used for production activities at the enterprise including a steam generator complex, a water cooling station and a nitrogen-oxygen plant. He said that the plant needs highly qualified process automation engineers graduating from the Higher School. In his words, the projects of modernization and reconstruction implemented at the enterprise would be of interest to young specialists.

The chief metrologist of the plant Zeynal Guliyev expressed his gratitude to the rector Elmar Gasimov for the successful cooperation. He also emphasized that those BHOS students who undertook on-the-job training at the plant were distinguished from other interns by their knowledge and skills.

At the end of the meeting, the representatives of the Ethylene-Polyethylene Plant answered numerous questions from the students.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 27

By Ilhama Isabalayeva  Trend:

Prices in Azerbaijans hotels are not so high when compared to hotels in other countries, Minister of Culture and Tourism Abulfas Garayev said Dec. 27.

As international practice shows, hotels usually raise prices on weekends and before holidays, he said.

Today, the hotels of Azerbaijan can offer suitable prices to any potential tourist, he noted. In some hotels prices dont reach 50 manats, and in some they exceed 1,000 manats.

Garayev said that the majority of Azerbaijani tourists decided to spend holidays at home.

In the future, the work will continue in Azerbaijan to expand tourism infrastructure and build new hotels in the country, he added.

The ministry receives information that some hotels are overcrowded and people are searching for rooms in hotels, Garayev said.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 27

By Anvar Mammadov  Trend:

2018 will go down in history as the year of economic development for Azerbaijan, said Vusal Gasimli, executive director of the Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communication.

He made the remarks at a press conference dedicated to the results of 2017, in Baku.

Gasimli said that as a result of economic reforms, held in the country in 2017, the crisis is over, and the economy has entered a new cycle of development.

On one hand, anti-crisis measures were carried out in 2017, and on the other hand, reforms continued to create a new economic model. The decline in GDP in Azerbaijan was observed only in 2016, and the dynamics of GDP growth recovered in 2017, and opportunities were created for new economic growth in 2018, added the executive director.

In general, continued Gasimli, 2017 can be called as a year of stabilization for Azerbaijan.

As a result of successful economic reforms, the growth of the non-oil sector following the results of 2017 is forecast at a level of more than two percent. Non-oil export increased by 20 percent in 2017 and the balance of payments formed a surplus, the volume of strategic foreign currency reserves increased, he said.

As a result of activities as part of the Financial Stability Board, the manat rate has stabilized. Thus, 2017 can be called as a year of stability, and 2018  as a year of economic development for Azerbaijan, added Gasimli.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 27

By Anvar Mammadov  Trend:

The performance indicators of the measures reflected in the strategic road maps will be quite high in Azerbaijan by the end of 2017, said Vusal Gasimli, executive director of the Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communication.

Answering the questions of reporters in Baku Dec. 27, Gasimli noted that the results of monitoring for the second half of 2017 will be presented to the public in February-March 2018, but the high results can already been expected.

Monitoring of the implementation of measures reflected in strategic road maps is carried out every six months. In 2017, we have already presented its results for the first half of the year, said Gasimli.

He added that the monitoring of results of this year will begin in 2018.

However, I should note that my observations make it possible to declare that there is high performance percentage, noted the executive director.
Kirby and Cindy Drake of rural Avoca recently showed their support for the Community Memorial Hospital in Syracuse with a significant donation.

The Drakes are lifelong residents of southern Cass County. Kirby was raised in Elmwood where he graduated from Elmwood High School. Cindy grew up on a farm near Avoca where she first attended country school, before attending school in Syracuse where she graduated from SDA. They have lived on the Kehlbeck/Steinhoff Farmstead since they were married in 1978. Their only son, Quentin, resides on a nearby farm. Kirby and Cindy were owners of Drakes Propane Service that Kirby managed from 1997 until they sold the business in 2014. Cindy is the Librarian of the Nebraska History Library at the Nebraska State Historical Society where she has been employed for over 40 years.

Kirby and Cindy gave to the CMH Foundation this year in memory of the German heritage of her parents, Arthur and Clara Steinhoff; her grandparents William and Minnie Kehlbeck; as well as their desire to give back to one of their four hometown communities.

William Kehlbecks parents bought the farmstead where the Drakes live before 1900. William was only a few years old when they moved to the farm after they had built the present two-story farmhouse. He met Minnie Leefers of rural Unadilla through their church, First Lutheran Church (North Branch) of Avoca. Minnie had several younger siblings while William was an only child. After they were married in 1917, they resided on the Kehlbeck farmstead and were blessed with their only children, twin girls a year after they were married.

Clara and her sister Rosie were married in a double wedding ceremony in 1940 to Arthur Steinhoff and Fritz Rohlfs. Arthur lived only up the hill from the Kehlbecks on the Buckman/Steinhoff farmstead. Arthurs material grandparents, the Buckmans, owed a business in Avoca, as well as the farm near Avoca. His paternal grandparents (August and Bertha Steinhoff), moved from Wisconsin to Otoe County with his father William shortly after 1880, eventually settling on the original Steinhoff farmstead in northern Otoe County. Arthurs parents, William and Lena, moved to the Buckmans farm after they married where they raised Arthur & his older brother, Ervin. Arthur & Clara resided on this farm until the mid-1990s and during their retirement years lived in Syracuse, Lincoln, and finally Ashland where they passed away in the mid-2000s.

William and Minnie moved to Syracuse in the mid-1940s where they built the one- and one-half story brick home that is still in the southern part of town. The Rohlfs moved to the Kehlbeck/Steinhoff farm and resided there until they retired to Syracuse in the early 1970s. The Kehlbecks lived into their 90s and passed away in Nebraska City in the mid-1990s.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 27

By Nigar Guliyeva  Trend:

Within the framework of the Program for Enhancing the Financial Sustainability of the Banking Sector of Kazakhstan, a state support worth over 500 billion tenge was rendered to five major banks, Chairman of the National Bank of Kazakhstan Daniyar Akishev said during a briefing dedicated to the presentation of the bill "On Currency Regulation and Currency Control" in Astana on Dec.26.

He said that the National Bank continues implementation of the Program, which is aimed at ensuring the capitalization of large banks to reduce the level of non-performing loans and create conditions for further growth in lending to the economy. The program is also aimed at strengthening the supervisory mandate of the National Bank through the use of preventive measures to prevent the growth of systemic risks in the banking sector.

"Within the program, measures were taken to revitalize Kazkommertzbank. At the time of the decision making, the situation in the bank was very bad, especially after its merger with BTA Bank. Thanks to government support, deposits of the public, state and private companies were saved. The current situation in Kazkommertsbank is stable, which was also recognized by international rating agencies that revised Kazkommertsbank's credit rating upward," said Akishev.

"Based on the program results, the total capital of the banking sector is expected to increase by the amount of state support, which will strengthen their financial stability and stability before possible new unfavorable external factors. Measures to support the banking sector will lead to a reduction in the non-performing assets of the banking sector in the amount of over 1 trillion tenge, which will have a multiplier effect on the development of the country's economy as a whole by providing capitalization, write-off and other measures to improve the quality of the assets," he said.

He believes that the growth of equity capital and reduction of the number of non-performing loans will lead to revision and optimization of existing strategies and business models of banks, which is expected to increase the activity of banks in lending, expanding and developing new and efficient types of banking services.

Currently, there are 33 second-tier banks officially functioning in Kazakhstan.

The total assets of second-tier banks of Kazakhstan amounted to 24,088.8 billion tenge as of September 1, 2017, having decreased by 5.7 percent since the beginning of the year.

The total liabilities of the banking sector at the reporting date amounted to 21,252.3 billion tenge, having decreased by 6.4 percent compared with the beginning of this year. The liabilities of the banks to non-residents of Kazakhstan decreased from 7.4 perent to 5.9 percent, in comparison with early 2017.

The total equity capital of the Kazakh banking sector as of September 1 amounted to 2,836.4 billion tenge, having decreased by 0.1 percent in the first half of 2017.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 27

By Nigar Guliyeva  Trend:

Uzbekistan's Finance Ministry has dismissed more than 500 people, the Uzbek National News Agency (UzA) reports Dec. 27.

Earlier, 24 people were dismissed. Employees in the regional departments of the ministry were also sacked. Head of the Tashkent City Financial Control Department as well as his three deputies have been recently dismissed. Moreover, 23 employees, who held senior positions in the regional departments of the Finance Ministry, have been sacked.

Moreover, 100 employees were dismissed from regional financial control departments. Sixty-five employees were fired from treasury departments and 100 employees from the pension fund.

Addressing the parliament earlier, the Uzbek president criticized the work of the Finance Ministry.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 27

Trend:

AzerGold CJSC exported 60,552 ounces of gold and 86,806 ounces of silver from April to December 2017, the company said in a message Dec. 27.

The export of precious metals brought an income of 121 million manats to Azerbaijans economy.

Having successfully passed the procedures of KYC (Know Your Customer) and due diligence required by international refining companies, AzerGold concluded a contract for the purification of precious metals with the well-known Swiss refining company Argor-Heraeus in April 2017.

AzerGold, which started operating in July 2016, managed to conduct a number of important events in a short time.

In particular, repair and construction work was carried out in the territory of the Chovdar mining enterprise located in the Dashkasan District, the companys operations at the field were optimized, production was switched to a 24-hour operating mode, and the production process was started.

More than 6,000 different trees and bushes have been planted in the fields territory in order to ensure the ecological balance, the necessary measures have been taken to improve working conditions, and the relevant infrastructure has been created.

Active cooperation with international consulting companies is conducted in order to create a feasibility study for the sulfide (underground) operation phase of the field, which is scheduled for 2021, after the end of the oxide (ground) phase of operation in 2020.

One of the main strategic goals of the company is to ensure sustainable and continuous development of the non-ferrous metals industry in the country.

For this purpose, a document is being prepared in cooperation with authoritative international consulting companies for a primary economic assessment of reserves of copper, zinc, gold, lead, silver at the Filizchay field, which is of strategic importance not only for Azerbaijan, but also for Europe.

Over the next years, metallurgical, laboratory, geotechnical, hydrological and environmental studies are planned to be carried out in the fields territory.

Moreover, drilling operations were carried out to assess the reserves at another field, Mazimchay, located in the Balakan District.

Geophysical studies were carried out, and drilling and reserve assessment are planned to be conducted in the territory of the Ortakand site of the Goydag-Alinja field, located in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan, in the near future.

Analysis of ore samples taken from the Dashkasan-Goygol territory is carried out in internationally certified laboratories and an intelligence plan will be prepared in line with the obtained results.

Geological research is planned to be continued in this direction in subsequent years.

About 300 people are provided with permanent job places with the purpose of organizing the activities of AzerGold CJSC today.

A Corporate Social Responsibility Committee has been established under the company in order to implement the policy of social responsibility as well as assess and meet the needs of local communities.

Meanwhile, AzerGold cooperates with various science and educational institutions with the purpose of sharing experience and forming the personnel potential of the company.

High indicators, achieved in a relatively short period of time, brought AzerGold CJSC to the leading positions in the non-oil exports of Azerbaijan.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 27

By Anvar Mammadov  Trend:

Azerbaijans financial and banking sector will show positive dynamics in 2018, Vusal Gasimli, executive director of the Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communication, told reporters in Baku Dec. 27.

He said that the reforms carried out in Azerbaijans financial and banking sector in 2017 conditioned its gradual recovery.

The sectors recovery is mainly expected at the expense of activity of the Mortgage and Credit Guarantee Fund, which should lead to facilitation in lending, Gasimli said. This will also make it possible to ensure mobilization of financial resources and channel them to lending to the countrys economy.

On Dec. 26, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree amending the Decree on Establishment of the Azerbaijan Mortgage Fund OJSC, dated Oct. 27, 2015.

In accordance with the decree, the Azerbaijan Mortgage Fund OJSC and the Credit Guarantee Fund merged.

Thus, the newly established Azerbaijan Mortgage and Credit Guarantee Fund is a legal successor of the Azerbaijan Mortgage Fund OJSC and the Credit Guarantee Fund, and all their rights and responsibilities, as well as property are transferred to the Azerbaijan Mortgage and Credit Guarantee Fund.
During the performance produced on the basis of the novel of the famous french writer Alexander Dumas the Three Musketeers the students dramatized the interesting and dynamic images of XVII-th century, the story of the the young man named DArtagnan, who left his home, went to Paris and joined the musketeers of the royal guard.

During the breaks of the performance, the roles of which the students played with great enthusiasm, the members of the of the club HarmonISE played different kinds of music.

After the performance, the rector of UNEC, professor Adalat Muradov congratulating the students, highly appreciated their stage skills. He expressed the feeling of pride for the creative activity of the students of UNEC, their aspirations and desire to form their cultural lifestyle and the intention to reveal their talent in the arts. He wished the students the success in their future activities and upcoming examinations.

At the end of the event was demonstrated the vidoeclip from the process of preparation of the performance.

The director of the performance is Aysel Khalilova, the teacher of the Foreign languages chair. It should be noted that the majority of the students playing the roles were the presidential scholars.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 27

By Nigar Guliyeva  Trend:

The detailed route of the railway line between China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan will be ready by next April, Uzbek media reported referring to Kyrgyz envoy Daniyar Sydykov.

"Tashkent has today hosted a tripartite meeting of the delegations of the countries on this project. The heads of the delegations made serious practical decisions aimed at the speedy implementation of the project and deadlines were set," he said.

The sides also agreed that an understanding on the feasibility study of the project will be developed in August, and a vision for solving all financial issues - by the end of the year.

The rail line is expected to open up access for supplies of goods to the markets of Western Asia and the countries of the Middle East. It will become one of the shortest routes for the transport of Chinese goods to the EU.

According to the preliminary parameters of the project, the reduction of the route from East Asia to the countries of the Middle East and Southern Europe will be about 900 kilometers, and the days will decrease by 7-8 days.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 27

Trend:

The Baku Court of Appeal officially decided to declare Azerbaijani Demirbank bankrupt, said in the message of the Azerbaijan Deposit Insurance Fund (ADIF).

In addition, it is noted that the Fund was appointed liquidator of Demirbank.

DemirBanks license was revoked Dec. 23, 2017.

The Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FIMSA) of Azerbaijan said that the license was liquidated due to the discrepancy between the total capital of the bank and the minimum requirement established for banks, and the adequacy ratio of the aggregate capital is lower than three percent stipulated by the legislation.

The bank also lacks the capacity to fulfill its obligations to creditors.

DemirBank is a member of ADIF, and accordingly, deposits of the population in this bank will be returned by the Fund.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 27

By Sara Israfilbayova Trend:

Loans from European institutional banks for the implementation of the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline may be involved but only if the project overcomes all challenges and goes ahead, Alexei Grivach, Deputy Director General for gas issues at the National Energy Security Fund of Russia, told Azernews.

There was an attempt to create Caspian Development Corporation to promote Trans-Caspian project by Europeans and it failed to move on, according to the expert.

Touching upon the Turkmen gas, the expert said that as of their estimations, Turkmenistans available for exports gas reserves are not so huge like it commonly proclaimed in Ashgabad.

"Having problems with export revenues and despite high demand in China, Turkmenistan failed to increase gas exports to PRC this year. So the main but not the sole objection for Trans Caspian project is on the resources side," the expert stressed.

Keep talking about Turkmen gas, Grivach mentioned that Turkmenistan already changed its policy selling gas at the border.

"For example, Turkmengaz is running TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) consortium to build the pipeline to Pakistan and India," he said.

The expert pointed out that Azerbaijani gas is just trying to find its place on the markets and it will be a great challenge for Shah Deniz and other expensive offshore projects in Azerbaijan to compete with gas flow from Turkmenistan.

With regard to Russias position on this issue, the Deputy Director General underlined that it is balanced and based on international law.

"Trans-Caspian project should be the matter of consensus of all Caspian States and should be safe and secure from the point of view of environmental issues," the expert concluded.

In early December, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced that the draft convention on the status of the Caspian Sea is almost ready and will be approved by the presidents at the next summit in 2018.

Later Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov said that the draft convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea also includes the issue of pipelines construction, adding that the Trans-Caspian pipeline issue will be coordinated with the countries through which the pipelines is to pass.

The European Union adopted a mandate in 2011 to negotiate a legally binding agreement between the EU, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan on the construction of the Trans-Caspian Pipeline system.

The EU for the first time proposed an agreement in support of an infrastructure project.

The agreement on the Trans-Caspian pipeline will lay the foundation for the construction of a submarine pipeline connecting Turkmenistan with Azerbaijan and, in turn, will connect this pipeline with the infrastructure that will deliver gas from Central Asia to the EU.

Discussions with Baku and Ashgabat concern the treaty establishing legal obligations between the EU, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, the bilateral agreements necessary for these Caspian states to achieve the commissioning, construction and operation of the Trans-Caspian Pipeline, as well as agreements for filling the pipeline with Turkmen gas, including the proper recognition of commercial arrangements.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 27

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Turkey and Tunisia will sign an agreement on cooperation in the field of transport communications, Turkeys Ministry of Transport, Maritime and Communications told Trend.

The ministry said that the agreement will be signed on Dec. 27, 2017 during the visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Tunisia.

Following the signing of the agreement, a joint commission and working group will be created for development of railway infrastructure of Tunisia, said the ministry.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Tunisia today as part of his Africa trip.

The railway network of Tunisia has a length of 1,900 kilometers.

Meanwhile, the countrys railways is connected to the railway network of Algeria.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 27

By Ali Mustafayev  Trend:

Remains of oil, heavy metals and other pollutants were found in the Kokzhide underground water storage in Kazakhstan.

Excessive water pollution was detected in two out of 17 pilot research wells, Kazinform reported.

Since 2009, the government of Kazakhstan monitors the quality of the underground water. However, the facts of water pollution during the work of oil companies are recorded each year, according to the head of the department of natural resources and environmental management of Kazakhstans Aktobe region Nurzhan Akkul.

"This indicator decreases every year, but this doesnt remove the significance of the environmental problem. To date, 3 oil companies - Aktobemunaigaz JSC, KMK Munai, Ada Oil and 4 exploration companies operate in this region. This year, the level of pollution in the territory of KMC Munai exceeded by 1.4 times, in the territory of Urikhtau district - 1.7 times," says Akkul.

With this happening, the oil companies were instructed to repair local wells, as well as to clean the surface of the ground from oil waste during a meeting of Aktobes executive body.

"We asked the Ministry of Energy to stop the horizontal method of drilling wells at Kokzhide. It is necessary to conduct it in an oblique manner, and if it is impossible, they have to stop drilling. In addition, water quality monitoring should be conducted at governmental level," Akkul said.

The local groundwater deposits should be controlled at the state level, because oil production contracts in the region will be valid for 15-25 years, according to local officials.
PLATTSMOUTH  A former Cass County resident will be required to pay back more than $18,000 in delinquent child support as part of a probation sentence.

Ruben Montoya Jr., 34, appeared in Cass County District Court Tuesday afternoon for a sentencing hearing. Montoya had pled guilty in November to one Class I misdemeanor charge of attempted criminal non-support/violation of court order. The state had originally charged him with six felony counts of criminal non-support.

Montoya, who now lives in the Des Moines area, had appeared in Cass County District Court in June 2011 for a child support hearing. The court ordered him to begin paying $215 per month in child support. He was supposed to continue making payments until 2026.

Deputy County Attorney Richard Fedde told the court Tuesday that Montoya currently owed $18,380.63 in unpaid child support. He asked the court to sentence Montoya to probation so he could begin paying back that total. Fedde also asked the court to increase Montoyas monthly payment amount to $315 in order to more quickly eliminate the debt.

Defense attorney Julie Bear said she was also in favor of probation. She said Montoya had spent 117 days in jail after he was initially arrested. She asked the court to keep the previous payment amount of $215 per month.

Judge Michael Smith ordered Montoya to serve 24 months on probation. Montoya will be required to abstain from alcohol and drugs, complete moral recognition therapy sessions and obtain his GED. Smith also ordered him to pay $265 per month in child support.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 27

By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend:

Azerbaijan supplied over 5.37 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas to Turkey in January-October 2017, as compared to 5.31 bcm in the same period of last year, says the report posted on the website of the Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK) of Turkey.

In 2016, Azerbaijan supplied 6.48 bcm of natural gas to Turkey, compared to 6.17 bcm in 2015.

According to the report, in January-October, Turkey imported 43.75 bcm of gas, of which 36.37 bcm were imported through pipelines, and 7.38 bcm fell on LNG imports.

The share of Azerbaijan in the total volume of gas imported to Turkey for the reporting period was 12.3 percent.

Turkey imports gas from Azerbaijan via the South Caucasus gas pipeline (Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum). Turkey has signed a contract for the annual purchase of 6.6 bcm of gas from the Azerbaijani offshore gas condensate field Shah Deniz.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov.16

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

The Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) project, which envisages delivery of Azerbaijani gas to Europe, could thus become a basis for positive cooperation across the region, Acting Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs at the US Department of State Sue Saarnio said in an exclusive interview with Trend.

She pointed out that the Southern Gas Corridor will make a significant contribution to Europes energy security.

"The SGC has made tremendous progress. Development of Azerbaijans offshore Shah Deniz 2 (SD2) gas field is nearly complete, as is the expansion of the South Caucasus Pipeline (SCPX) and construction of the Trans-Anatolian pipeline (TANAP). The final pipeline in the SGC, the Trans Adriatic pipeline (TAP), has also made substantial progress, especially in Greece and Albania. The Italian portion, after some initial challenges, is making good progress," said Saarnio. "We remain confident that gas deliveries to Turkey will begin in 2018 and to Italy in a 2020/21 timeframe."

Further, Saarnio noted that many EU members recognize that their reliance on a single source of natural gas imports exposes them to serious political and economic risks, and that they should take steps to diminish that reliance by diversifying their gas importsby country of origin and path of delivery.

"While the EU has added LNG infrastructureboth terminals and floating storage regasification units (FSRUs)the SGC is the only major pipeline project now under construction that will provide a new source and new route for gas delivery to Europe," she said.

This is an enormously significant development and would not have been possible without the concerted and sustained efforts of countless government and private sector stakeholders from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Albania, Greece, Italy, the United Kingdom and elsewhere, according to Saarnio.

She pointed out that the U.S. government has strongly supported this project from its inception, much as we earlier supported the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline.

"The SGC and BTC are remarkable examples of what we can achieve when we work together toward a common purpose," added Saarnio.

She said that the initial phase of the SGC, with gas supplies from SD2, is just the beginning.

"Under the right circumstances, the SGC could be expanded to deliver additional volumes from Azerbaijan, as well as new volumes from the Eastern Mediterranean and/or Turkmenistan," she added. " The SGC could thus become a basis for positive cooperation across the region, providing a range of gas producers with a stable source of export earnings, while helping to underpin Europes long term energy security."

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.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn
Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 27

By Maksim Tsurkov  Trend:

Turkey imported 23.33 billion cubic meters of gas from Russia in January-October 2017 as compared to 19.17 billion cubic meters in the same period of 2016, says a report posted on the website of Turkeys Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK).

Russia delivered 24.54 billion cubic meters of gas to Turkey in 2016 as compared to 26.78 billion cubic meters in 2015.

The report says that Turkey imported 43.75 billion cubic meters of gas in January-October 2017, of which 36.37 billion cubic meters were imported via pipelines and 7.38 billion cubic meters accounted for import of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Russias share in Turkeys total import of gas was 53.3 percent in January-October 2017.

Russia supplies gas to Turkey via the Blue Stream and Trans-Balkan pipelines. Blue Stream is a major trans-Black Sea gas pipeline with a capacity of 16 billion cubic meters per year that carries natural gas from Russia into Turkey.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 27

By Nigar Guliyeva  Trend:

The volume of trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan has doubled during the year and reached $ 2billion, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev told reporters, Uzbek media reports.

"The countries aim to bring this figure up to $5 billion," he said. "The relationship with this country (Uzbekistan) for Kazakhstan is very beneficial and necessary. Our cooperation is improving. In one year, trade doubled - from $1 billion to $2 billion. We have agreed with the new president of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, to bring this amount to $5 billion."

The president said that a joint venture with Uzbekistan on the production of cars on electronic engines was launched in Kostanay. The solution of transport problems also contributed to the intensification of bilateral trade, he added.

"We want the relations between our intelligentsia and youth to continue even further. Next year we announced the year of Uzbekistan in Kazakhstan. Also the days of Kazakhstan will be held in Uzbekistan. This must be considered correct, beneficial and necessary for developing the relationship between the two countries, "Nazarbayev said.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan Sirodjidin Aslov met with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation Igor Lyakin-Frolov on December 26 here in Dushanbe, Khovar reports.

According to the MFA Information Department, during the meeting the parties considered the state of bilateral cooperation and expressed satisfaction with the results of their development in 2017, as well as discussed prospects and outlined plans for the next year.

The two parties had also an exchange of views on the international agenda.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Dec. 27

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

Formation of election commissions has started in Turkmenistan within the preparation for the March 25, 2018 election of candidates running for seats in parliament and local governing bodies, the countrys Central Election Commission said in a message Dec. 27.

As many as 240 electoral districts (40 in each province and Ashgabat city) have been created for the election of MPs in Turkmenistan.

For the election of members of the district and city councils, a total of 1,260 electoral districts (20 in each district and city) have been created in Turkmenistan.

Political parties, public organizations, as well as initiative groups of citizens organize meetings to nominate their representatives, mainly specialists of various sectors of the national economy, to be included in the election commissions, the message said.

Election campaigns in Turkmenistan started Dec. 4, 2017.
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Dec. 27

By Diana Aliyeva  Trend:

President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev has recently participated in an informal meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in Moscow.

The Uzbek presidents press service said in a message that President Mirziyoyev was welcomed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Vladimir Putin, greeting the heads of state, spoke about the outcome of Russias chairmanship in the CIS.

He noted that important work was done this year in order to strengthen the mutual integration and enhance the authority of the organization.

President Mirziyoyev, for his part, said that this year Uzbekistans cooperation with the CIS countries has become even stronger, and the volume of trade has increased noticeably.

He also emphasized that the mutually beneficial cooperation closely links the participating states, and this meeting will give a new momentum to the development of these relations.

It was noted that the upcoming events in Russia in 2018 are important, and the people of Russia will vote for a worthy candidate in the presidential election.

Meanwhile, during the meeting, special attention was paid to the development of cooperation between the CIS states in various fields, strengthening security, preventing risks and threats for the region.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 27

By Farhad Daneshvar  Trend:

Iranian Consul General to Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic Mansour Airom has expressed hope that re-launching the Mashhad-Nakhchivan train would help boost tourism in the neighboring countries over the next year.

Iranian and Azerbaijani railways officials are making efforts to re-launch the Mashhad-Nakhchivan train in the early days of January 2018, the envoy told Trend.

He added that following the recent technical measures aimed at improving the safety of passengers the train is expected to run in early January.

The train which was launched first in December 2016 stopped running due to technical reasons a few months ago.

The two countries exchange a considerable amount of tourists annually. According to the Azerbaijani Ministry of Culture and Tourism about 340,000 Iranian tourists arrived in the country between January-November 2017.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 27

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Natural resources, unfortunately, are very often the cause of military conflicts between states, and quite often some great powers use natural resources as tools of political pressure on other countries.

Azerbaijan, after gaining its independence, thanks to its foreign policy, as well as a competent energy strategy, has turned into the most dynamically developing state of the South Caucasus.

Azerbaijan has always pursued a transparent energy policy and has never used its resource potential against any country. Thanks to such policy, Azerbaijans energy projects have never encountered any serious obstacles.

Today Azerbaijan is participating in an important energy project  construction of the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), which has a special significance not only for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, but also for entire Europe.

The Turkish authorities have repeatedly said that the country will become a regional energy hub thanks to the implementation of TANAP project.

TANAP stretches throughout Turkey and such countries as Iran and Iraq, and if they intend to export natural gas to Europe, they will not be able to bypass this project. They can only join.

The Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline also contributed to the development of the provinces of Turkey, through the territory of which this vital pipeline for Europe passes.

As it is known, the construction of the TANAPs offshore section has already been completed in Turkeys Canakkale province and, as Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Berat Albayrak said, this project will be ready in the first half of 2018.

The testing of TANAP on the Turkish-Georgian border will begin in early January 2018.

TANAPs importance for Turkey is not only in the fact that this project will reduce Turkeys energy dependence on Russia, Iran, Algeria and Nigeria. Currently, Turkey is 90-percent dependent on external supplies of natural gas.

As it is known, with the beginning of TANAPs construction, the fiber-optic cable laying along the gas pipeline began in Turkey, which corresponds to the governments Hedef 2023 program. The program envisages the coverage of the countrys territory by a fiber optic network.

Laying the fiber optic cable will provide an alternative to the existing cable infrastructure, and companies and organizations can benefit from it.

Meanwhile, laying the fiber optic cable, carried out by SOCAR Fiber, will become an important contribution to the development of communications infrastructure of Turkey, which pays special attention to the development of this sphere.

Thus, the beginning of 2018 will be important for Azerbaijan and Turkey, as the countdown starts before the commissioning of TANAP.

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Rufiz Hafizoglu is the head of Trend Agency's Arabic news service, follow him on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
"2018 will be a more dynamic year for Georgia in terms of economic growth, said Georgia's Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili at the last Government Meeting of 2017, while summarising the achievements his government made this year and setting tasks for 2018, Agenda reports.

In his speech this morning, Kvirikashvili highlighted some of the major economic developments of Georgia:

In the first 10 months of 2017 Georgias economy grew by 4.9 percent;

In the first nine months of 2017 a total of 38,000 job places were created;

Profit tax reform has enabled businesses to save over 500 million GEL investment resource;

In 2018 Georgia will implement reforms on VAT returns which envisage the creation of a special system through which entrepreneurs will be able to pay VAT returns in 5-7 business days by filling out an electronic application;

In 2018 deposit insurance system will be launched in Georgia;

In 2018 Georgia expects important developments of its first Business House, which will improve the quality of services offered to the business community, will make it easier to do business in Georgia and reduce service time and costs.

Some of these reforms are part of the governments four-point reform agenda, which includes new tax benefits, infrastructure plans, governance reforms and an overhaul of the education system. Kvirikashvili said the four-point reform agenda will be continued in 2018 as well.

PM Kvirikashvili also stated that Georgia experienced important developments in terms of its foreign economic direction. As an example, he noted a new free trade deal between Georgia and 4 European countries - Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein  that came into play this year and also a free trade deal with China, which was also signed this year.

The head of the Georgian government also spoke about the conflict-affected population and said care for them "will be a strategic direction for our government.

A peaceful, consistent and pragmatic policy of conflict resolution, which we are implementing step-by-step and which has great support, will remain one of the most important directions for us, said Kvirikashvili.

While, talking about Georgias foreign policys priority directions, Kvirikashvili said it was European and Euro-Atlantic integration.

We have repeatedly stated that the central and main priority of our team is European and Euro-Atlantic integration and this vector is basis for the reforms that are ongoing in our country. This vector defines the largest part of our internal reforms.

The main achievement in this direction was visa-free travel with the European Union, which was a great success for the entire team in 2017. It was not, of course, just free movement, it was a very important political gesture from the EU and proof of confidence in Georgia.

We have far-reaching goals. The ultimate goal of Georgia is full membership in the EU and that's why we are starting to act in accordance with a new agenda, "Road Map to the EU" and it is much wider than the Association Agreement. We are all sure that we will successfully implement our program, Kvirikashvili said.

He added that the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) integration and cooperation with the United States (US) were also priorities of the Georgian government.

Of course, relations will deepen in both directions," said the PM.

This was the first government meeting since the parliament of Georgia gave a vote of confidence to the Prime Minister and updated the list of cabinet members. A vote of confidence was needed after a major structural changes of the government of Georgia, during which several ministries merged, while some of them were abolished.
PAPILLION  It was a full house for Tobacco Education and Advocacy of the Midlands (T.E.A.M.) Annual Awards Luncheon at CHI Health Midlands in Papillion Nov. 18.

T.E.A.M. is a community coalition of more than 40 local organizations that works to create healthy, tobacco-free areas for the community to enjoy. They meet on the fourth Thursday of the month at 11:30 p.m. at CHI Health Midlands, 11111 S. 84th St, Papillion, in the Smith Suite.

T.E.A.M. appreciates the value of building sustainable partnerships with individuals and organizations that align themselves with its own mission in reducing the negative effects of tobacco in Sarpy and Cass Counties.

Over f40 local organizations partner together to reduce the negative impact of tobacco in our communities by educating and advocating for healthy tobacco-free areas.

Community leaders, policy makers, coalition members and volunteers were led by Master of Ceremonies and Greater Omaha YMCA President/CEO Chris Tointon. T.E.A.M. Sarpy Coordinator

Autumn Burns spoke about What is Tobacco Really Costing Us?

Cigarette waste is the number one littered item on the planet and that waste is filled with cancer causing chemicals that leech into our soil, ground water, lakes and streams.

In an effort to reduce the amount of toxic chemicals around young children; nationally over 1,500 cities have made their playgrounds and parks tobacco-free.

There are over 176 million pounds of cigarette butts discarded each year in the US alone and a group of elementary age youth care about their environment and wanted to spread the word. According to the kids, one needs to pick up trash for their family, neighborhood and community to be an honorary member. Because that is what is most important to their cause and their hearts. Everyone keeping the Earth clean by doing their part. The 2017 Advocate of the Year award went to the Litter Gitters.

Locally, T.E.A.M. assists in similar policy creation to create healthy, tobacco-free outdoor recreation areas for community members to enjoy. The Outdoor Recreation Facility of the Year was awarded to Kingsbury Hills Sanitary Improvement District in unincorporated Sarpy County.

Community of the Year was awarded to the Village of Greenwood as the board of trustees unanimously passed a resolution that designates all recreational facilities as tobacco-free. The new rule prohibits tobacco use at parks, playgrounds, swimming facilities, walking paths and buildings, including outdoor spaces and parking lots. The resolution bans the use of cigarettes, cigars, pipes, chew or dip. The trustees stated they had public health in mind when voting on the resolution.

The main advantage was to the safety and the health of children, of course, Village Board Chair Michelle Criswel said. We didnt want people smoking around them.

Cigarettes and other smoking materials are the leading cause of residential fire deaths in the United States. These fires also result in millions of dollars in damaged property and healthcare costs. During the three year period between 2012 and 2014, at least 115 multifamily housing fires occurred in Nebraska, resulting in 1 death, 13 injuries and almost $4 million loss in property and content damages. T.E.A.M. provides technical assistance to Sarpy and Cass County property managers and owners on creating smoke-free housing policies in attempts to lower the number of apartment fires. The Multi-Family Housing of the Year went to The Wellington Senior Living.

Tobacco creates a large burden on business owners. An employee taking four 10-minute smoke breaks a day is away from the job for more than one extra week per year than a nonsmoking employee. The annual cost of lost productivity due to smoking is $605 million. Employees who smoke generally cost employers more in workers compensation and healthcare. Businesses pay an average of $2,189 in workers compensation costs for smokers, compared with $176 for nonsmokers. T.E.A.M. assists business owners in implementing a comprehensive tobacco policy that saves them & the state money. The Business of the Year implemented a policy that includes third-hand smoke; catapulting them to the top of comprehensive tobacco policies in the county and went to Sarpy County Cooperative Headstart.

The Elmwood-Murdock Merchants Association (EMMA) is made up of over 60 local merchants and individuals who are working together to promote economic activity and business development in the Elmwood and Murdock communities. EMMA encourages volunteerism and sponsor community events and community improvement projects. They recognize that keeping our businesses and community common spaces tobacco free provides improved aesthetics, tourism appeal, and a draw for potential residents, all traits that result in the eventual economic prosperity and healthier living of a community and its residents. The Partner of the Year award was given to Elmwood-Murdock Merchants Association.

For more information, visit www.T.E.A.M.tobaccofree.com.
Georgia ranks 22nd out of 190 countries according to the World Bank and PwC Paying Taxes 2018 report, which compares countries by the ease of complying with tax law, Agenda reports.

This year Georgias overall ranking is the same as achieved last year. Importantly this years ranking does not take into account the "Estonian model tax reform. It is expected the reform, which will be first reflected in the results of Paying Taxes 2019, should decrease how long it takes companies to meet their tax compliance obligations.

On average globally, it takes the case study company 240 hours to comply with its taxes, it makes 24 payments and has an average Total Tax and Contribution Rate of 40.5 percent (percentage of income borne by the company in taxes).

In Georgia the case study company takes 269 hours to comply with its taxes, (one hour less than last year), finds the report. The case study company makes five payments (no change on last year). The case study company has a Total Tax and Contribution Rate of 16.4 percent.

The average time to comply in other non-EU Eastern European and Central Asian economies is 230 hours, which is lower than in Georgia. However the regions average Total Tax and Contribution Rate is greater at 33.4 percent, as is the regional average number of payments at 16.

The post-filing processes for value-added tax (VAT) and corporate income tax (CIT) returns, which are considered in the study for the second year, can be amongst the most challenging and lengthy processes for businesses to comply with. Georgia performs well in this category however scoring 85.9, where 100 is the best score. This means Georgia ranks 4th in the Eastern Europe & Central Asia region, where the average score is 62. The global average score is 59.5 for the post-filing index.
One person was killed and three others were wounded at the Menshevik confectionary factory in southeastern Moscow, a law enforcement source told TASS on Wednesday.

"One person died in the shooting and three others were wounded," the source said.

According to preliminary data, "a former owner came to the factory, shot dead a security guard and is now walking with weapons around the premises and is shooting," the source said.

The factorys premises have been cordoned off, and hostages may be held inside the building, the source said. Special police forces have been deployed to the scene.
Russias Central Election Commission has accepted Vladimir Putins documents for his nomination in the 2018 presidential election, TASS reports.

The documents were accepted by members of the CEC working group led by a commission member Alexander Klyukin. The sides later signed a protocol on accepting the documents. Putin plans to take part in the polls as an independent candidate.
French President Emmanuel Macron called for a complete lifting of a blockade on Yemen in a telephone call with Saudi Arabias King Salman on Dec. 24, an Elysee source said on Wednesday, Reuters reports.

The president expressed his strong concerns about the humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen and called on the Saudi king to lift completely the blockade to allow humanitarian aid and commercial goods to enter Yemen, the source said.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said a week ago that it would keep the Houthi-controlled Hodeidah port - vital for aid - open for a month despite another missile attack against Riyadh, but it has kept up air raids.
A fireworks explosion injured 39 people, including six children between the ages of 11 and 15, during a popular Cuban carnival on Christmas Eve, Reuters reported, citing state-run media.

The centuries-old Parrandas festival in the central town of Remedios takes place every Dec. 24 and draws thousands of Cubans and some tourists.

An unfortunate accident with fireworks occurred last night in Remedios, the governments Cubadebate internet news service reported.

Among the more than 20 seriously injured, according to Cubadebate, health authorities said some were in very grave, some less grave, and others in critical and very critical condition.

All the injured appeared to be local residents, and the report did not mention that any tourists were hurt.

Remedios is located in Villa Clara province on the northern coast of the island.

Two of the towns neighborhoods compete on Christmas Eve each year to put on the most spectacular show with floats and fireworks amidst a carnival atmosphere.

The cause of the explosion was under investigation, according to official media.
The Netherlands' police arrested three Dutch individuals and one Swedish national, suspected of involvement in terrorism, in the city of Rotterdam, Sputnik reported, citing local media.

The Dutch suspects are a 21-year-old man from Vlaardingen, a 30-year-old man from Delft, and a 23-year-old man from Gouda, NL Times newspaper reported, citing the public prosecutor's statement.

Another individual, a Swedish man, 29, arrived in the Netherlands on a plane from Stockholm on Sunday. The Dutch authorities were informed about his possible involvement in terrorism by a foreign police service, the outlet added. The individual and three Dutch suspects were arrested on Sunday after the Swedish suspect's arrival.

All four individuals are currently in custody for questioning and further investigation, the publication added.

"There is also no concrete information that points to an attack. In the prevention of a terrorist attack, the Public Prosecutor and the police do not take any risks. Any indication may be sufficient for intervention," the prosecutor said in a statement, as quoted by the newspaper.

After the arrests, the Dutch authorities held searches in four addresses in Vlaardingen, Delft, and Gouda, during which police seized a number of data carriers, the publication added. No weapons or explosives have reportedly been found during the searches.

Authorities of many EU countries have been recently holding counterterrorism operations after a series of deadly attacks which had hit the bloc.

The United Kingdom has faced a number of the most violent terror attacks in 2017, most notably three attacks in London, which took place in Westminster, on London Bridge and outside the Parsons Green Tube station, and a bombing at a concert in Manchester on May 22, the latter of which claimed the lives of over 20 people and left several hundreds wounded.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 27

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Turkey has sent additional military units to Qatar, the Ministry of Defense of Qatar said in a message.

The additional military units were deployed at the Al Udeid Air Base, according to the message.

Military units of Turkey will take part in joint military exercises with Qatar, says the message.

Previously, Turkey adopted a law ratifying an agreement with Doha on the deployment of Turkish military contingent in Qatar. On June 9, the military agreement between Qatar and Turkey came into force. The document was signed in Ankara on November 10, 2016.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 27

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Turkey has ratified agreements signed with Iraq on cooperation in the healthcare field, according to a message posted on the website of Turkeys Resmi Gazete (Official newspaper).

The message says that the Turkish Ministry of Health will support the development of the healthcare sector in Iraq.

Under the agreement, Turkey and Iraq will also exchange experience in the medical field, according to the message.

As part of agreements between the two countries, Turkey will also build medical clinics in a number of major cities of Iraq, including Baghdad.

The agreement on cooperation in the healthcare field was signed between Turkey and Iraq in Baghdad on October 15, 2009.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 27

Trend:

Turkey purchased four divisions of the S-400 air defense system from Russia, said CEO of Rostec Corporation Sergey Chemezov in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper.

Chemezov noted that the total purchase price was $2.5 billion, and the first deliveries are scheduled for late 2019-early 2020.

Speaking about financial terms of the deal, the Rostec head said that the ministries of finance of the two countries had concluded negotiations on this issue.

Sergey Chemezov also emphasized the importance of the concluded agreement, pointing out that Turkey is the first NATO member country acquiring the Russian air defense system.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in July 2017 that Moscow and Ankara agreed on deliveries of S-400 air defense system.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 27

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

About 68.8 percent of the Turkish population doesnt believe the country may join the EU, the Turkish media reported Dec. 27, quoting the results of a survey conducted by the countrys Economic Development Foundation (IKV).

According to the survey results, 31.2 percent of the Turkish citizens believe that the country will be able to become a full-fledged member of the EU.

This is while over 50 percent of the Turkish population believes that Russia is an important strategic partner of Turkey.

Turkey began its EU accession talks in 2005. In 1963, Turkey and the European Economic Community (the EU's former name) signed an association agreement.
It was a year when former  and a few current  Fremonters would be caught up in national news.

From horrific shootings to hurricanes, some of those whove called this Nebraska community home found themselves in some very different circumstances in 2017. These stories, combined, would rank No. 8 on the Top 10 stories list for the Tribune.

Former Fremonter Bruce Nguyen and his girlfriend, Misty Butler, were among thousands of spectators enjoying the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, when a lone gunman fired on the crowd from the 32nd floor of a Las Vegas hotel and casino.

Nguyen and Butler were close to the stage and couldnt get out after people started taking cover. Seeking to protect Butler, Nguyen threw her over a metal railing and jumped over it. They crawled over a dead security guard and hid with about 40 people who were either on top or under the sound stage amid the sound of ricocheting shots.

Thinking there were shooters on the ground, Nguyen and Butler ran toward some vendors while he kept an eye out for any shooters on the ground. They made their way to one hotel and then to another amid false reports of multiple shooters. Nguyen and Butler made it home safe to their daughter Michaela and Butlers son Kyler.

Almost 60 people were killed and more than 540 were injured in the deadliest mass shooting committed by an individual in the United States.

The gunman, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock of Mesquite, Nev., was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, from which hed fired the shots.

Just 20 hours after the deadly shooting rampage, Nguyen recalled the horror.

When youre put in that position and you hear those multiple shots and you dont know where theyre coming from  you think that any move that you make, youre basically going to die, Nguyen said. Theres no right move that you can make.

Its just that feeling that you werent going to get out of there.

On Tuesday, Nguyen shared other thoughts about how he and Butler have been doing since then.

At first, Misty was really sensitive to everything like loud noises and sudden changes, but she has gotten a lot more comfortable with going out and being around people, Nguyen said. We havent been to any big events or anything yet, but I think she is ready.

A big thing that helped both of us was going back to the scene and retracing our steps, he continued. It really put a real deal to how lucky we were to get out. I was amazed how much detail I remembered.

Butler had some trouble recalling what route theyd taken to escape, but she felt better that we were together that night.

Nguyen noted how things have changed for him.

I felt pretty uneasy and unsafe for the first couple of weeks, he said.

A little more normalcy has returned to his life.

The only thing that bothers me is that we dont have answers of what really happened out there, he said.

Soon after hearing about the tragic shooting, Fremonters Dawn Gilfry, Brooke Johnson and Deb Heuer took one of 19 Lutheran Church Charities K-9 Comfort Dogs to Las Vegas.

The women brought Katie the Comfort Dog to various locations including the Sunrise Hospital, where survivors were recovering.

Katie made trips to hotels, including Mandalay Bay to comfort employees and to the Clark County Coroners Office, which had processed all those whod been fatally shot. Katie also visited the Metropolitan 911 call center and a preschool.

Its humbling to have someone youve never met allow you into some of their darkest moments and its all because of a bridge from a dog, Johnson said.

Throughout their visit, the women often heard people say, This is the first time Ive smiled, This is the first time Ive cried or This is the first time Ive felt normal since the shooting.

Just a little over two months later, another former Fremonter, Makenzie Rezac, would recall her own experience with a shooting  this time in a school on Dec. 7.

The 15-year-old girl was in her history class at Aztec High School in New Mexico, when a gunman  disguised as a student  went on a shooting rampage.

Makenzie, a sophomore, and other students and their teacher hid in their classroom. They heard shooting and yelling coming from the other side of a windowed catwalk.

And they heard the sound of running coming toward their room.

The gunman began jiggling door handles and knocking on doors trying to get into the locked classrooms.

Is this it? Makenzie wondered. I wanted to tell her (mom) that I loved her.

The shots ended.

We heard the last round of gunshots and it was right next to our classroom and we all just got quiet, Makenzie said. We were all terrified, because we didnt know if that was the cop shooting the shooter or if the shooter shot another student.

The Associated Press would report that the gunman, William Atchison, 21, fatally shot two students, then walked up and down a school hallway  firing randomly  before killing himself.

Makenzie and other students were escorted by police out of the school and later were able to go home with their families.

Once I got her, I hugged her and wouldnt let go, said Makenzies mom, Mikala Rezac.

Rezac noted something else: It (shootings) can happen anywhere, but people shouldnt be afraid to send their kids to school, Mikala said, adding, I hope every school is as prepared as well as the school here was.

Preparation was key for former Fremonters who found themselves in the path of Hurricane Irma in September.

With boarded up windows and supplies of food and water, Judy Daughty and her family waited for the fierce storm which was a Category 3 hurricane  with winds of up to 125 mph  when it slammed into Lehigh Acres on Floridas southwest coast.

That was the most frightening experience in my entire life, Daughty said. I would rather have been in a blizzard than a hurricane. Its so unpredictable.

At the time of the storm, 13 people were gathered in Pat and Judy Daughtys house, which also became a shelter to seven dogs. Four cats were in the garage and ducks and geese were in the lanai.

Judy recalled when broken tree limbs started hitting the house during the storm.

We werent sure if the next one was going to come through or not, Daughty said. Youre in a house thats all boarded up. You cant look outside and see whats happening. You never know whats coming at you.

Daughty and some other family members cried as they faced the fear of the unknown. The dogs barked continuously and whimpered. No one was injured.

The brunt of the storm lasted roughly 1  hours.

We lost all the trees in our yard, she said.

The lanai blew off, but the chickens and ducks, who belonged to her nieces, were OK. The family lost power to their home.

That made things a bit rough, because you cant run any fans and in Florida the heat and the temperatures are so bad, she said.

Daughty learned some things from the hurricane.

You learn to appreciate to what you have, she said. I realize Im blessed with family and friends, and how important my church and work is. The support system I had is amazing.

Besides the Daughtys, some other former Fremonters, Pat Leupold, former principal at Trinity Lutheran School, and his wife, Leila, also found themselves in the storms fierce path.

The Leupolds live in Winter Springs, Florida, about 1  hours from the states west coast.

At first, the Leupolds thought the eye of Hurricane Irma might just miss their community.

Then they heard a news update: the storm was coming straight up the peninsula  and right toward them.

While the eye of a hurricane is calm, the area directly around that is dangerous.

They waited as the storm approached.

Youre already hunkered down, Leila said. Youre just really wondering, When is it going to get here and how are we going to fare?

By the time the hurricane reached their community, it was considered a Category 2 storm, but still had wind speeds of 80 to 100 mph. The couple had some landscape damage to their home.

Looking back, did living in Nebraska prepare the Leupolds for this?

I suppose so, because you have lots of notice before a blizzard and you do start preparing; its much the same, Leila said. But when you lose your power here, youre at least not going to freeze to death. Youre just going to be really hot and uncomfortable and cranky.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 27

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

There is no place for Bashar al-Assad in the future of Syria, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during his visit to Tunisia, the Turkish media reported Dec. 27.

He noted that Assad is the direct culprit of the death of many hundreds of thousands of people in Syria.

The president of Turkey noted that the Syrians themselves dont want to see Assad as the president of Syria either.

Syria has been suffering from an armed conflict since March 2011, which, according to the UN, has so far claimed more than 500,000 lives.

Militants from various armed groups are confronting the Syrian government troops. The "Islamic State" (IS), the YPG (Kurdish People's Protection Units) and the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) are the most active terrorist groups in Syria.
By Noriyuki Suzuki, KYODO NEWS - Dec 27, 2017 - 11:39 | Feature, All

Japan's planned introduction of a "departure tax" on international travelers has received a mixed response, with many questions yet to be answered about how the revenues will be spent.

Hopes are high that the recent tourism boom will continue beyond the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, when the government aims to attract 40 million visitors to the country that year.

But the surge in visitors is also making it imperative for debt-ridden Japan to secure enough funding to improve infrastructure and services for foreign tourists in a country that prides itself on its "omotenashi" hospitality.

Some visiting tourists appear supportive of the move to require each passenger to pay 1,000 yen ($8.9) every time they depart Japan by air or sea. But other travelers, including Japanese going abroad, are unconvinced how they are going to benefit from it.

"Paying a tax does not sound good," said Wang Pei Hsien, a 47-year-old tourist concluding a six-day visit from Taiwan. "But if I can get better services here, I think it's OK," she said before flying out of Tokyo's Haneda airport.

The ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito party included the introduction of the new tax for international travelers in their reform package approved Thursday.

To spur spending by foreign tourists like Wang, who bought clothes, children's toys and medicine in Japan, the ruling bloc decided to simplify the existing tax-free system.

Currently, at least 5,000 yen needs to be spent on general goods such as home appliances or on disposable items such as cosmetics and medicine to qualify for the tax exemption.

But the plan is to enable foreign shoppers to combine them to reach the 5,000 yen threshold.

Japan has seen a surge in foreign visitors in recent years, with the number already hitting a new record in 2017, exceeding the previous high of over 24 million last year.

In 2016, the number of departures from Japan stood at around 40 million, meaning that had the departure tax already been in place it would have generated revenues of some 40 billion yen.

"It all comes down to how the money collected is going to be spent," said Yumi Hori, a 27-year-old Japanese who was at Haneda waiting for her flight to Canada. "I wish wi-fi connections were better here."

Her view was echoed not only by other travelers but also officials and tourism industry professionals.

The government is seen as hurrying to seize the opportunity to step up preparations for hosting the Olympics and Paralympics, even though experts say it should also look beyond the event to boost tourism.

Since the idea of the departure tax emerged earlier this year, a panel of experts drew up a report on how to secure funding to make Japan a "tourism-oriented" country.

In the report to the Japan Tourism Agency, the panel said a tax of 1,000 yen or lower should be "viable," after studying examples from other countries and weighing the potential impact on foreign travel demand.

Australia, for instance, charges 60 Australian dollars, or about 5,200 yen, when a person leaves the country, while South Korea requires each air passenger to pay 10,000 won, or about 1,000 yen, and 1,000 won when departing by sea.

As recent brisk travel demand from Asian countries has been supported by low-cost carriers, economists say the introduction of the departure tax may have some impact, a concern raised by the travel industry.

Takayuki Miyajima, senior economist at the Mizuho Research Institute, said it could test Japan's seriousness about boosting inbound tourism, a must for its longer-term economic growth.

"The tax revenue should be used to build infrastructure and enhance connectivity to regional areas for foreign tourists, which will help revitalize these areas," Miyajima said.

"But Japan also needs to tackle its increasingly severe labor shortage, especially in the services sector, and spending money to do something about it could be an option."
KYODO NEWS - Dec 27, 2017 - 10:11 | Feature, All, World

Lixil Group Corp., a major Japanese toilet and other housing equipment manufacturer, has been offering affordable and clean toilets to help enhance sanitation in developing nations.

Lixil has put in place 1.2 million units of the "safe toilet," or SATO, in developing countries through donations by civic groups and foundations as well as Lixil's direct sales, helping improve the sanitation situation of around 6 million people, according to the company.

The toilet, developed in 2012 by Lixil's American Standard brand, was launched in Bangladesh in 2013, and it has also been commercially available in Uganda, Kenya and India.

SATO is designed to flush waste with only 200 milliliters of water and has a counterweighted trap door to minimizes odors as well as the passage of flies and other disease-carrying insects, said Tadashi Matsuoka of the Tokyo-based company.

The toilet is structured so simply that it can be produced, distributed and installed all in the targeted developing countries, the company said.

Lixil seeks to reach an additional 15 million people, with a plan to manufacture and distribute toilets in Nigeria, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Rwanda, South Africa, Vietnam, Indonesia, Haiti, Ghana, Malawi, and the Philippines with a $1 million funding under a new program launched in September at the U.N. General Assembly meetings in New York.

The Water Innovation Engine, established by the U.N. High Level Panel on Water, launched the Urban Sanitation Challenge program, which funds projects tackling poor sanitation in developing countries.

"Priced from $2 to $10, depending on model and country, they (Lixil toilets) offer an effective, affordable way to mitigate the dangers and unpleasantness of typical pit latrines," according to Grand Challenges Canada, which leads the program.

Grand Challenges Canada is funded by the Canadian government and other partners and provides funds to innovators to help improve lives in low- and middle-income countries.

The blue plastic toilet "looks simple but is designed by utilizing knowledge of hydrodynamics," Akane Odake, a senior manager of Lixil, said.

According to Lixil, approximately 2.3 billion people in the world lack access to safe and sanitary toilets, of whom 892 million are forced to practice open defecation.

What's more, every day 800 children under the age of five die from diarrheal diseases due to unclean water or poor sanitary conditions, it said.

Lixil hopes to make the venture a stand-alone business by 2020 and improve hygienic environments for 100 million people.

"We set up the social toilet department in 2016 to help resolve the grave problem of sanitation in developing countries," Matsuoka said.

Lixil carried out a campaign from April to September to donate a SATO unit to developing countries every time it sold one of its integrated shower toilets.

The response to the program has been better than imagined, Yuka Okamoto, a spokeswoman for Lixil, said. "As more than 200,000 units have been donated, we believe (the program) has also raised the public awareness about sanitary problems in developing countries," she added.
KYODO NEWS - Dec 27, 2017 - 18:19 | World, All

Almost a half of all North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's activities reported this year by the country's official media were military-related, a Tokyo-based agency said Wednesday.

As of Wednesday noon, the number of Kim's activities reported by the media in 2017 was 102, compared with 141 last year, according to a tally kept by Radiopress, which monitors North Korean media around the clock.

Of the total, which is so far the lowest since Kim assumed power about six years ago, about 49 percent, or 50 of his activities, involved the military, the agency said. That percentage, up from last year's 36.9 percent, marks the highest level in three years, it said.

To the contrary, the number of activities linked to economic affairs, which represented the second largest portion, stood at 18.6 percent -- staying below 20 percent for the first time since 2014.

North Korea has adopted a policy of simultaneously pursuing nuclear and economic development. But the latest tally indicates that Kim was focusing more on strengthening its military power in 2017, during which the country test-fired ballistic missiles 15 times and detonated its most powerful nuclear device to date.

Hwang Pyong So, chief of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People's Army, was more than anyone else with Kim for the fourth straight year in the leader's so-called field guidance visits, according to the Japanese agency.

His name was mentioned 39 times in the media reports. For a long time, Hwang, a member of the Presidium of the Workers' Party of Korea, has been regarded as one of the North Korean leader closest aides, but somehow he has not been seen in public since mid-October.

South Korea's spy agency said in November that Hwang was punished for "impure" acts.

After Hwang, Jo Yong Won, a vice department director of the ruling party's Central Committee, was the most frequent member of Kim's entourage to appear. His name was mentioned 35 times.

The names of two senior officials, Ri Pyong Chol and Kim Jong Sik, who are regarded as playing key roles in North Korea's missile development, moved up to the fourth and fifth spots, respectively.

On Tuesday, the United States imposed sanctions on those two officials.
Dec 27 (Reuters) - Australian engineering firm WorleyParsons Ltd and education provider Navitas Ltd said on Wednesday they would incur one-off charges following the recently passed tax legislation in the United States.

WorleyParsons said in a statement it expected a one-time charge to the group's income tax expense of between A$45 million ($34.77 million) and A$60 million and the charge would not be included in the group's underlying earnings.

Meanwhile, Navitas said it was cutting the carrying value of its tax assets in the United States, resulting in an income tax charge of A$7.5 million which would appear in its 2018 interim financial statements.

($1 = 1.2943 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Aaron Saldanha in Bengaluru; Editing by Andrew Hay)
US President Donald trump signs the tax cut bill which will generate a short term hit from Barclays and Shell - Barcroft Media

Two of Britains biggest companies have warned that tax reforms in the US will result in a multi-billion pound hit to their earnings.

Barclays and Shell used the first day of trading since the festive break to signal the likely impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was signed into law in the US on Dec 22, as UK markets were shutting for the Christmas break.

The measure, enacted by President Donald Trump, will result in corporate tax rates falling from 35pc to 21pc, a move that the two FTSE 100 companies said they expected to be favourable in the long-term.

Changes in the way deferred tax assets are measure will mean a short-term hit to profits. Credit: PA Wire

However, the reforms are likely to have a major short-term impact by putting a massive dent in profits, as companies have to recalculate the deferred tax assets they have built up on their balance sheets.

Barclays said the law would change its deferred tax assets in the US resulting in what it estimates to be a 1bn charge to profit after tax for the year. In its last annual results, Barclays posted a post-tax profit of 1.6bn after adjustments.

The bank also warned that its Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) measure - which was brought in to help make banks more resilient after the financial crisis - would fall by 20 basis points as a consequence of the act. In its annual results Barclays said it had a CET1 level of 12.4pc, almost three times the required 4.50pc.

Shell echoed Barclays, saying it expected the changes to be positive in the longer run, but that they would reduce performance in the near term.

Shell said it could face a $2.5bn charge as a result of the new law Credit: Bloomberg

The energy giant warned that on the basis of its third-quarter results, it would take a non-cash charge on earnings of between $2bn (1.5bn) and $2.5bn when it reports its fourth-quarter earnings in February.

Posting its third-quarter results in November, Shell said it had $3.7bn in earnings on a current cost of supply basis including identified items.

It is not just UK-listed companies that are likely to take a hit. Bank of America will take a $3bn charge, and Credit Suisse has raised the prospect of it being in the red for a third year running after highlighting a charge of 2.3bn Swiss francs (1.7bn).
Most investors find it challenging to find companies with prospective double-digit growth rates that are also financially robust. These hidden gems also add meaningful upside to a portfolio, should the companies meet expectations. The list Ive put together below are of stocks that compare favourably on all criteria, which potentially makes them a good investment if you believe the growth has not already been reflected in the share price.

eMagin Corporation (AMEX:EMAN)

eMagin Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and markets organic light emitting diode (OLED) on silicon micro displays; virtual imaging products that utilize OLED micro displays; and related products. Founded in 1993, and currently run by Andrew Sculley, the company provides employment to 97 people and with the companys market capitalisation at USD $59.45M, we can put it in the small-cap category.

Extreme optimism for EMAN, as market analysts projected an outstanding earnings growth rate of 82.08% for the stock, supported by an equally strong sales growth of 65.79%. Profit growth, coupled with top-line expansion, is a positive indication. This is because net income isnt artificially inflated by unsustainable activities such as one-off cost-reductions expected in the future. EMANs bullish prospects on both the top and bottom lines make it an interesting stock to invest more time to understand how it can add value to your portfolio. Thinking of investing in EMAN? Check out its fundamental factors here.

AMEX:EMAN Future Profit Dec 27th 17

Invitae Corporation (NYSE:NVTA)

Invitae Corporation, a genetic information company, focuses on bringing comprehensive genetic information into mainstream medical practice to enhance the quality of healthcare in the United States, Canada, Israel, and internationally. Started in 2010, and currently run by Sean George, the company employs 509 people and with the stocks market cap sitting at USD $481.80M, it comes under the small-cap group.

NVTAs forecasted bottom line growth is an exceptional 55.85%, driven by underlying sales, which is expected to more than double, over the next few years. It appears that NVTAs profitability may be sustainable as the fundamental push is top-line expansion rather than unmaintainable cost-cutting activities. Furthermore, the 66.74% growth in operating cash flows indicates that a large portion of this earnings increase is high-quality, day-to-day cash generated by the business, rather than one-offs. NVTA ticks the boxes for high-growth generation on all levels of line items, which makes it an appealing stock to dig into deeper. A potential addition to your portfolio? I recommend researching its fundamentals here.

Story continues

NYSE:NVTA Future Profit Dec 27th 17

RYB Education, Inc. provides early childhood education services in China. Started in 1998, and currently run by Yanlai Shi, the company size now stands at 4,434 people and with the stocks market cap sitting at USD $465.79M, it comes under the small-cap stocks category.

RYBs projected future profit growth is an exceptional triple-digit, with an underlying 53.26% growth from its revenues expected over the upcoming years. It appears that RYBs profitability may be sustainable as the fundamental push is top-line expansion rather than unmaintainable cost-cutting activities. We see this bottom-line expansion directly benefiting shareholders, with expected return on equity coming in at a notable 24.24%. RYBs bullish prospects on both the top and bottom lines make it an interesting stock to invest more time to understand how it can add value to your portfolio. Want to know more about RYB? Check out its fundamental factors here.

NYSE:RYB Future Profit Dec 27th 17

For more financially robust companies with high growth potential to enhance your portfolio, use our free platform to explore our interactive list of these stocks.

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.
Dividend-paying companies such as Fortis and National Bank of Canada can help grow your portfolio income through their sizeable dividend payouts. Great dividend payers create a safe bet to increase investors portfolio value as payouts provide steady income and cushion against market risks Dividends play an important role in compounding returns in the long run and end up forming a sizeable part of investment returns. If youre a long term investor, these high-performing top dividend stocks can boost your monthly portfolio income.

Fortis Inc. operates as an electric and gas utility company in Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean. Established in 1885, and currently headed by CEO Barry Perry, the company employs 8,000 people and has a market cap of CAD CA$19.22B, putting it in the large-cap stocks category.

FTS has a good-sized dividend yield of 3.71% and has a payout ratio of 63.90% , with analysts expecting this ratio in three years to be 68.37%. FTSs dividends have increased in the last 10 years, with DPS increasing from $1 to $1.7. To the enjoyment of shareholders, the company hasnt missed a payment during this period.

TSX:FTS Historical Dividend Yield Dec 27th 17

National Bank of Canada (TSX:NA)

National Bank of Canada provides various financial products and services to retail, commercial, corporate, and institutional clients in Canada and internationally. Founded in 1859, and now led by CEO Louis Vachon, the company currently employs 21,635 people and with the stocks market cap sitting at CAD CA$21.21B, it comes under the large-cap stocks category.

NA has a decent dividend yield of 3.85% and the company has a payout ratio of 41.89% , with analysts expecting this ratio in three years to be 42.45%. In the case of NA, they have increased their dividend per share from $1.24 to $2.4 so in the past 10 years. They have been reliable as well, ensuring that shareholders havent missed a payment during this 10 year period.

TSX:NA Historical Dividend Yield Dec 27th 17

Bank of Montreal (TSX:BMO)

Bank of Montreal provides diversified financial services primarily in North America. Started in 1817, and headed by CEO Darryl White, the company size now stands at 45,200 people and with the companys market capitalisation at CAD CA$65.29B, we can put it in the large-cap category.

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BMO has a decent dividend yield of 3.69% and distributes 44.79% of its earnings to shareholders as dividends . In the last 10 years, shareholders would have been happy to see the company increase its dividend from $2.8 to $3.72. It should comfort existing and potential future shareholders to know that BMO hasnt missed a payment during this time.

TSX:BMO Historical Dividend Yield Dec 27th 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.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday refused to revive a former longtime Nebraska State Patrol trooper's lawsuit against former patrol leader Brad Rice.

Todd Steckelberg of Elkhorn, who was a trooper for more than 25 years before retiring, had alleged in the case that Rice had a grudge against him, kept him from promotions and forced him to spend a shift with a chaplain as part of a work-improvement plan.

In March, U.S. District Judge John Gerrard dismissed Steckelberg's complaints, finding the conclusions he had drawn about Rice's motivations were unsupported by facts.

An appeal followed, which led to oral arguments last month in Omaha, where the judges  Duane Benton, Bobby Shepherd and Jane Kelly  honed in on the fact that Steckelberg had been forced to do a ride-along with the chaplain.

Steckelberg's attorney, Joy Shiffermiller, told the judges there could be no other purpose than religious proselytizing for his supervisor to require him to do the ride-along and argued the lawsuit should be allowed to move forward to discovery.

Assistant Nebraska Attorney General David Lopez said an interaction with a chaplain was not, in itself, a violation of the First Amendment's establishment clause, prohibiting the free exercise of religion. There had to be a showing of coercion, he said, which wasn't alleged here.

In a single paragraph decision issued Tuesday, the panel unanimously concluded the dismissal was proper.

"As the district court ruled in its thorough and well-reasoned opinions, the complaints fail to state a claim under federal or Nebraska law," the opinion said. "Further discussion would have no precedential value."

Shiffermiller said Tuesday they are likely to seek a rehearing by the panel and by the circuit court as a whole.
From Tom Kool: Oil held steady this week while light trading pushed prices slightly higher on Tuesday morning, adding to the likelihood that oil prices will hold their recent gains heading into the New Year.

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Chart of the Week

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 U.S. oil production is set to average about 9.3 million barrels per day (mb/d) in 2017, according to the EIA. The agency predicts that will grow to an average of 9.9 mb/d in 2018.

 That will exceed the annual record of 9.3 mb/d set back in 1970.

 Supply growth will come from the Permian (+0.515 mb/d) and offshore in the Gulf of Mexico (+0.344 mb/d), with smaller contributions from elsewhere.

Market Movers

 Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD) issued a sustainability report that details plans on how the company would adapt to a carbon constrained business environment. Pioneer believes that its low breakeven price (~$24 per barrel) will give it a leg up on its competitors if carbon is taxed or restricted.

 W&T Offshore (NYSE: WTI) saw its share price surge more than 9 percent last Thursday following news that its exploratory offshore wells in the Gulf of Mexico were successful.

 Transocean (NYSE: RIG) saw its share price gain more than 5 percent after winning a contract from Statoil (NYSE: STO) to supply a rig for a 22-well drilling program in the North Sea.

Tuesday December 26, 2017

Oil was steady, but elevated in light holiday trading this week. Brent and WTI hovered near multiyear highs.

OPEC compliance reaches highest level in November. OPECs resolve looks stronger than ever. In the run up to the late-November decision to extend the production cuts through the end of 2018, the group posted its best compliance rate with the agreed upon production cuts yet. OPEC reported a 122-percent compliance rate in November, a figure that bodes well as the group seeks to keep those curbs in place for another year.

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Russia supports gradual, managed exit from OPEC cuts. In another bit of news that bolsters the OPEC deal, Russian energy minister Alexander Novak said that Russia supports a gradual exit from the production cuts, reducing the risk of a messy conclusion and return to full production.

Iraq oil minister sees market balanced in first quarter. Iraqs oil minister Jabar al-Luaibi saidthat he was optimistic that the oil market would reach a balance in the first quarter of 2018, which will be accompanied by higher oil prices. His comments are some of the most bullish out there among OPEC members, most of which see such an event unfolding in the second half of the year.

Energy strategists predict lower prices ahead. While Iraqs oil minister voiced optimism, a group of energy analysts told CNBC that there is more risk to oil on the downside as we head into the New Year because of rising U.S. production at a time when speculative moves in the futures market have become a little too bullish. While we could easily see an escalation of tensions in the Middle East, in the absence of that, optimism is probably misplaced for up to six months, Harry Colvin, director and senior economist at Longview Economics, told CNBC. Everybody seems to be facing the same way over oil at the minute and its when this happens that you need to be especially careful.

Shell buys UK utility. Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) purchased First Utility, a UK-based utility, for an undisclosed sum. The move comes a few months after Shell bought two electric vehicle infrastructure companies as it seeks to diversify its portfolio beyond just oil and gas. First Utilitys cofounder sees the acquisition by Shell as a way to bring more competition to the electric power sector in the UK, and also accelerate the adoption of EVs and digitalization in the utility industry.

Canadian mining company wants court order to seize control of Citgo. Canadian mining company Crystallex International won a 2016 arbitration award of $1.2 billion against Venezuela, but has not been paid. In November, the company was on the verge of a deal with Venezuela, but it has since fallen apart over lack of payment. As such, Crystallex now wants a court to award it assets from Citgo, a subsidiary of Venezuelan state-owned company PDVSA. The case is a major risk for Venezuela, which could become more exposed to asset seizures as it fails to pay creditors.

TransCanada denied request to amend Keystone XL application. TransCanada (NYSE: TRP) was dealt another blow in its effort to build the Keystone XL pipeline when Nebraska regulators denied the companys request to retrospectively amend its application for the pipeline. In November, regulators approved the pipeline, but crucially, for a different route than the one that TransCanada wanted. That opens it up to fresh legal challenges, something TransCanada wanted to avoid. The next steps are unclear.

Senate energy leader wants legislation in early 2018. The top Republican on energy issues in the Senate, Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) is pushing Senate leadership to take up energy legislation early next year, a bill that mirrors legislation that almost became law in 2016, according to E&E News. The bipartisan bill would speed up the permitting of LNG exports, address cyber security at energy infrastructure, fund conservation and energy efficiency, among other priorities.

Kinder Morgan to move forward with $1.7 billion natural gas pipeline. After signing Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA) as a customer, Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI) said it plans to move forward with a major natural gas pipeline that will run from West Texas to Corpus Christi. The project will take advantage of the drilling boom in the Permian basin, where natural gas production is rising sharply in conjunction with the surge in oil output. The pipeline could supply refiners and processors along the Gulf Coast with gas, while LNG export terminals could ship gas abroad. The pipeline is expected to be operational by October 2019.

U.S. regulators propose rollback of offshore drilling rules. The WSJ reported that the Trump administration is seeking to cut offshore drilling regulations that were put in place after the deepwater horizon disaster in 2010. The proposed changes are long, but one example includes the scrapping of a requirement that third-party inspectors be certified by BSEE, the government offshore watchdog. The proposal, BSEE says, would save the industry $900 million over a decade.

Oil companies line up for Mexican auction. 29 oil companies have signed up to pre-qualify for a deepwater offshore auction in Mexico set to take place in January, according to the WSJ. Mexican regulators said that 16 of them signed up to be operators. The list suggests there is strong interest in what will be the countrys second deepwater auction. A year ago, the first auction was deemed a success, and went a long way to sparking interest in new investment in Mexico.

Euronav NV to buy rival Gener8, consolidating oil tanker industry. Euronav NV (EBR: EURN) said that it would purchase Gener8 Maritime Inc. (NYSE: GNRT) in a deal worth $500 million, according to the WSJ. The acquisition will make Euronav one of the largest oil tanker firms in the world. The tanker industry has suffered from overcapacity, and the supply of oil tankers is expected to grow by 5 percent this year, faster than demand. More consolidation is likely, experts say. Fewer players will be controlling seaborne oil transport, which will make life more difficult for smaller owners, Basil Karatzas, a New York-based maritime consultant, told the WSJ. If you are ExxonMobil, youll look for big operators like Euronav to move your oil, and this could spur more mergers as asset values are still low.

The United States Oil Fund LP ETF (USO) fell $0.05 (-0.42%) in premarket trading Wednesday. Year-to-date, USO has gained 1.96%, versus a 21.86% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.

USO currently has an ETF Daily News SMART Grade of A (Strong Buy), and is ranked #3 of 129 ETFs in the Commodity ETFs category.

This article is brought to you courtesy of OilPrice.com.

You are viewing an abbreviated republication of ETF Daily News content. You can find full ETF Daily News articles on (www.etfdailynews.com)
Dividend-paying companies such as Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Harvey Norman Holdings can help grow your portfolio income through their sizeable dividend payouts. Great dividend payers create a safe bet to increase investors portfolio value as payouts provide steady income and cushion against market risks Dividends play an important role in compounding returns in the long run and end up forming a sizeable part of investment returns. Ive made a list of other value-adding dividend-paying stocks for you to consider for your investment portfolio.

Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited (ASX:SOL)

Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the ownership of shares, coal mining, gold and copper mining and refining, property investment, and consulting businesses. Formed in 1872, and currently headed by CEO Todd Barlow, the company employs 220 people and with the companys market cap sitting at AUD A$4.22B, it falls under the mid-cap group.

SOL has a sizeable dividend yield of 3.07% and their current payout ratio is 38.75% , with analysts expecting the payout ratio in three years to be 86.57%. SOLs DPS have risen to $0.54 from $0.28 over a 10 year period. The company has been a reliable payer too, not missing a payment during this time. Washington H. Soul Pattinsons earnings per share growth of 123.27% outpaced the au oil and gas industrys -25.18% average growth rate over the last year.

ASX:SOL Historical Dividend Yield Dec 27th 17

Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX:HVN)

Harvey Norman Holdings Limited grants franchises to independent business proprietors. Formed in 1982, and currently headed by CEO Kay Page, the company now has 5,200 employees and has a market cap of AUD A$4.65B, putting it in the mid-cap stocks category.

HVN has a great dividend yield of 6.22% and pays out 64.44% of its profit as dividends , with the expected payout in three years hitting 75.47%. Despite some volatility in the yield, DPS has risen in the last 10 years from $0.12 to $0.26. The company outperformed the global multiline retail industrys earnings growth of 17.32%, reporting an EPS growth of 28.79% over the past 12 months.

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ASX:HVN Historical Dividend Yield Dec 27th 17

Bank of Queensland Limited (ASX:BOQ)

Bank of Queensland Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides various financial products and services in Australia. Established in 1874, and currently lead by Jon Sutton, the company currently employs 1,859 people and with the companys market cap sitting at AUD A$4.97B, it falls under the mid-cap group.

BOQ has an alluring dividend yield of 6.00% and is paying out 83.53% of profits as dividends . While theres been some level of instability in the yield, BOQ has overall increased DPS over a 10 year period from $0.74 to $0.76.

ASX:BOQ Historical Dividend Yield Dec 27th 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.
Leading Golden Cariboo Resources Ltd (TSXV:GCC.H) as the CEO, Tom Kennedy took the company to a valuation of CA$1.04M. Understanding how CEOs are incentivised to run and grow their company is an important aspect of investing in a stock. This is because, if incentives are aligned, more value is created for shareholders which directly impacts your returns as an investor. Today we will assess Kennedys pay and compare this to the companys performance over the same period, as well as measure it against other Canadian CEOs leading companies of similar size and profitability. See our latest analysis for Golden Cariboo Resources

What has been the trend in GCC.Hs earnings?

GCC.H can create value to shareholders by increasing its profitability, which in turn is reflected into the share price and the investors ability to sell their shares at higher capital gains. Over the last year GCC.H released negative earnings of -CA$0.1M . But this is an improvement on prior years loss of -CA$0.2M, which may signal a turnaround since GCC.H has been loss-making for the past five years, on average, with an EPS of -CA$0.02. Given earnings are moving the right way, CEO pay should be reflective of Kennedys value creation for shareholders. In the same year, Kennedys total compensation increased over two-fold, reaching CA$34,000 , but off a low base. In addition to this, Kennedys pay is also comprised of non-cash items, which means that fluxes in GCC.Hs share price can impact the true level of what the CEO actually takes home at the end of the day.

TSXV:GCC.H Past Future Earnings Dec 27th 17

Is GCC.H overpaying the CEO?

Though there is no cookie-cutter approach, as compensation should be tailored to the specific company and market, we can determine a high-level yardstick to see if GCC.H deviates substantially from its peers. This outcome can help direct shareholders to ask the right question about Kennedys incentive alignment. Normally, a Canadian small-cap is worth around $345M, produces earnings of $24M, and pays its CEO circa $770,000 annually. Normally I would use earnings and market cap to account for variations in performance, however, GCC.Hs negative earnings lower the effectiveness of this method. Given the range of pay for small-cap executives, it seems like Kennedy is remunerated sensibly relative to peers. On the whole, though GCC.H is loss-making, it seems like the CEOs pay is sound.

What this means for you:

Are you a shareholder? You can breathe easy knowing that shareholder funds arent being used to overpay GCC.Hs CEO. However, on the flipside, you should ask whether Kennedy is appropriately remunerated on the basis of retention. Its important for shareholders to be active in voting governance decisions, as board members are only representatives of investors voices. To find out more about GCC.Hs governance, look through our infographic report of the companys board and management.

Are you a potential investor? Board members are the voice of shareholders. Although CEO pay doesnt necessarily make a big dent in your investment thesis in GCC.H, proper governance on behalf of your investment should be a key concern. These decisions made by top management and directors flow down into financials which impact returns to investors. To research more about these fundamentals, I recommend you check out our simple infographic report on GCC.Hs financial metrics.

PS. If you are not interested in Golden Cariboo Resources anymore, you can use our free platform to see my list of over 50 sustainable companies producing great returns.

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.
A market capitalization of $163.80B puts The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) in the basket of stocks categorized as large-caps. These stocks draw significant attention from the investing community due to its size and liquidity. However, a more fundamental aspect of investing in large caps is its financial health. Why is it important? A major downturn in the energy industry has resulted in over 150 companies going bankrupt and has put more than 100 on the verge of a collapse, primarily due to excessive debt. Thus, it becomes utmost important for an investor to test a companys resilience for such contingencies. In simple terms, I believe these three small calculations tell most of the story you need to know. Check out our latest analysis for Walt Disney

Is DISs level of debt at an acceptable level?

What is considered a high debt-to-equity ratio differs depending on the industry, because some industries tend to utilize more debt financing than others. Generally, large-cap stocks are considered financially healthy if its ratio is below 40%. DISs debt-to-equity ratio stands at 54.80%, which indicates that its debt can cause trouble for the company in a downturn but it is still at a manageable level. While debt-to-equity ratio has several factors at play, an easier way to check whether DISs leverage is at a sustainable level is to check its ability to service the debt. A company generating earnings (EBIT) at least three times its interest payments is considered financially sound. DISs profits amply covers interest at 35.06 times, which is seen as relatively safe. Debtors may be willing to loan the company more money, giving DIS ample headroom to grow its debt facilities.

How does DISs operating cash flow stack up against its debt?

NYSE:DIS Historical Debt Dec 28th 17

A basic way to evaluate DISs debt management is to see whether the cash flow generated from the business is at a relatively high level compared to the debt capital invested. This is also a test for whether DIS has the ability to repay its debt with cash from its business, which is less of a concern for large companies. In the case of DIS, operating cash flow turned out to be 0.49x its debt level over the past twelve months. A ratio of over a 0.25x is a positive sign and shows that DIS is generating ample cash from its core business, which should increase its potential to pay back near-term debt.

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Next Steps:

Are you a shareholder? DISs high debt level shouldnt be an impetus for investors to sell given its high operating cash flow seems adequate to meet obligations which means its debt is being put to good use. Since DISs financial position may differ over time, I recommend examining market expectations for DISs future growth on our free analysis platform.

Are you a potential investor? Although investors should analyse the serviceability of debt, it shouldnt be viewed in isolation of other factors. After all, debt financing is an important source of funding for companies seeking to grow through new projects and investments. Thats why I suggest you assess DISs Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) in order to see managements track record at deploying funds in high-returning projects.



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.
Leading wireline and wireless service providers that are interested in extending their reach in rural United States with high-speed broadband services will get a chance to bid for an additional $2 billion in governments Connect America Fund II (CAFII) subsidy.



In 2015, the Federal Communications Commission had (FCC) offered more than $10 billion over the next six years in CAFII subsidy to deploy high-speed Internet connections through rural United States. In May 2016, the FCC had approved a reverse auction to provide an additional $2 billion in funds to rural broadband providers through its CAF II program in an effort to accelerate growth.



The FCC will adopt four technology neutral service standards: (1) delivering 10/1 Mbps speed (2) delivering 25/3 Mbps and offering a usage allowance of 150 GB a month (3) meeting an above baseline tier that requires bidders to provide 100/20 Mbps and (4) an unlimited monthly usage allowance and meeting a Gigabit performance tier that requires bidders to provide at least 1 Gbps downstream and 500 Mbps upstream and offer an unlimited monthly usage allowance.



In 2015, several large wireline operators including AT&T Inc. T, CenturyLink Inc. CTL, Frontier Communications Corp. FTR and Windstream Holdings Inc. WIN accepted $9 billion over a period of six years from Phase II of the Connect America Fund to expand broadband in their rural service areas. Later in March 2016, the FCC reformed its broadband support for the nation's smallest carriers, providing $20 billion over the next decade.



CenturyLink carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) while AT&T, Frontier and Windstream carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.



Double-Edged Sword of Trump



President Donald Trumps proposed policy changes have made the overall economic outlook fairly bullish. The two pro-growth agendas of Trump, namely, significant cut in corporate tax and deregulation are major catalysts to the U.S. economy. The proposal to reduce corporate taxes from their current 35% to 20% is likely to bring corporate tax rate at its historic low in 78 years. The tax proposal is likely to provide incentives to companies to repatriate accumulated profits from overseas with an even lower tax rate.



Additionally, Trump has stated that he wants to do away with nearly 75% of all governmental regulations during his term as President. Major proposals like a pledge to spend $1 trillion in infrastructure projects over a period of 10 years coupled with the above-mentioned policy changes are likely to spur higher consumer spending that may create about 25 million new jobs over a decade. This in turn will fuel long-term economic growth.



Bottom Line



The telecommunications industry is witnessing rapid technological improvement. A growing economy speeds up the demand for real-time voice, data, and video manifold. The escalation in demand for telecom services in the rural areas has encouraged telecom service providers to undertake large network extensions while upgrading plans.



Zacks Editor-in-Chief Goes "All In" on This Stock



Full disclosure, Kevin Matras now has more of his own money in one particular stock than in any other. He believes in its short-term profit potential and also in its prospects to more than double by 2019. Today he reveals and explains his surprising move in a new Special Report.



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First Solar Inc. FSLR has exhibited a solid bull run to date in 2017. The stock has more than quintupled the broader market and returned 112.1%, so far this year, compared with S&P 500 index's gain of 20.2%.

When most of the U.S.-based public solar companies like SunPower Corp SPWR, 8point3 Energy Partners LP CAFD and Vivint Solar, Inc. VSLR did not gain more than 60% over the year, First Solars stellar performance underscores the inherent potential in the stock.

Notably, Trumps walking out of Paris accord this June has been a primary reason behind majority of solar companies in the nations of not recording substantial growth. Realizing that the time is right, First Solar announced plans of taking a loan worth $64 million from Mizuho Bank on Jun 9 to finance its utility-scale solar project pipeline in Japan and install solar modules. Since then, the company has accelerated its expansion plans in foreign lands.

Not only a well planned expansion strategy was instrumental in driving First Solars growth, few other factors also helped the stock gain momentum. Below we have discussed the factors which have boosted this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company maintain its robust performance throughout 2017. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

(Looking for the Best Stocks for 2018? Be among the first to see our Top Ten Stocks for 2018 portfolio here .)

Prospects in the Global Solar Market

Solar power has become the viable alternative energy source today. GTM Researchs latest Global Solar Demand Monitor report states that eight countries will surpass the 1 gigawatts (GW) level of annual Photovoltaic (PV) installations by the end of 2017. By the end of 2018, five more countries will achieve the milestone.

With China having established itself as the worlds largest market for solar panels, First Solar has identified solid growth prospects there, courtesy of its thin-film solar modules. Apart from China, the company also boasts a strong footprint in Australia and Japan. Evidently, during third-quarter 2017, in Australia, First Solar signed new module supply agreements of 240 megawatts (MW), thereby totaling its contracted delivery pipeline of modules to over 500 MW in the nation.

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In Japan, First Solar booked 21-MW DC systems project, which took the total contracted pipeline in Japan to over 240 MW DC. First Solar has also increased its focus in the growing Indian solar market. It has announced plans to develop solar capacity of 5 GW by 2019 to support Indias plan to install 100 GW of solar electricity by 2022. Indias goal to ramp up its solar market will likely benefit the company at large, under the Batch 1 phase II of the National Solar Mission.

Recently, the company set foot in the untapped solar market of Pakistan, by collaborating with Zorlu Holding, for delivering more than 860,000 of thin film modules. The modules will be used to power a 100 MW AC facility.

The aforementioned discussions clearly reflect the strong growth opportunities First Solar enjoys in the international market, particularly in Australia and Japan. As of Sep 30 2017, the company had $0.5 billion of net PV solar power systems that had been placed in service primarily in international markets.

Series 6 Module Launch

Earlier this month, First Solar launched its latest product line  Series 6 PV module  at its 2017 Analyst Day as well as issued 2018 guidance. The company projects this product to enter the market with a power rating of 420-445 watts and conversion efficiency of over 17%. These modules will provide more watts per lift than comparable crystalline silicon solar panels and can be installed on virtually any ground-based PV mounting system.

First Solar expects to start commercially manufacturing these modules by early second-quarter 2018. On being operational, Series 6 will have an annualized output of 600MWdc at full capacity.

Moreover, First Solar plans to double production capacity of Series 6 modules at its under-construction Vietnamese facility. Following this, annualized production capacity at this, when fully operational, will be 2.4GWdc. Cumulatively, from its facilities in Perrysburg and Kulim, Malaysia the company will be able to attain manufacturing capacity of approximately 5.4GWdc by 2020, for Series 6 modules. Toward this end, First Solar aims to invest $1.4 billion.

Despite the companys 2018 outlook not being impressive on a year-over-year basis, its share price has surged 7%. This reflects investors optimism toward the launch of its next-generation PV module. The increased cost for the production of Series 6 modules have led to the drab outlook.

We expect the company to gain substantially once production starts at full capacity and positive accretion is realized from the sale of this latest module. If this happens, then First Solars 2018 outlook can improve.

Solid Bookings Reflecting Strong Demand

First Solar enjoys a solid booking across the globe, which in turn reflects strong demand for solar PV modules. On a year-to-date basis (as of Sep 30, 2017), the company reported bookings of 6.7 GW. First Solar expects to eventually increase EPC and O&M services which will improve its overall systems bookings number. During the third quarter, the companys bookings of 4.5 GW were geographically diversified, with solid demand witnessed in India, Asia-Pacific and Europe, outside the United States.

In fact, management has described the companys third-quarter bookings as a record one, which in turn reflects both the robust market demand for Series 4 and Series 6 module technology and the acceleration of procurement timing by customers.

Whats Ahead for the U.S. Solar Industry?

Although Trump has been intending to revive the coal industry for long, realizing the fact that renewables are our ultimate future, most of the utility providers are continuing with their transition from fossil fuel to alternative fuels. A U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) report projects total renewables used in the electric power sector to increase 41% in 2018.

The prospect of solar is still bright in the United States. An EIA report indicates growth in utility-scale solar power capacity by almost 41% from 22 GW at the end of 2016. The projected increase will bring the amount of solar capacity to 27 GW at 2017 end and to 31 GW at 2018 end. Solar will still constitute just 1% of total U.S. utility-scale generation in 2018, indicating immense scope for growth.

Notably, the U.S. market accounted for 83% of First Solars revenues in 2016. With EIA projecting solar consumption in the country to go up 119% to 0.933 quadrillion British thermal unit in 2018 from 2015, prospect of this companys expansion in the domestic market also remains huge.

Should You Retain FSLR Stock in Your Portfolio?

We believe that First Solar is a profitable stock which could be a prudent long-term bet for risk averse investors, given its strong presence in the global solar market. Toward this, First Solar has already set the industry benchmark for its modules with over 17 GW installed worldwide and a proven performance advantage over conventional crystalline silicon solar modules.

Year to date, the companys share price has gained 112.1% compared to Zacks Solar industrys gain of 57.6%.

On the valuation front too, the company looks promising. The stock currently trades at net cash/market cap multiple of 19.24x, which is lower than the peer group average of 23.74x, thereby reflecting scope for improvement. Moreover, the current-year Zacks Consensus Estimate for First Solar surged 23.5% over the last 60 days.

Further, First Solar has a VGM Score of A. Notably, the VGM Score rates each stock on their combined weighted styles, helping to identify those with the most attractive value, best growth, and most promising momentum, across the board. This assures our point that the stock has still ample potential.

To conclude, strong demand for advanced thin-film modules, expanding solar market across the globe as well as business enhancement that the company has been carrying out both in the domestic and foreign lands, will enable First Solar to maintain its outperformance in 2018 as well.

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The tax bill passed by the House and Senate this month and signed into law by the president marks a major victory for corporations in the United States.

The bill cuts the top corporate income tax rate from 35% down to 21%. That isn't what Donald Trump vowed during his campaign for the presidential election last year, when he promised to drop the rate to 15%, but it nevertheless represents an historic shift.

A bar chart of the top corporate income tax rate from 1918-2018.

Data source: Tax Policy Center. Chart by author.

The new rate is the lowest it has been since the Great Depression, when corporate taxes were raised to fund Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal.

Going into the Great Depression, which served as the impetus for the New Deal, corporations faced top rates of 10% to 14%. That climbed to 19% by 1938, and up to 40% in the 1940s, to help pay for World War II.

For about a decade thereafter, from 1952 until 1963, the top rate for corporations plateaued at 52%. After a minor respite, when it declined in the mid-1960s, it peaked in 1968 and 1969 at 53% as a result of a surcharge placed on corporate income taxes to help finance the Vietnam War.

The top corporate tax rate has been on a downward trajectory ever since. It was slashed during President Ronald Reagan's administration from 46% down to 34%, before settling at 35% for the past quarter century.

The net result is that corporations now face the lowest top marginal tax rate since the 1930s.

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Oil is one of the earths most valuable non-renewable resources, and these types of resources are named so because they arewell, non-renewable. Although there is plenty of organic matter that could potentially become oil over the next few million years, it is likely that humans will one day see the end of black gold as we know it.

So just how much oil do we have left? For decades, oil production has been steadily increasing, and energy experts have been attempting to calculate when we might run out. Those that have been following along will note that, despite the warnings of many would-be Nostradamuses, production is still on the rise and previous dead-end predictions have been pushed back.

The difficulty with estimating the amount of oil available for human use comes from varying definitions about how we should calculate our potential reserves. For example, one of the most-cited estimates comes from BPs BP prediction made on World Energy Day in 2014; based on reserve estimates of 1.688 trillion barrels, BP claimed the earth has enough oil left for about 53 more years at current production levels.

However, BPs estimate relies heavily on proved reserves. This is a method of calculating how much drillable oil that we know of is under the ground. Every country calculates their proved reserves differently, but the figure is typically a representation of the amount of oil that companies think they can bring up using existing technology while still turning a profit.

Previous predictions that would have had oil reserves completely tapped by now were wrong because both production and proved reserves increased consistently. To clarify, the amount of oil that actually exists on the planet is significantly larger than the amount of oil that we currently think we can drill. Therefore, we may have significantly more than 53 years of oil remaining if drilling technologies can improve to the point that recovering the more difficult to reach oil becomes economically feasible.

Story continues

Heres an interesting chart from the U.S. Energy Information Administration that should help you visualize what the amount of oil on Earth looks like:

BPs estimates are based on reserve estimates using todays drilling technologies. One need only to look at the advent of fracking and the increase in shale oil production to realize just how much these methods can change in a relatively short period of time.

Another thing to consider is that we are still discovering massive deposits of oil that were otherwise not known of. Last November, the U.S. Geological Survey announced that it discovered the biggest deposit of untapped oil in the United States. Located in the Wolfcamp shale formation in Texas, the new oil field has an estimated average of 20 billion barrels of oil.

To put that in perspective, the Prudhoe Bay formation in Alaskathe largest producing oil field in North America to datehas only produced roughly 12 billion barrels of oil in the past 43 years. The East Texas Field, which is the biggest producing oil field in the lower 48 states, has produced just over 7 billion barrels of oil since the 1930s.

Nevertheless, oil discoveries are slowing down. In fact, new data from the International Energy Agency suggests that conventional oil discovery investments fell to their lowest level in more than 70 years. Also the volume of resources sanctioned for development fell to 4.7 billion barrels last year, a drop of more than 30% year-over-year.

Notably, the IEA said that new activity in the offshore sector, which is considered a crucial component of future global supplies, was particularly weak. Only about 13% of all conventional resources sanctioned in 2016 were offshore, compared with an average of more than 40% over the previous 15 years.

For more on the future of the oil industry and the recent discovery in Texas, check out this episode of the Zacks Friday Finish Line podcast. The hosts discussed the new oil find and what it could mean for the near-term and long-term outlook of the energy business:

Want more stock market analysis from this author? Make sure to follow @Ryan_McQueeney on Twitter!

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North Korea has reportedly developed a more advanced reconnaissance satellite and may be able to move it on a mobile launcher. Named the Kwangmyongsong-5, the satellite is equipped with cameras and telecommunication devices, South Korean newspaper the JoongAng Ilbo said this week , citing an unnamed government source. JoongAng Ilbo's report suggested the Kwangmyongsong-5 could transmit data to Earth, unlike its previous satellites. The rogue state's last rocket launch was in February 2016, when it sent an Earth observation satellite known as the Kwangmyongsong-4 into orbit. Many fear that the pariah state, which is supposed to be banned from launches using ballistic missile technology, is testing long-range missiles disguised as satellite launches. Still, Pyongyang has long defended its right to develop a space program. In October, North Korea's deputy United Nations ambassador, Kim In Ryong, said his country had a plan to develop "practical satellites that can contribute to the economic development and improvement of the people's living."The Kwangmyongsong-5 could be deployed by a mobile launcher, an official from South Korea's National Intelligence Service told the newspaper. Pyongyang usually launches rockets from the Sohae Satellite Launching Station, which is near the country's northern border with China . North Korea has reportedly developed a more advanced reconnaissance satellite and may be able to move it on a mobile launcher. Named the Kwangmyongsong-5, the satellite is equipped with cameras and telecommunication devices, South Korean newspaper the JoongAng Ilbo said this week , citing an unnamed government source. JoongAng Ilbo's report suggested the Kwangmyongsong-5 could transmit data to Earth, unlike its previous satellites. The rogue state's last rocket launch was in February 2016, when it sent an Earth observation satellite known as the Kwangmyongsong-4 into orbit. Many fear that the pariah state, which is supposed to be banned from launches using ballistic missile technology, is testing long-range missiles disguised as satellite launches. Still, Pyongyang has long defended its right to develop a space program. In October, North Korea's deputy United Nations ambassador, Kim In Ryong, said his country had a plan to develop "practical satellites that can contribute to the economic development and improvement of the people's living." The Kwangmyongsong-5 could be deployed by a mobile launcher, an official from South Korea's National Intelligence Service told the newspaper. Pyongyang usually launches rockets from the Sohae Satellite Launching Station, which is near the country's northern border with China .



More From CNBC


Gold futures moved sharply higher on Tuesday to a more than three-week high when investors returned after the extended Christmas holiday week-end. The rally was fueled by a weaker U.S. Dollar and increased demand for metals.

February Comex Gold futures settled at $1287.50, up $8.70 or +0.68%.

Comex Gold

Prices were also supported by a lackluster trade in U.S. equity markets. Geopolitical tensions may have also helped underpin the market. Gains may have been limited by a rise in U.S. Treasury yields.

On Tuesday, stocks closed lower across the board. U.S. equities have been losing ground since the passage of the largest tax reform bill in 30 years last week.

North Korea was in the news. On Tuesday, the United States announced sanctions on two North Korean officials behind their countrys ballistic missile program on Tuesday, while Russia reiterated an offer to mediate to ease tensions between Washington and Pyongyang.

Russia is ready to act as a mediator between North Korea and the United States if both parties are willing for it to play such a role, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

In other news, the U.S. Commodity Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday reported that hedge funds and money managers had increased their net long stance in gold in the week to December 19.

Forecast

Gold prices are trading slightly lower early Wednesday. Volume is expected to continue to come in on the light side which means we may see another session of exaggerated moves. The market is within striking distance of a major 50% level at $1290.20. This is the last barrier before the last main top at $1303.40.

Technical factors are also helping to drive prices higher. Hedge fund buying is getting more aggressive now that gold has crossed to strong side of the 200-day moving average.

Wednesday is North Koreas Constitution Day Holiday so we may see some hedging against a negative geopolitical event.

Look for gold to strengthen over $1290.20 and weaken under $1278.50.

This article was originally posted on FX Empire

More From FXEMPIRE:
When Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico on Sept. 20, the U.S. territory suffered a nearly complete loss of running water, electricity and access to food or healthcare. Despite the handful of relief efforts by different organizations, the lack of government support amid the disaster has further delayed the island's recovery. American self-made millionaire and philanthropist Marcus Lemonis typically showcases small businesses he helps turn around on CNBC's "The Profit ," but he follows a different approach on this week's special episode, "The Profit in Puerto Rico: An American Crisis." Six weeks after the natural disaster, Lemonis visited the hurricane-ravaged island to see the damage for himself and get his friends out of there. He expected he would see recovery on the island, but what he saw instead left him "stunned.""For the 3.5 million people here  American citizens  this is nothing less than a humanitarian crisis," Lemonis said.After exploring Puerto Rico's capital and the centrally based municipality Utuado, Lemonis encountered these three facets of life in Puerto Rico that led him to declare Puerto Rico a "war zone."Persistent medical professionalsLemonis visited the Puerto Rico National Guard base in Utuado, where members are working to help some of the hardest hit regions of the island.Volunteering with the National Guard are three medical workers  a psychologist, nurse and doctor  who travel for more than half a day at a time to reach only a handful of sickly patients who are stranded at their homes."They started as strangers; now they call themselves the three musketeers united by [Hurricane] Maria," Lemonis said.The illnesses the medical workers said they have seen the most include respiratory issues, hypertension, diabetes and post-traumatic stress disorder."As the days without power wear on, some people are losing hope," Lemonis said, while "depression, anxiety and suicides are on the rise."After watching the doctors treat an elderly woman who suffers from high blood pressure and needs surgery, Lemonis admitted he had difficulty watching."Someone like [her] could be our grandmother, or our mother, our neighbor, how do you mentally  I mean, honestly I couldn't  like, it was hard for me to be there. Honestly, how do you do it?" Lemonis said."How do you not break down? Is there hope?" Lemonis later asked."There's always hope," one said. "Help needs to continue. What is important is to show [that] really this is the other side. many people have seen the devastation. But few people have seen that we are really working."Struggling business ownersMost businesses were still closed in both Old San Juan (usually the most popular tourist destination on the island) and other commercial areas Lemonis visited. The few small businesses that were open were using power generators, but they still saw significantly lower foot traffic."Old San Juan is on life support, hemorrhaging money," Lemonis said, noting that each closed business in the area could be forgoing almost $7 million a month.Lemonis met Peter Schintler, a local restaurant owner who grew up in Iowa but had been running his business in Puerto Rico for 13 years. Schintler invested $2.5 million into his business, which was destroyed after the hurricane. Though he had enough operating cash for his restaurant to open up again, Schintler told Lemonis he was willing to sell his home and his car to really restore his restaurant to what it once was."My home doesn't define me. My business does more so than my home," Schintler said. "I spent 13 years of my life here. My friends don't visit me in my house. They visit me in my restaurant."Lemonis promised to return to the restaurant and told Schintler he should be proud of himself."You really should. Not a lot of business owners stick with it like you are," Lemonis said.Locals leaving the islandToday, there are more Puerto Ricans on the mainland U.S. than in Puerto Rico itself, Lemonis said, so he set out to discover why.He visited a shipping company that migrating Puerto Ricans were using to ship their personal items to different states  Florida, Mississippi, New York, Kentucky and South Dakota.When Lemonis took a look at the cars in the shipping company parking lot, he noted the higher-end cars these migrating citizens were driving. About 47 percent of Puerto Rico is under the poverty level, Lemonis noted, meaning the Puerto Ricans fleeing the island were part of the 53 percent over the poverty level.One couple leaving the island was headed to Chicago, where they were born and raised, but felt like they were betraying Puerto Rico, their home of 23 years. They were the last family remaining in their town of Lares, but six weeks without water, power or phones had worn them down.When Lemonis further investigated the unrestored electrical grid, a member of the Army Corps of Engineers said they were working as hard as they could on repairs."This would never happen on the mainland," Lemonis said. "No water, no food, no medical, no power. It's a war zone." Like this story? Like CNBC Make It on Facebook . Don't miss:These 4 colleges are enrolling Puerto Rican students tuition-free When Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico on Sept. 20, the U.S. territory suffered a nearly complete loss of running water, electricity and access to food or healthcare. Despite the handful of relief efforts by different organizations, the lack of government support amid the disaster has further delayed the island's recovery. American self-made millionaire and philanthropist Marcus Lemonis typically showcases small businesses he helps turn around on CNBC's "The Profit ," but he follows a different approach on this week's special episode, "The Profit in Puerto Rico: An American Crisis." Six weeks after the natural disaster, Lemonis visited the hurricane-ravaged island to see the damage for himself and get his friends out of there. He expected he would see recovery on the island, but what he saw instead left him "stunned." "For the 3.5 million people here  American citizens  this is nothing less than a humanitarian crisis," Lemonis said. After exploring Puerto Rico's capital and the centrally based municipality Utuado, Lemonis encountered these three facets of life in Puerto Rico that led him to declare Puerto Rico a "war zone." Persistent medical professionals Lemonis visited the Puerto Rico National Guard base in Utuado, where members are working to help some of the hardest hit regions of the island. Volunteering with the National Guard are three medical workers  a psychologist, nurse and doctor  who travel for more than half a day at a time to reach only a handful of sickly patients who are stranded at their homes. "They started as strangers; now they call themselves the three musketeers united by [Hurricane] Maria," Lemonis said. The illnesses the medical workers said they have seen the most include respiratory issues, hypertension, diabetes and post-traumatic stress disorder. "As the days without power wear on, some people are losing hope," Lemonis said, while "depression, anxiety and suicides are on the rise." After watching the doctors treat an elderly woman who suffers from high blood pressure and needs surgery, Lemonis admitted he had difficulty watching. "Someone like [her] could be our grandmother, or our mother, our neighbor, how do you mentally  I mean, honestly I couldn't  like, it was hard for me to be there. Honestly, how do you do it?" Lemonis said. "How do you not break down? Is there hope?" Lemonis later asked. "There's always hope," one said. "Help needs to continue. What is important is to show [that] really this is the other side. many people have seen the devastation. But few people have seen that we are really working." Struggling business owners Most businesses were still closed in both Old San Juan (usually the most popular tourist destination on the island) and other commercial areas Lemonis visited. The few small businesses that were open were using power generators, but they still saw significantly lower foot traffic. "Old San Juan is on life support, hemorrhaging money," Lemonis said, noting that each closed business in the area could be forgoing almost $7 million a month. Lemonis met Peter Schintler, a local restaurant owner who grew up in Iowa but had been running his business in Puerto Rico for 13 years. Schintler invested $2.5 million into his business, which was destroyed after the hurricane. Though he had enough operating cash for his restaurant to open up again, Schintler told Lemonis he was willing to sell his home and his car to really restore his restaurant to what it once was. "My home doesn't define me. My business does more so than my home," Schintler said. "I spent 13 years of my life here. My friends don't visit me in my house. They visit me in my restaurant." Lemonis promised to return to the restaurant and told Schintler he should be proud of himself. "You really should. Not a lot of business owners stick with it like you are," Lemonis said. Locals leaving the island Today, there are more Puerto Ricans on the mainland U.S. than in Puerto Rico itself, Lemonis said, so he set out to discover why. He visited a shipping company that migrating Puerto Ricans were using to ship their personal items to different states  Florida, Mississippi, New York, Kentucky and South Dakota. When Lemonis took a look at the cars in the shipping company parking lot, he noted the higher-end cars these migrating citizens were driving. About 47 percent of Puerto Rico is under the poverty level, Lemonis noted, meaning the Puerto Ricans fleeing the island were part of the 53 percent over the poverty level. One couple leaving the island was headed to Chicago, where they were born and raised, but felt like they were betraying Puerto Rico, their home of 23 years. They were the last family remaining in their town of Lares, but six weeks without water, power or phones had worn them down. When Lemonis further investigated the unrestored electrical grid, a member of the Army Corps of Engineers said they were working as hard as they could on repairs. "This would never happen on the mainland," Lemonis said. "No water, no food, no medical, no power. It's a war zone." Like this story? Like CNBC Make It on Facebook . Don't miss: These 4 colleges are enrolling Puerto Rican students tuition-free



More From CNBC


FILE PHOTO - Filled oil drums are seen at Royal Dutch Shell Plc's lubricants blending plant in the town of Torzhok, north-west of Tver, November 7, 2014. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin/File Photo

(Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell Plc said it expects recently enacted U.S. tax reform legislation to have a "favourable" impact on its operations.

The change in U.S. tax legislation, which is a reduction to 21 percent from 35 percent, will affect Shell's fourth-quarter 2017 results but added the "analysis of the actual impact is not yet complete."

The Anglo-Dutch company said it expects to provide details of the impact of the tax reform, which is effective from Jan. 1, in its fourth-quarter 2017 results.

However, Shell said it would have incurred a charge to earnings of $2.0 to 2.5 billion, on the basis of its third-quarter statements.

On Dec. 22, U.S. President Donald Trump signed the $1.5 trillion tax overhaul into law, cutting tax rates for businesses and offering some temporary cuts for some individuals and families.

(Reporting by Justin George Varghese in Bengaluru, editing by Louise Heavens)
HOUSTON, TEXAS--(Marketwired - Dec 1, 2017) - TC PipeLines, LP (TCP) (the Partnership) will participate at the 16th Annual Wells Fargo Pipeline, MLP and Utility Symposium on Wednesday, December 6, 2017 in New York City. Brandon Anderson, President of TC PipeLines GP, Inc., the Partnership's general partner, will attend and meet with investors during the conference.

A copy of the meeting materials will be available on the morning of December 6, 2017 on the Investor Center section of the Partnership's website at http://www.tcpipelineslp.com/events-and-presentations.html.

About TC PipeLines, LP

TC PipeLines, LP is a Delaware master limited partnership with interests in eight federally regulated U.S. interstate natural gas pipelines which serve markets in the Western, Midwestern and Northeastern United States. The Partnership is managed by its general partner, TC PipeLines GP, Inc., a subsidiary of TransCanada Corporation (TRP). For more information about TC PipeLines, LP, visit the Partnership's website at www.tcpipelineslp.com.
Here are four stocks with buy rank and strong income characteristics for investors to consider today, December 26th:

Flowers Foods, Inc. (FLO): This producer of bakery products has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings advancing 1.2% over the last 60 days.

Flowers Foods, Inc. Price and Consensus

Flowers Foods, Inc. Price and Consensus

Flowers Foods, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Flowers Foods, Inc. Quote

This Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company has a dividend yield of 3.46%, compared with the industry average of 0.00%. Its five-year average dividend yield is 2.74%.

Flowers Foods, Inc. Dividend Yield (TTM)

Flowers Foods, Inc. Dividend Yield (TTM)

Flowers Foods, Inc. dividend-yield-ttm | Flowers Foods, Inc. Quote

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS): This operator of integrated resorts has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 1.1% over the last 60 days.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. Price and Consensus

Las Vegas Sands Corp. Price and Consensus

Las Vegas Sands Corp. price-consensus-chart | Las Vegas Sands Corp. Quote

This Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company has a dividend yield of 4.19%, compared with the industry average of 0.00%. Its five-year average dividend yield is 3.97%.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. Dividend Yield (TTM)

Las Vegas Sands Corp. Dividend Yield (TTM)

Las Vegas Sands Corp. dividend-yield-ttm | Las Vegas Sands Corp. Quote

Medifast, Inc. (MED): This producer of weight loss and weight management products has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings advancing 2.4% over the last 60 days.

MEDIFAST INC Price and Consensus

MEDIFAST INC Price and Consensus

MEDIFAST INC price-consensus-chart | MEDIFAST INC Quote

This Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company has a dividend yield of 2.64%, compared with the industry average of 0.00%. Its five-year average dividend yield is 1.07%.

MEDIFAST INC Dividend Yield (TTM)

MEDIFAST INC Dividend Yield (TTM)

MEDIFAST INC dividend-yield-ttm | MEDIFAST INC Quote

SunCoke Energy Partners, L.P. (SXCP): This master limited partnership firm has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 2.5% over the last 60 days.

SunCoke Energy Partners, L.P. Price and Consensus

SunCoke Energy Partners, L.P. Price and Consensus

SunCoke Energy Partners, L.P. price-consensus-chart | SunCoke Energy Partners, L.P. Quote

Story continues

This Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company has a dividend yield of 13.54%, compared with the industry average of 0.00%. Its five-year average dividend yield is 12.52%.

SunCoke Energy Partners, L.P. Dividend Yield (TTM)

SunCoke Energy Partners, L.P. Dividend Yield (TTM)

SunCoke Energy Partners, L.P. dividend-yield-ttm | SunCoke Energy Partners, L.P. Quote

See the full list of top ranked stocks here.

Find more top income stocks with some of our great premium screens.

Zacks Editor-in-Chief Goes "All In" on This Stock

Full disclosure, Kevin Matras now has more of his own money in one particular stock than in any other. He believes in its short-term profit potential and also in its prospects to more than double by 2019. Today he reveals and explains his surprising move in a new Special Report.

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BOJA vs. SBUX: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

Given the recent run-up in the market, here's a screen I've been using recently for my own stock picking.

First, it focuses on the top Zacks Ranked Sectors and Industries. Then it focuses on the Zacks Rank #1s, #2s and #3s, which are Strong Buys, Buys and Holds, respectively. But then it selects the outperforming stocks with the smallest percentage price change over the last 4 weeks.

Why would I do something like that?

Here's why.

You've probably heard the old adage that roughly half of a stock's price movement can be attributed to the group that it's in. And that's true. In fact, oftentimes, even a mediocre stock in a top group will outperform a top stock in a poor group for this very reason.

Now, take a look at any top group. You'll see plenty of fantastic stocks with some impressive price gains in there. But not every stock in every group moves in lockstep at the exact same time. Some will move more than others at any given time.

So by focusing on the stocks with the smallest percentage price change with fundamentals that are just as good as those making the biggest price change, you might find yourself getting into the stocks ready to make the biggest potential catch-up move.

Here's how to set up that screen:

 Best Zacks Ranked Sectors -- Best 8

We're screening for only those stocks with the best (lowest) average Zacks Rank. With 16 sectors, the best 8 sectors give us the best 50% of sectors.

 Best Zacks Ranked Industries -- Best 132

Next step is to get only the best Zacks Ranked Industries coming thru. Since there are 264 'X' or expanded industries we look at, the best 132 will give us the best 50% of industries. But note that only the industries that also happen to be in the top sectors will get thru. If an industry is ranked as one of the best but it's outside of the top sector rank, it will not get thru.

 Zacks Rank less than or equal to 3

Now the screen gets narrowed down even more by looking at only the Zacks Rank #1s, #2s and #3s. No Sells or Strong Sells (Zacks Rank #4s and #5s) allowed.

Story continues

 Price and Avg. Volume greater than or equal to $5 and 100,000 shares

Only stocks over $5 with at least an average of 100,0000 shares traded daily will be considered.

 Relative % Price Change -- 4 Weeks greater than 0

This means we're screening for only those stocks that have outperformed the market (S&P 500) over the last 4 weeks.

 % Change in Price -- 4 Weeks: Bottom 50

Then finally we're scanning for the bottom 50 stocks with the lowest percentage price change over the last 4 weeks. So while all of these stocks have outperformed the market, they increased in price less than their peers.

So each one of these stocks is in a top Sector and top Industry within that Sector. This alone will tip the odds of success in your favor by a great deal when you consider that the best Zacks Ranked groups outperform the worst ones by a factor of 2 to 1.

Then by selecting those stocks with the best Zacks Rank along with the best price performance over the last 4 weeks, you now have only a list of winners from which to choose from.

And from that list of winners, we're selecting the ones that have gained less than their peers on that list. Remember, these stocks arent 'dogs' or unresponsive stocks. Quite the contrary; they have all outperformed the market. It just so happens that they increased less than the others on the list. But because they are a top rated stock in a top rated industry, we've singled these out as the ones that could make the biggest move to 'catch-up' to the others.

It's an interesting screen that has generated a lot of great names.

Here are 5 from that list:

BK Bank of New York Mellon Corp.

F Ford

INFY Infosys

WSBC WesBanco

XOM Exxon Mobil

All great looking stocks that seem to have lots more upside in store for them.

Get the rest of the stocks on the list and start putting this and other ideas to the test. It can all be done with the Research Wizard stock picking and backtesting software.

Click here to sign up for a free trial to the Research Wizard today.

Want more articles from this author? Scroll up to the top of this article and click the FOLLOW AUTHOR button to get an email each time a new article is published.

Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.

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CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwired - Dec 27, 2017) - News Release - TransCanada Corporation (TRP) (TRP) (TransCanada) today announced that it has entered into an agreement to sell its outstanding U.S. retail power contracts to EDF Energy Services, LLC.

Today's announcement is part of the continued wind down of TransCanada's Power Marketing Ltd. (TCPM) operations. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2018 subject to certain regulatory and other approvals.

With more than 65 years' experience, TransCanada is a leader in the responsible development and reliable operation of North American energy infrastructure including natural gas and liquids pipelines, power generation and gas storage facilities. TransCanada operates one of the largest natural gas transmission networks that extends more than 91,500 kilometres (56,900 miles), tapping into virtually all major gas supply basins in North America. TransCanada is the continent's leading provider of gas storage and related services with 653 billion cubic feet of storage capacity. A large independent power producer, TransCanada currently owns or has interests in approximately 6,200 megawatts of power generation in Canada and the United States. TransCanada is also the developer and operator of one of North America's leading liquids pipeline systems that extends approximately 4,800 kilometres (3,000 miles), connecting growing continental oil supplies to key markets and refineries. TransCanada's common shares trade on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges under the symbol TRP. Visit TransCanada.com to learn more, or connect with us on social media and 3BL Media.

FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This publication contains certain information that is forward-looking and is subject to important risks and uncertainties (such statements are usually accompanied by words such as "anticipate", "expect", "believe", "may", "will", "should", "estimate", "intend" or other similar words). Forward-looking statements in this document are intended to provide TransCanada security holders and potential investors with information regarding TransCanada and its subsidiaries, including management's assessment of TransCanada's and its subsidiaries' future plans and financial outlook. All forward-looking statements reflect TransCanada's beliefs and assumptions based on information available at the time the statements were made and as such are not guarantees of future performance. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information, which is given as of the date it is expressed in this news release, and not to use future-oriented information or financial outlooks for anything other than their intended purpose. TransCanada undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information except as required by law. For additional information on the assumptions made, and the risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ from the anticipated results, refer to the Quarterly Report to Shareholders dated November 8, 2017 and 2016 Annual Report filed under TransCanada's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov.
Uber Toussaint Wattinne

Business Insider UK/Sam Shead

Uber's food-delivery business is called UberEats.

It was born in Los Angeles in 2013 and is on target to take $3 billion in sales, according to a recent report in the Financial Times.

Toussaint Wattinne, an UberEats general manager, told Business Insider how the subsidiary had become such a success so quickly.



Uber's fast-growing food-delivery business is now bigger and more important than Uber's conventional taxi business in numerous cities across the world.

Uber told Business Insider that UberEats was bigger than Uber's transportation app in 19 European cities, and Toussaint Wattinne, a general manager for UberEats in London, described UberEats as among the world's fastest-growing food-delivery services.

"When we attribute our growth and try to improve our service, the first thing that plays a big role is the restaurant selection we're able to provide," Wattinne said at Uber's London office in the Aldgate neighborhood. The office has about 45 UberEats employees, a figure that is expected to grow by about 50% in 2018.

Fueled by the billions of dollars that Uber has raised from investors, UberEats operates in more than 30 countries. The UK is one of the largest geographical markets for UberEats, Wattinne said, adding that the service was live in 40 UK cities.

"We've partnered with over 8,000 restaurants now in the UK," he said. "The most popular brands on the platform range from McDonald's to Duck and Waffle to Pret and Prezzo. Being able to offer those restaurants is a key factor in people not only downloading the app and testing it for the first time but coming more often. As we grow this selection we see that people come to the app more often."

Wattinne added: "The second thing we look at is how quick and how reliable we are when we deliver your food. And so typically that's a strength of ours given our history of the logistics and the technology that we have in that regard. We are able to deliver  London is one of the fastest cities in the world  in under 25 minutes on most occasions."

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UberEats is bigger than Uber in Milan, Madrid, and Grenoble

UberEats now brings in more revenue than Uber's ride-hailing business in cities like Milan, Madrid, and Grenoble, France  three European cities where the business has doubled in size since launch.

The Uber subsidiary  born three years ago in Los Angeles as UberFresh  is on track to do $3 billion in sales by the end of the year, according to a leaked document seen by the Financial Times. UberEats reportedly had a turnover of $700 million (527 million) to $870 million (656 million) for the second quarter of this year, while Uber's total gross bookings during the period were $8.7 billion (6.6 billion).

Wattinne refused to comment on the report or go into any detail about UberEats' financials. "They're healthy and they're very promising," he said. Wattinne also refused to disclose how many meals UberEats delivered a day and what the average size was for each order.

mcdonalds jureskog

McDonald'sA rival, Deliveroo, has roughly 2,000 active couriers in the UK and takes a commission of about 30% on all orders made through its app. Some analysts, however, have questioned whether companies like UberEats and Deliveroo can be profitable when the margins are so low, but Wattinne disputed this.

"When we think of margin it has to be from the courier, the restaurant, and the platform standpoint, as that's the only way we have a long-term business working," he said. "However, what we are seeing is very strong potential and very strong numbers in a number of markets already, and the UK is definitely on a very healthy trajectory. But in short, the business model is very healthy. There is room for all these three players to make a reasonable and quite decent margins."

Amid strong competition from companies like Amazon Restaurants and Deliveroo in the UK, UberEats is exploring how it can build customer loyalty. It hasn't ruled out the idea of introducing a paid-for subscription plan that would most likely give customers the opportunity to get their food delivered free of charge and may also give them access to more restaurants or special menus. Deliveroo introduced a subscription plan of its own this year, which costs 7.99 a month in the UK.

UberEats has no plans to open Deliveroo-style kitchens

One area where UberEats has no plans to follow Deliveroo is setting up its own kitchens and leasing them out to busy restaurants that need more space to handle takeaway orders.

"We're a tech company, and what we know how to do is provide the data and provide the technology and logistics infrastructure," Wattinne said. "We do not have the ambition to run our own kitchen, to operate our own real estate, or to start producing our own food. That's just not what we are best at."

But Uber seems keen to distance its food-delivery business from its main business. Uber has had a tough year. There are the accusations of corporate sexism. The video of its founder angrily berating a driver. The revealing of its secret "Greyball" software designed to evade authorities. Its executives obtaining the medical records of a rape victim. Lawsuits around the world. The resignation of CEO Travis Kalanick. The company also lost its operating license in London, though it is appealing.

Unlike Uber's ride-hailing business, UberEats has largely managed to stay out of the limelight since launching. The UberEats app, which uses the same payment card and profile information as the main Uber app, recently underwent a redesign, possibly in a bid to further distance itself from its naughty big brother.

"We want to make it clear and make it up front that it is a separate app, it's a separate experience, it's got its own advantages," Wattinne said. "Yes, we're on the same fundamentals of logistics, of efficiency, of speed of delivery. But we're bringing you an entirely new experience.

"You are going to get to experience new food, you are going to get to experience the best food around you, and so we want that to be front and center. So that's what this does by making 'Eats' a bit bigger and more front and center.

Prices could increase if UberEats is forced to classify couriers as workers

One potentially challenging issue is whether it will have to classify its couriers  who are paid about 4.50 for each delivery  as workers. Some couriers say they struggle to earn minimum wage on the UberEats app when it's quiet.

Asked to speculate how this would affect UberEats, Wattinne said: "It would change the operating model, which would very likely increase the cost structure due to the lower flexibility. And that value is lost and therefore needs to be redistributed somewhere, so, most likely, it might be the end user. Putting numbers behind that would be very, very hard."

In Wattinne's view, the environment isn't as toxic for those in the office as some media reports might lead people to believe.

"I don't think we've got a workaholic culture at all," he said. "When I started four years ago in Paris we were crunching like tons of hours and super-late nights. It was probably a little bit imbalanced. But I think it's improved a lot. As a company we've done a lot of effort both globally and at the UK level, so what that means is there probably aren't that many people in the office after 7:30 p.m., and those that are there are probably just there on a rare few occasions."

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John Main took the reins as CEO of Alligator Energy Limiteds (ASX:AGE) and grew market cap to A$5.37M recently. Recognizing whether CEO incentives are aligned with shareholders is a crucial part of investing. This is because, if incentives are aligned, more value is created for shareholders which directly impacts your returns as an investor. Today we will assess Mains pay and compare this to the companys performance over the same period, as well as measure it against other Australian CEOs leading companies of similar size and profitability. View our latest analysis for Alligator Energy

What has AGE performance been like?

Performance can be measured based on factors such as earnings and total shareholder return (TSR). I believe earnings is a cleaner proxy, since many factors can impact share price, and therefore, TSR. In the past year, AGE released negative earnings of -A$2.1M . However, this is an improvement on prior years loss of -A$9.7M, which may signal a turnaround since AGE has been loss-making for the past five years, on average, with an EPS of -A$0.01. Since earnings are heading towards the right direction, CEO pay should be reflective of Mains valued-adding activities. In the same year, Mains total remuneration remained stable at A$59,130 since the previous year.

ASX:AGE Past Future Earnings Dec 26th 17

Is AGE overpaying the CEO?

While no standard benchmark exists, as compensation should be tailored to the specific company and market, we can evaluate a high-level yardstick to see if AGE is an outlier. This outcome helps investors ask the right question about Mains incentive alignment. Normally, an Australian small-cap is worth around $140M, produces earnings of $10M, and remunerates its CEO at roughly $500,000 per year. Typically Id use market cap and profit as factors determining performance, however, AGEs negative earnings lower the effectiveness of this method. Looking at the range of compensation for small-cap executives, it seems like Main is being paid within the bounds of reasonableness. Overall, although AGE is unprofitable, it seems like the CEOs pay is appropriate.

What this means for you:

Are you a shareholder? Hopefully this article has given you insight on how shareholders should think about AGEs governance policies such as CEO pay. As an investor, you have the right to understand how the board thinks about management incentives, and also the right to vote for and against substantial CEO pay changes. Governance is a big factor in investing, and I encourage you to dig deeper into those that represent your voice on the board. To find out more about AGEs governance, look through our infographic report of the companys board and management.

Are you a potential investor? Board members are the voice of shareholders. Although CEO pay doesnt necessarily make a big dent in your investment thesis in AGE, proper governance on behalf of your investment should be a key concern. These decisions made by top management and directors flow down into financials which impact returns to investors. To research more about these fundamentals, I recommend you check out our simple infographic report on AGEs financial metrics.

PS. If you are not interested in Alligator Energy anymore, you can use our free platform to see my list of over 50 sustainable companies producing great returns.

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.
On Dec 27, Charter Communications Inc CHTR was upgraded to a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Charter Communications is the second largest cable multi service operator (MSO) in the United States after Comcast Corporation CMCSA.

Lets have a look at the catalysts that led to the stocks upgradation.

Bullish Developments

Charter Communications intends to venture in the U.S. wireless industry with the launch of wireless services in 2018. Notably, the company inked an agreement with national telecom behemoth Verizon Communications to operate as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). The company will utilize Verizons wireless network along with its WiFi network to offer mobile services. On May 8, Charter Communications and Comcast announced their joint wireless venture to better explore their opportunities, accelerate and enhance each others ability to participate in the national wireless marketplace.

Charter Communications has plans to execute field trials for the upcoming 5G wireless network. Notably, these trials were backed by spectrum test licenses granted to the company by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the U.S. telecom regulator.

The twin buyout of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks have strengthened the companys foothold in hybrid fiber coax (HFC) and fiber networks. The company is adopting various initiatives to improve Spectrum products and cloud-based user interfaces.

The company witnesses growth in residential and commercial internet as well as voice customer addition, which is evident from increase in revenues and subscriber gain. Further, investments in business services division and rollout of several initiatives will drive upcoming results.

The companys recent activities look promising and likely to add to its prospects.

Charters Latest Deals

On Dec 13, Altice USA, Charter Communications and Comcast announced a preliminary agreement to form a new Interconnect in the New York market. This will provide a one-stop advertising solution to reach more than 6.2 million households across the New York DMA  the largest advertising market in the country. For marketers, agencies and advertisers, the new Interconnect will provide an enhanced way to strategically reach audiences through TV and digital platforms. The Interconnect is expected to be launched in second-quarter 2018.

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On Dec 11, Charter Communications settled a year-long content licensing dispute with Univision Communications Inc. Per sources, Univision agreed to dismiss the case against Charter Communications. The companies have informed the court about the settlement. However, the terms of the deal have been kept under wraps.

On Nov 30, Charter Communications and Altice USA Inc ATUS have reportedly inked an agreement to broadcast respective regional cable news networks. Per the deal, Charter will telecast i24NEWS, which was launched by Altice USA in January. The channel is available on Altice USAs Optimum and Suddenlink systems. Meanwhile, Charters Spectrum News NY1 will be available to Optimum users in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

On Nov 15, Charter Communications and Viacom Inc. VIAB announced a multi-year renewal and expansion deal of their distribution relationship. The companies formed an alliance for the co-production of original content and collaboration around advanced advertising.

Price Performance

The company portrays an impressive price performance backed by positive prospects, latest ventures and opportunities. On a year-to-date basis, the stock has returned 18.3% compared with the industrys rally of 13.4%.

Estimates Trending Up

We note that the sales and Earnings Per Share (EPS) estimate for Charter Communications has moved up for fourth-quarter 2017 and first-quarter 2018.

Sales growth for fourth-quarter 2017 and first-quarter 2018 are estimated to rise 3.1% and 4.4%, respectively. For 2018, sales are expected to improve 4.9%.

The EPS growth for fourth-quarter 2017 and first-quarter 2018 is estimated to increase 167.1% and 54.2%, respectively. For full-year 2018, EPS is expected to soar 150.6%.

Downturns

Despite such positives, Charter Communications presence in a saturated and competitive multi-channel U.S. video market is a concern. Like other cable operators, the company continues to lose subscribers to online video streaming service providers such as Netflix, Hulu.com, YouTube etc. because of their cheap source of TV programming. Notably, in third-quarter 2017, the company lost 1,04,000 video customers in the residential segment. The company will continue to witness subscriber loss in the upcoming quarter as well.

Further, gaining customers from competitors is a difficult task as most pay-TV operators are offering innovative packages. Moreover, the U.S. pay-TV industry is affected by the ongoing massive consolidation between telecom and cable-TV operators.

Charter Communications high debt level is a potential hazard. At the end of the third quarter, the company had $2,164 million of cash and cash equivalents and $68,132 million of outstanding debt compared with $1,535 million and $62,464 million, respectively, in the year-ago quarter. The debt-to-capitalization ratio at the end of the reported quarter was 0.61 compared with 0.54 at the end of 2016.

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Attorney Tony Buzbee examining his new WWII tank.[/caption] The wealth Tony Buzbee has amassed during the course of becoming one of Houstons most successful plaintiffs attorneys has allowed him to indulge by purchasing expensive and unusual itemseverything from a WWII Sherman tank to rare works of art. And now a Dallas woman faces a felony criminal charge for wrecking $300,000 worth of paintings and sculptures in his River Oaks home last weekend. Lindy Lou Layman, a 29-year-old Dallas woman who lists her occupation as a freelance court reporter on her LinkedIn profile, was arrested and charged with criminal mischief for destroying three original paintings and two abstract sculptures at the attorneys house. According to the criminal complaint filed against Layman on Dec. 23, Layman allegedly tore paintings off the wall with her hands and threw the sculptures across the room. She also allegedly poured an unspecified liquid on top of the paintings. Layman was arrested and released from jail after posting a $30,000 bond on Dec. 24 and is set to face her first court appearance on Thursday. Buzbee said that Layman came to his home with others and that he had not met her prior to that evening. "She at some point appeared too intoxicated and she was asked to leave. She wouldnt and got angry because she didnt want to leave. The police dealt with it," Buzbee said. "Its not the first time Ive had guests at a party of mine over imbibe. Most leave when you ask them. She didnt." Buzbee said the incident could have been worse. "I collect art. I dont want it damaged," Buzbee said. "She also pulled a Renoir and a Monet off the wall. Luckily those werent damaged." Natalie Ware, a Harris County assistant public defender who is representing Layman, did not immediately return a call for comment. Layman could not be located for comment. A former U.S. Marine who served in the Persian Gulf War, Buzbee made news this year when he bought an M4 Sherman tank that landed on the beach in Normandy with the U.S. Armed Forces during WWII. In 2010, Buzbee also got attention when he got rid of some of his wealth by donating 13 exotic cars worth an estimated $3.5 million to the Jesse Tree, a Galveston nonprofit that assists underprivileged people with health care and social services. I turned 42. And I obviously can buy whatever I want. And I decided, how long am I really going to ride around in a Lamborghini? Buzbee said at the time. You can only own so many cars, and you can only drive one at a time, unless youre really talented. And Im not that talented.
A woman who claims United Airlines gave her first-class seat to a Congresswoman says the airline has not apologized.

Jean-Marie Simon reportedly spent 140,000 miles for a first-class ticket from Washington, D.C., to Guatemala and back. Simon claims United Airlines gave away her seat to Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) on the Dec. 18 connecting flight to Washington on her return trip, without her permission; via Twitter, she shared pictures of Lee sitting in what Simon said was her seat. The airline denies it did so, saying their system showed Simons ticket had been cancelled through their app after the flight was delayed by bad weather.

Simon was re-seated on the same flight in Economy Plus and given a $500 travel voucher at the gate, but what she wants is an official, written apology from the airline. She added on Twitter that a low level employee at a call center had said he was sorry over the phone, but that United corporate had not apologised.

SFC + NYP articles claim "apology" from United and $500 as apology wrong. United phone agent apologized, no apology from corporate United. $500 voucher was from exasperated gate agent who originally offered $300 and gave me ultimatum to take the $500 or have plane leave w/o me.

 Jean-Marie Simon (@JeanMarieSimon1) December 26, 2017

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

The incident, which came to light during one of the years busiest travel seasons, tapped into widespread consumer resentment over airline customer service. Still, even if United did intentionally downgrade Simon, the explanation might not be as sinister as she suggests. There are several reasons why airlines sometimes downgrade passengers, from simple overbooking of the first class cabin to a last-minute change in the aircraft used for the flight. Its up to the passenger to argue for compensation in these cases, as compensation requirements apply to delays in travel due to overbooking, not seat changes.

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Uniteds own Contract of Carriage indicates that If a Passenger is downgraded from a class of service and is not re-accommodated in a seat in an equal or greater class of service for which a fee has been paid, the Passenger is eligible for a refund of this fee. Its unclear whether the company considers miles a fee, in which case, a quarter of Simons flight could cost anywhere from approximately $35,000 to $1,225, depending how they were acquired. Still, if Simon herself cancelled the flight, as the airline claims, that would void that contract.

United has faced several scandals related to bumping passengers. Most notably, in April a doctor was violently dragged from his seat and deplaned against his will to make room for airline employees who were traveling to staff a different flight. In a separate case, a woman who was downgraded without explanation from Business Class to Economy earlier this year sued United for damages.

Elected officials have faced intense scrutiny this year with regard to their travel habits. Earlier this year Tom Price, the secretary of Health and Human Services, came under fire for the number of chartered flights he paid for with tax dollars; Price subsequently resigned. Some members of Congress have taken on the mantle of bringing down travel expenses. In recent years, two bills that would prohibit members of Congress from travelling first class at taxpayers expense have come to the floor. Neither has passed.
Cohen & Steers (CNS) reported earnings 30 days ago. What's next for the stock? We take a look at earnings estimates for some clues.

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL  December 27, 2017  Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include Verizon Communications Inc. VZ, AT&T Inc. T, Comcast Corp. CMCSA, DISH Network Corp. DISH and T-Mobile US Inc. TMUS.

Here are highlights from Tuesdays Analyst Blog:

U.S. Telecommunications Industry -- Looking Forward to 2018

It is turning out to be disappointing 2017 for the U.S. telecommunications industry. Cut-throat pricing competition resulting in lower ARPU (average revenue per user) and margins, massive investment for upcoming 5G wireless network and fiber optic buildout resulting in low free cash flow and intense competitive pressure shifted investors focus toward other growth-oriented industries in an overall bull market in 2017.

Year to date, telecom service provider industry has lost 0.73%. Although the telecom equipment manufacturer industry has gained 12.09%, it is still below the bench-mark S&P 500 index gain of 16.91%.

Will the telecom industry turnaround in 2018? The answer to this question depends on a spate of macro-economic and industry specific factors. Irrespective of a few positives and negatives, the industrys fate will also depends on court verdicts in some major cases.

Positive Factors

Upcoming fifth-generation (5G) superfast wireless networks will provide the primary impetus to the telecom industry. Verizon plans to launch next-generation 5G wireless residential broadband services in three-five U.S. markets in 2018. However, a full-phased 5G wireless network will be offered only in 2020. 5G wireless networks will be of utmost importance in the management of exponential growth in Internet-of-Things (IoT). In other words, IoT has the potential of becoming the numero uno factor in driving growth in the space.

Story continues

Accumulation of dark fiber will bolster telecom operators cell network density, consequently giving a boost to their mobile backhaul network. The densification of cell network will help carriers install and build 5G network. Adoption of small cells has increased due to the inconvenience of installing large towers in inaccessible areas. Small cells will be used to augment existing 4G LTE and upcoming 5G network and will primarily concentrate on high traffic locations like a business district or a shopping mall.

Internet TV streaming service is gradually gaining market traction in the United States. Of late, the legacy pay-TV industry has been facing stiff competition from online video streaming service providers. The low-cost over-the-top video streaming service has resulted in massive cord cutting that is currently threatening the pay-TV business model. Internet TV streaming has emerged as a strong alternative to counter this competitive threat.

President Donald Trumps proposed policy changes have made the overall economic outlook fairly bullish. The two pro-growth agendas of Trump, namely, significant cut in corporate tax and deregulation are major catalysts to the U.S. economy. We believe the U.S. telecommunications industry is going to be a major beneficiary.

The proposal to reduce corporate tax rate from 35% to 20% faced by telecom carriers would be immediately accretive to cash flow. Trumps tax proposal will result in a huge windfall for telecom operators. The carriers can utilize this money for 5G network R&D and its deployment.

The telecom industry is highly capital-intensive in nature. Therefore, the immediate expensing of investment in all tangible, intangible and real property (other than land) would significantly benefit telecom carriers. This would encourage telecom operators to increase investment for capital expenditure. Major proposals such as a pledge to spend $1 trillion in infrastructure projects over a period of 10 years coupled with the above-mentioned policy changes are likely to spur higher consumer spending.

Trump has stated that he wants to do away with nearly 75% of all governmental regulations during his term as the President. We believe that the telecom industry will be one of the major beneficiaries of this policy change. A new Federal Communications Commission (FCC), headed by Ajit Pai, exercising lesser restrictions, certainly augurs well for the ISP (Internet Service Providers) industry.

Negative Factors

The U.S. wireless industry is likely to get competitive in 2018 with the entry of cable MSOs (multi service operators). Comcast has already entered this space with its Xfinity Mobile offering. Importantly, the company acquired 73 licenses in the band of 600 MHz auctioned by the FCC. We believe that in the future Comcast will deploy this spectrum for extensive wireless coverage.

Charter Communications has reiterated its plans of launching wireless service in the first half of next year. Further, DISH Network has created an extensive portfolio of spectrum, the most important component of wireless networks. The company boasts a portfolio of 80 MHz of radio frequencies of different bands which will be utilized to deploy 4G LTE wireless network in the top 100 U.S. markets.

Telecom operators wireline business is also struggling with persistent losses in access lines as a result of competitive pressure from voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) service providers and aggressive triple-play (voice, data and video) offerings by cable MSOs (multi service operators). These are weighing on the companys revenues and margins. Moreover, cord-cutting remains a major problem for all legacy pay-TV operators.

Internet TV streaming service market is quickly getting crowded. Moreover, a major concern for pay-TV operators, who recently entered into Internet TV streaming, is that the latter has actually cannibalized the legacy pay-TV service. Most of these companies are offering both legacy pay-TV services as well as Internet TV streaming service, with selected TV channels at lower costs.

Two Key Court Verdict is Awaiting

On Dec 14, 2017, in a landmark decision, the U.S. telecom regulator Federal Communications Commission (FCC) repealed the Net Neutrality laws that it had imposed under the Obama regime. There is little doubt that the ISP industry will be the major beneficiary after FCC dismantling Net Neutrality. Nevertheless, Net Neutrality supporters are preparing for a legal battle. The current FCC's less-restrictive regulatory attitude may also pave the way for new merger and acquisition deals between ISPs and online digital media companies. We expect this subject to remain a hot cake in the 2018 telecom space.

AT&T and media giant Time Warner are finally heading for a battle in court against the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2018 over their $85.4 billion big-ticket merger deal. On Nov 20, 2017, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against the telecom behemoth over its mega acquisition deal citing that the proposed deal will increase prices for rival pay-TV operators as well as subscribers. It will also act as a stumbling block for the development of online video. Recently, AT&T and DOJ once again engaged in a settlement talk which failed to resolve the issue unanimously.

We believe that the decision will have a strong bearing on the recent convergence trend in the telecom-cable TV-media space. Cable TV and telecom giants are foraying into the media industry with big ticket acquisitions. Technologically, we are moving from triple-play (voice-video-data) bundled services offering to quad play (voice-video-data-mobile) bundled offering. Video-on-demand is the new norm for telecom, cable TV and media industries. Technological advancements have enabled distributors to come up with different ways of bundling and disseminating content, effective content creation methods and creating new business models. The DOJs decision is a major concern for this new business model.

Stocks in Focus

We have zeroed in on five companies with strong long-term growth potential as these are poised to benefit the most in 2018 primarily due to their diversified product portfolio, lucrative product pipeline and strong cash flow. Each of these stocks carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Verizon Communications Inc.: The largest wireless operator in the United States has started conducting field trials for its upcoming 5G wireless network with partners. Verizon is planning to merge its Internet video service, Go 90, into other digital platforms. Oath is Verizons new company overseeing Yahoo and AOL, including more than 20 brands. It is also likely to unveil Internet TV streaming service next spring. Verizon has a long-term (three-five years) EPS (earnings per share) growth estimate of 2.82% and a dividend yield of 4.44%.

AT&T Inc.: The second largest wireless operator has also emerged a major pay-TV operator after its acquisition of DIRECTV offering both legacy satellite TV, fiber-based TV and online TV streaming services. At present, AT&T is awaiting the regulatory approval of its $85.4 billion mega media merger with Time Warner Inc. The company has strong foothold in Mexico, Brazil and a few other Latin American markets. AT&T has a long-term (three-five years) EPS growth estimate of 4.11% and a dividend yield of 5.03%.

Comcast Corp.: The largest cable MSO (multi service operator) in the United States entered the wireless arena in mid-2017. The foray into the wireless space will enable the company to have a platform for expanding its Internet TV service. The wireless venture is also aimed at retaining customers in this competitive world. Moreover, the NBC Universal media division of the company is performing well. Comcast has a long-term (three-five years) EPS growth estimate of 10.14% and a dividend yield of 1.54%.

DISH Network Corp.: The second largest satellite TV operator has created an extensive portfolio of spectrum, the most important component of wireless networks. The company also offers Internet TV streaming service. DISH Networks CEO Charlie Ergen has hinted that the company is interested in the potential deal-making to enter the wireless industry. At the same time, Ergen also stated that DISH Network has a clear plan of building a wireless network on its own. DISH Network has a long-term (three-five years) EPS growth estimate of 10.33%.

T-Mobile US Inc.: The leading national wireless service provider has decided to foray into the Internet TV streaming service in 2018. The companys network expansion and improvement plans, deployment of LTE-U technology and attractive unlimited data plans have helped it drive a significant number of new customers. It has decided to roll out 600 MHz wireless spectrum in its footprints and has conducted successful Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) tests live on its commercial network. T-Mobile US has a long-term (three-five years) EPS growth estimate of 22.26%.

Bottom Line

Telecommunications is one of the few industries to have seen rapid technological improvement even during the recession. Owing to the significance of this service as an infrastructure product, we expect the overall economic dynamics to shift in favor of the industry. At this stage, we believe that these five stocks are poised to capitalize on the growing opportunities in 2018.

Zacks Editor-in-Chief Goes "All In" on This Stock

Full disclosure, Kevin Matras now has more of his own money in one particular stock than in any other. He believes in its short-term profit potential and also in its prospects to more than double by 2019. Today he reveals and explains his surprising move in a new Special Report.

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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performancefor information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.



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India denounced Pakistan on December 26 over the treatment of the family of an Indian man sentenced to death for spying, saying they had been harassed during a visit -- a charge Pakistan called "baseless."

The Indian government accused Pakistani authorities of, among other things, refusing to return the shoes of the visiting wife of Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav after she turned them over to security for the visit.

Jadhav, a former officer in the Indian Navy, was arrested in March 2016 in the Pakistani province of Balochistan, where there has been a long-running conflict between security forces and separatists, and he was convicted of planning sabotage.

His wife and mother were allowed to see him behind a glass window on December 25, eight months after he was sentenced to death. But that gesture of goodwill may have only stoked long-running tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.

Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar said Jadhav's family was badly treated.

"The Pakistani press was allowed on multiple occasions to approach family members closely, harass and hector them, and hurl false and loaded accusations about Jadhav," Kumar said.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said it "categorically rejected" the accusations as "baseless" and called Jadhav "a convicted terrorist and spy, who has confessed to his crimes."

The ministry said it kept all media, including Indian and Pakistani, "at a safe distance, as requested by India."

Pakistan authorities say Jadhav confessed to being assigned by India's intelligence service to plan, coordinate, and organize espionage and sabotage activities in Baluchistan, "aiming to destabilize and wage war against Pakistan."

But New Delhi maintains Jadhav is innocent, and it won an injunction from the World Court to delay his execution, arguing he was denied diplomatic assistance during his trial by a military court.

Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters
A traveler might expect the two capital cities of Iberia, Lisbon and Madrid, to be well-connected by multiple transportation options. They are, but the story is more complicated than just a simple list of how to get from Lisbon to Madrid, as local conditions turn some of the tried-and-true rules of convenient travel in Europe upside down. Travelers on a tight schedule should plan accordingly when making the trip from Lisbon to Madrid.

Step 1 Book a bus ticket, either through the bus company website or by visiting Lisbon's main bus station at Sete Rios. The bus ride typically lasts for 9 1/2 hours, and companies like Avanza (avanzabus.com) schedule multiple departures through the day.

Step 2 Fly to Madrid. EasyJet (easyjet.com) is the main budget air carrier operating out of Lisbon's Aeroporto da Portela (LIS), and usually runs three flights to Madrid every day. Iberia (iberia.com) and TAP (flytap.com), the national carriers of Spain and Portugal respectively, also have daily flights. With a flight time of just over an hour, this is the least time-consuming means of transportation, even including airport wait time.

Step 3 Rent a car and drive. An International Driver's Permit (IDP) is not required to rent a car or drive it in Portugal, but it is required in Spain. The main highway between Lisbon and Madrid is A-5, with a typical travel time by car of seven hours.

Step 4 Ride the train. Trains for Madrid depart from Lisbon's Santa Apollonia and Gare do Oriente, and tickets may be booked either online through Combios de Portugal (cp.pt) or at the stations. The train is notoriously slow, taking more than 10 hours, and only overnight departures are available.

Tip If you rent a car, your IDP is only valid if you also have your domestic driver's license to go with it.

All means of transportation between Lisbon and Madrid may require you to show your passport, whether it be to purchase tickets, rent a car, or board a plane.

If you drive from Lisbon to Madrid, factor tolls and fuel into your cost estimate. Both gasoline and diesel fuel are much cheaper in Spain, so if you need to tank up and are close to the border, wait until after you cross if you can.
Norwegian discount retail chain Nille has selected LS Nav, a software solution for retail stores developed by LS Retail, as its new software system. The implementation and service contract, covering 360 stores of the chain and 530 Point of Sale (POS) terminals, was awarded to LS Retail partner CGI Norway. The agreement incorporates the implementation of Microsoft Dynamics NAV, LS Nav, and a software solution by LS Retail to manage inventory on mobile devices.

Nille is a leading Norwegian discount retail chain, focusing on seasonal products and selected product categories such as candles, home interior, and disposables. Nille offers all things needed for creating the right setting during occasions such as Easter, Halloween, Christmas, and birthday parties. Nille runs more than 360 stores across Norway.

LS Retail is a world-leading provider of software solutions based on Microsoft technology, and Microsoft's largest independent software vendor (ISV) within retail and hospitality.

"The agreement provides Nille with a modern, total solution that covers the increasing demands of a dynamic retail environment. It is a forward-looking, standard solution, based on the latest Microsoft Dynamics technology. The rich functionality ensures that Nille will be able to offer good experiences for their customers and staff today and in the future," says Tom Hauge, CEO of CGI.

The implementation phase will take 12 months. The go-live of the first store is planned for May 2018, and the full rollout is scheduled to be completed by September 2018.

"This agreement marks the second major deal between CGI and a major retail player on the implementation of LS Retail products within a short period of time. A few weeks ago, CGI signed a large contract with NMD, the pharmacy company running the Vitusapotek and DittApotek chains. This fine collaboration started with a Partner Agreement in early 2017, and it is already proving its worth for us in the Norwegian market. This collaboration is on the back of a long standing partnership with CGI in other Nordic countries" says Magnus Norddahl, CEO and President of LS Retail.

About LS Retail

For more than two decades, LS Retail has been developing easy and practical software solutions to make the shopping and dining experience a pleasure worldwide. LS Retail products and solutions are sold through a global partner network and have been installed in more than 66,000 stores in over 120 countries.

Contact Information

LS Retail

Eloise Freygang

+354 660-7088

Eloise@LSRetail.com

www.LSRetail.com
Sorry! The requested post has been removed or deleted by its author.
AMAN_9608 wrote:

Hi All

I'm a final year student pursuing engineering in Delhi Technological University. I was thinking of applying to the deferred admissions programs at

Harvard

Stanford

Yale



I'd love to get an idea from you guys about my chances of getting in.



Profile : India Male, 21 years

Percentage : 81.81% (Rank 19 out of 195 students, topper 85%), Among Top 0.1% of students in Class XII Examinations

GRE : 330 (Q-170, V-160, 4.5 AWA)

TOEFL : 116/120

Work Experience : NIL



Internships : #Brown University (Laboratory for Man/Machine Systems)

#Bharat Electronics



LOR : Professor in Brown University

HoD of ECE at my University



Extra Curriculars : Active Member of IEEE (Organising events etc)

Taught Poor Students in High School, NGO's

Organising Culture fest of college



Post MBA goals

Reaaly want to get into Consulting or Investment Banking. Work for a few years before starting my own venture.

Hey dude,You have excellent grades and test scores, but that still doesn't tell me why these programs would want to take you on. What are your goals? What did you study? what arguments would you present to justify your application now and not in 4-5 years?Keep in mind that these programs are very very competitive and even moreso for Indian students.Looking forward to hearing more from you,Best,
The Care Hospital attracts a high number of patients [ #permalink

7 Kudos
MASON CITY | A Manly man was arrested after a traffic stop Friday led to a felony charge in Mason City.

Christopher John Heyden, 34, was charged with felony possession of ammunition by a domestic abuser and misdemeanor driving while barred.

A Cerro Gordo County Sheriff's deputy pulled over Heyden about 1:19 p.m. near 255th Street and Lark Avenue in Mason City for an equipment violation, according to court documents.

Heyden was arrested for driving while barred. Upon a search of his person, court documents say a deputy found ammunition in Heyden's pocket.

People convicted of domestic abuse in Iowa are prohibited from possessing a gun or ammunition.

Heyden is scheduled to appear in Cerro Gordo County District Court Friday. He is being held in the Cerro Gordo County Jail on a $7,000 bond.

 Courtney Fiorini
WODEN | A Scarville resident is accused of threatening a known man with a knife in rural Woden.

Jacob A. Schimmelphennig, 30, who was arrested Dec. 18, faces a felony charge of domestic abuse assault (third or subsequent offense) and misdemeanor intimidation with a dangerous weapon.

Schimmelphennig on Dec. 11 grabbed a knife from the man's kitchen and pointed it at him at chest level while walking toward him, according to a Winnebago County Sheriff's Office criminal complaint.

The man "was cornered and felt his life was in danger," the complaint stated.

Schimmelphennig also has been charged with felony dominion or control of a firearm or offensive weapon as a domestic abuser and misdemeanor third-degree theft.

Officials say he transported a stolen 12-gauge shotgun to the man's house between Dec. 1 and Dec. 17 and stored it there.

The man turned the gun over to the sheriff's office because he feared it had been stolen, according to law enforcement.

Schimmelphennig has two prior convictions of domestic abuse assault, one in Hancock County in 2010 and the other in Winnebago County in 2014.

 Mary Pieper
New York, Dec 27(Just Earth News): Children in Yemen could not have a worse year than 2017, according to a senior official from the UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF).

2017 was a horrible year for the children of Yemen, UNICEF Representative in the country, Meritxell Relano, told UN News by telephone from the capital, Sanaa.

More than 80 children were killed or injured in December alone, while millions face a cholera epidemic, looming famine, a disruption in health services and a blockade hampering delivery of much-needed supplies.

She urged a political solution for what she said was a man-made conflict and warned that without a political solution many more children would die.

Relano recounted meeting a woman and her dying 7-year-old son Ali in a hospital in Aden.

He was like skin on bones. I asked why they had not come sooner and the mother told me that she could not afford to ride the bus to the hospital. The levels of poverty in the families [have] now reached levels that are unsustainable, she said.

To offset some of this type of need, Relano noted that some 1.3 million families, or about 8 million people, are being reached with emergency cash as part of a transfer project between UNICEF and the World Bank.

She also praised successful efforts to deliver vaccines and implement a polio immunization campaign this year to benefit some 5 million children and provide treatment for 200,000 children with acute malnutrition.

Yemenis who work on the ground to support the Yemenis are the true heroes, she said, noting the efforts of local authorities, doctors, nurses and teachers in the country.

Credit: UNICEF

Source: www.justearthnews.com
Delhi murder: Aftab Ameen Poonawala burnt Shraddha Walkar's face after killing her, says report | Massive fire breaks out at SSKM hospital's CT scan building, no casualty so far | 'Don't tarnish Jharkhand's image with sensational statements on illegal mining case': Hemant Soren's letter to ED | India using technology as weapon in war against poverty: PM Modi | After PM Modi-Rishi Sunak meet, UK gives go-ahead to 3,000 annual visas for Indians
The CS Monitor article specifies that 44 out of 66 Shiite paramilitaries in Iraq are recognizably loyal to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, a fact that bolsters concerns among Irans adversaries that those organizations will advance Irans interests over and above those of the Iraqi government and its people. Iraqi lawmakers have allowed those paramilitaries to continue to operate beyond the defeat of the Sunni militant group known as the Islamic State, but they have also barred them from participating directly in Iraqi politics.

Nonetheless, the article notes that at least 28 political parties are affiliated with those paramilitaries and have registered for upcoming Iraqi national elections. This political role is buttressed by direct contributions to the countrys media landscape by the Iran-backed organizations. Much the same situation exists in neighboring Syria, and the prospective influence of the Iranian proxies may be considerably greater there.

This is especially the case in light of the Gulf News report that indicates an Iran-based media outlet known as Al Alam has just begun to broadcast in Syria, where the diversity of news media has been dramatically reduced in the midst of the nearly seven-year civil war. All anti-government outlets have been either shuttered by Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad or forced underground, leaving citizens with little other than state media as a source of information.

Now that state media will be joined by Al Alam, which can be expected to be no less friendly to the close Iranian ally Assad, though it will also convey an explicitly pro-Iranian message, possibly encouraging further recruitment into proxy groups and further organization of Shiite populations under the banner of the Islamic Republic. Founded in 2003, the outlet already claims to reach up to 300 million Arabs with that message, according to the Gulf News report.

The report also notes that the short, initial broadcast schedule for the Syrian branch of Al Alam is focusing primarily upon the Israel-Palestine conflict, about which there is broad agreement throughout the Arab world. Although this might help the outlet to secure sympathetic viewership, it is unlikely to diminish the interest that regional adversaries like Saudi Arabia show in countering the associated Iranian influence.

Iran and Saudi Arabia are frequently described as being involved in an escalating war of words, especially concerning their competing participation in the civil war raging in Yemen, just to the southeast of the Saudi border. Saudi Arabia has come under direct fire from Yemens Houthi rebels on at least three recent occasions, one in November and two in December. The leadership of the Sunni kingdom was quick to blame Iran for supplying the ballistic missiles involved in each of those thwarted strikes.

The government of the United States supported this assessment, even going so far as to present recovered materials to the public in mid-December, in an apparent effort to encourage international action aimed at containing Irans missile activities and arms smuggling. Iran has dismissed the Saudi and American claims but has also publicly boasted of the ongoing development of its ballistic missile program and other military capabilities.

Continuing this phenomenon, Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami said on Tuesday that the Islamic Republic would not diminish its military buildup in any measure, according to the Iran Project.

atami also boasted of the progress of that buildup so far and reportedly suggested that the country was in a position to meet any threat. He also cited supposed enemy plots as justification for continuing along this path, but did not acknowledge foreign concerns about an Iranian plot to pursue regional hegemony centered on a Shiite crescent stretching from Tehran to Damascus.

Another Iran Project article notes that around the same time as Hatami delivered his remarks to Iranian lawmakers, the head of the Iranian Aviation Industries Organization reiterated Tehrans claims regarding the advancement of its ballistic missile program and associated technologies. Specifically, Manouchehr Manteqi declared that Iran had established itself as second in the region for the development and use of space-launch technologies. As was made clear in the wake of apparent Iranian satellite launches earlier this year, such technologies can double as components of an offensive missile program.

As Irans reach expands across the region, so does the range of proxies to whom Iranian missile technology might be transferred. This in turn poses an expanding threat to adversaries in the region and beyond. The roster of such proxy groups is already extensive, and Tehran has apparently been working to further improve its established relations with militant groups with which the regime does not enjoy perfect ideological alignment. This includes Sunni movements like Palestines Hamas and the Afghan Taliban.

Irans state-affiliated Tasnim News Agency highlighted the first of these, pointing out that Hamas Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar had made public statements of praise for Qassem Suleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps foreign special operations division, the Quds Force. Meanwhile, the aforementioned CS Monitor article described the growing collaboration between Tehran and the Taliban, predicated upon their mutual conflicts with the US, the Islamic State, and others.

Naturally, the persistence and expansion of these relationships threatens American allies within the region as well as threatening American interests directly. Riyadh Vision reported on Tuesday that the Saudi Interior Ministry had reaffirmed its recognition of this threat, detailing recent instances in which Saudi security forces have faced off against terrorist cells with ties to Iran.

Shared anxieties about this situation appear to be contributing to the development of a unified front against the expansion of Iranian influence, with participants including the US, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Israel. However, this coalition and the US in particular have frequently been criticized for a lack of defined strategy, in spite of their apparent clarity of purpose.

This criticism was reiterated in a recent editorial at Fox News, one of many to suggest that confrontation of the Iranian threat must remain a priority for the US, and one for which even a relatively radical strategy might be appropriate. The article advocates for the support of anti-Iran movements that are indigenous to the Middle East region, even in instances where this support might engender separatist movements and ultimately the revision of several national borders.

It bears noting, however, that not all such indigenous movements would correlate with these broader objectives. Iran itself enjoys a greater sense of national unity than some of the countries into which it has extended its influence, and major domestic groups that are opposed to the Iranian regime are generally intent on establishing democratic governance spanning the existing national borders.
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The European Union and Britain have reached an agreement that may help serve as a model for other countries seeking closer ties with the EU.

Germanys foreign minister has said countries such as Ukraine and Turkey could see good results from the agreement.

Britain is currently negotiating how it will go about withdrawing from the block of nations.

Britain says it wants a closer relationship with the EU than any other country because it will be a former member of the block. Britains withdrawal, known as Brexit, has not happened yet.

But Britain and EU officials are trying to reach agreements so complex negotiations can go forward.

Minister sees path for two of Europes large neighbors

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said the Brexit deal could provide answers to how the EU can manage relations with some non-member countries.

I cant imagine Turkey or Ukraine becoming EU members in the next few years, he said.

If we get a smart agreement with Britain regulating relations with Europe after Brexit, that could be a model for other countries  Ukraine and also Turkey, he told Funke newspaper. His comments were published on Tuesday.

Turkey has been a candidate for membership in the EU for many years. It has a customs union with the EU, an agreement that permits trade of most goods without tariffs.

Gabriel said EU ties with Turkey could be increased by a new, closer form of the customs union. However, the German minister said any changes would have to wait until Turkeys political situation eased.

Thousands of people have been detained in Turkey as part of a government campaign following the failed attempt by parts of the military to seize power in 2016. Some of those detained are German citizens. Germany has voiced concerns about Turkeys human rights record as political developments continue.

Ukraine also has sought closer ties with the EU.

The issue was one of the causes of the popular movement that ousted pro-Russian Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych in 2014.

Ukraine currently has some agreements with the EU which is its largest trading partner. There are plans to cut tariffs between the two and to reform Ukraines trade rules to more closely match those of the EU.

However, Russias loss of influence in Ukraine in 2014 led it to seize Ukraines Crimean Peninsula. Russia also supports pro-Russian separatists in the eastern part of the country.

Ukraine was a former Soviet republic. Its political situation remains unsettled by separatist divisions.

Gabriel is a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). The party is positioning itself for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkels more conservative Christian Democratic Union.

The sides are seeking agreement on governing together for another four years.

Germany is Europes largest economy.

Im Mario Ritter.

Mario Ritter adapted it for VOA Learning English from a Reuters story with additional materials. Hai Do was the editor.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

Block n. a group of nations with strong ties

Manage v. to guide and make decision about a going concern

Regulate v. to make rules and oversee some activity, field or industry

Tariffsn. taxes on imported goods and services

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.
One of the world's largest paper companies has gone against its promise to end several land disputes in Indonesia.

The company, Asia Pulp & Paper, makes many kinds of paper products that people all over the world use, including photocopy paper, cigarette boxes, bottle labels, food wrappers and noodle cups.

It wants to use a wood supplier company that has been at the center of land conflicts. Through that supplier, Asia Pulp & Paper is going forward with plans to take 66,000 hectares of state land in the group of islands called Bangka Belitung, near Sumatra.

Such a move would affect some 100,000 people. Forty villages oppose it. It differs from Asia Pulp & Papers promise less than five years ago to gain the free, prior and informed consent of local communities when developing new plantations.

Free, Prior and Informed Consent, also known as FPIC, is an international law protecting the rights of indigenous people. It requires companies to include local communities in decisions about their land and any other decisions that may affect them.

Bangka and another major island in the area have already been harmed and polluted by illegal tin mining. Villagers are also distrustful of industrial plantations, after palm oil companies broke promises about their land.

Roadside signs say, We reject industrial forestry plantations and No BRS.

The letters B-R-S stand for Bangun Rimba Sejahtera, the supplier company that is a front for Asia Pulp & Papers expansion in the area. The company says BRS is close to being approved as a wood supplier.

If this land is taken by BRS, where shall we go? said Yunus, the religious leader of Tambang Enam village.

This land supports our society and economy," he said. We are ready to go to war. Its better than dying slowly. Its better for us to die at once.

Asia Pulp & Paper is the name for a group of mills and forestry companies. Together, they are part of the international company Sinarmas, which is run by an Indonesian family.

A representative from Asia Pulp & Paper told the Associated Press, or AP in July that BRS and a second possible supplier have no ties with Asia Pulp & Paper or with Sinarmas.

However, AP reporters recently looked into the ownership of 27 companies that supply Sinaramas. They found that Sinaramas has a powerful influence over most of the companies.

Documents show that BRS was a Sinarmas-owned company for much of the past 10 years. In the documents, BRS' ties to Sinarmas appear to end in 2013. That is when it received its license to the state land on Bangka.

In West Bangka, thousands of villagers have been protesting against the company outside local government offices.

No matter how hard they try to force us, we will not give even one scrap of land to any company, said Sartojoyo, the head of Simpang Tiga village.

Villagers make a living by growing palm oil, Muntok peppercorns and other crops such as rubber and rice. They also grow medicinal crops and wild honey, as well as a profitable type of mushroom from forests that make up about 15 percent of the land the state gave to BRS.

In May, more than half of the 40 affected villages described their opposition in a letter to the local government. They also sent the letter to Indonesias ministry of forestry and environment.

Some village officials say BRS offered what it called a "partnership." The deal would permit villagers to use a small part of the land, but only to grow rubber.

Kasdani, the leader of Air Menduyung village, said the company contacted him in May and offered to set up a meeting with Sinarmas. But he refused; he said no one in his village wants to surrender land.

Its our livelihood, Kasdani said.

I'm Jill Robbins.

And I'm Alice Bryant.

The Associated Press reported this story. Alice Bryant adapted it for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

prior  adj. existing earlier in time

indigenous  adj. living, or existing naturally in a particular region or environment

tin  n. a soft, shiny, bluish-white metal that has many uses

plantation  n. a large area of land especially in a hot part of the world where crops are grown

palm oil  n. oil taken from the fruit of some palm trees and used in cooking and in making soap and other products

front  n. someone or something that hides or protects an illegal activity

mill  n. a building in which a particular product is made

scrap  n. a very small amount  usually used in negative statements

livelihood  n. a way of earning money in order to live
2017 was another big year for technology, with many new products launched to make our phones, homes and cars smarter. But the news also included stories about technology companies seeking to earn back the public trust.

Facebook and fake news

Social media giant Facebook was criticized for not doing more to prevent fake news stories from appearing and being shared. The criticism came after many false stories were posted on Facebook during the 2016 presidential campaign. Some blamed such stories for affecting the outcome of the 2016 election.

In response, the company announced several new policies aimed at preventing users from spreading misinformation and fake news.

Later, Facebook said it found that a Russian-based operation had spent $100,000 to buy advertisements promoting political and social issues in the U.S. The company said it was investigating possible ways Russian sources may have influenced the election.

Facebook also came under criticism after several people posted videos of murders or suicides that remained for hours. CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg called the videos heartbreaking. In early May, Facebook said it was hiring an additional 3,000 people to help identify and remove violent and hateful content.

iPhone X launch

Apple celebrated the 10th anniversary of the first iPhone with the launch of its iPhone X. Like many other new phone models, it has a bigger screen area that covers the face from edge to edge. The iPhone X has no home button, supports wireless charging and includes new photo and lighting effects.

iPhone X was heavily publicized for its price of $999 and the new Face ID recognition system. Face ID replaces previous fingerprint recognition technology. Apple said its testing showed there is only a one-in-a-million chance of another person being able to unlock someone elses device with Face ID.

Apple also admitted to slowing some older iPhones. The company explained it only took the action last year to prevent battery-related shutdowns. Apples action  and the companys decision to keep it secret - led to widespread criticism from industry analysts and lawsuits from iPhone users.

Worldwide push for electric vehicles

Volvo announced that beginning in 2019, all its new vehicles will have electric motors. The Chinese-owned company was the first major manufacturer to set such a date. Volvo says it will offer five fully electric vehicles between 2019 and 2021.

In France, officials said the country plans to ban the sale of gasoline- and diesel-powered cars across the country by 2040. German carmakers BMW, Audi and Volkswagen also have several new electric car and sport utility vehicles (SUV) in the works.

In the U.S., Ford said it would launch a new electric SUV by 2020, while General Motors began selling its popular Chevrolet Bolt in all U.S. states.

U.S.-based Tesla announced it would begin selling the much-awaited Model 3. Then last month, founder and CEO Elon Musk showed off the companys new electric-powered truck, called Tesla Semi. He said the truck will be able to travel 800 kilometers on a single charge while pulling a full load of 36,000 kilograms. Production is set to begin in 2019, with no price yet announced.

Truly self-driving tests approved

California announced it had approved testing of truly driverless cars. Previously, self-driving vehicle testing was only allowed with a driver to take over the car if something went wrong.

Officials said the change opened the door for self-driving cars to be widely sold and used throughout the state. Truly driverless vehicles could begin selling in California sometime in 2018.

Uber and Google scandals

Ride-sharing company Uber had a year of ups and downs that saw several major management changes. In a highly-publicized incident, CEO Travis Kalanick was caught on video arguing with an Uber driver. Several women also accused the company of allowing widespread sexual harassment and discrimination.

In addition, Uber faced legal action from Google, which claimed a former executive stole secrets about its self-driving technology. Kalanick ended up resigning his position and several other officials also left the company.

At Google, a male engineer wrote a memo suggesting there are biological differences preventing women from progressing the same as men in technology. The document  which also criticized Googles diversity efforts  was published online.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai apologized to employees for the memo, which he said had advanced harmful gender stereotypes. The engineer was dismissed from his position.

The rise of bitcoin

We heard more about bitcoin in 2017 than ever before. This virtual currency shocked many in the financial world by rising from $1,000 in January 2017 to more than $19,000 in early December.

Japanese investors are believed to account for a large percentage of bitcoin trading, causing the cryptocurrency to reach record value. In Venezuela, as the national currency loses value, people have turned to bitcoin for daily uses. Even North Korea hackers joined in to steal millions of dollars to get around economic sanctions.

Bitcoin will continue to be watched in the coming year as more people buy it and the trading system further develops.

End of net neutrality

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission, or FCC voted to end the internet policy known as net neutrality. The rules had prevented internet service providers from interfering with traffic from some websites while providing faster service to others.

Under the new rules, internet providers will be free to block competing applications. Service providers would also be able to slow down competing services or offer faster speeds to companies that pay more.

The government said the decision was based on its belief that net neutrality regulation was not necessary. Opponents said they feared lifting the rules would give businesses control over what users see and do online.

Robots to help and serve

One of technologys most active areas is robotics, and 2017 saw some exciting new developments.

We reported on robots designed to help doctors perform surgery, and help children or disabled people. Another smart machine was used to explore Japans damaged Fukushima nuclear plant.

Another robot led an orchestra performance, while several others carried food and other items to people. In Dubai, officials launched a police robot to guard the streets and offer help.

Saudi Arabia even claimed to be the first country in the world to give citizenship to a robot. The female robot, named Sophia, was presented as an example of how robot technology and artificial intelligence will make machines more human-like in the future. The robot was even interviewed in front of a crowd.

I'm Dorothy Gundy. And Im Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English from earlier reports and other sources. Hai Do was the editor.

What technology stories did you find most interesting in 2017? Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

fake  adj. false, not real

harassment  n. the act of annoying, bothering or attacking someone

memo  n. a brief message written within a company

diversity  n. having people who are different sexes or races in a group or organization

stereotype  n. fixed idea people have about a particular type of person or group

virtual  n. something that can be done or seen using computers or the Internet instead of going to a place

cryptocurrency  n. digital currency that uses digital security measures to prevent it from being copied or misused
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has recognized the artisans of Panama for their woven hats.

Cultural authorities have added the pintao, or painted hat, to UNESCO's List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The pintao hat has become an integral part of regional outfits throughout the country worn during traditional dances and community festivities, UNESCO's statement said.

The pintao is different than the widely known Panama hat.

The Panama hat has a wide brim. It is traditionally made in Ecuador from the straw of the toquilla palm plant. It is thought to have earned a misleading name during the Gold Rush in the 19th century. Many were sold in nearby Panama to people traveling to California in search of gold.

Artisans make the pintao by hand. They use five different plants and even a small amount of dirt to create it.

The hat industry's center is in La Pintada, a district about 170 kilometers west of Panama City.

Reinaldo Quiros is a well-known artisan and designer who sells hats out of his home. They dont have anything (artificial), no machinery; no factory as such exists here in La Pintada," he said. Each artisan in his own home makes the hats maintaining the techniques taught by his ancestors.

Artisans of the truly Panamanian pintao hat start with the fibers of several plants. They cure and then weave the fiber into braids. Then, they wrap the braids around a wooden form and sew it together from the crown of the hat down.

Depending on the quality of the work, some pintao hats can cost hundreds of dollars. Authorities estimate that 4,000 of La Pintadas 25,000 residents work creating or selling the hats.

Pedro Mendoza, a 50-year-old hat maker, hopes that the UNESCO recognition will help take the pintao hat beyond the countrys borders.

Its really good whats happened, he said. The hat for us is a way of life.

I'm John Russell.

Juan Zamorano reported on this story for the Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

artisan  n. a person who is skilled at making things by hand

woven  adj. something (such as cloth) that is made by crossing threads or other long pieces of material over and under each other

integral  adj. very important and necessary

technique  n. a way of doing something by using special knowledge or skill

brim n. the part of a hat that sticks out around the lower edge

fiber  n. a thin thread of natural or artificial material that can be used to make cloth, paper, etc.

weave  v. to make something (such as cloth) by crossing threads or other long pieces of material over and under each other
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Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited, a pharmaceutical company, develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes generic medicines, specialty medicines, and biopharmaceutical products in North America, Europe, and internationally. The company offers sterile products, hormones, high-potency drugs, and cytotoxic substances in various dosage forms, including tablets, capsules, injectables, inhalants, liquids, transdermal patches, ointments, and creams. It also develops, manufactures, and sells active pharmaceutical ingredients. In addition, it focuses on the central nervous system, pain, respiratory, and oncology areas. Its products in the central nervous system include Copaxone for the treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis; AJOVY for the preventive treatment of migraine; and AUSTEDO for the treatment of tardive dyskinesia and chorea associated with Huntington disease. The company's products in the respiratory market comprise ProAir, QVAR, ProAir Digihaler, AirDuo Digihaler, and ArmonAir Digihaler, BRALTUS, CINQAIR/CINQAERO, DuoResp Spiromax, and AirDuo RespiClick/ArmonAir RespiClick for the treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Its products in the oncology market include Bendeka, Treanda, Granix, Trisenox, Lonquex, and Tevagrastim/Ratiograstim. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited has a collaboration MedinCell for the development and commercialization of multiple long-acting injectable products, a risperidone suspension for the treatment of patients with schizophrenia. The company was founded in 1901 and is headquartered in Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel.
GARNER | Hancock Countys new Veterans Affairs director is hoping to bring stability to the department that connects area veterans and their families to medical, educational and financial resources.

Gerald Edgar of Garner said hes the third person to hold the part-time position since November 2016. He started on Dec. 1.

My goal is to make sure every veteran in Hancock County is aware of this office, is registered, and God forbid if they need help or their family does, theyre part of the system, he said.

The Veterans Affairs office, which is overseen by the Hancock County Commission of Veterans Affairs, serves as the first point of contact for local veterans and their families seeking support through programs, services and benefits.

Edgar, a Vietnam War veteran and former Garner city administrator, said there are about 800 veterans in Hancock County and only 25 percent, or about 200, are engaged with the Veterans Affairs office.

I hope to meet all the veterans of the county one by one, he said.

To do that, Edgar plans on attending as many civic group meetings that he can in hopes their members will pass the word along and empower veterans and their families in Hancock County to take advantage of the programs ... they have earned from their service in the military.

Edgar served in the U.S. Air Force for about four years during the Vietnam War. After he was discharged from the military, he attended the University of Iowa, where he earned his bachelors degree in business administration and worked toward a masters degree through the GI Bill.

Before finishing his masters degree, he got an industrial safety job at the Chicago and North Western Transportation Co. in the Chicago area, where he also served as a city councilman for a decade.

In 1990, Edgar became the Garner city administrator. He held the position until 1996, when he decided to return to his industrial safety career.

Edgar retired as the environmental health and safety officer for Mitas Tires North America, a tire manufacturing company in Charles City, in May.

He is a member of the Disabled Veterans of America and the American Legion as well as the vice chairman of the American Legion of Iowa Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Commission.

Edgar was also recently re-elected to a second term as chairman of the Iowa Board of Podiatry and Prosthetics. He is beginning his third three-year term on the board as a public member.

Since he started as the Veterans Affairs director, Edgar said hes been very well accepted, and he looks forward to meeting more county veterans and their families in the future.

I want to encourage them (to use the services) because theyve earned it, he said. Our country is grateful for their service, and we want to help them and their families.
Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. produces and distributes specialty plant nutrients, iodine and its derivatives, lithium and its derivatives, potassium chloride and sulfate, industrial chemicals, and other products and services. The company offers specialty plant nutrients, including potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate, sodium potassium nitrate, specialty blends, and other specialty fertilizers. It also provides iodine and its derivatives for use in medical, pharmaceutical, agricultural, and industrial applications comprising x-ray contrast media, polarizing films for LCD and LED, antiseptics, biocides and disinfectants, pharmaceutical synthesis, electronics, pigments, and dye components. In addition, the company offers lithium carbonates for various applications that include electrochemical materials for batteries, frits for the ceramic and enamel industries, heat-resistant glass, air conditioning chemicals, continuous casting powder for steel extrusion, primary aluminum smelting process, pharmaceuticals, and lithium derivatives, as well as ingredient in manufacturing of gunpowder. Further, it supplies lithium hydroxide for the lubricating greases industry, as well as cathodes for batteries. Additionally, it offers potassium chloride and potassium sulfate for various crops, including corn, rice, sugar, soybean, and wheat; industrial chemicals, including sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate, potassium chloride, and solar salts; and other fertilizers and blends. The company operates in Chile, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, North America, Asia, and internationally. Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in Santiago, Chile.
Bancolombia S.A. provides banking products and services in Colombia, Panama, Puerto Rico, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Guatemala. The company operates through nine segments: Banking Colombia, Banking Panama, Banking El Salvador, Banking Guatemala, Trust, Investment Banking, Brokerage, International Banking, and All Other. It offers checking and savings accounts, fixed term deposits, and investment products; trade financing, loans funded by domestic development banks, working capital loans, credit cards, personal and vehicle loans, payroll loans, and overdrafts; financial support to real estate developers and mortgages for individuals and companies; factoring; and financial and operating leasing services. The company also provides hedging instruments, including futures, forwards, options, and swaps; and brokerage, investment advisory, and private banking services, including selling and distributing equities, futures, foreign currencies, fixed income securities, mutual funds, and structured products. In addition, it offers cash management services; foreign currency transaction services; life, auto, commercial, and homeowner's insurance products; and online and computer banking services. Further, the company provides project and acquisition finance, debt and equity capital markets, principal investments, M&A, hedging strategies, restructurings, and structured financing; money market accounts, mutual and pension funds, private equity funds, payment and corporate trust, and custody; internet-based trading platform; inter-bank lending and repurchase agreements; managing escrow accounts, and investment and real estate funds; and transportation, securities brokerage, maintenance and remodeling, and outsourcing services. As of December 31, 2021, it operated 1,015 branches; 28,676 banking correspondents; 529 PAMs; 210 kiosks in El Salvador and 187 in Colombia; and 6,094 ATMs. Bancolombia S.A. was incorporated in 1945 and is headquartered in Medellin, Colombia.
The Bank of Nova Scotia provides various banking products and services in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Colombia, the Caribbean and Central America, and internationally. It operates in four segments: Canadian Banking, International Banking, Global Wealth Management, and Global Banking and Markets. The company offers financial advice and solutions, and day-to-day banking products, including debit and credit cards, chequing and saving accounts, investments, mortgages, loans, and insurance to individuals; and business banking solutions comprising lending, deposit, cash management, and trade finance solutions to small, medium, and large businesses, including automotive financing solutions to dealers and their customers. It also provides wealth management advice and solutions, including online brokerage, mobile investment, full-service brokerage, trust, private banking, and private investment counsel services; and retail mutual funds, exchange traded funds, liquid alternative funds, and institutional funds. In addition, the company offers international banking services for retail, corporate, and commercial customers; and lending and transaction, investment banking advisory, and capital markets access services to corporate customers. Further, it provides online, mobile, and telephone banking services. The company operates a network of 954 branches and approximately 3,766 automated banking machines in Canada; and approximately 1,300 branches and a network of contact and support center internationally. The Bank of Nova Scotia was founded in 1832 and is headquartered in Halifax, Canada.
MASON CITY | An executive of Dallas-based Gatehouse Capital says his company is still interested in building a hotel in downtown Mason City and disputes what he considers "malicious accusations" made against its representative, David Rachie.

The City Council on Thursday is expected to vote on a development agreement with San Diego-based G8 Development, a rival bidder on the hotel project.

In an apparent last-minute lobbying effort, Colin McDonald, vice president of development for Gatehouse-Dallas, emailed Councilman John Lee on Sunday touting his company's credentials and setting the record straight on misinformation he said is being spread.

It is not known if the email was sent to anyone else.

After an unusual series of events, the City Council on Nov. 27 voted 5-0 to go with G8 Development over Gatehouse to build the hotel, despite having cast G8 aside twice and having negotiated with Gatehouse for the past several months.

McDonald said Rachie's reputation has been questioned by some despite his work in presenting a plan and creating "a consensus and a vision among and for the people of Mason City culminating in a total endorsement of the Gatehouse plan for the hotel and conference center along with the associated facilities of The Music Man Square."

At the Nov. 27 council meeting, Mayor Eric Bookmeyer questioned Gatehouse corporate's commitment to Mason City's project.

"There's no money from Texas in it," he said. "I'm tired of hearing about Texas. There's no money from Texas in it. Texas has built a bunch of hotels, a billion dollars worth, but they're not in on this deal.

"It's a Minnesota LLC formed by a guy by the name of Mr. Kaiser. It's just one little office. They both have the same address up in Minnesota."

In his email, McDonald said Marty Collins, Gatehouse CEO, Dallas, has signed several documents related to the project that he assumed were included in materials former City Administrator Brent Trout provided to city officials.

"Let me assure you that Gatehouse Mason City LLC is as much a part of 'Gatehouse Capital-Dallas' as any of our other projects," he wrote.

Also, according to McDonald, "the day-to-day management of preconstruction and moving into construction, including all financial controls will fall fully on the Dallas office and David's role will be of liaison for the city of Mason City, The Music Man Square and our own professional teams."

At the Nov. 27 meeting, the council first voted 4-2 against the G8 plan. Then, when the Gatehouse plan came up for a vote, Councilman Bill Schickel, sensing a 3-3 vote which would have killed it  and the entire downtown project  asked G8's plan be brought back to the table for another vote.

This time Schickel voted yes on G8, saying he still favored Gatehouse but thought it was more important to move the project forward. The rest of the council followed his lead, except for Lee, who abstained, saying he could not bring himself to support G8.

Lee confirmed Tuesday he had received McDonald's email but chose not to comment further.

Efforts to reach McDonald via email, office phone and cell phone were unsuccessful Tuesday.

Bookmeyer did not respond to a request for comment via email Tuesday. Schickel could not be reached by email or cell phone Tuesday.

The city has had an on-again, off-again relationship with G8 and its owner Philip Chodur over the past several years. Four years ago, Chodur proposed building a Hilton hotel in the parking lot next to City Hall but could not secure a franchise agreement with Hilton.

He then came back to the council with a proposal to build a Marriott in the same location. After requesting and receiving two extensions on construction starting dates, the council found him in default of the development agreement.

By terms of that agreement, he had 30 days to comply. When he failed to do so, the city put out another request for prospective developers.

G8 put in a new proposal. Gatehouse also answered the call and in March, the council decided to go with Gatehouse.

Negotiations with Gatehouse went slowly and, by a quirk in the law, the city was obligated to open up the process once again for bidders in October. G8 submitted a new bid which the council considered competitive to Gatehouse's bid.

A bid-off was held Nov. 27 in which G8 and Gatehouse were given chances to change their proposals in an effort to gain the City Council's approval.

In a three-hour session, Gatehouse did not change any of its figures. That allowed G8 to undercut Gatehouse and offer considerable savings to the city. That night, the council voted 5-0 to go with G8, with Lee abstaining.

Lee defended Gatehouse standing pat on its bid, saying it had already presented the council with what it considered was its best offer. To change its bid later, said Lee, would have discredited its earlier claim of "best offer."

Many Gatehouse supporters pointed out that on Nov. 7, voters gave roughly 75 percent approval to two public measures related to the Renaissance project.

At that time, Gatehouse was the only developer in the picture so supporters say the vote, in effect, was a vote for Gatehouse.

Approving G8 over Gatehouse after the public vote was a "bait and switch" maneuver, said Elizabeth Allison, executive director of The Music Man Square.
Target Corporation has a long history dating back to 1902. The company began as Goodfellows Dry Goods, operated by George Dalton, and later changed its name via a progression of mergers and acquisitions. The first Target store was opened in Roseville, Minnesota in 1962 as the discount division of the parent company. The idea was discount or low-priced items could still be fashionable and desirable. After meeting great success in the home territory, the concept went public in the late 1960s was later expanded on a national level during the 1980s. Target Corporation is now the 7th largest retailer in the US and is projected to bring in more than $113 billion in revenue for fiscal 2023.

The department stores were shed in 2004 so today Target operates as a general merchandise retailer that serves on-trend items at discounted prices. It is known as a big box retailer and is a member of the S&P 500. The company listed about 2,000 stores in mid-2022 and had plans for growth. The company offers an assortment of everyday, household, and food goods in a bright and cheery atmosphere. It has set itself apart from other low-priced retailers as the chic choice for savvy shoppers. The companys stated purpose is to help families discover the joy of everyday life and it does so by offering quality products that families can afford.

The company sells its products through a chain of stores as well as eCommerce. eCommerce is about 20% of Targets total revenue and was boosted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Services like delivery, same-day pickup, and access to thousands of necessary and discretionary items are also driving adoption. Target also offers amenities like cafes and opticians, and it hosts Starbucks inside the stores.

Target Corporation has paid and increased its dividend for more than 5 decades. The company issued its 53rd consecutive distribution increase in calendar 2022 bringing the total annual payout to $4.32. In late October 2022, the payout was worth 2.7% in yield and came with a 40% payout ratio and a 9% distribution compound annual growth rate.

Target is a leader in ESG and giving back to the community. Among its many endeavors is to return 5% of its profits to community charities as well as to inspire its employees to volunteer. Volunteers donate more than 1 million man-hours per year.
Tyler Technologies, Inc. provides integrated information management solutions and services for the public sector. The company operates in three segments: Enterprise Software; Appraisal and Tax; and NIC. It offers financial management solutions, including modular fund accounting systems for government agencies or not-for-profit entities; utility billing systems for the billing and collection of metered and non-metered services; products to automate city and county functions, such as municipal courts, parking tickets, equipment and project costing, animal and business licenses, permits and inspections, code enforcement, citizen complaint tracking, ambulance billing, fleet maintenance, and cemetery records management; and student information and transportation solutions for K-12 schools. The company also provides a suite of judicial solutions comprising court case management, court and law enforcement, prosecutor, and supervision systems to handle multi-jurisdictional county or statewide implementations, and single county systems; public safety software solutions; systems and software to automate the appraisal and assessment of real and personal property, as well as tax applications for agencies that bill and collect taxes; planning, regulatory, and maintenance software solutions for public sector agencies; software applications to enhance and automate operations involving records and document management; and data and insights solutions. In addition, it offers software as a service arrangements and electronic document filing solutions for courts and law offices; software and hardware installation, data conversion, training, product modification, and maintenance and support services; and property appraisal outsourcing services for taxing jurisdictions. The company has a strategic collaboration agreement with Amazon Web Services for cloud hosting services. Tyler Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Plano, Texas.
The memory of a beloved pet inspires one couple's fight against injustice.
Most phones and other gadgets that support wireless charging still need to be placed on or very close to a charging surface. So the key benefit is that you dont need to fiddle with wires or charging ports: just put down your phone when you want to charge it and pick it up when you want to use it.

But for the past few years a couple of companies have been developing technology for wireless charging at a distance, which would theoretically allow your gadgets to charge when youre in the same room as a charger.

Were not quite there yet, but Energous has announced were one step closer: the company has received FCC certification for technology that allows devices to charge when theyre up to 3 feet away from a charger.

The company says the Energous WattUp Mid Field transmitter delivers power via radio frequency energy, and that it:

Supports both contact-based and non-contact based wireless charging

Can charge multiple devices at once

Works with nearly any small electronic device, including smartphones, tablets, fitness trackers, smart watches, earbuds, wireless keyboards and mice, smart speakers and more

It sounds like contact-based charging might still be faster, allowing a WattUp system to deliver fast charging for smartphones and tablets. But the thought of never having to change the batteries in your wireless mouse, keyboard, or other devices that tend to sit on your desk all the time anyway is kind of appealing.

The 3 foot limit means you probably wont be charging your phone while sitting on the couch, unless you keep your Mid Field transmitter near the couch. But it could work nicely on a desk or nightstand. And in the future Energous hopes to expand the distance as well as the amount of power delivered.

Energous will be showing off the Mid Field transmitter at CES in January. Theres no word on if or when devices that use the technology will be available for purchase.
An Indonesian maid who won a civil case this week against her former Hong Kong employer for shocking physical abuse said Friday shes happy with the result but urged the city to do more to help foreign maids.

Erwiana Sulistyaningsih said authorities arent doing enough to protect the southern Chinese financial centers army of foreign domestic workers, most of whom are women from either Indonesia or the Philippines.

A Hong Kong court ordered Sulistyaningsihs former employer to pay her nearly 810,000 Hong Kong dollars (USD103,500) in damages for the abuse, which occurred over eight months starting in 2013.

The employer, mother of two Law Wan-tung, was earlier convicted on assault and other charges, fined and given a six-

year prison term.

The case came to light when graphic pictures of Sulistyaningsihs injuries started circulating among Hong Kongs Indonesian community showing her face, hands and legs covered with scabs and lacerations and blackened, peeling skin around her feet.

Sulistyaningsih said that since her case she had met with many other foreign maids who were mistreated by the families they work for.

Still the employers give long working hours, she said at a news conference. Other victims also tell me their stories. Like they werent given enough food, they didnt have holiday.

She urged the Hong Kong authorities to review current policies and practices, saying not enough is being done to protect workers.

Since her case came to light, she said, I think nothing changed.Josie Wong, Hong Kong, AP
A non-governmental organization (NGO) in Taiwan launched a campaign on Monday to send well- wishing postcards to a Taiwanese human rights activist who is currently imprisoned in China.

The Lee Ming-che rescue team, an alliance established by the NGO, launched the campaign as Lees wife, Lee Ching-yu revealed that it has been nearly a month since they have heard an update on her husbands situation.

At a press conference organized by the alliance in Taipei, Lee Ching-yu noted that the move was launched in a bid to remind her husband that he has not been forgotten.

I dont even have the chance to send him a love letter, she said, as cited in Taiwanese media reports.

The activists wife urged the public to write her husband a postcard and to send it to the detention center in Changsha in Hunan province, where he was detained before being sentenced in November for five years in prison and two years deprivation of political rights for subversion of state power.

According to Lee Ching-

yu, she has not been informed of where her husband is being incarcerated since the verdict was handed down.

Lee was the first Taiwanese to be convicted of attempting to overthrow the Chinese government.

A staff member at Wenshan Community College in Taipei, he was arrested on March 19 while entering Guangdong province from Macau, reports noted.

China accused Lee of cooperating with a Chinese citizen named Peng Yuhua, in organizing, planning and taking action to subvert national authority and overthrow the socialist system.

They allegedly used online discussion groups to disseminate information and articles attacking the Chinese government and system.

The verdict was handed down by the Yueyang Intermediate Peoples Court in Hunan Province on November 28.
Unions have caught a whiff of a rare opportunity to organize a whole new set of workers as recreational marijuana becomes legal in California.

The United Farm Workers, Teamsters and United Food and Commercial Workers are looking to unionize the tens of thousands of potential workers involved in the legal weed game, from planters to rollers to sellers. The move could provide a boost to organized labors lagging membership  if infighting doesnt get in the way.

The United Farm Workers, co-founded by iconic labor leader Cesar Chavez, says organizing an industry rooted in agriculture is a natural fit, and growers could label their products with the unions logo as a marketing strategy.

If youre a cannabis worker, the UFW wants to talk with you, national vice president Armando Elenes said.

But United Food and Commercial Workers, which represents grocery store employees, meat packers and retail workers, registered its intent to organize cannabis workers across the country.

We would hope they respect our jurisdiction, UFCW spokesman Jeff Ferro said.

Teamsters organizer Kristin Heidelbach said theres no need for unions to battle each other. There will be plenty of workers needing representation as small cannabis businesses run by happy stoner types give way to large pharmaceutical corporations, she said.

The green rush that begins in 2018 is an opportunity for unions to regain influence that began declining in the late 1950s, said David Zonderman, a professor of labor history at North Carolina State University. But discord between unions could upend it. As could resistance from cannabis business leaders.

Are they going to be new-age and cool with it, Zonderman said, or like other businesspeople, say, Heck, no. Were going to fight them tooth and nail?

Last year, California voters approved sales of recreational marijuana to those 21 and older at licensed shops beginning Jan. 1.

Cannabis in California already is a USD22 billion industry, including medical marijuana and a black market that accounts for most of that total, according to University of California, Davis, agriculture economist Philip Martin. Medical marijuana has been legal since 1996, when California was the first state to approve such a law.

Labor leaders estimate recreational pot in California could employ at least 100,000 workers from the north coast to the Sierra Nevada foothills and the San Joaquin Valley, harvesting and trimming the plants, extracting ingredients to put in liquids and edibles, and driving it to stores and front doors.

Other pot workers have organized in other states, but California should be especially friendly territory for unions, said Jamie Schau, a senior analyst with Brightfield Group, which does marketing analysis on the marijuana industry.

The state has one of the nations highest minimum wages and the largest number of unionized workers across industries. Its laws also tend to favor employees.

At least some workers say theyre open to unions.

Im always down to listen to what could be a good deal for me and my family, said Thomas Grier, 44, standing behind the counter at Canna Can Help Inc., a dispensary in the Central Valley community of Goshen.

The dispensary  with $7 million in yearly sales  sells medical marijuana. Scott Smith, Goshen (Calif.), AP
A 30-year-old non-permanent male resident, surnamed Lam, has been arrested for violently confronting a police officer who was carrying out an inspection, concerning his chosen work, illegally providing taxi services. On December 14, Lam was illegally picking up passengers at the Lotus Flower border gate. Upon being inspected by a police officer, Lam refused to cooperate with the officer and drove away from the scene. The police officer pursued the man on foot and sustained injuries to his head, hands, right foot, waist, and hip. On December 18, the mainland police authority arrested Lam in Zhuhai, and transferred him to the Macau authorities last Thursday. On Friday, the Public Security Police Force (PSP) brought the suspect to the Prosecution Office (MP). On the same day, the MP issued a statement saying that Lam is currently in custody at the Macau prison.

Malo Clinic to reopen in Macau soon

Malo Clinic will resume its operations at a time and location to be announced soon, reads a statement sent to customers yesterday. The note  which begins by bemoaning the fact that it provisionally is not providing dental services  says clients can continue treatment at one of Malos 18 dental clinics in mainland China. The clinic assures that it will cover transportation costs from Macau to two of its clinics, located in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, as well as providing all the necessary clinical information to colleagues in the group.

33,496 civil servants recorded at the end of 2016

A report from the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau (SAFP) on the human resources of the SARs public administration of 2016 showed that Macau, by the end of 2016, had a total of more than 33,496 civil servants. Around 30,831 people were working in public departments, while 2,665 were working in foundations and governmental department such as the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), and the Monetary Authority of Macau. Some 14,000 civil servants held a Bachelors degree, around 4,700 were high-school graduates, and approximately 3,100 obtained a Masters degree or a college degree.
A Mason City woman who recently separated from her husband is hoping the Christmas Cheer Fund could help her buy gifts for their children.

The woman, who has two daughters between 10 and 18 years old, said she moved out in early December due to it not working with the kids.

Times are very hard right now, she wrote in her application.

If the woman is granted Cheer Fund assistance, as in the past, she said shed use it to buy Christmas presents for the children.

Since the Cheer Fund began in 1927, more than $3 million has been raised.

This years goal is $125,000.

The Christmas Cheer Fund was established by Globe Gazette Publisher Lee Loomis in 1927 so every child could have a present on Christmas morning. In the years since it has come to mean a little help at Christmastime to people of all ages.

Donations may be dropped off or mailed to the Globe Gazette office, 300 N. Washington Ave., Mason City, IA 50402-0271.

Any remaining funds not distributed for the holidays will be given to local nonprofits. The Christmas Cheer Fund balance will return to $100 in January to maintain the checking account.

Cheer Fund Donations: Tuesday, Dec. 26

TUESDAYS TOTAL: $3,850

TO-DATE TOTAL: $117,842.75

TO REACH GOAL: $7,157.25

Harold and Joyce Hopp, in honor of Hopp daughters, $25

Anonymous, $2,000

Laurie Boehmer, in memory of Merle Boehmer, $25

Mike and Tracey Fossey, in memory of our parents Bud Bowers, Donna Bowers, Oliver and Shirley Fossey and brother Rich Fossey, $50

Mona Lundstrom, in memory of my son Jay Hamilton, $40

Steve and Vicki Wolfe, $100

Don and Florence Johnson, in loving memory of our son Wayne, our parents, brothers and sisters, $50

James and Terri Patchen, in memory of Allison, $30

Anonymous, in memory of my guardian angel, $50

Anonymous, $100

Jane Heilskov, in memory of Laura, "Ole," Paul and Joe, $50

Jim Rasmussen, in memory of my wife Winifred Rasmussen and daughter Caroline Dyer, $20

Elizabeth and Wayne Allison, $50

Homer and June Van Oort, $50

Mercy Medical Center North Iowa, $50

Nadine and William Drennan, $100

B & K Neal, with thanks for good deeds done by our neighbor Leon Caspersen, $25

J E, in memory of N E, $50

Dale and Ilene Timmerman, $50

Joyce Mills, in memory of Andrew, $40

Anonymous, $20

Anonymous, $100

John Haller, $25

Lori and William Broghammer, $200

Mason City  River City Sunrise Rotary, $500

Glendon Losen, $50
King Felipe VI used his traditional Christmas Eve address to call on Catalonias newly elected parliament to renounce further moves toward secession from Spain. The way forward cannot once again lead to confrontation or exclusion that, as we now know, only generates discord, uncertainty, anguish, the Spanish monarch said in a televised speech. The king gave the address four days after regional parliamentary elections resulted in separatist parties being voted back into power. Spains prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, had dissolved the previous parliament after it voted in October to declare Catalonia an independent republic, but saw his hopes dashed that separatists would not regain a majority of seats.

British navy escorts Russian warship

British officials say the Royal Navy has escorted a Russian warship through the North Sea near U.K. waters. The Russian ship was also shadowed by a navy helicopter as it transited through what British officials called areas of national interest on Christmas Day. The navy says there has been a recent surge in Russian vessels traveling near U.K. waters. Officials say that on Christmas Eve, a navy vessel was used to escort a Russian intelligence-gathering ship through the North Sea and English Channel. Defense Secretary Gavin William said Britain wouldnt tolerate aggression. British officials warn that Russian ships may cut undersea internet cables.

Lethal weapons bound for Ukraine

The Trump administration has approved a plan to provide lethal weapons to Ukraine, a long-awaited move that deepens Americas involvement in the military conflict and may further strain relations with Russia. Ukraine has long sought to boost its defenses against Russian-backed separatists armed with tanks that have rolled through eastern Ukraine during violence that has killed more than 10,000 since 2014. Previously, the U.S. has provided Ukraine with support equipment and training, and has let private companies sell some small arms like rifles. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the U.S. decision will only make the conflict more deadly and suggested that Russia could be forced to respond.
The Centro Comercial Teatro Capitol is ready to open to the public, starting from January 2018, according to media reports.

However, the cultural and recreational industry is the only sector that will be allowed to use the theater once it is reopened.

The theater is currently under refurbishment, with more than 90 percent of the refurbishment process complete.

Kuan Vai Lam, chairman of the board of the company which owns most of the shares of the theater, told TDM that the theaters refurbishment cost somewhere around MOP15 million.

In the beginning, the theater will be open exclusively to cultural and recreational groups in order to give space to different types of cultural and art events.

The theater has a capacity of 300 seats.

Earlier, during an experimental operation period, 50 organizations visited the theater and put forward their suggestions to the theater management. Their suggestions, among others, were to establish rest lounges and audio rooms.

Currently, according to Kuan, the theaters owners have not decided on the prices of admission. The theater will be run on a non-profit model and will charge visitors for management and electricity fees.

We have built a big stage which can be used for dancing, singing and for Cantonese opera, Kuan said.

I hope that we can build the third floor into a cultural and recreational space to introduce Macau films. [] Groups can also use it for exhibitions or seminars.
A prominent activist who called himself the Ultra Vulgar Butcher as he mocked and pressured Chinese officials was given an eight-year prison sentence yesterday for subversion, the harshest sentence handed down in a sweeping crackdown on rights campaigners.

The Tianjin No. 2 Intermediate Peoples Court handed down the sentence after finding activist Wu Gan guilty of subverting state power. Wu will appeal the sentence, his lawyer Ge Yongxi told The Associated Press.

Wu had become known among rights advocates and lawyers for his attention-grabbing campaigns. In one, he posed for online portraits brandishing knives that he said he would use to slaughter the pigs among local officials whod done wrong.

In court yesterday, Wu struck an irreverent note in his remarks following the sentence, saying he was grateful to the party for granting me this lofty honor, according to Ge, who was in court.

I will remain true to our original aspiration, roll up my sleeves and make an extra effort, Wu said, playing on well-known phrases Chinese President Xi Jinping often uses to exhort Communist Party officials to improve their work.

Wu was among the first activists and lawyers caught up in an intense crackdown by authorities that began in 2015. His secretive one-day trial was held in August after a detention of more than two years.

Activists like Wu focused on individual cases instead of challenging Communist Party policy at the national level, making them a greater headache for local officials than for Beijing. But their ability to organize and bring people out on the ground apparently made authorities nervous.

Human rights groups have said that the authorities are persecuting Wu and that it is ironic that his fight for justice for others had cost him his own freedom.

With extraordinary courage and disdainful words, Wu Gan set the tone for this so-called trial against him, said his friend and fellow Chinese activist Wu Yuren. It will inspire more and more people to stomp on this government that seems powerful yet doesnt have the authority of the people.

The court said Tuesday in an online statement that Wu Gan had made many remarks online that attacked state power.

It accused him of hyping cases that discredited state organs by organizing illegal public gatherings, causing trouble, and making abusive comments online about other people. It said such actions were part of a series of criminal activities seeking to overthrow state power and the socialist system.

Wu had also worked as an administrative assistant at the Beijing Fengrui Law Firm, which had worked on sensitive cases and became the focus of the authorities crackdown that began in July 2015. Hundreds of lawyers, activists and others were detained in a coordinated nationwide sweep that sent a chill through Chinas activist community. Many were later released.

Vaguely defined subversion charges are frequently leveled against human rights activists and perceived political foes of the ruling Communist Party.

Wu had been detained in May 2015, after travelling to the southeastern city of Nanchang to put pressure on a judge. Defense lawyers had been denied access to files in a case in which four men were serving prison time for a double murder despite a later confession from a fifth man. Wu had said on social media that he planned to hold a mock funeral for the judge, and was arrested after unfurling a banner that insulted him.

In a separate case yesterday, a court in central China convicted the lawyer Xie Yang for inciting subversion of state power but said he was exempted from criminal penalties.

Xie had been detained for two years before he was released on bail in May after he admitted to the charges. Even after his release, his wife said, Xie was followed by security agents everywhere he went.

Four months prior to his release, Xies family had released a jailhouse statement from him saying he had been tortured in custody with repeated beatings, starvation and dehydration. It said that if he publicly confessed at any point in the future, it would be because he broke down under enormous government pressure and coercion.

In May, Xie pleaded guilty at his trial to inciting subversion of state power and read from a prepared statement denouncing his past activism. He also recanted the allegation of torture, which had gained international attention.

Xie said he accepted the verdict and would not appeal, according to a video of part of the hearing posted on the Changsha City Intermediate Peoples Courts official microblog site.

Amnesty Internationals China Researcher Patrick Poon said it was disgraceful that the Chinese authorities chose to deal with Wu and Xies cases the day after Christmas  when diplomats, journalists and the public are less likely to respond.

By trying to avoid scrutiny from the press and the international community, the Chinese government betrays the fact it knows well these sham trials cannot withstand scrutiny, Poon said. AP
Guatemalas president announced on Christmas Eve that the Central American country will move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, becoming the first nation to follow the lead of U.S. President Donald Trump in ordering the change.

Guatemala was one of nine nations that voted with the United States and Israel last week when the U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a non-binding resolution denouncing Trumps recognition of Jerusalem as Israels capital.

Trump didnt set any timetable for moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and neither did Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales.

Morales said that after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he decided to instruct Guatemalas foreign ministry to move the embassy.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-

Malki criticized the decision, saying in a statement Morales was dragging his country to the wrong side of history by committing a flagrant violation of international law.

Al-Malki called it a shameless act of lawlessness and a brazen act of disrespect and disregard to international alliances of which Guatemala is part.

Guatemala and Israel have long had close ties, especially in security matters and Israeli arms sales to Guatemala.

No other country has their embassy for Israel in Jerusalem, though the Czech Republic has said it is considering such a move.

In a statement, Netanyahu praised Morales decision and said that he was waiting in Jerusalem.

God bless you, my friend, President Morales, he said. I told you recently that there will be other countries that would recognize Jerusalem and announce the transfer of their embassies to it. Well here is the second country and I reiterate: It is only the beginning and it is important.

Netanyahu has made great efforts to reach out to Latin America in recent years as part of a campaign to counter longstanding support for the Palestinians at the United Nations. MDT/AP

Pope calls for Holy Land peace

Lamenting the winds of war blowing around the world, Pope Francis in his traditional Christmas message on Monday called for peace for Jerusalem and the Holy Land. He prayed, that the will to resume dialogue may prevail between the parties and that a negotiated solution can finally be reached, one that would allow the peaceful coexistence of two states within mutually agreed and internationally recognized borders. About 50,000 faithful packed St. Peters square for the popes annual message.
Japans Emperor Akihito marked his 84th birthday on Saturday with a pledge to fulfill his duties until the day of his abdication in 2019, and to prepare for passing the torch to the next era.

Akihito waved to thousands of well-wishers from a balcony of the royal palace. He was to attend birthday celebrations at the palace later Saturday.

In his annual birthday comment at a news conference earlier this week and released Saturday, Akihito thanked the people for putting together thoughts and efforts to achieve his abdication wish that had surprised the nation.

Akihito still has a busy schedule, signing official documents, receiving foreign dignitaries and traveling to disaster-hit areas. But he said he will keep working until April 30, 2019, the day he is scheduled to abdicate.

Over the remaining days, I continue to carry out my duties as the symbol of the state, Akihito said. I would like to make preparations for passing the torch to the next era, together with the people concerned.

Akihito last year expressed his wish to abdicate, citing his age and health as a concern. He ascended the throne at the age of 56 in January 1989, after the death of his father, Emperor Hirohito, beginning the Heisei Era.

The government has adopted a one-time law allowing for Akihitos abdication, and this month formally set the date for the event. His elder son Crown Prince Naruhito will ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne the next day, on May 1, 2019. He will be 59.

There will be more preparations ahead of the abdication, including deciding a new era name and a new home for the emperor and the empress.

Akihitos desire to leave the throne revived a debate about the countrys 2,000-year-old monarchy, one of the worlds oldest, as well as discussion about improving the status of female members of the shrinking royal population. The current male-only succession rules prohibit women from succeeding the throne. Women lose their royal status when they marry a commoner.

Unlike his father who was worshipped as god until the end of World War II, Akihito has devoted himself to being a symbolic figure as defined in Japans postwar pacifist constitution while trying to soothe the wounds of war from his fathers era. Though spoken in soft language, his emphasis on the importance of peace and compassions toward the handicapped, the weak and the elderly as he himself grew older is often seen in contrast to Prime Minister Shinzo Abes right-wing, hawkish policies.

The last emperor to abdicate was 200 years ago  Kokaku in 1817. Mari Yamaguchi, Tokyo, MDT/AP
In a rural community far from Hong Kongs hustle and bustle and towering skyscrapers, villagers hold one of the southern Chinese citys rare and colorful local festivals.

Residents gather in the village of Lam Tsuen for the dayslong Tai Ping Ching Jiu festival. Participants give thanks to Taoist deities like Tin Hau for abundant harvests and pray for peace.

Organizers spend lavishly on the celebration, erecting a massive temporary bamboo theatre for traditional Cantonese Opera performances.

Other highlights include lion dances, vegetarian feasts and the burning of life-size paper effigies of animals like horses for luck. On the final day, meat is once again allowed to mark the rituals close, so revelers enjoy delicacies like roast suckling pig.

The event is so popular that even villagers who have emigrated overseas return home to join in the festivities.

The festival, also known as Da Jiao, is held in other agrarian villages across Hong Kongs outlying New Territories at varying intervals. It was also once common in parts of neighboring Guangdong province in mainland China until the Communist Party took power, when such traditions were suppressed by the countrys atheist leaders, who viewed them as feudal superstition. AP
The Eastern world has a very strong rice culture. In fact, an event I attended a few years ago opened with young representatives from various Asian countries  including Macao, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines  holding handfuls of rice to be put into a large bowl as a symbol of solidarity among all participating Asian countries. The symbolism of rice in Asian culture is strong, with almost all Asians having rice as a daily sustenance, while the Chinese culture is especially represented by rice dumplings.

Anyone living in Macao would know that almost every Chinese festival is celebrated with rice dumplings. However, the term rice dumpling has been used to refer to different types of Chinese food, all of which are made from glutinous rice and pressed into dumplings, with variances in taste, size, and origin. The more widely known kind of rice dumpling is zongzi , although it is not necessarily the most widely eaten.

As a festive food, zongzi is mostly only eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival. Zongzi is a type of rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo leaves, usually made with savory ingredients such as pork, mushrooms and salted eggs within sticky glutinous rice. Zongzi originated from the Warring States period when the patriotic minister Qu Yuan  was believed to have committed suicide by jumping into the river in devastation at the fall of the Chu empire. To prevent the fish in the river feeding on Qu Yuans body, people threw zongzi into the river to feed the fish instead. Therefore, year after year, we make and eat zongzi on the day believed to be the anniversary of Qu Yuans death, now remembered as the Dragon Boat Festival in memory of his patriotism.

The less widely known but more widely eaten kind of rice dumpling is tangyuan . These are small round balls of glutinous rice with sweet fillings, usually black sesame, or red bean or peanut pastes, boiled in sweet soup, and are a very important Chinese festive food. Tangyuan is eaten at different festivals, from Chinese New Year to the Mid-Autumn Festival. In fact, the main festivals celebrated by eating tangyuan is the Lantern Festival  Yuan Siu   which falls on the 15th day of the Lunar Year to celebrate the beginning of Spring, and the Winter Solstice  Dong Zhi   which occurred last week to celebrate the beginning of Winter. So, why is tangyuan eaten at all these festivals?

Unlike zongzi which has its own story of how it was invented, Tangyuan is a traditional Chinese snack believed to date back to the Song Dynasty when it was first recorded in Poems from Song. But some believed that as far as the Warring States period people already ate tangyuan. The reason why they are eaten on the different festivals is what they represents. Because these small dumplings are round (yuan in Chinese) and sweet, they represent Tuan Yuan   reunion or togetherness. So, the reason why tangyuan are eaten at different Chinese festivals is that all Chinese festivals have the element of reunion of the family or friends.

This is true no matter whether the festival is for the celebration of the new year, the coming of spring, Chinese valentines day, mid-autumn, or the coming of winter. Tangyuan is a delicious festive food to symbolize love and togetherness. But dont forget that they are made from glutinous rice and sweet fillings, so beware of the calories and sugar before digging in the sweet, hot bowl of delicious rice dumplings.
North Koreas envoy in charge of U.S. affairs at the United Nations demanded Washington provide evidence to back up its claim Pyongyang was behind the Wannacry ransomware attack, an allegation has said was a baseless provocation being used to generate tensions.

Pak Song Il told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from New York late Monday that Pyongyang sees the allegation as an effort to create an extremely confrontational atmosphere.

If they are so sure, show us the evidence, he said.

The WannaCry ransomware attack infected hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide and crippled parts of Britains National Health Service in May.

U.S. Homeland security adviser Tom Bossert wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published last week that the U.S. administration had determined North Korea was behind the WannaCry attack. He said its finding of responsibility is based on evidence that has been confirmed by other governments and private companies, including the United Kingdom and Microsoft.

He wrote that North Korea would be held accountable.

North Koreas state-run media quickly condemned the accusation, saying Pyongyang would never tolerate such reckless claims. It called Bosserts claim a grave political provocation and vowed to retaliate. MDT/AP
Chinese legislators discussed a report this week on cultural heritage work submitted to the ongoing bi-monthly session of the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress (NPC).

Some legislators were concerned that cultural heritage work has become an insular process that largely disregards the ultimate goal: informing and enhancing the publics knowledge of their own cultural heritage. These legislators expect that the works should be more people-oriented.

Deputy to the NPC and local delegate Iong Weng Ian, as cited in a report by the press agency, Xinhua, suggested making better use of social resources.

Hopefully, well take them into further consideration, whether theyre from the Chinese mainland or overseas Chinese, she said.

Many overseas Chinese are actually keen on making their own contributions to the protection of Chinese antiques, the delegate continued.

Her calls were in line with the report, which suggested further cooperation with other countries and for Hong Kong and Macau to enhance Chinas soft power.

According to the report, over the past five years Chinas international exchanges in cultural heritage have had nearly 300 exhibitions of Chinese antiques held abroad, and more than 100 foreign exhibitions held in China.

China has signed bilateral treaties and memorandums of understanding on cultural heritage with several countries.

Meanwhile Yang Bangjie, member of the NPC Standing Committee noted that there are antiques stored in several places but not exhibited.

It makes it hard for us to appreciate the antiques and do research, as many of them cannot be approached and inventories are obscure, he argued.

Wang Gang, another member of the Standing Committee, compared China

with Europe, where the interpretation of cultural heritage is often

combined with things such as philosophy, technological

evolution and history. He noted that while the protection of cultural heritage is the top priority, its ultimate goal is to strengthen the knowledge of the public on its cultural heritage. LV
Macau is one of the places mentioned in an investigation headed by Spanish judge Pilar de Lara that aims to track down money from a Lugo (Galicia, Spain) drug trafficking criminal organization, the local newspaper El Progresso reported.

According to the report, Spanish courts have managed to track and freeze several bank accounts used launder the profits from the criminal activities in tax havens such as Andorra, Switzerland, Macau, the Bahamas and Luxembourg.

On such accounts, the newspaper claims to have caught around 6 million euros (around MOP57.3million) as well as over 40 real estate properties in the areas of Lugo, Asturias and Marbella (Spain).

According to judge de Lara, the suspects were using several bank accounts in tax havens to launder the money through the creation of a complex network of companies and offshore firms.

It was mentioned that the alleged head of the criminal gang has numerous criminal antecedents for tobacco smuggling since the 1980s. However, over time the gangs structure has developed into more lucrative drug products such as heroin and cocaine.

Among the multiple people under investigation are several accomplices that are suspects of creating front companies with the purpose of hiding and disseminating the high incomes coming from the illicit activities.

Sources cited in the process remark that the investigation started in 2014 and has involved frequent phone tapping and other surveillance methods. The authorities acted by taking several group members into custody, unveiling the business network scheme which involved more than a dozen companies in Spain and in Andorra, Macau, the Bahamas and Switzerland. In total, the courts managed to block funds of a sum of over MOP57 million in Spain and abroad, but the amount goes up as more properties, real estate, vehicles and other goods are found to be part of the scheme.

The suspicion of investigators arose from the unusual excess of luck that the ex-wife of the head of the gang claimed to have between 1996 and 2015, after she declared almost 400,000 euros (aprox. MOP3.8 million) of income coming from several lottery prizes.

This was considered improbable by the judge, who hypothesized that it may be a result of a scheme of buying prized lottery tickets in order to launder money. RM
MASON CITY | Some kids are bored. Some feel unwanted. Others feel disconnected.

Whatever the problem, many of them think the solution is to stay out of school.

Truancy can lead to many other problems, officials say, and finding solutions provides advantages that are wide-ranging.

The Cerro Gordo County Attorney's Office has partnered with Mason City Schools to work with parents and students to find a way of getting the kids back in school.

The program began about a year ago. So far, nine students and their families have been involved.

"Truancy is more than a school problem," said Nichole Benes, an assistant county attorney who has worked on many juvenile cases.

"Many truants are in juvenile court for other issues," she said. "For some kids, free time means trouble. Delinquency means truancy."

The concept of the anti-truancy program is to find a way to get students, parents and school officials to work together to get the students back in school, said Jadie Meyer, director of special education and student services.

"The intent is to be proactive and have early communication with the family. We want to get all players together so we can all play a part," Meyer said.

She said while nine students and their families have been involved in the new program, that does not represent the extent of the truancy problem. "Many schools handle truancy at their own level," she said.

Meyer said often the key is to determine what kind of support the student needs and find ways to provide it.

"It might be more parental support, school support, mental health support. It could be a lot of things," she said.

Though the program is still in its infancy, Meyer thinks its success will be evident in the number of truants who turn their lives around and become productive citizens. "Success goes well beyond the school doors," she said.

Benes and Meyer said a key component in the program was to have a mediator  someone who could listen to the students, the parents and school officials, and lead them to a plan of action.

Retired Juvenile Court Judge Gerald Magee was the ideal person to fill that role, Benes said, and he accepted.

Magee, 74, became a juvenile court judge in 1992 when the state started the program and stayed in that role until his retirement in 2008.

Since that time he has presided over Family Treatment Court, Drug Court and in 2013 was elected chairman of the Iowa Child Advocacy Board, a group that provides citizen involvement in child welfare cases.

As mediator in the truancy program, Magee said, "The objectives are to find out the reason for the truancy, work out solutions and prepare a written mediation agreement that everyone can live with.

"It is a program that goes into effect when nothing else has worked," he said. "It is a last resort."

Truancy is not something new, Magee said. "Even in my earliest days as a juvenile court judge, it was a problem. It still is," he said.

Magee said there was a time when schools dealt with truant kids by expelling them. "That has changed a lot over the years," he said. "The idea is to find a way to keep them in school, not kick them out."

The protocol for the program involves meetings between the student, parents and school officials, identifying the problems and possible solutions.

The final step is coming up with a mediation agreement signed by the parent, a school representative and the mediator which specifies what the child has agreed to do, what the school has agreed to do and includes comments from the mediator.

Benes said truancy hits all age groups so the mediation steps differ, depending on the situation.

"Young kids don't attend the mediation sessions," she said. "Older kids do, because they have much more responsibility for their actions."

Magee is also working with Charles City and Nora Springs officials on a similar program.
(HealthDay)For community-dwelling older adults, supplementation with calcium, vitamin D, or both does not reduce the incidence of fractures, according to a review published in the Dec. 26 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Jia-Guo Zhao, M.D., from Tianjin Hospital in China, and colleagues conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine whether calcium, vitamin D, or combined calcium and vitamin D supplements are linked to a reduced incidence of fracture among community-dwelling older adults. Thirty-three randomized trials involving 51,145 participants were included.

The researchers found that neither calcium nor vitamin D was significantly associated with the risk of hip fracture compared with placebo or no treatment (calcium: risk ratio [RR], 1.53; 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.97 to 2.42; vitamin D: RR, 1.21; 95 percent CI, 0.99 to 1.47). No significant correlation with hip fracture was seen for combined calcium and vitamin D compared with placebo or no treatment (RR, 1.09; 95 percent CI, 0.85 to 1.39). There were also no significant correlations for calcium, vitamin D, or the combination of calcium and vitamin D with incidence of nonvertebral, vertebral, or total fractures.

"These findings do not support the routine use of these supplements in community-dwelling older people," the authors write.

Copyright  2017 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Mdr1 induced by CD103+ DCs mediates maintenance of intestinal T cell homeostasis in the presence of bile acids. Credit: Osaka University

The immune system counters pathogenic microbes and toxins in the environment. The system comprises innate (non-specific) and adaptive (acquired) immunity. When innate immune cells recognize pathogens, the adaptive immune system is called into action. There are two types of adaptive immune responses: humoral immunity mediated by antibodies produced by B cells, and cell-mediated immunity mediated by T cells, a type of white blood cell.

CD4+ T cells regulate/suppress immune responses through several mechanisms. Naive CD4 T cells can differentiate into one of several lineages of effector (Teff) cells, including Th1 and Th17. In a disease-free state, Teff cells are tightly regulated by the intestinal microbiota, the community of microorganisms that normally inhabits the digestive tracts of humans and other animals. However, when there is an accumulation of Th17 and Th1 cells in the intestine, the symbiotic relationship may be disrupted, leading to conditions such as inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs), a group of debilitating and sometimes life-threatening conditions that affect the colon and small intestine.

While a great deal is known about the mechanisms underlying the symbiotic interactions between Teff cells and intestinal microbiota, far less is known about the interaction of Teff cells with metabolites, which are the intermediates and products of metabolism. This motivated an international team of researchers centered at Japan's Osaka University to fill the knowledge gap, potentially yielding valuable clues for development of robust therapeutic agents against IBDs.

Bile acid sequestration restores mucosal homeostasis of mdr1-deficient T cells. Credit: Osaka University and The Scripps Research Institute

For their study, the researchers focused on bile acid, a detergent-like metabolite produced via cholesterol catabolism in the liver and deposited through the bile duct into the small intestine in response to food intake. Bile acids have been reported to induce oxidative stress in liver and epithelial cells by perturbing normal cell membrane architecture.

"We observed in mice that Teff cells upregulate the protein Mdr1, in the end portion of the small intestine (ileum) to maintain homeostasis in the presence of bile acids," says Hisako Kayama from Osaka University and author of the study recently published in Immunity. "Notably, those lacking Mdr1 display mucosal dysfunction and induce Crohn's disease-like ileitis."

Mdr1 is an important protein that is extensively distributed and expressed in the intestinal cells. It pumps xenobiotics (such as toxins or drugs) out of the cell, and has essential functions in Teff cells during bile acids exposure, limiting oxidative stress, promoting survival, and suppressing inflammatory cytokine expression. The team noted the inhibition of bile acid reabsorption in the ileum restores mucosal homeostasis in mice transplanted with Mdr1-deficient Teff cells, which underscores the involvement of Teff dysregulation in the pathogenesis of IBD.

"We have also successfully identified a discernable subset of ileal Crohn's disease patients who display marked MDR1 loss-of-function in the presence of bile acids," Kayama adds. "As such, future validation studies of larger IBD patient cohorts is important to test whether an Mdr 1 loss-of-function is associated with a unique clinical course of ileal CD. Such knowledge may present opportunities for non-traditional, bile acids-directed therapy."

More information: Wei Cao et al, The Xenobiotic Transporter Mdr1 Enforces T Cell Homeostasis in the Presence of Intestinal Bile Acids, Immunity (2017). Journal information: Immunity Wei Cao et al, The Xenobiotic Transporter Mdr1 Enforces T Cell Homeostasis in the Presence of Intestinal Bile Acids,(2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.immuni.2017.11.012
A man who is overweight walking alone in a park. Walking with a doctor could be helpful for overweight patients. Credit: Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, CC BY-SA

Gyms across the country will be packed this week with people vowing to "get moving" to lose weight this year.

Much of the effort will be for naught. And, in fact, some of it could lead to injury and frustration.

Currently, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention exercise guidelines call for all individuals to do 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week, or 75 minutes of high-intensity exercise per week. In addition, the CDC recommends two days of strength training, or muscle strengthening, for obese people.

I am a physician assistant and exercise physiologist from the Lifestyle Modification Clinic at UConn Health. Current recommendations seem extremely unrealistic, considering less than 10 percent of all individuals meet these criteria for exercise, even without the resistance exercises.

We've lost the focus on using the guidelines only as guidelines, and not individualizing an exercise prescription for our patients. We need to be smarter about prescribing it, and here's why.

A customized approach

The medical profession has learned a few things in recent years about exercise and the obese and those who have become diabetic as a result. All exercise is not created equal, and neither are its benefits.

For those who want to burn fat, aerobic exercise is important. Fat metabolism is greatest during aerobic exercise which is achieved during moderate intensity exercise.

Type 2 diabetes is due to insulin resistance, so the exercise that is more effective to increase insulin sensitivity is more specific to the duration of the exercise than the intensity.

But overweight and obese people may not be able to do either of these without injuring themselves. The Hippocratic oath, whereby doctors pledge to first "do no harm," gets lost with the prescription of exercise with most individuals. The risk of injury and noncompliance should be the first two things when discussing an exercise routine.

The risk of injury for all individuals, especially of the lower extremities, such as plantar fasciitis and knee pain, is up to four times greater doing high-intensity exercise, such as jogging compared to moderate intensity, such as walking. Obese individuals are at even greater risk.

The risk of injury drives noncompliance, especially with higher-intensity exercise. Educating patients about the benefits of breaking up prolonged sitting throughout the day has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity for diabetics which will help motivate them to start making little changes to start. This will allow them to make realistic changes and even those will have benefits.

Walking the walk

Understanding the importance of exercise, you would assume that physicians spend a lot of time counseling on exercise.

However, in 2010, fewer than 31 percent of physicians recommended physical activity for overweight and less than 47 percent for obese people during an office visit. This was an increase, however, from fewer than 17 percent for overweight and 35 percent for obese in 2000.

This could be partly due to how health care providers are educated, with less than 20 percent of medical schools in the U.S. even requiring one class in physical activity or exercise. More than half of the physicians trained in the United States in 2013 received no formal education in physical activity and may, therefore, be under prepared to properly advise about exercise.

Exercise has been shown to reduce the risk up to 50 percent for all people from becoming diabetic, and since obese individuals are at greater risk, they would benefit the most. For physicians, the challenge is how to help obese patients understand this and help them become more active.

The first thing is to educate our health care professionals during their medical education on exercise physiology and the medical importance of physical activity which will help them give an appropriate exercise prescription.

It has been shown that the more the physicians focus on exercise, the more likely patients will exercise.

Also, the more we doctors go into our "patient's lifestyle" and find ways to get them moving more and being respectful of them, the more successful they will be. We need to get outside of our box of guidelines and listen to our patients. An example would be to go for a walk during their visits.

Patients walking with their doctors can help doctors assess patients' fitness levels. Health care providers can assess whether patients have any limitations such as knee or back pain. They also can explain the difference between aerobic and anaerobic exercise, which is best done by explaining the "talk test." If you can talk but not sing while exercising, you are maintaining aerobic metabolism, which burns fats and is good for weight loss. If you are unable to say more than a few words without pausing for a breath, you will then be exercising anaerobically and burning sugar.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
(HealthDay)You may have heard the expression: It's not the heat, it's the humidity. Researchers seem to agree, and are now warning that humidity is likely to increase the threat to human health from climate change-related temperature hikes in certain parts of the world.

Those areas include the southeastern United States, the Amazon, western and central Africa, southern areas of the Mideast and Arabian peninsula, northern India and eastern China, the study authors said.

At times, the combination of heat and high humidity in these regions could make it impossible for people to work or, in some cases, even survive, the researchers suggested. Along with harming health, these conditions could cause economic damage.

"The conditions we're talking about basically never occur nowpeople in most places have never experienced them," lead author Ethan Coffel, a graduate student at Columbia University's Earth Observatory, said in a university news release.

"But they're projected to occur close to the end of the century," Coffel added.

Using global climate models, the researchers mapped current and projected future "wet bulb" temperatures, which reflect the combined effects of heat and humidity.

Lab experiments have shown a wet-bulb reading of 89.6 degrees Fahrenheit is the threshold beyond which many people would have trouble carrying out normal activities outside. This level is rarely reached anywhere today, the study authors said. But the investigators project that by the 2070s or 2080s, the mark could be reached one or two days a year in the U.S. southeast, and three to five days in parts of South America, Africa, India and China.

According to background information in the report: "Human health impacts depend on both temperature and humidity. The human body is efficient at shedding heat through evaporative cooling [sweating], even in high air temperatures, if moisture levels are low.

"However, in hot and humid conditions, the efficiency of evaporative cooling slows and the body may become unable to maintain a stable core temperature," the study authors wrote. This can cause heat stress, which can lead to heat stroke, heat exhaustion, heat cramps or heat rashes.

Study co-author Alex deSherbinin, of Columbia's Center for International Earth Science Information Network, added that "it's not just about the heat, or the number of people. It's about how many people are poor, how many are old, who has to go outside to work, who has air conditioning."

The study was published Dec. 22 in the journal Environmental Research Letters.

Copyright  2017 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
The randomised controlled trial of more than 2,000 people in Lambeth and Southwark was led by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and King's College London, in partnership with SH:24, a digital sexual health service.

The study found testing uptake was nearly doubled in a group that was invited to use internet-accessed STI testing (e-STI testing) compared to a group which was invited to use existing services at health clinics (50% e-STI testing group compared to 26.6% control group). Participants were free to use any other service or intervention during the study period.

The researchers say e-STI testing should be considered as a complement to existing services, and as an effective measure to increase uptake of STI testing. However, further studies are needed to evaluate the impact of e-STI testing on treatment and health outcomes.

STIs remain a global public health concern, with an estimated 357 million new infections of curable STIs (chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis and trichomoniasis) each year. In England there were more than 400,000 new diagnoses of STIs, and 5,684 new cases of HIV, in 2015.

In 2016 there were more than 100,000 new STIs diagnosed in London residents and London accounted for almost half of new HIV diagnoses in the UK in 2015. The burden of infection is disproportionately high among young adults (under 25 years), black minority and ethnic (BME) groups and men who have sex with men (MSM).

Left undiagnosed and untreated, STIs such as chlamydia and gonorrhoea can increase the risk of HIV transmission and cause a range of health issues including subfertility and ectopic pregnancy. Low rates of HIV testing contribute to late diagnosis and poorer health outcomes.

First author Emma Wilson from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine said:

"E-STI testing is currently being implemented in the UK as one measure to meet increasing demand for STI testing, but there is surprisingly little evidence on whether it successfully encourages uptake. Our study, the first of its kind, aimed to investigate the effectiveness of e-STI testing for syphilis, HIV, chlamydia and gonorrhoea."

In the trial participants were randomly allocated to receive one of two text messages. The control group was sent a text message with a link listing the locations, contact details and websites of seven local sexual health clinics. The intervention group received a message linking them to the e-STI testing and results service, SH:24.

The group given details of SH:24 was offered postal self-sampling test kits for chlamydia, gonorrhoea, HIV and syphilis, and when returned, were given results via text message or telephone and provided with online information about safe sex and sexual health. Participants were free to use any other services or interventions during the study period.

Joint senior investigator Caroline Free from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine said:

"Sexual health clinics play an important role in community health but some people may find them inconvenient or stigmatising, which can stop them attending. More long-term monitoring and evaluation of e-STI testing services is needed, but our study showed that when e-STI testing was made available alongside face-to-face services, the number of people getting tested for STIs nearly doubled."

Researchers found that participants diagnosed using e-STI testing, and who needed follow-up treatment in clinic, did not have any reduction in treatment time, compared to those who had first attended a face-to-face appointment. Service innovations, such as e-treatment and postal treatment, may help improve treatment rates for people diagnosed with STIs online.

Joint senior investigator Dr Paula Baraitser from Kings College London, said:

"Although the intervention group were given information to access an e-STI service, some of them chose to use face-to-face services instead of e-STI testing. Therefore it is important that both online and clinical based services are available to meet the differing needs of people.

"As sexual health services develop we would like to see further work aligning online and clinic based services. Going forward we advise joint commissioning of these different modalities of care to ensure that users are able to move easily from one to another according to their health care needs, allowing continuity of care."

The authors acknowledge the limitations of the study, including that they were unable to recruit the target of 3,000 participants, meaning they were unable to detect differences in STI diagnoses and STI cases treated. It is also likely that those who registered for the study already had a greater interest in STI testing, compared to those who declined.

More information: Emma Wilson et al, Internet-accessed sexually transmitted infection (e-STI) testing and results service: A randomised, single-blind, controlled trial, PLOS Medicine (2017). Journal information: PLoS Medicine Emma Wilson et al, Internet-accessed sexually transmitted infection (e-STI) testing and results service: A randomised, single-blind, controlled trial,(2017). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1002479
Mature T cells throw out tube-like protrusions to avoid being swept away by blood rushing by at high speed. As they gently roll along, tether after tether is peeled loose and slung forward like a lasso to gain new traction. Credit: Michael Abadier, Ph.D., La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology

To eradicate pathogens or counteract inflammation, cells of the immune system move through often rapid blood flow toward peripheral disease sites, such as skin, gut or lung. Thus a goal of immunologists has been to define the repertoire of molecules that not only keep fast-moving immune cells on course but allow them to access inflamed tissues.

Now, a team led by La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology (LJI) researcher Klaus Ley, M.D., reports that helper T cells move toward inflamed tissue using membrane protrusions that stabilize them and provide traction on the vasculature. Using high-resolution microscopy and global molecular analysis, the team shows that immature T cells lack these protrusions but that maturing T-cells switch on a gene expression program to create material to construct them.

That work, published in the Dec. 26. , 2017, issue of Cell Reports, provides a brand new collection of factors potentially useful to modulate immune responses in conditions as diverse as cancer and autoimmune disease.

"Immature T cells remain in lymphoid organs and can't move into sites of infection," says Ley, a professor and head of in LJI's Division of Inflammation Biology. "To reach their targets, T cells must first acquire biomechanical properties necessary for migratory behavior. We now know they do that in part by deploying strategies similar to those we previously discovered in cells called neutrophils."

Specifically, in a 2012 Ley's group reported in Nature that white blood cells called neutrophils throw out tube-like protrusions to anchor themselves and avoid being swept away by blood rushing by at high speed. As neutrophils gently roll along, tether after tether is peeled loose and slung forward like a lasso to gain new traction and slow them down. The new work shows multiple types of mature T cells, which unlike neutrophils are part of the adaptive immune system, also sprout tethers and slings to help them migrate to targets. Those T cells include so-called Th1 and Th17 T helper cells, which "help" other cells mount an immune response, and regulatory cells called Tregs.

The group used microscopy to film these events using T cells engineered to harbor a fluorescent marker. The result was high-resolution videos of mature, red-glowing T cells rolling across either artificial surfaces or through living mouse muscle. The films, which were acquired using a microscopy technique Ley's group developed in 2010 and called quantitative dynamic footprinting nanoscopy, show that even under rapid fluid flow mature T cells manage to lay down multiple tethers and then swing them forward. By contrast, immature T cells remained devoid of protrusions and rolled poorly, apparently incapable of this type of cellular rappelling.

Extending protrusions apparently allows helper T cells to roll stably, regulate their speed, and then migrate into inflammatory sites. That protrusions are necessary for this fundamental behavior immediately suggests clinical applicationsnamely, that T cell responses could be either improved or impaired by manipulating how well a cell navigates the vasculature.

That possibility is bolstered by the fact that the new study also reports that, like their mouse cell counterparts, mature human T cells sprout comparable "tether and sling-like" protrusions to roll stably over surfaces.

Finally, to identify factors that could be exploited in T cell-based therapies, the group conducted global analysis of genes switched on or off as naive T cells acquired tether-and-sling-forming capacity. Several thousand genes showed changes in expression as naive T cells matured into migrating cells, and the Ley lab is now actively investigating the ones most directly involved in protrusion-formation.

"Many of these genes encode factors that make up a cell's internal framework, or cytoskeleton, or participate in cell invasion," says Ley. "This makes sense, for if cells put out cables to hold them in place, the cables must contain protein structures necessary for their integrity. Knocking out those proteins could arrest T cell migration."

The Ley lab is already using a target identified in the current analysis to write the story's next chapter, one relevant to psoriasis. Psoriasis is an autoimmune skin condition, which, like most autoimmune diseases, emerges in part when T cells become inappropriately mobilized to attack one's own tissue. "In the screen, we found a cytoskeletal protein upregulated in migrating T-cells," says Ley. "We already have evidence suggesting that if you interfere with that protein, psoriasis is less severe." This promising candidate identified in mouse studies will be the subject of future studies aimed at human disease.

Clinically, the converse is also possible, as illustrated by immunotherapy designed to rev up a patient's immune system to fight cancer. "Cytotoxic T cells and T helper cells are now being engineered to eradicate tumors," Ley says. "Our work suggests that additional manipulation of gene expression in those T cells could increase treatment efficacy by boosting homing to tumor tissue. These approaches require more work to determine which genes are essential for high-efficiency rolling, tether formation and immune cell recruitment."
Radiohead guitarist Ed OBrien was asked by Music Radar for his thoughts on guitars place in music today, to which he replied:

I was thinking about this yesterday  its weird, because if you want to make a cultural impact as a kid, its probably not through a guitar; its on decks, isnt it? Jimi Hendrix nowadays would probably be a DJ, and doing extraordinary things.

But I think the guitar will always be there because its such an expressive instrument, and its very old. The guitar goes back thousands of years; it goes back to the lyre, youre plucking strings. Its something very, very fundamental.

Ive got an ngoni, from Mali, and its four strings and its a shell of a body with a piece of round wood, and theres something just very primal about it. People are always saying its the death of the guitar, but its obviously flourishing. Theres more metal around, theres more rock, and there are people doing great things with it.

For me, band-wise, I love Savages. I think what Gemma [Thompson] does as a guitarist is brilliant, and the sound of it, and I love that band. And I love Warpaint. I love what they do.

Again, its not about guitar heroes; its about beautiful guitar lines, textures, sounds. But then also I really like what Michael Kiwunuka is doing, and what Jimmy [Smith] and Yannis [Philippakis] do in Foals  I think theyve got a great thing going on; I love their style.

I think guitar is as relevant as ever, really; it might just be that there are more options, musically, to express yourself these days. You think about 50 years ago, it was organ and pianos and keyboards; synths hadnt really come in, so in another way, synths come in, and theres more on your palette. And now all the DJ stuff.

More people are probably playing guitar and playing instruments because instruments are cheaper than they were and more accessible than 50, 60 years ago. Youve just got more people making music, which has got to be a good thing. I think youve got the opportunity now to make some extraordinary noises and sounds, if you can be arsed.
By EFF Deeplinks Blog.

The world is taking an increasingly dim view of the misuses of technology and those who made their names (and fortunes) from them. In 2017, Silicon Valley companies were caught up in a ongoing trainwreck of scandals: biased algorithms, propaganda botnets, and extremist online organizing have dominated the medias headlines.

But in less-reported-on corners of the world, concerns about technology are being warped to hurt innocent coders, writers and human rights defenders. Since its founding, EFF has highlighted and defended cases of injustice and fearmongering perpetrated against innocent technologists. We advocate for unjustly imprisoned technologists and bloggers with our Offline project. In 2017, we continue to see fear being whipped up against those who oppose oppression with modern toolsas well as those who have done nothing more than teach and share technology so that we can all use and understand it better.

Take Dmitry Bogatov, software developer and math lecturer at Moscows Finance and Law University. Bogatov ran a volunteer Tor relay, allowing people around the world to protect their identities as they used the Internet. It was one part of his numerous acts of high-tech public service, which include co-maintaining Xmonad and other Haskell software for the Debian project.

For his generosity, Bogatov has now spent over a hundred days in pretrial detention, wrongfully accused of posting extremist materials that were allegedly sent via through Tor server. Law enforcement officials around the world understand that data that appears to originate from a particular Tor machine is, in fact, traffic from its anonymised users. But that didnt stop Bogatovs prosecutors in Russia from accusing him of sending the data himself, under a pseudonym, to foment riotsand added new charges of inciting terrorism when a judge suggested the earlier charge was too weak to hold Bogatov in pre-trial detention.

Dmitry is still being denied his freedom, accused of a crime he clearly did not commit. The same is true for Emirati telecommunications engineer, Ahmed Mansoor, of the United Arab Emirates. Mansoor has been a tireless voice for victims of human rights abuses in the United Arab Emirates. In 2011, amidst the Arab uprisings, he was one of five Emirati citizens to be sentenced to prison for his social media postings. That case provoked international condemnation, and the group was soon pardoned. Mansoor was subsequently targeted with sophisticated government spyware on his iPhone; he recognised and passed on the malware link to experts, which led to the discovery of three previously unknown vulnerabilities in Apples iOS.

In April, Mansoor was seized by the UAE authorities again. On the day of his arrest, the UAEs official news agency saying that he had been arrested on the orders of the Public Prosecution for Cybercrimes and accused of using social media to promote sectarianism and hate, among other charges. Mansoors family did not hear from him for two weeks, and he has been denied access to a lawyer.

Just a year ago, Apple was able to roll out a security fix to their users because of Mansoors swift, transparent, and selfless actions. Millions of people are safer because of Ahmeds actions, even as his family fears for his own physical and mental safety.

Mansoors detention is new, but others continue to be jailed for their use of technology, year after year. Alaa abd el-Fattah ran Linux installfests across the Middle-East and was a key online voice in the Egyptian uprising. Since then he has been jailed, in turn, by the democratically elected Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, and then when Morsi was overthrown in a coup, by incoming President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. Alaas appeal against a five year prison sentence for protestingwidely seen as a means to silence him on social mediawas refused in November of this year. Amnesty and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention have both condemned Alaas continuing imprisonment.

Another long-term case is that of Saeed Malekpour, who has been in jail in Iran since 2008. Malekpour returned from Canada to visit his sick Iranian father in October of that year, at a time when the Iranian Revolutionary Guard was starting to target technologists and Internet experts. As an open source coder, Malekpour had written a free front-end image management utility for websites. The Guard found this software on a Farsi pornography site, and used it to as a pretext to seize Malekpour from the streets of Tehran, charge him with running the web site, and sentencing him to death.

Malekpours death sentence has been anulled twice following international pressure, but a change of government in his home country of Canada risked reducing the level of support for Malekpour. A campaign to encourage the new Trudeau administration to continue to advocate for Malekpour, even as Canada seeks to normalize relations with Iran, seems to be working. One of Malekpours advocates, former Liberal MP Irwin Cotler, has said that the Canadian government is now working on the case.

The continuing monitoring of Malekpours life sentence is a small consolation, but better than the alternative. The same is true of the current tentative freedom of Peter Steudtner and Ali Gharavi.

Ali and Peter travel the world, teaching and advising Internet users on how to improve their privacy and digital security online (Ali was an advisor for EFFs Surveillance Self-Defence project). The two were arrested in a raid by Turkish police on a digital security workshop in July in Istanbul, along with Amnesty Turkeys director, Idil Eser, and eight other human rights defenders.

The two technology consultants have been accused of aiding terrorists, despite the long history of both as peaceful advocates for secure online practices. After months of detention, concentrated diplomatic and public pressure led to both being released to join their families in Germany and Sweden. Were delighted that they are free, but their unjust prosecutionand that of their Turkish colleaguescontinues in the Turkish courts.

Peter and Ali have dedicated their careers to sharing their knowledge of digital security with those who need it most. Dmitry Bogdanov voluntarily ran a server than anyone could use to protect their identies. Ahmed Mansoor went public with his high-tech harassment by the authorities, and improved the security of millions by doing so. Alaa encouraged a generation of Egyptians to use free software and social media to express themselves. Saeed Malekpour has spent nearly a decade in prison for giving his software away for free. What they have in common is not just a love of technology, but a wish that its power be used for good, by us all.

Their sacrifices would be recognized by Bassel Khartabil, the Syrian free culture advocate. Before his arrest and torture in 2012, Bassel was the driving force behind countless projects to turn technology for the public good in his country. He founded a hackerspace in Damascus, translated Creative Commons into a Middle Eastern context, and built out Wikipedia and Mozilla for his fellow Syrians. Bassels generosity brought him notability and respect. His prominence and visibility as a voice outside the divided political power-bases of Syria made him an early target when the Syrian civil war became violent.

We learned this year that Bassel was killed by the Syrian government in 2015, shortly after he was removed from a civilian prison and sent into the invisibility of Syrias hidden security complexes.

The cases we cover in EFFs Offline project are all advocates for openness, transparency and the right to free expression, who have been unjustly imprisoned for their work. But transparency isnt just a noble goal for them: public visibility is what gives them hope and keeps them alive. We hope youll keep them all your hearts as you enter 2018. Even as we mourn Bassel, we look forward to a better new year that will see our imprisoned colleagues free and safe again.

EFF
YEREVAN.  As a result of collaboration between the prosecutors offices of Armenia and Georgia, Robert Aghvanyan, who was wanted for the smuggling and illicit trafficking of Igla missile system, has been transferred from Georgia to Armenia, to face criminal accountability.

On March 24, a decision was taken to include Aghvanyan as a defendant in the respective criminal case, and for the abovementioned actions, the General Prosecutors Office of Armenia informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

As a result of joint measures taken by the Armenian and Georgian law enforcement agencies, he was found on March 27, in Georgias capital city of Tbilisi.

The General Prosecutors Office of Armenia petition for handing Robert Aghvanyan over to the competent authorities of Armenia was approved, and he was transferred to Armenia on Monday.
Marukyan reminds Aliyev: The UN, OSCE and EU do not deal with the 'internal matter'

Inflation in Japan accelerates to 40-year high

Seoul and Riyadh sign $30 billion investment agreements

North Korea launches intercontinental ballistic missile that lands near Japan

FBI: U.S. concerned about China 'setting up' unauthorized 'police stations' in U.S. cities

Prime Minister of Finland: Europe is now too reliant on Chinese technology

Turkey to require insurance from oil tankers when passing through its waters

EU to provide Ukraine with generators and kits to repair power grids

Turkey sentences sect founder to 8,658 years in prison

Xi Jinping urges world to abandon any Cold War mentality

Aliyev rules out talks with Artsakh State Minister

FP: Ukraine's appetite for weapons depletes Western stocks

Putin and Aliyev discuss energy cooperation

Armenian financial technologies to enter international market: VISA and Idram sign memorandum in Yerevan

Incident in Poland causes disagreement between Kyiv and West

Mark Milley urges Kyiv and Moscow to find political solution: Chances of military victory are unlikely

New NATO Secretary General to be announced at Vilnius summit in 2023

Finnish Defense Ministry announces largest batch of military aid to Ukraine

Pashinyan receives Ukrainian businessmen of Armenian origin

Armenian soldier wounded in Azerbaijani shooting

Erdogan: Turkey-Israel relations entered a new phase of development

Mishustin: Cooperation between Moscow and Baku has become truly strategic and allied

Igor Khovaev to visit Baku

Mishustin arrives in Baku

Russian Foreign Ministry: South Caucasus is a strategic transport hub for Eurasia

U.S. general lays flowers at eternal flame at Armenian Genocide memorial

Republicans stand for same-sex marriage rights

Pallone says US State Department should not hesitate to speak about Azerbaijani aggression

Aliyev refuses to discuss Nagorno-Karabakh and threatens Armenia with new aggression

Greek minister doesn't get off plane to meet head of Libya's presidential council

Sergey Lavrov to visit Yerevan

Lebanese parliament fails to elect president of country

Kremlin on Zelenskyy's proposal to hold 'public' talks

National Assembly Speaker: Armenia is extremely interested in establishing strategic relations with Georgia

Canada provides additional military aid to Ukraine

Representatives of defense agencies of CSTO countries discuss crisis response issues

Armenian Defense Minister and American General discuss defense cooperation

Tehran accuses Israel and West of trying to organize civil war in Iran

Oppositionist: No guarantees that war with Azerbaijan can be avoided

Issue of biometric passports to Armenian citizens is temporarily suspended

Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement to be signed till end of year? Pashinyan's associate voices conditions

Erdogan says Russia and US agreed to refrain from using nuclear weapons

Azerbaijani oppositionist complains of torture by police

Kyaram Sloyan and Andranik Zohrabyan posthumously bestowed 'Hero of Artsakh' title

UN Secretary General Guterres welcomes parties' agreement on renewal of food deal

Eurasian Development Bank: Armenia is the leader among EEU countries in terms of economic growth

Greece promises to continue military support to Ukraine

Number of appeals from Azerbaijan to ECHR is growing

Pashinyan: The wheel of processes related to confiscation of illegal property is spinning

Fire hits Baghdad airport

North Korea fires ballistic missile towards Sea of Japan

Istanbul agrees to extend 'grain initiative' for another 120 days

'Hayastan' Fund to build 6 residential houses in Nerkin Khndzoresk village

Vocal as Russophobic propaganda: Azerbaijani singer sings about 'disgusting peacekeepers'

Biden congratulates Republicans on winning majority in House of Representatives

14 freight cars derailed in Kazakhstan, train traffic suspended

Newspaper: Ruben Vardanyan does not hurry to make changes in composition of Karabakh government

Russia attacks Ukraine with missiles in morning: Explosions heard in Dnieper, air defense works in Kyiv region

U.S. National Security Council: It is clear that the party ultimately responsible for this tragic incident is Russia

Gold prices decline

Russian Trade Representative to Armenia: Situation at Upper Lars checkpoint is not related to geopolitical issues

Trade Representative of Russia: Trade turnover with Armenia sets new record

Copper falls in price

Gas explodes in Fatih district of Istanbul, 10 people injured

Oil prices go down

Meteorite that fell in Britain contains key information about how oceans and life formed on Earth

Gamer drinks 12 energy drinks in ten minutes and ends up in hospital

Chinese customs officers accidentally find cockroach unknown to science

Man removes cobra's teeth with manicure pliers and gets arrested

Sweden to provide Ukraine with new military aid worth $287 million

Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania meet conditions for joining Schengen zone

Oil prices may reach $120 a barrel and stay at this level for 2 years

Zelenskyy receives 'signals' that Putin wants direct talks

Security Service of Ukraine puts Ramzan Kadyrov on wanted list

Unidentified men open fire at market in Izeh city in southwestern Iran

Karen Donfried tries to explain State Department's decision to exempt Azerbaijan from 907th Amendment

Philip Reeker says U.S. administration representatives have no access to Nagorno-Karabakh

Rimac Nevera sets speed record for production electric cars

Reeker: Pace and depth of current talks between Yerevan and Baku demonstrate potential to resolve conflict

FBI director considers TikTok threat to US National Security

Bob Menendez says Ukraine supplies Azerbaijan with phosphorus bombs it used in Karabakh

Delegation headed by Speaker of Armenian Parliament is in Tbilisi

Austin: U.S. intends to continue supplying weapons and aid to Ukraine during winter

Armenian politician charged with abuse of office, money laundering

Donfried says Armenia and Azerbaijan have historic opportunity to establish lasting peace

Bob Menendez: How on earth can we justify sending any support, security or otherwise, to the regime in Baku?

Azerbaijan fires at residents of Sarushen village of Artsakh

Head of Portugal's Finance Ministry: EU countries must work faster on energy intervention

Kuwait executes 7 prisoners

Czech Republic plans to train up to 4,000 Ukrainian servicemen next year

Ukraine once again asks US for powerful drones

Belarusian border guards shoot down drone intruding into airspace from Ukraine

Armenian Deputy PM: Regional electricity export opportunities significantly increased

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
MANLY | A Christmas Eve rollover involving an occupant of the vehicle fleeing the scene remains under investigation, according to law enforcement.

The accident was reported by a witness at 8:23 p.m. Sunday evening near Manly. Upon arrival, Worth County Sheriff's deputies found a red Ford Explorer on its top in the 1800 block of 340th Street, near the county line.

There was no one located inside or outside of the vehicle, the department said in a news release.

A witness said the male subject they helped get out of the vehicle fled the accident, the release said.

The driver of the vehicle was located, officials said. The incident remains under investigation.

Manly Fire and Rescue, Grafton Fire Department, Mason City Fire Department and Plymouth Fire Department assisted at the scene.

 Courtney Fiorini
YEREVAN.  The resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is of special importance to the Armenian side.

Ruling Republican Party (RPA) of Armenia MP, European Integration NGO Chairman, and political scientist Karen Bekaryan, noted the aforesaid at a press conference on Wednesday.

In his words, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs have issued more than ten statements in the current year.

And if we take into consideration that these statements were preceding, or were made after any event (), then it becomes apparent that the co-chairs have worked very actively [toward achieving a settlement to the conflict], Bekaryan noted, in particular.

At the same time, however, the deputy expressed a view that the statements by the foreign ministers are more important than the Minsk Group co-chairs position on this matter.

Also, the political scientist lawmaker said it can be concluded that there is an absence of mutual trust between the conflict parties, and a matter of reduction of tension along the line of contact.

According to Bekaryan, as long as incidents occur at the line of contact, no progress should be expected towards resolving the Karabakh conflict.

As per the RPA deputy, to settle this conflict, first it is indispensable to reduce tension on the line of contact.
The President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, wished success to Russian President Vladimir Putin in next years presidential election, reported RIA Novosti news agency of Russia.

This is a very good occasion for noting the stabilizing, unifying role of Russia, Sargsyan said at the informal meeting of the heads of the CIS countries, in Moscow. The positive economic trends this year in Russia have had a very positive impact on the situation in our country; we are all interconnected.

I wish you success in the coming year; no one doubts your success, added the Armenian President. I want for everything to be successful for the benefit of the Russian people and for the benefit of our friendship.
YEREVAN. -- Ucom and Discovery Science summed up the results of the 2017 contest. As a result, the dream of Samson and Hrant Hayrapetyan brothers, the authors of the best idea on how people will communicate in future, came true. They travelled to the Netherlands and visited the headquarters of the European Space Agency.

The Hayrapetyan brothers from Russia could not even imagine that during their summer holidays in Armenia they would participate in the contest, announced by the world-famous Discovery Science and Ucom, would win the contest and visit the headquarters of the European Space Agency. The Jury of the contest was impressed by the idea of a gadget meant for the deaf-and-dumb people. This gadget should be worn on the hand so that it can translate hand movements into speech and then convert speech into video via holographic camera.

Its great to host here Ucoms representative and the winners: Samson and Hrant. This is an excellent opportunity to inspire the new generation of scientists like these boys, by showing how their elder colleagues at the European Space Agency work here, said Dr. Robert Willemsen, an employee at European Space Agency.

During their visit the boys saw with their own eyes the routine of the best scientists of the planet, various state-of-the-art facilities, as well as historical spaceships that have been sent into space and returned to the planet Earth. By means of a special scale, the boys familiarized themselves with the force of gravity on the Moon, Mars and on other celestial bodies and had a general idea on how they would weigh on different planets. The children were allowed to be in such premises of the European Space Agency that were closed to tourists, and where only the scientists engaged in space research were entitled to have access.

The boys were also aware that the participant, who won the second place, was a student at Armath engineering laboratory. During their visit to Amsterdam, the boys clearly realized that the engineering education and programming skills were more than necessary for them.

Me and Samson, we dream of studying at Armath engineering laboratory, and now we are sending our warm greetings from Amsterdam to Armath students. We thank Ucom for making our dream come true, said Hrant Hayrapetyan.
Russia welcomes the activation of the process of negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Grigory Karasin said in an interview with Interfax.

The deputy foreign minister also said that Moscow welcomes the upcoming ministerial meeting in Moscow.

Russia is interested in an effective outcome of the ministerial meeting in January next year and supports the efforts of Yerevan and Baku to seek compromises on the basis of the work done, he said.

Russia, together with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, will continue to mediate in a peaceful solution to the Karabakh conflict, stressed Karasin. This unified position of Russia, the U.S. and France was clearly mentioned in the joint statement of the heads of delegation of the three countries in Vienna, he added.

Karasin recalled the Armenian-Azerbaijani summit on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, which was held in Geneva in October 2017 with the assistance of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs.

In October 2017, after a long break, the Armenian-Azerbaijani summit on the Karabakh settlement was held in Geneva with the assistance of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. During the summit the parties agreed to intensify the negotiation process and take additional measures aimed at reducing tensions on the contact line of troops. In this regard, the co-chairs held separate consultations in November 2017 with the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia, he said.

The Russian diplomat also touched upon the ministerial meeting organized on the sidelines of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Vienna.

The Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers discussed the key issues of the settlement, on which consensus could not yet reached. In addition, possible actions that would lead to de-escalation in the conflict zone were considered. The parties were given specific proposals related to the expansion of the OSCE observation mission. The ministers also agreed to continue the negotiations in January 2018 with the participation of the Minsk Group co-chairs, said Karasin.
The Iranian parliament approved the bill to add an annex to the 1979 Islamic Revolution's law in support of Palestinians during an open session on Wednesday. The bill was backed by 207 of the 226 deputies, IRNA reported.

According to the document, Iranian government is obliged to fully support Jerusalem as Palestinian capital.

The law tasked Iranian government to deepen and expand this support in various ways and calls representatives of Muslim countries and experts in appropriate cases. This step was made by Iranian lawmakers after US President Donald Trumps decision on December 6 to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Politicians and international organizations, including the United Nations, as well as all member countries of the European Union, warned the US about the consequences of the their decision on Jerusalem.

As reported earlier, the U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly Thursday to denounce President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. During the voting, 128 countries backed the document, with 9 voting against and 35 abstaining. According to the adopted document, any decisions and actions that involve a change in the nature, status and demographic composition of the Jerusalem are null and void.
Sellbyville, Delaware, Dec. 26, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --



Global eLearning Market is expected to hit a remarkable valuation of USD 200 billion by 2024, claims Global Market Insights, Inc. Emerging corporate trends and the escalating popularity of online or internet-based learning programs are some of the pronounced factors fueling the e-learning market demand globally.

Instances validating the increasing penetration of e-learning tools include the CityCabs launch of web-based training programs to provide linguistic training to taxi drivers in order to improve their communication with the commuters. Another such move was recorded when Infosys Ltd. entered in an agreement with three firms including Udacity Inc., EdX Inc., and Coursera Inc., to train their personnel on Artificial Intelligence via e-learning tools. Reportedly, The Indian Department of Electronics and Information Technology is also embracing e-learning centered research and development activities in some of the renowned institutions including IIT and C-DAC.

Request for a sample of this research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/215

Gamification is one of the recent trends characterizing the innovation landscape of e-learning industry, as this category of education has recorded a rather high rate of engagement by the learners along with providing a better understanding of the related concepts. The recent implementation of this trend was through McDonald, when the company partnered with City & Guilds Kineo to provide the till training on how to use a cash register. Reportedly, the process turned out to be highly effective and purposeful. The training involved real-time situations that required the learner to take customer orders in timed environment. As per reliable sources, over 85% of the users believed that learning via gamification learning helped them in better understanding new systems and improved their overall performance.

With such series of ground breaking events, global e-learning market is certain to witness a rather substantial momentum in the coming years. Speaking of the geographical landscape, with significant rise in the enrolment of online programs and advanced learning methodologies, countries such as U.S., UK, India, China, and Australia are projected to be some of the most profitable avenues for the e-Learning industry growth.

Speaking along similar lines, North America, being one of the mature regions pertaining to the eLearning market penetration, is expected to lead the global industry landscape over the coming seven years. Escalating adoption of m-learning and e-learning tools, which are becoming a preferred and viable choice for the corporate training programs, is one of the major factors driving the regional trends. Moreover, having an upper hand with regards to technological innovations, the region will further procure a major chunk of the global eLearning market share.

Browse key industry insights spread across 180 pages with 126 market data tables & 26 figures & charts from this 2017 report E-Learning Market in detail along with the table of contents:

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/elearning-market-size

However, taking into consideration the future scope, where niche markets will witness a strong growth potential, Asia Pacific is deemed to be another significant region to exhibit a high demand for e-learning models. Industry analysts speculate that the widespread governmental initiatives to boost literacy and educational programs especially in the rural areas have rapidly escalated eLearning market size in the region. Example supporting this fact is the initiative taken by HRD Ministry of Government of India with regards to launching NPTEL program as an e-learning approach to pursue courses in science, engineering, and humanities. Furthermore, increasing popularity of mobile technology in the region has further provided a major push to Asia Pacific e-learning industry size.

Speaking of the competitive and strategic terrain, most of the e-learning market players are vigorously working toward bringing technology and education under one roof. M&As, partnerships, and product & solution innovations are few of the major growth tactics adopted by the industry participants. Over the coming years, the fraternity is expected to witness a highly intense competitive landscape, where technology innovations will be one of the most renowned success parameters. With these trends, it is rather overt for the e-learning industry to be coined as one of the most innovative business domains, with a huge potential for developments in the coming years.

Make an Inquiry for purchasing this report @ https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/215





Browse Related Reports:

Machine Learning as a Service (MLaaS) Market Size, Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Russia, Spain, China, India, Japan, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, GCC, South Africa), Growth Potential, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2017  2024

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/machine-learning-as-a-service-mlaas-market

Electronic Document Management System Market Size By Solution (Software, Service [Installation & Integration, Consulting, Training]), By Deployment Model (On-Premise, Cloud-Based), By Application (Government [Aerospace & Defense, Oil, Gas & Utilities, Transportation], Medical [Patient Admission, Billing, Imaging, Record Management], Corporate [SMB, Enterprises], BFSI [Banking, Financial Services, Insurance], Legal, Education), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, UK, Germany, France, Russia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, UAE, South Africa), Application Potential, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2017  2024

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/electronic-document-management-system-market





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Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.

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Saudi King Salman and Turkey's premier on Wednesday discussed boosting ties and the status of Jerusalem, in a first high-level meeting since the US controversially recognised the city as Israel's capital.

Firm US ally Riyadh and NATO member Ankara have both slammed President Donald Trump's December 6 decision to upend decades of careful policy by Washington.

But the Saudis only sent a low-level representative to a conference of Muslim nations on the issue hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, amid signs of strains in their relations.

The Saudi SPA agency said King Salman received Prime Minister Binali Yildirim in Riyadh and discussed "means of boosting bilateral ties and developments in the region," without providing details.

Yildirim's office in Ankara said the status of Jerusalem and supporting the Palestinians were discussed at the meeting.

"The importance of the status of Jerusalem was emphasised and that the whole Islamic world should act with unity to protect the rights of our Palestinian brothers," the office said citing Yildirim.

He also said that they discussed bilateral relations with Saudi Arabia "one of the most important countries in the Gulf and the Middle East".
VAL-DOR, Quebec, Dec. 27, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cleghorn Minerals Ltd. (Cleghorn or the Company) (TSX-V:CZZ) is pleased to announce the diamond drilling program on the Meech Lake - Matachewan Prospect located in Northeastern Ontario was mobilized and is underway.



The diamond drill program will focus initially on the historical Kells and Waterhole showings where recently completed sampling by Cleghorn identified and confirmed the presence of two separate mineralized systems on the property. Selective assays results from the sampling program of the historical pits and/or trenches on the property included:

8.31% Cu, 3.80% Ni, 13.5 g/t Pt, 60.4 g/t Pd & 1.89 g/t Au (Hugh Kells Showing)

7.01 g/t Au, 31.2 g/t Ag, 2.25% Zn (Waterhole Showing)

(For further details of these results, please refer to Cleghorns March 28, 2017 News Release)

In conjunction with the drill program, a program of stripping of selective historical pits and trenches will be conducted to take advantage of winter access conditions. The objective of this work is to re-examine (rehabilitation of the historical exploration pits and trenches to complete detailed mapping and sampling) the known mineralization.

The objective of this exploration program is to evaluate the economic potential of the historical surface mineralization along strike and at depth, in addition to drill testing new targets on the property. The program is based on utilizing a new ore deposit model on the property, with a particular emphasis on a structural control component to the mineralization, verses solely on lithological targeting that was the basis in past exploration campaigns. Drillhole targeting will combine both the geological attributes of the historical mineralization and new geophysical data.

The area of the present-day Meech Lake  Matachewan property has a long history of mineral exploration dating from the early 1930's, and has been staked over the years because of interest in its polymetallic (gold, and base-metal (Ni-Cu), platinum group element (PGE) bearing sulphide) mineral potential. In the early 1930's, prospector Hugh Kell discovered the so-called Waterhole gold/zinc showing on the property. Persistent trenching in 1946 exposed a massive-sulphide bearing ultramafic dunite dike hosting highly anomalous grades of copper, nickel, platinum, and palladium, in the west-central part of the property, the so-called Kells Showing.

Subsequent exploration drilling in 1951-52 and 1973-74 were unsuccessful in expanding the Kells Showing along strike, but were successful in extending it to depth, and also in finding new gold mineralization at the Waterhole Showing. Later work indicated that the dunite dike hosting the Kells Showing extends to the southwest (West Dunite Showing), and also inferred that the gold-zinc and gold occurrences (Waterhole Showing) may be related to a northeast-striking shear zone. The dunite form the Kells Showing was described as being completely altered to talc + calcite + serpentine (Szetu, 1974; AFRI: 42A02SW0098).

Exploration activities resumed over the area of the present-day property claims intermittently over the years from 1984, and 1987 to 1988, 1991 to 1992 (ground geophysics and approximately 1800m of total drilling).

Cleghorn has received an Exploration Permit from the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM) to encompass the stripping and diamond drill program. In addition, as part of the Companys corporate social responsibilities and through the aboriginal consultation process, an Exploration Agreement Memorandum of Understanding has been negotiated with the Matachewan First Nation.

All previously reported grab sample assay results were completed by ALS Minerals, an accredited mineral analysis laboratory. Sample preparation was completed in Val-d'Or, Quebec and analyses in Vancouver, British Columbia. Nickel, copper, cobalt, zinc and silver values were determined by a 61 element, Four Acid / ICP-AES analysis and gold values were determined by a 30 gram fire assay and AAS finish. Platinum, palladium and gold values were determined by 30 gram fire assay with ICP finish. When samples received over-limit values they underwent further analysis using ALS Minerals assay procedure Ni-OG62 (for nickel), Cu- OG62 (for copper), Zn-OG62 (for zinc), and PGM  ICP27 (for gold, platinum and palladium). The reader is referred to: www.alsgobal.com for details of analytical procedures described above.

Michael P. Rosatelli, P.Geo and a consultant to Cleghorn, is the designated qualified person as defined in Section 1.2 in and for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 that reviewed and approved the technical content of this release.

Additional Property Acquisitions:

Cleghorn is continuing due diligence on several property opportunities, both in Canada and international jurisdictions, and will provide additional information should the examinations lead to favourable conclusions and affordable transactions.

About Cleghorn Minerals Ltd.:

Cleghorn is a junior mineral exploration company with a 100% interest in the Meech Lake - Matachewan Prospect, a property located in northeastern Ontario, subject to an aggregate 3.5% NSR.

For additional information, please contact:

Glenn J. Mullan, President, Chief Executive Officer, Secretary and Director Telephone: (819) 824-2808  Head Office

(514) 835-8384  Cell

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words expects, plans, anticipates, believes, intends, estimates, projects, potential and similar expressions, or that events or conditions will, would, may, could or should occur. Although Cleghorn believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of Cleghorns management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by law, Cleghorn undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that managements beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.




CHICAGO, Dec. 27, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Epazz, Inc. (OTC: EPAZ), a leading provider of block chain cryptocurrency mobile apps and cloud-based business software solutions, announced that its new Android bitcoin payment system, ZenaPay, was submitted for approval to the Android Play Store for release by December 31, 2017.

The ZenaPay Bitcoin Mobile app has been available from Apples App Store since November 1, 2017, allowing merchants and users to use bitcoin to process transactions. Now Android users and merchants will be able to use bitcoin for in-store and online transactions. This is the first version of ZenaPay Bitcoin payment apps. Epazz is developing future versions of ZenaPay, which will have more features and better payment solutions. ZenaPay Bitcoin point-of-sale software, including an all-in-one solution for merchants to accept bitcoin, is set for release by February 15, 2018. ZenaPay will expand to other cryptocurrencies in future releases.

ZenaPay was developed to solve a major problem in one industry: obtaining merchant accounts. Feedback has indicated that the opportunity is larger than just one industry. ZenaPay is available for any merchant to process bitcoin payments and soon will support other cryptocurrencies. The cost savings from using cryptocurrencies will be experienced immediately with lower payment processing costs. Moreover, the merchant will no longer wait to be paid. With ZenaPay, merchants will have access to their funds within seconds instead of the days it takes with credit cards or check payments. ZenaPay will also reduce fraud by using blockchain technology to manage transactions and provide increased user privacy about what transactions users are making.

Chief ZenaPay advantages include the following:

Flexibility: Cash-only merchants can accept a more reliable form of payment.

Anonymity: Customers dont have to share personal details.

Shaun Passley, CEO of Epazz, stated, ZenaPay is the first of many new blockchain software technology that Epazz is developing to become a major player in the blockchain sector. BoxesOS will be the platform that will power these in new apps. We are increasing our development teams and will be expanding our offices.

Future Releases

Vendor and Payroll Payment Solution

The ZenaPay development team is also working on vendor payment solutions to allow merchant businesses to pay vendors and employees using cryptocurrencies. Future features include the following:

E-commerce store

Seed-to-sale tracking

Sales reporting and compliance

About ZenaPay (www.zenapay.com)

ZenaPay develops applications to solve a major problem for high-risk merchants: getting paid. Traditional banking systems do not allow high-risk industries access to their payment systems. ZenaPay provides cutting-edge payment solutions offering consumers a way to make purchases online or in stores using bitcoin. The new bitcoin payment software will allow consumers to use digital currency to purchase online or in store with ease. The process is anonymous because all transaction details are encrypted through bitcoin. This will enable stores to accept digital currency.

About Epazz, Inc. (www.epazz.com)

Epazz, Inc., is a leading cloud-based software company specializing in customized cloud applications for the corporate world, higher education institutions, and the public sector. Epazz BoxesOS v3.0 is a complete web-based business software package for small-to-midsize businesses, Fortune 500 enterprises, government agencies, and higher education institutions.

SAFE HARBOR

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 Safe Harbor statement states that certain statements contained in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking statements such as may, expect, intend, estimate, anticipate, believe, and continue (or the negative forms thereof) or similar terminology. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from future results or those implied by such forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. Epazz, Inc., assumes no obligation and has no intention of updating these forward-looking statements; it also assumes no obligation to update or correct information prepared by third parties that is not paid for by Epazz, Inc. Investors are encouraged to review Epazz, Inc.s public filings on SEC.gov, including its unaudited and audited financial statements, Form 10-Ks, and Form 10-Qs, which contain general business information about the companys operations, results of operations, and risks associated with the company and its operations.




Amsterdam, 27 December 2017 - Arcadis (EURONEXT: ARCAD), the leading global

design and consultancy for natural and built assets, reports that in the period from 18 December 2017 up

to and including 22 December 2017 no shares were purchased.

The total number of shares repurchased under this program to date is 439,354 shares for a total consideration of 8.2 million.

For more detailed information see: https://www.arcadis.com/en/global/investors/share-information/share-buyback-program/

-End -

Improving quality of life

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

ARCADIS INVESTOR RELATIONS

Jurgen Pullens

Telephone: +31 20 2011083

Mobile: +31 6 51599483

E-mail: jurgen.pullens@arcadis.com

ARCADIS CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS

Joost Slooten

Mobile: +31 6 27061880

E-mail: joost.slooten@arcadis.com

REGULATED INFORMATION

This press release contains information that qualifies, or may qualify as inside information within the meaning of Article 7(1) of the EU Market Abuse Regulation.

ABOUT ARCADIS

Arcadis is the leading global Design & Consultancy firm for natural and built assets. Applying our deep market sector insights and collective design, consultancy, engineering, project and management services we work in partnership with our clients to deliver exceptional and sustainable outcomes throughout the lifecycle of their natural and built assets. We are 27,000 people, active in over 70 countries that generate 3.3 billion in revenues. We support UN-Habitat with knowledge and expertise to improve the quality of life in rapidly growing cities around the world. www.arcadis.com
French English

Communique de presse - paris - 17h45 - 27/12/2017

Bouygues completes capital increase reserved for employees

As announced in its press release of 24 October 2017, Bouygues today carried out a capital increase of 150 million, inclusive of share premium, as part of the Bouygues Confiance n9 employee share ownership plan.

The capital increase was reserved for employees of French companies belonging to the Group, effected via a dedicated mutual fund ("FCPE"), the units in which will be subject to a lock-up period of five years except where early release is allowed under the law. As a result, 4,725,897 new shares were issued at a subscription price of 31.74.

Following the capital increase, the capital is made up of 363,509,283 shares with a nominal value of 1 each, equating to a total share capital of 363,509,283.

ABOUT BOUYGUES

Bouygues is a diversified industrial group with a strong corporate culture whose businesses are organised around three sectors of activity: Construction, with Bouygues Construction (building & civil works and energies & services), Bouygues Immobilier (property development) and Colas (roads); Telecoms, with Bouygues Telecom, and Media, with TF1.

Press contact

presse@bouygues.com  Tel.: +33 (0)1 44 20 12 01
Oh my absolute god at the comments on the variety article???! Ban all internet comments except on lj 2018



Anyway this looks up my street, hope it's good

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...I don't know what else I expected other than the trash that was the comments in there.

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White people getting enraged is my favorite

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this looks kinda cheap but I'm still here for it

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I feel like people say this about the promo images for every big period drama and then it comes out and the huge budget is really obvious lol

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you're right lol

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Jonas Armstrong?? That takes me back to the Robin Hood BBC days. The community on lj was hilarious at the time hating on the show.

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him and his leather outfit were the only good things.

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Jonas Armstrong......that name sounds really familiar. Will this be as gay as Spartacus?

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Achilles and patroclus is the OG ship

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Hnnnngh

Closest thing to Song of Achilles. I demand explicit sex.

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He was Robin Hood in that awful show.

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I always worry when hashtags make out the bigger part of content in a tweet.

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achilles and patroclus? if not, goodbye.

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They better damn well go there! This guy is playing Patroclus apparently. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm5609560/?ref_=tt_cl_t11 They better damn well go there!

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100% this. Unless there's some clear, unambiguous Achilles/Patroclus love, it's trash to me.

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looks incredible! fuck the haters crying about reverse-racism and historical accuracy

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Equal opportunity sex please. Obviously nonrealistic bc they'd all have dirt on them and stuff.

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Arent you ashamed? Dont you hate white washing? Why are you being racist?

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 achilles had blond hair 

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P. sure Rome was a lot more diverse than the comments whining about it. Time to SPITEWATCH!

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You know the racists are still like "Troy never happened bc Rosario Dawson is in it and it ruins our beautiful white mythos"

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The people complaining are the same that tell me I'm not white because I'm Sicilian. I'd love them to go to Greece and Sicily and then tell me with a straight face that we look British.

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Bella Dayne sounds like a porn star name

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so does Jonas Armstrong

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Troy with Eric Bana and Brad Pitt is my favorite version. It's so campy and over the top and I love every minute of it. Will def watch this, I really like BBC miniseries.

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Lmao yes, its so ridiculous I cant help but love it.

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HEECCTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR

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I LOVE that movie for Hector/Eric Bana <3

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Troy is legit amazing, I routinely fight people over it lmao.

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yes, surprisingly is good. It captures the spirit well. Ofc, it is a hollywood production so there is nothing else to say.

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It wasn't a great movie but Eric Bana was great as Hector. Even in The Iliad I always had a soft spot for Hector. Note the username. :) I don't know one of those movies that you know isn't really a great movie but love it anyway. lol

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Aww Jonas Armstrong. I've been wondering where he's been

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UH. I AM ALL ABOUT THIS.

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So the whole thing ends with all the Greek "heroes" raping all the female characters? Hard fucking pass.

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What? What makes you think it will end with that? The 2004 Troy film didnt stick to that ending, theres no guarantee this one will either.

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Brad Pitt in Troy got me all kinds of hot and bothered

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damn I havent seen Jonas Armstrong in forever.

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ATLANTA, Dec. 27, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In a release issued under the same headline December 21, 2017 by Vacation Express, please note that in the first paragraph the dates of service for Swift Air, LLC. flights are July 13, 2018 to August 22, 2018, not June 1, 2018 to July 1, 2018, as previously stated. The corrected release follows:

Vacation Express, a tour operator known for their exclusive, non-stop flights and affordable all-inclusive vacation packages, is bringing non-stop service to Cozumel and Grand Bahama Island from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW). The Swift Air, LLC. flights are four-night rotations departing various days of the week from July 13, 2018 to August 22, 2018.



The flights will be operated by Swift Air, LLC. on a Boeing 737-300 aircraft with early departures and late returns for an optimal vacation experience. Plus, travelers returning from Grand Bahama Island will be pre-cleared eliminating the need to navigate Customs and Immigration upon arrival in the U.S. For additional information, please visit VACATIONEXPRESS.com or speak with a local travel agent.

About Vacation Express:

Based in Atlanta, Vacation Express, part of Sunwing Travel Group, is a tour operator specializing in quality, affordable vacation packages to over 30 destinations in the Caribbean, Mexico and Costa Rica. Now in business for over 25 years, Vacation Express is one of the countrys largest and most trusted tour operators. Travelers looking for the most affordable, all-inclusive vacations may book Vacation Express exclusive, non-stop packages through their travel agent, directly by phone seven days a week at 1-800-309-4717 or online at VACATIONEXPRESS.com. Exclusive charter flights are operated by Sunwing Airlines, Allegiant Air, Frontier, Swift Air, LLC., VivaAerobus, Miami Air International and Volaris. See operator/participant agreement for details.

Additional Notes: Small service fee of $10 applies when booking through Vacation Express Call Center. For full terms and conditions, hotel and description of all services, please refer to the Vacation Express 2018 Brochure, www.vacationexpress.com or call 1.800.309.4717. Vacation Express now accepts debit cards that offer the same consumer protection as credit cards. See operator/participant agreement for details. Public charter flights are operated by Sunwing Airlines, Allegiant Air, Frontier, Swift Air, LLC., VivaAerobus, Miami Air International and Volaris. All flights subject to DOT approval. Packages are limited and subject to change without prior notice. Airfares are per person, reflect lowest available airfare at time of printing, are subject to change and based upon availability of class of service. Not responsible for errors or omissions. Registered Florida seller of travel no. St 38441. State of California Seller of Travel Certificate of Registration #2107538-40.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/vacationexpress

Twitter: www.twitter.com/vacationexpress

Instagram: www.instagram.com/vacationexpress

MEDIA CONTACT

Pamela Caltabiano | Public Relations Manager

pcaltabiano@vacationexpress.com | 800.309.4717 x3098

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0fe0500f-c406-4fe9-9945-e314b83f995f


Mmmm nah

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oh dear

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oh dear [2]

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sis sis

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Messsss

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Lol to be fair, I had promised yall a nutcracker post but then this happened and I had to cover it

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lmaoooo mess

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omg lmao

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It's such a gross thing to say. Nobody should have to go to work expecting to be verbally or physically, or sexually assulted. It's the whole systematic "you were asking for it" type of mentality that needs to die.

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Strangely enough, it seems to be the mindset that most people can't let go. Maybe because THEY suffered in their time, they think it's unfair that a newer generation would escape that torment.

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I was stunned when I saw the Gomes announcement. I still am.



Is it strange that nothing about what the allegations were has come out? The way the ABT statement is worded makes me wonder if he resigned immediately so that they wouldn't release details.

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I feel like it is weird. I read some people say that Marcelo resigned bc hes a gay man and that he really doesnt want his sex life to be made public in any way. I do think its weird that he resigned (or was made to resign) when the statement says the allegation was 8 years ago and didnt involve anyone from ballet theater.

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Me too; I was at his 20th Anniversary performance this summer, and it felt so surreal when I heard.



I think you're right though, resign ASAP and try to avoid any more information getting out.

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It makes me hope it's just that and maybe he didn't actually do anything wrong, he just had a very...voracious sex life that would've made him look bad either way.



I was gonna watch his documentary, Anatomy of a Male Dancer, at Film Forum. I wonder if it's still pushing through.

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This is what my heart is hoping for.

Polunin can be on his documentary saying he was on drugs every night screwing a different girl and no one bats an eye. But Marcelo would be judged so harshly for half of that and he would want to avoid that.



The documentary is still going through as planned.

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This shit can obviously happen everywhere, but I feel like it increases a hundredfold in highly competitive environments like this one. (and gymnastics, and sports in general, and "making it" in Hollywood...)



It's that environment or ones with with people who are ~untouchable in some way, like priests or politicians. I remember that scumbag coach who raped boys on the regular, but because he won the stupid college championship for some stupid college, they wanted to keep him around.



Athletes like ballet dancers are hardly seen as human, more like creatures who can do cool things and lose all value when they can't or won't do those cool things anymore, and no one cares how they're treated behind the scenes.

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Reminds me of Flesh and Bone...



The treatment of ballet dancers is just awful. Even in film they are forced to adapt instead of going about it their own way, like Moira Shearer in The Red Shoes. She hated the film and talked about how she had to literally dance on concrete floors.

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I love Moira so much.

There are soooo many stories of how DeValois loved Fonteyn and always had Moira play second fiddle to her. Theres a story about a tour they went on with Sleeping Beauty and Moira was top billed bc of the movie, but DeValois made her dance bluebird instead of Aurora (with Fonteyn doing Aurora ofc). I recently found a video of them doing Symphonic Variations and omg she is sooooo glorious!

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I was sad to hear she hated The Red Shoes (allegedly she warmed to it in later years?) because her look and the overall feel is just so iconic.

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The Weinstein board didn't immediately move to kick Harvey off their board or out of their company, either. It takes public pressure and in the case of these ballet companies, sponsors and benefactors withdrawing their support. If they don't, it will all be glossed over.



It's especially bad in fields like ballet, where the artistic director/choreographer is like a dictator. It's very hard to challenge their authority or disobey them in any way. If you want to perform, you go along with whatever they want to do.

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I am LIVING for this man's downfall! (Merry Christmas, Suzanne Farrell!)



I read Gelsey Kirkland's autobiography last year and Peter Martins sounded so gross in it. Baryshnikov too. and yet it was Gelsey who was dragged for ~airing their dirty laundry, smh.



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I was surprised to find out Rudolf Nureyev was abusive to his fellow dancers. I think he would hit the female ballerinas.

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rudi was a total bitch to people until they stood up to him, then he'd back down and act normal.

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I want to know what happened with him & Princess Margaret. The author of The Real Nureyev was able to find out Margaret was possessive of male dancers & did creepy shit like inviting a rock star over, then trying to surprise him with nude men. Also that Rudolf claimed they only met once, while Margaret said they were good friends and always seemed to find a way to get near him. 0_0

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Oh noooooo, this makes me sad. I loved Rudy. :(

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Lmao @ merry Christmas for Suzie. I hope she is LIVING for this.

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I heard sketchy things about baryshynikov ..i forgot where but damn i wonder if anything will come out of it

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ugh i fucking hate how people (still) act like gelsey kirkland is a liar or is an "unreliable source" bc she was a drug addict. i read her books and she seemed so introspective and honest about herself as well as others. justice for gelsey tbh

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It's sad that the board seems to be willing to overlook physical abuse. Another problem, I think, is that PM started as a dancer there in 1967 and took things over completely in 1989 so he seems to be firmly entrenched. I'm afraid it's going to take a financial reason to let PM go. I hope reporters (and donors) will press them and force them to get with the times.

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Yeah on one of his rants, Macaulay talked about how PM has been there forever and has been basically unchallenged bc people feel like hes this blessed creature that Balanchine chose, even tho hes a pretty shit choreographer. Ive honestly always hated him for a variety of reasons but him being a jerk to dancers was always one of those so Im glad people are speaking out and I hope donors follow suit.

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Does Anne Bass (and her millions) still hate him?



IDK if she has any interest in getting involved with NYCB/SAB again, but I was reading about how she had resigned from the Fort Worth Ballet board years ago when they chose to ignore the sexual harassment allegations against Paul Mejia, so if I were her I would be running to the bank for an opportunity to kick Peter Martins while he's down.

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I love how a lot of the job fields now are being called out.



I just read a post about the tattoo industries as well



Edited at 2017-12-27 06:29 am (UTC)

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Ty for approving my post, mods. I worked rly hard on my expose of Peter Martins. I hate him so, so much.



I know I promised the ballet crowd of ONTD a Nutcracker post but this shit happened and I had to post it. Im heartbroken about Marcelo, like its hard for me to cancel him especially not knowing what actually he was accused of. Its just sad when your favs are also exposed lol



Praying for all my loves at the Royal Ballet that they are not holding onto shitty records as well.



I forgot to post Sara Mearns post on IG after the PM pieces lmao it was so over the place

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I just hope my boo Gary Avis isn't an abuserin some way shape or form........or obvioisly abused himself. Hes a sweetheart and the best drosslemeyer the world will ever see

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Omg dont put this out in the world, Gary Avis is an angel!

And ia, I dont remember Drosselmeyers before him, hes such a gold standard now! I know Ben Gartside is following on Garys footsteps and I love Ben but the day Gary no longer goes Drosselmeyer will be a loss to all.



In any case yeah Im scared for my babes.

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sara mearns is such a mess all the time tbh



also tysm for this post! always love you dropping your ballet knowledge on ontd

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Loves it 

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Yes all men, but I guess it's okay when it's the artistic ones. Smh, castrate them.

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y'all this is off topic but where can I go to report someone to the mods for using anti-lesbian slurs



https://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/108956613.html?thread=18679542981#t18679542981 utterly unsurprising. i hope the movement continues to spread and doors continue to fly open.y'all this is off topic but where can I go to report someone to the mods for using anti-lesbian slurs

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you need to pm the mods

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I lowkey don't even know who is a mod anymore rip :x lmaoooo

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Peter Martins has always been scum, him being called out isn't surprising at all sadly. Tear them both apart.



When I was dancing there was one guy who joined our company and went up the ranks really quickly (good male ballet dancers are hard to find in a small state so when one came along he could basically become a soloist within 6 months). I heard from a lot of girls dancing in the corps that he had a history of being very handsy with his partners. Most of the girls seemed to try and laugh it off in public, but I heard a lot of people specifically ask not to get paired with him.

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Oh god, that's so gross and those poor girls.

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Oh yeah this happened to me.



Only I was way too young to know better and understand that it was wrong! To me he was just an amazing dancer who was into me and I was mesmerized.

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That sucks. :/

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same. sort of. since ballet is very physical, there has to be understanding and boundaries verbally spoken between two dancers. i was afraid to speak up to my partner when he was manhandling me because he outranked me and i was told to be grateful for the opportunity to learn from the experience.

great opportunity huh? to be already anorexic, and then deal with someone putting their hands all over my body, including "accidentally" up my leotard's crotch, "accidentally" untying the straps of my costume and exposing me in rehearsal to everyone, and the like.



this happens all the time in the dance world. because i think we are conditioned to believe that if we dont live up to expectations, or we try and make waves - we will be shown the door. im glad these stories are coming out.

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i, for one, am completely shocked that a man in charge of an industry that has very exacting physical standards and polices womens bodies heavily, would be a piece of shit!

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cara deleveigne hasn't had a single hit movie and i wish hollywood would take note

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suicide squad?

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her absurd dancing was easily one of the worst parts of an already rly terrible movie tho

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lbr, that movie would definitely count as a success in SPITE of her, lol.

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Dane should be the one singled out from Valerian tbh. He was atrocious.

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She was in a John Green movie that did well.



She was the worst part of Suicide Squad.

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she's actually good in the movie. Dane Dehaan is terrible in it though.

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they look.... nothing alike.

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GOD DAMN IT WHY



WHY MUST FANGIRLS BE LIKE THIS

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the one of the right looks like an alien

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oh dane lol



he was grotesque in a cure for wellness. his looks evaporated quick damn

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i always think of that belami porn actor with the same last name lol. he kinda looks like dane on steroids, which i guess is the reason for the fake name.

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From the quote about The Mummy:



Weirdly out of place, Cruise brings little daring and less charm to the film, though to be fair, his character's a stiff: an Army sergeant who secretly loots antiquities from Iraqi war zones  a watered-down version of "the irresistible rogue" with all the irresistibility trimmed away.



What the fuck???

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While on duty.

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I remember a news story about how Home Goods was basically doing that

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Hobby Lobby.

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WHAT?!!



Home Goods? NOOOOO!! 

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It was pretty bad, yep. It also seems like the character was supposed to be much younger. There is even a line where Russell Crowe refers to him as 'young man'

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Yeah, Hollywood just sees that as a quirk that makes him charmingly ~roguish~



trash industry is trash

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Home Again was so....nothing. Nothing happened.

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This. I watched it the other day and kept waiting for something to happen other than all the annoying pining.

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hmmm. a few of these movies, bad, but entertaining. I can't say mother! was good and entertaining.

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mother! was the best film of 2017

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its bible allegories were too heavy-handed and its depiction of religion was very ~white atheist male.

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oh lol

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It's incredibly boring then incredibly stupid, you're right

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I was kind of looking forward to "Snowman" but didn't know it already came out. Welp.

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It not good and the movie's worse.

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I have a feeling that Valerian will grow on me when I watch again. It's such a beautiful movie with two horrible leads, and therein lies the movie's downfall. For the most part. The opening sequence was awesome.

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Valerian is so pretty look at but that's like the only good thing about it. I didn't hate it but it frustrated me because I really wanted it to be the next big sci-fi epic.



I mean, it's really sad when a character who died 20 minutes after her introduction has more character development than the two leads. They should have reworked that plot a little bit and it would have been great.

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My friend and I said the same thing about that character in Valerian. Like, how is that possible?

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This but CD wasn't as bad as DD as it went on.

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I unironically enjoyed it.

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I finally saw Valerian, and you're right the movie needed better leads. They should do a sequel with different leads. I liked the movie's universe but the leads dragged the movie down.



I thought Dane Dehaan was a decent actor, what happened?

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the marketing was so bad, fast clips of aliens and "only you two can save the galaxy!" or whatever with no explaination of what the fuck is going on. then i watch the movie on the plane and the two lead characters make no sense (are they dating or just coworkers? then talks of proposal? wtf?) and the tech is just weird in it. its just weird. a little wolf shitting out copies of things. having a spider that cuts u out of gun goop when you've never fought those aliens before. disaster. its a mess.

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I think Valerian would have been great with different leads. I loved the different worlds. But Cara and Dane can't carry a film. I also couldn't take the 'will you marry me' subplot seriously when they both look like there 17 and have zero chemistry

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Charlie Sheen made a 9/11 movie?!?!?! JFC.



Also, I didnt mind Home Again. Sometimes you just really need a totally mindless rom-com thats decently acted. Like I cant fuck with one of those truly awful Hallmark or Lifetime movies but when Im a week from my period or have had a generally wretched week, you best believe Im watching those lazy, predictable, but glossy movies. Though I was on a plane a couple weeks ago and the woman next to me was watching it and cackling...I was worried for her honestly, this movie isnt even remotely funny.



Edited at 2017-12-27 03:26 pm (UTC)

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home again didn't even feel like a rom com tho it was like some weird incredibly rich white woman having a self awakening

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these are the narratives that resonate with reese 'do you know who i am?!' witherspoon

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mother! was an interesting one for me. it was incredibly frustrating, but that was the point, i guess. i think it needed more suspense tho, it just came across like an annoying drama.

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Pico Alexander's fake tan in Home Again was very distracting.



Edited at 2017-12-27 03:27 pm (UTC)

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The movie was cheesy af, like beyond what's like allowed but I LOVED it idgaf lmao. Nat Wolff is such a cutie, I'm on the fence about Pico, his mouth is too small for his face... he's still cute tho

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I quite like Nat Wolff too, he's cute.

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my worst film goes to - it comes at night. so boring and plodding. what a waste of time.

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Our friends rented that movie after we all had dinner one night and my husband was soooooo pissed off by the end. It really felt so under developed. I get what they were going for but... it left a lot to be desired for sure.

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i was super excited for it, but it was drawn out with no payoff.

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Book of Henry honestly sounds amazing lmao. Naomi Watts needs a career intervention

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BoH was #DirectAction the Major Motion Picture.

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It's really something like I had a fun time watching it and scream laughing at how ridic the whole thing gets.



I guess what makes me sad is that the premise they build up is interesting bc of how absurd it is but then it very quickly becomes a Lifetime movie.

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Baywatch was stupid, and it was terrible, I can admit that. But I still laughed my ass off. I can't remember any of the jokes and maybe I was just in a good mood with my friends who wanted to lust after Efron, but i enjoyed it for what it was. a dumb action comedy.

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That's funny because I feel the same way. I literally only remember the dick stuck in the palette and Mitch calling Zac Efron a bunch of names but I was laughing a lot while watching.

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Three Billboards was the worst of 2017 and I'm willing to fucking fight anyone who says otherwise.



I'm gonna crash the Oscars and run up on stage if it wins anything.

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NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast didn't like it either. I have no desire to see it after I heard them talk about it.

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You should start a kickstarter. I would definitely give you money to do that. How much is a ticket to the Oscars?

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i don't see it winning anything because a lot of the stuff it'll be nominated for already has clearer frontrunners (best actress, supporting actor, even film)... it could get original screenplay, which would be a shame given that jordan peele and greta gerwig had better stories

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Isn't Best Actress really still up in the air? I don't think it has a clear frontrunner and Frances still has a shot?



Edited at 2017-12-27 05:01 pm (UTC)

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Ohhh bummer, I wanted to see that movie. What was wrong with it?

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i haven't seen this garbage yet, but i imagine a lot of this is coming from the fact that this movie was written by a nepotism-born, misogynist probably racist piece of shit hack 'screenwriter'

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I hope max gets hit by a train

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now I'm morbidly curious, but I don't want to stream it on netflix or pay for it

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it's up on all the big torrent sites, if you're so inclined

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Holy shit, this somehow managed to hurt MY feelings. Goddamn!

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Such an unoriginal concept with horrible dialogue and too much exposition

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I still stand by that The Munsters was about racism.



and some companies use mythical creatures to talk about racism, cuz racists are idiots.





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I should've known nothing good could come out of something made by David Ayer and Max Landis. I fell asleep at some point and my gf didn't wake me up because, according to her, I was better off.

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You've got a keeper right there! Marry her!

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Max Landis, yes, but David Ayer wrote and directed Fury and End of Watch which are both really good films. idk what happened.

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i feel like this is true of so many sci-fi and fantasy novels and films tbh from shit like harry potter and "mudbloods" and wizard purity or whatever to ryan gosling, a conventionally attractive white man, being the object of scorn and prejudice in blade runner 2049



it seems like an easy way for white ppl to cast themselves as the victims and identify with the pain of poc, black poc specifically, while simultaneously casually erasing the real struggle



it can be allegorical or whatever but at some pt u gotta ask yourself what's really up

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true

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lawd. except that in Harry Potter is was a MUCH closer allegory to the Holocaust... you know that thing that happened 70 years ago where millions of what today would be considered "white" Jews were killed



Like. The just rank disregard for Jews as a persecuted minority on this site is so blatant and so obvious

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sorry prof rowling

it was the first of many many references to come 2 mind

i am not a harry potter scholar

no one is erasing the jewish narrative here but judging by ur ref to ontd as a whole i will assume u have seen many instances of this and acknowledge ur anger

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Yup yup

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the obtuse replies have started lol

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look at the popular YA dystopian stories of the last 5 years where conflict of race/religion/gender/sexuality are absent and everyone including the white lead are equally oppressed. I remember reading a great article about it which I had bookmarked on my old laptop, need to hunt it down again.

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this

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Soooo much this. I remember reading about a YA novel where the white author created a dystopian future (quelle surprise) in which dark-skinned people are called "coals" and have taken over because of global warming, and the white protagonist, a "pearl," is oppressed. Like, seriously? GTFO here with that shit. How about ya'll just learn some fucking empathy?

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THIS IS IT

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this sad truth

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you're totally right.

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bc it's easier for racists to connect with imaginary beings than POC because they don't see us as human

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this 100%

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From what I understand that's a big problem with the hunger games movie adaption

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Jesus I had no idea what this movie was about but now that I do it sounds fucking awful.



"I always feel a lil cheated when I see allegorical racism in movies cause that racism usually stems from human emotion or tolerance but not by law or systems the way it is in real life."



This x1000



Edited at 2017-12-27 06:26 pm (UTC)

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Hollywood has been hiding behind this forever. They don't really want to address it, but somehow they still want to shove it down your throat.

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It's written by Max Landis, so it's trash by default. It doesn't deserve any thinkpieces either.

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It was such a shitty movie. Interesting ish concept (what can I say, I like modern fantasy mishmashes like that - when well handled) with a terrible, BORING interpretation that ended up being nothing like stupid caricatures and dumb action scenes. Waste of time.

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Has modern fantasy ever been done well besides Harry Potter? The only property that comes to mind is The Mortal Instruments.

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This. Although the make-up/fx for the orcs were really great.

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yeah i agree it was also nice to see a fantasy film with a poc lead. i def wouldn't call it the worst of the year, but one of the reviews said the film was "derivative" and that's all i could think about when i watched it. it tried way too hard and its not-so-subtle societal metaphors had me rolling my eyes.

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The Maxiest of Landises

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Tell it man. Most allegorical movies about racism ignore the system. So that racism is just a few bad eggs.

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As soon as they said "only one in a million humans can be a Bright" I was like "GEE I WONDER IF WILL SMITH WILL BE ONE". I would have been more surprised if it was Jakoby.



It nailed every cliche except the fact his wife/daughter actually gtfo and didn't become a ransom.





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It was directed by David Ayers and written by Landis



No one should be shocked.

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This. I wanted Nick to be a Bright.

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Will Smith who was even likable in Suicide Squad was so unlikable/awful in this movie

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Max Landis is all you need to know.

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my father watched this on christmas and i TOLD him it was bad but he didnt listen. fast forward a couple hours and im taking him to the last jedi to cleanse his palette

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omg great choice

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Ive seen some people (in replies to tweets dissing the film) really think the whole its racism but in a different way! is some deep/new shit. Its so surface level and without a shred of want to combat the very real structure behind racism irl.

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ew. a new hobby, like her career in politics was just her messing around? wtf.

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Right??? Wtf

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Was just about to say that. What kinda disrespect. Hasn't she been running for presidency three times? I have to give it to her for her persistence. That is no joke. The jokes are this country and 45...

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mte messy af

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i can't imagine anyone having the nerve to say this about a male politician. there is just no respect for women in politics smh.

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i hate these vapid magazines so much

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Their longtime editor, Graydon Carter, just left. This is the work of the new editor, who is off to a horrible start. They created a sexist, painfully unfunny piece and are refusing to take ownership and acknowledge their mistake. Instead they're trying to act like victims, further showing how cowardly and irresponsible they are.

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Yeah, its sad because they had some good stories under Carter. Like you said, this is not a good start.

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Right? Maybe it's time for the Vanity Fair editor/writers responsible to choke on a sandwich and take several seats...

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Wow between this and the Bono post we don't have any shortage of sexist bullshit, do we?



Edited at 2017-12-27 10:33 pm (UTC)

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It's never ending. These stupid writers at Vanity Fair honestly seems clueless as to their own internalized misogyny, which is frightening.

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oh, I'd read THAT book

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lol that book cover

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lmfao at the book

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these are all less funny than the video lol, patricia is awful.

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mte

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yep lol

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yeah, her feminism is hollow so long as it's white feminism.

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Tom Watson, a rich white man, is harassing female and woc vanity fair writers bc they made a joke abt his favorite rich white politician.



unfortunately, criticizing him on this is misogyny, sorry bros  KT NELSON (@KrangTNelson) December 27, 2017





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Thanks for warning us by.... corroborating with the media to elevate and normalize him as your opponent and then ditching Wisconsin and Michigan

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who tf did she "warn" besides her brainless sycophants? if you needed her help to conclude trump is bad, then you're hopeless

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patricia is SO FUCKING RIGHT when she says that it's mommy issues. a bunch of people who can't stand to have a woman in charge because it reminds them of when their mommy wouldn't let them do what they wanted, when they wanted.

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ummm why does the media keep perpetuating the idea that hillary "needs to move on" from the 2016 election when it's really the media that keeps obsessively talking about her

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tbh so many in the media write and tweet about wanting her to go away but still heavily rely on her for content. So I'm like...pick one bc it can't be both. I did read her book but don't pay much attention to her otherwise. I'm usually focused on that orange trash in office and our current issues with ACA, tax bill, DACA, CHIP, etc. Then I'll see some article about her needing to go away out of nowhere lol.

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it's so ridiculous. it's like the media is still trying to cash in on the shitshow that was the 2016 election so they keep needing to involve her. i kept seeing a poll going around that her approval rating was at an all-time low? wtf?? we're giving approval ratings to private citizens now? OK.

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is the media really obsessed with it? that's just a dumb unfunny video no one would ever watch if Clinton stans on Twitter didn't start a huge controversy over it, smearing a bunch of young journalists in the process.



also, Clinton may have retired from public office (amen) but the "third way" center-right brand of politics strongly supported by her and her husband (and strongly associated with them) is still alive and well in the Democratic party, so I can't blame people for still not being "over" them.



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Where are the "Bernie needs to move on," "Biden needs to move on," videos? Why pick on the woman who won the popular vote and is not out there attention-seeking? She finished her book tour and isn't melting down in tweet storms every day.



They aren't even aware of their own internalized misogyny.

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because people can't fucking stand being led by a woman. it's mommy issues to the extreme.

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The full sentence was "try a new hobby, like volunteer work, or knitting, or improv" so this is a reach imo lmao

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But to imply that volunteer work hasnt been a hobby of Clintons for her entire life.... thats both dumb and insulting.

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But to imply that volunteer work hasnt been a hobby of Clintons for her entire life....

mmmmmmm

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I think the video was a bad idea and it's not like men in politics are told this shit. Rarely are they ever asked to go away. In fact they're usually encouraged to stay in politics. This year has been so exhausting that I can't even find the energy to be angry which is actually really sad and speaks to how drained I feel.



What I do find interesting is on twitter today some of the women involved are getting attacked and there's been such a big discourse around it. There's valid criticism here and I don't condone any harassment about it - but some of these same women involved have harassed women on twitter or sat back when WOC are attacked online. Now they are suddenly realizing dogpiling and dunking on women can be bad once it's someone they like.

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It absolutely is sexist. No one ever puts out "articles" like this for male politicians. The closest I can think of is the Salt Lake Tribune's editorial on Orrin Hatch the other day but it still doesn't even go in a direction that people go when it comes to telling Hillary to go away.

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the whole idea/premise is dumb and pointless tbh no matter who it's aimed at.

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Ok. The point remains that 99% of the publications who publish this shit don't do this for anyone but Hillary. There is no reason for VF to even make one for Hillary in 2017 other than to be the idiots that they are.

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that Orrin Hatch commentary was amazing lol

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right cause politics was just a hobby for her, smh? also knitting is awesome so don't even try to throw patronizing shade at it vanity fair.



i saw hillary on her book tour earlier this month and it was amazing! it was such a positive environment and she is shady as fuck and i was living for it. one of her official videographers even interviewed me because i wearing my pussyhat and my feminist agenda shirt, bwha.

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There's an orange villain in office but they choose to attack Hillary instead? She actually cares about politics and cares about what happens to America, they should be begging for her help

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i mean one is actively harming our democracy and the other one wasn't elected so i hardly think that's an even comparison tbh

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Trump deserved one, Hillary didn't. That's the difference. This was misogynistic BS from a bunch of entitled brats at Vanity Fair, who can't take the heat and have locked up their Twitter accounts and are still acting like what they did was 100 percent OK instead of admitting they made a mistake and apologizing.



Did they do one for Biden, Bernie, and all the other men who deserve one? No.

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I can't imagine looking at everything in the world going on right now and in politics that someone's instinct was to tell Hillary Clinton about hobbies she should take up

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mfte

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the audacity

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it's Vanity Fair. their whole shtick is doing dumb fluff pieces on rich people.

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why's her husband letting her expose his chicken legs to the whole world?

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these dogwhistle bastards. juuuust subtle enough that they can write it off as "an accident" if they're called out.

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Ivanka is such a fucking evil mastermind. It really gets to me how she convinces people she's such a good working mommy when all these photo ops are so painfully contrived, from the stupid spaghetti dinners and dance parties with her kids she plasters all over instagram to her daughter singing in Chinese every 20 seconds, and date nights with Jared in her shitty clothing she's such a damn fraud lol

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she ain't sly

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better prepare, they don't serve rose popsicles in prison.

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i agree

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Considering there's a man in the White House who may be there because of Russian tampering in a US election (and Hillary did win the popular vote), I don't consider it OTT at all. To me it's odd that people don't get what the outrage is about.

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Hilazon Tachtit cave. Credit: Naftali Hilger, CC BY-NC-ND

This holiday season millions of families will come together to celebrate their respective festivals and engage in myriad rituals. These may include exchanging gifts, singing songs, giving thanks, and most importantly, preparing and consuming the holiday feast.

Archaeological evidence shows that such communally shared meals have long been vital components of human rituals. My colleague Leore Grosman and I discovered the earliest evidence of a ritual feast at a 12,000-year-old archaeological site in northern Israel and learned how feasts came to be integral components of modern-day ritual practice.

First, what are rituals?

Rituals involve meaningful, often repeated actions. In modern-day practices they are expressed through rites such as the hooding of a doctoral student, birthdays, weddings or even sipping wine at Holy Communion or lighting Hanukkah candles.

Ritual practice may have emerged along with other early modern human behaviors more than 100,000 years ago. However, proving this with material evidence is a challenge. For example, researchers have found that both Neanderthals and early modern humans buried their dead, but scholars weren't certain whether this was for spiritual or symbolic reasons and not for something more mundane like maintaining site hygiene. Likewise, the discovery of 100,000-year-old symbolic artifacts like pierced shell ornaments and decorated chunks of red ochre in caves in South Africa, was not sufficient to prove that they were part of any ritual activities.

It was only when archaeologists found these artifacts, placed in graves going back 40,000-20,000 years, that it was confirmed they were part of ritual practice.

The first feasts

We had a similar experience during our research. When Leore Grosman and I first embarked on the excavations at Hilazon Tachtit in the late 1990s, we were only hoping to document the activities of the last hunter-gatherers in Israel, at what appeared to be a small campsite. It was only over several seasons of excavation that it slowly became clear to us that this was not a site where people had lived. Rather it was a site for rituals.

No houses, fireplaces or cooking areas were recovered. Instead the cave yielded the skeletal remains of at least 28 individuals interred in three pits and two small structures.

One of these structures contained the complete skeleton of an older woman, who we interpreted as a shaman based on her special treatment at death. Her grave stood apart due to its fine construction  the walls were plastered with clay and inset with flat stone slabs. Even more remarkable was the eclectic array of animal body parts buried alongside of her. The pelvis of a leopard, the wing tip of an eagle, the skulls of two martens and many other unusual body parts surrounded her skeleton.

The butchered remnants of more than 90 tortoises buried in the grave and the leftovers of at least three wild cattle deposited in a second adjacent depression excavated in the cave floor represent the remains of a funeral feast.

The outstanding preservation of the grave enabled us to detect multiple phases of a ritual performance that included the consumption of the feast, the burial of the woman, and the filling of the grave in several stages, including the intentional deposition of garbage from the feast.

Site of Gobekli Tepe. Credit: Teomancimit (Own work) , via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

Feasting at the beginning of agriculture

Archaeologists have found other sites that show evidence of ritual feasting. Many of these date to the time when humans were beginning to farm.

One of the most striking is the site of Gobekli Tepe in southeastern Turkey, dating slightly later than Hilazon Tachtit. It includes multiple large structures adorned with benches and giant stone slab carved with exquisite animal depictions in relief dating to 11-12,000 years ago. Perhaps, these were very early communal buildings. The archaeologists who excavated Gobekli Tepe argue that massive quantities of animal bones associated with the structures represent the remains of feasts.

Twelve thousand years ago humans were still hunter-gatherers, subsisting entirely on wild foods. Nevertheless, these people differed from those who went before  they were sitting on the brink of the transition to agriculture, one of the most significant economic, social and ideological transformations in human history.

Sickle blades and grinding stones used to harvest and process cereal grains are found at Hilazon Tachtit and other contemporary archaeological sites. These findings indicate that these ritual feasts started around the same time that people adopted agriculture. When people began to rely more heavily on wild cereals like wheat and barley, they became increasingly tethered to landscapes that were ever more crowded and began to settle into more permanent communities. In other words, feasting became a part of their life, once they moved away from nomadic life.

Rituals that bind

These feasts had an important role to play. Adapting to village life after hundreds of millennia on the move was no simple act. Research on modern hunter-gatherer societies shows that closer contact between neighbors dramatically increased social tensions. New solutions to avoid and repair conflict were critical.

The simultaneous appearance of feasting, communal structures and specialized ritual sites suggest that humans were seeking to solve this problem by engaging the community in ritual practice.

One of the central functions of ritual in these communities was to provide a kind of social glue that bound community members by promoting social cohesion and solidarity. Feasts generate loyalty and commitment to the community's success. Sharing food is intimate and it builds trust.

Communal rituals would have provided a shared sense of identity at a time when social circles were increasing in scale and permanence. They reinforced new ideologies that emerged out of a dramatic reorganization of economic and social life.

Role of feasts today

Feasting plays the same essential role today. Like the earliest feasts, our holiday celebrations are replete with actions that are repeated year after year.

The holiday feast today builds family traditions. By cooking and sharing food together, telling stories of past holidays and exchanging intergenerational wisdom, holiday rituals bond extended families and give them a shared identity.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
The end of rent control and the addition of new developments caused gentrification to increase in neighborhoods like Cambridge's Area Four in the 1990s. Credit: Mimi Phan

Gentrification reduces crime rates and increases public safety in city neighborhoods, according to a new study by MIT researchers.

The paper, authored by MIT Sloan assistant professor Christopher Palmer, along with MIT professors David Autor and Parag Pathak, all economists, looked at what happened when gentrification accelerated after rent-controlled housing abruptly ended in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1995. They found that not only did crime drop 16 percentit resulted in measurable economic gains for the city.

Prior to 1995, more than one-third of Cambridge housing was subject to rent controlthose units rented at 25-40 percent below what other comparable units did. After rent control ended, property values in Cambridge rose significantly: 18-25 percent for previously rent-controlled units and 12 percent for units that had not previously been rent controlled. The researchers studied this in a 2012 paper on the spillover effect on the end of rent control that found that, overall, it accounted for nearly $2 billion of the value appreciations of Cambridge residential properties by 2004.

They then asked why this was. "What became so valuable about being in a neighborhood that used to have lots of rent control?" Palmer said.

They found there could be many reasons. "These neighborhoods had higher turnover, buildings were fixed up, dive bars became yoga studios and coffee shops, and people value this sort of upgrading of neighborhood amenities," Palmer said. "People also suggested that the neighborhoods got safer."

While the Cambridge Police agreed this was likely the case, no scientific research existed to corroborate the theory. Palmer, Autor, and Pathak set out to find out if it was true.

It was. They determined that crime dropped by an extra 16 percent because of the end of rent control, saving city residents on average $10-15 million annually. Of the $2 billion total appreciation of Cambridge housing value attributable to the end of rent control, approximately 10-15 percent, or $200 million, was due to public safety improvements.

When the researchers drilled down further, they found that a reduction in violent crimes, specifically, resulted in the largest economic gains. That is because "avoiding violent crime is extremely important to residents of a city," Palmer said. While the biggest value came from the reduction in violent crime, property crimes and public disturbances saw the biggest drop in terms of raw numbers.

Palmer, Autor, and Pathak found that the results were extremely local, also. "If a given block is gentrifying, the biggest effects are with a quarter mile of this block," Palmer said.

So why did crime drop when gentrification happened in Cambridge? "According to the police, most of the people who commit crimes in Cambridge don't live there, so it is probably not simply a story that criminals were priced out and moved away," Palmer said. An optimistic interpretation is that crime went down overall, though that was outside the scope of the study. "There is evidence in the criminology and economics literatures that sometimes, when you disrupt violent social networks, crime declines in aggregate. For example, researchers found that when Chicago demolished certain public housing projects and former residents end up scattered, crime went down in total."

Additionally, the researchers heard anecdotally from members of the police force that some of the new city residents installed alarm systems, better deadlocks, or barred first floor windows. These increased personal security measures could have contributed to the reduction in property crimes.

The results weren't all beneficial, thoughthe gentrifying neighborhoods experienced a 20 percent increase in turnover. This indicates that some people who previously lived in rent-controlled apartments were likely priced out of the area and did not reap the benefits of gentrification. The researchers don't know if those people settled in comparable areas nearby or had to move farther way, but "the next frontier of gentrification research is looking at what happens to those who are displaced by neighborhood change," Palmer said. To prevent displacement in the future, though, Palmer thinks that policymakers can reinvest some money from increased property taxes into rental vouchers that help those at risk of displacement.

While crime was already decreasing in Cambridge before the end of rent control, when the researchers compared Cambridge to peer cities around the U.S. with similar demographics, they found that Cambridge crime fell more. "This accelerated the urban renaissance that was happening in a lot of cities," Palmer said. "We think a big part of that is the extra gentrification that happened in Cambridge."

More information: Gentrification and the Amenity Value of Crime Reductions: Evidence from Rent Deregulation. mitsloan.mit.edu/shared/ods/do  nts/?DocumentID=4304
Phase-folded unbinned HATSouth light curves for HATS-50 (upper left), HATS-51 (upper right), HATS-52 (lower left) and HATS-53 (lower right). In each case we show two panels. The top panel shows the full light curve, while the bottom panel shows the light curve zoomed-in on the transit. The solid lines show the model fits to the light curves. The dark filled circles in the bottom panels show the light curves binned in phase with a bin size of 0.002. Credit: Henning et al. 2017.

An international team of astronomers reports the discovery of four new 'hot Jupiter' extrasolar worlds by the HATSouth survey. The newly found exoplanets received designations HATS-50b through HATS-53b. The finding is presented in a paper published December 12 on arXiv.org.

The Hungarian-made Automated Telescope Network-South (HATSouth) Exoplanet Survey is a network of 24 robotic wide-field telescopes. The telescopes are distributed over three locations in the southern hemisphere (Las Campanas Observatory in Chile, the H.E.S.S. site in Namibia, and Siding Spring Observatory in Australia). The primary goal of the HATSouth survey is to discover and characterize a large number of transiting extrasolar planets, reaching out to long periods and down to small planetary radii.

To date, HATSouth has identified nearly 2,000 candidate transiting alien worlds of which more than 40 were confirmed as planets. Now, a group of researchers led by Thomas Henning of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany, reports the discovery of four new exoplanets, expanding the list of exoworlds found by HATSouth.

Using telescopes of the HATSouth network, Henning's team observed four G-type dwarf stars known as HATS-50, HATS-51, HATS-52 and HATS-53 between March 2010 and February 2016. They also detected transit signals in the light curves of these stars. The planetary nature of the newly found signals was confirmed through photometric follow-up observations and extensive radial velocity measurements.

"We report the discovery of four close-in transiting exoplanets (HATS-50b through HATS-53b), discovered using the HATSouth three-continent network of homogeneous and automated telescopes," the researchers wrote in the paper.

HATS-50b is the smallest and least massive alien world of all of the newly discovered exoplanets. It has a radius of about 1.13 Jupiter radii and a mass of approximately 0.39 Jupiter radii. The planet orbits its parent star every 3.83 days at a distance of about 0.05 AU from the host and has an equilibrium temperature of 1,348 K. The system is located some 2,300 light years away from the Earth.

With a radius of approximately 1.41 Jupiter radii, HATS-51b is the largest exoworld among the four newly found extrasolar worlds. It is about 23 percent less massive than our solar system's biggest planet, and has an equilibrium temperature of 1,553 K. HATS-51b has an orbital period of 3.35 days, a semimajor axis of nearly 0.05 AU and is located about 1,560 light years away.

In contrast to other exoplanets described in the paper, HATS-52b is a relatively very dense planet as with a radius of 1.38 Jupiter radii it is 2.24 times more massive than Jupiter. It has also a very short orbital period, given that it circles its star every 1.37 days at a distance of about 0.025 AU. The planet has an equilibrium temperature of 1,834 K and is located some 2,060 light years from the Earth.

HATS-53b has the longest orbital period when compared to other planets detected by Henning's team  it takes it 3.85 days to fully circle its host, which is nearly 0.05 AU away. The exoplanet has a radius of 1.34 Jupiter radii, but it is about 40 percent less massive than Jupiter. HATS-53b has an equilibrium temperature of 1,312 K. The planetary system is located approximately 2,000 light years away from the Earth.

The derived planetary parameters of the four alien worlds indicate that they all belong to the class of exoplanets known as 'hot Jupiters.' Objects of this type are similar in characteristics to Jupiter, with orbital periods of less than 10 days. They have high surface temperatures, as they orbit their parent stars very closely.

More information: HATS-50b through HATS-53b: four transiting hot Jupiters orbiting G-type stars discovered by the HATSouth survey, arXiv:1712.04324 [astro-ph.EP] arxiv.org/abs/1712.04324 Abstract

We report the discovery of four close-in transiting exoplanets, HATS-50 through HATS-53, discovered using the HATSouth three-continent network of homogeneous and automated telescopes. These new exoplanets belong to the class of hot Jupiters and orbit G-type dwarf stars, with brightness in the range V=12.5-14.0 mag. While HATS-53 has many physical characteristics similar to the Sun, the other three stars appear to be metal rich, larger and more massive. Three of the new exoplanets, namely HATS-50, HATS-51 and HATS-53, have low density and similar orbital period. Instead, HATS-52 is more dense and has a shorter orbital period. It also receives an intensive radiation from its parent star and, consequently, presents a high equilibrium temperature. HATS-50 shows a marginal additional transit feature consistent with an ultra-short period hot super Neptune, which will be able to be confirmed with TESS photometry.

 2017 Phys.org
Principle of the operation of the sensor based on porous silicon nanowire arrays. Credit: Liubov Osminkina

A team from the Faculty of Physics of Lomonosov Moscow State University has suggested using porous silicon nanowire arrays in highly sensitive gas sensors. These devices will be able to detect the presence of toxic and non-toxic gas molecules in the air at room temperature. The results of the study were published in Physica Status Solidi A: Applications and Materials Science.

Taking into account high levels of environmental pollution in the modern world, it is important to develop sensitive devices able to identify gas-phase molecules accurately and selectively. However, the majority of modern gas sensors only work at high temperatures, which limits the scope of their application. Therefore, the development of reusable, highly sensitive gas detectors working at room temperatures is an important area of modern physics.

The scientists from MSU suggested using porous silicon nanowire arrays as sensitive elements of such detectors. They can be obtained by means of a cheap method of metal-assisted chemical etching. It is based on selective chemical etching, i.e. partial removal of surface layer from a bulk crystalline silicon with the use of metal nanoparticles as a catalyst. Moreover, the procedure is quickat least 100 elements can be produced in a lab within just one hour.

Each sensor consists of an array of 10 micron long organized silicon nanowires with diameters ranging from 100 to 200 nm. Each nanowire has porous crystalline structure. The size of silicon crystals and pores between them in individual nanowire, varies from three to five nanometers.

Authors have shown that such porous nanowires have huge specific surface area due to which their physical and chemical properties are extremely sensitive to molecular environment. It was also found out that the obtained samples exhibited an effective photoluminescence in the red spectrum region at room temperature.

"For the first time we've shown that photoluminescence of silicon nanowires is quenched in oxygen (O 2 ) atmosphere but then restored to initial values in the atmosphere of a noble gasnitrogen (N 2 ). This is repeated in several adsorption-desorption cycles," said Liubov Osminkina, the head of the scientific group.

The scientists explained the experimental results with a microscopic model according to which the sensitivity of optical properties of the samples to their molecular environment is determined by reversible charging and discharging of Pb-centersdefects such as silicon dangling bonds on the surface of the nanowires. The authors confirmed the model with measurements taken by using the electronic paramagnetic resonance method that helps determine existence and concentration of Pb-centers.

"What's important is that our sensors based on porous nanowires both work at home temperatures and also are reusable, because the all observed effects were completely reversible," added Liubov Osminkina.

The new sensors may be used both for effective control of environment pollution levels and for the monitoring of air composition in closed spaces, from classrooms to space stations.

More information: Veronika A. Georgobiani et al, Porous Silicon Nanowire Arrays for Reversible Optical Gas Sensing, physica status solidi (a) (2017). DOI: 10.1002/pssa.201700565
Barnabas Daru is lead author of a study that uncovered sampling biases in several herbarium collections around the world, casting doubt on their usefulness in evaluating climate change. Credit: Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer

When botanists began collecting plant samples for herbaria more than a century ago, their goal was to catalog and understand the diversity of the natural world. These days scientists use the collections to understand the transformative effects of climate change.

The issue, says Barnabas Daru, is that the collections are a flawed fit for that use.

Daru, a postdoctoral fellow in organismic and evolutionary biology working in collaboration with Charles Davis, a professor in the same field and director of the Harvard University Herbaria, is the lead author of a study published in New Phytologist that points to sampling biases in a number of herbarium collections around the world. He suggests that those biases must be taken into consideration by researchers focused on climate change.

"These specimens are becoming the gold standard for addressing questions related to climate change, ecology, and niche modeling," Daru said. "But these data were not initially collected for those purposes, so the goal for our study was to evaluate these biases to facilitate downstream research."

With their records of flowering times and details on how plants have adapted to climate over more than a century, herbarium collections play a key role in understanding how climate change impacts the natural world and how those effects might be felt by humans.

Daru opens one of the stores containing a selection of the Herbarias 5 million samples. Credit: Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer

"Plants are at the beginning of the food chain," Daru said. "So if there is a disruption in flowering time, it effects everything that depends on that. It may be that 100 years ago bees came to pollinate plants in May, but now that flowering time has shifted to earlier, into April, then there is potentially a mismatch in terms of timing  and everything is affected downstream."

Daru and colleagues selected three digitized collectionsthe flora of New England, including many collections from the Harvard University Herbaria, and herbaria in Australia and South Africaand examined them across categories ranging from when and where samples were collected to which species were collected.

"We found widespread biases across all five dimensions we examined," Daru said. "The data show there is a strong tendency for botanists to collect plants close to roadsides rather than deeper in the landscape, and there is also a strong preference for collecting plants in the summer versus the winter or fall."

Some historical collections were the product of just one or two "mega-collectors" who amassed huge troves of plant samples.

A sample of Polystichum fournieri, a Central fern formerly specied as muelleri. Credit: Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer

"There's sort of a founder effect," Daru said. "So all the people who are collecting plants today are following in the footsteps of these mega-collectors, and as a result they tend to collect in the same area or in some cases the same groups."

In the South African and Australian collections, researchers found a tendency for samples to be collected at lower altitudes, while botanists in New England frequently collected at higher altitudes in regions such as the White Mountains.

"In the collections we examine, areas around Massachusetts and Connecticut are densely collected, whereas other regions are less represented," he said. "Similarly, in South Africa, there are dense collections from the Cape region, but areas further inland are less collected, and the same is true for Australia.

"It's possible that these areas may be under-collected because there isn't much plant diversity there," Daru said. "But one reason we want to understand that is for future collecting efforts. We might prioritize these areas as places to explore diversity rather than concentrating on other, well-visited regions."

A sample of a tree branch with a chambered pith. Credit: Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer

The study also uncovered evidence of ways in which external events shaped the behavior of collectors.

In the years following World War II, for example, collecting activity dropped worldwide. By contrast, after post-war immigration of Europeans to the continent, collecting activity exploded in Australia.

In the end, Daru said, the purpose of the paper isn't to suggest that biases inherent in herbarium collections are a fatal flaw, but rather that they must be considered as part of future studies.

"The goal is not to portray [those biases] in a negative light," he continued. "Without these data we would have no record of the natural history of plants, so these are very unique and important collections. But because they are increasingly being used  we need to make sure we can account for any possible biases that may exist in the data."

Daru enters data from samples of several species of plant leaves from all over the world. Credit: Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer

More information: Barnabas H. Daru et al. Widespread sampling biases in herbaria revealed from large-scale digitization, New Phytologist (2017). DOI: 10.1111/nph.14855 Journal information: New Phytologist

This story is published courtesy of the Harvard Gazette, Harvard University's official newspaper. For additional university news, visit Harvard.edu.
Farmington, Conn., Dec. 27, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A new ally has emerged in the quest to cure cancer: mans best friend. The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) has unveiled the Tallwood Canine Cancer Research Initiative (TCCRI), which will create a biobank of dog tumors that the nonprofit biomedical research institution plans to use and share with researchers around the world to provide new insights into cures for cancer in humans and dogs.

As part of this initiative, JAX will identify and work closely with veterinary centers of excellence. When a canine patient at one of the JAXs veterinary partner organizations is diagnosed with a cancer of interest, its owner can opt to have the veterinarian donate their dogs tumor to TCCRI when its removed during the dogs cancer treatment. JAX will use the tumor to create a patient-derived xenograft (PDX) cancer model and sequence each tumor model established, much like the organizations human PDX resource. PDX tumors are grown in mice, and can provide information including how cancer changes over time and what therapeutics are most effective. JAX will use these PDX models for its ongoing cancer research programs, as well as make them available to researchers around the world to accelerate the process of cancer treatment discovery.

To assist with the interpretation of genetic mutations in these canine tumors, JAX investigators will also sequence the DNA from healthy canines of specific breeds. Comparing healthy dogs to dogs of the same breed with cancerous mutations is expected to yield crucial information in understanding cancers roots.

JAX received a $500,000 gift for the Tallwood Canine Cancer Research Initiative from an anonymous Hartford-area donor. The TCCRI project began last month with the collection of DNA from the first healthy canine sample  the donor familys dog, Patrick, an Irish Wolfhound.

As a geneticist, when you learn that certain purebred dogs recurrently get the same cancer type and thus are predisposed to those cancers  despite differences in their environments  you reason that theres probably something underlying in their genome that encourages that specific cancer type to form, said Charles Lee, Ph.D., FACMG, Scientific Director and Professor at JAX Genomic Medicine. By studying specific dog breeds genomes, we can work to identify which parts of the genome differ between breeds and could contribute to cancer. Subsequently, identifying corresponding regions in human genomes might potentially uncover new regulatory elements that encourage these types of cancers in humans. This strategy is particularly useful for cancers that are rare among humans, but commonly found in certain dog breeds.

Lee continued: The information gained from this program will undoubtedly also improve what we learn about canine tumors and, in doing so, lead to improved personalized cancer treatments for dogs. It really is a win-win for both species.

Indeed, dog cancers and human cancers have been shown to be quite similar. For example, dogs get the same kinds of brain cancers as people, and their immune systems react similarly to treatments.

Its remarkable how similar our species are in this area. I am optimistic we will discover important information about how to best treat man and mans best friend, Lee said.

About The Jackson Laboratory

The Jackson Laboratory is an independent, nonprofit biomedical research institution based in Bar Harbor, Maine, with a National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center, a facility in Sacramento, Calif., and a genomic medicine institute in Farmington, Conn. It employs more than 2,000 staff, and its mission is to discover precise genomic solutions for disease and empower the global biomedical community in the shared quest to improve human health. To learn more, please visit www.jax.org.

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Men are significantly more likely than women to try to evade paying tax, researchers have found.

A new study shows men under-report their income, while women are more honest. Men are more willing to contribute their full share of tax when they are given more information about what their money pays for.

Governments around the world are working to collect more tax revenue from citizens. Their focus has been on tackling tax evasion, but this research suggests tackling the gender pay gap and increasing female participation in the workforce could be more effective.

Researchers from the "Willing to Pay" project surveyed almost 1,500 people in the US, UK, Sweden and Italy, running tests to gauge attitudes about paying tax among people who self-report their income.

Dr. John D'Attoma, from the University of Exeter Business School, who was part of the research team, said: "We have found robust evidence that tax compliance is greater for women than men. But men are more responsive to the incentives attached to paying taxes.

"Women are compliant even when they do not expect anything in return, and we had this result in every country where we ran the experiment. This shows that equal pay and measures to bring more women into the labour market could really have an impact in shrinking the tax gap."

Researchers conducted a laboratory experiment where groups of people in each country performed a mock clerical task, which entitled them to "earn" a small amount of money. They were then asked to self-report their "income" so the tax they had to pay could all be calculated and collected. Groups taking part in the experiment were told there was a five per cent chance their earnings would be audited, and if they were caught cheating they had to pay a financial penalty of twice what they would have had to pay in tax. People who took part in the experiment completed a total of three clerical tasks and nine reporting rounds, each with different experimental conditions, such as varying tax rates and tax structure. The tax revenue was divided equally between the participants after every session.

In Italy, in the first round of the experiment, women on average reported 69 per cent of their income, while men reported 38 per cent. As they increased the amount returned in the form of a public good, this difference was reduced to 10 per cent, demonstrating that men are highly sensitive to incentives. In Sweden women reported 69 per cent of their income, and men reported 37 per cent. In the UK the results were 48 per cent for women and 23 per cent for men and in the USA 66 per cent for women and 50 per cent for men.

Dr. D'Attoma said: "We wanted to test both willingness to pay taxes, and willingness to contribute to public services. Our results suggest overall women are more willing to pay taxes and men respond more to the fact that they will get something, such as a public good, in return for their tax money."

The role of gender in the provision of public goods through tax compliance is published in the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics.

More information: David M. Bruner et al. The role of gender in the provision of public goods through tax compliance, Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.socec.2017.09.001
Nanowire extraction allowed many microRNAs to be compared at once using urine samples collected from patients. Expression of each microRNA is shown as low/downregulated (blue), intermediate (black), or high/upregulated (yellow). The analysis reveals unique patterns of expression for groups of microRNAs when comparing healthy donors (?) with cancer patients (+). Credit: Takao Yasui

Cells communicate through a number of mechanisms. Some are well-known: In animals, for example, predatory threats can drive the release of norepinephrine, a hormone that travels through the bloodstream and triggers heart and muscle cells to initiate a "fight-or-flight" response.

A far less familiar mode of cellular transport is the extracellular vesicle (EV). EVs can be thought of as small "chunks" of a cell that are able to pinch off and circulate throughout the body to deliver messenger cargo to other cells. These messengers have become increasingly recognized as crucial mediators of cell-to-cell communication.

In a new study reported in Science Advances, researchers at Nagoya University have developed a novel medical device that can efficiently capture these EVs, and potentially use them to screen for cancer. "EVs are potentially useful as clinical markers. The composition of the molecules contained in an EV may provide a diagnostic signature for certain diseases," says lead author Takao Yasui. "The ongoing challenge for physicians in any field is to find a non-invasive diagnostic tool that allows them to monitor their patients on a regular basisfor example, a simple urine test."

Among the many molecules EVs have been found to harbor are microRNAs, which are short pieces of ribonucleic acid that play diverse roles in normal cellular biology. Critically, the presence of certain microRNAs in urine might serve as a red flag for serious conditions such as bladder and prostate cancer. While this important cargo could therefore theoretically aid physicians in cancer diagnoses, there are still many technological hurdles. One such hurdle is finding a feasible method to capture EVs in sufficient quantities to analyze them in a routine clinical setting.

After introducing a urine sample onto the device, extracellular vesicles are captured by a nanowire substrate via electrostatic forces. MicroRNAs can then be directly extracted from the substrate. Credit: Takao Yasui

"The content of EVs in urine is extremely low, at less than 0.01 percent of the total fluid volume. This is a major barrier to their diagnostic utility," Yasui notes. "Our solution was to embed zinc oxide nanowires into a specialized polymer to create a material that we believed would be highly efficient at capturing these vesicles. Our findings suggest that the device is indeed quite efficient. We obtained a collection rate of over 99 percent, surpassing ultracentrifugation as well as other methods that are currently being used in the field."

To test the practicality of their device, the research team compared the microRNAs of EVs isolated from healthy patients with those isolated from patients who were already diagnosed with bladder, prostate, and other forms of cancer. Notably, their technique required only 1 milliliter of urinefar more than the typical "deposit" provided during a routine checkupand found a substantially greater number and different types of microRNAs compared with the standard ultracentrifugation approach.

Comparison of microRNA extraction using nanowires versus conventional collection. (a) Scatterplot comparing normalized intensities of microRNAs extracted with the nanowire device versus conventional collection by ultracentrifugation. (b) Histogram showing the frequency of microRNA species at different fluorescent intensities collected by nanowires (red) and ultracentrifugation (blue). Both the scatterplot and histogram analyses show a notably greater abundance of extracted microRNAs using the nanowire technology. Credit: Takao Yasui

"Finding a specific, reproducible marker to help confirm a cancer diagnosis is difficult. This is especially true for microRNAs, which are a relatively new class of markers in the field," co-author Yoshinobu Baba explains. "Sometimes finding just one reliable microRNA is considered a success. Using this approach, we were surprised to find that not just one, but whole combinations of microRNAs might be associated with different types of cancers. The findings are preliminary, of course, but we hope our device can help to lay the groundwork for easier ways to diagnose life-threatening diseases as early as possible."

More information: Takao Yasui et al, Unveiling massive numbers of cancer-related urinary-microRNA candidates via nanowires, Science Advances (2017). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1701133 Journal information: Science Advances
Russia has lost contact with Angola's first national telecoms satellite launched from the Baikonur space pad, its maker said Wednesdaya fresh embarrassment for Moscow's once proud space industry.

The incident involving the Russian-made Angosat-1 followed a similar one in November when Russia lost contact with a weather satellite launched from a new cosmodrome in the country's far east.

Energia, Russia's top spacecraft maker which produced the satellite for Angola, said it had reached orbit and established communication according to plan but "after a while it had stopped sending telemetry" data.

"Energia specialists are analysing telemetry at their disposal," the company said in a statement, adding it was working to re-establish contact.

The reason for the loss of contact was not given.

Earlier Wednesday a source in the space industry told AFP that contact with the satellite had "temporarily" been lost. The source called it a "rather common situation."

Energia said similar incidents had happened before with satellites in other countries including the United States and Kazakhstan.

In 2006, NASA reestablished communication with a satellite nearly two years after losing contact with the spacecraft.

'Wait 24 hours'

Sources at the Angolan space agency said that it would be premature to comment on the apparent communication breakdown.

"It's correct that after the launch there was a (communications) disconnect," Da Costa N'ganga, marketing director at Infrasat, a company in Angola overseeing the satellite project, told AFP.

"The nature of the technology means that we will need to wait 24 hours to know for sure what has happened," he added.

The satellitefinanced by a loan from Russiawas meant to boost telecommunications in one of Africa's top oil producers.

Russia and Angola agreed to pursue the approximately $280 million project - which includes the satellite, its launch, and on-ground infrastructure in a suburb of the capital Luandain 2009.

The funding for the project was agreed in 2009, during a visit to Angola by Dmitry Medvedev, Russian president at the time.

The satellite was produced by Energia using a "number of innovative solutions," the Russian space agency said.

The satellite was designed for a 15-year mission to boost satellite communications, internet access and radio and TV services.

Around 50 Angolan aerospace engineers trained around the globe were meant to oversee the functioning of the satellite from a control centre built near Luanda.

The Zenit-2SB rocket carrying Angosat to orbit was supplied by Ukrainian maker Yuzhmash.

That made the launch a rare joint project between Russia and Ukraine, after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in 2014.

Russia initially wanted to use its new Angara rocket to launch the satellite but opted for the Zenit rocket. The launch had been pushed back several times due to delays.

'New client'

"It is too early to bury the satellite," said space expert Vitaly Yegorov.

"But the incident with Angosat is bad because Angola is a new client," he added, noting that Russia was hoping for more such contracts with developing countries.

"They had waited for this launch for many years," he said, referring to Angola.

"This case may affect other developing countries interested in working with Russia."

Yegorov suggested that the satellite might have been damaged due to long storage on Earth.

In late November Russia lost contact with its Meteor-M weather satellite after its launch from the new Vostochny cosmodrome in the far eastonly the second such launch from the new spaceport.

Apart from the weather satellite, the rocket carried 18 payloads from institutions and companies in Canada, the United States, Japan, Germany, Sweden and Norway.

In October, Russia successfully launched from the northern cosmodrome of Plesetsk a European satellite dedicated to monitoring the Earth's atmosphere.

Sending the first man into space in 1961 and launching the first sputnik satellite four years earlier are among key accomplishments of the Soviet space programme and remain a major source of national pride in Russia.

 2017 AFP
Before and after views of a coral reef off the coast of St. John, US Virgin Islands. The reef, vibrant and full of life, is pictured in 2013 (left). The same reef is shown from a different view in 2017 (right), after hurricanes Maria and Irma tore through the region. The reef is now more sparsely populated, with many coral colonies either severely damaged or swept away. Credit: Howard Lasker

When hurricanes Maria and Irma tore through the Caribbean, they not only wreaked havoc on land, but also devastated ocean ecosystems.

Coral reefs off St. John, part of the U.S. Virgin Islands, suffered severe injury during the storms, say scientists from the University at Buffalo and California State University, Northridge who traveled there in late November to assess the damagethe first step in understanding the reefs' recovery.

Some coral colonies lost branches. Others were cloaked in harmful algal growth. Manyweakened by the hurricaneswere left with ghostly, feather-like strands of bacteria hanging off open wounds where bits of coral had been scraped off.

Researchers also observed sites where whole coral colonies, akin to individual trees in a forest, had been swept away by the fury of the storms.

"Hurricanes generate huge waves. The effect is like sandblastingthe waves carry sand and debris, such as bits of broken coral, onto the reefs, striking them over and over again," says Howard Lasker, PhD, professor of geology in the UB College of Arts and Sciences.

Lasker led the research trip with Peter Edmunds, PhD, professor of biology at Cal State Northridge. The team, funded by the National Science Foundation's rapid response research program, spent two weeks aboard the F.G. Walton Smith, the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science's research vessel.

Scientists said damage varied by location.

Damaged gorgonian corals on a reef off the coast of St. John, US Virgin Islands. The living tissue on many of the branches have been chipped or torn off, leaving only the dark non-living core of the branch. Credit: Howard Lasker

"In shallow waters, what we found certainly lived up to our expectationsholy, moly this was bad news," says Edmunds, who has spent 31 years studying St. John's reef.

"But when we went deeper, it became more nuanced. It was still beautiful. There were corals, sea fans and some fish swimming around. Then you would look more closely, and you would see tumbled corals and missing corals in spots where you had seen corals just three months before. There were changes, but there certainly was a tremendous amount still there. I think it's very encouraging."

The team included scientists from UB, Cal State Northridge, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, National Park Service and Georgia Aquarium.

An "interesting natural experiment"

Coral reefs act as habitats for fish and other wildlife, providing food for communities worldwide and generating tourism dollars for seaside economies.

The recent hurricanes presented a rare opportunity for Lasker and Edmunds to study how corals recover from disastersan important line of research in a warming world where rising ocean temperatures are stressing reefs.

"It's an interesting natural experiment," Lasker says. "You could not, in good conscience, conduct such an experiment on your own as a scientist, and it is sad to see these beautiful places in the ocean damaged so severely. But we can learn from thisit gives us the chance to better understand the process of recovery."

Damaged gorgonian corals on a reef on St. John, US Virgin Islands. The wispy, white strands clinging to the edges of the coral are harmful cyanobacteria, which have grown on injured areas. Credit: Howard Lasker

Corals, often thought of as plant-like, are actually tiny marine animals. They build colonies that rise from the ocean floor to form the colorful, whimsical structures that people know as reefs. As time goes on, Lasker and Edmunds will study how quickly coral recruits repopulate damaged sites, and whether injured colonies bounce back or die.

Lasker and Edmunds have been researching St. John's reefs for years. Their team has been documenting which coral species live there, and examining photographs dating back to 1987 to determine how the reefs' composition has changed.

The focus is on understanding the balance between hard, stony corals, which form the backbone of ocean reefs, and softer, more flexible gorgonian coralstree-like species that form an underwater forest of sorts, providing habitat for small fish and other aquatic life.

The hurricanes add an unexpected variable to this work.

During the recent research trip, the team assessed damage at sites off of St. John's southern coast, in an area that is part of the Virgin Islands National Park. In the coming months and years, the scientists will revisit many of these spots to see how coral communities areor aren'trecovering.

Edmunds says what remains of the St. John's reef is still quite beautiful, populated with an abundance of coral with the ability to reproduce, if given time. Despite these encouraging signs, however, he notes that today's reefs are much more vulnerable than in past decades, given climate change and other stressors.

For coral reefs, hurricanes are like wildfires

Lasker compares the effect of storms on reefs to the effect of wildfires on forests.

"Hurricanes have always occurred," Lasker says. "They can cause extensive damage, but then the populations start to recover. It's analogous to forest fires: After a number of years, the forest starts returning. There's a period of disturbance, and then the system recovers."

But scientists still have a lot of questions about this rebound.

For example, few investigators have looked in detail at the plight of soft coralsLasker's area of expertise. There are clues that these species may fare better than their stony counterparts after a disaster, but more research needs to be done to understand how storms, warming waters and ocean acidification can alter the composition of reefs and whether these changes are permanent or short-lived, Lasker says.

"These are magnificent ecosystems," he says, "and we really know very little about how they change and recover after disasters."

When it comes to the future of reefs, Edmunds says, the question is not "are reefs going to disappear?" The bigger question is: in what form will they exist?" he says. "I don't see signs that they are going to disappear. They will persist, but in what form?"
The launch of self-driving vehicle testing at the American Center for Mobility west of Detroit came with something that frequently confounds human drivers in Michigansnow.

But it's an element that actually boosts the value of the site, which was once the home of the famed Willow Run World War II bomber plant. The proving ground north of I-94 in Ypsilanti Township has been under construction for much of the past year and officially opened its first phase, which includes a 2.5-mile highway loop and 700-foot curved tunnel, on schedule in December.

The center notes that it offers automakers, suppliers, technology companies and others four-season testing, day and night, in sun, rain, ice and snow, elements it calls the "perfect environment" for testing driverless and connected vehicles before they are deployed on public roads. Those elements will also be big selling points for a facility that is one of only 10 in the countryseveral of which are in warm-weather locationsdesignated by the federal government as a self-driving vehicle proving ground and research hub.

During the center's first week, Visteon Corp. used the tunnel and other locations to test its autonomous vehicle driving platform in a white Lincoln MKZ. Toyota, which was the first automaker to announce financial support for the facility, began an orientation and driver training. In coming weeks, two additional automakers are scheduled to begin testing, according to center President and CEO John Maddox, who declined to name the additional automakers.

Maddox said the center was not only on target with its opening, but is ahead of schedule in its fundraising, with $110 million in funding commitments - $65 million from the state of Michigan and $45 million from private sources. Fundraising for later phases, including a planned national cybersecurity facility for vehicles and infrastructure, is continuing, he said.

Construction on the second phase, which will include urban intersection and testing areas, is expected to get under way in the spring for completion by the end of next year. A final phase would include a technology park and headquarters building, which may begin construction in 2018 or 2019.

"We've outlined (that) the whole strategy for this facility is to provide a place for companies to do automated vehicle product development right here in Michigan where they do ... their (research and development)," Maddox said, touting the facility's other big selling point, its proximity to key parts of the U.S. automotive industry.

In addition to providing a spot for driverless vehicle testing, the center also intends to play a role in fostering voluntary standards for autonomous vehicle testing and in promoting education for an expected autonomous vehicle future.

"We are strong supporters of the need for the industry especially to come together to try to think about how we might standardize" test procedures, Maddox said.

That does not reflect a desire to pull back on testing. Maddox said it's important not to allow testing to limit the technology at this point. Maddox and others see standardization as a way to create a "catalog of scenarios" that deployed autonomous vehicles would need to be able to negotiate.

Some critics have taken issue with how quickly autonomous vehicle-related technology has been deployed on public roads. But one such critic, John Simpson, who heads California-based Consumer Watchdog's privacy project, has said that facilities like the center, which will seek to promote real-world testing off public highways, hold promise.

As the first week of testing got under way, the center also hosted officials with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, including Deputy Administrator Heidi King. Maddox said the NHTSA officials were getting an overview of test procedures and methodologies for evaluating autonomous vehicles. NHTSA did not respond to inquiries seeking information about the visit and how it might play into future autonomous vehicle testing guidelines.

Maddox said the officials were excited about the educational component of the center, which is working with a consortium of 15 Michigan colleges and universities on training opportunities related to autonomous and connected vehicles.

"We know that there's a significant education need," Maddox said. "We need to educate a future workforce (and) we need to educate the public."Part of the education focus for the center will be in determining the retraining needs for workers, such as truckers, cab drivers and shuttle operators, whose jobs may eventually be displaced by autonomous vehicles.

"We're undertaking a study to understand the real effects and to quantify the real effects of automation on drivers," Maddox said. "There's a general kind of gloom and doom outlook for those jobs, but we don't really see it that way, or at least we don't think that that's the case and certainly they're not going to go away any time soon."

Details about the study, including its cost, will be unveiled at the 2018 Washington (D.C.) Auto Show, which begins next month. Maddox said the study will involve Texas A&M and Michigan State University, and the center will provide some money for the study.

2017 Detroit Free Press

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
I'm a sucker for sexy hardware. I think that's why I'm drawn to Apple products. Say what you will about the Apple ecosystem being too expensiveit's darn sexy.

I've been in the IT game long enough to realize that a computer is just a tool to run software. For more than 30 years, my computers of choice have all been Apple Macintosh.

But lately, Microsoft has been introducing some pretty darn sexy hardware as well.

I've been reviewing the Microsoft Surface Book 2, which is a laptop-tablet convertible that's as sexy as any computer I've ever used.

The Surface Book 2 is Microsoft's second-generation stab at a convertible. Out of the box, it's a Windows 10 laptop with full-size keyboard and touchpad, but with the press of one button on the keyboard, the Surface Book 2's screen detaches to give you a beautiful 13.5-inch touchscreen Windows 10 tablet.

That's the sexy partMicrosoft put a battery and the computer's guts behind the screen, while the keyboard has the ports, touchpad and a second battery.

Of course, the entire package hinges on its hinge.

You can pop off the screen to use it as a tablet, or you can flip it around and dock it back on the keyboard and use it as a touchscreen easel, which I really liked. I sit in a chair with a wide and flat arm that's perfect for using the Surface Book 2 in easel mode.

The hinge is rock solid, and if you didn't know how the release mechanism worked, you'd never know the screen was detachable.

The Surface Book 2 comes in two sizes, 13.5-inch and 15-inch. The design is the same for each, with only slight differences in the hardware choices.

The 13.5-inch Surface Book 2 starts at $1,499 with an Intel i5 CPU, 8 gigabytes of RAM and a 256 gb solid state drive.

Available upgrades include an i7 CPU, Intel i5 CPU, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 graphics processor and more RAM and larger SSD.

The 15-inch Surface Book 2 starts at $2,499 with an i7 CPU, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 graphics processor, 16 gigabytes of RAM and a 256 gb solid state drive. The only upgrade for the bigger model is a larger SSDup to one terabytewhich bumps the price up to $3,299.

The screens have a resolution of 3000 x 2000 pixels for the 13.5-inch and 3,240 x 2,160 pixels for the 15-inch model. Each PixelSense Display has a contrast ratio of 1,600:1, and the screens have 10-point multi-touch.

Each has 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1, two USB 3.0 Type A ports, one USB-C port, an SD card reader and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Because it's a tablet, there are front and rear cameras. Neither camera will win any awards, but the front-facing camera does have Windows Hello face authentication, which worked well. Just open the laptop, and when the front-facing camera recognizes you, the screen unlocks.

The 13.5-inch model measures 12.3 x 9.14 x 0.59-0.90 inches while the 15" measures 13.50 x 9.87 x 0.59-0.90 inches. The thickness range is due to the hinge.

Microsoft says battery life is up to 17 hours. I can vouch that the battery lasts all day.

The beauty of the Surface Book 2 is in the design. The entire package is striking. I've loved Apple's laptop designs for years, but I wish Apple had the courage to release hardware as bold as the Surface Book 2. The "tablet half" is every bit as good as any iPad I've owned. The "keyboard half" is very well built, and I found typing quite comfortable.

While I'm handing out free advice for Apple, I'd like to see it merge its desktop and tablet operating system like Microsoft has done. The transition between the full version of Windows and the touchscreen interface is seamless.

I find myself using Windows 10 computers more and more during my workday, and I'm sorry to say I'm not yet lucky enough to have a Surface Book 2 to use every day.

If I had to buy a Windows computer with my own money tomorrow, I'd likely be headed to my local Microsoft storethe Surface Book 2 is that good.



Pros: Best-designed Windows laptop I've tried. Solid hinge. Convertible. Great battery life.

Cons: Expensive.

Bottom Line: The Surface Book 2 is my new favorite Windows 10 computer.

2017 The Dallas Morning News

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Two demixed phases [the green and blue phases] are shown together with the porous structure surface (black). Credit: Hajime Tanaka and Ryotaro Shimizu, Tanaka Laboratory, Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo

Researchers at University of Tokyo Institute of Industrial Science (IIS) report a new physical model that shows how the topology of a porous material influences the phase separation of binary mixtures. The model uses two variables, the density field of a porous structure and the composition field of a binary mixture, to show that topology has very different effects on phase separation depending on the porous structure being random and either 2-D or 3-D. The study can be read in Science Advances.

IIS Professor Hajime Tanaka, who led the study, explains that demixing, the phase separation of binary mixtures, in porous materials depends on two factors. "Phase separation, surface wettability and the geometrical structure of the pore are all interconnected. Structure depends on size and topology. It is very difficult to study topology."

Understanding this influence has applications in widely different fields including battery, medical diagnostics and oil extraction.

Previous studies have generally assumed that pores can be approximated to be an assembly of straight cylinders, but in reality, the shapes are random, and can take different topologies, complicating the kinetics of the separation. To understand these effects, Tanaka and his collaborator, Dr. Ryotaro Shimizu, developed a novel phase-field model to observe how two mixed substances separate when immersed into a porous material at different levels of surface wettability and two different topologies, 2-D or 3-D. The model showed a clear relationship between demixing and wetness, but one that was greatly influenced by the topology.

"Only 3-D porous structures can be bicontinuous," said Shimizu.

The significance of this distinction leads to unique conformations in 3-D structures that Shimizu calls "double-network structures." The result is different kinetics in the phase separation due to different topologies in the pore structure.

"Our study shows that the difference in the pore geometry causes drastic differences in the phase separation," said Tanaka.

More information: "Impact of complex topology of porous media on phase separation of binary mixtures." Science Advances (2017). advances.sciencemag.org/content/3/12/eaap9570 Journal information: Science Advances
Firefighter works fire line at the Happy Camp Complex Fire in the Klamath National Forest in California, which began on Sep. 17, 2014 from lightening and has consumed 125, 788 acres to date and is 68% contained. Credit: U.S. Forest Service photo by Kari Greer

Wildfires continue to scar California beyond the normal fire season in what's been a particularly catastrophic year for natural disasters across the U.S. But a new big-data solution for predicting wildfire spread is also heating up, and it may become a useful tool in the firefighters' arsenal, according to wildfire researchers attending the 2017 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting.

The more readily available updates of wildfire behavior are, the more informed the decisions of fire managers, according to the researchers. Fire managers need to know how a wildfire will spread as it affects evacuations, strategies to fighting the fire and safety of the firefighters. NASA's Active Fire dataset provides a high-resolution picture of wildfire spread, but that information is available only in about 12-hour snapshots.

A research team of geographers in Wyoming recognized that the behavior of a wildfire can change dramatically depending on the conditions during that long time interval, so they set out to close the information gap for wildfires in the U.S. They developed a computer model to simulate future fire spread in a matter of minutes, and they shared preliminary results from their model last week at the AGU Fall Meeting in New Orleans.

"The interesting part is most of the fires in the U.S. are wind-driven fires," said Bishrant Adhikari, a geographer at the University of Wyoming who presented the new research. "So if you can accurately model where the wind is going to go and how far it's going to blow, then you might just explain where the fire is going to go."

To get that perception of where a fire might go, Adhikari and his coauthors incorporated real-time weather information, fuel moisture data and land topography, among other variables, into a web-based Geography Information System portal. Then, they ran computer simulations to predict the spread of the wildfire. By running multiple simulations, they could address uncertainties in the forecasted weather data  all in a matter of minutes.

The researchers tested their model's performance on three wildfires with different terrains that occurred in Wyoming and Montana in 2017. NASA's Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Satellite (VIIRS) provided 12-hour snapshots of the fire perimeters. When they compared their simulation results to the actual perimeters, the model did well. It predicted more than 86 percent of the area actually hit and under-predicted the fire perimeter by no more than 25 percent.

The model did tend to over-predict the area within the fire perimeter, but Adhikari said their learning-based approach to train the model with actual VIIRS observations will improve future predictions. He also said the model does not currently consider local fire suppression efforts  knowledge that fire managers will have.

The model does sacrifice some level of accuracy for speed, Adhikari said. The current tools fire managers use take two hours to run simulations. These models were developed in the 1990s and don't have the advances made in computations since then, according to Adhikari. Rather than trying to update the old models, he decided to "push it forward with new solutions."

"It's in early stages but seems promising," said Maria Hatzaki, a climatologist at the University of Athens in Greece who was not connected to the new research. Hatzaki works on the long-term problem of fires but knows the challenges of predicting wildfire spread. She sees value in the tool for forest fire services but less for academic research. Coming from a fire-prone country, she said she hopes the researchers will succeed in having accurate results in the future.

Adhikari plans to continue testing and calibrating his model. Next in his plan is to see how the model performs on the recent wildfires in California. He hopes to make the user-friendly tool available to the public in the early summer of 2018.

This story is republished courtesy of AGU Blogs (http://blogs.agu.org), a community of Earth and space science blogs, hosted by the American Geophysical Union. Read the original story here.
Biologist Sarah Luttrell captures a recording of a Marsh Wren's calls. Credit: S. Luttrell

Birds' songs and the ways they vary between places have been well studiedbut what can the simpler vocalizations known as calls tell us about bird biology? A new study from The Auk: Ornithological Advances provides the first detailed description of how Marsh Wren calls vary across eastern North America and hints at the evolutionary processes playing out between wren subspecies.

The University of Maryland Baltimore County's Sarah Luttrell and Bernard Lohr recorded the calls of five Marsh Wren subspecies at nineteen different sites, encompassing the Gulf Coast, Atlantic Coast, and Great Lakes regions and including migratory, nonmigratory, freshwater marsh, and saltwater marsh populations. Categorizing the recordings into seven different call types, they analyzed how calls differed between subspecies. While some calls were associated with territory patrol, nest building, and courtship, others were used mainly during aggressive encounters with predators or other wrens. Both the acoustic characteristics of some calls and how frequently they were used differed from place to place.

"It was certainly a lot of work to compile data on multiple vocalizations and compare the results, but in the end, it makes for a more nuanced understanding of how various evolutionary processes shape animal behavior as a whole," says Luttrell. "Twitter" calls differed between migratory and nonmigratory subspecies, for example, while "buzz" and "trill" calls differed between birds that lived in freshwater and saltwater marshes; while differences in habitat can't directly explain this, all of these call types could be shaped by sexual selection that reinforces the boundaries between subspecies. Atlantic Coast populations produced the "chuck" alarm call more often than others, which suggests they may experience more threats from predators or nest at higher densities that lead to more antagonistic encounters between birds.

Could these differences eventually prompt Marsh Wren populations to diverge into fully separate species? "That's impossible to say for sureit all depends on the course that evolution takes!" says Luttrell. "We were excited that the patterns of call variation we observed seemed to coincide with differences ecology and life history, which suggests the possibility that these subspecies are evolving in different directions. In the future, we're hoping to do some behavioral tests that might help us understand how much the acoustic differences matter to the birds' behavior in the wild. If we do find that individuals respond less strongly to the vocalizations of another subspecies than to their own, then that would be additional evidence that at least some subspecies are on a trajectory of divergence."

"This study highlights the diversity of calls that can be found in a single avian repertoire, and nicely illustrates how different elements of those repertoires can evolve independently," according to the University of Northern Colorado's Lauryn Benedict, an expert on communication in wrens and other songbirds. "The demonstrated patterns of call use in relation to behavioral context, caller sex, habitat, and migratory behavior raise many future avenues of inquiry. Avian calls are a generally understudied vocalization, and this paper demonstrates how and why we all should pay them more attention."

More information: "Geographic variation in call structure, likelihood, and call-song associations across subspecies boundaries, migratory patterns, and habitat types in the Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris)" The Auk: Ornithological Advances, www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1642/AUK-17-110.1
Robert Gilpin, R.I.P. - The Washington Post : His greatest book was written in 1981, but the main theory in it is perhaps more trenchant now...
LEONARDTOWN, Md. (December 26, 2017)On Sunday, December 24, at approximately 4:04 p.m., deputies from the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office and Maryland State Police from the Leonardtown Barrack responded to a report of a shooting in the 38000 block of Dukeharts Creek Road in Coltons Point. Detectives and crime lab technicians responded to the scene to continue the investigation.



The investigation determined a 66-year old male was visiting relatives at the residence when an argument ensued. The 66-year old subject began discharging a firearm towards the homeowner, a 45-year old male. The homeowner returned fire striking the 66-year old male. Lifesaving efforts were initiated by responding law enforcement and rescue squad personnel which were not successful. The 66-year old male succumbed to his injuries at the scene, and was later transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for an autopsy.



If anyone has information regarding this incident, please contact the assigned investigator Detective Corporal Trevor Teague at (301) 475-4200 extension *8128, or by email at Trevor.Teague@st.marysmd.com.
Slovaks celebrate New Year 1993 and the emergence of the independent Slovak Republic on the SNP Square in central Bratislava. (Source: TASR archive)

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Rick Zednik was a co-founder of The Slovak Spectator. He is a Slovak-American dual citizen who lives in Brussels, Belgium.

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My memories of New Years Eve in Bratislavas Namestie SNP as the calendar flipped from 1992 to 1993, are that the air was frigid and the pyrotechnics were underwhelming, but the soundtrack featured three celebratory riffs. First, as the clock struck 12:01 am, hundreds of Slovaks spontaneously joined in to sing their newly independent republics national anthem, Lightning over the Tatras.

Then, a man unafraid of seizing control took the microphone. Slovakia is yours, roared Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar. And you will be successful! The crowd cheered enthusiastically, waving the white, blue, and red flag of the worlds youngest state.

Minutes later, Johann Strausss Blue Danube came on the loud-speaker. Bundled-up couples started what vaguely resembled waltzing around the square. They were still dancing at 12:30 am, when I went to bed.

Unmissable opportunity

In more sober moments, however, many Slovaks I spoke to that day expressed apprehension about the so-called Velvet Divorce that left them citizens of Czechoslovakias smaller, poorer part. Zuzana, a university student married to a Czech man, said independence only made future economic and political conditions even less certain than they had been already.

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Yet, a taxi driver  well call him Jozef  struck a patriotic note. This is Slovakias big opportunity, he said, his hands briefly leaving the wheel to illustrate the magnitude of the moment. Then, as his hands returned to steer the vehicle through a right-hand turn, Jozef added, It is one the people would be foolish to miss.

Who would prove to be right, Zuzana, the pessimistic university student, or Jozef, the optimistic taxi driver? With the benefit of a quarter centurys hindsight, the answer is now clear: both.
It suspended the trademark of one producer

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The Agriculture Ministry tested nine producers of Spis frankfurters (Spisske Parky), a traditional Slovak meat product with designation of Guaranteed Traditional Specialty. The tests did not end well.

Three products have one serious errancy and one has two serious errancies, said Agriculture Minister Gabriela Matecna as cited by the Sme daily.

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Another two products had small errancies and three products completely met the recipe.

All erring producers will be fined while the amount of the fine is not clear for now. Apart from this they will have to change their recipes in order to meet the set standards.

The ministry suspended the trademark in the case of the Cimbalak company from Bardejov, which had the worst results in the quality tests. This means that it cannot call the frankfurters it produces Spis frankfurters. Simultaneously, its Spis frankfurters will be withdrawn from the market and the company cannot manufacture Spis frankfurters until it changes its recipe, informed the State Veterinary and Food Administration.

This is the first time in history that we suspend the trademark, said Matecna. But no producer can change the recipe set by law.

None of the tested Spis frankfurters were dangerous for consumption.

The three Spis frankfurters meeting the recipe were products manufactured by Baron, Puchovsky Masovy Priemysel (as the private brand of the Tesco retailer) and Tauris (the private brand of the Billa retailer).

Small errancies were found in products by Mecom Lucenec (soya residuals) and Maros from Trencin (a lower share of fat). The product by Berto contained food colourant E 120.

The Spis frankfurters by Cimbalak reported the lowest share of pure muscle protein, and food colourant E 120.

In a recent test commissioned by the Association of Consumers, none of the Spis frankfurters from nine Slovak producers passed the tests.

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Read also: Spis frankfurters fail quality tests, producers question methodology Read more

Matecna now plans to test all the products with the designation Guaranteed Traditional Specialty. In total 19 products hold this designation in Slovakia, including Skalicky Trdelnik and Bratislava rolls pastry and cheeses Zazrivsky korbacik, bryndza and Slovensky ostiepok.
He died without someone elses direct action

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Frantisek Gaulieder died without someone elses direct action, concluded a criminal police investigator in Nitra. This information was confirmed for the Sme daily by Renata Cuhakova, a spokeswoman for the regional police in Nitra. The former member of the Slovak Parliament died after being hit by a cargo train on the night of March 24, between Trnovec nad Vahom and Sala, with the narcotic analgesic Tramadol found in his body.

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The police have ruled out murder, but they are still investigating a possible abduction.

Criminal proceedings for the crime of kidnapping are ongoing, said Cuhakova.

Mysterious death

Shortly before his death Gaulieder did not walk towards the train, but was hit by the steps of the engine. These pulled him some metres. This stems from evidence collected by the police, Jan Foltan the Gaulieder family lawyer, announced in the summer. The painkiller Tramadol was found in Gaulieders body during his autopsy.

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It is still not known how, when and in what amount the painkiller got into his body. His wife Zuzana claims that he did not take this medicine. She rejects the idea that her husband committed suicide.

Who was Gaulieder?

Gaulieder became an MP in 1994 for the Vladimir Meciar's HZDS party. In 1996, he was stripped of his mandate, which violated his rights, according to the Constitutional Court. Since 2014, he had been a Galanta town councillor. In 2012 and 2015 he found a gun cartridge in his post box. Shortly before he died he had received death threats, his lawyer told the TASR newswire.
VW has halted production for almost four weeks; Kia and PSA will resume production in the first days of January

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Carmakers have interrupted production in their plants in Slovakia for the Christmas holiday. While the Slovak branch of the German carmaker Volkswagen (VW SK) will resume car production only on January 22, workers of the carmaker Groupe PSA in Trnava and the carmaker Kia Motors Slovakia near Zilina will return to work on January 2 and January 3, respectively.

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VW SK in Bratislava will use the almost four-week holiday, which started on December 23, for the arrival of new projects and maintenance.

More than 1,000 VW SK employees and workers from several suppliers will continue working, said Lucia Kovarovic Makayova, spokesperson of VW SK as cited by TASR.

They will perform technological and construction adjustments impossible to carry out during uninterrupted production. The time-consuming re-buildings are especially linked with preparations for manufacturing new products, which are the Volkswagen Touareg and Audi Q8.

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In VW's Martin-based plant, production will resume on January 2 and the workers at its plant for the production of instruments in Stupava will return to work on January 8.

At Kia, the Christmas holiday started on December 20 and will last until January 3.

During this break we will maintain and service production technologies, which cannot be done during full operation, said Jozef Bace, spokesperson of Kia Motors Slovakia as cited by the TASR newswire. The carmaker will also use this time for the installation and setting up of production technologies linked to the launch of a new model's serial production. Kia Motors Slovakia will again start production on January 3.

The carmaker Groupe PSA in Trnava closed production this year on December 22 and will resume on January 2, the company informs on Facebook.
Chubb Limited provides insurance and reinsurance products worldwide. The company's North America Commercial P&C Insurance segment offers commercial property, casualty, workers' compensation, package policies, risk management, financial lines, marine, construction, environmental, medical, cyber risk, surety, and excess casualty; and group accident and health insurance to large, middle market, and small commercial businesses. Its North America Personal P&C Insurance segment provides affluent and high net worth individuals and families with homeowners, automobile and collector cars, valuable articles, personal and excess liability, travel insurance, and recreational marine insurance and services. The company's North America Agricultural Insurance segment offers multiple peril crop and crop-hail insurance; and coverage for farm and ranch property, and commercial agriculture products. Its Overseas General Insurance segment provides coverage for traditional commercial property and casualty; specialty categories, such as financial lines, marine, energy, aviation, political risk, and construction risk; and group accident and health, and traditional and specialty personal lines for corporations, middle markets, and small customers through retail brokers, agents, and other channels. The company's Global Reinsurance segment offers traditional and specialty reinsurance under the Chubb Tempest Re brand to property and casualty companies. Its Life Insurance segment provides protection and savings products comprising whole life, endowment plans, individual term life, group term life, medical and health, personal accident, credit life, universal life, and unit linked contracts. The company markets its products primarily through insurance and reinsurance brokers. The company was formerly known as ACE Limited and changed its name to Chubb Limited in January 2016. Chubb Limited was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland.
Louisiana-Pacific Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets building products primarily for use in new home construction, repair and remodeling, and outdoor structure markets. It operates through four segments: Siding; Oriented Strand Board (OSB); Engineered Wood Products (EWP); and South America. The Siding segment offers LP SmartSide trim and siding products, LP SmartSide ExpertFinish trim and siding products, LP BuilderSeries lap siding products, and LP Outdoor Building Solutions; and engineered wood siding, trim, soffit, and fascia products. The OSB segment manufactures and distributes OSB structural panel products comprising LP TechShield radiant barriers, LP WeatherLogic air and water barriers, LP Legacy premium sub-flooring products, LP FlameBlock fire-rated sheathing products, and LP TopNotch sub-flooring products. The EWP segment provides laminated veneer lumber and other related products; and LP SolidStart I-joists, which are primarily used in residential and commercial floorings, roofing systems, and other structural applications. The South America segment manufactures and distributes OSB structural panel and siding products. This segment also distributes and sells related products for the region's transition to wood frame construction. It also offers timber and timberlands and other products and services. The company sells its products primarily to retailers, wholesalers, and homebuilding and industrial businesses in North America and South America, Asia, Australia, and Europe. Louisiana-Pacific Corporation was incorporated in 1972 and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.
The following companies are subsidiares of Dominion Energy: 96WI 8me LLC, Align RNG Arizona LLC, Align RNG Arizona-Snowflake LLC, Align RNG California LLC, Align RNG California-Corcoran LLC, Align RNG Grady Road LLC, Align RNG LLC, Align RNG Magnolia LLC, Align RNG North Carolina LLC, Align RNG North Carolina-Bowdens LLC, Align RNG Utah LLC, Align RNG Utah-Milford LLC, Align RNG Utah-Minersville LLC, Align RNG Virginia LLC, Align RNG Virginia-Waverly LLC, Alpaca Holdings LLC, Angus Holdings LLC, Aster Holdings LLC, Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC, BOE Holdings Inc., Bantam Holdings LLC, Bellflower Holdings LLC, Birdseye Holdings LLC, Birdseye Projects LLC, Birdseye Renewable Energy LLC, Blackville Solar Farm LLC, Blue Ocean Energy Marine LLC, BrightSuite Home LLC, BrightSuite Home Solar Inc., BrightSuite Inc., BrightSuite Solar CT Inc., BrightSuite Solar Development LLC, BrightSuite Solar SC Inc., BrightSuite Solar VA Inc., Brown Swiss Holdings II LLC, Buckingham Solar I LLC, CEA Americus LLC, CEA CO-Fort Morgan LLC, CEA Clovis LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Colorado LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Georgia LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Idaho LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Kansas LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Nevada LLC, CEA Dairy RNG New Mexico LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Texas LLC, CEA Greely LLC, CEA Mason LLC, CEA TX-Dimmitt LLC, CNG Coal Company, CNG Power Services Corporation, Canola Holdings LLC, Carolina Gas Transmission Corporation, Charolais Holdings LLC, Chester White Holdings LLC, Chicory Holdings LLC, Clean Energy Asset USA LLC, Clean Energy Enterprises Inc., Clipperton Holdings LLC, Collard Holdings LLC, Consolidated Natural Gas Company, Correctional Solar LLC, Cotswold Holdings LLC, Cove Point LNG Limited, Currant Holdings LLC, DE 700 Canal Place LLC, DE Arlington Solar LLC, DE Fluvanna Solar LLC, DE Hanover Solar LLC, DE Henrico Solar LLC, DE King William Solar LLC, DE Louisa Solar LLC, DE Newport News Solar LLC, DE Powhatan Solar LLC, DE Virginia Beach Solar LLC, DECP Holdings Inc., DEO Alternative Fuel LLC, Dairy RNG Holdings LLC, Denmark Solar LLC, Devon Holdings LLC, Dexter Holdings LLC, Dill Holdings LLC, Dillon RE Holdings LLC, Dominion ACP Holding Inc., Dominion Alternative Energy Holdings Inc., Dominion Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC, Dominion Capital Inc., Dominion Cogen WV Inc., Dominion Energy Birdseye Holdings Inc., Dominion Energy Fuel Services Inc., Dominion Energy Gas Distribution LLC, Dominion Energy Generation Marketing Inc., Dominion Energy Inc., Dominion Energy Kewaunee Inc., Dominion Energy Marketplace LLC, Dominion Energy Nuclear Connecticut Inc., Dominion Energy Payroll Company Inc., Dominion Energy Questar Corporation, Dominion Energy RNG Holdings II Inc., Dominion Energy RNG Holdings Inc., Dominion Energy Services Inc., Dominion Energy Solar CA LLC, Dominion Energy South Carolina Inc., Dominion Energy Southeast Services Inc., Dominion Energy Technical Solutions Inc., Dominion Energy Technologies II Inc., Dominion Energy Technologies Inc., Dominion Energy Terminal Company Inc., Dominion Energy Wexpro Services Company, Dominion Equipment III Inc., Dominion Equipment Inc., Dominion Fairless Hills Inc., Dominion Fowler Ridge Wind LLC, Dominion Gas Projects Company LLC, Dominion Generation Inc., Dominion Greenbrier Inc., Dominion High Voltage Holdings Inc., Dominion High Voltage MidAtlantic Inc., Dominion Investments Inc., Dominion Keystone Pipeline Holdings Inc., Dominion Keystone Pipeline LLC, Dominion MLP Holding Company III Inc., Dominion Mt. Storm Wind LLC, Dominion Nuclear Projects Inc., Dominion Oklahoma Texas Exploration & Production Inc., Dominion Person Inc., Dominion Privatization Florida LLC, Dominion Privatization Georgia LLC, Dominion Privatization Holdings Inc., Dominion Privatization Kentucky LLC, Dominion Privatization Maryland LLC, Dominion Privatization Pennsylvania LLC, Dominion Privatization South Carolina LLC, Dominion Privatization Texas LLC, Dominion Privatization Virginia LLC, Dominion Products and Services Inc., Dominion Projects Services Inc., Dominion Resources Capital Trust III, Dominion Retail Gas Holdings Inc., Dominion Solar Holdings IV LLC, Dominion Solar Projects C Inc., Dominion Solar Projects D Inc., Dominion Solar Projects III Inc., Dominion Solar Projects IV Inc., Dominion Solar Projects V Inc., Dominion Solar Projects VI Inc., Dominion Solar Projects VII Inc., Dominion Solar Services Inc., Dominion State Line LLC, Dominion Utility Privatization LLC, Dominion Voltage Inc., Dominion Wholesale Inc., Dominion Wind Development LLC, Dominion Wind Projects Inc., Dorset Holdings LLC, ESCT-SA-Suffield LLC, Eagle Holdco Solar LLC, Eagle Solar LLC, Eastern Shore Solar LLC, Endive Holdings LLC, Energize Holdings III LLC, Flax Holdings LLC, Fremont Farm LLC, Gideon Solar LLC, Ginger Holdings LLC, Greenbrier Marketing Company LLC, Greenbrier Pipeline Company LLC, Greensville County Solar Project LLC, Guernsey Holdings LLC, Hardin Solar Energy LLC, Hecate Energy Cherrydale LLC, Hecate Energy Clarke County LLC, Hemlock Holdings LLC, Hereford Holdings LLC, Hodges Solar LLC, Hope Gas Inc., Hosta Holdings LLC, Innovative Solar 37 LLC, Joanna Solar LLC, Kale Holdings LLC, Leek Holdings LLC, Leghorn Holdings LLC, Lentil Holdings LLC, Leyland Holdings LLC, Louis Dreyfus Natural Gas, Millet Holdings LLC, Moffett Solar 1 LLC, Moorings Farm 2 LLC, Mustang Solar LLC, Mustard Holdings LLC, Okra Holdings LLC, PSNC Blue Ridge Corporation, PSNC Cardinal Pipeline Company, Phone House, Pikeville Farm LLC, Power Path Holdings I LLC, Power Path Holdings II LLC, Power Path Holdings III LLC, Prairie Fork Wind Farm LLC, Public Service Company of North Carolina Incorporated, Quail Holdings LLC, Questar Corporation, Questar Gas Company, Questar InfoComm Inc., Ridgeland Solar Farm I LLC, Rutabaga Holdings LLC, SCANA, SCANA Corporate Security Services Inc., SCANA Corporation, SRFI LLC, Safflower Holdings LLC, Scott-II Solar LLC, Seabrook Solar LLC, Sedge Holdings LLC, Shallot Holdings LLC, Siler Solar LLC, Silkie Holdings LLC, Simmental Holdings LLC, Sol Madison Solar LLC, Sorghum Holdings LLC, South Carolina Fuel Company Inc., South Carolina Generating Company Inc., Southampton Solar LLC, Strawberry Holdings LLC, Sumac Holdings LLC, Summit Farms Solar LLC, Sussex Drive Solar Project LLC, TWE Myrtle Solar Project LLC, The East Ohio Gas Company, Trask East Solar LLC, Tredegar Solar Fund I LLC, Tredegar Solar LLC, VP Property Inc., Virginia Electric And Power Company, Virginia Power Fuel Corporation, Virginia Power Nuclear Services Company, Virginia Power Services Energy Corp. Inc., Virginia Power Services LLC, Virginia Solar 2017 Projects LLC, Wakefield Solar LLC, Watercress Holdings LLC, Wexpro Company, Wexpro Development Company, Wexpro II Company, Wilkinson Solar LLC, Yemassee Solar LLC, and Yorkshire Holdings LLC.

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YPF Sociedad Anonima, an energy company, engages in the oil and gas upstream and downstream activities in Argentina. The company's upstream operations include the exploration, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas, and NGLs. Its downstream operations include the refining, marketing, transportation, and distribution of oil, petroleum products, petroleum derivatives, petrochemicals, LPG, and bio-fuels, as well as in gas separation, natural gas distribution operations, and power generation. As of December 31, 2021, it had interests in 119 oil and gas fields; approximately 643 million barrels (mmbbl) of oil; and approximately 2,447 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas. It also had a retail distribution network of 1,654 YPF-branded service stations; and 18 exploration permits. In addition, the company owns and operates three refineries with combined annual refining capacity of approximately 120 mmbbl; approximately 2,800 kilometers of crude oil pipelines with approximately 640,000 barrels of aggregate daily transportation capacity of refined products; and crude oil tankage of approximately 7 mmbbl, as well as maintains terminal facilities at five Argentine ports. Further, it participates in 21 power generation plants with an aggregate installed capacity of 3,091 megawatts; offers diesel, fertilizers, lubricants, phytosanitary products, and ensiling bags; and supplies diesel, gasoline, fuel oil, coal, asphalts, paraffin, and sulfur, CO2, decanted oil, and aromatic extract. The company was founded in 1977 and is headquartered in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Japanese culinary and cultural enthusiasts in Ho Chi Minh City can now set their plan for the Japan Aomori Food Fair 2018, scheduled to take place early next year in the southern Vietnamese metropolis.

The event, running from January 12 to 14 at the Saigon Centre, will be the third of its kind to be held in Vietnam, having attracted thousands of visitors in Hanoi last year, according to the Consulate General of Japan in Ho Chi Minh City.

The upcoming fair will have the participation of 15 food producers, who will allow visitors to buy and taste about 50 foods selected from Aomori.

On top of the food fair, the Consulate General of Japan also has plans to hold another event at the Takashimaya shopping center, to introduce Aomoris traditional musical instrument Tsugaru Jamisen, its Nebuta Haneto festival and travel guides to visitors.

Located in northern Japan, Aomori Prefecture is surrounded by abundant natural resources, and is home to Japans best apple seed.

The prefecture is also known for its diverse agriculture, particularly garlic and burdock.

With three of its sides surrounded by sea, Aomori is endowed by nature with such gifts as scallops, chub mackerel and squid.
HANOI, Dec 27 -- Vietnam's coffee exports for 2017 are estimated to have fallen 20.1 percent from the previous year, while rice shipments have risen 21.9 percent, the government said on Wednesday.

Coffee

Coffee exports from Vietnam will drop an estimated 20.1 percent in 2017 from a year ago to 1.4 million tonnes, equal to 23.3 million 60-kg bags, the General Statistics Office said in a report on Wednesday.

Coffee export revenue will fall 3.7 percent annually to $3.2 billion, the report also said.

December shipments of beans from Vietnam, the world's largest robusta producer, are estimated at 140,000 tonnes, up from November's exports of 100,400 tonnes, the report said.

Rice

Rice exports from the world's third-largest shipper of the grain were forecast to rise 21.9 percent to 5.9 million tonnes in 2017. Revenue from 2017 rice exports was seen rising 22.7 percent year-on-year to $2.6 billion.

Vietnam would ship an estimated 400,000 tonnes of rice in December, up from 375,000 tonnes in November, the report said.

Energy

Vietnam's 2017 crude oil exports rose 0.3 percent year-on-year to an estimated 6.9 million tonnes, or 138,500 barrels per day (bpd).

Crude oil export revenue in 2017 rose 23 percent to $2.9 billion.

Oil product imports increased 9.2 percent to an estimated 12.8 million tonnes, while the value of the product imports jumped 37.7 percent to $7 billion.

Vietnam's liquefied petroleum gas imports in 2017 increased 13.4 percent from a year earlier to 1.4 million tonnes.
A local woman has been fined nearly VND10 billion (US$440,529) for manipulating the price of a Hanoi Stock Exchange-listed share, the State Security Commission of Vietnam said Tuesday.

Do Thi Cam Thuy had asked 15 individuals to open 28 stock accounts at four different securities firms in Hanoi, besides having her own account.

Between September 1, 2015 and May 13, 2016, these 29 accounts repeatedly traded the SPI stock, issued by the Stone Company Spilit Joint Stock Company, creating a false demand for the share and manipulating its price.

Police looked into the case and concluded on November 28 that Thuy was behind the stock price manipulation.

However, the State Security Commission of Vietnam admitted that there was not enough ground to criminally charge the investor, and it could only levy a VND600 million ($26,432) civil fine on her.

The investor was also asked to pay back more than VND9.28 billion ($408,811) worth of profit she enjoyed by manipulating the prices of SPI shares, according to the commission.

Thuy therefore has to pay VND9.88 billion ($435,242) for her offense.
People convicted of serious embezzlement of property can escape the death sentence if they are willing to pay back at least three-fourths of what they have illegally taken, according to a new Penal Code that will take effect next year.

The set of laws, which was issued in 2015, will come into force on January 1, 2018, bringing along many significant changes.

The new Penal Code dictates that the death sentence should only be imposed upon those convicted of particularly serious crimes.

The capital punishment shall not be imposed upon people who are 75 years or older, according to the law.

Death row inmates found guilty of embezzlement of property may escape their capital punishment by giving back at least three-quarters of the embezzled assets as well as cooperating with officers and assisting their investigation.

According to the current law, those who appropriate property worth VND500 million (US$22,017) or more are subject to 20 years in prison, life imprisonment, or even the death penalty.

The new change is aimed at limiting the implementation of the death sentence for the type of crime and encouraging the return of appropriated property in such cases.

The new Penal Code will replace the deliberate violation of state regulations on economic management, resulting in serious consequences clause with a series of specific charges.

In addition, some charges, including child marriages, illegal business operations, false reports in economic management, and several others will be dropped in the upcoming changes.

Other changes

Individuals or organizations who fail to pay health and social insurance for employees for six months and over shall face up to seven years in prison.

The penalty will only be applied if violators repeat the wrongdoing for the second time, and have previously been slapped with an administrative fine.

The new laws will also add criminal responsibility for a legal person, which is considered a breakthrough.

The legal person will be criminally responsible for 31 offenses related to economic fields and environmental protection.

In accordance with the adjusted Penal Code, attorneys will be required to report the violations of their clients if the offenses are extremely serious or compromise national security.

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A former Politburo member could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison if found guilty of wroingdoings at one of Vietnam's largest state-owned groups, leading to serious consequences.

The Supreme Peoples Procuracy on Tuesday issued the indictment on the deliberate violations of state regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences, and the embezzlement of property, which were allegedly committed by Ding La Thang and 21 other defendants at PetroVietnam (PVN) and its subsidiary, PetroVietnam Construction Corporation (PVC).

As the former chairman of PVNs management board, Thang was charged for deliberately violating the states regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences, and is facing between 10 and 20 years of imprisonment.

Thang, 57, was a member of the all-powerful Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam from January 27, 2016 to May 7, 2017, and secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee from February 5, 2016 to May 10, 2017.

Phung Dinh Thuc, former general director of PVN, Nguyen Xuan Son, PVNs ex-deputy general director, and nine other suspects were charged for a similar offense.

Eight suspects are to be prosecuted for embezzlement of property.

Trinh Xuan Thanh, former chairman of PVCs board of directors, and Vu Duc Thuan, ex-general director of PVC, were charged for both offenses.

Thanh is expected to be sentenced to 20 years behind bars for his deliberate violations of the states regulations, and death for embezzlement.

The investigation

In September 15, 2016, the Ministry of Public Security began the investigation into the case and arrested four suspects for their deliberate violations at the two companies.

Officers initiated legal proceedings against and issued a wanted notice for Thanh the following day.

In February 2017, five new suspects were apprehended for embezzlement.

In July 31, Thanh returned to Vietnam after fleeing to another country and turned himself in to police.

Police captured Thang and began legal procedures against him on December 8.

A total of 11 other suspects involved in the case were nabbed between March and December.

Officers concluded their probe and transferred their report to the Supreme Peoples Procuracy on December 20.

The violations

According to the indictment, PVC, under the leadership of Thanh, implemented 67 construction projects from 2008 to 2012, of which 12 projects required extra expenditure that was not stated in the contracts.

The firm also invested over VND3 trillion (US$132.2 million) in 46 companies in 2010 and another VND3.5 trillion ($154.2 million) in 43 enterprises in 2011.

The total investment exceeded PVCs charter capital by nearly VND1 trillion ($44 million), resulting in financial difficulties at the subsidiary.

In April 2010, Thang, on behalf of the management board, submitted a document to the government asking for permission to initiate the Thai Binh 2 thermal power project, located in the namesake northern province, that same year.

He also requested that the oil and gas group PVN, among Vietnam's largest state-owned companies, be allowed to select contractors for the construction.

The request was approved and, under Thangs directions, PVC was chosen in June 2010 as the EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) contractor of the project.

The PVN chairman then directed his employees to sign a deal for the construction of certain facilities at the power plant, a move that went against regulations.

Based on the agreement, PVN made an advance transfer of $6.6 million and over VND1.3 trillion ($57.2 million) to PVC.

However, Thanh, and other suspects at PVC, used over VND1 trillion ($44 million) of the money for wrongful purposes, a violation that led to VND111 billion ($5.2 million) in losses for the state.

Aside from the wrongdoings within the Thai Binh 2 project, Thanh and Thuan, the ex-general director of PVC, also directed the creation of bogus documents that approved the withdrawal of VND13 billion ($572,584) from the management board of the Vung Ang-Quang Trach thermal power project in north-central Vietnam, developed by PVN.

Their trial is scheduled to take place in the first quarter of 2018.

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The latest US show to be exploring a revival is sitcom Mad About You.

Hollywood Reporter suggests Sony Pictures Television Studios are eyeing a potential revival with both Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt.

The series originally ran for seven seasons garnering multiple Emmy nominations (and wins for Hunt), a Golden Globe and a Peabody Award.

A new version would be set in the present day and follow Paul and Jamie with their 17-year-old daughter, Mabel in college.

No deals are in place and a network is not currently attached.

The Will and Grace revival has been a hit with returns, reboots and sequels of late including Roseanne, Full House, Star Trek, Dynasty and MacGyver
Daily Mirror publisher Trinity Mirror reported a jump in first-half pre-tax profit on Monday, thanks in part to its acquisition of news publisher Local World last November.

In the 27 weeks ended 3 July, adjusted pre-tax profit rose to 66.9m from 47m as revenue increased to 374.7m from 288.5m, benefiting from the Local World acquisition and an additional week of trading in the period.

This made up for losses from the launch of failed daily newspaper New Day, which closed on 6 May.

Chief executive Simon Fox said: "I am pleased we delivered another strong performance despite the challenging print environment. We are already seeing the benefits from our acquisition of Local World last year and continue to tightly manage the cost base across the group."

Our strategic focus remains to grow digital audience and revenue whilst protecting print revenue and profit. We are confident that our strategy and our strong balance sheet position will enable continued progress despite increased uncertainty around the economic environment."

Also on Monday, the company announced a share buyback of up to 10m.

As far as Brexit is concerned, Trinity Mirror said it has created increased macroeconomic uncertainty and warned that revenues could take a hit.

Whilst the impact is uncertain and hard to assess, based on current UK growth forecasts there is a risk that our revenues could be lower than expectations.

At 1030 BST, Trinity shares were up 6.2% to 79.67p.
Orange S.A. provides various fixed telephony and mobile telecommunications, data transmission, and other value-added services to customers, businesses, and other telecommunications operators in France and internationally. It operates through France; Spain and Other European Countries; The Africa and Middle East; Enterprise; International Carriers & Shared Services; and Mobile Financial Services segments. The company offers mobile services, such as voice, SMS, and data; fixed broadband and narrowband services, as well as fixed network business solutions, including voice and data; and convergence packages. It also sells mobile handsets, mobile terminals, broadband equipment, connected devices, and accessories. In addition, the company provides IT and integration services comprising unified communication and collaboration services, such as LAN and telephony, consultancy, integration, and project management; hosting and infrastructure services, including cloud computing; customer relations management and other applications services; security services; and video conferencing, as well as sells related equipment. Further, it offers national and international roaming services; online advertising services; and mobile virtual network operators, network sharing, and mobile financial services, as well as sells equipment to external distributors and brokers. Orange S.A. markets its products and services under the Orange brand. The company was formerly known as France Telecom and changed its name to Orange S.A. in July 2013. Orange S.A. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Issy-les-Moulineaux, France.
Helenas city elections may be nonpartisan, but it was the self-proclaimed progressive ticket that went on to victory in November, with the incoming mayor receiving national attention for his unique path to office.

After coming to Helena as a Liberian refugee more than two decades ago, Wilmot Collins, a child protection specialist for the Montana Department of Health and Human Services, entered the race against longtime Mayor Jim Smith. Collins platform focused on addressing homelessness among youth and veterans, and he aligned himself with two progressive city commission candidates, incumbent Andres Haladay and newcomer Heather K. OLoughlin.

The mayor and commission had taken up a number of controversial decisions in recent months before the election.

Resolutions endorsing the Paris Climate Accord and encouraging normalizing relations with Cuba, along with a resolution questioning a proposed mine in the Smith River watershed, showed some commissioners interest in addressing state and national issues. The removal of the Confederate fountain in Hill Park also took heed of a national conversation about the removal of monuments, bringing with it strong emotions.

The initial election night returns put Collins ahead of Smith by a few hundred votes. While several commission candidates jumped in and out of the lead as the results trickled in, Haladay, O'Loughlin and Collins claimed victory at the end of the night.

Collins' phone started ringing immediately afterward, and he quickly found himself in the national spotlight. The day after the election he did multiple interviews, speaking to The New York Times and being featured on the BBC website.

While historians say the city had a black mayor before it was incorporated, Collins became the first black mayor of incorporated Helena, which shocked him and resonated in the national sphere. Media outlets across the country asked if his and many other Democratic victories were a referendum on Trump administration policies.

Collins status as a refugee had rarely entered the campaign. One of the few times it came up was in response to questions about Smith's comments to a group with anti-refugee ties -- ties that Smith said he was unaware of at the time.

Nationally this is a different conversation, Collins told the Independent Record. I dont think the people of Helena were thinking about that.  Helena people were looking at it as the better of two candidates.

With the newly elected mayor and commission candidates soon taking office, Collins has remained visible around Helena. He still sees homelessness as a major problem facing the city but has also met with various groups such as the Helena Area Chamber of Commerce, and he was recently selected as a guest curator for an art show at the Holter Museum.

The progressive ticket candidates will be sworn in at the Capitol at 10 a.m. on Jan. 2.
Three charged in connection to missing Aberdeen man

As the Aberdeen Police Department continues to investigate the disappearance of Simon Deng in Aberdeen, three people now face charges.
WASHINGTON  Craft breweries are raising a glass to the Republicans new tax overhaul: It cuts the excise tax on beer. Retailers, long saddled with heavy tax bills, will get relief. So will some high-profile names in corporate finance, led by Wells Fargo.

The tax measure that President Donald Trump signed into law Friday distributes benefits across a range of American industries, from construction to health care.

As a general rule of thumb, everybodys doing well under this bill, Martin Sullivan, chief economist at Tax Analysts, says of U.S. companies. When you give out a trillion in tax breaks, its hard to create a lot of losers.

No wonder the stock market has been roaring in anticipation of fatter after-tax corporate profits. The new law slashes the corporate tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent. It applies a low one-time tax to the profits that corporations have long kept overseas to avoid paying taxes under the current higher rate.

It also delivers a windfall to people who pay personal taxes on business earnings. It lets companies immediately write off the full cost of new equipment. And it showers goodies on some individual industries, such as craft brewers, distilleries and wineries.

The reasoning behind shrinking the tax burdens of corporations is to free up money for companies to invest in buildings, equipment and people and thereby juice the economy  and, in turn, benefit workers. Yet mainstream economists have expressed mainly doubts that workers will benefit much from corporations lower tax burdens.

In dollars, the biggest tax savings from 2018 through 2027 go to manufacturers: $261.5 billion, according to an analysis by the University of Pennsylvanias Penn Wharton Budget Model. Next-most-fortunate are insurance and finance companies ($249.4 billion) and retailers ($171.4 billion).

Supporters of the Republican tax bill point out that Americas 35 percent corporate tax is one of the highest among advanced economies. But the tax code is so riddled with loopholes that few corporations have actually paid that list price. Without the new law, the effective tax rate across all industries would have been 21.2 percent next year. With it, the effective rate across industries drops all the way to 9.2 percent in 2018, according to the Penn Wharton Model.

Not all industries have gained equally from loopholes. Retailers, for example, would have paid a 27.5 percent rate in 2018; under the new law, theyll pay just 15.6 percent.

The tax bill is a big shot in the arm for retailers, who have traditionally paid taxes at nearly the full amount, says Matthew Shay, CEO of the National Retail Federation.

Shay says he thinks the bill will help retailers accelerate investment in e-commerce and mobile technology. He also predicts that the bill will induce foreign-owned retailers to shift investment dollars into the United States.

Finance and insurance companies would have paid an effective corporate tax rate of 26.1 percent next year. Now, it will be 14.3 percent. Analysts at Goldman Sachs have estimated that the tax law will boost big-bank earnings per share by 13 percent next year. The top beneficiary will be Wells Fargo, which has been dogged by scandals over cheating customers. It will enjoy an 18 percent earnings surge in 2018, Goldman estimates.

Technology companies like Apple and Googles parent Alphabet Inc. can now catch a break on profits theyve stored abroad. Under current law, corporations must pay the U.S. corporate tax on overseas earnings, but not until they return the money.

So tech companies have kept a big chunk of profits overseas  $669 billion worth at the end of last year, according to Moodys Investors Service.

The tax overhaul imposes a discounted one-time levy on those earnings  15.5 percent for earnings held in cash or other liquid assets and 8 percent for earnings held in harder-to-sell assets. That means tech companies can return the money the United States with less of a tax burden. But their employees may not have cause to rejoice: CFRA analyst Scott Kessler predicts that tech companies will use most of the money they repatriate to buy back their stock and pay shareholder dividends.

The tax bill let craft brewers cross something off their longstanding wish list: The federal excise tax they pay will be halved to $3.50 a barrel on the first 60,000 barrels. Wineries and distillers also get tax breaks.

At COOP Ale Works in Oklahoma City, founder Daniel Mercer forecasts a tax windfall of about $60,000 next year. The 8-year-old brewery, which has quadrupled its staff to 31 in the past 2 years and whose annual revenue has reached $5 million, was already planning to invest $2 million in equipment. The tax savings will contribute to that project and also helps with building tap rooms, and tap rooms are a really high-margin source of revenue, Mercer says.

The tax plan also benefits owners of pass-through businesses, who pay personal income tax on business earnings: It lets them deduct 20 percent of the first $315,000 in earnings. The pass-through provision will help Esther Novis, who owns the Young Scientists Club, a company in Jamestown, Rhode Island, that sells science kits and other toys that encourage children to dabble in science.

Margins in the toy industry are very small, Novis says. If theres more money left over because we pay less taxes, we can be a little more competitive and invest in new products.

Like many Americans, Peter Koehl of Skullduggery Inc., a toy maker in Anaheim, California, isnt yet familiar with the details of the tax changes.

As with most government actions, we hope for the best and brace for the worst, Koehl says. I can confidently tell you that a significant percentage of any windfall will be invested in things that either increase sales or efficiencies.

____

AP Retail Writer Anne DInnocenzio in New York and AP Technology Writer Michael Liedtke in San Francisco contributed to this report.

____

Follow Paul Wiseman on Twitter at https://twitter.com/PaulWisemanAP
SEATTLE  In perhaps an unexpected twist, historically conservative strongholds like Oklahoma and West Virginia are leading efforts to bring preschool to all.

They have in common a low-wage workforce, relatively low education levels and the desire to change that, said Steven Barnett of the National Institute for Early Education Research. Whatever they say, politicians in West Virginia know the future of their state is not coal miners.

Other red states that have notable programs include Alabama and Georgia. But some liberal-leaning cities like Seattle and New York also are running public pre-K programs.

Advocates say more universal programs are needed to address what they call an alarming increase in child care costs. Studies have shown that children who attend a high-quality preschool are more adjusted for the rest of their academic lives and have better outcomes as adults, from higher incomes to healthier lifestyles.

Around the country, some budding programs say there are not enough seats to meet demand and not enough money to make it happen.

Programs in Seattle and New York enjoy overwhelming support locally, which in turn puts pressure on their state lawmakers to act as they face growing inequity in public education and research that touts the benefits of high-quality education in the critical early years.

Clearly, a statewide program would be so much better, and it should be available to all 3- and 4-year-olds. Its the best investment we can make to right the wrongs of generations, said Tim Burgess, a retired Seattle mayor and city councilman credited with creating the Seattle Preschool Program.

It is now in its third year, serving 979 children with a sliding scale tuition model. About 80 percent of them go for free. Burgess is now pushing for a universal statewide offering in Washington, beyond its program for low-income children.

Aanchal Mehrotras 4-year-old son is one of 300 kids now on the waiting list for the Seattle Preschool Program, but she says she doesnt have much hope that hell get in. The Seattle preschool class would cost the family just $365 a month. Shes paying almost four times that much for a month at a private day care franchise.

Its so expensive and become so difficult to afford, said Mehrotra, a research scientist. Im just waiting for him to turn 5 so he can get into kindergarten.

The universal preschool movement hit peak momentum under the Obama administration but has been virtually unaddressed by President Donald Trump. Instead, Trumps daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump has dabbled with policies aimed at tackling child care costs.

A report by Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee in Congress this year indicated that less than half of the nations 3- and 4-year-olds were in a pre-K program, ranging from 75 percent in Washington, D.C., to just 30 percent in Idaho.

The programs vary in quality and structure, with some offering just a few hours a week of learning sessions and others that are more similar to a full school day.

One of the central goals of preschool is social development, which advocates say will help children get adjusted to learning in a structured setting and is especially important for low-income children.

But for many families, cost is a major factor.

Child Care Aware of America reports that the average cost of child care per year for a 4-year-old in a licensed facility ranged from $14,000 in Massachusetts to $4,500 in Mississippi.

In Oklahoma and West Virginia, preschool is offered to virtually all 4-year-olds.

West Virginias program last year cost $142 million  nearly a third of which was covered through federal funding  to educate 14,940 children, including 3-year-olds with special needs and all 4-year-olds.

The program was built up slowly over the past decade through layers of legislative wins that strengthened accessibility, partnerships, and most critically, funding.

We have some very dedicated champions at the Legislature who really felt the need to look at the welfare of the children in our state, said Monica DellaMea, who oversees early learning at the state education department.

Access to preschool is also widely available in Washington, D.C., Vermont and Florida.

Though other cities and states have been able to launch preschool programs, funding often limits access, creating programs for the poor or disabled or limited to a certain district  instead of a truly universal one.

Thats the case in Washington state, where only 9 percent of 4-year-olds were enrolled in preschool in 2016, according to National Institute for Early Education Research.

For a decade, nothing has really changed in terms of access for the non-poor working families, Barnett said.

___

Follow Sally Ho at https://twitter.com/_sallyho .
An accused sex trafficker already facing multiple prostitution and drug charges denied a new charge in U.S. District Court in Billings on Wednesday.

Terrance Tyrell Edwards, 35, of Missoula, pleaded not guilty to the newest count of sex trafficking force or fraud in addition to the nine other charges during an arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy Cavan.

The latest charge adds a sixth alleged victim who Edwards is accused of forcing into or transporting for prostitution in Missoula and Billings in about July 2016, the indictment said.

The latest indictment is the fourth time prosecutors have revised or added charges in its case against Edwards and his co-defendant Francine Joann Granados, 32, of Moorhead, Minnesota.

In addition to sex trafficking, Edwards is accused of other prostitution-related crimes involving adult women and minor girls, obstruction, a drug charge and witness tampering.

The U.S. Attorneys Office accuses Edwards of taking women and girls across state lines for prostitution from March 2016 to September 2016 and that he provided the girls with marijuana.

Granados is facing one count of witness tampering.

A jury trial, which has been continued six times, is set for Jan. 29 and is expected to take about eight days. Prosecutors have said they plan to call about 28 witnesses.

Also, in a recent hearing, U.S. District Judge Susan Watters denied Edwards' pro se request for a new lawyer. Edwards is represented by court-appointed Helena attorney Palmer Hoovestal, who is his fourth lawyer.

Edwards has lodged various complaints about Hoovestal including that he is not communicating with him or thoroughly investigating his case. He also told the judge hed be better off defending himself.

Watters, however, told Edwards that said she is impressed with Hoovestal's work, including hiring an investigator, that he is well versed in the case and takes his defense of him quite seriously.

Watters also told Edwards that while he is entitled to effective representation, he is not entitled to a lawyer of his own choice. Noting that the Jan. 29 trial is the seventh trial date, Watters said the government is entitled to have the case tried in an efficient manner.

If convicted on the sex trafficking counts, Edwards faces a minimum mandatory 15 years to life in prison and a $250,000 fine. He remains in custody.
NEWPORT NEWS, Va.  The Democrat in a tied race for a Virginia House seat that could affect which party controls the chamber said Tuesday that shell ask a court to declare the tie invalid and her the winner.

Shelly Simonds and her lawyers said the court failed to follow state election law by allowing a ballot to be counted a day after last weeks recount, among other errors. The campaign said it will ask the same court to reconsider its decision.

In the meantime, state election officials postponed their plan to break the tie Wednesday in Richmond by drawing names from a bowl.

James Alcorn, chairman of Virginias State Board of Elections, said in a series of tweets that drawing names is an action of last resort.

Any substantive concerns regarding the election or recount should be resolved before a random drawing is conducted, he wrote.

The race between Simonds and Republican Del. David Yancey is for the 94th House of Delegates District in Newport News. If Simonds were declared the winner, it would split party control of Virginias House 50-50.

A rare power-sharing agreement would have to be brokered between Democrats and Republicans. If no agreement can be reached, prolonged chaos could ensue.

Simonds appeared to have lost Novembers election by 10 votes. Then she appeared to have won a recount by a single vote last week. A day later, a court in Newport News declared a tie.

At the end of the day, this is really about the integrity of elections in Virginia, Simonds said during a conference call with reporters.

Ezra Reese, an attorney for Simonds, said Tuesday that the court erred in following election law because it allowed an uncounted ballot to be challenged by Yanceys campaign after the recount concluded.

Yanceys attorneys told the court that a Republican election official was confused about election guidelines. The official had let the vote remain uncounted before raising concerns the next day.

The court allowed Yanceys attorneys to challenge the ballot.

On the ballot in question, the voter had picked Republican candidates in statewide races. For the 94th District, the voter filled in the bubble for Yancey and the bubble for Simonds. But he or she also drew a single slash through the bubble for Simonds.

Yanceys attorneys argued that the ballot was clearly a vote for Yancey. Simonds attorneys disagreed.

The court ultimately counted the vote for Yancey, which brought the tally to 11,608 votes each.

Gretchen Heal, a spokeswoman for the Yancey campaign, declined to comment Tuesday on the Simonds campaigns planned litigation. But Heal said Yancey stands by the arguments made last week by his attorneys.

Whoever wins the 94th District race, the fight over control of the House may not end there. A lawsuit is pending over the results of a hotly contested race in the 28th District in the Fredericksburg area.

Democrat Joshua Cole lost to Republican Bob Thomas by 82 votes in November and by 73 votes in a recount last week. But voters filed a lawsuit in federal court after at least 147 ballots were found to be assigned to the wrong districts.
SAN ANTONIO  The Bexar County District Attorney has agreed to lend some manpower to the sheriffs office investigation into the deputy-involved shooting of a 6-year-old boy.

Kameron Prescott was killed last week when Bexar County Sheriffs deputies opened fire on a woman at a San Antonio-area mobile home park following a nearly two-hour manhunt.

The woman, 30-year-old Amanda Jones, was also fatally shot in the December 21 incident.

Sheriff Javier Salazar has said Jones had no apparent connection to the boy or his family.

District attorney spokeswoman Leslie Garza said in a statement Tuesday that office staff are reviewing the use-of-force investigation at the request of the sheriffs office.

Garza said that if the investigation indicates that the deputies actions were criminal, the district attorneys office will take appropriation action.
Although the Bernalillo County Animal Care and Resource Center is still under construction and may not open to the public until August, it already has received private funding to help control the countys pet overpopulation problem.

Misha Goodman, director of Bernalillo County Animal Care Services, said Tuesday that her department has received a $50,000 grant from PetSmart Charities. The money is earmarked for surgical equipment and supplies related to performing spay and neuter procedures.

New Mexico in general has high rates of animal births and overpopulation, and we hope to greatly reduce that in the Bernalillo County area, Goodman said. A lot of folks dont have access to lower cost spay and neuter services. The current system is good. The city of Albuquerque and Animal Humane offer these services, but they are still overwhelmed. The result is long waits for people wanting to get their animals spayed or neutered, and often during that wait time is when the animal gets pregnant.

PetSmart Charities is among the top donors to animal welfare organizations in North America, providing funding to help prevent pet homelessness, help shelter pets thrive, support the bond between people and pets, and provide services to pets and pet owners as part of emergency relief and disaster support operations, said Yosha Brunson, senior manager of public relations for charitable programs.

Our organization aims to proactively prevent pet homelessness through increased spay and neuter efforts, she said. With the help of animal welfare partners, PetSmart Charities has helped facilitate over 1.7 million spay and neuter surgeries in the U.S. since 2009, and has invested  more than $177 million since 1996 in ending pet homelessness.

The Bernalillo County Animal Care and Resource Center, located on Second Street SW between Rio Bravo and Woodward, is being constructed with $7.8 million of voter approved general obligation bonds. The 17,000-square-foot building will be a full service animal shelter accommodating domestic pets and livestock, said Goodman. The countys animal enforcement functions will also operate out of the building.

We generally take in between 2,900 and 3,900 animals in a year, and I expect that once we get up and running that number will go up, she said, adding that the building can accommodate an annual intake of 5,000.

Also part of the construction plan is a training area for staff, other agencies and the public, where classes will be offered in selecting, training and caring for a pet and animal behavior. Goodman said she also hopes to host a camp for children, teaching them about professions that involve working with animals.

The current Bernalillo County Animal Care building, located on Gatewood south of Bridge, was originally a fire station until about 12 years ago, so it was not built to house animals at all, Goodman said. Upon completion of the new facility, the old building will close, she said.
Copyright  2017 Albuquerque Journal

A newly released documentary on the plight of U.S. troops who believe they became ill after exposure to burn pits while serving in the military in Iraq and Afghanistan doesnt leave one with much optimism.

I didnt necessarily set out to make a depressing documentary, director and producer Greg Lovett said from his home in the Netherlands. I just wanted to present the facts, and the facts are depressing.

During the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, burn pits were commonly used to dispose of trash generated by American troops, including chemicals, medical and human waste, plastics, metals and munitions.

Some veterans became sick after returning from deployment and believe exposure to the burn pits caused their illnesses.

Delay, Deny, Hope You Die: How America Poisoned Its Soldiers premiered in October, and a screening was held in Albuquerque in November.

Jessey Baca, an Albuquerque resident featured in the documentary, has been diagnosed with constrictive bronchiolitis and other respiratory ailments since his retirement.

He spent much of his three tours of duty repairing fighter jets right next to a huge burn pit at Joint Base Balad in Iraq.

He is seen in the documentary speaking about the conditions near the pit.

The smell would burn your eyes, burn your throat, he said.

U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., who also was featured in the documentary, said, Its a real damning story of the way the government has treated these people. This is the Agent Orange of our generation.

Udall worked with Baca in passing legislation in 2013 requiring the VA to create a burn pit registry.

Filmmaker Lovett said he was inspired to make the documentary after reading Joseph Hickmans 2016 book The Burn Pits: The Poisoning of Americas Soldiers.

Lovett said that in addition to feeling surprise at never having heard of the burn pits, he became angry and discouraged.

He said the publics response at screenings around the country has been similar.

Most people dont know anything about it until they see the documentary, then theyre really, really shocked, he said.

The film takes the viewer through the burn pit story, starting with their use in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Some veterans, including Baca, say they began to feel ill just a few days into their deployments.

Social media allowed returning veterans and their families to share information about a variety of health problems experienced upon their return: cancers, skin conditions and respiratory conditions.

Although Dr. Robert Miller, a researcher at Vanderbilt University, found a connection between burn pits and the illnesses being suffered by veterans, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs maintains evidence does not prove a connection.

The documentary also details the operations of KBR, the contractor hired by the military to handle trash generated by the troops and now facing a class-action lawsuit from a group of veterans.

Lovett, Baca and Udall each said they hope the film raises awareness of the struggles of sick veterans.

I think what I really hope is that peoples attitude changes, Lovett said.
A registered sex offender is in custody after police say he walked around Coronado Center over the holiday weekend, groping young girls as they shopped with relatives.

Michael Chavarria, 47, is charged with two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court, officers responded to a fight at the shopping center in Uptown Albuquerque around 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

Police say they took Chavarria, who gave officers a fake name, into custody.

Detectives learned the fight began after Chavarria groped an 11-year-old girl inside Claires jewelry shop.

Police say the girl was in the store with her family, looking at necklaces, when Chavarria came up behind, grabbed her rear end and said, Hey sweetheart.

The girl told detectives it made her feel violated and, visibly upset, she started crying.

Detectives were then alerted to two other girls at the mall who said they had been touched and followed by Chavarria.

One of the girls, an 11-year-old, told detectives she was shopping with her mother when Chavarria came up behind her. Police say Chavarria said Oh, my God before touching her rear end.

The girl told detectives she thought it was accidental and didnt tell her family at first.

Chavarria allegedly followed her to three different stores until her mother confronted him, and he fled.

The complaint did not divulge the third girls age or allegations.

Earlier this year, on Aug. 3, police arrested Chavarria on two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, child abuse and burglary after he stole from Highland High School students during band practice, according to court documents. Police say that when confronted by the students, Chavarria pulled out two knives. He threw one of the knives at a student, missing, and punched a young girl in the chest. The state dismissed the charges in November, but they could be refiled later.

Court records show Chavarria is a registered sex offender from California who was sentenced to six years in prison for lewd and lascivious acts upon a child in 2001.

After moving to New Mexico, Chavarria failed to keep up with his required registrations as a sex offender and was charged with failure to comply with sex offender registration laws in October.
Looking for a unique physical challenge in the new year?

How about training for and signing up to scale 20 floors of stairs in a unique endurance event of climbing up the Hyatt Regency Albuquerque.

The American Lung Association sponsors this Fight For Air Climb of 360 steps March 3 as part of an annual fundraiser. Participants can scale the building individually or as part of a team.

Organizers said this fundraiser is a reminder that breathing should not be an uphill battle, even though 334,000 people in New Mexico live with lung diseases, such asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer.

Hundreds of supporters are expected to climb for friends and loved ones who suffer from lung diseases, and to raise funds for clean air and lung disease research, education and advocacy.

This race is truly an exhilarating experience for both running and fitness enthusiasts, as well as our participants that are suffering from a lung disease, said Terry Huertaz, executive director of the American Lung Association in New Mexico, in a statement.

As part of the event, local firefighters will climb to the top in full firefighter gear  helmet, hood, pants, coat, gloves, boots and air pack  weighing over 45 pounds, according to a news release from the association.

The 2018 Fight For Air Climb is sponsored by Hyatt Regency, UNM Health Sciences Center, Pima Medical Institute, Superior Ambulance Service and International Association of Fire Fighters.

Registration costs $25 per person and includes a $100 fundraising minimum. For more information or to register, contact Rebecca Padilla 505-265-0732 or visit FightForAirClimb.org.

We welcome suggestions for the daily Bright Spot. Send to newsroom@abqjournal.com.
Long-time judge and community leader Rozier Edmond Sanchez has died at age 86.

More than 33 of those years were spent practicing law and with 20 years presiding on the bench at District Court in Albuquerque. Sanchez retired from in 1993 but continued to participate and lead legal and judicial efforts in the state.

He was the recipient of dozens of awards marking his accomplishments in the judiciary, including reorganizing the court system into specialized divisions, and his leadership after his retirement. The University of New Mexicos Judicial Education Center is named after Sanchez, who worked to get the continuing education requirement, and the accompanying state funding, for judges launched.

He was a real man of the people. He used to ride the bus to work. Just was a very unbelievably honest straightforward guy. And you couldnt ask for a better friend, attorney Tom Dawe said.

In addition to his legal life, Sanchez was a founding member of the Sandia Civitan Club, in 1971, and over the years he helped in numerous volunteer hands-on projects.

Sanchez has contributed thousands of hours in projects that benefit the community, according to the announcement of his receipt of the Distinguished Public Service Award in 2002.

Sanchez, who passed away Dec. 22, is survived by his wife of 61 years, Victoria Sanchez, and his five children, their children and two great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be today at 6 p.m. with Rosary following at 7 p.m. at Frenchs Funerals on 7121 Wyoming. Mass will be celebrated at Our Lady of Annunciation, 2532 Vermont NE on Friday at 8:30 a.m.
Albuquerque resident Elsie Whittle says she supports the policy known as net neutrality, which prevents broadband providers from charging for certain websites or faster internet speeds.

But a comment submitted under her name and home address to the Federal Communications Commissions website, states that she believes net neutrality is a misguided policy.

When I saw it, I felt kind of sick, said Whittle. Its something I would never say, so how did it happen?

Whittle said she believes her comment was one of millions that watchdogs claim were improperly submitted to the FCC as it was considering net neutrality policies this year. The FCC voted 3-2 this month to repeal the Obama-era rules in a decision denounced by consumer groups and hailed by the telecommunications industry.

A Journal analysis of FCC records found 8,387 electronically-submitted comments purportedly from New Mexicans with the same message sent under Whittles name: Before leaving office, the Obama Administration rammed through a massive scheme that gave the federal government broad regulatory control over the internet. That misguided policy decision is threatening innovation and hurting broadband investment in one of the largest and most important sectors of the U.S. economy. I support the Federal Communications Commissions decision to roll back Title II and allow for free market principles to guide our digital economy.

Title II is the section of the Communications Act of 1934 that classifies entities as common carriers subject to certain regulations. In 2015, the FCC classified broadband providers as common carriers under Title II.

The Journal could not determine if any of the identical comments had been knowingly submitted by the users, or how many of the commenters were actually from New Mexico. The records show that at least three individuals with New Mexico home addresses, including Whittle, wrote to the FCC accusing others of improperly using their names or other information.

According to the nonpartisan Pew Research Center, more than half of the 21.7 million comments collected from April to August this year by the FCC contained false or misleading information.

Whittle said she discovered the comment attributed to her after typing her name into a website run by the attorney general of New York, who is investigating whether the comments wrongfully used the identities of New Yorkers without their consent. (The attorney general is investigating only comments from New Yorkers, but the website can be used to search all comments).

A spokesman for New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas said that while the office has not received any complaints regarding this specific matter, we are aware of the issue and working with other state attorneys general on its impact on the FCCs decision.

As for Whittle, she said her experience has led her to feel more strongly about her position than ever before.

Ive always been politically engaged, but this has definitely activated a desire to do something more about net neutrality, she said.
While a rush on retail stores is most associated with the weeks leading up to Christmas, Albuquerque-area residents are turning out in droves after the holiday to return items that didnt fit or were the wrong style, redeem gift cards and take advantage of sales.

Ann Gardiner of Bernalillo was checking out the merchandise at the Soft Surroundings store in ABQ Uptown with her daughter, Ellie, on Wednesday, a day that also included visits to a nearby Target, Lush and Teavana.

Im really an after-Christmas shopper (because there are) better sales, Gardiner said. I wont pay full price.

She scored some practical deals at Target, picking up aluminum foil, Ziplock containers and Scotch tape  all marked down 70 percent.

Anyone passing the Cabelas @ Legacy Journal Center the day after Christmas would have seen a packed parking lot, with exiting shoppers pushing carts brimming with merchandise.

Some Cabelas shoppers say they prefer receiving gift cards for Christmas so they can cash in on the sales after the holiday.

Gift certificates are an annual tradition for the family, said Bootsie Ackerman of Fayetteville, Ark. Ackerman was in town visiting her children and grandchildren. The family enjoys the outdoors, so she was expecting some hiking and fishing purchases over the course of her stay.

Speaking of fishing, Corbin McBurnett, an Albuquerque special education teacher, treated himself to a fish-cleaning station, which also was on sale at Cabelas. Im a happy man! said McBurnett, who now expects to handle the days catch more efficiently on upcoming treks to Cochiti Lake and elsewhere.

Over in footwear, Jim Gross was getting a new pair of hiking boots to better handle some of the trails at the Elena Gallegos open space. My daughter, Christie, gave me a nice gift card, he smiled.

For shoppers and retailers alike, Christmas Day isnt necessarily the finish line, said Ray Hartjen, of RetailNext, a retail analytics company. Companies will be looking to move inventory, particularly in fashion and specialty apparel, as the spring season is right around the corner, he said, referring to the discounts and sales on offer beyond New Years Day.

Weve seen so many excited customers coming in to redeem gift cards and shop our winter collection before we bring in new merchandise for spring, said Jessica Conick, a spokeswoman for Soft Surroundings, which recently opened a brick-and-mortar location at ABQ Uptown, its first store in New Mexico.

The National Retail Federation predicted holiday sales would increase 4 percent this year over last, to $682 billion, while a tracking firm called Customer Growth Partners recently increased its projected year-over-year increase from 4.5 to 5.6 percent, according to an MSNBC online story.

A recent study by Optoro, a tech firm that helps retailers organize and manage their returned goods, said consumers return $380 billion worth of goods each year, and about $90 billion during the holiday season alone.
Rep. Kimberly Dudik has earned a reputation as a defender of children. She prosecuted abuse cases, worked to reduce sex trafficking as a legislator, and is part of a group analyzing the growing number of kids removed from their families to be placed in foster care.

But the Missoula legislator said she focused so intently on the children that she never thought to ask: Does Montana do enough to help pregnant women get into treatment for drug use and provide the services mothers need to stabilize their families?

I had never thought about it in that way, she said.

Dudik is not an outlier. More than two dozen state leaders interviewed for this story had not considered the unique needs of mothers and mothers-to-be who use drugs. Only a few had ideas about what Montana can do better.

That blind spot leaves gaps in state policy that become craters for women seeking help. It means that as the state spends significant time and money to reinvent its justice system and develop strategic plans to combat drug use, pregnant women are mentioned only in passing as one of many target groups, if they are mentioned at all.

Unless something changes in the way elected leaders and doctors respond to drug use by women with families, experts said Montana could continue to rank among states with the fewest treatment services for pregnant women as well having one of the nations highest rates of drug-exposed births and removals by Child and Family Services.

***

From 2008 to 2015, the percentage of Montana babies who experienced opioid withdrawal shortly after birth grew fourfold. The series of symptoms known as neonatal abstinence syndrome is now diagnosed in almost nine of every 1,000 births, according to discharge data analyzed by the state.

More than half of those infants bills were paid by Montana Medicaid, and their complications tripled the state's expenses compared to an average birth, according to an analysis by Cody Custis, a state epidemiologist.

Among the Montana leaders interviewed, most assumed that if a pregnant woman sought drug treatment, she would receive it. The Missoulian found that few of them knew:

that most people confront months-long waiting lists.

about medication-assisted treatment, even though doctors say it can more than triple the likelihood of success for getting off drugs, is significantly cheaper than inpatient programs and is the safest way to treat pregnant patients and their unborn children.

that Montana has fewer providers per capita of buprenorphine  the drug that can eliminate drug cravings  than nearly every other state. After factoring for Montanas size, only Alaskans must travel farther to access the care.

that many pregnant women delay prenatal care, if they go to the hospital at all, often fearing they might be reported to police or that they will lose their children. The result is that their babies may be born in worse health.

***

Asked what Montana could do to expand access to drug treatment for pregnant women, many legislators worried what it would cost the state, particularly after a recent drop in revenues triggered several rounds of budget cuts this year. Right now, nearly all drug treatment funding comes from federal sources, except for the states growing share of Medicaid costs.

Rep. Shane Morigeau, a Missoula Democrat, worked as a prosecutor for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. At first, he said his instinct was to take a tough stance on drug use, but his view was changed by the stories of relatives and close friends who sometimes became addicted after being prescribed painkillers.

Its a very complicated issue, he said. We should focus on more access to treatment and funding support programs. If we had the resources to address the addiction problem up front, wed save money on the back end.''

Sen. Cynthia Wolken, D-Missoula, agreed.

Why do addicts have to commit a felony to even get on a wait list for treatment? asked the attorney who has served on numerous state committees related to drug use or child abuse. We are addressing things in the most expensive way, in the criminal justice system and the court system.

Judiciary Chairman Rep. Alan Doane agreed Montana might need to improve access to drug treatment, but said it would be a tough sell to use state funds to do it.

Im against taking money away from people who make good choices and using it for people who make poor choices, the Bloomfield Republican said.

House Majority Leader Ron Ehli, R-Hamilton, said the stakes are too high not to find a better way to help women who use drugs during pregnancy, particularly because of how it affects unborn children.

Theres nothing more important, he said. Doing something now is going to reap huge benefits down the road.

Sen. Mary Caferro, D-Helena, argued legislators have already decided that the kinds of programs these women need most are not a priority. She pointed to the slew of budget cuts earlier this year to health and social service budgets.

Were going the wrong direction on all of these things, she said.

***

Treatment center leaders interviewed by the Missoulian said they would like to expand services, but their programs currently lose money on the majority of patients.

Medicaid rates are lower than the actual costs of the care, they said, and treatment programs cannot bill at all for some critical services because of the way the state wrote reimbursement rules. It will soon get a little more difficult.

Initially, legislators objected to a proposal by the Department of Public Health and Human Services to cut Medicaid rates 3.47 percent and shrink the list of services it would fund. On Dec. 28, they dropped a formal objection, allowing the department to move ahead with a 2.99 percent cut instead.

Legislators waffled on whether they might support rate increases in the future, citing larger budget issues or skepticism about whether non-medical care such as case management actually improves outcomes.

Conrad Republican Rep. Rob Cook, an expert on the health program's budget, said he does not think increasing rates for particular services will solve the problem. Rather, he wishes state, but especially federal, leaders would get more serious about controlling health care costs.

The reason we cant treat anybody and it costs so freaking much for medicine in this country is weve never addressed the actual prices these guys charge, he said.

State Sen. Bob Keenan, a veteran Republican from Bigfork, wondered if raising Medicaid reimbursement rates could encourage more programs to follow national best practices that would save the state money in the long run. He noted that drug treatment has become a business, so changing the terms of state contracts would be a logical strategy to improve the quality of programs.

Keenan said it is the responsibility of the Department of Public Health and Human Services, and ultimately Gov. Steve Bullock, to find such efficiencies and demand best practices when signing contracts.

Zoe Barnard, Montana's Addictive and Mental Disorders Division director, said they have little control over decisions that private providers make about care strategies.

We can say this is the standard of care for this type of work, for example, but we dont say you have to provide X, Y or Z services, she said. They can choose to provide some or all of the services.

***

Starting in November, the Missoulian repeatedly asked to speak with Bullock about drug use during pregnancy and his overall strategy for addressing opioids and methamphetamine. Spokeswoman Ronja Abel instead emailed a statement from an earlier press release about a bill the Democrat approved that expanded access to Naloxone, which can reverse the effects of opioid overdose.

I am committed to ensuring Montanans can continue to get coverage through Medicaid expansion, our most powerful vehicle available to combat this epidemic, as well as integrating behavioral and physical health, reducing costs and improving care, and making sure communities have the tools they need to confront this growing problem, the statement read.

Abel also attached a copy of a draft strategic plan for combating drug use that was released by the state health department earlier this year. The 34-page report only includes one use of the word women, encouraging more stigma-free access to prenatal care. A request for all state health department records related to drug use during pregnancy yielded three reports, totaling five pages, about the Medicaid costs of treating infant withdrawals.

Some states formed departmental task forces or legislative committees to identify best strategies of caring for women who use drugs during pregnancy. When asked why Montana has not done similar work to create specific solutions, Barnard said, I have other people Im equally concerned about, like veterans.

Attorney General Tim Fox, a Republican, said he hopes to find collaborative solutions with Aid Montana, his initiative to address drug use in the state.

Asked whether pregnant women, in particular, had been part of those discussions, he said, We certainly thought about their needs.

We want to make sure babies are born healthy and that theyre in a healthy home. Unfortunately, theres all too much of the opposite because of substance abuse disorders in the state. I dont recall if its in our report, but I did see stats on neonatal abstinence syndrome, he said.

The 87-page report issued in September includes one passing mention of pregnant women and does not include any reference to infant withdrawals, although a related, two-page handout does. A November summit hosted by Fox in partnership with the Montana Healthcare Foundation included one brief comment about drug use during pregnancy as a presenter cited a Medicaid report commissioned by the foundation.

Fox deferred detailed questions to the Department of Public Health and Human Services, saying it is their area of expertise. He said his knowledge of the challenges women face when seeking treatment was only general, but said his agency would do more to work with health officials on solutions.

If there are barriers that prevent pregnant women from getting treatment, we need to look at those and remove the appropriate ones, he said.

***

There are small signs Montana could be on the verge of making systemic improvements to help pregnant women who use drugs. But most did not start with elected leaders.

The Montana Healthcare Foundation has funded several pilot projects to test strategies for reducing the number of babies born with neonatal abstinence syndrome and to help more of their mothers so the family can stay together. A handful have had impressive early results, but it remains unclear how several of the projects will be funded long-term.

Montana also recently secured a $4 million grant from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to address the lack of medication-assisted treatment in the state. The pilot project is funded through April 2019.

And Child and Family Services hopes to soon provide more support for parents who use drugs, partnering them with specialized case managers to keep them on track with recovery and other agreements made as part of plans to reunite their families.

After interviews with the Missoulian, a few state leaders said they would add mothers who use drugs to their list of priorities for the 2019 Legislature.

We need to do something, Dudik said.

Earlier this month, she said she had talked to state health officials about how to expand the strategies successfully piloted with support from the Healthcare Foundation. She also is interested in increasing the length of time Child and Family Services can work with parents who use drugs before finalizing a childs removal.

She and Keenan, among others, suggested Montana could create a safe harbor law that would guarantee pregnant women would not face criminal charges if they sought medical help or drug treatment, similar to provisions that protect people who call 911 about a drug overdose.

Some lawmakers, mostly Republicans, said they might support "fetal harm" laws like those enacted in other states that make it a crime to use drugs during pregnancy. Others said making drug use more illegal would not solve the problem and runs counter to the state's efforts to put fewer nonviolent offenders in prison, offering them increased support services instead.

Rep. Jimmy Patelis, a Billings Republican who joined the Legislature after retiring as a U.S. chief probation officer for the Montana district, supports criminal justice reinvestment and penalizing women who use drugs while pregnant.

"I'm 100 percent behind that because there's another life involved and if you're jeopardizing that life through harm and using substances, you should be held accountable for that  in addition to getting help," he said.

Wolken said the state should lean heavily on the Montana Healthcare Foundation for advice as it develops solutions. She did not want the issue to become delayed by another commission when good ideas already exist.

These conversations are happening, she said. But there needs to be a catalyst.
Leading premium discovery platform, Outbrain, announces the introduction of its proprietary Certification Programme  called Outbrain Academy  in India, after its May 2016 debut and subsequent global rollout.

Outbrain Academy is an industry-first certification training for performance and native discovery. Its establishment comes at a time when the industry is embracing increased investment in native content discovery as part of a shift towards performance-driven marketing. The idea behind the program is to provide the industry with a better understanding of the fullrange of Outbrains Discovery solutions; helping digital practitioners maximise ROI and differentiate themselves in a competitive market. The certification programme will provide media planners with advanced skills and the bestpractice methodologies required to turn brand stories into targeted digital consumer journeys and measurable results, via the Outbrain Discovery platform.

Native Discovery has become an integral part of the marketers digital toolkit, and its growth has continually pushed the envelope for Outbrain, spurring us to always evolve and stay ahead of the strategic needs of marketers - both in India and across the globe, said Sandeep Balani, Head of India for Outbrain. Our goal is to provide professional training and recognition to individuals, and build the skillsets they require to deliver concrete outcomes for their brands. This is crucial as weve reached an inflexion point with the industry moving beyond traffic as the singular success metric for performance and content.

The first instalment of Outbrain Academy in India will take place in Mumbai on 25 October 2017 with Interactive Avenues as the first agency to come on board. Conducted in real-time by Outbrains expert team, the training will certify the agencys media planners, and will gradually be rolled out to other agencies in the country. Interactive Avenues is part of the IPG Mediabrands family.

Amardeep Singh, CEO of Interactive Avenues, commented: Over the past 12 months, weve observed an increased commitment in India from brands investing in native advertising, branded content, and long-form videos, and we believe our media professionals will need to be equipped with a new set of skills to effectively strategise and deliver on our clients expectations. We are excited to be the first agency to complete the Outbrain Academy in India, and we are confident it will provide the tools, insights and technology competencies to take full advantage of the opportunities in this space.

Participants of the program will be led in the development of practical skills including campaign setup and management, measurement and performance optimisation through the Outbrain full product suite. Outbrain will also share data from its unique consumer insights with the certified agencies. The Outbrain Academy has already certified over 500 professionals around the globe since its launch. The global roll-out of its Certification Program represents an ongoing commitment by Outbrain to lead the investment in industry understanding of the still relatively new Native Discovery discipline. Outbrain Academy will be releasing additional course dates for eligible executives through the remainder of 2017 and into the new year.
Smartworks, Indias largest provider of shared workspaces, has launched its brand with the tagline Workspaces That Work for You through its new brand video campaign released yesterday which has already received 5 lac views. Smartworks aspires to reinvent India's workspaces with a simple motto - "Create office spaces where people 'want' to go, not just 'have' to go!" Smartworks currently has over 7, 00,000 square feet of best-in-class, bespoke shared workspaces. The company's operations span 14 centers in nine Tier 1 cities across the country.

Smartworks has assigned a robust budget of approximately 50 lakhs covering outdoor, digital and print advertisements to be rolled out as the young brand steps into its second year of operations in 2018. The campaign leads with a series of three social media brand videos showcasing the value proposition that it provides to its customers  i.e.: hassle free work spaces, highly customized, personalized offices and technology-rich environments. Bollywood actor Mr. Brijendar Kala features in the first brand video which is created as a humorous take on traditional office life. The video was released across the companys social media handles and has garnered a whopping 500,000 views in just the last 24 hours.

Commenting on the genesis of the idea of serviced office spaces, Neetish Sarda, Founder Smartworks, said, Exposure to future workspaces and high employee engagement levels in US and Singapore across offices like LinkedIn, Microsoft, and Google made me evaluate the current status quo in my fathers office in Kolkata and India in general. It made me think why a delightful office experience is inaccessible and costly, available only to elite organizations? This led me to radically transform this experience for the new age workforce in India. My visits to traditional offices across India  poor aesthetic design, low employee energy levels, limited flexibility, and dysfunctional employee culture  reinforced my belief that commercial office space needs to be disrupted.

Anshul Sushil, Co-Founder & CEO, Boring Brands, the agency that conceptualized and executed the campaign commented on the video campaign saying, As Smartworks believes in providing perfectly customized office spaces to its clients, it was a key mandate for us to convey that they will be there for their clients every step of the way. Our strategy was to show something which appeals to the sensibilities of a corporate as well as millennial workforce in the ever changing dynamics of workspaces. Todays audience looks for commercials which go beyond the conventional and ordinary; they want something to relate to. Keeping this preference in mind, we gave them a slice of life with a comic angle. We want them to instantly connect with the advertisement and know that Smartworks has the solutions to all their office woes.

Harsh Binani - Co-Founder of Smartworks, said, Making employees happiness its Holy Grail, Smartworks, today has become a torchbearer of Indias shared spaces. We measure our success based on employee happiness index and how we have transformed the overall office experience of any Smartworker. The team has now put its heart & soul in creating future workspaces via its fantastic designs, technology & personalized value-added services! Our aim is to build tailor-made offices wherein a company could thrive on qualitative networking opportunities and expand itself while shaping the office as per its own culture and ecosystem in the Smartworks universe. We put great emphasis on the privacy of our clients while connecting them within the community with like-minded professionals.
The 2018 legislative session will be a busy one, judging by the number of prefiled bills, and the Aiken County delegation is certainly getting its hands dirty.

Nuclear energy reform, gun rights, public education amendments, daylight savings repeal and distracted-driving crackdowns are all on the Legislature's plate in the new year.

More than 80 bills have been prefiled in the S.C. Senate. More than 150 have been prefiled in the S.C. House of Representatives.

Aiken County senators and congressmen have filed at least 16 bills ahead of the General Assembly's Jan. 9 return.

V.C. Summer repercussions

Eleven prefiled bills from Aiken County politicians take on the V.C. Summer nuclear fiasco. State Rep. Bart Blackwell, R-Aiken, had previously said the ongoing nuclear project recoup  and its lingering consumer, government and litigation consequences  will "dominate" the months to come.

State Rep. Bart Blackwell previews upcoming legislation State Rep. Bart Blackwell, R-Aiken, spent Dec. 6 previewing the 2018 legislative agenda with an intimate crowd at Leavelle McCapmbell Middle School.

State Sens. Nikki Setzler, D-Lexington, and Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, have prefiled several bills addressing V.C. Summer and the damage that's already been done. One bill, S754, calls for an 18 percent rate reduction for SCE&G customers.

SCE&G, a utility company that was heavily invested in Fairfield County's V.C. Summer project, charged customers an additional 18 percent to fund the building of two now-defunct nuclear reactors.

S770 calls for increased transparency at the Public Service Commission, a state utility regulator Blackwell said did not get down "to the nitty gritty" when questioning V.C. Summer parties.

Blackwell and state Rep. William "Bill" Hixon, R-Aiken, are signed onto six prefiled bills in the House that also tackle the V.C. Summer topic.

One bill addresses SCE&G payment rates. One attempts to reform Santee Cooper, a state-owned power company involved in the $9 billion failed nuclear venture. There's one bill that fires PCS leaders and revises their qualifications. There's one that would create a utility oversight committee; another would create a utilities consumer advocate under the state attorney general. The sixth demands a V.C. Summer ratepayer refund.

Of all six, Blackwell had previously said, the ratepayer refund  which SCE&G has argued would bankrupt them  would be the hardest to predict the success of.

"Even if the bill passes," Blackwell said, "it will still be fought out in the courts."

Last week, SCE&G's request to throw out litigation to end the 18 percent surcharge was denied. At the same time, a request to issue refunds was sustained despite SCE&G outcry.

Aiken County delegation

Setzler has also filed a bill, alongside state Sen. Sandy Senn, R-Charleston, that would amend certain domestic violence definitions. The bill, S778, would change the meaning of "household member" to include all former and current cohabiters.

Blackwell has filed two resolutions that seek to set term limits for committee chairpersons, senators and congressmen. Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, R-Georgetown, has prefiled a similar bill: S816 would limit House members to eight terms, whereas senators would be limited to four. Terms served before Jan. 1, 2018 would not count toward the term total.

State Rep. Bill Taylor, R-Aiken, has prefiled a bill addressing distracted driving, which was prescribed the moniker "DUI-E: Driving Under the Influence of an Electronic Device."

State Rep. Bill Taylor pursuing distracted-driving crackdowns "It's not OK to drive drunk," the preliminary legislation reads. "It's also not OK to drive under the influence of an electronic device."

If passed, Taylor's bill, which is also sponsored by Rep. Merita "Rita" Allison, R-Spartanburg, would heave texting and driving fines up to $300 upon second and subsequent offenses. The legislation bars drivers from holding their phone in either hand as well as typing, sending and reading text-based communications.

"Legislation like this is always a conversation starter," Taylor said in a Dec. 12 interview. "We need to have a serious conversation with our citizens."

Taylor has also prefiled a bill, H4396, that, if passed, would create the Office of Freedom of Information Act Review. The office would have a hand in processing certain FOIA information and appeals.

Bills from across South Carolina

State Sen. Marlon Kimpson, D-Charleston, has prefiled a bill that calls for, essentially, college athlete salaries. Under S808, college athletes that remain in good academic standing would be granted a $5,000 stipend every year. The money, no more than $25,000 per athlete, would be paid out upon graduation.

State Sen. Greg Hembree, R-Horry, prefiled a resolution that urges the federal government to remove impediments that he said prevent medical cannabis research.

State Rep. Wendell Gilliard, D-Charleston, has prefiled a resolution that encourages S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson to sue Equifax, the credit bureau whose data breach effected more than two million South Carolinians.

Gilliard has also prefiled a bill that would enact the "Metal Detectors in Public Schools Act": A piece of legislation that would require walk-through metal detectors be installed at every public entrance of every public elementary, middle and high school by 2018-19.

Other prefiled legislation from around the state includes requiring year-round drug drop-off boxes, S755; a preliminary look at abandoning daylight savings, S757 and H4382; allowing concealed weapon permit holders to carry weapons, if given explicit permission, on school grounds during religious activities, S769; and making Class A commercial drivers licenses available only to those who undertake human trafficking education, S803.

South Carolina legislation, including the bills and resolutions mentioned in this article and more, can be found online.
New Blessing Boxes in Aiken provide food, toiletries for people in need
December 27, 2017

This year, Egypt's Ministry of Social Solidarity organized its annual handicrafts exhibit, Diyarna, which translates to Our Homes, under the slogan "We are all Sinai." About 1,000 women sold handicrafts at the exhibit, which was held Dec. 3-17 in Nasr City, Cairo. The exhibit took place in the wake of the Nov. 24 terrorist attack at al-Rawda mosque in north Sinai, which left 311 dead. According to the ministry, the profits from this year's Diyarna, which exceeded 7.3 million Egyptian pounds ($408,289), were donated to fund development in north Sinai villages.

The unprecedented attack cost al-Rawda village about a quarter of its male residents. In 2016, just under half of al-Rawda's population of 2,111 was male, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics. Hundreds of Sinai women have found themselves enduring extremely difficult living conditions and unsafe situations after losing their husbands in the attack.

The whole village is either widowed, bereaved or orphaned, said Eman Attiyya, the CEO of the Sinai People Foundation, a civic and charity association.

Attiyya believes that the massacre has shifted the role of women in the village, and that they must now become breadwinners. At Diyarna, the Sinai People Foundation displayed the products of about 30 north Sinai families, including families from al-Rawda. The products came from individuals aged 18 to 60, and they include embroidered clothing as well as olive oil and thyme, for which north Sinai is renowned.

The ministry has organized and held Diyarna annually since 1964. It is one of the ministry's oldest initiatives aimed at improving the economic conditions of families. This year, the ministry allocated the biggest wing of the exhibit to Sinai products. Around 15 nongovernmental organizations displayed products by 4,300 families.

Ulfa Salamy, spokesperson for the Ministry of Social Solidarity, described the exhibit as an integrated development plan.

We set the plan in coordination with a number of NGOs, such as al-Orman Association and Misr El Kheir, and the relevant ministries such as the Ministry of Health and Population," Salamy told Al-Monitor. "The plan includes rehabilitating houses and fixing roofs [that have been damaged by terrorist attacks or otherwise] and sewage networks, providing livestock breeding projects, and planting palm trees and olive trees for residents in the governorate." Salamy added that the ministry also provides compensation for victims of terrorism, up to 1,500 Egyptian pounds ($83.90) per person.

Among the participating women was Kamila Ismail, 58, a supervisor at a vocational training center in el-Arish. She spoke to Al-Monitor about how she got started in handicrafts. I started to learn sewing and embroidery in line with my fathers will since my childhood," she said. "I have been training girls and women how to sew and do embroidery for 18 years.

According to Ismail, sales of handicrafts have been very slow. Life is at a standstill," she said. "[The vocational center] has a permanent exhibit in el-Arish. However, sales are slow due to the security situation. Anyone could be killed by mistake by a stray bullet. However, one advantage is that the training center is close to the houses of a large number of women, which makes it easy for them to come and go.

The Diyarna exhibit provides Sinai women with the opportunity to sell their products, but that is not enough, according to Attiyya. We are in dire need of having the exhibit held more than once a year, as well as establishing other exhibits outside Cairo, Attiyya said.

In its first days, Diyarna attracted over 13,000 visitors. Yet many women from al-Rawda who exhibited their products were still in mourning and could not attend the exhibit.

Bashir al-Argani, the president of the Sinai People Foundation, said, How can people who witnessed a massacre this big attend and take part in the exhibit? Even the neighbors of the harmed refused to attend in solidarity with families of victims.

Argani told Al-Monitor that, following the deadly attack, about 200 girls and women from Bir al-Abd and al-Rawda came to the foundation to learn sewing and embroidery.

He noted that the foundation will ensure that the women who sold their products receive all the proceeds from their sales. The Ministry of Social Solidarity has exempted the Sinai participants from the 10% participation fees.

Sinai has been a hotbed of clashes between the army and armed groups for the past few years, and women have been profoundly impacted by the conflict.

Attiyya called upon the relevant Egyptian authorities to establish small projects to help women in not just al-Rawda but in el-Arish and Sheikh Zuweid as well.

We face a huge crisis, as many women in Sinai do not carry identification documents [or certificates of marriage, birth or death]," Attiya said. This becomes a problem when a husband dies and the wife is unable to provide proof of marriage and is thus unable to obtain a monthly allowance from the government. "The reason behind this is that most marriages are done based on tribal traditions, conducted verbally and before witnesses, without official documentation."

The National Council for Women announced Dec. 12 the issuance of 208 national ID cards for al-Rawda women. In the coming months, the council will help more women in the area obtain national ID cards.

Women in Sinai have long practiced handicrafts as a tradition, but over time it has become an income-generating profession, according to Sabha Ibraheem, 49, an engineer from Bir al-Abd.

Although this is a very tiresome job, we are women of honor and we will not beg for help while we can help ourselves, she told Al-Monitor. We lived in times of peace and war, occupation and freedom, and today we face terrorism and we are paying its toll on behalf of all Egyptians.

If my son left home, I cannot guarantee that Id see him again," she said. "However, death is an inevitable destiny and all we can do is work and persevere.
December 21, 2017

CAIRO  Womens organizations in Egypt are fighting violence against women in the framework of the UN campaign 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. The events kicked off on Nov. 25, coinciding with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and ended Dec. 10, International Human Rights Day.

The organizations include the New Woman Foundation, Nazra for Feminist Studies, the Center for Egyptian Womens Legal Assistance, the Cairo Center for Development, the Women and Memory Forum, Al Nadeem Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence, the Tadwein Gender Research Center and the Egyptian Female Lawyers Initiative.

In a joint press conference in Cairo Dec. 3, the organizations announced the formation of a rights task force to push for a new bill to fight domestic violence.

Statistics show that 5.6 million Egyptian women are beaten by their husbands or fiances annually. According to the National Strategy for the Empowerment of Egyptian Women 2030 issued by the National Council for Women (NCW) in 2017, 1 million women per year leave their homes due to their husbands violence, 25% of married women have suffered physical violence at the hands of their husbands, 19% of women have been psychologically abused and 4% have been sexually abused by their husbands. Most victims of domestic violence did not seek protection from the authorities, and only 5% received medical care.

Nivine Obeid, the director of NCWs political participation program and coordinator of the task force fighting violence against women in Egypt, told Al-Monitor, The task force is preparing for dialogue with key state institutions in Egypt like the NCW, the parliament and the Ministry of Justice. All parties will be called to discuss the draft of the bill and give feedback until approval by the Egyptian parliament.

The draft bill to fight violence against women includes seven chapters regulating prosecution, prison sentences and fines for domestic violence, sexual offenses, forced abortions, injuries resulting in miscarriage, and abduction and exploitation of women, girls and children.

Amal Fahmy, the director of Tadwein, told Al-Monitor, Current Egyptian law does not have a united stance on how to deal with violence against women. Instead, separate articles in the Egyptian Penal Code address sexual harassment, female genital mutilation and human trafficking.

She added, The penal code does not include the specific concept of violent crimes against women, especially domestic violence.

Fahmy noted, The proposed bill addresses this problem with passages about violence against women in Egypt, to be aligned with international treaties. For instance, the notion of rape wont be limited to penetration by the male organ, as is stated in the current penal code, but will include any objects used to rape. The marital rape sanctions will also be updated.

Under the draft bill, any person committing a violent act against female family members is to be either imprisoned for no less than six months or fined from 10,000 Egyptian pounds ($560) to 20,000 pounds ($1,120), or both. The draft bill also calls for prison terms for marital rape and sexual or psychological assault in conjugal relations.

Hafez Abu Saada, a member of Egypts National Council for Human Rights, told Al-Monitor that while he welcomes sanctions criminalizing domestic violence, he considers implementation a tough task in Egyptian society due to cultural norms that constrain social intervention in family relations.

He added, I faced a dilemma when I was defending a woman in a slander case committed by the husband after she asked for help from the police because her husband had locked her inside the house. The policemen stood with me in front of the house without intervening to set the woman free because the husband denied them entry.

Abu Saada continued, Policemen in Egypt are convinced that marriage is sacred and will not intervene in marital problems. He highlighted the importance of training police on how to handle domestic violence reports based on legal guidelines, rather than cultural norms, before passing new legislation.

The draft bill states that a special police unit be established to receive such complaints. In the case of wrongful dismissal of complaints about such crimes, the investigator would be liable for disciplinary action.

Amina Nusseir, an Egyptian member of parliament and Islamic preacher, told Al-Monitor that imprisoning a man who beats his wife in Egypt might face parliamentary and religious pushback. She noted that the threat of jail would not deter a husband without cultural repercussions. She added that Sharia calls for friendliness and affection in conjugal relations.

Speaking to Al-Monitor, Ahmed Karima, a teacher of comparative jurisprudence at Al-Azhar University, accused the proposed bill of seeking to sever family ties and of violating Sharia. He said, The Holy Quran set procedures for settling marital disputes. First, the husband and wife turn to two members of their families, and if that does not work, peaceful divorce is filed while ensuring womens financial rights and alimony.

Karima added that encouraging police intervention in family matters and imposing penalties like prison and fines will make men more reluctant to marry and fuel spinsterhood, social fragmentation and fornication. He asserted that the best solution is to promote good marital treatment.

The human rights lobby that proposed the bill is likely to face more religious and social confrontation. Many provisions in the bill contradict other cultural norms in Egypt as well as Sharia in some eyes. The draft law would give women the right to an abortion in the case of divorce, abandonment by the husband or fetal abnormalities.
One-party passage of the GOP/Trump Tax Scam bill that pretends to aid the middle class while tilting the tax system more than ever to the benefit of the super-wealthy and corporations was the nail in the coffin of the populist charade Trump and the GOP leveraged to electoral victory in 2016. The reality in 2018 is that plutocracy once again reigns supreme under the GOP and Trump.

Plutocracy is government by the wealthy. Populism is support for the concerns of ordinary people. The historical difference between Republican and Democratic Parties is that the GOP has been seen as representing the wealthy while Democrats represent little people.

Donald Trumps surprising 2016 election depended on a breakdown in that dichotomy, with the GOPs Trump selling himself as someone looking out for the little guy. He called for more taxes on the wealthy -- the elite; said hed stop the hedge fund manager loophole where those billionaires pay at a lower tax rate than you. He pledged to protect Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid; pledged to provide healthcare for everyone with better benefits at less cost. He said hed drain the DC swamp where the power elite and their lobbyists reigned supreme.

Trumps 2016 strategy tapped into populist anger in the electorate. Given that tax laws have historically benefitted rich individuals/families (the elite) and large corporations, populist anger focused on changing the political/economic playing field tilted to the disadvantage of regular people. Trump yelling drain the swamp tapped into that anger because the powerful and advantaged were an elite that was well-represented by expensive K-Street lobbyists who made sure that their wealthy benefactors, the large corporations and special interests, came out on top.

Trumps appeal to enough disaffected Democratic, populist-oriented, blue-collar voters (formerly called Reagan Democrats) in a number of states, along with many populist Independents, provided a narrow margin to the GOP, producing a small Electoral College edge. A combined total of 108,573 voters in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan gave Trump his small Electoral College win. Without votes from those disaffected populists in those three states who believed Trump might represent their economic interests, Trump would have lost the Electoral College tally by 10.

Now after a year in office and passage of his only major legislative accomplishment, the Tax Scam, how has populist America fared with Trump at the helm? Lets check the Tax Scam bill for particulars.

Last year, Trump pledged to protect Medicare and Social Security and provide comprehensive quality healthcare. However, the Scam includes a $25 billion cut in Medicare along with Affordable Care Act changes that will result in 13 million fewer insured Americans and premiums pushed up an extra 10 percent. And the Childrens Health Insurance Program has yet to be fully re-enacted.

In 2016, Trump said he understood and had used all tax loopholes and that hed close them; that he and his wealthy, elite friends would end up paying more taxes because theyd had all the breaks to this point. He said hed bring huge tax cuts to forgotten Americans -- the middle class. But, in the Scam Bill, corporations got a huge 40 percent permanent tax break, while the middle class got small, temporary cuts so eventually they pay more taxes over time, not less. Meanwhile the Trump family stands to gain up to a billion dollars as do many of his friends. Hedge fund managers still have their loophole. By the end of 10 years, everyone under $75,000 will be paying more taxes while 83 percent of the tax cuts go to the richest 1 percent -- to the elite. Trumps forgotten Americans are still forgotten.

And the debt? In 2016, Trump said hed stop us borrowing from China, but the Scam Bill creates $1.5 trillion of debt which will have to be borrowed. Meanwhile, GOP leadership is already planning to reform, aka cut Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security to make up for that $1.5 trillion.

Everyone, including right-thinking Republicans, know the bottom line: the elites are still getting richer while the rest of us suck air.

So much for 2016s Trump/GOP populism. In 2018, were back to GOP normalcy. Were still a plutocracy where the rich win out. The populist charade is over.
December 26, 2017

ERBIL, Iraqi Kurdistan  A local minimarket like mine should have worked! If things are going this badly here, then how bad is it elsewhere? said Badr Mahmoud, who just reopened his shop in Kurdistan's capital city of Erbil. It's smaller this time because of the lack of income, with fewer products and less stock than before. I must figure out how to survive because the neighborhood and even the kids in the street need me.

Mahmouds shop is one of over 300 that have closed over the past four months in Erbil  a third of the total. The closures reflect the decline that started with the costly battle against the Islamic State (IS) and accelerated with the fallout over the Kurdish referendum for independence in September.

A month before the referendum, people started to spend less, as they did not know what was going to happen. The situation got even worse after it. Friends who rent shops closed before me. At least I dont have to pay rent, as the place is mine.

Before the flight ban imposed by Baghdad following the September referendum, Kurdistan was a popular destination for businessmen, aid workers and professionals who could fly in from Vienna, Frankfurt, London, Beirut, Istanbul, Tehran and Dubai. Now many stay away, either for lack of an Iraqi visa needed to travel through Baghdad or because they do not fancy the longer route overland through Turkey. Either way, the cost of traveling to Kurdistan has more than doubled.

All international freight now has to detour through Baghdad, adding time and cost. Travel by road between Erbil and the rest of Iraq is hampered, as main routes are blocked after military operations. In October, just miles from Erbil, Kurdish peshmerga troops engaged with the Iraqi army as they took back most of the disputed areas that the Kurds had secured in battles against IS. The longer routes are often less safe, adding loss to loss.

Kawa Mahmoud, a former Kurdish minister who leads the Communist Party of Kurdistan, speaks of an economic crisis, criticizing Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's measures against the Kurdistan Region following the referendum.

The measures are supposedly intended to promote Iraqi unity, but how can you expect anyone to stay with someone who imposes such measures on you? Mahmoud said.

Baghdad is even trying to limit the autonomous authority of the Kurdistan Region. Official documents of the Iraqi government now refer to the "three northern provinces," and most measures seem to derive from a wish to treat the Kurdistan Region as such  including the new regulation that Kurdish companies wanting to sell to central and southern Iraq have to secure a permit in Baghdad, chairman Dara Jalil of the Kurdish Chamber of Commerce told the Kurdish TV station NRT.

As trade is the Kurdistan Regions main source of income, with many products originating from neighboring countries, the closure of some of the border posts on the Kurdistan-Iran border has also had an impact.

Other measures, like those making it more difficult for Kurdish banks to function, have added to the negative effect on the economy, which has led to most markets slowing down and the real estate business freezing up completely. Since negotiations between Erbil and Baghdad have not been successful so far, the economy has been brought to a halt.

The continued hardship led to three days of protests in December in a number of Kurdish towns in which government party buildings were set on fire, six protesters were killed, hundreds were arrested and security police clamped down to impose peace.

After the protests, Abadi promised to pay some of the salaries of Kurdish civil servants, pending validation of their employment. As for demands for negotiations, he repeated that Erbil has to commit first to the constitution and hand over all border posts to the Iraqi federal forces, as well as withdraw to the pre-2003 borders.

Abadi announced Dec. 27 that his government has started paying salaries to Kurdistan public servants. The first round includes salaries of water resources personnel, to be followed by salaries of employees of the education and health sectors. He accused Kurdistan authorities of providing fake employees lists, which required double checking and correction.

His political opponent, former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who cut the salary payments in 2014 over oil disputes with the Kurds, now said he supports paying employees in Kurdistan to restore stability there. It is shameful to punish the Kurdish people in order to garner more votes during elections. Such an approach contradicts ethical, national and legal norms, he said, calling for direct talks, even though many saw this as a move to spite Abadi. The Kurds will return to being partners and brothers in this country, Maliki predicted.

Although rumors abound that the airport ban will soon be lifted, well-informed Kurds doubt that. An adviser to the Kurdish prime ministers office told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that he expects the problems to remain until the Iraqi elections in May, as Abadi needs his anti-Kurdish policy to keep ahead of his rivals.

As a result of the Baghdad measures, the Kurds have lost oil income and become dependent on Baghdad for their civil servants salaries, although these have yet to be paid. Mahmoud points out that if the Kurdish government draws up a solid plan and implements policies on corruption and double salaries, they can fix a good many problems. Also, people from different parties are thinking about solutions. This is a terrible crisis, but it will not last forever.
December 27, 2017

BAGHDAD  From a quick visit to the local barber shop for laser hair removal to a trip to Lebanon for liposuction, Iraqis from all walks of life are turning to cosmetic surgery.

An annual report issued by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery places Iraqis as the top nationality receiving plastic surgery in Lebanon. According to the report, 0.3% of cosmetic operations of 2016 were carried out in Lebanon.

In Iraq, however, those who perform unlicensed cosmetic operations will find it difficult to give stem cell injections and laser treatments in the future. The Ministry of Health is shutting down unlicensed beauty salons and massage parlors in Baghdad, according to a report by Al-Hurrah News. The report said that more than 52 salons in Baghdad were closed on Nov. 17, when the Ministry of Health began the operation.

The unauthorized salons are a response to the growing demand from Iraqis of all social classes, not just the rich, for cosmetic surgery.

The editor of the All Beauty Guide website, which evaluates Baghdad's beauty salons, told Al-Monitor, Hundreds of beauty salons have spread in Baghdad and other provinces over the past couple of years. The editor, who asked not to be named, also pointed out, Iraq has become a cheap and convenient destination for plastic surgery, with many patients coming from neighboring countries.

According to the Tajmeeli website, which provides information on cosmetic procedures, tummy tucks are very common in Iraq and carried out by qualified specialists starting at $750 per operation, a price affordable for middle-class families.

But Iraqis still prefer to travel abroad for plastic surgery if they can afford it, according to Dr. Qassim Hussein Salih, the head and founder of the Iraqi Psychological Association. Iraqis are still steadily traveling abroad for cosmetic surgery despite the rising numbers of beauty salons and clinics in Baghdad and the provinces, Salih told Al-Monitor, explaining that confidence in Iraqi beauty clinics is still low.

One of the main reasons for cosmetic surgery among women is the desire to increase prospects for a good marriage, he said. But he finds the line blurred between utilitarian and psychological motivations, explaining, Some men and women have certain facial and physical features that make them feel less confident and push them to seek social acceptance and self-approval [through cosmetic surgery]. Salih also cited other psychological issues, such as the obsession with beauty that is boosted by celebrities and other role models as well as depression and dissatisfaction with other aspects of daily life.

While at one time such operations were restricted to specialized doctors with high technical skills and credibility, according to Salih, the growing beauty business has prompted nonexperts to enter this lucrative sector and perform injections and minor operations.

In Baghdad, a wide variety of institutions advertise for beauty services and treatments. Chinese and Turkish massage and sauna centers promise weight loss, cellulite treatment and fat control through massage or steam treatments. These facilities also promise treatment for back pain, muscle cramps, headaches and tension. Some even offer hair transplants, cosmetic dentistry, skin whitening and reduction of age spots as well as minor surgery such as Botox and stem cell injections. These operations are often unauthorized.

Abdul Hadi Mohan al-Saadawi, a member of the parliament's committee on health, told Al-Monitor that beauty salons run by certified professionals can be a positive thing, explaining that they can help improve peoples health [if] they are run by specialists who treat important cases like obesity. He also pointed out that victims disfigured by accidents and terrorist attacks go to salons for minor operations. Saadawi noted, however, that the burgeoning industry is marred by murky credentials and malpractice lawsuits.

Saad Maan, the spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, told Al-Monitor, Stopping sketchy and illegal places is necessary to distinguish such facilities from legal ones, which would increase the level of trust in health centers.

At Baghdad's Al-Khayal Hospital, a staff member who asked not to be named told Al-Monitor that some of the operations, such as tummy tucks, are not a luxury but a necessity after childbirth. He said that major operations that require the use of anesthesia, such as tummy tucks or liposuction, should be done at a proper medical center.
December 27, 2017

The head judge of the Jaafari (personal status) court in Baabda, Lebanon, issued a temporary custody ruling Dec. 11 that gives some encouragement to Shiite mothers.

Judge Musa Samouri of the Jaafari court  composed of Sharia Shiite judges  ruled in favor of a woman whose children are above the legal age at which mothers are traditionally granted custody in the Shiite community.

This decision was preceded by two rulings in July, when the same judge awarded temporary custody to another Shiite mother.

However, the mother who was recently granted custody told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that the decision doesn't put an end to her problem, as the ruling can't be implemented easily and the father could still object.

The competent authorities didn't respond to the ruling because it was an individual ruling that the judge thankfully issued, but this judge is part of an integrated system that favors fathers, she said.

Samouri told Al-Monitor that he has to abide by the rules currently in force, which means that even if he issues a temporary custody ruling, the father can still object. He said he supports awarding the mother custody if she fulfills the welfare requirements to look after the child.

There are cases where judicial rulings deviate from the Fatwa Department, and the judge is left to make the most suitable decision for the child. Fatwas are one thing, and judicial rulings are another, he said. A fatwa is an Islamic legal opinion or pronouncement.

In cases where the mother applies for custody, a Jaafari judge may grant the mother custody by a court order, even if her children have exceeded the legal age set by the Fatwa Department.

Zeina Ibrahim, an activist with the Protecting Lebanese Women (PLW) campaign, told Al-Monitor, These [court] decisions  albeit minor  are an important step toward getting rid of the injustice that mothers are facing. They prove that the demands of women and the interests of the child are taken seriously after years of being ignored, with mothers not having imagined being granted custody of their children over the legal age.

"These [court] decisions  albeit minor  are an important step toward getting rid of the injustice that mothers are facing."

Human Rights Watch has long decried the unequal treatment of women in Lebanese divorce and custody cases. Stories of divorced mothers who fought for custody of their children abound in Lebanon; some of the women appealed court rulings from the Jaafari court, while others were imprisoned for violating custody rulings. One such famous case from a year ago involved Fatima Hamzeh, who was jailed for refusing to give up custody of her son. In another case, Rita Choucair, the mother of a 5-year-old boy, got a divorce in 2015 and was banned from seeing or even calling him. Choucair can now see her son, but only for three hours a week. The Jaafari court stipulates that fathers get custody of their sons when they are older than 2 and daughters when they are 7.

Choucair told Al-Monitor, I was beaten, kicked out of the house and insulted by my ex-husband  only because I want to see my son.

She said that preventing her son from seeing her is psychological abuse. When she was a child herself, the Jaafari court ruled that she could not see her mother. Her experience made her decide to violate the law and take her son from his grandmother.

Dareen Salman, the mother of a 7-year-old boy, said she hasn't seen her son for a year and a half. She was imprisoned last year in Baabda for a month because she kept him in violation of a Jaafari court order granting custody to the father.

Ever since I got out of prison, I havent learned a thing about my child. My family had to hand him to his father in order for me to be released from prison. I was given the right to see him 15 days a year, but it has been a year and a half since I last saw him, Salman told Al-Monitor.

There are many similar stories of mothers who have faced such Jaafari court rulings dictated by the Sharia laws of the Shiite community. When fathers are given custody, mothers are only granted the right to see their children 48 hours a week or less depending on circumstances. Shiite citizens in Lebanon have to abide by this law in the absence of a unified law for all Lebanese citizens. Each community in Lebanon has its own rules when it comes to personal status issues.

In 2013, Ibrahim and other women launched the PLW campaign, which is calling for mothers to be granted custody of sons younger than 7 and daughters below the age of 9. According to Ibrahim, the campaign also calls for granting fathers the right to see their children 48 hours a week, as per the fatwa of Shiite cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah.

According to the PLW campaign, this fatwa is important as it was issued by a Lebanese Shiite religious authority of significant stature who said mothers should be prioritized in custody cases. Fadlallah cited religious references according to which mothers could be granted custody until their children are 18 years old.

Ibrahim added, There is also the option of joint custody in the event both parties are eligible. If the parents are capable of raising their child and do not suffer from psychological disorders that could expose their child to harm, one of the parents is granted custody of the children on school days, while the other gets to spend the holidays and summer vacations with them until [the children] are allowed to choose who they want to live with  when boys are 13 and girls are 9.

Sharia Judge Ali Makki said in a September interview with Al-Modon, a local digital newspaper, The Shiite community cannot change its rules based on tears and complaints, as it derives its decisions from the stories of the [Prophet Muhammad and his family]. Since these stories and the Jaafari jurisprudence say mothers can have custody of their sons younger than 2 years old and of their daughters below the age of 7, [the prevailing] fatwas will not change.

Ibrahim said, Since its inception, the PLW campaign has achieved two main things: First, it raised awareness of mothers rights and brought their demands to the attention of concerned people. Second, it created a shock within the Shiite council and got Shiites to defy the unfair rulings issued by their religious authority.

Legal expert Hassan Bazzi told Al-Monitor, The origin of the problem dates back to the French Mandate, between 1920 and 1943, when the French high commissioner signed an agreement with community leaders in Lebanon granting them the right to organize the affairs of their communities. After independence, the Lebanese law allowed each sect to organize its own personal status, thus dealing a blow to the principle of equality before the law, which is stipulated by the constitution.

Bazzi added, The solution for Muslim communities would be to adopt a unified civil law that takes into account the Sharia provisions. Such a law should stipulate a unified legal age below which mothers should be granted custody of their children. In this law, a civil judge would issue rulings related to a mothers custody, among other issues related to marriage and divorce. There should at least be one law for Muslims and one for Christians.

Druze mothers in Lebanon are granted custody until their sons reach the age of 12 and their daughters turn 14, while Sunni mothers are granted custody of their children until they are 12. Meanwhile, Christian Orthodox mothers are granted custody of their daughters until the age of 15 and of their sons until they reach 14. In the Protestant community, the ages are 12 for boys and 13 for girls. The Catholic Personal Status law does not provide for a specific age but stipulates that mothers can nurse their babies until they are 2 years old pending a spiritual court ruling on the fate of the child.
December 27, 2017

KHAN YUNIS, Gaza Strip  Two years after graduating from the Faculty of Agriculture at Al-Azhar University in Gaza, Feras Bakri, 25, has built a small hydroponic unit to grow lettuce without using agricultural soil. By replacing traditional soil farming with hydroponic farming, he hopes to overcome the problems of soil contamination and the high salinity of irrigation water in the Gaza Strip.

Bakris hydroponic system is in a 1,600-square-foot greenhouse. There are 40-foot-long rafts lined up one over the other for optimal use of space. Before the start of cultivation, the greenhouse was sterilized with chlorine and a fungicide. The use of insecticides is not required in this type of agriculture.

Bakri told Al-Monitor, A pipe passes through the rafts, stemming from the discharge reservoir. A pump supplies the rafts with the hydroponic nutrient solution. The solution contains the micronutrients and macronutrients needed for the growth of the seedlings. The excess solution is collected, its pH level is adjusted and it is put back in the reservoir for recirculation.

Boasting about the advantages of the hydroponic system and how it solves farmers problems in Gaza, Bakri said, Hydroponic farming does not consume large amounts of water. The lettuce I planted consumes only [a fraction] of the water quantity it would have needed if grown in soil.

Growing lettuce in a hydroponic farm over 1,600 square feet requires 1,000 liters (about 260 gallons) of water in 15 days, while soil-grown lettuce needs 3,000 liters (about 800 gallons) of water every two days.

Also, the time required for growing plants in hydroponic farms is less than that required in traditional farming. Lettuce planted in soil grows in 60-70 days compared to 25-30 days for lettuce planted in hydroponic farms, Bakri said.

He noted that about 5,000-7,000 seedlings can be grown per dunam (one-quarter of an acre), while an area one-seventh the size  the 1,600-square-foot hydroponic farm  can handle about 3,000 seeds. Given that the plants roots literally dangle straight into the water and that greenhouses are sterilized, the hydroponic systems prevent the outbreak of soil-borne diseases, such as nematodes, Fuzarium, Pythium, Phytophthora, Verticillium, insect larvae and others that are widespread in the Gaza Strip.

It was not easy for Bakri to convince his father to try this new agricultural technique and to give him a 2,400-square-foot lot in the familys 6-dunam (1.5-acre) farmland. He said, The lot included some olive, palm and almond trees that were contaminated by soil-borne diseases and thus were economically useless. After convincing my father of the importance of my experiment, I uprooted these trees and started installing my greenhouse.

Bakri further pointed out that well water has a high salinity level and a high total dissolved solids (TDS) level above 2,600 parts per million (ppm), which affects the production quality. This alternative farming method reduces water consumption and the reliance on well water. Hydroponic farming produces a healthy crop that contains all nutrients, he said.

For my hydroponic farm, I buy water with a TDS level of about 800 ppm. I get from my experiment a larger number of lettuces with bigger sizes and greener leafs, he said.

Bakri submitted his idea of building a hydroponic farm to Islamic Relief Palestine (IRPAL), a humanitarian and development organization. IRPAL had launched a program called Livelihoods Creation and Economic Empowerment for Vulnerable Groups. With the help of a colleague, Taher al-Agha, Bakri was able to secure $5,000 from IRPAL to fund his hydroponic farm.

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Ahmed Ghanem, who is the head of the Livelihoods Creation and Economic Empowerment for Vulnerable Groups project at IRPAL, said, The project has provided funding to 350 pilot ideas to create sustainable employment opportunities for different categories in the Gaza Strip, focusing on graduates with high unemployment rates.

Ghanem pointed out that the project supported the idea of hydroponic farms given the urgent need for such pioneering ideas in the agricultural sector. The soil problems in the Gaza Strip are recurrent due to uninterrupted agriculture activity all year long amid the lack of areas allocated for agriculture. Agricultural lands need to be kept fallow and uncultivated for three months each year to allow for ventilation and sterilization, Ghanem added. IRPAL is inclined to support industrial soil production.

Nizar al-Wahidi, the director general of guidance and environment at the Ministry of Agriculture, told Al-Monitor, Multiple factors pushed the ministry to promote hydroponic agriculture. A hydroponic farm for the cultivation of lettuce was built in the ministry. This experience showed that this type of agriculture preserves the quality of the crops and can overcome soil- and water-related problems in the Gaza Strip.

Wahidi explained that fungal diseases are increasing due to erroneous agricultural practices, such as the excessive use of agricultural pesticides by farmers, in addition to the soil deterioration caused by the various wars.

Explaining why farmers overuse pesticides, he said, Importing vegetables and fruits is costly to local consumers, thus the need for a local alternative. Farmers are using pesticides and fertilizers to maintain and multiply production so as to satisfy local needs. This is in light of the small areas allocated for agriculture and the increasing population growth in the Gaza Strip.

Wahidi added that the construction cost of hydroponic farms is relatively high compared to the cost of traditional agriculture for the farmer, but that these farms have higher economic feasibility.

Prolonged and chronic power cuts are preventing farmers from operating hydroponic systems because the pumps are power-operated.

Bakri aspires to expand his project to grow more leafy vegetables on a larger scale and to spread this idea among farmers to help increase the economic returns of agricultural areas and produce crops without pesticides harmful to human health.
December 27, 2017

RAMALLAH, West Bank  As an alternative to US sponsorship, the Palestinian Authority (PA) is looking to recruit an international coalition to guide the peace process with Israel. The PA no longer considers the United States a reliable negotiator in light of US President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

On Dec. 19, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sent delegations to Russia and China to discuss the possibility of those countries taking an active role in the peace process. Abbas adviser Nabil Shaath spoke Dec. 20 with Al-Monitor by phone after arriving in Beijing. He had just visited Moscow "as part of our delegation's mission to search for new sponsors for the peace process," he said.

Speaking about the outcome of his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Shaath said, We have informed Russia of our decision to reject the US monopoly on the peace process, and if Russia, China and some European countries want to find an international framework for the peace process, we are fully prepared to deal with it. And Russia expressed its readiness to play this role.

Haaretz reported Dec. 18 that the Palestinian delegations visit to Beijing was to coincide with that of an Israeli delegation following an invitation by the Chinese Foreign Ministry. According to Haaretz, this falls under Beijing's policy to strengthen its role in the Middle East and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Shaath noted, China wants to show the Palestinian and Israeli delegations that it is ready to take over the peace process, and we do want it to play a role in sponsoring the peace process alongside other international parties.

When asked what the PA wants this international sponsorship to look like, Shaath said it could be similar to the platform used by the six world powers  the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany  to reach the nuclear agreement with Iran. The most important thing for us here is to no longer have a US monopoly over the peace process," he added.

Abbas met Dec. 22 with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris to see whether France is likely to have a role in the peace process.

Abbas said at a press conference there, The United States is no longer an honest mediator in the peace process, and we will not accept any US plan because of its bias and violation of international law." Macron reiterated his support for a two-state solution and said France will work to facilitate negotiations, but he added that it would be premature to give up on the current peace initiatives.

Mohammad Shtayyeh, a member of the Fatah Central Committee, said in a Dec. 20 interview with Russia Today that Abbas wants to create a coalition to end the occupation, hence his meeting with President Macron  and he will meet with European foreign ministers in mid-January.

The Palestinian leadership, he added, would prefer to hold a UN-sponsored international conference on the peace process in Moscow with the participation of Russia, China and European countries, in accordance with what was agreed upon at the 2007 Annapolis Conference on the peace process.

The PA, in addition to presenting its proposal to a number of world powers, deployed major efforts in UN institutions to gain support.

In a Dec. 21 speech before the UN General Assembly, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said, The peace process is not a matter of monopoly, and the Palestinian cause is the responsibility of the international community as a whole, including the UN. That same day, the General Assembly officially rejected Trump's decision on Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, the PAs rejection of the United States as a sponsor of the peace process and Abbas' search for an international one is a knockout blow for the so-called deal of the century that the United States intended to put forward to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The US sponsorship of the peace process must end, and it should not be given the opportunity to make any proposals and suggest ideas for the peace process, Abbas' presidential adviser for diplomatic affairs, Majdi al-Khalidi, told Al-Monitor.

As the PA searches for international sponsorship, it will intensify its work to gain international recognition.

Khalidi noted, It is necessary for the state of Palestine to obtain recognition all around the world so that the peace process is based on equal grounds between two recognized states.

Political author and former spokesman for the Palestinian government, Ghassan Khatib, told Al-Monitor that international support will help the PA, but it can only go so far without Israel's cooperation.

I do not personally think the PA's efforts can work because Israel will not accept sponsorship other than the United States, which will employ all means to impede these attempts." Yet, Khatib said, if the PA fails to find an international alternative, it must continue to reject US sponsorship to spare the Palestinian cause more damage."

He said an international coalition would "respect and abide by international law and resolutions on the Palestinian cause, unlike the US sponsorship."

Regarding the PAs ability to withstand possible US economic sanctions, Khatib said, I don't expect the United States to impose economic sanctions on the PA, especially since its economic aid goes in two directions  the bulk goes to the Palestinian security services and the other part to the Palestinian private sector. Meanwhile, the US decision to cut aid to the PA in early December is related to the funds it provides to the public budget.

It is difficult for Washington to stop supporting the Palestinian security services," which work with Israel to counter unrest and violence. "But even if [the United States] does so, the PA can handle it. In any case, stopping all economic aid would be less dangerous and damaging than agreeing to continue with the US sponsorship of the peace process," he added.

The PAs rejection of any US sponsorship of the peace process is the first of its kind in the 24 years that followed the Oslo Accord. This means that the process will be stepping into new territory. The PA can either succeed in mobilizing international support or end up freezing the peace process until it finds a new sponsor; otherwise, it will have to succumb to pressure and resort to the United States once again.
December 26, 2017

US President Donald Trumps decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel naturally stirred the Middle East, but it also inflamed public opinion in a number of Western countries. Russia has not been left untouched, either. The announcement prompted a strong backlash from the Russian Muslim community, and major media hype around Trumps rationale over the Jerusalem move was unleashed. The two most burning issues for Moscow were possible implications of the US decision for Russia and whether it could entail a change in the role Moscow has been playing in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict settlement.

At the expert level in Russia, there is some consensus that the Trump decision will provide Moscow with additional opportunities to strengthen its influence on this process, where it already has good working relations with all parties to the conflict. Yet opinions differ between experts and policymakers on whether Moscow needs to step up its peacemaking efforts now. Some believe Russia should take advantage of what they see as favorable political conditions and try to revive the settlement process  this time managed by Moscow. Others consider it necessary to keep monitoring the latest developments on Jerusalem, but be modest in actions given that the parties own readiness to negotiate is at best minimal.

On Dec. 18, the UN Security Council voted on an Egyptian-drafted resolution opposing unilateral change in the status of Jerusalem. Fourteen Security Council members voted in favor of the resolution, with the United States expectedly vetoing the document. Displeased with this move, Security Council members convened a General Assembly emergency session Dec. 21. The voting results came as no surprise, as 128 states supported the resolution denouncing Trumps decision.

When mulling over prospects for Russias role in the Palestinian-Israeli settlement, it is important to scrutinize two aspects: Moscow's present position and the options it may consider.

When it comes to the first aspect, the country's leadership today feels confident about its position in the Middle East and is ready to play a more proactive role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Indicative of this confidence is the idea of Moscow-led  but direct  bilateral Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, which have been discussed for quite some time, albeit with little tangible progress.

In May, Al-Monitor looked into the official Russian position on the status of Jerusalem, stated April 6 by the Foreign Ministry. The position has not changed: Russia is ready to consider recognizing East Jerusalem as the capital of the future Arab state and West Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel. Principal in this position is that for the first time at the official level Russia has started to talk about the possibility of recognizing at least part of Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state. This position looks much more balanced and pragmatic than that of the current US administration. It reflects Russia's policy in the Middle East as a whole, one of forming relations with regional states that enable Russia to play an "honest broker" in settling the conflicts tearing up the Middle East.

The second aspect, however  considering new options  looks more complicated. It is unlikely that Russia will be stepping up its diplomatic efforts on the conflict through an old option  the Quartet on the Middle East, a negotiation format for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict bringing together Russia, the United States, the European Union and the UN. There is a sense that this form of mediation is not effective at this point, possibly because of the parties own direct efforts.

Three newer options, however, show varying prospects for success:

The first option would be to attempt to force the Israelis and Palestinians to sit down at the negotiating table under the auspices of Moscow, pointing to Washingtons now-obvious inconsistency as an intermediary in this delicate matter. This approach may look interesting, since merely beginning such talks would clearly demonstrate Russia's influence in the Middle East. Deeper examination of the option, however, reveals some shortcomings. The failure to resolve Israeli-Palestinian tensions cant really be blamed on this or previous US administrations, as it is questionable whether the two sides are or have been willing and able to settle the conflict. Even if Moscow can organize the bilateral Palestinian-Israeli talks formally, the odds are slim that negotiations would produce an acceptable  or even intermediate  success. The current political environment also is not sufficiently pressuring the parties to sit down at the negotiating table. In recent weeks, the Palestinians dispatched high-ranking delegations to Moscow and Beijing. The visits are expected to continue, with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas expected to visit Russia soon.

The second option could employ a "Syria First strategy. If Russia successfully navigates a process of political normalization in this Arab state, the experience gained there would allow Moscow to be more effective in mediating the Palestinian-Israeli settlement, and the emergence of a new political reality in the region might create new prerequisites to settle this protracted conflict. The problem with this option is, despite Russia's obvious military successes in this area, it is hard to envisage how successful Syrias own political transformation will be, given the great number of stakeholders  inside and outside the region  and all the complexities of their relationships with one another.

As for the third option, Trumps decision on Jerusalem has brought the issue front and center internationally, but Moscow, on the contrary, could set up a low-profile trilateral group of experts to brainstorm proposals to solve the Jerusalem issue. The group might include experts on the region representing Israel, Palestine and Russia. The group should come up with several approaches to a solution that would embrace the interests of both parties in the conflict. Since the group would consist solely of experts, it should not feel politically constrained from being as creative as possible. In this case, there is a chance that some fresh approach could develop. If this were to happen, the proposal could be brought to the political level. If not, political risks would be minimal, and the groups work would remain a useful experience because of the experts cooperation.

Whatever scenario Moscow eventually chooses, Russia is likely to remain steadfast in developing good relations with both parties and will continue to pursue a prudent policy so it can play a significant, if not central, role in the settlement. But it should also be mindful that as more time passes, there is less hope that such a settlement can be reached at all.
December 26, 2017

On Dec. 11, only one day after the 69th anniversary of the UN General Assembly proclaiming the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a young man who was held at the Tunisian National Guard Center, a semi-military apparatus in El Aroussa town in Siliana governorate, faced a horrible death. The Ministry of Interior issued an official statement Dec. 11, saying, The victim committed suicide [by strangling himself] with a thread from his coat.

Despite the statement, the incident sparked wide protests in the town and led to clashes between the inhabitants and policemen. It seems torture is far from dead in Tunisia since the Jan. 14, 2011, revolution.

Monzer al-Sharni, the general secretary of the Tunisian Organization Against Torture, told Al-Monitor, The horrible death at the Tunisian National Guard Center in El Aroussa proves that torture persists in Tunisia. Witnesses said the victim was tortured before his death. We do not know if he committed suicide or died after being tortured. The autopsy will show the results, but he was certainly beaten. The witnesses gave written testimonies to the judiciary and said they would hear the victim calling for help. We recorded other cases in Kram suburbs, north of the capital, and in Raf Raf city in the north also.

In a related context, Fathi Jaray, the director of the National Prevention Against Torture Authority (INPT), a state institution, said in statements to the local radio station Jawhara Dec. 14, The mistreatment and torture practices are ongoing in jails and detention centers.

Mokhtar al-Tarifi, the vice president of the World Organization Against Torture, an international alliance of nongovernmental organizations, told the Tunisian Mosaic station Oct. 4, Torture has resurfaced in Tunisia with the impunity of guilty people. Despite numerous complaints, the Tunisian judiciary has not issued any verdicts admitting to torture. Chapter 101 of the Tunisian Criminal Code punishes any civil servant who tortures another individual with eight years in prison, should they remain in their position.

Sharni added, As rights organizations, we have documented many torture cases in detention centers, and we are sure that mistreatment, torture and violence continue to happen in these centers. The government is not doing enough to stop this dangerous phenomenon. Impunity and refraining from holding the implicated individuals accountable are rampant. Such cases have sparked angry public protests, as people no longer accept human rights violations. This is a clear message to the authorities to stop the abuses and punish those responsible.

He continued, I think that the numerous rights organizations in Tunisia condemning torture have curbed the phenomenon to a large extent. But these organizations are fighting campaigns from government-affiliated media outlets that want to distort their work. The battle for human rights and restoration of citizens dignity is a long one, and we will keep fighting.

It seems that the state of emergency in the country in place since November 2015  in the wake of a bombing that targeted a presidential security vehicle in the capital of Tunis, killing 12 security officers and wounding 14 others  has given wide privileges to the security institution as per the law organizing exceptional states of emergency. Civil society concerns about the situation of freedoms and human rights have only multiplied ever since.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Interior proposed in 2015 a bill on the repression of offences against armed forces to be discussed in parliament. The bill gives the security forces the right to use lethal force against potential attackers. Amnesty International considered this bill a dangerous step toward institutionalizing impunity in Tunisias security sector. Human Rights Watch, for its part, called on the Tunisian parliament to abort the bill.

However, during a meeting with INPT members, presidents of similar committees from 17 countries, and representatives of international and regional organizations active in the field of human rights and rejection of torture, Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi said Dec. 15, Systematic torture no longer exists in Tunisia. The documented cases result from individual errors that authorities will follow up on, regardless of the abusers identity. We are willing to fight torture, which existed in the past.

In the recent past, before the fall of Zine El Abidine Ben Alis regime in 2011, Tunisia was among the countries that violated human rights the most. Hundreds of torture cases were documented in its prisons, and dozens of people were killed.

Sharni noted, In fact, forms of torture before the revolution were more savage and included whipping, iron combing and nail clipping, but today, they are restricted to beating, psychological terror and intimidation. Also, people have more freedom to talk about torture and expose its practices. We can now lodge complaints that the judicial authorities accept. Unfortunately, many cases remain uninvestigated, and we are not pleased with the accountability process. Impunity is rampant, and the verdicts against those accused of torture crimes are rare.

He added, Torture cases dropped in recent years. In 2015, the Tunisian Organization Against Torture documented 250 cases, compared to 153 cases in 2016 and 70 cases in 2017, with the year nearing its end.

Despite the miles that Tunisia has crossed in the fields of human rights, gender equality  especially after the approval of laws allowing Muslim women to marry non-Muslims and equality in distributing the inheritance  freedom of the press, freedom of expression, and promotion of economic, social, environmental and democratic rights, relations between the security forces and citizens remain shaky. Although torture, mistreatment, and physical and verbal abuse in jails and detention centers have relatively decreased, they still go on seven years after the revolution.

The government is facing a key challenge to reform the security institution. The current failure to reform the security sector constitutes the worst setback in the transitional process from a dictatorship to a pluralistic democracy after Ben Alis 2011 departure and might have serious repercussions for the social situation. Citizens now enjoy a wider space of freedom to protest against violations, especially torture, and they will not settle for the role of the silent victim anymore.
December 27, 2017

One of Turkeys most respected prosecutors called it the end of the state of law and a ruling party official a boost to combatting terror. But whichever way you look at it, the latest set of emergency decrees announced by the government over the weekend is poised to further entrench the culture of impunity that has reigned over the country since last years failed coup.

On top of the sacking of some 2,700 government workers, the pair of new decrees published in the Official Gazette on Dec. 24 grant immunity from prosecution for any person, regardless of whether they were acting in any official capacity, deemed to have been resisting "terrorists" or attempts to overthrow the government during the coup. Most controversially, it grants similar immunity to the self-appointed guardians acting against anything that could be construed as a continuation of the coup attempt.

Turkey has remained under emergency rule that was imposed soon after rogue officers sought to topple the government and murder the country's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July 15 last year. Tens of thousands have been purged from the government and countless others similarly accused of links to the putschists have been jailed under a slew of controversial decrees that critics say have accelerated Turkey's descent into authoritarianism.

Government spokesman Mahir Unal insisted that the latest decrees applied only to actions that were taken during the coup and its immediate aftermath. But opposition politicians across the ideological spectrum disagreed, saying the law constitutes incitement to violence against the governments opponents and those labeled terrorists or traitors by its allies in the media.

Ozgur Ozel, a lawmaker for the main opposition Republican Peoples Party, declared, They have cleared the path for anyone who purports to be combatting terrorism to butcher everybody else.

Meral Aksener, a nationalist politician and self-declared presidential hopeful, took to Twitter to warn against impending civil conflict.

Even the countrys taciturn former President Abdullah Gul stepped into the fray, saying the decree did not chime with legal norms and needed to be revised. Otherwise, it could lead to events that could upset us all.

One of the main worries is that the measure will provide legal cover for organized paramilitary groups loyal to Erdogan to pursue his opponents at will and by extension, government critics claim, help cement one-man rule.

Howard Eissenstat is a nonresident senior fellow at the Project on Middle East Democracy and associate professor of Middle East history at St. Lawrence University. In a recent essay titled Uneasy Rests the Crown: Erdogan and Revolutionary Security in Turkey, Eissenstat described the informal security structures that have emerged during Erdogans 15 years of uninterrupted rule. Noting that Erdogan is clearly worried about another coup attempt or even his assassination, Eissenstat draws attention to a shadowy military contractor called SADAT.

The groups founder, Adnan Tanriverdi, a former general who was expelled from the Turkish Armed Forces for his alleged sympathy for radical Islamists, has since August 2016 doubled as a senior adviser to the president. As such, Eissenstat observed, The relationship [between Erdogan and Tanriverdi] highlights the increased politicization of Turkeys military and security services, and could, in a crisis, facilitate extrajudicial targeting of political enemies in the service of the state.

But above all, he writes, It is the willingness of many in Erdogans base to fight and die, to face down bullets and lie down in front of tanks, that served as the guarantor of his rule during the night of the coup.

Some of Erdogans supporters allegedly wielded weapons of their own and fired bullets that night. According to figures released by the prime ministers office in August 2016, some 36 alleged putschists were slain during their attempted takeover. Details remain sketchy but seven of them were killed on the Bosporus Bridge connecting Istanbuls European flank to Asia. Some were rank and file soldiers who were merely obeying commanders orders, most notably Murat Tekin, who was studying at the Air Force Academy in Istanbul.

The 21-year-old cadet was killed during the orgy of violence that erupted on the bridge as crowds resisted the coup. Tekins end was captured in its full horror on cellphones and circulated via social media. His sister Mehtap Tekin has been leading a solo crusade for justice, saying her brother was innocent and like his fellow cadets had been bused to the bridge under false pretenses. An autopsy report confirmed that Tekin had died as a result of multiple stab wounds and blows. In a video that was shared by Oda TV, a critical online news portal, Mehtap said the authorities have remained indifferent to her familys agony.

With the new decrees, she said, It seems that my brothers assassins will not be prosecuted  that they have been granted protection. We are all suffering horribly as a family. Murat was my only sibling.
Three new renders depicting a Sony-made device thats said to be advertised as the Xperia A Edge leaked online on Wednesday, having originally been shared by Chinese tech outlet IT Home. The images seen in the gallery below show a handset thats apparently made in accordance with the rumored Mirai design language Sony developed in an effort to replace its OmniBalance philosophy and transition its Android offerings to the bezel-less era, thus following suit with virtually every other major phone maker in the industry. The newly leaked smartphone doesnt correspond to previous supposed sightings of Sonys bezel-free Xperia devices but doesnt immediately discredit itself or those older renders as most insiders agree the Japanese company is preparing to launch a highly varied lineup of such devices come early 2018.

The alleged Xperia A Edge had been shown in five colors: black, white, gray, blue, and a rotten cherry-like red hue. The handset is depicted with highly rounded corners and what appears to be a 16:9 display panel, which is in line with recent reports claiming that the Mirai design will adopt minimal bezels without embracing the popular 18:9 (2:1) image format. All variants of the leaked device feature a matte finish and a dual-camera setup entailing two horizontally arranged sensors and a relatively small LED flash, with the imaging module being located in the top left corner of the smartphones rear plate. With no fingerprint reader being visible on the renders, the Xperia A Edge will presumably retain the side-mounted scanner found on Sonys previous devices that usually doubles as a Power button.

According to the same source, the Xperia A Edge will feature a 6.0-inch OLED panel and Qualcomms Snapdragon 845 SoC, in addition to running Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box. The handset is also expected to continue Sonys tradition of equipping its ultra-premium devices with 4K screens and is rumored to be set for a mid-April release, though its actual announcement is likely to arrive at the Mobile World Congress trade show in late February. Sonys smartphone business has been shrinking in recent times but the company repeatedly said it has no intention of giving up on it going forward.
If pictures say 1,000 words then I've said about 8,675,343. Approximately. I traveled more this year than ever before, and naturally, I took more photos. After a lengthy research process, I got a brand new camera. So, let's hit the road and find out my top photos of 2017, separated by month. It was SO hard to narrow it down (so I might have cheated a little and picked two). I'm also giving you the chance to win my Lightroom presets! Here are my favorite and best photos of 2017.

I couldn't share pictures from all my travels (I went to 80+ cities) but I'm doing my best to show you some of my favorite places and images.

Best Photos of 2017

January

I kicked off the year (and my birthday in Paris). I had the brilliant idea of taking 30th birthday pictures in front of the Eiffel Tower. In January. In a dress. Please picture me trying to hold up over priced gold, deflating balloons to read 30 and not E0 or 03. More photos and full guide to Paris here.

February

I went to Italy for the first time EVER and fell immediately in love. Besides consuming gelato and pizza we managed to explore Northern Italy. We first stopped in the hazy, lazy lake region of Como. Then headed to the beautiful Milan. After that we drove through the French Riviera. It was absolutely one of my favorite trips this year. The Milan Duomo shocked me with its ornate architecture. Check out my Northern Italy and French Riviera itinerary here.

March

My home city of Heidelberg, Germany is one of the prettiest around, if you ask me. From a gorgeous castle, beautiful homes, and a river running through it, I always feel at peace when I'm home.

April

I traveled to Rome, Florence, Venice and Paris. All were extremely beautiful. But Venice won my heart. it was so different from any city I'd been to before.

May

We took a trip to Ireland thinking we'd take a few side trips out of Dublin. We met up with some friends from America and once Michael saw that his friend drove a car across Ireland (on the other side of the road) he decided he could do it too. So we grabbed the wheel and I clutched my heart as we haphazardly drove through the narrowest streets on the wrong side of the road.

June

Bulgaria was a destination that completely surprised me. I particularly loved Seven Rila Lakes and the Rila Monastery (pictured). It's a gorgeous place in the midst of nowhere.

July

I traveled often to Austria over the past few months but I hadn't yet been to Vienna. It's safe to say I was floored by this lovely, beautiful city.

My other favorite part about Austria? The countryside. I adore the alps. And the cows.

August

Starting in August the rest of the year was insane, travel wise. Some months I was only home for 5 days. Two separate trips to Spain (San Sebastian and Ibiza), Two different music festival in the Netherlands. A trip to Amsterdam and some stops around Germany. It was hard to pick just one photo, so I didn't! I had to pick two. First pictured is Amsterdam, then a random sunflower field in Germany.

September

Copenhagen was colorful and unique. This year was my first time in Denmark, and now I want to explore more of northern Europe's countries.

October

I traveled to some of the most picturesque places in the world: Rome and the Amalfi Coast. Picking out just one picture from each place was no easy feat. Every corner you turn is prettier than the next. Secret to good shots: wake up early before the crowds.

November

19 days in Romania was a whirlwind of a stirring history, lovely countryside, and more food than I should have eaten in the entire year. If you're considering heading to Europe I suggest putting Romania on your list.

December

My favorite time of year: Christmas markets! I ventured to at least a dozen different markets and went almost every single day the markets were open. What can I say? I like Gluwein. Check out all the photos here and check out my guide to European Christmas markets here.

Now that you've seen some of my favorite pictures, I'm giving you the chance to win my Lightroom presets! You'll get BOTH packs, worth $118. There are two chances to win. Enter here, and on my Instagram @heleneinbetween.

a Rafflecopter giveaway



Link up your review and end of the year posts!

On January 3rd I'm hosting my annual link up to review our past years and celebrate goals for the next. Grab the button here (do so by gradding the code below the image and copy and paste the HTML in the text or html part of your bog post!) and join me to reflect and look forward to 2018:
Google vowed to continue following the web scraping guidelines agreed as part of its 2012 settlement with the United States Federal Trade Commission even as the limits imposed on the company are now coming to an end, the tech giant revealed in a recent letter addressed to the regulator. The Alphabet-owned Internet giant suggested it changed its ways since Yelp hit it with an antitrust lawsuit over its online crawlers that displayed some of the websites content as part of Googles own services, robbing it of traffic in the process of doing so. Today, Googles official stance is that allowing websites to opt out of its content scraping programs provides additional flexibility to both developers and publishers, which is why the company is adamant to keep maintaining such policies going forward even though it isnt legally required to do so anymore.

The Mountain View, California-based firm provided similar reasoning for its decision to continue honoring its settlement with the FTC in regards to its advertising partners. As part of the 2012 settlement, Google also agreed to remove a number of restrictions placed on AdWords users that inhibited their ability to coordinate online advertising campaigns on multiple platforms. Given Googles dominance in the Internet search and digital advertising business, the federal regulator deemed certain clauses in AdWords terms of use anti-competitive, with the company ultimately agreeing to settle the matter by removing them. While the enforcement period for that provision is now also coming to an end, Google will continue honoring it in the future.

The companys move is largely unsurprising seeing how a return to its previous practices would likely just lead to identical antitrust lawsuits which Google would have an even harder time of defending against given its 2012 settlement that set a major precedent on the matter. The issue of its web scraping activities may still not be over, with Yelp filing an official complaint with the FTC in September which claimed Google already broke the settlement agreement and scraped some of the companys images which it ended up displaying in its Image Search results over the course of this year. The allegation still didnt amount to anything and its currently unclear whether its being actively investigated by the federal agency.
Samsung has started pushing out the revised Tizen 3.0 update to the Gear S3 distributed and sold in Europe following its release in Canada last week. The firmware version R760XXU2CQL1 is now widely available across European markets, fixing a recent bug introduced by the initial Tizen 3.0 update. The bug seemed to be draining the Gear S3 battery, as reported earlier this month by a number of users who claimed to have experienced irregular battery behavior after installing the Tizen 3.0 Value Pack update which was released last month.

The initial Tizen 3.0 update for the Samsung Gear S3 brought with it a bevy of fresh features and improvements, though it also inadvertently came with the battery life-draining bug that was affecting a great number of users. This prompted Samsung to temporarily stop the rollout of the update until the issue is fixed. Its presently not clear how widespread the issue was, though users who received the revised Tizen 3.0 update should now be able to use the smart watch for three days with minimal tasks, as should be the case for the Gear S3 sans the battery-draining bug. The South Korean original equipment manufacturer did not reveal the root cause of the problem, though it is understood that a memory leak was the culprit. When installing the latest Tizen 3.0 update, see to it that your smart watch packs enough battery life to stay awake throughout the process. It remains unclear, though, when this update will come to other territories, as Samsung has yet to release an official announcement. Its important to note that the hotfix is being rolled out in phases, so it may take some time before it hits all Gear S3 users on a global scale.

As a quick recap, the Gear S3 lineup features some fitness tracking capabilities on top of its aesthetic design that aligns the device with the fashion accessory segment of the wearable market. The smart watch is compatible with Android 4.4 and higher and includes 1.5GB of RAM. It supports wireless charging and packs a 380mAh battery as well as a number of sensors inside such as an accelerometer, gyro, barometer, ambient light and HRM.
HMD Globals next entry-level smartphone will be marketed as the Nokia 1 and launch as part of Googles Android Go program in March, one industry source from Russia said Tuesday. The device is understood to be planned for a global release, with its Russian price tag amounting to 5,990 rubles, or just north of $100 (85). According to the same report, the Nokia 1 will be equipped with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal flash memory, though its still unclear whether a microSD card slot will be part of the package. If HMDs low-end Android phones released over the course of this year are any indication, the Nokia 1 should support expandable storage.

The upcoming device is said to be equipped with an HD display, i.e. one that features a resolution of 1,280 by 720 pixels amounting to a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9. While the Finnish phone vendor is expected to start transitioning to the 18:9 (2:1) image format in early 2018, it will be beginning that shift with high-end models like the rumored Nokia 9, as was the case with every other original equipment manufacturer in the industry. The company adopted a relatively comprehensive product strategy for the return of Nokia devices to the market, having released a wide variety of offerings spanning all price ranges, from the Premium Nokia 8 and mid-range Nokia 6 to the entry-level Nokia 2 and even feature phones such as the Nokia 3310 (2017). According to some estimates, HMD is on course to sell over ten million smartphones in the first year of the global availability of its Android products and may be able to crack the worlds top ten list of largest OEMs in 2018.

Originally announced at Google I/O 2017, Android Go is a revision of the companys ubiquitous mobile operating system specifically designed for devices with no more than 1GB of RAM. Whereas standard Android builds are likely to be sluggish on such low-end hardware, Android Go is meant to provide a lightweight experience fueled by its highly optimized app ecosystem. The initiative is hence similar to the Android One project, though it takes a more fundamental approach to optimizing software experiences for low-end hardware and is also available in more territories.
South Korean prosecutors want to add seven years to the five-year prison sentence given to Samsung Group Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee. Special prosecutor Park Young-soo made the demand official during Mr. Lees appellate hearing on Wednesday, thus repeating the request for a 12-year sentence made as part of the original trial which ended in August. Prosecutor Park reiterated most arguments previously raised against Samsungs scion which was convicted on charges of corruption after the Seoul Central District Court agreed he sanctioned bribes to associates of former President Park Geun-hye in exchange for political favors. The move is said to have facilitated a 2015 merger of Samsung Groups subsidiaries Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T, having supposedly been made to strengthen Mr. Lees control of the chaebol at a direct expense of the largest national pension fund which had a stake in one of the ventures and lost significant money on the consolidation.

The case played a major role in the impeachment of President Park who repeatedly refused to testify against Mr. Lee, with both insisting their previous encounters were brief and didnt lead to any kind of collusion. The prosecutors already managed to cast some doubt over such claims after the first trial, additionally weakening Mr. Lees defense. Should his appeal to the Seoul High Court be unsuccessful, the 49-year-old is expected to bring the case in front of the Supreme Court of South Korea. Likewise, the matter is likely to end up in front of the highest judicial body in the country even if Mr. Lee is acquitted of all charges as part of his first appeal, with state prosecutors already signaling theyd also be prepared to escalate the trial if the charges end up being dropped by the currently presiding court.

Prosecutor Park said Wednesday that Mr. Lees previously expressed concerns about the future of Samsung Group are misleading, claiming the main reason hes eager to get out of prison is to prevent further financial losses stemming from his weakening grip on the conglomerate. Should the multi-billionaire exhaust all of his legal remedies, hed still be able to ask for a presidential pardon, though current President Moon Jae-in is unlikely to give one seeing how he was elected on a political platform that strongly opposes chaebols and the amount of influence they exert on Seoul.
Verizon is delivering updates for no fewer than three Samsung devices, beginning today, including the Samsung Galaxy S8, Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus, and Samsung Galaxy Note 8. Unfortunately, for those who may be hoping for larger updates with new, user-facing features, there may be some disappointment. However, those users who want the latest software optimizations and security features will be happy to hear that is exactly what the updates are bringing with them.

Primarily, the update consists of the latest Android security patch level, December 2017. As is always the case with such updates, that should bring an end to concerns for several bugs, vulnerabilities, and security holes. In fact, it patches a dozen or so problems, including several which were marked as critical in the most recent patch notes for the OS from Google. Aside from that, though, Verizons update page, accessible via the source link below, says that the update will accomplish a few other vaguely specified tasks. Namely, the carrier says the updates have been tested to bring optimizations to overall device performance and to resolve known issues. Whether that applies to lesser issues specific to the carrier  as there havent been any major or widespread issues reported with the listed devices- or to those affecting Samsung devices on a larger scale has not been indicated. Since no real details were provided either, theres really no way of telling exactly what has been tweaked. That being said, theres not a lot to complain about when it comes to getting a smoother experience or negating security or privacy risks present on a mobile device. Prior updates from the company, according to some sources, seemed to have indicated that the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus, in particular, would also see support for Verizons Gigabit LTE network by the end of the year. So its possible that has been included with this update, though there really is no way of telling on that front either, at this point, and the company didnt include it in its release notes.

Meanwhile, the version numbers for each device will be moved forward as well. The Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus will be moved to versions G950USQS2BQL1 and G955USQS2BQL1, respectively. On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 will see its software version bumped to N950USQS2BQL5. As is always the case with these kinds of updates, users shouldnt be too concerned if the notification for the update takes some time to hit their devices. For those users with a bit less patience, checking for software updates is as easy as navigating to a devices settings menu app, scrolling down, and then clicking on Software Updates.
NEW YORK (AP)  Should Ridley Scott's "All the Money in the World" be measured by the usual critical apparatus or with a stopwatch?

If the latter, Scott's movie wins the race, hands down. "All the Money in the World" has, with remarkably few signs of haste, accomplished its unenviable task of recasting Kevin Spacey's role with Christopher Plummer. Plummer parachuted in a few weeks ago to shoot his nine days of work, and Scott has toiled around the clock to recut and remake his own movie. Like a bank thief covering tracks and wiping fingerprints, Scott has erased all trace of Spacey.

That alone makes "All the Money in the World" a fascinating footnote in the larger ongoing drama of the "Me Too" reckoning. And considering the way things are going, Plummer should keep his bags packed. We may need his services again.

But was it worth the trouble? "All the Money in the World," about the 1973 kidnapping of the grandson of billionaire oil tycoon John Paul Getty (Plummer), is, for better and worse, every bit a Scott production: a solidly built, no-nonsense drama, largely without surprise. But its saving grace isn't Plummer. It's Michelle Williams.

She plays Gail Harris, the distraught mother of the kidnapped 16-year-old "little Paul" (Charlie Plummer, no relation). When Getty refuses to pay the kidnappers' demands of $17 million, she's left virtually alone in seeking his release, aside from the inattentive help of Getty's overconfident, former-CIA fixer, Fletcher Case (Mark Wahlberg). As a woman locked inside an oppressively male world, Williams' performance  gripping and glamorous  slides in comfortably with Scott's best female protagonists (Ripley, Thelma, Louise).

Based on John Pearson's 1995 book, "Painfully Rich: The Outrageous Fortune and Misfortunes of the Heirs of J. Paul Getty," David Scarpa's script doesn't attempt to show the larger soap opera of the younger Getty generations, many of whom suffered through drugs, depression and worse because of their father's hostility and inattention. Getty married five times and young Paul was one of 14 grandchildren. When he was taken, Getty, then one of the richest men in the world, told reporters: "If I pay one penny now, I'll have 14 kidnapped children."

"All the Money in the World" ought to have aimed more ambitiously for the complete tragedy of the Gettys, or stuck more resolutely to Gail's perspective. Instead, it bounces erratically between its main players and loses steam every time Williams leaves the screen. At times it's preoccupied with studying the astonishing greed of its penny-pinching Scrooge, at others with trailing the thrilling plot of Gail's pursuit of Paul. It doesn't necessarily follow any one character. It follows the money.

Opening with a black-and-white sequence of the kidnapping in Rome, Scott's movie continuously cuts to Paul's travails as the prisoner of Calabrian bandits. Expecting a quick payday, they settle in the mountains of Southern Italy for months, growing increasingly impatient.

Seesawing between the mafia-controlled hills of Italy and the mammoth English estate of Getty's, "All the Money in the World" seeks for a larger portrait of people prioritizing money over basic human decency  of putting the art of the deal above all else, you might say. When first told of the kidnapping, Getty doesn't even look up from the stock ticker.

It's hard not to spend some of the film's running time wondering what Spacey might have brought to the movie. I suspect his performance would have been icier, and perhaps smacked of stunt. (Spacey donned copious makeup and prosthetics to age him into the role.) Plummer, on the other hand, quite naturally feasts on the part, fully embodying Getty's privilege and power.

At 88, Plummer has spent much of his superlative late period playing King Lears presiding over the ends of their empires. Give him a mansion and a backstory, and he'll go to town (just as he did earlier this year in the World War II thriller "The Exception"). But the miserly Getty of "All the Money in the World," so totally focused on his fortune, makes the Grinch look like a philanthropist.

Aside from the audaciousness of its last-minute face-lift, "All the Money in the World" is fairly routine. If Scott was replacing stars, he might as well have yanked Wahlberg while he was at it. The story doesn't suit the action star's considerable gifts, and he's out of place from the start.

Still, the extreme measures taken by Scott are fitting. The restless director is driven by an obsession for work not so different than Getty's. (This is the second film Scott has directed and the 10th project he's produced this year. He's 80.) Only when a crisis took his movie hostage, Scott immediately intervened at an estimated cost of $8 million. The lesson holds: Just pay the ransom.

"All the Money in the World," a Sony Pictures release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America for "language, some violence, disturbing images and brief drug content." Running time: 132 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.

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MPAA definition of R: Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

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Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP
Before anything, it should be mentioned that 10 percent of the sale price of chassis number 189744 will be donated to education services related to the Holocaust in a bid to ensure atrocities like that never happen again.Theres no estimate on this automobile, but it's a given you're looking at a multi-million dollar blast from the past. Then theres the sheer rarity, this car being the last of eight pre-series models . As for the production-spec W150, Mercedes-Benz manufactured 88 examples in Sindelfingen by mid-1943. Worldwide Auctioneers describes the 770K Grosser Offener Turenwagen as the most historically significant automobile ever offered for public sale, though thats debatable in more than one way. What is crystal clear, however, is that the 770K did not choose its user or its use. People  with the fallibility and prejudices all too often part of human nature  were responsible for that, so dont blame the car for what Hitler did in the '30s and '40s.An armed example of the breed that benefits from a bullet-resistant windshield, the German Chancellors parade car is equipped with the sort of engine that you wont find in any modern passenger car: an inline-eight that displaces a mammoth 7.7 liters. Supercharged for good measure, 230 horsepower are sent to the rear wheels through a five-speed manual.In addition to Hitler and other prominent Nazi officials, the 770K Grosser Offener Tourenwagen proved popular with Emperor Hirohito of Japan, Spanish dictator Franco, Portuguese dictator Salazar, and wait for it Pope Pius XI.If the original Hitlerian provenance of this Mercedes can be set aside, if only momentarily, surviving examples of the Mercedes-Benz 770 Grosser - or Super Mercedes - remain quite likely the worlds greatest achievement in terms of automotive design, engineering, and construction, explains Rod Egan, principal and auctioneer at Worldwide Auctioneers.
SUV

And here we are, bringing the Urus back under the spotlights. This time around, the LM002 successor was spotted in the real world, with the thing having shown up at a ski resort in Austria.To be more precise, a Giallo Aluge example of the Urus showed up in Finkenberg, Austria (this was one of the two launch colors). It's too early to talk about a customer car, with this obvious being a manufacturer vehicle - lens tip to Autogespot for the images we have here.Speaking of the Lamborghini Urus, we'll remind you that the Internet just couldn't let the super-in factory stock form. In fact, it only took the Internet 12 hours to come up with the first Urus rendering, which delivered the SV incarnation of the high-riding machine.And while we're not expecting the Raging Bull to give the Urus the Superveloce treatment, we could see the Lambo receiving the Performante badge. Until we get to see if this dream becomes a production reality, here's a rendering showcasing the Urus Performante If the proposals mentioned above seem extreme, you should see some of the other Urus renders we delivered. The examples range from the base spec model, a proposal that would be offered for $150,000, to the Urus Monster Truck , a contraption that, will probably remain confined to the pixel world. Oh, and let's not forget the Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo render, which portrays the Italian crossover in the form of its distant German sibling.
The brilliant mastermind who went on to become president and chairman of Mazda in the 1980s passed away on the night of December 20, 2017. Yamamoto was 95. Kenichi served in the Japanese Navy after graduating from the University of Tokyo with a degree in mechanical engineering.Yamamoto cut his teeth with the Kawanishi Aircraft Company, and upon returning to a devastated Hiroshima , Kenichi barely found work at the Toyo Kogyo transmission factory in 1945. You know, the company that started as a cork manufacturer, expanded to machine tools, weapons, commercial vehicles, and passenger cars. Toyo Kogyo adopted the Mazda name in '84, but the first Mazda to be called as such is a three-wheel truck from '31.In the early 60s, Mazda entered a partnership with NSU , and as part of the deal, the German automaker allowed the Japanese partner to develop the Wankel engine. Yamamoto was the guy charged with the project, and in 1963, Kenichis team completed the first prototypes of the Cosmo Sport.Series production started in 1967, and the rest is history. The RX-7 and the RX-8 carried that legacy, and with the RX-9, the rotary engine will enter the 2020s in grand style. His obsession with the Wankel school of thought helped Yamamoto rise up the ranks, becoming research and development chief in the late 1970s. When he held the title of president, Yamamoto was directly responsible for the R&D project from which the MX-5 Miata came to be.Last, but certainly not least, its Kenichi that decided to pour a lot of money in motorsport-related projects, helping the Mazda 787B racing car secure the outright victory at Le Mans in 1991. This fellow here, ladies and gentleman, is the man who gave Mazda its character, the guy who paved the way to the upcoming generation of SkyActiv-X and SkyActiv-R powertrains.Dearest sir, thank you for your service, and God bless!
After more than a decade of poverty-level wages for regional airline pilots, rising demand for air travel coupled with a shortage of military trained pilots is slowly making for a sellers market. FAPA, a consultancy that specializes in preparing pilots for airline interviews, says entry-level wages for new regional airline pilots had hovered around $22,000 per year during the recession, if you could get a job. Wendy Beckman, who runs the aerospace department at Middle Tennessee State University, told Marketplace, You heard stories of people on food stamps and living at home and sleeping in crew lounges.

These days, regional airlines are hiring as fast as they can to replace pilots going to the major airlines. FAPA estimates starting pay at the regional airlines has risen to almost $50,000 on average, though much of the first-year pay regional pay increases have been in the form of bonuses, which draw in new pilots without significantly increasing wages over a career. Fifty thousand dollars is hardly riches for a job usually requiring a college degree and often expensive flight experience, but its a job flying airplanes. No one knows when single-pilot airliners or another recession will send pilots back to the unemployment lines. For now, young people drawn to a career in the skies are starting to believe its possible again.
The pilot who flew the last combat mission of the Second World War died in Florida last week of lung cancer at the age of 93. Army Air Force Lt. Jerry Yellin was with another aircraft attacking Japanese air bases on Aug. 15, 1945, when Emperor Hirohito announced the unconditional surrender of Japan. Yellins wingman, a younger pilot named Lt. Philip Schlamberg, whom Yellin was mentoring, was shot down and killed. Yellin didnt know the war had ended until he landed in Iwo Jima as the radio transmission telling forces to stand down didnt reach him.

Yellin left the Army a short time later with a Distinguished Flying Cross, an Air Medal and a serious case of post-traumatic stress disorder. He spent much of his life protesting war and trying to help fellow veterans whod had trouble rejoining society after the war. In recent years he has been the national spokesman for the Spirit of 45, a nonprofit organization that promotes the legacy of World War II veterans.
DECATUR  The leader of the NAACP Decatur branch called Tuesday for a blue-ribbon committee to look into causes of the citys rising murder rate after its 10th homicide this year.

With the shooting death of Marvin T. Murphy, 39, on Christmas Day, the city had more than doubled its 2016 homicide total and tied with 2011 for the greatest number of murders in the past decade.

Now some people will say these shootings are spontaneous and there is nothing you can do, said Jeanelle Norman, longtime president of the branch. But whatever the situation is, it behooves this city to have some type of study so that we can assess, with more accuracy, exactly what is happening.

Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe said she would be willing to work with Norman to see how such a committee could take shape.

I think she and I need to sit down and figure out what this needs to look like and how we can make it truly effective, Moore Wolfe said Tuesday night. I have so much respect for Dr. Norman and, if there is anything we can do to fix this, we have to try.

Other community leaders on Tuesday called for exploring solutions that included greater sentences for those convicted of violent crimes, stricter gun laws and more community involvement.

The remarks came as detectives continued to investigate the murder of Murphy, who was found by police at a residence in the 1600 block of North 32nd Street around 9:30 p.m. He was taken to Decatur Memorial Hospital and pronounced dead at 10:58 p.m., Macon County Coroner Michael Day said.

Police did not reveal the circumstances of the murder. Detective Sgt. Steve Carroll said the department had called in extra manpower and described the investigation as ongoing and intense.

Were working multiple leads, and were working new leads as they come in, he said.

Wider discussion

Decatur Police Chief Jim Getz said his officers have a solid track record of bringing killers to justice, but he said the courts must hand down sentences that keep persistent violent criminals off the streets.

Ill be honest with you, Im not satisfied with some of the sentencing that is coming down for these crimes, Getz said. I think sentences need to be tougher. That is what keeps our community safe, and safety is what keeps people moving into Decatur and keeps people from moving away.

The police chief also said that statistics show many of those being killed or hurt were involved in criminal activity, especially drugs.

Getz was not commenting on the latest murder. But in general, he said, violent crimes involving random, innocent victims are rare. If you are going to Walmart to go shopping or going out to a restaurant to eat or visiting a family member in town or whatever, its highly rare that you would be the victim of crime, he said.

Norman works closely with Getz as a member of the Area Leaders Educators Response Team (ALERT), which helps to disseminate accurate information in the wake of major events like police-involved shootings. She said the chief had a point.

But she said people indulging in risky behavior do not explain all of Decaturs violence. She pointed to the case of Decatur motorist Rafael Graham, 70, who survived multiple gunshot wounds Oct. 16 after apparently being targeted at random in a hold-up.

He was just driving down Monroe, and he gets shot, said Norman. So not every shooting is drug- or gang-related.

Norman said the police deserved praise for continuing to do an excellent job, but she said it is time for wider community involvement to help them, such as the proposed commission.

We have to work at this because eventually Decatur is going to be defined for something we dont want to be defined as, she added.

While ready to discuss the idea, Moore Wolfe was under no illusions about how hard the committees task might be.

Setting up a committee would not be the hard part, she said. The hard part is really effecting change and figuring out what is really causing this (the shooting violence) and really fixing it.

A matter of faith

Pastor and community activist the Rev. Courtney Carson has frequently spoken out in the wake of gun violence and on Tuesday renewed his call for tougher gun laws.

He said weapons are too readily available to criminals, and communities such as Decatur and Chicago will continue to bear the brunt of gun deaths until that availability changes.

We need more common-sense gun laws, said Carson, a member of the Decatur school board. I believe we would then live in a safer place.

He echoed Normans call for more community involvement and more outreach efforts from churches and role models working to turn lives away from crime. The most criminal-minded individual can come out of that hell-like condition, he said. I think its just a matter of faith.

Carson invited people to attend a multi-denominational service at 10 p.m. New Years Eve at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church. He said the theme is unity and the service will address community violence.

Arrests in most cases

Of the murders being investigated this year, police have made arrests in the majority of the cases.

Keirsean M. Bond, 26, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the shooting death of Todd Feldkamp, 48, of Effingham, whose body was found Nov. 18 behind a house in the 1600 block of North Edward Street. Police have said Bond, who was arrested Nov. 20, was the not the gunman but have not made another arrest in the case.

Kwantrevis D. Richardson, 20, is charged with first-degree murder in the Oct. 31 shooting deaths of Michael E. Roberts-Mathenia, 43, and Johnathon T. Ballance, 34. The two were found dead in a Park City mobile home community residence.

Zachary M. Pherigo, 17, has been charged as an adult with first-degree murder in the Oct. 16 shooting death of Justin Lee Murphy Jr., his 2-year-old nephew.

Jason A. White, 27, and Ryan Waters, 20, have been charged with first-degree murder in the death of 22-year-old Zachary Hubbartt of Windsor. Hubbartts body was found at a residence in the 1200 block of East Condit Street on Aug. 27. Autumn D. Billings is charged with obstructing justice in the crime.

Demesheo M. Lovelace died after being gunned down in Greenwood Cemetery on July 2. The three suspects in the crime are Darelle Fox, 31, his brother Joseph Fox, 27, and Shawn Eubanks, 25. They were charged with first-degree murder.

Duan L. Lewis, 23, was arrested March 29 and faces a charge of first-degree murder in the death of a 5-month-old girl. The girl died March 28 after suffering head injuries March 23, and her cause of death was listed as "consistent with shaken baby syndrome."

Two other cases are active, but detectives said at inquest hearings that they had no witnesses and were searching for leads in both:

James M. Basse, 40, of Decatur, was found in the 1400 block of East Wood Street on Sept. 15 dead of multiple gunshot wounds.

Adrian T. Chatman was found dead in the 800 block of West Decatur Street shortly after midnight on Sept. 26.

Not living in fear

Residents of North 32nd Street, living just a few blocks from the Christmas Day murder scene, said Tuesday they werent going to let this killing, or Decaturs rising homicide rate, overshadow their lives.

Retired special education teaching assistant Naomi Culter moved into her home in September. She said she was shocked to find out there had been a shooting death close to the cozy ranch with the big backyard that suited her perfectly, but she wont allow the news of the shooting to chase her away.

You cant control where bad things happen or how they happen or who they happen to, said Culter, 66. That is just life. You have to take the good with the bad and go with it.

Culter, who lives with her oldest daughter, Tonja Francisco, took the same philosophical view about Decaturs homicide rate. Culter believes Decatur is no worse than many other towns when it comes to crime, she said, and we cant permit crime statistics to rule our lives.

She does, however, take note of them.

But do I feel unsafe here? No, I dont, she said. What is the purpose of living if you are going to live in fear? If you do that, well, thats not living.

Francisco, 46, takes a similar view to her mother. You get used to hearing about crime but you dont live in fear, she said. Thats not how to live your life.

Culter said that not letting crime get you down doesnt mean you dont feel for the victims of it and the lives it affects. And she said crime that stains the joy of what is supposed to be the happiest time of the year seems particularly tragic.

Death like this is sad anytime, but even more so on a holiday, she added. I guess the devil is always around, testing us.
President Trump and first lady Melania Trump speak yesterday to children calling in to NORAD's Santa Tracker. (AP's Carolyn Kaster)

While you enjoyed your family, eggnog and gifts from Santa, the news cycle kept on rolling with more tweets from Trump, deadly natural disasters and company wars for attention.

Here's your post-holiday briefing:
MasterCard announced that U.S. shoppers spent over $800 billion during the 2017 holiday season  the most ever  per Reuters. That's up 4.9% from last year, marking the biggest year-over-year increase in holiday shopping since 2011.

Why it matters: It's finally some good news for sagging department stores with stocks across the industry rising as a result. Mastercard's report pegged online sales as only 11-12% of total retail sales, meaning that the vast majority of Americans did their holiday shopping in traditional brick-and-mortar locations.
This chart shows all fires that burned over 300 acres each year from 2000 to 2017 in California, including the December 2017 blazes.

Go deeper: Wildfires are burning longer and hotter each year
Axios has made made hundreds of data visualizations this year, covering everything from hurricane season to how the economy is changing. Here's a countdown of our favorite data pieces from 2017.

Go deeper: Check out our special stream featuring all of these pieces. Many of our favorite visualizations are interactive and/or animated.

Thanks for checking out our work! Make sure to follow @AxiosVisuals on Twitter to keep tabs on all the cool stuff we'll be making in 2018.
Chinese companies have been caught secretly selling oil to North Korea, according to a major South Korean news source and the Financial Times.

Why this matters: These reports could mean that China is violating UN sanctions against North Korea. UN Security Council Resolution 2375  passed in September after yet another nuclear test by Kim Jong-Un  prohibits ship-to-ship transfers of certain goods, including oil, to North Korea.

These reports could mean that China is violating UN sanctions against North Korea. UN Security Council Resolution 2375  passed in September after yet another nuclear test by Kim Jong-Un  prohibits ship-to-ship transfers of certain goods, including oil, to North Korea. Bill Bishop, author of the Axios China weekly newsletter, emails some quick analysis: "If the Chinese government ignores oil smuggling the sanctions will be less effective. And if the Trump Administration views Beijing as not faithfully implementing what it agreed to then new sanctions against more Chinese individuals and firms, including a major oil company and a large financial institution, are increasingly likely. "

The political backdrop:
Facebook announced that it will no longer use "Disputed Flags"  red flags next to fake news articles  to identify fake news for users. Instead it will use related articles to give people more context about a story.

Why it's happening: The tech giant is doing this in response to academic research it conducted that shows the flags don't work, and they often have the reverse effect of making people want to click even more. Related articles give people more context about what's fake or not, according to Facebook.

Why it matters: Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg says Facebook is a technology company that doesn't hire journalists. Without using editorial judgement to determine what's real and what's not, tackling fake news will forever be a technology experiment.
Stuffed animals sit at the base of a cross at a makeshift memorial for victims near the scene of the Texas shooting. Photo: Eric Gay / AP

New York City, San Francisco and Philadelphia filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday against the Department of Defense, arguing that an inadequate background check system has allowed many military members who should be barred from buying guns to obtain them, and was partially to blame for the mass shooting in Texas that left 26 people dead, the AP reports.

The backdrop: The Sutherland Springs shooter was convicted of domestic violence and should not have been allowed to buy a gun, but the Air Force failed to enter his name into a federal database. After the massacre, military officials acknowledged problems with the system.

What they're seeking, per the AP:
Utah's most prominent newspaper, The Salt Lake Tribune, denounced Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch in a blistering editorial published on Christmas Day, urging him not to seek re-election and accusing him of having an "utter lack of integrity."

The backdrop: Many Republicans assumed Hatch would retire at the end of this term, his 7th in the Senate, but President Trump has encouraged him to run again in 2018. It has been long rumored that Mitt Romney will run if Hatch decides to retire.

Key points: The paper, which named Hatch "Utahn of the Year," took issue with his role in advancing the GOP's sweeping tax bill, and aiding in Trump's "dramatic dismantling" of the state's Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments.

The paper's editorial board wrote that reducing the monuments' size "by some 90 percent has no constitutional, legal or environmental logic," later adding that this "anti-environmental, anti-Native American and, yes, anti-business decommissioning of national monuments was basically a political favor the White House did for Hatch."

The editorial board said if Hatch runs for re-election, after he previously promised to step down, it would amount to "a theft from the Utah electorate."

They wrote that the senator "stared down a generation or two of highly qualified political leaders who were fully qualified to take his place."

The senator did not acknowledge the paper's criticism of him on Twitter. Instead, he thanked the paper for the "honor." That response left some on Twitter asking if he had actually read the scathing editorial. In a tweet hours later, he posted a recent editorial in support of the tax bill.
Women who use hormonal birth control  pills or devices that release hormones  are at a slightly higher risk for breast cancer, per a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Why it matters: It "upends widely held assumptions about modern contraceptives for younger generations of women," who think hormonal contraceptives are safer than old methods that contained higher amounts of estrogen, the New York Times reports.

The numbers: Scientists studied 1.8 million Danish women for over a decade and found those who used hormonal contraceptives had about a 20% increased risk of developing breast cancer. Among women who used hormonal birth control for more than 10 years, the risk rose to 38%. The study estimates 55 cases of breast cancer among every 100,000 women who do not use hormonal contraceptives and 68 cases among every 100,000 who do.

The bottom line: The study showed a relatively small increased risk for cancer among women who used these forms of contraceptives. Still, there was a hope that the contemporary preparations would be associated with lower risk ... This is the first study with substantial data to show thats not the case," David J. Hunter, a professor of epidemiology and medicine at the University of Oxford, told the NYT.
Bitcoin has become a refuge for far-right extremists looking to make payments and take in donations, according to a Washington Post report. After bans from services like Google, GoDaddy, and PayPal, some on the far-right turned to the decentralized cryptocurrency to conduct transactions, reaping a financial windfall in the process with bitcoin's rise in value.

Why it matters: Without access to more traditional online financial options, some extremist groups may have ironically gained a massive windfall by moving to bitcoin earlier this year. And this battle illustrates larger questions about free speech in the Internet age, especially surrounding how much right an online service provider might have to regulate who uses its products.
With arctic conditions settling in over Central Illinois for the next several days, residents are being urged to stay aware of the dangers of cold weather.

The National Weather Service in Lincoln issued a wind-chill advisory for much of Central Illinois, including Decatur and Macon County, that will last until 10 a.m. Wednesday, and those frostbite-inducing temperatures wont warm up over the next week.

Here are five ways to be prepared:

What's coming

The weather service said the region would be experiencing a prolonged period of below-normal temperatures through the next seven days. Wednesday will see a high of just 11 degrees with wind chills of minus 10 to minus 15 degrees, according to the Decatur forecast.

The wind-chill advisory noted the danger of hypothermia and frostbite, which can occur in as little as 30 minutes to exposed skin. Counties affected include Macon, Logan, DeWitt, Piatt, Christian, Moultrie, Douglas, Champaign and McLean. As the night progressed, the weather service advisory began to add counties farther south that previously had been under a hazardous outlook due to low temperatures earlier in the day.

The warmest day in the next week, according to the weather service, could be Friday, when the high temperature for Decatur is 22 degrees. There is also a chance of snow on Friday and Saturday.

Dont look for a reprieve anytime soon: New Years Eve will see a high of 10 degrees and New Years Day will climb only to 13 degrees in Decatur, according to the forecast. The chance of snow will vary by day.

Normal highs for this year are about 36 degrees, and lows usually reach 14, the weather service said. The record is a little farther down the thermometer: minus 29 degrees on Dec. 26, 1914.

Were not expecting a whole lot of precipitation with any of those systems; there are a lot of variables in our models, said Heather Stanley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Lincoln. Pay attention to the forecast going into the weekend, because it will be changing.

A large swath of the Midwest was under a wind chill advisory or warning as well, including North Dakota and Wisconsin, as well as parts of South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan and Indiana.

Outside attire

Its best to stay indoors if possible, but the Illinois Emergency Management Agency offers the following clothing tips for those who must be outside:

Wear loose-fitting, lightweight, warm clothing in several layers.

Wear outer garments that are tightly woven, water-repellent and hooded.

Wear a hat. A significant amount of body heat is lost through the top of the head.

Wear mittens that are snug at the wrist. Gloves allow your fingers to cool faster than mittens.

Cover the mouth and nose with scarves to help protect lungs from cold air.

Keep your feet as dry as possible. Wear wool socks.

Your health

If you must be outdoors, watch for signs of frostbite and hypothermia, the IEMA said.

Frostbite is severe reaction to cold exposure of the skin that can permanently damage fingers, toes, the nose and ear lobes.

Symptoms are numbness and a white or pale appearance to the skin. When symptoms are apparent, seek medical help immediately. If medical help is not immediately available, slowly warm the affected areas.

Hypothermia, or low body temperature, is a life-threatening condition brought on when the body temperature falls below 95 degrees. Symptoms of hypothermia include slow or slurred speech, incoherence, memory loss, disorientation, uncontrollable shivering, drowsiness, repeated stumbling and apparent exhaustion.

If these symptoms are detected, take the person's temperature. If below 95 degrees, immediately seek medical attention.

If medical help is not available, begin warming the person slowly. Always warm the body core first. Do not warm the arms and legs first because this can force the cold blood toward the heart and can lead to heart failure.

Pet health

Many people believe that Illinois law prohibits leaving animals out in freezing weather, but thats not the case, according to officials from Macon County Animal Control.

The state law that took effect Jan. 1, 2016, makes it a misdemeanor to cause injury to an animal by leaving it in extreme weather conditions. In other words, the animals owner is not breaking the law until it is hurt.

But animal control wardens still have discretion and authority to intervene if they believe the animal is in danger, Chief Warden Kris Horton.

If we come out and the animal appears to be in distress, we will take it, she said.

Animal control administrator Sgt. Matt Reynolds of the Macon County Sheriffs Office encouraged anyone who is concerned about an animals welfare to call animal control at (217) 425-4508 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays, or (217) 424-1311 after hours.

We take calls all the time and we investigate things of that nature, he said. We do have wardens that are on duty after hours and have them on call at all times.

Wardens check that animals have shelter in an enclosure with a roof and walls, some type of bedding and access to unfrozen water. Reynolds and Horton stressed that anyone leaving an animal outside in the cold should check on it often.

Its always better to bring them in. They feel cold like everybody else does, Horton said. They can get frostbite on their feet, ears, noses. If they are outside, they have to have shelter that is adequate to provide relief from the heat or cold.

The state law specifically mentions dogs and cats, but Reynolds said the sheriffs office also looks after the welfare of larger animals, such as horses and livestock.

Animal control will find a temporary foster situation for any larger animals that wardens feel are in distress or danger, he said.

Space heaters

Use caution when operating space heaters, which Inspector Dave Gagnon of the Decatur Fire Department said are a fairly common cause of fires in Decatur.

Space heaters should be used on a level, hard surface, and should not be within three feet of anything flammable: drapery, clothing, rugs or paper. They should be plugged in directly to an outlet and not an extension cord.

Gagnon said many people place the heaters in doorways to counteract a cold draft coming in, but that creates a danger of catching the door frame on fire.

The department responded to one serious fire caused by a space heater in October. The house at 1042 N. Union St. did not have working electricity, and a neighbor had allowed the people living there to heat the home by plugging the space heater into an extension cord from the neighbor's house. A dozen people were displaced by that fire.
New York City is considering implementing a per-ride fee on ride-sharing services like Uber in Manhattan as well as a congestion pricing plan in order to unclog its gridlocked streets, per the New York Times. The explosion of ride-sharing  there are around 68,000 cars in New York affiliated with ride-sharing services, compared to a capped 13,600 yellow cabs  has greatly contributed to the city's traffic problems.

Why it matters: Ride-sharing's conundrum in New York illustrates the growing pains of technology companies that fundamentally disrupt certain markets and the delayed attempts to regulate them. Other cities  like Chicago, Seattle, and Portland  have already implemented their own ride-sharing fees in order to modernize public transportation and encourage ride-sharing services to offer wheelchair-accessible vehicles.
Barack Obama and Prince Harry at the Invictus Games in September. Photo: Chris Jackson / Getty Images for the Invictus Games Foundation

Former President Obama urges responsible social-media use by "all of us in leadership," in an interview with Prince Harry that was broadcast on today's BBC Radio 4's "Today." The interview, which Obama said was his first as former president, was recorded in Toronto in September during the Invictus Games. Prince Harry was one of several of the program's guest editors over Christmas.

Obama, who doesn't mention Trump: "One of the dangers of the Internet is that people can have entirely different realities. They can be cocooned in information that reinforces their current biases."

More from their chat:
Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton finished first in Gallup's annual poll of the most admired men and women in the world among Americans for the 10th year running.

Obama (17%) was followed by President Trump (14%) with Pope Francis a distant third (3%). Clinton (9%), won for the 16th consecutive time and the 22nd overall. She led Michelle Obama (7%) and Oprah Winfrey (4%).
We've made hundreds of data visualizations this year covering everything from the hurricane season to the way the economy is changing. Make sure to follow @AxiosVisuals on Twitter to keep tabs on all the cool stuff we'll be making in 2018.

Go deeper: Jump into our special stream to check out our 10 favorite projects this year.
Jesus M. Montijo, who said his home was destroyed by Hurricane Maria, holds his 1-year-old son, Damian Kaleb, on Christmas in a shelter for hurricane victims in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico.

Go deeper ... The N.Y. Times asks officials why it's taking so long: It was "an already outdated and poorly maintained grid," and "lines went down, poles snapped, towers fell and substations flooded."
Snapchat is developing a new feature called "Stories Everywhere," that will push its user-generated "Stories" (strings of photos and videos) outside of the app, Cheddar's Alex Heath scoops.

Why it matters: Snapchat is hoping that expanding access to its content will increase its user base and maybe its bottom line. The company could make money from licensing its content off-platform down the line, Heath reports. Snap's revenues have been a disappointment to Wall Street since going public with high expectations in March.

Our thought bubble: Unlike other tech rivals, Snapchat uses editorial judgement to verify the content created on its platform. Because it's proprietary and vetted, Snapchat is better positioned to monetize that content off of its app. Other user-generated content apps, like Facebook and Twitter, make posts embeddable off-platform, but there is little authority in what gets published, decreasing the value.

Other highlights from Cheddar's story:
Researchers in Israel have found that leaving the house regularly can "contribute to a longer life" for elderly people, according to Yahoo.

The findings: The study focused on 3,375 people at ages 70, 78, 85, and 90, per Yahoo. It found that those who left the house frequently (six or seven days a week) had a higher chance of living "to the next age group." The results remained the same when researchers accounted for "medical or mobility issues." Dr. Jeremy Jacobs of Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, the study's lead author, told Yahoo that finding was "quite exciting. There's something about interacting with the world outside that helps."
An elderly man in Peru named Amadeo Garcia Garcia is the last person on earth to speak his native language, Taushiro, the NY Times' Nicholas Casey reports in a remarkable long-read. A combination of disease and exploitation have led the Taushiro, a tribe of hunter-gatherers in the Amazon, to the verge of extinction.

Why it matters: "In the last century, at least 37 languages have disappeared in Peru alone, lost in the steady clash and churn of national expansion, migration, urbanization and the pursuit of natural resources. Forty-seven languages remain here in Peru, scholars estimate, and nearly half are at risk of disappearing."

"In the last century, at least 37 languages have disappeared in Peru alone, lost in the steady clash and churn of national expansion, migration, urbanization and the pursuit of natural resources. Forty-seven languages remain here in Peru, scholars estimate, and nearly half are at risk of disappearing." Go deeper: Read the full piece on Amadeo and the Taushiro people.
A U.S. appeals court judge on Tuesday rejected a lawsuit against President Trump's controversial voter fraud commission, ruling that The Electronic Privacy Information Center does not have legal standing to challenge the panel for allegedly breaching the 2002 E-Government Act, The Hill reports.

Why it matters: The group had been seeking to block the panel, formally known as the President's Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, from its planned collection of millions of voter records from 50 states and the District of Columbia, including political affiliations, birth dates and partial social security numbers.

In a D.C. circuit court opinion, per The Hill, Judge Stephen Williams wrote that the EPIC is "not a voter" and therefore had no standing to sue. He also said the EPIC "has suffered no informational or organizational injury from the defendants' attempt to collect voter data without first producing an assessment."

Background: The commission was created to probe unsubstantiated and largely debunked claims of widespread voter fraud, which Trump has claimed cost him the popular vote in 2016 presidential election.

Go deeper: Some states worry Trump launching "voter suppression" efforts; Judge orders Trump's voter fraud commission to turn over internal documents
The ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) on Wednesday urged media to respect the presumption of innocence of a Russian businessman of Armenian descent blacklisted by the United States for his alleged ties to an organized-crime syndicate.

The controversial businessman, Ruben Tatulian, is one of 10 Russian nationals on whom the U.S. Treasury Department imposed financial sanctions late last week. The department's Office of Financial Assets Control (OFAC) accused them of involvement in serious transnational criminal activities.

Tatulian holds an Armenian diplomatic passport. He was also one of three dozen Russian-Armenian entrepreneurs who pledged last January to support Prime Minister Karen Karapetian with large-scale investments in Armenias economy. Tatulians inclusion on the U.S. blacklist therefore raised questions about his ties to the Armenian government.

Democracy requires respect for the presumption of innocence, the HHK spokesman, Eduard Sharmazanov, told reporters, commenting on the U.S. sanctions against Tatulian. If a person has not been convicted by a judicial body then that person cannot be considered a criminal. Im neither defending nor not defending him. Im just noting a fact.

Asked whether the very fact of U.S. accusations levelled against Tatulian is not significant in itself, Sharmazanov said: This is beyond the scope of my responsibilities.

The official also would not say whether the authorities in Yerevan would now welcome any investments from Tatulian. Financial investments in Armenia and their sources must be legal, he said. But in order to judge whether they are legal or not you must not hand down a [guilty] verdict against any citizen as long as there is no official decision.

According to media reports, Tatulian is based in the Black Sea city of Sochi and has extensive business interests as well as strong government connections in southern Russia. An OFAC statement released on December 22 described him as a regional overseer of the criminal group in question. The Russian-Armenian tycoon has not yet publicly reacted to the U.S. accusations.
MATTOON  Mattoon police say a missing Bloomington woman has been located and is safe.

A post on the Mattoon Police Department Facebook page indicates 53-year-old Carmon D. Edwards was found, but did not provide further details.

The Bloomington Police Department reported she was found by a Good Samaritan. Officials with the Illinois State Police District 10 in Pesotum notified Bloomington police that she walked into their headquarters with a Good Samaritan from Mattoon and appears to be in good health.

An abandoned car owned by Edwards was located in Mattoon, police said Wednesday.

The Mattoon Police Department notified Bloomington police about 7:30 a.m. that the car was found, but there were still no signs of Edwards. The Mattoon Police Department, Mattoon Fire Department and Illinois State Police continued to search for her. State police also had a plane conducting an aerial search.

Mattoon police were called to assist Bloomington police after it was discovered that Edwards made a stop at the Hardee's in Mattoon on Tuesday morning, said Jason Taylor, Mattoon Police Department chief.

Edwards, who may be suffering from a recent cognitive decline, was reported missing on Monday. She had been last seen in Bloomington about 11 a.m. Christmas morning, police said.
26 December 2017 17:41 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

Stories about injustice while conscripting young Armenians to serving in the army know no end. Another such story is about a conscript Lernik Usikyan.

His application was considered at a hearing of the Public Council under the Minister of Justice on December 25. During the meeting, Lernik showed his feet, where wounds could be seen with the naked eye. The conscript noted that he limps while walking.

His mother added that doctor in the medical center in Gyumri city told that Usikyan will not be able to wear military boots and that he must wear only soft shoes.

One of the main criteria of military service is the ability of a serviceman to wear uniforms. If health does not allow him to do so, then he cannot serve, confirmed the chairman of the Public Council Gegham Harutyunyan, Epress.am reported.

However, the Council eventually decided that the demonstration of the wounded and deformed foot by Usikyan is not a proof  only a medical certificate is taken into account.

However, it is almost impossible for an Armenian conscript to get any certificate from medical institutions. The Gyumri medical center was not an exception  having learned that Usikyan is draftee, the center refused to provide any paper.

Representative of the Vanadzor office of the Helsinki Civil Assembly Armine Sadikyan has also noted at a recent press conference that civil hospitals in Armenia refuse to issue medical certificates to conscripts. In her opinion, this demonstrates the existence of a special order from the authorities.

Sadikyan noted that the Vanadzor office received 59 applications on violating the rights of conscripts during the last conscription campaigns, and 50 of them were associated with health problems.

During medical examination, if someones medical history has records about a moderate or extremely severe illness, they replace the formulation with the word insignificant, which already allows a certain level of fitness for service, the human rights activist noted.

Thus, conscript Usikyans wounds and limp means nothing to the military authorities of Armenia, and, on the other hand, it is impossible to get a medical certificate for release from the army service. In this way, hundreds of Armenian draftees are annually sent to military units, and many of them ultimately get a more severe illness or even die there.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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27 December 2017 14:30 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

Member countries of the North-South Corridor project in January 2018 will discuss with the operators and freight forwarders of India the freight base of transportation to Europe, Azerbaijan Railways CJSC informed on December 26.

This issue was discussed in Baku by members of the working group on organization of cargo transportation and development of the transit potential of the North-South corridor.

Deputy chairman of Azerbaijan Railways CJSC Igbal Huseynov and representatives of Russian, Belarusian and Iranian railway structures attended the event.

They also discussed the schedule of container train traffic from Iranian city of Astara to Moscow and in the opposite direction, as well as the opening of the Astara (Iran) - Astara (Azerbaijan) railway section and various reports of the representatives of Iran and Azerbaijan.

At the end of the event, the participants signed relevant documents.

The International North-South Transport Corridor will connect Northern Europe with Southeastern Asia, as well as link railways of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia. The corridor is planned to transport 5 million tons of cargo per year at the initial stage and over 10 million tons of cargo in the future.

The corridor is expected to bring huge benefits to the Azerbaijani budget. The route enjoys several advantages compared to other transport corridors, as it is considered to be more profitable for each parameter than other alternative routes, including reduction of the distance and delivery time two or threefold.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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27 December 2017 18:38 (UTC+04:00)

By Sara Israfilbayova

The State Committee on Property Issues of Azerbaijan held next auction on privatization of state property, following which 22 objects were sold.

Two of the privatized objects are small state enterprises, 16-non-residentila areas and 4-vehicles.

One small enterprise, 12 non-residential areas, 4 vehicles were privatized in Baku, 1 small enterprise and 4 non-residential areas were privatized in other regions and cities of the country.

Six of the non-residential areas are located in Nasimi, 2-in Yasamal, 2-in Nizami, the rest-in Surakhani and Narimanov districts of the capital.

Moreover, 4 of the objects were privatized electronically.

The "electronic auction" service, which is available on the website privatization.az, combines the privatization procedure of vehicles and equipment. In the future, it will be possible to privatize small state enterprises and facilities, joint-stock companies through electronic auction. Now, the corresponding work in programming is being implemented.

In order to protect state property and effectively manage it in the new economic realities, President of Azerbaijan signed a decree on May 19, 2016.

Under the decree, the acceleration of the state property privatization process has been defined as an important direction of the economic policy.

The portal for privatization  privatization.az, launched in July 2016, reflects all necessary information about the facilities, their addresses, location, and even initial cost and aims at facilitation of the process. The website is available in two languages - Azerbaijani and English. Why Azerbaijan is special section available on the website explains the reasons and advantages of investing in the country.

The privatization process is designed to attract both foreign and local investors, as well as develop the business environment of Azerbaijan.

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27 December 2017 17:54 (UTC+04:00)

By Aygul Salmanova

The total volume of Azerbaijani investments in non-primary sectors of the economy of the western regions of Kazakhstan in recent years amounted to $300 million.

This was announced by Akim (head) of the Kazakhstani region Mangistau Eraly Tugzhanov at the event in honor of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.

Meanwhile, over 800 companies with Azerbaijani capital work in Kazakhstan, and more than 70 Kazakhstan companies successfully operate in Azerbaijan. In Mangistau region, 52 joint ventures with Azerbaijan have been registered in various sectors of the economy, Tugzhanov said.

For January-October of 2017, the foreign trade turnover of Mangistau region with Azerbaijan amounted to $41.2 million in the total volume of trade, including exports amounting $26.1 million and imports worth of $15.1 million. The turnover between the two countries is about $140 million.

Elkhan Zeynalov, the head of the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Aktau, who also attended the event, in turn, noted that it is planned to open a large transformer plant at the expense of Azerbaijani investments in the amount of $50 million next year.

One of the most important aspects of cooperation between the two countries is the transit potential. The Caucasian route, passing through Azerbaijan, will provide Kazakhstan with an access to European markets. In turn, Kazakhstan assists Azerbaijan to enter the markets of Central Asia and China.

In August 2015, the first container train arrived at the Baku International Trade Port of Alyat through the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TMTM), following the Shikhaz-Dostyk-Aktau-Alyat route. In November 2015, within the specified route, a second container train was launched towards the port of Lianyungang - Istanbul.

Particularly important aspect of bilateral cooperation is the work of the seaports Kuryk and Alyat. The ferry complex in the port of Kuryk is oriented to transshipment of oil products, grain, chemicals, fertilizers and other cargo. This year Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Georgia agreed on the conditions for carrying out the transportation of goods by rail and ferry in the directions of Alat-Aktau-Alat and Alat-Kuryk-Alyat.

For 10 years the joint Azerbaijan-Kazakhstan enterprise Baku Grain Terminal LLC has been operating in Baku for receiving and transshipping Kazakhstani grain. Its production capacity is 300 tons per hour, and the annual transshipment volume reaches 500,000 tons of grain.

Along with the provision of high-quality grain to Azerbaijan, the Baku terminal serves as an important link in the re-export of Kazakh grain to the states of the Caucasian and Black Sea regions, as well as to the EU countries.

Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in August, 1992. Both countries are full members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Turkic Council, Joint Administration of Turkic Arts and Culture, Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

The contacts on energy issues, oil transportation, agriculture, and the use of the Caspian Sea as an important international traffic artery constitute the main part of the cooperation between the two countries.

The two countries have already signed over 100 agreements, which constitute legal basis for negotiations between the countries. More than 20 of those are in the field of economy.

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27 December 2017 11:23 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

Kyrgyzstan has supported an article of the declaration adopted at the 13th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) in Islamabad on March 1 regarding the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Pakistani media reported on December 26.

Kyrgyzstan has recently sent a diplomatic note to the ECO Secretariat about the countrys joining the articles of the final statement of the ECO summit, the report notes. This means that the country supports the declarations article on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and its settlement within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

In the document, heads of the ECO member countries expressed concern that the unresolved conflicts in the ECO area, particularly the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, hamper economic development and realization of the regions potential to the full, as well as regional and wider cooperation format.

The declaration noted importance of the efforts to resolve these conflicts in line with norms and principles of international law, particularly taking into consideration the territorial integrity and sovereignty of countries.

However, Kyrgyzstan refused to join this declaration at that time. Later, commenting on this approach of Bishkek, the Spokesman of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Hikmat Hajiyev said that the position of Kyrgyzstan, which did not accede to the political clauses in the ECO Summit's declaration, was absolutely incomprehensible.

Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions from Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly 1 million were displaced as a result of the war.

Large-scale hostilities ended with a Russia-brokered ceasefire in 1994 but Armenia continued the occupation in defiance of four UN Security Council resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal. Peace talks mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. within the OSCE Minsk Group have produced no tangible results so far.

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27 December 2017 17:14 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

Moscow welcomes the intensification of the negotiation process on the settlement of the Karabakh conflict and is interested in its effectiveness, said Grigory Karasin, Russian State Secretary and Deputy Foreign Minister.

He made the remarks in his recent interview with Interfax.

The deputy foreign minister also said Russia welcomes the forthcoming meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers, which will be held in the second half of January 2018.

Russia supports the desire of Baku and Yerevan to seek compromise solutions to the conflict on the basis of existing groundwork, said Karasin. For our part, together with our partners co-chairing in the OSCE Minsk Group, we will continue to provide mediation assistance to the peaceful settlement of the protracted conflict.

The deputy FM further noted that the common position of Russia, the U.S. and France was clearly formulated in a joint statement by the heads of delegations of the three countries at a meeting of the OSCE participating states foreign ministers, held in early December in Vienna.

Karasin also reminded that after a long break, with the assistance of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, the Armenian-Azerbaijani summit was held in October in Geneva.

It was agreed at the summit to intensify the negotiating process and take additional measures aimed at reducing tension on the line of contact of the conflicting parties, he said.

In addition, Karasin noted that on the sidelines of the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting in December in Vienna, the FMs of Azerbaijan and Armenia discussed key issues of the conflict settlement for which consensus was not yet reached.

Possible actions that contribute to the de-escalation of the situation in the conflict zone were considered. Concrete proposals related to the expansion of the OSCE observer mission were conveyed to the sides, said the diplomat.

The deputy FM added that the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers agreed to continue conversation on these and other issues of the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement in January 2018 with the participation of the three mediator countries.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. Until now, Armenia ignores four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region.

While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign state with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years.

Russia, along with the U.S. and France, is a co-chair country of the OSCE Minsk Group established to broker a peace to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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27 December 2017 10:00 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev has today arrived in Russia for a working visit.

President Aliyev arrived at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence in order to take part in the informal meeting of the CIS heads of state in Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed President Ilham Aliyev.

The CIS heads of state posed together for photographs. Then the informal meeting of the CIS heads of state was held.

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27 December 2017 13:24 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

Adoption of a convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea may require coordination of a number of nuances at the level of foreign ministers or working groups.

Russian State Secretary, Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin made the remarks in his interview with the newspaper Kommersant.

The draft convention has generally been agreed by the foreign ministers of the Caspian Five at a meeting held recently in Moscow, he said.

Karasin noted that a summit of the Caspian states will take place in Astana, Kazakhstan in 2018, and its participants are expected to consider the prepared draft convention.

But as the high-level summit approaches, some nuances may appear that will require additional coordination, he said. Therefore, I would not exclude a preparatory meeting of foreign ministers or working groups in order to clarify these nuances.

Russian presidents special representative for humanitarian cooperation with the Caspian countries Ramazan Abdulatipov has earlier said that the summit of the heads of the Caspian states will discuss the draft convention on the legal status of the sea.

The issue of determining the legal status of the Caspian Sea became relevant after the collapse of the USSR, when the emergence of new subjects of international law - Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan - raised the issue of delimitation of the Caspian Sea between the five littoral countries.

The difficulties in determining the status of the Caspian Sea were linked, in particular, with the recognition of it as a lake or sea, the delineation of which is regulated by different provisions of international law.

The leaders of the five countries met for the first time in 2002 in Ashgabat. The second Caspian summit was held in Tehran in 2007, the third one in Baku in 2010, and the fourth summit  in Astrakhan in 2014.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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27 December 2017 14:02 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Azerbaijan is a unique country in terms of its contributions to interfaith dialogue and Islamic solidarity, said Chairman of the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations Mubariz Gurbanli.

He made the remarks at a conference titled Freedom of Speech and Religious Communities in Baku Dec. 27.

There are cases of abuse of religion in todays world, he noted, adding that there is a great need for interfaith dialogue and solidarity within the Islamic world to prevent such incidents.

Gurbanli added that Azerbaijan is making a great contribution to interfaith dialogue and Islamic solidarity.

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27 December 2017 11:10 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

The Turkish Air Force neutralized seven PKK terrorists during counter-terrorism operations in northern Iraq, the military said on Tuesday, Anadolu reported.

According to a statement from Turkish General Staff, the airstrikes on PKK targets were carried out in Iraq's Gara, Metina, Avasin, and Basyan regions.

The terrorists' hideouts were also destroyed, the statement said.

The Turkish authorities often use the word "neutralized" in their statements to imply that the terrorists in question were either killed or captured.

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27 December 2017 11:36 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

Uzbekistan and South Korea are planning to conclude an agreement on preferential trade, the Uzbek Ministry of Foreign Trade reported.

The meeting with Korean Ambassador to Uzbekistan Kwon Yong Woo took place at the ministry on December 26.

Issues of practical implementation of the deals signed during the visit of the Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to Korea on November 22-25 were discussed.

The need to hold a meeting of a joint working group on the issue of concluding an agreement on preferential trade between Uzbekistan and Korea in the near future was highlighted, the ministry said.

Kwon Yong Woo noted that the visit of the head of Uzbekistan created a favorable background and prerequisites for a significant activation of multi-format cooperation between the two countries.

During the meeting with the ambassador, an agreement to continue joint work on the timely and high-quality implementation of the memorandum on cooperation in the matter of Uzbekistan's accession to the World Trade Organization and other documents signed during Mirziyoyev's visit to Korea was reached.

In January-October 2017, the trade turnover between Uzbekistan and South Korea has grown by 36 percent, thus reaching $1.1 billion.

The activity of South Korean investors plays an important role in the development of trade and economic ties between the two countries.

The volume of investments of the Republic of Korea attracted to the economy of Uzbekistan exceeds $7 billion. Some 461 enterprises with the participation of South Korean capital operate in Uzbekistan. These enterprises successfully operate in the oil and gas, petrochemical and chemical, machine-building, electrical and textile industries, information and communication technologies, transport, logistics and tourism.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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27 December 2017 12:40 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

Tashkent will host a tripartite meeting on the construction of the China - Kyrgyzstan - Uzbekistan (CKU) railway on December 27, the Uzbek Foreign Ministry reported.

The Chinese delegation is headed by Deputy General Director of the Department of the State Committee for Development and Reforms Zheng Chipping, Kyrgyzstan is led by Minister of Transport Jamshitbek Kalilov and Uzbekistan  First Deputy Chairman of the Uzbekistan Airways Akbar Shukurov.

The working groups of representatives of three countries are preparing materials of the forthcoming meeting from December 25, 2017.

This line is an ambitious project as it will be a boost for Kyrgyzstan's and Uzbekistan's trade with China. Though only some 450 to 500 kilometers long, the route must travel through the mountains of western China and Kyrgyzstan, sometimes at altitudes of 2,000 to 3,500 meters, and requires construction of nearly 50 tunnels and more than 90 bridges.

The line would start in Kashgar, in China's western Xinjiang Autonomous Uyghur Region, and run through Kyrgyzstan to Uzbekistan's eastern town of Pap, in Uzbekistan's section of the Ferghana Valley.

According to the preliminary estimates, the reduction of the route from East Asia to the countries of the Middle East and Southern Europe will be about 900 kilometers, and the terms will decrease by 7-8 days.

In addition, the construction will ensure the development of the transport infrastructure of the Central Asian countries, provide them with convenient access to the ports of the Persian Gulf and the Pacific, and will stimulate the development and use of natural resources of the regional countries.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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27 December 2017 14:42 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

About 68.8 percent of the Turkish population does not believe in Turkey's accession to the European Union (EU), according to the results of the survey conducted by the Turkish Economic Development Foundation (IKV), media reported.

As many as 31.2 percent of Turkish citizens believe that the country may become a full-fledged member of the EU, according to the survey.

Over 50 percent of the Turkish population believes that Russia is an important strategic partner of Turkey.

Earlier, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that Turkey does not need the EU, however, the European Union must make a final decision on the membership of Ankara in this structure as soon as possible.

Islamophobia, which can lead Europe to a serious crisis, has greatly increased in recent years in the EU, according to the minister.

The future of Turkeys EU membership talks has become a hot topic for discussion amid rising tensions between Ankara and Brussels.

Turkeys accession negotiations started in 2005, but until Turkey agrees to apply the Additional Protocol of the Ankara Association Agreement to Cyprus, eight negotiation chapters will not be opened and no chapter will be provisionally closed. The talks have reached a deadlock in 2007 as Turkey was not ready to change its position on Cyprus while German and French governments also opposed the countrys full EU membership.

Turkeys ties with the EU have worsened last July after a failed coup attempt. Ankara also criticized Germany, Belgium and several other European countries for turning a blind eye to outlawed groups and terrorist organizations hostile to Turkey.

European officials have repeatedly questioned widespread investigations by the Turkish authorities into the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), which Ankara accuses of having organized the defeated military coup attempt.

However, Ankara insists it is acting to maintain security in the country, which has seen hundreds of its citizens killed in terrorist attacks by different groups over the past years.

Relations further deteriorated following an April referendum which expanded the powers of the president. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe's (PACE) recent decision to reopen a political monitoring process against Turkey also negatively affected Ankara-Brussels ties.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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27 December 2017 17:43 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

National Iranian Drilling Company (NIDC) has completed 119 drilling projects in the past nine months in the country's onshore and offshore areas.

This was announced by Naser Qolipour, a manager at NIDC, during a visit to a drilling exhibition underway in southwestern Iranian city of Ahvaz.

Some 86 of the wells were drilled by National Iranian South Oilfields Company, 24 by Petroleum Engineering and Development Company, seven by Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC) and two by National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Exploration Directorate, he noted.

NIDC operates as a subsidiary of National Iranian Oil Company. NIDC engages in the exploration, development, and delineation drilling of oil and gas wells. It owns and operates drilling rigs and equipment for providing drilling services.

The companys services include well logging, cementing and acidizing, drill stem test, well testing, training and development, and general services. It also provides engineering, programming, and industrial cleaning services to steam boilers, compressors suction and lub oil systems, water gackets, chillers, and heat exchangers, as well as industrial cleaning services to the oil and gas refineries.

NIDC is in charge of all offshore and onshore drilling activities. NIDC provides more than 90 percent of drilling services needed by the oil companies inside the country.

Iran has huge reserves of oil as its proved reserves for 2017 amounted to 137.6 billion barrels of oil. The country ranks fourth in the world for oil reserves.

Iran's crude oil production was about 3.8 mb/d before sanctions. The figure dropped by 1 mb/d in 2015 due to sanctions.

Western sanctions on Iran were eliminated on January 2016, and that led to sudden increase of the country's oil output and export levels.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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27 December 2017 18:13 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

The detailed route of the railway between China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan will be ready by April next year.

A tripartite meeting of the delegations of the countries on this project took place in Tashkent today. The heads of the delegations made serious practical decisions aimed at the speedy implementation of it, clear deadlines were set. The next meeting will be held in April, ambassador of the Kyrgyz Republic to Uzbekistan Daniyar Sydykov said.

The sides also agreed that an understanding on the feasibility study of the project will be developed in August, and a vision for solving all financial issues - by the end of the year, according to the envoy.

This line is an ambitious project as it will be a boost for Kyrgyzstan's and Uzbekistan's trade with China. Though only some 450 to 500 kilometers long, the route must travel through the mountains of western China and Kyrgyzstan, sometimes at altitudes of 2,000 to 3,500 meters, and requires construction of nearly 50 tunnels and more than 90 bridges.

The line would start in Kashgar, in China's western Xinjiang Autonomous Uyghur Region, and run through Kyrgyzstan to Uzbekistan's eastern town of Pap, in Uzbekistan's section of the Ferghana Valley.

According to the preliminary estimates, the reduction of the route from East Asia to the countries of the Middle East and Southern Europe will be about 900 kilometers, and the terms will decrease by 7-8 days.

In addition, the construction will ensure the development of the transport infrastructure of the Central Asian countries, provide them with convenient access to the ports of the Persian Gulf and the Pacific, and will stimulate the development and use of natural resources of the regional countries.

---

Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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27 December 2017 17:29 (UTC+04:00)

By Aygul Salmanova

Prices in hotels of Azerbaijan were not so high compared to other countries of the world, said Culture and Tourism Minister Abulfas Garayev on 27 December.

As international practice shows, usually on weekends and pre-holidays hotels raised the prices, the minister said.

However, this does not mean that prices in Azerbaijan are higher than in other countries. Today, the hotels in Azerbaijan can offer suitable prices to any potential tourist. In some hotels, prices do not reach 50 manats ($29), in some they are higher than 1,000 manats ($588). Consequently, everyone can make a choice based on what they can afford. The development of the tourism market in Azerbaijan shows that the policy is being carried out correctly, Garayev said.

He noted that the overwhelming majority of Azerbaijani tourists had decided to rest for holidays at home, not leaving the country.

In the future, the minister said, a work would be carried out to increase the number of rooms in hotels. Recent trends show that there is a need to expand tourism infrastructure and construction of new hotels in Azerbaijan. The Ministry receives information that some hotels are overcrowded and people are searching for places, Garayev said.

This year, culture and tourism has been memorable with rich and interesting events. One of the most important events of the year is the inclusion of Kamancha and Dolma in the Representative List of UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage, the minister told reporters.

Garayev said that along with this, the Baku Process and the Baku Intercultural Dialogue Forum initiated by President Ilham Aliyev for the first time in the history of Azerbaijan were mentioned as a key part of the world's intercultural dialogue in a special report by the UN report and the Secretary-General.

He noted that the main goal of the Tourism Council is to analyze the current situation in the tourism sector in Azerbaijan, take appropriate measures to eliminate problems in this area and coordinate the fulfillment of tasks assigned to the state bodies in the field of tourism.

One of the priorities of the Tourism Council is to achieve the goals set in Strategic Roadmap for the Development of the Tourism Industry, according to the minister.

This document contains many important provisions that stimulate the development of tourism in the country. A number of successful steps have already been taken in this direction. For the first time the Baku Shopping Festival was held twice a year in the country. Statistics also show that festivals have a positive impact on the growth of trade in our country, he noted.

Tourism tends to become one of the main sectors of the Azerbaijani economy, and that can be seen from the huge flow of tourists visiting the country this year.

Today tourism is developing with high speed in Azerbaijan, with a contribution of 4.5 percent to the national GDP. The country witnesses more than 2 million annual foreign tourist arrivals and thousands of domestic tourism visits.

Hotels are a vital and fundamental part of tourism supply. Comfortable hotels and accommodation facilities contribute to popularizing any tourist destination, as travelers require location where they can rest and revive during their travel.

Today, Azerbaijan can accommodate about 40,000 tourists in its 575 hotels, which include a series of luxury hotels  Excelsior, Hilton, Four Seasons, Fairmont, JW Marriott  as well as several budget hotels for cost-conscious travelers. Moreover, 25 hostels and 92 apartments for tourists operate in Baku.

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An anesthesiologist died by suicide after pointing a gun at a hospital worker at Milwaukee-based Froedtert Hospital Dec. 26, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

Here's what you should know:

1. Wayne Hendrix, MD, pointed a gun at a hospital worker, while threatening to kill himself, before barricading himself in a hospital room. The hospital was evacuated as SWAT team members and Milwaukee County sheriff's deputies searched for Dr. Hendrix.

The sheriff's department found him in the room and attempted to negotiate with him. After Dr. Hendrix failed to respond, deputies gained access to the room and found him dead.

2. Dr. Hendrix earned his medical degree from Salt Lake City-based University of Utah. He was completing his residency at Froedtert Hospital. A hospital spokesperson declined to say if Dr. Hendrix was a patient or a physician at the time of his death.

3. The hospital released a statement saying, "Our hearts go out to the family, colleagues and friends who are grieving during this difficult time."

4. No further details were released on the case.

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After serving area residents for nearly 70 years, Our Community Hospital, a 20-bed critical access hospital in Scotland Neck, N.C., will cease acute inpatient, outpatient and emergency services Dec. 31.

The hospital is shutting down due to financial challenges. After losing money for eight years, the hospital's board ran out of options to keep the facility financially viable, Tom Majure, the hospital's administrator, told North Carolina Health News.

Like many other rural hospitals across the nation, Our Community Hospital struggled to bring in revenue due to shrinking patient volume and an unfavorable payer mix. Seventy percent of the hospital's patients were on Medicaid or Medicare and another 20 percent were self-pay. Many of the less than 10 percent of patients with private health insurance had plans with high-deductibles they could not afford to pay. The hospital recorded a $1.2 million loss on $4 million in revenue last year, Mr. Majure told North Carolina Health News.

Although Scotland Neck is losing its hospital, residents will still have access to non-hospital care in their community, including a federally qualified community health center. After Our Community Hospital closes, patients in and around Scotland Neck will likely travel about 20 miles to receive care at Vidant Edgecombe Hospital in Tarboro, N.C., according to the report.

Mr. Majure said the hospital's 60-bed nursing home will not shut down, and a portion of the inpatient hospital rooms may be converted to private nursing home rooms. "The board was adamant about trying to keep what we could here," he told North Carolina Health News. "[We] wanted to continue to provide something for the community."

More articles on healthcare finance:

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NEW YORK  Talk-show host Tavis Smiley isn't just upset with PBS for firing him on sexual misconduct charges. He's upset about his depiction in the media.

Smiley believes that if he hadn't talked publicly about romantic relationships with subordinates at his company, the behavior that led to his downfall, the public would make little distinction between him and those who have been accused of sexual assault or rape.

Conflation of different forms of misbehavior  the idea itself is controversial  is one of the issues facing media organizations covering the fast-moving story of sexual misconduct that went into overdrive with investigations into Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein's behavior.

"The media is painting with too broad a brush," Smiley said. "We have lost all sense of nuance and proportionality in how we cover these stories."

Actor Matt Damon was torched for broaching the topic recently. He told ABC News that all accused men shouldn't be lumped together because there's a spectrum of behavior. There's a difference between a pat on the rear and child molestation, he said.

"Both of those behaviors need to be confronted and eradicated without question, but they shouldn't be conflated, right?" he said.

Actress Minnie Driver called Damon tone-deaf. Actress Alyssa Milano, who began a cultural movement by urging other women who have been harassed to proclaim #MeToo on social media, tweeted in reply that victims are hurt by all forms of misconduct. All are evidence of misogyny.

Still, as the rush of stories about misbehavior slows down  if it slows down  the point Damon raises will loom larger. Debate over the consequences of Sen. Al Franken's groping continues despite his resignation. The New York Times noted the difficulties in deciding whether to fire reporter Glenn Thrush following documentation of his unwanted drunken advances on women. Thrush was suspended and stripped of his White House beat.

The New York Daily News groups many of its stories about misconduct allegations under the tag "Perv Nation." The newspaper makes clear that not all allegations are the same, said Daily News executive Rebecca Baker, also president of the Society of Professional Journalists.

However, she said, "I don't think the media can tell people what to think or stop people from conflating things."

Society is in the midst of a debate over changing norms of behavior that's very intense and not very organized, said Nicholas Lemann, former dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Distinctions can fall by the wayside with the temperature so high, he said.

"It's a good way for society to change its values," Lemann said. "It's a bad way to protect individual rights."

In Smiley's case, PBS agreed that his history of dating subordinates was the central issue in his firing. But a PBS statement also spoke mysteriously of "other conduct," giving no other details in order to protect the privacy of people who complained about him.

An unwillingness, or inability, to specify behavior that results in discipline can contribute to conflation. In firing reporter Ryan Lizza, the New Yorker magazine cited "improper sexual behavior." Lizza said his bosses mischaracterized "a respectful relationship with a woman I dated." Her lawyer disputed this, saying the relationship wasn't respectful, but wouldn't say why.

A television news producer recently dismissed because of his behavior is concerned that he will be lumped in with bad-behaving media men like Matt Lauer or Charlie Rose, and had his lawyer issue a statement saying his client was never "accused of any physical contact, language of a sexual nature or any sort of lewd conduct."

But how he's judged is ultimately out of his control, since neither employer nor employee will publicly say what the person actually did that cost him his job.

Early stories on misconduct cases  think the Times and New Yorker on Weinstein, The Washington Post on Rose and Roy Moore  were meticulously reported and have proven airtight. The challenge for news organizations is maintaining that rigor with more women coming forward to tell their stories and the pressure for scoops ratchets up.

"If you don't have one of these things really nailed down, it's a very bad thing for you," Lemann said. "Whoever gets one of these things wrong, it's going to be very embarrassing."

The story has already led to some unorthodox decisions. Vox.com assigned a woman who alleged harassment by Thrush, who said the incident still made her angry, to report and write on accusations by her and others. Having someone with a clear personal stake report such a sensitive story would make many news organizations squeamish, although no substantive questions have been raised about her work.

Conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt wrote in The Washington Post about rough justice being dispensed by the media, "much of it deserved." Even the worst offenders deserve due process, he said. It isn't easy or quick  but other victims are watching, wondering whether it is safe to speak out.

"Rarely does media have such a complicated job with stakes as high as these," he wrote.
Nurses are the most trusted professionals in the United States, according to the 2017 edition of Gallup's annual poll. The poll marks the 16th consecutive year nursing topped the list as the most honest and ethical profession.

For the 2017 poll, Gallup asked a random sample of 1,049 U.S. adults to rate honesty and ethical standards for 22 occupations. The respondents selected ratings of very high/high, very low/low or average.

Healthcare providers took three spots in the top five most trusted professions, with a high percentage of respondents rating their honesty and ethical standards as very high or high. They are listed below along with their rank:

Nurses (1)  82 percent rated honesty and ethical standards very high or high

Medical doctors (4)  65 percent

Pharmacists (5)  62 percent

Since Gallup first included nurses in the survey in 1999, respondents have ranked the frontline providers as the most trusted profession in all but one year. In 2001, firefighters topped the list after Gallup included the profession in the poll in the wake of 9/11.

"Nurses provide much more than bedside care," said Pamela Cipriano, PhD, RN, president of the American Nurses Association, in an emailed release. "We advocate for patients, deliver primary care, meet the complex needs of patients with chronic conditions, volunteer for disaster relief efforts, and are a trusted voice in boardrooms across the country."

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The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is uncovering details behind a shooting at Navicent Health Baldwin in Milledgeville, Ga., Tuesday, where a police officer shot a man inside the hospital, according to The Telegraph.

The Milledgeville Police Department said in a news release that a wounded man had been taken to Navicent Health Baldwin and became combative in the emergency room, according to a Miami Herald report.

During a fight between the man and Navicent Health police officers, the man allegedly "went for" an officer before another hospital police officer shot him, a source familiar with the investigation told The Telegraph. No officers were injured in the shooting, according to a WXGA report.

The shooting took place just before 2 p.m. Tuesday. At around 2:30 p.m., the man who was shot arrived for treatment at Navicent Health Medical Center's emergency room in Macon, Ga. GBI investigators were en route to the hospital shortly after 2 p.m. The Milledgeville Police Department is assisting with the investigation, according to WGXA.

The name of the officer and victim have not been released. The man was listed in critical but stable condition.

Editor's note: This story was updated at 10:16 a.m. CST Dec. 27.
As heroin and fentanyl have contributed to a larger number of opioid-related deaths, the proportion of African-Americans dying from opioid overdoses has increased, according to data released by the CDC in December.

In 2016, black Americans died of drug overdoses at the same the rate of white Americans in 2014, which was then considered worthy of distinction as a public health crisis, according to a report from Vox.

Here are five things to know.

1. Although the opioid epidemic continues to have an outsized effect on white communities, with a higher percentage of whites dying of opioid-related overdoses, the number of black Americans dying from drug overdoses has steadily risen in the last few years. In 2016, drug deaths among black Americans in urban counties soared by 41 percent. This outpaced the rise in drug overdose deaths among all other racial demographics. Drug death rates among whites in the same counties rose by 21 percent according to The New York Times.

2. The opioid epidemic began in the 1990s as the medical community aimed to address the burden of pain among patients. Drugmakers and distributors then engaged in what many have characterized as deceptive marketing campaigns to push the prescription of opioids to treat many types of pain. This resulted in the diversion and misuse of pills, which subsequently contributed to rising rates of overdose deaths around the country. These overdoses where largely experienced by whites as they had more access to these medications, according to Vox.

3. One potential reason the opioid epidemic hit white America so hard is that physicians are less inclined to prescribe black people pain medication because some physicians worry these patients are more likely to illegally distribute the drugs or develop an addiction, according previously conducted research cited by Vox.

4. As fentanyl  a synthetic opioid 50 to 100 times more potent than heroin  is increasingly introduced to both the heroin and cocaine supply, overdoses involving these drugs have become more fatal. This has likely contributed to the rise in overdose deaths among African Americans, according to the Times.

5. Andrew Kolodny, MD, director of Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing and co-director of the Opioid Policy Research Collaborative at Brandeis University's Heller School in Waltham, Mass., told the Times many of the African-Americans who died of heroin overdoses in 2016 were older men who became addicted in the 1970s, which suggests the current opioid crisis will affect American life for decades to come as the number of people in the U.S. with opioid addiction has surged.

"Despite beating the odds for the past 40 to 50 years, they're dying because the heroin supply has never been so dangerous  increasingly it's got fentanyl in it or it's just fentanyl sold as heroin," said Dr. Kolodny. "Forty, 50 years later we're still paying a price. What this means is for our current epidemic, we're going to be paying a very heavy human and economic price for the rest of our lives."

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Royal Dutch Shell has said Donald Trump's tax reforms will be "favourable" for the group.

Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has said President Donald Trumps US tax reforms are set to boost the group and its American business thanks to next months cut in corporation tax.

The group said the January 1 changes  largely the move to slash US corporation tax from 35% to 21%  are expected to be favourable for the group but will affect its fourth-quarter results.

It will announce the full impact as part of its fourth-quarter and full-year results on February 1.

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But it said that, based on third-quarter earnings, the tax reforms will see it take a charge of 2 billion US dollars (1.5 billion) to 2.5 billion US dollars (1.9 billion) due to a re-measurement of its deferred tax position to reflect the lower corporate income tax rate.

Barclays also announced its expected impact from the new tax laws, which were passed on December 22, saying it is set to take a 1 billion charge to its 2017 accounts.

However, like Shell, it said the overall tax cut is likely to positively impact its future earnings, although it added that the ultimate impact will also depend on the effect of other complex provisions in the Act.

President Trump signed the 1.5 trillion US dollar (1.1 trillion) tax overhaul into law last Friday, cutting tax rates for businesses and also offering some temporary cuts for some individuals and families.

He has said his sweeping reforms will act as an economic rejuvenator and claimed that the steep cuts in the corporate tax rate will invigorate the economy.

Hopes of a boost from the US tax reforms act as a further fillip for Shell after it recently announced it was restoring its cash dividends after more than two years in the latest sign that the industry is emerging from an extended slump.

The company confirmed in November that it was cancelling the scrip dividend programme that was in place since 2015, which gave shareholders the option to receive payments in shares or cash as it battled tough market conditions and a plunge in oil prices sparked by lower demand and a glut in supply.

Shell also increased its cash generation forecast as Brent crude prices continue to hold above 60 US dollars a barrel, having fallen as low as 27.26 in January.

And in a surprise announcement last week, Shell said it had acquired energy group First Utility in a move that will see it become a direct energy provider to 825,000 British homes.
Actor Peter Capaldi has given a young Doctor Who fan his "favourite present ever" after sending him a personal message from the outgoing Time Lord.

Author Brian McGilloway said his sons David, nine, and 11-year-old Tom woke up on Christmas morning to letters from Doctor Who which moved the whole family.

The letters contained greetings, drawings and a signed picture of Capaldi - and a note addressing the 'icky' business of regeneration.

The Doctor Who Christmas Day special marked the end of Capaldi's tenure as the Time Lord, with Jodie Whittaker regenerating as the first female Doctor in the final moments of the episode.

Mr McGilloway, 43, tweeted: "Peter Capaldi is my 9 year old son's fav Doctor Who and he was dreading his regeneration.

"And then he got this letter with some words of comfort from the Doctor himself among his Santa presents. Such a kind man."

He said his son was "thrilled" by the letter, which he described as his " favourite present ever".

The message, signed by Capaldi, states: "Xmas is always good fun. Well not always. Not every single second.

"Regenerating is not completely good fun.

"But you know what? Even though it can be a little bit icky (like really bad flu) it has always, always turned out good for Dr Who.

"The new doctor always becomes your favourite and the one that goes ... well, he never really goes, he is always there, somewhere in time and space, and if you think about him hard enough you'll see him, and he'll see you."

Mr McGilloway, who is also father to Ben, 14, and seven-year-old Lucy, said: "David particularly loves Peter Capaldi and was devastated about his regeneration.

"There's so much detail in the letter, I was left with a lump in my throat."

The best-selling thriller and mystery writer, who teaches English at Holy Cross College in Strabane, West Tyrone, did not reveal the content of his other son Tom's letter, which he said was "more personal".

He did reveal that this was not his family's first brush with the Time Lord.

"Earlier in the year I met Christopher Eccleston in Belfast and told him my family were such fans," he said.

"Around October he facetimed them all and spoke to them each individually as Doctor Who. I t was such a lovely thing to do."
An electrician who looted three tanning salons on Christmas Eve in Northern Ireland claims he was seeking money for unpaid work, a court has heard.

Polish national Grzegorz Szawica, 35, raided studios in Belfast and Newtownabbey, taking 450 in cash and a number of gift cards.

A businesswoman who runs all three branches identified him on footage entering the premises before disconnecting the CCTV systems.

Szawica, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to three counts of burglary with intent to steal.

He was remanded in custody to be sentenced next month.

Belfast Magistrates' Court heard the owner of the salons discovered the break-ins on Tuesday.

Premises on the Antrim Road and Andersonstown Road in the city, along with a third outlet in Newtownabbey, had all been rummaged through and cash floats taken.

The businesswoman knows Szawica personally because he carried out electrical work at her salons over the past 10 months.

"She said that he did previously have keys to all of the shops," a prosecutor disclosed.

"However, he had returned them so she assumes he made copies of them."

Szawica initially denied the burglaries before being shown CCTV footage from the scenes.

The prosecution lawyer added: "When asked where the keys were, he said that he placed them through the letterbox at each premises upon leaving, but the victim hasn't confirmed this."

A defence solicitor told the court Szawica is a self-employed electrician whose reputation is now "in tatters".

He argued that his client carried out the raids because he was owed up to 2,000 for work carried out - a claim disputed by the victim.

"He made the extremely foolish decision to allow himself entry to retrieve monies owed," the solicitor said.

"This was quite an amateurish operation due to the fact that he was well aware there was CCTV in the properties and that the (businesswoman) knew his identity.

"He knew that he would in effect be caught, but he was that fed up with being owed money that he made the extremely stupid decision to take the law into his own hands."

Responding to those claims, the prosecution insisted that a fee of just 100 had been agreed for Szawica's services.

Adjourning sentencing, District Judge Harry McKibbin ordered a report and more details on the defendant's living arrangements.

Mr McKibbin added: "It's not far off a breach of trust case where you work for somebody."
Tough and soft... getting to core of the real Queen Mum: New book by Co Down author reveals a woman who could be both kind and ruthless
Mission Aviation Fellowships planes have been delivering medicine and food to the worlds most inaccessible communities for 70 years by flying on to precarious desert and jungle airstrips, and even landing on swamps, rivers and lakes. Judith Cole talks to a pilot and two aircraft engineers who left home in Northern Ireland to join this lifesaving work.

I love being able to reach people who are isolated

Jason Robinson (43), a pilot from Coagh, Co Tyrone, and his wife Allison (43), from Portavogie, Co Down, are about to embark on mission work within Aboriginal communities in northern Australia. Jason says:

Aviation was never something that we chose for full-time mission, but it was something God chose for us. Now, we are flying in remote areas where no-one else wants to fly, on very short, dirt runways just cut into the bushland or very near the beach. I love being able to reach totally isolated people with the services we take for granted and with the great news of the gospel.

I grew up in Coagh, Co Tyrone, with my parents and two sisters, and we attended the local Baptist church. At the age of six I asked God to save me and I knew then that I would follow His plan for my life. Over the coming years I developed a strong desire to go to Australia. God was giving me a heart for adventure, I loved to ride motorbikes and horses, drive anything with wheels and my cousin and I even built a makeshift glider. On a very windy day on his parents' farm outside Coagh I had my first flight, and also my first crash-landing into a barbed wire fence, but God had a much bigger flying adventure in mind.

I have so many good memories of growing up in Northern Ireland, and some bad ones too. As I watched our wee country being divided by terrorism, God used this to burden my heart that life could end without warning and it was important to focus on His plan.

To say I didn't enjoy school much would be an understatement. On my last day I ran out not knowing what to do next. I had a chat with the RAF careers officer but I was put off because he was telling me all about the courses I would need to do to join as a pilot and it sounded too much like school. The airlines didn't interest me at all, so any ideas I had about flying didn't seem to fit. So, because I also enjoyed working with my hands, I became a plumber and my dream to travel to Australia was put on hold for a while. Indeed, it was 12 years later that I had enough money and the time was right to make the trip. I travelled with a friend for one year and then, when I returned home I saw an advertisement for plumbers in Australia. I applied, but it was three years before my visa was granted. In the meantime, I met my now wife, Ally, and it was exciting to know I wasn't going on this adventure alone.

We were married in 2005 and bought our first home in Tamborine, just south of Brisbane. I ran a plumbing business and Ally worked in administration and sales. However, everything changed in 2012 when God started to speak to us about Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF). I was given a book, Eyes Turned Skyward by Max Myers, which is the story of an MAF pilot. Then, when we were at church in Mareeba, North Queensland, I happened to be sitting beside a man who worked for MAF and who told us all about the organisation's work - and its need for pilots. Ally and I felt complete assurance that this was the path God wanted us to follow. After a phonecall to MAF, a lot of tests and prayers, we moved to Melbourne in January 2013 to start Bible College. Ally completed a Diploma in Ministry and I did the three years of flight training. I will never forget the first time I flew on my own. Gathering speed down the runway and lifting off into the air is an amazing feeling - there is a great sense of freedom but also of responsibility.

We have completed all our training and arrived in Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory, in November.

Soon, we will head out to one of the remote Aboriginal communities that MAF serves in. As pilots we have to be able to quickly do medical evacuations and fly between the many little communities. We aim to have outreach weeks where we can preach, show Christian films, distribute Bibles and meet each community's individual needs. Here, you are the pilot, the booking office, the accountant, the maintenance man, the mechanic and the pastor.

Our nearest large "town" is Katherine, about 1,000km away, and the nearest city is Darwin, 1,400km. Most of the road from Katherine to Gove is dirt track. Living in Gove, we have access to Woolworths but out in the communities the groceries have to be ordered online at Gove, taken to the airport and then flown out to your location.

For Christmas this year we spent time with friends on the beach, being careful of the crocodiles - there are many so we can't swim in the sea.

It is certainly very different to home. Keeping in touch with family is quite easy now because of the internet - we can talk via FaceTime, although we are nine hours ahead so it has to be carefully co-ordinated!

But we are privileged to be here - the people who support us prayerfully and financially have enabled us to be here and we want to thank each and every one that God has laid on their heart to support His work through us.

Its a privilege to work in the mission field

Glenn Cousley, an aircraft engineer from Moneymore, Co Tyrone, lives in Mareeba, Australia, with his wife Julie-Anne and their children Joshua (15), Benjamin (13) and Esther (10). Glenn says:

The most satisfying part of my job is ensuring that an aircraft is ready to fly for MAF in the Third World, bringing help to the needy. My day starts at 7.30am, with morning devotions at the hangar, and then work begins at 8am. This can involve carrying out a 100 hours' check on a plane, changing the oil and filter, checking the rest of the aircraft, or undertaking sheet metal work on the aircraft or flight controls.

The MAF base in Mareeba is a maintenance base, and we support mission programmes in Gove (Northern Territory), Papua New Guinea (PNG), Timor-Leste, Bangladesh and Mongolia. We also provide technical support to many of the African programmes.

Planes will fly in from Gove and PNG for heavy maintenance. The projects we are involved in require removing many of the components from the aircraft and overhauling them. The aircraft may also be repainted in our paint shop and then returned to the programme as an almost new aircraft, ready to be used in remote areas again. This process can take from 6-12 weeks.

From 2011 until arriving in Mareeba in 2014, we worked in Uganda. I was a dangerous goods trainer and vehicle workshop manager. This was a regional job which required that I travel to other MAF programmes within East Africa to carry out training for pilots and ground operations staff. Then, in 2014, we arrived in Mareeba, where I have retrained as an aircraft engineer.

Before Uganda, we were in Tanzania from 2005. As vehicle workshop manager, I set up a stock control system, put safety procedures in place, conducted training with local staff and raised the standards of vehicle maintenance. Julie-Anne helped in Sunday School at the Anglican Church in Dodoma and assisted with a children's club.

Before embarking upon mission work, I worked in a family garage business and then I was a lecturer in motor vehicle studies at Fermanagh College for 10 years.

I was 25 when I became a Christian. I had many Christian friends and saw how the Lord worked in their lives - this was a big influence on me and it is a privilege to now work in the mission field.

Our kids love how free the lifestyle is

Julie-Anne says:

I am from Ballymena originally but spent much of my early childhood in Africa. My parents were missionairies with Tearfund in the early Eighties, in Tanzania, and that introduced me to what mission work was all about - serving others less well off than myself and helping them wherever I could. We lived at Msalato Bible College, about seven miles from Dodoma, where the airfield was. I remember living alongside the other MAF families and we used to take MAF flights to the capital, Dar es Salaam, as the roads back then were poor. After leaving Tanzania at the age of 13, it was a dream of mine to return one day. I didn't realise that God had already planted a vision of His plan for my future.

Glenn and I met when he was island hopping with a friend in Greece and I was going to a resort with a friend. He took my phone number at the airport in Athens and when we returned to Northern Ireland the two guys took me and my friend for dinner.

We married in 1999 and while Glenn lectured, I was a primary school teacher. Now we live in a developed country again, Australia, it is very different to life in Africa. I'm involved in teaching at church and in Sunday School. Mareeba is a small farming town 69km from Cairns. We have sunshine 300 days a year, but humidity was at 76% last week. Our children love their new friends and the freedom of the lifestyle here. They tell me they have opportunities at Mareeba State High and Primary schools that are hard to find anywhere else, like maths camp, year group camps and writers' camp. And there are many sporting opportunities, like triathlon and kayak polo.

On Christmas Day, we got together with friends. Just like at home, people here like to put up lights on their houses at Christmas, and there are house and street competitions. There's a Christmas tree in the town and a carol service which, like nearly everything else here, is held outside.

We keep in touch with family back home using Skype or WhatsApp. We're nine hours ahead of Northern Ireland and 18 hours in front of Glenn's brother in America.

I had always thought of a missionary as a preacher

Steven Thompson (41), from Newtownards, worked at Bombardier before transferring his skills to the mission field. He lives with his wife Michelle (39) in Mareeba, Australia, with their children Samuel (12), Isaac (10), Benjamin (8), and Avalon (4). Steven says:

I grew up in Newtownards hearing the stories of missionaries from my home church. I will always remember James and Dorie Gunning, who served in Brazil with Acre Gospel Mission and how much love and compassion they had for Brazil and its people; but I never thought that it was me. I always thought a missionary was a preacher or evangelist, and that's not my gift. But of course a missionary can also be someone working in the background.

Both my parents became believers when they were young and have a strong faith. They brought us to church and Sunday School; however, that doesn't make us a Christian. The Christian faith is a personal understanding of Biblical truth, a message of a promise - Christ born, a message of love and Christ's sacrifice - "what greater love than this, that a man should lay down His life for another", and a message of a hope and a future, Christ's eternity. I am very thankful for my parents' influence in my life and for their continued support, even as we live far from home with four of their grandchildren. My older brother and two younger sisters are all married with young families - that's one of the hard things about living overseas, missing out on seeing nephews and nieces growing up.

After I left school in 1992, I started my apprenticeship at Bombardier Aerospace. I studied aeronautical engineering and trained as an airframe fitter, but I also worked in the tool room and then moved to a fabrication and pipe shop making sub-assemblies for various aircraft. We also made de-icing systems, hydraulic lines, cabin ducting, and fire extinguisher systems for aircraft engines and systems, using stainless steel, titanium and aluminium.

I worked as a mission volunteer in Papua New Guinea (PNG) in 2003, an experience which confirmed to me that full time mission work was a calling for me.

I signed up for Bible School and mission training with New Tribes Mission (NTM) in North Cotes, England, and it was there that I met Michelle. Her parents are both originally from Belfast and emigrated to Australia after they married; Michelle was born in Melbourne and was about 10 when her mum brought her and her sister and brother back to Northern Ireland. Michelle's brother now lives in Melbourne and her sister and family in Cullybackey.

Michelle and I moved to Hoskins, PNG, in 2008 with Samuel and Isaac. I worked in technical services, helping Bush missionaries with their solar electric power, and also fixing vehicles, washing machines, sewing machines, water pumps, building houses, repairing boats and lawnmowers.

We left Hoskins three years later after the little mission school closed and with a need to deal with some health issues, and returned to Northern Ireland, not really knowing what the future held. It was clear that there is a great need for licensed aircraft engineers within missionary aviation, so we decided to move to enable me to work from MAF's base in Mareeba.

Here, we do heavy maintenance of aircraft from PNG, Arnhem Land and East Timor, and engineers also travel overseas to support aircraft operating in Mongolia, East Timor and Bangladesh. A small inspection may be an oil and filter change, inspecting the engine for loose bolts or damage, inspecting the main fuselage for wear, damage or corrosion, and then carrying out any repairs required. A larger inspection may require all of the smaller inspection, plus inspection of wings and control surfaces, and the engine.

Christmas is of course quite different here, with the hot weather, for one thing. But the children enjoyed spending time with their grandmother, who stayed with us over Christmas, and Michelle's brother and fiancee also came over for the holiday.
Detectives are appealing for information after a robbery of a business in Ballynure.

It was reported at around 6.50pm on Tuesday a man carrying a suspected firearm entered the commercial premises on Main Street and demanded money from the till and cigarettes.

While no one was injured during the incident, staff were left shaken.

The man made off on foot in the direction of Carrickfergus Road in Ballynure with the cash and cigarettes.

He is described as being approximately 5' 11'' tall, of slim build and was wearing a black coloured jacket, blue jeans and white coloured trainers.

Detective Constable Robinson is appealing for anyone who witnessed the incident or anyone with information which could assist with the investigation, to contact detectives in Antrim on 101 quoting reference number 885 of 26/12/17.

Alternatively, information can also be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 which is anonymous and gives people the power to speak up and stop crime.
A leading Northern Irish teachers' union has issued an appeal for parents to use the New Years sale as a chance to boost their child's reading intake.

A leading Northern Irish teachers' union has issued an appeal for parents to use the New Year's sale as a chance to boost their child's reading intake.

It comes in response to a survey published by the National Literacy Trust earlier this month which examined a number of aspects of book ownership and reading.

One of the study's findings was one in 11 children or young person aged eight to 18 did not have a book of their own at home, with this figure rising to one in eight for children who received free school meals - a proxy indicator of socioeconomic background.

Avril Hall Callaghan, general secretary of the Ulster Teachers' Union said it was a "statistic which is hard to grasp in this day and age".

"Study after study proves the link between social and economic deprivation and academic achievement," she said.

"If a childs parents cant afford to heat the house properly or give the child a good breakfast then of course that is going to impact on how that child will perform in school when theyre coming in cold and hungry.

"We have some of the highest uptake of Free School Meals in the UK too, so stands to reason that too many children probably wont have books of their own at home. How can a parent justify buying a book when theyre struggling for money to keep the electric metre running?"

Ms Callaghan questioned why a literary and numeracy drive from the Department of Education had been shelved.

A literacy and numeracy programme had been in place in Northern Ireland from 2013 to 2015, and helped almost 19,000 pupils, as well as providing new teachers and staff.

The programme was axed due to a lack of funding.

Ms Callaghan said: "If youre looking to treat children in the New Year sales there are few things which could reap such positive rewards than receiving a book."
Climate change is causing untold horrors across the world, the Prince of Wales has said.

In a wide-ranging interview with Prince Harry, who was guest-editing BBC Radio 4s Today programme, he warned that technology cant solve our relationship with nature.

When asked by his son to pick one issue to focus on next year, Charles said over the years there have been a whole lot of things he has tried to focus on that he thought needed attention.

Not everyone else did, but maybe now some years later they are beginning to realise that what I was trying to say may not have been as dotty as they thought, Charles said.

The issue really which has to go on being focused on, big time I think, is this one around the whole issue of climate change.

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Which is now, whether we like it or not, is the biggest threat multiplier we face because what is happening now is what I was dreading.

Which is we are having to deal all the time with the symptoms that are springing up all round the world, and they are diverting us off down all these different channels to try and deal with ghastly conflicts and humanitarian and natural disasters, and goodness knows what else.

At the root of it all, much of it, is climate change which is causing untold horrors in different parts of the world.

During their discussion, Charles agreed with Harry that a number of options do already exist in terms of addressing climate change when it comes to the younger generation and technology.

I personally believe the mistake is to think technology, or clever technology, will solve everything, Charles said.

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It can solve a lot but it cant solve our relationship with nature.

As Harry added our mindsets, Charles said this is where he thinks it has gone wrong in that we have somehow abandoned our proper connection with nature.

He said it is like we have somehow imagined we can manage without or we battle against her in every way.

Instead of understanding that the future lies in working in far greater harmony with nature and trying to ensure more successfully that our own economy better mimics and mirrors natures brilliant economy, he added.

After Harry chipped in with a circular economy as opposed to a linear economy, responding to that, Charles said the concept of a circular economy is one which quite a lot of people have been working on.

He added that a circular economy is much more one which mimics natures remarkable capacity to never waste anything.
The aftermath of October's atrocity in Mogadishu which has been blamed on the al Shabab group

Members of the al Shabab extremist group have been killed in a new airstrike in southern Somalia, the US military has said.

The statement from the US Africa Command says the strike was carried out on Sunday morning and 13 al Shabab members were killed.

A spokeswoman says it occurred about 31 miles northwest of Kismayo and that no civilians were killed.

The United States has carried out 34 drone strikes in Somalia this year after the Trump administration expanded military efforts against Africa's deadliest Islamic extremist group.

Al Shabab was blamed for the October vehicle bombing in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, that killed 512 people.

Only a few attacks since 9/11 have left a higher death toll.

AP
Under heavy snowfall a woman passes by a tent camp in front of the parliament building in Kiev, Ukraine (Efrem Lukatsky/AP)

Ukrainian authorities and Russian-backed separatist rebels have conducted a massive prisoner exchange.

The swap is the largest such trade of captives since the start of the conflict and a sign of visible progress in the implementation of a 2015 peace deal.

People from the self-proclaimed separatist republics in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions handed over 74 prisoners, and Ukraine delivered 237.

The prisoners, some of whom have been held for more than a year, arrived at a Ukrainian government checkpoint in the village of Zaitseve with their belongings. One held a cat.

The simmering conflict between the separatists and government troops in eastern Ukraine has killed more than 10,000 people since 2014.

The 2015 deal brokered by France and Germany and signed in Minsk, the Belarusian capital, envisioned a prisoner exchange, but the two sides argued over lists of prisoners and only a few dozen had been exchanged prior to Wednesday.

Separatist leaders and a Ukrainian government representative finally agreed to the exchange last week, with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church acting as mediator.

German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel said "the exchange is a significant step in the implementation of the Minsk agreements" and "an important humanitarian gesture" ahead of Orthodox Christmas.

"Further steps to implement the Minsk agreements should now follow," he said in a statement. "The successful prisoner exchange shows that this is possible."

Ukraine was supposed to release 306 people, but it handed over only 237. The others chose to stay in Ukraine or had been freed earlier, said Viktor Medvedchuk, who monitored the exchange on the Ukrainian side.

Many of the captives are not combatants. Some were activists and bloggers who were charged with spying or treason.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko praised the Ukrainian prisoners held by the rebels for their endurance.

"Thank you for your perseverance, guys," Mr Poroshenko said on Facebook.

AP
Spain's economy is set to expand by 3.1% in 2017

Strong exports are likely to help Spain's economy grow by a quarterly rate of 0.8% in the last three months of the year despite the negative effects of the Catalan political crisis, the central bank said.

Spain's economy is set to expand by 3.1% in 2017, but the government revised its estimate for 2018 from 2.6% to 2.3% because of uncertainty created by the since-ousted Catalan regional government's push for independence in October.

The central bank said buoyant exports overall made up for the economic fallout in prosperous Catalonia.

Its figures are estimates and official data will be published by the National Statistics Institute next month.

Spain emerged from recession in late 2013 and is now one of the European Union's fastest-growing economies.

AP
Trevor Reaneys report on pay for our MLAs will not come as a big surprise. The former chief executive of the Assembly, has proposed that MLA salaries be reduced from 49,500 to a figure of 35,888. This will take place, if the Secretary of State James Brokenshire implements this report.

The recommendations have delighted the usual curmudgeons in the press and public that begrudge paying politicians anything at all.

Politicians accept that there is a public mood, which will no longer tolerate paying MLAs their full salary, while there is no functioning Assembly or Executive. Public patience has been exhausted and action to cut salaries has been inevitable for quite some time.

However those who believe, that by implementing Trevor Reaneys report, that will shock politicians and as a result there will be a race back to a fully functioning Assembly are delusional. Pay cuts will not make any difference to politicians, as the reason for the political deadlock is raw sectarian incompatibility, not money.

And if the electorate were truthful to themselves, especially those who vote for Sinn Fein and the DUP, they too are suffering from that same raw sectarian incompatibility, which actually supports the current political stalemate at Stormont.

Those who are most anxious to get the Assembly up and running again are the SDLP, the Alliance Party and the Ulster Unionists,who have been deliberately excluded from the interminable negotiations between the SF and DUP.

Ironically despite not being guilty in bringing about the current stalemate, it is those three parties that will suffer most from any pay cuts that take place. They are being unfairly punished for the sins of the other two parties.

Both SF and the DUP are rich parties and are well able to withstand the cuts made to salaries. SF is reputed to be the wealthiest party in these islands and can manage its resources to get through this period and even direct rule from Westminster, if it is brought about.

The political focus of Sinn Fein is in Dublin and the Dail elections in the south. They are not interested in anything that distracts attention from their progress in southern politics. Given the volatile state of Dublin politics and given the fragility of the Irish government an election will probably take place there in 2018.

A northern executive, having to implement austerity measures would not suit the anti-austerity message that they dubiously peddle in the Republic. The old excuse that austerity emanates from the Tories in London has worn too thin to be a credible defence in the south and its political rivals, like SolidarityPeople Before Profit on the left, would relish criticising Sinn Fein for their failure to halt austerity in the north.

Last January, the ill and weak Martin McGuinness, was persuaded to collapse the Executive. Since then one barrier after another has been put up by Sinn Fein to thwart the formation of a new Executive. They seem to have abandoned Strand One of the Good Friday Agreement.

At the same time, the DUP is enjoying its incredible streak of political luck in June, that gave them the balance of power in the House of Commons. They are likely to continue to be in that pivotal position until the completion of Brexit in 2019.

Ironically it is the absence of the seven Sinn Fein MPs on the floor of House of Commons,that guarantees the DUPs continued position of king maker at Westminster. The 10 DUP MPs are seemingly unconcerned about their Assembly colleagues and are not very bothered that no Assembly or Executive is likely to be formed soon. They can take it or leave it and the absence of the Assembly will not damage them. As a bonus they are also freed from being politically contaminated by association with Sinn Fein in government.

In short the DUPs focus is Westminster and Sinn Feins is in Dublin. While both parties believe it may be desirable to have an Assembly, they know it is not essential for their respective parties continuing success.

In essence, the two sectarian giants that electorally dominate politics here, are happy enough that they are not sharing power with one and other and having to make damaging compromises,which are essential to make politics work within a power-sharing government.

If the Reaney proposals are fully implemented, they could be extremely damaging for politics, as the further proposal to reduce office costs will inevitably mean the sacking of many constituency office workers. Further severe pay cuts or even nil pay, could drive many good people from the Assembly, through no fault of their own. This will not be good for politics here, as it will disproportionally damage the smaller parties leading to an even greater dominance by the sectarian giants.

Happy new year.
CHICAGO  Mayor Rahm Emanuel said 10 more cities have joined Chicago's effort to address climate change after President Donald Trump said the United States will pull out of the Paris climate accord.

Emanuel said Tuesday that a total of 67 cities worldwide signed the "Chicago Climate Charter." Emanuel was once one of former President Barack Obama's chief aides.

Dozens of mayors signed the document earlier this month during a Chicago summit.

The charter calls for mayors to achieve a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions equal to or more than what is outlined in the Paris agreement.

Mayors also vowed to work with scientific and academic experts. Some mayors agreed to specific commitments on public transportation and natural climate solutions, such as vegetation.

The latest cities to sign on include Louisville, Kentucky, and St. Paul, Minnesota.
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Georgia has turned over Robert Aghvanyan, on the run after being charged by Armenian prosecutors in March for involvement in the Russian portable Igla surface-to-air missile launcher smuggling case, to Armenian authorities for prosecution.

Samvel Babayan, who served as commander of the Artsakh Defense Army and later as the countrys minister of defense, was arrested on March 22 in Armenia with two others on charges of attempting to smuggle a missile launcher into Armenia.

Aghvanyan, detained in Tbilisi, has been charged with Article 235 of Armenias Criminal Code - Illegal procurement, transportation or carrying of weapons, ammunition, explosives or explosive devices.
No one wants to be caught off-guard when it comes to their finances. So The Associated Press asked several experts to share their opinion on what will happen with some key issues in 2018 that will directly impact your personal financial well-being. Here's a look at their forecasts:

Q. What should I expect from gas prices?

A. Gas prices are still quite low, historically speaking, and were fairly steady in 2017. But 2018 may be a bit more rocky, according to Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at the Oil Price Information Service.

Kloza estimates the average price for regular gasoline will end 2017 around $2.39 a gallon. A typical family might consume 90 gallons of regular gas each month, so their cost in 2017 has been around $215 per month.

Overall, Kloza expects the average price nationwide to rise to around $2.45 for 2018. That's still well below the more than $3 a gallon that Americans faced from 2011 to 2014. Like every year, prices will vary greatly by region and season.

A word of warning though  hurricanes or recessions could disrupt even the best estimates.

Q. What will the job market look like in 2018?

A. The current strength in the job market should carry into 2018. This is particularly true if you are in a high-demand field like health care, technology or e-commerce, said Andrew Chamberlain, chief economist at jobsite Glassdoor.

"Today's labor market is probably the tightest in a generation so that puts workers in a strong bargaining position with employers," said Chamberlain.

Companies in high-demand fields should offer pay raises and other incentives to help attract and retain workers. Those not in high-demand fields may see some improvements in workplace conditions too.

Experts like Chamberlain are warning job-holders not to get lulled into complacency by the unusually long U.S. economic expansion. As economists say: times are good until they aren't. Chamberlain said this is a good time to prepare for an inevitable downturn by socking away money in savings, polishing your resume and keeping your list of work accomplishments handy.

Q. What about tax changes?

A. This is the big question mark for many. The tax overhaul bill, which passed Congress Wednesday and is awaiting the signature of President Donald Trump, would take effect in 2018.

You may see changes almost immediately in your withholdings from your paycheck. The IRS said earlier this month that it is closely monitoring the bill and expects to issue initial withholding guidance in January, which would allow taxpayers to begin seeing the benefits of the change as early as February.

However, other big changes from the overhaul  such as a lower tax rate or elimination of some deductions  won't be fully evident until you complete your taxes in the spring of 2019.

Generally speaking, the legislation reduces levies on the wealthiest Americans, while making more modest tax reductions for most others. The tax cuts for individuals are temporary, expiring in 2026. And while it doubles the standard deduction used by most Americans, that will also end in eight years.

Q. Will wages go up next year?

A. In short: most likely.

Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said that the tight labor market is expected to remain tight. That means companies will be hard pressed to find and retain workers, and in turn, will likely raise pay.

Unemployment in the U.S. is already at a 17-year low of 4.1 percent and the economy is growing at a good clip, over 3 percent at last measure. But Shepherdson and other economists think this growth period is near its end, which is typically when the best gains come for workers.

He describes next year as the "sweet spot" for individuals to get raises that leave them feeling better off.

The only thing that could throw off this lower unemployment trend  which drives the wage growth  is if significant numbers of workers who've been on the sidelines try to rejoin the workforce.

"That is possible, but it's very low (risk)," he said. "If we were going to see a big surge we would have seen it by now."

Q. How is the housing market shaping up for 2018?

A. This year's turbulent politics, natural disasters and more should play out in the housing market in 2018, said Ralph McLaughlin, chief economist for housing website Trulia.

There will be less enthusiasm for home buying and more enthusiasm for selling, he said. That will help ease two major headwinds in the current market: low inventory and high prices.

However, there will be lower demand for homes prone to natural disasters, following this year's string of hurricanes, wildfires and floods.

There will also be a geographic reaction to the tax plan. The shrunken deduction for home interest and property taxes could dampen enthusiasm for homes in expensive and high-tax areas such as parts of the Northeast and much of the West. However, a major increase in the standard deduction should help boost demand in the Midwest and South, where few mortgages and property tax bills are large enough to warrant itemized deductions.

Trulia expects prices to rise across the county at a slower rate as the market starts to come into more balance. And for renters, the rate of rent will increase further but at a more modest pace thanks to new construction.
Demands by Aboriginal Tent Embassy activists for access to toilets at the vacant Lobby Restaurant to be restored highlight the need for a conversation about the relevance of the protest site and what should be done if it is to stay.

The activists say the National Capital Authority has secured the restaurant site, denying them use of its toilets, as payback for a controversial occupation of The Lobby in November.

Several days after the activists "evicted" the NCA from the restaurant, which had been vacant for more than a year following a dispute between the former operators and the NCA, they were moved on by police.

The embassy, which was set up in 1972 and has been dismantled and re-established several times since then, is not supported by some members of the local Aboriginal community who regard it as an intrusion on their own sovereignty over the land of their ancestors.
An alliance of six Sydney councils has imposed new guidelines on dockless bike sharing companies.

Inner West Council is leading the charge, giving the share bike companies three months to comply or they could face punitive action.

Ride sharing bikes at Waverley Oval, Bondi Road. Credit:Lucie Billingsley

The alliance was formed in November when mayors from Inner West, City of Sydney, Randwick, Waverley, Woollahra and Canada Bay councils met to draft a set of guidelines to address the problem of haphazard placement of share bikes in parks and streets.

Inner West Council mayor Darcy Byrne, who convened the meeting, said it was important that one set of rules was established to protect pedestrian safety and ensure the success of bike share schemes.
Two police officers have been struck with bottles after they attempted to break up an unauthorised party at Little Bay Beach in Sydney's south.

Two women were subsequently arrested and taken to Maroubra police station, a spokeswoman for NSW Police said.

People were reportedly pepper sprayed and shoved to the ground by police officers, who were called to disperse dozens of partygoers gathered in an alcohol-free zone just before 3pm on Christmas Day.

"They were all asked to move on and largely they did until they got to the end section of Anzac Parade and they then refused to move any further and these two [women] became belligerent," the duty officer at Maroubra said.
Police are hunting for a man who allegedly grabbed a woman who was jogging along a path on the Gold Coast on Tuesday.

About 8.15am a 43-year-old woman was jogging on a path in a park behind Castello Circuit, Varsity Lakes when she was allegedly grabbed by a man who tried to drag her into nearby bushes.

A 43-year-old woman was allegedly grabbed by a man while jogging on a path behind Castello Circuit in Varsity Lakes

The woman broke free and ran from the park.

She injured her wrist during the assault.
Masked armed robbers, one dressed in a hi-vis vest and Guy Fawkes mask, have "menaced" bank employees in the first Victorian bank robbery this year.

Armed crime squad detectives are investing a significant amount of resources in solving the pre-Chritmas bank heist, which they described as highly unusual.

The two thieves, one of them wielding a shotgun and the other a metal pole, stormed the Bendigo Bank branch in Laverton in Melbourne's outer west on December 21 shortly before 10am.

Police think the masked thief's long hair could be a wig.

"It is unusual for us to get offences at banks," Detective Inspector Stephen Clark said.
Lima: Alberto Fujimori, the professor-turned-strongman who ruled Peru with an iron grip in the 1990s, acknowledged on Tuesday that he had disappointed many of his countrymen, and he asked their forgiveness "with all my heart."

The comments, Fujimori's first public remarks since President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski granted him a medical pardon on Sunday, did little to quell widespread criticism that the pardon was motivated less by clemency than by a desire to reward Fujimori's son Kenji, a congressman who helped Kuczynski survive an impeachment vote last week.

Demonstrators protest against a pardon of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori with photographs of people disappeared during his government, in Lima, on Monday. Credit:MARTIN MEJIA

The sight of a humbled Alberto Fujimori, speaking from a hospital bed in a video that was posted on Facebook, was nonetheless an exceptional moment for Peru. During his presidency, from 1990 to 2000, Fujimori suspended civil liberties and oversaw a brutal crackdown against the Shining Path, a leftist insurgency.

He was extradited from Chile to Peru in 2007 and was sentenced to 25 years in prison for human rights violations that a military death squad carried out under his watch. But public support for clemency for the former leader, who is credited with reforms that put Peru on a path of growth, has inched up in recent months.
Australias major lenders have seen their home loan market share plummet to a post-GFC low, likely due to the lending speedbumps implemented this year and increased scrutiny of the industry.

According to AFGs latest Competition Index, the major lenders saw their share of the mortgage market dip to 62.57% in the final quarter of 2017, with ANZ losing the most ground. Its share dropped 3.5% this quarter.

By comparison, the non-majors picked up market share and now claim 37.43%, the highest this year. Non-major market share has steadily risen since December 2016 when it was 36.91%.

The majors lost ground in all categories since the last Index, including a drop of more than 3% in refinancing and more than 2% in fixed rates.

Westpac was the only group as a whole that made up any ground among the majors. It finished the quarter at 20.33%, up from 19.19% at the time of the last Index.

Macquarie was one of the non-majors that saw a rise this quarter to 4.70% from 2.91%, and AFG Home Loans saw a lift to 10.15% from 8.88%.

The Competition Index calculates loans that were written through AFG channels only. While it does not give a complete picture of the market, it does give a good indication as to where mortgage flow is strongest.

The RBA noted in its December board minutes that housing credit growth had eased in the second half of 2017 due to the major banks restraining interest-only lending to comply with APRAs measures announced earlier in the year. While growth in lending by non-ADIs had picked up, it noted that these institutions share of overall housing lending remained small.

Mark Hewitt, AFG general manager, broker and residential, said the intense scrutiny the major banks have been under likely caused them to be distracted.

With the recently announced royal commission into the banking sector, we all hope lenders can respond whilst still maintaining a focus on their customers, Hewitt said.

The royal commission, and the industry, need to focus on how competition can be further improved and this should include the impact the government guarantee has on competition, he added.

Related stories:



Broker market share smashes 55%



Resi lending surges by $5bn
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88th Precinct

Fort GreeneClinton Hill

Street attack

Some goons attacked a teen and stole his phone on Lafayette Avenue on Dec. 18, police said.

The 18-year-old victim was walking home from school with his friends between Ashland Place and St. Felix Street at about 5:15 pm when the snakes started chasing him, police said.

Once the brutes caught up to him, they punched and kicked him, before grabbing the teens iPhone 7 and green case and fled, officials said.

Bodega brute

A gun-toting savage shot a guy in the foot and stole a bunch of cash from the register of a Fulton Street grocery on Dec. 19, police said.

The 21-year-old bodega employee told police the black mask-wearing tough entered the store near St. Felix Street at about 12:35 pm, brandished a silver handgun, and then hopped behind the counter. The ruffian forced the victim in the corner and demanded money from the cash register, police said, and then fired his gun twice, striking the employees right foot once, officials said.

The shooter took more money from the register and fled, according to authorities. A nearby doctor helped the victim until paramedics arrived and transported him to Methodist Hospital, police said.

Two against one

A pair of villains threatened a teen and stole his phone and backpack inside a park near Willoughby Avenue on Dec. 21, police said.

The 13-year-old victim was near Emerson Place at about 2:30 pm when one of the goons asked him what time it was while the other displayed a black and silver firearm, according to authorities. The pair of baddies demanded the teens phone, and one of them threatened him by pressing the gun to his chest, officials said.

The nogoodniks ran off with the teens iPhone 7, Samsung phone, and backpack, according to authorities.

Subway savage

A punk tried to swipe a womans purse inside a subway station near Fulton Street as she was with her two children on Dec. 24, police said.

The victim told police she had entered the station near Washington Avenue at about 11:40 am with her two kids when a malefactor waiting outside the turnstiles tried to grab her purse.

The woman fought back, causing the purse strap to break, and the jerk let go and then fled, according to authorities.

Bathroom bandit

Some crook broke into a womans Gates Avenue apartment and stole her jewelry and laptop on Dec. 21, police said.

The woman told police she left for work at about 9 am, and when she returned back to her apartment near St. James Place at about 5:15 pm, realized her stuff was missing, the bathroom window was unlocked, and the bathroom rug was moved.

The intruder swiped the womans Apple laptop, Frost earrings, Turkish gold earrings, diamond studs, and Tiffany necklace, officials said, and the womans neighbor told authorities she saw a man carrying a bag leaving the apartment at about 5:15 pm, according to authorities.

Car shopping

Some jerk stole a guys electronics and credit cards from his car parked on Fulton Street on Dec. 19, police said.

The victim told police he had parked his car near Carlton Avenue at about 7:30 am to go to work, and when he returned at 11 am, saw his car was unlocked and some nogoodnik had taken his Dell laptop, global positioning system, two credit cards, and a backpack worth, according to authorities.

 Julianne Cuba
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78th Precinct

Park Slope

Punch drunk

Some goon assaulted a drunk man on Flatbush Avenue near Dean Street on Dec. 17.

The victim told police hed been arguing with the brute that night, when the man socked him once in the face.

Emergency workers took the victim to New York Methodist Hospital following the assault, according to police, who noted that he was intoxicated.

Hostile work environment

A former employee of a Fifth Avenue diner threatened his one-time boss on Dec. 12.

The victim told police that the disgruntled worker stormed into the eatery between Ninth and 10th streets at 8:45 pm and said hed get hurt if he didnt fork up some dough the man claims he was owed.

Police referred the victim to criminal court to obtain an order of protection, and have closed the case, cops said.

Cat nap

Police arrested a man on Dec. 13 because he took too long feeding his cat at the Flatbush Avenue building where he had been evicted.

A landlord told police the suspect was evicted from his building between Dean and Bergen streets, but that hes still allowed to come back for an hour at a time to feed his cat.

When the suspect showed up at around 1:35 pm, however, he refused to leave after the allotted hour, so the landlord called the cops, who came and took the man away, according to police.

Rides away

Carjackers descended upon Park Slope in a thieving frenzy that left three vehicle owners without rides earlier this month. Heres the rundown:

 A thief nabbed an 85-year-old mans 1998 Honda Accord he left parked on Bergen Street between Fifth and Flatbush avenues from Dec. 4 to 10.

 Some crook rode off with a mans 2018 Yamaha motorcycle he left on Lincoln Place between Fifth and Sixth avenues from Dec. 7 to 13.

 Another bike thief stole a mans 2009 BMW he left on Eighth Avenue between First and Second streets at around midnight on Dec. 12. The victim was gone for a little more than two hours, and returned to find an empty spot where his bike had been, cops said.

 Colin Mixson
China's central bank sees potential risks in the lack of uniform business and technical standards for the "scan-and-pay" barcode technology. Photo: Visual China

Bill paying via smartphones is booming in China, with consumers paying for everything from a hospital stay to a single egg.

But the central bank sees risks in the lack of uniform business and technical standards for the barcode technology. On Wednesday, it stepped in.

"Due to the lack of uniform business and technical standards, there are still potential risks in the bar code generation mechanism and transmission process, as well as risks in payment security," the central bank said.

The quick response (QR) code allows consumers to make quick payments from their bank accounts simply by scanning a black-and-white barcode provided by merchants or asking the business to scan a code generated by their mobile payment apps.

The guidelines set technical requirements on QR code encryption, transaction verification and information protection to prevent hacker attacks and customer privacy leaks.

The central bank is also requiring all payment service providers offering QR code payment to obtain a permit. All transactions made via code scanning by banks and non-bank institutions will have to be settled through a qualified clearing system under the oversight of the central bank.

The new rules are set to take effect on April 1 of the new year.

The central bank also set three levels of daily transaction limits on QR code payments based on the security level of the transaction verification method, starting from 500 yuan (about $77).

Merchants who accept QR code payments will have need to register and obtain approval from regulators.

Scan-and-pay catches fire

Scan-and-pay through QR codes caught fire in China thanks to the popularity of smartphones and the push of tech giants, who eagerly developed their own mobile payment platforms outside the traditional banking system.

In the third quarter of 2017, more than 49.26 trillion yuan was paid via mobile devices, up 39% from the same period last year. About 39 trillion yuan in transactions was handled by non-bank payment platforms, mainly through scanning the QR code, according to the central banks data released in early December.

Most transactions handled via QR code scanning are small amounts of money for everyday life, such as buying a coffee, paying for a taxi ride or grocery shopping at a corner store.

According to Zhao Yao, a financial law expert at China University of Political Science and Law, about 95% of QR code transactions are valued below 500 yuan. In the first half this year, the average amount of each QR code payment was about 100 yuan.

But the quick payment method has sparked rising security concerns.

In March, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported that QR code payment scams have caused losses of more than 90 million yuan in the Guangdong province. The scams usually involve replacing legitimate codes of merchants by the ones linked to scammers accounts, or embedding viruses to steal users personal and payment information.

QR code payment has been exploding in China since the early 2010s as third-party payment firms began taking their internet-based payment services offline to brick-and-mortar stores.

But in March 2014, the central bank temporarily suspended QR code payments, citing security concerns surrounding identification and potential theft of consumers' personal information and money.

In spite of the temporary ban, third-party payment providers and some commercial banks continued offering the popular payment method in a regulatory gray zone.

In 2016, the central bank lifted the ban, granting QR code payment a legitimate status and issuing general guidelines for the service. The payment method has since expanded more and more. And the little square barcode has become ubiquitous in China, pushed by internet giants such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd.

Grabbing the wave

Banks and traditional bankcard payment settlement provider China UnionPay also joined the trend by rolling out their own QR code payment Apps.

Alipay, the payment app operated by Alibaba-affiliated Ant Financial Service Group, controls more than 50% of Chinas mobile payment market, while Tencents WeChat Pay has carved out about 40%.

Ant Financial said on Wednesday that it plans to expand its QR code payment services to the public transportation sector in major Chinese cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou next year.

Ant Financial launched a pilot program in Hangzhou last year, allowing commuters to pay for their bus and subway tickets by scanning a barcode with their smartphones. Rival Tencent has launched a similar WeChat service in Guangzhous metro system.

Last week, international secure-payments consortium EMVCo said Ant Financial had become one of its global technical partners. Some analysts predict the partnership could grant Ant Financial a say in setting global standards for QR code payment.

Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com)
Syndicate Bank invited applications for the recruitment of 500 Probationary Officers through admission to the 01 year Post Graduate Diploma in Banking and Finance course in Manipal Academy of Higher Education Services Pvt Ltd. Bangalore (MaGE) and Nitte Education International Pvt Ltd. Greater Noida (NEIPL). The eligible candidates can apply to the post through the prescribed format on or before January 17, 2018.

Syndicate Bank vacancy details:

Name of the post: Probationary officer

No. of vacancies: 500

Eligibility criteria for Syndicate Probationary officer recruitment:

Degree (Graduation) with minimum 60% (55% for SC/ST/PWD) marks in any discipline from a recognized University or any equivalent qualification as such recognized by Central Government.

Age limit for Syndicate Bank recruitment:

As on October 1, 2017

Candidates, age must be between 20-28 years.

Selection procedure for Syndicate recruitment:

Candidates would be selected on successful completion of the course within the stipulated time period.

Candidates are also selected by online test & interview.

How to apply for Syndicate Bank recruitment?

Eligible candidates can apply on the official website from January 02, 2018- January 17, 2018.

Important dates for Syndicate Bank recruitment:

Schedule of Events Dates Start date for Online Registration January 02, 2018 Online payment of application fees January 02, 2018- January 17, 2018 Last date for Online Registration January 17, 2018 Download of Call letter for Examination After February 05, 2018 Date of Online test(Tentative) January 18, 2018

Application fee for Syndicate Bank recruitment:

For General/OBC: Rs.600/-

For SC/ST/PH: Rs.100/-

The fee can be paid through online mode by using credit card/ debit card/ net banking.

For more information about the job notification, click here

About Syndicate Bank:

Syndicate Bank is one of the oldest and major commercial banks in India. It was founded by T M A Pai, Upendra Pai, and Vaman Kudva. At the time of its establishment, the bank was known as Canara Industrial and Banking Syndicate Limited. The bank, along with 13 major commercial banks of India, was nationalized on 19 July 1969, by the Government of India.
After standing by Queen Elizabeth IIs side for 70 years, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, officially retired from his royal duties. The 97-year-old has been known for his off-the-wall comments and his naval service, but if you get into the details of his childhood and earlier years, then youll learn that Prince Philip has come quite a long way.

When Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth wed in 1947, the Greek Prince was seen as fairly undesirable by the British people. Despite his royal heritage, the princes sordid past certainly raised some eyebrows. Though Netflixs The Crown addresses some of Prince Philips past, here are the dark secrets you probably never knew about his life.

In exile from the beginning

Prince Philip was born in 1921 to Princess Alice of Battenberg and Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark. His father Prince Andrew was the King of Greeces brother.

However, when Prince Philip turned 1, his uncle was effectively removed from the throne, and the family was forced to flee. Prince Philip was carried away in a fruit crate.

Next: A boy with no surname

A prince with no name

As is the case with many royals, Prince Philip had no last name. In boarding school, he was merely called Philip of Greece. When he got to school, he was bullied because he had no surname.

When he became a British citizen just before marrying Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip took his maternal uncle, Dickie Mountbattens, last name.

Next: The worst example for a father

A playboy for a father

After fleeing from Greece, Prince Philips dad, Prince Andrew abandoned his family and spent the rest of his days with his mistresses in the south of France.

Prince Philip rarely saw him, and it greatly affected how he parented his children. Prince Philip is known as a devoted father.

Next: A mother who was committed to an asylum against her will

A mother with a mental illness

Prince Philips mother, Alice Battenberg, was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria (making Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth distant cousins). Princess Alice was strikingly beautiful but completely deaf. She learned to hide her disability by reading lips in multiple languages.

When Prince Philip was 9 years old, his mother was committed to a mental institution and diagnosed with something called, neurotic-pre-psychotic libidinous condition. Sigmund Freud treated Princess Alice, and under his recommendation, she was subjected to an exposure of the gonads to X-rays, in order to accelerate the menopause. She was later diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Prince Philip wasnt reunited with his mother until 1967 when she lived out the last days of her life in Buckingham Palace.

Next: A difficult education.

Gordonstoun school

During his formative years, Prince Philip attended Gordonstoun school in rural Scotland. It was a challenging experience for him. He had to get up at 6 a.m., learn to sail, take cold showers, run, read on his back for an hour each day, and do manual labor.

Prince Philip later wrote, Children may be indulged at home, but school is expected to be a Spartan and disciplined experience in the process of developing into self-controlled, considerate and independent adults.

Prince Philip later sent his son, Prince Charles, to the same school, despite Queen Elizabeths objections. Season 2 of The Crown goes into great detail about both the father and sons experiences.

Next: Some unsavory siblings

Nazi siblings

Prince Philip was the youngest of five siblings; his four sisters were much older than him when he was born. By the time he was 10 years old, all of his sisters were married to German aristocrats some were even Nazis.

When Prince Philip married Queen Elizabeth just after the end of World War II, many people were quick to bring up the Nazi ties. Not one of the princes family members received an invitation to his wedding.

Next: A terrible accident

A plane crash

When Prince Philip was on break from Gordonstoun, he often stayed in Germany with his favorite sister, Cecile. Unfortunately, when he was 16, Cecile, her husband, and their two children were killed in a plane crash.

Next: A very difficult year

Another tragedy strikes

A few months after his sister, Cecile, and her family were killed in a plane crash, Prince Philips uncle and guardian, George Mountbatten, the second Marquess of Milford Haven, suddenly died of cancer.

Gordonstoun Headmaster, Kurt Hahn, broke the news to the prince both times. He reportedly said, His sorrow was that of a man.

Next: An odd upbringing

Eccentric relatives

Before his uncles death, Prince Philip often lived with his Uncle Georgie Mountbatten and his wife Nada, the great-granddaughter of the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin. Nada was extremely eccentric. Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt was her lover, and she once ordered a bathtub of champagne to soothe her feet after winning a Charleston dancing contest in Cannes, France.

After Prince Philips Uncle Georgie died, his Uncle Dickie Mountbatten finished raising him.

Next: Some major reservations from the royals.

No gentleman

British citizens werent the only people concerned about Prince Philips marriage to Queen Elizabeth. The queens uncle, David Bowes-Lyon, had it in for Philip right from the start.

Queen Elizabeths mother also privately referred to Prince Philip as The Hun and she didnt believe he was a gentleman.

Next: The strangest dinner party

The naked waiter

Prince Philip was a part of a notorious lunch club who reportedly enjoyed rip-roaring stag parties. It was rumored that Prince Philip once served dinner to some guests wearing only a mask and a tiny lace apron.

He was known as The Naked Waiter.

Next: Whispers of infidelity.

Rumored affairs

Though nothing was ever explicitly stated, The Crown alludes to the fact that Prince Philip enjoyed the company of other women during his marriage to the queen. Though we may never know the truth, during their 50th wedding anniversary two decades ago, Prince Philip gave a toast to his wife.

He said, I think the main lesson we have learnt is that tolerance is the one essential ingredient in any happy marriage You can take it from me; the Queen has the quality of tolerance in abundance.

Next: Taking on another title

A duke first and a prince later

Just before Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth wed, he became the Duke of Edinburgh. A decade later, he became His Royal Highness the Prince Philip. After Queen Elizabeth stepped into her role after her fathers death, the young couples life changed drastically. Prince Philip was a naval man who struggled with following his wifes lead, and he had to define a role for himself.

Over the years, Prince Philip has overseen the couples personal properties and made the major decisions regarding his childrens education.

Next: A man with no filter.

Putting his foot in his mouth

Though the British royal family is known for their decorum, Prince Philip has always been known to speak boldly and without much of a filter. Though his frank speech used to be deemed as offensive, he is indulged a lot more these days.

When he met activist Malala Yousafzai in 2013 to discuss why education was so important, he reportedly said, People want children to go to school to get them out of the house. We see no lies here.

Next: A rumor of a lifetime

A shocking rumor

Over his 70 years in the public eye, Prince Philip has been plagued by one major scandal. After Princess Diana died in a car crash in 1997 along with her lover Dodi Fayed, Fayeds father Egyptian businessman, Mohamed Fayed, claimed that Prince Philip had ordered Princess Dianas death.

Historian Carolyn Harris said of the rumor, There have been extensive investigations concerning the death of Diana, and those allegations of foul play have never been substantiated.

Follow Aramide Tinubu on Twitter @midnightrami.

Read more: British Royal Family Drama: Craziest Feuds You Wont Believe Actually Happened

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Being Pro-Life at Google Is it possible to argue effectively for the rights of the unborn to a secular audience? Just Google it!

Is it possible to argue effectively for the rights of the unborn to a secular audience? Just Google it!

Many were surprised when Tim Keller was invited to give a Google Talk back in 2008 about his book, "The Reason for God." The tech giant, like most denizens of Silicon Valley, has a reputation for being socially progressive and devoted to a set of values that are, shall we say, different than those of conservative Christians. By inviting him to talk to its staff, Google signaled an openness, not only to Christian ideas, but to real and healthy dialogue.

Keller was even invited to speak a second time at Google. But recently, an even more surprising Google Talk speaker than Keller visited their headquarters. She's co-founder of the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform and now leads a ministry called Love Unleashes Life.

Her talk at Google just a few days ago wasn't just unprecedented, it was amazing. In fact, within 24 hours, it surpassed the popularity of another talk by Planned Parenthood president, Cecile Richards.

Stephanie opened by comparing the story of Captain Sully Sullenberger, the man who successfully landed a disabled airliner on the Hudson River in 2009, refusing to evacuate until all his passengers were safe, with the captain of the Italian Costa Concordia ship who quickly jumped ship after it wrecked.

We rightly admire people like "Sully," Stephanie said, because of three qualities. First, their willingness to sacrifice for others, their perspective when faced with hardship, and their commitment to do the right thing, even when it means being the last one out of a sinking airplane.

But abortion flies in the face of these admirable and heroic qualities. It promises an easy way outerasing the consequences of sex as if nothingor no oneever happened.

Stephanie thinks we all know better at a deep level. And she challenged her audience with story after story of women who chose life, even in the toughest of circumstances, and who don't regret it.

Like my friend, Scott Klusendorf at the Life Training Institute, Stephanie knows that the arguments about choice, bodily autonomy, financial hardship, or special cases are just distractions from the central question that matters the most: Is the unborn human?

At Google, she marshaled scientific evidence to show that our humanity and individuality are fully present from the earliest stages of gestation. She showed that an unborn baby's moral value is determined solely by the type of thing it is, not its size, level of development, environment, or degree of dependency.

And most importantly, she appealed to her audience's moral imagination, demonstrating why the others-centered love required to choose life is the kind of thing we admire, the kind of thing we know is right, and the kind of choice no one regrets.

We can learn a thing or two from Stephanie. First, the case for life is strong. Her message was one that even an overwhelmingly secular and progressive audience could understand. She made non-religious argumentswhat Chuck Colson would call prudential argumentsfor the rights of the unborn. And then she employed an arsenal of stories that reinforce life in a way philosophical reasoning by itself never could. She even appealed to Google's corporate motto, "Do the right thing," adding: "even when it's hard."

And the second thing we can learn is that the moral realities that Christians believe aren't just true and defensible. They're better! So many in our culture these days are wondering not only if Christian truth claims are true, but if they're good.

We can and should know how to make the case for life just like Stephanie. Come to BreakPoint.org for a link to her outstanding talk, and to find the book that taught me to make the case for life by Scott Klusendorf, called The Case for Life.

Originally posted at BreakPoint.
State Debate: Arguing over taxes is over, now we'll find out who was right, says Beloit Daily News
'Evangelical' Has Become an Ethnic Pejorative Word in the Church We are all soldiers in the army of Jesus Christ.

As increasing numbers of professing Christians subscribe to a gospel of social justice  a fundamental tenet of which is the resurrection and prosecution of past sins committed primarily by white evangelical Christians against black people whether by commission or omission  the term "evangelical Christian(ity)" has become synonymous with historical and present-day attitudes of white oppression and white supremacy in America, whether perceived or real.

But a fundamental problem with this perspective is that it paints an entire ecclesiastical population, white evangelical Christians, with a very broad and subjective brush, having judged them collectively guilty of harboring such sinful attitudes solely on the basis that they are white and evangelical.

Ironically, seldom, if ever, is the term 'evangelical' used in that same context when referring to Christians who are black. Unlike white evangelical Christians, black Christians are considered just, well, Christians, and under that generic descriptor are generally not held to the same standard of attitudinal or ideological scrutiny as their white evangelical brethren.

Yes, they are brethren (Gal. 3:26-28).

As is often the case when engaging in discourse on such topics as white evangelicalism and, specifically, the influence white evangelicals are having in shaping the current socio-political vista in America  a reality many social justice advocates, especially though not exclusively, find concerning  objective terms and definitions have proven difficult to come by.

But if this matter of white evangelicalism is to be discussed in a spirit of intellectual honesty, it must first be objectively defined so as to be understood in context as opposed to a subjective and nebulous idea that is open to interpretation. In other words, the question must be asked: what exactly is 'white evangelicalism' anyway?

There are myriad grievances being lodged under the guise of white evangelicalism, but I have yet to find an objective definition of what white evangelicalism is.

And if there is such a thing as white evangelicalism  as there surely must be given how incessantly the term is used within social justice circles  the logical deduction must be that there also exists such a thing as black evangelicalism, and Asianevangelicalism, and Hispanic evangelicalism, and Latino evangelism, and so on, until every conceivable ethnic association with the term evangelicalism has been identified (if such a thing were even possible).

Though not openly acknowledged by many who are considered to be among the social justice elite, the truth is that much of the acrimony being aimed at white evangelical Christians is rooted in a deep-seated anger over the level of support Donald Trump received from them as a voting bloc and, likewise, for conservative Roy Moore, the Republican candidate for United States Senate from Alabama.

But I find this indignation, such as it is, to be somewhat hypocritical, as the support received by Barack Obama from black voters in both 2008 and 2012, many of whom were professing evangelical Christians, far exceeded what both Trump and Moore received from white evangelical voters in 2016 and 2017, respectively.

So why, then, is it so problematic to some that white evangelical voters cast their vote for the candidate(s) of their choice, when black evangelicals did the exact same thing  and to an even greater degree?

"I voted for Barack [Obama] because he was black. 'Cuz that's why other folks vote for other people  because they look like them."  Samuel Jackson, actor, as quoted in the Daily Mail, February 13, 2012

It is disingenuous, in my humble opinion, to accuse white evangelicals, en masse, of political, racial or ideological idolatry with regard to Donald Trump and his agenda, when the same can be said of black evangelicals concerning Barack Obama and the role melanin unarguably played in their decision to twice support him to the tune of 90-plus percent.

It is this kind of selective partitioning of the term evangelicalism that prompted me to title this blog post as I did.

To assert, imply, or infer that all white evangelical Christian supporters of Donald Trump and Roy Moore are racists and white supremacists, while excusing black evangelical Christians who supported Barack Obama, a man who openly advocated for such unbiblical policies as homosexual marriage and partial-birth abortion, is tantamount to hijacking what evangelicalism truly is by uprooting it from its theological foundations and relegating it to merely a political philosophy.

In the book, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, British theologian J.I. Packerdefines evangelism as: "a work of communication in which Christians make themselves mouthpieces for God's message of mercy to sinners." Packer goes on to assert that, "Anyone who faithfully delivers that message, under whatever circumstances, in a large meeting, in a small meeting, from a pulpit, or in private conversation, is evangelizing."

By citing these words of Packer, I am simply pointing out that in discussing the topic of evangelicalism, particularly in light of today's socio-cultural milieu, it is helpful to consider that words have meaning, and meaning requires context, assuming, that is, that getting to the truth about a matter is ultimately the goal of discussing a matter in the first place.

In biblical terms, evangelicalism is fundamentally rooted in Jesus' command to His followers to "...make disciples of all the nations (Matt. 28:19)." It is a universal edict that is applicable to every believer in Christ, regardless of any other spiritual or temporal distinction or qualifier (Lk. 6:46).

Interestingly, the Greek noun nation in Matt. 28:19 also appears in Acts 17:26, a text that unambiguously exclaims the sovereignty of God in creating each of us with the unique characteristics we possess and is the word from which the English word ethnicity is derived.

But leave it to sinful humanity to take an attribute that openly testifies to the creative genius of almighty God, namely our ethnicity, and use it to divide the very people whose mission it is to proclaim to the world the mercies of a God who, in His providential wisdom, uniquely created each of us in His image (Gen. 1:27).

Notwithstanding the extent to which the term evangelical is being co-opted today by many Christian social justice advocates in calling for generations of white evangelical Christians to repent of centuries of racial injustices against black people, the idea of resurrecting and prosecuting past sins is wholly antithetical to biblical Christianity (Eph. 4:32). Admittedly, it is when we are sinned against that being Christlike can be most challenging for us. But, as theologian Dr. R. Kent Hughesreminds us:

"Jesus changes our lives! We are no longer consider it our duty to get even. "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" is fine for the court, but not for our relation to others  even our enemies. Thanks to Jesus, we have let go of our legalistic obsession with fairness. We are glad that Jesus was not fair with us, for if we were to have gotten what was coming to us, it would not have been good. As Jesus' followers, we give ourselves to the highest welfare of others, even our enemies. We put up with the sins and insults of others for Christ's sake and theirs. Though hurt many times before, we refuse to withdraw into the shell of self. We do not run from hurt. We appear weak, but we are strong, for only the most powerful can live a life like this. But the power is not ours, but Christ's."  The Sermon on the Mount: The Message of the Kingdom, p. 141

Shortly before He was put on trial and, subsequently, sentenced to death on a cross, Jesus Christ, who is Lord of the church (Eph. 5:23), prayed that those who believe in Him would be one, even as He and His Father are one (Jn. 17:20-21).

The oneness of which Jesus spoke had nothing to do with the pursuit of political consensus across ethnic or cultural boundaries and experiences, but a unity that transcends all earthly understanding and comprehension, being rooted in a universal love for Jesus Christ and those who comprise His church (Jn. 13:34-35; Heb. 13:1; 1 Pet. 3:15-18). As theologian J. Gresham Machen wrote in his classic work Christianity & Liberalism:

"An evangelical church is composed of a number of persons who have come to agreement in a certain message about Christ and who desire to unite in the propagaton of that message, as it is set forth in their creed on the basis of the Bible. "

I can remember as a child a song my mother would often sing around the small two-bedroom public housing unit we lived in on Harwell Street on the west side of Atlanta.

The song was 'We Are Soldiers In The Army', the chorus of which was:

We are soldiers in the army.

We have to fight although we have to cry.

We've got to hold up the blood-stained banner.

We've got to hold it up until we die!

There is a sense today in which the word "evangelical" has become something of an ethnic pejorative within the church in America.

Needless to say, this ought not to be the case among those who confess the name of Christ (1 Thess. 4:9).

As sinful as it is to discriminate against one of God's image bearers on the basis of his or her ethnicity, it is no less sinful to misconstrue or misapply an aspect of one's identity as a Christian to advance or promote a particular ideological narrative or agenda.

After all, we are soldiers in the army of Jesus Christ, my friends and soldiers fight with each other not against each other.

"...and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you."

1 Thessalonians 3:12 (NASB)

Originally posted at Just Thinking for Myself.
Feminism: It's the Word of the Year, but It Doesn't Mean What You Think It Does Women are flexing their collective muscle like never before.

Feminism. It's Merriam-Webster's word of the year. And it's no wonder with the Women's March last January, the #MeToo Campaign this Fall  and the Boy Scouts' decision in October to allow girls into their organization.

Women are flexing their collective muscle like never before, so it's not surprising that feminism was looked up more than any other word in Merriam-Webster's online dictionary, generating 70 percent more searches in 2017 than 2016. What perhaps is surprising is that more than 50 years after the launch of modern feminism, people still don't know what the word means.

To Webster, feminism is "the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes," and "organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests." But to the online urban dictionary, feminism "is a movement full of women who seem to think that their ability to push a baby out . . . entitles them to bigger and better everything." And to "Jesus Feminist" Sarah Bessey feminism is simply "the radical notion that women are people too."

Clearly, feminism means different things to different people, often depending on their own personal biases. But as I write in Redeeming the Feminine Soul, feminism is not merely about equality; it's a radical ideology that has evolved over the past several decades and has four distinct movements or "waves." And to understand feminism today, one needs to know feminism's sordid past, and also how misogyny ironically has become integral to the movement.

First- and Second-Wave Feminism

Initially, feminism aimed to abolish the misogyny, or hatred of women, that resulted from the Fall. This 19th- and early 20th Century movement, known as first-wave feminism, addressed man's denigration of women  the refusal to grant women the right to vote; to own property (if married); and to pursue higher education and certain professions. Yet, this feminism didn't seek its goals to the detriment of the family, nor women's role as mothers. In fact, feminist pioneer Mary Wollstonecraft wrote in her famous work, A Vindication of the Rights of Women, "(T)he care of children in their infancy is one of the grand duties annexed to the female character by nature."

However, second-wave feminism, which began in the 1960s, radically departed from this original vision. Its ideological founder, Simone de Beauvoir, wanted to abolish marriage because she believed the roles of wife and mother enslaved women. She also wanted to abolish sexual differentiation.

To Beauvoir, equality required sameness. As long as man viewed woman as "other," he would seek to oppress her. So Beauvoir advocated eradicating all gender classes. In her ideal society, there would "no longer be men and women, but only workers on a footing of equality."

Sadly, Beauvoir didn't see how inherently misogynistic her views were. Becoming androgynous requires women to die to their God-given feminine natures. This is an insidious form of self-hatred, but one that is rampant in modern feminism.

Beauvoir's misogynistic ideas were picked up and popularized in the United States by Betty Friedan, the person normally credited with launching second-wave feminism. Friedan dedicated her hugely influential book, The Feminine Mystique, to Beauvoir. And similar to Beauvoir, Friedan portrayed housewives as prisoners and viewed femininity as a vice, not a virtue. "Femininity," she wrote, ". . . makes American women a target and a victim of the sexual sell."

Not surprisingly, Friedan's brand of feminism quickly became fanatically pro-choice. In 1966, she co-founded the National Organization of Women (NOW). She also helped start an organization dedicated to pushing for abortion rights, which today is known as NARAL Pro-Choice America.

Third-Wave Feminism

In the 1990s, a third wave of feminism emerged. Unlike second-wave feminists, who opposed pornography because they viewed it as degrading to women and furthering a culture of male domination, third-wave feminists embraced pornography and sexual license.

Heavily influenced by the message of the sexual revolution, these daughters of second-wave feminists considered the porn-averse feminism of their mothers to be repressive. They believed sexual freedom was essential to women's freedom, and as a result, opposed any efforts to control or limit sexual activity. This caused the hookup culture to explode, especially on college campuses.

Paula England, a sociologist at Stanford University, surveyed more than 14,000 college students at 19 universities about their hookup and dating experiences from 2005 to 2010. She found that 72 percent of college co-eds reported having at least one hookup by their senior year. But a sizable number of this group, 40 percent, had between four and nine hookups, and about 20 percent said they had 10 or more.

Since 2010, however, the hookup culture has become even more prevalent due to dating apps like Tinder and Hinge. One study reported that nearly 100 million people now are using dating apps as a portal to shop for sex partners 24 hours a day. The results are chilling.

Alex, a twenty-something investment banker, told a reporter for Vanity Fair that dating apps enable men like him to "rack up 100 girls (they've) slept with in a year." Alex's friend Marty said he had slept with 30 to 40 women in the past year, but admitted he had to feign wanting a relationship to get them to have sex with him. "I think to an extent it is, like, sinister," he admitted and then mused: "Do you think this culture is misogynistic?"

Of course it is  and it's mind-numbing that women would participate in their own victimization on such a vast scale. But that is the nature of movements rooted in assumptions contrary to God's design. They promise fulfillment, but deliver pain and bondage.

Fallon, a female student at Boston College told the Vanity Fair reporter, "Sex should stem from emotional intimacy, and it's the opposite with us right now, and I think it really is kind of destroying females' self-images." A classmate, Amanda, added: "But if you say any of this out loud, it's like you're weak, you're not independent, you somehow missed the whole memo about third-wave feminism."

Despite its ravaging impact, the hookup culture continues unabated, in part because many feminists see it as essential for fulfilling the priorities of second-wave feminism. That is, career first  and love, marriage and family later, if at all.

As Hanna Rosin, author of The End of Men and the Rise of Women, writes: "(F)eminist progress right now largely depends on the existence of hookup culture. . . . For college girls these days, an overly serious suitor fills the same role an accidental pregnancy did in the 19th century: a danger to be avoided at all costs, lest it get in the way of a promising future."

Feminism's Fourth Wave and Elimination of "Gender Binary"

In the past 10 years, a fourth wave of feminism has begun to emerge, though it is so amorphous that even many leading feminists have trouble defining it. One prominent characteristic, though, is that fourth-wave feminists stress intersectionality  the theory that social identities and systems of oppression interact on many different levels.

So a fourth-wave feminist would be likely to focus on how the forces that oppress women may also interact or overlap with the forces that oppress other groups, like racial minorities or those who identify as LGBTQ.

Yet, feminism's embrace of post-modern definitions of identity may eventually lead to its complete undoing. After all, one of the major tenets of the LGBTQ community is that gender is not a biological fact, but a social construction, and that the so-called "gender binary"  the division of society into male and female  is oppressive and should be abolished.

In this new "gender-spectrum" world, it's hard to imagine how feminism  something that assumes a gender binary  would have any claim to legitimacy. It seems feminism would eventually have to be abolished along with all the other relics of the "oppressive" gender-binary world.

The irony, though, is that when society erases gender distinctions, it also erases common-sense protections of women, which then perpetuates injustice and oppression against them. For example, schools and businesses are now easing their restrictions on men in women's bathrooms and locker rooms, creating an unsafe environment. Similarly, fourth-wave feminists have helped opened the door to transgender men competing in women's competitions, which is destroying women's sports.

Beyond Feminism

Sadly many well-intentioned Christians have jumped on the feminist bandwagon, and even participated in the Women's March earlier this year. But feminism is a movement steeped in a completely anti-Christian worldview, and as a result, harms the very people it intends to help.

But that doesn't mean that the problems feminists tried to address aren't real. As the #MeToo campaign has shown, women remain prime targets of abuse and exploitation. The church needs to address these problems, but it needs to do it in a biblical way, not a godless one.

Instead of trying to encourage women to become more like men, it needs to affirm women as women, and promote womanhood (and motherhood) to a culture that largely disrespects it. And instead of using women for their own selfish gain, Christian men need to protect and respect them  and teach their sons to do the same.

A movement with these goals would do much to help women thrive and flourish. But don't confuse this movement to truly help women with feminism; feminism has done nothing of the sort.
How Can Christians Impact Society? Love and Respect Others the Way Christ Did I hear things often about how there should be a separation of church and state, meaning that religion needs to stay out of public life.

I hear things often about how there should be a separation of church and state, meaning that religion needs to stay out of public life. How it has no place in politics, education or the marketplace. At the same time, religion is a key driving factor in one of the fastest growing demographics in this country, the Muslim population. In light of what has, is and will happen in this country, we need to look at what the separation of Church and state is, what the first amendment really says and how it is supposed to function.

First, we need to remember our foundation. Many of those who came to this country from England did so to escape religious intolerance. They were called Separatist (not the Star Wars kind) and they had no desire to be part of the Anglican church. They were Baptists, Methodists, Quakers, Puritans, Brethren and others. They came to this country to escape the persecution that was happening, as a result, the freedom of worship was important to them. They wanted those who lived in this country to be free from the fear of prison for worship. This is why they wrote the first amendment, that Congress shall pass no law concerning the establishment of religion and the free practice thereof. The separation of church and state means that the state would not establish a church, we will have no national religion, no denomination that is the state denomination, like The Church of England. No one would be forced to serve the church by the country.

Now today, we have moved to have freedom of religion, there is an organization promoting the freedom from religion. This is impossible since Christianity has shaped Western society. The whole idea of a weekend, the Gregorian calendar, the university, even democracy has roots in Judeo-Christian heritage. You can't escape religion, and you shouldn't try, even if you don't believe in an organized faith, you have to respect the American right to worship as you choose. You have the right and the freedom to worship Jesus, Mohammad, Budha or the Flying Spaghetti Monster. You just do, it's a right. Individuals have a right to express that right in word and deed, as long as it does not infringe on the freedom of another. I can pray for you, I can pray in public, I can read my Bible, I can preach and teach, but I can't force you to read my Bible, pray with me or even listen to me preach. It's a fundamental right of every American.

As Christians (this is a Christian blog, so if you don't want the Christian perspective, you found the wrong place), we need to be aware of where we came from and what our obligation is. We are living in a mission field. America's Christian roots are growing short and the number of those not involved in a church is growing. The number of churches that have left Biblical teaching and embracing popular culture instead of Biblical truth is growing. Many mainline churches are leaving the truth of the Bible for what is popular, either liberal theology or the Word of Faith movement which much of it has turned away from truth in the pursuit of wealth and prestige. To stand on Biblical truth is not as popular and seldom see, unfortunately. We live in a time that American is more openly hostile to Christianity. It's ok to condemn the entire Church because some have acted hatefully, and what use to be considered wrong and immoral is not paraded as "normal". If you stand on Biblical truth and call for things like sex only inside of a marriage relationship between a man and a woman where children are raised in healthy, two-parent households, you will get slapped with all sorts of labels. The culture thinks that's an outdated idea, I think truth is truth.

The culture may be against us, but there is something we have done a poor job at and we need to double down on. Religious freedom, not for us, but for others. I hear too many Christians saying that Muslims need to abandon their faith. I see posts all the time that Muslim women need to abandon the hijab. We cannot expect the world to give us religious freedom and attempt to subvert the religious freedom on another. It's true that some in the Muslim world don't believe that we should have religious freedom, that we should convert to Islam or pay the consequences. That doesn't matter, they are not the standard. The atheist who thinks that Christians should be locked into mental institutions, the Muslim that thinks Christians should be beheaded, the liberal who thinks we are to keep silent and fall in line, none of them are the standard. We need to stand for truth and for the freedom that we have.

Here is my thought. First, we need to support the rights of the Islamic community, the Jewish Community, the Buddhist community and others that are not Christian to freely exercise their religious freedom. We don't need to join them, we don't need to participate, we can tell them about Jesus and pray for their salvation (we can and we should), but we need to respect their freedom in America to be Americans and be free. Religious freedom is a fundamental right, and while we can have discussion and debate about truth, at the end of the day we need to respect their rights.

If we are going to make an impact in our society, we will need to do it with love, respect and understanding. We need to share our faith, respect others and love them like Christ did. We can speak the truth without attempting to suppress the freedom of others. In this country, you can be Christian, Muslim, Atheist, straight, gay, transgender and even claim all of the above at any given time. We don't need to figure it out or understand it, but we need to show respect and love and understanding. Remember, we are sent to preach the truth, not destroy the unbeliever, that isn't what Jesus teaches, regardless of what any one else does. Our standard calls us to respect.

Dan Barnes is passionate about helping people connect with a ministry that really brings them closer to God, and do it successfully. You can follow him at http://jdanbarnes.blogspot.com/
Is Poverty a Sign of Sin or Virtue? Not Necessarily, the Bible Says

At first glance, the Bible demonstrates that God cares about the poor and about how they are treated. Scripture clearly warns of the dangers of wealth and has harsh things to say about the rich. To pick just a few examples from the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tells us:

Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God;...woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation; ...sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; ...it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven (Luke 6:20, 24; 18:22, 25).

Jesus even tells us that, in the end, we will be judged on how we treat those who are poor and powerless (Matt. 25:31-46).

Should we conclude from this that God is on the side of the poor and opposes the rich? This is a tempting conclusion and one that is endorsed by some very prominent people in the church, but is it supported by a careful reading of scripture?

Understanding the Poor

To determine whether God is on the side of the poor and opposed to the rich, we must first understand whom the scriptures mean when they talk about these groups.

Starting with the poor (although some passages talk about poverty metaphorically), in the vast majority of cases, the word refers to material povertypeople who are hungry, naked, homeless, etc. Economic poverty is also typically accompanied by a broader lack of resources and connections that makes the poor particularly vulnerable to oppression and abuse. They are frequently identified as widows, orphans, and foreigners who also lack social connections.

Throughout the Old Testament, God warns against mistreating the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the foreigner, and promises to judge those who abuse them. Clearly, treatment of the poor and disadvantaged is a very important part of biblical ethics.

At the same time, this does not mean that the poor are de facto virtuous.

To be sure, poverty is not necessarily a sign of God's displeasure. The poor can be blameless (Prov. 28:6) and wise (Eccles. 9:15). But other scriptures warn us that drunkenness, gluttony, and laziness can cause poverty (Prov. 23:21), as can chasing fantasies (Prov. 28:19).

The Bible also warns about the danger of some temptations that are particularly enticing for the poor. The most obvious temptation is theft to get food. This can be easily extended to other types of criminal behavior motivated by the need or desire for money, including gang-related activities, drug dealing, etc. This in turn points to the reality of 1 Timothy 6:9-10:

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

This passage is frequently associated with those who are already rich, but the rich are not the group being addressed; it is those who desire wealth, and specifically those who are not yet rich, who are being cautioned here. This is an important reminder that greed and worship of money are not vices peculiar to the rich. In fact, the people I know who are most obsessed with money are not the wealthy but those who have to struggle to get by.

Envy of the rich is another sin that scripture warns against (e.g., Ps. 73). This ties in directly to the 10th Commandment, which forbids coveting a neighbor's possessions. The classical definition of envy is the desire to tear down anyone who is ahead of oneself, to take away what is that person's because he or she has more than oneself. Whether one cloaks this in the language of "fairness" or "income redistribution," envy and covetousness remain sins.

Poverty: Not Necessarily "Blessed" or "Virtuous"

In other words, the Bible is realistic about the causes of poverty: people can become poor through no fault of their own, but poverty can also be the result of foolish decisions and actions; further, there are some sins to which the poor are particularly susceptible. Poverty is thus not a guarantee of virtue or righteousness.

So why are the poor described as blessed?

The issue is not poverty per se, but rather the attitude of humility and reliance on God that it can produce in us. This is why Matthew's version of the beatitude isn't just "Blessed are the poor," but "Blessed are the poor in spirit" (Matt. 5:3). Reliance on personal wealth or government help (Ps. 146, especially verses 3-4, 7-10) for security is foolish because they do not last. Rather, we need to place our hope in God alone.

Dr. Glenn Sunshine is Professor of History and Department Chair at Central Connecticut State University, a Research Fellow at the Acton Institute, and a faculty member for the Colson Fellows Program. Dr. Sunshine holds a B.A. in Linguistics from Michigan State University, an M.A. in Church History from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and a Ph.D. in Renaissance-Reformation History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is the author of Why You Think the Way You Do. He and his wife, Lynn, have two children.

This article is used with permission from the Institute for Faith, Work & Economics (www.tifwe.org). The original article appeared here. IFWE is a Christian research organization committed to advancing biblical and economic principles that help individuals find fulfillment in their work and contribute to a free and flourishing society. Visit https://tifwe.org/subscribe to subscribe to the free IFWE Daily Blog.
What's Wrong With Being a White Evangelical?

As increasing numbers of professing Christians subscribe to a gospel of social justice  a fundamental tenet of which is the resurrection and prosecution of past sins committed primarily by white evangelical Christians against black people whether by commission or omission  the term 'evangelical Christian(ity)' has become synonymous with historical and present-day attitudes of white oppression and white supremacy in America, whether perceived or real.

But a fundamental problem with this perspective is that it paints an entire ecclesiastical population, white evangelical Christians, with a very broad and subjective brush, having judged them collectively guilty of harboring such sinful attitudes solely on the basis that they are white and evangelical.

Ironically, seldom, if ever, is the term 'evangelical' used in that same context when referring to Christians who are black. Unlike white evangelical Christians, black Christians are considered just, well, Christians, and under that generic descriptor are generally not held to the same standard of attitudinal or ideological scrutiny as their white evangelical brethren.

Yes, they are brethren (Gal. 3:26-28).

As is often the case when engaging in discourse on such topics as white evangelicalism and, specifically, the influence white evangelicals are having in shaping the current socio-political vista in America  a reality many social justice advocates, especially though not exclusively, find concerning  objective terms and definitions have proven difficult to come by.

But if this matter of white evangelicalism is to be discussed in a spirit of intellectual honesty, it must first be objectively defined so as to be understood in context as opposed to a subjective and nebulous idea that is open to interpretation. In other words, the question must be asked: what exactly is 'white evangelicalism'anyway?

There are myriad grievances being lodged under the guise of white evangelicalism, but I have yet to find an objective definition of what white evangelicalism is.

And if there is such a thing as white evangelicalism  as there surely must be given how incessantly the term is used within social justice circles  the logical deduction must be that there also exists such a thing as black evangelicalism, and Asian evangelicalism, and Hispanic evangelicalism, and Latino evangelism, and so on, until every conceivable ethnic association with the term evangelicalism has been identified (if that were even possible).

Though not openly acknowledged by many who are considered to be among the social justice elite, the truth is that much of the acrimony being aimed at white evangelical Christians is rooted in a deep-seated anger over the level of support Donald Trump received from them as a voting bloc and, likewise, for conservative Roy Moore, the Republican candidate for United States Senate from Alabama.

But I find this indignation, such as it is, to be somewhat hypocritical, as the support received by Barack Obama from black voters in both 2008 and 2012, many of whom were professing evangelical Christians, far exceeded what both Trump and Moore received from white evangelical voters in 2016 and 2017, respectively.

So why, then, is it so problematic to some that white evangelical voters cast their vote for the candidate(s) of their choice, when black evangelicals did the exact same thing  and to an even greater degree?

"I voted for Barack [Obama] because he was black. 'Cuz that's why other folks vote for other people  because they look like them."  Samuel Jackson, actor, as quoted in the Daily Mail, February 13, 2012

It is disingenuous, in my humble opinion, to accuse white evangelicals, en masse, of political, racial, or ideological idolatry with regard to Donald Trump and his agenda, when the same can be said of black evangelicals concerning Barack Obama and the role melanin unarguably played in their decision to twice support him to the tune of 90-plus percent.

It is this kind of selective partitioning of the term evangelicalismthat prompted me to title this blog post as I did.

To assert, imply, or infer that all white evangelical Christian supporters of Donald Trump and Roy Moore are racists and white supremacists, while excusing black evangelical Christians who supported Barack Obama, a man who openly advocated for such unbiblical policies as homosexual marriage and partial-birth abortion, is tantamount to hijacking what evangelicalism truly is by uprooting it from its theological foundations and relegating it to merely a political philosophy.

In the book, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, British theologian J.I. Packer defines evangelism as: "a work of communication in which Christians make themselves mouthpieces for God's message of mercy to sinners." Packer goes on to assert that, "Anyone who faithfully delivers that message, under whatever circumstances, in a large meeting, in a small meeting, from a pulpit, or in private conversation, is evangelizing."

By citing these words of Packer, I am simply pointing out that in discussing the topic of evangelicalism, particularly in light of today's socio-cultural milieu, it is helpful to consider that words have meaning, and meaning requires context, assuming, that is, that getting to the truth about a matter is ultimately the goal of discussing a matter in the first place.

In biblical terms, evangelicalism is fundamentally rooted in Jesus' command to His followers to "...make disciples of all the nations (Matt. 28:19)." It is a universal edict that is applicable to every believer in Christ, regardless of any other spiritual or temporal distinction or qualifier (Lk. 6:46).

Interestingly, the Greek noun nation in Matt. 28:19 also appears in Acts 17:26, a text that unambiguously exclaims the sovereignty of God in creating each of us with the unique characteristics we possess and is the word from which the English word ethnicityis derived.

But leave it to sinful humanity to take an attribute that openly testifies to the creative genius of almighty God, namely our ethnicity, and use it to divide the very people whose mission it is to proclaim to the world the mercies of a God who, in His providential wisdom, uniquely created each of us in His image (Gen. 1:27).

Notwithstanding the extent to which the term evangelical is being co-opted today by many Christian social justice advocates in calling for generations of white evangelical Christians to repent of centuries of racial injustices against black people, the idea of resurrecting and prosecuting past sins is wholly antithetical to biblical Christianity (Eph. 4:32). Admittedly, it is when we are sinned against that being Christlike can be most challenging for us. But, as theologian Dr. R. Kent Hughes reminds us:

"Jesus changes our lives! We are no longer consider it our duty to get even. "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" is fine for the court, but not for our relation to others  even our enemies. Thanks to Jesus, we have let go of our legalistic obsession with fairness. We are glad that Jesus was not fair with us, for if we were to have gotten what was coming to us, it would not have been good. As Jesus' followers, we give ourselves to the highest welfare of others, even our enemies. We put up with the sins and insults of others for Christ's sake and theirs. Though hurt many times before, we refuse to withdraw into the shell of self. We do not run from hurt. We appear weak, but we are strong, for only the most powerful can live a life like this. But the power is not ours, but Christ's."  The Sermon on the Mount: The Message of the Kingdom, p. 141

Shortly before He was put on trial and, subsequently, sentenced to death on a cross, Jesus Christ, who is Lord of the church (Eph. 5:23), prayed that those who believe in Him would be one, even as He and His Father are one (Jn. 17:20-21).

The oneness of which Jesus spoke had nothing to do with the pursuit of political consensus across ethnic or cultural boundaries and experiences, but a unity that transcends all earthly understanding and comprehension, being rooted in a universal love for Jesus Christ and those who comprise His church (Jn. 13:34-35; Heb. 13:1; 1 Pet. 3:15-18). As theologian J. Gresham Machen wrote in his classic work Christianity & Liberalism,

"An evangelical church is composed of a number of persons who have come to agreement in a certain message about Christ and who desire to unite in the propagaton of that message, as it is set forth in their creed on the basis of the Bible. "

I can remember as a child an old "negro spiritual" my mother would often sing around the small two-bedroom public housing unit we lived in on Harwell Street on the west side of Atlanta.

The song was 'We Are Soldiers In The Army', the chorus of which was:

We are soldiers in the army.

We have to fight although we have to cry.

We've got to hold up the blood-stained banner.

We've got to hold it up until we die!

There is a sense today in which the word evangelical has become something of an ethnic pejorative within the church in America.

Needless to say, this ought not to be the case among those who confess the name of Christ (1 Thess. 4:9).

As sinful as it is to discriminate against one of God's image bearers on the basis of his or her ethnicity, it is no less sinful to misconstrue or misapply an aspect of one's identity as a Christian to advance or promote a particular ideological narrative or agenda.

After all, we are soldiers, my friends.

And if soldiers, evangelicals.

Each of us.

This article was originally published at https://justthinking.me/

Darrell Harrison is a native of Atlanta, Georgia. He currently resides in Covington, Georgia (about 45 miles east of Atlanta). Darrell attends Rockdale Community Church, a Reformed Baptist congregation located in the Atlanta suburb of Conyers, Georgia. Darrell is a 2013 Fellow of the Black Theology and Leadership Institute (BTLI) of Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey, and is a 2015 graduate of the Theology and Ministry program at Princeton Theological Seminary. Darrell studied at the undergraduate level at Liberty University, where he maintained a 4.0 GPA majoring in Psychology with a specialization in Christian Counseling. Darrell was the first African-American to be ordained as a Deacon in the 200-year history of First Baptist Church of Covington (Georgia) where he attended from 2009 to 2015.
Christians murdered in Nigeria's Kaduna state over Christmas

Fulani herdsmen have launched two attacks on Christian worshippers in Nigeria's Kaduna State in the Christmas period.

In the first, four people were killed 10 injured in Nimdem village just before Christmas. A press statement released by the Southern Kaduna People's Union said: 'We have once again come under unprovoked and gruesome attack two days before Christmas.'

The statement said: 'This has left us wondering why people who had gathered peacefully for joyful Christmas carols in their village should be gunned down for no reasons.'

Local pastor Gideon Mutum told International Christian Concern (ICC) it happened 'during an interdenominational carol that comes every Christmas with Bible quiz, drama, songs and preaching' and that those critically injured were receiving treatment in different hospitals.

The second attack in the same area saw six people killed including a six-year-old child.

Local National Assembly representative Shehu Nicholas Garba is quoted in the Vanguard as saying: 'These recent attacks defy all human logic as there appears to be no immediate trigger. That these attacks take place on the eve of Christmas is a demonstration of the total contempt of the perpetrators of the solemnity of this season.'

Christians in the region, who practise farming, come under frequent attack from Fulani herdsmen as they compete for scarce resources; as the Fulani are Muslim the conflict takes on religious overtones.

According to ICC, in 2017, there were more than 100 attacks on Christian villages by Fulani militants that left more than 200 Christians dead. Southern Kaduna has borne the brunt of the violence.

ICC's regional manager Nathan Johnson said: 'The government in Nigeria must find a way to control the rampaging Fulani militants who have wreaked havoc on Christian farmers in central Nigeria. The devastation that they have wrought has left hundreds dead, and thousands without homes. If they are left unchecked, many more Christians will be left wondering, "When will it be me?"'
'Father Figures' review news: Comedy starring Owen Wilson and Ed Helms slammed for lack of inspiration

Recently released comedy film "Father Figures" received mostly negative feedback from critics. Many movie experts and movie goers found the movie as lacking in inspiration and execution.



Warner Bros. Pictures movie "Father Figures" is one of the most anticipated comedy films to be released before 2017 comes to an end with all the big names included. The movie centers on fraternal twin brothers Kyle Reynolds (Owen Wilson) and Peter Reynolds (Ed Helms) who goes on an adventure to search for their father, who they believed to have been dead for many years.

The movie got a low score rating of 22% from Rotten Tomatoes, 5.3 out of 10 score from IMDb, and a D+ from AV Club.

The movie was slammed by a number of movie reviewers for its lack of inspiration. The New York Times, for one, described the movie as falling short on inspiration albeit having overqualified actors. "Father Figures" was also riddled with unfunny jokes and attempt at humor, according to both fans and critics.

The stars of the movie, Wilson and Helms, did receive a few positive reactions from fans about their surprisingly good chemistry. However, the entire cast was criticized for not being able to maximize the full potential of the flick. "Father Figures" also stars Golden Globe Awards recipient Glenn Close, Academy Awards winner J.K. Simmons, and more talented stars.

The movie was directed by world renowned cinematographer Lawrence Sher who worked with other comedy movies like "The Hangover" trilogy and "The Dictator."

"Father Figures" is not the first movie that included both Wilson and Helms. Back in 2009, Helms was recruited to star in the fantasy comedy film "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" which starred Wilson. Helms, however, was uncredited in the movie.
'IT: Chapter 2' spoilers: Cast predicts where Pennywise hid at the end of the first film

This year's "IT" does not give a clear answer as to where Bill Skarsgard's Pennywise the Clown went in the ending scene. However, Wyat Oleff, aka the film's Stanley Uris, has some thoughts about it.

To recap, the sharp-fanged creature retreated into the sewers after a brutal fight with the Losers Club. According to Oleff, Pennywise could be hiding beneath the cursed town of Derry, Maine, in a deeper and more sinister hideout not shown in the first movie. That should be the place Pennywise calls home, and where it waits for another 27 years until it strikes back against a middle-aged Losers Club in "IT: Chapter 2."

"I'm just coming up with this on the spot but it would be really cool if there was like a separate layer to the, what's that space called? Cistern. If there was like a lower layer to that that would be really cool," the 14-year-old actor told Cinema Blend, adding, "Yeah, like his like official nest area."

The idea that Maine is sitting atop such place not only feels very Stephen King, it also makes a good jumping off point for the sequel. From what director Andy Muschietti said previously, the events of the first film were just the tip of the iceberg. There is a "transdimensional" element of the novels that was deftly side-stepped "to respect the mystery of not knowing what's on the other side"; and that is slated to be explored in the second installment.

Then again, as Cinema Blend notes, the hiding spot is not canon; just Oleff's theory, so it is best to be taken with a grain of salt. With roughly two more years left until the sequel, fans will just have to wait and see. For now, the only things certain is that Pennywise is alive out there somewhere and will be back when the Losers Club are already full-grown adults.

Oleff and the rest of the young actors will return for essential flashbacks while their present-day counterparts have yet to be cast.

"IT: Chapter 2" is set to open in theaters on Sept. 6, 2019.
Sony, Nintendo online services down for a short period during Christmas

Online services for Sony's PlayStation (PS) Store and Nintendo's eShop encountered problems during Christmas, leaving PS4 and Switch owners to suffer for a few hours.

According to Gamespot, PS4 owners had trouble redeeming their vouchers at the PlayStation Store, a problem to which Sony has admitted. However, more PS4 owners claimed that the issue is not limited only to redeeming vouchers and that PlayStation's online services itself have issues.

Similarly, Nintendo had the same problems with their online service connection. The company, through their official Twitter account, immediately apologized to their customers and promised for the issue to be resolved as soon as possible.

Fortunately, both Sony and Nintendo's online services recovered after a few hours. One possible reason for the connection problem could be the volume of players accessing the PSN Store and eShop store during the team leading to the congestion.

Both companies have not released any statement regarding what happened.

In other news, Sony has launched their second wave of "Holiday Flash Sale" on Dec. 22 for PS4 players looking for new games to play. As previously reported, Sony's recent "Holiday Flash Sale" hosted the sale of numerous PS4 exclusives.

This includes the Japanese games "Persona 5" and "Yakuza," which retailed for $40 and $20, respectively. Sony's "Holiday Flash Sale" also included "South Park: The Fractured But Whole" and "Street Fighter V" which retailed for $30 and $32, respectively. Major game titles like "Assassin's Creed: Origins" and the controversial "Star Wars: Battlefront II" were retailed for $30 and $40, respectively.

"FIFA 18," "Final Fantasy 9 Digital Edition," and "Gran Turismo Sport" retailed for $30, $14.69, and $29.59, respectively. However, the highlight of the "Holiday Flash Sale" went to the "Call of Duty: WWII" and "Destiny 2" bundle for $78. The bundle was also available for Xbox One (via Xbox Store) for the same price (standard editions only).

Sony's "Holiday Flash Sale" ended on Tuesday, Dec. 26.
The city of Friendswood has officially begun its push to revitalize downtown, starting with the removal of utility poles.

Approved by City Council in September, the $71,271 project is expected to last through December and includes paying AT&T to remove utility poles and more than 1,250 feet of lines and the installation of new underground cable on the west side of Friendswood Drive from Clearview Avenue to Castlewood Drive.

"This project is a great first step on a growing list of projects under consideration," said Ron Cox, president of the Friendswood Downtown Economic Development Corp., a seven-member council-appointed group. "It aesthetically improves Friendswood Drive, and that will play a role in promoting new and expanded business development in the downtown area,"

The project is a first step in the city's overall revitalization plans for its downtown, Mayor Pro Tem Steve Rockey said.

"They wanted to start by doing smaller projects and stringing them together to improve the look of downtown," he said of the corporation, which was created following voter approval of a one-eighth cent sales tax for downtown economic development in 2016.

The goal is to replace most of the poles with underground cable, but the process could be long and arduous.

The corporation "would love to have almost all them gone in the long run," said Rockey, "but that's not something you can do all at one time."

Rockey said the project crew would work with utility companies to focus first on area where there are a high concentration of poles.

"Wherever they're a bigger eyesore, those are the areas that will be tackled first," he said. "So, they'll work from worst to best."

Weather permitting, the project should be completed in January.

Removing the utility poles isn't the only plan on tap for the corporation.

"We are also looking at the best use of funds for other projects which would improve streets, infrastructure, sidewalks, lighting, benches and signs," Cox said.

Essentially, the state decides what projects the corporation can do, Rockey said.

Eventually, these projects will culminate in revitalization of an historic part of Friendswood. But just getting rid of the poles will make a difference, Rockey said.

"The downtown revitalization group had an artist's drawing, and there's just a huge difference in towns that have removed the electrical poles," he said. "The visual impact is tremendous."
Sen. Kathleen Vinehout: It's time for a hard look at how we pay for schools
It was a busy year in The Woodlands, with some matters, including Hurricane Harvey damage and a controversy over Confederate statues getting national attention.

Some other matters, including a controversy over a massive house undergoing seemingly never-ending construction and concerns about a proposed bill that opponents feared would bring development to Jones State Forest, sparked local furors.

Here is a recap of some of the biggest events of the year.

RESIDENTS IN PRUITT ROAD AREA RESCUED DURING HARVEY

When Hurricane Harvey hit in late August, parts of The Woodlands Township were flooded, with scores of homes being damaged. At the height of the storm, members of The Woodlands Fire Department and volunteers with boats and trucks performed water rescues in flooded neighborhoods near Spring Creek, which had topped its banks.

As drenching rains came down and homes in the Pruitt Road area became surrounded by the rising waters, several people were taken from their homes to dry land by crews in flat-bottom boats. One rescued resident, Kathy Woods, said as she climbed into a deputies patrol car that she had just been ferried from a home that had been built in the 1940s.

Once the storm was over, and as residents began to rebuild their lives, many sought answers to why flooding was so bad in areas of The Village of Creekside Park, including Timarron and Timarron Lakes, which is in the jurisdiction of Montgomery-Harris Counties Municipal Utility District 386. The residents formed a group-Stop the Flooding in MUD 386-to seek solutions to the flooding issues the neighborhoods have faced since the Tax Day flood of 2016, the Memorial Day flood also in 2016 and Hurricane Harvey.

WOODLANDS BOARD WELCOMES STROMATT

In late December, The Woodlands Township Board of Directors welcomed its newest member, Carol Stromatt, and bid farewell to outgoing Director Laura Fillault, during a reception at township's offices. Stromatt ousted Fillault after she had served one term in office by winning 54 percent of the vote in the November election for the Position 7 seat on the board. During the reception, Stromatt expressed thanks to the community for its support.

"Thanks everybody for coming out tonight," she said. "Thanks everybody who got out and voted. I'm look forward to serving you, the residents of The Woodlands."

Fillault also spoke, saying it had "been a sheer joy serving."

"It's been a great couple of years and I wish Mrs. Stromatt the best of luck as she goes forward," Fillault added.

Directors Ann Snyder and John McMullan, who both won re-election without any opposition, were also welcomed back for another two-year term during the gathering.

BUNCH'S COMMENTS OVER CONFEDERATE STATUES SPARKS UPROAR

Just a few weeks after Harvey hit The Woodlands, a storm of a different nature gripped the community when the chairman of the township's Board of Directors, Gordy Bunch, suggested The Woodlands could provide a home for statues of Confederate soldiers that were being taken down in other areas.

"What's happening across the state and across the country is ridiculous regarding eliminating history," Bunch said during a Sept. 19 gathering of the Texas Patriots PAC, a tea party group.

"We don't have a lot of history here in The Woodlands because we're only 42, 43 years old," Bunch said. "For all these folks in Dallas, in Austin and San Antonio and other places looking to relocate their history, might I suggest they can take those assets over here."

When a report of his comments was posted online, a furor arose on social media, with Bunch's comments even making national news. He later apologized and also posted a video on Facebook walking back his offer.

"I want to apologize for the comments I made at a meeting the other night regarding the potential moving of statues to our community," Bunch said in the video. "The only interest that I would ever have in such divisive statues is if they could be used for education purposes in a museum setting where we could educate current and future generations regarding the failures of our past from our history."

CREIGHTON TRIES TO BLOCK REMOVAL OF 'HISTORICAL MONUMENTS'

In a related matter, Texas state Sen. Brandon Creighton, who was speaking at the Tea Party meeting when Bunch made his offer, had earlier tried to block attempts to remove what he described as "historical monuments" from the Texas Capitol grounds in Austin. Creighton, a Republican whose district includes The Woodlands and has a district office in the township, had proposed a bill during the Legislature's special session that would have barred any possible removal of the Sam Houston statue in Houston and other historical monuments across Texas. The measure never made it out of committee before the special session came to an end.

RESIDENTS IN FUROR OVER "MONSTROSITY' IN GROGAN'S POINT

In October, outrage over a massive home in the Grogan's Point neighborhood described in a real estate listing as "spectacular" began to bubble over as neighbors said they were fed up with the seemingly never-ending work on the massive house. Described by residents as a "monstrosity," an "eyesore" and a "never-ending construction site," neighbors on Longspur Drive said the home, which is more than 18,000 square feet and covers nearly 3 acres, had been under various stages of construction for nearly four year. In late October the township filed suit against the owners of the home, Alexandro Rovirosa Martinez and Tanya Marquez Gutierrez. In the lawsuit, the township claims the couple had been "continuously" violating the township's covenants and "habitually failing to apply for and renew approvals."

SIERRA CLUB GIVES LOCAL STATE LAWMAKERS FAILING GRADES

Also in October, four Montgomery County state lawmakers were given failing grades from the Sierra Club for their positions on environmental matters.

Creighton was one of 10 state senators who were graded with an F, while Rep. Mark Keough, of The Woodlands, and Rep. Cecil Bell Jr., of Magnolia, also were given an F rating from the non-profit organization.

Will Metcalf, who represents Conroe in the House, received an F- and was described by the Sierra Club as an "epic failure." Metcalf dismissed his failing grade, describing the organization as a "liberal group based in Oakland, California" and saying the Sierra Club rarely gives a Republican a "decent rating."

CREIGHTON'S JONES STATE FOREST BILL GENERATES WAVE OF PROTEST

As for Creighton, he ran into opposition from the Sierra Club, as well as a wave of outrage from local residents, over a bill that he had introduced earlier this year that critics feared would have brought development to Jones State Forest. During an April 9 meeting an overflow crowd of more than 200 people jammed into the Knights of Columbus building on FM 1488 to voice their opposition to Creighton's Senate Bill 1964. He eventually had the wording of the measure changed so that it would protect the forest, instead of allowing development in a portion of its 1,722 acres. Still, the Sierra Club remained opposed. The bill passed the Senate unanimously, but never made it out of the House during the Legislature's regular session and was not brought up during the special session.

Incidentally, Keough had been asked to file the bill but he declined, according to Jason Millsaps, Keough's chief of staff. Millsaps told The Courier of Montgomery County in April that Keough had turned down the request over concerns about how much space in the forest could be developed. Keough had been invited to the April community meeting, but was unable to attend, according to Millsaps, because he was still recovering from injuries he suffered in a car crash in late March.

KEOUGH SUFFERS BROKEN RIBS IN AUSTIN CRASH

In a March 28 crash, Keough suffered broken ribs when the Lexus he was driving hit a truck in an intersection in Austin. Keough was knocked unconscious and was taken to an area hospital, where doctors originally believed he had suffered a stroke while driving. But Keough says after several doctors visits and tests it was determined he had not had a stroke, but rather appeared to have experienced what he described as sleep deprivation.

"A stroke, anything like that, not a chance," Keough told The Courier in November. "I'm healthy, I have lost about 20 pounds and I'm feeling good.

"I'm ready for this race."

An Austin Police Department spokesman said Keough was not cited in the crash and the case has been closed.

KEOUGH RUNNING FOR COUNTY JUDGE

Keough, instead of seeking another term in the Texas House, announced that he is running for Montgomery County judge in the March 2018 Republican Party primary election challenging Judge Craig Doyal. The two squared off in a debate earlier this month over the planned Texas 249 toll road project, with Keough terming toll roads as "another form of taxation." For his part,during the debate Doyal said he was not a "big fan of toll roads" but that "if there is no other way to pay for a road and you are drowning and drowning, there are few other options for funding."

The winner of the Doyal-Keough primary race will face Democratic challenger Jay Stittleburg in the general election in November.

NEW LAW MAKES REQUIRES LONE STAR CONSERVATION DISTRICT BOARD BE ELECTED

During the regular session of the Legislature, Keough, as well as Will Metcalf, were sponsors of a bill they both introduced in the Texas House that required that board members of the Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District be elected instead of appointed. A companion bill was introduced in the state Senate by Brandon Creighton. The final version of both laws also reduced the number of board members from nine to seven and restricted board members to serving no more than three four-year terms. Gov. Greg Abbott signing the new rules into law in May.

KEOUGH HOG BILL BECOMES LAW

Another Keough bill easily passed both the House and the Senate before being signed into law in June, but brought private chortles from some local leaders. Keough's House Bill 3535 allows the hunting of feral hogs from balloons. Keough and backers of the measure who had argued on its behalf pointed out that hunting from helicopters had its limitations because of the noise they make.

"Any way we can think to rid ourselves of those feral hogs," Keough said in October, a little more than a month after the bill became law.

"I don't know what the future holds for it, to be honest. I never thought this would be a huge industry but anything we can do to help with the feral hog problem," Keough said.

Balloonists had opposed the law, arguing that firing guns from balloons was unsafe.
Each spring, a rapid-fire, machine gun sound emanates from the cool waters of the Northern Gulf of California, located off the coast of Mexico.

The sound, which is louder than a chainsaw and can damage other marine animals' ear drums, likely is a confusing annoyance to some. But to female Gulf corvina fish, it's a sensuous ballad signalling the time to procreate.

And thanks to scientists at University of Texas-Austin's Marine Science Institute, corvina now have been classified as the loudest known fish on the planet.

"Male corvina produce sounds during spawning, and their collective mating choruses reverberate through the hulls of small, fibreglass fishing boats (pangas) and are audible to the naked ear," according to an article published this month in the journal, Biology Letters.

But this distinction makes them an easy target for fishers, landing the species on the vulnerable to extinction list compiled by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

It's mating call is so loud, in part, because so many fish -- several million, in fact -- gather in one spot in the uppermost portion of the Gulf (the Colorado River Delta) to spawn each year, the article states.

To determine the decibel level of these fish, Brad Erisman, a UT-Austin fisheries ecologist, and his colleagues conducted four acoustic surveys in the Delta during peak spawning times between March and April of 2014.

The area is historically overfished and this is expected to continue, leaving corvina especially vulnerable because they are restricted to this area, the union's website states.

"The intense sound levels can mask and overwhelm concurrent engine noise from fishing activity, enabling fishers to use the sound to easily locate and harvest fish during spawning," according to the article.

And fishers are able to harvest corvina, commonly sold as White Sea Bass, fast. In just 20 days of fishing each year, a 500 boat fleet can catch 5,900 tons of corvina, the equivalent of 2 million fish, the article states.

The fish "faces imminent risk of a fishery and species collapse due to overfishing of its spawning aggregation and regulations that allow overfishing to persist," scientists wrote.

Alex Stuckey covers science and the environment for the Houston Chronicle. You can reach her at alex.stuckey@chron.com or Twitter.com/alexdstuckey.
Audio Transcript

Brian Anderson: The New York City subway system is one of the oldest public transit systems in the world. During the 70s, 80s, and 90s, the system, like the city itself, had fallen into a very serious state of decay. Now New York City has since recovered from its darkest days, as everyone knows, and subways have improved along with it. Last year the subway serviced nearly 1.8 billion rides. That was the highest number of annual riders since 1948. Joining us to talk about crime in the New York City subway system and other subway-related issues is Nicole Gelinas. Nicole is a City Journal contributing editor, a Manhattan Institute senior fellow, and a regular New York Post columnist. Her recent piece, "How Gotham Saved Its Subways," was featured in City Journal's summer 2016 issue, adapted in the New York Post, and it can be found online in its full-length version at http://www.city-journal.org. Nicole, welcome to 10 Blocks.

Nicole Gelinas: Good afternoon, Brian. Thanks for having me on.

Brian Anderson: New York City subways are experiencing, as I just mentioned, levels of ridership not seen since the years immediately after World War II. Just how bad did the subways get during their nadir, which was probably when, in the mid-80s?

Nicole Gelinas: Yes, 1990 was the worst year.

Brian Anderson: Just as it was for crime, generally.

Nicole Gelinas: Yes. And the short story is things got pretty bad. In September 1990, a 22-year-old college student named Brian Watkins was visiting with his parents and the rest of his family from Utah, and he was entering the Sixth Avenue subway in Midtown, waiting on the platform for his train, and he was set upon by a group of teenage muggers who went after his parents. He intervened and he was stabbed to death on the subway platform. Now that was in 1990. The death got a tremendous amount of attention. This was what caused Time Magazine to run its famous rotten apple cover, which harmed tourism in the city that was already suffering.

Brian Anderson: Right, the perception was that the city had become ungovernable.

Nicole Gelinas: Right, but what was interesting about the Brian Watkins killing is that it wasn't unusual. He was not the only person to be killed on the subway system that year. In fact he was the eighteenth person to be killed on the subway system in 1990 and by the end of the year 26 people would be killed on the subway. And just as a point of comparison, in the past eleven years, 26 people have been killed on the subway. So it took more than a decade to get us to the number of murders that occurred just in that one year, 1990. And today one or two people, at most, is killed on the subway system every year. Now, of course if you're from a small town you may think well that sounds dangerous but again, as you mentioned, we had 1.8 billion rides. Everyone who lives in the city and everyone who visits the city goes on the subway and goes through the system, and so to have one or two killings on the system compared to what we once had is a great achievement for the city.

Brian Anderson: This reign of terror, in a way, on the subways in 1990 and in the 80s in particular, how did it affect ridership? Ridership was down, right?

Nicole Gelinas: Well, ridership fell from 1.3 billion rides a year in 1970 to one billion rides a year in 1980. That was more than double the city's population loss. The city population also fell and ended up being just a little bit above 7 million in the nadir years of the early 1980s, but people fled the subway in even greater numbers.

Brian Anderson: The story about how the city got control of its streets in the 90s is something we've talked about a lot at City Journal. I think less well understood is how it specifically got control of its subways, which preceded its efforts to bring down crime across the city. When did the NYPD first prioritize taking back the subway system and who was behind that?

Nicole Gelinas: Yes, and some of the techniques that the police department used underground they later used above ground to try to control crime in the rest of the city. So you asked when did the police start to see that this was a serious problem. Well, the first thing that had to happen was the state and the city had to rebuild the subway system itself. By 1980 the subways were in a physical state of disaster, the trains did not run anywhere near on time, there was graffiti all over the outside and the inside of the train cars, derailments were common, the doors would get stuck, people would have to get off the train in the middle of their commute and wait hours for a new train because something had happened to the train they were on, so commuting itself was not an enviable experience. And the turnstiles were broken, 250,000 people a day were estimated to be stealing the fare, sometimes because they had no way of paying the fare at a broken turnstile. So the first thing city and state did was say we're not going to give up on our city. We're going to start to fix the situation and rebuild the subway system. State-approved a series of taxes in the early 80s so that the subway system under Dick Ravitch could begin to rebuild itself. So without some basic working reliable subway system, it would have been hard to begin to police the system. And that's exactly what they had when the police began to pay more attention to the system, that already the subway managers were starting to clean the trains of graffiti, making sure that they only sent clean cars out because it sent a signal that this is a place of law and order, not a place where people can use the subway cars as canvases without regard to anyone else's rights. And so what happened in the mid-80s is the subway managers had made a lot of headway with the graffiti but they said there are some things that we can't do. We can't deal with the vagrant issue. We can't deal with the aggressive panhandling issue. We can't deal with the robberies and the thefts and the violent crime. We need the police to do this. And they talked with George Kelling, who is a friend of the Manhattan Institute and one of the pioneers in good policing, and he said you don't go after people, you go after behaviors. And so, for example, you don't go after a person because he is homeless. You go after a person because he's aggressively panhandling or he's publicly drinking or urinating and so forth. And if you go after some of these smaller bad behaviors you create an environment that encourages people to be law-abiding. And the subways had one advantage in that they are a closed system. You have to pay to get in. The subway system has certain rules and regulations that don't exist upstairs. For example you can't walk between subway cars, that's illegal. And so the police can stop you. And by making these stops, the police found they would often find illegal weapons, guns, knives, they would find people who were wanted on violent charges. Even just standing at the subway gates and waiting for people to enter without paying, a disproportionate number of those people were entering without paying so that they could commit other crimes. The people who killed Brian Watkins had entered the system without paying. So just stopping the fare-beating and stopping the smaller crimes prevented much larger crimes.

Brian Anderson: Now the police commissioner at this time was - what year are we talking about, specifically here? The head of the subway police was Bill Bratton, right?

Nicole Gelinas: Yes. And the police began to think about these issues in the late 1980s but it wasn't until 1990 when Bill Bratton came along and was hired to head up the transit police, which was a separate arm from the NYPD at the time that he was really able to put these theories into practice. And just in that first year, in 1990, when Bratton began to enforce the laws against fare-beating, walking between cars and so forth, felonies fell by double digits and they continued to fall. And the system used to have 50 felonies every day, and now it has five or six felonies a day.

Brian Anderson: Which is truly remarkable for a city of this size with that many riders.

Nicole Gelinas: Yes. And today the felonies tend to be thefts of expensive electronic devices and people are so comfortable on the subway they'll stand right by the doors with a phone that can be sold on the black market for five, six, seven hundred dollars. And so the police try to have public information campaigns and, of course, no one - it's never your fault if you are the victim of a crime, but the crimes have certainly changed from the 80s and 90s with violent robberies, beatings, stabbings, shootings, and now much more focused on the pickpockets, the stealing of electronics, and also the sexual assaults, where George Kelling mentioned to me back in the early 80s women would often say they didn't like to take the subway because they would feel insulted. And he never knew what they meant by saying that they felt insulted but he says now he thinks they were being groped or brushed up against and they were just too embarrassed to say so, and plus they knew the police would never do anything about this. They had too many other things to worry about. And today the police are very aggressive in going after gropers, people who use the crowded subways as an excuse to unlawfully touch people and they make a good number of arrests. They'll even put up wanted posters with people who are caught on camera doing this multiple times, whereas once they would only have the wanted posters for someone who had committed a murder.

Brian Anderson: In an earlier essay in City Journal called "The Fourth Urban Revolution," you talked about how technology was transforming city services in a variety of different ways. Technology has played a role in making the subway safer as well, right?

Nicole Gelinas: Yes. And it's technology today that is helping the police catch criminals much more quickly before they can commit other crimes. For example, just last week in an attempted robbery, a young man threw a teenager over the turnstile in the subways but he was caught on camera and the police were able to arrest him within hours. A similar thing happened over the summer where a woman recognized her son on a transit camera as wanted in a violent crime. And so we see this happening in the subways as well as in the rest of the city, that if a person is committing a crime or has just committed a crime, there's a very good chance that he's caught on camera, whether official transit camera or somebody snapping a photo of that person, if the person has just sexually assaulted a person or so forth, people take pictures of them exiting the train and they can be caught very quickly.

Brian Anderson: Things have, in fact, gotten so safe underground that there's a risk of complacency, isn't there? Last year the New York City Council floated the idea of decriminalizing fare-beating in the subways. What's your view of that idea?

Nicole Gelinas: Yes, I think there's a real risk of complacency. The city council only backed down because this isn't their jurisdiction. This is state property and it's governed by state law, but it is a risk. And first of all, fare-beating by itself is a crime. You are stealing nearly three dollars from the state-run transit system if you beat the fare, and obviously everyone else has to pay more, the more people beat the fare. Now, of course it's not the worst crime in the world and most people, the vast majority of people who are caught beating the fare each year, they're not arrested and put on Rikers Island. They're given a criminal summons, they go to court, they can contest the summons. But if you are a first-time fare-beater, by no means - it's a misdemeanor. And this is not going to ruin your life, as some of the people in favor of decriminalization would say. Now, if you've been arrested for this before or if you are wanted for other crimes, and so forth, then yes, you will be arrested. But it's a myth that a poor student who can't afford to get to school is going to be thrown in jail because he beats the fare just once. That is not going to happen. And the other issue is if we are not able to go after the fare-beaters, the police aren't able to stop a lot of other crimes. Every year they find dozens of illegal guns, hundreds of knives, people - a man this year was wanted on a murder charge. He was caught beating the fare, so, just like when you stop drivers for speeding, sometimes - over the J'Ouvert holiday where we had two murders, they caught the murderer because they arrested him for driving erratically. So if you're not able to catch people in these seemingly smaller crimes, it really hurts your ability to prevent and catch people committing the larger crimes. Now, of course the police have to do this respectfully and treat everyone well and so forth, but the answer is certainly not to stop doing this.

Brian Anderson: What problems or challenges do you see on the horizon for New York's subway system? It is truly essential to the city's prosperity, so where is it heading?

Nicole Gelinas: Well, one of the problems is just the overcrowding situation. And, in fact, this year we've seen the subway ridership numbers fall off a little bit for the first time because they are just too crowded. You know the old joke they are so crowded nobody goes there anymore, but people are starting to find other ways of getting around because they really can't fit themselves onto these overcrowded trains. So we really need to do what we did in the 80s and have another massive investment program to expand capacity on the subways.
Support for, and reaction to, the tax-reform bill has divided almost entirely along partisan lines, with one notable exception: many on the right and the liberal left alike have denounced a new 1.4 percent tax on net investment income for the largest university endowmentsthose whose value exceeds $500,000 per student. Prominent conservatives such as George Will, Gregory Mankiw, and Michael Strain have characterized the taxwhich will affect about 30 universities, including such major research institutions as Harvard, Stanford, and Princetonas motivated by anti-intellectualism and partisanship, aimed at liberal academia. Will, who has served as a Princeton trustee, described the tax as an astonishingly shortsighted threat to the tradition of great research universities (that) have enabled the liberal arts to flourish, the sciences to advance and innovation to propel economic betterment.

Yet its worth keeping in mind that the federal government will continue to be the nations primary source of university research money. The government not only funds research through direct grants but also supports the facilities and staff of universities through overhead payments, which amount to many billions of dollars. The National Institutes of Health, for instance, distributed some $5.7 billion in overhead payments in 2013 alone, in addition to tens of billions of dollars in direct research grants. That same year, Stanford got 31 cents in overhead on top of every research grant dollar it received. Each university negotiates its own overhead rates, and complex formulas dictate what portion of the negotiated rate is actually disbursed along with direct research funding. According to federal data obtained by Nature, Johns Hopkins has negotiated a 62 percent overhead rate. By comparison, the European Union sets a flat overhead rate of 25 percent for all institutions receiving research grants.

The question that universities should ask themselves is how they have lost, at least in part, the longstanding bipartisan support that made the federal government the major financial backer of research, as well as a generous funder of university overhead costs. The original champion of federal research, development, and overhead grants for research institutions was the farsighted Vannevar Bush, the first presidential science advisor, who served Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman. It was under Bush that the Office of Scientific Research and Development first negotiated a research overhead rate, with MIT. Today, the U.S. leads the world in government research and development spending; some $40 billion is distributed to nearly 900 colleges and universities, accounting for 60 percent of these institutions research funding. (Twenty percent of the total went to just ten universities, including Stanford, Columbia, and Johns Hopkins). The resultsfrom the mapping of the human genome to the creation of the Internethave transformed the world.

Elite research universities also number among those schools widely perceived to be hothouses of political correctness. The last few years, in particular, have seen a surge in demands for safe spaces on campuses, with corollary efforts to silence alternative voices. Following a year of shutdowns and shout-downs, campus intolerance has done political damage to elite academias image. With identity politics now at the core of liberal arts curricula, many observers on the right have questioned why the taxpayer should support an institution that appears dedicated to destroying traditional society. Politicians have taken note: as Harvard economist Gregory Mankiw noted in the New York Times, Republican Senator John Kennedy from Louisiana was quick to characterize Harvard academics as liberal weenies. In September, Education secretary Betsy DeVoss speech at Harvard was interrupted by protestors calling her a white supremacist, though the dean of the Kennedy School did caution the audience that hecklers would be ejected. But universities should not be surprised, when they demonstrate hostility to free inquiry, that elected officials may be hostile to themand think twice about granting them the public subsidies that have been part of their lifeblood.

Big universities have taken a financial hit that will do them and the country no good. Its unlikely that the federal government will do better things with the money it realizes from the endowment excise tax than the universities would have done. But universities have even more to lose in the future if they continue to alienate a large part of the electorateand the politicians who represent it.

Photo by Sergey Khakimullin/iStock
A Portage woman blames her landlord for failing to warn her of environmental hazards leading to lead poisoning of her infant.

Brittany Suchomel published an letter to the editor in the Dec. 18 Portage Daily Register stating her case and asking for information on what someone with limited resources can do, feeling compelled to move for the sake of her 11-month-old sons health.

She said she took her son in for a regular checkup a few weeks ago, after which the doctor suggested some additional blood testing. The results confirmed her son had elevated lead levels in his blood and would need to come in for another blood draw and more precise reading. After that had been done and analysis came back from the Mayo Clinic, the readings were bad news.

The level in blood is measured in micrograms per deciliter.

It showed us that it was a level 15 (mcg/dL), said Suchomel. And then pretty much after that, Ive been running around like a chicken with my head cut off.

Parents of children with blood lead concentration testing below 10 mcg/dL may or may not have been informed of the results prior to 2012, according to the Centers for Disease Control, when the agency lowered the threshold to 5 mcg/dL.

Since January, Columbia County has seen 515 children under the age of 6 added to the Wisconsin Blood Lead Registry, according to Columbia County Health and Human Services Health Officer Susan Lorenz, with approximately 1 percent testing at or above 5 mcg/dL.

Lorenz would not confirm whether Suchomel had a case with the county or had contacted the department, citing federal health privacy rules.

The property was approved for Suchomel, who is renting with the assistance of the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authoritys Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program. Suchomel said that she was confused at not receiving any warning beforehand.

The 28-year-old lived in the Madison area for much of her life before moving to Portage about five years ago. She most recently lived on James Street, before moving to the West Marion Street home in the end of June.

In order for Section 8 to pass this  there was paint chipping  and so while I was fixing up this place, there were paint particles everywhere and after a while my son is inhaling  pretty much lead, Suchomel said. One thing I just dont understand is that if this house was built in 1960, why, as a landlord you havent had this house tested for lead.

Suchomel said a Columbia County social worker came to the property to run some tests and found lead paint throughout the house, specifically in a peach hue showing through the walls on the main floor where Suchomel had already painted over.

WHEDA sent a letter Tuesday to the owner and occupant informing them that the lead paint had to be mitigated or Suchomel would have to move out because the hazard to her children. The letter sets a deadline of 30 days.

The ultimatum, she said, put the obligation on her to see the issue solved or move out.

Richard Lynn is the landlord of the property on West Marion Street, which was purchased at auction for $45,000 by Hui Chen on Nov. 23, 2016. Chens address is listed as 9525 Blue Heron Drive, Middleton, which is shared by Lynn, Lynn Properties, and Lynn Holdings.

Thats my son, Lynn said. He doesnt handle the property; I do. Its just an investment property for his college.

Apparently WHEDA or whoever it is that handles that is supposed to have a letter out, but I havent gotten that yet.

While there are ordinances and regulations in place, most of the responsibility for notification and lead abatement falls on the residence owner and the resident.

The city does not have ordinances or policies on lead abatement, Portage City Administrator Shawn Murphy said. We have worked with landlords on exterior lead paint abatement in the past, but we have not encountered interior lead contamination issues.

State and federal law, he said, dictates that any building erected before 1978 should be presumed to contain lead paint. Federal law requires home sellers and landlords to disclose all information about lead in a house or apartment.

WHEDA spokesman Kevin Fischer said the U.S. Department of Urban Development requires that lead-based paint status be disclosed prior inspection of the unit.

Our agents inspect to HUDs Housing Quality Standards which are to a decent, safe and sanitary threshold, Fischer said. Neither WHEDA, nor our agents, are lead inspectors and no testing is required or done before passing a unit.

In the event of lead hazards in a home, advice from state and county health authorities advise vigilance in housecleaning, putting furniture against flaking window sills and keeping small children from getting into any hazardous areas.

Suchomel said she sweeps every day before work and washes her son about three times a day, with the bright side being that he has fun with foamy soap.

Its just not fair for my son because I cant go back on this, I cant change anything, and if I knew this had lead in it I would have rather slept in a cardboard box, said Suchomel. Thats what kills me as a mother  that my son is lying over there and I know that poison is just running through his body.
When Anthony Stansbury moved down the street from the Anclote River in Florida last year, he didnt know his slice of paradise had a hidden problem.

The neighborhood is adjacent to the Stauffer Chemical Co. Superfund site, a former chemical manufacturing plant on the list of the nations most polluted places. It is also located in a flood zone.

Me and my kids fish here a couple times a week. Everyone who lives on this coast right here, they fish on this water daily, said the 39-year-old father of three.

Stansbury is among nearly 2 million people in the U.S. who live within a mile of 327 Superfund sites in areas prone to flooding or vulnerable to rising seas caused by climate change, according to an Associated Press analysis of flood zone maps, census data and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency records.

This years historic hurricane season exposed a little-known public health threat: Highly-polluted sites can be inundated, potentially spreading toxic contamination.

In Houston, more than a dozen Superfund sites were flooded by Hurricane Harvey, with breaches reported at two. In the Southeast and Puerto Rico, Superfund sites were battered by driving rains and winds from Irma and Maria.

The vulnerable sites highlighted by APs review are scattered across the nation, but Florida, New Jersey and California have the most, and the most people living near them. They are in largely low-income, heavily minority neighborhoods, the data show.

Many of the 327 sites have had at least some work done to help mitigate the public health threat, including fencing them off and covering them in plastic sheeting to help keep out rainwater.

The Obama administration assessed some of these at-risk places and planned to guard them from harsher weather and rising seas. EPAs 2014 Climate Adaptation Plan said prolonged flooding at low-lying Superfund sites could cause extensive erosion, carrying away contaminants as waters recede.

President Donald Trump, however, has called climate change a hoax, and his administration has worked to remove references from federal reports and websites linking carbon emissions to the warming planet.

The current administration appears to be trying to erase these efforts in their climate change denials, which is a shame, Phyllis Anderson, an attorney who worked as EPAs associate director of the division that manages Superfund cleanups until her retirement in 2013.

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has said he intends to focus on Superfund cleanup, and appointed a task force that developed a list of high-priority sites.

The task forces 34-page report makes no mention of a flood risk to Superfund sites from stronger storms or rising seas, but eight of the 21 sites on EPAs priority list are in areas of flood risk. The Stauffer site in Florida is not on it.

Despite EPAs announced emphasis on expediting cleanups, the Trump administrations proposed 2018 spending plan seeks to slash Superfund program funding by nearly one third. Congress has not yet approved it.

Pruitts office declined to comment this week on the key findings of APs analysis. Despite fear-mongering from the Associated Press, not a single dollar has actually been eliminated, as Congress still hasnt passed a budget, said Jahan Wilcox, an EPA spokesman.

Many flood-prone Superfund sites identified through APs analysis are in low-lying, densely populated urban areas.

The Martin Aaron Inc. Superfund site is in Camden, New Jerseys Waterfront South, a low-income neighborhood along the Delaware River. Testing found that soil and groundwater under the site contained highly toxic chemicals, including PCBs and pesticides. EPA plans to eventually cover the land and restrict future use.

Just around the corner, longtime neighborhood resident Mark Skinner shrugged when asked about the former industrial site.

Its really contaminated, theres a lot of stuff in the ground, but I dont know what all it is, said Skinner, 53.

Foul-smelling water filled the streets there during Superstorm Sandy in 2012, flooding basements, long-time residents said. Census data show about 17,250 people live within a mile of the Martin Aaron site  58 percent are black and 36 percent are Latino.

Across the nation, more than 800,000 homes are located near flood-prone toxic sites. Houses are at risk of contamination from flooding, but many more people could be affected if the contamination seeps into the ground, finding its way into drinking water.

At the Stauffer site in Florida testing showed the lots soils were contaminated with radium, the banned pesticide DDT, arsenic, lead and other pollutants that over the years have fouled the areas groundwater and the river.

Environmental regulators say the site, which was hit by Hurricane Irma, now poses no threat to people or the environment because the current owner, the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, paid to treat contaminated soils, and cover the pollution with a cap of clean earth. Still, residential development and use of groundwater on the site are prohibited.

Covering toxic waste is a cheaper option than removing the pollutants, said Jeff Cunningham, a civil engineering professor at the University of South Florida.

As a long-term strategy, capping only works if the contaminants degrade to safe levels before the capping system eventually fails. What if it takes centuries for some of these contaminants to degrade to safe levels? Cunningham said.

(Associated Press environmental writer Michael Biesecker reported from Camden, New Jersey.)

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
A public television station has won a court battle over insurance policies that could pay for cleaning up contamination at the site of a shuttered Evansville, Indiana, dry-cleaning business.

Judge Richard DAmour ordered Red Ink Management LLC on Wednesday to maintain the insurance policies as a lawsuit filed by WNIN-TV moves forward regarding the cleanup of the former Pearl Cleaners site, The Evansville Courier and Press reported.

Normally, when a business is embroiled in litigation, the last thing that business would want to do is sell, assign or liquidate insurance policies which would provide indemnification against said lawsuit, DAmour wrote in his ruling.

He said that the transfer of insurance policies met nearly all requirements in determining the transfer was fraudulent.

The station filed the suit in August after learning Pearl Cleaners was ceasing business and seeking to transfer assets to new owners Red Ink Management. The insurance policies could pay for an ongoing cleanup at the site and the neighboring historic property owned by the station.

Michael Schopmeyer, an attorney for the station, said the station was recently made aware that Pearl had assigned its ownership of policies to Red Ink Management in 2016.

These policies are what allows a Rust Belt state like Indiana to be redeveloped. We dont need taxpayers paying for this. There are probably millions of dollars of private insurance money available, Schopmeyer said. This keeps policies from being liquidated and funds not being used as they should be for redevelopment.

Attorney for Pearl and Red Ink, Justin Gifford, declined to comment to the newspaper Thursday until he had the opportunity to talk with his clients.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Under Minn. Stat. 604.18, insureds are entitled to recover taxable costs when an insurance company unreasonably denies insurance benefits. The statute provides a remedy of one-half of the proceeds awarded that are in excess of an amount offered by the insurer or $250,000, whichever is less. The court in Wilbur v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins. Co., 892 N.W.2d 521 (Minn. S. Ct. 2017) held that the statutory taxable costs that were awardable for denying benefits were capped by the insurance policys limits based upon the plain language of the statute. In Wilbur, the insured presented to State Farm an underinsured motorist claim (UIM). The tortfeasors liability insurer paid its $100,000 policy limits to settle the liability claim. The insured then turned to State Farm and made a claim for the State Farm policy limit of $100,000. However, State Farm offered and then paid the sum of $1200 initially. Later, State Farm increased its settlement offer to $26,800. However, the insured declined State Farms offer and then sued State Farm for breach of contract, claiming the State Farm policy limits.

The breach of contract case was tried to a jury. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the insured in the amount of $412,764. Following the jury verdict award, the trial court reduced the award to $255,956 in order to account for the tortfeasors settlement, as well as other collateral source payments that had been received by the insured. Ultimately the trial court entered judgment in favor of the insured in the amount of $98,800 after subtracting State Farms initial $1200 payment from State Farms policy limits of $100,000.

Following the entry of judgment, the insured amended his claim to include a claim predicated upon Minnesotas taxable cost statute asserting that the insured was entitled to recover taxable costs because State Farm had unreasonably denied UIM benefits to the insured. Regarding the taxable costs claim, the trial court found that State Farm had denied the UIM benefits to the insured without a reasonable basis and then determined that under the statute the proceeds awarded were capped by State Farms insurance policy limits. On the statutory taxable cost claim, the court entered judgment for $36,000 (one-half of the difference between State Farms offer of $26,800 and the $98,800 award).

The Minnesota Supreme Court affirmed, finding that the plain language of 604.18, proceeds awarded to an insured under the statute were capped by the insurance policys limits. According to the court, there were three aspects of the statute which demonstrated that the phrase proceeds awarded referred to the capped amount. First, within other sections of the statute, the phrase proceeds referred to insurance policies thereby indicating that the phrase proceeds awarded was constrained by the defined limits of the insurance policy. Second, because the phrase proceeds awarded was connected to the amount offered by an insurer before trial, the court found that the statute contemplated a capped settlement offer. As a matter of practice, insurance companies settlement offers made before trial were almost always capped by the insurance policy limits. Finally, the timing contemplated for a 604.18 proceeding indicated that the phrase proceeds awarded were capped. According to the statute, any taxable costs awarded under the statute were to be determined by the court in a subsequent proceeding to any other proceeding resulting in a determination by a fact finder regarding the amount an insured was entitled to under the insurance policy. Because proceeds could only be awarded after a jurys determination of the benefits that were to be paid under the policy, a reasonable interpretation of the statute was that taxable costs could not exceed the policys limit.
Missouri Man Pleads Guilty to Counterfeit Airbag Scheme

A southwestern Missouri man pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to a scheme to sell counterfeit automotive airbags and components online.

This guilty plea resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the IRS  Criminal Investigation division.

Aleksey Illyuk, of Ozark, Missouri, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to one count of mail fraud and one count of smuggling goods into the United States.

Illyuk admitted he sold counterfeit automotive airbags and airbag components on his online eBay stores, CarPro 417 and CarPro Electronics. Illyuk received shipments from various Chinese manufacturers of airbags, airbag covers and other items that contained the trademarks of Honda, Toyota, Chevy, Ford and other companies. Each of these imported airbags contained trademarks and markings that made it appear the legitimate holder of the trademark had manufactured the airbags. Illyuk fraudulently marketed these items as airbags that had been manufactured by the legitimate trademark holder, when he knew that the parts were counterfeit and not manufactured by the legitimate trademark holder.

Illyuk sold approximately $120,000 worth of counterfeit items to consumers throughout the United States through his online stores from Jan. 1, 2015, to Aug. 17, 2017. The fact that the airbags and the airbag components parts were counterfeit and not manufactured by the legal holders of the displayed trademark or logo on the item was never truthfully disclosed to the consumers.

Under the terms of his plea agreement, Illyuk must forfeit to the government $103,000 obtained from the proceeds of his illegal scheme, as well as 150 counterfeit Toyota airbags and component parts (including 24 inflators and fully assembled airbags); 77 counterfeit Honda airbags and component parts (including 4 fully assembled airbags); 70 counterfeit Chevy/GMC airbags and component parts; 54 counterfeit Ford airbags and component parts; 207 counterfeit Nissan airbags and component parts (including 2 fully assembled airbags, 102 name plates, and 25 airbag covers); 8 counterfeit Infiniti airbag covers; 10 counterfeit Accura airbags and component parts; 13 counterfeit Hyundai airbags and component parts; 7 counterfeit BMW airbags and component parts (including 5 fully assembled airbags); 4 counterfeit Subaru airbags and component parts; 4 counterfeit Lexus fully assembled airbags; 1 counterfeit Mazada airbag and component part; and $17,000 seized by law enforcement agents.

Under federal statutes, Illyuk is subject to a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Carney. It was investigated by ICE HSI and IRS-Criminal Investigation.

Florida Construction Company Owner Arrested Following $700,000 Workers Comp Scam

Maria Cristina Romero Zelaya, owner of Miochosis Construction, Inc. was arrested for allegedly provided fictitious information when applying for workers compensation insurance coverage to obtain a lower premium, according to an announcement by Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis. As a result, Zelaya illegally avoided paying more than $700,000 in premium payments and left her employees uninsured and vulnerable to workplace injuries.

After receiving a tip that Zelaya may have falsified information, from August 2, 2016 to August 2, 2017, Department of Financial Services (DFS) investigators determined Zelaya cashed hundreds of payroll checks through local money service businesses totaling more than $5 million. The checks were found to be for various types of construction work that she withheld from her insurance company and were not covered by her workers compensation insurance policy.

Zelaya reported to her insurance underwriter that her companys annual payroll was $200,000 and her company provided plastering and stucco services only. Based on this information, her workers compensation premium was $26,622. Had Zelaya not withheld her companys true annual payroll and work description, the amount of her premium would have been $733,549.

Zelaya was arrested by DFS Division of Investigative and Forensic Services (DIFS) investigators and later transported to Duval County Jail December 7, 2017. She has been charged with knowingly concealing payroll, scheme to defraud and acting as an unlicensed money transmitter.

This case will be prosecuted by the Assistant State Attorney Joe Licandro of the Duval County States Attorneys Office. If convicted, Zelaya could face up to 60 years in prison.
One South Carolina lawmaker wants to increase the fine for drivers who go slowly in the left lane.

State Sen. Ross Turner said his 200-mile round trip commute from Greenville to Columbia helped convince him of the need for a South Carolina law similar to one that took effect last month in Oklahoma.

I constantly got stuck behind people in the left lane and said, Thats a great idea! the Republican told The Post And Courier of Charleston.

Turners bill would increase the fine for driving less than the speed of normal traffic in the passing lane of a multi-lane highway by $200.

There is currently a law on the books in South Carolina making it illegal to drive too slowly in the passing lane. Troopers wrote 1,132 tickets under the existing law last year, but the law also includes other violations like crossing the center line.

Turner said he isnt sure how his proposal might be enforced, but he wants to send a message to slow drivers who clog the left lane.

The president of the South Carolina Trucking Association said truckers are worried about the proposal.

Truck drivers should be able to pass slower moving 18-wheelers, but it can take a while because their rigs can be electronically limited to a certain speed, Rick Todd said.

Its ironic that people dont want a ticket when theyre speeding, but they want someone else to have a ticket for slowing up, Todd said.

But Todd said truckers also understand why some people get frustrated.

With car drivers, the persons either oblivious or has an attitude, Todd said. The issue is getting worse because of congestion, and people are less patient, and cars speed a lot. Combine all that, and people get irritated.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
A sharply divided California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that pharmaceutical companies can be held liable for warning labels on generic versions of drugs they once made even after theyve sold the drugs to other companies and stopped manufacturing them.

The 4-3 decision was a victory for consumer advocates, but the pharmaceutical industry had argued that such a finding would stifle innovation and lead to extraneous warnings on drugs that could deter people from using them.

In a dissenting opinion, Associate Justice Carol Corrigan said the ruling was at odds with courts across the U.S. that have refused to hold a previous manufacturer responsible for failing to warn about injuries caused by a successive companys product.

When a drug manufacturer acquires a new product line, it assumes the responsibility to update the warning label if and when reasonable evidence demonstrates a link to a serious health hazard, she wrote. Predecessor manufacturers have a right to presume successors will perform their duty and follow the law.

The ruling came in a lawsuit against drug company Novartis by the children of a woman who while pregnant in 2007 was prescribed a generic version of the drug terbutaline  an asthma medication that Novartis once sold under the brand name Brethine. The drug was used to stop the mothers premature labor, but the children claim it caused them to suffer brain injuries.

They accuse Novartis of failing to warn their mother about those dangers though it knew or should have known about them.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned in 2011 that injectable terbutaline should not be given to pregnant women to prevent preterm labor or treat it for a prolonged period. The lawsuit against Novartis claims studies going as far back as the 1970s raised concerns about using terbutaline on pregnant women.

Novartis argued it had sold its rights to Brethine in 2001 and had no additional responsibility for the warning label on generic versions of the drug at the time terbutaline was administered to the mother.

Novartis said in a statement it is reviewing the opinion and will continue to defend against the plaintiffs unfounded claims.

Brand-name drugmakers under federal regulations are responsible for the accuracy and adequacy of a drugs warning label, according to Thursdays ruling. Generic manufacturers are only required to make sure their warning label is the same as that of the brand-name drug.

In this case, Novartis had sold the brand-name drug to another company. Still, federal rules required the new manufacturer to use Novartis warning label unless directed otherwise by the FDA, according to the state Supreme Court ruling.

Associate Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuellar, writing for the majority, said those rules made it forseeable that the new manufacturer would not update the warning label when the first company failed to do so.

In such circumstances, it is at least plausible that a successor manufacturer may choose to undertake only a cursory investigation of the medical literature, on the assumption that the prior manufacturer must have done a more thorough inquiry during the period that it was responsible for maintaining the warning label, he wrote.

The court did not rule on the merits of the lawsuit against Novartis, but its ruling kept the case alive.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
A flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo turned back on Tuesday because of an apparent mix-up involving an unauthorized passenger on board  while a fashion model repeatedly tweeted about the episode to 9.2 million her followers.

All Nippon Airways Flight 175 to Tokyo's Narita Airport turned around for Los Angeles International Airport due to an unauthorized person on the plane.

"During the flight, the cabin crew became aware that one of the passengers boarded the incorrect flight and notified the pilot," the airline said in a statement. "As part of the airline's security procedure, the pilot in command decided to return to the originating airport, where the passenger was disembarked."

News of the diversion gained traction on social media as American model Chrissy Teigen, a passenger on ANA 175, tweeted about it episodically.

They keep saying the person had a United ticket. We are on ANA. So basically the boarding pass scanner is just a beedoop machine that makes beedoop noises that register to nowhere

ANA 175 departed LAX at 11:36 a.m. local time and returned to LAX at 7:33 p.m.

"ANA is researching the situation currently to determine how the passenger boarded the flight," the carrier said. "ANA would like to express its apologies to the passengers for the inconvenience."
Its not just Madisonians who are coming to see the area as a burgeoning techno-hub.

A study by the Brookings Institution shows the economy of the Madison metropolitan area is more technology-forward than all but nine other metro regions in the U.S.

The study, Digitalization and the American Workforce, ranks Madison as No. 10 of the top 100 metropolitan areas nationwide, in terms of both the number of computer-oriented jobs available as well as the adoption of computer technology in the workplace, in general.

That puts Madison closer to the sphere of longtime tech hubs San Jose, Boston and Austin  listed as the top three regions in the Brookings assessment. Madison is the only Midwestern metro among Brookings top 20, and it ranks ahead of areas such as Washington, D.C.; New York City; Chicago; and Minneapolis-St. Paul.

The Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis area  the other Wisconsin region on the list  is No. 61.

Madison is clearly one of the places that is a winner in the digital race, said Mark Muro, senior fellow in the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings and co-author of the study.

He said Madison was an early adopter of technology and is now one of the leaders.

As far as the concentration of jobs requiring a high level of digital skills, Madison also fares well, Muro said. Brookings ranks Madison as No. 14 among U.S. metro areas, with 26 percent of its workers in highly digital jobs.

These numbers really point to Madisons increased consequence in tech. That the region fares so strongly on its share of highly digital workers underscores that it is emerging as a major U.S. tech pole in the Midwest, Muro said.

The Brookings study analyzes data from the Occupation Information Network (O*NET), a project funded by the U.S. Department of Labors Employment and Training Administration. O*NET surveys workers in every occupation to get details on their education, training and skill-related work tasks.

The Brookings report says the immersion of virtually every business and most homes into digital technology is changing the U.S. economy and leading to higher-paying jobs that are less likely to be eliminated by automation.

At the same time, though, it demands that more people be taught basic computer skills so they are not shut out of a chance for jobs that require digital skills.

Touting Madisons

tech rankings

Kevin Little, vice president of the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce, said he agrees with the Brookings report.

He said its time to look beyond the traditional comparisons of Madison that only size it up against other college towns.

Were growing at a rate that puts us in the conversation of much larger metropolitan areas, Little said. Im seeing, specific to the technology sector, very clear, accelerated growth in these jobs.

At a recent panel discussion presented by the chambers Accelerate Madison group, Little rattled off a list of kudos to the areas rising tech credibility.

From 2005 to 2016, the number of computer system design jobs jumped from 2,229 to 11,782, according to the Madison Region Economic Partnership (MadREP) and UW Extension.

They also said from 2005 to 2015, the number of computer system design companies has increased from 218 to 377.

Madison has the second highest density of software publishing jobs, behind only Seattle, based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Madison is No. 3 among small cities in tech talent workforce growth, according to the CBRE commercial real estate group.

Forbes listed Madison as

No. 4

among the best-paying cities for software engineers in 2016.

Inc. magazine, quoting NerdWallet, listed Madison as No. 7 of the best cities for young entrepreneurs in 2016.

Little also cited an article by the San Francisco Business Times in 2016 that said 90 percent of that areas tech workers planned to leave their jobs, and one of their top destinations was Madison, Wisconsin.

Several local tech leaders on the panel underscored the message.

A lot of people are really interested in relocating here, said Rachel Neill, CEO of Carex Consulting Group, a Madison company founded in 2016 to help tech employees find jobs.

Over the past couple of years, there has been a shift in attitudes about relocating to Madison, said Neill, who moved here eight years ago.

Now, a lot of candidates are really intrigued by some of the health tech companies here and theyre eager to move to Madison. Its not such a hard sell, she said, in an interview later.

Her own business added 17 employees this year for a total of 20, and Neill said she expects her staff, in new offices at 316 W. Washington Ave., to more than double in 2018.

Jeff Naughton, head of Googles Madison office, said it has been a year of a lot of growth for Google operations here, including some people hired from Seattle and San Francisco.

Interest in computer science at the UW has just gone crazy, said Naughton, UW emeritus professor of computer science.

I definitely see Madison is transforming and becoming much more of a tech place, he said. A lot of Madison people dont know that Madison is like this.

It feels like an exciting moment in time for Madison, said Maurice Cheeks, vice president of business development for MIOsoft, a data quality company, and a Madison alderman.

Epic Systems Corp., the Verona electronic health records company with about 10,000 employees, should get a lot of the credit for the areas growing reputation, the tech executives said.

There are a number of superstar people who work at Epic, said serial entrepreneur Mark Gehring, co-founder of companies that include Propeller Health and HealthMyne.

And when they leave Epic, more of them are staying in the area now, Neill said.

One reason could be salary. Neill said she is placing tech workers in jobs that pay between $80,000 and $150,000 a year in companies ranging from health-tech to insurance, for positions such as project managers and software developers.

Improvement still sought

At the same time, though, there are still some serious challenges facing the areas tech community.

Diversity is one of them, Cheeks said.

As much as this is a place where people are excited to come, for African Americans and Latinos, it is harder to decide to come and to decide to stay, Cheeks said.

There are still too few people of color in senior positions in our tech community, and I know that the limited cultural activities combined with statistical realities for our youth make retainment a significant challenge for employers, he said.

Handfuls of his friends have moved on, to cities such as Denver and New York, where its easier to get established and feel more included, Cheeks said.

Strengthening connections between Madison and Milwaukee might bring a more diverse population to the Madison area and create more opportunity here, Neill said. She said the Milwaukee School of Engineering, for example, produces good software engineers.

I would love to see a high-speed rail, but even a regular train would do, she said.

We have some great health-tech talent that Im sure they could use. There are folks in Milwaukee who could benefit by access to jobs and exposure to our health-tech sector. If we had more talent swapping, I think the community would both thrive and flourish, Neill said.

Gehring said more local investment funds are available in the Madison area than there were several years ago, but to keep the money flowing, more exits are needed  meaning, more companies will have to be acquired or stage initial public stock offerings so investors can get a return on their funds and pump their gains into new businesses.

Basically, though, keeping the UW-Madison strong is a key element in producing new generations of tech-savvy students and in playing a role in developing new technology, Naughton said.

The UW is absolutely essential for whats happening here, he said.
watch now

China has dominated global issuance of "green" bonds for two straight years  a trend that will likely continue as the world's top carbon-emitter tries to play a larger role to contain climate change. The Asian economic giant burst onto the scene in 2016 to take the crown as the world's largest issuer of green bonds  a debt instrument with proceeds that are used to finance activities that benefit the environment. China is set to retain its top spot in 2017.

Data source: Dealogic By the end of November 2017, China led global green bond issuance with 66 deals that raised $24.89 billion, according to data firm Dealogic. The country's dominance in that particular debt market followed its 2016 record of 43 deals totaling $33.17 billion, which allowed it to leapfrog traditional green financing giants such as the United States and France. "China is one of the countries most exposed to pollution, particularly air pollution. Following the Paris 2015 United National Climate Change Conference, they have shown keenness to fight climate change," said Alban de Fay, a portfolio manager at Amundi Asset Management who handles socially-responsible, fixed-income investments.

China is one of the countries most exposed to pollution, particularly air pollution. Alban de Fay SRI Fixed Income Portfolio Manager, Amundi

And as countries come together to try to keep the world from warming by more than a total of 2 degrees Celsius, China certainly has a big role to play. The country emits 10.36 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, according to the Global Carbon Project. To many observers, China's status as a leading issuer of green bonds signals its commitment to address the environmental problems that have come with the country's rapid industrialization over three decades. The agreement reached in Paris came into effect in November 2016, and is designed to prompt nearly 200 countries including China to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The huge pact has stirred greater interest in green bonds among investors. Global green bond issuance leaped by 120 percent in 2016, to a record $93.4 billion, according to ratings agency Moody's . Green bonds hit $94.5 billion in the first nine months of this year and are on course to exceed $120 billion for the full year, the agency added.

The future of green finance in China

The growth of China's green capital market has come largely as a result of better government support, analysts said. The second-largest economy in the world needs around 2 trillion yuan a year ($305.46 billion) in investment to meet government targets of reducing pollution, its central bank estimated in 2015. But that year, the country issued just 3 green bonds that raised $1.29 billion, Dealogic data showed.

watch now

Since then, regulators of the country's banking, corporate and securities sectors have issued guidelines that define a "green" project and outline the eligibility criteria for green bond issuers. China's Green Finance Committee is reportedly working with the European Investment Bank to identify differences in China's green bond standards from what's practiced internationally. Closing those gaps can help China to attract more overseas investors, said Neeraj Seth, BlackRock's head of Asian credit.

But how is the money being used?
North Korea has reportedly developed a more advanced reconnaissance satellite and may be able to move it on a mobile launcher.

Named the Kwangmyongsong-5, the satellite is equipped with cameras and telecommunication devices, South Korean newspaper the JoongAng Ilbo said this week, citing an unnamed government source.

JoongAng Ilbo's report suggested the Kwangmyongsong-5 could transmit data to Earth, unlike its previous satellites.

The rogue state's last rocket launch was in February 2016, when it sent an Earth observation satellite known as the Kwangmyongsong-4 into orbit.

Many fear that the pariah state, which is supposed to be banned from launches using ballistic missile technology, is testing long-range missiles disguised as satellite launches.

Still, Pyongyang has long defended its right to develop a space program. In October, North Korea's deputy United Nations ambassador, Kim In Ryong, said his country had a plan to develop "practical satellites that can contribute to the economic development and improvement of the people's living."

The Kwangmyongsong-5 could be deployed by a mobile launcher, an official from South Korea's National Intelligence Service told the newspaper.

Pyongyang usually launches rockets from the Sohae Satellite Launching Station, which is near the country's northern border with China.
In 2014, San Francisco passed legislation allowing property owners to add accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, to their homes and buildings. The law was then expanded in late 2016 so that any building with at least five existing apartments could add an unlimited number of units, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. As property owners take advantage of the new law, the city has seen an explosion of ADUs over the past year. "There are now 1,046 ADUs in the pipeline, with building permits approved for 531 of them," according to the Chronicle. These units, often called "granny flats," typically consist of converted garages or basements. "Pretty much every multi-unit building with crappy old storage rooms is taking a look at this," John Pollard of the SF Garage Co. told the Chronicle. "You've got all these property owners that realize they are sitting on dead equity." That means everything from a boiler room to basement storage has the potential to become a new housing unit. One landlord in San Francisco's Nob Hill neighborhood is turning a ground-floor dining hall into seven individual units, the Chronicle reports. The apartments will be between 220 and 381 square feet and cost anywhere from $2,400 to $2,800 a month.

At face value, the prospect of paying top dollar to live in what was once a "crappy old storage room" might not sound appealing but ADUs are much needed housing options to an area desperate for them. And with San Francisco's median rental price climbing to $4,400 a month, the price isn't as outlandish as it may seem. "The new laws won't come close to filling the Bay Area's housing needs. But they could create options for middle-income renters who don't qualify for below-market-rate housing and can't afford a market-rate apartment," the San Francisco Chronicle reported in late 2016 as the law was about to take effect. The cost of living and the housing crisis in San Francisco are a pressing issue, and not just for the working and middle class. When Houston-based law firm Patterson and Sheridan expanded to Silicon Valley, it opted to keep employees in Texas rather than have relocate to California. Now the lawyers commute once a month for meetings on a nine-seat, $3 million jet equipped with maple-paneled cabins and plush leather seats. It was, remarkably, the cost-effective decision. Even with the cost of the jet, plus the $2,500 per hour cost to operate it, the firm says it can offer clients lower prices because most of the work is done in Houston, where commercial real estate is 43 percent cheaper, salaries are 52 percent lower and competition for technical talent less fierce, according to an original report in the Houston Chronicle.
When 44th U.S. President Barack Obama handed over the reins of the White House to Donald Trump, the former leader felt serene, even though there was work yet to be completed.

Speaking in an interview for the BBC Radio 4's Today Program, Obama described to Prince Harry of the U.K. royal family the moment he left the presidency behind.

"I think (it) was a satisfying feeling. That was mixed with all the work that was still undone. Concerns about how the country moves forward but, you know, overall there was serenity there. More than I would have expected," Obama said, as he reflected upon the work his administration had done.

Still, he believed his administration had "run a good race" during its eight years in office.

"One of the metaphors that I always used for the presidency is that you are a relay runner. There is the sense sometimes in any position of leadership that you, by yourself, do certain things and then it's over and I always viewed it as taking the baton from a whole range of people who had come before me. Some of whom had been heroic and some of whom had screwed up," Obama explained.

"But wherever you were in the race: if you ran hard, if you did your best, and that you then were able to pass that baton off successfully and the country was better off, the world was a little bit better off, then when you got there, then you could take some pride in that. And I think we were able to do that."
Massachusetts' top securities regulator said his office is qualified to issue a warning on bitcoin because the digital currency is "entirely speculation."

"It doesn't pass the smell test," William Galvin, secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, said Wednesday on CNBC "Fast Money."

"There is no product here. This is entirely speculation. That's already been proven by the high gyrations of the value," Galvin said. "It's also subject to manipulation, because no one can explain it no one can control it."

Bitcoin has soared more than 1,500 percent over the last 12 months to near $15,340 on Wednesday, according to Coinbase. That's off a record high above $19,800 hit in mid-December.

On Dec. 13, Galvin listing seven reasons why bitcoin may be a "worthless product." The document is likely the first investor advisory on bitcoin from a state.

Federal regulators have also stepped up their warnings on cryptocurrencies and related investments this month.

We "don't always agree, but we all seem to agree that this is a problem," Galvin said. He said he is not working with other regulators at this time.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton issued a lengthy statement on Dec. 11 about the dangers of investing in cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings.

Last Thursday, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority issued an investor alert on "cryptocurrency-related stock scams." Some tiny stocks with few ties to technology have soared several hundred percent in the last several weeks after announcing plans to focus on blockchain, the technology behind bitcoin.

"Don't be fooled by unrealistic predictions of returns and claims made through press releases, spam email, telemarketing calls or posted online or in social media threads," the Finra alert said. "These actions may be signs of a classic 'pump and dump' fraud."

Cryptocurrency proponents see blockchain as changing the world as much as the internet did. The technology eliminates the need for a third-party intermediary by creating a quick, permanent record of transactions between two parties. Bitcoin is the first application of blockchain.

CME , the world's largest futures exchange, and its competitor Cboe both launched bitcoin futures in December. Many expect the futures will help legitimize bitcoin as an asset class, since the derivatives product will allow institutional investors to buy into the cryptocurrency trend.
Elon Musk asked his Twitter followers for Tesla feedback Tuesday, saying he wants to know how the auto and power company "can improve further." Musk often  especially compared with most chief executives  responds to questions and comments on Twitter. Whether it is to explain upcoming Tesla software changes, to take feedback on elements of design or even to combat critics, Musk is accustomed to responding to his mass following online. His responses Tuesday ranged from matter-of-fact explanations to jokes about SpaceX launches. Musk responded to one user that the Falcon 9 launch seen by millions in the sky above Los Angeles on Friday "was definitely aliens." More than 13,000 replies to Musk flooded in with suggestions for changes, upgrades and new features. The CEO personally responded to a dozen of them, giving a look into what is to come from the all-electric company.

Electric pickup truck

Tesla's awesome key fob Mack Hogan | CNBC

One Twitter user told Musk that a Tesla pickup truck is needed. Musk responded by saying that he promises Tesla will "make a pickup truck right after Model Y." Musk is "dying to build it," he tweeted. When asked if the pickup would be comparable in size to Ford's F-150 line of trucks, Musk said it would have a "similar total size." He added that the Tesla truck may be slightly bigger, saying he wants it to account "for a really game changing" feature. The other vehicle mentioned, the Model Y, is a crossover that Musk has hinted at both on Twitter and on a Tesla conference call earlier this year. Musk said in May that the Model Y would be built "using substantial carryover from [the Model] 3 in order to bring it to market faster."

The second version of Autopilot

A Tesla Model S car equipped with Autopilot David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Users asked for more information about the second version of Autopilot  the self-driving feature standard on all Tesla vehicles. Musk said the new software is "going through exhaustive testing" and said Tesla is working on features such as recognizing road signs. Musk apologized for the delay while saying Tesla has "the most advanced AI neural net of any consumer product by far." "The results are blowing me away," Musk said.

Upgraded navigation software

A driver uses the map navigation feature on a touchscreen control panel with the Tesla Motors Inc. 8.0 software update inside a Tesla Model S P90D vehicle. Christopher Goodney | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Improved navigation software was top of the wish list for another Tesla owner, who said that relying on their phone for accurate travel times "is both painful for me and embarrassing when others are in the car." Musk responded saying that "vastly" upgraded navigation software is coming soon.

Onboard and exterior camera upgrades

I love the Model S parking sensors Mack Hogan | CNBC

Making further use of the cameras on each Tesla was another request, with one user asking for the ability to turn all eight exterior cameras into dashcams  to continuously record the different angles simultaneously. Another user wants the camera to begin recording if someone forces entry into the car, and Musk acknowledged the request.

Location alerts for the family

Tesla's electric car, Powerwall and solar roof are shown by Tesla Motors Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk, unveiling new energy products aimed at illustrating the benefits of combining his electric car and battery maker with solar installer SolarCity Corp. Nichola Groom | Reuters

Angel investor Jason Calacanis suggested a "family arriving home alert," using a vehicle's navigation system presets to tell others when the vehicle would be returning to a designated home location  to which Musk said "sure."

Major browser upgrades

Tesla's web browser is cool but slow Mack Hogan | CNBC

Others asked for updates to the Model S browser, such as a night mode and the option to open mobile versions of websites. Musk said that the existing browser is "terrible" but that "major browser upgrades" are coming "to all cars in a few months."

Added luxury features

Tesla's new Roadster is unveiled during a presentation in Hawthorne, California, U.S., November 16, 2017. Alexandria Sage | Reuters

A request for new Tesla features  music that quiets automatically when the doors all open, ambient lighting and disco mode  was met with Musk saying he would do all of them, especially since the disco mode "sounds like good, cheesy fun." Another person asked about further remote controls, such as turning on a Tesla's heated features via the mobile app. Musk says those features "should be in the next update."

Smart windshield wipers

Tesla Model X electric SUV Aydin Palabiyikoglu | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Windshield wipers that automatically adjust to the amount of rain? Musk says that feature is "coming very soon" as part of a rain sensor in the next version of Autopilot.

Software connectivity updates

Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
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European markets closed mixed on Wednesday, amid light trade across markets worldwide due to the holiday period. The pan-European STOXX 600 closed up 0.1 percent, with major bourses pointing in different directions. The FTSE 100 hit a record high during the session on Wednesday, and closed 0.34 percent higher.

European markets



Oil price rise

Trade is lighter than usual on Wednesday, as markets across the globe open back up after the Christmas holiday break. European trade is expected to be influenced somewhat by the moves in Asia, with trade in Asian-Pacific markets during the day's session. In commodity markets, oil prices were in focus after crude futures hit a in the last 24 hours. Prices however came off their highs before in the European session, as a gradual resumption of flows through a major pipeline in the North Sea, helped counteract the supply disruption seen in Libya, Reuters reported. The oil and gas sector was in positive territory.

Apple suppliers fall

In individual stock news, U.K. serviced office provider IWG saw shares close 27 percent higher after it disclosed that it had received a takeover bid from Canadian private equity firm Onex and Brookfield Asset Management. Royal Dutch Shell was in the black after the oil giant said it expects "favorable" impact on its operations from the recently passed U.S. tax reform law. A number of Apple suppliers, including Dialog Semiconductor and Austria Microsystems fell sharply after Taiwan's Economic Daily newspaper reported that the iPhone maker would slash its sales forecast for the iPhone X in the first quarter. Meanwhile, a Russian court approved a settlement between Russia's Rosneft and Sistema on Tuesday, ending the pair's dispute over the Bashneft oil firm, RIA news agency reported. Looking to global politics, the U.S. sanctioned on Tuesday, involved in the state's ballistic missile development programs. These sanctions come just days after a United Nations Security Council resolution which on the country, following its missile test in late November.
Apple (AAPL) faces multiple lawsuits in federal courts over its admission that it adjusts power in older phones to prevent possible shutdowns. The suits claim Apple defrauded iPhone users by slowing down their devices without warning. (Reuters)

Former President Barack Obama said today social media is causing people to be "cocooned in information" that reinforces their biases. He spoke in an interview with Prince Harry on the BBC's Today Program. (CNBC)

North Korea has reportedly developed a new, more advanced reconnaissance satellite and may be able to move it on a mobile launcher. The device could transmit data back to Earth, unlike previous North Korean satellites. (CNBC)

A gunman reportedly opened a fire in a pastry-making factory in Moscow today, killing one person and taking an unknown number as hostages, according to Russian state news agency RIA. At least two others have been wounded in the shooting, the report said. (Reuters)

Amazon (AMZN) is getting ready to make waves in 2018 by expanding its advertising efforts, especially on its search and video products, sources tell CNBC. It also has plans to increase advertising sales off its platform.

Elon Musk said Tesla (TSLA) will make a pickup truck "right after" the Model Y. The Tesla chief executive says he is "dying to build" the pickup and has been thinking about the design for almost 5 years. (CNBC)



* Elon Musk asked his Twitter followers for Tesla feedback ... here's what they said (CNBC)

The Library of Congress has announced it will no longer archive every single Twitter (TWTR) post. Beginning on December 31, the organization will be more selective and only collect tweets that it deems historically significant. (Gizmodo)

The FDA's food recall process for about 80 percent of the nation's food can take up to 10 months to get unsafe products off the shelves, a report finds. But Commissioner Scott Gottlieb says much has changed. (USA Today)
When Daniel Poston, a second-year medical student in Manhattan, opened the App Store on his iPhone a couple of weeks ago, he was astonished to see an app for a new heart study prominently featured.

People often learn about new research studies through in-person conversations with their doctors. But not only did this study, run by Stanford University, use a smartphone to recruit consumers, it was financed by Apple . And it involved using an app on the Apple Watch to try to identify irregular heart rhythms.

Intrigued, Mr. Poston, who already owned an Apple Watch, registered for the heart study right away. Then he took to Twitter to encourage others to do likewise  suggesting that it was part of a breakthrough in health care.

Its not inconceivable, by the time I graduate from medical school, Mr. Poston said, that the entire practice of medicine can be revolutionized by technology.

Apple, Google , Microsoft and other tech giants have transformed the way billions of us communicate, shop, socialize and work. Now, as consumers, medical centers and insurers increasingly embrace health-tracking apps, tech companies want a bigger share of the more than $3 trillion spent annually on health care in the United States, too. The Apple Heart Study reflects that intensified effort.

The companies are accelerating their efforts to remake health care by developing or collaborating on new tools for consumers, patients, doctors, insurers and medical researchers. And they are increasingly investing in health start-ups.

In the first 11 months of this year, 10 of the largest tech companies in the United States were involved in health care equity deals worth $2.7 billion, up from just $277 million for all of 2012, according to data from CB Insights, a research firm that tracks venture capital and start-ups.

Each tech company is taking its own approach, betting that its core business strengths could ultimately improve peoples health  or at least make health care more efficient. Apple, for example, has focused on its consumer products, Microsoft on online storage and analytics services, and Alphabet, Googles parent company, on data.

The big-picture reason that a lot of these tech companies are getting into health care now is because the market is too big, too important and much too personal to their users for them to ignore, said John Prendergass, associate director of health care investment at Ben Franklin Technology Partners, a nonprofit organization in Philadelphia.

Physicians and researchers caution that it is too soon to tell whether novel continuous-monitoring tools, like apps for watches and smartphones, will help reduce disease and prolong lives  or just send more people to doctors for unnecessary tests.

Theres no shortage of hype, said Dr. Eric Topol, a digital medicine expert who directs the Scripps Translational Science Institute in San Diego. Were in the early stages of learning these tools: Who do they help? Who do they not help? Who do they provide just angst, anxiety, false positives?

The tech industry is certainly no stranger to health. IBM, Intel and Microsoft have long provided enterprise services to the health care industry.

But now they, and other companies, are more visibly focused on creating, or investing in, new kinds of technologies for doctors, patients and consumers.

This year, Amazon was one of the investors in a financing round for Grail, a cancer-detection start-up, which raised more than $900 million. Apple acquired Beddit, a maker of sleep-tracking technology, for an undisclosed amount.

And Alphabet, perhaps the most active American consumer tech giant in health and biotech, acquired Senosis Health, a developer of apps that use smartphone sensors to monitor certain health signals, also for an undisclosed amount.

Alphabet also has a research unit, Verily Life Sciences, dedicated to developing new tools to collect and analyze health data.

This year, Verily introduced a health research device, the Verily Study Watch, with sensors that can collect data on heart rate, gait and skin temperature. Now, the watch is to be used in a research study, called Project Baseline and financed by Verily, to follow about 10,000 volunteers.

Participants in the Project Baseline study will also be asked to use sleep sensors in their beds, and to have blood, genetic and mental health tests. Using data analytics and machine learning, researchers hope to get a more detailed picture of the progression of diseases like cancer.

We are creating devices that collect information, new molecular assays  and all of that is just to try to understand health at a deeper level, said Dr. Jessica L. Mega, Verilys chief medical officer.

Apple is taking a different approach  using its popular iPhone and Apple Watch to help consumers better track and manage their health.

Apple is trying to drag medicine from where it currently takes place  in hospitals and clinics  and move it to the consumer side, to your phone, said Malay Gandhi, an executive in residence at Greylock Partners, a venture capital firm.

In 2015, Apple introduced new software, called Apple ResearchKit, for health researchers. Stanford used it to develop an app to enroll volunteers in a heart study and track their physical activities, sleeping hours and fitness.

Dr. Lloyd B. Minor, dean of the Stanford University School of Medicine, said the app enabled researchers to smoothly enroll more than 54,000 patients  a large number for a study conducted by one medical center  and collect much more data than they could have otherwise.

For us, it was an eye-opener, he said.

Stanford is also conducting the Apple Heart Study. It is intended to determine whether an app for the Apple Watch can accurately detect irregular heart rhythms  particularly those associated with atrial fibrillation, a condition that can lead to blood clots and strokes.

If the app detects irregular heart rhythms, it will send participants a notification and offer them a free video consultation with a doctor. The study is not designed to assess whether people who used the watch app had a reduced incidence of stroke and cardiac death compared with people who did not use the app.

More from The New York Times:

Is Apple Slowing Down Old iPhones? Questions and Answers

Unions Are Gaining a Foothold at Digital Media Companies

When Harry Met Obama: The BBC Interview

Microsoft, already a major supplier of software and cloud services to medical centers, is also ramping up its health business.

This year, the company announced an initiative, Healthcare NeXT, to create products for medical providers and patients using artificial intelligence and cloud services like speech recognition.

As part of the effort, Microsoft worked with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center to develop digital services intended to reduce drudgery for physicians and improve patients experiences. One project involves a virtual assistant that would take notes on conversations between a doctor and a patient, analyze the conversation and then send a summary to the patients electronic medical record. The medical center is also pilot-testing an app that notifies doctors when one of their patients has filled a prescription at a U.P.M.C. pharmacy.

Were really focusing on what people in the health care world are doing today and how we can make it better, said Peter Lee, Microsofts corporate vice president for artificial intelligence and research.

Facebook , too, has been expanding its business and research efforts in the health sector.

Last year, Facebook made it more appealing for pharmaceutical companies to advertise their medicines on the platform by introducing a rolling scroll feature where drug makers can list their drugs side effects in an ad. Such risk disclosures are required by federal drug marketing rules.

And this year, Oculus, the virtual reality gear maker owned by Facebook, teamed up with Childrens Hospital Los Angeles to develop V.R. simulations for doctors and medical students to practice handling high-risk pediatric medical emergencies.

Amazon has been less public about its plans in health. But industry analysts have speculated that Amazon could enter the pharmacy business.

Dr. Topol of Scripps said tech companies had an opportunity to remake longstanding, cumbersome systems  like hospital alarms at a patients bedside that go off dozens of times every day  and re-envision how health care is delivered.

Theres not one tech company that isnt involved one way or another, Dr. Topol said. Many of the companies see this as somewhere between rescue and a great business opportunity.
GREEN BAY  A fired food service worker is charged with ramming other vehicles at Lambeau Field in Green Bay last week.

Forty-year-old Chay Vang was charged Tuesday with two felony counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety and five misdemeanor counts of damage to property. USA Today Network-Wisconsin reported that Vang's cash bond was set at $10,000.

According to the complaint, Vang was working for Delaware North at Lambeau Field when he got into a fight with a 25-year-old co-worker during a Green Bay Packers game on Dec. 3.

The complaint says Delaware North investigated and fired Vang.

The former co-worker was getting out of his car in the employee parking lot last Friday when Vang allegedly drove into the car and repeatedly smashed it.

Five vehicles were damaged. Vang told police he rammed the car because "he wanted justice" and no one was listening to him.
Royal Dutch Shell Plc said it expects recently enacted U.S. tax reform legislation to have a "favorable" impact on its operations.

The change in U.S. tax legislation, which is a reduction to 21 percent from 35 percent, will affect Shell's fourth-quarter 2017 results but added the "analysis of the actual impact is not yet complete."

The Anglo-Dutch company said it expects to provide details of the impact of the tax reform, which is effective from Jan. 1, in its fourth-quarter 2017 results.

However, Shell said it would have incurred a charge to earnings of $2.0 to 2.5 billion, on the basis of its third-quarter statements.

On Dec. 22, U.S. President Donald Trump signed the $1.5 trillion tax overhaul into law, cutting tax rates for businesses and offering some temporary cuts for some individuals and families.
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Special counsel Robert Mueller may continue with his investigation into President Donald Trump's alleged ties to Russia far longer than the White House has planned. In conversations with friends and advisors, the president has said that the investigation would wrap up early in 2018, CNN reported in December. One of the president's lawyers, Ty Cobb, told The Washington Post in mid-November that the probe would likely finish shortly after the new year. But experts and precedent suggest the investigation could last well into 2018, if not longer, meaning that one of the biggest clouds over Trump's nascent presidency and the Republican majority in Congress could continue to cast a pall as midterm elections approach. Robert Ray, who was independent counsel in the Whitewater investigation into former President Bill Clinton's dealings, told CNBC that he thinks the Mueller probe could last "well into 2018, but hopefully concluded with major prosecutorial decisions reached before the midterm election cycle." Harry Litman, a former U.S. attorney and deputy assistant attorney general, predicted that the investigation could last even longer. He cited the possibility that the special counsel could pursue a convoluted money trail that could extend the inquiry into 2019.

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Flynn's cooperation, in particular, could indicate that Mueller is winding up one key part of his investigation. Sol Wisenberg, who was deputy independent counsel in the Whitewater investigation, said that Flynn's cooperation with investigators may allow Mueller to complete the portion of his probe of potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia "soon."



"Hard to believe that there would be criminal collusion without Flynn's knowledge," Wisenberg said. "Flynn did not plead to that and his plea deal doesn't seem to cover it."



Mueller's prosecution of Manafort and his business partner Rick Gates, who were both indicted in October on charges related to unlawful financial dealings, will continue regardless of the outcome of the collusion investigation. A court date in that prosecution has been planned for May. A status report has been scheduled in the Flynn case for February. Besides collusion, the special counsel is, according to The Washington Post, also pursuing an obstruction of justice investigation related to the president's firing of former FBI Director James Comey, among other possible matters. The special counsel is authorized to investigate any matters that "may arise directly from the investigation," according to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's order appointing the special counsel. There are no indications that Mueller has exhausted potential leads. In a sign that the investigation could be pursuing new lines of inquiry, Yahoo reported Wednesday that Republican National Committee officials in recent weeks have started fielding questions from investigators related to the political organization's digital operations.

Escalating criticism

The investigation enters the new year under fire from the president, as well as subject to accusations of partisan bias from conservative commentators and lawmakers. Republicans on the Hill were outraged after the release of text messages between two former Mueller prosecutors that showed the two disparaging the president, including calling him an "idiot." Those two senior agents, Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, provided fodder for House Republicans who grilled Rosenstein at a House Judiciary Committee hearing Dec. 13. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., called the revelation "deeply troubling to all citizens who expect a system of blind and equal justice." Also in December, the president's transition organization challenged the seizure of its emails by the special counsel's office, calling the action "unlawful." Trump, for his part, has lashed out against the FBI, saying its reputation is in "tatters." To counter ire on the right, Democrats have sought to defend Mueller and his probe. In a Dec. 20 speech on the floor of the Senate, Virginia's Mark Warner  the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is conducting its own Russia probe  criticized what he called a "seemingly coordinated" line of attack on the Mueller investigation. The White House has pushed back against rumors that Trump is planning to fire Mueller, however. "For the thousandth time, we have no intentions of firing Bob Mueller," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Fox News after Warner's Senate speech. The White House did not respond to a request for comment from CNBC. The president has forcefully denied any misconduct in his campaign's contacts with Russia, and has called the investigation a "witch hunt." By regulation, Rosenstein is the only person with the authority to fire Mueller or end the inquiry. Mueller is required to submit a status report in July 2018 regarding the progress of the investigation, at which point Rosenstein will determine whether the probe will continue and set its budget for the following fiscal year. In addition to Mueller's investigation, at least three congressional investigations related to Trump's alleged ties to Russia are underway. Those investigations are unable to bring criminal charges and have largely been riven by partisan bickering. "There are people who've already made up their minds waiting to see whether or not their previously held conviction will be validated," Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., told NBC News in December. "But I think most people are waiting on Mueller."

WATCH: Constitutional crisis if Trump fires Mueller
Gen. Michael Flynn, former national security adviser to US President Donald Trump, leaves Federal Court December 1, 2017 in Washington, DC.

President Donald Trump's lawyers in the Russia investigation want to undermine the credibility of ex-national security advisor Michael Flynn if he alleges wrongdoing by top White House officials, The Washington Post reported, citing three sources.

Flynn, , is reportedly cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller. Mueller is investigating Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.

The president's outside counsel John Dowd denied the report.

"Complete nonsense! More fake news," Dowd told NBC News.

If Flynn moves to accuse Trump or top aides of wrongdoing, the president's legal team plans to describe him as a liar who wants to shield himself, the Post reported.

Trump has repeatedly defended Flynn's character in the past.
The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form
Madisons longtime mayor, Democrat Paul Soglin, said Tuesday that he plans to formally launch a campaign for governor in a few weeks, which would make him the oldest of the nine top-tier candidates seeking to unseat Republican Gov. Scott Walker.

Soglin, 72, made the announcement on Twitter and Facebook. Hes been toying with entering the race since June, saying as recently as last week that he planned to launch his candidacy in mid-January, barring an unexpected development.

Reached by phone Tuesday by the Wisconsin State Journal, Soglin said he plans to make a formal announcement the second week in January and declined to comment further.

Soglin, a staple in Madison politics for more than 40 years, is known for his liberal policies, bushy mustache and sometimes taciturn demeanor. He was first elected mayor in 1973 and has held the position, on and off, for a total of 20 years.

Soglin told his supporters Tuesday that social media will play an important role as he rolls out his campaign. President Donald Trump and other politicians, including Walker, have tapped into the power of Twitter and other platforms in recent years to speak directly to their supporters and push their political agendas.

Soglin said he would post a message Wednesday about housing and he encouraged supporters to like and share it so we can see the potential of using Facebook. Soglin has about 3,800 Twitter followers and is followed by more than 1,000 people on Facebook.

Walker, who is seeking a third term as governor, has more than 188,000 followers on Twitter on his official account and 287,000 followers on his personal account he uses for campaigns.

Walker, 50, said in June that he would love a chance to run against Soglin, who was an anti-war protester on the UW-Madison campus before being elected mayor in 1973 at age 28.

Walker dismissed Soglin as an unabashed throwback to the 1960s radical liberal, and refused to give him any credit for Madisons strong economy, saying unemployment is low in the capital city because of state government and UW.

Soglin has said that Madisons economic growth has been driving positive numbers statewide, and that this could be a focal point of a run for governor. He has also said that support from around the state, not just in Madison, has fueled his consideration of a run.

When Soglin first floated the possibility of a run back in June, he pointed to the unlikely success of another septuagenarian, 76-year-old Bernie Sanders. The senator from Vermont, who ran for president in 2016, won the Wisconsin primary. Soglin was a Sanders delegate to the Democratic National Convention.

The other highest profile Democratic candidates for governor are: state Superintendent Tony Evers; state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout, of Alma; state Rep. Dana Wachs, of Eau Claire; former state Rep. Kelda Roys, of Madison; statewide firefighter union leader Mahlon Mitchell; former state party chairman Matt Flynn; Milwaukee businessman Andy Gronik; and political activist Mike McCabe.

Roys, at 38, is the youngest candidate. Mitchell, at 40, is the next youngest.
LA CROSSE  As an avid outdoorsman, hunter and father of two boys, I believe, as do many Americans, that our National Park System and public lands play an important role in strengthening family relationships and traditions.

Sadly, it appears the Trump administration doesnt share this belief. It recently took action to take public lands away from U.S. citizens by shrinking Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah.

We should all be concerned by the precedent that shrinking Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments sets. What will happen if next the Trump administration decides, without our input, to shrink the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife Refuge? The consequences that would have on Wisconsins environment and the economy would be disastrous.

When Teddy Roosevelt expanded the national forests during his presidency, he understood that these parks were ecological treasures that were in danger of being lost for future generations. Some of my best memories come from spending time with my family in the backcountry of a national park, unplugging from technology, sleeping under the stars, and being surrounded by awe-inspiring natural beauty.

At a time when we are becoming more and more tribal and divided, experiencing our public lands can act as a great equalizer. When you are out exploring, there is no Republican or Democrat  just enjoyment and camaraderie, and we cant afford to lose any of the few remaining places where this is true.

Research shows every dollar invested in national parks generates $10 in economic activity and visitor spending and contributes $29.7 billion to the U.S. economy, ultimately supporting 277,000 private-sector jobs in 2014 alone.

Our national parks and national monuments provide all families an affordable opportunity to experience our countrys most unique and inspiring natural treasures firsthand.

Thats why, as co-chair of the Congressional National Parks Caucus, I have and will continue to fight against the destruction of our national parks and support initiatives that preserve our parks and public lands for future generations.

The natural beauty we have been blessed with in this country is something to preserve and treasure. I hope we can come together to ensure we protect public land for future generations.
CORNWALL, Ontario  Knights of Columbus 11531 recently received Star Council Award.

This Award is equivalent to the Stanley Cup. It recognizes the service to the Church and Community by the Council 11531.
Twelve years ago the United States began a program to support the production of biofuels. The goals were to decrease dependence on foreign oil, create renewable sources of energy, combat global climate change and boost rural economies.

The program, the Renewable Fuel Standard, has been a success. Thats why, despite a massive lobbying effort to cut the standard, the Trump administration last month renewed the program for the next two years. The country will be better for the decision.

The Renewable Fuel Standard, RFS, mandates the blending of renewable fuels with gasoline. To be classified a renewable fuel, a source must show a life-cycle greenhouse gas profile at least 20 percent lower than that of the fossil fuel it replaces.

The renewable fuel used to meet most of the standard is ethanol produced from corn. Corn ethanol is controversial because of its impact on corn markets and on land use. Consequently, several conservation groups have joined with the oil industry in an odd alliance to roll back the RFS.

Opponents of the RFS are equipped with studies, including a recent one from UW-Madison, arguing corn ethanol is a bad idea. The studies are useful in understanding corn ethanols shortcomings. But no current energy source  solar, wind, water, oil or nuclear  is free of negative effects. Corn ethanol may be far from perfect. But much is good about corn ethanol, compared to gasoline.

A study conducted for the U.S. Agriculture Department found corn ethanols life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions, by 2022, will be 43 percent lower than gasoline baseline emissions if ethanol plants continue as usual. If ethanol production makes improvements with available technologies, emissions reductions could total 76 percent. Corn also may be a bridge to better ethanol-producing biomass crops.

Domestic corn ethanol enhances national security by reducing dependence on foreign nations for energy. And corn is a renewable source of energy, compared to a dwindling supply of petroleum.

Corn ethanol production in 2016 provided nearly 75,000 jobs in rural America and supported an additional 265,000 spin-off jobs. It also added $42 billion to the gross domestic product, $23 billion to household income and $9 billion in tax revenue.

Furthermore, many of corn ethanols negative factors turn out to be not so negative after all. As much as 40 percent of U.S. corn is used for ethanol rather than food. But thanks to yield improvements and increases in acres farmed, food prices have remained affordable, and America has exported more corn over the past five years than in the five years before the RFS took effect.

Farmers have cleared land for cornfields, reducing wildlife habitat and increasing ethanols carbon footprint. But ethanol is a small part of the incentive to clear more land. Low prices for an array of crops are forcing farmers to look for economies of scale, which leads to planting more acres. In fact, if a rollback in ethanol production further reduces corn prices, farmers may be pressured to clear even more land.

A reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is good. Less dependence on foreign oil is good. Renewable energy is good. More jobs and income for rural areas is good. Earlier this year that evidence convinced China to announce plans to use corn ethanol nationwide by 2020. The evidence means U.S. support of ethanol deserves to go forward as well.
UNITED COUNTIES of SD&G  Environment Canada has issued an Extreme Cold Warning for Cornwall and the surrounding area.

Extreme wind chill values of minus 35 or below were reported in some areas this morning, the warning on Environment Canadas website reads. Wind chills will moderate during daytime hours. However, tonight wind chill values are again expected to be minus 35 or below.

Dress warmly as frostbite can form withing minutes in these conditions.

Extreme cold warnings are issued when very cold temperatures or wind chill creates an elevated risk to health such as frost bite and hypothermia, the Warning goes on to state.

The cold weather is being caused by a Polar Vortex and is delivering low temperatures across Central Canada.

It is likely to remain cold with highs close to minus 20 throughout the week.
GODS AMAZING GRACE

And now, my daughter, dont be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character. Ruth 3:11

When I think of Gods grace in an individuals life, the story of Ruth comes to mind. And not just because Ruth was the name of my own dear mother. Ruth from the Bible was a widowed but faithful daughter-in-law whom God in His grace blessed with a new country, new husband and family. She is one of the few women (and a Gentile at that) mentioned in Matthews genealogy of Jesus.

Gods grace is also the key principle in so many peoples faith stories. My colleague in Standing Strong Through The Storm (SSTS) seminars, Jim Cunningham, was teaching in Sri Lanka and learned first-hand of this amazing example. (Names used are not their real names.)

Arjuna, a young married man with a family, was part of a team of Christians running an orphanage in a rural village of Sri Lanka. One of the girls from the orphanage was sexually abused by a boy in the village. The police investigated and she identified the boy. The police then arrested the boy.

But the villagers rose-up-in-arms saying Arjuna sexually assaulted the girl and she just blamed the village boy to protect Arjuna. The villagers found and forced another girl to say she too was assaulted by Arjuna.

Arjuna was ultimately sentenced to fifteen years in jail where he subsequently led a number of other prisoners to Christ. One of those men who accepted Christ was Menika. After his release from prison, Menika went to seminary and became a church-planting pastor in a small rural town of Sri Lanka.

Arjuna continued in his prison ministry. He led another criminal to Christ who had committed a capital offence and was on death row. His name was Chandra. Before he was put to death, Chandra said to Arjuna, Id like to give the deed to my house to someone in ministry... It just so happened Chandras house was in the same small rural town where Menika was beginning to plant a church.

So Chandra gave his house to the church-planting former prisoner, Menika, redeemed by Gods grace through Arjunas being falsely accused and sent to prison. Amazing grace!

After six and a half years Arjuna was released from prison but because of the false charge against him was unable to work with children. He now has an ongoing ministry in the prisons of Sri Lanka.

Jim said to me, This is not how most of us would have written the script, butas in the life of RuthI rejoice in Gods amazing grace and provision for all involved!

RESPONSE: I will praise God today for His amazing grace and provision in these lives mentioned and in my own life.

PRAYER: Thank You Lord that Your amazing grace is so real, so available and so free.

STANDING STRONG THROUGH THE STORM (SSTS) -A daily devotional message by Paul Estabrooks

 2011 Open Doors International. Used by permission

When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone, but the righteous stand firm forever. Proverbs 10:25

Right now millions of Christians face persecution because of their faith in Christ. Register to receive the Open Doors USA Weekly Prayer Alert email. Join alongside thousands of others praying for our brothers and sisters worldwide to stand strong in the midst of their struggles. Also learn more about countries where the persecution of Christians is most severe by visiting the Open Doors website today.
In three years we will double our capacity and in 10 years we will triple it, said Pierfrancesco Vago, executive chairman of MSC Cruises.

MSC will be among the biggest single brands come 2028, with two new ships having entered its fleet in 2017, and at least 10 more to come over the next decade.

The Seaside, which was christened in Miami last week, will help anchor a strategy that will see MSC build up its capacity and sourcing efforts in the biggest cruise market in the world: North America.

Its in North America the new Seaside is now year-round, to be joined by the 2017-built Meraviglia come 2019, along with the Divina.

We have customers traveling to the Caribbean and we needed to introduce new ships, with a different platform, Vago told Cruise Industry News. We had the need to put more cabins and a new offering into the North American market if we wanted to evolve our brand there.

We had one ship (in North America) and she was filled with customers from Europe. We did not have the opportunity to grow, he continued. There is an opportunity for MSC to grow in North America but we needed to create both the hardware and the software for the market. That is the vision behind the building of a very new platform and prototype, the MSC Seaside.

The new ship is the culmination of years of experience in the shipping business, combined with the need to design something unique to the Caribbean to differentiate the brand, Vago said.

The Seaside is a spirit of our leadership in many ways. We are setting the pace for innovation and we will see many reflections of this platform for years to come.

North America Push

Miami will play an important role as the company pushes its way into the North American market, part of a strategic long-term plan, according to Gianni Onorato, CEO.

It started with the MSC Divina, that was the biggest change, Onorato told Cruise Industry News. It was the first time we broke with the legacy of just having a winter ship (in North America) occasionally.

With the company hitting its goal to become the largest single brand in Europe, it opened up more assets to be moved into the North American market, starting with the Divina on a year-round basis, which has now been joined by the Seaside.

Even with the Divina, Seaside and Meraviglia compared to the size of the North American market, this is a little drop, he said.

Come 2022, Onorato sees MSC as a key player in North America, but not at the level of the other main North American brands.

We will have our piece of the cake, he added.

U.S. Office

An expanding Ft. Lauderdale operations and sales office is led by Roberto Fusaro, president of MSC Cruises USA, in addition to Chairman Rick Sasso.

The company has spent money, time and a lot of effort to lay the foundation in North America ahead of the Seaside.

A dedicated product team now works out of South Florida in tandem with MSCs headquarters in Geneva, managing the Seasides hotel, food and beverage and crew recruitment, along with other areas.

It allows us to tweak the product for American needs, Fusaro told Cruise Industry News.

That is all expected to lead to what is most key: generating demand for MSCs year-round ship in the North American market, and potential plans for much more down the road.

MSC has thus rolled out more TV advertising in North America than ever before, and recently signed a three-year deal to become the official cruise line of the Miami Dolphins.

The marketing drive is also helping to export passengers to MSC ships in Europe.

We have a significant number of Americans cruising on the new Meraviglia. The advanced bookings from the U.S. for that ship in Northern Europe (summer 2018) are doing very well, he continued. The Seaview is also launching in the Med this summer and that is getting a lot of bookings from the U.S.

Local Touch

The product effort has been driven under the watchful eye of Andrea Gangale, head of product development and guest experience at MSC Cruises.

Gangale described a dining experience targeted to the American market aboard the Seaside, with classic options like the main dining room and not one but two buffets (one is geared toward families), as well as an array of new and customized specialty restaurants.

In the main dining room, the menu has been redesigned to appeal to American guests, said Gangale.

We are sourcing local, buying American meat, sourcing the proteins American guests are expecting, Gangale continued.

Among the big news aboard the Seaside is the Asian Market Kitchen by Roy Yamaguchi, which is split into three distinct eateries, including sushi, teppanyaki and Asian fusion.

We liked the concept, and wanted to have a partnership with a recognized name in the American market, Gangale told Cruise Industry News. He worked with us through the design and drawings, and gave us all sorts of suggestions down to galley equipment.

Key Partner

A new Terminal F at PortMiami opened well in time for the Seasides late December arrival. It will also serve the Divina and come late 2019, the Meraviglia.

We did Terminal F for the Seaside, and in 2019, we are getting ready to host the Meraviglia, added Juan Kuryla, port director, PortMiami. We are looking at substantial growth for MSC here at the Port of Miami.

The deal with the port came together in early 2015 to see MSC utilize Terminal F for year-round sailings, with the new state-of-the-art facility offering two floors and 38,282 square feet for guests, including 60 new ticket counters, a VIP waiting area, special group lounge and reflowed baggage claim area.

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Excerpts from Cruise Industry News Quarterly Magazine Winter 2017-2018.

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Read the full series of interviews in the Cruise Industry News Quarterly Magazine Winter 2017-2018. Subscribe Today
Making teachers pay more toward retirement will end up costing the state in the long run, according to the state treasurer.

In a memo written shortly after Connecticut finally passed a budget this fall that requires teachers to contribute 7 percent  up from 6 percent  toward their pensions as of Jan. 1, State Treasurer Denise L. Nappier said the change would add about $20 million to the states tab in the long run.

The changes may meet the letter of the law regarding the bond covenant adopted in 2008 to shore up the fund, but they certainly violate the spirit, Nappier wrote in a memo about the unfunded liability of The Teachers Retirement Fund.

Nearly a decade ago, I worked with our teachers to establish a disciplined path toward full funding of the Teachers Retirement Fund, Nappier said This latest action by the Legislature tugs at the threads of our efforts.

Nappier said the states contribution to the teachers pension is to be reduced by the same amount as the teachers increased payments  about $59.5 million over the two-year budget.

But the teachers contributions are also factored into determining the value of their pensions. Therefore, when teachers pay more, they will eventually collect more. According to Cavanaugh MacDonald Consulting, the states actuarial consultants, the state will end up owing an additional $20.4 million.

Not much compared to the states $2 billion debt, but still a step in the wrong direction, Nappier said, especially since the state vowed in 2008 not to reduce its contribution over the length of the loan.

Teachers, who view the increased contribution as a tax on their profession, agreed with Nappier.

The memo from the state treasurer highlights the shortcomings of the so-called budget compromise, Kristen Record, vice president of the Stratford Education Association. The teacher pension issue is very complex and it seems like the state just took another step backwards in addressing it.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, whose plan was to make municipalities share in the cost of teacher pensions, said he agreed with Nappier too.

Any increase to Connecticuts unfunded liabilities should be avoided, Malloy said.

Malloy said his plan would have made the system more affordable and sustainable over time. The governor wanted municipalities to pay $400 million for local educator pensions. But the budget approved by the Legislature did not pass along those costs to municipalities.

Connecticut simply cannot afford annual payments of $4 to $6 billion into this fund - we must make smart reforms now to fix the system, and we can do it without curtailing benefits for teachers, Malloy said. If we dont act, there will be no way to meet these obligations without hollowing out major state programs such as Medicaid and municipal aid. Its that simple.

A recent study by TeacherPensions.org found Connecticut taxpayers spend $14,374 per teacher per year toward teacher pension debt.

Malloy also proposed refinancing changes to the Teachers Retirement System similar to steps taken to the State Employees Retirement System.
Time flies when youre being held hostage by the budgetary dithers (yes, its a noun) who we call state lawmakers.

Jan. 4, 2017 Legislation to raise the minimum wage; allow early voting; and let municipalities enact local sales-tax surcharges, are proposed by Democrats in the General Assembly.

Bills requiring schools to display the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence; kill public financing for state political campaigns; and bar state workers under age 65 from collecting retirement benefits, are submitted by Republicans.

None of those bills survive the legislative process in what will become a year of historic stalemates.

Jan. 13 Jessica Brocksom, a Milford fifth-grader who campaigned on a platform promoting the humane treatment of animals, is awarded the blue sash of Connecticuts Kid Governor during a ceremony in the historic Old State House.

Alas, neither her appointment nor the blue sash, raise the maturity level of state politics and government.

March 3 A bill to ban the use of old vehicle tires for playground surfaces survives the legislative Committee on Children, on its way to a slow death at the hands of crumb-rubber lobbyists, including the Recycled Rubber Council.

The mulched tires contain a dozen known carcinogens and 20 lung irritants. Researchers at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York warn of the possible increase in leukemia and lymphoma for children who romp around on the stuff and breathe the outgases.

Sen. Len Suzio, R-Meriden, co-chairman of the committee in the Senates brave new 18-18 tie, says legislation isnt needed until the federal Environmental Protection Agency finishes studying the issue. This is around the time that the Trump administration promises to dismantle as many regulations as it can.

By the end of the year, the EPA is still researching the chemical makeup of rubber samples from a select group of playing surfaces.

March 15 Gun-safety advocates and law-enforcement officials favor legislation to require those who openly carry handguns to show their permits to state and local police upon request.

Now, we cant tell you whether thats a legitimate or illegitimate carry, Berlin Police Chief Paul Fitzgerald tells lawmakers.

But opponents, including several urban Democrats concerned about racial profiling, join with Second-Amendment types who want unfettered freedom of the Wild West  and possibly hear their spurs go jingle jangle jingle  and the bill is shot down, without a vote, in the Judiciary Committee.

March 10 Dr. James Gill, the states chief medical examiner, gives lawmakers some grim news on drug-related deaths in the state. Fentanyl, the synthetic opioid sometimes added to heroin for street sales, is 100 times more powerful than morphine.

Coincidentally, the opioid crisis has increased the number of autopsies by 64 percent, with 895 more in 2016 than in 2014, he says.

April 13 Gov. Dan Malloy, the hardest-working  and possibly least-liked  Connecticut state employee, announces he wont seek a third four-year term. On Nov. 16, ending months of speculation, Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman says she wont run for governor, turning the 2018 gubernatorial election into a wide-open race for what might be a political booby prize.

April 25 For the first time in nearly 30 years, the legislative Appropriations Committee fails to vote on a budget proposal. It reflects the Senate deadlock and the tiny, 79-72 Democratic edge in the House.

May 15 Frank Farricker, acting president and chairman of the board of the troubled Connecticut Lottery Corp., resigns after an uncomfortable smackdown from members of the legislative Public Safety Committee.

Appointed by Malloy six years earlier to head the board, Farricker, former Greenwich Democratic Town Committee chairman, was ancillary damage in the Lotterys failed 5 Card Cash instant game, in which about a dozen vendors were arrested for cheating. On Oct. 12, the Office of State Ethics extracts a $5,000 penalty and $6,300 in restitution from Farricker, for money he used to pay for internet services at his home, high-definition cable TV with HBO and regional sports, personal mobile-phone bills, and $3,000 in mileage expenses

Nov. 1 The states record budget stalemate ends, mostly, when Malloy quietly signs a new two-year, $41.3-billion state budget that is retroactive to July 1, nearly ending Connecticuts record legislative stalemate.

In fact, the House and Senate reconvene mid-month to revise their bottom line, for which Malloy signs off on Nov. 24. Within days, the budget is more than $200-million out of balance and 113,000 elderly participants in the Medicare Savings Program complain about a 50-percent cut in the income thresholds. So, the 2018 calendar year starts with lawmakers grappling, again, with the state budget.

Nov. 29 Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim given a second chance by city voters, is denied by a federal judge who says that state lawmakers can indeed bar him from public financing in his young campaign for statewide office, possibly governor, in 2018. Hell have to raise more than $7 million to run competitive primary and general election campaigns.

Ken Dixon can be reached in the Capitol at 860-549-4670 or at kdixon@ctpost.com. See twitter.com/KenDixonCT.
STORY LINK US Dollar Euro (USD EUR) Tumbles Over Holidays on Poor Consumer Confidence

US Dollar Euro (USD EUR) Falls on Notable Drop in Consumer Confidence

Euro (EUR) Suffers Christmas Crash and Catalonia Woes, Maintains Lead over USD

USD EUR Forecast: Fed Monetary Policy in 2018

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The US Dollar Euro (USD EUR) exchange rate tumbled over the holiday period as markets responded to a below-forecast US consumer confidence print.Consumer confidence in the US fell to 122.1 in December, down from the previous periods 128.6 and below the consensus of 128.This primarily resulted from a drop in the short-term outlook, with recent US tax reform measures seemingly not bolstering the consumer outlook above its already very high levels.Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at the Conference Board shared his thoughts on the readings:Consumer confidence retreated in December after reaching a 17-year high in November. The decline in confidence was fuelled by a somewhat less optimistic outlook for business and job prospects in the coming months. Consumers assessment of current conditions, however, improved moderately.It should also be noted, however, that despite the decline, consumers expectations continue to remain at historically high levels, with economic growth expected to continue throughout 2018.Nonetheless, this news left the USD EUR exchange rate firmly in the Euros favour.The Euro did experience some movement over the Christmas period; dropping dramatically on Christmas day over the course of just a few minutes.Analysts have asserted, however, that this Christmas crash was not the result of political, or market-based news, with algorithm based trading instead being blamed.Hiroshi Yanagisawa, Chief Analyst at FX Prime shared his thoughts on the occurrence:There was nothing of substance, probably some algo-related, machine-based happening amid an absence of bids in a holiday market.In other news, markets are once again apprehensive with the situation in Catalonia, with pro-independence parties coming out on-top in the recent flash election.This effectively underlines the fact that calls for independence from the region arent going away anytime soon and the threat of Spain losing Barcelona (and a notable portion of Spanish GDP) is still on the cards.This would then translate into further instability for the Eurozone.Despite this concern the Euro continued to maintain its lead over the Greenback.The US Dollar may find some greater purchase in 2018 depending on statements from the new Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell - due to replace Janet Yellen in February.Powell is widely regarded as the safe bet by markets for Yellens replacement, so he is unlikely to massively deviate from her monetary policy measures.Nonetheless, if he employs any hawkish rhetoric in the coming policy statements then the Greenback could claw back some losses, particularly with the European Central Bank (ECB) having already expressed dovish plans for 2018.

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Pa. Democrats win a wafer-thin majority in the House

Incumbent Rep. Todd Stephens has conceded defeat, giving Democrats enough seats in the Pa. House to win a majority for the first time in a decade
. 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.

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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.
President Ram Nath Kovind dedicated to the nation the Andhra Pradesh Fibre Grid at the state Secretariat on December 27. Chief minister N Chandrababu Naidus prestigious project, which aims to expand high-speed internet facility in the state, will provide an exclusive information technology edge for its people. This project will create history and bring global recognition to the state for providing invaluable services to the common man through the most advanced technology. Andhra Pradesh will be the front-runner in the country for raising happiness levels of people using advanced technology, said Naidu.

Currently, less than one in every five of the 53 million people in Andhra Pradesh has access to broadband connectivity. The AP Fibre Grid project is committed to bringing high-speed internet and broadband connections to about 12 million households and 1,30,000 enterprises by March 2019.

For a swift start, two million households will be connected within a month, said Naidu. The households would get internet connectivity of 15 Mbps, with 600 IPTV channels and Wi-Fi and two telephone connections for just Rs 149.I have leveraged on the existing electricity lines to facilitate the laying of the optic fibre internet cables and the cost has come down from thousands of crores to just Rs 320 crore, emphasised Naidu. But he is not stopping at that and is capitalising on the jugaad strategy in managing technologies in order to reach his ambitious goal by 2019.

Andhra Pradesh is to get Google tech to power the fibre grid project. The state will deploy Free Space Optical Communication (FSOC) technology developed by X, a subsidiary of Googles parent company Alphabet Inc. For this, the AP State Fibrenet Limited has signed an agreement with Alphabets X also known as the Moonshot Factory during the visit of the states Information Technology Minister Nara Lokesh to Xs headquarters in California earlier in December. X will be the states innovation partner, deploy its resources and team to help achieve the goal of a digital Andhra Pradesh.

For this Google is deploying technology developed for its internet  beaming hot air balloons, Project Loon  for the first time on a commercial scale. FSOC uses light beams to transmit data at high speeds without a cable and will power 2,000 links in the AP Fibre Grid. These links will be installed on rooftops at distances of 20 to 30km. They will form part of the high bandwidth backbone of the network, offering a cost-effective way to connect rural and remote areas across the state.

This promising innovation is claimed to be the first of its kind association in the world to provide wireless internet connection at a higher speed of up to 20Gbps over long distances up to 30km. Significantly, there is no need to lay optical fibre cables or string cables along poles.

Andhra Pradesh will be using technology and some equipment developed by a team at X to plug critical gaps in the backbone of the network. Because, it can overcome terrestrial obstacles like rivers, rocky terrain or train tracks to get a signal to cell towers or wi-fi hotspots in hard to reach areas, tweeted Lokesh.

Eventually, the state aims to cover 14.50 million households, 12,198 panchayats and 60,000 schools. It is building on a model that will mandate service providers to use the underlying platform to deliver high-speed internet to users at minimal cost. They can also provide value-added services on pre-agreed rates to consumers who can buy them at an additional cost.

The other Telugu state is also in the race to blaze a new technology trail. The Telangana Fibre Grid project is racing ahead of other states to establish the optical fibre network and even set new benchmarks in providing internet connectivity to every household in the state. As against 1,25,000km of optic fibre ducts about 27,000km has already been laid. In laying it, the state is piggybacking on Mission Bhagiratha by laying the ducts along with drinking water pipelines to reduce cost. It is also, in its own way, jugaad in managing technologies.
The headline that Pakistans Geo TV ran for a good while day after the family of incarcerated Indian citizen Kulbhushan Jadhav met the alleged spy from across a glass partition, speaking over an austere telephone line with many interruptions in a policed and alien language, read: Pakistan tests shoes of Jadhavs wife for suspicious object. That this would indeed be made into an issue was already hinted at by the Union ministry of external affairs in its statement published yesterday, when India raised written objection at the wife and mother of Jadhav being strip-searched, and made to suffer serial humiliation.

The media questions to Jadhav's mother & wife were not only harsh & insensitive but they also manifest the mob mentality of media globally. It doesn't just happen in Pakistan, it happens all over. Innocent people pay a price for their connection to alleged or convicted terrorists  Mehr Tarar (@MehrTarar) December 27, 2017

Geo News quoted Pakistan foreign office spokesperson, saying that the authorities suspected the presence of a foreign object in Chetankul Jadhavs footwear, and this reaction came in after India rightly criticised the move by Pakistan government. Moreover, the access that Pakistani mediapersons got to the Jadhav women was misused to the hilt, as they were heckled, called qatil ki maa, and generally insulted. Yet, what played on loop on Pakistani news channels and the fierce editorials that were penned were in service of the grand humanitarian gesture that Pakistani foreign office and the military industrial complex presented the sham Christmas encounter as.

Photo: Screengrabs

Geo TV also carried Pakistan foreign office soundbites almost verbatim, saying Kulbhushan Jadhav is the face of terrorism in Pakistan. Quoting Muhammad Faisal of the foreign office, Geo TV reiterated the official Pakistani stand that Jadhav was a terrorist, spy and a saboteur who was caught red-handed and was conducting terror attacks in Balochistan and Karachi. Moreover, calling the meeting pleasant and extended to 40 minutes after Jadhav requested 10 minutes more, this was about upholding all promises and commitments, for the Pakistani side.

#Pakistan has categorically rejected #Indian baseless allegations and twists about the visit of wife and mother of Commander Jadhav.Dr Muhammad Faisal said that if Indian concerns were serious, guests or Indian Deputy High Commissioner should have raised them during the visit. pic.twitter.com/EicZCR4PEl  Govt of Pakistan (@pid_gov) December 26, 2017

Although giving the whole affair a more balanced coverage, the newspaper Dawn reiterated the Foreign Office stand on the issue of not returning Chetankuls footwear, saying the Foreign Office categorically rejected the Indian claims. However, Dawns previous coverage of the meeting stuck to facts, without going overboard about Pakistan showing its heart by allowing consular access, which it has now clarified wasnt granted to Jadhav.

Reports of how Pakistani journalists cornered Jadhavs mother and wife with questions peppered with hurtful and insulting phrases have surfaced. Some of the particularly caustic remarks include:

"Aapke patidev ne hazaron begunah Pakistaniyo ke khoon se Holi kheli ispar kya kahengi? (Your husband killed thousands of innocent Pakistanis, what do you have to say about that?)

"Aapke kya jazbaat hain apne qaatil bete se milne ke baad? (How do you feel after meeting your killer son?)

Photo: Indiatoday.in

Though, Pakistani Foreign Office said that this is not the final visit of the Jadhav family, indicating future visits and possibility of negotiation, it also indicated in a press conference soon after the meeting that one good gesture should beget another. That the embedded coverage mostly pandered to conformation bias of the Pakistani public sphere, in which the grand gesture of allowing a convicted spy to meet his family was paraded to gain moral brownie points, becomes even more obvious when we look at the editorials published in the wake of the diplomatic kerfuffle.

The News International in an editorial called it the Kulbhushan conundrum, saying the marvelous madness called diplomacy nevertheless mustnt take away from the fact that for Pakistan, Jadhav plainly remains a spy and terrorist who has been sentenced to death.

Photo: Screengrabs

It added: The upshot of Christmas Day tete-a-tete is that it happened. What was discussed between a son and the mother and what a man and his wife spoke about while officials watched would remain a guessing game for now. Ideally, one must desist from such a frivolity. But this is a serious matter and would become serious still in coming days and months. Twitterati have suggested a spy swap somewhere down the line where Jadhav could be bartered for a retired Pakistani colonel who disappeared in Nepal some time ago. Who knows?

For now, Pakistan has kept a door open for future meetings between Jadhav and his family. Its spokesman has once again laid bare the facts of Jadhavs activities in Pakistan for the world and Indians to see and stomach. It remains too early to predict how the case would progress in the international court and what would be the final outcome of this ghastly episode of blood and terror. But most Pakistanis want Jadhav punished for his sins and not let out like the notorious American Raymond Davis through a backdoor deal.

Another editorial, published in The Nation, had the headline Humanitarian Grounds, and lamented the jingoism that ailed both sides of the media coverage, saying: As expected, each side has their own subjective take as well as their own spin to the matter. Divided opinions can be found on the Indian side. While social media was awash with individuals bashing Pakistans allegedly disrespectful behaviour towards Jahdavs family and highlighting how there was a physical barrier between him and his family which did not allow contact. Despite this, there were others who were highly appreciative of Pakistans gesture as well  including Jadhavs family itself. Similar is the case on the Pakistani side. While many were appreciative of the government for considering the humanitarian aspect, nationalist groups felt outraged that a family reunion was being organised for a man dubbed as Indias face of terror and who has admitted to committing espionage, killing several Pakistanis, and working for Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). India doesnt afford Kashmiris any such concessions, was the refrain on many tongues.

The rational statement from our Foreign Office that is a manifestation of how hostility increases with shrill media utterances and irresponsible government accusations from the Indian side. https://t.co/HQ1iqlW9bU  Mehr Tarar (@MehrTarar) December 27, 2017
Pakistan has displayed its worst conduct and most deplorable side by insulting the mother and wife of Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is currently facing death row in Pakistan on charges of alleged spying.

On an auspicious day like Christmas, Pakistani authorities not only strip-searched Jadhav's wife and mother and made the wife remove her mangalsutra and hairpins, but also didn't allow the mother to speak to her son in their mother tongue, Marathi. Such scant respect for an elderly woman speaks volumes about the decaying Pakistani society that seems to be bereft of all humanitarian norms and elementary ethics.

This apart, the media and general public were also spurred by the authorities at the entrance of the prison to boo the aged woman and her daughter-in-law, using the most unpleasant words to hurt the feelings of the family members who are already under enormous trauma.

Such condemnable acts demonstrate blatant violation of basic human rights by each segment of a perverse state like Pakistan, be it the military, the media, the general public, civil administration or the political leadership. It's yet to be seen if any social activist or human rights' champion in the neighbouring country come forward and castigate the Pakistani authorities for such an inhuman act.

Image: Reuters photo

Pakistan mustn't forget that in the wake of 1971 war with India - leading to its dismemberment and creation of Bangladesh - 93,000 Pakistani troops meekly surrendered before India, and India ensured that all prisoners of war (POWs) were treated in accordance with humanitarian norms. They all returned unharmed, unscathed and intact. Notwithstanding the Geneva Conventions, the Indian society, political leadership and everyone else rose above parochial thoughts and treated the POWs with respect. Their crimes against humanity in Bangladesh, perpetrated in terms of genocide, mass rapes and multiple heinous acts went condoned. That's the strength of Indian culture and ethos.

Pakistan, On the other hand, reeling under compulsory amnesia, has always acted in the most-abusive manner. Indian soldiers caught alive after the Kargil war were tortured in the most-cruel form. What's more, even dead bodies were not spared the grotesque physical abuse by the Pakistani military. Imagine merely 28 years after their decisive defeat, they could still resort to such inhuman acts.

Both the military and the society in Pakistan seem to have forgotten about ethics and code of conduct. No wonder, it's being labelled as a rogue state and a country awaiting slow and steady process of disintegration. All arguments, elucidated above, are reinforced with the latest incident. Jadhav's mother and wife were subjected to undesirable and avoidable acts.

In hindsight, we now feel that Pakistani-bashers in India were, and are, possibly justified when they say Pakistan deserves a quid pro quo treatment howsoever harsh it may seem.

"An eye for an eye" or "a tooth for a tooth" retaliatory measure is perhaps the prevailing sentiment among the majority of Indians. If the Indian military or the government will go for it in cases involving a Pakistani on charges of espionage or act of terror, has to be watched closely.

Conversely, it's hard to believe that until 1947, it was part of India. Same people and largely the same culture, but what led this part of fragmented India to become so different? And different in a negative sense. Defeat of Pakistan in the hands of India in the successive wars - Kashmir in 1947-48, 1965 and 1971 and misadventure in Kargil has not taught Pakistan any lesson.

Time has now come to burst it's balloon of incorrigibility. Back-channel talks or track two diplomacy does not seem to be working. Is a military option viable? Or a covert operation? Let's leave it to our military hawks and thinkers. But there has to be a visible action against Pakistan.

I have attended multiple international meets as a security hand where Pakistani representatives were also present. I have never seen a harmonious Pakistan team either by appearance, or by actions or gestures. Their attitude has always been acrimonious and hostile even on routine professional interactions. The mindset has always been negative and offensive, also undiplomatic.

To share an anecdote, in 1988 during a SAARC summit in Pakistan, we were allotted a car and an old driver, Iqbal. He was warm and friendly, and we too warmed up to him. While driving us through Islamabad, he generally enquired about his childhood friend whom he lost after Partition and if we could find out about him. The infamous ISI who was shadowing us, grew suspicious and, the next day, Iqbal was removed from the roster and admonished for "cosying up to" the visiting Indians. Some of his fellow drivers confided that Iqbal was subjected to sustained interrogation. We were disheartened and requested the Pakistani foreign ministry officials to re-detail Iqbal with us. The officials of the foreign ministry, supposedly diplomats, used the most undiplomatic and unparliamentary language while dismissing our request.

The same mindset exists even today vis-a-vis Indians, as was visible in the case of Jadhav's mother and wife.

Another incident in the same year during a separate visit to Pakistan is worth recalling. A special protection group ( SPG) team was flown in an IAF plane, Gajraj (IL-76), commandeered by legendary pilot, then a group captain, Anand Bewoor. Pakistan had, by then, not seen an IL-76 aircraft landing on its soil. I could see the line-up by a number of Islamabad airport officials to have a view of the mighty Gajaraj.

A week later, after the SAARC summit was over, Bewoor came back to pick up the SPG team. The Pakistani civil aviation authorities requested me to tell the pilot (Bewoor) to taxi the plane on tarmac up to a considerable distance and then take-off. Their plea was based on the fact that last time when the plane took-off, it had impacted the Pakistani Fokker F-27 friendship aircrafts parked in and out of the hangars that went topsy-turvy. I told Bewoor, but he didn't yield to the requests and when Gajraj took-off with a deafening noise, I could see those planes unsettling with profound impact of the Indian IL-76, almost flinging in the air. I and my colleagues derived immense pleasure in watching such a pleasant sight. Perhaps an average Indian wants to experience that kind of delight after the unfortunate handling of Kulbhushan Jhadav's mother and wife.

We have, in India, dedicated military leaders and very committed armed forces. With Indians now seething with anger over the Jhadav family episode, the sentiments deserve to be respected with a display of our military might. Time is most opportune now, like it were on multiple occasions in the past including the attack on Parliament on December 13, 2001.
Brookdale Senior Living Inc. owns, manages, and operates senior living communities in the United States. It operates in three segments: Independent Living, Assisted Living and Memory Care, and Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs). The Independent Living segment owns or leases communities comprising independent and assisted living units in a single community that are primarily designed for middle to upper income seniors. The Assisted Living and Memory Care segment owns or leases communities consisting of freestanding multi-story communities and freestanding single-story communities, which offer housing and 24-hour assistance with activities of daily living for the Company's residents. This segment also operates memory care communities for residents with Alzheimer's and other dementias. The CCRCs segment owns or leases communities that provides various living arrangements, such as independent and assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing; and services to accommodate various levels of physical ability and healthcare needs. It also manages communities on behalf of others. As of December 31, 2021, the company owned 347 communities, leased 299 communities, and managed 33 communities on behalf of others. Brookdale Senior Living Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee.
The following companies are subsidiares of Fidelity National Information Services: 11601 Roosevelt Boulevard Realty LLC, AFSF II AIV Investors D-LP, AGES Participacoes Ltda., AKC Insurance Company LLC., Advanced Portfolio Technologies Ltd., Alphakinetic Ltd., Armed Forces Financial Network LLC, AssetExchange, Automated Securities Clearance LLC, Best Payment Solutions Inc., Bibit Spain S.L.., C&E Holdings Luxembourg S.a.r.l., CPRS Holdings Inc., Capco, Certegy Canada Company, Certegy France Limited, Certegy SAS, Chex Systems Inc., Clear2Pay, Clear2Pay APAC Pte. Ltd., Clear2Pay APAC Pty Ltd., Clear2Pay BV, Clear2Pay Belgium BV, Clear2Pay France SAS, Clear2Pay Germany GmbH, Clear2Pay Limited, Clear2Pay Nanjing Co. Limited, Clear2Pay Nederland BV, Clear2Pay Poland Sp. z o.o., Clear2Pay Scotland Holdings Limited, Clear2Pay Scotland Limited, Clear2Pay Shenzhen Company Limited, Clear2Pay Spain S.l., ClearTwoPay Chile SpA, Complete Payment Recovery Services Inc., Compliance Coach, Credit Management Solutions, Decalog UK Limited, Direct Debi Pty Ltd., Envoy Services Ltd. Asia SDn BHD, Envoy Services South Africa Pty Limited, F.I.S. Systems Middle East Limited, FIS Ambit Holdings Pty Ltd, FIS Apex International Limited, FIS Apex UK Limited, FIS Asia Pacific Inc., FIS AsiaPacRim Holdings Ltd., FIS Australasia Pty Ltd., FIS Banking Solutions UK Limited, FIS Bilgisayar Hizmetleri Ticaret Limited Sirketi, FIS Brokerage & Securities Services LLC, FIS Capital Markets UK Limited, FIS Capital Markets US LLC, FIS Card Services Thailand Co. Ltd., FIS Consulting Services Ireland Limited, FIS Consulting Services UK Limited, FIS Denmark ApS, FIS Derivatives Utility Services LLC, FIS Derivatives Utility Services Singapore Pte. Ltd., FIS Derivatives Utility Services UK Limited, FIS Energy Solutions Limited, FIS Financial Solutions Canada Inc., FIS Financial Systems France SAS, FIS Foundation Inc., FIS GCS LLC, FIS Global Business Solutions India Private Ltd., FIS Global Execution Services Ireland Limited, FIS Global Execution Services Limited, FIS Global Holdings S.a.r.l, FIS Global Solutions Philippines Inc., FIS Global Trading Deutschland GmbH, FIS Global Trading Hong Kong Limited, FIS Global Trading Iberica S.L. Unipersonal, FIS Global Trading Nederland B.V., FIS Global Trading Portugal Unipessoal Lda, FIS Global Trading Singapore Pte. Ltd., FIS Global Trading Suisse SA, FIS Global Trading UK Limited, FIS Healthcare Trustee Limited, FIS Holdings Limited, FIS Holdings Mauritius, FIS International Subsidiaries Holdings LLC, FIS Investment Systems UK Limited, FIS Investment Ventures LLC, FIS Investor Services Germany GmbH, FIS Investor Services India Private Limited, FIS Investor Services LLC, FIS Investor Services Poland Sp . Z o.o., FIS Japan KK, FIS Kingstar Cayman Islands Limited, FIS Korea Ltd., FIS Management Services LLC, FIS Management Services Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., FIS Merchant Solutions Mexico S.A. de C.V., FIS Norway AS, FIS Pakistan Private Limited, FIS Payment Solutions & Services India Private Limited, FIS Payments Ireland Limited, FIS Payments LLC, FIS Payments UK Limited, FIS Pensions Limited, FIS Romania SRL, FIS SG International Holdings LLC, FIS SG Italia S.r.l., FIS SG Systems Philippines Inc., FIS Sherwood Systems Limited, FIS Solutions India Private Limited, FIS Solutions LLC, FIS Solutions Software India Private Limited, FIS Switzerland SA, FIS Systeme GmbH, FIS Systems Hong Kong Limited, FIS Systems International LLC, FIS Systems Kenya Limited, FIS Systems Limited, FIS Systems Luxembourg S.A., FIS Systems Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., FIS Systems NZ Limited, FIS Systems Pty Ltd, FIS Systems Singapore Pte. Ltd., FIS Systems South Africa Pty Limited, FIS Systems de Colombia S.A.S., FIS Technology Beijing Co. Limited, FIS Technology Services Poland Sp. z o.o., FIS Technology Services Singapore Pte. Ltd., FIS Technology Services Tunisia SARL, FIS Treasury Centre Limited, FIS Treasury Systems Europe Limited, FIS Treasury Systems UK Limited, FIS Tunisia I SARL, FIS Tunisia II SARL, FIS UK Holdings Limited, FIS Vietnam LLC, FIS Worldpay Jersey Limited, FIS Worldpay Malaysia Sdn Bhd, FIS Worldpay South Africa Pty Ltd, FIS Worldpay Thailand Co. Ltd., FIS-SG Holding Corp., FNIS Istanbul Danismanlik Limited Sirketi, FV General Partner LLC, Fidelity Holding Ltda., Fidelity Information Services Front Arena AB, Fidelity Information Services GmbH, Fidelity Information Services Hong Kong Limited, Fidelity Information Services Iberia S.L.U., Fidelity Information Services India Private Limited, Fidelity Information Services International Holdings Inc., Fidelity Information Services Israel Ltd., Fidelity Information Services LLC, Fidelity Information Services Limited, Fidelity Information Services Operations GmbH, Fidelity Information Services SARL, Fidelity Information Services Slovakia s.r.o., Fidelity Information Services South Africa Pty Ltd., Fidelity Information Services Thailand Limited, Fidelity Information Services de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Fidelity International Resource Management Inc., Fidelity National Global Card Services Inc., Fidelity National Information Services Inc., Fidelity National Information Services Netherlands B.V., Fidelity National Participacoes e Servicos de Informatica Ltda., Fidelity National Servicos de Tratamento de Documentos e Informatica Ltda., Fidelity National Servicos e Contact Center Ltda., Fidelity Participacoes e Servicos Ltda., Financial Insurance Marketing Group Inc., GL Settle Limited, GL Trade CMS Thailand Limited, GL Trade Software DOO, GL Trade Solutions CMS Thailand Limited, GL Trade South Africa Proprietary Limited, Glesia S.r.l., GoCart LLC, Information Services Luxembourg S.a.r.l., IntegraPay LLC, IntegraPay Holdings Pty Ltd, IntegraPay Ltd, IntegraPay Pty Ltd, Integrity Treasury Solutions Europe Limited, Integrity Treasury Solutions Inc., Integrity Treasury Solutions Limited, Integrity Treasury Solutions Pty Limited, Link2Gov Corp., LinksPay Inc., LinksPay Ltd, LinksPay Pty Ltd, Memento, Metavante Technologies Inc, Metavante Technologies Limited, Minorca Corporation NV, Monis Software Limited, NYCE Payments Network LLC, Oshap Software Industries Ltd., PSG-A III Blocker 5 L.L.C., PT FIS Systems Indonesia, PT Fidelity Information Services Indonesia, Panther Holdco 2 Inc., Panther Holdco Inc., Payment Brasil Holdings Ltda., Payment Chile S.A., Payment Trust Limited., Payments Technology Services Limited, Paymetric Inc., Payrix, Payrix AUS Blocker LLC, Payrix Australia Holdings Pty Ltd, Payrix Canada Corp., Payrix Holdings LLC, Payrix Intermediate LLC, Payrix LLC, Payrix Solutions LLC, Pazien Inc., People's United Merchant Services LLC, Platform Securities Holdings Limited, Platform Securities International Limited, Platform Securities International Nominees Limited, Platform Securities LLP, Platform Securities Nominees Limited, Platform Securities Services Limited, Proservvi Banco de Servicos, RealNet Payments LLC, Reech Capital Limited, Reliance Financial Corporation, Reliance Financial Corporation., Reliance Integrated Solutions LLC, Reliance Trust Company, Rocket Partners Holdings LLC, Secondco Limited, Ship Holdco Limited., Ship Luxco 2 S.a.r.l., Ship Luxco 3 S.a.r.l., Ship Midco Limited, Solutions Plus Consulting Services Limited, SunGard, SunGard Data Systems Beijing Co. Ltd., SunGard Global Services Tunisia III, SunGard Global Trading Australia Pty. Ltd., SunGard India Sales Private Limited, TP Technologies N.V., Tayvin 346 Limited, Trax BV, Valuelink Information Services Limited, Valutec Card Solutions LLC, Virtus Fund Services, Virtus Group LP, Virtus LP Holdings LLC, Virtus Partners Fund Services Ireland Limited, Virtus Partners Fund Services Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Virtus Partners Holdings, Virtus Partners Ireland Ltd., Virtus Partners Ltd., Virtus Trade Settlement LLC, WebTone Technologies, Worldpay, Worldpay AP Ltd., Worldpay Argentina SRL, Worldpay B.V., Worldpay Canada Corporation, Worldpay Cayman Holdings Limited, Worldpay Company LLC, Worldpay Do Brasil Instituicao de Pagamento Ltda, Worldpay Finance Limited, Worldpay Gaming Solutions LLC, Worldpay Governance Limited, Worldpay Group Limited., Worldpay HK Limited, Worldpay Holdings Barbados SRL, Worldpay Holdings Brasil Participacoes Ltda, Worldpay ISO Inc., Worldpay India Private Limited, Worldpay Integrated Payments Canada LLC, Worldpay Integrated Payments LLC., Worldpay Integrated Payments Solutions Inc., Worldpay International Group Limited, Worldpay International Holdings Limited, Worldpay International Limited, Worldpay International Payments Limited, Worldpay International Solutions Limited, Worldpay K.K., Worldpay LLC, Worldpay Latin America Limited., Worldpay Limited., Worldpay Marketing Consulting Shanghai Co. Limited, Worldpay NZ Limited, Worldpay Payments Barbados SRL, Worldpay Pte Ltd., Worldpay Pty Ltd., Worldpay S.a.r.l., Worldpay Services Company, Worldpay Services SRL, Worldpay Solutions SRL, Worldpay Technology Bucharest S.R.L., Worldpay Treasury Solutions SRL, Worldpay UK Limited, Worldpay US Inc., Worldpay eCommerce LLC, Worldpay eCommerce Limited., Xpede, YES-Secure.com Limited., YESpay International Limited., Zenmonics Inc., Zenmonics Software Private Limited, eFunds Corporation, eFunds Holdings Limited, eFunds International Limited, i DLX International B.V., and mFoundry Inc..

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Bank of America has a rich history dating back to 1800 and even earlier. It was begun by immigrants as a group of separate and unrelated banks that, over the years, merged and grew together. One such is the Bank of Italy which was founded in 1904 by Amadeo Giannini to serve Italian immigrants that were facing discrimination. He later buys out the Banca de America e de Italia (Bank of America and Italy) which was also located in San Francisco. Over the years additional mergers and changes in Federal banking legislation, as well as the boom brought on by WWI and then WWII, helped boost the bank to national prominence.

Things turned sour, however, in 1998 with a major bond default that led to yet another merger, this time with Charlotte, NC-based Nations Bank to officially become the Bank of America that exists today. At the time, the merger was the largest bank merger in history and the company has only grown in the time since.

Other additions to the new Bank of America include MBNA (a major credit card operator), Fleet Boston (then the US 7th largest and one of its oldest banks), and Merril Lynch, now Merril, which was added to the group in 2008 to provide an investment banking branch. Together the company dominates as one of the Big Four Banks in America. Bank of America lays claim to nearly 11% of all US deposits which ranks in line with its peer group and Bank of America Securities is listed as the worlds 3rd largest investment bank.

Today, Bank of America Corporation provides banking and financial services for individuals, small businesses, institutions, corporations, and governments worldwide. The bank operates in three segments Consumer Banking, Global Wealth & Investment Management, and Global Banking bringing in a combined revenue greater than $90 billion in 2022.

As of 2022, Bank of America serves approximately 67 million consumer and small business clients with approximately 4,200 retail financial centers. The bank also operates more than 16,000 ATMs and digital banking platforms with approximately 41 million active users.

Its Consumer Banking segment offers traditional banking and investment products for retail clients. These range from deposit accounts to savings, credit cards, consumer loans, and IRAs. The Global Wealth & Investment Management segment offers investment and wealth management solutions including, brokerage, banking, and trust and retirement products. The Global Banking segment provides lending products and services, including commercial loans and leases for businesses of all varieties. The Global Markets segment offers market-making, clearing, settlement, and custody services, as well as risk management, derivatives, and FX exchange services.
AirBoss of America Corp., together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and markets rubber-based products for automotive, heavy commercial, construction and infrastructure, oil and gas, and defense industries in Canada, the United States, and internationally. It operates through three segments: AirBoss Defense Group, Rubber Solutions, and Engineered Products. The AirBoss Defense Group segment develops, manufactures, and sells healthcare protective equipment, personal respiratory protective products, rapid deployment negative pressure isolation shelters, and cold weather combat footwear, as well as chemical, biological, radioactive, nuclear, and explosive protective equipment for military, law enforcement, healthcare and industrial providers, and first responders. The Rubber Solutions segment is involved in the development and manufacture of custom rubber formulations and compounds, calendered and extruded materials, and molded products for use in various applications and industries, including automotive, heavy industry, rollers, conveyor belting, defense, construction and infrastructure, mining, transportation, and oil and gas. The Engineered Products segment designs, engineers, manufactures, and sells rubber, synthetic rubber, and rubber-to-metal bonded products that are used to eliminate or control undesired vibration and noise for use in automotive, electric vehicle, heavy truck and off-highway, industrial, and defense industries. The company was formerly known as IATCO Industries Inc. and changed its name to AirBoss of America Corp. in April 1994. AirBoss of America Corp. is headquartered in Newmarket, Canada.
The following companies are subsidiares of Eli Lilly and: 1096401 B.C. Unlimited Liability Company, ARMO BioSciences Inc, ARMO Bioscience, Advanced Cardiovascular Systems, Alnara Pharmaceuticals, Alnara Pharmaceuticals Inc., Andean Technical Operations Center, Applied Molecular Evolution Inc., AurKa Pharma, Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, Avid Radiopharmaceuticals Inc., ChemGen, CoLucid Pharmaceuticals, CoLucid Pharmaceuticals Inc., Dermira, Devices for Vascular Intervention(DVI), Disarm Therapeutics, Dista Ilac Ticaret Ltd. Sti., Dista S.A., Dista-Produtos Quimicos & Farmaceuticos LDA, ELCO Dominicana SRL, ELCO Insurance Company Limited, ELCO Management Inc., ELCO for Trade and Marketing S.A.E., ELGO Insurance Company Limited, Elanco Animal Health Ireland Limited, Elanco Switzerland Holding Sarl, Eli Lilly (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Eli Lilly (Philippines) Incorporated, Eli Lilly (S.A.) (Proprietary) Limited, Eli Lilly (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Eli Lilly (Suisse) S.A., Eli Lilly Asia Inc., Eli Lilly Asia Pacific SSC Sdn Bhd, Eli Lilly Australia Pty. Limited, Eli Lilly B-H d.o.o., Eli Lilly Benelux S.A., Eli Lilly Bienes y Servicios S de RL de CV, Eli Lilly CR s.r.o., Eli Lilly Canada Inc., Eli Lilly Cork Limited, Eli Lilly Danmark A/S, Eli Lilly Egypt for Trading, Eli Lilly European Clinical Trial Services SA, Eli Lilly Export S.A., Eli Lilly Finance S.A., Eli Lilly Ges.m.b.H., Eli Lilly Group Limited, Eli Lilly Holdings Ltd., Eli Lilly Hrvatska d.o.o., Eli Lilly Interamerica Inc., Eli Lilly Interamerica Inc. y Compania Limitada, Eli Lilly International Corporation, Eli Lilly Ireland Holdings Limited, Eli Lilly Israel Ltd., Eli Lilly Italia S.p.A., Eli Lilly Japan K.K., Eli Lilly Kinsale Limited, Eli Lilly Nederland B.V., Eli Lilly Nigeria Ltd., Eli Lilly Norge A.S., Eli Lilly Pakistan (Pvt.) Ltd., Eli Lilly Polska Sp.z.o.o. (Ltd.), Eli Lilly Regional Operations GmbH, Eli Lilly Romania SRL, Eli Lilly S.A., Eli Lilly Saudi Arabia Limited, Eli Lilly Services Inc, Eli Lilly Services India Private Limited, Eli Lilly Slovakia s.r.o., Eli Lilly Sweden AB, Eli Lilly Vostok S.A. Geneva, Eli Lilly and Company, Eli Lilly and Company (India) Pvt. Ltd., Eli Lilly and Company (Ireland) Limited, Eli Lilly and Company (N.Z.) Limited, Eli Lilly and Company (Taiwan) Inc., Eli Lilly and Company Limited, Eli Lilly de Centro America S.A., Eli Lilly do Brasil Limitada, Eli Lilly farmacevtska druzba d.o.o., Eli Lilly y Compania de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Eli Lilly y Compania de Venezuela S.A., Glycostasis Inc, Greenfield-Produtos Farmaceuticos Lda., Heart Rhythm Technologies Inc, Hybritech, Hypnion, ICOS Corporation, ImClone GmbH, ImClone LLC, ImClone Systems Holdings Inc., ImClone Systems LLC, Imclone Systems, Irisfarma S.A., Ivy Animal Health, Kinsale Financial Services Unlimited Company, Lilly (Shanghai) Management Co. Ltd, Lilly Asia Ventures Fund I L.P., Lilly Asia Ventures Fund II L.P., Lilly Asian Ventures Fund III L.P., Lilly Cayman Holdings, Lilly China Research and Development Co. Ltd., Lilly Deutschland GmbH, Lilly France S.A.S., Lilly Global Nederland Holdings B.V., Lilly Global Services Inc., Lilly Holding GmbH, Lilly Holdings B.V., Lilly Hungaria KFT, Lilly Japan Financing G.K., Lilly Korea Ltd., Lilly Nederland Finance B.V., Lilly Nederland Finance B.V. - GCC, Lilly Nederland Holding B.V., Lilly Pharma Ltd., Lilly Portugal - Produtos Farmaceuticos Lda., Lilly S.A., Lilly Suzhou Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Lilly Trading Co. LTD, Lilly USA LLC, Lilly Ventures Fund I LLC, Lilly del Caribe Inc., Lilly ilac ticaret limited sirketi, Lohmann Animal Health, Loxo Oncology, Lylly Centre for Clinical Pharmacology PTE. LTD., Novartis Animal Health, OY Eli Lilly Finland AB, Origin Medsystems, PT. Eli Lilly Indonesia, Pacific Biotech, Pharmaserve-Lilly S.A.C.I., Physio-Control, SGX Pharmaceuticals, SGX Pharmaceuticals Inc, Spaly Bioquimica S.A., UAB Eli Lilly Lietuva, Valquifarma S.A., and Vital Pharma Productos Farmaceuticos.

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The following companies are subsidiares of Bristol-Myers Squibb: 1096271 B.C. ULC, 345 Park LLC, A.G. Medical Services P.A., AHI Investment LLC, AbVitro LLC, Abraxis BioScience Australia Pty Ltd., Abraxis BioScience Inc., Abraxis BioScience International Holding Company Inc., Abraxis BioScience LLC, Abraxis BioScience Puerto Rico LLC, Acetylon Pharmaceuticals Inc., Adnexus, Adnexus a Bristol-Myers Squibb R&D Company, Allard Labs Acquisition G.P., Amira Pharmaceuticals, Amira Pharmaceuticals Inc., Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Apothecon LLC, B-MS Generx Unlimited Company, BMS Benelux Holdings B.V., BMS Bermuda Nominees L.L.C., BMS Data Acquisition Company LLC, BMS Forex Company, BMS Holdings Sarl, BMS Holdings Spain S.L., BMS International Insurance Designated Activity Company, BMS Investco SAS, BMS Korea Holdings L.L.C., BMS Latin American Nominees L.L.C., BMS Luxembourg Partners L.L.C., BMS Omega Bermuda Holdings Finance Ltd., BMS Pharmaceutical Korea Limited, BMS Pharmaceuticals Germany Holdings B.V., BMS Pharmaceuticals International Holdings Netherlands B.V., BMS Pharmaceuticals Korea Holdings B.V., BMS Pharmaceuticals Mexico Holdings B.V., BMS Pharmaceuticals Netherlands Holdings B.V., BMS Real Estate LLC, BMS Spain Investments LLC, BMS Strategic Portfolio Investments Holdings Inc., Blisa Acquisition G.P., Bristol (Iran) S.A., Bristol Iran Private Company Limited, Bristol Laboratories Inc., Bristol Laboratories International S.A., Bristol Laboratories Medical Information Systems Inc., Bristol-Myers (Andes) L.L.C., Bristol-Myers (Private) Limited, Bristol-Myers Middle East S.A.L., Bristol-Myers Overseas Corporation, Bristol-Myers Squibb (China) Investment Co. Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (China) Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (Israel) Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (NZ) Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb (Proprietary) Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (Singapore) Pte. Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb (Taiwan) Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (West Indies) Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb A.E., Bristol-Myers Squibb Aktiebolag, Bristol-Myers Squibb Argentina S. R. L., Bristol-Myers Squibb Australia Pty. Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb Axia Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb B.V., Bristol-Myers Squibb Belgium S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb Business Services Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada Co., Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada International Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Delta Company Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Denmark Filial of Bristol-Myers Squibb AB, Bristol-Myers Squibb EMEA Sarl, Bristol-Myers Squibb Egypt LLC, Bristol-Myers Squibb Epsilon Holdings Unlimited Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Farmaceutica Ltda., Bristol-Myers Squibb Farmaceutica Portuguesa S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb GesmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holding Germany GmbH & Co. KG, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings 2002 Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings Germany Verwaltungs GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings Ireland Unlimited Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings Pharma Ltd. Liability Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Ilaclari Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb India Pvt. Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb International Company Unlimited Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb International Corporation, Bristol-Myers Squibb Investco L.L.C., Bristol-Myers Squibb K.K., Bristol-Myers Squibb Kft., Bristol-Myers Squibb Luxembourg International S.C.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Bristol-Myers Squibb MEA GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb Manufacturing Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Marketing Services S.R.L., Bristol-Myers Squibb Middle East & Africa FZ-LLC, Bristol-Myers Squibb Norway Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb Nutricionales de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Bristol-Myers Squibb Peru S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma (HK) Ltd, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma (Thailand) Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma EEIG, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma Holding Company LLC, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma Ventures Corporation, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceuticals Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceuticals Unlimited Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Polska Sp. z o.o., Bristol-Myers Squibb Products SA, Bristol-Myers Squibb Puerto Rico Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Puerto Rico/Sanofi Pharmaceutical Partnership Puerto Rico, Bristol-Myers Squibb Romania S.R.L., Bristol-Myers Squibb S.A.U., Bristol-Myers Squibb S.r.l., Bristol-Myers Squibb SA, Bristol-Myers Squibb Sanofi Pharmaceuticals Holding Partnership, Bristol-Myers Squibb Sarl, Bristol-Myers Squibb Service Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb Services Sp. z o.o., Bristol-Myers Squibb Spol. s r.o., Bristol-Myers Squibb Theta Finance Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb Trustees Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Verwaltungs GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb de Colombia S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb de Costa Rica Sociedad Anonima, Bristol-Myers Squibb de Guatemala S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Bristol-Myers Squibb/Astrazeneca EEIG, Bristol-Myers Squibb/Pfizer EEIG, Bristol-Myers Squibb/Sanofi Pharmaceuticals Partnership, Bristol-Myers de Venezuela S.C.A., CHT I LLC, CHT II LLC, CHT III LLC, CHT IV LLC, CR Finance Company LLC, Cardioxyl Pharmaceuticals, Cardioxyl Pharmaceuticals Inc., Celem LLC, Celem Ltd., Celgene, Celgene A.B., Celgene AS, Celgene Ab (Finland), Celgene Alpine Investment Co. II LLC, Celgene Alpine Investment Co. III LLC, Celgene Alpine Investment Co. LLC, Celgene ApS, Celgene B.V., Celgene BVBA, Celgene Brasil Produtos Farmaceuticos Ltda., Celgene CAR LLC, Celgene CAR Ltd., Celgene Chemicals Sarl, Celgene China Holdings LLC, Celgene Co., Celgene Corporation, Celgene Distribution B.V., Celgene EngMab GmbH, Celgene Europe B.V., Celgene Europe Limited, Celgene European Investment Company LLC, Celgene Financing Company LLC, Celgene Global Holdings Sarl, Celgene GmbH [Austria], Celgene GmbH [Germany], Celgene GmbH [Switzerland], Celgene Holdings East Corporation, Celgene Holdings II Sarl, Celgene Holdings III Sarl, Celgene Ilac Pazarlama ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Celgene Inc., Celgene International Holdings Corporation, Celgene International II Sarl, Celgene International III Sarl, Celgene International Inc., Celgene International Sarl, Celgene K.K., Celgene Kft., Celgene Limited [Hong Kong], Celgene Limited [Ireland], Celgene Limited [New Zealand], Celgene Limited [Taiwan], Celgene Limited [UK], Celgene Logistics Sarl, Celgene Ltd, Celgene Luxembourg Sarl, Celgene Management Sarl, Celgene NJ Investment Co, Celgene Netherlands B.V., Celgene Netherlands Investment B.V., Celgene Pharmaceutical (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Celgene Pte. Ltd., Celgene Pty Ltd, Celgene Puerto Rico Distribution LLC, Celgene Quanticel Research Inc, Celgene R&D Sarl, Celgene RIVOT LLC, Celgene RIVOT Ltd., Celgene RIVOT SRL, Celgene Receptos Limited, Celgene Receptos Sarl, Celgene Research Incubator At Summit West LLC, Celgene Research S.L.U., Celgene Research and Development Company LLC, Celgene Research and Development I ULC, Celgene Research and Development II LLC, Celgene Research and Investment Company II LLC, Celgene S. de R.L. de C.V., Celgene S.L.U., Celgene S.R.L., Celgene SAS, Celgene Sarl AU, Celgene Sdn Bhd, Celgene Services Sarl, Celgene Sociedade Unipessoal Lda, Celgene Sp. Z.o.o., Celgene Sro [Czech Republic], Celgene Summit Investment Co, Celgene Switzerland Holding Sarl, Celgene Switzerland II LLC, Celgene Switzerland Investment Sarl, Celgene Switzerland LLC, Celgene Switzerland Sarl, Celgene Tri A Holdings Ltd., Celgene Tri Sarl, Celgene UK Distribution Limited, Celgene UK Holdings Limited, Celgene UK Manufacturing II Limited, Celgene UK Manufacturing III Limited, Celgene UK Manufacturing Limited, Celgene d.o.o., Celgene sro [Slovakia], Celmed LLC, Celmed Ltd., ConvaTec Divestiture, Cormorant Pharmaceuticals, Cormorant Pharmaceuticals AB, Crosp Ltd., Delinia Inc., Deuteria Pharmaceuticals Inc., DuPont Pharmaceuticals, E. R. Squibb & Sons Inter-American Corporation, E. R. Squibb & Sons L.L.C., E. R. Squibb & Sons Limited, EWI Corporation, EngMab Sarl, F-star Alpha, FermaVir Pharmaceuticals L.L.C., FermaVir Research L.L.C., Flexus Biosciences, Flexus Biosciences Inc., Forbius, Galecto Biotech, GenPharm International L.L.C., Gloucester Pharmaceuticals LLC, Grove Insurance Company Ltd., Heyden Farmaceutica Portuguesa Limitada, IFM Therapeutics, Impact Biomedicines Inc., Inhibitex, Inhibitex L.L.C., Innate Tumor Immunity Inc., JuMP Holdings LLC, Juno Therapeutics GmbH, Juno Therapeutics Inc., Kosan Biosciences, Kosan Biosciences Incorporated, Linson Investments Limited, Mead Johnson (Manufacturing) Jamaica Limited, Mead Johnson Jamaica Ltd., Medarex, Morris Avenue Investment II LLC, Morris Avenue Investment LLC, MyoKardia, O.o.o. Bristol-Myers Squibb, Oy Bristol-Myers Squibb (Finland) AB, Padlock Therapeutics, Padlock Therapeutics Inc., Pharmion LLC, Princeton Pharmaceutical Products Inc., Receptos LLC, Receptos Services LLC, RedoxTherapies Inc., Route 22 Real Estate Holding Corporation, SPV A Holdings ULC, Seamair Insurance DAC, Signal Pharmaceuticals LLC, Sino-American Shanghai Squibb Pharmaceuticals Limited, Societe Francaise de Complements Alimentaires(S.O.F.C.A.), Squibb Middle East S.A., Summit West Celgene LLC, Swords Laboratories, VentiRx Pharmaceuticals Inc., Westwood-Intrafin SA, Westwood-Squibb Pharmaceuticals Inc., X-Body Inc., ZymoGenetics, ZymoGenetics Inc., ZymoGenetics LLC, ZymoGenetics Paymaster LLC, iPierian, and iPierian Inc..

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PulteGroup, Inc., through its subsidiaries, primarily engages in the homebuilding business in the United States. It acquires and develops land primarily for residential purposes; and constructs housing on such land. The company also offers various home designs, including single-family detached, townhomes, condominiums, and duplexes under the Centex, Pulte Homes, Del Webb, DiVosta Homes, American West, and John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods brand names. As of December 31, 2021, it controlled 228,296 lots, of which 109,078 were owned and 119,218 were under land option agreements. In addition, the company arranges financing through the origination of mortgage loans primarily for homebuyers; sells the servicing rights for the originated loans; and provides title insurance policies, and examination and closing services to homebuyers. PulteGroup, Inc. was formerly known as Pulte Homes, Inc. and changed its name to PulteGroup, Inc. in March 2010. The company was founded in 1950 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
The following companies are subsidiares of Rite Aid: 1515 West State Street Boise Idaho LLC, 1740 Associates LLC, 4042 Warrensville Center RoadWarrensville Ohio Inc., 5277 Associates Inc., 5600 Superior Properties Inc., Advance Benefits LLC, Apex Drug Stores Inc., Ascend Health Technology LLC, Bartell Drugs, Broadview and WallingsBroadview Heights Ohio Inc., Design Rx Holdings LLC, Design Rx LLC, Design Rxclusives LLC, Drug Palace Inc., EDC Drug Stores Inc., Eckerd Corporation, Edgehill Drugs, Elixir Holdings LLC, Elixir Insurance Company, Elixir Pharmacy LLC, Elixir Puerto Rico Inc., Elixir Rx Options LLC, Elixir Rx Solutions LLC, Elixir Rx Solutions LLC, Elixir Rx Solutions of Nevada LLC, Elixir Savings LLC, Envision Pharmaceutical, First Florida Insurers of Tampa LLC, GDF Inc., Genovese Drug Stores Inc., Gettysburg and Hoover-Dayton Ohio LLC, Grand River & Fenkell LLC, Harco, Harco Inc., Health Dialog, Health Dialog Services Corporation, Hunter Lane LLC, ILG  90 B Avenue Lake Oswego LLC, JCG Holdings USA Inc., JCG PJC USA LLC, K&B Alabama Corporation, K&B Incorporated, K&B Industries, K&B Louisiana Corporation, K&B Mississippi Corporation, K&B Services Incorporated, K&B Tennessee Corporation, K&B Texas Corporation, LMW  90B Avenue Lake Oswego Inc., Lakehurst and Broadway Corporation, Laker Software LLC, Maxi Drug Inc., Maxi Drug North Inc., Maxi Drug South L.P., Maxi Green Inc., Munson & Andrews LLC, Name Rite LLC, P.J.C. Distribution Inc., P.J.C. Realty Co. Inc., PCS Health Systems, PDS-1 Michigan Inc., PJC Lease Holdings Inc., PJC Manchester Realty LLC, PJC Peterborough Realty LLC, PJC Realty MA Inc., PJC Revere Realty LLC, PJC Special Realty Holdings Inc., PJC of Massachusetts Inc., PJC of Rhode Island Inc., PJC of Vermont Inc., Perry Distributors Inc., Perry Drug Stores Inc., RCMH LLC, RDS Detroit Inc., READs Inc., RediClinic, RediClinic Associates Inc., RediClinic LLC, RediClinic US LLC, RediClinic of DC LLC, RediClinic of DE LLC, RediClinic of Dallas Forth-Worth LLC, RediClinic of MD LLC, RediClinic of PA LLC, RediClinic of VA LLC, Richfield Road  Flint Michigan LLC, Rite Aid Drug Palace Inc., Rite Aid Hdqtrs. Corp., Rite Aid Hdqtrs. Funding Inc., Rite Aid Lease Management Company, Rite Aid Online Store Inc., Rite Aid Payroll Management Inc., Rite Aid Realty Corp., Rite Aid Rome Distribution Center Inc., Rite Aid Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Rite Aid Transport Inc., Rite Aid of Connecticut Inc., Rite Aid of Delaware Inc., Rite Aid of Georgia Inc., Rite Aid of Indiana Inc., Rite Aid of Kentucky Inc., Rite Aid of Maine Inc., Rite Aid of Maryland Inc., Rite Aid of Michigan Inc., Rite Aid of New Hampshire Inc., Rite Aid of New Jersey Inc., Rite Aid of New York Inc., Rite Aid of North Carolina Inc., Rite Aid of Ohio Inc., Rite Aid of Pennsylvania LLC, Rite Aid of South Carolina Inc., Rite Aid of Tennessee Inc., Rite Aid of Vermont Inc., Rite Aid of Virginia Inc., Rite Aid of Washington D.C. Inc., Rite Aid of West Virginia Inc., Rite Investments Corp., Rite Investments Corp. LLC, Rx Choice Inc., Rx Initiatives LLC, Rx USA Inc., The Bartell Drug Company, The Jean Coutu Group PJC USA Inc., The Lane Drug Company, Thrift Drug Inc., Thrifty Corporation, Thrifty PayLess Inc., and Tonic Procurement Solutions LLC.

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GE is a multi-national conglomerate that was originally incorporated in 1892. The company was founded by Thomas Edison as the Edison General Electric Company and shortened its name to General Electric following a merger with two other early electric pioneers. The name was later shortened again to GE. The company is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts but has operations on a global scale. One of the original 12 Dow stocks, the company was a component of the index for 122 years until its ousting in 2018.

Originally intended to make and market Edisons incandescent lamp and following products, the company grew over the years through mergers, acquisitions, and natural expansion into newly created fields. Among the many early accomplishments is the creation of RCA and NBC which will both become forces of their own. Other major innovations include the worlds first turbine superchargers, industrial gas turbine engines, and the first jet engine. In the field of computing, General Electric Company is credited as being one of the 8 major computer companies of the 1960s and shares responsibility for todays digital world. In regard to its employees, two were awarded the Nobel Prize for their work with the company.

Today GE operates as a high-tech industrial company in Europe, China, Asia, the Americas, the Middle East, and Africa. The company operates through four segments including Power, Renewables, Aerospace, and Healthcare although there are plans in the works to split the company into three separate entities. The three new companies would be GE Vernova (power and renewables), GE Health, and GE Aerospace. The spin-offs are expected to be completed by 2025.

The Power segment offers a variety of turbine engines for power production as well as the full range of services from plant construction to retrofit and refit. The Renewables segment is focused on solutions for renewable energy including wind and hydro and the technology to operate them. The Aviation segment manufactures aircraft engines of all varieties and the Healthcare segment offers technology for imaging, monitoring, diagnostics, and drug discovery to health and medical facilities.

General Electric is committed to helping the world transition to a greener way of life and is exiting the new-build coal-fired power industry. Instead, its advancements in wind, grid efficiency, and natural gas are being deployed around the world helping to reduce emissions and generate cleaner energy for businesses, industry, and communities. The company is targeting 2030 for its own carbon neutrality and 2050 for net zero emissions.
The report also found that about two-thirds of all immigrants in the custody of U.S. Marshals Service were in the United States illegally.

Last week, the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security issued their final quarterly report for 2017 measuring progress since a January executive order by President Donald Trump to crack down on illegal immigration.

CHICAGO - A new federal report say s that 20 percent of those in federal prisons are immigrants, and almost all of those foreign-born inmates are in the U.S. illegally, contrasting with publicized studies touting how safe embracing illegals is.

On average, 68 of the 341 inmates at Illinois' Thomson Prison are illegal aliens (The Dispatch)

Those numbers collide public policy with political agendas at Illinois state and municipal levels.

The city of Chicago proclaimed itself a safe place for aliens in the U.S. illegally over five years ago. The city's website provides resources for those ignoring federal immigration laws.

Republican Governor Bruce Rauner ignored his party's base and sided with General Assembly Democrats last summer when he signed into law a measure allowing law officials to not comply with federal immigration policies when detaining a person in the U.S. illegally.

"To reinforce Chicagos status as a Sanctuary City and our commitment to inclusivity for people from all parts of the world in the City of Chicago, Mayor Emanuel and the Chicago City Council took extra steps in 2012 with an ordinance that protects the rights of immigrants, and grants all residents access to city services, regardless of immigration status," the city's website says.

Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran, who was first elected in 2008 as a Republican that had converted from the Democrats, encouraged Rauner to sign the bill into law saying "Welcoming" localities that embraced illegal aliens were safer.

Im a rule of law guy, yes, but you cant have a history where we had wide open borders, where we didnt enforce these laws forever because we desperately needed the labor and knew that our immigration process was screwed up  and then 20 years later tell them, Youre here illegally, Curran told the Sun-Times left-leaning columnist Mark Brown.

In order to police these communities, protect these communities from the true predators, you have to be able to pull up with lights and all and not have widespread fear and panic among citizens that really have nothing to do with the crime.

A study done last year at the University of California last year found on average, counties that did not comply with ICE requests experienced 35.5 fewer crimes per 10,000 people than those that did. They also found that counties that did not comply with detainer requests had higher household incomes, lower rates of unemployment, lower rates of poverty, and were less likely to have children under 18 in households receiving public benefits.

The focus of the federal study reports on how the system is adhering to President Donald Trump's executive order issued immediately after his inauguration in January 2017 that called on states to:

(a) Ensure the faithful execution of the immigration laws of the United States, including the INA, against all removable aliens, consistent with Article II, Section 3 of the United States Constitution and section 3331 of title 5, United States Code;

(b) Make use of all available systems and resources to ensure the efficient and faithful execution of the immigration laws of the United States;

(c) Ensure that jurisdictions that fail to comply with applicable Federal law do not receive Federal funds, except as mandated by law;

(d) Ensure that aliens ordered removed from the United States are promptly removed; and

(e) Support victims, and the families of victims, of crimes committed by removable aliens.

More HERE. Federal report HERE.
Schlumberger Limited provides technology for the energy industry worldwide. The company operates through four divisions: Digital & Integration, Reservoir Performance, Well Construction, and Production Systems. It offers software, information management, and IT infrastructure services; consulting services for reservoir characterization, field development planning, and production enhancement; petro technical data services and training solutions; reservoir interpretation and data processing services; asset performance solutions; open and cased-hole services; exploration and production pressure and flow-rate measurement services; pressure pumping, well stimulation, and coiled tubing equipment for downhole mechanical well intervention, reservoir monitoring, and downhole data acquisition; and integrated production systems. The company also provides mud logging and engineering support services; drilling equipment and services for shipyards, drilling contractors, energy companies, and rental tool companies; land drilling rigs and related services; drilling tools; well cementing products and services; and well planning and drilling, engineering, supervision, logistics, procurement, contracting, and drilling rig management services, as well as supplies engineered drilling fluid systems; and designs, manufactures, and markets roller cone and fixed cutter drill bits. In addition, it offers well completion services and equipment; artificial lift production equipment and optimization services; valves; process systems; and integrated subsea production systems comprising wellheads, subsea trees, manifolds and flowline connectors, control systems, connectors, and services, as well as designs and manufactures onshore and offshore platform wellhead systems and processing solutions. The company was formerly known as Societe de Prospection Electrique. Schlumberger Limited was founded in 1926 and is based in Houston, Texas.
By PTI: Dhaka, Dec 27 (PTI Two Bangladesh Air Force training aircraft crashed today after they collided mid-air near southeastern coastline of the country.

All the four pilots managed to eject safely.

The Air Force is yet to issue a statement but officials preferring anonymity said poor visibility could have caused the collision. One of the two aircraft crashed on an open field at the Maheshkhali offshore island.

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"What I could tell you that all the four pilots are safe and one of the craft entirely damaged as it crashed," an Air Force official said.

Residents in the neighbourhood said one of the aircraft crashed on a paddy field. PTI AR NSA

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Raja along with other politicians and bureaucrats was alleged to have awarded 2G mobile phone services licences arbitrarily to several telecom firms at knockdown prices on a first-come-first-serve basis.

By Harish V Nair, India Today Web Desk: Why did the judge not summon officials in the PMO under Manmohan Singh despite finding that they had "misrepresented facts" to the then Prime Minister pertaining to spectrum allocation policy, asked the special public prosecutor in the 2G scam case on Tuesday.

Acquitting all 19 accused, including former telecom minister A Raja and DMK leader Kanimozhi, and slamming the CBI for failing to produce evidence against them, judge OP Saini had said PMO officials Pulok Chatterjee and TKA Nair suppressed relevant and controversial part of Raja's letter to Singh regarding spectrum sale policy like adoption of first-come-first-served or first-pay-first-served rule.

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"Without appreciating the evidence in its proper perspective, the judge says we did not submit any legally admissible evidence.

But under section 311 of the CrPC he has the power to call for evidence. At one place in the judgment he says it was not Raja but two officials in the PMO who misrepresented facts.

Then why were they not summoned?" asked Special Public Prosecutor Anand Grover in an interview to Mail Today.

"The judge could have called Chatterjee and Nair. We are not concerned about what the PM knew. We are only concerned about what Raja did not tell."

Section 311 empowers a trial judge to summon and examine "any such person if his evidence appears to it to be essential to the just decision of the case".

"The question is: Who misrepresented the facts to the then PM? It was not Raja, but Pulok Chatterjee, in consultation with TKA Nair, as he had suppressed the most relevant and controversial part of the letter of Raja from the then PM.

If the words 'wants PMO to be at arm's length' are read in the context of the case, it is clear that they are aimed at officials of the PMO and not at Raja," the judgment reads.

"Why? Because whatever Raja intended to do relating to telecom licences was conveyed by him to the then PM in his letter, but the PMO presented only a partial view to the then PM.

Thus, the record shows that the facts were misrepresented to the then PM by officials of the PMO and not by Sh. A. Raja."

Raja along with other politicians and bureaucrats was alleged to have awarded 2G mobile phone services licences arbitrarily to several telecom firms at knockdown prices on a first-come-first-serve basis.

By undercharging companies some of which didn't even have any prior experience in the sector and by refusing to auction in the first place, those accused were said to have cost the government a staggering amount.

Grover who was accused by judge Saini of "not showing any enthusiasm, being directionless, diffident and not producing any evidence", gave a point-by-point rebuttal of all the accusations and also listed a series of "errors in the judgment".

Regarding the judge's observation that the whole charge sheet was "choreographed, Grover asked, "If the charge sheet was faulty, why did he go on to frame charges on the basis of the choreographed charge sheet after hearing arguments for over four months? He should have discharged all the accused only on that ground."

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He also reminded that this was a charge sheet which was vetted and cleared by the Supreme Court.

The judge said he conducted the trial for seven long years but no one turned up with any legally admissible evidence. But if he felt that even a prima-facie case was not made out, there were many stages at which he could have discharged the accused, Grover said.

"It is like saying I have crossed the bridge, I have crossed the river, I have crossed the mountains but I actually I did not want to come here," he said.

On the accusation that he was directionless and did not show any enthusiasm, Grover said by the time he took charge as SPP in May 2014 after the elevation of his predecessor UU Lalit as a judge of the SC, the most crucial part- recording of evidence and cross-examination- had been completed.

"It is being made out that I was solely responsible for prosecution's so-called lapses while I was there only to present arguments on the basis of evidence already submitted and not to produce additional evidence or cross-examine," he said.

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By PTI: New Delhi, Dec 27 (PTI) As many as 4,886 inmates had died in various jails of the country between 2014 and 2016, Parliament was informed today.

"A total of 1,701, 1,584 and 1,601 inmates died in various jails in the country due to various causes in the years 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively," Union Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir said, replying to a written question in the Rajya Sabha.

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He added that 194, 115 and 136 prison inmates had died due to unnatural causes in 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively.

As against the total capacity of 3,80,876 inmates, 4,33,003 inmates were lodged in various prisons of the country, including the Tihar jail in New Delhi, at the end of 2016, Ahir said. PTI ACB RC

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Jeevan Kumar, an ardent fan of actor Karthi, who was also the district secretary of Thiruvannaamalai Karthi Fans Welfare Association, passed away in a tragic car accident, while he was reportedly travelling from Chennai to his hometown for a wedding along with his friends. It is said that the driver of the car lost his control and plunged over Tambaram bridge. All the four were rushed to a nearby hospital where Dinesh and Jeevan succumbed to injuries.

Karthi rushed to Jeevans residence to pay homage and was deeply saddened with the fact that the latter was married three months back and that he had even attended it.
The Aam Aadmi Party is now asking its supporters to donate Rs 100 each to show their support for Delhi CM Arvind kejriwal after he was not snubbed at the Magenta Line launch.

By Abhishek Anand, Pankaj Jain: Outraged over Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal not been extended an invite for the launch of Delhi Metro's Magenta Line, the party quite literally decided to 'cash' the insult.

Two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath inaugurated the Magenta line, an e-mail from AAP outreach was sent to all those who have subscribed to AAP's newsletters.

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The e-mail, sent by Krishnaraj, read, "Ever since we found that Delhi CM is not invited for the inauguration of Magenta line Delhi Metro, we got emails, tweets, posts pouring outrage."

"Yes, I share your sentiments. Yes, my blood also boils. Yes, it's not the first time and yes, it won't be the last time. So what can I do, what can you do?" (sic)

Following this emotional message, the outreach team asked the party supporters to donate Rs 100 for a cause- which they failed to explain.

The e-mail further reads, "Simple. Let's unite to convert every ounce of outrage into a powerful force. A force they cannot ignore. A force created by our collective donations. Just as millions of tiny drops add up to make the mighty ocean, every drop of donation counts. Make a donation. Add your drop to AAP. Donate Rs 100/- now! I did too (sic)."

The email has a link below that directs the page to the donation link on AAP's website. The link's icon is an orange rectangle which reads as, "Make Your Anger Count."

Asked about the party about seeking donations against 'insult' to Arvind Kejriwal, party spokesperson and MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj said, "Whenever there is an attempt to suppress AAP by the central government, whenever there is a below the belt attack on the elected Government of Delhi, people of India have stood up and supported the party. Donation is just one expression of such support."

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It was obvious that Tewari's jibe was indicated at Modi, whose Government still holds the GST and demonetisation as pillars of success. (Photo: ANI)

New Delhi: The Congress on Monday indirectly referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as "Bad Santa" for implementing problematic schemes like the unified Goods and Services Tax (GST) and note ban.

In a tweet a day after Christmas, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said that in the rest of the world "an old man with a white beard" distributed gifts to people, while in India, a similar looking man did quite the opposite  took away publics money and left them only with the socks.

Instead of coming down the chimney, this notorious Indian Santa entered people's houses through their television sets, Tewari said in the tweet.

All over the world at this time an old man with a white beard creeps in your house through chimney and puts money in your socks

In India an old man with a white beard crept into your house through TV removed money from your pockets,cupboards,lockers& left you only in your socks  Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) December 26, 2017

It was obvious that Tewari's jibe was indicated at Modi, whose Government still holds the GST and demonetisation as pillars of success.

The Opposition has been relentlessly pointing out the failure of both the schemes, saying they were hasty, ill-implemented and have slowed economic growth, especially for small businesses, an effect that is likely to last longer than a few fiscal quarters.

In September this year, Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) veteran leader Yashwant Sinha called the note ban "a disaster" and GST "poorly conceived". He said the two policies would come down hard on the already struggling Indian economy and cause immense misery to the country's poor.
Pandemonium in Rajya Sabha over Union Minister Ananth Kumar Hegde's remarks about the constitution. (Photo: Screengrab)

New Delhi: A united Opposition on Wednesday disrupted proceedings in the Rajya Sabha protesting against controversial comments reportedly made by Union Minister Anant Kumar Hegde on changing the Constitution and secularism.

Congress, SP and BSP members trooped into the Well of the House shouting slogans seeking removal of Hegde and forcing Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu to adjourn the proceedings till 12 noon.

The trouble started during the laying of the official papers on the table of the House as opposition members shouted "shame, shame" when Hegde, who is Minister of State (MoS) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, rose to lay the papers listed against his name.

Read: We're here to change the Constitution: Union minister Ananth Kumar Hegde

Leader of the Opposition (LoP) and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad sought a clarification from the Minister as he could leave the House soon after laying papers.

True to this, Hegde sat in the House for a while listening to opposition protests against his controversial statement that the BJP would change the Constitution by excluding Secularism from the preamble. Soon thereafter, he left the House.

Azad asked if a minister does not believe in the Constitution, does he has a right to remain as a minister.

"Minister who has no faith in the Constitution has no right to be a minister. He has no right to be a Member of Parliament," he said.

Sukhendu Sekhar Roy (Trinamool Congress) said secularism is inscribed in the preamble of the Constitution and asked if a minister is allowed to denounce the same preamble in public.

Naresh Agarwal (SP) said the Constitution is the Ramayana and Gita of democracy and any minister who abuses it and its founder Baba Saheb Ambedkar should be removed.

At this, Naidu interjected to ask members not to bring Babasaheb Ambedkar into the controversy. But the opposition members remained unrelenting and trooped into the well raising slogans.

Naidu asked members not to raise slogans and ordered that nothing they were saying would go on record. He then allowed Minister of State (MoS) for Social Justice and

Empowerment and Republican Party of India founder Ramdas Athawale to speak.

Athawale praised the Prime Minister for honouring the memory of Ambedkar with a fitting memorial and said it was Congress which had insulted Ambedkar.

"Don't create a ruckus. You are going to be defeated in general elections in 2019 and 2024," Athawale told the opposition.

Subramanian Swamy (BJP) claimed Ambedkar did not include the word secularism in the Constitution.

Naidu tried to restore order but all his efforts went in vain. "How much should I tolerate. This is not acceptable. This is not done," he said as slogan shouting continued unabated.

As opposition members continued their noisy protest and demanded a discussion on the issue, Naidu said no discussion can take place without a proper notice.

The speaker then adjourned the proceedings till 12 noon.
The Intelligence Bureau (IB) is, however, analysing the contents of the controversial video and is yet to send an advisory to Bengaluru, Delhi and Kolkata, said another source. (For representation image)

Bengaluru: A day after a purported video by Al Qaeda was released online on jihadist forums threatening to secure Kashmir by waging a war on three Indian metros, including Bengaluru, the Indian Intelligence agencies rubbished the claim of the proscribed global terrorist organisation.

There is nothing new in the video. This could be old stuff. Al Qaeda (AQ) has been threatening to launch terror strikes in key Indian cities for the last couple of years and is presently entangled with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) over gaining turf in Kashmir, where both the banned organisations are making desperate attempts to radicalise militancy. ISIS is making advances in Afghanistan after being pushed out of Syria and is fighting against the Taliban to establish the new Caliphate in the north-western country. AQ used the former Hizbul Mujahideen commander and founder of Gazwat-ul-Hind (the last and the final battle for conquest of India)  Zakir Musa, as its poster boy, when he defected from Hizbul Mujahideen this May after the United Jehad Council (UJC) criticised his statement threatening to behead separatist leaders, especially those who describe Kashmir as a mere political issue. Musa didnt get the kind of support Al Qaeda had imagined from the Indian Muslims. The video could be another attempt at raising the issue once again to test waters, said an official source.

The Intelligence Bureau (IB) is, however, analysing the contents of the controversial video and is yet to send an advisory to Bengaluru, Delhi and Kolkata, said another source.

In the latest video, Al Qaedas subcontinent second-in-command Usama Mehmood has reportedly said that it is important to wage war on Indian cities like Kolkata, Bengaluru and New Delhi to loosen the Indian Armys grip on Kashmir, which has stationed more than six lakh troops in the northern-most state. If we wage war on the Indian cities it (the Army) will come to its senses and release its grip on Kashmir, said Mehmood. He has exhorted Muslims in the region to stand behind the Kashmiri people and support the jihadi movement in the subcontinent.

Interestingly, the controversial video was released on Tuesday  the same day a new pro-ISIS organization  al-Qarar, released a video pledging alliance to the founder of ISIS - Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Fr. Justin Jude, vicar of St. Thomas Church, Poonthura, shares information on his cellphone with additional secretary (ministry of home affairs) Vipin Malik who is heading the central team which visited Poonthura to take stock of Ockhi damage on Tuesday. MLA V. S. Sivakumar and sub-collector Divya S. Iyer look on.

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala will seek the help of other coastal states in locating lost fishers and details of boats that reached their shores following the devastating Cyclone Ockhi. The government will also request them to search for the remains of fishing boats. Meanwhile, the central team, led by additional secretary (home) Bipin B. Mallick, which reached here to review damages asked the state government to form a task force of young officers in coastal regions to avert such disasters.

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan informed the team that government had already taken steps to provide modern fishing boats and houses of 600 square feet. Earlier, the state had demanded a relief package of Rs. 7,340 crore for relief, rebuild, rehabilitation, and an early warning system. The team would visit affected coastal areas until December 29 in two groups - one In Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam and the other Ernakulam. The team would further split with one visiting Thrissur.

They visited Poonthura and Vizhinjam on Tuesday. After, meeting the chief minister, they went to Thenmala and Kulathupuzha. Central Fisheries Assistant Commissioner Dr Sanjay Pandey was also with Mr Mallick during the meeting. They would return here on Wednesday to visit the remaining villages. On Thursday, they would revisit Kollam before returning to meet officials here to finalise their report. They had also met the delegation of the Congress party led by V. S. Sivakumar MLA, who had accompanied them to Poonthura, Latin Catholic Church representatives and organisations of fish workers.

While the state government assessment is that there are 208 more men, including people from other states, still missing while the church put it at 315. The visit follows Prime Minister Narendra Modis promise of a relief and rehabilitation package during his visit of last week. The chief minister thanked Mr Modi and home minister Rajnath Singh for all their support. Mr Vijayan who expressed his gratitude to Mr Modi for visiting the cyclone hit areas personally in his letter said the Centre had provided great support in rescuing those who went missing. Prime Ministers assurance to consider his request for the special package gives hope to Kerala, he said.
The demonstrators raised slogans criticising the government for not treating the EB employees on par with those on the state payrolls.

Chennai: After employees of transport department, other government department staff are now joining the chorus against the state government for delaying the pay scale revision, diversion of employee welfare funds and delay in recruitment of staff.

On Tuesday, it was the turn of Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation employees to threaten a strike if their financial dues and 11th pay commission recommendations were not implemented.

Tension prevailed at the TNEB headquarters on Anna Salai with more than 1,000 electricity board employees jumping into a sit-in protest. The demonstrators raised slogans criticising the government for not treating the EB employees on par with those on the state payrolls.

Pointing out that Tangedco is a loss-making corporation the state has been delaying the employee welfare initiatives and despite talks through trade unions there is no positive response from the government, said a TNEB employee pointing out that the protest would intensify leading into power disruptions if the issues were not addressed.

The following tension at EB headquarters, police personnel was deployed on Tuesday evening to regulate traffic and the police warned that EB employees would be arrested if they continue to protest blocking roads.

It may be noted that government teachers and transport department employees have also warned the state that they would jump into indefinite strikes if the issues like the bonus, pay scale arrears, payments of pension funds were not settled by Pongal.
The BBC World Service has lately been heavily promoting a podcast titled The Assassination. In it, the BBCs former Pakistan correspondent Owen Bennett-Jones delves into a calamity from 10 years ago, and holds out the prospect of hitherto unrevealed details. I look forward to listening, while obviously wishing that the catastrophe it commemorates had never occurred. Not because Benazir Bhuttos return to Pakistan and prospective cohabitation with Pervez Musharraf would have paved the way for a smooth transition to meaningful democracy, let alone the rout of the Pakistani Taliban. But because, as in the case of her father three decades earlier, hers was not a political career that deserved to end this way.

The deep wounds inflicted on the national psyche on April 4, 1979, and Dec 27, 2007, are ineradicable . Let us not overlook Sept 20, 1996, though  the day the Karachi police gunned downed the sitting Prime Ministers only surviving brother. I am also disinclined to share the view that Benazirs grief at her brothers violent demise was a put-on. The insensitive reaction of her chosen President was ungracious, and compounded not long afterwards by his dismissal of her second government. Perhaps Farooq Leghari sincerely believed he was doing the nation a favour by removing Asif Zardari from the prime ministerial abode.

During the 11 years power alternated between parties or alliances led by Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, it wasnt terribly difficult to choose between the two. Benazirs return from exile in 1986 unleashed a popular wave of resentment against the tyranny of Zia-ul Haq, and there was a sense of poetic justice when she assumed power two years later. Without a clear parliamentary majority, though, and with the intelligences strategy having paid dividends in Punjab, Benazir felt obliged to accept the absurd conditions imposed upon her.

Benazirs second stint in power, slightly longer than the first, was in some ways even less illustrious, distinguished as it was by the Afghan Taliban exfiltration, subsequent allegations of the Prime Ministers personal role in nuclear proliferation, her husbands stint as minister for investment, and a very public feud with her mother, apart from her brothers assassination. The PPPs relegation to a rump in the 1997 elections was a consequence chiefly of one-time supporters apparently staying home rather than switching sides. The Sharif landslide was based on an abysmal turnout.

It was hard to see Benazir as a symbol of democracy when she returned from her second exile in 2007, following an Anglo-American-mediated power-sharing arrangement with a military dictator. Becoming the first woman to be elected head of government in a Muslim country where misogyny was rife, and ruthlessly exploited by her opponents, was certainly no mean feat, notwithstanding the regions inclination towards dynastic politics. Twenty years before his daughter, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had harnessed a potentially revolutionary upsurge in West Pakistan, raised popular consciousness, and conquered Sindh and Punjab in the nations first general elections. The first year or so of the PPP government held out the promise of forward-looking social democracy. The saga of the Bhuttos is a monumental tragedy of Shakespearean proportions precisely because it encapsulates a host of character flaws and missed opportunities.

By arrangement with Dawn
Bangladesh police arrested a 25-year-old social media activist as he tried to leave the country on charges that he defamed Islam and the Prophet Mohammed, authorities said Tuesday. (Photo: Youtube screengrab)

Dhaka: Immigration police detained Asaduzzaman Noor, known as Asad Noor on his YouTube channel, at Dhaka airport on Monday evening, inspector Mohammad Shahidullah said.

'The charge against him is that he hurt religious feeling by mocking Prophet Mohammed and made bad comments against Islam, the prophet and the Koran on Facebook and YouTube,' he said.

Shahidullah said hundreds of Muslims staged demonstrations against Noor in 2017 in the southern coastal town of Amtali after the head of an Islamic seminary filed a case against him.

Noor was charged under Bangladesh's strict internet laws and could face up to 14 years in jail if found guilty.

Rights groups have accused the Bangladesh government of muzzling dissent and targeting atheist bloggers who have used social media to criticise religion.

In 2013, four Bangladeshi bloggers were arrested after nationwide protests in which Islamic groups demanded the execution of atheist commentators. They were later freed.

In recent years, atheist and secular voices have been targeted by Islamist extremist groups, who have hacked to death a dozen bloggers, publishers and activists, and forced others to flee overseas.

Following the attacks, the government launched a crackdown on extremist groups.

In July last year however militants stormed a Dhaka cafe and massacred 22 hostages, including 18 foreigners, in an assault claimed by the Islamic State group. Security forces have since killed more than 70 alleged militants.
The former prime minister also questioned the courts saying, Will we see any court hold Musharraf accountable for his crimes he asked and responded to his own question, saying: I am hopeful one day this will happen. (Photo: ANI)

Lahore: Former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif has said that a treason case against former President Pervez Musharraf by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government was the reason behind his ouster.

The Dawn quoted Sharif as saying at the PML-N social media convention in Model Town that, "We got a treason case registered against Musharraf for abrogating the Constitution. But his case is still pending and a verdict came in my case in haste."

On July 28, the Pakistan Supreme Court had disqualified Sharif from holding the office of prime minister and asked the National Accountability Bureau to file references against the Sharif family in connection with the corruption case against them.

The former prime minister also questioned the courts saying, "Will we see any court hold Musharraf accountable for his crimes he asked and responded to his own question, saying: I am hopeful one day this will happen."

Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz in her father's support said, "When he (Nawaz) got registered a case against Musharraf, sit-ins (PTI and PAT Islamabad sit-ins in 2014) began against him.

Then came the News Leaks and Panama Papers case and finally he was disqualified on an Iqama (work permit). This happened to my father because he did not bow. It was easy for him to choose an easy path but he didn't."

The apex court also directed the trial court to decide the references within six months.

Sharif, his sons Hasan and Hussain, daughter Maryam, son-in-law Capt (retd) Mohammad Safdar and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar are facing multiple corruption references in the accountability court.
By PTI: Chennai, Dec 27 (PTI) Expelled DMK leader M K Alagiri has lashed out at his younger brother and party working president M K Stalin for the partys drubbing in the R K Nagar bypoll, saying it cannot win any election under his leadership.

"Not just R K Nagar bypoll. DMK will not henceforth win in any election. There is no chance for that till this Working President (Stalin) is there (at the helm of affairs)," he said in an interview to a Tamil magazine.

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The Madurai-based former DMK strongman, son of party president M Karunanidhi, wielded tremendous clout in south Tamil Nadu during the 2006-11 party rule.

"Such a situation (DMK finishing third in the R K Nagar bypoll) would not have emerged if Leader (Karunanidhi) was active," Alagiri said.

Alagiri and Stalin had been involved in a long-running feud in the DMKs first family with both contending to be their fathers political heir.

A former Union minister, Alagiri had once famously asked if the DMK was a mutt where a senior pontiff could appoint his successor, indicating that he was always in the reckoning.

However, Alagiri was expelled from DMK in 2014 for alleged anti-party activities and has largely remained low profile since then.

The ruling AIADMK latched onto Alagiris comments to take potshots at Stalin.

"Alagiri has said DMK cannot win (under Stalins leadership)... His (Stalins) own brother has said so," senior AIADMK leader and Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar said, without elaborating.

The DMK lost the December 21 R K Nagar bypoll, where its candidate N Maruthu Ganesh polled 24,000-odd votes, which was way below the 57,673 votes secured by the party in the 2016 assembly elections, and lost deposit.

Shimla Muthuchozhan of DMK had then lost to late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who emerged the winner with 97,218 votes in the constituency.

Rival AIADMK leader T T V Dhinakaran, contesting as an independent, won the December 21 bypoll getting 89,013 votes. He defeated his nearest rival, AIADMKs E Madhusudhanan, who got 48,306 votes.

Alleging that the victory was due to "money power", Stalin has claimed that it was "a Himalayan defeat for the Election Commission rather than the DMK candidate".

The DMK has appointed a three-member committee to look into the byelection outcome and submit a report beore December 31. PTI SA VS ABH

--- ENDS ---
And with those words, the gauntlet for 2017s zeitgeist is thrown down. The most influential designer of the 1990s is back. Or is he? DSCENE Contributing Writer HARRIET MAY DE VERE wonders if this is a true comeback while investigating the phenomenon of Helmut Lang then and now.

In 1977 Helmut Lang launched his made-to-measure studio in Vienna, Austria. Langs constructions first appeared to the mainstream in the 1986 exhibition Vienne 1880-1939: LApocalypse Joyeuse (The Joyful Apocalypse) at Pariss Pompidou Centre, starring alongside works by Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and Oscar Kokoschka; some of the most dramatic examples of European genius. The fate of Helmut Lang has long since played out, but has hindsight earned him a place among these names?

Read more after the jump:

The exhibition programme previewed a barren aesthetic that would become associated with the eponymous company Lang founded later that same year. Helmut Lang the brand is vividly Austrian. That stark temperament, with a slight nudge towards austerity, has since become almost formulaic in central European design. Hygge, koselig, lagom; before all of these trends, there was Helmut Lang. Black Futura on ivory. WEAR. HELMUT. LANG. Never has sterility been so stimulating.

To millennials, 1980s and 1990s fashion is brash and obnoxious; adjectives that trigger veneration on Instagram. Social media is saturated with throwback dedications to logomania, oversized hiphop shapes, Thierry Mugler power suits, Christian Lacroix gold enamel, but this ode to excess is just one side of the story. Nineties minimalism was eighties gluttonys rebuttal. Off the back of the 1980s success of Yohji Yamamoto, and Rei Kawakubos Commes des Garcons, Helmut Langs seemingly-spartan designs became wildly popular. Clothes are not only about putting them on, Lang would say, They are also about taking them off. They screamed nudity, not in the brazen, flesh-baring way of today, but with a brush of the nipple, or a flash of lingerie peeking through a skirt turned momentarily sheer as it catches the light. Lauded as minimalism far and wide, Lang always refuted this stereotype. His raw-edged, neutral-palette collections of filmy clothing, he argued, were the modern elaborate. Either way, Vogue elected Lang responsible for The coming of the age of cool.

Helmut Lang Resort 2018 advertising campaign

Few measured up to Langs raw aesthetic standards, but those who did became integral to his quickly escalating technology-lead machine. Melanie Ward was the stylist in the days before everyone was a stylist. Ward met Helmut Lang in Paris in 1992. Their connection was instant, as Ward put it, Ive never met anyone who had such similar taste to me, they used to call me the female Helmut. They began collaborating and eventually, to the horror of many of Langs rivals, Ward was working exclusively for the brand. Wards self-diagnosed documentary style aesthetic became synonymous with Helmut Lang.

Ward and Lang advertised in National Geographic magazine, instead of Vogue. They printed artists such as Louise Bourgeois and Robert Mapplethorpes photographs for their campaigns, crediting the artist but also including the Helmut Lang logo, as if they could culturally appropriate high arts prestige. They showed in Paris at the industrial white space of the Espace Commines, until in 1997 the pair of them decided theyd had enough of imitators and moved their show weeks ahead of schedule to New York. Traditionally New York had been the grand finale in the fashion week cycle, but such was the extent of Langs influence that the industry followed him, creating the New York-lead schedule we have today. At the turn of the millennium the world was at Helmut Langs feet.

The delivery of ideas in public spaces was at the core of Helmut Lang psychology. He was an early adopter of the internet, choosing to show his Fall 1998 collection on CD-ROMs. He began the process of democratising and declassifying the viewing of fashion towards an everyones-welcome art gallery mentality. During this period Lang was introduced to artist Jenny Holzer by Interviews then editor-in-chief, acclaimed art critic Ingrid Sischy. Holzer later described her and Langs synchronised tastes as a little mean, and less-is-more. They began learning each other and eventually collaborating. Hundreds of cabs swarmed New York with HELMUT LANG  no image, and seemingly no product  lit up on their roofs. Just black, white, and Futura Condensed font triggering desire.

Lang and Holzers combined talent culminated in the 2000 launch of the brands first fragrance. To the industry it was as if he was selling thin air. Ever the tecnophile, Lang chose to launch the fragrance  as Vogue remarked  on, of all places, the Internet. Beauty editors were aghast; why sell scent that cant be smelled? It became a cultish success, with critics calling it The Zeitgeist Bottled and fans scouring online forums and eBay for half-empty bottles when it was discontinued in 2005. Alexander Wang, Supreme, Vetements, in Langs wake brands have constantly demonstrated what he knew. It is concept, not product, that sells high fashion. Why else in the nineties would you pay $200 for jeans? Forget Midas, in 2000 it was Langs touch that turned everything to gold.

So why isnt this man lauded with the Gianni Versaces, Yves Saint Laurents, Coco Chanels and Christian Diors of this world? Why, as someone who is interested in fashion, could you have only heard of him in the last year or so? Jenny Holzer, as you may know, recently collaborated with fashions current darling Virgil Abloh for his brand Off Whites SS18 show. Where is Helmut Lang?

In 1999, high fashion conglomerate Prada Group bought a 51% majority stake in Helmut Lang. Then in 2000 the designer was nominated in three categories, winning the Menswear Award, at the Council of Fashion Designers of America Awards, aka the Oscars of fashion. He did not show up. He continued to work quietly as creative director under Prada until three years later when he sold the remaining 49% of his shares, handing total control and his name to Prada Group.

Fast forward over a decade. The world has had another boom, another slump, and a lot of bashing. The kitschy cool excess of the 2000s has given way to loss. The world feels unstable and consumers want security anywhere they can grab it. Prada has long-since sold Helmut Lang to Link Theory, a Japanese retailer. Brands who offer sustainable luxury, who sell garments that hold their worth, that are timeless not showy, are succeeding among those who remember the Lang years. Celine, Raf Simons, Rick Owens, countless current designers owe a debt of gratitude to Helmut Lang. As Alix Browne at W Magazine so eloquently surmised, Helmut Langs influence is everywhere, it seems, except in the brand that still bears his name.

A few months ago Kanye West was spotted in a pair of Helmut Lang paint-splattered jeans from the brands 2000 heyday. West has cited Lang as an influence many times, admittedly citing him as one of his only four references when critics matched his Yeezy Season 1 looks explicitly with archive Helmut Lang. German fashion designer Bernard Wilhelm even went so far as to say that hed heard from people working at different fashion houses that there is always a Helmut Lang piece hanging and its right there to be copied. When everyones forging your signature, its time to design a new one.

Helmut Lang Resort 2018 advertising campaign

When other brands start translating your legacy to a new generation, its time to step in. At the beginning of 2017 something was in the air at Helmut Lang. Whispers of a relaunch were trickling along the industry grapevine. March arrives, and with it comes Dazeds Isabella Burley being anointed Helmut Langs first Editor-in-Residence. Also officially linked to the brand, but under hazier guises, were Hood By Air founder Shayne Oliver and tongue-in-cheek bootleg fashion creator Ava Nirui. Words start to appear on the brands Twitter; WARNING LACK OF CHARISMA COULD BE FATAL, IMPRESS YOUR PARENTS, WEAR HELMUT LANG.

Its really important for Helmut Lang to be an authority on Helmut Lang again, Burley stated this summer as she announced her initial intentions for the brand. She planned to re-edition (in the tone of an artists estate) originals from the Helmut Lang archive, and fifteen pieces, including the infamous paint-splattered jeans of 1998, went on sale in September. In Helmut Langs original spirit, Burley has also invited a dozen artists to collaborate on ad campaigns and limited edition items. The much hyped SS18 show at New York Fashion Week was billed as Shayne Olivier for Helmut Lang; a canny way of removing some of the pressure of living up to the brands legacy. The reviews were mixed. For some Olivers overt sexuality, such a hit at Hood by Air, was inappropriate at a brand who made their name with subtlety. It remains to be seen whether this dream team, the cream of todays industry, can get it right.

But what became of the man? Often the fashion industry consumes the PR folklore around a founder to the extent that the real story becomes blurred or forgotten. The fashion houses play up to it, using these human stories to give brands humanistic personification. Chanels Gabrielle perfume adverts, Audrey Tautou as Coco Chanel, Pierre Niney as Yves Saint Laurent; these are idealistic portrayals of designers. Others do not fare so well, no story can cover their tracks. Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, these artists, humans, went to such lengths to get their vulnerability recognised, but it is only with hindsight that aid was offered. When looking back, the industry remembers theyre not a concept, an abstraction, or a hypothesis for a marketing campaign, but a person. To some Helmut Lang lost everything, but he never lost sight of this.

After leaving Helmut Lang the brand, the designer applied for an artists studio permit from the East Hampton town board and donated thousands of items from his archive to museums the world over. In 2011 he unveiled the art exhibition Make It Hard; some 6000 items of Helmut Lang clothing, 25 years of work, shredded, mixed with pigment and resin and reformed into twelve sculptures. Helmut Lang had always been an artist trapped in a businessmans world. He may have left his name behind, but he didnt leave his identity.

In 1992, Kurt Kocherscheidt, an artist and close friend of Langs, died of a heart attack. Lang cast his grieving widow in his runway show, offering her a chance to regain her sense of self in light of heavy loss. Langs muses were always characters of unconventional beauty. He never allowed the current crop of It models to walk the runway more than once per show. The notion of using beauty that isnt typical is a movement the current generation of designers thinks they invented. Every seemingly nonsensical move Lang ever made always made sense after the fact. Just like technology, after its been invented its like it was always there.

Perhaps Helmut Lang the brand and Helmut Lang the person have both reached a place of contentment. Shayne Oliver said of the SS18 collection, When [Lang] first became relevant, clothes were clunky and felt a bit overdone for no reason, and he made them human. I think the human needs to be a bit more present again. Has the Zeitgeist been reclaimed? Only time will tell.

Text by Harriet May de Vere  harrietmaydevere.com

Illustration by Shibo Chen @shibochen



DSCENE Magazines Defiant issue is available now in print & digital.
The year 2017 has been a notable one in terms of automotive technology. While 2016 saw major announcements and concepts, 2017 has been the first step towards realising all the futuristic technologies that will soon become synonymous with automotive innovations. The first driver assistive units have begun rolling out, electric cars are no longer a talk for the future, and just like every year, old pioneers have retired to make way for new ones.

With that, heres looking at the most important announcements from automotive technology in 2017.

Semi-autonomous cars hit the road

In July this year, the Audi A8 became the first heavily equipped car to have rolled out on to public roads. Equipped with a radar inside and a host of other sensors and algorithms, the Audi A8 is capable of driving itself at up to 50kmph, maintain lanes and proximities, and also identify obstacles and trajectories of approaching vehicles.

Interestingly, while the Audi A8 has presented the most advanced form of ADAS in a consumer car, Volvos fleet of new cars in 2017 have been heavily equipped too. Cars like the 2017 Volvo XC60, XC90, S90, V90 and V90 Cross Country have been equipped with radar-based assistive technologies like adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assistance, road sign detection and others, signifying the start of semi-autonomous cars being rolled out for buyers.

Flying cars are no more fantasies

While 2016 was the year of optimism for flying car concepts, 2017 has been a year of making concrete plans for the future. The biggest announcement about flying cars have come from NASA, the premier space agency of USA, in partnership with Uber. This fell in line with talks of smart cities around the world and the need to tackle congestion, coupled with rising ideations from multiple companies about the varied future of commuting. From giants like Airbus to startups like Neva, there are multiple projects presently ongoing, and headlines about flying cars have repeatedly hit the headlines this year, every now and then.

Companies announce electrification of entire portfolios

This trend began with Volvo, with the announcement that by 2020, all of its cars will be electrified in some form or the other. This would include hybrid, plug-in hybrid and battery-powered electric cars to improve efficiency, reduce emissions and make a statement towards the future that is definitely away from conventional fossil fuels (at least in the end-user sense of the phrase). This was soon followed by Maserati, alongside standalone announcements from car giants, like Aston Martins RapidE, Minis all-electric Cooper bug, Mercedes-Benzs EQ Power lineup and more.

Range Rovers first hybrid SUV

The British makers of go-anywhere butches decided to shift focus (momentarily) from rugged powertrains, new technologies and finer leather inside, to the environment. The result - the Range Rover P400e plug-in hybrid. Land Rovers first electrified cars come in two trims - the Range Rover Sport and the flagship Range Rover, and maintain their impressive powertrain along with the new Touch Pro Duo infotainment systems, generous doses of ADAS and minor facelifts. This was particularly important as it goes on to show that petrol-heads can still get their adrenaline rush from hybrid mechanisms, despite all the Jeremy Clarkson-induced playful abuse-hurling at Toyota Prius.

Apples self-driving car spotted

For the first time in history, a Bloomberg correspondent spotted what has since been established as Apples test mule for its self-driving car endeavours. Apple, the technology giant, was long rumoured to be making its very own vehicle that would drive itself, be all-electric and have Siri as a permanent resident in it. However, such plans only seem to be wishful thinking, at least for now, and Apple seems to have taken the route that other tech giants have - build technology that will drive autonomous cars, rather than build the cars themselves. The same has since been confirmed by CEO Tim Cook himself.

Indias push for electric cars

The Indian government is making a major case for ushering in a new era of electric cars, beginning with imposing heavy taxes on hybrid vehicles and showering financial benefits on anyone eager to buy electric cars. Since then, a government-backed wing (EESL) has placed an order for 10,000 electric cars, which are now being supplied by Tata Motors and Mahindra. Alongside, Niti Aayog has formulated plans to establish charging stations beginning with the National Capital Region, and there have been much debates about the potential entry of Tesla in the Indian electric vehicle market.

Death of the Firefly

Remember the rather adorable orb-like two-seater vehicle that would inevitably appear every time you searched for self-driving car? That was Firefly, Googles first self-made autonomous test mule. It switched allegiance to Waymo when it separated from Google to become a standalone entity, and will stand testimony to Google and Waymos first success stories of autonomous driving. Earlier this year, Waymo retired the Firefly, resigning it to a deserved place in its museum, replacing its working fleet with a bunch of rather mundane Chrysler Pacifica hybrid minivans.

Years later, once were all accustomed to cars driving themselves, well fondly look back at Firefly - the one that pretty much started it all.

Making connected cars safer

The need for connected vehicles is real, and the infrastructure required for it already exists. What does not, is a universally accepted safety standard for sustaining a robust network of cars that are internet-enabled, can store/receive data from Cloud-based servers, and exchange information between each other to drive themselves. It is this that has been addressed in the nascent form in 2017, with companies like Toyota, NXP Semiconductors and others discussing possibilities to keep the sanctity of this sensitive data. From blockchain to other more complex techniques, the safety of connected cars are being actively evaluated, and it all began in the year 2017.

Car keys to become redundant?

It all began with the Tesla Model 3 - the first reasonably priced car from Tesla. Among all the other magical things that it can do is the fact that it does not come with a key fob. All you get is a smartphone app, coded specifically to only work between your phone and your car using Bluetooth LE. If you happen to have lost your phone (or run out of juice), you have two NFC cards to fall back on, which can unlock the car and switch on the batteries. This has been the spark for the future, where car keys will become redundant. It even makes sense, seeing how itll be one less thing to carry, and as cars become smarter and more advanced, even become quite intuitive to operate.

The evolution of steering wheels

Since we are out changing almost everything about our future cars, why leave the steering wheels out? Two companies in particular - Jaguar and ZF, have particularly interesting takes on future steering wheels. The Jaguar Sayer is not much of a wheel - its more like a rectangular smart control hub, which is conceptualised as the only vehicle part that you will own in future. It can automate your everyday chores, sync with your smart home, remind you about work emails and appointments, and even call a cab for you when you need it.

The second one, the ZF steering wheel, is less of a smart assistant and more of a traditional steering wheel, but with a display in between integrating all functions and reading gestures to make controlling advanced vehicles more intuitive. While neither are becoming real any time soon, theyre both intriguing in terms of the insight they provide into how companies are imagining mobility in future.

Indias electrifying startups

Of late, there have been multiple startups in India playing in the electric mobility space. From the more established Hero Motocorps e-scooter to Vespas upcoming Elettrica, the giants are making way for startups like Hriman Motors, Okinawa, Emflux and Jayem Auto. Hriman Motors has promised to unveil an indigenous two-seater electric coupe soon, while Okinawa has already unveiled its e-scooter, the Praise. Emflux is also en route to unveil an all-electric performance bike, while Jayem is converting the Tata Nano into an EV in partnership with Tata Motors. Indias EV industry is certainly growing, and 2017 is the year that set pace for what will come in 2018.

Honourable mentions

Ford delivering pizza in an autonomous car, Sony announcing its intent behind the autonomous car industry, and two-wheeler tech becoming more serious.
OnePlus has partnered with Star Register to name the 37 stars. Each customer who receives the reward will also get a certificate of ownership.

OnePlus recently launched the OnePlus 5T Star Wars edition in India to mark the release of the latest Star Wars film, 'The Last Jedi'. The company has now announced that the first 37 customers of the Star Wars Edition smartphone will be acknowledged by OnePlus and it is doing so in a rather unique way. The first 37 customers of the phone will get an actual star named after them and receive a personalised Star Wars constellation, which will be presented along with a certificate of ownership. OnePlus has partnered with Star Register for the same. Star Register is a star naming service which allows customers to name a visible constellation star at prices as low as 34.99$ (Rs. 2,250 approx.).

The OnePlus 5T Star Wars Edition features an all new colour scheme at the back, which the company calls Sandstone White. OnePlus says that the colour of the coating is inspired by the fictional planet of Crait, which is part of the Star Wars lore. Besides that, the phone's alert slider is dark red in colour which matches the colour of the Star Wars logo located at the back of the device. You also get custom Star Wars themes and wallpapers on the phone. Essentially, The OnePlus 5T Star Wars Edition, is essentially a OnePlus 5T smartphone with some gimmick thrown into the mix.

The phone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC and comes only in an 8GB RAM variant featuring 128GB of on-board storage. The device features a 6.01-inch display with an 18:9 aspect ratio and uses the same 16MP + 20MP camera setup as used on the original OnePlus 5T. The device packs a 3300mAh battery and supports the companys proprietary Dash charging technology. The Star Wars Edition of the OnePlus 5T also comes with a Kylo Ren inspired case, which is included in the box itself.
The Nokia 7 was launched as a China exclusive smartphone back in October this year. It comes with a 5.2-inch IPS LCD display and is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 SoC.

Nokia 7 could be launching globally in early 2018. As per a report by Android Headlines, the smartphone could be launched with a model number TA-104, alongside the companys upcoming flagship phone, Nokia 9 and the refreshed Nokia 8 and Nokia 6 smartphones.

The Nokia 7 was officially launched back in October and was exclusive to China. The strategy seems similar to the one adopted with the Nokia 6 smartphone which was also launched as a China exclusive device in January this year, but was released globally later in June.

The Nokia 7 comes in a 4GB RAM variant priced at RMB 2,499 (Rs 24,443 approx), while its 6GB RAM variant is priced at RMB 2,699 (Rs 27,000 approx).

The Nokia 7 features a 5.2-inch IPS LCD display with a 1920 x 1080p resolution and 2.5D curved glass on top. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 SoC coupled with 64GB of onboard storage, which can be expanded up to 128GB via an SD card slot.The smartphone comes with a 3.5mm audio jack, USB Type-C port and a rear-placed fingerprint sensor.

The Nokia 7 is equipped with a 16MP primary camera with f/1.8 aperture and dual-tone flash. It hosts a 5MP front camera with f/2.0 aperture and 84-degree wide field of view. It also gets the Nokia 8's Bothie feature which allows users to simultaneously shoot with both front and rear cameras for Facebook Live and YouTube Live. The device runs on Android Nougat and the company has promised a future Oreo update for it. It is backed by a 3000mAh battery.

Nokia is expected to launch its rumoured flagship smartphone, the Nokia 9 at its global event on January 19. The updated versions of the Nokia 8 and Nokia 6 smartphones are also expected to be unveiled at the event. The Nokia 9 is expected to feature a thin-bezel design with a glass back and is rumoured to sport a vertical dual rear camera with a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor.

The Nokia 9 could feature a 5.5-inch AMOLED QHD dual-curved display akin to the current Samsung flagship smartphones. It is rumoured to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC and sport 6GB of RAM with options for either 64GB or 128GB ROM. The smartphone is also expected to be IP67 water and dust resistant and similar to most current flagship devices, remove the 3.5mm headphone jack.

The Nokia 9 is tipped to be priced at 3699 Yuan (Rs 37,000 approx directly converted) for the 6GB RAM/64GB storage variant and 4199 Yuan (Rs 42,000 approx directly converted) for the 6GB RAM/128GB ROM model.
The US government has announced it will slash its United Nations budget obligations for 2018 and 2019 in response to a UN vote over the city of Jerusalem .

Last week, the UN condemned in a vote Trumps decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Even after a series of threats from the US president and his ambassador to the global forum that the US would retaliate by cutting the UN budget, most countries voted against Trump.

As a result, the US government announced it would slash over $285m from the funds budgeted for the UN.

Washington did not specify from which part of the budget exactly it would make those cuts, although they weren't expected to affect the financing available for peacekeeping operations.

After the vote on 21 December, the US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley said: "We will remember it when, once again, we are called up to make the world's largest contribution to the UN and we will remember it when many countries come calling on us to pay even more and to use our influence for their benefit."

Haley said on Sunday: "We will no longer let the generosity of the American people be taken advantage of."

She added that the UN had a history of being inefficient and of overspending: "This historic reduction in spending  in addition to many other moves toward a more efficient and accountable U.N.  is a big step in the right direction."

"I'm very pleased at the results of the budget negotiations and the US will continue to look at ways to increase the UN's efficiency while protecting our interests," she also said.

Bathsheba Crocker who was the head of the State Department office responsible for international organizations under the Obama administration tweeted: "This is all so misleading, the US fights hard, together with other countries, every year to cut UN budget & regularly does. This is neither new nor a US 'decision.' "

The US was responsible for 22% of the annual budget of the UN and it had been estimated that it also accounted for 28.5% of the peacekeeping operations budget.
Renewables Infrastructure Group (TRIG) has paid 80m for a 14.7% stake in the Sheringham Shoal offshore wind farm in the North Sea.

The purchase, including transaction costs, is the investment company's first in an offshore wind project. The investment is held in a new joint venture with funds managed by Equitix Ltd, which will own 25.3% of the wind farm.

Sheringham Shoal has 316.8MW of capacity and was originally developed by Statoil, which owns 40% of the project alongside Macquarie's Green Investment Group, which holds 20%. The site was commissioned in 2012 and has 88 Siemens 3.6MW turbines.

Helen Mahy, TRIG's chairman, said her company had been considering a wind-farm investment for the past few years. Sheringham Shoal is backed by experienced renewables investors and is the right project for a first step into the market, she said.

Mahy said: "The board of TRIG is delighted to conclude the company's first investment in offshore wind, an industry in which the UK has built a leading global market share and which is expected to contribute a significant proportion of the UK's renewable energy capacity build-out in the medium-term."

TRIG paid for the investment using the group's revolving acquisition facility, on which it has drawn 106m.
UK Oil & Gas Investments (UKOG) lost a quarter of its value after it said a zone at its Weald Basin operation was probably not viable.

The company said it carried out tests at its Broadford Bridge site after a series of mechanical problems. Low reservoir productivity indicated the KL3 zone was "likely not economically viable", the company said.

"In the company's view this horizon, whilst containing moveable hydrocarbons, appears to be unproductive due to low reservoir permeability," UKOG said.

UKOG's shares fell by more than 25% in early trading and were down 23% at 3.05p at 08:40 GMT. The shares have had a volatile 2017 as the company has raised and then depressed hopes that exploration efforts in southern England would yield a major oil find. The shares started 2017 below 2p and peaked at 9p in September.

The company said it had received encouraging analysis from researchers in Houston, Texas, about the potential for extracting oil from its BB-1 Kimmeridge clay well in the Weald Basin.

Stephen Sanderson, UKOG's executive chairman, said: "Whilst we await further test results of key importance to the commercial success of this single well, we ought, perhaps, to take the opportunity to reflect upon the wider Kimmeridge exploration picture and the positive implications of BB-1 results to date.

"Although we still have many more questions than answers, the incoming stream of new analyses from our significant investment in BB-1 data acquisition has moved the company's understanding of the play to new levels."
Assets were Rs 27 crore of the arms dealer seized by ED under FEMA.

By Munish Pandey: In a major development, the Enforcement Directorate has seized assets worth Rs 27 crore of the controversial defence consultant and arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari in connection with the Rs 150 crore black money case.

The seizure by ED includes: 4 properties in Delhi's Panchsheel Shopping Complex, one at Shahpur Jat, Delhi, one residential flat located at Hill View Apartment, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi, one house at South City, Gurugram, a property in Pebble Court and another in Jaypee Greens, Noida. ED has also seized movable properties including jewellery worth Rs 2.27 crore.

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The seizure has been made under section 37A of FEMA involving undisclosed assets held by Bhandari abroad .

According to the agency, Bhandari acquired assets worth more than Rs 150 crore outside India, in contravention of FEMA, which includes undisclosed deposits in bank accounts in UAE. Bhandari allegedly bought a flat in Dubai and 2 flats in London with this money.

Earlier, after a notice by the Income Tax Department, a case of Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015 was filed against Bhandari.

"The investigation revealed that Bhandari had acquired assets worth more than Rs 150 crore outside India, which were not declared for taxation purposes before the Income Tax," said an officer.

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By Indrajit Kundu: The Mamata Banerjee administration may have banned the entry of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) chief Pravin Togadia into West Bengal, but that hasn't stopped the saffron outfit from flexing its muscles in the state.

With an aim to consolidate its presence, the VHP's youth wing Bajrang Dal recently conducted a military-style training camp for youth in South 24 Parganas district. The camp was organised at a school in the Kultali block of Sundarban. 170 youth, selected from across south Bengal, were taught self defence skills.

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The week-long 'Shaurya Prasheekshan Shivir' was held between December 17 and 23. "The primary objective of such (a) camp is to impart self defense training to the youth so that they can defend themselves from any external or internal aggression, be it from any community or another country," explained Kushal Kundu, the VHP assistant secretary in charge of south Bengal.

According to VHP activist Madan Gayen, such camps are held annually. After smaller camps across districts, the best candidates are trained at the state level shivir - which was held in Sundarban this month. "In case the army needs civilian support during an emergency, such training comes in handy. It empowers the youth to fight against any form of aggression," Gayen says.

'NO FAITH IN LOCAL ADMINISTRATION'

In the past, such camps have come under fire from chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who has accused the outfit of fomenting communal tensions in Bengal. "I saw a video clip from Assam where women are being given rifle training by VHP, which is linked to BJP. But can they do this? Are they the army? This is a dangerous game. They want to destroy this country," Banerjee had said earlier this year - after the VHP conducted an arms training camp for its "Durga Vahini" or women's wing members in Assam.

However, local RSS activists say such camps have become imperative, as the state administration and police had failed to protect Hindus in recent times during communal violence.

"Unless one is physically strong, how can one defend oneself? We don't have much faith in the local administration here. Barely ten kilometres away Naliakhali village was ransacked and nobody, not even the police, could protect us. Whichever leader we had approached seeking protection were busy appeasing minorities for their vote bank," alleged Dinabandhu Ghorami, a local RSS worker.

According to the VHP, participants at the camp underwent sword training and training in the use of .22 caliber rifles - besides getting lessons in martial arts and physical training.

Volunteers would wake up at 4 am and continue their physical and mental training till 10 pm in the night. Visuals accessed by India Today show trainees crawling through trenches, climbing ropes and bamboo poles and even jumping through a ring of fire while chanting "Jai Shree Ram" slogans.

WATCH | Police book 80 VHP-Bajrang Dal activists for indiscriminate firing

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By Allison Guy

Centuries ago, naturalists believed that the animals of the sea mirrored the animals of the land. Elephants were matched by sea-elephants, chickens by sea-chickens. The clergy even got paired with sea-bishops and sea-monks. In 2017, land and sea mirrored each other in a less literal way. As humanity reeled from hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes and shootings, a rare whale endured its own year of horrors.

At least 17 North Atlantic right whales died in 2017the species worst year since hunting them was banned in 1937. There are around 450 whales left, and just 100 breeding females, which are bearing calves at the glacial pace of one every nine years.

The whales plight has not gone unnoticed. A host of regulations in the U.S. and Canada curtail the two biggest whale-killers around: collisions with boats, and entanglements in fishing gear. But as 2017 laid bare, these rules arent enough. In December, officials at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced the 16-meter (50-foot) giants could be functionally extinct in as little as 20 years.



North Atlantic right whale calves are a rare sight these days. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

But as North Atlantic right whales wither, ocean advocates say the resolve to protect them has solidified. People are really trying to work together: internationally, between Canada and the U.S.; between scientists; between lobstermen; between state and federal governments, said Ingrid Biedron, a whale biologist at Boston University. Everybody wants to save the right whale.

And theres one intervention, experts agree, that could decide the whales fate: a new breed of crab and lobster fishing gear that eliminates dangerous, whale-snagging rope. Ropeless gear already exists, but almost no one uses it. The big question is: Do we have the time and money to make the shift before some future year becomes the whales last?

Bad Buoys

North Atlantic right whales summer from Cape Cod up to Newfoundland, where they feed on swarms of fatty plankton called copepods. The murky seabed in these regions also swarms with millions of crab and lobster pots. Conga lines of traps are linked together in sets, and each set is marked with a buoy on 2,000 to 3,000 feet of vertical line.

For big whales, these dangling ropes turn fishing grounds into minefields. Youre watching these humpbacks just literally smacking into gear constantly, recalled Richard Riels, an engineer developing rope-free crab pots. You realize its only a matter of time for these animals to get entangled, because its almost impossible to not.

At 70 tons, North Atlantic right whales are so strong they can drag hundreds of pounds of rope and traps for days, months or years. The lines wrap around the whales jaws, preventing them from eating or saw through their fins and blubber. Entangled whales eventually succumb to starvation, exhaustion or infection.

Since 2010, entanglements have been responsible for 85 percent of all North Atlantic right whale deaths. More than 80 percent of all whales bear entanglement scars, and many have been wrapped up multiple times, leading to long-term health problems that hinder their ability to reproduce and fend off disease.



A rescue crew races towards an entangled right whale. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Two to Tangle

Right now, there are two ways we deal with tangled-up whales. The first option sends rescue crews out on inflatable craft to manually cut away the rope. It works, but only about 60 percent of the time, said Michael Moore, the director of the Marine Mammal Center at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. Its also expensive and dangerous. Last summer, Joe Howlett, a Canadian fisherman and disentanglement veteran, died after being struck by a right whales tail while on a rescue trip.

The other option is adjusting existing fishing gear. Many lobstermen now use sinking lines for trap-to-trap connections underwater, which eliminates floating arcs of rope that snag diving whales. Weak links have also been installed in lines, under the assumption that the whales are strong enough to snap them. But theres a problem, Moore said. All of the tweaking that has been going on has failed to reduce the risk of entanglement mortality. In fact, deaths and injuries have only gotten worse as high-tech fishing lines have gotten stronger.

For a right whale, Moore said, once its entangled, its too late.

Hope on a Rope

For researchers, theres only one workable solution: Get rid of the ropes for good. Its the only certain method we can imagine that would completely eliminate deadly entanglement, said Timothy Werner, director of the Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction.

For crab and lobster fishermen, buoys serve two roles. First, they mark the location of the traps, which ensures that no one else accidentally dumps their gear in the same spot. Theyre also currently required by law. Second, ultra-strong buoy ropes are how fishermen haul those conga-lines of traps to the surface.

In ropeless versions of crab and lobster gear, a spool or tether closely hugs the buoy to the traps as they rest on the seafloor. The buoy only rises to the surface once a timer releases it, or, in pricier designs, once the fisherman pings the device with an acoustic signal. Richard Reils, the engineer, has repurposed inflatable bags from salvage diving to haul the entire trap to the surface, no buoy required.



Investigators examine a right whale carcass found wrapped in rope. International Fund for Animal Welfare

These innovations would not only all but eliminate whale entanglement, they could make fishing safer for lobstermen and crabbers. Ropes can snag humans too, and yank them overboard. Ropeless gear might also slash the tens of thousands of traps that lost each year when surface buoys break free of their lines. Lost traps continue ghost fishing once the initial catch of crabs or lobster dies, their bodies becoming bait for the next round of animalsa wasteful and destructive cycle.

Working ropeless systems already exist, Werner said. Lobstermen in Australia use their own versions of line-free gear. But there are stubborn barriers to the technologys adoption in the U.S. and Canada.

One of the big problems is that fishermen simply arent familiar with it, Werner explained. Lobster and crab pots have remained more-or-less unchanged for centuries. The most important thing, Werner said, is to let fishermen who work in the whales habitat test ropeless gear. Until they can get their hands on it and see how it works, and how it might be viable, it just sounds too much like fiction to them.

The other roadblock is cost. For Werner, its up to governments to provide financial incentives: buying back old gear, or opening up closed whale habitat to lobstermen and crabbers using ropeless systems. Private funding might also be an option, said Biedron, the Boston University biologist, as offshore industries have previously financed whale-protection programs to offset the effects of their work.

Reality Check

Theres no predicting when ropeless gear could wind up where its needed, Moore said. But he noted that momentum seems to be building: Unlike previous years, it seems like theres a lot more widespread acknowledgement that this needs to be among the solutions that we advance. If a coordinated effort pulls out all the stops, he said, then within a few years we can imagine several fisheries using some of these technologies, and then build up from there.

A few years may be all that North Atlantic right whales have left. Moira Brown, a Canadian right whale expert at the New England Aquarium, cautioned that theres no time to waste. She explained that the Gulf of Californias vaquita, a tiny porpoise that numbered in the hundreds just 20 years ago, is now down to 30. The vaquita is a reality check, she said. Its a call to action.



A North Atlantic right whale performs a whale of a headstand. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Stopping North Atlantic right whale extinction may not just be a task for engineers and scientists, but a test of our values. Its a huge challenge for us, as a society and a community, to buck up and be responsible, Riels said. We all want our fish; we all want to go fishing. But we dont realize that at the end of the day, theres an animal that lives out there, and were in the middle of all its living area, and were really affecting it. This problem is way bigger than all of us.
By Giovanni Ortolani

The U.S. is quitting UNESCO, the United Nations organization that coordinates international efforts to foster peace and sustainable development, and to eradicate poverty. The Trump administration made the announcement on Oct. 12. The withdrawal takes effect Dec. 31, 2018, and the U.S. will remain a full member until then.

This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects U.S. concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO, said Heather Nauert, a U.S. State Department spokesperson in a press statement.

The U.S. does, however, say it will seek to stay engaged with the organization as a non-member observer state in order to contribute U.S. views, perspectives and expertise on some of the important issues undertaken by the organization, including the protection of World Heritage Sites and the promotion of scientific collaboration.

Trump isnt the first U.S. president to have antagonism toward the organization. Although America has played an important role in UNESCO since its creation after World War II, Trumps predecessors have been quarreling with it since the 1970s.

We were in arrears to the tune of $550 million or so, and so the question is, do we want to pay that money? Nauert said at a news briefing, making clear that with this anti-Israel bias thats long documented on the part of UNESCO, that [U.S. relationship] needs to come to an end.

But what does the Trump administrations withdrawal mean for UNESCO environmental programs worldwide? And will the loss of U.S. money matter?



A moment of great hope when UNESCO declared 2015 the International Year of Light at the Paris Climate Summit. Athalfred DKL on VisualHunt.com / CC BY-NC-ND

UNESCO environmental and science programs

The UN Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organization was founded in 1945, and is a catalyst for far-reaching and important environmental and sustainable development initiatives. Today its the only UN organization with a clear science mandate, and it works on a broad scope of environmental issues, directing projects from a scientific, cultural, social and educational perspective.

UNESCOs Natural Sciences Sector, headquartered in Paris, has a staff of 120, with 54 field offices around the world, and it hosts major international programs in the freshwater, ecological, earth and basic sciences.

Its activities deal with the ecological sciences (Man and the Biosphere Programme and World Network of Biosphere Reserves), water security (International Hydrological Programme and World Water Assessment Programme), and earth sciences (International Geoparks and Geoscience Programme, and disaster risk reduction).

Man and the Biosphere (MAB) is one of UNESCOs best-known programs, with its World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR). Launched in 1971, MAB seeks to improve relationships between people and their environments by protecting areas nominated by national governments. MAB reserves remain under sovereign jurisdiction of the states where theyre located, but enjoy international recognition.

Biosphere Reserves are learning places for sustainable development whose aim is to reconcile biodiversity conservation and the sustainable use of natural resources, read a recent UNESCO press statement when it added 23 new sites to WNBR. The Trump administration is voluntarily withdrawing 17 sites from the program. However, withdrawal isnt unusual and other countries including the UK, Austria, Australia, Norway, Bulgaria and Sweden have withdrawn MAB sites in the past. Among those being withdrawn by the U.S. currently is the Hubbard Brook, New Hampshire, U.S. Forest Service reserve, where groundbreaking forest ecosystem and climate research has been ongoing for decades.

Today WNBR encompasses 669 sites in 120 countries, including 16 transboundary biosphere reserves, covering over 680 million hectares (2.6 million square miles) of inland, coastal and marine areas, and representing all major ecosystem types and diverse development contexts. These areas are home to approximately 207 million people ranging from rural and indigenous communities to urban dwellers.



UNESCO launched an international campaign to save the Abu Simbel Temple monuments in Egypt in the 1960s from being flooded by Lake Nasser. The project drew unprecedented international attention and praise for UNESCOs protection of the worlds cultural heritage. VisualHunt.com

Water programs

The International Hydrological Programme (IHP) does scientific, educational and capacity building around water issues. IHP promotes an interdisciplinary, integrated approach to watershed and aquifer management, and does international research in the hydrological and freshwater sciences.

It also assists UNESCO member states in water security efforts, addressing challenges such as water-related disasters and hydrological changes, groundwater, water scarcity and quality , and ecohydrologythe study of the interrelationships between hydrological and biological processes required to enhance water security and lessen ecological threats.

The World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) produces an annual World Water Development Report, a coordinated effort achieved across the UN system and provides a clear picture of the state of the worlds freshwater resources to member nations.



Pamukkale, Turkey, a UNESCO World Heritage Site famous for its hot springs and enormous white terraces of travertine, a carbonate mineral sediment left by flowing water. Visualhunt.com

Earth science programs

UNESCOs programs in earth sciences support research that informs current challenges such as evidence of global change from the geological record, geoscience of the water cycle, or environmental geodynamics.

The Environmental and Health Impacts of Mining Activities in Sub-Saharan African Countries is a good example of how valuable this knowledge can be. This program in fact does not only aim to understand how the mining activities (and particularly abandoned mines) negatively affect the soils, animals, plants and fungi, surface and groundwater, and the health of neighboring communities. It also experiments with the most appropriate mining rehabilitation technologies, and provides science-based data to governments and local authorities on both land-use planning and technologies to mitigate environmental disaster in contaminated regions.

UNESCO Global Geoparks are areas where landscapes and sites of international geological significance are managed via a holistic approach to protection, education and sustainable development. As of today, there are 127 Geoparks in 35 countries, ranging from Vietnam to Brazil.

The organization also supports the meaningful inclusion of local and indigenous knowledge in biodiversity conservation and management, especially climate change assessment and adaptation via the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).

UNESCOs Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) has its own membership and a separate chapter in the organizations program and budget. IOC is the only body devoted to marine science within the UN system, and the U.S. has been involved in it since its establishment in 1960, mainly through the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The future of that relationship is uncertain now.

The U.S. has played an important role in many IOC programs critical to ocean health and the wellbeing of coastal communities. For instance, the Global Tsunami Warning System that covers four major ocean basins (Pacific, Indian, Caribbean, and Mediterranean/North Eastern Atlantic), or the Harmful Algal Blooms program, which develops research and provides guidance to address red tides now threatening a wide range of coastal economic sectors (fishing, tourism, navigation, aquaculture).

NOAA and NASA are also pivotal to IOCs Global Ocean Observing System: the U.S. has in particular been leading the deployment of Argo floats around the globe to enhance measurements of ocean temperature, salinity and currents. The U.S. is a key contributor to observations of sea-level rise, ocean water acidification and a number of other variables to enhance understanding and predict trends and impacts of climate change, El Nino, and other ocean-related phenomena. It is uncertain precisely how that relationship will function in future.



The Okavango Delta, Botswana, World Heritage Site is home to some of the worlds most endangered species of large mammal, including the elephant, cheetah, white rhinoceros, black rhinoceros, African wild dog and lion. Pete Hancock / UNESCO

Who benefits, who gets hurt?

While the U.S. will remain engaged in many of these programs, the absence of U.S. funding makes it increasingly difficult to meet the challenges that are so vital to the lives and livelihoods of millions of Americans, George Papagiannis, UNESCOs Media Services Chief told Mongabay in an email, pointing out that an ounce of investment is worth a pound of cure.

Papagiannis stressed a simple fact: UNESCO programs, and the critical environmental problems they seek to solve, do not only result in benefits to countries far from the White House, but instead greatly benefit the U.S. and millions of American citizens.

A submerged lower Manhattan during hurricane Sandy, or the blooming red tides that affect the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico, are reminders that the U.S. is no safer than most countries from ocean related hazards, he said, adding that no single country, regardless of national capacity, can tackle these cross-border issues on its own.

Whether it is about safeguarding coastal economies and jobs, ensuring peoples safety and public health, or protecting infrastructures, U.S. investments on IOC activities in ocean science and services create benefits to its citizens that far outweigh the costs, he said.



Ancient Maya City and Protected Tropical Forests of Calakmul, Campeche, Mexico, a World Heritage Site. Archivo / RBC-CONANP

The IOC also provides an intergovernmental coordination platform for effective collective action, from which all Member States benefit. Of course, that cooperative approach doesnt fit in well with President Trumps Make America Great Again, go-it-alone approach.

As an example, the UN General Assembly is discussing a proposal by IOC to declare 2021-2030 as the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, under the UNs global coordination. The U.S. government and its scientific institutions stand to benefit enormously from participating in this collective framework for coordinating and consolidating the observations and research needed to achieve the UNs Sustainable Development Goal 14 on the ocean, Papagiannis said, pointing out that it will be the time to bolster innovative technologies and scientific knowledge to bring tangible wellbeing and economic benefits to U.S. citizens.

It is also worth noting that much of UNESCOs work addresses the root causes of mass human migration, promoting sustainable and equitable management of national natural resources, and providing or fostering livelihoods, notably in Biosphere Reserves.

Loss of U.S. funding started in 2011

Strange as it may sound, there will be no immediate financial consequences related to the U.S. withdrawal from UNESCO because the U.S. has not paid its dues since 2011 during the Obama administration when the Palestinian Authority was accepted into the UN agency as a full member. The funding cut then was across the board, resulting in a 22 percent hit to the UNESCO budget more than $80 million per year, according to this Foreign Policy report. Since then, all parts of the organization have adapted to new financial realities.

Clearly there have been consequences since 2011, and UNESCO has never fully recovered from the loss. The approved budget allocated to Science and the International Oceanographic Commission (IOC) for the 2010-2011 biennium was $59,074,000, while the approved expenditure plan for the current biennium (2016-2017) for Science and the IOC falls below that amount, coming in at $48,308,400.



The Isla Genovesa Booby Sanctuary, Tower Island, Galapagos World Heritage Site. David Broad / Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

As a result, the number of permanent science positions has decreased, while less funding has meant a sharp refocusing of the organizations work. For example, Papagiannis said, UNESCOs Basic Sciences efforts were severely impacted, and the organization is no longer directly involved in earth observation and remote sensing projects, with few exceptions. Thats a serious problem when one considers the rapid natural changes underway due to climate change. Furthermore, UNESCO no longer spends regular budget on renewable energy activities, and its engineering activities have been strongly curtailed.

In addition to its assessed contribution, the U.S. used to fund projects directly, a procedure known as extra-budgetary funding. This means that UNESCO received money from the U.S. State Department, USAID, Department of Defense and National Science Foundation for seismicity and earthquake engineering in the Mediterranean and in Northeast Asia, and cooperation with the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering. The last of the funds allocated as extra-budgetary were received in November 2011 and spent by 2014.

One discontinued project was the Open Initiative with the Space Agencies, which included NASA, NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the U.S. Geological Survey. This initiative used space imaging to monitor and protect World Heritage sites, and was discontinued five years ago. Interestingly that task has now been taken on by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which seems to value science more than the current U.S administration.



Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary, Philippines, World Heritage Site. Roy F. Ponce / UNESCO

Who is the real loser?

According to Papagiannis, the withdrawal of the U.S. will have an impact on the United States level of engagement in global science programs, and in the leadership of these program.

But in statements emailed to Mongabay, a State Department official wrote, U.S. withdrawal from UNESCO does not alter U.S. policy of supporting international cooperation in educational, scientific, cultural, communication and information activities where there are benefits to the United States. By pursuing non-member observer status, it is our intention to remain participants in UNESCO programs, such as IOC, where non-member observers may have a role.

However, the statement continues, the dimensions of this observer participation remain to be defined. Currently the U.S. is focused on preparing its request for non-member observer status so that it may remain engaged on non-politicized issues undertaken by UNESCO.

When it is in the U.S. interest, stressed the official, the United States will continue to participate in UNESCO and UNESCO-related activities that do not require membership in the Organization.

Melinda Kimble, Senior Fellow at the United Nations Foundation, asserts that UNESCOs scientific and environmental programs provide core elements that support national and regional planning for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Developmenta commitment to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development by 2030 worldwide adopted in 2015 by heads of state and government at a special UN summit.

Clearly, an active and fully contributing U.S. could make a difference in sustaining UNESCOs leadership in education, science and culture, she told Mongabay.

This is not the first time the U.S. has left UNESCO. The Reagan Administration withdrew in 1984 because of concerns over many issues, ranging from Soviet Union disarmament proposals to the organizations request for a budget increase. When the U.S. pulled out then, it was not in arrears and continued supporting UNESCO programs with voluntary financial contributions.



Karibik, St. Kitts, Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. giggel / Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

Then after an almost twenty-year absence, the U.S. rejoined the organization in 2003. President George W. Bush announced the move as a symbol of our commitment to human dignity  This organization has been reformed and America will participate fully in its mission to advance human rights and tolerance and learning.

As for Trumps planned withdrawal, Kimble agreed that Clearly, an active and fully contributing USA could make a difference in sustaining UNESCOs leadership in education, science and culture. She noted that while the current pullout underscores U.S. skepticism about the UN system and multilateral action in many spheres, the real damage was done not by Trump but starting in 2011 with the U.S. failure to contribute financially.

[T]he failure to pay dues has significantly undermined the capacity of the organization to deliver on its ambitious programs, Kimble concluded.

Under the terms of the original 1945 treaty establishing the United Nations and UNESCO, the U.S. as a Member State remains obligated to paying its arrears. But this is not just about the money, said Papagiannis. This [withdrawal represents] a loss for multilateralism and a blow to universality, which are critical factors to addressing the issues that affect people everywhere in every country.

In October, after receiving official notification by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova expressed profound regret at the decision.

In 2011, when payment of membership contributions was suspended at the 36th session of the UNESCO General Conference, I said I was convinced UNESCO had never mattered as much for the United States, or the United States for UNESCO. This is all the more true today, when the rise of violent extremism and terrorism calls for new long-term responses for peace and security, to counter racism and anti-semitism, to fight ignorance and discrimination, she said in a press statement.

I believe UNESCOs action to enhance scientific cooperation, for ocean sustainability, is shared by the American people, she added.

As the world rushes headlong into a century of scientific uncertaintywhere the climate, oceans, freshwater, ecosystems and human communities grow increasingly unstable and at riskit remains to be seen just how long America will want to go it alone, rather than joining with the rest of the world to share in the costs and benefits of international science in order to serve the common good.



Sequoia-Kings Canyon Biosphere Reserve is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve located in the southern Sierra Nevada of California. Photo by thor_mark  on VisualHunt / CC BY-NC-SA

Reposted with permission from our media associate Mongabay.
Foodbank delivers 200 food packs

The Isle of Man Foodbank delivered twice as many food packs as last year to families in need over the Christmas period.

The organisation received donations of food as part of its Reverse Advent Calendar campaign - where locals are urged to put aside one item of food per day in the run up to Christmas.

Last year, the campaign resulted in 100 packages being delivered, but this year around 200 have been distributed across the Island.

The charity's northern hub is open for drop offs between 9am and 4.30pm today, and is appealing for those with left over food from Christmas to consider making a donation.
Bigg Boss 4 contestant Aanchal Kumar has become a mother to a baby girl.

By India Today Web Desk: Bigg Boss 4 contestant Aanchal Kumar has become a mother to a baby girl. She shared the news on Instagram with an adorable picture of the little one.

She captioned the picture as, "Christmas just got merrier with the arrival of our precious little daughter! ?????? #firstchristmas #babymittal #precious with @agmittal."

The model-actress got married to Anupam Mittal in 2013 and this is their first baby. And the couple is excited with the arrival of new member.

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Congratulations, Aanchal and Anupam!

Christmas with my lovely ?????????? A post shared by Anchal Kumar (@anchalkumar24) on Dec 26, 2017 at 8:35am PST

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Cambridge, MA (December 27, 2017) -- Spending hours a day diving in and around the coral reefs off St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands sounds like the stuff of a dream vacation, but for Annie Opel it was serious business.

As part of her undergraduate thesis, Opel spent much of her time in the water working on a study showing efforts to restore coral reefs have a positive impact on local fish populations, both in the short term and over time. The study is published in the December issue of Marine Biology with Opel as first author, a rare accomplishment for an undergraduate.

"Reefs are not only biologically important - more than 4,000 species of fish rely on these ecosystems - but they're also really important for humans," Opel said. "We depend on them for commercial and recreational fisheries, they provide protection for coastal communities and they bring in a great deal of money through tourism.

"But right now they're threatened by a number of anthropogenic inputs, from pollution to the effects of climate change," Opel said. "Coral reefs have experienced bleaching and mass mortality all over the world, causing ecosystem degradation that affects the marine life that rely on the reefs to survive."

While there have been efforts to address the problem by transplanting corals grown in underwater "nurseries" to damaged reefs, the effectiveness of such restoration projects on Caribbean reefs has never been rigorously studied, Opel said.

"In St. Croix, they've been restoring corals since 2009," Opel said. "(But) no one is really looking at what's happening after the fact...so no one knows if this is an efficient way to restore (those) reef systems."

What she found, Opel said, is that in as little as a week after creating experimental coral beds, significantly more fish and a greater diversity of species could be found. The study also showed that, over time, the fish community changed as additional species began visiting the sites.

"Overall, it's a success story - we out-planted corals and there were more fish," she said. "That's really exciting and something people took for granted in these restoration projects, but no one had quantified it before. I think it's going to be interesting for future studies to use this as a benchmark to know what's going on after transplanting corals."

The project was a natural fit for Opel, as it allowed her to combine both her interest in ocean conservation and the sciences.

During a gap year after finishing high school, Opel spent time in St. Croix, working with The Nature Conservancy on coral restoration projects. As a sophomore at Harvard, she joined the lab of Colleen M. Cavanaugh, the Edward C. Jeffrey Professor of Biology in the department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, and later proposed the coral study for her senior honors thesis. Prof. Cavanaugh took on the challenge of advising Annie on her own independent research with the help of her Post-doctoral Fellow, Dr. Joey Pakes Nelson, an invertebrate biologist and ecologist, and a former Post-doc, Dr. Randi Rotjan, a coral reef expert now an assistant professor at Boston University.

"This work was really cool for a variety of reasons," said postdoctoral fellow Joey Pakes Nelson. "As a global community, we spend a lot of money on coral reef restoration, but few studies describe how this practice affects the reef community, so Annie's work provides justification for investments in this type of conservation.

"When it came time to choose a thesis topic, Annie wanted to combine her love of research with her love of coral," she added. "She had great resources because of her work in the Nature Conservancy, she knew about transplanting corals, she had diving experience and she had a great question."

But having a great idea, however, didn't make it any easier to execute.

"I went down to St. Croix in March over spring break and in collaboration with other researchers, out-planted four two-by-two meter plots of an endangered species of coral found in the Caribbean called Acropora cervicornis," Opel said. "We also designated control plots ten and 20 meters away."

Opel returned to the island at the end of the academic year to plant four additional plots and began the hard work of collecting data almost entirely on her own.

"Each survey day, I spent two hours underwater where I took five minute surveys on each of my 16 plots. I sat there with underwater paper and a clipboard and I would basically mark every fish I saw for that five minutes," Opel said. "It was a steep learning curve, because I needed to learn how to identify every species of fish by sex and age before I started taking my surveys. I took surveys three times a week for all 16 plots, and I counted something like 15,000 fish in total, so it was a lot of sitting underwater in my bright orange wetsuit counting and identifying fish."

One of the most challenging parts of the project, she said, was finding partners to accompany her on dives.

"For safety reasons, you always dive with another person," Opel said. "But it's not like I had an assistant or anyone working with me, so I had to crowdsource my volunteers. I asked around at local dive shops in St. Croix and got put in contact with a lot of great people that wanted to help me with my research. One day my dad even came with me, so that was really special. One of my favorite parts of the paper is the acknowledgments, because I got the chance to thank all the volunteer divers and all of the people that helped make this project happen. And I am really thankful to have had three rock star female scientists to mentor me through this academic journey".

###

This research was supported with funding from the Harvard College Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships, Harvard University Center for the Environment, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Marine Conservation Action Fund and the National Science Foundation.
Kessler Foundation has been awarded a second two-year $150,000 grant from the Hearst Foundations to support a two-year post-doctoral fellowship in cognitive rehabilitation research. Through this funding, Kessler Foundation will train a new fellow using research tools and innovations created by Foundation scientists, while focusing on identifying and researching the next breakthrough in cognitive rehabilitation.

Cognitive rehabilitation is an under-funded research area, and as a result, is not yet a reimbursable treatment for people with cognitive impairment. Research to date, however, has demonstrated that while cognitive rehabilitation helps people return to work - a central goal for many - such treatment actually produces significant improvements in overall quality of life, such as increased participation in social relationships, family relationships, and social interactions.

"This second Hearst fellowship will foster the professional growth of another young researcher who will contribute to the body of evidence that leads to advances in cognitive rehabilitation," commented Nancy Chiaravalloti, PhD, director of Neuropsychology, Neuroscience and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) research at Kessler Foundation, and director of the Northern New Jersey TBI Model System. "Our first Hearst fellowship enabled Dr. Silvana Costa to conduct two important studies utilizing neuroimaging techniques to examine the effects of cognitive rehabilitation in persons with multiple sclerosis," said Dr. Chiaravalloti. "In addition, Dr. Costa has successfully competed for major additional research funding, including a Switzer Merit Fellowship from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research."

The goal of the fellowship training program at Kessler Foundation is to produce graduates who are not only well versed in rehabilitation research, but who will also engage in personal learning and self-improvement throughout their professional careers. At Kessler Foundation fellows are mentored by experienced scientists in an environment that promotes learning and collaboration. Fellows have access to the latest resources, including the state-of-the-art technology at the Rocco Ortenzio Neuroimaging Center at Kessler Foundation, which is dedicated solely to rehabilitation research.

"The Hearst Foundations are pleased to support this second two-year Hearst Foundations Cognitive Rehabilitation Fellowship," said Sarah Mishurov, Director of Strategy and Operations at Hearst Foundations. "This fellowship will build on the success of the first Hearst Foundations awarded to Dr. Costa in 2014. With an immense passion and intellect, Dr. Costa far exceeded program requirements and demonstrated the magnitude of the research opportunities at Kessler Foundation. We are grateful to Dr. Nancy Chiaravalloti and the Kessler team for their work in advancing critical research and providing mentorship to young scientists."

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About Hearst Foundations

The Hearst Foundations are national philanthropic resources for organizations and institutions working in the fields of Education, Health, Culture and Social Service. Our goal is to ensure that people of all backgrounds have the opportunity to build healthy, productive and inspiring lives. The charitable goals of the Foundations reflect the philanthropic interests of William Randolph Hearst.

About Kessler Foundation

Kessler Foundation, a major nonprofit organization in the field of disability, is a global leader in rehabilitation research that seeks to improve cognition, mobility, and long-term outcomes--including employment--for people with neurological disabilities caused by diseases and injuries of the brain and spinal cord. Kessler Foundation also leads the nation in funding innovative programs that expand employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

For more information on Kessler Foundation's research, visit KesslerFoundation.org.

Facebook | http://www.facebook.com/KesslerFoundation

Twitter | twitter.com/KesslerFdn

YouTube | http://www.youtube.com/user/KesslerFoundation

iTunes & SoundCloud | soundcloud.com/kesslerfoundation
This week PLOS Medicine launches the research content in our Collection on Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), advised by Guest Editors Nicola Low of the University of Bern, Switzerland and Nathalie Broutet of the World Health Organization (WHO).

More than 1 million people acquire an STI each day. These infections, when not treated, take their toll in grievous outcomes--notably cancer deaths, infertility, and birth complications including stillbirth. Social stigma that limits care-seeking, causal pathogens with diverse characteristics, and commonly mild or nonexistent symptoms all contribute to the pernicious effects of STIs.

Four Research Articles will be published in the Collection in December, addressing diverse topics in the field. In the first study, Christine Johnston of the University of Washington in Seattle and colleagues use cross-sectional data to examine the prevalence of dual-strain HSV-2 infection. This measure of immune system efficacy can signal potential for vaccine development. Next, Emma Wilson of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and colleagues report on their trial assessing the impact of an online STI testing service on uptake and diagnosis. Further, in a qualitative thematic analysis, Kipruto C. Chesang of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Nairobi and colleagues present a thematic analysis of interviews with Kenyan STI health care providers (HCPs), providing the HCP perspective on programming, training, and stigma in STI care in that setting. Finally, the Collection touches on the global issue of market availability of low-cost antibiotics for STIs. Using country-level surveys and stakeholder interviews, Stephen Nurse-Findlay of the World Health Organization and colleagues investigate the global frequency of benzathine penicillin shortages and uncover commonly noted causes.

Guest Editors Nicola Low of the University of Bern, Switzerland, and Nathalie Broutet of the WHO have authored December's PLOS Medicine Editorial, which highlights key advances from the month's Collection papers and discusses prominent challenges and priorities in the field. The Collection will continue with further research and discussion articles appearing over the next few weeks.

###

Editorial

Funding:

The authors received no funding for this work.

Competing Interests:

We have read the journal's policy and have the following conflicts: NL receives a stipend as a Specialty Consulting Editor for PLOS Medicine, and serves on the journal's editorial board.

Citation:

Low N, Broutet NJ (2017) Sexually transmitted infections--Research priorities for new challenges. PLoS Med 14(12): e1002481. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002481

Author Affiliations:

Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

Department of Reproductive Health Research, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland

IN YOUR COVERAGE PLEASE USE THIS URL TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE FREELY AVAILABLE PAPER:

http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002481

Other Articles in the Collection:

Research Article

Citation:

Johnston C, Magaret A, Roychoudhury P, Greninger AL, Reeves D, Schiffer J, et al. (2017) Dual-strain genital herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infection in the US, Peru, and 8 countries in sub-Saharan Africa: A nested cross-sectional viral genotyping study. PLoS Med 14(12): e1002475. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002475

Author Affiliations:

Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America

Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, United States of America

Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America

Department of Biostatistics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America

Genomics and Bioinformatics Resource, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, United States of America

Department of Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America

Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America

Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America

Benaroya Research Institute, Seattle, Washington, United States of America

IN YOUR COVERAGE PLEASE USE THIS URL TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE FREELY AVAILABLE PAPER:

http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002475

Research Article

Citation:

Wilson E, Free C, Morris TP, Syred J, Ahamed I, Menon-Johansson AS, et al. (2017) Internet-accessed sexually transmitted infection (e-STI) testing and results service: A randomised, single-blind, controlled trial. PLoS Med 14(12): e1002479. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002479

Author Affiliations:

Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom

Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Unit at UCL, London, United Kingdom

King's Centre for Global Health and Health Partnerships, School of Population Health & Environmental Sciences, King's College London, London, United Kingdom

Burrell Street Sexual Health Clinic, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom Department of Sexual Health and HIV, King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom

IN YOUR COVERAGE PLEASE USE THIS URL TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE FREELY AVAILABLE PAPER:

http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002479

Research Article

Citation:

Chesang K, Hornston S, Muhenje O, Saliku T, Mirjahangir J, Viitanen A, et al. (2017) Healthcare provider perspectives on managing sexually transmitted infections in HIV care settings in Kenya: A qualitative thematic analysis. PLoS Med 14(12): e1002480. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002480

Author Affiliations:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Nairobi, Kenya

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America

University of California, San Francisco, Nairobi, Kenya

University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America

National AIDS and STD Control Programme, Nairobi, Kenya

IN YOUR COVERAGE PLEASE USE THIS URL TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE FREELY AVAILABLE PAPER:

http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002480

Research Article

Citation:

Nurse-Findlay S, Taylor MM, Savage M, Mello MB, Saliyou S, Lavayen M, et al. (2017) Shortages of benzathine penicillin for prevention of mother-to-child transmission of syphilis: An evaluation from multi-country surveys and stakeholder interviews. PLoS Med 14(12): e1002473. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002473

Author Affiliations:

Department of Reproductive Health, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland

Division of STD Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America

Clinton Health Access Initiative, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America

Pan American Health Organization, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America

African Regional Office, World Health Organization, Brazzaville, Congo

Intercountry Support Team for East and Southern Africa, World Health Organization, Harare, Zimbabwe

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, Washington, United States of America

IN YOUR COVERAGE PLEASE USE THIS URL TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE FREELY AVAILABLE PAPER:

http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002473
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Dec. 22, 2017 - A noninvasive brainwave mirroring technology significantly reduced symptoms of post-traumatic stress in military personnel in a pilot study conducted at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. The study is published in the Dec. 22 online edition of the journal Military Medical Research.

"Ongoing symptoms of post-traumatic stress, whether clinically diagnosed or not, are a pervasive problem in the military," said the study's principal investigator, Charles H. Tegeler, M.D., professor of neurology at Wake Forest School of Medicine, a part of Wake Forest Baptist.

"Medications are often used to help control specific symptoms, but can produce side effects. Other treatments may not be well tolerated, and few show a benefit for the associated sleep disturbance. Additional noninvasive, non-drug therapies are needed."

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, approximately 31 percent of Vietnam veterans, 10 percent of Gulf War (Desert Storm) veterans and 11 percent of veterans of the war in Afghanistan experience PTSD. Symptoms can include insomnia, poor concentration, sadness, re-experiencing traumatic events, irritability or hyper-alertness, as well as diminished autonomic cardiovascular regulation.

The neurotechnology used in this study - High-resolution, relational, resonance-based, electroencephalic mirroring (HIRREM) - is a noninvasive, closed-loop, acoustic stimulation approach, in which computer software algorithms translate specific brain frequencies into audible tones in real time.

Figuratively speaking, this provides a chance for the brain to listen to itself through an acoustic mirror, Tegeler said. Likely through resonance between brain frequencies and the acoustic stimulation, the brain is supported to make self-adjustments towards improved balance and reduced hyperarousal, with no conscious, cognitive activity required. The net effect is to support the brain to reset stress response patterns that have been rewired by repetitive traumatic events, physical or nonphysical.

HIRREM is a registered trademark of Brain State Technologies based in Scottsdale, Arizona, and has been licensed to Wake Forest Baptist for collaborative research since 2011.

In this single-site study, 18 service members or recent veterans, who experienced symptoms over one to 25 years, received an average of 19 HIRREM sessions over 12 days. Symptom data were collected before and after the study sessions, and follow-up online interviews were conducted at one-, three- and six-month intervals. In addition, heart rate and blood pressure readings were recorded after the first and second visits to analyze downstream autonomic balance with heart rate variability and baroreflex sensitivity.

"We observed reductions in post-traumatic symptoms, including insomnia, depressive mood and anxiety that were durable through six months after the use of HIRREM, but additional research is needed to confirm these initial findings," he said.

"This study is also the first to report improvement in heart rate variability and baroreflex sensitivity - physiological responses to stress - after the use of an intervention for service members or veterans with ongoing symptoms of post-traumatic stress."

Limitations of the study include the small number of participants and the absence of a control group. It also was an open-label project, meaning that both researchers and participants knew what treatment was being administered.

###

The study was supported through the Joint Capability Technology Demonstration Program within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, as well as through a grant from The Susanne Marcus Collins Foundation, Inc. to the Department of Neurology at Wake Forest Baptist. More information about this research program can be found at http://www.wakehealth.edu/HIRREM.

Co-authors include: Jared F. Cook, M.A., Catherine L. Tegeler, B.S., Hossam A. Shaltout, Ph.D., Sean L. Simpson, Ph.D., of Wake Forest Baptist; and Lee Gerdes and Sung W. Lee, M.D., of Brain State Technologies.
By PTI: New Delhi, Dec 27 (PTI)AThe CBI today arrested its software programmer for developing an illicit software to subvert the railways Tatkal reservation system, allowing hundreds of tickets to be booked in one go.

Ajay Garg, an assistant programmer with CBI, worked with IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd) for four years between 2007-11 where he learnt the vulnerabilities of the railway ticketing system, sources said.

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Garg has been arrested along with close aide Anil Gupta, a private person who distributed the software to agents for a price. Besides, 10 agents -- seven in Jaunpur and three in Mumbai -- have been identified, the sources said.

Garg, who joined CBI in 2012, exploited the vulnerabilities to develop the illegal software, which allowed agents to book hundreds of tickets in one go, leaving genuine passengers in the lurch, they said.

"The vulnerabilities of the IRCTC system still exist," an official said.

A postgraduate in computer applications, Garg allegedly sold the software through Gupta. PTI ABS MIN

--- ENDS ---
One in four Welsh consumers say buying Welsh produce will be more important to them in 2018 in light of negotiations over the UKs departure from the European Union, according to a new survey.

The results of the NFU Cymru survey, conducted by YouGov, show that 69% of Welsh consumers felt it was important to know where their food generally comes from.

It states that the UKs impending departure from the European Union only seems to have heightened that sentiment.

In light of Brexit negotiations and thinking about food and drink purchases, 26% of Welsh consumers said buying Welsh produce will be more important to them in 2018.

A further 29% said it is already important to them and it will remain that way in 2018.

Opportunity for retailers

NFU Cymru Deputy President John Davies said that the survey results underlined the importance of clear and transparent country of origin labelling.

He also said it represented an opportunity for major retailers, independent retailers, farm shops and food producers.

Mr Davies said: NFU Cymru has been extremely vocal about the importance of the EU market to the Welsh agricultural industry and while uncertainty continues over trading terms between the UK and the EU and links with new and emerging markets are yet to be agreed, our domestic markets will be of the upmost importance.

News that buying Welsh will be of more importance to a quarter of consumers in Wales next year is a much needed boost for the industry and presents an opportunity that the Welsh food and drink supply chain should look to capitalise on.

Country of origin

NFU Deputy President Minette Batters told an influential Westminster audience in September that it's essential for British shoppers to have "clear" and "unambiguous" country-of-origin labelling on food packaging.

According to a YouGov survey, 81% of UK adults think that online food retailers should provide the same amount of information about the products country of origin on the website as there is on the food packaging in store.

Mr Davies continued: Country of origin labelling remains a key priority for NFU Cymru and this survey just highlights the appetite among Welsh consumers to buy produce thats produced here in Wales.

Over the last 12 months weve seen a number of retailers making positive commitments to Welsh food and drink, and this is to be welcomed. For those retailers who havent yet made commitments to sourcing domestically  these findings should be a wake-up call.

This survey underlines the importance of retailers being clear on their sourcing, labelling and prominent positioning of Welsh produce on the shelves to ensure that Welsh shoppers are given the option to make informed purchasing choices. We can provide the consumer with what they want.
Campaign putting spotlight on stress levels in farming gets new boost
Salman Khan Said...

"Tiger Zinda Hai has worked because of only and only one reason - Katrina Kaif. Did you see the amazing action sequences she did in the movie?"

What Made Him Sign TZH

In an interview to Pinkvilla, Salman Khan said, 'When we were shooting for Sultan, there was some talk that there is a plot of Tiger. I wasn't too keen on doing a sequel because to go above Tiger you need good production, but beyond that the plot has to be really good.''

When I Heard The Title

''I said let's listen to the title first. The title was Tiger Zinda Hai. I said yes it is superb but I am not going to get impressed by just the title. Then he gave me the plot. Suddenly you hear the scenes, romance, action, sequences and it sounds exciting.''

I Said Done When...

''You hire the best action director in the world Tom Struthers who has done all Christopher Nolan's films and Batman and everything.''

''When he narrated the plot to me and the main negative character, I said done! So, I knew that this is going to be on a different level altogether. So the most important thing is that making a sequel just for the sake of making a sequel doesn't work if you do not have a script.''

Wanted To Work On Wanted's Sequel But...

''I wanted to do a sequel to Wanted. Title and all everything was registered but there is no good script. After Dabangg 2 it has taken us so much time to work on Dabangg 3. Like Race, this Race is I think much better than all the films in the franchise because this has gone down to a U film.''

Tiger Has A Special Place...

''Tiger has a special place in the hearts of the viewers, it gets good TRP every time it comes on the small screen. That character is there. So the best casting is done because Zoya and Tiger both are accepted, the film is loved and both are loved as characters. How does Tiger and Zoya take their level up?''

A Strong Villain Was Needed

''For that you need a strong villain and opposition. Once that opposition is strong it is against all odds. Since you know that Tiger is such a charismatic character that he is going to come out of any situation, he is like James Bond.''
By Tanseem Haider: Chhota Rajan faces a threat from Delhi's top gangster Neeraj Bawana, a recent intelligence shared with Tihar authorities suggests.

Bawana may have been contacted by a conduit set up by D Company to outsource the killing of their most sought after target, an intercept has revealed.

Sources say that the call was made by Bawana's aide who recently got out of jail on bail. He spoke to another aide in this connection.

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Bawana and Rajan, incidentally, are lodged in the same jail (number 2) though in separate cells.

After receiving intelligence, Rajan's security has been reviewed by agencies.

The threat is being taken seriously as D Company has been trying hard to target Rajan through local criminals of Delhi and NCR. Bawana has been shifted to high security cell in isolation.

Bawana, on the other hand, has been charge sheeted in various cases, including offences punishable under the provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act.

Neeraj Bawana One of Delhi's most dreaded criminals who ran extortion rackets targeting businessmen and was wanted in many cases of murder.

The 29-year-old gangster with a bounty of Rs 1 lakh on his head, Bawana was known to be a notorious extortionist who targeted rich businessmen and realtors in Delhi and the National Capital Region.

A resident of Bawana area in west Delhi, Neeraj was wanted in many cases of murder, extortion, attempt to murder and other cases.

He figured in the list of the capital's 10 most wanted criminals compiled by Delhi Police.

His brother Rajesh Bawana was arrested in 2014, while his mother and other brothers were recently arrested from the Indira Gandhi International Airport while carrying illegal ammunition.

His gang had also played a role in the escape of Amit alias Bhura, who was freed from the custody of Uttarakhand Police while he was being taken to be presented before a Baghpat court in December 2014.

--- ENDS ---
First-term Irmo Mayor Barry Walker announced Sept. 26 that he had tested positive for the coronavirus. The mayors wife, Susan, also got COVD-19, Walker said on social media. As you know Im a kidney patient and require weekly dialysis, Walker wrote. This virus compromises my immune syste Read moreWhat You Missed: Irmo Mayor Barry Walker gets COVID-19
This article was originally posted on Kongregate's Developer Blog.

1. FIND A FLOW

Community management can be unpredictable and hectic, but you dont have to be. Find ways to help streamline more routine tasks.

Take notes and set reminders for meetings, community interactions, and other communications, content, and updates. Note taking is an acquirable skill and not everyone has the same habits or preferences, but dictating your interactions will help ensure that important details arent missed and promises are kept. Whatever you use, whether its Trello, Google, Workflowy, or a good old fashioned notebook, keep your habits consistent and productive. If you find yourself surrounded by stale sticky notes and a Google task graveyard, you may want to reevaluate your routine.

Create a daily task list. While a daily task list doesnt fit some roles, a Community Manager has many tasks that, if done on a daily basis, can increase satisfaction and engagement. These may vary from project to project, but being responsive to various communication channels can thwart angry customers, unanticipated bugs, game-breaking exploits, internal changes, etc.

Make it easy for yourself. Create templates for your social posts and create a pattern of posting. Brainstorm and make a list of go-to ideas for content: game updates/events/changelogs, content features, generic game questions, related videos/gifs, hashtag favorites, holidays, etc.

Animation Throwdown's recurring content includes New Boxes on Saturdays, "Throwdowns" on Thursdays, and General Questions on Sundays/Mondays.

2. EQUIP YOUR FANS

Give your fans the info and assets to create product-related content. Create and regularly update a Fan Kit that includes an assortment of game assets and data. Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon, and direct downloads are some notable options. An arsenal of assets will allow interested creators to craft and update Fan Sites, videos/streams, wikis, etc. Acquire and link to proper legal documentation when necessary.

Collect and disperse important game/product information and manage a communication channel (forums, email, private message, etc.) specifically used by your fans to request wanted images and info; give exclusives to those who are utilizing it best.

Post release notes in a consistent place and in a timely fashion. Fans will become accustomed to your routine and will help seed excitement and knowledge of recently updated content.

Help your fans help themselves. Use a tool like Zendesk or Get Satisfaction to create FAQs, guides, announcements, known bugs, and other support topics. Animation Throwdowns Help Center garnered nearly 25,000 views in the last 30 days. Even if only 1% of those views answered a question for a player, that is 250 fewer forum questions or submitted tickets for the month.

3. CROWDSOURCE HELP & CONTENT

For most indie developers, resources and time are of limited quantity. Luckily for you, your most die-hard fans are always excited and eager to help you flesh out wikis, player guides, and external communities. If you are having trouble jump-starting a particular project, create a contest or incentive to help motivate.

BattleHand jump-started their Wikia by creating a community task with a reward to contributors upon completion. The objective was completed within days, and both community and company benefited from the efforts.

Additionally, BattleHand created an art contest, which rewarded players for submitted fan creations, which spawned regular weekly community content.

Winners from BattleHands "Gems for Gems" fan content contest are shown above.

4. EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE

Not sure how to do something? Cant explain a certain software bug? Google it, ask co-workers, mash buttons, and explore the capabilities of the tools you use on a daily basis. Bettering your knowledge of tools and software (internal and 3rd party) can greatly increase your efficiency and expertise, and reduce stress.

Here is where I provide a random useful tip and expand your knowledge (unless you already know this, in which case I provide you nothing, sorry).

I use a lot of Google Sheets for social, community, and internal work. Years ago, tired of being constantly frustrated with inserted images, I set off, determined to find a solution. After a few minutes of Googling, I found the solution to a long-outstanding problem:

"To embed an image or gif (non-playing) insert the following into a cell:

=IMAGE(http://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=0000)

and replace the ID number at the end with the one found within the 'Get Sharable Link' option when you right click on a drive file. Relax the permissions if it fails to preview/load in the sheet."

And as a result of a little bit of tool exploration, my sheets are much more usable for internal voting, social scheduling, and content management.

Keep up to date with upcoming and just released product changes by way of roadmaps, playtests, meetings, and release notes. The more informed you are, the more information you can provide your team and community.

Linger in fan sites, Facebook groups, and Line/Discord/game chats. Highly engaged players will disclose inner workings, rumors, and greater community concerns. Youll discover funny memes, player guides, and better understand the communities you dont have control over.

Stay up to date with the latest changes in not only your product, but all the other products you use. Abrupt changes can interrupt your flow and decrease the value of your work. Back in September, Facebook stealthily and suddenly stopped support for embedded gifs on pages, which instantly changed the commonly used feature and rendered all previously posted gifs as ugly, static versions of their former selves.

Facebook also just announced updated policies that include restrictions to click/engagement bait, which may change the way many pages post and share content, including Kongregate.

Staying informed about changes and updates in your product and the ones you use to engage your audience will better prepare you for unanticipated changes that may affect marketing, user acquisition, and community feedback.

5. ENTERTAIN YOUR COMMUNITY

Its true, sometimes the best defense is a good offense. Try to keep your community entertained, especially for products with long update lulls -- when fans become most anxious. Only pushing sales or events can limit your engagement and tire your audience. Find or create content that creates an emotional response. Whether it is gorgeous, funny, impressive, interactive, or controversial, people are more willing to engage in content that triggers an internal reaction. Use pre-built tools on the web to create fun games or activities for your community; the K maze below was created with http://maze5.de/.



Additionally, researchers at Harvard state that humans devote 3040% of speech output solely to informing others of their own subjective experiences. Create custom forum games, post subjective social content, and find ways to encourage players to share personal feelings, experiences, and stories.

Examples of Product Nostalgia, Funny/Emotional Content, and Personal Memories

6. REDUCE FRICTION

Each product, team, and community is different; find opportunities to thwart product and communication problems before they start. Fan communities, especially forums, are rife with toxic potential and player-to-player and player-to-dev friction. Here are some recommendations we give to help reduce forum-specific friction on Kongregate.com:

Separate feedback from general conversations. This allows newer players and those interested in chatting about gameplay to do so without becoming intimidated by a barrage of strong language and opinions usually reserved for feedback, technical problems, and bugs. It will also allow you to better review and organize comments from the community.

Create a Dev Archive for your important forum posts and info. Sometimes the forums can be hard to navigate, and with multiple moderators it can be hard to track down who exactly posted what and when. Make it easy for players and the development team to find older official posts by creating a well constructed "Dev Archive." This allows you to limit the number of stickies needed at any given time.

Suggestion threads can be a lot for developers with small teams. Many times, these types of threads on forums become stale or unnavigable. When you have a lot of players and a lot of demand, youre gonna end up with a lot of disappointment. Sometimes, as a player, its hard to see progress when you play a lot and are on the forums a lot. With a large, living list of player-suggested ideas that have visibly been marked and agreed upon as accomplished, its a lot harder to claim that "the devs never take player ideas." In fact, many developers take them a lot. Animation Throwdowns suggestion thread has listed out which suggestions have been looked at, which ones havent, and which ones have been deployed. This list mirrors an internal document with additional notes and priorities.

Assist your team by providing timely and concise reporting. Include pertinent information such as ticket counts, technical support mentions, community questions/concerns, available metrics, and other highlights.

7. BE GIVING

User acquisition can be expensive. Not only in the direct marketing costs, but the support it requires to manage those campaigns. Providing small gifts and compensation can complement UA efforts and create an uplift in mood among the community. Responding to a community crisis with an appropriate gift can encourage spending and reduce toxicity.

Provide weekly social contests or gifts to your players. Not only do the players enjoy a chance at free items, but our weekly contests for Throwdown garner over 300 comments each week and 500% more reach on Facebook than average posts. This, in turn, can increase the reach and engagement on other posts throughout the week.

It is also the most active thread each week on all of Kongregate.com and helps ease criticism from players who complain about a lack of opportunity to gain items they might not be able to buy.

8. CARE

This is easier said than done sometimes -- especially on days when your team is being compared to Nazis, but the little things you do every day to improve your community and game can mean much more to others around you. Most players appreciate and desire transparency and understand that things can go wrong that can take time to fix.





Be a person that your fans and players can relate to. Be understanding and empathetic toward both player and company concerns and needs. Take feedback with grace and always try to improve. Test and try new things. The extra time given to reports, meetings, talks, and communications will be noticed and appreciated by your team and community.




Main achievement in 2017 was visa-free travel with EU, says PM - GeorgianJournal
New Nokia 5 Android Oreo beta update fixes multitasking bug News oi -Abhinaya Prabhu

Nokia 5 received the Android Oreo beta soon after the Nokia 8. This update to the Nokia 5 brought some noticeable changes that the Android Oreo firmware rolls out to all the devices. Notably, the smartphone got a redesigned camera app that the Nokia 6 is yet to get.

Now, the Nokia 5 smartphone has received a new Android Oreo beta update with the build version V5.160. This update measures around 1.6 GB in size and is being rolled out as an OTA update. If you own a Nokia 5, you can head on to the Settings menu and search for the system updates to receive the same.

Taking the clue from a report by NokiaPowerUser, the recent Android Oreo beta build to the Nokia 5 brings the fix to the multitasking bug that persisted even after the rollout of the first Oreo beta update to the smartphone. Other than the multitasking bug fix, there appears to be no major change brought in by the new Oreo beta update as yet.

We already know that the Android Oreo update will bring several improvements and features to the smartphone as it is the latest iteration of the platform. The update will enhance the overall user experience with new features such as picture-in-picture, integrated Instant Apps, faster boot times, Google Play Protect, autofill, notification dots, and a lot more.

HMD Global is pretty consistent in rolling out the latest Android updates and security patches to its smartphones. The company has assured that it will roll out the stable version of the Android Oreo update to the existing Nokia smartphones by the end of this year. Also, these smartphones will get two years of OS update support confirming that they will be updated with the upcoming Android P as well.

Soon after the rollout of the first Android Oreo beta build to the Nokia 5, there were reports that the Nokia 6 will get the same update. Though the Oreo beta update was rolled out to the Nokia 6, the variants of the smartphone in China are yet to receive this beta build.

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Popular executives who resigned from top smartphone companies in 2017 News oi -Priyanka The industry has faced lots of ups and downs in the form top executives resigning from their positions and seemingly impacting the operations and businesses of their respective companies.

According to a recent report by research firm Canalys, India has now overtaken the United States to become the world's second-largest smartphone market after China. However, the industry has faced lots of ups and downs in the form top executives resigning from their positions and seemingly impacting the operations and businesses of their respective companies.

Some of these personalities have brought about quite a bit of change in the tech culture in India as well. Thus to help you know about these professionals we at GizBot have listed out the top-tech honchos, who have resigned their companies and have joined another in 2017.

Hugo Barra

Chinese smartphones became the first choice this year, especially Xiaomi and all credit goes to its compelling price point. However this year in January, after three-and-a-half years of working with the company, Hugo Barra resigned from his position stating that he will go back to Silicon Valley and embark on a new journey there.

He served as the Vice President of Xiaomi's Global efforts and under his leadership, Xiaomi significantly expanded its reach to India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore as well as European and US markets.

Amit Boni

After spending seven years in Motorola, Amit Boni resigned from the company this year in April only to join Smartron, a global technology OEM company, and premier IoT brand. The reason for his move was basically a shift in a workplace but he has contributed significantly to Motorola's business. He was even known as the face behind revival of Moto in the country and was heading Indian operation at Motorola at the time he left.

Currently, he is heading the sales and marketing functions for Smartron. Boni holds an MBA degree from MDI-Gurgaon and has worked with companies like Honeywell in the past.

Shubhajit Sen

After serving for two and a half year in Micromax as a Chief Marketing Officer, Shubhajit Sen was this was replaced by Shubhodip Pal in the month of May. After this incident, Sen joined Grohe, the maker of premier sanitary fittings as the country general manager in August. Seems he has taken a complete turn from where he was.

Arvind Vohra

Arvind Vohra stepped down as India's CEO and MD this year in August after leading Gionee for almost five years. He is still with the company and is now serving as the company's executive director. Meanwhile, David Chang who is the Global Sales Director for Gionee is handling all the India operations for the brand.

Sanjay Kaul

Sanjay Kaul who was elevated to the position of India Sales Head Sales from company's Executive in May last year has stepped down from his role with Apple. His resignation has been carried out with immediate effect and the company has named Michel Coulomb as a new head of sales. Kaul's resignation comes at a time when the tech giant is struggling to increase its sales numbers - in India.

Kwon Oh-Hyun

Amidst Samsung's legal battles and Jay Y. Lee case, Kwon Oh-Hyun, Samsung Electronics' CEO, and Vice Chairman has already announced his resignation from the company. The departure of 32-year Samsung veteran Kwon after five years in the top job comes at a time of leadership uncertainty at the company. As such, the executive has stated that he will step down from the CEO role, as well as his positions on the board from March 2018.

Kwon, 64, is seen as Samsung Group No. 2. As well as being chairman of the board and a board director, he heads the components business - including memory chips - and the display business.

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Reminding Japan of its pledge to follow the path of militarisation only for self-defence, China has said Japan must not forget the commitment made to the international community and has "urged" the country to adhere to the policy of "exclusive defence".

By Santosh Chaubey: China has warned Japan against efforts to acquire F-35B stealth bombers and modify its existing Izumo class helicopter carriers to host them. Though there has been no official confirmation from Japan on the move, global media including Reuters have confirmed the development citing Japanese government sources.

Reminding Japan of its pledge to follow the path of militarisation only for self-defence, Hua Chunying, the spokesperson of China's foreign ministry, said Japan must not forget the commitment made to the international community, "We urge Japan to adhere to the policy of "exclusive defence", stay committed to the path of peaceful development, act cautiously in the area of military security and do more to enhance mutual trust between regional countries and promote peace and stability in the region, instead of the opposite."

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CHANGED TIMES

But while it may be convenient for China to quote a historical development to press Japan from acquiring advanced military capabilities like aircraft carriers and stealth fighter jets, the truth is, times have changed.

While Japan has proved itself as a peace-loving country in order to pay for excesses committed by its imperial forces that ended with the World War II, China has emerged as one of the most hardliner nations on earth with an expansionist mindset and is engaged in territorial disputes with many countries including Japan and India.

No one can forget the repeated war threats by the official Chinese media during the 73-day long Doklam standoff between China and India where China tried to usurp a disputed territory in Bhutan to build a road near the Indian border in order to gain strategic advantage.

What makes Chinese threat even more serious is the fact that the country that is run by an iron grip of dictatorial power, is now a major global power, both economically as well as militarily.

In post-World War II era, it has fought wars with India and Vietnam to expand its borders, has built artificial islands to further its claims in the South China Sea in spite of global opposition, claims other islands and territories that are part of other countries and has been involved in countless skirmishes with its neighbouring countries on the issue.

THE NORTH KOREAN THREAT

Additionally, Japan is also facing a heightened threat from North Korea, a rogue country with China as its only ally.

North Korea has already conducted almost half a dozen nuclear and ballistic missile tests including a hydrogen bomb and is threatening the world with nuclear war in response of the mounting pressure of global sanctions imposed on it for continuing with missile and nuclear programme.

In September, North Korea fired a missile over Japan. In October , it warned Japan of nuclear cloud over its skies if the country continued with its mission of pressuring North Korea to give up missile and nuclear programme. And in November, it launched its most advanced inter-continental ballistic missile that landed in the Sea of Japan. To add to the North Korean threat, there are credible intelligence reports that the country might be on the verge of starting production of biological weapons on military scale.

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JAPAN-CHINA RIVALRY

Japan and China have been traditional rivals. They have fought two full scale wars, in 1894-95 and from 1937 to 1945. The second Japan-China war was the largest Asian war of the 20th Century that cost millions of lives, especially in China. It has been such a sensitive issue in China that the country still observes state memorial for war victims and calls for a Japanese apology are routine.

And these two traditional rivals are vying for leadership role in Asia-Pacific. If China is trying to place itself at the centre of Asia-Pacific, its rivals, the US, Australia, Japan and India, are pushing for an Indo-Pacific vision of the reason. In his first national security strategy that he unveiled recently, US President Donald Trump, in fact, has termed China a strategic competitor while Japan, Australia and India as strategic friends.

The proposed quadrilateral has been a brainchild of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and can further increase Japan-China rivalry, replacing the recent events of thaw in Japan-China ties based on points of mutual economic interests. Shinzo Abe and Xi Jinping recently agreed for a new start to mend the bilateral ties as the peace and friendship agreement between the countries enters its 40th year in 2018.

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Another issue that can potentially derail any Japan-China dialogue is China's contentious claims in East and South China seas. China claims Japanese Senkaku islands in the East China Sea while Japan has been a vocal opponent of China's militarisation of South China Sea islands.

Japan has been wary of China's growing assertiveness in the East China Sea and Western Pacific and earlier this year, it had to rush a record number of fighter jets , significantly higher than the previous year, to Check Chinese activities.

CHANGED REALITIES

The interplay of these factors make it essential for Japan to acquire military capability to act in self-defence on a scale that can counter missile and nuclear threat. And it cannot be done without advanced defence technologies like F-35A and F-35B fighter jets and the systems to host and launch them, i.e., the aircraft carriers.

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Japan is acquiring 42 advanced F-35A stealth jets that require long runways and conventional take-off and landing. But to meet contingencies like a military hostility where missile attacks have destroyed its land runways or as is the case with remote Japanese islands, where only short runways are available, Japan's ruling establishment is thinking to include F-35B stealth jets as well as these jets require short runways and can take-off and land vertically. The Izumo class helicopter carriers, that are 248 meters long, are designed in such a way that they can be modified and refitted to operate F-35Bs.

And doing so should not violate the spirit of Article 9 of Japanese constitution, as also interpreted by the Japanese establishment from time to time. Though the Article, shaped by the experiences of the World War II and the atomic bombs attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, literally means that Japan cannot maintain armed forces and war cannot be a mean to address international disputes, governments in Japan have reinterpreted it to raise a commendable self-defence force.

But, still Japan has no aircraft carriers. "Under its strictly defence-oriented policy, Japan has maintained that it cannot possess "attack aircraft carriers," saying the vessels can be deemed offensive weapons that exceed the minimum capacity Japan needs for self-defence in light of the Constitution," Japan Times stated.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is trying to change that and "China's growing maritime assertiveness" is central to the efforts, said Japan Times quoting government sources. Japan is currently debating if the Article 9 can be reviewed and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party "is weighing both moderate and drastic revisions."

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The victim was reportedly threatened that he would be killed "with some sharp-edged spoon" while he was sodomised.

By Ajay Kumar: A 17-year-old boy, accused of rape and murder has allegedly sodomised his fellow minor inmate for the last three months at the Mukherjee Nagar Children Observation Home, police said on Tuesday.

The accused was charged for the rape and murder of a girl in Narella last year.

He was produced before the Juvenile Justice Board that had sent him to the Mukherjee Nagar observation home.

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According to an official, the accused had allegedly cornered the victim some three months ago.

The victim was reportedly threatened that he would be killed "with some sharp-edged spoon" while he was sodomised.

The victim, who is also a rape-accused, has been living in fear since then and have reportedly got sodomised on a regular basis.

On Sunday however, having gathered a lot of courage, the victim managed to send a letter to Mukherjee Nagar police station, with the help of an employee.

"On the basis of the complaint lodged by the minor, we have registered an FIR against the accused under IPC Section 377," said a senior police official.

He added that the Delhi Police have passed recommendation, as per which the accused would be treated as an adult on behavioural ground, criminal history and tendency to commit crime.

ALSO WATCH | Delhi horror: Shahdara school peon arrested for raping 5-year-old girl

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Huawei's product roadmap for the year 2018 has leaked. The image shows three new devices - codenamed Maya, Salina, and Honor 1 - are set for Q1 launch. The first quarter will also see more widespread availability for the Mate 10 Pro and Mate 10 Lite.

Q2 will also be a busy quarter for the Chinese company, with three new P series phones lined up for release, internally being referred to as P, P Plus, and P Lite (said to be part of the P20 lineup). The quarter will also see a new Honor phone - Honor 2 - being made official.

While Q3 is all about Honor 3, Q4 will see the arrival of two more Mate series phones - Mate Pro and Mate Lite. A fourth Honor smartphone is also set to arrive in the last quarter.

Besides phones, Q1 and Q2 will also see wireless routers, wearables, 360 camera, and other devices being unveiled. While the leak seems legit, it's still a leak, so until things are officially confirmed, take all this with a pinch of salt.

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Local farmers tell Sen. Tillis of need for farm labor

Danny McConnell explains the farm labor situation to U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, who watches workers clean ginger root.

DANA  Standing in a cold warehouse, their gloved hands working in a tub of cold water, immigrant workers at Danny McConnells farm are doing the tedious job of cleaning ginger root, a specialty crop McConnell grows.

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If American workers apply, McConnell is happy to give them a shot.

We have people that come to us, Give me a job, I need a job. And then when it comes time they never show up, he said. Either (they) dont show up or theyll come work a little bit and thats it.

With the ginger-root cleaning task as a backdrop, McConnell greeted U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis on Friday and offered first-hand testimony on why farmers want Congress to pass an immigration reform bill that will ensure an adequate supply of labor.

We need employees, McConnell said a few minutes before the senator arrived. We want employees that are not afraid that theyre going to be deported if the paperworks not all right or whatever. Even if you do have legal documentation, when it gets in Washington, sometimes the numbers dont match up and you have to verify that and thats very very hard to do.

Tillis has made headlines in recent weeks as a leading sponsor of a bill that would allow the children of illegal immigrants to stay as long as they as theyre employed, in school or serving in the military.

Tillis traveled to Hendersonville Friday to hear about farm labor concerns, first on McConnells farm and later in a room filled with farmers, agribusiness leaders and others interested in the issue, including state Sen. Chuck Edwards and Rep. Chuck McGrady.

Farmers, agribusiness leaders and elected officials urged U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis to protect farm labor in immigration reform legislation.Ive been listening to the farmers since I was in the state Legislature, Tillis said. Part of what Im trying to do is go back and tell stories to other members who arent listening to the farmers and recognizing the issue they have with farm labor. Last week I was with about 30 or 40 dairy farmers near Statesville. The week before that I was with four or five hundred farmers at their annual meeting in the Greensboro area and theres one consistent theme. If we dont get labor inputs right then they are going to go out of business.

Tillis, the state House speaker elected in 2014 in the most expensive Senate race ever, acknowledged that hes working to bring his fellow Republicans around on immigration. But he added that Democrats, too, are part of the blockade.

One (aspect) is the so-called dreamers, he said. But when you get to the work visa program you have as many Democrats opposed to fixing the problem as you do Republicans. The Republicans oppose it because they falsely believe theres enough American workers to do the job at a price that we can remain competitive globally. The Democrats are opposed to it because labor unions want to increase the price (of labor) to a point that you get to the same outcome. When America starts relying on other nations to feed us, its hard to gin these things back up once we lose that base.

Tillis said when he goes back to Washington after visiting North Carolina farmers, he tries to convey the urgency of what hes heard.

You have a lot of people that dont understand that the people who put food on our table are competing against international competition, he said. Even when you raise the hourly rate, for whatever reason we do not have enough American workers willing to fill the need, and if you raise the rate too far then youre not going to have a viable business.

Sadly, what Im doing more than anything else is reporting very specific stories of farmers who are on the brink of no longer being able to do what theyve been doing for generations, he said.

McConnell provided more testimony to support that.

He grows 20 acres of strawberries, 50 acres of apples and 60 acres of vegetables plus specialty crops. McConnell needs 25 farmworkers at peak season, although he had only half that many this past summer.

We just got along the best we could, he said. I did not plant as much anticipating that this might happen. We left some stuff in the field. We did not leave any apples. Our apples were a little bit on the light side.
A 15-year-old schoolboy has been remanded in custody charged in connection with an assault on a woman he allegedly met on an anonymous social media website.

The boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was charged during a special sitting of Dublin Children's Court yesterday with assault and producing a weapon.

During a two-hour hearing at the Criminal Courts of Justice, Judge Brian O'Shea ruled that the teenager would not be granted bail after he accepted the testimony of an experienced homicide investigator, Det Gda Daniel Treacy.

He told the court that he believed the youth would be "likely to commit murder if released".

Abandoned

"The offence, as it stands, is that the boy allegedly engaged the complainant through the Whisper social media app and lured her to various abandoned locations where he choked her to within an inch of her life to the extent that a tear rolled down her face," he told the court.

The boy is also alleged to have used a knife to inflict a "lengthy transverse (horizontal) laceration to her neck", the court heard.

The boy, dressed in jeans, a T-shirt and jumper, sat impassively in court with his mother sitting beside him and embracing him.

He has no previous convictions and no history of drug addiction or abuse.

He was remanded in custody to the Oberstown juvenile detention facility until his next court appearance, on January 2.

The alleged victim, who is in her 20s and of Malaysian descent, remained in a serious condition in hospital last night.

She was found near the baths at Queen's Road, Dun Laoghaire, at around 3.20pm on Saturday.
If the Muslim Personal Law Board does not stop opposing the government's steps to criminalise triple talaq, then the government should dissolve it, said a group of Muslim women.

By Siraj Qureshi: The Central government and the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) have been locked in a fight over the issue of triple talaq.

In Agra, a group of Muslims, led by the BJP's minority wing city president Ashfaq Saifi, burned an effigy of the Muslim Personal Law Board outside the District Magistrate's office over the board's stand against government's efforts to criminalise triple talaq.

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The group also presented a memorandum to the District Magistrate, which was addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sought dissolution of AIMPLB.

A bill seeking to criminalise the practice of instant triple talaq will be tabled in Lok Sabha tomorrow.

Talking to India Today, Muslim women, who were part of the protest group, claimed that AIMPLB is a private NGO which does not want any relief for Muslim women.

If the Board does not stop opposing the government's steps to criminalise triple talaq, then the government should dissolve the board, the women said.

Ashfaq Saifi said that the BJP government is with the Muslim women and wants to alleviate their suffering. He said Muslim men under the excuse of religion use triple talaq to exploit women.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken a step towards criminalising triple talaq and bringing Muslim women on an equal footing with Hindu women on matters of marital rights.

Criticising AIMPLB, Saifi said the Board should be immediately dissolved and alleged that a number of clerics, who are members of this board, support exploitation of Muslim women in the name of Islam.

In a counter attack, Bhartiya Muslim Vikas Parishad chairman Sami Aghai called Ashfaq Saifi a "BJP stooge" and alleged he is distributing money among poor Muslim women to buy their support for the party.

Aghai said Saifi does not have any knowledge of Islam and Muslims should be cautious of such pseudo-Muslims.

WATCH: Muslim Personal Law Board opposes triple talaq bill, calls it anti-Muslim

--- ENDS ---
Three months ago John Keena was homeless and hoping he would die, but now his life has been transformed thanks to the help of the Dublin Simon Community.

Back in September, the Herald interviewed John (54) as he stood, drenched, on land in front of the Radisson Blu Hotel, at St Helen's, in Stillorgan.

His home wasn't a five-star room there, but a leaking one-man tent.

With winter approaching, John admitted that death was a possibility on a cold night.

"I hope I die. I'll be much happier wherever I'm going," he said at the time.

But John's story caused a reaction from readers that led to new opportunities.

People came with food and supplies, all of which were gratefully received. But his story also put him on a path to the Simon Residential Detox Centre, on Watling Street in the city, and it was there that John's nightmare ended.

Sitting in the warm dining room, he is a different man from the one we met in September.

"I am overwhelmed by the people here. They are kind, compassionate and understanding all the time," he said.

"I'm back on the straight and narrow, and hopefully soon I will have a place to live and I might get back to work again. That's what I hope for,."

The alcohol detoxification programme that John participated in is a medically supervised one that takes about three weeks.

Seizures

"From a physical point of view alcohol is the most difficult substance to detox from, and there is a risk of seizures and heart issues," said Simon's head of treatment and enterprise, Majella Darcy.

"We can get people who drink high volumes of bad alcohol, and we have nurses who monitor the detox process. We provide a non-judgemental system where people have a feeling of safety and care," she added.

"We also supply counselling, and everyone has a key worker assigned to them.

"This is a residential unit, but we don't isolate our clients totally from society while they are being treated, because if we did then it would be too big a shock when they go back out into the world.

"Instead, we allow people to go out while they are here, and the advice is that if they feel a temptation to drink, or if they sense they are going to be triggered by something or someone, then they can come straight back in the door and talk with their key worker. We manage it that way."

John said the detox was not difficult.

"For me it was not hard. People should not fear it. It is up to the individual of course, but I wanted stability," he said.

"I wanted my life back. I wanted to get away from homelessness. I don't want to relapse.

"Every day is a step forward towards independent living."

Asked about how addiction and homelessness are linked with each other, John didn't have to think for a second before answering.

Addiction

"If you don't do drink or drugs, you will when you are homeless," he said. "Homelessness and addiction just compound all your problems."

With temperatures falling below zero, and an orange warning from Met Eireann for snow, John was quick to think of those on the streets at the moment.

"I feel sorry for those out in it," he said.

"The Government don't care, in my view. If there were more places like this centre there would be less people homeless."
Siobhan McGreal and her husband Patrick with baby Katelyn at their home in Co Wicklow. Photo : Keith Heneghan

A mother forced to travel 271km by train from Mayo to Dublin to be by her sick baby's side is calling for the treatment that saved her child's life to be rolled out nationwide.

Siobhan McGreal (30), from Tinahealy, Co Wicklow, gave birth to baby Katelyn last May 24 at Mayo University Hospital.

"Katelyn couldn't breathe and she was very distressed when she was being born," said Ms McGreal, who lived in Mayo at the time.

"She didn't cry. The doctors took her off to the special care unit to resuscitate her before I had even seen or held her, so I knew something was wrong.

"They didn't have the facilities in Castlebar and the doctors told me transferring her to Dublin was Katelyn's best chance.

"My baby went for treatment on a cooling system in Dublin, and it saved her life, but I couldn't understand why they didn't have the service available in Castlebar or in other nearby hospitals.

"We got a priest to christen her at the hospital before she went to Dublin because we thought she might die.

"My husband, Patrick, went up after Katelyn and I got the train with my mother-in-law the next morning. I hadn't slept and I was exhausted and so worried about my baby.

Oxygen

"I was only after giving birth and I had stitches - it was very stressful having to travel like that."

Katelyn had swallowed her own amniotic fluid and had choked during labour, leading to her being starved of oxygen.

Doctors told her mother there was a risk of brain damage, and hours after she was born she was transferred 271km to the Rotunda Hospital for cooling therapy to reduce the risk to her brain.

"It wasn't until several days later that I actually got to hold her," said Ms McGreal.

Around 2pc of babies in Ireland experience interruption of oxygen or blood supply during delivery.

Cooling therapy, which sees newborns placed on a special mat and cooled at 33C, has become the standard care across the world, yet it is available in only four maternity hospitals in Ireland.

Three of them are in Dublin while the other is at Cork University Maternity Hospital.

"Situations like this do make you realise when you're down the country you're further away from specialist care, and I don't feel that should be the case," said Ms McGreal.

"We want to thank our family, friends, the whole of Mayo and Wicklow, who were praying for Katelyn, and also all the staff in the Rotunda and Castlebar. The staff in Dublin were out of this world.

"Katelyn goes for regular check-ups and she's a normal and happy baby. After all this, she feels like our miracle baby, a little fighter."

A spokesperson for the Rot- unda said: "Although cooling is generally very well tolerated, it does take expertise and can only be safely undertaken in centres that have sufficient experience of cooling babies."
Cystic fibrosis campaigner Orla Tinsley has confirmed that her double lung transplant was a success

Cystic fibrosis campaigner Orla Tinsley has confirmed that her double lung transplant was a success.

The 30-year-old took to Twitter to thank members of the public for their support after she spent several days on life support at New York Presbyterian Hospital.

"Thank you, everyone, for all your love and support. I now have shiny new lungs and spent yesterday, with my family, thinking of my donor and their family. I am forever grateful for their forward thinking and generosity," she tweeted.

Operation

Ms Tinsley had previously received six calls about a potential lung transplant, but each time the donor lungs were deemed unsuitable.

Ten days ago she received her seventh call and returned to New York Presbyterian Hospital for the operation.
Man arrested after mother, daughter found slain in Hagerstown hotel

Hagerstown Police said Thursday night they had arrested a 22-year-old man in the deaths of a mother and daughter found in a city hotel Wednesday.
By PTI: (EDS: Adding a dropped word in opening para)

New Delhi, Dec 27 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today said it has seized assets worth Rs 26.61 crore of controversial arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari and others for alleged violation of the FEMA law.

It said it has seized the properties "inAlieu of undisclosed assets held abroad by him" and the action has been carried out under section 37A of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

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Section 37A of the FEMA stipulates that if certain foreign exchange, foreign security or immovable property is held outside India in violation of this law, the equivalent value of asset can be seized within India.

The ED had booked Bhandari, reported to have left India for a foreign location sometime ago, under criminal charges of the PMLA law in February this year as also under the FEMA.

The Delhi Police had also booked him for alleged violation of the Official Secrets Act (OSA) last year.

Bhandaris case first came to light after the I-T department conducted searches against him in April last year and recovered certain "sensitive" official defence documents from his premises.

As part of these raids, the taxman is also said to have recovered certain emails that talk about renovation of a costly apartment in London in 2010 which was allegedly owned by Robert Vadra,Abrother-in-law of Congress President Rahul Gandhi.

Vadras legal firm has denied that he owned the London property directly or indirectly.

It also denied Vadra has any business ties with an arms consultant or his aides.

The tax department had last year also shared a "seizure memo record" with the defence ministry to apprise it about the contents of these "sensitive" documents.PTI NES DV

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Bus services came to a complete standstill in districts of north Karnataka. Police also confirmed reports of protesters ransacking few shops in Hubli city as they were open even after the bandh was declared.

Kannada actors Shivrajkumar and Yash along with other film artists during protest on the Mahadayi water issue as several Pro-Kannada organisations called for dawn-to-dusk Karnataka-bandh, in Bengaluru on Saturday.(PTI file photo)

By Nagarjun Dwarakanath: BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje along with former Deputy CM R Ashok were arrested by Bengaluru Police on Wednesday when the BJP leaders tried to gherao Karnataka Pradesh Congress office.

The BJP leaders blamed the Congress government in the state for failing to resolve the Mahadayi river dispute. The gherao led to a clash among Congress workers and BJP protestors as the Congress workers raised slogans against the BJP trying to gherao their office.

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On Wednesday, a bandh was called by farmer groups and pro-kannada organizations across North Karnataka - schools and colleges were shut in Hubli Dhwarad, Gadag, Bagalkot districts.

In the district of Gadag, several lorries were stranded on the highway and stones were pelted at trucks in early hours on Wednesday.

Bus services came to a complete standstill in districts of north Karnataka. Police confirmed reports of protesters ransacking few shops in Hubli city as they were open even after the bandh was declared.

North Karnataka farmers also tried meeting the Governor to submit a memorandum but did not succeed as the Governor was busy with another meeting. However, the farmer groups managed to reach the Chief Minister's official residence and submitted a memorandum to the CM's principal secretary.

The recent protests began when farmers from north Karnataka arrived four days back to stage a protest in front of BJP state HQ. Farmers blamed state BJP President Yeddyurappa for not keeping up his promise of resolving the dispute before December 15 with Goa CM Manohar Parrikar.

Earlier Parrikar had written to Yeddyurappa about having an out of court settlement about providing water to Karnataka on humanitarian grounds. But, his senior cabinet members in the coalition came out and criticised Parrikar's move and said that out of court settlement would not be encouraged.

UT Khader, Food and Civil Supply Minister said that BJP is trying to politicise every issue in the state.

"Why should Parrikar write to Yeddyurappa? Why should Amit Shah intervene and hold talks with Yeddyurappa and Parrikar about Mahadayi? BJP is in power in Goa and in the centre and they need to sought out the issue. Our CM Siddaramaiah has written to Parrikar saying he is willing to hold talks. But there is no response from him," added Khader.

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According to reports, a Reddit user has posted four pages of the show's script from various episodes of the final season.

By India Today Web Desk: Longer the wait, more are the chances of goof ups. And when it comes to much-awaited and highly-hyped series Game of Thrones, fans are especially wary of getting a whiff of the spoilers. Like it happened last year when the spoilers of the seventh season hit the internet, thanks to a leak.

That time HBO had confirmed that there had been a cyber security breach in which "proprietary information" related to its "programming" had been stolen. Later they tried to make sure that something of that sort doesn't happen again. According to reports, speculations were rife that the show-runners will shoot for multiple endings of the show, so that not even the cast and crew would know how the saga ends. But nothing seem to have worked in their favour.

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According to a report by DNA, this time a Reddit user posted four pages of the show's script from various episodes of the final season. One page from Episode 3, two from Episode 5, and one from Episode 6 is the count. However, no official confirmation has come from the show-runners regarding this development.

Major spoiler ahead, scroll down to read the plot at your own risk.

Season 8 Episode 3

The page describes Tyrion, Arya, Sansa, Brienne, Podrick and the Hound racing away through a crowd of wights. The wagon filled with these characters is driven by the Hound. The wagon crashes and a Dothraki bloodrider, who has been turned into a wight, latches on. According to the Redditor, around this point, we will have to bid goodbye to Podrick.

Season 8 Episode 5

The two leaked pages from this episode describe three scenes. First two are between Cersei Lannister and Jaime Lannister. The incestual duo argues in the throne room at the Red Keep. Jaime is trying to convince Cersei that Jon Snow is not the enemy. Her enemies are outside the city gate. Cersei is in no mood to listen and she rakes Jaime for leaving her in the time of need.

In the second scene, we see Jaime try to dissuade Cersei from doing the unthinkable to stop the White Walkers from taking King's Landing. The pages don't say it, but having seen the devastating capability of wildfire in the finale of season six, it won't hurt to assume what would be Cersei's weapon of choice.

The third scene describes Brienne and the Hound riding through the streets of King's Landing, trying to reach the Red Keep.

Season 8 Episode 6

This is the show finale. Every end will have to be tied here with the exceptions of spin-off leads of course. The leaked page for this episode describes a scene between Tyrion Lannister and Bronn of Blackwater. While cursing Jaime for 'getting himself killed' and never giving him the promised castle, Bronn rides with Tyrion in the countryside.

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Tyrion rejects this notion and presents him with the Freys' property - Twins. The conversation between the two also suggests that Bronn 'single-handedly took out the Golden Company generals.'

Apart from Jaime Lannister and Podrick, the scenes don't shed much light on the fate of other surviving characters in the series.

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In the doodle, the poet roams in a gallery as magnificent buildings stand majestically in the background.

By India Today Web Desk: Google has paid tribute to eighteenth century legendary Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib on his 220th birth anniversary by dedicating a doodle to him. In the doodle, Ghalib is shown with pen and paper in hand walking in a gallery with magnificent buildings in the background.

Born in 1797, the poet, one of the most popular and influential ones in Urdu and Persian language, wrote at a time when the Mughal empire was entering its last quarter and the British were taking over in India.

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His ghazals have been interpreted and sung in many different ways by different people as his writing which is still extremely popular among the Hindustani diaspora.

Ghalib continues to inspire youngsters not just in India but across the world.

He began composing poetry at the age of 11. His first language was Urdu, but he was equally efficient in Persian and Turkish. A descendant of Aibak Turks, Ghalib was born in Kala Mahal in Agra.

He received education in Persian and Arabic. Keeping with the conventions of the classical ghazal, in most of his verses, the identity and the gender of the beloved remained unknown.

Bestowed with the honorific Dabir-ul-Mulk and Najm-ud-Daula, Ghalib lived in Gali Qasim Jaan, Ballimaran, Chandni Chowk, in Old Delhi which is now known as "Ghalib Ki Haveli".

His residence has been turned into 'Ghalib Memorial' and houses a permanent Ghalib exhibition.

Mirza Ghalib breathed his last on February 15, 1869. His tomb is located near Chausath Khamba in Nizamuddin area in Delhi.

-with inputs from IANS

When Santa Modi brought Christmas gifts for Rahul, Kejri, Lalu and Amit Shah

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At the recent TOPHOTELWORLDTOUR event held in Zurich, Switzerland, a pair of industry-leading consultants from Horwath HTL  Heinz Wehrle and Christian Ott-Sessay  gave an expert presentation loaded with industry insights, titled the Swiss Hotel Investment Market and a Glance at the D-A-CH Region.

Horwath HTL, for those who are not familiar, is a hotel, tourism and leisure consultancy with a 100-year heritage, 45 offices spread throughout 39 countries and major world cities, and more than 250 collaborating experts worldwide. Horwath works to give the hospitality industry much-needed impartial advice from some of the best specialists in the market, with topics of advisement that include planning and development, hotel asset management, legal advice, feasibility studies, and due diligence and transaction, among others.

This report given at the recent TOPHOTELWORLDTOUR event about the Swiss hotel investment market and later the German market was, as one would expect, incredibly useful. During this presentation, Wehrle and Ott-Sessay noted that individual hotel transactions in Switzerland were quite strong, and that portfolio transactions, which are much less common in any region, had begun to be a part of the investment market in that country. For example, in 2017, the country saw 17 individual transactions and 1 portfolio, after 2016 set a high for both with 19 individual transactions and 3 portfolio.

The presentation also dove into the specific numbers that those transactions were comprised of, showing the average size and total rooms of the properties involved, both of which peaked in 2015 with more than 120 for the average size and 1,857 for the total number of rooms in that year.

Another useful quality of the presentation was the glimpses into the future of the Swiss hotel investment market that it also provided, with the two experts providing information about the chain hotels landscape, chain hotels supply trends, and chain hotel markets, among other topics. They then extended this forecasting to look at demand trends as well, which was looking quite rosy for the Swiss region.

In terms of the D-A-CH region, Germany has been on a distinctly upward growth trajectory for its hospitality industry in recent years, which the presentation was able to display through the volume of hotel transactions alone, which in 2016 was more than 5 times higher than it was in 2010. Future trends noted by the presentation included growth slowing a bit, less portfolio investments, and foreign share of investors dropping from its current level of 60 percent to a more modest 50 percent. Like Switzerland, Germany has also seen a significant increase in branded chain hotels in recent years, with 2016 seeing the addition of 115 such branded hotels, including 11 brands that previously did not have a presence in the country whatsoever.

The final portion of the presentation looked at Austria as well as the rest of Europe, which are also currently in growth mode, with the serviced apartment market appearing to be especially dynamic and healthy.

Related projects

Let's take a look at a few other projects currently underway in the DACH Region:

Sheraton Dusseldorf Airport

New operator Munich Hotel Partners will renovate alle rooms and lobby [READ MORE]

Hard Rock Hotel Davos

Hard Rock Hotel Davos makes tribute to the building's rich history and has been transformed into a luxury music-inspired alpine escape [READ MORE]

Hotel Atlantic Kempinski

Several million Euros will be invested for redesign of the lobby and bar as well as Spa area [READ MORE]

More information on hotel projects in the DACH region can be found on TOPHOTELPROJECTS, the specialized service provider of cutting-edge information of the hospitality industry.

Jule Grass

Marketing Manager

+49 4261 4140 309

TOPHOTELPROJECTS
Pavin Smith, a 21-year old first baseman, ranks as the number one prospect in the Arizona Diamondbacks system but thats probably not why youve come across his name this week.

The highly touted prospect gave his parents, Tim and Pamela, a letter on Christmas morning, revealing that he had paid off the mortgage of their home where he grew up.

Smith, who grew up in South Florida and went to college at the University of Virginia, was drafted 7th overall in the 2017 MLB draft and received a $5,016,300 signing bonus as part of his deal. As it turns out, he used that money to give his parents a gift theyll never forget.

Thank you for raising me in a great home filled with love. Because of all the sacrifices you made to get me where I am, I want our family home to be yours, read the letter.

Check out the footage below.

https://twitter.com/_/status/945364952772210688



Pavin
Anything tied to Major Lazer means its bound to get you up and moving. The groups latest single featuring Kes The Band, a soca group from Trinidad and Tobago, proves once again that they know how to make a single that urges your body to move.

Go Dung starts off with Kes singing to a reggae-pop friendly instrumental, followed by Major Lazers spin on things where the beat drops after the first verse with Go Dung on repeat, backed by some distorted vocals.

Listen to the new track and let us know what you think.

Quotable Lyrics

All of the sexy gyal dem

This the wine ya waist anthem

Lemme see ya work it

Put in overtime
Earlier this year, Big Boi went on the first leg of his Daddy Fat Saxxx Tour, running through the Midwest & East Coast, and now hes ready to kick off the second leg, but only this time hes calling on The Cool Kids to help him out.

Announced last week, Big Bois Sack 2 of the tour will begin January 5th in Calgary, Alberta and run through more cities in Canada like Edmonton & Vancouver, before heading out West to California and eventually wrapping up in Austin, Texas at the end of January.

Mikey Rocks also confirmed the upcoming tour for the Cool Kids on Tuesday morning, sharing the tour dates and saying JAN 5 WE START TOUR W/ @THEREALBIGBOI  FIND YOUR CITY AND BEAT US THERE.

Following his U.S tour, Big Boi will be taking his talents overseas in March for an international leg of the tour, but it doesnt look like The Cool Kids will be joining for that.

For those of you who are interested, check out ticket information right here and peep tour dates (below).

Tour Dates:

Jan. 05  Calgary, AB (The Palace Theatre)

Jan 06  Edmonton, AB (Union Hall)

Jan 08  Portland, OR (Wonder Ballroom)

Jan 09  Vancouver, BC (Commodore Ballroom)

Jan 10  Seattle, WA (The Showbox)

Jan 12  San Francisco, CA (1015 Folsom)

Jan 13  Santa Cruz, CA (The Catalyst)

Jan 14  Los Angeles, CA (The Regent Theater)

Jan 16  Santa Ana, CA (The Observatory)

Jan 18  San Diego, CA (The Observatory North Park)

Jan 19  Las Vegas, NV (Drais Nightclub)

Jan 20  Phoenix, AZ (Maya)

Jan 22  Aspen, CO (Belly Up Aspen)

Jan 23  Park City, UT (Park City Live)

Jan 25  San Antonio, TX (Paper Tiger)

Jan 26  Houston, TX (Warehouse Live)

Jan 27  Austin, TX (Empire Control Room)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdLds6thDep

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc-3LcxnlXw



The cool Kids
Virgil Ablohs Off-White will continue its partnership with Nike in 2018, as the two brands ride the wave of their highly coveted collection of sneakers that released weeks ago. And as the new year approaches, speculation surrounding the upcoming Off-White x Nike project continues to mount.

In fact, there have even been several leaks of the alleged Off-White x Air Jordan 1 collabs that will be releasing in 2018. However, Virgil Abloh recently confirmed that at least one of the rumored collabs is not real.

Commenting on an instagram photo of an all-white version of the Off-White x Air Jordan 1, Abloh simply wrote, Not real. He has posted this message on multiple IG accounts that have shared the photo.

Although Virgil Abloh dubbed the kicks not real, Sole Collector notes that style codes have recently leaked, revealing that a white colorway of his Jordan 1 is coming. In addition to this all-white rendition, there are also rumors that a UNC-inspired Off-White x Air Jordan 1 collab is in the works for 2018, but theres no word on the validity of those rumors.

Nike has confirmed that the Off-White partnership will extend into next year, so theres certainly more in store from Abloh and The Swoosh, it just remains to be seen exactly which pairs will make it to retail.

Off-White
Ilya, the gunman, said he opened fire in self defence to stop people from taking over his factory from him.

By India Today Web Desk: One person was killed after a gunman opened fire in a pastry factory in Moscow on early Wednesday.

The shooter then called up a radio station and confessed his crime while special forces were encircling the building. Ilya Averyanov, the factory's former director said he opened fire to stop people from taking over the factory from him.

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"I shot one guy and unfortunately I think I killed him," the man told Business FM. "If I survive, I will fight to the end ... Now I will either shoot myself or hand myself in," Ilya told Business FM.

"They used fraudulent documents to steal my factory and bankrupt me. I have eight children," he said.

Ilya said he opened fire in self defence to stop people from taking over his factory from him.

Some reports in the local media said that Ilya had managed to flee the scene and was on the run.

According to Russian news agency, RIA, the "Menshevik" factory was being reviewed for bankruptcy by a Moscow court.

(With inputs from Reuters)

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Virginia's House of Delegates 94th District captured America's attention last week after a dramatic saga of vote counts and recounts culminated in a perfectly tied election. Both three-term Republican incumbent David Yancey and Democratic challenger Shelly Simonds received 11,608 votes, a rare feat that had electoral enthusiasts across the country ecstatic about democracy in action.

On the surface, this race is a testament to the power of the American electoral system. A historically important election came down to a single citizen's vote, and yet every citizen was an essential part of the outcome. The symmetry somehow implies harmony, evoking images of Smalltown, USA, where politics exist in perfect balance.

But this bizarre fluke of democracy is no reason to celebrate. This outcome should leave Americans feeling deeply uncomfortable. Elections this close don't promote the values of compassion and inclusivity that people, especially the youngest and largest generations, are increasingly seeking in their elected officials. This is the type of vote that inspires ire and action by the political fringes. Razor-thin victories leave people feeling cheated. It's hard to build a governing coalition on miniscule margins.

This particular voting bloc in Newport News isn't a miraculously representative microcosm of the American electorate either. As in many other districts, the people who voted Nov. 7 don't reflect the constituency as a whole. According to the state election board, the Virginia 94th has more than 48,000 active registered voters, but not even half showed up on Nov. 7 to cast a ballot.

Another proprietary database shows that there are likely 15 percent more Democratic voters than Republican voters in the district. Of those Democrats, 35 percent are African-American, and less than a third of those voters have participated in more than two elections in their lifetimes.

That isn't unique to the 94th. Across the country are entire communities of people who are going unheard in the electoral process, and American election law has allowed that to happen.

The Virginia race shows why it's time to review the function and structure of our elections. The purpose of a representative republic is to build a government by and for its citizens, and right now, neither seems to be the case.

Americans can reconsider the entire premise of democracy by instituting laws that invalidate elections that don't meet minimum standards, such as 50 percent registered-voter turnout. The idea of minimum turnout requirements have been floated for bond elections in Texas, but there's no reason to limit the concept to those specific votes. Not only would such a regulation lead to better representation in government, it would also blunt laws that restrict ballot access for marginalized people.

There are other ways to increase turnout, such as automatic voter registration, longer election cycles, standardized election dates and easier access to early, mail-in and online voting. These rules would keep campaigns and elections focused on future governance and citizen participation in the political process.

This country seems to have completely abandoned the idea of forcing candidates to earn a political mandate. Instead we allow a bare minimum standard for elected representatives that undoubtedly has contributed to the nationwide feeling of political inertness. There's no reason Americans should have to settle for politicians who can't create a stronger public consensus. Plus, instituting higher thresholds for elected officials might even force the nation to finally, actually reconcile some of its toughest policy debates.

Election reform discussions often stop short of follow-through mechanisms because, let's be honest, the suspense keeps politics interesting and engaging. Unfortunately, that interest and engagement is seasonal with the campaign cycle. But citizens need to be invested in the process year-round. Repairing the American political system must start with overhauling the electoral system so that the issues - not the vote margins - sit at the center of attention.

Carrejo, a Houston native, is a graduate student in Fordham University's Elections and Campaign Management Masters program.
By PTI: (Eds: Updating with more details)

New Delhi, Dec 27 (PTI) Opposition parties today took strong objection to Union minister Anantkumar Hegdes remarks on amending the Constitution and said such a person should have no place in the council of ministers.

Hegde should either apologise or Prime Minister Narendra Modi should take a call on whether such a person should continue as minister, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters outside Parliament.

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He said opposition parties had raised the matter with Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and claimed that the government has sought time till tomorrow to respond on their demands.

"Opposition parties are of the opinion that any minister who does not believe in the Constitution of India, should have no place in the council of ministers, in the Government of India, it is for the prime minister now (to take a call on him)," Azad told reporters.

"Either Hegde should apologise in both Houses and to the nation or the prime minister should take a decision on whether such people should continue," he said.

"The Government has asked us to give time till tomorrow. So, we have agreed. Let the Government decide," he added.

Azad said the Congress and other opposition parties have sought an apology from the minister concerned who has uttered these words. The apology should not be to Parliamentarians but to the entire nation, he said.

"This Constitution is applicable to each and every citizen of India irrespective of caste, religion. The prime minister should take a decision, whether such people should continue in the Government or not," he said.

Both Houses were disrupted by opposition members over Hegdes remarks.

The minister of state for skill development had said at an event in Karnataka that he respects the Constitution but "it will be changed in the days to come". PTI SKC MIN ASK ASK

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The owner of Patrick Pearse's handwritten surrender letter has accused the Government of apathy over the unique 1916 artefact after it was taken out of the country.

The note, penned by the rebel leader in his prison cell to mark the end of the Rising, had been on display in the GPO in Dublin for over a year after a minister refused to pay the one million euro valuation and then blocked its export.

The US-based owner, who wishes to remain anonymous, paid 800,000 euro for it at auction in 2006 but said his original m otivation was to ensure it stayed in Ireland.

He also said he put it back up for sale only to recoup his investment.

In a statement to the Press Association through a representative, the owner said: "The reaction of visitors who stare with reverence and respect has been a welcome riposte by the citizenry to official apathy."

Despite repeated approaches to Government, no deal on a sale could be reached with the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, prompting the owner to remove it from the GPO in the days before Christmas.

It is understood it was being hand delivered to New York on Wednesday after the one-year export ban lapsed.

The owner said: "I never sought to profit from my custodianship, I merely wished to recoup the cost of purchase when the time came to pass on the baton I picked up in 2006.

"Unfortunately, as there was nobody willing to take my place I will continue to protect and preserve this important national treasure albeit outside of Ireland now."

The letter failed to sell at auction in December 2016.

At the time the Government insisted the guide price of between one million and 1.5 million euro (840,000-1.25 million) was too dear.

The Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht said it would not disclose if it had been in talks with the owner to buy the letter.

"It is consistent departmental policy not to comment in any way on official interests or discussions relating to the possible acquisition of heritage items for the national collections, either by way of sale or auction," a spokeswoman said.

Just over a year ago the note was signed it into the Register of Cultural Objects, a tome of records held in Killarney, by then minister Heather Humphreys.

It is the first privately held item to have been put on the protective list and barred from being exported.

The owner said it was a fitting recognition for the cultural value of Pearse's letter.

But he added: "It is perhaps less fitting that in the national bank of cultural capital there are insufficient funds to keep it in Ireland now that the one year export ban has elapsed."

The owner explained his thinking behind buying the letter over a decade ago.

"I am not of Ireland but in 2006 I was moved by a piece of Irish history," he said.

"The final order to surrender, written by Patrick Pearse from his cell in 1916 are not just words on a page.

"The order is history brought to life in our hands.

"Irish lives were lost for the want of this letter, and Irish lives saved, and a nation was beget.

"The first faltering steps of a nation can be traced in every stroke of a pen.

"Mere knowledge of the words was not enough in 1916, the Volunteers required sight of the order, and my first sight of it moved me to buy it and keep it in Ireland."

It had been suggested that the owner could avail of a tax break to the valuation if it was donated to the state.

Pearse wrote the letter in his prison cell on April 30 1916.

Auctioneers regard it as one of the most historically significant artefacts from the rebellion years to have been offered publicly.

One of seven typed copies of the letter, produced by the British Army in the days after the Rising ended, sold at auction in London this year for close to 300,000 euro.
President Michael D Higgins attends the funeral of Dr Maurice Hayes at St Patrick's Church, Downpatrick, Co Down following his death, aged 90, two days before Christmas.

An order of service is seen during the funeral of Dr Maurice Hayes at St Patrick's Church, Downpatrick, Co Down following his death, aged 90, two days before Christmas.

The funeral of Dr Maurice Hayes takes place at St Patrick's Church, Downpatrick, Co Down following his death, aged 90, two days before Christmas.

Former public servant Dr Maurice Hayes has been remembered as a diamond standard citizen and servant of the people.

Hundreds of people attended his funeral in St Patrick's Church, Downpatrick, Co Down following his death aged 90 two days before Christmas.

In a heartfelt homily by Dr Hayes' former school pupil and lifelong friend, Canon Sean Rogan said he detested hypocrisy, he ha d a tolerance of diverse political opinions and the utmost respect for people of different faiths.

"Maurice Hayes was diamond standard - a many-faceted life full of colour and intensity and brilliance. Truly a prismed person," the priest said.

Canon Rogan added: "Hypocrisy he loathed, whether in the realms of politics or religion.

"And in delicate negotiations and discussions, he hated the word 'fudge' which could have connotations of perhaps deceit or under-handedness. He saw intransigence as conceived in weakness but magnanimity born of strength.

"Pragmatic accommodation was what he sought."

Dr Hayes had a key role in policing reform in Northern Ireland through his work with the Patten Commission and he was the first Catholic appointed as Northern Ireland Ombudsman.

Born in Co Down in 1927, he held many senior roles in the civil service, including as permanent secretary of the department of health at Stormont and in the power-sharing executive in the 1970s.

He was nominated by former taoiseach Bertie Ahern to the Irish Senate in 1997.

Among the dignitaries at the funeral were President of Ireland Michael D Higgins, Independent Unionist MP Lady Sylvia Hermon and David Sterling, head of the Northern Ireland civil service. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was represented by his aide de camps.

Bishop Noel Treanor also paid a glowing tribute and said Dr Hayes made an immense contribution to the societal, cultural and political arenas across Ireland.

"Maurice espoused the highest ideals and virtues of citizenship. He will be remembered for his capacity to respectfully bring together diverse political opinion and ideas," he said.

Dr Hayes is survived by his wife Joan and his five children, Clodagh, Margaret, Dara, Garrett and Ronan and their families.

As well as his public life, he was also well regarded for his support for the Irish language, the GAA and the Ireland Fund.

Bishop Treanor said: "Motivated by faith, strengthened by personal integrity and responsive to the prevailing social and community concerns, Maurice was received well by all across the community, throughout Ireland and Europe."

Dr Hayes taught Canon Rogan in St Patrick's Grammar School, Downpatrick and the two men were lifelong friends, mourners heard.

Born in Killough Co Down, he was an Irish and English teacher, a t own clerk and chairman of the Community Relations Commission and held the key positions in the Northern Ireland civil service.

Canon Rogan said his friend had a keen sense of justice, fairness and compassion for all, especially the oppressed.

"Maurice Hayes was a giant who strode the stage of life in so many and varied roles - but always the same Maurice of integrity, honesty and humility," he said.

Canon Rogan added: " Maurice has left a legacy - but might I suggest his greatest legacy is here today - just as he would have wanted it.

"People of different faiths, culture, political affiliations gathered together as one. E pluribus unum - from the many, one - as written, until a few days ago, on most United States of America coinage."
Officials in Dame Street will be asked to 'reprioritise' applications by firms looking to move to Ireland ahead of the UKs departure from the EU single market. Stock Image

The Central Bank will 'reprioritise' resources for firms looking to move their operations to Ireland under new Government plans to deal with a hard Brexit.

Officials in Dame Street will be asked to "reprioritise" staff to deal with any increase in applications by companies due to the UK's departure from the EU single market.

Expand Close The Junior Finance Minister Eoghan Murphy. Photo: Tom Burke / Facebook

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The move, revealed in a new Government plan on the financial services industry, comes amid claims Ireland is not yet prepared for when Britain triggers Article 50.

But the document vows to make Ireland more attractive and to ensure agencies step up their bid to lure banks and other institutions to our shores.

There will be a further push to ensure Ireland is chosen as the new location for the European Banking Authority (EBA), which is currently based in London.

The government's strategy for attracting financial service firms says both the Central Bank and IDA Ireland have reported increased interest in firms assessing Ireland as a location for investment.

It adds that the Central Bank will "reprioritise where necessary to meet any increased level of demand..." while remaining "committed to providing a high quality, fair and transparent authorisation process for all applicants".

"Since the UK's EU referendum result, there has been an enhanced focus on international financial services across Government departments and agencies," says the report.

"There will be some opportunities with Brexit - the Government is keen to maximise those where possible."

Almost 4.5 million square feet of commercial space is under construction or refurbishment, and a further five million square feet of accommodation with full planning permission is available in the Greater Dublin area, the report says.

Read more: Brexit will bring US multinationals to Ireland - Ambassador Kevin O Malley

The Central Bank has confirmed an increased interest in firms assessing Ireland as a location for financial services authorisation and investment.

The bank is said to be ready and resourced to meet the level of demand from potential authorisation applicants "despite the significant increase in enquiries".

School

Another major component of the plan involves expanding the so-called "international school" system. This is aimed at attracting highly skilled foreign professionals who have children of schooling age.

A raft of new degrees in areas such as aviation, finance and technology will also be rolled out to dovetail with sectors that may be attracted here post-Brexit.

The publication of the strategy, outlining how the Government will seek to capitalise on any flight of big business from London, comes just days after a major speech by British Prime Minister Theresa May, who signalled plans for a 'hard Brexit'.

Junior Finance Minister Eoghan Murphy last night said Ms May's approach to Brexit meant it was "increasingly likely that companies accessing the single market for financial services from the UK will need a new EU base".

"Ireland is the obvious location for choice for relocation and the Government stands ready to help in any way it can," Mr Murphy added.

The Dublin Bay South TD said the Government had taken a subtle approach, but "I think we must now be more assertive - it's time to enter a new phase of operations".

According to the plan, Ireland is in a "very strong position to maximise opportunities arising from Brexit" due to the country's strong track record in relation to foreign direct investment.

The strategy includes an event in Dublin before the end of June where senior executives from companies in the financial sector with offices around Ireland will address potential investors.

The plan says focus on the regions is "critical" to growing employment in the International Financial Services (IFS) sector.

Another key element is the Government's bid to secure the post-Brexit location for the EBA.

Department of Finance officials view the securing of such a prestigious organisation as having the potential to result in a "clustering effect" and influencing other financial institutions to move here.

The plan also includes the continued promotion of Ireland's financial sector by the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and ministers during overseas trade missions.
By PTI: Panaji, Dec 27 (PTI) Lambasting Union minister Anant Kumar Hegde over his remarks on amending the Constitution, Goa Congress chief Shantaram Naik today said either he should step down as a minister or the Supreme Court should disqualify him.

The Union Minister of State for Employment and Skill Development had kicked up a controversy on Sunday when he said at an event in Karnataka that people who "call themselves secular" were unaware of their parentage. He had also said that he respects the Constitution, but "it will be changed in the days to come".

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"Hegde should resign suo moto from the union cabinet or the Supreme Court of India should disqualify him taking cognisance of his statements," Naik said.

The Congress leader said that when Hegde was sworn in as a Union minister, he had taken an oath "to bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established", and that "he will uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India".

"After saying what he said in Karnataka at a public function, Hegde does not have a right to sit in the Parliament, much less as a Union minister," Naik said.

Referring to BJP leader Subramanian Swamys reported statement on the issue in Rajya Sabha, Naik said, "Swamy made a shocking statement that when Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar drafted the Constitution, the wordAsecular was not there in the Constitution."

"Swamy should keep in mind that there were several amendments made to the Constitution to give benefits to the weaker sections of the society, Scheduled Castes and OBCs in Karnataka and in his own state of Tamil Nadu," Naik said. PTI RPS NP

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Cork-based loan investors are the most likely to back local firms, according to data from peer-to-peer lending platform Linked Finance.

Investors in Cork, followed by Galway, Kerry and Waterford top the table for local lending.

In contrast, investors in Monaghan, followed by neighbouring Leitrim, Longford and Roscommon, are least likely to back a business in their own county. The numbers are based on business loans made over the Linked Finance platform, which matches investors to their choice of borrowers using the so called peer-to-peer lending model that cuts out banks.

Linked Finance, which provides the platform for the loans, reviewed all loans made by its users and published a league table of the most "loyal" lenders to their county.

Lenders in Cork came out top of the table, with Monaghan trailing at the bottom, although the figures are probably skewed by the very low borrower numbers in some counties.

"The people of Cork are known for their fierce local pride, so perhaps it's no surprise to see that lenders there are most willing to back local businesses," said Niall Dorrian, CEO of Linked Finance.

It is unsurprising that the large population centres of Dublin and Cork top the list in terms of overall users, Mr Dorrian said regarding the lending data. Counties Kilkenny, Kerry and Monaghan all showed a level of interest disproportionately large relative to population size, he noted.

The counties with the lowest level of registered users were Louth, Offaly and Limerick.

Analysis of the investors using the platform found that just over one in three (34pc) of lenders have incomes in excess of 100,000, 39pc own their homes outright and 40pc are homeowners with a mortgage.

Almost one in five is retired, while more than nine out of 10 have a third-level qualification, the analysis found.

Linked Finance based the research on its own sample of more than 1200 loans made to Irish SMEs since 2013.

Borrowers that have used the platform include tourism service Viking Splash Tours, Lolly & Cooks, Murphy's Ice Cream, Iconic Offices and the Irish Fairy Door Company.
Comedian Joel Dommett is engaged to his model girlfriend Hannah Cooper, he has revealed.

The former Im A Celebrity  Get Me Out Of Here! contestant shared a clip of a toilet lock changing from vacant to engaged in an Instagram post.

He tagged Cooper  a model signed to Next Model Management in London.

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She also shared the post which comes almost a year to the day after they first met.

They reportedly started dating after Cooper messaged Dommett on Instagram following his appearance in the jungle last December.

Earlier this week Cooper posted a series of snaps of the pair and wrote: Same time. Same place. 365 Days later.

In a matching post Dommett wrote: Happy one year anniversary to @hannah_cooper_  I fell in love with you when I realised that under your stupidly pretty face you are horrifically uncool. Thanks for being ace.

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Dommett returned to Australia this year to host the Im A Celebrity extra camp alongside Scarlett Moffatt and Joe Swash.
Star Wars actor Alfie Curtis, who appeared in 1977 film Episode IV: A New Hope, has died at the age of 87.

The London-born star memorably played the role of Dr. Evazan, the character who threatened Luke Skywalker during the iconic Mos Eisley Cantina scene in 1977 film Episode IV: A New Hope,.

"You just watch yourself - I have the death sentence on 12 systems," he tells Skywalker, the actor of whom - Mark Hamill - paid tribute to Curtis on Twitter.

Alfie Curtis made the #Star Wars Mos Eisley Cantina scene (one of the most memorable I've ever been a part of) even MORE memorable. As horrific as he was on-camera, off-camera he was funny, kind & a real gentleman, Hamill - who stars in most recent Star Wars film The Last Jedi - wrote.

His character is killed by Alec Guinness' Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Curtis' death comes exactly one year after Princess Leia actor Carrie Fisher died at the age of 60 in December 2016.

The actor's other credits include 1980s TV series Cribb and he appeared in 1980 film The Elephant Man opposite John Hurt,
A 15-year-old Dublin boy has been remanded in custody, charged in connection with an assault on a woman who he allegedly met on an anonymous social media website.

The boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was charged during a special sitting of the Dublin Children's Court yesterday with assault under Section 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act and with producing a weapon under Section 11 of the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act.

During a two-hour hearing at the Criminal Courts of Justice, Judge Brian O'Shea ruled that the youth would not be granted bail after he accepted the testimony of an experienced homicide investigator, Det Garda Daniel Treacy, who told the court he believed that the youth would be "likely to commit murder if released".

"The offence, as it stands, is that the boy (allegedly) engaged the complainant through the Whisper (social media) app and lured her to various abandoned locations, where he choked her to within an inch of her life to the extent that a tear rolled down her face," Judge O'Shea said.

The court heard that the boy and the woman exchanged text messages via the app, before meeting last Saturday in Dun Laoghaire.

Gardai have obtained CCTV footage from the area, the court was told.

The boy is also alleged to have used a knife to inflict a "lengthy transverse (horizontal) laceration to her neck", the court heard.

The boy sat impassively in the courtroom, with his mother sitting beside him and embracing him. He has no previous convictions and no history of drug addiction or abuse, the court heard.

He was remanded in custody to the Oberstown juvenile detention facility to the next court appearance on January 2.

The alleged victim, meanwhile, remained in a serious condition in hospital last night.

The woman, who is in her 20s and of Malaysian descent, was found near the baths at Queen's Road in Dun Laoghaire around 3.20 on Saturday afternoon.
THE owners of a Co Wexford pub being sued by a woman who fell on the premises have slammed the Irish legal system as being pitted against anyone trying to run a business, as they have been forced to close the bar while defending the claim.

Interior designer and wedding planner, Dominique Schefman (55), of Ashwood, Roundwood, Co Wicklow, is suing Alan Dawnay Taverns Ltd, owners of Toss Byrne's pub in Inch, Gorey over the alleged accident.

Father-of-two Alan Dawnay, one of the directors of the company, told Independent.ie that he has been unable to afford legal representation to fight the case after the insurance company refused to indemnify the company over the accident.

He said the company is now "flat broke".

Mr Dawnay, who also owns a roofing company, believes that the legal system unfairly favours those receiving 'no win, no fee' legal representation as they dont have to pay their legal costs if the case is unsuccessful, while business owners are expected to fork out thousands of euro defending cases.

"Its a disgrace. My father, who is also a director, has had to defend us as we cant afford to pay for legal representation, but nobody is offering us advice on a no win, no fee basis," he said.

"It's at the stage where people just pay out as it's cheaper than defending the claim, so it's a lose-lose situation for business owners."

Ms Schefman claims she was staying at the pub during the course of refurbishment works back in May 2014, the High Court heard in October after an application to renew an injunction restraining the disposal of proceeds from the sale of the pub was made.

Ms Schefman had been providing interior design services for the pub at the time and claimed she went upstairs to her bedroom to change her clothing.

She was returning downstairs when, owing to the alleged negligence of the defendant, she lost her footing on the staircase, she claims.

It is also claimed she was found unconscious at the bottom of the staircase and taken to hospital where she was diagnosed as having suffered a severe traumatic brain injury.

However, Mr Dawnay has alleged in his defence that Ms Schefman was trespassing on the premises at the time and had been "drinking and smoking cannabis" that day, which Ms Schefman denies, the court heard.

The companys insurers have refused to indemnify it over the the accident and an injunction was granted by the High Court preventing the owners disposing of the pub for less than 500,000 before the personal injury case is dealt with.

"I bought it as an investment as we used to always drive by it when I was younger and when I saw it for sale, I decided to go for it. But it has brought nothing but stress on me and my family," Mr Dawnay said

"I just think it has gotten crazy, there's a big imbalance there at the moment."

A date has yet to be set for the personal injury hearing.
A judge has apologised to journalists after gardai wrongly excluded them from a court hearing.

Dublin District Court Judge Brian OShea personally apologised to Independent News and Media reporter Allison Bray and Irish Times reporter Marie OHalloran during a special sitting at the Criminal Courts of Justice yesterday. Both journalists were called to attend the court yesterday morning.

He also recommended that gardai personally apologise to both reporters.

The issue arose when the journalists, along with reporter Barry Hartigan of the Irish Daily Mail, attended a special sitting of the Dublin Childrens Court on St Stephens Day to report on the hearing of a 15-year-old boy charged in connection with the assault on a 25-year-old woman in Dun Laoghaire on December 23.

Because the accused is a minor, the hearing was held with limitations on public attendance with restrictions on reporting that could in any way identify him.

However, when the journalists arrived at the Courts of Criminal Justice complex on Parkgate Street, one of them was told by a garda they could not attend the hearing as it was 'in-camera'.

Assuming that the judge had made the order, they complied.

However, after learning afterwards that no such order had been made, they were able to attend the hearing in time to hear the judges summation of the case and report on the proceedings.

In his address to the journalists and their legal representatives yesterday, Judge OShea said he was completely unaware that the journalists had been excluded from the courtroom and that it was completely unwarranted.

If I had known that this had taken place outside my courtroom, I would not have tolerated it, he said.

I am struggling to get into my head how frustrating it must have been being outside the door and not being allowed in for a story that they had an interest in, he said.

He added that he was very conscious of the fact that Chief Justice Frank Clarke had stated that there needs to be more openness and transparency in courtrooms, adding that the journalists were entitled to attend the hearing.

He told the journalists that he requested Detective Garda Daniel Treacy, of Dun Laoghaire Garda Station, also attend his court in a bid to clarify what had occurred and who had made the decision to exclude the journalists from attending the hearing.

He said if gardai were to apologise to the journalists, that might be the end of the matter although they could pursue another avenue with the complaint.

The judge stressed that he did not hold Det Gda Treacy in any way responsible for what had happened, but that he might make enquiries as to who excluded the journalists.

Det Gda Treacy said that the issue was about educating gardai about what was permitted or not.

Guards dont know how to deal with the press, he said. They are afraid, Do I let them in or not?

Judge O'Shea said he reads the Irish Independent and Irish Times every day. In this instance, they did not publish anything that could be deemed as prejudicial to the defendant but favourably reported that the teenage boy had no previous convictions.

Solicitors Kieran Kelly and Joseph O'Malley were there for Independent News & Media and the Irish Times respectively.

Mr Kelly told Judge O'Shea INM were grateful to him for clarifying the position.

He said it was not the first time journalists had been frustrated by being excluded from court incorrectly, and the issue was being explored with Newsbrands and the DPP to examine problems like these. It sometimes was down to a lack of knowing the law, he said.

Mr O'Malley endorsed what Mr Kelly said, adding the exclusion of the journalists was entirely unwarranted and inexcusable and hoped the appropriate person would do the right thing and apologise.

Judge said that even a notice posted outside courtrooms making clear that media were entitled to be present would avoid a reoccurrence.
Gardai preserve the scene where the body of a woman in her 40s was found in a flat on Rathmines Avenue. Photo: Stephen Collins

Gardai last night launched a probe after a Dublin woman was found dead in her flat in Rathmines just after midday yesterday.

The victim, named locally as Deborah Holmes, was found in the hall of her flat with severe head injuries.

A post-mortem will be carried out this morning to find out how she died.

Sources have confirmed to the Irish Independent that gardai are investigating whether Ms Holmes was the victim of foul play, but have not ruled out the possibility that the horrific injuries were the result of a fall in her home.

The 42-year-old was discovered after a neighbour became concerned for her welfare and contacted gardai.

She was then found dead in her home at 12.40pm.

Sealed

Several members of the Garda Technical Bureau were working at the scene last night.

A first-floor flat in the large Dublin City Council flats complex was sealed off by Garda officers.

The flat underwent an intensive examination by the specialist gardai.

A Garda van remained at the flats complex throughout the evening as uniformed gardai and detectives conducted door-to-door inquiries.

Members of the local community expressed shock and sadness at her sudden death.

A woman living in the same building said it was "horrible" to hear that she was dead.

"It's very sad. She was a good neighbour to me.

"She was very good when it came to getting my letters for my letterbox," she said.

A Garda spokeswoman said last night that officers were investigating the circumstance surrounding the discovery of the woman in her home.

"The Office of the State Pathologist has been notified and the body remains at the scene, which is currently preserved.

"A post-mortem examination is expected to be carried out [this] morning...the results of which will determine the course of a Garda investigation," she added.
Tributes have been paid to a Limerick man who was killed in a car crash in England - the day before he was due to travel home for Christmas.

Shane Stokes (29) was killed in a five-car pile-up on the M40 in Oxfordshire late on Saturday night.

Thames Valley Police said a 60-year-old man was also killed in the serious collision.

Shane's girlfriend Ashley, who was also travelling in the car, remains in a serious condition in hospital.

He was due to fly to Shannon Airport on Christmas Eve morning to be with his family in Lisnagry, Co Limerick.

Tributes have been pouring in for Shane, who moved to the UK to work in the motor racing industry.

"Today, instead of wishing everyone a merry Christmas I would like to take this day to honour a very special member of our family whom we have just devastatingly lost," racing driver Rob Austin wrote on Facebook.

"Shane Stokes joined us at Rockingham in 2013, an event that saw us win our first BTCC race, since then he has been our good luck charm and progressed to become a pivotal and much-loved member of our team and a true friend. Rest In Peace big man, we love you and we will never forget you!"

Local Fianna Fail councillor, Joe Pond, said the community has been left devastated by Shane's death.

"I would expect the community to rally around the family now. It's very hard to comprehend, especially coming up to Christmas. He was just a normal lad coming home to spend time with his family," Cllr Pond told Independent.ie.

Friends of Shane took to Facebook to pay tribute to the "talented" young man.

"I'm still in shock. What a lovely guy. It was such a pleasure to know you," one friend wrote.

Another described him as a "gentle giant".

Chief Inspector Henry Parsons from the Joint Operations Unit for Roads Policing, said: "Our thoughts are with both mens families at this difficult time. We would like to speak to anyone who may have witnessed the collision who has not yet spoken to police.

"We would appeal to anyone who witnessed the collision and has not yet spoken to officers to please contact us. Anyone who has any information which could assist the investigation should call the 24-hour Thames Valley Police enquiry centre on 101 quoting URN 1669 (23/12)."

A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs said "We are aware of the case and are providing consular assistance."
BJP candidate was chosen to be the CM as front-runner Prem Kumar Dhumal suffered a shock defeat in assembly elections.

Jairam Thakur will assume the post of cm today (Photo-ANI)

By India Today Web Desk: After Gujarat , the focus shifts to Himachal Pradesh as its new CM Jairam Thakur takes oath today. Several of his key colleagues will take oath in today's ceremony as well. The swearing in ceremony will start around 11 am.

Five-time MLA Jairam Thakur will be the 14th chief minister of Himachal Pradesh. The swearing in ceremony will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah among others.

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The 52-year-old Thakur leader edged past party stalwarts in the race to the top office and will be the first leader from the politically-significant Mandi region to helm the hill state.

The Seraj MLA, a throughbred RSS man, emerged as the frontrunner for the top post after the shock defeat of the BJPs chief ministerial face Prem Kumar Dhumal in the 2017 Assembly polls, the results of which were announced last week.

Latest Updates:

12:00 pm : PM Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah with Himachal Pradesh CM #JaiRamThakur, in Shimla pic.twitter.com/nTkAzhaaiC

11:37 am : Shimla: Mahendra Singh, Kishan Kapoor and Suresh Bhardwaj take oath as cabinet ministers of Himachal Pradesh government pic.twitter.com/jofTytgqYZ

11:29 am :#JaiRamThakur takes oath as chief minister of Himachal Pradesh pic.twitter.com/Xv1kDII2H3

11:24 am : Haryana CM M L Khattar, Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadanvis and Union minister J P Nadda arrive at the venue.

11:11 am : Dignitaries arrive at the swearing-in venue, PM Modi to arrive shortly

Shimla: Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh & UP CM Yogi Adityanath present for soon to begin oath taking ceremony of Himachal Pradesh CM elect #JaiRamThakur; PM Narendra Modi to arrive shortly pic.twitter.com/SroFVjwj4w- ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2017

10:48 am : PM Modi lands in Shimla for HP govt oath taking

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Himachal Pradesh's Shimla, received by CM elect #JaiRamThakur pic.twitter.com/LNfGAZMI5v- ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2017

10:43 am: List of cabinet ministers who will take oath today with Jairam Thakur

Himachal Pradesh: Mahendra Singh, Suresh Bhardwaj, Anil Sharma, Sarveen Choudhary, Ram Lal Markand, Vipin Singh Parmar, Virender Kanwar, Vikram Singh, Govind Singh and Rajiv Sahjal to take oath as cabinet ministers along with CM elect #JairamThakur shortly- ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2017

10:19 am : PM Modi has arrived in Chandigarh, will attend swearing-in ceremony in Shimla

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in #Chandigarh; he will be attending swearing in ceremony of #Himachal CM elect #JairamThakur and others at Ridge ground in Shimla pic.twitter.com/9Kd3XVl7aB- ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2017

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10:07 am : 'This is a win for the common man,' says Sadhana Thakur, wife of Jairam Thakur

"It is a win for the common man. There are a lot of expectations with this Govt that they will try and solve the problems faced by the public" says Sadhana Thakur, wife of #JaiamThakur ahead of his oath taking ceremony #HimachalPradesh pic.twitter.com/ZbkHMTAmSV- ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2017

9:20 am : What worked for Jairam Thakur, Himachal Pradesh's new chief minister?

8:58 am : Jairam Thakur, Himachal Pradesh's new CM: 5 things you should know about the Mandi leader

8:10 am : The swearing in ceremony likely to start at 11 am

8:10 am : People start gathering at the venue of the swearing in ceremony in Shimla

#JairamThakur to take oath as the Chief Minister of #HimachalPradesh, today; people start gathering at the venue of the swearing-in ceremony in Shimla pic.twitter.com/41UtYvLjHy- ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2017

Gujarat: New government under CM Rupani sworn in

--- ENDS ---
Locals gather at Carrowniskey, Louisburgh, Co Mayo, where two men lost their lives in a Christmas morning tragedy. Picture: Keith Heneghan

The drowning of Declan Davitt, along with his friend Martin Needham in Louisburgh, Co Mayo, is the second drowning tragedy to hit his family in the space of seven years.

Declan (26) drowned with Martin (27) in the early hours of Christmas morning when the 4X4 vehicle they were in became submerged in water as they tried to cross the Carrowniskey river near Louisburgh.

Declan's sister Kathleen, also aged 26, drowned in another tragedy off the west coast seven years ago. Her funeral also took place during Christmas week, according to shocked locals.

Kathleen, who had been living in the Monivea area of Galway, had been missing for more than a week when her body was recovered on the shoreline between Oranmore and Roscam. She had disappeared on December 7, 2010.

Emergency services were alerted to the horrific tragedy at the Carrowniskey River at 3am on Christmas morning when one of the occupants of the vehicle managed to escape.

Tom McGreil (19) managed to raise the alarm and gardai and the coastguard were involved in the search for Declan and Martin on Christmas Day.

The bodies of the two men were brought from the water at around 4pm.

Farmers

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Martin and Declan had both spent time in New Zealand in recent years, but had come home and worked as sheep farmers. Martin was renting a farm and rearing sheep, carrying out fencing work as well.

Declan had remained longer in New Zealand but had also returned home, making a living from sheep.

They were also both involved in their local Macra na Feirme.

Its chairman, Colm Clarke, posted a poignant message on social media, describing the feelings of the local community in the wake of the tragedy.

"I'll miss you Martin and Declan - two sound men, lived most of their lives in each other's pockets, where you would see one the other was never far away," he posted.

"As tragically was the case today too. No sooner as had we Martin recovered and Declan wasn't far away.

"RIP, lads, you've both left a huge void in all our lives and it was an honour to have known you both. Slan, boys."

Local sources say it was initially believed that Martin and Declan's bodies were in the vehicle when it was found.

However,when it was brought to the surface, their bodies were not it. "The windows were down, so it looks like they made it out of the jeep but then got swept away by the current," said one man.

"Poor Tom McGreil risked his life to go back into the water after he escaped but the current was too strong."

The river flows into a lake before running to sea. It was in the lake that the bodies were discovered, very close to each other.

"Declan, Martin and Tom had been out with another lad and had dropped him home. It was when they were on their way home the tragedy happened," said the local man.

"The river crossing is down a kind of boreen and it is a spot the lads would know well.

"But the level of the water rises and falls, depending on the rainfall, and it would be more difficult to gauge it at night."

Martin's funeral will be held at noon tomorrow at the Church of the Holy Family, Killeen.

Declan's funeral will be held at noon on Friday at the same church.
The death of a 42-year-old Dublin woman who was found with a head injury in a Rathmines flat is not being treated as a homicide.

Gardai yesterday ruled out foul play in the case after getting the results of a post-mortem on the body of Deborah Holmes.

The injury that the tragic woman suffered to the back of her head is consistent with a fall rather than an assault.

It is understood that Ms Holmes had suffered from severe underlying health issues which may also have been a factor in her death.

A massive garda investigation took place after she was found dead in her home on Rathmines Avenue at 12.40pm on Tuesday.

However senior sources say that Ms Holmes death is no longer being treated as suspicious.

As part of the probe, detectives had been examining an argument which Ms Holmes had with another female but this female is not a suspect in the case.

Ms Holmes was last seen alive at 12.30pm on Christmas Day and she is believed to have died a number of hours after this.

Gardai do not believe that the cause of this womans death is due to any criminal act, a senior source said last night.

She had severe health difficulties which certainly contributed to her death, the source added.

At the flats where Deborah was found, two gardai stood outside the door of number 33, preserving the scene.

The council complex is split into four blocks on Rathmines Avenue, just yards from Rathmines garda station.

Gardai carried out door to door enquiries in the flat blocks, and different garda vehicles arrived and then left as more resources were brought in to investigate Debbies last movements.

I knew her to see, but we keep to ourselves in here and dont live in each others pockets, so I dont know much about Debbie, said one resident in a comment that was repeated by others in the flats.

We would see her come and leave, she was here around two years, the man added.

While the results of the post mortem were being awaited, people were anxious to find out why Debbie had died.

There was no sign of a forced entry at the flat, and people did not want to believe that anyone could have killed Debbie.

Its a sad loss regardless, to be found dead like that just after Christmas, but I hope she didnt have a violent death, said a close neighbour.

Debbie comes from an extended family that live in the Rathmines and Ranelagh area, but relatives did not wish to comment when approached yesterday afternoon.
Gavin, Granie and Kayla Garnon from Dingle in the Green and Gold Wren Boys Photo: Domnick Walsh

Rain teemed down relentlessly and the wind held a biting chill but the man beneath the hobbyhorse was rearing to giddy up - and the first 'Wren' was out.

Captain Noel O Murchu marched up and down between the lines, making sure his banner men, John Martin and 'Big John' Griffin, were ready, his straw men neatly lined up ahead of the fife and drum band, followed by the horde that had assembled with faces painted and decked out in the colours that pledged their allegiance. Sword pointed and bellowing the words, 'Go on the Green and Gold', they were off.

The first group of four was on the march in Dingle, Co Kerry, for the annual Wren's Day parade.

They took off from their headquarters at O'Flaherty's pub in Bridge Street, making their way up The Mall.

Expand Close Maria Doyle from Wexford dances with Mark Stanton of the Ballyragget Wren Boys in the Co Kilkenny village, where the Wren is also celebrated Photo: Pat Moore / Facebook

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Whatsapp Maria Doyle from Wexford dances with Mark Stanton of the Ballyragget Wren Boys in the Co Kilkenny village, where the Wren is also celebrated Photo: Pat Moore

Paul Cashen from Grey's Lane has been filling the role for four decades - a throwback to the town's Spanish influence in the annual mardi gras.

"You've got to perform and do your dance in theatrical theme," he said.

At the junction with John Street, the Sraid Eoin Wren held back at their starting point outside the Barrack Heights, giving way until the rival group had passed.

"If they hadn't given us right of way we would have taken it," said the captain who's been leading the Green and Gold Wren for 35 years.

At the junction of Main Street and Green Street, the Goat Street Wren was waiting to let the first group pass before it began its first round of the town.

A sodden bunch turned up at The Wood some 30 minutes later, where residents greeted them with blackcurrant drinks for the children, and something stronger for the adults.

In Tommy Sheehy's house, the group assembled as they've done for generations, the roast beef sandwiches and the drop to wash it down welcome.

"My father used to do it before me and we always had the wren in the house and everybody's welcome," Mr Sheehy told the Irish Independent.
An Irish teacher who suffered a blood clot is expected to be flown home to Ireland in January, "pending having a bed confirmed", her family has said.

Aisling Brady (26) has been alert and awake for more than two weeks now and has been taken out of the acute stage.

She has been in hospital in Dubai since November after suffering three seizures, three cardiac arrests and a stroke as a result of a blood clot.

The young teacher, from Trim, Co Meath, has been living in the UAE since 2016 and was rushed to hospital on November 27 after fainting and hitting her head.

A medical evacuation is expected to take place in January after an online fundraiser raised 140,280.

Her boyfriend, Kristian Mansfield, said the family are still amazed by the support given by members of the public.

"We have covered the medical evacuation and the extra money is going to Aisling's rehabilitation, thank you to everyone who has and continues to add to the fund," he said.

"All the events being run back in Ireland are just phenomenal and the planned one's in the coming days are exciting, we really wish we could be there."

Aisling's mother previously told Independent.ie that doctors had given her "no hope" but she has continued to make steady progress.

"She can focus on people, respond to sound by focusing and occasionally moving her head in the direction of the voice, she is able to squeeze on command and we have some form of communication," her boyfriend said.

"When we ask yes or no questions, Aisling is able to respond by closing her eyes for yes, this gives us real hope that her memories are still there and she is taking comfort in our presence. Please understand, these are really tiring for Aisling and when she is ready to stop and rest, she does."

The family has set a target of January 7 to bring her back to Ireland, "pending having a bed confirmed."

She is due to fly home by air ambulance. The jet will need to fly at a much lower altitude and a cardiac specialist, neuro specialist, a doctor and nurses will have to travel on board. You can donate to the GoFundMe page here.
Police are treating the death of a 53-year-old woman as murder

A brave Lisburn mum is understood to have died saving the life of her daughter in a horrific early-morning stabbing incident on Christmas Day.

Charlotte Reat (21) said that her courageous mother, Jayne Toal Reat, had died in her arms after saving her from being stabbed to death at a house in the towns Mornington Lane.

At 6am on Christmas morning, four ambulance crews were dispatched to the scene.

When they arrived, police officers were already attempting emergency resuscitation on one of the injured people.

Three people were rushed to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.

The Belfast Health and Social Care Trust confirmed that two people had since been discharged.

Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell from PSNI Serious Crime Branch said that detectives had launched a murder investigation following the incident.

A 19-year-old man was arrested on Monday, Christmas Day.

In a heartbreaking message posted online on the day of the atrocity, Charlotte, who said she was also stabbed several times during the attack, told how Jayne had been murdered in front of my eyes and then later died in my arms.

Comber resident Charlotte wrote: I just want to thank everyone for all the kind messages and posts.

Im not in the frame of mind to reply to anyone nor am I fit to be writing this status.

Today will be a day I will never forget as my mum was murdered in front of my eyes and then later died in my arms.

I can still feel her in my arms and hear her screams of pain and see the panic on her face.

My mum died saving me, I was stabbed twice in the head once in my face and once to the back of my neck.

SDLP Lagan Valley MLA Pat Catney said: "People across Lisburn are in shock this morning.

"This should be a day families spend together, happy and grateful to have each other.

"Instead, a family is waking up on Christmas morning to news of the death of a loved one.

"I can't begin to imagine the pain they're feeling today.

"My thoughts and prayers are with the woman's family and friends at this extremely difficult time.

"I understand police have launched a murder investigation.

"I would urge anyone with information, however small, about what happened here to bring it forward as soon as possible," the SDLP representative said.

A local resident told the BBC: "I saw the flashing lights, the ambulances, police cars and the crime scene investigators arrive. I'm completely in shock.

"It makes you feel lucky for what you have... it's really bad."

Alliance councillor Amanda Grehan, who represents the area said her thoughts were with the victim's loved ones.

"This is a relatively new development, made up of people from all walks of life, and is usually very quiet.

"There is a shock among residents in the wider Mornington area, as they have never had to deal with anything like this here before.

"My thoughts are with the loved ones of the victim. Christmas Day is one most people spend with their families and is full of joyous moments.

"However, now we have one family plunged into grief and despair.

"I would urge anyone with information on this terrible incident to take it to police immediately."
A terminally ill girl who began experiencing brain failure more than two years ago has defied doctors' expectations to celebrate another Christmas with her family.

"Medical miracle" Cora McQuade-Denvir (9), is confined to a wheelchair and suffers from a variety of conditions including blindness, hydrocephalus, epilepsy, dystonia, cerebral palsy and scoliosis.

In November 2015 doctors told her parents that she was experiencing brain failure and could pass away at any time.

In August 2016 Cora's family pulled out all the stops to celebrate what they believed would be her last birthday with a special Disney Princess-themed bash.

The family, from Carnlough in Co Antrim, compiled a bucket list of experiences to enjoy together, including meeting Cora's favourite band, Little Mix.

But medics then told Cora's devastated parents to enjoy Christmas with their little girl as they "probably wouldn't get another" with her.

Last year the community rallied round to support the family's Christmas decoration appeal to make what they thought would be her last Christmas extra special.

However, Cora, who the family refer to as their "princess warrior", has once again defied doctors' expectations to celebrate Christmas 2017 with her family.

"When Cora was born at 28 weeks she just had the outer cortex of her brain and nothing inside - it's just fluid," her devoted dad Ciaran (31), who cares for Cora with her mum Amy (29), told the Belfast Telegraph.

"She was born early and her brain rewired, so some parts of it are doing things they wouldn't normally be able to.

"She's a medical miracle. She shouldn't even be able to breathe, and, while she is registered blind, she seems to be able to detect some changes like lights on the Christmas tree or a shadow caused by someone passing in front of a window.

"We have put a Christmas tree in her room to stimulate her.When she hears music, especially Little Mix, she starts to move around and make noises, and she loves her videos of Disney princesses.

"Last year we thought it might be her last Christmas, but now we have learned not to underestimate her.

"Even the consultants are surprised at her fighting spirit. She's definitely a fighter."

While Cora's condition will never improve, Ciaran said she continued to amaze her family with her determination to survive.

"She has been such an inspiration to her whole family," he added.

"People complain about wee colds, but I learned from Cora that things could be worse.

"I'm so proud that she has been able to stay with us for this long.

"We spent this Christmas with my sister for the first time in years and Cora was able to be with her wee cousins.

"Last year I hadn't given up on her, but I had a strange feeling that she wasn't going to be here for much longer.

"I feel a bit more positive this year."

Due to her medical conditions, Cora has been unable to attend school for the past year. However, her parents are hoping that she will be able to rejoin her classmates at Larne's Roddensvale Special School in the new year.

The family are now praying that her condition will remain stable so that they can spend as much time together as possible.

"We don't know how long Cora has, and she has been getting more sleepy for a long while now," Ciaran explained.

"We are just praying that she stays stable for as long as possible. We are so proud of Cora. Every minute that we spend together is precious."
I was very lucky I didn't take my mother's advice," is Pat Murphy's rather cryptic opener and the first clue that Pat is a natural raconteur. This Christmas will be his third without his wife, Olivia, who died of cancer, though their life together remains as vivid to Pat as the night he met her after moving from his home in Dundalk to Dublin in the early 1960s.

"I was doing a strong line with a girl in Dundalk and my mother said 'You watch those Dublin women!'. I went to a dance in Harcourt Street, in April 1964. I met this lady and we fell in love as soon as we met. The rest is history. I was 21 and Olivia was 20.

"I went home to the bedsit where I was staying with another chap and I woke him up and said, 'I'm after meeting the girl I want to marry'. We had a date for the next night and everything went from there, we got married a few years later in 1967."

Their first son Shane was born in 1968; Padraic arrived in 1970 and Fintan followed a few years later. They spent a couple of years in Dundalk before returning to Dublin to be close to Olivia's family in Raheny.

Pat, a consultant in industrial engineering, eventually started a part-time marine business that soon became a full-time concern. He opened his shop overlooking the bay just past Clontarf and the family made their home there. Two of his sons live close by and the house and shop are intrinsically linked to Pat's passions of sailing and family. His living room is above the shop and here we sit surrounded by photos of Olivia and Pat's shared life - their years at sea, ski trips and dances and their sons and grandchildren - with the view of the sea, Howth Head, Bull Island and the Poolbeg chimneys spread out before us.

"There's a lot of cancer in both sides of the family... so we had this cancer thing hanging over us. I said to Olivia one day, 'I think before we get hit with cancer, we should do something, I think I'd like us to sail around the world'." With the boys grown up, there was nothing to stop them heading for the waves. Despite the planned four-year excursion, they ultimately spent nine years, as Pat put it, "all over the place", visiting exotic locations like the Galapogos Islands, Sri Lanka and New Zealand.

Expand Close Pat Murphy, whose wife died two years ago, at his home in Dublin with his dog. Photo: Arthur Carron / Facebook

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"Olivia loved every minute of it, she loved mixing with the different cultures. We had a fantastic time." The couple shared the workload, splitting the nights into shifts, taking turns to man the boat while the other slept. "On a clear night there were stars everywhere."

They spent the days on the boat fishing for dinner, listening to Luke Kelly, and diving when the boat was anchored. Even their rows were endearing. Pat gives talks regularly about the trip and says the most frequently asked question is "what happens on a boat when you have a row?" He shows me one of his slides that features Olivia sitting up at the top of the mast with a speech bubble announcing 'I'm not coming down until you apologise!'. "She stayed up there for about 30 hours," Pat laughs. "Then we kissed and made up!"

In the spring of 2015, a few years after they returned from travelling, the spectre of cancer materialised when Olivia began to feel unwell. After an initial course of antibiotics had no effect, they were referred for further investigations and ultimately lymphoma was diagnosed. To begin with, the prognosis was hopeful and Olivia began chemotherapy, however she gradually went downhill and died at home that August.

A month before her death, Pat was told it would be a matter of weeks. "I couldn't tell Olivia that, she never once mentioned death. Two weeks before she died she was released from hospital." Pat smiled as he describes Olivia's 'problem' with the word 'sale', telling me that on the way home she went into Dunnes, pushing her wheelchair ahead of her. "She was walking around buying some jacket and I thought to myself 'you'll never wear it, Olivia'."

In the days before her death, the Irish Hospice Foundation stepped in to organise everything. "They were giving her medicine and checking her every day. The help we got from everybody was just incredible."

"We got 48 and a half absolutely amazing years but after she died I was in a very, very dark hole. If I had believed that there was a life after this, that I'd meet Olivia in the next life, I'd have killed myself." Pat tells me plainly. "That's how bad I was. Just to be with Olivia. I loved her. I got one-to-one counselling with the Hospice and then I saw an ad for group counselling with Target and I went up one morning a week for six weeks and I found listening to and helping other people was very beneficial.

"It's very lonely. My life-saver was my dog and when in April last year I found Coco dead at the bottom of the stairs, I went outside and screamed my eyes out, that was my link to Olivia."

He's glad now that friends convinced him to get another dog. "I knock more fun out of that wee dog and it's something I highly recommend for anyone who's bereaved because you come in at night and they're excited to see you."

Never is an absence felt so keenly as at Christmas when traditions fall by the wayside and the ballet of family celebrations, perfected over many years, is thrown out of kilter. It's a difficult time for families who have recently suffered a loss.

"The first Christmas was awful. I put nothing up that first year. We missed her so much, I found it very hard.

"On Christmas Eve, I'd always put a present under Olivia's pillow and she'd put one under my pillow, that was our little routine. I missed that.

"I still find it very hard to go up to her grave. On our 50th wedding anniversary I cried for hours there, that was only last February... Seeing all these sad stories on the headstones, it does remind you that we're only here for a short time."

Inspired by friends who had also lost their wives, earlier this year Pat registered with a website that connects people over 50. Pat is a doer by nature, he is active on committees, it's his nature to connect with people. "I'm 74 and I never in my life had a blind date!" He now has a lady friend who also lost her partner.

Pat smiles telling me about his first date with Geraldine. "We got talking to a man on the Luas and I told him we were on a blind date and I could see the guy's face!" Pat bursts into peels of laughter.

"Geraldine can talk about her husband and I can talk about Olivia and that's all very open which is very helpful." Now Geraldine is joining Pat and his sons for Christmas and even braving the Christmas morning swim in Clontarf. "Having someone makes a huge difference, it's made me start to plan again and above all, she's a great cook!"

* Visit bereaved.ie for more info on workshops run by the Irish Hospice Foundation. And visit neverforgotten.ie to donate money to the IHF in the name of a loved one

HOW TO COPE When you've lost a loved one

* It's important to acknowledge that Christmas will be different now. Be gentle with yourself, don't believe you have to hide your feelings.

* Let people offer you help, their company and their care.

* While having a drink may act as a diversion, remember alcohol has a depressive effect, so it's best to minimise your intake.

* You may need to plan time alone, particularly on Christmas Day which you know will be difficult.

* Grief comes in many forms. Acknowledge that the anger, resentment and other tough feelings are actually part of your response to a great loss. Think about channelling those feelings: go for a fast walk or a run. Know the feelings will pass and do not feel guilty.

An absence will mean traditions may change. If you're maintaining a tradition the deceased person had a vital role in, involve the family in adapting the tradition this year. Some may begin a new tradition such as lighting a special candle.

* It's sometimes said that "death ends a life, not a relationship". Finding ways to incorporate their memory into each Christmas is an important aspect of grieving. Talking about them keeps those shared memories alive.

 Orla Keegan is Head of Education, Research and Bereavement Services at the Irish Hospice Foundation
The countrys voice: Irish Independent readers had a lot to say in 2017

One immutable fact down the ages is that all politicians pay respectful attention to what the dogs in the street are saying; by which they mean the voters. In truth, however, your average Doberman, Jack Russell or Bichon Frise has more to think of.

If politicians really wanted to put an ear to the heartbeat of the nation, they would focus on the contents of the letters pages of national newspapers.

It is here that you will hear the true articulation of the country's voice at its unvarnished best.

There were simply too many wise and insightful words flowing through the columns of these pages over the year to do them justice.

But I offer below a small sample of what moved our letter writers to pick up their pens.

On the homeless crisis, Billy O'Hanluain, from Kimmage, Dublin, wrote:

"At low tide you'll find all the salty jewels, that the deep water couldn't bear to swallow. In summer, they sleep under voluptuous chestnut trees, in that season of green and plenty, light and romance, they are forgotten, just as we forget the dark braille mornings of November that frost finger, tip taps around the edges of the months of light, waiting to pounce with an embrace of damp and dark.

"Autumn comes, with its bouquets of nicotine hues, burnt brown chords and sweet withered bloom. They might shiver in a methadone mesh of autumn leaves, that rustle with a new meaningless school term beginning but we are mute to their shivering and songs.

"Come Christmas, their sleeping bags and cardboard bloom like the holly, the ivy and every one takes notice, a rare plant, that to appease our numb, fingered conscience, we notice, and carol sing for, plastic bucket, coin jingle jangle for, ding dong merrily on high for.

"Oh, we might run a 5k candle lit charity jog for them... but run we will... away from them... now, to speak to them that might only upset how beautifully they bloom this time of year. Best throw them a gentle coin..."

Our perpetual deference to economists, the new high priests of the times, was cautioned against by Philip O'Neill, from Oxford:

"Economic thinking, as we know it, is driven by a particular view of human nature, a view that assumes that competition will always trump collaboration in the effective creation of wealth. The fact that the world's richest 1pc accumulates more wealth than the remaining 99pc fuels the suspicion that economic theory and practice is based on a questionable ideological bias, favouring those already wealthy.

"Economists seem to have set up camp in a world of their own making, where poverty is seen as a small price to pay for economic success, evading the moral demand that government economic initiatives should work equally to the advantage of all."

John Cuffe, from Co Meath, summed up the attitude shared by many to the banks when he held that:

"Michael Davitt did the Irish nation a service with his famous Three Fs: Fair Rent, Fixity of Tenure and Free Sale. This was achieved under Draconian British rule under the Land Act of 1861. The Irish Independent's headline of today tells us our people are under attack from foreign vulture funds.

"When the bank bailout of 2008 was done, was it to replenish the wealth of the few off the backs of the many? How long will we put up with this? If Fianna Fail have the national interest at heart they will pull the plug on this embarrassing mish-mash of a so-called Government.

"We are dealing with flesh and blood here folks, not balance sheets."

On the vexed subject of Brexit, Alison Hackett, from Dun Laoghaire, was sufficiently inspired to turn to poetry on the plight of Theresa May:

"The PM in Florence was stuck

politically down on her luck

her party gone mad

while Boris was bad

what could she say but oh f**k?"

While Ivor Shorts, from Rathfarnham, was struck by the need for prayerful reflection in Leinster House:

"If our politicians in the Dail and Seanad believe that praying to a supposed divinity before the commencement of each day's business for 'holy inspirations' and 'assistance' with their 'every word and work' will actually help them, then heaven help us all.

"Do our politicians really believe that any supposed divinity would have nothing more important to do in the whole wide universe than check out every day what nonsense is taking place in both houses of the Oireachtas?"

And staying with religion - a new one, 'shopping' - Tom Gilsenan, in Beaumont, has this observation on Christmas sales:

"I recently noted, in a particular sale, that there was a 50pc discount on slippers and dressing gowns. So one can actually snooze... and not lose?"

Mr Gilsenan also offered some more sage advice for our leaders :

"More and more these times, over the airwaves (including leading politicians), I hear 'nothing' being pronounced as 'nawtin' and indeed 'nuhhing'. So my message is... 'whatever you say, say nothing'."

May we also wish you all a very Happy New Year. While we could not publish all your letters each was read and richly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Tom Coogan

Letters Editor
Young people are being locked out of the market, being neither able to rent nor buy homes. Photo: Stock

The Government appears to have become imprisoned within its own comfort zone so far as confronting the housing crisis is concerned.

With suitable aplomb, 'Rebuilding Ireland' was produced in 2016. Already it appears hopelessly inadequate in addressing the scale of need. The latest housing report today reveals a yawning chasm between the aspirational target identified by the Government and the number of homes desperately required. To address the deficit, some 50,000 homes - twice the number previously suggested - urgently need to be delivered. Young people are being locked out of the market, being neither able to rent nor buy homes. Multinationals have also signalled that future investment here could hinge on a response to the problem, which is eroding our competitiveness.

Yet neither Taoiseach Leo Varadkar nor Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy have given any reason to believe that they are prepared to take the leap of imagination necessary to bridge the reality gap that exists between their perception of the problem and the actual crisis. The numbers being built fall way behind what is needed today, let alone satisfying the demands of the future.

In fact, a snapshot of where we are now shows there has actually been a fall in the number of homes completed in the first nine months of this year, compared with 2016. This despite relentless promises that progress was being made.

It is time to get radical and embrace the high-density options demanded to satisfy the need for public sector housing, social and affordable, as well as private housing, student accommodation and housing for older persons.

Mr Murphy has so far said that he is "disappointed" at the number of homes built. Embarrassed or ashamed might be more appropriate.

The Government can take some quiet comfort from recent opinion poll ratings; but such leads could quickly count for nothing should an election be called and fought on the issue of housing.
By PTI: Jammu, Dec 27 (PTI) Security forces recovered a huge cache of arms and explosives from an underground arms dump in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir, a senior police officer said today.

The recovery which included an AK 56 rifle, a pistol, 23 explosive sticks and two IEDs weighing six kg each, were recovered from Shergari area of Chassana, Senior Superintendent of Police, Reasi, Tahir Sajad Bhat told PTI.

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He said the arms and explosives were recovered in a joint operation carried out by the Army and the police on specific information last night.

The other material recovered from the arms dump included two rounds of rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), one illumination round, one .303 rifle with one magazine and 90 rounds, three grenades including two of Chinese make, one Under Barrel Grenade Launcher (UBGL) round, one AK magazine with 81 rounds, a pistol magazine and 67 PIKA rounds, the officer said.

Police have registered a case in this connection and further investigation is on, the SSP said. PTI TASA DV

--- ENDS ---
Fr Tony Flannery (Irish Independent, December 23) is correct when he says of the Christmas story: "It is a beautiful story, but it is a mythical account of the birth of Jesus, not a historical one" and "for too long [the Church] presented the Christmas story as historical reality".

The Christmas story "contains similar elements to other ancient myths about the birth of gods" - a reference to gods who preceded Jesus by centuries and who had many of the same attributes as Jesus: Virgin birth, miracle working, death and resurrection and ascent into heaven.

Fr Flannery wisely puts discussion of the details of the death and resurrection of Jesus into the realm of "the mysterious actions of God".

He also quotes theologian Charles Raven when he writes: "It is sinful pride, and great foolishness, to talk as if we could define the infinite or formulate absolute truth." This, of course, is what the Catholic Church has been doing for centuries - never more so than when the notion of "papal infallibility" was introduced in the nineteenth century.

One wonders why the only "infallible" pronunciation since then relates to the bodily assumption of Mary into heaven, surely a myth comparable to the Christmas story?

The Catholic Church has infantilised the teaching of religion, relying on power and authority, rather than reason and history. The result is that an educated (and supposedly Catholic) population now simply ignores Church teaching on more or less everything - contraception, co-habitation before marriage, gay rights, the right to divorce and even the absolute ban on abortion.

It is abundantly clear that many people, especially the young, simply do not believe in much of the doctrine of old, as demonstrated by the freefall in religious practice and especially by the empty seminaries.

Fr Flannery knows that the tenets of Christianity are good in themselves and myth and legend do not have to be portrayed as eternal truth in order to buttress the Christian message. Nor should Catholic beliefs need to be enforced by the laws of the land.

But we are talking about the Catholic Church - and it is no surprise that a group of conservative elderly bishops, obsessed with authority and unable to face up to robust intellectual challenges, have ensured that one of their brightest and best has been silenced by the Vatican.

Anthony O'Leary

Portmarnock, Co Dublin

New year, a new start for everyone

For some, the dawning of a new year can be a clean slate, a time of renewal and redemption. Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.

Each new day could be a rebirth, and as the old adage so simply states: "Today is the first day of the rest of your life."

Yesterday is gone for good. Part of the exhilaration that accompanies every January 1 is the optimism that starting over is possible and the belief that new beginnings can create new and successful outcomes.

St Francis of Assisi hit the nail on the head with this amazing quote: "Start by doing what's necessary, then do what's possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible."

As the calendar turns over to another year, most people start thinking about what they did or didn't do the in past year, and what they would like the new year to bring. Some people make resolutions or goals, others might just spend some time in prayerful mediation.

Every new year comes with new opportunities and challenges. Perhaps just a smile, and the hand of friendship is all it takes to start a happy new year.

Anthony Woods

Ennis, Co Clare

Teachers punished for their stand

The Public Service Pay and Pensions Bill 2017 has provisions relating to "non-covered" public servants, which are designed to punish them for exercising their democratic right to refuse to sign up to the Public Services Stability Agreement. Their refusal to sign is not based on greed - quite the opposite, they have taken a laudable, principled and unselfish stance against the continuation of discriminatory new entrant salary scales.

The proposed three-year suspension of contracted increments amounts to an effective pay cut, with reference to contract for all individuals affected, lasting until they belatedly reach the top point of the scale.

Unfairness is to be visited by law on those who take a principled stance, to their own cost, against unfairness to colleagues in the form of discriminatory new-entrant salary scales. Is this vindictive and unethical proposal even Constitutional?

It already reflects badly on our Government that it has chosen, presumably with an eye to votes, to prioritise general tax cuts and payment increases over dealing fully with the blatant unfairness of discriminatory new-entrant pay-scales.

It is an entirely unethical and odious proposal.

In the Senate, the relevant provisions have been described as supporting discrimination by the State, and as creating a dangerous precedent.

These provisions have been referred to in the Dail as being draconian, bullying, rotten, outrageous, and as an attack on human rights, an attack on trade union rights, and as State coercion.

Fianna Fail has been very quiet on the matter, presumably it is looking the other way due it to its confidence and supply agreement.

The Labour Party has largely gone missing, perhaps in hiding in embarrassment along with the large unions who have taken a less principled approach.

I can find no attempted rebuttal to the criticism from those proposing the Bill, yet it sails on towards being passed into law.

Tom Hogan

Dublin 15

US bullying on Jerusalem

Never has an American president dared to use extortion and pressure to intimidate UN members against their conscience. The issue of Jerusalem is non-negotiable.

Jerusalem is a sacred city for Muslims, Christians and Jews. Its grandeur, splendour, beauty, heritage and spirit should transcend sectarian and religious divisions, hatred and oppression. The Palestinian people have endured persecution and unspeakable anguish. They have shown tremendous valour in the face of Israel's military occupation.

They deserve an independent state of their own, freedom, justice and dignity. Also the Hashemite custodianship of Islamic and Christian holy places in Jerusalem is a sacred kernel of peace. It is time to draw an inspiration from the spirit of Christmas and reaffirm our unshakable commitment to bring peace for the well-being of mankind.

Dr Munjed Fraid al Qutob

London, England
When it came to buying her first 'royal family outing' hat, little surprise that Meghan Markle chose Irish designer Philip Treacy.

Philip famously made 36 hats for guests attending William and Kate's wedding in 2011.

The Ahascragh native is such good friends with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, that he made her two hats for her wedding to Prince Charles and she used to send Christmas cards to Philip's Jack Russell dog, Mr Pig.

So if Meghan sought out advice on hats for her all-important debut appearance with the royal family at Sandringham on Christmas morning, the Irish man's name would have been top of the royals' list.

Expand Close Hat designer Phillip Treacy with the Duchess of Cornwall Picture: PA / Facebook

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Meghan wore one of Philip's felted wool tobacco-hued face-framing hat with his signature scroll at the side and accessorised in the same tone.

To date she has been wearing coats by Canadian labels including her 340 engagement wrap by Line The Label. Interestingly, her Christmas Day coat by Canadian luxury brand Sentaler cost 1,200 and it was more than half the price of the 3,000 Miu Miu tartan pea coat worn by Kate, Duchess of Cambridge.

Perhaps Meghan has taken onboard the criticism that poured in after she wore a 65,000 couture gown by Ralph & Russo for her engagement portrait released last week.

But as a non-royal, the successful actress is well able to pay for her designer tastes and for Christmas Day that included a 1,190 Chloe 'Pixie' handbag, and Stuart Weitzman suede boots (675).

Philip Treacy's felted wool hats are a favourite with hardcore racegoers and the Irishman, who has disdain for the title of milliner and prefers to be known as a hat designer, uses felt wool in jewel and nature-inspired hues.

In Ireland, he sells at Dublin's Design Centre, where his pieces are eagerly snapped up for three and four-figure sums.

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2017 has been a memorable year for Philip (50) and the Galway man married his partner of 25 years, Stefan Bartlett, in Las Vegas last May.
A Chinese court sentenced prominent activist Wu Gan to eight years in prison for subversion. (AP Photo)

A prominent activist who calls himself the Ultra Vulgar Butcher for mocking and pressuring Chinese officials has been given an eight-year prison sentence for subversion.

The Tianjin Number 2 Intermediate People's Court on Tuesday handed down the sentence after finding activist Wu Gan guilty of subverting state power.

Wu will appeal the sentence, his lawyer Ge Yongxi told The Associated Press.

Wu had become known among rights advocates and lawyers for his attention-grabbing campaigns.

In one, he posed for online portraits brandishing knives that he said he would use to "slaughter the pigs" among local officials who had done wrong.

In court on Tuesday, Wu struck an irreverent note in his remarks following the sentence, saying he was "grateful to the party for granting me this lofty honour," according to Ge, who was in court.

"I will remain true to our original aspiration, roll up my sleeves and make an extra effort," Wu said, playing on well-known phrases Chinese President Xi Jinping often uses to exhort Communist Party officials to improve their work.

Wu was among the first activists and lawyers caught up in an intense crackdown by authorities that began in 2015. His secretive one-day trial was held in August after a detention of more than two years.

Activists like Wu focused on individual cases instead of challenging Communist Party policy at the national level, making them a greater headache for local officials than for Beijing.

"With extraordinary courage and disdainful words, Wu Gan set the tone for this so-called 'trial' against him," said his friend and fellow activist Wu Yuren.

"It will inspire more and more people to stomp on this government that seems powerful yet doesn't have the authority of the people."

The court said on Tuesday in an online statement that Wu Gan had made many remarks online that "attacked state power."

It accused him of hyping cases that "discredited state organs" by organising illegal public gatherings, causing trouble, and making abusive comments online about others. It said such actions were part of a series of criminal activities seeking to "overthrow state power and the socialist system".

Wu had also worked as an administrative assistant at the Beijing Fengrui Law Firm, which had worked on sensitive cases and became the focus of the crackdown that began in July 2015.

Hundreds of lawyers, activists and others were detained in a coordinated nationwide sweep that sent a chill through China's activist community. Many were later released.

Vaguely defined subversion charges are frequently levelled against human rights activists and perceived political foes of the ruling Communist Party.

Wu was detained in May 2015, after travelling to the southeastern city of Nanchang to put pressure on a judge.

Defence lawyers had been denied access to files in a case in which four men were serving prison time for a double murder despite a later confession from a fifth man.

Wu had said on social media that he planned to hold a mock funeral for the judge and was arrested after unfurling a banner that insulted him.

In a separate case on Tuesday, a court in central China convicted the lawyer Xie Yang for inciting subversion of state power but exempted him from criminal penalties after he admitted to the charges.

The German Embassy said in a statement it was disappointed with Wu's harsh sentence and Xie's conviction. "In both cases there have been serious concerns about violations of due process of law including restrictions on the access to independent legal counsel," it said.

The crackdown has drawn international scrutiny, with many Western governments criticising it.

AP
Arthur Rathburn is pictured at the University of Michigan in November 1988. Photo: Reuters/Peter Yates/File Photo

US Federal agents found four preserved foetuses in the Detroit warehouse of a man who sold human body parts, confidential photographs reviewed by Reuters show.

The foetuses were found during a December 2013 raid of businessman Arthur Rathburn's warehouse.

The foetuses, which appear to have been in their second trimester, were submerged in a liquid that included human brain tissue.

Photos from inside Mr Rathburn's warehouse offered a stark example of government failures to police the industry. They include images of rotting human heads, some floating face up in a plastic cooler.

Mr Rathburn, a former body broker, is accused of defrauding customers by sending them diseased body parts. He has pleaded not guilty and his trial is set for January.

How Mr Rathburn got the foetuses and what he intended to do with them is unclear. Mr Rathburn's lawyers did not respond to requests for comment.

"This needs to be reviewed," said US Representative Marsha Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee who recently chaired a special US House committee on the use of foetal tissue.

Ms Blackburn recoiled when a Reuters reporter showed her some of the photographs, taken by government officials involved in the raid.

In four of the photos, a crime scene investigator in a hazmat suit uses forceps to lift a different foetus from the brownish liquid.

In three other photos, a marker that includes a government evidence identification number lies beside a foetus.

"The actions depicted in these photos are an insult to human dignity," said US Representative Bob Goodlatte, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

A Republican from Virginia, Mr Goodlatte said that if individuals "violate federal laws and traffic in body parts of unborn children for monetary gain" they should be "held accountable".

Mr Rathburn has pleaded not guilty to selling infected body parts of adults.

Ms Blackburn said the discoveries in Mr Rathburn's warehouse raise questions about the practices of body brokers.

Such brokers take cadavers donated to science, dismember them and sell them for parts, typically for use in medical research and education.

The multimillion-dollar industry has been built largely on the poor, who donate their bodies in return for a free cremation of leftover body parts.

The buying and selling of cadavers and other body parts - with the exception of organs used in transplants - is legal and virtually unregulated in America.

But trading in foetal tissue violates US law.

In most states, public health authorities are not required to regularly inspect body broker facilities.

As a result, it's impossible to know whether body brokers who deal in adult donors are profiting from foetuses.

Ms Blackburn's call for action came in response to a Reuters series that exposed abuses in the human body trade and what Ms Blackburn called "lax oversight" and "lax enforcement" of the industry.
Best friends Alan Robinson and Walter Macfarlane have been best friends for 60 years, but recently discovered theyre even closer than they once thought  theyre brothers.

The pair from Honolulu, Hawaii met in sixth grade at a Honolulu prep school after being born 15 months apart. Macfarlane never knew his father and Robinson was adopted.

Honolulu news station KHON-TV reported the pair separately sought answers about their ancestry by using family history and DNA-matching websites after unsuccessful searches on social media.

Remarkably Macfarlane found someone on the site with identical X chromosomes, and the username Robi737  who he would later discover shared the same birth mother.

It was Robinson, who had used the same website to find answers, is nicknamed Robi and flew 737s for Aloha Airlines.

It was a shock, Macfarlane told the local news outlet.

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It was an overwhelming experience, its still overwhelming, added Robinson. I dont know how long its going to take for me to get over this feeling.

This is the best Christmas present I could ever imagine having.

The pair told their family about the revelation over the weekend, and say they plan to travel and enjoy retirement together.
A human-rights activist nicknamed 'Super Vulgar Butcher' has been jailed in China for eight years for 'subversion' - the harshest sentence given in a crackdown on activists that began in the country in 2015.

Wu Gan, a 44-year-old administrator at a Beijing law firm, campaigns for victims in criminal cases that are viewed as sensitive by the authorities. He was sentenced at the Tianjin Intermediate People's Court.

It is the longest sentence given so far in the '709 crackdown,' a sweep-up of hundreds of activists and lawyers that began two years ago. Mr Wu was accused of attempting to overthrow the ruling communist party.

In court yesterday, Mr Wu struck an irreverent note in his remarks following the sentence, saying he was "grateful to the party for granting me this lofty honour," according to his lawyer Ge Yongxi, who was in court.

"I will remain true to our original aspiration, roll up my sleeves and make an extra effort," Mr Wu said, playing on well-known phrases Chinese President Xi Jinping often uses to exhort Communist Party officials to improve their work.

Mr Wu raised awareness of cases involving members of the public caught up in legal cases against officials.

In 2009, he supported a pedicurist charged with killing a government official who attempted to molest her.

He also campaigned for justice for the family of Xu Chunhe, who was killed by a police officer in the northeastern Heilongjiang province in 2015.

Mr Wu claimed that he had been tortured while detained and refused to appear on state media television, which human rights groups say is often used to broadcast forced confessions from suspects.

He said his trial in the government-controlled court was "meaningless".

Amnesty International called the trial, which commenced last August, a "cruel farce", adding that it was "inconceivable that he will receive a fair hearing in what is a politically motivated prosecution."

Mr Wu has remained unrepentant in his refusal to co-operate with the authorities.

The court said the case involved state secrets, meaning that the trial was even more restricted than usual, and state security police held his father, Xu Xiaoshun, in his hometown in the eastern province of Fujian, according to a Twitter account that has issued statements from Mr Xu.

Meanwhile, another lawyer, also charged in the crackdown, Xie Yang, has been found guilty of "subversion". He had represented citizens who had sued local governments.

Mr Xie was told that he would not be jailed after denying that he had been tortured while in custody, despite previously claiming that he had been. Reading from a handwritten script in Changsha, in the southern Hunan province, he thanked the court for its "lenient treatment".

Amnesty International said: "Carrying out unfair trials and politicised sentencing of human rights defenders at the very time when diplomats, journalists, international observers and the general public are less likely to be able to respond reeks of a cynical political calculation." ( Daily Telegraph, London)
South Korea predicted yesterday that North Korea would look to open negotiations with the United States next year in an optimistic outlook for 2018, even as Seoul set up a specialised military team to confront nuclear threats from the North.

The UN Security Council unanimously imposed new, tougher sanctions on reclusive North Korea on Friday for its recent intercontinental ballistic missile test, a move the North branded an economic blockade and act of war.

"North Korea will seek negotiation with the United States, while continuing to pursue its effort to be recognised as a de facto nuclear-possessing country," South Korea's Unification Ministry said in a report, without offering any reasons for its conclusion.

The South's Ministry of Defence said it would assign four units to operate under a new official overseeing North Korea policy, aimed to "deter and respond to North Korea's nuclear and missile threat".

Tensions have risen over North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes, which it pursues in defiance of years of UN Security Council resolutions, with bellicose rhetoric coming from both Pyongyang and the White House.

US diplomats have made clear they are seeking a diplomatic solution but President Donald Trump has derided talks as useless and said Pyongyang must commit to giving up its nuclear weapons before any talks can begin.

In a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency, North Korea said the United States was terrified by its nuclear force and was getting "more and more frenzied in the moves to impose the harshest- ever sanctions and pressure on our country".

China, the North's lone major ally, and Russia both supported the latest UN sanctions, which seek to limit the North's access to refined petroleum products and crude oil and its earnings from workers abroad, while on Monday Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying called for all countries to ease tension.

Yesterday, Beijing released customs data indicating China exported no oil products to North Korea in November, apparently going over and beyond UN sanctions.

China, the main source of North Korea's fuel, did not export any gasoline, jet fuel, diesel or fuel oil to its neighbour last month, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.

China also imported no iron ore, coal or lead from North Korea in November.

In its 2018 forecast, South Korea's Unification Ministry said it believed the North would eventually find ways to blunt the effects of the sanctions.

"Counter-measures will be orchestrated to deal with the effects, including cuts in trade volume and foreign currency inflow, lack of supplies, and reduced production in each part of the economy," the report said.

The latest round of sanctions was prompted by the November 29 test of what North Korea said was an intercontinental ballistic missile that put the US mainland within range of its nuclear weapons.

Satellite

The 'Joongang Ilbo Daily' newspaper, citing an unnamed South Korean government official, reported yesterday that North Korea could also be preparing to launch a satellite into space.

Experts have said such launches are likely aimed at further developing the North's ballistic missile technology, and as such would be prohibited under UN resolutions.

The North Korean 'Rodong Sinmun' newspaper said on Monday that "peaceful space development is a legitimate right of a sovereign state".

North Korea regularly threatens to destroy South Korea, the United States and Japan, and says its weapons are necessary to counter US aggression.

The United States stations 28,500 troops in the South, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.

It regularly carries out military exercises with the South, which the North sees as preparations for invasion.
Retail experts are calling for taxes to be reformed as nearly 50 shops a week are disappearing from the high street while online rivals are flourishing

Nearly 50 shops are vanishing every week from the high street and more will be forced out of business unless taxes are reformed to cover online retailers, experts have warned.

The burden of sky-high business rates  which have soared since the controversial revaluation on April 1  is seen as contributing to the plight of bricks-and-mortar retailers while online rivals are flourishing.

Figures from ratings adviser Altus Group show that 44 shops a week have either been demolished or converted into homes or other types of use.

Its research has found that, in the seven years since the last rates revaluation, 15,856 shops across England and Wales have shut.

The shop count stood at 430,360 in April 2010, but this had dropped by 3.68% to 414,504 just seven years later.

But while shopkeepers have been hit with surging business rates in many areas across England and Wales, online sellers are not facing the same pressures.

It was reported earlier this year that online retail giant Amazons nine distribution centres in England and Wales would benefit from a 148,000 cut in business rates from April to 11.3 million, despite the companys annual sales in this country soaring to 7.3 billion.

Professor Joshua Bamfield, director at the Centre for Retail Research, warned that historic forms of taxation are hobbling physical stores and giving the advantage to online retailers.

He said: If we want to maintain a variety of forms of competitive retail enterprise, from small stores to large big box and department stores serving villages, towns and big cities, we need to ensure that property and company taxes do not consistently penalise physical shops in favour of e-commerce.

He called for urgent action, while Altus said an online sales tax could be used to offer rates relief to high street stores.

Alex Probyn, president of UK business rates at Altus, said: An online sales tax might be used to level the playing field, but it does not belong within a system based largely on rental values.

An online sales tax, for example, should not be seen as a generator of additional income, but revenue could be ring-fenced and used to provide additional relief for traditional bricks-and-mortar retailers.
Members of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent help a woman with a baby get inside an ambulance during an evacuation of sick people from eastern Ghouta, near Damascus (SANA via AP)

An evacuation of critically ill Syrians trapped in a rebel-held suburb near the capital Damascus is under way.

The International Committee for the Red Cross said the evacuation is taking place following reports that conditions in the area had reached alarming levels.

Activists said the evacuation from eastern Ghouta began late Tuesday, when five patients left the area.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), partnering with the local Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) , are handling the evacuations.

SARC spokeswoman Mona Kurdi said they arrived in hospitals in government-controlled Damascus.

The Army of Islam, a prominent rebel group in eastern Ghouta, said 29 critically ill residents will be evacuated as part of a deal that was conditional on it releasing an equivalent number of captives it held.

As part of the nearly seven-year conflict, the government recently tightened its siege on the suburb, home to nearly 400,000 people.

The United Nations said the government had refused to allow hundreds of critically ill to reach hospitals only minutes away and blocked trucks filled with humanitarian relief.

Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said his government is working with Russia to try to evacuate some 500 people from eastern Ghouta, including about 170 women and children, who are in urgent need of humanitarian or medical assistance.

Turkey is a leading supporter of the Syrian opposition, while Russia is allied with President Bashar Assad.

Images of children with severe malnutrition and reports of civilians dying because of a lack of treatment hung over recent UN-led talks for peace in Geneva.

According to the UN, roughly one in eight children are malnourished in eastern Ghouta - a jump from one in 50 in May.

In a recent report, the ICRC said the conditions have reached a critical point.

"No military or political gains could justify this amount of suffering," ICRC Middle East director Robert Mardini said earlier this month.

Rights groups have accused the government of committing war crimes by using sieges as a tactic to starve the local population and force rebel groups to surrender.

Earlier this month, the UN said 12 people had died waiting for medical evacuation from eastern Ghouta. Their names were on a UN-drawn list submitted to the government six months ago.

Eastern Ghouta was one of the early suburbs to fall to rebel control following protests against the Syrian government. It has been besieged by the government since 2013, but tunnels and smuggling have kept basic foods and medical supplies flowing.

The government tightened the noose earlier this year, amid its successive military victories against armed opponents elsewhere in Syria.

But a political agreement to end the conflict remains elusive.

On Wednesday, Russia's foreign minister said a Moscow-proposed peace congress scheduled for next month is crucial for reaching a settlement in Syria.

Sergey Lavrov said the Russian effort will not hamper separate UN-led talks, also expected to resume next month.

Mr Lavrov's statement on Wednesday comes a day after several dozen Syrian opposition groups issued a series of statements saying the talks in Russia's Sochi next month are an attempt to "circumvent" the UN-led peace process.

Mr Lavrov, who was meeting with Syrian opposition leader Ahmad Jarba on Wednesday, told Russian news agencies that the Sochi congress would lay the groundwork for UN-led talks.

The Russian minister said Russia's goal is to bring together the largest number of opposition groups possible to help launch constitutional reform in the war-torn country.

The Syrian government is supportive of the Sochi process.

ICRC spokeswoman Ingy Sedky said: "There are many more people who need to be evacuated. We hope this will be only the beginning."

The evacuees included three children as young as one.

The patients, who travelled with family members, needed immediate treatment for such things as cancer and kidney failure.

Some patients may not be able to leave eastern Ghouta for government-controlled areas, because they either fear conscription into the army or detention for having lived or worked in opposition areas.
Rescuers arrive at a tourist ship in Germany (Marcel Kusch/dpa via AP)

A tourist ship has struck a road bridge on the Rhine river in western Germany.

Police said 25 people were injured.

The Swiss Crystal, which had 129 people on board, hit a pillar of the bridge near Duisburg.

The water level was high at the time and the pillar is usually on land, news agency dpa reported.

The ship was heading downstream on the last leg of a Rhine tour starting and ending in the Dutch city of Arnhem. It set off on December 22.

Another ship took the 103 passengers, most of them Dutch, and 26 crew members to Duisburg.

Police said four people with more serious injuries were released from hospital on Wednesday.

The bridge was closed for several hours as a precaution, but structural engineers cleared it to reopen after carrying out checks.

AP
By PTI: Malda(WB), Dec 27 (PTI) Huge quantity of adulterated mustard oil was seized from a factory at Kajladighi village in Malda district today and four persons arrested in this connection, police said.

The Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) of Chanchal, Debasis Chatterjee raided the factory and seized around 2500 tins of adulterated mustard oil, they said.

Four persons have been arrested in this connection, Inspector-in Charge of Chanchal police station, Sukumar Mishra said.

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The factory has been sealed, Mishra said. PTI COR RG

--- ENDS ---
Tesco has apologised to customers after reports of "rotten" turkeys this Christmas

Tesco has apologised after customers in the UK complained the turkey they bought for their Christmas dinner was "rotten" or "gone off".

The supermarket's social media feeds were bombarded by angry customers who claimed the centrepiece of their festive meal was either inedible or had made people ill.

Among them was Kirsten Shore, an events manager from Stafford, who said she was "devastated" that her Christmas meal was ruined.

She tweeted: "Thanks @Tesco for selling me a gone off turkey & wrecking my 1st xmas day cooked at my home! 250 wasted, an awful meal and 8sick people!"

Thanks for ruining Christmas dinner @Tesco In date fresh turkey roast in tin breast gone off. No Christmas dinner for us this year. Raiding freezer for turkey replacement, @BirdsEye chicken chargrill currently in pole position. #HouseStinksOfRottenTurkey #ChristmasDinnerRuined pic.twitter.com/L3cykKAl4l  Craig Spooner (@CraigSpooneruk) December 25, 2017

The 29-year-old, who alongside her husband Dan was hosting their first family Christmas, said they realised something was wrong when they tasted the turkey and the gravy made from the giblets.

She said: "My mum bought the turkey and prepared it and we put it in the fridge. Then we cooked it and I was so proud of it.

"It seemed fine and we sat down at the dinner table and everybody seemed a bit quiet.

"I took a mouthful of turkey and spat it out. It tasted of bleach and everyone else realised the reason everything was a bit funny was because the gravy was made from the giblets.

@Tesco Have not had a reponse to my message dated Xmas Eve 24th Dec about my gone off turkey,Please assist pic.twitter.com/Wy3W000AQf  Maria Savva-Chirambo (@ChiramboMaria) December 26, 2017

"It's almost like they've washed the turkey in bleach - it was awful.

"It cost me 250 to buy everything and we had to chuck everything away."

She said she is yet to hear from Tesco since she messaged them on Christmas Day and wanted an apology.

"I'm not going to lie, I know it sounds ridiculous, but it broke my heart - it ruined the day," she said.

"From just one mouthful we've all been really ill."

Tesco apologised to Maria Savva-Chirambo after she tweeted: "@Tesco Have not had a reponse to my message dated Xmas Eve 24th Dec about my gone off turkey,Please assist."

A member of the supermarket's social media team replied: "Hi Maria I'm very sorry your turkey was off and I can understand how disappointing this would be. Can you send us a DM confirming your full name, address, postcode and email address you log into your account with? 1/2"

Other complaints included those from Craig Spooner, who tweeted: "Thanks for ruining Christmas dinner @Tesco In date fresh turkey roast in tin breast gone off. No Christmas dinner for us this year. Raiding freezer for turkey replacement, @BirdsEye chicken chargrill currently in pole position. #HouseStinksOfRottenTurkey #ChristmasDinnerRuined."

And Craig Taylor, who vented: "@Tesco well thank you for ruining my Christmas dinner with the rotten turkey you sold us!! Absolutely disgusting smell can't get rid of it. stored correctly and now have no turkey for Xmas."

A Tesco spokesman said: "We've sold hundreds of thousands of great quality British turkeys this Christmas.

"We have exceptionally high standards so we will look to address the small number of complaints in recent days.

"We will get in touch with each customer so we can investigate how these instances may have happened."

A Tesco Ireland spokesperson said: All turkeys sold in Tesco stores in Ireland, fresh and frozen, are 100pc Irish and Bord Bia approved. There has a small number of complaints from customers in the UK about British turkeys sold, out of the hundreds of thousands of turkeys sold by Tesco UK this Christmas, and our colleagues in Tesco UK will now investigate these instances.
Police stand at the entrance of a supermarket, after an explosion in St.Petersburg (Dmitri Lovetsky/AP)

At least 10 people have been injured by an explosion at a supermarket in St. Petersburg, Russian officials say.

The Investigative Committee, the nation's top investigative agency, said a device containing 200 grams of explosives went off at a storage area for customers' bags on Wednesday.

No one has claimed responsibility for the explosion at a branch of the Perekrestok supermarket chain in the city's northwest Kalininsky district.

Alexander Klaus, the chief of the local branch of the Investigative Committee, said 10 people were in hospital with injuries.

A criminal investigation has been launched.

Viktoria Gordeyeva, who walked past the supermarket shortly after the explosion, said people were afraid to enter other stores in the area.

"There was no panic, but people were reluctant to enter a nearby drug store and a grocery store," she said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin telephoned US President Donald Trump earlier this month to thank him for a CIA tip that helped thwart a series of bombings in St. Petersburg earlier this month.

The Federal Security Service, or FSB, said seven suspects linked to the Islamic State group were arrested in connection to the alleged plot.

The Kremlin said the arrested suspects had planned to bomb St. Petersburg's Kazan Cathedral and other crowded sites.

In April, a suicide bombing in the St. Petersburg's subway left 16 people dead and wounded more than 50.

Andrey Kibitov, a spokesman for St Petersburg's governor, later tweeted that the injured were in satisfactory condition and one had been discharged from hospital.

While officials stopped short of branding the explosion as a terror attack, the National Anti-Terrorism Committee that oversees anti-terror efforts in Russia said it was co-ordinating the search for suspects.
A British woman accused of smuggling painkillers into Egypt has been jailed for three years, her family has said.

Shop worker Laura Plummer (33), from Hull, was arrested after she was found to be carrying 290 tramadol tablets in her suitcase, a painkiller which is legal in the UK but which is banned in Egypt.

Ms Plummer's family, who have described her as "naive", said she was taking the tablets for her Egyptian partner Omar Caboo, who suffers from severe back pain.

The family said her lawyers lodged an immediate appeal.

Ms Plummer appeared in court on Christmas Day but the judge adjourned the case for a day because of her condition.

On Monday she sobbed in the courtroom in Hurghada after she became overwhelmed with emotions and accidentally pleaded guilty to the offence.

She has insisted the tablets were for her Egyptian partner Omar Abdel Aziz (31), known as 'Caboo', who suffers from chronic back pain.

She said she was unaware the drug, which is legal in the UK, was banned in Egypt.

The Plummer family has previously said Ms Plummer had no idea that what she doing was illegal and was just "daft".

They said she did not try to hide the medicine, which she had been given by a friend, and she thought it was a joke when she was pulled over by officials after arriving for a holiday with her partner.

Roberta Sinclair said her daughter was being held in terrible conditions in a communal cell with no beds, sharing with up to 25 other women.

Ms Plummer is being held in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada, where she was arrested at the airport on October 9. Her family had been told that she could face up to 25 years in jail, with one lawyer even mentioning the death penalty.

Sister Rachel Plummer said her mother was "devastated" by the sentence.

She said the family were trying to find out more details about what happened in the courtroom yesterday.

She said: "My mum's obviously devastated.

"She's out there by herself."

She added that she did not know when the appeal would be heard.

She said: "We're just hoping. Even half of that would be better. Anything less than three years.

"She doesn't deserve that."

Mr Dia al-Bassal, Ms Plummer's lawyer, said there was a lack of criminal intent because she was unaware that the pills were banned in Egypt. He said the court could also not prove she brought them into the country to sell them.

"It's not logic that a British citizen would trade five boxes of tramadol. The ticket she brought to come to Egypt cost more than the value of the tramadol she was caught with," Mr Bassal said.
Jerusalem's Western Wall could soon be accessed from a station named after Donald Trump

Israel's transport minister is pushing ahead with a plan to dig a railway tunnel under Jerusalem's Old City, which will end at the Western Wall with a station named after US President Donald Trump.

The tunnel will pass close to sites holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims.

Yisrael Katz's plan, currently in the initial stages, involves constructing two underground stations and excavating more than two miles of tunnel beneath downtown Jerusalem and under the politically sensitive Old City.

The project would extend Jerusalem's soon-to-open high-speed rail line from Tel Aviv to the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray.

The route will run close to - but not directly under - the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where tradition holds that Jesus was crucified and buried, and a contested holy site known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.

Previous excavations by Israel near the holy site - the spiritual epicentre of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - have sparked violent Palestinian protests.

Because of those sensitivities, the proposal will likely meet with heavy resistance from the Palestinians, neighbouring Arab countries and the international community.

Mr Katz, a senior Cabinet official who also serves as Israel's intelligence minister, is a close ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and is seen by many as his likely eventual successor as head of the Likud party.

Transportation ministry spokesman Avner Ovadia said the project, if approved, would take four years to complete.

Mr Katz's office said the minister advanced the plan in a recent meeting with Israel Railways executives, and has fast-tracked it in the planning committees.

Mr Katz said a high-speed rail station would allow visitors to reach "the beating heart of the Jewish people - the Western Wall and the Temple Mount". He proposed naming the station after Mr Trump "for his brave and historic decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital" earlier this month.

Mr Trump's announcement has enraged the Palestinians and much of the Muslim world.

The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution last week condemning the move, with several traditional American allies breaking with Washington to vote in favour of the motion.

Israel captured east Jerusalem, which includes the Old City, in 1967, and annexed it in a move not recognised internationally.

The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, and a longstanding international consensus holds that the fate of the city should be decided through direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

Ikrema Sabri, a senior Muslim cleric in Jerusalem, denounced the planned train line extension, saying that Palestinians will not accept "any change or act in the occupied territories".

He said that "giving the name of Trump to this project will not give it any legitimacy. It would be just another implementation of the unacceptable decision of President Trump to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel".

Digging railway tunnels to the Western Wall would also entail excavating in Jerusalem's Old City, where religious and political sensitivities - as well as layers of archaeological remains from the city's 3,000-year history - could make for a logistical and legal quagmire.

AP
Luis Elizondo felt the Pentagon was being too secretive about UFOs.

Earth may well have been visited by UFOs, the former head of a secret US government programme has revealed.

Luis Elizondo said the existence of supremely advanced unidentified aircraft, using technology that did not belong to any nation, had been "proved beyond reasonable doubt".

Until two months ago, from his office on the fifth floor of the Pentagon, Mr Elizondo, a career intelligence officer, ran the innocuously named Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Programme (AATIP), which was funded with $22m (18m) in "black ops money" from Congress. The existence of the real-life X-Files department, which began in 2007, was revealed last week and confirmed by the Pentagon.

In an interview, Mr Elizondo said much of what he could discuss was still classified. That included whether his team had examined UFO sightings in other countries.

"I'm not at liberty to discuss that," he said. "But we took a very comprehensive approach. Nothing was too small to investigate."

He added: "In my opinion, if this was a court of law, we have reached the point of 'beyond reasonable doubt'. I hate to use the term UFO but that's what were looking at.

"I think it's pretty clear this is not us, and it's not anyone else, so one has to ask the question where they're from."

The exact number of UFO sightings investigated, and witnesses interviewed, is also classified but Mr Elizondo said there had been "lots".

Geographical "hotspots" emerged during the investigations, sometimes near nuclear facilities and power plants.

Common factors between the movements of separate unidentified objects had also been identified by the Pentagon team.

"It was enough where we began to see trends and similarities in incidents," he said.

"There were very distinct observeables. Extreme manoeuvrability, hypersonic velocity without a sonic boom, speeds of 7-8,000mph, no flight surfaces on the objects. A lot of this is backed with radar signal data, gun camera footage from aircraft, multiple witnesses.

"There was never any display of hostility but the way they manoeuvred, in ways no one else in the world had, you have to be conscious something could happen."

After the existence of the secret programme was revealed this week, attention focused on the release of footage of an unidentified object off San Diego in 2004.

Commander David Fravor, a US navy pilot flying an FA-18 near the object, described seeing a "white Tic Tac, about 40ft long with no wings" which was "something not from the Earth".

Hero

Mr Elizondo said Commander Fravor was a "national hero" for speaking out.

He said: "The social stigma about this is unbelievable, it's very challenging. There are many other Commander Fravors out there who have come forward [to us], but he's brave enough to discuss his experience publicly."

Mr Elizondo said he had no preconceived ideas when he took the helm of the Pentagon programme, but later became convinced by what he saw.

"We [career intelligence officers] tend to be sceptics by nature. For some of us working on it the time came as an 'Aha!' moment, for others it was a slow progress towards the realisation that these are probably not any type of aircraft in any national inventory.

"I don't want to pre-suppose where they're from. We were looking at two things: What is it? How does it work?

"As to who's behind the wheel, and why is it here, that will fall into place. I think it's pretty clear it's not us, and it's not anyone else.

"What we were trying to do was basically take the voodoo out of voodoo science."

He refused to confirm or deny whether any technology had been recovered from any of the objects investigated.

However, buildings were modified by a private contractor in Nevada as a place to store anything discovered linked to the UFO incidents.

Witnesses to UFO sightings were also examined to see if there had been any physical effects on them. Mr Elizondo said his team had developed theories about what was propelling the objects. "There are some tell-tale clues," he said.

"We are getting to how it works, that's a significant step."

Despite the Pentagon saying funding for AATIP ended in 2012, Mr Elizondo said his team's UFO work carried on for another five years.

"When you're given a mission, you guard your post until you're relieved of responsibility, and that never came for us," he said.

"There was an expectation that you continue to do what you're doing."

He eventually resigned in October, frustrated at excessive secrecy surrounding the programme.

In a resignation letter to Jim Mattis, the US defence secretary, he wrote: "Why aren't we spending more time and effort on this issue?

"There remains a vital need to ascertain capability and intent of these phenomena for the benefit of the armed forces and the nation."

Mr Elizondo said: "I'd say bolster the programme. We want Nasa to find life on different planets, but we have highly educated pilots here and they're seeing something they can't understand." ( Daily Telegraph, London)
A man who admitted to raping a child for nearly a decade told her to get over it when she confronted him on social media as an adult, police said.

Ronnie Lynn Gipson, 45, apparently admitted to initiating sexual contact with the girl from when she was 4-years-old until she was 12.

The Arkansas native would allegedly use the code do you want to play when he wanted to engage with sexual activity with the child.

His victim, who now serves in the Air Force, recently reported the abuse and on request of investigators confronted Gipson on social media.

During the exchange he apparently told her to get over it and it is done, the Kansas City Star reported.

Following his arrested, Mr Gipson allegedly admitted to raping the woman when she was a child, telling police that it began she was three or four.

He is said to have told officers that he did not have intercourse with her until she turned 8, according to the River Valley Leader.

Currently held on a $500,000 (420,000) bond, Mr Gipson faces a minimum sentence of 25 years in prison and a maximum of life.

He has been ordered to have no contact with his victim whatsoever.
Prosecutors in South Korea have demanded a 12-year prison term for Samsung's jailed billionaire heir, Lee Jae-yong, who maintained his innocence during an appeal against his conviction on bribery and other charges.

In August, a lower court sentenced Lee to five years in prison for offering bribes to former South Korean president Park Geun-hye and her confidante while Park was in office.

Both Lee and prosecutors, who earlier had requested a 12-year prison term, appealed against that ruling.

Prosecutors said during Lee's appeal hearing that they still want Lee to receive 12 years in prison, according to the Seoul High Court.

South Korea's Yonhap News Agency cited the court as saying it will issue a ruling on Lee on February 5.

If the court's ruling is appealed against again, either by Lee or prosecutors, his case will be handed over to the Supreme Court, which will make a final ruling on him.

Lee's bribery case is part of a huge political scandal that led to the ousting of Park in late March after millions of South Koreans took to the streets for anti-government rallies for months.

Samsung, founded by Lee's grandfather, is one of the key family-run South Korean conglomerates that have dominated the country's economy.

Some credit them with leading South Korea's export-driven economy and rebuilding its economy from the ashes of the 1950-53 Korean War, but others allege their successes were only possible because of corrupt, collusive ties with government officials.

"It was a typical case showing cosy, collusive ties between government and businesses," special prosecutor Park Young-soo said during Wednesday's court session, according to South Korean media.

Lee, who was convicted of embezzlement, hiding assets overseas and perjury, repeated a denial of the charges, according to his lawyers.

Lee, whose official title is vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, took a higher-profile role after his father and Samsung chair Lee Kun-hee suffered a heart attack in 2014.

Samsung is the world's largest maker of smartphones, television sets and microchips.

AP
Rochelle Carlotti, 28, digs snow near her home in Erie (Greg Wohlford/Erie Times-News via AP)

Forecasters in the US warned of sub-zero arctic air and dangerously cold wind chills across much of the country as snow continued to pile up in one city which already has nearly 63ins on the ground.

A storm in Erie, Pennsylvania, brought 34ins of snow on Christmas Day, an all-time daily snowfall record, and another 24.5ins by Tuesday night.

More than 62.9ins have fallen on the city since December 23, with an additional 2-4ins predicted on Wednesday.

The city issued a snow emergency, citing "dangerous and impassable" roads, and asked residents to stay off the streets.

State police and the state's department of transportation urged people to avoid travel, citing poor visibility and deteriorating conditions.

Erie county executive Kathy Dahlkemper declared a disaster emergency to allow "needed resources to be obtained".

Wind chill advisories or warnings are in effect for all of North Dakota and Wisconsin, as well as large areas of South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan and Indiana.

Wind chill advisories were also in effect for parts of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and New York.

Meteorologists warn frostbite is possible with as little as 30 minutes of exposure.

In Millcreek, outside Erie, it took Kathleen Palkovic and her 23-year-old son two hours to dig out so she could make it to her waitressing job.

The five-mile drive to Dave's Diner in downtown Erie took an hour. Mrs Palkovic, 62, and the cook opened the restaurant at a little after 6am in single-digit temperatures.

"We're dedicated people, I guess," she said.

Snow ploughs descended on the Erie area and Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf sent 21 National Guard troops driving Humvees and other such vehicles to help with the emergency response and transport essential emergency services and hospital employees.

Ms Dahlkemper said things were under control as well as could be expected, considering the heavy snowfall.

"We're used to a lot of snow here in Erie, but this is unprecedented, the amount we got," she said.

The timing was good, since people were off the streets and staying home for Christmas, giving ploughs more space to clear streets, she added.

Emergency calls have been relatively slow and, with streets in relatively good condition, the big task now is digging out cars and driveways, Ms Dahlkemper said.

Weather also was being blamed for a Kansas accident that killed four people after the pickup truck they were in fell off a bridge on Interstate 70.

In New York communities near Lake Ontario's eastern end, including Redfield and Boylston, road crews were trying to move five feet of snow that has fallen since Christmas Day. Other towns in western New York east of Lake Erie also received heavy snow.
The Chamber in association with Global Change Program, Jadavpur University, Kolkata brought forth the publication, which has been published by Springer.

The Editorial Board included Deb A Mukherjee, Vice President and Chairperson, Energy and Environment Committee, The Bengal Chamber; Dr. Sudipta De, Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Jadavpur University and Key Resource Member, Energy and Environment Committee, The Bengal Chamber; Prof. Santanu Bandyopadhyay, Department of Energy Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay; and Dr. Mohsen Assadi, Professor, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Stavanger

The chapters in the publication feature advanced case studies and thought papers in the realm of Transformational Energy. International experts have addressed energy sustainability from different viewpoints.

There are also studies on sustainability of energy in India against global perspectives.

Prof. Ajoy Kumar Ray, Director, IIEST, Kolkata present at the program said that most institutions need an industry committee to bridge Industry and Academia and only an united effort can usher in prosperity.

Energy is a vital component for modern civilization and often per capita consumption of energy is considered as the index of life standard of people of a country. The book has also discussed in detail the challenges regarding supplying energy for a decent living, at an affordable price and in an environment-friendly way.

The Chamber believes that its role goes beyond being the vanguard of industry and business. It also has to play an important role in enriching the academia as the contributions from the academia would, in turn, facilitate the industry with intellectual resources.

The BCC&I Knowledge Forum: Bridging the Industry and Academia aims to archive and disseminate knowledge shared by the experts and stakeholders associated with the Chamber.

This forum aims to give shape to an online platform offering knowledge repository which may be accessed and shared, said Deb A Mukherjee.

Dr. Manpreet Singh Manna, Director (PMSSS & SWAYAM), Government of India, All India Council for Technical Education, in his special address, spoke about three important points of energy-generation, conservation and storage. And said this publication was like a combo pack of Make in India and Digital India.

This publication is the first initiative of the BCC&I Knowledge Forum.

Swati Meherishi, Executive Editor, Applied Science and Engineering, Springer spoke about Springer being the largest academic publisher in the world that focused on topics that mattered to society and world at large.

Excerpts from the preface of the first volume of the book:

"With the growing concern for environmental degradation and specifically climate change problem, energy sector all over the world is facing the difficult challenge to meet the ever-increasing energy demand with minimum/no degrading effects on the environment in an economic way. Energy is a vital component for modern civilization and often per capita consumption of energy is considered as the index of life standard of people of a country. Supplying energy for a decent living at an affordable price and in an environment-friendly way is the critical challenge.

Sustainability is the concept of meeting the present demand without compromising the needs of the future generation. Optimum planning of use of natural resources to meet the need of the present as well as future generation is very critical for sustainability. Solutions must be socially and environmentally acceptable as well as economically feasible. Over a long period, fossil fuels were the main source of useful energy for rapid development of human civilization. Technologiesfor using these fuels have matured over a long period and are available at an affordable cost all over the world. However, limited remaining reserves of these fuels have forced energy technologists to explore alternative options. On top of that climate change problem may force us to leave fossil fuels before they leave us. Renewable resources are considered to be only future options of energy in a longer time frame as these are virtually inexhaustible. However, technologies for using different renewable resources are widely varying and most of them are still developing. Economic feasibility as well as social acceptance of these new options has to be checked thoroughly before they can emerge as reliable options for future. Intermittency of most of these resources is another problem. These are to be used when these are available rather than when we need these for our use. Different ways of addressing this challenge are under active investigation including suitable technology development for energy storage and hybridization of different resources available locally etc. Thus solutions may be site specific and no unique solution may be available for the whole world. Removing fossil fuels immediately may not be a feasible solution too as other options are neither capable to meet the huge demand nor their reliability is assured under all possible adverse situations. Also a large capital is already locked in fossil fuel based technologies. A planned smooth phasing out of these technologies is required with development of alternative ones within a specified time frame. This needs proper energy policy with multi level governance. Moreover, suitable change of existing fossil fuel based technologies during this transition is critical, most specifically due to climate change problem. Energy sustainability is a global challenge though many issues of it are site specific. Addressing energy sustainability is thus a global issue as well as local too  staring from a country even up to a small village of that country.

Sustainability of Indian energy sector needs thorough introspection. Presently coal dominates with 54% of installed generation capacity and ~69% in terms of actual power generation. Also most of these coal based power plants are of conventional PF fired with low efficiency. Large transmission and distribution losses with minimum environmental regulation are other limitations of these plants. Hydro power has the next largest share (21% of total installed). Other renewable and nuclear power have steady growth but with some constraints  technological, social, economical and even political. Transport sector is mostly dependent on imported oil with large uncertainty, economical as well as political. Traditional sources of energy also have a good share though decreasing. To have a sustainable plan for Indian energy sector assessment of present scenario and future planning based on this assessment is very urgent.

In two volumes of this book experts from all over the world have addressed energy sustainability from different viewpoints in several articles. Specifically Indian energy sustainability is also explored with a background of this global perspective.

In the introductory chapter Sikdar has reported his perception about the different terminologies, say, and clean, green and sustainable energy. Solar photovoltaic technology is considered to be one of the most widely used renewable technologies worldwide as an alternative to fossil fuel based electricity. Roy discussed this technology starting from the very basic fundamentals up to the most advanced research findings in this field. Integration of intermittent renewable electricity to the conventional grid is a real challenge. Microgrids are considered to be emerging solutions for utilizing different distributed intermittent renewable energies. N.K. Kishore et al. have presented an overview of present status of microgrids. Transmission and distribution losses affect the overall energy efficiency. Lakshmi and Ganguly presented a state of the art review of transition of power distribution systems. Distributed generation is emerging as a sustainable solution in place of large scale fossil fuel based energy systems. Iaria et al. have reported such a system using solar energy. Design of this system has been developed up to the full scale implementation. Unexplored potential of distributed generation in India has been reported by Jana and De. Full utilization of this potential may make a paradigm shift of energy sustainability of India. Delivery of multiple utility with single or multiple inputs is called poly generation. It increases overall energy efficiency with optimal design. A mathematical optimization process using linear programming for such systems has been discussed by Tan and Aviso. Though increasing renewable share is always desired, fossil fuel based electricity will continue to remain as the major source of electricity. Detoxification technology during processing of crude oil has been reported by Jarullah et al. CO2 capture is required to use fossil fuels in power plants in a longer time frame. Different technologies are being developed for this purpose. An overview of state of the art of this technology has been discussed by Maria et al. Prospects of use of algae specifically for this purpose have been discussed by Chowdhury et al. In spite of all challenges, coal plays a critical role for energy sustainability of India. This complex issue is addressed by Bhattacharyya, former chairman of the largest coal producing company of India. Finding new fuels and to use those in innovative ways also adds to future energy sustainability. A chapter on use of gas hydrates has been contributed by Nair et al. Bio fuel is undoubtedly one important option to substitute fossil fuels in future, specifically in transport sector. Several chapters discuss this important issue both from global perspectives as well as in Indian context. Two chapters by Verma and Kishore and another two chapters by Chowdhury et al.; Yadav and Sen discussed different aspects of bio fuels. Energy sustainability cannot be achieved without improving energy efficiency. Building energy efficiency is considered to be a very important issue for future energy sustainability. Two chapters by Azad and Rakshit; Saikia et al. discussed this important issue including Indian context. In the concluding chapter, possible energy efficiency measures in a milk plant of India have been discussed by Srinivasan et al.

Editors thankfully acknowledge the support of experts of different disciplines both as authors and reviewers. The book is the outcome of one of the collaborations (INCP-2014-10086) under the Indo-Norwegian Cooperation Program between the Jadavpur University, India and the University Of Stavanger, Norway. Both coordinators from India and Norway of this collaboration are two editors of this book. Support from industry is specifically acknowledged. The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCC&I), the oldest industry chamber of India was very much supportive to this effort of joint activity by academia and industry. Chamber is also represented by its Vice President as one of the editors of this book. Department of Energy Science and Engineering of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay is one of the pioneering groups of India for higher studies and research of interdisciplinary sustainable energy. One Chair Professor of this Department is also another editor of this book."
By PTI: govts gag order

Srinagar, Dec 27 (PTI) Reacting to the Jammu and Kashmir governments gag order on the use of social media for its employees, IAS officer Shah Faesal today said he would now use code language to update his Facebook account.

"Heard that government employees will be subjected to foot whipping for operating Facebook (account). From now on I will use coded language to update," Faesal, first Kashmiri to top the civil services examination in 2009, wrote on his Facebook page hours after the government issued the gag order.

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The state government had in the order yesterday barred its employees from using their social media accounts for any political activity by amending the conduct rules for them.

According to the regulatory order (SRO), no government employee shall engage in any criminal, dishonest, immoral or notoriously disgraceful conduct on social media which may be prejudicial to the state.

While the gag order was widely condemned on the social media, many users "warned" Faesal that the order might land him in trouble.

Seven hours later, the IAS officer wrote another post in which he called on government employees to observe a certain code of conduct while using social media.

"Jokes apart, government employees must observe a certain code of conduct while using social media. I mean good behaviour, nothing more.

"I have seen some teachers hurling invective, doctors abusing with freedom, officers getting into unsavoury arguments and engineers sharing indecent content, much to everyones embarrassment. This is not acceptable. Even criticism has to be worded politely," the civil servant said. PTI MIJ SRY

--- ENDS ---
Mumbai, Dec 27 (IBNS): The Indian market failed to hold on to its record intra-day high and closed lower on Wednesday, with BSE Sensex down 98.80 points at 33,911.81 and NSE Nifty down 40.70 points at 10,490.80.

Top gainers included Sun Pharma, Tech Mahindra, Dr Reddy's Labs, M&M, HUL, Vedanta and Wipro while ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, UltraTech Cement, L&T, SBI, Bajaj Auto, TCS and HPCL declined.

On Wednesday, Jai Ram Thakur took oath as the chief minister of Himachal Pradesh in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and other senior leaders, according to media reports.

The BJP won 44 of the 68 seats in the recently held state Assembly election, and the party, on Sunday, elected 52-year old Thakur, five-time MLA from Seraj constituency, as the leader of the BJP Legislature party in Himachal Pradesh, after its chief ministerial candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal failed to register a win.
In a recent meeting, Chief Minister of Odisha approved reservation for local students in National Law University, Cuttack (also known as NLU Cuttack and NLU Odisha). The move has been targeted to benefit local students who want to pursue law education. This decision also made the reservation criteria of NLU Odisha in line with some other NLUs.

25% Reservation for Local Students

Odisha CM, Naveen Patnaik, approved the insertion of 25% reservation for local Odisha students in the admission process of NLU Odisha. This is certainly going to be of immense benefit to local students as the institute is amongst the best law institutes across the country.

The move also came into force due to strong demand in the state regarding the reservation. Some major NLUs already proffer reservation for domicile students, primary reason why NLU Odisha had to do the same. Some of the institutes offering reservation to local students include:

a Nalsar University of Law (Hyderabad)

a National Law Institute University (Bhopal)

a West Bengal University of Juridical Sciences (Kolkata)

a Hidayatullah National Law University (Raipur)

a Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law (Patiala)

a Gujarat National Law University (Gandhinagar)

On the matter, Vice Chancellor of NLU Odisha, Professor Srikrishna Deva Rao said, The proposal would have to be discussed after it is placed before the executive body of the university. If implemented, it will take effect from the next academic year, 2019-2020.

NLU Odisha currently has 180 seats for its undergraduate courses, 120 for BA-LLB course and 60 for BBA-LLB course.

60% Marks in Class XII Needed

Apart from the basic domicile criteria that the candidate must be a resident of state Odisha to get the reservation, the state has also imposed a percentage-based criterion as well.

To be eligible for the reservation, aspirants need to have at least 60% marks in Class 12.

CLAT 2018 Dates Released

NLU Odisha offers admission through Common Law Admission Test (CLAT). Recently, CLAT 2018 dates were announced which will be conducted by National University of Advanced Legal Studies (Kochi). CLAT 2017 was conducted by Chanakya National Law University, Patna.

CLAT 2018 registrations will begin on January 1, 2018 and will continue till March 31, 2018. The candidates can apply for the same on the official website. The test date is finalized as May 13, 2018. The results for the test can be expected in the last week of May, 2018.

CLAT 2018 will be conducted in offline mode for admission in UG and PG courses offered by various participating NLUs. The test comprises 200 Multiple Choice Questions to be completed in 2 hours, and the subjects include English, GK, Legal Aptitude, Numerical Ability and Logical Reasoning.

Earlier this year, demand for 50% reservation for local students in NLSIU Bengaluru also emerged. However, the student body of the institute strongly rejected it. Such a decision would have hampered the diversity aspect and would have been against the spirit of the university.

It can be concluded by saying that the move to grant 25% reservation to local students seems a good one to enhance the law education scenario in the state. By keeping a 60% percentage score criterion, the state is also ensuring that only deserving students get the benefit of it.
New York, Dec 27 (IBNS): Popular internet search engine Google on Wednesday decorated its homepage with a doodle to mark Urdu literatures most iconic poet Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan's 220th birth anniversary.

Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan, also known as Mirza Ghalib, was born in north Indian city of Agra on Dec 27, 1797.

He was a prominent Urdu and Persian-language poet during the last years of the Mughal Empire.

He used his pen-names of Ghalib and Asad.

His honorific was Dabir-ul-Mulk, Najm-ud-Daula.

Most notably, he wrote several ghazals during his life, which have since been interpreted and sung in many different ways by different people.

Ghalib, the last great poet of the Mughal Era, is considered to be one of the most popular and influential poets of the Urdu language.

He passed away on Feb 15, 1869 in Delhi.

Google often decorates its homepage with doodles to mark special birthdays, events and dates.


New Delhi, Dec 27 (IBNS) : External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday said that she will make a statement on the Kulbhushan Jadhav issue w in the Lok Sabha on Thursday as a a row erupted over the alleged ill-treatment meted out to the family of the former Indian Navy officer, lodged in Pakistan jail forcing an adjournment of the House till 2 pm, reports said.

"Tomorrow I will be making a statement in the House on this issue," Swaraj told the Lok Sabha.

Earlier, Lok Sabha MPs asked External Affairs Minister to make a statement on this issue and shouted slogans in support of their demand.

Condemning the way Pakistan treated Jadhav's mother and wife, who had gone to a Pakistan jail to meet him, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said, "we should fight for the return of Kulbhushan Jadhav to India."

Shiv Sena's Arvind Sawant said, "Pakistan was unfair to Kulbhushan Jadhav's family...Until Jadhav returns to India, this country should not remain in peace."

India has denounced Pakistan over the treatment of the family of Jadhav, sentenced to death by a Pakistan court for alleged spying, saying they had been harassed during a visit.

The Indian Government has accused Pakistani authorities of, among other things, refusing to return the shoes of the visiting wife of Jadhav after she turned them over to security for the visit.

India said the meeting between Jadhav and his wife and mother in the jail was held in an intimidating atmosphere and questioned why the shoes of his wife were kept back even after the meeting.

Raveesh Kumar, the official spokesperson for the ministry of external affairs (MEA), said under the pretext of security precautions, the cultural and religious sensibilities of family members were disregarded and this included removal of mangal sutra, bangles and bindi, as well as a change in attire that was not warranted by security.

For some inexplicable reason, despite her repeated requests, the shoes of the wife of Jadhav were not returned to her after the meeting, Kumar said.

"The Pakistani press was allowed on multiple occasions to approach family members closely, harass and hector them, and hurl false and loaded accusations about Jadhav," Kumar said.

Jadhav, a former officer in the Indian Navy, was arrested in March 2016 in the Pakistani province of Baluchistan, where there has been a long-running conflict between security forces and separatists, and he was convicted of planning sabotage.

His wife and mother were allowed to see him behind a glass window on December 25, eight months after he was sentenced to death.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said it "categorically rejected" the accusations as "baseless" and called Jadhav "a convicted terrorist and spy, who has confessed to his crimes."

But New Delhi maintains Jadhav is innocent, and it won an injunction from the World Court to delay his execution, arguing he was denied diplomatic assistance during his trial by a military court.
Islamabad, Dec 27 (IBNS) : Rejecting as "baseless" Indias claim that Kulbhushan Jadhavs family was harassed during their meeting in a jail, Pakistan's Foreign Office has said that the former Navy officer's wife was asked to take off her shoes as they appeared suspicious, media reports said.

The Indian baseless allegations and twists that come 24 hours later, about the visit of the wife and mother of Commander Jadhav are categorically rejected, it said in a statement on Tuesday night.

Jadhav met his mother and wife in Islamabad on Monday, their first meeting since his arrest from Balochistan last year on charges of espionage and terrorism.

New Delhi said Pakistan disrespected the cultural and religious sensibilities of Jadhavs family, alleging they were asked to change their clothes, and that his wife was ordered to remove her mangal sutra.

Chetankul Jadhav, the wife of the convicted Indian national, was also asked to take off her shoes.

Geo News quoted the Foreign Office as saying that Chetankul's shoes were taken over after authorities felt "there was something fixed in them."

According to Express News, the foreign office said soles of the wifes shoes were unusually thick. Therefore, she was provided with other footwear.

Her jewellery and other items were returned to her, however, the shoes have been sent to a laboratory for examination.

After returning from Pakistan, the wife and mother of Jadhav met with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

During the December 25 meeting, whose pictures were released by Pakistan, Jadhav was seen sitting behind a glass screen while his mother and wife sat on the other side.

They spoke through intercom for about 40 minutes.

India has denounced Pakistan over the treatment of the family of Jadhav, sentenced to death by a Pakistan court for alleged spying, saying they had been harassed during a visit.

The Indian Government has accused Pakistani authorities of, among other things, refusing to return the shoes of the visiting wife of Jadhav after she turned them over to security for the visit.

India said the meeting between Jadhav and his wife and mother in the jail was held in an intimidating atmosphere and questioned why the shoes of his wife were kept back even after the meeting.

Raveesh Kumar, the official spokesperson for the ministry of external affairs (MEA), said under the pretext of security precautions, the cultural and religious sensibilities of family members were disregarded and this included removal of mangal sutra, bangles and bindi, as well as a change in attire that was not warranted by security.

For some inexplicable reason, despite her repeated requests, the shoes of the wife of Jadhav were not returned to her after the meeting, Kumar said.

"The Pakistani press was allowed on multiple occasions to approach family members closely, harass and hector them, and hurl false and loaded accusations about Jadhav," Kumar said.

Jadhav, who was captured in March last year, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying.

New Delhi maintains Jadhav is innocent, and it won an injunction from the World Court to delay his execution, arguing he was denied diplomatic assistance during his trial by a military court.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday said that she will make a statement on the Kulbhushan Jadhav issue in the Lok Sabha on Thursday as a row erupted over the alleged ill-treatment meted out to the family of the former Indian Navy officer.

Earlier, Lok Sabha MPs asked External Affairs Minister to make a statement on this issue and shouted slogans in support of their demand.
New Delhi, Feb 27 (IBNS) : In what may be seen as a strategic retreat from their parties' virulent attacks on rival leaders which could backfire in future, the BJP and Congress on Wednesday distanced themselves from such acts.

The ball was set rolling by Finance Minister and Leader of the Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley, who attempted to alleviate the government-Congress impasse over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's comments about ex-PM Manmohan Singh and Pakistan, saying the BJP holds the latter in "high esteem."

"The Prime Minister's statements did not question, nor meant to question the commitment to this nation of either former PM Manmohan Singh or Former VP Hamid Ansari," Jaitley said, referring to a speech delivered by PM Modi during the Gujarat election campaign in which he insinuated that Singh and Ansari had secretly with Pakistani officials.

"Any such perception is erroneous, we hold these leaders in high esteem, as well as their commitment to India," Jaitley said in the Rajya Sabha.

Modi's comment made at a rally before the Gujarat elections raised a storm, prompting the Congress to demand the PM's apology and stall proceedings in Parliament for six consecutive days.

Acknowledging Jaitley's clarification and as if reciprocating a truce offer, the leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha and Congress MP Gulam Nabi Azad said, "We respect the sentiment expressed by leader of the house (Jaitley)."

"From our party, I can also say that we also don't believe to demean the post of Prime Minister. So we totally disassociate ourselves with statement or comment made against PM during election, there is no scope for any derogatory remarks against PM," Azad said.

Azad's statement was an apparent reference to the remark of now-suspended Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar, who called PM Modi a "neech kisam ka aadmi (lowly person).

Aiyer's comment too was made at a campaign rally ahead of the Gujarat Assembly elections.

It was Aiyer, who had hosted a dinner in honour of few Pakistani diplomats and officials. This gave Modi a handle to raise the Pak bogey during his election rhetoric.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was, among others, who attended the dinner.


Patna, Dec 27 (TheBiharPost/IBNS): The state government in Bihar on Wednesday claimed that it had achieved the long-pending daunting task of bringing power to all 39,073 villages in the state.



We are happy to inform that we have achieved the target of electrifying all the villages by the end of 2017. Now we are working overtime to provide free power connections to all the households by December 31, 2018, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar told a function in Patna on Tuesday.

According to him, providing power connections to each village was part of his seven resolves and his government had achieved that.

He claimed his government had come a long way since 2005 when power was a rare thing in many villagers and even the state capital faced severe power cuts.

http://thebiharpost.com
Guwahati, Dec 27 (IBNS): The troops of Dimapur battalion of Assam Rifles under the aegis of HQ IGAR(N) conducted a search operation along with police representative on specific information in general area of Khusiabill village near Dimapur in Nagaland and apprehended a NSCN (IM) militant on Wednesday.



The nabbed militant was identified as self styled Kilnoser R T Tsanglao.

Security personnel recovered one point 22 mm rifle with telescopic sight and one 9 mm pistol along with one magazine each, two empty magazines of point 22 mm pistol, 28 live rounds of different calibers like point 22 mm, 9mm, 5.56 mm and point 32 mm and 13 fired cartridges of point 22 mm and 9 mm.

The aprehendee along with the recovered arms was handed over to Police Station Dimapur East.



(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
New York, Dec 27(Just Earth News): United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday welcomed the signing of a ceasefire between the Government of the Republic of the Congo and a group led by Reverend Pastor Ntumi.

In a statement from his spokesperson, the Secretary-General said he hoped the agreement would lead to a sustainable peaceful resolution of the conflict in the Pool region of the country and the alleviation of the dire humanitarian situation there.

The Pool refers to the Congos oil-producing southern region that includes the capital, Brazzaville. Fighting broke out in April of last year, and has since displaced one out of three people, and exposed residents to alleged human rights violations, including sexual violence and threats.

The Government and Pastor Ntumi signed an agreement on 23 December to cease hostilities in the area.

The UN, in Tuesdays statement, said it stands ready to support the parties in implementing the agreement.

Photo: UNHCR/C.Schmitt

Source: www.justearthnews.com
Brasilia, Dec 27 (IBNS): In a major development, Brazil has declared Venezuela's diplomat in the country-Gerardo Delgado-as a persona non grata.

The move was made just days after Venezuela expelled Brazil's own ambassador to Caracas, Ruy Pereira.

"Explaining its decision, Venezuela said Brazil had acted illegally in impeaching its former left-wing president, Dilma Rousseff," BBC reported.

Canada had earlier announced that it was expelling Venezuelan diplomat from the country and strip his credentials in retaliation for the expulsion of its most senior diplomat from Caracas recently.en

Canada's Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a statement: "The Venezuelan government has announced that Canadas charge daffaires in Caracas has been declared persona non grata and will be expelled from the country. This action is typical of the Maduro regime, which has consistently undermined all efforts to restore democracy and to help the Venezuelan people."

She announced that Venezuela's ambassador to Ottawa Wilmer Barrientos Fernandez has been expelled from the nation.

The Minister said Wilmer Barrientos Fernandez was no longer 'welcome' to Canada.

She also announced Venezuelan charge daffaires, Angel Herrera, persona non grata.

"In response to this move by the Maduro regime, I am announcing that the Venezuelan Ambassador to Canada  who had already been withdrawn by the Venezuelan government to protest Canadian sanctions against Venezuelan officials implicated in corruption and gross human rights abuses  is no longer welcome in Canada. I am also declaring the Venezuelan charge daffaires persona non grata," she said.

She said: "We will continue to work with our partners in the region, including through the Lima Group, to apply pressure on the anti-democratic Maduro regime and restore the rights of the Venezuelan people.

Venezuela had earlier accused Canada of meddling in the internal affairs of the nation.

"Canada has criticised the government of President Nicolas Maduro over its human rights record.More than 120 people were killed during months of anti-government protests earlier this year," BBC reported.

Full text of Canada's Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland statement is given below:

"The Venezuelan government has announced that Canadas charge daffaires in Caracas has been declared persona non grata and will be expelled from the country. This action is typical of the Maduro regime, which has consistently undermined all efforts to restore democracy and to help the Venezuelan people.

Canadians will not stand by as the Government of Venezuela robs its people of their fundamental democratic and human rights, and denies them access to basic humanitarian assistance.

In response to this move by the Maduro regime, I am announcing that the Venezuelan Ambassador to Canada  who had already been withdrawn by the Venezuelan government to protest Canadian sanctions against Venezuelan officials implicated in corruption and gross human rights abuses  is no longer welcome in Canada. I am also declaring the Venezuelan charge daffaires persona non grata.

I would like to especially recognize the exceptional professionalism and dedication of all Canadas staff working in Venezuela.

We will continue to work with our partners in the region, including through the Lima Group, to apply pressure on the anti-democratic Maduro regime and restore the rights of the Venezuelan people.

Image: Wikimedia Commons




By India Today Web Desk: If you were one of those who were dying to catch a glimpse of Meghan Markle's first Christmas with the British Royal Family--which she is soon set to join--you know that the cameras focused on Sandringham did not disappoint. Reporters and photographers from major British publications thronged to the estate in Norfolk to get a couple of good pictures of the Royal Family, especially the "Fab Four": Princes William and Harry, with Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle.

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But the photograph of the four that captured the attention of the world was not taken by any professional photographer, but by a fan of the Royals who had stood with many others around the St Mary Magdalene church near the Queen's estate to see them passing by. Karen Murdoch, who goes by the name of Karen Anvil on Twitter, went to Sandringham with her daughter, Rachel, and her iPhone.

Also Read: The Queen has officially let Meghan Markle into the family, with her Christmas speech

Karen Murdoch, with her daughter, Rachel, at Sandringham. Picture courtesy: Twitter/Karen Anvil

She clicked and posted the now iconic picture of the "Fab Four", which went viral the moment she posted it. The photo depicts the "Fab Four" looking completely at ease, with smiles on their faces. Harry and Kate are actually looking directly at Murdoch's camera in the picture, which means she somehow got the Royals to make eye contact with her.

By the next day, her image made it to the front pages of the major newspapers in Britain--the Sun, Daily Mail, Mirror, Star, Daily Telegraph and Express. Yes, this woman might just have struck gold, with publications lining up to buy the original photo from her. Murdoch, as recommended by other Twitter users, has already enlisted an agent to help her out with the negotiations. She hopes to be able to earn enough money by selling the photo to finance her daughter's education.

"It's totally mad, it's just been insane," the 39-year-old single mother told the Eastern Daily Press. "Rachel wants to go to work for the NHS in some capacity. I want to save money for my daughter for uni and if I can get that opportunity that's amazing."

Also Read: This is how Meghan Markle's first-ever Christmas lunch with the Queen went

Murdoch, who works at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and describes herself as a Royal geek, said that the photo was the result of "pure luck". "I was there with my daughter and my friend who works with me at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital," she said. "I was just enjoying the moment and screaming a bit," she explained, adding that she's someone who just clicks pictures on her phone, and not a trained photographer.

Wowza! What is happening?!? IA??m so happy you all like the photo. Can I please ask that anyone wishing to use the photo that they please contact Ken Goff at ken@goffphotos.com Thank you all so much for your support... Karen & Rachel :)- Karen Anvil (@Anvilius) December 26, 2017

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While Murdoch herself doesn't know how much money the photo is worth, celebrity photo agent Ken Goff--whom she has recruited--believes the sales could fetch her thousands of pounds. All Murdoch hopes to do, however, is raise 27,000 Pounds for her 17-year-old's university fees for a nursing degree.

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Washington, Dec 27 (IBNS): The U.S. Department of the Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned two individuals in response to North Koreas ongoing development of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their means of delivery in continued violation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs).

"Todays sanctions target key leaders of North Koreas unlawful weapons programs as highlighted in the recently adopted UNSCR 2397 of December 22," read a statement issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

As a result of todays actions, any property or interests in property of those designated by OFAC within U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and transactions by U.S. persons involving the designated persons are generally prohibited.

Treasury is targeting leaders of North Koreas ballistic missile programs, as part of our maximum pressure campaign to isolate the DPRK and achieve a fully denuclearized Korean Peninsula, said Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. These actions follow Fridays United Nations Security Council Resolution, which imposed strong new sanctions on North Korea further shutting down its ability to raise illicit funds.

Relationship between the US and North Korea have touched new low in the year 2017.

Over the year, increasing tension in the region, North Korea had launched a nuclear test and multiple missile launches.

The United States and South Korea, on the other hand, conducted joint military drills this year.

Image: DOnald J Trump Official Facebook page
Image: Wallpaper

London, Dec 27 (IBNS): Former US President Barack Obama has cautioned against the misuse of social media to spread false news.

In an interview to Prince Harry for BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Obama said, "All of us in leadership have to find ways in which we can recreate a common space on the internet."

Prince Harry, who recently got engaged to Hollywood actress Meghan Markle, is one of the guest editors in the programme for its special Christmas episodes.

"One of the dangers of the internet is that people can have entirely different realities. They can be cocooned in information that reinforces their current biases," the former US President said.

"The question has to do with how do we harness this technology in a way that allows a multiplicity of voices, allows a diversity of views, but doesn't lead to a Balkanisation of society and allows ways of finding common ground," he added.

Obama also urged social media users to rest the technology for some time and meet people face-to-face.

"Social media is a really powerful tool for people of common interests to convene and get to know each other and connect," he said. "But then it's important for them to get offline, meet in a pub, meet at a place of worship, meet in a neighbourhood and get to know each other."

"Because the truth is that on the internet, everything is simplified and when you meet people face-to-face it turns out they're complicated," he said.

Quizzed about the challenges of being a President, he said that it's hard and that the loved ones are made vulnerable in a way that wasn't possible 20 or 30 years ago.

"It's hard, being in the public eye is unpleasant in a lot of ways. It is challenging in a lot of ways, he said. "Your loved ones are made vulnerable in ways that might not have been true 20 years ago or 30 years ago."

He also likened his job as a President as that of a relay runner.

"If you ran hard, you did your best and you were able to pass that baton successfully and the world was a little better then you had done your job," Obama said.

Obama also hailed the modern world as more tolerant and less violent, when asked about the future.

He said, "If you had to choose a moment in human history in which you'd want to be born you'd choose today because the fact is that the world is healthier, wealthier, better educated and more tolerant, more sophisticated and less violent."

Talking about his experience, Prince Harry said, "I haven't done that many interviews but it was quite fun, especially interviewing President Obama despite the fact he wanted to interview me. It's been a big learning curve but also these are incredibly important topics we all need to think about and need to be discussed."



Image: Wallpaper
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Hunger is currently one of the most pressing problems of the world. While one half of the population counts calories, the other half is starving. In a bid to help things along, the Dabbawalas of Mumbai have joined hands with former Maharashtra DGP D Sivanandan to provide food for the needy through Mumbai Roti Bank.

ANI

Their aim is to "wage a fight against hunger" through the "Mumbai Roti Bank" platform, reports IndiaToday.

"People and organisations who have excess food to spare can call up a 24x7 helpline (No: 9111891118 | Website: www.rotibankindia.org) and provide the location from where the excess food has to be picked up. We will do the rest," former Mumbai Police commissioner D Shivanandan told IndiaToday

The Mumbai Dabbawala Association has scaled up their efforts with the assistance of Sivanandan, Nitin Khanapurkar and Sweta Mangal.

"Dabbawalas have already been doing it in a small way by collecting excess food from the people and delivering it to the needy, so we have come and joined them actually and created a new NGO called Mumbai Roti Bank complete with a website for it - Rotibankindia.org," Sivanandan said.

Through the website, people can contact them to give Mumbai Roti Bank their excess food and the NGO's van can pick up the food from their doorstep.

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"We are catering to South and Central Mumbai as of now, as we have only one vehicle currently. After two more come, we'll expand to other parts of Mumbai," Sivanandan said, and added, "We have a way of finding out whether the food is stale or not. We have done 'Hunger mapping' to find where food is needed. We also have refrigeration to retain the food."

Subhash Talekar, the spokesperson of Mumbai Dabbawalas Association, said, "We have been providing food to 500 needy people every day from Monday to Friday but with help of new facilities of Mumbai Roti Bank, we will be able to serve at least 1000 people".

The NGO primarily targets hospitals where people come from all over the country but don't have sufficient money or resources.

To donate or report the availability of excess food, you can call 9111891118.

It's extremely heart-warming to see an initiative like this; the sole motive of which is to help alleviate hunger and feed people who can hardly afford a meal a day. It's things like these that remind us that as the so-called dominating species, we are supposed to do much more than just mint money.
Considering how all of us collectively have been obsessing over Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma, the sad news is that their last wedding celebration just happened yesterday, and post that we might not get much glimpses into their personal lives.

Virushka, as they are fondly called, looked like a dream (yes, yet again) at their star-studded Mumbai reception. From Shah Rukh Khan and Ranbir Kapoor to MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh, their friends graced the occasion like it was a big lavish B-town party like no other.

Viral Bhayani

Of course, Virushka danced on the stage like no ones watching, and joining them was the King of romance, Shah Rukh Khan.

Crowd went crazy when SRK entered the venue.

When the Badshaah Khan met Virsuhka, he showered his love upon them. He kissed Anushka's hands and gave a warm hug to Virat Kohli.

SRK recited the iconic Jab Tak Hai Jaan poem, but there was a witty twist.

Then he taught Virushka how to dance on Chaiyya Chaiyya!

And they all showcased their Punjabi side when SRK taught them some cool moves on song Morni Banke!

And there was no stopping after that! Virat and Anushka danced like crazy like there was no tomorrow.

Shaadi Mubarak, Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma! May you both live happily ever after!
A 54-year-old who has been declared an absconder has been arrested by police after being on the run for 14 years from an unusual place - inside a washing machine. The man, identified as Manoj Tiwari was arrested by Azad Maidan police on Monday from his house.

Tiwari's wife made the police wait outside the house for nearly three hours before they could search the residence. Despite searching the house multiple times police failed to find him and was about to leave, when a constable finally managed to find and nab him, hiding under a pile of clothes inside a washing machine.

BCCL/ Representational Image

Police said Tiwari was accused of cheating three people of Rs 1 lakhs in 2002 promising them college admissions. He is also wanted in another Rs 1 crore cheating case in Pune.

Tiwari managed to evade arrest so far by frequently changing his location until police zeroed in on him using his mobile location.
The Parsi community in India is on the verge of extinction.

The 2004 census revealed that there are only 69,000 Parsis in India. In a small, tightly-knit Parsi community, marrying outside is frowned upon, and aggressively downcast. However, this is just an old-fashioned concept, not pertinent in the 21st century.

In Mumbai, which has the maximum Parsi population in India, almost 35% population is married outside of the community. "There are only 60,000 of us in the community. If everyone had to marry a Parsi, two-thirds of the women wouldn't be married," says Shiraz Patodia, lawyer by profession and the face of a battle for a womans right to religion.

While most Parsis are ousted from the community if they marry outside their religion and are barred from entering Fire Temples, a group of over 100 reformist Parsis have inaugurated a Fire Temple in Pune. What sets this temple apart is that it gives recognition to the children of Parsis marrying outside the community as well as allows entry to non-Parsis.

The shrine made on a budget of Rs 2.2 crore is an attempt to end the discrimination meted out to non-Parsi spouses in the community.

BCCL

Noted lawyer Fali Nariman, former advocate general Darius Khambata and industrialist Anu Aga are some of the donors of the temple under the banner of 'Association for Revival of Zoroastrianism'.

The inauguration witnessed a record number of Parsis and non-Parsi spouses and children. Some also flew from abroad.

"We have a gender discrimination issue due to which if any Parsi woman gets married to a non-Parsi, she is not allowed to enter the sacred fire temple. Even their children are not allowed inside the temple," Vispy Wadia, a reformist told PTI.

"When a Parsi man marries outside the community, his children are allowed inside the fire temple, but the spouse is not allowed. When they visit a fire temple, the non-Parsi spouse is made to wait outside the temple," he says.

Vispa Wadia was alarmed by the 2004 census and thats when he decided to do something that would help bring numbers up, in a strong way.

Wadia and his brother got busy collecting funds to build a fire temple. "To end this gender discrimination, we thought we should have our own place of worship, where there is no gender discrimination or any other constraints," he says.

BCCL

Wadia thought that theres an urgent need to have a separate place of worship, where anybody can come in with their heads held high, without any fear, prejudice and discrimination. He firmly believes that orthodox rules are dividing the Parsi families.

Parsi Sisters Fight For The Right To Religion

Goolrukh Gupta and her lawyer sister Shiraz Patodia waged a war against orthodoxy in Zoroastrianism. Ranged against them was the Anjuman Parsi trust of Valsad, Gujarat, which insisted that a woman who married out was no longer welcome in the sacred precincts of the community.

The sisters went to the Supreme Court and thats when the trust backed off. The duo won the right to enter the fire temple and attend funerary ceremonies. In the process, Parsi women, and women everywhere, have got some acknowledgement of their rights.

Both the women moved married non-Parsi men under the Special Marriage Act, decades ago. Their Marwari husbands, children and families are comfortably blended together. The women carry on the habits of their family and this makes their family more of a Parsi than a Hindu.

BCCL

The Special Marriage Act, 1954, is meant precisely for both spouses to retain their identities and not have to convert, points out Patodia.

"We are born to Zoroastrian parents. Our DNA doesn't change because we got married," she says.

The Supreme Court maintained this view while hearing the petition, and eventually passed an order favouring the women on December 14. Their case was bolstered by affidavits from Parsi trusts across the country  Delhi, Mumbai, Kanpur, Kolkata  all of which allow women access.

The Parsi Zoroastrian population in India is diminishing fast and will come down sooner in the years to come because 35% of Parsis are in the age group of 60 and above. In about 20 years, the Parsi population will be somewhere around 20,000, if the same customs continue.

The new fire temple is not just an effort but a ray of hope that would revive the Parsi Zoroastrian population in India.
People are debating about Pakistan's treatment of Kulbhushan Jadhav's wife and mother there is new information emerging that shows how Pakistan media disrespected to helpless women who may never be able to see their beloved again.

Pakistani journalists took a heinous and unacceptable stance when they shouted at Jadhavs family, calling his mother qatil ki maa (mother of a murderer) and since the matter is sub judice under International Court of Justice, it did nothing except for tarnishing their own countrys goodwill gesture.

Indiatimes

Despite all the talks, the episode has ended and Jadhavs family achieved their objective of meeting their loved one. While we know how Indian media covered this meet, lets see how Pakistani media saw and represented this episode, which once again soared the temperature between neighbours.

But first, let's see Pakistan's statement

Pakistan called Indias allegation baseless and said that Jadhavs wifes shoes were confiscated on security ground as there was something in it.

"The Indian baseless allegations and twists, that come 24 hours later, about the visit of the wife and mother of Commander Jadhav, a convicted terrorist and spy, who has confessed to his crimes, are categorically rejected," the statement said.

"If Indian concerns were serious, the guests or the Indian DHC should have raised them during the visit, with the media, which was readily available, but at a safe distance, as requested by India," it said.

AP/ Representational Image

"We do not wish to indulge in a meaningless battle of words. Our openness and transparency belie these allegations," it said. Responding to India's contentions that Jadhav's wife's shoes were not returned to her after the meeting, Foreign Office spokesman Muhammad Faisal told Dawn News that the shoes were confiscated on "security grounds".

"There was something in the shoe (of Jadhav's wife)," Faisal told the daily, adding that the shoe is being investigated.

Geo and Dawn ran shoe story

Geo News and Dawn News focussed on the shoe episode and ran stories on their foreign office spokesperson Mohammed Faisal rejecting Indian claims and clarifying why Pakistani authorities took the shoes of Jadhav's.

Indiatimes

There was something in the shoe. It is being investigated. We gave her a pair of replacement shoes. All her jewellery etc were returned after the meeting, FO spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal was quoted in Dawn.

A majority of the Pakistan media refrained from commenting on the issue except for a couple of opinion pieces in a few dailies.

News Internationals Oped

The News International in its Oped continued calling Jadhav a spy despite ICJ not reaching to any conclusion. Jadhav, "plainly remains a spy and terrorist who has been sentenced to death." The oped postulates that India's statement slamming Pakistan for violating "mutual understanding" was expected.

"It is hard to predict how India would have reacted had they captured a Pakistani spy with similar credentials," the op-ed said.

The Oped quoted Shashi Tharoor who called Jadhav meeting his family a step forward. "It is a step forward... On the other hand, the way in which it all unfolded was deeply unsatisfactory, Tharoor had said.

AP

The Oped says, "One wonders what would men like Mr Tharoor say to mothers, fathers, wives, siblings or children of those killed in activities conceived, coordinated and carried out by men like Kulbhushan Jadhav."

"Doubts were immediately raised in Delhi that the video may have been shot under duress. The credibility of the medical report was questioned too. But Jadhav looked sharp and in shape. India and Indians should have waited before firing the doubt missiles for it was they who did not agree to Jadhavs mother and wife speaking to media and telling their story. Indian officials were also not agreeable to the idea of Indian media being present and possibly asking some painful questions."

The Nation

The Nation in its editorial called the whole saga a cacophony of opinions circling the issue. The paper, however, had a more balanced view. "Ultimately, however, these are all irreconcilable opinions and each can be considered correct if viewed from their subjective angle."

Indiatimes

While India has attacked Pakistan for its backing to terror outfits, the paper used its editorial to hit back at India.

"Jadhav and his multiple confessions are a proof of Indian activities in the region."
India should begin serious homework for a war with Pakistan and tear the country into four pieces, BJP MP Subramanian Swamy said, reacting to the treatment meted out to Kulbhushan Jadhav's family in Pakistan.

By India Today Web Desk: Likening the treatment meted out to jailed Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav's family in Pakistan to "Draupadi's vastraharan", Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Subramanian Swamy called for the Indian government to begin "serious homework" for a war.

The time has come to "wage war against Pakistan [and] to tear it apart into four pieces", the Bharatiya Janata Party MP was quoted saying in Mumbai last evening by news agency PTI. "I don't say that we should do this (declare war) immediately, but we should start doing serious homework for this right now."

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"It's my personal opinion," Swamy, a member of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee on External Affairs, also said as an apparent corollary before saying "it [the personal opinion] often becomes party's opinion also."

Swamy reiterated his submission that Pakistan needs to be torn "into four pieces" when asked about Monday's cross-Line of Control raids carried out by the Indian Army.

The raid was "okay, but for a permanent solution, Pakistan needs to be split," Swamy said, adding that Pakistan is an "envious and vengeful" country and that other nations were likely not to join a conflict in case of an India-Pakistan war.

Swamy's comments came hours after the Ministry of External Affairs in a particularly sharp statement accused Islamabad of creating an "intimidating" atmosphere when Kulbhushan Jadhav's wife and mother went to Pakistan to meet the Indian national.

Jadhav is languishing on death row in Pakistan after being convicted of spying and fomenting terrorism by a military court there. He was allowed to meet his wife and mother on Christmas this year, but the meeting took place in hostile conditions, the MEA said.

Kulbhushan Jadhav's wife and mother meet him in Pakistan

Jadhav's wife Chetankul was made to take off her mangalsutra and even had her footwear taken away, the ministry said. The shoes were never returned while both Chetankul and Avanti, Jadhav's mother, were made to change clothes before meeting Jadhav across a glass screen.

Islamabad, in a late-night statement, rejected the allegations, saying Avanti had "publicly thanked Pakistan for the humanitarian gesture," and this "was recorded by the media." "Nothing more needs to be said," it added.

Swamy, in his comments yesterday, said the treatment "given to the mother and wife of Kulbhushan is akin to Draupadi's vastraharan that resulted in Mahabharat."

This is not the first time the MP, who is known to speak his mind, has called for a war with Pakistan. In October last year, shortly after Indian security forces thwarted an attack on an Indian Army camp in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla, Swamy had said there seemed to be no other way to deal with Pakistan other than "war".

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"There seems to be no other way than a war. Pakistan is mistaking our silence. They need to be taught a lesson," he had said.

(With inputs from PTI)

WATCH | Aap ek qatil ki maa ho: Listen to Pakistan's media humiliating Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother

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The Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India's top intelligence agency has rejected Pakistan's claim that Kulbhushan Jadhav an Indian national who was allegedly arrested from Balochistan on charges of espionage was its spy.

The New Indian Express, quoting a top RAW official reported that Jadhav never worked for the countrys external intelligence agency and was not even remotely connected to the ultra-secret world of spies.

AP

An undercover trained operative never travels with original identity documents, as did Jadhav. He is given complete new identity, a new life. All that we have learned about Jadhavs case goes against the very basic of spycraft," the officer said.

The report also added that RAW has received information from friendly agencies that Jadhav was subjected to extreme torture in Pakistan including waterboarding and Parilla-electric shock to obtain the confessions videos which Islamabad claim is evidence on him.

PTI

The agency also maintains that Jadhav was a civilian businessman and he might have been targeted because of his military background.

Jadhav, a retired Indian Navy officer was arrested in March 2016 for alleged espionage and terrorism.

His arrest was followed by a sham trial by the Pakistani military court, which did not even provide him a lawyer and sentenced him to death in April this year. However, the execution has been stayed by the International Court of Justice after a plea by India.

AP

On Monday, Pakistan allowed his aged mother and wife to meet him, the first time since his arrest.

However, later it came to light that Pakistan harassed the two women asking them to remove their mangalsutra, the bindis on their foreheads and their bangles.
During the last two years, the government collected more than Rs 16,400 crore as Swachh Bharat cess, meant to fund sanitation schemes, but the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has pointed out nearly a quarter of the collection has stayed outside the dedicated fund.

While collections through the 0.5% cess on all services were meant to be transferred to a non-lapsable Rashtriya Swachhta Kosh, over Rs 4,000 crore remained outside the RSK schemes.

Reuters/Representational Image

ALSO READ: India Still Has Highest Number Of People Without Basic Sanitation, Is 'Swachh Bharat' Failing?

CAG said Rs 12,400 crore, around 75% of total collections, was transferred to the RSK and used for identified schemes in the last two years. "The rules stipulated that the resources of RSK were to be distributed in the ratio of 80:20 between Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) and Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban).

However, the ministry of drinking water and sanitation expended the entire amount on Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) without leaving any provision for Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban)," the auditor pointed out on the portion of funds utilised.

The national auditor has said that the experience was similar with other cesses. The CAG has found that in case of six major cesses, where total collections were to the tune of Rs 4 lakh crore till 2016-17, over Rs 1.81 lakh crore, or nearly 45% of the funds collected, remained unutilised and were not transferred from the government's Consolidated Fund of India to the dedicated funds or the intended schemes.

ALSO READ: Here's How Women Of Assam Are Leading The Swachh Bharat Mission To Build Toilets In Every Home

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Opposition parties in Parliament had earlier raised the issue of non-utilisation of cesses and had demanded an explanation from the government for unnecessarily burdening taxpayers with additional levies.

The CAG too, has pointed out that large amounts collected through cess remained unutilised, thus defeating the purpose for which they are created.

In a report tabled in Parliament last week, the CAG has said that against the total collection of Rs 83,497 crore towards the secondary and higher education cess during 2006-07 to 20016-17, nothing was "transferred to the earmarked fund as neither the schemes were identified on which the cess proceeds were to be spent nor the designated fund was created to deposit the proceeds of the cess". The levy collected remained with the consolidated fund of India for the general expenditure of the government.

BCCL/Representational Image

The government had created the research and development cess in 1986. It was to be levied on all imported technology and the fund used to encourage indigenously developed technology.

From 1996-97 to 2016-17, the government collected Rs 7,885 crore as R&D cess but disbursed only Rs 609 crore to the Technology Development Board (TDB), the fund meant to encourage indigenous R&D.

ALSO READ: Swachh Bharat Abhiyan's New Avatar, In Rajasthan You Could Make Rs 2,500 Per Month For Just Using A Toilet Regularly

BCCL/Representational Image

The auditor also examined the cess under central road fund and found that the Centre had collected over Rs 2.43 lakh crore from 2010-11 to 2016-17 but transferred only Rs 1.95 lakh crore to the CRF, with a shortfall of over Rs 48,000 crore.

ALSO READ: Swachh Bharat? 3,574 Local Public Leaders In Andhra Pradesh Have No Toilets In Their Homes
The circus boss who shot dead his escaped tiger on the streets of Paris claimed Saturday the animal's cage had been cut open in a "malicious act".

Eric Bormann killed the one-and-a-half-year-old tigress called Mevy after people spotted her wandering around the French capital's 15th arrondissement on Friday.

AFP

Police questioned Bormann for several hours after the incident, and an investigation has been launched into whether lives were put in danger.

However, the head of the Bormann-Moreno circus claims foul play, and has asked police to investigate.

"I'm the one who takes care of my tigers," Bormann, who also serves as the lion trainer, told AFP.

"There is a whole security protocol to respect with big cats," he said, explaining the animals were in a cage secured by another enclosure.

"In our security protocol, if a beast escapes -- which has never happened in the 40 years I have been in Paris -- it remains locked. It is a cage within a cage."

AFP/Representational Image

Bormann claims on Friday at around 6 pm (1700 GMT), that when he opened a separation door to clean the tigers "a tigress was out because a door, usually locked, was open".

"We suspect a malicious act. There was a chain with a padlock, and the chain was cut."

Two-hundred kilogram (440-pound) Mevy, who had been bottle-fed by Bormann, was gunned down by her ringmaster using the firearm he is required to carry by law within a few minutes of her escape.

He added that the idea of using a tranquillizer gun was quickly ruled out because of the time it takes for the sedatives to work.

The circus, which has several tigers, had just set up and planned to open its doors to the public on December 3.

The Brigitte Bardot Foundation -- named after the actress and animal rights activist -- said it was "scandalised by the slaughter of the tiger" and called on the government to ban the exploitation of animals in circuses.
Male lions, Jose and Liso, were two South American circus lions that were rescued last year and released into a sanctuary in South Africa. They were found dead with their heads and paws cut off. Authorities believe that this wasn't a poaching incident rather a witchcraft-related killing.

getty images

Last year, the lions were among 33 big cats that were rehabilitated at the Emoya Big Cat Sanctuary in Vaalwater, South Africa.

The big cats were among hundreds of animals that were rescued from circuses in Colombia and Peru last year in May, including bears, monkeys, and birds.

getty images

The animals were held captive in deplorable conditions such as dirty cages and were also manhandled as they were found with their teeth broken and claws pulled out by their circus owners in South America, reports The Telegraph.

Authorities are investigating the crime with armed guards stationed at the sanctuary. Everyone at the reserve is devastated by the killings.
Pollution and lack of Environmental Justice in South Vallejo neighborhood nearest to proposed Orcem Americas cement grinding operation top SEIUs list of concerns

VALLEJO, CA  December 28, 2017  Fresh Air Vallejo, the citizens group working together for a healthy environment and economy, today announced that the Service Employees International Union Local 1021 representing over 54,000 employees in local governments, non-profit agencies, health care programs and schools throughout Northern California, has joined Fresh Air Vallejo in opposition to the Orcem/VMT cement factory and port proposed for South Vallejo.Our members value fresh air, good jobs and environmental justice, said Sarah Creighton, a Solano County Eligibility Benefits Specialist. Local 1021 will continue to fight for working families right to a healthy, sustainable future in South Vallejo and across California.The Orcem/VMT project, if approved, would place a cement grinding facility and deep-water port in South Vallejo. Opponents say the project would be too close to homes and a school and would introduce an unacceptable amount of diesel truck traffic and cement dust into South Vallejo, a neighborhood already impacted by pollution.Fresh Air Vallejo wholeheartedly supports SEIU 1021s position in favor of a healthy, vibrant Vallejo and against the pollution and social injustice the Orcem/VMT project would bring to our community, said Peter Brooks, president of Fresh Air Vallejo. We are thrilled that SEIU 1021 has taken a stand against the injustice of putting a cement factory and port into South Vallejo a low-income, minority neighborhood already suffering from the ill effects of industrial pollution.The environmental impact report for the Orcem/VMT project reveals that over 500 big-rig diesel trucks per day could use the facility traveling on a single road through a residential neighborhood. If put into operation, the cement factorys smokestack would be about 1,320 feet from Grace Patterson Elementary School downwind from the proposed facility, said Brooks.With todays announcement, the SEIU Local 1021 joins opponents of the project including the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 10 and the Sierra Club as well as nearly 60 neighborhood groups and Bay Area organizations.###FOR MORE INFORMATION:Timothy Gonzales, Area Director, North Central Region530-604-6465Gabriel Harland, Political Organizer415-717-8305Peter Brooks, President, Fresh Air Vallejo415-425-4225
Cocoa (CC) Retesting 38.2% Fib Retrace of Feb-Sep Slide Tradable Patterns - 1 hour ago Cocoa (CCZ22)s healthy profittaking this week should be slowing going into next week, with CC now testing the 38.2% Fib retrace of the massive bounce off the September low. CC is also back to prior... CCZ22 : 2,428s (-3.00%) NIB : 26.21 (-2.81%)

Asia-Pacific leaders seek unity on war, economic ills, virus AP - Thu Nov 17, 9:31PM CST Pacific Rim leaders are seeking common ground on the war in Ukraine and other dire threats to humankind in an annual meeting that began Friday in Bangkok $SPX : 3,946.56 (-0.31%) $DOWI : 33,546.32 (-0.02%) $IUXX : 11,676.86 (-0.19%)

Elizabeth Holmes faces judgment day for her Theranos crimes AP - Thu Nov 17, 6:55PM CST A federal judge on Friday will decide whether disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes should serve a lengthy prison sentence for duping investors and endangering patients while peddling a bogus blood-testing... $SPX : 3,946.56 (-0.31%) $DOWI : 33,546.32 (-0.02%) $IUXX : 11,676.86 (-0.19%)

Fed official suggests substantial rate hikes may be needed AP - Thu Nov 17, 5:16PM CST The Federal Reserve may have to raise its benchmark interest rate much higher than many people expect to get inflation under control, That's according to James Bullard, who leads the Federal Reserve Bank... $SPX : 3,946.56 (-0.31%) $DOWI : 33,546.32 (-0.02%) $IUXX : 11,676.86 (-0.19%)

Red Thursday for Cotton Barchart - Thu Nov 17, 4:47PM CST Cotton futures closed off their lows on Thursday, but still gave back 122 to 148 points across the front months. New crop cotton ended the day firmer with only 25 to 33 point losses. Cotton bookings from... CTZ22 : 86.49 (-0.63%) CTH23 : 84.50 (-0.91%) CTK23 : 83.49 (-1.07%)
Cyberattacks and the personalised and assertive style of national leaders, are two of the biggest risks facing businesses in 2018, it has been revealed by a global firm.Control Risks, a specialist global risk consultancy, has unveiled its RiskMap 2018 which found that large scale cyberattacks, particularly those aimed against infrastructure, could again be a big risk to businesses following 2017s major incidents.Richard Fenning, CEO at Control Risks, said that while there are many positives for businesses and policymakers heading into 2018, risks remain.Despite the most positive economic outlook since the end of the financial crisis, we are entering a year of geo-political fragility that has the potential to trigger shockwaves to global stability and business confidence, Fenning said.With the threat of the next world order being imposed, not agreed, global dynamics and perceptions of risk are being shaped by a more robust, personalised and unpredictable style of political leadership in many parts of the world, making business planning very difficult. Trying to understand the motivations of global leaders and the potential impact of their actions will be critical to making the right strategic business decisions.The report notes that the rapid rise of digitalisation, alongside the mushrooming of social media in commerce, is giving regulators and governments reason for pause as cyber risk continues to escalate.Despite these challenges, technology and digitalisation continue to grow, Nicolas Reys, associate director of Control Risks states in the report. As that growth accelerates, it may derail efforts by governments to fragment the digital landscape. Until they do so, businesses must keep cool heads.Compliance is important, but so too is the resilience and security of their organisations. One should not distract from the others.Escalations in North Korea, alongside US protectionism, were also listed, in addition to regional rivalries in the Middle East.
Outsiders have been openly critical about the pace of evolution and digitisation in the insurance industry  and brokers have faced the brunt of that criticism.But RSA Canadas president and CEO, Martin Thompson, thinks its unfair to point the finger at brokers. He said the insurance industry as a whole has been slow to evolve and has managed to get away with fairly mediocre service declines without really paying a price for it.The only way the industrys going to be successful is if we reach a common standard with regards to technology, said Thompson. Theres nothing to be served from us all going to war with each other and trying to develop individual technology strategies. If we all run off and do our own thing, then were going to make the job of brokers incredibly difficult and complex.The insurance industry has faced criticism for falling behind other industry sectors on the automation standpoint. Other sectors are setting the standard for what consumers want and the insurance industry is being forced very quickly into finding a response to that.Thompson described technology as an enabler  but also something that moves very fast. He said the industry needs to figure out how to work in a more nimble and agile fashion in order to move with more pace and keep up with the rapid changes happening across all industries.I honestly dont think technology itself is going to be the thing that differentiates us in the future because it will soon become standard and off-the-shelf, he added.What we do around technology is going to be the important thing. What kind of experience are we going to build and how well do we understand our customers and use data to our advantage? Thats whats going to make the difference.
A subsidiary of European steel giant ArcelorMittal has agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle a lawsuit over allegations that its western Pennsylvania coke plant had violated emissions requirements over soot and other pollutants almost daily, according to a proposed agreement filed in Pittsburghs federal court.

The environmental advocacy group that sued, Philadelphia-based PennEnvironment, said it believes the penalty is the largest secured by a citizen lawsuit in Pennsylvania history under the federal Clean Air Act.

Federal and state officials, as well as representatives of ArcelorMittal and PennEnvironment, signed the 108-page proposed agreement.

As part of the agreement, ArcelorMittal also agreed to implement air pollution controls that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimated would cost $2 million. The proposed agreement is subject to a 30-day public comment period and must receive a judges approval.

PennEnvironment sued in 2015, saying the plant in Monessen, about 25 miles south of Pittsburgh on the banks of the Monongahela River, had committed a variety of environmental violations since reopening in 2014 after more than four years of being idle.

Those include operating the plant for extended periods while a key air pollution control device wasnt functioning and more than 200 violations of pollution limits for hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide and soot. Coke is a form of baked coal that steelmakers use in blast furnaces to turn molten iron into steel.

According to the lawsuit, slightly more than 6,000 people live within a mile of the plant and more than 31,000 within three miles of it.

ArcelorMittal last year spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to settle a separate lawsuit filed by area residents complaining of arsenic and coal dust falling on their properties and a pervasive rotten egg-smell that prevented them from being outdoors and that even seeped into their homes.

In a statement, the company said restarting the coke plant was challenging and its environmental performance during that period was unacceptable. It said it has been working to improve the facilitys performance and is committed to achieving full compliance with its environmental requirements.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits Pollution Pennsylvania
Troops cross LoC, surround enemy, blast IED and shoot targets in a flash; local units authorised to carry out such attacks if needed.

By Ajit Kumar Dubey, Manjeet Negi: Army commandos in a swift and surprise cross border strike killed four Pakistani troops in the Rawalkot area opposite Poonch sector in India, in a major operation across the Line of Control in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

This was to avenge the killing of four Indian soldiers including a Major by a Border Action Team of the Pakistan army in Rajouri on Saturday.

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In the director military operations-level talks between the two armies, the Pakistani side accepted that its soldiers had been killed in the operation by India but denied the involvement of its troops in the killing of four soldiers of the 2 Sikh regiment, top government sources said.

A small team of an infantry battalion deployed in the Poonch sector crossed over into PoK and placed improvised explosive devices (IEDs) for the enemy troops coming to patrol in the area which was a temporary post and was close to a water source, sources told Mail Today.

After waiting for some time, the Pakistani troops walking in the area triggered a massive IED explosion which stunned them for a few seconds.

Waiting for the Pakistanis to fall in their trap, the army commandos opened a barrage of fire with small arms which resulted in the instant death of three Pakistani personnel of 59 Baloch regiment while another died later because of injuries, the sources said.

The Pakistan fatalities include one major-rank officer and three soldiers named Sajjad, Abdul Rehman and Mohammad Usman, they added.

The operation came over a year after India's Para Special Forces had crossed over into Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir to destroy terrorist launch pads there.

Sources said the latest raid was carried out by the local brigade commander but the go-ahead had come from the topmost level of the army headquarters.

"The units involved in the operation had informed the headquarters that they were planning an operation on ground which would be carried out soon. The army headquarters in return instructed them to do it swiftly as Pakistanis would not be expecting a retaliatory action so soon by the Indian army," the sources said.

Generally, army troops retaliate to such actions by enemy after a week or 15 days when the situation cools down.

The enemy also gets more careful as it is expecting some action, they said.

"The fire assault at the enemy troops lasted for less than a couple of minutes as this was enough to complete the operation and the crack troops returned immediately," the sources said.

The Pakistanis had also trapped the Indian soldiers after planting an IED and, after it was triggered, they had fired at them as part of a cross-border action, said the sources.

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Top government officials said the army chief has briefed Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval in detail about the operation and the activities of Pakistani formations.

Sources said the operation has been carried out as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the defence minister have given free hand to the army to retaliate in a manner it wants to in case it is under attack from the enemy.

"After the 2 Sikh troops were martyred by the Pakistanis, the government let the army plan and implement required retaliatory action without any interference in operational matters," the sources said.

They added that after the cross-border raids, all the formations along the loc have been asked to remain on high alert as the Pakistanis would also try to launch a counter-attack.

"All the units have been asked to maintain vigil and take all necessary precautions against any such Pakistani misadventure," they said.

On the incident in which four Indian soldiers were killed, sources said the visibility of troops from the other side of the loc changes with seasons and a soldier may not be visible at a certain location in monsoon rains from 30 metres away but could be spotted from a kilometre away in the winters.

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"All these factors should be taken into account while patrolling along the LoC apart from the changing pattern of guarding the border to avoid the Pakistani bat action and inviting cross-border fire," officials said.

Sources said the coming days would be crucial to determine how the incident impacts the situation along the LoC and all Pakistani misadventures would be answered in equal measure.

ALSO WATCH | Inside story of Army's daring surgical strikes

--- ENDS ---
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has signed into law a phased-in system of paid family leave that will become effective on January 1, 2018, for New York employers.

On the state level, New York becomes the fifth state (joining California, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Washington) to pass a law granting eligible male and female employees paid family leave.

But New Yorks will be the most comprehensive and generous paid family leave program in the nation.

Background and Essential Components

On the federal level, the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 provides individuals working for employers with 50 or more employees up to 12 weeks of protected leave annually for the employees own serious health condition, for the adoption or birth of a child or to care for a spouse, child or parent who is ill.

But under FMLA, which covers between 50 and 60 percent of the workforce, there is no requirement that the leave be paid. As a result, many employees who are eligible for FMLA leave simply cannot afford to take it.

By contrast, under the New York State Paid Family Leave Law, once it is fully phased in, eligible employees will be entitled to up to 12 weeks of paid family leave annually to care for an infant or family member with a serious health condition, for the birth or adoption of a child or to assist with family obligations when a family member is called into active military service.

It is important to note that the state law  unlike the federal FMLA  does not provide leave for an employees own serious health condition. In addition, the maternity/paternity coverage is post-birth; any pre-birth benefit is provided by FMLA or disability laws.

Who is Eligible for Paid Family Leave?

Unlike the FMLA, which applies only to employers with 50 or more employees, the state family leave law will apply to any New York employer covered by the workers compensation law. Any such employer will have to permit eligible employees to take paid leave and will make appropriate deductions from their employees pay to fund paid leave benefits.

Employees become eligible to receive benefits after meeting the following criteria:

Employees working 20 or more hours per week: The employee must have worked for the employer at least 26 consecutive weeks preceding the first full day leave begins.

The employee must have worked for the employer at least 26 consecutive weeks preceding the first full day leave begins. Employees working less than 20 hours per week: The employee must have worked for the employer at least 175 days preceding the first full day leave begins.

To determine eligibility, the employer will count scheduled vacation time, personal time, sick or other leave approved by the employer, so long as all required contributions have been made by the employee. Periods of temporary disability will not be counted as weeks of employment or days worked to determine eligibility.

Funding: Who Pays?

The New York State Paid Family Leave Law is funded entirely by employees, not employers.

Beginning January 1, 2018, the employee contribution/wage deduction will be $1.65 per week. This employee contribution amount will be updated annually by the New York State Department of Labor.

Benefits

Employee benefits will phase in over four years. The benefit is a percentage of the employees average weekly wage, capped at the same percentage of the states average weekly wage. For example, for 2018, the benefit is 50% of the employees or states average weekly wage ($1,305.92), whichever is lower. For subsequent years:

Required Notice and Certifications

An employee requesting leave must provide the employer with proper notice.

Foreseeable leave, including an expected birth, placement for adoption or foster care, planned medical treatment for the serious health condition of a family member or a known military exigency requires 30 days advance notice before leave begins.

If the 30-day advance notice is not practicable, notice must be given as soon as practicable. If the employee fails to give advance notice and the event was foreseeable, the claim may be denied.

Intermittent leave requires that notice be given as soon as practicable before each day of the intermittent leave. The employees notice to the employer shall contain the qualifying event and timing and duration of leave.

Additionally, intermittent leave must be taken in daily increments (hourly increments are permitted under FMLA). Employees are entitled to be reinstated to their same or a comparable job. An employee eligible for both family leave and New York state disability benefits is entitled to receive both during a 52-week period.

Retaliation against employees is forbidden, and employers must continue health insurance benefits. Employees must use state and federal leave benefits concurrently and may not take more than 12 weeks, or other permissible maximum then in effect.

Tax Implications

According to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, the states new paid family leave program has tax implications for New York employees, employers and insurance carriers, including self-insured employers, employer plans, approved third-party insurers and the state insurance fund. The department offers the following guidance:

Benefits paid to employees will be taxable non-wage income that must be included in federal gross income.

Taxes will not be withheld automatically from benefits; employees can request voluntary tax withholding.

Premiums will be deducted from employees after-tax wages.

Employers should report employee contributions on Form W-2, using Box 14-State disability insurance taxes.

Benefits should be reported by the state insurance fund on Form 1099-G and by all other payers on Form 1099-MISC.

The department also notes that it is the responsibility of each employee and employer/insurance carrier to consult with its tax advisor.

Suggestions for Employers

The New York State Paid Family Leave Law goes into effect on January 1, 2018. Prior to that time, New York employers should take appropriate steps to make employees aware of their rights under the law and prepare their benefit and payroll functions to deduct the $1.65 weekly employee contribution to fund the benefits provided by the law. Employers also should revise their handbooks or other internal leave policies in order to comply with this new law.

This article originally appeared in an Anderson Kill publication.

Topics Commercial Lines New York Business Insurance
Ed, the London-based reinsurance, wholesale and specialty broker, announced the appointment of Heather Clarkson as managing director  Marine. She takes up her role on Jan. 2, 2018 and will report to Andrew Draycott, CEO  Energy, Marine & Construction.

Clarkson brings more than three decades of experience to her new role. She joins from Aon Risk Solutions where she served most recently as chief broking officer  Marine, and as head of Hull. She was also a member of Aons Global and London Marine executive committees. Clarkson began her career with Marsh, where she served for over 20 years in the Montreal and London offices.

Source: Ed

Topics Talent London Aon Human Resources
UnitedHealth Group Inc said on Friday [Dec. 22] it signed a definitive agreement to buy Chilean healthcare company Banmedica SA for $2.8 billion, expanding the health insurers footprint in South America.

Banmedica operates health insurance, clinics and other services.

UnitedHealth will offer 2,150 pesos per share and the two controlling shareholders of Banmedica will tender their combined 57 percent ownership, the U.S. company said in a regulatory filing. http://bit.ly/2Bm24tw

The companies had signed a non-binding agreement in September.

We view international as a selective supplement to UNHs growth, while the primary growth driver and M&A focus will be building out the vertical integration strategy with Optum (UnitedHealths unit) in the U.S., Evercore ISI analysts said in a note.

(Reporting by Ankur Banerjee in Bengaluru; editing by Maju Samuel)

Topics Mergers & Acquisitions
Starr Cos. announced it is working with Chinas PICC Health Insurance Co. Ltd. to provide insurance for Chinese company employees working overseas in Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) countries.

The companies are providing a specialty accident and health offering jointly developed by PICC Health, Starr Property & Casualty Insurance (China) Co. Ltd., and Starr Companies Assist Card International subsidiary. PICC Health is a subsidiary of the Peoples Insurance Co. (Group) of China Ltd.

In addition to medical and accidental death & dismemberment benefits, the product provides customers with benefits and services including medical evacuation and repatriation, compassionate visit, food poisoning, kidnap and ransom protection, as well as unique solutions such as risk management advice and cashless medical payment services through the Assist Card International network. A dedicated call center has been established to provide global services to Chinese customers including those working in BRI countries.

This cooperation between these two parties provides strong support for the employees of Chinese companies active in BRI countries, with the objective of building a Healthy Silk Road.

Source: Starr Cos.

* [Editors note: Launched by China in 2013, the Belt & Road Initiative, also known as one belt, one road, is an ongoing project to invest billions of dollars of infrastructure in countries that link the Silk Road with Europe.]

Topics China
A U.S. judge on Friday overturned a $150 million verdict against AbbVie Inc. that was the first to result from lawsuits claiming that the company fraudulently misrepresented the risks of its testosterone replacement drug AndroGel.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly in Chicago ruled that the findings by the jury that rendered the verdict in July in favor of Oregon resident Jesse Mitchell were logically incompatible.

The jury awarded Mitchell $150 million in punitive damages even though it did not award him any compensatory damages. The verdict came in one of around 4,510 cases AbbVie says it faces nationally over injuries blamed on AndroGel.

The jury concluded that AbbVie was not negligent or strictly liable for a heart attack that Mitchell said he suffered after using AndroGel, but concluded that the company falsely marketed the drug.

The irreconcilable conflict between the jurys finding of liability on the fraudulent misrepresentation claim and award of zero compensatory damages requires a new trial on this claim, Kennelly wrote.

Kennelly also vacated the punitive damages award. He scheduled a new trial to take place on March 5.

Christopher Seeger, a lawyer for the plaintiffs in the litigation, said they looked forward to re-trying the case. Chicago-based AbbVie did not respond to requests for comment.

The verdict was the first to emerge from a series of test trials in the federal litigation consolidated before Kennelly aimed at helping both sides gauge the range of damages and define settlement options.

A second jury in October ordered AbbVie to pay $140 million in punitive damages and $140,000 in compensatory damages in the case of a Tennessee man who claimed the drug caused him to suffer a heart attack.

Mitchell suffered a heart attack in 2012 after almost five years of treatment with AndroGel, but recovered after several months, according to his lawsuit.

Other pharmaceutical companies are facing similar lawsuits over their testosterone replacement therapies.

Eli Lilly and Co., which makes Axiron and as of November faced 538 lawsuits, has reached a global settlement ahead of the first trial it was scheduled to face in January, according to a court filing on Thursday.

Terms were not disclosed. Lilly did not respond to a request for comment.

In November, jurors sided with Endo International Plc by finding that its Auxilium unit was not responsible for the heart attack a man suffered while using the companys testosterone replacement drug Testim.

The case is In Re: Testosterone Replacement Therapy Products Liability Litigation, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, No. 14-cv-01748.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Leslie Adler and Diane Craft)

Topics Lawsuits USA Legislation Drugs
Authorities say 54 people are without a home after a Christmas Eve fire at a South Carolina apartment complex that investigators say was intentionally set.

Spartanburg Fire Marshall Brad Hall said no one was seriously injured in the fire around 6 a.m. Sunday, but some people had to jump from second story windows and one woman was rescued from the third floor of the Crown Pointe apartments.

Hall says all the apartments in the 20-unit building were damaged by fire, smoke or water.

Hall told media outlets that trained dogs detected some kind of accelerant at the scene of the fire. He says authorities dont have a suspect yet.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics South Carolina
A North Carolina man has been charged with four counts each of insurance fraud and obtaining property by false pretense, according to a statement from North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey.

Jeffrey Neal Smith, 42, of, Concord, N.C. Smith was investigated after N.C. Department if Insurance criminal investigators received a complaint concerning several claims he filed. Smith is accused of illegally obtaining $104,497 by submitting fraudulent claims and using fictitious documents to inflate the settlement.

Smith was arrested in Cabarrus County on Nov. 30. An $8,000 secured bond was set.

According to the FBI, insurance fraud costs the average family between $400 and $700 per year in the form of increased premiums, said Causey.

The Department of Insurance employs 20 sworn state law enforcement officers dedicated to investigating and prosecuting claims of insurance and bail bonding fraud.

Source: North Carolina Department of Insurance

Topics Claims Fraud North Carolina
Representatives of sex abuse victims and their survivors are suing a bankrupt Roman Catholic diocese in Montana in an effort to ensure more than $70 million in assets are available for those abused by church officials.

The Diocese of Great Falls-Billings entered bankruptcy protection in March as part of settlements involving more than 400 people in sex abuse lawsuits. Church officials said at the time the diocese and its insurers would contribute to a fund to compensate victims and set aside additional money for those who had yet to come forward.

Mediation has not produced a settlement so far.

A committee of unsecured creditors representing eight sex abuse survivors sued the diocese in U.S. Bankruptcy Court this week, aiming to reach a negotiated settlement. California attorney James Stang, who represents the committee, said the complaint was part of the process, the Billings Gazette reported.

U.S. Catholic leaders have been grappling with a clergy sexual abuse crisis that exploded in 2002 following reporting by The Boston Globe. Nationwide, the church has paid several billion dollars in settlements since 1950. More than 6,500 clergy members have been accused of abuse and hundreds have been removed from church work.

In the Montana bankruptcy case, the church says the disputed assets are held in trust for its parishes and therefore unavailable for creditors. The creditors argue the property is part of the churchs estate and should be available for victims.

Stang has represented unsecured creditors in 11 other Catholic church bankruptcies since 2004, including the Diocese of Helenas bankruptcy. He said every case has resulted in a negotiated resolution.

Bishop Michael Warfel said in a statement that the creditors lawsuit was an unfortunate and unnecessary distraction to the churchs efforts to resolve victims claims.

Two sexual abuse lawsuits were filed against the Diocese of Great Falls-Billings, including one in which a woman in her 60s said she was molested and raped by the Rev. Emmett Hoffman while she was a student at the St. Labre Parish and School between 1955 and 1962. Hoffman died in 2013.

The diocese has had abuse prevention programs in place for more than two decades, church officials said. The programs include screening and training for employees, volunteers, priests and seminarians and an independent board to review claims.

The Diocese of Helena filed for bankruptcy in early 2014 to settle about 360 claims of abuse and sexual abuse by priests, nuns and lay workers who served in the diocese.

That settlement, negotiated before the bankruptcy filing, created a $21 million fund for victims named in the lawsuit and any others that might come forward.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits
The United States is arguably one of the most economically well-off places on the planet. The U.S. accounts for 34% of global wealth, or $158.1 trillion, according to Credit Suisse's 2022 Global Wealth Report. The second-largest country by global wealth, China, is responsible for 18%, or $85.1 trillion. This makes the U.S. the richest country on Earth, in terms of total wealth.

The U.S. also has the most millionaires in the world39% of the world's supply, or 24.5 million adults, according to the 2022 Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report. Not surprisingly, the country with the second-highest number is China, with 6.2 million individuals. Considering this seemingly limitless potential for economic prosperity, it's not surprising that more than a million people immigrate to the U.S. each year.

However, that wealth is not distributed equally across all parts of the United States. Income inequality in the U.S. is considerable. Despite the more than $158 trillion in total wealth, 11.6% of the U.S. population lived in poverty in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Another inequality stamp: The median wealth per adult in the United States for 2021 was $93,271. In the highest-ranking countryBelgiumit was $269,515.

Key Takeaways The United States is the wealthiest country in the world in terms of total global wealth percentage. It also has the world's most millionaires.

Though the U.S. is the wealthiest country, that wealth is not distributed evenly; many states have a low median household income and high rates of poverty.

The states with the highest median household income are Maryland, New Jersey, and Massachusetts.

The states with the lowest median household income are Mississippi, West Virginia, and Arkansas.

Measuring Wealth: What Median Income Tells Us

Median income is a particularly good way to look at how people are doing, both nation to nation and among states in the U.S. Here's why.

There are several ways to assess wealth in a given area. A state's gross domestic product (GDP) offers a glimpse into its overall economic health, but not necessarily how individuals and households are doing.

Mean income (the sum total of all values divided by the number of values in a datasetotherwise known as the average) is the primary mathematical value for making comparisons. But having a large number of high-earning one-percenters or low-income people in a region can skew the end result in revealing how much money individuals earn.

The median gives you a better picture. It is determined by lining up all values in a dataset in numerical order, then finding the "middle" value. A state's median income is exactly halfway between what people earn on both sides of the wealth spectrum. That makes median income a much more accurate assessment of what the average American makes annually than the actual average income.

How Race and Gender Affect Income

Structural racism and sexism severely and negatively impact many Americans and their families. Here, we look at individual income to focus on how individual workers are faring.

A significant contributing factor to American income inequality is a disparity in earnings by race. The differences are stark. Controlling for other factors, a 2022 study by Payscale.com points to a gender pay gap for Black women of $0.98 for every $1 earned by white men. Weekly earnings for Black men were 77.3% of the median of White men in the third quarter of 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Additionally, Black and Hispanic families own less wealth than white families. A typical (median) white family had a wealth of $184,000, while a typical Black family had a wealth of $23,000, and a typical Hispanic family had a wealth of $38,000.

A prominent income gap exists between men and women in the United States. Women make approximately 82 cents for every dollar of men's wages in an uncontrolled gender pay gap while women make 99 cents for every dollar in a controlled gender pay gap. Controlled gender pay gaps take into consideration job title, education, experience, industry, job level, and hours worked. Contributing to these discrepancies: Men constitute approximately one-third of minimum-wage workers, while women account for just 15% of Fortune 500 CEOs as of 2022.

For the third quarter of 2022, Asian and White women earn a median of $1,177 and $999 per week, respectively; Black women and Hispanic or Latinas earn a median of $830 and $782 per week, respectively. And although all women were more likely to live in poverty than White men in 2019, women of color experienced a higher poverty rate than White women.

Median Household Income

One of the measures of income provided by the U.S. Census Bureauand the one we chose to use for our state-to-state comparisonis median household (HH) income. This is the total gross income of all persons 15 years or older within a housing unit.

When the Census Bureau measures and compares how different parts of the nation are doing, "median HH Income is perhaps the single most widely used measure of income in the census," as the Missouri Census Data Center explains. Median household income can include households with only one resident as well as those with multiple residents who are not related (i.e., roommates).

Median household income is different from two other measures that the census uses:

Median per capita income, which looks at each individual person's income, rather than treating a household as a singular entity.

Median family income, which only considers households with two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption.

As of 2021, the most recent available figures, the median U.S. annual household income was $70,784.

Richest States by Median Income

The map above shows the pattern of median income, across the U.S. Let's start with a look at the richest states.

Special Consideration: The District of Columbia

Median household income: $90,842 (2020)

$90,842 (2020) Population: 670,000 (2021)

670,000 (2021) Unemployment rate: 5.1% (August 2022)

5.1% (August 2022) Poverty rate: 16.5% (2021)

The District of Columbia is not a state, of course, but the U.S. Census Bureau includes it among the 50 states when listing median income. Its inclusion makes sense, given the fact that the District's median income is higher than any state. As is likely unsurprising, the federal government is the largest employer in the nation's capital

D.C. has the highest population density in the U.S. along with the second-highest median value of owner-occupied housing units. Despite its high income and small population, D.C. also has the highest poverty rate of any of the richest states.

1. Maryland

Median household income: $87,063 (2020)

$87,063 (2020) Population: 6.17 million (2021)

6.17 million (2021) Unemployment rate: 4.3% (August 2022)

4.3% (August 2022) Poverty rate: 10.3% (2021)

Maryland's private-sector industries were responsible for $352.4 billion in economic output. The Free State also had the largest number of federal jobs per capita in 2020, which makes sense, given its adjacency to Washington D.C. Both the Social Security Administration and the Food and Drug Administration are headquartered in Maryland.

2. New Jersey

Median household income: $85,245 (2020)

$85,245 (2020) Population: 9.27 million (2021)

9.27 million (2021) Unemployment rate: 4.0% (August 2022)

4.0% (August 2022) Poverty rate: 10.2% (2021)

Not only does New Jersey have the largest population of the three richest (and the three poorest) states, but it also has the largest population density of any state in the U.S. Healthcare is the Garden State's largest industry, adding $37 billion to the state economy and employing approximately 488,000 people. New Jersey is also the birthplace of major industries, such as organized baseball, professional basketball, movies, and passenger flights.



3. Massachusetts

Median household income: $84,385 (2020)

$84,385 (2020) Population: 6.98 million (2021)

6.98 million (2021) Unemployment rate: 3.6% (August 2022)

3.6% (August 2022) Poverty rate: 10.4% (2021)

Massachusetts' economy was originally heavily dependent on agriculture and maritime trade, though manufacturing would become more prominent in the 19th century. Today, education and professional and business services employ the largest portion of the Bay State's workforce. Its leisure and hospitality industry is also a major economic powerhouse.





Poorest States by Median Income

Now, the opposite end of the spectrum. These states have the lowest median incomes.

1. Mississippi

Median household income: $46,511 (2020)

$46,511 (2020) Population: 2.95 million (2021)

2.95 million (2021) Unemployment rate: 3.6% (August 2022)

3.6% (August 2022) Poverty rate: 19.4% (2021)

Despite 35% of Mississippi land being dedicated to farmland, the federal government is the second-biggest employer in the Magnolia State, after trade, transportation, and utilities. In addition to having the highest poverty rate of any state in the country, Mississippi is also known as the "hungriest state" in the U.S., with 20% of its population being food insecure.

2. West Virginia

Median household income: $48,037 (2020)

$48,037 (2020) Population: 1.78 million (2021)

1.78 million (2021) Unemployment rate: 3.9% (August 2022)

3.9% (August 2022) Poverty rate: 16.8% (2021)

The Equality State is another case where the federal government is the largest employer, but this time it hasn't pushed enough people out of poverty. Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, West Virginia's 1938 unemployment rate was the highest in U.S. history.

3. Arkansas

Median household income: $49,475 (2020)

$49,475 (2020) Population: 3.03 million (2021)

3.03 million (2021) Unemployment rate: 3.4% (August 2022)

3.4% (August 2022) Poverty rate: 16.3% (2021)

Agriculture makes up the Natural State's largest industry, adding $16 billion to the state's economy each year. Forests comprise 56% of land, 25% of which belongs to the forestry industry. Despite the low income and high poverty rate, several major companies are headquartered in Arkansas, including Tyson Foods and Walmart.

Which State Has the Highest Median Income? The state that has the highest median income is Maryland, with a median income of $87,063 in 2020. The District of Columbia, which is not a state, has the highest median income overall, with a median income of $90,842 in 2020.

What Is Middle-Class Income? What is considered middle-class income will depend on a person's location. A middle class person in Arkansas may not be a middle-class person in New York City, for example, where the cost of living is much higher. Generally, a three-person household should have an income between $51,962 and $155,902 to be considered middle class.
Variable Rates 4.00% to 14.34% Fixed Rates 4.50% to 14.83% Loan Amounts $1,000 up to the total cost of attendance Loan Terms Unknown

Lowest rates shown include an auto debit discount

Loan Eligibility

To qualify for a student loan from Sallie Mae, you must meet the following requirements:

Borrowers must be the age of majority (18 in most states).

Borrowers must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. DACA students or foreign residents can apply if they have a U.S. citizen cosigner.

You or your cosigner must have sufficient income.

You or your cosigner must pass a credit check.

Is Loan Pre-qualification Available?

Unfortunately, Sallie Mae does not offer loan pre-qualification. To find out if you'd qualify for a loan and to see what rate you'd get, you have to fill out a full loan application and undergo a hard credit inquiry.

Loan Fees

Sallie Mae doesn't charge origination fees or prepayment penalties. However, there is a late fee if you miss a payment5% of the missed payment amount, up to a maximum of $25and a $20 returned check fee.

Loan Discounts

If you sign up for automatic payments, Sallie Mae will reduce your interest rate by 0.25%.

Repayment Options

Aside from the standard principal-and-interest repayment method, in which you pay both principal and interest right away, even while you're in school, Sallie Mae has 3 other repayment options:

Deferred  With deferred repayment, you dont make payments while the student is in school and during the grace period. Deferred repayment is available for undergraduate, graduate, medical school, dental school, MBA, and law school student loans. Parent student loans and career training loans aren't eligible. Fixed  Under a fixed repayment plan, you pay $25 per month while youre in school. Once you graduate and after your grace period, you begin paying the principal and interest. Career training, undergraduate, graduate, medical school, dental school, MBA, and law school loans are eligible for fixed repayment. Interest  If you choose the interest-only repayment option, youll make monthly interest payments while in school and during the grace period. Parent, career training, undergraduate, graduate, medical school, dental school, MBA, and law school student loans qualify for interest repayment.

Other student loans, such as residency loans and bar exam loans, dont require you to make payments while youre enrolled at least half-time and during your grace period.

Sallie Mae does offer some extra benefits to borrowers. Borrowers will get 4 free months of Chegg Study, an online tutoring program that offers study support for any subject and hundreds of textbooks. You'll also get free access to your FICO score, which is updated quarterly. You can view your score when you log into your account.

If you opt for the interest-only payment option during your time school you will save in the long term, according to Sallie Mae.

Are Cosigners Required?

Sallie Mae doesnt require you to have a cosigner. However, it strongly recommends that you add one to your application. As noted above, Sallie Mae does allow you to apply to have your cosigner released after 1 year.

While cosigners arent required, they can help your chances of getting a loan.

Forbearance and Loan Discharge Options

If youre having trouble affording your payments, Sallie Mae may be able to offer you forbearance. You could temporarily postpone your payments for a given time period.

Sallie Mae will discharge any loan if the student dies or becomes permanently and totally disabled.

Length of Time for Loan Approval and Disbursement

The time between loan approval and loan disbursement can be lengthy. Once your loan is approved, Sallie Mae will send a certification request to your school. Many schools only certify requests within 30 days before enrollment begins. Even if you applied for a loan months in advance, you may not hear back about the funds you need until a few weeks before school begins.

Once the school certifies the request, Sallie Mae will disburse the funds directly to the school. Any extra money thats left over, known as a student loan refund, will be issued to you. They say the whole process can take as little as 10 days.

Is Student Loan Refinancing Available?

No, Sallie Mae does not offer student loan refinancing. If you want to refinance your loans, check out the best student loan refinance companies.

Customer Service

Sallie Mae is its own loan servicer. The Annual Report of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Private Education Loan Ombudsman does not include Sallie Mae in its roundup of complaints about private student loan lenders. On Trustpilot.com, Sallie Mae has just 13 reviews and a 1.9 TrustScore (out of a possible 5). Complaints center on poor customer service and alleged misconduct.

Customer support for existing loans is available by calling (800) 472-5543. Support staff is available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET.

Customer service is also available via chat. We used this feature to ask a few questions about borrower eligibility and loan terms and found the agents to be very responsive and knowledgeable. We had answers to our questions within minutes.

Apply for a Sallie Mae Student Loan

Before applying for any private student loan, make sure you complete and submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The FAFSA is what the government and most schools use to determine what financial aid youre eligible for, including grants and federal student loans.

If you still need money to pay for school, you can then apply for a Sallie Mae student loan. To complete the online application, youll have to enter the following details about yourself:

Permanent Address

Social Security Number (of both borrower and cosigner, if applicable)

School Information

Requested Loan Amount

Financial Aid and Scholarships (you expect to receive)

Employment Information (including employer name and income)

Financial Information (including bank account numbers and monthly mortgage or rental payments)

Name and Contact Information for Two Personal Contacts

Once you submit your application, you could receive your results in as little as 15 minutes.

Is a Sallie Mae Loan the Right Fit for You?

College costs have skyrocketed in recent years, and federal direct subsidized and direct unsubsidized loans have strict caps on how much you can borrow. If you need additional money to pay for school, using a private student loan from a lender such as Sallie Mae can be a good option.

On the plus side, Sallie Mae offers a wide range of loans, with multiple repayment options, for students of all types. It also has loan forbearance and discharge programs that compare favorably to federal loan discharge policies, and it allows you to apply for a cosigner release in just 12 months, setting it apart from other lenders. However, on the downside, Sallie Mae doesn't allow you to get a rate quote before you apply, which means a hard credit inquiry is required to see your rate.

Whether Sallie Maes interest rates are more competitive than those of other lenders, including the federal government, is a more complicated question. Much depends on your financials. While Sallie Maes lowest rates are lower than the feds, youll probably only qualify for them if you have an excellent credit scoreotherwise, youll probably end up paying about the same or even more. The lender does offer variable interest rates on its loansunlike the governmentand that can be an advantage in an environment of declining interest rates.

Before making a decision, make sure you compare offers from other private student loan lenders.

Final Verdict Sallie Mae has more loan options than any other lender, offering loans for career training, bar study, and medical residency. With multiple loan options, repayment plans, and loan terms, you can customize your loan to meet your needs. And, if you have a creditworthy cosigner, the lender offers competitive rates that can help make the loan more affordable.

Methodology

Investopedia is dedicated to providing consumers with unbiased, comprehensive reviews of student loan lenders. We collected over 45 data points across more than 15 lendersincluding interest rates, fees, loan amounts, and repayment termsto ensure that our content helps users make the right borrowing decision for their education needs.
By PTI: New Delhi, Dec 27 (PTI) The Indian Science Congress (ISC), which was postponed after the Osmania University expressed its inability to host the event, will now be held at the Manipur Central University next year.

The decision regarding the change of date and venue of the event was taken by the Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) at a meeting held in Kolkata, the ISC said on its website today.

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The dates of the event are yet to be finalised, but sources said it was likely to take place in the second half of March.

"On January 2 and 3, a seven-member committee of the ISCA will go to the Manipur Central University and finalise the dates," ISCA president Achyuta Samanta said.

He said seven universities had applied to host the ISC.

The Manipur Central University submitted letters of the chief minister and the governor, expressing their support for the event, which added weight to the varsitys application, Samanta noted.

The annual science carnival this year was to take place from January 3-7 in Osmania University at Hyderabad. Howvever, the varsity later conveyed its inability to host the ISC due to tensions on the campus.

A 20-year-old student had allegedly committed suicide on December 3 on the campus. The body of the first-year student of MSc Physics was found hanging in the washroom of one of the hostels on the campus.

Protests were held on the campus after the incident.

The ISC is an annual event, usually held in the first week of January, and is attended by top scientists from the country and also from different parts of the world.

The prime minister inaugurates the event every year.

The last Science Congress was held at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh in January this year. PTI PR SRY

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What Is Authorized Forex Dealer?

An authorized forex dealer is a type of financial institution that has received authorization from a relevant regulatory body to act as a dealer involved in the trading of foreign currencies.

Key Takeaways An authorized forex dealer is a regulated financial institution that facilitates transactions in the foreign exchange market.

The NFA, which is overseen by the CFTC, authorizes forex dealers in the United States.

Authorized forex dealers in the U.S. are subject to stringent screening upon registration and strong enforcement of regulations upon approval.

Understanding Authorized Forex Dealer

Dealing with authorized forex dealers ensures that foreign exchange transactions are being executed according to the mandated guidelines as set by a country's regulatory body. The National Futures Association (NFA) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) authorize forex dealers in the United States.

The NFA, which is overseen by the CFTC, ensures that authorized forex dealers are subject to stringent screening upon registration and strong enforcement of regulations upon approval.

U.S. investors looking to transact in the foreign exchange market are encouraged to do so through an authorized dealer. By doing so, the investors will know they are dealing with an experienced and well-qualified party and, should anything go wrong, they will have the support of the NFA to investigate any issue that may arise.

Forex dealers in countries outside the U.S. will be authorized by their own governing body. In some cases, the requirements are less stringent than those required in the United States.

Forex Trading

Forex trading involves the buying and selling of currencies. Authorized forex dealers facilitate the trading of currencies for retail clients and/or businesses.

Retail forex trading clients are not typically interested in taking possession of the currencies they buy, or delivering the ones they sell. Rather, they buy and sell the currencies for speculative reasons, attempting to profit as the prices of currencies change. Taking delivery of actual currency is called a currency exchange, and is provided by currency exchange houses or banks. That is different than forex trading providing by authorized forex dealers. With forex trading, the client doesn't need to deliver or receive the underlying currencies.

Currencies trade in pairs, such as the USD/CAD, which is the U.S. dollar (USD) versus the Canadian dollar (CAD). This is a direct quote and the rate associated with the pair is how much of the second currency it takes to buy one unit of the first. The rate is always changing, but if the current market price is 1.2667 then that means that it costs 1.2667 CAD to buy 1 USD.

Forex trading is often done on margin. This means that the trader only needs to put up a fraction of the funds required for the trade. For example, buying 100,000 worth of currency may only require that the trader put up 5,000 of their own funds. This means they are using 20:1 leverage, or a 5% margin. This is another reason forex traders don't typically want to take or provide delivery of currencies they buy or sell. Most retail clients utilize leverage and therefore don't have the funds available to deliver 100,000 worth of currency, but they can speculate on the price change of 100,000 by using a fraction of that amount, 5,000 in this example.

A process called a rollover, done automatically by the authorized forex dealer each night, allows traders to speculate without having to deliver or receive the actual underlying quantities of currencies they are trading.

Authorized Forex Dealers (U.S.) Examples

Authorizing of dealers is subject to change over time. There are several authorized forex dealers in the U.S., most of which have been around for many years.
What Is a Certificate of Title?

A certificate of title is an official state or municipal-issued document that identifies the owner(s) of personal or real property. A certificate of title provides documentary evidence of the right of ownership. Usually it applies to real estate, though it also may pertain to a business, boat, or vehicle, among other things.

When issued for real propertysuch as land or a houseby a title insurance company, the certificate of title is a statement of opinion on the status of the title, based on a thorough examination, or title search, of specified public records. The title thus embodies the right or evidence of the right of ownership of real property.

Key Takeaways A certificate of title is a document that officially grants ownership to the holder of the property referenced by that title.

Certificates of title are often transferred from seller to buyer in real estate and vehicle transactions.

The certificate by itself is not a guarantee of a free and clear title, and a title search must be completed before settling large transactions.

How Certificates of Title Work

Certificates of title can apply to any type of property that has a title, particularly real estate and vehicles. The owner can assume title once their contractual and financial obligations are cleared.

Information on the certificate of title includes the name of the owner and information about the property. Whenever real property is sold, the title is transferred to the new buyer.

Property Sale

During the sale of a property, the owner must guarantee to the buyer that the title being conveyed is free and clear of anyone elses claims. A part of that process is demonstrating proof of ownership through means of a certificate of title.

All property that is sold or traded must be free of liens and other debts before it can be transferred to another party. In other words, the title must be a clear title, meaning there are no creditors claiming ownership due to extending credit to a borrower, and the owner has an undisputed claim to the property or asset. If the title is not clear, it might be considered a bad title because there could be outstanding liens against the property, back taxes owed, or unresolved building code violations.

It's important that a title search is performed by a title company to ensure that there are no liens, back taxes, or issues with the title that would prevent the sale of the asset. For all involved parties to have an accurate assessment of ownership, public record-keeping is necessary as it provides legal and public notice regarding an entitys interest in a specific piece of property.

Public records normally list any encumbrances on the property, such as liens or easements.

This public paper trail allows parties to protect their interests against any third-party claims. Once clear title has been established, the previous owner passes the certificate of title onto the new owner.

Non-Real Estate Certificates of Title

Certificates of title are also issued for vehicles, including automobiles, buses, motorcycles, motor homes, trailers and trucks, aircraft, and watercraft, and are often called pink slips. These are issued by a designated state agency to identify the owner of the vehicle in question. Any liens or outstanding loans are identified on the certificate of title. A vehicle's certificate of title will contain the owner's name and address, as well as the vehicle identification number (VIN).

A lender will often hold the title until the obligation has been satisfied, at which point the lien is released and the certificate of title will be sent to the owner. Take automobile loans, for example. If you purchase a new SUV and the dealer finances your loan, it will hold the title until you make your last payment. The title is transferred into your name once the loan is paid off completely.

Title and Guarantee of Ownership

A certificate of title is not a guarantee of a free and clear title. There may be unrecorded encumbrances and liens, incorrectly recorded information, or fraudulent activity that are simply unknown.

For such reasons, title insurance is purchased to protect the seller from any claims arising from prior or unknown unrecorded or fraudulent activity. Title companies provide certificates of title to lenders that require these documents prior to approving mortgage loans.

Certificate of Title vs. Deed

Both a certificate of title and a deed are written documents that are used to provide proof of ownership. But the two have inherent differences.

While the certificate of title is an opinion of status and doesn't guarantee ownership, the deed is a document used when there is a transfer of property from a seller to a buyer. By issuing a deed, the seller transfers the interest to the buyer, also known as the grantor. The deed may also outline detailed information about the property.
The capital beats exotic locations likes Sydney, San Francisco and Rio de Janeiro when it comes to traveller numbers.

The data, released by Euromonitor International, reveals Dublin is among the top 50 most visited cities on the planet with a world ranking of no 43 just ahead of Florence at No 44 and behind Malaysias Johor Bahru in 42nd place.

Last year, the marketing giant revealed that just under 5m travellers (4.8m) arrived in Dublin, but that number is predicted to shoot up to more than 5.3m by 2020 and just over 6m by 2025.

Hong Kong is the worlds most visited metropolis with more than 25m arrivals, while Bangkok is in second position with 23m travellers while London had in excess of 19m.

The iconic cities of Paris and New York are in 7th and 8th place in the world rankings of the planets most popular cities.

There was over 14m arrivals to the French city this year, which is slightly down on the year before, while more than 13m headed to the Big Apple this year, which is up on the arrivals for 2016.

The Euromonitor report warns that Londons reputation as a leisure and business hub is under siege with Brexit looming  with Dublin named as one of its potential successors.

Copenhagen, Barcelona, Lisbon, and Prague may also benefit, it says.
Burma Journalists Appear in Court after 15 Days of Interrogation

Ko Wa Lone and his wife. / The Irrawaddy

YANGON  We have not made a mistake, neither violations of the media law nor ethics. As we have to face this situation, we will face it as best we can, said Ko Wa Lone, a detained Reuters journalist who appeared at the Mingalardon Township court on Wednesday for the first time since his arrest on Dec. 12.

Ko Wa Lone and his colleague Ko Kyaw Soe Oo were arrested for allegedly violating the colonial-era Official Secrets Act and questioned at the Aung Tha Pyay police interrogation center in Mayangone Township for 15 days.

Ko Wa Lone told reporters that he was fine and faced no mistreatment during the detention.

Two police officers who were also detained along with the reporters did not appear at the court on Wednesday.

The pair saw their family members for the first time since their arrest. Ma Pan Ei Mon, the wife of Ko Wa Lone (aka) Thet Oo Maung, and Ma Nyo Nyo Aye, the sister of Ko Kyaw Soe Oo, were able to talk to their loved ones and followed the pair in a van when they left the court.

Ma Nyo Nyo Aye told The Irrawaddy before meeting her brother that her family had been worried but that they didnt know what to do. I want to see my brother, she said in a soft voice.

The pair was taken to Insein prison after about 10 minutes at court, where police extended the remand. They will appear next on Jan. 10.

U Than Zaw Aung, the lawyer for the pair, said: We can only give details after looking at the case file.

The pair was charged under Section 3 of the Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.

The lawyer said, The journalists should not be charged under this act. They were doing their job in accordance with journalistic ethics. Not only do the journalists suffer from such a charge, the public also loses its right to information.

The two Reuters journalists had worked on coverage of a crisis in Rakhine, western Myanmar, where an estimated 655,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled from a fierce military crackdown on militants, following the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Armys Aug. 25 attack on security outposts.

In solidarity with the detained journalists, the reporters covering their case wore black t-shirts to express their support of them and of press freedom in Myanmar.
Burma Monks Get Jail, Hard Labor for Anti-govt Protest

Nationalist monks gesture to the crowd after being sentenced to jail for incitement by a court in Mandalay on Wednesday. / Zarni Mann / The Irrawaddy

MANDALAY  A court in Chanmyathazi Township, Mandalay Region, on Wednesday sentenced six nationalist monks to a year and a half in prison with hard labor for taking part in an anti-government protest.

The Buddhist monks were all arrested during a police raid on their protest camp in early August and later charged with incitement under Article 505 (b) of the Penal Code. They had been calling on the government to step down for failing to protect national interests.

One year and six months in prison is too harsh. We will submit an appeal to the higher courts, said U Aung Ye Soe, the monks lawyer.

U Kyaw Myo Shwe, a layman also facing an incitement charge for taking part in the same protest, is still on trial and has requested bail for health reasons. He was arrested two days after the monks when he showed up at court for his lawsuit against a Myanmar Now reporter.

U Kyaw Myo Shwes next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 3.

There are still arrest warrants out for two monks and four laymen related to the protest.

We are not afraid of the harsh sentence. Down with the NLD government! the monks yelled before being sent back to Obo Prison  where they will serve their jail terms  after Wednesdays sentencing.

More than 50 monks and dozens of other supporters greeted the defendants at the court with flowers and food and panned the government for arresting and suing them.
Burma Thai Court Extends Deadline for Counter Appeal in Koh Tao Murder Case

Two Burmese migrants convicted of killing a British couple on Thailands Koh Tao Island in 2014. / Bangkok Pos

CHIANG MAI, Thailand  Thailands Supreme Court has approved Thai prosecution lawyers request to extend their counter appeal deadline by one month in the case of two Burmese migrants who were sentenced to death for the murder of two British backpackers.

The defense teammade up of members of the Lawyers Council of Thailand, legal advisers from the Myanmar government, and members of non-governmental organizations advocating for labor rightssubmitted a 319-page appeal to Thailands Supreme Court in August.

Since then, Thai prosecution lawyers have asked four separate times to postpone the deadline for them to counter the appeal.

The prosecution team is set to submit their argument against the appeal on Jan. 23, said defense lawyer U Aung Myo Thant.

They are not yet ready to make the final plea, and therefore set the date for the 23rd of next month, he told The Irrawaddy.

Win Zaw Htun and Zaw Linboth in their early 20swere sentenced by the Koh Samui Township Court in December 2015 for charges they have denied, involving the September 2014 deaths of British nationals Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24, on Koh Tao island.

The Thai polices investigation of the murder has raised questions over the integrity of the prosecution as police failed to test Witheridges clothing and were unable to find any DNA, apart from that of the victims, on the alleged murder weapon, a blood-stained hoe.

The two were in good health except that Zaw Lin had a toothache when I visited them some time ago, said U Aung Myo Thant.

In March, they lost their first appeal to the District Court, which spanned 198 pages and was submitted in May 2016.

The Thai police at first said that the two suspects confessed to killing the British backpackers, but later both defendants testified they were beaten and threatened into making confessions.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.
By PTI: New Delhi, Dec 27 (PTI) Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia today renewed his attack on Lt Governor Anil Baijal, asking whether he was "trying to protect a corrupt system" by returning the AAP governments proposal for doorstep delivery of public services.

Baijal yesterday returned the Delhi governments proposal for reconsideration, and Sisodia tweeted that it was a "huge setback" to the efforts to provide a graft-free governance.

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The proposal envisages delivery of 40 public services - like driving licences, caste certificates and new water connections - at the doorstep of citizens.

Hitting out at Baijal today, Sisodia wondered whether the L-G should have the power to turn down the decisions of an elected government.

"I was pained after reading his note. Is he doing this to try to protect a corrupt system... What is his interest in protecting this corrupt system?" Sisodia said at a press conference.

Terming the proposal a "super digital delivery system", the deputy chief minister also said that the move would ensure that citizens wont have to visit a departments office.

Under the current system, people are required to visit governments offices once or twice.

"But under the doorstep delivery proposal, citizens will not be required to do the same and instead government authorised persons will visit applicants residence to collect documents and to take his or her biometric records," Sisodia said.

The L-G has defended his decision to return the proposal. He has clarified that the proposal was "not rejected".

His office has said that the proposal has implications on safety and security of women, and senior citizens.

It also said the proposal has implications on the "possibility of corruption, bad behaviour, breach of privacy, loss of documents and others and adds unnecessary expenditure for the government and the people." PTI BUN PLB ABH

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Feng Hao | (ChinaDialogue) |  

Lives in northern China are shorter than in the south because of air pollution from heating, reports Feng Hao

In Beijing, the switch from coal to gas heating has reduced levels of tiny particles (PM2.5 and PM10) in November by 55% and 46% on last year (Image: Nick McIntosh)

Each year, the winter chill creates a rift between Chinas north and south based on radically different policies when it comes to heating, and with consequences for air pollution and life expectancy.

In the 1950s, premier Zhou Enlai drew a line across the country following the River Huai and the Qinling mountains. North of the line, temperatures in January fall below zero degrees whereas in the south temperatures remain above freezing. This difference led the government to provide district heating in the north, which relies on centralised coal-fired boilers to provide free or heavily subsidised heat. In the south, no district heating was provided.

Over half a century later this system remains in place. It means that hundreds of millions of residents in northern China enjoy reliable and affordable heating, while those in the south depend on air conditioning units, electric heaters, and blankets to make it through winter  and get no subsidies. For some people, the provision of heating is a consideration when choosing where to live.

But northerners are paying for their warmer winters with their health, according to research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The toll

According to the study, burning coal to power district heating produces air pollution that is harmful to human health, with the average life expectancy in the north 3.1 years shorter than in the south.

The research was carried out jointly by academics from the US, Israel and Hong Kong and involved a quantitative analysis of the link between life expectancy and inhalation of particulate matter  with the north-south difference in heating policy the variable studied.

The researchers looked at the causes of death regionally from 2004 to 2012, recorded in Chinas national disease monitoring database. They then analysed it in combination with air pollution data going back to the 1980s.

They found that local heating policies have a major impact on the levels of tiny particles (PM10) in the air. Long-term exposure to PM10 increases the incidence of heart and respiratory diseases and reduces expected lifespan.

The research found a steep increase in air pollution moving from the south of the country to the north. People in areas that benefit from heating subsidies see PM10 levels raised by 41.7 micrograms per cubic metre, on average. This contributes to a reduction in lifespan of 3.1 years and a 37% greater incidence of death from heart disease and stroke.

Air pollution map of China





Energy reform heats up

He Guojun, assistant professor at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and one of the report authors, says the research is not a criticism of the heating policy itself, nor is it calling for it to be abolished.

The paper does not offer any specific policy suggestions. But He Guojun said that to reduce air pollution many cities have switched to using natural gas or electricity to power homes and other buildings instead of burning coal. This approach can deliver enormous long-term health and welfare benefits.

Its not the case that you have to choose between heating and clean air, he stressed.

The government has been working to reform heating provision in recent years, in line with wider efforts to curb air pollution from industry. The implementation of the 2013-2017 Air Pollution Action Plan means that some factory operations are either stopped or restricted during peak pollution months .

In September, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance and the National Energy Administration published guidance on cleaner heating provision for 13 provincial-level governments. It required changes by winter, including the preferential use of electricity or natural gas over coal, according to local availability . . .

A coal-dominated energy mix is a major cause of Chinas air pollution, Liu added, stressing that ongoing reforms were essential to tackling air pollution.
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Middle East Monitor |  

The international community must act swiftly on the Rohingya crisis or the world will create another Palestine. That was the stark warning issued by a delegation from the Middle East in a meeting with the Speaker of the Bangladesh Parliament on Tuesday. The members of the delegation included representatives of a major charity and Algerian politicians.

Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury sat and listened intently as Palestinian Mamdooh Kamal Ali Badawi, the Chairman of the International Relief Organisation (IRO), and Algerian MP Youcef Adjissa expressed their fears. Adjissa is also a member of the Parliamentary Union of OIC Member States (PUOIC).

The IRO was the first Arab charity on the ground in Coxs Bazar when tens of thousands of refugees fled into neighbouring Bangladesh to escape the ethnic cleansing and genocide at the hands of the military in Myanmar.

What I saw reminded me of Palestine, said Badawi, whose family is from Gaza, but now has German citizenship. There are many parallels, but at least those in the camps at Coxs Bazar are safe from continued persecution. Unlike, he pointed out, Palestinian refugees who are still being brutalised and oppressed today. However, unless the international community acts swiftly the situation could turn into another intractable situation, which has been allowed to happen to the Palestinians.

The Algerian MP nodded his agreement. I am afraid that if this issue with the Rohingya people is not resolved soon it will indeed turn into a crisis like Palestine, he told Chaudhury.

The world must act quickly to prevent this happening.

Adjissa noted that, today, we see Palestinians scattered around the world as well as in the refugee camps in the Middle East because the world did not react to the 1948 Nakba (Catastrophe) when Israel was created in their land. This must not be allowed to happen for the Rohingya, added the MP, who is in Dhaka to establish a cross-party parliamentary friendship committee with the Bangladeshi Parliament.

Chaudhury responded by saying that it is important to resolve the situation quickly. She also expressed an interest in the legal initiative taken by IRO in which scores of Rohingya refugees have given sworn statements about the persecution they witnessed and endured. IRO has supported an all-women team of lawyers from Protect the Rohingya NGO, who are tasked with collecting sworn affidavits from refugees with a view to prosecuting the perpetrators of the violence in Myanmar.

Some of the evidence that the survivors have given already has been harrowing. This is especially true of those who have witnessed wholesale slaughter, rape and brutality at the hands of the military as they fled from their villages near the border with Bangladesh.

The groundwork we have established should help form the basis of legal action anywhere in the world against those who committed these war crimes, explained Badawi, adding:

Under universal jurisdiction these statements should prove invaluable. Giving aid is not just about medicines and nourishment; it is also important to document war crimes and try to deliver justice on behalf of the victims.

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Via Middle East Monitor

-

Related video added by Juan Cole:

VOA News: Rohingya Refugees Face Financial Problems in Bangladesh
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 27, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Avrupa Minerals Ltd. (TSXV:AVU) is pleased to report on progress at drilling projects in Kosovo and Portugal. The Companys partners funded two drill programs during 2017. In Kosovo, Byrnecut International Ltd. (BIL) completed an 18-hole, 6,280-meter core drilling program at the Slivovo Gold Project, while in Portugal Blackheath Resources Inc. (BHR) completed a single, exploratory test hole at the Covas Tungsten Project where Avrupa is the operator.

Slivovo Gold Project, Kosovo

The 2017 drill program was originally planned for 5,670 meters. The program was designed to focus on five areas of interest. These were designated as potential target areas to significantly expand the known, near-deposit mineralization modeled by BIL as part of their detailed technical study completed at the end of 2016. The study fulfilled their 85% earn-in commitment in the Project. Avrupa is no longer contributing to the program and expects to be diluted to a 2% NSR in 2018. The areas of interest (Figure 1) were designated as:

Main Gossan Offset

Gossan Extension

Sandstone Gossan

Deep IP Anomaly

Dzemail

The targeting process for the program was assisted by utilization of data and modeling from previous work phases at Slivovo, which included:

Four phases of historic drilling, 2014 - 2016

Limited, but widespread soil and rock chip sampling, 2014 - 2016

Focused, limited IP and EM geophysical surveys, 2016

Limited field mapping, 2014 - 2016

Structural interpretation

Geological modeling

Targets were selected for viability based on three major factors:

IP anomalies, shallow (less than 100 meters deep) and deep (greater than 100 meters deep), identified in the 2016 geophysical program

Structural and geological models based on historic drilling and geological mapping

Limited-in-scope, widespread geochemical surveys

The following figure shows the locations of the five target areas and the 2017 drill holes and traces.

Results from the drilling were mixed. New geological and structural information gained from the work indicated that the complexity of the Slivovo system is greater than originally suspected. Geochemical results from sampling of the mineralized core did not significantly extend near-surface gold mineralization. The combination of these results indicated new mineral possibilities in the immediate Slivovo target area, but none close enough to the surface to significantly increase the size of the present, potentially surface-mineable Slivovo gold deposit. Avrupa reported an indicated mineral resource conforming to NI 43-101 definitions of 640,000 mt of 4.80 g/t gold and 14.68 g/t silver, for 98,700 ounces of gold and 302,000 ounces of silver (May 5, 2016).

BIL commissioned a follow-up, independent technical report to verify potential of significant mineralization around the Slivovo deposit, at Peshter and Brus, as well as around the remaining areas of the license. Results of the independent study, completed in November 2017, diverged somewhat from earlier work, particularly in genesis and placement of the mineralization in the Slivovo area. Earlier work assumed mineral-bearing fluids originated from perhaps a single, large porphyry intrusive source on the property, allowing for potential of a larger deposit at Slivovo. The new work presumes however that Slivovo gold mineralization is sourced from a large, off-property intrusive center. Numerous small, satellite porphyritic intrusions emplaced perpendicularly to the mineral-hosting calcareous rocks at Slivovo, thus forming small mineral bodies around the Slivovo gold deposit. The independent study finally suggests a number of small (10K) to medium size (100K) targets within the license area, as shown below.

Covas Tungsten Project, Portugal

The Covas Project hosts a reported conformable to NI 43-101 indicated mineral resource of 449,800 MTUs WO 3 and an inferred mineral resource 767,100 MTUs WO 3 (as reported in the AVU news release of April 1, 2015). Mineralization is hosted in seven discrete bodies surrounding a presumed buried granitic intrusion. Over 80% of the indicated and inferred resources lie within 60 meters of the surface. The price of tungsten lies close to US$ 300 per metric tonne unit (MTU), up from under US$ 200 at the end of the 2016.

Avrupas partner at Covas, Blackheath Resources Inc., funded a single 225-meter drill hole to partially test for the possibility of a large-tonnage, close-to-the-surface, bulk-mineable, disseminated tungsten deposit directly related to or hosted in the presumed porphyritic granitic Covas intrusive body. Surface and close-to-surface indications for potential mineralization included strong alteration affiliated with an intense linear, negative magnetics anomaly, multi-element geochemical anomalism contained in soil samples covering the linear magnetics anomaly, and supporting IP/chargeability anomalism. Following is a plan view of the target area, as well as a conceptual diagram illustrating the technical merits for the targeting at the Covas site.

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

The single drill hole partially tested the target idea. Alteration was present throughout the hole, particularly strong silicification through the bottom half of the hole. Porphyritic intrusive rocks were present in the hole in the form of cross-cutting dikes. We are awaiting assay results from the laboratory.

To date, BHR has funded approximately 1.75 million euros of exploration at Covas, and holds 75% of the Project according to the amended earn-in agreement (see AVU news release dated May 12, 2014).

Paul W. Kuhn, President and CEO of Avrupa Minerals Ltd., commented, The Company continues to successfully advance its programs in Kosovo and Portugal through partner funding. We intend to continue to advance all of our quality projects in both countries in 2018, in addition to potentially completing new joint ventures on our Pyrite Belt Projects in South Portugal.

Avrupa Minerals Ltd. is a growth-oriented junior exploration and development company focused on discovery, using a prospect generator model, of valuable mineral deposits in politically stable and prospective regions of Europe, including Portugal, Kosovo, and Germany.

The Company currently holds eight exploration licenses in three European countries, including five in Portugal covering 2,911 km2, two in Kosovo covering 47 km2, and one in Germany covering 307 km2. Avrupa now has three active option and joint venture agreements, two in Portugal and one in Kosovo, including:

The Alvito Option Agreement with OZ Minerals Limited covering one license in the Ossa Morena Zone in southern Portugal, for IOCG deposits;

The Covas JV, with Blackheath Resources, covering one license in northern Portugal, for intrusion-related W deposits; and

Avrupas partner at the Slivovo Gold Project in Kosovo is fully funding the program, allowing Avrupa to dilute its ownership in the JV operating company Peshter Mining JSC. If AVU ownership goes below 10%, the interest in the project converts to a 2% NSR.

In addition, in the Iberian Pyrite Belt of south Portugal, the Company holds the Alvalade VMS Project, now 100% owned by Avrupa, where previous partners have spent over US$ 7.6 million on exploration for VMS copper, zinc, and lead, mineralization, resulting in discoveries at Sesmarias and Monte da Bela Vista.

Avrupa is currently upgrading precious and base metal targets to JV-ready status in a variety of districts on their other licenses, with the idea of attracting potential partners to project-specific and/or regional exploration programs.
PM Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah among the many dignitaries present at the oath taking ceremony of Himachal Pradesh's 13th CM.

By Indo-Asian News Service: Jai Ram Thakur on Wednesday was sworn in as the Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister at a ceremony here attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah among others.

Governor Acharya Devvrat administered the oath of office and secrecy to Thakur, who is turning 53 on January 6. This will be his maiden term as Chief Minister.

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The swearing-in ceremony was held amid beating of drums and playing of 'shehnais' at the historic Ridge with Union Ministers and Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states in attendance, along with more than 30,000 party supporters from across the state, mostly dressed up in traditional attires.

Five-time legislator Thakur, who rose through the ranks and is known for his humble, clean and low-profile nature, ahead of the ceremony said his top priorities would be restoring law and order situation, to do away with the VIP culture, to review all decisions of the previous Congress government in past three months and to minimise wasteful expenditure.

Thakur's family members, comprising his 80-year-old widowed mother, who belonged to a remote village in Mandi district, attended the ceremony.

Himachal Pradesh has a new govt. Jairam Thakur takes oath as CM

--- ENDS ---
VANCOUVER, B.C., Sept. 29, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mark Jarvis, CEO of Giga Metals Corp. ( TSX.V:GIGA ), today announced a non-brokered Private Placement of up to 4,300,000 units at a price of $0.35 per unit for total gross proceeds of up to $1,505,000.00. Each unit will consist of one share and... Read More
Terror attacks in Australia used to be extremely rare. Around one every five to ten years. You had one in 1986, 1995, 2001 and 2009.

But here is the record of the last few years:

Sep 2014  18-year-old Numan Haider stabbed two counter-terrorism officers in Endeavour Hills Dec 2014  Man Haron Monis, a lone gunman, held hostage ten customers and eight employees of a Lindt chocolate cafe Oct 2015  15 year old Farhad Khalil Mohammad Jabar, an Iraqi-Kurd, shot dead Curtis Cheng Sep 2016  A 22-year-old man, Ihsas Khan, inspired by Islamic State stabbed a man before being arrested and charged with attempted murder. Apr 2017  a pair of 15 and 16 year old boys entered a service station in the small town of Queanbeyan in NSW and stabbed a 29-year old Zeeshan Akbar of Pakistani decent and Zeeshan soon died at the scene Jun 2017  Yacqub Khayre shot dead a Chinese-Australian receptionist in a serviced apartment complex Dec 2017  Saeed Noori charged with attempted murder of 18 people he ran over. Not yet known if motive was terrorism or not.

Also we have some of the foiled plots:

plans to kidnap members of the public in Sydney and Brisbane then behead them on camera and release the footage detonate bombs at a Mothers Day running event stab and shoot police and members of the public at Anzac Day ceremonies target government buildings including the Garden Island Navy base and Parramatta Court House

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This is the first in a series of interviews with international experts on Korea to discuss pending issues surrounding the nation on the occasion of the beginning of 2018  ED.



U.S., S. Korea urged to be more aggressive on N. Korea's cyber attacks



By Kim Jae-kyoung



China should play a bigger role in reining in North Korea if it doesn't want to see the deployment of more U.S. missile defense batteries here, according to a renowned North Korea expert based in the U.S.



He said that President Moon Jae-in should take a more sophisticated approach toward China to achieve dual goals  preserving the nation's right to self-defense and restoring strained relations with China.



"The Moon administration needs to walk a very fine line, insisting as a matter of principle that it has a right to self-defense while exploring defensive options that suit the circumstances," said Stephan Haggard, a professor at the University of California, San Diego, in an interview.



Haggard is the director of the Korea-Pacific Program at the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy.



He said there are plenty of other defensive systems that South Korea might explore beyond the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system calling for the Moon administration to do as it sees fit.



"What the U.S. worries about is not THAAD per se, but Beijing's perception that it can dictate defense policy to Seoul or to any country in the region," he said.



"If China wants to reduce the need for systems such as THAAD it should continue to work closely with the U.S., South Korea and the other five parties on the North Korea problem."



He downplayed concerns that Moon is tipping the diplomatic balance in favor of China over the U.S.



From his perspective, the U.S. has an interest in seeing a positive, forward-looking China-South Korea relationship but there will always be tension if Beijing seeks to use its political and economic weight to pressure Seoul or to weaken the alliance.



"I see this as something that Korea simply has to manage on an ongoing basis, not as a problem that can be definitively solved unless China shifts ground," he said.



Haggard, who also serves as visiting fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, dismissed criticism that Moon's two-track policy toward North Korea  seeking dialogue and imposing sanctions at the same time  was wrong.



He believes that Moon's strategy is actually not different from that of the Trump administration except for subtle points of emphasis, such as a willingness to participate in humanitarian aid.



"Both the U.S. and Korea are currently pursuing a strategy that relies on both pressure and a willingness to talk," he said.



Declaring red lines is a mistake'



On a question of what should be a red line North Korea should not cross, the North Korea expert said, "Declaring red lines is a mistake."



"The only red lines that need to be made clear, and I think the Trump administration has actually been clear on this, is that the U.S. stands ready to respond in full force to any attack on our allies," he said.



Haggard has said Washington and Seoul should be more aggressive about Pyongyang's cyber attacks.



The Trump administration has officially blamed Pyongyang for carrying out the May 2017 WannaCry ransomware attack, which had significant material effect in Britain and elsewhere.



"The U.S., South Korea and Japan should be seriously considering not only defensive responses to such actions but offensive actions, showing North Korea that the US and its allies have the power to disrupt as well as defend," he said.



He expects that the Kim Jong-un regime will continue to conduct missile and nuclear tests but the pace will slow.



"North Korea has been saying that it is close to completing its nuclear deterrent. This could mean a slowdown in testing and even a pause, which could open a window for negotiation," he said.



"But given the investment they have made and the status of the program within the domestic political economy, I am doubtful that they are interested in denuclearization unless forced to shift as a result of outside pressure," he added.



Haggard remains positive about the possibility of talks between Washington and Pyongyang.



He said that the U.S. has channels to the North Koreans, and has almost certainly communicated with them.



"Despite the rhetoric, I honestly believe that the Trump administration would be willing to return to negotiations, even swiftly."



Freeze-for-freeze not impossible'



The problem in his view is that the U.S. has no interest in talks that do not include a commitment to denuclearization, even if other issues such as sanctions relief, a peace regime or security assurances are on the table.



He said that China's "freeze-for-freeze" proposal to simultaneously halt North Korean nuclear and missile testing and joint military exercises by South Korea and the U.S. can be an option for finding a breakthrough.



"Ideas such as the freeze for freeze are not impossible if embedded in a clear path to meaningful talks," he said.



Haggard said that regardless of North Korea's nuclear capabilities, the U.S. will never accept that the reclusive country is a de facto nuclear power as this would undermine the Non-Proliferation Treaty.



He explained that through deterrent and defensive actions, the U.S., Korea and Japan are seeking to neutralize the risks associated with the North's nuclear weapons program.



"Maintaining these capabilities, including through cooperation with U.S. alliance partners, is an aspect of getting North Korea to the table and of seeking to uphold the Non-Proliferation Treaty," he said.


By PTI: Bhubaneswar, Dec 27 (PTI) The Odisha government has set a target to start regional flights, under the Centres UDAN scheme, from the Jharsuguda airport during the first week of February next year, officials said.

This was discussed at the state-level coordination and monitoring committee meeting chaired by Chief Secretary A P Padhi.

"The flight from Jharsuguda is scheduled take off from Jharsuguda during first week of February, 2018," a state government release said, adding, the flight will connect Jharsuguda with Raipur and Jagdalpur.

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Four airstrips in Odisha and the Biju Patnaik International airport have been selected in phase-I for implementing the UDAN scheme.

The airstrips are Jharsuguda, Rourkela, Utkela in Kalahandi and Jeypore in Koraput districts.

Jharsuguda has been upgraded to an airport from an airstrip.

Infrastructure of the airstrip at Rourkela is now ready for flights under the the Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) scheme, the officials said.

The chief secretary asked officials to expedite the process for finalisation of operational details at Rourkela airport.

He also directed to make Utkela and Jeypore strips ready by March, 2018 so that the UDAN scheme could be implemented, the release said.

The Director General of Police R P Sharma said around 135 police and 27 fire personnel have already been trained to provide security and fire services in the regional airports.

The Biju Patnaik International Airport will serve as the mentor airport for the scheme.

"The flight operator company (Air Odisha) appraised that regional connectivity from Kolkata to Rourkela has been scheduled to be started from January 23, 2018," the release said.

The state government has decided to reduce VAT on aviation fuel from 5 per cent to 1 one percent and provide 20 per cent of under the Viability Gap Funding, said general administration special secretary A K Meena.

It will also provide subsidies and financial assistance for regional air connectivity, as a part of the Make in Odisha initiative.

The average price of a ticket for these flights would be around Rs 2,500.

Routes like Bhubaneswar to Utkela, Utklela to Raipur, Bhubaneswar to Jeypore, Bhubaneswar to Jharsuguda, Jharsuguda to Ranchi, and Bhubaneswar to Rourkela have been suggested for regional connectivity. PTI AAM SBN RBT

--- ENDS ---
The barely four-feet tall Trali was one of the oldest terrorists actively operating in Kashmir and was killed in a joint operation by the 50 Rashtriya Rifles and the local police.

Locals at the funeral of Trali who was killed in an encounter on Tuesday.

By Mail Today Bureau: In a major success for security forces against the Jaish-e-Mohammed in the Kashmir valley, its top leader in South Kashmir Noor Mohammed Tantray alias Noor Trali was eliminated in an encounter in the Pulwama district on Tuesday.

Trali, 47, was the main leader of Jaish-e-Mohammed in the South Kashmir area and was responsible for carrying out operations along with the Pakistani-origin terrorists of the group coming from across the border, the sources said.

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The barely four-feet tall Trali was one of the oldest terrorists actively operating in Kashmir and was killed in a joint operation by the 50 Rashtriya Rifles and the local police in the in Samboora area of Pulwama.

The 47-year-old was wanted in various terror incidents earlier this year, including a suicide attack at the BSF camp at Srinagar airport, and had become an irritant for the security forces as he had escaped from encounter spots on several occasions.

Trali's body was recovered along with one weapon on Tuesday morning. At the encounter site when a joint security forces' team had surrounded his hideout in a cluster of houses in Samboora area. Trali was killed after a brief exchange of fire.

The terrorist was convicted in a case registered in 2003 in Delhi and was serving a sentence in Delhi's Tihar jail before he was moved out to Srinagar jail after a campaign by human rights and sympathisers of terrorists in Kashmir.

As soon as he reached Srinagar jail, papers for his parole were approved and immediately he joined the Jaish-e-Mohammed in South Kashmir.

Trali went underground in July 2017 and soon became the key man of the terror outfit.

Also watch | Kashmir: Intel inputs warn of fidayeen attack by Jaish-e-Mohammad

--- ENDS ---
BJP delegation in Kerala alleged atrocities against BJP-RSS workers by CPI(M). CPI(M) in turn alleges that the attacks were conspired by BJP and RSS cadres to damage the reputation of the state.

By P S Gopikrishnan Unnithan:

Kerala Governor P Sadhasivam has asked for a report on the law and order situation in the state after BJP delegation submitted a petition to Governor P. Sathasivam, alleging atrocities against BJP-RSS workers across the state.

BJP leaders including state president K Rajashekharan and MLA O Rajagopal met the governor at his residence and submitted the petition.

The petition alleges that the CPI(M) has shifted its strategy from murder to inflicting near fatal and grievous injuries and that the unilateral and unabated attacks on BJP-RSS workers have rendered the peace initiatives ineffective.

The petition requests for adequate and effective precautionary measures to prevent violence and to remove police officers with political connections from law and order duty.

Governor has forwarded the petition to the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for appropriate consideration and for a report on the issues raised in it. On Monday the state police chief Loknath Behra, IPS had briefed the governor on the law and order in the state and promised necessary action.

Kannur, the southern district, has witnessed a series of political attacks over the years. Over the last one month at least 17 people were injured in the violent attacks involving BJP-RSS and CPI(M). In the latest incident, two CPI(M) workers were hacked in Mattannoor area on Monday night.

However CPI(M) alleges that the attacks are conspired by BJP and RSS cadres to damage the reputation of the state. CPI(M) district secretary (Kannur) P Jayarajan yesterday said that a case should be registered against BJP state president Kummanam Rajashekharan and others for conspiring the attacks in Kannur. The recent incident happened just few hours after the state president made a secret visit to the BJP office in Mattannoor. CPI(M) alleges that the attacks are conspired by BJP and RSS cadres to damage the reputation of the state, claimed P Jayarajan.

On the other hand BJP claims that they are at the receiving end in Kannur. The CPI(M) workers with the support of some police officers are unleashing deadly attacks on our cadres. There should be an end to this, said Kummanam Rajashekharan.

ALSO WATCH | Kannur violence: BJP-CPM leaders assure to restore peace in Kerala

--- ENDS ---

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Apr 28, 2021, 5 AM

The first-day ceremony for the 2018 Year of the Dog forever commemorative stamp will take place Jan. 11 in Honolulu, Hawaii.

By Michael Baadke

A first-day ceremony for the United States Lunar New Year stamp celebrating the upcoming Year of the Dog will take place Jan. 11 in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The 11 a.m. event will be held at Chinatown Cultural Plaza, 100 N. Beretania St., Honolulu. It is free and open to the public.

The nondenominated (49) forever stamp is being issued in a pane 12.

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The ceremony participants will include Larry Munoz Jr., U.S. Postal Service acting vice president of area operations for the Pacific Area; Douglas D.L. Chong, president of the Hawaii Chinese History Center; and journalist Pamela Young of KHON2 TV in Honolulu.

"The Lunar New Year is the most important holiday of the year for many Asian communities around the world and is celebrated primarily by people of Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Tibetan, and Mongolian heritage," the Postal Service said in a Dec. 27 press release.

The new stamp, with artwork by Kam Mak, is the 11th in a planned series of 12 stamps that have been issued annually since 2008.
Lies, exaggerations, criminal acts, unbridled irony, alternative facts, fake news  No, we're not talking about 2017 politics. This is the 2017 world of science.

This past year, hundreds of scientific papers were retracted from professional journals. In the majority of cases involving these retractions, the reason was an innocent, yet sloppy, error in the methodology of the experiment that the authors themselves caught. But for quite a few papers, the retractions reflected scientific misconduct and a not-so-innocent attempt to tweak the data  or make it up entirely. What follows are five notable retractions from 2017, culled from the Retraction Watch blog.

Runners-up: May the farce be with you

So many retractions, so little time. There were many more retracted papers that almost made this 2017 "top five" list, such as several that attempted to "prove" a connection between vaccines and autism. One, titled "Systematic Assessment of Research on Autism Spectrum Disorder and Mercury Reveals Conflicts of Interest and the Need for Transparency in Autism Research," wins for irony: The authors didn't reveal the fact that they were associated with organizations involved in demonstrating a vaccine-autism connection.

Elsewhere, to demonstrate that some journals will publish anything, the blogger Neuroskeptic managed to get four journals to accept a clearly fictitious study, authored by Lucas McGeorge and Annette Kin about "midi-chlorians," the intelligent entities that give Jedi their powers in "Star Wars." And then there was "The art of writing a scientific article," which was published in the Journal of Science Communications and cited almost 400 times. The citations are real; the paper and the journal (with an "s" on Communications) don't exist. ['Star Wars' Tech: 8 Sci-Fi Inventions and Their Real-Life Counterparts]

5. I purr, therefore I am

It took 35 years, but Bruce Le Catt was finally called out for the feline he was. Le Catt, being a cat, wrote a rather catty critique of an article written by David Lewis and published in the Australasian Journal of Philosophy. Lewis, who died in 2001, was an American-born philosopher best known for his concept of modal realism, a view that all possible worlds are as real as the actual world. Perhaps there are worlds, for example, in which cats can write  that is, write intelligibly  OK, write intelligibly in words that people other than the cat's owner can understand. Maybe such a world existed in Lewis' mind because, it seems, he was Le Catt, writing a critique of himself. (Philosophers are a fun bunch.)

The 35-year-old ruse  that would be 100 plus in cat years  was an inside joke that was known to a few philosophers of Lewis' generation, including Michael Dougherty of Ohio Dominican University in Columbus, Ohio. Dougherty, who is currently writing a book about scientific integrity, asked the journal to let people know that Le Catt was a pseudonym for Lewis, so that  if nothing else  the younger generation of philosophers would know that Lewis was critiquing himself.

4. Faked to the third degree

If a paper with fake authors and fake funders is published through a fake peer-review process, would it still be fake, or would all of the fakes cancel out? Seems like a philosophical question best handled by Bruce Le Catt (see above). Here are the facts as best they are known: In 2015, a group of Chinese scientists published an article in the Journal of Molecular Neuroscience titled "Nucleolin Promotes TGF- Signaling Initiation via TGF- Receptor I in Glioblastoma." (Don't worry so much about what the title means because, as mentioned, there's not much truth associated with this study.)

In June 2017, the journal retracted the article because the funding source stated in the paper wasn't the funding source; one of the co-authors confirmed he wasn't involved in the research or writing of the paper and knew nothing of the study; the senior writer confirmed he was not involved in the submission process and did not support its publication; and, as the editors wrote in their retraction, there is "strong reason to believe that the peer review process was compromised." [The Strangest Science Findings of 2017]

Regarding that last point: This paper is one of more than 100 articles retracted in 2017 by Springer, the German-based publishing company that publishes Molecular Neuroscience and nearly 3,000 other scientific journals. Springer has been investigating fraudulent peer review, where the authors themselves or paid consultants provide the glowing review. Since 2012, more than 500 papers have been retracted because of a faked peer review, the vast majority of which has been from China, according to Retraction Watch.

3. If only the data were as solid as bone

Japanese researcher Yoshihiro Sato, who died in January 2017, was a respected scientist who published his work in such prestigious journals as Neurology, Bone and JAMA. But now, it seems, editors everywhere have a bone to pick with him. As of December 2017, 23 of Sato's papers have been retracted because of falsified data, questions about authorship or plagiarism.

Sato investigated therapies to reduce hip fractures, and his studies seemed to indicate that vitamin D and various genetic drugs worked wonders in frail, older patients who had had a stroke or who had Parkinson's disease or dementia. But the findings were a little too good to be true. A 2016 statistical analysis of Sato's studies, led by Mark Bolland of the University of Auckland in New Zealand, raised doubts about the validity of the results. Sato admitted to cooking the data; he also confessed that  as an honorary gesture  he had added co-authors who hadn't participated in those studies. Since then, JAMA and other journals have issued warnings to readers, asking that they not be swayed by Sato's body of research, which dates back to the 1990s. Many more retractions will likely come in 2018.

2. Fishy retraction a blow to environmentalists

Many wanted it to be true.

In June 2016, two researchers from Uppsala University in Sweden published an alarming study in the prestigious journal Science, stating that European perch larvae prefer to eat tiny beads of polystyrene rather than natural food. Ingesting these plastic beads, which are barely visible to the human eye, slows a fish's growth and makes it more likely that it will be eaten by predators, who then have the plastic inside them, the researchers said. The news media ingested the artificial tidbit, too, as the study was reported widely. Many environmentalists quickly latched on to the study as proof of the harm plastic pollution is causing.

But many scientists just as quickly challenged the study, with some wondering if the study actually had been conducted at all. By December 2016, Science stated that the study was under investigation. The researchers couldn't produce the full data; they claimed the data were lost when their laptop was stolen soon after the paper was published. After a deep dive, Sweden's Central Ethical Review Board (CEPN) determined that the researchers had been scientifically dishonest and couldn't have conducted a study that was thorough enough to produce the data they claimed they had. Science retracted the paper in May. That Science even accepted the paper is "remarkable," CEPN stated in its review.

1. Mindless eating or mindless science?

Any way you slice it, 2017 was a bad year for Brian Wansink, director of the Food & Brand Lab at Cornell University and author of the popular book "Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think." Wansink has published influential studies, now questioned, that purported that children will choose healthy food, such as an apple, over a cookie if the apple has an Elmo sticker on it. But Wansink's troubles started in November 2016 when, in a blog post, he offered one of his graduate students some odd advice. He told her that, when faced with null results (meaning that the data doesn't support the hypothesis), why not salvage the data and use it for a different study. The student ultimately ended up publishing five papers, all of which were about people eating pizza at an all-you-can-eat Italian restaurant buffet.

The blog post, now deleted, raised concerns among many scientists about the quality and integrity of Wansink's own research. And so they investigated, and found a multitude of problems in Wansink's methodology and statistical analysis that went back for years. Cornell University investigated Wansink's research, as well, and found what it called "mistakes," but not misconduct. More than 50 of Wansink's papers are facing close scrutiny, and in the past year, Wansink has corrected and republished at least eight and has retracted four articles, including the one in JAMA Pediatrics about Elmo and apples. That's the way the cookie crumbles.

Editors note: On Sept. 20, 2018, Wansink resigned from Cornell University, after an internal investigation found that he had "committed academic misconduct in his research and scholarship, including misreporting of research data, problematic statistical techniques, failure to properly document and preserve research results, and inappropriate authorship," according to a statement from Cornell University Provost Michael Kotlikoff.

Follow Christopher Wanjek @wanjek for daily tweets on health and science with a humorous edge. Wanjek is the author of "Food at Work" and "Bad Medicine." His column, Bad Medicine, appears regularly on Live Science.
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A lucky visitor to NASA's Kennedy Space Center snapped a photo of the payload container that will fly aboard SpaceX's new megarocket, the Falcon Heavy.

Twitter user Emiliano C. Diaz de Leon was on a tour bus at the NASA center when he photographed the Falcon Heavy payload fairing being moved inside a building, Inverse has reported. The container will sit atop the Falcon Heavy on the rocket's maiden flight, which is scheduled to take place sometime in January.

SpaceX's founder and CEO Elon Musk posted pictures on Twitter that show his midnight cherry Tesla Roadster being loaded into the fairing. He also said on Twitter that the payload will be shot into a Mars orbit, but the company has not revealed additional details about the payload's trajectory.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's midnight cherry red Tesla Roadster, which will be launched into space on the first Falcon Heavy rocket test flight, is seen before encapsulation inside its protective payload fairing. SpaceX's debut Falcon Heavy rocket will launch in January 2018. (Image credit: SpaceX)

Follow Calla Cofield @callacofield. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
This handaxe weighs almost 8 pounds and is unusually heavy. It and many of the other stone artifacts at Wadi Dabsa date to some point between 1.76 million years ago and 100,000 years ago. Researchers are trying to determine a more precise date.

More than 1,000 stone artifacts, some of which may be up to 1.76 million years old, have been discovered at Wadi Dabsa, in southwest Saudi Arabia near the Red Sea.

The artifacts, which were found in what is now an arid landscape, date to a time when the climate was wetter; they may provide clues as to how and when different hominins left Africa, researchers said.

The stone artifacts include the remains of hand axes, cleavers (a type of knife), scrapers (used to scrape the flesh off of animal hides), projectile points (that would have been attached to the ends of spears), piercers (stone tools that can cut small holes through hide or flesh) and hammer stones. One of the hand axes is unusually heavy, weighing just under 8 lbs. (3.6 kilograms), the researchers said. The discoveries were detailed in the December 2017 issue of the journal Antiquity. [The 25 Most Mysterious Archaeological Finds on Earth]

Based on the tool design, archaeologists said they can tell that many of the artifacts are "Acheulian," a term used to describe types of stone tools made between 1.76 million years and 100,000 years ago. When exactly within this time frame the various artifacts at Wadi Dabsa were made is uncertain, the archaeologists said.

"We hope to try and date the tufa [a type of limestone] and basalt flows within the site, which are associated [with] the large [stone artifact] assemblage recovered from within the wadi," said study lead author Frederick Foulds, an archaeology professor at Durham University in England. Once the team has more-precise dates for the artifacts, the scientists may be able to determine what type of hominins made the tools, Foulds said.

A wetter time

Archaeologists said they can already tell that the artifacts date to a time when the climate was wetter. "It's far more arid [today] than it was at certain points in time," Foulds told Live Science. "It's strange to be walking over hard, dry rocks which were formed by water pooling during a far wetter period. We think it was during these wetter periods that it's likely the site was occupied."

the site where most of the stone artifacts at Wadi Dabsa were found. The site is now part of a barren desert. It used to have a wetter climate that supported plants and wildlife. (Image credit: Andrew Shuttleworth)

The climate of the entire Arabian Peninsula has changed multiple times in response to the massive changes in global climates that accompanied glacial cycles over the last 2.5 million years, Foulds said.

"During periods when the ice sheets were at their largest, there was widespread aridity in the Sahara and Arabian deserts, but during periods when the ice sheets shrank, the climate of these regions became a lot wetter," Foulds said.

One of the big questions is how the changes in climate affected the dispersal of hominins from out of Africa, Foulds said.

"What's interesting about the Wadi Dabsa region is that the geography of the region may have created a refuge from these changes," Foulds said.

Because of Wadi Dabsa's topography the region may have received rainfall when other parts of Saudi Arabia were arid. Hominins were able "to continue living there [at Wadi Dabsa] when they couldn't live in other areas," Foulds said. Researchers have found that Wadi Dabsas topography includes a basin which may have had streams of water flowing down its slopes, the water possibly pooling in the basin.

The team is carrying out its research as part of the DISPERSE project, which is analyzing landscape and archaeological changes in Africa and Asia in order to better understand how humans evolved and dispersed out of Africa.

Originally published on Live Science.
By Supriya Bhardwaj: Opposition led by Congress is all set to raise issue of treatment meted out to Kulbhushan Jadhav's family in Pakistan in Parliament.

Congress MP from Rajya Sabha Pramod Tewari while talking to India Today said, "Once the deadlock in the Parliament gets resolved then we will raise the issue of Jadhav's family in Parliament. What has happened to his family in Pak is inhumane. We will demand discussion on this issue in the house and will ask GoI/ international community to ask an explanation from Pak on this matter."

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Kulbhushan Jadhav's wife and mother had met him in Pakistan jail. Before meeting Jadhav, his wife and mother were strip searched and was asked to remove sindoor and mangal sutra. Even Pakistan Media humiliated the two ladies who were meeting Jadhav, an Indian Businessman, for the first time after he was abducted by Taliban from Iran and handed over to Pakistan.

Congress has already cleared its stand on this issue. Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi had said, "Congress condemns this attitude of Pak Govt. It is inhumane. They have insulted the Indian women and their respect . We condemn it. We want Indian Govt to take a strong stand. We still want Kulbhushan Jadhav should be brought. He was charged in a military court but he wasn't caught during the war. He is not a prisoner of war. We want the Indian govt to clear its policy on how it will bring Kulbhushan back to India."

WATCH | Jadhav family made to change clothes, remove mangalsutra, bangles, bindi before meeting

--- ENDS ---
by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, December 27, 2017

The headline in the CNBC article reads "competitors," but in reality some of these companies are partners or dependent on Google's platform. Companies like Trivago, which depends on Google to send traffic to the hotel search engine.

Trivago is noted as making five references in 2017 documents referring to Google as a threat to its business, according to AphaSense.

The research by AlphaSense, a financial search engine, compiles notations in financial documentation by souring earnings transcripts for words such as "risk" and similar text that would consider Google a "threat" to their business.

In an interview with Search Marketing Daily, Matt Mierzejewski senior search president, search capability lead at Merkle, pointed to a search engine page widget created by Google for the solar panel industry. It enables consumers searching for services to bypass companies acting as the distributor and point them directly to a local contractor.

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Mierzejewski calls these widgets, found in organic search results, a "disruption."

AlphaSense provided its own list of companies citing Google includes nine references by WPP; six by Expedia; five by Criteo; five by Trivago; four by, Yandex; four by, Paypal; three by Nielsen; three by Box; three by Cisco; 3 three by Twenty-first Century Fox; and three by Lending Tree.
by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, December 27, 2017

A new blockchain-based technology created by the company NKOR will support intellectual property rights, allowing creators to register and protect their content. The company is working to create a new standard for verification and the distribution of digital data by authenticating the data and time-stamping the process.

The NKOR platform, meant to support complex legal issues related to copyright infringement, works by creating a proof that links data to a transaction on a blockchain in a process known as "anchoring." The technology creates data and a timestamp without relying on a trusted authority.

The company claims that content is being downloaded, altered and redistributed in such a massive scale that it's become impossible to verify the authenticity and ownership of the original content.

Ophir Gertner announced he will invest in and join the advisory board of NKOR. Gertner has a history of creating and investing in startups. He co-founded Invest.com and the spinoff Stox, which raised $33 million in less than two days.

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The technology aims to protect brands and creators who use and license content for advertising  everything from music to video to images. The blockchain will track copyright infringement, including illegal downloading of original content.

Engineers are in the midst of developing NKOR and raising funds.

Gertner is joined by Anatoliy Melnichuk, the CEO at Groupon-SnapSaves; Andrey Yashunsky, partner at Da Vinci Capital; and David Mickler, co-founder of QVentures, to create an investment team. Da Vinci Capital and QVentures invested more than $220 million in 48 different projects.

Eric Klein, CEO of NKOR, hopes the team can do the same for his company by opening the door to new investors. He has more than 11 years in the media industry.

Reports suggest NKOR will initiate an ICO in February with the intention of raising $20 million. The monies will be used to cover the complex development costs, employing 50 workers, and maintaining offices in Ukraine, Russia, and New York.
Can money buy happiness? Well, that depends on how much money you have, and the type of happiness youre after, new research suggests. Share on Pinterest How much money we have may predispose us to different kinds of happiness, suggests a new study. If you should ask me the amount/In my bank account/Id have to confess that Im slippin' sang Louis Armstrong in 1945. However, having little money in his account didnt prevent Satchmo from being happy. In actual fact, the song Im just a lucky so-and-so is about the feeling of happiness that one gets from being close to loved ones and being able to admire the beauty of the world. Is there any truth to the idea that we dont need money to be happy? Or is this just a myth that was invented by the wealthy to keep the poor content? Between these extremes, there may be some middle ground, according to a new study published in the journal Emotion. Paul K. Piff, Ph.D., and Jake P. Moskowitz, both from the University of California, Irvine, examined a range of positive emotions associated with different incomes and found that money buys different types of happiness for different people.

Low-income versus high-income happiness Higher income has many benefits, says Piff, including improved health and life satisfaction, but is it associated with greater happiness? This question prompted the researchers to survey 1,519 Americans. This nationally representative sample of participants was asked to answer questions about seven positive emotions considered central to happiness. The emotions were amusement, awe, compassion, contentment, enthusiasm, love, and pride. The subjects answered questions that were designed to measure the degree to which they tended to experience these emotions. For instance, participants were asked to rate how much they either agreed or disagreed with the statement, Nurturing others gives me a warm feeling inside in order to measure compassion. Some other statements included, Many things are funny to me, designed to measure amusement, I develop strong emotions toward people I can rely on, meant to measure love, and, It feels good to know that people look up to me, as a measurement of pride. The researchers also asked the participants questions about their household income. It was found that those who had a higher income were more likely to experience emotions that focused on themselves, such as pride, contentment, and amusement. By contrast, those with a lower income had a stronger tendency to experience emotions centered on others, such as compassion and love. Those with a lower income were also likelier to feel awe and an overwhelming sense of beauty in the world.
The crypto currency rage in 2017 has had a massive impact on the millennial investors. People today are more open to investing in crypto currencies and why wouldn't they be, when some of the currencies have delivered massive returns to the tune of 2500% in just over six months. This party will definitely spill over to 2018 and here we take a look at five crypto currencies with the highest potential to make you super rich.

1. Ripple

 Twitter

Ripple is one of the fastest growing crypto currencies in the crypto land. It has already skyrocketed from just 0.05 cents back in January 2017 to over $1.25 in December 2017. The potential for Ripple's crypto currency XRP is huge since many banks are currently testing it to transfer remittances instantly. Once big banks begin to use XRP in daily transactions, the currency is expected to surge to at least $10 in 2018. This, however, is just speculation but it's not too far fetched considering Ripple has American Express as its existing customer. For beginners, consider Ripple as the Amazon of fintech world in 1997. For those who know what Amazon is valued at currently, Ripple promises to be the biggest crypto currency in the next year and a half.

2. Red Pulse

 Twitter

Red pulse is a relatively new crypto currency that promises to herald a revolution in the research content ecosystem. The red pulse platform is creating a groundbreaking research platform that will aim to simplify incentives and directly compensate research producers for their valuable insights. Their red pulse token, thus, facilitates this ecosystem by powering a brand new content production, distribution, and consumption platform.

Red pulse CEO Jonathan Ha, while speaking to Neonewstoday, explained why he was bullish on high growth for the company saying, According to consulting firm Burton-Taylor, the global financial data and research industry topped $27bn last year. Although Red Pulse intends to take up a specific niche area, it's certainly a massive market to grow into. To expand and extend our platform, we'll initially focus on key markets that we know and understand, such as Greater China. As we establish ourselves and validate our operating model, we'll gradually expand to other regions and service offerings.

The current platform was launched in 2015 and is being used by 50 institutional clients including partnerships with Bloomberg, Thompson Reuters, S&P Capital IQ, and FactSet financial terminals. It is because of such strong fundamentals that it is currently trading at 16 cents when it started at just .05 cents. It has already tripled in value and has the potential to go at least $4 by the end of 2018.

3. OmiseGO

 Twitter

OmiseGo has had staggering growth over the past six months. Back in July, the OmiseGo token was trading at 0.43 cents and is currently at $15.5. So, if you had invested just Rs. 100000 in Omise in July, that investment would have been worth Rs. 37,00,000 today. This mind boggling growth in its trading price is a factor of multiple partnerships the team at Omise was able to pull off including with fast food giant McDonalds.

4. Dent

 Twitter

Probably one of the crypto currencies with maximum potential, Dent started off with a noble cause. They wanted to make mobile data transfers easier from one geographical location to the other. With an app launch in December and data transfers currently active in US and Mexico, Dent has proved to be a product company leveraging crypto currency to the fullest. You can actually buy, sell and transfer data from US and Mexico with Dent tokens and this simple use case has been magical for Dent investors. It has seen 20x returns in just three months and the 2018 roadmap looks quite solid to deliver 50x returns on the money invested.

5. Bitcoin

 Twitter

Bitcoin still remains the most recognised crypto currency in the market. With a marketcap of $270 billion, Bitcoin is worth more than many fortune 500 companies combined. The investors are bullish about Bitcoin because of its low circulation and wide adaptability. Some prominent investors have predicted the bitcoin to surge above $100,000 in 2018 and it's not saying a lot as it recently touched $20,000 before settling around $16,000. If you are a bit conservative and still want good returns then Bitcoin is the way to go.

Disclaimer: The investors must do their own research before investing.
Over the Christmas weekend, the popular accessory store Claires began pulling makeup marketed at young girls and teenagers from its shelves due to claims that asbestos had been found in it.

Representatives from Claires said that the company will pull some of the disputed cosmetic products from its shelves as a precautionary measure while it investigates the claims. However, the company made no comment about the discovery of asbestos in its makeup kits.

Claires maintains more than 2,500 stores in North America and Europe, and another 1,200 locations across Asia, Africa, South America and the Middle East. The retailers parent company also owns and operates more than 350 Icing stores, which sell products targeted to women age 18  35.

Testing for asbestos was done by the Scientific Analytical Institute (SAI), a private laboratory that performs environmental, forensic and other types of testing. For the Claires test, makeup kits were acquired from 17 retail outlets across 9 different states, including samples from stores in Chicago, Greensboro, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, New York, Providence, and Seattle.

Asbestos was found in a variety of the samples taken, including blush, compact powder, and eye shadow. According to the SAI report, all tested positive at alarming rates.

Most of the samples that tested positive contained tremolite asbestos, although at least one sample also contained chrysotile asbestos. Tremolite asbestos often occurs naturally in or near talc deposits, which are mined for use in cosmetics, drugs, food and industrial applications.

Asbestos-contaminated talcum powder has been implicated as a risk factor in a variety of health problems, including various types of cancer such as mesothelioma and ovarian cancer.

The discovery of asbestos in Claires makeup is not the first such finding this year. In July, asbestos was found in store-brand makeup products from Justice, another store that markets its products to young girls and preteens.

Other childrens products that have been found to contain asbestos in recent years include crayons, toy crime lab kits, and baby powder. Asbestos is also a problem in factories where toys and childrens products are made, such as a doll factory in Italy which exposed workers to the carcinogen.

Exposures to asbestos-contaminated products like these may be one reason why younger people are facing an increased risk of developing mesothelioma.

Anyone who bought one of the following makeup kits from Claires can return it for a full refund:
Were excited to announce that metalbulletin.com is now part of fastmarkets.com.

A new look and an improved experience means you can still stay ahead of this fast-moving metals market with price data, news and market intelligence right here on Fastmarkets.

Discover more than 2000 prices, news and analysis in primary and secondary metals markets. We cover base metals, industrial minerals, ores and alloys, steel, scrap and steel raw materials.

If you already have a Fastmarkets account, youll still have uninterrupted access to your markets by logging in with your current details.
"Every dialogue with Pakistan must stop and army must prepare for war," said Vishva Hindu Parishad chief Pravin Togadia, a day after the MEA said Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother and wife were badly treated in Islamabad.

By Indrajit Kundu: India should give Pakistan a "befitting reply" for insulting Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother, and "wipe Pakistan off the world map" if need be, Vishva Hindu Parishad chief Pravin Togadia said Wednesday.

Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother Avanti and wife Chetankul visited him in Islamabad on Monday. India's foreign ministry says Avanti Jadhav wasn't allowed to speak to her son in Marathi, and that both women were asked to remove their "mangal sutra, bangles and bindi" before meeting the former Navy officer.

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Avanti and Chetanjul Jadhav were harassed by the Pakistani media, the ministry said. Kulbhushan's mother was even called "qatil ki maa" by journalists, sources told India Today.

At a meeting in Bhubaneshwar, Pravin Togadia said India should avenge the insult to Avanti and Chetanjul Jadhav.

"This is not just an insult of Kulbhushan's mother alone, it is an insult for India's 50 crore women. His mother is our mother too and we should give them a befitting reply," he said.

"If it requires us to wipe Pakistan off the world map, so be it! We should prepare for war and avenge this insult," the VHP president added.

Togadia also questioned people seeking to continue a dialogue process with Pakistan: "They kill our jawans repeatedly and some people still want to invite them to sing in Mumbai and seek free treatment for their patients? Should we enjoy the music of those who kill our jawans? Every dialogue with Pakistan must stop and army must prepare for war."

LISTEN | How Pakistan's media humiliated Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother

--- ENDS ---
The remnants of ISIS forces in Syria have been moving through areas nominally in the control of the Russian-backed regime with "impunity" from attack as they search for a safe haven, a coalition commander charged Wednesday.

"From our point of view, it seems to us that ISIS are moving through regime areas with impunity" in eastern Syria while apparently fleeing to the west in an effort to reach territory controlled by other rebel groups fighting the regime of Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, British Army Maj. Gen. Felix Gedney said.

In recent weeks, ISIS fighters, or their sympathizers, reportedly have mounted small attacks in the southern neighborhoods of Damascus, the Syrian capital.

"We are seeing the movement of limited numbers of ISIS militants westwards" from eastern Syria near the Iraqi border, said Gedney, the deputy commander for strategy and support for the U.S.-led Operation Inherent Resolve.

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In a video briefing to the Pentagon from Baghdad, Gedney said that the free movement of the ISIS fighters was evidence "the regime is either unwilling or unable to defeat [ISIS] within their borders."

While in the regime's areas, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria fighters essentially are immune from attack by the U.S. and its partnered forces, Gedney said.

"We've got no intention to operate in areas that are currently held by the regime," Gedney said. "We can only defeat ISIS in areas our partners control."

In eastern Syria, where the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces have captured Raqqa and pursued ISIS' remnants in the Middle Euphrates River Valley, the fight was not over, Gedney said.

Last week, U.S. and coalition aircraft carried out 23 strikes in eastern Syria against ISIS vehicles, fighting positions and other targets, Gedney said. "Our pursuit of these terrorists is as tenacious and determined as ever," he said.

In Raqqa, which ISIS had called the capital of its "caliphate," the focus was on removing improvised explosive devices left behind by ISIS to allow displaced persons to return, Gedney said.

Despite the coalition's successes in Syria and Iraq this year, there were no plans as yet to begin troop withdrawals, Gedney said.

"Our coalition will remain committed to the mission in Syria" until such time as political leaders decide otherwise, he said.

The situation was similar in Iraq, where the coalition was putting more emphasis on training police and border guards, Gedney said.

"As soon as we can, we will move troops out of theater," he said, but there was no timetable for withdrawals.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.
HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan -- A Taliban shadow governor who had planned and executed improvised explosive device attacks on Marines and Afghan soldiers for well over a decade was killed in a precision airstrike just days before Christmas, Marines here told Military.com.

Task Force Southwest, the 300-Marine element that deployed to Helmand province as an advisory force for the Afghan National Defense Forces in April, does most of its work from inside the wire, supporting the local troops who patrol and launch ground attacks. But this recent strike on local Taliban mastermind Qari Fida Mohammad illustrates the impact Marines continue to have on the active fight.

Mohammad, longtime shadow governor of the restive Helmand district of Marjah, was killed Dec. 20, task force spokeswoman Maj. Kendra Motz said.

Standing inside the unit's operations center, where 11 large flat screens featured detailed live drone footage from around Helmand province, Capt. Brian Hubert explained how the strike happened.

"Through the work of the intelligence sections as well as the operations in here, and coordination with the Afghans as well, we were able to conduct a strike on him a few days ago," said Hubert, battle captain for Task Force Southwest. "Basically, we're very familiar with the battlespace now. So when we see the leaders we know are important there, we can kind of do a bead on them."

The unit started tracking Mohammad with its eyes in the sky. When he was well positioned as a target, the Marines called in two Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons to execute the strike.

"He was in a vehicle traveling with deputies, bodyguards, and a cousin of his, who was also a sub-commander," Hubert said. "We took the shot successfully, and [he was] dead on the spot, which was huge."

Mohammad, who was based in the Taliban hotbed of Marjah, but operated throughout Helmand province, had been well-known to the Marines for years.

Col. Matthew Reid, deputy commander of the task force, told Military.com he had known about Mohammad in 2010, when he deployed to Helmand for active combat operations.

"We're still not really fully aware of the exact ramifications of taking him out," Reid said. "It was a pretty big takedown, so we're pretty happy about it. He was behind a lot of attacks against Marines back in the day--really high profile attacks."

Hubert said the task force was now tracking the impact of Mohammad's elimination. Ahead of the strike, he said, Marines had watched via drone footage as local civilians took to their homes, fearful of being blamed and facing violent reprisal if any attack were launched on the shadow governor. Now, he said, newly leaderless Taliban fighters in southern Marjah are acting disorganized and confused, without orders to carry out.

"Supposedly, [Mohammad] also had a lot of intimidation where he killed full families; he was absolutely just a Mafia-style Taliban leader in that area," Hubert said, adding that he regularly demanded 'taxes' from local civilians by force. "Taking him out ... hopefully provides the residents of Marjah and the southern end a little bit of a 'hey, maybe it's a turn.'"

For the Marines, Marjah is a region full of history. It's the site of some of the service's most hard-fought battles in Helmand. Some 50 American troops died in the 2010 joint siege on Marjah, known as Operation Moshtarak. When Marines departed Afghanistan in 2014, Marjah was considered relatively stable; but by 2016 it had fallen back under Taliban control.

Marines are now working to empower Afghan troops from the local 215th Corps of the Afghan National Army to hold the line. When the small task force arrived, the provincial capital city of Lashkar Gah was on the verge of being overtaken by the Taliban, Marines said. Now, with support from the Task Force, the soldiers have restored stability to the town and are beginning to move offensively against the Taliban.

In a shura with Navy Secretary Richard Spencer and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller on Dec. 23, Helmand provincial governor Hayatullah Hayat said Afghan troops continue to take daily casualties in the fight.

But task force personnel continue to exact a daily toll against the Taliban as well. On a December visit to the operations center, a dark plume of smoke rose from a road on one of the screens -- evidence of a precision strike carried out only minutes before.

From the screens, Hubert said, Marines had watched a pair of Taliban fighters carrying weapons dig a hole in a road south of the Marjah district center, intending to emplace IEDs ahead of a trip Afghan National Security Forces intended to make to the center.

Afghan Air Force A-29 Super Tucanos were in the air at the time, and Marines reached out and shared what they were seeing, offering them the opportunity to take out the fighters.

"They couldn't quite get it, so we stepped in," Hubert said. "We took the shot with F-16s and killed the two enemy. So now, they're free to move toward the Marjah district center unimpeded by any kind of enemy contact right now."

The process of identifying targets and executing strikes is a collaborative one, Hubert explained. Often the Marines will share what they're seeing and make recommendations to the Afghan troops about how to respond, but leave the decision-making to them. The Afghan troops also play a significant role in the intelligence-gathering: in addition to ground reports, they maintain their own ScanEagle drone, its footage featured on one of the screens at the operations center.

As one target smoldered on the screen, Marines were tracking another: two men traveling up a road, south of friendly forces, one carrying a weapon on his back, concealed by clothing.

"We can see [the weapon] by the shape and size of what it looks like, then we'll see him take it out," Hubert explained.

In the course of several hours that morning, the Marines would coordinate the elimination of a half-dozen Taliban fighters.

The recent strike against Mohammad, and the daily strikes on Taliban targets, illustrate the intensity of the fight the Marines are still waging, albeit from a greater distance than they were during active combat in support of Operation Enduring Freedom four years ago.

"I know we want to bring in governance, and I know we want institutional fixes. But right now, this is a fight," said Reid, the task force deputy commander. "And as Marines, when we're fighting, we're going to kill the enemy, and we're going to kill as many as we can."

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck.
Officials say the device was known as an "unexploded ordnance," or an explosive weapon that did not explode and still posed a...
The military will begin accepting transgender recruits next week unless courts intervene to grant a delay on rulings against President Donald Trump's proposed ban.

In its latest legal setback, the Trump administration lost again last week on its appeal for a temporary restraining order to block a series of lower court rulings ordering the military to begin taking in transgender recruits on Jan. 1.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia last Friday refused the administration's request for a delay on the lower court rulings that a ban on transgender recruits was discriminatory and unconstitutional.

In its ruling, the three-judge panel said administration officials "have not shown a strong likelihood that they will succeed on the merits of their challenge to the district court's order."

The Washington appeals court decision, and a similar ruling earlier by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, made it more likely that the case will go to the Supreme Court.

However, the Defense Department has already said that transgender recruitments will go ahead beginning Jan. 1 as the court battles continue.

In July, Trump tweeted the federal government "will not accept or allow" transgender individuals to serve "in any capacity" in the military.

Trump's proposed ban would a reverse a 2016 policy change by the administration of President Barack Obama allowing transgender people to serve openly in the military.

Trump later formally directed the Pentagon to extend indefinitely a ban on transgender individuals joining the military, and he gave Defense Secretary Jim Mattis six months to come up with a policy on how to deal with those currently serving.

Advocacy groups and transgender individuals currently serving in the military quickly filed suits against Trump's ban.

On Dec. 8, in response to lower court rulings against Trump's ban, the Pentagon issued formal guidance to recruiters on accepting transgender enlistments and also said the military would comply with the lower court rulings to begin recruitments in 2018.

In one of the lower court rulings against the administration, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, in October rejected the administration's argument that allowing the recruitment of transgender individuals would be disruptive to good order and discipline.

"The Court is not persuaded that Defendants [the Trump administration] will be irreparably injured" by meeting the New Year's Day deadline, Kollar-Kotelly wrote in her ruling in the case of Doe v. Trump.

"Especially in light of the record evidence showing, with specifics, that considerable work has already been done [by DoD], the Court is not convinced by the vague claims in [the administration's] declaration that a stay is needed," Kollar-Kotelly said.

"There is absolutely no support for the claim that the ongoing service of transgender people would have any negative effect on the military at all," she said.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.
DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- After flying in Air Force transports, fighters and tiltrotor aircraft within the last year, my flight in a B-1B Lancer was an experience unlike any other.

"It flies like a jet," I said to the 9th Bomb Squadron commander, Lt. Col. Erick Lord (also the weapons system officer sitting in the offensive position in the plane) after climbing down the ladder back onto the ground.

Lord beamed.

The B-1 can climb thousands of feet into the air, but also kick back its wings and dive low, pull a few Gs, and follow the Earth like a jet ski skimming water.

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Its low-altitude terrain-following capability -- at first, a heavily scrutinized skill given that in 1987, the Air Force suspended all low-level flights for the B-1 because of one of its first-ever crashes following a bird strike -- gives crews an advantage: carry and drop like a bomber, but fly like a fighter.

The failsafe sensors on the aircraft when in the TERFLW mode (just a pitch switch on the avionics on the plane) try to pop the aircraft back up.

But the crew keeps it as steady as they can.

"This is to let the jet paint the terrain," said Maj. Charles "Astro" Kilchrist, chief of training for the 9th.

"It's abrupt. It was created to have us sneak in low below enemy radars into Russia during the Cold War, employ nuclear weapons, and get out," he said during the flight over the New Mexico training range known as IR-109 last week. IR-109, located in northern New Mexico, is roughly 300 nautical miles.

"There are about four low-level routes and five military operating areas that we use regularly," said Kilchrist, also a B-1B pilot. "IR-109 is the preferred route for mountainous terrain following, and visual contour training flights."

"It's not soft, not smooth," he said of the terrain follow.

Sitting in the co-pilot seat in tail "088," I was already pretty compact, much like in a fighter seat with a little more wiggle room. Unlike my ride with the Thunderbirds in an F-16, the up-and-down motion in the B-1 felt more like a roller coaster -- making me feel weightless at times or my breakfast coming up at others (still, I kept it down).

But now TERFLW helps the long-range bomber -- which no longer carries nuclear weapons -- hover hundreds of feet above the ground and closely monitor and stalk targets.

That, and shows of force -- conducted just 500 feet off the ground at times -- have the B-1 screeching past the enemy at high speeds.

"That sends a message," Kilchrist said as we flew out.

Here's a video of the B-1B heading out to IR-109, simulating unguided and Joint Direct Attack Munitions weapons drops, descending into TERFLW mode, and popping up into an aileron roll (even though the B-1 doesn't have ailerons, it has spoilers) for this reporter, lucky to take a ride in the "Bone."

And in case you're wondering: yes, there's a toilet, behind the left front seat.

VIDEO:
South Korea's navy is looking to buy stealthy F-35B aircraft, the Marine Corps jump-jet variant of the Joint Strike Fighter, for its new Dokdo-class amphibious assault ships.

Citing military sources, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the Lockheed Martin Corp.-made short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) F-35Bs would be part of South Korea's long-term plan to build a "blue water" navy.

South Korea currently has one amphibious assault ship, the 14,300-ton, 653-foot Dokdo, which is the largest ship in the South Korean navy. A second Dokdo-class amphib is planned for 2020.

"I understand that the military top brass have recently discussed whether they can introduce a small number of F-35B fighters and operate them aboard the new ship that has already been deployed and one to be additionally built," a military source told Yonhap.

Japan is also considering buying F-35Bs to operate from its helicopter carrier, the Japan Times reported.

The problem for South Korea and Japan will be in redesigning the decks of the amphibs to take the heat and stress of the F-35B vertical landings. The Dokdo class ships now are configured to support 10 helicopters.

"Considerations will continue about whether we can run F-35Bs by redesigning the decks of the Dokdo and the new ship that is being constructed," a second military source told Yonhap.

In 2014, South Korea agreed to buy 40 conventional landing and takeoff F-35A fighters, the Air Force variant of the Joint Strike Fighter, for deployment from 2018 through 2021 at a cost of $6.75 billion. The F-35B is the Marine Corps' variant and the F-35C is the Navy's.

Earlier this month, U.S. Air Force F-35As stationed at Kadena Air Base on Okinawa flew over South Korea in a demonstration of fifth-generation air power as part of the Vigilant Ace joint exercises.

At upwards of $400 billion, the F-35 is the most expensive weapons system in history. Last week, new Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, a former Boeing Co. executive, said that reining in costs and making more F-35s operational will be a the top of his agenda for 2018.

"Availability is not where it should be" on the program, Shanahan told Pentagon reporters. "The task we have is to climb that hill," he said, "but I can't say we have a complete understanding of that yet."

"How do we really leverage up on the performance there [at Lockheed]? They've gone now from a development status to full-rate production," Shanahan said. "Since we've got this steady state of full-rate production, how do you make that, you know, run like a sewing machine?"

Shanahan was immediately challenged by reporters on his claim that Lockheed was at full-rate production of the F-35. There were also questions on F-35 availability for lack of spare parts.

In 2017, Lockheed delivered 66 F-35s, according to the Pentagon. Lockheed was expected to deliver 95 F-35s in 2018 but the initial full-production rate of 160 F-35s per year was not expected to be reached until 2023.

Shanahan gave an indirect response to the question on full-rate production. "Part of the short answer to that is that we have a plan we're working with them [at Lockheed]," he said. He also said it was important to achieve a "mindset" on full-rate production before it was actually achieved.

"We should be thinking about the mindset and behaviors and how we are leveraging productivity of a full-rate environment," Shanahan said.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.
Just six and a half days until the military's new Blended Retirement System (BRS) goes live, and many people still aren't completely up-to-speed on what it is, how it impacts them, and whether they should make the switch. I'm here to encourage you to take some extra time this week to do additional training and reading to make sure you fully understand the new program. If you've been serving too long to have the option to switch, you'll be leading folks who are eligible, and they deserve accurate information from you. To get you thinking and inspire your learning, here are a few pieces of misinformation I've heard in the last few weeks: "I have to make the choice in January."

Service members who are eligible to opt-in to the BRS may opt-in at any time during 2018. However, if you are going to switch to BRS, there is a benefit to doing it early: Department of Defense contributions to your Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) account will start with the pay period after you switch. Switching early gives you more automatic and matching contributions. "I'm not doing 20, so it doesn't matter what I choose." Folks who aren't ever planning to serve until retirement are the folks who most benefit from a switch to the BRS. The biggest draw of BRS is that the over 80% of service members who don't reach retirement will leave with government-funded retirement savings. "I did the mandatory training. Isn't that enough?"

No. The training is a good way to learn about the facts, but the training doesn't do anything to help you apply the facts to your specific situation. You really need to learn the facts, then mull it over, talk to the significant people in your life, and consider all sides of the situation. I've seen quite a few people flip-flop from their original BRS decision once they've had time to let the original information sink in, realize their questions, do further research, and learn even more. If you're eligible to opt-in to the Blended Retirement System, it might be the most important financial decision of your life. Give it the time and energy it deserves and carve out the time to really learn the nuance of the two plans, talk it through with some smart friends and your nearest-and-dearest, and think clearly about the best choice for you.
The Pakistan authorities have now sent shoes of Kulbhushan Jadhav's wife for forensic examination to determine the nature of the "metallic" object found in it.

By India Today Web Desk: In a latest, the Pakistan authorities have sent the shoes worn by Kulbhushan Jadhav's wife, Chetankul Jadhav for forensic examination to determine the nature of the suspected presence of a foreign object.

This comes a day after India reacted strongly to the way Pakistan government conducted the Kulbhushan Jadhav-family meet , including asking Avanti (mother) and Chetankul Jadhav (wife) to remove their "mangalsutra, bangles and bindi "

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A furore soon ensued after it surfaced that Chetankul's shoes were not returned to her after the meet and now this step by the Pakistan authorities has only worsened the discourse over Islamabad's undiplomatic conduct.

The authorities were ascertaining whether the "metallic object" in the shoes was a camera or a recording chip, Pakistan Today quoted Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Mohammad Faisal as saying. A separate report in Dawn reported that the FO confirmed a "metallic substance" had been detected in Jadhav's wife's shoes that were confiscated by security officials prior to the meeting with the Indian death row prisoner at the Foreign Office in Islamabad.

Jadhav's wife's shoes were kept for inspection, while all other belongings, including jewellery, were returned, Faisal said, adding that she was given an alternative pair of shoes to wear after her shoes were removed.

'SOMETHING IN SHOES'

In a statement issued last night, the FO made no mention of the "metallic substance" and had said that there was "something" in the shoes. In the statement, Pakistan rejected as "baseless" India's contentions that Jadhav's wife and mother were harassed and claimed that his wife's shoes were confiscated on security grounds as there was "something" in it. "There was something in the shoe. It is being investigated. We gave her a pair of replacement shoes.

All her jewellery etc were returned after the meeting," Faisal said. The external affairs ministry said in a statement yesterday that Pakistan went so far as to have the mangalsutra, bangles and bindi of Jadhav's mother and wife removed before they could meet him. India also accused Pakistan of disregarding cultural and religious sensibilities of family members under the pretext of security.

"This included removal of mangalsutra, bangles and bindi, as well as a change in attire that was not warranted by security," it said. The FO said that Pakistan does not wish to indulge in a "meaningless battle of words" and categorically rejects India's baseless "allegations and twists" about attitude of authorities during Jadhav's meeting with his wife and mother.

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"The Indian baseless allegations and twists, that come 24 hours later, about the visit of the wife and mother of Commander Jadhav, a convicted terrorist and spy, who has confessed to his crimes, are categorically rejected," the statement said.

If Indian concerns were serious, the guests or the Indian DHC (Deputy High Commissioner) should have raised them during the visit with the media which was readily available, but at a safe distance as requested by India, it added.

"We do not wish to indulge in a meaningless battle of words. Our openness and transparency belie these allegations," it said. During the December 25 meeting, whose pictures were released by Pakistan, Jadhav was seen sitting behind a glass screen while his mother and wife sat on the other side. They spoke through an intercom and the entire 40-minute proceedings appeared to have been recorded on video.

Jadhav, who was captured in March last year, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying, an accusation that India has dismissed as concocted. New Delhi says Jadhav was kidnapped in Iran where he had legitimate business interests, and brought to Pakistan. To save Jadhav, India moved the International Court of Justice, which ordered Pakistan in May to stay his execution.

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The Reds have agreed to a minor-league deal with righty Daniel Wright, according to SB Nations Chris Cotillo (via Twitter). It seems reasonable to anticipate that hell receive an MLB camp invite, though thats not yet clear.

Wright, 26, has worked to a 5.61 ERA with 4.9 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 over 59 1/3 MLB innings in the prior two seasons. All of those outings came with the Angels, who claimed Wright from Cincinnati  the organization that originally drafted him  in early September of 2016.

All in all, it was a tough 2017 campaign for Wright, who sits at only about 90 mph with his fastball but works in three offspeed offerings (a change, slider, and curve) with regularity. He logged 92 2/3 innings at Triple-A, almost entirely as a starter, but was torched for a 6.99 ERA and managed only 5.9 K/9 with 3.4 BB/9.
27.12.2017 LISTEN

One-time Ghanaian musical sensation Sony Achiba has released a new single titled "Fufuo".

The "fufuo" single features popular artiste S.K. Originale with a danceable introduction.

In a chat with Attractive Mustapha, Sony Achiba revealed that he has taken time to arrange a number of great songs in an album which he will release in 2018.

"Fufuo" is expected to hit the airwaves in the next few days to the pleasure of music lovers and most especially Sony Achiba fans.

The musician is fondly remembered by his funky Indian-inspired apparel in which he appeared dressed in.

Listen to the song here



https://soundcloud.com/user-155029281/sony-achiba-releases-new-song-titled-fufuo
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), 'Improving Tenure Security to Support Sustainable Cocoa Project' and Hershey, a chocolate producing company in the United States have assisted 190 cocoa farmers in Nyame Nnae community.

The assistance include; documentation of their farmlands and the rehabilitatation old cocoa farms.

The land documentation, does not include any new development, but only indicate guidelines that already exist between the land owners and tenants.

In all, 70 women representing 36.8 per cent and 120 men representing 63.2 per cent were selected from Nyame Nnae, in the Western region to benefit from the ten months project that was piloted in the community.

Handling over the documents to the beneficiaries, Dr. Yaw Adarkwah- Antwi, team leader of the project in Ghana, said the main objectives of the project was to look into a cost effective way of documenting land agreements and also consider a financial model for helping to rehabilitate cocoa farms in the beneficiary community.

He said part of the project was to investigate government-private partnership to help smallholder cocoa farmers in the country, increase tenure security, replant old cocoa farms, increase yields and productivity as well as reduce deforestation and degradation.

Dr Adarkwah-Antwi explained that for the documentation of lands and rehabilitation of old cocoa farms, which initially involved ten farms, all the other people who participated voluntarily presented their lands and farms for the exercise.

He said some were willing to avail more farm lands but due to inadequate funds they limited everyone to just one farm, explaining that with the 'Abunu' arrangement for instance, it was possible that a farmer may want to rehabilitate his farms, but the land owner's family will object to it.

He noted that such misunderstandings were happening because there were no written down documents at the time the parties entered into the agreements and documenting and writing down what exactly are the rights and obligations of the land owners and tenants would increase productivity and reduce the hurdles between them.

Dr Adarkwah-Antwi added that "We have a survey plan attached to the document, so if someone removes your boundary plan it is easy for a trained beneficiary to use that plan to come back and establish the boundary' and cautioned the beneficiaries not to use the 'land paper documentation' advantage to create confusion between them and their land owners.

The acting chief and Ankobeahene of Asankragwa, Nana Kwesi Addae, who chaired the function thanked the farmers and land owners for cooperating with the organisers to end the project successfully.

He urged the farmers to adhere strictly to what the document contained and live harmoniously with their land owners and appealed to the project managers to extend their project to other communities in the district.

Nana Agyekum chief of Nyame Nnae thanked the project managers for the programme and appealed to men and land owners to give lands to more women in the area since they contributed a lot to cocoa farming in the area,

Mr Tawiah Kwarteng representative of Hershey in Ghana in a speech read on his behalf urged cocoa farmers to venture into the cultivation of other crops and fish and livestock farming as that would make them stay in business all time.

Madam Vida Afi, a beneficiary expressed appreciation to the sponsors for introducing the programme in their community to ensure some on security their farming activities.

The aim of the 'Improving Tenure Security to Support Sustainable cocoa project' is to ensure the continuous growth and production of quality cocoa beans to feed the cocoa industry in the USA in particular.

GNA

By Justina Paaga/Erica Apeatua Addo, GNA
26.12.2017 LISTEN

Choosing a suitable course of study is one of the most important decisions every student makes in his or her academic pursuits.

It is essential to ensure that the qualifications are relevant, accepted and valued by higher educational institutions and employers.

The Cambridge Assessment International Education is the world's largest provider of international education programmes for students between the ages of 5-19 years whose qualifications are widely recognized and accepted throughout the world.

Success in Cambridge assessment programmes often enables the student to gain admission into the best universities of various countries including US, UK, Australia, Canada, Germany and here in Ghana.

Dison International School (DIS) is an example of one of the schools that run the Cambridge Assessment International Education in Ghana.

It emerged from Dolly Memorial crAche and nursery school which started from the garage of house number D7 at the Labone Estates in September 1970 with six children school.

Admission arrangement at DIS begins with the completion of a registration form which may be downloaded from the school's website (www.dis.edu.gh) filled and submitted to the school. Alternatively, registration can be done at the school.

Mr. Isaac Rockson-Ekpe, the Principal of the school, said DIS runs the Cambridge programme that is predicated on equipping students with critical thinking skills which would make them independent learners and expose them to the world.

He said the intention of establishing an international school in Ghana for children from diverse cultural backgrounds is to prepare pupils for a globalized world.

Mr. Rockson-Ekpe said DIS exists to meet the academic needs of Ghanaians who aspire to pursue international education not only limited to Ghana or Africa but one that would enable them to access education globally.

At present, he said, the school has students who are expatriates from Liberia, Kenya, and Nigeria pursuing education at various levels.

Mr. Rockson-Ekpe expressed the hope that with the awareness creation effort, parents would want their children to pursue the Cambridge assessment programmes because it provides easy access to higher education.

He said it is more practical- oriented and designed to give students exposure and global perspective adding that it focuses more on application of knowledge than recall of facts.

Mr. Rockson-Ekpe said international education at DIS is for everybody as the fees are very affordable with flexible payment options.

He said as an emerging Cambridge qualifications provider DIS has the requisite human resource and the necessary facilities needed to aid effective teaching and learning.

'Parents and Guardians will find it fulfilling to enroll their wards at DIS', he Mr. Rockson-Ekpe.
Cattle owners at Asante Akyem Agogo in the Ashanti Region have accused the District Security Council (DISEC) in the area of failing to give them prior notice before embarking on an operation to drive away their cattle from the town.

The owners claim that the joint security task force carrying out the operation has deliberately killed over hundred cattle and have sold out some to indigenes of the area.

Members of the Cattle Owners and Dealers Association have described the move as unfair since they have always cooperated with the DISEC to see to the enforcement of a court order to drive away cattle from the Agogo Township.

Indigenes of Agogo and its environs for the past years have accused herdsmen of allowing their cattle to graze and destroy farmlands which are the only source of livelihood.

Some indigenes and herdsmen have died since the issue started.

Speaking to Citi News one of the affected cattle owners, Alhaji Karim Grusah said the court ruling to evict herdsmen with their cattle from the area has not stated that the cattle should be killed.

He said cattle owners in the area have always paid compensation to farmers whose farmlands have been destroyed by the cattle.

Alhaji Grusah indicated that members of the Association have also been engaging and dialoguing with the security on how best to effectively enforce the ruling and also prevent alien herdsmen from bringing their cattle to the area.

According to my herdsman, the military have killed about 50 of my cattle. He said he saw them lying in the bush. If they kill, they take it away and sell to the people in the area. He told me they come in with a KIA truck and when they kill the cattle and put them in and sell to the people.

He appealed to Government to intervene in the matter since the actions of the taskforce will not ensure an effective enforcement of the court order the DISEC is seeking to implement.

He blamed the District Chief Executive (DCE) and the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area for ordering the taskforce to deliberately kill their cattle.

He also warned that the Association might stop its members and cattle dealers from selling out their cattle if Government fails to use a proper measure in addressing the issue.



By: Hafiz Tijani/Citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Alhaji Grunsah, others fume over cattle killings in Agogo appeared first on Ghana News .
Mr. Louis Kuukpen, Assistant Country Director for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has said efforts geared towards maintaining peace in the society must be a sustained process.

A sustained peace process would ensure people understood and appreciated the importance of peaceful coexistence among families, communities, tribes and religious groups, he said.

Mr Kuukpen said this during National Peace Council (NPC)'s 'Engagement with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to develop a coordinated strategy for public awareness creation on election related matters' in Wa.

He said it was for that reason the UNDP and the European Union (EU) funded the NPC through the 'Insider Mediator Project' to engage in several activities geared towards ensuring peace during the 2016 General Elections and has since continued the process.

He recognized the roles played by the National and Regional Peace Councils, Faith Based Organizations, CSOs, groups and individuals, saying 'the fact that the elections was successful was because individually in our homes, we decided that peace was the right thing to choose'.

Mr Kuukpen said two of the goals of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were peace and partnership which were both geared towards ensuring that no one was left behind.

'If there is no peace, there is no development; where there is peace, there is successful and progressive development', he said.

He said one could not have peace without partnership which is why the UNDP was pleased to be part of the partnership towards ensuring lasting peace for all.

Mr Justice Agbezuge, Governance and Peace Analyst for EU, said the engagement aims at reviewing the roles CSOs played in the lead up to the 2016 elections in order to reposition them better to strategize towards the upcoming local level elections and the 2020 general elections.

He said it was also to strengthen the capacity of local peace actors in Ghana's peace architecture for them to be able to mediate ongoing conflicts and prevent potential conflicts from occurring.

Mr Agbezuge said community and media engagements, training for the Peace Council staff and the Regional Election Early Warning and Response Group were some of the activities they undertook under the three-year 'Insider Mediator Project' which started in 2015 and is expected to end in 2018.

Reverend Dr Aloysius Nuolabong, Chairman of the Upper West Regional Peace Council, commended the UNDP and the EU for supporting the Peace Council to carry out the project which has contributed towards the successful elections in 2016.
They call them "the mines of death". In the neglected northern Moroccan mining city of Jerada, hundreds of people risk their lives every day to scrape a meagre living from perilous abandoned coal pits.

Last week, two brothers died in a tunnel accident, 85 metres (90 yards) below ground, sparking days of mass protests in the impoverished city.

Abderrazak Daioui, who was with the brothers, narrowly escaped the same fate.

"Houcine and Jedouane were just below me," the 22-year-old said.

"One of them dug horizontally and hit a water well. We were flooded. I hung on my rope and managed to get back up. They weren't so lucky."

Living in a modest, unfinished house, Abderrazak works to support his wife and daughter, his six brothers and his 80-year-old father -- himself a former miner.

"There is no alternative, no work. That's why I risk my life," Abderrazak said.

Earning as little as 100 dirhams ($11, nine euros) per day, he has worked in the mines for over three years.

He says he drinks "lots of milk" in a bid to counter the effects of the coal dust he inhales.

The deaths of the two brothers, aged 23 and 30, sparked a wave of protests as residents accused the authorities of leaving them to their fate.

Thousands of people protested Tuesday against economic marginalisation, accusing authorities of "abandoning" them.

'Same fate as parents'

"The people want an economic alternative," demonstrators chanted, carrying Moroccan flags on their shoulders and insisting that their protests were peaceful.

"How is it that young people who have done their studies end up in the pits of death to face the same fate as their parents?" asked Said, an unemployed graduate from the city.

The mine was the economic lifeblood of Jerada, employing some 9,000 workers, until it was shut down in the late 1990s by authorities who argued it was too expensive to run.

Thousands of people have since left the city and the population has fallen from 60,000 to fewer than 45,000.

Despite the mine being shuttered, young people continue to brave the pits with little safety equipment, extracting coal by hand for sale to local traders.

"Deadly accidents are common," Abderrazak said, adding that his uncle and two young members of his family had been killed.

Eight decades of mining have left their mark on people's health in the impoverished town.

Mine workers said silicosis, a lung disease caused by inhaling fine coal dust, is common.

Mourners in Morocco attend the funeral on December 25, 2017 of two brothers who died while digging in an abandoned coal mine in Jerada

At Jerada hospital on the city's outskirts, 20 patients, mostly former miners, gathered at the pulmonology and silicosis unit.

Mohamed El Berkani, in his 60s, worked the pits for 23 years. He said the centre was set up specifically for mine workers with silicosis.

'Marginalisation'

"Miners spit up their lungs until they die," he said. "So they give us medicine to calm the pain."

But it appears Friday's accident was one tragedy too many for Jerada residents.

On Tuesday, demonstrators filled the streets for the third day in a row, expressing their anger at their "marginalisation" and demanding work.

The protestors echoed slogans of the year-old Hirak movement in nearby Hoceima, where anger over the 2016 death of a fishmonger sparked long-running mass demonstrations demanding jobs, development and an end to graft.

Moroccans hold up Arabic placards reading "economic alternative" (L) and "social justice" at a demonstration on December 26, 2017 after the funeral of two brothers who died while digging in an abandoned coal mine in the northeastern city of Jerada

Moroccan Prime Minister Saad Eddine El Othmani said he was ready to meet lawmakers from Jerada to "discuss problems in the region".

Energy and Mines Minister Aziz Rebbah said the state was building a coal-fired power station near the city that will employ 500 people, mostly from the region.

"We will also launch a deeper study to assess the area's mining potential and encourage investors to come," he said.

The government's statistics agency says Jerada is one of the poorest areas in Morocco.

Rabat has put in place some economic projects to soften the blow of the pit closure, but Said Zeroual of the Moroccan Association of Human Rights argues they were "not enough".

"The city has no other resources. There are no jobs, no factories," he said.

"People's livelihoods are precarious."
"Kulbhushan Jadhav's family got the permission to visit him because of ICJ's verdict. Every Indian must condemn the treatment they got. Pakistan is a hypocritical nation. They indulge in lies," said TMC leader Saugata Roy.

By Indrajit Kundu: The Trinamool Congress on Wednesday raised the Kulbhushan Jadhav issue inside Parliament with senior party leader Saugata Roy, seeking a response from external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on the insult meted out to Jadhav's family in Pakistan.

The TMC, which was accused of minority appeasement for its adversarial stance on the Rohingya refugee issue came out strongly condemning Pakistan viz-a-viz Jadhav.

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"We must all condemn the treatment meted out to the family of Kulbhushan Jadhav in Pakistan. To ask a Hindu woman to take off her mangalsutra is condemnable. They were even asked to open their shoes. There must be strictest condemnation of this behaviour. I want the Minister of External Affairs, who is present here, to make a statement on this issue," Saugata Roy said.

The Parliament, which met after a four-day break witnessed opposition members raising the matter while condemned the hostile reception to Jadhav's family members during their visit to Islamabad.

On Monday, his family was allowed to meet him after a favourable verdict at the International Court of Justice.

This was the first meeting between Jadhav and his family since he was arrested in March 2016 after repeated denials to allow him consular access.

On Tuesday, India had accused Pakistan of violating the conditions set for allowing the family members to meet him. Jadhav, a former Indian naval officer is facing death penalty in Pakistan on charges of espionage.

"The family of Kulbhushan Jadhav got the permission to visit him because of the verdict of International Court of Justice. Every Indian must condemn the treatment. I want to add that Pakistan is a hypocritical nation. They indulge in lies. They have insulted our countrymen. We must condemn this," Roy added.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is scheduled to make a statement on Kulbhushan Jadhav in Parliament on Thursday.

ALSO WATCH | Aap ek qatil ki maa ho: Listen to Pakistan's media humiliating Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother

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Lawrence Baidoo

27.12.2017 LISTEN

Father of a 17-year-old year student of the Ghana Secondary Technical School (GSTS) who was shot and killed by a police officer over the weekend has revealed that his son was not an armed robber.

Mr. Emmanuel Baidoo who is a Mechanist at the Volta River Authority (VRA) branch at Shama in a telephone interview with GhanaWab's Western Regional correspondent said his son who was killed has not even stolen a penny from him and anybody in the Ituma community.

"My son is very calm and has a good behavior...I love him so much, he knows my secret, I still don't understand why Shaibu who knows my son will kill him just like that, hmmm", he lamented.

He added, "You can ask from ;his previous schools and his current school, GSTS; he has good morals and fear ladies and he has not even drunk hard liquor before".

He also accused his neighbour, Lydia Armah of buying pistol worth Ghc.7,000 to kill his beloved son without any reason.

"Lydia Armah bought Shaibu his boyfriend pistol to protect her and Shaibu used it to kill my beloved son", he wept.

Mr.Emmanuel Baidoo in a telephone interview with GhanaWeb also accused the police of deliberately manipulating evidence that implicates their colleague, citing some information he had intercepted from a source.

"One of my colleagues at work called me this morning to tell me he has reliable information that the police officers have taken the gun out of Shaibus room just to prove he didnt come here with any gun, he said.

According to him, Detective Corporal Adjei Shaibu who is with the Shama Police Command is well-known in the area as he has been protecting his girlfriend who has lived in the area for some time now after she was attacked by robbers.

On the day of the incident, Mr.Baidoo said his son who had returned home for a short break from school was walking in the neighbourhood with some friends at the same time when Shaibu and his girlfriend, Lydia Armah were returning home when someone raised an alarm of a robbery incident.

Shaibu, according to eyewitnesses fired his rifle several times after the alarm was raised but sped away with Lydia upon realising that he had killed Lawrence and injured one of his friends.

Mr Baido is appealing to government to help the family get a lawyer who will assist them in seeking justice for their dead son adding that they would be extremely grateful if the case is taken from the Shama Police and handed over to a different unit.

Meanwhile, reports available to the media indicates that Detective Corporal Adjei Shaibu has been arrested and is in the custody of the Inchaban Police pending investigation.

Detective Corporal Adjei Shaibu is alleged to have gunned down 17-year-old Lawrence Baidoo on Saturday after supposedly mistaking the deceased and his friends for armed robbers when they were in fact on their way to a concert.

Source: Daniel Kaku
27.12.2017 LISTEN

Ever since the Shama shooting incidence happened, I have followed keenly the media reportages on it from Skyy Power Fm in Takoradi which broke the sad news to Joynews in Accra and other media outlets in this country and I must say that it is very unfortunate and a sad development.

The comments that have been following the reportages make the whole scenario appear as if police officers are nothing but trained assassins which is very wrong and condemnable.

We need to erase this impression from the minds of the general public for the safety of both the citizenry and our police.

It can result in reprisal attacks which can put all of us in awkward situations. The police and the general public are both partners in the detection of crimes, apprehensions, and prosecutions of offenders and in the course of working together for safer and crime-free communities, some of these human errors in professionalism do happen.

Those of us in the police service are not islands on our own but human beings with social ties with the civilian populace and for all you know, this young man, Lawrence Joe Baidoo is probably a relative of a serving police officer somewhere. Let us say this young man is relative to a police officer like I am assuming, you think this police officer will be happy that his relative has been killed by a colleague who is rather supposed to protect him?

No police officer is happy killing fellow human being because we enjoy killing them for killing sake. Even in an event that you kill an armed robber, you still have a conscience to judge you even though you may be justified by police standards for pulling the trigger so the public should not be made to believe that the police are out there to kill them. We are rather risking everything to protect their lives and also to protect their properties.

I am just imagining this scenario and to juxtapose it with the media reportages so far which seem to create all the sensitivities and inflamed passions accompanying this very incident. Detective Corporal Adjei Shaibu walks from his house to the police station and gives his details to those police officers on duty at the charge office or the counter. They issued him with an Ak47 rifle to go on duty and I am not sure this is his first time of going on duty with a gun as a police officer. The police corporal walks to pass a lot of people but never shoots them until he meets the 17-year-old Lawrence Joe Baidoo, a final year student of G.S.T.S whom we are told was walking in a company of friends to a street jam at somewhere Shama Junction and decides to shoot them? Does it relate?

If truly this is the case, then police officer is not such a criminally minded person who only deserves to rot in jail but also needs a thorough psychological check up to ascertain his mental balances but fortunately or unfortunately, there may be more to what meets the eye in this very particular situation and the very reasons why the media must be very circumspect in their reportages to avoid sensitivities that will turn the public against the police. Since there are survivors of this shooting incidence, I believe both the police and the media can get to the bottom of this case with due diligence. The problem with the media is the impression and the sensitivities they are creating which is making it appear that the police are doing some cover-ups to save the head of the police officer who pulled the trigger despite the fact that the police officer in question has been detained and interdicted.

In times like these, how I wish there is an independent body that investigates the infractions that occur between the police and the civilian populace but unfortunately, our laws have not made provisions for such infractions so it raises some eyebrows if the police are to investigate themselves. Any sane mind will raise rhetorical questions of fairness and neutrality but that is the law so we have to respect it somehow, anyhow and get used to it though there are avenues to address grievances in matters like this.

The Shama Junction shooting is sad development considering the inflamed passions and the sensitivity that this case is bringing but the fact is that no police officer in Ghana or any part of the world is trained to kill innocent people as we are being made to believe as if this 17-year-old boy was a target of assassination. It calls for in-depth and thorough investigations into the circumstances which pressed this Detective Corporal so hard for him to pull trigger to terminate the life of this promising young man and under these circumstances, the public should not give the police a bad name and hang them just like some people unfairly treat dogs just because they like them.

As young police officer, I have personally seen many police officers charged with murder, trialed by courts of competent jurisdictions and found professionally guilty and negligent in discharging their duties. The lucky ones sometimes have their negligence reduced to manslaughter after judges and juries have adduced some elements of negligence in the discharges of their duties so it is not as if the police officer is not answerable to his actions particularly if it should results in a death of an innocent person as this case may be. Whereas the courts may be trying you on criminal charges of murder or causing harm, you are at the same time made to face a service enquiry to justify why you resorted to fire arm as internal measures within the police service to regulate the use of fire arms. If a police officer unjustifiable resorts to the use of fire arms and a life is lost, it is matter of two troubles one God. Only God knows what police officers go through after shooting incidences.

The core objective of the police service is to protect lives and properties so the police cannot destroy precious human lives that they have sworn oath to protect at the expense of their own lives unless there is human error in the acts of professionalism. Of course, the police are also human who are bound to do mistakes with wrong sense of judgment though it is said that to him that much is given, much is expected. We know and admit that stakes and standards are high when it comes to how the police are expected to discharge their duties but we can also not rule out the fact that police officers are also human being who can have a wrong sense of judgment at times when discharging their duties just like all professionals. Police all over the world have this challenge to endure with though a life once lost cannot be replaced.

To kill the same people whom we are supposed to protect is against the very core principles of our oath and the very reasons why we are sworn police officers. It makes the police look like the bad brooding hen which consumes its own eggs before they are hatched. No sane police officer will do that unless there is a circumstance that calls for a police officer to pull the trigger to again save lives and properties but the sad thing is that as human as we are, our sense of judgment at times go wrong just like any other professionals as I have said it earlier.

Before every police officer is taught how to shoot at the training school, you are told in BOLD AND CLEAR TERMS WITHOUT ANY AMBIGUITY that you will justify why you resort to fire arm in the course of discharging your duties. You are told in clear terms that you can only resort to the use of fire arms when you are being attacked by an ARMED CRIMINAL to an extent that your life is in immediate danger and the only available window of life is to shoot to save yourself and others.

In fact, I have just returned from a promotional course, where facilitators again reiterated and highlighted justifiable grounds on which a police officer can resort to the use of firearms. This time the facilitators emphasised that police officers must exercise high levels of discretionary powers when resorting to the use of fire arms because we are in a democratic dispensation where human rights is upheld and the rule of law is supreme.

Every life loss in the course of police duties to maintain law and order will be dully accounted for so the police officer ought to be extra careful before pulling the trigger. It is because of this that the Interior Minister was recently hauled before parliament to answer some police killings in Kumasi in the Ashanti region.

We are accountable to your lives so no police officer in his right senses would kill you and go scot free. The police is still your friend and not the one who is out there to have you killed.

My condolences to the bereaved families. It is a regrettable and irreplaceable loss but we can only help them to wipe their tears as the police investigates this unfortunate incidence. Truly, no police officer kills for the pleasure of it. I am imagining if it were to be and how I would have reacted to this sad news.

Just unfortunate!

Ahanta Apemenyimheneba Kwofie III

#Ahantadiaries_27_12_17
The Way A Guest Feels Resonates Better Than The Quality of The Hotel Facilities-Rita Opiah, Marketing Manager, Protea Hotel Victoria Island

Protea Hotel Victoria Island is a 4 Star luxury hotel strategically situated in one of Lagos' exclusive and affluent neighbourhood in Victoria Island. The 4 Star hotel which is strategically located close to the Eko Hotel Roundabout boasts many facilities. In this exclusive interview, Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency, spoke with the Marketing Manager of Protea Hotel VI, Rita Opiah, where she told us about her hospitality trends in 2018, challenges of the Nigerian hospitality industry and much more. Excerpts

What are the top 3 challenges faced by hotels in the Nigerian hospitality industry in 2017?

Some of the challenges we encountered in 2017 are pricing (Competitive Rates), location (proximity of guest's businesses) and poor power supply.

What are your predictions on the trends to expect in 2018 for the hospitality business?

The influence of social media as an effecting marketing tool to create leads, increased partnership with online travelling travel agents, competitive rates and good customer experience would be prioritized as an effective strategy to retain guests.

From your own personal experience, how would you describe the ideal customer service experience in the Nigerian hospitality industry?

Customer service experience needs to be more prioritized in Nigeria hospitality industry. There is the need for hospitality firms to increase awareness to their Staff by consistently reiterating the need for the customer to have quality experiences. The market is gradually tilting towards retaining guests from total experience marketing (TEM) to total quality marketing (TQM). It has been observed that the way a guest feels resonates better than the quality of your facility. Hence the reason guests experience should be prioritized.

In an ascending order, what hotel amenities are important to lodgers?

Good bed, television, swimming pool, air-Conditioner, Gym, quality food, and Internet connectivity.

We are in the festive season and guests expect some kind of offers/deals. What are some of the Christmas or festive packages you have for them?

We have a discounted rate for our Superior and Classic Rooms (N35,000 inclusive of breakfast for one, taxes, and arrival gifts for kids)

For those looking to work in the hospitality sector in Nigeria, what will be your advice to them?

Let your passion for hospitality precede your career pursuit.
In practice, a political party is a conflation of diverse group of people who share same ideology, with a consensus to work in valence towards election with a view to forming a government and implementing their manifesto promises to impact on the lives of the masses.

Based on the general signification of a political party, we can dare state that every recognised political party must have an explicit focus and direction.In theory, therefore, absence of clear focus and direction, a political party cannot be taken seriously in any sense.

It is worthy to note that the widely recognised and dominant political traditions in Ghana have been the Nkrumaists and the Danquah-Dombo-Busia.

The phraseology, political tradition, is used as a descriptive label for a set of ideas and values about political parties in a democratic dispensation. Political tradition, therefore, comprises the body of ideas that undergird the conduct of political parties.

In a historical perspective, the story was told, that the first political party formed in Ghana on 4th August 1947 was the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC).

It has been well-documented that the organisers of the UGCC generously extended an invitation to the equally intrepid and patriotic Dr Nkrumah in London to take an important position as the secretary of the organisation.

To his credit, and as expected of a true patriot, Dr Nkrumah graciously obliged and took the position. But as it is with any other working team, unexpected dissonance ensued and the members unfortunately parted ways thereafter.

Subsequently, Dr Nkrumah, together with a few unhappy UGCC apologists broke away and formed the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) on 12th June 1949.

The other remaining members of the defunct UGCC then decided to form a new party which was called the United Party (UP).

Based on the obvious rich history of the Nkrumaists and the Danquah-Dombo-Busia traditions, the party faithful have the bragging rights about the authenticity of their respective ideologies.

Bizarrely, however, the supporters of the New Democratic Congress (NDC), a party that sprung out of a series of truculent coup detats, have been parasitically holding on to the Nkrumaists tradition.

Take my word, dearest reader, that could never be right, because as far as Ghanaians are concerned, the NDC Party was founded on the ideals of coup makers, who had no spelled out ideology back then.

Perhaps, the brassbound NDC Party supporters are not content with their weird tradition, and hence seeking refuge in the Nkrumaists tradition.

The NDC Party apparatchiks, so to speak, have over the years been hoodwinking and proselytising unsuspecting Ghanaians to believing that the NDC Party is a subsidiary of the Nkrumaists tradition. How possible?

The fact however is, the NDC Party was founded on the ideals of coup making enthusiasts, who without doubt were novices in the political terrain.

Given the bizarre circumstances in which the NDC Party was formed, one would have expected a true probity, transparency and accountability within the elected NDC government, but that has never been the case.

Their bizarre posturing thus raises the crucial question as to how and why individuals go into politics.

Obviously, the reasons that inform individuals decision to enter into politics are multifaceted. First and foremost, some people claim they go into politics for the love of their nation and others just see power as an opportunity to amass wealth.

It is also believed that other people go into politics with a view to enjoying the power and satisfying their egos. And other politicians are empowered by the convictions of political ideologies.

Well, whatever their reasons for entering into politics, they, the politicians, especially, the NDC apparatchiks, have lost our respect, and, discerning citizens dont trust them anymore.

Once upon a time, so to speak, anyone elected as president, or gained a seat in parliament was looked up to and respected by all. But alas, this is not the case anymore.

How can some of us show deference to incompetent and corrupt politicians like those in the NDC Party?

It would appear that they do not care for the masses; they only scramble for power in order to pursue their vested interests.

There is no denying or hiding the fact that governance is a serious business and as such it requires forward thinking, serious and committed group of people to bring about the needed advancement.

Nevertheless, it has not been always the case in Ghanas democratic dispensation. The emergence of multi-party democracy has given birth to purposeful and maladaptive political parties.

Since the attainment of the independence from the British in 1957, the NDC tradition (PNDC and NDC) had governed the country more than any other government I can think of. In fact, that tradition had governed Ghana for approximately 27 years out of Ghanas 60 years.

It is for this reason that some of us cannot get our head around how and why some people would choose to bypass the worst culprit, the NDC Party for Ghanas poor macroeconomic indicators, and, would gleefully upbraid the likes of CPP, PNP, NLC, SMC, and NPP.

If we stroll down memory lane, the CPP tradition (CPP and PNP) governed the country for approximately 12 years.

Disappointingly, though, the last Nkrumaists government formed by the PNP, and led by Dr Hilla Limann, was deposed by the founders of the NDC Party which was spearheaded by Ex-President J. J. Rawlings on 31st December 1981.

The military regimes of the NLC, SMC 1 and 2 ruled Ghana for approximately 10 years before the founders of the NDC revoltingly usurped power on 4th June 1979.

The UP tradition (PP and NPP) total share of the day-to-day management of the country is about 11 years to date.

In my humble opinion, in terms of useful infrastructural projects which put the country at a substantial and auspicious position, Dr Nkrumahs CPP government did exceedingly better than any of the administrations that followed.

Then also, even though Prime Minister Kofi Abrefa Busias government lasted for less than three years, he did his utmost best in terms of meaningful development.

The achievements of Busia's government include inter alia, the building of roads, housing, provision of healthcare facilities and water.

Besides, Dr Busia was the first Ghanaian leader to create a ministry responsible for rural development, a decision which was in consonance with his consuming desire to improving the socio-economic living standards of the rural dwellers (Daily Guide, 11/07/2013).

K. Badu, UK.
27.12.2017 LISTEN

This is rather funny. If this werent the Yuletide season, I would have called it an April Fools comedy. Just last week, Ms. Mavis Hawa Koomson, the Minister for Special Development Initiatives (SDI), was being literally roasted by the Parliamentary Minority for allegedly bloating the budgetary request that she presented to the House for approval. And now, three or four days later, we are being told that some Members of Parliament are complaining that budgetary allocations for such major ministries as Roads and Highways, and Lands and Natural Resources have been so drastically reduced that it is highly unlikely for the affected ministries to meet their national development targets in the upcoming fiscal year (See MPs Raise Concern Over Cut[sic] in Budgetary Allocation[sic] to Ministries MyJoyOnline.com / Ghanaweb.com 12/26/17).

This is funny because the complaints are largely coming from members of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), who have been making media spectacle out of what they purport to be a generally bloated budget. Mr. Kwame Agbodza, a ranking member of the Parliamentary Transport Committee, claims that the Akufo-Addo Administration did not construct a single kilometer of new roads in the country the whole of 2017, and so with the sharp reduction in the budgetary allocation for the Roads and Highways Ministry by a whopping GH 200 million, there is every reason to believe that even much less will be accomplished in the coming year.

Now, this is strange because if anything at all, it is the sector minister and the rest of the key operatives of the Akufo-Addo Administration who ought to worry themselves silly about such bleak prognostication since, come the 2020 general election, it is the Chief Resident of the Flagstaff House and his cabinet appointees who are squarely going to face the music of either the renewal of their mandate or a ringing rejection of the same. In other words, rather than feign despondence, even in the most patriotic of temperaments, Mr. Agbodza rather ought to be celebrating and salivating over the good chance of his partys trouncing its prime political opponent. In other words, Something aint right here, as New Yorkers are wont to say. Because Mr. Agbodza sounds strangely as if he, somehow, cared more about the development of this country more than those who were authoritatively entrusted with supervising the same by the wise Ghanaian voter last December.

The real chances are that the ranking member of the Parliamentary Committee on Roads and Highways is deathly nervous about the certain possibility of the Akufo-Addo governments proving itself to be the most efficient and fiscally responsible of Fourth-Republican governments. Just why does Mr. Agbodza appear to find it so extremely difficult to realize that he simply cannot be more concerned about the material uplift and development of the country than those executive operatives who have been specifically and specially entrusted with the same? But, of course, if this is how the members of the parliamentary opposition prefer to keep themselves busy, then, by all means, they are more than welcome to the same. The fact of the matter is that Ghanaian voters are more than savvy enough to cut through such cant and chicanery.

I smell the selfsame rat of mischief from Mr. Kwabena MintahAkando, the Parliamentary Minority Spokesman on Lands and Natural Resources, who has been fussing over what he terms as the inadequate funding of the cabinet sector whose ministerial appointee, Mr. John Peter Amewu, has been on the frontlines of the Anti-Galamsey War. You see, the problem that a smarty pants like Mr. Akando has in convincing the Ghanaian public here is that the man who has been doing the real battle on the environmentally destructive galamsey killing fields is not complaining. But, perhaps, what is even more fascinating is that nobody has faulted Mr. Amewu for having been ill-starred in his cabinet portfolio. Maybe Messrs. Akando and Agbodza need to look at the men in the mirror.

*Visit my blog at: kwameokoampaahoofe.wordpress.com Ghanaffairs
Former Vice President, Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur seems not to be enthused with some members of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), who are craving to lead the party in the 2020 general elections.

According to him, the party in its current state is disorganized, and that they need a strong reorganization and not a battle for positions.

We are not there yet, why are people so interested in candidacy and leadership? We are reorganizing the party to make it stronger, to make it a voice that reflects the mode of the people. So I don't think that it is time for leadership yet because the leader will come from a reorganized party, not a leader imposed on a party that is disorganized.

He added that a reorganized strong party at the branch level will elect the leader that represents the best interest of our country.

The former Vice president made the remark after he and his wife, Mrs. Matilda Amissah-Arthur, made some donations to Children on admission at the Ho Regional and Municipal hospitals in the Volta Region last Monday.

Mahama to face stiff opposition in NDC flagbearership slot

Mr. Amissah-Arthur, who was Vice President and then running mate to John Dramani Mahama were defeated in the December 2016 general elections.

Barely a year after the historic defeat, a number of high profile members of the NDC have announced their intentions of vying for the flagbearership position.

Former boss of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Sylvester Mensah , former Vice-Chancellor of the University for Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), Prof. Joshua Alabi, former Trades and Industry Minister, Dr. Ekow Spio Garbrah, former Member of Parliament for La Dadekotopon Nii Amasah Namoale , Member of Parliament for Nadoli Kaleo, Alban Bagbin and Stephen Atubiga, have all expressed their intentions in leading the NDC in the 2020 elections.

The new entrant to have joined the race is a former Deputy Finance Minister, and NDC Member of Parliament for Cape Coast South, Kwaku Rickets-Hagan, who said the decision was not taken lightly.

It's not a decision that I took yesterday or last week, he said in a Citi News interview.

The former Central Regional Minister added that, despite the fact that a number of persons have already announced their intention to contest for the position, he had taken a number of things into consideration before making a decision.

I've no problem with those interested in 2020  Mahama

Despite the number of NDC members wanting to lead the party, former President John Mahama appears unperturbed about the opposition he is likely to face in the party's presidential primaries if he decides to contest.

He said he has no problem with the candidates who have so far declared their intentions of leading the party in the next presidential election.

I have no problem with any of my colleagues who have expressed interest in leading this great party. Let us not attack anyone because whoever is elected to lead us to victory 2020, will need the support of each and everyone, he added.



By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post NDC needs reorganization now, not flagbearer  Amissah-Arthur appeared first on Ghana News .
The Ghana Prisons Service has issued an alert to some prisons in the country to be on the lookout for possible cases of meningitis.

Prisons in the Brong-Ahafo and Northern regions are among those advised to be on guard.

The Public Relations Officer of the Prisons Service, SP Vitalis Aye, told Citi News that the alert was issued to avert a meningitis disaster since it has noted that the incident increases during the harmattan season.

Congestion and heat are some of the major factors that trigger meningitis. He however said the service is taking steps to reduce incidents of the disease should they happen.

We issued an alert that around this time of the year, these things do happen. We have always put measures in place to make sure that though we are overcrowded, we minimize the rate of people getting infected or having a disaster, he said.

We ensure that those who visit as much as possible, physical contact is minimized. Again, we create isolation cells, if you are coming to the prisons for the first time, we put you there, we isolate you, we observe you before you are put in the main prison. Those who are already inside the prisons, if they are showing signs that are not normal, they are isolated. We go through these protocols to ensure that we don't have an outbreak, and even if it is there, it is minimized, he added.

There have been about six deaths resulting from meningitis in the country in the last one month, but these incidents are being considered as isolated.

A student of Damongo Senior High School in the West Gonja District of the Northern Region, three weeks ago died of non-communicable meningitis . Another student from Koforidua Technical School, also died from the disease.

Three deaths were recorded in three Senior High Schools in the Upper East Region, and another at Asamankese SHS in the Eastern Region.

No meningitis outbreak in Ghana

Meanwhile, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has refuted claims that there is a meningitis outbreak in the country.

According to the Service, the deaths of some students from meningitis in recent weeks are isolated cases that do not constitute an outbreak.

The Director for Public Health at the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Badu Sarkodie said in a Citi News that for meningitis, we have not reached the situation to apply the vaccine. We have the vaccine, but to give it, we have to declare an outbreak first. There is a criterion for outbreak declaration and we haven't reached there yet.
Thailand, land of golden temples, white-sand beaches, smiling hosts - or of overcrowded airports, epic traffic jams and littered seashores.

Facing a deluge of Chinese tourists that has strained its airports beyond capacity, the Southeast Asian nation is spending billions to upgrade its infrastructure, open up new islands and cities to travellers, and tone down its image of cheap shopping, hotels and sex that underpinned the industry for half a century. But the change will take years and even then may fail to keep up with soaring visitor numbers that have given the Land of Smiles a reputation for delays, overcrowding and government crackdowns.

"Our strategy was more for less, not less for more, so we invited a lot of tourists from China," said Suvit Maesincee, in an interview last month, when he was the minister attached to the Prime Minister's office. "I think in the near future we need to change from volume to value."

The military-backed government relies on tourism for 18 per cent of the economy and foreign inflows have made the baht one of the strongest performers in Asia this year, a bright spot amid weak domestic consumer demand and private investment. While it plans to spend more than $US5 ($A6.5) billion to double capacity at its international airports, it's planning to increase foreign tourist numbers at a similar pace, reaching 68 million in the next decade.

Weerasak Kowsurat, who returned to the post of tourism minister in November in a cabinet reshuffle by the military government, is frank about the challenge: "Today we're not even ready," he said after a press briefing in Bangkok on December 1. "To get us prepared within a year is not even possible."

The number of Chinese visitors to Thailand has tripled in the past five years, to 8.8 million in 2016. They account for more than a quarter of all foreign tourists and 28 per cent of revenue, according to official data.

The sudden influx, boosted by packaged tours arranged in China, led to accusations of so-called zero-dollar tourism, where groups were shepherded through shopping and sightseeing itineraries that provided little benefit to the host country.

The Chiangmai Songkran festival, the tradition of bathing the Buddha Phra Singh, is held annually in Chiang Mai.

The Chiangmai Songkran festival, the tradition of bathing the Buddha Phra Singh, is held annually in Chiang Mai.

A clampdown last year on those tours - 29 operators were prosecuted - caused a temporary dip in Chinese arrivals, but the tour numbers soon rebounded, and the number of independent travellers from China, making their way around the country with the help of their smartphones and Google Translate, continues to rise.

Meanwhile, the government is making efforts to clean up the country's image. Former Tourism Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, who was replaced in the cabinet reshuffle, began a crackdown on sex tourism last year, with police and army officials raiding bars and hostels in Pattaya's red-light district.

On the island of Phuket, attempts have been made to clear away the beach touts and reduce littering. In October, the government extended a ban on trips to the nearby Koh Khai islands, because of damage to the coral reef from speedboats that brought thousands of daytrippers. Last month, 21 beaches in popular spots like Pattaya and Krabi instituted a smoking ban.

"They want to shift the emphasis away from quantity and towards the quality of tourists coming," said Patrick Cooke, an editor in Manila for Oxford Business Group. "To do that, obviously more investment is required in the luxury segment and the wellness segment."

One plan includes a Japanese-backed $US5 billion double-rail link from the capital to Chiang Mai in the north that would open up cities and towns along its route. Another is to build a new regional airport in the south at Betong, an area prone to unrest from Muslim separatists. Phuket opened a new international terminal last year, looking to become a gateway for surrounding regions like Phang Nga and Krabi.

In addition, the government is revamping the old U-Tapao navy airbase near Pattaya, from which US B-52s flew to bomb Vietnam in the 1960s. A Chinese-funded high-speed rail link would connect the beach resort with Bangkok's airports, 150 kilometres to the north.

"What they're doing is adding more spots to see, while not taking care to preserve the old spots that are becoming worn out," said Puttachard Lunkam, a tourism analyst at Krungsri Research in Bangkok. "You see islands being closed or national reservations being barred to tourists as a way to fix things when it's gone too far, but not enough is being done to maintain the sites before it gets to that point."

There are some signs that the more-from-less strategy may be having an effect. Revenue from tourism in the first 10 months of this year increased by about 9 percent, outpacing a 6.4 percent growth in visitor numbers, according to data from the Thailand Department of Tourism.

But extracting more profit from visitors won't be easy. Thailand is already one of the world's top destinations for medical tourism, and high-end resorts have nestled in its secluded bays and picturesque forests for decades. Ultra-luxury chain Aman Resorts International began life in Phuket in 1988 and Four Seasons Holdings opened its first-ever boutique resort in Chiang Rai in 2005.

And other countries in the region are also trying to emulate Thailand's success in turning Chinese leisure into loot. Indonesian President Joko Widodo plans to create "10 new Balis," to try to replicate the success of the Island of the Gods, which hosts more than 40 percent of the 11.6 million visitors to the country. Malaysia is investing billions in opening up its eastern coast, including building a railway to the capital.

With competition for the tourist yuan heating up, Thailand's influx of Chinese visitors, and the congestion at its airports and resorts, are likely to remain for years.
27.12.2017 LISTEN

Cyril Ramaphosa, the next President of South Africa, was the man behind the entry of international fast food behemoth McDonalds into the country, earning him the sobriquet The Big Mac. Zimbabwes new President Mnangagwa bears the nickname The Crocodile from his days as head of Robert Mugabes secret police for, like his namesake, coming out of nowhere to suddenly snatch his victims, never to be seen again.

The Big Mac Ramaphosas career is quite extraordinary, even by South African standards, rising from one of the founders of the miners union and Capo in the ANC to one of the richest men in the country in a little more than a decade, marking him as a master of the under the table payoff in a country infamous for its levels of corruption.

To prove his loyalty to his international bankster masters, The Big Mac Ramaphosa urged the police to do their best to wipe out the rebels in the Marakana platinum mine strike, at the very least making a none to subtle recommendation to kill the bastards if need be without fear of retribution.

What better way to show the banksters behind the scenes that he deserves the Presidents job, especially after he was the favorite and found himself thwarted when Thabo Mbeki was the Banksters Choice back in 1999.

In Zimbabwe, the The Crocodiles civilian career started with the onset of the negotiated settlement that brought his party headed by Robert Mugabe to power in Zimbabwe in 1980. When the Ndabele ethnic minority represented by the anti-colonial armed forces of the Zimbabwe African Peoples Union and its commander Joshua NKomo rose up against the new Shona majority ethnic based Zimbabwe African National Union government that Mugabe headed and with western support to the tune of over $20 billion IMF$s, went on to was suppress the rebellion in a mass murder spree of some twenty thousand or more.

The Crocodile, alongside some of the top generals in todays Zimbabwes military, cold bloodily inflicted murder and mayhem against his one time comrades in arms versus the racist colonial settler apartheid regime of Rhodesia.

And in the process laying waste to swaths of Matabeleland leaving mass graves scattered hither and yon. Once the Ndabele problem was dealt with The Crocodile turned to anyone unwise enough to cross him or threaten his boss, Mugabe.

This most deadly of reptiles spread terror across the countryside as his masked murderers snatched their victims, sometimes in the broad light of day, never to be seen or heard from again. Noted for his personal loyalty to Mugabe, or at least his willingness to do his dirty work, The Crocodile, like his namesake, turned against his erstwhile master and via a military coup followed by his internationally blessed coronation a few days later, is now sitting in the drivers seat in Zimbabwe, no longer in the back row but front and center.

Upon his succession to power The Crocodile quickly floated the idea of compensation for the former white landowners of the apartheid regime once known as Rhodesia for the stolen lands they exploited for a century or more.

Pay for lands stolen in the first place? Of course the IMF and World Bank have long advocated such, and hoping for some sort of financial lifeline in a desperately cash short Zimbabwe the new El Supremo maybe be licking western boots for a quick fix to his problems, even if just temporarily. Zimbabwe is in dire straights economically and without the major investments and aid packages from China the Mugabe regime may well have come to crisis years ago.

China sees the rich lands and minerals that Zimbabwe offers smack in the middle of Africa and knows money it to be made and friends earned in the worlds richest continent, birthplace to our species, the northwest asian oligarchs of which seem bent on continued rape and pillage in Africa to maintain the lives of excess and waste their peoples have grown accustomed to in Europe alongside their cousins in North America.

With The Crocodile as President don't expect much real change in the lives of ordinary Zimbabweans, maybe some serious moves towards a neo liberal western agenda, but with the economy being so strapped for cash, cuts to subsidies could bring the people into the streets, something the new regime realizes could destabilize Zimbabwe very quickly. In the case of South Africas soon to be anointed President Cyril Ramaphosa, elected head of the ANC and not needing to actually stand directly for national elected office (something quite strange in the ANC instituted constitution of the country), his opening statements to the international media are a mix of desperation and pleadings for support.

With the exhaustion to South Africas gold reserves and the declining production of its platinum mines the country needs another fix, a temporary refuge from fiscal bankruptcy and with the inevitable kneeling to the IMF et al, the banksters will have their day and blood could flow in the streets if the people explode against the impoverishment and suffering inflicted on their lives by their erstwhile liberators lead by Cyril The Big Mac Ramaphosa. From union leader to bloodsucking capitalist lackey, South Africas new President has little choice in what he must do to maintain his new regime, especially since his ANC victory was so narrow.

Without the support of international capital South Africas economy will quickly wither and die on the vine, and whats left of a tribally fragmented country could easily go up in flames. Cold, sick, hungry and illiterate, the South African people are living in what should be called a Failed State with a majority of the people living such a precarious life that they have little left to lose. As rebel musician Robert Nesta Marley sang, A hungry man is an angry man, a hungry mob is an angry mob a mantra all to familiar to the inhabitants of the South African ghettos, some of the meanest and most violent places on the planet.

How long before The Big Mac President has to tighten the screws even further on his former comrades deep in the bowels of the earth blasting out platinum in money losing mines is a good question. Don't expect any mercy for rebellious miners under The BIg Mac Ramamphosa if his support for the Marakana Massacre is any guide towards what is to come.

Thomas C. Mountain is an independent journalist in Eritrea, living and reporting from here since 2006. See thomascmountan at Facebook or best reach him at thomascmountain at g mail dot com
The management of TAP Air Portugal, have apologized to some Ghanaian passengers who were allegedly abused and assaulted by staff of the company at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra earlier this week.

According to the company, it has commenced investigations with the Ghana Airports Company into the matter.

Three passengers of the company reported a case of assault after some confusion over the boarding of their flight on 23rd December.

They said they were physically and verbally assaulted by a security officer when they arrived at the Kotoka Airport on Saturday to travel on the scheduled flight to Sao Tome and Principe.

The passengers say they were forced to give up their seats when they arrived at the boarding gate for departure.

Ekua Semuah-Odoom, who was travelling with her sister and friend, was one of the persons involved in the incident, and she noted to Citi News that she had purchased her tickets on July 14, 2017.

She narrated that when she got to the Airport, and went through the departure formalities to board her flight, a TAP official said they would have to be de-boarded because of overbooking.

I told her [the official] no, I can't accept that because as far as I am concerned, when it comes to overbooking, you have to call out to the passengers and ask for volunteers. You can't single out people. Even when it comes to that level, you give priority because we bought our tickets about five months ago.

But when the flight called for boarding, Ekua, her sister and her friend, were not allowed onto the flight.

Just as I was trying to enter, one of the security guys just shoved me against the glass door then when I turned, my sister and friend were also trying to capture what was happening. What I realized was that, one the guys held my friend in the neck and pushed her into a metal chair. They were just shoving my sister and hitting them. They actually assaulted us, she recounted.

While all this was going on, Ekua also said the TAP officials were present, but were dismissive of their plight.

The passengers have since threatened to take legal action against the company over the matter. But TAP Air Portugal in a statement copied to citifmonline.com have promised to take the necessary action to ensure that justice is served.

It said it has contacted the victims and rendered an unqualified apology for the incident.

The attention of TAP Air Portugal has been drawn to an incident which occurred on 23rd December, 2017, whiles passengers were getting ready to board a TAP Air Portugal flight from Accra, Ghana to Sao Tome. We sincerely apologize to all who were affected by the incident, and particularly to the two passengers who were directly affected. TAP Air Portugal together with the Ghana Airports Company have initiated investigations into the incident, and will take the necessary action in accordance with law and our conditions of carriage after the investigations. We are in contact with the representative of the two passengers and TAP Air Portugal has rendered our apologies to the passengers through their representative and we have assured that the incident will be properly investigated and dealt with, the company said.

Following news of the incident, some Ghanaians have expressed their misgivings about the service of TAP Air in the country.

TAP Portugal commenced operations in Ghana in July 2011.



By: Jona Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post TAP Air Portugal apologizes for abuse of Ghanaian passengers appeared first on Ghana News .
By PTI: New Delhi, Dec 27 (PTI) The Lok Sabha today passed a bill to protect slums and unauthorised colonies in the national capital region from punitive action till a framework for orderly arrangements are in place.

The National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second (Amendment) Bill gives immunity to slums and some unauthorised constructions till December 31, 2020. The immunity under the exisiting Bill ends on December 31.

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Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said if the Bill is not passed, it will lead to "unprecedented chaos" in the national capital.

The legislation will give cover against punitive action on "as is where is basis" until December 2020, he said.

Puri also attacked the Sheila Dikshit government for not coming out with a proper policy on the matter and said "it was the failure of governance of a very high order".

Singh said the legislation provides that no action will be taken by any local authority till December 31, 2017 with respect to encroachments or unauthorised developments as of January 1, 2006, unauthorised colonies, village abadi areas that existed on March 31, 2002 and where constructions took place till February 8, 2007.

The sealing exercise by the Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee had created panic among the slum-dwellers and traders in part of the city, with the legislation expected to allay their apprehensions to a large extent.

Participating in the debate on the bill, BJP MP Parvesh Varma attacked the AAP government in Delhi, accusing it of not coming out with a policy on unauthorised colonies or slums.

Ramesh Bidhuri, BJP MP from South Delhi, referred to the hike in water tariffs and alleged that the Arvind Kejriwal government had deceived the people. He also blamed the Congress for its faliure to come up with a policy on the unauthorised construction issue.

TMC MP Saugata Roy was to speak on the Bill but did not. He said it has become a practise to pass the Bill in the din, referring to the uproar by Congress members over controversial remarks made by union minister Anant Kumar Hegde.

CPI(M)s Mohammad Salim also emphasised that a Bill cannot be passed amid din. PTI PR ARC

--- ENDS ---
Despite the fact that Nigeria is one of the major oil producing countries in the world, Nigerians still experience fuel scarcity during Christmas and New Year celebrations.

This development has forced this reporter to investigate the circumstances that drove the nation in to the current economic ragamuffin.

Hence, as a way of finding solution to the intermittent fuel scarcity in the country, the Nigerian government introduced what is called Offshore Processing Arrangement (OPA) and Crude Oil Swap regime which the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) allocates crude oil to oil trading companies in exchange for processed petroleum products.

But this reporter observed that the Crude Oil Swap regime now known as DSDP lacked total transparency as it only served vested interests as against national interest.

Investigation further revealed that the DSDP programme also lacked ethnic balancing as participating companies does not have national spread to distribute PMS to all parts of Nigeria.

This is probably why the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) accused the Federal Government of conspiracy against Nigerian Christians. The Christian body in a statement asked why is it that fuel scarcity only resurfaces during Christmas and New Year celebrations in the country?

In similar vein, analysts are of the view that Nigeria is at the losing end as it never get real value from the deals. For Instance, the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI), an extractive industry watchdog in its 2015 report estimated that Nigeria lost $966 million to crude oil swap deals between 2009 and 2012 as well as billions of naira in subsequent years until it was canceled in 2016.

Because of the criticism that trailed the oil swap regime, the NNPC in 2016 replaced it with a new import scheme called Direct Sales and Direct Purchase programme (DSDP) since the earlier OPA and crude oil swap regime short changed Nigeria.

However, critics are saying the new DSDP programme is like an old wine in a new bottle because the scheme which means direct sales of crude oil to refineries or consultants who in turn supply NNPC with the refined petroleum products is not effective and error free.

This year's DSDP contract kicked off on April 1st and is expected to last for one year. The worth is over $6 billion if the crude oil price remains at $45 per barrel.

No fewer than 128 local and international oil and gas companies in February submitted bid to participate in the programme, but only 10 companies were chosen. The yardsticks or parameters used in selecting the 10 companies as well as their terms of engagement remains opaque as there was no atom of transparency in the entire process.

The said agreement for the lifting of over 300, 000 barrels of crude oil per day in exchange for imported fuels was signed with a foreign company as a partner.

Whether the 10 chosen companies have the capacity to meet the 35 million litres of fuel needed nationwide on daily basis is a different story.

The companies are; Vitol - Varo Energy, Cepsa -Oando, Petrocam Trading - Rainoil Ltd, Trafiqura - AA Rano Nigeria, Totsa - Total Nigeria, Socar Trading - Hyde Energy, Mocah - Heyden Petroleum, Mercuria - Matrix Energy, MRS Oil/Gas - Litasco and finally, SIR Refinery - Sahara Energy Resources Ltd.

Despite the new import scheme coupled with the fact that NNPC gets 445, 000 barrels of crude oil per day for its local refineries, Nigerians still experience fuel scarcity!

Meanwhile, contrary to claims by the NNPC that marketers who hoard fuel commodity are responsible for the current fuel scarcity, the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPA) has come out to disprove the NNPC saying the scarcity is as a result of NNPC's inability to send refined products to their members.

According to DAPPA's Executive Secretary, Mr. Olufemi Adewole: ''Our members depots are presently empty. However, if the PPMC/NNPC can provide us with petrol, we are ready to do 24-hour loading to alleviate the sufferings of Nigerians and for the fuel queues to be totally eliminated.''

Mr. Adewole further stated that ''While all kinds of allegations have been made in the media, it is important to set the records straight as Nigerians first and as responsible business men and women who employs Nigerians ... As at today, NNPC has been the sole importer of PMS (fuel) in to the country.''

In similar vein, the Chairman, Integrated Oil and Gas Ltd, Capt. Emmanuel Iheanacho said '' The inability of NNPC to create a window for private importers to import petrol also contributed to the scarcity.''

The unanswered question is what is the essence of Crude Oil Swap now known as Direct Sales and Direct Purchase scheme when it cannot forestall fuel scarcity in the country?

What is NNPC doing with the 445, 000 barrels of crude oil allocated to it daily?

Why is our depots empty without fuel when we have NNPC and 10 other companies lifting crude oil from Nigeria?

How come the Depots and Petroleum Products Marketers Association whose members controls 65 percent market share in the down stream sector goes without fuel whereas some little known companies without national spread in their distribution capacities get the product at ease?

Until some of the questions raised here are answered by relevant bodies, Nigerians will still wallow in intermittent fuel scarcity without hope of elimination.

Brown Justice writes from Abuja
Leading by Christine, the Alaouis recently exhibited their classic photographies at Sulger-Buel Lovell's Art Gallery in London.

Christine Alaoui is the mother of deceased photographer and video-grapher Leila Alaoui and the president of the eponymous foundation and association, created to preserve the work and humanistic values of Leila Alaoui.

Born in Paris, Christine Alaoui flew to New York at the age of 19, she met her Moroccan husband and studied photography at Orange Community College and interior design at the New York School of Interior Design. After returning to Paris in the 1970s, she moved to Marrakech later with her family.

Christine Alaoui's work shone through while shooting some of her photographs near the end of when Roland Barthes wrote his famous essay Camera Lucida.

And drawing some similarities in those pages, Roland Barthes defines photography by the phrase: this has-been, either by capturing the image of a person, or by fixing his or her image at a precise moment in time, he states that a photograph bears witness that this person has been alive.

But it also implicitly suggests that this moment belongs to the past, and that this same person is, perhaps, alive no longer. The idea that photography is linked to death seems particularly apt to describe the work of Christine Alaoui.

Although her shots, pictures or images have been photographed some long time ago, the pictures still speak volume of her work as a legendary photographer, thereby drawing a deep and distinctive balance between antique and modernity.

The Morocco which she photographed  with its barbers presiding beneath tents or with its old dye-works  seems almost as far removed from us as an Orientalist painting of Delacroixs. Nor do we recognize with any greater clarity the American streets through which Cadillacs pass with their antiquated designs.

Speaking to Christine Alaoui at the exhibition, while reminiscing in reflection to her works she said I have never done such an exhibition before, this idea was that of my daughter Leila who passed way due to an injury she sustained in Ouagadougou while working for amnesty International.

She actually chose all these photos from my works, for the exhibition before she passed away. So that is what we are showing today in addition to that of my other daughter Yasmina and also the curator Guillaume de Sardes.

With the advent of photographic cameras, equipment and machinery the epoch and art of photography during her photographic days and now is somehow very different, comparatively Christine said: Our time was the analogue times which was more difficult than the digital era where things are much easier.

As to how Christine sees the future of photography she said: Now, many, many people are doing photography because it is so much easier, because there digital cameras, I-phones and all that.

But still, I think if one is not a good photographer, one can use all the media they want and it will not make them a good photographer.

According to her what makes a good photographer is someone to possess a 'Professional Eye'. You either have it, or you do not, because one can have the best camera in hand but if they do not have the 'eye' to shoot with it, then the photo is not going to be good.

Shedding some light on the activities of her deceased daughter Leila and her foundation, Christine said: Leila fought all her life for justice and helped some immigrants. She worked with refugees and also gave photography lessons to some young children. So what we want to do with her foundation is to continue doing what she believed in as her will.

The reason and importance of the exhibition is for Christine Alaoui to exhibit the works of her daughters, Leila ( a photographer) and Yasmina (a visual artist).

The exhibition was a long time idea borne out of Leila's photographic ideologies. As Roland Barthes intuited, sometimes a photograph can be at once the blessing of a captured moment and its curse.

Christine Alaoui exhibited her photographic work for the first time at Photomed 2016 and more recently at the French Institute of Beirut.

In as much as the exhibition was about Christine as the main photographer, it is much important as rightfully as her deceased daughter who was until her demise an artist, a photographer and video-grapher born in 1982, and studied photography at the City University of New York.

Her work explores and blends the building of identity, cultural diversity and migration in the Mediterranean area.

She used photography and video to express various social realities through a visual language lying on the boundary between the documentary and the plastic arts.

Since 2009 her works have been shown in various countries, amongst other places such as the Institut du Monde Arabe and at the Maison Europeenne de la Photographie in Paris, at the Konsthall of Malmo in Sweden, in the national palace of the citadel of Cascais in Portugal, or at the Musee des Beaux-Arts in Montreal, Canada.

Leilas humanitarian commitment also included various photographic missions for prominent NGOs, such as the Danish Refugee Council, Search for Common Ground and HCR.

In January 2016, while working on an Amnesty International commission about womens rights in Burkina Faso, Leila Alaoui was seriously wounded in the terrorist attacks in Ouagadougou.

She did not recover, and died on 18 January 2016 and that prompted 'The Fondation Leila Alaoui' which was set up in preserving her work, defending her values and inspiring and supporting artists who are working to promote human dignity.

Another talent and descendants of the Alaouis is Yasmina who is of French and Moroccan heritage. Born in New York in 1977. She studied Fine Arts at the Carousel du Louvre in Paris, and earned a BA in Sculpture from the College of William and Mary.

She currently lives in New York City, and exhibits internationally. The underlying themes behind all her works deal directly with her experiences of multicultural upbringing and aims to bridge extremes by embracing opposites: secular and holy, classical and contemporary, order and chaos, repulsion and attraction.

She is known to create complex and intricate visual works using a wide variety of techniques, which she combines in an authentic manner.

Yasmina has collaborated with photographer Marco Guerra on the Tales of Beauty and 1001 Dreams series, which have been collected and exhibited internationally since 2003.

And finally introducing Guillaume de Sardes. Guillaume de Sardes is a photographer, video artist, curator and a writer.

His novels have been distinguished several times, by the Prix Francois Mauriac de lAcademie francaise . His artistic work, which focuses on the intimate, on wandering and on the night, is regularly exhibited in France and abroad, both in art galleries and in museums.
I look forward into the year 2018 with gratitude, and with excitement, but also with fear, and with uncertainties. The Delta Forces have come, and I dont know whether they are gone.

I am pleased that the Free SHS has come to stay, and it seems it has been able to even out the inequalities that existed in our schools. Nearly all of us now seem equal in all the schools  both the rich and the poor are either sleeping in dormitories, or are sleeping in the open.

The day I heard that some matrons of some of the secondary schools were stealing the food items in their school kitchens, I felt I should have been a policeman, a prosecutor and a judge, all at the same time. Im sure by now they would have been inside, if you know where I am talking about.

Anyway, one of my biggest expectations going into 2017 was the hope that your government was going to fight corruption with sustained enthusiasm. I did not see that happening. What I have seen has rather been a constant reference to the Special Prosecutor, as if the Special Prosecutor is a sophisticated scientific equipment bi, being shipped into the country, to perform some magic bi, I dont know Nana.

The dying CHRAJ is still receiving budget allocations. The vindictive EOCO still exists. We have the organized crime unit of the Ghana Police Service. We have several institutions which exist already, to fight corruption. Why are we running ourselves as if the Special Prosecutor is, all of a sudden, the flight in search of flying?

It, unfortunately, looks to me, as though, the job of the Special Prosecutor is going to target the officials of the former government only  I get that from the utterances of some of your officials. But that is not what I wish for anyway, and that is not what I voted for. I voted for a change. A change from how things were done, to how things should be done. No one should be a God onto himself.

Unfortunately I have seen impunity, I have seen power display, and I have seen indifference, now, in 2017, in much the same way as I saw in 2009 when the then NDC took over power. So where is the change I voted for?

I dont agree that fighting corruption should be targeted at political opponents only. As citizens we must all feel at home, and we must believe that the law would work, equally, for all of us, and that my political patronage should not determine the approach to which corrupt investigations would be conducted on my interests.

I will like to, for instance, repeat my call, to the Ministry of Environment, for the restoration of Ibrahim Mahamas Hinahinni Bauxite licenses. We cannot target Ibrahim Mahama, simply on the basis that he is an NDC, or that he is the brother of the former President, and that he committed many corrupt acts during his brothers reign  we dont have those as evidence.

Ibrahim Mahama is a Ghanaian, protected under the laws of Ghana. He is not guilty until he has been proven guilty. We cannot target his business interests just because of our perception of him, that he was corrupt during his brothers administration. If we have anything evidential against the man, we should take him to court, prosecute him, and all of us shall support such a nonselective application of the law. Until then, dont take the law into your own hands, and assume that our votes for you to gain power also meant that you should go about seizing peoples properties anyhow  no way!

I also dont believe that fighting corruption should be targeted at those who are loudest. In my own small corner I am a witness to several of such vindictive public office wrongdoing against citizens who are expressive. For instance I wrote a couple of articles about the Ghana Revenue Authority, and since then I have witnessed not less than 20 different GRA visits to my office, including audits which were obviously designed to frustrate my work. This is not how citizens should be made to feel in their genuine quest to be included in the governance of the country.

It appears we are ending the year 2017 in style, with the GHC800,000 for GHC80,000 website budget allocation scandal. I am a bit surprised at how Ghanaians are surprised at this budget overload. My brother, this isnt news. It is the practice in all of the public budgets  insanely inflated figures hiding themselves in plain sights, with individual interests lurking in search of approvals.

In the year 2008 I attempted to participate in the bidding processes for the printing of brochures and other materials for one of the prominent agencies in Ghana. Eventually I succeeded in getting the procurement committee to ask me to bring quotations to be considered for the job.

I brought the quotations, and met all the technical requirements, including tax clearance certificates, and all the associated documentations. A couple of days after submitting my quotations, I was invited to the office of the bidding institution. And the Director in charge of the process informed me that he was happy with my quotations, and that the committee had decided to award me the contract.

The man then pulled a document, and showed a budget item to me. It was the amount budgeted for the printing jobs for the year under review. He wrote the figure clearly on a sticker paper, a figure that was about hundred (100x) times more than the figure I had quoted for them. He then asked me to go back and change my quotations, to match the figures that he had written on the sticker paper.

The Director went further to state that when the work is done, they would pay me the full amount that he had given me, but I would have to pay to him, upfront, in physical cash, the difference between my original quotation, and the amount he had asked me to quote, before the contract could be signed with me  do you get the crime?

So I asked, but you know that you are going to withhold some taxes? He said yes. And I asked again, but you know I would have to issue VAT receipt on the payments, to cover the full amount you are going to pay me? He said, yes, but gentleman, do you want to do the job? You are asking too many questions. Just go and let me have the new quotation, and when the time comes for the payment, we will help you to sought out all of those details.

I came back to my office, and began to calculate the risks, and I concluded that I was no longer interested in the job. It was a difficult decision, but I thought that the man was going to help me fall into a criminal situation that would not have any evidence of his involvement  a situation which would allow him, in the future, to be exonerated so quickly, and I would have become the jailbird.

While I was planning to inform him that I was no longer interested in the contract, he had also decided that they were no longer going to award the contract to me  I was obviously too inquisitive for the deal. They eventually gave the contract to a middle person who quoted nearly twice as much as mine, and the rest is history.

I am therefore surprised that Ghanaians are surprised that the Ministry of Special Initiatives had sneaked an amount of GHC80,000 into their budget. Take your time and go through all of their budget lines, and all the budget lines of the various public sectors, you will know why Ghana continues to be poor.

I am one person who frequents the websites of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies. Most of these ministries have their websites linked to the government websites. In my estimation, none of the government websites should cost more than GHC2,000. At best, all of those websites I have seen should have been done for free. And here I am not talking about its maintenance, neither am I talking about their updates, and content availability. I am talking purely from a technical perspective, functionality, and how useful these websites are for their intended purposes.

The rule, for those nation wreckers, is that make sure that whatever amount of money you wish to steal in the coming year is captured in the budget, thereafter you can have it your way  whether it is a misplaced priority, or an inflated useless project, all you need is to push it into the budget, and get it approved, and then it becomes a winning lottery for you  abeyifo!

James Kofi Annan
27.12.2017 LISTEN

Former Liberian Refugees and the Erroneous Claims of Entitlement UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, Representation in Ghana is troubled by recent and erroneous reports that former refugees of Liberian origin are entitled to continued protection.

Following the conflict in Liberia between 1989 and 2003, some 40000 Liberian refugees found safety and hospitality in Ghana. UNHCR provided the necessary support to them and to other refugees.

Among the durable solutions made available to them, voluntary repatriation, and local integration were proposed, as well as resettlement to third countries for the few most vulnerable families  and only when the two other solutions were not possible.

Following the fundamental and durable changes that had taken place in Liberia, a cessation of refugee status took place on 30 June 2012, recognising that the circumstances in connexion with which they have been recognized as refugees have ceased to exist.

The cessation clauses set out the only conditions in which refugee status properly and legitimately granted, comes to an end.

The cessation of refugee status was determined by the competent authorities in Ghana, namely the Ghana Refugee Board and the Minister for the Interior, with the support of UNHCR.

The concerned individuals were also dully notified of the decision and provided with support and information on the options available to them through counselling.

With the cessation of their refugee status five years ago, except the 350 Liberians exempted from the cessation and still considered refugees, UNHCR does not consider as persons of concern or in need of international protection the former Liberian refugees who did not opt for either a voluntary repatriation to their country of origin or local integration in Ghana, says Ioli Kimyaci, UNHCR Representative in Ghana.

We concentrate our efforts on the 13,506 refugees currently in Ghana, she adds.

The end of the refugee status consequently means former Liberian refugees residing in Ghana are no longer under the umbrella of UNHCR, and do not qualify any more for durable solutions, including resettlement to a third country which was limited to a few and most vulnerable families.

UNHCR stands ready to provide the Ghanaian public and the media with accurate information regarding this situation.
27.12.2017 LISTEN

As a bona fide party stalwart with ready access to the Flagstaff House, when the story about some expatriate businessmen and women having paid between $ 25,000 and $ 100,000  the figures vary, depending on whose report you read  to sit close to President Addo DankwaAkufo-Addo broke, the first thing that the New Patriotic Partys Member of Parliament for Assin-Central ought to have done, ought to have been to immediately contact the Trade Ministry to ascertain the veracity of the same (See $ 100 K Charge to Dine with President Embarrassing  Ken Agyapong Adomonline.com / Ghanaweb.com 12/19/17).

Instead, the proprietor of the Oman-FM Radio, among other media ventures, literally went to town by downing the sector ministers accused of unethically using the Presidency to line their private pockets. Which was rather strange because as a major media player, the Assin-Central MP could have even assigned one of the reporters of his media establishment to follow the story. Instead, the self-glorifying media and political operative decided to complicate matters further for the Akufo-Addo Administration, even while also pretending to have the personal interest of Nana Akufo-Addo among his topmost priorities.

Nana Addo is not asking anyone for $100K and so they should stop disgracing him and allow the man to work for Ghana, Mr. Agyapong was widely reported to have said. He was also reported to have ordered the Trade Ministry to immediately refund the money collected, without having first personally ascertained the fact of whether, indeed, any moneys had been collected either in the name of the Trade Ministry itself, for whatever reasons or purposes, or the Presidency and/or the Headquarters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) itself. But, of course, Mr. Agyapong has already made it clear that as long as he has not been awarded the most lucrative contracts by the Akufo-Addo Flagstaff House, he will make sure that the key operatives of the present government will never get a wink of sleep. And so far, he seems to be acting true to his words.

For me, personally, though, the fact that the allegation was coming from rabidly anti-New Patriotic Party big guns of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), ought to have rung some alarm bells that, as usual, Messrs. Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, the NDC Minoritys Chief Whip, and Samuel Okudzeto-Ablakwa, the Tongu-Norths NDC-MP and former Deputy Education Minister, were up to some mischief. There is an Akan maxim which says that When the toad/frog emerges from the bed of a river and announces the death of King Crocodile, we cannot dispute the truth of such announcement.

In the $100K extortion allegation, however, quite the opposite case was being affirmed by a ruling party stalwart who had a far greater means of ascertaining the truth than the average Ghanaian citizen. In other words, in the reference book of Mr. Agyapong, NDC political detractors like Messrs. Muntaka and Okudzeto-Ablakwa had greater credibility than the sector minister, Mr. Alan John KwadwoKyerematen, and the latters deputy, Mr. Carlos Ahenkora. And then shortly thereafter, Mr. Victor Gbeho, the NDCs Godfather, who had also earlier on been mentioned as the Chairman of the Millennium Excellence Fund/Foundation, came out to categorically declare that his non-governmental organization had been the sole sponsor of the fundraiser at which the aforesaid amounts had been collected, and that neither the Trade Ministry nor the Presidency had been either directly or indirectly involved in the logistical planning of the event.

Another sponsor of the Ghana Expatriate Business Awards (GEBA), whose parent establishment is the Millennium Excellence Foundation/Fund, would also come public to vehemently deny that any Akufo-Addo executive operative had been involved. Now, we clearly understand that it was an endorsement letter written on the letterhead of the Trade Ministry and signed by the ministerial deputy, Mr. Carlos Ahenkora, that had given the erroneous impression of the governments involvement.

Well, ultimately, two significant facts are clear here, namely, the unquenchable desperation of the NDCs parliamentary minority to creating mischief at the least opportunity, in order to disable any chance of the Akufo-Addo Presidency clinching a second term or mandate renewal come Election 2020; and the rather painful and outrageous fact that the maverick Assin-Central parliamentarian, Mr. Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, is increasingly becoming more dangerous to the political fortunes of the New Patriotic Party than any political opponent or external detractor. Would the Assin-Central NPP-MP render an apology for leading both the nation and the rest of his partys membership on a wild goose chase? I wont hold my breath, dear reader.

*Visit my blog at: kwameokoampaahoofe.wordpress.com Ghanaffairs
Thousands of protesters in northeastern Morocco on Wednesday called for "jobs and development" in the fourth day of mass protests since two miners died in a shuttered coal pit.

"No to marginalisation," cried the mostly young demonstrators in the main square of the impoverished city of Jerada.

On Friday, two brothers died in a tunnel accident 85 metres (280 feet) below ground, sparking the fury of residents over what they view as state neglect.

"We ask the state to find solutions to our problems: unemployment, water and electricity bills that are too high," one 23-year-old protester said.

"Young people go down into the mines because they have no other option. We ask the authorities to find us an alternative," he said.

The national electricity and water board this week however said electricity bills in the Jerada region were calculated in the same way as in other parts of Morocco.

The mine was the economic lifeblood of Jerada, employing some 9,000 workers, until it was shut down in the late 1990s.

Thousands protested in Morocco's northeastern city of Jerada on Wednesday in a fourth day of demonstrations to call for 'jobs and development'

Thousands of people have since left the city and the population has fallen from 60,000 to fewer than 45,000.

But hundreds have continued to risk their lives and lung disease to find coal illegally.

On Wednesday, protesters -- many carrying Moroccan flags -- accused local officials of buying coal at very low prices from those who mine illegally to resell it at huge profit.

The demonstrators allege the officials do this despite having coal mining permits.

Minister of Energy and the Mines, Aziz Rebbah, told AFP the ministry would "withdraw any exploration or exploitation permit in the case of violation of regulations or abuse".

The authorities withdrew more than 1,400 permits nationwide in 2017, he said.
The Chiefs and people of Bewase, a farming community in the Akwapem North District of the Eastern Region, have called on the government, and non-governmental organizations to assist the community build a public toilet facility.

According to them, this will help address the problem of open defecation in the area.

They made the appeal when an NGO, Jodeb Foundation, donated assorted educational items, school bags, shoes, drinks, clothing, foodstuff amongst others to them, to enable them celebrate Christmas.

The items worth Ghc6,000, were presented to the caretaker of Bewase, Obisi Kumi and the Assembly Member for the area.

Mr. Enoch Quaye, the Executive Director of Jodeb Foundation, who presented the items, urged the community elders to make good use of them to ensure that every child gets an exercise book, pen, and pencils when school reopens. This according to him, will make pupils stay in school and concentrate on their education.

He called on the District Education Secretariat to equip teachers with teaching materials and other incentives to motivate them to stay in the community and impart knowledge to the students.

He also pledged the support of the Foundation towards the construction of the proposed KVIP for the community.

Theophilus Asiedu, the Assembly Member for Bewase, gave the assurance that the items would be put to good use and disbursed evenly.

Jodeb Foundation is a Ghanaian NGO established in 2013, and has been assisting in the improvement of basic education in deprived communities.

The Foundation also seeks to create a Ghana where the welfare of deprived children is protected.



By: Kojo Agyeman/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Jodeb Foundation donates to Bewase community appeared first on Ghana News .
The year 2017 has indeed been very eventful as a lot of things happened in virtually all aspects of our national life. For those who missed Part One of this write-up, you may visit Part One for details of it. This piece is the concluding part and without wasting time lets zoom into action as we continue from April.

April 2017

President Akufo-Addo began the month of April with a meeting with transport unions and transport owners in the Ashanti Region and gave the assurance that the promises he made during the 2016 electioneering campaign were not mere talk. The President was on a three-day tour of the Ashanti Region.

Also in April, the National Organizer of the largest opposition party, Kofi Adams sued Network Broadcasting Limited, operators of Radio Gold, and four members of the party in April for damages of GHC30 million for allegedly making some defamatory comments against him in relation to the partys painful defeat in the 2016 elections.

According to Mr. Adams, the four, who belong to a group called Action Movement, at a Press Conference carried live on Radio Gold in March, described him as useless National Organiser and Campaign Co-ordinator who connived with other party stalwarts to cause the NDCs defeat in the 2016 elections.

The Minister of Aviation, Cecilia Abena Dapaah paid a visit to the Sunyani Airport to learn at first hand the major challenges militating against the effective functioning of the facility. The Sunyani Airport was first used by the British and their allies in 1942 during the Second World War but it was abandoned afterwards.

Major construction works on the airport however started in 1969 by the then Progress Party led by the late Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia.

The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) in April condemned the Western Regional Director of Education, Enyonam Afi Amefugah for canning a teacher in class. The Regional Director reportedly gave a Class Two female teacher some lashes for canning some pupils for lateness to school.

April could not have ended without the launch of the Planting for Food and Jobs campaign at Goaso in the Brong Ahafo Region by the President. Speaking at the launch, President Akufo-Addo said with the right policies and interventions Ghana could become the food basket of West Africa. After the programme, the President embarked on a two-day tour of some parts of the Brong Ahafo Region.

The Daily Statesman reported on Wednesday April 26, 2017 on page four that as many as 150 Ghanaian women had been impregnated by some Chinese nationals in Ghana who were engaging in illegal mining activities. Fifty had delivered at the time of the report while the rest were yet to, with some of the women already had about two or more children with their Chinese partners.

May 2017

May Day or Workers Day, as usual, was the first major activity in the month of May and as expected the President joined workers of the country to mark the Day. In his address, he, among others, assured ECG workers that they would not be laid off under the second Millennium Challenge Corporation compact programme.

One major activity embarked upon by the President in May was a tour of some West African countries. The first leg of his tour took him to Togo, Burkina Faso and Cote DIvoire. He actually toured all the West African states later on to deepen the relationships between Ghana and her neighbors.

At a meeting with Ghanaians in Cote DIvoire, President Akufo-Addo was emphatic that he was not in any way going to entertain any acts chop-chop in his government as pertained in the previous administration.

The Ghanaian Chronicle of Monday May 8, 2017 reported on its centre-spread that the Asokwa Magistrate Court Two in Kumasi had fined a Ghanaian Bishop based in the US an amount of GH.C 600.00 after being found guilty of bigamy.

The court ordered the Bishop, Kwaku Agyeman Duah, to terminate the second marriage within a month. Mr. Agyeman was reported to have told his wife in the US that he was coming to Ghana for a funeral of a relative and also attend his nieces wedding only to come over to Ghana to wed another woman at Kubi Hotel in Kumasi where relatives of his first wife stormed the refreshment part of the programme, thereby ending proceedings abruptly.

Also in May, the oldest hospital in Ghana, the Old Tarkwa Government Hospital, which was built in 1891 by the colonial administration was renamed Apinto Government Hospital in recognition of the significant contributions of the Apinto Divisional Council toward health care delivery in the area. Kudos to you, Apinto Divisional Council.

June 2017

The Office of the First Lady also announced in June that it had mobilized over six million Ghana cedis towards the construction of a new Mother & Baby Unit of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi.

Also in June, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP, Bernard Antwi Boasiko, popularly called Chairman Wontumi was honoured for an outstanding performance and good work to humanity by the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations and Alliance Creativity Community Project International.

Immediate-past Chief Justice, Georgina Theodora Wood, officially retired from the bench on Thursday June 8, having served as Chief Justice since 2007. She thereafter became a member of the Council of State.

Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo nominated Justice Sophia Akuffo to succeed Justice Georgina Theodora Wood. She went through vetting process in Parliament before she was finally sworn-in by the President.

Confusion rocked the Electoral Commission in June 2017 (exactly one year from that time, the EC was busily changing its logo when people were not even sure when the elections would be held). The EC Chairperson and her two deputies were busily engaging in accusations and counter-accusations which finally landed them in an impeachment process against them.

July 2017

The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development organized an orientation programme in Accra for Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives across the country during which the President entreated them not to fight with their MPs.

Also in July, Government scrapped the excruciating capitation policy on NHIS members in the Ashanti region piloted for six bad years by the previous NDC administration.

President Akufo-Addo also met with the media at the Presidency during which he walked them through a number of successes chalked by his administration upon the assumption of office and other policy interventions which were in the offing.

On the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the passing of former President J.E.A Mills, the only son of the late Professor, Sam Kofi Mills said he wanted to know what really led to the death of his father.

According to him, neither he nor the family of the late President was aware of the cause of his fathers death, which occurred on Tuesday July 24, 2012.

August 2017

President Akufo-Addo paid a working visit to the Western Region in August during which he revealed plans to establish a gold refinery around Tarkwa and a fertilizer plant at Jomoro. Besides, the Bonsa Tyre and the Aboso Glass factories would be revived under the One-district, One-factory policy.

Still in August, Railways Development Minister, Joe Ghartey, announced that a ten million dollar deal to rehabilitate the western rail line from Kojokrom to Tarkwa and some other towns in that corridor.

September 2017

The major news item in September 2017 was the rolling out of the Free SHS policy. Ahead of its implementation, the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) commended the government for the initiative saying it would bring a huge relief to parents.

On Tuesday September 12, 2017, President Akufo-Addo officially launched the Free SHS policy saying he had chosen to invest in the future of our youth and of our country. For now, the Free SHS remains the most monumental intervention in the countrys education sector since independence.

The President participated in the 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly in New York. While there, he attended a series of SGD events and delivered a speech on Africa Beyond Aid and also held a number of bilateral discussions with colleague Heads of State.

Nana Kyei Bonsu, the Odikro of Tutuka, a farming community in the Asutifi North District of the Brong Ahafo Region, in September called for independent, scientific and comprehensive laboratory test and analysis of underground water, surface water and all other water bodies in and around the area. This was as a result of alleged pollution of all their sources of water by Newmont Ghana Gold Limited (https://www.modernghana.com/news/804745/chief-calls-for-independent-probe-into-water-quality.html).

Still in September, President Akufo-Addo joined several others to celebrate the life and achievements of Emeritus Professor Joseph Hanson Kwabena Nketia. The good old Professor is ethnomusicologist, writer, scholar, instrumentalist and above all, a patriot.

October to December 2017

President Akufo-Addo toured the three northern regions at the beginning of October during which he commissioned the Wa Water project, which was initiated by the NPP government under former President Kufuor. He toured a number of communities and interacted with the chiefs and people of the area.

41-year old teacher, Faustina Coppson won the 2017 National Best Teacher Award and went home with smiles all over her face. For her prize, she received a 3-bedroom house to be built at a place of her choice, Gh.c 50,000 life insurance cover by the SIC and a cheque for Gh.c 80,000.00.

There was jubilation galore in Sunyani when the President launched the restoration of the Nurse trainees allowance. Each nurse and midwife trainee is to get Gh.c 400.00 every month to cushion them in their studies.

On Saturday December 16, the Christian Service University College (CSUC) held its 41st Congregation at a colourful ceremony at the schools main campus at Odeneho Kwadaso, a suburb of Kumasi.

In all, 642 graduates made up of 54 post-graduates, 534 under-graduates and 54 others who pursued certificate programmes passed out at the colourful ceremony. 61% of the total number was made up of males while the remaining 39% were females. One hundred and four (104) of the graduants representing 20% of the total number had First Class Honours (https://www.modernghana.com/news/823438/remove-all-taxes-on-private-educational-institutions-kofi.html).

Ghanaians rounded up the year with a variety of activities during the Christmas season. President Akufo-Addo rounded-up his nationwide tour of the country with a three-day visit to his home region, the Eastern Region.

Compiled by Richard Kofi Boahen  [email protected]

END
PM Modi's speeches did not question former PM Manmohan Singh's commitment to India, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.

By India Today Web Desk: Finance Minister and leader of Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley attempted to bring the government-Congress impasse over PM Narendra Modi's comments about ex-PM Manmohan Singh and Pakistan to an end.

The prime ministers statements "did not question, nor meant to question the commitment to this nation of either former PM Manmohan Singh or Former VP Hamid Ansari," Jaitley said, referring to a speech delivered by PM Modi during the Gujarat election campaign in which he insinuated that Singh and Ansari had secretly met Pakistani officials.

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"Any such perception [that PM Modi's speech questioned Singh's commitment to India] is erroneous, we hold these leaders in high esteem, as well as their commitment to India," Jaitley added in his half-apology that was an attempt to stop the Congress from further disrupting the Rajya Sabha over its demand that the prime minister apologises.

Suggesting that peace (or rather truce) was finally made, the leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha and Congress MP Gulam Nabi Azad said, "We respect the sentiment expressed by leader of the house [Jaitley]."

"From our party, I can also say that we also don't believe to demean the post of Prime Minister. So we totally disassociate ourselves with statement or comment made against PM during election, there is no scope for any derogatory remarks against PM," Azad added.

Azad's comments were an apparent reference to the furore generated by now-suspended Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar calling PM Modi a "neech kisam ka aadmi (low-life person) .

The Rajya Sabha has been frequently disrupted since the winter session of Parliament began on December 15.

The adjournments of the Upper House was because of a Congress-led disruptions.

India's Grand Old Party was protesting the Prime Minister's suggestion that Congress leader and former PM Manmohan Singh was conspiring against India.

The comment was allegedly to have been made at a campaign rally ahead of the Gujarat Assembly elections.

According to Congress, on December 10 at a rally Modi had alleged that Singh and Mani Shankar Aiyar (later suspended from Congress for a derogatory remark on Modi) had met Pakistani officials over dinner in a bid to influence Gujarat Assembly elections.

PM Modi with UP CM Adityanath by his side, inaugurates, takes a ride on Delhi Metro's Magenta line

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I stuck to what the coaches ...
Residents of Mathura's Vrindavan take the law in their own hands as they beat up a priest accused of molesting girls.

By India Today Web Desk: Priests are supposed to help ordinary people get over their baser instincts. Besides giving religious prescriptions, they are also supposed to make us aware of social evils. Not this baba though.

A video that is going viral in social media that a priest accused of molesting girls is beaten up by locals in Mathura's Vrindavan.

#WATCH A priest accused of sexually molesting girls, thrashed by women in Mathura's Vrindavan. The priest was later arrested by Police pic.twitter.com/d8Iwsr2dKR- ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) December 27, 2017

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The nearly 30-second video, shot most likely by a bystander on his phone shows a man holding the accused by his hair while two women thrash him with lathis.

Trying to defend himself, the accused baba grabs the lathis but that doesn't stop the furious women. They start slapping him.

While the women are taking the law in their own hands, onlookers urge them on to beat the priest. He was later arrested by the police.

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(Bloomberg) -- Almost a year into Donald Trumps presidency, the border wall he passionately promoted throughout his election campaign amounts to eight prototypes, no more than 30 feet long each, sitting in a desert outside San Diego.

No funding has been appropriated by Congress to advance the project beyond the testing phase. Theres no final design. And despite Trumps rallying cry that Mexico would pay for the barrier, that country hasnt contributed a peso.

The wall, an emotional centerpiece of Trumps populist candidacy, is resurfacing as Washington turns from tax legislation to a fight over government spending for the rest of the fiscal year. A spending package Congress plans to debate in January will test whether his promise can ever be fulfilled.

Tensions over immigration are returning to center stage as Democrats seek to use the January spending measure to restore legal protections against deportation to hundreds of thousands of people brought to the U.S. illegally as children. Trump has said he would like an agreement to fund the wall in return, and he resumed pressing for the wall even as he celebrated Republicans tax overhaul.

Were calling on Congress to fund the border wall, which were getting very close to, Trump said Dec. 20 during a Cabinet meeting at the White House. We have some wonderful prototypes that have been put up. And I may be going there, very shortly, to look at them in their final form.

Pillar of Campaign

Despite being a central component of Trumps winning presidential campaign, the border wall has run into opposition from both Democrats and Republicans. As the White House seeks to recap its accomplishments--senior administration officials gathered reporters last Thursday to tout Trumps first year--significant progress on a border wall is not one of them.

Im not surprised, that a year into his presidency, we say Gee, why hasnt that wall been built? said Barbara Perry, a presidential historian at the University of Virginia. Well that was one of those things that was so outrageous that it was never going to happen.

The White House didnt respond to requests for comment.

Trump has occasionally vented frustration with the pace of progress on the wall, but has nonetheless projected confidence that it will eventually be built.

Were going to get the wall, Trump said Dec. 8 at the White House. If we dont get the wall, then I got a lot of very unhappy people, starting with me.

Executive Order

In April and September, Congress passed short-term funding bills that didnt include any funding for the proposed wall.

Recently, Trump has pointed to the prototypes as a sign of progress.

The prototypes, which were completed in October near San Diego, were funded with money re-purposed from the existing Department of Homeland Security budget. Trump signed an executive order in January calling on the department to immediately plan, design and construct a physical wall along the southern border.

The structures are about 30-feet tall and at least six feet deep, and are currently being tested for durability and evaluated for other features such as aesthetics, said Carlos Diaz, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Four of the prototypes were made of reinforced concrete, and four were made of non-concrete materials, he said.

No Construction Timeline

After the evaluation phase, which began at the end of November and is scheduled to take at least 30 days, the department will decide on a final design, Diaz said.

Were talking about engineers and scientists and border patrol agents providing their input on what works best, he said. Based on that, theres going to be a recommendation in the future.

But Congress hasnt appropriated any funding for continuing the project next year, and there is no timeline for when the border wall might be constructed.

Everything we do in 2018 will require an appropriation, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Acting Deputy Commissioner Ronald Vitiello told reporters in October after the prototypes were completed. CBP requested $1.6 billion in 2018 funding for the border wall. The House passed a budget with the funding but the measure hasnt been approved by the Senate.

Several senators, including Arizona Republican Jeff Flake, have objected to spending taxpayer money to build a wall along the border.

At Least $12 Billion

Even Trumps DHS Secretary conceded the wall isnt necessary for the full length of the border.

There is no need for a wall from sea to shining sea, DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said last month at her confirmation hearing.

In addition to funding, a wall could run into obstacles including private property rights, environmental concerns and geographical factors that could make construction difficult along several sections of the border.

Estimates of construction costs range from $12 billion to $21.6 billion, and the Mexican government has steadfastly refused to contribute to the cost.

Our country will not pay, under any circumstances, Mexicos foreign ministry said in an August statement. This statement is not part of a Mexican negotiating strategy, but rather a principle of national sovereignty and dignity.

While Trump said repeatedly on the campaign trail that Mexico would pay for the wall, he has largely dropped that applause line since taking office.

Yet amid Republican celebrations over the tax legislation, Trumps promises on the wall havent been forgotten by some of his supporters.

Todays BORDER WALL CONSTRUCTION UPDATE: Miles completed yesterday-Zero; Miles completed since Inauguration-- Zero, conservative commentator Ann Coulter posted on Twitter on Dec. 18. NEXT UPDATE TOMORROW.

To contact the reporter on this story: Toluse Olorunnipa in Washington at tolorunnipa@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Mike Dorning, Joshua Gallu

2017 Bloomberg L.P.
Botswanas president Ian Khama was for a long time the MDC-Ts best friend and at one time Morgan Tsvangirai would even flee to Khamas private residence and spend weeks inside there. But the events of the last 5 weeks the man has turned his back on Tsvangirai, according to a ZANU PF leader.

Khama is now full swing behind ZANU PF and has done several things so far including deporting Emmerson Mnangagwas arch enemy, Phelekezela Mphoko, the ruling partys UK chairman Nick Mangwana says.

Mangwana writing on Tuesday morning, scoffed at the MDC saying, who are the MDCs fraternal allies in the region? Botswanas BDP is back in brotherhood with Zanu PF.

President Khama attended EDs inauguration, sent PR Mphoko back in a Kombi and sent Rtd Lt Gen Masire to Congress with high praises for the new admin showing, a turn in relations, he wrote on his Twitter portal. ZimEye

Breaking News via Email
The incident occurred when BMC was conducting a demolition drive in a slum area of Santa Cruz, and the residents, journalist Priyanka Borpujari and other women started protesting.

By PTI, Press Trust of India: At least five persons, including a woman journalist, were booked on Wednesday for allegedly obstructing a demolition drive being carried out by the BMC and manhandling a woman police constable at suburban Santa Cruz, police said.

The incident occurred when the civic body was conducting a demolition drive at Ambedkar Nagar in Santa Cruz (East), an official said.

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As residents in the slum area started a protest against the action, journalist Priyanka Borpujari and other women also joined in, he said.

Some slum-dwellers, including women, entered into a scuffle with BMC and police personnel, during which a woman protester allegedly bit a hand of the police constable, he said.

An offence was registered against Borpujari and her four colleagues at BKC Police Station.

Nobody was arrested so far, he said, adding that a probe is underway.

ALSO WATCH | 25 years after Babri Masjid demolition, Ayodhya still battles for developmen

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A legal battle looms after a sickly child, brought to Prophet Paseka Motsoenengs church to be prayed for, died in front of congregants at the weekend.

Police have confirmed that the girl, 3, died at the Incredible Happenings Ministries in Katlehong, Ekurhuleni, on Sunday after her mother took her there so that Motsoeneng, better known as Prophet Mboro, could pray for her recovery.

Ekurhuleni West police spokesperson Captain Lesetja Mathobela said a case of assault was opened by paramedics after a crew member was allegedly assaulted by Mboro and his followers.

Information received by police is that a mother took her child to church to be prayed for. The child then vomited in church and an ambulance was called, he said, adding that an altercation began after churchgoers accused the ambulance crew of arriving late.

It has been confirmed that the child died in church. A postmortem will be conducted to determine the cause of death. Investigations are continuing, Mathobela said.

Mboro denied the allegations, saying he respects and upholds the law and the constitution. He accused paramedics of being negligent and failing to give the child oxygen.

The mother had brought her very sick child to me. When the paramedics arrived, I begged them to give the child oxygen and other emergency treatment but the paramedics wasted a lot of time reprimanding the mother and accusing the mother of neglecting her child.

I told the paramedics that the child appeared to be dehydrated and needed immediate attention, but they ignored me and continued to berate the distraught mother, Mboro said.

He added that he would help the childs mother in her bid for justice for her child, starting with opening a case of culpable homicide today. All I did was insist the child must be helped, which the emergency services personnel failed to do. (We will be) opening a case of culpable homicide in Alberton. Health workers are clearly untrained to deal with emergency situations in the field, and this matter must be remedied without any delay.

As a church, we will always work with government officials to assist them in fulfilling their duties, Mboro said.

Ekurhuleni Disaster and Emergency Management Services (DEMS) spokesperson William Ntladi said the staff member escaped with a cut on her face after being manhandled by Mboro and some of the congregants.

Ambulance crew were called to Prophet Motsoenengs church in Katlehong for a collapsed case around 11.34 in the morning. On arrival, the crew took all relevant medical equipment with (them and walked) into the church building for patient assessment and treatment.

Before they could do anything, the prophet already (had) the child in his hands (loading) what seemed to be a lifeless body into the ambulance. Confrontation immediately started between the crew and the prophet, whereby a female ambulance driver was manhandled on scene by the prophet, supported by the congregation, Ntladi said.

He said the crew called for back-up.

The terrified driver had to lock herself in the fire engine as members of the church were baying for her blood, shouting abusive language, Ntladi said. He lauded the polices swift response, saying they had saved the situation.

Ntladi said advanced life-support paramedics were called to the scene and the girl was declared dead. The assaulted crew member was hospitalised after the incident.

Ntladi decried recent attacks on emergency services personnel.

In March, a paramedic was shot and killed near the Odi EMS base in Mabopane, Tshwane.

In July, personnel were assaulted and a fire engine shot at in the Dukathole informal settlement in Germiston.

In September, paramedics were attacked in Cosmo City after responding to a fake emergency report. They were unharmed.

In October, two paramedics were robbed at gunpoint in Alexandra, Joburg. The robbers made off with their wallets and cellphones. A few days later, two other attacks were reported in Ekurhuleni. Paramedics were robbed and assaulted at the Somalia settlement in Vosloorus and an ambulance was stoned in Palm Ridge.

These attacks put massive tension onto the DEMS personnel and resources within the city (and) the impact on service delivery is huge, Ntladi added. The Star

Breaking News via Email
(Natural News) Arizona is now the official home of Americas first known transgender family, in which every single member has reportedly altered his or her natural biological sex as part of a full frontal assault on the laws of nature.

In typical LGBTQ+ form, the two parents have been busy making the media rounds as they desperately vie for attention and 15 minutes of fame, taking full advantage of every opportunity they get to exploit the two younger gender-bent members of their clan for maximum shock value.

Resembling something from perhaps an episode of Babylon 5, the four misgendered misfits are proud of their respective transitions  with mother turning to father, son turning to daughter, and vice versa for the other two.

It feels like youre getting to live for the first time, stated Daniel Harrott, the new father of the family who was born as a female. And my children are getting to be who theyve always wanted to be, he added, explaining how he birthed those two children before turning from a she to a he.

Mason, an 11-year-old biological female who now identifies as a boy, is one of Daniels children, as is 13-year-old Josh, a biological male who now identifies as a girl. And who could forget Shirley Austin, the biological father in this whole mess who reports describe as being a tall and blond and smiley woman.

The whole family is in transition, Shirley is quoted as saying, noting that her husband Daniel realized that he was actually a man after giving birth to the couples two children, both of whom became chips off the old block after following in their parents footsteps with their own gender alterations.

Daniel Harrott and Shirley Austin are sexual abusers whove committed egregious crimes against their own children

If this all seems utterly confusing and devoid of reason, thats because it is  but it gets a whole lot worse. In explaining why the couples children ended up becoming transgenders along with their parents, Daniel told local news media that it all started with their sons childlike desire to join a girls organization when he was very young.

Just last year, Joshua wanted to join Girl Scouts  despite being raised a boy, Daniel says. I finally looked it up, and I realized, Oh my gosh, theyre trans, and I know its true  because I am, too, and its been my whole life.'

In other words, this childs innocent desire to join the Girl Scouts  which could have simply been because he liked their cookies!  led Daniel to superimpose his own mental illness on the poor boy in order to convince him that hes actually a girl.

This led to the last child making the same declaration about her own gender change  because who wants to be left out? Now all four of them are parading around their mental illness as a badge of honor, and Child Protective Services (CPS) has yet to intervene.

Why should they, you might be asking? Because subjecting innocent children who are still nearly babies to gender indoctrination for the purpose of convincing them that they belong to the opposite sex represents an egregious form of child abuse. In truth, its actually sexual abuse, which makes Daniel Harrott and Shirley Austin sexual abusers.

If this was the other way around and these same parents were attempting to convert their transgender children back to normal children, they would likely be accused of transphobia and end up publicly shamed. But because these little ones are choosing to go the Michelle Obama route, the Leftist media is regarding their parents as heroes, even though the American College of Pediatrics (ACP) says otherwise.

Human sexuality is an objective biological binary trait, says the ACP. The American College of Pediatricians urges educators and legislators to reject all policies that condition children to accept as normal a life of chemical and surgical impersonation of the opposite sex. Facts  not ideology  determine reality. (Related: The transgender programming of children is child abuse, warns the American College of Pediatricians.)

Sources for this article include:

DailyWire.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Looking for signs of heart and lung disease in the future could just be as easy as checking your breath, according to experts who participated in the first East Midlands Breathomics Pathology Node (EMBER) Industry Symposium.

The EMBER symposium, held at the University of Leicester, examined the most recent advancements in technology could be used in order to provide more accurate assessments for conditions such as asthma, pneumonia, heart failure, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) without resorting to invasive procedures. (Related: Simple breath tests could detect lung cancer.)

In its current state, a group of physicians and research staff from the universitys hospitals is gathering breath samples from patients who were admitted to the hospital because of an acute shortness of breath. After collecting the samples, these were sent out to the university, as well as Loughborough University, for further chemical analysis. This included running the sample through a machine in order to create a map of the chemicals that were found in that breath. The map would then be used to identify markers or signs that would provide a more accurate picture of the overall health of the patient, and enable physicians to choose the best route in treating any conditions found.

When a patient comes into the hospital they dont say I have heart failure, they describe their symptoms and clinicians try to find the cause of those symptoms to make a diagnosis. However, our current diagnostic tools are not always sensitive and specific enough to pick up certain conditions in their early stages, such as diseases deep in the lungs, Professor Salman Siddiqui from the Leicester Biomedical Research Center of the University of Leicester explains. This breath analysis could be a quick way to accurately identify the cause without the patient requiring an invasive procedure or multiple scans. This means we could give the patient the best chance of recovery, reduce exposure to drugs with potentially harmful side effects, and reduce readmission rates.

Currently, non-invasive methods of diagnosis have been a field that has been getting attention recently. In Sweden, researchers from the University of Gothenburg have figured out a way for drug testing through examining different compounds in a persons breath. In their report, published in the Journal of Breath Research, they demonstrate the viability of non-invasive testing and monitoring of patients by analyzing externally-produced compounds in the lining fluid of the airways.

To prove their hypothesis, breath samples of 13 people who were undergoing methadone treatment were taken. The samples were then investigated to determine if traces of the drug could be distinguished from their breath. This was tested in two ways  electret filtration and impaction  to determine which of the methods would prove to be more effective in determining trace chemicals from human breath.

The results showed that both methods were able to trace methadone. While the concentration of the drug in the breath sample was lesser than that of filtration, researchers say that the method could be further improved to include the examination of lung disease, as well as airborne contamination.

An earlier study had already pointed out the benefits of breath analysis in medical diagnosis: it is inexpensive, non-invasive, and can be done under a minimal amount of time. Additionally, the impact of breath analysis has a far-reaching effect aside from medicine. It can be also used for environmental monitoring (an example of which is checking ambient air levels as well as its direct effects) and security.

To learn more about how breath analysis can impact the future of medicine, go to Medicine.news today.

Sources include:

Le.AC.uk

Sciencedaily.com

NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov
(Natural News) Admit it; youre on Facebook  if youre not in it, you know at least someone who is. Platforms such as this, called social media sites, come and go through the years. However, only one company  Facebook  has stood the test, growing steadily with each passing year. But what does Facebook have that other social media platforms dont? Psychologist Simon McCarthy-Jones from Trinity College Dublin attributes the social media sites success to its capacity to influence a persons behavior as the reason behind it.

Facebook, the social media platform created by Mark Zuckerberg, started out as FaceMash in 2003, a platform where Harvard students compared two student pictures and decided who was hotter of the two. The site quickly gained fame in nearby colleges, and Harvard administration shut down the operation based on a breach of security and violation of individual privacy. While charges against Zuckerberg were dropped, he continued to write new code to further his intention of creating a website to connect people around the university. From there, he created Facebook, the worlds leading social connectivity platform, and the most addicting website of all time. From college fad to worldwide sensation, Facebook is known to retain its hundreds of millions of users for decades.

No one did question its addicting qualities, but many people are now noticing how social life has changed, and at times, not for the better. At restaurants, youd see people staring emptily on their smartphone screens. Instead of conversing with each other physically, students choose to communicate through status updates and comments. Addiction from social media platforms like these tend to create a social void in the physical world, and it isnt healthy at all. McCarthy-Jones explains that Facebook is exploiting a human psychological trap, fueled by our inherent need to belong and desire to gain social status.

The human condition

Humans are not that far from pigeons. In the 1950s, B.F. Skinner created a behavioral study on pigeons that can be related to human behavior. In the study, he conditioned pigeons to associate pecking a button with food. Results from the study show that pigeons who were given food after pecking a button developed a tendency to peck a button much more often, and a secondary group of pigeons who were given food only sometimes after pecking a button developed a much more frenzied and compulsive pecking behavior.

Zuckerberg understood this loophole and applied it to the human psyche. He created an online platform where we were rewarded for pressing a button. This reward for us humans is dopamine, triggered by every like and comment from posting a status update on the platform. The more likes a status update receives, the more you create status updates. The more positive comments that you get from posting a picture of yourself, the more you upload photos. When you dont get any reaction from your friends list, frustration takes over for not being noticed or acknowledged; hence, more posts are created as a way to gain attention. Similar to marijuana and cocaine, Facebook triggers and exploits dopamine, a neurotransmitter that controls our brains reward and pleasure centers.

Getting off the hook

Limit your Facebook time to 10 minutes a day. It might be difficult at first, but you can make the reduction incrementally  one hour, to 30 minutes, to 10 minutes a day.

For every itch to check Facebook notifications, do a push-up. This way, youll get off Facebook and become physically fit at the same time.

Spend time with friends in the real world by going out on coffee dates, or simply conversing with office mates at the pantry during your break.

Before going to bed, keep your phone a walking distance away from you. If you use your phone as an alarm, walking towards it will help you get up.

Like quitting a bad habit, getting off Facebook takes time and much effort. In the end, youll find that happiness doesnt come from Facebook, but from experiencing life as it should be.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

TechNetNepal.net
(Natural News) As initially reported by The Gateway Pundit, an Antifa thug-wannabe was mowed down by a pickup truck on Saturday as he/she fled a group of patriotic Americans who were confronting members of a group whose activities our own Department of Homeland Security has designated as domestic terrorist violence.

After running willy-nilly into the trucks lane  the driver had no time whatsoever to stop, as youll see in the video  it was discovered that the Antifa thug was armed with a knife. (In the video, Patriot Prayer members were heard informing others that he/she had a weapon.)

The Antifa member  were not sure what gender this person is, as, of course, he/she was dressed in all black and hid his/her face  then went to the Refuse Fascism PDX page to blame the Patriot Prayer members and, of course, President Donald J. Trump:

Patriot Prayer pushed me into the street and I had no choice but to run, was smacked by a truck retreating from mace and a lot of huge Proud Boys, just minutes after we expressed our leftist views, we were being pursued by the very people that just claimed to be about peace. They were smiling and cheering it and youll see when the footage surfaces that they essentially force me out onto the streets. I have been demasked by Portland police under threat of arrest. Here is a photo of the injuries.

Thats a flat-out lie.

As reported by CSC Media Group, video and photographic evidence prove a couple of things: 1) The Antifa thug definitely was armed with a knife; and 2) No one pushed them into the oncoming traffic.

See for yourself:

Someone getting hit by a car is extremely dangerous, and I am relieved that they were not seriously hurt, said Joey Gibson, founder of Patriot Prayer. With that being said, it is extremely frustrating that the Alt-Left would take a life threatening situation and try to blame other people to further their own political agenda. At a certain point we have to come together and just debate political issues in an honest way and let the best team win.

The idiot ran into traffic on his/her own. No one was maced. No one was pushed into the street.

Heres another view:

Whats more, you can hear an idiot communist using a bullhorn on the other side of the street who is actually egging Patriot Prayer members on, chanting, Im right over here. Im right over here. You can come and get me if you want. (Related: Southern Poverty Law Center wont label Antifa a HATE group, even though DHS calls them domestic terrorists.)

So, just who is baiting whom? And just who is aiding and abetting violence?

As usual, its the Antifa thug-wannabes.

Knowing theyd been caught in a lie, the Refuse Fascism PDX admin took down the post accusing Patriot Prayer members of the injury to the idiot, with this explanation:

A post was made today blaming Patriot Prayer for the injury that an activist took at todays Christian March. After reviewing the video evidence, we do not find Patriot Prayer/Joey Gibson accountable for the accident. It was very unfortunate that it occurred either way. We wish our comrade a swift recovery.

Comrade. Note the language and the advocacy: Patriotism and First Amendment religious freedom is bad, but communism is good, though it was responsible for nearly 100 million deaths during the 20th century.

In any event, for those who love freedom, democracy and republicanism, this was a moral victory of sorts  and a little karma.

J.D. Heyes is editor of The National Sentinel and a senior writer for Natural News and News Target.

Sources include:

Reason.com

TheGatewayPundit.com

NaturalNews.com
HOW SCRUNCHY DO SOCKS HAVE TO BE... to face a snowstorm in and around the Sierra Nevada mountains? We're not talking about taking on the weather on the outside of a building, for a Sierra snowstorm is serious stuff, a weighty matter that should be greeted while wearing the appropriate outer wear, and goggles, and hat, and gloves, and so forth. We speak of staying indoors, in a cozy spot, as all of the flakes fall down inside. Which inspires us to return to our question: What's the scrunchy factor on a pair of wintertime socks worn inside a cabin or inn while calling upon the Eastern Sierra area, specifically Mono County? Some sock pros might say "super scrunchy" while other brave sorts might recommend that the scrunchiness be at a lower intensity. Whatever your preference is for indoor foot coverings, though, you'll want to pack it, and a favorite cardigan or two, and your fleece leggings, for things are getting way, way cozy at several regional stay-over spots, like...

THE DOUBLE EAGLE RESORT... in June Lake, which offers a host of cabins, some near a pond, that have fireplaces and stacks of logs at the ready. Over at the Restaurant at Convict Lake, there's a woodstove to up the charm (and, yes, keep diners warm), while Fern Creek Lodge's outdoor fireplace is a meet-up spot for cocoa and conversation. A hand-hewed fireplace, one that has history to spare (it's over a century old), is a centerpiece at the Duke's Bar & Fireside Lounge at The Sierra Nevada Lodge, while out-in-the-open bonfires are a ski-fun favorite at June Mountain. Bucky, of course, the mascot at June Mountain, is the host of the every-Saturday-at-2 party, which includes a "bonfire dance party." Keeping cozy in the Eastern Sierra easy? The scrunchiness of your socks is a fun factor, yes, but so is where you hang out, where you dine, where you eat, and if you join a bonfire-adjacent dance celebration. For more, visit Mono County.
A somber bell-ringing ceremony in Sacramento on Wednesday morning honored the life and service of a California Highway Patrol officer who lost his life on Christmas Eve after a suspected drunk driver slammed into a parked patrol vehicle in the East Bay.

Standing in front of countless CHP officers, grieving family members and friends, CHP's Acting Commissioner Warren Stanley paid tribute to fallen officer Andrew Camilleri, who leaves behind a wife and three children.

"We are forever grateful for his loyal and dedicated service and show gratitude to his family for their sacrifice," Stanley said. "Andrew Camilleri epitomizes what a CHP officer should always be: a dedicated and selfless public servant. He will not be forgotten."

At full attention outside the CHP Academy on Reed Avenue in West Sacramento, CHP officers paid their respects while two of their colleagues rang a bell one time to mark Camilleri's end of watch.

"It's a tragedy for Officer Camilleri's family," Stanley said. "It's a tragedy for the CHP. It's a tragedy for the state of California. We shouldn't be here because this did not have to happen."



The Christmas Eve death of a California Highway Patrol officer in a suspected DUI rear-end crash sent shock waves throughout the Bay Area. Cheryl Hurd reports.

Despite the grief, Capt. Tim Pearson with CHP Hayward noted that Camilleri's family has demonstrated admirable fortitude in the face of utter despair.

"Andrew has an amazing family," Pearson said. "His wife has provided a tremendous amount of strength for us when it should really be the other way."

Outside the department's Hayward office, where Camilleri worked, a memorial is growing as mourners leave flowers in his remembrance. Most of them had never even met the rookie officer.

"I heard over the news that he had passed right before midnight," Aruna Singh said. "It really touched me. So my mom and I came to pay our respects."

The CHP is in the process of planning Camilleri's funeral, which officials said is expected in the next week.

Officials said they have received an outpouring of support from the community after the loss of one of their officers.

The California Association of Highway Patrolmen Credit Union has set up a fund to benefit the Callimeri family, according to the CHP Golden Gate division's Facebook page.

Camilleri's body was escorted late Tuesday afternoon during a procession that started from the Alameda County Coroner's Office in Oakland to Fry Memorial Chapel in Tracy. Camilleri lived in the San Joaquin County city with his family.

Police, firefighters and paramedics were seen saluting Camilleri from overpasses along Interstate 580.

Firefighters salute fallen CHP Officer Andrew Camilleri during a procession Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2017. The officer was killed when a suspected drunk driver crashed into his stopped patrol vehicle on Interstate 880 in Hayward.

Camilleri and his partner, Officer Jonathan Velasquez were parked on the shoulder of southbound Interstate 880 in Hayward, with their eyes peeled for impaired drivers. Around 11:30 p.m. Sunday, a man, who officials believe was speeding under the influence of alcohol and drugs, rammed into the back of their CHP SUV.

Camilleri was killed and Velasquez suffered non-life threatening injuries.

The 33-year-old is survived by his parents, siblings, wife, a 12-year-old daughter, and two sons, ages 6 and 2, according to Asst. Chief Ernest Sanchez.

"This is not the way we wanted to celebrate Christmas Day, Sanchez said. Its definitely not the way we wanted the community to think of the 2017 Christmas holiday, but todays not a holiday for the highway patrol. Today is the tragic loss of one of our own.



A procession was held Tuesday for fallen CHP Officer Andrew Camilleri, who was killed on Christmas Eve when a suspected drunk driver crashed into his stopped patrol vehicle on Interstate 880 in Hayward. Roz Plater reports.

The collision occurred near State Route 92 and the Winton Avenue on-ramp. A red Cadillac, which was being driven by a 22-year-old Hayward man at "a very high rate of speed," careened into the shoulder of the road, ramming into the right side of the CHP vehicle, Sanchez said.

"The impact was so severe that it turned a utility vehicle into a very small compact vehicle," Sanchez said.

Camilleri and Velasquez, who was seated in the driver's seat, were participating in the department's Maximum Enforcement Patrol to ensure the safety of motorists during the holiday season.

Sanchez said he believes that the suspect was "coming home from a party and had obviously had too much to drink and maybe too much to smoke."

The Christmas Eve death of a California Highway Patrol officer in a suspected DUI rear-end crash sent shock waves throughout the Bay Area. Anser Hassan reports.

The man, who "chose to be irresponsible" and is in "very serious condition," will face a slew of felony charges upon his release from the hospital, Sanchez said.

"This needs to stop," he said. "Too many tragedies have happened, and today, Im not only disappointed but also angered" about having to deliver such heartbreaking news to an unsuspecting family.

Camilleri's children were expecting (their) father to come home and help open Christmas presents, Sanchez said. Instead, he was pronounced dead at St. Rose Hospital.

Ashley Wharton, Camilleri's sister, posted a message about him on Facebook, asking people who knew him to share with the family any photos or memories they have.

She said Camilleri was a "loving" family man, and someone who was "dedicated" to the CHP.

"This was his dream. He always wanted to be a CHP Officer. I'm so happy I got to see him doing what he always wanted to do," Wharton wrote.

Camilleri was a "great" elder brother, who was always in her corner and steadfast with comfort and advice.

"I couldn't ask for a more amazing big brother," Wharton wrote. "I will cherish our memories and he will never be forgotten ... You will be missed and we love you."

Procession for Fallen CHP Officer Andrew Camilleri

Allison Salinas witnessed the fatal crash, saying the suspect vehicle passed her going more than 100 mph and swerving across the roadway.

"I just remember seeing brake lights and like smoke, and I guess that's when he rear ended the CHP vehicle," she said. "And then I just saw the Cadillac roll. It was like a movie, and then my husband is yelling, 'He hit a CHP.'"

Camilleri had no idea "what hit him," Salinas said, recalling telling her husband that the officer was "gone."

Salinas said it was hard to celebrate Chistmas so soon after seeing such a horrific crash.

"We don't really want to be festive," she said. "How can we, when this poor family ... You know they have to grieve now, because of somebody's stupidity."

A California Highway Patrol officer was killed in the line of duty on southbound Interstate 880 in Hayward on Christmas Eve after being rear-ended by a suspected drunk driver. Anser Hassan reports.

Pearson, commander of the CHP office in Hayward, fondly recalled Camilleri, who joined the department in August 2016.

Being a CHP officer is a calling," Pearson said. "Andrew was drawn to this profession due to his courage, integrity and his desire to serve. Andrew was a great man who loved his job and loved his family."

Footage from the scene shows debris littering the roadway, while both cars were severely mangled.

The grisly crash forced an hours-long closure of all southbound lanes of I-880 near Winton Avenue across from Southland Mall. Traffic was congested because all vehicles were being diverted to A Street from midnight to just before 10 a.m. Some drivers even used the emergency lane to exit the freeway.

Gov. Jerry Brown released a statement, which said in part: Anne and I are deeply saddened to learn of the tragic loss of Officer Camilleri, who died yesterday while working to keep our communities safe," Brown said."We join his family, friends and the entire California Highway Patrol in mourning his death and in honoring his sacrifice.

Flags at the state Capitol will be flown at half-staff, Brown said.

NBC Bay Area's Kristofer Noceda, Brendan Weber, Christie Smith, Roz Plater, Anser Hassan and Thom Jensen contributed to this report.
Police in Union City are searching for three to four suspects believed to be connected to a shooting at a park that left a man injured Tuesday afternoon, according to police.

The male victim, who was shot in the leg at Dry Creek Park in the East Bay City, was taken to the hospital, but his injury was not listed as life threatening, police said.

The shooting happened just before 3 p.m. after the victim and a group of men became entangled in a confrontation, according to police.

The suspects, who range in age from 16 to 20 years old, fled the scene before officers arrived, according to police.

Police described the location of the shooting as a safe neighborhood.

"We're a pretty safe community so this struck us as kind of rare, especially in a park where there's children that go out and hang out and stuff, "Sgt. Steve Mendez with the Union City Police Department said.



A weapon has yet to be found, police said.

Police said Tuesday's shooting was the fourth in the East Bay city during 2017. One of those shooting's resulted in a fatality.

An investigation is ongoing. Further information was not available.
A San Jose neighborhood is on edge after a series of recent small fires that appear to have been intentionally set.

Residents around the Olinder Park area have reason to fear the possibility of a serial arsonist because theyve seen it before.

The same neighborhood was victimized by the so-called South Bay Arsonist in 2014, when homes, a church and a warehouse went up in flames. The arsonist was caught and sentenced to prison.

A small fire Monday next to a walking trail at the Olinder Park was put out quickly by firefighters, but the fast response didnt alleviate fears.

"There are homes nearby. Theres a ton of brush," resident Kari Davisson said. "Its cold, but its dry. And just like that, the creekside could be up in flames."

Neighbors said a second fire erupted in the same area just minutes later. Many told us theyve seen dozens of small fires here in the past few months. While residents acknowledge some of the fires were apparently started by people in a nearby homeless encampment, the most recent ones seem different -- and much too familiar.

"It wasnt contained, it wasnt hidden," Davisson said. "It didnt look like the kind of fire that you would use to keep warm. And it was right next to a trail."

Concerned residents just don't want to see things escalate.

"We obviously are over sensitive in our area because of the arsonist we had a couple of years back," resident Jeff Wheeler said. "That really does concern us."

The Roosevelt Park Neighborhood Association has been in contact with the fire department, and investigators are aware of residents' concerns. Fire officials told the association that while they take all calls seriously, the department doesnt have the staff to investigate all fires when there is no evidence or witness pointing to a possible suspect.
Mumbai's senior gynecologist, Poonam Satpute, was found dead at her home. Cops rule out foul play, await post mortem report.

By Saurabh Vaktania: Senior gynecologist from Mumbai, Poonam Satpute was found dead at her home in Andheri West late Tuesday night.

Amboli police is investigating the case of the 45-year-old deceased.

Poonam was a known figure in the medical fraternity and stayed alone at her flat. According to police officials, Poonam was suffering from severe diabetes.

Poonam had written her last Facebook post on December 22.

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After this post no one heard from her.

Tuesday late night, the neighbours complaint of an extremely foul odour. Cops were called in when they found the dead body of Poonam lying on the bed.

A police official from Amboli said, "We are not suspecting any foul play as of now, because the door was closed from inside. There is no injury on her body. It could be a very tragic end. However the body is sent for post mortem after which conclusions will be made. We are taking statements from friends and relatives, who have told us she was suffering from severe diabetes."

ALSO WATCH | Inside Ryan International School, the scene of the murder of a 7-year-old boy

--- ENDS ---
In celebration of Chinese heritage in the Bay Area, the Golden State Warriors will wear a specially designed uniform during nine regular season contests through April.

The jersey, which is gold in color with navy blue and red trim, features the phrase "The Bay" inscribed above a logo featuring the Golden Gate Bridge and Chinese symbolism. The shorts are also gold and feature the Chinese characters representing prosperity along the waist band.

The Warriors will first rep the new-look uniforms starting on Jan. 25 during a home matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Golden State will then wear the uniform eight more times through an April 3 meeting with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Fans looking to get their hands on the fresh Chinese heritage apparel are encouraged to visit warriors.com and Warriors Team Store locations.
The legalization of recreational marijuana in California, which takes effect Jan. 1, comes amidst growing concern for driver safety, heightened by the tragic loss of a California Highway Patrol officer at the hands of an impaired driver.

CHP spokesman Ernie Sanchez said hes worried about an uptick in impaired driving after the death of Officer Andrew Camilleri on Christmas Eve. Camilleri was sitting inside his CHP vehicle on the shoulder of Interstate 880 in Hayward late Sunday night when a suspected drunk and drugged driver slammed into the back of the vehicle.

Indeed, the combination of cars and cannabis is giving some in the transportation industry chills.

Count Russ Rader of the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety among those concerned.

"A state with a lot of tourism, like Colorado, they have been promoting their state as a marijuana tourism site," said Rader, senior vice president of communications for IIHS, which conducted a study on insurance claims in states with recreational pot such as Colorado, Oregon and Washington.

According to the findings, while collisions rose a modest 3 percent for the group, Colorado witnessed a 14 percent spike since 2012.

"The main finding is that the numbers are all moving in the same direction, and its a worrisome direction," Rader said.

While an ocean of research on cannabis-related accidents shows mixed findings, a Denver Post investigation using federal data found the following: a 40 percent increase in Colorado drivers involved in fatal crashes since 2013; and a 145 percent leap in drivers found with marijuana in their system.

Legal experts say be careful not to draw conclusions.

"THC, which is the active ingredient in marijuana that produces the high that impairs the driving, can stay in your bloodstream for up to a month and can stay there on average for 2 to 3 weeks," said Hadar Aviram of UC Hastings law school.

One of the greatest obstacles facing law enforcement right now is finding out when a driver has consumed cannabis and at what level.

Connecting tragedy to marijuana use may ultimately require better technology.

One Oakland group, Hound Labs, says it has developed a breathalyzer-type device for THC. While promising, law enforcement has been restricted by the federal government in this area. Its been very difficult for law enforcement groups to sponsor tests because marijuana is a Schedule 1 drug.
Abdul Hasan can spend hours watching old videos he shot on his cellphone.

"My heart aches for my village, my home," the 16-year-old Rohingya refugee from Myanmar said in a camp in neighboring Bangladesh. "That's why we have brought these memories, this video, from Myanmar."

Since late August, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh to escape attacks by Myanmar security forces. But before fleeing from advancing soldiers, few Rohingya had time to grab many of their belongings. Instead, they poured across the border into Bangladesh bringing with them little more than horror stories of marauding forces and memories of terrifying treks through the forests.

Their old lives  homes, cattle, villages, everything  are gone. All they have left is their memories.

But if they're lucky, some of those memories are stored on the cellphones many refugees managed to bring with them.

It's the closest Hasan gets to experiencing his old life and country. One video shows him having what he calls a "coconut party." A song hailing the bravery of a Rohingya rebel leader plays in the background as Hasan and his friends eat coconuts, and laugh as they throw them at each other.

"When I watch this video, I think of my country, Myanmar. It really breaks my heart so much," he said.

The government of Buddhist-majority Myanmar has refused to accept Rohingya as a minority group, even though some have lived in the country for generations. Rohingya were stripped of their citizenship in 1982, denying them almost all rights and rendering them stateless.

In late August, attacks by Rohingya militants triggered a brutal and indiscriminate response by Myanmar's military, sending more than 630,000 Rohingya fleeing to nearby Bangladesh.

Mohammad Fahid, 15, said he often finds himself looking through old photos and videos on his phone. He misses his friends. He misses school.

"I shared a lot of good times and laughter with my friends. I can't do that here anymore," he said. "We could go to school, now we can't. So that is why I have kept these pictures. To remember."

There is little work for the adults in the camps, and almost no schools for the children, who make up nearly 60 percent of the refugees. There is plenty of time to scroll through cellphones.

But not all the phone memories are happy.

Mujib Ullah is sitting with his sisters in their new home, a dark one-room shelter made from bamboo and plastic sheets. Ullah, 22, is showing a video of people in the Myanmar village of Borgiyabil frantically trying to extinguish the flames after soldiers lit their homes on fire with Molotov cocktails. The villagers used buckets of sand and water to try to put out the fires, but the homes kept burning, Ullah said.

A few hours after shooting his video, Ullah returned to his own village nearby and found his neighbors coming out of their homes. Everyone thought the soldiers had left. Suddenly gunfire rang out. Soldiers they hadn't spotted were firing into the crowd.

"Some people were able to save themselves, others could not," Ullah said. "My brother could not save himself. He was riddled with bullets."

The newlyweds were asleep in their home in western Myanmar in June when seven soldiers charged in.

The woman, a Rohingya Muslim who agreed to be identified by her first initial, F, knew enough to be terrified. She knew the military had been attacking Rohingya villages, as part of what the United Nations has called ethnic cleansing in the mostly Buddhist nation. She heard just days before that soldiers had killed her parents and that her brother was missing.

Now they had come for her. The men bound her husband with rope, and tied her scarf around his mouth. They yanked off her jewelry and tore off her clothes. They threw her to the floor.

And then, she says, the first soldier began to rape her.

She struggled against him, but four men held her down and beat her with sticks. Her husband finally wriggled the gag out of his mouth and screamed.

And then she watched as a soldier fired a bullet into the chest of the man she had married only one month before. Another soldier slit his throat.

Her mind grew fuzzy. When the soldiers were finished, they dragged her outside and set her bamboo house ablaze.

It would be two months before she realized her misery was far from over: She was pregnant.

The rape of Rohingya women by Myanmar's security forces has been sweeping and methodical, the Associated Press found in interviews with 29 women and girls who fled to neighboring Bangladesh. These sexual assault survivors from several refugee camps were interviewed separately and extensively. The women gave AP their names, but agreed to be publicly identified only by their first initial, citing fears they or their families would be killed by Myanmar's military. They ranged in age from 13 to 35, came from a wide swath of villages in Myanmar's Rakhine state and described assaults between October 2016 and mid-September.

Yet there was a sickening sameness to their stories, with distinct patterns in their accounts, their assailants' uniforms and the details of the rapes themselves.

The testimonies bolster the U.N.'s contention that Myanmar's armed forces are systematically employing rape as a "calculated tool of terror" aimed at exterminating the Rohingya people. The Myanmar armed forces did not respond to multiple requests from the AP for comment, but an internal military investigation last month concluded that none of the assaults ever took place. When journalists asked about rape allegations during a government-organized trip to Rakhine in September, Rakhine's minister for border affairs, Phone Tint, replied: "These women were claiming they were raped, but look at their appearances  do you think they are that attractive to be raped?"

Doctors and aid workers, however, say they are stunned at the sheer volume of rapes, and suspect only a fraction of women have come forward. Medecins Sans Frontieres doctors have treated 113 sexual violence survivors since August, a third of them under 18. The youngest was 9.

Each woman interviewed by the AP described attacks that involved groups of men, often coupled with other forms of extreme violence. Every woman except one said the assailants wore military-style uniforms, generally dark green or camouflage. The lone woman who described her attackers as wearing plain clothes said her neighbors recognized them from the local military outpost.

Many women said the uniforms bore various patches featuring stars or, in a couple cases, arrows. Such patches represent the different units of Myanmar's army.

Though the scale of these attacks is new, the use of sexual violence by Myanmar's security forces is not. Before she became Myanmar's civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi herself said Myanmar's armed forces used rape as a weapon to intimidate ethnic nationalities.

Yet Suu Kyi's government has not only failed to condemn the recent accounts of rape, it has dismissed the accounts as lies. In Dec. 2016, the government issued a press release disputing Rohingya women's reports of sexual assaults, accompanied by an image that said "Fake Rape."

More than three months after the men burst into F's home, she was living with her neighbors  a couple and their 5-year-old son. The timing of her rape left little doubt that the baby growing inside her belonged to one of the men who had caused all her grief.

She could only pray that things would not get worse. And then, one night in mid-September, they did.

The men broke down the door. There were five of them this time, F remembers. They slashed the boy's throat, and killed the man.

Then they turned to the man's wife, and to F. And her nightmare began again.

They stripped off the women's clothes and threw them to the floor. F's friend fought back, and the men beat her so viciously the skin on her thighs began to peel away.

But the fight had gone out of F. She felt her body go soft, felt the blood run between her legs as the first man forced himself on her, and then the second. Three men savaged her friend.

When it was over, the women lay on the floor for days.

Finally, F hauled herself to her feet, pulling her friend up with her. Hand in hand, the women stumbled to the next village, and then began the 10-day journey to Bangladesh.

Which is where F lives now, in a tiny bamboo shelter between two filthy latrines. And it is here that F prays her baby will be a boy  because this world is no place for a girl.

The child will be the only family F has left. For her, the most haunting reminder of the agony she endured also, somehow, represents her last chance at happiness.

"Everybody has died," she says. "I don't have anyone to care for me. If I give this baby away, what will I have left? There will be nothing to live for."

The Associated Press reported this story with a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.


A plane slid off a runway, through a fence and across a highway before ending in a field at a northwest Indiana airport Wednesday morning, authorities said.

The LaPorte County Sheirff's office reported the plane slid off a runway and through a fence just before 7 a.m. at Michigan City Airport. Emergency units were responding to the scene.

Michigan City police said the twin engine jet landed in a field near Highway 20 and US Highway 212. The pilot overshot the runway during landing, slid through a fence, across the highway, through a guard rail and stopped about 300 yards into a neighboring field, police said.

A pilot and passenger were in the plane at the time, according to authorities. Both were treated for minor injuries by LaPorte County EMS, according to police.

The aircraft was heavily damaged in the incident, police said.

Check back for details on this developing story.
Starting Wednesday morning, visiting patients at The University of Chicago Medical Center will be a bit more difficult, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting. As flu season picks up, the hospital wont allow children under 12, or anyone having a fever, cough or runny nose to enter as a visitor.

Its not for the sake of being mean-spirited, it really is for the health and safety of our patients, said Dr. Allison Bartlett, assistant professor of pediatric infectious disease at U. of C. Medicine.

Visitation at the hospital has been restricted during every flu season since 2011, she said, but this is the first time it has happened this early.

Bartlett said restrictions normally go into effect after Jan. 1, but that the timing is based on when the hospital reaches its threshold for influenza activity. The threshold is based on how many patients with flu symptoms are kept in the hospital overnight.

Influenza Surveillance Report (Week Ending Jan. 27, 2018)

Click on each state for more information.

Data: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Nina Lin/NBC

Once we have more than a handful of patients admitted for the flu, we make a judgement call that triggers our decision, she told the Sun-Times.

Dr. Julie Morita, Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, said 22 people in Chicago have been hospitalized for flu symptoms in the Intensive Care Units at several hospitals since October. She said that although its hard to predict how severe this flu season will be, the number of reported cases has spiked in the past few weeks, and peoples risk for influenza is definitely increasing. She said its not too late to get a flu shot.

According to Bartlett, anyone with flu-like symptoms wont be allowed to visit U. of C. because even if their symptoms are mild, they could hit a sick patient much harder.

Children under 12 will be restricted because they cant always identify their symptoms, and they carry or shed the flu for longer periods of time, Bartlett said. Children may be contagious days before they show symptoms, and for days or even weeks after their symptoms are gone, she said.

Northwestern Medicine does not have visitor restrictions at any of its hospitals.

Rush University Medical Center hasnt placed any restrictions yet, but that could literally change any minute, said Dr. Alexander Tomich, director of infection prevention and control.

Tomich said the hospital has seen a spike in patients reporting flu symptoms since early last week. The hospital passed its threshold for high flu activity early last week, when more than 10 percent of patients visiting the emergency department reported flu symptoms, Tomich said.

He said any restrictions placed on visitation at Rush in the past have been geared toward children.

According to Tomich, restricting younger visitors is a win-win for slowing the spread of the flu. By keeping kids out of hospitals, fewer patients contract the virus from sick kids, and fewer young visitors pick up the virus from sick patients and bring back it back to their classrooms.

At U. of C., Bartlett said the hospital staff was working to give patients and families advanced warning of the new rules.

An announcement was made last week, and on Tuesday, patients received hand-delivered letters explaining the restrictions and the rationale behind what is a very disruptive practice, she said.
Connecticut State Police are looking for a suspect believed to have robbed a person in a gas station parking lot in Killingworth, then robbed a store in Durham Wednesday.

Police said the first incident appeared in the parking lot of the Cloverleaf Gas Station at 237 Route 81 in Killingworth around 5:09 a.m.. The victim told police a man approached and demanded money. The victim struggled with the suspect then fled in a silver sedan. The victim was not hurt.

Later, around 6:25 a.m., a suspect robbed the Krauszers Food Store at 459 Madison Road in Durham after struggling with the store clerk. The suspect made off with cash and cigarettes and fled the area in a silver sedan. The clerk was not hurt.

Investigators believe the same suspect committed both robberies. He is described as male, in his 40s, wearing black gloves and a dark-colored knit hat. The suspect was wearing a silver sedan.

Police have released surveillance photos of the suspect and the suspect vehicle. Anyone with information or who recognizes this suspect should contact Killingworth Resident State Trooper TFC Wisner or the Durham Resident State Trooper TFC Morello at Troop F at 860-399-2100 or text TIP711 with any information to 27463. Tips will remain confidential.
Elected officials in New York are coming out against a plan by Connecticut to burn more than 100,000 tons (90718 metric tons)of garbage in a Hudson Valley community.

Environmental activists say Connecticut state officials are considering a proposal to send 116,000 tons (105233 metric tons)of garbage from 70 communities to the Lafarge Holcim cement plant in the village of Ravena, on the Hudson River 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of Albany.

The initial decision on the proposal by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection is scheduled to be made by Sunday.

Local elected officials from the Albany area and environmental activists are holding a news conference Wednesday morning in Ravena to discuss what's being done to oppose the garbage-burning plan.
Ledyard police have arrested a woman accused of trying to snort cocaine while in police custody.

Ledyard police arrested 25-year-old Nicole Hunter on Christmas day.

Police said the incident started when they received a BOLO for a black Kia SUV with New Hampshire plates because of erratic driving. Police located the vehicle with Hunter in the drivers seat. According to police, Hunter was belligerent and uncooperative, screaming in a residential neighborhood and charging at officers.

She was arrested and taken to the police department. While at the department, Hunter allegedly pulled a powdery substance wrapped in paper out of her pocket and tried to snort it. The substance tested positive for cocaine, police said.

Hunter was charged with possession of narcotics, interfering with an officer and disorderly conduct. She was released on bond and is due in court on Jan. 8.
Authorities say a Central Texas jailer has been charged with stealing funds.

Milam County Sheriff David Greene on Tuesday told the Temple Daily Telegram that Milam County Jail Capt. Katrina Douglas had been arrested by the Texas Rangers and charged with theft of more than $30,000 but less than $150,000, a third-degree felony.

Greene says the Texas Rangers investigated Douglas for several months after a large amount of money was found missing. She was arrested Dec. 21 in Temple.

Greene says Douglas was released from Bell County Jail after posting bail. A phone number couldn't be found to reach her for comment.

The newspaper reports Douglas is the third Milam County employee within the last two years to be connected with missing funds.
The Denton County Commission will meet in an emergency session Wednesday to authorize a restoration company to immediately begin cleanup of the massive fire that damaged the Downtown Mini Mall on the historic courthouse square.

The fire began at approximately 4 a.m. Tuesday and damaged at least five businesses located in the Mini Mall.

"It's like losing a close family member. Just a knot in my stomach, and I got here as quick as I could," said the Mini Mall owners' son Bret Will. "We're all in shock, and just starting to come to terms with the reality of the situation."

The building is considered to be a total loss, according to the Denton Fire Department.

There was so much smoke pouring out of the roof of the building on Tuesday that it damaged the Denton County Courthouse, located directly across the Square from the Mini Mall.

Due to soot and smoke that made its way into the courthouse, the building will be closed until further notice. Judge Mary Horn said the entire building has to be cleaned and the air filters changed regularly until the smell is gone and the air quality improves  which could take a week, maybe more.

All county business that would usually be conducted at the courthouse has been moved to other Denton County facilities.



The owners of businesses located inside of the Mini Mall were expected to meet with representatives from the Denton Fire Department on Wednesday as well.

The Downtown Mini Mall owners, Leo and Shirley Will, opened the Mini Mall in 1980. They say they're thankful no one was hurt, but aren't sure what the future holds.



"You have to look ahead and you can't look backwards," said Shirley Will. "Hopefully we can rebuild. We don't know what our options are, but it would be wonderful if we could."

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

ONLINE: Denton Downtown Mini Mall Fire on GoFundMe.com


How did the Narendra Modi government and the Opposition break the impasse created by the Congress' fury over the prime minister's controversial 'Pakistan' remark? Read on to find out.

By Rahul Shrivastava: Good old back room diplomacy helped the Union government break an parliamentary impasse occasioned by the Congress' fury over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's insinuation that Dr Manmohan Singh and Hamid Ansari colluded with Pakistan.

The Congress alleged that on the assembly election campaign trail, Modi insinuated that his predecessor and the former vice-president conspired to derail the BJP in Gujarat, at a dinner party attended by former Pakistan diplomats. The Grand Old Party demanded that Modi apologise. The government refused.

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But today, in the Rajya Sabha, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said Prime Minister Narendra Modi didn't question or mean to question "the commitment to this nation of either former PM Manmohan Singh or former VP Hamid Ansari."

"Any such perception is erroneous, we hold these leaders in high esteem, as well as their commitment to India," he said.

Ghulam Nabi Azad, a veteran Congress leader who leads the Opposition in the Upper House, thanked Jaitley for a "clarification on what has been an issue of contention."

"I, on behalf of my party, say that we disassociate from any comments made by any member during elections that may have hurt PM's dignity and we also don't want any such thing to be said in the future," he said. He was only playing his part in a pre-decided script.

Within minutes, normal legislative work began, and by evening, there was even a show of bonhomie. Both sides agreed to extend the working of the Rajya Sabh until The Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy Bill, 2017 was passed.

So, how did it all happen?

VP VENKAIAH STEPS IN, TWICE

Both the government and the Opposition were looking for a way out - but one which didn't make them look like they were backing down.

The Modi administration made the first move, after a nudge from Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu - who is the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goel explained to Manmohan Singh that Modi never attacked him in his speech. Singh is said to have told Goel that the issue had to be settled with the Congress.

But the ex-PM is also said to created a possibility for reconciliation, by saying this: "A solution must be found to the impasse and parliamentary functioning should not stay disrupted."

Next, statements were prepared both for both sides. But Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma on one hand, and BJP leaders like Arun Jaitley, didn't agree on the wording.

It seemed as though the peace effort was failing. But then, in a goodwill gesture, Jaitley drove down to Azad's residence for another round of talks.

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Jaitley, Azad and Sharma are said to have re-negotiated the two statements. But again, there were differences over "one word."

Until this morning, it wasn't clear how the impasse would end - both sides refused to soften their stands.

But Vice-President Naidu stepped in again, sources say. He's said to have convinced the government that it should find a solution.

MANMOHAN CLEARS DRAFTS

Now, the government and the Opposition drew up statements that they were both happy with. Manmohan Singh himself is said to have "okayed" both the drafts, and to have expressed a desire to see Parliament work.

The rest is what journalists saw unfold on TV. Both Jaitley and Azad made statements in the Rajya Sabha, and peace returned to the House for the first time since the beginning of the Winter Session.

"No legislative business means a setback for the government. Disrupting gives the Opposition a negative image. The truce indicates yet again that government and Opposition can work together, provided there is mutual respect," one BJP MP said.

RAHUL'S TWEET

But late on Wednesday evening, Congress President Rahul Gandhi tweeted, "Dear Mr Jaitlie (Jaitley) - thank you for reminding India that our PM never means what he says or says what he means." Attached to the post was a video made of two clips - one of Modi's remark, and another of Jaitley's statement.

Dear Mr Jaitlie - thank you for reminding India that our PM never means what he says or says what he means. #BJPLies pic.twitter.com/I7n1f07GaX- Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) December 27, 2017

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How will the BJP react now? We'll have to wait and see.

VIDEO | This was Manmohan Singh's response to PM Modi's remarks.

--- ENDS ---
A Texas man is back home after being arrested at an airport in Abu Dhabi four weeks ago.

Joseph Lee was taken into custody the week of Thanksgiving while returning home from a vacation with his son Jonathan.

Jonathan and his sister Elaine, who lives in Plano, made an emotional plea for their fathers safe return.

They said they didnt hear from their father for weeks.

Jonathan says he returned home December 14. He is charged with "non-compliance of police orders" and fined 10,000 dirhams, or $2,723.

Initially, the Lee family thought the arrest was because Joseph tried to use a cell phone during a security screening.

Now, they say the arrest had nothing to do with the phone.

No details of what led to the arrest were given.
Meteorologists say a Christmas storm dumped a record amount of snow on the Pennsylvania city of Erie and surrounding areas. And the snow kept coming.

The National Weather Service office in Cleveland says the storm brought 34 inches on Christmas Day  a new all-time daily snowfall record for Erie.

Another 19 inches fell before dawn Tuesday, bringing the total to 53 inches  the greatest two-day total in commonwealth history. The previous record was the 44 inches that fell in Morgantown in March 1958.

But the record would grow by Tuesday night, as more snowfall brought the total since Dec. 23 to more than 62.9 inches, or more than 5 feet.



The city of Erie issued a snow emergency, citing "dangerous and impassable" roads, and asked residents to stay off city streets until the snow stops and roads can reopen.

Cameras even captured people trying to dig out a city snow plow that became stuck in the snow.

State police and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation are urging people to avoid travel, citing poor visibility and deteriorating conditions.
Dallas-based Oncor is sending crews and equipment to help restore power to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico.

It's been three months since Hurricane Maria swept through the U.S. territory and only 70 percent of the island nation has power.

Ten Oncor trucks left Bedford Wednesday morning on the journey to Puerto Rico. The trucks will head to Lake Charles, La., where they'll be loaded onto barges to cross the Gulf of Mexico.

About 1,500 utility workers from around the country will fly to the island to join 4,000 utility employees already there for several months.

Oklahoma Gas and Electric is also sending nearly 50 trucks and about 50 crew members.

Crews are expected to arrive in the second week of January. The Army Corps of Engineers says full power will most likely not be restored until May.
It has been an exceptionally long two years for Hector Gajardo and his family. December 26, 2015, tornadoes tore across North Texas. One of them took his house and barely spared his life.

My family and I were hiding under the stairs, we were praying, said Gajardo. At one point, I thought thats it.

Gajardo says talking about that day is hard. Since the tornado, his family has shared a tiny guest house on his property while rebuilding their home. Two years later, its close to complete. All he needs is a final inspection before moving his family back in.

In spite of his familys struggle to rebuild, Gajardo donated the use of his land for an artist to build a sculpture that will eventually be the centerpiece of a memorial to the Rowlett tornado response.

Its going to be a reminder of what we were able to accomplish with my family and the friends and everybody that got involved, said Gajardo.

The artist, Troy Connatser of Rowlett, agrees.

We wanted to represent Rowlett moving forward, not forgetting, but moving forward and moving past it, said Connatser.

The sculpture is made of steel and contains parts of a water tower that was damaged in the tornado. It depicts a Phoenix rising from a tornado, instead of ashes. When its complete, it will stand at 30 feet tall.

Over the last two years, Steve Walker headed up Rowlett Strong, raising money for the Rebuild Rowlett, a long-term recovery fund which helped individuals who were impacted by the tornado. Now, Walker says his focus is shifting to thanking the first responders who helped Rowlett in the aftermath.

This spring, he plans to open a grant application to allow first responders in need to apply for help to get through a crisis.

In nearby Garland, city officials report most of the damaged structures have been repaired or rebuilt. After the storm, Garland noted more than 1,100 structures that were affected by the tornado. Of those structures, 527 were considered uninhabitable immediately after the tornadoes.

Two years later, the number has fallen to 22 buildings that have not been rebuilt, though the sites have been cleared to either a vacant lot or slab. Twelve buildings are still under construction. One house is damaged with no repairs made. The city expects it will be demolished early next year.

For those individual families and those individual households, normal is probably a long ways away, said Dorothy White with the City of Garland. Theres an emotional recovery thats a different discussion. From the standpoint of the neighborhood itself coming back together and things being in place and becoming more normal, yes, we really have made remarkable progress.

The outbreak on December 26, 2015 produced 12 confirmed tornadoes. It killed nine people in Garland, one person in Rowlett, two people in Copeville and one infant in Blue Ridge. The tornadoes also cut a path of destruction across Ovilla, Red Oak and Glenn Heights.

There were only 10 other times in recorded history in which North Texas saw a tornado in the month of December.

MORE: Rowlett Strong



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The Rose Parade in Southern California will feature some Bay Area flavor thanks to Homestead High School's marching band.

More than 200 students from the Cupertino campus have been preparing for what they call a once in a lifetime opportunity.

"It's an honor not only being a part of the band, but being the one leading them as head drum major," student Joseph Cho said.

Homestead High will be the 74th act performing at the parade, which kicks off at 8 a.m.

[BAY BW]Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunity: Homestead High School Marching Band Performing at Rose Parade

Band Director John Burn said the experience will provide lifetime memories for the students.

"This particular parade this year the theme is making a difference," Burn said. "So I think that's pretty cool because it's something we try to do whether it's the theme of the parade or not."

In preparation for the parade, Homestead band members celebrated the first seconds of 2018 at 9 p.m. PST Sunday before hitting the hay at 9:30 p.m. in order to be well-rested.

"The payoff is going to be really worth it once they see the crowds and the energy," Eric Weingartner, Associate Director of Bands at Homestead, said. "It's really the biggest audience that a high school marching band can perform for. There's no other parade that can match this expect for maybe the Macy's Parade."

The Homestead High School Marching Band from Cupertino practices for its performance at the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena.

The Homestead High Marching Band is no stranger to the national stage, having performed at the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and most recently Super Bowl 50 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara.
A Florida man's Belgian Malinois puppy was stolen on Christmas Eve and he is urging for his safe return by offering a reward.

The puppy, Schiele, named after famed painter Egon Schiele, was taken from his owner's car after a suspect or suspects smashed the car's window.

"I left him in the car just to go pick up this heavy grill. Went in, bought it and came out and the window was smashed, and he was gone," Schiele's owner, Ryan Merak, said. "In the middle of organizing everything for Christmas for me and my dogs, this happens."

The theft occurred at the West Marine parking lot located at 17641 Biscayne Boulevard in Aventura.

"The whole energy of my house has changed without him. It's not the same," his owner said. "I feel the lack of his presence all the time. I haven't really slept in three days  I just want my son back."

A briefcase was also stolen in the incident.

Anyone with information is urged to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477. A $2,000 reward is available.
A Charles County, Maryland, sheriff's lieutenant rescued an injured bald eagle that was found on the side of a road on Christmas Eve.

Lt. Jeff Wood, who is also a bird handler and trainer, discovered the injured bird on the side of Oaks Road in Bryantown, Maryland, on Dec. 24. Wood put on his aviary gear and gently picked up the eagle.

He was able to place the female bird in an eagle transport box and took her to Owl Moon Raptor Rescue, in Montgomery County, Maryland, who is caring for the injured animal. The eagle was suffering from a broken right wing and will require about two months care.

The sheriffs office said the eagle weighed 11.6 pounds and was 40 inches long. They said she is a full adult female.
A man who killed his mother and then fired more than 100 rounds at police as her body lay in a yard during an eight-hour standoff before killing himself wasn't permitted to have firearms and likely obtained them from his father, who killed himself days after the rampage, authorities said.

Pennsylvania State police on Tuesday identified Marylouise Meixell-Moyer as the woman shot 11 times in Bethlehem Township by Justin Kephart.

Kephart began firing at police after an officer responded to a call about the woman's body on Friday, officials said. A bullet whizzed by an officer's head as he peeked from behind a parked car as he tried to figure out where the shots were coming from.

Police called in an armored police vehicle to the quiet suburb about 55 miles north of Philadelphia as authorities locked down the area. But Kephart did not relent, shooting continuously at police from inside the house.

This story contains strong language. A man killed his mother before killing himself in Bethlehem, police say. The nine-hour standoff forced neighbors to stay inside and kept some residents out of the area until a mandatory shelter in place order could be lifted.

Officials don't know what caused the rampage but said Kephart had some "ongoing issues" with his mother and called his father to tell him that he'd killed her, Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli said.

"It's hard to get in the mind of someone like this," Morganelli said, adding that the scene was like a "war zone."

Police found Kephart dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, officials said. Surrounding his body were two semi-automatic rifles, a shotgun and dozens of spent rounds.

Authorities said Kephart had a criminal record that should have prevented him from obtaining a gun but said he likely got the weapons from his father.

Kephart's father, Dale C. Kephart, killed himself on Christmas Day, a coroner's office in a neighboring county said.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 provides people in distress, or those around them, with 24-hour support. The Crisis Text Line allows people to text 741-741 to connect with crisis counselors.

[NATL] 2017 in Photos: Attacks, Protests, Tragedies and Hope
Neighbors say a Virginia teen charged in the fatal shooting his girlfriend's parents mowed a swastika about 40 feet across into the grass of a community field two months before the shooting.

Penny Potter tells The Washington Post that after the incident, neighbors in the Reston community talked to the youth's parents instead of going to the police.

The 17-year-old has been charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of 48-year-old Scott Fricker and his wife, 43-year-old Buckley Kuhn-Fricker. The youth, who turned the gun on himself, is hospitalized in critical condition.

Family and friends say the couple had become very concerned about the teen's relationship with their daughter after they found a Twitter account they believed to be linked to him. Friends say the account retweeted posts praising Hitler and making derogatory comments about Jews.

"My daughter and her husband found out about a lot of the Nazi stuff just this past week, and they forbid their daughter to see him again," said Janet Kuhn, Buckley Kuhn-Fricker's mother.

According to The Washington Post, the couple had recently staged an intervention to convince their daughter to break up with the boy. She eventually agreed, her grandmother told the newspaper.

Kuhn said hours before her death, Kuhn-Fricker posted this quote on Facebook: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

The quote was a reference to what was happening with her daughter's boyfriend, Kuhn said.

Friday morning, the couple went to check on their daughter and caught the boyfriend inside her room, Kuhn told The Post.

At some point, there was a confrontation, and the teen pulled out a gun and shot the couple.

The couple's daughter called 911 to report the shooting, 911 dispatch calls reveal.

"Caller advising her mother and father were shot," a 911 dispatcher said in a conversation with police.



When officers arrived at the home, they heard shots come from inside the home. Those officers found three people who had been shot on the second floor of the Reston, Virginia, home.

Because of his injuries, police have not been able to serve the charges against the boy. Four other family members who were at home at the time of the shooting were not hurt.

"It's sad. I mean, I don't know what really happened, but it's devastating," neighbor Sandra Amin said.
Police dispatch calls showed a couples daughter called 911 to report that her parents had been shot inside their Reston, Virginia, home.

Police said Scott Fricker and his wife, Buckley Kuhn-Fricker, were shot and killed by a boy, 17, who got inside their home and was confronted by the couple. Police said after shooting the two, the boy shot himself. He suffered life-threatening injuries and remains in the hospital under police guard.

The police radio conversations on that evening revealed shots were fired after officers arrived on the scene. Those officers found three people who had been shot on the second floor of the Reston, Virginia, home.

Because of his injuries, police have not been able to serve the charges against the boy. Four other family members who were at home at the time of the shooting were not hurt.
Agarwal, a Samajwadi Party legislator, said that if Pakistan considered Kulbhushan Jadhav to be a terrorist, then it would "behave with him accordingly."

By India Today Web Desk: Naresh Agrawal should be shot dead, said the Hindu Mahasabha's president, after the Samajwadi Party MP seemed to suggest that Pakistan's treatment of Kulbhushan Jadhav's family was justified since the former Navy man was a terrorist.

Agarwal later said never called Jadhav a terrorist. His exact words, he said, were "If Pakistan considers Kulbhushan Jadhav to be a terrorist, then it (Pakistan) will behave with him accordingly; in India we must treat terrorists in a similar manner, with toughness." The remark, delivered in Hindi*, was prefaced with a big "if," Agarwal explained.

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But Hindu Mahasabha president Swami Chakrapani said Agarwal was speaking in "Pakistan's language." He even a called for an inquiry, which he said should focus on determining whether Agarwal was saying such things at Islamabad's behest.

"If our MPs call Kulbhushan a terrorist, it will be a morale booster for Pakistan, and they might make a Sarabjit out of him..." Swami Chakrapani added, presumably referring to a 49-year-old Indian national who died in a Lahore jail after being convicted of spying, and causing blasts that killed 14 people.

But Sarabjit Singh's family claims he was arrested after he inadvertently crossed into Pakistan in an inebriated state.

'NO ACTION DESPITE KNOWLEDGE OF ILL-TREATMENT BY PAK'

Meanwhile, Naresh Agarwal has written to Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu (who chairs Rajya Sabha sessions), saying the Narendra Modi government hasn't taken "stern" steps despite knowing that Indian prisoners are treated badly in Pakistan jails.

Naresh Agrawal writes to Rajya Sabha Chairman about #KulbhushanJadhav, says, 'the ill-treatment meted out to Indian prisoners lodged in Pakistani jails is known to all. In spite of knowing this Indian govt has not taken stern steps, this is a very serious matter.' pic.twitter.com/2bKdneqddD- ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2017

Yesterday, a day after Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother Avanti and wife Chetankul met him in Islamabad, India's foreign ministry said, "...from the feedback we have received of the meeting, it appears that Shri Jadhav was under considerable stress and speaking in an atmosphere of coercion."

"Most of his remarks were clearly tutored and designed to perpetuate the false narrative of his alleged activities in Pakistan. His appearance also raises questions of his health and well being," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

The ministry also accused Pakistan of disregarding the visiting family's cultural sensibilities, and allowing the local press to harass them.

Sushma Swaraj, the Union minister in charge of foreign affairs, will speak about the Jadhav family's meeting in Parliament tomorrow.

* Here's Naresh Agarwal's original remark in Hindi: Agar unhone (Pakistan) Kulbhushan Jadhav ko aatankwadi apne desh mein mana hai, to wo uss hisaab se vyavhaar karenge; humare desh mein bhi aatankwadiyon ke saath aisa hi vyavhaar karna chahiye, kada vyavhar karna chahiye.

WATCH | Samajwadi Party MP Naresh Agrawal gets flak for his comment on Kulbhushan Jadhav

--- ENDS ---
Two men have been arrested and charged in a shooting that left a Massachusetts man seriously injured Saturday.

Police announced Tuesday that 34-year-old Kevin O'Brien of Bridgewater and 26-year-old Roberto Perez of Taunton had been charged with armed assault to murder with a firearm.

Authorities responded Saturday evening to 246 Pleasant St. in Bridgewater, where a 29-year-old man had been shot once in the forearm and another time in the upper thigh area.

The victim's injuries are not considered to be life-threatening. His identity has not been released.

Authorities do not believe the shooting was random. O'Brien and Perez allegedly went to the house and met the victim outside.

It was not immediately clear whether the suspects had attorneys.
Memories of a White Christmas have been replaced with the stark reality of dangerous cold, and Boston officials are making preparations and urging extra caution as we head into a prolonged cold snap.

The National Weather Service says there's the potential for record-breaking cold this week in New England as a big chill sets in.

According to meteorologists, temperatures will max out in the single digits in parts of northern New England on Thursday. Temperatures in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island are not expected to rise out of the 20s all week and could dip into single digits. In Maine, temperatures are expected to remain below freezing for more than 10 days.

Places like the Pine Street Inn in Boston said they help about 2,000 people a day. Right now, they are over capacity.

The center is currently helping 950 people find housing around the city. One man whos benefited from Pine Street's services said surviving in the winter is a matter of life and death.

"There seems to be a stigma attached to being homeless," said Jamil Abdallah. "Theres a lot of people homeless for reasons out of their control and there are very few places like this in the city."

Officials at the Pine Street Inn said there are plenty of homeless people that resist coming in for a variety of reasons, but the goal is to prevent them from dying out in the extreme weather.

At the St. Francis House in Boston, they say they are also prepared to help the homeless in the extended cold streak.

"We are so well prepared to take care of our guests, especially in the weather, that anyone coming here is going to get what they need," said Maggie Burns, vice president of philanthropy and external affairs at St. Francis House.

Boston police said they have issued a reminder to officers to keep their eyes out for people struggling in the cold, and to offer assistance to anyone they come across.

Meanwhile, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh's office is urging residents to take precautions and exercise care during the low temperatures. Walsh is also encouraging residents to check on neighbors who are elderly or disabled; be mindful of homeless individuals who may need assistance; and practice caution with space heaters.

Homelessness services are also available on Boston.gov. For those needing a warm place to visit during the day, Boston Centers for Youth & Families community centers are open.

"We want to make make sure each and every Boston resident will be safe and warm when bitterly cold weather arrives this week," said Walsh. "In times like these, it's vital for residents to look out for one another, and I encourage all Bostonians to reach out to the City if they or their neighbors need help this winter season. City workers will be constantly vigilant to ensure the safety of all."

The MBTA is also preparing for the prolonged cold snap. Their efforts include storing trains in tunnels and stations overnight to shield them from the freezing temperatures. They have hundreds of workers in place to make sure the commutes during the cold run smoothly.

"We have all of our heaters, switch heaters and third rail heaters, that are being cycled throughout the night," Deputy General Manager of the MBTA Jeff Gonneville said.

For trains being kept in the rail yards, maintenance teams will keep them moving continually, and they'll be opening and closing doors so that nothing freezes.

"The largest and greatest risk we have for prolonged service disruption is broken rail," Gonneville said. "If you have broken rail, that is a service suspension."

On Wednesday morning, the Red Line experienced delays due to debris that caused the valves to freeze. The weather-related issue was resolved in time for the evening commute.

The commuter rail is also taking similar precautions Wednesday night into Thursday morning. So far, regular service is scheduled.
People in Puerto Rico, still recovering from Hurricane Maria, are getting some aid from a mother in Maine.

Deb Roberts of Wilton organized a supply drive and filled an 18-wheeler with items like sanitary supplies, water, and batteries. The items were shipped to the island, and Roberts went down to deliver them to 250 families.

"As soon as we pulled in, they were singing," she remembered. "They were so thankful, and so happy."

It was her first time on the island, but Roberts felt a strong connection to the place and people. Her son, Michael Holland, was a crew member on the cargo ship El Faro. The ship was en route to Puerto Rico when it encountered a hurricane and sank. All 33 crew members died.

"Getting to the island, I could feel Mike's spirit," she said.

Her trip retraced his steps, and completed a mission to the island he could not complete. Roberts said organizing supply drives like this one helps her heal.

"Helping others is what helps me get through," she said. "Doing things in his name is my job for the rest of my life."
Temperatures in New England will be dangerously cold over the next few days and at Logan Airport Tuesday, travelers were booking it out of Boston before the cold air creeps in.

John Dunn, of Somerville, Massachusetts, is flying to Brazil with his girlfriend and her brother.

"Its definitely going to be a lot warmer," said Dunn.

A look at the forecast in Rio shows temperatures in the 80s, which is a far cry from the predicted teens and single digits in Boston.

The flight schedule at Logan looks like a menu of warm possibilities: Bermuda, Miami and Los Angeles, among others.

This is the middle of the holiday travel season period. AAA records the time from Dec. 23 through the New Year.

Its predicted to be the busiest travel time with more than six million people expected to fly.

Tuesday provided a rare lull with short lines and only a few delays.

"I thought it was going to be quite a crowd today," said Kyle Burlamachi, who is flying to Montana. "It seems to be pretty tame which is a nice surprise."

Paul Muite from Nashua said the holiday traffic was so bad in Chicago, he barely made his flight. His luggage missed it and had to go on the next plane.

He left cold Chicago for an equally cold Boston.

"We are used to it in New England," said Muite.
Much of New England will experience sub-zero temperatures by morning. That, along with a wind still gusting past 20 mph, creates a wind chill factor of 20 to 30 degrees below zero for many of us late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning.

The old Christmas storm continues to spin well north of New England, but its influence is felt with this wind from the northwest.

Over the next couple of days, high pressure from Ontario, adjacent to a wayward polar vortex, will settle over New England. At that point, we will see a decrease in the wind and perhaps a little bit less cold air for the New Year's weekend.

High temperatures for our Thursday will be pretty close to 10 degrees; only zero if you're headed for the ski slopes, where the temperature may remain subzero.

Wind for our Thursday is gusting past 30 mph, keeping the wind chill factor near zero or colder. As a matter fact, we may have record low high temperatures for the date. The coldest high temperature for Boston on this date is 18 in 1924. We feel it may not reach 18 for a high.

Clear and cold air allows temperatures to plummet to subzero again Friday morning.

Clouds will be on the increase Friday, when the high temperature will be back up into the teens.

A weak weather system, called an Alberta clipper, will race through New England on Saturday, with some light snow possible.

There will be a new storm forming at sea, but most of the heavy precipitation should stay off shore.

The exception could be from the coast of Connecticut through Rhode Island to Cape Cod, where there may be enough snow for the plows to be called out Saturday.

Otherwise, the sky will turn fair with a high temperature once again in the single numbers north and teens south.

The final day of 2017 is cold once again, but it now appears that any weekend storm should be progressive and stay far enough away that we have dry weather for New Year's Eve.

By the stroke of midnight, much of New England will again see temperatures near zero after topping out in the teens for our Sunday.

The wind will likely be active, so it'll be about as cold as it gets around here for New Year's.

New Year's Day Monday looks mostly dry, with a good amount of sunshine and a high temperature of 5 degrees north to 15 degrees south

Temperatures have to moderate a bit next week, and we may get a better shot at some snow or a wintry mix by about Thursday.

In the meantime, we will keep an eye on the coastal storms to make sure they behave.

Stay safe.




History helps us look ahead to a better future

As we enjoy the Christmas season, John Myhill is looking ahead to the anniversaries we will be celebrating, or remembering, in 2018.

Next year will see the fiftieth anniversary of a number of important events from 1968 which are still very important today: -



January 8: Harold Wilson endorsed the Backing Britain campaign.



March 1: Commonwealth Immigration Act limited who could enter the U.K.



April 20: (Hitlers birthday) - Enoch Powell gave his Rivers of Blood speech, which led to his dismissal from the Cabinet.



November 26: Race Relations Act, which some would say marked the start of political correctness, and others would say was the start of pretending the issue did not exist. Is Britain a Christian country and can we cope with the increasing immigration of non-Christians? What does it feel like be a Christian minority today?



April 27: The Abortion Act and May 22: The first women priests in the Church of Scotland. These were feminist triumphs, and both have been the start of greater changes, but continue to leave many Christians feeling ignored, and alienated from the law. Have we accepted these changes to basic Bible teaching? In which case, what changes would you not accept?



March 17: The Grosvenor Square protest by young people, against the American Embassy and the horrors of the Vietnam War: This was violently supressed by the police in a way that future generations of young people have come to expect when making legal protests. Learning to turn the other cheek and love your enemies is never easy: but can we be Christian if we have never had the choice between a passive and a violent response?



June 10: The introduction of Prescription Charges, which some would see as the first step in dismantling the NHS, and returning health to the status of another commodity, that we pay for directly rather than through taxation. Did the Welfare state make us a more or a less caring society?



Going back a hundred years to 1918, March 4 saw the first cases of Spanish Flu in Kansas: an infection that went on to kill millions of war-weakened people worldwide. A punishment similar to the plagues of Egypt (Exodus 7 to 12). September 25 that year saw the first blood transfusion. Giving blood is a wonderful opportunity for Christian compassion.



July 17 saw the execution of the Russian Tsar and his family, reminding us of the peril of totalitarian power, no different from the perils of the Roman Emperors of Jesus day. August 4 was the day Adolf Hitler was given the iron cross for bravery on the recommendation of Hugh Gutman, his Jewish commanding officer!



November 11, 1918 will, of course, be remembered by all.



As a Quaker, I shall be remembering February 24, 1968 and the discovery, by Jocelyn Bell Burnell, of the first Pulsar; and on July 30 1718 the death of William Penn, one of the founding fathers of Quakerism who gave his name to the State of Pennsylvania.



I wonder what milestones you will remember next year, and what insights those historical events will bring to your view of the world today?



So, what is the Self? Who are you really?

1) You are not the vivid sense of different parts of your body and their workings, as this can be lost in stroke and brain damage.

2) Likewise, the emotions can be lost or changed. Obsession with abstract thoughts, becoming pedantic, argumentative and garrulous can all be results of brain damage.

3) We can even lose our sense of free will, of having any choice: feeling we are mere puppets, controlled from elsewhere: akinetic mutism is the conviction that the person can do nothing.

4) And we can lose the ability to make new memories, thus being frozen in time; or of course progressively lose all our memories through dementia.



But we all experience consciousness in the moment. I would say that consciousness goes beyond our individual self to be part of the consciousness of God: a light worth following.



It is Gods present to us, started in a stable: a past worth remembering this present Christmas.

The image above is courtesy of www.pixabay.com
In much the same way as dogs can be trained to detect some diseases through their keen sense of smell, technology can help create electronic devices capable of performing this same task. This is precisely what a team of researchers from the Gandia campus of Valencia's Polytechnic University and the La Fe Health Investigation Institute have achieved, developing a prototype of an electronic nose that can distinguish between patients with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

The device - named Moosy 32 eNose -can also tell whether the disease is active, with close to 90% accuracy. According to the researchers, 'in the future this type of equipment could be available for digestive system specialists who could, thanks to a simple stool analysis which takes three minutes, determine the state of the patient.'

Non-invasive detection

It is common nowadays to use invasive tests to diagnose and evaluate inflammatory activity as a result of colon-related illnesses, such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, both classified as inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). With the developed prototype, the UPV and IIS La Fe teams want to contribute to the creation of non-invasive diagnosing systems. It is believed that as many as 200,000 people currently suffer from these illnesses in Spain and the rise in incidence continues to increase annually by over 3%.

The nose designed by the Valencian researchers can detect volatile organic compounds which act as diagnostic markers or to reveal the intensity level of the disease's activity. "Volatile organic compounds are created by physiological processes of the human body's metabolism and are expelled as waste through faeces. The concentration of these components can be a differentiating marker between certain bowel diseases and their accurate detection by way of non-invasive devices such as the electronic nose would be a great step forward for the detection and monitoring of the evolution of these diseases", explains doctor Pilar Nos, Head of the Digestive System Medicine Department at La Fe hospital.

Researchers have performed tests with 445 samples and have obtained positive results. "Results of the investigation are positive; however, it is paramount to continue working to improve the detection algorithms", adds Jose Pelegri, who works for the Sensors and Magnetism group within the Gandia Campus Investigation Institute, IGIC.

The development of this prototype has been financed by Valencia's regional government. Moreover, the initial part of the project - the study of the feasibility that led to establishing the bases of the system - was financed by the Inbio, a scientific collaboration between the UPV and La Fe.

Taking part in the project are, as well as doctor Pilar Nos and professor Jose Pelegri, doctor Belen Beltran, head of the investigation laboratory of IBD for the Health Investigation Institute and the La Fe hospital, and Lluis Torse, nurse of the medical side of the project and Enric Climent, Juan Talens and Tomas Sogorb on behalf of the UPV's IGIC.

Other uses for the electronic nose

The system is being tested for further medical uses, such as detecting prostate cancer. Other studies, with positive results, are also being performed such as detecting the microbial contamination of water or determining the maturity level of fruit, which could have key applications within the agro-food industry.

Source: http://ruvid.org/ri-world/electronic-nose-developed-to-sniff-out-colon-diseases/
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Who is Silk - the powers, enemies, and comic history of the Korean America Spider-hero

Spider-hero Silk is about to headline her own streaming series. Here's what you need to know
By PTI: By Prashant Rangnekar

New Delhi, Dec 27 (PTI) Nepal has rejected Indias offer to jointly re-measure the height of the worlds highest peak Mount Everest following the massive earthquake in 2015 and will carry out the exercise on its own, the top official of the Himalayan nations survey department has said.

Nepal will, however, seek help from India and China for getting crucial data for the exercise, Nepals Survey Departments Director General Ganesh Bhatta told PTI.

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Sources in New Delhi indicated that China could be behind Nepal refusing Indias proposal to jointly re-measure Mount Everest as the peak is on the Sino-Nepal border.

According to a statement by the Department of Science and Technology which comes under Indias Ministry of Science and Technology, after the 2015 "Gorkha earthquake" that jolted Nepal, various doubts were raised by the scientific community over the height of the peak.

The 7.8 magnitude quake in April 2015 had devastated the Himalayan nation, killing more than 8,000 people and displacing lakhs of others.

The Survey of India, a 250-year-old institute under the DST, proposed re-measuring Mt Everest as an Indo-Nepal Joint Scientific Exercise with Nepals survey department.

"They have not responded to our proposal. Now they are saying that they are not involving either India or China. They will be re-measuring Mt Everest on their own," Major Gen Girish Kumar, the Surveyor General of India, told PTI.

Kumar said that a representative from India attended a meeting convened in Kathmandu, where surveyors and scientists from different countries including China were also present.

"There was a proposal from India to help us measure Mt Everest, but we are doing it on our own," Bhatta, who is in Nepal, told PTI over phone.

When asked whether China had also given a proposal to re-measure Nepal, he replied in the negative.

He noted that China had measured Mt Everest in 1975 and 2005 while Indian surveyors had carried out a similar mission in 1956. The SGI had also measured the Everest during the British era.

"India was the first country under Sir George Everests leadership as the Surveyor General of India to have declared the height of Mount Everest and establish it as the highest peak in the world in the year 1855," the Department of Science and Technologys website states.

Bhatta said preparatory work has already begun on the project and they are gathering preliminary data crucial for this survey.

The massive earthquake has "shook" even the basic parameters of Nepal, so data from other countries will be crucial, he said.

India is being requested to provide the levelling data while China has been asked to provide the gravity data. The data will be very important to determine the height of Mt Everest, Bhatta said.

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"We wont be crossing over into the Chinese territory for measurements. The work of summiting Everest will take place in 2019," he said.

Kusalaraj, a scientist at the Centre for Earth Science at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, said minor change in the height of Mt Everest may not have a direct impact on the lives of people immediately. PTI PR ASK ASK

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India slams Pakistan over manner in which Jadhav's meeting with kin was conducted

New Delhi : India on Tuesday slammed Pakistan for the manner in which Islamabad conducted the meeting between death row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav with his mother and wife, saying it "violated the letter and spirit of our understandings".



India said the two women were made to remove their mangalsutra, bangles and bindi and were not allowed to converse in their mother tongue Marathi.



"We note with regret that the Pakistani side conducted the meeting in a manner which violated the letter and spirit of our understandings," India said in a statement.



It said that Jadhav's wife, Chetankul's shoes were taken away and not returned, while some media persons outside the Foreign Office in Islamabad, where the meeting was held, hurled invectives at the women.



India also said that from the feedback received of the meeting, "it appears that Jadhav was under considerable stress and speaking in an atmosphere of coercion.



"Most of his remarks were clearly tutored and designed to perpetuate the false narrative of his alleged activities in Pakistan. His appearance also raises questions of his health and well being."



The two sides had met across a glass panel and had to speak through an intercom.




Data collected by NASAs Juno spacecraft during its first pass over Jupiters Great Red Spot in July 2017 indicate that this iconic feature penetrates well below the clouds. Other revelations from the mission include that Jupiter has two previously uncharted radiation zones. The findings were announced Monday at the annual American Geophysical Union meeting in New Orleans.

One of the most basic questions about Jupiters Great Red Spot is: how deep are the roots? said Scott Bolton, Junos principal investigator from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. Juno data indicate that the solar systems most famous storm is almost one-and-a-half Earths wide, and has roots that penetrate about 200 miles (300 kilometers) into the planets atmosphere.

The science instrument responsible for this in-depth revelation was Junos Microwave Radiometer (MWR). Junos Microwave Radiometer has the unique capability to peer deep below Jupiters clouds, said Michael Janssen, Juno co-investigator from NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. It is proving to be an excellent instrument to help us get to the bottom of what makes the Great Red Spot so great.

Jupiters Great Red Spot is a giant oval of crimson-colored clouds in Jupiters southern hemisphere that race counterclockwise around the ovals perimeter with wind speeds greater than any storm on Earth. Measuring 10,000 miles (16,000 kilometers) in width as of April 3, 2017, the Great Red Spot is 1.3 times as wide as Earth.

Juno found that the Great Red Spots roots go 50 to 100 times deeper than Earths oceans and are warmer at the base than they are at the top, said Andy Ingersoll, professor of planetary science at Caltech and a Juno co-investigator. Winds are associated with differences in temperature, and the warmth of the spots base explains the ferocious winds we see at the top of the atmosphere.

The future of the Great Red Spot is still very much up for debate. While the storm has been monitored since 1830, it has possibly existed for more than 350 years. In the 19th century, the Great Red Spot was well over two Earths wide. But in modern times, the Great Red Spot appears to be diminishing in size, as measured by Earth-based telescopes and spacecraft. At the time NASAs Voyagers 1 and 2 sped by Jupiter on their way to Saturn and beyond, in 1979, the Great Red Spot was twice Earths diameter. Today, measurements by Earth-based telescopes indicate the oval that Juno flew over has diminished in width by one-third and height by one-eighth since Voyager times.

Juno also has detected a new radiation zone, just above the gas giants atmosphere, near the equator. The zone includes energetic hydrogen, oxygen and sulfur ions moving at almost light speed.

The closer you get to Jupiter, the weirder it gets, said Heidi Becker, Junos radiation monitoring investigation lead at JPL. We knew the radiation would probably surprise us, but we didnt think wed find a new radiation zone that close to the planet. We only found it because Junos unique orbit around Jupiter allows it to get really close to the cloud tops during science collection flybys, and we literally flew through it.

The new zone was identified by the Jupiter Energetic Particle Detector Instrument (JEDI) investigation. The particles are believed to be derived from energetic neutral atoms (fast-moving ions with no electric charge) created in the gas around the Jupiter moons Io and Europa. The neutral atoms then become ions as their electrons are stripped away by interaction with the upper atmosphere of Jupiter.

Juno also found signatures of a high-energy heavy ion population within the inner edges of Jupiters relativistic electron radiation belt  a region dominated by electrons moving close to the speed of light. The signatures are observed during Junos high-latitude encounters with the electron belt, in regions never explored by prior spacecraft. The origin and exact species of these particles is not yet understood. Junos Stellar Reference Unit (SRU-1) star camera detects the signatures of this population as extremely high noise signatures in images collected by the missions radiation monitoring investigation.

To date, Juno has completed eight science passes over Jupiter. Junos ninth science pass will be on Dec. 16.

A video animation takes the viewer on a simulated flight into, and then out of, Jupiters upper atmosphere at the location of the Great Red Spot. It was created by combining an image from the JunoCam imager on NASAs Juno spacecraft with a computer-generated animation.

The perspective begins about 2,000 miles (3,000 kilometers) above the cloud tops of the planets southern hemisphere. The bar at far left indicates altitude during the quick descent; a second gauge next to that depicts the dramatic increase in temperature that occurs as the perspective dives deeper down. The clouds turn crimson as the perspective passes through the Great Red Spot. Finally, the view ascends out of the spot.
By Rohit Kumar Singh: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday stunned officers of the power department when he said that he faced power cuts at his official residence, 1, Anne Marg despite being the chief minister of the state.

Nitish's comments came in the backdrop of uninterrupted power supply during the recently concluded three-day Prakash Parv festival in the capital.

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He said that the power department ensured 24x7 electricity during the festival at a time when even he faced power cuts at his house.

"There is power shortage at 1, Anne Marg too despite me being the chief minister but I am happy that the power department ensured there was no power cuts during the Prakash Parv festival where thousands of people had come to participate", said Nitish Kumar, chief minister.

Kumar, who was speaking at an event of the power department to inaugurate and lay foundation stone of several projects worth Rs. 3030.58 crore. He said that his government was committed to providing electricity to every household in the state by December 2018.

He though expressed satisfaction that the govt today had achieved the target to taking electricity to all the 39013 villages in the state."

"Under the Har Ghar Bijli program of the state government, we have achieved the first target of taking electricity to all the villages in the state and I an entrusting the task to the power department to complete 100% electrification which includes providing electricity to every household by December 2018", said the chief minister.

He said that the state govt was committed to providing electricity to every tola (habitation) in the state by end of May next year.

He claimed that the power situation in the state had improved tremendously in the last few years and the govt would be spending Rs. 1800 crore to provide electricity to every household by next year end.

Samajwadi Party MP Naresh Agrawal gets flak for his comment on Kulbhushan Jadhav

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: Bhubaneswar, Dec 27 (PTI) Noted writer Ramendra Kumar, whose stories feature in Sri Lankan text books, has been felicitated in the neighbouring country for his contribution to childrens literature. Kumar is an award-winning writer with 32 books to his credit. His writings have been translated into 14 Indian and 13 foreign languages and have found a place in school text books and anthology also in India and abroad. His book ?Dilemma and other stories?, translated into Sinhala, was also released at the felicitation ceremony. This is his fourth book in Sinhala. Since 2011, Ramendras stories have been included in school text books brought out by the Sri Lanka government every year. The books are distributed to over 10,000 schools across the country. Kumar said, he is the only author from outside Sri Lanka to have achieved this distinction.

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Kumar, Chief of Communications at the Rourkela Steel Plant, was felicitated by the Writers and Publishers of Sri Lanka at the function held in Colombo last week, a release issued by the steel plant said. Dignitaries like Deshabandhu Sirisunama Godage, award winning publisher and Bobby G Boteju, acclaimed translator were present on the occasion.

During his visit to Sri Lanka, Kumar also addressed a gathering of students, teachers and parents. His latest book in English, ?Against All Odds?, had its first overseas release on the occasion, the release said.

The author is also an inspirational speaker and storyteller. PTI SKN MM PS

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By PTI: Kochi, Dec 27 (PTI) A man was today arrested following a police complaint by award-winning actor Parvathy, who alleged that she was abused and viciously trolled on social media for terming as "misogynistic" some dialogues in a film starring top actor Mammootty.

The man identified as Printo from Vadakkancherry was arrested and charged under non-bailable sections of the Information Technology Act, police said.

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He would be produced before the court here later, they said, adding that more arrests would be made in the case.

The Qarib Qarib Singlle actor was trolled and abused on various online platforms after she claimed that the dialogues in the film were "misogynistic".

She had submitted the screenshots of the trolling along with the complaint she lodged yesterday.

At an open forum organised on the sidelines of the International Film Festival of Kerala recently, she voiced her opinion against glorifying misogyny on screen and expressed concern about the absence of womens perspective in cinema.

To prove her point, Parvathy said she had recently watched "Kasaba."

Though she did not mention the actors name, she said the film had disappointed her as it featured a great actor mouthing "misogynistic dialogues."

She had also said such kind of dialogues from a superstar would give a wrong impression to people.

Meanwhile, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor came out in Parvathys support on the issue.

He said though he has not seen the film, he strongly supported the actress right to express her views on misogyny in cinema without being subjected to threats of rape and death.

"I call on senior male actors in the Malayalam film industry to stand by her and start a public debate on the issue," Tharoor tweeted today.

Condemning the online attacks, Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac had tweeted that they were deplorable and praised her for making Kerala proud by winning the best actress award at the IFFI.

Known for a variety of roles in various languages, including Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi, Parvathy bagged the Best Actress award. She has also secured the Kerala State Film Award for the best actress. PTI TGB ROH AAR

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By PTI: (Eds: Adds details) A A A

Kochi, Dec 27 (PTI) A man was today arrested following a police complaint by award-winning actress Parvathy, who alleged that she was abused and viciously trolled on social media for terming as "misogynistic" some dialogues in a film starring top actor Mammootty.

The 23-year-old man, identified as Printo from Wadakkancherry in Thrissur district, was charged under IPC sections 507 (criminal intimidation by an anonymous communication) and 509 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), the police said.

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He was also charged under various provisons of the Information Technology Act including section 67 (punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form), they said.

Printo was produced before a magistrate court which remanded him to 14 days judicial custody.

Police said more arrests would be made in the case.

The Qarib Qarib Singlle actor was trolled and abused on various online platforms after she claimed that the dialogues in the film were "misogynistic".

She had submitted the screenshots of the trolling along with the complaint she lodged yesterday.

At an open forum organised on the sidelines of the International Film Festival of Kerala recently, she voiced her opinion against glorifying misogyny on screen and expressed concern about the absence of womens perspective in cinema.

To prove her point, Parvathy said she had recently watched "Kasaba."

Though she did not mention the actors name, she said the film had disappointed her as it featured a great actor mouthing "misogynistic dialogues."

She had also said such kind of dialogues from a superstar would give a wrong impression to people.

Meanwhile, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor came out in Parvathys support on the issue.

He said though he has not seen the film, he strongly supported the actress right to express her views on misogyny in cinema without being subjected to threats of rape and death.

"I call on senior male actors in the Malayalam film industry to stand by her and start a public debate on the issue," Tharoor tweeted today.

Condemning the online attacks, Kerala Finance minister Thomas Isaac had tweeted that they were deplorable and praised her for making Kerala proud by winning the best actress award at the IFFI.

Known for a variety of roles in various languages, including Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi, Parvathy bagged the Best Actress award.

She has also secured the Kerala State Film Award for the best actress.PTI TGB BN

--- ENDS ---

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Looking for more great stories from 2017? Read on in the Year in Review.
With drug abuse rising, an array of companies have found new ways to turn the problems of addicts into billable fortunes. And few are as profitable as those focused on the lowliest byproduct of any stint in rehab: urine.

Testing has long been part of recovery, a way for clinics to ensure that patients are staying clean. But starting in 2010, as opioid abuse evolved into a crisis and the Affordable Care Act offered insurance to millions more young people, the cost of urinalysis tests soared.

It was soon common for clinics and labs to charge more than $4,000 per test, and to test clients two or three times a week.

Today, many clinics have pushed into an industry once dominated by stand-alone labs, running their own testing operations and, in some cases, pocketing far more from urine testing than from other aspects of treatment. With huge profits for the taking, clinic-owned labs are multiplying  and upending the testing industry.

In This Series

In a lot of these places, the patients are basically just there to urinate, and management calls them thoroughbreds, said Bill Griffin, a retired insurance fraud investigator in Florida. This happens all day long, with thousands and thousands of kids. This is a billion-dollar fraud in Florida alone.

The tests have caught the attention of the F.B.I. and the Palm Beach County State Attorneys Office, which launched a task force  called Operation Thoroughbred  to investigate clinics and sober living homes.

Insurers are also fighting back. In January, UnitedHealthcare filed a lawsuit seeking $100 million from Next Health, a network of labs, claiming that it had paid doctors bribes as well as kickbacks of 20 percent of revenue for overpriced and medically unnecessary urine and saliva samples.

Next Health countersued for unpaid claims in October and called UnitedHealthcares case a shakedown.

Some clinic-owned labs have returned fire, too, with lawsuits claiming that they are owed millions for urinalysis tests that insurers refused to cover. One lab, Living Tree Laboratories, which shares ownership with A New Start, a clinic in West Palm Beach, Fla., is suing UnitedHealthcare for $12 million.

One of A New Starts clients was a 23-year-old named John Baker. A few months after he started treatment there, in early 2015, two bills arrived at his fathers home. They cataloged dozens of urinalysis tests both from Living Tree and from the sober home where he lived, which ran its own urinalysis lab.

Total cost: $260,000.

We were shocked, said Lizz DeWolfe, Mr. Bakers mother. It didnt seem possible.

From Drugs to Money

Rehab centers and labs say extensive testing is necessary because clients are getting high with rare designer drugs and exotic combinations of over-the-counter medications. Mr. Bakers urine, for instance, was tested for amphetamines, antidepressants, antipsychotics, barbiturates, benzodiazepines (a class of sedatives), and the list goes on.

The tests, though, did not search for the one drug Mr. Baker, a weight lifter, was actually taking: steroids. When managers at his sober home found the steroids in his possession, he was evicted. Three days later, his body was discovered in the parking lot near a friends apartment. He had overdosed on heroin.

Thousands of small, clinic-owned labs have quietly sprouted nationwide, ramping up the competition for independent labs that once dominated the industry. The clinics that have yet to jump into the lab business are now inundated with breathless pitches from companies that specialize in helping to set up complete, ready-to-run labs for clients. 15 samples per day could yield $800,000 in profit! read one email sent last year by Mercedes Medical, a supply company in Sarasota, Fla.

In recent months, insurers have started to ratchet down reimbursement rates for urine tests, but profit margins remain enticingly high. The windfall has roiled the rehab industry, which is in the midst of a kind of civil war.

On one side are the clinic owners who have never cashed in on urinalysis and are aghast at the cascade of money now pouring into the pockets of their competitors. They tend to be the loudest critics of those on the other side of this battle  the clinic owners who realized that their clients urine is a path to riches.

Some of these places have cleared $400,000 a month in profit, said Brian Crowley, the chief executive of Integra Enterprizes, which consults with clinics that want to open labs. A lot of the people who start these treatment centers are reformed abusers, and its as though they turn from one craving to another  from drugs to money.

A Markup of 2,000 Percent

Known as J. J. to friends, Mr. Baker entered A New Start six years after he had become a heroin addict in his hometown, Forkston Township, Pa. At 6 feet 2 inches and just 140 pounds, he had been bullied in high school, according to his mother, and found community with a crowd that was into drugs.

A New Start is an outpatient program, which means that it offers therapy but not housing. So Mr. Baker lived at a nearby sober home called Seamless, with about 15 other drug users. Because Seamless had its own urine testing lab, Mr. Baker, like countless other patients, provided samples to both his sober home and his treatment facility.

All of Mr. Bakers samples were sent to the 46,000-square-foot Alexandria Innovation Center, where the labs for both A New Start and Seamless were based. Anywhere from 25 to 200 specimens a day arrived at A New Starts lab, according to Theresa Lee, former chief scientist for the company.

Monday is the busiest day, she said, because thats when all the weekend samples arrive.

Samples are first run through a screening analyzer, a device that can detect more than a dozen drugs, such as cocaine and marijuana. This is called a qualitative test  or more colloquially, a screen.

It is a more expensive version of the $20 test sold at drugstores, the kind prospective employees are asked to take before starting new jobs. The lab version of a screen looks for the same drugs as the one sold at CVS, but is far more sensitive, which is to say that it can detect smaller amounts of drugs.

Labs are reimbursed by the federal government for screens on Medicare patients at a maximum of about $80 per test. For each of Mr. Bakers screens, A New Starts lab billed $1,980. Its common for private insurers to reimburse at higher rates than public programs, and in very rare cases  for certain back surgeries, for instance  private insurers can pay twice as much as Medicare. A New Starts lab was asking 2,375 percent the government rate.

The screen was the cheap part.

A New Starts lab also ran Mr. Bakers urine through a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry device, which costs about $250,000 and looks like an immense photocopier attached to an espresso machine. It conducts quantitative tests  often called confirmations. These cover a wider range of drugs and determine how much of a particular drug is in a patients urine.

For Medicare patients, the government reimburses between $117 and $254 per confirmation test. For each of Mr. Bakers, A New Starts lab charged more than $4,000. At the same time, the lab owned by Seamless was conducting both screen and confirmation tests on Mr. Bakers urine, too.

Costs aside, there is the question of whether confirmation tests were even necessary in Mr. Bakers case. All of his screens had come back negative. Typically, confirmations are conducted only if a screen comes back positive.

Nicole Sauvola, a lawyer for A New Start and its lab, said that even when screens are negative, confirmation tests are often essential. Thats because confirmations detect and measure a wide variety of exotic drugs, including synthetic stimulants and muscle relaxants, as well as the commonly abused drugs found by screens.

Physicians and psychologists who are working in this field will tell you that every one of these kids would be dead without drug testing, she said. Because as soon as we get a handle on one drug, the triggers lead to another. And weve got kids going to Walgreens and buying cough syrup and getting high, or taking Imodium and other anti-diarrhea medications and ending up in the emergency room because Imodium can give you a high like heroin.

Drugs That Havent Been Seen in Years

To get an independent assessment of the testing procedures used by A New Starts lab, Ms. Sauvola recommended speaking to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, which publishes industry benchmarking guides. The group, in turn, recommended one of its former presidents, Louis Baxter.

Dr. Baxter declined to discuss the specifics of Mr. Bakers tests. But generally speaking, having two separate entities testing one patient, that is irregular, Dr. Baxter said. One source can test a patient and then share that information with the other.

He added that he is troubled when intensive outpatient programs also own labs. Though they are not legally prohibited, I can tell you the practice has been investigated by state licensing authorities around the country, Dr. Baxter said.

One independent lab owner who examined Mr. Bakers bills was struck by the number of drugs for which he had been tested. Urine tests are often tailored to the client, said David Muskat, the chief executive of Synergy Diagnostic Laboratory and a critic of overtesting. People addicted to heroin are typically tested for opiates, marijuana and other types of downers. Testing for amphetamines and other uppers makes less sense, he said.

These guys were testing for everything you could possibly buy at a Walgreens, everything you could possibly get from a psychiatrist and a number of drugs that havent been seen in years, Mr. Muskat said of the Mr. Bakers tests. The kid was negative for six straight months, which means they didnt have to test so often.

Which means, in Mr. Muskats opinion, the tests were about money.

Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania covered a small fraction of Mr. Bakers $260,000 urinalysis bill, and his family declined to pay the rest. Ms. Sauvola, the attorney for A New Start, said some unpaid invoices are written off as uncollectable.

Some bills wind up in court. In the lawsuit filed by A New Starts lab against UnitedHealthcare, the lab said the insurer had denied millions of dollars in medically necessary substance abuse treatments. In a motion to dismiss, UnitedHealthcare called the tests unjustified and excessive and said that A New Starts lab had billed $188,305 for tests conducted on a single patient in the span of four and a half months.

Following the Money Makers

When Mr. Baker was a client, A New Start and its urinalysis lab were owned by Moshe Dunoff. He is currently in prison, having pleaded guilty to a 2009 scheme described by the Securities and Exchange Commission as a boiler room-type offering fraud.

The scheme, according to court documents filed by federal prosecutors, raised $1.5 million through phone calls to people who were told they were buying discounted securities from a fictitious brokerage called Gruber and Green.

Ms. Sauvola, A New Starts lawyer, said that Mr. Dunoff was addicted to drugs at the time of the scheme and is a dramatically different person today. He has five years of sobriety, she said. Like every other addict I know, he got himself into stupid situations and made bad decisions, solely because he was looking to use drugs, not because he was looking to rip anybody off.

It isnt hard to find former clients of A New Start who rave about Mr. Dunoff. He saves peoples lives, said Rich Sarafian, a former heroin user who is now a barber. And I dont mean three or four lives. I mean 50 or 60 lives. Hes involved. He cares about his clients, he tries to run the best possible rehab.

Behind every urinalysis test is a doctor who must sign a requisition  essentially a note stating that a clients urine should be tested. For some doctors, requisitions can be a lucrative side business, producing fees between $3,000 and $8,000 a month from each clinic or sober home. Some doctors work with more than one facility at a time.

One of the doctors overseeing Mr. Bakers urinalysis tests was Dr. Michael Ligotti, who was listed as the medical director for nine different treatment centers as of October, according to records kept by the Florida Department of Children and Families.

Dr. Ligottis name has appeared often enough on insurance bills that he has attracted the notice of Southeast Florida Recovery Advocates, a group of activists trying to raise awareness about abuses in the drug treatment industry. Part of that, they say, is highlighting the role that doctors play in enriching clinics and sober homes by approving unnecessary urinalysis tests.

Late last February, the group held a protest on the sidewalk next to Dr. Ligottis office. One of the protesters had a placard that read Stop Killing Our Kids. Another read, We demand physician ethics.

A call to Dr. Ligottis office was returned by his lawyer, Benton Curtis, who said his client would not answer questions. Dr. Ligotti has enjoyed a sterling reputation in South Florida for years as a respected doctor, family man and a civically involved member of the community, Mr. Curtis wrote in an email.

Dr. Ligotti, in a 2013 letter to Floridas Department of Families and Children, wrote that some treatment facilities have used his name in an unauthorized fashion. In that letter, however, he added that he could not identify which ones.

During Mr. Bakers first few months at Seamless, he appeared to do well. But to a few counselors and his friends, he seemed overly focused on working out at a nearby gym. Their concern grew when Mr. Baker started taking steroids, according to several of his acquaintances including Dustin Williams, who became friends with Mr. Baker at Seamless.

The house managers at Seamless found Mr. Bakers steroid prescription. Nearly every sober home has zero tolerance for medication that isnt part of a clients recovery. That was why, on Aug. 25, 2015, Mr. Baker was evicted.

I was at work, and he called and said he was getting kicked out, Mr. Williams said.

Mr. Baker also spoke to his mother, Ms. DeWolfe, a few times that day. He was really upset, she said. The kid had no place to go. I texted him at 7:58 that night and got no response. He always got back to me. I knew by noon the next day that something bad had happened.

Ms. DeWolfe and Mr. Williams started looking for Mr. Baker on Aug. 26. They called hospitals, police stations and morgues.

Creating a Monster in the Wild West

The boom in clinic-owned labs started in earnest around 2014, but it would be inaccurate to say that such labs were overbilling. There were no guidelines about how much to charge or how often to test.

It was the Wild West, said Mr. Crowley, the clinic consultant. We had created a monster.

The size of bills for urinalysis tests was determined through trial and error by the clinics, said John Lehman of the Florida Association of Recovery Residences, which has been battling substandard operators for years. Insurers were sent bills for tests and if they were paid, the cost of the test would go up when new bills were submitted. Mr. Lehman said that early experiments with billing yielded about $4,200 per test, and each client was tested five times a week. That adds up to $21,000 in billings per week, per client. Some clinics had more than 40 clients.

It took years to realize what was happening, insurance executives said. That was mostly because urinalysis tests had never before cropped up as a billing issue, and the doctor-signed requisitions ordering the tests gave them the aura of medical authority.

But in 2015, the Justice Department announced that Millennium Health, a San Diego company that operates labs, had agreed to pay $256 million to resolve allegations that the company had overbilled Medicare and Medicaid for unnecessary urine and genetic tests. Among the findings: Seniors were routinely tested for PCP, also known as angel dust.

I dont care if they send it to me in a Ziploc bag, a Millennium executive was quoted as saying, according to the governments complaint. I want their urine.

A spokeswoman for Millennium said in a recent email that the company has had new owners and new leadership since 2015. Millennium, she wrote, now adheres to the highest standards of responsible and ethical business practices.

A Bottle of Water and a Needle

The night he was bounced from Seamless, Mr. Baker called a friend  Mr. Sarafian, the barber who had also been a client at A New Start.

He wanted to get high, recalled Mr. Sarafian, who was also relapsing at the time. So he picked me up at my apartment, I got in his car and we went together to meet somebody where he bought some heroin.

The friends had dinner at a Miami Subs, where Mr. Baker complained that he felt he had been picked on by the house managers at Seamless. Then, they drove to Mr. Sarafians apartment complex. Mr. Baker stayed in the parking lot to shoot up alone in his car.

On Aug. 28, he was found by a maintenance worker, holding a bottle of water and a hypodermic needle. A medical examiner ruled his death an accidental overdose.

Two former managers at Seamless declined to discuss Mr. Bakers departure from the premises.

Apportioning blame when an addict dies is difficult. Clinic owners who have not opened their own labs contend that the money to be made off addiction treatment has made it easy to put profits over people.

A drug test costs more than a day of therapy, and that has a way of changing priorities, said Andrew Burki, the chief executive of Life of Purpose Treatment, a group of clinics focused on students. And the timing of all this could not be worse. We are in the midst of one of the worst health pandemics since the Spanish Flu. More Americans will die from opiates this year than in the entire Vietnam War.

Even with insurance companies cutting their reimbursement rates, the boom in lab construction has not abated, according to people like Andy Wright, the president of Mercedes Medical, the Sarasota-based company that sells lab equipment. He said that he sees more than a dozen new labs built each month.

George McNally the former owner of the defunct House of Principles, a sober home in West Palm Beach, described an anecdote he heard not long ago at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. A guy there, who works at a treatment center, was talking about how he had somehow messed up these five U.A.s, Mr. McNally recalled, using the shorthand for urinalysis tests.

The mans boss had berated at him, Mr. McNally said: Dont you know  this stuff is liquid gold?
By PTI: New Delhi, Dec 27 (PTI) The Opposition today virtually paralysed the Lok Sabha proceedings demanding dismissal of Union Minister Anant Kumar Hegde for his controversial comments on secularism and the Constitution while the government appeared distancing itself from his comments.

Raising the issue in the House which witnessed repeated adjournments, Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge quoting Hegde said the minister compared those supporting secularism to "children of unknown parentage", besides denigrating Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, the architect of the Constitution.

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"He (Hegde) said those who support secularism are like people without parentage. We do not know their bloodline. They do not know their parents but they call themselves secular. If someone says I am a secular, I get suspicious," Kharge quoted Hegde as saying at a function in Karnataka on Sunday.

Calling the remarks totally unacceptable, the Congress leader further said, "It means we all who support secular thoughts are not born to their parents."

The Congress members also displayed posters demanding immediate sacking of Hegde, who is the Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

Kharge alleged that Hegde had also denigrated the architect of the Constitution, B R Ambedkar, by his remarks that the current dispensation came to power to "change" it.

The opposition uproar led to several adjournments of the House.

Rejecting Kharges comments, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar claimed the Congress leader was trying to distort what Hegde had said. He, however, did not comment on Hegdes remarks or try to defend him.

"B R Ambedkar is the father of the Constitution and we respect him. The Prime Minister had said the Constitution is our national book (Rastriya Granth). We are committed to it and secularism. The Congress should not teach us secularism," said Kumar, while asking the opposition not to disrupt the proceedings.

"The Congress is indulging in pseudo-secularism. You (Congress) did not allow Baba Saheb Ambedkar to contest polls. He was brought to Rajya Sabha by Jan Sangh," he said, listing steps taken by the government to preserve Ambedkars heritage.

Kumar said the opposition was training its guns on the government for not convening the Winter Session of Parliament and when it has been called, it was disrupting the proceedings.

He made the statement amid shouting of slogans against Hegde by the opposition.

At a function in Karnataka on Sunday, Hegde had reportedly said people should identify themselves by their religions and "those who, without knowing about their parental blood, call themselves secular, they dont have their own identity...They dont know about their parentage."

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He had also said "we are here to change the Constitution and well change it."

When the Lok Sabha met at 2:45 PM after the third adjournment and some members entered the Well displaying posters, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan reminded them of the rules of the House.

The House was first adjourned till noon and then till 2 PM due to unabated opposition protest on the issue.

The Lok Sabha was again adjourned at 4 PM for 15 minutes amid uproar in the House over Hegdes remarks.

The demand to adjourn the House was made by RSP MP N K Premachandran when Finance Minister Arun Jaitley introduced the Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Amendment Bill.

As the House was witnessing ruckus, Premachandran said the GST Bill was a crucial legislation and cannot be passed amidst din and urged the Speaker to adjourn the proceedings to ensure smooth discussion.

The TRS members, who were demanding a separate high court for Telangana, were also in the Well, along with members of the Congress. Some other members raised concerns over the treatment meted out to the family members of Kulbhushan Jadhav by Pakistan.

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Despite repeated requests from Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, about 20 members continued to protest in the Well of the House.

As the protests continued unabated, Mahajan asked the members to return to their seats. "If you dont want the government to say something, then let it go," she said.

She also told Kharge that his party had reservations over lesser number of sitting in the Winter session but was stalling the proceedings when the House was on.

Amid the din, papers were laid and a few members spoke during Zero Hour but as the unruly scenes continued, Mahajan adjourned the House till 2 PM after about 20 minutes of proceedings.

Before this, the House was adjourned for about 50 minutes soon after the Question Hour had begun at 11 AM.

Congress members raised slogans demanding removal of Hegde from the Council of Ministers, while members of the TRS also joined them with placards demanding a separate high court for Telengana.

Some Shiv Sena members raised slogans against Pakistan, apparently over the treatment of Jadhavs family members. Some BJP members also joined them in raising slogans like Pakistan murdabad (down with Pakistan).

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During Question Hour, Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha Kharge had then too briefly raised the issue of remarks by Hegde, following which his party members rushed into the Well raising slogans such as Ambedkar ka apman nahin chalega (We will not tolerate the insult of B R Ambedkar -- a key framer of the Constitution). PTI MPB PR RAM NAB ARC

--- ENDS ---
"Are we trying to help or hurt Kulbhushan Jadhav?"

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

The humiliating treatment meted out to Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother and wife when they visited Pakistan to meet him has sent political temperature soaring in India. The BJP spokespersons, almost on all TV channels yesterday, went all guns blazing on Pakistan for asking Jadhav's wife to remove her bindi and mangalsutra before the meeting. Some even dubbed it as an attack on Indian ethos and culture.

The Congress party, while criticising Pakistan for this, also chose to politicise the matter. Senior Congress leader Manish Tewari wrote on his Twitter handle that "India should have anticipated this chicanery."

"Are we trying to help or hurt Kulbhushan Jadhav.?Yes the meeting was deliberately botched by Pakistan.They behaved like imbecile's. India should have anticipated this chicanery.However an Indian is in their illegal custody. Our first priority is to bring him home SAFE.Sober up," Tewari's tweet read.

Tewari's another tweet this morning read that India may find itself isolated by the time "NDA govt's tenure comes to an end". He seemed to hint that the BJP-led government's was failing on the foreign policy front as China's influence was growing in the region.

Senior Congress leader and former external affairs minister Salman Khurshid said that "better" was expected from Pakistan and dubbed the entire episode of Jadhav's family visit to Pakistan as "very grave".

"It's a good thing that the family of Jadhav at least got to see him once. On the other hand, looking at it dispassionately I would believe that it's somewhat distressing and disturbing that an access given to a family should not be conducted in this deplorable manner, in which Pakistan has conducted it. They did not need to do this business of security and putting up conditions," Khurshid told ANI.

BJP's Subramanian Swamy said "serious homework" for the war should begin "right now".

"Whatever treatment was given to the mother and wife of Kulbhushan (Jadhav) is akin to Draupadi's vastraharan that resulted in Mahabharata," he said.

Kulbhushan Jadhav has been in a Pakistani jail since April 2016 over allegations of being an Indian spy. On what Pakistan claimed was a humanitarian gesture, Jadhav's mother and wife were issued visas and allowed to meet him on Monday. The meeting did not turn out to be the way Jadhav's family may have expected. There was a glass partition between Jadhav and his family, and his wife and the mother were asked to remove mangalsutra, bangles and bindi, besides having been asked to change the attire, citing it as a security measure.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday lashed out at Pakistan for the way Jadhav's wife and mother were treated during the meeting.

MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said, "The manner in which the meeting was conducted and its aftermath was clearly an attempt to bolster a false and unsubstantiated narrative of Jadhav's alleged activities. You would all agree that this exercise lacked any credibility...For some inexplicable reason, despite her repeated requests, the shoes of the wife of Shri Jadhav were not returned to her after the meeting. We would caution against any mischievous intent in this regard."

OneIndia News
Bihar Police Constable Result 2017 expected today: How to check

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

Recommended Video

Bihar Police Constable examination Result 2017 expected today | Oneindia News

The Bihar Police Constable Result 2017 is expected to be released today. Once declared the results would be available on the official website.

Sources indicate that the results are expected to be announced by the last week of December 2017. Latest reports suggest that the results are likely to be declared by December 27.

Around 11 lakh candidates have registered and appeared for the Bihar Constable Examination. The examination was conducted on October 15 and 22 across various centres in the state. A total of 9,900 constables have to be recruited by means of the examination. Candidates who clear the written test would be called for the subsequent rounds. Approximately, 50,000 candidates would be shortlisted for the next round. Candidates are awaited to keep checking for the official notification on csbc.bih.nic.in.

How to check Bihar Police Constable Results 2017:

Go to csbc.bih.nic.in

Click on relevant link

Enter all the required details such as roll number and password in the space provided

Submit

View results

Download

Take a print out

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For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Wednesday, December 27, 2017, 7:25 [IST]
FM Nirmala Sitharaman hints at possibility of Centre considering restoration of state status to J&K

Can govt employees air political views openly? In J&K its a big no

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia

Srinagar, Dec 27: Can a government employee have views on political matters? More importantly, can he/she air his/her political opinions openly?

There is no such rule that stops a person from having political views and airing them openly too, irrespective of whether he/she earns his livelihood by working in a government office.

However, the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) coalition government in restive Jammu and Kashmir thinks otherwise. In its latest order, the J&K government has put a "gag" on its employees by barring them from airing political views on social media.

In fact, airing political views on personal social media accounts could now land J&K government employees in trouble.

On Tuesday, the J&K government barred its employees from using their social media accounts for any political activity by amending the conduct rules for them.

The government has added a sub-rule in the Jammu and Kashmir Government Employees Conduct rules which states that no government employee shall engage in any criminal, dishonest, immoral or notoriously disgraceful conduct on social media which may be prejudicial to the government.

"They shall also not use their personal social media accounts for any political activity or endorse the posts or tweets or blogs of any political figure," the rule states.

The employees shall also not use their accounts in a manner that could reasonably be construed to imply that the government endorses or sanctions their personal activities in any manner whatsoever, it said.

The order said that the employees shall also not post inflammatory, extraneous messages in an online community with the intent of provoking readers into an emotional response.

Although the opposition National Conference (NC) has not issued any statement regarding the latest order by the ruling PDP-BJP government, the people of the state stated that the "gag order" against government employees is another attack on their freedom of speech.

OneIndia News
Declaring Triple Talaq unconstitutional

The Supreme Court banned the controversial Islamic practice that allows men to leave their wives immediately by stating "talaq" (divorce) three times, calling the practice "unconstitutional".

A five-judge Constitution bench set aside the age-old practice by a majority of 3:2, holding it was unworthy of protection.

Triple talaq the personal law by which Muslim men can instantaneously divorce their wives by uttering talaq thrice"is not integral to religious practice and violates constitutional morality," the Supreme Court judges said.

Interestingly, all five judges on the bench belonged to five different faiths Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism.

Right to Privacy a fundamental right

This was one of the 2017's biggest judgments and was made in response to the petition challenging the constitutional validity of the Indian biometric identity scheme, Aadhaar.

"The right to privacy is protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 and as a part of the freedoms guaranteed by Part III of the Constitution," the ruling said.

With this judgment, the government will be required to create a data protection regime to protect the privacy of the individual. Explaining the meaning and scope of privacy, the court held that it includes at its core the preservation of personal intimacies, the sanctity of family life, marriage, procreation, the home and sexual orientation. The court further explained that there is a legitimate expectation of privacy even in public space and that the right is available against state as well as non-state actors.

Sex with minor wife criminalized

The Supreme Court held that a man's act of indulging in sex with a minor wife would amount to rape. In a landmark ruling, the top court read down exception 2 to Section 375 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code that allowed a man to have sexual relations with his wife above 15 years of age.

Before the Supreme Court verdict, the law did not find a man guilty of rape for having sexual intercourse with wife older than 15 years of age. While child marriage is a crime, this exception created conflict between laws.

The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act of 2012 defines 'children' as those aged below 18. It has specific provisions declaring that 'penetrative sexual assault' and 'aggressive penetrative sexual assault' against children below 18 is rape.

2012 Delhi gangrape case

In May this year, the Supreme Court upheld the Delhi High Court and trial court decision to award death penalty to all four convicts in the December 16, 2012 gang rape and murder case.

The execution of Mukesh (27), Pawan Gupta (20), Vinay Sharma (21) and Akshay Thakur (29) was made certain by the SC with only an option of mercy petition left to the President.

The victim was assaulted and raped by six persons in a moving bus in south Delhi and thrown out of the vehicle along with her male friend on December 16 night. She later died in a Singapore hospital.

In 2013, Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2013 or the Anti-Rape Bill, which was later called the Nirbhaya Act, came into existence. The new law mandated death penalty under Section 376A of the Indian Penal Code.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim found guilty of raping two women

A special CBI court sentenced Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh to 20 years in jail in two separate cases.

The religious leader, who had millions following him and subscribing to his faith, was sentenced to two 10-year terms of imprisonment and fined Rs 30 lakh after being found guilty of raping two women.

Sasikala guilty of corruption

A month after the demise of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, the Supreme Court held Sasikala, Ilavarasi and Sudhakaran guilty in the disproportionate assets case and ordered them to surrender forthwith before the trial court concerned.

It took Indian judiciary almost two decades to convict Sasikala Natarajan and three of her accomplices, including Late Jayalalithaa, in the disproportionate assets case.

Aarushi Talwar murder case

Dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar were acquitted of all charges in the murder of their daughter Aarushi by the Allahabad High Court on October 12, 2017. They walked out free from the Ghaziabad Dasna Jail after spending four years in jail.

This murder mystery made news across the country as the parents, who were allegedly the main convicts in the murder were held not guilty by the court.

2G spectrum case accused walk free

A CBI court acquitted all 17 accused in the 2G spectrum case on December 21, including former telecom minister A Raja and Kanimozhi, daughter of DMK chief K Karunanidhi.

The court ruled that the prosecution had miserably failed to prove any of the allegations against the accused. However, since this was not a Supreme Court judgement, the case cannot be considered shut, especially since the CBI has made known its intention of appealing the verdict in High Court.

OneIndia News
Google dedicates doodle on 220th birth anniversary of Mirza Ghalib

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

Google celebrated the 220th birth anniversary of Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan, a prominent Urdu and Persian-language poet during the last years of the Mughal Empire. Ghalib was born in Uttar Pradesh, during the reign of Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah. He showed a gift for language at an early age and was educated in Persian, Urdu, and Arabic.

Although Ghalib himself was far prouder of his poetic achievements in Persian, he is today more famous for his Urdu ghazals. Numerous elucidations of Ghalib's ghazal compilations have been written by Urdu scholars.

His verse is characterized by a lingering sadness borne of a tumultuous and often tragic life - from being orphaned at an early age, to losing all of his seven children in their infancy, to the political upheaval that surrounded the fall of the Mughal rule in India. He struggled financially, never holding a regular paying job but instead depending on patronage from royalty and more affluent friends.

In 1850, Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar II bestowed upon Mirza Ghalib the title of "Dabir-ul-Mulk". The Emperor also added to it the additional title of "Najm-ud-daula". The conferment of these titles was symbolic of Mirza Ghalib's incorporation into the nobility of Delhi. He also received the title of 'Mirza Nosha' from the Emperor, thus adding Mirza as his first name. He was also an important courtier of the royal court of the Emperor. As the Emperor was himself a poet, Mirza Ghalib was appointed as his poet tutor in 1854. He was also appointed as tutor of Prince Fakhr-ud Din Mirza, eldest son of Bahadur Shah II,(d. 10 July 1856). He was also appointed by the Emperor as the royal historian of Mughal Court.

Unfortunately, his fame came to him posthumously. He had himself remarked during his lifetime that he would be recognized by later generations. After the decline of the Mughal Empire and the rise of the British Raj, despite his many attempts, Ghalib could never get the full pension restored.

But despite these hardships, Ghalib navigated his circumstances with wit, intellect, and an all-encompassing love for life. His contributions to Urdu poetry and prose were not fully appreciated in his lifetime, but his legacy has come to be widely celebrated, most particularly for his mastery of the Urdu ghazal (amatory poem).

Here are few selected couplets of Ghalib:

aah ko chahiye ik umr asar hote tak

kaun jiita hai tiri zulf ke sar hote tak

A prayer needs a lifetime, an answer to obtain

who can live until the time that you decide to deign

bazicha-e-atfal hai duniya mire aage

hota hai shab-o-roz tamasha mire aage

Just like a child's playground this world appears to me

every single night and day, this spectacle I see

bas-ki dushvar hai har kaam ka asan hona

aadmi ko bhi mayassar nahin insan hona

Tis difficult that every goal be easily complete

For a man, too, to be human, is no easy feat

dard minnat-kash-e-dava na hua

main na achchha hua bura na hua

My pain did not seek favours from any opiate

I don't mind the fact that I did not recuperate

Shayari with translation courtesy: https://rekhta.org/top-20-mirza-ghalib-sher

OneIndia News
New IT rules will make sure no unlawful content is posted online: Minister

Government distances itself from Hegdes 'change Constitution' comment

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

The government has distanced itself from union minister Anantkumar Hegde, who triggered a massive controversy by saying his party will soon change India's Constitution.

Hegde's "change India's constitution" remarks sparked a massive row and forced his government into damage control mode.

Union minister Vijay Goel told Rajya Sabha that "the Government does not subscribe to views expressed by Hegde."

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaking outside the Parliament also disowned her fellow minister's remarks and said, "The government has already said it is not on the same page with Hedge. Only five days are left now in the session. I hope Opposition will come on board now."

However, the issue was more than enough for Opposition parties to gherao Modi government inside the Parliament. Congress party said such a person should have no place in the council of ministers.

The opposition is clear that it wants nothing short of Hegde's resignation. The leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad lashed out at the government and the Bharatiya Janata Party and said if any person lacked faith in the Indian Constitution, he did not deserve to be in the House or in the government.

"The Minister has no trust in the Constitution and has no right to be the Minister. He has no right to be a Member of Parliament either," Azad said.

"Hegde should either apologise or Prime Minister Narendra Modi should take a call on whether such a person should continue as minister," Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters outside Parliament.

Protests forced the Lok Sabha to adjourn for nearly an hour. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, usually in the Lok Sabha on Wednesdays for questions related to the PM's office, was not present as he was attending new Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur's oath ceremony in Himachal Pradesh.

Hegde had on Monday criticised the word "secular" and said the BJP government would "amend the Constitution" to remove the word from the Preamble.

The Karnataka BJP too has distanced itself from Mr. Hegde's comments. "The party (BJP) doesn't want to get involved with what Hegde has said. What he spoke about is not an issue for us," BJP spokesperson for Karnataka, Vamanacharya, was quoted as telling news agency IANS.

OneIndia News
Inside story of how Indian Army launched the strike across Line of Control

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The incident across the Line of Control was reminiscent of the surgical strikes that India carried out. The Indian Army launched a strike across the LoC and killed three Pakistani soldiers. This was in retaliation to an attack by Pakistan in which four Indian soldiers were killed.

The soldiers of the Indian Army equipped with Improvised Explosive Devices, light machine guns and assault rifles moved 500 metres into the LoC before launching the strike.

While one team planted the IEDs, another launched an attack with the assault rifles and light machine guns. The operation lasted around 45 minutes in which 3. Pakistani soldiers were killed. The operation involved 'selective targeting' and no Indian soldier was injured in the attack.

The Army has been given a free hand to launch such strikes in case of an attack by Pakistan. A recent Union Home Ministry report speaks about the enhancement of security along the border in the wake of increased ceasefire violations by Pakistan.

The scale of the ceasefire violations has shot up. In 2017 alone there were 770 odd such violations when compared to the 228 in 2016. Border security would be crucial for India in 2018.

The year 2017 has seen a host of such violations apart from the skirmish at Doklam. As per an assessment is done, there is bound to be a spurt in infiltrations and ceasefire violations during 2018.

With the Army's "Operation Clean Up," being a major success there are hardly any foot soldiers and commanders left on the ground. This has prompted Pakistan to up the ante, the analysis also said.

OneIndia News
Intel busts D-Gangs plot to assassinate Chhota Rajan

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

A plot to kill Chhota Rajan inside the Tihar jail has been busted. It was found that a top gangster from New Delhi, Neeraj Bawana was tasked with the job of killing Rajan inside the Tihar jail.

Investigations revealed that Bawana was tasked with the job by Dawood Ibrahim. The plot was busted after one of Bawana's aides boasted about the same with another associate.

Following the input provided, Bawana has been shifted to an isolated cell in Tihar. The authorities in Tihar say that Rajan enjoys foolproof security. All measures have been taken to ensure that there is no let up in security, the officials also said.

Rajan was lodged in the Tihar jail in Delhi despite a majority of his cases being lodged in Maharashtra. This step was taken owing to the high security that is present in the Tihar jail.

The agencies got wind of the plot when one of Bawana's aides came out of jail and spoke about the plot with one of his associates.

OneIndia News
Prosecutions story may be attractive but should be backed by evidence

32,000 girls converted to Islam and sold as ISIS slaves: This is The Kerala Story

ISIS makes another call to carry attacks in Kashmir Valley

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The Kashmir unit of the Islamic State has released a video asking its fighters to carry out terror strikes in the Valley. The 14-minute video in Urdu calls on Muslims in the Valley to pledge their allegiance to the ISIS.

The fighter in the video, Abu al Bara al-Kashmiri is seated in front of a flag bearing the words 'Kashmir Province.'

SITE Intelligence Group reported that in the video al Bara is heard calling on fighters and Muslims in the Valley to establish a Caliphate. In the video, there are men shown marching with the flag of the ISIS.

Recently a pro-ISIS group had said, "we invite soldiers of Ansaar Gazwat-ul-Hind and their Ameer Zakir Musa to join the caravan of the Caliphate respond to the call of time... don't listen to the blames of the blamers."

OneIndia News
From using Bhagwad Gita to local rowdies, Christian missionaries are on overdrive mode in Karnataka

Petition in HC by 108 Bajrang Dal activists says Jamia Masjid in Karnataka erected on Hanuman Temple

Karnataka bandh today: Northern part of state to be affected

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

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Mahadayi Water row : Farmers call for 'dawn-to-dusk bandh' , Watch video | Oneindia News

A north Karnataka bandh is being observed today over the Mahadayi water issue. The farmers who have called for the bandh have expressed their dissatisfaction over the resolution to the water row.

The dawn-to-dusk bandh, called by 'Mahadayi Kalasa Banduri Nala Horata Samanvaya Samiti', an umbrella organisation spearheading the agitation on the issue, is being supported by several pro-Kannada and other organisations, including the Kannada film industry.

Terming the bandh as a "warning bell" to the state and central governments, the samiti leaders today demanded a solution at the earliest, even as they hit out at political parties for playing politics on the issue.

The bandh is likely to have an impact in Gadag, Dharwad, Bagalkote, Hubballi, Bailahongala and neighbouring areas.

A protest rally was scheduled to be held in Hubballi tomorrow as part of the agitation, the leaders said. State Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy said elaborate security arrangements had been made to avoid any untoward incidents.

Karnataka has locked horns with neighbouring Goa on sharing Mahadayi River water, is seeking release of 7.56 tmcft water for the Kalasa-Banduri Nala project.

It is being undertaken to improve drinking water supply to the twin cities of Hubballi-Dharwad and districts of Belagavi and Gadag.

The project involves building barrages across Kalasa and Banduri, tributaries of Mahadayi river, to divert 7.56 tmc ft water of to Malaprabha which meets drinking water needs of the region.

The Karnataka government had earlier petitioned the Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal which in its interim order had rejected the state's plea citing various grounds, including ecological damage the project may cause.

Meanwhile, protest by a group of farmers including women from north Karnataka districts continued near the BJP state office here demanding that party state chief B S Yeddyurappa resolve the issue as promised by him last month.

Yeddyurappa had promised to get a written agreement by December 15 for resolving the issue. Congress working president Dinesh Gundu Rao and Water Resources Minister M B Patil today informed the protesters that the ball was in the court of BJP governments' in Goa and at the Centre. Yeddyurappa, who met the protesters on the fourth day of their agitation, tried to convince them to end it citing efforts made by him, and pointed out at Goa Chief Minister Manohar Pattikar's letter to him.

Parrikar in his letter to Yeddyurappa on December 21, after mediation from BJP national President Amit Shah, had said in principle, Goa would not oppose the "reasonable" and "justified" quantum of water meant to be utilised for drinking.

He had also pointed out that the matter was pending before the Mahadayi tribunal.

Not convinced by this, the protesters accused Yeddyurappa of not keeping up his promise, and called him "betrayer".

They said they will soon be meeting to decide about continuing their protest near the BJP office.

Speaking to reporters, Yeddyurappa accused Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Congress of "playing politics" on the issue.

Pointing at Congress in Goa opposing their Chief Minister's stand on amicably solving the issue, he said Siddaramaiah, Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi were indirectly supporting this.

Goa had earlier expressed its opposition to the out of court settlement of the dispute, and had not responded positively for the proposed meeting of chief ministers of riparian states including Maharashtra. Goa's willingness to consider an amicable settlement to the issue now comes after Shah mediated a meeting between Parikkar and a BJP team from Karnataka in Delhi last week.

OneIndia News
By PTI: Islamabad, Dec 27 (PTI) Pakistans powerful army, which is planning to shift its General Headquarters (GHQ) from Rawalpindi to Islamabad, will soon get over 1,000 acres of land in the capital city, according to a media report today.

The plan to shift the GHQ was shelved in 2008-09, at the instructions of then army chief Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, due to financial constraints.

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The army now wants possession of the land at the earliest so construction work can be started and the army headquarters can be moved to the federal capital, Dawn reported.

A decision in this regard was taken at a high-level meeting on December 19, chaired by Khushal Khan, Member Estate of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and attended by the concerned CDA and the army officials of Defence Complex Islamabad (DCI).

The CDA provides municipal services in Islamabad capital territory.

"Almost all the issues between the CDA and the army were resolved during the meeting and the civic agency will soon be issuing allotment letter of the land," Khan was quoted as saying in the report.

During the meeting, issues related to the office complex, to be constructed on 138 acres, were discussed and it was decided that the CDA would waive off Rs 88 million ground rent as the civic body failed to hand over the possession of the land to the army, CDA officials were quoted as saying in the report.

A decision regarding 293 acres of land in D-11 was also taken and the CDA will now be issuing an allotment letter for this land in a week as possession of the land has already been handed over to the army, they said.

The CDA has allotted 870 acres of land in Zone III of the capital to the north of E-10 and D-11 to the DCI for the construction of an office complex for the GHQ, Joint Staff Head Quarters, Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the DCI.

"The area of the office complex has now been reduced to 694.56 acres and an allotment letter for this land will be issued once the army pays off delayed charges amounting to about Rs 225 million," officials said.

In 2009, six terrorists wearing Army uniforms launched a brazen assault on the General Headquarters, sparking an hour- long battle. Pakistani troops repelled the assault; six soldiers and four terrorists were killed during the fighting.

Pakistans powerful military has ruled the country for much of its life since it gained independence 70 years ago. PTI SMJ SMJ

--- ENDS ---
Pakistan passes Bill to give right of appeal to Kulbhushan Jadhav

Pakistan gives Kulbhushan Jadhav right to appeal against death sentence

Parliament condemns Pak treatment of Jadhavs, Sushma Swaraj to make statement today

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday informed the Parliament that she will make a statement on Thursday in Parliament on the treatment of Kulbhushan Jadhav's wife and mother in Pakistan.

Parliament on Wednesday witnessed protests across all party lines condemning the way Pakistan humiliated the family of jailed Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav in Islamabad.

"We condemn the way KulbhushanJadhav's mother and wife were treated in Pakistan. Kulbhushan Jadhav should be brought back to the country," said Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge in the Lok Sabha.

Various political parties, including the Shiv Sena, Trinamool Congress, and AIADMK, strongly protested how Pakistan treated the wife and mother of Kulbhushan Jadhav, a former navy officer sentenced to death in Pakistan.

Swaraj, who was present in the House, said a statement on the issue would be made tomorrow.

Shiv Sena's Arvind Sawant also raised the issue and said India should not keep silent in the matter. Describing Pakistan as "hypocritical", Trinamool Congress leader Saugata Roy said the incident should be criticised and demanded that Swaraj should speak on the issue.

On Tuesday, a day after the Jadhav's family met him in Islamabad, New Delhi ripped apart Islamabad's PR stunt by giving the details of the 30-minute meeting.

Pakistan government authorities under the pretext of security measures made Kulbhushan Jadhav's wife to remove mangal sutra, bangles and bindi before she met him at the foreign ministry building in Islamabad, MEA Spokesperson told media persons.

To add to their agony, it has now come to light that the media of the neighbouring country has referred to the Indian prisoner's mother as "qatil ki maa" (murderer's mother).

The family faced questions hurled at them like - "Aapke patidev ne hazaron begunah Pakistaniyo ke khoon se Holi kheli ispar kya kahengi? (your husband killed thousands of innocent Pakistanis, what do you have to say about that?)'" and "Aapke kya jazbaat hain apne kaatil bete se milne ke baad? (How do you feel after meeting your killer son?)".

Jadhav was arrested in March last year and sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying, an allegation India has rubbished.

OneIndia News (with agency inputs)
PM Modi takes a Coffee break in Shimla, remembers old days

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was in Shimla for the swearing-in ceremony of the new state government took a brief break at the Indian Coffee House - a place he often used to spend time at during party-related work years ago.

As he was on his way to the airstrip, Modi relished coffee at the Indian Coffee House and reminisced old days.

Remembering old days, Modi said the coffee tastes as good as it did 20 years ago. "In Shimla, relished coffee at the Indian Coffee House and reminisced old days. The coffee tastes as good as it did two decades ago, when I would frequent Himachal for party work," Modi tweeted.

Modi spent more than 10 minutes outside the Coffee House and enjoyed a cup of coffee where hundreds of BJP workers and others were assembled. He often used to spend time at the Indian Coffee House when he was in the hill state for party-related work.

Modi, who was the BJP's in-charge of Himachal Pradesh from 1994 and 2002, added in a lighter vein that he never paid for the coffee he had. His journalist friends used to foot the bill. "Sitting at the Indian Coffee House along with my journalist friends, I used to get an insight into the state's political developments," Modi had said at a rally.

Some locals who managed to get close enough were even seen clicking selfies with PM Modi - and his cup of coffee - in the frame.

The Prime Minister was here along with his cabinet colleagues and BJP President Amit Shah to attend the oath-taking ceremony of Jai Ram Thakur as the Chief Minister and his 11 cabinet colleagues.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Wednesday, December 27, 2017, 18:49 [IST]
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Jai Ram Thakur takes oath as Himachal CM along with 10 Cabinet Ministers

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

BJP leader Jai Ram Thakur took oath as Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh in a swearing-in ceremony held at the historic Ridge Maidan in Shimla on Wednesday. The oath of office and secrecy was delivered by Governor Acharya Dev Vrat.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP president Amit Shah, former deputy prime minister L K Advani and several Union ministers and chief ministers attended the swearing ceremony. Chief ministers of BJP-rules states are likely to grace the occasion.

Mahendra Singh, Suresh Bhardwaj, Anil Sharma, Sarveen Choudhary, Ram Lal Markand, Vipin Singh Parmar, Virender Kanwar, Vikram Singh, Govind Singh and Rajiv Sahjal to take oath as cabinet ministers along with CM elect Jairam Thakur.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at swearing-in ceremony of Himachal CM elect #JairamThakur and others, in Shimla pic.twitter.com/cW7Eo8I72i  ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2017

This is for the fourth time that the swearing-in ceremony is taking place outside Raj Bhawan at the Ridge. Dr. Y S Parmar was administered the oath at the Ridge in the presence of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi after Himachal attained statehood on January 25, 1971.

#JairamThakur set to take oath as the Chief Minister of #HimachalPradesh, today, says "people have shown faith in us, will try to meet their expectations" pic.twitter.com/OdOqThvXK0  ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2017

The BJP won 44, while the Congress won 21 seats in the elections to 68-member Himachal Pradesh Assembly, the results of which were declared on December 18.

Who is Jai Ram Thakur?

Thakur, a five-time MLA from Seraj in Mandi district enjoys a strong backing of the RSS and a section of BJP MLAs in Himachal. The 52-year-old leader was previously part of Dhumal's cabinet and also worked as the president of the BJP state unit.

Thakur is perceived to be a non-controversial pick due to this low-profile. Appointment of Thakur will mark a generational shift in the state politics which saw the successive administrations of Congress' Virbhadra Singh and BJP's Dhumal.

It was during Jai Ram's term as BJP state president in 2007 that the BJP had won seven out of 10 seats from the Congress-dominated Mandi district. Jai Ram Thakur is considered close to JP Nadda and hence enjoys the support of top BJP leadership.

Party has performed strongly in the Mandi belt by winning 9 out of 10 seats in the region. But Jai Ram Thakur lacks a pan-Himachal appeal and may not be a popular choice among the newly elected MLAs.

Mother- Bikramu Devi

Brother- Three (Name Not Known)

Sister- Two (Name Not Known)

(With agency inputs)
Only women to walk with Rahul Gandhi in Bharat Jodo Yatra on Indira Gandhi Jayanti

Thanks for reminding, PM never means what he say: Rahul twists Jaitley statement

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday took a dig at the government's statement in Rajya Sabha that Narendra Modi has never questioned Manmohan Singh's integrity, saying thanks for reminding India that the prime minister "never means what he says or says what he means".

Gandhi's dig came hours after the Leader of the House Arun Jaitley made a short statement in Rajya Sabha to end the impasse over Modi's remarks against his predecessor made during the Gujarat polls campaign.

Dear Mr Jaitlie - thank you for reminding India that our PM never means what he says or says what he means. #BJPLies pic.twitter.com/I7n1f07GaX  Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) December 27, 2017

"Dear Mr Jaitlie (sic) -- thank you for reminding India that our PM never means what he says or says what he means," Gandhi tweeted, using a hashtag "BJPLies".

The Congress president also attached with his tweet a video of the prime minister's speech at a poll rally in which he made the "conspiracy with Pakistan" remarks against Singh, along with Jaitley's statement made in the House.

The Narendra Modi government on Wednesday extended an olive branch to the Congress, with finance minister Arun Jaitley praising former prime minister Manmohan Singh's "commitment to the nation" on the floor of the House.

"Any such perception is completely erroneous. We hold these leaders in high esteem, as also their commitment to this nation," Jaitley said.

The statement, made in the Rajya Sabha, was an attempt to facilitate the smooth functioning of Parliament's winter session, which has been disrupted repeatedly over comments made by Prime Minister Modi ahead of the Gujarat elections earlier this month.

OneIndia News (with PTI inputs)
Explained: What the SC said and how is Talaq-e-Hasan different from triple talaq

For triple talaq victims, judicial verdict in favor but social verdict still against them!

UP: Muslim woman agrees to Nikah Halal, instead gets gangraped by ex-husband, his brother

'Triple talaq Bill unacceptable if against Quran', say Muslim women groups

India

oi-PTI

Lucknow, December 27: Some Muslim women's organisations on Wednesday said that the proposed Triple talaq Bill would not be acceptable if it is not in consonance with the Quran or the Constitution.

"Nikaah (marriage) is a contract. Whosoever breaks it should be punished. However, if it (Bill) is not in the light of Quran and the Constitution, no Muslim woman will accept it," All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board (AIMWPLB) chairperson Shaista Amber told PTI.

"I had sent a letter to the Law Commission requesting it to show the draft bill to the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), AIMWPLB, Jamait Islami, Jamiat Ulma-e-Hind and organisations working for women who were given talaq. I got a reply that if needed, it will be discussed but that did not happen," she added.

Holding the AIMPLB responsible for the present state of affairs, Amber said the board never bothered to take triple talaq seriously, and now it was too late.

Muslim Women League's president Naish Hasan said that in the Family Court Act there is always a chance to save a family but the proposed bill does not give such a chance.

"Third party has also been given the right to complain in the bill. That is not fair," she said. Hasan added that the bill should be stalled for now and discussions should be held as a law in haste will complicate matters.

We will protest if the bill is passed without any discussion, she said.

Demanding withdrawal of the bill, the AIMPLB had earlier said the proposed legislation was against the provisions of the Constitution and violated the rights of women.

Describing it a "conspiracy", the AIMPLB at its meeting here on Sunday had accused the government of snatching the right of divorce from men.

AIMPLB chairman Maulana Rabe Hasani Nadwi will request Prime Minister Narendra Modi to withhold or withdraw the proposed bill that criminalises the practice of instant divorce, an official spokesperson of the Muslim body said.

In August, the Supreme Court by a majority of 3:2 ruled that the practice of divorce through triple talaq among Muslims is "void", "illegal" and "unconstitutional".

The government then drafted the 'Muslim Women Protection of Rights on Marriage Bill' according to which giving instant divorce will be illegal and void and will attract a jail term of three years for the husband.

The bill seeks to criminalise the practice of instant divorce by repeated the word talaq thrice.

PTI
In UP 166 criminals killed in encounters in past five years: Yogi

UP govt withdraws 22-yr-old case against Yogi Adityanath

India

pti-PTI

The Uttar Pradesh government has ordered the withdrawal of a 22-year-old case against Yogi Adityanath under a new law passed by the state assembly last week, which provides amnesty to politicians from what the chief minister has called old, "non-serious" cases against them.

Apart from Adityanath, who holds the home portfolio, Union Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla, BJP MLA Sheetal Pandey and ten others were respondents in the case.

The case was filed at Gorakhpur's Pipiganj police station on May 27, 1995.

The Adityanath government's order to withdraw the case against the chief minister was issued last week, just a day before the Uttar Pradesh Criminal Law (Composition of Offences and Abatement of Trials) (Amendment) Bill, 2017 was tabled in the state Assembly.

Before the bill was tabled, Adityanath told the House that 20,000 "politically-motivated" cases were filed across the state over protest demonstrations.

The amendment would bring to an end all these cases pending before magistrates till December 31, 2015, he said.

Gorakhpur Additional District Magistrate, City, Rajneesh Chandra told PTI that the order for filing an application seeking withdrawal of the case from the court has already been received. The prosecutor has been instructed to file the application before the court concerned, he said.

Gorakhpur is Adityanath's home turf, and he represented the Lok Sabha constituency five terms before being appointed the chief minister earlier this year.

The case was pending in a Gorakhpur court which had earlier directed that non-bailable warrants (NBWs) be issued against the accused for non-appearance.

In May this year, shortly after Adityanath took over the reins of the state, his government had told the Allahabad High Court that he cannot be prosecuted in another case for allegedly making a hate speech that was said to have triggered communal riots in Gorakhpur in 2007.

The government refused to grant the mandatory sanction for his prosecution.

Adityanath, who was then the local MP, made the alleged hate speech following the killing of a Hindu youth in a clash between two groups during a Moharram procession. He was arrested and spent 10 days in jail before being enlarged on bail.

The sanction was needed to file a charge sheet against him under IPC section 153-A on the charge of promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion and caste. The offence is punishable with imprisonment of up to five years.

PTI
UP polls: Law against triple talaq saved families of thousands of Muslim women from breaking-up: PM

UP: Woman accuses husband for giving her triple talaq over dowry

Explained: What the SC said and how is Talaq-e-Hasan different from triple talaq

For triple talaq victims, judicial verdict in favor but social verdict still against them!

Uttar Pradesh: Man gives Triple Talaq to wife for waking up late

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

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As the Narendra Modi government prepares to bring a bill which seeks to criminalise the practice of instant triple talaq, a woman in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday woke up to find her husband uttering the three dreaded words.

Gul Afshan, a resident of Azimnagar in Rampur district, said that her husband Qasim thrashed her and divorced her by uttering talaq thrice because she woke up late in the morning.

"He said, 'talaq, talaq, talaq,' just because I woke up late," Gul told.

The wife alleged that later, Qasim escaped from the house after locking her up inside. The police had to break in. Narrating her six-month-old abusive marriage, she said that he used to beat her from the very beginning.

Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad's plans to introduce the contentious Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, which seeks to criminalise the practice of triple talaq, in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.

While the Supreme Court and Centre have called for the scrapping of the triple talaq, terming it "illegal and unconstitutional", some Muslim women are still facing the brunt of this age-old practice.

OneIndia News with agency inputs)

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Story first published: Thursday, December 28, 2017, 1:21 [IST]
Blacklisting Mahmood blocked by China: The man who raised funds under garb of religion in India

What the killing of 3 ft tall Jaish terrorist Tantray means to security forces

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The killing of Noor Mohammad Tantray, the 3 feet tall terrorist of the Jaish-e-Mohammad was a significant development. The 47-year-old terrorist who has directed the recent attacks carried out by the Jaish in Jammu and Kashmir is now top on the wanted list of the security forces.

Noor was a resident of Tral in Pulwama district and he had recently taken over the command of the outfit following the death of Khalid in an encounter. Tantray ironically was sentenced to life imprisonment by a POTA court. He was arrested in Delhi in the year 2003.

Called "merchant of death" by a special court in Delhi, Tantray was believed to be the brains behind several terror strikes, including the attack on the BSF camp outside the Srinagar airport on October 3 and on state minister Naeem Akhtar's cavalcade in Tral on September 21 this year.

The end came during the intervening night of December 25 and 26 at Samboora in Pulwama district of South Kashmir, not far from his home in Tral.

The killing of the 47-year-old JeM divisional commander, who was out on parole, is a "significant blow" to the terror group's operations in the Valley, officials said.

"We had missed him only by few minutes in the past and I was sure he would run out of luck soon as his height was his biggest disadvantage. With each passing day, the search narrowed," a senior police official, involved in the operations, said on condition of anonymity.

Armed, dangerous meet this 3 ft tall Jaish-e-Mohammad commander in Kashmir

Tantray's limp also made it difficult for him to disappear into a crowd and police officials were sure they would be able to isolate him.

After escaping from the Aripal encounter -- in which three JeM militants were killed -- at Tral in April this year, Tantray had been on the radar of the Special Unit of the Jammu and Kashmir Police.

Their efforts to track him down finally bore fruit on Christmas night when he was trapped in a house and could not escape. His two other accomplices, believed to be foreign militants, managed to flee, an official said.

Tantray, who spent eight years in Tihar jail, had intensified his activities since his release on parole in 2015.

A close aide of Jaish commander Ghazi Baba, who masterminded the 2001 attack on Parliament, Tantray was arrested from Delhi's Sadar Bazar on August 31, 2003.

He was arrested along with four others and charged with conspiracy to carry out terror attacks in various parts of the national capital.

The five terrorists were arrested following an encounter in which two terrorists were killed. Besides arms and ammunition, police also recovered a sum of Rs 19.20 lakh from Tantray.

Then special POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act) judge RK Gauba words proved prophetic when Tantray emerged as the most wanted militant in the Kashmir Valley after his release from jail, an official said.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2011 in the case and shifted to Srinagar's Central Jail in 2015 before being released on parole. His parole was extended by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court same year.

While sentencing him along with others under the stringent anti-terror law in 2011, the judge had said the challenge posed by terrorism had to be met "head-on by a multi-prolonged strategy".

"India's war against terrorism is to be waged not only by security measures but also by all organs of the state, including the judiciary which must share the responsibility of dealing with such elements with an iron hand," he said.

Terming the five "merchants of death", the court had said the "foot soldiers of forces inimical to India and bent upon sabotaging the peace and tranquillity here, besides posing a serious threat to its unity, sovereignty and integrity, have to be neutralised".

The "merchants of death" had to be locked away for the rest of their lives "...in order that they are suitably de- fanged and blunted so as to be of no further use to the enemy", the judge had said in his seven-page order.

Tantray's terror graph validated the judge's words, said an official.

Tantray is believed to have provided logistical support to JeM militants who stormed the Police Lines in Pulwama in August this year. Eight security personnel and three militants were killed in that attack.

He was allegedly involved in the JeM attack on the BSF camp, outside the Srinagar International Airport, on October 3, in which one BSF officer and three militants were killed.

Tantray was also found to be involved in the grenade attack on State PWD Minister Naeem Akhtar's cavalcade in Tral on September 21.

OneIndia News
With the number of anonymous rogues from Pak rising, here's how BSF is beating down the drones

Why did Pakistan confiscate Jadhav's wife's shoes?

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

A day after India raised an objection to the manner Pakistan arranged the meeting of Kulbhushan Jadhav's with his kin, Pakistan has claimed that the Jadhav's wife's shoes were confiscated on security grounds as there was "something" in it.

Dawn has quoted Pakistan's Foreign Office Spokesman Dr Muhammad Faisal saying, "There was something in the shoe (of Jadhav's wife)," The shoe is being investigated, he added.

Pakistan's Foreign Office, in a statement, said, "We do not wish to indulge in a meaningless battle of words. Our openness and transparency belies these allegations" and "categorically rejected India's baseless allegations and twists."

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday stated that "For some inexplicable reason, despite her repeated requests, the shoes of the wife of Jadhav were not returned to her after the meeting. We would caution against any mischievous intent in this regard."

MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar, said, "The manner in which the meeting was conducted and its aftermath was clearly an attempt to bolster a false and unsubstantiated narrative of Jadhav's alleged activities. You would all agree that this exercise lacked any credibility."

According to MEA, Kulbhushan Jadhav was under considerable stress and speaking in an atmosphere of coercion. "Most of his remarks were clearly tutored and designed to perpetuate a false narrative of his alleged activities in Pakistan.His appearance also raises questions about his health," said Raveesh Kumar. "The MEA alleged that under the pretext of security precautions, cultural and religious sensibilities of family members were disregarded," he added.

A day after meeting Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is on a death row in Pakistan, his mother and wife met with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today. Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar were present at the residence of External Affairs Minister. Jadhav's family returned to India on Tuesday morning. Jadhav has been in the Pakistani jail since April 2016 over allegations of being an Indian spy.

OneIndia News
Is BJP govt going to remove the word secular from Constitution? Union min suggests so

Why is BJP not punishing Hegde for suggesting removal of word secular from Constitution?

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia

New Delhi, Dec 27: Remember, how quickly the Congress showed veteran leader Mani Shankar Aiyar the exit door for calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a "neech aadmi" (man of low birth and upbringing) just a few days before the Gujarat Assembly elections?

The Congress might have lost the all-important polls for Aiyar's derogatory remark against the PM, but the grand old party took a moral high ground by suspending one of its oldest 'lieutenants' for insulting Modi.

Unfortunately, PM Modi, who made the "neech" remark against him a Gujarat poll issue, decides to keep quiet after one of his senior cabinet ministers, Anant Kumar Hegde, at a public meeting recently claimed that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is planning to remove the word "secular" from the Constitution.

What is worse is that the BJP did not issue any official clarification in this regard that the party has no such intentions as suggested by Hegde to end the political row which is causing a lot of distress, especially to the minority communities, which under the Modi regime have come under constant attacks and bullying by members of various right-wing groups.

Instead, the BJP decides to take a safe route in the entire controversial matter. On Tuesday, the saffron party conveniently tried to distance itself from the controversy by stating lamely that it's not an "issue" for the BJP.

"The party (BJP) doesn't want to get involved with what Hegde has said. What he spoke about is not an issue for us," BJP spokesperson for Karnataka Vamanacharya told IANS.

On Sunday, while slamming those who claim themselves to be secular in the country, Hegde, known for his communally-laced remarks in the past, at a function in Kukanur town in Koppal district of Karnataka stated that he respects the Constitution but "it will be changed in the days to come". "We are here for that and that is why we have come."

Stoking a fresh controversy over the country's pluralistic nature, the minister for skill development and entrepreneurship said that those who consider themselves secular and intellectuals do not have "their own identity" and they were also unaware of their parentage.

"Those who, without knowing about their parental blood, call themselves secular, they don't have their own identity...They don't know about their parentage, but they are intellectuals," the 49-year-old BJP minister said at the event organised by the Brahman Yuva Parishad.

Hegde added a new tradition was in vogue, where people project themselves as secular, but asserted he would feel "happy" if someone claims with pride that he is a Muslim, or a Christian, or a Lingayat, or a Brahmin, or a Hindu.

"I feel happy because he (the person) knows about his blood, but I don't know what to call those who claim themselves secular," the minister for skill development and entrepreneurship said.

Hegde, a five-time Lok Sabha member from Uttara Kannada, is no stranger to controversies. On several occasions, he attacked Muslims and those who support them with his vitriolic comments. In fact, experts say Hegde's success in politics is because of his hate speeches against minority communities.

The Congress on Tuesday said that Hegde's remarks were a "direct assault" on the composite identity of the nation and the party will oppose any such attempt with all its might.

Congress spokesperson Gaurav Gogoi said the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) were "unmasked" by Hegde's remarks and alleged that "abusing the oath of office and denigrating the Constitution and its values has become a distinctive feature of the Modi government".

Gogoi asked if the PM would break his silence on Hegde's remarks as the minister had openly spoken about changing the Constitution.

An ugly war of words has already started in the country over Hegde's remarks as the BJP decides to remain mum on the matter to suit its political game plans.

A former Karnataka panchayat member on Tuesday offered Rs 1 crore to anyone who would chop off Hegde's tongue for his "secular" remarks.

"Opposing his (Hegde's) remarks I am announcing a bounty of Rs 1 crore for chopping his tongue and bringing it (over) in one month," PTI quoted former Kalaburagi Zilla panchayat member Gurushant Pattedar as saying. Pattedar said Hegde's comment hurt the Dalits, Muslims and OBCs.

Popular south Indian actor Prakash Raj, who of late has been attacking the Modi government for allegedly practising "divisive" politics, slammed Hegde for inciting "hatred" with his comments. Raj said that secularism was about "respecting and accepting diverse religions".

The national award-winning actor, in an open letter to Hegde, wrote that "being secular does not mean that you don't identify with any religion or belief". Terming Hegde's statement as "cheap comments", Raj wondered how could he stoop "so low" by commenting on one's parenthood.

The irony is that Hegde made the unparliamentary comments just months ahead of the Karnataka Assembly elections, slated next year. The BJP's silence over the matter is a clear indication that the party is going to raise the matter during Karnataka elections which it is trying to win allegedly by polarising people on the basis of religion.

OneIndia News
By PTI: (EDS: Adds details)

Jammu, Dec 27 (PTI) Pakistani troops today fired indiscriminately from across the Line of Control at forward posts in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, prompting retaliation by the Indian Army, a defence spokesman said.

The exchange of fire between the two sides in Noushera sector continued for nearly four hours but there was no immediate report of any casualty.

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?Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics and mortars from 0815 hours. Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively,? the spokesman said.

He said the firing stopped from both sides at 1200 hours.

The latest ceasefire violation by Pakistan comes five days after Pakistani troops opened fire from across the border, leaving four Army personnel dead and another soldier injured in Keri sector of Rajouri on December 23.

Indian troops also killed three Pakistani troops and injured another in retaliatory action at Rukh Chakri sector in Rawlakot on December 25.

On December 24, Pakistani troops had targeted forward posts and villages in Shahpur sector of Poonch district.

Jammu and Kashmir witnessed a total of 881 ceasefire violations this year, highest in the past seven years, along the LoC and the International Border, resulting in the death of 34 people.

According to officials, Pakistan violated the ceasefire along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir 771 times till December 10, and 110 times along the IB till November-end.

In these incidents of firing from across the border, 30 people -- 14 Army personnel, 12 civilians and four BSF personnel -- were killed.

The truce between India and Pakistan along the International Border, the Line of Control and the Actual Ground Position Line in Jammu and Kashmir came into force in November 2003.

India shares a 3,323-km-long border with Pakistan of which 221 km of the IB and 740 km of the LoC fall in Jammu and Kashmir. PTI TAS DV

--- ENDS ---
Will Yogi govt not distribute sweaters to poor students in schools, this winter?

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia

Lucknow, Dec 27: It has been a struggle for Savitri Devi to send her son, Prakash Kumar, to school every day, this winter. Prakash (12), who is a class six student in a government school in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, has no sweater and he finds it excruciatingly difficult to reach his school in this cold weather conditions without any woolens to keep him warm.

Savitri, a widow, who works as a domestic help, can't afford to buy woolen garments for her only child. If Savitri's poverty is stopping her from buying her son a sweater, the Yogi Adityanath government has no such accuse, as it has the requisite budget to buy woolens for students studying in government-run schools in the state.

In UP, every year, students of government schools get sweaters free of cost from the administration. However, this year, the Yogi government is showing no haste to distribute sweaters to students till now, even after more than a month since winter has set in in the northern state.

On Tuesday, the opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in UP over the delay in distribution of sweaters to children in government schools despite funds being allocated in the state budget.

"The government is repeatedly cancelling the tender pertaining to sweaters and the school children are waiting for them. It should not happen that children languish in false hope and the tender process gets completed by May-June," SP president and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav tweeted.

 -                     .                      - -  .  Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) December 26, 2017

The ruling party, however, rebutted his comments and said that the sweaters will be distributed at the earliest and the state government was making every step in this direction.

"Why is Akhilesh Yadav so worried now? We have distributed the socks and shoes. If he had shown the same concern for the children earlier, then sweaters would have been distributed earlier.

"We had to see the colours, price and a host of other specifications (of sweaters)," basic education minister Anupama Jaisawal told PTI.

The minister also said that she has pledged not to wear a sweater until they are distributed to children.

"If the Opposition was so much concerned for the welfare of the children and the state, then the scene would have been completely different in the past 15 years," she said.

As the Opposition and the ruling BJP fight over distribution of sweaters to students, it is the poor children who are having really difficult times attending schools as the minimum temperature in the state dipped to 8 degree Celsius on Wednesday.

OneIndia News
"Willing to sacrifice anything but no compromise on Mahadayi," says Goa minister Vinod Palyekar

India

oi-Anusha

By Anusha Ravi

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Mahadayi Water row: Goa minister Vinod Palyekar makes his govt's stand clear | Oneindia News

Water politics is taking centre stage in Karnataka ahead of the assembly elections. Even as the Congress and the BJP in Karnataka fight it out over the Mahadayi issue as people of North Karnataka continue to protest, OneIndia News caught up with Goa's water resources minister Vinod Palyekar. The Mahadayi water sharing issue concerns three states of Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra. Manohar Parrikar's letter to Yeddyurappa assuring water for drinking purposes to the people of North Karnataka has drawn him criticism from other parties and within. This is what Parrikar's minister from his ally party- Goa Forward Party- had to say about the issue.

Can you please make Goa forward party's as well as Manohar Parrikar government's stand on the Mahadayi issue clear?

Our stand on Mahadayi is clear. Mahadayi is our mother and it is our duty not to compromise on the matter. Our state is dependent on the river which is our only source of water. She is our lifeline and losing her will lead to many problems. For this reason alone, our stand is very clear that there will be no compromise on the issue.

Your party has said it will forego the ministry if water is diverted to Karnataka, will you also withdraw support from the government?

Mahadayi is our mother and we are willing to sacrifice anything for her. This ministry is nothing and I am willing to hand it over anytime. We will not compromise on the issue of Mahadayi.

By agreeing to release water for drinking purposes, are you not helping the BJP play politics over Mahadayi in Karnataka?

My stand is very clear. We are not bringing in politics here. What matters to us are the people of Goa and not which political party gains or loses anything over Mahadayi. We do not indulge in such political games. It doesn't matter to us who gains or loses, what matters to us are the sentiments of the Goan people.

Are political parties hoodwinking people of Goa and Karnataka over Mahadayi?

Our party- Goa Forward Party- is interested in the welfare of the people of Goa. We are willing to forgo anything for the people and their sentiments are what matters to us. We are not playing politics with it. We, in the interest of the people, have decided that compromise on the matter is not an option but let me clarify that there is no politics being played around it.

Vinod Palyekar, however, refused to answer questions pertaining to why Manohar Parrikar chose to write to Karnataka BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa instead of his counterpart Siddaramaiah. The Goa water resources minister also chose not to respond on whether Amit Shah's intervention was required in the interstate affair. There has also been no response to Karnataka water resource minister M B Patil's request to sort the issue in one single sitting.

OneIndia News
With the number of anonymous rogues from Pak rising, here's how BSF is beating down the drones

Camera or Chip? Pakistan sends shoes of Jadhavs wife for forensic test

International

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

Pakistan claims to have detected a "metallic substance" in the shoes worn by the wife of Kulbhushan Jadhav during their December 25 meeting and sent the footwear for forensic examination, Pakistani media reported on Wednesday.

The authorities were ascertaining whether the "metallic object" in the shoes was a camera or a recording chip, Pakistan Today quoted Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Mohammad Faisal as saying.

A separate report in Dawn reported that the FO confirmed a "metallic substance" had been detected in Jadhav's wife's shoes that were retained by security officials prior to the meetingwith the Indian death row prisoner at the Foreign Office in Islamabad.

Jadhav's wife's shoes were kept for inspection, while all other belongings, including jewellery, were returned, Faisal said, adding that she was given an alternative pair of shoes to wear after her shoes were removed.

In a statement issued Tuesday night, the FO made no mention of the "metallic substance" and had said that there was "something" in the shoes.

In the statement, Pakistan rejected as "baseless" India's contentions that Jadhav's wife and mother were harassed and claimed that his wife's shoes were confiscated on security grounds as there was "something" in it.

"There was something in the shoe. It is being investigated. We gave her a pair of replacement shoes. All her jewellery etc were returned after the meeting," Faisal said.

India's external affairs ministry said in a statement Tuesday that Pakistan went so far as to have the mangal sutra, bangles and bindi of Jadhav's mother and wife removed before they could meet him.

India also accused Pakistan of disregarding cultural and religious sensibilities of family members under the pretext of security.

"This included removal of mangal sutra, bangles and bindi, as well as a change in attire that was not warranted by security," it said.

The FO said Pakistan does not wish to indulge in a "meaningless battle of words" and categorically rejects India's baseless "allegations and twists" about attitude of authorities during Jadhav's meeting with his wife and mother.

"The Indian baseless allegations and twists, that come 24 hrs later, about the visit of the wife and mother of Commander Jadhav, a convicted terrorist and spy, who has confessed to his crimes, are categorically rejected," the statement said.

If Indian concerns were serious, the guests or the Indian DHC (deputy high commissioner) should have raised them during the visit with the media which was readily available, but at a safe distance as requested by India, it said.

"We do not wish to indulge in a meaningless battle of words. Our openness and transparency belie these allegations," it said.

During the December 25 meeting, whose pictures were released by Pakistan, Jadhav was seen sitting behind a glass screen while his mother and wife sat on the other side. They spoke through intercom and the entire 40-minute proceedings appeared to have been recorded on video.

Jadhav, who was captured in March last year, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying, an accusation that India has dismissed as concocted.

OneIndia News (with PTI inputs)

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Story first published: Wednesday, December 27, 2017, 19:48 [IST]
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Pakistani security personnel apparently found "something" suspicious within the shoe of Kulbuhshan Jadhav's wife Chetankul before her meeting with her husband.

Kulbhushan Jadhav met with his wife and mother at the Pakistan Foreign Office on Monday (Photo: Twitter/Pakistan Foreign Office

By Hamza Ameer: "There was something in the shoe." That is how the Pakistan Foreign Office reacted to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs' revelation that Chetankul Jadhav, wife of Kulbhushan Jadhav, had her shoes confiscated when she went to Islamabad to meet her husband.

The shoes were confiscated on security grounds, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Dr Muhammad Faisal told DawnNews. While Faisal did not reveal what was the "something" that was discovered in Chetankul's shoe, sources within the Foreign Office told India Today that the footwear contained some kind of metal object.

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Pakistani officials have admitted not to returning Jadhav's wife's shoes after she met the jailed Indian national on Monday. The Foreign Office also said the shoe is being examined to determine the nature of what was apparently inside.

This follows, the MEA hitting out hard at Pakistan yesterday for creating an "intimidating" atmosphere during the visit of Kulbhushan's wife and mother, Avanti, to Islamabad earlier this week.

"We note with regret that the Pakistani side conducted the meeting in a manner which violated the letter and spirit of our understandings," the MEA had said in a statement. The family members were asked to remove mangalsutra, bangles, bindi and shoes; they were also asked to change their clothes.

The MEA also said Jadhav's mother was not allowed to communicate in Marathi, her mother tongue Moreover she was repeatedly interrupted while doing so and eventually prevented from proceeding further in this regard.

Soon after the MEA statement was released, it was revealed that Avanti and Chentankul were heckled by Pakistani media persons outside the Foreign Office building in Islamabad after their 40-minute meeting with Kulbhushan.

Late last night, the Foreign Office released a statement, rejecting most of India's charges. "The Indian baseless allegations and twists, that come 24 hours later, about the visit of the wife and mother of Commander Jadhav, a convicted terrorist and spy, who has confessed to his crimes, are categorically rejected," the statement said.

"We do not wish to indulge in a meaningless battle of words. Our openness and transparency belies these allegations."

WATCH | Aap ek qatil ki maa ho: Listen to Pakistan's media humiliating Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother

--- ENDS ---
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From Counterpunch

Every year I do a list of 10 good things about the year. This year, I was about to skip it. Let's face it: It has been a particularly horrible year for anyone with a progressive agenda. When I recently asked a prominent activist how she was doing, she took my hands, looked me in the eyes and said, "Everything I've been working on for 50 years has gone down the toilet."

With so many good people feeling depressed, let's point to the positive things that happened, even in this really, really bad year.

1. #MeToo movement has empowered victims of sexual harassment and assault, and encouraged accountability. Those two small words defined a social media-based movement in which women, and some men, have come forward to publicly share their stories of sexual assault and harassment, and expose their abusers. The movement -- and fallout -- spread globally, with the hashtag trending in at least 85 countries. The bravery and solidarity of these victims of sexual abuse will help build a future in which impunity for sexual predators is no longer the norm.

2. The year has seen an explosion of grassroots organizing, protest, and activism. An active and uncompromising spirit of revolt has blossomed in the face of a frightening political climate during Donald Trump's presidency. On January 21, two million people took to the streets in Women's Marches across the world as a show of solidarity against Trump's vile and misogynistic rhetoric. On January 29, thousands gathered in airports around the country to protest Trump's xenophobic and unconstitutional Muslim ban. In April, 200,000 people joined the People's Climate March to stand up to the administration's reckless stance on climate. In July, disability rights activists staged countless actions on Capitol Hill in response to the GOP's cruel and life-threatening healthcare bill. In November and December, "Dreamers" protected by Obama's provision called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) stormed the Hill to demand a replacement for that program, which Trump ended in September. New groups like Indivisible have helped millions of Americans confront their members of Congress, roughly 24,000 people joined the Democratic Socialists of America, and organizations like the ACLU and Planned Parenthood have seen massive surges in donations.

3. We're already seeing rebukes of Trump at the ballot box. A wave of Democratic electoral victories swept some unlikely regions of the country, showing popular rejection of Donald Trump and his party. Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie, who ran a shameless race-baiting campaign, lost by a wide margin to Democrat Ralph Northam in Virginia. In New Jersey, Phil Murphy handily defeated Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno, making that state the seventh in the nation with Democratic control over legislative and executive branches. In Alabama's special election to fill Jeff Sessions' vacant Senate seat, Democrat Doug Jones took the lead over alleged sexual predator Roy Moore -- an astonishing win in a deep red state, propelled largely by Black voters. Danica Roem in Virginia, who ran against a virulently anti-LGBTQ opponent, became the first openly transgender person elected as a US legislator. Her win ended 26 years of Republican rule in that district. And in Virginia's 50th district, self-described democratic socialist Lee Carter defeated powerful Republican delegate Jackson Miller.

4. The first group of J20 protesters, people arrested in Washington DC on the day of Trump's inauguration, were found not guilty. It was a scary year for the 194 protesters, journalists and medics facing multiple felony charges, including rioting and property destruction, that could have resulted in prison terms of up to 60 years. The state's attempt to collectively punish almost 200 people for property destruction committed by a handful is an outrageous example of judicial overreach in an era in which First Amendment rights are under siege. On December 21, however, the jury returned 42 separate not-guilty verdicts for the first six defendants to stand trial. Their acquittal on all charges hopefully portends more non-guilty verdicts for the remaining 188 defendants and gives a boost to our basic rights of free speech and assembly.

5. Chelsea Manning was released from prison after seven years. Army Pvt. Manning was first detained in 2010 and ultimately convicted of violating the Espionage Act after she leaked troves of documents exposing abuses by the US military, including a video of American helicopters firing on unarmed civilians in Baghdad, Iraq. She was sentenced to 35 years in prison. She developed post-traumatic stress disorder in prison and was repeatedly denied medical treatment for her gender dysphoria. The Army finally granted her the treatment after she went on a hunger strike. On January 17, 2017, President Obama commuted Manning's sentence, and she was released in May. We owe Chelsea Manning a debt of gratitude for her tenacious commitment to exposing the crimes of U.S. empire.

6. Cities and states have committed to positive climate initiatives, despite federal regression. Twenty states and 110 cities signed "America's Pledge," a commitment to stick to Obama-era climate goals even after Trump's disastrous decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accords. In December, a group of 36 cities signed the "Chicago Charter," an agreement to reduce greenhouse emissions and monitor each other's progress. These pacts demonstrate popular sentiment and political will, at the local, city and state level, to fight the corporate oligarchs who perpetuate climate chaos.

7. Trump's presidency has deepened the critical national conversation about racism and white supremacy. The Black Lives Matter movement, which started under Obama's administration, exposed this nation's systemic racism. The victory of Donald Trump emboldened white supremacists, as evidenced in the violent Charlottesville neo-Nazi rally in August. But the year has also seen a wave of opposition to racism, Islamophobia and anti-semitism that includes the toppling of confederate flags and statues, confronting hate speech, demanding the removal of white supremacists Steve Bannon, Sebastian Gorka and Stephen Miller from the White House (two of the three are gone), and building strong interfaith alliances locally and nationally.

8. This was the year the world said no to nuclear weapons. While Donald Trump taunted North Korea's Kim Jung Un ("Little Rocket Man") and threatened to tear up the Iran nuclear deal, on July 7, 122 of the world's nations showed their rejection of nuclear weapons by adopting an historic Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty. The treaty, opposed by all nine nuclear states, is now open for signatures and the ban will come into effect 90 days after being ratified by 50 states. The organization that promoted this ban is The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), an alliance of 450 nongovernmental organizations in about 100 countries. It was thrilling to learn that ICAN was awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. The treaty and the Peace Prize are indications that despite the intransigence of the nuclear-armed states, the global community is determined to ban nuclear weapons.

9. ISIS no longer has a caliphate. For peace activists, it's hard to put forth military actions as victories, especially when these actions incur a large civilian toll. This is indeed the case with ISIS, where at least 9,000 civilians were killed in the battle to retake the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. But we do have to acknowledge that taking away ISIS' territorial base has put a stop to some of the group's horrific human rights abuses. It will also hopefully make it easier to find a settlement to the dreadful wars that have been raging in Syria and Iraq, and give our government one less excuse for dumping so much of our resources into the military.

10. The global community stood up to Trump's stance on Jerusalem. In a stinging rebuke of President Donald Trump's controversial decision to declare Jerusalem the capital of Israel, 128 countries, including some of the US's most trusted and reliable allies, voted in favor of a United Nations resolution calling for a reversal of his position. Despite the threat from US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley that the US would be "taking names" of those who voted against it, only nine countries voted with the US and 25 abstained. The resolution isn't binding, but it's a stark illustration of just how isolated the United States is in its stance toward Israel.

As we head into the new year, let's keep ourselves inspired by the hard work of folks at home and abroad who gave us something to cheer about for 2017. May we have a much longer list in 2018.
From Smirking Chimp



At least the war on the Middle Class is going well.

(Image by faul) Details DMCA



With the Republicans having just passed a $1.5 trillion tax cut, the bulk of which goes to the richest one percent, it was inevitable that the generational warriors would come out of the woodwork and resume the attack on Social Security and Medicare. Generational warriors try to divert attention away from how our economy has redistributed income upwards over the last four decades, and convince a large portion of today's workers that their real problems stem from their parents' and grandparents' overly generous retirement benefits.

The opening shot in this new round of generational warfare showed up earlier this month in The Atlantic Magazine. It told the classic story about how seniors are getting too much money back from Social Security and Medicare, the same thing we've been seeing for decades. (There is little expectation of originality if you're in the business of promoting generational warfare.)

In fact, middle-income seniors will get somewhat less back from Social Security than they paid into the system. The cost of Medicare benefits does exceed their taxes, but this is because Americans pay twice as much for our doctors, drugs, medical equipment and other health care items than people in other wealthy countries.

The real problem is high-income people in the health care sector making too much money, not the country being too generous to its seniors. But, the folks promoting generational warfare aren't interested in clamping down on the rich doctors and drug companies; they want us to go after retired school teachers and retail clerks.

Even if Social Security and Medicare were more generous, it would still say almost nothing about generational equity. While the generational warriors would like to have everyone focus on the cost of programs that primarily serve the elderly, paying for these programs has a trivial impact on the well-being of the working population. Policies that affect the distribution of income within generations are vastly more important.

To make this point as simple as possible, suppose that we had a huge increase in payroll taxes to cover projected shortfalls in Social Security and Medicare. Imagine a combined increase of 4.0 percentage points, which would be more than sufficient to leave both programs fully funded throughout their 75-year planning horizon.

This would undoubtedly be a big hit to working people who have to pay this tax. But, let's compare this to the upward redistribution of income over the last four decades. This has primarily been an upward redistribution within the wage distribution, from ordinary workers to CEOs, Wall Street trader-types, and highly paid professionals like doctors and dentists. In the last decade there has also been a substantial redistribution from wages to profits.

The result of this upward redistribution has carved a large gap between productivity growth and wage growth. The hourly pay of a typical worker has risen by roughly 6.0 percent from 1979 to 2017. Even if we take a broader measure of compensation that includes health care and other benefits, the increase would be less than 20 percent.

By comparison, productivity has risen by more than 60 percent, even after making adjustments for technical factors like differences in deflators and net versus gross measures of output. This means that the upward redistribution over this period has reduced wage growth by more than 40 percentage points. In short, our children are 40 percent poorer than they would otherwise be because of the money going to people like Bill Gates and Steve Zuckerberg rather than ordinary workers.

So by very conservative estimates, a typical person in their twenties or thirties has seen their income reduced by more than 40 percent because of all the money redistributed to those at the top. However, the generational warriors want young people to be upset about the possibility that a bit more than one-tenth of this amount could be used to pay for their parents' and their own Social Security and Medicare. (This upward redistribution is also responsible for about half of the projected shortfall in Social Security, as more income going to profits and high-income workers escapes the Social Security tax.)

It is also important to understand that government action was at the center of this upward redistribution. Without government-granted patent monopolies for Windows and other Microsoft software, Bill Gates would probably still be working for a living.

We spent over $450 billion on prescription drugs in 2017. Without government-granted patent monopolies we would probably have spent less than $80 billion. The difference of $370 billion is equal to an increase of a 5.0 percentage point increase in the Social Security payroll tax. But the generational warriors don't want anyone talking about how much money our children to pay drug companies with government-granted patent monopolies.

In fact, the generational warriors have directly cost our children more than 10 percent of their paychecks with their harebrained fiscal policies. They insisted on a smaller stimulus and austerity following the collapse of the housing bubble in 2007 to 2009. This slowed the recovery, reducing both employment and investment, leaving the economy permanently poorer.

But no, we're not supposed to talk about any of the items that will hurt the living standards of our children and grandchildren. The generational warriors insist that our children's problem is their parents' Social Security and Medicare. Their argument doesn't make much sense, but you can get lots of money for saying it, and you can count on getting your stale recycled arguments printed in the nation's leading publications.
War is a crime. The International Criminal Court has just announced that it will finally treat it as a crime, sort-of, kind-of. But how can war's status as a crime effectively deter the world's leading war-maker from threatening and launching more wars, large and small? How can laws against war actually be put to use? How can the ICC's announcement be made into something more than a pretense?

The Kellogg-Briand Pact made war a crime in 1928, and various atrocities became criminal charges at Nuremberg and Tokyo because they were constituent parts of that larger crime. The United Nations Charter maintained war as a crime, but limited it to "aggressive" war, and gave immunity to any wars launched with U.N. approval.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) could try the United States for attacking a country if (1) that country brought a case, and (2) the United States agreed to the process, and (3) the United States chose not to block any judgment by using its veto power at the U.N. Security Council. Desirable future reforms obviously include urging all U.N. members to accept the compulsory jurisdiction of the ICJ, and eliminating the veto. But what can be done now?

The International Criminal Court (ICC) can try individuals for various "war crimes," but has thus far tried only Africans, though for some time now it has claimed to be "investigating" U.S. crimes in Afghanistan. Although the U.S. is not a member of the ICC, Afghanistan is. Desirable future reforms obviously include urging all nations, including the United States, to join the ICC. But what can be done now?

The ICC has finally announced that it will prosecute individuals (such as the U.S. president and secretary of "defense") for the crime of "aggression," which is to say: war. But such wars must be launched after July 17, 2018. And those who can be prosecuted for war will be only citizens of those nations that have both joined the ICC and ratified the amendment adding jurisdiction over "aggression." Desirable future reforms obviously include urging all nations, including the United States, to ratify the amendment on "aggression." But what can be done now?

The only way around these restrictions, is for the U.N. Security Council to refer a case to the ICC. If that happens, then the ICC can prosecute anyone in the world for the crime of war.

This means that for the force of law to have any chance of deterring the U.S. government from threatening and launching wars, we need to persuade one or more of the fifteen nations on the U.N. Security Council to make clear that they will raise the matter for a vote. Five of those fifteen have veto power, and one of those five is the United States.

So, we also need nations of the world to proclaim that when the Security Council fails to refer the case, they will bring the matter before the U.N. General Assembly though a "Uniting for Peace" procedure in emergency session to override the veto. This is what was just done in December 2017 to overwhelmingly pass a resolution that the U.S. had vetoed, a resolution condemning the U.S. naming Jerusalem the capital of Israel.

Not only do we need to jump through each of these hoops (a commitment to a Security Council vote, and a commitment to override the veto in the General Assembly) but we need to make evident beforehand that we will be certain or likely to do so.

Therefore, World Beyond War is launching a global petition to the national governments of the world asking for their public commitment to refer any war launched by any nation to the ICC with or without the Security Council. Click here to add your name.

After all, it is not only U.S. wars that should be prosecuted as crimes, but all wars. And, in fact, it may prove necessary to prosecute junior partners of the United States in its "coalition" wars prior to prosecuting the ring leader. The problem is not one of lack of evidence, of course, but of political will. The U.K., France, Canada, Australia, or some other co-conspirator may be brought by global and internal pressure (and the ability to circumvent the U.N. Security Council) to submit to the rule of law prior to the United States doing so.

A key detail is this: how much organized murder and violent destruction constitutes a war? Is a drone strike a war? Is base expansion and a few home raids a war? How many bombs make a war? The answer should be any use of military force. But in the end, this question will be answered by public pressure. If we can inform people of it and persuade the nations of the world to refer it to trial, then it will be a war, and therefore a crime.

Here's my New Year's resolution: I vow to support the rule of law, that might may no longer make right.
By PTI: end stalemate

(Eds: Recasts throughout, changes headline)

New Delhi, Dec 27 (PTI) The government said in Parliament today that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has never questioned Manmohan Singhs integrity and commitment to the nation, ending a deadlock that had paralysed the house for nearly two weeks.

On its part, the Congress party said it does not approve of any remarks made against the prime minister, apparently in a reference to the "neech" remark made by its MP, Mani Shankar Aiyar.

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The proceedings of both Houses of Parliament were repeatedly disrupted over the past two weeks over remarks by Modi during the Gujarat assembly election campaign. He had criticised his predecessor Singh for attending a "secret" dinner with senior Pakistan officials at Aiyars residence.

The Congress said Modis remarks implied that Singh and other public figures who attended the dinner were conspiring with Pakistan, and demanded an apology from the prime minister.

In Rajya Sabha, Leader of the House Arun Jaitley said Modi in his statements and speeches,"did not question nor did he mean to question the commitment to this nation either by Dr Manmohan Singh, the former Prime Minister, or Hamid Ansari, the former vice president."

"Any such perception is completely erroneous. We hold these leaders in high esteem, as also their commitment to this nation," Jaitley said.

Earlier, the Upper House was adjourned in the morning due to protests over Union minister Ananthkumar Hegdes remarks on secularism and changing the Constitution.

Jaitley said many statements had been made on all sides during the Gujarat elections, and added that the government "does not want the stalemate as a result of this to continue".

Responding to his statement, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said: "I want to thank the Leader of the House that he issued a clarification on the issue which was causing the deadlock."

"If during the elections, any member of our party gave such a statement that was against the stature of the prime minister, then our party dissociates itself from any such statement and we would not want any word to be said against the stature of the prime minister," Azad said.

The Congress had suspended Aiyar from its primary membership and slapped a show cause notice on him for calling Modi a "neech kisam ka aadmi" or a lowly type of person.

After the two statements, Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu thanked all members of the House for their cooperation in resolving the stalemate. However, Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal stood up to object, charging that the fate of the proceedings in the House could not be decided based on statements by only two people.

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To this, Naidu said, "We discussed it in the morning in the business advisory committee. Every member of the House is important. Let us not sidetrack the issue". PTI RSN ARC PYK VJ

--- ENDS ---
Not 20 minutes had passed following President Trump's outrageous "Capital offense" declaration recognizing all of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel when shouts were heard in parts of Lebanon of an arriving apocalypse. Some self-flagellations were observed in certain Shia quarters, predications of end of times spread as well as many calls for a Third Intifada to "liberate Jerusalem."

Ninety out of a hundred US Senators approved of Trump's statement. None voted against and the ten who abstained are well known hardened Trump detractors. The vote reflects the continuing strong pro- Israel sentiment among both fundamentalist and liberal Americans. On 12/15/2017, Trump administration officials also declared that Jerusalem's Western Wall is part of Israel, a declaration that will doubtless enflame more passions among Palestinians and others in the Middle East and globally.

As is well-known by now, every Arab country and more than 100 others have strongly condemned Trumps decision to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem despite weak sounding White House pledges to increase its support for the Palestinian cause. Mild protests from the EU, UK and many US allies also quickly followed. Egypt's UNSC draft resolution affirmed that any decisions on the status of Jerusalem were "null and void and must be rescinded", and urged all states to "refrain from the establishment of diplomatic missions in the holy city" would have passed with 14 yea votes but for the American veto. A similar indictment of the Embassy move did pass the UN General Assembly under the Uniting for Peace resolution on 12/21/2017 with 128 states in favor, 35 abstaining and nine voting against.

It's quite likely that every 5th year Palestinian youngster in Lebanon's 12 camps knows that the United Nations partition plan drawn up in 1947 planed that Jerusalem would be a separate "international city." But the 1948 war that followed Israel's declaration of independence cut the city in two and as part of an Armistice, drawing with green ink on a map, the Green Line creating East and West Jerusalem. Israel controlled the western half, and Jordan controlled of the eastern half, including the Old City. In 1967 Israel took over all of Jerusalem and declared it to be its eternal undivided capital. And that's the cause of today's problem because it is claimed as the capital of Palestine.

Trump's moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem, which hopefully will not survive the next Presidential election, has created much politically calculated hand wringing in Lebanon and this region and the manipulation of the struggle to make Jerusalem the capital of Palestine. Palestinian leaders are adamant that an embassy move to Jerusalem is a violation of international law, and a huge setback to the "peace process".

The first claim is accurate, certainly it's an egregious violation of international law which the UN must work to block with Security Council resolutions urging all countries to refrain from moving embassies to Jerusalem. With respect to the 'peace process' there is no such thing today and arguably there has never been a serious one.

For the past quarter century, American presidents, both Democrats and Republicans get secure more Jewish and Fundamentalist Christians, have declared Jerusalem to be Israel's capital and promised to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv.

In 1992, Bill Clinton declared, "Jerusalem is still the capital of Israel and must remain an undivided city accessible to all."

In 2000, entrenched in a tight race with Albert Gore, Clintons Vice President, George W. Bush promised: "As soon as I take my office I will begin the process of moving the United States Ambassador to the city Israel has chosen as its capital, Jerusalem."

During his 2008 election campaign, Barack Obama made an even stronger commitment to the Israeli position on Jerusalem than his predecessors declaring his support for Jerusalem being the capital of Israel, emphasizing that "Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and must remain undivided."

Since Trumps announcement, plenty of anti-Palestinian politicians seeking to cash in politically, including Lebanese President, Michel Aoun who is only in that post because Iran installed him by instructing Hezbollah to break its deadlock of Parliament, are wringing their hands and seeking political advantages from Trumps provocative action.

Aoun, is widely known for his anti-Palestinian views and actions and is thought to care less about Jerusalem being the Palestinians capital, rather he just wants every Palestinian out of Lebanon, the sooner the better. And so do the Palestinians--they want to return to their homes in Palestine. One anti-Palestinian tactic Aoun regularly uses in many of his speeches is to insist that "Lebanon needs to be freed from the 600,000 Palestinians in our country who seek naturalization." Sometimes he uses the figure 500,000. Truth told, fewer than 175.000 Palestinians remain in Lebanon today and Aoun knows this. A just released census of Palestinians in Lebanon, the first counting every taken, confirms this. Tens of thousands have emigrated because by law, Lebanon bars them from the elementary civil rights to work or to own a home. Of those who remain very few would accept naturalization. The noted above first ever official census of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon was released on 12.21.2017, and it established that 174,422 Palestinian refugees are living in the country, much lower than anti-Palestinian politicians have been telling their followers that past few decades. The head count of Palestinians in Lebanon, called the Comprehensive Census of Population and Housing in Palestinian Camps and Gatherings in Lebanon, is a project of the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee at the Grand Serail. More than 500 professional population surveyors crisscrossed Lebanon over the past two years to obtain an accurate count.

Also, being heard are renewed promises by the Hezbollah led "Resistance" that it will withdraw its forces fighting in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and elsewhere and make Palestine its top priority, promising that if it is necessary Iran/Hezbollah will import Shia militia from across the region to help "liberate Al Quds." Shortly after Trumps declaration, Hezbollah's Hassan Nasrallah announced that his fighters would return from abroad and focus its fighting on behalf of Palestinians, since Hezbollah's fighters had already defeated its enemies in several other regional battles against Syrian "terrorists".

Addressing a 12/11/2017 rally in South Beirut via a video feed, Nasrallah declared "Jerusalem, Palestine and the Palestinian people will return to be the priorities" for Hezbollah, adding that the group would " dedicate all its time to Palestinian resistance."

Nasrallah's promise that the "Resistance" will dedicate all its time to Palestinians comes as good news to the Beirut-Washington DC based Palestine Civil Rights Campaign (PCRC) volunteers who have been pressing Hezbollah over the seven years in Syria to arrange 90 minutes of Parliaments time to grant the elementary civil right to work and to own a home for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Sixty of the minutes would be required to enact the right to work for Palestinians without Kafkaesque restrictions that prevent them from working and thirty minutes to repeal the 2001 racist law that criminalized home ownership for Palestinians in Lebanon.

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women's march 2017

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Reprinted from popularresistance.org

The year 2017 has been another active year for people fighting on a wide range of fronts. The Trump administration has brought many issues that have existed for years out into the open where they are more difficult to deny -- racism, colonialism, imperialism, capitalism and patriarchy and the crises they create. More people are activated and greater connections between the fronts of struggle are creating a movement of movements. These are positive developments, bright spots in difficult times. They are the seeds of transformative change that we can nurture and grow if we act with intention.

The crises we face have been building for decades. They are reaching a point of extremism that will create an even greater response by people. What that response is, where it goes and what it accomplishes are up to all of us to determine.

The overreach by the plutocrats in power may bring a boomerang effect, energizing the population to take action and demand the changes we desire and need. We may reach a moment, a turning point, when the movements for economic, racial and environmental justice, as well as peace, can win significant changes, beyond the comfort zones of those in power. The boomerang will only occur if we educate and organize for it, and its size will also depend on us.

We have no illusions that this work will be easy. Those in power will do all that they can to derail, misdirect and suppress our efforts. Our tasks are to resist their tactics and maintain our focus on our end goals. This requires understanding how social movements succeed and being clear in our demands for transformative change.

We see several key areas where people are energized to work for changes that are opportunities to expand the current movement of movements into a powerful force that will overcome the stranglehold by the corporate duopoly parties. This is the first of two articles to help prepare us for the work ahead. In the second article, we will describe these key issues in greater depth and what we need to do to create the transformative moment we need.





The Long Development of this Transformative Era

The era of transformation has been developing over many decades. If we view it through presidential administrations, a frame of reference used commonly in the United States, we see that both major parties represent the interests of the wealthy and corporations, not the majority of the population, and that they effectively divide and weaken popular movements.

After Bill Clinton's administration loosened regulations on finance, setting the stage for the 2008 crash, brought in trade agreements like NAFTA and weakened the social safety net, and George W. Bush's administration expanded military aggression around the world and the domestic security state, as well as further enriching the wealthy, people were hungry for change. Barack Obama effectively built his 'hope and change' campaign around this desire, vaguely but eloquently promising what people wanted. His words allowed people to imagine that a transformation was coming.

Obama raised expectations, but he did not fulfill them. His cabinet was made up of Wall Streeters from Citigroup. He continued and expanded foreign wars, the wealth divide grew and tens of millions went without healthcare even after his private insurance-based Affordable Care Act became law. The frustration that had been building during the Clinton-Bush years burst onto the scene with Occupy, Fight for $15, Black Lives Matter, debt resistance, immigration reform, Idle No More and other fronts of struggle.

After Occupy, the media told us the people's struggle went away, but, as we show in the daily movement news reporting on Popular Resistance, all of those struggles expanded. The corporate media's failure to cover the national mass protest movement does not change reality -- the resistance movements continue, are growing and are impacting popular opinion and policies.





Where We Are and What We Must Do

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From Alternet

Federal agents would press children traveling alone to disclose their parents' locations.

The Trump administration is contemplating resurrecting one of the most heinous practices of the 20th century under the guise of stopping illegal immigration from Central America, according to the Washington Post.

In a report by Nick Miroff, the Department of Homeland Security is evaluating separating detained children from their parents as one of several anti-immigration measures in response to an increase in migrants crossing the Mexican border.

"These measures, described on condition of anonymity because they have not been publicly disclosed, would also crack down on migrants living in the United States illegally who send for their children," Miroff wrote. "That aspect of the effort would use data collected by the Department of Health and Human Services to target parents for deportation after they attempt to regain custody of their children from government shelters."

Separating children from their parents was a notorious tactic used by Nazi Germany in its mass arrests of Jews and other targeted populations during World War II. In North America, the U.S. and Canadian governments also separated Native American children from their families a century ago.

Using children as informants to target and subsequently arrest parents was a devious tactic employed during the darkest moments of WWII.

The Trump administration justified this approach as a tough but necessary deterrent for illegal immigration, Miroff noted, citing an increase in November arrests as a pretext for considering these actions.

"In November, U.S. agents took into custody 7,018 families, or 'family units,' along the border with Mexico, a 45 percent increase over the previous month, the latest DHS statistics show," the Post said. "The number of Unaccompanied Alien Children, or UAC, was up 26 percent... Overall, the number of migrants detained last month along the Mexico border, 39,006, was the highest monthly total since Trump became president, according to DHS figures."

"The most contentious proposal -- to separate families in detention -- would keep adults in federal custody while sending their children to HHS shelters," Miroff wrote, then noting that DHS children shelters are currently near capacity. That implies privatized detention centers could be drawn on.

The idea of separating children from their parents was raised in March "by then-Secretary of Homeland Security John F. Kelly, now the White House Chief of Staff. He told CNN at the time that the children would be 'well cared for as we deal with their parents,'" the Post said. "Kelly did not move forward with the plan, in part because of the backlash it triggered, administration officials said, and also because illegal migration had plunged to historic lows."

But since then, right-wing anti-immigration activists have pressed the administration to revive the option.

The Post quoted Andrew R. Arthur, a Center for Immigration Studies fellow, who said, "The parents that would undertake this perilous journey to the United States would be less likely to do it if they knew they would be separated from their kids."

Arthur called it "a reasonable step."

The Post noted that "migrants under age 18 who arrived without a parent must be turned over to HHS within 72 hours of being taken into DHS custody. The shelters where they are housed are designed to be more like boarding schools than grim detention centers."
From Ramzy Baroud Website

2017 will be remembered as the year that the so-called "peace process," at least in its American formulation, has ended. And with its demise, a political framework that has served as the foundation for US foreign policy in the Middle East has also collapsed.

The Palestinian leadership and its Arab and international allies will now embark on a new year with the difficult task of drumming up a whole new political formula that does not include the United States.

The Palestinian Authority entered 2017 with the slight hope that the US was in the process of moving away, however slightly, from its hardline pro-Israel attitude. This hope was the result of a decision made by the Barack Obama Administration in December 2016 not to veto United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 that declared the status of illegal Jewish settlements in the Occupied Territories null and void.

But the new Donald Trump Administration suffocated all optimism as soon as it took over the White House, with a promise to relocate the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, thus recognizing, in defiance of international law, the Holy City as Israel's capital.

Mixed messages from President Trump made it unclear whether he would go through with his campaign and early presidency promises, or remain committed to traditional US foreign policy. The appointment of extremist politicians, the likes of David Friedman as US Ambassador to Israel was juxtaposed with constant references to an "ultimate deal" that would involve Palestinians, Israel and Arab countries.

The American "regional peace," however, amounted to nothing, and Trump eventually fulfilled his promise to Israel and its allies by signing the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995.

By doing so, he has ended his country's once-leading role in the US-espoused "peace process" which advocated a "two-state solution" based on a "land for peace formula."

European countries had anticipated the American retreat from peace-making efforts as early as January 2017, yet it still pushed for the Paris Peace Conference on January 15. The conference brought nearly 70 countries together but, without US support and amid Israel's rejection, it was merely a platform for rehashed language about peace, co-existence and so on.

Now that Trump has downgraded his country's role, European powers, especially France, are likely to attempt to salvage peace talks. Such a possibility, however, is likely to prove equally fruitless since the rightwing Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu made it clear that neither freezing illegal settlements, a shared Jerusalem nor a Palestinian state are on the Israeli agenda. Without the enforcement of international law, Israel will not willingly change its position.

In fact, 2017 has been a year of unbridled Jewish settlement expansion with thousands of new housing units having been built -- or are in the process of being completed -- while brand new settlements are also in the offing.

Israel's intransigence and the end of the US peace gambit has renewed interest in the Palestinian struggle, which has been cast aside for years due to regional conflicts and the Syria war. This has resulted in greater support for the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Modeled after the South African anti-Apartheid boycott movement, BDS calls for direct action by global civil society to end the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

However, the rise of BDS has also meant a strong Israeli-US push back to outlaw the Movement and to punish its supporters. Nearly two dozen US states have passed laws to criminalize BDS, while the US Congress is finalizing its own law that makes boycotting Israel an act punishable by a hefty fine and a prison term.

Challenging both the Israeli Occupation and the PA, Palestinians in the Occupied Territories continued with their Intifada, although one that lacked the mass mobilization of previous uprisings.

Hundreds of Palestinians were killed and wounded, including many children, in Israel's efforts to suffocate any protest against its military rule.

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(This is a reprint from NewsBred).



Tharoor and his selective truths

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Union minister of state Anantkumar Hegde's remarks that "BJP had come to power to change the Constitution" and that it would "do so in the near future" made Shashi Tharoor quote RSS ideologues and their supposed hostility to the Indian Constitution. Shekhar Gupta, on whose website the article appeared yesterday, tweeted that 'the cat is out of the bag." These two oily characters, both literally and figuratively, have long been damn annoying with their selective truths.

Tharoor threshes out quotes from the works of former RSS supremo M.S. Golwalkar and Deen Dayal Upadhyay to show their disapproval of Indian Constitution. The insinuation is that our holy grail, the Indian Constitution, is not safe under the present dispensation of BJP and its fountainhead, RSS.

Only if Tharoor could explain to us that why in their decade-long years in government (1998-2004 and 2014 onwards), BJP has made no amendment--NO AMENDMENT WHATSOEVER--on the religious statutes of the Constitution? Surely, if this is their hidden agenda, they would've made a move to change the status-quo.

If Tharoor could explain to us why a political party with the so-called "Hindutva" agenda is seen as a pro-Capitalist party, swearing by "development" and being no activist, unfortunately, on the issues of cultural heritage?

If we could be explained why all the BJP election manifestos since 1980 have asserted the right of legal equality regardless of religion?

If Tharoor could throw light on why the introduction of Uniform Civil Code would be such a bad thing to do?

Or why amendment in Article 30 is not desirable which allows minorities to set up schools, have religion-centric curriculum and get government funds to boot while denying the same to Hindu majority?

Or for that matter Article 25 which allows "propagation" of one's religion, knowing fully well that Hinduism doesn't have a tradition of proselytization while Islam and Christianity do. As Dr. Koenraad Elst says: "It's like giving wolves and sheep the equal liberty to eat each other." [i]

Or why Article 370 must not be amended which doesn't allow non-Kashmiri Indians from acquiring property and citizenship in J and K state? Why such a measure, conceived and executed with the understanding that it was only temporary, be allowed to continue to damage the fabric of one nation?

That why under Article 26 Hindus do not have the fundamental right to maintain institutions for religious or charitable purposes, as interpreted by the Supreme Court (Shri Adi Vishveshvara of the Kashi Vishvanath temple vs Uttar Pradesh case)? [ii] Why Christians and Muslims can manage their own place of worship but the Hindus' religious institutions have been taken-over by the state governments?

What about the discrimination against Hindus while Minorities Finance Corporation are functional in almost all the states of India ? Or the 1992 Minorities Commission Act in a nation which is avowedly secular? Or the Hindu Code Bill while personal laws of a minority can't be amended without their approval or initiative? Why religion-based personal laws which continue to flout the Article 44 of the Constitution which is for Uniform Civil Code?

(In passing, let me throw a Golwalkar quote to sober up Tharoor on his hysteria: "Let the Muslims evolve their own laws. I will be happy when they arrive at the conclusion that polygamy is not good for them, but I would not like to force my views on them," said Golwalkar. [iii] So much for RSS and BJP's "Hindutva" mission !).

Critics like Tharoor can only go back to Golwalkar and Deen Dayal Upadhyay who have been dead for nearly half a century. In the intervening period, the likes of Tharoor can't get hold of any stick to beat BJP and RSS with. This in itself is a proof of BJP's development "sabka saath, sabka vikaas" plank.

Tharoor won't tell that Golwalkar was a spiritual leader--who almost became a Shankaracharya--and was completely anti-political. Golwalkar never warmed up to Hindu Mahasabha's political goals. As for Deen Dayal Upadhyay, Tharoor would've done well to point out the merit of former's "Integral Humanism" which is BJP's core philosophy.

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From Paul Craig Roberts Website



Feminism

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Recently I read in CounterPunch two feminist rants against men. Not all men, just white heterosexual men. It is not always easy for a male of my generation to understand what feminists are saying, but I try. One seems to be saying that women live in a society that puts in power men who believe that violence against women is acceptable. Elevating her accusation to a fact, the writer says that women should not have to prove their case when they bring sexual harassment and assault charges, much less prove their "personal validity to even be making a case against a man."

Is the writer saying that any irate woman should have the right to impugn a man with an unchallenged charge? Do men and American society believe that violence against women is acceptable? I think not, unless the violence is committed by police. Americans seem to accept police violence against men, women, children, the handicapped, and the family dog.

The other writer says women have to sell themselves to live. She, despite a degree from a prestigeous university, went to work as a stripper, lap dancer, and apparently as a prostitute. She blames men for her poor decisions.

To be clear, I sympathize with anyone who finds themselves in the position that survival requires the sacrifice of their self-esteem. This happens to people everywhere all over the world. It is not an unique experience of women.

The woman who was a stripper writes that "what I learned in the strip club taught me more about the realities of being a woman in the 21st century than anything else has done." It was there, she writes, that she learned that her handicaps in life were her intelligence and sharp tongue, and "that while men dictated the terms of my existence, women were complicit in maintaining systemic inequality." Complicit women, she writes, sliced off parts of her soul just as did men.

What caught my attention was her reference to "being a woman in the 21st century." How different that is from being a woman in the pre-feminist era that I experienced. It was feminists who denounced men for putting women on a pedestal and worshiping them. The inculcated respect that men showed women, doffing their hats in their presence, standing when women entered the room, opening doors for them, helping to seat them at tables, never using a four-letter word in their presence, and never ever striking a woman, an action that would isolate a man and deprive him of male friends.

In my day, no one struck a woman. It was beyond the pale.

It was the feminists who said that putting women on a pedestal was the male's way of disempowering women. What ignorant nonsense. The most powerful members of my family were my grandmothers, mother, and aunts. Little decisions they left to the men. The big decisions they made.

Feminists said that women had to reject the pedestal and come down into the male world and prove their worth. It never occurred to feminists that women had more worth and more power on the pedestal. Feminists taught women to be promiscuous. Cosmopolitan magazine taught women to find fulfillment in orgasm with as many sexual partners as they can find. A number of years ago I wrote about young men telling me that they would like to get married, but every woman they knew had been in bed with all of their classmates. They said they would feel funny having their friends at their wedding who had sexual experience with their bride.

Corporations contributed to worsening the position of women that feminists initiated. In my day women were protected by families being in the same place. Any man who abused his wife would be confronted by his father and mother, his wife's father and mother, his and her grandparents, his brothers and sisters, his wife's brothers and sisters, his aunts and uncles, her aunts and uncles, and by the cousins of both.

What the corporations did was to bust up this protective environment by sending its employees to some distant location where the husband and wife were isolated from family. Kids grew up never knowing their grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, people they might see one or twice a year. Isolated from the normal support systems, families broke apart, and the divorce rate soared.

A society that lowers everything to survival and to profit destroys women and men. That is what feminists should be complaining about. But feminism has succumbed to Identity Politics and can only generate hatred of men who find women appealing. Judging by the growth of homosexuality, there is a reduction in the number of men who find women appealing. Consequently, feminism is complicit in the destruction both of the status of women and of Western society.
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By Murfster35

If you've ever planned a wedding, you know what a pain in the ass the guest list can be. There's always one friend or relative one of the parent families want to invite that the happy couple can't stand. And there sure as hell is at least one friend that the bride or groom want to invite that at least one of the parents would rather be dead than seen in public with. Now, imagine that scenario playing out with possible international diplomatic relations at stake.

Poor Prince Harry and Meghan. All they want to do is to get married. But when you're the grandson of the Queen of England, it's not like you can skip off to Vegas and tie the knot, the wedding will be longer than all seven episodes of the Harry Potter franchise combined, and will have almost as many characters. And therein lies the rub.

As the Brits are wont to say, "Donald Trump is a bloody git." Prince Harry certainly shares that view. His fiance, Meghan Markle tweeted various disparaging comments about Trump during the campaign, which was fine when she was just another American actress nobody had heard of, but is now a bit awkward. And it isn't doing Trump's filo dough thin skin any good having Britain's Parliament arguing all the time as to whether or not they should cancel the invitation for a state visit by Trump over his churlish behavior. But now there's another issue at stake.

One thing you can say about former President Barack Obama, he's a people person. Young Prince Harry bonded with both the President and First Lady Michelle Obama during their interactions at and attendance at the Invictus Games, Prince Harry sat down with the former President for an interview that will air shortly in England, and Barack and Michelle instantly tweeted their congratulations and best wishes when the couple publicly announced their engagement. The couple has made it clear that they want the Obama's to be guests at their wedding. And that has opened up a whole can of worms.

Since the wedding is not considered a "state affair," foreign heads of state will not be invited. Which, given the apparent antipathy to Trump of Harry and Meghan, leaves His Lowness out in the cold. And since it is not a state affair, the government will have only a "consultative role" in the planning. Prince Harry has made it clear that he and Meghan want the Obama's to attend, which, according to The UK Sun, is causing heartburn for Prime Minister Theresa May.

There are deep fears among senior Foreign Office and No10 officials that another perceived national snub will make it impossible for Theresa May to meaningfully engage with Trump.

"A senior government source said: 'Harry has made it clear he wants the Obamas at the wedding, so it's causing a lot of nervousness. "'Trump could react very badly if the Obamas get to a Royal wedding before he has had a chance to meet the Queen.'"

Is this a thing of beauty or what? Harry and Meghan don't want Trump at their wedding, surprise, surprise. He'd only want to kiss the Queen on the lips, make a toast and talk about his great electoral victory, and give the newlyweds a case of Trump vodka as a gift. They do badly want the Obama's to attend, but the British government is scared of the inevitable tweet storm from the Tiny Thumbs Diktator that will inevitably follow. And if Theresa May demands that the Obama's be left off the guest list, and Harry and Meghan dig their heels in, then you have an embarrassing PR nightmare of a royal pissing contest over the feelings of a childish poltroon like Trump.

And to think that the British government only used to have to worry about Der Gropinfuror starting a preemptive nuclear war with North Korea. Now they have to worry about what happens when the wedding invitations go out. I guess Trump has decided he's tired of just f*cking up one car funerals, and decided to expand his business into wedding planning. Poor Harry and Meghan.
The Gospel reading at the Mass in Christendom's largest church recounted the Biblical story of how Mary and Joseph had to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem to be registered for a census ordered by Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus.

By Reuters: Pope Francis strongly defended immigrants at his Christmas Eve Mass on Sunday, comparing them to Mary and Joseph finding no place to stay in Bethlehem and saying faith demands that foreigners be welcomed.

Francis, celebrating his fifth Christmas as leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, led a solemn Mass for about 10,000 people in St. Peter's Basilica while many others followed the service from the square outside.

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Security was stepped up, with participants checked as they approached St. Peter's Square even before going through metal detectors to enter the Basilica. The square had been cleared out hours earlier so security procedures could be put in place.

The Gospel reading at the Mass in Christendom's largest church recounted the Biblical story of how Mary and Joseph had to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem to be registered for a census ordered by Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus.

"So many other footsteps are hidden in the footsteps of Joseph and Mary. We see the tracks of entire families forced to set out in our own day. We see the tracks of millions of persons who do not choose to go away, but driven from their land, leave behind their dear ones," Francis said.

Even the shepherds who the Bible says were the first to see the child Jesus were "forced to live on the edges of society" and considered dirty, smelly foreigners, he said. "Everything about them generated mistrust. They were men and women to be kept at a distance, to be feared."

"NEW SOCIAL IMAGINATION"

Wearing white vestments in the flower-bedecked church, Francis called for a "new social imagination ... in which none have to feel that there is no room for them on this earth."

The 81-year-old pope, who was born of Italian immigrant stock in Argentina, has made defense of migrants a major plank of his papacy, often putting him at odds with politicians.

Austria's new chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, has aligned himself with central European neighbours like Hungary and the Czech Republic in opposing German-backed proposals to distribute asylum seekers around EU member states.

In elections in Germany in September, the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party made significant gains, with electors punishing Chancellor Angela Merkel for her open-door policy and pushing migration policy to the top of the agenda in talks to form a coalition government.

Italy's anti-immigrant Northern League, whose leader Matteo Salvini often gives fiery speeches against migrants, is expected to make gains in national elections next year. A law that would give citizenship to children born in Italy to migrant parents is stalled in parliament.

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In his homily, Francis said, "Our document of citizenship" comes from God, making respect of migrants an integral part of Christianity.

"This is the joy that we tonight are called to share, to celebrate and to proclaim. The joy with which God, in his infinite mercy, has embraced us pagans, sinners and foreigners, and demands that we do the same," Francis said.

Francis also condemned human traffickers who make money off desperate migrants as the "Herods of today" with blood on their hands, a reference to the Biblical story of the king who ordered the killing of all newborn male children near Bethlehem because he feared Jesus would one day displace him.

More than 14,000 people have died trying to make the perilous crossing of the Mediterranean to Europe in the past four years.

On Christmas Day, Francis will deliver his twice-yearly "Urbi et Orbi" (To the City and to the World) blessing and message from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica.

--- ENDS ---
Charles Law is the divorce and family law firm in Allentown

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United States 25-12-2017. The Charles Brothers are a certified divorce and family law firm with over 77 years of collective experience. They are always ready to handle your complex family issues and can provide you the best solution possible. Divorce and family disputes may occur anytime and people may suffer emotional and physical loss if the disputes become more critical. To resolve such matters in less time and headache, make sure you get assistance from lawyers in Allentown. The Charles Brothers are able to understand your situation and will be able to advise you on the next appropriate action.Your lawyer will be able to advise you on the options available in your matter. Not everything can be settled in court as there must be some alternatives to resolve the issue. To file a divorce or family issue, you need advice and guidance from lawyers, as they must be aware of the laws for your case. Professional assistance and guidance will definitely help you get the best solution possible in less time and effort.Here at Charles Law, fully qualified, certified and experienced lawyers who have in-depth knowledge of laws will serve you. If you are looking for the divorce and family law firm to help you receive the best solution then Charles Law is delivering the highest level of divorce and family law representation. Due to long-term expertise and knowledge, it is capable to ensure your success in any of divorce and family issue. So, if you need effective legal representation of your case then make sure you contact the Charles Brothers.For more detail on certified lawyers in Allentown you can visit:Charles Law is an experienced law firm that is happy to provide professional and experienced legal representation to people involved in family and divorce issues. They have a great deal of expertise that makes it easy for clients to get the solution they desire. The Charles Brothers are always ready to help families involved in critical matters.If you are looking for the leading and trusted divorce and family law firm then Charles Law is the name you can trust.441 W Linden St.AllentownPA 18102United States
SageNext Announces Special 20% Discount on QuickBooks Hosting Plans to Brighten Holidays

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SageNext Infotech, a reputable cloud hosting company, announced that they are offering a special 20% discount on their QuickBooks hosting and plans on the occasion of Christmas and New Year.After having a very fruitful and rewarding Thanksgiving season, the company has stepped up with new Christmas offers and deals on its tax and accounting applications hosting services to add more joy to the celebrations. From QuickBooks, Sage 50 and Quicken to Proseries, UltraTax, TaxWise and Lacerte, the discount offers are available on the entire cloud hosting solutions offered by the SageNext Infotech.Mr. Jerry Williams, the Head of Sales Department at the SageNext Infotech was quoted as saying, "We are happily celebrating the end of year holiday season, and we would like to send our warm wishes to our valued customers. On this special occasion of Christmas and New Year, we have offered some exciting offers and deals on our hosted QuickBooks and other cloud-based solutions."He further added that providing CPAs, accountants, bookkeepers and small businesses with unparalleled accounting and tax application hosting services has been the top-most priority of the SageNext and the company will continue serving them while saving their hard-earned money, efforts and time.Located in Augusta, Georgia, SageNext Infotech is ranked amongst the most trustworthy IT hosting companies that excel in tax and accounting application hosting. Boasting of a state-of-the-art cloud infrastructure powered by SAS 70 II and SSAE 16 compliant data centers in New York, Dallas and Phoenix and Seattle, we are committed to delivering tailor-made QuickBooks remote hosting solutions for seamless management of their business finances.Our singular objective is to provide cutting-edge cloud hosting solutions to the CPAs, accounting professionals as well as small and mid-sized firms. Not only do we ensure timely delivery of the services, but we also endeavor to provide the highest level of business agility, reliability and data security while keeping the cloud hosting cost as low as possible.Some of the major advantages of choosing SageNext Infotech are:1. Cutting Edge Data Centre Facility2. Low Cost of Ownership3. No Long-Term Contracts4. Easy Access to Your Hosted Applications and Business Files5. Mobile Compatible Solutions6. Lightning Fast Servers7. Unparalleled Data Security8. Universal Printing and Scanning Solutions9. Round-the-clock Technical Assistance over Call/Mail/ChatSales (Toll Free): 855-922-7243Support: 801-610-6141SageNext Infotech LLC1702 OPAL CTAUGUSTA GA 30907 ( USA )Email: info@thesagenext.comCall: 855-922-7243Web:
Trenser inaugurates its new facility in Technopark, Trivandrum

Trenser launched its operations from Technopark since May 2017 as a young startup by a group of enthusiastic engineers who possess entrepreneurial spirit. With the team of energetic and passionate engineers, the company leadership has been able to secure business from global clients leveraging their relationships.Ever since Trenser started its operations, the company has tripled its headcount in a short span of six months. Company is growing faster with long-term business visibility from clients in North America, Europe and Japan regions.Following the ribbon cutting and lighting the traditional lamp by Mr. Hrishikesh Nair, veteran leaders of Technopark Mr. Ramesh C Dutt, Mr. S. Sasikumar, Mr. Philip John joined lighting the lamp. Mr. Pradeep Kumar, Chairman & MD of Trenser unveiled the new logo of Trenser. Technopark officials and young entrepreneurs within Technopark were present during the function.It is a refreshingly new experience as we walk in to this world class facility inside Technopark and is quite energizing. With the blessings of our gurus who have contributed to the growth of Technopark itself, we are humbled. This is a great start. said Pradeep Kumar, Chairman & MD of Trenser.Our customers trust us as much as we trust them. It is that simple. Combined experience of our leadership team enables us to serve global technology companies with highly mature software engineering services. We are targeting multifold growth in the next two years. This great infrastructure will be an added support for it. Jayachandran, CEO of the company commented."With Automation, IoT, Deep Learning and Analytics in the mainstream, we are excited about the opportunities in front of us. We continue enhancing the technological capabilities in these areas to serve our global customers with the best available talents in the market." said Anil Chandran, CTO of Trenser in his statement.Trenser is a product engineering specialist company providing software development services to fulfil the technology needs of companies in the small and medium-size businesses segment. Trenser specializes in developing software products that require IoT, Device Analytics, Deep Learning, High Performance Computing and Cloud technologies. Company has set its prime business focus in Healthcare, Industrial and Retail domains.Operating from Technopark, Trivandrum, India, Trenser Technology Solutions (P) Ltd. is a registered private limited company under Government of India. Company provides offshore engineering services for customers in North America, Europe and Japan.Ground Floor, Nila BuildingTechnopark Campus, Trivandrum, Kerala, India,PIN-695581.
EZ Life starts New Year Promotion on all its Products

This Holiday Season, EZ Life announces that it will be running a promotion offer for 15 days, i.e. from 1st Jan to 15th Jan 2018 for all its customers, all over India, where all the products on the website will be at a discount of 18% from its original price in accordance of welcoming the new year 2018.With the changing times and growth of modernization and technology, availability of things has become very easy and reaches out to you at your doorstep without much hassle.Holiday Season is that time of the year where people indulge in gifting, celebrating or traveling with their loved ones and thats where the lifestyle products gains its utility and importance.The aim of offering this promotion is to allow the customers to enjoy shopping lifestyle products which they need in their day to day lives and reach out to a larger group of people who can now fit the products in their budget with our discounts and enjoy the additional benefit of free shipping all over India.EZ Life is an ecommerce company that offers a unique blend of kitchenware, modern homeware, travel utilities, childrens essentials and toys and ideal gifting products that can cater to many individuals and parents who can minimize their daily efforts to organize their lives without much efforts.We aspire in completing all customer demands with satisfaction with best quality products. Says Ankita Shah Sonawala, Co- Founder.EZ Life offers a contemporary mix of cool and lifestyle products of homeware, modern kitchenware, imaginative children's accessories, travel utilities, home stylistic layout highlights, individual arrangements, gifts and gifting ideas that try to bring feel to day to day life. Our products are sourced from around the world that aspire to bring joy, functionality, organisation and aesthetics to daily life.15, Vasan Udyog Bhavan, Senapati Bapat Marg,Lower Parel (W), Opp. Phoenix Mill,
Prime Minister of St. Lucia meets with Savory and Partners management in Dubai

Dubai - December 26 2017  The Right Honourable Allen Chastanet, Prime Minister of St. Lucia, met Savory & Partners management, led by Jeremy Savory, the CEO.The Prime Minister saw the meeting with Savory & Partners as an opportunity to show his support to one of the largest agents in the region.Jeremy Savory, the CEO of Savory & Partners, commented: The Prime Minister and I had met numerous times this year, but this time I was very happy to introduce him to some members of the Dubai office.We have been impressed with the Prime Ministers vision of St. Lucias positioning in the global business community, said Mr. Savory.In the meeting, the Prime Minister answered questions on a range of subjects.Initiatives such as a tax residency program and an attractive Headquarters Act that will leverage on low tax rates to attract international businesses to headquarter in St. Lucia were discussed.Since 1984 and the initiation of the St. Kitts & Nevis citizenship-by-investment Program, Savory & Partners continued its growth and international reach by helping high-net-worth nationals from every corner of the globe to acquire a dual nationality in just a few months. Savory & Partners are trusted by Governments around the world to source individuals of the highest calibre and to successfully process citizenship and residency applications with 100% success rate.Allen Chastanet has been Prime Minister of Saint Lucia since June 2016. He is the political leader of the United Workers Party, as well as the parliamentary representative for Micoud South constituency. Previously he served from 2006-2011 as Saint Lucia's Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation.-ENDS-About Savory and Partners:Savory & Partners is a British family-owned company with roots reaching back as far as 1797 when the Savory family were the pharmacists to the British Royal Family. The pharmacy division of the family business closed and is now part of the Melbourne University Medical University in Australia. However today the company has established itself as a leading second citizenship firm in the Middle East with Authorized Agent status granted by the Governments of Dominica, Grenada, and Antigua and Barbuda. Savory & Partners are trusted by governments around the world to source individuals of the highest calibre. By providing the highest level of service through experience, knowledge and trust, a successful application is guaranteed.For all media related queries, please contact:Hassan Mohammed,Head of Corporate Communications,Savory & Partners,E-mail: hassan@savoryandpartners.comPhone: +971 4 430 1717Cell+971 56 2839976
Hepatitis-B Treatment Market: Global Market Estimation, Dynamics, Regional Share, Trends, Competitor Analysis 2012-2016 and Forecast 2017-2023

Hepatitis-B Treatment Market

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Hepatitis-B is also known serum hepatitis which is an infectious disease of the liver caused by Hepatitis-B virus (HBV). Hepatitis B is classified into two types namely, acute and chronic. In this condition, the virus interferes with the hepatocytes and the liver became inflamed. Hepatitis-B is commonly caused through parenteral contacts such as blood, body fluids, and sexual intercourse. Hepatitis-B virus is unable to cross the skin or mucous membrane. People with Lymph proliferative disease, Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), and people treated with immunosuppressant drugs and haemodialysis patients are easily develop an infection with Hepatitis-B Virus. The symptoms of the Hepatitis B do not develop until after a few weeks of exposure. The severity in Hepatitis may cause the cirrhosis, liver failure, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). A vaccine is commonly administered to protect people from the infection. Hepatitis B can be prevented by administering the hepatitis B vaccine to newborn babies, avoiding promiscuity and not having multiple sexual partners, and avoiding sharing of injections and razors can also prevent the Hepatitis B infection.The global Hepatitis B treatment market is expected to grow at a significant CAGR due to increase in the prevalence of Hepatitis B infection. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), chronic hepatitis B virus infection occurs in majority of the infants. Rising awareness regarding hepatitis B treatment, increase in the healthcare expenditure, rise in the funding in research and development activities for hepatitis B treatment, and various pipeline products for Hepatitis B treatment might fuel the global hepatitis B treatment market over the forecast period. However, high cost of the hepatitis B treatment and medications, less effectiveness of antiviral drugs against hepatitis B infection might hamper the growth of global hepatitis B treatment market over the forecast period.A sample of this report is available upon request @Hepatitis B treatment market segmented on the basis of drug class, route 0f administration, and distribution channelBased on drug class, hepatitis B treatment market has been segmented into the following: Chemo Therapy Immunosuppressant Therapy Nucleoside AnalogueBased on route of administration, hepatitis B treatment market has been segmented into the following: Oral Parenteral OthersBased on distribution channel, hepatitis B treatment market has been segmented into the following: Hospital Pharmacies Retail Pharmacies OthersTo view TOC of this report is available upon request @Geographically, hepatitis B treatment market is in growing stage, as various government organizations are initiating awareness programs to prevent the hepatitis B infection. Increase in the prevalence of hepatitis B infection and liver cirrhosis might fuel the hepatitis B treatment market. According to the World Health Organization, there are currently 240 million chronic carriers of hepatitis B virus in which approximately 1525% of carriers will develop cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), or liver decompensation, and 780,000 will die each year as a result of their infection. Acquisitions and mergers, collaborations, launching of new products, increase in research and development activities, and approvals for new products from various drug regulatory bodies such as U.S. Food and Drug Administration are some strategies followed by various companies to increase their share in global hepatitis b treatment market. For instance, in September 2013, Roche and Inovio Pharmaceuticals collaborated on research, development, and commercialization of Inovios highly-optimized, multi-antigen DNA immunotherapies targeting hepatitis B and prostate cancer. Similarly, in July 2015, Benitec Biopharma and Biomics Biotechnologies are announced that Benitec has acquired the full rights to the pre-clinical ddRNAi-based hepatitis B (HBV) therapeutic program, Hepbarna, which was previously under development as a joint venture between the two companies. In addition, in October 2010, U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the Baraclude (Entecavir) for hepatitis B treatment with the decompensated liver disease in adults manufactured by Bristol Myers Squibb. Moreover, various drugs for the hepatitis B treatment in the pipeline also expected to propel the hepatitis B treatment market over the forecast period.Need more information about this report @Geographically, the hepatitis B treatment market has been segmented into following regions Viz. North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America is expected to hold a dominant share in hepatitis B market owing to increase In the prevalence of hepatitis B infection (according to Centres for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), approximately 1.4 Million patients in the United States are chronically infected with hepatitis B Virus), rise in the awareness towards the use of noveltechnologies and products for hepatitis B treatment, and increase in the research and development activities are the key factors bolster the hepatitis B treatment market in North America region. Europe holds a key share in hepatitis B treatment market owing to increase in the prevalence of hepatitis B infection (in Russia, the prevalence rate is approximately 3712 cases per 100,000 people), rise in the geriatric population, change in the lifestyle, and increase in the research and development activities might boost the hepatitis B treatment market in Europe region. Asian Pacific is a key region for hepatitis b treatment market attributed to increase in the prevalence of hepatitis B infection (in China, there are 7420 prevalent cases per 100,000 people), rise in the population in Asia Pacific region, and increase in the healthcare infrastructure and healthcare expenditure. Middle East & Africa region expected to exhibit significant growth due to highest prevalence of global hepatitis B infection which is approximately 10,000 prevalent cases per 100,000 people.Some of the players in hepatitis B treatment market are F. Hoffmann- La Roche Ltd. (Switzerland), GlaxoSmithKline, plc. (U.K.), Bristol-Myers Squibb (U.S), Novartis AG (Switzerland), Merck and Co (U.S), Novira Therapeutics Inc. (U.S.), Johnson & Johnson (U.S.), Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc. (U.S.), Benitec biopharma Ltd. (Australia), Gilead Sciences (U.S.), Cipla Inc. (India), and Biomics biotechnologies (China) to name a few.Get access to full summary @About Precision Business InsightsPrecision Business Insights is one of the leading market research and business consulting firm, which follow a holistic approach to solve needs of the clients. We adopt and implement proven research methodologies to achieve better results. We help our clients by providing actionable insights and strategies to make better decisions. We provide consulting, syndicated and customised market research services based on our client needs.Contact to Precision Business Insights,Kemp House,152  160 City Road,London EC1V 2NXEmail: sales@precisionbusinessinsights.comToll Free (US):+1-866-598-1553Website @
Global Water Bottle Market Industry Size, Analysis, Future Scope (2011-2023)

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Global Water Bottle Market Analysis 2011-2017 and Forecast 2018-2023Global Water Bottle Market research report gives a systematic and competent approach to gather important statistics of Global Water Bottle industry. In which includes industry chain structure, Water Bottle market classification, dominant market players, product definition, and product scope. Global Water Bottle Market research report also interprets different market scenarios along with future market trends. Global Water Bottle research report performs SWOT analysis to gain better insights on Strengths, Opportunities, and Threats muddled in Water Bottle industry. Water Bottle Market dynamics, production capacity, consumer volume, supply to demand ratio, Water Bottle market share and revenue is also deliberated in this research report.Global Water Bottle Market is branched into different product types, applications, and major geographical zones. Further Water Bottle Market research report contains Company profiles of top manufacturers, their information, sales revenue, annual revenue, sales volume, and consumer volume is also specified. Major highlights of the Water Bottle Market report include market perceptions such as import/export details, market overview, end customers/users of the Water Bottle industry, market performance and cost of the product.Regional classification of the Global Water Bottle Market research report:Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, North America, Middle East and Africa are the major regions of the globe involved in Water Bottle research report. Global Water Bottle Market in European regions covers Germany, France, Italy, UK, Russia and Spain that will show a colossal growth in the Water Bottle market over next five years. Global Water Bottle Market in Asia-Pacific regions covers Japan, China, India, China, India, Japan, and Southeast Asia. Due to the progressive technology used in North American countries including the United States, Canada and Mexico there will be a drastic increase in the Water Bottle market share and Water Bottle market revenue. Global Water Bottle Market in Latin American countries comprise of Argentina and Brazil whereas the Middle East and Africa include Saudi Arabia, South Africa.Get Water Bottle market Sample Research Report with complete table of content atMajor Companies List :-Thermos LLCPMILock&LockContigoTupperwareKlean KanteenCamelbakNalgeneNathanPlatypusSIGGBobbleHydro FlaskZojirushiTigerPolar BottleApplication- In Store (Offline), Online, Types - Plastic Bottles, Metal Bottles, Glass Bottles.Do Inquiry Before Accessing Report Here:Global Water Bottle Research Report study mainly covers below chapters to deeply display the Water Bottle market.1) Chapter 1 - Water Bottle market report describe Water Bottle Industry Overview, Water Bottle Market Segment(Upstream, Downstream), Water Bottle Cost Analysis, Water Bottle market driving force.2) Chapter 2 - Water Bottle market Industry Environment(Policy, Economics, Sociology, Technology).3) Chapter 3 - Water Bottle Market by Type.4) Chapter 4 - Major Companies List - market report Analyze the top manufacturers of Water Bottle, Water Bottle industry Profile, and Sales Data of Water Bottle.5) Chapter 5 - Market Competition(Company Competition, Regional Market by Company), Global Water Bottle industry report evaluate the key regions.6) Chapter 6 - Market Demand(Demand Situation, Regional Demand Comparison, Demand Forecast).7) Chapter 7 - Water Bottle Market report also describes Region Operation (Regional Output, Regional Market, by Region, Regional Forecast).8) Chapter 8 - This report also describes Water Bottle sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Water Bottle market Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data source.Concluding part of the report provides numerous traders, contributors involved in the Water Bottle industry along with research discoveries, results, data source and postscript.Global Water Bottle Market Industry Size, Analysis, Future Scope (2011-2023)Global Water Bottle Market research report gives a systematic and competent approach to gather important statistics of Global Water Bottle industry.About Us:MarketDesk.us is the terminal where all industrial, commercial and profitmaking venture will get the best research reports of the market in all sectors like automotive, electronics, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, food and beverages etc. The company aims to fulfill market research requirements of both national and international clients. We provide you the important and necessary information to identify and analyze the need of market and the market size.James JohnsonGlobeMetrix,Tel: +1(857)2390696Email: inquiry@market.bizWebsite:
Big Data in Healthcare Market Segments, Key Players Strategies, Analysis and Forecasts Till 2022

Big Data in Healthcare Market

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The Global Big Data In Healthcare Market report titled Big Data In Healthcare Market Research Report-Forecast to 2022 is a specialist investigation report by Market Research Future includes broad essential research alongside the definite examination of subjective and additionally quantitative perspectives by different industry specialists, key sentiment pioneers to pick up a more profound understanding of the market and industry execution. The global big data in the healthcare market is expected to reach US$ 17,278.13 million by 2022, and the market is projected to grow at a CAGR of ~ 20.69 % during the forecast period 2015-2022.GET SAMPLE REPORT @Market Research Future published new report, titled Big Data In Healthcare Market -Research Report: Global Forecast to 2022.Market Highlights of Global Big Data In Healthcare Market:Big data refers to the enormous amount of structured as well as unstructured data, which help organizations to improve their decision making processes. The term big data might seem to refer to huge volume of data, but that is not necessarily the case. It may also refer to the technology services (descriptive, predictive or prescriptive) any organization is utilizing to handle the data sets. Unstructured data refers to the data which does not have a standardized form. Around 80% of the data in the business organizations is unstructured and around 60% of the patient care information is in the unstructured format.The global big data analytics market in the healthcare sector is at $8.49 billion in 2015 and is expected to grow at a CAGR 20.69 % due to several forces, for instance, government initiatives, pressure to curb healthcare costs, new technological advancement such as mHealth, Internet of Things (IOT), and wearables among others.With the implementation of innovative technologies such as precision medicine, mHealth, and sensors in the healthcare industry, clinical analytics will play a huge role in the evolution of new forms of treatments to treat with different therapeutics and provide better population and precision health management.Global Big data in Healthcare Market Players:Key players profiled in the report are Cerner Corporation, Cognizant, Dell, GE Healthcare, Mckesson, Optum, Philips, Siemens, Xerox and others.Taste the market data and market information presented through more than 50 market data tables and figures spread over 80 pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content (TOC) & market synopsis on Global Big data in healthcare market Research Report  Forecast till 2022.Regional Analysis of Global Big Data In Healthcare Market:The Americas holds a significant market share owing to extensive use of information technology and high expenditure on the health care. Additionally, the fastest uptake of new technology and the presence and concentration of big data companies in the healthcare of the US regions drive the global big data in healthcare market.North America lead the global big data in healthcare market with revenue of $ 4.61 billion in 2015.Europe is the second largest market in the globe due to a high expenditure and need to curb rising healthcare costs.Asia Pacific region is expected to grow rapidly; China and India are likely to lead the market due to unmet needs during the forecasted period. APAC is expected to grow at a higher CAGR of 24.75% than the other regions because of increasing clinical trials and ageing population in this region.Gulf nations such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE drive the Middle East & African market. The African region is expected to witness a moderate growth owing to poor economic and political conditions and poor healthcare development.GET FULL REPORT @Market Segmentation:The global big data in healthcare market has been segmented on the basis of components and services. The components is segmented into hardware and software type. The hardware segment is further sub-segmented into routers firewalls, virtual private network (VPN), data storage (data centers/storage on premise, storage on cloud/storage on demand), email servers, and wireless & access points. The software type is sub-segmented into electronic health record (EHR) software, practice management software, revenue cycle management software, workforce management software, and others. The software deployment type is sub-segmented into software on premise and software on demand.On the basis of analytic service type, the market is segmented into descriptive analytics, predictive analytics, and prescriptive analytics. On the basis of analytic service applications, the market is segmented into clinical data analytics, financial analytics, and operational analytics. The clinical data analytics is sub-segmented into quality care, population health management, clinical decision support, precision health, reporting, and compliance. The financial analytics is sub-segmented into claims processing, revenue cycle, management, and risk assessment. The operational analytics is sub-segmented into workforce analytics and supply chain analytics.MAJOR TABLE OF CONTENTS:Chapter 1. IntroductionChapter 2. Research MethodologyChapter 3. Market DynamicsChapter 4. Market Factor AnalysisChapter 5. Global Big Data in Healthcare Market, By Components and ServicesChapter 6. Global Big Data in Healthcare Market, By Analytic Service TypeChapter 7. Global Big Data in Healthcare Market, By Analytic Service ApplicationsChapter 8. Global Big Data in Healthcare Market, By RegionChapter 9. Competitive LandscapeChapter 10. Company ProfileChapter 11. ConclusionChapter 12. AppendixCONTINUEDGET DISCOUNT @About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: salesteam@marketresearchfuture.com
Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Treatment Devices Market Analysis, Size, Growth and Forecast, 2023

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The global benign prostatic hyperplasia treatment devices market is expected to experience an extensive growth in the coming years due to various factors such as increasing aging population, rising prevalence of benign prostatic hyperplasia, increasing awareness about benign prostatic hyperplasia treatment procedures and surge in the adoption of minimally invasive procedures. BPH devices have been classified on the basis of different procedures for which these are used such as, transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP), transurethral incision of the prostate (TUIP); laser based procedures such as green light lasers, holmium lasers, thulium lasers surgery; and energy-based procedures such as transurethral microwave thermotherapy (TUMT), transurethral needle ablation (TUNA), high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) & water-induced thermotherapy; and other procedures.Explore Report Sample at:Laser based procedures are expected to register the fastest growth in the benign prostatic hyperplasia treatment devices market during the forecast period, since these procedures are as effective as surgical procedures, reduce the hospital stay time and do not leave any scars post treatment. Benign prostatic hyperplasia refers to the enlargement of the prostate gland which obstructs the passage of urine through urethra in men. The disease is more common in aging men, and about half of all men between the age of 51 to 60 years suffer from the disease.Growing aging population, rising prevalence of benign prostatic hyperplasia, rise in the awareness about various benign prostatic hyperplasia disorders and surge in the adoption of minimally invasive procedures are the some of the major factors driving the demand for benign prostatic hyperplasia treatment devices.According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) report on the global aging population, the number of people aged 60 years or above is growing at a high rate and is projected to grow from 901 million in 2015 to 1.4 billion by 2030. According to the National Institute of Health, around 14 million men in the U.S. had symptoms suggestive of benign prostatic hyperplasia, which can affect 50% of men aged between 51 and 60 years of age, and up to 90% of men aged more than 80 years. With the aging population, the prevalence of benign prostatic hyperplasia is likely to increase, further leading to the rise in the demand for benign prostatic hyperplasia treatment devices.Explore Report at:The key companies in the benign prostatic hyperplasia treatment devices industry are launching various products and are expanding in various geographies to gain a larger share in the benign prostatic hyperplasia treatment devices market.In March 2017, NeoTract Inc. announced the expansion of its minimally invasive procedure device, UroLift System, to be available in Ireland. The geographical expansion of the product in Ireland was supported by Vhi group, a private health insurance firm. In June 2017, Olympus Corporation announced the expansion of its PLASMA Resection in Africa that provides clinical benefits and cost saving procedure, in comparison to monopolar TURP.In September 2016, NeoTract, Inc. announced that the company has received the de novo approval from USFDA for its UroLift System for prostate implant.About P&S Market ResearchP&S Market Research is a global market research and consulting company. We provide market research reports, industry reports, business intelligence and research based consulting services across a range of industries.With the help of our professional corporate relations with various companies, our market research offers the most accurate market forecasting. Our analysts and consultants interact with leading companies of the concerned domain to substantiate every single data presented in our publication. Our research assists our client in identifying new and different windows of opportunity and frame informed and customized strategies for expansion in different regions.Contact:P&S Market ResearchManager  Client Partner347, 5th Ave. #1402New York City, NY - 10016US/ Canada Toll-Free: 1-888-778-7886Email: enquiry@psmarketresearch.comWeb:
A professional manufacturer of automatic weighing metering equipment

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AccuBal is a professional manufacturer of automatic weighing metering equipment,which located in Guangdong Shunde.Company has a plant area at least 10000 square meters with registered capital of 20 million RMB,which owns a lot of experienced technician and engineers,posses the integrated ability including R&D,Manufacturing,sales,installing and debugging,technical training,post-sale service for products,also have the independent intellectual property program ability to develop SCM program.Accubal offer multihead weighter,loss-in-weight feeder and colorant feeder,with the best quality and most cost-effective.Also provide automation solustion of feeder systems.Products are widerly used industry area in food (Puffed food,Biscuits,Coffee,Salad,Baled goods,Frozen food,Chocolate,Candy,Dairy products ,Aquatic products and so on),Chemicals,modified plastics,thin film,pharmaceutical.etc.Accubal promise to offer distinguish the product with the best quality,let the products all over the world and become a leader of global industry .Accubal is committed to build a century business,for customers to antomate weighing measuring,batching program to provide efficient and quality services!Accubal offer multihead weighter,loss-in-weight feeder and colorant feeder,with the best quality and most cost-effective.Also provide automation solustion of feeder systems.Web site:Email: business@abscale.netTelephone: +86 757 29811159Fax:+86 757 29811152Address: N.31 East Shunye Road Xingtan Town Shunde, Foshan City ChinaAccuBal Intelligent machines co.,Ltd
Rumour has it that the Baahubali star has been approached by Atlee for his next project.

By India Today Web Desk: Three-film-old director Atlee has carved a niche for himself in the Tamil film industry with consecutive hits. His recently-released film Mersal, starring Vijay, Nithya Menen, Samantha and Kajal Aggarwal went on to become one of the biggest blockbusters of 2017.

It was reported that Atlee's next film would also be with Vijay, after their collaborations, Mersal and Theri. However, there was no official confirmation regarding this. Vijay has moved on to his next project which will be helmed by director AR Murugadoss. This untitled film will go on floors sometime in January.

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Meanwhile, it is being speculated that Atlee has approached Baahubali star Prabhas for his next project. The filmmaker has reportedly met Prabhas to narrate the story and the screenplay of his next, which is said to be penned by KV Vijayendra Prasad, who worked in Baahubali, Mersal and Bajrangi Bhaijaan. However, nothing is concrete as of now, as the actor is presently shooting for Sujeeth's Saaho.

Atlee had planned to do a film with Prabhas earlier, but the actor was busy with Baahubali and had to postpone it. Will the Mersal director call shots for the Baahubali icon? Only time will tell.

Prabhas had completed the first schedule of Saaho a few weeks back, and would be joining the team for the next leg of shooting on January 5.

ALSO WATCH: Baahubali 2: Prabhas, Rana Daggubati talk about the ultimate face-off

--- ENDS ---
Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) India Market Top Key Players  CNL SoftwarE , Qognify , NICE Systems, Vidsys , AxxonSoft and Forecast to 2021

Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) Market

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India Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) MarketDescriptionWiseGuyReports.Com adds India Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) Market Report 2017 Research To Its Database.With the slowdown in world economic growth, the Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) industry has also suffered a certain impact, but still maintained a relatively optimistic growth, the past four years, Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) market size to maintain the average annual growth rate of 3.03% from 224 million $ in 2013 to 245 million $ in 2016, Bis Report analysts believe that in the next few years, Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) market size will be further expanded, we expect that by 2021 , The market size of the Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) will reach 286 million $.This Report covers the manufacturers data, including: shipment, price, revenue, gross profit, interview record, business distribution etc., these data help the consumer know about the competitors better.Get sample Report @Besides, the report also covers segment data, including: type segment, industry segment, channel segment etc. cover different segment market size, both volume and value. Also cover different industries clients information, which is very important for the manufacturers. If you need more information, please contact Bis ReportSection 1: FreeDefinitionSection (2 3): 1200 USDManufacturer DetailCNL SoftwarEQognifyNICE SystemsVidsysAxxonSoftBosch Security SystemsGenetecKentimaMer IncMilestone systemsPelco (Schneider Electric)S2 SecurityVideoNEXT Network SolutionsVerint SystemsJohnson ControlsTyco InternationalIntergraph CorporationSection (4 5 6): 1200 USDProduct Type Segmentation (General PSIM, Customized PSIM, , , )Industry Segmentation (Enterprise end users, Government agencies, , , )Channel (Direct Sales, Distributor) SegmentationSection 7: 400 USDTrend (2017-2021)Section 8: 300 USDProduct Type DetailSection 9: 700 USDDownstream ConsumerSection 10: 200 USDCost StructureSection 11: 500 USDConclusionEnquiry About Report @Table of Contents -Major Key PointsSection 1 Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) Product DefinitionSection 2 India Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) Market Manufacturer Share and Market Overview2.1 India Manufacturer Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) Shipments2.2 India Manufacturer Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) Business Revenue2.3 India Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) Market OverviewSection 3 Manufacturers Who Have Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) Business in India Introduction3.1 CNL SoftwarE Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) Business Introduction3.1.1 CNL SoftwarE Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) Shipments, Price, Revenue and Gross profit 2013-20163.1.2 CNL SoftwarE Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) Business Distribution by Region3.1.3 CNL SoftwarE Interview Record3.1.4 CNL SoftwarE Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) Business Profile3.1.5 CNL SoftwarE Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) Product Specification3.2 Qognify Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) Business Introduction3.2.1 Qognify Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) Shipments, Price, Revenue and Gross profit 2013-20163.2.2 Qognify Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) Business Distribution by Region3.2.3 Interview Record3.2.4 Qognify Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) Business Overview3.2.5 Qognify Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) Product Specification3.3 NICE Systems Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) Business Introduction3.3.1 NICE Systems Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) Shipments, Price, Revenue and Gross profit 2013-20163.3.2 NICE Systems Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) Business Distribution by Region3.3.3 Interview Record3.3.4 NICE Systems Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) Business Overview3.3.5 NICE Systems Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) Product Specification3.4 Vidsys Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) Business Introduction3.5 AxxonSoft Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) Business Introduction3.6 Bosch Security Systems Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) Business IntroductionSection 4 India Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) Market Segmentation (Product Type Level)4.1 India Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) Market Segmentation (Product Type Level) Market Size 2013-20164.2 Different Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) Product Type Price 2013-20164.3 India Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) Market Segmentation (Product Type Level) AnalysisSection 5 India Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) Market Segmentation (Industry Level)5.1 India Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) Market Segmentation (Industry Level) Market Size 2013-20165.2 Different Industry Price 2013-20165.3 India Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) Market Segmentation (Industry Level) Analysis..CONTINUEDAbout UsWise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, Industry research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports understand how essential statistical surveying information is for your organization or association. Therefore, we have associated with the top publishers and research firms all specialized in specific domains, ensuring you will receive the most reliable and up to date research data available.NORAH TRENTPartner Relations & Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)
Version Control System 2017 Global Industry Key Players - Microsoft , WANdisco , IBM , Perforce Market Analysis And Forecast To 2022

Global Version Control System Market

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Global Version Control System MarketThis report studies the global Version Control System market, analyzes and researches the Version Control System development status and forecast in United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia. This report focuses on the top players in global market, likeMicrosoftWANdiscoIBMPerforceRequest a Sample Report @Market segment by Regions/Countries, this report coversUnited StatesEUJapanChinaIndiaSoutheast AsiaMarket segment by Type, the product can be split intoLocal Version Control SystemCentralised Version Control SystemDistributed Version Control SystemMarket segment by Application, Version Control System can be split intoWindowsLinuxOthersTo enquire about this report visit @Table of Contents-Key Points CoveredGlobal Version Control System Market Size, Status and Forecast 20221 Industry Overview of Version Control System1.1 Version Control System Market Overview1.1.1 Version Control System Product Scope1.1.2 Market Status and Outlook1.2 Global Version Control System Market Size and Analysis by Regions1.2.1 United States1.2.2 EU1.2.3 Japan1.2.4 China1.2.5 India1.2.6 Southeast Asia1.3 Version Control System Market by Type1.3.1 Local Version Control System1.3.2 Centralised Version Control System1.3.3 Distributed Version Control System1.4 Version Control System Market by End Users/Application1.4.1 Windows1.4.2 Linux1.4.3 Others2 Global Version Control System Competition Analysis by Players2.1 Version Control System Market Size (Value) by Players (2016 and 2017)2.2 Competitive Status and Trend2.2.1 Market Concentration Rate2.2.2 Product/Service Differences2.2.3 New Entrants2.2.4 The Technology Trends in Future3 Company (Top Players) Profiles3.1 Microsoft3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.1.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.1.4 Version Control System Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.1.5 Recent Developments3.2 WANdisco3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.2.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.2.4 Version Control System Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.2.5 Recent Developments3.3 IBM3.3.1 Company Profile3.3.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.3.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.3.4 Version Control System Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.3.5 Recent Developments3.4 Perforce3.4.1 Company Profile3.4.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.4.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.4.4 Version Control System Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.4.5 Recent DevelopmentsContinued..Buy Report@Wise Guy Reports Is Part Of The Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. And Offers Premium Progressive Statistical Surveying, Market Research Reports, Analysis & Forecast Data For Industries And Governments Around The Globe. Wise Guy Reports Features An Exhaustive List Of Market Research Reports From Hundreds Of Publishers Worldwide. We Boast A Database Spanning Virtually Every Market Category And An Even More Comprehensive Collection Of Market Research Reports Under These Categories And Sub-Categories.Wise Guy Research Consultants Pvt LtdOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India
Financial Services Cybersecurity Systems and Services Market estimated to earn an approximately US$24.3 bn by the end of 2022

MRRSE

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https://www.mrrse.com/financial-services-cybersecurity-systems-services-market

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The Global Financial Services Cybersecurity Systems And Services Market is prognosticated to be pampered by reportedly a large count of financial organizations taking to managed security services for solutions such as real-time monitoring and analytics and authentication. The significance of financial services cybersecurity systems and services could elevate drastically in the coming years as an enormous amount of sensitive data moves to the cloud.View Sample Copy of Report @The authors of the report offered herewith forecast the size and growth factors of the global financial services cybersecurity systems and services market, which could be vital for crafting accurate business decisions. Additionally, the report provides decisive information about favorable opportunities prevailing in the market amid the presence of projected growth disincentives.Global Financial Services Cybersecurity Systems and Services Market: DynamicsThe international financial services cybersecurity systems and services market is envisioned to witness a significant rise in the adoption rate due to changing global privacy and cybersecurity legislation. However, there could be more factors increasing the demand in the market, such as distributed denial of service (DDoS), ransomware, and phishing attacks becoming more sophisticated. Furthermore, financial services security regulators are continuously improving their scrutiny level, thus adding to the growth of the demand.Financial institutions are already weary of maintaining compliance with additional cybersecurity standards of the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). While these standards are significant, financial firms struggle with reconciling the sometimes contradictory guidance. Nonetheless, with financial services cybersecurity systems and services in place, compliance with the cybersecurity standards could become stress-free and thoroughgoing.Global Financial Services Cybersecurity Systems and Services Market: SegmentationThe world financial services cybersecurity systems and services market is prophesied to be segmented according to two categories, i.e. solution and services and end user. By solution and services, the market could be divided into diverse segments such as endpoint security, identity and access management, mobile enterprise management, mobile security, security information and event management, content security, data loss prevention (DLP), datacenter security, and firewall. Amongst these, mobile enterprise management is envisaged to garner a colossal share in the market while rising at a 20.8% CAGR between 2017 and 2022.View Full Report with Table of Content @By end user, the world financial services cybersecurity systems and services market could be segregated into banking, insurance, credit unions, stock brokerages, stock exchange, investment funds, consumer financing services, payment card and mobile payment services, and government-related financial services.By region, North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific except Japan (APEJ), and the Middle East and Africa (MEA) and Japan are anticipated to be significant markets for financial services cybersecurity systems and services. With a US$3.6 bn expected to be accumulated in 2017, North America could showcase dominance until the final forecast year.Global Financial Services Cybersecurity Systems and Services Market: CompetitionThe report analyzes crucial players operating in the worldwide financial services cybersecurity systems and services market, such as Experian Information Solutions, Inc., Accenture PLC., Agiliance, Inc., IBM Corporation, Airbus SE, AhnLab, Inc., VMware, Inc., Akamai Technologies, Inc., Alert Logic, Inc., AlienVault, Inc., and Avast Software S.R.O.Enquire about this Report @About (MRRSE)Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of Market Research Reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.Contact UsState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207United States Telephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comWebsite:Read More Industry News At:
Solar Encapsulation Market - Industry Insights by Materials, Technology, Application, Market Growth Factors and Demand Forecast to 2023

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The global market for solar encapsulation is projected to reach USD 5.17 billion by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 24.3% during 2017 - 2023.Request for a free sample of this research report:With the widespread adoption of renewable energy sources and increasing government initiatives to maximize the solar potential, the global solar encapsulation market is gaining traction. Additionally, increasing solar PV installations, growing applications of PV modules, rising power demands and technological advances made in the field of encapsulation material is expected to further spur the demand for solar encapsulation during the forecast period.The solar encapsulation market is in its nascent stage and the PV modules are used across various end-use industries such as construction, electronics and automotive. Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA) has been the largest revenue generator in the global market for solar encapsulation.Asia-Pacific accounted for the largest region in the global solar encapsulation market, where China contributed to the largest revenue. The U.S. was the major market for solar encapsulation in the North America, whereas Germany contributed to the largest revenue in the European region. Brazil was the largest market for solar encapsulation in Latin America, whereas the UAE generated the largest revenue in the Rest of the World market, which also includes Saudi Arabia, Algeria, South Africa and Egypt.Explore report at:The factors driving the growth of the global solar encapsulation market include negligible product substitutes and the increasing demand for electricity due to the rapidly growing population. Despite being in nascent stage, solar encapsulation market poses great potential for growth in the near future owing to negligible substitutes available in the global market. Additionally, government initiatives such as tax benefits, market assessing programs and various renewable targets are expected to further spike the demand for solar encapsulation.Make enquiry before buying the report:Some of the key players in the global market for solar encapsulation include Bridgestone Corporation, STR Holdings, Inc., E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, First Solar, Inc., 3M Company, Solutia Inc., The Dow Chemical Company, Mitsui Chemicals Tohcello.Inc., Lucent CleanEnergy and Wacker Chemie AG.About P&S Market ResearchP&S Market Research is a global market research and consulting company. We provide market research reports, industry reports, business intelligence and research based consulting services across a range of industries.With the help of our professional corporate relations with various companies, our market research offers the most accurate market forecasting. Our analysts and consultants interact with leading companies of the concerned domain to substantiate every single data presented in our publication. Our research assists our client in identifying new and different windows of opportunity and frame informed and customized strategies for expansion in different regions.Contact:P&S Market Research347, 5th Ave. #1402New York City, NY - 10016Toll-free: +1-888-778-7886 (USA/Canada)Email: enquiry@psmarketresearch.comWeb:
Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) North America Market Top Key Players  Neotech , PARPRO , Jabil , Celestica , Sanmina and Forecast to 2022

Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Market

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North America Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) MarketDescriptionWiseGuyReports.Com adds North America Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Market Report 2017 Research To Its Database.This Report covers the Major Players data, including: shipment, revenue, gross profit, interview record, business distribution etc., these data help the consumer know about the competitors better.Besides, the report also covers segment data, including: type segment, industry segment, channel segment etc. cover different segment market size. Also cover different industries clients information, which is very important for the Major Players. If you need more information, please contact Bis ReportGet sample Report @Section 1: FreeDefinitionSection 2: 800 USDMajor Player Market Share and Market Segmentation by RegionUSACanadaMexicoSection 3: 900 USDMajor Player DetailNeotechPARPROJabilCelesticaSanminaWistronPkcgroupPlexusMeyerRiverSide ElectronicsQuality Systems Integrated CorporationMatricSection (4 5 6): 500 USDType Segmentation (PCB Assembly Manufacturers, Systems Assembly Manufacturers, Design and Build Manufacturers, Others)Industry Segmentation (Electronic Components, Electronic Devices, Others)Channel (Direct Sales, Distributor) SegmentationSection 7: 400 USDTrend (2017-2021)Section 8: 300 USD Type DetailSection 9: 700 USDDownstream ConsumerSection 10: 200 USDCost StructureSection 11: 500 USDConclusionEnquiry About Report @Table of Contents -Major Key PointsSection 1 Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) DefinitionSection 2 North America Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Market Major Player Share and Market Overview2.1 North America Major Player Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Business Revenue2.2 North America Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Market Segmentation (Region Level) Market Size (Value) 2013-20162.3 North America Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Market OverviewSection 3 Major Player Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Business Introduction3.1 Neotech Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Business Introduction3.1.1 Neotech Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Revenue, Growth Rate and Gross profit 2013-20163.1.2 Neotech Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Business Distribution by Region3.1.3 Neotech Interview Record3.1.4 Neotech Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Business Profile3.1.5 Neotech Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Specification3.2 PARPRO Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Business Introduction3.2.1 PARPRO Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Revenue, Growth Rate and Gross profit 2013-20163.2.2 PARPRO Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Business Distribution by Region3.2.3 Interview Record3.2.4 PARPRO Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Business Overview3.2.5 PARPRO Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Specification3.3 Jabil Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Business Introduction3.3.1 Jabil Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Revenue, Growth Rate and Gross profit 2013-20163.3.2 Jabil Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Business Distribution by Region3.3.3 Interview Record3.3.4 Jabil Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Business Overview3.3.5 Jabil Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Specification3.4 Celestica Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Business Introduction3.5 Sanmina Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Business Introduction3.6 Wistron Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Business IntroductionSection 4 North America Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Market Segmentation ( Type Level)4.1 North America Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Market Segmentation ( Type Level) Market Size 2013-20164.2 Different Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Market Segmentation ( Type Level) Market Size Growth Rate 2013-20164.3 North America Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Market Segmentation ( Type Level) AnalysisSection 5 North America Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Market Segmentation (Industry Level)5.1 North America Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Market Segmentation (Industry Level) Market Size 2013-20165.2 Different Industry Trend 2013-20165.3 North America Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Market Segmentation (Industry Level) Analysis..CONTINUEDAbout UsWise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, Industry research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports understand how essential statistical surveying information is for your organization or association. Therefore, we have associated with the top publishers and research firms all specialized in specific domains, ensuring you will receive the most reliable and up to date research data available.NORAH TRENTPartner Relations & Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)
WaterMicronWorld, Crisis EU Freshwater Resources per Inhabitant Report..

"Every Drop Counts"

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WaterMicronWorld, the Manufacturer and Supplier of Atmospheric Water Generators, has announced that it is planning a regional head office and light assembly facilities within the European Regions. The firm says that it is the worlds largest supplier of Atmospheric Water Generators (AWGs), a technology based on producing water from the ambient humidity in the air.Currently the European Regions has every low recoverable fresh water resource, with only 3 cu per km. At the Earth Summit Rio, special attention was drawn to the fact that by 2025 water shortages will be most prevalent where resources are already limited, and experiencing rapid population expansion  such as Africa, the Middle East and parts of Europe. With the introduction of this new technology, we are in a position to provide a cost effective solution to help combat the growing water shortage across the region, said the companys COO, Robert Rainman.Freshwater resources per inhabitant are considered an important indicator for measuring the sustainability of water resources. Among the EU Member States, Croatia, recorded the highest freshwater resources (with a long-term average of 27 330 m per inhabitant). Finland and Sweden had the next highest volumes of freshwater resources per inhabitant, at around 20 000 m. By contrast, relatively low levels  below 3 000 m per inhabitant  were recorded in the six most populous EU Member States (France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, Italy and Poland), as well as Denmark, Luxembourg, Romania, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Cyprus and Malta, according to the World Water Development Report.The firm has, therefore, said that it is keen to develop its business within the European Regions, together with a strong local partner.The business and revenue potential is huge, from setting up a large scale water generation plant, producing drinking water with Government support to increase water capacity to the current water supply. Or imagine working with master developers to provide an ecofriendly and green alternative, generating water supply for the new developments without putting an additional stress on current supplies. We could even supply smaller scale water generation units producing from 15 to 5,000 liters per day for individual households, he added.The company says that it has had very encouraging talks with several governmental agencies, with potential orders of between US $35 million and $200 million under discussion.We bring an ecologically friendly and new source of pure drinking water to industry, businesses and home users alike. We provide truly affordable, state-of-the-art technology that is easy to operate and maintain. Our technology taps into a water source that does not place more demands on Mother Earth--Pure water from the air we breathe!Every Drop CountsWaterMicronWorld,Ltd Atmospheric Water Generators units can generate from 15, 30, 60, 100 , 160, 200, 250, 500, 1,000, 1200, 1500, 3000, 5000 liters of pure drinking water per day.Our unique compact systems are ideal for Hotels, Schools, Office buildings, Housing developments, Hospitals, Marine and small Municipal applications.WaterMicronWorld.LtdRimklongchonprathan PrachuabkhirikhanThailand 7710+66810167702
GCC Electric Motor Market Overview 2017, Demand by Regions, Share and Forecast to 2022

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The GCC electric motor market has been recording a positive growth. This is due to various advantages offered by electric motors which include low maintenance, longer operating life, low energy consumption and high endurance for fluctuating voltages.Request a sample report:The latest report by IMARC Group, titled GCC Electric Motor Market: Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2017-2022, finds that the GCC electric motor market reached a value of more than US$ 750 Million in 2016. Since the invention of electricity, electric motors have brought about the biggest advancements in the field of engineering and technology. Electric motors refer to electrical machines which transform electrical energy into mechanical energy. These motors can be powered through direct current sources including motor vehicles, rectifiers and batteries; and alternate current sources which include inverters, power grid and generators. Additionally, these motors can be utilised as generators for converting mechanical energy into electric power. These motors offer numerous advantages such as long operating life, low energy consumption, low maintenance cost and high endurance for fluctuating voltages.Highlights of the GCC electric motor market:Expanding industrial sector in the GCC region is the primary driving factor.HVAC represents the largest end-use industry, accounting for the majority of the market share.Saudi Arabia dominates the market supported by increasing exports to other gulf countries.In the GCC region, the prospect for electric cars is growing over time due to an increase in oil prices which has added to the growth of the GCC electric motor market. The market growth has also been encouraged by expanding industrial sector, growing petrochemical industry, upcoming infrastructural projects in the region. Moreover, there is also an emerging trend of installation of electric motors in place of gas turbines in large industrial plants which has, in turn, added to the growth. Apart from this, there has been a rise in mass-customisation of electric motors along with the demand for process and plant automation technologies. Owing to the aforementioned factors, the GCC electric motor market is further expected to reach a value of more than US$ 1,029 Million, exhibiting a CAGR of 5.4% during 2017-2022.On the basis of efficiency, IE2 currently exhibits a clear dominance in the market which is followed by IE3, IE1 and IE4. Based on end-use industry, HVAC represents the largest end-use industry of electric motor market. It is followed by oil and gas, food and beverage, mining, and water and utilities. On the basis of application, electric motors are mostly used in pumps and fans followed by compressors. Region-wise, Saudi Arabia accounts for the majority of the total share in GCC as a result of rising exports to other gulf countries. Other major regions include UAE, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain. The competitive landscape of the market has also been analysed with some of the key players operating in the market being ABB, Siemens, WEG Industries, NIDEC Corporation and TECO Middle East Electrical & Machinery Co. Ltd.Read full report with TOC:The report by IMARC Group has examined the GCC electric motor market on the basis of:EfficiencyIE2IE3IE1IE4End-Use Industry:HVACOil and GasFood and BeverageMiningWater and UtilitiesApplication:Pumps and FansCompressorsGCC Region:Saudi ArabiaUAEOmanQatarKuwaitBahrainKey Players:ABBSiemensWEG IndustriesNIDEC CorporationTECO Middle East Electrical & Machinery Co. Ltd.Browse related reports:UAE Electric Motor Market:Saudi Arabia Electric Motor Market:About UsIMARC Group is a leading market research company that offers management strategy and market research worldwide. We partner with clients in all sectors and regions to identify their highest-value opportunities, address their most critical challenges, and transform their businesses.IMARCs information products include major market, scientific, economic and technological developments for business leaders in pharmaceutical, industrial, and high technology organizations. Market forecasts and industry analysis for biotechnology, advanced materials, pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, travel and tourism, nanotechnology and novel processing methods are at the top of the companys expertise.Contact usIMARC Group309 2nd St, Brooklyn, NY 11215, USAWebsite:Email: sales@imarcgroup.comUSA: +1-631-791-1145Follow us on twitter: @imarcglobal
Residential Floor Scrubber Market 2017 Chaobao, Gadlee, Gaomei, Baiyun Cleaning, Tennant

Residential Floor Scrubber Market

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Marketsresearch.Biz Published Global Residential Floor Scrubber Market Research Report explore on defining and elaborating the key factors for the development of the Residential Floor Scrubber market and forecasts till 2022.The Residential Floor Scrubber Market 2017 inspects the execution of the Residential Floor Scrubber advertise, encasing a top to bottom judgment of the Residential Floor Scrubber showcase state and the aggressive scene comprehensively. This report breaks down the capability of Residential Floor Scrubber market in the present and in addition the future prospects from different points in detail.The Global Residential Floor Scrubber Market 2017 report incorporates Residential Floor Scrubber industry volume, piece of the overall industry, showcase Trends, Residential Floor Scrubber Growth angles, an extensive variety of uses, Utilization proportion, Supply and request investigation, fabricating limit, Residential Floor Scrubber Price amid the Forecast time frame from 2017 to 2022.Get Sample Copy of Report Here:Toward the starting, the report covers the top Residential Floor Scrubber fabricating industry players from areas like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It likewise describes the market in view of geological districts.Top Key players of Residential Floor Scrubber Market:1. Nilfisk2. Karcher3. Hako4. Tennant5. Comac6. IPC Eagle7. NSS8. Fimap9. Tornado Industries10. Gaomei11. KPS Corporation12. Pacific Floor Care13. Chaobao14. TASKI15. Cimel16. Gadlee17. Spectrum Industrial18. Baiyun CleaningFurther, the Residential Floor Scrubber report gives data on the organization profile, piece of the pie and contact subtle elements alongside esteem chain investigation of Residential Floor Scrubber industry, Residential Floor Scrubber industry tenets and arrangements, conditions driving the development of the market and impulse hindering the development. Residential Floor Scrubber Market improvement scope and different business procedures are additionally specified in this report.Table of Content:1. Residential Floor Scrubber Market Overview2. Global Residential Floor Scrubber Market Competition by Players/Suppliers, Type and Application3. United States Residential Floor Scrubber Market (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4. China Residential Floor Scrubber Market (Volume, Value and Sales Price)5. Europe Residential Floor Scrubber Market (Volume, Value and Sales Price)6. Japan Residential Floor Scrubber Market (Volume, Value and Sales Price)7. Southeast Asia Residential Floor Scrubber Market (Volume, Value and Sales Price)8. India Residential Floor Scrubber Market (Volume, Value and Sales Price)9. Global Residential Floor Scrubber Market Players/Suppliers Profiles and Sales Data10. Residential Floor Scrubber Market Maufacturing Cost Analysis11. Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers12. Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders13. Market Effect Factors Analysis14. Global Residential Floor Scrubber Market Forecast (2017-2022)15. Research Findings and Conclusion16. AppendixBrowse Full Table of Content:The Residential Floor Scrubber look into report incorporates the items that are right now sought after and accessible in the market alongside their cost separation, producing volume, import/send out plan and commitment to the Residential Floor Scrubber advertise income around the world.At last, Residential Floor Scrubber advertise report gives you insights about the statistical surveying discoveries and conclusion which causes you to create productive market systems to increase upper hand.About US:"MarketsResearch.biz" 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 US:5001 Spring Valley Road,Suite 400 East,Dallas, TX 75244, USAWeb:Email: sales@marketsresearch.biz
ASDF Global Awards V7.0 Final Results Announced

The 7th ASDF Global Awards 2017 has declared the results of Phase 5 today in a press conference held in Chennai, India. The most awaited results of the ASDF Global Awards are now out by the core members of the Awards Committee and the International Secretary of ASDF jointly for all the 27 award categories.December 26, 2017  The Association of Scientists, Developers and Faculties hosts the Global Awards every across the world to identify and markup them into a higher level which could be visualised into a more important standard. The year longs suspense is now out after various degrees of ascertaining of documentation, qualification eligibility and multiple factors. The narrowing was done at multiple levels bringing out the 1001 nominations to 38.The Association of Scientists, Developers and Faculties (ASDF International), an International Organization fostering Research and Development hosts the Global Awards to recognise people from the micro level to a greater macro level. This is extended across the Globe to choose the best out of all. The team headed by Dr. Arulmurugan Vadivelu, President of ASDF Global Awards 2017, the outright task begun in February 2017 with an open call for the nomination of the ASDF Global Awards.With a back support from Dr. K. Maran, Vice  President  Academics who is the Director of Management Studies of Sairam Institute of Management Studies; Dr. Rajkumar Sugumaran, Vice  President  Industry who is the Senior Advisor of Techno Forum Group; Dr. C. V. Jayakumar, Vice  President  Research who is the Principal of Sairam Engineering College and winner of Previous edition ASDF Global Awards as Best ASDF Academic Administrator and Dr. R. Mahalakshmi, Vice  President  Bodies who is the Dean of GKM Group and winner of the Best Dean of the year 2012 the entire process was influentially into the track. Inline with the previous years ASDF has done an extraordinary job of hand picking the right ones on all the verticals. Certain categories were nominated, but on the rigorous process of choosing the right one, most of them were out of the track.The categories of ASDF Global Awards may comprise the following nominees at the end of the Phase 5 nominations. For the Best Academic Administrator Awards, we have Narayanan Madeshan of Golden Valley Integrated Campus.For the Best Academic Chairman Awards, we have Abdulla Musthaq Rashaadh of Avid College from the Maldives.For the Best Academic Dean Awards, Neelma Kunwar of Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture & Technology.For the Best Academic Researcher Awards, there are 10 finalists which include Sridevi Gutta of Malla Reddy Institute of Technology; Krishna Gandhi Pachiappan of Nandha Engineering College; Jagannath M of VIT University Chennai; Sangamithra A of Kongu Engineering College; V Vimala of Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women; Junaid M Shaikh of Curtin University Malaysia; Suji Prasad S J of Kongu Engineering College; Kalavathi Devi Thangavel of Kongu Engineering College; Kannan Nithin K V of Kathir College of Engineering and Vaikundaselvan B of Kathir College of Engineering, Coimbatore, India.For the Best Computer Science Faculty, there are 8 finalists responsively including Praveen Kumar Mannepalli of Malla Reddy Institute of Technology; Sindhanaiselvan Kumar of M. Kumarasamy College of Engineering; Mohammed Ali Hussain of KL University; Varalakshmi Rajan of Vels University; Evangeline Devapragasam of Kongu Engineering College; Uma Priyadarsini P S of Saveetha School of Engineering; Rajagopal T K P of Kathir College of Engineering and R Manjula Devi of Kongu Engineering College.For the Best Professor Awards, there are 8 finalists widely including Dhanapal V of Bannari Amman Institute of Technology; Senthil Kumar Ajithan of Sanskrithi School Engineering; Arunachalam Kandavel of Anna University - MIT Campus; A Sheela of Kongu Engineering College; Srinivasan Pachamuthu of Kongu Engineering College; S Anusuya Venkatesan of Saveetha School of Engineering; Sumithra M G of Bannari Amman Institute of Technology and Vijayachitra S of Kongu Engineering College.For the Best Scientific Researcher Awards, there are six finalists widely including V Ganesh of CSIR - Central Electrochemical Research Institute; Subrata Kundu of CSIR - Central Electrochemical Research Institute; Suresh Sagadevan of AMET University; Sairabanu M Daragad of Smt. VHD Central Institute of Home Science; Sunita Chhapola Shukla of Mumbai Port Trust Hospital and Appavu Alias Balamurugan Subramanian of K. L. N. College of Information Technology.For the Best Young Entrepreneur Awards, we have Sachin Rajan Kale of Sri Tirupati Engineering Works.For the Best Lifetime Achievement Awards, there are two finalists widely including Ganesan Ganapathy of Adikavi Nannaya University and Latha K of Anna University (BIT Campus).The finalist though will be added into the website for the Hall of Fame had also been personally visited by a committee of the member(s) to validate and ascertain the documents submitted by every individual and institute. Always ASDF Global Awards aims at finding the right person after proper authentication and awarding them. The President of Global Awards has assured that the same trust and reliability of the Global Awards will be the primary motto and the same will be adhered with.Widely closing the committee along with the International Secretary of ASDF K. Kokula Krishna Hari and ASDF President (Incumbent-India) Gunasegaran Sengodan gave an open call for all the public to be as a part of this Global Awards and witness the victory of people on 30th December, 2017 at Holiday Inn Resorts Goa, Goa, Republic of India. Along with the President of ASDF Global Awards the Global President of Techno Forum Group S. Prithiv Rajan, Julie Rue Bishop, Daniel James, Rajkumar Sugumaran, Saikishore Elangovan, Manikandan Ayyapan, Kemplong Municief and other members were present.Asociation of Scientists, Developers and Faculties aims purely in the development of knowledge in all the means of the sharing the knowledge among the people and enhancing the wide research capabilities of the individuals. Criteria for being a member of this society is highly relaxed so that even the members around the average line could be as a member and share their views on a particular concept or technology.ASDF is a Professional Body which approves members after reviewing the case by case. Offering free of charge a membership will be good for holding the name, but to note it down the actions of the society will not be up to the mark. ASDF is a not for profit autonomous International Research Organisation and learned society focusing on improving the quality of Research Globally.ASDF organises International Conferences, Workshops, Seminars and Symposias where the platform for sharing the knowledge among the people will be facilitated. ASDF also provides Technically Sponsorship and Technical Co-sponsorship for various Conferences held by various organisations and institutions. There are various grants available for the members.RMZ Milenia Business Park, Unit 602A, Phase 2,Campus 4B, 6th Floor, No 143, Dr. M.G.R RoadKadanchavady, Perungudi, Chennai  600 096.India
Border Security Market Trends, Emerging vendors, Region Forecast and Manufacturers in 2017-2021

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https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/border-security-market

Market Highlights:A sharp rise in terrorism globally has put the focus back on protection of the national boundaries on the state radars. The issue of border protection was minor especially in the European Continent until a few years back. The Schengen agreement allowed free movement in the amongst the members of the European Union, which had allowed for less investment in the border protection measures. Russia controlled overwhelming majority of the market. But the rise of ISIS and the incessant inflow of refugees has forced the members of the European Union to strengthen their border security apparatus.Unmanned Aerial Systems like the perimeter surveillance and detection systems are gaining immense popularity in the market. The air based border security systems market will experience the fastest rate of growth in the forecast period.Border Security Market is highly competitive, and vendors compete on the basis of cost, composite material quality, reliability, and market share. To survive and succeed in such an intensely competitive environment, it is crucial for vendors to optimize their product development process to provide cost-effective and high-quality materials and parts.The key strategies traced from the analysis of recent developments of the key players include Product Launch, Agreement & Partnership, Acquisition and expansion. Strategic partnerships between Key players support the growth and expansion plans of the key players during the forecast period. On the product and sales side, companies are investing in innovation/R&D, brand building, and fostering strong relationships with customers to support their competitive position.Request a Sample Report @Major Key PlayersAirbus group,Boeing,Cobham,DRS Technologies,Northrop Grumman,Elbit Systems,Embraer Defense & Security,FLIR Systems,General Atomics Systems,General DynamicsGlobal Border Security Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 8% during 2016-2021. The key factors driving the growth are demand for mobile warfare systems, driverless cargo inspection systems, demand for persistent ISR, and demand for aerostat and blimps.Industry/ Innovation/ Related News:September 12, 2017 - Airbus Tetra technology is integral part of the next generationAirbus_Modem2.jpg electronic verification system to transmit data and information of vessel locations off the coast. Airbus provides its latest Tetra modem TW1m to the telecom company Atlas in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It will be used to integrate confidential data, such as GPS positioning and text messages into the Atlas vessel identification system which is run by a government agency.September 12, 2017 - U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) awarded Elbit Systems of America, LLC, a contract to provide an in-fill radar system and tower. The amount of the award is not material to Elbit Systems Ltd, the parent company of Elbit Systems of America. The work is being performed in Texas. This program is another example of Elbit Systems of America delivering solutions supporting CBP's mission to protect U.S. borders.July 6, 2017 - Airbus Defence and Space has expanded its WorldDEM portfolio with the launch of WorldDEM4Ortho. Tailored for orthorectification of high and very high resolution optical and radar satellite data, WorldDEM4Ortho will enable corrections of all distortions induced by the topographical variations of the Earths surface and satellite orientation when acquiring an image. Covering the Earths entire land surface, WorldDEM4Ortho is the most consistent and accurate elevation model for orthorectification on a global scale.Browse Full Report Details @Regional AnalysisAsia-Pacific region will also see major activity in the border protection space. The conflict in the South China Sea has forced the nations such as Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan to strengthen the border security measures against the Chinese. India also will be a major market going into the future as it seeks to neutralize its troublesome neighbors. South Korea and Japan will be implementing incremental features to counter the threats from North Korea and China respectively. The European market along with the Asia Pacific region will be as a result the fastest growing market in the forecast period.Saudi Arabia is constructing a 600 mile wall on the Iraq border where it installed state of the art Spexer 2000 radar, which can detect pedestrians at a range of 17kms and helicopters up to a range of 36kms. Saudi Arabia, Iran and Egypt recently joined hands to fight against ISIS and this is expected to give a big boost to the market not only in Saudi Arabia but in the whole region.Target Audience Government/Military Agency Border Security Products OEMs Component Suppliers Potential Investors Key executive (CEO and COO) and strategy growth managerAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
By PTI: Amaravati, Dec 27 (PTI) President Ram Nath Kovind today inaugurated Andhra Pradesh Fibre Grid project to facilitate availability of high-speed internet for all in the state at a nominal rate and said governments always have to be "online, on-time and on the ball" using technology as the enabler.

"In a 24x7 hyper-connected world, governments and administrations cannot afford to be reactive. They have to be online, on-time and on the ball. Technology is the enabler that allows this," the President said in his address after inaugurating the project at the Secretariat here.

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The Fibre Grid project is aimed at providing high-speed internet service to every household in Andhra Pradesh at a nominal rate. It will also ensure that every household in the state has access to cable television and telephone connection.

The state government yesterday said that after the projects inauguration, fibre grid connections would be available to around one lakh households with 100 per cent connectivity in 55 villages.

"We are moving towards a paradigm where technology is not an optional add-on to governance but more or less drives modern governance," he added.

Referring to the Andhra governments Real-Time Governance initiative, the President noted that such integration of technologies with the entire range of government responsibilities was worthy of appreciation.

"Today, I have inaugurated the AP Fibre Grid, AP Surveillance Project and AP Drone Project. These are aimed at leveraging technology to improve governance and enhance the lives of the citizens," he said.

Kovind said Andhra Pradesh lived up to its reputation as innovator of technology adoption and praised Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

"This was extremely impressive and would go a long way in realising the dream of Digital AP within the wider framework of Digital India and, of course, the Government of Indias BharatNet project that is taking broadband connectivity to every gram panchayat," the President said.

He said that from an "expensive luxury" even a decade ago, the data Internet access today became a utility "as much as a basic need as water, electricity and cooking gas".

"Data connectivity is such a tool of human empowerment and of social change. We are moving towards a plug-and-play system where it will be the norm for houses and office spaces to configure with broadband connectivity," Kovind said.

Underlining the "multiple benefits" of internet, Kovind said that common citizens are finding uses for and benefits from using data access that "we could not have imagined".

"Farmers and small producers in rural areas use Internet connectivity to contact buyers in distant locations and make themselves aware of the real value of their products," Kovind said.

Similarly, digital classrooms and tele-medicine could help people leapfrog traditional handicaps, he said.

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"They can expand the circle of knowledge as well as make quality healthcare and diagnosis available even in distant places," he said.

Commending the AP governments cloud-based virtual classroom system, the President remarked that it would "level the field" between better-off children in big cities and talented children in rural areas who simply didnt have the physical advantages that their urban peers have.

Kovind was also all praise for the APs Real-Time Governance (RTG) Centre which, he said, was the biggest in Asia.

"RTG is virtually a state secretariat in Cyberspace providing several services to its citizens. All this is only an appetiser. When the state capital Amaravati is fully constructed, it is expected to be the most technologically- compatible city in India. If I could put it so, it is expected to be Indias leading Technopolis," the President said.

Kovind said he was happy to learn that the state government was using drones to provide real-time information for governance.

"This will have multiple benefits in security and policing, mining, urban development, raising agricultural productivity, measuring forest cover, anticipating natural and other disasters, etc. Again, this is a model for other states to follow," he added.

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Observing that the projects he launched today were a build up to what Amaravati and Andhra Pradesh would represent, Kovind said, "AP people and people of India were looking forward to that".

"After all, they have come to expect nothing but a quest for excellence from Chandrababu Naidu. I wish him and people of AP a bright and sunny future," Kovind added.

Governor E S L Narasimhan, N Chandrababu Naidu, Supreme Court judge N V Ramana, Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Y S Chowdary, Assembly Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao, ministers and top bureaucrats attended the event.

Later, the President visited a photo exhibition on the proposed designs of government buildings, including the Legislature and the High Court complexes, that would come up in Amaravati.

He also visited the Real-Time Governance Centre in the Block-1 of the Secretariat.

The chief minister explained the various aspects of the functioning of RTG, use of drones and surveillance cameras, video-conferencing facility.

Later, the CM hosted lunch for the President and the first lady.

Kovind then flew to New Delhi from the Vijayawada airport. PTI DBV NSK MKJ

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Maritime Security Market Global Trends, Key Vendors Analysis, Import & Export, Revenue by Forecast 2021

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https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/maritime-security-market

Market Highlights:Maritime security agencies protect the nation from various threats such as smuggling, drug trafficking, piracy, human trafficking, and maritime terrorism. These agencies provide port facility and vessel security.The increase in terrorism through sea routes such as the 2008 attack on Mumbai and the rise of piracy in Gulf of Aden have raised concerns regarding port security. This had also led to the modernization of weapons and equipment used by security agencies around the world.The demand for various modern equipment in maritime security is increasing due to the increase in number of illegal immigrants around the world. This has resulted in an increased demand for automated systems such as EO detection systems, underwater acoustic weapon systems, electronic fence, MIRA Autonomous Control Equipment (MACE), and integrated security system. In addition, there has been significant growth in demand for small satellites that are used to monitor merchant ships. These provide images and videos from less than 3-16 feet. These are also cost effective and are used for deriving environmental data.The growing defense budget across various nations has led to an increase in R&D investments as well as an increase in number of contracts for maritime security systems. Vendors are focusing on providing better surveillance systems, communication systems, upgraded weapons, stealth UUVs, sensors, and underwater contraband threats. The market has also witnessed the shift towards unmanned surface vessel (USVs), which are cost effective and fully autonomous.Request a Sample Report @Major Key PlayersBoeing,Israel Aerospace Industries,Raytheon,Thales,Northrop Grumman,Lockheed Martin,GE Aviation,SpaceXViaSat.The global Maritime Security Market is expected to reach billion by 2021, to grow at a CAGR of around 9%. With the growing incident of piracy and trade of illegal goods, the operators have started integrating small satellites to track maritime vessels.Industry/ Innovation/ Related News:October 23, 2017 - General Dynamics NASSCO hosted a christening and naming ceremony for the Navys newest Expeditionary Sea Base, the USNS Hershel Woody Williams (ESB 4). The ships namesake, Hershel Woodrow Woody Williams, spoke at the ceremony, and his two daughters, Travie Ross and Tracie Ross, officially named and christened the ship with the traditional break of a champagne bottle alongside the ship. Williams, a retired U. S. Marine, received the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. He is the last surviving recipient of the Medal of Honor from that battle.October 1, 2017:- Northrop Grumman Corporation will highlight its advanced global security capabilities at the Pacific International Maritime Exposition 2017, Oct. 3-5 in Sydney, Australia. Committed to assisting the fully-integrated joint Australian Defence Force, Northrop Grumman's portfolio of advanced maritime systems operates across the full spectrum of modern naval operations, including maritime domain awareness, C4ISR, resilient networked operations, broad area surveillance, unmanned aircraft systems for maritime and coastal surveillance, radar and mine detection systems, and precision marine navigation. In addition to product displays, company representatives and subject matter experts will be available to engage the media on these topics.January 5, 2016:- General Dynamics NASSCO delivered three lead ships in 2015: USNS Lewis B. Puller, the Isla Bella and the Lone Star State. Each vessel represents three new and separate ship classes and highlights the diverse portfolio of commercial and government contracts for the San Diego-based shipbuilding company.Browse Full Report @SegmentsFor the convenience of the report and enhanced understanding; The Maritime Security Market is segmented in to 3 key dynamicsSegmentation by Category: Port & Shipyard, Vessel Security, and Coastal Surveillance.Segmentation by System: Screening & Tracking, Detectors, Access Control, Communication, and Surveillance.Segmentation by Regions: Comprises Geographical regions - Americas (North & Latin), Europe, APAC and Middle East & Africa.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
Aerospace Additive Manufacturing Market Size, Share, Growth, Analysis Forecast to 2021

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Market Highlights:Additive manufacturing is a process that can build a three-dimensional object based on a CAD digital model. AM uses an 'additive' process, where an object is built by applying materials in successive layers as per the CAD design. Unlike the conventional manufacturing, which involves 'subtractive' process (e.g., cutting, drilling, milling) and forming (bending, shaping), the AM process requires minimum or no tooling to build the finished product.Weight reduction is a key necessity in modern aircraft design as it helps to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. AM can create parts that are lightweight while also reducing the consumption of materials used, in comparison to the conventional manufacturing techniques. AM provides with the possibility to manufacture on-site, as and when required. It simplifies and shortens the manufacturing supply chain. AM also contributes to reduce or eliminate tooling, welding, inventory and entire assembly lines. AM also provides with the ease of manufacturing for complex parts and increased design freedoms. Increased utilization and acceptance of AM in the aerospace industry has further accelerated the growth of the market.However, there are various hurdles hampering the rapid commercialization and wide-scale utilization of AM, for aerospace parts and products. The current AM technology is not yet capable enough to compete with conventional manufacturing techniques in terms of speed of production and reliability. There are also issues associated with limited choices for materials (only a fraction of materials used for conventional manufacturing are currently suitable for AM process).Get a Sample Report @Some of the key players in the Global Aerospace Additive Manufacturing Market are 3D Systems, Arcam, EOS, ExOne, Stratasys, ATI, Carpenter Technology, Concept laser, CRP Technology, Optomec, Proto Labs, Renishaw, SLM Solutions, and Voxeljet.Global Aerospace Additive Manufacturing Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 21% during 2016-2021.Industry/ Innovation/ Related News:November 7, 2017 - 3D Systems announced award of a new 3-year contract with BMW. The contract for the companys On Demand Manufacturing (ODM) Services includes production of 3D printed parts that BMW will use for design and functional prototypes.July 10, 2017:- GE Additive made significant strides within the aerospace industry at the recent Paris Air Show by forging strategic supplier agreements, announcing a unique new additive machine, and meeting hundreds of potential customers. While GE Additive has been engaged in the revolutionary additive manufacturing technology for decades. Through acquisitions and billions of dollars in internal technology investments, GE Additive is aggressively industrializing the technology across several industries.Browse Full Report @Regional AnalysisThe US is the single largest market for AM industry worldwide. The US leads in production and sales of industrial grade AM machines. Major AM systems producers such as Stratasys and 3D Systems are also based in the US, which have pushed the innovation in AM technology and have helped to increase the adoption of AM.US also has an advanced aerospace manufacturing base and spends a substantial amount on large R&D projects. However, the traditional manufacturing base are slowly shifting towards the APAC region, because of competitive and low-cost manufacturing capability in APAC. AM provides an important opportunity to the US to develop the high-tech manufacturing capability, and revive the competitiveness and market potential of the US manufacturing industry. Despite the current limitations of AM in terms of large scale production capability, AM provides unique opportunities to the aerospace sector, mainly to produce low-volume, and highly complex products.Many companies have realized the superior benefits of AM in comparison to the conventional manufacturing, and have employed AM to achieve supply chain efficiencies, and reduced time-to-market. As a result, AM has received the much needed attention in policy as well as manufacturing circles in the US.Target Audience Aerospace Additive OEMs 3D Manufacturing OEMs Component Suppliers Aftermarket suppliers Research Institute / Education Institute Potential Investors Key executive (CEO and COO) and strategy growth managerAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.ContactMarket Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
Aerostat Systems Market by Key Players, Regional Segmentation and Forecasts, 2017  2021

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Market Highlights:An aerostat is a platform which utilizes lighter than air gases such as hydrogen, helium and hot air gases. These gases help the aerostat to produce lift with the same overall as air. Aerostats include powered airships and unpowered balloons. These balloons are tethered to the ground. The components of aerostat include light weight skin which comprises of helium gas to provide payload, buoyancy and ground station. Aerostat are used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance by military forces and also in civilian observation.Aerostat has wide range of applications in the commercial and military forces. The operating cost associated with aerostat is low when compared with unmanned aerial systems which are expensive and have limited endurance. Aerostat requires less crew for its operation and also the maintenance is low because it has less mechanical parts. The versatility of applications provided by aerostat is producing the demand for persistent ISR and also for the homeland security which is driving the market.The vendors are facing technical difficulties which are driving up the costs and also resulting in the delays in the schedule. Also, there are operational hazards associated with aerostats during the lightning and high wind speed. So, the operating the aerostat in those condition has become one of the major threat.Request a Sample Report @Some of the key players in the Aerostat Systems Market are AUGUR-RosAeroSystems, Raven Industries Inc., Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Exelis Inc., Allsopp Helikites Ltd., ILC Dover, L.P., Israel Aerospace Industries, Lindstrand Technologies Limited, and Drone AviationGlobal Aerostat Systems Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 13% during 2016-2021. The factors behind such significant growth are growing demand of surveillance and intelligence from military and homeland security agencies.Industry/ Innovation/ Related News:July 23, 2015: Reliance Unmanned Systems has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Augur Overseas Operation of Singapore to manufacture Aerostats and Airships in India.June 1, 2015  Raven Industries has been awarded a firm-fixed price (FFP) contract through the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division Lakehurst, N.J. for the procurement of Exportable Persistent Ground Surveillance Systems (EPGSS), spare equipment and technical support. The tethered aerostat contract was awarded for approximately $6 million and is expected to be delivered over the next 12 months.June 2015: AUGUR-RosAeroSystems announces to build lighter-than-air military airships capable of carrying 200 personnel and travelling up to 105 mph without the need for a runawayBrowse Full Report @Aerostat Systems Market  SegmentsSegmentation by Type: Ballon, Airship, and Hybrid.Segmentation by Class: Compact-Sized, Mid-Sized, Large-Sized.Segmentation by Payloads: EO/IS, CI, INS, Radar, Thermal Imaging Camera.Segmentation by Regions: Comprises Geographical regions - Americas (North & Latin), Europe, APAC and Middle East & Africa.Aerostat Systems Market  Regional AnalysisAerostat is used for surveillance and border security and US being a largest military spender across the world are investing in aerostat systems. Some of the investments such as, Drone Aviation received an order to enhance the aerostat systems from a prime contractor of defense in US. The main purpose is to enhance systems where new technologies such as advanced optics, wireless electronics, infrared images and communication package are used.The pentagon also has plans to deliver USD 1 billion weapon systems to Iraq that will help them to protect from terrorist. The systems include seven aerostats, 14 rapid aerostat initial deployment tower systems with an estimated cost of USD 90 million including the other equipment's and services which is likely to contribute for the growth of the market.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
Workforce Analytics Market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 13% by Forecast to 2023

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https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/workforce-analytics-market-4607

Market Highlights:Workforce analytics is a platform designed by the combination of software and algorithms implementing the statistical models to the work force related data giving the benefit to the enterprises to efficiently optimize the human resources management. The result of the workforce analytics allows the organizations to develop and improve the methods of recruiting and effectively take the hiring decisions. Additionally the analytics software help the organizations identify the new positions needs and predicting the success of the employee. This proves a great benefit to the higher management in identifying the factors that influence the employee job satisfaction.With the advancements in technology and increase in the global trade, it has made a huge impact on the work culture across the globe for different organizations resulting in the decrease of the skilled workforce. This dynamic change in the workforce has made the management to utilize the workforce analytics to better optimize the customer needs and employee workforce.The market for workforce analytics is segmented by type, deployment, organization size, industry vertical and by region. On the basis of type, it is divided into solutions and services. Services are further bifurcated as consulting service, system integration service, and managed services. The services segment is dominating the market for workforce analytics by type due to changing workforce and labor challenges that are faced by the enterprises globally. Also, due to the changing work dynamics and different governmental labor rules and regulations, the demand for consulting services is growing and is expected to grow significantly in the forecasted period. The segmentation is also done on the basis of deployment. Under deployment, the cloud-based workforce analytics is leading segment in Workforce Analytics Market majorly due to ease of implementation and user-friendly environmental features. The market is also divided into large organizations and SMEs under organization size for the industry verticals like banking, insurance, government, retail, and logistics, healthcare and manufacturing.Major Key Players: ADP LLC (U.S.), Aquire, Inc (U.S.) Cornerstone OnDemand Inc (U.S.) Genpact Ltd (Bermuda) IBM Corporation (U.S.) Kronos Inc (U.S.) Oracle Corporation (U.S.) PeopleSreme Pty. Ltd (Australia) SAP SE (Germany) Tableau Software (U.S.) Tower Watson & Co (U.S.) Visier Inc (Canada) Workday Inc (U.S.) WorkForce Software, LLC (U.S.)Request a Sample Report @Regional Analysis:On the basis of region, the market for workforce analytics is divided into North America, Europe, Asia pacific and rest of the world. North America region is leading the market in workforce analytics majorly due to the presence of big and large number of vendors. Also Increase in the early adoption of cloud - based workforce analytics from U.S and Canadian companies with the shift towards software as a service in cloud-based workforce analytics. Following North America is Europe and Asia pacific.Increase in infrastructure and awareness of benefits of workforce analytics across the Asia Pacific regions are expected to grow the market during the forecast period. India, China, and Japan these are the countries have the highest market share of workforce analytics market. Rapid economic development in the region, increasing citizen prosperity is playing a key role in the growth of this market.Various dynamic and diversified international organizations, domestic organizations and as well as new entrants form a competitive landscape. The leaders are innovating continuously and increasingly seeking market expansion through various strategic mergers and acquisitions, innovation, increasing investments in research and development and cost-effective product portfolio.Segments:For the purpose of this study, Market Research Future has segmented the market of workforce analytics into type, deployment, organization size, industry vertical and region.Type Solution ServicesDeployment On Premise On CloudOrganization Size Large SMEsIndustry Vertical Banking Insurance Government Retail Logistics Healthcare ManufacturingRegion North America Europe Asia pacific Rest of the world.Browse Full Report Details @Intended Audience Storage providers Network providers Banking Institutions Insurance providers Higher management Research firms Software investors Software Developers Software Testers Analytics solutions providers IT enablers Database solutions Cloud providers Insurance companies Banks Telecommunication companiesTable of Contents1 Market Introduction1.1 Introduction1.2 Scope of Study1.2.1 Research objective1.2.2 Assumptions1.2.3 Limitations1.3 Market Structure2 Research Methodology2.1 Research Workforce Analytics2.2 Primary Research2.3 Secondary Research2.4 Forecast Model2.4.1 Market Data Collection, Analysis & Forecast2.4.2 Market Size EstimationContinuedList of TablesTable 1 Workforce Analytics Market, By TypeTable 2 Workforce Analytics Market, By DeploymentTable 3 Workforce Analytics Market, By Organization SizeContinuedList of FiguresFigure 1 Research TypeFigure 2 Workforce Analytics Market, By Type (%)Figure 3 Workforce Analytics Market, By Deployment (%)ContinuedAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Market Research FutureOffice No. 524/528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
Egypt Cards and Payments Industry Market 2017: Key Players  Arab African International Bank, Egyptian Banks Company, HSBC, Qatar National Bank and More

Egypt Cards and Payments Industry Market

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SUMMARYWiseGuyReports published new report, titled The Cards and Payments Industry in Egypt: Emerging trends and opportunities"The Cards and Payments Industry in Egypt: Emerging trends and opportunities to 2020" report provides detailed analysis of market trends in the Egyptian cards and payments industry. It provides values and volumes for a number of key performance indicators in the industry, including credit transfers, payment cards, cash, and cheques during the review-period (2012-16e).The report also analyzes various payment card markets operating in the industry, and provides detailed information on the number of cards in circulation, transaction values and volumes during the review-period and over the forecast-period (2016-20f). It also offers information on the country's competitive landscape, including the market shares of issuers and schemes.The report brings together research, modeling, and analysis expertise to allow banks and card issuers to identify segment dynamics and competitive advantages. The report also covers details of regulatory policy and recent changes in the regulatory structure.This report provides top-level market analysis, information and insights into the Egyptian cards and payments industry, including - Current and forecast values for each market in the Egyptian cards and payments industry, including debit and credit cards.- Detailed insights into payment instruments including credit transfers, cash, cheques, and payment cards. It also, includes an overview of the country's key alternative payment instruments.- E-commerce market analysis and payment methods.- Analysis of various market drivers and regulations governing the Egyptian cards and payments industry.- Detailed analysis of strategies adopted by banks and other institutions to market debit and credit cards.GET SAMPLE REPORT @Companies mentionedArab African International BankCommercial International BankEgyptian Banks CompanyNational Bank of EgyptBanque MisrQatar National BankALEXBANK-Intesa SanpaoloHSBCCredit Agricole EgyptScope- To replenish depleting foreign reserves and reduce illegal foreign currency trading in the country, the central bank directed banks to adopt measures to regulate the international use of Egyptian pound-denominated debit cards in 2016. Every bank must enforce a cap on payment card transactions and cash withdrawal limits for international transactions. Following the announcement, Credit Agricole Egypt banned the use of Egyptian pound-denominated debit cards abroad with effect from September 1, 2016. Likewise, CIB has reduced the limit on oversees spending on Egyptian pound-denominated debit cards. The maximum monthly purchase limit of its Classic, Titanium, and Platinum cards are $50 (EGP906.60), $150 (EGP2,719.90), and $300 (EGP5,439.70) respectively.- Alternative payments are slowly gaining prominence in Egypt. Visa in association with QNB Alahli Bank launched its mobile payment solution mVisa in Egypt in May 2017. The service allows users to make in-store payments by scanning a QR code or entering the merchants identification number. Banque Misr launched its mobile wallet BM Wallet in February 2017, allowing customers to transfer funds to individuals in Egypt, withdraw cash, make utility bill payments, and conduct in-store purchases at participating merchants. Similarly, CIB introduced its Smart Wallet in January 2016, allowing customers to conduct purchases, make utility bill payments, and pay for ticketing and mobile recharges.- To increase financial inclusion and promote electronic payments, the Central Bank of Egypt introduced new regulations on mobile payment services in November 2016. Banks must now employ agents in remote areas to provide banking services to unbanked and low-income individuals. Users can transfer funds from their mobile account to other accounts within the same bank. Additionally, micro-enterprises and small merchants can receive payments from customers on their mobile accounts. The service enables consumers to receive cross-border family remittances on their mobile accounts, and the money transferred can be disbursed by beneficiaries through agents.Key points to buy- Make strategic business decisions, using top-level historic and forecast market data, related to the Egyptian cards and payments industry and each market within it.- Understand the key market trends and growth opportunities in the Egyptian cards and payments industry.- Assess the competitive dynamics in the Egyptian cards and payments industry.- Gain insights into marketing strategies used for various card types in Egypt.- Gain insights into key regulations governing the Egyptian cards and payments industry...CONTINUEDFor accessing accurate and deep understanding and to gain latest insights and key developments in the area of your interest, we also have a list of conferences in which you will be interested in, for more information, cordially checkFor updating knowledge or for thoroughly understanding various terminologies, we also have vast list of seminars for your reference, for more information cordially checkWise Guy Reports understand how essential statistical surveying information is for your organization or association. Therefore, we have associated with the top publishers and research firms all specialized in specific domains, ensuring you will receive the most reliable and up to date research data available. We also provide COTS (Commercial off the Shelf) business sector reports as custom exploration agreeing your particular needs.WISEGUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersPune - 411028Maharashtra, India
Future of Foodservice Italy Market 2017: Key Players McDonald's, Old Wild West, Spizzico, Burger King

Future of Foodservice Italy

https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/2659633-italy-the-future-of-foodservice-to-2021

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Summary"Italy - The Future of Foodservice to 2021", Consumer, provides extensive insight and analysis of Italys Foodservice market over the next five years (2016-2021) and acts as a vital point of reference for operators or suppliers.Overall revenue in the Italian profit foodservice sector rose at a CAGR of 2.0% between 2014 and 2016. Valued at over EUR 40 billion in 2016, coffee and tea shops represent the most valuable profit sector channel. Overall revenue in the Italian profit foodservice sector rose at a CAGR of 2.0% between 2014 and 2016. Valued at over EUR 40 billion in 2016, coffee and tea shops represent the most valuable profit sector channel. The Italian foodservice market is highly fragmented in all channels, with the exception of QSR.GET SAMPLE REPORT @Companies mentionedA Cento SpaAutogrill SpaBottega Dei SaporiBurger KingCigierre SpaFratelli La BufalaGruppo CremoniniGruppo la PiadineriaGruppo SebetoHard Rock Cafe International Inc.Illy Caffe SpaKimbo SpaLuigi Lavazza SpaMcDonald'sOld Wild WestRestaurant Brands InternationalRoadhouse GrillSegafredo Zanetti SpaSpizzicoConsumers are largely traditional and value Italian food above all other options. Most also prefer local and independently-run outlets, and this is especially evident in the large and fragmented coffee and tea shop channel.During Italy's recession, consumers became increasingly value-focused when visiting the foodservice market and the QSR channel benefited from this trend, at the expense of FSR. There has also been a shift in focus towards convenience dining, as consumers are forced to work longer hours. Key opportunities therefore exist for operators capable of combining a greater level of convenience and value with the Italian love of localism.The report includes -- Overview of Italys macro-economic landscape: Detailed analysis of current macro-economic factors and their impact on Italys foodservice market including GDP per capita, consumer price index, population growth and annual household income distribution.- Growth dynamics: In-depth data and forecasts of key channels (QSR, FSR, Coffee & Tea Shops, Pubs, Clubs and Bars) within Italys foodservice market, including the value of the market, number of transactions, number of outlets and average transaction price.- Customer segmentation: identify the most important demographic groups, buying habits and motivations that drive out-of-home meal occasions among segments of the Italian population.- Key players: Overview of market leaders within the four major channels including business descriptions and number of outlets.- Case Studies: Learn from examples of recent successes and failures within the Italian foodservice market.Scope- A weak economy has driven consumers to become increasingly value focused when eating out-of-home, driving sector-leading growth in inexpensive and convenience-led channels (i.e. coffee and tea shops and QSR) during 2016-2021.- Coffee shops and traditional FSR are ingrained into Italian culture. Visit frequency is notably high in coffee shops, with visits firmly embedded into consumers routines. However, some consumer groups are beginning to demand more options from the channel, especially with regard to food. Although FSR are seeing increased competition from an improving QSR channel, FSR operators should not be tempted to compete solely on price.- Localism rules in Italy. Although QSR operators have previously been regarded as an affront to Italian cuisine, many are introducing increasingly localized products to appeal to traditional consumers. However, most consumers still associate the channel primarily with convenience, rather than high quality food.Reasons to buy- Specific forecasts of the foodservice market over the next five years (2016-2021) will give readers the ability to make informed business decisions through identifying emerging/declining markets.- Consumer segmentation detailing the desires of known consumers among all major foodservice channels (QSR, FSR, Coffee & Tea shops, Pubs, Clubs and Bars) will allow readers to understand the wants and needs of their target demographics.- Relevant case studies will allow readers to learn from and apply lessons discovered by emerging and major players within Italys foodservice market.Table of Content: Key PointsIntroductionReport GuideExecutive SummaryMacroeconomic ContextGDP and Consumer Price IndexPopulation and demographic highlightsAnnual household income distributionIntroducing the Consumer SegmentsConsumer segment profiles and key identification metricsSegment engagement overview in four key profit sector channelsProfit Sector MetricsKey metric highlightsValue share and growth by channelOutlets and transactions growth by channelOperator buying volumes and growth by channelChannel historic and future growth dynamicsOutlet type and type of ownership growth dynamicsProfit Sector by ChannelQuick Service Restaurants (QSR)Summary and key take-outMetricsKey playersKey consumersWhy?What?Where?What next?ContinuedACCESS REPORT @Get in touch:LinkedIn:Twitter:Facebook:Wise Guy Reports understand how essential statistical surveying information is for your organization or association. Therefore, we have associated with the top publishers and research firms all specialized in specific domains, ensuring you will receive the most reliable and up to date research data available. We also provide COTS (Commercial off the Shelf) business sector reports as custom exploration agreeing your particular needs.WISE GUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersPune - 411028Maharashtra, India
Global Car Carrier market 2017 - CIMC, Boydstun, Cottrell, Kassbohrer, Dongfeng Trucks, MAN

Global Car Carrier market

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https://goo.gl/1dBjmh

www.apexmarketreports.com

Apex Market Research, recently published a detailed market research study focused on the "Car Carrier Market" across the global, regional and country level. The report provides 360 analysis of "Car Carrier Market" from view of manufacturers, regions, product types and end industries. The research report analyses and provides the historical data along with current performance of the global Car Carrier industry, and estimates the future trend of Car Carrier market on the basis of this detailed study. The study shares "Car Carrier Market" performance both in terms of volume and revenue.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here:Top Manufacturers Analysis of This ReportMiller IndustriesCIMCBoydstunCottrellKassbohrerDongfeng TrucksMANLandollKentucky TrailersDelavanWally-Mo TrailerInfinity TrailerThe market research report explores the Car Carrier market across the globe along with major regions and countries. The research report provides a detailed study on each and every aspect of "Car Carrier Market". The research report studies the entire value chain from raw material to end user industries. The report also shares import/export statistics along with production and consumption for all major regions and countries. Moreover, the research study classifies the Car Carrier market based on major product types, application and end users industries of Car Carrier. Besides, the report also covers geographical segmentation for Car Carrier market. The report further provides production, capacity, price per region, gross margin, production cost, for all major regions and countries listed in report.The competitive landscape of the global market for Car Carrier is determined by assessing the major industry participants, production capacity, production capacity utilization rate, Car Carrier market's production chain, pricing by each manufacturer and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Car Carrier market globally.Enquire Before Buying @The global Car Carrier market 2017 is further analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Car Carrier production volume, data pertaining to demand and Car Carrier supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. The report provides upstream and downstream analysis covering major raw material used in manufacturing of Car Carrier along with detailed manufacturing sources. The report also shares list of major raw material manufacturers along with their manufacturing locations. Detailed raw material price trend analysis along with manufacturing cost analysis is also incorporated into the report. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, SWOT analysis and market attractiveness analysis has been implemented in the research study to present a comprehensive, detailed study of the industry for Car Carrier across the world.About UsApex Market Reports offers elevating market research globally. We have collection of various syndicated reports of different categories. Apex Market Reports provides you to best services, weather youre searching for new trends in market or competitive scenario in emerging market.Customers can buys different reports across various categories such as Chemical and Material, Biotechnology, Healthcare, Food and beverages, Automobile and various sectors. Our Website offers safe and secure online ordering experience, convenient payment options.Contact UsFrank ValadezCorporate Sales Specialist155 North Wacker Drive, Suite 4250Chicago, IL 60606Phone: +17739042683Email id - sales@apexmarketreports.comWebsite -
Global Accumulator Charging Valves Industry Will Be Fiercely Competitive in 2022

QYResearchReports

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Qyresearchreports include new market research report Accumulator Charging Valves to its huge collection of research reports.The global Accumulator Charging Valves market has been deeply evaluated in this publication with the help of both primary and secondary research and useful inputs provided by industry experts. The analysts who have prepared the publication have been among the best in the lot with sound understanding about almost all vital aspects of the market. The publication has come out as a detailed guideline for industry players to explore hidden prospects and take advantage of the best opportunities in the market. Players could also use the information presented in the publication to plan the best strategies that will help them to secure a strong position in the market.Get Sample Report of the Research Study at:By segregating the global Accumulator Charging Valves market into different segments, the analysts have offered crucial information that could help players to gain a competitive edge over their toughest opponents. Each segment studied in the publication has been meticulously evaluated with market figures to go by. This could help readers to tap into unexplored regions or other categories of segments and ensure a continuing success in the market. Besides segmentation, the publication has offered information on factors detaining market growth, backing them up with opportunities to counter the challenges about to show face in the near future.The analysts have also shed light on key aspects of the vendor landscape while profiling some of the leading companies operating in the global Accumulator Charging Valves market. Starting from the nature of the current and future competitive scenarios of the market, the publication has foreseen the future plans of leading companies to gain a strong foothold in the industry. This could help readers to stay cautioned about any surprising changes in the vendor landscape of the market beforehand. Furthermore, readers could use the information to build extraordinary strategies to strengthen their product portfolio and give a tough competition in the market.Global Accumulator Charging Valves market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingBosch RexrothMicoHYDACWeber HydraulikParkerLeader HydraulicsStauffNingbo Drift HydraulicPoclain HydraulicsNingbo Buck Accumulator TechnologyHydrotechnik UK...Read Complete Table of Content of the Report at:Table of ContentsGlobal Accumulator Charging Valves Market Research Report 20171 Accumulator Charging Valves Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Accumulator Charging Valves1.2 Accumulator Charging Valves Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Accumulator Charging Valves Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category)(2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Accumulator Charging Valves Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Single Accumulator Charging Valves1.2.4 Dual Accumulator Charging Valves1.2.5 Load Sensing Charging Valves1.2.6 High-Performance Accumulator Charging Valves1.3 Global Accumulator Charging Valves Segment by Application1.3.1 Accumulator Charging Valves Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Car1.3.3 Motorcycle1.3.4 Other1.4 Global Accumulator Charging Valves Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Accumulator Charging Valves Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 North America Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 India Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Accumulator Charging Valves (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Accumulator Charging Valves Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Accumulator Charging Valves Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)2 Global Accumulator Charging Valves Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Accumulator Charging Valves Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.1 Global Accumulator Charging Valves Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Accumulator Charging Valves Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Accumulator Charging Valves Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.3 Global Accumulator Charging Valves Average Price by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.4 Manufacturers Accumulator Charging Valves Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Accumulator Charging Valves Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Accumulator Charging Valves Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Accumulator Charging Valves Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion3 Global Accumulator Charging Valves Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)3.1 Global Accumulator Charging Valves Capacity and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.2 Global Accumulator Charging Valves Production and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.3 Global Accumulator Charging Valves Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.4 Global Accumulator Charging Valves Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.5 North America Accumulator Charging Valves Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.6 Europe Accumulator Charging Valves Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)...About QYResearchReports.comQyresearchreports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from Qyresearchreports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact US:Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-618-1030Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
Spectrum Analyzer Market Competitive Dynamics & Global Outlook 2024

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Spectrum analysis is also known as analyses of a gamut of frequencies or related quantities such as eigenvalues and energies among others. Spectrum analyzers are required for manufacturing, designing, engaging in field services/repairs of electrical devices to analyze the characteristics of a signal once it passes through system or device.Spectrum analyzers determine performance, detect problems and troubleshoot among others. These devices are commonly used to measure modulation, noise and distortion. Measurement of the quality of modulation is imperative for ensuring proper functioning of the system and that the transmission of information is smooth and correct.Measurement of distortion is imperative for both the transmitter and receiver. Further, tests such as noise figure and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) are important for characterizing the performance of a device and/or its contribution to overall system noise.Factors such as the rising demand for wireless technology among the consumers across the globe which has aided in the increased usage of spectrum analyzers is one of the key factors pushing the demand for this market.Obtain Report Details:Other key driving factors include, the rising adoption of portable and handheld spectrum analyzers, analyzers that are capable of multitasking, technological advancements in the field of spectrum analyzers, and bandwidth and frequency advancement.However, high demand for second hand spectrum analyzers is one of the major factors hindering the growth of the market at present. This is due to the high average price of such products due to which the end use industries prefer second hand spectrum analyzers in order to reduce the cost of production. Further, less availability of low cost spectrum analyzers with maximum features is another factor barring the growth of this industry.However, widespread operation of LTE (Long Term Evolution) services is expected to boost the demand for spectrum analyzers in the future, thus posing to be a suitable opportunity for the growth of this market.The market has been segmented on the basis of type into swept-tune spectrum analyzer, vector signal spectrum analyzer and real time spectrum analyzer. Swept tuned spectrum analyzers are further bifurcated into RF tuning method and super heterodyne.Additionally, real time spectrum analyzers have been bifurcated into FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) spectrum analyzer and parallel filter spectrum analyzer.Swept-tuned spectrum analyzer is expected to dominate this market owing to the increasing usage of the same due to maximum frequency coverage. Further, swept-tuned spectrum analyzers are traditional types of spectrum analyzers and they find application in telecommunication, A&D and medical sector among others.Benchtop spectrum analyzers held the major market share in terms of form factor compared to handheld spectrum analyzers and portable spectrum analyzers.Benchtop spectrum analyzers are the older form of spectrum analyzing equipments which are used across laboratories and production areas where it can be plugged into an AC power outlet. This type provides the best performance compared to its counter-parts and is used across several end use industries such as defense, and telecommunication among others.The market has also been classified on the basis of end use into automotive, defense and aerospace, IT and telecommunications, medical and healthcare, and semiconductors and electronics among others.Medical and healthcare dominated the global spectrum analyzers market owing to the advent of several new and advanced devices such as EEG and ECG among others that are used measure several medical parameters and these products need to be calibrated and tested using spectrum analyzers before they are handed over to the end users.Make Enquiry @North America accounted for the major market share and is expected to retain market dominance throughout the forecast period while Asia Pacific is expected to witness the fastest growth during the forecast period. Increasing R&D activities in the field of spectrum analyzers in terms of new areas for application is one of the major factors fuelling the demand for spectrum analyzers in Asia Pacific.The global spectrum analyzers market is marked by some intense competition by the major players operating in this field. Frequent mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and partnerships and product innovations are some of the key strategies adopted by these players in order to sustain in this market. Keysight Technologies, Fortive Corporation, Cobham Plc, Anritsu Corporation and Advantest Corporation are some of the major players operating in this market.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.About TMRTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact TMR90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email:sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Automotive Fuel Filter Market Forecast, Trend Analysis & Competition Tracking  Global Review 2017 to 2022

Automotive -Fuel -Filter

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Safeguarding the fuel lines in various vehicles continues to gain significant importance in the automotive industry. Subject to cluster of dander, contamination, and dust, the clogged fuel filters can disrupt the functioning of the engine and automotive. Clogged fuel filters further lead to insufficient supply of fuel, which leads to harmful emission after a series of coughing, and a complete shutdown. Accumulation of dander, contamination, dirt, and dust can further damage the other components of the engine including pistons and cylinders. Growing need to protect the engine from debris, contaminant, and dirt continues to rev up adoption of fuel filters in various vehicles.Request Free Sample Report-According to Fact.MR, the global automotive fuel filter market is expected to represent a value of over US$ 2,000 Mn by the end of 2022.Optimum Fuel Supply to Boost DemandThe fuel filters bridge the fuel tanks and the fuel pumps in order to eliminate any impurities from entering into the engine. With increasing demand for optimum efficiency and performance, automotive manufacturers are increasingly integrating fuel filters to prevent accumulation of debris, contaminants, and dirt. As the fuel filters prevent clogging in the fuel injectors, the vehicles deliver enhanced performance attributed to optimum fuel supply. Moreover, automotive fuel lines are also exposed to cold weather, and salt apart from wear and tear on the daily basis, due to which the vehicles are susceptible to corrosion, fraying, and cracking. Increasing demand for smooth functioning of the engine among customers continues to rev up adoption of fuel filters among the automotive manufacturers. Adoption of the fuel filters in several vehicles decreases the emissions, and economizes fuel consumption. In addition, integration of the fuel filters helps in protecting the fuel pumps and injectors.Replacement to Impact Growth of the Global MarketAutomotive fuel filters need to be replaced at regular intervals, as they undergo wear and tear over a period of time. This creates opportunities for replacement sales through OEMs. Over time with continuous use, the fuel injectors are subject to be sealed with debris, dust, and contaminations, due to which the pump exerts additional pressure to supply adequate fuel for the vehicle to function. Insufficient fuel results in inadequate burning, which damages the other components of the engine. Clogged fuel filters are harmful to the functioning of the automotive as it can lower the performance level gradually. With increasing demand for vehicles with enhanced performance in several industries, adoption of the fuel filters will continue to rev up. Demand for vehicles in the healthcare, agricultural, and transport industry is expected to impact growth of the global market.Browse Full Report with TOC-Market players are focusing on launching extended performance fuel filters that are equipped with the enhanced high-performance technology that extends the filter change intervals. Moreover, leading suppliers in the automotive industry are mainly focusing on developing advanced technology that will reduce the emission of CO2, and enhance the fuel economy. However, these filters are mainly developed for the gasoline direct injection engines. Such factors are further expected to impact growth of the global market positively.Compact Passenger Car to Remain a Dominant SegmentDiesel filter type is expected to outsell the gasoline filter type in the global market. This filter segment is expected to represent a value of over US$ 430 Mn by the end of 2022. However, gasoline filters is expected to register the highest CAGR in the global market throughout 2022.Sales of the automotive fuel filter through OEM is expected to represent a value of over US$ 230 Mn by the end of 2017. Moreover, sales through OEMs are expected to register the highest CAGR in the global market throughout 2022.On the basis of filter media, the report has segmented the market into synthetic, cellulose, and others. Cellulose filter media, albeit smaller in value, is projected to grow at the highest CAGR through 2022.Demand for fuel filters is highest in compact passenger cars. The segment, which is currently valued at nearly US$ 120 Mn, is likely to grow at the highest CAGR throughout the forecast period.Competitive TrackingLeading players operating in the global automotive fuel filter market include Donaldson Company Inc., Robert Bosch GmbH, Mahle Group, Denso Corporation, Sogefi SpA, K&N Engineering, Champion Laboratories Inc., Cummins Inc., FRAM Group IP LLC, Freudenberg & Co KG, Hengst SE & Co KG, Mann + Hummel GmbH, and UFI Filters Spa.Check Discount-About Fact.MRFact.MR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized market research reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; that's why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.Contact UsFact.MRSuite 988427 Upper Pembroke Street,Dublin 2, IrelandTelephone: +353-1-6111-593Email: sales@factmr.com/Web:
While addressing the centenary conference of the Indian Economic Association, President Ram Nath Kovind noticed that food packets were being distributed to participants. Here's what happened next.

President Ram Nath Kovind at the Centenary Conference of the Indian Economic Association in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh (Photo: Twitter: @rashtrapatibhvn)

By PTI, Press Trust of India: It is not often that he stops midway during a public speech, but that is what President Ram Nath Kovind did today to indicate his displeasure over the distribution of food packets among the delegates during his address at an Indian Economic Association conference here.

Briefly interrupting his address to gently prod the organisers for the faux pas, the president asked them to stop distributing the packets till his speech was over.

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While addressing the centenary conference of the association, Kovind noticed that the food packets were being distributed among the participants.

Two minutes into his speech, Kovind paused and looked at the audience as there was a sudden noise.

The volunteers had started distributing the food packets among the delegates and mediapersons and a group of students had got up from their seats in their hurry to grab them.

"What is happening in the economic world...I see the same picture at this conference also. I think some food packets are being distributed. Of course it is a must, but it has disturbed the system itself.

"Therefore, I request the organisers, will you please keep the distribution of food packets in abeyance for a little while," Kovind said, even as the stunned police personnel and officials intervened to stop the distribution.

The president then continued with his speech.

WATCH | Ram Nath Kovind takes oath as 14th President of India, says key to country's success is its diversity

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Global Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine Market is Projected to Grow at a Substantial Rate

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Qyresearchreports include new market research report Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine to its huge collection of research reports.The global Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine market has been deeply evaluated in this publication with the help of both primary and secondary research and useful inputs provided by industry experts. The analysts who have prepared the publication have been among the best in the lot with sound understanding about almost all vital aspects of the market. The publication has come out as a detailed guideline for industry players to explore hidden prospects and take advantage of the best opportunities in the market. Players could also use the information presented in the publication to plan the best strategies that will help them to secure a strong position in the market.Get Sample Report of the Research Study at:By segregating the global Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine market into different segments, the analysts have offered crucial information that could help players to gain a competitive edge over their toughest opponents. Each segment studied in the publication has been meticulously evaluated with market figures to go by. This could help readers to tap into unexplored regions or other categories of segments and ensure a continuing success in the market. Besides segmentation, the publication has offered information on factors detaining market growth, backing them up with opportunities to counter the challenges about to show face in the near future.The analysts have also shed light on key aspects of the vendor landscape while profiling some of the leading companies operating in the global Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine market. Starting from the nature of the current and future competitive scenarios of the market, the publication has foreseen the future plans of leading companies to gain a strong foothold in the industry. This could help readers to stay cautioned about any surprising changes in the vendor landscape of the market beforehand. Furthermore, readers could use the information to build extraordinary strategies to strengthen their product portfolio and give a tough competition in the market.Global Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingMerck & Co.Sanofi PasteurGSKShanghai InstituteBCHTChangshengKeygenGreen CrossBikenRead Complete Table of Content of the Report at:Table of ContentsGlobal Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine Market Research Report 20171 Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine1.2 Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category)(2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Monovalent Vaccine1.2.4 Combination Vaccine1.3 Global Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine Segment by Application1.3.1 Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Kids Injection1.3.3 Adults Injection1.4 Global Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 North America Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 India Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)2 Global Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.1 Global Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.3 Global Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine Average Price by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.4 Manufacturers Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion3 Global Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)3.1 Global Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine Capacity and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.2 Global Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine Production and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.3 Global Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.4 Global Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.5 North America Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.6 Europe Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.7 China Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)...About QYResearchReports.comQyresearchreports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from Qyresearchreports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact US:Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-618-1030Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
Vibrating Screens Market to Witness Steady Expansion During 2016-2026

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Vibrating screens are used to segregate feeds comprising solid and crushed ores down to approximately 210m and are also applicable to both dried and wetted feed. The vibrating motor and rubber sieve plate are the internal components of the vibrating screen. High frequency vibrating screens are primarily utilized in the mineral processing industries. Different vibrating screens are available in the market such as circular vibrating screens, gyratory screen, rotary vibrating screen, trammel screen, linear vibrating screens, etc. Factors such as amount of oversize and undersize material, type of material, shape of particles, moisture content, others govern the capacity of vibrating screens. The high frequency vibration screens operates at varying 0 to 25 degrees and can go up to a maximum of 45 degrees. The frequency range is from 15007200 RPM and should operate at a low stroke. As the apertures in the high frequency screen may cause blockage, pre-treatment of the feed is required. General design of a vibrating screens consists of screen web, bock, coupler, mainframe, rub spring and electric motor. Vibrating screens are widely used in coal, refractory, mining, building materials etc. and can be customized according to the requirement. Waste streams released from waste products should be treated as they may cause damage to the environment over a sustained period of time.Global Vibrating Screens Market: SegmentationVibrating screen market can be segmented on the basis of applications, motive mechanism, product type, production process, driving method and region. On the basis of application, vehicle screen market can be segmented into metallurgy, wood pelleting, food, chemical industry, mineral processing and reclaimed asphalt pavement. On the basis of motive mechanism, vehicle screen market can be segmented into hydraulic vibrator and electric vibrators. On the basis of product type, vehicle screen market can be segmented into linear vibrating screens and circular vibrating screens. On the basis of production process, vehicle screen market can be segmented into screen selection and pre-treatment of feed. On the basis of driving method, it can be segmented into direct drive and indirect drive.Request For Report Sample@Global Vibrating Screens Market: DynamicsDriversFast and easy replacement of vibrating screens due to screw less fastening system is driving the growth of the global vibrating screens. High availability and low maintenance requirements are growing the market of vibrating screens globally. Moreover, robust design and low susceptibility of the vibrating screens are another factors leading to the growth of the vibrating screens market globally. Moreover, diversified product portfolio available in the market meeting the demands of the consumers is another factor fueling the demand for vibrating screens globally.Restraints:Screening efficiency can be affected by screen tearing, dampening, blinding and contamination which may challenge the growth of the vibrating screens market globally. Furthermore, limitations of rotary screen to handle two devices as compared to high frequency vibrating screens is another factor which can be considered as a restraint for the global vibrating screens market.Global Vibrating Screens Market: Key PlayersThe main key players of the global vibrating screens market are:Deister MachineElgin Equipment GroupOsbornHawk MachineryDerrick CorporationJOST GroupMidwestern IndustriesAury Pty Ltd.Gator Machinery CompanySouthwest Milling and Industrial CompanyRequest For Report Table of Content (TOC):Global Vibrating Screens Market:Region Wise OutlookOn the basis of region, vibration screens market can be segmented into Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, North America, Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Middle East and Africa, and Japan. Europe and Asia pacific is expected to dominate the market as they are significant market for mining and steel industries. China, UK and Ukraine are expected to show robust development in the steel industry. Furthermore, countries such as South Africa, Australia and India are expected to create moderate demand for vibrating screens.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
EU is ready to buy large volume of Ukrainian corn

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According to the USDA estimates, in 2016/17 MY world corn importers decreased purchases by 2% against the previous season - to 137.1 MMT, despite the record world corn production.Still, evaluating the results of 2016/17, corn exports from Ukraine were up 26% year-on-year, at record level of 21.2 MMT. Having gathered second largest corn harvest, Ukraine managed to deliver more corn to all the key destinations, except for the China, which tries to get rid of high corn stocks. What is more, in 2016/17 Ukraine moved up to the third place on the list of top world corn exporters, leaving behind Brazil.Considering the USDA`s forecast of increase in world corn imports in 2017/18 (+6% to 145.8 MMT) the situation seems favorable for another good export season in Ukraine. Among the key Ukrainian corn buyers only Israel has plans to decrease corn imports and compensate demand of feed sector with higher DDGs and oilseed meal imports.Corn import estimates for top Ukrainian corn buyers, MMT(USDA, October est.)2016/2017 2017/2018*FEU 14.8 16Egypt 9 10Iran 8.5 10China 3 3 ( - )Israel 1.7 1.4Tunisia 1.07 1.3Concerning the key export market of Ukrainian corn  EU, in 2017/18 the USDA forecasts the corn harvest to go down by 2.8% from last year to 59.39 MMT.Imports are forecast to be second largest - at 16 MMT and almost in line with record of 2013/14 (16.014 MMT). It should be noted that season 2013/14 was marked with second largest exports of Ukrainian corn - thanks to the high import necessity of EU.Considering the growing share of Ukrainian corn in EU imports (in 2016/17  68% in the total EU corn imports against 63.8% in the previous season), Ukraine can count on increase in corn exports to EU in 2017/18 MY as well.Thus, EU importers should hurry up to buy Ukrainian new crop as soon as possible, as in 2017/18 we do not expect a new record corn exports from Ukraine due to lower crop forecast. According to our estimates, Ukraine may deliver about 9-9.3 MMT of corn to EU, but the forecast may depend on the results of the ongoing harvesting campaign.In its turn, Ukrainian traders should not exclude serious competition from Brazil, which started corn export season in July 2017.Access Full ReportOlena GesovaGrain and oilseed market analystUkrAgroConsultConsulting agency "UkrAgroConsult" - an independent company, founded in 1994, which provides accurate timely information on agricultural market of Ukraine and Black Sea region countries. UkrAgroConsult offers a wide range of services, including market studies, business analysis and investment consulting of the following agri markets: grains and derived products, oilseeds and derived products, meat, milk, sugar, and inputs market (seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, agricultural technology and machines), elevator equipment, logistics."UkrAgroConsult" is the organizer of the following annual international conferences: "Black Sea Grain", "Black Sea Oil Trade", as well as other events that contribute to the development of the agrarian sector of Ukraine.Company internet resources:Timoshenko 29v of.5 Kyiv Ukraine
France Automotive Parts Die-Casting Market Report 2017, Trends, Analysis, Share, Estimates and Forecasts to 2022.

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The France Automotive Parts Die-Casting report provides an in-depth analysis of the various market segments and its sub-segments.Products Covered: Pressure die-casting Vacuum die-casting Squeeze die-casting Semi-solid die-castingRaw Material Types Covered: Aluminium Zinc Magnesium OthersApplication Types Covered: Body assemblies Engine Parts Transmission parts OthersFor More, Please Visit:The report focuses on current and upcoming market trends such as Drivers, Constraints, Opportunities, and Challenges, technological advancements, Porters Five Forces analysis to assess the intensity of competition in the market. The market values are presented in the form of tables and graphs for better interpretation.Market Size EstimationsThe market assessment is made by the core industry experts using our 360 research approach. The data is derived from the most reliable, authenticated data sources and is validated by the industry experts (Primary Research). Both top down and bottom up analysis are implemented to enhance the accuracy of the market figures. The market projections are calculated for the next 8 years using the actual market numbers of previous year as the base value.Company ProfilingThis section provides the overview of the key players that are leading in the industry, covering their business operations, financials, list of products & services, SWOT analysis, major developments such as mergers & acquisitions, agreements, partnerships, joint ventures, new product launch, expansions etc.Report Highlights:- Market share assessments for all the mentioned market segments and sub-segments- Market share analysis of the top industry players- Strategic recommendations for the new entrants- Market forecasts for a minimum of 8 years for all the given segments- Market Trends (Drivers, Constraints, Opportunities, Threats, Challenges, Investment Opportunities, and recommendations)- Strategic recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimations- Competitive landscaping, mapping the key common trends- Company profiling with detailed strategies, financials, and recent developments- Supply chain trends mapping the latest technological advancementsFor More, Please Visit:We offer wide spectrum of research and consulting services with in-depth knowledge of different industries. We are known for customized research services, consulting services and Full Time Equivalent (FTE) services in the research world. We explore the market trends and draw our insights with valid assessments and analytical views. We use advanced techniques and tools among the quantitative and qualitative methodologies to identify the market trends. Our research reports and publications are routed to help our clients to design their business models and enhance their business growth in the competitive market scenario. We have a strong team with hand-picked consultants including project managers, implementers, industry experts, researchers, research evaluators and analysts with years of experience in delivering the complex projects.STRATISTICS MRC17049 King James Way, Gaithersburg,MD, 20877, USA
Noise Monitoring Market Size & Analysis  Forecasts To 2025

GLOBAL MARKET ESTIMATES

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Noise Monitoring Market InsightsThe global noise monitoring market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.7 % over the forecast period. The market growth is primarily attributed to increasing awareness towards noise pollution in urban areas along the increasing acceptance of all in one environmental monitoring solution.Moreover, the stringent government policies related to these systems are also expected to drive the demand in the global market over the years. However, the huge investment required for setting these systems coupled with the lenient approach of the local bodies & authorities are expected to hinder growth over the coming years.Noise Monitoring Market: Sampling Method InsightsOn the basis of sampling method, the global noise monitoring market is segmented into short-term, long-term, and permanent monitoring systems. The market for long-term noise monitoring is expected to occupy the highest market share owing to the rising adoption of product in various sectors such as railways, hospitals, harbours, and construction sites among others.Noise Monitoring Market: Precision Type InsightsThe industry is divided into Class 1 & Class 2 monitoring devices, based on types. The Class 1 device segment is anticipated to register a significant growth over the forecast period. The increasing adoption of the device in various areas including mining and airport along with its high accuracy level is projected to increase the segment demand.Request for a sample copy of the noise monitoring market report at:Noise Monitoring Market: Connectivity InsightsBy connectivity, the global noise monitoring market is classified as Wi-Fi, Cellular, Ethernet, and USB cables. Wi-Fi connectivity segment is projected to hold the largest share of the industry due to its large scale use by various consultants and companies to transfer noise data to cloud storage or central system. Cellular connectivity reduces the time taken for data transfer.Noise Monitoring Market: Solution InsightsThe industry is segmented into Hardware, software and services on the basis of solution. The hardware segment is further divided into fixed and portable devices. The service segment is anticipated to occupy the highest share over the years owing to the increasing trend of rental services in various sectors such as hospital, residential, recreational area and construction site among others.Noise Monitoring Market: Application InsightsBy application, the Noise Monitoring market is segmented into railways, airports, hospitals, industries and construction sites among others. The industrial segment is expected to grow significantly due to its growing adoption by companies and consultants across the world. Moreover, the stringent government policies related to these devices for ensuring public safety has also forced industries to provide solutions such as noise reducing devices for the employees. The above mentioned factors are likely to boost the segment growth over the forecast period.Noise Monitoring Market: Regional InsightsNorth America is anticipated to hold substantial market share over the coming years followed by Asia-Pacific.Europe occupied the largest market share for this product since the past few years. This can be attributed to growing adoption rate of the product by countries such as Germany, UK, Denmark, France and Spain. Moreover, the government policies in Europe related to noise monitoring are also expected to boost market growth.Noise Monitoring Market: End-Use LandscapeThe end-use landscape entails a list of current and prospective consumers prevailing across the regions. This section provides company addresses, contact details, products, and regional presence of companies who are purchasing or are likely to purchase noise monitoring devices over the coming years. Some leading consumers of this market are Abbott Laboratories and Anadolu Medical Center among others.Noise Monitoring Market: Market Share & Competitor AnalysisThe global market for this product is expected to be significantly large due to the presence of large number of manufacturers. Key players profiled in the global noise monitoring market include RION Co. Ltd., HT Instruments, Castle Group Ltd., B&K Precision Corporation, and SINUS Messtechnik GmbH.Check our annual research partnership service at:Were constantly identifying and analysing high growth markets and revenue pockets. In consultation with various industry experts, our team of highly-skilled industry analysts study these markets through sophisticated tools and fail-safe, industry-approved methodologies.Name: Global Market Estimates Research & Business ConsultantsAddress: A-9, Silver Croft CHSL, Mumbai:400064, IndiaContact No,: +91 9146632316Email Address: sales@globalmarketestimates.com
The Right Lumber for The Right Project

https://www.wooderra.com

https://www.wooderra.com/en/contact-wooderra

Panama City  Wooderra Panama announces today the official launch of the cost-beneficial and time-saving lumber solution, a product devoted to be the timber material of optima choice for solid flooring, decking, fencing, furniture, paneling, pergolas, cabinetry, and millwork applications.Wooderra lumber product line was established to help builders, as well as homeowners, gain access to superior quality building supplies at attractive prices. The brand provides numerous beautiful hardwood species, including:AlmendroTeakTiger TeakAmargo AmargoQuiraPeronilSiguaRoyal MahoganyZapateroZapotilloZorroAmarillo GuayaquilGrand CashewCedro EspinoCedro AmargoCuajaoNisperoPurpleheartWooderras professional staff offers personalized service for the customers hopes to make known the character, colour, density, appearance, and working properties of these types of wood from Central and South America.Customers can easily make any order of any favorite hardwood tailored to their needs as Wooderra has in stock truckload quantities of these highly valuable woods. The entirety of Wooderras timber products are designed using the formula of durability, robustness, safety. On top of that, Wooderra delivers directly to your construction site. And most importantly, Wooderra timber meets the industrys highest quality standards and aesthetic expectations in every structure you are building.Wooderra was established by Jeff Duda, President and CEO. Mr. Duda said the mission statement of Wooderra is to provide its customers an effortless way to buy lumber as the brand has the capacity to pull and carefully load any order. Wooderra truthfully commits to responsible and sustainable forestry practices. What I would like to specifically emphasize is our uniqueness where we offer reclaimed submerged tropical hardwood in Lake Gatun and Lake Bayano. Using Wooderras timber means you become a part of its deep commitment to protecting and preserving the valuable forest resources.About Wooderra: Wooderra is Panama's most comprehensive source of ecological high-quality solid wood products such as solid wood flooring, wood decking, table slabs, and more. We specialize in natural wood products with a wide range of varieties made from some of the most well-known Central and South American Tropical Hardwood species, which come straight from our exclusive sustainably managed plantations and forests. Affiliated with Timber Resource Management and Panama Teak Forestry, Wooderra is the ultimate distributor brand for these sustainable timber companies.For more information about Wooderra regarding the wood source and products, visit us online:Contact us for all your timber needsAddress: Ave. Balboa y Via Italia, PH Plaza Paitilla, Planta Baja Oficina 49 Panama City, PanamaTel: +507-396-9320 / 507-6070-2048Email: info@wooderra.comGet a quote:
Construction in Chile Market 2017- By Plan Future Business Decisions Using the Forecast Figures 2021

CONSTRUCTION IN CHILE MARKET

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WiseGuyReports published new report, titled Construction in ChileSynopsisIn real terms, the Chilean construction industrys output grew by 2.8% in 2016, following average annual growth of 6.8% during the preceding four years. This increase was due to public and private sector investment in infrastructure, energy and residential construction projects, leading to an increase in demand for the Chilean construction industry.Expects Chiles construction industry to have suffered a contraction in output value in real terms in 2017. This reflects both weak economic activity and limited construction activities in the first half of 2017. Low commodity prices and a decrease in copper production also adversely affected investments in the mining industry and the growth of the construction industry in 2017.The construction industrys value is expected to improve in the latter part of the forecast period (20172021). Nevertheless, the pace of growth will remain slow in the latter part of the forecast period, averaging 1.9% a year in real terms during 20182021.The industrys output value in real terms is expected to record a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 0.88% over the forecast period, compared with 5.45% during the review period (20122016).Although the real outlook for the Chilean construction industry is expected to be weak, there will be some support from investment in residential, infrastructure and renewable energy construction projects. To develop the countrys infrastructure, the government plans to invest CLP16.0 trillion (US$28.0 billion) in public and private infrastructure projects by 2021. Gradual improvements in consumer and investor confidence are also expected to drive private sector investment in construction projects in the coming years.GET SAMPLE REPORT @SummaryConstruction in Chile  Key Trends and Opportunities to 2021 report provides detailed market analysis, information and insights into the Chilean construction industry, including: The Chilean construction industry's growth prospects by market, project type and construction activity Critical insight into the impact of industry trends and issues, and the risks and opportunities they present to participants in the Chilean construction industry Profiles of the leading operators in the Chilean construction industryScopeThis report provides a comprehensive analysis of the construction industry in Chile. It provides: Historical (2012-2016) and forecast (2017-2021) valuations of the construction industry in Chile using construction output and value-add methods Segmentation by sector (commercial, industrial, infrastructure, energy and utilities, institutional and residential) and by sub-sector Breakdown of values within each project type, by type of activity (new construction, repair and maintenance, refurbishment and demolition) and by type of cost (materials, equipment and services) Detailed profiles of the leading construction companies in ChileKey points Identify and evaluate market opportunities using standardized valuation and forecasting methodologies. Assess market growth potential at a micro-level with over 600 time-series data forecasts. Understand the latest industry and market trends. Formulate and validate strategy using critical and actionable insight. Assess business risks, including cost, regulatory and competitive pressures. Evaluate competitive risk and success factors.Key Highlights Expects the residential construction market to retain its leading position over the forecast period, with a share of 35.0% of the industrys total value in 2021. The market is expected to record a forecast-period CAGR of 3.33% in nominal terms, driven by public and private sector investments in the construction of new residential buildings, in order to meet the increasing demand for housing. The growing influx of migrants is also expected to drive demand for new housing units. The implementation of value added tax (VAT) on the sales of residential properties and weak economic performance affected investments in residential construction projects in 2016. In January of that year, the government imposed VAT of 19.0% on habitual sellers who sell and purchase residential properties in a span of less than a year. Consequently, the total new house sales throughout Chile declined by 34.3%, going from 81,194 units in 2015 to 53,309 in 2016, according to the central bank of Chile. With robust and modern infrastructure vital to economic growth and competitiveness, the government is focusing on infrastructure development. According to the Camara Chilena de la Construccion (Chilean Chamber of Construction  CChC), CLP102.2 trillion (US$151.0 billion) will be required for investment in the countrys infrastructure projects by 2025, in order to support economic growth and make up for deficits in public works. Under the Energy 2050 strategy, the government aims to increase the share of renewable energy in total electricity generation from 12% in 2016 to 70.0% in 2050. However, due to anticipated improvements in energy storage and the declining cost of renewable energy, the government is planning to increase its renewable energy target to 100% of electricity generation from renewable sources by 2050. According to estimates by the Ministry of Public Works, with the help of the private sector, CLP3.7 trillion (US$5.3 billion) will be invested in the countrys port infrastructure between 2015 and 2023. Moreover, CLP1.2 trillion (US$1.7 billion) will be invested in airport infrastructure projects during the same period...CONTINUEDFor accessing accurate and deep understanding and to gain latest insights and key developments in the area of your interest, we also have a list of conferences in which you will be interested in, for more information, cordially checkFor updating knowledge or for thoroughly understanding various terminologies, we also have vast list of seminars for your reference, for more information cordially checkWise Guy Reports understand how essential statistical surveying information is for your organization or association. Therefore, we have associated with the top publishers and research firms all specialized in specific domains, ensuring you will receive the most reliable and up to date research data available. We also provide COTS (Commercial off the Shelf) business sector reports as custom exploration agreeing your particular needs.WISEGUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersPune - 411028Maharashtra, India
Apple Butter Market Revenue, Opportunity, Forecast and Value Chain 2017-2025

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Apple Butter Market: IntroductionContrary to its name apple butter does not contain any traces of dairy-based ingredient as its preparation involves no dairy products, however, the term butter is used to define its butter-like physical characteristics and its application as a spread. Apple butter is a traditional condiment originating in the Europe and also being used traditionally in North America. Apple butter is a fruit butter which is prepared from apples that can be either fresh, frozen, or dried in addition with other ingredients such as cider, spices, sweeteners etc. by a long duration of slow cooking until the sugar present in the mixture caramelizes, giving apple butter its characteristic deep brown colour. Majority of the manufacturers add apple cider as an ingredient in the preparation of apple butter to improve its flavour and acid content. Addition of apple cider also provides the similar taste of apple butter which is produced by traditional or old-fashioned methods, thus enhancing the palatability of the product and increasing the demand for apple butter among the consumer. Furthermore, many key players also add a small amount of vinegar and spices such as cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg etc. to give their product a distinct character, which helps them in differentiating their products from the others. In the recent years, preference for traditional condiments that date back is steadily regaining traction among various consumers worldwide. Thus, consumers around the world have been developing a taste for dishes that contain condiments such as apple butter and this is a key factor expected to drive the growth of the apple butter market over the forecast period.Download exclusive Sample of this report:Apple Butter Market: SegmentationGlobal Apple Butter market can be segmented on the basis of nature, grade, packaging, distribution channel, and region.On the basis of nature, the apple butter market can be segmented into organic and conventional. The organic segment is expected to exhibit substantial growth rate in the global apple butter market owing to its preference by the ever-increasing health-conscious consumer base. However, the conventional apple butter segment is expected to dominate the market with moderate demand owing to its lesser cost.On the basis of grade, the apple butter market can be segmented into grade A, grade C, and substandard grade. On the basis of packaging, apple butter market is segmented into glass jars, cans and others. Jars segment is expected to dominate the market over the forecast period, as the glass jar, being transparent enables excellent product visibility, thereby scoring more in terms of consumer satisfaction. Moreover, they also provide premium feel and aesthetics to the final product. On the basis of distribution channel, apple butter market is segmented into modern grocery retailers, traditional grocery retailer, and online stores. Modern grocery retailer segment is further sub-segmented into hypermarkets/supermarket, convenience stores, mom and pop stores, and discount stores. Traditional grocery retailers segment is further sub-segmented into food & drink speciality stores, independent small groceries and others.Obtain Report Details @Apple Butter Market: DynamicsIncreasing urbanization has led an explosive growth of ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook food products worldwide owing to the hectic lifestyles of consumers. In addition, consumers are also developing taste for traditional cuisine, condiments, sauces etc. as consumer perceive them to be more nutritional and minimally processed, which is expected to drive the growth of apple butter market over the forecast period. However, lower shelf visibility of apple butter in many countries of APAC, Latin America, and MEA region, owing to the low concentration of manufacturers coupled with lower consumer awareness of apple butter is anticipated to restrain the growth of global apple butter market over the forecast period. Furthermore, apple butter is highly susceptible to spoilage and thus to prevent the growth of the harmful microorganism, many manufacturers add chemical preservatives and high fructose corn syrup, thus creating a negative impact among health-conscious consumers and is expected to hamper the growth of apple butter market in the near future.Apple Butter Market: Regional OutlookOn the basis of the regional outlook, apple butter market is segmented into five different regions: North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East and Africa and Asia Pacific. On analyzing the Apple Butter market at the global level, North America is expected to dominate the apple butter market followed by Europe, owing to increasing traction of apple butter products as it being consumed traditionally.Apple Butter Market: Key Player:Some of the major players operating in apple butter market include Eden Foods Inc., Musselman's, SHILOH FARMS, Walden Farms International, White House Foods, The J. M. Smucker Company, Knoblock and Company, Colorado Cherry Company and other regional players.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Cloud Based Security Services Market: Global and Chinese Industry Growth Analysis

Cloud Based Security Services

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HTF MI published a new industry research that focuses on Cloud Based Security Services market and delivers in-depth market analysis and future prospects of Global and Chinese Cloud Based Security Services market. The study covers significant data which makes the research document a handy resource for managers, analysts, industry experts and other key people get ready-to-access and self-analyzed study along with graphs and tables to help understand market trends, drivers and market challenges. The study is segmented by Application/ end users, products type and various important geographies like.Get Access to sample pages @The research covers the current market size of the Global and Chinese Cloud Based Security Services market and its growth rates based on 5 year history data along with company profile of key players/manufacturers. The in-depth information by segments of Cloud Based Security Services market helps monitor future profitability & to make critical decisions for growth. The information on trends and developments, focuses on markets and materials, capacities, technologies, CAPEX cycle and the changing structure of the Global and Chinese Cloud Based Security Services Market.The study provides company profiling, product picture and specifications, sales, market share and contact information of key manufacturers of Global and Chinese Cloud Based Security Services Market, some of them listed here are. The market is growing at a very rapid pace and with rise in technological innovation, competition and M&A activities in the industry many local and regional vendors are offering specific application products for varied end-users. The new manufacturer entrants in the market are finding it hard to compete with the international vendors based on quality, reliability, and innovations in technology.Global and Chinese Cloud Based Security Services (Thousands Units) and Revenue (Million USD) Market Split by Product Type such as. Further the research study is segmented by Application such as with historical and projected market share and compounded annual growth rate.Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), and market share and growth rate of Cloud Based Security Services in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), covering and its Share (%) and CAGR for the forecasted period 2017 to 2022.Read Detailed Index of full Research Study at @What this Research Study Offers:Global and Chinese Cloud Based Security Services Market share assessments for the regional and country level segmentsMarket share analysis of the top industry playersStrategic recommendations for the new entrantsMarket forecasts for a minimum of 5 years of all the mentioned segments, sub segments and the regional marketsMarket Trends (Drivers, Constraints, Opportunities, Threats, Challenges, Investment Opportunities, and recommendations)Strategic recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimationsCompetitive landscaping mapping the key common trendsCompany profiling with detailed strategies, financials, and recent developmentsSupply chain trends mapping the latest technological advancementsBuy this research report @There are 15 Chapters to display the Global and Chinese Cloud Based Security Services market.Chapter 1, to describe Definition, Specifications and Classification of Cloud Based Security Services , Applications of Cloud Based Security Services , Market Segment by Regions;Chapter 2, to analyze the Manufacturing Cost Structure, Raw Material and Suppliers, Manufacturing Process, Industry Chain Structure;Chapter 3, to display the Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Cloud Based Security Services , Capacity and Commercial Production Date, Manufacturing Plants Distribution, R&D Status and Technology Source, Raw Materials Sources Analysis;Chapter 4, to show the Overall Market Analysis, Capacity Analysis (Company Segment), Sales Analysis (Company Segment), Sales Price Analysis (Company Segment);Chapter 5 and 6, to show the Regional Market Analysis that includes , Cloud Based Security Services Segment Market Analysis (by Type);Chapter 7 and 8, to analyze the Cloud Based Security Services Segment Market Analysis (by Application) Major Manufacturers Analysis of Cloud Based Security Services ;Chapter 9, Market Trend Analysis, Regional Market Trend, Market Trend by Product Type , Market Trend by Application ;Chapter 10, Regional Marketing Type Analysis, International Trade Type Analysis, Supply Chain Analysis;Chapter 11, to analyze the Consumers Analysis of Global and Chinese Cloud Based Security Services ;Chapter 12,13, 14 and 15, to describe Cloud Based Security Services sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data source.Get customization & check discount for report @Thanks for reading this article; you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia.HTF Market Report is a wholly owned brand of HTF market Intelligence Consulting Private Limited. HTF Market Report global research and market intelligence consulting organization is uniquely positioned to not only identify growth opportunities but to also empower and inspire you to create visionary growth strategies for futures, enabled by our extraordinary depth and breadth of thought leadership, research, tools, events and experience that assist you for making goals into a reality. Our understanding of the interplay between industry convergence, Mega Trends, technologies and market trends provides our clients with new business models and expansion opportunities. We are focused on identifying the Accurate Forecast in every industry we cover so our clients can reap the benefits of being early market entrants and can accomplish their Goals & Objectives.Contact Us:HTF Market Intelligence Consulting Private LimitedUnit No. 429, Parsonage Road, Edison, NJ USA - 08837sales@htfmarketreport.comPh: +1 (206) 317 1218
North Florida Land Trust has received a donation of land along Black Creek and Doctors Lake

www.northfloridalandtrust.org

Jacksonville, Fla., Dec. 26, 2017North Florida Land Trust has received a donation of 388 acres of land in Clay County along Black Creek and Doctors Lake. South Doctors Lake, Ltd. gave the property, which has high conservation value, to the land conservation organization. The property is in Fleming Island and Middleburg and is adjacent to the nonprofits Black Creek Preservation Priority Area.We are grateful to the realtor for reaching out to us to offer the donation of this land, which is a floodplain forest that contributes to water quality preservation and stands as a buffer against increased flooding, said Jim McCarthy, president of NFLT. The preservation of this parcel of land is vital to the health of Black Creek.Black Creek is an important tributary to the St. Johns River and is remarkable both for its wide and healthy swamps, as well as the steep bluffs and ravines towering above its banks. It is also home to the Black Creek crayfish, a State-designated threatened species endemic to the area.During their assessment of the land, the NFLT team found an abundance of trash and debris from recent storms and recreational boaters. NFLT hopes to hold a trash cleanup in the future to help maintain the health of the creek.McCarthy said preserving this land is not only good for Black Creek and Doctors Lake, but it will also have economic benefits by acting as a natural buffer against flooding. NFLTs Preservation Portfolio identified the most valuable 112,346 acres of land in Northeast Florida which provide significant ecosystem services, which are defined as services provided by the natural environment that would otherwise cost money. The Black Creek Preservation Priority Area consists of 5,000 acres in critical need of preservation.About North Florida Land TrustNorth Florida Land Trust is a non-profit organization who serves as a champion of environmental protection primarily in Baker, Bradford, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Nassau, Putnam, St. Johns, Union and Volusia counties. NFLT was founded in 1999 and has protected thousands of acres of environmentally significant land including property at Big Talbot Island, the River Branch Preserve, Pumpkin Hill State Park, Moccasin Slough, along the St. Marys River and other valued natural areas predominantly in Northeast Florida. NFLT is funded largely by private and corporate contributions and works closely with private landowners and other public agencies at all levels of government, not-for-profit partners, and foundations. For more information, visitNorth Florida Land Trust2038 Gilmore StreetJacksonville, FL 32204Media Contact: Kelly Whitekelly.white@cfmedia.net
Attached to Rahul's Twitter message was a video containing clips of PM Modi's controversial remark on former PM Manmohan Singh, and of a statement Arun Jaitley made in the Rajya Sabha today.

By Santosh Chaubey: Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said he thanked Union Minister Arun Jaitley for reminding the nation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi "never means what he says or says what he means."

Rahul attached a video to his Twitter message. It containing clips of Modi's controversial remark on former PM Manmohan Singh and former VP Hamid Ansari, and of a statement Jaitley made in the Rajya Sabha today.

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The Congress alleged that on the assembly election campaign trail, Modi insinuated that his predecessor and the former vice-president conspired to derail the BJP in Gujarat, at a dinner party attended by former Pakistan diplomats. The Grand Old Party wanted an apology from the PM, and Manmohan said in a statement that he rejected "the innuendos and falsehoods."

Dear Mr Jaitlie - thank you for reminding India that our PM never means what he says or says what he means. #BJPLies pic.twitter.com/I7n1f07GaX- Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) December 27, 2017

"I sincerely hope that he will apologise to the nation for his ill thought transgression to restore the dignity of the office he occupies," Manmohan said.

Today, Jaitley said Modi didn't question or mean to question their commitment to the nation.

"We hold these leaders in high esteem," Jaitley said.

In fact, the government and the Opposition reached a truce over the issue, thanks to some good old back room diplomacy. (You can read this report from our National Affairs Editor to learn how that happened.)

VIDEO | This was Manmohan Singh's response to PM Modi's remarks.

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Bozena Zawisz, Author Of New Christian Book, Liberating Inner Eve, A Reflective Journey For Women, Named As One Of 50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading In 2017 Book Awards

Author Bozena Zawisz

http://www.bozenazawisz.com

Bozena Zawisz, author of Liberating Inner Eve, A Reflective Journey For Women, has been named as a winner in the 50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading Book Awards Contest. Her honor came as a result of her appearance on The Authors Show. Bozena was chosen from a field of hundreds of authors through a public voting process. Liberating Inner Eve, A Reflective Journey For Women helps readers find a sense of personal strength, high self-worth, love, and acceptance."I am so grateful for being able to take part in the Authors Show 50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading competition, and be amongst the 50 winners," Zawisz said."I hope that winning this competition will help me to further awareness about the many barriers/restrictions that I continue to stumble across in my counseling work, that restrict women from experiencing a sense of connection with themselves and high levels of self-worth. In my book Liberating Inner Eve I offer psychological guidance grounded in my two decades of counseling experience and theology, to support women in being aware of these social/historic barriers/restrictions and nourish a deep experience of self-love and personal strength.""Liberating Inner Eve" offers psychological insight around the impact of commonly found interpretations of the teachings of the Old Testament (in particular the Genesis account of Adam and Eve) and New Testament (the lifetime of Jesus), on various themes relevant to women's daily lives, such as how they experience their identity, self-acceptance, and self-worth. Every chapter of the book includes simple exercises, encouraging readers to take time to review their thoughts and feelings, relating to a particular topic.Liberating Inner Eve has received a large number of rave reviews. A recent Amazon review stated, "Wisdom from a compassionate counselor and guide, this book is highly recommended for women who need to just BE!" Another said, "I found the writing so engaging that it pulled me word for word, paragraph by paragraph. I also loved the fact that I can 100% relate to what the book teaches. And the fact that it also includes simple exercises to make me feel knowledgeable about the Bible teachings, its an overall amazing guidebook. I believe this book can really help women to literally liberate themselves. The concept was deep and beautiful and the prose was thoughtful. I would recommend this book in an instant!"Bozena Zawisz is available for media interviews and can be reached using the information below, or by email at contact@bozenazawisz.com. Liberating Inner Eve, A Reflective Journey For Women is available at online retail book outlets. More information is available at her website.Bozena Zawisz lives in Sydney, Australia, with husband Fred and son Nicholas. Her qualifications include MA in Psychology, Post Grad Dip in Psychology and Grad Cert in Peace and Conflict Studies. She is a Registered Psychologist in Australia and works privately, empowering clients to find their connection with what gives them inspiration and strength. Her hobbies include enjoying Australian wildlife and nature, as well as finding ways to express her Polish heritage. In addition to Liberating Inner Eve, she is also the author of A Christian GiftPoetic Reflections for All Occasions, and Neither Innocent nor Guilty.PO Box 1613Shallotte, NC 28459
SARI, a Chinese market-leader biotech investment company, today announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the 90% interests in NMS Group

Nerviano (Milano), December 27, 2017 - SARI, a Chinese market-leader biotech investment company, today announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the 90% interests in Group NMS (NMS). Headquartered in Nerviano, near Milano, Italy, NMS is a group of fully integrated companies owned by Regione Lombardia through Fondazione Regionale per la Ricerca Biomedica, focused on oncology drug discovery, preclinical research, clinical development and manufacturing. The NMS Group is highly aligned with our existing strategy in oncology, and we are extremely excited about the opportunity to integrate the existing top-class level of the research into our universal platform. In the near term, we will focus on expanding NMS current activities in the Chinese market but we will continue the cooperation with NMS international network of partner and customer - said Dr. Yi Baxian, representative of SARI, who used to serve as president in two national pharmaceutical research institutes in China The Chinese market is large and growing, with many unmet needs. With our strong commercial capabilities and robust scientific reputation, we look forward to bringing the innovative drugs discovered in Nerviano to the large Chinese patient population, allowing them to improve their quality of life. Dr. Yi also added, we have a substantial understanding of the nature of discovery and R&D in pharmaceutical area. We are aware of the challenges that NMS Group, as an innovation-oriented company are currently facing and will face in the future. We are well prepared to walk alongside with NMS Group and provide support from all aspects. The total value of the deal, a mix of equity injection and debt restructuring, is around 300 mln Euro and the parts expect the closing in the first quarter 2018. NMS shares Saris mission to help people live longer, better lives through top class research. We are proud of the job we made together with Sari team. This acquisition will benefit all the life science business environment in Lombardia, our shareholders and most of all, the research which is the heart of everything we do, - said Andrea Agazzi, NMS Chairman. The deal is the culmination of several years of hard work by our team of dedicated professionals. We welcome the opportunity to become part of the Sari network if companies and research centers and we look forward to the continued evolution of our pipeline of molecules.Sari has been assisted by Bank of China International (China) Limited as solo financial advisor and by Studio Legale Pedersoli as legal advisor. Bank of China Ltd Milan Branch offered help in the transaction. NMS Group has been assisted by Leonardo&Co as financial advisor and by CMS as legal advisor.About InvestorSARI is an affiliate of Shanghai Advanced Research Institute. SARI focuses on investment in cutting-edge bio-technology and life-scienceopportunities, especially targeted cancer therapy. For this transaction, SARI, as the leading investor, has established a specific fund together with Hicin Pharma, V-capital and FeiDong Investment. NMS Group is the largest company in Italy committed in innovation and research and development in oncology. With more than 420 total employees, NMS Group employs over 200 qualified researchers involved in research and development, to production. The discovery and applied research of Nerviano Medical Sciences define the innovative heart of the Group and make it an important and international reference in the field of personalized therapy. In these recent years the Centre has capitalized its discoveries in international agreements with most representative pharmaceutical and biotech companies worldwide, such as Ignyta for Entrectinib. NMS also provides pre clinical, clinical and production services addressed to local and international markets, through three different companies: Accelera, one of the few companies engaged in preclinical research in Italy; Clioss engaged in clinical development starting from First-Time-In-Man and Nerpharma, dealing with activities from formulation to production of the active principle.For additional information, please contact:NMS Group  Nerviano Medical SciencesChiara Lattuada +39 333 84.25.690mail to: chiara.lattuada@nmsgroup.it
Surgical Sutures Market Reach $5,255 Million By 2022

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Surgical sutures, also called stitches, are surgical threads used to repair lacerations in the skin and to close surgical incisions. In addition, these sterile threads are used to stich skin, internal organs, blood vessels, and other tissues after the surgical procedure.For More Info, Get Sample :The global surgical suture market was $3,360 million in 2015 and is expected to reach $5,255 million by 2022, registering a CAGR of 6.4% from 2016 to 2022. Surgical sutures market is experiencing growth due to the expansion and emergence of wound care management sector. In addition, increase in number of surgeries, coupled with rising geriatric population and related increase in incidence of chronic diseases and technological innovations fuels the market growth. However, lack of proper sterilization systems for disinfecting suturing tool may hinder the market growth.The global surgical sutures market has been segmented based on product type, applications, and geography. Based on product type, the market is segmented into automated suturing devices and sutures. The sutures segment accounts for the largest share of this market. Sutures market by type, are further sub-divided into absorbable sutures and non-absorbable sutures. Based on material, it is segmented into monofilament sutures and multifilament sutures. The multifilament segment accounted for the largest share of the sutures market in 2015.Based on application, the global surgical sutures market is classified into cardiovascular surgeries, general surgeries, gynecological surgeries, orthopedic surgeries, ophthalmic surgeries, and others. The general surgeries application segment held the major share of the surgical sutures market in 2015 owing to rise in demand for surgical sutures in many types of abdominal and other surgeries.Geographically, the surgical sutures market is analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. North America dominated the market with largest share in 2015. However, Asia-Pacific is anticipated to be the fastest growing region with the CAGR of 8.6% during the forecast period due to rise in number of surgical procedures, and the demand for better healthcare services from the patient population.The key strategies adopted by the leading players are product launch, collaboration, and merger & acquisition. However, the market has registered substantial growth in the recent years, owing to the launch of various technologically innovative sutures such as biocompatible surgical sutures with antimicrobial coatings and their rise in demand among the end-users.KEY MARKET BENEFITS: In-depth analysis of the global surgical sutures market is conducted based on market estimations of the key segments for the period of 20142022 Comprehensive analysis of market dynamics such as drivers, restraints, and opportunities impacting the market growth is discussed in the report Exhaustive analysis of the market by different segments helps to understand the different aspects of surgical sutures that are currently used along with the variants that would gain prominence in the future Competitive intelligence of leading manufacturers and distributors of surgical sutures market interprets the competitive scenario across various geographies Key market players within the market are profiled in the report and their strategies are analyzed thoroughly, which predict competitive outlook of the global marketKEY MARKET SEGMENT:Enquire About Report :By Product Type Automated Suturing Devices Disposable Automated Suturing Devices Re-Usable Automated Suturing Devices SuturesSutures By Type Absorbable Sutures Natural Sutures Synthetic Sutures Vicryl Sutures Monocryl Sutures Polydioxanone Sutures Polyglycolic Sutures Others Non-Absorbable Sutures Nylon Sutures Prolene Sutures Stainless Steel Sutures OthersSutures By Material Monofilament MultifilamentBy Application Cardiovascular Surgeries General Surgeries Gynecological Surgeries Orthopedic Surgeries Ophthalmic Surgeries Other surgeriesAlso Request For Discount :By Region North America U.S. Canada Mexico Europe Germany UK France Italy Spain Rest of Europe Asia-Pacific Japan India China Australia South Korea Rest of Asia-Pacific LAMEA Brazil Turkey Venezuela Saudi Arabia Republic of South Africa Rest of LAMEAKEY PLAYERS Johnson & Johnson Inc. B. Braun Melsungen AG Smith & Nephew plc Demetech Corporation Conmed Corporation W.L. Gore & Associates Boston Scientific Corporation 3M Healthcare Medtronic Inc. Sutures India Pvt Ltd.Other players in the value chain (profiles not included in the report) Paul Hartmann AG Kinetic Concepts, Inc. Endoevolution LLC Internacional Farmaceutica S.A. De C.V. Molnlycke Healthcare ConvaTec Inc. Coloplast Corporation Hollister Incorporated BSN Medical Urgo MedicalTable Of Content CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CHAPTER 3 MARKET OVERVIEW CHAPTER 4 SURGICAL SUTURES MARKET, BY PRODUCT TYPE CHAPTER 5 GLOBAL SURGICAL SUTURES MARKET, BY APPLICATION CHAPTER 6 GLOBAL SURGICAL SUTURES MARKET, BY REGION CHAPTER 7 COMPANY PROFILESAbout UsWe have a large database of quality and precise market research reports that will be very beneficial for your organization. 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Hospital Infectious Disease Testing Market Trends with Forecast up to 2024

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Hospital infectious disease testing is a procedure to identify hospital acquired/related infections. Hospital infections are among the most prominent challenges faced by health care delivery systems across the globe. Hospital infectious diseases are considered a significant cause of death globally. These are acquired while receiving health care treatment. Hospital infectious diseases tests are performed by health care professionals, especially clinical laboratory technicians, for the diagnosis of infections.Reqest Brochure of the report @Based on test type, the global hospital infectious disease testing market has been broadly segmented into:Urinary tract infection (UTI)Surgical site InfectionPneumoniaBloodstream infectionMRSAOthersThe UTI segment accounted for the major share of the hospital infectious disease testing market, followed by surgical site infections and pneumonia. Hospital infectious diseases are required to be closely monitored due to increase in antimicrobial resistance in some regions. Automated urine microscopy is the most preferred diagnostic tool adopted by clinical technicians for UTI. Prevalence of pneumonia and deaths associated with it are increasing gradually. Other hospital infections include cardiovascular, systemic, joint and bone, respiratory, and ENT (enteric) infections.The hospital infectious disease testing market has experienced strong growth in the last decade due to factors such as increased awareness about growth in the incidence of infections globally and development of innovative prevention and treatment solutions. Major factors driving the market are establishment of quality government guidelines and uniform code for prevention of hospital infectious diseases. Lack of funding and skilled manpower in developing countries and lack of stringent guidelines and framework to control the morbidity rate of hospital infections are restraining the hospital infectious disease testing market. Lack of controlling authorities and controlling programs in lesser developed regions is another major factor hampering market growth. Technological development of molecular diagnostics and passage of the Patient Care and Affordable Care Act in the U.S. are likely to offer significant opportunities in the market in the near future.Geographically, the global hospital infectious disease testing market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America accounted for the largest share of the market due to growing patient awareness, favorable initiatives taken by the federal government, and large number of market players based in the region. The hospital infectious disease testing market in Europe is mature due to presence of strong and active hospital infection control and prevention authorities and guidelines such as the NHS in the U.K. Moreover, Europe is considered the hub for the global geriatric population. It is observed that geriatrics are more prone to various infections. This is likely to increase demand in Europe. Asia Pacific is a lucrative market for hospital infectious disease testing products as the overall prevalence of the infections in this region is high. Moreover, stringent guidelines have been set for the prevention and control of such conditions in the health care infrastructure in this region. Countries such as China, India, Japan, Thailand, Australia, and the Philippines are expected to be the major contributors to the hospital infectious disease testing market in Asia Pacific. Latin America and Middle East & Africa are considered the emerging markets for hospital infectious disease testing. This is attributed to increasing investment by governments for effective health care infrastructure in the region.Request Discount @Key players operating in the hospital infectious disease testing market include Abbott Laboratories, Alere, Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. (Life Technologies Corporation), Becton, Dickinson and Company, bioMerieux SA, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Hologic, Inc., Siemens Healthineers, Diatherix Laboratories, Inc., Meridian Bioscience, Inc., Cepheid, Inc., and QIAGEN.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.Report Details @About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. 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Cardiac Rhythm Disease Management Market: Present Scenario and the Growth Prospects

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Global Cardiac Rhythm Disease Management Market: SnapshotCardiac rhythm disease management includes implantable devices, leads and accessories along with external devices to treat and manage arrhythmic conditions. Some of the key devices that are specifically designed for cardiac rhythm disease management (CRDM) include products for either too slow heart rhythm or too fast heart rhythm. These include pacemakers, leads, electrophysiology catheters, implantable defibrillators, ablation products, and information systems for patient management.Reqest Brochure of the report @Future CRDM products will focus on complete cardiac disease management comprising expansion of diagnostic and monitoring capabilities to help physicians monitor cardiac diseases and provide improved care, transformation of existing patient and device management tools which include in-home monitoring, wireless systems, and an in-office solutions; physician access to real-time patient information for analysis of heart failure and for better disease management, reduced healthcare costs, and reduced clinic visits; and leading-edge clinical trials to aid identify and treat patients at a risk for cardiac diseases.Some of the products of cardiac rhythm disease management use returned product analysis as well as multicenter clinical studies for performance observance. The product performance of CRDM products comprise device survival estimates, performance notes, and advisory summaries pertaining to implantable generators, cardiac resynchronization therapy devices, implantable cardioverter defibrillators, implantable pacing and defibrillation needs.The number of individuals suffering from heart related conditions stands at an all-time high across the world. Cardiovascular diseases, which account for major chunk of heart diseases, trigger almost 35% of overall deaths globally every year. Some of the risk factors of cardiovascular diseases are smoking, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol.Many cardiac devices are developed to help control complexities in heart patients. Some of these are irregular heartbeats, problems with hearts electrical impulse system, slow rate of heart beats, etc. Cardiac rhythm disease management market is the established segment of cardiovascular devices market. These devices are primarily used in the treatment of patients suffering from symptoms of heart failure, atrial fibrillation (AF), bradycardia, and people suffering from irregular heartbeats, i.e. arrhythmias. Approximately, 35% of the total deaths worldwide are triggered by cardiovascular diseases, which accounts for major part of heart diseases. The high risk factors of the cardiovascular diseases are diabetes, smoking, hypertension, obesity, and high cholesterol levels. Other factors which also relate and vary to the above mentioned factors are sex ratio, ethnicity, and geography. For instance, a leading cause of heart disease is ischemic heart disease. According to a 2014 WHO report, ischemic heart disease accounts for 46% cardiovascular deaths in men and 38% in women.The global cardiac rhythm disease management market is expanding rapidly. This market is driven by key factors such as rise in cardiovascular and related diseases such as diabetes, change in lifestyle, eating and drink habits, and rise in geriatric population. Other important factors driving the expansion of this market are technological advancements in cardiac devices, higher disposable income, and increase in awareness amongst population about cardiac diseases. However, lack of awareness about new technological developments, lack of skilled expertise, high cost overall treatment and devices are some factors restraining the growth of this market.Global cardiac rhythm disease management market can be classified on the basis of devices, disease indication, and end-users. In terms of devices, the global cardiovascular rhythm disease management market can be segmented into cardiac rhythm pacemakers, cardiac resynchronization therapy, implantable cardioverter defibrillators, and implantable loop recorder. Cardiac rhythm pacemakers can be further sub-segmented into single chamber pacemakers and dual chamber pacemakers. Cardiac resynchronization therapy can be further sub-segmented into cardiac resynchronization therapy pacemakers and cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators.Implantable cardioverter defibrillators can be again sub-segmented into transvenous implantable cardioverter defibrillators (T-ICDs) and subcutaneous implantable cardioverter defibrillators (S-ICDs). In terms of disease indication, the cardiac rhythm disease management market can be segmented into arrhythmias, symptoms of heart failure, bradycardia, and others. In terms of end-users, the market can be segmented into hospitals, ambulatory and surgical centers, diagnostic centers, homecare settings, and others.Request Discount @In terms of geography, the global cardiac rhythm disease management market can be segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America holds major share due to technological advancements & maturity of the market. It is projected in journal Scientific America in 2016, 1.7 million new cardiovascular disease cases were detected in the U.S and the number of cases are anticipated to increase rapidly. The cardiac rhythm disease management market in the region is also anticipated to increase due to high expenditure in the health care sector. Furthermore, the market in Europe is anticipated to expand due to rising cases of heart and related disease, and rise in geriatric population. The Asia Pacific cardiac rhythm disease management market is projected to expand rapidly in the near future. Factors driving the expansion of this market include rise in per capita income, technological advancements, and increase in investments in healthcare infrastructure. Manufacturers in the industry are eyeing an opportunity in developing countries such as China and India.Key players operating in the cardiac rhythm disease management market include Medtronic, Boston Scientific Corporation, Biotronik, St. Jude Medical, Inc., Abbott Laboratories, and Sorin Group.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.Report Details @About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
E-clinical Solutions Market Present Scenario and Growth Prospects with Forecast until 2025

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E-clinical is a term used in a clinical study with reference to electronic applications which are web-based tools employed to capture live data from clinical trials for faster and better execution. Additionally, e-clinical solutions aid efficient planning, tracking, and execution of this data from different geographic areas. Furthermore, they also improve relationships within departments such as site coordinators of medical affairs and clinical investigators. E-clinical solutions refer to a technology which helps accelerate the process of clinical development and aggregate & standardize the collected data for analysis at an individual patient level as well as for cross trail views. The use of e-clinical solutions has simplified the acquisition of analytics and clinical research data. Device & drug tracking, integrated eCRF note changing, real-time notifications, real-time reporting, and configurable report building are a few important features of e-clinical solutions.Reqest Brochure of the report @The global e-clinical solutions market is expected to expand substantially due to the increasing operational costs & regulatory requirements related to clinical research studies, the rising acceptance of software solutions during clinical trials, and the surge in R&D expenditure in pharmaceutical companies. In addition, e-clinical solutions in Asia Pacific are on the rise owing to the growing number of clinical trials especially across developing countries. Developing markets including India, China, Korea, and Taiwan have become good destinations for the outsourcing of clinical trials due to the low service costs and presence of a large population. However, concerns over patient data privacy and the lack of skilled research professionals are hampering the implementation of e-clinical solution. On the other hand, high operational costs associated with e-clinical solutions are constraining the e-clinical solutions market.The e-clinical solutions market is segmented by product into the following categories: clinical analytics platforms, Electronic Data Capture (EDC), Clinical Data Management Systems (CDMS), safety solutions, Randomization & Trial Supply Management (RTSM), Electronic Clinical Outcome Assessment (ECOA), clinical data integration platforms, Clinical Trial Management Systems (CTMS), and electronic Trial Master File (eTMF). EDC and CDMS hold a large market share, whereas ECOA is likely to witness a high growth rate during the forecast period. On the basis of delivery mode, this market is segregated into three groups: web-based, cloud-based solutions, and on-premise. Furthermore, the market is divided based on clinical trial phase into the following segments: phase I, phase II, phase III, and phase IV. Finally, in terms of end-user application, the market is classified into the following divisions: medical device manufacturers, contract research organizations, hospitals, consulting service companies, pharmaceutical & biotechnology industries, and others.Geographically, E-Clinical Solutions market is distributed over North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. North America dominated this market because of the increasing number of clinical trials conducted in the region, rising investment in R&D resulting in the development of new products, growing prevalence of lifestyle diseases, and increasing government support for clinical trials. However, Asia Pacific is projected to grow at a rapid rate during the forecast period on account of the increasing number of R&D projects and the regions developing economic status.Request Discount @Key players operating in this market include Parexel International Corporation, Oracle Corporation, Merge Health Incorporated, Datatrak International, Inc., BioClinica, CRF Health, ERT, E-Clinical Solutions, OmniComm Systems Inc, and Medidata Solution, Inc. In order to gain a competitive advantage in the industry, these players are actively involved in organic and inorganic growth strategies. Collaborations, partnerships, agreements, and new product launches are some of the important strategies followed by them.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.Report Details @About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. 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Analysis of Global Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor M4 Market Growth, Share and Opportunities Forecasted till 2017-22

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The market for Global Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor M4 market has been undergoing a transitional phase over the recent past. The continual advancements in technologies and the swift increase in infrastructural development projects have influenced the demand for Global Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor M4 Market Research Report 2017 substantially over the past few years. The swift rise in urbanization and the significant increase in the disposable income of people are likely to maintain the demand pace of Global Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor M4 market in the near future. The augmenting interest of investors, government funding, and the rising trend of automation are also projected to reflect positively on this market in the years to come.Request For Sample Report:Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor M4 in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGlobal Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor M4 market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingAnavex Life Sciences CorpAstraZeneca PlcHeptares Therapeutics LtdKaruna Pharmaceuticals IncNeuroHealing Pharmaceuticals IncSumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co Ltd...On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoTropicamideANAVEX-273VU-0467154OthersOn the basis of the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate for each application, includingCognitive DisordersPsychosisAmnesiaOthersBrowse Full Report with TOC:Table of ContentsGlobal Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor M4 Market Research Report 20171 Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor M4 Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor M41.2 Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor M4 Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor M4 Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category)(2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor M4 Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Tropicamide1.2.4 ANAVEX-2731.2.5 VU-04671541.2.6 Others1.3 Global Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor M4 Segment by Application1.3.1 Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor M4 Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Cognitive Disorders1.3.3 Psychosis1.3.4 Amnesia1.3.5 Others1.4 Global Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor M4 Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor M4 Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 North America Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 India Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor M4 (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor M4 Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor M4 Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)2 Global Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor M4 Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor M4 Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.1 Global Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor M4 Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017).ContinuedEnquire About this Report:About Market Research Hub:Market Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of pharmaceutical market research reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Us90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: - 800-998-4852 (US-Canada)Email:- press@marketresearchhub.comWebsite:-Read Industry News at :-
Threat Intelligence Market Growth and Technology Advancement 2018

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Qyresearchreports include new market research report Global Threat Intelligence Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022 to its huge collection of research reports.The market study on the global Threat Intelligence market is a scientific instrument to understand the performance of the said market over the forecast period. The report includes historical values as well as future projections, which serve as crucial indices for companies interested to participate in the Threat Intelligence market. Using historical database and projections, the report presents growth trends and growth trajectory pictorially.The beginning of the report summarizes standard terms and terminologies used in the Threat Intelligence market, before moving on to classifications, applications, and industry chain structure. This is followed with an analysis of the competitive landscape, profiling major players for their key business attributes. Each of the companies is studied with reference to a timescale to understand the changing competitive hierarchy of the Threat Intelligence over the years.Get Free PDF Brochure For More Technical Insights@The report is divided into sections, with each section discussing different industry aspects at length. Industry statues and policies, industry news and developments, and industry framework are the some of the aspects that have been discussed in this part of the report. Included in the report is a cost analysis of products, along with insights into manufacturer profit in the Threat Intelligence market. The dynamics between various applications of the Threat Intelligence market and their implication on the industry chain are also discussed herein.The industry chain analysis of the Threat Intelligence market covers aspects such as production capacity, demand-supply dynamics, cost structure of product catalog, etc. An analysis of upstream raw material chain and downstream demand, along with import/export behavior is also included in the report.Market attractiveness analysis and feasibility of new investments in the Threat Intelligence market are key features of this report. Using proven research methodologies and standard analytical tools, the report presents an accurate picture of growth trends and demand drivers, and points out strategies that are sure to present lucrative growth avenues in the future.Table of ContentsGlobal Threat Intelligence Market Size, Status and Forecast 20221 Industry Overview of Threat Intelligence1.1 Threat Intelligence Market Overview1.1.1 Threat Intelligence Product Scope1.1.2 Market Status and Outlook1.2 Global Threat Intelligence Market Size and Analysis by Regions1.2.1 United States1.2.2 EU1.2.3 Japan1.2.4 China1.2.5 India1.2.6 Southeast Asia1.3 Threat Intelligence Market by Type1.3.1 Unified threat management1.3.2 SIEM1.3.3 IAMAccess the full Report TOC in Detail@2 Global Threat Intelligence Competition Analysis by Players2.1 Threat Intelligence Market Size (Value) by Players (2016 and 2017)2.2 Competitive Status and Trend2.2.1 Market Concentration Rate2.2.2 Product/Service Differences2.2.3 New Entrants2.2.4 The Technology Trends in Future3 Company (Top Players) Profiles3.1 IBM Corporation3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.1.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.1.4 Threat Intelligence Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.1.5 Recent Developments3.2 Dell Inc.3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.2.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.2.4 Threat Intelligence Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.2.5 Recent Developments3.3 Symantec Corporation3.3.1 Company Profile3.3.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.3.3 Products, Services and Solutions4 Global Threat Intelligence Market Size by Type and Application (2012-2017)4.1 Global Threat Intelligence Market Size by Type (2012-2017)4.2 Global Threat Intelligence Market Size by Application (2012-2017)4.3 Potential Application of Threat Intelligence in Future4.4 Top Consumer/End Users of Threat Intelligence5 United States Threat Intelligence Development Status and Outlook5.1 United States Threat Intelligence Market Size (2012-2017)5.2 United States Threat Intelligence Market Size and Market Share by Players (2016 and 2017)QYResearchReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYResearchReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
Scope in Global Millet Seed Market with Size, Demand, Production and Opportunities, 2017-22

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The report on Millet Seed market is the latest addition to the huge database of Market Research Hub. This research study is segmented on the basis of applications, technology, geography, and types. The report provides a detailed Millet Seed Industry Overview along with the analysis of industrys gross margin, cost structure, consumption value, and sale price. The leading companies of the Millet Seed Market, manufacturers, and distributors are profiled in the report along with the latest Industry development current and future trends.Request For Sample Report:Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Millet Seed in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGlobal Millet Seed market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingDupontBayerAlta SeedsAllied SeedEastern Colorado SeedsJohnston Seed Company...On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoMajor milletsMinor milletsOn the basis of the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate for each application, includingFoodSantific ResearchBrowse Full Report with TOC:Table of ContentsGlobal Millet Seed Market Research Report 20171 Millet Seed Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Millet Seed1.2 Millet Seed Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Millet Seed Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category)(2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Millet Seed Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Major millets1.2.4 Minor millets1.3 Global Millet Seed Segment by Application1.3.1 Millet Seed Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Food1.3.3 Santific Research1.4 Global Millet Seed Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Millet Seed Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 North America Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 India Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Millet Seed (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Millet Seed Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Millet Seed Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)2 Global Millet Seed Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Millet Seed Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.1 Global Millet Seed Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017).ContinuedEnquire About this Report:About Market Research Hub:Market Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of agriculture market research reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Us90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: - 800-998-4852 (US-Canada)Email:- press@marketresearchhub.comWebsite:-Read Industry News at :-
Foley Catheters Market Segments, Key Players Strategies, Analysis and Forecasts Till 2023

Foley Catheters Market

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The Worldwide Foley Catheters Market research report is growing with the rapid pace; mainly due the burgeoning Healthcare Sector. According to a recent study report published by the Market Research Future, The World Foley Catheters Industry Research report is booming and expected to gain prominence over the forecast period. The Market is forecasted to demonstrate a huge growth by 2023, surpassing its previous growth records in terms of value & volume. Considering all these factors The World Foley Catheters Market research report was valued at approximately USD 583.6 million in 2016 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 7.8% during the forecast period that is from 2017 to 2023.GET SAMPLE REPORT @Market Research Future published new report, titled Foley Catheters Market -Research Report: Global Forecast to 2023.Introduction to Foley catheters:A Foley catheters is a flexible urinary drainage tube that passed through the urethra and into the bladder by a small, water-inflated balloon. These catheters collects urine from the bladder and then moves to a drainage bag. Foley catheters are one of the most used and common type of urinary catheter. Foley catheters are used in both short and long term catheterization. Usually due to various medical conditions, patients lose their ability to urinate, at that time Foley catheter is one most preferred tool by medical professionals.Foley catheters are in use since last eight decades and was introduced by Dr. Frederick E.B. Foley. Foley catheters are also known as indwelling catheters that means inside your body. Foley catheter has two lumens or channels down its length. One of the channel opens at both ends and clear our urine into a collection bag. The other channel has a valve at the end and it is connected to a balloon at the tip. This balloon is filled with sterile water and it stays inside the bladder to prevent it from slipping out.Foley catheters are used in various disorders, problems, procedures, or medical conditions such as these:Urine output measurement in a critically ill or injured patients.Urine collection for diagnostic purpose.Provide artificial channel too release urine for the people who cannot urinate on his own due to different medical problems.Due to some medical conditions like prostate cancer, prostate hypertrophy, or narrowing of the urethra, patients lost the ability to urinate.These catheters are widely used for the patients who are facing urinary incontinence.Foley catheters are also used in patients who have urinary retention.Most of the catheters are necessary until the patients regain the ability to release the urine on his own. The time of catheterization is totally depends on the medical condition of the patient. There are some other major factors due to which patient lost his ability to urinate on his own such as urine flow get blocked due to blood clots in the urine, severe enlargement of the prostate gland, or kidney stones, surgery of prostate gland, genital surgery such as hysterectomy, nerve injuries of the bladder, spinal cord injuries, side effect of some medicines, birth defect like spina bifida or neural tube defect etc.However there are some complications related to use of Foley catheters such as these,GET FULL REPORT @Catheter-associated complications: Bacteriuria or bacteria in the urine occurs in most of the catheterised patients who have these catheters in place for about 2-10 days. The average incidence of bacteriuria is about 3-10%. The patients who have catheterization for short-term (i.e. about 2 to 4 days) may develop bacteriuria which is mostly asymptomatic or there are no physical signs of a medical problem. While About 90-100% of patients who have catheterization for long-term, usually develops bacteriuria.Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) is one of most common and severe catheter-associated complication that generally leads to septicemia and urosepsis. Catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) is most common hospital-acquired infection which comprises more than 40% of all institutionally acquired infections.Some other complications includes catheter-associated biofilms, encrustations, urosepsis, epididymitis , urethral damage, hematuria, erosion (tearing) of the urethra, bladder stones, inflammation of the urethral meatus, bladder cancer, urethral fistulas, pain and discomfort etc.According to study of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center, about 42% of catheterized patients felt that the catheter was uncomfortable, 48% of the catheterized patients felt that the catheter was painful while about 61% of them felt that their routine got affected due to the use of catheters.Foley catheters Market Information:The global Foley catheters market Such high growth is majorly attributed to factors such as; increasing prevelence of various urologic diseases and hospitilization due to various medeical conditions. Growing awareness and rapid adoption of foley catheters in emerging markets such as China and India boosting the growth of Foley catheters market globally. Governments of different countries are taking many initiatives to improve public health by providing subsidy and affordable healthcare facilities are also driving the growth of the market.However, side effects of the Foley catheters, lack of skilled professionals and stringent regulatory policies, slow adoption in low income countries and traditional healthcare practices are the key restraints for the market growth.Foley Catheters Segmentation Analysis:The global Foley catheters market has been majorly segmented on the basis of; type of material, type, end-users, and geographic regions.Globally Foley catheters market by type of material is segmented into latex, silicone, silicone elastomer coated latex, hydrophilic polymer coated latex, polytetrafluoroethylene ptfe (teflon) coated latex, and others.2-way catheters are most used type of Foley catheters. On the basis of type, the market is segmented into 2-way catheters, 3-way catheters, 4-way catheters and others.On the basis of end user this market is segmented into medical research center, hospitals, and ambulatory surgery centers. Hospitals are the main user of Foley catheters followed by ambulatory surgery centers.Foley Catheters Market Regional AnalysisGlobally, North America holds the largest share of over 39.2% of Foley catheters market and is expected to be the leading market during 2017-2023. Due to increasing prevalence of urologic diseases, rapid adoption, increasing awareness, developing healthcare infrastructure, government support and increasing healthcare expenditure, Asia Pacific market is expected to witness the fastest growth rate. Asia Pacific Foley catheters market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.3% during the forecast period.Companies are continuously investing large amount of money for R&D to derive effective product for the market. Some of the key players in Foley catheters market are; B. Braun Melsungen AG (Germany), Coloplast Ltd (Denmark), Cook (US), Teleflex (US), Medline Industries, Inc. (US), and Medtronic (Republic of IrelandCONTINUEDGET DISCOUNT @About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: salesteam@marketresearchfuture.com
By PTI: New Delhi, Dec 27 (PTI) Congress president Rahul Gandhi will visit Shimla on December 29 and review the partys performance in the recently-held Himachal Pradesh assembly election.

The Congress was defeated by the BJP in the hill state where it had been in power for the last five years. The party managed to bag just 21 seats out of 68, while the BJP won 44 seats.

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According to party sources, the Congress president will seek the views of party workers and address them at a workers meeting in the state capital on his day-long visit to the hill state.

He has already held a similar post-poll review in Gujarat, where the party failed to regain power even after over 22 years of BJP rule, despite putting up a spirited fight. PTI SKC SMN

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Beer Market 2017 Global Share,Trend,Segmentation and Forecast to 2020

Beer Market

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WiseGuyReports.Com Publish a New Market Research Report On - Beer Market 2017 Global Share,Trend,Segmentation and Forecast to 2020.The analysts forecast the global beer market to grow at a CAGR of 2.4% by revenue during the period 2016-2020.Beer is the highest consumed alcoholic beverage and the third-most consumed beverage after water and tea in the world. The global beer market is directly proportional to global economic conditions. Beer is also an integral part of the heritage and traditional cuisines of many countries, especially in Europe and the Americas.Get a Sample Report @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comCovered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global beer market for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report has taken into consideration the revenue generated from the retail sales of beer globally. It also includes the market size based on volume, which has been calculated based on the retail consumption of alcoholic drinks.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography: Americas APAC Europe MEAThe report, Global Beer Market 2016-2020, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendors Anheuser-Busch InBev Carlsberg Group Heineken SABMillerOther prominent vendors ABD Asahi Breweries Beck's Brewery Birra Menabrea Bitburger Brewery Boston Beer Budweiser Budvar Brewery Cesu Alus Chimay Brewery D.G. Yuengling & Son Diageo Distell Group Duvel Moortgat Erdinger Forst Harpoon Brewery Krombacher Brauerei Molson Coors Oakleaf Brewery Oettinger Paulaner Brewery Pivovarna Lasko Radeberger Brewery Royal Unibrew Svyturys The Brew Company Veltins WarsteinerMarket driver Innovative product launches For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challenge Regulations on alcohol advertising For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendNew flavors For a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this report What will the market size be in 2020 and what will the growth rate be? What are the key market trends? What is driving this market? What are the challenges to market growth? Who are the key vendors in this market space? What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?Ask Query @Table Of Contents  Major Key PointsPART 01: Executive summary HighlightsPART 02: Scope of the report Market overview Top-vendor offeringsPART 03: Market research methodology Research methodology Economic indicatorsPART 04: Introduction Key market highlightsPART 05: Market landscape Market overview Global alcoholic drinks market Global beer market Five forces analysisPART 06: Market segmentation by product Global standard lager market Global premium lager market Global specialty beer market Global other beer marketPART 07: Market segmentation by distribution channelPART 08: Geographical segmentation Beer market in Europe Beer market in APAC Beer market in Americas Beer market in MEAPART 09: Key leading countries China US Russia Germany BrazilPART 10: Market driversPART 11: Impact of driversPART 12: Market challengesContinue.Buy 1-User PDF @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comABOUT US:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.Office No.528,Amanora Chambers,Magarpatta Road,Hadapsar,Pune-411028.
Business Process Management as a Service Market 2017 Global Analysis By Key Players  CSC, IBM, OpenText, Oracle, Pegasystems, SAP

Business Process Management as a Service Market

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WiseGuyReports.Com Publish a New Market Research Report On - Business Process Management as a Service Market 2017 Global Analysis By Key Players  CSC, IBM, OpenText, Oracle, Pegasystems, SAP.The analysts forecast the global BPMaaS market to grow at a CAGR of 38.55% during the period 2016-2020.BPMaaS optimizes business processes and increases profitability through process design, process engines, and process analytics. It is also used to simulate, automate, and monitor business processes in sectors such as human resources (recruitment, training, and performance management), sales and marketing (pre-sales and post-sales), manufacturing (invoicing), customer relationship management (CRM), and R&D (improved infrastructure and effective management of processes).Get a Sample Report @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comCovered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global BPMaaS market for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the sales of cloud BPM solutions, including software, integrated solutions, and BPMaaS.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography: Americas APAC EMEAThe report, Business Process Management as a Service (BPMaaS) Market 2016-2020, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendors CSC IBM OpenText Oracle Pegasystems SAPOther prominent vendors Accenture Adaptive Planning Adeptia Adobe Systems Appian Barium Capgemini Cognizant Tech Colosa E-Builder Eccentex Genpact HandySoft Global Integrify Knowesia Kofax Lexmark International Metasonic MicroPact NorthgateArinso Perceptive Software Progress Software Questetra Red Hat Software AG Tibco Software Wipro XMProMarket driver Need for improvement of business processes For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challenge Difficulty in choosing suitable solutions For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trend Increasing adoption of hybrid cloud BPM solutions For a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this report What will the market size be in 2020 and what will the growth rate be? What are the key market trends? What is driving this market? What are the challenges to market growth? Who are the key vendors in this market space? What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?Ask Query @Table Of Contents  Major Key PointsPART 01: Executive summary HighlightsPART 02: Scope of the report Market overview Top-vendor offeringsPART 03: Market research methodology Research methodology Economic indicatorsPART 04: Introduction Key market highlightsPART 05: Market landscape Market overview BPM life cycle Market size and forecastPART 06: Market segmentation by deploymentPART 07: Market segmentation by end-user BFSI Manufacturing RetailPART 08: Market segmentation by region Global BPMaaS market by regionPART 09: Key leading countries US UK JapanPART 10: Buying CriteriaPART 11: Market drivers Need for improvement of business processes Adoption of cloud computing Need to follow compliance standard Need to achieve competitive advantagePART 12: Impact of driversPART 13: Market challenges High implementation cost Difficulty in choosing suitable solutions Complexities linked with BPM and BPMaaS solutions Lack of awareness in organizationsContinue.Buy 1-User PDF @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comABOUT US:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.Office No.528,Amanora Chambers,Magarpatta Road,Hadapsar,Pune-411028.
IOT in Nordic 2017 Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 15.11% and Forecast to 2020

IOT in Nordic 2017

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WiseGuyReports.Com Publish a New Market Research Report On - IOT in Nordic 2017 Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 15.11% and Forecast to 2020.The analysts forecast the IoT market in Nordic region to grow at a CAGR of 15.11% during the period 2016-2020.IoT is a network of tangible objects that are interconnected and can communicate among themselves as well as with the internal and external environments. It connects hardware devices, embedded software, communication services, and IT services. It creates smart communication environments such as smart homes, smart shopping, smart transportation, and smart healthcare. It is an emerging ecosystem of Internet protocol (IP)-connected devices with the potential to deliver business benefits valued at trillions of dollars in the future across varied industries.Get a Sample Report @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comCovered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the IoT market in Nordic region for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report considers the following: Revenue generated from the connectivity services offered for IoT connected devices, which are used in various industries, including consumer electronics, retail, healthcare, automotive, and utilities Revenue realized from IoT platforms, applications, licenses, and support and maintenance services Consolidated revenue of mobile network operators (MNOs), mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), and mobile virtual network enablers (MVNEs) in terms of IoT services and solutions Revenue generated by IoT managed service providers and Internet service providers (ISPs)The market is divided into the following segments based on geography: Sweden Norway Denmark FinlandThe report, IoT Market in Nordic Region 2016-2020, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendors Ericsson Tele2 Telenor Group TeliaSonera TietoOther prominent vendors Accenture Cisco Systems Gemalto Huawei IBM Intel Nordic Semiconductors Novatel Wireless Orange Business Services Qualcomm SAP Sierra Wireless Wipro Wireless Matrix (CalAmp)Market driver Reduced prices of connected devices For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challenge Lack of standardization For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trend Rise in adoption of IoT in supply chain management For a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this report What will the market size be in 2020 and what will the growth rate be? What are the key market trends? What is driving this market? What are the challenges to market growth? Who are the key vendors in this market space? What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?Ask Query @Table Of Contents  Major Key PointsPART 01: Executive summary HighlightsPART 02: Scope of the report Market overview Top vendor offeringsPART 03: Market research methodology Research methodology Economic indicatorsPART 04: Introduction Key market highlightsPART 05: Market landscape Market overview Market size and forecast Five forces analysisPART 06: Market segmentation by industry vertical Market size and forecastPART 07: Geographical segmentation Market size and forecastPART 08: Market driversPART 09: Impact of driversPART 10: Market challengesPART 11: Impact of drivers and challengesPART 12: Market trendsPART 13: Vendor landscape Competitive scenario Key vendor analysis Other prominent vendorsContinue.Buy 1-User PDF @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comABOUT US:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.Office No.528,Amanora Chambers,Magarpatta Road,Hadapsar,Pune-411028.
Document Outsourcing 2017 Global Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 5.5% and Forecast to 2020

Document Outsourcing Market

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WiseGuyReports.Com Publish a New Market Research Report On - Document Outsourcing 2017 Global Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 5.5% and Forecast to 2020.The analysts forecast the global document outsourcing market to grow at a CAGR of 5.5% during the period 2016-2020.In the era of digitalization and information economy, organizations adopt IT solutions for the effective management of large volumes of unorganized enterprise documents. Document management solutions are designed to manage routine files and paper-based documents through digital ECM systems. organizations require quick access to enterprise files and information to streamline workflow and remain competitive in the domestic and international markets. Document management outsourcing services are gaining popularity in the document management business as many firms face difficulties to manage in-house document management software solutions. In-house document management systems require upfront investment to install software and hardware to run document management applications. Organizations also need to spend on IT department such as skilled IT professionals and IT support services to manage in-house document management systems.Get a Sample Report @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comCovered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global document outsourcing market for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, we consider revenue generated from the following document management outsourcing services: Onsite contracted services Statement printing services Document process outsourcing (DPO) servicesThe market is divided into the following segments based on geography: Americas APAC EMEAThe report, Global Document Outsourcing Market 2016-2020, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendors Canon HP Lexmark International Ricoh XeroxOther prominent vendors ABBYY Accenture American Reprographic Company (ARC) Document Solutions Cirrato Cortado Epson Hyland Konica Minolta Levi Ray & Shoup Swiss Post ToshibaMarket driver Cost reduction, efficiency and adherence to compliance and regulatory standards For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challenge Data privacy and security risks For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trend Rise in digital mailroom outsourcing services For a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this report What will the market size be in 2020 and what will the growth rate be? What are the key market trends? What is driving this market? What are the challenges to market growth? Who are the key vendors in this market space? What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?Ask Query @Table Of Contents  Major Key PointsPART 01: Executive summary HighlightsPART 02: Scope of the report Market overview Top-vendor offeringsPART 03: Market research methodology Research methodology Economic indicatorsPART 04: Introduction Key market highlightsPART 05: Market landscape Market overview Market size and forecast Five forces analysisPART 06: Market segmentation by outsourcing services Global document outsourcing market by outsourcing services Onsite contracted services Statement printing servicePART 07: Geographical segmentation Global document outsourcing market by geography Document outsourcing market in Americas Document outsourcing market in EMEA Document outsourcing market in APACPART 08: Market driversPART 09: Impact of driversPART 10: Market challengesPART 11: Impact of drivers and challengesPART 12: Market trendsPART 13: Vendor Landscape Competitive landscape Other prominent vendorsPART 14: Key vendor analysis Canon HP Lexmark International Ricoh XeroxContinue.Buy 1-User PDF @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comABOUT US:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.Office No.528,Amanora Chambers,Magarpatta Road,Hadapsar,Pune-411028.
E-Commerce Payment 2017 Global Market  Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts 2020

E-Commerce Payment Market

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WiseGuyReports.Com Publish a New Market Research Report On - E-Commerce Payment 2017 Global Market  Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts 2020.The analysts forecast the global e-commerce payment market to grow at a CAGR of 16.42% during the period 2016-2020.The Internet is likely to be the most active trade intermediary, as it allows people to purchase goods online. Advances in technology have increased the range of devices and processes that can be transacted electronically. Many top vendors are trying to formulate different strategies to boost business and customer confidence during the forecast period.Heavy competition in the online payments space has encouraged the top vendors to optimize their content marketing strategies to help online customers navigate better. Benefits of such strategies can be observed in the growing use of mobile chat platforms during the forecast period.Get a Sample Report @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comCovered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global e-commerce payment market for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report considers the total volume of non-cash transactions sourced through e-commerce payments.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography: Americas APAC EMEAThe report, Global E-Commerce Payment Market 2016-2020, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendors Alipay MasterCard PayPal VisaOther prominent vendors ACH Payments Dwolla WePayMarket driver Rise of m-commerce For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challenge Security and privacy concerns For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trend Expanding payment options For a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this report What will the market size be in 2020 and what will the growth rate be? What are the key market trends? What is driving this market? What are the challenges to market growth? Who are the key vendors in this market space? What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?Ask Query @Table Of Contents  Major Key PointsPART 01: Executive summary HighlightsPART 02: Scope of the report Market overview Top-vendor offeringsPART 03: Market research methodology Research methodology Economic indicatorsPART 04: Introduction Key market highlights Global market outlookPART 05: Market landscape Market overview Market size and forecastPART 06: Market segmentation by payment mode Cards E-wallets Mobile Bank transfer Direct debits Cash on deliveryPART 07: Geographical segmentation Americas APAC EMEAPART 08: Market driversPART 09: Impact of driversPART 10: Market challengesPART 11: Impact of drivers and challengesPART 12: Market trendsPART 13: Vendor landscape Competitive landscape Major company overview Company financials Recent developments Other prominent vendors Key takeawaysContinue.Buy 1-User PDF @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comABOUT US:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.Office No.528,Amanora Chambers,Magarpatta Road,Hadapsar,Pune-411028.
Human Insulin Market Segments, Key Players Strategies, Analysis and Forecasts Till 2021

Human Insulin Market

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The Global Human Insulin Market report titled Human Insulin Market Research Report-Forecast to 2021 is a specialist investigation report by Market Research Future includes broad essential research alongside the definite examination of subjective and additionally quantitative perspectives by different industry specialists, key sentiment pioneers to pick up a more profound understanding of the market and industry execution. The Human Insulin Market The market for global human insulin is estimated at ~$25 billion in 2015 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of ~10-12% within forecasted period.GET SAMPLE REPORT @Market Research Future published new report, titled Human Insulin Market -Research Report: Global Forecast to 2021.Global Human Insulin Market Players:This report includes a study of strategies, of major market players. It includes the product portfolios, developments of leading major players such as Biocon Ltd. (India), Tonghua Dongbao Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. (China), Adocia (France.), Merck & Co. (U.S.), Julphar (UAE), Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (U.S.), GlaxoSmithKline Plc (U.K.), Oramed Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Israel), Novo Nordisk A/S (Denmark), and othersthis research report has provides the insights, on various levels of analyses such industry analysis, market share analysis leading market players and their profiles. This report also helps in studying the target segments by providing views on emerging & high-growth segments and market conclusion. Together the market data comprise and discuss with the basic assessments on the competitive scenerios & strategies, of the global human insulin market, including the high-growth regions, countries and their political, economical and technological environments. Furthermore the project report also provides the views over the historical market values as well as, pricing and cost analysis of the same.Market Highlights of Global Human Insulin Market:The modern human insulin segment has the largest market share in the global human insulin market is estimated to be the largest market during the forecasted period.Modern human insulin, also known as analog insulin, is prescribed by physicians for the treatment of diabetes. It is the customized form of traditional human insulin and provides effective results in comparison to traditional human insulin.Increasing prevalence of diabetes and increasing R&D investment for more effective insulin are driving the growth of the human insulin market in North America. Diabetes has become one of the major public health problems in North America, due to increasing number of geriatric population and rising prevalence of obesity.Diabetes is the major public health threat for the world. Prevalence of Type 2 diabetes is increasing rapidly in Asia-Pacific. According to a study conducted by National Centre for Biotechnology Information in 2012, approximately 60% of Asian population was suffering from diabetes. China is expected to have highest prevalence rate of diabetes, followed by India, due to rise in industrialization, urbanization and westernization.GET FULL REPORT @Regional Analysis of Global Human Insulin Market:The report for Global Human Insulin Markets of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different markets segments and regions.Market Segmentation:Global Human Insulin market has been segmented on the basis of types which majorly includes modern human insulin, and traditional human insulin. The modern human insulin is further divided into; long acting human insulin, rapid acting human insulin, and premixed human insulin. Whereas, the traditional human insulin is again categorized into; short acting human insulin, and intermediate acting human insulin.MAJOR TABLE OF CONTENTS:Chapter 1. Report PrologueChapter 2. IntroductionChapter 3. Research MethodologyChapter 4. Market DynamicsChapter 5. Market Factor AnalysisChapter 6. Human Insulin Market 2016-2020: By Types (US $ Million)Chapter 7. Human Insulin Market, By Region Market Value & Volume ForecastChapter 8. Competitive LandscapeChapter 9. Company ProfileChapter 10. MRFR ConclusionChapter 11. AppendixCONTINUEDGET DISCOUNT @About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune  411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: salesteam@marketresearchfuture.com
Practically the only major area of disagreement among Paste Politics writers relates to the alleged collusion between Trump and Russia. My take on the matter is that despite a lot of smoke, there has been no fire, and even if there is, it wont really matter. In other words, Russia will not save us. That doesnt mean Trump is innocent, or that Putin is good, or that Mueller should stop his investigation, or that I wont be dancing in the street if he goes down. Its just that I dont think it will happen, and I believe the most reliable way to defeat Trump and the other Republicans is to fight them on policy, becauseas weve seen in recent electionsthats almost a surefire winner, and something like the tax bill matters a lot more to most normal people than the nebulous bombshell culture of Russia-gate.

That said, Jacob Weindling and Roger Sollenberger have written extensively and brilliantly about the Russia connections for Paste, and would fundamentally disagree with my assertion that its backburner material (though Jake has written on how the medias credibility is shot on that front).

I bring this up because I just watched an interview with Guardian journalist Luke Harding, who recently released a bestseller called Collusion: Secret Meetings, Dirty Money, and How Russia Helped Donald Trump Win. The host of The Real News, Aaron Mate, repeatedly pressed him on concrete examples of proven collusion, and the result was embarrassingHarding had a whole heap of nothing.

You can watch the video below, or read the transcript at the link above:

Lets highlight the many times Mate asked the collusion question plainly:

Luke, welcome. Lets start with the books title. Do you think there actually was collusion?

LUKE HARDING: I think were already across the line in terms of collusion. I think actually you have to go back a long way to see when it began to Donald Trumps first trip to Soviet Moscow in 1987 paid for by the Soviet Union where he was discussing hotel deals. I think we can say  and Im sure this is something that Robert Mueller is looking at  that theres kind of long-term relationship. That doesnt mean that Donald Trump is an agent or a KGB colonel, merely that theres been a kind of transactional deal going back a very long way indeed.

You notice here, for the first time, the way Harding dances around the question and reverts to historical evasion and other acts of vague supposition. But Mate wont let him off easy:

AARON MATE:Thats also an assertion of the infamous Steele dossier, that theres a transactional relationship between Trump and the Kremlin and that Putin has been cultivating Trump for several years now. But explain why you think that is and why you think theres evidence of a transactional relationship.

LUKE HARDING: Well I think you just kind of have to look at what happened. We had Donald Trumps trip back in the kind of late Cold War period, and I talked to a number of sources for this book, some in Moscow, some in London, some in Washington, some defectors. I met with Chris Steele, the author of the dossier, as well. I think what you have to understand is the fact that the sort of Soviet state and its Russian successor is raking on kind of cultivating people, particularly Americans.

This pattern repeats over and overHarding simply cant say heres the collusion.

AARON MATE:Okay. But where then is the proof of a transactional relationship?

LUKE HARDING: Well I mean there are secret meetings as the book says that we now know about, some of which we have discovered about in the last few months. We have Donald Trump, Jr meeting with a Russian lawyer now famous, Natalia Veselnitskaya, having been promised information from the Russian government as part of its campaign to support Mr. Trump and to hurt Hillary Clinton. We have four indictments by Robert Mueller-

AARON MATE: Luke, Luke, let me stop you there. Luke, let me stop you there. If we already have a transactional relationship between Trump and Russia going back to the late 80s as you say, then why would they have needed a music publicist to set up this meeting? I mean presumably that level of relationship would have entailed some high-level contacts that wouldnt have needed an intermediary like this kooky music publicist, Rob Goldstone.

At this point, Harding tires of prevarication and opts for another sly trickchastising his interviewer for tacitly supporting Putin, and ignoring the Russians history of violence toward oppositional journalists. Which, of course, Mate never did:

LUKE HARDING: Yeah. Right. Dont kind of quite appreciate the nature of Vladimir Putins state. I mean I lived there for four years. I was there for between 2007 and 2011. I was eventually kind of kicked out for writing stories about kleptocracy, about Putins fortune, about human rights, about journalists. Im not sure if you know, but some of my friends in Moscow who are journalists have been murdered. This is not a nice or benign regime. Its-

AARON MATE: [crosstalk 00:10:04] Im certainly not arguing that Vladimir Putin is a nice person or that he has great policies, but to me though, that doesnt automatically mean that he waged a massive influence campaign that got Donald Trump elected. Part of the reason why Im skeptical of that is that, again, there still is actual  Theres zero evidence so far. Theres a lot of supposition and innuendo.

LUKE HARDING: Well Im a journalist. Im a storyteller. Im not head of the CIA or the NSA

Yikes. Im a storyteller is not exactly the best defense when you fundamentally fail to defend the basic premise of your book.

This pattern repeats over and over, and Id probably be guilty of copyright infringement if I copy-pasted much more, but I do want to highlight one moment that illustrates the depth of Hardings journalism:

AARON MATE: Okay. Well listen. In terms of the book, I will  I do want to quote you one part that I did read that I found interesting which is where you are talking about the potential connections between Paul Manafort, Trumps campaign manager, and the Russian government. You spoke to a Manafort associate. Hopefully I have his name  Hopefully I can pronounce his name properly. Konstantin Kilimnik. Kilimnik wrote you by email in response to your questions about his relationship with Manafort, and you recount that Kilimnik responded by telling you that the collusion issue was gibberish and then he signed his email off by saying Off to collect my paycheck at KGB. Then he has an emoji smiley face with two parentheses. Okay.

You write The thing which gave me pause was Kilimniks use of smiley faces. True, Russians are big emoticon fans, but Ive seen something similar before. In 2013, the Russian diplomat in charge of political influence operations in London was named Sergey Nalobin. Nalobin had close links with Russian intelligence. He was a son of a KGB general. His brother worked for the FSB. Nalobin looked like a career foreign intelligence officer. You go on to write On a Twitter feed, Nalobin described himself thus: a brutal agent of the Putin dictatorship, smiley face. So are you inferring there that because two Russians used a smiley face that thats proof that Manaforts associate was a tool of the Russian government?

Emoji collusion!!

Now, obviously Harding wasnt prepared for what amounted to a skeptical interviewer. I have no doubt that if Pastes writers were present, they would have done a much better job, and Hardings stumbling incompetence doesnt necessarily mean there was no collusion. That said, a simple fact remains: The man who wrote the book on Trump-Russia collusion cant point to a single concrete instance of said collusion.

Thats pretty damning, right?

And it backs up my premise that until we get something legitimate from Mueller, the wisest course of action for the left is to focus exclusively on policy. Until then, the parade of false bombshells works out in Trumps favor, especially when the mainstream media (ABC News and CNN, most recently) make glaring reporting errors that undermine the whole anti-Trump movement and give ammunition to the fake news! crowd.

Journalists like Harding do a disservice to their profession with interviews like this one, and they make it that much harder to root out the national disease that Trumpism represents. The winning formula here is simple: Point out to Americans exactly how theyre being screwed and immiserated by a party that represents nothing but corporate interests, and illustrate how they would gladly sacrifice your well-being to further line the pockets of the rich. Thats how you drive them out of office. But unless we want further embarrassmentthe kind that complicates the salient messageleave Russia out of it.
The government maintains that the doctors have been continuing with their strike despite the state government agreeing to all their demands.

By Dev Ankur Wadhawan: The strike by doctors in Government hospitals in Rajasthan has brought resulted into more difficulties for thousands of patients in the state.

The in-service government hospital doctors in Rajasthan have been on strike after accusing the state government for not fulfilling promises made last month. The government has also been accused of being vindictive after some of the doctors were arrested under Rajasthan Essential Services Maintenance Act (RESMA) as the in-service doctors had threatened to go on strike.

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Around 80 doctors were arrested after the doctors threatened strike.

The government maintains that the doctors have been continuing with their strike despite the state government agreeing to all their demands.

Kalicharan Saraf, Rajasthan health minister, mentioned to India Today, "They are continuing with the strike despite the government agreeing to all their demands."

Another round of talks are happening today between the representatives of the striking doctors and several ministers of the state government, including health minister Kalicharan Saraf.

"Have to face a lot (of problems). Doctors are pushing around. Doctors are not giving us written prescriptions. They say that if we are not available, then you get it in the written prescription from someone else. I have told that my injections and medicines are finished. I cannot eat chapaati without injection. Doctors are not even checking", Zarina, a patient, said.

The strike by in-service and resident doctors have crippled medical services across government hospitals in Rajasthan. At the SMS Hospital, the biggest government hospital in Rajasthan, some of the aggrieved patients' relatives shared their ordeal with India Today.

"(We) Are not being attended to over here and we have been going around for a long time and we have been sitting here for the past half an hour. Several people are being attended to here but are not telling us anything. Doctors are also not available. All chambers are empty and we are facing a lot of trouble because of this," Dhara Singh, a patient's attendant, said.

"(We) Are not being able to attend the patients. There is difficulty. We have been here since yesterday evening, since 9 o'clock. Was first taken to Emergency , then they sent over here for this... Is taking a lot of time. Otherwise, doctors are attending, senior doctors are attending... What are their problems? Government (should) also hear them and they sit down to have discussion with the Government. Solution must be reached at," Virendra Yadav, patient's relative, said.

The in-service doctors had gone on strike last month as they wanted their demands to be fulfilled. The list of demands of the in-service doctors included rectification in salary discrepancies, Rs 10,000 as grade pay benefit, improvement in service conditions, safety inside hospitals, separate cadre and housing facility.

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The in-service doctors on strike have been joined by Residents and Senior Residents crippling the medical services in the state even further.

"There is a gross impact on the services and we are only normally dealing with Emergencies, like ICU, Emergency surgeries and the trauma patients. Routine cases and routine surgeries, we are postponing them and giving them time and asking them to come after the strike is over," Dr. DS Meena, Superintendent, SMS Hospital, mentioned to India Today.

--- ENDS ---
Petoskey players bring in All-BNC soccer honors, seven total recognized

PETOSKEY  The Petoskey soccer team found themselves in 2022 right in the thick of where they expect to be every season: in a tight Big North Conference race.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in late October described the U.S. export of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the European Union as a political step motivated by Russophobe hysteria and aimed at preventing the Russia-EU relations from normalization, as well as an unfriendly act that will undermine Europes energy security.

Moscow also claims that U.S. sanctions against Russia are part of a struggle for domination of the EU energy market. As reported by the Russian government-funded broadcaster RT, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, commenting on the U.S. sanctions back in September, said that the U.S. was seeking to bury Russias Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project and force-feed its own LNG to Europe.

Russian media coverage of the issue generally has a similar spin. In a recent example, RTs website posted an analysis headlined: How long can Europe survive without Russian gas?

The RT piece cited a report by Italys La Stampa newspaper, but misrepresented it. The La Stampa piece examined possible scenarios and consequences if new supply problems arise from Russia, noting that such blockade crises occurred in the past, when Gazprom, Russias giant natural gas monopoly, left entire countries without gas for a week during bitterly cold winter weather.

However, the thrust of the La Stampa piece was contrary to RTs claim that replacing the Russian pipeline gas with American LNG does not increase, but reduces the energy security of the EU.

What does energy security actually mean?

The International Energy Agency (IEA), the Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organization consisting of 29 member countries, defines energy security as the uninterrupted availability of energy sources at an affordable price.

In supplying gas to Europe, Russia has clearly not provided for the uninterrupted availability of energy sources at an affordable price. Indeed, it has repeatedly failed to provide for an uninterrupted availability of supplies to its European clients, not because of accidents or other circumstances beyond its control, but because it intentionally cut off or significantly reduced gas supplies to Europe in the dead of winter, leaving millions without heat.

Russia has dominated the European energy market for nearly two decades, supplying the continent with more than 34 percent of its entire gas consumption.

During that time, European governments repeatedly accused Russia of systematically abusing its dominant position in the market and using the EUs dependency on Russian gas supplies as leverage against those Moscow considered political rivals.

Based on these accusations, the European Commission in 2012 initiated an anti-trust case against Gazprom. In announcing the investigations preliminary findings in April 2014, the Commission accused Gazprom of unfair practices, saying the Russian gas monopoly had used its commanding position in the region to demand high prices and restrict its captive customers' ability to secure supplies from other sources.

Meanwhile, 38 European countries, including all of those in the EU, carried out energy security stress tests in 2014. They simulated two energy supply disruption scenarios for a period of one or six months: a complete halt of Russian gas imports to the EU and a disruption of Russian gas imports through the Ukrainian transit route.

Still, the Russian government and Gazproms management continue to insist that Russia is one of the worlds most reliable suppliers  a claim Polygraph.info previously investigated and debunked.

But is U.S. LNG export really replacing Russia on the EU market, and is it reducing European energy security?

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the U.S. exported LNG to Europe in 2017, with three shipments to Portugal, two to Lithuania and Italy and one each to the United Kingdom, Poland and Netherlands. All the shipments totaled 33,915 MMcf (million standard cubic feet), which is less than one percent of Europes gas consumption.

The European Union estimates that LNG from providers including the U.S., Norway, United Arab Emirates and Russia could represent 25% of the total EU gas supplies by 2030.

This means, however, that even from a long-term perspective, the U.S. will not become a dominant trader in the EU energy market even if demand for American LNG increases significantly. The Roadmap of the EU-Russia Energy Cooperation until 2050 plan demonstrates that, despite all the problems, Russia will remain one of Europes main natural gas suppliers.

Russias projected long-term domination of the European energy market is most likely due to the fact that five major EU companies have been investing in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, which is 100 percent owned by Gazprom. Austrias OMV, Frances Engie, Germanys Uniper and Wintershall, and Anglo-Dutch Shell together invested 1.43 billion euros ($1.7 billion) in Nord Stream 2 in 2017, and committed to fund up to 10% each of the project's total estimated cost of 9.5 billion euros ($11.2 billion), if needed.

Therefore, RTs claim about U.S. LNG replacing Russian gas in Europe is exaggerated, if not false.

Contrary to RTs claim, the U.S. entry into the EU energy market is helping to provide energy security as defined by the IEA, experts say.

The U.S. LNG is the price setter driving down Gazprom prices, Anders Aslund, a Senior Fellow in Global Business and Economics at the Atlantic Council, told Polygraph.info.

Former Russian Deputy Finance Minister Sergey Aleksashenko, currently a Senior Fellow in Global Economy and Development at the Brookings Institution, called RTs claim definitely not accurate.

The more suppliers you have to choose from the more stable and secure is your position as a consumer. Normally, competition leads to lower prices. I do not understand why the European gas market should be different, Aleksashenko told Polygraph.info.

According to U.S. government data from 2011, the most expensive natural gas on the international market at that time was from Japan and Russia.

In response to Lithuanias decision at the end of 2014 to import U.S. LNG, Gazprom offered a 23% discount on pipeline gas supplies. This was evidence that the arrival of U.S. natural gas in the European market is lowering prices, particularly given that Russia does not want to give up its market share. Russia has also recently discounted supplies to Ukraine in an attempt to make its gas exports competitive now that Kyiv can import gas from the West.

The U.S.'s stated goal in entering the EU energy market is to provide Europeans with alternative energy supplies.

In a speech in Warsaw on July 6, U.S. President Donald Trump said: We are committed to securing your access to alternate sources of energy, so Poland and its neighbors are never again held hostage to a single supplier of energy.

Speaking at a Warsaw press conference ahead of the G20 summit meeting, Trump stated: "Let me be clear about one crucial point. The United States will never use energy to coerce your nations, and we cannot allow others to do so. You don't want to have a monopoly or a monopolistic situation."
The first 787 Dreamliner purchased by Royal Air Maroc, a 787-8 model, rolls out of Boeing Co.'s Everett, Wash., assembly campus in 2014. The Morroco-based carrier said Wednesday it has purchased four 787-9s to add to its current fleet of five Dreamliners. Provided/Boeing Co.
Contact John McDermott at 843-937-5572 or follow him on Twitter at @byjohnmcdermott. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Straight No Chaser is celebrating its silver anniversary with a three-month tour that would exact a physical toll on any performer  vocalists especially. Yet despite the grueling schedule (they are almost exactly in the middle of more than 60 performances), SNC performed an outstanding show Nov. 13 at the Charleston Gaillard Center. Read moreReview: Straight No Chaser delights young and old on a cappella tour
The end of the strike came after day-long negotiations with representatives of doctors with a group of ministers set up by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.

By Rohit Parihar: The Rajasthan government doctors ended their eleven-day long strike today, which had severely crippled health-services in the state that already ranks low on health indices in India.

The end of the strike came after day-long negotiations with representatives of doctors with a group of ministers set up by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.

The government was represented by Yunus Khan, PWD minister, Ashok Parnami, President of the state BJP and Ajay Singh Kilak, Minister for Cooperative development.

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The doctors had gone on strike demanding better working conditions in November and had called off their strike a week after when they arrived at an agreement with the government.

However, government, instead of honouring its commitment, transferred office bearers of doctors' unions to teach them a lesson. Doctors main representative Ajay Chaudhary too was transferred.

Rajasthan Civil Services Appellate Tribunal rejected his petition challenging his transfer and imposed Rs 2 lakh penalty on him on Tuesday.

'LIVE OUR LIFE FOR A DAY'

Rajasthan High Court had tried to intervene but washed off its hands finally on Monday.

The strike gained national attention when resident doctors of the AIIMS asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and urged him to live a day of their life.

That embarrassed state authorities to shed their stubborn attitude and even doctors, snubbed by courts and tribunals realised that they have to look for an honourable settlement to call off their strike.

It has to be seen whether the government will cancel transfer orders of the leaders of the doctors and withdraw cases against them now.

BJP will have to work hard to negate adverse impact of the strike on three by-elections that are likely to be held in February next year.

--- ENDS ---
The area had been blocked off by city officials. No one was hurt and nothing damaged. The wall has been menacing passersby for many years. A fix is in the works. Read morePortion of old brick wall by Charleston's Second Presbyterian Church gives way
One of the first major projects envisioned in the Rethink Folly Road plan is showing signs of progress. The Charleston County Transportation Department is applying for a grant from the Charleston Area Transportation Study committee to fund the majority of a $16 million project to build a pedestrian path along Folly Road from Ellis Creek bridge to Sol Legare Road. The work being done on Folly Road and Camp Road already includes the sidewalk that will be part of Rethink Folly Road plan. Brad Nettles/Staff
I was so intrigued by Robert Behres Oct. 17 column and the newspaper's strong editorial Nov. 10 in support of a park being developed in the former SCE&G lot between Meeting and King streets that I decided to investigate further. Read moreCommentary: Proposed downtown Charleston park would provide a richer future
There was a combination of superlative hysteria and political opportunism behind the warnings about the end of democracy leading up to last weeks elections, but it wasnt inconceivable that wed have flare-ups of violence and intimidation, that people who embrace the fantasy that the 2020 e Read moreEditorial: Election 2022 gave everybody something to celebrate
Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the attack on her husband, Paul, by an intruder in their family home made her think about staying on as the House Democratic leader. She says she almost thought about being leader again because she couldnt give them that satisfaction of intimidating her out of politics. Pelosi spoke to reporters Thursday at the Capitol after announcing she would step aside for a new generation of leaders. She will remain the congresswoman from California. Pelosi says shes not sad about her choice to step aside but feels balanced in her decision. She has no plans to endorse a successor and no desire to meddle with the new leadership's vision. Read morePelosi's big decision: 'Theres a life out there, right?'
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FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for Ximen Mining Corp.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Vancouver, British Columbia (FSCWire) - Ximen Mining Corp. (TSX Venture:XIM). has issued a press release with the following headline:Ximen Mining Corp. Proposes 5:1 Share Consolidation and Intent to Conduct Rights OfferingTo view this press release on the FSCwire website, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:If you would prefer, you can also view this press release as a PDF file, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:For more information on Ximen Mining Corp., or to see additional press releases issued by this company, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser: http://www.fscwire.com/public-company/Ximen Mining Corp.Source: Ximen Mining Corp. (TSX Venture: XIM, FWB: XIM, WKN: A1W2EG, ISIN: CA98420B1013)Date: December 27, 2017Time: 3:35 AM EST--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of Ximen Mining Corp. and disseminated through FSCwire.About FSCwireFSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.), is a global newswire dissemination, SEDAR, SEDI, and EDGAR / XBRL service provider.FSCwire is a full service global newswire dissemination company and is fully approved by all exchanges in Canada and the U.S. Press releases can be distributed for all sizes of public, private or not for profit companies and any other organization requiring news distribution. In addition to individual companies; public relations, communications and investor relations firms trust FSCwire to distribute press releases for their respective clients.In addition to newswire dissemination FSCwire also offers EDGAR, XBRL, SEDAR, SEDI, and additional services for publicly traded companies. For more information, please go to our website: http://www.fscwire.com Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2017 - FSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.)
The Managing Director of Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority, NEPZA, Emmanuel Jime, says the authority has licensed three new Free Trade Zones, FTZs.

Mr. Jime announced this in a statement signed by the Head, Corporate Communications of the Authority, Simon Imobo-Tswam, on Wednesday in Abuja.

According to Mr. Jime, the names of the new FTZs are Nasco Town FTZ; Quit Aviation Services FTZ; and Tomaro FTZ.

The new licensed FTZs have over 2.751 billion dollars in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows into the country.

Besides the over 2.751 billion dollars in FDI inflows, the new FTZs are targeting direct jobs in excess of 50, 000.

Under my stewardship, we have so far been able to licensed three new industrial parks. The first one is Nasco Town Free Zone, which is valued 2.086 billion dollars.

It is estimated at completion to be able to provide 15,000 direct jobs.

The second is Quit Aviation Services Free Zone, valued at 215million dollars and it is estimated to provide jobs in their thousands.

And there is Tomaro Industrial Park, in Lagos valued at $450 million. It would also provide jobs running into the thousands.

Mr. Jime said that the challenges he met upon assumption of office included low staff morale, inter-agency rivalry, delayed promotions and poor investor-confidence, among others.

He said that he had been able to make appreciable impact with the support of his management team.

(NAN)
Senegalese troops have entered The Gambia to force out the countrys defiant former President Yahya Jammeh.

The development came hours after Adama Barrow, a property developer who won the countrys presidential election in December, was sworn in at a Gambian embassy in Dakar, the capital of Senegal.

Mr. Jammeh refused to quit despite calls from ECOWAS and the African Union for him to do so. The United Nations also supported calls for Mr. Jammeh to quit and backed Mr. Barrows presidency effective Thursday, January 19, 2017.

The recognition of Mr. Barrow as the president of The Gambia marked the end of Mr. Jammehs 22-year reign in the West African country.

He secured an emergency approval from the countrys parliament for his tenure to be extended for another 90 days, but the resolution was frowned upon by the international community.

Senegalese media quoted the countrys military chief as saying that their troops have entered The Gambia to take out Mr. Jammeh and install Mr. Barrow.

The Senegalese soldiers entered The Gambia on Thursday afternoon, Abdou Ndiaye, the spokesman for the Senegalese Army was quoted by local media in Dakar as saying, according to the BBC.

The Nigerian military also confirmed on Thursday that its armed reconnaissance air force are over Gambia.

They have the capacity to strike, Nigerian Air Force spokesman Ayodele Famuyiwa told the French newswire, AFP.

Gambian military officials have reportedly said they will not resist any foreign incursion into the country to remove Mr. Jammeh, saying the impasse is a political matter that they will not intervene in.

Mr. Barrow had warned in his inauguration speech that anyone found illegally holding arms will be considered as a rebel.

Senegalese troops have entered The Gambia to force out the countrys defiant former President Yahya Jammeh.

The development came hours after Adama Barrow, a property developer who won the countrys presidential election in December, was sworn in at a Gambian embassy in Dakar, the capital of Senegal.

Mr. Jammeh refused to quit despite calls from ECOWAS and the African Union for him to do so. The United Nations also supported calls for Mr. Jammeh to quit and backed Mr. Barrows presidency effective Thursday, January 19, 2017.

The recognition of Mr. Barrow as the president of The Gambia marked the end of Mr. Jammehs 22-year reign in the West African country.

He secured an emergency approval from the countrys parliament for his tenure to be extended for another 90 days, but the resolution was frowned upon by the international community.

Senegalese media quoted the countrys military chief as saying that their troops have entered The Gambia to take out Mr. Jammeh and install Mr. Barrow.

The Senegalese soldiers entered The Gambia on Thursday afternoon, Abdou Ndiaye, the spokesman for the Senegalese Army was quoted by local media in Dakar as saying, according to the BBC.

The Nigerian military also confirmed on Thursday that its armed reconnaissance air force are over Gambia.

They have the capacity to strike, Nigerian Air Force spokesman Ayodele Famuyiwa told the French newswire, AFP.

Gambian military officials have reportedly said they will not resist any foreign incursion into the country to remove Mr. Jammeh, saying the impasse is a political matter that they will not intervene in.

Mr. Barrow had warned in his inauguration speech that anyone found illegally holding arms will be considered as a rebel.
The current fuel scarcity being experienced across Nigeria has persisted for about three weeks despite assurances by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.

At various times during the scarcity, top government officials have adduced different reasons for the crisis which caused a bleak Christmas celebration across the country.

As the fuel scarcity continues, PREMIUM TIMES highlights some the reasons given so far by officials of the Buhari administration for the development.

PANIC BUYING

At the early onset of the scarcity, the NNPC blamed it on panic buying.

NNPC spokesperson, Ndu Ughamadu, said on December 5 that the queues at filling stations were as a result of panic buying by consumers.

The fuel queues witnessed in some parts of the country is due to panic buying by motorists. We have assured the people that the NNPC has sufficient stock of petroleum products to last throughout the coming festive season and beyond, he said.

ITS THE WEATHER

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, brought a new perspective  at least to many Nigerians  when he said the current weather in the country is partly responsible for the petrol scarcity.

Speaking on December 6 after a meeting of the Federal Executive Council in Abuja, Mr. Mohammed said the cold harmattan period has led to increased purchase of petrol, thus the scarcity.

This is winter period. There is always more demand for refined products from petroleum during winter in the colder countries. This is what we are experiencing now, he said.

NNPC BEING SOLE IMPORTER

The Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, at a news briefing in Abuja on December 7 said the major cause of the scarcity was shortage in supply of the products, caused by the NNPC being the sole importer of the product.

The major problem is the gap in terms of volume, because NNPC is the only one importing the product to the country, he said.

INADEQUATE SUPPLY TO DEPOTS

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Monday attributed the scarcity to limited supply of petrol to depots across the country.

Mr. Osinbajo spoke during his visit to fuel depots in Lagos where he monitored the loading of trucks to ensure steady supply of petrol to designated filling stations.

The fuel crisis presently confronting the country is as a result of shortage of supply of fuel to depots across the country, he said.

We hope that in the next couple of days, we would be able to end the fuel queues.

While the federal government officials gave different reasons for the scarcity, an opposition leader, Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti, had his own theory.

PLOY BY FG TO INCREASE PRICE

Mr. Fayose blamed the federal government for the scarcity, saying it was a ploy by the federal government to increase the price of petrol.

He made this known in a statement on December 17 by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka.

Petrol is scarce across the country because the Federal Government deliberately reduced supply since it is only the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC that is importing the product.

The thinking is that by the time the scarcity persists for like one month, with Nigerians already buying at N200 per litre, the people will jump at it if petrol is increased from N145 to N185 per litre, he said.
The Nigeria Police Force said that it would arrest and prosecute anyone caught selling police uniforms in the open market.

Some inspectors and junior police officers had told the News Agency of Nigeria that they obtained their uniforms from the open market.

The Force Public Relations Officer, Moshood Jimoh, told NAN that the practice was against the police rules and regulations.

Anybody found selling police uniforms in the open market would be arrested and prosecuted because it is against the police rules and regulations, Mr. Jimoh said.

He also said that it would be wrong for any police officer to say that he or she obtained uniforms from the open market.

It is not correct. I wouldnt know who you must have spoken with, but it is not the practice in the Nigeria Police Force for policemen to obtain their uniforms from the open market, he said.

He explained that inspectors and junior police officers were entitled to be issued uniforms by the Nigeria Police Force.

The spokesman said that senior police officers were expected to buy their uniforms from the officers shop of the force.

The rank and file are not to buy their uniforms whether outside or within the force.

If anybody wants additional uniforms aside the ones issued, he or she does not have to go to the open market to buy.

He said that uniforms allowances were already paid to officers from the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police to the rank of Inspector-General of Police.

He said that Inspectors and rank and file are being issued uniforms periodically through their station officers and the Quartermaster of their various commands with the approval of the Inspector-General of Police.

On bail, Mr. Jimoh urged members of the public to resist demand by any police officer to pay money for bail, as it is free.

The public should resist any demand from any police officer to pay money for bail because bail is absolutely free, he said.

He explained that offences that were not bailable at the level of the police could only be granted by the court.

Mr. Jimoh said that the police could not admit suspects to bail for offences such as murder, armed robbery, arson and rape.

He said that the police could only admit suspects to bail in cases such as theft or minor offences where they had the discretion.

He said that the force had launched so many campaigns in the past on the issue of bail.

Recently, the Inspector-General of Police reintroduced another strategy for spreading the campaign by distributing flyers and stickers to members of the public.

We want Nigerians to know that bail is free, absolutely, and if anybody tries to extort money from them they should report through the avenues provided, the police spokesperson said.

He urged members of the public to always report such cases to the Divisional Police Officer in charge of the area concerned or the Commissioner of Police in charge of that Command.

(NAN)
The Police Command in Katsina State have arrested a 50-year-old man, Safiyanu Kamala, for allegedly having sexual intercourse with a mentally troubled pregnant woman.

Safiyanu is a native of Juno Village, Kankara Local Government Area of Katsina.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Isah Gambo, disclosed this to journalists on Wednesday in Katsina.

According to Mr. Gambo, the victims relatives reported the case to the police.

Kamala is already in police net over the issue and has confessed to be the owner of the pregnancy.

It was gathered that Mr. Kamala allegedly lured the woman to his farm severally where he had canal knowledge of her.

The PPRO said the act eventually led to the 28 weeks pregnancy the victim is now carrying.

The woman presently lives with members of her family.

In a related development, another 45-year-old man, Ahmadu Yahya, has also been arrested for allegedly raping a five-year-old-girl.

Mr. Yahaya, of Kuraye Village, Charanchi Local Government Area of the state, was alleged to have lured the girl to his shop where he carried out the act.

The police spokesman said that they would be prosecuted after investigations.

(NAN)
The Police Command in Bayelsa said its operatives had shot and wounded a suspected cultist who later died in hospital, in response to a distress call on Christmas eve.

The spokesperson of the command, Asinim Butswat, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Yenagoa on Wednesday that the incident took place at Obele Area of Ovom in Yenagoa.

On December 24 2017, at about 2100 hours, policemen responded to distress call of cult activities at Arieta lane, Yenagoa.

The team of policemen responded swiftly and on sighting the police, the cultists opened fire on the team.

In the ensuing gun battle, one Thankgod James Indoni, aged 23, a suspected cultist, was shot, he was subsequently arrested and taken to Federal Medical Centre for treatment where he later died.

Efforts have been intensified to arrest his cohorts and bring them to book, Mr. Butswat said.

He said that an earlier report that a policeman was shot and killed in error by a fellow policeman was false.

Contrary to media reports that a policeman mistakenly shot a colleague, the command wants to categorically state that the report was false and misleading.

Mr. Butswat said the command had worked tirelessly to ensure crime-free Christmas festivities across the state.

He also said that the command had intensified patrol and surveillance to provide peaceful atmosphere for residents to enjoy the holidays.

The spokesman urged the residents to continue with their lawful endeavours and support the police by providing timely and credible information on criminal activities.

I also urge them to continue to enjoy the Christmas celebration and steer clear of every criminal activity, he said.

EDITORS NOTE: This story has been corrected to reflect what transpired based on official police statement.
The United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Stuart Symington, on Wednesday presented the Letters of Offer and Acceptance, LOA, in respect of the A29 Super Tucano Aircraft to the Nigerian Air Force, NAF.

The LOA represents the official U.S. government offer to sell U.S. defence articles and services to the Nigerian government.

Speaking while presenting the LOA to the Chief of Air Staff, Sadique Abubakar, at NAF Headquarters in Abuja, the U.S. ambassador noted that peaceful existence in Nigeria was strategic to the security of the entire West African Sub-Region in particular and the entire world at large.

Accordingly, Mr. Symington expressed the commitment of the U.S. government to helping Nigeria completely defeat the Boko Haram terrorists and also eliminate all forms of terrorism from its territory.

In addition, he conveyed the U.S. governments belief that the capacity of the NAF could greatly be enhanced by the acquisition of the Super Tucano Aircraft.

According to him, the U.S. government would therefore continue to support the NAF in its capacity building efforts, including the timely supply of needed aircraft spares.

The ambassador also indicated the readiness of relevant U.S. officials to work with NAF officials to facilitate the early delivery of the aircraft once payment had been made. In that regard, officials of both the U.S. government and the NAF would be meeting in early January 2018 to jointly study the LOA prior to subsequent endorsements by both parties.

The CAS, while receiving the LOA, expressed the appreciation to the U.S. government for its steady support towards sustaining NAF air operations. He also praised the personal commitment of the ambassador to ensuring that the Super Tucano aircraft deal became a reality.

Mr. Abubakar, an air marshal, agreed with Mr. Symington that the wellbeing of Nigeria was closely linked to those of other African countries, and indeed the entire world, as terrorism is a global phenomenon, which had to be confronted by all stakeholders. He then reassured the ambassador of the commitment of the NAF to the stipulated deadlines in the LOA. Furthermore, the CAS assured the ambassador that the NAF would ensure the readiness of proposed home base of the Super Tucano Aircraft in Nigeria before the aircrafts delivery. He further said that the NAF would nominate and prepare all the pilots and maintenance crew to be trained on the Super Tucano Aircraft, ahead of their training in the US.

It is expected that the LOA would have been signed and necessary payments made before February 20, 2018 to ensure the commencement of production of the NAFs Super Tucano Aircraft. It would be recalled that the US State Department had earlier approved the sale of 12 x A29 Super Tucano Aircraft to the NAF to further aid the nations counterinsurgency campaign.
The Prelate of the Methodist Church of Nigeria, Samuel Uche, has said that Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyis re-election in 2019 is sacrosant because of his outstanding performance and judicious utilisation of the lean resources of the state to impact positively on the lives of the people.

The head of the Methodist Church of Nigeria made the declaration during the thanksgiving service of the former President of the Senate and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Ken Nnamani and family, held at St.Johns Methodist Church, Amechi Uwani, Enugu.

Mr. Uche said that Mr. Ugwuanyi has done very well in office, adding that even those in the graves, if they are allowed to vote, will vote for you.

He described Mr. Ugwuanyi as as a God fearing leader, who loves and honours God, saying: Therefore, whatever you want in the next dispensation you will get it.

He maintained that any governor or politician who wants to be re-elected in 2019, must perform as that is the best campaign; to give the people the dividends of democracy.

I welcome Gburugburu (Gov. Ugwuanyi) the performing governor of Enugu State. This man is using the resources given to him very well to develop the state the Prelate said.

The leader of Methodist Church congratulated Mr. Nnamani and his family for deeming it important to come and thank God for His mercies and kindness, proclaiming that his (Sen. Nnamani) children will be greater than him.

The prelate admonished political leaders to be generous and kindhearted and show love to the people around them to earn their confidence and support.

He disclosed that he will mobilise his clergy to the polling units in 2019 to ensure that the peoples votes count, stressing: Let the winners be winners and let the losers be losers.

Also adding his voice, the Archbishop of Enugu Archdiocese, Christopher Edeh, commended the governor for the 13th month salary he paid the civil servants of the state as Christmas gift, saying that Gov. Ugwuanyi has created 13th month salary in Enugu State, while other states are battling to pay the 12th month salary.

Mr. Nnamani was in the Church to thank God for His manifold blessings to the family especially for the favour of enabling all his children to graduate with flying colours from various universities in the United States of America.
Senior Congress leader and also a liberal Muslim face of the party, Khurshid is hopeful that the party will oppose this draft bill, which is all set to be introduced in Lok Sabha on Thursday.

By Pooja Shali: Striking a strong opposition to the proposed bill on instant triple talaq, Congress leader Salman Khurshid said he is against criminalising triple talaq. He maintains the court orders are enough to act as a detriment but further action of turning into a law will prove counter-effective.

Senior Congress leader and also a liberal Muslim face of the party, Khurshid added he is hopeful that the party will oppose this draft bill, which is all set to be introduced in Lok Sabha on Thursday.

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Speaking to India Today, Salman Khurshid said, "When something has already been declared by the courts not to exist, has no legal bearing, why punish someone more in attempting that action?"

Elaborating on the same, Khurshid added, "By criminalising the man, how are you helping the woman? The instant triple talaq does not stand anymore, so if he decides to divorce the woman, he needs to wait three months as per (Islamic) law. This is to satisfy other responsibilities he has to fulfill for the woman (and family) which he may choose not to, if sent to prison. Prisons are full of petty criminals, do we need to add more under-trials? Instead, we should be working the other way."

The women from Muslim community had chosen to welcome the court initiative that deemed instant method as null and void. However, Khurshid claimed even women do not support it to be criminalised.

"Women who initially supported the action to remove legality are now saying they never asked to criminalise it."

The proposed bill will be introduced on Thursday in Lower House of the Parliament, amidst controversies and objections from conservative quarters. This bill is to showcase PM Modi's initiative toward gender justice.

About whether the Congress will object to the bill being put on table, former UPA minister Khurshid said, "I sincerely hope it (Congress) does (oppose). I am not sure what the party has decided."

--- ENDS ---
Osun State workers on Wednesday commenced an indefinite strike.

The workers are protesting the incomplete payment of workers salaries and other allowances.

Osun has been paying workers between 50 and 100 per cent of their salaries for over one year.

On Wednesday, the workers led by the Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress in Osun, Jacob Adekomi, shut down the state secretariat at Abere, Osogbo.

The workers barricaded the secretariat complex from about 7 a.m., PREMIUM TIMES learnt.

The chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Amudah Wakeel, told PREMIUM TIMES that even junior workers who had been receiving all their salaries are in support of the strike.

We are here at the State Government Secretariat, Abere, to guarantee an aggregate consistence to the strike mandate, he said.

No staff came to continue work today since they are our individuals.

The strike isnt even about half pay alone. The issue of advancement is there, annuity is there and would you say you are stating those from level 1 to 7 wont resign later on?

Workers are one unbreakable family whether you are on level one, 13 or any level, he said.

The state government has responded to the workers strike.

The Osun State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Adelani Baderinwa, released the statement below in response to the strike.

Strike is a legitimate means for workers to press home their demands. We have had series of discussions on how to avert the strike. I will like to state that far reaching decisions have been taken but it is yet to transform into absolute agreement; that is why the strike is taken place today.

I am very confident that the strike may not go beyond today.

The discussions and decisions are based on logic and analysing issues and pointing out fundamentals within the issues involved to each other, and the need to let each other realize why it should be in their (workers) own way and the government felt it should be seen in its own perspective. Basically, those are the issues in context in all the engagement. And may I add that men of noble character, citizens of the state are getting involved and are engaging the labour too, trying to make them see reasons why the industrial dispute should resolved in the interest of the state and the people in general.

The Governor, Rauf Aregbesola has always been very clear about his tendencies on the welfare of the workers, and this he has been doing since he came on board in 2010. What the workers did not ask, the governor had given them when the going was good; when government had resources.

Unfortunately, some vandals who found themselves at the helms of affairs in the Federal Government ran the country into economic recession. And therefore, things became difficult financially for the government of the state of Osun, and that is the reason quite a number of ingenious things had to be done, including putting modulated salary in place so that workers and pensioners would go home with something at the end of the month. That is the essence of modulated salary: everybody that worked and working for the state would go home with money every month.

Since the agreement was reached, the government has been struggling to pay the agreed amount every month with the fact that the workers being owed 50 per cent and 25 per cent would be paid back later. The government has demonstrated that when the Paris Club refund came some time ago with the payment of July and August 2015 arrears. Government is determined to ensure that there is payment of whatever arrears being owed in respect of level 8-12 workers who are being owed 25 per cent and level 13 and above who are being owed 50 per cent when the finances of the state get better. Level 1-7 which constitute 72 per cent of the workforce of the state are not owed anything. It is just the 28 per cent that the government owes 25 and 50 per cent arrears. And the government is committed to pay it back. As I speak with you, what is outstanding in terms of modulated salary payment is that of December 2017 salary.

For the promotion matter, I remember that the governor had explained in a meeting held with labour leaders some days ago that it does not make sense to do promotion for workers without backing it up with money, and the governor pleaded with them that he is very sure that the end is near for the financial crisis and there is light at the end of the tunnel and that very soon, we will begin to smile again. I must add that the governors statement is not unfounded because there has been a gradual rise in the cost of crude oil in the international market which if it continues like that, it will assure more money into the purse of the federal government and indeed the state government. Therefore, there is likelihood we return to good old days where workers do not need to ask for anything before the government of Aregbesola does it for them.
The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has faulted the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, on his claim that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, is the one bearing the cost of fuel subsidy and not the federal government.

What is the difference between NNPC and the federal government? Who is NNPC and who is federal government? Is NNPC now an autonomous agency of the federal government? were Mr. Fayoses posers in a statement signed by his media aide, Lere Olayinka on Wednesday.

The vice president had told journalists in Lagos on Monday that NNPC and not the federal government was paying the N26 subsidy per litre of petrol.

His comment came on the heels of a statement made by the GMD of the corporation, Maikanti Baru, that the landing cost of petrol was now N171 as against the official pump price of N145 per litre, and that the federal government was paying N26 as subsidy on every litre of petrol imported to retain the pump price of N145.

Mr. Fayose said the All Progressives Congress, APC-led federal government should stop addressing Nigerians as if they were kindergarten pupils.

Fact is, NNPC does not have rights to spend money it generates from the sales of crude oil. It does not have the rights to swap crude oil for subsidy, he submitted.

Where is NNPC getting the money with which it is subsidising petrol with N26 per litre? Is NNPC spending money from the sales of crude oil that should be paid into the federation account to pay subsidy?

Mr. Fayose urged Mr. Osinbajo not to engage in bulk passing. He urged him to tell Nigerians the truth as to how much is being spent on subsidy by the federal government.

I like the vice president, he is a pastor and I dont believe that he will also join others in Buharis government to lie to Nigerians, he said.

However, this one that he presented NNPC as an agency of the federal government that can allocate fund without the approval of the president is very strange to me.

If subsidy is being paid by the NNPC as claimed by Vice President Osinbajo, where is the money coming from? Is it from sales of crude oil? Does it now mean that the NNPC is spending part of the proceeds of the sale of crude oil outside allocation to the federal government by the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC)?

We were all in this country in 2012 when chieftains of the APC, including President Buhari led protests across the country against removal of fuel subsidy.

Before he became President, Buhari maintained that fuel subsidy never existed and when he became President, he said he did not know what fuel subsidy meant.

We were also in Nigeria in May 2016, when the federal government announced the removal of subsidy on petrol and went on to increase the pump price of petrol to N145 per litre.

The same APC people, who protested against removal of subsidy and increment of petrol price to N140 in 2012, defended the removal in 2016 and increment of pump price

to N145.

In 2017 budget of the federal government, provision was not made for the payment of fuel subsidy, so also that of 2018. So where is the N26 they are subsidizing one litre of petrol with coming from? Is the Buhari-led government spending fund not appropriated by the National

Assembly?

Mr. Fayose reiterated his stance that the current fuel scarcity was caused by the federal government so as to be able to force Nigerians to accept the planned increment of petrol pump price from N145 to N185 per litre.
The Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, Ogun State Command on Wednesday said it intercepted 23 smuggled vehicles worth over N37 million from smugglers in both Idi-Iroko and Abeokuta axis of the command.

The Area Commander, Sani Madugu, disclosed this at a press conference held at the command headquarters, Abeokuta.

He added that the command also seized about 391 bags of rice worth over N3 million and other smuggled goods such as clothes, shoes and electronics worth over N6 million

We have a total of duty paid value of over N62 million, while we have seized about 391 bags of 50kg rice. We also intercepted about 23 cars from both the Abeokuta and Idi-Iroko Axis of the command, he said.

We are not sleeping, we are working 24/7 to make sure smuggling activities is a thing of the past in Ogun state. We would keep using new tactics to discover the new techniques used by smugglers, Mr. Madugu stated.

The customs boss also pledged the commands support for the state government on the production of MITROS Rice, warning smugglers to desist from importation of rice to the state.

We are equally mindful of the recently launched rice by Ogun state government, that is Ofada rice. We have a letter from the Ministry of Agriculture, Ogun state and we are encouraging the manufacturing of this rice.

We are fully in support of it and we would give them (government) all the necessary support and make sure Ogun state rice succeed.
According to a recent report, Sony may announce a flagship Xperia smartphone powered by Snapdragon 845 mobile platform at CES 2018. This is according to a post from Chinese publication MyDrivers in which they report that Sony has sent out invites to a media event during CES.

In addition, the report claims that the upcoming Sony flagship smartphone is also expected to pack the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset coupled with Adreno 640 GPU. Even if there were not any leaks, it would have been a safe assumption that most companies would probably use Qualcomm's latest chipset for their flagship phones, and Sony would be no exception.

Moreover, rumors suggest that the smartphone may come in 4GB and 6GB of RAM variants and packs 64GB/128GB of expandable storage. It will be running on the latest Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box. We expect this to be the rumored Sony H8266 smartphone.

The Sony H8266 is now listed on Geekbench with the Snapdragon 845 SoC and 4GB of RAM. It scored 2393 on single-core and 8300 on multi-core tests. Based on the rumors, this new Sony flagship smartphone will also feature 18:9 display.

While we expect the upcoming H8266 to be the successor to the Xperia XZ Premium, few leaks hint this to be Xperia XZ2. The Sony Xperia XZ1 was launched at the IFA 2017 conference held in Berlin.

The upcoming CES 2018 will be held from 9th to 12th of January, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. While we will see some exciting innovations in the consumer technology, there will only be a few smartphone announcements. Apart from Sony, Samsung is also rumored to showcase the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus smartphones at the CES 2018.

In any case, take it with a grain of salt for now, but we should find out for ourselves in the next couple of weeks.
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.




Khurshid agreed these are difficult conditions for any government to take a decision on and must use all possible diplomatic instruments

By Pooja Shali: Speaking about the outrage concerning ill-treatment to family of Kulbhushan Jadhav, former External Affairs minister, Salman Khurshid said the incumbent government is not steady with its approach towards Pakistan.

Speaking to India Today, Khurshid said, "Government should consider if it is playing into Pakistan's hands. Are we inviting indignity on our own sisters? Pakistan intentions do not seem honourable, noble. If they had agreed to access, they could have been courteous. Asking ladies to remove traditional jewellery is disrespectful. Government does not have a steady approach to Pakistan and gets swayed by emotions time to time."

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Khurshid held the portfolio of Ministry of External Affairs from 2012-2014 during the UPA government led by Dr. Manmohan Singh. He agreed these are difficult conditions for any government to take a decision on and must use all possible diplomatic instruments.

"Family may feel they at least met the dear one and may even want to meet him again. We should respect that. These are difficult conditions for the government. Government should not sway with emotions (since the meet). We must show displeasure over what happened but use diplomatic instruments available at best."

On the question if these visuals and verbal references by family can be used as evidence in International Court of Justice (ICJ) to expose Pakistan at international platform, Khurshid, who is also a senior lawyer, added, "Courts decide on strict principles and not with emotional equity. In international matters, especially, these may not make a huge difference. However, whatever material is available can be used as an advantage."

--- ENDS ---
CHENGDU,China, Dec. 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Recently, 6 senior thoracic surgery physicians from UK, Germany, and Netherland visited West China Hospital to learn minimal invasive thoracic surgery techniques, especially the world's first single-direction VATS lobectomy technique developed by Professor Liu Lunxu. This training session serves as the first surgical technique training program opened by West China Hospital to thoracic surgery physicians from advanced European countries.

During this one-week program, the minimal invasive VATS lecturer team, led by Professor Liu Lunxu from thoracic surgery department of West China Hospital, Sichuan University, designed an elaborative training scheme. Various teaching methods were adopted, including thematic courses given completely in English, case and therapeutic schedule discussion, practical surgery observation and communication, and teaching rounds, thus allowing the European physicians to master key technical points and standard clinical diagnosis and treatment paths.

Doctor Liu Lunxu, the lead lecturer, is the director of thoracic surgery department of West China Hospital, mainly dealing with studies on integrated clinical treatment solutions for lung cancer and their application basis, minimal invasive thoracic surgeries and application basis, and clinical lung transplantation. He acts as the head supervisor for one National Natural Science Fund, principal investigator for five National Natural Science Funds, and the leader of six provincial and international cooperation (CMB) programs. In 2011, through efforts for nearly ten years, Liu Lunxu invented a novel modern medicine technique: single-direction VATS lobectomy, which won the first prize by unanimous vote in the annual Provincial Scientific & Technical Advancement Award.

Great significance of single-direction VATS lobectomy

Lung cancer is the No. 1 lethal factor in China and a major threat to health of Chinese people. So far surgical treatment of lung cancer has been mainly achieved by means of lobectomy that can take the form of either thoracotomy or thoracoscope (VATS). The traditional thoracotomy surgery tends to lead to severe wound and a lot of complications. In contrast, minimal invasive VATS surgery features smaller wound, more rapid recovery, and fewer complications, which add up to a promising long-term efficacy. However, due to lack of mature VATS lobectomy and lymph node dissection techniques, it is difficult to handle haemorrhage during a VATS operation. Due to this reason, development of VATS has been slow for a long time.

In 2006, a team of West China Hospital, Sichuan University led by Professor Liu Lunxu invented the first single-direction VATS lobectomy across the globe. The critical point of the technique is described as follows: The dissection starts from the most superficial structures at the interface between lungs and the heart without touching the pulmonary parenchyma (the single-point concept). The lung hilum structures are treated in order from shallow to deep ones, and the resection is therefore completed progressively along one direction (the single-direction concept).

A "non-gripping monobloc mediastinal lymph node dissection technique" was developed for VATS as a critical innovation. It provides the advantages of fewer devices required for operation, clearer operative field view, and less lymph node disruption. The team also developed aspirator-guided electric hook sharp dissociation technique and endoscopic bleeding handling technique, thus forming a complete minimal invasive poeumosurgery system.

Comparison of operation results with international data in the same period: The operation time is shorter by 35%. The blood loss is lower by 66%. The transit thoracotomy rate is 2.6% versus 8.1%. The complication rate is 13.3% versus 20.2%. The five-year survival rate of Stage I lung cancer patients is 83.8% versus 73.5%.

Thanks to this innovation, lung cancer VATS that was previously known as a difficult and risky operation has now become more simple and easier to learn. It has therefore gained great popularity across the nation and used in 32 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities. This technique has been introduced by over 90% large general hospitals and became a mainstream operation method, leading to higher medical treatment efficiency, significant saving of medical resources, and great benefits to the patients.

SOURCE West China Hospital, Sichuan University
NEW YORK, Dec. 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05257897





The airborne surveillance market is expected to be worth USD 4.42 billion in 2017 and is expected to reach USD 5.81 billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 4.7% during the forecast period. Rapid technological advancements, Internet of Things (IoT), amendments in laws, the growing demand for UAVs in commercial application, and the availability of low-cost UAVs are some of the driving factors for the airborne surveillance market, while air traffic management poses a challenge for this market



Airborne surveillance market for unmanned system is expected to grow at the highest rate during the forecast period

Major reason behind the growth of unmanned systems is because of its lower cost, rapid technological advancements, and relaxation in regulations in different countries. This has given rise to the use of UAVs in the commercial sector. Increased funding from various investors and players motivate the companies to manufacture innovative solutions for the UAV industry, creating various opportunities in the market



Airborne surveillance market for the commercial sector to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast period

Relaxation in laws is one of the major driving factors for the growth of commercial application. In recent years, many amendments in laws and regulations for drone usage have been observed, which have motivated end-users to increase the use of drones. For instance, the flight altitude of drones has been increased from 100 feet to 400 feet, and the flight speed has been modified from 80 mph to 100 mph by FAA (US); the Government of Canada has made major amendments in the existing laws such as increasing the weight of drones from 250 g to 1 kg



Airborne surveillance market in APAC is expected to grow at the highest CAGR between 2017 and 2023

China, Japan, South Korea, and India play a major role in APAC for the airborne surveillance market. China, being an electronics manufacturing hub, is rapidly increasing the manufacturing of drones in the country. The commercial market for drones in China mainly focuses on applications such as agriculture, surveillance, mapping, weather monitoring, and others. DJI (China) is one of the major manufacturers of drones in the commercial sector. China is home to several manufacturers of inexpensive drones, which is one of the factors that drives the growth of the drones market in China.



India has potential for the airborne surveillance market. Currently, the market is dominated by the military, defense, and security application, while the commercial application is expected to fuel the growth of the market in the near future. In Japan, major areas of the use of drones are enterprise (commercial) and military drones. Other applications are transport, agriculture, parcel delivery, home delivery to the elderly in rural areas, telecommunication, pipelines, surveying, construction, real estate, news media, advertisement, film production, disaster recovery, and security.



In the process of determining and verifying the market size for several segments and subsegments gathered through secondary research, extensive primary interviews have been conducted with people holding key positions across several regions. The breakup of the profiles of primary participants has been given below:

 By Company Type: Tier 138%, Tier 245%, and Tier 317%

 By Designation: C-Level Executives36%, Directors40%, and Others24%

 By Region: North America40%, Europe25%, APAC27%, and RoW8%



Major players operating in the airborne surveillance market are Airbus (France), Boeing (US), Saab (Sweden), BAE Systems (UK), Raytheon (US), Lockheed Martin (US), Leonardo (Italy), FLIR Systems (US), Northrop Grumman (US), L-3 Wescam (Canada), Leica Geosystems (Switzerland), Teledyne Technologies (US), Safran (France), Thales (France), and Israel Aerospace Industries (Israel).



Research Coverage:

The report defines, describes, and forecasts the airborne surveillance market on the basis of type, product type, application, and geography. It provides detailed information regarding the major factors influencing the growth of the airborne surveillance market (drivers, restraints, opportunities, and industry-specific challenges). It also analyzes the competitive developments such as product launch, collaborations, agreements, contracts, partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, and expansion carried out by key players to grow in the market.



Reasons to Buy the Report:

 Illustrative segmentation, analysis, and forecast pertaining to the airborne surveillance market based on type, product type, application, and geography have been conducted to provide an overall view of the airborne surveillance market.

 Major drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges for the airborne surveillance market have been detailed in this report.

 The report includes a detailed competitive landscape of the key players in the market and their revenues.



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05257897



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



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SOURCE Reportlinker

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SACRAMENTO, Calif., Dec. 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Chris Yu, Chief Executive Officer of international life sciences corporation Anpac Bio-Medical Science Company, announced this week surpassing a new, international record. Anpac Bio's breakthrough, proprietary, "Cancer Differentiation Analysis" (CDA) liquid biopsy technology identified the earliest cancer and pre-cancerous disease signals in over 100 individuals previously deemed "cancer free" by other traditional, standard-of-care screening tests.

Since it's inception, Anpac Bio has conducted general population screening to identify individuals with potential cancer risk. Among them, 100 people labeled "cancer free" by traditional, "standard-of-care" screening tests (such as imaging or annual medical check-up), were flagged by CDA at high-risk of cancer or pre-cancerous conditions. Due to the CDA results, more comprehensive medical testing was conducted; and the patients were subsequently diagnosed with early-stage disease. The CDA test caught disease signals missed by traditional screening tests.

"Our company is commemorating this holiday season by celebrating the most important gift we are able to give: the gift of life," states Dr. Yu. "Our employees are so proud that our technology helps medical professionals identify and 'screen out' early stage or pre-cancerous diseases often missed by other tests. By catching these signals early, patients have the most potential medical options to successfully beat the disease; and go on to live healthy, happy lives!"

Described as "game changing", and receiving the, "Breakthrough Innovation Award", at the World Nobel Prize Laureate Summit; and named, "Most Promising Cancer Screening Company", at the Global Precision Medicine Industry Awards, Anpac Bio's CDA technology effectively reinvents early cancer screening and detection.

By analyzing simple, standard, blood tests using Anpac Bio's proprietary, multi-level, multi-parameter, diagnostic algorithms, CDA identifies cancer with measurably-greater accuracy than most current, conventional screening methods. And it does so without any harmful side effects in patients; generating far fewer "false positives"; and at a cost substantially lower than traditional testing.

Comprehensive research validity data from 60,000+ cases demonstrate CDA consistently detects 26+ cancers -- with 75%-90% sensitivity and specificity rates -- usually at its earliest stages.

Pioneering "liquid biopsy" research since 2008, Anpac Bio has filed 200 CDA patent applications worldwide  65+ issued currently; and employs over 100 globally.

"Hearing from people that beat disease because CDA caught it early is a gift we never get tired of giving!"

For further information: www.AnpacBio.com.

SOURCE Anpac Bio-Medical Science Company

Related Links

http://anpacbio.com


NEW YORK, Dec. 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Harrison Vickers', Attitude Beer Holding Company subsidiary, announced today that it has reached an agreement with the operating and marketing units of the chain of World of Beer taverns, to manage its taverns in Connecticut and Massachusetts. The deal as structured, allows for World of Beer to take over the daily operations of the taverns which should dramatically improve efficiencies and top line sales. Additionally, the 9% royalties previously paid under the old agreement with NEWOB will be eliminated, thereby driving significant benefits to the bottom line of the business. Further, World of Beer has become an equity partner in both the West Hartford CT and Cambridge MA tavern operations.

Jeff Canouse, CEO of Harrison Vickers stated, "This transaction puts our taverns on much firmer footing. The increased efficiencies from the experienced operators and marketers at World of Beer, along with the significant economic improvement to our bottom line, should position the Company well for the coming year and beyond."

About Attitude Beer / Harrison Vickers & Waterman

Attitude Beer Holding Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Harrison, Vickers and Waterman Inc. (HVCW) and is the majority partner in ownership of World of Beer taverns in West Hartford CT and Cambridge MA. Attitude Beer Holdings owns the World of Beer franchising rights to Connecticut and Western Massachusetts including the greater Boston area.

Safe Harbor Statement:

Except for statements of historical fact, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking, and are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements made herein regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of Harrison Vickers are forward-looking statements that reflect numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, and any of which could cause our actual future results to differ materially from our stated expectations today. Prospective investors are cautioned that our forward-looking statements are never guarantees of future performance. Important factors currently known to management that could cause our actual future results to differ materially from those indicated in our forward-looking statements today include our limited operating history, fluctuations in our operating results, our ability to compete successfully and our ability to attract necessary capital on satisfactory terms. Except as required by applicable law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise our forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated future events or changes in our future operating results.

Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Harrison Vickers & Waterman Inc.
Surveen Chawla, who started her journey in television with Kahin To Hoga, posted an adorable picture with her husband Akshay Thakker on her Twitter page.

By India Today Web Desk: Bold and beautiful actress Surveen Chawla is officially taken. The actress, who started her journey in television with Kahin To Hoga, posted an adorable picture with her husband Akshay Thakker on her Twitter page.

She captioned the pictures as , "And just like that, right in the middle of an extra-ordinary life, love gave us a fairy tale??... #Married #bliss #EternalLove #GiveUsYourLove&Blessings."

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Pinkvilla.com quoted a source saying to a daily, "Surveen met Akshay through a common friend in 2013 and soon after, they fell in love. They got married in 2015, with only family and a handful of industry friends in attendance. It was Surveen's dream to have a white wedding in a chapel located in a picturesque castle and Italy seemed like an apt choice. The couple was waiting for the right time to announce the wedding and had planned to do it in January 2018."

Next she will be seen in Ekta Kapoor's web series titled Haq Se alongside Rajeev Khandelwal which basically revolves around four sisters Meher, Jannat, Bano and Amal and focuses on their ambitions and dreams.

2017 witnessed a mix of high profile as well as secret weddings. From Bharti Singh, Aashka Goradia, Smriti Khanna to Sofia Hayat, telly town weddings made news for almost the entire year.

--- ENDS ---
SANTA MONICA, Calif., Dec. 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- BLAZE PR, the nationally recognized firm that represents leading lifestyle brands, celebrates its accomplishments in 2017 and looks forward to a promising 2018. The agency was awarded "Best Place to Work" in 2017 by two leading business publications and received multiple nods for successful client campaigns.

Most recently, PRWeek named BLAZE as one of the "Best Places to Work" in its small agency category. The leading industry publication stated, "a challenging yet fun workplace culture and client work that makes employees 'want to jump out of bed in the morning' helped earn Blaze PR this honor." Also, "judges were impressed with the staff's access to leadership, good training opportunities, and flexible benefits. Employees were effusive about the firm's empowering workplace environment."

Earlier in 2017, BLAZE was ranked #2 in the Small Employer Category of the Best Places to Work in Los Angeles by the Los Angeles Business Journal and Best Companies Group. This survey and awards program was designed to identify, recognize and honor the top 100 employers in Los Angeles who benefit the county's economy, workforce and businesses.

"It's an honor for BLAZE to be twice named a best place to work, as it showcases the work ethic of the team, as well as our collaborative environment," says Matt Kovacs, President of BLAZE PR. "We are proud of the work that we've been able to accomplish and we love the brands we represent. Ultimately we are motivated by the success of our clients and we look to expand these wins into 2018."

BLAZE PR also won PR Campaign of the Year  Gold, for "Helping BIOHM Go Fungal In A Very Competitive Market," and Product Launch of the Year  Bronze, specifically for the BIOHM brand in the 2017 One Planet Best in Business and Professional Excellence Awards. As the world's premier awards program, the coveted One Planet Awards honors best in business and professional excellence in every industry from around the world.

According to Davies Public Affairs and BLAZE PR CEO, John Davies, "BLAZE's future is bright due to the strong leadership, PR proficiency, and day-to-day level of strategic execution of the team. BLAZE's year-end revenue reports confirm the firm's trajectory of success, showing a 5% increase in profitability."

About BLAZE PR

BLAZE PR is the go-to partner for lifestyle brands hungry for a real piece of the marketshare. Fresh and seasoned, our boutique agency is comprised of veteran practitioners who stay one step ahead of trends and will not rest on the laurels of past successes. We have done it all before, failed, prevailed, and we know the difference. At BLAZE, we put strategy back in PR. Our media strategies are meaty, creative and on-point because they're backed by a thoughtful process that considers the particular world of each brand. For more information, visit www.blazepr.com.

Media Contact:

Erinn Lynch

[email protected]

310-395-5050

SOURCE BLAZE PR

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http://www.blazepr.com


Brooklyn Bedding was a pioneer of the bed-in-a-box concept, selling its first compressed mattresses on Amazon in 2008. The venture was so successful the company launched BrooklynBedding.com in 2012 to offer direct to consumer pricing, at the same time continuing to offer a full line of mattresses in retail outlets in the Southwest. Brooklyn Bedding is differentiated in the mattress industry for not only selling but manufacturing its products in its own 145,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art factory in Phoenix.

"We recognize the positive impact of developing an online business that delivers quality products, conveniently shipped to customers' homes," said Barbara Tronstein, Vice President at Gardner-White. "While there are many companies now that sell mattresses online, few have been in business as long as Brooklyn Bedding. We chose them to be our bed-in-a-box partner for their clear expertise in that space, and for being one of the few who can control materials, quality and cost through their own production process. Providing customers products with integrity is our top priority."

Customers who want a hands-on experience with the product can also test the Brooklyn Signature in all firmness levels at any of the Gardner-White locations.

"Partnering with Gardner-White appealed to us for several reasons," said John Merwin, Owner and Chief Executive Officer at Brooklyn Bedding. "First, they've been in business since 1912 and understand the value of building longstanding customer relationships. Second, they're willing to offer that in-store touchpoint as well as embracing the online channels that allow for continued growth. We're excited to work with them to sell quality sleep products at fair prices, a commitment to customers we both feel strongly about."

ABOUT BROOKLYN BEDDING

Brooklyn Bedding is an American made manufacturer of mattresses, differentiated by master craftsmanship, a wholly owned state-of-the art manufacturing facility and exceptional customer service. Family owned since 1995, the company originated with two brothers delivering mattress products direct to customers' homes. Known as the "mobile mattress guys," John and Rob Merwin evolved their business by learning every aspect of mattress making process. They tenaciously used every material in their inventory to pass savings on to customers, purchasing high grade manufacturing equipment and becoming early adopters of bed-in-a-box online delivery in 2008.

Today, the company owns world class expertise in mattress engineering, achieved through meticulous attention to detail, cutting edge equipment and patented materials created with advanced technology. Brooklyn Bedding designs and creates its entire line of high quality bedding, on demand, in its manufacturing facility in Arizona. Remaining true to its roots, the company still goes the extra mile to ensure customer satisfaction, offering its expertly crafted mattresses, sheets and pillows at an affordable price with free online shipping, a generous 120-day trial period, and a 10-year hassle free warranty period on mattresses.

SOURCE Brooklyn Bedding

Related Links

https://www.brooklynbedding.com/


SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Dec. 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Susan S. Wilder is recognized by Continental Who's Who as a Pinnacle Lifetime Member in the Medical field in recognition of her role as Founder and Chief Executive Officer at LifeScape Premier and LifeScape Medical Associates.

Dr. Wilder's professional title is Founder and Chief Executive Officer at LifeScape Premier and LifeScape Medical Associates, specializing in Concierge Family Medicine and Functional Medicine, addressing the root causes of chronic disease.

"I founded LifeScape to provide a completely revolutionary kind of healthcare, one that focuses on the totality of you," Dr. Wilder said. "Our award-winning practice puts patients first. We go well beyond simply throwing prescriptions at a problem, and evaluate and attempt to eradicate the root causes of illness. We're committed to 'whole health for a whole life' at LifeScape."

Dr. Wilder's personal expertise lies in the areas of functional medicine, clinical genomics, and highly personalized concierge family medicine to a very exclusive patient population. Her team provides concierge service to entire families, corporate executives, and individuals at every age and stage seeking collaborative, quality, proactive healthcare. Dr. Wilder capitalizes on over 25 years of experience as a Family Physician, educator and lifelong learner.

Her "hole-in-one" is witnessing patients get healthier at every age and taking problems off problem lists rather than the standard of care of "managing chronic disease." As one of her patients noted, "all my other doctors just monitor my deterioration."

Prior to starting her career in the medical field, Dr. Wilder earned her Medical degree from the George Washington University and completed her specialty training in the Air Force. She spent 14 years in academic medicine serving as Founding Director of the Family Medicine Residency at the Mayo clinic where she also served as Director of Clinical Genomics Education for primary care.

To further her professional development, she is a member of the Institute for Functional Medicine as well as the American Academy of Family Physicians.

In recognition of her outstanding accomplishments in the field, Dr. Wilder was named Phoenix Business Magazine's 2017 Outstanding Women in Business, Phoenix Chamber of Commerce 2017 Athena Finalist, Concierge Medicine Today's Top Doctors in Concierge Medicine for several years, a perennial Phoenix Magazine Top Doctor and an Arizona Foothills Best of Our Valley Family Physician for many years. She was also honored by one of her many community passions, Healthy LifeStars, as their 2016 inaugural LifeStar Honoree. LifeScape won the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce coveted Sterling Business award, the American Academy of Family Physicians Future of Family Medicine Model TransforMed participant. LifeScape's healing office design has been featured on the cover of Medical Economics Magazine and an international medical design showcase. Lifescapepremier.com was also named a 2014 Top 20 Best Website in Concierge Medicine.



For more information, visit www.lifescapepremier.com.

Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected]

SOURCE The Continental Who's Who
LONDON, Dec. 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Chinese diesel market is set to grow at a robust pace over the next 5 to 7 seven years as production of diesel vehicles increases and the introduction of China V specifications takes center stage.



Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/5253690



The implementation of China V regulations is key to the consumption of diesel, and in turn, lubricity improvers (LI) and cold flow (CF) additives. Lubricity improvers are estimated to grow at a strong CAGR of 11.9% between 2016 and 2022 while cold flow additives, which are predominantly used in winter diesel, will grow at a lower CAGR of 2.8%. Excess kerosene availability in China will also be a challenge for the growth of cold flow additives, as it is a cheap alternative. Local players in China currently dominate the supply of LI and CF additives to Sinopec and Petrochina.



The local players that dominate the market have excellent relationships with both Sinopec and Petrochina. These relationships are long-standing ones which gives them an edge over new entrants.



New companies trying to tap opportunities in the LI and CF market in China are advised to partner with the domestic players, as it will enable them to get a ' foot in the door' with the state-owned enterprises. Owing to these long-standing relationships, the technical specifications set by the refineries are published in such a way that most of these domestic players will qualify. International additive companies have superior technical specifications as compared to domestic players, but these improved specifications are often perceived as premium or expensive.



The procurement process for LI and CF is different between Sinopec and Petrochina. While Sinopec is predominantly a consumer of LI, Petrochina is a large consumer of CF, as Petrochina produces larger quantities of winter-grade diesel due to its locations in colder regions across China.



While the procurement process for Sinopec is done completely at the headquarter level, the process for the procurement of CF is left to individual Petrochina refineries. This difference in the tender processes has made domestic additive manufacturers increase their sales and marketing staff in order to have a constant presence at the location of various refineries.



There are however interesting ways by which international LI and CF players can enter the China market and be successful. One of them is to partner with a strong domestic additive manufacturer.



The other option is to provide value-added services such as refinery economics exercises, training workshops for refinery personnel on the advantages of using CF over kerosene as well as joint R&D exercises. These services will go a long way in building relationships with refineries, which is the cornerstone of success in the diesel additive market in China.



Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/5253690



About Reportbuyer

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For more information:

Sarah Smith

Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +44 208 816 85 48

Website: www.reportbuyer.com

SOURCE ReportBuyer

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"As we continue to empower brands and retailers to deliver cutting-edge consumer shopping experiences, investment in our platform is a top priority. Kishore is a proven technology leader and his experience in Analytics, Machine Learning and AI will be a tremendous asset as we accelerate our innovation efforts," said Dev Ganesan , ItemMaster CEO & President.

Rajgopal brings nearly 30 years of experience to the position with a background in product innovation, engineering, consulting, business intelligence and C-Suite management. For the last several years, he served as CEO and co-founder of NextOrbit, a platform that helps brands and retailers with critical decision making including product selection, product demand, store allocation and pricing, using AI and Machine Learning. Previously, he co-founded CrowdANALYTIX, offering crowdsource analytics, data science and consulting services. He also worked for Infosys, HCL Technologies and Cap Gemini Financial. Kishore holds a B.S. and M.S. from IIT (Indian Institute of Technology), Madras.

"I'm so pleased to join the ItemMaster team," said Rajgopal. "The strategies Dev and I have begun to discuss will help ItemMaster's clients make their content work harder and smarter to drive sales. My experiences in AI and Machine Learning will enable us to deliver actionable insights to our clients to optimize product content for improved discovery and sales. We need to help them understand what their content is doing for them  they have invested time and resources and should be able to understand the ROI of good, structured content."

About ItemMaster, Inc.

ItemMaster is the most comprehensive source of brand-verified product content that satisfies every outpost of market demand including merchandising, planning, marketing and ecommerce. Our cloud-based Brand ActivationTM Platform enables Manufacturers to create, manage, verify and share their product portfolio and customer-branded content across an ever-expanding syndication network including Amazon, Walgreens, Instacart, Southeastern Grocers, Coupons.com, Ahold Delhaize, Drizly, and Walmart. Our flexible and time-sensitive distribution solutions allow the network to receive the content in the most applicable manner across all channels, which in turn drives higher levels of shopper engagement. For more information please visit www.itemmaster.com.

Media Contact:

Ashley Soto

305-631-2283 x1005

[email protected]

SOURCE ItemMaster

Related Links

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CSE: MDM

FSE: 2M0

OTCQB: MRPHF

KELOWNA, BC, Dec. 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Marapharm Ventures Inc., "Marapharm" is expediting the remaining construction tasks at the Las Vegas facility to complete the 10,000 square feet of cultivation and production space to prepare for cultivation, extraction, edible production and sales of cannabis. Marapharm paid $565,000 USD for specialized HVAC systems which increase efficiency and reduces operating costs. These systems have now been delivered and are being installed. The drywall and all remaining tenant improvements can now be completed. Installation of the fire sprinkler system is complete. Genetics continue to thrive and have been cloned for phenotype farming. Two clones from each mother are being grown to full maturity in order to determine which phenotype will be selected for permanent production. The plants will be transitioned from the interim buildings to the permanent buildings in January, 2018.

Perimeter security is being provided by an 8 foot black beta wire mesh fence with access provided by 24 foot sliding gate s , a double swing gate and pedestrian gates, all with key pad access.

The ground work is prepared for the 65,625-square foot building which has been ordered from American Buildings, based in Carson City, Nevada. This is the third building for the property. There will be a total of 4 buildings equaling 380,000 square feet on completion of the build-out.

"We are just about there! There have been delays with deliveries of core equipment but now everything is on site. Marapharm soon will be cultivating cannabis in the hottest adult use market in the world! The average spot price for marijuana in Nevada is $2520.00 a pound, the highest price in the country. Demand is stronger than ever in Nevada." Linda Sampson, CEO, Marapharm

Link: DRONE AERIAL FOOTAGE OF MARAPHARM 7 ACRE SITE, LAS VEGAS, NV.

ABOUT MARAPHARM VENTURES INC.

www.marapharm.com

Marapharm is a publicly traded company primarily investing in the medical and recreational cannabis space, with corporate operations based in British Columbia, Canada. Since 2016 they have rapidly expanded their footprint to include production locations in the key North American states of Washington, Nevada, and California. They actively seek expansion opportunities worldwide.

SOCIAL MEDIA:

Facebook: facebook.com/marapharm

Twitter: twitter.com/marapharm

Web Program: marapharm.tv

STOCK EXCHANGES:

Marapharm trades in Canada, ticker symbol MDM on the CSE, in the United States, ticker symbol MRPHF on the OTCQB, and in Europe, ticker symbol 2Mo on the FSE. Marapharm also trades on other recognized platforms in Europe including Stuttgart, Tradegate, L & S, Quotnx, Dusseldorf, Munich, and Berlin.

Neither the CSE, the FSE nor the OTCQB has approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. Neither the CSE, the FSE nor the OTCQB accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

MARIJUANA INDUSTRY INVOLVEMENT:

Canadian listings (CSE) will remain in good standing as long as they provide the disclosure that is rightly required by regulators and complying with applicable licensing requirements and the regulatory framework enacted by the applicable state in which they operate. Marapharm owns marijuana licenses in California and Nevada. Marijuana is legal in each state however marijuana remains illegal under US federal law and the approach to enforcement of US federal law against marijuana is subject to change.

Shareholders and investors need to be aware that adverse enforcement actions could affect their investments and that Marapharm's ability to access private and public capital could be affected and or could not be available to support continuing operations. Marapharm's business is conducted in a manner consistent with state law and is in compliance with licensing requirements.

Copies of licenses are posted on Marapharm's website. Marapharm has internal compliance procedures in place and has compliance focused attorneys engaged in jurisdictions to monitor changes in laws for compliance with US federal and state law on an ongoing basis. These law firms inform any necessary changes to our policies and procedures for compliance in Canada and the US.

FORWARD - LOOKING STATEMENTS:

Certain statements contained in this news release constitute forward looking statements. The use of any of the words "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "expect", 'may", "will", "project", "should", 'believe", and similar expressions are intended to identify forward looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumption but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and the forward-looking statements included in this news release should not be unduly relied upon.

SOURCE Marapharm Ventures Inc.

Related Links

www.marapharm.com


DENVER and TORONTO, Ontario, Dec. 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- MJardin Group (the "Company") is pleased to announce the closing of its private placement financing of equity and convertible senior secured debentures in the aggregate principal amount of $20,000,000 USD (the "Financing"). KES 7 Capital Inc. acted as a placement agent.

The Company expects to use the proceeds of the Financing to make strategic acquisitions in the cannabis industry and for general working capital and corporate purposes. On December 12, 2017, the Company announced a strategic partnership with Bridging Finance Inc. to create the premier infrastructure fund for the consolidation of the cannabis sector. In conjunction with today's announcement, MJardin is fully-financed for its near-term growth initiatives.

"We looked at many cannabis deals and companies, and MJardin is a clear leader in the space," said Mark Christensen, President and CEO of KES 7 Capital Inc. "We are very excited to continue working with the MJardin team on their future growth initiatives and their Canadian strategy."

"We saw this as not only a logical next step but an opportunity for a transformational partnership," said James Lowe, Co-Founder, Director and Chief Cultivation Advisor at MJardin. "We brought in strategic long-term shareholders who will support the Company for both near and long-term growth initiatives. MJardin has now further solidified its position as a market leader."

About MJardin Group

MJardin Group (MJardin) is a highly specialized professional operating company that develops partnerships with licensed operators. MJardin provides its partners turnkey cannabis cultivation and processing solutions including licensure support, facility design, systems implementation, facility ramp-up and the day-to-day operational management required in a large-scale, professionally managed cannabis facility. MJardin is headquartered in Denver, Colorado with an additional office in Toronto, Ontario. For more information, please visit MJardin.com.

About KES 7 Capital Inc.

KES 7 Capital Inc. is a "hybrid" merchant bank that targets bespoke investments for both its own capital and that of its funding partners, that include institutions, family offices and high-net-worth individuals. Specialized in creating and/or finding high-quality, high-growth, public or private companies with areas of expertise including energy, healthcare, technology, industrials and real estate. For more information, please visit kes7capital.com.

Media Contact

For more information on MJardin:

Paul Wilken, MJardin Group: [email protected], +1.720.613.4019

SOURCE MJardin Group

Related Links

http://MJardin.com


RALEIGH, N.C., Dec. 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- As tax reform negotiations come to an end and a bill is finalized, Congress must shift toward reforming the nation's unsustainable housing finance system, according to mortgage bankers across North Carolina who say housing finance reform is the last piece of unfinished business from the 2008 financial crisis.

"Housing finance reform has been on the backburner far too long," said Hank Cunningham, Regional Manager, Academy Mortgage Corp. "It has been nearly ten years since Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were placed under conservatorship, yet their future remains unclear. Only Congress can overhaul this duopoly, and now that a tax reform bill has been sent to the President, lawmakers have the opportunity to address this issue that affects every American."

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were placed under government conservatorship  or legal guardianship  during the financial crisis in 2008. The move was intended to protect the U.S. housing system but instead resulted in a $187 billion taxpayer-funded government bailout. Nearly ten years later, these government-sponsored enterprises remain under the government's control, monopolizing the mortgage system and creating an unsustainable market.

"Many are struggling to find affordable housing across the country  especially first-time homebuyers," said Cunningham. "Homeownership is crucially important to the stability of our economy and our families across the nation. Congress must not wait. We need a solution that continues to promote competition in the marketplace so that families of all income levels have the opportunity to be homeowners."

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), the nation's leading advocate for the real estate finance industry, has laid out a proposal to overhaul the current housing finance system. The plan aims to expand access to credit, promote affordable housing, and support underserved market segments.

"Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and Administration officials have stated housing finance reform is a top priority," said Cunningham. "It is now time for them to come together to fix the real estate finance market once and for all."

SOURCE Mortgage Bankers Association
Elected officials  including The Honorable Henry McMaster, Governor of South Carolina, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, Congressman Joe Wilson, state legislators and local elected officials  joined Kennedy and Nephron employees for today's announcement celebration at the company's West Columbia headquarters. Both of South Carolina's U.S. Senators and six of the state's seven members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

"I am grateful that the tax cuts House Republicans worked so hard to pass have had an immediate impact in the district," said Congressman Joe Wilson. "I congratulate Lou and Bill Kennedy, as well as Nephron's entire team, on today's announcement, and I wish them continued success."

Nephron is a manufacturer of respiratory and compounded 503B outsourcing medications that employs 640 people in West Columbia. The company, which launched 34 new products in 2017, recently announced a $12.5 million expansion and expects to add 125 additional employees by June 2018.

Fifty percent of Nephron employees attended South Carolina universities or technical colleges. Nephron founder Bill Kennedy and CEO Lou Kennedy are University of South Carolina graduates and South Carolinians. The company is part of the life sciences industry in the State. This industry has a total $11.4 billion annual impact on the State economy.

For more information about Nephron, visit http://www.nephronpharm.com or contact Lou Kennedy at 407-491-9755.

SOURCE Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corporation

Related Links

http://www.nephronpharm.com


By PTI: with ministers

New Delhi, Dec 27 (PTI) The authority to sanction leaves of Delhi government officials should be vested with their minister concerned and not the Lieutenant Governor, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said today.

Sisodia, who holds multiple portfolios including the crucial finance ministry, has written to LG Anil Baijal and said the functioning of the Delhi government has almost "crippled" these days as several officers were granted leave by him.

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"You (LG) have given leave to many officers of Delhi government due to which the governments works have severely been affected and government has been crippled almost.

"In my finance department, the leaves of both the principal secretary and the secretary have been approved for the same time period. Works have been affected in the finance department," Sisodia said in the letter.

He said besides the education director, the chief secretary was also on leave, which has been affecting the functioning of entire Delhi government.

"The situation is such today that the minister suddenly gets to know that you (LG) have given leave to his officer when he reaches office. The entire work of minister and his department suddenly come to a halt.

"I again request you that the concerned minister should have power to grant leave of his officers and not the Lt Governor," the deputy chief minister said.

Being the administrative head of the national capital as per the August 2016 High Court order, services matter directly come under the LGs ambit. The Delhi government has challenged the high courts order in the Supreme Court.

In the past, the Arvind Kejriwal government and the LG office have been at loggerheads on various issued including the transfer and posting of bureaucrats.

Kejriwal and Sisodia have on several occasions earlier said that they dont have the power to appoint even their peon. PTI BUN KIS

--- ENDS ---
MOUNT CRAWFORD, Va., Dec. 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Power Monitors, Inc. (PMI), the leader in utility power quality monitoring hardware and software, delivered a check to the American Red Cross for $20,003.50 for hurricane relief efforts.

"The American Red Cross of Shenandoah Virginia was proud and honored to receive this incredibly generous gift from Power Monitors in support of the multiple 2017 Red Cross Hurricane Disaster responses from Texas to Florida to the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico," said Bill Brent, Executive Director.

Power Monitors Donates $20,003.50 to Red Cross Hurricane Disaster Fund Red Cross Logo

Both PMI and their utility customers have a long history of assisting those in need. It was with great pride that such a substantial amount was raised in such a short period of time.

For more information go to https://www.powermonitors.com.

Media contact:

Kevin Shayne

800-296-4120

SOURCE Power Monitors, Inc.

Related Links

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To view the Multimedia News Release, please click: https://www.multivu.com/players/uk/8241051-ireland-location-star-wars-the-last-jedi/

In a brand new, behind-the-scenes film released today, Mark Hamill describes Ireland's beauty: "It's like fairy tale worldyou just can't believe your eyes."

The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson recalls shooting: "A big chunk of the movie takes place on Luke's Island, which is Skellig Michael, this uninhabited, tiny little island."

Filming for Star Wars: The Last Jedi on Skellig Michael took place over just two days in 2015 before moving to the mainland. Rian explains: "It's a UNESCO Heritage Site, it's a bird sanctuary, we could only get there for two days to shoot so the vast majority of the stuff set on the island was shot on the south west coast of Ireland because it very naturally shared the same kind of feel and look of Skellig."

To continue to film on location in Ireland, the crew returned in 2016 and built replicas of Skellig Michael's 6th century monastic 'beehive' huts on the mainland. The location scouts were so taken with Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way that key locations in counties Cork, Kerry, Clare and Donegal were handpicked to represent the planet Ahch-to in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

More background and stories about Star Wars filming on Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way are available here: http://www.ireland.com/starwars

Since 1977, the renowned movie franchise has travelled through many galaxies. Ireland's Star Wars journey, which began in Portmagee, County Kerry in 2014, has spanned some 2,000kms of the Wild Atlantic Way - from the south-western Skellig islands to Ireland's most northerly point, Mailn Head.

Describing Ireland, Rian said, "It's a gorgeous place. I feel very, very lucky to be able to get it on film."

(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/617942/Last_Jedi_Malin_Head.jpg )



Video:

https://www.multivu.com/players/uk/8241051-ireland-location-star-wars-the-last-jedi/

SOURCE Tourism Ireland
BOSTON, Dec. 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Santander Bank announced today that it awarded nearly $6.6 million in charitable contributions to 177 community-based non-profit organizations and 15 Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) throughout its northeast footprint in the second half of 2017. These grants include more than $4.1 million awarded to non-profits providing financial education and small business support, including capital to low- and moderate-income (LMI) individuals, families and business owners, and more than $1 million in grant funding to private sector CDFIs. Together, these grants are part of the Bank's recently announced $11 billion 'Inclusive Communities' plan, which outlines Santander's Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) commitment across its eight-state northeastern U.S. footprint for 2017 through 2021 and details its strategy to increase its CRA activity by 50 percent and triple its investment in charitable grants.

Financial education and economic/small business development have been the primary areas of support for these funding rounds for the second half of the year along with affordable housing, community services and neighborhood revitalization. In addition, Santander solicited proposals from and earmarked over $1 million for CDFIs, private sector organizations that are dedicated to improving low-income neighborhoods through foreclosure prevention and neighborhood wealth building, providing capital and technical assistance to diverse small businesses, and supporting vulnerable populations including people with disabilities, the elderly and very low-income individuals and families.

"Community Development Financial Institutions are important partners for us," said Gwen Robinson, Santander Bank's Director of Corporate Social Responsibility. "They complement our financing by investing in small businesses and community development projects with technical assistance and support. We are looking forward to building new relationships with CDFIs in our footprint as part of our grant funding, in addition to investing in over 100 strong community-based organizations."

CDFI grant highlights from around the Bank's footprint include:

$110,000 to Union County Economic Development Corporation (UCEDC) to expand a pilot program that supports home-based childcare provider businesses operating in underserved areas in Greater New York City , Greater Newark , and Greater Philadelphia .

to to expand a pilot program that supports home-based childcare provider businesses operating in underserved areas in , , and . $100,000 to Community First Fund to support the creation of a $2 million loan fund that provides business start-up and expansion loans to Hispanic and African-American entrepreneurs and small businesses operating in underserved neighborhoods in Central Pennsylvania .

to to support the creation of a loan fund that provides business start-up and expansion loans to Hispanic and African-American entrepreneurs and small businesses operating in underserved neighborhoods in . $75,000 to Dorchester Bay Neighborhood Loan Fund (Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation's CDFI) to support its micro lending program that provides loans and comprehensive pre- and post-loan technical assistance to entrepreneurs in low-income neighborhoods in Boston .

to (Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation's CDFI) to support its micro lending program that provides loans and comprehensive pre- and post-loan technical assistance to entrepreneurs in low-income neighborhoods in . $50,000 to The Enterprise Center Capital Corporation in Philadelphia to increase its lending capacity and provide one-on-one business training, technical assistance, and loan preparation services to LMI entrepreneurs and small business owners in Pennsylvania's Philadelphia , Montgomery , and Delaware Counties.

to in to increase its lending capacity and provide one-on-one business training, technical assistance, and loan preparation services to LMI entrepreneurs and small business owners in , , and Counties. $50,000 to First State Community Loan Fund to support an economic development initiative on Wilmington, Delaware's West Side that includes renovating a mixed-use property into supportive housing for people with disabilities and a future small business incubator, retail or office space.

A full listing of charitable grants awarded in these final funding rounds for 2017 is available at www.santanderbank.com/us/about/media-center.

Santander awards grants three times a year through the Santander Bank Charitable Contributions Program, which invests in programs serving LMI individuals, families, and communities. Non-profit organizations interested in applying for a grant can access Santander's grant application guidelines by visiting the Santander Charitable Contributions Program or sending questions to [email protected]. Deadlines for 2018's three grant rounds are as follows: Cycle 1: February 2; Cycle 2: June 1; and Cycle 3: September 14.

Santander Bank, N.A. is one of the country's largest retail and commercial banks with more than $79 billion in assets. With its corporate offices in Boston, the Bank's 9,700 employees, more than 650 branches, 2,100 ATMs and 2.1 million customers are principally located in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. The Bank is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Madrid-based Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: SAN) - one of the most respected banking groups in the world with more than 125 million customers in the U.S., Europe, and Latin America. It is managed by Santander Holdings USA, Inc., Banco Santander's intermediate holding company in the U.S. For more information on Santander Bank, please visit www.santanderbank.com.

Media Contacts:

Ann Davis

617-757-5891

[email protected]

Nancy Orlando

617-757-5765

[email protected]

SOURCE Santander Bank, N.A.

Related Links

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NEW YORK, Dec. 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Attorney Advertising -- Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC notifies investors that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Kobe Steel, Ltd. ("Kobe" or the "Company") (OTCMKTS: KBSTY, KBSTF) and certain of its officers, on behalf of shareholders who purchased Kobe American Depositary Receipts ("ADRs") of Kobe Steel on the open market in the U.S., during the period May 29, 2013 through October 12, 2017, and were damaged thereby. Such investors are encouraged to join this case by visiting the firm's site: http://www.bgandg.com/kbsty.

This class action seeks to recover damages against Defendants for alleged violations of the federal securities laws under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

The complaint alleges that Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and failed to disclose the quality of its products and integrity of its operations by emphasizing that it offers "excellent products and services" with "special attention to product safety" as it has "an organizational culture that is highly sensitive to compliance issues." The lawsuit claims that the Company withheld data on many of its aluminum, copper, iron and steel products, and knowingly sold products that failed quality control tests.

On October 8, 2017, Kobe Steel stated that it "has discovered that in its Aluminum & Copper Business, including group companies, a portion of the products traded with customers did not comply with the product specifications which were agreed between the Company and its customers. Data in inspection certificates had been improperly rewritten etc., and the products were shipped as having met the specifications concerned." Following this news, shares of Kobe ADRs dropped $2.37 per share or roughly 40% during that week.

A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to review a copy of the Complaint you can visit the firm's site: http://www.bgandg.com/kbsty or you may contact Peretz Bronstein, Esq. or his Investor Relations Analyst, Yael Hurwitz of Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC at 212-697-6484. If you suffered a loss in Kobe you have until February 26, 2018 to request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff.

Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC is a corporate litigation boutique. Our primary expertise is the aggressive pursuit of litigation claims on behalf of our clients. In addition to representing institutions and other investor plaintiffs in class action security litigation, the firm's expertise includes general corporate and commercial litigation, as well as securities arbitration. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

Contact:

Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC

Peretz Bronstein or Yael Hurwitz

212-697-6484 | [email protected]

SOURCE Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC

Related Links

bgandg.com


NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Dec. 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Orange County Register has recognized Smart Circle (www.smartcircle.com), a leading face-to-face marketing and direct sales company, as one of the top workplaces in Orange County! The Top Workplaces program, run by Energage, LLC (formerly Workplace Dynamics), is set-up to recognize companies that have healthy and employee-focused work environments in the Orange County area. The evaluation, conducted through a 22-question employee survey, is based purely on employees' opinions of their companies.

Smart Circle recognized as one of the top workplaces in Orange County.

"Smart Circle strives for excellence in service to our clients, independent corporate distributors, and to our employees," says Jigna Patel, General Counsel of Smart Circle. "Smart Circle is dedicated to providing a top workplace and is eager to continue our growth and success with our most valuable assets  our people."

"The Top Workplaces award is not a popularity contest. And oftentimes, people assume it's all about fancy perks and benefits," says Doug Claffey, CEO of Energage. "But to be a Top Workplace, organizations must meet our strict standards for organizational health. And who better to ask about work life than the people who live the culture every day  the employees. Time and time again, our research has proven that what's most important to them is a strong belief in where the organization is headed, how it's going to get there, and the feeling that everyone is in it together. Claffey adds, "Without this sense of connection, an organization doesn't have a shot at being named a Top Workplace."

About Smart Circle

Located in Newport Beach, California, Smart Circle is a worldwide leader in face-to-face marketing, and direct and outsourced sales. We provide successful sales and marketing solutions for our clients, which include Fortune 500 companies, nationally recognized brands and regional and local business. Connect with us at www.smartcircle.com.

About Energage, LLC

Headquartered in Exton, Pennsylvania, Energage specializes in employee feedback surveys and workplace improvement. This year alone, more than two million employees in over 6,000 organizations will participate in the Top Workplaces campaign  a program it conducts in partnership with more than 40 prestigious media partners across the United States. Energage also provides consulting services to improve employee engagement and organizational health. Energage is a founding B Corporation member, a coalition of organizations that are leading a global movement to redefine success in business by offering a positive vision of a better way to do business.

SOURCE Smart Circle

Related Links

http://www.smartcircle.com


LONDON, Dec. 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Focus on Two-Wheelers in the Malaysian, Indonesian, Thai, and Vietnamese Aftermarkets



Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/5253685







The aerosol spray paint market is expected to grow for all of the four selected Southeast Asian countries, with Indonesia leading the group in terms of volume and value. Growth in the aerosol spray paint market is closely associated with the population of two wheelers and the number of repainting jobs.



On an average, a two wheeler gets repainted every 2 to 3 years in Southeast Asia for maintenance and decorative purposes. There are two variants of aerosol spray pain: one component (1K) and two component (2K). The 1K system is the conventional aerosol spray paint in which the paint is sprayed using a propellant or solvent which is filled into the container along with the paint. The 2K system has two compartments, one containing resin and the other containing a hardener.



This hardening agent provides gloss and resistance to the surface. Additionally, the 2K system does not require an extra clear coat.



In terms of volume, the overall market is witnessing an adjustment to a lower total consumption of cans. This is because fewer 2K cans are needed to complete the same painting job as compared to 1K cans. In terms of performance, the 2K technology is superior to 1K and is on par with the spray gun technology.



Furthermore, the price of 2K is lower and it is easier to use compared to spray guns. Hence, while traditionally, 1K technology has dominated the market, the added benefits of 2K are likely to contribute to market expansion of the 2K technology. Producers of aerosol spray paint mostly sell their products directly to the distributor, hardware stores, dealers/retailers, and eCommerce companies.



Purchase decision making varies across different countries. For instance, in Malaysia, end consumers are more aware and use social media to decide the brand to purchase, whereas, in Vietnam, decisions are primarily driven by workshops due to the lack of awareness among consumers. The overall aftermarket is typically segmented into 3 types of workshops: OEM affiliated, insurance affiliated, and shed shops. Two wheeler owners typically prefer visiting shed shops for major repainting jobs, while decorative paint jobs and minor touch ups are typically Do-it-yourself (DIY) or are carried out by shed shops.



Overall, Indonesia stands out as the most attractive country, considering the quantum of market as well as the projected growth potential (in both value and volume terms). Vietnam is another country which is expected to experience high market growth and it will become the second largest market after Indonesia by 2020.



Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/5253685



About Reportbuyer

Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers



For more information:

Sarah Smith

Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +44 208 816 85 48

Website: www.reportbuyer.com

SOURCE ReportBuyer

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NEW YORK, Dec. 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05257896





The transfer case market is estimated to be USD 9.79 billion in 2017 and is projected to grow to USD 20.33 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 9.56% during the forecast period. The increasing sales of SUVs and premium sedans is the key growth driver for the transfer case market. The increasing demand for safety and traction in extreme weather or surface condition and need for easy maneuverability are other factors driving the demand for AWD and 4WD across the globe.



The increasing demand for AWD and 4WD would, in turn, fuel the demand for transfer case market. On the other hand, the increasing demand for battery electric vehicles can hinder the growth of the transfer case market. As BEVs do not use a transfer case for power distribution, the increasing popularity of these vehicles will impact the growth of the transfer case market in the long term.



Passenger car is the fastest growing vehicle segment in the transfer case market

The passenger car segment, which includes a sedan, hatchback, SUV, and crossover SUV, is estimated to be the fastest growing market for transfer case. In passenger cars, the SUV segment is the most promising market for transfer case as most of the SUVs are equipped with 4WD or AWD. Asia Pacific is estimated to be the largest transfer case market for passenger cars owing to the huge vehicle production with 4WD or AWD.



Subaru Forester, Mazda CX-5, Haval H6, and Toyota RAV4 are some of the top-selling SUVs equipped with a transfer case in the Asia Pacific region. North America is estimated to be the largest transfer case market for LCV segment. The high sales of SUVs and light pickup trucks drive the market growth in the North American region. Both these vehicle types have been considered under the LCV segment for the North American region.



Asia Pacific region constitutes the largest share of transfer case market

Asia Pacific is estimated to be the largest market for transfer case during the forecast period. The high share of passenger cars in the total vehicle production and growing demand for sport utility vehicles (SUV) are expected to drive the transfer case market in Asia Pacific.



While the penetration of transfer case in passenger vehicles in Asia Pacific ranges between 15-18% in 2017, it is expected to increase to 22-24% by 2025. The installation rate of transfer case in passenger vehicles in Japan and South Korea is estimated to be 34% and 24%, respectively in 2017. This is expected to increase to 43% and 31%, respectively by 2025. The market growth can be attributed to the rapid increase in the demand for high-performance SUVs with 4WD or AWD that offer better safety and comfort. Toyota, Subaru, and Mitsubishi are the leading OEMs that are launching vehicles equipped with 4WD/AWD in the Asia Pacific region.



BREAKDOWN OF PRIMARIES



The study contains insights provided by various industry experts, ranging from transfer case component suppliers to drivetrain suppliers and OEMs. The break-up of the primaries is as follows:

 By Company Type Tier-1 - 33%, Tier 2 - 50% and Others- 17%.

 By Designation - D level - 17%, C level  33%, and Others - 50%

 By Region  Europe-16%, Asia-Pacific - 17%, North America - 67%



The report provides detailed profiles of major companies in the transfer case market, which include BorgWarner (US), Magna (Canada), GKN (UK), ZF (Germany), Aisin Seiki (Japan), Dana (US), American Axle & Manufacturing (US), JTEKT (Japan), Schaeffler (Germany), and Meritor (US) to name a few.



Research Coverage:

The report analyzes the transfer case market across different verticals and regions. It aims at estimating the market size and growth potential of the transfer case market by region (Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, RoW), drive type (Gear Driven, Chain Driven), 4WD type (4WD, AWD), off-highway vehicles (Construction Equipment, Farm Tractors), shift type (Manual Shift On-the-Fly, Electronic Shift On-the-Fly), vehicle type (PC, LCV, HCV), and hybrid vehicle type (HEV, PHEV). Furthermore, the report also includes an in-depth competitive analysis of the key players in the market along with their company profiles, recent developments, and key market strategies.



Reasons to buy the Report:

The report will help the market leaders/new entrants in this market by providing them the closest approximations of the revenue numbers for the transfer case market. It will help stakeholders to better understand the competitor landscape and gain more insights to better position their businesses and make suitable go-to-market strategies. The report would also help the stakeholders to understand the pulse of the market and provides them information on key market drivers, restraints, challenges, and opportunities.



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05257896



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



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SOURCE Reportlinker

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RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif., Dec. 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Western Global Oil is pleased to announce that the company has acquired several oil producing wells in Thomas County, Kansas. The wells are already producing 30 barrels a day with a planned expansion in the future. Western Global Oil is also pledging to purchase 18 wells in Kingfisher County, Oklahoma. The Payne, Woods and Kay Counties also carry potential wells for Western Global Oil's future oil acquisitions.

"Western Global Oil follows a patient and disciplined approach, employing talented people, pursuing high standards of excellence and aligning our interests with those of all of our partners," says David Carter, president of Western Global Oil. "We are pleased by our recent transaction in Kansas as this solidifies us as a major player in the field of oil acquisitions."

Western Global Oil aims to acquire and manage oil and natural gas properties to generate maximum cash flow and provide stability and long-term growth for the company's capital partners and employees as well as capitalize on current producing conventional oil and gas assets in the mid-continent oil field.

The company utilizes several methods in acquiring distressed assets, including employing the best talent available, eliminating the risk that comes along with drilling and surveying, and keeping and sticking to the bottom line for their investment partners.

Professional and experienced, Western Global Oil's professional team consists of management, county recorders, operators, engineers, salesmen, and land men. Their industry veterans have on average more than 22 years of experience and vast knowledge coupled with extensive resources to analyze, acquire and source out numerous projects with maximum results.

For more information and to stay connected with Western Global Oil's most recent news, visit WesternGlobalOil.com.

About Western Global Oil

Western Global Oil creates value by responsibly producing oil and natural gas vital to meeting the world's growing energy needs. For more information, visit WesternGlobalOil.com.

SOURCE Western Global Oil

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Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother asked him not to lie and tell the truth that he was a businessman.

The wife and mother of imprisoned Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, gesture to media upon arrival at Foreign Ministry in Islamabad, Pakistan. (Photo: AP)

By Geeta Mohan: The December 25th meeting of mother Avanti and wife Chetankul with Kulbhushan Jadhav was according to an official a "narrative building" exercise and not a "grand gesture" as Kulbhushan Jadhav called it in another recorded video made under duress.

Sources tell MailToday that Jadhav's 70 year-old mother and wife were strip-searched. Not only were they asked to remove their mangalsutra, bangles and bindi, but before making them to change their attires, the two women were body-searched fully which the spokesperson said was "not warranted by security".

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But despite the various methods of intimidation, the mother put up a brave front. She told Jadhav to tell the truth.

"Don't lie. Tell them the truth that you are a businessman," she told Jadhav according to a source. Details of the meeting that are emerging now suggest that not only was Jadhav speaking under "coercion", Pakistan did not spare the family from their scaring tactics.

MailToday has learnt that the lady officer who was sitting behind the mother tried to regulate the conversation and did not allow her to speak in Marathi at all. "The lady officer turned off the intercom every time the mother spoke in Marathi," said the source.

And in a scathing response to Pakistan, India on Tuesday called Pakistan's lame attempt at a "humanitarian act" violative in "letter and spirit" of the understanding reached by the two sides when they decided on the meeting of Kulbhushan Jadhav with his family.

A day after their visit to Islamabad, the mother and wife along with the father of Jadhav met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in the presence of Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar, Deepak Mittal who is Joint Secretary handling Pakistan and JP Singh the Indian Deputy High Commissioner to Islamabad who had escorted the family to Pakistan and back.

Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, Raveesh Kumar described the treatment that was meted out to the elderly mother and the wife of Jadhav. Expressing regret he said, "That contrary to assurances, the overall atmosphere of the meeting was intimidating insofar as family members were concerned."

But, he added that the family members "handled the situation with great courage and fortitude."

MEA Raveesh Kumar also spoke of the tactic used to ensure the Indian delegation is left standing outside the Foreign Office waiting for their cars in order to give time to the Pakistani press "hector them and hurl false and motivated accusations about Shri Jadhav".

"Qatil Ki Ma" (mother of a murderer), that's how Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother was being referred to by some Pakistani media persons.

Sources also have told Mail Today that the wife kept quiet during the entire conversation but broke down a few times. His mother on the other hand, inquired about the scars on Jadhav's forehead and while narrating her experience told EAM Sushma Swaraj that Jadhav seemed "restless" and it didn't feel like she was meeting her own son.

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At one point Kulbhushan Jadhav asked his mother and wife to speak to the media and tell the truth (Pak version) about what happened.

The reason why MEA in its statement concluded, "The manner in which the meeting was conducted and its aftermath was clearly an attempt to bolster a false and unsubstantiated narrative of Shri Jadhav's alleged activities. You would all agree that this exercise lacked any credibility."

The mother asked him not to lie, and tell the truth- that he was a businessman.

Pakistan alleges that Kulbhushan Jadhav was working for RAW (Research and Analysis Wing), India's external spy agency. New Delhi says the former Navy man, who started a business in Iran's Chabahar port, was abducted by the Taliban and sold to Pakistan intelligence agencies.

Later in the night on Tuesday, Pakistan Foreign Ministry issued a statement denying India's allegations.

"The Indian baseless allegations and twists, that come 24 hours later, about the visit of the wife and mother of Commander Jadhav, a convicted terrorist and spy, who has confessed to his crimes, are categorically rejected," said the spokesperson of Pak Foreign Office.

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"We do not wish to indulge in a meaningless battle of words. Our openness and transparency belies these allegations," the statement said.

The statement also said that if Indian concerns were serious, the guests or the Indian DHC should have raised them during the visit, with the media, which was readily available, but at a safe distance, as requested by India.

"The fact is that Cdr. Jadhav's mother publicly thanked Pakistan for the humanitarian gesture and it was recorded by the media. Nothing more needs to be said," the statement ended.

WATCH | Aap ek qatil ki maa ho: Listen to Pakistan's media humiliating Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother

--- ENDS ---
Griffin Premium RE closed an acquisition of three high-quality office properties from Echo Polska Properties (EPP) for an aggregate purchase price of approximately 160 million. The office properties are West Gate in Wroclaw, Tryton Business House in Gdansk and A4 Business Park in Katowice . These properties are leased

[]
Following the closing on 15 December 2017, the ORBI Tower in Vienna TownTown, which is uniquely innovative in concept and execution, has been successfully handed over to the new owner, Bank Austria Real Invest. The contracting parties have agreed not to disclose transaction details and the purchase price. Bank Austria

Photos: iws towntown



[]
Employing an adversarial tone that surprised many observers, the White House's newly unveiled National Security Strategy ( PDF ) described China as a revisionist power that actively competes against the United States and its allies and partners. It accused China of trying to shift the regional balance in its favor and displace the United States in the Indo-Pacific region. The strategy, the first released by President Donald Trump since taking office, also declared that China seeks to shape a world antithetical to U.S. values and interests, and painted China's expanding economic and diplomatic influence in a decidedly negative light, deploying terms like extractive behavior and unfair trade practices.

Chinese media predictably expressed outrage at the strategy yet ironically mirrored the antagonistic language. A commentary in the Global Times, a populist tabloid owned by the Chinese Communist Party, or CCP, denounced the United States for recklessness and for being the biggest saboteur of international rules and challenger of free trade.

The parallels go further than recriminatory accusations, however. Earlier this year, China published its first-ever white paper on China's Policies on Asia-Pacific Security Cooperation, in which it signaled its intention to establish itself as the dominant power in Asia and dislodge U.S. influence. And in the 19th Party Congress report, the Chinese Communist Party's most authoritative strategy document, China articulated for the first time an ambition to contend for global leadership. It stated that by mid-century, China seeks to have become a global leader in terms of composite national strength and international influence.

Given that China already has the world's second-largest economy and one of the largest militaries, this phrasing suggests Beijing is mulling the possibilities of competing with the United States for the status of global leader. Reinforcing this point, the report also outlined ambitions to build a network of partnerships, not alliances, which a commentary in the People's Daily, the official newspaper of the CCP, explained meant that China intends to form a global partnership network of countries, mainly in the developing world, to back Beijing's agenda.

The remainder of this commentary is available at www.worldpoliticsreview.com.

Timothy R. Heath is a senior international defense research analyst at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation. He is the author of the book, China's New Governing Party Paradigm: Political Renewal and the Pursuit of National Rejuvenation (Ashgate, 2014).

This commentary originally appeared on World Politics Review on December 26, 2017. Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis.
To welcome the new year, Latino-focused Ultra Film in the US will debut a new American film every Tuesday throughout January.





This new year, Ultra Film looks to offer even more high quality international films; our audience expects nothing but the best, which is why we stay committed to our mission of supporting multicultural cinema, as we introduce our viewers to new talents from around the globe, said Jesus Pinango, director, TV content strategy, Olympusat.

The titles are: Out of the Ashes, Xtra Credit, When Do We Eat, Point of Entry and El Asesino del Alfabeto.Out of the Ashes is based on the true story of Gisella Perl, a Jewish-Hungarian doctor who manages to survive Auschwitz. Decades later, when applying for US citizenship she is unexpectedly accused of colluding with the Nazis.Xtra Credit follows Mrs Weller, a frivolous and cold-blooded woman, who manages to convince two police officers to murder her husband and frame an innocent student for the crime.When Do We Eat concerns an old-school father who is as hard on his children as his father was on him, who unknowingly ingests a dose of ecstasy in the middle of the familys Passover dinner, resulting in a hilarious story involving unexpected characters.Point of Entry features a veteran detective who dedicates life after retirement to catching the murderer of his goddaughter.Finally, El Asesino del Alfabeto, based on a true story, finds three young women dead. The police investigation discovers that the names of each girl begins with the same letter as the city in which their bodies were found.
EditShare has rolled out the EditShare Academic Partnership (EAP) Programme.





Open to all accredited educational institutions, EAP offers educators workflow mentoring and knowledge-sharing, amplifying the classroom experience for students whether they are studying broadcast journalism, feature film production or anything in between, the company said.With the new Academic Partnership Programme, EditShare is providing educators a mentoring service alongside cost-effective educational pricing, helping teachers build industry-focused programmes that bring real-world learning value-add to the classroom, said Andy Liebman, CEO, EditShare . EditShare media experts will help educators frame syllabi that weave together the workflow and technology required to create and deliver content for OTT, social platforms, traditional TV and the big screen.EditShares media-centric shared storage, content management and file-based workflow solutions target broadcast and media enterprises around the globe, and works with international manufacturers.Liebman added: Taking this one step further, EditShares education initiative includes special award competitions and real-world job connections along with incredible student discounts. Its one of the industrys most robust education programmes, offering incredible value.
How many steps will it take to walk off Thanksgiving dinner?
China's government has cancelled a ban on coal-fired heating in northern cities after blaming local officials for "hasty" gas conversions that left residents without winter fuel.

On Dec. 4, the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) sent an "extra urgent" notice authorizing 28 northern cities to resume using coal for winter heating if their mandated projects for switching to natural gas or electricity remained incomplete.

The about-face on the government's order to replace coal with cleaner fuel in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in time for the heating season was first reported by the independent daily The Paper following complaints from citizens who were left with no heat at all.

Public anger boiled over after China Youth Daily published video images of children at a primary school in Hebei province's Quyang county who were forced to sit outside in the winter sun because their classrooms were too cold.

The Ministry of Education demanded "immediate" action to provide heating after students at another primary school showed signs of frostbite, the official English-language China Daily said.

The incidents have been a major embarrassment for the government's environmental policy, which has sought to avoid a repeat of last winter's smog crisis with a crash program of fuel conversions in areas where coal burning affected air quality in Beijing.

A joint government and municipal action plan for the 28 cities was released as far back as last March, calling for Beijing, Tianjin, Langfang and Baoding to ban small coal- fired furnaces by the end of October, among a host of other measures for the region.

"Areas in these cities will be declared completely 'coal free,'" the official Xinhua news agency reported on March 31.

But it wasn't until Aug. 24 that the MEP issued its own 143-page action plan, laying out a series of tough targets and penalties.

The goals included a 25-percent cut in smog-causing particles known as PM2.5 for the region by the end of this year compared with 2012, echoing targets first set by the government in 2013.

To meet the standards, some coal-fired industries were ordered to suspend operations completely for the winter, while others faced steep production cuts.

The MEP plan also required 3 million households in the 28 cities to substitute gas or electricity for coal as a heating source for this winter, which runs from mid-November to mid- March.

By mid-September, the fuel switching had turned into an outright coal ban.

"In the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and nearby areas, 28 cities will now use only natural gas, electricity and renewable energy for heating," Xinhua reported at the time.

Scramble for heating equipment

The new goals touched off a scramble for new boilers, heating equipment, distribution networks, power lines and gas connections.

"The construction of the necessary pipelines and storage tanks to support this dash for gas at the household level has been an immense task and cost billions of yuan," said China energy expert Philip Andrews-Speed at National University of Singapore in a recent post.

But the wholesale replacement of entire urban heating systems by the deadline proved too big a challenge.

"It doesn't matter how much money is available and how much governments push," Andrews-Speed said by email. "It is not possible to transform urban energy systems in a few months."

One official at a power plant owned by China Huadian Corp. stated the obvious in a quote cited by China Daily.

"To replace coal with clean energy for heating in all of Hebei is a huge project, and it takes time," the official said.

Government pressure to meet the deadlines apparently outweighed realistic assessments of how long the conversions would take, leaving consumers with no heat when winter began.

In areas where gas service became available, the sudden jump in demand produced price spikes and shortages.

As early as mid-October, the government's top planning agency warned local authorities and petroleum producers that supplies would be "insufficient" during peak demand periods.

A cold winter would make the "supply and demand situation ... more severe," the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said on Oct. 16.

By the first week of December, prices for liquefied natural gas (LNG) had jumped 60.2 percent from September levels, the Communist Party-affiliated Global Times said.

Last week, the NDRC reported that gas consumption through November soared 18.9 percent from a year earlier to 209.7 billion cubic meters (bcm), while domestic gas production of 133.8 bcm rose only 10.5 percent.

Despite the sequence of decisions and statements from the central government, some state media tried to blame local officials for the fiasco.

"That the supply of gas has been insufficient to meet the demand has resulted in many residents in north China's Hebei province not having the heating they need, which indicates local policymakers were too hasty in implementing their gas-for-coal energy policy," said China Daily on Dec. 5.

"What has gone wrong in northern China is the way this laudatory policy has been implemented," it said.

Chinese energy company ENN Group builds a liquefied natural gas storage facility in Baoding, northern China's Hebei province, Dec. 5, 2017. Credit: Reuters Blame the NDRC

Despite efforts to shift the blame, responsibility for the poor policy coordination seemed to fall squarely on the NDRC and the central government.

The episode is reminiscent of the NDRC's effort in 2010 to meet five-year energy efficiency targets by cutting electricity to homes, factories and even hospitals as the deadline approached at the end of the year.

"As with the energy intensity reduction program for 2005-2010, central and local governments are struggling to meet at the last moment the targets set by the 2012-2017 air pollution reduction program," Andrews-Speed said. "Unintended consequences are the side effect."

It may be too soon to tell how long the disruptions will last, but the blunders are likely to result in a cycle of higher energy costs, shortages and renewed coal consumption that could go on for months.

There were signs last week that the problems were spreading beyond the northern areas.

In central China's Hubei province, the government of Wuhan city imposed a limit on household gas supplies of 150 cubic meters per month after shortages reduced pressure in pipelines, threatening safe operation, state media said.

In another Xinhua report suggesting less impact, the MEP said Sunday that 5.6 percent of villages in the northern region had encountered gas shortages after completing conversions from coal.

In November, the region experienced a 41.2-percent drop in PM2.5 concentrations from a year earlier, the MEP said.

On Monday, the MEP said that 96,000 households that had no heat on Dec. 15 had now been supplied either with gas, coal or electric heaters, China Daily reported.

The impact on gas supplies has already driven coal prices to new highs. On Dec. 11, coal futures hit a record of 689.8 yuan (U.S. $104.86) per metric ton, Reuters said.

But in some cities where old boilers and furnaces have been scrapped, a return to coal for heating this winter may prove difficult.

In its criticism of "local policymakers," China Daily also slammed city officials for not conducting "thorough investigations in advance" and having the foresight to know that the central government's fuel-switching initiative might not come off as planned.

"Some of the coal-burning boilers might also have been kept in operation to provide heating when necessary if there was an insufficient supply of gas," the paper said.

Unexpected, indirect costs

Aside from the suffering and expense it has caused, the bureaucratic debacle may result in a host of unexpected and indirect costs.

China's state-owned petroleum companies have been ordered to take costly steps and "keep natural gas prices basically stable" to ease the sudden gas shortages, according to Xinhua.

In one instance, China National Offshore Oil Co. (CNOOC) is spending U.S. $10 million (66 million yuan) to lease two LNG tankers for increased storage to meet emergency demand, Reuters reported on Dec. 6.

"LNG tankers are not only among the most expensive merchant vessels to hire, but keeping the fuel super-chilled is energy intensive and costly, much more expensive than putting crude on an oil tanker for later sale," the report said.

CNOOC may take a beating on the deal because LNG prices are likely to drop by the time it sells the stored gas, according to Reuters.

CNOOC is planning to send over 100 trucks to make round- the-clock deliveries of LNG from southern import terminals in Guangdong province to the cities in the north, China Daily said.

The fuel mix-up may be a setback for the air quality gains that Beijing hoped to achieve this winter by closing its coal-fired power plants and switching to gas.

On Dec. 7, Beijing's City Management Commission said the NDRC had "ordered an immediate restart to coal-fueled generators to ease the shortage of liquefied natural gas in northern China," Caixin magazine said.

The backtracking on coal-fired power in the capital may bring the consequences of the crisis full circle after the 28 northern cities were ordered to switch fuels in order to reduce the smog in Beijing.
Here's how you should fight the H1N1 influenza virus while it's doing the rounds.

By India Today Web Desk: Every year since 2009, when the first case of swine flu was detected, people across the world contract the disease. While this particular strain of influenza--contracted from the H1N1 virus--was first detected in patients in direct contact with pigs in North America, it swiftly spread to 74 countries, including India. It now spreads like every other seasonal virus, especially through the coughs or sneezes of infected people.

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This year has been no different, especially for a state like Rajasthan, where 253 people have died in 2017 itself. "From the start of this year till December 26, 253 people have died due to swine flu in the state. Besides this, 3,380 have been found H1N1 positive," an official of the Medical and Health Department official told IANS.

And while that might sound quite alarming (because it is), there are quite a few precautions you can take to avoid swine flu.

Also Read: Weight loss to curing constipation, 6 health benefits of eating guava

1. Homes are a safer zone

If you have flu-like symptoms, it's best to just stay at home and rest up instead of spreading it around by travelling to and from work, and meeting people at work.

Picture courtesy: Pinterest/WordPress.com Picture courtesy: Pinterest/WordPress.com

2. Contain, don't spread

If you have a cough or are sneezing regularly, make sure you cover your mouth--but not with your hands, because the next thing you touch with them will get contaminated. Use the crook of your arm, or even better, tissues.

3. Clean hands

Wash your hands regularly with soap to avoid infection. Hand sanitizers can also help with this. Basically, just make sure you don't spread germs around through your hands.

Also Read: Year-Ender 2017: 5 health issues celebs brought into focus

4. Safe in public

Don't touch public utilities like door handles and toilets to make sure you don't get infected. Use a surgical mask while travelling to minimise chances of the contagion spreading. Make sure that your utensils are clean if you're eating out.

Picture courtesy: Pinterest/drchetan.com

5. Clean your produce

While there are been no reports of swine flu being transmitted through fruit and vegetable sources, you shouldn't take a chance. Clean them thoroughly, and use surgical gloves to handle meat, fish and eggs. Wash your hands after you're done handling raw produce.

Apart from taking these precautions, make sure that you consult a doctor if you or a loved one have any of the flu symptoms. Certain antiviral medicines have been proved effective against swine flu, even if there isn't a permanent cure yet, and your doctor can help you detect the flu and treat it ASAP.

--- ENDS ---

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Cambodias Appeals Court on Tuesday upheld an earlier ruling that denied bail to two former RFA reporters arrested last month on charges of espionage, according to their lawyer, who vowed to challenge the decision.



Keo Vanny told RFA that the Appeals Court upheld last months ruling by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on the grounds that the case involving former RFA Khmer Service reporters Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin is still under investigation.



The pair were taken into custody on Nov. 14 by police who initially said they had been detained for running an unlicensed karaoke studio. They were later accused of setting up a studio for RFA and were formally charged with illegally collecting information for a foreign source under Article 445 of Cambodias Criminal Code.



They have been held in pre-trial detention in Prey Sar Prison for 44 days and face a possible jail term of up to 15 years if convicted.



Keo Vanny called Tuesdays ruling entirely unfair and refused to accept it, given my clients have not committed any offenses related to the charges against them.



There are no grounds on which the court should continue to detain my clients since, according to legal principles, the accused should be entitled to their freedom, he said.



Granting my clients bail would not cause public chaos, he added.



It was not immediately clear how Keo Vanny plans to challenge the Appeals Court ruling.



RFA closed its operations in Cambodia in September amid a government crackdown on the media, and the two reporters have denied the charges against them.



Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin told the Appeals Court at their hearing Tuesday that they had not sent any state secrets to any foreign nations while working for RFA, according to Keo Vanny, and said they had only reported on land and social issues, which is not prohibited by law.



They also pledged not to flee the country and to continue to cooperate with the court, noting that they had already handed their passports over to the authorities.



On Monday, the pair testified at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court in connection with the charges against them.



Call for release



Yoeung Sotheara, legal and monitoring officer at the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (COMFREL), echoed Keo Vannys call to release the reporters, noting that they had surrendered their passports and their families had signed statements assuming responsibility for them.



He added that the two men are of sound character and suggested there is no reason they would not return to the court to participate in future hearings.



I believe that the case of the [former] RFA reporters is not serious, when compared to other cases involving drug dealing or murder, in which defendants are sometimes granted leniency or bail, he said.



The case of the former RFA reporters is not so severe that the court should refuse them bail, he added.



In November, dozens of journalists signed an open letter calling on court officials to drop their case against Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin, saying the charges are having a chilling effect on the media and restricting press freedom.



Both the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) also called for the release of the journalists in statements last month.



RSF ranked Cambodia 132nd out of 180 countries in its 2017 World Press Freedom Index, and warned that the Southeast Asian nation is liable to fall in next years index.



Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Sovannarith Keo. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
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.
Many foreign investors appear to be using the last days of 2017 to pull money out of Russia amid concern that new U.S. sanctions next year may target Russian oligarchs and state corporations that are close to the Kremlin, media reported on December 26.

The year-end market move away from Russia appears to be reversing a surge of foreign investment that occurred at the beginning of 2017, when investors anticipated a thawing of U.S.-Russian relations under the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, the Russian business daily Kommersant reported.

Kommersant said that the prominent Wall Street firm Bank of America Merrill Lynch expects Russia to experience an overall drop of nearly $1 billion in foreign investment in 2017 as a result of the year-end exodus.

The Wall Street firm said U.S. sanctions loom as a potential "black swan" event for the Russian economy in 2018, meaning that they have a small chance of triggering a potentially disastrous exodus from Russian markets like the one that caused a 30 percent drop of the Russian ruble in just 10 days in December 2014, The Moscow Times reported.

Herman Gref, the chief executive of Sberbank, told The Financial Times that he thinks there is little chance the United States will impose strict sanctions on Russian oligarchs and state-owned corporations under legislation Trump signed into law last summer.

But if such sanctions are imposed, he said, it will "make the Cold War look like child's play," Gref told The Financial Times on December 24.

The most devastating new sanctions possible would exclude Russian banks from the international Swift electronic payment system, The Financial Times said, a move it described as a "nuclear option" that Western countries have been hesitant to use since first imposing sanctions on Russia over its aggression in Ukraine in 2014.

Based on reporting by Kommersant, The Moscow Times, and The Financial Times


India denounced Pakistan on December 26 over the treatment of the family of an Indian man sentenced to death for spying, saying they had been harassed during a visit -- a charge Pakistan called "baseless."

The Indian government accused Pakistani authorities of, among other things, refusing to return the shoes of the visiting wife of Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav after she turned them over to security for the visit.

Jadhav, a former officer in the Indian Navy, was arrested in March 2016 in the Pakistani province of Baluchistan, where there has been a long-running conflict between security forces and separatists, and he was convicted of planning sabotage.

His wife and mother were allowed to see him behind a glass window on December 25, eight months after he was sentenced to death. But that gesture of goodwill may have only stoked long-running tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.

Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar said Jadhav's family was badly treated.

"The Pakistani press was allowed on multiple occasions to approach family members closely, harass and hector them, and hurl false and loaded accusations about Jadhav," Kumar said.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said it "categorically rejected" the accusations as "baseless" and called Jadhav "a convicted terrorist and spy, who has confessed to his crimes."

The ministry said it kept all media, including Indian and Pakistani, "at a safe distance, as requested by India."

Pakistan authorities say Jadhav confessed to being assigned by India's intelligence service to plan, coordinate, and organize espionage and sabotage activities in Baluchistan, "aiming to destabilize and wage war against Pakistan."

But New Delhi maintains Jadhav is innocent, and it won an injunction from the World Court to delay his execution, arguing he was denied diplomatic assistance during his trial by a military court.

Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters


BAKU -- Niko, a 27-year-old gay epileptic from Baku, recalls being beaten, tortured with electric shocks, and raped by four police officers who detained him during a crackdown on homosexuals in Azerbaijan.

They raped me anally and orally, says Niko, who asks that his real name not be used because he fears for his life. The police forced me to swallow their sperm.

Then, he says, he was raped with a police truncheon.



They rammed the truncheon in my anus and I had an epileptic seizure, Niko says. I dont remember what happened after that. When I woke up, I wasnt even able to walk.

For the next 10 days, Niko remained in custody, where he says the torture continued.



After his release in late September, he spent nearly two months trying to stay out of the sight of police who knew about his sexual orientation.



But by mid-November, Niko says, he had been victimized four more times by police officers extorting bribes from him or forcing him to perform oral sex in order to avoid being charged again with "refusing police orders."

Still recovering from shock, he tells RFE/RL about his desperation to leave Azerbaijan and start a new life elsewhere.



International human rights groups say Azerbaijans crackdown echoes similar roundups during 2017 in Russias North Caucasus region of Chechnya.

In both places, suspected homosexuals were detained, brutally abused, and forced to name other gays who, in many cases, received similar treatment as the crackdowns widened.

Amnesty International says it thinks about 100 homosexuals were rounded up in Azerbaijans operation during the last half of September, which the government said was necessary to contain sexually transmitted diseases and improve morality.

In Chechnya, the rights group says, well over 100 people were detained and tortured, and at least three were killed. Chechnyas government denies the roundups ever happened there.



But Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) say evidence of the Chechnya operations is undeniable -- with reports of the violence shocking the world.



Niko tells RFE/RL he was really shaken last spring when he first heard about Chechnyas crackdown.



"I felt really terrible, he says. There was a sudden fear in my heart. But I didnt think it would happen in Azerbaijan to the same extent. I never imagined the recent crackdown here could be that brutal."

Growing Repression, Violence

Rights groups say the increased repression and violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in former Soviet republics has been encouraged by Russias 2013 law criminalizing the distribution to minors of distorted ideas about the equal social value of traditional and nontraditional sexual relationships.

In October, in the Samara region on Russia's Volga River, 27-year-old LGBT rights activist Yevdokia Romanova was convicted and fined under what critics have dubbed the "gay propaganda law -- despite a June ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) that the legislation violates the European Convention on Human Rights.

Romanova had posted links on social media to the website of a LGBT rights youth coalition and Western reports on the LGBT movement -- including a BuzzFeed article about an LGBT-rights protest in St. Petersburg.



Denis Krivosheyev, Amnesty Internationals deputy director for Europe and Central Asia, describes Romanovas case as a sad illustration of the desperate circumstances currently faced by LGBT activists in Russia.

INFOGRAPHIC: LGBT Rights Around The Globe (click to view)

Even the simple freedom to share an online story with friends is now limited by legislation that is blatantly discriminatory and homophobic, Krivosheyev says.



Krivosheyev tells RFE/RL that the 2013 law initially encouraged a wave of homophobic attacks across Russia that, by 2017, had spread to other former Soviet republics in the form of official crackdowns, discrimination, and mob violence.



In Uzbekistan, where homosexuality is a crime, self-declared vigilantes have posed on social media to win the trust of gay men and lure them to meeting places.

Erbulat, a gay friend of the victim of one attack that was recorded and posted online by a homophobic gang, tells RFE/RL there have been many similar attacks recently against homosexuals in Uzbekistan but victims are scared to call police.

"I also was attacked, threatened, and humiliated in such a video," Erbulat says. "I barely escaped them alive. But if I had reported that to the police, they would have laughed at me. They're homophobes, too."

Although Tajikistan rescinded its Soviet-era law against homosexuality in 1998, its government continues to subject gay men to discrimination and rights abuses. It also has forced groups that defend gay rights to stop operating.

In October, the Tajik Prosecutor-Generals Office announced it had compiled a list of what it said were 367 gay men and women in the country in order to protect their safety and to prevent the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases.

But Firuz, a 30-year-old gay man from Dushanbe, tells RFE/RL the LGBT community fears Tajikistans gay registry will be used for future crackdowns like those in Chechnya and Azerbaijan.

The governments mind-set is above the law in this situation. They answer only to themselves, says Firuz, who was added to the registry and underwent forced medical examinations after he was detained during a police raid on a Dushanbe nightclub.

Amnesty International also says groups that defend LGBT rights are facing a rise in hostility in parts of the former Soviet Union, fueled by discrimination, homophobia, and what it describes as Russias crusade against nontraditional sexual relationships.

In a December 22 report, the global human rights watchdog said LGBT rights groups in Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan were facing an increasingly discriminatory environment due to the extent of Russian influence and the reach of its media.

Nightmare In Baku

In Baku, Nikos nightmare began when he was walking home from his job as a sales consultant for a private supermarket shortly before midnight on September 14.

Meeting a gay friend on the street by chance, a transvestite sex worker he had not seen for months, Niko says he stopped to chat just as an unmarked police car arrived.



Police knew my friend because he has worked in the streets," Niko says. Later on, we learned they were looking for us because another gay friend of ours gave them our names.



Niko says uniformed police threw his friend in the back of their squad car.



"I didn't understand what was going on and continued walking," Niko says. "A few minutes later, I felt a truncheon strike the back of my head."



Niko says he and his friend were taken to Police Unit 19 in Bakus Yasamal District, where they were beaten and tortured until 4 a.m.

They started with batons, kicks, and fists, Niko says, struggling to speak. Then four of them who were going off shift took me to the deputy police chiefs room."

He says it's there that repeated rapes and other abuses took place and continued until he passed out.

Later that morning, Niko and his friend appeared in a Baku court where the judge sentenced them to 10 days of administrative detention on charges of resisting police orders -- the same charge that Azerbaijans Interior Ministry says was brought against 56 people who were sentenced to up to 30 days of administrative detention during the September crackdown.



Krivosheyev and other rights activists say the charge is commonly used by authorities in Azerbaijan for arbitrary arrests.



We were sent to the Binagady Detention Center, Niko says. But after two days there, we were taken to the Organized Crime Department -- a branch of the Interior Ministry tasked with combating terrorism, human trafficking, kidnapping, extortion, and other organized crimes.

He says employees of the police unit beat and humiliated both of them and tortured us with electric shocks for two more days.

I witnessed several other gay people being tortured, Niko says. I dont know the exact number of detainees and tortured people.



After he was forced to name other gay and transgender people, Niko says, he was returned to the administrative detention center, where his head was shaved.



He was released on September 25 after serving his 10-day sentence.



Government Response

Homosexuality is not a crime in Azerbaijan but is deeply frowned upon by many in the conservative, Muslim-majority country.



Azerbaijani Interior Ministry Ramil Usubov justified the crackdown in an official letter to Nils Muiznieks, the Council of Europes commissioner for human rights.

Usubov said in his October 13 letter that appropriate measures were taken by Baku police against violations of public order and security in an operation that lasted from September 15-30.



Usubov confirmed that 83 people were detained in various parts of Baku for violation of public order, offenses to public morality, and willful insubordination of police orders.



He also told the European commissioner there was no cause for Brussels to file claims about the violation of the rights of sexual minority representatives because the rights of all groups in Azerbaijan are protected without any restriction.

Usubov said the situation with sexual minorities in our country is no different from [the] situation in most European states.

Echoes Of Chechnya



In Russia, President Vladimir Putin's government has faced calls from the United Nations and Western leaders to investigate the crackdown in Chechnya. But the Kremlin has supported Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrovs denial that suspected gay men were being detained, tortured, and killed.



Meanwhile, scores of traumatized Chechen victims have fled to safe houses in other parts of Russia set up by the St. Petersburg-based Russian LGBT Network.



Most said they feared being detained and tortured again if they stayed in Chechnya.



Many said they could be targeted in so-called honor killings because authorities outed them to their families and have encouraged relatives to restore family honor.



The Russian LGBT Network confirms that the safety of some Chechen homosexuals at their safe houses has been compromised by relatives, Chechen police, or others sent to hunt them down and return them to Chechnya.



Boris Dittrich, the advocacy director for HRWs LGBT Rights program, says Chechen authorities also raided the Grozny homes of gay men who had fled -- threatening to arrest and torture relatives unless they returned.

They had fled far from home, but it seemed Chechen authorities knew where to find them, Dittrich says.

Rainbow Railroad, a Toronto-based charity, began working with the Canadian government and the Russian LGBT Network amid reports of the roundups in 2017 to provide a pathway to safety for persecuted gay Chechens.



In the spring, Rainbow Railroad Executive Director Kimahli Powell traveled to Russia to meet victims hiding at Russian LGBT Network safe houses.



Powell tells RFE/RL that the collaboration brought more than 45 Chechen victims out of Russia by early November -- providing travel funds and legal assistance to obtain asylum in Western countries, mostly in Canada.



Powell also confirms that Rainbow Railroad is investigating whether it can help Azerbaijani victims.



But he says the effort is difficult because the government in Baku has barred organizations like Amnesty International, HRW, and LGBT rights groups from working inside Azerbaijan -- forcing contacts to be made through groups operating outside the country.



Outed And Out



Speaking in mid-November, Niko said his life in Azerbaijan's capital had been destroyed and he desperately wanted to escape but that he knew of no locally based organizations that would help.



In the weeks after his release from detention, he was fired from his job and evicted. His family disapproves of homosexuality and refused to help him, he said.



Sympathizers offered Niko temporary sanctuary in Baku to allow him to recover from his trauma, but he knew their help couldn't last forever.



And the abuse at the hands of police continued when he was recognized on the street by patrol officers.

Niko said he didnt have the money or documents needed to obtain legal residency in neighboring Russia, where he might get help from the Russian LGBT Network.



He said his only option was to flee to Turkey, where he didnt need a visa, and seek help from an Istanbul-based network that recently has sprung up to assist victims of Azerbaijan's crackdown.

Since his arrival in Istanbul in late November, Niko has been sheltering at one of the network's safe houses while he tries to figure out how and where he can build a new life.
Police surrounded a candy factory in Moscow after an attacker fatally shot a security guard and injured three people on December 27. Authorities said the assailant was the factory's former owner, Ilya Averyanov, who was not yet detained. In a phone call to a radio station, Averyanov had claimed he was defending himself against a "gang" he accused of seizing the property in collusion with Moscow prosecutors. (Reuters)
A group of teachers and linguists is mounting a petition drive to urge President Vladimir Putin to preserve the mandatory status of Ossetian-language classes in the North Ossetia region.

The North Ossetian leader's adviser on cultural issues, Tamerlan Kambolov, announced on Facebook that the Association of Teachers and Researchers of the Ossetian Language were starting to collect signatures on December 27.

The petition, which Kambolov posted, says that Ossetian classes must remain mandatory in the region's schools because it has the status of a state language in North Ossetia, along with Russian.

The language issue has triggered tension in Russia's "ethnic republics" -- regions where non-Russian ethic groups are heavily represented -- after Putin said in July that ethnic Russians must not be forced to learn the languages of indigenous groups.

Putin also ordered federal prosecutors to check whether students were being forced to study minority languages across Russia.

Classes in indigenous languages have lost their mandatory status in several regions since then.

The move sparked protests in Russia's republics of Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Mari El, and Chuvashia.
Mourners have gathered at the shrine of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto to mark the 10th anniversary of her assassination.

Television images showed an estimated 20,000 people on December 27 converging in Garhi Khuda Baksh, the site of the family's mausoleum in Sindh Province.

Bhutto, the first woman to lead a Muslim country and an ally of the West, was killed in a gun and suicide-bomb attack on December 27, 2007, in Rawalpindi, the headquarters city of Pakistan's military. No one has been convicted for the killing.

Bhutto, who ruled from 1988-90 and 1993-96, was campaigning for a return to office when she was assassinated.

Unanswered questions surrounding the assassination remain, leading to a multitude of conspiracy theories.

In August, an antiterrorism court in Pakistan declared former president and military ruler Pervez Musharraf a fugitive in connection with the killing as part of a broad conspiracy to have Bhutto, his political rival, killed before elections.

He has denied the allegation.

Musharraf ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup in 1999. He resigned in 2008 to avoid possible impeachment and went into exile overseas.

"There are theories only, and even after 10 years we don't know who was behind the murder," Muqtida Mansoor, a political analyst, told the AFP news agency.

The United Nations in a 2010 report held Musharraf's administration responsible for failing to provide Bhutto with the necessary security, saying her assassination was preventable.

Based on reporting by AFP, PakTribune, and Daily Pakistan
Russia's National Antiterrorism Committee (NAK) is leading an investigation into a blast that injured at least 10 people at a supermarket in the Russian city of St. Petersburg.

While stopping short of calling it a terrorist attack, the committee confirmed it was taking charge of the probe in to the explosion that occurred at 6:45 p.m. local time on December 27 in a customer locker area at the city's Perekrestok supermarket.

"The NAK operations command is coordinating the activities of emergency services and law-enforcement agencies," the committee's press office said. "The search for those involved in the crime is under way."

Earlier, Russian Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said that "a homemade explosive device with the power equivalent to 200 grams of TNT filled with lethal fragments went off" in the busy shopping area.

Petrenko did not mention terrorism in her comments, only that the authorities were "looking into every theory of the incident" and that, for now, the case was being classified as "attempted murder."

Officials said nine of the 10 injured in the blast had been sent to the hospital for treatment. At least one person was in serious condition and one other had been released.

Dozens of people were evacuated from the building. Footage on social media shows multiple police vehicles, ambulances, and fire engines outside the Gigant Hall leisure center, where the supermarket is located on the ground floor.

"There was a bang. Emergency personnel are already on the scene. The evacuation has been completed, and there was no fire," a local Emergency Situations Ministry official told TASS news agency.

The blast comes after the FSB on December 15 said it had arrested seven suspected Islamic extremists and thwarted plans for bomb attacks in St. Petersburg on December 16.

After the arrests, President Vladimir Putin telephoned U.S. President Donald Trump to thank him for a CIA tip that reportedly helped prevent the bombings in Putin's home town, including an alleged plan to bomb the Kazan Cathedral and other crowded sites.

The authorities are heightening security in the city, which is to be one of the hosts of the 2018 World Cup soccer championships running June 14 to July 15 in Russia.

With reporting by TASS, RT, Reuters, AFP, and dpa
By Ashish Pandey: After the recent notification of the endowment department of Andhra Pradesh banning new year celebration at temples, several temple chiefs and priests of both the Telugu states too has come out in support of the move.

One of the richest temples of the country, the Balaji temple of Tirupati has also decided not to celebrate the new year on January 1; instead it will celebrate "Ugadi" as the new year. The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), an independent trust which manages the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in Tirumala, Andhra Pradesh, the second richest and the most visited religious centre in the world has taken a decision in this regard.

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"We are carrying the same decoration of the Lord, which was done for Vaikunta Ekadasi as it falls before a new year. But, we have never decorated the temple exclusively for New Year's. It'll be the same this year too. We only do Vaikunta Ekadasi and Ugadi grandly " said Anil Kumar Singhal, executive officer, TTD.

The famous Kanaka Durga temple of Vijayawada too has decided not to make extra arrangement for January 1 and will promote the Telugu new year Ugadi which falls on January 14.

"The Hindu new year begins on Chaitra masam; we are happy to announce that we never celebrated New Year at Kanak Durga Temple. This year however Nataraja Kalyanam falls on January 1 so we are making preparation for that," said A. Surya Kumari, executive officer, Kanaka Durga temple.

Meanwhile the head priest of Chilkur Balaji, one of the famous temples of Telangana has also opposed the celebration of New Year; he warned the devotees not to celebrate and wish each other on the New Year in the temple premises.

"People of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana celebrate Ugadi as the new year, but due to the influence of western culture our young generation has started deviating from our culture. I support the stand of the Andhra Pradesh government and I welcome it. Meanwhile I am making it clear that if a devotee comes to my temple and celebrates New Year on January 1, I will punish them. They should remember our new year is Ugadi. I request Telangana government too pass such circulars banning English new year celebrations in temples," said head priest Soundara Rangarajan.

Earlier on December 21 the Hindu Dharma Prachara Trust of endowments department of Andhra Pradesh issued a notification (RC. No.29/HDPT/2017) signed by its secretary Chilakapati Vijaya Raghava Charyulu asking temples not to celebrate or do special preparation on January 1 marking as new year.

Watch: People break into dance on Christmas eve at Kolkata airport

--- ENDS ---
A Russian court has ruled that Yury Dmitriyev, a historian and activist who is being tried on child-pornography charges his supporters say are politically motivated, will be released from pretrial custody on January 28.

A court in Petrozavodsk, the capital of the northwestern region of Karelia, issued the order on December 27. It said Dmitriyev would be barred from leaving the city without permission while the investigation continues.

The court also ordered Dmitriyev to undergo a psychiatric examination and called for a new expert assessment of 49 nude photographs of his foster daughter -- the third such evaluation of the images at the center of the case.

Dmitriyev, who heads the Karelia chapter of the human rights group Memorial, has worked for decades to expose crimes committed there by the Soviet state under dictator Josef Stalin.

Investigators claim that Dmitriyev intended to use the photos, which were found in his personal computer, to create pornographic material to share online. He is charged with "preparing and distributing child pornography."

Dmitriyev and his colleagues say the photos were taken because medical workers had asked him to monitor the health and development of the girl, who was malnourished and unhealthy when he and his wife took her in at age 3 with the intention of adopting her. She is now 11 or 12 years old.

Each photograph was accompanied by notation of the girl's height, weight, and general health. Many of them appear to have been taken ahead of scheduled visits by social workers, possibly to document that she had been well treated. According to social-services reports, nothing suspicious was ever noted.

On December 26 a group of experts ruled that the photos were not pornography. Prosecutors requested the third assessment of the photos.

Dmitriyev was arrested in December 2016 and went on trial on June 1.

With reporting by Rk.karelia.ru and Novaya Gazeta
Russian authorities say the former owner of a candy factory in Moscow fatally shot a security guard at the plant and injured three people.

The Investigative Committee said the assailant argued with the Menshevik confectionary's new owner and opened fire with a shotgun in the attack early on December 27.

The former owner, Ilya Averyanov, called a radio station and said he was defending himself against a "gang" he accused of colluded with Moscow prosecutors to seize his property.

Law enforcement officers surrounded the building in southeastern Moscow after the shooting was reported, but there were no immediate reports of arrests or further violence.

Citing Moscow police, Russian news agencies reported that Averyanov fled the scene and was on the run.

When he spoke to Business FM radio, Averyanov said that he was a father of eight and was illegally deprived of his business.

He told the station that he "unfortunately" killed a person in "self-defense."

There was no immediate comment from the authorities on Averyanov's allegations.

A bankruptcy case for the Menshevik factory is due to be heard in Moscow on January 18, according to court filings.

With reporting by AP, Rapsinews, Interfax, RIA Novosti, and TASS
Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny has called for voters to boycott the March 18 presidential election after he was officially barred from being a candidate. His call for people not to vote led Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov to issue a warning, saying that Navalny's call for a boycott should be "studied" to see if it violates the law.

Independent political analyst Nikolai Petrov tells RFE/RL from Moscow that Russian officials are unlikely to harass Navalny, in order to deny the anticorruption activist the publicity he seeks. Since he is unable to campaign for president, Navalny is likely to campaign across Russia for a boycott of the election, much to Moscow's dismay, Petrov adds.

RFE/RL: Did Navalny break the law in some way by making this call for a boycott?

Nikolai Petrov: You know, nothing can be excluded but, first of all, I don't think this is really a legal issue, this is a political issue, and second, I don't think the Kremlin is interested in any kind of radical move with regard to Navalny.

The problem for Navalny now is how to keep from being invisible, [how to be] loud without any real participation in the election. So I would suppose that he should provoke the Kremlin and the Kremlin now is not in a position to let Navalny become visible -- including at the expense of any public scandals [or] at the expense of [taking] any tough moves against Navalny.

RFE/RL: So you think Navalny is intentionally trying to provoke the authorities into coming after him so that he could gain publicity?

Petrov: Yes, absolutely. He should campaign without being a legal participant of the race and...Navalny [has] already benefitted from this election much more than any other candidate will benefit after [the] election is over. He did establish this network of headquarters in the regions. He became very visible, very reactive, and I think this is a great achievement. The problem now is how to keep this machine working without any real participation in the election [as a candidate].

RFE/RL: Do you think he will continue to make this plea [to voters] to boycott the election and make that his campaign?

Petrov: Absolutely, and I don't think [the boycott] can really influence the outcome [of the election] in an essential way, but it will help Navalny to keep the political machine that he has constructed [to keep] working, moving.

RFE/RL: Is there any way at all that the authorities could somehow twist the law or use his call for a boycott to cause more legal problems for Navalny?

Petrov: It's Russia, so authorities can easily decide to [restrict] Navalny, [although] there are no legal grounds by which to do this. Or, they can arrest him.

But I don't think that any of these radical [measures] is in their interest. They are now more interested in keeping silent and letting Navalny keep a low profile. And that's why Navalny will be more active and the authorities, I suppose, will be more passive in this confrontation.

RFE/RL: One thing Russian officials did in 2006 was to remove from the presidential ballots the option to vote for "none of the above." Is there something else similar that the authorities have done over the years to manage Russia's democracy?

Petrov: Absolutely. The Navalny example can serve [as a] pretty good case because the law which makes it impossible for Navalny to be registered now [appeared] after [the] 2012 [presidential election]. At that time it was called the [former Russian tycoon Mikhail] Khodorkovsky-Navalny law.

So the idea was how to exclude these guys from [participating] in [upcoming] elections.... So, some experts are saying that the law violates the constitution -- and that could be the case -- but the Constitutional Court ruled that it is OK. And this is another example of how authorities react even to avoid...complications that could appear in the future.... You know, all the time there are ongoing electoral reforms [in Russia] and every time after elections the authorities are trying to adjust the system in order to avoid some problems which appeared in the last elections.

RFE/RL: Are there some other ways that officials put restrictions on opposition candidates?

Petrov: Another form is turnout. [There] was a certain [minimum] for turnout in local, regional, and national elections. [That's] no longer the case so, regardless of how many voters will come to the polling stations, elections can be announced [and recognized as being valid].

RFE/RL: And that all fits into Russian President Vladimir Putin's ability to manage democracy -- is this all part of the scheme?

Petrov: Well, it's pretty complicated to speak about "managed democracy" now because elements of democracy are disappearing; they are too weak. But I would speak instead about the threat to elections in general.

Our authorities do need elections just like any autocrats in any part of the world [need them]. And the elections are potentially a source of trouble for the authorities so they need to do something in order to adjust, in order to get the results needed and to avoid unneeded results -- to avoid complications. But we see now, I would say, the whole campaign is [being] defined by Navalny rather than by the Kremlin. Due to the potential threat of Navalny [there was] the [possibility of the] nonparticipation [of]...young voters [and] Putin became so active with regard to youths that Ksenia Sobchak [appeared]; that instead of the old-fashioned leader of the Communists, Gennady Zyuganov, [running for president], we see now a new face. And [all of these things are the result of] Navalny. So I would say that his contribution to this election is much bigger, so far, than the Kremlin.

RFE/RL: So he's succeeding, you would say, despite all of these measures being taken again him. Would you describe his efforts thus far as highly successful -- he's bringing change?

Petrov: Yes, yes. Well, you know, it's not that he's getting whatever he wants. He's trying to do as much as possible but it doesn't mean that he calculated [that he'd get exactly] this result, but it means, we can say, the reactive adjustment, the reactive modernization of the system is going on, partly and to a large extent due to Navalny's efforts.
Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny, who has been barred from challenging President Vladimir Putin in the March election, called for nationwide demonstrations on January 28 in support of a boycott of the vote. In a post on his website on December 27, Navalny urged Russians to boycott the election and to try with "all their might" to persuade others to do the same. (Navalny.com/Reuters)
Russia is planning to begin shipments of S-400 surface-to-air missile systems to Turkey in March 2020, a senior official says of a deal that has raised eyebrows because Turkey is a NATO member.

Sergei Chemezov, head of the Russian state conglomerate Rostec, told the newspaper Kommersant in an interview published on December 27 that the $2.5 billion deal will consist of four batteries of S-400 missiles.

"They are paying 45 percent of the total contract amount as an advance. Fifty-five percent is Russian credit," Chemezov told Kommersant.

Turkey's move to acquire the S-400s has been regarded in some Western capitals as a snub to the NATO alliance amid tensions with Russia over its role in the wars in Syria and eastern Ukraine.

The S-400 deal, first announced by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in September, has also caused concern because the Russian-made weapons cannot be integrated into the alliance's defenses.

Turkish Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli said on December 27 that the deal for the missiles had been finalized.

Russia and Turkey support opposing sides in the Syrian war, but Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin patched up their relationship after it was badly damaged when Turkish jets shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border in November 2015.

The missiles have a maximum range of 400 kilometers and are capable of reaching targets at a maximum altitude of 30 kilometers.

On December 27, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said Moscow also expected to sign a deal with India soon on the delivery of S-400s.

Russian officials have also said that Russia and U.S. ally Saudi Arabia are close to signing a deal on supplying the S-400 systems to Riyadh.

With reporting by Kommersant, Reuters, dpa, TASS, and Yenisafak
Serbia has extradited to Turkey a Kurdish political activist who had been seeking asylum, defying a warning from the United Nations' Committee Against Torture (UNCAT).

Cevdet Ayaz was taken away from a Belgrade center for foreigners where he was staying after his asylum request was rejected by Serbian authorities, his lawyer and police officials said on December 26.

Ayaz had requested asylum earlier this year after fleeing Turkey, where he had been sentenced to 15 years in prison over alleged activities against the constitution.

The UN Committee Against Torture on December 18 urged Serbia, which is a candidate for European Union membership, to refrain from extraditing Ayaz.

"Please be aware of your UNCAT obligations," the committee's chairman, Jens Modvig, tweeted on December 25.

Serbia has ratified the UN Convention Against Torture, which went into force in 1987.

Turkey, which also has applied to join the EU, denies using torture.

But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has jailed thousands of people who he has called his enemies in the wake of a 2016 coup attempt against him, and human rights groups accuse him of using a state of emergency declared after the coup attempt to quash decades-long Kurdish dissent and political opposition.

An unnamed Serbian police official told Reuters on December 26 that Serbian courts had ruled that Turkey met all preconditions for the extradition of Ayaz, and the Justice Ministry acted accordingly by extraditing him.

"The motion by the UN came after" the court rulings, this official said.

Officials at Serbia's Justice Ministry were not immediately available for comment.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who hosted Erdogan on a visit to Belgrade in October, has been seeking to boost economic ties with Turkey.

Based on reporting by AP and Reuters


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Refugees and other migrants were living outdoors in the winter cold near Sid, Serbia, a day after dozens of people protested at the border to demand entrance into Croatia, prompting police to break up the demonstration. (RFE/RL's Balkan Service)
Syrian rebel and opposition groups have rejected Russia's proposed peace talks next month, accusing Moscow of what they called "war crimes" in Syria and failing to put pressure on the Syrian government to end the six-year civil war.

In a series of statements on December 26, 40 rebel groups, including some of Syria's most prominent, as well as political opposition groups, said the talks planned next month are an attempt to "circumvent" the UN-led peace process, which has made virtually no progress since it began in 2014.

The rebel groups said Moscow has asked them to give up their demand that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose troops Russia has backed with a devastating air campaign since 2015, step down as part of a political settlement.

"We reject this, and we affirm that Russia is an aggressor that has committed war crimes against Syrians," the statement, signed by 40 rebel groups, said.

"Russia has not contributed with a single move to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people, and it has not pressured the regime it claims it guarantees to move an inch toward any real path toward a resolution."

The rebel groups, including Ahrar al-Sham, Army of Islam, and a number of Western-backed outfits, said they are committed to the UN-led process.

More than 330,000 people have been killed in Syria and millions have been driven from their homes since the conflict began in March 2011 with a crackdown on antigovernment protests.

The Kremlin has announced it will host a "Syrian national dialogue congress" in Sochi on January 29-30 and has cast the event as a broadening of "technical" talks aimed at working out cease-fire deals that Russia has co-sponsored with Iran and Turkey in the Kazakh capital, Astana, this year.

Syria's government has said it will attend the forum. Assad told reporters recently that the Sochi talks have an agenda of discussing new elections and possibly amending the constitution.

Russia's proposal was also endorsed by Iran, a key Syrian ally that has provided military advisers and militia fighters backing Assad during the war, and Turkey, which backs many of the Sunni rebel groups.

But the wholesale rejection of the Sochi forum by most rebel and political opposition groups, as well as by governing bodies in rebel-held areas of Syria, appears to threaten the viability of the Russian plan.

Russia has touted the planned Sochi talks as an effort to revive United Nations-sponsored negotiations that have repeatedly failed to reach a settlement in Syria. But its plans are also threatened by disagreement over whether to include Syrian Kurdish groups.

Turkey has ruled out inviting the powerful PYD Kurdish group, which governs around 25 percent of Syria's territory and wants autonomous rule there. Ankara views the PYD as an extension of militant Kurdish separatist groups in Turkey that it has been battling for decades.

Russia said last week that Kurdish representatives would attend the talks, but in a bow to Turkey, Moscow said it would not invite the PYD.

But the PYD-led self-administration authority in northeastern Syria, where the PYD is dominant, said that the authority, not individual parties, should be represented at the Sochi talks.

The PYD is the main political arm of the U.S.-allied Kurdish militia that recently played a major role in defeating the Islamic State extremist group in the region.

With reporting by AP and Reuters


A Tatar activist who was convicted of separatism and inciting ethnic hatred in a case he said was politically motivated has been released from prison in northern Russia after serving a three-year term.

Rafis Kashapov sharply criticized Russia in comments to RFE/RL shortly after his release on December 27, saying that he was trading a "small prison" for a big one.

Kashapov, the first person in Russia to be imprisoned over public criticism of Russia's seizure of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine, served his sentence in a prison in the Komi region city of Ukhta.

The chairman of the Tatar Public Center in the Tatarstan region, Kashapov was arrested in December 2014 and sentenced to three years in prison in September 2015.

His arrest came after he posted articles in which he criticized Moscow of violating the rights of Crimean Tatars. He also criticized Russia's involvement in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Kashapov, 59, told RFE/RL that the case against him was "false" and politically motivated. He added that he planned to sue the penitentiaries he was kept in for three years, contending that they violated his rights.

"They kept me alone in a cell for the last 18 months. I had no source of information, nobody to talk to," Kashapov said. "They also did not give me a chance to pray five times a day, trying to intimidate me and insulting my feelings as a Muslim."

He said that he planned to take care of his health for several weeks and after that to continue his public activities.

"Everybody is congratulating me on being released but there is nothing to be happy about, because I left a small prison and entered a big one," Kashapov said.

Kashapov's Tatar Public Center is an NGO that campaigns to preserve Tatars' national identity, language, and culture.

The prominent Russian human rights group Memorial recognized Kashapov as a political prisoner when he was behind bars.
ON MY MIND

The fact that after Aleksei Navalny was barred from running in next year's presidential election, the Kremlin felt the need to warn him not to agitate for a boycott speaks volumes.

Because while keeping Navalny's name off the ballot in March is easy, keeping him out of the campaign is another matter entirely.

One way or another, either in the real world or online, Navalny will be campaigning.

He'll be campaigning for a boycott or he'll be campaigning against the "fake election."

Which puts the Kremlin in a bit of a quandary.

Sure, they can lock Navalny up again or place him under house arrest. But doing so would turn him into The Story. It would allow the anticorruption crusader to steal the spotlight at a time when the Kremlin wants Putin's campaign to be at the center of everybody's attention.

Alternatively, the Kremlin could simply try to ignore Navalny or hinder him with petty harassment.

But this would effectively give him free rein to troll the Kremlin's big show and ruin its ritual.

How Vladimir Putin's regime handles this will be one of the big questions going forward.

IN THE NEWS

The All-Russia Popular Front, an action group consisting of politicians, celebrities, and other well-known Russians, has officially nominated Vladimir Putin as an independent candidate in next year's presidential election.

The Kremlin has rejected concerns that Moscow's decision to bar opposition leader Aleksei Navalny from running against President Vladimir Putin undermines the legitimacy of Russia's presidential election.

Media reports say Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine have sent all captured Ukrainian soldiers to the location of a major prisoner exchange that is due to take place with Kyiv later today.

Russia on December 26 launched a rocket carrying Angola's first telecom satellite from the Baikonur space center with the rare use of a rocket from Ukraine, despite collapsed ties between the two nations.

Many foreign investors appear to be using the last days of 2017 to pull money out of Russia amid concern that new U.S. sanctions next year may target Russian oligarchs and state corporations that are close to the Kremlin, media reported on December 26.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says he is "united in opinion" with his U.S. counterpart, Rex Tillerson, on the issue of North Korea but that they differ on how to resolve the crisis over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.

Russia's telecommunications watchdog has demanded an explanation from social-media networks Facebook and Instagram for their disabling of accounts belonging to Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed leader of Chechnya.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu says Russia has started establishing a permanent presence at its two military bases in Syria -- the Russian naval facility in Tartus and the Russian-run Khmeimim air base near the city of Latakia.

The United Kingdom's Royal Navy says it has escorted a Russian warship through the North Sea near British territorial waters.

Authorities in Moscow say nine people remained hospitalized early on December 26, a day after a commuter bus careened off a road and plunged down steps into a crowded underground walkway in the Russian capital.

Russian authorities say the former owner of a candy factory in Moscow fatally shot a security guard at the plant and injured three people.

Mikheil Saakashvili, the leader of Ukraine's Movement of New Forces party and former president of Georgia, has reportedly refused to appear for questioning at the Main Directorate of the Security Service of Ukraine, despite being summoned for an appearance there on December 26.

LATEST POWER VERTICAL PODCAST

In case you missed it, the last Power Vertical Podcast of 2017, The Secret Policeman's Ball, featured Mark Galeotti and Andrei Soldatov and looked at the role of Russia's security services going forward as the Kremlin marked the centenary of the founding of the Cheka.

WHAT I'M READING

The Year Minsk-2 Died

In Republic.ru, political analyst Tatiana Stanovaya looks at the state of the Minsk cease-fire, which she dubs "the main geopolitical victim" of 2017.

Kashin On The 2018 Election

Opposition journalist and political commentator Oleg Kashin has a couple of good columns in Republic.ru previewing the March 18 presidential election.

In one (written before the Central Election Commission barred Aleksei Navalny from running for president), he argues that by keeping Navalny off the ballot the Kremlin is effectively turning the election into a "referendum on mistrust" in the opposition leader.

In another column, Kashin assesses Navalny's call for an election boycott and explains why it is likely to fail.

Russia And The West In 2018

In a piece for RBK, Moscow-based foreign affairs analyst Vladimir Frolov looks ahead to the prospects for relations between Russia and the West in 2018.

The New 'Cold War'

In a piece for Politico, Susan Glasser argues that the Cold War is back, but only one side is fighting.

The New Emigration Wave

The BBC Russian Service has a piece looking at the new wave of Russian activists fleeing Putin's Russia for Europe. The piece focuses on one emigrant who is having trouble adjusting to European norms in The Netherlands.

Hacking And Biometric Data

According to a report in BuzzFeed, FBI software for analyzing fingerprints has Russian-made code, raising fears that Americans' biometric data could be at risk.

Gizmodo also has a report following up on the BuzzFeed report.
By PTI: Lucknow, Dec 27 (PTI) A day ahead of the tabling of the triple talaq bill in Parliament, some Muslim womens organisations said today that the proposed legislation would not be acceptable if not in consonance with the Quran or the Constitution.

"Nikaah (marriage) is a contract. Whosoever breaks it should be punished. However, if it (Bill) is not in the light of Quran and the Constitution, no Muslim woman will accept it," All India Muslim Women Personal Law board (AIMWPLB) chairperson Shaista Amber told PTI.

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"I had sent a letter to the Law Commission requesting it to show the draft bill to the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), AIMWPLB, Jamait Islami, Jamiat Ulma-e-Hind and organisations working for women who were given talaq. I got a reply that if needed, it will be discussed but that did not happen," she added.

Holding the AIMPLB responsible for the present state of affairs, Amber said the board never bothered to take triple talaq seriously, and now it was too late.

Muslim Women Leagues president Naish Hasan said that in the Family Court Act there is always a chance to save a family but the proposed bill does not give such a chance.

"Third party has also been given the right to complain in the bill. That is not fair," she said. Hasan added that the bill should be stalled for now and discussions should be held as a law in haste will complicate matters.

We will protest if the bill is passed without any discussion, she said.

Demanding withdrawal of the bill, the AIMPLB had earlier said the proposed legislation was against the provisions of the Constitution and violated the rights of women.

Describing it a "conspiracy", the AIMPLB at its meeting here on Sunday had accused the government of snatching the right of divorce from men.

AIMPLB chairman Maulana Rabe Hasani Nadwi will request Prime Minister Narendra Modi to withhold or withdraw the proposed bill that criminalises the practice of instant divorce, an official spokesperson of the Muslim body said.

In August, the Supreme Court by a majority of 3:2 ruled that the practice of divorce through triple talaq among Muslims is "void", "illegal" and "unconstitutional". The government then drafted the Muslim Women Protection of Rights on Marriage Bill according to which giving instant divorce will be illegal and void and will attract a jail term of three years for the husband. The bill seeks to criminalise the practice of instant divorce by repeated the word talaq thrice. PTI ABN SMI ADS

--- ENDS ---
NEAR HORLIVKA, Ukraine -- European leaders have hailed a long-awaited exchange of prisoners between Kyiv and Russia-backed separatists that enabled hundreds of former captives to return to their homes for the New Year holiday.

In the biggest exchange of prisoners since the war in eastern Ukraine began in 2014, officials said 238 separatists held by the Ukrainian government were handed over to separatist-controlled areas of the Luhansk and Dontesk regions on December 27, while 74 captured soldiers and civilians were released by the separatists into government hands.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the exchange as an "important humanitarian gesture before the New Year and Orthodox Christmas."

The European leaders and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which supervised the exchange, urged the two sides to use momentum from the swap to work toward a broader peace in the region.

The "exchange is not only a humanitarian act, but also a helpful step in confidence-building," said Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissi, the organization's chairman.

From the exchange location, the freed Ukrainian soldiers flew by helicopter to Kharkiv, a government-controlled regional capital further northwest. They were then flown by plane to Kyiv.

"I'm out of hell. I survived," said former captive Yevhen Chudentsov, who said he was taken prisoner in February 2015 while serving with a Ukrainian volunteer battalion.

Chudentsov, whose front teeth were knocked out, said he was beaten and threatened while in separatist custody and was initially sentenced to death by the separatists, who later changed that to 30 years in prison.

The mother of Ukrainian prisoner Oleksandr Oliynyk said her son called during the exchange and told her, "I'm already here."

"I have not heard his voice for 3 1/2 years," she told Ukrainian news channel 112. "You can't imagine what it means for a mother, not to see your child for 3 1/2 years, since August 2014."

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko greeted the prisoners freed by the separatists in the town of Horlivka near the front lines of the conflict and praised their endurance.

"I'm grateful to all those who remained loyal to Ukraine in those unbearable conditions," Poroshenko said. "They have shown their adherence to the principles of freedom and independence."

Hundreds of people turned out at the Kyiv airport late on December 27 to welcome the soldiers home, waving national flags, bouquets of flowers, and shouting "Glory to Ukraine! Glory to our heroes!"

The exchange began when three vehicles carrying 16 people crossed from separatist-controlled territory near Horlivka at about 2 p.m. (1200 GMT/UTC).

Olga Kobtseva, a representative for separatists in the Luhansk region, told RFE/RL that 99 people from separatist-controlled territory in the Luhansk region were supposed to be part of the prisoner swap, but that 26 of them had either been released earlier or chose not to return to separatist-controlled territory.

Officials said that 165 people had been released by the government to separatists in the Donetsk province.

Ukrainian ombudswoman Valeria Lutkovska said that 43 of the 306 government-held captives who authorities had said would be exchanged did not arrive at the exchange point on December 27 because they had been released from custody earlier. She also said that about 10 to 15 of the 306 chose not to return to separatist-controlled areas.

The leader of separatists in the Donetsk region, Aleksandr Zakharchenko, said the swap is only the first stage of possible further moves to exchange captives. Zakharchenko said more lists of prisoners were being compiled.

Fighting between Kyiv's forces and the Russia-backed separatists who hold parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions has killed more than 10,300 people since April 2014.

Under a February 2015 cease-fire and peace deal known as Minsk 2, Kyiv and the separatists were supposed to "release and exchange...all hostages and unlawfully detained persons" within five days of its signing.

But that did not happen, and there have been no prisoner swaps between Kyiv and the separatists for 15 months.

Shortly before the planned exchange on December 27, Ukraine's military said that one of its soldiers had been killed and five wounded during the previous 24 hours in the east.

A Defense Ministry statement said that Russia-backed separatists violated the frequently breached cease-fire six times using assault rifles, machine guns, and mortars.



According to the ministry, separatist fighters used a drone to coordinate mortar attacks -- a practice that is banned under the Minsk accords of 2014 and 2015 that are aimed at resolving the conflict.

Separatists said on December 27 that Ukrainian government forces attacked the village of Kalynivka in the Luhansk region overnight using assault rifles, grenade launchers, mortars, and heavy artillery.

After massive protests pushed Moscow-friendly Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych from power in February 2014 following his decision to scrap a landmark deal with the European Union, Russia seized control of Ukraine's Crimea region and fomented separatism across eastern and southern Ukraine. The Russia-backed separatists seized parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, igniting the war and severely straining Russia's relations with Kyiv and the West.

Implementation of the Minsk-2 agreement has been slow and several other aspects of the deal appear far from being fulfilled. Western officials and rights groups have voiced concern about flare-ups in recent weeks, with European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini saying the humanitarian and security situation had deteriorated abruptly of late.

With reporting by Hromadske TV, Interfax, UNIAN, AFP, Reuters, and AP
Ukraine's government and Russia-backed separatists have completed a long-awaited exchange of prisoners near the town of Horlivka in eastern Ukraine. Hundreds of former captives crossing the line between government-controlled and separatist-held territory on December 27. Officials said that 238 people held by the Ukrainian government had been handed over to the separatist-controlled regions of Luhansk and Dontesk. Another 74 captured soldiers and civilians were released by the separatists into government hands. (RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service)
The mayor of the eastern city of Andijon has been fined for insulting teachers in public in what is believed to be an unprecedented court ruling in Uzbekistan.

The Prosecutor-General's Office said a local court ruled on December 26 that Dilmurod Rahmatullaev must pay 5 million soms ($640) for publicly insulting several people.

It is widely believed to be the first instance since Uzbekistan gained independence in 1991 in which an official has been punished for insulting someone who is not in a position of power.

The ruling came four days after President Shavkat Mirziyoev, in a state-of-the-nation address, condemned officials who use vulgar words when talking to their subordinates or ordinary citizens.

In the speech, Mirziyoev called on officials to improve communications with citizens.

Mirziyoev was named interim president after the death of autocratic longtime President Islam Karimov was announced in September 2016 and was elected in a tightly controlled vote in December that year.

He has taken steps aimed to decrease Uzbekistan's isolation, establish "a dialogue" between authorities and ordinary people, and mend tense ties with neighboring Central Asian countries.
Looking to expand its portfolio, Royal Enfield is currently working on an entirely new engine platform

Just last month, Royal Enfield discontinued their 500 cc motorcycle range. They were not updated to BS6 norms. Now, the company has a huge gap in the range of motorcycle it offers. On one end is the 350 cc range, and on the other is 650 cc range. The company is reportedly working on a new platform, most likely for the launch of Royal Enfield Classic 500.

The purpose of the new platform is to essentially fill the gap between the companys bestselling 350 cc and 650 cc product range. This space is largely unexplored as of now in the country, so Royal Enfield can gain the first mover advantage. The challenge for the company is to develop something as good as its existing popular motorcycles.

Royal Enfield is currently the market leader in 350 cc segment, with a massive 95 percent market share. However, competitors like Jawa, Benelli, Kawasaki, Honda, Triumph and Husqvarna are working hard to grab their own share in the pie. In view of these developments, portfolio expansion by Royal Enfield seems to be the right thing to do. When more choices are available, it reduces the probability of customers opting for competitor products. With portfolio expansion, Royal Enfield will be in a better position to cater to varied needs and preferences of buyers.

Royal Enfield has reaffirmed that it will continue to focus on the mid-sized motorcycle segment in both domestic and international markets. The affordability factor, which has been one of the key reasons for the companys success, will also remain a top priority for Royal Enfield. In the Indian market, most RE motorcycles are priced lower than their respective rivals.

The mid-sized motorcycle segment is expected to witness strong growth in the coming years. Users with lower capacity motorcycles are aspiring to own something more substantial whereas many potential big bike users are settling for mid-sized machines. So, there will be an increase in customer additions from both ends of the spectrum.

As may be recalled, Royal Enfields Continental 650 cc and Interceptor 650 cc twins have emerged bestsellers in India as well as in overseas markets  in the segment. Since the launch of the twins in 2018, the above 500 cc motorcycle segment has registered almost four-fold growth. It is possible that new products between 350 cc to 650 cc can help attract customers, as these would be offering an entirely new experience.

In addition to the new platform, Royal Enfield could also be experimenting with its existing 350 cc and 650 cc platforms. The companys product development teams in India and UK are currently evaluating the possibility of doing more with infrastructure already available such as existing engines and frames. In case the plan works out, we could see new products based on the popular 350 cc and 650 cc platforms. The first of this new gen RE is expected to be launched next month, as the Meteor 350.
Peter DaSilva, Special To The Chronicle/Special to The Chronicle

Its late on Christmas Eve, and you have no holiday plans. What do you do?

Hop in the car and drive to Las Vegas, naturally.

Thats what bookseller Brad Johnson and his wife, Katrien  and their dog Ireland  did a decade ago.

Not at all inspired by Charles Dickens, the trio set off from Oakland after a few hours of sleep, the sun not having risen.

Were somewhat European when it comes to road trips (she is full European, being Belgian), so we make frequent stops, said Johnson, a Lexington, Ky., native who owns East Bay Booksellers in Oakland. Along the way, I made a point of chatting up people we met along the way  at whatever fast-food restaurant, rest stop or strip mall we happened to stand still for a few moments. We were really curious about others destinations.

Not surprisingly, most travelers the couple spoke to were on their way to see relatives.

When I told them my plans, Johnson recalled, most laughed and said they were jealous. Others just shook their heads ruefully.

The three made it to Vegas by the afternoon, and checked into a cheap off-the-Strip hotel that welcomed dogs.

We suddenly realized that neither of us liked to gamble, Johnson said. Which was fortunate, since neither of us had much money either. So we just walked around, again chatting people up  Why Vegas on Christmas?

One response struck Johnson: My dad died in Vegas 10 years ago, and Ive come here every year since.

This appealed to a holiday melancholic like me, Johnson said, and we toasted him and his father.

The couple spent the rest of the night people watching, feasting on a turkey dinner at the Luxor casino and throwing money at the cheapest slots we could find.

Were winners, baby! Johnson announced to the dog upon returning to their hotel room.

That was the couples first visit to Las Vegas, and they have yet to return. But, Johnson said, it remains etched into my memories of the holidays.

John McMurtrie is The San Francisco Chronicles book editor. Email: jmcmurtrie@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @McMurtrieSF
Amid a December marked by unseasonably low rainfall, forecasters finally see the possibility of a storm moving into the San Francisco Bay Area on Sunday.

"Two of the three computer models are indicating a round of rain beginning New Year's Eve and then New Year's Day," says Steve Anderson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Monterey. "How much? What time is it going to start? It's too early to tell.
An exclusive India Today investigation has revealed that many muftis are trying to circumvent the Supreme Court's ban on triple talaq. Find out how in our detailed investigative report.

By Sushant Pathak, Jamshed Adil Khan : A number of Muslim clerics appear to be circumventing the Supreme Court's triple-talaq ban, issuing insidious advice for instant dissolution of marriage to male divorce-seekers from the community, an India Today investigation has found.

As parliament prepares to take up a proposed legislation on Muslim divorce, India Today's undercover reporters found muftis brazenly defying the top court's August ruling. (Muftis are Muslim legal experts empowered to decide on religious matters.)

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In August, the Supreme Court declared the practice of instant divorce in Islam unconstitutional.

But India Today's investigation found a number of clerics violating the spirit behind the landmark judgment hailed as a major victory for women's rights.

'TALAQ-E-BAIN'

The probe discovered muftis advising male divorce-seekers to modify the outlawed commandment of triple talaq for quick - but safe - separation from their wives.

Instead of saying talaq three times, Muslim husbands were asked to use a different terminology to end their marriage, the investigation found.

Mufti Fahimuddin, who runs the Arabia Hidayatul Islam Madrasa at Loni in Ghaziabad, told India Today's undercover team that the use of the term "talaq-e-bain" in place of triple talaq would also dissolve the matrimony immediately.

"Instead of pronouncing talaq thrice, if you say talaq-e-bain once, the matter ends there," the mufti advised. "This is talaq-e-bain, which means the wife will be separated. If she ever wants to revive the marriage, then it will have to be solemnized afresh by a mufti or a maulvi."

"What will happen in that case. Will there be an instant talaq?" probed the reporter.

"Yes. Just say it in one breath that 'I am giving you talaq-e-bain'. The matter ends there," the mufti replied.

A rant of the term "talaq-e-bain" is apparently being unanimously recommended as a means for instant divorce, India Today's investigation discovered.

Islamic personal laws prescribe mainly three methods of divorce -- talaq-e-ahsan, talaq-e-hasan and the now banned talaq-e-biddat or triple talaq.

"There's a supreme court order and then there's a way to get out of it in Islamic law. That's what I explained. I have explained to you how to bypass the supreme court and at the same time get separated from her (the wife)," claimed Mufti Fahimuddin.

'THERE WON'T BE ANY PROBLEM'

Mufti Sadiq, who works at the Zeenat-ul-Islam Madrasa at Loni, too advocated talaq-e-bain for dissolving marriage instantly.

"The man wants instant divorce. He wants to get rid of his wife without delay," asked the undercover reporter.

"Yes, he then can issue talaq-e-bain. Instant riddance as soon as it's uttered," Mufti Sadiq ruled.

"So, there won't be any problem in the light of the supreme court ban?" the reporter wondered.

"There won't be any problem. It's permitted," answered the mufti. "That's how you won't run afoul of the court order. You will not be charged under the law," he insisted.

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In his recommendation, Mufti Asrar, who runs the Darul Uloom Jamiat-ul-Siddiqui Madrasa in western Uttar Pradesh, suggested divorce-seekers issue talaq-e-bain in writing and not orally.

"Issue it in writing. Don't utter a word from your mouth. Issue talaq-e-bain in writing instead," he said. "The biggest advantage is that if she accuses you of triple talaq, you can then show it (the talaq-e-bain note)," he said.

Revealed: How Muslim clerics use jugaad to bypass Supreme Court's triple talaq ban

--- ENDS ---
BEIRUT  Syrian rebels and opposition groups on Tuesday rejected Russias proposed peace talks, accusing Moscow of failing to pressure its ally, President Bashar Assad, to end the conflict.

In a series of statements, 40 rebel groups, including some of Syrias most prominent, as well as political opposition groups, said the talks expected next month are an attempt to circumvent the U.N.-led process, which has made virtually no progress since it began in 2014.

The rebel groups said Moscow has asked them to give up their demand for Assad to step down.

We reject this, and we affirm that Russia is an aggressor that has committed war crimes against Syrians, the statement signed by 40 rebel groups said. Russia has not contributed with a single move to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people and it has not pressured the regime it claims it guarantees to move an inch toward any real path toward a resolution.

The rebel groups, including Ahrar al-Sham, Army of Islam, and a number of Free Syrian Army groups, said they are committed to the U.N.-led Geneva process, and called on the international community to end the bloodshed, now in its seventh year. Political opposition groups and governing bodies in rebel-held areas also have rejected Russias proposed talks.

The talks are scheduled for Jan. 29-30 in Sochi, and were announced after talks among Russia, Iran, which back the government, and Turkey, which supports the opposition.

Syrias government said it would attend the talks. Assad told reporters recently that the Sochi talks have a clear agenda of discussing new elections and possibly amending the constitution.

The fate of Assad has been the main point of contention in all previous rounds of talks. The opposition has long called for a transitional period in which Assad would have no role, something the government refuses to even consider.

The Sochi talks would open up a fourth track of talks between parties to the complex conflict. The United Nations own Geneva program has been supplemented by technical talks in Astana, Kazakhstan, brokered by Russia, Iran and Turkey.

Russia periodically opens a third track through Cairo. Egypt has provided a base for Syrian reformists seen as acceptable to the Damascus government.

Its not yet clear who will attend the Sochi talks.

Sarah El Deeb is an Associated Press writer.
LA PINTADA, Panama  Cultural authorities at UNESCO have recognized the artisans of Panama for their distinctive woven hats. No, not those hats; the famed Panama hat comes from Ecuador.

Panamas real contribution to the worlds hat heritage is the pintao, or painted hat, handmade from five different plants and a dose of swamp mud.

Production of the circular-brimmed hats is still a family affair carried out on a household scale. The industrys center is La Pintada, a district about 105 miles west of Panama City.

They dont have anything (artificial), no machinery; no factory as such exists here in La Pintada, said Reinaldo Quiros, a well-known artisan and designer who sells hats out of his home. Each artisan in his own home makes the hats maintaining the techniques taught by his ancestors.

The widely known Panama hat is a brimmed hat traditionally made in Ecuador from the straw of the South American toquilla palm plant. The hats are thought to have earned their misleading name because many were sold in nearby Panama to prospectors traveling through that country to California during the Gold Rush.

Artisans of the truly Panamanian pintao hat start with the fibers of several plants that are cured and then woven into braids that are wrapped around a wooden form and sewn together from the crown of the hat down.

Pasion Gutierrez, 81, grows some of the plants around his house in El Jaguito outside La Pintada, while others are found high in the mountains. Gutierrez, wife Anazaria and several of their children and grandchildren make pintaos. His eyesight doesnt allow him to do the fine needlework anymore, but he harvests, prepares and braids the fibers.

On a recent day, Gutierrez said hed gone out the night before to cut agave leaves because they believe the quality of the fibers is best when harvested under a full moon.

Several bands of fiber are dyed black with the leaves from a different plant and then stuck in mud for three days. The fibers are woven into fine geometric designs and integrated into the hat giving it its name.

The pintao hat has become an integral part of regional outfits throughout the country worn during traditional dances and community festivities, the United Nations heritage arms statement said.

Depending on the quality of the work, some pintao hats can cost hundreds of dollars. Authorities estimate that 4,000 of La Pintadas 25,000 residents work creating or selling the hats.

Juan Zamorano is an Associated Press writer.
Letter to the editor: Review of Goldfinch's take on offshore drilling
America's Space Commanders-in-Chief

NASA

On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced a bold new plan for NASA and the nation: To send an American to the moon, and to return him safely, by the close of the decade.



Kennedy's speech, which came just six weeks after cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to reach outer space, had a huge impact on NASA and space exploration. It jump-started the agency's Apollo program, a full-bore race to the moon that succeeded on July 20, 1969, when Neil Armstrong's boot crunched down into the gray lunar dirt.



Kennedy, of course, isn't the only leader who had a vision for the nation's space program. Since NASA's founding in 1958, every president from Eisenhower to Obama has left his mark. Take a look at how each U.S. commander-in-chief helped shape and steer American activities in space.

Editor's note: This story was updated on Jan. 20, 2021.

Dwight Eisenhower (in office 1953-1961)

NASA

President Dwight Eisenhower was president when the Soviet Union launched the world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik I, in October 1957. This seminal event shocked the United States, started the Cold War space race between the two superpowers and helped lead to the creation of NASA in 1958.



However, Eisenhower didn't get too swept up the short-term goals of the space race. He valued the measured development of unmanned, scientific missions that could have big commercial or military payoffs down the road.



For example, even before Sputnik, Eisenhower had authorized a ballistic missile and scientific satellite program to be developed as part of the International Geophysical Year project of 1957-58. The United States' first successful satellite, Explorer I, blasted off Jan. 31, 1958. By 1960, the nation had launched and retrieved film from a spy satellite called Discoverer 14.

John F. Kennedy (1961-1963)

NASA

President John F. Kennedy effectively charted NASA's course for the rest of the 1960s with his famous speech before Congress on May 25, 1961.



The Soviets had launched Sputnik I in 1957, and cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin had become the first person in space on April 12, 1961, just six weeks before the speech. On top of those space race defeats, the U.S. plan to topple the Soviet-backed regime of Cuban leader Fidel Castro  the so-called Bay of Pigs invasion  had failed miserably in April 1961.



Kennedy and his advisers figured they needed a way to beat the Soviets, to re-establish American prestige and demonstrate the country's international leadership. So they came up with an ambitious plan to land an astronaut on the moon by the end of the 1960s, which Kennedy laid out in his speech.



The Apollo program roared to life as a result, and NASA embarked on a crash mission to put a man on the moon. The agency succeeded, of course, in 1969. By the end of Apollo in 1972, the United States had spent about $25 billion on the program  well over $100 billion in today's dollars.

Lyndon Johnson (1963-1969)

NASA

President Lyndon Johnson was instrumental in both ratcheting up and scaling back the United States' space race with the Soviet Union.



As Senate majority leader in the late 1950s, he had helped raise the alarm regarding Sputnik, stressing that the satellite launch had intiated a race for "control of space." Later, Kennedy put Johnson, his vice president, in personal charge of the nation's space program. When Johnson became commander-in-chief after Kennedy's assassination, he continued to support the goals of the Apollo program.



However, the high costs of Johnson's Great Society programs and the Vietnam War forced the president to cut NASA's budget. To avoid ceding control of space to the Soviets (as some historians have argued), his administration proposed a treaty that would outlaw nuclear weapons in space and bar national sovereignty over celestial objects.



The result was 1967's Outer Space Treaty (OST), which forms the basis of international space law to this day. The OST has been ratified by all of the major space-faring nations, including Russia and its forerunner, the Soviet Union.

Richard Nixon (1969-1974)

NASA.

All of NASA's manned moon landings occurred during President Richard Nixon's presidency. However, the wheels of the Apollo program had been set in motion during the Kennedy and Johnson years. So Nixon's most lasting mark on American space activities is probably the space shuttle program.



By the late 1960s, NASA managers had begun drawing up ambitious plans to set up a manned moon base by 1980 and to send astronauts to Mars by 1983. Nixon nixed these ideas, however. In 1972, he approved the development of the space shuttle, which would be NASA's workhorse space vehicle for three decades, starting in 1981.



Also in 1972, Nixon signed off on a five-year cooperative program between NASA and the Soviet space agency. This deal resulted in 1975's Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, a joint space mission between the two superpowers.

Gerald Ford (1974-1977)

NASA

President Gerald Ford was in office for less than 2 1/2 years, so he didn't have much time to shape American space policy. He did, however, continue to support development of the space shuttle program, despite calls in some quarters to shelve it during the tough economic times of the mid-1970s.



Ford also signed off on the creation of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in 1976. The OSTP advises the president about how science and technology may affect domestic and international affairs.

Jimmy Carter (1977-1981)

NASA

President Jimmy Carter didn't articulate big, ambitious spaceflight goals during his one term in office. However, his administration did break some ground in the area of military space policy.



While Carter wanted to restrict the use of space weapons, he signed a 1978 directive that stressed the importance of space systems to national survival, as well as the administration's willingness to keep developing an antisatellite capability.



The 1978 document helped establish a key plank of American space policy: the right of self-defense in space. And it helped the United States military view space as an arena in which wars could be fought, not just a place to put hardware that could coordinate and enhance actions on the ground.

Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)

NASA

President Ronald Reagan offered strong support for NASA's space shuttle program. After the shuttle Challenger exploded in 1986, he delivered a moving speech to the nation, insisting that the tragedy wouldn't halt America's drive to explore space. "The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave," he said.



Consistent with his belief in the power of the free market, Reagan wanted to increase and streamline private-sector involvement in space. He issued a policy statement to that effect in 1982. And two years later, his administration set up the Office of Commercial Space Transportation, which to this day regulates commercial launch and re-entry operations.



Reagan also believed strongly in ramping up the nation's space-defense capabilities. In 1983, he proposed the ambitious Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), which would have used a network of missiles and lasers in space and on the ground to protect the United States against nuclear ballistic missile attacks.



Many observers at the time viewed SDI as unrealistic, famously branding the program "Star Wars" to emphasize its supposed sci-fi nature. SDI was never fully developed or deployed, though pieces of it have helped pave the way for some current missile-defense technology and strategies.

George H. W. Bush (1989-1993)

NASA

President George H.W. Bush (the first Bush in office) supported space development and exploration, ordering a bump in NASA's budget in tough economic times. His administration also commissioned a report on the future of NASA, which came to be known as the Augustine report when it was published in 1990.



Bush had big dreams for the American space program. On July 20, 1989  the 20th anniversary of the first manned moon landing  he announced a bold plan called the Space Exploration Initiative. SEI called for the construction of a space station called Freedom, an eventual permanent presence on the moon and, by 2019, a manned mission to Mars.



These ambitious goals were estimated to cost at least $500 billion over the ensuing 20 to 30 years. Many in Congress balked at the high price tag, and the initiative was never implemented.

Bill Clinton (1993-2001)

NASA

Construction of the International Space Station began in late 1998, in the middle of President Bill Clinton's second term as president. And in 1996, he announced a new national space policy.



According to the policy, the United States' chief space goals going forward were to "enhance knowledge of the Earth, the solar system and the universe through human and robotic exploration" and to "strengthen and maintain the national security of the United States."



This latter sentiment was consistent with other space policy statements from previous administrations. However, some scholars argue that the 1996 document opened the door to the development of space weapons by the United States, though the policy states that any potential "control" actions would be "consistent with treaty obligations."

George W. Bush (2001-2009)

NASA

President George W. Bush issued his own space policy statement in 2006, which further encouraged private enterprise in space. It also asserted national self-defense rights more aggressively than previous administrations had, claiming that the United States can deny any hostile party access to space if it so chooses.



Bush also dramatically shaped NASA's direction and future, laying out a new Vision for Space Exploration in 2004. The Vision was a bold plan, calling for a manned return to the moon by 2020 to help prepare for future human trips to Mars and beyond. It also instructed NASA to complete the International Space Station and retire the space shuttle fleet by 2010.



To help achieve these goals, NASA embarked upon the Constellation program, which sought to develop a new crewed spacecraft called Orion, a lunar lander named Altair and two new rockets: the Ares I for manned missions and the Ares V for cargo. But it was not to be; Bush's successor, President Barack Obama, axed Constellation in 2010.
Merely four months into her marriage, Gul Afsha has been triple talaq-ed by her husband for over-sleeping one morning.

By Aamir Khan: It was the worst nightmare for Gul Afsha, who woke up to discover her husband Qasim uttering the three dreaded words. Yes, it was "talaq, talaq, talaq" for Gul, who was divorced and thrown out of the house only because she had 'overslept'.

The shocking incident occurred at Nagaliya Aqil village in Rampur district of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday. This comes just ahead of Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad's plans to introduce the contentious Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, which seeks to criminalise the practice of triple talaq, in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.

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"He said, 'talaq, talaq, talaq,' just because I woke up late,'' a weeping Gul told India Today.

Merely four months had passed since she married Qasim, a truck driver, defying her family. According to Gul, their relationship soured within months with Qasim often abusing her physically. Gul could not sleep on Monday night after he again "beat her up" due to which she woke up late.

Azimnagar SHO Sanjay Yadav said that Gul refused to lodge complaint against Qasim, who has not returned since Tuesday. Though villagers said that waking up late could not have been the reason for the divorce, Gul sticks to her claim.

If the Bill, which was cleared by the Cabinet last month, becomes law, a Muslim man seeking divorce via triple talaq- whether spoken, in writing or email, SMS and WhatsApp- will be jailed for three years.

Watch | Triple talaq debate: Is Sharia greater than India's Constitution?

--- ENDS ---
Researchers identified 7 planets circling the star TRAPPIST-1 this year, three of which might be able to keep liquid water on its surface.

Scientists spotted seven Earth-size alien planets orbiting one dim red star this year, and a lot of other strange exoplanets  ranging from an Earth-size ice ball to the hottest planet ever found and many more, plus a star that seems to have gobbled up something like 15 rocky worlds. Read on for 2017's most unusual, fascinating and potentially livable exoplanet finds.

1. The TRAPPIST-1 family

A view from one of the seven planets found orbiting TRAPPIST-1, with several other planets visible closer to the star. (Image credit: N. Bartmann/spaceengine.org/ESO)

Seven newly discovered, Earth-size planets surround the cool red star TRAPPIST-1, which is slightly larger than the planet Jupiter. Researchers first spotted a few members of its planetary entourage in May 2016 with the TRAnsiting Planets and Planeteslmals Small Telescope (TRAPPIST) in Chile. Additional data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope revealed that rather than three planets, there were seven, all roughly the size of Earth, but orbiting together in a space smaller than Mercury's orbit around the sun. The fastest and innermost planet, TRAPPIST-1b, whips around the star in just 1.5 days, and the outermost, TRAPPIST-1h, likely takes about 20 days. [Related: TRAPPIST-1: Our Exoplanet Discovery of 2017]

Three of the planets orbit close enough to the star  in what is called the habitable zone  for liquid water to perhaps linger on its surface (but not so close it would have boiled off), but any atmospheres may have been stripped away by the star's intense radiation. [Exoplanet Tour: Meet the 7 Earth-Size Planets of TRAPPIST-1]

2. A real scorcher

The hottest planet found to date, KELT-9b. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Astronomers also discovered the hottest planet found to date in 2017  the Jupiter-like KELT-9b. The planet orbits so close to its star, KELT-9, that it completely circles the star in 1.5 days, and it is tidally locked to the star  meaning the same side is always facing inward. Researchers spotted the planet passing in front of its star with the Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope (KELT) at Winer Observatory in Arizona.

On that "day side" of the planet, temperatures can reach 7,800 degrees Fahrenheit (4,300 Celsius)  hotter than the surface of a dwarf star, and just 2,200 degrees F (1,200 degrees C) cooler than the surface of the sun. (However, the sun's outer atmosphere is even hotter.)

KELT-9 is larger and hotter than the sun, and its constant radiation makes KELT-9b's atmosphere balloon up until it's half the density of Jupiter. Someday, it may evaporate the planet entirely, researchers said  or, if the planet has a rocky center, boil it down to just the core. Observation with the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes, as well as the future James Webb Space Telescope, could reveal the planet's ultimate fate.

3. Home close to home

The planet Ross 128b is just 11 light-years from Earth, is the closest planet yet found orbiting in the habitable zone of a quiet star. (Image credit: M. Kornmesser/ESO)

The alien world Ross 128b, first spotted this year with the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) instrument at the La Silla Observatory in Chile, is just 11 light-years from Earth. And although it orbits much closer to its star than Earth does to the sun, the star is cool enough that it could still lie in the habitable zone, if it has a thick enough cover of clouds to reflect away some of the light. Ross 128b is the closest Earth-mass planet potentially in the habitable zone of a quiet star, scientists say  our nearest neighbor, Proxima Centauri, blasts out powerful flares to roast its potentially Earth-size planet, Proxima b.

4. New solar-system rival

Kepler-90i is the eighth planet newly found circling Kepler-90, which rivals the solar system for number of planets. (Image credit: NASA)

Using Google's machine-learning techniques, scientists found an eighth planet orbiting the star Kepler-90, marking the second eight-planet star system ever found (after Earth's system, which has eight official planets. Kepler-90i is located 2,545 light-years from Earth, it's likely rocky, and it's the third world from its star  but unlike Earth's 365.26-day orbit, it circles its star in 14.5 Earth days, and is much too close and hot for liquid water to remain on its surface. The planet's average surface temperatures could reach 800 degrees Fahrenheit (430 degrees Celsius).

The machine-learning program, which also found a planet around another star, made the call by analyzing star-dimming data from the Kepler Space Telescope.

5. Pen pals

Researchers beamed a radio message to the nearby GJ 273 system, which boasts two planets (one potentially in the habitable zone). (Image credit: Danielle Futselaar/METI)

Scientists and artists dashed off a message to the nearby dwarf star GJ 273, which hosts two recently discovered planets. One of them, GJ 273b, could be capable of supporting life  and the system is just 12.36 light-years from Earth.

Team members at METI (Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence) International sent a message toward the star using a telescope in Norway, including a scientific and mathematical "tutorial" along with 33 short musical compositions by artists involved with the Sonar Festival in Barcelona. If the message were received, humans could expect a response in under 25 years.

6. Giant snowball

The roughly Earth-size planet 06-OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb is a giant iceball under the weak shine of its star. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

A newfound alien world 13,000 light-years away with a mouthful of a designation  OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb  has a lot in common with our planet: It's about the same mass as Earth, and orbits at about the same distance from its star as Earth does from the sun. But while the sun's golden glow warms Earth to livable temperatures, OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb's star (OGLE-2016-BLG-1195L) is tiny and dim, leaving its planet as a frigid ice ball.

Researchers discovered the planet when its star happened to pass in front of another star monitored by the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) survey program. Using data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network, the researchers were able to use the way the star bent the light of the background object to deduce that the star had a planet, calculate its mass and how far it orbits from the star. It is the lowest-mass planet ever found through that technique, called microlensing.

7. RIP rocky planets

Researchers say the star Kronos may have engulfed enough rocky planets to equal 15 times Earth's mass. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt/SSC-Caltech)

Our last exoplanet mention has to go to the star Kronos, which  although researchers didn't find any planets around it  seems to have a voracious planetary appetite: Comparing its composition to that of its companion star, researchers found that the star may have gobbled up as much as 15 Earth masses' worth of rocky planets over the course of its life.

Researchers found an abundance of rock-forming minerals like magnesium, aluminum, silicon, iron, chromium and yttrium in Kronos' outer layers, but much less of volatile compounds like oxygen, carbon, nitrogen and potassium that are generally found in gas form. Metal-rich stars usually have all of them, suggesting that Kronos may have gotten its metals by swallowing rocky planets.

Email Sarah Lewin at slewin@space.com or follow her @SarahExplains. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
NASA's Parker Solar Probe  which will fly closer to the sun than any spacecraft in history  recently passed an important prelaunch test of its solar panels with flying colors. Well, one color, in particular: Researchers used purple lasers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center to examine the probe.

Coincidentally, the purple hue of the lasers recalls Pantone's 2018 Color of the Year, a regal hue dubbed Ultra Violet by the Pantone Color Institute. Aptly enough, the company's executive director, Leatrice Eiseman, said in a statement that the color "suggests the mysteries of the cosmos, the intrigue of what lies ahead and the discoveries beyond where we are now." [NASA's Parker Solar Probe Mission to the Sun (Infographic)]

Engineers use purple lasers to test the solar panels on NASA's Parker Solar Probe. (Image credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman)

Aimed at the spacecraft's solar array, the purple lasers helped researchers verify that the 44 strings of solar cells on each panel are still electrically connected, following vibration and acoustic testing conducted earlier this fall, according to a statement from NASA. The vigorous noise and shaking helped simulate launch conditions that the probe will undergo when it takes off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on July 31, 2018.

The spacecraft will study the ejections of material and light that create "solar weather," and help scientists better understand some of the mysteries of our nearest star, such as why its atmosphere is hotter than its surface.

Critically, the panels will provide the power for the probe's sojourn in space. The laser testing was completed the week of Nov. 27, led by engineers at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab in Maryland, which is constructing the spacecraft and will operate it during its mission.

These tests use lasers because their tight beams allow the illumination of a single string of solar cells at a time, according to the statement. The color of a laser beam is determined by the wavelength of light that composes it. The engineers happened to have purple lasers readily available, and the solar cells operate efficiently at that wavelength, according to the statement.

The test also employed infrared lasers, which are invisible to the human eye.

Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
Agueinit (Liberated Saharawi Territories) Dec 26, 2017 (SPS) - Defence Minister of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) Abdallah Lahbib said Monday, in the liberated town of Agueinit, that the Saharawi Army "cannot be confined forever to a refugee status."

"The Saharawi Army, as part of the Frente POLISARIOs policy, is ready to deal with any unexpected situation and respond to any eventuality to snatch Western Sahara people's right to independence and self-determination, like any other nation, if the international community does not intervene to bring justice to these people who have been living under Moroccan occupation for more than 42 years," Abdallah Lahbib said in a letter addressed to the international community.

Abdallah Lahbib added that the Saharawi issue was at the hands of the United Nations Security Council, but the Saharawi Army is getting prepared its missions and to cope with any unforeseen situation."

The SADR Army officer said the military operations in Agueinit, the seventh military district, including the military manoeuvres, come as an outcome of Saharawi Army's year-long efforts and perseverance.

The military manoeuvers are part of Saharawi soldiers' preparations for combat, under the slogan "raising the level of preparation to the maximum."

Saharawi Army's military manoeuvres have been carried out with the symbolic participation of all Sahrawi military districts.

Lahbib stressed the high level the Saharawi Liberation Army has reached in terms of training and professionalism.SPS

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Agueinit (Liberated Territories), Dec 27, 2017 (SPS) - The President of the Republic, Secretary General of the Frente POLISARIO, Brahim Gali, expressed yesterday Monday, in the liberated town of Agueinit, his wish that "the international community contribute that Morocco accept the will for peace and peaceful coexistence in the Maghreb. "

Brahim Gali, clarified to the press, within the framework of the opening of events held on the margins of the Marti El Uali Military Competition, that "the POLISARIO is prepared to contribute to the construction of an Arab Maghreb, if the right is respected of the Saharawi people to the free election of their future and the construction of their State "

Gali called on Morocco to follow a policy compatible with peace and respect for international legality and the resolutions of the Security Council.

Regarding the 23rd Edition of the Military Competition, the head of the State, said that it is the coronation of a year full of work in the heart of the Saharawi military institution.

"It is a message to the world that the Saharawi people are on their land and will continue their resistance until they impose Sahrawi sovereignty over their territory," said Brahim Gali, President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) and General Secretary of the Frene POLISARIO SPS

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I f your New Years resolution is to see more brilliant exhibitions, 2018 is a very good year for it.

Londons best museums and galleries have an exciting array of offerings to keep you topped up with creative inspiration and brain food throughout the year.

From classic painters at Tate to contemporary icons at the National Portrait Gallery, theres a ton of great stuff thats not to be missed by art lovers and the constantly curious.

Big names like Lucian Freud and Picasso will get major exhibitions alongside lesser known artists from the left field Joan Jonas to the neglected Edward Bawden.

Heres our guide on what to see in 2018.

Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up

Aperture

The V&A has nabbed something pretty special: they will show legendary artist Frida Kahlos personal collection for the first time ever in the UK. Its been locked away for the last five years and only ever exhibited in Mexico, so dont miss this chance to get up close to the personal artefacts and clothing of a modern icon. Its one of many exciting upcoming shows at the V&A: look out also for an exploration of video games, an exhibition about the future, and a study of the relationship between fashion and nature.

From June 16, The V&A; vam.ac.uk

All Too Human: Bacon, Freud and a Century of Painting Life

(Francis Bacon (1909-1992) Study for Portrait of Lucian Freud 1964. The Lewis Collection  The Estate of Francis Bacon. All right) / The Estate of Francis Bacon

Tate Britain offers a reminder of some of the best painters of human life, from big names like Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon to rarer works from Frank Auerbach and Paula Rego. Marvel at the intimate ways that they captured people and their surroundings with nothing but a humble paintbrush.

28 February - 27 August, Tate Britain; tate.org.uk

Hope to Nope: Graphics and Politics 2008-2018

(Corbyn swoosh, image credit: Bristol Street War) / Bristol Street War

Were living through turbulent political times. From the financial crash of 2008 to the political upheaval brought about by Brexit and Trump, theres been a lot to keep up with. The rise of social media and internet memes and the continued use of protest placards have given fresh new ways to disseminate political messages, and the Design Museum will explore how graphic design has reshaped a new political voice in a major exhibition.

March 28 - August 12, Design Museum; designmuseum.org

Modern Couples: Art, Intimacy and the Avante-garde

(Dorothea Tanning and Max Ernst with his sculpture, Capricorn, 1947  John Kasnetsis) / John Kasnetsis

The Barbican have come up with an a-muse-ing idea (sorry) for an exhibition: an exploration of art couples. From Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West to Lee Miller and Man Ray, it will look at how creative individuals have challenged traditional ways of living and ideas about gender, all whilst creating brilliant work.

10 October - 27 January, Barbican Centre; barbican.org.uk

RA Summer Exhibition

John Bodkin

This annual tradition at the Royal Academy gives a great overview of whats going on in contemporary art, but it can be hit or miss. This years edition will be worth a look for one big reason: it will be curated by art world A-lister Grayson Perry.

12 June - 19 August, Royal Academy of Arts; royalacademy.org.uk

Picasso 1932 - Love, Fame, Tragedy

Tate

Picasso may be one of the heavyweights, but Tate Moderns intriguing exhibition title suggests art aficiandoes might get to see a new side of one of the 20th centurys most influential artists. It will document the most intensely creative year of his life, with over 100 paintings, sculptures and drawings as well as family photographs. And theres a major coup: three paintings of his lover Marie-Therese Walter will be shown together for the first time since they were painted in a period of 5 days.

8 March - 9 September, Tate Modern; tate.org.uk

Aftermath: Art in the Wake of World War One

(Winifred Knights, The Deluge 1920. Tate.  The estate of Winifred Knights) / The estate of Winifred Knights

Tate Britain marks the centenary of the end of the First World War with a major exploration of how artists responded to the impact of the conflict. The horrors of war became a catalyst for a great amount of social change, but it was also a time of creativity and artistic reflection. Works by big names like Picasso will be shown alongside lesser known artists such as Winifred Knights, C.R.W. Nevison and Otto Dix.

5 June - 16 September, Tate Britain; tate.org.uk

Michael Jackson: On the Wall

(An illuminating Path, 1998 by David LaChapelle. Courtesy of the artist.  David LaChapelle) / David LaChapelle

Some might say this new exhibition from the National Portrait Gallery sounds like a bit of a thriller. Nicholas Cullinan curates a landmark show looking at how Michael Jackson influenced the leading lights of contemporary art, on what would have been the King of Pops 60th birthday. He is the most depicted cultural figure in visual art, and the exhibition will feature work from over 40 different artists.

28 June - October 21, National Portrait Gallery; npg.org.uk

Andreas Gursky

(Andreas Gursky, Les Mees, 2016  Andreas Gursky/DACS, 2017 Courtesy: Spruth Magers) / Andreas Gursky/DACS, 2017

Hurrah! The Hayward Gallery is back open after two years of refurbishments. The repair works have changed things up a bit - the upper galleries will now be flooded with daylight, were told. And things are off to an epic start with the major retrospective of innovative German photographer Andreas Gursky, who creates large-scale photos that show scenes of contemporary life.

25 January - 22 April, Hayward Gallery; southbankcentre.co.uk

Monet & Architecture

( President and Fellows of Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts) / President and Fellows of Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Not a water lily in sight at this major exhibition at the National Gallery exploring the French impressionists relationship with architecture. Over seventy paintings will show the ways in which he captured everything from village life to modern cities.

9 April - July 29, National Gallery; nationalgallery.org.uk

Charles I: King and Collector

( Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2017) / Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2017

The regicide of Charles I plunged the country into chaos; it also sent his legendary art collection into various hands all over the world as it was sold off around Europe after his death. The Royal Academy and the Royal Collection have worked in collaboration to reunite some of these great masterpieces once owned by a king. It includes works by Van Dyck, Rubens and Holbein, and helped change the tastes of the nation.

27 January - April 15, Royal Academy of Arts; royalacademy.org.uk

Edward Bawden

(  Estate of Edward Bawden) / Estate of Edward Bawden

You might recognise Edward Bawdens work from his association with Twinings and Fortnum & Mason, but this relatively unknown artist was versatile at depicting leisure, nature and architecture. Dulwich Picture Gallery will reintroduce his work to a wider audience in a major new exhibition of over 170 works, including a moving series of war portraits.

23 May - 9 September, Dulwich Picture Gallery; dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk

Joan Jonas

(Joan Jonas Stream or River Flight or Pattern 2016-2017  Joan Jonas / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / DACS, London) / Joan Jonas / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / DACS, London

Pioneering performance and video artist Joan Jonas inspired a generation of young artists - now Tate Modern is bringing her work to a whole new audience. This will be the largest exhibition of her work ever to be held in the UK, and it will take over the gallery, spreading across the exhibition galleries, Tanks and the cinema.

14 March - 5 August, Tate Modern; tate.org.uk

Artists at Work

The Courtauld Gallery offers a love letter to the artists studio and all that goes on within it for a new exhibition that spans hundreds of years. Created from a specialist private collection, it will feature depictions of artists at work, their studios, their models and heir assistants.

3 May - 15 July, Courtauld Gallery; courtauld.ac.uk/gallery

Somewhere in Between

Science or art? The two disciplines combine in an exhibition at the Wellcome Collection. Four immersive installations will showcase collaborations by artists and scientists trying to visually formulate ideas about food, bodies, sexual health and our senses.

March 8 - August 26, Wellcome Collection; wellcomecollection.org

Wanting more? Check out these suggestions from Ben Luke

Tacita Dean: Landscape, Portrait, Still Life

A three-exhibition retrospective for the poetic film-maker: landscapes at the RA, portraits at the National Portrait Gallery and still lifes (alongside other artists works) at the National Gallery.

Landscape: May 19-Aug 12, Royal Academy, W1 (020 7300 8000, royalacademy.org.uk); Portrait: Mar 15-May 28, National Portrait Gallery, WC2 (020 7396 0055, npg.org.uk); Still Life: Mar 15-May 28, National Gallery, WC2 (0800 912 6958, nationalgallery.org.uk)

Mantegna & Bellini

A potentially breathtaking show: brothers-in-law, yet working mostly in different cities (Mantua and Venice respectively), Mantegna and Bellini were two of the greatest quattrocento artists.

Oct 1-Jan 17 2019, National Gallery, WC2 (0800 912 6958, nationalgallery.org.uk)
H aving grown up in western and south western Nigeria, Shakirat Akinosho has lived in the UK for 16 years and is currently working as a chefs assistant in London, following completion of a 10-month culinary programme run by an organisation called Stories On Our Plate (SOOP) that enables chefs with refugee status to move into the food and catering industry here.

In July 2017 SOOP supported Akinosho to run her first supperclub, held at the London Cooking Project in Battersea, where she cooked and shared stories around some of the food she grew up eating. Here she shares her favourite dishes from home.

Growing up in a polygamous family of 10 in Nigeria, Shakirat Akinosho and her siblings would move around regularly with their father to coincide with his job. When they had a dining room table, she remembers it was always he who would sit at the head of the table - and we would all sit around him.

After moving house, however, the living room often became the most popular space for everyone to share food together: some people like to eat around a dining room table, but for us it was not compulsory! she laughs.

At that point, the family would divide into age groups, where those aged three or four would be served together, followed by those aged five to 10, ending with the adults. As meat was popular, and it was a big family, often her father would have to divide it up to avoid everybody screaming and fighting.

Indeed meat back then, she explains, was something special, and wed have beef or chicken - there was no pork as we are Muslims. Boiling was the preferred method for cooking beef because, "back home, if you serve uncooked or pink meat, nobodys going to eat it! she emphasizes. Chicken, meanwhile, would be the thing they would normally cook for special occasions, wherepuon wed just take one from out the back and then kill it just before we wanted to cook. It was so good.

2017 cookbooks - in pictures 1 /9 2017 cookbooks - in pictures Scroll to see some of the best books to look forward to in 2017... Shutterstock / sheff Adventures of a Terribly Greedy Girl by Kay Plunkett-Hogge 12.99, Amazon, Pre-order now Zoes Ghana Kitchen by Zoe Adjonyoh 25, Amazon, Pre-order now Oklava: Recipes from a Turkish-Cypriot Kitchen by Selin Kiazim 25, Amazon, Pre-order now Green Kitchen at Home by David Frenkiel and Luise Vindahl 25, Amazon, Buy it now Prime: The Beef Cookbook by Chef Richard H. Turner 25, Amazon, Pre-order now Citrus by Catherine Phipps 20, Amazon, Pre-order now

Chicken with rice - always fried in vegetable oil in a saucepan because we didnt have an oven then 15 years ago - was a favourite dish. For this her mother would use lots of spices, garlic, onions, and cloves.

While it was Akinoshos mother who did most of the cooking for their large family, she would often assist her in the kitchen, picking up skills as she went. Hosting her first supperclub last year, Akinosho was keen to serve the kind of Nigerian food that her mum used to make for her, such as a delicious stew incorporating spinach, iru and dried crayfish. This is really very special and my mums favourite dish - Id always look forward to it.

To make it, her mother preferred to use the familys stone hand grinder - she believed that using your hands was better than the machine - whereas many others would take their peppers or vegetables to a local grinder. This is something she has continued today, when cooking for guests.

The best way to combine all the flavours, she advises, is to grind the ingredients - things like peppers and onions - on their own and then put them together. After this you fry the onions, ginger and garlic, add the crayfish or any kind of fish, and let the flavours come together. Then you add the pepper. If you want it watery, you can use chicken or beef stock and cook it down, and after that you can parboil your vegetables for about five minutes. Growing up, wed often have a Nigerian kind of spinach, and about six types of green vegetables that they dont have in the UK, then wed eat the whole thing with country rice or cassava.

The west African staple, eba, made from cassava, was also a popular accompaniment - a little bit like pounded yam, she remembers. Akinoshos mother would soak the cassava for four days, before having it ground by someone in the village, which would make it easier to be compressed and dried. Next she would pass it through a sieve, and fry it in a pan or on a naked flame. Then its really good, she enthuses.

Her all-time top dish for serving at parties was a Nigerian signature dish called moi moi, like a bean puree roll, which everybody always looked forward to having with jollof rice. You can have it on its own or with bread.

Akinosho makes moi moi by peeling and soaking red or black eyed beans and blending these with fresh red pepper. Next she suggests adding extra flavours like egg or fish, before adding stock or vegetables - or even having it plain with salt - and wrapping it inside a big leaf where all the flavour will build up. These days a lot of people dont use the leaf, as they use disposable food bags or plastic, but its always steamed somehow. After that you can keep it in the fridge for a week, or freeze it and warm it up in time for a party. Its a really good, very typical Nigerian dish.

I still love making these now, and did it for my supperclubs as theyre some of my favourite dishes and have lovely memories.

As for the question of whether she will host more supperclubs in London, she says she is currently trying to settle down here now - but once I have sorted some things out in my brain and can think straight and focus on cooking for people, I would love to do another one soon.

To hear more about SOOPs training programmes, or to book a supperclub, visit facebook.com/soopstories/
T he firm that managed Grenfell Tower will hand over responsibility for thousands of properties to Kensington and Chelsea Council in January.

The Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (TMO) told residents it would "temporarily" hand back control to the local authority.

Around 9,000 properties are managed by the TMO in the borough.

The organisation was heavily criticised after the June 14 fire, which killed 71, and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) stripped away its responsibilites for the estate earlier this year.

Grenfell Tower aftermath - In pictures 1 /18 Grenfell Tower aftermath - In pictures The top section of the death trap Grenfell Tower Jeremy Selwyn The tower today, after the flames were extinguished Jeremy Selwyn A close up of the tower's damaged windows PA Fire service personnel survey the damage PA The tower today, after it emerged at least 17 were killed Jeremy Selwyn Rows of blackened windows after the fire Jeremy Selwyn Police sent in sniffer dogs today to search for bodies Jeremy Selwyn PA The Grenfell Tower at dawn today Jeremy Selwyn Donations have flooded in for victims Jeremy Selwyn Water is sprayed on Grenfell Tower PA Rows and rows of blackened windows. It is feared over one hundred people may have perished Jeremy Selwyn Part of the scorched facade of the Grenfell Tower in London as firefighting continue to damp-down the deadly fire AP Fire crews examine the wreckage PA

Chairwoman Fay Edwards wrote in a letter dated December 22: "The TMO board has reluctantly decided that it can no longer guarantee that it can fulfil its obligations with respect to the delivery of services contained in its contract with the council (known as the modular management agreement or MMA) to a standard that residents should expect.

"The board has decided that it would be in the best interests of all residents that the services which the TMO currently provides are temporarily handed back to the council while it carries out consultation with you about the future management of its housing stock.

Grenfell Tower timeline: What has happened in the last six months?

"This decision has been made because this consultation will take some time. While the board acknowledges that this longer period is necessary (it may be a year or longer), this has greatly increased the risks of maintaining the service levels we provide to you."

Handover of responsibilities will take place by January 31 2018, the letter added.

Joe Delaney, a member of the council's Grenfell recovery scrutiny committee, criticised the move by the TMO / PA

The move will likely anger residents, who had previously expressed a desire to see the TMO fold but were concerned it would avoid criminal or civil action if it ceased to exist.

Police are currently investigating the body over possible corporate manslaughter charges in connection with the disaster.

A refurbishment designed and delivered by the TMO and contractor Rydon at Grenfell Tower saw flammable cladding installed on its exterior, which is suspected of fuelling the deadly inferno in June.

In bid to allay concerns, Ms Edwards added in the letter: "The TMO will continue to exist as an independent corporate entity and the board will continue to be accountable to its members.

"The resident-led board will have an ongoing role in scrutinising the delivery of services under the MMA, as well as ensuring ongoing assistance to the public inquiry and criminal investigation."

Joe Delaney, who lived in a block formerly managed by the TMO in the shadow of Grenfell Tower and is a member of the council's Grenfell recovery scrutiny committee, criticised the move.

He told the Press Association: "My main concern at the moment is capacity - RBKC hasn't even shown the capacity to deal with the Grenfell disaster, so how can they demonstrate that they have got capacity to bring stuff in-house at this time?"

He added: "And also, what precisely is TMO going to do during this time? It is still going to be getting money from the council to keep itself up and running, but it won't have a job."

A spokesman for RBKC said: "We are aware of the update from the TMO to residents and we will be writing to all residents to make sure they have clarity on next steps.

"We are clear, though, that this is only an interim measure."

In a letter which will be sent to residents, deputy council leader Kim Taylor-Smith added they would decide how "you want your homes managed in future"
A n elderly couple were left with tears of joy after police bought them a brand new car for Christmas.

Officers in south London surprised the husband and wife, both in their 70s, with keys to their new Vauxhall Corsa which appeared on their driveway on Christmas Day morning  plus a cheque for 2,300.

The couples previous car was stolen from their garage in Coulsdon in October, leaving them unable to get to and from hospital appointments.

The stolen Austin Metro was later found wrecked and abandoned in a pub car park in Purley.

The pair, called Mr and Mrs Gibbs, were devastated by the theft but could not afford a replacement.

Police in Croydon launched a secret collection to raise money for a new car for the couple, who have been married for nearly 60 years, and soon members of the public began making donations.

Eventually, local car dealership Onodi in West Wickham generously offered to give the couple a car free of charge.

The elderly couple, both in their 70s, with the new car. / Met Police

The couple said they were overwhelmed with the officers generosity, after receiving their new vehicle plus the money raised on Christmas morning.

Once you leave, I think we will have a good cry, Mr Gibbs told officers on December 25.

I'm just so overwhelmed, I don't know what to say. I've heard of wonderful things happening to people and we try and do our bit for charity, but I never thought this would happen for us."

Mrs Gibbs added: You've given us our life and our freedom back. I am overwhelmed by the support and generosity you have given us.

When Helen [DC Helen Cooper] called to ask if we'd be in on Christmas morning, I thought you were going to give us a little hamper.

I had no idea it would be a car. Now I need to think about what I'll call her.

She said: This is an amazing car, it has electric windows, two wing mirrors and no choke. She is amazing.

Thank you so so much. Make sure you make a note of our registration number so you can give us a wave when you're out on patrol."

DC Helen Cooper, from Croydon CID, said: "Our hearts went out to Mr and Mrs Gibbs when we saw how upset they were to lose their car.

It was a real lifeline to them. We just had to do something to help them. As well as donations from officers, the local community and general public have all rallied together to raise money for the couple which will cover costs for insurance and MOT."

The couples original car was stolen between 4pm on Friday, October 6 and 10.20am on Sunday, October 8.

Over a week later, officers received a call to reports of an abandoned vehicle and established it belonged to the Gibbs.

Fabion Wilfred, 19, of Goodenough Way, Coulsdon, Surrey, pleaded guilty at South London Magistrates Court to handling stolen goods on December 2. He will be sentenced at Croydon Crown Court on January 21.


P rince Harry said his fiancee Meghan Markle really enjoyed spending Christmas with the Queen in Sandringham and described the Royals as the big family shes never had.

The Prince was interviewed about his festive break during his guest editorship of BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

He was asked by presenter Sarah Montague how Ms Markle had coped with meeting the "in-laws", to which he replied: "It was fantastic, she really enjoyed it."

Ms Markle and Harry joined the Queen for Christmas Day and were photographed walking with Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge on the family trip to church.

Christmas: The couple spent Christmas with the Queen / PA Wire/PA Images

Chatting about the festivities, Harry said he and Ms Markle had stayed with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who live in Anmer Hall in Norfolk, and added: "The family loved having her there.

He said: "There's always that family part of Christmas (where) there's always that work element there as well, and I think together we had an amazing time.

PA Wire/PA Images

"We had great fun staying with my brother and sister-in-law and running round with the kids. Christmas was fantastic."

The presenter asked the prince if there were any family traditions that had to be explained to Ms Markle and he replied: "Oh plenty, I think we've got one of the biggest families that I know of, and every family is complex as well.

Engaged: The couple spent Christmas with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge / Alexi Lubomirski via AP

"No look, she's done an absolutely amazing job. She's getting in there and it's the family I suppose that she's never had."

As part of his stint on the show, the Prince interviewed former US president Barack Obama, before joking whether the former President would be invited to his wedding next May.

Prince Harry quizzed over Obama wedding invitation

Harry said: "I don't know about that, we haven't even put the invite or the guest list together, who knows if he's going to be invited or not, I wouldn't want to ruin that surprise."

During the show Harry also interviewed his father the Prince of Wales and discussed his long-held interest in the environment and protecting the world's natural resources.

Interview: Prince Harry interviewing his father, the Prince of Wales / PA

Prince Charles said climate change is causing "untold horrors" across the world and warned that technology "can't solve our relationship with nature".

When asked by his son to pick one issue to focus on next year, Charles said over the years there have been a "whole lot" of things he has tried to focus on that he thought needed attention.

"Not everyone else did, but maybe now some years later they are beginning to realise that what I was trying to say may not have been as dotty as they thought," Charles said.

"The issue really which has to go on being focused on, big time I think, is this one around the whole issue of climate change.

'There was a serenity there' - Barack Obama on Donald Trump's inauguration

[] We are having to deal all the time with the symptoms that are springing up all round the world, and they are diverting us off down all these different channels to try and deal with ghastly conflicts and humanitarian and natural disasters, and goodness knows what else.

"But at the root of it all, much of it, is climate change which is causing untold horrors in different parts of the world."

Charles said it would be an "unutterable tragedy" and an "inexcusable one" if we "destroyed this quite remarkable planet and ecosystem".

Radio 4: Prince Harry (centre) with presenters Justin Webb and Sarah Montague / PA

During the exchange which lasted around nine minutes Charles can be heard referring to his son as "darling boy", and Harry to the next in line to the throne as "pa".

When asked for the one person who stood out amongst the thousands he has met this year, Charles revealed it was a "remarkable youngish Iraqi Christian".

Charles said the man had been captured by Islamic State, tortured, "treated abominably and threatened with being beheaded at every moment of the day or night".

"Finally somehow he escaped or somehow got away, or whatever, but he was telling me despite all this horror that he went through, he could still find it in his heart to forgive them," he said.

"And this was the thing that I could not get over, you know, how remarkable that sort of person is and there are some wonderful people like that around the world on whom we really depend, I think if we are going to have some sort of solution to all these horrifying situations."
M ore than half of all children in the UK are living in areas with illegal levels of air pollution, shocking new figures have revealed.

Around 8.3 million children live in local authority areas where levels of harmful pollutants exceeded legal limits in 2015.

The number equates to 61 per cent of all under 18s who are being exposed to illegal levels of the dangerous nitrogen dioxide, Labour party analysis has suggested.

The figures, taken from documents in the House of Commons Library, suggests around 2.5 million of those affected are under five-years-old.

Pollution: All children living in London are exposed to toxic air (PA) / PA Archive/PA Images

All children in London face illegal pollution levels, as the air quality limits were exceeded in all boroughs in the capital.

And outside London, Yorkshire and the Humber was the worst affected region, with an estimated 83 per cent of youngsters living in areas with illegal pollution.

These were followed by the North East, North West and West Midlands.

New petrol and diesel vehicles to be banned from 2040 in bid to tackle pollution

Most of the pollutant nitrogen dioxide is produced by road transport, particularly diesel vehicles.

Toxic air causes an estimated 40,000 premature deaths a year in the UK and is linked to health problems from childhood illnesses to heart disease and even dementia. It is also thought to affect children's development.

In July ministers unveiled court-mandated plans for meeting the European Union limits on the pollutant after a long-running battle with legal charity ClientEarth.

Toxic air: Bowes Primary School in north London has registered a 10/10 on the Pollution scale

The Government was ordered to produce the latest air pollution plans after the courts ruled previous proposals were insufficient to meet EU pollution limits, which the UK has breached since the rules came into effect in 2010.

But official estimates suggest compliance for levels of nitrogen dioxide will not be met until 2026.

Sue Hayman, shadow environment secretary, said: "With the majority of our young people now growing up in areas that breach air quality limits it's clear the UK is in the middle of a dirty air emergency.

"Dirty air is a clear and present health hazard; it can take years off a person's life.

"Cleaning up our air should be a national priority, unfortunately this Tory Government - which once promised to be the 'greenest ever' - has allowed the situation to escalate into a public health emergency on their watch.

London Pollution - In pictures 1 /20 London Pollution - In pictures PA Sunrise: Pollution lingered over London on Tuesday morning Jeremy Selwyn A cyclist wearing a face mask rides between taxis taking part in a protest to highlight congestion and air pollution Getty Images A smog filled traffic rush hour in the East End of London Jeremy Selwyn Pollution detector App 'Blue Air' near the Houses of Parliament Blue air Thick smog hangs over London's Docklands PA Traffic pollution in North London Jeremy Selwyn Air pollution surrounds The Shard in London Jeremy Selwyn Getty Images Sunrise over a misty polluted London from Primrose Hill Jeremy Selwyn St. Paul's Cathedral is seen among the skyline through the smog AFP via Getty Images A thick layer of smog was visible above London William Smith/@williamsmithorg A cold layer of air can be seen trapping pollution close to the ground and across the London skyline Pete Buckney This image taken near the Royal Observatory in Greenwich shows a thick layer of fog hanging over London Anna Rolls The City of London covered in smog seen from Hampstead Heath Getty Images

"We need to act, to protect the health of all our children and the wellbeing of the country. That's why Labour has promised a new Clean Air Act to get a grip on pollution before it's too late."

An Environment Department (Defra) spokesman said: "Air pollution has improved significantly since 2010, but we recognise there is more to do which is why we have put in place a 3.5 billion plan to improve air quality and reduce harmful emissions.

"We will also end the sale of conventional new diesel and petrol cars and vans by 2040, and next year we will publish a comprehensive clean air strategy which will set out further steps to tackle air pollution."


Unhappy over police's alleged inaction, father of the boy allegedly assaulted by BJP minister Hem Singh Bhadana's sons, attempted suicide in the Court premises.

By Dev Ankur Wadhawan: Unhappy over police's alleged inaction, father of the boy allegedly assaulted by BJP minister Hem Singh Bhadana's sons, attempted suicide in the Court premises.

Satish Yadav, father of Tej Singh, who was allegedly beaten up brutally by the minister's two sons, attempted suicide but was stopped by the police.

Yadav was nabbed and covered with a blanket so as to ensure that his clothes do not get burnt.

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Yadav had arrived at the Court premises on bike.

The complainant's relatives have mentioned that if anything happens to any family members of theirs, then administration will be responsible for it because the administration, under pressure from the minister's sons, is not arresting them.

A video had also surfaced in which Hem Singh Bhadana, Rajasthan State Motor Garage minister in Vasundhara Raje Government, seemingly tries to justify the alleged assault on the boy.

In the 20 seconds video which has gone viral, the minister can be heard saying, "That boy, who was beaten up, was abusing me after coming to my house. I do not know him. Then, if he is not beaten, then what will be done?"

In the complaint, Surendra Bhadana and Hitesh Bhadana, sons of Hem Singh Bhadana, have been accused of kidnapping and physically assaulting a man in Rajasthan's Alwar district.

Tejsingh Yadav, complainant in the case, has accused Surendra, Hitesh and around 15 other people of kidnapping him at gunpoint.

In the FIR, he has alleged that he was taken to a room in Veersavarkar Nagar where he was locked inside a room and beaten up due to which he has sustained serious injuries on foot, back and head.

The complainant has demanded police protection alleging that there is threat of life and property to him and his family from the minister and his sons.

The minister, Hem Singh Bhadana, however, claimed that it was the complainant who was hurling abuses at him.

"On the evening of December 19, I was at my home. Four to five boys were sitting with their faces outside in Swift car. We're hurling abuses. We got out. Then, they had run away with the car," the minister had earlier said.

"Later on, their car's number was noted. Their footage has come in my CCTV camera that of the car number alongwith that person. This was the incident and all this is recorded and when what happened what did not, all this is useless talk. In the CCTV footage, (he) can be seen sitting inside the car with his face popping outside and we made an estimate with that only. I also got out, called as well. Is recorded, police control room has been called. Have got information he has been punished in two cases," the minister added.

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The police have registered an FIR at Shivaji Park police station against the minister's sons and some other accused in the case but have not arrested the minister's sons as yet.

--- ENDS ---
S everal flights out of London have been cancelled and delayed after the capital was hit by flurries of snow amid a UK-wide cold snap.

Scores of passengers were left waiting at Stansted airport after the snow sparked a morning of travel disruption on Wednesday.

The airport temporarily closed its runway and suspended all flights while planes leaving Luton airport were delayed or cancelled.

The capital awoke to a mix of sleet and light snow on Wednesday morning while large swathes of Britain were hit with ice and heavy snow overnight.

UK snow in pictures: Travel disruption as Britain hit with flurries 1 /20 UK snow in pictures: Travel disruption as Britain hit with flurries Wintry conditions in Pollokshields near Glasgow. PA Wintry conditions near Bourton-on-the-Water in Gloucestershire. PA Tring station in Hertfordshire in the snow. Bourton-on-the-Water in Gloucestershire. PA Tring station. Northants Police Tactical Support Team handout photo of stuck lorries on the A14 westbound. PA An easyJet plane is de-iced at Luton Airport. PA An easyJet plane is de-iced at Luton Airport after wintry weather swept across the country. PA A Blue Air flight comes into land at Luton Airport after wintry weather swept across the country. PA An easyJet plane is de-iced at Luton Airport. PA Thames Valley Police Roads Policing handout photo of an overturned car in wintry conditions. PA A man warns motorists to pass slowly following an incident on the A417 between Gloucester and Cheltenham. PA Snow in Tring today. Jeremy Selwyn Snow reduces the M5 motorway down to two lanes between junction 14 and 15 in South Gloucestershire. PA An accident on the M1 in the early hours of Wednesday morning. PA

Up to seven centimetres of snow was recorded in Exmoor, South Wales and the Cotswolds.

In the Midlands, more than 14,000 homes were left without power.

At around 9am on Wednesday, people across London including in Kensington and Angel reported a light flurry of snow as scores of delighted people took to social media to share videos and photos.

An easyJet plane being de-iced at Stansted. / PA

Stansted airport was temporarily closed as teams of workers cleared the runway but it reopened a short while later.

Several flights were delayed and cancelled at both Stansted and Luton airports as passengers reported being stuck on the tarmac.

"The airport is open and the runway is operational," Luton airport said in a statement.

A Blue Air flight comes into land at Luton Airport. / PA

"However please be aware some airlines have taken the decision to cancel some flights and others are subject to delay while airlines de-ice their aircraft."

Passenger Luke Tuffs, who said he was left waiting for his luggage at Stansted, said: "Killer that flight to Rome cancelled."

Crowds at Stansted airport during the travel chaos on Wednesday morning. / Luke Tuffs

Mr Tuffs shared a photo of a crowded Stansted airport as travellers waited for news of their flights.

Both Luton and Stansted airports urged passengers to check flight updates with their airlines.

Even the lightest flurries of snow can cause disruption to planes because of flakes falling onto the wings and freezing.

Snow in Tring, Hertfordshire, on Wednesday morning. / Jeremy Selwyn

At Stansted one man, who was due to fly to Gdansk in Poland, was stuck at the airport because of the snow.

Another passenger reported being trapped on a plane on the runway" while one woman said her plane was just about to take off when the runway was closed and all flights suspended.

A spokeswoman for Stansted airport said: "Due to adverse weather conditions, the runway was temporarily closed from 09.15am to 10.05am for snow clearance, and again from 12.27pm to 12.51pm, and has now reopened.

Incoming and departing flights have been disrupted, with some flights cancelled.

Passengers are advised to check the status of their flight with the airline before travelling to the airport. Passengers whose flights are cancelled should not travel to the airport before checking with their airline.

UK Snowfall: December 2017 - In pictures 1 /54 UK Snowfall: December 2017 - In pictures Snow in Regents Street Jeremy Selwyn Snow in Regents Street Jeremy Selwyn Snow in Regents Street Jeremy Selwyn Snow in Regents Street Jeremy Selwyn Snow in Regents Street London Jeremy Selwyn Commuters wait in the snow at Stanmore Station Jeremy Selwyn Snow on the coast at Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear PA A boy slides on an inflatable tube in Bradgate Park after snow fall in Newtown Linford Darren Staples/Reuters Visitors sledge in Bradgate Park after snow fall in Newtown Linford Reuters A closed sign hangs on the gate of Cobden Primary School after snow fall in Loughborough REUTERS Snowbomb: A train leaves Stanmore station this morning Jeremy Selwyn Commuters struggle in the snow in Stanmore North London this morning Jeremy Selwyn Commuters struggle in the snow in Stanmore North London this morning Jeremy Selwyn Snow in Tring JEREMY SELWYN Snow in Tring JEREMY SELWYN Londoners woke up to snow on Sunday morning Rex People take a selfie in the snow on Primrose Hill in London PA Pedestrians walk over the Millennium Bridge with St Paul's Cathedral pictured in the background as snow falls o AFP/Getty Images Londoners at Greenwich park in London enjoy a snowy start to the day as snow hit's large parts of the country today Rex A tourist walks past a member of the Household Cavalry on guard at Horse Guard's Parade as snow falls Getty Images Heavy snow falls in Temple Fortune, north west London Nigel Howard Getty Images for Harlequins Snow at Southend Airport on Sunday morning @SouthendAirport A snow man on The Long Walk at Windsor, Berkshire PA East Finchley on Sunday Snow falls in north London on Sunday morning Rex Snow falls in North London. The Met Office issued a yellow warning for the capital Rex East Finchley on Sunday People play in the snow in Aberfan, South Wales PA An abandoned car on the roadside on the Snake Pass in the Peak District PA Power repair workers in Ironbridge, Shropshire PA Children off from school due to the weather make their way past a large snowman on Black mountain Getty Images The scene near Ribblehead in Yorkshire, as parts of Britain woke up to a blanket of snow caused by an Arctic airflow in the wake of Storm Caroline PA Snow falls in Chester PA Ribblehead Viaduct bathed morning sunlight in Yorkshire, as parts of Britain woke up to a blanket of snow PA A young schoolboy runs through the snow near Crumlin Getty Images A person drives a quad bike through fields in Cloughoge, Newry PA Snow falls in Ironbridge, Shropshire PA Ribblehead Viaduct in Yorkshire PA Chester PA Ribblehead Viaduct in Yorkshire PA

The Met Office has issued a fresh weather alert for ice for parts of Wales and most of England including London and the south east.

The chief forecaster predicted rain, sleet and snow will clear late on Wednesday afternoon with icy patches developing through the evening.

The weather warning, which will be in place from Wednesday at 3pm until Thursday at 11am, could also mean scattered wintry showers and up to two centimetres of snow on higher ground.

A separate warning for ice has been issued for Northern Ireland and most of Scotland until 12pm on Thursday.

In the capital, Thursday will likely see a return of sunshine with temperatures set to hover around 4C.

Temperatures are expected to drop to around 0C at around 7am on Thursday morning but the chance of rain or showers will be low.

Friday and the weekend is likely to be milder with temperatures set to reach double figures and highs of 13C on Saturday.
A merican Airlines has apologised after a flight attendant accused two black basketball players of theft and kicking them off a flight.

The two professional athletes were ordered to leave the plane in Dallas, Texas, after a worker for the airline accused them of stealing blankets.

Marquis Teague and Trahson Burrell, who play for Memphis Hustle, boarded the flight bound for Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on Sunday at Dallas/Fort Worth airport.

Two passengers from first class on the flight, which was operated by carrier Envoy Air, gave the players their blankets as they headed to their seats.

But a black flight attendant accused the pair of sportsmen of theft and forced them off of the plane.

Joshua Freed, spokesman for American Airlines, said on Tuesday that an airline manager apologised to the players.

The pair later flew first class to Sioux Falls.

Earlier this month, it was reported employees for the airline were to receive anti-racism training after a powerful civil rights organisation called for a boycott.
A t least 25 people have been injured after a cruise ship crashed into a motorway bridge in western Germany.

The Swiss Crystal, which had 129 people on board, was travelling on the Rhine river when it hit a pillar of the bridge near Duisburg on Tuesday.

Police said four people with more serious injuries were released from hospital on Wednesday.

Another ship took the 103 passengers, most of them Dutch, and 26 crew members to Duisburg.

129 people were on board the cruise ship when it crashed / EPA

The water level was high at the time and the pillar is usually on land, news agency dpa reported.

The A42 motorway bridge in Duisburg, Germany / EPA

The ship was heading downstream on the last leg of a Rhine tour starting and ending in the Dutch city of Arnhem. It set off on December 22.

The bridge was closed for several hours as a precaution, but structural engineers cleared it to reopen after carrying out checks.
B arack Obama dealt Donald Trump a blow as he was voted the most admired man in America, with Hillary Clinton topping the list for women.

The former president has now topped the annual Gallup poll  which has been running since 1946  for the last 10 years, while Mrs Clinton has won for 16 years in a row.

The poll found that 17 per cent of Americans admired Mr Obama more than any other man in the world, edging out the current president by three per cent.

Meanwhile Mrs Clinton pipped the former first lady, Michelle Obama, with nine per cent of the vote compared to seven.

Donald Trump pardoning turkey ceremony - In pictures 1 /17 Donald Trump pardoning turkey ceremony - In pictures US President Donald Trump pardons Thanksgiving turkey Drumstick AFP/Getty Images US President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump and their son Barron look on after Trump pardoned the turkey, Drumstick, during the ceremony at the White House in Washington, DC AFP/Getty Images US President Donald J. Trump speaks at the 70th National Thanksgiving Turkey Pardoning EPA Four-year-old Huck, son of White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, pets 'Wishbone', a turkey that will be pardoned by US President Donald Trump during the 70th National Thanksgiving Turkey Pardoning Ceremony, in the James Brady Press Briefing Room Michael Reynolds/EPA US President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, their son Barron, National Turkey Federation Chairman Carl Wittenburg and his family and members of the Draper County, Minnesota pose for photographs after Mr Trump pardoned, Drumstick, the National Thanksgiving Turkey Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Wishbone, a 28-pound turkey, is presented to members of the press Reuters The president pets Drumstick in the White House rose garden AFP/Getty Images The president pets Drumstick in the White House rose garden Getty Images Mr Trump speaks after he pardoned the turkey, Drumstick AFP/Getty Images US President Donald Trump and his son Barron look on after Trump pardoned the turkey, Drumstick AFP/Getty Images US President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump and their son Barron look on after Trump pardoned the turkey AFP/Getty Images US President Donald Trump pardons Thanksgiving turkey Drumstick AFP/Getty Images US President Donald Trump and his son Barron look on after Trump pardoned the turkey, Drumstick AFP/Getty Images

In third place in the mens category was Pope Francis, while John McCain and Elon Musk were close behind.

Oprah Winfrey was the third most admired woman as Angela Merkel and Queen Elizabeth II also ranked.

Gallup said a quarter of Americans could not name a man or a woman they admire most, while 9 per cent named a relative or friend as the most admired man and 13 per cent the most admired woman.

Gallup wrote: Trump's unpopularity is holding him back from winning the most admired distinction.

The incumbent president is the usual winner, since he is arguably the most prominent figure in the country -- but when the president is unpopular, other well-known and well-liked men have been able to finish first.

"Obama, like Hillary Clinton, may fade in prominence the longer he is out of office. Former presidents commonly make the top 10 list but rarely win, with Obama only the second to do so, along with Eisenhower in 1967 and 1968.
A British woman jailed in Egypt for attempting to smuggle in illegal painkillers has been moved to a notorious jail before her mother was able to say goodbye, her family has said.

Shop worker Laura Plummer, 33, from Hull, was sentenced to three years on Boxing Day after she was found to be carrying 290 tramadol tablets in her suitcase, a painkiller which is legal in the UK but banned in Egypt.

The court was told she was taking the tablets for her Egyptian partner Omar Caboo, who suffers from severe back pain, and had no idea what she was doing was wrong.

Ms Plummer's sister, Rachel, said their mother, Roberta Synclair, was in court for the "devastating" judgment and had to watch as her daughter was taken away sobbing in a "cage".

Rachel said her mother had been told Ms Plummer would be held in police cells so she could visit her and take vital supplies.

Laura has been jailed for three years after being accused of drug smuggling / PA

But Ms Synclair travelled to the cells on Wednesday only to find her daughter had already been transferred to a prison in Qena.

She said: "Mum was told that she was going to stay in the Safaga holding cell, the police holding cell, for the rest of the week so she can visit her, take her things that she needs, food and stuff.

"So she travelled in a taxi today all the way to Safaga, which is an hour away from where she is, to be told that Laura had gone.

"She went to Qena yesterday. Obviously that's even more devastating for my mum because she's not got to say goodbye to Laura. She's not been able to give her her food and her things."

Jailed: Laura's family said she was moved to another jail before her mother had the chance to visit her / PA

Rachel said the prison in Qena is known to be a very difficult place to be, but she said reports her sister had already been attacked were not true.

She said: "No prisons are nice but I think Qena's the bad one, which is terrifying for us because we fear for her so much."

Ms Plummer first appeared on Christmas Day but the case was adjourned until the following day due to her condition.

The judge only allowed translation from the court translator, leading to a situation where she may have given the wrong answers to some questions, giving the appearance she was confessing.

Rachel said: "I think it's all wrong the way it's been done. I don't know if they were going on that, because of that mistake or what."

She said her mother sat close to Ms Plummer in court and they really thought she would be coming home.

"They were all sure she was coming home. The defence was really good, really strong," she said.

"All the evidence was presented to show that this was a massive mistake and Laura's intentions were as she said, just to treat Omar's back pain."

But, she said, the judges came back with their devastating judgment after two hours.

Rachel said: "Laura collapsed crying. She got led away. She got taken away in this cage."

Rachel said the drugs were clearly not worth much from a monetary point of view and the court does not seem to have taken into account the other painkillers found with the tramadol which are not illegal in Egypt.

On Tuesday, Ms Plummer's local MP Karl Turner said he had spoken to her defence lawyer in Egypt who said she had 60 days to launch an appeal and he expected that she will.


T he devastating effects of climate change may drive up the number of migrants seeking asylum in Europe if current trends continue, a new study has shown.

By the end of the century the number of migrants attempting to settle in Europe annually will triple, based on current climate trends alone, according to the research.

Wolfram Schlenker, author of the report, which was published in the journal Science on Thursday, said that we will see increasing numbers of desperate people fleeing their home countries.

He predicts that, even if international efforts to curb global warming are successful, the number of asylum applications may rise by as much as a quarter before 2100.

Mr Schlenker said his predictions are based only on climate changes impact on migration, and is independent of other economic and political factors.

Asylum applications could increase on average by 28 per cent, which is an additional 660,000, according to the study.

The effects of climate change is predicted to bring more extreme weather including floods, droughts and heatwaves as well as more intense storms and rising sea levels.

The new study, led by scientists at Columbia University in New York, was predominantly funded by the EUs Joint Research Centre. The US Department of Energy also contributed.

The authors examined asylum applications in the EU from 103 countries between 2000 and 2014, during this time, applications averaged at more than 350,000 a year.

They compared the applications with information on environmental factors, adjusting the data for factors such as conflict and political turmoil.

Scientists spotted a trend correlating weather and changes in the number of asylum applications.

Countries with average temperatures around 20C showed a higher number of applications, while there were fewer asylum seekers from places with cooler temperatures.

The data showed that the more temperatures in a countrys key agricultural regions rose above 20C in the growing season, the more people left for another country.

They founded increases in the number of migrants from hot places such as Iraq and Pakistan when temperatures increased.

Bob Ward, policy and communications director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics (LSE) said the study should be taken seriously by policymakers.

Speaking to the Guardian, he added that forecasting models often fail to take climate factors into account.

He told the newspaper: This study shows how Europe will be impacted by one of the most serious impacts of climate change. Hundreds of millions, perhaps billions, of people will be exposed to coastal sea level rise and shifts in extreme weather that will cause mass migrations away from the most vulnerable locations.

We know from human history that such migrations often lead to conflict and war, with devastating consequences. The huge potential costs of migration-related conflict are usually omitted from economic models of climate change impacts in the future.


B ritish MPs have lashed out at former US governor Mike Huckabee after he compared President Donald Trump to Sir Winston Churchill.

Mr Huckabee, who was governor of Arkansas for 11 years, tweeted that like the US President, Churchill was hated by his own party, opposition party, and press.

He also compared former president Barack Obama to Neville Chamberlain, who was Prime Minister when the Nazis rose to power in Germany and was best known for his foreign policy of appeasement.

He wrote: Churchill was hated by his own party, opposition party, and press. Feared by King as reckless, and despised for his bluntness.

But unlike Neville Chamberlain, he didn't retreat. We had a Chamberlain for 8 yrs; in @realDonaldTrump we have a Churchill.

MPs across all parties were quick to challenge Mr Huckabee on social media.

Tory Tobias Elwood directed Mr Huckabee to Sir Nicholas Soames, a fellow MP who is a grandson of Churchill.

He wrote on Twitter: "Ummm... Governor Huckabee... could I invite you to Westminster and meet my very good friend @NSoames who knows a thing or two about this.

"I know he will take you under his wing - and you will emerge much the wiser."

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron pointed out Churchill's liberal leanings, saying: "Churchill to Dennis Healey "Me? I'm a liberal, always have been" so, that's one difference... but I can't be bothered to correct the rest of this nonsense."

Meanwhile Labour MP Chuka Umunna simply said: "Governor, our grandparents fought the Nazis with Winston Churchill. They knew Churchill and relayed his greatness to future generations. He was one of our greatest Prime Ministers.

"Your President in no way shape or form comes close to being the leader that Churchill was."

Others in the US and across the world were quick to take Mr Huckabee to task.

Republican strategist Steve Schmidt wrote: "Comparing Donald Trump to Winston Churchill establishes Mike Huckabee as a history ignoramus for the ages. What a clown."

Conservative MP from Norway Kristian Tonning Riise said: "Sure. Churchill served his country 55 years in parliament, 31 years as a minister and 9 as PM.

"He was present in 15 battles and received 14 medals of bravery. He was one of history's most gifted orators and won the Nobel Literature Prize for his writing. Totally same thing..."

And comedy writer Daniel Maier reacted by writing a tweet in the style of Mr Trump himself.

Mr Trump is expected to visit the UK in February for the opening of the new US embassy in London.

However neither the White House nor Downing Street have confirmed the visit.
F ormer Home and Away actress Jessica Falkholt has reportedly been left fighting for her life after a car crash on Boxing Day that killed both of her parents.

Falkholt, 28, and her sister Annabelle, 21, are both in hospital in critical condition following the incident which occurred on the New South Wales coast, according to 9 News.

Their parents Lars, 69, and Vivian, 60 both lost their lives in the head-on collision, while Craig Anthony Whitall, the 50-year-old man who was driving the other car involved in the accident, was also killed.

The crash is said to have occurred after the other driver crossed over onto the wrong side of the road, a fire then incinerated both vehicles after the Falkholt sisters were pulled from the wreckage.

'Fighting for her life': Jessica Falkholt (left) has been involved in a car crash in Australia / Channel 5

Jessica was rushed to St George Hospital, while Annabelle was taken to Liverpool Hospital.

A friend of the family told the Sydney Morning Herald: They were a very close family and had been on a quiet getaway. Jessica is a most beautiful person.

Falkholt is best-known for her short stint as Hope Morrison in Australian soap Home and Away in 2016.

She also starred in sci-fi thriller Harmony which is due for release in 2018.
A flight carrying model Chrissy Teigen and her musician husband John Legend was forced to turn around after a passenger reportedly boarded by mistake.

The Tokyo-bound plane turned back to LA hours after taking off.

According to Ms Teigen, the passenger boarded the aircraft at LAX airport with a ticket for a different airline. But this was not confirmed by authorities.

In a series of tweets sent to her 9.2 million followers, Ms Teigen said the passenger boarded the All Nippon Airways (ANA) flight with a ticket from United Airlines.

She wrote: A flying first for me: 4 hours into an 11 hour flight and we are turning around because we have a passenger who isnt supposed to be on this plane.

Why...why do we all gotta go back, I do not know. So many questions and I have no answers. [Neither] do they. This person must be mortified though.

ANA said only that there had been a problem with a customer's "flight arrangement".

Adonis Cutchlow, of the LAX Police, told the LA Times there had been no criminal or illegal activity on board the plane, and it was not clear why it had turned back.

A fellow passenger gained thousands of retweets on Twitter after posting a picture with the famous couple on board the flight.

Hours after the flight landed in LA, Ms Teigen again took to the social media site to update her fans on the situation. She wrote: Getting on another flight now oh bless.


S tar Wars actor Alfie Curtis, who appeared in the 1977 film Episode IV - A New Hope, has died aged 87.

The London-born star played Dr Evazan, who famously threatened Luke Skywalker at a bar before telling him: "I have the death sentence on 12 systems."

Mark Hammill, who played Skywalker in the films, paid tribute to his co-star on social media on Wednesday.

He said: Alfie Curtis made the #Star Wars Mos Eisley Cantina scene (one of the most memorable I've ever been a part of) even MORE memorable.

As horrific as he was on-camera, off-camera he was funny, kind & a real gentleman.

Mr Curtis was also known for his roles in 1980 film The Elephant Man and TV series Cribb.

The cause of death has not yet been revealed.

His death comes a year after Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia, at the age of 60 after suffering a cardiac arrest on a flight from London.
The Congress has asked if PM Narendra Modi would break his silence on Hegde's remarks as the minister had openly spoken about changing the Constitution.

By India Today Web Desk: Union Minister Anant Kumar Hegde's controversial remarks that the ruling BJP government intends to change the Constitution rocked Parliament today, with the Opposition demanding action against him in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

The Rajya Sabha saw the Congress asking how a person who questions the Constitution is being allowed to continue as a Member of Parliament. "If a person has no belief in the Constitution, he has no right to be a Member of Parliament," Congress's Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, said.

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In response, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goel said the government has "full faith" in the Indian constitution, and that it does not agree with the statement given by Anant Hegde.

As the ruckus grew over the remarks made by the Union minister for skill development and entrepreneurship, both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha had to be adjourned till 2 pm.

At an event in Kukanur town in Karnataka's Koppal district last week, Hegde, 49, had said he respects the Constitution, but "it will be changed in the days to come". "We are here for that and that is why we have come," the five-time Lok Sabha MP from Karnataka had said.

In the same speech, Hegde had also kicked up another controversy when he mocked at the "secularists" with his remark that they are unware of their parentage.

"I feel happy because he (the person) knows about his blood, but I don't know what to call those who claim themselves secular. Those who, without knowing about their parental blood, call themselves secular, they don't have their own identity... They don't know about their parentage, but they are intellectuals," he said at an event organised by the Brahman Yuva Parishad.

BJP, RSS UNMASKED: CONGRESS

The Congress reacted strongly, saying both the BJP and the RSS were "unmasked" by Hegde's remarks and alleged that "abusing the oath of office and denigrating the Constitution and its values have become a distinctive feature of Modi government".

The Congress called Hegde's remarks a "direct assault" on the composite identity of the nation and the party will oppose any such attempt with all its might. The party alleged that the BJP-RSS school of thought is ingrained in "bigotry, hate, divisiveness and prejudices, that envision a monolithic culture."

The party also asked if Prime Minister Narendra Modi would break his silence on Hegde's remarks as the minister had openly spoken about changing the Constitution.

--- ENDS ---
P eter Capaldi has sent a touching letter to a young Doctor Who fan who was concerned about his favourite Time Lord leaving the show.

Author Brian McGilloway said his sons David, nine, and 11-year-old Tom woke up on Christmas morning to letters from the out-going Doctor which moved the whole family.

The letters contained greetings, drawings and a signed picture of Capaldi - and a note addressing the 'icky' business of regeneration.

The Doctor Who Christmas Day special marked the end of Capaldi's tenure as the Time Lord, with Jodie Whittaker regenerating as the first female Doctor in the final moments of the episode.

Capaldi admitted regeneration can be a 'little bit icky' / PA

Mr McGilloway, 43, tweeted: "Peter Capaldi is my 9 year old son's fav Doctor Who and he was dreading his regeneration.

"And then he got this letter with some words of comfort from the Doctor himself among his Santa presents. Such a kind man."

He said his son was "thrilled" by the letter, which he described as his "favourite present ever".

The message, signed by Capaldi, states: "Xmas is always good fun. Well not always. Not every single second.

"Regenerating is not completely good fun.

"But you know what? Even though it can be a little bit icky (like really bad flu) it has always, always turned out good for Dr Who.

The actor bid farewell in the Christmas day episode / BBC/BBC Worldwide

"The new doctor always becomes your favourite and the one that goes ... well, he never really goes, he is always there, somewhere in time and space, and if you think about him hard enough you'll see him, and he'll see you."

Mr McGilloway, who is also father to Ben, 14, and seven-year-old Lucy, said: "David particularly loves Peter Capaldi and was devastated about his regeneration.

"There's so much detail in the letter, I was left with a lump in my throat."

The best-selling thriller and mystery writer, who teaches English at Holy Cross College in Strabane, West Tyrone, did not reveal the content of his other son Tom's letter, which he said was "more personal".

He did reveal that this was not his family's first brush with the Time Lord.

"Earlier in the year I met Christopher Eccleston in Belfast and told him my family were such fans," he said.

"Around October he facetimed them all and spoke to them each individually as Doctor Who. It was such a lovely thing to do."
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While ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) has been nearly wiped out in Syria and Iraq, never really got started in Israeli controlled areas (including the West Bank), there are still several hundred active ISIL members in Egypt and even more in Libya. Israel and Egypt, plus a few other Arab states (like the UAE) are quietly cooperating to shut down ISIL in Libya.

The basic situation is that ISIL needs a base are and at the moment Libya is one of the most likely areas to operate in. This is essential for ISIL because a Libya base provides access to the rest of Africa as well as the Middle East via Egypt. There are still obstacles and restrictions. Getting across the Egyptian border is difficult as long as Libyan general Hiftar and his LNA (Libyan National Army) operate throughout eastern Libya. The LNA has more problems with the Egyptian border since the collapse of ISIL in Iraq and Syria. Many of the surviving ISIL men are seeking to reach Libya via Egypt. Some of these ISIL personnel decide to join ISIL factions already established in Sinai (near the Israeli border) or western Egypt (near the Libyan border). This is the main reason why Hiftar still has a lot of support from Egypt and other Arab nations. Hiftar is genuinely hostile to Islamic terrorism but to the West he is seen as a potential new Libyan dictator. That is also an issue with many to Libyans, but not as important as personal safety and enough national unity to get the economy going again.

What it comes down to is Egypt officially supports the UN proposal for Libyan unity (which is hostile to Hiftar) while quietly continuing to support Hiftar. Egypt is a silent partner in the Al Khadim airbase the UAE is expanding in eastern Libya. Hiftar has long operated this airbase and now facilities are being added that can accommodate larger warplanes, like the F-16s that the UAE and Egypt both operate. Egypt is openly working with the Libyan National Oil Company to protect Libyan oil facilities and get the oil exported. Technically the UN opposes this but the reality is that Libya needs the money and the help in dealing with the ISIL forces still present. So everyone says one thing and does another as is the custom in this part of the world.

Handling Hamas

Egypt and Israel also cooperate in dealing with Hamas and the Islamic terrorist sanctuary that has developed in Gaza. The current unification effort by Fatah (which runs the West Bank) and Hamas is a sham, as Egypt well knows because they have been hosting the unification talks. Hamas is apparently waiting for the current Fatah leader to die of old age and then participate in elections they believe they can win one way or another. Israel wants to prevent this and Egypt agrees that Hamas has to go. In this they have the help of the United States and most Arab states in the region. Europe is divided on this issue and Iran sees it as an opportunity. This has produced some unusual behavior of late.

Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have gone public in support of an Arab-Israeli alliance to oppose Iran. Many (Arabs, Israelis and Iranians) believe that such an alliance wont last long but that is not crucial. The alliance only has to last long enough to halt the spread of Iranian power and influence. Israel has been through this before. The peace deals with Jordan and Egypt have largely held even though there are ups and downs. The Israelis know that the anti-Semitic attitudes in the Arab world go back to before the emergence of Islam in the 7th century and have waxed and waned ever since. Anti-Semitism is again widely tolerated in Europe. But the United States has a new president who grew up in and around New York City, built a fortune there, has a Jewish son-in-law, Jewish grandchildren and a pro-Israel attitude that is more decisive and imaginative than that of the last few American presidents.

Currently the Arabs of Arabia, or at least key leaders, have decided that decades of denouncing Israel, the one nation in the region with a functioning democracy, the most advanced and successful economy and the most powerful armed forces, ought to be rethought. So now Israel is seen as a potential ally not a battlefield opponent. As a result Arab journalists and leaders are speaking openly, and more frequently, about such an alliance. Some countries, like the UAE, can now speak openly of the discreet (and often not so secret) commercial, military and diplomatic links they developed with Israel over the years. To a lesser extent Kuwaiti and Saudi Arabian connections are now admitted. The motivation here is survival against an increasingly aggressive Iran. Hang together or hang separately. Israel already has powerful allies for dealing with Iran and welcomes an Arab alliance, even if it wont last, or at least will be under constant attack going forward, as was the case with the Jordanian and Egyptian peace deals.

Then there is a new generation of Saudi leaders. The young Saudi crown prince (and soon to be the king as his elderly father announced his abdication) pointed out that Iran is officially obsessed with destroying Israel while a growing number of Arabs see Israel as a potential ally. Everyone knows that before the current religious dictatorship took control of Iran in the 1980s Israel and Iran had many diplomatic and economic links, far more that Israel had with the Arab world. But Iranian religious leaders decided that Israel was at the top of the list of things that had to change. Next on the list was who should control the Islamic shrines in Saudi Arabia and so on. Iran has always been scary to its neighbors but was usually ruled by some aristocrat. Now that the Iranian Shia clergy (who were long known to be aggressive) are in charge it is time for neighbors to reconsider traditional alliances.

Israeli and Arab military officials are working out a joint strategy and procedures for how it will work. This includes many Arab nations quietly urging Hamas and Fatah to make a serious and public effort to negotiate a peace deal with Israel. The implication is that if the Palestinians refuse (which seems likely) or simply fail again then more Arab leaders will go public with their opinions on the hopelessness of the Palestinian leadership. That will lead to Palestinians becoming more isolated and dependent on charity from the West, Iran and Israel and that source of support is running out of patience as well. The Arab world still technically backs the Palestinians and the effort to destroy Israel but have lost confidence in the Palestinians to do anything in their own best interest. Iran is making the most of this situation and few Palestinians will do much to stop it.

The Syrian Standoff

Israel has made it clear that they will fight if Iran tries to establish a military presence in Syria. That is complicated by the fact that Iran has allies in Syria; Russia and Turkey. What makes this interesting is that Turkey and Iran are traditional enemies of Russia, while Israel and the Gulf Arabs are not. What to do? Israel and Russia are trying to negotiate a deal to prevent a war between Iran and Israel over Iranian plans (already announced and underway) to establish bases in Syria and organize anti-Israeli forces for a final battle. Thus for Israel any long term Iranian presence in Syria is intolerable. Russia says it can work out such a deal but many Israelis are skeptical and Iran says such a deal is not possible. When it comes to opposing Iran Israel has some very public backing from Russia despite the fact that this puts Russia at odds with their two other allies in Syria. The Russians see the Israelis as a more powerful and reliable ally than the Turks or Iranians. Russia is also backing the Kurds in Syria and that is causing problems with Turkey.

The Israelis keep pointing out that Iran and their dependency Syria have, since the 1980s, openly called for the destruction of Israel. Many Westerners saw this as absurd while Russia sees it as an opportunity and the Israelis point out that they have nukes, the most effective military (and economy) in the region and no tolerance for more Iranian forces moving into Syria or agreeing that the Assads are a legitimate government. For Russia this is a challenge since as outsiders they realize that Israel is right and long-term a more dependable and desirable ally. But the current Russian government is getting by on uncertainty, deception and hope that something will work.

While Russian and Turkish officials have privately disapproved of Iranian plans to establish more direct control in Syria and Lebanon the U.S. and most European nations openly object to this Iranian strategy. France has been particularly opposed to the Iranian plans, in part because France has itself been involved in what is now Syria and Lebanon (the Levant) for nearly a thousand years. Over the last century Islamic radicals in the region have been more energetically trying to drive all non-Moslems out.

December 26, 2017: In the north (Golan Heights) Syria, with the backing of Iranian mercenaries, is negotiating with the rebels who control the area where the borders of Syria, Lebanon and Israel meet. Israel has said it will attack any efforts to put Iranian forces on the border and Iran is probably testing that threat. Iranian sponsored forces in Syria have already been hit with over a hundred airstrikes in the last few years, usually while trying to move weapons to Lebanon. But now Israel is targeting Iranian mercenaries (often led by Iranian officers from the Quds).

In Egypt fifteen Islamic terrorists were executed by hanging. The fifteen belonged to ISIL and had been convicted of taking part in a 2013 attack in Sinai that left nine soldiers dead. More Islamic terrorists will probably be executed in the aftermath of the recent (November 24th) ISIL attack on a Sufi mosque in Sinai that left 311 dead. ISIL had demanded that the tribe the victims belonged to cease cooperating with the security forces and attacked the Mosque to demonstrate how serious ISIL threats were. Whoever ordered this attack ignored how tribal politics works in Sinai. The tribe now had a blood feud with the attackers and the tribe was backed up by the Sinai Tribal Union, which represents the 24 Bedouin tribes of Sinai. Normally the tribes are hostile to the government but in this case they have a common enemy in ISIL, which seeks to rule the tribes even more harshly than the Egyptian government does. The Tribal Union asked for heavy weapons so they could win battles against the heavily armed and ruthless Islamic terrorists (many of them radicalized local tribesmen). The government does not want to do that because when ISIL is no longer a threat there will be problems getting the heavy weapons (mortars, heavy machine-guns and rocket launchers) back from the tribes. The government prefers to depend on the tribes for information and other cooperation (like persuading tribesmen who provide services for all sorts of criminals to report ISIL connections). The government has also announced a $5.6 billion infrastructure (public works) project for the Sinai and the implication is that this would mean jobs and other opportunities (not all of them legal) for the locals. The tribes fear that a lot of this money will be stolen by corrupt politicians and officers. The corruption and bad government have long been the main complaint the tribes had against the government. Egypt also does not want the Tribal Union to organize a large armed force to go after ISIL. In the past the tribes, with all the feuds they have with each other, could not easily form a larger force to oppose the government and the government wants to keep it that way. The government wants to use the situation to help suppress ISIL without creating an even more dangerous tribal army able to defy the security forces.

December 25, 2017: In Egypt (central Sinai) security forces searching an area for illegal weapons found eight such caches as well as a locally made bomb. Nine hostile gunmen were encountered and eight of them killed when they refused to surrender. One was captured.

December 23, 2017: In Egypt (outside Cairo) two gunmen fired into a crowded coffee house and fled. Two people died and eight were wounded. Islamic terrorists were suspected.

Throughout Israel (15 cities) there were anti-corruption demonstrations. This was prompted by the current prime minister being the subject of two corruption investigations. This sort of thing (corrupt politicians and anti-corruption anger) is more frequently seen in Israel. Actually it has been around since the 1980s when it became common for Israelis to observe that; Israel is becoming a Middle Eastern country and not in a good way. Increasing corruption and growing calls for more violence in response to Arab terrorism became a disturbing trend. Yet Israel has managed to remain more Western that Middle Eastern. Currently Israel is rated as one of 30 least corrupt nations on the planet. Israel is 28 out of 176 countries ranked in 2016 for ability to resist corruption. Israel has to work at this because the Middle East has long been one of the most corrupt regions in the world and staying clean is difficult. Corruption in the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index is measured on a 1 (most corrupt) to 100 (not corrupt) scale. The most corrupt nations (usually North Korea, Somalia or, since 2011, South Sudan) have a rating of under fifteen while for the least corrupt (usually Denmark) it tends to be 90 or higher. The current Israeli score is 64 compared to 17 for Iraq, 41 for Turkey, 46 for Saudi Arabia, 28 for Lebanon, 41 for Kuwait, 66 for the UAE (United Arab Emirates), 29 for Iran, 25 for Afghanistan, 32 for Pakistan, 29 for Russia, 40 for China, 28 for Nigeria, 45 for South Africa, 40 for India, 72 for Japan, 37 for Indonesia, 53 for South Korea, 11 for South Sudan, 12 for North Korea, and 74 for the United States. A lower corruption score is common with nations in economic trouble. African nations are the most corrupt, followed by Middle Eastern ones. Fixing an existing culture of corruption has proved a most difficult challenge. In the Middle East the UAE has been most successful at it and the Saudis have noted how beneficial that has been for the UAE and Israel.

December 22, 2017: Denmark became the latest European donor to admit that that much of the aid sent to the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza was being used to support terrorism. Norway has come to the same conclusion. Israel has been providing more detailed evidence of this to Western donors. European nations long resisted the growing evidence that this was so but eventually the evidence that they were being duped became overwhelming and the Palestinians are seeing their European donors cutting back until the Palestinians can demonstrate that the diversion of funds has ceased.

December 20, 2017: Hamas has been arresting members of Islamic terrorist groups in Gaza that are launching rockets into Israel and promoting violent demonstrations near the border fence, particularly at the two crossings. Hamas has notified Egypt (which is still has regular contact with) that it wants to restore the ceasefire and is now actively dealing with the situation. Israel wants results not more excuses and broken promises.

December 19, 2017: In Egypt (northern Sinai) a rocket hit the al Arish airport, killing one soldier and wounding two others. The subsequent hunt for the attackers led to a gun battle nearby the next day that left five Islamic terrorists and one soldier dead.

December 17, 2017: In the south three rockets were fired from Gaza towards Israel. One rocket landed in Gaza while the other two landed in Israel. One went off on a beach, damaging a nearby home and the last one caused no damage as it was an uninhabited area. Israel retaliated with tank gun fire against a known Hamas outpost in Gaza. Later that day Israeli airstrikes destroyed several buildings at a Hamas training camp. Since December 6th various Islamic terror groups has fired 27 rockets towards Israel and fifteen made it into Israel but either landed in an uninhabited area or were intercepted by Iron Dome. These attacks violate the ceasefire and were all in protest against the U.S. decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem. Something the last few U.S. presidents hinted at but never were decisive about. Moslems and non-Moslems have been fighting over who can do what in Jerusalem for over a thousand years.

December 16, 2017: In the south a rocket was fired from Gaza towards Israel but landed in Gaza and damaged a home belonging to a known Islamic terrorist.

Elsewhere in Gaza Egypt opened the Raffa crossing for four days as a peace gesture. But the traffic was only one way (into Egypt) and only for humanitarian cases. Egypt would decide who would qualify. Egypt still holds Hamas responsible for supporting Islamic terrorists in Sinai. Hamas has tried to convince the Egyptians that this is not true but it is and the Egyptians know it.

December 14, 2017: Israel closed its two border crossings with Gaza in response to continuing Palestinian violence (at border crossings as well as rocket attacks) since the 6th.

December 12, 2017: In the south (Gaza) two Islamic terrorists riding a motorcycle exploded. Apparently they were transporting a bomb that malfunctioned. Israel said they had made no attacks in Gaza that day. The dead belonged to Islamic Jihad, not Hamas.

December 10, 2017: Israel revealed that it had destroyed another Hamas tunnel that had extended into Israel. The army would not say exactly where the destroyed tunnel was except that it was in an uninhabited area and extended several hundred meters inside Israel. Some announcement had to be made because last weekend there were several explosions near the border that were not the work of Palestinian terrorists. The tunnel was destroyed after being monitored for months. The army said there were other such tunnels that would be destroyed once they had been analyzed. Israel is using a new sensor network to detect tunnels and is still adjusting the sensors to get the most accurate data. The army believes that eventually the Palestinians will stop trying to build tunnels that can get past the sensor barrier because it is expensive to build these tunnels (that tend to begin deeper inside Gaza to avoid detection from the air) and a waste of resources if the Israelis can detect them all. This was the second such tunnel incident since October 30th when a similar tunnel was destroyed and Hamas suffered several casualties.

December 9, 2017: In Egypt officials representing Libyan military leader Khalifa Hiftar met with senior Egyptian officials. It was not a secret meeting but was not heavily publicized. The meeting was one of many recently and was used to work out details of current cooperation between the LNA (Libyan National Army) Hiftar rebuilt and led and Egyptian forces.

December 8, 2017: In the south three rockets from Gaza landed in or near the Israeli border town of Sderot. No one was hurt but there was some property damage from two rockets landing in the town of 20,000. Palestinian rocket attacks on Sderot (near the Gaza border) are not stopped by the Iron Dome anti-rocket system because Sderot is too close (two kilometers) from where the rockets are launched. Iron Dome is designed to take down missiles fired from at least four kilometers away. The basic problem is time. Missiles fired from two kilometers away arrive in 9-10 seconds, which is before Iron Dome can react.

December 6, 2017: The United States officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and plans were underway to move the American embassy there. This infuriated Islamic radicals and the Palestinians. But the major financial backers of the Palestinians (mainly the Gulf Arab states) managed to do something rare in the Islamic world; keep separate church and state in this matter. That ability to keep religion out of politics is one of the reasons the West has moved ahead while the Islamic world lags far behind when it comes to economic, scientific and military matters. The Arab oil states continued reminding the Palestinians that they had to deal with their corruption and unwillingness to recognize Israel if they wanted to see any significant aid (especially financial) from the Arab oil states. Meanwhile these Arab states continue to build military and economic relationships with Israel. There were a lot of Islamic clerics condemning the American pledge and urging violent demonstrations but the outrage generally remained on the street, and was not that widespread.

December 5, 2017: In Egypt an effort to buy another twelve Dassault Rafele jet fighters from France (after receiving the 24 it had ordered in 2015) finally succeeded. There was a problem at first when the French Finance Ministry looked at the Egyptian economy and eight billion dollars worth of French weapons Egypt had ordered since 2014 and expressed concern about the Egyptian ability to handle any more debt and pay for another billion dollars worth of Rafale fighters. But French politicians, eager to get the sale, pointed out that Egypt had new natural gas deposits and their economy was growing at 6 percent a year. Moreover Egypt had better relations with Israel and Saudi Arabia (which had helped financed some of the French weapons debt). The first 24 Rafales had cost nearly $6 billion, but that included establishing training and maintenance infrastructure for Rafales so more sales would increase the chances that Rafale would eventually replace many of older Mirages and F-16s Egypt has been using. By selling more Rafales Egypt the Egyptians would be able to provide maintenance and upgrade facilities in the region, lowering costs for other Arab Rafale users. By November the Finance Ministry agreed to withdraw its objections. The prospect of selling more Rafales to Middle Eastern nations, including Qatar, which is at odds with its fellow Arab oil states over how to deal with the growing Iranian threat, becomes easier with Egypt as a major Rafale user.

December 4, 2017: In the south Israeli missiles struck three military facilities on the outskirts of Damascus. Two are believed to be rebuilt or under the control of Iran while the third target was an SA-5/S-200 SAM (Surface to Air Missile) base. The SA-5 is a 1960s Russian design that Russia has updated and Syria received the latest S-200 version of the missile in 2010. Each seven ton S-200 missile has a range of 300 kilometers but Israel has apparently developed effective countermeasures for the anti-aircraft capabilities.

In Egypt (east of Cairo) police searching a desert area (Sharqiya province) found the Islamic terrorists weapons workshop they were looking for. Five Islamic terrorists were killed, six arrested and bomb components and other weapons were found in the workshop.

December 3, 2017: In the north (Golan Heights) another mortar shell fired from Syria landed in Israel. It was apparently not intentional.

December 1, 2017: In Syria (Damascus) several Israeli missiles struck a new Iranian base under construction south of Damascus. Later reports indicated that seven building were destroyed, seven heavily damaged and twelve Iranian personnel killed (plus a larger number of non-Iranian personnel). Russia said its anti-aircraft systems shot down some of the Israeli missiles but presented no proof (like missile fragments that can be identified as Israeli).
By PTI: United Nations, Dec 27 (PTI) The UN has approved a USD 286 million cut in its annual budget for the next year, a five per cent "historic reduction in spending" that the US said it had negotiated.

The General Assembly on Sunday approved the regular budget of USD 5.397 billion for 2018-2019, the UN said in a statement yesterday.

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The amount sets the budget level around USD 286 million (or five per cent) below the final approved level for 2016- 2017, and USD 193 million below the initially proposed budget level for 2018-2019, including all "add-ons".

The additional reductions come mainly from across-the- board cuts in non-post resources for most Departments and Offices, including the Special Political Missions, the UN said in a statement.

Taking credit for the budget cut, Americas Indian-origin Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said that she negotiated a reduction of over USD 285 million off the 2016-2017 final budget.

"In addition to these significant cost savings, we reduced the UNs bloated management and support functions, bolstered support for key US priorities throughout the world, and instilled more discipline and accountability throughout the UN system," she said in a statement.

"The inefficiency and overspending of the United Nations are well known. We will no longer let the generosity of the American people be taken advantage of or remain unchecked.

"This historic reduction in spending, in addition to many other moves toward a more efficient and accountable UN, is a big step in the right direction," Haley said.

She said that while "we are pleased with the results of this years budget negotiations, you can be sure we will continue to look at ways to increase the UNs efficiency while protecting our interests".

According to the UN statement, the General Assembly approved resources in the amount of USD 88 million for the establishment and maintenance of the United Nations Mission for Justice Support in Haiti (MINUJUSTH) for the period from October 16, 2017 to June 30, 2018.

It approved resources in the amount of USD 911 million for the maintenance of the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) for the period from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018.

This brings the total overall approved resources for peacekeeping operations for the 2017/18 period to USD 7.316 billion, which compares to approved resources for the 2016/17 period of USD 7.909 billion, a reduction of USD 593 million or 7.5 per cent.

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The General Assembly granted a one-year commitment authority for the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, it said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the General Assemblys support to his management reform proposal aimed at enhancing delivery of all mandates and the performance of the Secretariat.

The General Assembly also provided guidance on the comprehensive proposals, including on the restructuring of the Departments of Field Support and of Management to be submitted by mid-2018.

In particular, the General Assembly endorsed the proposal to move from a biennial planning and budgeting period to annual programme budget on a trial basis, as of 2020.

This signals one of the most significant shifts in the programme planning and budgeting process of the Organisation since the 1970s, the UN said.

The General Assembly also requested the Secretary-General to undertake an assessment of the mechanisms and levels of discretionary managerial authorities that may be required in order to address unanticipated programmatic needs and to report in the 73rd Session, the UN statement added. PTI LKJ CPS

--- ENDS ---
We often talk about hybrid cloud business models, but virtually always in the context of traditional processor-bound applications. What if deep learning developers and service operators could run their GPU-accelerated model training or inference delivery service anywhere they wanted?

What if they could do so without having to worry about which Nvidia graphics processor unit they were using, whether their software development environment was complete, or whether their development environment had all the latest updates?

To make that happen, Nvidias GPU Cloud, aka NGC, pre-integrates all the software pieces into a modern container architecture and certifies a specific configuration for Amazon Web Services. Nvidia will certify configurations for other public clouds in the future.

Nvidia built NGC to address several deep learning challenges. Foremost is that deep learning developers have been having trouble staying current with the latest frameworks and optimizing their frameworks for the GPU hardware they have deployed.

Nvidia has the added challenge of transparently upgrading its current deep learning customers to use Voltas Tensor Core capability as new Volta-based GPU products enter the market.

Tensor Cores gives deep learning developers significantly more performance for matrix math than Nvidias stock GPU pipelines provide, but developers must know to target Tensor Cores when they are running on Volta GPUs. NGC does that automatically.

Integration and Tuning

NGC just makes sense. It is a logical extension of Nvidias GPU-accelerated cloud images, which the company developed for internal use in much the same way that AWS and other cloud giants have deployed new services.

Nvidias own developers were challenged in creating process flows for Nvidias internal projects. They needed to cope with the complexity of maintaining optimized versions of multiple deep learning frameworks. Different frameworks serve different applications and markets  including drones, autonomous cars and trucks, internal chip development simulations, etc.

NGC is not a simple aggregation of deep learning software development tools and frameworks in a container. There are several key components to NGC  Nvidia GPU drivers, the container, development tools, CUDA runtimes, Nvidia libraries, configuration files, environment variables, configuration management and certification.

All of these components are important for Nvidia to deliver NGC as a turnkey service on multiple public clouds. Plus, given the rapidly evolving state of deep learning tools, Nvidia has committed to upgrade and recertify its NGC container images on a monthly schedule.Nvidia initially will tune, test and certify NGC to work with Amazon EC2 P3 instances using Nvidia Tesla V100 GPUs, and with Nvidias DGX Systems using Nvidia Tesla P100 and V100 GPUs.

Nvidias certification provides a guarantee that all the solution components are integrated properly and tuned for the best possible performance. There are other deep learning instances available in the AWS Marketplace, but they are not tuned, tested, updated or certified by Nvidia.

NGCs simpleWeb interface shows its supported deep learning frameworks. (Click imageto enlarge.)

Nvidia-Docker Project

Two years ago, Nvidia open-sourced its development project to containerize its CUDA software development environment plus runtime OS, executables and libraries for Nvidia GPUs. The result is the GitHub project named Nvidia-docker (version 1.0.1 was released in March 2017 and version 2.0 is now in alpha test). Nvidia sometimes refers to Nvidia-docker as nv-docker, but they are the same thing.

Scaling from an on-prem PC or workstation to an on-prem Nvidia DGX-Station or DGX-1 server (from a single GPU card to clusters of eight NVLink-connected Pascal or Volta GPUs chips) is possible by starting with the open source Nvidia-docker distribution and then moving to a certified NGC instance.

Scaling from on-prem to public cloud can be done in the same manner. The biggest change in moving from Nvidia-docker to NGC is that Nvidia maintains NGC docker images for developers instead of developers having to update their own Nvidia-docker images.

Microsoft may be next in supporting NGC on Azure. There is an Azure deployment thread in the Nvidia-docker repository. The deployment thread is based on Azures N-Series virtual machine. Given that Nvidia already has positioned NGC as multicloud, well well see what the future holds.

First, Microsoft would have to announce a new N-Series VM based on Nvidias Volta products. Microsoft previewed Azures NCv2 instance using Nvidias P100 GPUs. Further, Azure is mentioned in its NGC Users FAQ, so its not a stretch to expect V100 VMs in the not-too-distant future. Nvidia then would have to certify a known good configuration of Nvidia-docker for Azure.

The Nvidia-docker project also provides limited build support for IBMs Power architecture. Given IBMs work in scaling Nvidia GPU cluster performance, Nvidia-docker support might create interesting options for GPU containers in the OpenPOWER ecosystem in 2018.

DIY Developer-Friendly

The Nvidia-docker container runs on x86 host instances using Ubuntu 16.04 and CentOS 7 OSes. Nvidia developed host OS drivers that can run multiple virtual GPU images, so that a single-host OS can manage multiple containers virtually, accessing multiple GPU chips across many GPU sockets or add-in cards.

NGC startswith Nvidia Docker and then adds everything needed to run a largeselection of deep learning frameworks. (Click image to enlarge.)

NGC initially supports most major deep learning training frameworks: Caffe/Caffe2, CNTK, MXNet, Torch, PyTorch, TensorFlow and Theano. Trained models can be loaded into Nvidias TensorRT for inferencing.

The open source version of NGCs underlying containers and the developer tools are available to anyone running at least an Nvidia Titan-level GPU card and a Linux host operating system. This allows do-it-yourself developers with large local datasets, security or compliance concerns to begin developing deep learning models on prem, with the pre-integrated open source version on PCs and workstations. These DIY developers then can migrate to Nvidias certified instances on major public clouds as their needs grow.

The opposite migration also can happen. Some deep learning developers may start by using public cloud instances, but as their utilization rates and cloud service costs rise, they might invest in dedicated infrastructure to bring their workload on prem.

NGCs optimized containers cannot be redistributed by other system vendors (outside of Nvidias DGX, AWS and future public cloud partners), but end-users can register for NGC and then download NGC containers to each Nvidia-accelerated system or cluster they use, without support. However, HPC customers are much more likely to customize Nvidia-docker instances for their specific hardware architectures.

NGC is intended to streamline deep learning development on widely available Nvidia-accelerated system configurations spanning desktop to public cloud.
Navigation apps and gadgets have grown in popularity. What started as simple mapping applications that could get you from point A to point B are now able to take in reported driving conditions and reroute your commute to avoid traffic jams.

As these driving assistants become ubiquitous, other problems are coming to light. One issue is that sometimes the rerouting algorithms can pass large volumes of traffic through areas where it is not necessarily welcome.

For example, the town of Leonia, a small suburb in New Jersey with a population of less than 9,000, sits near two major interstates. Traffic on these highways is a nightmare during rush hour so apps like Waze route users through Leonia. The heavy traffic cutting through has created its own traffic jam within the small town. It has gotten so severe that many residents have found themselves stuck in their driveways.

"In the morning, if I sign onto my Waze account, I find there are 250,000 'Wazers' in the area," Leonia Police Chief Tom Rowe told Hot Hardware. "When the primary roads become congested, it directs vehicles into Leonia and pushes them onto secondary and tertiary roads."

"There are 250,000 'Wazers' in the area [during rush hour]."

If the traffic were a sporadic incident, it might have gone overlooked. However, rush hour on I-80 and I-95 results in traffic backups multiple times a day which causes apps to detour through the suburb.

The problem has resulted in the town closing off around 60 streets and roads in the area to non-resident traffic during rush hour. The rules will be enforced by the issuance of yellow stickers to residents. Anyone driving through town without a yellow sticker during rush hour will be pulled over and cited. The fine for the offense is set at $200.

The law has not gone into effect yet so if you shortcut through Leonia, you have until January 22 to find an alternate route.

"Would I prefer not to do this? Of course," noted Rowe. "But I would rather try something and fail than not try anything."

A spokesperson for Waze said it would cooperate with the town and work to find substitute paths through the area.

"If a road is legally reclassified into a private road, our map editors will make that change," said Waze. "It is our goal to work holistically with our community of drivers, map editors, and city contacts to improve the driving experience for all."
As you might know (if you read last weekend's Open Forum), I got the kids a PlayStation 4 for Christmas. What a fun experience that was, until I got around to setting it up for them.

The TL;DR version goes: Four hours of tinkering on family accounts ironed out most (not all) of the problems encountered during installation. My advice, don't even call Sony tech support on Christmas Day.

In any event, after the hassle of setting up their new console last night, I discovered this morning that one of them had apparently bought Destiny 2. Of course, they both swore it wasn't them.

Right. Well, it sure wasn't me.

So I figured that since one of them had bought it on my dime (intentionally or not), I'd go ahead and play it for a minute. However, when I went to the icon to start it, instead of saying "Start," it said, "Buy Now."

Wait. Was this an ad?

I go fire up my Pro, and sure enough. There is a Destiny icon on my home screen too. Apparently, Sony has found it fit to begin placing ads, on my crossbar (X-bar) even though I have a subscription to PlayStation Plus.

Not cool Sony.

My home screen already has so many applications that they don't all fit on the X-bar. Ads just take up space and make me have to fetch content from the library. Fortunately, this annoyance is straightforward to remove.

Go to your settings and select "System" (second option from the bottom). On the next screen click on Automatic downloads.

On that screen you will see a selection at the top that says, "Featured Content: Automatically add download links for featured content to the home screen."

I'm not sure if this was there before, but if it was, it is now checked by default. Just uncheck it.

When you are back on the home screen delete the ad icon and things will go back to normal.

Thanks goes out to Jason Schreier at Kotaku for the tip.
It's often said that humor is subjective, especially when it comes to emojis---a fact reflected in a new controversy that's brewing over WhatsApp's collection of symbols and pictures. Surprisingly, it's got nothing to do with the grinning poop.

A Delhi, India-based lawyer named Gurmeet Singh has taken such an exception to WhatsApp's middle finger emoji that he's threatening to file a civil or criminal complaint against the company if it's not removed within 15 days.

In the legal notice, Singh states that "showing the middle finger is not only offensive but a highly belligerent, invasive, obscene, lewd gesture." India's Penal Code Sections 354 and 509 make it illegal to show obscene, lewd gestures to females.

"As per section 6 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act, 1994 showing off the middle finger is also an offense in Ireland," Singh added. "By offering to use middle finger emoji in your app, you (WhatsApp Inc) are directly abetting the use of offensive, lewd, obscene gesture."

On the Emojipedia website, the middle finger emoji, available on multiple platforms, is described as "used in some western cultures as a rude or insulting gesture. The back of the hand is shown with the middle finger raised." It was approved as part of Unicode 7.0 in 2014 and added to Emoji 1.0 in 2015.

The Facebook-owned service hasn't had the smoothest of times in India this year. Following warnings that any posts considered to be fake news could lead to the arrest of group administrators, police in the Indian state of Karnataka showed this wasn't an empty promise back in May. They arrested one WhatsApp admin after members of his group shared a picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that was photoshopped to look "ugly and obscene."
Russia may be planning a luxury hotel some 250 miles above Earth but NASA is reportedly considering a destination much further away for one of its future missions.

A group at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, is said to be laying the groundwork for a mission that would send a probe to Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to our own solar system. The word "closest" is used loosely here as Alpha Centauri is roughly 4.37 light-years from the Sun.

A light-year is the distance that light travels in a vacuum in one year which equates to roughly 5.9 trillion miles.

NASA's Voyager 1 is the only man-made object to ever leave our solar system. It blasted off from Earth on September 5, 1977, as part of a project to study the outer solar system and is currently around 13 billion miles from the Sun. It still communicates with the Deep Space Network but is expected to go dark by 2025 when it runs out of power.

We're still decades away from being able to send humans to Mars so you're probably wondering how NASA intends to send a craft to another star system so far away. The truth is, we don't really know yet as most of the technology needed to make it happen doesn't exist yet.

The project - so new that it doesn't have a name - was presented at the 2017 American Geophysical Union conference in New Orleans on December 12. The mission would launch on or around the 100th anniversary of Apollo 11, the first crewed Moon landing. That'd take place in 2069, giving NASA more than 50 years to figure it all out.

Even if propulsion technology advances to a stage where it could reach 10 percent of the speed of light, it would still take the probe around 44 years to reach its destination - a potentially habitable exoplanet called Proxima Centauri b, or Proxima b for short. Tack on another few years for data from the probe to make its way back to Earth and you're looking at the year 2118 or so. Needless to say, none of us alive today will be around to soak in the findings. Bummer.

Then again, technology has been advancing at an incredible rate as of late. Just look at what we have today versus what was possible when Apollo 11 launched in 1969. Who knows, we may even get some help with propulsion technology from outside sources.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Thursday that his country has the highest economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean, despite the sanctions imposed against it. | Read More
The incident prompted authorities to transfer the district's top health official and to suspend a doctor for negligence and violation of norms.

By Shivendra Srivastava: The National Human Rights Commission has issued a notice in the Unnao case where 32 eye surgeries were performed under torch light at a primary health centre. The incident took place on December 25.

The commission said that media reports suggest negligence on part of the doctors and paints a sorry state of the status of infrastructure facilities available in the hospitals in Uttar Pradesh, particularly non-availability of backup power supply in the hospital, especially in the operation theatre.

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Accordingly, it has issued a notice to the Chief Secretary, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh calling upon him to furnish the following information within two weeks:

i) The details of 32 persons (or any other number), names, addresses and phone numbers who were operated on 25.12.2017 at the primary health centre, Nawabganj, Unnao, UP.

ii) Whether the operated persons (specify each one of them) have been able to see normally/clearly after the operation?

iii) Why there was no backup power supply in the hospital especially in its operation theatre?

iv) What action has been taken against the doctors and hospital management for performing cataract operations under torch light?

v) Have the doctors been performing operations under the torch light earlier?

vi) In case of power break down in the hospital, what alternative source of light is used?

According to media reports, when the procedure for surgeries began, the power supply to the primary health centre failed but instead of stopping the surgery the doctors went ahead with the operations under torch light.

The incident prompted authorities to transfer the district's top health official and to suspend a doctor for negligence and violation of norms.

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: Telecom Minister A. Raja feels there is enough scope for tariffs to come down to a level of 20 paise per minute for local calls and 50 paise per minute at national level after new operators start services.



"There is a scope for reduction once the new operators start rolling out (services). Tariffs may come down to 20-25 paise in a circle and national calls may come down to 40-50 paise," Raja said in New Delhi.



The Minister also said the country needs another 300 million telephone lines, which can be given by both existing and new operators. There is a large scope for business to reach 750 million phone connections.



There are 120 new licensees in all who have been given permission by the DoT to start telecom services and some of them including Unitech, Swan, Datacom and Shyam Telecom have already got spectrum and could start services once they get the network ready.



Raja said TRAI has been following a practice of forbearance. As per this, tariffs are determined by market forces and are not fixed by the regulator.



Justifying the presence of more players in a competitive market, the Minister said, "We brought in a competitive atmosphere and that will bring down the tariffs. Is it not the responsibility of the Government to introduce more competition?" At present local call rates vary from 40 paise (within an operator's own network) to Re 1, and national call rates from Re 1 to Rs 2.65 a minute.



--- ENDS ---

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Chrissy Teigen. Photo: Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic

Model Chrissy Teigen is no stranger to world travel. Per her Instagram, shes frequently bopping between continents, often with her 1-year-old daughter with John Legend, Luna. But even for seasoned jet setters, the holiday season can be challenging, especially when your plane turns around mid-flight.

Tonight, according to Twitter, Teigen, who is expecting baby number two, was flying with Legend from Los Angeles to Tokyo on Air Nippon Airways Flight 175 when the flight reversed course. The reason flight attendants gave Teigen was vague. Apparently someone had boarded the wrong plane and they needed to return this person to Los Angeles. But as they landed, the story got even more mysterious. The plane was met by police and passengers werent allowed to disembark. Ok Im officially ready to say something is up, Teigen wrote.

See her full experience below.

a flying first for me: 4 hours into an 11 hour flight and we are turning around because we have a passenger who isnt supposed to be on this plane. Why...why do we all gotta go back, I do not know  christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 27, 2017

So many questions and I have no answers. Either do they. This person must be mortified though  christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 27, 2017

what is happening how do you know more than I do. Im still in the sky! https://t.co/0c4q8TKcwN  christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 27, 2017

Lmao after all this I will have spent 8 hours on a flight to nowhere. Like we were all just havin a great time up here flyin in the sky watching gran torino time to go home now  christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 27, 2017

This person is so lucky that we will all have to deplane. Imagine having to walk off alone. The shame!  christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 27, 2017

I dont know why Im not more upset about this. The pleasure I get out of the story is worth more to me than a direct flight to Tokyo  christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 27, 2017

I wont be able to sleep until I know how this person figured out they were on the wrong flight. Thats all I ask. 150 people have been majorly inconvenienced, please, just tell me  christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 27, 2017

Why did we all get punished for this one persons mistake? Why not just land in Tokyo and send the other person back? How is this the better idea, you ask? We all have the same questions.  christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 27, 2017

They keep saying the person had a United ticket. We are on ANA. So basically the boarding pass scanner is just a beedoop machine that makes beedoop noises that register to nowhere  christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 27, 2017

LAX > LAX flight complete. Flight time, 8 hours and 20 minutes.  christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 27, 2017

There is a 20 minute interview before we can get off the plane!! This is my dream. Police! Talk to me talk to me  christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 27, 2017

they put our plane in a secure area. We cant be near the common folk :(  christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 27, 2017

Still on the plane. Starting to get a little...as james franco in spring breakers would say... spicious  christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 27, 2017
30-foot Humpback Whale Washes Up on California Beach

A 30-foot humpback whale washed up on a California beach on Sunday, Dec. 24, and researchers are now trying to determine how it died.

The cetacean was discovered by passersby at the North Beach in Point Reyes National Seashore, about 15 miles southwest of Petaluma.

Warning: the following images may be distressing to some

The Sausalito-based Marine Mammal Center dispatched five scientists to do a necropsy on it on Tuesday, but it will take about two weeks before results are announced.

The whale had no broken bones, ruling out the possibility that it was struck by a vessel, the center said, but it did have bruising around its neck. Its stomach was full and its blubber was a healthy thickness, indicating that it had been healthy before its death.

Research assistant Barbie Halaska told The Press Democrat that most of the beached whales they study are too decomposed to determine a cause of death, but because this one recently died, they will likely be able to.

The opportunity to perform a necropsy on a carcass in good condition like this will help contribute to our baseline data on the species, Halaska said in a statement.

This is the fifth whale to wash ashore this year, which is typical, the center saysnormally they see five to six each year, the Press Democrat reports.

There are about 15,000 humpback whales that live in the North Pacific, according to the center, and they feed between California and Alaska in the summer and as far as Japan in the winter.

At about 10 percent of their original population, humpbacks are among the most endangered whales, the center says, with 35,000 to 40,000 in the wild.

In recent years, however, more have been seen along the California coast.

From NTD.tv
An inmate at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind., works on the sign, in April 2001. (JEFF HAYNES/AFP/Getty Images)

94 Percent of Non-Citizen Federal Prisoners Are Illegal Aliens

WASHINGTONNinety-four percent of foreign-born federal prisoners are in the United States illegally, according to a new report by the departments of Homeland Security and Justice.

Illegal alien prisoners could make up as much as 19 percent of the total number of prisoners in the federal system. The estimated population of illegal aliens in the United States is 3 to 4 percent.

A total of 58,766 known or suspected aliens were in federal custody at the end of fiscal 2017, including 39,455 persons in Bureau of Prisons custody and 19,311 in U.S. Marshals Service custody, the report said.

Of this total, 37,557 were confirmed as aliens by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), while 21,209 foreign-born people were still under investigation to determine whether they are deportable. An alien is a non-citizen and non-national, according to ICE.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said non-citizens commit a substantially disproportionate number of drug-related offenses, in particular, fueling the national drug crisis.

Our citizens are being victimized by illegal aliens who commit crimes. The simple fact is that any offense committed by a criminal alien is ultimately preventable. One victim is too many, Sessions said in a statement on Dec. 21.

Its time for Congress to enact the presidents immigration reform agenda so that we start welcoming the best and brightest while turning away drug dealers, gang members, and other criminals.

The report doesnt include data on the foreign-born or alien populations in state prisons and local jailswhich account for approximately 90 percent of the total U.S. incarcerated population.

State and local facilities do not routinely provide Homeland Security or the Justice Department with comprehensive information about their inmates and detainees. However, both departments are working toward obtaining that data.

Breakdown of Bureau of Prisons Population

Of 39,455 foreign-born inmates in BOP custody:

20,240 (51 percent) were unauthorized aliens who are subject to a final order of removal;

14,979 (38 percent) remain under ICE investigation;

2,374 (6 percent) were unlawfully present and now in removal proceedings;

1,852 (less than 5 percent) were lawfully present aliens but are now in removal proceedings; and

10 were aliens who have been granted relief or protection from removal.

Sanctuaries

The number of crimes committed by illegal aliens in the United States is extraordinarily high when compared to legal aliens and citizens, according to Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach.

Sanctuary policies, lax enforcement by previous administrations, and a Supreme Court ruling have led to thousands of criminals being released back into communities over the years, rather than being deported. The 2001 Supreme Court ruling says ICE cannot detain an illegal alien for more than six months if there is no significant likelihood of removal in the reasonably foreseeable future.

But sanctuary policies allow the majority of criminals to be freed.

Sanctuary jurisdictions prevent local law enforcement from cooperating with ICE, most often by refusing to hand over a criminal inmate for which ICE has requested to take custody.

In sanctuary cities such as New York, Chicago, and large cities in California, ICE is forbidden to enter correctional facilities to question a person of interest, and in most cases, local law enforcement is banned from notifying ICE when an illegal criminal alien is about to be released.

ICE Deputy Director Tom Homan said that as of July 31 this year, almost 10,000 criminal aliens who have been released onto the streetsrather than being turned over to ICEhave committed another crime.

Every single one of those crimes was not only preventable if our immigration laws had been enforced, but should never have happened on the second go-around, when the sanctuary city had custody and could have handed the alien over to ICE, Kobach said on Nov. 2.

Proponents of sanctuary policies say that the policies promote trust in immigrant communities and, therefore, immigrants will come forward to report crimespurportedly making the community safer.

However, Department of Justice Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Blanco said more often, people wont report crimes because they are afraid of retribution from the criminals.

One of the things that concerns them is when they live in the same community in which these individuals have been released back into the community, Blanco said at a congressional hearing in June. That worries them and that prevents them from coming forward.

Protections such as the U-visa exist for illegal aliens who are victims or witnesses of crime. And law enforcement officers dont ask the immigration status of witnesses and victims of crimes unless they themselves have been arrested for a crime.

Melania Trumps First Year as First Lady
Airline Has Not Apologized Says Passenger Who Lost Seat to Congresswoman

A passenger who says a Texan Congresswomen took her first class seat on a United Airlines flight has refuted claims by the airline that it has apologized.

Disgruntled passenger Jean-Marie Simon repudiated United Airlines comments to media on Monday Dec. 25. The airline apologized to her over how U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Houston Democrat, allegedly took her first class seat on a Dec. 18 flight, according to NY Daily News.

A United Airlines spokesperson told the newspaper that the airline apologized to Simon and gave her a $500 travel voucher. The spokespersons comments were subsequently picked up by other media.

But Simon disagreed.

United has NOT apologized. Man at call center, answering my form complaint, said he was very sorry, but far from written apology United owes. And $500 voucher was issued at gate right after Untied cancelled my flight, not part of apology package, Simon tweeted to the airline on Dec. 26.

Simon, a 63-year-old teacher from Washington, D.C., said she had been in contact with a media outlet about the coverage of the airlines claims.

AP/Houston bureau called: I asked them to correct their United apology story: United has not apologized. If it has, wheres the letter? And the $500 voucher was given before I complained as take the voucher and get on plane or find another flight or airline, she tweeted.

On Tuesday evening, Simon said she spoke with a reporter from NBC and again complained about having not yet received a formal apology in the mail from the airline.

NBC reporter told me tonight that United had restored my miles. United never contacted me, so I heard it from media. If United can restore my miles, can it "cancel" my reservation too? And no apology in today's mail; I'm surprised and concerned. pic.twitter.com/RaVut4EWXq  Jean-Marie Simon (@JeanMarieSimon1) December 26, 2017

Simon claims the airline gave preferential treatment to Jackson Lee by giving the Texas member of congress her first class seat while she was bumped back to Economy Plus.

She further claimed the airline threatened to throw her off the plane for making her objections known and for taking a photo of Jackson Lee sitting in the first-class seat.

In part of a detailed Facebook post about what occurred, she said the airline repeatedly lied to her over the incident.

They put Jackson Lee on the plane and then tried to blame it on a late incoming flight, another airline, my cell phone, united.com, Global Services, and on everybody but the United employee who deliberately erased my seat, my ticket, and my name from the system in order to accommodate a member of Congress who repeatedly bullies his/her way into favored status, Simon wrote.

Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) in seat 1A the one I paid for dearly, and the one United gave to her without my consent or knowledge! Fellow congressman on same flight said she does it repeatedly. @united pic.twitter.com/Q2c6u6B0Yp  Jean-Marie Simon (@JeanMarieSimon1) December 23, 2017

On Tuesday, Jackson Lee tweeted the airlines statement over the incident.

After thoroughly examining our electronic records, we found that upon receiving a notification that Flight 788 was delayed due to weather, the customer appears to have canceled her flight from Houston to Washington, D.C. within the United mobile app, she wrote.

The congresswoman also re-issued a statement via Twitter on Tuesday that was first posted on her Facebook page on Friday, in which she claims Simons reaction was apparently due to racism.

I noted that this individual came toward me and took a picture. I heard later that she might have said I know who she is. Since this was not any fault of mine, the way the individual continued to act appeared to be, upon reflection, because I was an African American woman, tweeted Jackson Lee.



Simon has refuted Jackson Lees suggestion her act was based on racism, saying she was making her case known even before she knew who was in the seat that she claimed was hers.

I had no idea who was in my seat when I complained at the gate that my seat had been given to someone else, Simon said, reported the Houston Chronicle. There is no way you can see who is in a seat from inside the terminal.

From NTD.tv

2017 Year in Review
By Shivani Chhabra: Weddings are magical--they're a celebration of two people promising each other their loyalty and love for the rest of their days, and that makes every wedding special in its own way. It's the love that fills the air that makes weddings absolutely heart-warming for everyone who's involved, but some weddings, they invoke happiness in millions of hearts without any direct relation--just like Virat and Anushka's wedding.

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Opulence and dreamy--these two words define the grandeur of the much-talked-about nuptials of one of the most loved celebrity couples, skipper Virat Kohli and actress Anushka Sharma.

Right from the time when rumours were rife about the duo flying to Italy for their wedding to the wedding reception thrown in Mumbai last night, every little detail from their wedding ceremonies has made the nation stand still and be awestruck. But there's one man, who has had the luxury of being a part of the couple's most memorable days through the exquisite attires he dressed them in. The man in question is none other than the magical weaver and designer, Sabyasachi Mukherjee.

Also Read: Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli look like a million bucks at their Mumbai reception

It was Sabya, who made Anushka look nothing but dreamy in the pink lehenga that she wore for the wedding. It was this Kolkata-based designer who draped Anushka in the maroon, velvet saree for the engagement, and made her look unbelievably resplendent. Draped in a red-gold, Banarasi saree, Anushka exuded royalty during her Delhi reception--and it was Sabya, who made it happen. And last night, when the actress showed up looking radiant in her glamorous-yet-elegant attire, the world bowed to Sabya yet again.

Amidst all that has been said and written about the newlyweds, who have sent waves all over the country with their versatile and surreal outfits, Sabyasachi's master craftsmanship has been cherished over and over again.

Apart from investing himself to make sure that Virat and Anushka looked every bit mesmerising, Sabya, the official designer for the wedding, has used the massive publicity generated by their wedding-looks to promote his label. Before anyone else, for all their ceremonies, the designer took the opportunity of sharing exclusive details of their outfits on his social media account, and gave us an insight into what went into making their outfits look so heavenly.

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It was Anushka's light-pink lehenga, which ranges from a whooping Rs 25 to 30 lakh, according to cricketlounge.com, that first featured on his social media account and left us swooning over Sabya's skills. The lehenga got the country talking about how gorgeous the bride looked, and hence fattened the fan following that Sabyasachi now enjoys.

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Also Read: Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli got our hearts racing in these resplendent outfits at their reception

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After the wedding pictures made rounds, the world had its eyes glued on Sabya's social-media accounts for details of their reception outfits. And the designer, using social-media platforms in the most appropriate way, released the details at the same time as the couple showed up for the celebrations--and that's what got him the attention he clearly deserves.

This is the first time that an Indian designer has established his authority over his charismatic creations through social media, while being extremely subtle about it. While there are no numbers to prove so, we're certain that the Virat-Anushka wedding has helped his business grow--after all, looking at Anushka, who wouldn't want to be an ethereal Sabyasachi bride?

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Jose Ernesto Trejo-Guerrero has been arrested by police in Brownsville, Texas, for his alleged involvement in a purse snatching on Dec. 20 that was caught on camera. (Brownsville Police Department)

Alleged Purse Snatcher Arrested, Caught on Camera Stealing From 81-Year-Old Grandmother

A 24-year-old man allegedly caught on camera violently tearing the purse out of the hands of an 81-year-old woman in a brazen, Wednesday morning incident in Brownsville, Texas, on Dec. 20, has been arrested by local police, RGVProud reported.

Jose Ernesto Trejo-Guerrero is reportedly spending the Christmas holidays behind bars, several days after the Brownsville Police Department issued a call for tips from the public to help identify the alleged purse snatcher.

According to this Dec. 21 report, Guerrero was caught on surveillance video on the 800 block of East Adams Street in Brownsville, driving up to an elderly woman walking along the sidewalk at approximately 7:20 a.m. on Dec. 20.

Guerrero stopped the blue Ford Ranger Edge at the side of the road, jumped out, and caught up with Maria Rosales.

Moments later the man grabbed the purse and yanked it out of the elderly womans hands.

Guerrero then allegedly darted back to his truck, got in, and proceeded to drive away.

The video shows Rosales stepping out onto the road as the truck swerves around her and speeds away.

RGV reported that according to Brownsville Police records, Guerrero stole about $15 and the womans identification cards. Rosales was reportedly walking to her favorite cafe in the area when the incident occurred.

According to the report, Brownsville investigators first located the blue Ford allegedly involved in the crime, and then found Guerrero.

The man reportedly made a statement to police during his interrogation, implicating himself in the crime.

2017 Year in Review
A student displays a banner among the crowd of some 200,000 who poured into Tiananmen Square on April 22, 1989. The April-June 1989 movement was crushed by Chinese troops who killed at least 10,000 people, a secret British diplomatic cable has alleged. (Catherine Henriette/AFP/Getty Images)

At Least 10,000 Killed During the Tiananmen Square Massacre, According to Secret Diplomatic Cable

At least 10,000 people were killed during the Tiananmen Square massacre on June 4, 1989 a secret British diplomatic cable has alleged, citing a source within the Chinese communist regime.

An unnamed high level source from the Chinese State Council provided the death count, via an intermediary, to Alan Donald, Britains ambassador to China at the time.

Donald sent the information to London a day after the massacre occurred. The previously secret cable was declassified in October and then obtained by news website HK01.

The death toll of 10,000 is much higher than what is usually associated with the massacre committed by the Peoples Liberation Army. Figures have ranged between several hundred to a couple of thousand.

The Chinese regime said at the end of June 1989 that 200 civilians and several dozen security personnel had died in Beijing as security forces dealt with counter-revolutionary riots, according to the BBC.

However, the 10,000 number does closely match those of U.S. documents declassified in 2014. Those files estimated that 10,454 people were killed and some 40,000 people were injured. The U.S. information was provided by sources within the Chinese military, reported HKFP.

The death count was at one point made in the cables sent by Donald, which included horrific details of the killing of pro-democracy protesters and civilians by the 27 Army of Shanxi Province. The army was 60 percent illiterate and are called primitives, according to Donalds source.

The documents also said troops from the Shenyang Military Region (SMR) were involved, reported HKFP.

Armored personnel carriers (APC) from the 27 Army opened fire on a crowd of pro-democracy protesters before running them over in their tracked APCs, said the documents.

The document said that soldiers from the Shenyang Military Region separated the students from local residents upon arrival at Tiananmen Square.

Students understood they were given one hour to leave square but after five minutes APCs attacked. Students linked arms but were mown down including soldiers, said the document.

APCs then ran over bodies time and time again to make pie and remains collected by bulldozer. Remains incinerated and then hosed down drains.

The 27 Army even killed soldiers from the Shenyang Military Region.

27 Army ordered to spare no one and shot wounded SMR soldiers. Four wounded girl students begged for their lives but were bayoneted. A 3-year-old girl was injured but her mother was shot as she went to her aid as were six others who tried, the document said.

A thousand survivors were told they could escape via Zhengyi Lu but were then mown down by specially prepared M/G (machine gun) positions.

Donald added that the 27 Army shot at any ambulances offering aid to the wounded and its APCS rammed trucks used by Shenyang Military Region stragglers and ran over SMR soldiers.

During attack 27 Army officer shot dead by own troops apparently because he faltered. Troops explained they would be shot if they hadnt shot officer, Donald wrote.

He added that the 27 Army were also using dum-dum bullets which are prohibited during war under international law.

27 Army were using dum-dum bullets. 27 Army snipers shot many civilians on balconies, street sweepers etc for target practice. Beijing hospitals had been ordered to accept only security force casualties, Donald wrote.

According to HKFP, the source relayed to Donald that the commander of 27 Army was the nephew of Yang Shangkun, Chinas president at the time.

The British diplomat added that his source said that some members of the State Council considered that civil war is imminent.

From NTD.tv
(Lower L)Baker, Californiathe Arco station where Ryan Singleton was dropped off; central is Silver Lane, where a pair of joggers found his body. (ScreenshotBing Maps)

Body of Missing Georgia Model Found, Some Organs Still Missing

The body of 24-year-old Ryan Singleton lay in the California desert for two-and-a-half months before a pair of passing joggers found him. The dried, decayed corpse was missing its eyes and internal organs.

Singleton had disappeared from a Baker, California, gas station in the middle of July 2013. No one knew where he wentand to this day, no one knows how this model and aspiring actor ended up dead in the desert.



Courage to Dream

Singleton had good looks and ambition. He had enough talent and enough people skills to make it into the world of professional modeling and dreamed of getting into movies.

At age 21 he headed for New York City, the heart of the U.S. fashion industry. He found some success, eventually getting onto the runway during Fashion Week.

Singleton met some friends there and decided to head to L.A. to form a production companymaking movies seemed a better way to break into the industry than attending casting calls.



He returned to New York in December 2012 and got married to fashion designer and celebrity stylist Kithe Brewster. That only lasted a few months before the couple separated.

Singleton returned to Atlanta to regroup. In July, he decided to drive out to L.A. for a weekend vacation.

According to his mother, Iris Flowers, Singleton rented a car and drove to Los Angeles and then to New Mexico, Arizona, and finally Las Vegas, Nevada.



On July 9, 2013, Singleton called his mother asking her to send him some money. He was in Las Vegas and apparently broke. Later that day, Flowers got a call from Brewster. He told Flowers that Singleton was on the West Coast and that his life might be in danger.



Broke in Baker

According to a report by 11Alive, Singleton called several friends for moneybut apparently didnt get enough. On the drive home, he ran out of gas right on the edge of Death Valley, one of the most inhospitable areas in the country.

Singleton left his car and started walking toward Baker, California, down Interstate 15. A California Highway Patrol officer spotted him and picked him up.

The pair searched for Singletons car, but never found it. Apparently, Singleton had walked farther than he thought because the car was later found about 3 miles away from where he met the officer.

The officer took Singleton to an Arco service station in Bakersomewhere he could shelter from the scorching heat of the Mojave Desert. Later the officer said that as far as he could tell, Singleton was not impaired or intoxicated.



Singleton called a friend in L.A. and begged a ride. When his friend arrived a few hours later, Singleton was not there.

Apparently, Singleton left the store and walked into the desert, into the searing 100-plus degree summer heat.

That was the last anyone saw of the model and aspiring actor until Sept. 21, when a pair of hikers found his remains about 200 yards off Silver Lane, less than 2 miles from the Arco station.

Singletons body was partially decomposedbut it was clear that his eyes and most of his organs were missing.

No Cause of Death

Because Singletons remains were so desiccatedhis body weighed only 50 pounds when it was recoveredthe San Bernardino County Coroners Office was not able to determine a cause of death. The missing organs are likely the work of animals, according to the coroners report.

Singletons mother is not so sure. I dont know of an animal that comes to a body and just picks out certain parts of the body, said Flowers. I dont think it was animal activity at all.



Brewster feels the same way.

I believe that he was taken from [Baker] and later put back there, Brewster said according to the New York Daily News. I just dont think he passed out there and was there for two and a half months.

A team of experts from NBC including criminal defense investigator Charles Mittelstadt and Joseph Scott Morgan who has a masters degree in forensic sciences from Jacksonville State University Center for Applied Forensics analyzed the autopsy report. Morgan thinks that animals were most likely responsible for the missing organs. If the organs had been removed surgically, Morgan said, the forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsy would have seen evidence of the use of surgical tools.



Still, Singletons mother is haunted by a conversation she had with her son before he left for Los Angeles.

Flowers said her son asked her, Something bad is going to happen to me isnt it? When she asked him what he meant or if he owed anyone a lot of money he replied, Ive done a lot of things to hurt a lot of people, she recalled for NBC News.

I dont know if he felt some kind of way because he left the (production) team, married Kithe, and it didnt work out with Kythe and now hes home. He knew he hurt me by disappearing and not communicating with me. Anybody outside of that, I couldnt figure out who it could be, she told NBC affiliate 11Alive.

Two days later he disappeared.



No Answers

Though the disappearance of Ryan Singleton is still an open case with the San Bernadino Sherriffs Office, it is a cold case. With no leads and not much evidence that can be gathered from the withered body, law enforcement has no way to move forward.

Iris Flowers and her family have started a GoFundMe page to try to defray burial costs and possibly exhume the body for an autopsy, or continue the investigation.



Flowers believes her son was struck in the head before dying. She said the autopsy reports mentioned signs of a brain hemorrhage, which would indicate that Singleton was struck in the head while still alive.

While it is possible that Singleton passed out due to heat or dehydration, and fell, striking his head, Flowers is convinced that someone struck him and stole his organs.



Flowers and Ryan Singletons other relatives and friends all want to know what actually happened to this talented young man who decided to walk into a baking desert in the middle of the day in the middle of the summer.

Flowers hopes an autopsy and further investigation might turn up some cluesand provide some closure.

From NTD.tv
Three young boys died in a car crash on a Missouri highway on Tuesday, Dec. 26, according to the Associated Press.

The mother of the three brothers was reported injured, as were five people in another SUV in the three-vehicle crash that took place on Missouri Highway 86, two miles east of Stark City in Newton County, according to The Joplin Globe.

Deputies from the Missouri State Highway Patrol told reporters the mother, Leticia Verde, 32, of Neosho, was driving her boys over a narrow highway bridge heading westbound, when her Chevrolet Traverse collided with an eastbound tractor-trailer, wrote Ozarks First.

The impact reportedly caused the SUV to cross the center line, at which point their vehicle was hit broadside by a Chevrolet Tahoe, after which the Traverse veered off the road and overturned.

Benjamin Verde, 4, Eric Verde, 7, and Isaac Verde, 2, were pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Globe.

Benjamin was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, Ozarks First reported.

Leticia Verde was transported by ambulance to Mercy Hospital in Joplin with moderate injuries.

Five occupants of the other SUV were also injured in the collision. Shawna Campbell, age undisclosed, was taken by medical helicopter to Mercy Hospital in Joplin with serious injuries, the patrol told the Globe.

Bentley Stephens and Darby Presley, ages undisclosed, and Harley Stephens, 15, were taken by ambulance to Mercy Hospital in Joplin, all with serious injuries. The driver, Michael Stephens, 38, was also taken the hospital by ambulance. He sustained moderate injuries, the Globe reported.
As a childrens literature professor who specializes in the connections between young peoples rights and their reading materials, few things bring me greater joy in December than my university students describing how much theyve learned about the potential of child-centered literature to empower child readers.

Few things, that is, except my own toddler proclaiming Cooooooozy! in the early dusk of a cold December afternoon, after weve finished a particularly satisfying book. Cozy is her highest literary praise.

Heading into the anticipation of more leisurely reading time over the holidays, I want more of that particular joy. Im guessing you do, too.

Beyond steaming cocoa, fuzzy sweaters, and crackling fires, feeling cozy at home indicates a state of exceptional well-being that can only be achieved when childrens rights to protection, provision and participation are being met.

Stories that create a feeling of hygge, the Danish concept of coziness, arent just perfect holiday reading; they may also provide inspirationa vision of how life could or should be, for those whose rights arent currently being met.

Cozy stories are therefore ideal for both perfect and imperfect families alike, especially if your holidays bring more chaos than leisure. You can let the books create the calm.

Here are a few of my favorite wintery read-aloud stories for summoning hygge through the holidays.

Find out what happens to bees, strawberries, and chickens in the winter. This charming description of tucking in a small farm for its hibernation contains all the comfort of a bedtime book. After all, the family is putting the farm to bed.

The illustrationsright down to the end pagesheighten the coziness, which culminates in clinking lights and down quilts of snow. This story seems to tap into an ancient seasonal rhythm, which imbues it with the feeling that alls right with the world.

Written by Eugenie Doyle. Illustrated by Becca Stadtlander. (2016, Chronicle Books)

A familiar classic, this early chapter book is a celebration of the adventures and introspection winter brings. It loses nothing upon reading. And re-reading.

This story provides the most impressive literary interpretation Ive ever read of what one reviewer insightfully dubs haunting quietness. I still remember the varied epiphanies Jannsons masterpiece brought about during my own childhood readings.

So walk along with Moomintroll as he explores lifes more existential questions in the moonlit snowy woods. Oh yes, and theres also jam.

Written and illustrated by Tove Jansson. Translated by Thomas Warburton. (2010, Square Fish)

Whenever you feel like hanging out in the snowy Russian woods with a pack of wolves and a girl whose sass, smarts and spirit can hardly be contained in her wee frame, just pick up this rollicking old-fashioned adventure with a twist.

You may not feel particularly cozy while Feo is battling a nefarious branch of the Russian army in order to rescue her mother.

But her winter adventures with her wolves and newfound gang of plucky companions culminate in a happy ending thats as warming as steamed vanilla milk.

Written by Katherine Rundell. (2016, Simon and Schuster)

The winter holidays dont always bring bliss, not even during a rare snowfall on the Yorkshire coast.

For the Robinson children, Christmas wont bring the sort of something special or something nice that theyre hoping for, so they are reduced to wishing for some luck instead.

Enter a railway journey gone awry, the search for a mysterious Viking sword, and resulting hilarious hijinks.

While things get worse before they get better, the ending is happy enough to melt even the Grinchs heart.

Written by Hilary McKay. Illustrated by Bill Farnsworth. (1999, Margaret K. McElderry)

Hogwarts meets Cirque du Soleil. Join Seb Konstantinov as he journeys to Montreal to save his familys circus by enrolling as a student at the Bonaventure Circus School.

Along the way, he discovers his own special powers, which hes surprised to learn are strong enough to keep a big top up. Teamed up with his newfound buddies, Seb goes through some shenanigans before everything works out.

Theres never a dull moment, but theres time enough to bask in the magic of ice sculptures, sledding, and hot chocolate. This is an updated old-fashioned adventure with all the charm of a classic old Montreal winter.

Written by Rachelle Delaney. (2017, Puffin Canada)

Michelle Superle is an assistant professor at the University of The Fraser Valley. This article was originally published on The Conversation.
The entrance to the Walt Disney World theme park in Orlando, Florida on June 15, 2016. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)

Disney Resorts Discontinue Do Not Disturb Signs That Stopped Employees From Entering Rooms

Several Disney resorts have done away with the Do Not Disturb signs that prevent employees from entering rooms, according to WDWNT.

Those signs have been replaced with a Room Occupied sign, which will not prevent staff from entering a room. In fact, Disney employees are now required to enter each room at least once a day.

The hotel and its staff reserve the right to enter your room for any purposes including, but not limited to, performing maintenance and repairs or checking on the safety and security of guests and property, Disneys updated Terms of Service say.

This means that even guests who decide to pass on room service on a given day will still be subject to a room check.

A popular theory is that the new measures are designed to boost security after the Oct. 1 shooting massacre in Las Vegas, where a lone suspect inside a highrise hotel room fired more than 1,100 rounds into a crowd attending an outdoors music festival below, killing 58 people and injuring more than 500.

The change is already in effect at Grand Floridian, Polynesian, and Contemporary Resorts, also known as the monorail resorts. Guests there received a paper notice about the change. The monorail resorts feature a setup similar to Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas with rooms facing crowded areas on the resorts grounds.

The same changes are expected to roll out to Disneys other resorts in the coming weeks.

The company assured guests that employees will give reasonable notice before entering a room by knocking and announcing themselves.

2017 Year in Review

From NTD.tv
Earlier research claimed to have found traces of the biblical Noah's Ark on a mountain in Turkey, and now a U.S. researcher said he is convinced the ship's remains are there. (Screenshot via Google Maps / CC0)

Does New Evidence Prove Noahs Ark Is Buried on a Turkish Mountain?

Conclusive evidence of the existence of Noahs Ark has eluded ark hunters since time immemorial.

The Bible says the vessel made landfall on the mountains of Ararat in Turkey after 150 days in the water.

A group of explorers affiliated with NAMI, a Hong Kong-based evangelical Christian group, said in 2010 that on Mount Ararat, Turkey, they had found traces of the ancient ship.

Their claims, however, met with a stiff challenge from the broader scientific community.

But a California-based ark hunter now believes there is evidence that the vessel and its occupants did indeed come aground on Mount Ararat, the Daily Mail reported.

Professor Raul Esperante, of the Geoscience Research Institute, was one of 108 scientists from around the world speaking at the three-day International Symposium of Mount Ararat and Noahs Ark in Agri, Turkey, which looked at evidence for the biblical vessels final resting place.

My purpose is to visit the sites around the mountain to find clues about catastrophic events in the past, said Esperante, according to Express.

The Geoscience Research Institute is sponsored by the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Many of the organizations assertions have similarly been met with resistance by the scientific community.

In Search of the Lost Ark

In April 2010, archeologists from NAMI reported that they found an ark that they believed had a 99.9 percent chance of being the ancient biblical artifact known as Noahs Ark, The Epoch Times reported.

The team of 15 researchers who were searching in East Turkey claimed to have found the ark on Mount Ararat 13,000 feet above sea level. One of the team members, documentary filmmaker Wing-cheung Yeung said, Its not 100 percent that it is Noahs Ark, but we think it is 99.9 percent that this is it, reported World Net Daily.

It seems the inside of the ark was equipped with several compartments that the group said could have been used to house animals, while skeptics said they could have been just as easily used to carry weapons or food.

The search team and I personally entered a wooden structure high on the mountain. The structure is partitioned into different spaces. We believe that the wooden structure we entered is the same structure recorded in historical accounts and the same ancient boat indicated by the locals, said NAMI worker Man-fai Yuen.

The team claimed they performed carbon dating tests on the wood and said it was 4,800 years old. If true, this would date it at approximately the time the vessel is said to have been afloat.

No other testing by independent organizations had been done at that time the NAMI team made its claims.

Esperante is convinced of the accuracy of the NAMI teams findings. He urges more rigorous, serious scientific work to support the claims with further empirical proof, wrote the Daily Mail.

He also wants to team up with local scientists on the project.

We have technical resources and we can work together with local experts, he said. Once the scientific community knows about the existence of Noahs Ark on Mount Ararat, we can make it available to the general public.

But Nicholas Purcell of Oxford University calls into question claims that the ark is located on Mount Ararat.

If floodwaters covered Eurasia 12,000 feet [3,700 metres] deep in 2,800 B. C., how did the complex societies of Egypt and Mesopotamia, already many centuries old, keep right on regardless? Purcell asked, according to the Daily Mail.

The legend of Noahs Ark originates from the sixth chapter of the Book of Genesis.

The story goes that Noah was instructed by God to build an ark carrying a male and female of each animal in the region in which Noah lived.

By constructing the ark, Noah saved the animals and a small group of people from a great flood summoned to do away with the morally depraved.

Noahs Ark, the flood is not a myth but a real incident mentioned in all holy books, said Dr. Oktay Belli from Istanbul University, the Daily Mail reported.

And while the flood is considered a historical event, most archeologists and scholars do not believe in a literal interpretation of the Noahs Ark story.

British archaeologist Mike Pitt said after the initial NAMI team findings in 2010 that the evangelical explorers have not yet produced evidence that is conclusive.

If there had been a flood capable of lifting a huge ship 2.5 miles [4 km] up the side of a mountain 4,800 years ago, I think there would be substantial geological evidence for this flood around the world, Pitt said, wrote in the Daily Mail.

According to Pitt, such evidence has simply not been produced.

Yet! some, Esperante among them, might be quick to add.

2017 Year in Review
Erie Smashes State Snowfall Records in Less Than 36 Hours

A blizzard swept through northeast of the country over Christmas and dumped over 50 inches of snow in Pennsylvania in two days, shattering many records.

Erie, Pennsylvania was hammered by a lake-effect snowstorm on Christmas day until Tuesday, Dec. 26, and received 34 inches of snow on Christmas day alone smashing Eries daily snowfall record. The previous record was 20 inches set on Nov. 22, 1956. It then picked up another 19 inches of snow within six hours of the next day which brings the snow total to an incredible 53 inches, according to the National Weather Service.

Erie, PA received 34" of snow on Christmas Day! This is a new all-time daily snowfall record. The previous record was 20" set on 11/22/56. For reference, the greatest 3-day snowfall in Erie was 30.2" (12/29-31/2002), greatest 7-day snowfall is 39.8" (12/27/01-1/2/2002) #pawx  NWS Cleveland (@NWSCLE) December 26, 2017

Erie, PA picked up 19" of new snow from midnight to 6 AM. This brings the storm total to 53" over the past 30 hours, shattering many records. This is the greatest 2-day total in the entire state of PA (prev. record 44" in Morgantown, PA 3/20-21/1958).  NWS Cleveland (@NWSCLE) December 26, 2017

So, since 12 AM Christmas Day, #EriePA has gotten over 55 inches of snow. Their average for December and January COMBINED is just over 57 inches. Here's what Erie looks like right now: pic.twitter.com/NigHc79iGD  Drew (@DrewMacFarlane) December 26, 2017

The heavy onslaught of snow continued into late Tuesday morning, adding a further inch and a half, bringing the total to a whopping 54.5 inches of snow since Christmas day, becoming the greatest 2-day record in Pennsylvania. The previous record was 44 inches, set between March 20 and 21, 1958 at Morgantown.

The 1 PM snow observation at Erie International Airport was 1.5" of new snow since 7 AM. This brings the daily total to 20.5" of snow. The 2-day total since midnight Christmas Day is 54.5" of snow. The storm total since snow began after 7 PM Christmas Eve is 56.5" of snow. #pawx  NWS Cleveland (@NWSCLE) December 26, 2017

This is what 53 of snow in 30 hours looks like.  #EriePA pic.twitter.com/t92FM5akaE  Sabrina Ram (@SabrinaRam_) December 26, 2017

Even more impressive was that Erie picked up more snowfall in less than 36 hours than its 13-day snowfall record of 52.8 inches between Dec. 31, 1998, and Jan. 12, 1999.

This beats the 13-day total snowfall record for Erie, PA. Previous record was 52.8" from 12/31/98-1/12/99.  NWS Cleveland (@NWSCLE) December 26, 2017

When your supposed to go to work but there's literally no road #eriepa pic.twitter.com/9lUHm3iHFz  Sami Jo (@samijoyoo) December 26, 2017

53 of snow in 30 hours  if you want to know what lake effect looks like, here we go! #EriePA  pic.twitter.com/gXjhmtSMZU  mer ?? (@mackfisto) December 26, 2017

According to The Weather Channel, Erie, a northwest city of Pennsylvania with a population of about 100,000, is used to heavy lake-effect snow and is one of Americas snowiest cities with an average of 101 inches of snow a year.

Residents of Erie may be used to heavy snowfall, but 55 inches in just two dayswhich is close to the average of December and January snowfallis something they have never seen before, reported the weather news station.

A snow emergency was declared for the city on Tuesday morning, with authorities encouraging people to avoid unnecessary travel and to use caution and patience if travel is needed, reported Go Erie. Many roads have been given speed restrictions and some roads have restricted commercial vehicles altogether.

Winter weather with heavy snow squalls and gusty winds continue to impact the Erie area of northwestern Pennsylvania. Please avoid any unnecessary travel in that area during this storm. If you must travel, please have patience and use caution.  511PA Erie (@511PAErie) December 26, 2017

Due to the severity of the winter storm, PennDOT is restricting commercial vehicle travel on I-86 & I-90 (NY line to I-79) in Erie County. Please drive safely. Learn more at https://t.co/i48AVMeHph. #PAWinter #DriveSafe #Erie pic.twitter.com/2nmrJVV5jZ  511PA Erie (@511PAErie) December 26, 2017

The snow is expected to continue into Wednesday, Dec. 27.

2017 Year in Review

From NTD.tv
Do you overeat? Did your boyfriend just break up with you? Does no one return your emails? Do you fall asleep at night and wake up in the morning? If so, you may be suffering from mental illness! Mental illness is a highly stigmatized, life-long condition, says Pharma, that millions do not even realize they have and only a pharmaceutical drug can fix. Luckily there are advocacy groups like Glenn Closes Bring Change to Mind and the Pharma-funded front groups, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) to help you.

The elevation of everyday symptoms to mental illness and accusation that sufferers are victims who experience  stigma  is the best thing that ever happened to Pharma.

The elevation of everyday symptoms to mental illness and accusation that sufferers are victims who experience stigma is the best thing that ever happened to Pharma. The charges have enabled it to aggregate and co-opt patients into lobbying groups that appear grassroots for its high-priced, psychiatric drugs. While these groups say they fight the stigma of mental illness, they actually spend their time fighting lawmakers and insurers, at the behest of Pharma, for payment of high-priced drugs. When insurers balk at reimbursing patients for new prescription medications, says the Los Angeles Times, these groups typically swing into action, rallying sufferers to appear before public and consumer panels [and] contact lawmakers.

The patient front groups include the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, which gets half its funding from Pharma according to the Los Angeles Times and NAMI, which received $23 million in just two years from Pharma, according to the Wall Street Journal. In the 1990s, Eli Lilly was NAMIs biggest donor, reported Mother Jones. A woman I interviewed who wants to remain anonymous for medical privacy says she was told by the Chicago NAMI they could not help her with a borderline condition because there was no drug for it. So much for helping patients.

In 2014, NAMI was successful in defeating a White House proposal to limit Medicare coverage of Wellbutrin, Paxil, Prozac, Abilify, Seroquel and other expensive drug classes. The proposal undermines a key protection for some of the sickest, most vulnerable Medicare beneficiaries, said Andrew Sperling, a tear-jerking NAMI lobbyist using the image of elderly victims to give Pharma billions of our taxpayer dollars.

Another group yelling stigma to sell psychiatric drugs is Active Minds which says it is the leading nonprofit organization that empowers students to speak openly about mental health in order to educate others and encourage help -seeking Through campus-wide events and national programs, Active Minds aims to remove the stigma that surrounds mental health issues, and create a comfortable environment for an open conversation about mental health issues on campuses nationwide.

Active Minds calls itself a student group but when I went to the room in the student building at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where the organization was supposed to be headquartered, they were not therenor had a desk clerk in the student union ever heard of them.

Active Minds calls itself a student group but when I went to the room in the student building at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where the organization was supposed to be headquartered, they were not therenor had a desk clerk in the student union ever heard of them. Unlike student groups against climate change or for LGBT rights, Active Minds fancy T-shirts and cagey PR apparatus hardly look grassroots. In fact, the group gets financial support from Eli Lilly, one of the top makers of psychiatric drugs.

After the apparent suicides of two Northwestern University students in 2012, Active Minds and NAMI descended upon the campus decrying stigma and barriers to treatmentspostulating that the students needed psychiatric drugs and did not get them. But press stories never reported whether the students who killed themselves needed the drugs (allegedly) or were on the drugs and suffering from their well documented suicidal side effects, especially in young people. Suicidal side effects also emerge when patients discontinue psychiatric drugs. The deaths looked like shameless sales opportunities by Active Minds and NAMI.

A more recent group yelling stigma and terming eating disorders and everyday anxiety mental illness is Glenn Closes Bring Change to Mind. It has plastered Chicago subways with posters which it calls its PSA campaign. If its high budget, slick commercials selling the idea that everyone, everywhere is mentally ill and a candidate for Pharma drugs are public service announcements why deny Exxon and Monsanto PSAs?

Suicide has risen to 38,000 a year, says USA Today, after falling in the 1990sdespite almost a quarter of the population in some age groups taking antidepressants.

Despite the efforts of NAMI, AFSP, Active Minds and Glenn Closes group, all of which have brought the use of antidepressants to an all time high, the suicide rate in the United States is rising not falling. Suicide has risen to 38,000 a year, says USA Today, after falling in the 1990sdespite almost a quarter of the population in some age groups taking antidepressants. Use of some psychiatric drugs has grown by 700 percent in the military. Shouldnt suicides be going down with so many people on psychiatric drugs?

The truth is the expensive, Wall Street-pleasing drugs which many people stay on for decades, or life, are often ineffectual and sometimes cause the very problems they are supposed to alleviate like suicide. Despite high budget campaigns to convince people they are mentally ill and need psychiatric drugs, the real stigma is increasingly on people who wont accept the Pharma diagnoses or drugs.

Martha Rosenberg is author of the award-cited food expose Born With a Junk Food Deficiency, distributed by Random House. A nationally known muckraker, she has lectured at the university and medical school level and appeared on radio and television.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Epoch Times.
More and more people are going online to search for information about their health. Though it can be a minefield where unverified sources abound, searching the internet can help people to understand their health problems, and give them access to emotional and social support.

For many, getting to actually see a doctor remains difficult, and constraints around appointment times mean that some discussions are often cut short. But by using the internet, patients can prepare for appointments, or follow up on issues that left them with unanswered questions.

But not everyone is so keen on patients using the internet in this way. Some doctors and other health professionals have doubts about the quality and usefulness of the information available. There are also suggestions that cyberchrondria may be fueling a surge in unnecessary tests and appointments.

Similarly, though so many people are using online resources to fill in gaps in their knowledge, or to help them ask the right questions, they may not be comfortable bringing it up in the consulting room.

For our latest research project, we wanted to find out just why it can be so difficult to discuss online information with doctors. We found that in addition to people being embarrassed in case they have misunderstood the information, or cant remember it accurately, they also fear a negative reaction from the doctor, who may perceive them as difficult or challenging.

How to Make It Work

So how can you, as a patient, bring up online information with your doctor? It sounds obvious, but first, you need a good, open relationship with them. Tell them you have been looking online, but ask for their feedback on the information, and for any useful sites they know of. We found that patients with a good doctor relationship felt able to discuss information and ideas from websites and online forums in a considered and critical manner.

Importantly, it is not about the patient trying to be the doctor. Ideally, patients should bring along their information, use it to help explain their key concerns, or detail the options theyve explored, but also make it clear that they still want and value their doctors input.

Some of the patients we spoke to told us that they are acutely aware of their doctors negative feelings toward the internet. In these situations, people can be tempted to disguise the source of their information. They may pretend they got it elsewhere, or be very careful not to reveal its origin at all.

For some people we spoke to, the process of trying to integrate the results of their web searches into their communications with the doctor was frustrating, to say the least. They felt uncomfortable and embarrassed, and sometimes they held back key information. This made for unproductive meetings that were felt to be a waste of time.

This process can definitely be improved. As more appointments are conducted over smartphone rather than face to face, and some doctors admit to using online sources to diagnose patients, the rest of the process needs to catch up with technology.

There needs to be a new and more productive way to integrate online information into doctorpatient discussions. First of all, there should be better ways for patients to collect and organize accurate information online so that they can organize their thoughts and prepare for a visit.

In the consulting room itself, doctors should use the research as an opportunity to have more productive discussions and teach patients about their health issues. Patients need to question the online information source, message, and credibility. But doctors can also use the discussion as an opportunity to nudge patients to think about their health options and consider whats important to them.

Just as a doctor is not solely responsible for the health of a patient, neither is the patient themselves. Internet research can no longer be dismissed. Even if inaccurate, it can help build a better relationship between patient and doctor, and give them both a better way to manage health in the modern world.

Elizabeth Sillence is a senior lecturer of psychology and Lauren Georgia Bussey is a researcher and demonstrator at Northumbria University in England. This article was originally published on The Conversation.
Six precious days of winter session of Parliament got disrupted as Congress created ruckus demanding PM Modi's apology for his remarks on Manmohan Singh. Ironically, Congress had cried foul over delay in convening the session.

By Kumar Shakti Shekhar: The deadlock over functioning of winter session of Parliament got resolved today. Ironically, the Congress party that had cried foul over delay in convening the winter session was also the main reason for not letting it function smoothly.

In a bid to allow Parliament to function smoothly, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today made a statement over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks on his predecessor Manmohan Singh and others during the run-up to the recently-concluded Gujarat Assembly election.

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However, precious time of the winter session of Parliament already got wasted due to the ruckus created by the Opposition, particularly the Congress party, while demanding an apology from Modi.

During his election rallies in Gujarat, PM Modi had accused his predecessor, former vice-president Hamid Ansari and diplomats of conspiring with Pakistan for the state poll.

The Congress disrupted Parliament demanding apology from Modi for his remarks. In the process, governance became a victim.

Instead of targeting Parliament, the Congress could have filed defamation cases against PM Modi if it genuinely was outraged over his remarks. This move would have been more logical because Modi's comments were made outside Parliament and also when it was not in session.

But directing their anger at Parliament perhaps was not the most suitable step. As it is, the winter session is not a long one. It will have a total of 14 sittings spread over a period of 21 days.

On the other hand, it has substantial business at hand. While 25 Bills are pending in the Lok Sabha, including a bill providing Muslim women the right to seek maintenance in case of triple talaq, 39 are pending in the Rajya Sabha. It includes a key bill seeking to grant constitutional status to the backward castes commission.

The Bill criminalising triple talaq is likely to be introduced in the Lok Sabha tomorrow. The BJP has issued whip for the passage of the Bill.

But six precious days have already gone down the drain wasting Parliament's time and the exchequer's money. So far hardly any substantial business has been held in both the houses of Parliament.

IRONY OF THE SITUATION

This is ironical because the Opposition had been vociferous in its demand to hold winter session in time. The Congress and the BJP had sparred over the deferment of the session.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi had accused the prime minister of delaying the winter session of Parliament on "flimsy grounds". Senior Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mallikarjun Kharge and Anand Sharma targeted the government, claiming that it did not want to face the Opposition over "scams" linked to Rafale deal, the GST and demonestisation.

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The Congress went to the extent of seeking President Ram Nath Kovind's intervention in convening the winter session of Parliament "at the earliest". In a letter to the president, the Congress Parliamentary Party said the apparent reason "informally" mentioned by the government for the delay was the Assembly elections in Gujarat.

The BJP-led NDA government countered Congress's charge. Jaitley said Parliament sessions have been delayed in the past as well by the Congress.

The BJP sought to remind the Congress said it has been an "established tradition" to schedule session so that its schedule does not clash with state polls.

The ruling party further said delays had also happened when Indira Gandhi and Chandra Shekhar were prime ministers and the sessions had started twice after Christmas. The winter session was held in December in 2008 and 2013, it added.

HOPE AT LAST

That the Congress was not very serious about the PM's remarks can be understood from its constant climbing down on the issue. First it was adamant on the PM's apology.

When it did not come about, they diluted it to the demand that Modi could just say that he did not mean what he said and that the allegations were made in the heat and dust of elections.

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When the PM did not yield to the Congress' tweaked demand, the Congress was forced to satisfy itself with a statement from Jaitley.

The finance minister who is also the leader of Rajya Sabha, today said the PM in his speeches neither questioned nor meant to question the commitment to this nation of either Manmohan Singh or Ansari. Any such perception is erroneous and the government holds these leaders in high esteem.

Accepting Jaitley's gesture, Leader of Opposition in the Upper House Ghulam Nabi Azad thanked him for the clarification. Referring to Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar's disparaging "neech aadmi" remarks for Modi, Azad said the party disassociates from such comments made by any member during elections and which may have hurt the PM's dignity.

However, earlier both the house witnessed noisy scenes over Union minister Anant Kumar Hegde's comments on the Constitution. While the Opposition demanded the minister's apology, the treasury benches defended him saying his comments were misconstrued.

PAST ALSO NOT PERFECT

Why only the Congress? Even the BJP was guilty of creating pandemonium in Parliament. It had raised a storm in Parliament in the wake of the 2G spectrum allocation scam. As a result, a whole winter session of Parliament was washed out in 2012.

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The BJP had constantly disrupted the proceedings of both houses of Parliament when it was in the opposition.

The Congress seems to have taken a cue from the BJP and repaying it in the same coin with scarce regard for public money and perception.

--- ENDS ---
Husband and Wife Each Become Christmas Eve Heroes

Crystal, Tori, and Roger Travis gave different random strangers some amazing and very important Christmas gifts this year.

The Travis family, of Cleveland County, North Carolina, will always remember Christmas Eve, 2017 as the day they gave life and safety to others.

Saving a Familys Christmas From the Flames

The day started normally enough. While Roger Travis stayed home, his wife Crystal and their 14-year-old daughter Tori went to visit relatives.



On the way home Crystal passed a house which seemed to be on fire. At first, she couldnt be sure if the house was aflame or if there was a bonfire in the front yard, she told CNN. As she got closer, she saw flames erupting through the roof, WSOCTV reported.

Crystal drove right into the homes front yard. As she stopped, she saw a woman run out of the house with an infant in her arms. The woman handed the baby to a neighbor.

Crystal and Tori leaped from the car and rushed over to help. As they approached the front of the house they saw a man throwing clothing and Christmas presents onto the front lawn.

Crystal and Tori grabbed whatever they could and carried it out of range of the fire. Then the homes propane tanks exploded.

I couldnt really tell at first and then I realized yea, this house is on fire, Crystal Travis told WSOCTV. Then, all of the sudden, the propane tank on the porch explodes. It shakes the ground, and you can feel it. Theres smoke everywhere. Its hard to breathe.

Crystal Travis called 911 and waited for the fire department to arrive. The family managed to save some of their Christmas gifts so the children could have some holiday happiness.



It was just all really fast, really chaotic, Crystal Travis said. Just really glad they were able to make it out.

Coughing and wheezing from smoke inhalation, Tori called her father Randy Travis and suggested meeting him at a local Applebees for lunch.

To Crystal and Tori, what they did was no big deal. The scene was not as sensational as everyone sayswe just stopped to help when we saw fire, Crystal told CNN.

Roadside Rescue

Randy Travis runs a roofing business. Before that he worked as a fireman and EMT in Cleveland and Catawba Countiesexperience which came in handy on his way to Applebees.

Travis saw a vehicle parked on the median near Hickory Mall. At first, he thought it might be a traffic accident. Then he saw an infant lying on the ground, with people all around.

Traviss training kicked in. He ran over to the baby and immediately began performing CPR. With the aid of another firefighter, Travis was able to get the boy breathing again.

It looked like there was a traffic accident in the front of the mall, Roger Travis told WSOCTV. We did get a pulse. The child was crying.



Travis says he is not a hero. A hero puts themselves in harms way, sacrifices their life for someone else, he told CNN. Im just doing what I was trained to do.

I was the right person at the right time for that person in need.

He and his wife see not heroism, but divine interventiona Christmas miracle.

We were like, What are the odds? This is the craziest day ever, Crystal Travis said.

God put us at the right moment, at the right time, for the people that needed us the most, Roger Travis said.



From NTD.tv
An aerial view of the Old City of Jerusalem on Sept. 24, 2002. (Gali Tibbon/AFP/Getty Images)

Israel to Name Train Station Next to Western Wall After Trump

Israels government has decided to honor President Donald Trump by naming a train station next to Judaisms holiest prayer site, the Western Wall in Jerusalem, after him.

The Western Wall is the holiest place for the Jewish people, and I decided to name the train station that leads to it after president Trumpfollowing his historic and brave decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel, said Transportation Minister Israel Katz, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Trump announced earlier this month that the United States would officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move its embassy there.

The United States had been required to do so by law since 1995, but previous presidents used special waivers to postpone the move.

President Trump also became the first sitting U.S. President to visit the Western Wall in May.

President Donald Trump prays at the Western wall in Jerusalem on May 22, 2017. (RONEN ZVULUN/AFP/Getty Images)

During his visit, Trump wore a black yarmulke, and laid his hand on the wall as he prayed for wisdom from God.

On the trip, he was accompanied by his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who is an Orthodox Jew, and daughter Ivanka, who converted to Judaism in 2009.

The train station that will be named after Trump will be part of an extension of the railway that goes from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The project will include the construction of two underground stations and a 1.8-mile-long tunnel. The project is estimated to cost almost $720 million and is expected to be finished in five years.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem on Dec. 11, 2016. (Abir Sultan, Pool)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly praised Trump for his support of Israel.

Relations between the United States and Israel had grown tense under former President Barack Obama, especially following the passing of the Iran nuclear deal in 2015.

Under the deal, Iran is set to be able to acquire a nuclear weapon by 2026 as key limitations on uranium enrichment are then lifted.

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, May 20, 2011. (JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)

Iran frequently calls for the destruction of both Israel and the United States.

Despite the nuclear agreement, Iran has continued to develop its ballistic missile technology. Under the existing agreement, the development of the technology is not covered, something Trump has said he intends to include in a renegotiated deal.

Following Trumps speech at the 72nd U.N. General Assembly in September, Netanyahu said that: In over 30 years in my experience with the U.N., I never heard a bolder or more courageous speech.

Melania Trumps First Year as First Lady
Man Who Killed Mother and Daughter in Car Crash on Christmas Day May Have Been on Drugs

A mother and daughter were killed on Christmas Day when a man who police believe was on drugs allegedly struck their car.

Karin and Makayla Tritton were traveling to visit relatives in east Brisbane, Australia, when a black BMW veered over the middle of the road, hit a tree, and then hit their car at around 11 a.m.

Two passing doctors attempted to save Makalya, 18, using CPR, but both mother and daughter died on the scene.

One police sergeant who witnessed the aftermath of the crash described it as very, very difficult to deal with.

A number of police officers were crying, said Road Policing Command Superintendent David Johnson, according to 9 News.

Police also had the difficult task of answering one of the family members phones and speaking to a relative waiting for the Trittons at a Christmas lunch nearby.

Makaylas sister Tarmeka, 23, and father Lawrence, 55, both survived the crash and were taken to hospital. They are expected to make full recoveries, according to SBS News.

Tributes to Makalya poured in following the news of her death.

She was a well-known member of the ten-pin bowling community in northern Brisbane, with Strathpine Hyper Bowl saying in a statement: Makayla was the golden child to all of us here and always will be.

We loved her with all our hearts and always will  We wish our deepest condolences to the Tritton family.

A GoFundMe page set up to help the family had raised more than $8,500 of a $5,000 goal just a day after it was started.

The driver of the BMW, 46-year-old Mark Veneris, was left with serious injuries and was taken to hospital.

According to police he admitted having a history of alcohol and drug addiction, and a drug pipe was also allegedly found in his car, reported 9 News.

A drug test has been carried out to assess whether he was under the influence of drugs during the crash.

He was granted bail on Dec. 26 and is scheduled to appear before a court on Jan. 15.

The roads around Queensland, Australia are dangerous at this time of year, with 275 drivers testing positive for drink and drug driving, according to 9 News.
Man Whose Wife of 38 Years Was Mauled by Pit Bulls Blames Dogs Owner

A Kentucky man whose wife of 38 years was fatally mauled by two pit bulls on Christmas Eve is blaming the death of his loved one on the dogs owner.

Im sure he will see this, John Saylor told WATE. I hope he does. Hes responsible for my wifes death.

Saylors wife, 66-year-old Lorraine Brock Saylor, went out to feed her cats on Sunday but took longer than usual. Saylor went outside to check on her and was attacked by two pit bulls, Fox News reported.

Saylor fought the dogs off, went inside his home, grabbed a gun and came back outside. When he returned he found his wifes lifeless body.

She was weak and about 105 pounds, Saylor said. I said, Oh God! Oh no! Please no! I checked her pulse just in case.

Saylor ended up shooting one of the pit bulls while the other escaped. He suffered 20 bites during the fight and was taken to a hospital.

As he recovered at home, Saylor said he was heartbroken about his wife death and that he never thought she would die in such a tragic way.

She was a kind-hearted woman, Saylor said. I remember the last time I kissed her on the forehead not knowing that would be my last kiss.

Police identified Johnny Dale Lankford, 42, as the owner of the two pit bulls. Lankford was already at a local jailhouse at the time of the attack, facing charges including domestic violence and unlawful imprisonment.

Lankford now faces an additional charge of harboring a vicious animal.

Bell County Sheriffs Department received a call at 10:20 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 24, about someones brother and sister-in-law being attacked by dogs.

Sheriffs deputies arrived at the location of the incident on Highway 66 in the Wiser Branch area in Arjay and discovered a woman and her husband had been savagely attacked by two pit bulls, Lex 18 reported citing a department press release.

Arjay is 160 miles southeast of Louisville.

Lorraine Brock Saylor suffered severe injuries and died at the scene, USA Today reported citing sheriffs deputies.

Johnny Saylor, Lorraine Saylors husband, shows us the jacket he was wearing when 2 pit bulls attacked him. Lorraine did not survive. Johnny says this jacket saved his life. @LEX18News pic.twitter.com/c2GQv7bhiN  Jacqueline Nie (@JacquelineLEX18) December 26, 2017

Ill never forget, as long as I live. I looked over toward the front porch and she was laying, Saylor told Lex 18. I screamed my baby, my baby.

Police continued to search for the second dog until it returned home about 2 p.m. on Sunday. The dog was taken to Bell County Animal Control and was reportedly later put down.

I seen the dogs before. They always had bloody ears. About 6, about 4 months ago, Lankfords uncle, Ulyess Lankford, told Lex 18. They had bloody ears where they been fighting. Theres a lot of dogs like that in these hollers.

2017 Year in Review

From NTD.tv
This overpassIndiana Avenue over the southbound lane of I-75 in Toledowas the site of a lethal assault. (ScreenshotBing Maps)

Ohio Teens Face Murder Charges After Dropping Sandbag off Highway Overpass

Four Ohio teenagersthree 14-year-olds, and one only 13have been charged with murder after dropping a sandbag onto a car from an I-75 overpass on Dec. 19.

The teens were originally charged with felonious assault. When their victim died on Dec. 22, prosecutors upped the charges.



Sean Carter, 14, Williams Parker, 14, Demetrius Wimberly, 14, and Pedro Salinas, 13, will probably be tried in juvenile court, prosecutors told CBS News.

Along with the murder charges, the teens face charges of felony vehicular vandalism.

Apparently, they were dropping objects on passing cars just for fun. None of the boys seemed to realize the potentially disastrous consequences.

Its not fun and games. I mean, people are losing their lives, Police Commissioner Bill Dwyer of Warren, Michigan told CBS. And the consequences for these kids that think its fun and games and a prank, theyre gonna go to prison.

Random Victim

According to police, the four teens had thrown various items off the overpass, local media reported. When the vehicle carrying 22-year-old Marquise Byrd passed underneath the Indiana Avenue overpass in Toledo at about 10 p.m. on Dec. 19, the teens dropped a sandbag.

The sandbag struck the passenger side of the windshield of the car, driving the composite-glass sheet into Byrds forehead.

The driver immediately called 911.

I dont know what happened! My friend, I dont know what happened, hes not moving! the driver told the 911 operator. Something hit my car. And hit my friend. And he is not moving!

OK, you dont know what hit him? the operator asked.

No, my windshield is, like, smashed up.  He is laid out on my seat. I think the windshield might have smacked his head, the frantic driver replied.

Byrd was survived by a year-old son and a fiancee.

Not an Isolated Incident

Tragically, similar acts led to the same result just two months ago in Vienna Township, about 80 miles north of Detroit, Michigan. Marquise Byrd, who lived in Warren, Michigan, had quite possibly heard about the incident.

In that incident, five teens were throwing rocks and other objects off an overpass over the same road, Interstate 75. They too struck a driver and killed him.

Those five teens were older and will face heavier penalties. Kyle Anger, Alexander Miller, Mark Sekelsky, Mikadyn Payne, and Trevor Gray were charged with second-degree murder as adults, Fox 2 reported.

The driver they struck, 32-year-old Kenneth White of Mount Morris, Michigan, was on his way home to his four children on Oct. 18 when a rock crashed through his windshield and killed him.

He was living his life. He wasnt doing anything wrong. He was coming home to his family, and because of them, he didnt make it home, Whites sister-in-law Kristina Cagle told Fox 2.

These kids  Couldnt they just go skip rocks on the river or something instead of doing something so senseless? They took away somebodys father, somebodys son, and were never going to get that back, Cagle continued. Because of a joke. Because of some kind of prank gone wrong or whatever. Its no laughing matter. Nobodys laughing.

From NTD.tv
Plane Blown Off Runway in Malta, Smashes Into Building

A parked plane was blown off an airport loading area at the Malta International Airport in Malta on Wednesday night, smashing its nose into a building.

The plane hit a local construction companys building.

It seems like it was the result of the strong winds. The building didnt sustain major damage, but we presume the aircraft did, Polidano Groups legal representative, Jean Paul Sammut, told Times of Malta.

The planea Dassault Falcon 7Xwas unmanned, the report said.

The strong winds may have blown away a wheel caulk that prevents it from moving, according to Malta Today.

The plane then slid down a slope and hit the offices.

The jet is registered in Belize, and it appears to belong to Michael Ashcroft, one of the richest people in the world, the reports said. Known as Baron Ashcroft, he was the former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party.

When Ashcroft learned the news, he took it as expected.

Local police and armed forces arrived at the site and closed the road off to traffic, according to Lovin Malta.

Melania Trumps First Year as First Lady
Police: California Couple Used Drone to Deliver Drugs

Drone sightings led police to a drug arrest early this week.

A California couple was charged on Tuesday, Dec. 26, after they allegedly used a drone to deliver drugs to their customers. At the same time, a 9-year-old girl lived in their home filled with drugs, according to the Riverside Police Department.

Benjamin Baldassarre, 39 and Ashley Carroll, 31, both from the city of Riverside, were arrested and charged with: possession of controlled substances, possession of controlled substances for the purposes of sales, conspiracy to commit a crime, and child endangerment.

According to City News Service, Ashley pleaded not guilty to all charges during a court appearance on Tuesday. She was being held on a $100,000 bail. Benjamins arraignment was rescheduled to Wednesday.

Early in December, the departments narcotics unit discovered a drone leaving the rear yard of a residence located in the 8700 block of Chesapeake Lane. They observed the drone flying to a nearby parking lot and dropping off a small package of drugs, which were taken by waiting customers.

Its not clear what model of drone the suspect used.

The unit then executed a search warrant at the resident on Thursday, Dec. 21, where the police immediately noticed that the house posed a high danger risk to the officers and occupants living inside, according to police.

Numerous used and uncapped hypodermic syringes were scattered throughout a bedroom along with unpackaged powders believed to contain fentanyl. Detectives also located methamphetamine and suspected LSD laced candies, as well as the drone used for the delivery of the illegal narcotics, police said in a press release.

During the investigation, police also discovered a 9-year-old girlwho was not related to the suspectsliving at the same residence. A vape pen containing marijuana was found in her bedroom, which authorities believe was left there by the two suspects.

The girl was later released to her biological mother after the Riverside Child Protective Services responded.

According to Fox News, both Baldassarre and Carroll were charged in a previous drug-related case that was still unresolved, according to court documents. In the past, Baldassarre was also convicted of driving under the influence of drugs and being under the influence of a controlled substance.

From NTD.tv

2017 Year in Review
Police Officer Saves Injured Bald Eagle on Christmas Eve

Lt. Jeff Wood was working Christmas Eve at the Charles County Sheriffs Office in Maryland when he received a call to rescue an American icon. A bald eagle was found on the side of a road in Bryantown, the sheriffs office stated.

Wood, not only a shift commander but also a falconer, gathered his gear and made his way to the scene. The nearly 12-pound female bird of prey allowed itself to be gently scooped up by Wood and placed in a transport box.

Wood took the eagle to Owl Moon Raptor Center in Boyds about 70 miles away.

Turns out this beautiful creature had a broken right wing, the sheriffs office stated on Facebook.

The eagle may have fractured its coracoid bonewhich connects the shoulder to the breastplatedue to striking a power line, suspected Suzanne Shoemaker, director of the Owl Moon Raptor Center, according to Fox News. The bone is necessary for flying and so the eagles wing was wrapped to make it immobile while the bird faces a two-month recovery.

The eagle might have to be euthanized if it wont recover, Shoemaker said, because caring for the birds is expensive and complicated.

But its condition has been improving and Shoemaker said she was optimistic.

If theres any hope, she will be given a full attempt to recover and be released, she told Fox.

The Owl Moon Raptor Center receives about 200 birds of prey a year but focuses on emergency care. The eagle will therefore be moved to Tri-State Bird Rescue for the rest of its recovery.

The bird is about 40 inches long and can squeeze with the strength of up to 400 pounds of pressure with its talonsabout 10 times the strength of a human hand.

While she was very sweet, Lt. Wood took precautions and wore full protective gear to gently handle her, the sheriffs office stated. Maybe we can call her Noel.

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People gather outside a supermarket after an explosion in St Petersburg, Russia on Dec. 27, 2017. (REUTERS/Anton Vaganov)

Reports: Explosion Hits St. Petersburg, Russia Supermarket, 10 Injured

A reported explosion injured at least 10 people inside a St. Petersburg, Russia, supermarket.

According to RT, There was a bang. Emergency personnel are already on the scene. The evacuation has been completed, and there was no fire, a local Emergencies Ministry official said.

#BREAKING: Explosion inside a shopping mall in Saint Petersburg #Russia, almost 10 injuries pic.twitter.com/iu4p6MmcCY  Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) December 27, 2017

At least 50 people were evacuated from the building.

#BREAKING Blast in supermarket in Saint Petersburg, Russia, several injured: police  AFP news agency (@AFP) December 27, 2017

The explosion occurred in a storage locker.

Officials are treating the explosion as a potential mass killing attempt.

BREAKING: At least 10 people have been injured in an explosion at a shop located in a Shopping mall in St Petersburg, Russia, initial reports indicate the explosion was in a storage room pic.twitter.com/0OXn4oO4Kh  News_Executive (@News_Executive) December 27, 2017

Sources said that the explosion was the equivalent of 200 grams of TNT, RT reported.

Melania Trumps First Year as First Lady

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Retired Chicago Police Officer Killed for His Generosity

A man who finally retired after surviving two tours in Vietnam and 34 years walking a beat on the streets of Chicago met his end at the hands of a man he was trying to help.

Chester Hornowski lived a tough life, but never lost his compassion. In Chicago, and later in the tiny town of Mountain Home, Arkansas, Hornowski ran a low-budget rooming house where people who were down on their luck could stay while working to make a fresh start.

According to Officer.com, Hornowski, 71, was discussing a noise complaint with one of his tenants on Dec. 5 when the tenant lost his temper and became violent.

That tenant, 59-year-old Robert Dean Penny, grabbed his .22 caliber pistol and fired 18 shots into Hornowskis face, hands, and body. Penny then reloaded and shot Hornowski four more times.

Baxter County deputies visited the boarding house in response to a call about a possible shooting. Just as they drove up Penny was trying to flee in his pickup truck. Penny drove right at the officers. Two of them fired at his truck to stop it. Penny crashed into one of the deputys vehicles and the deputies took him into custody.

Penny was charged with first-degree murder and remains incarcerated at Baxter County Jail.

A Long Career, Hopes for a Peaceful Retirement

Mountain View, 20 miles from the border with Missouri, has become a haven for retired Chicago policemena community where they could retire and be among friends. The community is similar to Californias Simi Valleya place where people who have spent a career dealing with crime and criminals can swap stories with others who can understand.

Hornowskis rooming house wasnt about making money, said George Mocodeanu, who grew up with Hornowski in Old Irving Park. It was all about helping people who needed shelter from the storm.

Mocodeanu said he spent many mornings during the 19790s and 1980s sitting in Hornowskis patrol car, sipping coffee and talking politics.

He was like a big brother to me, Mocodeanu told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Hornowski spent 34 years on the streets of Chicago as a police officer, and also served 36 years in the National Guard, retiring in 2001. After that, he began to take his interests in politics more seriously.

Hornowski ran for several elected positions including mayor, alderman, and the state and federal Congress. The only race he ever won was for 35th Ward Republican committeeman.

A Desire to Help Others

Tina Butler was another longtime friend of Hornowskis. A retired City Council sergeant-at-arms, Butler spent much of her life working for Alderman Richard Mell in Chicagos 33rd Ward. She, like George Mocodeanu, remembered Hornowski like a brother.

Butler said Hornowski kept trying to win elections not to gain power, but to improve his community. As an officer policing the streets, he had a lot of experience dealing with the real problems people faced every day, and he thought he could use that knowledge to help his neighbors.

It was not ego, Butler averred. It was because he wanted to be in a position where he could help more people.

What Im good at is law enforcement, Hornowski told the Chicago Sun-Times during a failed run for 35th Ward alderman in 1991. I know how to bridge the gap between the community and law enforcement.

While he might not have succeeded in politics, he was a very good beat policeman, Butler stated.

He could defuse a situation with humor and calm, or toughness if he needed it.

The irony of Hornowski surviving the Vietnam War, and more than three decades as a policeman on the streets of Chicago, only to die at the hands of a drifter in rural Arkansas, was not lost on his friend Tina Butler.

Heres a guy who puts his life on the line in the jungle [as a Marine]. He puts his life on the line for 34 years on the streets of Chicago. And hes killed in Arkansas by a guy hes trying to help, she said. Its devastating.

From NTD.tv

2017 Year in Review
By PTI: Mumbai, Dec 27 (PTI) A 45-year-old woman doctor was found dead in her flat in the western suburb of Amboli, police said today.

A case of accidental death has been registered in this connection, police said.

Dr Poonam Satpute, a gynaecologist, was found dead in the second floor flat at Karamveer Apartment in RTO Lane in Amboli area last night, senior inspector of Amboli police station, Bhaskar Gaikwad, said.

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"Dr Satpute stayed alone in the flat and the incident came to light last night when her neighbours complained of foul smell emanating from her residence and then informed the police," he said.

Police rushed to the spot and broke open the door, where they found the doctors body, which had started decomposing, Gaikwad added.

According to the officer, Dr Satpute was a diabetic.

The body was taken to a state-run hospital, where the post-mortem was conducted, he said.

"A case of accidental death has been registered after the post-mortem confirmed that it was a natural death," he said.

Police have informed her husband and son, who stay in Chennai and also her parents.

Further investigation into the case is on, Gaikwad said. PTI DC NP RYS

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Inclement weather in the UK has paralysed traffic, grounded planes and left tens of thousands in blackout conditions. (Stock photo via CC0)

Snow Strikes UK, Grounding Planes, Closing Highways and Leaving 24,000 Without Power

Snowstorms have hit the UK on the night of Dec. 26 and morning of Dec. 27, paralysing traffic on major thoroughfares, leaving thousands of homes without power, and causing flight delays and possible cancellations.

Highways England has multiple traffic advisories on its website, with severe delays expected on the A30.

The A30 in Cornwall is closed both directions between the A3074 and the B3301 due to an incident, it warns.

Devon and Cornwall police are urging drivers to take extra care following a series of crashes, ITV reported.

Devon and Cornwall Police urges drivers to slow down following series of crashes https://t.co/rbcZHQVwj4 pic.twitter.com/FuFEvLCSue  ITV News WestCountry (@itvwestcountry) December 27, 2017

Severe weather conditions are affecting the A14 highway in both directions between the M6/M1 and J3, Northamptonshire Police say.

Well its stopped snowing on the #A14  been here 5 hours and snow is so bad nothing is moving any time soon, need a #LandRover pic.twitter.com/TZoxf5nrX5  bigtrucker (@sjgudge) December 27, 2017

Authorities are urging drivers to seek alternative routes.

Severe delays on the A14 between J8 and the M1 are being caused by a number of broken down HGVs. One lane is open and Highways England has all available resources out to clear the traffic. Police 44 vehicles continue to check on the welfare of those stuck in stationary traffic, police said.

A transport truck crash had closed all three lanes of the M1 highway southbound before junction 19, as reported by SkyNews.

Police told reporters the accident was likely caused by the poor driving conditions.

There has been an accident involving a lorry. Unfortunately, all lanes are currently blocked. Police and Highways are aware and are currently dealing. Please make alternative travel arrangements. Updates to follow, police tweeted, according to SkyNews.

Another accident had closed the M5 in Gloucestershire. The police tweeted this photo along with a warning to avoid driving in the area if possible.

RTC from this evening. Please take care and only drive if necessary #m5 #gloucestershire pic.twitter.com/WoBBN9H3uD  Force Control Room (@GlosPolice_FCR) December 27, 2017

Passengers flying out of Stansted Airport were reportedly delayed as the runway was closed temporarily for safety checks.

Luton Airport issued a warning to travellers to expect possible delays and/or cancellations due to sleet and snow. Passengers are also advised to check with their airline for current flight status.

10.30 Weather update  Wednesday 27th December 2017 https://t.co/yXjaTxM19s via @mynewsdesk_uk  London Luton Airport (@LDNLutonAirport) December 27, 2017

A delay of over two hours reportedly affected Luton passengers to allow for plane de-icing.

Birmingham Airport flights were suspended in the early hours of Wednesday, with passengers being requested to check with airlines for flight status updates.

Flights are currently suspended at Birmingham Airport, due to snow on the runway. Passengers are advised to check with their airline before setting off. pic.twitter.com/szPyEGkNLw  Birmingham Updates (@BhamUpdates) December 27, 2017

Some flights due to land at Birmingham were apparently put on holding patterns to allow for runways to be cleared or for possible diversion to backup airports.

Western Power Distribution (WPD) confirmed nearly 14,000 homes were without electricity across southwestern and central parts of the country, according to SkyNews.

Here is a WPD incident map.

Because of the #snow there are #powercuts all over the region. Here is the current Western Power Distribution incident map. here is their website if you need help. https://t.co/IfGEEOKAyM pic.twitter.com/raBGBl6R7Z  Ken Goodwin (@KenGoodwinITV) December 27, 2017

In addition, power supply company SSE stated that approximately 10,000 of its customers are without power, according to the news outlet.

Britains Environment Agency has also reportedly issued 14 flood warning and 96 flood alerts.

2017 Year in Review
Tragic Details Emerge on Crash That Killed Teen Mom and 7-Month-Old Son on Christmas Eve

A 19-year-old Louisiana woman and her 7-month old son were killed in a fiery crash on Christmas Eve after a drunk driver fleeing the scene of another crash slammed into their vehicle, police say.

Hours after the crash, heartwrenching details began to emerge. The womans father told a local television that 19-year-old Shelly Mulkey was two-months pregnant.

A two-month old child in my daughters belly that I never get to see, the womans father told WDSU. My baby girl was my life. She was my world.

Making the tragedy even harder to stomach, Mulkeys boyfriend, Ryan McCollum, had proposed to her on the morning of the day that she died.

McCollum and Mulkey were driving together with their baby, Ryan McCollum Jr., in the back seat, when a car crashed into them just before 9 p.m. on Sunday.

The impact of the wreck ruptured the gas tank in their car and caused it to catch on fire. Neighbors heard a loud bang and scrambled out of their homes to help.

Those who came to the rescue tried to rescue Mulkey but she didnt make it. Meanwhile, no one knew that her 7-month-old boy was in the back seat as the car burned.

He was always smiling always laughing at us. Happy as can be, McCollum told WCVB about his son. Even if he just woke up hed still be smiling and laughing at you.

McCollum survived the crash and was rushed to a hospital.

Theyre going to have the most beautiful Christmas right now in heaven, a neighbor who rushed out to help said to Mulkeys mother, WDSU reported. Thats the only thing I could tell her to try to like console her.

Police identified Jillian Ramsay, 36, as the driver of the other vehicle. She was at the Tangipahoa Parish Jail facing multiple felony charges as of Wednesday morning.

Mulkeys sister, Megan, started a GoFundMe campaign to help handle funeral expenses.

Shelly was 19 years old very outgoing beautiful young lady and had her whole life ahead of her & my sweet nephew Jr was 7 months old and was the happiest baby you would ever meet his smile lit up the whole room when you would see him, Megan wrote on GoFundMe.

2017 Year in Review

From NTD.tv
Two Mothers Arrested After Six Kids Were Found in a Home Full of Feces

Two South Carolina moms are facing charges after multiple children were found living in a home filled with trash, liquor bottles, and feces, according to police.

Authorities were called to a home on Greenville Highway, Lyman, where they found six young children, all appeared to be under 5 years of age, in various states of undressed playing in the front yard unsupervised on Dec. 15, reported Fox Carolina, citing an incident report.

An officer found pieces of a broken mirror and other glass on the ground in the yard. Three of the childrens diapers were so soiled that they were dropping, according to the incident report.

The oldest child told the officer that his parents were not home but his aunt was in the house. When the officer entered the residence he found 27-year-old Fallon Stowell completely covered with a blanket on the couch, reported the news station.

According to the report, the officer noticed the home was full of trash, liquor bottles, and feces on the floor. There was spoiled food and dirty dishes in the kitchen and a crib with extremely soiled bedding, the officer said.

The officer also found a lit candle on the couch and a multicolored bong with narcotic residue.

The Department of Social Services responded to the incident and the six children were placed in emergency protective custody.

Logan Stowell, 26, eventually returned to the home, which she shares with Fallon. Both women are single parents to three of the children, reported the news station, citing the incident report.

The two women were arrested and booked into Spartanburg County Detention Center. They have been charged with cruelty to children and possession of drug paraphernalia and were released the next day, according to police records.

In a similar case in October, a couple from North Carolina was arrested and charged with multiple counts of child abuse after seven children were found living in poor conditions, reported KPLR11.

Michael Patrick McKnight, 24, and Jamie Leigh Hiatt, 24 from Lexington were charged with felony neglect-child abuse involving serious injury and six counts of misdemeanor child abuse.

The children were aged between 1 and 6 and were subjected to filthy and unhealthy living conditions. One of the children was found with maggots in their diaper, according to the staff at the Lexington Medical Center, reported the news station.

From NTD.tv

Recommended video: 2017 Year in Review
Woman Tore Paintings Off the Wall With Her Hands at Mansion of Prominent Lawyer, Say Police

A woman from Dallas allegedly destroyed over $300,000 worth of artwork belonging to a well-known lawyer.

According to police, Lindy Lou Layman, 29, destroyed three paintings and two abstract sculptures at the mansion of Anthony Buzbee in River Oaks, Texas.

In the criminal complaint, Layman tore paintings off the wall with her hands and threw the sculptures across the room, Dallas News reported. Authorities say she also poured liquid on the paintings.

Layman was charged with felony criminal mischief on Saturday. She was released from Harris County Jail after posting a bond of $30,000 and will appear in court on Thursday, Dec. 28.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Layman is a freelance court reporter.

Buzbee is a high-profile attorney who hosted a fundraiser at his home for then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Another fundraiser in the home raised $100,000 for Houston mayoral candidate Adrian Garcia in 2014.

In 2009 he won a landmark case against oil giant BP, securing $100 million for Texas residents affected by toxic discharge from a local BP plant. It was the largest win against BP and raised Buzbees profile, despite a federal judge later cutting the award by $99 million.

Buzbees home was listed at $14 million when he bought it, but is now worth $9.4 million, according to the Daily Mail.

Three months ago, Buzbee became embroiled in a dispute with the River Oaks Property Owners group after he bought a World War II tank for $600,000 and parked it outside his mansion. They said the tank caused serious concerns for neighbors, according to KHOU.

The tank can still be viewed in this Google Street View image of Buzbees home:
NORWALK  More than 1,700 students displaced from Puerto Rico have been enrolled in Connecticut schools, with more arriving every week.

As of November, Connecticut had welcomed the second highest number of families from the hurricane-damaged U.S. territory, only behind Florida, putting pressure on the states school districts to make room for new students, according to the Puerto Rico Department of Education.

Right now, wherever the kids end up when they get to Connecticut, whether theyre staying with family or in a shelter, theyre enrolled in that district, said Peter Yazbak, spokesman for the State Department of Education. We sent out a survey to the districts, asking what are some of the unique challenges theyre seeing, what are some of the ways theyre dealing with several hundred new students they hadnt planned for, and eventually well figure out a way to help them cover costs and coordinate resources to absorb these students...

While school districts like Hartford, New Haven and Bridgeport have received the majority of displaced students, many smaller districts like Norwalk have received a handful of new students and are anticipating more as the larger districts near capacity.

Hartford has the most and they really cant take on many more kids, Yazbak said. So I just noticed that West Hartford now has 11. Weve been reaching out to districts in some of the surrounding cities, helping them coordinate transportation for the kids as districts become full.

Norwalk has received 11 students, though two have already returned to Puerto Rico, said Patty Foley, director of school improvement and the districts homeless liaison to the state.

More Information DISTRICT NAME DISPLACED STUDENTS AS OF DEC. 19 Hartford 359 Waterbury 252 New Britain 191 New Haven 163 Bridgeport 159 Meriden 142 Windham 86 East Hartford 57 New London 45 Bristol 41 Manchester 27 Norwich & NFA 40 Stamford 19 Middletown 12 Wallingford 11 West Hartford 11 Hamden 11 Groton 10 *Districts with fewer than 10 displaced students are not included in state released data Source: Connecticut Department of Education See More Collapse

Norwalk really has fared well, Foley said. We do what we need to do for the kids that come in, we have placed them, we give them a backpack, to get them settled. The anticipation is that there will be more coming. ... We could be getting more but right now were doing fine. Were able to get the kids in, we have enough room. We dont know if theyre going back or not, but were educating while theyre here, of course.

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act requires that students arriving from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands or any affected storm area who are identified as homeless or unaccompanied youth be provided immediate access to school and services they may need. This includes students who may seek entry to school but lack health records or immunization documentation.

Whichever town or city the family is referred to or an unaccompanied minor is placed by DCF determines where the children will enroll in school, Yazbak said.

While most families coming into the state have friends and family connections, they are still considered homeless because the places they are staying are not permanent. Those without connections are referred to the appropriate social services agencies. Yazbak said unaccompanied minors will ultimately be referred to the Department of Children and Families.

Families with no connections can call 2-1-1 which has been operating as the referral point-of-contact, Yazbak said. If they have applied for FEMA assistance and are eligible for TSA, then we can direct them to a hotel and make them aware of the welcome centers and basic need supports. For families that are not eligible and are literally homeless, 2-1-1 would refer them to disaster case management to work with the family and discuss options. As a very last resort, 2-1-1 could refer a displaced family to the CAN homeless system.

State and federal assistance for districts

In September, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Commissioner of Education Dianna Wentzell issued guidance to school districts regarding enrollment of displaced children from Puerto Rico and the educational rights of students displaced by disasters.

Yazbak said the state department of education will continue to be responsive to the needs of districts as they work to enroll and stabilize displaced children, including coordinating with other state agencies, FEMA and Connecticuts congressional delegation to participate in the Hurricane Relief Evacuee Support Planning Group convened weekly by the state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection.

The state Department of Education also created and distributed a one-pager titled Connecticut Welcomes Educators Displaced by 2017 Hurricanes to Connecticuts welcome/resource centers, and distributed a survey to school districts to gather more detailed information regarding the students recently enrolled in their district, how their district is serving this new population, unique challenges they have encountered and costs associated with absorbing and serving the displaced students.

Ultimately, the information gathered will help CSDE determine how best to provide support and technical assistance to districts, Yazbak said.

At the federal level, the Office of Management and Budget requested Congress approve an additional $44 billion in disaster aid for fiscal year 2018. A portion of that request would provide about $1.2 billion to the U.S. Department of Education for a Hurricane Education Recovery account, which would provide funding to school districts and post-secondary institutions receiving displaced students.

Yazbak said the state Department of Education is working with congressional leaders to support the funding request to ensure school districts receiving displaced students will be able to obtain fiscal support.
Adityanath told UP assembly that about 20,000 cases against him were politically motivated.

By India Today Web Desk: The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has ordered the withdrawal of a 1995 case related to defying prohibitory orders against Yogi Adityanath himself and 14 others, including a Union minister and a BJP MLA.

The case against the Chief Minister, Union Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla, BJP MLA Sheetal Pandey and 12 others was filed at Gorakhpur's Pipiganj police station on May 27, 1995 for holding a meeting in violation of prohibitory orders.

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Gorakhpur is Adityanath's bastion, which he has represented in Lok Sabha for five terms before being appointed the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister earlier this year. He is now a member of the state's Legislative Council.

Incidentally, the government order to remove the case against Yogi was issued on December 21, a day before the Uttar Pradesh Criminal Law (Composition of Offences and Abatement of Trials) (Amendment) Bill, 2017 was tabled in the state Assembly.

Before the Bill was tabled, Yogi had told the Assembly that 20,000 "politically motivated" cases against him were filed across the state for his "dharna pradarshan" or demonstrations. The amendment to the law would end all the cases, he had told.

NOT THE FIRST TIME

This is not the first time the 45-year-old BJP leader heading the Uttar Pradesh government has used the might of the state to prevent the law from acting against him.

In May this year, shortly after Yogi Adityanath became the Chief Minister, his government had told the Allahabad High Court that he cannot be prosecuted for allegedly making a hate speech during the communal riots in Gorakhpur in 2007.

Uttar Pradesh's then Chief Secretary Rahul Bhatnagar had told the court that the state's home department has denied permission for the prosecution of the Chief Minister.

Yogi Adityanath: Congress worships Tipu Sultan instead of Lord Hanuman

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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.
By PTI: takes potshots

(EDs: Updating wih Oppn reax)

Lucknow, Dec 27 (PTI) The Yogi Adityanath government has ordered the withdrawal of a case against the chief minister and a dozen others for holding a meeting in alleged violation of prohibitory orders over 22 years ago.

The move prompted Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav to take pot shots as to whether Adityanath would himself sign the order withdrawing the case against himself.

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"Will the chief minister himself order withdrawal of the case against him?" Yadav, a former chief minister, wondered.

Apart from Adityanath, who holds the home portfolio, Union Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla, BJP MLA Sheetal Pandey and ten others were respondents in the case.

The case was filed at Gorakhpurs Pipiganj police station on May 27, 1995.

The Adityanath governments order to withdraw the case against the chief minister was issued last week, just a day before the Uttar Pradesh Criminal Law (Composition of Offences and Abatement of Trials) (Amendment) Bill, 2017 was tabled in the state Assembly.

Before the bill was tabled, Adityanath told the House that 20,000 "politically-motivated" cases were filed across the state over protest demonstrations.

The amendment would bring to an end all such cases that were pending before magistrates till December 31, 2015, he said.

Gorakhpur Additional District Magistrate, City, Rajneesh Chandra told PTI that the order for filing an application seeking withdrawal of the case from the court had already been received. The prosecutor has been instructed to file the application before the court concerned, he said.

Gorakhpur is Adityanaths home turf, and he represented the Lok Sabha constituency five terms before being appointed the chief minister earlier this year.

The case was pending in a Gorakhpur court which had earlier directed that non-bailable warrants (NBWs) be issued against the accused for non-appearance.

In May this year, shortly after Adityanath took over the reins of the state, his government told the Allahabad High Court that he cannot be prosecuted in another case for allegedly making a hate speech that was alleged to have triggered communal riots in Gorakhpur in 2007.

The government refused to grant the mandatory sanction for his prosecution.

Adityanath, who was then the local MP, made the alleged hate speech following the killing of a Hindu youth in a clash between two groups during a Moharram procession. He was arrested and spent 10 days in jail before being released on bail.

The sanction was needed to file a charge sheet against him under IPC section 153-A on the charge of promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion and caste, an offence punishable with imprisonment of up to five years. PTI NAV ABN SMI ADS

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The book will be have chapters on the Congress power structure, how the Congress party has now become the fiefdom of dynasty politics, the big 2019 parliamentary polls where the future of the party lies under Rahul Gandhi, and beyond that in politics.

By Sweta dutta: Rahul Gandhi on the fairness of internal polls, young party leader Shehzad Poonawalla is penning a tell-all on the Gandhi family and the party's power structure that is set to release next September.

Following talks with his publisher, Shehzad announced on Tuesday that his first book will be about his 'fight against the dynastic order and their devious secrets' and the proceeds will be donated to charity.

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"The first step was to finalise a publisher to back it. I have just started the process of writing the first chapter which is based on what played out over the past two weeks - Shehzad versus Shehzada.

This will be followed by chapters on the Congress power structure, how the Congress party has now become the fiefdom of dynasty politics, the big 2019 parliamentary polls where the future of the party lies under Rahul Gandhi, and beyond that in politics," Shehzad told Mail Today.

Shehzad will also set aside a couple of chapters analysing Robert Vadra, Priyanka Gandhi and the current generation of Gandhi's, their role in the party and corruption charges around them.

"The family has become a party rather than the party being a family. My book, while looking back at Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, will come back to track the present generation of Gandhi's and the baggage that people like Robert and Priyanka have. All these issues will be pitted against the BJP's electoral machinery. I will also be writing about my brother Tehseen and his politics," added Shehzad, who claims to be a Nehruvian Congress party member.

"When you have been there, done that and then become an outsider, it helps you observe more objectively. Time has given me perspective," said Shehzad, who has fallen out with his family after taking on Rahul, and is now house-hunting as he plans to move out of the shared accommodation with his brother in the national Capital.

As the party faces a major test next year in the assembly polls and later in the 2019 parliamentary polls, the book is expected to create ripples in political circles.

As Shehzad sparred with Rahul, the issue was mentioned not only by senior BJP leaders but also Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a public rally in Gujarat.

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The loss of Nigeria-bound cargoes to Cotonou, Benin Republic may not come to an end anytime soon as the Port of Antwerp International (PAI) has been appointed by the Council of Ministers of the West African country to manage and modernize the Port of Cotonou.

The move may is coming on the heels of more than 60% loss of Nigeria-bound cargoes to Cotonou Port largely due to high Customs duties and poor clearing processes at Nigerian ports.

The agreement between PAI, a consultancy and investment subsidiary of Antwerp Port Authority, and the authorities in Cotonou is expected to be signed in early January 2018.

The Port of Cotonou, which handles an annual freight volume of around 12 million tons, wants to grow further, but both the infrastructure and the organization are outdated. Therefore, the countrys government decided to temporarily outsource the management of the port, as explained by Antwerp Port Authority.

Our main task will be to modernise the port authority in organisational terms, renovate the obsolescent facilities and prepare for and guide the expansion of the port, Kristof Waterschoot, Managing Director of PAI, commented.

In the short term, PAI plans to take over some key functions within the port authority, in order to study the processes from the inside.

PAI already carried out consultancy tasks in the Port of Cotonou in 2017.

The port has a strategic importance in the region as it is also one of the main gateway ports for the sub-region, in particular, the countries of Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali. With the governments recent move, the reformed port would be able to compete with the surrounding ports, Antwerp Port Authority said in a statement.
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NEW YORKLa Mercerie, the cafe, bakery and restaurant in the furniture and design store Roman and Williams Guild, is not exactly the kind of place you associate with takeout.

Marie-Aude Rose  a celebrated Parisian chef who has cooked at Pierre Gagnaire and alongside her husband, Daniel Rose, at their now-closed restaurant, Spring  will serve what she describes as simple but refined French food. But after enjoying dishes such as vegetables cooked in saffron broth beneath a puff pastry dome or buckwheat crepes with seafood in a sauce Nantua, diners can order something to go: the plates, the napkins, the tableware, the candlesticks and even the tables.

Theyre all listed on a dim-sum-style illustrated card available from the waiter. Fill it out, and the items can be delivered that day  along with, say, palmiers and croissants from Marie-Aude Roses adjoining bakery.

Putting a restaurant in a design store isnt a new concept. Restoration Hardware has opened restaurants it calls integrated hospitality experiences in three of its RH Galleries, in which all the furniture is for sale. (A New York City location is on the horizon.) This month, the Brooklyn-based design brand Blackbarn opened a cafe in its new Chelsea Market home store, where a try-before-you-buy strategy is also in place.

Blackbarn co-founder Mark Zeff says immersive shopping like this is the future of brick-and-mortar retail, which he believes is being clobbered by online shopping in part because people are sick of walking down the street and seeing these homogeneous big brands, one next to the other.

As luxury groups respond to evidence that millennials prefer food and experiences as much as or more than acquiring stuff, even Tiffany & Co. has opened the Blue Box Cafe on the new renovated home and accessories floor of its Fifth Ave. store. Customers can purchase the cafes teacups and plates, from the new Tiffany Blue porcelain line.

But La Mercerie, in the Roman and Williams Guild store in SoHo, has taken the idea the furthest  all the way to the flowers on the table, which are sold from a stand near the entrance operated by Emily Thompson, who does the restaurant arrangements for the Grill and Le Coucou.

La Mercerie represents another new crossover in restaurants: The designers are also the owners. Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch, the husband-and-wife team behind the interior design firm Roman and Williams, have orchestrated the looks at the restaurants Upland, Lafayette and, most recently, Le Coucou (where Daniel Rose is the chef), as well as hotels such as the Ace New York.

In opening Roman and Williams Guild  a store filled with their own furniture, lighting and other designs, as well as vintage finds  the couple said it seemed like a natural transition to own the restaurant, too. (Starr Restaurants, with which they collaborated on Le Coucou and Upland, will oversee operations.)

We just wanted to do something that was that comprehensive that we had real ownership and authorship of, Standefer said. When designing other peoples restaurants, she said, we could only control so much.

Now they run the entire show, weighing in on Marie-Aude Roses menu and, of course, how  and on what  it is served. In keeping with its simple but refined style, Roses food will be plated on a high-low, intentionally mismatched combination of ceramics sourced from Japan, Sweden, Australia and Denmark, eaten with vintage French silverware and dabbed away by linens made in Sweden. A light soup might arrive in a substantial Japanese clay donabe, a homey chevre cheesecake on a delicate plate (also Japanese).

The cultural, and textural, misappropriations are intentional. While Alesch says that he and Standefer are seasoned business professionals, we really try to take a chill pill when it comes to all the rules and regulations of interiors.

As for food, at home, were pretty wild, said Alesch, an avid home cook and host. We use our donabes for Western food, we use the wrong wineglass.

Standefer said, Were interested in a strange tension and mix of things from a lot of different places, adding that those who dont wish to mix pieces can simply match, as most of the selections on the table are part of a full collection.

To demonstrate the range of styles and prices, she held up a lunar-surfaced teapot (a look that Alesch described as high folk) made by the Danish ceramist that sells to the restaurant Noma in Copenhagen, and  to the other extreme  a classic French coffee glass that she said was completely reasonable: like, Amazon reasonable. A set of six will sell for $85; that teapot, though, will cost $350.

All of the tableware was subjected to a stress test designed by their operating partner, Stephen Starr: put through the dishwasher 20 times to see if that metallic glaze remained intact. About one-fifth of their original choices didnt survive. Even for those objects that can withstand the heavy use, Rose said, additional dishwashing and polishing staff will be required.

For Alesch, the idea of experiencing the goods in situ is a counterbalance to todays online marketplace. I spent the last decade exercising the glory of internet shopping, he said. Im a little fatigued by getting the wrong things, doing returns.

He also wanted to reintroduce what he calls the Old World idea of having purchases put on a house account and delivered with flair from their warehouse in Industry City, in Brooklyn. (They can also be ordered online.)

Standefer said she understood that their soup-bowl-to-nut-dish approach might be overreaching in todays shopping climate. We just dont believe  and we might get schooled  that retail is dead, she said. It just doesnt have any soul.

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NORTH ISLAND, NEW ZEALANDSlap on some sunscreen and get outside in proper Kiwi style with these eight outdoor activities that I experienced on New Zealands exhilarating North Island.

Sail an Americas Cup racing yacht: With Auckland claiming the highest ratio of people to boats in the world, youd be silly to miss a chance to sail one of the citys famous Americas Cup racing yachts courtesy of Explore Group. These vessels are sleek, sturdy and ready to move fast, but wont get going without you taking the helm and giving your all on the grinders. With the help of enthusiastic young staff, youll quickly feel part of the crew while whipping along Waitemata Harbour in a craft that was actually used in the worlds most prestigious sailing regatta.

Kayak to a volcanic island: If youre up for an adventure that combines action, history and exquisite offerings of the earth, then Auckland Sea Kayaks island tour is the experience for you. Participants will go on a scenic paddle from Aucklands bustling shores to picturesque Motukorea Island, which boasts the best-preserved volcanoes in the area. Once there, kayakers will enjoy a light picnic before hiking to the islands summit. Spectacular views are on offer, as well as glimpses into ancient Maori fortified villages, all described in great detail by a knowledgeable guide.

Rappel down a waterfall: Thrill seekers and nature lovers alike wont want to pass up on getting a soaking wet adrenalin rush courtesy of AWOL Canyoning Adventures. This abseiling adventure, set against the spectacular backdrop of the Waitakere Ranges volcanic rock valley, will see both amateur and experienced explorers climbing under showering waterfalls, crawling through caves, cannonballing into rock pools and coasting down ice cold waterslides. Wetsuits and snacks are offered, as well as a thorough pre-trip training session provided by an enthusiastic and experienced guide.

Hike with a little help from your friends: The motto at Awesome Walks is, you do the walk, well do the work and, considering this companys novel camp-out concept, any adventurer will be inspired to push further down the path. With the help of Awesomes owners, hikers will map out a route in the heart of the Waitakere Ranges and will have a lavish campervan delivered to them at their daily destination. The mobile homes come complete with fresh sheets, a hot shower, a gourmet meal and the hikers gear inside. Indulgent perhaps, but after a tough New Zealand trek, dont you deserve a moment of decadence?

Raft the mighty Kaituna River: While Rotorua Raftings excursions take place on the famously beautiful Kaituna River, the spectacular surroundings may not be the focus on participants minds. Thats because theyll be busy bracing for their whitewater vessels to be dumped over the highest commercially raftable waterfall in the world. At seven metres high, the roaring Tutea Falls will be one of several natural roller coasters Rotorua Rafters will conquer while paddling with their team through the areas tumultuous grade five rapids. Those on board can count on screaming, getting soaked and having one of the most memorable afternoons of their North Island trip.

Go on a geothermal jaunt: It may not be the prettiest, nor the most pleasant to smell, but Hells Gate geothermal park is a destination that cant be missed when travelling in Rotorua. The Maori-owned valley boasts some of the fiercest geothermal activity in the world, and has been treasured for the last 700 years by the countrys first peoples as a place of great healing and revitalization. Visitors can participate in a fascinating 1.5-hour guided walk through the area, hearing the history and legends of the otherworldly landscape as well learning about its great geological significance.

Take a load off by a lake: You deserve a little pampering after all this activity, so why not melt away the day in the therapeutic outdoor waters of the Polynesian Spa at Lake Rotorua? There are 28 hot pools on offer, featuring geothermal waters that have a range of therapeutic and esthetic benefits. The spas many treatments are decadent: in particular, the mud wrap, which will leave your skin feeling silky for weeks. After soaking up the facility, enjoy a snooze on a heated lounge chair and catch a spectacular view of the lake ahead.

Walk through the place where it all began: A day pass to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds in the Northland region grants you a hike with a lot of history. This is New Zealands premier historic site where in 1840 the countrys most significant document, the Treaty of Waitangi, was signed. The property is expansive and beautiful and visitors to the grounds will be treated to cultural performances and learn the meanings behind various Maori practices. The spectacular views over the Bay of Islands dont hurt either.

Liz Beddall was hosted by Tourism New Zealand, which didnt review or approve this story.

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ROTORUA, N.Z.Slipping away from the earth into the glassy, late afternoon waters of Lake Rotoiti is an action laden with familiarity. Once my two-person kayak, steered by Hilary Munro of Waimarino Kayak Tours, leaves the shoreline, Im thrust into a moment of deja vu.

Dense forest surrounds the narrow channels of water and the gentle dips of our paddles are the loudest sounds around save for distant bird calls and the occasional splash of a frisky rainbow trout. Vacation properties sparsely dot the shore and unkempt plant life bursts from neighbouring riverbanks into the lake.

A few more moments and you might convince me that I was back in Ontario, paddling, perhaps, through Algonquin Park in the early summer. But then come the differences.

They can be a bit temperamental, Munro says, gesturing to a pair of regal black swans ahead  a mainstay of New Zealands waterways. With their backdrop being the forested shoreline, I note that for every familiar pine tree there is an exotic burst of tropical ecology: gigantic palms, mighty Kauris and neon-green beech trees invade the area, with branches that weave like massive leather ropes around neighbouring foliage.

Moving farther downriver, the air begins to smell more distinctly of sulphur and while clouds are shielding the late afternoon sun, every small ray that splits through the sky is noticeably intense on my skin. There are no moose or bear to look out for, or swarms of bugs to swat away  just an incredibly still landscape and a promise of glow-worms to come after a cold drink on the grounds of an old volcano system.

I guess Im not in Canada anymore.

Rotoiti means little lake in Maori, but its not so little, Munro explains as we paddle the waterway formed some 8500 years ago. She guides the excursion as part of Waimarino tours, which specializes in intimate and informative kayak adventures in Rotorua.

People like to see the country from a different perspective, she says. Sea kayaking is very popular here because there are so many different lakes and mild conditions with gorgeous scenery. And of course theres the geothermal aspect as well.

Our first stop, where we encounter this force in person, is the Manupirua Springs hot pools facility  a rustic resort and best-kept-secret of locals, which can only be reached by boat.

Rotorua native Cath Van Sitter waves us in from an upper balcony of the main lodge as we pull up on the shore of the deserted property. Her gigantic bullmastiff Wairing is guarding the forest kingdom from a stairway nearby. For the last six years, Sitter has been overseeing the venue and nearby pools, which have been used by the Maoris and locals since before 1849 for cooking, bathing and medicinal purposes.

They range in temperature between 38 and 41 degrees, Van Sitter says after helping us onto the propertys expansive deck. They are totally mineral-based  we dont put anything in them to alter them at all.

Before we take a dip, Munro cooks us dinner on the publicly accessible barbecue as we watch the sun set over the lake. The menu includes wild venison sausage, caught and prepared by the Waimarino boss, fresh local salmon and an organic salad from the nearby Okere Falls cafe.

Over a glass of New Zealand wine, which comes courtesy of Waimarino, Munro tells me about her and her partner. They live happily in a school bus nearby, which they personally converted, and both work on the water out of passion.

Its getting cooler but not cold. The wind feels beautiful.

Couples will often come do this kayak to celebrate an occasion, Munro says of the companys starlight tour. Its very personal.

As I slip into the sulphuric hot tubs a short walk away, Im feeling very spoiled that there is more adventure to come. Melting into a bit of a trance, I watch a group of young Kiwis arrive to the facility via Jet Ski and do a few backflips off the dock. After a quick dip in the tubs, they head out again. Summer for them has just begun.

As darkness begins to fall, the heavy clouds over the lake foreshadow that the stars will be invisible. But not to worry, reminds Munro, there is something far more brilliant on the way.

Glow-worms are 100 times better at night time, she says as we head back out into the water.

Another 20 minutes of paddling sees us edging closer to the glow-worm cave, which from a distance appears totally foreboding and wonderful. Closing in there is only a small entry space, with just enough room for us to slip in and be shrouded in darkness.

Once inside, were in a mythical goblins lair. The echoes of water hitting the cave walls create ghoulish burping noises and the only light to help us see is coming from above.

When our eyes settle, the passageways of the cave before us seem unmistakably haunted, with hundreds of glow-worms creating the brilliant starscape Id hoped to see outside on the black rock ceiling. There we wait, and the longer we wait, Munro says, the brighter theyll become.

What youre looking at is the larvae stage of the New Zealand fungus gnat, Munro says, revealing a series of eerie truths about the living specks of light.

The Latin name for glow-worms, she says, is Arachnocampa luminosa, which roughly translates as glowing spidery bug. Immediately after hatching from the egg, the larvae will emit a light, prepare a nest in the form of a tunnel of mucous and silk and suspend it as a fishing line. Insects that fly curiously towards the light, including adult fungus gnats, are destined to be trapped, drawn in and devoured.

We would say, Come one, come all, to see the cannibalistic larvae of the New Zealand fungus gnat,  Munro says, but that wouldnt work so well on the brochure.

I learn as well that the Maori name for glow-worm is Titiwai, which means light projected over water. Lake Rotoiti has been used as a main channel of travel, trade and welfare for local Maori for centuries, and in this supernatural hollow, its easy to understand why its rich in lore and legend.

While I could spend hours in this one spot, we begin our paddle back with a bright backlight on our kayak to help guide us home. We could go fast for the two kilometres we have ahead, but we choose to take it slow.

Back on land, we load up the kayak with the help of flashlights and say our goodbyes. When I then climb into the wrong side of my vehicle to begin the drive back to town, Im reminded that although I feel right at home here, Im on the other side of the world.

Liz Beddall was hosted by Tourism New Zealand, which didnt review or approve this story.

When you go:

Get there: I flew with American Airlines from Toronto to Auckland with a stopover in Los Angeles. Once in Auckland, I flew to Rotorua with Air New Zealand.

Stay: I stayed at the Regent of Rotorua, a bright and modern boutique hotel in the heart of the city. Note that every suite features a soaker bath, which can come in handy after a long day of adventure travel.

Get around: I had a rental car from Budget Rental Rotorua, which I picked up at the Rotorua airport. Self-driving is a wonderful way to take in the lush New Zealand landscape, but keep in mind that Kiwis drive fast and the roads tend to wind. Give yourself a few practice runs at the airport if youre a newbie to right-side driving.

Kayak adventure: Waimarino Kayak Tours offers a six-hour starlight kayak journey, departing from Okere Falls, which is a 30-minute drive from Rotorua. The approximate $211 adult price includes a meal, one free drink, access to the thermal pools and the journey into the glow-worm caves.

While in Rotorua: Take in the unique North Island landscape in a float plane with Volcanic Air. The company is at the citys lakefront and takes passengers on aerial tours of the area, which, weather depending, can mean views of Waimangu Volcanic Rift Valley and mighty Mount Tarawera.

Do your research: rotoruanz.com, newzealand.com

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OTTAWA Const. Elenore Sturko donned her finest RCMP red serge uniform on Nov. 28 and went with her wife, Melissa, to witness what she knew would be a historic event.

In a drill hall full of military personnel, supporters and activists, she listened to Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus nationally televised apology to LGBTQ2 people, projected onto a big video screen. She was excited to be there as a lesbian, a proud Mountie, a member of a family that has long revered the RCMP and as the great-niece of Sgt. R.D. Van Norman.

Her late great-uncle Dave was one of four brothers from Manitoba who joined the countrys national police force as young men  the first time four brothers had ever served together in the RCMPs history.

The faces of Dave, Brian, Bob and Jack in four framed photos hanging on her great-grandmothers wall had steeped in her a sense of awe in the RCMP growing up. Uncle Dave was the eldest, and graduated from the RCMPs Regina training academy in 1947 when he was 19.

I remember thinking these were probably the coolest people Id ever seen in my life, she says.

The admiration her grandmother  their sister  had for her brothers kindled her own passion to join the national police force (though it took her two tries).

They were her heroes, too, Sturko said.

Sturko, 42, has a big, open smile and radiates positive energy. Shes a walking recruitment ad for the RCMP. Her blue eyes twinkle as she says When I came out of the closet, I never looked back.

But her great-uncles experience was vastly different. Sgt. Dave Van Normans 17-year career ended abruptly when he was forced to resign in 1964, one of an untold number of Mounties hounded out of the force as part of what Justin Trudeau called a purge of people suspected of being gay or lesbian in Canadas public service, military, intelligence and police services.

The RCMP claims it has no reliable data on the number of members who were affected. Spokesperson Sgt. Harold Pfleiderer said there was no formal policy to purge LGBT members, but added there can be no doubt that discrimination played a role in members leaving the RCMP in the past.

Douglas Elliott, the lawyer in the class-action lawsuit that led to a $145-million settlement and Trudeaus apology, begs to differ.

He said it is clear the RCMP had an unofficial policy of driving out gay and lesbian members that was officially endorsed by cabinet in 1963. They operated the purge for many years and used to send undercover agents to the bars at the Lord Elgin Hotel looking for gays in Ottawa, Elliott said.

While the RCMP, unlike the Canadian Armed Forces, didnt use a special discharge code when it ousted gays from its ranks, Elliott said the class action counts RCMP members among its plaintiffs, and the numbers will likely grow as more Mounties or their families come forward.

The prime minister said that from the 1950s to the early 1990s, the government of Canada exercised its authority in a cruel and unjust manner, undertaking a campaign of oppression against members, and suspected members, of the LGBTQ2 communities.

It was an era when the Criminal Code prohibited consensual sex between men, and gays and lesbians were deemed a security threat open to blackmail because of their sexual orientation.

What resulted was nothing short of a witch hunt, Trudeau told a hushed Commons, as many, including Elliott, watched, crying in the gallery.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issues a formal apology to Canada's LGBTQ2 civil servants in the House of Commons on Nov. 28. (ParlVU/House of Commons)

Sturko knows only the broad brush strokes of her Uncle Daves story, especially that he loved the Mounties.

After graduation, he was briefly posted to Reginas crime lab, then to Swift Current, Sask. Next came a series of postings in the eastern Arctic, Pond Inlet, Nunavut, on the northern tip of Baffin Island, Iqaluit, Nunavut, (then known as Frobisher Bay), Fort Smith, N.W.T., and then to G Division headquarters in Yellowknife, N.W.T.

Van Norman loved working and travelling among the Inuit. He learned to speak Inuktitut, had a small collection of soapstone carvings, wrote an in-depth series on northern life for the RCMP Quarterly magazine, which, however dated in its descriptions, expressed respect for Inuit culture and pride in his RCMP work. He was awarded the Queens Coronation Medal in 1953 for his work on the Distant Early Warning line of radar stations in the north.

Suddenly, in 1964, Van Norman was told he could resign or be fired, Sturko said.

His service card says only that he was discharged. It was a tactic of the purge.

No option is a good option for you. You were either fired in disgrace or you quit in disgrace, Sturko said.

Dave Van Normans life became difficult after that. He was only 36, and didnt have his pension. Sturko doesnt know whether he had to forfeit it, or whether he was offered an option to buy it out but couldnt afford to. She does know the personal impact was profound.

He was essentially outed to his family, Sturko said, a choice Van Norman may never have wanted to make. Maybe its something he would have kept as a lifelong secret.

His father didnt really talk to him after that, Sturko quietly added.

In 1964, Life magazine dubbed San Francisco the gay capital of America. But Van Norman did not find peace there. Sturko said he was brutally attacked for being gay while living there, nearly dying of his injuries. He moved to Houston, Texas, and returned to Canada in the late 1980s, where he died at home under the care of his mother and sister on April 28, 1988. He was 60 years old.

Sturko contacted her family members to tell them she was going to go to Parliament Hill, not to accept Trudeaus apology  Its not for me to accept  but simply to listen. Van Normans two surviving brothers told her Dave would have accepted it in a heartbeat. A sweet person who was extremely proud of his service, he never said a bad word about the RCMP after he left it.

Still, Sturko said, she wasnt expecting the wave of emotion that day.

She and her wife, Melissa, had had lunch at the parliamentary restaurant with their Eastern Ontario MP, meeting along the way another lesbian couple who had been in the military, dining with their MP, too. They shared stories, and when there was no room in the public galleries of the House of Commons, they went to the Cartier Square drill hall to watch Trudeau on oversized video screens.

Among the soldiers, supporters, allies and advocates, Sturko was the only person in a red RCMP regimental uniform.

I was just listening, she said. I didnt feel emotional or anything. I was wondering would I feel sad for my uncle, but I actually felt nothing. And then when Prime Minister Trudeau started talking about the Fruit Machine, I felt like I was socked in the gut, the wind knocked out of my sails.

The Canadian government had funded an absurd device known as the Fruit Machine  a failed technology that was supposed to measure homosexual attraction, Trudeau said.

The series of psychological tests was designed to expose people to images and measure biological responses such as pupil dilation. It was never put into operation, yet it has become a symbol of that dark chapter for which Trudeau publicly expressed shame and sorrow and deep regret on behalf of the government of Canada.

As Trudeau vividly described interrogations, polygraphs, surveillance, discrimination and stigma visited upon individuals who had wanted only to serve their country, Sturko was moved to tears by the cruelty of it all.

She wondered about her uncle. I wondered who did my uncle love. Was there somebody in his life? That came into my mind.

That day, RCMP interim commissioner Dan Dubeau, who attended the apology in Parliament, took her by the arm. I want you to know that on behalf of the RCMP, Im really sorry that happened to your family, he said.

It was a nice gesture, Sturko said, and one that she really appreciated.

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OTTAWAWhen Claire Citeau looks at Canadas international trade situation, with NAFTA under threat amidst an ongoing search for new markets, she worries about another South Korea.

Canada struck a trade deal with the Asian country in 2015, but not before the European Union, Australia and the United States inked their own pacts to get rid of tariffs on a plethora of goods entering its $1.8-trillion economy.

The result, according to Citeau, who is executive director of the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance, was that Canada essentially missed the boat. Exports of Canadian agri-food exports to South Korea slumped from more than $1 billion to $530 million after the E.U. and U.S. deals were signed. By the time Canada cemented its own deal, other countries had already rushed in to sell beef, pork, grains and other goods to South Korea, Citeau said.

Our competitors in that market basically ate our lunch, Citeau told the Star, citing what happened as a cautionary tale for the federal government trying to open up new lanes of trade as trade with the U.S. remains under the shadow of President Donald Trumps protectionism.

Today, what matters is not only the free trade agreements that we negotiate, but its the timeliness of negotiation and implementation (of) the agreements that our competitors are also after, Citeau said.

If thats the lesson from the South Korean deal, then its fair to say that Canadas Liberal government is under pressure to clinch new trade agreements  and soon. Our biggest trading partner, the U.S., is led by a president who has repeatedly threatened to bury the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). At the same time, Ottawas search for new trading partners has led to a deal with the E.U., but reaped no results from exploratory talks to start negotiating an agreement with China or to finalize the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) that includes big markets such as Japan.

Citeau argued that, if the U.S. is turning inward, Canada could actually get a jump start on these new markets if it lands deals before other countries do  essentially the opposite of what happened with South Korea.

Diversification is of paramount importance to Canada, added Lawrence Herman, a trade consultant based in Toronto. Crisis leads to opportunities, and Canada has to emerge from the likely NAFTA crisis by exploring new opportunities.

Dan Ciuriak, a fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, said weve been in this situation before. He rhymed off a cycle of scenarios dating back to the 1850s, when the colonies that became Canada started pushing for trade with the U.S. as avenues of exchange with Britain were clamped down.

Every single generation of policymakers that was confronted with a trade shock, they did not turn inwards. They turned outwards, he said.

Thats because Canada has never been large enough to pursue an isolationist policy, where domestic consumers can buy all the goods we produce and support the growth of robust industries without relying on exports.

Its a fundamental reality, he said.

In the current situation, the government has said it is exploring trade with massive international markets like India, China and the 10 countries  besides Canada  that remain in the TPP talks after the U.S. pulled out under Donald Trump.

But last month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was slammed in the international media when he didnt show up to a late-night meeting on TPP during a summit in Vietnam. His office later blamed his tight schedule, but the deal  which would reduce tariffs and open up markets such as Japan, Malaysia and others  still hasnt been finalized.

Then, in early December, Trudeau led a delegation to China under expectations that the launch of trade talks between Canada and the worlds second-largest economy were imminent. But no such talks emerged, and Trudeau returned to Canada with smaller agreements to co-operate on climate change and push for more beef and grain exports to China, but no plan to kick off wider trade talks with the economic powerhouse.

In the event that the renegotiation of NAFTA fails, Ciuriak said sectors like auto manufacturing in Oshawa and other cities will likely suffer, but the overall hit to the economy will not be catastrophic. A recent report from the Bank of Montreal concluded that, without NAFTA, the Canadian economy would shrink by 0.8 to 1 per cent  a contraction the bank called a bad-but-not-worst-case scenario.

The assumption is that, without NAFTA, trade of most goods would revert to rules based on membership in the World Trade Organization, which mandates low tariffs across much of the economy anyway.

At the same time, this means that there is also less to gain than you might think by striking free trade deals with places such as China, where many Canadian goods are already bought and sold with low tariffs, Ciuriak said. A 2015 study from the Canada-China Business Council concluded that a free trade agreement between the countries would reap $7.8 billion for the Canadian economy within 15 years  a relatively small prediction given that the 2017 federal budget included roughly $300 billion in spending.

Canadas operating almost on free trade principles already, Ciuriak said.

But theres a political dimension too. Certain sectors, such as Citeaus agri-food alliance, see much to gain by selling such products as beef and canola to huge new markets such as China and Japan.

On top of that, the Liberal government has trumpeted its wish to include progressive elements in any future trade deals. Trudeau and his cabinet ministers have repeatedly said that measures on gender rights, environmental regulations and labour standards need to be part of future trade deals.

Speaking to an audience of business elites at the Fortune Global Forum in Guangzhou, China this month, Trudeau warned that without such measures, more countries could slide under the populist angst that has roiled the U.S. and countries in Europe.

Some observers, however, have warned that bringing in such social issues into commercial discussions on trade could delay deals and make Canada miss the current window where it could break into new markets ahead of the U.S.

Trade agreements are not necessarily the best way to promote (that agenda), said Daniel Schwanen, an economist at the C.D. Howe Institute.

Whatever the case, theres little doubt that trade will remain at the top of Canadas agenda in 2018.

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SPY HILL, SASK.Tributes are pouring in from across Canada for residents of a small Saskatchewan town who sprang to action on Christmas Day to help stranded passengers on a frozen train.

God bless all of the people that helped out yesterday. It was a really wonderful thing for us, said Robbie Hancock, a musician who was on the Via Rail train with almost 100 other passengers when it suffered a mechanical problem and pulled up in the tiny community of Spy Hill early Monday.

Hancock and his partner, Carrie-Ann Leippi  who are based in Victoria and perform together as Weathervane  were on the train from Vancouver to Toronto as part of a Via Rail program where they get free fare, food and lodging in return for singing and playing for passengers.

Read more:

Saskatchewan town of 300 welcomes 100 stranded train passengers for Christmas feast

Leafs legend Johnny Bower dies at 93

Hancock has made the cross-Canada trip with the program six times, but it was Leippis first. The trip was extra special because she was going to meet Hancocks parents for the first time.

But they woke up early Christmas morning and told they would have to get off the train because it had no heat.

The train pulled onto a siding in Spy Hill, a community in eastern Saskatchewan near the Manitoba boundary with a population of fewer than 300, where the temperature was -43 C with the wind chill.

When we came out, there was all the townspeople that were already there that were coming up in trucks and helping us take all of our luggage and everything off the train and into the Lions Club hall there, said Hancock, speaking from a taxi on the way to Winnipegs airport on Tuesday where he and Leippi would board a plane for Toronto.

Thanks to all the farmers in the community there and all the firemen, of course, that came out in Spy Hill, he said. They got everybody from the train into the hall very quickly and they had already started making breakfast for us.

The passengers were soon eating pancakes and drinking coffee prepared by Via cooks and local volunteers. Toys were brought in for the kids. Hancock and Leippi volunteered to entertain and the townspeople quickly set up microphones.

A large family had planned to use the hall that day, but they moved their party to the curling rink. Hamburgers and salads were served for lunch, and everyone sang Christmas carols.

From a setback into something special. What a story  Canadians always find a way to help each other out, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted Tuesday, along with a link to a news story about the stranded train and actions of the people in Spy Hill.

Many other Canadians also lauded the little town online for their Christmas spirit.

Via Rail said Tuesday that all 98 passengers were bused to Winnipeg later Monday, and that they were on their way to their final destinations by bus or plane.

Theres no details on the malfunction, but company spokesperson Mariam Diaby said Monday that it was due to extreme cold weather.

Via Rail said since the train that stopped in Spy Hill needs to be repaired, the Toronto-to-Vancouver train scheduled to leave Tuesday night is cancelled, and there wont be another one going that way until Saturday.

Hancock said even though hes seen a lot of small-town hospitality on his cross-Canada trips, Spy Hill was a cut above.

Ive met a lot of wonderful people, especially through the Prairies, but I was a bit surprised in how amazing and generous they were, Hancock said.

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OTTAWACanadas military says it needs to upgrade its defences against cyberattacks, documents released by the Department of National Defence read.

The documents, released by the department earlier this month, detail a significant and long-term project to give military brass better situational awareness of cyber space, guard against attacks, and respond to advanced threats.

The push for stronger online defences comes as Canada and NATO allies are adapting military doctrine to address the growing role of cyber operations in modern warfare.

The . . . Canadian Armed Forces has invested heavily in technologies that have radically increased the speed and precision of modern military operations. Underpinning most of these incredible leaps in capability has been a reliance on an increasingly complex cyberspace, the documents read.

To deliver on its core responsibilities to defend Canada . . . (The Forces must have the) capabilities and flexibility required to successfully address both conventional and asymmetric threats, including cyberattacks.

Cyberattacks can range from the mundane  temporarily shutting down a website or spreading false information online, for instance  to serious, sophisticated attacks against real-world targets.

There are two separate but related initiatives laid out in the documents: a Cyber Security Awareness project and an upgraded Defensive Cyber Operations unit.

The former aims to give military commanders better awareness of the Forces online security, while the latter would create an in-house team to monitor DNDs networks around the clock to detect and respond to cyberattacks and maintain commanders freedom of manoeuvre in cyberspace.

The cost of the new initiatives were not included in the documents, although DND estimated last year the Defensive Cyber Operations component could cost between $50 million and $99 million alone.

The projects are in their early stages  the department is looking for feedback from private suppliers, with an eye to awarding a contract in 2021.

According to DND spokesperson Jessica Lamirande, the upgrades are expected to provide more information about cyberattacks against the department faster.

(The projects) will move the organization from its current manual response posture, to a proactive posture in which the commander of the cyber defensive mission can anticipate and make rapid decisions, informed by intelligence and the near real time analysis of network activity, the statement said.

At the Halifax International Security Forum in November, NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said cyber warfare is a constant consideration for the alliance.

There is no military operation today without a cyber element, he said. We see that cyber is an area where there are constant attacks from states but also non-state actors.

A report that same month from Reuters indicated that some NATO countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, are drawing up principles to guide their militaries in launching cyberattacks.

Typically, the Canadian government prefers to talk about cyber defence. But while the DND projects detailed in the documents refer only to defensive operations, the department admitted in March theyre studying cyber weapons.

And legislation currently before parliament would authorize the Communications Security Establishment, Canadas electronic spy agency, to launch cyberattacks.

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The only Toronto-area residents appointed to help Ottawa develop its first national poverty-reduction strategy both hail from north Scarborough.

But the two anti-poverty experts live worlds apart.

Retired provincial social services bureaucrat John Stapleton, 67, is an active volunteer who advised Ontario and the city on their poverty-busting plans and most recently served on a provincial expert panel on income security reform. He lives with his wife in a two-storey home near Brimley Rd. and Steeles Ave. E.

Less than five km away, Bee Lee Soh, 56, pays $430 a month to live in an illegal rooming house with 10 other tenants near Brimley Rd. and Sheppard. Ave. E.

It is so cold in my room I have to wear my coat inside, Soh says, clutching the white and red ski jacket given to her by a friend. When I tell my landlord, he just says if I dont like it, I can move. Because its not legal, there is nothing I can do.

When Stapleton learned last fall he and Soh were among 17 academics, community leaders and individuals appointed to the national advisory committee on poverty, he invited her for dinner. It was an eye-opener.

I couldnt believe it when she told me she hadnt eaten anything else that day, Stapleton says.

Soh, a tiny woman with long black hair, shrugs and slices the air with her hand.

I need to save all my money for rent, she explains.

Soh, who came to Canada from Malaysia to study when she was 19 and became a citizen in 1993, worked for years in low-wage jobs, unaware of any social safety net.

In 2004, when she could no longer afford her $700-a-month room on her minimum-wage job, Soh gave her landlord one-months notice and began looking for something cheaper. But by the time she realized she couldnt find anything, her room was rented to someone else.

Suddenly I was homeless. I didnt know about shelters or Out of the Cold or anything, Soh says referring to the faith-based emergency hostel program available during winter months.

I knew I needed to stay warm, so I went to Tim Hortons. I didnt sleep. I couldnt sleep. I was working full-time with nowhere to live, she says.

But with no sleep, Soh soon lost her job.

For two months, she moved from all-night coffee shops, hospital emergency wards and other public places to avoid spending the night on the street. For the next six months, Soh couch surfed and ate at neighbourhood drop-ins until someone told her about welfare. With money from Ontario Works, Soh was able to rent another room. But homelessness still haunts her and she has been unable to work full-time since then.

Sohs eyes filled with tears when she recounted the story in Ottawa last September to Jean-Yves Duclos, federal minister of families, children and social development, during the advisory committees first meeting.

He got up and hugged me, she recalls. He needed to hear that story.

Soh has been telling her story since 2015 when she was one of 35 Torontonians chosen from more than 350 applicants to advise the city on its 20-year poverty-reduction strategy. The plan was approved that fall.

Since then, Soh has joined several community groups to push city council to live up to the plans promise to eliminate poverty in Toronto by 2035.

In mid-December, she reminded advocates at a town hall meeting not to forget the plight of single people living in poverty.

The government is always doing things for families, children and seniors, she says. But when you are single, everything is more expensive. Its very hard. Singles are most at risk for homelessness. I know.

Toronto Councillor Joe Mihevc, responsible for the citys poverty-reduction strategy, says it is important for governments to incorporate the experience of people living in poverty when designing policies to address the problem.

A real key piece for us is: Nothing for us without us,  Mihevc says. We all need to figure out how to do this. Its not an academic exercise, a political exercise or a government exercise. Its about peoples lives.

Mihevc says he is thrilled Soh is advising Ottawa on a national strategy.

They need to hear from people like her, he says. She will make an impact.

According to the 2016 Census, there were 4.8 million Canadians living in poverty, defined as those living on less than half of the median income, or $22,133 a year after taxes.

The advisory committee will meet until September 2018 to help Ottawa craft a national strategy  in co-operation with provinces and municipalities  to reduce those numbers.

Stapleton, who wishes Soh could find more stable housing, bought her a cellphone and gave her an old laptop computer, so at least she can participate in the advisory committees monthly teleconferences. He hopes Sohs participation helps government better understand the barriers facing people living in poverty.

I bring the policy and she brings the experience, he says. I think we make a formidable team.

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The extreme cold weather alert announced Christmas Day continues into Wednesday, with temperatures anticipated to reach a potential low of -21 C in Toronto.

Throughout the day, itll be a mix of sun and cloud as people battle the weather. The warmest the city could get today is -10 C, and the wind chill may make the air feel as cold as -28 C.

Torontos Medical Officer of Health is warning anyone heading outside to cover as much exposed skin as possible, as frostbite can develop quickly in these frigid conditions. Its important to keep an eye on vulnerable friends and family who may be doubly affected by the cold due to medical issues, age, or circumstances that keep them from having sufficient shelter.

Power was briefly out after noon for 5,000 people in Scarborough, but Toronto Hydro were luckily able to fix the issue within the hour. It was considered an emergency due to the risk presented by the cold, said spokesperson Tori Gass.

Temperatures are set to stay low over the next few days, with a wind chill of -27 C threatening on Thursday and a high of only -13 C on Friday.

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NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF.Starfish are making a comeback on the West Coast, four years after a mysterious syndrome killed millions of them.

From 2013 to 2014, sea star wasting syndrome hit sea stars from British Columbia to Mexico. The starfish would develop lesions and then disintegrate, their arms turning into blobs of goo.

The cause is unclear but researchers say it may be a virus.

But now, the species is rebounding. Sea stars are being spotted in Southern California tide pools and elsewhere, the Orange County Register reported Tuesday.

They are coming back, big time, Darryl Deleske, aquarist for the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in Los Angeles, told the newspaper.

Its a huge difference, Deleske said. A couple of years ago, you wouldnt find any. I dove all the way as far as Canada, specifically looking for sea stars, and found not a single one.

Similar die-offs of starfish on the West Coast were reported in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, but the latest outbreak was far larger and more widespread, according to a report by researchers at the University of Santa Cruz.

Beginning with ochre stars off Washington state, the disease spread, killing off mottled stars, leather stars, sunflower stars, rainbows and six-armed stars.

It hit Southern California by December 2013.

When it did (arrive), you just started to see them melt everywhere, said Deleske. Youd see an arm here, an arm there.

The recovery has been promising.

Four adult sea stars, each about seven to eight inches long, were spotted this month at Crystal Cove State Park in Newport Beach.

Its a treasure we always hope to find, said Kaitlin Magliano, education co-ordinator at the Crystal Cove Conservancy.

We lost all of them, she said. Its good to see we have some surviving and thriving . Maybe the next generation will be more resilient.

The stars arent out of danger yet.

The wasting syndrome never completely disappeared in Northern and Central California and it has reappeared in the Salish Sea region of Washington state, according to a November report by the University of Santa Cruz.

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WASHINGTONBarring last-minute intervention by the Supreme Court, the militarys ban on enlisting transgender troops is set to fall next week, despite President Donald Trumps tweets.

If so, it would be the rare instance of a major change in U.S. military policy that takes place despite the opposition of the commander in chief.

But it was also unusual for the president to try to halt a developing policy by issuing a tweet that surprised top officials.

Read more:

Trumps attempt to bar transgender people from military service loses another legal challenge

Pentagon allows transgender people to enlist in military, despite Trumps opposition

A series of federal judges has rejected the presidents position,

most recently with rulings on Friday, and administration lawyers are running out of time to revive the ban before the Pentagon plans to begin accepting transgender recruits on Jan. 1.

In July, Trump tweeted that he had decided he would not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. military. The tweet came with little, if any, advance consultation with military officials, who have not shown much enthusiasm for reinstating the ban.

Trump insisted the Pentagon not follow through on the Obama administrations plan to end the ban on enlisting transgender troops in 2017. The outgoing administration had conducted a lengthy study within the U.S. military and also funded a RAND Corp. analysis which found that other nations, including Australia, Canada, Israel and the United Kingdom, had suffered no loss of operational effectiveness, readiness or cohesion after enlisting transgender personnel.

At Trumps insistence, Defense Secretary James N. Mattis put off until Jan. 1 the time when transgender individuals could openly enlist. The president also called on the military to discharge transgender personnel and to halt funding of sex reassignment surgical procedures.

But in recent weeks, four federal judges have blocked part or all of Trumps directives. The latest ruling came Friday from U.S. District Judge Jesus Bernal in Riverside. He acted based on a suit filed on behalf of seven plaintiffs who wish to serve in the military, including Aiden Stockman, a transgender man from California who wants to join the Air Force.

The judge agreed with the plaintiffs that the presidents ban discriminated improperly based on sex or gender, and therefore, violated the Constitutions promise of the equal protection of the laws.

Also Friday, two U.S. appeals courts in Washington, D.C., and Virginia refused emergency requests from the administration to lift lower court orders and maintain the enlistment ban after Jan. 1.

It must be remembered, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said, that the transgender individuals who went to court seek to serve their nation with honour and dignity, volunteering to face extreme hardships, to endure lengthy deployments and separation from family and friends and to willingly make the ultimate sacrifice of their lives if necessary.

In response, Justice Department spokeswoman Lauren Ehrsam said, We disagree with the courts ruling and are currently evaluating our next steps.

Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said we are grateful to the D.C. Court of Appeals for recognizing that our plaintiffs simply want to serve their country. ... Experience has shown that allowing qualified transgender candidates to serve strengthens our military and our country.

RAND had estimated that there were between 1,300 and 6,600 active duty transgender service members, Minter noted.

The administrations lawyers have argued repeatedly that courts must defer to the presidents judgment on military matters. It would be unusual if they did not file an emergency appeal in the Supreme Court. To prevail, they would have to convince at least five justices that the government would suffer an irreparable harm if the ban on enlisting transgender personnel ended on Jan. 1.

The Department of Defense has been getting ready for the change. A Dec. 8 memo advised sector and battalion commanders on transgender applicant processing.

As always, every applicant will be treated with dignity and respect, it said, instructing commanders that recruits must be addressed by the name and gender pronoun they prefer.

Applicants will be evaluated per established DoD standards for the purpose of qualifying for Military Service, the memo said. Ultimately, Commanders are responsible for upholding and maintaining the high standards of the U.S. military at all times and in all places.

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CALGARYThe federal government says a Canadian who has been on death row in the United States for more than three decades should be granted clemency because he has reformed his life and received poor legal counsel when he was convicted.

Ronald Smith, 60, and originally from Red Deer, Alta., has been on death row since 1983 after fatally shooting two young men while he was high on LSD and alcohol near East Glacier, Mont.

He refused a plea deal and pleaded guilty. His request for the death penalty was granted.

Read more: Lawyer for Canadian man on death row in Montana says U.S. in the waning days of capital punishment

Smith had a change of heart and has been on a legal roller-coaster for decades. An execution date has been set five times and each time the order was overturned.

The Canadian government sent a letter to Montana Gov. Steve Bullock last year asking for clemency for Smith. The Canadian Press has obtained a copy of the request that was signed by then-former foreign affairs minister Stephane Dion.

While our government does not wish to minimize the gravity of the crime for which Mr. Smith was convicted, we believe there are unique circumstances that provide compelling reasons for granting him clemency  most notably the ineffectiveness of Mr. Smiths original counsel and his success in reforming his life, reads Dions letter.

Dion said Smith has been an exemplary inmate during his time at Montana State Prison.

He has developed strong relationships with family members and has taken advantage of educational opportunities available to him. Mr. Smith has shown profound remorse and deep regret for his actions.

Dion wrote there is significant evidence that Smiths original lawyer did not provide competent representation and spent only six hours on the case before allowing his client to plead guilty.

Mr. Smiths original legal counsel ... failed to investigate the facts surrounding the crime; failed to investigate Mr. Smiths mental state; and failed to discuss possible defences with Mr. Smith.

The letter also notes the unwarranted disparity between Smith receiving a death sentence and his co-accused, Rodney Munro, who accepted the plea bargain and pleaded guilty to aggravated kidnapping. He was sentenced to 60 years in prison but was returned to Canada and released in 1998.

The Canadian government is also deeply concerned about the 33 years that Mr. Smith has spent on death row, living in solitary confinement and under the constant threat of execution.

The Liberal position is a far cry from the stand of the former Conservative government, which initially refused to back Smiths calls for clemency.

But the Federal Court ruled Ottawa must follow a long-standing practice of lobbying on behalf of Canadians sentenced to death in other countries.

The ruling led to then-foreign affairs minister John Baird writing what one of Smiths lawyers called a lukewarm letter before Smiths clemency hearing in 2012.

The government of Canada requests that you grant clemency to Mr. Smith on humanitarian grounds. said the request.

The government of Canada does not sympathize with violent crime and this letter should not be construed as reflecting a judgment on Mr. Smiths conduct.

Two members of Smiths family, including his daughter, as well as relatives of the two victims  Harvey Madman Jr. and Thomas Running Rabbit  gave emotional testimony at that hearing.

The decisions he made, he has to pay for, Running Rabbits son said. He had no mercy for my father.

The clemency request hasnt been ruled on by two successive Montana governors.

All executions in Montana have been on hold since 2008 when legal action filed by the American Civil Liberties Union was successful. The group had argued that a sedative the state was proposing for executions could lead to an excruciating and terrifying death.

In an October 2016 interview, Smith said he was ready to come home if clemency were granted.

Theyve got their pound of flesh and, outside of what I did 34 years ago, I havent been a troublemaker, he said. I think Ive shown what I did ... was an aberration.

Its not who I was.

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JERUSALEMIsraels transportation minister is pushing ahead with a plan to dig a railway tunnel under Jerusalems Old City, passing near sites holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims  and ending at the Western Wall with a station named after U.S. President Donald Trump.

Yisrael Katzs plan, currently in the initial stages, involves constructing two underground stations and excavating over three kilometres of tunnel beneath downtown Jerusalem and under the politically sensitive Old City. The project would extend Jerusalems soon-to-open high-speed rail line from Tel Aviv to the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray.

The route will run close to  but not directly under  the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where tradition holds that Jesus was crucified and buried, and a contested holy site known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. Previous excavations by Israel near the holy site  the spiritual epicentre of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict  have sparked violent Palestinian protests.

Read more:

Canada walks political minefield by abstaining on UN vote against Trump embassy plan for Jerusalem

UN Security Council slams U.S. recognition of Jerusalem

4 Palestinians killed in latest clashes over Trumps recognition of Jerusalem as Israels capital

Because of those sensitivities, the proposal will likely meet with heavy resistance from the Palestinians, neighbouring Arab countries and the international community.

Katz, a senior Cabinet official who also serves as Israels intelligence minister, is a close ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and is seen by many as his likely eventual successor as head of the Likud party.

Transportation Ministry spokesperson Avner Ovadia said Wednesday the project is estimated to cost more than $700 million and, if approved, would take four years to complete.

Katzs office said the minister advanced the plan in a recent meeting with Israel Railways executives, and has fast-tracked it in the planning committees.

Katz said a high-speed rail station would allow visitors to reach the beating heart of the Jewish people  the Western Wall and the Temple Mount. He proposed naming the station after Trump for his brave and historic decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital earlier this month.

Trumps announcement has enraged the Palestinians and much of the Muslim world. The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution last week condemning the move, with several traditional American allies breaking with Washington to vote in favour of the motion.

Israel captured east Jerusalem, which includes the Old City, in 1967, and annexed it in a move not recognized internationally. The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, and a long-standing international consensus holds that the fate of the city should be decided through direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

Ikrema Sabri, a senior Muslim cleric in Jerusalem, denounced the planned train line extension, saying that Palestinians wont accept any change or act in the occupied territories.

He said that giving the name of Trump to this project will not give it any legitimacy. It would be just another implementation of the unacceptable decision of President Trump to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Digging railway tunnels to the Western Wall would also entail excavating in Jerusalems Old City, where religious and political sensitivities  as well as layers of archaeological remains from the citys 3,000-year history  could make for a logistical and legal quagmire.

Last year an initiative to convert an already excavated area abutting the Western Wall into an egalitarian Jewish prayer section was hotly contested by Israeli archaeologists, who said such a move would cause irreparable damage to the historic remains of the ancient city.

The Israel Antiquities Authority declined to comment on the planned train extension.

Despite the likely opposition to the project, Ovadia said he expects the plans to be approved in the coming year, barring major complications. The Tel Aviv-Jerusalem high-speed line is expected to open next spring.

Theres no reason why this train wont be built, he said. We already know how to deal with no less difficult opposition.

Katz has previously proposed other ambitious infrastructure projects, including an artificial island off the coast of the Gaza Strip that would serve as an air and seaport for the Palestinian territory, and a railway connecting Israel with Saudi Arabia and other Arab states.

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Japan reacted angrily after a South Korean government-backed panel said Wednesday that the nations two-year old agreement over wartime sex slaves didnt properly reflect the views of the women coerced into military brothels before and during The Second World War.

After a five-month review, the nine-member task force found procedural faults in what was hailed as an irreversible accord, adding that Japan didnt voluntarily offer an apology and compensation. President Moon Jae-ins government will finalize its stance at a later date on the agreement, which was reached under his predecessor.

If the South Korean government tries to change an agreement that is already being put into practice based on this report, relations between Japan and South Korea will become unmanageable, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said in a statement. This is absolutely unacceptable.

Read more:

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shuffles his cabinet amid scandals

Editorial: Japan should compensate Korean comfort women

Relief, anger, indifference follow Japan-South Korea deal on WWII sex slaves

The results of the review threaten to once again ignite the decades-long dispute between the U.S. allies at a time when closer military and political co-operation is needed in the face of rising North Korean nuclear threats. The two Asian economic powerhouses have a fractious relationship, compounded by competing claims over islets in the sea between the countries.

Issues related to universal values and historical recognition like the comfort women cannot be resolved merely by a political agreement through short-term diplomatic discussions, panel chairman Oh Tai-kyu told reporters.

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said Wednesday the governments final decision would hinge on opinions from victims, entities and experts, and also consider any potential consequences. She said a day earlier that that victims are unsatisfied with the deal, and 70 per cent of South Koreans dont accept it.

In December 2015, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a landmark apology to South Korean comfort women, with his government agreeing to provide 1 billion yen ($8.8 million U.S.) to a fund for compensating victims. At the time, the then foreign ministers of both countries called the deal irreversible.

Brad Glosserman, a visiting professor at Tama University in Tokyo, said that theres too much at stake for both countries to simply rip up the deal.

Moon has to find a way forward that doesnt look like a sop to the victims, while avoiding alienating the Japanese, he said. Hes trying to find the appropriate balance.

Japan colonized the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945  a period still recalled with resentment by many Koreans. Abe infuriated South Koreas public in 2013 when he visited a Tokyo shrine dedicated to fallen soldiers seen by many in Asia as a symbol of past militarism.

Historians estimate anywhere from 50,000 to 200,000 women  many of them Korean  served in Japans military brothels. Japan apologized in 1993 and set up a compensation fund that was rejected by some victims because it was privately funded.

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PINE VALLEY, CALIF.California legalizes marijuana for recreational use Monday, but that wont stop federal agents from seizing the drug  even in tiny amounts  on busy freeways and backcountry highways.

Marijuana possession still will be prohibited at eight Border Patrol checkpoints in California, a reminder that state and federal laws collide when it comes to pot. The U.S. government classifies marijuana as a controlled substance, like heroin and LSD.

Prior to Jan. 1, its going to be the same after Jan. 1, because nothing changed on our end, said Ryan Yamasaki, an assistant chief of the Border Patrols San Diego sector. If youre a federal law enforcement agency, you uphold federal laws.

The checkpoints, located up to 161 kilometres from Mexico, are considered a final line of defence against immigrants who elude agents at the border. They also have been a trap for U.S. citizens carrying drugs, even tiny bags of marijuana.

About 40 per cent of pot seizures at Border Patrol checkpoints from fiscal years 2013 to 2016 were 28 grams or less from U.S. citizens, according to a Government Accountability Office report last month. Californias new law allows anyone 21 and over to carry up to an ounce.

The Border Patrol operates 34 permanent checkpoints along the Mexican border and an additional 103 tactical stops, typically cones and signs that appear for brief periods.

Ronald Vitiello, acting deputy commissioner of parent agency Customs and Border Protection, called drug seizures an ancillary effect of enforcing immigration laws. Motorists typically are released after being photographed and fingerprinted. They generally arent charged with a crime because prosecutors consider them low priority.

The clash between state and federal marijuana laws played out on a smaller scale near the Canadian border in Washington after that state legalized marijuana in 2014. California is a far busier route for illegal crossings with many more agents.

State and federal marijuana laws have conflicted since California became the first to legalize marijuana for medical use in 1996. Next week, California will be among seven states and Washington, D.C., with legal recreational pot.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a staunch opponent of legalization, said last month that he was taking a close look at federal enforcement, suggesting a tougher stance than former president Barack Obamas administration.

At highway checkpoints, Border Patrol agents look for signs of nervous drivers, like clutching steering wheels and avoiding eye contact and interrupting when passengers are asked to state citizenship. Some panicked drivers make a U-turn when they spot the checkpoint, a dead giveaway.

One recent morning on westbound Interstate 8 about 64 kilometres east of San Diego, an agent standing outside a booth under a large white canopy stopped drivers for a few seconds to ask their citizenship or waved them through after peering inside.

In about an hour, three raised enough suspicion to be ordered aside for a thorough vehicle search.

A dog discovered a marijuana stash about the size of a thumbprint inside the pickup truck of a man with Arizona license plates who was taking his elderly uncle to a hospital appointment. It would have taken up to an hour to process the arrest, so agents released him after seizing the pot and warning it was illegal.

I didnt know that, sorry, the driver said, walking to his truck after waiting on a bench a few minutes while the dog searched.

The animal sniffed something in another car but found nothing in the seats or trunk. The apologetic driver said she smoked marijuana a week earlier, implying the odour lingered.

The Pine Valley checkpoint, amid oak- and chaparral-covered mountains on the main route from Arizona to San Diego, gets busy with drivers returning from weekend getaways but is less travelled than others.

Agents say a checkpoint on Interstate 5 between San Diego and Los Angeles can cause a 6.4-kilometre backup in 90 seconds during peak hours.

The government faces pushback over checkpoints. Some residents complain about delays and trespassers trying to circumvent checkpoints  some even dying from heat and exhaustion. Motorists who consider them a privacy invasion steadfastly refuse to answer questions and post their test encounters on YouTube.

Border Patrol officials insist they are effective. Without them, Vitiello said, smugglers would have open passage to cities like Phoenix and Albuquerque, New Mexico, once past the border.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1976 that agents can question people at checkpoints even without reason to believe anyone in the vehicle is in the country illegally and dont need a search warrant.

Michael Chernis, an attorney who represents people charged with marijuana crimes, believes checkpoint seizures are a waste of resources but acknowledged the government is empowered.

The bottom line is, theres absolutely no protection against federal interaction when it comes to adult use, he said.

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What can you buy with $284 billion (U.S.)?

You could own all of Netflix. Or purchase 747 Boeing 747s, with change to spare. Or erase the national debts of Venezuela, Nigeria, Peru and Iceland, combined.

Or, if youre Mary Horomanski, you could pay for one months worth of electricity.

Horomanski, from Erie, Pennsylvania, was shocked recently when she received an erroneous electric bill displaying an account balance of 284,460,000,000, with a first payment due of $28,176.

I opened it up and there it was, she told The Washington Post.

Horomanski, 58, began counting the commas (Hundreds. Thousands. Millions. Billions . . . Can most people even count that high?), then taking her glasses off and putting them on again.

It wasnt due until November of 2018, she said. It was like, well, I guess we have a year to come up with this billion-dollar bill.

Horomanskis husband and one of her sons were home with her when she checked her bill online, and they began asking if she was okay.

Im looking around the room and theyre looking at me now, cause Ive got this funny look on my face, Horomanski recalled Tuesday. When you see something like that, your heart starts beating, you break out into a little sweat, like, What on earth just happened?

In a brief moment of self-doubt, the stay-at-home mother of five boys also took stock of the electricity her household was using.

We had Christmas lights outside, but we dont have the National Lampoons Christmas Vacation lights, Horomanski said. And Im looking at my Christmas tree, and Im like, no, that wouldnt have caused it . . .

Horomanski texted an image of the bill to her oldest son, who immediately contacted Penelec, their electric company.

The company quickly reassured him it was an error, Horomanski said.

The correct amount was $284.46  still a little high, to be honest, compared to the previous months bill of $161, Horomanski thought. But at least not a figure that threatened to send her into cardiac arrest.

She also sent a picture of the bill to her local newspaper, the Erie Times-News, which wrote about the mistake in a story that went viral.

Mark Durbin, a spokesperson for First Energy, Penelecs parent company, told the Erie Times-News he didnt know what caused the error.

I cant recall ever seeing a bill for billions of dollars, Durbin told the newspaper. We appreciate the customers willingness to reach out to us about the mistake.

Horomanski said shes been receiving text messages from friends telling her that her surreal electric bill has appeared in the likes of Time magazine and the New York Post.

In retrospect, there was something universally relatable about the mistaken bill, along with the cold horror Horomanski felt at the thought of how much worse it could have been.

My son Mike and I were both saying, almost simultaneously, Holy bologna, could you imagine if I had that automatic payment and it just came out of the account? she said. I could not stop thinking about this.

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ORLANDO, FLA.The shooter rapidly fires through the front doors of an elementary school with an assault rifle and blasts his way down the hallway. Screaming children are running for their lives or frozen in fear. Teachers quickly try to decide: barricade the doors, or make a run for it with their students?

Police officers arrive with guns drawn, working their way through the school. Finally they confront the shooter and end the threat.

Using cutting-edge video game technology and animation, the U.S. Army and Homeland Security Department have developed a computer-based simulator that can train everyone from teachers to first responders on how to react to an active shooter scenario. The training centre is housed at the University of Central Florida in Orlando and offers numerous role-playing opportunities that can be used to train anyone in the world with a computer.

With teachers, they did not self-select into a role where they expect to have bullets flying near them. Unfortunately, its becoming a reality, said Tamara Griffith, a chief engineer for the project. We want to teach teachers how to respond as first responders.

The $5.6 million (U.S.) programknown as the Enhanced Dynamic Geo-Social Environment, or EDGEis similar to those used by the Army to train soldiers in combat tactics and scenarios using a virtual environment.

Originally designed for police and fire agencies, the civilian version is now being expanded to schools to allow teachers and other school personnel to train for active shooters alongside first responders. Homeland Security officials say the schools version should be ready for launch by spring.

Each character has numerous options, including someone playing the bad guy, said project manager Bob Walker. For example, each teacher has seven options on how to keep students safe, and some of the students in the program might not respond or be too afraid to react. So that becomes another problem to be solved.

Once you hear the children, the screaming, it makes it very, very real, Walker said.

Read more:

Schools across U.S. have become adept at shoring up security at any hint of danger

Is a gunmaker liable for the Sandy Hook massacre? A Connecticut court will decide

Quick-thinking California school staff, lockdown during shooting saved kids: authorities

The program can have the shooter be either an adult or a child.

We have to worry about both children and adults being suspects, he said.

The programs designers listened to real dispatch tapes to understand the confusion and chaos that goes along with such frightening situations, Griffith said. They also talked to the mother of a child killed in the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, who walked them through everything that happened that tragic day.

It gives you chills when you think about whats happening on those tapes, Griffith said. It tore us apart to listen to her and what she went through.

But it all serves one main goal: to train educators to save lives when an armed attacker bursts through a school door.

Another EDGE program, which was launched in June, has an active-shooter scenario involving a 26-storey hotel that includes numerous possible environments for first responder training: a conference centre, a restaurant, or office spaces. As many as 60 people can train on the program at once and can be located anywhere.

Its important that this provides agencies like fire and law enforcement an opportunity to train together, said Milt Nenneman, Homeland Security Science and Technology First Responder Group program manager in a recent Justice Department article. Very seldom do they have the opportunity to train together in real-life, and it is hard to get those agencies time away from their regular duties.

School safety advocates say safety training gets pushed to the back burner until a tragedy happens. Amanda Klinger, director of operations for non-profit Educators School Safety Network, said this new program could help change that.

I hope that people will sort of see this simulation as a really cool and engaging way, she said, to think about school safety.

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The most important social and legal change in Canada during 2018 will almost certainly be the legalization of marijuana. This move, the boldest by the Trudeau government so far, will end almost a century of prohibition of cannabis that has resulted in a great deal of misery while delivering few benefits in return.

The House of Commons has passed two laws that will make the consumption of marijuana legal while toughening the rules against abuse of the drug. The prime minister now says his goal to put them into effect by next summer.

But its far from clear that will actually happen. Conservatives in the Senate are threatening to derail the entire project by stretching out debate on legalization in the Upper Chamber for many months  past the original deadline of July, and possibly deep into next fall.

They should cease and desist. The appointed Senate has a constitutional job to do in reviewing legislation passed by the elected Commons. But deliberately thwarting the will of MPs by manipulating the arcane rules of the Senate is something else again.

The Senate officially began debate on Bill C-45, the Cannabis Act, and C-46, which would tighten rules on impaired driving related to marijuana use, at the end of November, as soon as the Commons passed them

So it had seven months to vet the bills  ample time if senators are honestly determined to fulfill their duties while respecting the will of the Commons. But debate in the Senate is far from straightforward and since the Conservatives form the single biggest group on party lines (ever since Justin Trudeau freed Liberal senators from party discipline) they can control the pace of debate.

Independent Senator Tony Dean has a better idea. Hes the sponsor of Bill C-45 in the Senate and proposes bringing in a structured debate for this important legislation. It would give senators a chance to examine the new laws, but according to a timetable that would bring it to a vote well before July 1.

Im not talking about limiting or rushing discussion, Dean wrote recently. Im talking about organizing discussion  a predictable, formulated debate. That kind of debate was successfully used in the Senate to examine another contentious piece of legislation, the law on medical assistance in dying.

The government representative in the Upper Chamber, Peter Harder, has also proposed bringing ministers involved in the issue to testify before the Senate in early February so senators can question them. All that would give senators a good chance to offer their sober second thought on the cannabis bills in a timely manner.

Lets recall whats at stake here. The current marijuana laws criminalize thousands of Canadians for using a relatively harmless drug. Aside from medical marijuana, pot is sold mostly through gang-run black markets and the proceeds arent taxed.

There is legitimate concern about marijuanas effects on young people, but prohibition hasnt worked very well there either. Canada has one of the highest rates of pot use among the young  higher than some other countries like the Netherlands where it is tolerated. Nor has legalization in some U.S. states led to a spike in consumption among youth.

Legalization with strict rules around distribution and sales, however, is complicated. The provinces are busy putting sales networks in place to meet the federal deadline, which involves locating outlets, signing legal agreements, hiring staff, preparing public education campaigns, and much more.

To kick this can down the road for months longer  perhaps until the end of 2018 or even longer  would disrupt all that planning.

Even worse, the Conservative senators are also threatening to delay the related Bill C-46, which will bring in stricter rules around driving while impaired  by either alcohol or marijuana.

Leaving aside the wisdom of legalizing cannabis, delaying the impaired driving law is indefensible. In an open letter to senators, MADD Canada (formerly Mothers Against Drunk Driving) points out that drugs are present in fatal crashes nearly twice as often as alcohol. They are calling on the Senate to pass C-46 without delay.

At the moment, Conservatives have 34 members in the Senate, compared to 39 Independents and just 15 Liberals. That gives the Conservative minority unusual power to manipulate the chambers rules.

But if they do that to defy the elected Commons and delay these laws unnecessarily, their party and the entire Senate will be discredited.

The Upper Chamber should do its job  in a timely, organized fashion that allows the best possible law on legalization to be adopted on the governments schedule.

Correction  December 27, 2017: This article was edited from a previous version that mistakenly said cannabis is legal in the Netherlands. In fact, it is not legal but is tolerated.

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Complicit. Thats the word of the year, according to Dictionary.com, which releases an annual list of words that were most searched or that defined those 12 months.

Certainly, complicity oozed out of our social, political and corporate structures this year, particularly in the context of gender and sexual harassment issues. In the process, it outed mega-sized predators  and MAGA ones, too.

Complicity also looked askance at the good guys, challenging the not-my-fault-not-my-problem approach to abuse.

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There was the actor Brad Pitt, who reportedly asked producer Harvey Weinstein to lay off his then-girlfriend Gwyneth Paltrow. His ex-wife Angelina Jolie, too accused Weinstein of sexual harassment. So Pitt knew about the two women. What did he, as a man with great power, do to stop it from happening to any other woman?

There is the other big name actor George Clooney who says he heard stories but dismissed them as rumours to smear women. Did he ask his female co-stars if they felt safe? Or was it more comfortable for him to not know?

You could call that doing of nothing small c complicity. Then there is Complicity with a Capital C  deliberating spreading misinformation, like the defenders of the indefensible Republican senate nominee Roy Moore did, claiming journalistically verified sexual allegations against him to be a political ploy. Or the people who endorsed the man, as U.S. President Donald Trump did.

Canada acknowledged complicity this year in the discrimination and abuse faced by certain groups after the prime minister apologized to LGBTQ2 people and to the survivors of Newfoundland and Labrador residential schools. Ottawa plans to apologize for turning away Jewish refugees during the Second World War.

But complicity was not acknowledged in the context of racism, specifically anti-Black racism. Instead, complicity gained traction. It manifested as whitelash, a term presciently created by CNN commentator Van Jones late last year. In the hours after Americans handed Trump a stunning presidential victory, Jones called the result a whitelash against a changing country and against a Black president. His sentiments were later backed by data from polls.

A whitelash, or a white backlash, has long dogged racial advancements for Black people leading, for example, to calls for law and order after the civil rights movement.

This year, whitelash took many forms on both sides of the border.

While all manner of far-right Americans rallied for the cause of Confederate flags and statues, symbols of an era that brutalized Black people, Canadians became aware of their own Proud Boys, on Canada Day, when five men in black polo shirts disrupted an Indigenous ceremony in Halifax. These are men who refuse to apologize for creating the modern world  as if a call for equality seeks an apology for modernity.

Whitelash often comes cloaked as grievance such as reverse racism, a concept akin to a bully crying victim to the whistle-blowing kid he torments.

An NPR poll in October found more than half the white people surveyed said they believed discrimination against them exists, although few said they had actually experienced it.

Universities became flashpoints of rancour, where whitelashers saw pushback to ideas, language and communication that devalued minority groups as an infringement on their free speech rights.

White supremacist posters sprang up across universities in Canada. European Brotherhood. Time to fight, read posters in Brandon University in south Manitoba. The more benignly labelled Its OK to be white posters pasted on campuses around the country turned out to be the work of white supremacists.

Did the 6 million really die? read a poster at the University of Calgary.

That same fragility was on display on posters that appeared at two university campuses in Fredericton, N.B. We have a right to exist, read one, underneath a sketch of a couple with European features.

Yet, this whitelash gives me hope, too; it suggests that the voices of the marginalized are making an impact. There were other examples.

When it turned out that the #MeToo movement that white actress Alyssa Milano began on social media, was actually started by a Black woman, Tarana Burke, Milano quickly made amends and gave credit where credit was due.

When Canadian journalists took part in an inappropriate social media joke about an actual appropriation prize, the outrage was loud enough for at least some of them to apologize.

Dalhousie University withdrew its disciplinary action against student Masuma Khan who offended some white people with a biting social media message, a move that came after petitions from concerned Canadians about respecting freedom of expression.

Most of all, I feel hope with the news that the provocative and incredibly brave young revolutionaries of the Black Lives Matter movement, pilloried by whitelashers, received a global peace prize.

In November, the Sydney Peace Foundation awarded BLM the prize for building a powerful movement for racial equality, courageously reigniting a global conversation around state violence and racism.

Hope. And respect.

Perhaps one of them can be the word of the year for 2018.

Shree Paradkar writes about discrimination and identity. You can follow her @shreeparadkar

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KAR Auction Services, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides used vehicle auctions and related vehicle remarketing services for the automotive industry in the United States, Europe, Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. The company operates through two segments, ADESA Auctions and AFC. The ADESA Auctions segment offers whole car auctions and related services to the vehicle remarketing industry through online auctions and auction facilities. It also provides value-added services, such as auction related, transportation, reconditioning, inspection, title and repossession administration and remarketing, vehicle research, and analytical services, as well as data as a service. This segment sells its products and services through vehicle manufacturers, fleet companies, rental car companies, finance companies, and others. As of December 31, 2021, this segment had a network of approximately 70 vehicle logistics center locations in North America. The AFC segment offers floorplan financing, a short-term inventory-secured financing to independent used vehicle dealers; and sells vehicle service contracts. The company provides wheel repair and hail catastrophe response services. It serves vehicle manufacturers, vehicle rental companies, financial institutions, commercial fleets and fleet management companies, and dealer customers. The company was formerly known as KAR Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to KAR Auction Services, Inc. in November 2009. KAR Auction Services, Inc. was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Carmel, Indiana.
United Technologies Corporation provides technology products and services to building systems and aerospace industries worldwide. Its Otis segment designs, manufactures, sells, and installs passenger and freight elevators, escalators, and moving walkways; and offers modernization products to upgrade elevators and escalators, as well as maintenance and repair services. The company's Carrier segment provides heating, ventilating, air conditioning, refrigeration, fire, security, and building automation products, solutions, and services for commercial, government, infrastructure, residential, and refrigeration and transportation applications. This segment also offers building services, including audit, design, installation, system integration, repair, maintenance, and monitoring. Its Pratt & Whitney segment supplies aircraft engines for commercial, military, business jet, and general aviation markets; and provides aftermarket maintenance, repair, and overhaul, as well as fleet management services. The company's Collins Aerospace Systems segment provides electric power generation, power management, and distribution systems; air data and aircraft sensing systems; engine control, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems; engine components; environmental control systems; fire and ice detection, and protection systems; propeller systems; engine nacelle systems; aircraft lighting, seating, and cargo systems; actuation and landing systems; space products and subsystems; avionics systems; flight controls, communications, navigation, oxygen, and training systems; food and beverage preparation, and storage and galley systems; and lavatory and wastewater management systems. The company offers its services through manufacturers' representatives, distributors, wholesalers, dealers, retail outlets, and sales representatives, as well as directly to customers. United Technologies Corporation was founded in 1934 and is headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut.
The following companies are subsidiares of Pfizer: AH Robins LLC, AHP Holdings B.V., AHP Manufacturing B.V., Agouron Pharmaceuticals LLC, Alacer, Alpharma Holdings LLC, Alpharma Pharmaceuticals LLC, Alpharma Specialty Pharma LLC, Alpharma USHP LLC, American Food Industries LLC, Anacor Pharmaceuticals, Anacor Pharmaceuticals Inc., Angiosyn, Array BioPharma, Ayerst-Wyeth Pharmaceuticals LLC, BIND Therapeutics Inc., BINESA 2002 S.L., Bamboo Therapeutics, Bamboo Therapeutics Inc., Baxter International - Marketed Vaccines, BioRexis, Bioren, Bioren LLC, Blue Whale Re Ltd., C.E. Commercial Holdings C.V., C.E. Commercial Investments C.V., C.P. Pharmaceuticals International C.V., CICL Corporation, COC I Corporation, Catapult Genetics, Coley Pharmaceutical GmbH, Coley Pharmaceutical Group, Coley Pharmaceutical Group Inc., Continental Pharma Inc., Covx, Covx Technologies Ireland Limited, Cyanamid Inter-American Corporation, Cyanamid de Argentina S.A., Cyanamid de Colombia S.A., Distribuidora Mercantil Centro Americana S.A., Encysive Pharmaceuticals, Encysive Pharmaceuticals Inc., Esperion LUV Development Inc., Esperion Therapeutics, Excaliard Pharmaceuticals, Excaliard Pharmaceuticals Inc., Farminova Produtos Farmaceuticos de Inovacao Lda., Farmogene Productos Farmaceuticos Lda, Ferrosan A/S, Ferrosan International A/S, Ferrosan S.R.L., FoldRx Pharmaceuticals Inc., Foldrx Pharmaceuticals, Fort Dodge Manufatura Ltda., G. D. Searle & Co. Limited, G. D. Searle International Capital LLC, G. D. Searle LLC, GI Europe Inc., GI Japan Inc., GenTrac Inc., Genetics Institute LLC, Greenstone LLC, Haptogen Limited, Hospira, Hospira (China) Enterprise Management Co. Ltd., Hospira Adelaide Pty Ltd, Hospira Aseptic Services Limited, Hospira Australia Pty Ltd, Hospira Benelux BVBA, Hospira Chile Limitada, Hospira Deutschland GmbH, Hospira Enterprises B.V., Hospira France SAS, Hospira Healthcare B.V., Hospira Healthcare Corporation, Hospira Healthcare India Private Limited, Hospira Holdings (S.A.) Pty Ltd, Hospira Inc., Hospira Invicta S.A., Hospira Ireland Holdings Unlimited Company, Hospira Ireland Sales Limited, Hospira Japan G.K., Hospira Limited, Hospira Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Hospira NZ Limited, Hospira Nordic AB, Hospira Philippines Inc., Hospira Portugal LDA, Hospira Produtos Hospitalares Ltda., Hospira Pte. Ltd., Hospira Pty Limited, Hospira Puerto Rico LLC, Hospira Singapore Pte Ltd, Hospira UK Limited, Hospira Worldwide LLC, Hospira Zagreb d.o.o., ICAgen, Idun Pharmaceuticals, Industrial Santa Agape S.A., InnoPharma, InnoPharma Inc., International Affiliated Corporation LLC, JMI-Daniels Pharmaceuticals Inc., John Wyeth & Brother Limited, Kiinteisto oy Espoon Pellavaniementie 14, King Pharmaceuticals Holdings LLC, King Pharmaceuticals LLC, King Pharmaceuticals Research and Development LLC, Korea Pharma Holding Company Limited, Laboratoires Pfizer S.A., Laboratorios Parke Davis S.L., Laboratorios Pfizer Ltda., Laboratorios Wyeth LLC, Laboratorios Wyeth S.A., Laboratorios Pfizer Lda., MTG Divestitures LLC, Mayne Pharma IP Holdings (Euro) Pty Ltd, Medivation, Medivation Field Solutions LLC, Medivation LLC, Medivation Neurology LLC, Medivation Prostate Therapeutics LLC, Medivation Services LLC, Medivation Technologies LLC, Meridian Medical Technologies Inc., Meridian Medical Technologies Limited, Monarch Pharmaceuticals LLC, Neusentis Limited, NextWave Pharmaceuticals, NextWave Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, P-D Co. LLC, PAH USA IN8 LLC, PF Americas Holding C.V., PF Asia Manufacturing B.V., PF PR Holdings C.V., PF PRISM C.V., PF PRISM Holdings S.a.r.l., PF Prism S.a.r.l., PFE Holdings G.K., PFE PHAC Holdings 1 LLC, PFE Pfizer Holdings 1 LLC, PFE Wyeth Holdings LLC, PFE Wyeth-Ayerst (Asia) LLC, PHILCO Holdings S.a r.l., PHIVCO Corp., PHIVCO Holdco S.a r.l., PHIVCO Luxembourg S.a r.l., PN Mexico LLC, PT. Pfizer Parke Davis, Parke Davis & Company LLC, Parke Davis Limited, Parke Davis Productos Farmaceuticos Lda, Parke-Davis Manufacturing Corp., Parkedale Pharmaceuticals Inc., Peak Enterprises LLC, Pfizer, Pfizer (China) Research and Development Co. Ltd., Pfizer (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Pfizer (Perth) Pty Limited, Pfizer (Thailand) Limited, Pfizer (Wuhan) Research and Development Co. Ltd., Pfizer AB, Pfizer AG, Pfizer AS, Pfizer Africa & Middle East for Pharmaceuticals Veterinarian Products & Chemicals S.A.E., Pfizer Anti-Infectives AB, Pfizer ApS, Pfizer Asia Manufacturing Pte. Ltd., Pfizer Asia Pacific Pte Ltd., Pfizer Atlantic Holdings S.a.r.l., Pfizer Australia Holdings B.V., Pfizer Australia Holdings Pty Limited, Pfizer Australia Investments Pty. Ltd., Pfizer Australia Pty Limited, Pfizer B.V., Pfizer BH D.o.o., Pfizer Baltic Holdings B.V., Pfizer Biofarmaceutica Sociedade Unipessoal Lda, Pfizer Biologics (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd, Pfizer Biologics Ireland Holdings Limited, Pfizer Biotech Corporation, Pfizer Bolivia S.A., Pfizer Canada Inc., Pfizer CentreSource Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Pfizer Chile S.A., Pfizer Cia. Ltda., Pfizer Colombia Spinco I LLC, Pfizer Commercial Holdings Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer Commercial Holdings TRAE Kft., Pfizer Commercial TRAE Trading Kft., Pfizer Consumer Healthcare AB, Pfizer Consumer Healthcare GmbH, Pfizer Consumer Healthcare Ltd., Pfizer Consumer Manufacturing Italy S.r.l., Pfizer Corporation, Pfizer Corporation Austria Gesellschaft m.b.H., Pfizer Corporation Hong Kong Limited, Pfizer Croatia d.o.o., Pfizer Deutschland GmbH, Pfizer Development LP, Pfizer Development Services (UK) Limited, Pfizer Domestic Ventures Limited, Pfizer Dominicana S.R.L, Pfizer ESP Pty Ltd, Pfizer East India B.V., Pfizer Eastern Investments B.V., Pfizer Egypt S.A.E., Pfizer Enterprise Holdings B.V., Pfizer Enterprises LLC, Pfizer Enterprises SARL, Pfizer Europe Finance B.V., Pfizer Export B.V., Pfizer Export Company, Pfizer Export Holding Company B.V, Pfizer Finance Share Service (Dalian) Co. Ltd., Pfizer Financial Services N.V./S.A., Pfizer France International Investments, Pfizer Free Zone Panama S. de R.L., Pfizer GEP S.L., Pfizer Global Holdings B.V., Pfizer Global Supply Japan Inc., Pfizer Global Trading, Pfizer Group Luxembourg Sarl, Pfizer Gulf FZ-LLC, Pfizer H.C.P. Corporation, Pfizer HK Service Company Limited, Pfizer Health AB, Pfizer Health Solutions Inc., Pfizer Healthcare Ireland, Pfizer Hellas A.E., Pfizer Himalaya Holdings Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer Holding France, Pfizer Holding Ventures, Pfizer Holdings Corporation, Pfizer Holdings Europe Unlimited Company, Pfizer Holdings G.K., Pfizer Holdings International Corporation, Pfizer Holdings International Luxembourg (PHIL) Sarl, Pfizer Holdings North America SARL, Pfizer Hungary Holdings TRAE Kft., Pfizer Inc., Pfizer Innovations AB, Pfizer Innovations LLC, Pfizer Innovative Supply Point International BVBA, Pfizer International LLC, Pfizer International Markets Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer International Operations, Pfizer International S. de R.L., Pfizer International Trading (Shanghai) Limited, Pfizer Investment Capital Unlimited Company, Pfizer Investment Co. Ltd., Pfizer Investment Holdings S.a.r.l., Pfizer Ireland Investments Limited, Pfizer Ireland PFE Holding 1 LLC, Pfizer Ireland PFE Holding 2 LLC, Pfizer Ireland Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer Ireland Ventures Unlimited Company, Pfizer Italia S.r.l., Pfizer Italy Group Holding S.r.l., Pfizer Japan Inc., Pfizer LLC, Pfizer Laboratories (Pty) Limited, Pfizer Laboratories Limited, Pfizer Laboratories PFE (Pty) Ltd, Pfizer Leasing Ireland Limited, Pfizer Leasing UK Limited, Pfizer Limitada, Pfizer Limited, Pfizer Luxco Holdings SARL, Pfizer Luxembourg Global Holdings S.a r.l., Pfizer Luxembourg SARL, Pfizer MAP Holding Inc., Pfizer Manufacturing Austria G.m.b.H., Pfizer Manufacturing Belgium N.V., Pfizer Manufacturing Deutschland GmbH, Pfizer Manufacturing Deutschland Grundbesitz GmbH & Co. KG, Pfizer Manufacturing Holdings LLC, Pfizer Manufacturing Ireland Unlimited Company, Pfizer Manufacturing LLC, Pfizer Manufacturing Services, Pfizer Medical Technology Group (Belgium) N.V., Pfizer Medicamentos Genericos e Participacoes Ltda., Pfizer Mexico Luxco SARL, Pfizer Mexico S.A. de C.V., Pfizer Middle East for Pharmaceuticals Animal Health and Chemicals S.A.E., Pfizer New Zealand Limited, Pfizer Norge AS, Pfizer North American Holdings Inc., Pfizer OTC B.V., Pfizer Overseas LLC, Pfizer Oy, Pfizer PFE ApS, Pfizer PFE AsiaPac Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Australia Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Australia Pty Ltd, Pfizer PFE B.V., Pfizer PFE Baltic Holdings B.V., Pfizer PFE Belgium SPRL, Pfizer PFE Brazil Holding S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE CIA. Ltda., Pfizer PFE Chile Holding LLC, Pfizer PFE Colombia Holding Corp., Pfizer PFE Colombia S.A.S, Pfizer PFE Commercial Holdings LLC, Pfizer PFE Croatia Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Eastern Investments B.V., Pfizer PFE Finland Oy, Pfizer PFE France, Pfizer PFE Global Holdings B.V., Pfizer PFE Ireland Pharmaceuticals Holding 1 B.V., Pfizer PFE Italy Holdco 2 S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE Italy Holdco S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Pfizer PFE Limited, Pfizer PFE Luxembourg S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE Mexico Holding 3 LLC, Pfizer PFE Netherlands Holding 1 C.V., Pfizer PFE New Zealand, Pfizer PFE New Zealand Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Norway Holding S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE PILSA Holdco S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE Peru Holding LLC, Pfizer PFE Peru S.R.L., Pfizer PFE Pharmaceuticals Israel Holding LLC, Pfizer PFE Pharmaceuticals Israel Ltd., Pfizer PFE Private Limited, Pfizer PFE S.R.L, Pfizer PFE Service Company Holding Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer PFE Singapore Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Singapore Pte. Ltd., Pfizer PFE Spain B.V., Pfizer PFE Spain Holding S.L., Pfizer PFE Sweden Holding 2 S.a.r.l., Pfizer PFE Sweden Holding S.a.r.l., Pfizer PFE Switzerland GmbH, Pfizer PFE Turkey Holding 1 B.V., Pfizer PFE Turkey Holding 2 B.V., Pfizer PFE UK Holding 4 LP, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 1 LLC, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 2 LLC, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 3 LLC, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 4 LLC, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 5 LLC, Pfizer PFE spol. s r.o., Pfizer PFE Ilaclar Anonim Sirketi, Pfizer Pakistan Limited, Pfizer Parke Davis (Thailand) Ltd., Pfizer Parke Davis Inc., Pfizer Parke Davis Sdn. Bhd., Pfizer Pharm Algerie, Pfizer Pharma GmbH, Pfizer Pharma PFE GmbH, Pfizer Pharmaceutical (Wuxi) Co. Ltd., Pfizer Pharmaceutical Trading Limited Liability Company (a/k/a Pfizer Kft. or Pfizer LLC), Pfizer Pharmaceuticals B.V., Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Global B.V., Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Israel Ltd., Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Korea Limited, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals LLC, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Pfizer Pigments Inc., Pfizer Polska Sp. z.o.o., Pfizer Private Limited, Pfizer Production LLC, Pfizer Products Inc., Pfizer Products India Private Limited, Pfizer Research (NC) Inc., Pfizer Romania SRL, Pfizer S.A., Pfizer S.A., Pfizer S.A. (Belgium), Pfizer S.A. de C.V., Pfizer S.A.S., Pfizer S.G.P.S. Lda., Pfizer S.L., Pfizer S.R.L., Pfizer SRB d.o.o., Pfizer Saidal Manufacturing, Pfizer Sante Familiale, Pfizer Saudi Limited, Pfizer Seiyaku K.K., Pfizer Service Company BVBA, Pfizer Service Company Ireland Unlimited Company, Pfizer Services 1, Pfizer Services LLC, Pfizer Shared Services Unlimited Company, Pfizer Shareholdings Intermediate SARL, Pfizer Singapore Holding Pte. 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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GameStop Corp. is a specialty retailer founded in 1999 and headquartered in Grapevine, Texas. The company was originally known as GSC Holdings Corp. but later changed its name following its IPO. Originally a brand of then dominant Babbages, Gamestop altered the way video games were distributed and it is now the world's largest retailer of video games and video game accessories. The company went public in 2004 and operated 4,573 stores at the start of 2022. Brands under the company umbrella include Gamestop, EB Games, and Micromania as well as 50 pop-culture-themed Zing Pop locations.

Gamestop Corp. provides video games and entertainment products through its global network of e-commerce properties and stores. The company sells new and pre-owned gaming platforms and accessories like controllers, headsets, memory cards, and gaming software as well as in-game products like digital currency, downloadable content, and games. The company also sells new and used memorabilia and collectibles. Genres include TV, movie, comic book, and game characters as well as many other items from pop culture. GameStop Corp. also operates Game Informer, a magazine and website dedicated to the gaming industry including reviews, updates, and new developments in technologies.

Game enthusiasts enjoy two primary benefits of using Gamestop. The first is access to the full range of games and gaming accessories. The second is the ability to sell or trade their old equipment and games for fair prices. All old equipment is refurbished to a like-new state before resale.

In 2021 Gamestop announced it was entering the world of cryptocurrency. The company revealed plans to build an NFT (non-fungible token) platform for listing, selling, and holding digital or digitized artwork and collectibles. The beta version launched in 2022 and has so far seen great success with an average daily volume exceeding $1 million. The NFT marketplace also featured Web3.0 games in which characters and in-game items are held forever on the blockchain. As of September 2022, the most successful retailer on the NFT marketplace was Gamestop Presents, a collaboration of cover art from Game Informer Magazine. Sales at the time were just under 168 ETH or about $221,500.00.

GameStop began a slide in 2016 following a series of bad investments that included a foray into the world of mobile phones. The slide came to an end in late 2021 when shareholders using the Reddit thread Wallstreet Bets orchestrated a short-squeeze and brought on the age of meme stocks.
Citigroup Inc. is one of the worlds largest financial institutions. It is the 13th largest bank globally by assets and 8th by market cap with operations in consumer and institutional banking. In the US, Citigroup is the 3rd largest bank by assets and one of the Big Four deemed systemically important and too big to fail.

Citigroup Inc. was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York. The bank was run by Samuel Osgood who led the company with success for many years, even throughout the War of 1812. The bank was later renamed the National City Bank of New York in 1865 and by 1895 is the largest bank in the US. In 1913 it was the first contributor to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and a few years later it began to expand into overseas territories.

The bank became the First National City Bank of New York after another merger in 1955 and then later, the New York part was dropped off as part of the 150th-anniversary celebration. By 1974 the company is known as Citicorp which is still the operational branch of the business and a global banking powerhouse. A merger with Travelers insurance group in 1998 resulted in the name Citigroup but the joint venture did not last. By 2002 Travelers was publicly traded once again but Citigroup retained the new name.

Today, the company is headquartered in New York, New York but boasts more than 200 million customer accounts in 160 countries worldwide. As of mid-2022, it operated 2,649 branches in the United States, Mexico, and Asia. The company reports nearly 725 branches in the US and 1499 in Mexico with the rest scattered throughout its territory. Total annual revenue topped $75 billion in 2022.

Citigroup is a diversified financial services holding company that owns Citicorp among other assets. The companys mission is to serve as a trusted partner providing responsible financial solutions to its clients. Citigroup provides financial products and services to consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions. The company operates in two segments, Global Consumer Banking (GCB) and Institutional Clients Group (ICG).

The GCB segment offers traditional banking services including deposit and saving accounts, credit cards, personal loans, home loans, and investment services. This segment operates through local branches and digital means. The ICG segment offers wholesale banking products and services to corporate, institutional, public sector, and high-net-worth clients.
The following companies are subsidiares of Marsh & McLennan Companies: 8WORKS INC., 8WORKS LTD, A. Constantinidi & CIA. S.C., A.C.N. 000 951 146 Pty Limited, A.C.N. 001 572 961 Pty Limited, A.C.N. 076 935 683 Pty Limited, A.C.N. 102 322 574 Pty Limited, ACE Insurance Agents Limited, ACE Insurance Consultants Limited, ACE Insurance and Reinsurance Brokers Limited, AD Corretora de Seguros, AFCO Premium Acceptance Inc., AFCO Premium Credit LLC, Access Equity Enhanced Fund GP LLC, Admiral Holdings Limited, Agnew Higgins Pickering & Co. (Bermuda) Ltd, Aldgate Investments Limited, Aldgate Trustees Ltd, Alexander Forbes Group Holdings Limited, Alpha Consultants Limited, Alta SA, Altius Real Assets (GP) LLC, Amal Insurance Brokers Limited (in liquidation), Anda Insurance Agencies Pte Ltd, AssetVal Pty Ltd, Assur Conseils Marsh S.A., Assurance Capital Corporation, Assurance Services Corporation, Australian Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd, Australian World Underwriters Pty Ltd., BBPS Limited, Barney & Barney Orange County LLC, Beaumonts (Leeds) Limited (in liquidation), Beaumonts Insurance Brokers Limited (in liquidation), Beaumonts Insurance Services Limited, Beneficios Integrales Oportunos SA, Benefitfocus Inc., Blue Marble Micro Limited, Blue Marble Microinsurance Inc., Bluefin, Bluefin Insurance Group Limited, Bluefin Insurance Services Limited, Boulder Claims LLC, Bowring (Bermuda) Investments Ltd., Bowring Marine Limited, Bowring Marsh (Bermuda) Ltd., Bowring Marsh (Hong Kong) Limited, Bowring Marsh Asia Pte. Ltd., Bowring Marsh Corretora de Resseguros Ltda., Bowring Marsh Limited, Broderick Piller Pty Ltd, Broker 2 Broker Limited, BuildPay LLC, Burke Ford Trustees (Leicester) Limited, C.T. Bowring Limited, CMC-Belgibo NV, CPRM Limited, CPSG Partners LLC, Carpenter Marsh Fac Chile Corredores de Reaseguros Limitada, Carpenter Marsh Fac Colombia Corredores de Reaseguros S.A., Carpenter Marsh Fac Peru Corredores de Reaseguros S.A.C., Carpenter Marsh Fac Re LLC, Carpenter Turner Cyprus Ltd, Carpenter Turner S.A., Cascade International Holdings C.V., Cascade Regional Holdings Limited, Central Insurance Services Limited, Charter Risk Management Services LLC, Chartwell Healthcare Limited, Chronos Insurance Brokers Pty Limited, Claims and Recovery Management (Australia) Pty Limited, Clark Thomson Insurance Brokers Limited, Client Provide Limited, Colombian Insurance Broking Wholesale Limited, Consultores 2020 C.A., Cronin & Co Insurance Services Limited, DVA - Deutsche Verkehrs-Assekuranz-Vermittlungs GmbH, Dawson Insurance, DeLima Marsh S.A. - Los Corredores de Seguros S.A., Dovetail Insurance Corp., Dovetail Insurance Corp., Dovetail Managing General Agency Corporation, Dovetail Technology Service India Private Limited, Draw Connect Limited, Draw Create Limited, Draw Group London Limited, Eagle & Crown Limited, Echelon Australia Pty Limited, Echelon Claims Consultants Sdn Bhd, Echelon New Zealand Limited, EnBW Versicherungs Vermittlung GmbH, Encompass Insurance Agency Pty Ltd., English Pension Trustees Limited, Epsilon (US) Insurance Company, Epsilon Insurance Company Ltd., Eustis Insurance & Benefits, Evolution Management Ltd, Exchange Insurance Services Limited (in liquidation), Exmoor Management Company Limited, Faulkner & Flynn LLC, Freedom Trust Services Limited, GC Genesis LLC, GCube Insurance Services Inc, GCube Underwriting Limited, Gama Consultores Associados Ltda., Gem Insurance Company Limited, Global Premium Finance Company, GrECo International Holding AG, Gracechurch Trustees Limited, Gresham Pension Trustees Limited, Group Promoters Pty Limited, Guy Carpenter & Cia (Mexico) S.A. de C.V., Guy Carpenter & Cia. S.A., Guy Carpenter & Co. Labuan Ltd., Guy Carpenter & Company AB, Guy Carpenter & Company Corredores de Reaseguros Limitada, Guy Carpenter & Company Corretora de Resseguros Ltda., Guy Carpenter & Company GmbH, Guy Carpenter & Company LLC, Guy Carpenter & Company Limited, Guy Carpenter & Company Limited, Guy Carpenter & Company Ltd./Guy Carpenter & Compagnie Ltee, Guy Carpenter & Company Participacoes Ltda., Guy Carpenter & Company Peru Corredores de Reaseguros S.A., Guy Carpenter & Company Private Limited, Guy Carpenter & Company Proprietary Limited, Guy Carpenter & Company Pty. Ltd., Guy Carpenter & Company S.A., Guy Carpenter & Company S.A. (Uruguay), Guy Carpenter & Company S.A.S., Guy Carpenter & Company S.r.l., Guy Carpenter (Middle East) Limited, Guy Carpenter Bermuda Ltd., Guy Carpenter Broking Inc., Guy Carpenter Colombia Corredores de Reaseguros Ltda., Guy Carpenter Insurance Brokers (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Guy Carpenter Japan Inc., Guy Carpenter Mexico Intermediario de Reaseguro S.A. de C.V., Guy Carpenter Reasurans Brokerligi Anonim Sirketi, HAPIP GP 2009 LLC, HAPIP GP LLC, HSBC Insurance Brokers International (Abu Dhabi) LLC (in liquidation), Hamilton Bond Limited, Hansen International Limited, Hayward Aviation Limited, INSIA Europe SE, INSIA SK s.r.o., INSIA a.s., INSURANCE BROKERS OF NIGERIA LIMITED, IRC Asia Insurance Brokers Limited, InSolutions Limited, Industrial Risks Protection Consultants, Ingeseg S. A., Ingeseg S.A., Insbrokers Ltda., InsurTech Alliance LLC, Insure Direct (Brokers) LLC, Insure Direct (Brokers) LLC [BAHRAIN BRANCH], Insure Direct - Jardine Lloyd Thompson Limited, International Catastrophe Insurance Managers LLC, International Loss Control Services Limited, International Risk Consultants (Asia) Limited, Invercol Limited, Irish Pensions Trust Limited, Isosceles Insurance (Barbados) Limited, Isosceles Insurance Company Limited, Isosceles Insurance Ltd, Isosceles PCC Limited, J&H Marsh & McLennan Limited, J.W. Terrill Benefit Administrators Inc., JI Holdings Limited, JIB Group Holdings Limited, JIB Group Limited, JIB Holdings (Pacific) Limited, JIB Overseas Holdings Limited, JIB UK Holdings Limited, JL Marine Insurance-Brokers GmbH & Co. KG, JLM Verwaltungs GmbH, JLT (Insurance Brokers) Limited, JLT Actuaries and Consultants Limited, JLT Advisory Limited, JLT Affinity Colombia Solutions SAS, JLT Agencies Limited, JLT Asesorias Ltda, JLT Asia Holdings BV, JLT Asia Shared Services Sdn Bhd, JLT Belgibo, JLT Benefit Consultants Limited, JLT Benefit Solutions Limited, JLT Benefit Solutions SA (Pty) Ltd, JLT Bermuda Ltd, JLT Brasil Holdings Participacoes Ltd, JLT Chile Holdings SpA, JLT Colombia Retail Limited, JLT Colombia Wholesale Limited, JLT Consultants & Actuaries Limited, JLT EB Holdings Limited, JLT EB Services Limited, JLT Employee Benefits Holding Company (PTY) LTD, JLT Employee Benefits SA (Pty) Ltd, JLT Financial Planning Limited, JLT France Holdings, JLT Group Services Pty Limited, JLT Holdings (Barbados) Ltd, JLT Holdings (NZ) Limited, JLT Independent Insurance Brokers Private Limited, JLT Insurance Agencies Limited, JLT Insurance Brokers Co. Limited, JLT Insurance Brokers Co. Limited ( Shanghai Branch), JLT Insurance Brokers Co. Limited (Beijing Branch), JLT Insurance Brokers Co. Limited (Guangzhou Branch), JLT Insurance Brokers Ireland Limited, JLT Insurance Brokers SA, JLT Insurance Group Holdings Ltd, JLT Insurance Management Malta Limited, JLT Intellectual Property Limited, JLT Intellectual Property [UK Branch], JLT Interactive Pte. Ltd., JLT Investment Management Limited, JLT LATAM (Southern Cone) Wholesale Limited, JLT Latin American Holdings Limited, JLT Life Assurance Brokers Limited, JLT Management Services Limited, JLT Marine (Pty) Ltd, JLT Mexico Holdings Limited, JLT Mexico Intermediario de Reaseguro S.A. de C.V., JLT Netherlands BV, JLT Norway AS, JLT PLA, JLT Pension Trustees Limited, JLT Pensions Administration Holdings Limited, JLT Pensions Administration Limited, JLT Peru Reinsurance Solutions Limited, JLT Peru Retail Limited, JLT Peru Wholesale Limited, JLT QFM Services Limited, JLT RE Brasil Administracao e Corretagem de Resseguros Ltda, JLT Re (French Branch), JLT Re (Northern Europe) AB, JLT Re Argentina Corredores de Reaseguros S.A.U., JLT Re Labuan Limited, JLT Re Limited, JLT Re Pty Ltd, JLT Reinsurance Brokers GmbH, JLT Reinsurance Brokers Limited, JLT Reinsurance Brokers Limited [French Branch], JLT Risk Management Limited, JLT Risk Solutions AB, JLT Risk Solutions AB Branch - Germany, JLT SA IB Holdings Company (Pty) Limited, JLT SCK Affinity Administracao e Corretora de Seguros Ltda., JLT SCK Corretora e Administradora de Seguros, JLT Secretaries Limited, JLT Sigorta ve Reasurans Brokerlii A.., JLT Singapore Holdings Pte. Ltd., JLT Specialty France, JLT Specialty Insurance Broker A/S, JLT Specialty Limited, JLT Specialty Limited [DUBAI BRANCH], JLT Specialty Pte. Ltd., JLT Towner Insurance Management (Anguilla) Limited, JLT Trust Services (Barbados) Ltd, JLT Trustees (Southern) Limited, JLT Trustees Limited, JLT UK Investment Holdings Limited, JLT Vantage Risk and Benefit Consulting Private Limited, JLT Wealth Management Limited, JLT do Brasil Corretagem de Seguros Ltda, JLTPCS Holdings Pte. Ltd., JMIB Holdings BV, JSL Securities Inc., Japan Affinity Marketing Inc., Jardine IBR Limited, Jardine Lloyd Thompson (Proprietary) Limited, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Asia Pte Ltd, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Australia Pty Limited, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Canada Inc, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group Ltd, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc, Jardine Lloyd Thompson India Private Limited, Jardine Lloyd Thompson India Private Limited (UK Branch Office), Jardine Lloyd Thompson Insurance Consultants Limited, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Insurance and Reinsurance Brokers Inc., Jardine Lloyd Thompson Ireland Holdings Limited, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Ireland Unlimited Company, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Korea Limited, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Limited, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Limited [Macao Branch], Jardine Lloyd Thompson PCS (Dubai) Limited, Jardine Lloyd Thompson PCS Limited, Jardine Lloyd Thompson PCS Pte Ltd, Jardine Lloyd Thompson PCS SA, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Private Limited, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Pty Limited, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Sdn Bhd, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Valencia y Iragorri Corredores de Seguros SA, Jardine Pension Trustees Ireland Limited, Jardine Risk Consulting Co. Limited, Jardine ShunTak Insurance Brokers Limited, Jardine ShunTak Insurance Brokers Limited [Macao Branch], Jardines PF- Consultoria Em Gestao De Risco Limitada, Jelf, Jelf Commercial Finance Limited, Jelf Financial Planning Limited, Jelf Insurance Brokers Limited, Jelf Limited, Jelf Risk Management Limited, Jelf Wellbeing Limited, John Lampier & Son Ltd, Johnson & Higgins (Bermuda) Limited, Johnson & Higgins Limited, KESSLER & CO AG, Kepler Associates Limited, Kessler & Co Inc., Kessler Consulting Inc., Kessler Prevoyance Inc., Key Underwriting Pty Limited, Kroll, Lambert Brothers Holdings Limited, Lambert Brothers Insurance Brokers (Employee Benefits) Limited, Lambert Brothers Insurance Brokers (Hong Kong) Ltd, Laterlife.com Limited (in liquidation), Lavaretus Underwriting AB, Lavaretus Underwriting AB (BRANCH - Denmark), Libra Insurance Services Limited (in liquidation), Lloyd & Partners Limited, Local Government Insurance Brokers Pty Limited, Lomond Macdonald Limited, Lynch Insurance Brokers Limited, M&M Vehicle L.P., M.P. Bolshaw and Company Limited, MAG JLT SpA, MERCER ALTERNATIVES LIMITED, MM Risk Services Pty Ltd (for dissolution), MMA Mid-Atlantic Employee LLC, MMA Securities LLC, MMB Consultores S.A., MMC (Singapore) Holdings Pte. Ltd., MMC 28 State Street Holdings Inc., MMC Borrower LLC, MMC Brazilian Holdings B.V., MMC Capital Inc., MMC Cascade Regional Holdings LLC, MMC FINANCE (EUROPE) LIMITED, MMC FINANCE HOLDINGS LTD, MMC Finance (Australia) Limited, MMC Finance (Singapore) Limited, MMC France Holdings (Luxembourg) S.a.r.l., MMC GP III Inc., MMC Group Services sp. z o.o., MMC Holdings (Australia) Pty Ltd, MMC Holdings (New Zealand) ULC, MMC Holdings (UK) Limited, MMC International Finance (Barbados) SRL, MMC International Holdings LLC, MMC International Limited, MMC International Treasury Centre Limited, MMC Middle East Holdings Limited, MMC Poland Holdings B.V., MMC Realty Inc., MMC Regional Asia Holdings B.V., MMC Regional Caribbean Holdings Ltd., MMC Regional Europe Holdings B.V., MMC Regional LATAM Holdings B.V., MMC Securities (Europe) Limited, MMC Securities LLC, MMC Treasury Holdings (UK) Limited, MMC UK Group Limited, MMC UK Pension Fund Trustee Limited, MMOW Limited, MMRC LLC, MOW Holding LLC, MPIP III GP LLC, MPIP IV GP LLC, MPIP V GP LLC, MPIP VI GP LLC, Mangrove Insurance Europe PCC Limited, Mangrove Insurance Solutions PCC, Mangrove Insurance Solutions PCC Limited, Manoel Management Services Ltd, Marchant McKechnie Insurance Brokers Limited, Marine Aviation & General (London) Limited, Marsh & McLennan (PNG) Limited, Marsh & McLennan Agencies AS, Marsh & McLennan Agencies Limited, Marsh & McLennan Agency A/S, Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC, Marsh & McLennan Agency Limited, Marsh & McLennan Agency Pty Ltd., Marsh & McLennan Argentina SA Corredores de Reaseguros, Marsh & McLennan Colombia S.A., Marsh & McLennan Companies Acquisition Funding Limited, Marsh & McLennan Companies Acquisition Limited, Marsh & McLennan Companies Asia Pacific Treasury Center Limited, Marsh & McLennan Companies BVBA/SPRL, Marsh & McLennan Companies Finance Center (Luxembourg) S.a.r.l., Marsh & McLennan Companies France S.A.S., Marsh & McLennan Companies Holdings (Luxembourg) S.a.r.l., Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc., Marsh & McLennan Companies Regional Holdings S.a.r.l., Marsh & McLennan Companies Services B.V., Marsh & McLennan Companies UK Limited, Marsh & McLennan Europe S.a.r.l., Marsh & McLennan GP I Inc., Marsh & McLennan Global Broking (Bermuda) Ltd., Marsh & McLennan Holding GmbH, Marsh & McLennan Holdings (Canada) ULC, Marsh & McLennan Holdings Inc., Marsh & McLennan Incorporated (for dissolution), Marsh & McLennan Innovation Centre Holdings II, Marsh & McLennan Innovation Centre Holdings S.a.r.l., Marsh & McLennan Innovation Centre Limited, Marsh & McLennan Insurance Services Limited, Marsh & McLennan Ireland Limited, Marsh & McLennan Management Services (Bermuda) Limited, Marsh & McLennan Risk Capital Holdings Ltd., Marsh & McLennan Servicios S.A. De C.V., Marsh & McLennan Shared Services Canada Limited, Marsh & McLennan Shared Services Corporation, Marsh (Bahrain) Company SPC, Marsh (Beijing) Risk Management Consulting Co. Ltd., Marsh (China) Insurance Brokers Co. Ltd., Marsh (Hong Kong) Limited, Marsh (Insurance Brokers) LLP, Marsh (Insurance Services) Limited, Marsh (Malawi) Limited, Marsh (Middle East) Limited, Marsh (Namibia) (Proprietary) Limited, Marsh (Pty) Ltd, Marsh (Risk Consulting) LLP, Marsh (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Marsh A/S, Marsh AB, Marsh AG, Marsh AS, Marsh Advantage Insurance Holdings Pty Ltd, Marsh Advantage Insurance Pty Ltd., Marsh Africa (Pty) Ltd, Marsh Argentina S.R.L., Marsh Associates (Pty) Ltd, Marsh Austria G.m.b.H., Marsh Aviation Insurance Broking Pty Ltd (for dissolution), Marsh B.V., Marsh Botswana (Proprietary) Limited, Marsh Brockman y Schuh Agente de Seguros y de Fianzas S.A. de C.V., Marsh Broker Japan Inc., Marsh Broker de Asigurare-Reasigurare S.R.L., Marsh Brokers (Hong Kong) Limited, Marsh Brokers Limited, Marsh Canada Limited/Marsh Canada Limitee, Marsh Company Management Services Cayman Ltd., Marsh Compensation Technologies Administration (Pty) Ltd, Marsh Corporate Services (Barbados) Limited, Marsh Corporate Services Isle of Man Ltd, Marsh Corporate Services Limited, Marsh Corporate Services Malta Limited, Marsh Corretora de Seguros Ltda., Marsh EOOD, Marsh Egypt LLC, Marsh Emirates Consultancy LLC, Marsh Emirates Insurance Brokerage LLC, Marsh Employee Benefits Limited, Marsh Employee Benefits Zimbabwe (Private) Ltd, Marsh Eurofinance B.V., Marsh Europe S.A., Marsh FJC International Insurance Brokers Limited, Marsh For Insurance Services S.A.E., Marsh Franco Acra S.A., Marsh GSC Servicos e Administracao de Seguros Ltda., Marsh GmbH, Marsh Holding AB, Marsh Holdings (Pty) Ltd, Marsh India Insurance Brokers Private Limited, Marsh Insurance & Investments LLC, Marsh Insurance Brokers, Marsh Insurance Brokers (Macao) Limited, Marsh Insurance Brokers (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Marsh Insurance Brokers (Private) Limited, Marsh Insurance Brokers AO, Marsh Insurance Brokers Limited, Marsh Insurance Consulting Saudi Arabia (in liquidation), Marsh Insurance and Reinsurance Brokers LLC, Marsh Intermediaries Inc., Marsh International Broking Holdings Limited, Marsh International Holdings II Inc., Marsh International Holdings Inc., Marsh Investment B.V., Marsh Ireland Brokers Limited, Marsh Ireland Brokers Limited (UK Branch), Marsh Ireland Holdings Limited, Marsh Israel (1999) Ltd., Marsh Israel (Holdings) Ltd., Marsh Israel Consultants Ltd., Marsh Israel Insurance Agency Ltd., Marsh Israel International Brokers Ltd. (in liquidation), Marsh JCS Inc., Marsh Japan Inc., Marsh Kft., Marsh Kindlustusmaakler AS, Marsh Korea Inc., Marsh LLC, Marsh LLC Insurance Brokers, Marsh LLC [Ukraine], Marsh Lda., Marsh Limited, Marsh Limited [Fiji], Marsh Limited [New Zealand], Marsh Limited [PNG], Marsh Ltd. [Wisconsin], Marsh Management Services (Bahamas) Ltd., Marsh Management Services (Barbados) Limited, Marsh Management Services (Bermuda) Ltd., Marsh Management Services (Dublin) Limited, Marsh Management Services (Labuan) Limited, Marsh Management Services (MENA) Limited, Marsh Management Services (USVI) Ltd., Marsh Management Services Cayman Ltd., Marsh Management Services Guernsey Limited, Marsh Management Services Inc., Marsh Management Services Isle of Man Limited, Marsh Management Services Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Marsh Management Services Malta Limited, Marsh Management Services Singapore Pte. Ltd., Marsh Management Services Sweden AB, Marsh Marine & Energy AB, Marsh Marine Nederland B.V., Marsh Medical Consulting GmbH, Marsh Mercer Holdings (Australia) Pty Ltd, Marsh Nest Inc., Marsh Oman LLC, Marsh Oy, Marsh PB Co. Ltd., Marsh Philippines Inc., Marsh Privat A.I.E., Marsh Private Client Life Insurance Services, Marsh Pty. Ltd., Marsh Qatar LLC, Marsh RE S.A.C. Corredores de Reaseguros, Marsh Rehder Consultoria S.A. (MRC), Marsh Rehder S.A. Corredores de Seguros, Marsh Resolutions Pty Limited, Marsh Risk Consulting B.V., Marsh Risk Consulting Limitada, Marsh Risk Consulting Ltda., Marsh Risk Consulting S.L., Marsh Risk Consulting Services S.r.L., Marsh Risk and Consulting Services (Pty) Ltd, Marsh S.A. Corredores De Seguros, Marsh S.A. Mediadores de Seguros, Marsh S.A.S., Marsh S.p.A., Marsh SA [Argentina], Marsh SA [Belgium], Marsh SA [Luxembourg], Marsh SA [Uruguay], Marsh SIA, Marsh Saldana Inc., Marsh Saudi Arabia Insurance & Reinsurance Brokers, Marsh Secretarial Services Limited, Marsh Semusa S.A., Marsh Services Limited, Marsh Services Spolka z.o.o., Marsh Sigorta ve Reasurans Brokerligi Anonim Sirketi, Marsh Spolka z.o.o., Marsh Szolgaltato Kft., Marsh Takaful Brokers (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Marsh Treasury Services (Dublin) Limited (in liquidation), Marsh Treasury Services Limited, Marsh Tunisia S.a.r.l., Marsh UK Limited, Marsh USA (India) Inc., Marsh USA Borrower LLC, Marsh USA Inc., Marsh Uganda Limited, Marsh Venezuela C.A. Sociedad de Corretaje de Seguros, Marsh Vietnam Insurance Broking Company Ltd, Marsh Zambia Limited, Marsh Zimbabwe Holdings (Private) Limited, Marsh d.o.o. Beograd, Marsh d.o.o. za posredovanje u osiguranju, Marsh for Insurance Services - Jordan, Marsh i-Connect (Pty) Ltd, Marsh s.r.o., Matthiessen Assurans AB, Mercer (Argentina) S.A., Mercer (Australia) Pty Ltd, Mercer (Austria) GmbH, Mercer (Belgium) SA-NV, Mercer (Canada) Limited/Mercer (Canada) Limitee, Mercer (China) Limited, Mercer (Colombia) Ltda., Mercer (Danmark) A/S, Mercer (Finland) OY, Mercer (France) SAS, Mercer (Hong Kong) Limited, Mercer (Ireland) Limited, Mercer (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Mercer (N.Z.) Limited, Mercer (Nederland) B.V., Mercer (Norge) AS, Mercer (Polska) Sp.z o.o., Mercer (Portugal) Lda, Mercer (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Mercer (Sweden) AB, Mercer (Taiwan) Ltd., Mercer (Thailand) Ltd., Mercer (US) Inc., Mercer Administration Services (Australia) Pty Limited, Mercer Africa Limited, Mercer Agente de Seguros S.A. de C.V., Mercer Asesores de Seguros S.A., Mercer Asesores es Inversion Independientes S.A. de C.V., Mercer Broking Ltd., Mercer Career Unipessoal Lda, Mercer Consultation (Quebec) Ltee., Mercer Consulting (Australia) Pty Ltd, Mercer Consulting (Chile) Limitada, Mercer Consulting (France) SAS, Mercer Consulting (India) Private Limited, Mercer Consulting B.V., Mercer Consulting Group Inc., Mercer Consulting Holdings Sdn. Bhd., Mercer Consulting Limited, Mercer Consulting Middle East Limited, Mercer Consulting S.L.U., Mercer Consulting Venezuela C.A., Mercer Corredores de Seguros Limitada, Mercer Corretora de Seguros Ltda, Mercer Danismanlik Anonim Sirketi, Mercer Deutschland GmbH, Mercer Employee Benefits - Medicacao de Seguros Unipessoal Lda., Mercer Employee Benefits Limited, Mercer Financial Advice (Australia) Pty Ltd, Mercer Financial Services Limited, Mercer Financial Services Limited liability company, Mercer Financial Services Middle East Limited, Mercer Global Investments Europe Limited, Mercer Global Investments Management Limited, Mercer HR Consulting Borrower LLC, Mercer HR Services LLC, Mercer Health & Benefits (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Mercer Health & Benefits Administration LLC, Mercer Health & Benefits LLC, Mercer Holdings Inc., Mercer Holdings Inc. [Philippines], Mercer Human Resource Consulting Ltda, Mercer Human Resource Consulting S.A. de C.V., Mercer ICC Limited, Mercer Investment Consulting Limited, Mercer Investment Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Mercer Investment Solutions (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Mercer Investments (Australia) Limited, Mercer Investments (Hong Kong) Limited, Mercer Investments (Japan) Ltd, Mercer Investments (New Zealand) Limited, Mercer Investments LLC, Mercer Ireland Holdings Limited, Mercer Italia Srl Socio Unico, Mercer Japan Ltd., Mercer Korea Co. Ltd., Mercer LLC, Mercer Limited, Mercer MC Consulting Borrower LLC, Mercer Master Trustees Limited, Mercer Mauritius Ltd., Mercer Oliver Wyman Holding B.V., Mercer Outsourcing (Australia) Pty Ltd, Mercer Outsourcing S.L.U., Mercer Pensionsfonds AG, Mercer Pensionsraadgivning A/S, Mercer Philippines Inc., Mercer Private Investment Partners IV General Partner S.a.r.l., Mercer Private Markets AG, Mercer Private Markets Advisers (US) AG, Mercer Services Poland Sp. z.o.o., Mercer Sigorta Brokerligi Anonim Sirketi, Mercer South Africa (Pty) Limited, Mercer Superannuation (Australia) Limited, Mercer Switzerland Inc., Mercer System Services LLC, Mercer Technology Acquisitions Limited, Mercer Treuhand GmbH, Mercer Trust Company LLC, Mercer Trustees Limited, Mercer WorkforcePro LLC, Mercury Insurance Services Pty Ltd, Moola Systems Limited, Mountlodge Limited, Muir Beddal (Zimbabwe) Limited, NERA Australia Pty. Ltd., NERA Economic Consulting GmbH, NERA Economic Consulting Limited, NERA S.R.L., NERA SAS, NERA UK Limited, NERA do Brasil Ltda. (for dissolution), National Economic Research Associates Inc., NetComp Insurance Corp., Neuburger Noble Lowndes GmbH, Normandy Reinsurance Company Limited, Northern Alliance Brokers Limited (in liquidation), OWL Marine Insurance-Brokers GmbH & Co.KG, OWL Marine Verwaltungs GmbH, Oliver Wyman (Bermuda) Limited, Oliver Wyman (Hong Kong) Limited, Oliver Wyman AB, Oliver Wyman AG, Oliver Wyman Actuarial Consulting Inc., Oliver Wyman B.V., Oliver Wyman Consulting (Shanghai) Ltd, Oliver Wyman Consultoria em Estrategia de Negocios Ltda., Oliver Wyman Energy Consulting Limited, Oliver Wyman FZ-LLC, Oliver Wyman Group KK, Oliver Wyman Inc., Oliver Wyman LLC, Oliver Wyman Limited, Oliver Wyman Limited Liability Company, Oliver Wyman Limited/Oliver Wyman limitee, Oliver Wyman Ltd., Oliver Wyman Pte. Ltd., Oliver Wyman Pty. Ltd., Oliver Wyman S. de R.L. de C.V., Oliver Wyman S.A.S., Oliver Wyman S.L., Oliver Wyman S.r.l., Oliver Wyman SNC, Oliver Wyman SPRL/BVBA, Oliver Wyman Sdn. Bhd., Oliver Wyman Services Limited, Oliver Wyman Servicios S. de R.L. de C.V., Oliver Wyman sp. z o.o., Omega Indemnity (Bermuda) Limited, Organizacion Brockman y Schuh S.A. de C.V., Osbornes Insurances Oxford Limited (in liquidation), PFT Limited, PI Indemnity Company Designated Activity Company, PT JLT Reinsurance Brokers, PT Jardine Lloyd Thompson, PT Marsh Indonesia, PT Marsh Reinsurance Brokers Indonesia, PT Mercer Indonesia, PT Nexus Asia Pacific, PT Oliver Wyman Indonesia, PT Quantum Computing Services, PT Quantum Investments, PT Quantum Support Services, Pallas Marsh Servicos Ltda., Pavilion Alternatives Group (Singapore) PTE. Ltd, Pavilion Financial Corporation Holdings UK Limited, Pavilion U.S. Investments Holdco LLC, Pension Trustees Limited, Pensionsservice Benefit Network Sverige AB, Perils AG, Personal Pension Trustees Limited, Pet Animal Welfare Scheme Limited, Portsoken Trustees (No. 2) Limited, Portsoken Trustees Limited, Potomac Insurance Managers Inc., Premier Pension Trustees Limited, Premium Services Australia Pty Limited, Professional Claims Handling Limited (in liquidation), Profund Solutions Limited, Promerit AG, Promerit Hungary Kft, Promerit Schweiz AG, Pymetrics Inc., R G Ford Brokers Limited, R R B Beratungsgesellschaft fuer Altersversorgung mbh, R. Mees & Zoonen Holdings B.V., Renewable Energy Loss Adjusters LLC, Renewable Energy Loss Adjusters Limited, Resource Benefit Associates, Rightpath Reinsurance SPC Ltd., Risk Management Australia Pty Limited, Rivers Group Limited, Rockefeller Risk Advisors Inc., Rutherfoord International Inc., SAFCAR-Marsh, SBJ Holdings Limited, SCIB (Bermuda) Limited, SCM Global Real Estate Select GP LLC, SCM Infrastructure General Partner S.a r.l., SCM International Private Equity Select III GP LLC, SCM LT General Partner S.a.r.l., SCM PE General Partner S.a.r.l., SCM PE II GP Ltd., SCM PE II Scotland GP Ltd, SCM Strategic Capital Management (Luxembourg) S.a.r.l., SICAR Marsh S.a.r.l., SME Insurance Services Limited, Sail Insurance Company Limited, Scalene Re Ltd, Seabury & Smith Borrower LLC, Seabury & Smith LLC, Secure Limited, Sedgwick (Holdings) Pty. Limited, Sedgwick Consulting Group Limited, Sedgwick Dineen Group Limited, Sedgwick Financial Services Limited, Sedgwick Forbes Middle East Limited, Sedgwick Group, Sedgwick Group (Australia) Pty. Limited, Sedgwick Group (Bermuda) Limited, Sedgwick Group (Zimbabwe) Limited, Sedgwick Group Limited, Sedgwick Internationaal B.V., Sedgwick Limited, Sedgwick Management Services (Barbados) Limited, Sedgwick Management Services (Singapore) Pte Limited, Sedgwick Noble Lowndes (UK) Limited, Sedgwick Noble Lowndes Group Limited, Sedgwick Noble Lowndes Limited, Sedgwick Overseas Investments Limited, Sedgwick Private Limited, Sedgwick Re Asia Pacific (Consultants) Pte Ltd (for dissolution), Sedgwick Trustees Limited, Sedgwick UK Risk Services Limited, Sedgwick Ulster Pension Trustees Limited, Settlement Trustees Limited, Shanghai Mercer Insurance Brokers Company Ltd., Shorewest Insurance Associates LLC, Sirota Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Sirota Consulting UK Limited, Smith Long Term Disability Management Group Inc., Societe d'Assurances et de Participation Guian SA, Software Underwriting Systems Limited (in liquidation), Southern Marine & Aviation Inc., Southern Marine & Aviation Underwriters Inc., Sudzucker Versicherungs-Vermittlungs GmbH, Sumitomo Life Insurance Agency America Inc., Sylvite Financial Services, TBX Solutions Limited, Talent Tech Labs LLC, The Benefit Express Holdings Limited, The Benefit Express Limited, The Carpenter Management Corporation, The Insurance Partnership Holdings Limited, The Insurance Partnership Services Limited, The Positive Ageing Company Limited, The Purple Partnership Limited, The Recovre Group Pty Ltd, Thomsons Online Benefits (HK) Ltd., Thomsons Online Benefits Inc., Thomsons Online Benefits Limited, Thomsons Online Benefits Pte Ltd., Thomsons Online Benefits S.R.L, Torrent Government Contracting Services LLC, Torrent Insurance Services LLC, Torrent Technologies, Torrent Technologies Inc., Tower Hill Limited, Tower Place Developments (West) Limited, Tower Place Developments Limited, U.T.E. AMG, U.T.E. Marsh - Caja Castilla La Mancha Junta de Comunidades, U.T.E. Marsh - Salvado Reus (in liquidation), U.T.E. Marsh - Salvado Reus 2012, U.T.E. Marsh - Salvado Vila-Seca 2010, UAD BB Marsh Lietuva, Vezina & Associes Inc., Vezina Assurances Inc., Victor Insurance Europe B.V., Victor Insurance Holdings Inc., Victor Insurance Italia S.r.l., Victor Insurance Managers Inc., Victor Insurance Managers Inc./Gestionnaires d'assurance Victor inc., Victor O. Schinnerer & Co. (Bermuda) Ltd., Victor O. Schinnerer & Company Limited, Victoria Hall Company Limited, Wellnz Limited, William M. Mercer (Canada) Limited/William M. Mercer (Canada) Limitee, William M. Mercer AB, William M. Mercer Comercio Consultoria e Servicos Ltda., Wortham Insurance & Risk Management, everBe SAS, and realright GmbH.

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Brookfield Asset Management is an alternative asset manager and REIT/Real Estate Investment Manager firm focuses on real estate, renewable power, infrastructure and venture capital and private equity assets. It manages a range of public and private investment products and services for institutional and retail clients. It typically makes investments in sizeable, premier assets across geographies and asset classes. It invests both its own capital as well as capital from other investors. Within private equity and venture capital, it focuses on acquisition, early ventures, control buyouts and financially distressed, buyouts and corporate carve-outs, recapitalizations, convertible, senior and mezzanine financings, operational and capital structure restructuring, strategic re-direction, turnaround, and under-performing midmarket companies. It invests in both public debt and equity markets. It invests in private equity sectors with focus on Business Services include infrastructure, healthcare, road fuel distribution and marketing, construction and real estate; Industrials include manufacturers of automotive batteries, graphite electrodes, returnable plastic packaging, and sanitation management and development; and Residential/ infrastructure services. It targets companies which likely possess underlying real assets, primarily in sectors such as industrial products, building materials, metals, mining, homebuilding, oil and gas, paper and packaging, manufacturing and forest product sectors. It invests globally with focus on North America including Brazil, the United States, Canada; Europe; and Australia; and Asia-Pacific. The firm considers equity investments in the range of $2 million to $500 million. It has a four-year investment period and a 10-year term with two one-year extensions. The firm prefers to take minority stake and majority stake. Brookfield Asset Management Inc. was founded in 1997 and based in Toronto, Canada with additional offices across Northern America; South America; Europe; Middle East and Asia.
America's infrastructure is in crisis. The American Society of Civil Engineers graded the health of our nation's infrastructure with a D+ in a report issued earlier this year. The ASCE report card calls for more than $4.5 trillion in investment over the next decade to address the challenges facing our roads, bridges, airports, railways, ports, pipelines, levees, dams, energy grid and the other systems and assets that underpin our economy and quality of life.

If we're serious about returning American infrastructure to its rightful place as a source of pride and leadership, we will need better, faster access to the raw materials it takes to sustain and improve our systems.

Rebuilding our aging, complex infrastructure assets and preparing them to meet growing demand will take a tremendous volume and variety of raw materials. These structures and systems are built with steel, concrete and numerous other metals. Take the nearly completed Tappan Zee Bridge replacement north of New York City, a $3.9 billion project I helped lead as executive director of the New York State Thruway Authority. Building this new bridge requires at least 100,000 tons or 220 million pounds of U.S. steel; the Empire State Building used 57,000 tons. During the past six decades, construction of our National Highway System has required more than 6 billion tons of steel.

Replacing and repairing our infrastructure provides an extraordinary opportunity to invest in and grow our economy, but it will be a missed opportunity if we are forced to rely on imported iron ore, aluminum or copper from China to get the job done.

The Trump Administration has signaled its intention to implement a $1 trillion infrastructure investment plan, and this historically non-partisan policy area might be one of the best places to find agreement right now in Washington. America is blessed with the vast natural resources we need to meet the demand for the raw materials such a massive infrastructure program would require. But in order to ramp up production of the minerals, metals and materials these projects will require, we must break free from the regulatory straitjacket on our mining industry.

Our redundant, inefficient outdated mine permitting process is the place to start. The natural bounty of mineral resources that lies just below our feet is practically inaccessible without a serious overhaul of our inefficient mine permitting process. The frustrations and delays associated with opening a new mine in the U.S., or expanding existing facilities, simply defies logic.

Securing the necessary approvals to open a new domestic mine can take as many as seven to 10 years, and often even longer. Until recently, this timeframe was consistent with the average time it took to permit a major transportation infrastructure project in the U.S. Recent reforms improved focus and coordination among federal and state regulating agencies and have dramatically reduced this time frame. For example, the new Tappan Zee secured its environmental permits and approvals in just 11 months, rather than the typical six to seven years.

After all, it took less than five years to build the Hoover Dam, with its 4.35 million cubic yards of concrete and 140 million pounds of steel. Obtaining the necessary mining permits that enable such extraordinary feats of engineering should not take twice as long.

Environmental protection is critically important, but using it as justification for our drawn-out permitting process is a red herring. In Canada and Australia, where environmental safeguards are comparable to our own, permitting a mine takes just two to three years. We can ensure thorough environmental study and protection while bringing commonsense reforms to our outdated mine permitting process; the two are not mutually exclusive.

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The United States has an estimated $6.2 trillion in mineral reserves, yet we currently import nearly $7 billion in minerals and metals each year. The U.S. Geological Survey's 2017 Mineral Commodity Summary found we are now import-dependent on fully half of the 50 key mineral commodities. This wasn't always so. An increasingly antagonistic atmosphere for our mining industry has driven investments and jobs out of our country and into places where it's welcomed. This growing dependence on mining imports comes at a time of growing instability in many mineral rich areas of the world. We have the resources right here in America. This is an economic vulnerability of our own making and it can be addressed immediately with responsible mine permitting reforms. America's infrastructure and economy are depending on it.

Tom Madison is executive director of Cornell's infrastructure policy program. He is a former state transportion commission, executive director of the Thruway Authority and Canal Corporation, and U.S. federal highway administrator.
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No. 4 BNL shows off all its weapons to go to 4-0 on the season
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Even though the Nintendo Switch is now five years old, it's still just as popular as its newer, more powerful rivals. With some of the best game franchises as exclusives, and some unique hardware, it's a console you can't ignore.

Although it began life alone, the Switch has been joined by some friends. There's now the Nintendo Switch Lite for smaller, handheld-only gaming, and the Nintendo Switch OLED with its brighter display and new dock design. There's still a place for the basic Switch though, and likely will be until we end up with a full-blown Nintendo Switch 2.

Nintendo Switch OLED review: a great console, but maybe not for upgraders

Nintendo Switch Lite review

Nintendo Switch at Best Buy for $299.99 (opens in new tab)

This could have been a tough time for Nintendo, given that Sony and Microsoft have just released their next-gen PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles. But with runaway successes like Animal Crossing: New Horizons, remasterings of classic games such as the recently released Super Mario 3D All-Stars, an increasing number of third-party games from developers big and small, as well as completely unique experiences like Nintendo Labo or Mario Kart Live, it feels like the Switch won't be in trouble as Sony and Microsoft transition from one console generation to the next.

Nintendo Switch: Price and availability

The standard Nintendo Switch was originally launched in March 2017, with the revised version debuting in July 2019. It's available with either Neon Red and Neon Blue or gray Joy-Con controllers, and has a list price of $299.99 (279.99). There never tend to be huge discounts on Switch consoles, even during big sales, but you can sometimes find it with a few dollars or pounds off when it's bundled with one or more games. For comparison, the Switch Lite costs $199.99 (199.99), and comes in a choice of more pastel color options for the whole console. The Nintendo Switch OLED costs $349 (309), and comes in black-and-white only.

The Nintendo Switch can be hard to buy at times due to low stock, but were tracking the best Black Friday Nintendo Switch deals to help you find the best deal. For example, Best Buy has a great Nintendo Switch bundle deal for $299 that includes a Nintendo Switch, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and 3-month Nintendo Switch Online membership.

You can buy the Switch from many popular retailers, including Amazon U.S. (opens in new tab), Best Buy (opens in new tab), GameStop (opens in new tab), Target (opens in new tab) and Walmart (opens in new tab) in the United States; or Amazon (opens in new tab), Argos (opens in new tab), Game (opens in new tab) and Currys (opens in new tab) or the Nintendo Store (opens in new tab) in the United Kingdom.

Nintendo also offers some limited-edition Switches with special designs, for example, the Animal Crossing: New Horizons-themed one below.

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Whichever version you choose, make sure you check our best Nintendo Switch deals to find the best bundle at the best price where you are.

There has been a spike in demand over the past 18 months for the Switch as people searched for a new pastime during national lockdowns around the world. While the stock shortages have mostly ended at this point, we have a guide on where to buy the Nintendo Switch if you're still struggling to find a console that is in stock and not had its price jacked up by resellers.

Nintendo Switch: Design

Like most modern consoles, the Nintendo Switch has a fairly unremarkable design: rectangles mixed with a few softer curves, all rendered in matte plastics. You can choose the Neon color option, whose blue and red Joy-Con controllers give it a bit more personality, or the plainer all-gray version which gives a more cohesive look to the console. Either way, the centerpiece of the Switch is a gray rectangle with the display on it.

The dock, a rather dull rectangle of black plastic by default, is more interesting than its appearance would indicate. There's a space for the Switch to slide into, which contains a hidden USB Type-C connector, plus a port for the AC adapter to attach. The side and back of the dock contain a total of three USB ports for plugging in accessories and an HDMI output to connect to your monitor or TV, covered by a molded flap that aims to keep your cables tidy. (See our recommendations for the best gaming TVs to find the best match for the Switch)

Mechanically, however, the Switch is very smart. With the Joy-Cons attached to its side rails, the console behaves like a large handheld. Alternatively, you can slide the Joy-Cons off and use them separately in tabletop mode. When you play this way, you can lay the Switch flat, or prop it up on its built-in stand. Finally, there's TV mode, where the console plugs into the included dock to play your games on a separate display.

This is the only way you're able to play your games at their maximum 1080p resolution (in handheld mode, they default to 720p), but the console's portability is very useful. It's how many other Switch users and I tend to play. Handheld mode is so prevalent that Nintendo's newer Switch Lite cannot dock to a TV at all.

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

The console uses game cards for its physical media, which you insert into a covered port on the top of the system. You'll also find the power button, a 3.5-millimeter jack for attaching headphones or speakers and a volume button on the Switch's top edge.

Nintendo Switch - Key Specs Size: 4 x 9.4 x 0.55 inches

Weight: 0.88 pounds

Processor: Nvidia Tegra

Resolution: 720p handheld/1080p docked

Screen: 6.2 inches

Storage: 32 GB (expandable)

Battery: 9 hours

On the bottom you'll find the USB Type-C charging port, which draws power into the console's 4,310 mAh internal battery, either directly from the included power adapter, or via the docking station, filling up in around 3 hours. If you lift up the kickstand on the back of the console, you'll also find the microSD card slot, which allows you to expand your downloadable game storage.

Nintendo Switch: Specs

With the Joy-Cons attached, the Switch measures 4 x 9.4 x 0.55 inches (10.1 x 23.8 x 1.3 centimeters) and weighs 0.88 pounds (around 400 grams), making it the smallest and lightest main console of this generation. The built-in display is a 720p LCD screen and is also a touch screen, with the processing handled by an Nvidia custom Tegra CPU.

Both Joy-Con controllers use rechargeable batteries, estimated to have a 20-hour life and to charge to full capacity in around 3.5 hours. You can power up the Joy-Cons by either plugging them into the side rails in the main Switch console or into various specially designed accessories, most of which are sold separately. (The system comes with a single Joy-Con holder, which approximates the look and feel of a traditional controller.)

The Nintendo Switch is not as powerful as the PlayStation 4 or the Xbox One, let alone the PS4 Pro or Xbox One X. However, thanks to its popular exclusive franchises and unique play opportunities, the Switch doesn't have to match the competition's graphical abilities to draw in players.

Nintendo Switch: Controls

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

The Joy-Cons are as versatile as the console itself. You can use them together as two halves of a single gamepad, or turn them on their sides to use them as two separate controllers (minus a pair of shoulder buttons) for local co-op and multiplayer gaming.

You'll find HD Rumble in the Joy-Cons for in-game feedback, and an accelerometer and a gyroscope for motion control in both Joy-Cons. However, in the right Joy-Con there's an additional IR sensor, which you can use to control certain games, and an NFC sensor for Nintendo's Amiibo figurines. These unlock extra content in specific titles.

The controllers in the box are accompanied by a few accessories. These include the Joy-Con straps, which slide onto the sides of the controllers to give you a more secure grip when you're using the motion controls, as well as more comfortable shoulder buttons if you're using single controllers.

There's also the Joy-Con Grip, which lets you slide both controllers into a more familiar gamepad shape. This may be good for players who are used to PlayStation or Xbox controllers. But despite playing on a PlayStation 4 for most of this console generation, I rarely use the Grip. Using the Joy-Cons separately is surprisingly comfortable.

Nintendo sure loves peripherals though, as there are lots of other unique ways to play with the Switch. The cardboard-based Labo toys allow you to build both pre-set and custom creations that use the Joy-Cons or the Switch console itself to give the toys extra functionality. Furthermore Mario Kart Live gives you control of actual mini go-karts that you can drive around your home using the Switch.

Nintendo Switch: Multiplayer and online

If you want to play first-party Nintendo games online (this includes games like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe), back up your saves in the cloud, play NES and SNES games, or access the companion smartphone app, you'll have to subscribe to Nintendo Switch Online.

Switch Online has some peculiar characteristics. You don't need to pay for multiplayer for every game, but on the other hand, only certain games support cloud saves. The smartphone app is also necessary for online voice chat, as the console itself can't do this.

The prices for Nintendo Switch Online are $3.99 per month, $7.99 for three months and $19.99 for 12 months, with a fourth "family" option of $34.99 per month for up to eight Nintendo accounts in the same household.

If you want to use your Switch only for local multiplayer, then you don't need to pay for membership. You can pair up to four Joy-Cons to a single Switch console, but you can also connect up to eight consoles together locally for massive multiplayer matches.

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

In April 2020, approximately 160,000 Switch users were affected by a data breach that allowed cybercriminals to make illegal purchases on accounts that didn't have two-factor authentication (2FA) enabled. If you are an owner who believes they are affected, contact Nintendo Support to open an investigation into any unusual activity on your account. If you are planning to buy or have just bought a Switch, make sure you enable 2FA on your account from the Settings menu.

Nintendo Switch: Game library

Games come either as physical game cards or as downloaded games from the Nintendo eShop.

If you want to download games, the Switch has 32GB of internal storage, which is enough for a handful of games. But if you want a big library, you'll either need to take advantage of the microSDHC or microSDXC card slot, or rely on physical games, which take up less (but not zero) space on the Switch's HDD.

(Image credit: Nintendo)

As for the games available, Nintendo has some of the most famous franchises in gaming history as part of its lineup. One of the most notable initial releases was the epic The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Nintendo quickly followed this with the lighthearted platformer Super Mario Odyssey, fighting game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and monster-hunting RPGs Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield and the upcoming Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl remasters.

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

There are also more big-budget games from beyond the Nintendo brands, such as The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Overwatch, Doom (2016), Crysis Remastered and recently Apex Legends. Additionally, the Switch is home to a thriving indie game collection, represented by games such as Untitled Goose Game and Celeste. You can learn more about these favorites and more on our best Switch Games list.

As mentioned above, If you subscribe to Nintendo Switch Online, you also get access to classic NES and SNES titles, allowing you to make the most of Nintendo's high-quality back catalog of games. Alternatively, Nintendo is irregularly releasing boxed and digital remasters of its old games, such as the Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection of Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy. It's a fantastic way to enjoy the classics for a second time, or to try them out as a newcomer if you weren't around for the original release.

Nintendo Switch: Battery life

The launch Nintendo Switch (model number HAC-001) is rated to last between 2.5 and 6.5 hours, according to Nintendo's own estimates, while the updated version (model number HAC-001(-01))  which you can tell from the original via its full-red packaging  manages a much more convenient 4.5 to 9 hours. Make sure this is the version you buy today if you want the best Switch experience, but the battery life is the only difference between the two versions of the console.

In our Switch battery life test , Nintendo's claims seemed to be fairly accurate. Playing an eight-player game of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate until the console died, the launch Switch lasted 2 hours and 45 minutes, while the updated Switch managed 4 hours and 50 minutes. The Switch Lite made it to the 3:50 mark, for reference. All three versions of the Switch will last on a full battery charge for a decent amount of time, but this test just confirms that the original Switch is outclassed by the new Switch and the Switch Lite.

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Nintendo Switch vs. Switch OLED

With the Switch OLED having just arrived, you may well be considering whether it's the one you should buy instead of the original model, or if it's worth an upgrade from your current Switch. We have a full Nintendo Switch OLED vs. Original Switch breakdown you can check out, but we'll give you a quick summary here.

If you're a first-time Switch owner, you are likely going to be better off getting the OLED model. The extra $50 you spend gets you worthwhile upgrades in the form of a larger, higher-quality in-built display and longer battery life, plus some handy refinements to the dock and kickstand and double the basic storage to boot. However if you already own a Switch, these aren't enough to justify an upgrade by themselves.

Don't forget also that if you're just after the new dock with its included Ethernet port, then you will be able to buy it separately and use it even if you have an older Switch.

Nintendo Switch review: Verdict

The Nintendo Switch had a very strong start back in 2017 and has only grown stronger since then. More and more non-Nintendo developers are flocking to have their games appear on the platform, and Nintendo has addressed many criticisms of the launch-day console with a new, cheaper form factor in the Switch Lite, an upgrade to the battery life in the refreshed 2019 model and most recently an OLED version with a bigger, brighter screen.

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

You'll have to accept a loss of graphical capability if you play on the Switch instead of a rival console, and Nintendo's online service, with its confusing features, may accidentally trick people into buying it when it's either unnecessary or unhelpful for the games they play. It's also unfortunate that Nintendo discounts its products so infrequently. It's rare you'll find the Switch on sale, and when it is, it tends to disappear very quickly.

A large group of Switch players decided to buy the console as soon as they knew it was a Nintendo product, due to the build quality and exclusive game franchises that are synonymous with the company. That said, the Switch has one of the widest third-party game libraries ever found on a Nintendo console. Even if you aren't a fan of the first-party Nintendo games, being able to enjoy your favorite RPG, shooter or strategy title on a console that you can play anywhere is a tempting offer. It's for these reasons that the Switch is one of the best handheld gaming consoles you can buy.
Far from home and critically ill, the wayward manatee was rescued and rehabbed and is almost ready to return to the sea.

While the impacts from hurricanes are tragically obvious on land, its hard to imagine how it affects the oceans inhabitants. But it does. And in the case of a manatee from Tampa, Florida, this falls hurricanes were nearly fatal.

Found by residents of Spanish Wells, Bahamas, the manatee  named Manny T by his rescuers  was far from home and critically ill. The eight to 10-year-old boy was suffering from extreme malnutrition and dehydration; he was half the weight he should have been for a manatee his age. Poor sweet guy. It was later determined through boat scar identification that he came all the way from Tampa, Florida.

So what to do when a sick wayward manatee turns up at your island? Lucky for Manny, Paradise Island's Atlantis animal rescue team was called in to help. A team of veterinarians and marine mammal experts hopped aboard a dedicated marine vessel and off they went to Spanish Wells.

After stabilizing his condition, Manny was brought to Paradise Island where he underwent blood sampling, numerous analyses and a full health examination. He was closely monitored and slowly began his rehabilitation in a large enclosed area off of a secluded part of the island.

This is where I had the special pleasure of meeting the marvelous manatee, while tagging along on a volunteer vacation earlier this month thanks to JetBlue and their Check In For Good campaign. (We were there to help restore a coral reef, the adventures of which you can read about here: A day spent planting nursery-grown coral in a Bahamian reef.) In an effort to keep Manny as wild as possible, human contact with him is limited  so its not like a groups of us got to jump in and swim around with him. But we did get to participate in one of his daily feedings of lettuce ... and I cant tell you how cute it is to see a manatee devour many, many whole heads of romaine.

 Melissa Breyer

At this point, he has gained some 400 pounds since his rescue in September (thats a lot of lettuce, he also likes kale and spinach) and is in good health; he will be released back into the watery wilds soon. When the time comes, the team will return him to where he was found in Spanish Wells.

While there isnt a huge population of manatees in The Bahamas, a handful of the gentle giants have found their way there and stayed. Can you blame them? And as it turns out, there is a female manatee who already calls Spanish Wells home. From boat strikes in Florida to nearly dead and lost at sea, a big healthy boy will be offered retirement in the Bahamas with a lady friend for frolicking. Nobody can say how many animals were harmed by the recent spate of hurricanes, but for one lucky manatee at least, the future is looking brighter.
In 1993, the United Nations General Assembly designated March 22 as the first World Water Day. And with good reason  without water, wed be nothing. Just dust. Water is one of the most common substances on earth, and one of the most vital; its a tremendously valuable resource, yet one we squander and pollute prodigiously.

So Much Water, So Little Usable

Treehugger / Kristine Klaire Hojilla

Water is deceptive. For while it pours freely from the heavens and seems to flow endlessly in rivers, its a finite resource; we only have what we have. And although there is about 332,500,000 cubic miles of it on earth  only one-hundredth of one percent of the world's water is readily available for human use. We really need to learn how to show it some respect. Which is where World Water Day comes in. Even though water deserves celebration every day, well take this occasion to give a shout-out to this incredible compound that gives us life and sustains the planet around us. So with that in mind, consider the following facts  some wondrous, some disconcerting, all eye-opening.

Facts About Water

Treehugger / Kristine Klaire Hojilla

1. The average human body is made of 55 to 65 percent water.

2. Newborn babies have even more, ringing in at 78 percent water.

3. A gallon of water weighs 8.34 pounds; a cubic foot of water weighs 62.4 pounds.

4. A liter of water weighs 1 kilo; a cubic meter of water weighs 1 metric ton. (The rest of the statistics are in imperial units since they are U.S.-based and so is this site; but the original metric system was created with base units that could be derived from the weight of a specified volume of pure water ... hence the nice round numbers.)

5. An inch of water covering one acre (27,154 gallons) weighs 113 tons.

6. Water covers 70.9 percent of the planets surface.

7. 97 percent of the water on Earth is found in the ocean; 2.5 percent is unavailable fresh water (trapped in glaciers, underground, etc); and 0.5 percent is available freshwater.

8. There is more water in the atmosphere than in all of our rivers combined.

9. If all of the water vapor in our planets atmosphere fell as water at once and spread out evenly, it would only cover the globe with about an inch of water.

10. More than one-quarter of all bottled water comes from a municipal water supply  the same place that tap water comes from.

11. Approximately 322 billion gallons of water were used each day in the United States in 2015.

12. In a year, the average American residence uses over 100,000 gallons.

Treehugger / Kristine Klaire Hojilla

13. Since the average faucet releases 2 gallons of water per minute, you can save up to four gallons of water every morning by turning off the tap while you brush your teeth.

14. A running toilet can waste up to 200 gallons of water each day.

15. At one drip per second, a faucet can leak 3,000 gallons in a year.

16. A bath uses up to 70 gallons of water; a five-minute shower uses 10 to 25 gallons.

17. The first water pipes in the U.S. were made from hollowed logs.

18. Leaks in the New York City water supply system account for 33 to 37 million gallons of wasted water per day.

19. There are around one million miles of water pipeline and aqueducts in the U.S. and Canada, enough to circle the globe 40 times.

20. 748 million people in the world do not have access to an improved source of drinking water.

21. And 2.0 billion people do not have use of an improved sanitation facility.

Treehugger / Kristine Klaire Hojilla

22. Some 1.8 billion people worldwide drink water that is contaminated with feces.

23. The World Health Organization recommends 2 gallons per person daily to meet the requirements of most people under most conditions; and around 5 gallons per person daily to cover basic hygiene and food hygiene needs.

24. On average, an American resident uses about 100 gallons of water per day.

25. On average, a European resident uses about 50 gallons of water per day.

26. It takes .26 gallons of water to irrigate one calorie of food.

27. (Yet it takes 26 gallons for one calorie of food when water is used inefficiently.)

28. It takes 2.6 gallons of water to make a sheet of paper.

29. It takes 6.3 gallons of water to make 17 ounces of plastic.

Treehugger / Kristine Klaire Hojilla

30. It takes 924 gallons of water to produce 2.2 pounds of rice.

31. It takes 2,641 gallons of water to make a pair of jeans.

32. It takes 3,962 gallons of water to produce 2.2 pounds of beef.

33. It takes 39,090 gallons of water to manufacture a new car.

34. Collectively, South African women and children walk a daily distance equivalent to 16 trips to the moon and back to fetch water.
They are building hundreds of new "cracking" facilities to make 40 percent more plastic. Are we going to drown in it?

What's a fossil fuel company to do? Thanks to fracking, horizontal drilling, and the shale gas boom, there is more natural gas at a lower price than there has been in decades. People can't burn it fast enough, so the big oil companies like Exxon and Shell are investing US $180 billion in new plants to make plastics. According to Matthew Taylor in the Guardian,

We could be locking in decades of expanded plastics production at precisely the time the world is realizing we should use far less of it, said Carroll Muffett, president of the US Center for International Environmental Law, which has analyzed the plastic industry. Around 99% of the feedstock for plastics is fossil fuels, so we are looking at the same companies, like Exxon and Shell, that have helped create the climate crisis. There is a deep and pervasive relationship between oil and gas companies and plastics.



 The Guardian

He quotes the American Chemistry Council, who says that 318 projects are under construction or on the boards.

I can summarise [the boom in plastics facilities] in two words, Kevin Swift, chief economist at the ACC, told the Guardian. Shale gas. He added: There has been a revolution in the US with the shale gas technologies, with the fracking, the horizontal drilling. The cost of our raw material base has gone down by roughly two thirds.



Essentially, they are flooding the world in cheap plastic; what they can't use in the USA they are exporting to Europe and China. This amounts to a 40 percent increase in plastics production over the next decade. And of course, when one is flooded with cheap plastic there is no incentive to recycle. There is also not a chance, with that kind of investment, that there is going to be any kind of ban of single-use plastics. If anything, there will be more bans of bans.

credit: Garbage trucks/ Lloyd Alter

Garbage trucks/ Lloyd Alter/CC BY 2.0

About the only thing worth doing with it is probably going to be burning it like they do in Scandinavia, but that has a bigger carbon footprint per kWh than burning coal. Or I suppose we could start using more plastic foam and building materials instead of trying to use less. After all, as the VP of plastics for the ACC tells the Guardian:

Advanced plastics enable us to do more with less in almost every facet of life and commerce. From reducing packaging to driving lighter cars, to living in more fuel-efficient homes, plastics help us reduce energy use, carbon emissions, and waste.



A modest proposal

. Monsanto House of the Future

 Monsanto House of the Future

Perhaps I have been taking the wrong approach all this time, promoting natural materials with low embodied energy. Perhaps it is better to turn it into foam insulation and plastic building materials than it is to burn it, since leaving it in the ground is obviously not an option that is on the table.

 Monsanto House of the Future interior

Perhaps it is time to bring back the plastic house, like the Monsanto House of the Future. Then Exxon and Shell could keep pumping gas and we could put all that plastic to better use than just water bottles and plastic bags that are turned into incinerator fuel.

 Monsanto House of the Future interior

Of course, this is all tongue and cheek; there are other problems with plastics in buildings, including the fact that they burn even though they are full of terrible flame retardants and that they often are softened with gender-bending phtalates. But the fact is, we are faced with an insurmountable problem of an industry that insists on making more plastics, in a world with no room for it.
Hello,

I am planning to visit Australia in February 2018 for one month on my own (solo female traveller/no travel companies). I have never organized this type of trip before so I would like to get some advice from you.

- I am flying from Europe (still havent decided to what city should I fly into)

- my budget is around 2000 Dollars

- I am planning to use couchsurfing a lot

- I would like to see as much nature as possible and try different sport activities. I am not really into big cities....maybe just for 1-2 days

-because I am travelling solo I think the best way to travel is by train or bus. What do you recommend?

-I prefer to see east coast

- I am pretty spontaneous and flexible

My main question is: Where should I start my journey and which way should I go? Any tips or tricks?

Thanks a lot!

Frederika
AA have been including CR departure taxes since 2015. The SJO airport 's site has a list of air companies that include the exit tax in their ticket prices: http://sjoairport.com/en/antes-de-viajar/inclusion-de-impuestos-de-salida/ .

It is unfortunate that air companies employees were not able to give you the correct info. The tax is "hidden" in the codes in your ticket, which the employees should be able to understand.

Glad it all worked out for you.

Edited: 4 years ago
We are going to Costa Rica in late January for ONE week (1pm arrival Saturday to 2pm departure the next Saturday). Time is tight and we do not get a lot of chances to travel so I want to fit as much in as possible. Is it possible to do Arenal, Monteverde, and a beach destination all within 7 nights and still enjoy each location? How many nights minimum at each location? Or should we really just narrow it down to two? We like nature and do not need to do all the adventure type activities (i.e. rafting). Nothing is booked yet so if there is a better itinerary I am very grateful.
CHARLESTON (JG-TC) -- Police officers recently arrested a home health care worker on a charge of allegedly stealing prescription medication from a local residence.

The Charleston Police Department reported in a press release on Tuesday that the burglary investigation that led to the arrest of Kyle J. White, 22, of Charleston began on Dec. 22. The department reported that its initial investigation led to new information regarding a similar investigation by the Illinois State Police indicating White was responsible for multiple thefts of medication from different victims in the Coles County area.

White visited patients while working as a representative of an outside home health care provider and while he was off duty, the department reported. A patient's suspicions that prescription medications were missing from their home resulted in a police report being filed, the department reported.

According to the press release, the ensuing investigation led to the request of an arrest warrant for White concerning the reported Charleston case. White later turned himself in on the warrant and posted bond. The Coles County court case is pending.

In regard to the Illinois State Police investigation, the Illinois Attorney General's Office will handle prosecution in those cases.
Hi again, Karen.

Part of the problem when you ask for an itinerary for Vietnam you'll likely get suggestions like that from #11.

There's quite a few very poor, as in obviously bad, travel agents that come on to TA touting for business. Which is actually against TA rules.

They post ridiculous itineraries that usually involve you moving every second day. They think that's what the majority of western tourists want.

Not to mention if they can have you running around like an idiot they will potentially make more money from you.

They're easy to spot and best ignored.

Scott
Hi!

Our guide said, that a week before and a week after Vietnam New Year will be a high season. Vietnamese from all over the world will come here to celebrate it. So, all prices will be double

As for now (Christmas, New Year) it was easy to book any hotel/guest house.

Hope, this information would help
Have you already visited Kansai (Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, Kobe) and Hiroshima? If not, then I recommend those places.

If you've already seen those places, and wanted to use your intra-Japan flight to return to Tokyo, then I would suggest making your way by train either north to Sapporo and fly back, or else head south to Kagoshima and fly back from there. You'll be sure to find lots of beautiful things and small towns to stop at along the way.
Congratulations on booking. Know how excited you must be.

The flight from Nadi to Taveuni takes about 1 1/2 hours. Views of the islands and water is spectacular, though can be an experience depending on weather. The plane is a twin engine Otter, seating about 16 people. Recommend packing your swim suits, and a change of clothes or two in your carry on bags. If the flight is full, there is a chance all your luggage might not make the flight with you. Happened to us two out of four flights. The rest of our luggage arrived on a later flight the same day.

From the moment you wade ashore at Matangi, welcomed by the staff singing and plating music, the staff will insure you honeyoom is everything you hope for and more. As strange as it sounds, you will arrive as guests and depart for home as part of there family.

Highly recommend the private luncheon at Horseshoe Bay while at Matangi. Very special, and romantic having a great meal and drinks on a beach just the two of you. Great snorkeling and kayaks.

If you plan on hiking around Matangi, or doing the waterfall hike on Taveuni take hiking, or tennis shoes. Sandals won't cut it.

Drinks at Matangi are pricey. To help keep the price down, purchase alcohol at the duty free shop at the airport in Nadi for having drinks in your bure. The resort will not allow you to take your own drinks into the dining room, bar, or pool area. Also take plenty of sunscreen, and mosquito repellent. Will be expensive you have have to purchase them at the resort. For other suggestions, and helpful information see the following:

The resort does not allow tipping individuals. Instead they have a Christmas Fund you can contribute to, if you chose. The money collected during the year is divided between all the staff: housekeeppers, bartenders, waitresses, groundskeeppers, activities staff, etc.

Hope this helps. Enjoy your countdown till you arrive in paradise.
Kyoto would be a city not to miss, and once you are there you could go to Hiroshima, see the Peace Memorial Park and another day at Miyajima Island.

Try do more research and come up with a list of interesting places , then see how the transport is between them
Thanks for all the helpful advice we received prior to our trip, it was much appreciated for planning!

Thursday 12/21 arrival, got into the city at 12pm.

- dropped our luggage and went straight to lunch at Shale Shake. From there we walked a few blocks over to Rockefeller Center. My kids saw the tree, checked out the Nintendo store, Lego store, and the American Girl Doll store. We did purchase the Costco explorer passes as numerous things on the pass were things my kids wanted to do anyway. *while it was a value for us this trip, I would caution anyone debating it to really think about it, it is very easy to get there and find other things you want to do and then worry about getting your money out of the pass. We wouldnt purchase it again as many of the attractions we would consider one time visits.* After stopping in a few stores we used our passes for Top of the Rock for a 3:15 entry. We did not have to wait to a later entry and there wasnt much of a line to the top, we were up in about 15-20 min. After TOTR I went over to Radio City to get Rockettes tickets, so glad I waited to purchase these. We ended up with 1st Mezz tickets, Center section, 2nd row back, for $50 each and skipped the outrageous Ticketmaster fees. No line to purchase as they had several employees outside with iPads handling sales. From there we went over to the Union Square holiday market, we browsed, had a snack and some coffee, and met our Slice of Brooklyn tour over to Dyker Heights. We did the 8pm tour. The tour was fun, my kids loved it, but definitely long after a long day of traveling (it was the only night open with 4 seats). We arrived back around 1130pm and took an Uber back...and immediately fell asleep!

Friday: slept in a bit, arrived at Macys at 1030am for a Santalabd reservation. The line appeared long, but moved quickly. It took about 20-30 minutes of waiting in line. Following Santa we browsed the store a bit, had a pretzel inside the store as a snack, and took the subway to Battery Park. Initially my kids had wanted to take a sightseeing cruise to see the SOL, but they ended up being ok with the view from Battery Park so we skipped that. We rode the Seaglass Carousel (my kids, almost 7 and 8 have listed this as a favorite which surprised me) and then explored the financial district a bit. We saw the bull, my daughter posed for a photo with the Fearless Girl statue, visited the 9/11 memorial, and ate an early dinner at Bills Burgers. We took the subway from there to Times Square, mainly to see the lights and to check the M&Ms store for my kids. My son was all about watching a a street performance in Times Square, he ended up getting pulled into the show, and they gave him $5 for his part. He thought this was awesome. On a whim I decided to see what tickets might be left for the 8pm Aladdin show. So happy I did this! There were four orchestra seats that were available, all sold as partial view, that they were doing for $47.50. They ended up being awesome seats, facing the left side of the stage, about 10 rows back. The downside was that they werent all together, but it was very manageable. My kids sat side by side in the first row, I was in an aisle seat directly being them (they had the aisle plus one) and my husband in an aisle seat behind me. My daughter does Community theatre plays here at home and was totally immersed. After the show all the cast (except Jonathan Greene Jafar) came out to sign autographs and take pictures. They were all very kind and took time to chat with each person waiting. This was a trip highlight for sure. It was another late night, getting in around 1130.

Saturday: up at 715 to head to a 9am Rockettes show. We could have easily walked, but there was little traffic, we were a bit late, and it was raining so we did an Uber. We arrived around 830am. Crowds were light so it only took about 10min to get inside. Seats were great, my daughter really enjoyed the show, but I think the rest of us could take or leave the show. Its one of those things I am glad I saw, but wouldnt go back and do again. It was a hike, but my husband, who made few requests, wanted to to pizza at Johns in Bleeker. We headed over there, arrived just before opening at 1130am and got a table right away. Pizza was great and it was a budget friendly meal. After lunch we ended up heading to Central Park. After the past two crazy days we wanted something a bit more low key. We walked the length of the park, saw different statues and stopped at quite a few playgrounds. My sons trip highlight included hand feeding the squirrels.  we thought about visiting the AMNH, but the line was crazy so we skipped that. My daughter was begging to take a HOHO bus tour, so we bundled up and rode a loop around the city. It was primarily things we had already seen, but my kids enjoyed themselves and the cold wasnt too bad. It also gave my husband and I a bit to relax and chat while the kids were occupied. That night we checked out the Saks light show and several window displays.

Sunday (Christmas Eve): arrived at the AMNH for opening, spent about 3 hours here just checking out some of the highlights. My kids really enjoyed making origami with a volunteer by the tree. After leaving here we split up to do our secret Santa shopping. My daughter and I always shop for my husband and son and vice versa. My daughter and I went to a Yankees shop for my son and also spent some time at Time Warner Center and Union Square holiday market. We all met up at Rockefeller at 445 for our 515 dinner reservation. *if you happened to follow to cancelled reservation posting, we did get a call from the manger, ended up with a window side table, and some comped food, so overall happy and didnt have to make another reservation elsewhere.* Following dinner we took a walk toward to Empire State Building, we stopped at the library for some photos, went to Bryant Park, and finally to the ESB. Lines werent bad at all getting in here, getting to the 80th floor was quick and easy, but on the 80th floor the were announcing wait times of 45 min to get to the 85th and offered the stairs. We took the stairs. It was neat because it was snowing when we reach the top. After this we took an Uber home, finally got the kiddos asleep, and played Santa.

12/25: we had breakfast in, took time enjoying some of the Santa gifts, and went to the Central Park Zoo. We checked out Chinatown and Little Italy, and then headed to the airport around 3 for a 530pm flight. Traffic was light as were airport crowds so we had plenty of time.
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Turkey might be the first food that comes to mind when you think about Thanksgiving, but plant-based diets are more popular than ever.
- Wiper party leader and National Super Alliance (NASA) co-principal, Kalonzo Musyoka, finally jetted back home

- Musyoka returned home on Wednesday, December 27, together with his wife Pauline Musyoka, from Germany where Pauline was receiving treatment

- The Wiper boss has been away for several weeks and missed major political activities by the NASA Coalition

- There were plans to swear him in from Germany, alongside NASA leader Raila Odinga, on December 12, but that controversial exercise was rescheduled to early next year

Wiper party boss and National Super Alliance (NASA) co-principal, Kalonzo Musyoka, has returned home.

Tuko.co.ke has learned that Musyoka jetted back into the country from Germany on the morning of Wednesday, December 27, together with his wife Pauline Musyoka who has been receiving treatment abroad for undisclosed illness.

READ ALSO: Ukubwa wa "mzinga" wa aliyekuwa mshauri wa Raila Odinga wasisimua Wakenya (picha)

The Wiper party leader has been away for several weeks and has missed out in major political activities by the NASA Coalition.

The National Super Alliance (NASA) co-principal and Wiper party boss Kalonzo Musyoka is back from Germany.Photo: YouTube.

Install TUKO App To Read News For FREE

Musyoka was initially expected to return home on Tuesday, December 19, during the burial of Kitui West Member of Parliament, Francis Nyenze, but he never made it back after he reportedly missed a flight.

Other sources indicated that his wife Pauline was being transferred to another hospital and therefore he could not leave her alone.

READ ALSO: Uhuru and Ruto skip late Wiper MP's funeral where Raila vowed to be sworn-in as president

According to a report by Standard Digital, Pauline was first admitted to Nairobi Hospital on December 29, 2015.

She reportedly underwent a number of tests, after which doctors recommended for further treatment abroad where her family has been taking care of her.

READ ALSO: Raila's emotional New Year message to Kenyans

Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka addressing supporters during one of their political rallies.Photo: Facebook/Kalonzo Musyoka

Meanwhile, the NASA Coalition forged ahead with their political activities including the contentious parallel oath-taking plans.

Initially there was a proposal to swear in Musyoka from Germany, alongside NASA leader Raila Odinga, on December 12, but that exercise was postponed.

READ ALSO: Drama as elderly woman threatens to swear in Raila during church service

As Tuko.co.ke previously reported, NASA now plans to proceed with the inauguration ceremony early next year.

Raila Odinga's 'Swearing in' Unstoppable - On Tuko TV

Source: TUKO.co.ke
Gail Folda couldn't shake the feeling that bad luck is stalking her this year.

On Sept. 22, the day before her 65th birthday, fire gutted her central Lincoln home and left her with burns that required months of painful care and rehab.

Early Wednesday, another fire destroyed the business where many of her treasured antiques, jewelry, artwork and photo negatives were being restored.

"I kind of feel like Typhoid Mary, Folda said.

The fire at Paul Davis Restoration, 3641 S. Sixth St., caused about $3.5 million damage to the building and its contents, fire officials said.

Lincoln Fire and Rescue crews arrived at 5:15 a.m. to find flames engulfing the Florida-based company's Lincoln location. So much of the building was already consumed that firefighters had no choice but to attack the blaze from outside, said Battalion Chief Jeremy Gegg.

Fire investigator Rick Campos and several private investigators believe the fire was accidental and may have originated with a vehicle stored inside the building.

#LFR on scene of a 2nd alarm fire.

What remained of the structure continued to smolder hours later.

The building was most recently valued at $544,000.

A local spokeswoman for Paul Davis Restoration didn't respond to a request for comment.

It was the first of two significant early-morning fires that stretched Lincoln Fire and Rescue's resources across the city and pitted them against subzero temperatures.

Five minutes after firefighters arrived at Paul Davis Restoration, other crews were called to a house fire in northeast Lincoln that sent nine people to a hospital. None had life-threatening injuries, Gegg said.

Thirteen people were inside the house at 3330 N. 67th St. when the fire started in the basement, eventually spreading throughout the home, said fire investigator Ken Hilger.

He said he believes it started accidentally, but was still pinning down the exact cause late Wednesday.

That fire caused at least $100,000 damage to the house, plus $75,000 damage to its contents, Hilger said.

As the dueling blazes raged, the Nebraska Air National Guard sent an air truck to aid crews at the Paul Davis Restoration fire, Southwest Rural Fire District volunteers provided backup elsewhere in the city, and an off-duty Lincoln Fire and Rescue crew was called in to staff a reserve fire rig, Gegg said. The simultaneous two-alarm fires even forced the Red Cross chapter in Lincoln to get help from its Omaha counterpart.

The cold caused radio problems for firefighters, who also put new ice cleats on their boots to avoid slipping, Gegg said.

An out-of-service StarTran bus kept crews warm at the Paul Davis Restoration site, and kind onlookers brought coffee and food to crews there.

For Folda, the likelihood that she lost items she'd hoped to salvage from her burned home felt like "small potatoes" compared with the bigger picture, she said: A business was destroyed, and her own life had recently been saved with help from caring neighbors and talented medical staff.

And this fire may be a sign that she should loosen her attachment to material possessions, she said.

Folda finished her stay at a rehabilitation center earlier this month, after an earlier hospital stay. For now, she's calling a Lincoln hotel home.

"Im sleeping with one eye open tonight, she said.
One Ukrainian soldier was killed, another five were wounded in hostilities in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) zone in eastern Ukraine over the past day.

Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Spokesperson for ATO issues Oleksandr Motuzianyk said this at a press briefing on Wednesday, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

"One soldier of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was killed in enemy attacks near Butivka coal mine, another two were shot by an enemy sniper near Zolote and Novoluhanske. One of them is in critical condition. Two soldiers of the Armed Forces were injured in enemy attacks near Luhansk. In addition, one serviceman of the National Guard was injured in the blast of an explosive device near the village of Vodiane, Motuzianyk said.

He added that Russian-backed militants over the past day broke the New Year ceasefire and launched six attacks on the Ukrainian positions. The Ukrainian troops didnt return fire.

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Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelian has assured that the Irish low-cost airline Ryanair will enter Ukraine in 2018.

"It will enter next year - 200%," the minister stated on Priamy TV Channel when commenting on the entering of Ryanair to the Ukrainian market.

According to him, now the "degree of discussions" on the entering of the Irish low-cost airline has dropped.

"I am glad that finally, we have lowered the degree of discussion in the upper echelons of government and business, as, frankly speaking, not everyone was happy about this idea. But we must do this because the whole world is moving towards cheaper services, simplification of conditions, and high quality, Omelian stressed.

As Ukrinform earlier reported, in early December, Director General of Danylo Halytskyi International Airport Lviv, Tetiana Romanovska, stated that negotiations with Ryanair were suspended. At the same time, representatives of the airport conducted talks with Italian low-cost Ernest Airlines and British airline EasyJet.

Iy
The European Union still does not have a clear understanding of future trade relations after Britain quits, so a statement by German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel is "an opinion spoken aloud."

Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister for European Integration Olena Zerkal reported this on Channel 5 late on Tuesday, December 26.

"This model has not yet been formed. It is actually a speculation as to which model they can form after all negotiations and Britain's exit from the European Union," Zerkal said.

Therefore, according to the diplomat, such words should be taken as a personal position by the German foreign minister, rather than the common position of the whole of the European Union.

"Is it a common view of the European Union? Is there any general understanding in the European Union of how, for example, trade relations with Britain will take place in the future, after its withdrawal from the European Union? Not yet, so we can say now that it was an opinion spoken aloud," Zerkal said.

Earlier, Gabriel said that the deal to be concluded between Britain and the European Union after Brexit could be a model for the EU's closer cooperation with Ukraine and Turkey. He does not think the two countries will obtain full membership of the EU in the near future.

op
Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman held a telephone conversation with newly appointed Prime Minister of Poland Mateusz Morawiecki and invited him to visit Kyiv.

PM Groysman informed this on his Facebook page.

"We reaffirmed our mutual readiness for a dialogue and a strategic partnership on many issues - from the economy and the energy future to the formation of the agenda for Warsaw as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in the next two years. I invited my colleague to visit Kyiv at a convenient time," he wrote.

As Ukrinform reported, on December 11, Poland's President Andrzej Duda appointed a new Polish Government headed by Mateusz Morawiecki.

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A total of 74 Ukrainians who were held in captivity in ORDLO [the uncontrolled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions] have been released.

Iryna Lutsenko, the presidents representative in the Verkhovna Rada, reported this on her Facebook page.

"There's good news. The exchange process is over. The Ukrainian side has received 74 hostages who were held in captivity in the occupied part of Donbas. They are returning home," Lutsenko wrote.

The representatives of Ukraine, in particular, First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, the representative of Ukraine in the humanitarian subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group for the settlement of the situation in Donbas, Iryna Gerashchenko, Ombudsman Valeriya Lutkovska, employees of the Prosecutor General's Office, the Security Service and the Defense Ministry, as well as experts of the Minsk humanitarian subgroup left for Donbas on December 26 to attend the exchange process.

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko met with families of Ukrainian hostages on December 26. He promised that each of the liberated Ukrainians would be provided with proper medical care.

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The expenditure on culture of the general fund of Ukraines state budget for 2018 increased by UAH 2.9 billion or by 52% compared with the current year.

Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Pavlo Rozenko announced this at the all-Ukrainian meeting of cultural workers, the Governmental portal reports. The total expenditure on culture of the general fund of Ukraines state budget for 2018 is more than UAH 6.1 billion. Thus, compared with 2017, the expenditure increased by almost UAH 3 billion or 52%, Rozenko said. ol
Nikolai Polozov, the lawyer for deputy heads of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, Akhmet Chiygoz and Ilmi Umerov, has filed lawsuits against the administration of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

The lawyer reported this on Twitter.

"I have filed two administrative lawsuits against the administration of President Putin on behalf of Akhtem Chiygoz and Ilmi Umerov with the requirement to provide information on decrees on pardon," Polozov said.

The lawyer said that the classification of decrees on pardon was contrary to Part 2, Article 24 of the Russian Constitution.

As reported, on October 25, 2017, Russia unexpectedly released Umerov and Chiygoz, transferring them to Turkey, and that they arrived in Kyiv. According to Turkey's television channel Haberturk, the Turkish government exchanged Chiygoz and Umerov for two Russians accused of espionage.

At the same time, the Russian presidential administration, at the request of Chiygoz's and Umerov's lawyers to provide information on the grounds for the transfer of their clients from Crimea, said that this information was "with restricted access."

Chiygoz was detained in January 2015 for participating in a rally in support of the territorial integrity of Ukraine in front of the building of the Crimean parliament on February 26, 2014. He was accused of organizing mass disorder and sentenced to eight years in prison. Umerov was sentenced to two years in a settlement colony on charges of "calling for violation of the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation" for his statement on the ATR television channel that "Crimea is Ukraine."

op
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has arrived in Donbas to meet Ukrainian hostages freed from the captivity of militants, his press secretary, Svyatoslav Tsegolko, has reported on Facebook.

"Petro Poroshenko is already in Donbas, where he meets our guys from captivity," he wrote.

Militants have currently handed over to the Ukrainian side the first 16 hostages as part of the exchange of prisoners under the formula "306 for 74."

Poroshenko congratulated the first Ukrainians released from the captivity of the "LPR/DPR" and is overseeing the entire exchange process.

op
Cindy Lange-Kubick Columnist Cindy Lange-Kubick has loved writing columns about life in her hometown since 1994. She had hoped to become a people person by now, nonetheless she would love to hear your tales of fascinating neighbors and interesting places. Follow Cindy Lange-Kubick Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

Every day she searches for news and hears silence.

Nothing on CNN.

Little on the BBC.

No front-page headlines in the morning paper about Yemen and its civil war.

Journalists are being banned, Loukia Sarroub says. The lack of reporting and the lack of awareness is horrifying.

Sarroub is a professor of linguistic anthropology and literary studies in education at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She's visited Yemen and hopes to visit again.

In 2005, she wrote a book  All American Yemeni Girls: Being Muslim in a Public School  and she remains in contact with some of the Dearborn, Michigan, families to whom she grew close during her research.

Families who found a safe haven in the United States when they fled the last civil war in the 1990s.

And whose families back in Yemen now are constantly being bombed."

Two weeks ago, I called Sarroub to learn more about a war that seems absent from the American radar, about people fleeing and children dying while we plop our fat babies on Santas lap and debate Happy Holidays versus Merry Christmas.

And she told me Yemen is the poorest country in the Middle East but that it is rich in cultural artifacts and history.

She told me Yemens people speak languages that have survived longer than anywhere else in the world.

That there are two main cities and many villages spread across the arid and mountainous country bordered by Saudi Arabia and Oman to the north and east, and the Red Sea to the south.

That the people of Yemen she knows are industrious and kind and that they grew some of the best coffee in the world. That many are subsistence farmers whose water pipes have been broken by bombs.

That when she was in Michigan working on her dissertation in the late '90s, only two Yemeni girls there were bound for college. Now there are dozens.

We now have professors who are Yemenis and are teaching the rest of us. People who know what its like to grow up in one of the poorest regions.

And she told me something I already knew  a number that had made me pick up the phone to call her. That a child in Yemen dies of a preventable disease every 10 minutes.

The latest numbers I have are more than a million people have cholera, Sarroub said.

Food sources have been bombed; they are specifically targeting the civilian population.

The United Nations has called the cholera epidemic the worlds largest  and its occurring in a country whose citizens are banned from entering the U.S.

People cannot seek refuge. The question is, do we stand by and watch an entire generation of families and children disappear?

This civil war began in 2015 with the south, supported by arms from Saudi Arabia, fighting against the Houthi minority in the north. Those fighters have launched bombs said to be manufactured in Iran that have reached Riyadh, the Saudi capital.

Im not a political scientist, the professor says. Saudi Arabia, perhaps they have good intentions to fight against Iran for whatever reason, but its an operation that is in no way humane.

The United States has backed Saudi Arabia since the early days of this war.

She doesnt offer an answer, a plan for peace, but: This is a country thats under siege and the people have no way out. Its the worst humanitarian and cultural crisis so far in the 21st century.

Since we first talked, Sarroub has had more success in her search for headlines.

A story in The Guardian on Dec. 17, detailing the United Kingdoms order to Saudi Arabia to stop its blockade of humanitarian aid, saying the use of starvation as a weapon was a breach of humanitarian law.

And a post-Christmas story about a group of Yemeni college students in Ottawa, Canada, who have started a Yemen Relief Fund.

Getting people to care will be a challenge, one of the organizers told the CBC. Were taking baby steps.  Many people dont even know where Yemen is on the map.

When I talked to Sarroub again Wednesday, she was heartened by the news from Canada and she spoke again about the silence.

How she feels about whats happening in Yemen.

Its not going to be that different than what I think about Syria or the Karen people in Myanmar who are also suffering. Its that theres almost a complete silence about this, and we need to question why there is this silence when thousands of people are being harmed through disease, famine, constant bombing.

We need to question what the policies are and our own U.S. role with regard to humanitarian aid.

Because in the absence of headlines, in the suffering we cannot see  or hear  the people of Yemen deserve our attention.
With its combination of new equipment and more sophisticated timing, Green Light Lincoln has shaved minutes off that O Street drive.

Mid-morning on a recent Thursday, Lonnie Burklund, assistant director of Public Works and Utilities, drove east from 25th Street to 70th without stopping at a single red light.

And he would have made it to 84th Street but for one driver, who lingered at the 56th Street light long after it had turned green. Texting, perhaps?

Along the way you could see the lights turning green at the intersections ahead, and the little platoons of cars -- as Burklund calls them -- moving together, down the street and through each intersection.

Thats a good sign. Vehicles smoothly moving in platoons along a corridor means the timing of the signals are appropriate, he said.

The O Street corridor, one of nine corridors in Phase 1 of the Green Light Lincoln program, is almost finished. There is just a little tweaking left as drivers and city staff give suggestions and consultants make changes, collect data and write a final report.

The report for O Street, covering the 2.6 miles from 25th Street to Skyway Road (between 70th and 84th) shows these savings:

* It used to take about 10 minutes for people heading west in the morning, to downtown or campus, to drive that 2.6-mile stretch. Now it takes a little over 8 minutes.

* The evening drive home, east from downtown, used to take an average of 11.3 minutes, now it takes around 9 minutes, an almost two-minute savings.

* Drivers heading west during the evening commute will see the biggest savings, from an average 11.2 minutes to around 8.2 minutes.

And when you add it all up, the annual numbers are big.

Drivers of those 31,100 vehicles that travel O Street daily will collectively save 93,500 hours, 132,700 gallons of fuel and will avoid 6.7 million stops and 13,000 kilograms of emissions over a year.

Thats a total savings of $1.8 million, based on consultant calculations and using a standard dollar value for the time saved.

These successful changes mean less frustrated drivers and fewer crashes, according to city public works officials.

The 6.7 million fewer stops along O Street each year will most likely mean fewer rear-end crashes.

If you can avoid stops or slowing down traffic you reduce the number of rear-end crashes, said Mark Lutjeharms, manager of Lincoln's traffic engineering division.

Drivers are seeing similar improvements in drive time and fewer stops along other major arterials that are part of Phase I of Green Light Lincoln, said Lutjeharms.

Corridors for Phase I were O Street, North 84th Street, South 84th Street, South 70th Street, Vine Street, Capitol Parkway/Normal Boulevard, Antelope Valley Parkway, Nebraska 2 and Cornhusker Highway.

Signals on O Street, and most major arterials, have five separate timing plans  morning commute, midday, evening commute, off-peak evening and late night, where the goal is reducing time spent behind the wheel.

Consultants are reviewing the practice in peer cities of using flashing red signals late at night, instead of green light-red light cycles, to determine whether that is a good idea for Lincoln, Lutjeharms said. It may be that improving detection  30 percent of the city's intersections had failed vehicle detection systems before the Green Light Lincoln initiative began  will eliminate long waits at intersections in the middle of the night, he said.

There are also special timing plans for big events, including Husker games, both before and after, said Burklund.

Green Light Lincoln includes equipment, software improvements and signal timing adjustments.

It incorporates better detection (cameras rather than coils in the pavement that are hard to replace when they fail); new signals with flashing yellow turn signals that help provide more left-turn flexibility; and changes in signal timing to help get more people through each intersection.

Three consulting firms  Olsson Associates, HDR and Iteris  have been hired to collect the data, develop new standards and recommend new timing plans.

Consultants use information on traffic volumes, which direction traffic is going, the speed limit, even driving habits of the Lincoln public to determine the most efficient cycle length for red lights, green lights, left turns, even for timing between intersections.

Improvements at 33rd and O streets include:

* A flashing yellow arrow signal in all directions gives greater flexibility.

* Revised timing  increasing the time the light is green for westbound traffic by 4 seconds and eastbound green time by 9 seconds.

"Now four seconds may not seem like much, but it allows you to get another three to five vehicles through an intersection in each cycle. That adds up over an hour," said Lutjeharms.

* Cameras detect vehicles waiting to turn left and adjust flashing and solid arrows accordingly.

* Engineers also adjusted the timing between intersections along O Street, as part of the mission to move more vehicles, more quickly.

The consultants' work,for the nine corridors, at a cost of about $550,000 this year, will continue as the city moves on to other corridors and intersections across the city. They'll tackle another 115 to 120 intersections next year, in Phase 2, Lutjeharms said.

Staff estimate the hardware changes for Green Light Lincoln will cost an estimated $2 million annually over the next three years as they work to complete all four phases, covering 430 intersections.
With the number of journalists imprisoned worldwide at an all-time high, press freedom groups are drawing a direct line between President Donald Trumps verbal slugfest with some of Americas most venerable news institutions and the adoption of his fake news mantra by autocrats and dictators around the world.

Were seeing an unprecedented attack on both the institution of journalism and the media, as well as very personal attacks on individual journalists and individual media outlets, says Courtney Radsch, advocacy director for the Committee to Protect Journalists. And what this does is it creates an environment in which journalists operate less safely.



The CPJs 2017 press freedom survey shows 262 journalists are behind bars worldwide, slightly higher than the number a year ago. More than half the total are in Turkey, China, and Egypt.



"We saw the term 'fake news' being used in the Philippines, in Russia, in China, in Egypt to justify their own oppression of the media in attempts to delegitimize journalists Radsch told VOA. Weve also seen China saying, 'Hey the U.S. is finally waking up to what weve been saying the whole time about the media being problematic,' and thats not what we want to see around the world.



An opinion piece in Chinas Communist Partys Peoples Daily newspaper this month said, If the president of the United States calls leading media outlets a stain on America, then negative news about China and other countries should be taken with a grain of salt, since it is likely that bias and political agendas are distorting the real picture.



British scholar Hisham Hellyer, a non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council in Washington, says fallout from Trumps fake news charges is serious and should not be underestimated.



When Trump uses his own freedom of expression to denigrate the medias ability to report the facts, and often puts forward his own fake news, it has the effect of empowering others who would like to do the same, Hellyer said.

Trump has hammered at the "fake news" theme in hundreds of Twitter posts, public comments and speeches, singling out media powerhouses like CNN, The Washington Post and The New York Times for special criticism.



He once called CNN, the enemy of the people.



The presidents tactics have fueled a polarizing national debate about what Trump defenders call persistent media bias, and critics describe as hard-nosed reporting.

Studies show coverage of Trump has tilted heavily negative. An analysis by the nonprofit Pew Research Center showed reporting about the first months of the Trump presidency was 62 percent negative and 5 percent positive.

Coverage for the same period of President Barack Obama's presidency was 42 percent positive and 20 percent negative, according to Pew. The leader of the Pew Journalism Project cautioned the result is not evidence of media bias.

Trumps critics see nothing exceptional in those figures given the volume of missteps and misstatements coming from the White House, but the president and his supporters cite them as evidence of the medias malign intent.

Stung by Trumps criticisms and polls showing low public trust in the media, CNN and the big newspapers have fought back with ad campaigns and fresh slogans emphasizing their accuracy and objectivity.



But a series of recent high-profile reporting blunders in stories about the White House has damaged the medias reputation for trustworthiness, and given Trump fresh ammunition.

Earlier this month, CNN erroneously reported that the Trump campaign had been offered the contents of hacked emails from the campaign of his Democratic Party competitor, Hillary Clinton, before they were released by Wikileaks last year. The Washington Post later reported accurately that the offer came days after Wikileaks published the emails.

Now, some of the worlds worst violators of media freedom are using Trump's "fake news" refrain to justify press restrictions.



Syrias President Bashar al-Assad, asked about an Amnesty International report on systematic killings in Syrian prison, replied, Were living in a fake news era, as you know. Everybody knows it.



Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro complained international media are spreading lies about him, saying, This is what we call fake news, isnt it?

Cambodias Hun Sen, who regularly quotes Trumps fake news rhetoric, has ordered more than a dozen radio stations to close or stop broadcasting programming from the Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, and shut down a leading independent newspaper.

Libyan media used the term in trying to discredit a CNN report on slavery among migrants, and Russias foreign ministry has begun posting stories it considers false on its website covered by the words FAKE NEWS in big red letters.

Chinas top cyber security official cited "fake news" about a report ranking China last in the world in internet freedom.

Trump has welcomed several known foes of free media to the White House. He hailed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a friend, despite that countrys reputation as the worlds leading jailer of journalists.



With Trump at his side during a recent ASEAN summit, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte called reporters spies.

Thailands Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha and Malaysias Prime Minister Najib Razak have raised the issue of "fake news."



"It's hard enough to be a journalist in dictatorships like Cambodia when the United States is setting a good example," Tom Malinowski, a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy and Labor, told VOA.



"Now every dictator who wants to ban media he doesn't like can say, 'Trump does it so why can't I?'" said Malinowski, who served under President Obama.
Climate change is real, and is caused at least in part by humans, says the Lincoln Electric System in its legislative guidelines.

This isn't a new policy. It's been part of LES guidelines for several years, even before climate change became so politically divisive and controversial, and some federal government agencies removed climate change references from their websites.

"LES acknowledges that the emissions of greenhouse gases from fossil fuel-fired power generating plants contribute to increased concentration levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, which in turn contribute to climate change," read the guidelines, approved by the LES board this month.

The climate change guidelines are patterned after principles developed by the American Public Power Association, the national trade association, said Shelley Sahling-Zart, LES vice president and general counsel.

LES has also increased its draw from renewable energy sources in recent years. In 2017, energy production from renewable resources (primarily wind) is expected to be the equivalent of 49 percent of LES retail sales.

LES' approach to climate change is not going to change based on the current national controversy, says Sahling-Zart.

LES' decisions are driven by people in the local community. "And in Lincoln, many people are still very interested in climate change and still concerned with where our resources come from," she said.

"While it may not be a focus of the current administration, it continues to be a topic of serious debate and discussion," she said.
A Kremlin spokesman suggested Tuesday that a call by Russian opposition leader Alexi Navalny to boycott next year's presidential election may be illegal. VOA's Russian Services Andrei Dzairkach joins International Editions Steve Miller to discuss. Authorities in Xinjiang, China launched what they call a new "relatives' week" program this month, which requires local civil servants to spend a week with Uighur families in rural areas by the year's end. VOA's Doug Bernard explains that while the program is officially trumpeted as a way to promote ethnic harmony, the move is widely seen by observers as stepped-up surveillance of the Muslim minority that may instead fuel, rather than ease, inter-racial tensions.
Violence, displacement and hunger will drive record humanitarian needs in 2018, with nearly 136 million people worldwide in need of aid, according to the United Nations.

The U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has appealed for a record $22.5 billion for humanitarian responses across the globe.

Protracted conflicts in Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Yemen, the Rohingya exodus from Myanmar and natural disasters exacerbated by climate change are among many crises.

The Thomson Reuters Foundation asked aid agencies to name their top priorities for 2018:

OCHA

Mark Lowcock, Head of OCHA and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator

1) The 91 million extremely vulnerable people in 26 countries that we aim to reach in 2018 through U.N.-coordinated humanitarian response plans.

2) Internally displaced people  chiefly because of conflict, there are 40 million people displaced within their own countries.

3) Reform  to make the humanitarian system as effective and responsible as possible.

INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE

Bryce Perry, deputy director of emergencies

In 2018, the IRC will continue to focus on the Central African Republic (CAR) and other countries experiencing severe humanitarian crisis including:

1) Yemen  with a civil war raging, Yemen continues to be at the top of the list as humanitarians struggle to deliver aid in response to extreme food insecurity, disease outbreak and a collapsed economy.

2) The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)  we remain concerned about the DRC given the persistent political instability, a highly vulnerable population and continued unrest in multiple parts of the country.

3) Rohingya crisis  the last few months have seen hundreds of thousands of Rohingya flee extreme violence in Myanmar to seek safety in Bangladesh. Humanitarian needs have quickly outstripped available aid resources and this crisis will remain a priority for the year to come.

OXFAM

Nigel Timmins, humanitarian director

1) Yemen  without a political settlement in sight, the conflict looks set to continue. Meanwhile, the conflict has created the world's worst humanitarian crisis, the world's largest cholera outbreak and is on course to create the world's worst famine.

2) Northern Nigeria  Over eight million people are dependent on life saving aid as the conflict in northern Nigeria reaches its eighth year, with no sign of abating. Unable to grow or buy food, millions are going hungry. Close to 1.7 million people have fled their homes, and with the security situation remaining fragile, many more will continue to do so.

3) Syria  the devastation and suffering delivered by six years of war in Syria is staggering and relentless. Three quarters of Syrians have been affected, 13.5 million people are in need of assistance and five million have fled the country.

ACTION AGAINST HUNGER

Jean-Michel Grand, executive director

1) The Rohingya crisis  Action Against Hunger has some of its largest relief operation in Bangladesh for the Rohingya refugees, but in 2018 we may see the first movement of population going back to Myanmar. As one of the few NGOs allowed to work in Rakhine state, Action Against Hunger will focus on helping people to return safely and restart their lives.

2) Yemen  this will remain a top priority.

3) Syria  With the recent territorial gains on ISIS and the partial withdrawal of Russia, there are uncertainties about the future of the Syrian refugees and internally displaced people.

CHRISTIAN AID

Nick Guttman, Head of Humanitarian

1) Our Democratic Republic of Congo Kasai response is not yet adequately funded. But in 2018 we will be looking to raise funds in order to increase our response.

2) Ongoing emergency responses in conflict environments  northeast Nigeria, South Sudan and the Rohingya crisis both in Bangladesh and where possible in Myanmar.

3) Humanitarian advocacy  we will continue to prioritize "localization" (in which local organizations are given a central role in a humanitarian response).

NORWEGIAN REFUGEE COUNCIL

Jan Egeland, secretary general

1) Strengthen our efforts to protect and assist more needy people in hard-to-reach war zones where too few organizations can operate today.

2) Continue to work for a way out for people in protracted displacement. We will work for durable solutions, whether through return, resettlement or local integration.

3) Focus on using data and technology to better let displaced people help themselves. Education and livelihoods as well as cash grants enables people to make their own choices.

ACTIONAID

Mike Noyes, head of humanitarian response

1) East Africa food crisis  it would be foolish to think the food crisis across Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and South Sudan has gone away... Another period of poor rains and failed harvests - mean the region's vulnerability continues, and the risk of further deterioration in 2018 is very real.

2) Rohingya  repatriation of the 622,000 Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, to Myanmar is meant to begin in early 2018. But the Rohingya are more likely to keep arriving into Bangladesh. Existing humanitarian support in the camps will not be enough.

3) Syria  a new phase to this crisis is likely in 2018, following the governments of Syria and Iraq declaring victory over ISIS. As the conflict in the region enters a fresh, potentially decisive phase, this could lead to yet more movement of people - or even create the conditions where return becomes a viable option for some displaced people.

U.N. FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION (FAO)

Dominique Burgeon, director of emergencies

1) Reduce the number of people on the brink of famine or severe food insecurity in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Northeast Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen.

2) Support local food production even in conflict situations support countries to address the impact of climate change

3) Make sure pastoralists and their children receive more attention and support.

INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF RED CROSS and RED CRESCENT SOCIETIES (IFRC)

Elhadj As Sy, Secretary General

1) Early action  early warning technology alerts us to seasonal or anticipated weather-related events that have the potential to devastate communities. The IFRC's focus is to ensure early warning is met with early action through making funding available before disaster hits, and putting in place operations that mitigate suffering and loss of livelihoods.

2) Health security  situations of conflict and disaster can quickly turn into health emergencies. The IFRC prioritizes emergency health care, water and sanitation services for timely lifesaving and recovery assistance.

3) Localization  The IFRC is committed to ensuring principled humanitarian action is as local as possible through increased support and investment in our Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies to strengthen their capacities.

U.N. WORLD FOOD PROGRAM (WFP)

David Beasley, executive director

1) Making food a weapon of peace ... making food and cash-based assistance central to economic development and regional stability. We will put more focus on school meals programs, on connecting people we help with projects that benefit their communities, and on creating more resilient food systems to support people and their livelihoods.

2) Unleashing wealth  technology is creating immense global private sector wealth. The resources and knowledge base created by the technology revolution could be used to transform humanitarian assistance into an effective force for stability and peace.

3) Be there quickly and efficiently  Millions of lives depend on the WFP to get help to them quickly. And it must be done efficiently to save money.
A U.S. appeals court in Washington on Tuesday upheld a lower court's decision to allow President Donald Trump's commission investigating voter fraud to request data on voter rolls from U.S. states.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) watchdog group, which filed the lawsuit, did not have legal standing to seek to force the presidential commission to review privacy concerns before collecting individuals' voter data.

EPIC had argued that under federal law, the commission was required to conduct a privacy-impact assessment before gathering personal data. But the three-judge appeals court panel ruled unanimously that the privacy law at issue was intended to protect individuals, not groups like EPIC.

"EPIC is not a voter," Judge Karen Henderson wrote in the ruling.

Washington-based U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly first denied EPIC's injunction request in July, in part because the collection of data by the commission was not technically an action by a government agency and thus was not bound by laws that govern what such entities can do.

Kollar-Kotelly noted that the commission, headed by Vice President Mike Pence, was an advisory body that lacks legal authority to compel states to hand over the data.

Not thought to be common

Most state officials who oversee elections and election law experts say that voter fraud is rare in the United States.

Trump, a Republican, set up the commission in May after charging, without evidence, that millions of people voted unlawfully in the 2016 presidential election in which he defeated Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton despite losing the popular vote.

The commission's vice chair, Kris Kobach, the Republican secretary of state for Kansas and an advocate of tougher laws on immigration and voter identification, asked states in June to turn over voter information.

The data requested by Kobach included names, the last four digits of Social Security numbers, addresses, birth dates, political affiliation, felony convictions and voting histories.

More than 20 states refused outright and others said they needed to study whether they could provide the data.

Civil rights groups and Democratic lawmakers have said the commission's eventual findings could lead to new ID requirements and other measures making it harder for groups that tend to favor Democratic candidates to cast ballots.

EPIC executive director Marc Rotenberg could not immediately be reached for comment.
Alberto Nisman, the Argentine prosecutor who was found dead days after accusing former President Cristina Fernandez of covering up Iran's role in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center, was murdered, a federal judge said on Tuesday.

In a 656-page ruling, judge Julian Ercolini said there was sufficient proof to conclude that the shot to the head that killed Nisman in January 2015 was not self-inflicted. That marked the first time any judge has said the case was a murder.

Fernandez and others had suggested the death was a suicide, but a prosecutor investigating the case last year recommended it be pursued as a murder probe.

Nismans death could not have been a suicide, Ercolini wrote in Tuesdays ruling, which also charged Diego Lagomarsino, a former employee of Nismans, with accessory to murder.

Lagomarsino has acknowledged lending Nisman the gun that killed him the day before he was to appear before Congress to detail his allegation against Fernandez. But he has said Nisman asked him for the gun to protect himself and his family.

Fernandez, now a senator, was indicted for treason earlier this month over Nismans allegations that she worked behind the scenes to clear Iran of blame for the attack on the AMIA Jewish center, which killed 85 people, in an effort to normalize relations and clinch a 2013 grains-for-oil deal with Tehran.

Human rights groups and the former head of Interpol have criticized that indictment. Tehran has denied links to the attack.
An Australian woman has been acquitted by a Malaysian court of charges of illicit drug trafficking.

Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto was arrested three years ago this month at Kuala Lumpur's International Airport after police found more than one kilogram of methamphetamine in her backpack. Lawyers for Exposto, a 54-year-old mother of three from Sydney, say she was tricked into carrying the bag by an online boyfriend who claimed to be a U.S. soldier serving in Afghanistan.

Judge Ghazali Cha agreed with the defense's arguments when he handed down his ruling Wednesday.

Exposto faced a mandatory death sentence for possessing more than 50 grams of a prohibited drug if she had been convicted.

Three Australians have been hanged for drug offenses in Malaysia since 1986.
Back in 1979, Karen Schneider was an entry-level copy editor in her 20s when a senior editor at her newspaper offered her a ride after some late-night drinks with colleagues. At her destination, he locked the car door and forcibly kissed her.

Terrified, she managed to get away. She subsequently told her boyfriend about what happened  and no one else.

"I didn't know what sexual harassment was. I didn't know that what he did was actually illegal," Schneider recalled in a recent phone interview. "All I knew was that I was scared and deeply worried about my career, because this man was in a position of authority and I was a very eager young journalist."

The recent wave of sexual misconduct allegations, costing dozens of prominent men their jobs and reputations, shows that experiences like Schneider's remain common in American workplaces. But even as the problem persists, there is far more public awareness now of sexual harassment and far more recourse for victims, compared with the decades before the 1990s.

Schneider remained at the Hartford Courant for five more years after the kiss, keeping her secret. She later worked for other news and advocacy organizations and is now vice president of communications for the National Women's Law Center, which is assisting women speaking out about harassment.

"There has been greater recognition that sexual harassment is against the law and should not be tolerated," Schneider said. "But there are many industries and offices where people are still afraid to speak out."

Technically, sexual harassment became illegal under the 1964 Civil Rights Act's ban on sex discrimination, but it took three more decades of court rulings to establish the current concepts of what it entails and how to address it. Gillian Thomas, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney who has written on the topic, said the term "sexual harassment" wasn't even coined until 1975.

A turning point in public awareness came in 1991, when sexual harassment was the focus of Anita Hill's testimony during Clarence Thomas' Supreme Court confirmation hearings.

There also were pivotal Supreme Court rulings, including one in 1986 declaring that a "hostile working environment" could constitute sexual harassment, whether or not an aggrieved employee suffered economic harm by being fired or denied promotion.

In 1993, the high court said employees could prevail in harassment cases without having to prove they suffered psychological damage. In 1998, a pair of Supreme Court rulings prompted many employers to adopt anti-harassment policies and formalize mechanisms for employees to lodge confidential complaints.

The legal system remains tilted in favor of the employer, Thomas said, "but at least there's a vocabulary now for talking about these issues."

There was no such vocabulary in New York City's all-male fire department in 1982, when a lawsuit filed by Brenda Berkman forced the department to revise its physical exam so it was possible for women to pass.

Berkman, who retired in 2006 with the rank of captain, said she and the other 39 pioneering women encountered harassment even during probationary training.

"There was abuse not only by instructors, but also by our fellow male trainees," Berkman said. "That's beyond the pale  these guys are on probation and felt they had a license to assault their peers."

In the early `90s, Berkman went public with allegations that a fire department physician had groped her breasts during an exam. Other women lodged similar complaints, but it took more than a year before the doctor was charged with misconduct and resigned.

"Whether it was 20 years ago or 20 minutes ago, whenever sexual assault happens, one of the hardest things for the women who survived is that nobody believes them," Berkman said.

The fire department, over 35 years, has made modest strides in accommodating women  there are now 68, the highest number ever, out of a force of 11,000.

Another veteran of the sex-harassment wars is Teresa Wilson, a 65-year-old nurse in Nashville, Tennessee. It was her case, alleging sustained sexual harassment by her boss in the mid-1980s, that led to the important 1993 Supreme Court ruling.

Wilson, at the time named Teresa Harris, was a manager at Forklift Systems, a construction equipment rental company. She alleged that Forklift's president often subjected her to sexist remarks and sexual overtures, sometimes in the presence of other employees.

The most hurtful incident, she recalled, was when he asserted in crude language that her sales figures were good because she was having sex with her customers.

Lower courts rebuffed the lawsuit, agreeing with the company that the boss's behavior did not affect Wilson psychologically or impair her ability to work.

When the case reached the Supreme Court, its first female justice  Sandra Day O'Connor  authored a unanimous opinion rejecting the premise that harassment can be penalized only if proven to have caused substantial psychological harm. Thanks to that ruling, Wilson obtained an out-of-court settlement with Forklift; the terms have not been released.

Wilson is heartened by the multitude of harassment victims now speaking out.

"It's about time," she said.

Harassment and sexism were problems in many sectors, including academia.

Susan MacManus, a political science professor at the University of South Florida, says relatively few women had that job back in the early 1970s. When they'd get together at conferences, conversation would inevitably turn to which male colleagues acted inappropriately.

"We had what we called a lech list, men who would prey on women," MacManus said  which colleagues would try to grab women at bars, which married men sought to hook up for casual sex during conferences.

MacManus said she never was physically harassed but felt gender discrimination in regard to promotions and opportunities. As a graduate student, she said, one of her professors came on to her.

She still sees such behavior  male professors exploiting their best students because they have power over them in terms of grades and recommendations.
Authorities in Brazil say they are stripping Venezuela's top diplomat of his credentials and kicking him out in a dispute between the neighboring South American countries.

Brazil's ministry of foreign affairs said Tuesday it considers Venezuelan charge d'affaires Gerardo Antonio Delgado Maldonado a persona non grata.

Venezuela is in a deepening political and economic crisis under the rule of socialist President Nicolas Maduro, drawing international criticism from several nations, including Brazil and Canada.

The president of Venezuela's national constituent assembly accused diplomats from the two countries of meddling in Venezuelan affairs.

Delcy Rodriguez took the first step Saturday toward ejecting diplomats from both countries, declaring them persona non grata.

Canada already responded by barring Venezuela's top diplomat, saying the Venezuelan government is undemocratic and is guilty of human rights abuses.
A court in Cameroon has freed Patrice Nganang, a prize-winning author and Cameroon-born U.S. citizen jailed for threatening the life of Cameroon president Paul Biya on social media.

Issa Tchiroma, Cameroon's Minister of Communication, says the court freed Patrice Nganang on Wednesday after Cameroonian President Paul Biya ordered an end to legal proceedings against Nganang.

"Mr. Nganang violated the laws of our nation, threatened to kill the head of state [Cameroon president], was detained just for investigations, but the head of state decided to stop the procedure and to let him go. They found two passports on him. One passport Cameroonian passport and American passport. The law of our nation does not accept dual nationality, that is the reason why they withdrew his Cameroonian passport and they let him go with American passport and he was expelled according to our own laws."

January trial has been scheduled



Nganang was arrested on December 6 and accused of threatening in a Facebook post to shoot Biya. He was facing a January 19 trial on charges that included seeking to justify a crime, contempt and assault threats.

On Wednesday, the author  who won the Grand Literacy Prize of Black Africa and teaches literature at New York's Stony Brook University  was taken from his cell to a Yaounde court where the state prosecutor asked for his release.

Tchiroma says his Cameroonian passport was seized and Patrice was expelled with his U.S. passport.

"I would like to advise him. He is an American. Let him threaten to kill the head of state [president] of America and he would see what will happen to him," he said.



Nganang is a fierce critic of President Biya. He was arrested in Douala, Cameroon's economic capital city, three weeks ago as he was boarding a flight to leave Cameroon.

'Jeune Afrique' article



Nganang wrote a critical article for the weekly news magazine Jeune Afrique on Cameroon's handling of the violent secessionist movement that has paralyzed school and businesses in the English-speaking areas of the country for more than a year. The crisis started when English speaking lawyers and teachers complained of marginalization from the French speaking majority in the bilingual country. It escalated to violent clashes between armed separatists and the military that have left dozens dead since October.

Several thousand people, including writers, had signed an online petition to pressure Biya to release the writer.
Crime fell more than one-fifth in the Philippines this year, delighting the public and indicating that perhaps President Rodrigo Duterte's deadly anti-drug campaign - which stirred international outrage over human rights issues - is deterring crime.

Illegal acts against people and property declined 21.8 percent from January through November this year, compared to the same period of 2016, according to Philippine National Police figures cited by domestic media.

That figure points to progress in Duterte's controversial anti-drug campaign as well as "overall effort by police," said Antonio Contreras, political scientist at De La Salle University in the Philippines.

"That's a lot, so that means an indication that the efforts are working," Contreras said. He expects the government and social media fans will use the data to emphasize that point. "It's going to be used and spun by the supporters," he said.

Filipinos feel safer despite killings

National police figures cited by domestic media indicate the total number of reported crimes used for statistical purposes fell to 100,668 in the first 11 months of the year. Only homicides went up. A presidential office spokesman told reporters Monday crime had gone down 35 percent but did not offer details.

Filipinos are saying through public opinion surveys they feel safer under Duterte's anti-crime campaign, Contreras noted. That support has allowed the president to push back against critics at home as well as human rights advocacy groups and foreign governments that denounce letting the police kill suspected drug dealers on sight.

The tough-spoken president's satisfaction rating rose from 67 to 71 percent in the final quarter of 2017, Metro Manila-based research institution Social Weather Stations found.

At the Dec. 20 wake of a police officer slain in a Metro Manila drug bust, Duterte said he "will eradicate everyone involved in the illegal drug trade," according to the presidential office website.

"I think the policy is really working and his rhetoric, his behavior and his attitude as a leader has a huge impact in our community," said Dexter Feliciano, Filipino voter and founder of a startup firm in Metro Manila. "He knows how to intimidate these criminals. That's why the crime rate dropped."

Extrajudicial killings

Duterte, who took office in June 2016, has allowed police to kill suspected drug dealers rather than taking them in for prosecution, foreign rights groups and political opponents at home believe.

The president vowed last year to eradicate major crimes in three to six months after taking office. Since his inauguration in June 2016, the 72-year-old leader has acknowledged personally killing criminal suspects while the mayor of the second-largest Philippine city Davao.

New York-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch estimates 7,000 extrajudicial killings have occurred under Duterte's presidency.

The approach to drug crime has drawn fire from Western governments and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in some cases prompting threats or stinging replies from Duterte.

Filipinos themselves protested in the streets of Manila after mid-August, when a 17-year-old high school student was shot to death north of the capital Manila, possibly by police. In separate police-linked incidents, a 19-year-old man was found shot to death and the body of a 14-year-old boy turned up full of stab wounds.

Deadly anti-crime efforts will continue

But common Filipinos often say their neighborhoods are safer now, compared to pre-Duterte years, with fewer burglaries, theft and traffic crimes as well as street side drug deals.

Although most citizens like the campaign against illegal drugs campaign, "they want drug suspects arrested alive" and believe "public safety fears have not gone down as promised" by the president, Social Weather Stations said based on surveys conducted this year.

Analysts expect Duterte will retrench his anti-drug campaign after the protests to avoid the deaths of more young people by police - but overall keep letting officers shoot to kill.

The president in early December gave police "just another year" to eradicate drug threats. He ordered officers to resume anti-drug enforcement as before, domestic media outlets say. More suspects will be slain, analysts predict.

"I don't think that's going to stop," said Herman Kraft, political scientist at University of the Philippines Diliman. "That's pretty much how President Duterte has actually laid out his basic strategy behind the war on drugs, and so that's not really going to change."
Humanitarian groups have begun evacuating sick people from a rebel-held suburb of the Syrian capital, Damascus.

The United Nations had called for an emergency evacuation of nearly 500 patients stranded in Eastern Ghouta, home to 400,000 residents, which has been cut off from food and medical aid since 2013. Many of them are children.

On Tuesday, the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) said four patients, from a group of 29 critical cases approved for evacuation, have been transferred to hospitals in Damascus. The rest will be moved in the coming days.

The list of 29 includes 18 children and 4 women suffering from heart disease, cancer, kidney failure and blood diseases, in addition to cases requiring surgery not available in the besieged area.

SAMS said some 17 patients have died in recent months because of the ongoing siege and lack of medical care.

The International Committee of the Red Cross late Tuesday published pictures of ambulances brought in to carry out the evacuations. But it provided no details about how many people would be moved out of the area.

UNICEF said its aid workers described seeing one of the worst health situations since the conflict began in 2011 during a rare international aid convoy to a neighborhood in the Eastern Ghouta district at the end of November.

UNICEF said at the time that 137 children, aged between seven months to 17 years, required immediate evacuation for conditions that include kidney failure, severe malnutrition and conflict wounds.

Last week Jan Egeland, the United Nations humanitarian adviser for Syria, said 494 people were on the priority list for medical evacuations.

That number is going down, not because we are evacuating people but because they are dying, he said. We have tried now every single week for many months to get medical evacuations out, and food and other supplies in.
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After lurching from one crisis to the next over the past 10 years, the European Union has survived a series of seemingly existential threats  and its leaders claim the bloc is ascendant.

Economic growth in the Eurozone is forecast to be higher than in the United States and Britain, while the migrant influx appears to be easing. But analysts warn that the underlying problems havent been solved  and the EU cant afford to get complacent.

From the 2008 euro debt crisis that nearly bankrupted several European states, to the chaotic arrival of millions of migrants fleeing war and poverty, plus the 2016 Britains vote the leave the EU, the European Union has survived a decade of crises.

WATCH: Europe crises

But in 2017, its leaders claimed Europe is back in business. In his September State of the Union speech, the EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker captured the mood.

The wind is back in Europes sails. We have now a window of opportunity but it will not stay open forever," Juncker said.

As Emmanuel Macron stepped out to give a victory speech in front of Paris Louvre gallery in May, he was seen by many as Europes savior. Macron won the presidency on an explicitly pro-European ticket, defeating the anti-EU National Front under Marine Le Pen.

Supporters credit Macron with halting the seemingly unstoppable right-wing, populist surge in Europe. But analyst Leopold Traugott of policy group Open Europe says those forces cannot be written off.

Yes, Macron was elected a pro-European candidate, but in the end mostly because for many voters, he was the lesser evil compared to Marine Le Pen in the second round.

President Macron even voiced hope in a September speech on Europe's future that Britain might be lured back into a reformed EU.

Macron said that In a union refocused on its unwavering values and an efficient market, in a few years, if it wants, the United Kingdom could find its place.

But Europe should not get complacent, argued analyst Traugott.

On the one hand the migration crisis is continuing, people are still coming in, and there is no system in place yet that can solve the issue in a sustainable manner, because member states are simply unwilling to agree to it. And on the Eurozone, it currently doesnt have the necessary stable framework that is needed to keep the union working, Traugott said.

Europe will enter 2018 in a far more confident mood than a year ago - with the Eurozone growing, migrant numbers falling and pro-EU leaders in charge.

But from Germanys struggles to form a new government, to the threat of a so-called hard Brexit, and Catalonias bid for independence from Spain  there is no shortage of potential challenges ahead.
A New York corporate lawyer who once advised Martin Shkreli was convicted on Wednesday of charges he helped the former pharmaceutical executive steal millions of dollars from a drug company to pay back investors in two failed hedge funds.

Evan Greebel, who was outside counsel to Shkreli's former company Retrophin Inc, was found guilty by a federal jury in Brooklyn of charges that he conspired to commit wire fraud and securities fraud, the U.S. government said.

"We are shocked by the verdict," said Reed Brodsky, a lawyer for Greebel. "We will continue to fight for justice for Evan Greebel and his family."

Greebel, 44, was a partner at the law firm Katten Muchin Rosenman when he was working for Retrophin. He later joined the firm Kaye Scholer, but resigned after his arrest in December 2015.

Shkreli, 34, became notorious in 2015 when he raised the price of anti-parasitic drug Daraprim to $750 a pill, from $13.50, as chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals. The price hike is not related to the criminal case.

The charges he and Greebel faced related to Shkreli's management of his previous drug company, Retrophin, and of two hedge funds, MSMB Capital and MSMB Healthcare, from 2009 to 2014.

A jury in August found Shkreli guilty of defrauding MSMB investors, but not guilty of conspiring with Greebel to steal from Retrophin.

In September, following his conviction, Shkreli was jailed after he placed a $5,000 bounty on former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's hair, prompting U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto to revoke his bail.

According to prosecutors, Greebel faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on the wire fraud count.
Libyan families displaced from a town ransacked after the toppling of Moammar Gadhafi in 2011 will be allowed to return home in February, the U.N.-backed government said Tuesday after more than a year of negotiations.

The deal, if implemented, would be a step toward reconciliation in the North African oil-producing country, which has been divided among competing factions, communities, tribes and governments since 2011.

Residents of the town of Tawergha were expelled by former anti-Gadhafi rebels in 2011 in retaliation for the strongman having used their settlement as a launch pad for attacks on the western city of Misrata during the uprising.

They have been living in camps and makeshift settlements in poverty across Libya and were banned from returning home. They faced abuse and arbitrary arrest since videos surfaced purportedly showing some of them joining Gadhafi forces in 2011.

"Within the frame of achieving the national reconciliation ... as well as to develop the basics of state of law and institutions, I declare today the beginning of return of Tawergha families to their town on the first of February," Tripoli-based Prime Minister Fayez Seraj said in a statement.

The town, east of Misrata, has been a ghost town since it was looted by Misrata forces in 2011. Human Rights Watch's website says 40,000 people were displaced.

The government will pay compensation to the relatives of those who were killed and to those who had been detained or wounded or whose homes were destroyed in the conflict, it said.

A spokesman for the Misrata city council confirmed the deal, saying it was up to the government to implement it.
A former Colombian paramilitary chief who is wanted for thousands of crimes was extradited Tuesday to Colombia from the United States.

Hebert Veloza Garcia faces numerous charges in Colombia, including murder and recruitment of child soldiers.

He was arrested in 2007 and later sent to the United States and jailed on charges of drug trafficking  a move that angered Colombian human rights activists who feared Veloza Garcia would never face justice back home.

Colombia is emerging from more than 50 years of guerrilla war after the government signed a peace treaty last year with FARC, the main rebel group. FARC has disarmed and is transforming itself into a political party.

Negotiations are under way with the country's second main opposition force, ELN.
Two Reuters journalists in Myanmar who were arrested earlier this month will spend another two weeks in jail.

A court agreed with prosecutors' request Wednesday to impose a second 14-day detention on Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo. Wednesday's court date was the first public appearance of the two men since their arrest on December 12. The courtroom was filled with reporters and family members of the reporters, who have been barred from seeing them during their detention.

Wa Lone maintained he and his partner violated no laws, and assured their relatives they have not been mistreated.

The 31-year-old Wa Lone and 27-year-old Kyaw Soe Oo are being investigated for violating Myanmar's Official Secrets Act. The pair were covering the military's brutal campaign against ethnic Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state. An estimated 655,000 Rohingyas have fled across the border to Bangladesh to avoid the violence, which the United Nations has described as "a textbook case" of ethnic cleansing.

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo face 14 years in jail if convicted under the Official Secrets Act.
Some Kenyan opposition lawmakers are calling on the government to investigate why 90 percent of the 600,000 students who took the 2017 secondary education exams failed. The minister of education, however, expressed satisfaction with the results.

Speaking to reporters in Nairobi, opposition legislator Caleb Amisi said parliament must understand what led to only 10 percent of students scoring high enough to enter university.

"Kenya National Examination Council must be ordered to prepare and present a comprehensive report over this perceived mass failure, and an independent investigation should as well be incorporated," Amisi said. "This should be conducted by some of the most credible auditing companies in Kenya."

The results sparked an uproar among parents, teachers and others concerned about the fate of the students and the quality of Kenya's education system.

A key question is what caused the high failure rate. Was it the fault of the students, the teachers, the curriculum, or an accelerated grading process that saw educators plow through the exams in just three weeks?

Mark Nyamita, an opposition lawmaker, says the problem needs to be fixed or millions of young Kenyans will be barred from higher education.

"If this goes on in this government over the next five years, we are going to have a whopping 2.5 million-plus people with their future shuttered," he said.

Some officials say the mass failure resulted from efforts to reduce cheating. In an interview with Citizen Television, Education Minister Fred Matiangi hinted that might be true, saying the results reflect the real state of Kenyan education.

"I am very satisfied with the results we had in the last two years, 2016 and 2017, because we have lived a lie for such a long time," Matiangi said. "Time is here for us now to deal with the truth."

Calls are growing for a national conference to resolve the crisis and decide what to do about the students who failed the exams.

The issue is expected to be discussed in the National Assembly in February.
Will 2018 dampen the fires that rage across the Middle East? Although skepticism is understandable, there is a glimmer of change.

The fight against the Islamic State group is mostly over, and the war in Syria may finally be winding down. The region is transitioning from fighting those wars to dealing with their aftermath  the destruction and dispersal of populations they wrought and the political fallout. Iran's influence has grown after its proxies were generally successful, and even its nuclear deal with the West remains in place. In rival Saudi Arabia, a youthful new leader is promising long-delayed modernization at home and greater confrontation with Iran in the region. Donald Trump in the White House adds a mercurial element to an exceedingly combustible brew.

If pessimism reigns, much can be traced to the failure of the 2010-11 Arab Spring revolts against despotism. Instead of the democratic tsunami many envisaged, a string of wars has followed. Libya seems doomed to chaos and the war in Yemen is a genuine humanitarian crisis. In many places, the old guard remains in place. So spectacular is the wreckage that almost no one refers to the Arab Spring without irony any more.

Egypt, which gripped the world's attention when street demonstrations  and the military  toppled Hosni Mubarak seven years ago, may be the best example of the scaled-down ambition. After several years of mayhem it seems more stable now, the economy starting to grow and tourism up. Jihadi terrorism remains a problem, though, especially in the Sinai Peninsula and against Christians, and freedoms have been curtailed. Still, there is little sense of foment in the streets  where protests are severely restricted  and barring a surprise, President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi can expect to win re-election in a few months.

Across the border in Israel, there is more prospect for change as long-serving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces corruption investigations that could lead to his removal or early elections. Netanyahu, albeit bellicose, has been cautious  but he also seems wedded to a ruinous status quo with the Palestinians. He could be replaced by a greater firebrand or by the moderate center-left, which would create new opportunities.

Here's a look at some possible inflection points for 2018:

All quiet on the Syrian front?

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has been embattled since war erupted in his country almost seven years ago, when his demise was widely predicted in the early going. But it looks like he'll survive, for now, as the war appears to be drawing to a close.

Major military operations have tapered off, with Assad in control of key areas and the war against the Islamic State group mostly concluded with the recapture of the cities it controlled. Bloodshed still lies ahead if Assad tries to seize areas still under rebel control, including some near the capital and in Idlib province to the north. But local cease-fires brokered by Russia, Iran and Turkey have significantly reduced the daily carnage that kept Syria in the news.

The damage, with half the population displaced and almost a half million killed, is huge. Tens of thousands are missing, many believed held in government detention centers. Syrian Kurds in the north hold nearly 25 percent of the country; Turkey, Russia, the U.S., Iran and Lebanese troops all maintain bases they are likely to keep for now.

The fate of Assad, whose heavy-handed, decades-old family rule sparked the rebellion, remains a toxic issue that has scuttled all diplomatic efforts at peace. Backed by Russia and Iran, it may seem like Assad has won the war: too many of his frustrated opponents turned to extremist groups such as al-Qaida and IS for the United States and the West to jump in and risk conflict with Russia. But the endgame remains open.

A phoenix on the Tigris

The war against the Islamic State group has been declared over after four years of savagery. The group's epic abuses  enslaving women, massacring whole populations, grisly killings, mass terrorism  inspired a furious reaction that has left large parts of Iraq in smoldering ruins. The fight by the U.S.-led coalition was grueling in Fallujah, Ramadi, Hawija, Tal Afar and, finally, Mosul. Whether Iraq can rebuild is a key question for 2018, for only then will Baghdad regain the authority to govern the whole country.

The cash-strapped government estimates $100 billion is needed nationwide  while leaders in Mosul say that amount is needed for their city alone. Funding is unclear, and the United States  whose coalition dropped approximately 27,700 munitions around Mosul from October 2016 to July 2017  seems to be washing its hands.

While 2.7 million Iraqis have returned to lands retaken from IS, more than 3 million others cannot  including some 600,000 from Mosul. Thousands of civilians were killed. More than 70 percent of Ramadi remains damaged or destroyed, according to authorities there.

At the heart of the matter are the sectarian divisions that bedevil not only Iraq but Syria, Lebanon, and other parts of the region whose borders were mostly drawn by Europeans. The destroyed areas are largely Sunni, while the Baghdad government is Shiite-dominated. If rebuilding efforts fail, the Sunni areas will likely become restive again.

Promise and peril in Saudi Arabia

The monarchies of the region  from Morocco to Jordan to the Gulf  were the least affected by the Arab Spring. Perhaps most ossified was Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally and key oil power whose strict Wahhabi interpretation of Islam is blamed by critics for abetting the spread of jihadism worldwide.

Now change appears to be coming, symbolized by the ubiquitous acronym MBS  the widely used nickname for 32-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who many expect will take over the throne from his father officially in 2018. He has been stumping for a more moderate view of religion and is widely credited with the recent decisions to end the highly contentious, decades-old bans on women driving and cinemas operating.

The crown prince is also widely seen as the driving force behind the arrests of dozens of his fellow princes on corruption charges. Few are surprised by the corruption allegations, but critics sensed a power grab. Many of the detainees continue to fester, albeit in style, in the luxury Riyadh hotel that has become their improbable prison.

Saudi Arabia has also led a political and economic assault by Gulf nations on small but scrappy Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism and being too close to Iran. A series of demands, such as the closure of its state-owned Al-Jazeera television network, have been summarily rejected, and the gambit seems mired in stalemate.

The Syria war is, to a degree, a proxy fight between the two regional powers, with Tehran supporting Assad and Riyadh many of the rebels. That also drove the seemingly Saudi-inspired and ultimately abortive resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who was seen as too easy on the Iranian-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah, which is fighting in Syria. In Yemen, where the Saudis have backed the government with airstrikes against Iran-backed Houthi rebels, many thousands of civilians have died, the rebels still control key parts of the country, and there is starvation and cholera on a historic scale.

So great is the antipathy toward Iran by Saudi Arabia and other Sunnis powers that some observers think it exceeds their opposition to Zionism. In Jerusalem, officials giddily whisper of an emerging Sunni-Israeli axis against the Islamic Republic.

A penultimate deal?

Perhaps inspired by the high-profile failures of his recent predecessors to coax the Israelis and Palestinians into a final peace, Trump speaks repeatedly of the "ultimate deal." But it is difficult to envision even a more moderate Israeli leader meeting the Palestinians' terms, which include dividing or sharing Jerusalem and its Old City, holy to three religions. Even if they somehow agree to share, Israel and a future Palestine will likely need a border snaking through the city to keep peace rejectionists apart. And the Palestinians demand recognition of at least a theoretical "right of return" for millions of descendants of refugees, which few Israelis contemplate. Two decades of failed negotiations attest to the quagmire.

With this unpromising backdrop, many Palestinians are talking about ditching the two-state strategy and demanding annexation and equal rights instead. That would make Israel an evenly divided binational state, something its government can be expected to resist, even as they face potential accusations of apartheid. With Israel having already settled 600,000 Jews in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, extricating itself will be difficult.

Some expect Trump's team to try to forge a partial deal instead: A Palestinian state on only some of the land they seek, with Jerusalem and refugees left for later negotiations. Washington may be hoping for help from Riyadh and, perhaps, Cairo in pressuring the Palestinians. But that never came in the past, even with offers on the table far more likely to entice.
The Nigerian air force said on Wednesday the United States had agreed to sell fighter planes to Nigeria, as the West African country continues its eight-year

conflict with Islamist insurgency Boko Haram.

The sale of the 12 A29 Super Tucano aircraft, with weapons and services, is worth $593 million.

The U.S. ambassador to Nigeria presented the letters of offer and acceptance, the official agreement to make the sale, to the country's air force earlier on Wednesday, the air force statement said.

The agreements are expected to be signed and necessary payments made before Feb. 20, the statement said, adding that the U.S. State Department has already approved the sale.
A bus carrying Chinese tourists has skidded off the road in Iceland, killing one and injuring 12 others.



Iceland police said the crash occurred after the bus rear-ended a car near the Eldhraun lava field, about 250 kilometers east of Reykjavik, Iceland's capital. The driver and a passenger in the car were not hurt.



Many of the injured were transported to a Reykjavik hospital by helicopters and a relief station was set up for the other passengers in nearby Kirkjubaejarklaustur village.



The owner of the tour company, Fjalar Ulfarsson, said the group was on the fourth day of a weeklong visit to Iceland when the accident happened.



"The road there is narrow and had some icing, from what I gather,'' Ulfarsson told The Associated Press.



Iceland is a popular tourist destination that attracted a record number of 1.8 million visitors in 2016.
Romanias ruling Social Democrats have filed a slew of new changes to the criminal code that would decriminalize several graft offenses, including some abuse of office crimes, their second attempt this year to weaken a crackdown on corruption.

Transparency International ranks Romania as one of the European Unions most corrupt states and Brussels keeps its justice system under special monitoring, although it has praised magistrates for their efforts to root out high-level graft.

A draft bill released on Tuesday showed a group of Social Democrat lawmakers are proposing that abuse of office offenses that cause financial damage of less than 200,000 euros ($237,100) should no longer be punishable.

Other changes include serving prison sentences of less than three years at home, lower sentences for bribe taking and other graft crimes, as well as decriminalizing taking a bribe for someone other than the accused. Another proposal would make using ones position to obtain sexual favours no longer a crime.

Changes could end trial

If approved, the changes would put an end to an ongoing trial of Social Democrat Party leader and lower house speaker Liviu Dragnea, who is accused of abuse of office.

Dozens of lawmakers and mayors across all parties stand to benefit from the changes. Romanias anti-corruption prosecution unit has sent 72 members of parliament to trial since 2006.

A similar attempt to decriminalize some abuse of office crimes triggered the countrys largest street protests in decades at the start of 2017. The ruling coalition backed down at the time but has revived the proposals.

Earlier this month, the ruling coalition has used its overwhelming parliament majority to approve a judicial overhaul that puts magistrates under political control.

They have also filed a different set of proposals to change the criminal code that could derail law and order.

Bills, proposals criticized

Thousands of magistrates, centrist President Klaus Iohannis, the European Commission, the U.S. State Department and seven EU states have all criticized both the approved bills and the criminal code proposals.

The Social Democrats and their junior coalition partner ALDE have denied the changes would affect the independence of the judiciary and have stressed that parliament has the right to legislate however it sees fit.

The proposed changes place Romania alongside its eastern European peers Hungary and Poland, where populist leaders are also trying to control the judiciary, in defying EU concerns over the rule of law.
Ten people were injured and sent to hospitals when a homemade bomb detonated in a supermarket in St. Petersburg, Russia, officials said Wednesday.

"According to preliminary information, an explosion of an unidentified object occurred in a store," Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said in a statement.

The blast was caused by a "homemade explosive device with the power equivalent to 200 grams of TNT filled with lethal fragments," she said.

Investigators said they have opened a criminal case on the grounds of attempted murder.

Health officials said none of the 10 victims suffered life-threatening injuries.

The motive for the attack was not immediately known.
Russia is planning to begin shipments of S-400 surface-to-air missile systems to Turkey in March 2020, a senior official says of a deal that has raised eyebrows because Turkey is a NATO member.

Sergei Chemezov, head of the Russian state conglomerate Rostec, told the newspaper Kommersant in an interview published on Wednesday that the $2.5 billion deal will consist of four batteries of S-400 missiles.

"They are paying 45 percent of the total contract amount as an advance. Fifty-five percent is Russian credit," Chemezov told Kommersant.

Turkey's move to acquire the S-400s has been regarded in some Western capitals as a snub to the NATO alliance amid tensions with Russia over its role in the wars in Syria and eastern Ukraine.

The S-400 deal, first announced by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in September, has also caused concern because the Russian-made weapons cannot be integrated into the alliance's defenses.

Turkish Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli said Wednesday that the deal for the missiles had been finalized.

Russia and Turkey support opposing sides in the Syrian war, but Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin patched up their relationship after it was badly damaged when Turkish jets shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border in November 2015.

The missiles have a maximum range of 400 kilometers and are capable of reaching targets at a maximum altitude of 30 kilometers.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said Moscow also expected to sign a deal with India soon on the delivery of S-400s.

Russian officials have also said that Russia and U.S. ally Saudi Arabia are close to signing a deal on supplying the S-400 systems to Riyadh.
In 2017, Somalia elected a new president as it battled severe drought and a resurgent al-Shabab. In October, the worst terror attack in the country's history killed more than 500 people. Meanwhile, the U.S. military is ramping up its military operations as the African Union draws down its 10-year-old peacekeeping mission.

After months of political wrangling and questions of whether a fair election could be conducted amid rampant vote-buying, Somalia's parliament elected a new leader in February, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, better known as Farmajo.

Farmajo's win was influenced by Somalias past 27 years of insecurity, according to former Puntland government minister Ali Ahmed Fatah.

So people were looking for a fresh start and I think Farmajo was seen as an honest politician, by most people, including the new parliamentarians who came to town shortly before that election.

WATCH: The year in review for Somalia

Political parties return

Many Somalis want to see changes before the next election, including the introduction of a one person-one vote system. In December, the country started registering and accrediting independent political parties for the first time in nearly 50 years.

But insecurity remains a serious problem. In October, the worst terrorist bombing in the country's history, blamed on the terrorist group al-Shabab, killed more than 500 people at one of Mogadishu's busiest intersections.

Meanwhile, U.S. military involvement in Somalia has increased. The U.S. said an airstrike on an al-Shabab training camp in November killed more than 100 militants. The independent Bureau of Investigative Journalism says the U.S. carried out at least 30 drone strikes this year in the country.

But as the U.S. steps up its involvement in the region, the African Union is drawing down its forces.

New security force

The first batch of 1,000 soldiers are to leave Somalia by the end of the year, though the AU says a total withdrawal will be dictated by conditions on the ground.

Somalia says it plans to take over security responsibilities from the AU. A security force of 22,000 is to be created, and Turkey opened a new military base near Mogadishu in September to help train Somali forces.

In the midst of these political and security challenges was the drought, which affected millions of Somalis as their animals died and they went hungry.

Don't give up on Somalia

But Fatah warns against giving up hope.

I think we are hopeful, and I think the international community is also hopeful about Somalia. And Somalis are an indefatigable group. They are not easily discouraged.

Not discouraged, and hoping that 2018 will bring progress toward stability.
South Sudan Information Minister Michael Makuei has said he will continue to speak publicly on behalf of President Salva Kiirs government despite being the target of U.S. sanctions.

The U.S. State Department issued a statement on September 6, implicating Makuei for his role in threatening the peace, security, or stability of South Sudan.

South Sudan's government has been battling rebel groups in a war that has displaced some 4 million people.

Makuei, speaking to VOA's South Sudan in Focus for the first time about the sanctions, said he is not frightened by the actions of the Trump administration.

"The fact that I am sanctioned does not stop me from continuing to perform my duties as the minister of information and the spokesman of the government. I will continue to talk for the government (of South Sudan) and say whatever the government wants to be said. The fact that I am sanctioned  I do not have much interest in going to America," Makuei said.

Makuei said he is just doing his job as the minister of information, adding that all his pronouncements are official government positions.

"Whatever I was doing and whatever I am doing up to this moment, I am doing it in my official capacity as the spokesman of the government. Whatever I say is not my personal opinion; it is not my personal position, but this is the position of the government," he said.

Makueis wife and children resettled in the United States during the 21 years of conflict before South Sudan broke away from Sudan in 2011. He acknowledged that the sanctions prevent him from traveling to see them.

"I am in contact with them. If they want to see me, it is open for them to come and see me. There is no way I would insist on going to America," he said.

The sanctions notice, U.S. Executive Order 13664, authorized a travel ban and an asset freeze of "persons who threatened the peace, security or stability of South Sudan." American citizens are prohibited from conducting any business with the sanctioned individuals.

In addition to Makuei, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Malek Reuben Riak Rengu and Paul Malong Awan, and three companies owned or controlled by Rengu.

Last week, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced more targeted sanctions against South Sudanese citizen Benjamin Bol Mel and three of his companies.

The U.S. embassy in Juba said Bol Mel is a close associate of President Kiir and used connections to win government contracts worth millions of dollars for construction work that was not completed.

Information Minister Makuei said additional sanctions or threats from the "troika" countries of the United States, Britain and Norway will not intimidate South Sudan into bending to international demands.

"Yes, these people [Troika], they have the rights to say whatever they want; but, this does not mean we must agree because of threats. We will agree because we need peace," Makuei said.
Spain's central government can block Catalan secessionists from forming a new regional government despite their victory in last week's local elections, according to senior members of the ruling Popular Party (PP) who say that the independence movement's parliamentary majority is fragile.

Central authorities could use the incarceration and exile of a score of top secessionist lawmakers to "neutralize their edge in parliament," according to the sources. They could also apply direct rule provisions to leverage a unionist coalition government headed by center-right leader Ines Arrimadas, who won the largest share of votes (27%) of the seven parties that contested the elections.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy hinted at such a plan at a press conference last Friday when he was asked if he would agree to meet Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, who is in Belgium.

"The one with whom I will meet is Ms. Arrimadas," replied Rajoy.

Unionists lack seats

Early this week, PP Secretary General Fernando Maillo publicly urged Arrimadas "not to give up" in trying to form a government.

Arrimadas said that she cannot do so because she lacks votes in the current parliament, where her Ciudadanos party holds 36 seats as opposed to 70 held by secessionist groups.

But spokesmen for Ciudadanos, as well as leaders of Spain's mainstream opposition socialist workers' party, which holds 17 seats in the Catalan parliament, have said that they would support continuing the direct rule regime imposed by Rajoy when he dissolved the regional government last month.

Spain's King Felipe delved into the controversy during his Christmas message, saying "the solution cannot be a return to the conditions that brought on confrontation."

Several secessionist leaders criticized the king for "justifying repression."

Rajoy told the press that the independence movement is losing momentum. He said last Friday that secessionist parties lost seats in recent elections and that their share of the vote had dropped by more than 1% since previous elections in 2015.

Unionist parties, on the other hand, won the popular vote for possibly the first time. They received 3.5% more votes than the secessionists by capturing 58% of 450,000 new voters in what was a record turnout.

The separatists managed to maintain their parliamentary majority thanks to local districting rules that allow smaller towns - where support for independence is strongest - proportionately higher representation than the main city of Barcelona where the unionists won.

Can't vote from jail or exile

Spain's central government could obstruct the secessionists from mustering their parliamentary majority of only two seats.

Thirteen members of the last Catalan government are currently in prison and would need to obtain court authorizations to cast votes in parliament or appoint substitutes.

Puigdemont and four other officials who escaped to Belgium can't vote unless they return to face arrest.

Five more indictments on sedition charges were issued against reelected secessionist lawmakers last week.

If a government cannot be voted in by absolute majority by the January 20 deadline set by Rajoy, it then passes to a simple majority, which Ciudadanos could form with the socialists and PP.

Growing divisions among the secessionists could also play into the central government's hands.

The jailed vice president of Catalonia's dissolved government, Oriol Junqueras, is claiming the presidency if Puigdemont does not return. Junqueras' party, Catalan Republican Left, scored only a few less votes than Puigdemont's group, Together for Catalonia, which has proposed a special law enabling their leader to govern from abroad.

According to Spanish press reports on Tuesday, Junqueras is prepared to renounce his commitment to "unilateral independence" if he is allowed out of jail to challenge Puigdemont.

The secessionist majority depends on four parliamentary votes of the radical separatist CUP, which has threatened to turn against any government which renounces full independence.
Syrian rebels pinned down in a strategic area where the Israeli and Lebanese borders meet with Syria were handed an ultimatum by the Syrian army and its militia allies to either surrender or face certain military defeat, rebels said Tuesday.

The Syrian army, local militias financed and equipped by Iran, and Druze fighters from the area have been escalating a fierce assault against Sunni rebels in an enclave in the foothills of Mount Hermon.

"They were given 72 hours to surrender with fighters to go to Idlib, or those who want to stay have to reach a settlement," said Ibrahim al-Jebawi, a Free Syrian Army (FSA) official familiar with the situation on the ground.

Another rebel official who asked not to be named said they were told either to surrender or accept a "military solution."

After more than two months of near daily shelling and aerial strikes, the rebels have been left encircled in Beit Jin, their main stronghold, after losing strategic hills and farms around it this week.

The media unit of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group, said that insurgents had agreed to negotiate surrender terms and that negotiations had already begun over their evacuation in the next few days to rebel-held Idlib.

The Syrian army has used similar tactics of pushing opponents to rebel areas further from the Syrian capital after a twin tactic of siege and months of strikes on residential areas.

There were also more than 8,000 civilians who have been trapped in the remaining enclaves, with their plight worsening, according to rebel spokesman Sohaib Alraheel.

Israel alarmed

Israel is alarmed at the growing Iranian military influence in the Golan Heights and has stepped up its strikes against pro-Iranian targets inside Syria.

Israel has been lobbying major powers to deny Iran, Hezbollah and other Shiite militias any permanent bases in Syria, and to keep them away from the Golan, as they gain ground while helping Damascus beat back Sunni-led rebels.

Early this month, there was an Israeli strike on a base near Kiswah, south of Damascus, that was widely believed to be an Iranian military compound, a Western intelligence source said.

Hezbollah's bastion in southern Lebanon is only a few kilometers from the rebel enclave, and securing a supply line from its stronghold into Syria's Quneitra province was a major strategic gain, rebels and defense analysts say.

"Now Hezbollah will have a bigger foothold on the Syrian side of the Golan and it is desperate to link this area with southern Lebanon," al-Jebawi added.

Israel had warned Hezbollah against trying to open a front in the Golan Heights and was believed to be behind the killing of a prominent commander in an airstrike in 2015 whom the group later admitted had overseen a local Hezbollah presence in the area.

"This is an effort by Iran and its proxy Hezbollah to expand the lines of engagement with Israel. The question is: Will Israel allow that?" said Fayez al Dweiri, a retired Jordanian general who follows Syria closely.
A suicide car bombing at a military base in southern Afghanistan Wednesday killed at least two soldiers and wounded 15 others.

The attack happened in Lashkargah, capital of restive Helmand province, and targeted a contingent of Afghan National Army soldiers who were about to leave the base for a counter-Taliban operation in a nearby district.

A provincial government spokesman, Omar Zwak, told VOA two suicide bombers were on board an explosive-packed car but security forces intercepted them before they could enter the ANA base, prompting them to detonate the explosives.

A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, claimed its suicide bombers assaulted the base, killing a large number of Afghan soldiers. The insurgent group often issues inflated casualty tolls for such attacks.

Wednesdays attack is the third suicide bombing in Helmand in recent days, killing dozens of people. The largest Afghan province is known for being one of the world's largest poppy producing regions.

Taliban insurgents control or influence a majority of the 14 districts in Helmand, which borders Pakistan.
Tibetan activist and filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen, who had been under Chinese detention for nearly a decade, has escaped from Tibet and joined his wife and four children in San Francisco.

A Swiss nonprofit called Filming for Tibet, which supports the work of Tibetan filmmakers and campaigned for Wangchen's release for several years, said he arrived Monday.

Chinese authorities detained Wangchen, now 43, in March 2008 on charges related to a 25-minute documentary, Leaving Fear Behind. The New York Times described the film as "an unadorned indictment of the Chinese government."

The video includes Tibetans talking about the Dalai Lama, the 2008 Beijing Olympics and human rights in Tibet. It also shows the VOA Tibetan service's live coverage of the awarding of the Congressional Gold Medal to the Dalai Lama on Capitol Hill.

Wangchen managed to send his footage out of Tibet, and the film was produced and distributed outside China. Shortly afterward, Wangchen and his assistant, Jigme Gyatso, a senior Tibetan monk, were arrested.

Calls for freedom

International organizations and rights groups such Human Rights Watch, the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy, Reporters Without Borders and the International Campaign for Tibet campaigned for their freedom.

Amnesty International honored Wangchen for his courage, while the Committee to Protect Journalists awarded him its International Press Freedom Award in 2012. He was also awarded the Vaclav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent in 2014.

Wangchen served out his sentence and was released from prison in 2014, but he was forced to live under harsh restrictions and was barred from leaving Tibet, a relative told Radio Free Asia.

In a note to journalists this week, Filming for Tibet quoted Wangchen as saying he was enjoying "the feeling of safety and freedom" for the first time in years. He expressed gratitude to the people who had helped him rejoin his family, and pain at leaving "my country, Tibet."

A relative, Jamyang Tsultrim, told VOA's Tibetan service Wednesday that Wangchen was resting and going through some medical examinations. During imprisonment, Wangchen contracted hepatitis B.

No details of how Dhondup Wangchen fled are available. The release said only that he was able to successfully evade the authorities and flee from his home area in Tibet and then the Peoples Republic of China altogether.
Ukrainian authorities and Russian-backed separatist rebels conducted a massive prisoner exchange Wednesday, the largest such trade of captives since the start of the conflict and a sign of visible progress in the implementation of a 2015 peace deal.



Separatists from the self-proclaimed separatist republics in Luhansk and Donetsk regions handed over 74 prisoners, and Ukrainian authorities delivered 233.



Larisa Sargan, a spokeswoman for the country's prosecutor general's office, said on Facebook that one of the 74 prisoners released by the separatists said she would stay in Donetsk.



The prisoners, some of whom had been held for more than a year, were exchanged in the town of Horlivka and the village of Zaitseve with their belongings. One held a cat.



I'm out of hell, I have survived, said Yevhen Chudentsov, who served with one of Ukraine's volunteer battalions in the east and was taken prisoner by the rebels in February 2015.



Chudentsov said he faced threats and beatings in custody, and his front teeth were knocked out. He was initially sentenced to capital punishment, which was later changed to 30 years in prison. He said after his release in Horlivka that he would join the Ukrainian military again.



The exchange was supervised by observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, a trans-Atlantic security and rights group that has deployed monitors to eastern Ukraine.



The OSCE welcomed the swap and urged the two sides to build on the momentum from it.



Allowing such a significant number of people, who have been held on both sides, to return home before the New Year and Orthodox Christmas is a very welcome development, said Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl, the OSCE chairman. Today's exchange is not only a humanitarian act but also a helpful step in confidence-building.



Ukraine was supposed to release 306 people, but dozens chose to stay in Ukraine or had been freed earlier, said Viktor Medvedchuk, who monitored the exchange on the Ukrainian side.



Many of the captives are not combatants; some were activists and bloggers who were charged with spying or treason.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko praised the Ukrainian prisoners held by the rebels for their endurance.



Thank you for your perseverance, guys, Poroshenko said on Facebook.



The Ukrainian leader greeted the prisoners who were released by the separatists in the town of Kramatorsk, hailing German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron for helping organize the swap.

We are stronger, we shall win! Poroshenko said.



Merkel and Macron welcomed the prisoner exchange, saying in a joint statement that they encourage the parties to the conflict also to enable the exchange of the remaining prisoners, grant the International Committee of the Red Cross full access and support the ICRC's search for missing people.



The simmering conflict between the separatists and government troops in eastern Ukraine has killed more than 10,000 people since 2014.



The 2015 deal brokered by France and Germany and signed in Minsk, the Belarusian capital, envisioned a prisoner exchange, but the two sides argued over lists of prisoners and only a few dozen had been exchanged prior to Wednesday.



Separatist leaders and a Ukrainian government representative finally agreed to the exchange last week, with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church acting as mediator.



Merkel and Macron emphasized that the prisoner exchange and a recommitment to a comprehensive cease-fire should also serve to build up confidence between the parties to the conflict, also with a view to the full implementation of the Minsk agreements.
Kenya's months-long political roller coaster finally came to an end in November, when President Uhuru Kenyatta was sworn in for his second term.

After the country's August polls, in which Kenyatta was declared the winner over Raila Odinga, the Supreme Court annulled the presidential election, citing irregularities in the transmission of election results.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court highlighted the electoral commission, or IEBC's, refusal of a court order to open its computer servers.

"[That] leaves us with no option but to accept the petitioners claims that the IEBC's IT system was infiltrated and compromised and the data therein interfered with  or IEBC's officials themselves interfered with  the data or simply refused to accept that it had bungled the whole transmission system and were unable to verify the date," Kenya's Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu said.

Consequently, the court ordered the IEBC to hold a new poll within 60 days. After continued demands for IEBC reforms, Odinga decided to withdraw from the October 26 re-run election, and urged his supporters to boycott the polls.

Kenyatta was announced the winner of the second election, but Odinga argued that Kenyatta lacked legitimacy given the low voter turnout.

Two petitions filed in the Supreme Court challenged the decision, but this time, the court upheld the election results. Odinga responded by announcing the creation of a resistance movement and threatening to conduct his own inauguration.

That prompted a warning from Attorney General Githu Muigai.

"The criminal law of the Republic of Kenya in Article 40 of the penal code provides or stipulates that that sort of process is high treason," Muigai said. "It is high treason in respect of the person so involved and any other person facilitating that process."

Many fear the installation of Odinga as an alternative president could increase tension in a country where more than 70 people were killed during election-related violence.

Kenyans now wait to see if their newly elected officials will fulfill their campaign promises and promote peace in 2018.
A nearly yearlong investigation into alleged sexual abuse of children and youth in Nebraska's child welfare and juvenile justice systems showed 50 verified victims in a recent three-year period, the state's inspector general for child welfare reported Wednesday.

It also showed attitudes toward sexual abuse of youth in state care that concerned Inspector General Julie Rogers and her staff, including "problematic attitudes" among system professionals and caregivers toward child sexual abuse and children in the state's care.

I want to assure the public that we prioritize the safety of every youth in our care, said Matt Wallen, director of Children and Family Services. While our most recent data shows that 99.83 percent ... of children in our care are not abused, we are not satisfied when even one case of abuse occurs. We make every effort to prevent the abuse of children in our communities, as well as in our care.

Rogers said the investigation started last year with the accumulation of 36 sexual abuse reports since July 2013. The goal was to discover whether adequate steps were being taken by the Department of Health and Human Services to prevent and respond to abuse of youth in the states care.

But when she and others dug into the reports, and asked for more data, they ended up with 50 cases, even after weeding the 36 original cases because some were not state wards or former state wards.

"That was surprising to us," she said. "All of these kids had been abused and neglected or in juvenile justice. ... And then they're abused and neglected while the state is their parent."

Some children reported the abuse occurred in a foster home, in an adoptive home or when they were under state guardianship. Some were in the juvenile justice system or in a home licensed by the department or at a Youth Residential Treatment Center.

Among the 50 abused children and youth in the report, 27 were state wards and youth in residential placements and 23 were in adoptive or guardian homes. They ranged in age from 4 to 18 when abuse was disclosed.

In each case, the abuse was reported to the Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline. The investigation also discovered cases beyond the 50 that were either screened out incorrectly, not investigated properly and so not substantiated. Others they just couldn't gather the needed evidence.

Rogers said estimates show about 38 percent of child victims disclose sexual abuse, some years later, but others not at all. Research shows only 4 to 8 percent of disclosures are false.

Child sexual abuse generally includes everything from rape to molestation, sexual touching and coercing or persuading a child to engage in any type of sexual act. It includes exposure to pornography, voyeurism and sexual talk by phone or internet.

Sen. Merv Riepe, chairman of the Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee, gave approval for Rogers to release the report to the public. Riepe said it was "extremely important" that it be made public, because the only way to solve a problem is to talk about it.

"It will be a top priority for all of us," he said.

The state must have zero-tolerance on the issue of sexual assault, he said.

At the same time, he acknowledged that 99 percent of children in the state's custody get good and safe care. But even one case is not acceptable.

The department has been receptive to the recommendations made by the inspector general, he said. What needs to be done is being done.

During those three years covered by the investigation, there were 1,284 substantiated victims of child sexual abuse statewide, according to DHHS. The agency does not track how many of those children were involved in the child welfare system, Rogers said, but research shows youth in the system are at higher risk than the population at large.

Among the 50 abused children and youth in the report, 36 were abused by adults, 11 by other youth and three by both, Rogers said. Half of them were sexually abused by caregivers  foster and adoptive parents, guardians or facility staff. All were known to the children and had established relationships with them.

The cases involved sexual assault by fathers, foster brothers, foster fathers, a foster mother, adoptive fathers, other state wards, uncles, unrelated older men and women, older brothers, grandfathers, group home workers and a therapist.

Some of the youths were developmentally disabled or had mental illness.

"I feel like the biggest thing is the attitude about sexual abuse," Rogers said.

Caregivers and professionals at times dismissed or never reported disclosures, Rogers said, because they assumed troubled children were lying or acting out. Inaction after concerns were reported left some children exposed to continuing abuse.

"They (caregivers and professionals) just have this harmful attitude about sexual abuse," Rogers said.

In some cases, disclosures were assumed to be a recollection of sexual abuse that occurred in the past, but then never fully investigated, she said. For some youth in the juvenile justice system, disclosures were treated as another example of the child breaking rules, defying authority, seeking attention or causing trouble.

Some children and youth were blamed by caregivers and system professionals for causing the sexual abuse they suffered, or their reports were minimized, the report said.

Rogers said a number of adults and system professionals did not report allegations to proper authorities even though the law requires it. Also, some calls to the Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline were screened out, preventing investigations and leaving children vulnerable to ongoing abuse.

The investigation discovered instances in which hotline workers incorrectly determined youth sexually abusing other youth did not meet the definition of child sexual abuse, the report said.

The attitudes contributed to errors and issues that left the system unable to effectively prevent and respond to abuse of youth in its care, she said.

When the state becomes the parent to a child, how does a caseworker talk to that young person about sexual abuse, secrets and what's private, and finding trusted adults?

"People need to know that this happens and we should be able to talk to kids about it in a developmentally appropriate way," Rogers said. "It's very tricky."

The office of inspector general called for the department to foster a culture of zero-tolerance toward child sexual abuse.

The impact of such abuse can be lifelong, Rogers' report said, with a heightened risk for physical and mental health diagnoses, academic problems, risky behaviors, and a possible negative impacts on lifetime earnings.

The inspector general's office made 18 recommendations to the DHHS. The department accepted 14 of those, it said.

Preventing and responding to sexual abuse of children is not, and cannot be, the responsibility of DHHS alone. It is a community problem, which will need solutions and action from many in our communities, Rogers said.

She hopes the report and recommendations to DHHS, in addition to the action of Nebraskans, will help make needed improvements so that children are better protected, she said.

DHHS appreciates the thoughtful work of the Office of Inspector General. We have carefully reviewed the inspector generals report and looked specifically into the recommendations, Wallen said.

Of the 18 recommendations in the report, the department is committed to incorporating 14 into its best practices, three with modifications, Wallen said. Of the remaining four rejected recommendations, one requires compliance with standards not appropriate for child-caring agencies, he said, and the other three endorse policies, plans or assessments previously implemented by DHHS, and in operation.

"We put our trust in our foster and adoptive parents to provide a loving and positive home, Wallen said. We are fortunate to have very committed and caring people who are helping children be their best.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday that next month's Russia-led peace talks in Sochi have "broad support" among the Syrian people and are meant to lay the groundwork for a U.N.-brokered peace process.

Lavrov's comments come after a collection of 40 Syrian rebel groups said Russia was trying to circumvent the U.N. peace process and that they would not attend the Sochi talks.

The rebels said Russia wants them to give up their demand that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad step down.

"We reject this and we affirm that Russia is an aggressor that has committed war crimes against Syrians," a rebel statement said Tuesday. "Russia has not contributed with a single move to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people and it has not pressured the regime it claims it guarantees to move an inch toward any real path toward a resolution."

The rebels say the meditator in peace talks has to be a neutral and honest broker. They say Russia, as Syria's most powerful ally, is not.

The Syrian government has said it will attend the Sochi talks. Turkey, which supports the opposition, also plans to go, but says Kurdish groups should not be invited.

The Syrian Kurds' Democratic Union Party says it has a right to take part in the peace negotiations.

Turkey considers the PYD and its armed faction, the People's Protection Units, terrorist groups because of their ties to Kurdish separatists in Turkey.

U.N.-brokered peace negotiations in Geneva along with parallel talks involving Russia, Turkey, Iran, have made only minor progress toward ending Syria's six-year long civil war.
The United States and Germany jointly urged China Wednesday to release a human rights activist who was sentenced to eight years in prison.



Wu Gan, a blogger who goes by the nickname "Super Vulgar Butcher," was sentenced Tuesday in the Tianjin No. 2 Intermediate People's Court in Beijing on charges of subversion. In a separate case Tuesday, human rights lawyer Xie Yang was exempted from serving any jail time after being charged with inciting subversion of state power.



"The embassies of Germany and the United States are deeply disappointed that Chinese human rights defender and blogger Wu Gan and Chinese attorney Xie Yang have been convicted on vague charges of "subverting state power" and that Wu has been sentenced to eight years in prison," a statement released by the embassies of Germany and the U.S. read.



"We call on the Chinese authorities to release Wu immediately," the statement said. "As Xie has been exempted from punishment, we urge China to allow Xie to resume his professional activities without preconditions and be free of any restrictions."

Wu, who was arrested in May 2015 in southeastern China, gained notoriety for mocking Chinese political officials in a long-running campaign against corruption and abuse of power. The court ruled that Wu tried to "overthrow state power and the socialist system" through a series of "criminal" actions, including spreading false information and insulting people online.



Xie was arrested in 2015 and detained for two years before he released on bail in May.



Shortly before his release, Xie claimed he was tortured during his long detention, including repeated beatings. He has since denied those allegations.



"In light of the allegations of serious mistreatment of Wu Gan and Xie Yang while in detention, and Xie's public confession on state media, we call on the Chinese authorities to adhere to procedures established by law and respect China's international human rights obligations and commitments," the statement from German and U.S. embassies said.



Wu Gan is among the hundreds of human rights activists and lawyers swept up in a massive government crackdown on dissent  dubbed the "709 crackdown" that began in earnest in July 2015. Wu's lawyer said his client will appeal the verdict against him.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov have "agreed to continue to work toward a diplomatic solution to achieve a denuclearized Korean peninsula," the U.S. State Department said Wednesday.

A U.S. statement said the two spoke by phone Tuesday to discuss concerns related to North Korea's "destabilizing nuclear program and emphasized that neither the United States nor Russia accepts" Pyongyang as a nuclear power.

A day earlier, Russia's Foreign Ministry said that Lavrov told his American counterpart that "Washington's aggressive rhetoric" has heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula. Russia also said Lavrov called the U.S. rhetoric unacceptable.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that it had imposed sanctions on two North Korean officials for their role in Pyongyang's ballistic missile program.

The move followed the U.N. Security Council's unanimous approval of a resolution Friday limiting the amount of gasoline and diesel North Korea can import and tightening inspections of ships suspected of illegally carrying banned items to or from North Korea.

North Korea has significantly stepped up its nuclear and missile programs in 2017, launching a newly developed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) called a Hwasong-15 last month. North Korea claims the missile is capable of delivering nuclear warheads anywhere in the continental United States. The test was Pyongyang's third ICMB test this year and its 20th ballistic missile launch of this year.

Earlier in the year, U.S. President Donald Trump referred to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as "Little Rocket Man," fueling tensions between the two countries. The U.S. has increased sanctions on North Korea following the missile tests.
The Pentagon said Wednesday a December 24 airstrike in southern Somalia killed 13 al-Shabab militants.

The U.S. Africa Command said the Somali government helped coordinate the operation northwest of Kismayo.

"The strike targeted the militants as they mobilized to launch an attack against our base. Fortunately, the military from a friendly nation disabled them with a drone strike and killed 13 of them," a Somali military commander in the area told VOA.

The United States carried out about 30 airstrikes against al-Shabab this year, including a drone targeting a militant training camp last month, which killed 100.

A senior Somali army officer said Wednesday said more than 20 al-Shabab militants, including two mid-level commanders, have surrendered to Somali security forces over the past two weeks.

Militants agree to lay down arms



Abdullahi Isaq Ibrahim, the chief military commander of South West state in Somalia, told VOA the militants agreed to lay down arms and surrender to the Somali National Army in separate groups.

"One of the [commanders] was in charge of finance and alms collection for al-Shabab in the region and the other was in charge of transportation," Ibrahim said.



Ibrahim said former al-Shabab leader Mukhtar Robow persuaded the militants to give up. Robow defected from the group and surrendered to the Somali government in August after negotiations with Somali officials.

"The same guy, Robow, who told them to go against us, is now with people he once recognized as infidels. He told them they should leave the group and it seems they heard it," Irbahim said. "We are expecting more in the coming hours and days, including senior commanders, to defect."



Some of the defectors were welcomed Wednesday in Baidoa, the provincial capital of the Bay region.

Robow was once al-Shabab's No. 1 leader, and the U.S. offered $5 million for information leading to his capture, but he had a falling out with al-Shabab leaders in 2012 and has since kept a low profile in the jungles of Bakool region, protected by members of his clan.

Multiple attempts by al-Shabab to kill or capture him failed.
After Charlottesvilles bloody Unite the Right rally in August, technology companies tightened rules against hate speech and banned many extremists from using Web hosting services, social media platforms and online payment systems.

But some on the furthest edges of the political spectrum soon found an effective tool for thwarting this industry crackdown: bitcoin.

Even before Charlottesville, Richard Spencer, a prominent member of the alt-right, a movement that espouses racist, anti-Semitic and sexist views and seeks a whites-only state, had gone as far as declaring bitcoin "the currency of the alt right." But far-right political leaders and experts on extremist movements alike say the adoption of bitcoin gained new urgency after Charlottesville as extremists looked for ways to operate beyond the reach of government control and the shifting policies of U.S. tech companies.

Those who began acquiring bitcoin in August already have reaped substantial returns, despite the recent volatility in its price. In the months since demonstrators carried flaming torches and chanted Jews will not replace us, bitcoin has quadrupled in value. The digital currency began trading on several mainstream financial markets this month, pushing the price of a single bitcoin at times above $19,000. It was worth $16,000 at one point Tuesday.

Extremist figures who invested in bitcoin as a bulwark against efforts to block their political activity now find themselves holding what amount to winning lottery tickets. The proceeds could be used to communicate political messages, organize events and keep websites online even as most mainstream hosting services shun them, experts say.

Bitcoin is allowing people in the movement to go beyond cash in an envelope or a check, said Heidi Beirich, head of the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit group that tracks extremists. Its really a godsend to them.

First created in 2009 by an anonymous computer programmer, bitcoin is a digital currency that is not issued by any government and has no physical manifestation, such as actual coins or bills. Someone who wants to buy bitcoin can sign up for one of many online exchanges  each account gets a unique identifier of numbers and letters  and pay dollars (or other traditional currency) for the digital currency. People can also send bitcoin to others or conduct transactions at any of a growing list of businesses, nonprofit groups and financial institutions that accept it.

A secure, continuously updated ledger called the blockchain records all transactions in a publicly visible way, assigning each an alphanumeric record. Unlike the closely government-regulated banking systems that record traditional financial transactions, the blockchain is completely decentralized, relying on complex mathematical calculations across countless computers worldwide.

Such a system makes it difficult for regulators and law enforcement agencies to monitor assets or know the identities of particular account holders. It also allows fringe groups not only to collect money, but to spend it more easily  for example, on foreign online services if U.S. companies restrict their access.

Google, GoDaddy, PayPal and others banned some far-right activists from their services after the Charlottesville rally, saying they violated rules against hate speech.

Spencer and others who have lost access to these services  a process they call being de-platformed  say they are effectively being denied free-speech rights.

We have faced enormous problems from being de-platformed, Spencer said. Bitcoin at least, from what I can tell, is not something from which we can be de-platformed.

Extremists are hardly alone in benefiting from surging bitcoin values. Early buyers include cryptography enthusiasts, libertarians and professional investors  as well as drug traffickers, money launderers and others who regularly conduct transactions on the dark Web, a part of the Internet accessible only by using specialized software that helps shield online activity.

Also unaffiliated with the far right yet profiting handsomely is WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who tweeted in October that U.S. political pressure on traditional payment processors such as credit card companies to stop handling transactions for the site "caused us to invest in bitcoin  with > 50000% return." In a dig at policymakers who pressured the companies, Assange expressed his "deepest thanks."

Its impossible to know how many on the far right are reaping bitcoin windfalls, but researchers who monitor extreme political activity say they have detected a surge in transactions as people on the far right move assets into the digital currency and increasingly use it for ordinary business purposes. The SPLC is tracking roughly 200 bitcoin wallets  the way users store the currency online  that it says are held by extremists.

Public blockchain records make such monitoring possible. Researchers can study the times, dates and amounts of any transaction, along with what accounts, or wallets, are involved. That does not include the actual names of account holders, but such records can illuminate identities. The SPLC, for example, looks on the donation pages of extremist websites for bitcoin accounts that are seeking contributions.

According to SPLC research, among the most striking recent donations was 14.88 bitcoin paid to Andrew Anglin, editor of the Daily Stormer, a neo-Nazi online publication that lists a bitcoin account number online. The SPLC has labeled the Daily Stormer the nations top hate site.

The payment to Anglin came on Aug. 20, as the Daily Stormer  named after the Nazi propaganda tabloid "Der Sturmer"  was scrambling to recover after several Web hosting services kicked it off their platforms. Followers looking for the site at its familiar dailystormer.com address got error messages.

The amount of the donation carried particular significance; 1488 is a reference to a Nazi slogan  14 words long  about the importance of protecting a future for white children, and 88 refers to Heil Hitler, both words of which start with the eighth letter of the alphabet. At the time of the donation, it was worth about $60,000. Had Anglin kept the entire amount, it would now be worth about $235,000.

Instead, it appears that Anglin gradually spent down the donation as he worked to get the Daily Stormer back onto the Web, according to John Bambenek, a cybersecurity researcher and threat-systems manager at Fidelis Cybersecurity who tracks bitcoin transactions.

But Bambenek said the account that made the 14.88 donation  whose owner is unknown  has gradually drained its value over a series of transactions. Bambenek said his research suggests that this account got its money from another, far larger one, now worth more than $45 million.

The alt-right likes bitcoin the same way criminals and people on the dark Web like bitcoin, Bambenek said. Its a great way to move around assets, especially when youre under the threat of investigation.

Bambenek has built a Twitter bot, called the Neonazi BTC Tracker, that automatically tweets a record of every transaction affecting 13 accounts he says are affiliated with known extremists and their websites.

Bambenek said there is also evidence that Anglin and others are moving their assets into other digital currencies that are harder to track but have not been growing as quickly in value as bitcoin.

Anglin, in a phone interview with The Washington Post, declined to confirm or comment on the 14.88 bitcoin transaction, but he expressed frustration at Bambeneks Twitter bot, saying that some of the information it tweets is inaccurate. Anglin also said he has used bitcoin almost exclusively since payment services blocked the Daily Stormer beginning in 2014.

Bitcoin has helped out a lot, Anglin said.

Anglin was sued this year by the SPLC for allegedly inflicting emotional distress on a Jewish woman in Montana by unleashing a "troll storm" on her. In a Dec. 7 article on the Daily Stormer, Anglin noted the surge in bitcoin value and said, "Thank you so, so, so much" to the law center for its long-running efforts to get him banned from mainstream payment services, prompting his investment in bitcoin. (The Daily Stormer has said in court filings that its actions were protected speech and posed no real threat to the woman, according to news reports.)

The popularity of bitcoin on the political right is not confined to the most extreme elements. Conservative commentator Mike Cernovich  who co-sponsored the Deploraball to celebrate President Trumps inauguration but did not attend the Charlottesville rally and has distanced himself from anti-Semitic and white-nationalist figures  began touting the currency to his Twitter followers in September 2016, when it was worth about $600 per bitcoin.

The goal, Cernovich said, was to protect himself from efforts by tech companies or payment processors to block his political activity.

That was the only reason I got into it, he said. I just got really, really lucky.

Conservative publisher Charles C. Johnson  whose WeSearchr bounty site has raised more than $150,000 for the Daily Stormers battle against the SPLC as part of what Johnson calls his support of free speech  said he has advocated the purchase of bitcoin since 2015. Thats the year Twitter banned Johnson for soliciting donations for taking out a Black Lives Matter activist. (Johnson said afterward that he was seeking not to incite violence but to spur an investigation he believed would undermine the activist.)

Johnson said he has made substantial earnings on bitcoin investments and increasingly uses it to make donations to political leaders and groups.

Its a form of digital gold, Johnson said. Its not surprising that a lot of people on the political fringes would move toward an un-censorable currency.

Spencer, however, said he did not begin buying bitcoin when he touted it in the March tweet. In recent months, though, he has set up several accounts to raise money for various sites and causes.

I really wish I had bought more bitcoin, Spencer said. I guess we all do.
Critic

Does the adjective "centoesque" exist? If not, it should, for Robert Irwin's ingenious historical fantasy "Wonders Will Never Cease" is a contemporary novelist's version of the poetic form known as a cento. Because the Middle Ages valued tradition over originality, erudite versifiers sometimes devised poems in which every line was borrowed from some previous work of literature. While reading a cento, one savored its imaginative repurposing of bits from Horace, Virgil and any number of lesser ancients. We see the remains of this tradition in allusion-filled modern works such as T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land."



Wonders Will Never Cease, by Robert Irwin (Arcade Publishing )

Throughout Wonders Will Never Cease, Irwin embeds lines and episodes from dozens of poems, legends and medieval romances. Some of these are acknowledged by name, others arent. The sources easiest to spot include the tale of the giant Bran and the Welsh king Matholwch, the legend of the Wild Hunt, the sea-voyages of St. Brendan, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Jack and the Beanstalk, Thomas Malorys Le Morte dArthur, The Song of Roland, The Nibelungenlied, the poetry of Dante and Francois Villon, Julian of Norwichs Revelations of Divine Love, and, of course, The Arabian Nights.

I say of course because Irwin is most widely known as the author of The Arabian Nights: A Companion and several other excellent books about Arabic culture. Yet Irwin is hardly a dry-as-dust antiquary, and Wonders Will Never Cease frequently reveals the wide range of his reading: His description of the worlds end was obviously adapted from H.G. Wellss The Time Machine, and theres even an allusion to  shades of Sherlock  a Red-Headed League.

Irwins novel itself is set during the 15th-centurys War of the Roses  the same conflict that inspired A Game of Thrones and virtually all its main characters are historical figures. If you remember your Shakespeare, you will detect in these pages the backstory for Richard III. This is a time when genealogy and heraldry are the only two sciences worth knowing.

The books action focuses on Anthony Woodville and his family: His sister Elizabeth eventually weds King Edward IV. In the first chapter, this young soldier undergoes an after-death experience during which he glimpses a strangely quiet procession and an old man with a bleeding wound. Only much later does Anthony realize that he has been vouchsafed a vision of the Grail King.

[A book-length historical fantasy about a crow? Its not as birdbrained as that sounds.]

He also starts to see ghosts, so he visits the Abbot of Crowland for advice. As it happens, the Abbot and his monks have been temporarily stymied in calculating how old our world is:

It now seems that there are too many centuries to fit their estimation of the age of the earth. However, after much thought and the consultation of old chronicles, the Abbot has succeeded in conclusively demonstrating that most of the centuries between 600 Anno Domini and 900 Anno Domini have been invented by a 10th-century Chronicler working for the German Emperor Otto III. These centuries were conjured up by him so that, when the year 1000 began, Otto could be hailed as the apocalyptic Emperor of the Millennium. . . . It was most suspicious how very little happens in those phantom centuries and, once they have been done away with, the Abbots chronology works perfectly.

Anthony eventually encounters Sir John Tiptoft, discovering that "The Butcher of England" is a cultivated bibliophile whose conversation is laced with surreptitious quotation. When Tiptoft declares, "People prate about how wonderful life is, but I swear to you that reading is better," one hears an echo of Logan Pearsall Smith's famous remark, "People say that books are the thing, but I prefer reading." Recalling his time in Rome, Tiptoft  who practices sorcery  mentions one night when "I had passed barefoot friars celebrating vespers in a ruined temple and I could still hear their singing as I began my conjuration." Edward Gibbon is the source here: "It was at Rome, on the 15th of October, 1764, as I sat musing amidst the ruins of the Capitol, while the barefooted friars were singing vespers in the Temple of Jupiter, that the idea of writing the decline and fall of the city first started to my mind." When Tiptoft confesses that he is "vowed to the service of the God that has failed," readers may remember a once-

celebrated collection of essays about communism, "The God That Failed."



The author Robert Irwin (John Taylor)

In every way possible, Irwin blurs story and history, fantasy and reality. Our earth, says the Abbot of Crowland, has trapdoors that are hidden and strange things go in and out of them. Theres a talking head that can predict the future, an unfunny jester name Scoggin, fearful revenants, lovers who only couple in churches, a magnificent falcon used as a messenger from the land of the dead, a Secret Library, a dragon that guards an enchanted sword, Chaucers lost Book of the Lion and a Museum of Skulls. The wonders never cease.

[This librarian loves ancient manuscripts and wants you to love them, too]

But neither do they go on for too long. Irwin keeps the action fast-moving and even somewhat schematic, though his few details can be telling. Describing the funeral of Anthony's witchy, fairy-

obsessed mother, we are told that "just outside the churchyard there seem to be small children hiding in the bushes and whispering."

Stories within stories within stories. King Edwards alchemist and spymaster  his name is Ripley, believe it or not  tirelessly spreads fake news about Anthony, portraying him as a hero out of chivalric romance. But, as Sir Thomas Malory tells the young man, it is not a comfortable thing to be a creature in someone elses fictions. True enough, but as Tiptoft also reminds us, Search how you may you will never find happy endings in life. It is only there in books. And sometimes not even there.

Michael Dirda reviews books every Thursday for The Washington Post.

Read more: Best books of 2017
Dear Readers: In the spirit of this "giving" season, I present my annual roundup of charitable organizations readers should consider supporting.

Your donation may go further at a small local nonprofit than at a large charity. I reserve much of my own donation dollars for local organizations that give within my community of need. This year I made it a practice to also give to local organizations based in communities that were beset by natural (or human-caused) disasters. All contributions count. So do nonmonetary acts of kindness, such as shoveling a neighbor's walk, bringing a casserole to a grieving person or simply abiding with someone in need through friendship.

In researching these charities, I am reminded of how fortunate we are to live in an era where generosity and helping those in need is a core value. This is a subjective list. Your own giving should reflect your interests and values. Most (but not all) of the organizations listed below have a top (four-star) rating on Charitynavigator.org, which is an excellent source for researching a charity.

Water Mission (watermission.org): Founded by an environmental engineer and his wife in South Carolina in 2001, this Christian-based charity is on the ground in Puerto Rico, installing solar-powered water systems to provide fresh running water in hundreds of rural and isolated communities destroyed by Hurricane Maria.

World Central Kitchen (worldcentralkitchen.org): This relatively tiny nonprofit, started by Chef Jose Andres, hit the ground running (and cooking) in Puerto Rico five days after Hurricane Maria, and started feeding people immediately. To date, they have served well over 2 million meals to Puerto Ricans. According to the New York Times, "No other single agency  not the Red Cross, the Salvation Army nor any government entity  has fed more people freshly cooked food since the hurricane, or done it in such a nurturing way."

Music City Cares Fund (cfmt.org): This fund was established very quickly after the devastating mass shooting in Las Vegas in October, where 58 people were killed and more than 500 wounded. All donations to this fund (100 percent) go to support Las Vegas nonprofits helping shooting victims.

Feeding America (feedingamerica.org): Type a Zip code into this national organization's search engine, and you can find a local food bank within its vast network which will gratefully receive your donation dollars.

Direct Relief (Directrelief.org): This charity, which has a storied history, operates in all 50 states and 70 countries, delivering medicine, staffing medical clinics and providing medical safety nets to underserved populations. Founded in California after World War II by an immigrant who did well in America, this organization receives a stellar rating. Operations range from serving in Syria to assisting in Houston, Puerto Rico and providing support during the recent wildfires that have torn through California.

International Rescue Committee (Rescue.org): Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC delivers lifesaving care to people fleeing conflict and natural disaster. The IRC worked to resettle refugees in Europe dislocated from conflict in World War II, and their work continues in the heartbreaking crisis currently unfolding in Syria, throughout Africa and around the world. IRC helps people in crisis and continues the hard work through refugee resettlement.

Polaris (Polarisproject.org): I first became aware of the work of Polaris through a family member's advocacy. Human trafficking is modern slavery, and victims are often vulnerable people who are coerced, dislocated and then forced into slavery  often in the sex trade. Victims of trafficking are sometimes in our midst, at bus stops, motels and truck stops. Law enforcement, clerks and long-haul truckers are now being trained in ways to spot and rescue these individuals. Victims can text BeFree (233733) and be connected with an advocate.

Save the Children (Savethechildren.org): When disaster strikes around the world, Save the Children is there with food, medical care and education. They help communities to rebuild through long-term recovery programs. The website has a cool gift catalogue; purchases help fund the organization's worthy mission.

Patient Services Incorporated (patientservicesinc.org): This organization was founded in 1989 by a clinical counselor who saw the devastating impact of the high costs associated with medical treatment of chronic illnesses. Their simple mission is to help people cover the high cost of health care, through offering "premium and co-payment assistance."

Homes for Our Troops (Hfotusa.org): One of my favorites, this group raises money and then turns the funds into concrete action, building a new home or adapting an existing home for handicapped accessibility. The finished home is then given to a disabled veteran. All services and materials are donated.
OMAHA  A judge has dismissed a burglary charge against a bounty hunter who broke into and searched an Omaha family's home before realizing he was in the wrong house.

Douglas County District Judge Shelly Stratman ruled that Duane Wilson's actions weren't out of line with court rulings that govern the actions of bounty hunters.

"If the state desires to curtail the broad powers of bail bondsmen, then it ought to do so legislatively rather than through selective criminal prosecution," Stratman said in her ruling.

Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said that he plans to appeal the ruling. He argued that fugitives should be apprehended by officers in the Metro Area Fugitive Task Force, not by "armed vigilantes."

Kleine said he might request that the Legislature create more laws pertaining to bounty hunters.

"When you allow people to act as vigilantes, it can put a lot of innocent people in jeopardy," Kleine said. "I'm going to do everything I possibly can to prevent this activity from going on."

Wilson, 25, works for Gallagher Bail Bonds in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Police documents show Gallagher was looking for a 17-year-old who didn't show up to court after being bailed out of jail. Wilson broke into a family's home Jan. 30 intending to catch the teen.

"This isn't the house of the person who skipped bail," Kleine said. "It's the house of a family who was totally innocent and was terrorized. Something very bad could have happened."

The family said Wilson searched the house with a gun drawn.

"Someone pushed open the front door with gun drawn," the police report said.

Wilson has denied the claims. In an interview with police, he said the family might have confused his flashlight for a handgun.

"Wilson stated that he knows that Nebraska does not recognize bounty hunters but he felt that he still had the right to enter the residence," the report said.
UPDATE: The Internal Revenue Service said late Wednesday that homeowners can only deduct prepaid property taxes from their next income tax filings if those property taxes were assessed and paid during 2017. Most Washington-area jurisdictions say they have not yet sent out property tax bills for the coming year which, according to the IRS, would mean property owners can not pay in advance and then claim a deduction before a new federal cap on deductions takes effect.

In other words, thousands of homeowners who scrambled to prepay their 2018 property taxes this week may have done so in vain.

The federal tax legislation that takes effect Jan. 1 will cap the state and local deductions on federal tax returns at $10,000. Residents who planned to pay next years taxes before this year ends were hoping their efforts will allow them to take advantage of the deductions one last time. Here is a roundup of what each jurisdiction was allowing residents to do:

Although it is impossible for residents to know the precise amount of their 2018 property taxes, regional leaders recommend making an estimate based on last year's amount. To prepay property bills, residents must not have any unpaid tax bills from years prior.

This post will be updated as soon as possible with more information.

Alexandria

The city of Alexandria says it has fielded a rush of calls about prepaid tax options ahead of the new tax bill taking effect. By Tuesday afternoon, the city had already received $1 million in prepayments  far more than in most years, according to Craig Fifer, a spokesman for the city.Payments will be accepted through Dec. 31. The city says it prefers to receive payments by check, with "prepayment" written in the memo field.

Arlington

The Northern Virginia county warns that it cannot offer any tax advice but says it does accept prepaid tax payments. County Treasurer Carla de la Pava told the website ARLNow.com that it has received an unprecedented volume of prepaid payments in the aftermath of the tax bill's passing. De la Pava said the treasurer's office puts the deposits in "very safe" investments, which earn a small return for the jurisdiction. The county says it accepts payments on "active Real Estate" accounts. Residents are asked to email treasurer@arlingtonva.us or call 703-228-3090 with questions.

Fairfax

This Northern Virginia county extended office hours the last week of December to accommodate the potential uptick of people prepaying their taxes. Residents can make their payments in person at 12000 Government Center Pkwy., Suite 223, on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday between 8 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Payments can also be made electronically.

Loudoun

Residents of this Virginia county can prepay their taxes by mailing a check or paying with cash or credit card at one of the county's two treasury offices in Leesburg and Sterling. Payments must be received by Friday.

D.C.

The District says that people can prepay their taxes online at taxpayerservicecenter.com or at any D.C. branch office at Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo will accept payments via check or credit card. Residents must bring their 2017 real property tax bill to the branch office for their payments to be processed. Payments must be processed by Saturday. (Some Wells Fargo outposts are closed Saturday.) The city is urging residents to avoid mailing payments. in case they are not received in time.

Montgomery

The Maryland county passed last-minute legislation Tuesday that would allow residents to prepay their 2018 property bills. Residents are encouraged to mail their prepayments with a signed copy of a Notice of Intent that can be found online. Payments must be postmarked by Dec. 31 and mailed to the countys Treasury Office, 255 Rockville Pike, Suite L-15, Rockville, MD 20850.

Prince Georges

The Maryland county doesnt currently permit prepaid real estate taxes, but the county council announced Wednesday that it will reconvene Thursday to consider emergency legislation that would allow for prepayments. The session will start at 11 a.m. in the County Administration Building, 14741 Governor Oden Bowie Drive in Upper Marlboro.
People across the United States rushed this week to pay their 2018 property taxes early, hoping to take advantage one last time of a federal deduction that will be scaled back under the tax-code overhaul signed by President Trump.

On Wednesday, however, the Internal Revenue Service announced that those prepayments could be deducted only in limited circumstances, a decision that appeared to invalidate many taxpayers' efforts and raised the prospect that local governments could come under pressure to refund millions of dollars.

The announcement stoked confusion surrounding one of the most controversial elements of the tax law  a $10,000 cap on deductions for state and local taxes that will disproportionately affect higher-tax, Democratic-leaning states. It also offered a glimpse of the kind of hiccups that could arise in coming weeks as the IRS releases guidance on other facets of the bill, the largest overhaul of federal tax law in three decades.

[Can you save by prepaying? Key questions and answers]

In affluent states with high taxes and property values, local officials have been besieged in recent days by people trying to pay their 2018 property taxes early so they can deduct those payments before the cap takes effect.



Roughly 60 people stood in line midday at Montgomery Countys Department of Finance in Rockville, Md., to prepay their 2018 property taxes. (Rachel Siegel/The Washington Post)

However, the IRS said Wednesday that filers could only avoid the cap by paying property taxes that have been assessed in 2017. Many local governments, including most Washington-area jurisdictions, have not completed assessments for upcoming years.

Critics said the last-minute confusion underscored the haste with which Republicans passed their tax bill, completed in record time for such a far-reaching piece of legislation.

This is not the way to do legislation that will massively impact the entire economy. It sets off a flurry of action from people trying to save money, and they act as rash as the legislators who pushed this thing through, said Philip Hackney, a tax expert at Louisiana State University.

[Read the IRS guidance on prepaying taxes and seeking deductions]

That confusion was echoed among thousands of taxpayers in the Washington region and elsewhere  some following the advice of their accountants  who interrupted their holiday activities to line up in subfreezing temperatures at tax offices.

In affluent Fairfax County, Va., more than 1,700 property owners came to the government center Tuesday to prepay their property taxes, while 750 people sent wire transfers and about 650 dropped off payments in a government lockbox that normally gets two or three pieces of correspondence a day, according to Scott Sizemore, director of the revenue collection division.

The county collected nearly $16 million in tax prepayments on Tuesday alone, county spokesman Jeremy Lasich said, with more money flowing in Wednesday. He said the county would devise a reimbursement plan if it cannot accept the prepayments. We dont know the full impact of that [IRS] statement yet, he said. Were still studying that.



Sean Zielenbach writes a check to prepay his property taxes Wednesday at Alexandria City Hall. (Patricia Sullivan/The Washington Post)

Brian Lowit, 43, of Baileys Crossroads, Va., said his accountant told him that prepaying his 2018 property taxes this week could save him more than $1,000. He then checked with his mortgage company, where an operator told him that there were 150 people on hold behind him ready to ask the same questions.

Eventually, he wired $5,100, a full years payment, to Fairfax County. Soon afterward, he learned of the IRS announcement.

Its a nightmare, Lowit said. Im definitely frustrated, annoyed and irritated. The rush to get that bill done screwed everyone up. Its insanity and its stupid.

[Heres our latest roundup of where prepayments might be deductible]

The deduction for state and local taxes is especially popular in high-income, highly taxed and often left-leaning states: More than 37 percent of tax returns in Virginia included the deduction in 2015, compared with 23 percent in Texas, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. In the District, 40 percent of returns deducted state and local taxes, and in Maryland, 46 percent.

In Maryland, the Montgomery County Council broke its winter recess Tuesday to pass a law authorizing prepayment of 2018 property taxes. On Wednesday, hours before the IRS announcement, neighboring Prince George's County said it would convene in an emergency session Thursday to do the same. The council canceled those plans Wednesday night.

Neither Montgomery nor Prince Georges appears to have assessed property taxes in time for residents who prepay to claim their full deduction.

Nationally, more than 96 percent of tax increases resulting from the loss of the state and local deduction will be paid by those in the top 20 percent of the income distribution, a recent analysis by the Tax Policy Center found.

Republican supporters of the bill say the cap on deductions and other changes were needed to offset a reduction in personal and corporate income tax rates.

The tax law explicitly states that the $10,000 deduction cap cannot be avoided by prepayment of 2018 income taxes but had left open the question of whether it applied to prepaid property taxes.

There are so many questions around this, said Sean S. Zielenbach, a business owner in Alexandria, Va., who prepaid his $12,000 property tax bill for 2018 early Wednesday only to learn later in the day, after the IRS announcement, that he might not benefit.

In Virginia, counties mail out tax assessments in February.

While the IRS announcement sought to clarify rules regarding prepayment, many questions remain. Counties across the country have different laws and timelines for assessing property taxes, potentially making it difficult for the agency to enforce its interpretation, tax experts said.

Its really difficult to guess what will happen if folks dont follow this ruling, said Bradley Heim, a professor at Indiana University who worked in the Treasury Departments Office of Tax Analysis under President George W. Bush.

Andy Grewal, a tax expert at the University of Iowa, said local lawmakers could try in the remaining days of the year to formally change their assessment dates but cautioned that doing so retroactively would raise some thorny legal questions.

In the District, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) openly encouraged homeowners last week to prepay their 2018 property taxes, either online at the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue or at any Wells Fargo branch in the city. (Those seeking to pay at the bank locations were told to bring a 2017 property-tax invoice with them.)

D.C. officials said Wednesday that they were reviewing the IRS announcement and could not yet comment on whether prepayment might benefit taxpayers.

Roughly 700 people appeared in person to prepay taxes in Montgomery County on Wednesday, forking over about $8 million on the first day such payments were accepted, county officials said.

On Wednesday night after the IRS announcement, council member Nancy Floreen took to Twitter, saying that those still wondering if they could prepay should seek out expert tax advice before doing so.

The plot thickens, she wrote.

Rachel Siegel and Perry Stein contributed to this report


Galtsog Gantulga, right, helps Brandon Coghill, left, with some dance steps at the Arthur Murray Dance Center in Alexandria, Va., on Dec. 20. Gantulga, an undocumented immigrant from Mongolia, had his work permit revoked after being convicted of drunken driving. His students from the dance studio are trying to win him a reprieve. (Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post)

For most of the past six decades, the Republican Party could count on Charlie Heimach. The retired Air Force colonel donated money to President Richard Nixon, backed Ronald Reagan and both Bushes, and cast his ballot last year for Donald Trump.

But in the recent Virginia governors race, Heimach voted for the Democrat, because of the Trump administrations crackdown on illegal immigration, and its attempts to deport a ballroom dancing instructor from the studio where Heimach, 79, likes to Lindy Hop.

Since May, Heimach and a disparate crew of lawyers, military veterans, a dog walker, an entomologist and others united in their love for dancing have been on a crusade to protect the instructor they call G, an undocumented immigrant from Mongolia who was arrested twice in 2016 for drunken driving.

To some, their efforts are misguided  even dangerous.

But the ballroom dancers say Galtsog Gantulga is a gifted instructor who senses when his students need to talk or want to dance but are too shy to take the initiative. He hurt no one in the two drunken driving incidents, they point out, and has served time behind bars. He also sold his car and joined Alcoholics Anonymous.

In the America these dancers know, such a person deserves another chance, a view not always held in the U.S. immigration system.

For the moment, thanks to their persistence, Gantulga has a reprieve.

He built his life over here, said Mealy Chhim, a retired software engineer who was part of the effort. He just messed up.



Retired Air Force Col. Charlie Heimach takes a phone call from Gantulga pictured in background) in August during Gantulgas detention by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)

Search for a better life

Gantulga, 22, came to the United States with his parents when he was 9. His mother and father overstayed their visas in hopes of building a better life than the one they had in their remote, rugged homeland.

Two younger children were born on American soil, which made them U.S. citizens. But the couple brought them back to Mongolia in 2013, having given up hope of getting legal status for themselves.

Gantulga, meanwhile, had obtained a temporary work permit through Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the Obama-era program for undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children, which the Trump administration will start to shut down in March. Gantulga stayed in Virginia after his family left, hoping to attend college and earn money to send to them.

Living alone for the first time, Gantulga landed a job at the Arthur Murray Dance Center in Alexandria and worked his way up to a top instructor.



Gantulga dances at the Arthur Murray Dance Center. (Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post)

But he was also drinking, sometimes too much.

In July 2016, police arrested him for drunken driving. Four months later, he was arrested again, for driving under the influence and a hit-and-run that involved him striking a parked car and leaving the scene. He was convicted both times and served about a month in jail.

Gantulga lost his DACA protection while his second criminal charge was pending. Soon, the government told him that they would try to deport him.

Mr. Gantulga entered the United States on a nonimmigrant visa but currently does not have lawful status in the United States, said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Carissa Cutrell. Gantulga has proven himself to be a public safety threat.

Gantulga says the drinking and driving definitely wouldnt have happened if my parents were here.

But he also said he took responsibility: It was something that I did.

Packing the courtroom

With the federal government pushing to expel Gantulga, the dance students and studio managers mobilized to keep him in the United States, getting a firsthand look at the nations immigration system in the process.

They were stunned that Gantulga appeared at his immigration court hearings via video link from the detention center where he was being held, 150 miles away.

They were shocked that immigrants facing deportation proceedings did not have a right to a court-appointed lawyer, that an immigration judge could refuse to set bond and that Immigration and Customs Enforcement could keep Gantulga locked up for months even after bond was set and Heimach rushed over with a check.

At one bond hearing, in August, the supporters who packed the courtroom included ballroom dancing aficionados with day jobs at the Energy Department, the State Department and the National Symphony Orchestra.

Heimach offered to let Gantulga stay at his house while he fought his case.



Dance instructors and students take to the floor in August during a party at Arthur Murray Dance Studio in Alexandria. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)

In interviews, the Arthur Murray students described themselves as a family that counts G. as a beloved member, a joyful troupe of empty-nesters, retirees and young professionals bound by their love for the fox trot, the waltz, salsa and more.

They attend lessons during the week and gather at night, wearing glitzy outfits, for dance parties under a rain of strobe lights. Teachers like G. whisk the wallflowers onto the floor. Dance instructor Anusha Rouse described the dance studio as a combination of Disneyland and the fictionalized television bar Cheers.

We want people to feel cared for and to want to be here, Rouse said of the students.

When G. was in trouble, she added, the students responded in kind, calling U.S. senators, dividing up work and finding a lawyer. There was not a hesitation, she said. It was an immediate rallying of help.



Arthur Murray instructors Anusha Rouse, second from left, and Brandon Coghill, right, and students at the Arthur Murray Dance Studio laugh as they speak by cellphone to Gantulga. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)

Over the objections of Nicholas J. Bolzman, the prosecutor from the Department of Homeland Security, Arlington Immigration Court Judge Helaine R. Perlman granted Gantulga release on $12,000 bond, saying his crimes were not serious enough to be eligible for mandatory detention.

He testified that he made mistakes and would not engage in such conduct again, she said. He is truly remorseful for his conduct.

Prosecutors appealed, and ICE kept Gantulga in detention for about three more months. He was released Nov. 2, after the Board of Immigration Appeals upheld Perlmans ruling, and told to report to Arlington County to serve the rest of his jail sentence in the second drunk-driving case.

Virginias election was six days away.



Gantulga turns on Christmas lights at the Arthur Murray Dance Center. (Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post)

Instead of voting for Ed Gillespie, the GOP candidate for governor who made illegal immigration and foreign-born gang members the centerpiece of his campaign, Heimach cast a ballot for Democrat Ralph Northam, who was swept into office as part of a deep-blue, anti-Trump wave.

Im a Republican, but the current administration is creating a national humanitarian tragedy, Heimach said in one of several interviews in the past few months, referring to a spike in arrests and deportations of longtime residents, including many without criminal records. This is ridiculous.

By the end of November, Gantulga was out of jail and staying at Heimachs home in Annandale. His next immigration hearing is scheduled for January.

This poor kid is just going to go down the tubes if no one steps up, Heimach said.

I told him, When I do this, Im all in. Im not stopping. 
Correctional officers and medical staff of the Montgomery County Correctional Facility explain the treatment for the mentally ill inside the 40-unit Crisis Intervention Center in Boyds, Md., in 2016. (Astrid Riecken/For The Washington Post)

The Maryland General Assembly plans to address the state's forensic mental-health crisis during its upcoming session legislative session, weighing funding, hospital staffing and how long a mentally ill criminal suspect may be held in jail before being transferred for court-ordered psychiatric treatment.

A group of judges, including the state's District Court chief judge, recently told a joint panel of state lawmakers that it was important for the legislature to address the shortage of psychiatric beds for inmates deemed incompetent to stand trial.

State Sen. Thomas M. Middleton (D-Charles), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said he expects the legislature to take up the issue during its 90-day session, which begins in January.

Long waits for treatment for such inmates have been a persistent problem in Maryland and across the country. A 2016 survey of 25 states by the Treatment Advocacy Center, a nonprofit based in Arlington, found that 1,956 inmates with serious mental illnesses were waiting for beds in psychiatric hospitals after being ordered by a court to get treatment.

In Maryland, the number of inmates waiting has dropped from a high of 84 last year, when a lawsuit was filed to compel the transfer of defendants from jails to hospitals, to a low of 14 earlier this month.



BOYDS, MD - MAY 20: A medical examination room is offered at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility which offers a 40 unit CIC Crisis Intervention Center) in Boyds, MD, May 20, 2016. Mentally ill inmates are kept in the CIC. Photo by Astrid Riecken For The Washington Post)

Advocates and correctional officers attribute the long waits to more people with mental illnesses being arrested and state officials shifting resources away from psychiatric hospital beds. The wait list tends to grow during the summer and drop during the winter.

In a court opinion this year about the delays, retired Circuit Court judge Gale E. Rasin said the long-standing problem seems to be all about the money.

District Court Chief Judge John P. Morrissey said it is typical for judges to see "individuals who are sick," unaware of their surroundings and unable to assist in their own defense in their courtrooms. Judges are increasingly frustrated with the current system, which allows some of those defendants to remain in jail without the treatment the court has ordered.

Its not just legally required; it is morally, socially and economically desirable to transfer defendants with mental illnesses to hospitals in a timely manner, Morrissey said.

Del. Erek L. Barron (D-Prince Georges), a member of the House Health and Government Operations Committee, said he will propose legislation to address what he called a self-inflicted problem, created decades ago when states closed public psychiatric hospitals with plans to shift resources and patients to private facilities.

Despite recommendations from state health officials to provide more staffing and more beds, administration after administration has failed to appropriate enough money, Barron said. Former health secretary Van T. Mitchell called the bed shortage a crisis.

Del. Kathleen M. Dumais (D-Montgomery), vice chair of the House Judiciary Committee, said she is hopeful Gov. Larry Hogan (R) will include sufficient funding in the budget to address the issue. If not, we will have to include it in the negotiations with the governors office, she said. These things are critical, and we cant just keep kicking the can down the road.

Hogan spokeswoman Amelia Chasse said the governor plans to provide money for additional beds in his 2019 fiscal budget. She would not say how much money Hogan would offer. Chasse said details about the budget plan will be released in January.

Acting health secretary Dennis Schrader, who made the budget request, said the administration agrees that the legislature should set clear rules on the amount of time defendants may wait for beds.

Schrader, who took the reins of the agency last year, has been on the hot seat over the issue, much like his predecessors. In September, he and four other health department officials were held in contempt of court for their failure to eliminate the wait list.

Rasin said the waits persisted despite years of notice about the problem, internal recommendations to increase bed size, admonitions by the judiciary, oversight of the legislature, civil charges of contempt of court, and commitments by its own Secretary.

The administration asked for, and received, a stay in the case from the judge, who ordered the state to fully staff and admit patients to 20-bed units at the Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center in Jessup, Spring Grove Hospital Center in Catonsville and a third facility, to be selected in consultation with the state director of hospitals. Eighty-four defendants needed placement at the time the lawsuit was filed.

Health officials said the state plans to have 60 beds ready for inmates by the end of this year. An additional 35 are slated to be available by the end of March.

Schrader said the stay allows the administration to continue implementing our fixes while the states appeal of the lawsuit moves forward next year.

We need to have this discussion in the legislature this session, Schrader told the panel. He said later in an interview that the administration is considering offering its own legislative proposal.

Schrader said the department placed a 30-day limit on how long the state has to place an inmate in hospital treatment after he or she has been deemed incompetent to stand trial. Previously, there was no cap in place, he said, and the wait time rose as high as 60 days during the summer months.

Even 30 days is not acceptable, Schrader told the legislative panel.
The Prince George's County Council votes during a meeting in the council chambers at the County Administrative Building on Dec. 6, 2016. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)

Never mind.

The Prince Georges County Council announced Wednesday that it would come out of holiday recess on Thursday to consider emergency legislation allowing residents to prepay their property taxes for 2018.

The county was joining other local jurisdictions trying to help homeowners lessen the impact of a cap on deductions in the new federal tax law.

By Wednesday evening, however, the Internal Revenue Service announced prepayments could be deducted only in jurisdictions that have already assessed tax bills for 2018.

In Prince Georges, county officials said, those tax bills had not been assessed. And so, at about 8:30 p.m., the county canceled its emergency session just as fast as it had been scheduled.



A 1040 tax form (Mark Lennihan/AP)

There was widespread confusion over the IRS announcement, with some people saying the guidance was subject to interpretation. On Tuesday, the Montgomery County Council enacted an emergency bill to allow prepayment of property taxes.

But Wednesday night, Montgomery lawmakers took to Twitter to tell their constituents they apparently would not be able to deduct those taxes even if they paid them early.

Turns out MoCo property tax prepayments are not deductible after all, under guidance issued today by IRS, tweeted council member George L. Leventhal (D-At Large).

Prince Georges County Council Chair Dannielle M. Glaros (D) said residents had been emailing her office, calling 311 and contacting the county executives office to ask about a prepayment option, particularly since Montgomery lawmakers expedited their bill.

Our thought about this was very similar to Montgomery County, Glaros said before the IRS announcement. We were going back and forth on it and I think at the end of the day, residents really want the possibility of this as an option.

About 4:15 p.m. Wednesday, Glaros said there were still a few of her colleagues out there that we havent fully connected with, noting that some council members are out of town. Glaros said that to pass emergency legislation, the bill would have to be passed with six votes, rather than a simple majority of five.

"We're all coming from different places to be able to pull this off," she said.

The GOP tax overhaul caps deductions for state, local and property taxes at $10,000, an effort to offset a reduction in income-tax rates for earnings starting in 2018.

"Congress and the president didn't give us much time on this one," Glaros said. "They passed a last-minute tax bill frankly without any hearings. We're all scrambling to do the best we can."
Heather Menzies-Urich, left, with other Sound of Music cast members Kym Karath, center, and Debbie Turner in 2015. (Kevork Djansezian/Reuters)

Heather Menzies-Urich, an actress who played one of the singing von Trapp children in the hit 1965 film The Sound of Music, died Dec. 24 in Frankford, Ontario. She was 68.

Her son, actor Ryan Urich, told Variety that the cause was brain cancer.

Ms. Menzies-Urich played Louisa von Trapp, the third-oldest of the seven von Trapp children, in the film adaptation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical that starred Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer.

The Sound of Music captured five Academy Awards, including best picture.

Heather was part of the family. There is really no other way to describe the members of the cast of the movie of The Sound of Music, Ted Chapin, president and chief creative officer of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization, said in a statement.



Heather Menzies-Urich as Louisa) at center, and the other von Trapp children sing 'So Long, Farewell' in a scene from 'The Sound of Music. (Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)

A Toronto native, Ms. Menzies-Urich also appeared in the films Hawaii and Piranha. On television, she appeared as a fugitive in Logans Run and had guest spots on Dragnet, Bonanza, Marcus Welby, M.D. and other series.

Survivors include three children, several grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

Her husband, actor Robert Urich, died in 2002. After his death, she established the Robert Urich Foundation to raise funds for cancer research.
John E. Nolan Jr., a senior partner at the Washington law firm Steptoe & Johnson, former assistant to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and a negotiator with Cuban leader Fidel Castro on the return of Americans captured in the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, died Nov. 18 at his home in Bethesda, Md. He was 90.

The cause was pneumonia, said a daughter, Patricia McNeill.

In December 1962, while in private practice with Steptoe & Johnson, Mr. Nolan was asked to join New York lawyer James B. Donovan in negotiating with Castro for the release of 1,100 men captured in the abortive Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in April 1961.

(Donovan was the lawyer who negotiated the 1962 exchange of downed U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers for the Soviet spy Rudolf Abel, which was dramatized in the 2015 Steven Spielberg movie "Bridge of Spies.")

The two lawyers met Castro during several visits to Cuba over an extended period, and Mr. Nolan facilitated the procurement of about $50 million in medical supplies in exchange for the prisoners release.



John E. Nolan Jr. and his wife, Joan. (Family Photo)

In a 1967 oral history interview for the John F. Kennedy Presidential Museum and Library in Boston, Mr. Nolan said Castro was always reasonable, always easy to deal with. There were no tantrums, fits. He was a talker of very significant proportions . . . he would come over at midnight or 1 oclock in the morning and stay all night talking. But he wasnt a conversational hog . . . Hed ask questions, listen for answers, give his own viewpoints.

In a separate interview with Washington Lawyer, Mr. Nolan said Castro, who died in 2016, had "a good sense of humor." Mr. Nolan recalled he rode across Cuba with Castro to visit the Bay of Pigs and "fished on his boat while Castro told us stories about the invasion. We also went to three games of the Cuban World Series with him . . . That doesn't mean that Castro is a friend of the United States or that Cuba is a flourishing free-speech democracy."

Mr. Nolan took a leave from Steptoe & Johnson in 1963 to serve as an assistant to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. He spent much of the summer of 1963 in the Deep South, taking part in Justice Department efforts during the civil rights movement. He later worked for Kennedys 1964 successful senatorial campaign in New York and in his 1968 presidential bid in the months before his assassination in Los Angeles.

John Edward Nolan Jr. was born July 11, 1927, in Minneapolis. His father was an inventor and builder who later worked for the 3M manufacturing company.

Mr. Nolan graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1950, choosing the Marine Corps as his branch of service. He led his rifle platoon in hand-to-hand combat during the Korean War and was awarded a Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart.

You have the feeling that you are doing something, Mr. Nolan told Washington Lawyer about his wartime experience. There is a momentum to moving forward, going up hill and throwing off the enemy.

Five decades later, Mr. Nolan still walked with an air of authority and the bearing of a 22-year-old Marine, said a law partner, Roger E. Warin.

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Mr. Nolan enrolled at Georgetown University Law School while still serving in the Marines. For a time, he also was a U.S. Capitol Police officer working the midnight shift.

He graduated from law school in 1955, then served a year as clerk to Supreme Court Justice Tom C. Clark. He joined Steptoe & Johnson in 1956 and would continue his association with the firm until 2013.

Mr. Nolans specialties as a lawyer included environmental cases and the rights of whistleblowing federal employees. He represented oil companies building the Alaska pipeline in the 1970s.

He also represented whistleblower A. Ernest Fitzgerald in a lawsuit against President Richard M. Nixon after Fitzgerald reported more than $2 billion in federal cost overruns and was dismissed from his civilian job with the Air Force. Mr. Nolan reached a settlement under circumstances that were favorable to Fitzgerald.

In the 1990s, he was the mediator in a tangled family dispute involving multimillionaire discount retailer Herbert H. Haft, Hafts wife, Gloria, and their children.

There was yelling, tipping over of water pitchers, Mr. Nolan said in his interview with Washington Lawyer, a venting of a whole lifetime of suppressed feelings.

At one time, Mr. Nolan was his law firms chief recruiter for new talent. Hes no dancing bear, he would say of a candidate who failed to pass muster. He received the D.C. Bar Associations Legends in the Law award in 2003.

Survivors include his wife of 67 years, Joan Dobbins Nolan of Bethesda; four children, Carol N. Klatt of Buck Hills Falls, Pa., Kelly N. Spencer and Patricia N. McNeill, both of Bethesda, and Richard C. Nolan of Albany, N.Y.; and eight grandchildren. A son, John E. Nolan III, died in 1980.

In 2001, Mr. Nolan returned to Cuba for a 40th anniversary observance of the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. He had lunch with Castro twice, he said, and talked to him a few more times. The Cuban leader sent him a box of Cuban cigars.
Marcus Raskin, an author and advocate who helped shape left-leaning thought for decades as a founder of one of Washingtons most prominent liberal think tanks, the Institute for Policy Studies  and who, as a college student, gave piano lessons to composer Philip Glass  died Dec. 24 at his home in Washington. He was 83.

The cause was a heart-related ailment, said his son Jamie Raskin, a Democratic member of the U.S. House from Maryland.

Mr. Raskin, a child prodigy on the piano and a University of Chicago Law School graduate, joined President John F. Kennedys administration while still in his 20s. He went on to become the author or co-author of more than 20 books on foreign policy, civil rights, political philosophy and the national security state, a term he originated in the early 1970s to describe a military, intelligence and security network that exists with little legal supervision.

From civil rights marches to antiwar protests to the Pentagon Papers, Mr. Raskin was a persistent and ubiquitous intellectual provocateur of the left. He and his fellow founder of the Institute for Policy Studies, Richard J. Barnet, were on President Richard M. Nixons enemies list in the early 1970s.

What were playing for, Mr. Raskin told The Washington Post in 1986, is the spirit of the time.



Marcus Raskin, right, with U.S. Rep. John Lewis D-Ga.), left, and scholar Sylvia I.B. Hill at a Howard University symposium in 1996. (The Washington Post)

Mr. Raskin was the co-editor of "The Viet-Nam Reader" (1965), an influential historical anthology about Vietnam that helped inspire "teach-ins" about the war at colleges throughout the country. In 1968, he went on trial as part of the Boston Five for conspiracy to help young men avoid the military draft during the Vietnam War.

His four co-defendants  pediatrician Benjamin Spock, Yale University chaplain William Sloane Coffin Jr., writer Mitchell Goodman and graduate student Michael Ferber  were sentenced to two years in prison by a judge who likened their actions to treason. Mr. Raskin was the only one found not guilty.

I suppose I could demand a retrial, he said afterward. (The other defendants were acquitted on appeal.)

Despite its intellectual heft, the Institute for Policy Studies was often run on a shoestring. As a matter of principle, it accepted no money from corporations or the government. It survived on grants from private foundations and individuals.

For years, the institute was housed in a shabby building near Dupont Circle, in which paint was peeling and the elevator didnt work. Senior fellows sometimes took turns running the switchboard.

Nonetheless, it was a heady environment abuzz with many of the leading liberal thinkers, writers and political figures of the day. Mr. Raskin often contributed to the Nation and the New York Times, and Barnet, who died in 2004, frequently wrote for the New Yorker and the New York Review of Books. Both churned out books, often together.

Others affiliated with the institute included 1972 Democratic presidential candidate George S. McGovern, writer and civil rights activist Roger Wilkins, documentary filmmaker Saul Landau, writer Barbara Ehrenreich and poet E. Ethelbert Miller.

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Mr. Raskin and the institute were sometimes under surveillance by the FBI and became favorite targets of right-wing publications and ideologues, who charged that it was part of a Soviet-inspired Marxist cabal. Yet the institute went on unabated, even after the Soviet Union disappeared.

In some ways, the IPS was so successful that it became the model for a later generation of conservative think tanks, most notably the Heritage Foundation, which was founded in 1973.

The thought occurred to me, Paul Weyrich, the Heritage Foundations first president, told The Post in 1986, that if an operation as overtly left as IPS could get by with having an impact on the Hill, then a respectable conservative institution could have an even greater impact.

In 1971, Mr. Raskin surreptitiously received a mountain of paper, some 2,000 to 5,000 pages, that turned out to be excerpts from the Pentagon Papers, a secret government publication detailing the history of U.S. involvement in Vietnam.

The papers came from Daniel Ellsberg, a onetime government consultant. Mr. Raskin reportedly put Ellsberg in touch with New York Times journalist Neil Sheehan, who wrote a Pulitzer Prize-winning series of articles based on the papers.

In the 1970s, one of the fellows at the Institute for Policy Studies was Orlando Letelier, a onetime Chilean official who was arrested after a right-wing regime led by Augusto Pinochet seized the country in 1973. Letelier was assassinated in a car bombing on Embassy Row in 1976 while driving to the institutes office. Also killed was Ronni Karpen Moffitt, who was an assistant to Mr. Raskin.

Several people were prosecuted and sent to prison in the United States and Chile, but Pinochet was not among them.

Marcus Goodman Raskin was born April 30, 1934, in Milwaukee. His father was a plumber, his mother a seamstress.

Mr. Raskin began playing piano at 4, and by the time he was 12 he was featured on a weekly radio program. He left high school to study at the Juilliard School in New York under acclaimed teacher Rosina Lhevinne.

At 16, Mr. Raskin decided to give up music as a career.

One, theres an enormous amount of nervous tension involved  even when youre playing just for yourself, he told the Dallas Morning News in 1999. Anyone with the slightest anxiety complex ends up in trouble. The other reason is laziness.

He transferred to the University of Chicago, where Glass, a student in the same dormitory, sought him out.

I asked Marcus for help with the piano, and he became my piano teacher, Glass wrote in his 2015 memoir Words Without Music. With him I started on a real piano technique, and he was serious about my progress.

Mr. Raskin graduated in 1954 and received a law degree, also from the University of Chicago, in 1957. He studied piano in Italy for a year before moving to Washington in 1958.

He worked on Capitol Hill before joining the Kennedy administration as a deputy to national security adviser McGeorge Bundy. After the failed U.S.-sponsored invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs in 1961, Mr. Raskins relations with Bundy and other officials grew more strained. Barnet shared his disillusionment, and together they launched the Institute for Policy Studies in 1963.

Mr. Raskins books included Being and Doing (1971), Notes on the Old System (1974) about the Watergate scandal, The Common Good (1986), and Liberalism: The Genius of American Ideals (2003). In recent years, he also taught at George Washington University.

His first marriage, to Barbara Bellman Raskin, a novelist and journalist, ended in divorce. Survivors include his wife of 32 years, Lynn Randels Raskin of Washington; three children from his first marriage, Erika Raskin Littlewood of Charlottesville, Jamie Raskin of Takoma Park, Md., and Noah Raskin of Vienna, Va.; a daughter from his second marriage, Eden Raskin Jenkins; nine grandchildren; and a great-grandson.

In 1999, Mr. Raskin performed in a national competition for amateur pianists, playing works by Bach and Beethoven. Last year, he and Glass gave a benefit concert for Raskins son, then running for Congress.

Glass said he was nervous because he hadnt played for his teacher in more than 50 years.
Neighbors said the display of hate in a Lorton, Va., community was as large as it was shocking: a swastika roughly 40 feet across mowed into the grass of a community field.

Tire marks from a riding mower ran from the lot and up a road to the home of a teen who was known as troubled in the neighborhood, leaving little mystery as to the perpetrator, a neighbor said. Residents of Gunston Manor were soon debating how to handle the situation: go to police or talk to the teens family directly?

The latter plan won out  and now some regret that decision.

The incident came roughly two months before the 17-year-old allegedly shot and killed the parents of his 16-year-old girlfriend in their Reston home Friday. Scott Fricker, 48, and Buckley Kuhn-Fricker, 43, had forbidden their daughter to see the teen after family and friends said the couple discovered a Twitter account they believed was linked to the teen. It retweeted tweets praising Hitler, made derogatory comments about Jews, called for "white revolution," and showed an image of a man hanging from a noose beneath a slur for gays, among other objectionable content.

The teen, who has been charged with two counts of murder, remains hospitalized in critical condition after turning the gun on himself.

[A teen is charged with killing his girlfriends parents. They had worried he was a neo-Nazi.]

Penny Potter, a neighbor, agreed to share the story of the swastika because she wanted it to serve as a cautionary tale to report early-warning signs before a tragedy occurs. She doesnt know whether the Frickers would still be alive if neighbors had contacted police, but she believes there is a greater likelihood they would be.

We live in a very safe neighborhood where kids can ride their bikes and not worry about anything, Potter said. For the first time, I was fearful that there was someone living in our neighborhood who was capable of incredibly irrational behavior.

If you see something that makes you say Huh, just call police. They can tell you if its appropriate.

Potter said she first became aware of the swastika around Oct. 20 or Oct. 23, after a neighbor called her husband about it. Potter said her husband sometimes mows the community lot.

Potters husband, who described the mowed symbol to her and took a photo of it, said the grass in the field was a little long and the portions making up the swastika were cut close to the turf. Potter said her husband told her the swastika was roughly 40 feet across and about 40 feet tall and was unmistakably the Nazi emblem. The husband, through Potter, declined to comment or provide the photo.

A group of neighbors discussed the best way to deal with the situation, said Potter.

She said residents decided to send an emissary to the familys home to discuss the swastika a couple of days after it was discovered. Potter said the teens parents admitted he had mowed the symbol into the grass. She said they were aware of his behavioral issues and were getting him treatment.

They were going to take care of it, Potter said. They were aware of it.

There was no answer at the 17-year-olds home Tuesday, and family members previously have declined to comment.

Family and friends of the Frickers said the couple had grown so worried about their daughters relationship with the 17-year-old that they contacted officials at the private school the two youths attended to share their concerns about his suspected neo-Nazi views. Recently, the Frickers staged an intervention to try to convince their daughter to stay away from the boyfriend. After a difficult meeting, the girl seem to agree that would be best, said her grandmother, Janet Kuhn.

Kuhn said detectives have told the family that the fatal confrontation unfolded early Friday when her daughter and son-in-law apparently heard a noise in the home. The couple went to check on their daughter and found the boyfriend in her room, she said.

When Scott Fricker confronted him, the youth pulled out a gun and fired, Kuhn said police told the family.

Fairfax County police have declined to comment on the familys account. On Tuesday, they said they also would not discuss how the alleged shooter may have gotten the gun.

We arent releasing anything further at this point as he is a minor, said Julie Parker, a police spokeswoman.

The police said they did not receive any reports of a swastika being mowed into grass in the Gunston Manor neighborhood in late October.

Ed Munz, president of the Gunston Manor Property Owners Association, wrote in an email that he learned of the swastika only after other neighbors had spoken to the teens family. He said he was not involved in the discussion about what to do about it.

Munz said neighbors were disgusted and embarrassed by the swastika, so they mowed the field in such a way that the swastika was no longer visible.

On Christmas Eve, Munz sent an email message to members of the community association about the swastika incident. He wrote that he hoped the swastika was not tied to the shooting in any way, but he urged people to speak up if it was.

People who know anything of the event should step forward and speak with the police, Munz wrote in the message.

My hope in this is that neighbors will understand that coming forward can save peoples lives by reporting such behavior, he wrote in an email to The Washington Post.

Peter Hermann and Ellie Silverman contributed to this report.
A Fairfax County woman was killed in a car crash on a Capital Beltway ramp a few minutes before the end of Christmas Day, according to the Virginia State Police.

They said Gemma G. Duffy, 24, of the Springfield area was killed about 11:55 p.m. as she was traveling along the westbound Interstate 495 off-ramp that leads to the Eisenhower Connector.

Her car ran into a Jersey wall highway barrier, turned over and came to rest on the other side of the wall, the police said. When first responders arrived, the police said, the car was engulfed in flames.
BURLINGTON, Vt.  A Vermont prosecutor is the son of a couple arrested last week in Nebraska with 60 pounds of marijuana they told police they planned to give as Christmas presents.

Chittenden County State's Attorney Sarah George said Tuesday that Justin Jiron is not connected to his parents' alleged crime other than by relation.

Police arrested his parents, 80-year-old Patrick Jiron and 70-year-old Barbara Jiron, Dec. 19 with an estimated $300,000 worth of marijuana in their vehicle.

The Jirons told police they were unaware it was illegal to transport marijuana through Nebraska. The couple has been cited for possessing marijuana with the intent to deliver.

George says Justin Jiron is "surprised and upset," but he is still performing his official duties. He's the chief deputy state's attorney for the county.
This undated photo provided by the Baltimore Police department shows Detective Sean Suiter. Suiter was shot in the head with his own gun Nov. 15, 2017, in a particularly troubled area of West Baltimore while investigating a 2016 triple homicide. His unsolved murder has transformed into a feeding frenzy of speculation in a city filled with armchair sleuths and a suspicious view of law enforcers. (Baltimore Police Department via AP) (Uncredited/AP)

The FBI has declined to take over the investigation into the unsolved fatal shooting of a Baltimore homicide detective who was killed the day before he was to testify before a federal grand jury in a police corruption case.

Bureau officials told Police Commissioner Kevin Davis that there is no evidence that Sean Suiters death on Nov. 15 was related to his pending testimony. Davis has previously said the FBI told him that Suiter was not a target in the investigation.

Earlier this month, Davis invited the FBI  which has had agents assisting in the case involving Suiter  to take over the investigation, citing the extraordinary circumstances of the shooting.

He said he understood that there was mistrust and concern in the community and wanted to ensure an impartial, transparent investigation.

[Baltimore police commissioner asks FBI to take over case involving slain detective]

Davis read the FBIs rejection letter to reporters on Wednesday and added that had the agency thought Detective Suiters death was related to an ongoing corruption investigation, they would not only have taken this case over, they would have come to Baltimore with unprecedented resources.

The FBI, through a spokesman at the Baltimore field office, declined to comment.

Suiter, 43, was shot in the head with his own gun in a vacant lot while investigating a 2016 triple killing in West Baltimores Harlem Park neighborhood.

Police said he confronted a man he saw acting suspiciously. Police recovered three shell casings, all fired from Suiters weapon, which was found on or next to his body.

Davis has said that Suiters shirt showed evidence of a struggle with an assailant and that the detective made a radio transmission that is unintelligible but shows he was in distress. A gunshot can be heard at the end of the call.

The only description of a possible shooter is of a black man wearing a black coat with a white stripe. A reward in the case stands at $215,000.

[Baltimore police detective shot in head with own gun]

Suiter had been scheduled to testify at a grand jury examining evidence in the Broken Boundaries investigation, which has uncovered alleged shakedowns by members of an elite gun squad and has led to several indictments of officers and four convictions.

Davis has said Suiter was to have testified before the grand jury considering new allegations against a police sergeant who had previously been indicted and faces trial early next year. Suiter had recovered drugs from a vehicle after a pursuit in 2010. Prosecutors said the sergeant planted the drugs and used Suiter as an unwitting dupe to find them to strengthen the case.

Two suspects pleaded guilty and were sentenced to prison terms, but their convictions have since been vacated and they were freed from prison.

The sergeant faces additional charges based on that incident.

[Baltimore police detective killed while investigating triple homicide]

Suiters death hours before he was to have testified prompted several theories, including the possibility that Suiter had taken his own life in an elaborately staged suicide. Davis, who has previously addressed such questions, brought the sensitive subjects up on his own Wednesday.

The commissioner has repeatedly said that there is no evidence Suiter was killed because of his testimony, and he added that the FBI has reinforced that position by not taking the case. He also said there is zero evidence that supports that theory of suicide.

What we have left before us, Davis said, is a murder and a yet-to-be-identified perpetrator.
On Tuesday, the day after Christmas, at least four people were shot in the District of Columbia within a few hours. Two were described as being undeer 18 years old, and in another case police said the attacker fled on a bicycle.

The first of the days shooting was reported around 5 p.m. in the 2600 block of 22nd Street SE. The victim, a man, according to initial accounts, was described by police as conscious and breathing after being hit.

It was in that case that the assailant rode away on a bicycle, according to the early account provided by police.

The second incident of gunfire was described as a double shooting. It occurred around 8 p.m. at Otis and Warder Streets NW, the police said.

According to the police, the victims, described only as juvenile males were in that area when they were approached by two people in masks and dark clothing.

The masked assailants began shooting at the youths, the police said.

The victims were hit in their legs. Their wounds did not appear to be life-theatening, the police said.

The fourth person who was shot was wounded about 10:15 p.m. in the 4300 block of F Street SE, police said. He was said to be conscious and breathing after being hit .
Police closed off the of H Street NW betweeen Sixth and Seventh streets on Wednesday morning to investigate a possible shooting. (Ellie Silverman/The Washington Post)

A man fired a gun Wednesday morning in a busy intersection in downtown Washingtons Chinatown neighborhood, but police say it is unclear if anyone was struck.

The incident occurred about 8 a.m. at Seventh and H streets Northwest.

Dustin Sternbeck, the chief D.C. police spokesman, said surveillance camera video shows a man shooting at someone else. Sternbeck said it appears that the gunman was aiming at somebody and not randomly firing.

Police rushed to the area, but as of nearly 10 a.m. neither a victim nor a gunman had been located, Sternbeck said. Officers were checking area hospitals for a possible victim.

Sgt. Maurice Bragg, a private guard for Code Black Security, said he was doing paperwork inside Walgreens when he heard a gunshot. Then he saw people running, some of them into the pharmacy on Seventh Street.

I just kept doing my paperwork, Bragg, 56, said, adding that he wasnt fearful because he was inside. It gets busy. Somebody couldve gotten hit. . . . This place get busy all the time. A lot of traffic down here, different restaurants.

Police kept the 600 block of H Street, near Gallery Place, shut down during the investigation. The street reopened about 9:45 a.m. The area is normally packed with commuters, though traffic is light this week.
A man who was fatally shot Christmas Eve in Silver Spring has been identified as Jose Herrera, 18, according to Montgomery County police.

Authorities said Herrera was shot multiple times about 6:30 p.m. in the 1000 block of Quebec Terrace. The victim, who police said had no known address, was located outside, police said, and pronounced dead on the scene.

No arrests have been made in the Dec. 24 shooting and police released no further information.
A Maryland man was charged with murder in connection with a fatal shooting in Prince Georges County last year, authorities said Wednesday.

On May 31, 2016, at about 9 p.m., officers responded to the 800 block of Kayak Avenue in Capitol Heights for the report of a shooting, Prince Georges County police said in a statement. They found Daryl Antjuan Walker, 23, of Capitol Heights, suffering from gunshot wounds, and he was pronounced dead at the scene, the statement said.

[Police identify man found shot dead in Capitol Heights]

On Wednesday, police said they arrested Reginald Clayburn, 30, of Capitol Heights, who was charged with first- and second-degree murder in the killing. The shooting was related to an ongoing dispute, according to police, and Clayburn is being held without bond.

Police asked anyone with information about the crime to contact them at 301-772-4925.
Prince Georges County police and prosecutors are trying to determine whether a Maryland homeowner had justification to fatally shoot a man who had broken into his vehicle.

The shooting occurred about 2:15 a.m. Tuesday in the 6200 block of Sligo Parkway, in Chillum. The man who was killed was identified as Deontae Parker, 32, of no fixed address. Police did not identify the homeowner who shot Parker in the upper body.

Authorities said in a statement that it appears the homeowner was inside his house and used a handgun to shoot Parker. Images of the house on TV showed a broken window on the second level of the single-family residence.

[Police investigating shooting in Chillum]

Detectives have recovered video from the homes surveillance system which shows Parkers actions prior to the shooting, the police statement said. The handgun used in the shooting was recovered from the homeowner.

Authorities said they believe another suspect fled the scene before officers arrived. Police dont believe Parker and the homeowner knew each other.

Preliminarily, detectives are investigating whether the homeowners actions were justified, police said in their statement.
THE DISTRICT

Man who was shot

dies of his injuries

A 22-year-old man who was shot Saturday in Southeast Washington died at a hospital on Tuesday, according to D.C. police.

The victim was identified as Maleak Coffin of Southeast.

Police said Coffin was shot at 11:08 a.m. in the 2900 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE., near Congress Heights. Police said he had been shot inside a vehicle.

Police released a video that shows a vehicle and a person of interest in the shooting.

 Peter Hermann

MARYLAND

Three die when car

slams into a tree

Three people were killed early Tuesday when the driver of a Mercedes-Benz apparently lost control of the vehicle and slammed into a tree on a narrow, curving road in Southern Maryland, according to authorities.

Police said bystanders pulled the driver, identified as Eric Lamont Moss, 28, from the wreckage, moments before the burning Mercedes exploded 30 feet into the woods off Rose Hill Road in La Plata in Charles County.

Moss, who lived in La Plata, died at a hospital. The two passengers were pronounced dead at the scene. They have not been identified.

Diane Richardson, a spokeswoman for the Charles County Sheriffs Department, said a man and his 15-year-old son heading home to Richmond saw flames in the woods and stopped. They pulled the driver, who was on the ground outside the vehicle, away from the flames and stayed with him until help arrived.

Richardson said the crash occurred about 12:45 a.m. She said Moss was driving south on Rose Hill Road when the vehicle left the road and hit a tree. The area is about 30 miles south of the District.

 Peter Hermann

Police officer, civilian

injured in collision

An officer was hospitalized after a collision Tuesday in Montgomery County, police said.

About 12:15 p.m., officers arrived at Olney Sandy Spring Road and Village Center Drive in Olney in response to a report of a collision, a spokesman for the county police said.

Details about the collision were not immediately available, the spokesman said, but one officer and one civilian were taken to a trauma center.

In a Twitter message, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service spokesman Pete Piringer said their injuries should be non-life-threatening.

 Justin Wm. Moyer

VIRGINIA

Christmas car chase

ends in shootout

A South Carolina man is in custody after a high-speed chase and firefight Monday that police say left the suspect wounded in a wooded Virginia traffic median.

Jerrell C. Richardson, 21, of Greenville, S.C., is being held at Rappahannock Regional Jail on various charges, authorities said.

After an alert had been issued for a stolen Ford Escape, officers spotted the vehicle in north Richmond on Monday night, and approached it..

But it headed onto Interstate 95 north at more than 120 mph, state police said. The driver rammed a state troopers vehicle at least twice, then bailed out of the moving car and shot at the troopers as he ran, police said. One fired back, but the gunman continued into the woods.

The highway was closed in both directions and Richardson was taken into custody, police said. He was treated for non-life-threatening wounds after being hit during the exchange of shots, police said.

 Rachel Weiner

The Region

Crime takes no Christmas holiday

Thieves who take things from cars took no holiday for Christmas, not in Virginia or in Maryland, according to authorities.

Sixteen thefts from cars were reported on Christmas Day in Prince Georges County, police there said.

It brought the total of such thefts in the county over the three-day weekend to 43.

In Fairfax County, police reported at least 17 thefts from cars on Saturday morning in the West Springfield police district.

.

 Martin Weil
The guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain steers towards the Changi Naval Base in Singapore, following a collision with a tanker on Aug. 21. (Joshua Fulton/AP)

On her living room table, Rachel Eckels keeps a note her son wrote when he was 4. On the refrigerator door hangs a later photo of the young man, movie-star handsome in his dress-blue uniform.

And on the kitchen counter, in a FedEx box, is his death certificate.

Timothy Eckels Jr., 23, of Manchester, Md., a Navy Information Systems Technician 2nd Class aboard the USS John S. McCain, was killed in August when the destroyer collided with a tanker in the crowded Singapore Strait.

Eckels was one of three Marylanders killed this year in two separate collisions involving ships of the Navys 7th Fleet in the Pacific Ocean. Electronics Technician 1st Class Kevin Bushell, 26, of Gaithersburg, also died aboard the McCain on Aug. 21. Petty Officer 1st Class Xavier Martin, 24, of Halethorpe, died aboard the USS Fitzgerald on June 17.

Now, their families are grappling for explanations  and growing increasingly dissatisfied with the Navys response.

I want answers, Rachel Eckels said one recent afternoon in her Arlington apartment. In her lap lay an open folder filled with documents related to the crash.

It just doesnt make sense to us.

The grieving parents are questioning the official accounts that they have received from the Navy. They say that the 72-page report released by the Navy last month puts too much blame on the ships crew while glossing over problems with training, manpower and maintenance that have plagued the Japan-based 7th fleet for years. And theyre angry at what they view as a lack of will in Washington to pay for the demands placed on the military.

How dare you blame the crew? said Darrold Martin, Xavier Martins father. 

Darrold Martin said his son called days before the incident to say the ship lost power and was forced to return to its base in Yokosuka, Japan. The Navy veteran said that he later learned there had also been a problem with one of the ships radars. Neither incident was mentioned in the report.

The Fitzgerald crashed into the Philippines-flagged container ship ACX Crystal off the coast of Japan in early morning darkness.

Theres more to it than this, Martin said, waving a hand over the document on his dining room table.

The Halethorpe man also pointed to a near miss in May, when the Fitzgerald almost collided with another ship: That wasnt a wake-up call?

The 7th Fleet, the Navys largest deployed overseas, has suffered at least six high-profile accidents this year.

In January, the guided-missile cruiser USS Antietam ran aground in Tokyo Bay. In May, the USS Lake Champlain collided with a fishing vessel east of the Korean Peninsula.

Ten sailors died aboard the McCain. Seven died on the Fitzgerald. The 17 fatalities represent more ship-related deaths in one year than the Navy has experienced in at least two decades.

The 7th Fleet operates in some of the worlds most volatile waters. North Korea is rattling its neighbors and the world with nuclear detonations and missile tests, and China has angered the international community by building islands in the South China Sea. Both have drawn a large U.S. presence and placed high demands on U.S. sailors.

Concerns about maintenance in the 7th Fleet have been well documented for years. For the families, each mishap provokes anew the fear that nothing has changed  that it will happen again and again.

The Navy says that it has taken steps to address the problems. The commander of the 7th Fleet, Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin, was relieved of duty in August. Officials have stepped up training and required ships to begin broadcasting their location in congested waters  a technology, often required on commercial vessels, that the Navy rarely used.

They also have recommended further reforms, including creating a fatigue and endurance management policy, replacing aging radars and dozens of other new policies.

The Navy did not make anyone available for an interview for this article. Cmdr. Bill Speaks, a Navy spokesman, responded to the Baltimore Suns questions with a lengthy statement.

In the statement, Speaks said the Navy certainly regret[s] any doubts some of those family members may still have about how we have handled the investigation, or our duty to inform them.

From the moments after the first report of a collision involving USS Fitzgerald, through the release of our investigations into the collisions involving both USS Fitzgerald and USS John S McCain, we have had no higher priority than tending to the needs of the families of the sailors lost in those collisions, Speaks said.

The Navy, along with the rest of the military, has been operating under budget constraints enacted by Congress in 2011. Officials have acknowledged that spending caps have placed enormous constraints on Navy operations. Lawmakers might be poised to lift them this year.

The Navy acknowledged that fatigue among sailors played a role in the Fitzgerald collision. Rachel Eckels said her son, a 2012 graduate of Manchester Valley High School, regularly worked 12-hour shifts on the McCain, sometimes with as little as two hours rest between them. Im so tired, he would say over and over again when they spoke on the phone.

He was always tired, Rachel Eckels said. Always.

The Government Accountability Office found that some sailors were often working more than 100 hours a week.

While Thomas S. Bushell smoked on the front step of his home in Gaithersburg, Md.  a habit he had picked up again, after 12 years, when he learned that his son was missing  he acknowledged that most people think all their kids are perfect. But he stressed that his son was a man of honesty and integrity, someone with a great soul who knew right from wrong at an early age.

To me, he was destined for greater things, he said.

Like the others who lost loved ones in the collisions, he said that he believes there is more to what happened than the Navy is saying. Families, he said, have received conflicting information about whether the sailors who died were awake or asleep at the time of the collision.

The report describes in harrowing detail the chaos aboard both the Fitzgerald and the McCain when the collisions breached sleeping quarters. As the last group of Fitzgerald sailors tried to escape up a ladder, the water reached their necks. One sailor said he had begun to breathe water when a shipmate pulled him to safety.

Ultimately, he said, he believes the cause of the McCain crash was a failure of leadership.

They put training aside to do missions, he said. They were compromising the training . . . because they had to be out on patrol. They were on patrol twice or three times as much as any other ships in any other fleet.

On the McCain, Navy investigators concluded that there was confusion after the commanding officer divided the ship's steering and speed among different helm stations. Crew members keeping watch at the helm had "insufficient proficiency and knowledge of the systems," the report said. The bridge ultimately lost track of who was steering the ship, the Navy said, as well as the tanker's course.

The Navy found that the Fitzgerald did not have the right of way when it collided with the ACX Crystal. The bridge crew misjudged the Crystals course and did not try to maneuver out of the way until it was too late. Furthermore, investigators found, officers possessed an unsatisfactory level of knowledge of the International Rules of the Nautical Road. Watch team members were not familiar with basic radar fundamentals, impeding effective use.

None of the sailors who died in the McCain or Fitzgerald collisions were blamed for the collisions. But thats not the point, Darrold Martin said. By downplaying the broader issues facing the fleet in the incident report, he said, the Navy is not confronting the real problems.

This is not closure, he said.
Republican David Yancey and Democrat Shelly Simonds attend an event Nov. 28 at Heritage High School in Newport News, Va. Their race remains in limbo. (Julia Rendleman/For The Washington Post)

With the outcome of a critical House of Delegates race in legal limbo, Democrats and Republicans appear to be looking for new ways to wield power in a chamber that could be split down the middle.

According to an internal Democratic email warning the caucus to stick together, House Republicans are trying to woo an unknown number of Democrats to side with them when the House elects a speaker on Jan. 10, offering plum committee assignments as enticements.

Despite their best efforts, Republicans have so far failed to undermine our unity by offering deals to various members in exchange [for] a vote for Speaker, Democratic Leader David Toscano (Charlottesville) wrote in the email, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post.

Parker Slaybaugh, spokesman for Del. Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights), who is in line to become speaker if the GOP retains the majority, declined to comment on Toscanos assertions.

Toscano declined to comment on which Democrats the GOP had approached.

The Caucus is strong and will not succumb to Republican efforts to pick our people off, Katie Baker, a spokeswoman for the House Democratic Caucus, said in a text message.

In his email to Democratic lawmakers, Toscano warned them against calling in sick when the legislature convenes for the 2018 session on Jan. 10  or even taking an ill-timed bathroom break during the floor session, fearing that in an evenly split chamber, the GOP might seize any opportunity to call a vote and take control.

If you are sick, you still need to come, even if we have to wheel you in (with my bad back, this actually might happen), provide cough medicine, or whatever else you need, Toscano wrote. If you need child care, let us know so we can work something out. Because if you are not in the chamber at the time of the vote on the Rules and Speaker, we will definitely lose the votes, and all of our energized voters will know that your absence kicked control over to the Republicans.

Republicans have led the House for 17 years and had a 66-34 majority heading into the Nov. 7 elections. But Democrats picked up at least 15 seats, part of a broad backlash against President Trump (R).

In the 94th legislative district, Republican incumbent David Yancey appeared to beat Democratic challenger Shelly Simonds by 10 votes. Then a Dec. 19 recount left Simonds ahead by a single vote.

The next day, a three-judge panel decided that a ballot that was declared ineligible during the recount should count for Yancey, tying the race at 11,608 apiece. The ballot in question contained marks for Simonds and for Yancey, as well as an extra mark by Simondss name that the court ruled was an effort to strike out the mark in her favor.

On Wednesday, Simonds filed a legal challenge to that ruling by overnight UPS delivery to Newport News Circuit Court.

The motions to reconsider prompted the state Board of Elections to call off plans to break the tie Wednesday by drawing a name out of a 19th-century pitcher unearthed on Capitol Square. The board said it would prefer that the race be decided on merits, with a random drawing done only as a last resort.

Cheryl Penny, the chief deputy clerk of the court, said no hearing on the motion could be scheduled Wednesday, in part because the three judges are from different jurisdictions and some may have been out of town.

Penny said the judges will communicate and set a date for when they can get together or possibly convene remotely.

If the outcome of the Yancey-Simonds race is not determined by Jan. 10, Republicans would control the chamber 50 to 49. If Simonds wins the seat, the House will be evenly split, forcing the parties into a rare power-sharing arrangement. If Yancey wins, the Republicans will retain their majority by the slimmest possible margin.

If there is a drawing to decide the race, the loser could seek a second recount.

The three-judge panels decision is not subject to appeal to a higher court. But that would not not stop either side from filing a lawsuit, perhaps on constitutional grounds.

Democrats also are seeking a new election in the House race that Republican Bob Thomas won by 73 votes, in which an apparent voter-registrar error led to 147 voters casting ballots in the wrong districts. Two voters who said the error denied them the chance to choose Democrat Joshua Cole are asking a federal judge for a new election. A hearing is scheduled for Jan. 5.

Its not unheard of in Virginia for Republicans to exploit a temporary absence for partisan gain. In January 2013, Republicans in an evenly split Virginia Senate used the one-day absence of a single Democrat  who was in Washington, D.C., attending President Obamas second inauguration  to push through a rewrite of the Senate map.

The scheme drew ridicule on late-night television, and Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford) eventually tossed out the map on procedural grounds.

Morrison reported from Newport News, Va.
OMAHA  An Omaha man who police say killed his parents and teenage niece inside his home was taken into custody Wednesday in Jackson, Tennessee.

John Dalton Jr., 46, was being sought on a warrant for first-degree murder in the homicides. He previously served prison time for the 1998 killing of his wife.

He was taken into custody without incident on Interstate 40 in north Jackson.

Tuesday, officers responding to a report of a shooting found the bodies of Dalton's relatives at 3912 N. 37th St. at about 8 p.m. Tuesday. Police identified the victims as John W. Dalton, 70; Jean Dalton, 65; and Leonna Dalton-Phillip, 18.

Court records say he made a deal with prosecutors and was imprisoned after pleading guilty to manslaughter and other crimes for the death of his wife, Shannon Dalton, in 1998. Prison records say he was paroled in 2010.
PENNSYLVANIA

Man who killed mom, not allowed to have firearms

A man who killed his mother and then fired more than 100 rounds at police as her body lay in a yard during an eight-hour standoff before killing himself, wasnt permitted to have firearms and likely obtained them from his father, who killed himself days after the rampage, authorities said.

State police on Tuesday identified Marylouise Meixell-Moyer as the woman shot 11 times in Bethlehem Township by Justin Kephart.

Kephart began firing at police after an officer responded to a call about the womans body on Friday, officials said. A bullet whizzed by an officers head as he peeked from behind a parked car as he tried to figure out where the shots were coming from.

Police called in an armored police vehicle to the quiet suburb about 55 miles north of Philadelphia as authorities locked down the area. But Kephart did not relent, shooting continuously at police from inside the house.

Kephart had some ongoing issues with his mother, Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli said.

Police found Kephart with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, officials said. Surrounding his body were two semiautomatic rifles, a shotgun and dozens of spent rounds. Authorities said Kephart had a criminal record that should have prevented him from obtaining a gun but said he likely got the weapons from his father.

Kepharts father, Dale C. Kephart, killed himself on Christmas Day, a coroners office in a neighboring county said.

 Associated Press

Four found dead in apartment building: Police say four people were found dead in a basement apartment in a house in Troy, a city near Albany, N.Y., on Tuesday afternoon and may have been killed, police said. Troy police Capt. Daniel DeWolf told the Albany Times-Union the building's property manager was among the dead.

Passenger carrying gun causes delays at airport: A passenger tried to board a plane with a gun and ammunition at Orlando International Airport on Tuesday morning, causing a long backup at checkpoints during the post-Christmas travel rush. The passenger had a carry-on bag containing a Ruger with a separate magazine loaded with 10 rounds of .22-caliber ammunition, a Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman said. The passenger possessed a valid Florida concealed weapons license, but will be charged with carrying a concealed firearm in a place prohibited by law, an Orlando police spokeswoman said.

Dog finds home after 445 days at shelter: A big Mastiff mix with droopy eyes that endured a heartbreakingly long stay at a Kansas City animal shelter has finally found a home. After 445 days at the Kansas City Pet Project shelter, where more than 10,000 pets pass through annually, Polina was finally adopted. The Kansas City Star wrote about Polina's plight earlier this month. She was sweet but always left behind when one prospective pet owner after another adopted other rescue animals, largely because Polina is scared of other dogs and children. But after the Star story, several people stepped forward to adopt Polina. Ultimately, she went to a Kansas City home where she can roam 3 acres of land and sleep on a large, warm bed.

 From news services
PERU

Ex-leader apologizes after receiving pardon

Former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori apologized to his nation Tuesday for wrongs committed under his government in the 1990s, issuing a vaguely worded statement two days after receiving a presidential pardon that freed him from prison.

Fujimori, 79, spoke in a videotaped message from a hospital in the capital. He received the pardon after serving less than half of a 25-year sentence for human rights abuses.

I am aware that the results during my government were well received on one side, but I recognize that I have let down other compatriots, he said. To them, I ask for forgiveness with all my heart.

Fujimori had not previously apologized, asserting that he was innocent. He led Peru from 1990 to 2000 and was found guilty in the killings of 25 people in a campaign against the leftist Shining Path terrorist group.

Fujimori, who has arrhythmia and tongue cancer, also thanked President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski for pardoning him, a decision that has prompted large protests across the country.

The president said Fujimori was let go for humanitarian reasons, but many believe it was part of a backroom deal struck to protect Kuczynski from impeachment on corruption charges.

Abstentions by lawmakers from a party led by Fujimoris son allowed Kuczynski to narrowly avoid being impeached.

 Associated Press

YEMEN

25 reported killed in Saudi-led airstrike

Yemeni witnesses and security officials said Tuesday that a Saudi-led coalition airstrike on a crowded market killed at least 25 people, including children.

They say the strike in the western province of Taiz also wounded at least 30 people.

The coalition could not be reached for comment.

International rights groups have accused the coalition of bombing civilian gatherings, markets, hospitals and residential areas across Yemen since the beginning of its air campaign against Iran-backed Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, in March 2015.

The stalemated war has killed more than 10,000 civilians and pushed the Arab worlds poorest country to the brink of famine.

 Associated Press

CHINA

Vulgar Butcher activist gets 8 years in prison

A prominent activist who called himself the Ultra Vulgar Butcher as he mocked and pressured Chinese officials was given an eight-year prison sentence Tuesday for subversion, the harshest sentence handed down in a sweeping crackdown on rights campaigners.

The Tianjin No. 2 Intermediate Peoples Court handed down the sentence after finding Wu Gan guilty of subverting state power. Wu will appeal the sentence, his attorney Ge Yongxi said.

Wu had become known for his attention-grabbing campaigns. In one, he posed for online portraits brandishing knives that he said he would use to slaughter the pigs among local officials who had done wrong.

In court on Tuesday, Wu struck an irreverent note in his remarks after the sentence, saying he was grateful to the party for granting me this lofty honor, according to Ge, who was in court.

Wu was among the first activists caught up in an intense crackdown by authorities that began in 2015. His secretive one-day trial was held in August after a detention of more than two years.

The court said Tuesday that Wu had made many remarks online that attacked state power.

 Associated Press

Israeli court extends detention of Palestinian teen: An Israeli military court has extended by four days the detention of a Palestinian teen filmed kicking and slapping Israeli soldiers. Ahed Tamimi, a 17-year-old from the West Bank, was arrested last week. Tamimi was filmed this month outside her family home shouting, pushing, kicking and slapping Israeli soldiers, who fended off the blows without retaliating. Her father said she was upset over the rubber-bullet shooting minutes earlier of her 15-year-old cousin.

Pakistan reports 3 soldiers killed by Indian fire: Pakistan said Indian forces killed three of its soldiers near the Line of Control in the disputed Kashmir region. The military said the "unprovoked cease-fire violation" occurred in the Pakistan-controlled part of Kashmir. It came two days after India's army said four of its soldiers were killed by Pakistani fire along the de facto border between the rivals. Meanwhile, Indian troops killed a rebel commander, Noor Mohammed, in a gunfight in Indian-held Kashmir.

 From news services
IN ALMOST every developed country, life expectancy at birth has trended predictably and steadily upward for decades, with slight hiccups from time to time, usually lasting just a year and often triggered by major epidemics. The United States, in the grip of an escalating opioid addiction and overdose crisis, has now recorded its second straight year of declining life expectancy, a nearly unheard-of event for a rich Western nation and its first such downturn in nearly 60 years.

That should be a wake-up call for the Trump administration, which has talked a fine game about the opioid epidemic but done too little to address it. A far greater sense of urgency is needed to address what has become one of the gravest public-health threats to the United States in living memory.

On Dec. 21, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that life expectancy in 2016 fell to 78.6 years, a second consecutive and statistically significant annual decline of a tenth of a year. The back-to-back drops coincided with an average annual increase in opioid-related overdose deaths of about 20 percent, and a staggering one-year surge in 2016 in which 42,249 people  an official tally that may understate the real scope of the problem by thousands  died of that cause. More bad news: Early signs are that drug-related deaths continued to climb in 2017, which could contribute to a third straight year of falling life expectancy, something that hasn't happened since the Spanish flu swept the country a century ago.

It would be a mistake to see the fall in life expectancy as part of a broad decline in American public health. Infant mortality continues to drop, and death rates from heart disease, cancer, flu, diabetes, kidney disease and other causes are mainly flat or falling. Rather, the main culprits are known as diseases of despair  especially drug overdoses and suicide. And the main victims are men, especially working-class young and middle-aged men, for whom the overdose death rate is twice that of women.

Mindful of the soaring toll, President Trump appointed a presidential commission on combating drug addiction and the opioid crisis, which recommended last summer that the president declare a national emergency, as he has pledged to do. That would have freed up funding from the national Disaster Relief Fund. Instead, in October he declared a public-health emergency, a lesser designation and one that has not unlocked game-changing amounts of federal dollars.

At the highest levels, the administration's response to the crisis has been sluggish, characterized by boastful rhetoric but stagnant funding. Mr. Trump has spoken of the government producing "really tough, really big, really great advertising," as if a Nancy Reagan just-say-no approach were adequate to the task of tackling a complex public-health scourge. He said the administration would crack down on the synthetic opioid fentanyl, manufactured in China, and endeavor to develop nonaddictive painkillers as an alternative to opioids. But where is the funding?
Kim Jong Un is preparing to negotiate an end to the Korean War. His persistent aggressive rhetoric and actions, while building up his military capability, are typical of those preparing to enter negotiations. The history of underdog nations and nonstate movements seeking settlement supports this strategy as being commonly used.

Again, we have locked into two alternatives. The limited choices we have allowed are diplomacy and destruction. It is time to explore another alternative: to formally invite Korea to renegotiate the armistice and end the 60-year conflict. The participants would be the same as in the 1950s negotiations. Nuclear proliferation issues would be forbidden from the agenda.

This is a reasonable option. Who gains from not considering this overdue civilized formality? We must hear what is omitted and figure out why. What other way do we have to learn what Mr. Kim really wants?

John Hanson, Arlington
VLADIMIR PUTIN boasts of popularity ratings that Western leaders, Donald Trump included, can only dream of  85 percent and above since Russia's invasion and annexation of Crimea in 2014. Yet Mr. Putin remains unwilling to test those numbers against real competition. On Monday, the state election commission banned his most popular opponent, Alexei Navalny, from running in the presidential election scheduled for March 18  meaning that Mr. Putin will face no serious opposition to obtaining another six-year term.

Mr. Navalny, who has attracted a broad following across Russia by campaigning against corruption, was proscribed on the basis of trumped-up fraud charges that the European Court of Human Rights ruled invalid. His real offenses were helping to lead opposition to Mr. Putin's last reelection, in 2012; producing videos documenting Kremlin criminality, such as the more than $1 billion in property amassed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev; and bringing out tens of thousands of followers in cities across Russia this year to denounce the regime.

Mr. Navalny was credited with 27 percent of the vote when he ran for mayor of Moscow in 2013, and his presentation of his case against Mr. Medvedev had been viewed 25.7 million times on YouTube as of Tuesday. Still, the conventional political wisdom in Moscow holds that Mr. Putin could easily best Mr. Navalny in the presidential election, bolstering both his international and domestic credibility.

He nevertheless prefers to stage a Potemkin vote in which his only challengers will be two perennial candidates, one Communist and one ultra-nationalist, and Ksenia Sobchak, a 36-year-old celebrity who has called the election "a high-budget show." Mr. Navalny has now called for a boycott, which means that the Kremlin's reported goal of a 70 percent turnout may be impossible to reach, barring fraud. In one recent poll, only 58 percent said they would vote.

What could explain Mr. Putin's seemingly self-defeating tactics? Some analysts argue that the authoritarian regime he has constructed requires not a credible democratic victory but a crushing show of strength. The message must be that there is no alternative. That is particularly true at a time when the regime is failing to deliver the rising living standards it once offered Russians in exchange for their passivity. After two years of recession brought on by falling oil prices and Western sanctions, the economy will grow this year by less than 2 percent.

Mr. Putin now seeks popular favor with nationalist adventurism, such as the invasion of Ukraine; the election is scheduled for the anniversary of the Crimea annexation. But that, too, may be reaching a dead end; Mr. Putins attempts to broker favorable settlements to interventions in eastern Ukraine and Syria have been floundering. In short, it may be that Mr. Putin has more reason to fear Mr. Navalny than the poll numbers suggest.

Even as he outlaws political competition in Russia, Mr. Putin continues to oversee attempts to undermine and tilt elections in the West. For him, democratic contests are a vulnerability, to be avoided at home and exploited abroad. In that sense, Western governments and Russias democrats have a common cause in countering Mr. Putin. What both lack is an effective strategy.
Columnist

As we approach the end of President Trumps first year in office, the list of extraordinary things he has done  for both good and ill  is nothing short of remarkable. Trump inspires such deep emotions in his critics and supporters that many have struggled to objectively assess his presidency. Some are so blinded by their hatred of Trump that they refuse to acknowledge the good he has done, while others are so blinded by devotion that they overlook almost any transgression.

In my columns, I've tried to give Trump the credit he deserves when he does the right thing, while calling him out when he does the wrong thing. So, here is my list of the 10 best things Trump has done in his first 11 months. (On Friday, I will give you my list of the 10 worst.) (Update: Here it is.)

10. He enforced President Barack Obama's red line against Syria's use of chemical weapons. When the regime of Bashar al-Assad used a toxic nerve agent on innocent men, women and children, Trump didn't wring his hands. He acted quickly and decisively, restoring America's credibility on the world stage that Obama had squandered.

9. He has taken a surprisingly tough line with Russia. Trump approved a $47 million arms package for Ukraine, sent troops to Poland's border with Russia and imposed new sanctions on Moscow for violating the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

8. He recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Four American presidents promised to do it, but only one actually did. This is why the American people elected Trump. He does what he promises to do, for better or for worse  in this case, definitely for the better. Even Jeb Bush tweeted his approval.

7. He withdrew from the Paris climate agreement. After George W. Bush pulled out of the disastrous Kyoto treaty, U.S. emissions went down faster than much of Europe. The same will be true for Trump's departure from the Paris accord. Combined with his approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, and opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to exploration, Trump is helping usher in a new age of American energy development.

6. He got NATO allies to kick in $12 billion more toward our collective security. Decades of pleading by the Bush and Obama administrations failed to get NATO allies to meet their financial commitments to the alliance, but Trump's tough talk and reticence to affirm America's Article V commitment did the trick. NATO is stronger as a result.

5. He has virtually eliminated the Islamic State's physical caliphate. Trump removed the constraints Obama placed on our military and let it drive the terrorists from their strongholds.

4. He admitted he was wrong on Afghanistan and reversed Obama's disastrous withdrawal. In a rare admission, Trump declared: "My original instinct was to pull out . . . But all my life, I've heard that decisions are much different when you sit behind the desk in the Oval Office. . . . A hasty withdrawal would create a vacuum for terrorists."

3. He enacted historic tax and regulatory reform that has unleashed economic growth. Trump signed the first comprehensive tax reform in three decades and removed the wet blanket of Obama-era regulations smothering our economy. We are now heading into our third consecutive quarter of above 3 percent growth.

2. He is installing conservative judges who will preside for decades. With his appointment of Neil M. Gorsuch, Trump secured a conservative majority on the Supreme Court, and he is moving at record pace to fill the federal appeals courts with young conservative judges.

1. He, not Hillary Clinton, was inaugurated as president. Trump delivered the coup de grace that ended the corrupt, dishonest Clinton political machine.

There are many other significant achievements that did not make the top 10. Trump has taken a clear, strong stand against the narco-dictatorship in Venezuela, and he renamed the "Asia-Pacific" the "Indo-Pacific" to include India in the larger task of preventing Chinese hegemony in Asia. Trump has made clear that he is willing to use force to stop North Korea from deploying nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of destroying U.S. cities  which has prompted China to finally put real pressure on Pyongyang. We'll see if it works.

The record of achievement suggests that, despite the noxious tweets and self-inflicted wounds emanating from the White House, Trump has the potential to become one of the most consequential conservative presidents in modern American history. The question is: Does all this good outweigh the bad? Well review the 10 worst things Trump has done in Fridays column.

Read more from Marc Thiessen's archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.
Columnist

When it comes to cyberweapons, America is an elephant and Iran is a flea. Still, a flea can be a persistent nuisance, especially for the unprotected.

Iran's cyber capability is the focus of a detailed study called "Iran's Cyber Threat," to be published soon by Collin Anderson and Karim Sadjadpour of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. It describes a country that, although "third tier" on the cyberthreat matrix, can still do considerable damage.

The disclosures about Irans cyberattacks are a reminder that the United States and its allies live in a dangerous electronic ecosystem. Russias hacking of the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign gets daily coverage, and Chinas theft of American secrets has also been well publicized. What gets too little attention are the less sophisticated but still toxic weapons available to dozens of smaller countries. The United States, with its relatively open systems, can be an easy target.

The Iran study is timely: The Trump administration has declared its desire to help Saudi Arabia and other allies push back against Irans proxies across the Middle East in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and elsewhere. The U.S. call for rollback is largely rhetoric, at this point; theres still little clear policy. But Tehrans allies can fight back, sometimes in ways that are hard to identify or attribute. Thats especially true with cyberweapons.

The Carnegie study describes a small but useful Iranian cyber capability that evolved partly to gather foreign intelligence and partly to spy on domestic opposition groups that coalesced in the 2009 Green Movement. Iranian hackers developed payback motive, too, after 2012 news reports about the U.S. and Israeli "Stuxnet" malware attacks on the Iranian nuclear program that had started in 2007.

A decade ago, Iran began mobilizing its own resources. This homegrown hacking culture is one of the reports most interesting findings, because it can probably be duplicated in dozens of other emerging economies. Irans cyber capabilities appear to be indigenously developed, arising from local universities and hacking communities, the report notes. Threat actors seemingly arise from nowhere and operate in a dedicated manner until campaigns dissipate, often due to their discovery by researchers.

The Iranian hackers began slowly in 2007, with cyber pinpricks. A group calling itself the Iranian Cyber Army defaced dissident Twitter accounts in 2009 and, soon after, websites belonging to Voice of America. But the attacks became more serious in 2011, after an Iranian hacker penetrated a Dutch security firm called DigiNotar, opening Gmail users in Iran to government surveillance, according to the Carnegie study.

Then came Iranian counterattacks, simple but destructive. After Iran's oil industry was hit in April 2012 by malware known as "Flame" and "Wiper," the Iranians launched an August 2012 attack on the Saudi Aramco oil company, using a wiper virus known as "Shamoon." According to the Carnegie researchers, the attack affected tens of thousands of Saudi Aramco computers and caused tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars in damage.

Iran successfully attacked the United States as well. In September 2012, a hacker group that called itself the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters began attacking U.S. banks and financial institutions with a primitive but destructive assault known as a "distributed denial of service," or DDoS, which basically flooded targeted computers with so much traffic that their systems crashed. Here, too, the assaults did a surprising amount of damage.

The FBI concluded that from 2012 to 2013, the Iranian operation locked hundreds of thousands of banking customers out of accounts for long periods of time and resulted in tens of millions of costs to remediate, the Carnegie analysts explain. Many financial institutions that the Iranians hit said little about the attacks to avoid worrying customers or shareholders.

Why did the Iranians strike U.S. banks? Revenge is the simple answer. The Carnegie report cites a National Security Agency assessment that signals intelligence indicates that these attacks are in retaliation to Western activities against Irans nuclear sector and that senior officials in the Iranian government are aware of these attacks.

Iran's cyber capabilities suggest that the Trump administration's new anti-Tehran campaign may not be without cost, even if open conflict is avoided. A website called the Cipher Brief, which focuses on intelligence issues, posted this month that "Iran's . . . Cyber Hackers Poised to Strike If Trump Shreds Nuke Deal." A computer security firm called FireEye reported this month that a group of Iranian hackers, dubbed "APT34," has developed a new backdoor cyber-surveillance technique.

Iran has an arsenal of cyber-stones, so to speak, ready to throw. The United States, meanwhile, lives in the worlds biggest glass house.

Twitter: @IgnatiusPost

Read more from David Ignatius's archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.
Federal prosecutors have requested records related to a $285 million loan that Deutsche Bank gave Jared Kushners family real estate company one month before Election Day, the company confirmed this week.

The records were sought by prosecutors in Brooklyn and do not appear related to special counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIs investigation into Russias interference in the 2016 election.

A Kushner Cos. spokeswoman said that the firm is cooperating in the review of what it called a routine transaction.

The Washington Post reported details of the loan in June. Under the deal, Kushner Cos., which in 2015 had purchased four mostly empty retail floors of the former New York Times headquarters in Manhattan, entered into an October 2016 refinancing agreement with Deutsche Bank. The loan was part of a refinancing deal that gave Kushner's firm $74 million more than it had paid for the property.

The loan was secured while Kushner was the head of the company and was playing a leading role in running the presidential campaign of his father-in-law, Donald Trump.

The refinancing was personally guaranteed under certain circumstances by Kushner and his brother, Joshua. The loan was not listed on Kushner's financial disclosure report, because he did not have "a present obligation to repay the loan," his attorneys have said.

Christine Taylor, a Kushner Cos. spokeswoman, said in a statement that the request from the U.S. attorneys office in the Eastern District of New York appears to have been made in response to news coverage.

Kushner Companies, in its long history, has participated in hundreds of loan transactions with an outstanding track record of success, Taylor said. We have always taken pride in the principled way we conduct our business and our trusted relationships with all our lending partners, including Deutsche Bank. We do not understand why anyone would look at this fairly routine transaction other than as a reaction to what appears to be politically motivated media coverage. Nonetheless, we have cooperated with inquiries.

Taylor did not specify the news stories to which she referred.

An attorney for Kushner and a spokesman for Deutsche Bank declined to comment.

[Kushner firms $285 million Deutsche Bank loan came just before Election Day]

The Wall Street Journal first reported that prosecutors requested contracts and other information about the loan by issuing a document request in mid-November. Separately, the New York Times reported that the U.S. attorney in Brooklyn had subpoenaed Deutsche Bank records associated with Kushner Cos.

Kushner Cos. said it had no knowledge of a subpoena delivered to Deutsche Bank.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorneys office in Brooklyn said he could neither confirm nor deny any subpoena or records request.

The Justice Department has been probing Deutsche Bank and at least one former top employee in an unrelated case. It settled charges against the institution in a massive mortgage fraud case, and the Brooklyn U.S. attorney's office issued a news release in September about civil charges brought against the bank's former head of subprime trading.

The bank has been repeatedly fined in recent years by a variety of enforcement agencies. In addition to the $7.2 billion U.S. penalty it agreed to pay in the December 2016 mortgage-abuse settlement, it was hit with a $425 million New York state fine in January 2017 related to a money-laundering case.

It is not clear what prosecutors are seeking to find out about the Kushner Cos. loan. Deutsche Bank is one of the biggest lenders to Kushner Cos. and the Trump Organization, which had about $364 million in debt to the bank as of last year.

Kushner Cos. previously has confirmed that federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York subpoenaed records related to its use of a visa program called EB-5, in which foreign investors who put $500,000 in a real estate project can be put on a track for U.S. citizenship.

Kushner has not been accused of wrongdoing in any of the cases.

The investigation by the U.S. attorney in Brooklyn is separate from the work of Mueller's team, which is scrutinizing contacts between Russia and the Trump campaign. The Post has reported that Mueller's investigation has included an examination of Kushner's business dealings.

[Special counsel is investigating Jared Kushners business dealings]

Among the interactions that Muellers investigators have sought to learn more about was a December 2016 meeting that Kushner held with Sergey Gorkov, the head of a state-owned Russian development bank.

The White House has said the meeting was a typical diplomatic session, while a bank official has said it was related to Kushner's business.

Much of the focus on Kushners real estate company has been on its 2007 purchase of the 666 Fifth Avenue office building in Manhattan for $1.8 billion, which at the time was the most ever paid for such a building in the United States.

The value of the property plummeted amid the Great Recession, and the company has been searching for financing to redevelop it. Kushner Cos. faces a $1.2 billion debt that comes due in early 2019, and it is not clear whether it can maintain ownership of the property, which it co-owns with another company.

By contrast, Kushners purchase of the former New York Times headquarters was quickly profitable. His company bought the retail portion of the building in 2015 for $296 million from a company called Africa-Israel Investments, whose chairman is Lev Leviev, one of the worlds wealthiest men.

Leviev told the New York Times shortly after buying the property that he was a "true friend" of Russian President Vladimir Putin and that he kept a photo of Putin in his office. A Leviev spokesman told The Post earlier this year that Leviev does not have a "personal relationship" with Putin and has met him only a few times.

Kushners company increased retail leasing in the space from 25 percent to nearly 100 percent and obtained higher rents. A year after its purchase, the property was reappraised for $470 million, a 59 percent increase.

That enabled Kushner Cos. to refinance the property for $370 million, including $285 million from Deutsche Bank, giving the company $74 million more than it had paid.

While Kushner gave up control of his company and divested some properties when he became President Trumps senior White House adviser, he retained an interest in 90 percent of his real estate properties, including the former New York Times building, according to his financial disclosure report.

Separately, Kushner and his mother have a personal line of credit with Deutsche Bank worth up to $25 million, according to his financial disclosure report.

Devlin Barrett, Tom Hamburger, Carol D. Leonnig and Matt Zapotosky contributed to this report.
President Trumps legal team plans to cast former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn as a liar seeking to protect himself if he accuses the president or his senior aides of any wrongdoing, according to three people familiar with the strategy.

The approach would mark a sharp break from Trump's previously sympathetic posture toward Flynn, whom he called a "wonderful man" when Flynn was ousted from the White House in February. Earlier this month, the president did not rule out a possible pardon for Flynn, who is cooperating with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Attorneys for Trump and his top advisers have privately expressed confidence that Flynn does not have any evidence that could implicate the president or his White House team. But since Flynn's cooperation agreement with prosecutors was made public earlier this month, the administration has been strategizing how to neutralize him in case the former national security adviser does make any claims.

Flynn is the most senior former Trump adviser known to be providing information to Muellers team. The lenient terms of his plea agreement suggest he has promised significant information to investigators, legal experts said.

Earlier this month, he pleaded guilty to one felony count of lying to the FBI, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Prosecutors said they will recommend a sentence from zero to six months in prison as part of his cooperation deal. Flynn's son, who served as his chief of staff, also faced the risk of criminal charges, according to people familiar with the plea negotiations, but was spared.

[Facing mounting legal vulnerabilities, Flynn turned to a deal]

Trumps legal team has seized on Flynns agreement with prosecutors as fodder for a possible defense, if necessary. In court filings, the retired lieutenant general admitted that he lied to the FBI about conversations he had with the Russian ambassador to the United States during the December 2016 transition.

Hes said it himself: Hes a liar, said one person helping craft the strategy who was granted anonymity to describe private conversations.

Robert Kelner, an attorney for Flynn, declined to comment. Ty Cobb, the White House attorney overseeing the response to the special counsel investigation, also declined to comment.

Defense lawyers have said privately that Flynn will be unable to point to White House or campaign records turned over in the probe to bolster any claims of a criminal scheme. None of those records suggest a conspiracy by Trump or his inner circle to improperly work with Russians to defeat Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, according to people who have reviewed the documents.

The private talks about assailing Flynns credibility come even as Trump has signaled that a pardon is not off the table.

"I don't want to talk about pardons for Michael Flynn yet," the president said Dec. 15. "We'll see what happens. Let's see. I can say this: When you look at what's gone on with the FBI and with the Justice Department, people are very, very angry."

Some of Flynn's family members appear to be counting on Trump to act. On Tuesday, one of Flynn's brothers tweeted a message urging the president to pardon his former adviser, responding to a tweet by Trump alleging bias in the FBI.

Mr. President, I personally believe that a pardon is due to General Flynn, given the apparent and obvious illegitimacy of the manner in which the so called crimes he plead guilty to were extracted from him, Joseph Flynn wrote. I ask for quick action on this. Thank you and keep up the good work!

Joseph Flynn did not respond to requests for comment.

Outside legal experts said that discussing ways to undermine a possible witness is a natural first step for defense lawyers to consider.

Its pretty predictable, said Randall D. Eliason, a former public corruption prosecutor in the U.S. Attorneys Office in Washington. Defense will always argue that a cooperator who lied previously should not be believed, and that there is insufficient evidence of the conspiracy. Its Defense Strategy 101.

He added: How effective it would be depends entirely on the strength of the other evidence that the prosecution can present to prove its case and corroborate Flynn.

Barbara Van Gelder, a veteran white-collar defense lawyer and former prosecutor, called it textbook for the defense team to raise doubts about Flynns version of events.

They will pull out all the arguments: You pleaded guilty. You dont have anything more than your word, and you probably got your son off with this. You got the deal of the century,  she said.

Securing documents that corroborate the statements of cooperators such as Flynn is often key when the case comes down to dueling accounts, legal experts said.

Peoples recollections can be faulty but . . . you cant cross-examine a document, Van Gelder said. It is what it is.

Exactly what Flynn might offer Mueller about what he saw inside the Trump operation remains a mystery. Van Gelder noted that in the way the special counsel structured Flynns plea agreement, prosecutors avoided sharing the guts of their ongoing investigation.

That is what I thought was the brilliance of the Flynn plea, she said. It said: Im giving just enough to have the judge sentence you within the guidelines, but not giving anything to anybody else. 

White House advisers have noted Flynn did not plead guilty to being a co-conspirator in any criminal scheme, which they argue shows he is not able to provide evidence of a larger conspiracy.

Some legal experts said prosecutors could still rely on Flynns testimony to allege such a scheme. However, others said persuading a jury to charge a conspiracy that did not include a key witness would be more difficult.

If Mueller opted not to charge him in a conspiracy, Van Gelder asked, how much of a crime is it, really?

Julie Tate contributed to this report.
Mississippis 2018 U.S. Senate race is poised to be the next possible front in the fight between rival wings of the Republican Party, a campaign that could test how the GOPs populist and establishment forces engage in the aftermath of this months bitter Alabama contest.

If state Sen. Chris McDaniel, the hard rights top recruit for the seat, decides to challenge Sen. Roger Wicker (R), he will be up against the incumbents well-funded allies and President Trump, who has pledged Wicker his support.

Those dynamics could trigger a broad intraparty clash such as the one that played out in Alabama, where the GOP lost a Senate seat for the first time in a quarter-century.

But Mississippis insurgent faction faces brisk head winds in its bid to topple another incumbent.



A recent poll gave Sen. Roger Wicker a double-digit lead over his possible challenger. (Bill Clark/AP)

McDaniel has held back from launching a high-profile challenge to Wicker as he has explored lower-risk options, including possibly succeeding Sen. Thad Cochran, who narrowly defeated him in 2014. Cochran, 80, has been battling health problems this year and has appeared to be in delicate condition at times in the Capitol, sparking speculation about how much longer he intends to stay in office. However, Republican Gov. Phil Bryant has indicated that he is not interested in naming McDaniel if the seat opens up, according to people familiar with his views.

In an interview last week, McDaniel, 45, said he will announce in January whether he will challenge Wicker. By this point in the 2014 cycle, he had launched a campaign against Cochran.

It certainly is on my mind. I think the race will be very compelling. Nevertheless, I still have to make a final decision, said McDaniel, who added that he is also contemplating a 2019 run for lieutenant governor.

A Wicker-McDaniel battle before the June GOP primary could reprise many of the internecine attacks that played out in Alabama, where conservative former judge Roy Moore defeated Sen. Luther Strange, only to lose the general election to Democrat Doug Jones. And it would force national Republicans to contend with yet another fraught party fight as the 2018 congressional election season ramps up.

Trump would have to determine how vocal and visible a role he would be willing to play for Wicker after his political brand took a hit in Alabama, where he backed both losing candidates. Some White House aides are hoping the president will stay out of Mississippi if it becomes a messy primary.

But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has encouraged Trump to back Wicker, and in an October call the president assured Wicker of his support, according to two White House officials and a Republican close to the senator, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private conversation. On the call, Trump noted that he is popular in Mississippi and could be of help in the state. The president did not seem very familiar with McDaniel, these people said.

A White House spokesman declined to comment on Trumps view of the race. McConnell spokesman Don Stewart declined to comment.

[After Alabama loss, Trump has ambitious plans to campaign in 2018 midterms]

Meanwhile, Wickers allies at the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the Senate Leadership Fund, a well-heeled group helmed by allies of McConnell, would also have to determine how to most effectively navigate the race. The Alabama contest exposed the dangers of appearing too cozy with their preferred candidates, as detractors branded Strange as a tool of the party establishment.

And Stephen K. Bannon, Trumps former chief strategist who has encouraged McDaniel to run, would have to judge how big a role he should play in the race after his candidate lost in Alabama. His critics are warning him to stay away.

Is Bannon going to huff and puff and blow up another Senate race? Or is he going to leave it alone? said Scott Reed, the senior political strategist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Bannon did not respond to a request for comment.

If McDaniel does not run, there is no obvious alternative with the name recognition and resources to wage a competitive campaign against Wicker. The filing deadline is March 1 and the primary is June 5.

McDaniel has said he favors replacing McConnell as majority leader and has sought to cast Wicker as insufficiently conservative, following the playbook that other insurgent challengers have used in recent years.

He told a member of Bryant's inner circle in mid-October that he was interested in being appointed to Cochran's seat if Cochran were to retire or die before his term expires after 2020, according to two people familiar with the situation. Around the same time, Mississippi Conservative Daily, a website that backs McDaniel, sent out an action alert calling on supporters to flood the phone lines of the governor's office requesting that he appoint McDaniel.

In the interview, McDaniel said he has had no official conversation with the governors staff about an appointment.

I know all the governors people. They know my people, McDaniel said. And theres been a lot of speculation about who might receive the appointment. But theres been no official conversation. No detailed conversations on it.

He said he would potentially be interested in filling the seat, but that there are several factors he would have to consider.

Clay Chandler, a spokesman for Bryant, said that the governor has not spoken to McDaniel about the Cochran seat.

Mississippi is stronger because of Sen. Cochrans service, and I look forward to it continuing, Bryant said in a statement. Speculation about anything else is insensitive, irresponsible and unfair.

Brad White, Cochrans chief of staff, said the senator has not made any statements regarding leaving office or relinquishing his responsibilities with the Appropriations Committee. He continues to enjoy his work for Mississippi and the nation.

If Cochran were to vacate his seat next year, a special election would coincide with the Nov. 6 congressional races. The possibility of two U.S. Senate contests in Mississippi has further scrambled the states political landscape.

Cochran narrowly defeated McDaniel in a 2014 runoff, relying on a coalition of mainstream Republicans and black Democrats in the final stretch of the campaign. The race was ugly and personal. To this day, McDaniel sounds aggrieved about the outcome of the open primary, which he said was effectively decided by Democrats rather than Republicans.

Republican strategists see Wicker, 66, as better prepared for a primary challenge now than Cochran was in 2014. He has stockpiled much more cash than Cochran did and has hit the airwaves with a television ad touting the sweeping tax bill that Senate Republicans passed and the judges they confirmed to the bench. A recent poll showed Wicker with a double-digit lead over McDaniel.

Were going to be ready for a competitive race no matter what Sen. McDaniel decides, said Wicker campaign manager Justin Brasell.

[McConnell takes aim at Bannon as he looks ahead to challenges facing Republicans in 2018]

But there are questions about how Wickers Capitol Hill allies would navigate the contest, which has become a sensitive topic in some quarters of the party.

As he boarded a subway in the Capitol recently, NRSC Chairman Cory Gardner (Colo.) declined to comment on what the Senate GOP campaign arm has been doing to help prepare for a potentially contested primary.

One possible line of attack against McDaniel could be questioning his loyalty to Trump, even as McDaniel has pledged to fight alongside the president to drain the swamp, according to a Republican allied with Wicker.

McDaniel was a supporter of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) in the 2016 presidential primary, serving as his state co-chair in Mississippi. Cruz, who fought Trump bitterly last year, said he thinks very highly of McDaniel, but will not break from his practice of staying out of GOP primaries involving his colleagues.

In recent months, McDaniel has had discussions in Texas about his emerging plans with strategists who worked on Cruzs campaign, including Jeff Roe, Cruzs 2016 campaign manager, according to Republicans familiar with the conversations.

McDaniel said his chat with Roe was among several conversations he has had with Republicans about his future. Roe declined to comment.

A pro-McDaniel super PAC called Remember Mississippi has been publicly encouraging him to enter the race against Wicker. We like McDaniels chances and are prepared to back him 100 percent should he enter the race, said Thomas Barnett, the super PACs treasurer.

The group, named after the rallying cry taken up by McDaniel supporters after his 2014 loss, had received just one donation through the end of June: $50,000 from New York financier Robert Mercer, a longtime patron of Bannon.

Dan Eberhart, a wealthy oil industry executive, said Wednesday that he gave $25,000 to Remember Mississippi in November. He said he has been meeting with McDaniel and plans on heavily backing him.

A spokeswoman for the organization said the super PAC has sufficient financial commitments to make the race competitive.

There are no signs that Bannon is walking away from Mississippi.

Steves a warrior, McDaniel said. He said Bannon has given him advice, but added that its not been orders.

Still, some Republicans say that Bannons support of Moore, who was accused in the campaign of making sexual advances to teenage girls as young as 14 when he was in his 30s, has blunted his effectiveness.

McDaniel called the Alabama race an anomaly given the allegations Moore faced, and said the outcome did not affect his plans in Mississippi.

Josh Dawsey contributed to this report.

Read more at PowerPost
To publish or not to publish. That has always been the question when it comes to Louis-Ferdinand Celine.

In a culture that adores its writers the way mothers adore their sons, the late French novelist inspires a special, almost unparalleled, reverence. There are those who will tell you that Journey to the End of the Night, his hallucinatory 1932 novel, revolutionized not only the French language, but the sentence.

Yet Celine, who died in 1961, was also something else: an avowed and obsessive anti-Semite. He cheered as Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany, and in the years after the Nazi leader cemented control in 1933, Celine published three book-length pamphlets that rank among the most virulently anti-Jewish texts in any language. Even the Nazis found them a touch too lurid: Celine had "correct racial notions," one propaganda official remarked, but his "savage, filthy slang" was beyond the pale.

[Journey to the heart of Celine]

Since the end of World War II, those three infamous works have been unavailable in France, save for dark corners of the Internet. In the spring of 2018, they are to be rereleased for the first time, following the authorization of Celine's widow, Lucette Destouches, still alive at 105. For decades, she has forbidden their publication, but recently  for reasons no one quite knows  she changed her mind. Gallimard, an eminent French publishing house, has taken on the project.

The reaction has been swift and forceful.

When news of the plan broke this month, the French government immediately intervened, demanding to know in what form the pamphlets would be published and with what, if any, contextual commentary. Prominent French Jewish leaders voiced outrage and vowed to fight the publication. Literary scholars, for their part, have decried what many see as a rushed project that would take years to carry out properly. For many, the question is why  and why now.

"What I don't want is an anti-Semitic bestseller," Frederic Potier, head of the French government's interministerial delegation against racism and anti-Semitism, said in an interview. He insisted that the letter he sent to Gallimard on Dec. 12 was not an attempt at censorship but a means of ensuring that precautions would be taken to guarantee the "scientific nature" of the project.

Gallimard's plans remain vague. After rumors began circulating, the publishing house confirmed to the French media that it would be releasing a single volume tentatively titled "Ecrits Polemiques," or "Polemical Writings," which will contain the three notorious pamphlets: "Bagatelles pour un massacre," or "Trifles for a Massacre" (1937); "L'Ecole des cadavres," or "The School for Corpses" (1938);, and "Les Beaux draps," or "A Fine Mess" (1941).

Further details seem to be under lock and key. Regis Tettamanzi, the literary scholar slated to edit the new collection, declined to comment. Tettamanzi edited a similar 2012 edition that was released in Quebec but never in France.

For the government, even the new volumes proposed title is problematic. The term polemical, Potier said, clearly suggests a matter of opinion.

In France, racism is not an opinion. Its a crime, he said. Simply put, these [pamphlets] are not literature. These are calls to hate. The risk is that it reinforces prejudice, that it reinforces things you can already see on the Internet  and especially among right-wing extremists.

That is also the position of French Jewish leaders, who point to a climate of anti-Semitism here.

In Frances recent presidential election, 34 percent of voters ultimately supported the National Front, the extreme-right party founded by Jean-Marie Le Pen, a convicted Holocaust denier. Allegations of continued Holocaust denial and other anti-Semitic views clouded the candidacy of Le Pens daughter, Marine. French Jews also express concern about manifestations of anti-Semitism in certain segments of Frances Muslim population, especially immigrant youths. Violent incidents targeting Jews or Jewish sites are regularly reported.

"That academics should study this book to understand it, or go to the library to consult it  that's not a problem," Serge Klarsfeld, 82, a lifelong Nazi hunter, said in an interview with the French magazine L'Obs, formerly known as Le Nouvel Observateur. "But just imagine. We could go into a bookstore and find it on the shelves. That I find intolerable."

For scholars, however, the issue is what, exactly, these polarizing pamphlets are.

In the late 1980s, Alice Kaplan, an acclaimed scholar of French literature now at Yale University, revealed that much of the content of the three works had been lifted from other sources and quoted liberally without attribution. Further fueling questions about the pamphlets actual historical significance is the fact that they also recycled widely used anti-Semitic cliches.

There are two ways to read these plagiarized texts, Kaplan said in a telephone interview. One is to understand Celines milieu  here we have a guy who was trying to pass on The Protocols of the Elders of Zion to the French  a reference to the 19th-century anti-Semitic tract, later exposed as a fabrication, that was embraced by Hitler.

But on another level, you can see the pamphlets as a bizarre writing workshop, almost a laboratory. He puts the reader right on the spot, in a modernist universe where youre right there with him in the moment, reading over his shoulder, watching him getting outraged and building his collage, she said. If you read the pamphlets, you can see Celine evolving as a writer. But, of course, he was using poison to do it.

To document all the extreme and obscure sources Celine drew on in these pamphlets  as well as to correct all the untruths he circulated  is a massive undertaking, said Pierre-Andre Taguieff, a historian and co-author with his wife, Annick Duraffour, of a 1,182-page study of Celine's understanding of Jews and the concept of race that was published this year. It would be impossible to deliver an appropriate edition as early as May, he said.

Whatever happens with the current project, all of Celines writings will enter the public domain in 2031, 70 years after the authors death. For Taguieff, that means there is no need to rush publication of the pamphlets; rather, he advocates a responsible, painstaking approach.

We live in a society where information is free, a liberal democracy with a digital world where there is no real regulation on the circulation of texts, he said. The best is thus to do a proper edition. Doing anything else is extremely dangerous.

Read more:

Philip Roth is Frances newest literary superstar. Why?

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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An investigator speaks on the phone inside a supermarket after an explosion in St.Petersburg on Wednesday. (Dmitri Lovetsky/AP)

A bomb exploded in a supermarket in the Russian city of St. Petersburg on Wednesday, injuring 10 and raising new concerns of terrorism days after Russian authorities claimed that a tip from the United States helped ward off a major attack in the same city.

The bomb, which authorities called a "homemade explosive device" with the strength of about half a pound of TNT, exploded in locker at a Perekryostok supermarket in the northeast of St. Petersburg, Russia's second-

largest city and the country's cultural capital. The bomb was packed with what authorities called "killing agents," which local reports said were ball bearings.

Russian authorities did not immediately call the explosion a terrorist attack, classifying it instead as the attempted murder of two or more people, without naming the intended targets. No information was released about a suspect.

Nine people were hospitalized, including one in critical condition with shrapnel wounds to the stomach. As of Wednesday evening, none of the victims had died.

Local reports said that the explosion knocked down the door to the supermarket and left a hole in the wall.

The attack came 10 days after Russian President Vladimir Putin called President Trump to thank him and CIA Director Mike Pompeo personally for a tip from the CIA that thwarted a planned terrorist attack in St. Petersburg.

According to a White House readout of the call, the tip allowed Russian law enforcement to track down a group of suspects planning to bomb the Kazan Cathedral in the city center, among other targets, attacks that could have killed large numbers of people.

The call was unusual. While countries often share intelligence, their presidents rarely thank one another for it publicly. Both Trump and Putin have said that combating terrorism could provide a shared platform to improve strained relations between Russia and the United States.

St. Petersburg, a sprawling metropolis with a downtown renowned for its czarist-era cathedrals and palaces, has recently been a target for terrorism. In April, a suicide bombing by a naturalized Russian citizen from Uzbekistan killed 16, including the bomber.

Read more

Putin blames Trumps political opponents for poor U.S.-Russian relations

Russias aggressive response to the St. Petersburg subway bombing is raising questions

Vladimir Putin, Russias grand inquisitor and fixer-in-chief

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
STURTEVANT  Horizon Retail Construction would build a new, $5 million headquarters and relocate, under the terms of a pending development agreement with the village that will pay the company financial incentives.

Horizon, currently at 1500 Horizon Drive, Mount Pleasant, intends to buy the village-owned property at 9999 E. Exploration Court, Sturtevant, for $200,000. The cost for the approximately 4-acre parcel was calculated at $50,000 per acre.

Horizon does build-outs, remodeling projects, capital improvements, turnkey construction and more for the retail, financial services, restaurant and hospitality markets and in all 50 states.

According to the development agreement, Horizon intends to build a new two-story, 40,000-square-foot headquarters less than a mile west of the companys existing headquarters, which sits on 10 acres. The project is described in the development agreement as a high-end office building and Horizons future corporate headquarters.

The Sturtevant Village Board is considering a negotiated agreement that calls for an economic incentive to partially offset Horizons cost for the property and induce the company to build. In order to qualify for financial incentives, Horizon must construct a building that is assessed at $5 million minimum, a project expected to create or maintain 120 full-time positions.

The incentive, if all terms are met  including achieving substantial completion of the project next year  would be $18,675 annually for seven consecutive years for a total of $130,725. The incentive will be paid solely from the additional property tax increment the project would create, the development agreement states. The Village Board is scheduled to vote on the agreement on Jan. 16.

Horizon President Patrick Christensen, contacted Tuesday, did not comment, saying the purchase has not yet been made.

Current facility

Horizon constructed its current headquarters in 2008, only a decade before the project planned for next year. The existing four-story, 75,000-square-foot building, which cost approximately $8 million, is a steel, glass and stone structure designed to be a model of sustainability with minimum energy usage and environmental impact.

Last summer the village bought both the vacant 9999 and 10201 E. Exploration Court parcels, both of them near the Amtrak station, from MLG/JLP 20 East Ltd. Partners. The Village Boards intent was to be able to control how the properties are developed.

Also, developers often ask for free land in order to do a project, and it is often necessary for a municipality to have land to give, Executive Director Jenny Trick of Racine County Economic Development Corp. said at the time.
In his first interview since leaving office, former president Barack Obama didn't mention President Trump by name, but he really didn't have to: He told his host, Prince Harry, that leaders shouldn't use social media to stoke division.

All of us in leadership have to find ways in which we can recreate a common space on the Internet, Obama said.

The interview took the form of a warm chat between the 44th U.S. president and Prince Harry, who was serving as guest host on BBC Radio 4s popular Today program.

One of the dangers of the Internet is that people can have entirely different realities. They can be cocooned in information that reinforces their current biases, Obama said. It is harder to be as obnoxious and cruel in person as people can be anonymously on the Internet.

He continued, The question is: How do we harness this technology that allows a multiplicity of voices, a diversity of views but does not lead to a Balkanization of our society but, rather, continues to promote ways of finding common ground?

The interview was recorded in September in Toronto, when Obama was in Canada to attend the Invictus Games, a charity and sporting event created by Harry to honor wounded soldiers.

[Why Meghan Markle joining Prince Harrys Invictus Games was a big deal]

As a radio host, Harry provided a sympathetic ear for a back-and-forth between two global celebrities. The royal didnt really grill, and mostly he kept his opinions to himself, but he did ask questions that might be on a listeners mind.

Such as: What were Obamas feelings upon leaving office?

The former president joked, I used to cause traffic; I now experience traffic.

Obama said his life after vacating 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. at first felt as if it were moving in a slower motion.

We had run a good race, Obama said.

Obama said he could now enjoy taking 45 minutes to have breakfast or talk with his wife, Michelle Obama, "who had been my partner through that whole process."

The former president called his wife a spectacular, funny and warm person. She is not someone who is naturally inclined to politics, so in some ways, though she was as good a first lady as has ever been, she did this largely in support of my decision to run.

Obama also spoke of his marriage and family: For us to be able to come out of that intact  our marriage strong, we are still each others best friends, our daughters turning into amazing young women  there was a sense of completion, and that we had done the work in a way that maintained our integrity and left us whole and fundamentally unchanged.

On his life now, the former president said: It is wonderful to be able to control your day. The job entailed a wide range of responsibilities and a constantly full inbox. Now when I wake up I can make my own decisions on how to spend my time and what to do to forward the things I care deeply about. That is obviously hugely liberating.

I dont have the same tools, Obama said. I have to rely more on persuasion than legislation, but a lot of the things that still motivate me and move me continue until this day.

[Barack Obama is building a library  and grappling again with Chicago politics]

Asked by Harry about what he would do now, Obama answered: The things that are important to me havent changed. I still care about making the United States and the world a place where kids get an education, where people who are willing to work hard are able to find a job that pays a living wage, that we are conserving the amazing resources of our planet so that future generations can enjoy the beauty of this place like we did.

During his session as guest host Wednesday, Harry was asked by a BBC reporter if he and his fiancee, the American actress Meghan Markle, would be inviting the Obamas to their wedding in May.

The prince laughed.

Well, I dont know about that, Harry said. We havent put the invites or the guest list together yet so who knows whether hes going to be invited or not. I wouldnt want to ruin that surprise.

Read more

Queen Elizabeth uses Christmas address to welcome Meghan Markle to the family

For Britains tweed-and-shotgun set, Its warfare. Over a bird on the moors.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle pick a place and a date: Windsor Castle in May

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
Syrian staff members from the International Committee of the Red Cross take part in a medical evacuation operation in Eastern Ghouta, a besieged rebel bastion on the outskirts of Damascus on Dec. 26. The area has been under government siege since 2013, with shortages now reaching a crisis point. (Amer Almohibany/AFP/Getty Images)

The Red Cross said Wednesday that it has begun an evacuation of critically ill civilians from a besieged suburb of the Syrian capital as part of a rare deal struck between the government and a rebel group.

Ambulances conveyed three sick children and a woman out of Eastern Ghouta late Tuesday for medical treatment in Damascus hospitals. Some 400,000 other people remain trapped in the district, a pocket of opposition-held territory where a long-running

government blockade has caused scores of civilians to die of starvation or a lack of medical care.

[In besieged Syria, one wasting death just the start of a tragedy]

Under the terms of a deal between Syrian President Bashar al-Assads government and the hard-line Jaish al-Islam rebel group, which controls Eastern Ghouta, 25 more people are expected to be evacuated for lifesaving medical treatment in the coming days.

The International Committee of the Red Cross described the evacuation as a positive step that it hoped would be followed by more.

But the medical mission also underscored the extent to which hundreds of thousands of civilians in Syrias remaining rebel-held enclaves now rely on the dealmaking of belligerents still slugging it out in the dying stages of a war that has claimed almost a half-million lives.

The evacuation is part of a wider agreement that also involved the exchange of 29 government soldiers held by Jaish al-Islam.

Mohamed Kattoub, a spokesman for the Syrian American Medical Society, said the 29 patients slated for evacuation were drawn from a list of more than 600 sick civilians submitted to the United Nations in October. How they had been selected remained unclear, he said.

In the intervening weeks, scores of patients have been treated in underequipped hospitals for severe malnutrition, now reaching a crisis point after years of siege. Medical facilities in the area have repeatedly been bombed by government warplanes, according to local doctors.

In the two months since we submitted the list, we have added the names of many more patients with life-threatening conditions like meningitis, or with wounds that cannot be treated in the hospitals we have left, said Hamza Hasan, a doctor in Eastern Ghouta.

Rights groups say the government has used siege tactics across Syria to starve local populations and force rebels to surrender, which would amount to a war crime. The government denies the allegations, blaming the shortages on rebel groups controlling each area.

After six years of war, Syrian government forces appear to be wrapping up their campaign, mounting offensives against opposition-held pockets in the countrys north and center.

[On visit to Syria, Putin lauds victory over ISIS and announces withdrawals]

Civilians in Eastern Ghouta voiced concern Wednesday that the families cleared for evacuation had been given no guarantees that they would be allowed to return to their homes or that they would not be arrested upon departure.

The United Nations has repeatedly called on the government to allow hundreds of critically ill people to leave the suburb for treatment and to expand aid groups heavily restricted access to the area. With food supplies running low and temperatures plunging, activists have also circulated pictures of children so thin that their ribs strain against their flesh.

A local charity worker said Wednesday that at least one of the patients on the evacuation list, a 6-month-old girl called Nada al-Taweel, had died of heart failure in the hours before the ambulances arrived.

The aid worker gave her name as Laila, asking that her family name be withheld for fear of government retribution.

Louisa Loveluck in Beirut contributed to this report.

Read more:

This Syrian hospital hung on for four years of war. Now it is closing.

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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In a video released Wednesday by the Islamic State, a one-legged fighter identified by the group as an American calls on Muslims in the United States to take advantage of the countrys gun laws to obtain weapons and carry out attacks.

The fighter, identified by the nom de guerre Abu Salih al-Amriki, wears khaki fatigues with a holstered pistol in the online video, published by a propaganda wing of the Islamic State. He speaks in English with what sounds like a New York City-area accent.

Take advantage of the fact that you can easily obtain a rifle or a pistol in America, the fighter says. Spray the kuffar [infidels] with bullets so that their fear of the Muslims rises and they continue to reveal their hatred towards Islam.

The SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks Islamist militant media, published a copy of the video, in which Abu Salih also calls President Trump a "dog of Rome."

You entered into the White House on the back of your crusader rhetoric, which the fake media has pressured you to tone down, the fighter says.

The FBI had no immediate comment on the mans identity nor the potential threat of his entreaties to violence. Tyler Houlton, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, said the agency is aware of numerous online terrorist threats and routinely works with its partners to analyze threats and respond.

The possibility that Islamic State followers in the United States will acquire powerful weapons by legal means has been a growing concern of American counterterrorism officials.

Last week, the outgoing director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Nicholas Rasmussen, told reporters that U.S. gun laws are undermining efforts to protect the country from mass-casualty attacks.

We find ourselves in a more dangerous situation because our population of violent extremists has no difficulty gaining access to weapons that are quite lethal, Rasmussen said. I wish that werent so.

[Senior counterterrorism official expresses concern about U.S. gun laws]

The video released Wednesday begins with Abu Salih slipping on what looks like a prosthetic leg and pushing himself up on crutches. A bullet-scarred cityscape of demolished buildings appears in the background as he launches into his statement, in which he also urges other wounded and disabled militants to keep fighting. It was not immediately clear where or when the statement was recorded.

The slickly produced video is part of a recent series the Islamist militant group has dubbed Inside the Caliphate, featuring mainly foreign militants threatening attacks. A montage of beheadings and bombings follows Abu Salihs statement, set to a soundtrack of militants singing Soldiers of Allah.

The recent videos were produced by the Islamic States al-Hayat Media Center, which has published some of the groups most high-profile material targeting Western audiences. Its online magazine Rumiyah is published in several languages, including English, and often features calls for attacks in the West.

The group has urged followers to kill with any tools at their disposal, including vehicles, and asserted responsibility for the Oct. 31 truck attack that killed eight people along a bike path in Lower Manhattan. In Wednesday's video, Abu Salih also tells attackers to "get a knife and slice the throat of the [infidels] so that they know that the blood of the Muslims is not cheap."

The groups media output has waned, however, as it loses prime territory in Iraq and Syria where it once declared an Islamic caliphate.

Before Wednesdays release, the most recent installment of the Inside the Caliphate series urged Islamic State followers to be patient after the blood spilled in Syria and Iraq. It also encouraged supporters everywhere to rise against the [infidels].

Erin Cunningham in Istanbul contributed to this report.
RACINE  A City of Racine department head has appealed a judges findings in a lawsuit filed by her former employer.

Attempting to scapegoat

Connolly filed an appeal with the United States District Court this month asking for a re-evaluation of her claim that she is protected by absolute legislative immunity. Such immunity protects lawmakers from being sued for their actions or decisions as they relate to serving in a government position.

Connollys attorney argued in his effort to get the case dismissed that she is protected by that same immunity as a staff member for her involvement in the legislative process.

In November, Judge Sara Ellis denied that claim, opining that the Illinois Supreme Court typically takes a narrow view of legislative immunity. She also stated a separate immunity provision covers public officials in Illinois. She ordered Connolly to respond to the allegations.

Attorney John Murphey, who represents Connolly, argued in his appeal this month for the issue to be reassessed. He also requested the judge pause proceedings in the case until the appeal is resolved. That request is expected to be addressed Jan. 9, according to court records.

Murphey said absolute legislative immunity is appropriate in this case because he doesnt think Connolly should have to respond to the allegations. The immunity the judge stated could cover Connolly would require her to show she acted in good faith.

Its particularly important in a case like this, where her former employer is, in my mind, shamefully attempting to scapegoat her for the consequences of their own decision, he said.

Case based on The Reserve

The lawsuit stems from a proposed development called The Reserve, which would have been located in a zone of the village that required projects to include street-level commercial space.

The project did not did not meet that requirement, court records state. Tinley Park alleges Connolly knew this and intentionally ignored and actively concealed this deficiency, according to the complaint.

The village alleges Connolly then proposed a change to zoning codes that would eliminate the requirement, while hiding the significance of the change from the Plan Commission. It subsequently tabled the developers application and sent it back to staff for further review.

The village faced lawsuits from the developer and the federal government under the Fair Housing Act.

Tinley Park alleges Connolly schemed and breached her fiduciary responsibility to the village by intentionally misrepresenting information to move the development forward and protect her job. It seeks $75,000, plus punitive damages, from Connolly.

Connolly hired amid controversy

The City of Racine hired Connolly in 2016. The Village of Tinley Park placed her on paid leave in February of that year to review her actions concerning The Reserve, according to court records.

Racine Mayor John Dickert said at the time that the city reviewed the issue and believed Connolly acted appropriately.

We believe that her actions were consistent with what we would expect from all of our employees, Dickert said then.

Murphey shared a similar sentiment.

I think its really sad that a planning professional like Amy, who did nothing but her job to the best of her ability, finds herself inappropriately in these cross hairs, Murphey said.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 27/12/2017 (1787 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA  Jim Carr, the sole Manitoban in the federal cabinet, says hell make an extra effort to stay in touch with Winnipeggers in 2018, after a year in which the Liberals grappled with perceptions of being out of touch with Canadians.

Ottawa can be a surreal bubble, and we try very hard to make sure that we dont lose sight, the natural resources minister said in a wide-ranging interview to cap off how the Liberals fared this year.

Touching on four main themes, the Winnipeg South Centre MP counts his greatest success as the landmark energy summit in the Manitoba capital in October, and says his governments greatest stumbling block has been communicating its agenda.

DARRYL DYCK / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Federal Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr says he will spend more time in Winnipeg South Centre: When youre a minister and an MP, you have to juggle your national and international duties with being at home.

Communication difficulties

Carr rattled off a series of accomplishments, such as a $867-million softwood lumber action plan, and the provinces united front during turbulent North American Free Trade Agreement talks.

In October, the International Monetary Fund said Canadas economic growth rate was set to top the worlds seven most-advanced economies, while Statistics Canada reported this month the country added 441,000 full-time jobs in 2017.

But Carr admits those figures havent hit home. Though he didnt raise them, the government has faced a series of scandals this year, and accusations of elitism.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was dogged by an investigation into his late-2016 vacation with the Aga Khan, which recently found him in violation of the ethics code. The Paradise Papers also showed the Liberal partys top fundraiser (and Trudeau friend) Stephen Bronfman storing millions in an offshore trust.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau piloted a controversial tax reform in the summer, prompting loud outcry from business groups and a town hall that ended in shouting. This fall, Morneau sold off at least $21-million in family assets, after accusations of conflict of interest.

Meanwhile, a memo by the Canada Revenue Agency outlining how staff discounts are taxed  such as free fast-food meals and cheap sweaters  was quickly reversed.

Ill quote the prime minister: Better is always possible. Better relationships, better ways of consulting Canadians, better ways of expressing policies, Carr said.

He noted a rise in populism in western countries, as politicians lose touch with their voters.

We are nourished by our roots in politics, and when you lose touch with those roots, and you become distant from the people who are the reason youre there, the democratic process begins to breakdown.

Carr said he personally aims to be seen more in his Corydon-area riding this year, though expense reports suggest hes there most weekends. When youre a minister and an MP, you have to juggle your national and international duties with being at home.

He said four town halls within his riding generated a sizable crowd, with fabulous questions that werent lob-balls, and a sizable amount of mail.

Kapyong Barracks

It remains unclear why the Kapyong Barracks remained largely untouched this year. The abandoned Canadian Forces base, which sits in Carrs riding, was declared surplus in 2001.

The military started demolition this month of some nearby housing units, which it expects to end by late March.

But the military said demolition on the main site, spanning 64 hectares and 40 buildings, is expected to only begin next spring and finish within two years, because it will involve all buildings, roadways and underground utilities.

Treaty 1 First Nations successfully sued the former Harper government after the military tried transforming the base into a general Crown asset; Ottawa ended its years of appeals shortly before the 2015 election.

Carr said talks are ongoing with the group. That negotiation is being led by Canada Lands, and I get periodic updates, he said  yet the Canada Lands Corporation refused an interview, saying it doesnt comment on properties it doesnt own.

The last update I got was positive, that the Indigenous communities were more and more keen to come up with a proposal that will work for them and will work for the community.

Carr said whatever replaces it, such as an urban reserve with retail, would comply with Winnipeg bylaws and zoning rules, regardless of the developer.

Carr wants Kapyong to be fully out of federal hands by the October 2019 election, in a way that ensures that the community will be given ample opportunity to comment on it.

My hope has always been that we could sort this out in the first mandate. So were halfway through the mandate, and Im encouraged that there have been reports of important progress, he said. I hope it picks up speed in 2018.

Energy summit

Carr said his highlight of the year was a two-day meeting in Winnipeg he calls the most important, public conversation on energy, probably in the history of the country.

The Generation Energy conference gathered 641 people to talk about what Canadas energy mix should look like in the next two decades. International experts attended, as did activists, academics, oil tycoons and Indigenous groups, while 340,000 people weighed in online.

The event didnt result in a written strategy; Carr has said its instead an evolving policy. He ended the Oct. 11 conference by asking the crowd if anyone felt uncomfortable during their talks, and said every hand went up.

If were not uncomfortable, were not learning, he said. If you can agree about where you want to be in a generation, and then dial it back to where we are now, and plot milestones along the way, where we can hold each other accountable, its amazing what could happen.

The conference was held in Winnipeg because of a 2009 closed-door meeting where the leader of almost every major Canadian think tank carved out a set of principles to plan an energy strategy.

We locked ourselves up in my boardroom at the Business Council (of Manitoba), and emerged with something known as the Winnipeg consensus. The document was later adopted into the premiers energy strategy proposal, though the former Harper government was reluctant.

Days before the conference, TransCanada announced it was cancelling its planned Energy East pipeline from Alberta to the New Brunswick coast. Carr claims Canada will hardly be dented by that decision, because the lower price of oil that contributed to the companys decision will still make the Keystone XL pipeline viable.

Carr said the Liberals have done a better job than their predecessors at managing the balance between jobs, the environment and Indigenous relations, such as offering pipeline-monitoring jobs to local First Nations groups, and launching a series of concepts that most provinces have signed onto  but not Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

As energy minister, he sees his role as incentivizing provinces and companies to harmonize their regulations, while kick-starting investments such as electrical-vehicle charging stations.

The federal government has to lead the energy conversation with humility, and with understanding that the provinces own natural resources in Canada, he said. We have to be humble and careful.

He said Manitoba could transfer some of the clean energy it generates through hydro to another province where it will displace less-clean sources of power, while getting something worthwhile in return.

We seek to drive consensus and very often we can, but youre never going to get unanimity, especially in my portfolio. But you have to always continue the conversation. And also always imagine that someone might have a better idea than you.

He even said with an abundance of energy, from fossil fuels to hydro power, maybe one day Canada will actually lead the conversation about a global energy strategy. Thats how well I think Canada is positioned in the world.

Provincial relations

This month, Carr told the Free Press hed start hosting regular meetings between Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman, alongside the provincial government led by Premier Brian Pallister, which whom Ottawa has clashed over a multitude of issues this year, such as marijuana sales and health spending.

Carr said hes not interested in whether Pallister sincerely feels the province is being shortchanged, or if the former Tory MP is scoring political points by casting himself as the anti-Trudeau.

Ive learned over the years never to impugn motive in political leaders, he said. Its my job as a minister of the Canadian government, to take at face value what is done, and to deal with it. Premier Pallister has chosen to disagree, for his own reasons, on a variety of different files. It is my job to make sure that disagreements never are a threat to the interest of the people of Manitoba.

Carr said his government has taken special care to make sure the province doesnt miss out on infrastructure projects that require both provincial and municipal support in order to access federal funding.

We will make certain that the people of Manitoba get their fair share.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
The recently-formed Left Alliance in Nepal won the parliamentary and provincial elections held on November 26 and December 7. Two Nepali Stalinist parties, the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPUML) and the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist Centre (CPNMC), established the Left Alliance in October, announcing that the parties would merge after the election.

The CPUML and CPNMC, respectively, won 80 and 36 seats in direct polls, and 41 and 17 seats under a proportional system. Nepali Congress Party (NPC) could secure only 23 seats in direct elections and 40 under the proportional system.

The remaining seats have been divided among smaller parties, including the Federal Socialist Forum (FSP) and the Rashtriya Janatha Party (RJP), which claim to represent ethnic minorities, including the Madhesi and Janajati people.

Having a total of 174 seats in the 275-member parliament, the Left Alliance is set to form a government. CPUML leader K.P. Sharma Oli is likely to replace Sher Bahadur Deuba as prime minister in mid-January.

The Left Alliance also won 239 seats in provincial assemblies, while the NCP won just 45.

The victory of the Left Alliance is not an expression of popular support. Every party in the Nepal political establishment is corrupt and widely discredited. Since the Constituent Assembly was formed in 2008, following the fall of the monarchy, all the major parties have led governments that implemented International Monetary Fund (IMF)-dictated austerity measures and suppressed democratic rights.

The CPNMC broke from the Nepal Communist Party in 1994, rejecting the parliamentary system and declared adherence to Maoism. It launched a decade-long guerrilla insurgency, from 1996 to 2006. In 2006, the Maoists effectively derailed mass unrest against the monarchy, by laying down their arms and joined other bourgeois political parties under an Indian-backed Comprehensive Peace Agreement. The pact included the formation of a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution.

The Maoist CPNMC won the largest bloc of votes in the first constituent assembly election in 2008, but dropped to third place in the recent election, revealing the erosion of its base of support.

Launching the Left Alliance election manifesto on November 7, CPNMC chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda) said the alliances objective was to end the countrys elongated political instability by forming a strong and a single communist centre, and ultimately achieve stability and prosperity.

These parties have nothing to do with communism. Their perspective has always been to reform capitalism rather than abolish it. Since 2006, the CPNMC has rapidly evolved into a party of the political establishment.

In a revealing statement, CPUML chairman Oli told a media conference that countries such as China had become superpowers and prosperous without adopting a parliamentary system and democracy can also be strengthened through executive government. Both left parties have voiced support for an executive presidency, a form of autocratic rule.

Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world, with only $US862 per capita annual income. While the overall national poverty level is 25.2 percent, rural poverty has increased to staggering 45 percent. About 12.5 percent of working people earn less than $US1.90 a day.

Officially, national unemployment is 2.7 percent. However, according to a recent International Labor Organization report, youth unemployment is 19.2 percent and graduate unemployment is 26.1 percent. Around 92 percent of young people work in the informal sectorthat is, without proper wages, working hours or job permanency.

The Left Alliances promise to establish stability and prosperity in Nepal is illusory. The geopolitical tensions in the Indo-Pacific region are sharply expressed in Nepal. The country is strategically located in Chinas underbelly. India and US are seeking to strengthen ties with Kathmandu as part of broader efforts to undermine China throughout Asia.

The election results have evoked much concern among major powers, including the US and India, Washingtons regional strategic ally. International media outlets immediately declared that a pro-Chinese alliance had won in Nepal. The New York Times ran an article headlined: Communist parties victory may signal closer China ties.

India issued a face-saving statement, welcoming the election results. However, Indian analysts have commented that New Delhi is losing its influence in Nepal. Indias ruling elite considers South Asia, including Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives, to be within its sphere of influence.

Analyst Kanwal Sibal told the New York Times: Chinas influence in Nepal is well known and one hopes that after he [Oli] assumes charge, he will behave with maturity and not cause fresh headaches for India. He claimed that China would try to extract a price from the new government.

S. D. Muni of the Institute for Defense Studies and Analysis, a New Delhi-based think tank, said: If India fails to establish itself as a credible development partner of Nepal; the Chinese will surely gain in popularity.

During the election, the Left Alliance promoted anti-Indian chauvinism. Over the past two years, Indias relations with Nepal have been strained as New Delhi sought increasingly to undercut Beijing in Kathmandu.

In September 2015, India effectively imposed a trade blockade on Nepal for five months, sharply reducing the countrys oil supplies. India supported demands by the Madhesi movement for changes to a draft constitution, to give more autonomy to the Terai region that borders India. New Delhi used the Madhesi demands as a lever to pressure the Kathmandu government.

Land-locked Nepal depends on India and its ports for almost all its trade. During the embargo, Oli turned to Beijing for fuel supplies and economic assistance, deepening the tensions with India.

In July 2016, the Oli government collapsed after the Maoist CPNMC withdrew its support. This was, in effect, a regime-change operation engineered by Delhi, which secured the CPNMCs support to topple Oli and install Deubas NPC-led government.

In October, however, CPNMC leader Dahal removed support from the Deuba government and formed a new alliance with Olis party. The Indian media, without evidence, declared that China worked with the Maoist party to end the NPC government.

It increasingly appears that a section of Nepals capitalist class is seeking to break from its dependence on India. The two Stalinist parties represent the interests of these layers.

The US has stepped up its efforts to undermine Beijings position. On December 15, US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert described the elections as a historic milestone and said the US was looking forward to working with the new government.

Assistant Secretary of US State for Central and South Asia Alice Wells told US Congress in September: Nepal has been selected for one of the USs most high profile projects to increase regional connectivity within the Indo-Pacific.

As these comments indicate, the US and India will intensify their own interventions in Nepal to combat Chinas growing influence.
Christmas Day saw the frigate HMS St Albans shadow the Russian warship Admiral Gorshkov as it passed through the North Sea.

The BBC report dutifully cited the Royal Navy stating that the presence of the new guided-missile frigate, which is still undergoing sea trials, as being activity in areas of national interest and an example of a recent upsurge in Russian units transiting UK waters.

This was contradicted by the Royal Navys admission that the Admiral Gorshkov was in fact only close to UK territorial waters and the BBCs own admission that Russian ships have used these international waters regularly in recent times to sail to and from the Mediterranean for deployment off Syria.

This did not stop Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson striking a heroic pose, declaiming, I will not hesitate in defending our waters or tolerate any form of aggression Britain will never be intimidated when it comes to protecting our country, our people, and our national interests.

The incident is only the latest example of the UK stepping up its propaganda campaign against Russia.

On the military front, this month saw leading figures in the British military, NATO, and their associated think tanks claiming, without evidence, that Russian naval forces are developing a capacity to sever undersea fibre optic cables.

Chief of the Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshall Sir Stuart Peach, posed a new risk to our way of life.

Can you imagine, asked Peach, speaking to the Royal United Services Institute, a scenario where those cables are cut or disrupted, which would immediately and potentially catastrophically affect both our economy and other ways of living?

Conservative MP Rishi Sunak in a report, Undersea Cables, Indispensable, Insecure, from the Policy Exchange think tank banged the same drum.

A foreword by former NATO Supreme Commander in Europe, Admiral James Stavridis, warned that the Atlantic Ocean was in transition from being a theatre characterised by near complete NATO supremacy following the collapse of the Soviet Union to a space that Russia is actively contesting through a resurgent and revanchist naval doctrine.

Sunaks report underscores the modern worlds dependence on undersea fibre cables. Each cable consists of between 4 and 200 fibres protected by steel wire, insulation, armouring and plastic sheathing. Each fibre can carry up to 400GB of data per second. Ninety-seven percent of current global communications travel over 545,018 miles of cabling organised in 213 separate systems.

The main daily physical threat to the cabling network is the continual stress from the conditions in which they operate. Undersea landslides caused by the 2006 Hengchun earthquake, for example, knocked out six of seven undersea cables carrying phone and internet services between North America and much of South East Asia. Repairs took 11 ships nearly two months to complete, during which time the region's communications with North America travelled along the one remaining link. However, such is the nature of internet routing that should one route to a destination address be unavailable, others will be automatically sought and exploited. In 2012, for example, flooding in Manhattan data centres caused by Hurricane Sandy knocked out major network hubs, but the impact on global traffic was minimal.

Less dramatic outages happen all the time. Of all reported cable breaks between 1959 and 2006 as many as 44.4 percent have been attributed to fishing, while 21.3 percent are classed as unknown.

Even such cable breaks can have military consequences. In 2008, shipping in the Mediterranean accidentally cut three cables connecting Italy with Egypt, reducing 80 percent of bandwidth between Europe and the Middle East. The US military, which uses the commercial cable network for 95 percent of its strategic communications, was unable to operate many of the drones deployed against Iraq and Pakistan, so that flights were reduced from hundreds of combat sorties per day to tens.

Sunak nevertheless centred his attention on direct military risks, warning that cables can be cut under the sea, but cited no example of Russia doing so and only one undersea operation, involving the cutting of telegraph and telephone cables during the First World Warby the Royal Navy.

He naturally ignored the primary threat to the internet--the wholesale data harvesting operations mounted by US and British intelligence services as revealed by former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden. As of 2014, British spy agencies could access data feeds from more than 18 submarine cables making landfall in Britain.

However, Sunak did refer to the US- and Israeli-devised Stuxnet worm which wrecked Iranian nuclear centrifuges, but only to suggest that similar software (by implication Russian) aimed at sabotaging control systems could undermine the network management of entire cable systems or regions. He neglected to draw the obvious inference: that the US is undoubtedly equipping itself with such capacities.

To reinforce his message, Sunak cited the limited revival of the Russian Navy, particularly its submarine fleet over the last decade and a half. The Putin government has, besides modernising its ballistic-missile-armed nuclear deterrent vessels, built a small number of relatively powerful attack submarines. It also has a spy vessel, the Yantar, which allegedly has been working to identify cable locations.

Even so, every single investigation of relative strengths places the US, with or without NATO assistance, as possessing numbers and capabilities well in advance of its cash-strapped Russian rival.

This did not prevent the holding of a tabletop exercise, Forgotten Waters, hosted by the Center for a New American Security think tank, which considered a war scenario in which American warships and troops were seeking to cross the Atlantic in large numbers to reinforce NATO forces in Europe in a major confrontation with Russia. The naval war gamers confronted, Atlantic waters infested with Russian submarines, surface vessels, or aircraft that transited south through the GIUK gap--the waters between Greenland, Iceland and the UK. They were also told that an undersea cable between Iceland and Canada had been cut, creating a significant telecommunications disruption.

The discovery of this new Russian threat should be seen alongside the hysterical and unsubstantiated accusations of Russian meddling in elections and plebiscites.

On December 22, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson visited Moscow for talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov. The meeting saw a public clash over accusations made by Johnson and May of Russian political interference--including in the 2016 Brexit referendum.

May, in a November 17 foreign policy speech to the Lord Mayors banquet, accused the Putin regime of deploying its state-run media organisations to plant fake stories and photoshopped images in an attempt to sow discord in the west and undermine our institutions.

Prior to departing for Moscow, Johnson described Russia as closed, nasty, militaristic and anti-democratic, and said it could not be business as usual in relations between the two countries.

Citing the alleged threat to undersea cables, Johnson added that the UK is prepared and able to launch retaliatory cyber-attacks, if hackers continued to target Western power stations and communication networks, subvert elections and spread fake news.

At a joint press conference with Johnson, Lavrov described relations between the UK and Russia as at a low point, before adding, We hear some aggressive statements from London. Despite all that, we have never taken any aggressive measures to reciprocate.

Lavrov publicly rejected accusations that Russia had interfered in Britains general election and Brexit referendum, to which Johnson replied, Not successfully.
The year 1917 closes with the Russian Revolution in a precarious situation. The new Soviet government is menaced on all sides by hostile armies, confronting famine, anarchy and counterrevolutionary intrigues from within. Meanwhile, the imperialist war rages on, and the October insurrection catalyzes revolutionary struggles around the world.

By the end of the Great War in November 1918, the conflict will have resulted in 18 million deaths and 23 million more wounded and maimed.

Kharkov, December 25 (December 12, O.S.): Proclamation of the Ukrainian Peoples Republic of Soviets

The first All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets proclaims the Ukrainian Peoples Republic of Soviets (UNRS) in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkov. The UNRS is formed in opposition to the Ukrainian Peoples Republic (UNR), which had been created by the Central Rada in Kiev a few weeks earlier.

In contrast to western and to some extent central Ukraine, the Ukrainian national movement is rather weak in the eastern parts of the country, especially in major industrial centers like Kharkov. Here, a working class of largely Russian and Jewish origin views the project for an independent Ukrainian nation-state and the accompanying Ukrainization with indifference, if not hostility. The Bolsheviks and Left SRs have a far broader base of support in the east and, to some extent, the south of the country than in the peasant-dominated west.

The All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets had been convened at the initiative of the Bolsheviks, who had just a few weeks earlier formed their separate Ukrainian party. Initially, the Congress convened in Kiev, but the Bolsheviks moved it to Kharkov to protest the uninvited presence of 670 delegates from Peasant Union and 905 delegates from the Ukrainian armed forces. By the time the Congress starts in Kharkov on December 24 (December 11, O.S.), thousands of Red Guardists under the leadership of Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko are in the city to fight against the White forces under General Kaledin. On January 1 (December 19, O.S.), the Sovnarkom of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) in Petrograd recognizes the UNRS as the only legitimate government in Ukraine.

The government of the UNRS includes: Yevgenia Bosch as Peoples Commissar of the Interior; Fedor Sergeev (Artyom), a Russian-Australian revolutionary, as Peoples Commissar of Trade; and Nikolai Skripnik as the Peoples Commissar of Labor.

Between December 1917 and January 1918, Soviet power is established in several other industrial centers in eastern and southern Ukraine. However, following the peace treaty with Germany, the UNRS is defeated by German and Austro-Hungarian forces, who act in concert with the Central Rada in Kiev. It would take several more years of civil war to reestablish Soviet power in eastern Ukraine.

Calcutta, December 26: Annie Besant elected Indian National Congress President as opposition mounts to British imperialism

Annie Besant, a British national, is elected president of the Indian National Congress (INC) today at its 32nd congress in the Indian city of Calcutta.

A resident of British India, Besant is elected president despite a ban on her participating in political activity by the British government. For the first time in Congress history, you have chosen as your President one who, when your choice was made, was under the heavy ban of Government displeasure, and who lay interned as a person dangerous to public safety, Besant declares in her presidential address.

Besants election is an indication of growing opposition among the emerging Indian bourgeoisie and English-educated professional elite, who have hitherto served as a key prop of British rule.

Besant was president of the Theosophical Society and founded of the Indian Home-Rule Movement in September 1916. Based on the Irish movement for home rule, the Indian Home Rule Movement advocated self-government for India within the British Empire, an arrangement akin to the dominion status of Canada and Australia.

Besant, born in 1847 in London, participated in various social-reform movements including secularism, womens rights, and the Fabian Society. She was at one time close to the scientist Edward Aveling, partner of Eleanor Marx, Karl Marxs youngest daughter. She was present during the violent attack of the British police and the army upon workers in London demanding jobs on November 13, 1887, which came to be known as Bloody Sunday. After moving to India, she advocated various reforms within the framework of capitalism. Besant has supported World War I as a battle of democracy against central-European autocracy.

The British Empires grip upon the vast Indian subcontinent is weakening. The colonial administration, through bribery or coercion, has enlisted over a 1.2 million Indians, including 477,000 support staff, to be sent to Europe and the Middle East as cannon fodder in the imperialist war.

Financial contributions have been extracted by London from the Indian treasury, amounting to a massive 130 million (worth at least 9 billion in todays money). During a parliamentary debate in June 1917, Foreign Secretary Lord Balfour stated openly that India was bled white for war purposes.

The British have also shipped large quantities of food and fodder from India to Iraq and other war theaters, creating famine conditions in many parts of India.

These conditions have led to sharpening social antagonisms and protests. The colonial administration has reacted to these uprisings and protests with a mixture of repression and concessions. In August 1917, responding to social upheavals throughout the subcontinent, Britains Secretary for India Edwin Montagu was forced to concede that responsible government in India was the goal at a future unspecified datean implicit concession to demands for home rule.

Washington, December 26: Wilson puts railroads under federal control

Acting under the Federal Possession and Control Act, President Woodrow Wilson places the American railroad industry under federal control. Treasury Secretary William McAdoo is appointed Director General of Railroads, and the massive national networkthe worlds largest by faris divided into three regions: East, South and West.

The move aims to overcome the anarchy of the free market in the context of American mobilization and entry into the Great War. Chaos reigns in deliveries. In the absence of profit guarantees, rail owners are failing to deliver in a predictable manner goods for war industries and even energy, leading to what is described as a coal famine in home heatingand a number of deaths from exposure during this bitterly cold Christmas season. Moreover, federal ownership raises the specter that the military may be deployed to deal with striking railway workers.

Yet Wilsons measure has the inadvertent effect of strengthening demands among rank-and-file workers for the wholesale nationalization of the rail and coal industries and, thereby, the elimination of the profit motive in basic industry. Workers ask, If owners must be sidelined for the war for the rational conduct of industry, why not also in peace? The United Mine Workers incorporates the demand for nationalization into its negotiating position.

Wilson has no intention of such a far-reaching move. The rail barons will be restored to full control over their monopolies after the war, with guaranteed profits for their wartime use.

Washington, December 30: Wilson orders registration of 500,000 German Americans in Enemy Aliens list

The Wilson administration announces that the week beginning February 4, 1918 will be used to register and fingerprint an estimated 500,000 German enemy aliensdefined by Attorney General Gregory as all German men over the age of 14 living in the US who have not yet been naturalized as American citizens. After registering with police and magistrates across the US, the half million German immigrants will be required to carry enemy alien cards with them at all times.

The New York Times praises the edict on the grounds that German immigrants are the source of enemy plots and propaganda, and encourages newspapers and citizens to assist with the persecutions:

Registration will involve the gathering of detailed information concerning the business relations and habits of every German, together with his photograph and fingerprints. After registering he must carry a certificate card and may not change his place of residence without approval of the police or postmaster. Violations of the regulations will be punishable by internment for the war The information obtained will be of distinct value to officials in running down enemy plots and propaganda and in discovering what Germans bear close watching. The task will be great in cities where the German population is large, and newspapers and citizens will be asked to help.

Russia, December 27 (December 14, O.S.): Central Executive Committee passes decree on the nationalization of the banks

On December 27, armed Red Guard detachments conduct a coordinated operation to seize control of all banks and credit institutions in Petrograd. The Central Executive Committee passes the following resolution:

In the interest of the regular organization of the national economy, of the thorough eradication of bank speculation and the complete emancipation of the workmen, peasants, and the whole laboring population from the exploitation of banking capital, and with a view to the establishment of a single national bank of the Russian Republic which shall serve the real interests of the people and the poorer classes, the Central Executive Committee resolves:

1. The banking business is declared a state monopoly. 2. All existing private joint-stock banks and banking offices are merged in the state bank. 3. The assets and liabilities of the liquidated establishments are taken over by the state bank. 4. The order of the merger of private banks in the state bank is to be determined by a special decree. 5. The temporary administration of the affairs of the private banks is entrusted to the board of the state bank. 6. The interests of the small depositors will be safeguarded.

Meanwhile, Lenin has been drawing up plans for the implementation of even more radical emergency measures, which are designed to combat the critical food situation and the threat of famine.

Among these measures is a proposed decree that all large corporations open their books and operate in the public interest. Large corporations and wealthy individuals will be required to submit regular reports to the Soviet authorities regarding their activities and finances. All large fortunes and stockpiles of cash are to be frozen, withdrawals being only allowed for basic necessities. Further, all foreign loans are to be canceled. To help document and manage the distribution of food, which is in critically short supply, every Soviet citizen will be required to join a consumers society.

In addition, Lenin proposes the adoption of universal labor conscription. All citizens of both sexes between the ages of sixteen and fifty-five shall be obliged to perform work assigned to them by the local Soviets of Workers, Soldiers and Peasants Deputies, or by other bodies of Soviet power. Efforts to oppose these measures are to be met with the sternest measures. All offenders against the present law, saboteurs and government officials who go on strike, as well as profiteers, shall be liable to a similar penalty, and also to imprisonment, dispatch to the front, or hard labor, Lenin writes. The local Soviets and bodies under their jurisdiction shall urgently decide upon the most revolutionary measures to combat these real enemies of the people.

At a speech given in the Central Executive Committee on the day the resolution is passed, Lenin answers those who say that we are heading towards an abyss, towards certain destruction.

Nobody, with the exception of the utopian socialists, has ever asserted that victory is possible without resistance, without the dictatorship of the proletariat and without seizing the old world in an iron grip. You [i.e., Lenins critics] accepted this dictatorship in principle, but when that word is translated into Russian, called an iron grip and applied in practice, you warn us of the fragility and involved nature of the matter We realize that this is an involved measure. None of us, even those who are trained economists, will undertake to carry it out. We shall invite the specialists who are engaged in that work, but only when we have the keys in our own hands. Then we shall even be able to draw advisers from the former millionaires. We invite anybody who wants to work as long as he does not try to reduce every revolutionary enterprise to mere words; that is something we shall not stand for. We use the words dictatorship of the proletariat in all seriousness and we shall effect that dictatorship. . . The adoption of the decree is urgent, otherwise opposition and sabotage will ruin us. (Stormy applause.)

London, December 28: Labour Party conference endorses British imperialist war aims

A joint conference of the Labour Party and Trades Union Congress adopts a memorandum containing the Labour Partys war aims. They seek to dress up the predatory global interests of the British bourgeoisie in democratic garb, while at the same time attempting to respond to the Bolsheviks popular call for an immediate end to the conflict.

Labour appeals for the war to be concluded as soon as may be possible, a formula aimed at winning favor with the widespread desire for peace and simultaneously endorsing the ruthless prosecution of the war until Londons goals are met. Labours document swiftly adds that the party supports the continuation of the war until the world may henceforth be made safe for democracy, a hypocritical declaration aimed at the autocratic regimes in Berlin, Vienna and Istanbul.

The conference displays a highly selective application of the principle of the self-determination of nations. It calls for the independence of Belgium and the Balkan states, territories currently under the control of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey, and demands the return of Alsace-Lorraine to France. However, Labour has nothing to say about the ongoing colonial domination of Ireland and India by British imperialism. In Africa, where British and French imperialism control vast empires, it meekly proposes that these territories be transferred to a league of nations, an arrangement that would codify brutal colonial exploitation under the cover of international law. Lenin will later characterize the League of Nations as a thieves kitchen.

Labour gives full-throated backing to the Zionist project in Palestine, which was officially endorsed by the British ruling class in Novembers Balfour Declaration. The Labour Party memorandum expresses the opinion that Palestine should be set free from the harsh and oppressive government of the Turk, in order that this country may form a free state, under international guarantee, to which such of the Jewish people who decide to do so may return, and may work out their own salvation free from interference by those of alien race or religion.

Labours positions are a further elaboration of the pro-war stance it has held since the outbreak of the slaughter in August 1914. It has connived with the trade unions to suppress all strikes and working-class struggles under propaganda about national unity. It has shown its loyalty to the British ruling class by joining a series of wartime governments, including the current government led by Lloyd George.

The memorandum of Labours war aims will serve to guide the discussions at a conference of socialist parties from the allied countries held early in 1918.

Petrograd, December 31 (December 18, O.S.): Council of Peoples Commissars recognizes independence of Finland

After the Finnish government declared its independence from Russia on December 6, the Council of Peoples Commissars confirms its recognition of Helsinki as an independent republic. It brings to an end 108 years of Russian rule over Finland, which was a grand duchy within the tsarist empire.

The revolution has sharply polarized Finnish society along class lines. The fact that a bourgeois government is now in a position to have its declaration of independence confirmed by the Bolsheviks is due above all to the treachery of the Finnish Social Democrats, who, under the influence of Karl Kautsky and Second International reformism, have systematically betrayed the Finnish workers struggle for power. Only six weeks ago, the Finnish Social Democrats called off a nationwide general strike inspired by the October Revolution, thereby handing power back to the bourgeoisie after workers had seized control of almost all the countrys major cities.

Another revolutionary struggle is brewing. By the end of January, radical elements within the Social Democracy and the red guards of the working class will take power in Helsinki. They will establish the Finnish Socialist Workers Republic, which will remain in existence for little more than three months before it is bloodily suppressed by right-wing Finnish nationalists with the support of German imperialism.

Also this month: Mass arrests of socialist opponents of the war in Germany

Hundreds of antiwar socialists are arrested in raids by the police or drafted and sent to the front. The mass arrests occur in virtually all major industrial centers, including Koln, Karlsruhe, Munchen, Dusseldorf, Magdeburg, Darmstadt, Nurnberg, Kassel, Mannheim, Duisburg, and especially Berlin. The crackdown of the military dictatorship under General Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff on opponents of the war and socialist working-class leaders has reached a new high point.

Revolutionaries like Karl Retzlaff and Paul Frolich would later recall in their memoirs that the police and the military leadership had a relatively amateurish attitude toward socialist opponents of the war. However, the seizure of power by the working class in Russia and the fraternization scenes of soldiers at the front immediately bring about a dramatic change in their attitude. Apart from Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, who have been imprisoned for a long time, and Leo Jogiches, who is living in illegality, many other important leaders of the Spartacus League are arrested. The political leader of the Bremer Left, Johann Knief, and his comrade-in-arms Lotte Kornfeld are forced into illegality for months.

Despite these repressions, the New Year will see a gigantic mass strike in January all over Germany, in which the demand for an end to the war will play a central role.

Also this month: Heinrich Vogelers Christmas Fairy Tales

At the end of 1917, the painter Johan Heinrich Vogeler (1872-1942) considers how he can respond to the malicious demands of the German side in the Brest-Litovsk peace negotiations. The painter, famous for his Art Nouveau paintings and illustrations, has become known as a member of the founding generation of the artist colony at Worpswede, near Bremen, Germany. In his circle of friends can be found Rainer Maria Rilke, Clara Westhoff, and Paula Modersohn-Becker and her husband Heinrich Modersohn.

At the beginning of the war, Vogeler volunteered for military service out of despair more than conviction. He believed at first the propaganda that claimed that through the defensive war, peace for humanity could be restored. As a son of an affluent middle-class family, he had been inundated with ideas about love of the fatherland, fighting courage and heroic death. He later explained that he had been a political illiterate at the time.

Vogeler was given the opportunity to work as an army illustrator. In this capacity, he deliberately avoided any representations of violence. His sketches showed soldiers performing their daily tasks, on the march, digging trenches and in their quarters.

The longer the war lasted, the clearer its real character became to Vogeler. He took note of the revolutionary events in Russia with great interest. The messages of peace from the Bolsheviks resonated with him as they did with many common soldiers. He attracted the attention of the officer corps with increasingly angry statements about the war. To avoid punishing the still-famous artist, the authorities promote him to officer and send him to the Eastern Front. He urgently appealed for leave to go home, which was granted.

In Worpswede, he now considers what he can do to oppose the war. He does not produce open antiwar propaganda. However, at the beginning of January 1918, he writes a letter to the Kaiser, dressed up as a Fairy Tale of a Loving God. In the story, God goes to the Kaiser and berates him as a slave to appearances and demands: Become the Lord of Light and serve the truth  destroy the borders, be the leader of humanity  be the prince of peace  build rather than destroy. On your knees before the loving God, be the redeemer, have the strength to serve! Kaiser!

As a salutation, he writes above the story: To the Kaiser. Protest of petty officer Vogeler against the Best-Litovsk peace by force. On the envelope he writes the address of the Kaiser in Charleville, where he then dwells. General Erich Ludendorff receives a copy with the addition: Excellency, take off your red trousers and spend a few days there in the mudonly then will you know what the soldier at the front thinks. He puts both letters in the mail on January 11 and assumes he will be shot for them.

Without his involvement, the story is repeatedly printed and distributed as a leaflet. On January 30, 1918, he is supposed to be arrested by a petty officer and a soldier. After he entertains the two and reads them the story, they leave without him. He does not go to prison, but to the observation department of a hospital for the mentally ill in Bremen.

Vogeler begins a study of the works of Marx, Engels and Bakunin. After 1919, he unsuccessfully attempts to make his Barkenhoff estate into a socialist commune and a childrens home with a connected industrial school. He works for Red Aid, and in 1931 goes to the Soviet Union.

His Complex Paintings, influenced by Futurism and Cubism, fall quickly into disfavor with the Stalinist bureaucracy, and he attempts to orient himself to socialist realism. In 1941, he is deported to Kazakhstan along with several other Germans, where he must perform hard labor and nearly starves. On June 14, 1942 he dies in the hospital of the Budyonny collective farm, probably from bladder problems and physical weakness.

Also this month: Alexandra Kollontai serves as Peoples Commissar for Social Welfare

Following the establishment of the Council of Peoples Commissars of the Government of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Alexandra Kollontai is appointed Peoples Commissar for Social Welfare. She will go on to found and lead the governments Zhenotdel or Womens Department in 1919.

Kollontai, a leading Old Bolshevik, joined the party in 1899. After witnessing the Bloody Sunday massacre and the 1905 Revolution, she was driven into exile in 1908. Traveling through Britain, the United States, Sweden, Norway, France and Germany, she became acquainted with many leaders of the international workers movement, including Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht.

Only two years earlier, she corresponded with Lenin on her work in the United States, where the long distances made communication difficult. Writing from Bern, Switzerland in 1915, Lenin urged her that if there are people in America who are afraid even of the Zimmerwald Manifesto, you can brush them aside, and bring in only those who are more Left than the Zimmerwald Manifesto . During her travels in the US, Kollontai ultimately addressed 123 meetings in 80 cities, speaking in English, German, French, Russian, Finnish, and Norwegian. She worked with Trotsky in New York in the struggle against the conservative, defensist leadership of the American Socialist Party headed by Morris Hillquit.

Now Kollontai, in her capacity as Peoples Commissar for Social Welfare, is the first woman cabinet minister in Europe.

Conclusion

This marks the conclusion of the weekly series This Week in the Russian Revolution. We hope that our readers have found it a helpful introduction to the events and controversies of that unparalleled year.

Clara Weiss

Roger Jordan

Sybille Fuchs

Tom Carter

Tom Eley

Wolfgang Weber
According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald this month, the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA), a union that covers retail employees, has signed another regressive enterprise agreement with Woolworths, one of Australias two major supermarket chains.

While the company and the trade union have sought to keep the contents of the deal secret, it appears to slash wages for 400 low-paid warehouse workers across the country. This would make it the latest in a series of wage-cutting agreements between the SDA and supermarket giants, such as Woolworths and Coles.

The deal was reportedly struck on December 8. It covers workers who will be employed in four dark storeswarehouses that stock Woolworths content that can be bought online, across the country.

The Sydney Morning Herald claimed that Fair Work Commission (FWC) deputy president John Koviac, who presided over the signing of the deal this month, approved a request by Woolworths that the details of the agreement, including wage rates, be regarded as commercial-in-confidence.

The FWC is the pro-business industrial tribunal, set up by the last federal Labor government, with the support of the unions. Since then, it has been the forum for company-union collaboration in the destruction of jobs, wages and working conditions.

A University of Adelaide law professor, Andrew Stewart, quoted in the Sydney Morning Herald, described Koviacs ruling as extraordinary. FWC legislation mandated that the details of an agreement be made public. Clearly that includes the wage rates in the agreement, Stewart stated.

According to figures cited in the article, workers in the dark stores will likely be paid at least $1.50 an hour less than other supermarket workers, at an estimated cost of up to $3,000 per year for each worker.

The deal underscores the role of the unions as arms of company management. The SDA agreement seeks to slash costs to maintain Woolworths profits and market position, amid growing competition.

The establishment of dark stores is a response to Amazons opening of a warehouse in Melbourne, and an online shopping operation. The US-based corporation, one of the largest in the world, is notorious for its low-costs, based on economies of scale, ultra-low wages and onerous working conditions.

Woolworths Australian shares fell by almost 4 percent earlier this year on the back of Amazons takeover of the US food retailer Whole Foods. The nervous response reflected fears that the $18 billion acquisition was a signal that Amazon would compete directly with Woolworths and Coles in the Australian food and produce market.

The secrecy provisions obtained by Woolworths, apparently with the SDAs support, are a direct attempt to keep workers in the dark and prevent any opposition to the company-union wage-cutting. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, an SDA spokesman claimed that workers had been shown the deals pay provisions before they were forced to vote on it. The Fairfax Media publication stated, however, that this did not appear to be the case.

The SDAs regressive agreements have faced mounting opposition from supermarket workers, and other working people.

In 2015, Duncan Hart a Brisbane employee of Coles, filed a FWC challenge to an agreement signed between that company and the SDA the previous year. In 2016, the FWC upheld Harts case, ruling that the 2014 agreement would be null and void unless night-time and weekend penalty wage cuts in the deal were reversed.

The decision was made on the basis of the Better Off Overall Test in FWC legislation, which supposedly requires that no worker be worse off overall as a result of an enterprise agreement.

Instead of raising wages, Coles then reverted to a previous 2011 pay-cutting agreement with the SDA. Penny Vickers, another Coles employee challenged that deal in a FWC case that Coles, the SDA and other unions sought to quash. Vickers argued that the 2011 deal had resulted in her pay being reduced to $33 per week less than the mandated minimum award wage.

After months of being stonewalled by the company and the union, Vickers abandoned her case last month, reaching a confidential settlement with Coles. The company, like Woolworths, was moving to sign a new agreement with the SDA.

A Fairfax Media investigation last year found that Coles-SDA agreements since 2011 have resulted in some 43,000 supermarket workers being underpaid. The investigation alleged that the average underpayment was $1,500 per worker each year, resulting in annual savings for Coles of up to $100 million.

The previous Woolworths-SDA agreement similarly resulted in the bulk of the workforce being paid below official minimum wages. A Fairfax Media investigation claimed last year, for instance, that 60 percent of workers at a Woolworths Melbourne supermarket were paid below the legally-required rate.

At Senate hearings in August, Woolworths government relations manager Alison Penfold conceded that agreements between the company and the SDA could have resulted in workers being paid below required pay rates.

Numbers of major employers have struck wage-cutting agreements with the SDA. Fast food companies McDonalds and KFC have also been implicated, with estimates that up to 250,000 poorly-paid workers have received lower wages.

Other unions have collaborated with the large retailers. The Australian Workers Union, the countrys biggest, was a party to the 2011 and 2014 SDA-Coles wage cutting agreements.

Sally McManus, the secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, the national union umbrella organisation, has explicitly defended SDA cuts to wages and conditions, despite her bogus claims to be leading a fight against social inequality.

When asked about the SDAs pay cutting agreements last May, McManus cynically declared: No union is going into negotiations trying to cut peoples wages. She added: If youre working at McDonalds, you have protection against discrimination, people to stand up for you. Youd be one of the best-paid fast-food workers in the world.

As a result of SDA deals, McDonalds and other fast-food workers are paid as low as $10 an hour, depending on their age, and, in many cases, do not receive penalty wages.

The SDAs pro-business agreements, replicated by unions in every other sector, have contributed to the lowest Australian wages growth in history, recorded at around 1.9 percent this year. At the same time, labours share of gross domestic product is smaller than ever, at just 46.2 percent. The record of the unions underscores that as workers enter into struggles in defence of jobs, wages and conditions, they will confront these corporatised entities as bitter opponents.
RACINE  Racine County has work to do in reducing homelessness, community leaders say.

The annual count of people experiencing homelessness in the community found more than 190 individuals this year, according to federal data published earlier this month. The Point in Time count, completed in January, showed Racine County has a smaller homeless population than a decade ago. But, with close to 200 people still lacking stable housing, people who serve the population in the county say work remains.

The Point in Time count attempts to document how many people are homeless on a single night in January, according to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. In 2007, data shows that 256 people in Racine County were homeless. By 2012, the number dropped to 241. This years count found 194 people, down two from 2016.

Drop is good,

but not enough

The HOPES Center in Downtown Racine seeks out people who are unsheltered during the annual count and found seven people this year. The center finds people who are staying in places that arent meant for human habitation  like cars, benches and encampments  to provide blankets, socks, food and water, said Scott Metzel, the executive director.

The drop over 10 years is good, but its not as significant as we would like it to be, he said.

He said the community could make more of an impact with a greater emphasis on affordable housing, as well as funding for housing programs. Organizations in his line of work want to help people access permanent, stable housing so they dont fall back into homelessness. Racine has a shortage of such resources, Metzel said.

We just dont have enough places to move people out of homelessness quickly, he said.

Gai Lorenzen, the executive director of the Homeless Assistance Leadership Organization, Racines principal shelter, agreed the community needs more affordable housing.

In addition, she said, transportation can be a barrier for people who want to work but cant get to open positions.

There may be jobs in Burlington or on the south side of Milwaukee or down in Kenosha, but people dont have transportation to those jobs, Lorenzen said.

Overall, she encouraged people to be more supportive and understanding of the homeless population.

I dont think anybody wants to be in the situation that theyre in, she said.

State, national statistics down

Statewide figures found 5,027 people were homeless in Wisconsin at this years count, compared to 5,685 in 2016 and 5,648 in 2007.

The national total was 553,742 in this years count, according to HUD. Thats down from 647,258 in 2007, the figures show.
Why Does Organized Medicine Hate Guns?

By Dan Zimmerman. December 21st, 2017

Original by Timothy Wheeler, MD

Why does organized medicine abhor gun ownership? Why has the public health community waged a culture war on this foundational American tradition for nearly three decades now? "Guns are a virus that must be eliminated", preached pediatrician Katherine Christoffel, one of the architects of the original American Academy of Pediatrics firearm policy. "Guns!! Guns!! Guns!! [sic]", wrote Lester Adelson, MD, in a 1992 AMA journal article, before launching into a truly bizarre dissertation on the psychology of gun owners.

Adelson's embarrassing rant and Christoffel's brazen condemnation (quoted in the now-defunct American Medical News, January 3, 1994) were published in a more innocent time, when medical gun prohibitionists were ascendant. Even though those activists now take care to conceal their motives (e.g., advocating "gun safety" instead of gun control), their actions speak louder than any of their obfuscations.

An American College of Physicians position paper advocates banning semiautomatic rifles, which includes most rifles designed and manufactured since the Korean War. .......

Many medics equate bullet wounds to a hatred of guns, probably assuming that if all guns disappeared there would then be no more injuries to treat. However, they fail as do so many, to realize that in fact guns save lives which greatly outweighs the incidence of firearm-related deaths. Probably the most ignored aspect is that of criminal guns, which will always be evident even if law abiding people were to be deprived of their means of self defense. Fortunately, there are some within medicine who do manage to see things in perspective.

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Get the Details on Meghan Markle and Pregnant Kate Middleton's Royal Christmas Day Outfits

Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton looked so chic on Christmas, their outfits were basically presents to us all.

Both women looked stunning while attending Christmas services with the royal family on Monday.

The services marked Meghan's first holiday appearance with her fiance, Prince Harry, as well as the first time the engaged couple was photographed together with Kate and Prince William.

Chris Jackson/Getty Images

For the chilly morning, which included a much-photographed walk up to the Church of St. Mary Magdalene Sandringham, Meghan bundled up in a $1,295 long camel wrap coat from Sentaler, a Canadian luxury brand she's worn four times before. Though she's a Los Angeles native, the 36-year-old actress filmed the TV series, Suits, in Toronto.

Meghan paired the chic jacket with a $1,550 two-toned, suede crossbody Chloe Pixie bag and $800 tan over-the-knee Stuart Weitzman boots.

Chris Jackson/Getty Images

She finished off her look with a matching tan hat that wasn't quite a fascinator but did have a festive swirl that the Internet can't stop talking about, plus a pair of $6,000 Birks snowflake earrings that she's been photographed in before.

Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Kate looked just as lovely, covering her baby bump in a $3,560 tartan Miu Miu coat with a black fur coat and double row of gold buttons. The 36-year-old royal accessorized with all black extras, including a furry hat, stockings, block-heeled pumps and a clutch, plus drop-down gold earrings.

Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Chris Jackson/Getty Images

The Duchess of Cambridge has worn a series of amazing looks during her third pregnancy. Click through the gallery below to see more.



RELATED CONTENT:

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Engagement Photos Seem to Be Inspired by Prince William and Kate Middleton

Prince William and Kate Middleton Reveal Stunning Family Christmas Card With George and Charlotte

Meghan Markle Attends First Christmas Day Service With Fiance Prince Harry and Royal Family

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In the short clip  which was posted by President Trumps younger daughter, Tiffany, on Twitter and Instagram on Tuesday  the two women wear swimsuits and sunglasses as they lounge by the pool at their fathers Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and the song O Holy Night plays. A filter featuring angel wings and a halo hovers over the sisters as they blow kisses and Tiffany wishes fans a Merry Christmas.

It was all too much for some Twitter critics to bear.

Some ridiculed the Trump women for lacking class, while others suggested the first daughters should be participating in more charitable activities over the holidays.

@trumps_feed@IvankaTrump Sorry we missed you at the homeless shelter handing out Christmas gifts.

 Budgie (@budgie1949) December 26, 2017

Ugh. I hope my tax dollars arent going to this mess.

 ????Padilla?? (@JennM_P) December 26, 2017

This cant' be real. Please tell me this isn't real. Somebody? Anybody?

 Mutt Sanders' Brother (@muttsandersbro) December 26, 2017

Theres not one of you with an ounce of class. Total embarrassment to our country.

 Phil Goldstein (@pgold1230) December 26, 2017

You and your family are so out of touch with reality. Enjoy your vacation while people struggle every day.

 TheLorac??????????????? (@Carowaro7161) December 26, 2017

You might want to rethink this tweet.

 TravelingGal (@50countries) December 26, 2017

You and your family are so out of touch with reality, one commenter wrote. Enjoy your vacation while people struggle every day.

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Ugh. I hope my tax dollars arent going to this mess, tweeted another.

Trump marked his first Christmas as president with his family at Mar-a-Lago, where he also teleconferenced with the troops, spoke with young kids looking for Santa Claus and attended a late-night church service, according to CNN.

Tiffany and her older half-sister, Ivanka, an advisor to the president, werent the only Trump women to experiment with social media filters over the Christmas holiday. On Monday, First Lady Melania Trump also faced criticism for posting a filtered selfie featuring a Santa hat and sparkling reindeer.

To any kid, this fish is a trophy! ???? ???? ???? pic.twitter.com/wSpMZ0aFkQ

 Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) December 26, 2017

And in another Twitter controversy on Tuesday, some critics pointed out that Ivankas family vacation photos featured a Confederate flag in the background.

Confederate flag over Jared's shoulder. Couldn't find four photos without one? Or is this a dogwhistle?

 Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) December 26, 2017

Though the boat bearing the Confederate flag did not appear to have ties to the Trumps, The Daily Dot noted that it might not be the best optics given President Trumps widely condemned defense of the white nationalists whose efforts to protect Confederate monuments turned deadly in Charlottesville, Virginia, last August.

Former Office of Government Ethics director Walter Shaub tweeted: Confederate flag over Jareds shoulder. Couldnt find four photos without one? Or is this a dogwhistle?
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Michael Jacksons three kids  Paris Jackson, 19, Blanket Jackson, 15, and Prince Jackson, 20  came together on Monday to celebrate Christmas.

The siblings posed alongside family friend Omer Bhatti in a rare family photo shared to Paris Instagram account for the holidays. Happy christmas from ours to yours, the model and actress wrote in the caption, adding the hashtag #brahdas.

Blanket, who now goes by B.G. or Bigi, has been seen in public or in photographs just a handful of times since his late fathers funeral in 2009.

B.G. Jackson, Omer Bhatti, Paris Jackson and Prince Michael Jackson

A photo of him was last shared by grandfather Joe Jackson in November, weeks after news broke that grandmother Katherine Jackson  who has served as B.G.s legal guardian alongside his cousin T.J.  was reportedly in the process of dissolving her custodianship. According to documents obtained by TMZ, Katherine, 87, cites her advancing age as well as B.G.s entry into adolescence as factors in her decision. T.J. will reportedly remain his sole guardian until B.G.s 18th birthday.

B.G. Jackson and Joe Jackson

Though he stays away from the limelight, Michaels youngest child remains close to Paris and Prince.

In an interview with the Today show in late October, Prince gushed about their bond. Me and my siblings get along really well  especially my sister, Prince told Todays Natalie Morales. Shes grown so much and shes been able to really step up. I dont really see myself as her older brother. Were equal partners when it comes down to it. B.G. is just so mature for his age. Its a pretty strong bond.

Prince Jackson, B.G. Jackson and Paris Jackson in 2011

The three collaborated over Halloween to design mazes and a haunted house for the second annual Costume for a Cause event. Its something thats bred into us, to really give back to the community, Prince explained. My dad always taught me to lead by example, so I hope I can set a good example that you can have fun by helping other people and you can make a change just by doing that.

I think he would definitely be proud of the type of work that were doing and giving back to the community, added Prince, who started his own charitable foundation dedicated to helping foster children who have aged out of the system called Heal Los Angeles.

Bhatti, meanwhile, may not be a Jackson by blood but hes very much part of the family. On Dec. 22, Paris explained why she refers to him as one of her brothers on Twitter, writing, Why is everyone losing their fing minds over this? Do you guys seriously not remember the fact that not only have I known him since birth, we have literally called him our brother many many many many times.
Trump allegedly said that Haitians all have AIDS and that Nigerians would never go back to their huts once they had seen the U.S.

The White House is pushing back against a New York Times report that President Donald Trump allegedly made offensive comments about Haitian and Nigerian immigrants.

The Times reported that the president made the racist remarks during an Oval Office meeting with top White House officials in June. He was responding to data on the number of immigrants that had received U.S. visas in 2017, saying that Haitians all have AIDS and that Nigerians would never go back to their huts once they had seen the U.S.

The White House denied the comments: General Kelly, General McMaster, Secretary Tillerson, Secretary Nielsen and all other senior staff actually in the meeting deny these outrageous claims, said White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Saturday. It's both sad and telling the New York Times would print the lies of their anonymous 'sources' anyway.

But not many are buying her denial given Trumps background of making racially insensitive comments.

Unfortunately, it is all too believable that this is how our president speaks behind closed doors because his very public policies have been driven by racism and hatred since Day 1, Executive director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration and a co-founder of Black Lives Matter Opal Tometi told The Chicago Tribune.

From his xenophobic Muslim ban to his cruel and immoral treatment of immigrant dreamers, this merely adds crass words to the racist policies this administration has been pushing for a year.
2017 was a bang on year for feminist victories. From the Womens March in January and the subsequent record number of women running for political offices, to the #MeToo movement, 2017 has been a remarkable year for women.

Thats why weve pulled together a list of some of the best feminist books from the year, so we can head into 2018 with a burst of girl power to take us over the finish line.

Take a look below at 21 of the best feminist books of the year:

"Stay With Me" by Ayobami Adebayo

From Goodreads: "Yejide and Akin have been married since they met and fell in love at university. Though many expected Akin to take several wives, he and Yejide have always agreed: polygamy is not for them. But four years into their marriage--after consulting fertility doctors and healers, trying strange teas and unlikely cures--Yejide is still not pregnant. She assumes she still has time--until her family arrives on her doorstep with a young woman they introduce as Akin's second wife." Get it here.

"Sing, Unburied, Sing" by Jesmyn Ward

From Goodreads: "Jojo is thirteen years old and trying to understand what it means to be a man. His mother, Leonie, is in constant conflict with herself and those around her. She is black and her childrens father is white. Embattled in ways that reflect the brutal reality of her circumstances, she wants to be a better mother, but cant put her children above her own needs, especially her drug use." Get it here.

"The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas

From Goodreads: "Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed." Get it here.

"Sour Heart" by Jenny Zhang

From Goodreads: "Centered on a community of immigrants who have traded their endangered lives as artists in China and Taiwan for the constant struggle of life at the poverty line in 1990s New York City, Zhangs collection examines the many ways that family and history can weigh us down and also lift us up." Get it here.

"Refuge" by Dina Nayeri

From Goodreads: "A moving immigrant story that looks at the larger contemporary refugee experience. Refuge charts the deeply moving lifetime relationship between a father and a daughter, seen through the prism of global immigration." Get it here.

"What Happened" by Hillary Rodham Clinton

From Goodreads: "For the first time, Hillary Rodham Clinton reveals what she was thinking and feeling during one of the most controversial and unpredictable presidential elections in history." Get it here.

"Dear Martin" by Nic Stone

From Goodreads: "Justyce McAllister is top of his class and set for the Ivy Leaguebut none of that matters to the police officer who just put him in handcuffs. And despite leaving his rough neighborhood behind, he can't escape the scorn of his former peers or the ridicule of his new classmates." Get it here.

"The Not So Subtle Art Of Being A Fat Girl" by Tess Holliday

From Goodreads: "Plus-size supermodel Tess Hollidays passionate plea for modern women, whoever and wherever they are, to be comfortable in their own skin. In her first book, she shares her powerful personal story and offers inspiration and tips to women everywhere that will help them not merely survive, but thrive and chart their own course to acceptance, power, and true beauty." Get it here.

"The Mother Of All Questions" by Rebecca Solnit

From Goodreads: "In this follow-up to Men Explain Things to Me, Rebecca Solnit offers commentary on women who refuse to be silenced, misogynistic violence, the fragile masculinity of the literary canon, the gender binary, the recent history of rape jokes, and much more." Get it here.

"History Is All You Left Me" by Adam Silvera

From Goodreads: "From the New York Times bestselling author of More Happy Than Not comes an explosive examination of grief, mental illness, and the devastating consequences of refusing to let go of the past." Get it here.

"Difficult Women" by Roxane Gay

From Goodreads: "The women in these stories live lives of privilege and of poverty, are in marriages both loving and haunted by past crimes or emotional blackmail....From a girls fight club to a wealthy subdivision in Florida where neighbors conform, compete, and spy on each other, Gay delivers a wry, beautiful, haunting vision of modern America reminiscent of Merritt Tierce, Jamie Quatro, and Miranda July." Get it here.

"Large Animals" by Jess Arndt

From Kirkus Reviews: "Teetering between the everyday and the surreal, Arndts debut collection investigates narratives of the queer body." Get it here.

"The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit Of Happiness" by Jill Filipovic

From Goodreads: "What do women want? The same thing men were promised in the Declaration of Independence: happiness, or at least the freedom to pursue it." Get it here.

"Too Much And Not The Mood" by Durga Chew-Bose

From Goodreads: "On April 11, 1931, Virginia Woolf ended her entry in A Writers Diary with the words too much and not the mood. She was describing how tired she was of correcting her own writing, of the 'cramming in and the cutting out' to please other readers, wondering if she had anything at all that was truly worth saying. The character of that sentiment, the attitude of it, inspired Durga Chew-Bose to write and collect her own work." Get it here.

"Somebody With A Little Hammer" by Mary Gaitskill

From Goodreads: "From one of the most singular presences in American fiction comes a searingly intelligent book of essays on matters literary, social, cultural, and personal." Get it here.

"The Rules Do Not Apply" by Ariel Levy

From Goodreads: "When thirty-eight-year-old New Yorker writer Ariel Levy left for a reporting trip to Mongolia in 2012, she was pregnant, married, financially secure, and successful on her own terms. A month later, none of that was true. Her own story of resilience becomes an unforgettable portrait of the shifting forces in our culture, of what has changed--and of what is eternal." Get it here.

"Hunger" by Roxane Gay

From Goodreads: "From the bestselling author of Bad Feminist: a searingly honest memoir of food, weight, self-image, and learning how to feed your hunger while taking care of yourself." Get it here.

"Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

From Goodreads: "A few years ago, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie received a letter from a dear friend from childhood, asking her how to raise her baby girl as a feminist. Dear Ijeawele is Adichie's letter of response." Get it here.

"All Grown Up" by Jami Attenberg

From Goodreads: "From the New York Times best-selling author of The Middlesteins comes a wickedly funny novel about a thirty-nine-year-old single, childfree woman who defies convention as she seeks connection." Get it here.

"There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyonce" by Morgan Parker

From Goodreads: "There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyonce uses political and pop-cultural references as a framework to explore 21st century black American womanhood and its complexities: performance, depression, isolation, exoticism, racism, femininity, and politics." Get it here.

"All The Lives I Want: Essays About My Best Friends Who Happen To Be Famous Strangers" by Alana Massey

From Goodreads: "From columnist and critic Alana Massey, a collection of essays examining the intersection of the personal with pop culture through the lives of pivotal female figures--from Sylvia Plath to Britney Spears--in the spirit of Chuck Klosterman, with the heart of a true fan." Get it here.

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Organic food is generally more expensive than conventional because of differences in production and handling, according to the Department of Agriculture. Still, it's possible to buy organic more cheaply. Try these tips:

1. Buy Organic When It Matters

Choosing organic reduces your exposure to potentially harmful pesticides and protects farmers as well as the environment. Consumer Reports recommends opting for organic for fruits and veggies that have the highest pesticide residue. That includes carrots, cranberries, green beans, hot peppers, nectarines, peaches, tangerines, strawberries, sweet bell peppers, and sweet potatoes. An advantage to buying organic meat and poultry is that the animals were raised without antibiotics.

2. Compare Prices

Its possible to find organic products for the same price as conventional onesand occasionally for less. For example, at Costco, 2-pound containers of conventional Sabra Hummus and organic Hannah Hommus are each $5.99. In the coffee aisle, you can get 2 pounds of Peets Coffee Major Dickasons Blendnot organicfor $14.69. But 2 pounds of Highland Reserve Organic Peru Coffee costs $10.99.

3. Seek Out Store Brands

According to the market research firm Nielsen, a market basket of selected organic store-label products costs 18 percent less than the comparable brand-name versions. For example, at Whole Foods recently, Santa Cruz Organic Applesauce cost $5.39 for 23 ounces, and Whole Foods store brand, 365 Organic Applesauce, was $2.79 for 24 ounces, or 50 percent less.

4. Look in the Freezer Case

Frozen organic vegetables may actually be cheaper than fresh, and the nutritional quality is similar. For example, at a local store a 10-ounce package of Natures Promise Organic fresh green beans was $3.99 and a 16-ounce package of the same brands organic frozen green beans was $1.99.

5. Check the Weight

When organic produce is sold prepackaged at a set price rather than by the pound, its worth taking the time to weigh a few packages. Weve found that the amount in the package may exceed the weight listed.

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6. Buy in Bulk

As long as youll actually use all of the food, buying a larger package size or quantity can save you money. For example, 1 pound of organic ground turkey at Whole Foods cost $7.99, but a 3-pound package cost $14.99 at Costco. That comes out to $5 per pound.

7. Sign Up for Coupons

Many organic brandssuch as Amys Kitchen, Ancient Harvest, Horizon, Organic Valley, Simply Organic, and Stonyfield Farm Organicprovide coupons on their website or if you sign up for their newsletters. Check the website of brands youre interested in to see whether they do the same.

(Note: Prices are based on items purchased at grocery stores near our Yonkers, N.Y., offices.)

Editor's Note: This article also appeared in the February 2018 issue of Consumer Reports magazine.





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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  2018, Consumer Reports, Inc.
(Photo: Reuters)

Days after Donald Trump was elected president of the United States, he received a stark warning from Americas outgoing leader.

In their first and only meeting, Barack Obama told his successor that North Korea  a volatile nation hellbent on nuclear proliferation  would pose the biggest foreign challenge his administration would face.

Trump, who has dedicated much of his presidency to erasing Obamas legacy, seemed to heed this advice, briefly. After rarely mentioning North Korea during his election campaign, he swiftly elevated the issue to his primary foreign policy concern (and later declared an end to Obamas era of strategic patience with the rogue state).

But under Trumps leadership, the past year has seen brewing tensions between Washington and Pyongyang soar to unprecedented levels with a specter of nuclear war. Economic sanctions in response to a series of North Korean missile launches escalated into a direct exchange of heated insults and threats between Trump and Kim Jong Un, the hermit kingdoms hostile dictator.

Kim Jong Un in an undated photo released by North Korea's news agency on Sept. 16, 2017. (Photo: KCNA KCNA / Reuters)

North Koreas Nuclear Strides

The Pentagons efforts to stave off conflict with North Korea have been marred by a string of decisive failures this year, according to new analysis published this month from the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank.

The United States and [North Korea] have engaged in bellicose rhetorical brinksmanship, making war between the two states seem increasingly likely, wrote Katy Collin, a post-doctoral fellow at the Brookings Foreign Policy program. Public acceptance of the possibility of conflict within the United States has ballooned. Mechanisms to head off escalation caused by misunderstandings do not exist.

North Korea made remarkable technological advances to its internationally condemned nuclear program throughout 2017. It conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 3, which the regime claimed was a hydrogen bomb loaded onto an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Subsequent analysis of seismic data revealed the test was approximately 17 times stronger than the blast that decimated the Japanese city of Hiroshima during World War II.

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Pyongyang has also expanded the reach of its missiles this year: The entire continental U.S. is now believed to be within ICBM striking range. Experts have expressed concern at North Koreas alarming progress, and worry that it is on track to outpace Americas abilities to defend itself and its allies in the region.

The regimes most recent missile launch in late November exceeded 8,100 miles in range. As tested, such a rocket would be able to travel more than enough distance to reach Washington, D.C., or New York City, although it is unclear if it could transport a warhead that far.

North Korea knows what theyre doing, David Wright, a physicist and the co-director of the global security program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, told HuffPost at the time. Its hard to say if its six months or two years before they can deliver a nuclear warhead, but its heading in that direction.

President Donald Trump has traded insults with North Korea's leader, rather than focusing on a more careful diplomatic approach to the hermit kingdom. (Photo: Jonathan Ernst / Reuters)

Donald Trumps Fire And Fury

Yet Trump, undermining diplomatic efforts by his own Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, has repeatedly confronted North Koreas provocations with aggravations of his own. He infamously vowed in August to meet the defiant country with fire and fury, prompting Pyongyangs threat to launch a missile at the U.S. island territory of Guam.

Months later, Trump said the U.S. would totally destroy North Korea, which is home to an estimated 25 million people, if provoked. Rocketman is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime, Trump said in his first speech before the United Nations General Assembly, referring to Kim.

In an extremely rare personal address, Kim responded by pledging to tame the mentally deranged U.S. dotard with fire. Soon after, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho said the regime might detonate an H-bomb in the Pacific Ocean.

As hostilities boiled over, experts urged the America First leader to stick to the script and avoid making incendiary comments about North Korea during his 12-day trip through Asia last month. But Trump couldnt help himself:

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!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2017

The presidents taunts create an incentive for the North Koreans to stage provocations to show him up, Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear weapons expert at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, told HuffPost in November.

If the situation deteriorates into an acute crisis, such remarks from Trump could give North Korea the impression a military strike is imminent, Lewis added. If that happens, my belief is the North Koreans would use their nuclear weapons first, in order to try to repel an invasion.

A turbulent 2017 has stirred fears and uncertainty for the year ahead.

Trump has been impatient with multilateral, diplomatic containment of nuclear proliferation, Collin said. While diplomacy, sanctions, and targeted engagement have been successful in preventing conflict on the Korean peninsula for decades, 2017 marks decisive failures in terms of North Koreas nuclear capacities.

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Also on HuffPost

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Robert Resendiz allegedly bent his son in half to stop him from crying: Maricopa County Sheriff's Office

An Arizona infant has died after his father allegedly bent him in half to stop him from crying.

Robert Resendiz told police that he had pressed his infants legs over his head in an attempt to quiet him, according to a probable cause for arrest statement obtained by azfamily.com.

The 30-year-old estimated he used 65 per cent of strength to bend the baby in half, and did not release pressure until his son went quiet and limp. He also allegedly admitted to biting the 6-month-old twice out of frustration.

The infant suffered a liver laceration, left wrist fracture, laceration to his pancreas, and bruising on his thigh, according to court records obtained by CNN. He died in the hospital two days later.

Mr Resendiz allegedly told police that he put his son to bed at 10 or 11 pm on the day of the incident, and woke up the next morning to find the child had stopped breathing.

His mother told police that the baby was awake and alert when she left for work that morning, and that she received a text from Mr Resendiz saying that the baby was fine at around 11:45 am. An hour later, he texted to say the baby was not breathing.

Police arrested the father shortly after he called 911 to report his sons condition. The infant was rushed to Phoenix Childrens Hospital, where doctors deemed his injuries not survivable.

Mr Resendiz was charged with intentional child abuse, a class two felony in Arizona. His preliminary hearing will take place on Friday. He has not yet formally entered a plea.
Former President Barack Obama has warned against some of the perils of social media  in particular, its potential to create social divisions and spread misinformation  in a highly anticipated interview with the U.Ks Prince Harry.

Speaking with the prince, who guest edited Wednesdays episode of BBC Radio 4s Today show, the former President expressed concern about how social media can reinforce peoples prejudices and expose users to dubious information, the BBC reports.

One of the dangers of the Internet is that people can have entirely different realities. They can be cocooned in information that reinforces their current biases, he said. Obama did not name his successor, President Donald Trump, whose hostility to traditional news media and flexibility with facts has been a common feature of his presidency.

The question has to do with how do we harness this technology in a way that allows a multiplicity of voices, allows a diversity of views, but doesnt lead to a Balkanisation of society and allows ways of finding common ground, Obama said.

The interview, which was conducted in Toronto in September during the Invictus Games, which Obama attended along with former Vice President Joe Biden, also touched on the military, mental health, and climate change.

When the newly-engaged prince asked him how he felt about leaving the White House, Obama said there was a sense of completion.

That was mixed with all the work that was still undone and concerns about how the country moves forward. But overall there was a serenity there, more than I would have expected.

As part of his guest editorial spot, Harry also interviewed his father, Prince Charles. Other guest editors on the Today Show over the holiday week include a robot, Bletchley Park code-breaker Baroness Trumpington, English National Ballet artistic director Tamara Rojo, and Nigerian writer Benjamin Okri, according to the BBC.
8 injured in Bhimfedi jeep accident, 2 seriously wounded

At least eight people have been injured in a road accident accident at Chisapani Gadi in Bhimfedi Rural Municipality-6, Makwanpur district on Wednesday.
Barack Obama congratulates President Donald Trump after he took the oath of office on January 20.

Former US president Barack Obama has warned against using social media in a divisive fashion during an interview with Prince Harry.

The former US commander-in-chief did not mention his White House successor by name, but the comments have been viewed as a thinly veiled rebuke aimed at Donald Trumps constant use of Twitter.

As he appeared on BBC Radio 4s flagship Today programme, Mr Obama claimed that there was a danger of people cementing their biases as a direct result of social media use.

The question, I think, really has to do with, how do we harness this technology in a way that allows a multiplicity of voices, allows a diversity of views, but doesnt lead to a Balkanisation of our society, but rather continues to promote ways of finding common ground?, Mr Obama said.

He added: Im not sure government can legislate that, but what I do believe is that all of us in leadership have to find ways in which we can recreate a common space on the internet.

2017 IN REVIEW  MORE FROM YAHOO UK

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One of the dangers of the internet is that people can have entirely different realities. They can be just cocooned in information that reinforces their current biases.

President Trump has drawn sustained widespread criticism for the way he uses Twitter to attack opponents, and condemn what he brands fake news.

In November, he prompted swift condemnation after retweeting anti-Muslim propaganda from far-right group Britain First  before he subsequently hit back at Theresa Mays criticism of his actions.
Borussia Dortmunds Shinji Kagawa embarrassed a kid with a series of nutmegs, for some reason. (EFE)

The Bundesliga has been off since Dec. 17. It doesnt continue play until Jan. 12. Its up to the players to decide what to do with their spare time.

For whatever reason, Borussia Dortmund midfielder Shinji Kagawa decided to embarrass a little kid:

Thats eight nutmegs in the span of half a minute, along with another failed attempt and two successful dekes.

The video, which was also shared on Instagram, is largely presented without context. Translated from Japanese to English, the Instagram hashtags read something along the lines of Regret makes a person stronger, training, friendship and reconciliation after.

Around the 32-second mark, Kagawa sees the kid isnt handling it so well and tries to comfort him. The kid then proceeds to kick the ball away in frustrated vindication.

Kagawa has four goals and five assists in 14 starts across all competitions this season for Dortmund, which is third in the Bundesliga but 13 points off league-leading Bayern Munich. BVB has also dropped into the Europa League after failing to advance out of a tough Champions League group.

A little kid felt Kagawas wrath on those counts. Or something like that.

Joey Gulino is the editor of FC Yahoo and moonlights as a writer. Follow him on Twitter at @JGulinoYahoo.

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A British woman jailed for three years in Egypt for smuggling drugs is on the verge of a breakdown after being sent to a prison "full of jihadi terrorists", her family has said.

Shop worker Laura Plummer, 33, from Hull, was arrested in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada after she was found to be carrying 290 Tramadol tablets in her suitcase, a painkiller which is legal in the UK but which is banned in Egypt.

Ms Plummer's family said she was taking the tablets for her Egyptian partner, who suffers from severe back pain and had no idea what she was doing was wrong.

Her sister, Jayne Synclair, said she feared she would not survive three years in prison.

"Laura isn't the strongest of people, she's on the verge of a nervous breakdown, covered in scabs.

"She's been bitten from head to foot in mosquito bites and she's like a ghost.

"Her skin is translucent and the muscles in her legs don't work - they're like jelly."

Shop worker Laura Plummer, 33, from Hull, was arrested in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada after she was found to be carrying 290 Tramadol tablets in her suitcase

Mrs Synclair, 40, said Ms Plummer had unexpectedly been sent to the infamous Qena prison north of Luxor. It houses some of the most dangerous inmates in the country, including Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and Muslim Brotherhood members.

"They have slyly taken her to where the British Foreign Office told us she would never be placed - but the Egyptian authorities have already moved her there," she said.

"Our biggest fear with this scenario has been confirmed - she will be sharing a tiny cell with jihadi terrorists and rapists.

"'I honestly dread to think. Laura won't survive a day in there - let alone three years. She won't even make it through that - I can't believe they've even still sent her there."

According to the family, Ms Plummer was also fined 4,500. They said her father had already paid out 25,000 to defend his daughter.

The Plummer family has previously said Ms Plummer had no idea that what she doing was illegal and was just "daft".

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They said she did not try to hide the medicine, which she had been given by a friend, and she thought it was a joke when she was pulled over by officials after arriving for a holiday with her partner.

Omar Abdel Azim, Ms Plummer's partner

Mohammed Othman, Ms Plummer's lawyer, said he was optimistic she would not serve the full sentence.

"The sentence is lenient considering Laura is on trial for smuggling and trading drugs, for which the sentence can be the death penalty or life, in jail," he told the Telegraph.

Mr Othman said that he still needs to see the reasoning of the verdict but he anticipated that the judge would acquit if their appeal application was accepted.

The family said they were planning an immediate appeal after Ms Plummer mistakenly pleaded guilty at a hearing on Christmas Day, due to a translation error.

She fell to the floor and sobbed upon hearing the decision on Tuesday.

"We're just hoping. Even half of that would be better. Anything less than three years," Mrs Synclair said. "She doesn't deserve that."
CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian court sentenced a British woman to three years in prison on Tuesday for smuggling around 300 painkiller tablets into the country, in a ruling her defence team said she would appeal to have overturned or commuted.

Laura Plummer, a 33-year-old shop worker from Hull, was arrested in October after the Tramadol tablets were found in her suitcase. Her family told British newspapers she bought the tablets for her Egyptian partner living in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada.

Plummer attended a hearing in her case on Monday, before Tuesday's sentencing. The court also ruled that she must pay a fine of 100,000 Egyptian pounds ($5,600).

Tramadol is a legal, prescription medicine in Britain, but it is banned in Egypt. Plummer was arrested on arrival from Britain in October, and her detention was extended twice prior to her court appearance.

Plummer's family said on Tuesday they were disgusted by the way the trial had been conducted.

"From day one, this has been a complete nightmare. Yesterday in the court she wasn't even allowed her own interpreter. She had to get the court's interpreter who was interpreting the wrong answers," her sister Jayne Synclair said, speaking on BBC television.

The family said Plummer had also been forced to sign Arabic-language documents which she did not understand.

"She's on the verge of a mental breakdown ... It's just horrendous," her sister said.

Her lawyer said Plummer would appeal, seeking to reverse the verdict or get a commuted sentence, which is possible in the two months after sentencing. He added that she did not know Tramadol was banned in Egypt.

Speaking to the court on behalf of Plummer, the lawyer, said she had no criminal intent in bringing in the painkillers.

On Monday the lawyer, Mohamed Othman, told Reuters: "It is illogical that she was dealing in Tramadol. She had only 320 pills. Even the plane ticket is almost double the price of those pills."

A spokesman from Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: "We will continue to provide assistance to Laura and her family following the court ruling in Egypt, and our embassy is in regular contact with the Egyptian authorities."

(Additional reporting by Mahmoud Mourad and William James in London; Writing by John Davison; Editing by John Stonestreet and Hugh Lawson)
By Heekyong Yang SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean police have arrested the owner and the manager of a building where 29 people died in a fire last week, accusing the pair of multiple safety lapses, including blocked exits and malfunctioning sprinkler systems. On Thursday, a fire ripped through an eight-story high-rise in the small city of Jecheon. At least 20 of the victims were women who were overcome by toxic fumes in a second-floor sauna. Jecheon police have only identified the owner by his last name of Lee, and the manager by his last name of Kim. Both men are in custody in Jecheon after being arrested on Sunday, police announced on Tuesday. Lee faces two charges of violating fire safety regulations and committing involuntary homicide by professional negligence, while Kim also faces the involuntary homicide charge. If convicted of involuntary homicide, Lee and Kim could face up to five years in prison or 20 million won ($16,000) in fines. "The sprinkler system on the buildings first floor did not work properly when the fire erupted," a police detective, who asked not to be named as he was not authorized to speak on an ongoing investigation, told Reuters. "If the sprinkler system worked, the fire probably would not have spread as fast as it did." Police said on Tuesday that Lee has retained a lawyer but declined to name the lawyer or firm. Police said Kim has not yet hired a lawyer. Photos released by the Yonhap news agency showed a smoke-stained stairwell and a fire exit filled with shelves and supplies on the second floor, where most of the deaths occurred. "The emergency exit on the buildings second floor was blocked by iron shelves and other miscellaneous items," the detective confirmed. Officials are still investigating the cause of the conflagration. According to police, both Kim and Lee had denied reports they were trying to remove ice on the ceiling of the first floor, where the fire appeared to have originated, but later changed their statements after police confronted them with evidence. The Korea JoongAng Daily newspaper reported on Tuesday that Lee had at one point told police he did not alert the women in the sauna because they were undressed, however, the police detective told Reuters he could not confirm that as investigations were ongoing. Anger mounted over the weekend at reports of shoddy construction, broken doors, blocked roads and other problems that may have contributed to the deaths. A number of cars parked along the narrow roads around the building impeded the ability of firefighters to reach the fire, an official with the Jecheon fire department told Reuters, but noted that none of the parked vehicles appeared to have violated parking rules. "Although vehicles can park there legally, it was quite difficult for fire trucks to go through to get to the scene, because the road was too narrow," said the fire official, who declined to be named as he was not authorized to speak publicly. Visiting the scene on Friday, President Moon Jae-in promised a full investigation. "The government as a whole will thoroughly probe this accident's cause and process of response, and although after the fact, the investigation and measures will be such that, at least, there will not be lingering deep sorrow," he said. On Monday, a separate fire at a construction site at an apartment complex south of Seoul killed one person and injured 14 others, according to Yonhap. (Additional reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Writing by Josh Smith; Editing by Sam Holmes)
By Christian Shepherd BEIJING (Reuters) - China sentenced a prominent rights activist to eight years in jail for subversion on Tuesday, his lawyer said, the harshest sentence passed in a government crackdown on activism that began more than two years ago. In a separate case, a rights lawyer avoided criminal punishment despite being found guilty of inciting subversion, because he admitted his crimes, the Chinese court trying him said. Wu Gan, a blogger better known by his online name "Super Vulgar Butcher", plans to appeal against the eight-year sentence handed down by the Tianjin Municipality's No. 2 Intermediate People's Court, his lawyer, Yan Xin, told Reuters. The harshness of the sentence prompted the German embassy in Beijing to issue a statement expressing disappointment. Wu regularly championed sensitive cases of government abuses of power, both online and in street protests. He was detained in May 2015 and charged with subversion. The activist criticized China's political system online and used performance art to create disturbances, as well as insulting people and spreading false information, according to a statement from the court posted on its website. "He carried out a string of criminal actions to subvert state power and overthrow the socialist system and seriously harmed state security and social stability," the court said. Before his arrest, Wu used his platform to cast doubt on the official version of events in an incident in early May 2015, in which a police officer shot a petitioner in a train station in northern Heilongjiang province. Wu's refusal to bow to pressure or admit guilt likely explains his harsh sentence, said Kit Chan, Hong Kong-based director of China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group. "Wu Gan is being punished for his non-conformity," she said. His sentence is the most severe in what rights groups have called an unprecedented attack on China's rights activists and lawyers, known as the 709 crackdown, which began in full force on July 9, 2015. The hardline approach to rights activism has shown no sign of softening as Chinese President Xi Jinping enters his second five-year term in office. In the other case concluded on Tuesday, rights lawyer Xie Yang received no punishment after being found guilty of inciting subversion and disrupting court order, the Changsha Intermediate People's Court said on social media. The court released a video of the proceedings, in which Xie said he accepted the outcome and would not appeal. He also thanked authorities and said he will be a law-abiding citizen. Xie had worked on numerous cases deemed sensitive by Chinese authorities, such as defending supporters of Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests. In May, he confessed to the charges against him in what rights groups called a scripted "sham" trial. In January, Xie's wife and lawyer released detailed accounts of torture suffered by Xie at the hands of the authorities, which were widely reported on in the international media. Chinese state media branded those reports "fake news" and said the accounts were concocted as a means of gaining attention. Xie's lawyer told Reuters he stands by the account. "In both cases these have been serious concerns about violations of due process of law," the German embassy in Beijing said in a statement. The decision to hand down both sentences the day after Christmas, when there would likely be less attention from diplomats and international observers, "reeks of cynical political calculation", said Patrick Poon, Hong Kong-based researcher for Amnesty International. Asked about the verdicts, China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular briefing that Amnesty is biased when it comes to China and should not be believed, adding that China abides by the rule of law. (Reporting by Christian Shepherd; Editing by Nick Macfie)
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - A bus carrying some 50 Chinese tourists crashed in icy conditions in Iceland on Wednesday, leaving one dead and several injured, police said. The bus slid off the a main tourist road about 250 km (155 miles) east of the capital Reykjavik after colliding with a car carrying tourists from Lithuania, police said. The car's passengers were not hurt. One Chinese tourist was killed instantly, while 12 others were taken to the nearest hospital by helicopter. Around 47,500 Chinese have visited Iceland in the past six months, accounting for 3.6 percent of the total number of visitors in the period, data from the Icelandic Tourist Board showed. (Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen; Editing by Alison Williams)
(LOS ANGELES)  A plane heading from Los Angeles to Tokyo turned back because an unauthorized person was on board.

KABC-TV reports All Nippon Airways Flight 175 left Los Angeles International Airport around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, but it never arrived at Tokyos Narita International Airport.

Model Chrissy Teigen, who was on the plane, tweeted that the flight made a U-turn about four hours into the 11-hour flight.

Teigen says passengers were told that someone had managed to board the ANA flight with a United Airlines ticket.

They keep saying the person had a United ticket. We are on ANA. So basically the boarding pass scanner is just a beedoop machine that makes beedoop noises that register to nowhere  christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 27, 2017

I wont be able to sleep until I know how this person figured out they were on the wrong flight. Thats all I ask. 150 people have been majorly inconvenienced, please, just tell me  christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 27, 2017

Why did we all get punished for this one persons mistake? Why not just land in Tokyo and send the other person back? How is this the better idea, you ask? We all have the same questions.  christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 27, 2017

Lmao after all this I will have spent 8 hours on a flight to nowhere. Like we were all just havin a great time up here flyin in the sky watching gran torino time to go home now  christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 27, 2017

The plane landed at LAX around 7:30 p.m. after eight hours in the air.

Teigen says police interviewed passengers who were sitting near the person.

Airport police tell KABC-TV that there was a mix-up thats been resolved, and the flight has been rescheduled to depart Wednesday.
Central Jail needs overhaul: Probe panels

Serious security concerns have surfaced over the current state of Sundhara-based Central Jail.
By Hyonhee Shin SEOUL (Reuters) - Japan said on Wednesday any attempt by South Korea to revise a 2015 deal meant to have resolved a row over "comfort women" forced to work in Japan's wartime brothels would make relations "unmanageable" after Seoul said the agreement had failed. The two U.S. allies, which share a bitter history including Japanese colonizations, are key to international efforts to rein in North Korea's nuclear and missile programs that it pursues in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions. South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha apologized for the controversial deal on Wednesday, as a panel investigating the negotiations leading up to the agreement unveiled its results. The investigation concluded that the dispute over the comfort women, a Japanese euphemism for the thousands of girls and women, many of them Korean, forced to work in wartime brothels, could not be "fundamentally resolved" because the victims' demand for legal compensation had not been met. South Korea wants Japan to take legal responsibility and provide due compensation. Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said the 2015 settlement, which includes a 1 billion yen ($8.8 million) fund to help the victims, resulted from "legitimate negotiations", warning any amendment may complicate relations. "If (South Korea) tries to revise the agreement that is already being implemented, that would make Japan's ties with South Korea unmanageable and it would be unacceptable," Kono said in a statement. Kang apologized for "giving wounds of the heart to the victims, their families, civil society that support them and all other people because the agreement failed to sufficiently reflect a victim-oriented approach, which is the universal standard in resolving human rights issues". Under the deal, endorsed by South Korean President Moon Jae-in's predecessor and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan apologized to former comfort women and provided the fund to help them. They agreed the issue would be "irreversibly resolved" if both fulfilled their obligations. Tokyo says the matter of compensation for the women was settled under a 1965 treaty. It says that in 2015, it agreed to provide the funds to help them heal "psychological wounds". The South Korean government will review the result of the investigation and translate it into policy after consulting victims and civic groups that support them, Kang said. The comfort women issue has been a regular cause for contention between Japan and neighbors China and North and South Korea since the war. Japan colonized the Korean peninsula between 1910 and 1945 and occupied parts of China before and after the war. "(The Moon government) has said it will seek a two-track policy by separately dealing with the comfort women issue and the relationship in the face of North Korea's threats, but Japan may not agree with that", Lee Sung-hwan, a professor of Japanese studies in Keimyung University in South Korea, told Reuters. Japan wants South Korea to remove statues near the Japanese embassy in Seoul and the Japanese consulate in Busan city commemorating Korean comfort women. Seoul says the memorials were erected by civic groups and therefore out of its reach. According to the investigation, however, the sides struck a separate, secret deal in which South Korea promised to persuade the groups to relocate the statues, provide no support for their overseas statue-raising campaign and refrain from calling the women "sex slaves" on the world stage. In 2014, the U.N. Human Rights Committee requested Tokyo to clarify the "comfort women" euphemism, with an independent expert on the panel calling for it to be replaced with "enforced sex slaves". "Such an issue of universal value and historical awareness as that of comfort women cannot be resolved through short-term diplomatic negotiations and a political bargain," said Oh Tai-kyu, a former journalist who led the investigation. Andrew Horvat, a visiting professor at Josai International University in Japan, said that the pact was flawed from the beginning because it failed to produce real reconciliation. "The agreement was not reconciliation, but an agreement not to talk about it anymore", Horvat said. (Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Additional reporting by Haejin Choi and Yuna Park in Seoul, and Linda Sieg, Kaori Kaneko and Kiyoshi Takenaka in Tokyo; Editing by Nick Macfie)
By Nate Raymond

(Reuters) - A former lawyer at Keppel Corp Ltd's oil rig building business secretly pleaded guilty and cooperated with U.S. authorities before the Singapore-based company agreed to pay $422 million to settle charges it bribed Brazilian officials, according to court documents.

Jeffery Chow, a former senior member of Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd's legal department, cut a deal to help prosecutors in their probe of Keppel and other former executives, according to the documents unsealed on Tuesday in federal court in Brooklyn.

Chow, 59, pleaded guilty on Aug. 29 to conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act as part of his deal to cooperate. He admitted to drafting contracts that were used to make bribe payments, according to court records.

"I am deeply sorry for my conduct," Chow, 59, said during his plea hearing, according to a transcript. Chow is scheduled to be sentenced on May 2.

Court records state that Chow, a U.S. citizen, has a residence in Singapore and worked for Keppel for over 25 years. His U.S. lawyer did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

Chow's case was made public after the U.S. Justice Department announced on Friday that Keppel Offshore & Marine agreed to pay $422 million to resolve investigations by authorities in the United States, Brazil and Singapore.

The case centered on Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras, also known as Petroleo Brasileiro SA, at the center of a massive corruption investigation that has implicated dozens of Brazilian politicians.

The U.S. Justice Department said from 2001 to 2014 Keppel paid $55 million in bribes to officials at Petrobras and the governing political party at the time, the Workers Party of Brazil.

The bribes were paid to win 13 contracts with Petrobras and Sete Brasil Participacoes SA, a Brazilian company that commissioned a fleet of rigs for Petrobras' use, according to charging documents.

In the transcript of his Aug. 29 plea, Chow said he drafted contracts with a Keppel agent in Brazil who he realized was being overpaid by millions of dollars so he could bribe Brazilian officials.

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"I should have refused to draft the contract that we used for paying bribes and I should have resigned from Keppel," he said.

In total, Keppel Offshore & Marine earned $351.8 million through the bribery scheme, according to court papers.

In its deal with the Justice Department, Keppel Offshore & Marine entered into a deferred prosecution while a U.S. subsidiary pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
Thousands of homeowners are rushing this week to prepay their property taxes before the new tax legislation takes effect in 2018. The GOP bill caps the amount of state and local taxes that can be deducted from federal income tax liability at $10,000.

But many residents trying to avoid that deduction limit on their state and local taxes will be disappointed: the IRS on Wednesday announced that taxpayers can prepay their 2018 property taxes only if they have already received a tax assessment from their local government and they make payment by the end of the year.

The new tax plan passed by the GOP brings sweeping changes to state and local tax deductions, including the property tax. Under the old system, a homeowner could deduct all these taxes from their federal income tax liability. This move effectively transferred funds from the federal government to the states and saved homeowners $35 billion in 2016, according to the Tax Policy Center. In 2018, the deduction is capped at $10,000.

But what if you prepay your 2018 tax bill in 2017, when the deduction still exists? According to the new IRS guidance, pre-paying 2018 state and local property taxes in 2017 may be tax deductible under certain circumstances.

Can I prepay local income taxes?

For state and local income taxes, the bill prevents it.

an amount paid in a taxable year beginning before January 1, 2018, with respect to a State or local income tax imposed for a taxable year beginning after December 31, 2017, shall be treated as paid on the last day of the taxable year for which such tax is so imposed.

What about property taxes?

While the bill makes prepayments for income tax count only in the year the tax is imposed, it doesnt say anything about property taxes, so prepaying is being considered fair game. But the IRS followed up on the recently passed law with guidance of its own: A prepayment of anticipated real property taxes that have not been assessed prior to 2018 are not deductible in 2017. State or local law determines whether and when a property tax is assessed, which is generally when the taxpayer becomes liable for the property tax imposed.

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Judging by how the law was written  with it explicitly saying income tax and not property tax  prepayment is being considered legit by many localities. So if you prepay your real estate taxes for 2018 in 2017, the payment can be used as an itemized deduction on your 2017 tax return under the old system, potentially saving homeowners  especially those in high-tax states  quite a bit of money.

However, the IRS may still issue more rulemaking to fill in the details, which could be important. One example that could affect people, one accountant told Yahoo Finance, is that the IRS may only allow this prepayment for people who already have a property tax bill. (Wednesdays guidance makes this clear that taxes assessed in 2018 cant be deducted in 2017.)

Gail Trachtenberg and Lewis Eron prepay part of their 2018 property tax bill at the township building in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2017. People across the country have been trying to prepay property taxes before a federal tax overhaul kicks in and caps deductions for state and local taxes. (AP Photo/Geoff Mulvihill)

Should I prepay?

The accountants Yahoo Finance spoke with noted that it depends on your financial and tax situation, and its good to run the numbers. Vincent Cervone, an accountant in Brooklyn, N.Y., said if you make enough money to qualify for the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), prepaying property taxes wont save you money. This is because if youre subject to the AMT, you are not allowed to deduct state and local taxes, so prepaying may not reduce your federal income tax bill. The bottom line is: Talk to your accountant.

Im telling my clients, look at your tax return for last year, and if you paid AMT last year, it means youll pay this year and prepaying property tax wont help, he told Yahoo Finance. If you didnt pay AMT and have property taxes of $10,000 [or more], I recommend you prepay. Youll get a discount.

How do I know if my county or town allows prepayment?

Unfortunately, not all towns or cities are allowing homeowners to make these payments. But more importantly, if your 2018 property taxes havent been assessed yet, you cant deduct them on your 2017 tax returns.

Many towns across the country have issued statements as to whether theyre accepting early payments for property taxes, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo went so far as to sign an executive order authorizing localities to accept early payments, Barry Kleiman, a CPA with Untracht Early, said. (Cervone, however, noted that you could already do this if the municipality allowed it.)

Some towns and cities have placed robocalls to residents this week offering guidance on prepayment. Others have issued releases on town websites instructing homeowners on whether they can prepay property taxes, how to pay, and how much.

But many municipalities have not issued 2018 assessments yet, and its unlikely they will with so few days left in the year. So the new IRS ruling may sow even more confusion for taxpayers who paid their 2018 property taxes but didnt get an assessment from local officials.

When is the deadline to prepay?

All payments must be made in tax year 2017, but the precise deadlines vary by town. Some tax collectors offices, like in Montclair, N.J., may have extended hours and could be open as late as Saturday, Dec. 30, allowing residents extra time to prepay if they want to. The last weekday in 2017, however, is Dec. 29.

Can I mail a check?

This varies as well. Some towns like Millburn, N.J., require residents to drop off payments in person or in a drop box during regular business hours, and will reject and mail back after-hours payments. Check with your local office.

Ethan Wolff-Mann is a writer at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @ewolffmann. Confidential tip line: FinanceTips[at]oath[.com].

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Lima (AFP) - Peru's ailing former leader Alberto Fujimori on Tuesday asked the public for forgiveness, two days after receiving a presidential pardon that sparked street protests.

"I am aware that the results of my government were well received on one side, but I admit that I have let down other compatriots, and I ask them to forgive me with all my heart," Fujimori said in a Facebook video filmed from his hospital bed.

The 79-year-old had been serving a 25-year sentence for corruption and human rights abuses committed during his time in office from 1990 to 2000.

He was transferred from prison to a hospital on Saturday -- the day before he was pardoned -- after suffering from low blood pressure and an irregular heartbeat, the latest in a string of hospitalizations.

In the video, Fujimori lay propped up on a hospital bed wearing a white gown, with a blood pressure cuff on his right arm and another monitor clasped to his left index finger. He talked over the constant background beeping of a monitoring device.

He said the pardon "took me by surprise" and provoked "a mix of feelings -- great joy and sorrow."

President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski ordered the pardon of Fujimori and seven other prisoners Sunday on humanitarian grounds, placing himself in the middle of a political crisis just days after he avoided impeachment.

The move set off street protests in Lima, and police fired tear gas and clashed with demonstrators who marched Monday against the pardon and demanded Kuczynski step down.

The president defended his decision in a televised message to the nation.

"I am convinced that those of us who feel democratic should not allow Alberto Fujimori to die in prison, because justice is not revenge," Kuczynski said in his address Monday night.

"It is about the health and chances of life of a former president of Peru who, having committed excesses and grave errors, was sentenced and has already completed 12 years" in prison, he said.

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Many Peruvians believe a president convicted of human rights crimes and corruption should not be eligible for pardon.

Anti-riot police were deployed to prevent demonstrators from heading to the clinic where Fujimori is hospitalized.

"Get Out, Get Out PPK! Out, Get Out PPK!" demonstrators chanted in reference to the current president, who had promised during his electoral campaign last year that he would not free Fujimori.

"Fujimori, murderer and thief. No to the pardon!" read a sign held by the protesters, some of whom also carried a giant Peruvian flag.

Relatives of victims of Fujimori's brutal rule took part in the march.

"We are here as relatives to reject this illegal pardon, because it does not correspond to the gravity of the crimes," Gisella Ortiz, from a group of victims' families, told reporters.

- A 'vulgar' process -

The pardon from Kuczynski came after Fujimori's son Kenji drained votes away from a parliamentary bid Thursday to impeach Kuczynski on suspicion of corruption, sparking speculation the pardon was political.

"The president's word is totally devalued and he will not be supported again," political analyst Arturo Maldonado told El Comercio newspaper.

"Instead of reaffirming that in a state of law there is no special treatment for anyone, the idea that the release was a vulgar political deal in exchange for keeping Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in power -- will remain forever."

The head of the UN human rights office for South America, Amerigo Incalcaterra, criticized the pardon as something "that marks a historic turning point for Peru and Latin America in terms of the fight against impunity."

Fujimori had been treated in intensive care at the Centenario Clinic. But on Tuesday, his doctor Alejandro Aguinaga told AFP that "there is a favorable change" in his condition and he had left the intensive care unit.

"He is still not fully recovered. He can't yet leave" the hospital, Aguinaga said.

The former leader has spent more than a decade imprisoned for ruthlessly cracking down on political rivals and for ordering dozens of murders and overseeing other brutal tactics.

Despite his conviction for human rights abuses, Fujimori retains a level of popularity in Peru for having defeated the Maoist Shining Path guerrillas and for stabilizing the economy after a period of crisis.

That dichotomy has come to the fore with the pardon: dozens of supporters have gathered in front of the hospital caring for him, while opponents demonstrated in Lima against him.

Fujimori's daughter Keiko, a congresswoman who was narrowly beaten to the presidency by Kuczynski in elections last year, hailed her father's pardon as "a great day for my family and for Fujimorists -- finally my father is free."

And a lawyer for the jailed Shining Path leader, Abimael Guzman, now 83, sought to seize a potential opportunity for his client, who is serving life in prison on terror charges.

"He, too, was jailed for waging war domestically, and he, too, is ailing," Guzman's lawyer Alfredo Crespo told AFP.
Guatemala City (AFP) - Guatemala on Tuesday said its decision to follow the US in moving its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem was a "sovereign" matter that should not affect ties with other countries.

"These are Guatemala's foreign policy and sovereign decisions," Foreign Minister Sandra Jovel told a news conference.

"In any case, we are open to being able to converse with countries that see it as such, but I don't believe it will create any sort of problem with other countries," she said.

Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales announced that he was ordering his country's embassy to move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, despite a UN vote last week condemning US President Donald Trump's decision to unilaterally view the holy city as Israel's capital.

The announcement made Guatemala the first country to follow the United States in saying it was moving its embassy.

Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its capital, while Palestinians, consider east Jerusalem as the occupied capital of their future state.

A UN General Assembly vote on Thursday resoundingly rejected any attempt to unilaterally define Jerusalem's status.

A total of 128 nations voted to maintain the international consensus that Jerusalem's status can only be decided through peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.

- Move won't happen 'tomorrow' -

The United States and Israel mustered seven other countries to their side to vote no to the UN resolution. The other nations were Guatemala, Honduras, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and Togo.

The Palestinian foreign ministry has called Guatemala's decision "shameful and illegal."

Jovel told the news conference she had so far received no telephone calls "from any ambassador in relation to this issue."

She added: "What we are doing is returning our embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, where we had it for many years."

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However, the foreign minister said she did not know how long it would take before Guatemala's embassy was in Jerusalem.

"I don't have a time estimate for this move, but I'm not saying it will happen tomorrow."

She also discounted the possibility of Arab countries exacting economic consequences on Guatemala for its decision -- something that had happened in the past, to reverse a similar move.

A former president of Guatemala, Ramiro de Leon Carpio, who was in power 1993-1996, had made a decision to move the embassy to Jerusalem, but backtracked when Muslim-majority countries shut off access to Guatemalan goods.

Guatemala is today much more reliant on the United States, which is giving $750 million to it and neighboring El Salvador and Honduras to crack down on the crime and poverty that is stirring migration to the US.
By Joseph Guyler Delva PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Haitian authorities said on Tuesday a former prime minister and top official have been banned from leaving the country as prosecutors lead a corruption probe in which 12 people, including government officials, have been arrested. Former Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive, who served from 2009 to 2011, and former justice minister Camille Edouard Jr., who served in 2016, cannot travel abroad while an investigation proceeds into corruption-related charges, Haiti's prosecutor Clame-Ocnam Dameus said. Bellerive, who was premier during a catastrophic earthquake, was ordered to remain within Haiti by a judge who is investigating the 2009 disappearance of a public procurement official and the 2012 death of a construction manager allegedly connected to the case. Bellerive denied any connection to either incident, or to other acts of corruption. "I believe all this is part of a political lynching," he told Reuters. "No one can show me where I've enriched myself or acquired unjustified properties." Corruption has plagued Haiti for generations and President Jovenel Moise has pledged to fight it as a way to improve the impoverished Caribbean country's social and economic development. Dameus said Edouard could potentially face charges of money laundering as well as misappropriation of public funds and properties. Edouard did not respond to a request for comment. The dozen others arrested between November and December, a group comprised mostly of government officials, face corruption charges that include the misappropriation of public funds, Dameus said. (Editing by Daina Beth Solomon and Paul Tait)
By Tom Polansek and Michael Hirtzer

CHICAGO, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Half of U.S. soybeans exported to China this year would not meet Chinese rules for routine delivery in 2018, according to shipping data reviewed by Reuters, signaling new hurdles in the $14-billion-a-year business.

More stringent quality rules, which take effect on Jan. 1, could require additional processing of the U.S. oilseeds at Chinese ports to remove impurities. This could raise costs and reduce sales to the world's largest soybean importer, according to U.S. farmers and traders.

Half of the 473 vessel shipments in 2017 and half the total 27.5 million tonnes of U.S. soybeans exported to China this year contained more than 1 percent of foreign material, exceeding a new standard for speedy delivery, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data compiled by grain broker McDonald Pelz Global Commodities LLC.

"It's going to raise the costs of sending the soybeans to China," said Richard Wilkins, a Delaware farmer and former chairman of the American Soybean Association.

Growers often receive a higher price for selling soybeans with 1 percent or less foreign material, known as No. 1 grade, because importers pay more for better quality.

Wilkins said the change would deliver higher-grade soybeans to Chinese buyers without requiring a premium price. "They basically want to pay us for No. 2 grade but they want it to be No. 1 grade," he said.

Osama El-Lissy, a deputy administrator at the USDA, said farmers should not face additional burdens under the new standards.

"Nothing in the agreement we have with China would lead anyone to believe that there would be a change in whatever price arrangement (is) currently being agreed to," El-Lissy said.

He said Chinese buyers already may subject some shipments to additional processing. "Whatever time it's taking now," he said, "is likely to be the same amount of time that would apply post Jan. 1."

China will routinely accept U.S. soybean shipments with 1 percent or less foreign material, according to the USDA. Existing specifications for No. 2 soybeans, the type most common in U.S. export contracts, have allowed for up to 2 percent of dirt or weed seeds.

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The new agreement by the USDA to label cargoes with more than 1 percent foreign material came after China raised concerns about weed seeds in September.

China accounts for roughly two-thirds of global soy imports, totaling about 86 million tonnes this year through November, primarily from Brazil, the United States and Argentina. Brazil and Argentina are not covered by the same agreement as the United States.

U.S. soybean farmers and export traders fear the deal will hurt incomes already strained by low crop prices brought on by four years of bumper crops. Reducing the impurities to 1 percent or less could increase U.S. exporters' costs by 15 cents per bushel, an ED&F Man Capital Markets analyst said.

Top agricultural traders, including Archer Daniels Midland Co, Bunge Ltd and Louis Dreyfus Corp, already have policies to encourage farmers to deliver soybeans with less than 1 percent of foreign matter.

But the penalty for falling short is relatively minor. At elevators operated by each of the companies, they deduct the weight of foreign material in excess of 1 percent from weighings.

The USDA plans to advise U.S. soybean farmers how to adjust 2018 production and harvesting techniques to reduce seed contamination. Some weeds have thrived in soybean fields after developing resistance to the widely used Roundup herbicide.

ADM said it supported efforts by the North American Export Grain Association, a trade group that worked with the USDA on the agreement, "to achieve an outcome that is beneficial for American agriculture." The association, Bunge and Louis Dreyfus did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Cargill Inc, another large soybean handler, said it was evaluating the new policy and the potential impact on its business. (Reporting by Tom Polansek and Michael Hirtzer in Chicago; Editing by Gary McWilliams and David Gregorio)
Baghdad (AFP) - Fighters from Iraq's Yazidi community, brutally targeted by the Islamic State group, executed 52 civilians in apparent revenge killings after capturing territory from the jihadists, Human Rights Watch said Wednesday.

"Relatives of victims told Human Rights Watch that on June 4, 2017, Yazidi forces detained and then apparently executed men, women, and children," the US-based rights group said in a report.

Those killed reportedly came from eight families of the Sunni Al-Bu Metewut tribe who were escaping clashes between IS and pro-government militias north of second city Mosul, the group said.

After seizing Iraq's Sinjar area in 2014, IS unleashed a brutal campaign against the Yazidis -- dubbed heretics by the jihadists for their non-Muslim faith -- that the UN says could amount to genocide.

Thousands of men from the Kurdish-speaking minority were slaughtered, women and girls abducted as sex slaves and boys sent to military training camps.

Now as IS has been forced from all its territory in Iraq -- and the vast bulk of its holdings in neighbouring Syria -- concern has grown over reprisal attacks against those who lived under its rule.

"As the ground fighting against (IS) winds down in Iraq, state security forces need to turn their focus to preventing retaliation and upholding the rule of law," said Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.

"Past atrocities against the Yazidis don't give its armed forces a free pass to commit abuses against other groups, whatever their past."

The incident documented by HRW was allegedly carried out by members of a Yazidi militia which was part of the broader Hashed al-Shaabi coalition, ultimately controlled by Iraq's prime minister.

"Two Yazidi community leaders told Human Rights Watch that the Ezidkhan Brigades were responsible for the abduction and killing," the report said.

A legal advisor for the brigade told HRW that it was involved in the capture of 52 people, but said the local tribe were "dogs who deserve to die."

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Yazidi officials have accused local tribes of helping to carry out atrocities against their community, allegations tribal leaders deny.

HRW said Yazidi forces were also "implicated in two other incidents of enforced disappearance" of members of local tribes in late 2017.

Iraqi Kurdish officials said in early December that some 3,200 Yazidi women and girls abducted by IS remain missing.
Cold wave affects life in Karnali

Increasing cold has put life of Karnali region out of gear, with people's movements largely restricted. The temperature plunged to minus 4 degree Celsius on Tuesday.
By Nobuhiro Kubo and Tim Kelly TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is considering refitting the Izumo helicopter carrier so that it can land U.S. Marines F-35B stealth fighters, government sources said on Tuesday, as Tokyo faces China's maritime expansion and North Korea's missile and nuclear development. Japan has not had fully fledged aircraft carriers since its World War Two defeat in 1945. Any refit of the Izumo would be aimed at preparing for a scenario in which runways in Japan had been destroyed by missile attacks, and at bolstering defense around Japan's southwestern islands, where China's maritime activity has increased. Three government sources close to the matter said the Japanese government was keeping in sight the possible future procurement of F-35B fighter jets, which can take off and land vertically, as it looks into the remodeling of the Izumo. The 248-metre (814-feet) Izumo, Japan's largest warship equipped with a flat flight deck, was designed with an eye to hosting F-35B fighters. Its elevator connecting the deck with the hangar can carry the aircraft, the sources said. Possible refitting measures included adding a curved ramp at the end of the flight deck, improving the deck's heat resistance against jet burners, and reinforcing the ship's air traffic control capability, they said. However, Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera said the government was not taking any concrete steps towards refitting the Izumo. "Regarding our defense posture, we are constantly conducting various examinations. But no concrete examination is under way on the introduction of F-35B or remodeling of Izumo-class destroyers," Onodera told reporters on Tuesday. The Izumo has a sister ship called the Kaga. Japan has frequently conducted joint drills with U.S. aircraft carriers in recent months to boost deterrence against North Korea. One of the three government sources called such exercises "a great opportunity to see with our own eyes how the U.S. military operates their aircraft carriers" as Japan looks into the possible conversion of the Izumo into an aircraft carrier. Regional tension has soared since North Korea conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test in September. Pyongyang said a month later it had successfully tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile that could reach all of the U.S. mainland. Japan is also wary of China's long-range missiles, and would like to secure measures to launch fighters from aircraft carriers in case runways operated by U.S. forces in Japan or by Japan's Air Self-Defence Force were destroyed by missiles. Article 9 of Japan's pacifist constitution, if taken literally, bans the maintenance of armed forces. However, Japanese governments have interpreted it to allow a military exclusively for self-defense. Owning an aircraft carrier could raise a question of constitutionality, the sources said, so the government is set to address the issue in its new National Defence Programme Guidelines to be compiled by the end of 2018. (Reporting by Nobuhiro Kubo and Tim Kelly; Writing by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Paul Tait)
Photo credit: Hearst Communications, Inc. All rights reserved

From Popular Mechanics

Japan, once a world leader in aircraft carriers, is preparing to wade back into the world of fixed wing aviation. The Pacific country, which swore off flat-tops in the aftermath of World War II, is preparing to reverse decades of government policy and add fighter planes to so-called helicopter destroyers" to counter Chinese air power.

At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Japan was an aircraft carrier superpower. Japan had more carriers than any other country, including the United States, and its pilots were trained to a high standard by years of war. A little more than four years later, all but one of Japans carriers were on the bottom of the ocean, and most of the pilots had been killed in battle.

Japan, which reinvented itself under American control as a pacifist country, swore off offensive weapons of war such as marines, bombers, and aircraft carriers. Despite this, for decades Japans navy, the Maritime Self Defense Force, quietly plotted a return to naval aviation. Over the years it has gradually built ships with increased aviation duties in mind, from destroyers with large helicopter landing decks to tank landing ships with full-length flight decks.

Japans latest aviation ships, the Izumo class helicopter destroyers, are aircraft carriers in all but name. Izumo and her sister ship Kaga resemble miniature carriers, with an island, full-length 814 foot long flight deck, a spacious hangar, and elevators that shuttle aircraft between the flight deck and the island. At 27,000 tons, the ships are roughly a third the size of the U.S. Navys Ford-class supercarriers.

Izumo and Kaga were built to embark with up to 14 SH-60K Seahawk anti-submarine helicopters and V-22 Osprey tiltrotor transports, sweeping neighboring waters of enemy submarines or acting as lily pads for marines flying Ospreys to distant islands in the Japanese archipelago. Although both ships could theoretically accommodate the vertical takeoff and landing version of the Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35B, it was thought that modifying the ships for the stealth fighter was politically risky and too expensive.

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However, according to Japans Kyodo news service, the Japanese government is mulling a plan to purchase F-35B fighters and convert Izumo into a full-fledged aircraft carrier. Tokyo already plans to purchase 42 F-35As, the version of the jet that equips the U.S. Air Force, and could either change its order to include some F-35Bs or simply order more jets.

Photo credit: Steve Thorne

If the Japanese government goes through with the proposal, the Izumo carriers will need to head back to the shipyard at Yokohama for major design changes. The flight deck will need a new thermotolerant coating to withstand the extreme heat of the F-35B's exhaust during takeoff and landing. The bow-mounted Phalanx close-in weapon system, designed to destroy incoming missiles, will probably have to be removed as it is a hazard to larger aircraft.

Down below, the Izumo will need to set aside room in the hangar for more aviation fuel and jet-launched weapons such as the AIM-9X Sidewinder, AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles, and JDAM satellite-guided bombs. Izumo will also need to install a seagoing version of the Automated Logistics Information System, or ALIS for short, that coordinates repairs and spare parts for the F-35 fleet worldwide. Setting aside all of that space will result in a smaller hangar.

The conversion process from helicopter destroyer to aircraft carrier is an expensive proposition. Izumo could probably carry about ten F-35Bs at a time, and a dozen aircraft to include spares would cost about $1.4 billion. Converting the ship itself could cost another half a billion dollars, and the entire process could cost approximately 5 percent of Japans annual defense budget. It looks likely that Tokyo will convert both Izumo and Kaga, with a total overall cost of about $4 billion. Thats a lot of money just to put 20 fighter planes to sea, and a tough pill to swallow for a country that spends just over 1 percent of its GDP on defense and is mired in public debt.

Photo credit: U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Roderick Jacquote

From Japans perspective, however, it has little choice. Japan is particularly nervous about the increasing number of Chinese military flights at the southern end of the Japanese island chain, closer to Taiwan than Tokyo, where Chinese Air Force fighters and bombers have repeatedly flown past the Japanese islands. Theres also the matter of the Japanese-held Senkaku islands, claimed by China as the Diaoyu islands, in the nearby East China Sea.

While China has several major air bases within range of both regions, Japan has a single air base on the island of Okinawa that also doubles as a regional civilian airport. Naha Air Base, home to approximately 40 Japanese F-15J fighters, bears the brunt of responsibility responding to Chinese air incursions. In wartime, the airfield would likely be pounded flat by Chinese ballistic missiles, leaving the southernmost part of Japan without air power. Adding an aircraft carrier would allow Japan to station a floating airfield wherever it wanted, boosting regional defenses.

But what about Japans prohibition on aircraft carriers? Legally, the prohibition is actually against attack aircraft carriers meant to project offensive air power against another country. The Izumo class armed with F-35Bs would technically be defensive aircraft carriers meant to protect Japanese airspace.

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Kevin Hart and Kenzo  aka Zo. (Photo: Kevin Hart via Instagram)

The year 2017 has been one of normal celebrity baby names. Well, normal by Hollywood standards.

Among the kids born, there were few shockers like the Apples and Pilot Inspektors of the past. (Fun fact: Apple Martin and Pilot Lee are now teenagers.) Even the more unusual creative names are right on trend, according to baby name expert Laura Wattenberg.

The vast majority of Hollywood parents name the same as everybody else, Wattenberg, whos behind Baby Name Wizard, tells Yahoo Lifestyle. All of America is naming far more creatively, so some of the names [where you think], Oh, these celebrities have done it again are actually pretty mainstream.

Even the unique names among Hollywood babes represent the top trends across the country  from rock n roll baby names to action-hero ones. Take a look at 10 of the most interesting celebrity baby names of 2017

1. Kenzo, son of Kevin Hart and Eniko Parrish: The Jumanji stars children with his first wife are named Hendrix and Heaven, so he made a conscious choice not to follow the H trend when he started a family this year with his second wife. Kenzo is a Japanese name, Wattenberg says. Its accessible, short, and zippy. So zippy, Hart often calls the baby Zo. The letter Z is hugely popular with parents right now. (See below for Lazlo, son of Jason Biggs.) But this isnt the first weve heard of the name Kenzo in the celeb world. Kimora Lee Simmons and Djimon Hounsou welcomed their son, Kenzo, in 2009.

2. Strummer, son of Julia Stiles and Preston J. Cook: Rocker homages are huge, says Wattenberg, and this one pays tribute to the late Joe Strummer from the Clash. (Stiles is a fan  their music makes her dance around her living room.) Other rocker names weve seen in recent years include Bowie, Jagger, Prince, and Lenon.

A post shared by Julia Stiles (@missjuliastiles) on Dec 13, 2017 at 5:27pm PST

3. Sir, son of Beyonce and Jay-Z: This regal name fits right in with word names like Marvel or Supreme  or title names like Prince, which is also in the rock n category (see Strummer above). A name that you use in a form of address is aggressive because youre demanding respect, Wattenberg says. Imagine always saying Yes, Sir to your 3-year old?! While its not a surprising choice for the Carters, its interesting that out of three kids, only the boy gets the name that puts him on a pedestal. Which brings us to

Story continues

A post shared by Beyonce (@beyonce) on Dec 13, 2017 at 5:27pm PST

4. Rumi, daughter of Beyonce and Jay-Z: Jay-Z shed some light on the twins names, explaining that Sir carries himself like that. He just came out, like, Sir, while Rumi is our favorite poet. Wattenberg describes Rumi as a raindrop name  or a short name thats smooth and glossy, like Noah, Liam or Mia, which are popular now.

5. Revel, son of Matthew and Renee Morrison: Revel is a celebratory word name that Wattenberg says exalts the child. Its another one of the names that puts the child on a pedestal  similar to Sir, Miracle, Royal, and Reign.

A post shared by Matthew Morrison (@_matthew.morrison_) on Dec 13, 2017 at 5:27pm PST

6. Gunner, son of Spencer and Heidi Pratt: Gunnar is a traditional Norse name, but changing the ar ending to an er literally means someone who holds a gun. Firearm baby names are a huge trend according to Wattenberg. After all, we are in the Trump era. While the er ending became trendy with occupational names like Taylor and Carter, now names like Gunner, Riker, and Wilder are rising.

A post shared by Gunnar Pratt (@gunnerpratt) on Dec 13, 2017 at 5:27pm PST

7. Bodhi, daughter of Nikki Reed and Ian Somerhalder: Jenna Elfman and Megan Fox are among celebrities who have chosen Bodhi for their baby, but Reed and Somerhalders little one is unusual because shes a girl and the other celebrity Bodhis are boys. Wattenberg says its not an uncommon name but is one of a kind because its gentler and more contemplative than a lot of current, aggressively male names.

A post shared by Ian Somerhalder (@iansomerhalder) on Dec 13, 2017 at 5:27pm PST

8. Lyric, daughter of AJ and Rochelle McLean: This name has been popular since it was introduced in the 1994 film Jasons Lyric. Its a natural choice for a boy-bander, but whats odd is that even though its typically a feminine name, it sounds like the common male name Eric, which makes it stand out.

A post shared by AJ McLean (@skulleeroz) on Dec 13, 2017 at 5:27pm PST

9. Montague, son of Geri Halliwell and Christian Horner: This very British name may sound strange to American parents, but Wattenberg explains that cute nicknames for boys like Frankie and Alfie are huge in England. The nickname Monty, which the former Spice Girl calls her son, is part of that trend.

A post shared by Geri Halliwell Horner (@therealgerihalliwell) on Dec 13, 2017 at 5:27pm PST

10. Lazlo, son of Jason Biggs and Jenny Mollen: Names ending in O are short and quirky, with Leo currently the most popular. Wattenberg calls Lazlo a romantic name from Spanish/Italian tradition. As we noted above when talking Kenzo, Z is also a hot letter. So look out for a spike in unique O-ending names that also feature a Z.

A post shared by Jason Biggs (@biggsjason) on Dec 13, 2017 at 5:27pm PST

And while we await the Kardashian baby boom  Kylie Jenner, Khloe Kardashian, and Kim Kardashian all have babies on the way  well leave you with a prediction about the kind of name North and Saint Wests sibling will get when the surrogate gives birth.

It would be really surprising if they didnt choose a word name, Wattenberg says. You can make a different impact with a word-based name because it comes with built-in meaning and yet nobodys heard it on a baby before.

As for general name trends in 2018? Wattenberg says, I dont see anything holding back the movement toward more creative names. Creative, but not totally out there. Sorry, Audio Science.





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By David Brunnstrom and Denis Pinchuk

WASHINGTON/MOSCOW (Reuters) - The United States announced sanctions on two North Korean officials behind their country's ballistic missile program on Tuesday, while Russia reiterated an offer to mediate to ease tensions between Washington and Pyongyang.

The new U.S. steps were the latest in a campaign aimed at forcing North Korea - which has defied years of multilateral and bilateral sanctions - to abandon a weapons program aimed at developing nuclear-tipped missiles capable of hitting the United States.

The U.S. Treasury named the officials as Kim Jong Sik and Ri Pyong Chol. It said Kim was reportedly a key figure in North Korea's efforts to switch its missile program from liquid to solid fuel, while Ri was reported to be a key official in its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) development.

"Treasury 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 Mnuchin said in a statement.

The largely symbolic steps block any property or interests the two might have within U.S. jurisdiction and prohibit any dealings by U.S. citizens with them.

The move followed new United Nations sanctions announced last Friday in response to North Korea's Nov. 29 test of an ICBM that Pyongyang said put all of the U.S. mainland within range of its nuclear weapons. Those sanctions sought to further limit North Korea's access to refined petroleum products and crude oil and its earnings from workers abroad.

North Korea declared the U.N. steps to be an act of war and tantamount to a complete economic blockade.

The standoff between the United States and North Korea has raised fears of a new conflict on the Korean peninsula, which has remained in a technical state of war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

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Washington has said that all options, including military ones, are on the table in dealing with North Korea. It says it prefers a diplomatic solution, but that North Korea has given no indication it is willing to discuss denuclearization.

KREMLIN OFFER

On Tuesday, the Kremlin, which has long called for the two sides to hold negotiations, said it was ready to act as a mediator if the United States and North Korea were willing for it to play such a role.

"Russia's readiness to clear the way for de-escalation is obvious," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Asked to comment on the offer, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, Justin Higgins, said the United States "has the ability to communicate with North Korea through a variety of diplomatic channels," and added:

"We want the North Korean regime to understand that there is a different path that it can choose, however it is up to North Korea to change course and return to credible negotiations."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who made a similar offer on Monday, told U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in a phone call on Tuesday that "Washington's aggressive rhetoric" and beefing up of its military presence in the region had heightened tensions and was unacceptable, Russia's foreign ministry said.

It said Lavrov underscored the need for "the fastest move to the negotiating process from the language of sanctions."

Another State Department spokesman, Michael Cavey, said Washington remained open to talks, but the onus was on North Korea to take sincere and meaningful actions toward denuclearization and refrain from further provocations.

He said North Korea had made clear through its words and actions it is not interested in dialogue at this stage.

South Koreas Unification Ministry forecast on Tuesday that North Korea would look to open negotiations with the United States next year while continuing to seek recognition as a de facto nuclear power.

Washington has stressed the need for all countries, especially Russia, and China - North Korea's main trading partner - to fully implement sanctions, including by cutting off oil supplies.

According to Chinese customs data, China exported no oil products to North Korea in November, apparently going above and beyond U.N. sanctions imposed earlier this year.

Beijing also imported no North Korean iron ore, coal or lead in November, the second full month of those trade sanctions, the data showed.

Beijing has not disclosed its crude exports to North Korea for several years, but industry sources say it still supplies about 520,000 tonnes, or 3.8 million barrels, a year to the country via an aging pipeline.

North Korea also sources some of its oil from Russia.

Trade between North Korea and China has slowed through the year, particularly after China banned coal purchases in February.

Chinese exports of corn to North Korea in November also slumped, down 82 percent from a year earlier to 100 tonnes, the lowest since January. Exports of rice plunged 64 percent to 672 tonnes, the lowest since March.

China has expressed concern about the humanitarian effects of sanctions, and has repeatedly called for constructive efforts to ease tensions.

(Reporting by Denis Pinchuk and Vladimir Soldatkin in Moscow; Additional reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington; Writing by Polina Ivanova; Editing by Alistair Bell and James Dalgleish)
DUBAI (Reuters) - Kuwait's deputy foreign minister said on Wednesday that the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council would continue to operate despite a row among three of its members and Qatar that it has unsuccessfully sought to mediate. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain plus non-GCC member Egypt cut off diplomatic, travel and trade ties with Qatar in June, accusing it of supporting militants and their arch-foe Iran. Doha denies the charges and says their move is aimed at curtailing its sovereignty. Western nations have called for the countries, which are all close U.S. allies, to settle their differences in talks. The heads of state from the three boycotting countries skipped a GCC summit hosted by Kuwait's ruler in December, and the UAE called for the formation of a bilateral committee with Saudi Arabia on economic, political and military issues. But Kuwait appears determined to preserve the loose union set up in 1980 as a bulwark against larger neighbors Iraq and Iran, and said its reconciliation efforts would proceed. Despite the spat which appears to have no end in sight, the GCC's work "will not be frozen or disrupted," Khaled Jarallah was quoted by state news agency KUNA as telling reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Kuwait. "After the summit in Kuwait, we are not worried about the future of the council," Jarallah added. "Mediation efforts have not stopped, and a breakthrough will be achieved one day." (Reporting By Omar Fahmy and Noah Browning; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
Moscow (AFP) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday discussed North Korea's nuclear programme with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, stressing the need to start a negotiations process.

"The sides were united in the opinion that nuclear missile projects in North Korea violate the demands of the UN Security Council," the Russian foreign ministry said after the two men spoke by telephone.

Lavrov "once again highlighted that it is unacceptable to exacerbate tensions around the Korean peninsula with Washington's aggressive rhetoric toward Pyongyang and increasing military preparations in the region," it said.

"It was underlined that it is necessary to move from the language of sanctions to the negotiating process as soon as possible," the statement said, adding that it was Tillerson who initiated the call.

The UN Security Council on Friday slapped new sanctions on North Korea that will restrict oil supplies vital for its missile and nuclear programmes, the latest response to Pyongyang's ICBM test last month.

US President Donald Trump has threatened to "totally destroy" North Korea if it attacks the United States, while North Korea insists the world must now accept that it is a nuclear power.

Pyongyang has slammed the UN sanctions as an "act of war".

Moscow has called for talks between North Korea and the United States, warning of a "risk of uncontrolled escalation". Russia has also criticised Washington's military drills with South Korea saying it provokes Pyongyang.
By Ahmed Elumami and Ayman al-Warfalli TRIPOLI/BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - A Libyan crude oil pipeline blown up on Tuesday will take about a week to repair, the head of state oil firm NOC told Reuters on Wednesday. A "terrorist group" was probably responsible for the explosion as such groups were roaming around in the desert where the remote field is located, said a spokesman for an eastern Libyan force tasked with protecting oilfields. The blast, about 130 km (80 miles) south of the Es Sider terminal, cut output by between 70,000 and 100,000 barrels per day (bpd), according to NOC, which said the cause was unclear. "It is estimated that the repair will take about one week from today," NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanallah said in a written response to questions. "The damage is estimated as 30 to 35 meters of a 24 (inch) pipeline." "This will not have a major effect in the marketing program, only a little change," he added. He did not give a production figure, but an industry source said Libya's output had dropped to between 900,000 bpd and one million bpd. An official at NOC subsidiary Waha Oil, which operates the pipeline, said a team of senior executives and engineers would visit the site on Wednesday to assess the damage. The pipeline was attacked after being uncovered by maintenance workers carrying our repair work to stop an oil leak, said Miftah Magariaf, commander of the oil protection force. Pictures circulated on social media appeared to back his comment, showing parts of a pipeline unearthed next to piles of sand. Magariaf said security in the desert was shaky. "Terrorist groups have been roaming in the desert and creating problems everywhere," he said. Several Libyan websites linked to Waha said in the evening that the fire had been extinguished. Flows have been diverted, but at least one tanker's berth at Es Sider was canceled in the morning, an industry source said. But a Libyan shipping agent said the tanker, Al Mabrouk, was likely to berth at the port in the afternoon. NOC may have to revise January loading programs for Es Sider due to the outage, and likely cancel some cargoes, according to two trading sources that lift Libyan crude. A preliminary loading schedule for the terminal shows 13 crude tankers are due to load at the port next month, at a rate of around 252,000 bpd. The blown-up crude pipeline lies in an area of poor security where Islamic State has operated in the past. (Reporting by Ahmed Elumami, Ayman al-Warfalli, Ahmad Ghaddar, Julia Payne and Ulf Laessing; Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by David Evans and Mark Potter)
For the last 60 years, Alan Robinson and Walter Macfarlane have been best friends. But their relationship took a turn recently when they learned that theyre much, much more than that.

In fact, Robinson and Macfarlane are brothers.

Both men were born in Hawaii just 15 months apart, and first met in the sixth grade at a prep school in Honolulu, the Associated Press reports. While Robinson had been adopted, Macfarlane never knew his father. So, the pair separately set off to find out where they came from.

I thought, Ill never know my birth mother, Ill never have any nieces or nephews,  Robinson lamented to KHON.

Macfarlane turned to DNA matching websites in his search, and was matched with a user called Robi737.

As a nickname, everybody called him Robi and he flew 737s for Aloha Airlines, he was a pilot, Macfarlanes daughter, Cindy, told the station of Robinson.

5-Year-Old Girl Has Dream Wedding Photo Shoot with Preschool Sweetheart Before Heart Surgery

When you thought about it, compared forearms and everything, Macfarlane said, according to WHDH. Robinson added: Hairy arms! That did it!

The pair broke the news to family and friends during a party over the weekend, the AP reports.

It was an overwhelming experience, its still overwhelming, Robinson told KHON. I dont know how long its going to take for me to get over this feeling.

He added: This is the best Christmas present I could ever imagine having.

The brothers said they plan to travel and enjoy retirement together, according to the AP.
Greater adjutant spotted in Koshi Tappu after 22 yrs

Greater adjutant, an endangered member of the sork family, Ciconiidae, has been spotted at Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve after 22 years.
Golden hour, a beautiful bouquet, lots of laughter, love and even a celeb sighting; the perfect ingredients for a stylish and successful engagement shoot if we do say so ourselves! With all of these elements in place, we dive into Emily Jane'sshoot right here and fall in love immediately, leaving us feeling inspired and pretty giddy. What more could we ask for!?

From Emily Jane Photography... Just to be around Jackie and Danny is a real treat. They are a team in every sense of the word. They met while in school in Michigan and both moved to NYC to start their careers after graduating. I met up with Jackie and Danny in NYC at their cute apartment. As we drove around the city they both pointed out spots they loved to spend time together. One of their favorites was Central Park. We started the shoot in Greenwich Village as golden hour approached. We walked through the charming neighborhood and even stopped to buy fresh flowers. As we got closer to golden hour we took a cab into Central Park (we even saw Ben Affleck on the way!) The light this evening was just beautiful. I love when the light hits the top of the buildings from inside Central Park. Its a really beautiful sight. All of the sudden harsh, hot sun becomes this soft creamy light. Its the perfect time to walk around to park and thats what we did.

Photography: Emily Jane Photography
A Florida man was arrested for allegedly causing thousands of dollars worth of damage to an ATM he told cops he attacked because the machine apparently gave him too much money.

Michael Joseph Oleksik, 23, punched the touch screen of an automatic teller machine at a Wells Fargo bank on N. Cocoa Boulevard in Cocoa on Nov. 29, authorities said.

Oleksik later called the bank to apologize for the damage he caused, saying he was angry the ATM was giving him too much money and he did not know what to do, according to records obtained by Florida Today.

The Merritt Island man reportedly said he was in a hurry for work when he grew frustrated.

Oleksik can allegedly be seen on surveillance footage damaging the ATM.

Wells Fargo contacted the Cocoa Police Department asking to press charges because at least $5,000 in damages was incurred.

Oleksik was arrested Friday and charged with criminal mischief.

He was booked into the Brevard County Jail Complex and is awaiting trial.

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Mark Hamill marked the first anniversary of Carrie Fishers untimely death with a beautiful tribute to the late actress on Wednesday. Fisher died a year ago today after suffering a heart attack at age 60.

The Star Wars actor posted photos of the two together alongside a drawing that depicted Fisher holding her beloved dog, Gary, and raising her middle finger.

No ones ever really gone... Hamill captioned the picture, adding the hashtags #AlwaysWithUs and #CarrieOnForever. His quote is the same line that Hamills character, Luke Skywalker, says to Fishers character, Leia Organa, in The Last Jedi.

A post shared by Mark Hamill (@hamillhimself) on Dec 27, 2017 at 12:44am PST

Fans also remembered the actresses death by posting tributes on Twitter.

No matter how I go, I want it reported that I drowned in moonlight, strangled by my own bra.

Its been 1 year Carrie Fisher passed pic.twitter.com/1hDn2qe0zl  i miss u carrie fisher (@tolkienianjedi) December 27, 2017

Its been a year since we lost Carrie Fisher. My resolution for 2018 is to put into better practice everything she taught - the wisdom to own yourself, flaws and all, and to give as few fucks as possible pic.twitter.com/1eA6BaRzUY  Clarisse Loughrey (@clarisselou) December 27, 2017

one year ago today we lost a princess.

we lost a general.

we lost a icon.

we lost leia.

we lost carrie fisher.

may the force be with her. always. pic.twitter.com/uPGoqa8DDW  caity loves carrie (@marveljedi) December 27, 2017

The General? To me, shes royalty.



Cant believe its been a year already.

May the force be with you, Carrie Fisher pic.twitter.com/umoS8tO0lH  Dean Dobbs (@DeanDobbs) December 27, 2017

I miss you, legend. My heart is still broken...#CarrieOnForeverpic.twitter.com/7H2i77Msnr  Millennial Falcon (@Bombabouse) December 27, 2017

Ill be up there waiting for you.

I know. #CarrieOnForeverpic.twitter.com/Mva9QYaxrq  Bad Father Han Solo (@BadFatherHan) December 27, 2017

Hamill wrote a moving tribute to his dear friend Fisher earlier this year in a piece for The Hollywood Reporter.

We ran the gamut over the years, where we were in love with each other, where we hated each others guts. Im not speaking to you, youre such a judgmental, royal brat! We went through it all, he wrote. Its like we were a family.

Hamill added, Like I say, she was a handful. She was high maintenance. But my life would have been so much drabber and less interesting if she hadnt been the friend that she was.

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Steve Bannons eyes lit up. Several months before he left his job as a senior White House adviser last August, Bannon was talking to President Trump about the brewing political storm over the Justice Department investigation into his campaigns alleged ties to the Kremlin. Suddenly, Trump had an inspiration. He looked straight at Bannon, jabbed at him with his finger and uttered the phrase that would become the slogan of the White House pushback against the Russia probe: Witch hunt!

Brilliant, thought Bannon, as he later related the exchange to colleagues.

Ever since, it is a phrase Trump has returned to time and again  and repackaged with typical Trumpian hyperbole. This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history! Trump tweeted last May after ex-FBI director Robert Mueller was appointed as Justice Department special counsel to oversee the probe.

But now, as Trump prepares to end his first year in office, the witch hunt narrative may have outlived its usefulness. Muellers investigation has expanded and gained serious traction: The presidents former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, and Manaforts chief deputy, Rick Gates, have been indicted. His former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, has pleaded guilty and is now a cooperating witness. So too is a former foreign policy adviser, George Papadopoulos, who has admitted lying to the FBI about repeated contacts with alleged Russian cutouts who had offered the Trump campaign dirt on Hillary Clinton in the form of thousands of emails.

Paul Manafort, President Trumps former campaign chairman, leaves Federal District Court in Washington on Nov. 2, 2017. (Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP)

As described by sources familiar with various aspects of the investigation, the Mueller probe is fast approaching a critical crossroads. The presidents lawyers, Ty Cobb and John Dowd, are pressing Mueller to wind down the investigation and exonerate their client, which they have assured the president will happen by early next year.

But the sources familiar with the probe say that such a rapid conclusion is  as one put it  fanciful. Mueller and his team, they say, are pursuing new leads, interrogating new witnesses and collecting a mountain of new evidence, including subpoenaed bank records and thousands of emails from the campaign and the Trump transition.

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In just the last few weeks, his prosecutors have begun questioning Republican National Committee staffers about the party digital operation that worked with the Trump campaign to target voters in key swing states. They are seeking to determine if the joint effort was related to the activities of Russian trolls and bots aimed at influencing the American electorate, according to two of the sources.

In what is potentially another ominous sign for the White House, the lawyer for Jared Kushner, the presidents son in law and senior adviser who was in charge of the campaigns digital operation, recently began searching for a crisis public relations firm to handle press inquiries  a step frequently taken by people who believe they may be facing criminal charges. (Kushner has denied all wrongdoing, and his lawyer, Abbe Lowell, has said he is cooperating with the Mueller investigation.)

White House senior advisor and President Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner arrives at the Hart Senate Office Building on July 24, 2017, in Washington, D.C., to testify behind closed doors before the Senate Intelligence Committee about Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Even if the new lines of inquiry dont result in additional indictments  something unknowable at this point  the new material all but guarantees the Mueller investigation will stretch on for months, if not years, likely provoking Trump to revisit his decision not to fire the special counsel.

And if the president does take that step, many lawmakers and legal veterans say, it will cause a political explosion unlike any the capital has seen in decades. It will be cataclysmic, said Richard Ben-Veniste, a former Watergate prosecutor who lived through the so-called Saturday night massacre when President Richard Nixon fired special prosecutor Archibald Cox. It will create a constitutional crisis.

In the meantime, the presidents allies are mounting a ferocious attack on Muellers team  pointing to tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to Hillary Clinton and other Democrats by the special counsels prosecutors, and to text messages disparaging Trump by FBI agent Peter Strzok, whom Mueller has since moved off the investigation. They are also gunning for top FBI officials, especially deputy director Andrew McCabe, who they believe began a counterintelligence investigation of the Trump campaigns links to the Russians last year based in part on the controversial dossier prepared by a former British spy and funded as opposition research by the Clinton campaign.

Everything points to the fact that there was an orchestrated plan to try to prevent Donald Trump from being the next president of the United States, said Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, in a recent television interview in which he vowed to subpoena senior FBI agents about the origins of the probe.

FBI acting director Andrew McCabe listens during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act on Capitol Hill in Washington on June 7, 2017. (Photo: Alex Brandon/AP)

But for Democrats, the attacks on Mueller and the FBI are a distraction tactic meant to obscure how much has already been uncovered about the Trump teams contacts with the Russians. Back in January, when the issue first starting getting political traction, the president and his top aides denied that he and his campaign had any connections to Moscow. I have nothing to do with Russia, Trump tweeted at the time.

Since then, Muellers team and congressional investigators have detailed numerous contacts, meetings and email exchanges between Trumps campaign and Russian-connected operatives and officials that were unknown to the public when voters went to the polls in November 2016. Jeff Sessions, the Trump campaigns chief national security adviser, met with the Russian ambassador at a hotel reception and later in his Senate office. Papadopoulos met with a Russia-connected professor and a woman introduced as Putins niece in an effort to set up a summit between Trump and the Russian president. And most famously, Donald Trump Jr., Kushner and Manafort all met in Trump Tower with a delegation of Russians who they believed had derogatory information on Hillary Clinton  including official documents  that came straight from the highest levels of the Kremlin.

Just from whats been made public, its pretty clear the Trump campaign and family were willing and eager to work with the Russians, said Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., a member of the House Intelligence Committee. They showed almost no restraint in engaging with the Russians to see what they had to offer on their opponent. It was a whatever it takes mentality.

President Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions at the FBI National Academy graduation ceremony on Dec. 15, 2017, in Quantico, Va. (Photo: Evan Vucci/AP)

Whether all this adds up to collusion  the sensational charge of active collaboration between the Trump campaign and Moscow that was first laid out in the controversial dossier commissioned by the Clinton campaign  is far from clear. But for Swalwell and quite a few others, it is already clear that the Russian probe has been far more than a witch hunt.

_____

Best of 2017 Yahoo News Features
ABUJA (Reuters) - The United States has formally agreed to sell 12 Super Tucano A-29 planes and weapons to Nigeria, the West African country's air force said, confirming the resurrection of a deal frozen by the Obama administration over rights concerns. Former U.S. President Barack Obama delayed the sale in one of his last decisions in office after the Nigerian Air Force bombed a refugee camp in January. But his successor Donald Trump decided to press on with the transaction to support Nigeria's efforts to fight Boko Haram militants and to boost U.S. defense jobs, sources told Reuters in April. The U.S. ambassador to Nigeria presented letters of offer and acceptance to Nigeria's air force earlier on Wednesday, the air force said in a statement. It said the U.S. State Department had approved the sale and final agreements would be signed and necessary payments made before Feb. 20. There was no immediate statement from the U.S. embassy or from authorities in Washington. U.S. government and Nigerian Air Force officials would meet in early January to discuss the early delivery of the aircraft once payment had been made, the Nigerian air force said. The sale of the 12 aircraft, with weapons and services, is worth $593 million, and includes thousands of bombs and rockets. The propeller-driven plane with reconnaissance, surveillance and attack capabilities, is made by Brazil's Embraer. A second production line is in Florida, in a partnership between Embraer and privately held Sierra Nevada Corp of Sparks, Nevada. The Super Tucano costs more than $10 million each and the price can go much higher depending on the configuration. It is powered by a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT 6 engine. (Reporting by Paul Carsten; Editing by Alison Williams and Andrew Heavens)
This photo from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) taken on 23 December 2017 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un: AFP PHOTO/KCNA VIA KNS/AFP/Getty Images

The US and Russia have insisted they will not accept North Korea as a nuclear state, amid a series of missile tests by the East Asian nation and increased rhetoric from both Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke by phone on a myriad of issues, but both agreed on their stance regarding Pyongyangs continued development of nuclear weapons despite United Nations sanctions.

State Department Heather Nauert said in a statement that both sides agreed that they will continue to work towards a diplomatic solution to achieve a denuclearised Korean peninsula.

However, on the same call on Tuesday, Mr Lavrov criticised President Donald Trumps aggressive rhetoric towards North Korea, as many world leaders and the UN have before. Mr Trump has said in the past that the US will rain down fire and fury on North Korea.

The phone call comes on the heels of Russias offer to be a mediator between Pyongyang and Washington, fostering dialogue rather than trading barbs as Mr Trump and Mr Kim have been doing for several months.

The President has repeatedly called Mr Kim Rocket Man as Mr Kim continues to test missiles dangerously close to US ally Japan.

Late last week, the UN Security Council also unanimously passed - including votes from Russia and China who have closer ties to Pyongyang - more sanctions on North Korea, further limiting its oil supplies and slave labour market.

Mr Tillerson had previously said during a November news conference that North Koreas fuel supply is already quite constrained as shown by anecdotal evidence and US intelligence sources which show cars lined up at petrol stations or certain stations closing that would normally have fuel.

The issue is that the country only has one refinery that operates internally, so it is heavily reliant on finished fuel imports.

Reuters that according to Chinese customs data, China exported no oil products to North Korea in November - something that was above and beyond UN sanctions requirements. Beijing also imported no North Korean iron ore, coal or lead in last months, the second full month of those trade sanctions, the data showed.

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China has not disclosed its crude exports to North Korea for several years, but industry sources say it still supplies about 520,000 tonnes, or 3.8m barrels, a year to the country via an ageing pipeline.

A day after the UN sanctions, North Koreas state media called the stricter controls an act of war by a frenzied Trump administration.

The US Treasury Department also released a statement regarding the US-specific sanctions on the country. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said the departments finance-related sanctions will be targeting leaders of North Koreas ballistic missile programmes.

Tensions have continued to rise between North Korea and the US, as Pyongyang tested an intercontinental ballistic missile on 29 November that US intelligence officials said would put all of the US mainland within striking range.

The US has declared North Korea a state sponsor of terrorism to enact further financial sanctions and also claimed in the Presidents National Security Strategy that Pyongyang is developing biological weapons.
Impatient to hand over power: Deuba

Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba has said Im impatient to hand over power to a new government after completing the due constitutional process.
At least four North Korean defectors have shown symptoms consistent with radiation exposure, including chromosomal abnormalities, South Koreas Unification Ministry said Wednesday.

The four defectors were among a group of 30 refugees who agreed to be tested, out of a total of 114 defectors from the region near North Koreas Punggye-ri nuclear site.

All 30 hail from the North Korean region of Kilju, where the country has conducted six underground nuclear bomb tests since 2006. All of those tested fled North Korea before the countrys fourth nuclear test in January 2016.

Ministry officials who spoke with South Koreas Yonhap News Agency cautioned that the tests, while indicative of radiation exposure, werent necessarily definitive. Other environmental factors like age and smoking could also cause similar damage.

The possibility of radiation exposure can be suspected, the unnamed official said, but it has not been verified whether nuclear tests affected the person as there is a lack of information assessing living environments in North Korea.

North Korean soldiers attend a mass rally in Pyongyang to celebrate North Korea's declaration on Nov. 29 it had achieved full nuclear statehood. (Photo: KIM WON-JIN via Getty Images)

The accounts nonetheless align with anecdotal tales from Kilju defectors, who described a heavily contaminated region in interviews with The Research Association of Vision of North Korea earlier this year.

Residents in the area told the group that after the sixth nuclear test, some 80 percent of the trees planted in the area have died, underground wells have dried up and babies have been born with health defects.

Thats consistent with what could be expected from repeated underground nuclear explosions, Suh Kyun-ryul, a professor of nuclear engineering at Seoul National University, told the South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo.

Due to the collapsed ground layer, fissures must have formed underneath, leading to contamination of the underground layer and water supply.

After North Koreas sixth and largest nuclear test on Sept. 3, unnamed sources told the Japanese TV broadcaster Asahi a collapsed tunnel at the Punggye-ri site potentially killed as many as 200 people.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
(Reuters) - Four Ohio teenagers were charged with murder on Wednesday, accused of tossing a sandbag from a highway overpass in Toledo that killed a passenger in a car last week, prosecutors said.

A 13-year-old and three 14-year-olds were arraigned on charges of murder and vehicular vandalism in Lucas County Juvenile Court, according to Lori Olender, deputy chief of the juvenile division in the county prosecutor's office. A hearing is scheduled for Jan. 4.

Authorities initially charged the teen-age boys with felonious assault. The murder charge was added after the passenger, 22-year-old Marquise Byrd of Warren, Michigan, died of his injuries on Friday.

The youths have been in custody since the Dec. 19 incident, Olender said.

Toledo police said Byrd was struck by a construction sandbag that crashed through the windshield of the car in which he was a front seat passenger as it traveled through Toledo on Interstate 75.

"Detectives determined the falling sandbag was not an accident, but a deliberate act and probable cause to charge the juveniles was established," police said in a statement.

"There were statements made by these youths admitting that they were throwing rocks," Olender said. The sandbag that we know was thrown did cause the death of the victim.

(Reporting by Peter Szekely in New York; editing by Frank McGurty and Tom Brown)
The Daily Beast

Mikhail Metzel/Sputnik/AFP via GettyNearly nine months into Russias war against Ukraine, it seems some of Vladimir Putins strongmen are laying the groundwork to abandon ship.A human rights group that works closely with Russian inmates and investigates abuses by the security services has reportedly received a flood of calls from members of those same security services desperately trying to flee.Gulagu.net, founded by Vladimir Osechkin, reports that the final straw appears to have been the bruta
LIMA (Reuters) - Peru's former authoritarian President Alberto Fujimori asked for forgiveness "from the bottom of my heart" to Peruvians he acknowledged having disappointed, and thanked President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski for granting him a pardon on Christmas Eve.

In a video posted on Facebook early on Tuesday, Fujimori, speaking from a hospital bed, promised that as a free man he would support Kuczynski's call for the country's reconciliation.

The remarks were Fujimori's first explicit apology to the Andean country and came after two days of unrest since Kuczynski unexpectedly announced he had pardoned him. The pardon cleared Fujimori's previous convictions for graft and human rights crimes committed during his 1990-2000 rightwing government.

Late on Monday, Kuczynski appealed to Peruvians opposed to the pardon to "turn the page."

(Reporting By Marco Aquino; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has reportedly detained and killed scores of gay men. (Photo: Said Tsarnayev / Reuters)

Russias internet watchdog agency is demanding to know why Instagram and Facebook have blocked the social media accounts of Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechnyas Kremlin-backed dictator.

Kadyrov reportedly lost access to both platforms on Saturday without explanation. He has accused the U.S. government of pressuring the social media giants to disable his accounts.

Washington imposed travel and financial sanctions against Kadyrov last week over alleged human rights violations by his government, including repression, torture and murder. He responded with a mocking Instagram post, in which he said he can be proud that Im out of favor with the special services of the USA. Russia called the Magnitsky Act sanctions, which have also been aimed at a number of its own officials, illegal and unfriendly.

Kadyrov, a former rebel leader who is now loyal to Russian President Vladimir Putin, has a history of human rights abuses. Under his leadership, Chechnya has reportedly detained and killed scores of gay men  although he denies this.

The authoritarian leader often posted bizarre photos and videos on Instagram for his millions of followers. One purportedly showed him attacking a crocodile. Another was a plea to help him find his missing cat.

Kadyrov made international headlines in early 2016 when he uploaded a video that appeared to show Mikhail Kasyanov, a Russian opposition leader, Putin critic and former Russian prime minister, being targeted by a sniper. The video, which Kasyanov described as incitement to murder, was eventually taken down by Instagram, angering the Chechen leader.

Kadyrovs Twitter account remains active as of Tuesday. He tweeted to complain about his blocked Facebook and Instagram accounts on Saturday.

Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, did not immediately respond to HuffPosts request for comment.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
(MOSCOW)  Russia is ready to act as a mediator between North Korea and the United States if both parties are willing for it to play such a role, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

Moscow has long called for the two sides to hold negotiations aimed at reducing tensions over the nuclear and missile program North Korea is pursuing in defiance of years of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Russias readiness to clear the way for de-escalation is obvious, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a phone call with reporters.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called on Monday for Washington and Pyongyang to start negotiations, saying Russia was ready to facilitate such talks.

Though U.S. diplomats have said they are pursuing a diplomatic solution, President Donald Trump has said Pyongyang must commit to giving up its nuclear weapons before any talks can begin.

In a phone call, Lavrov told U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Tuesday that Washingtons aggressive rhetoric and beefing up of its military presence in the region had heightened tension on the Korean peninsula and was unacceptable.

The necessity of the fastest move to the negotiating process from the language of sanctions was underscored, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

The U.N. Security Council unanimously voted to impose new sanctions on North Korea on Friday in response to its recent intercontinental ballistic missile test, a move North Korea called an act of war, tantamount to a complete economic blockade.
Indecision rules Singha Durbar

The delay in forming a new government has taken a toll in governance and day to day affairs with the Cabinet led by Sher Bahadur Deuba having become caretaker after the House of Representatives election.
Moscow (AFP) - Russia on Tuesday rejected concerns that the decision to bar opposition leader Alexei Navalny from running against President Vladimir Putin in a March election could undermine the vote's legitimacy.

Navalny is seen by many as the only Russian opposition leader who stands a fighting chance of challenging Putin.

Observers say barring him from running in the polls undermines the legitimacy of the vote and could affect voter turnout.

The European Union weighed in on the controversy Tuesday, saying the refusal to register Navalny cast "serious doubt" on the election.

- 'Vote strike' urged -

Russia's Central Election Commission on Monday rejected Navalny's bid to take on Putin in the poll, citing a controversial embezzlement conviction.

The 41-year-old lawyer maintains that the criminal case against him is politically motivated. He urged his supporters to stage a "vote strike" instead.

Critics say banning Navalny would undermine the legitimacy of the vote.

"We cannot agree with this point of view," Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

He insisted that barring Navalny from running "can in no way affect the legitimacy of the election".

Peskov also said any calls to boycott the election should be "rigorously studied" -- a thinly veiled threat of punishment.

- 'Level-playing field' -

EU external services spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said the ban on Navalny "casts a serious doubt on political pluralism in Russia and the prospect of democratic elections next year."

"Politically-motivated charges should not be used against political participation," she said in a statement on Tuesday.

"We expect the Russian authorities to ensure that there is a level playing field, including in the presidential elections that will take place on 18 March."

The Council of Europe's decision-making body, the Committee of Ministers, has urged Russia to allow Navalny to stand for election despite what it called his "arbitrary and unfair" fraud conviction.

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Kocijancic said Navalny had been judged by the European Court of Human Rights to have been denied the right to a fair trial.

- Protest movement -

In the face of persistent harassment Navalny has built a robust protest movement including nearly 200,000 campaign volunteers.

Over the past year, he has travelled across the country, stumping for votes and seeking to shift public attitudes amid widespread political apathy.

On Sunday, more than 15,000 supporters from 20 cities formally endorsed his nomination bid in a culmination of his Western-style election campaign.

Putin clearly indicated this month that Navalny would not be allowed to run however.

Asked why, Putin -- who has refused to mention Navalny by name in public -- said the opposition was hoping for a "coup" but would not succeed.

- Putin seeks fourth term -

Putin, 65, has announced that he will seek a fourth presidential term, which would extend his rule until 2024 and make him the longest-serving Russian leader since dictator Joseph Stalin.

Opposed only by token opposition candidates, he is widely expected to sail to victory.

But with the result of the vote a foregone conclusion, turnout could be low, harming Putin's hopes for a clear new mandate.

Navalny's threat to organise a voter strike could further affect the turnout.

In a sign the Kremlin was taking the threat seriously, Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill on Tuesday called on the faithful to take part in the election.

"We must participate to make a contribution to shaping the future of our country," he said.

- 'Ageing leader vs young wolf' -

Navalny pledged to use all resources at his disposal to convince as many voters as possible to boycott the election.

"Vladimir Putin is very scared," he said. "He is afraid of competing with me."

Liberal business daily Vedomosti said Navalny had proved that he was "the main Russian politician of 2017."

"By working in the regions Navalny has managed to prove not only to the electorate but also to the authorities that he is a sizeable, genuine political figure," Vedomosti said in an editorial.

Political analyst Ekaterina Schulmann said allowing Navalny to become a presidential candidate would be a huge risk for the Kremlin.

"Setting the ageing leader against the young wolf is very dangerous," she told AFP.

"It is clear whose side time is on. The risk would be too high for the system."
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia will supply Turkey with four batteries of S-400 surface-to-air missiles for $2.5 billion under a deal that is almost complete, Sergei Chemezov, head of Russian state conglomerate Rostec, told the Kommersant daily on Wednesday. The deal has caused concern in the West because Turkey is a member of NATO but the Russian missile system cannot be integrated into NATO's military architecture. In addition, relations between Moscow and the Western military alliance are strained, in part because of Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula. Turkish Defence Minister Nurettin Canikli said Ankara would purchase two S-400 systems and four batteries and that all agreements were made, the state broadcaster TRT Haber reported. Turkey will pay 45 percent of the cost up front with Russia providing loans to cover the remaining 55 percent, Chemezov said. Moscow expected to begin the first deliveries in March 2020, he said. Chemezov told Kommersant that Turkey was the first NATO member state to acquire the advanced S-400 missile system. He said the Russian and Turkish finance ministries had already completed talks on financing the deal and that the final documents just needed to be approved. (Reporting by Andrew Osborn in Moscow and Ezgi Erkoyun in Istanbul; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg)
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's trade ministry said on Tuesday that a committee had approved LG Display Co Ltd's plan to build a new organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panel production facility in China.

The approval comes five months after LG Display announced it would invest in large-size OLED production in Guangzhou, China, to respond to fast-growing demand for the screens in TVs in overseas markets.

The ministry said in a statement that the approval was conditional on LG Display boosting the use of local materials and equipment, subsequent investment in South Korea and strengthening processes such as security checks.

An LG Display spokeswoman did not have an immediate comment.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
NextShark

A 19-year-old TikTok user has gone viral after sharing a video of their eulogy to their deceased father at his funeral, in which they call him a racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, Trump-loving man. The user, identified as Saga, goes by the handle @saginthesunforever and has self-described themselves as a Black supremacist on their TikTok bio. Saga, who uses the pronouns they/them, has received widespread backlash after their viral video was re-posted to Twitter by controversial conservative account Libs of TIkTok on Tuesday.
Beirut (AFP) - More than three dozen Syrian rebel groups, including influential Islamists, have rejected a Russian-led initiative for talks next month in Sochi on ending Syria's war.

Russia and Iran, both key allies of Syria's regime, agreed with opposition backer Turkey on Friday to hold a "Congress of National Dialogue" in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on January 29 and 30.

Syria's government swiftly said it would attend but rebels have pushed back, calling it a Russian bid to eclipse a United Nations-led process in Geneva.

"We completely reject Russia's attempt to circumvent the Geneva track," the rebels said in a joint statement published Monday.

"We call on all forces to stand in one rank against these alarming dangers."

It was signed by 40 factions, including Islamist powerhouse Ahrar al-Sham and groups that have been backed by the United States such as the Mutasem Brigades.

Some of the factions played a significant role in the rebellion since the war broke out in 2011 but most have either been sidelined by other groups or control only small pockets of land.

Mustefa Sejari, a top Mutasem Brigades figure, told AFP on Tuesday that rebels could not see Russia as an honest broker.

"From the beginning, we said whoever wants to play an intermediary and guarantor role in Syria needs to be neutral, fair, and honest in its support of political transition," Sejari said.

"Russia has not done these things -- it is a partner in the killing of the Syrian people," he added.

- Kurds insist on role -

Syria's conflict erupted in 2011 with anti-government demonstrations, but it has since morphed into a complex war drawing in world powers, including Russia.

Repeated attempts to reach a political solution to the war have failed, with the UN-backed process in Switzerland bearing little fruit.

Russia, Turkey, and Iran began hosting talks between Syria's government and armed rebels in Kazakhstan earlier this year, and announced the Sochi conference at the most recent round last week.

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The United Nations has yet to firmly endorse the summit, and opposition representatives have largely been wary of it.

Syria's Kurds, which run semi-autonomous regions across the country's north, welcomed the Sochi initiative on Tuesday.

"We have a right to take part and represent our people in it," said the statement, signed by Kurdish and Christian parties as well as an alliance including the powerful Democratic Union Party (PYD).

The PYD and its armed wing, the People's Protection Units (YPG), have never been invited as a separate delegation to Syrian peace talks in Geneva or Astana.

Turkey considers the PYD a "terrorist" organisation because of its links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party and has said it would oppose any talks involving the PYD.

But even if the debate over attendees is resolved, the main stumbling block over any political solution remains the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, with much of the opposition sticking firm to calls for his ouster.
Anup Ojha is a reporter for The Kathmandu Post primarily covering social issues and human interest stories. Before moving to the social beat, Ojha covered arts and culture for the Post for four years.
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels in a pocket of land near where the Syrian, Lebanese and Israeli borders meet are negotiating a deal with the government to leave for other insurgent-held areas, rebel officials there said. The Syrian army, backed by Russian air power, Shi'ite militias supported by Iran and local fighters from the Druze sect have besieged the rebel enclave around Beit Jin for weeks. In recent days it captured various positions, leaving the rebels trapped inside the town itself. "There is now negotiation on the departure of fighters and those who wish to leave with them," said Abu Kanaan, an official in a local rebel group. "The militias are trying to convince them to evacuate to Idlib... There has been no agreement reached yet," said Ibrahim al-Jebawi, an official with a Free Syrian Army faction familiar with the situation. Syria's army and its allies have increasingly pushed for such evacuation deals for rebel enclaves near big cities or in other strategic locations after long periods of siege and bombardment. The area around Beit Jin is sensitive because of its location next to the Israel-controlled Golan Heights. Israel wants to keep Lebanon's Hezbollah, the most powerful of the Iran-backed militias aiding Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against the rebel groups, far away from its border with Syria. It has repeatedly targeted military positions in Syria near the border after stray projectiles crossed into Israeli-controlled areas, and it has struck Hezbollah convoys and weapons caches inside Syria. (Reporting By Suleiman al-Khalidi; Writing by Angus McDowall; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
Beirut (AFP) - The number of registered Syrian refugees in Lebanon has dropped to below one million for the first time since 2014, the United Nations told AFP on Tuesday.

As of the end of November, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) counted 997,905 Syrian refugees -- a vast majority of them women and children -- registered in Lebanon.

"The number reached one million in April 2014, and this is the first time it drops below that," UNHCR spokeswoman Lisa Abou Khaled told AFP.

Numbers were decreasing, Abou Khaled said, as refugees had resettled in third countries, returned to their homes in Syria, or passed away.

From 2011 until September this year, nearly 49,000 Syrians left Lebanon as part of the United Nations' resettlement programme to third countries including the United States, Sweden, and France.

Others left on their own, making the dangerous sea journey to reach Europe.

"We cannot confirm how many returned to Syria. They don't necessarily tell us, but we know it's a few thousand in 2017," Abou Khaled said.

She said the United Nations revised its numbers on a quarterly basis to assess who remained in Lebanon and what support they required.

In December 2016, the number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon was 1,011,366.

In the first six months of 2017, it dropped by 10,315, then again by more than 3,000 between June and November 31.

More than five million Syrians have fled the country's conflict since 2011 to neighbouring Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon, and even higher numbers are displaced internally.

The influx has tested Lebanon, a country of just four million that already struggled with overstretched resources.

More than half of registered Syrians in Lebanon live in extreme poverty, struggling to eke out a living while sheltering in informal tented settlements or unfinished buildings.

Lebanese politicians have increased their calls in recent months for refugees to return home, with large parts of the country under government control but left in ruins.
By David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and Russia have agreed to continue diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis over North Korea's development of nuclear missiles capable of hitting the United States and emphasized that neither accept Pyongyang as a nuclear power, the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke by telephone on Tuesday, after Washington and the United Nations both announced sanctions against North Korea in recent days. "The two discussed concerns related to the DPRKs destabilizing nuclear program and emphasized that neither the United States nor Russia accepts the DPRK as a nuclear power," Nauert said in a statement, using the acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. She said both sides agreed to continue working toward a diplomatic way to achieve a denuclearized Korean peninsula. On Tuesday, Russia reiterated an offer to mediate to ease tensions between Washington and Pyongyang that have raised fears of a new conflict on the peninsula. Moscow said Lavrov told Tillerson "Washington's aggressive rhetoric" and beefing up of its military presence in the region had heightened tension and was unacceptable. Russia has repeatedly called for talks to resolve the crisis and said Lavrov underscored the need for "the fastest move to the negotiating process from the language of sanctions." Tillerson has emphasized diplomacy but the administration of President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned that all options, including military ones, are on the table regarding North Korea. In October, Trump said Tillerson was "wasting his time" trying to negotiate with North Korea and this month the White House followed up an offer by the secretary of state to begin talks with no pre-conditions by saying that no negotiations could be held until North Korea improves its behavior. Washington announced sanctions on two of the most prominent officials behind North Korea's ballistic missile program on Tuesday, its latest steps in a global campaign aimed at forcing North Korea to abandon its weapons programs. On Friday the U.N. Security Council agreed on new sanctions in response to North Korea's Nov. 29 test of a missile that Pyongyang said put all of the U.S. mainland within range of its nuclear weapons. North Korea declared the U.N. steps to be an act of war and tantamount to a complete economic blockade. (Reporting by Katanga Johnson and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Bill Trott)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will host Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg in Washington next month to discuss various security and economic issues, the White House said on Wednesday. The two leaders will meet on Jan. 10 at the White House to talk about a range of topics including NATO and the fight against Islamic State as well as bilateral trade and investment, the White House said in a statement. (Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Will Dunham)
President Donald Trump (AP Photo/Evan Vucci): AP

While President Donald Trump for most of the year struggled on the legislative front, his administration was quietly succeeding at nominating and installing powerful right-wing judges at an unprecedented rate for a presidents first year in office.

With the US Senates confirmation of a 12th circuit court judge earlier this month, Mr Trump set a record for the most appellate judges confirmed in a presidents first year. His predecessor, former President Barack Obama, was able to get three confirmed during his first year as President.

Each nomination seems to be aimed at shifting the USs judiciary system ideologically to the right. And the administrations ability to have gotten so many of its appellate nominees confirmed is particularly important given that appellate courts are where thousands of cases in the federal courts meet their ends because they will never make it onto the Supreme Courts limited docket.

It should be kept in mind that even though Mr Trump has succeeded in getting at least 12 appellate judges confirmed this year, there are 179 appellate court judgeships overall. He has changed the composition of the USs appellate courts by only 6.7 per cent.

He also hasnt managed yet to tip the balance on a single appellate court from majority-Democratic appointees to majority-Republican appointees, according to Vox, meaning the Trump administrations effects on particular courts have been minimal so far.

But the situation could worsen for liberals if Republicans maintain their Senate majority during next years mid-term elections. By the end of his first term, Mr Trump could conceivably have handpicked more than 30 per cent of the nations federal judges, experts say.

Democrats have accused Republicans of rubber-stamping Mr Trumps judicial nominees and say the party has made it easier for the President to stack the courts in their advantage.

Dan Goldberg, the legal director of the Alliance for Justice  a progressive judicial advocacy group in the US  told The Independent that Republicans have bent over backward to change Senate rules and customs in order to prevent careful vetting of these nominees.

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He noted that this is evidenced by the decision of Senator Charles Grassley, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to ignore the century-old blue-slip practice. While the informal practice was never added to the written committee or chamber rules, for about the past 100 years it has allowed senators to block nominees slated for judgeships in their home states.

Grassleys move undermines Democrats parliamentary ability to block Trump nominees in the Senate  even when the American Bar Association (ABA) deems Trumps picks unqualified for the bench, as has happened with four of 58 nominees, wrote Sarah Binder, a political science professor at George Washington University and a senior fellow at the left-leaning Brookings Institution, in an op-ed for The Washington Post.

As a result, Trump is likely to nominate candidates more quickly than previous presidents, she added.

This month, the Senate narrowly confirmed Leonard Steven Grasz to serve on the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit  despite a rare not qualified rating from the ABA.

In a speech on the Senate floor, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said the association had reached that conclusion in part after speaking with many of Mr Graszs peers who expressed concerns about how he held deeply rooted political allegiances that would make it impossible for him to have an unbiased and open mind on critical issues.

Mr Grasz served for more than 11 years as Nebraskas chief deputy attorney general and was general counsel to the Nebraska Republican Party.

In one opinion he helped write, he said the legacy of the landmark abortion rights ruling Roe v Wade was its moral bankruptcy. Another opinion he aided in crafting warned of the grave danger of the Nebraska Supreme Court recognising same-sex marriages from other states, and he advised that legislation refusing to recognise same-sex marriages could be defended against a constitutional challenge.

Ms Warren said Mr Grasz was just one of the many nominees whose records show that they cannot fairly and impartially dispense equal justice under law.

But it has not been smooth-sailing for all of Mr Trumps judicial picks.

On Monday, Matthew Petersen withdrew his name from consideration after a video went viral of him failing to answer basic legal questions posed by Republican Senator John Kennedy.

Mr Petersen is a member of the Federal Election Commission and was one of five of the Presidents nominees for US District Court for the District of Columbia.

Just because youve seen My Cousin Vinny doesnt qualify you to be a federal judge, Mr Kennedy told WWL-TV. And he has no litigation experience. And my job on the judiciary committee is to catch him. I would strongly suggest he not give up his day job.

Mr Kennedy said Mr Trump called him over the weekend to talk about the nominee. He said Mr Trump did not personally interview Mr Petersen and the nominations were chosen by the Presidents staff.

He has told me, Kennedy, when some of my guys send someone who is not qualified, you do your job, Mr Kennedy said on Monday.

The White House has also given up on two other judicial nominees after questions were raised about their qualifications and controversial statements.

Steven Calabresi, a law professor at Northwestern University, told The Independent that the fact that some of Mr Trumps picks wont be approved because theyre unqualified shows the system of checks and balances is working the way its supposed to.

Mr Calabresi is a co-founder and current board chairman of the conservative Federalist Society.

Several of the Mr Trumps appellate nominees have ties to the group, and its executive vice president, Leonard Leo, is said to be a White House adviser on judicial nominations. Mr Leo reportedly played a key role in Mr Trumps nomination of Neil Gorsuch to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court.

Mr Calabresi noted that while a couple of the Presidents judicial picks have been unqualified, many nominated have clerked for Supreme Court justices and made top grades in law school, he said.
Leader Nepal accuses NC of disrespecting peoples mandate

CPN-UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal has accused the Nepali Congress (NC) of disrespecting the peoples mandate.
By Mohamed Argoubi TUNIS (Reuters) - The UAE, which angered Tunisia by banning Tunisian women from its passenger flights, has intelligence that female jihadists returning from Iraq or Syria might try to use Tunisian passports to stage terrorist attacks, a Tunisian government official said. Tunisia had demanded the United Arab Emirates apologize for the travel ban - saying that the UAE had provided no explanation - and on Sunday it suspended the Dubai-based airline Emirates from operating at Tunis airport. Since then, Saida Garrach, an advisor at the Tunisian presidency, told local radio Shems FM that the UAE had "serious information over the possibility of terrorist acts as part of returning fighters leaving Iraq and Syria," and that the two countries were now working together to address the threat. "There are terrorist plots in several countries," Garrach said in an interview conducted on Monday and posted on the station's website. "What concerns the United Arab Emirates is the possibility of terrorist acts committed by Tunisian women or by Tunisian passport holders," she said. Garrach criticized the way the threat had been communicated to Tunisia. "We are fighting terrorism together with the United Arab Emirates and we are coordinating to solve this problem. But we cannot accept the way Tunisian women are treated and don't accept what has happened to Tunisian women at airports." Tunisia is among the countries with the highest per capita number of militant Islamists, a problem linked to widespread radicalisation among disillusioned youths and a loosening of security controls after Tunisias 2011 uprising. The military defeat of the Islamic State group in most of Syria and Iraq this year has prompted many foreign militants and their families to go home. Islamic State has also lost its main stronghold in Tunisia's neighbor Libya. More than 3,000 Tunisians are known to have traveled abroad to wage jihad, according to the interior ministry. A year ago the interior minister said 800 had come back to Tunisia, where they have been jailed, monitored or put under house arrest. (Reporting by Ulf Laessing, Ali Abdelati and Mohamed Argoubi; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish police have detained 54 staff from a university shut down after an attempted coup last year that was blamed on U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen, state-run Anadolu news agency said on Wednesday. It said the police had arrest warrants for a total of 171 academics and staff from Istanbul's former Fatih University, which was regarded as having close ties to Gulen. The cleric has denied any involvement in the failed putsch of July 15, 2016. Fatih University was shut under a state decree following the coup attempt and Anadolu said staff there were found to have been users of ByLock, an encrypted messaging application which the government says was commonly used by Gulen's supporters. Since the coup attempt more than 50,000 people, including civil servants and security personnel, have been jailed pending trial and some 150,000 suspended or dismissed from their jobs. Rights groups say the crackdown has been exploited to muzzle dissent. The government says the measures have been necessary due to the security threats which has Turkey faced since the putsch, in which 250 people were killed. (Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Dominic Evans)
By Maria Ramirez

PUERTO ORDAZ, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan authorities said on Tuesday they had arrested 28 people in southern Bolivar state for looting and disorder over Christmas in the latest unrest during a severe economic crisis.

There have been scattered protests and roadblocks around the South American OPEC nation in recent days over food shortages, power-cuts, high prices and fuel rationing.

Local chamber of commerce head Florenzo Schettino told Reuters 10 businesses - mostly liquor stores - were looted as dark fell on Christmas Day in Bolivar, which has seen unrest at various points over the last four years of brutal recession.

In the western Andean states, police and soldiers were guarding gas stations, where there were large lines and customers were only allowed to fill up 35 litres per vehicle.

"We're wasting so much time ... The government is testing people's patience," said bus driver Pedro Pina, waiting for hours to buy fuel in Barinas state.

Critics blame President Nicolas Maduro and the ruling Socialist Party for Venezuela's economic mess, saying they have persisted with failed statist policies for too long, while turning a blind eye to rampant corruption and inefficiency.

The government says it is the victim of an "economic war" by political opponents and right-wing foreign powers, intent on bringing down Maduro in a coup.

"This can only be reversed with deep economic reforms," said opposition legislator and economist Angel Alvarado.

In western Zulia state, several hundred thousand people were plunged into darkness on Christmas Eve, sparking fury among those who had scraped together money and hunted for products throughout the day to prepare a traditional family dinner.

"I spent the whole day stressed out - and then the lights went off. What a pathetic Christmas," said Lilibeth Rodriguez, 40, whose family gathering was ruined.

(Reporting by Maria Ramirez; Additional reporting by Francisco Aguilar in Barinas, Isaac Urrutia in Maracaibo, Anggy Polanco in San Cristobal; Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Andrew Hay)
By David Brunnstrom and Denis Pinchuk WASHINGTON/MOSCOW (Reuters) - The United States announced sanctions on two of North Korea's most prominent officials behind its ballistic missile program on Tuesday, while Russia reiterated an offer to mediate to ease tension between Washington and Pyongyang. The new U.S. steps were the latest in a campaign aimed at forcing North Korea - which has defied years of multilateral and bilateral sanctions - to abandon a weapons program aimed at developing nuclear-tipped missiles capable of hitting the United States. "Treasury 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 Mnuchin said in a statement. The move followed new United Nations sanctions announced last Friday in response to North Korea's Nov. 29 test of an ICBM that Pyongyang said put all of the U.S. mainland within range of its nuclear weapons. Those sanctions sought to further limit North Korea's access to refined petroleum products and crude oil and its earnings from workers abroad. North Korea declared the U.N. steps to be an act of war and tantamount to a complete economic blockade. The standoff between the United States and North Korea has raised fears of a new conflict on the Korean peninsula, which has remained in a technical state of war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty. The United States has said that all options, including military ones, are on the table in dealing with North Korea. It says it prefers a diplomatic solution, but that North Korea has given no indication it is willing to discuss denuclearization. LEADING EXPERTS The U.S. Treasury named the targeted officials as Kim Jong Sik and Ri Pyong Chol. It said Kim was reportedly a major figure in North Korea's efforts to switch its missile program from liquid to solid fuel, while Ri was reported to be a key official in its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) development. The largely symbolic steps block any property or interests the two might have within U.S. jurisdiction and prohibit any dealings by U.S. citizens with them. With their ruling Workers Party, military and scientific credentials, the men are two of three top experts considered indispensable to North Koreas rapidly developing weapons programs. Photographs and television footage show that the men are clearly among North Korean leader Kim Jong Uns favorites. Their behavior with him is sharply at variance with the obsequiousness of other senior aides, most of whom bow and hold their hands over their mouths when speaking to the young leader. Ri is one of the most prominent aides, and likely represents the Workers Party on the missile program, experts say. Born in 1948, Ri was partly educated in Russia and promoted when Kim Jong Un started to rise through the ranks in the late 2000s. Ri has visited China once and Russia twice. He met Chinas defense minister in 2008 as the air force commander and accompanied Kim Jong Il on a visit to a Russian fighter jet factory in 2011, according to state media. Kim Jong Sik is a prominent rocket scientist who rose after playing a role in North Koreas first successful launch of a rocket in 2012. He started his career as a civilian aeronautics technician, but now wears the uniform of a military general at the Munitions Industry Department, according to experts and the South Korean government. Many other details, including his age, are not known. KREMLIN OFFER On Tuesday, the Kremlin, which has long called for the United States and North Korea to negotiate, said it was ready to act as a mediator if the two sides were willing for it to play such a role. "Russia's readiness to clear the way for de-escalation is obvious," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Asked to comment on the offer, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, Justin Higgins, said the United States "has the ability to communicate with North Korea through a variety of diplomatic channels", and added: "We want the North Korean regime to understand that there is a different path that it can choose, however it is up to North Korea to change course and return to credible negotiations." Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who made a similar offer on Monday, told U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in a phone call on Tuesday that "Washington's aggressive rhetoric" and beefing up of its military presence in the region had heightened tension and was unacceptable, his ministry said. Lavrov underscored the need for "the fastest move to the negotiating process from the language of sanctions", it said. Another U.S. State Department spokesman, Michael Cavey, said Washington remained open to talks, but the onus was on North Korea to take sincere and meaningful actions toward denuclearization and refrain from further provocations. South Koreas Unification Ministry forecast on Tuesday that North Korea would look to open negotiations with the United States next year while continuing to seek recognition as a de facto nuclear power. The United States has stressed the need for all countries, especially Russia, and China - North Korea's main trading partner - to fully implement sanctions, including by cutting off oil supplies. According to Chinese customs data, China exported no oil products to North Korea in November, apparently going above and beyond U.N. sanctions imposed earlier in the year. China also imported no North Korean iron ore, coal or lead in November, the second full month of those trade sanctions, the data showed. China has not disclosed its crude exports to North Korea for several years, but industry sources say it still supplies about 520,000 tonnes, or 3.8 million barrels, a year to the country via an aging pipeline. North Korea also sources some of its oil from Russia. Trade between North Korea and China has slowed through the year, particularly after China banned coal purchases in February. Chinese exports of corn to North Korea in November also slumped, down 82 percent from a year earlier to 100 tonnes, the lowest since January. Exports of rice plunged 64 percent to 672 tonnes, the lowest since March. (Reporting by Denis Pinchuk and Vladimir Soldatkin in Moscow; Additional reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington; Writing by Polina Ivanova; Editing by Alistair Bell and James Dalgleish)
Gorlivka (Ukraine) (AFP) - Ukraine and Russian-backed rebels have swapped hundreds of prisoners in the war-torn east of the country, one of the largest such exchanges since the outbreak of an insurgency almost four years ago.

The swap of captives on a dusty road close to the town of Gorlivka, 40 kilometres (25 miles) northeast of the rebels' stronghold of Donetsk on Wednesday was an attempt to revive a tattered peace deal between the Kiev army and rebels from the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics.

The war in the former Soviet republic broke out in April 2014, after Russia annexed Crimea the previous month.

The conflict has already claimed more than 10,000 lives. A series of truce deals has helped lower the level of violence but did not end the bloodshed.

In the first exchange since September 2016, the Russian-backed eastern militia handed 73 prisoners over to Kiev. The Ukrainian side released 233 rebels and their supporters, officials from both sides said.

The figures were significantly lower than previously declared, as dozens of prisoners -- almost all from the Ukrainian territory -- have refused to move to the other side.

Two Ukrainians -- a man and a woman -- also opted to stay on the rebel side.

The prisoners massed at the exchange point with their belongings, shivering in zero temperatures, before boarding buses after their names had been called out.

Some of the detainees expressed relief after spending long months, and even years, in captivity.

"I was in captivity for two years," said historian Igor Kozlovskiy, 63, who was captured by Donetsk rebels on suspicion of storing weapons.

"Still a lot of prisoners remain (behind bars in Donetsk)," he told AFP minutes before he was handed over to the representatives of Ukraine.

Hundreds of people turned out at Kiev airport late Wednesday to welcome home the released prisoners, waving national flags, bouquets of flowers and shouting "Glory to Ukraine! Glory to our heroes!"

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"Hello sweetie. You see, Daddy came back," one soldier said over the phone to a child as his weeping wife hugged him tightly, after 21 months held captive by separatists.

- 'Thanks for your stamina' -

The swap on the eve of the New Year and Orthodox Christmas holidays was agreed following negotiations involving Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's leader Petro Poroshenko.

In his comment immediately after the exchange was completed, Poroshenko hailed the persistence of the Ukrainian soldiers.

"I have just thanked our lads who are coming back from captivity. Thanks for your stamina, guys," he said on Facebook.

The swap is in line with the so-called Minsk agreements brokered by Germany and France in 2015.

German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel greeted the long-awaited exchange as "an important step in the implementation of the Minsk agreements", urging the sides to conduct further steps to fulfil the peace deal.

The last prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russian-backed rebels took place in September 2016 when two pro-Kiev detainees were swapped for four separatist fighters at a checkpoint outside the rebel-held city of Lugansk.

Unusually, Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill helped mediate the talks on Wednesday's prisoner exchange, and three Russian priests were present.

The head of the separatist self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko, thanked the patriarch for his involvement.

"People who have spent more than three years in captivity will be able to return home thanks to the church and the authorities," he said.

On Wednesday, the Ukrainian army reported the death of one soldier in the renewed fighting, the first combat casualty after the latest Christmas ceasefire came into force Saturday.

Ukraine and its Western allies accuse Russia of funnelling troops and arms across the border.

Moscow has denied the claims despite overwhelming evidence that it has been involved in the fighting and its explicit political support for the rebels.
By Valentyn Ogirenko HORLIVKA, Ukraine (Reuters) - Ukraine and pro-Russian separatist rebels conducted the largest exchange of prisoners since conflict broke out in 2014, sending hundreds of captives home to their families on Wednesday ahead of New Year and Orthodox Christmas. More than 10,000 people have been killed in the conflict and casualties are still reported almost daily despite a ceasefire that froze the frontlines in place since 2015. "My son rang," the mother of a Ukrainian prisoner Oleksandr Oliynyk told the Ukrainian news channel 112. "I have not heard his voice for three-and-a-half years, just letters. He said: 'Mum, I'm already here.' You cannot imagine what it means for a mother, to not see your child for three-and-a-half years, since August 2014." According to the terms of the deal, Kiev was meant to hand over 306 prisoners to the rebels and receive 74 prisoners in return. A Reuters photographer at the scene saw the Ukrainian prisoners being loaded onto buses in the town of Horlivka and taken to territory controlled by the Ukrainian government. "All 74 Ukrainian hostages are already at home, on the territory controlled by our army," Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko wrote on social media. According to Poroshenko, among the prisoners handed to Ukraine were a historian and a "cyborg" - the nickname Ukrainians gave to soldiers who defended Donetsk airport in one of the conflict's most intense battles in 2014. The exact number of prisoners exchanged is uncertain. Viktor Medvedchuk, Ukraine's representative to ongoing peace talks, said some captives held by Ukraine refused to return to rebel-held areas, according to the Russian news agency TASS. More prisoners are expected to change hands in 2018, TASS cited Medvedchuk as saying. The Ukrainian state security service said 103 prisoners remained in separatist hands. There was no immediate comment from the authorities in Moscow, which Ukraine and its Western allies accuse of supporting the pro-Russian separatists with troops, cash and heavy weapons, an accusation Moscow denies. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes the exchange in a joint statement and called on both sides to release the remaining captives. Germany's foreign ministry said it was a significant step in implementing the ceasefire agreement agreed in the Belarus capital Minsk. "Above all, it is also an important humanitarian gesture before the New Year and Orthodox Christmas," a foreign ministry statement said. The Minsk agreements, intended to end the fighting in Ukraine, were signed by Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France in the Belarussian capital in early 2015. The exchange came as U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson asked Russia to "lower the level of violence" in eastern Ukraine. (Writing by Polina Ivanova and Matthias Williams; Additional reporting by Pavel Polityuk and Natalia Zinets in Kiev; Editing by Andrew Osborn, Peter Graff and Andrew Heavens)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday announced sanctions on two North Korean officials for their roles in developing the country's ballistic missiles, the latest step in a campaign to press Pyongyang to give up its nuclear and missile programs. The U.S. Treasury named the officials as Kim Jong Sik and Ri Pyong Chol. It said Kim was reportedly a key figure in North Korea's efforts to switch its missile program from liquid to solid fuel, while Ri was reported to be a key official involved in the country's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) development. "Treasury 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 Mnuchin said in a statement. These actions follow Fridays United Nations Security Council Resolution, which imposed strong new sanctions on North Korea further shutting down its ability to raise illicit funds. The U.N. Security Council imposed new sanctions on North Korea last week over a recent ICBM test. The sanctions sought to limit the country's access to refined petroleum products and crude oil and its earnings from workers abroad. North Korea, which has been working to develop nuclear-tipped missiles capable of hitting the United States, declared those steps to be an act of war and tantamount to a complete economic blockade against the country. (Reporting by Susan Heavey and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and James Dalgleish)
BEIJING/TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan will gradually get used to Chinese air force drills that encircle the island, China said on Wednesday, while Taiwan's premier reiterated the self-ruled island's desire for peaceful relations with its giant neighbor. China considers democratic Taiwan to be its sacred territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring what it views as a wayward province under Chinese control. It has taken an increasingly hostile stance toward Taiwan since Tsai Ing-wen, from the island's pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, won presidential elections last year and has stepped up its rhetoric and military exercises. Beijing suspects her of pushing for the island's formal independence, a red line for China. Tsai says she wants peace with China, but also that she will defend Taiwan's security and way of life. Chinese state media has given broad coverage to "island encirclement" exercises near Taiwan this month, including showing pictures of Chinese bomber aircraft with what they said was Taiwan's highest peak, Yushan, visible in the background. Asked about the continuing drills and the footage released by the air force, China's policy-making Taiwan Affairs Office said it and the defense ministry had repeatedly described the exercises as routine. "Everyone will slowly get used it," spokesman An Fengshan told a routine news briefing, without elaborating. China's air force has carried out 16 rounds of exercises close to Taiwan in the past year or so, Taiwan's defense ministry said in a white paper this week. China's military threat was growing by the day, it warned. Proudly democratic Taiwan has shown no interest in being run by autocratic China, and Taiwan's government has accused Beijing of not understanding democracy when it criticizes Taipei. Taiwan Premier William Lai told a year-end news conference in Taipei that the United States, Japan and South Korea were all paying close attention to the activities of China's air force. Lai said his government would take its lead from the president, who was in charge of relations across the Taiwan Strait. "Under the president's leadership the Executive Yuan pushes forward government affairs, stabilizing cross-strait relations toward peaceful development," Lai said, using the formal name for Taiwan's cabinet. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Jeanny Kao; Editing by Paul Tait)
An Army vet who was so heartsick over his missing dog that he didnt eat for three days has been reunited with the pup in whats being called a Christmas miracle.

Geoff Hoffman, a Jones, Okla.-based vet, discovered that his 3-year-old pit bull, Bridget, was missing after his home was burglarized on Dec. 20. That night, Hoffman penned a passionate plea to his Facebook followers to help him find the dog who he adopted two years ago.

Geoff Hoffman was reunited with his dog Bridget after she went missing for four days. (Photo: Bring Bridget Back/Facebook)

She is loved beyond definition, he captioned Facebook photos of the grey-and-white dog wearing a Little Red Riding Hood costume and cruising in a Target shopping cart. She is my ever-adventurous sidekick and my eternal source of joy. She is missed beyond my ability to articulate.

**Bridget was found! Go to #BringBridgetBack for all the details!**Hello friends, today 12/20/17 my house was broken Posted by Geoff Hoffman on Wednesday, December 20, 2017

I came home from work and noticed my gate and front door were open, Hoffman, 38, tells Yahoo Lifestyle. My TV had been moved from the wall but nothing was taken, except Bridget. She comes everywhere with me, so its possible someone saw her and followed me home.

After filing a police report, Hoffman, who served with the Special Ops Forces in Afghanistan for eight years went into military mode. Sergeant Hoffman was back, he says. I was on a mission and told myself I would stop searching for Bridget under two conditions: She returned home or I knew with certainty that she was dead.

Geoff Hoffman and his dog Bridget, who was found after a four-day search, are best friends. (Photo: Bring Bridget Back/Facebook)

During the four days Bridget went missing, Hoffman reached out to his local police and fire departments, along with City Hall, asking officials to share his story. He printed more than 100 cards featuring Bridgets photo and advertising a large reward for her return and registered with missing dog websites. Hoffman also created a Facebook group with hundreds of followers, called Bring Bridget Back, in the hopes of spreading awareness for his search.

I got messages from people in the Bahamas and England, says Hoffman. When I dropped off her photo at the Humane Society, a volunteer gasped and said, Is this Bridget? The support was overwhelming.

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During Bridgets absence, Hoffman said he was too busy and anxious to eat and his girlfriend barely slept. Since she was awake, she would get in her car and drive all night looking for Bridget.

Today I made over 100 cards to hand out to anyone I encounter; waiters, cashiers, random people on the street. Adorable picture on the front, stats on the back. #BringBridgetBack Posted by Bring Bridget Back on Saturday, December 23, 2017

On the morning of Christmas Eve, the search paid off. My girlfriend was driving down a rural road, in below-freezing temperatures, a few miles from my house, when she saw Bridget and slammed on her brakes, says Hoffman. She was lying by the side of the road but when she saw my girlfriend, she started wagging her tail.

Hoffman sped to the 24-hour vet clinic where Bridget was being examined. I was hoping I wouldnt get a speeding ticket, he says.

While the dog was generally unharmed, she hadnt eaten for days, she was dehydrated, and had blood in her stool, along with lacerations on her left leg, It made me wonder whether someone stole her for dog fighting and either cut or tried to starve her to make her aggressive, says Hoffman. Bridget was also found wearing her distinctive pink, floral collar, and her leash, and my phone number was scratched off her tag  maybe the thief got spooked by all the media attention and dumped her on a random road.

To pay for Bridgets medical expenses, which entails ongoing rounds of antibiotics, the cost of office visits and more, a friend of Hoffmans created a Go Fund Me account, which topped its $2,300 goal by $85 at the time of this writing. And Hoffmans relieved followers have called the reunion a Christmas miracle and a holiday blessing.

Hoffman will use his experience to help other people find their missing pets, by maintaining Bridgets Facebook page and sharing his search strategies, writing on his Facebook page, I am overwhelmed with gratitude.

He tells Yahoo Lifestyle, The support Ive gotten has been mindblowing.

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Lima (AFP) - Families of victims of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori prepared Wednesday to intensify protests against a pardon given to the ex-leader, who was released from a 25-year term for murder and other human rights abuses.

They planned a fresh march on Thursday denouncing both the pardon and current President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, who ordered Fujimori's pardon on Sunday, three days after narrowly surviving impeachment on graft allegations thanks to Fujimori's son Kenji.

In a sign of the heightened political tensions created by the pardon, Peru's culture minister, Salvador del Solar, announced on Twitter he had submitted his resignation.

The minister -- a 47-year-old popular movie and TV actor -- had been fiercely opposed to a pardon for Fujimori.

The manager of Peru's public broadcaster, Hugo Coya, also told AFP he was stepping down following the pardon.

Their resignations came amid a public backlash against Kuczynski for decreeing the pardon.

"This is the second time I've put my trust in a president who's failed me," one relative, Rosa Rojas, told AFP.

Rojas lost her husband and eight-year-old son in a 1991 massacre in Barrios Altos, a district in the capital, by a death squad acting under Fujimori's orders.

Thursday's protest will be the latest by various political and victims groups triggered by the pardon. They are denouncing the crimes committed during Fujimori's brutal 1990-2000 reign and say the ex-president should not be shown leniency.

One rights group said it has asked the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to examine a challenge to the legality of the pardon. An official at the court told AFP it was closed until January 8 and could not consider accepting any request until then.

- 'Forgive me' -

"We believe this is an illegal pardon because it doesn't meet the conditions that Peruvian norms require for giving a pardon," said Gisela Ortiz. She is the sister of one of nine university students who were kidnapped and murdered along with their professor by a death squad in a rural area near the capital in 1992.

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Fujimori, 79, has been in a Lima clinic since Saturday. He was transferred from prison after suffering low blood pressure and an irregular heartbeat.

His doctor, Alejandro Aguinaga, said Wednesday that for now, Fujimori "will continue to be hospitalized with restricted visits, except for family."

The former leader admitted in a video recorded from his hospital bed that he had "let down" Peruvian citizens and "I ask them to forgive me with all my heart."

He was sentenced in 2007 to 25 years in prison for the death-squad murders, as well as the kidnappings of a journalist and a businessman in 1992. Lesser convictions for corruption were subsumed into his maximum 25-year term.

Fujimori earned respect from many Peruvians for his ruthless and unflinching campaign to defeat leftist Shining Path guerrillas during his time in office.

But his brutal, illegal methods were also condemned by other parts of Peruvian society and foreign observers.

- Suspicious timing -

A UN human rights official and international rights groups warned his pardon would send the wrong signal about impunity in Latin America, a region still dealing with scars left from a number of dictators and autocrats in past decades.

Kuczynski said his pardon was given on humanitarian grounds, based on Fujimori's ill health. Seven other prisoners were also pardoned on the same grounds.

A lawyer for the jailed Shining Path leader, Abimael Guzman, now 83, urged a pardon for his client, too, stressing that he was also ailing while serving life in prison on terror charges.

The timing of the pardon for Fujimori was seen by many in Peru as suspicious.

Last week, Kuczynski barely survived an impeachment motion in the opposition-controlled Congress. It was only because Kenji Fujimori had convinced some members of the Fuerza Popular party led by his sister Keiko not to support the impeachment that Kuczynski was not ousted.

Kuczynski was accused by lawmakers of lying to hide his financial links to Odebrecht, a Brazilian construction firm that has admitted to paying millions of dollars in bribes across Latin America to secure inflated public works contracts.
NAC to fly to Osaka, Seoul, Riyadh after new jets arrive

The Civil Aviation Ministry has designated three international long-haul routes for Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) to serve after it receives its two wide-body aircraft on order in the next six months.
HANOI (Reuters) - A Vietnamese court on Wednesday sentenced 15 people to multiple years in jail for plotting to bomb the country's biggest airport in the southern city of Ho Chi Minh, media reported. The 15 were charged with "terrorism opposing the peoples administration", the Phap Luat (The Law) newspaper reported. Terrorist acts can be punishable by death in Vietnam. Police foiled the plot to bomb Tan Son Nhat airport after passengers spotted boxes which were later found to consist of explosive devices, the newspaper said. Dang Hoang Thien, accused of making petrol bombs, was jailed for 16 years. Other defendants were given jail terms from five to 14 years. The court was not available outside office hours for comment. Vietnam government's official news website cited the court indictment as saying the team acted on instructions from an overseas group which had used social media to spread propaganda and recruit. Vietnam, one of the top 10 countries for Facebook users by numbers, has called for tougher internet controls and unveiled a military cyber unit to fight "wrong" views online. (Reporting by Mi Nguyen; Editing by Nick Macfie)
By Letitia Stein (Reuters) - A lottery drawing to settle a tied Virginia legislative race that could shift the statehouse balance of power has been indefinitely postponed, state election officials said on Tuesday, after the Democratic candidate mounted a legal fight. The decision to put off the high-stakes lotto, originally scheduled for Wednesday, marks the latest twist in a dramatic election recount that at one point showed Democrat Shelly Simonds beating Republican incumbent David Yancey by a single vote. A victory by Simonds would shift Republicans' slim control of the 100-member House of Delegates to an even 50-50 split with the Democrats, forcing the two parties into a rare power-sharing arrangement. A day after Simonds emerged as the victor of a recount, a three-judge panel ruled that a disputed ballot should be counted for Yancey. That decision left the two candidates tied with 11,608 votes each in a district that encompasses the shipping hub of Newport News in southeastern Virginia, setting the stage for the equivalent of a coin toss to pick a final winner. Simonds asked a state court to reconsider on Tuesday, arguing that the disputed ballot was wrongly included. An image filed in court showed that the ballot had bubbles filled in beside both names, with a slash mark by Simonds' name. The voter selected Republicans for other offices. Simonds told reporters that the case had implications not only for her contest but for the integrity of state elections as a whole, saying that without a court ruling in her favor, "recounts would become a never-ending spiral of courtroom challenges." The chairman of the Virginia Board of Elections, James Alcorn, said in a statement that while holding a lottery would be in keeping with state law, such a move should be considered "an action of last resort." He added: "Any substantive concerns regarding the election or recount should be resolved before a random drawing is conducted." Yancey's campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Virginia House Republican Caucus said in a statement that it was reviewing the new court filings. "We believe the court acted appropriately and that the integrity of the process is without question," spokesman Parker Slaybaugh said. Virginia Department of Elections spokeswoman Andrea Gaines said in an email that no new date for a drawing has been set. Democrats notched historic gains in Virginia's statehouse elections last month, part of the party's first big wave of political victories since Republican Donald Trump won the White House last year. Before the Nov. 7 general election, Virginia Republicans held 66 seats to the Democrats' 34 in the House of Delegates, along with a majority in the state Senate. (Reporting by Letitia Stein in Detroit; Editing by Steve Gorman and Sandra Maler)
Time magazine dubbed 2017 the year of the silence breakers, as powerful men who misused their power were brought down by the women theyd wronged.

But while its true that 47 men have been forced out of prominent positions this calendar year, with another 26 suspended, on leave or under investigation, this cultural comeuppance arguably began the year before, on July 6, 2016. Thats when newly fired Fox News host Gretchen Carlson filed suit against then-Fox News chief Roger Ailes, accusing him of retaliating against her when she refused his sexual demands. At first she was a lone voice, but over the weeks other women came forward with similar stories, and on July 21 of that year, Ailes resigned.

Looking back  and forward  from this vantage point, Carlson recently spoke with Yahoo News about the stunning domino effect of the past few months, why the so-called national reckoning had taken hold at this particular moment, whether the apparent cultural shift was permanent and what the next year might bring.

Carlson herself stresses that credit really belongs to Anita Hill, who testified before Congress in 1991 about how then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas had sexually harassed her when she was his employee at both the Department of Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Oklahoma University law professor Anita Hill testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington on Oct. 11, 1991. Hills explosive allegations about sexual harassment by Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas included graphic language and were carried live by many media outlets around the nation. (Photo: Greg Gibson/AP)

Hills testimony was the first news story Carlson covered as a TV reporter at WRIC-TV in Virginia. It was also the first national conversation about sexual harassment ever, Carlson says, and while historic and a good start, the conversations impact only went so far. While anger at the all-male Senate Judiciary Committee being condescending to Hill did spur a record number of women to run for Congress and win, it did not keep Thomas off the court. And while it did lead corporate America to create rules about unacceptable behavior in the workplace, many of those rules proved to be ineffective at best and harmful at worst for later generations of women.

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A lot of companies put into effect sexual harassment training and thought the problem was solved  it would just go away, Carlson says.

In particular, arbitration clauses became common for settling sexual harassment accusations in many workplaces, coupled with nondisclosure agreements barring women from speaking about their allegations as a condition of receiving a settlement. The result, Carlson says, was a secret chamber of arbitration, which is why we havent heard about many of the cases that were settled over the years. It silences women.

There was such a clause in Carlsons Fox News contract, saying all lawsuits against the company must be heard by an arbitrator. Carlsons legal team circumvented that restriction by suing Ailes directly. That was a strategy my lawyers came up with that happened to work in New York because there was a law on the books that facilitated that. It was not the case in every state.

At first, Ailess allies rallied publicly to his defense. It was the most excruciating choice of my life and a very lonely experience, Carlson says. Then five women came forward to New York magazine with stories similar to hers, and eventually the mogul was forced to step down  albeit with a reported $40 million severance package.

From left, former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson  accompanied by Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Illinois., Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.  speaks at a news conference during which members of Congress introduced legislation to curb sexual harassment in the workplace on Dec. 6, 2017, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP)

In the weeks and months after she came forward, Carlson says, she heard from women throughout the country  first dozens, then hundreds, then thousands. They were from every socioeconomic level, every line of work. Teachers, police officers, oil rig operators, members of our military, waitresses, assistants, flight attendants. She keeps listing and listing the professions. That made me realize this was everywhere.

Everywhere would soon include an Access Hollywood bus and an audiotape of a man who would be elected president of the United States  despite the 17 women who went public with sexual misconduct allegations against Donald Trump. On the one hand, Carlson says, Trumps election in spite of all those allegations felt like a step backward from the progress her lawsuit had promised. On the other, though, she believes that everything that has happened this year was made possible by the anger many women felt last year as they watched an accused sexual predator reach the White House.

Ailess resignation showed it was possible to be believed and to bring down a powerful man, she says. Trumps election, on the other hand, showed that women still are not always believed.

In that disconnect there was outrage. And many of those who accused Harvey Weinstein of rape, assault and harassment  telling their stories in the New York Times and the New Yorker in October this year  were spurred by that outrage. As Janice Min, former head of the Hollywood Reporter, told Bill Maher just after Weinstein was forced to resign from his company, the feeding frenzy over Weinstein was, in her opinion all just sublimated anger towards Donald Trump.

So it went through so many of the industries that Carlson had heard from the year before: restaurants, newsrooms, statehouses, fashion, finance, tech. The #MeToo hashtag brought out countless stories from women about their harassment and abuse. Then came another Election Day, Dec. 12, in Alabama, and this time a candidate accused of a history of sexual misconduct with underage girls was not voted into the Senate.

Beverly Young Nelson, an accuser of Alabama Republican Roy Moore, reads her statement at a news conference in New York on Nov. 13, 2017. Nelson says she was a 16-year-old high school student working at a restaurant when Moore, a regular, groped and touched her in his car. (Photo: Richard Drew/AP)

What, then, will happen next year? Was this swelling of voices a permanent change in the definition of what is acceptable behavior between men in power and women who work with them? Or was it just a blip, a noteworthy moment that will be looked back on as an incomplete promise, as was the case with Anita Hill?

Already there are signs of a backlash, an attempt to recast the outpouring of stories as an overreaction, an overreach. Last week, Rupert Murdoch dismissed as nonsense the charges that led to the payment of millions in sexual harassment settlements and the resignations of three of his most visible staffers. That was largely political, because we are conservative, said Murdoch, whose media empire includes Fox News.

And two days later Matt Damon caused an uproar when he tried to explain that not all harassment is equally bad. Theres a difference between, you know, patting someone on the butt and rape or child molestation, right? he said in an interview. Former co-stars quickly pointed out that nothing about #MeToo was equating these things and that to suggest otherwise was to dismiss the ubiquity of misbehavior of all kinds.

Most men  simply cannot understand what abuse is like on a daily level, said actress Minnie Driver, a former co-star and former romantic partner of Damons.

There is also increasing concern that the problem will be perceived as one of rich and famous men behaving badly, and will be seen as solved when enough such men are replaced. Rebecca Traister, a columnist at New York magazine, wrote of having to do a kind of triage as women contact her daily ready to finally out their repellent bosses. To many of them I must say that their guy isnt well-known enough, that the stories are now so plentiful that offenders must meet a certain bar of notoriety, or power, or villainy, before theyre considered newsworthy.

Actress Rose McGowan speaks at the inaugural Womens Convention in Detroit on Oct. 27, 2017. Shortly before, McGowan gone public with her allegation that film company co-founder and Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein raped her. (Photo: Paul Sancya/AP)

Carlson also fears that because attention is de facto skewed to offenders in high-profile industries, the victims of less famous men will remain overlooked and powerless. She is somewhat heartened by recent articles such as the one in the Washington Post about harassment in the hospitality industry and in the New York Times about a decades-long pattern at the Ford Motor Company. And she regularly finds herself telling women in less visible fields, Please go to your local media  in Topeka, in Tuscaloosa. If there ever was a moment when people are interested in telling your story, it would be now.

But if all these stories are not accompanied by structural and cultural change, she says, the moment will be lost. This is why she is lobbying for passage of a bill just introduced in Congress that would eliminate forced arbitration clauses as a condition of employment. And she is working with the group All in Together to hold three-day workshops around the country for women in blue-collar, hourly-wage professions to train them about ways to fight back against domestic violence and sexual harassment.

She created that program, she says, because when people first asked me, How do you help the single mom working three jobs who does not have a voice? I did not have an answer. Now I hope I do.

_____

Best of 2017 Yahoo News Features
The city recorded 278 homicides up to mid-December, compared with 325 last year, and police say there were the lowest number of index crimes since the 50s

NYPD police stand guard inside the New York Port Authority Bus Terminal in the city after it reopened following an explosion on December 11, 2017 Photograph: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

New York City is on track to record a sharp drop in murders for 2017, down 14.5 % over the last year, according to New York Police Department records.

The city recorded 278 homicides for the year as of 17 December, compared with 325 at the same point last year. The figures include the eight victims of an October attack allegedly by an Islamic State-inspired extremist.

Numbers of felony assaults, burglaries and auto theft cases also decreased in 2017, compared with the prior year, along with a 10% drop in robberies.

Police commissioner James ONeill said at a news conference that the city was seeing the lowest number of index crimes  willful homicide, rape, robbery, burglary, aggravated assault, larceny over $50, motor vehicle theft and arson  since the 50s.

The number of times police fired their weapons during an incident also dropped sharply in 2017, from 23 incidents as of 17 December, compared with 37 incidents in 2016.



ONeill credited a focus on curbing gang violence coupled with a policy of neighborhood policing as significant reasons for the drop in crime.



No one knows better than the people patrolling those sectors and the people that live there whats actually happening, ONeill said, adding that he hopes to make neighborhood policing a citywide strategy next year.

The murder rate peaked in New York in the early 1990s, when upwards of 2,000 homicides were recorded annually.
If the Palestinians had a shred of hope that peace negotiations would be renewed in the Netanyahu era, it faded away and disappeared after US President Donald Trumps Jerusalem announcement.

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We will no longer accept the United States as a mediator in the peace process and we will not accept any peace plan from the American side, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared in his moment of deep dispair.

Abbas. The Europeans have their own problems and the Palestinians definitely cant rely on the Arab states (Photo: Reuters)

We must admit that there have been no real negotiations with the Palestinians since the establishment of the Netanyahu government in 2009, and they wont be renewed as long as the current government remains in power. In general, the term negotiations has been erased from Israels political lexicon, not to mention the word peace. As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says, There was nothing, there is nothing, there will be nothing.

Throughout this entire period, Ramallah didnt stop playing by the rules. After Trumps election, Abbas wanted to believe that the new president supports the two-state vision. He waited to hear about the American peace plan and believed that it would be possible to return to the table. Until the Jerusalem announcementwhich Abbas considered a low blowhe had still hoped that Trump would pull some kind of diplomatic rabbit out of his hat and salvage what could still be salvaged.

Now, Abbas is left with an empty diplomatic toolbox. While he declares that he wants negotiations brokered by a different mediatorthe Europeans or the Russiansand wants to create more international pressure on Israel, he knows that another United Nations discussion and another General Assembly resolution will only provide him with a worthless symbolic victory, which definitely wont bring the Palestinians closer to a state. Europe has its own problems and is incapable of imposing terms for peace negotiations and setting them in motion, and the Palestinians definitely cant rely on the Arab states, especially now.

Despite the declarations, the Palestinians understand there will be no negotiations without American mediation. So in an attempt to reenact the first intifada, which forced Israel to come to the negotiating table, they are threatening to increase the violent popular struggle against Israela sort of war of attrition. The Palestinians will try to execute this battle until the end of Trumps term or until a change of government in Israel.

Abbas and Trump. The Palestinian leader wanted to believe that the new US president supports the two-state vision (Photo: AP)

Hamas is in a catch-22 situation too. Its leaders are issuing aggressive statements, while exercising restraint and fighting the rebel organizations that are trying to drag Gaza into a war by occasionally firing rockets into Israel.

Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh realize that a military adventure will threaten their organizations rule. Furthermore, Hamas is frustrated by the fact that despite the talks of unity, Abbas couldnt care less about Gaza. Now that the efforts to resume negotiations have been halted, Abbas has no motivation to reconcile with Hamas. The price is being paid, as always, by Gazas residents, whose situation has only worsened in the past three months.

The reality in the territories, and in east Jerusalem, in the past two decades has completely changed. Now, with Trumps encouragement, it is becoming permanent450,000 settlers and civil and economic infrastrctures. The conditions set by the Netanyahu government, which has declared its willingness to enter negotiations without any preconditions, have increased too. In addition to saying no to negotiations on Jerusalem, and in addition to demanding that the Palestinians recognize Israel as the Jewish peoples nation state, it is setting a new condition: No negotiations without a Palestinian recognition of Jerusalem as the Jewish peoples capital.

On the other side, we are seeing the development of a new Palestinian generation, which is more religious and struggling with collective feelings of anger, frustration, hatred and revenge, as well as a reality of a state-like entity on only 18 percent of the West Bank territories. In a reality in which the Palestinians see no diplomatic hope in the foreseeable future, their ultimate response is sticking to the ethos of the conflict, which justifiesaccording to their perceptiona continuation of the battle.

The diplomatic stalemate, the ongoing settlement construction and the de facto annexation of many areas in the West Bank leave no chance for the two-state vision. The move towards a forced binational statewhich contradicts the Zionist aspiration for a Jewish and democratic stateis materializing. This reality is charged with destructive forces, both on their side and on ours.
For years, she has been the poster girl of Palestinian propaganda. The jewel in the crown. The star of Pallywood, a term coined by Prof. Richard Landes to describe the Palestinians' staged false displays for the purpose of accusing Israel of violence.

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Ahed Tamimi, of course, isnt the only one in these displays. But shes the best. She looks just like a girl who could capture the hearts of foreign photojournalists and the Western public opinion. She wears neither a hijab nor a burqa. On the contrary, she has a typical European look. A girl who looks like their girl.

Ahed Tamimi. The most photographed Palestinian woman in the past five years (Photo: AFP)

For years, she has been at the center of more and more staged provocations. She always tries to get IDF soldiers to respond with violence, and she always fails. Because IDF soldiers are world champions in self-restraint.

But in a region which holds the world record for cameras per square meters, some kind of inappropriate behavior is found every few months, as not everyone is perfect. Last week, soldiers were caught using unnecessary violence against a bound Palestinian. Certain organizations seize these opportunities eagerly. This is the IDF, they say. Theyre lying, of course.

Not all Western newspapers, which usually love the blonde, blue-eyed girl, got caught in the trap. In recent years, different newspapers in the worldincluding the British Daily Mail and the American Towerhave exposed the real story of Tamimi and her parents as part of a propaganda machine in Pallywoods service. But they were exceptions.

Tamimi at the Ofer Military Court on Monday (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

Around the globe, and to a degree in Israel as well, the deception hasnt really been revealed. After all, the photographers used her and she used them. The model of the intifada. Her pictures turned her into an Internet star: Raising a fist against soldiers, biting a soldier, leading a group of marching protestors. She became a propaganda asset. The most photographed Palestinian woman in the past five years.

And as is becoming of a star, in 2012 she was invited to a special event in her honor in Turkey, where she received an award named after Handala, a Palestinian boy created by cartoonist Naji al-Ali, symbolizing the Palestinian refugee as a victim of Israeli brutality. Granted, Turkey has destroyed 3,000 Kurdish villages, two million people have become refugees in their country and 30,000 have been killed. But theres no cartoon named after them. Hypocrisy works overtime there. Later on, Tamimi was invited to have breakfast with the great leader, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Ahed even got an academic paper written about her, about what she represents and about the fact that she is joining other female stars of the Palestinian struggle, like Hanan Ashrawi and terrorist Leila Khaled. The same article also implies that there is sometime racist about the fact that the Western viewer has trouble identifying with other young women who are dark-skinned and wear a hijab. Tamimis success essentially stems from the fact that she doesnt look like a typical Muslim or Palestinian woman. On the contrary, she generates sympathy because she looks like the daughter of the white family next door. There is of course a clear racist aspect in the ability to identify with her of all people. But that doesnt matter, as long as she delivers the goods.

Bassem Tamimi, Aheds father. A radical Palestinian who urges violence and helps spread blood libels against Israel (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

Bassem Tamimi, the stars father, is famous for his own activities and has received the familiar human rights activist definition. Is that so? Tamimi is indeed a wanted guest on many anti-Israel stages around the world. But like too many of these activists, when you delve beyond the surface, you find a radical Palestinian who urges violence and helps spread blood libels against Israel.

He retweeted, for example, a tweet stating that the Israelis goal, when they arrest Palestinian children, is to steal their organs. And following that post, it was determined that the Zionists control the global media, so we shouldnt expect the BBC to publish this information. So we got both a blood libel focusing on children and a repetition of theories resembling the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Pure anti-Semitism. That didnt stop the Amnesty organization from defining him as a prisoner of conscience.

We mustnt delude ourselves. In the battle between the propaganda of lies and Israel, the lies win. The somewhat exaggerated restraint of the Israeli soldiers isnt helping either. Bassem Tamimi himself was a guest of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), one of the leading organizations in the anti-Israel campaigns on US campuses. I once mentioned that they cancelled a collaboration with Miko Peled, a former Israeli, over anti-Semitic comments, but I believe that was a one-time digression from their usual activity.

Tamimi and his likes, who support terrorism and are in favor of Israels destruction, are honored and respected. They dont even have to pretend to be rights activists. They are guests of honor even when they oppose peace, encourage violence and provide justifications for terrorism.
American Ambassador the United Nations Nikki Haley led a holding action around the clock last week, together with Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon, in a bid to prevent a defeat in the UN General Assembly in the vote against US President Donald Trumps recognition of Jerusalem as Israels capital.

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After the 14 other Security Council members voted against Israel and the United States was forced to veto the resolution, the Palestinians turned to the General Assembly. Israel found itself in diplomatic isolation yet again.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Liberia in June (Photo: Kobi Gideon/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu uses every opportunity to boast that Israel is enjoying unprecedented diplomatic prosperity and that the Jewish state is admired and appreciated all over the world. In September, he told the UN General Assembly that he had visited six continents in the past year and that I haven't yet visited Antarctica, but Ive heard that penguins are also enthusiastic supporters of Israel.

Indeed, Netanyahu has travelled all around the world in the past year. The places he has visited include Australia, China, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Africa (three times) and Eastern Europe. Opposition members say Netanyahu is simply using these trips to flee police investigators, but the prime minister insists that these are important diplomatic missions for the purpose of establishing strategic alliances and economic ties that will strengthen the Israeli economy.

Since the formation of the current government, Netanyahu has embarked on 30 journeys abroad, visiting 37 countries (including repeated visits to the same country), and he has been out of the country for 103 days. Eight years after he took office, we should probably ask if there is any diplomatic value in all his journeys when it comes to UN votes and to improving Israels position on this front.

Netanyahu with Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos in September (Photo: EPA)

Mitvimthe Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies looked into the voting patterns of 35 states in 16 Israel-related votes held at four UN institutionsthe Security Council, the General Assembly, UNESCO and the Human Rights Councilfrom 2009 to 2017. The selected states were mostly countries the prime minister had visited in recent years, in a bid to examine if the efforts to strengthen Israel's bilateral relations with them have also led to a change in their voting patterns in the worlds main multi-national forum.

The research, led by Dr. Roee Kibrik and Dr. Nimrod Goren, revealed that in important UN votes focusing on the Palestinian issue, Israel keeps finding itself isolate. Of the 193 UN member states, the Jewish state is supported primarily by the US, Canada and a few island countries.

This picture hasnt changed in the past eight years, Kibrik and Goren concluded. Nevertheless, this isnt an indication of Israels ability to influence votes held in other international forums, as well as diplomatic processes taking place behind the scenes and not through votes, nor is it a tool for measuring the efforts to strengthen Israels bilateral relationships with the worlds countries. All it indicates is that these kinds of effortsif they are indeed taking placehave yet to yield results in important Israel-related UN votes.

The prime minister stated recently that the change in the attitude towards Israel in multi-national forums could take a few more years, but the way we see it, without any progress in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the chance for a real breakthrough in this area is low, says Kibrik.

Goren adds, Israel's policy on the Palestinian issue has a negative impact on Israel's status in the world. Past experience shows that a diplomatic renaissance, like the one the prime minister is hoping for, takes place when Israel shows a real commitment to advance peace and takes steps in that direction.

Netanyahu with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi August (Photo: AFP)

China and Russia, for example, two countries which Netanyahu travelled to in the past year (in fact, the prime minister visited Russia five times in the past two and a half years), kept voting automatically with the Palestinians and against Israel.

India, on the other hand, which used to vote against Israel automatically, changed its voting pattern recently in UNESCOs resolutions on Jerusalem and moved to abstention. Netanyahu is expected to visit India for the first time next month, but Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already visited Israel. In the recent votes on Jerusalem and the Golan Heights in the UN General Assembly, however, India kept voting against Israel's stance.

The African countries, which received frequent visits from Netanyahu in the past two years, have remained loyal to the Palestinian issue in the votes. Argentina and Colombia have kept voting with the Palestinians too, despite Netanyahus recent visit to Latin America. Mexico, which received a first visit from the Israeli prime minister, as well as a visit from the Home Front Commands rescue delegation following the devastating earthquake in the country, changed its voting pattern in 10 Israel-related votes for the first time.

Netanyahu with the Visegrad Group leaders in July

The Visegrad Group, which includes Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia (three of which were visited by Netanyahu), is traditionally closer to the Israeli stance and can often be seen supporting Israel. In 2009, they supported Israel's stance and opposed the Goldstone Report on the 2008 Israeli operation in Gaza, but have failed to offer Israel their absolute support since then. Sometimes they abstain rather than completely adopting the Palestinian stance. We must remember, however, that as far as Israel is concerned, these countries play a very important role in the European Union, where they prevent anti-Israel resolutions which would have been accepted had they not cooperated with Israel.

Israel's alliance in the Eastern Mediterranean basin and its tightening relations with Cyprus, Greece and Italy (three countries which Netanyahu visited in the past year) have not been reflected in votes focusing on the Palestinian issue.

Paraguay moved from supporting the Palestinians to abstention, which may be an indication of the tightening relations between the two countries. Netanyahu hasnt visited Paraguay, but he did meet with its president, Horacio Cartes, during his visit to Argentina. Yechiel Leiter, who served as Netanyahus bureau chief when he was finance minister, is one of Cartes senior advisors.

A favorable change has been recorded in the series of votes held by UNESCOs Executive Board in 2016 and 2017 around the proposal condemning Israel on the Jerusalem issue and opposing its policy in the city. The votes point to a downtrend in the number of states supporting the proposal: From 33 countries in April 2016 to 22 countries in May 2017.

Netanyahu argued recently during a meeting at the Knessets Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that it would take a few years before we see the changes in the international arena.

According to Foreign-Ministry Spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon, In the past few years, we have been seeing a favorable strategic change in different countries attitude towards the State of Israel. This is reflected, among other things, in international institutions votes. When a country moves from voting against Israel to abstention, it is also seen as a diplomatic achievement.

We must remember that these are long-term processes and that every long journey begins with a first step. The achievements of the Israeli diplomacy led by Prime Minister Netanyahu must be measured over time. The trend is positive and it will keep improving. The State of Israel is a significant player in the international arena, and many countries understand that and are moving closer to us in all respects.
Hi there, Justine Sachs, the woman who helped convince Lorde to cancel her planned performance in Israel. Do you want to know what youve caused by violently and childishly pushing for this boycott? Ill give you a hint: Violence brings more violence.

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I dont think youre surprised by that. After all, wherever the progressive fingerprints of radical leftists like you are evidentthats where the blood, fire and pillars of smoke can be found. A normative person may think youre a violent person, but I have a different assumption.

Justine Sachs (R) and Lorde. The Thanatos syndrome (Photos: Getty Images, Facebook)

The difference between you and me, Justin, is that Im an Israeli Jew and youre a Jew. Thats it. You have no nationality. You live in a negligible, insignificant sheepfold stuck somewhere at the end of the universe: New Zealand, which robbed the indigenous Maori people of their land in favor of a European colony. By the way, what have you done to promote a cultural boycott against your exploiting country, Justin? Id like to hear about that.

In any event, Justin, you may be satisfied with the few moments of fame you have gained, like every auto-anti-Semite in Jewish history. We Jews have been blessed with a lot of that Thanatos (death drive), the drive towards human self-destruction. The thing is that patriotism significantly reduces this self-destruction mechanism.

I, for example, feel no need to take the side of a culture which hasnt brought anything to the world apart from terror. The confidence I am given by the Israeli nationality allows me to pick the democratic, free side. But nationality is not the only heart of the matter, you bleeding heart. Theres something else too.

More than auto-anti-Semitism

People who dont know you as well as I do might think that your drive towards self-destruction stems from a need to satisfy the people around you; that you choose to play the role of the classic Jewish wimp, who has to prove his animosity towards his Jewish brethren in order to survive. Youre not the first person to do so. Some people, by the way, have been much more successful than you, and this isnt the place to quote from the history of the early 1940s.

Lorde (Photo: Lior Keter)

You may be surprised, but I dont think this is about your desire to please the gentiles, nor does it have anything to do with the assumption that in the Southern Hemisphere the Jewish mind goes against reason. Personally, I believe this is something even more Jewish than auto-anti-Semitism. As a Jew to a Jew, lets be honest, its the same unique Jewish sense of humor.

Only a particularly developed Jewish sense of humor can explain why you have chosen to turn your back on the democratic, Western side, which develops medicine (at least until Teva goes bankrupt), feeds millions around the world through agricultural developments, sends doctors to every place hit by an earthquake across the globe and develops cyber defenses against the forces of evil.

That same developed sense of humor alone can explain why you favor your Palestinian friends side, the side which hijacks planes, the side which hangs gay people on electric poles, the side which rips out girls throats in honor killings, the side which has failed to establish any state or society which isnt totalitarian, chauvinist, primitive and/or murderous.

So unlike some Israelis who deeply despise a woman of your kind, Im actually capable of appreciating a proper joke or mega-trolling. This may not be the kind of joke that would place you in the same category as Jewish comedians like the Marx Brothers, Mel Brooks, Woody Allen or Jerry Seinfeld, but you do deserve an award just for trying.

Im willing to send you one, by the way. If you give me your address, Ill gladly send over a copy of my latest book on the issue, titled The History of the Palestinian People. It may take a while before it reaches the end of the world you live in, but I can assure you that youll be able to read the entire book in less than one minute.
NEA CEO Ghising off to New Delhi to renew power pact

A high-level team comprising Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) Chief Executive Officer Kulman Ghising has left for New Delhi, India on Wednesday to renew the power purchase agreement with the southern neighbour.
A French children's magazine has been withdrawn from newsstands after it admitted a "mistake" in writing that Israel wasn't a "real country."

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The news editor for Youpi, a magazine for children from 5 to 8, told said on Tuesday the January issue was being removed from kiosk sales in France and Belgium after writing that Israel was among a few states in the world that aren't "real countries."

French magazine Youpi

Bertrand Fichou said he humbly apologizes for the mistake and that his intention wasn't to challenge the legitimacy of the state of Israel.

Youpi's explanation about Israel

He said that "I'll blame myself for it all my life."

The two-sentence text caused an uproar on social media, and French Jewish group CRIF asked the publisher to remove the January issue from sales.
A nationwide school strike planned for Wednesday's has been canceled after Justice Efrat Lakser at the Tel Aviv Labor Court successfully convinced the teachers' union to allow classes to proceed while simultaneously entering into intense negotiations with the Ministry of Education in order to reach an agreement.

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The director of the Education Ministry will meet with the general secretary of the teachers' union on 4th January. The two sides will then meet again every ten days and update the Labor Court by January 24 on the outcome of their talks.

At a hearing Tuesday evening, Justice Lakser said: "(The decision to call a) strike for Wednesday was made with haste, to say the least."

(Photo: Motti Kimchi)

The State Attorney representing the Justice Ministry argued that the teachers union requested a solution only four days ago, leaving them insufficient time to review the matter.

"This is a problematic matter and we agree that the proper way to handle it is through meeting to solve the problem, if it is indeed true that for every sick day taken teachers it is recorded as 1.4 days, that is a serious problem," said Justice Lakser. "We do not take this lightly and hope that the state also doesn't," she added.

After the decision was made to cancel the strike, the teachers' union General Secretary Yaffa Ben David said: "The teachers' union has achieved its goal. The state wanted talks, but the court ordered negotiations, not (mere) talks. The state is dragging its feet with regards to the teachers and the court handed down an explicit directive to hold frequent sessions with the presence of senior Education Ministry officials, and that is what is important for us."

On Monday, Ben David called for a nationwide strike in all kindergartens, primary and middle schools that would have affected 1.6 million Israeli schoolchildren.

Special education schools and schools located in towns in the Gaza region were to be excluded from the strike.

The reason behind the strike was that according to the teachers' union, the Ministry of Education is violating teachers' rights to a fair salary by deducting 1.4 sick days for every one taken, meaning that a teacher who has taken three sick days is debited with 4.2 days.

Only after the Education Ministry began itemizing the deductions in the teachers' pay slips did the matter come to light.

"The teachers' union has determined that the Education Ministry is debiting the teachers the relative sum of weekly days off, regardless of actual absences," explained a source at the union. "We brought up the problem with the Education Ministry but they are dragging their feet and are not providing a clear response to this problem."

The Education Ministry claims that the teachers' union is violating an (earlier) agreement not to strike untill 2019.

A forum representing the parents congratulated the decision not to strike. "We support the teachers insistence for fair treatment, (especially) on the matter of sick days and we hope for a speedy solution," said Paz Cohen, chairman of the forum.

"Cooperation between the parents, teachers and students is of utmost importance, and the forum will continue to look after the interests of students and parents. We are proud of the legal council and the forum leadership for their support and clear representation of the parents' stance."
BUENOS AIRES  Alberto Nisman, the Argentine prosecutor who was found dead days after accusing former President Cristina Fernandez of covering up Iran's role in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center, was murdered, a federal judge said on Tuesday.

In a 656-page ruling, Judge Julian Ercolini said there was sufficient proof to conclude that the shot to the head that killed Nisman in January 2015 was not self-inflicted. That marked the first time any judge has said the case was a murder.

Fernandez and others had suggested the death was a suicide, but a prosecutor investigating the case last year recommended it be pursued as a murder probe.

"Nisman's death could not have been a suicide," Ercolini wrote in Tuesday's ruling, which also charged Diego Lagomarsino, a former employee of Nisman's, with accessory to murder.
Alberto Nisman, the Argentine prosecutor who was found dead days after accusing former President Cristina Fernandez of covering up Irans role in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, was murdered, a federal judge said on Tuesday.

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In a 656-page ruling, Judge Julian Ercolini said there was sufficient proof to conclude that the shot to the head that killed Nisman in January 2015 was not self-inflicted. That marked the first time any judge has said the case was a murder.

Nisman. Fernandez and others had suggested the death was a suicide (Photo: Reuters)

Fernandez and others had suggested the death was a suicide, but a prosecutor investigating the case last year recommended it be pursued as a murder probe.

Nismans death could not have been a suicide, Ercolini wrote in Tuesdays ruling, which also charged Diego Lagomarsino, a former employee of Nismans, with accessory to murder.

1994 terror attack at Jewish community building in Buenos Aires (Photo: AFP)

Lagomarsino has acknowledged lending Nisman the gun that killed him the day before he was to appear before Congress to detail his allegation against Fernandez. But he has said Nisman asked him for the gun to protect himself and his family.

Fernandez, now a senator, was indicted for treason earlier this month over Nismans allegations that she worked behind the scenes to clear Iran of blame for the attack on the AMIA Jewish center, which killed 85 people, in an effort to normalize relations and clinch a 2013 grains-for-oil deal with Tehran.

Human rights groups and the former head of Interpol have criticized that indictment. Tehran has denied links to the attack.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas telephoned the father of the girl who was documented recently slapping and cursing IDF soldiers in the village of Nabi Salih, to lift his spirits and ask about his daughter, Abbas' office said in a statement released Wednesday.

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According to the statement, the Palestinian leader praised the Tamimi family members for the key role they have been playing in the weekly protests held in their village.

Ahed Tamimi and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Photo: AFP)

The father, Bassem Tamimi, a well-known Fatah activist, said that his 17-year-old daughter Ahed, who is still in custody, is strong, tough, believes in the rightness of her way and is willing to "challenge" the Israeli occupation.

Ahed Tamimi was arrested last week following the publication of a video showing her and her cousin provoking soldiers standing near her home during the Nabi Salih protests. The two soldiers practiced restraint and did not respond to the provocation.

Tamini provoking IDF soldiers in Nabi Salih

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Tamimi facing IDF soldiers in 2012 (Photo: AFP)

He insisted that the arrest had taken place in the aftermath of media incitement which he said caused a public interest in Israeli society.

Yesterday, I saw in the Israeli media that people were calling to demonstrate against Ahed in the streets of Tel Aviv, after they tried to describe the dangerous soldier as a victim of Aheds actions, Bassem said. It is important to point out here that this soldier was present in the compound of our home.

Ahed Tamimi first made headlined in 2012, when a video showing her cursing and spitting on an IDF soldier was uploaded to YouTube. Following the video, she was invited to have breakfast with then-Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Military Advocate General has asked the court to sentence terrorist Omar al-Abed, who murdered three members of the Salomon family in Halamish in July, to four life terms.
Five months after the murder of Yosef Salomon, his daughter Chaya and his son Elad in a terror attack in Halamish in July, the Ofer Military Court on Wednesday convicted terrorist Omar al-Abed, 19, from the village of Kobar, of three counts of murder.

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The Military Advocate General asked the court to sentence al-Abed to four life terms, one for each murder and a fourth one for the rest of the offenses attempted murder, incitement and stone-throwing.

The terrorist entered the courtroom with a wide smile on his face. His parents were also present.

Terrorist Omar al-Abed at the Ofer Military Court, Wednesday (Photo: Yoav Dudkevitch)

Dan Landa, the father of Elad Salomon's widow Michal, who saved her children after fleeing to the second floor with them, said during the hearing: "In a person's last moments before passing away, he sees before his eyes a face filled with love and compassion and feels the desire to ease his pain as much as possible. In their last moments, Yossi, Chaya and Elad saw the face of the devil, filled with hate and a passion to cause pain and suffering."

Orit Marcus, who lost her father and two of her siblings in the attack, brought to the courthouse pictures of her family members and said in tears: "I want to show you my entire family at a very special moment before the great disaster. We were a happy family, a close-knit family, a family of a lot of warmth and love," she said.

"My parents were among the founders of the community, and the house in Halamish was a uniting house, a place filled with community life. This house has turned into a place filled with memories and pain, a very difficult trauma, a great loss and bereavement.

"Three people were murdered in cold blood and there was an attempt to murder Mother, Michal and the five children. This is such a despicable and cruel act, that we have asked that the murderer receive the death penalty, or at least the maximum penalty for all his acts. Such a villain has no right to see the light of day, to breath, to eat."

Victims' relatives. 'The house has turned into a place filled with pain' (Photo: Yoav Dudkevitch)

Chen Salomon, the wife of Yosef's son Shmuel, spoke about the ongoing nightmares: "We are afraid to bring more children into this cruel world. We feel forgotten. We are alone in this battle, with no help from the state.|

"It must be legitimate to lose a father and two siblings a day after your eldest son is born. I had no option of stopping for a moment to recover, like any woman who gives birth, enjoying the joy that entered our family or letting myself break down. I'm simply trying to remain strong for my husband, my family and my child, because I know my baby doesnt deserve to carry all this pain on his shoulders."

After the court hearing, the family members criticized the prosecution for not demanding the death penalty. "We understand we're being toyed with. They're talking and talking, but not really doing what needs to be done. They could have picked up the phone and demanded it. The prime minister and defense minister were at the shiva and explicitly told us that they would work on it, that it could be promoted."

Earlier Wednesday, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman tweeted: "A life sentence is the only proper punishment for such a despicable act. I call on the judges to demonstrate their courage and sentence the terrorist to death. Jewish blood isn't cheap! There is no room for terrorists, not even in our prisons."

In comments written ahead of the discussion, which have been obtained by Yedioth Ahronoth, the three family members talk about the pain the family has been dealing with since the disaster and ask the judges to sentence the terrorist to the maximum penalty. The family members are receiving legal assistance from the Im Tirtzu organization.

"The Salomon family sat there, celebrating the arrival of new life, and the house was filled with light. And the light and innocent joy infuriated the devil's son. Into the house burst the murderer, a black soul filled with a passion for murder, waiting for the moment it could kill and crush," Michal Salomon's father wrote.

"Michal told us about the murderer's smiling face, which she saw as he broke into the house. A happy face indicating that this is not a believer about to fulfill a difficult duty, but an impulsive person eager to satisfy his passion. The villain raised the knife, stabbed and stabbed and couldnt get enough of the bloodshed. If he hadn't been stopped by the bullet fired from soldier A.'s gun, we would be facing 10 graves today.

"My daughter, Michal, who was torn from the second half of her soul, who lost her loved one and the champion of her youth, has been left without a friend to share her joys and hopes with, without his support and encouragement at times of distress, without a supporter in the daily tasks of raising a family. She has been left with the sounds of pain, with the terrible image of her loved one, Elad, taking his last breaths. With the memory of horrible moments in which she didn't know if the murderer's knife would reach her and her children as well. The murderer's knife keeps beating again and again, wounding the heart, at the Kiddush table and during holidays and birthdays and every child's first day at school and the visit to the playground."

The terrorists' parents in court (Photo: Yoav Dudkevitch)

In their comments, the family members also spoke about the courage of Elad Salomon, who fought the terrorist before succumbing to his wounds. "Elad demonstrated great courage when he attacked the armed terrorist empty-handed and fought him until he was defeated, thereby allowing his wife Michal to get her children out of the room and hindering the terrorist," Landa wrote.

Orit Marcus, who lost her father and two of her siblings in the attack, wrote: "With a single blow, the terrorist entered the house, stabbed Chaya and she escaped outside, then moved on to Mother, stabbed and inflicted serious wounds on her, and then moved on to Father. Mother saw Father falling to the ground and Elad fighting the damn terrorist, who kept stabbing Father and Elad mercilessly.

"Michal, Elad's wife took the children to the second floor, rescuing both her life and theirs. Exhausted, Mother went up to the second floor, wounded and bleeding. Chaya, who had run outside, began yelling, and the neighbor arrived and shot and neutralized the terrorist, stopping him from pursuing his killing spree. Chaya, who was seriously wounded, didn't make it and died."
Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz on Tuesday approved recommendations made by Israel Railways' steering committee to create a train station in the Jerusalem Jewish Quarter's Cardo, located several dozen meters from the Western Wall. He also decided to name it after US President Donald Trump, to thank him for recognizing the city as Israel's capital.

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The final route of the Kotel train project, Yedioth Ahronoth has learned, will include a three-kilometer long subterranean tunnel connecting "HaUma" train station (named for former President Yitzhak Navon) with the Western Wall.

According to the plan, a tunnel will be excavated from HaUma station that will contain two underground stations, 52 meters below street level. The two stations will be "City Center" station on the intersection of the Jaffa and King George Streets and the secondthe "Donald John Trump, Western Wall" stationnear the Cardo in the Old City's Jewish Quarter.

A train station meters away from the Kotel will be named after President Trump (: AP)

The tunnel and two planned station will, in effect, serve as continuation for the forthcoming Tel Aviv-Jerusalem express train line a trip that will purportedly take only 28 minutesthrough train stations at Ben Gurion Airport, Modi'in and HaUma station near the Jerusalem International Convention Center (known as Binyanei HaUma in Hebrewed).

"The Kotel is the holiest place to the Jewish people, and I have decided to name the train station leading to it after US President Donald Trump, in recognition of his brave and historic decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital," Katz explained Tuesday.

The transportation minister termed extending the Jerusalem express train line all the way to the Wall the "most important national project in the Transportation Ministry" and instructed his ministry's people to place it at the top of their priorities list, budget- and planning-wise.

Transportation Minister Katz decided the Western Wall train project was his ministry's most important national project (Photo: AP)

Katz also said he had already agreed with Chairman of the National Planning and Building Council Avigdor Yitzhaki that the planestimated to NIS 2.5 billionwill be declared a national project and speedily passed through the committee.

Since the tunnel's planned route is to pass below the Old City, however, any archeological find that may be found during excavation work may delay the project for an indeterminate amount of time while archeological digs are held in the surrounding area.

The Western Wall is the most visited site in Israel, visited annually by some 11 million people from both Israel and abroad. When the Western Wall line begins operating, it is planned to see passage of four trains an hour, or as many as six an hour during holiday peak periods.

A special car will be allocated to VIPs, as per the plan, allowing to shuttle any high-ranking guests and their entourage visiting Israel directly from Ben Gurion Airport to the "Trump" station near the Wall.
JOHANNESBURG  The US military says it has killed 13 members of the al-Shabab extremist group with a new airstrike in southern Somalia.

The statement from the US Africa Command says the strike was carried out Sunday morning. A spokeswoman says it occurred about 50 kilometers (31 miles) northwest of Kismayo and that no civilians were killed.

The United States has carried out 34 drone strikes in Somalia this year after the Trump administration expanded military efforts against Africa's deadliest Islamic extremist group.
PARIS  French President Emmanuel Macron called for a "complete lifting" of a blockade on Yemen in a telephone call with Saudi Arabia's King Salman on Dec. 24, an Elysee source said on Wednesday.

"The president expressed his strong concerns about the humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen and called on the Saudi king to lift completely the blockade to allow humanitarian aid and commercial goods to enter Yemen," the source said.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said a week ago that it would keep the Houthi-controlled Hodeidah port - vital for aid - open for a month despite another missile attack against Riyadh, but it has kept up air raids.
No docs in Udayapur district hospital emergency ward, DAO initiates action

The District Administration Office, Udayapur has initiated action against the District Hospital administration after the emergency ward of the hospital was found without a doctor or other staff.
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman responded to criticism regarding the fact that the Military Advocate General did not call for a death sentence to be imposed on the terrorist who murdered the Salomon family in Halamish.

"As defense minister, I have no authority to provide instruction to military prosecutors or judges. As chairman of Yisrael Beytenu and an Israeli citizen I call on the judges to sentence the despicable terrorist to death," the defense minister tweeted.
The Nazareth District Court convicted 40-year-old ShibliUmm al-Ghanam resident Valentin Mazlevski of contact with a foreign agent and an attempt to leave for Syria to join the Islamic State (IS). An Israeli Arab was sentenced to almost six years in prison earlier this year for his membership in the Islamic State.

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Mazlevski, who made aliyah to Israel from Belarus in 1996 and converted to Islam in 2000, was arrested about a year ago by Shin Bet, which unveiled correspondence he had held with IS officials in Arab countries in preparation.

The Belarusian immigrant was convicted of contact with a foreign agent, an attempt to leave for an enemy state and obstruction of justice.

Mazlevski was convicted of an attempt to join the Islamic State

The court hearing was attended by Mazlevski's mother and children. "I'm very surprised. It's the only son I have. Life will be so much harder for me without him. I hope he isn't punished too harshly because I need him at home. it's hard seeing his wife and my grandchildren without a father. They want him there for them," his mother said.

Mazlevski used the "Khalifat" (Arabic for "caliphate"ed) group of instant-messaging platform Telegram last year, the indictment said. He expressed his desire to join IS in the group, whose members are IS members and supporters of Russian origin, and was instructed by one activist to arrive to Turkey and speak with him from there so he can assist the Israeli in crossing the border into Syria.

The activist purchased a one-way plane ticket to Turkey on behalf of Mazlevski, but he was prevented from leaving Israel after being questioned by security officials at Ben-Gurion Airport.

Mazlevski in court Wednesday (:  )

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His interest in the Islamic State only grew stronger, however, and according to the indictment he often watched videos, songs and sermons relating to the organization and joined different social media groups through which he kept in touch with IS supporters and activists in both Israel and the world.

Mazlevski's online activities were not hidden from view of the security establishment, who called him in for questioning in July 2016, during which it was made clear to him the Islamic State was an illegal organization in Israel.

Nevertheless, in October 2016 he had decided to try and leave for Syria again. He contacted a man who called himself "Abu Abdullah" using the Zello messaging app, who then publicized his intention of joining the organization and fighting in its ranks. A month later he contacted another man, "Abu Rakan", who presented himself as an IS activist in Sinai . A short time later Mazlevski was arrested.
Knesset Member Hanin Zoabi of the Arab Joint List was slammed Wednesday by Culture Minister Miri Regev and Knesset Member Oren Hazan of the Likud party after accusing the opposition of hypocrisy over its failure to stand up against racism as it does against corruption issues.

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"You should have boarded the Marmara again and travelled to Gaza," Minister Regev said to Zoabi during a Knesset discussion on a bill barring police from making recommendations on indictments against public figures. "Go to Gaza, traitor," she reiterated in Arabic.

Regev (L) and Zoabi. 'You should have boarded the Marmara again' (Photo: Reuters, Yonatan Sindel/Flash 90)

"You and your friends should thank the state for honoring minorities," Regev said. "You and your friends, (former Knesset Member (Azmi) Bishara and others have gotten used to enjoying what the state has to offer, travelling across the world and delegitimizing the state. Having Trojan horses like her is our punishment.

"Don't you dare say a bad word about IDF soldiers," Regev warned. "The fact that you're still here is a stain on Israeli democracy.

"You people love death, we are moral," she added.

Zoabi and Hazan. 'Will kick you out of here' (Photo: Zohar Shahar, Amit Shabi)

Earlier, Zoabi told the Knesset: "This opposition is more hypocritical than the Right, creating a false impression of democracy."

She was interrupted by MK Hazan, who shouted: "Will I forsake my state to this terrorist? To this criminal?"

Zoabi went on, arguing that "the opposition wants it all. They want to be liberal leftists and to maintain an oppression regime, they want to maintain an image of peace and to support apartheid. You can't enjoy this feeling of enlightenment. In democracy, a war is a war against war crimes, against the occupation and in favor of the Palestinians' rights."

"You should go to prison and sit behind bars," Hazan shouted, referring to Zoabi as "trash." He later followed her around as she walked through the Knesset corridors, shouting: "Shoo, we'll kick you out of here."
Former Health Minister Ya'akov Litzman said Wednesday in a Ynet studio interview, "The less Shabbat is desecrated in Israel the better it is for me. It's in the Ten Commandments." Litzman's statements came following a legal opinion obtained by Ynet said the Supermarket Law may also forbid gas station convenience stores from remaining open on Shabbat.

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The lawpromoted as part of a package of promises given to the Haredi parties by Likud in order to bring the coalition crisis surrounding Shabbat train maintenance works to a closeseeks to endow Interior Minister Aryeh Deri with the authority to strike down municipal bylaws.

If the law passes, it will allow Deri to order supermarkets, grocery stores and kiosks to close on Shabbat, even in cities where bylaws permit such activities. However, the law will not apply to Tel Aviv, in accordance with the High Court's ruling on the matter and prior agreement with the Haredi parties.

Former health minister Litzman said the fewer Shabbat desecration takes place, the better he will feel (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

The former Haredi health minister was said he was certain the law was going to pass. "I don't understand why you're defending a violation of the Hours of Work and Rest Law with such fervor. I want to defend that law. We are now trying to fix what the High Court broke, and that's what we're trying to do here," he said.

"We're safeguarding small grocery store owners, whose livelihood is in shambles, as well as Shabbat, the status quo and the coalition agreements both us and the government are committed to. That is what we have decided and what is going to happen," Litzman declared.

Gas station convenience stores may also be closed by order of the law (Photo: Avi Moalem)

Regarding the possible inclusion of gas station convenience stores within the law, Litzman said, "I'm not about to get into that. Whatever the law says will be upheld."

MK Kish: 'We will not allow deviation from status quo'

"We will not allow deviation from the status quo," MK Yoav Kish (Likud) said in a Ynet studio interview on the matter. "Just as we supported the Haredi stance, we will not allow the secular public to be harmed. I think places of recreation and cafes should be allowed to be opened, with the status quo on commerce maintained, because Shabbat is important to us."

Kish also objected to the manner in which the Supermarket Law was presented to the public and said, "There's a lot of populism in the Knesset surrounding the Recommendations Law and supermarkets as well. They made it out to appear is if it contains religious coercion, which I can't abide by. The law was created because the High Court struck down existing legislation that said municipalities must consult the interior minister regarding their bylaws. The court decided that wasn't necessary, so the new law is here to set things right."

Likud MK Kish said places of entertainment and cafes may remain open (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

"Today the interior minister is Deri. Tomorrow it may be Yair Lapid or Avi Gabbay in a Likud government. It's legitimate and the way it's always been: the interior minister approves municipal bylaws. There's no reason to change longstanding policy on account of the High Court," Kish said.

On the opposite side of the political divide, Yesh Atid MK Mickey Levy voiced his displeasure with the law. "Look at what's going on here: a small group forces its worldview on all of Israel's citizens. I come from a religious home and respect them, but how is it any business of the interior minister if a convenience store in Sderot Ofakim or Rishon LeZion is open on Shabbat?"

Yesh Atid MK Levy said he was ready to filibuster to prevent the law's passage

"If we have to, we'll filibuster this part of it even longer than we did the Supermarket Law. We're planning to do all the way," Levy said.

Meretz MK Tamar Zandberg also objected to the law. "It's an utter absurdity that people will be able to fill up their tanks in gas stations, but not buy a bottle of water. It's clearly hypocrisy, because mass Shabbat desecration will take place with cars, but not with public transportation or supermarkets."

Meretz MK Zandberg said the Haredi parties' win was the general Israeli public's loss (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

"Deri and Litzman's war over Shabbat has become ridiculous and their only goal is to have Shabbat in a bunker, no matter what. Their victory will be the Israeli public's loss," Zandberg said.

Local authorities across the country attempted to pass legislation allowing supermarkets to remain open on Shabbat to head off the law's passage. Rishon LeZion's city council approved an amendment to the city's law allowing businesses to remain open in industrial areas and the city's main thoroughfares. The Givatayim municipality tried to do the same, but has thus far been prevented from doing so by court order.
Fewer than 1,000 Islamic State fighters remain in Iraq and Syria, the United States-led international coalition fighting the hardline Sunni militant group said on Wednesday, a third of the estimated figure only three weeks ago.

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Iraq and Syria have both declared victory over Islamic State in recent weeks, after a year that saw the two countries' armies, a range of foreign allies and various local forces drive the fighters out of all the towns and villages that once made up their self-proclaimed caliphate.

An Islamic State convoy in Syria (Photo: AP)

The United States has led an international coalition conducting air strikes against Islamic State since 2014 when the group swept across a third of Iraq. US troops have served as advisers on the ground with Iraqi government forces and with Kurdish and Arab groups in Syria.

"Due to the commitment of the Coalition and the demonstrated competence of our partners in Iraq and Syria, there are estimated to be less than 1,000 ISIS terrorists in our combined joint area of operations, most of whom are being hunted down in the desert regions in eastern Syria and Western Iraq," the US-led coalition told Reuters in an emailed statement.

ISIS is an acronym used for Islamic State.

The figure excludes areas in western Syria under the control of President Bashar Assad's government and his allies.

ISIS loses Deir al-Zor to Syrian army (Photo: AFP)

Assad's main ally Russia also said on Wednesday the main battle with Islamic State in Syria was over. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the key task in Syria was now destroying another Islamist group, the Nusra Front.

The US-led coalition had said on December 5 that there were less than 3,000 fighters remaining. Iraq declared "final victory" over the group on December 9.

Most of the fighters had been killed or captured over the past three years, the coalition said on Wednesday. It would not respond to a question on whether some fighters could have escaped to other countries, saying it would not "engage in public speculation" but said it was working on preventing that.

"We can tell you that we are working with our partners to kill or capture all remaining ISIS terrorists, to destroy their network and prevent their resurgence, and also to prevent them from escaping to bordering countries," it said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at the Israel Air Force's academy's graduation ceremony in Hatzerim and said, "We are continuing to face down large challenges in the north, south and center. We will not allow Iran to entrench itself in Syria to harm us."

"The decision on calm in Gaza is up to Gaza," Netanyahu added. "We will not allow or tolerate escalation from Hamas or any other terrorist elements. We will use all means at our disposal to defend our sovereignty and security."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conveyed a message to Hamas on Wednesday, saying that "it is up to Gaza whether there will be a state of calm in Gaza."

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Speaking at an Israel Air Force Flight Academy graduation ceremony at the Hatzerim Air Base, the prime minister said: "We want the population to live its life quietly and calmly, but it is up to Gaza to decide whether there will be a state of calm in Gaza. We will not allow or tolerate an escalation from Hamas or from any other terrorist element. We will use all means to defend Israel's sovereignty and security."

Wednesday's ceremony at the Hatzerim Air Base (Photo: Haim Hornstein)

Thirty-six soldiers, including one woman, graduated from the IAF Flight Academy on Wednesday, out of 340 cadets who originally started the pilots' course. The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Netanyahu, IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Gadi Eisenkot and IAF Commander Major-General Amikam Norkin.

Netanyahu praised the IAF's activity, saying that "with the best planes in the world and the best pilots in the world, the Air Force has the ability to reach short distances and faraway destinations, as required. We are meeting major challenges in the north, in the south and in the east.

"On all the fronts there are centers and branches of radical Islam. We are an island in this stormy region and have a clear policy of protecting our security. We will not allow Iran to expand in Syria in order to harm us."

The new pilots (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)

Addressing the new graduates, Air Force Commander Norkin implied that they too would be required to operate behind enemy lines.

"Your friends are flying the planes that have been striking in the Middle East in recent months, demonstrating initiative and creativity. It won't be long before you will operate behind enemy lines too. I know I can trust you."

Turning to the only woman pilot and to a religious graduate, Major-General Norkin said: "It's not the order that guides them, but the values they were raised on at home, the contribution to the state's security. That's what they see before their eyes. This is the face of Israeli society in all its glory."

Lieutenant-General Eisenkot said, "We have a powerful army and a powerful and accurate air force. We count on you to protect the State of Israel's security and to secure the state's victory if required to."

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said, "The Israel Air Force has become one of the best and most advanced air forces in the world. If, God forbid, another war erupts in the north, the result will be much more impressive. We are going to face some challenges we have never dealt with before."

Lieutenant Lior, the only female graduate of the course, will join her 48 predecessors, since the High Court's rulingwhich said women may also fly in combatin a petition submitted by Alice Miller in the nineties.

"I think it's significant service that contributes a lot and anyone who is capable of doing so should attend and graduate from the course," Lior said days before the ceremony, adding in a female-specific message, "Not all young women know they are capable of being here. Anyone who has that dream or thinks she wants to give it a shot, I call on them to attend the flight course and live their dream."
The military court in Egypt sentenced nine Islamic State fighters to death for their involvement and planning of terror attacks across the country.

Fifteen terrorists were executed in Egypt on Tuesday after being convicted of murdering soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula.
The Teva Assia plant in Petah Tikvah, where the research and development of drugs for the Israeli pharmaceutical giant is concentrated, is set to be shut down following the company's massive wave of layoffs, with the majority of the factory's workers losing their job, the plant's workers said Wednesday.

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Chairperson of the factory's labor union Hania Gilboa said they were expecting to meet with management Wednesday to discuss the matter and will "fight with all their might to rescind the decision" to shut down the plant and lay off about 150 workers.

Teva Assia plant in Petah Tikvah (Photo: Orel Cohen)

The factory's labor union and the National Labor Federation (NLF) said that "the company's management informed the employees of the cut-backs Tuesday night," adding that the factory's staff together with the NLF are "considering possible ways" of battling it.

Following the announcement, Netanya Mayor Miriam Feirberg Ikar is planning a job fair in cooperation with companies and businesses from all over the country in order to assist the plant's workers. The fair will take place on January 24 at Netanya Stadium.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries plans to reduce its workforce by 25 percent and suspend its dividend on ordinary shares in a much-anticipated overhaul to help pay back its massive debt

Israel-based Teva, the worlds largest generic drugmaker, said on Thursday these measures will result in the reduction of 14,000 positions globally, with the majority of the cuts expected in 2018.

Teva workers protesting in Jerusalem outside the Knesset compound, December 26 (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)

Teva has roughly 7,000 Israeli employees, making it one of the country's largest private sector employers. Israels Histadrut Labor Federation said at least 1,750 employees will be laid off in Israel, with 1,250 laid off by the end of 2018 and an additional 500 laid off from factories Teva intends to sell. The employees affected by the cutbacks are expected to receive notice within 90 days.

In addition, by the end of 2019, with the closure of the production plants in Jerusalem, about 500 additional workers will be laid off.

After the announcement of the mass redundancy plan, Teva workers demonstrated throughout the country. Meanwhile, the HistadrutIsrael's national trade union centre staged a half day general strike as a sign of solidarity with the company's workers.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to convince Teva CEO Kare Schultz to reduce the number of Israeli layoffs.

Schultz informed the prime minister that he did not intend to revise the planned number of redundancies that is expected to reach 1,700 workers from the financially straitened company, and that the plan to shut down its factories would proceed.

With Schultzs stated determination not to budge, the government will no longer consider providing grants to Teva and is expected to seek other alternatives for the workers.

Following Schultzs announcement, Teva workers staged further protests , threatening to stop distributing medication against cancer, AIDS, jaundice and other serious diseases.
An indictment was served in a military court in Jaffa Wednesday against an IDF soldier, who serves in the command of a large regional division, of raping a female soldier.

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According to the evidence collected in the investigation conducted by the military Criminal Investigations Division (CID) and according to the plaintiffs complaint, the two met on a base a month ago, exchanged numbers and agreed to meet during an evening in the platoon to which the male soldier was attached.

The two entered a bus parked on the base for military medical personnel and watched a movie together on the defendants telephone while they were hugging, when he kissed her without her resisting.

Shortly after, the plaintiff told the soldier she did not want to go any further, telling him that it is not appropriate. After the soldier stopped and the two began talking, he then proceeded to stroke her neck when she expressed again her preference that he stop.

Illustration photo (Photo: Shutterstock)

According to the indictment, when the soldier began touching her in her private parts of her body, she resisted both verbally and physically. At that point, he pushed her forcefully, lay her on the bed on the bus and proceeded to rape her.

The plaintiff suffered pain after the assault and burst into tears, the indictment describes, as the soldier told her to get dressed. I told you I was a pervert.

Two weeks later, the soldier sent his victim a WhatsApp message saying I am sorry and Dont do me like that.

When he was informed that the CID were onto him, he erased the memory on his cellphone in an effort to cover his tracks.

The Jaffa military court extended his arrest and agreed keep a gag order on the publication of his identity.

In a statement by the soldiers representatives, it was said that he rejects the indictments against him and claims that everything was consensual.

We are sure that the soldiers innocence will be proved in court. The soldier is the son of a normal family and he performed a sexual act according to the consensual desire of his and the female soldier and he stopped immediately after she said that she wanted to stop.
Pokhara Street Festival to usher in New Year

Pokhara is set to usher in the New Year by getting the party started early as it is hosting the 19th Street Festival. Tourists and locals will be able to enjoy the festivities from Thursday.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday US President Donald Trump would fail in his hardened stance towards Iran, saying Tehran was stronger than during the time of the "more powerful and smarter" Ronald Reagan.

"Reagan was more powerful and smarter than Trump, and he was a better actor in making threats, and he also moved against us and they shot down our plane," Khamenei said in a speech carried on state television.

In 1988, a US warship shot down an Iranian passenger plane over the Gulf, killing all 290 aboard, in an incident which Washington said was a mistake. Tehran said it was a deliberate attack on Iran, then at war with neighbouring Iraq.

"But Reagan is gone and, according to our beliefs, he now faces God's retribution ... while Iran has made great advances in all areas since Reagan's time," Khamenei added.

"This trend will continue under the current American president and any hopes on their part that the Islamic Republic would back off or weaken is futile."
Tel Aviv residents have built a world record-contending, 36-meter (118ft) plastic brick tower, featuring more than 500,000 pieces, to honor a young cancer victim in the Israeli city.

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The multi-colored 'Omer Tower', named after 8-year-old Lego fan Omer Sayag, was completed using cranes in Rabin Square on Wednesday after more than a fortnight's construction work by thousands of residents.





"Omer was a boy who loved life, who spoke at eye level with people older than him, younger than him, different from him and like him," his father said. "The doctors told us that no one withstood difficult treatments as he did and kept a positive attitude throughout. I felt that I was learning from him and was encouraged by him instead of the other way around."

"It was the idea of his (Sayag's) former kindergarten teacher, and building blocks were donated by residents, companies and some were purchased using municipality funds," a spokesperson for the mayor's office said.

There was no Guinness World Records adjudicator on site to measure the 'Omer Tower', meaning Tel Aviv must wait for approval from the body to confirm they have beaten the previous record of 35.05 meters (115 ft), built in Milan in 2015.
Israelis have expressed anger following the publication of a story on Ynet that the Supermarket Bill being spearheaded by Interior Minister and Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri will include convenience stores in gas stations.

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If the bill passes it will give Deri the power to nullify municipal bylaws and he will be authorized to shut down supermarkets, mini local stores and convenience stores.

Workers at the convenience stores situated at gas stations in the Kiryat Shmona area say that the majority of employment in stores takes place at the end of the week, both because of the many tourists and because of the closure of shops and regular businesses. The higher salaries on Shabbat also encourage the youth, especially students, to work weekend shifts.

(Photo: Yuval Hen)

I am opposed to the bill. Even though we have a family here that observes Shabbat, you cant force people to do something," said Lee Dean from the Elifelet moshav in the Upper Galilee.

When I am stuck without something at the end of the week I go to these shops and so do the tourists. The economic situation in the area is anyway terrible and this will only cause an even worse situation, he predicted.

Sair Sabaen from Majd al-Krum in the same area stopped at the Paz-Yellow gas station in Kiryat Shmona, and when asked by Ynet reporters also expressed disdain of the bill.

I am Muslim so obviously shutting down shows on Shabbat is not significant for me from a religious point of view. The problem is a social and economic one, he explained. I also travel at the end of the week, there are a lot of tourists and travelers and it affects me if there is nowhere to shop. Obviously it also affects business owners, who rely on the weekend for most of their income.

(Photo: Uriel Cohen)

Residents of Tel Aviv were also angered by the prospect of shutting down shops, albeit not necessarily in their city.

It is extremely sad that they interfere with our lives, complained Avi from Tel Aviv. They could have done this in Bnei Brak and closed all the gas stations and even put a fence up so no one bothers them. But here? What are they thinking? If we are going to Haredi extremes then lets make a rabbi the prime minister.

In Be'er Sheva, too, residents found it difficult to understand the inclusion of convenience stores in the bill.

"This will cause actual harm to me. Everything that can be open on Shabbat must be open. Not everyone sits at home on Shabbat. There is no reason to close stores on Shabbat," said Ziva, a resident of the Negev.

According to Deri, however, he has no intention of changing the status quo, attacking Yair Lapids Yesh Atid party for their alleged willful ignorance of the bill. In Yesh Atid it seems that they have not read the bill and if it is possible to incite, then why not? Therefore, I will summarize so you understand. Deri said.

The law currently in place does not change the situation that has existed to the present day. It only defends what already exists, he claimed. Moreover, I am extremely impressed with your sincere concern for the desecration of Shabbat and the division of the nation. It really touches my heart, he quipped.
Several suspected French Islamist militants have been arrested in northern Syria, including a man once convicted of running a jihadist recruitment network in France, a source close to the matter said on Wednesday.

According to French news channel LCI, the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia detained three men on Dec. 17.

"Several French (nationals) were arrested in northern Syria in the Hassakeh area, near the Iraqi border," the source said, confirming the arrests.

The source added there were more than three French nationals stopped, including Thomas Barnouin, an Islamist known to French security services who is believed to have gone to Syria in 2014 to join Islamic State.
Fiery debates broke out in the Knesset plenum Wednesday evening after Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid promised to appeal to the High Court of Justice (HCJ) as lawmakers prepare to vote on a second and third reading of the Recommendations Bill, that would forbid the police from publicizing recommendations for indictments at the conclusion of criminal investigations.

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Those opposed to the bill have expressed deep concern over its influence on the ongoing investigations against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is being dragged to the final stages of corruption probes and as police draw final conclusions on whether or not to recommend to the attorney general that he be indicted.

Non-coalition parties continue to oppose the bill even though its latest draft excludes from its remit investigations that have already been opened.

Yair Lapid (Photo: Amit Shabi)

According to its detractors, the bill, if passed, would potentially cushion Netanyahu from possible future recommendations if an investigation is opened against him in the Submarine affair, in which he is currently not a suspect.

Netanyahu, along with Minister Haim Katz and MK David Bitan will not be able to vote during the readings due to the investigations currently being conducted against them.

Tomorrow at eight in the morning, if this bill passes, Yesh Atid will be in the Supreme Court and will submit to the HCJ an appeal against it. It is written, it is ready and will be filed, Lapid said in a speech before the reading.

I invite all the people in the opposition who are opposed to this to join us, and if that doesn't happen I just want to say this: it is customary for parties to go to elections and say what they will do if they win. If we win in the elections, we will cancel the Recommendations Law, we will cancel the Primaries Law, the Trains Law and the Supermarket Law because all of these laws are undemocratic and they are twisted and are humiliating the State of Israel, he said.

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Bayit Yehudi) expressed her disapproval with Lapid's threats and statements, calling him out on his decision to take the matter to the HCJ.

You dont understand how the Knesset works. After a long discussion like this without any constitutional reason, you are running to the HCJ. You are trampling on the Knesset, and embarrassing everyone who is in here, Shaked retorted.

Lapid and Ayelet Shked (Photo: Noam Moskovich)

Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein warned that if Lapid followed through with his threats to take the matter to the courts, he would not disallow the use of Clause 98 preventing a further filibuster on the vote, essentially stopping Yesh Atid from using the tactic once again to stop the bills passage.

Opposition members started filibustering at the Knesset on Tuesday, raising over 1,000 reservations against the bill.

MK David Amsalem, the newly appointed coalition chair who has been the chief pioneer of the bill complained about the fact that I have heard almost everything that has been said and almost nothing was said about the bill, they just complained about the prime minister.

MK David Amsalem (Photo: Knesset)

You call us all corrupt and you called me the head of a criminal organization. You, the enlightened Left are allowed to do anything, he said as he made his address. Either you dont know the law or you are deliberately tricking the public.

Heated verbal exchanges also took place during the plenary session between Arab Joint List MK Hanin Zoabi and Likud MKs Miri Regev and Oren Hazan.

Zoabi attacked the opposition for what she described as their failure to tackle racism with the same alacrity with which they are tackling corruption.

MK Hanin Zoabi (Photo: Knesset)

You are hypocrites. Shame on you all, Zoabi screamed from the podium, to which Regev responded from the chamber: You should have gone on the (Mavi) Marmara and traveled back to Gaza.

During his address, Hazan accused Zoabi of being a terrorist, upping the intensity of the ad hominem volley as he told her no one would even pay a handicapped goat as a bride price for her marriage, as is commanded by Islamic law.

MK Oren Hazan (Photo: Amit Shabi)

"You terrorist. No one would even give for you a goat with two legs. Look at yourself," he insulted.

Zoabi also did not hold back in her vitriol, telling the firebrand MK he is a pimp who sells women for prostitution. Eventually, Edelstein ordered that the two be removed from the plenum until the vote takes place.
RJP-N leaders ask President to authenticate ordinance

Five leaders of the Rastriya Janata Party, Nepal have suggested President Bidya Devi Bhandari authenticate the ordinance on National Assembly election.
RPP to hold CEC meeting on Jan 3-5 in Kathmandu

The Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) has decided to hold its central executive committee (CEC) meeting on January 3, 4 and 5 in Kathmandu.
SC directs police not to harass people based on appearances

The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered the police not to harass any individual, particularly men, for growing long hair, or beard and wearing earrings. The apex court said that remanding people based on their appearances is against their personal freedom.
The future of cryptocurrencies

Instead of banning bitcoins, Nepal could study its underlying technology and could create a blockchain to form a regulated digital currency of its own.
UML, Maoist leaders to meet today

A much awaited meeting between the chairmen of the CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Centre) did not take place on Tuesday after Maoist chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal wanted to hold a consultation with his party colleagues first.
Since humans populated Black Rivers watershed, its been an important aspect of the lives of those residing along its banks. Since European settlers arrived in the area, the economic value of the river and its watershed has been significant.

This economic impact will be the topic of the Wednesday, Jan. 10 Friends of the Black River meeting program. The meeting will be held in the Jackson County Bank community room beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Chris Hardie, chief executive officer of the 7 Rivers Alliance and former executive director of the Black River Area Chamber of Commerce, will present a program about the river and its watersheds economic value.

The Black River flows for 190 miles from its headwaters in Taylor County before draining into the Mississippi River in La Crosse.

The river has long had an economic impact on the region, especially during the lumber era when billions of board feet of pine were harvested and floated down the Black River to saw mills in La Crosse, said Hardie. Today, the rivers main importance is recreational, providing the base for a variety of activities from fishing to boating and canoeing and kayaking.

But Hardie suggests there could be more. He will present information about how the recreational base of the river could be expanded and the monetary impact that silent sport activities can bring to a region. He will also discuss the concept of state water trails and how the Black River could fit into that category.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, water trails provide a network of access points, resting places and attractions for water craft users on the states lakes and rivers. Some water trails are interpretive routes, while others take paddlers to campsites and connect communities. All allow visitors to experience the natural beauty of the state through a mode of travel used since before recorded history.

The Black River and its watershed is a true gem, Hardie said. Were fortunate to live in a region where we have such a wonderful asset in our backyard.

Hardie, a longtime journalist in the region and a business owner in Jackson County, the former publisher of the Jackson County Chronicle and executive editor of the La Crosse Tribune, has received dozens of state and national journalism awards during his more than 30 years in the newspaper business. Those include a nomination for a Pulitzer Prize in 2000.

He has also served on various regional boards, including the Tomah Area Chamber of Commerce, the Village People in West Salem, the Greater La Crosse Area Chamber of Commerce, the La Crosse Area Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and served as president of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association.

The meeting is free and the public is encouraged to attend. For more information, email info_fbr@yahoo.com.
MADISON  Foxconns arrival. A fatal explosion. A late state budget. Sexual misconduct in the Legislature.

Wisconsin saw another tumultuous year in 2017. Heres a look at the biggest stories in the state during the past 12 months:

Welcome, Foxconn

Gov. Scott Walker announced in July that Foxconn Technology Group was considering building a massive, $10 billion flat-screen plant in southeastern Wisconsin that could employ as many as 13,000 people. Republican lawmakers in September approved spending up to $3 billion to lure the Taiwanese electronics giant to the state. The legislation was the biggest incentive package ever from any state to a foreign company and was 10 times bigger than anything Wisconsin has extended to a business.

Mill blast

Late in the evening of May 31, Didion Milling Companys corn processing plant in Cambria exploded, killing five workers and injuring 12 more. Federal labor officials announced in November that an accumulation of highly combustible grain dust probably caused the explosion and slapped the company with 19 safety citations.

Better late than never

Republican infighting over how to pay for road work delayed the 2017-19 state budget for more than two months. The spending plan was supposed to be finished by July 1 but Walker didnt sign it until Sept. 21. The budget pays for roads by authorizing $400 million in additional borrowing and delaying ongoing projects. It increased public school aid by nearly 6 percent, froze University of Wisconsin tuition and eliminated the state property tax.

#MeToo

Two anonymous women accused Democratic state Rep. Josh Zepnick in December of kissing them without permission in 2011 and 2015. Lawmakers called for Zepnick to resign. He refused; Democrats rescinded his committee assignments and barred him from caucus meetings. Also in December, word broke that the state paid a former legislative aide $75,000 in 2015 to settle her claims that then-state Sen. Spencer Coggs sexually harassed her eight years ago. Coggs, who is now Milwaukee treasurer, has denied the allegations.

Prison problems

A federal judge ruled in July that Wisconsins juvenile prison guards had to reduce their use of pepper spray, solitary confinement and restraints. There were a series of violent episodes at the Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake prisons following the order. In October, an inmate punched teacher Pandora Lobacz and knocked her out. Later that month the prison was locked down after five prison workers ended up in the hospital following clashes with inmates.

Lone gunman

Joseph Jakubowski put southern Wisconsin on edge in April after he stole handguns and rifles from a Janesville gun shop and sent an anti-government manifesto to President Donald Trump. Police spent 10 days searching before capturing Jakubowski at his campsite in a field near Readstown. He was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison in December.

Silver and gold

Walker signed a bill in December lifting the states nearly 20-year moratorium on gold and silver mining. Conservationists warned lifting the prohibition would lead to devastating pollution. Republican legislators said mining could help northern Wisconsins economy.

The race is on

Touting Foxconns jobs promises and the elimination of the state property tax, Walker launched his bid for a third term. More than a dozen Democrats are running or considering a run against him, setting up a crowded partisan primary next summer.

Slender Man

Two teenage girls who attacked their classmate in a Waukesha County park in 2014 to please online horror character Slender Man pleaded guilty to attempted homicide charges. Anissa Weier entered her plea in August and was sentenced to 25 years in a mental hospital in December. Morgan Geyser entered her plea in October and will be sentenced in February. Prosecutors have asked that she spend at least 40 years in a mental hospital.

John Doe redux

Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel released a report in December summarizing his investigation into the leak of documents from a secret John Doe investigation into whether Walkers campaign illegally coordinated with outside groups. The state Supreme Court ended the investigation in 2015 without any charges being filed.

Schimel couldnt determine who leaked the documents but blamed the now-defunct Government Accountability Board for not securing them. He recommended nine people be held in contempt for violating judicial secrecy orders. The state Senates Republican leaders then authorized Schimel to investigate former GAB employees.
As you probably have heard, RSV is hitting early and hitting hard this year. Here at Winona Health, my fellow caregivers in Pediatrics and Family Medicine and I are fielding many questions from concerned parents and child care providers. We are always happy to be your resource!
La Crescent-Hokah school district residents can expect to see higher property tax bills from the district this winter after the school board approved its 2018 tax levy at a public hearing last week.

The levy, which was set at $3,073,836, is up $632,584 or roughly 25 percent from last year.

Business Manager Sandy Strozyk said the figures were close to those projected ahead of the November referendum.

Based on the projection, a property owner with a home valued at $100,000 can expect to pay $101 more in property taxes this year.

The board also approved a plan to hire a new business manager and extend Strozyks contract to June 30.

Strozyk had planned to retire at the end of December when her contract was set to expire.

Superintendent Kevin Cardile said Strozyk has done a lot to help clean up the districts finances. The district now needs to replace her.

Cardille plans to accept applications until Jan. 24, and begin interviews on Jan. 29. A prospective hire date is set for Feb. 20.

The new manager would be expected to attend a conference put on by the Minnesota Association of School Business Officials on Feb. 26. Additional training would be provided two days a week by Strozyk.

Hiring someone to do this is extremely important, said Board Treasurer Kent Summerfield.

He said the new business managers salary should be based on experience.

Were going to have to pay good money to get a good person in there, and its a good investment, Summerfield said.

Based on regional salaries, Cardille had set the maximum salary for the position at $68,000. The position would be an independent contract, and the district could work out additional incentives.

I think its a great place to start, but I think we may need to dig a little deeper, if need be, said Vice Chair Wade Welper.

He said the district may need to raise the maximum salary to be competitve

If people are thinking that top of the range might not be enough, we should give (Cardille) the flexibility now, because with this timeline, we wont have another board meeting by the time we start interviews, he said.

Strozyk agreed, adding because the next year was a pay equity year, the district may need to consider a higher salary or risk fines.

That might be a little low since its a pay equity year, so you might have to raise that, said Strozyk. Or youll get dinged and youll have to come back and pay them more anyway, because youll get fined after the report.

Strozyk was uncertain what business managers were paid around the state, but added the key was to find someone who has a strong background in accounting and who is willing to learn.

Youre not going to get someone that knows school finances right away, said Strozyk. This is the biggest problem that most schools in the state have right now, because so many of us older people that have been doing it forever have retired. You dont learn this anywhere, because they dont teach school finance in college, you learn it on the job and going to workshops.

The board voted to bump the maximum salary to $75,000 and approved the timeline.
As a part of the John Ogonowski and Doug Bereuter Farmer to Farmer Program, local Jackson County UW-Extension agriculture agent Trisha Wagner traveled to the Los Llanos region of Colombia to teach farmers about the importance of milk quality in a two-week educational trip.

The program is meant for farmers of the U.S. to participate in technical exchange with other farmers around the world, Wagner said.

The Los Llanos region is east of Bogota, the capital city of Colombia, and is a flat grassland area largely known for its beef production. The area has a tropical climate with a rainy and dry season. The soil is a heavy clay, where corn, soybeans, pine trees and rubber trees for latex are grown.

There is a range of farms like we have here where we have bigger industrial-type farms and then smaller single-family farms, Wagner said.

During her trip, Wagner participated in a number of activities that have been going on in the region for the last five years to promote and develop the regions dairy production.

The portion of the project that I participated in really was to improve the quality of milk production, Wagner said.

Wagner spent much of her time visiting farms and spending time with farmers at larger gatherings at local cooperatives. The last few days were spent in central locations teaching the farmers practices that they could use on their farm to address the challenges they are facing.

The challenge of the assignment was to adapt the recommendations that we know are proven to work and figure out with the farmers of Colombia how they can be adapted to work for them as well, Wagner said.

Stark differences

Dairy farmers in Colombia operate very differently than those in Wisconsin.

In Colombia, cows are often milked in sheds by hand in very humid and hot conditions. Calves are used to stimulate milk production. The cattle being milked are dual-purpose, being used for milk and beef production.

You have a number of different environmental challenges and then some goals that are different than how we think of it being in the dairy state where we think of dairy production as the number one sole enterprise, where for them beef production is just as important if not the sole or primary enterprise, Wagner said.

To control milk quality issues like mastitis, farmers in Wisconsin would use a multitude of different teat dips and paper towels to dry the teats to reduce health issues, but these products are not always an option in Colombia.

For some of the farmers, buying teat dip was out of the budget. They werent even readily available, Wagner said.

So Wagner had to settle on telling the farmers that they needed to make sure the udder was clean and dry.

We know that if there is any liquid on the udder then it is a really easy was to transmit bacteria and results in infection in the udder, Wagner said.

Since the farmers in Colombia were not using teat dip after milking, the cattle were highly susceptible to milk quality issues after milking because the teat end is relaxed and lets more bacteria in. They also brought calves in after milking to finish off the milk from the cows.

Wagner suggested finding ways to keep the cattle standing for 30 minutes after milking such as feeding grain or sugar cane, which would allow the teat ends to close again.

What we dont want it to do is go out to the pasture and lay down in the grass or manure and expose the teats to a lot of bacteria, Wagner said.

Wagner also thought about the possibility of using aloe vera since it is readily available in Colombia and it naturally has healing properties. Ultimately the idea would need to be researched.

While Wagner brought a lot of knowledge to Colombia, she contends she learned more from the trip than those she was teaching.

On past trips, Wagner has been able to spend time with milk quality experts, learn skills that helped her teach students how to manage Spanish-speaking employees and learn many different ways milk products can be used.

You dont always necessarily know what you are going to take away from these situations, Wagner said.

Reason for the program

While many people would contend that Wagner could better spend her time in Wisconsin teaching farmers about the best agriculture practices, Wagner feels like going abroad serves an important purpose.

It is in great interest for our country to have these particular regions stable and thriving economically because they are allies of our country and they are in regions where we dont have a lot of allies, Wagner said.

The U.S. government helps fund programs like the John Ogonowski and Doug Bereuter Farmer to Farmer Program because it understands agriculture is a valuable economic driver for rural areas in these nations.

The U.S. recognizes that a dairy industry can provide stability for rural areas. Wisconsin has been an excellent example of that. We have a lot of small businesses across our state that support our local communities, Wagner said.

By improving rural economies in these countries, it is helping countries recover from civil wars and resist the formation of paramilitary groups and drug cartels.

They really were strong in the rural areas prior because there wasnt much hope, potential or options for people in those rural areas so they were easily persuaded to participate in things that were violent activities because it was the only option, Wagner said.

This is why the program is named after John Ogonowski, who was one of the pilots killed in 9-11.

If a farmer is interested in participating in a program like this, they are encouraged to call Wagner at 715-284-4257. There are several programs around the world that are looking for farmers.

The trip includes all expenses and a translator is provided, so you dont need to speak any other languages.
It seems like someone gets their charges reduced every week in exchange for pleading guilty, which was definitely the case last week when James Ritland was sentenced after pleading guilty to three misdemeanors and getting only 25 days in jail with one year of probation. He was initially charged with five felonies.

If you look at the circuit court and traffic court violations, you will see this process of reducing charges all over the place. Someone will get four traffic violations on top of their OWI, but suddenly they only have the OWI and all the other charges are dropped. Im not talking first-time offenders either  Im talking those that are on their fifth OWI. The same thing happens for drug offenders.

For those looking in at the system, it just doesnt seem fair. It doesnt seem like these people that did all of these terrible things should get off so easy.

I sat in amazement in the courtroom when I first heard the Monroe County District Attorney say that he was recommending $125 fines for each of Ritlands three misdemeanors.

Luckily the La Crosse County judge had some sense and upped the sentence, which still doesnt seem like enough. It still felt like Ritland was getting off easy and his victims were not getting the justice they deserved.

Ive been questioning our justice system ever since I was sitting in that courtroomwondering where I felt criminal justice reform should go. Wondering where we as a society went wrong.

Today our prison system is overflowing as America imprisons more people per capita than any other nation. Jackson County is no different as you can see from our overflowing jail.

There is just something wrong about a system that lets people off easy, and yet imprisons more people per capita than any other nation. It tells me we have many deep issues that we need to look at.

For starters we need to start rooting out poor character at a younger age and engaging cornerstones of what it means to be a good human being like integrity, honesty and compassion. We cant just teach our children how to be smart, we also need to teach them how to be a good human.

Every time someone breaks the law, that means we let another person down. That means we didnt help that person at a young age deal with the pain they have experienced in their life. I dont think we realize the things some of our children have seen by the time they are 10what they have been subjected to.

Then when people break the law, we should be just and fair. Everyone should be entitled to a strong defense, not just the one they can afford. There needs to be a fix for those like Ritland that get off easy, while there are others that get years in prison for lesser crimes.

Once people are imprisoned, we continue to let them down. While prison should be a punishment, it should also be an opportunity for them to change who they are and get the help that we as Americans didnt give them when they were younger. It should be an opportunity for those convicted to change their life.

Then once these prisoners get released, they continue to be prisoners in society. It is so hard for them to release the stigma that goes along with being convicted that they are hardly able to survive, often times reverting back to their old habits.

Instead we should be lifting those people up and helping them stay away from those habits. When someone is released from prison, we should be grabbing ahold of them and telling them they should move in this direction instead of going backwards.

All of this keeps coming back to one point: We as Americans need to stop letting other Americans down.

I dont fully understand our criminal justice system in the U.S., but I do think there are many deep problems. Problems that Id like to think we can solve.

We need holistic change at every level: school, courts, prison, rehabilitation, community and the list goes on.

Only then will we get the change we are aiming for.
Dear Readers: In the spirit of this giving season, I present my annual roundup of charitable organizations readers should consider supporting.

Your donation may go further at a small local nonprofit than at a large charity. I reserve much of my own donation dollars for local organizations that give within my community of need. This year I made it a practice to also give to local organizations based in communities that were beset by natural (or human-caused) disasters. All contributions count. So do nonmonetary acts of kindness, such as shoveling a neighbors walk, bringing a casserole to a grieving person or simply abiding with someone in need through friendship.

In researching these charities, I am reminded of how fortunate we are to live in an era where generosity and helping those in need is a core value. This is a subjective list. Your own giving should reflect your interests and values. Most (but not all) of the organizations listed below have a top (four-star) rating on Charitynavigator.org, which is an excellent source for researching a charity.

Water Mission (watermission.org): Founded by an environmental engineer and his wife in South Carolina in 2001, this Christian-based charity is on the ground in Puerto Rico, installing solar-powered water systems to provide fresh running water in hundreds of rural and isolated communities destroyed by Hurricane Maria.

World Central Kitchen (worldcentralkitchen.org): This relatively tiny nonprofit, started by Chef Jose Andres, hit the ground running (and cooking) in Puerto Rico five days after Hurricane Maria, and started feeding people immediately. To date, they have served well over 2 million meals to Puerto Ricans. According to the New York Times, No other single agency  not the Red Cross, the Salvation Army nor any government entity  has fed more people freshly cooked food since the hurricane, or done it in such a nurturing way.

Music City Cares Fund (cfmt.org): This fund was established very quickly after the devastating mass shooting in Las Vegas in October, where 58 people were killed and more than 500 wounded. All donations to this fund (100 percent) go to support Las Vegas nonprofits helping shooting victims.

Feeding America (feedingamerica.org): Type a ZIP code into this national organizations search engine, and you can find a local food bank within its vast network which will gratefully receive your donation dollars.

Direct Relief (Directrelief.org): This charity, which has a storied history, operates in all 50 states and 70 countries, delivering medicine, staffing medical clinics and providing medical safety nets to underserved populations. Founded in California after World War II by an immigrant who did well in America, this organization receives a stellar rating. Operations range from serving in Syria to assisting in Houston, Puerto Rico and providing support during the recent wildfires that have torn through California.

International Rescue Committee (Rescue.org): Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC delivers lifesaving care to people fleeing conflict and natural disaster. The IRC worked to resettle refugees in Europe dislocated from conflict in World War II, and their work continues in the heartbreaking crisis currently unfolding in Syria, throughout Africa and around the world. IRC helps people in crisis and continues the hard work through refugee resettlement.

Polaris (Polarisproject.org): I first became aware of the work of Polaris through a family members advocacy. Human trafficking is modern slavery, and victims are often vulnerable people who are coerced, dislocated and then forced into slavery  often in the sex trade. Victims of trafficking are sometimes in our midst, at bus stops, motels and truck stops. Law enforcement, clerks and long-haul truckers are now being trained in ways to spot and rescue these individuals. Victims can text BeFree (233733) and be connected with an advocate.

Save the Children (Savethechildren.org): When disaster strikes around the world, Save the Children is there with food, medical care and education. They help communities to rebuild through long-term recovery programs. The website has a cool gift catalogue; purchases help fund the organizations worthy mission.

Patient Services Incorporated (patientservicesinc.org): This organization was founded in 1989 by a clinical counselor who saw the devastating impact of the high costs associated with medical treatment of chronic illnesses. Their simple mission is to help people cover the high cost of health care, through offering premium and copayment assistance.

Homes for Our Troops (Hfotusa.org): One of my favorites, this group raises money and then turns the funds into concrete action, building a new home or adapting an existing home for handicapped accessibility. The finished home is then given to a disabled veteran. All services and materials are donated.
Maybe Katrina Layton was just caught up in the generous spirit of the Christmas season. Or, perhaps the Kwik Trip associate merely took pity on me.

Actually, I suspect that Layton went above and beyond to serve this frantic customer because thats just her nature  regardless of where she works.

First, the backstory:

We were having guests for a pre-Christmas dinner last week, and Kate called me to ask whether I could bring home a couple of rubber bands. I assured her I could  and I would  based on the fact that I usually find rubber bands in my desk when Im looking for something else.

Alas and alack! Those rubber bands that usually clutter my desk and drawers had disappeared, so I disappeared, too  upstairs to the Tribs supply cabinet. I was sure I had seen wads of rubber bands there.

Lest you think Im a rabid thief of company property: I dont raid the supply chest regularly. I dont even swipe an extra pen when Im stockpiling stick-it scratch pads.

OK, truth be told: I eschew the companys pens because theyre chintzy. Gundersen Health Systems pens are much more to my liking  especially those I purloin at Childrens Miracle Network events.

I like the bright CMN yellow with the rubberized black strips for gripping, the pens fit my little hand perfectly and the ink supply is more generous than that even in expensive ballpoints. (Less appealing are the light blue Respecting Choices writing instruments, because theyre boring and run out of ink, but maybe thats because its a breakaway organization.)

This is not to slight the Mayo Clinic Health System-Franciscan Healthcare pens that have ended up in my pocket protector. They are too fat for my slender fingers.

Pens at the Aging and Disability Resource Center of La Crosse Counter are cool, with the little thingy inside that rotates to reveal services when you click. But the print is too small, IMHO, although the ADRC also has free magnifiers.

But I digress  back to the rubber bands. Wouldnt you know it  even if I had been hell-bent on stealing, there werent any rubber bands in the cabinet, so I was going to have to buy some on the way home.

I drove right past a Walgreens because the parking lot was full of last-minute Christmas shoppers. I figured a Kwik Trip would be a quick zip to fetch a bag of rubber bands.

After all, Kwik Trip long ago shunned the cokes-and-smokes reputation of old-time convenience stores. It now stocks not only all sorts of foods  prepared and unprepared, healthy and unhealthy, etc. ranging from A to W, apples to Welchs Fruit Packs  but also pens and sundry household items, including sewing kits.

Everything except rubber bands, I discovered at Kwik Trip No. 383 at 408 Sand Lake Road in Onalaska, which is one of the larger ones in the chain. I checked up and down every aisle three or four times, because I hate to ask store workers where something is  only to be told that its right next to my elbow.

Just to be sure, after my restroom stop, which I am wont to do at all Kwik Trips  regardless of their numbers, and at Kwik Stars when Im in Iowa  I checked again, to no avail.

OMG, Id stumbled into a rubber band desert.

On a long shot, and because I could hear Kates admonition to use your words, Mike, ringing in my ears when I got home if I didnt ask, I walked over to a friendly-looking employee who said shed check.

As we walked toward an area I had checked twice  making me nervous that shed find the bands and prove me blind  I explained my quest to fulfill my wifes dream. I told her I was trying for a quick stop instead of having to go to a Long Trip store.

After confirming that the store doesnt stock rubber bands, she took it upon herself to find some. Almost as if she were on a mission from God, a la the Blues Brothers, she went behind the counter and started rifling through drawers.

I told her not to bother, that surely she had more important things to do. She pooh-poohed me and, before long, she was able to hand me several rubber bands of varying sizes and lengths.

I thanked her and she said, See ya next time, as they are wont to do at Kwik Trip.

Over the weekend, I regretted that I hadnt gotten her name, partly as a courtesy and partly to give her a public atta-boy, uh, atta-girl.

So I ventured over on Christmas Day, hoping at least to get her name like I should have in the first place. I approached a friendly-looking woman and asked whether she had heard about the guy who came in looking for rubber bands. She looked slightly familiar, and there seemed to be a flash of recognition in her eyes, too.

Sure nuf, it was her, Katrina Layton, and the only reason I didnt recognize her was she had different coif than she had at our first meeting. I told her my plan to give her a shout-out, which seemed to result in a combo of embarrassment, flattery and pride.

I asked Layton why she had gone the extra mile to help me when she just as easily could have kicked my can down the road.

Because I know how it feels to be looking for something, and I knew it was something I could find, Layton said.

I thought it would make you smile, and it helped you and helped your wife, she said with a smile of her own.

Layton, who told me she recently moved from St. Cloud, Minn., to Holmen and has worked for Kwik Trip for about 1 years, said she enjoys helping people.

It was about this time last year that I singled out Nicki Veenendall and an employee for praise for exemplary service in helping me at one of the area Verizon stores Veenendall owns. It didnt occur to me at the time that this could become an annual thing.

But I will make it so: Katrina Layton, take a bow as the winner of the second annual Tie Customer Saviour Award. No money, no trophy, no plaque  just the fancy spelling for savior.

And thankyouverymuch for your service.
WASHINGTON  Its time to recall absurd, bizarre and downright stupid things said by politicians this past year.

Were ignoring Trumpisms because he said something ridiculous daily. There would be no room for anybody else.

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., topped all the profiles-in-courage lists for announcing he would not vote for the GOP tax bill because it adds $1.5 trillion to the national debt. Then an eleventh-hour provision gave real estate moguls a huge benefit, such as about $11 million to Donald Trump and roughly $7 million to Corker.

Corker said it was unnecessary and bordered on the ridiculous. But, voila! He voted for the bill, including the $1.5 trillion in new debt.

When it was pointed out that 83 percent of the tax breaks in said tax bill will benefit only the top 1 percent, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fl., said defensively Trump never said he was running as Robin Hood.

When it was noted that the so-called carried-interest tax loophole, providing millions only to hedge funds and the rich, was not repealed as Trump repeatedly promised, House Ways and Means Committee chair Kevin Brady, R-Texas, said with a shrug, Oh, thats an ancillary issue. People dont care about that.

So go crazy with your extra six or 10 bucks or so a week, which Trump said is the greatest tax cut in history and also a middle-class miracle. But dont get used to it. It goes away in 2025 and your taxes will rise significantly. But the huge tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations are forever, although there are no requirements to reinvest in new jobs or higher wages and there are hidden incentives to move jobs and cash overseas.

This is going to cost me a fortune, Trump complained. No, it wont. Trump benefits big time. If he wasnt an actual billionaire when he took office, he will be when he leaves.

After Hillary Clinton published her book on her 2016 election debacle, What Happened, she reluctantly admitted she could have done a few things differently. (Such as campaign in Michigan and Wisconsin, which she lost.) She agreed her campaign lacked passion and a sense of urgency. But, ultimately, I wasnt just running against Donald Trump. I was up against the Russian intelligence apparatus, a misguided FBI director, and now the godforsaken Electoral College, she wrote.

Her book also explained the benefits of something called alternate nostril breathing: This practice allows oxygen to activate both the right side of the brain, which is the source of your creativity and imagination, and the left side, which controls reason and logic. What?

A record number of Trumps nominees for lifetime federal judgeships have been confirmed by the Senate, some with few credentials. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., had enough. He asked Matthew Petersen, nominated for the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, if he had ever tried a jury trial. No, said Petersen. A civil trial? No. Criminal? No. State or federal? No. Did Petersen know a number of basic legal terms? No. OK, then. Petersen later withdrew saying the whole process had been a big distraction.

When comedian Jimmy Kimmel pleaded with Congress not to kill the Affordable Health Care Act, mentioning his babys congenital heart condition, former Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh tweeted: Sorry Jimmy Kimmel: your sad story doesnt obligate me or anybody else to pay for somebody elses health care.

Decrying Obamacare, Rep. Roger Marshall. R-Kansas, said, Just like Jesus said, The poor will always be with us.... Theres a group of people that just dont want health care and arent going to take care of themselves. (The tax bill ensures 13 million more will lose health insurance.)

Roy Moore, pedophile and ousted ex-judge who rightly lost the Alabama Senate race, was a fountain of incredible statements. Attempting to explain the countrys greatness was one of his worst: I think it was great at the time when families were united  even though we had slavery  they cared for one another ... . Our families were strong, our country had a direction.

And we have Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway with her penchant for alternative facts and her insistence, on TV from the White House, that Americans should run out and buy Ivanka Trumps clothing and accessories.

Shucks. Weare out of time. And we were just getting started. But theres always next year.
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When you think of holiday movies, your mind probably goes to Christmas. But amid all that Yuletide cheer, Thanksgiving shouldn't be forgotten.
The Willamette Valley Ag Expo is set for Tuesday through Thursday, Nov. 15 through 17, at the Linn County Expo Center, 3700 Knox Butte Road E. in Albany.
Officer Luke Pinkelman of the Lexington Police Department was recently recognized for his life saving actions in the community.

On the morning of Nov. 15, 2017 Pinkelman responded to a 911 medical call reported as an unresponsive child. Upon arrival, Pinkelman performed CPR on the child until medical crews arrived on scene.

"Officer Pinkelmans timely response and actions directly contributed to the recovery of the child who was reportedly back home with family only a few days later," the LPD said in a press release.

Pinkelman was presented a "Code Save" certificate and lapel pin in recognition of his actions.

"We appreciate everyone doing their due diligence that day. Our family is thankful for all thoughts, concerns and prayers that came from many. This experience really opened our eyes to the job that the emergency staff does daily. We are blessed to be home and thankful for our supportive community," said the childs parents, Chet and Lindsay Rosner.

Eight LVFD members honored for lifesaving efforts

Kevin Zelaya

Lexington Clipper-Herald

LEXINGTON  Several members of the Lexington Volunteer Fire Department were recently recognized for their life saving actions in the community.

On November 15, 2017 the LVFD was paged to a 911 medical call reported as an unresponsive child.

The responding crew provided CPR to the child on scene and in route to the hospital, said Doug Glaze, rescue chief for LVFD. The actions of this crew directly contributed to the recovery of the child, he said.

LVFD members involved with the call were Bob Martin, Kerry Teetor, Dahlas Holbein, Roger Reutlinger, Brad Worthing, Austin Roemmich, Rex Adams and Walter Hughan, who all received "Code Save" Certificates and lapel pins from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services in recognition of their actions.

Glaze said he also had a certificate to recognize Lexington Regional Health Center staff who were instrumental during that days call.
Security is a pressing, delicately complex issue at area churches

LEXINGTON  In a time where the 24-hour news cycle is amplified by social media and shootings have become common place, the issue of safety in public places has spread beyond the school setting.

The issue of safety, and how to maintain and safeguard it, even in church congregations with similar religious beliefs is a multifaceted puzzle. This was one conclusion gleaned after the Lexington Clipper-Herald talked about security plans and how to balance safety with accessibility.

According to Nebraska State statutes, places of worship are considered a restricted area where handguns can not be carried. Legislation passed in 2009 authorizes security personnel to carry concealed handguns, as long as each member is in compliance with the Concealed Handgun Permit Act and holds a valid concealed carry permit. Also, houses of worship must provide notice to congregants.

Some area churches declined to comment on the issue of security. No area church, to the knowledge of the Clipper-Herald, allows armed personnel on its premises.

Barry Young, vice-president of church security ministries for Strategos International, said workers at Strategos are always busy year round training churches and schools on how to protect themselves.

Strategos was founded in 2002 under the name of Strategos International, L.L.C. as a Missouri based Limited Liability Corporation. Strategos provides active shooter response training and consulting services for schools, churches, workplace and healthcare facilities.

According to its website, Strategos has trained and consulted with over 75,000 law enforcement, military, church, school, security, government and business professionals since 2002.

"However, since the Texas church shooting, the need and interest has already gone higher than it was," Young said.

Young said his company trains churches and schools on three things: lock out, get out and take out.

Most churches arent trained to do what most public schools are trained in, lock down, he said.

"We train churches in effective lock down measures, how to lock out the threat in a real scenario. We train churches how to get out. Each church needs a comprehensive evacuation plan. We train churches in take out. If a church cant lock out or get out, the highest probability of survival is to have take out techniques," Young said.

He said each church his company works with is totally different from another. "We give them the tools to create their own plan," Young said.

Pastor Rex Adams of Calvary Assembly of God Church in Lexington said his church has always had a security plan in place.

Events at churches, like the shooting at a small church in Texas, has made his church think about security more often, Adams said. Church insurance plans have stepped up their coverage recently as well, he said.

"Theres definitely been an up-tick in people talking about church security," Adams said.

Adams said members and church hierarchy are always trying to be aware of the situation and limit access and lock other doors that are not the main doors once a Sunday service starts.

"Most churches, we talk to, do this for safety reasons and for the safety of kids,"

Adams said.

The issue of having people who are armed at church is a pressing topic, Adams said.

"Its something churches have to talk about, whether they want a security team," he said.

Adams said it is unlawful for a person to carry a concealed weapon unless it is approved by a churchs leadership.

Paul Thomas, a pastor with Parkview Baptist Church in Lexington, said the safety of children was the highest priority at his church.

"We can do more to ensure the safety of our children and a threat to a child is much more likely to happen than a random shooter," Thomas said.

Concerns for childrens safety could include a situation where an estranged parent attempts to take a child, to protecting against sexual predators and providing a safe environment so a parent can feel confident in leaving their child, he said.

On the issue of office security, Thomas said that throughout the week many people come and go in the church building. Some of these visitors are known, but some are people asking for help or enquiring about the church.

After ensuring the safety of children, ensuring office security and guarding against a random gunman were other safety priorities, Thomas said.

Thomas said keeping the church office and staff accessible but safe is a need. He said incidents where a random gunman attacks, while it does happen, is rare.

"I believe we will see this threat increase in years to come. We want to keep our people as safe as possible without turning the church into a fortress or a shooting gallery," Thomas said.

Leadership at his church is in the middle of exploring a security plan, he said.

Key criteria Parkview will take into consideration includes developing a plan and training, such as learning from security experts on how to provide security safely and properly.

To use one example of an option, an armed response would only be used as a last resort. Prevention is the priority, Thomas said.

Thomas said Parkview Baptist Church has taken numerous proactive steps to promote safety, which include: having individuals who help with childrens ministry to provide eyes and ears and be aware of their surroundings, the consideration of video surveillance (especially within childrens ministry areas), installing a video security system to monitor the entry into the building and including men and women with police and military experience in coordinating the church security plan.

Finding a balance between being an accessible church, while providing a safe setting, is difficult because everyone perceived danger in different ways, Thomas said.

"From the individual who wants to have armed security guards at every door to the person who feels any gun in the church is wrong and is only inviting violence, both attend our church and everyone in between," he said.

Scott Sarnes, music pastor at Parkview Baptist Church, said the church is moving

forward with the understanding that there are two sides to the issue, security concerns and safety concerns.

Security involves any kind of possible violence from outside threats, and safety could be anything from a medical or weather emergency to someone who is intending to abduct a child from a church activity, Sarnes said.

"We are trying to raise awareness that the society is changing and that we all need to be more aware of our surroundings and prepared to act in an emergency," Sarnes said. "Certainly recent events have raised the awareness that violence against organizations like churches have become more prevalent."

He said a committee has been formed and has met several times to begin working on security and safety concerns.

Members of the security committee have spent the last year or so looking into the legal requirements and options that are available to us, Sarnes said.

"We have recently added video surveillance to monitor access to the building, and in the future are planning on seeking professional advice on further measures," he said.

"Our church has always been a very friendly and welcoming place and we believe that God is ultimately in charge and we have faith in His protection, but we also understand that He expects us to be vigilant and to do our best to provide a safe and secure environment for His people," Sarnes said.

The best way to provide a church environment that is safe and accessible, Sarnes said, is to truly know those who come to visit the church. He said they try very hard to be aware of all those who come.
Have writer's block? Hopefully this resource will help librarians identify publishing and presentation opportunities in library & information science, as well as other related fields. I will include calls for papers, presentations, participation, reviewers, and other relevant notices that I find on the web. If you find anything to be posted, please drop me a note. thanks -- Corey Seeman, University of Michigan(cseeman@umich.edu)
BURLEY  A Burley mom has been charged after she prematurely delivered a baby boy who tested positive for methamphetamine.

Mallory Jade Bronson, 26, is charged with felony injury to a child.

Because the baby was born a month early and is struggling with methamphetamine withdrawal, it may not survive, nurses said.

Cassia Regional Hospital called police Saturday. Bronson was arraigned Tuesday in Cassia County Magistrate Court.

Marijuana, meth and opiates were detected in the babys blood. Nurses told Cassia County Sheriffs deputies that Bronson was given opioids for pain management during the delivery.

Bronson admitted to using meth a few days ago.

She told Health and Welfare workers and deputies that she has no job and the address she provided was to a vacant trailer on Oriental Avenue.

She also did not have food or diapers for the baby.

Investigating officers said they believed the babys life would be in danger if he went home with Bronson.

The hospital planned to send the newborn to Portneuf Medical Center for treatment.

A preliminary hearing in the case is set at 9 a.m. on Jan. 5.
TWIN FALLS  Twin Falls police are seeking the publics help in identifying a man who attempted to rob the Phillips 66 on Addison Avenue on Christmas.

The suspect, a white male, entered the store just before 9 p.m. and demanded the cashier give him the contents of the register, authorities said. He left the store after the cashier refused.

At first, the clerk thought the attempted robbery may have been a prank and did not report it right away, according to statement from police.

A security video of the incident shows the suspect wearing a black hoodie sweatshirt and glasses.

The police department is asking anyone with information on the man in the video to call Detective Kelly at 208-735-7200.
BOISE  Dr. David McClusky of Twin Falls will be honored as a senior volunteer, and Julie Richardson of Oakley will be acknowledged as a teacher volunteer at the Idaho Brightest Stars award ceremony.

It will be held at 6 p.m. Jan. 17 in the Simplot Ballroom at Boise State Universitys Student Union Building. Serve Idaho, the governors commission on service and volunteerism, will hand out awards at the public ceremony.

The seven award categories for outstanding volunteer service are individual, business, student, senior citizen, teacher/professor, nonprofit/public organization and veteran. Awardees were nominated by Idahoans throughout the state, and a panel of community reviewers made the final selections.

We are humbled to have so many Idahoans who are committed to making life better for others. Their leadership, vision, time and determination immensely benefit not only their communities but our entire state, Lt. Gov. Brad Little said in a statement.

Idaho is ranked fifth in the nation in volunteering by the Corporation for National and Community Service.

More information about the event or to find volunteer opportunities near you: ServeIdaho.org.
JEROME  Seconds count in an emergency. Could a deputy, firefighter or ambulance find your house when needed?

Many homes in Jerome County dont have addresses that can be seen from the road  especially at night. The county is trying to change that.

County Commissioner Charlie Howell knows the problem well.

As an electrician, I can spend 20 minutes looking for an address (of a customer), Howell said Tuesday.

Imagine what damage a fire could do to a home in those 20 minutes.

Without a (visible) address, it can take several extra minutes to find a home, said longtime Fire Chief Joe Robinette, with the Jerome Rural Fire District. That delays response time.

Not only does a well-identified home make sense, its the law, Howell said.

Its a county ordinance, he said. Its for residents safety.

Jerome County sells the green and white tags with a plexiglass placard at the Planning and Zoning Department. The numbers need to be attached to a post or utility pole at the driveway of the home, says department administrator Art Brown. The reflective tags cost several dollars each.

Its something that has always concerned us, Commissioner Roger Morley said. The fact is, its part of the times. Were putting up so many new houses, we have to have these numbers.
RUPERT  An Oregon felon arrested last week after he fired three shots at an Idaho State Police troopers vehicle during a police chase has been charged with felony aggravated assault.

Cody Lee Hinerman, 25, is also charged with felony counts of eluding a police officer and unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon.

Hinerman was arrested on Thursday after he led the trooper on a high-speed chase over 90 mph after the officer tried to pull him over on a minor traffic stop near the intersection of 300 South and 300 West in Minidoka County, according to court documents.

Hinerman drove in the oncoming lane of traffic in Rupert and fired shots from a semi-automatic pistol as he turned a corner.

Neither the trooper nor his vehicle was struck by the .380 mm bullets.

Shortly after Hinerman turned I heard a pop that sounded like a gunshot, the trooper wrote in court documents. I could see a hand with what looked like a small black handgun sticking out the drivers window. I heard two more shots and could see the muzzle flashes from the pistol.

Two spent shell casing were recovered near First and K streets. The gun was recovered from the car.

Hinerman was finally stopped after the officer used a precision immobilization technique, or PIT maneuver. The trooper and a Minidoka County Sheriffs deputy then pinned his car between their vehicles.

The troopers vehicle was damaged during the incident.

Hinermans two passengers were interviewed and released.

One of the men said Hinerman picked him up to go to the store, and they were taking the other man home.

The man said they were trying to get Hinerman to stop, but he told them to shut up.

When the gun fell on the floor the man said he tried to get it but Hinerman stomped on his hand.

He didnt know why Hinerman was fleeing from the trooper.

Hinerman initally told police one of the passengers made him fire the gun but later told police hed done it. But, he said, he fired it away from the trooper.

He said that he tried to stop but the passenger wouldnt let him.

He also told police during the pursuit he didnt go above the speed limit and he didnt run any stop signs.

Hinerman told officers that hed been using methamphetamine for the past four days but had stopped 24 hours prior.

A preliminary hearing is set in the case for 1:30 p.m. Jan. 3 in Minidoka County Magistrate Court.
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday ordered a thorough investigation of the deadly fire that gutted a Davao City mall as news reports identified a 38th victim.

Workers at the burnt-out NCCC Mall found a body on Sunday and 36 more on Monday. Most of them worked for the Research Now SSI call center on the fourth floor of the building. On Tuesday, GMA News, quoting the Office of the Mayor, said a 38th victim was identified as Jimbo Limosnero.

Duterte, in a private meeting with the kin of the casualties at the Southern Philippines Medical Center, said he will form an inter-agency body to investigate the incident.

What I assured them is that the truth willcome outwhat really happened, the President said.

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Now, I will assure you that I will call the investigators of NBI [National Bureau of Investigation], police, and Bureau of Fire [to take charge of the investigation], he added, saying that the Scene of the Crime Operatives will also participate in the probe.

CREMATION SOLUTION. President Rodrigo Duterte condoles with families of 38 victims, all call center agents, of the NCCC Mall fire in Davao, acknowledging that no amount of words would give them comfort. The President has advised families to cremate the victims bodies, after meeting with the kin a second time Monday, two days after the blaze. Malacanang Photo

This is the second time the President met with the families of workers trapped inside the Davao shopping mall.

After the bodies were recovered, Duterte, himself a Davao native, advised families to cremate the bodies of victims.

I told them: Theyre already burnt. And even if you bring the cadaver back home, you wont be able to open up the coffin for people to see the the dead, he said.

I suggested cremation. Its the cleanest, most expedient way of doing things, he added.

Duterte also said he offered what he called, words of consolation, words of reality, religious words, but acknowledged that these were not enough.

I told them, at this time, death to me is a spiritual journey. So nobody can deal with it except the mother, father, brother, sister, he said.

He said he told them to pray and asked the priest for a short prayer just to prepare them because theres really no sense in overdoing things.

Duterte, who reiterated the governments commitment to help the bereaved families, and assured them of financial assistance.

The blaze, which started at the four-story NCCC Mall on Saturday morning sent thick plumes of black smoke billowing into the sky over Davao.

The inferno was finally brought under control early Sunday morning.

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A court has sentenced blogger Abdullah al-Saleh to five years in prison in absentia for criticizing Saudi Arabia in the diplomatic showdown between the kingdom, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain plus Egypt on one side and Qatar on the other.

I have been sentenced to five years for insulting Saudi Arabia  the reason is my support for the just Qatar! Al-Saleh tweeted on Twitter.

I do not regret the tweets or videos  this is my right! I will continue to support the oppressed and I will not return to Kuwait to serve the sentence, he added.

Al-Saleh is very popular on social media and drags 98,000 followers on Twitter.

The blogger sided with Qatar in the diplomatic row which sparked on June 5. Saudi Arabia and its allies busted ties with Qatar, and cut off air, sea and ground links with the Emirate.

The boycotting countries accuse the tiny emirate of sponsoring terrorism  charges that the gas-rich country has rejected arguing that they were fabricated and were designed for regime change.

According to his tweets, al-Saleh lived in Qatar for the previous six months but has now left the Gulf state. His Twitter profile suggests he is currently located in London, although there is no official confirmation, The New Arab reports.

He also faces charges of insulting the UAE, over a series of videos very critical of the Gulf country.
British Laura Plummer received Tuesday a three-year jail sentence for smuggling into Egypt Tramadol tablets, which are banned in the North African country.

The 33-year old was arrested in October upon landing at Hurghada, a Red Sea resort city.

Authorities have accused her of carrying in her luggage 290 tramadol tablets. The painkiller is allowed in the UK but prohibited in Egypt.

The British woman insisted that the painkillers were for her partner, Omar Caboo who suffers from a chronic back pain after an accident.

The British woman who works in a shop in the Hull said she did not know the drugs were illegal in Egypt.

One of her sisters, Jayne Synclair told the BBC that Caboo was not aware that Plummer was bringing the pills for him, Time media reports.

She was doing it to be kind. How can you be sentenced to three years just for being kind? Synclair said.

The defense lawyer, Dia al-Bassal reportedly indicated that Laura Plummer initially replied in the affirmative when asked by the judge whether she had carried the tramadol pills into Egypt.

Bassal told The Telegraph that Plummer misunderstood the questions and her answer led the judge to jump to the conclusion that she admitted guilty.

The British woman according to reports said she was put in prison cell, the size of her bedroom in the UK but was sharing it with 25 other women.
The anti-corruption commission driving the purge in Saudi Arabia has released 23 figures rounded up in the corruption clean-up launched November 4.

The arrested individuals were accused of extortion, bribery and diversions.

Early this month, the Attorney General of the kingdom, Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb, said most detainees agreed to sign settlement deals in exchange for their freedom.

He also noted that Some 159 individuals out of the 320 rounded up remain in custody and are also expected to sign deals.

No details have been released on the identity of the 23 but local media Okaz points out that several other figures will be set free in coming days and that trial proceedings would begin soon for those who continue to deny the charges against them.

A handful of individuals have been already freed. Former head of the National Guard, Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz was released after agreeing to pay over $1 billion to authorities.

Ibrahim al-Assaf, a former finance minister and board member of Saudi Aramco, former deputy minister of finance Mohammed bin Homoud Al Mazyed, Prince Turki bin Khalid and businessman Mohy Saleh Kamel were also released in the past week, Wall Stree Journal (WSJ) reported on Sunday.

Among high profile individuals still detained in the hotel appears international investor Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal who according to reports refused to ink a deal with authorities.

The 62-year old businessman who weighs $18 billion, with investment in Apple, Citygroup Inc. and Twitter Inc. is willing to challenge the allegations in court.

It is expected that al-Waleed will give [MbS] a hard time, a source close to the Prince told WSJ. MbS is the initial and nickname of Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman who drives the anti-corruption purge.

The media also reported that authorities are seeking at least $6 billion from the rich Prince in exchange for his release.

Unlike reports of torture and physical violence faced by the detainees, Saoud al-Daweesh, the former chief executive of Saudi Telecom, who had been detained, said in a video posted on social media that he was well treated, Middle East Eye reports.

Private Affairs (a unit of the royal court) brought us a full lamb dish day and night. They treated us well and did a good job, he said.
Head of the Palestinian Hamas movement Tuesday stressed that the US is working on a peace plan proposing to Palestinian leaders the village of Abu Dis, close to Eastern Jerusalem, as the future capital of Palestine.

Ismail Haniyeh revealed the plan when addressing tribal leaders in the Gaza strip, reports say.

The plan involves building a bridge linking Abu Dis to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound with the ostensible aim of ensuring [Palestinians] access to the mosque, Haniyeh said.

There is also a talk of dividing the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound into three separate parts and creating a political entity in the Gaza Strip endowed with certain privileges.

The Islamist leaders remarks confirmed an earlier report by the New York Times, indicating that Saudi Arabia has backed a US-drafted peace initiative depriving Palestinians of Eastern Jerusalem that they hope to proclaim as capital of their future state.

The plan as disclosed by the New York Times early December proposes as capital Abu Dis, a village overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem to the southwest and the Jordan Valley to the east.

It is unlikely that the Palestinians will accept the offer after Mahmoud Abbas, the internationally-recognized leader of the Palestinian Authority, has side-lined US as peace broker after President Donald Trump declared Jerusalem capital of Israel  a move that snubbed international accords and UN resolutions.

Abbas has called on the EU, Russia and China to replace the US in talks between Palestinians and Israelis.

The US proposal to establish the future Palestinian capital in Abu Dis also tramples the Oslo Accords of 1993 that foresaw East Jerusalem as the eventual capital of a future Palestinian state.

The move has implications for the reconfiguration of the entire region and the [Arab and Muslim] nation which will come at the expense of Jerusalem and Palestinian rights, Haniyeh added.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman has been trying to convince Abbas to accept the plan.

According to sources familiar with the matter, the Palestinian leader received threats to accept the plan or be replaced by someone more amenable.
A new ceasefire between South Sudans Government and several armed groups went into effect just after midnight on Sunday, in a bid to end a devastating four-year war in the worlds smallest nation.

Yet, hours after the ceasefire came into effect on Sunday, South Sudans army clashed with rebels in an oil-producing region. The two sides accused each other of starting the fighting around the town of Koch in Unity state.

The different fractions signed a ceasefire deal last week during peace negotiations in Addis Ababa.

The new deal urged all the parties to immediately freeze in their locations, halt actions that could lead to confrontation and release political detainees as well as abducted women and children.

The ceasefire agreement brokered by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an East Africa regional bloc, asked all forces to remain in their bases and to act only in self-defence or in case of aggression.

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) on Friday called on all parties to respect the pact and work collectively to ensure durable peace in the east African nation.

South Sudan descended into war in late 2013 after President Salva Kiir sacked his deputy, Riek Machar.

Past attempts at peace deals have failed, but South Sudans government is under pressure to find an end to the war.
Togo, a tiny West African nation, is the only country on the African continent to have voted in favor of President Donald Trumps political move to recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital.

The UN General Assembly repelled Trumps decision in a resolution adopted by an overwhelming majority last week.

The resolution in effect condemned President Trumps decision won overwhelming approval, with 128 countries voting in favor, nine against and 35 abstaining. Togo was one of the nine states that supported Washingtons position.

The US openly threatened to cut its financial support and aid to countries that vote in favor of the UN resolution. However, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria and Ethiopia were among other African countries that voted against the US position last Thursday.

Many US aid recipients across the continent like Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Senegal, Rwanda, Benin, Equatorial Guinea, Malawi, Cameroon and South Sudan abstained for the sake of keeping a neutral stance.

The UN resolution states that any decisions and actions which purport to have altered the character, status or demographic composition of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal effect, are null and void and must be rescinded in compliance with relevant resolutions of the Security Council.

Togo saw its ties flourish with the Jewish state in recent years. President Faure Gnassingbe, in power since 2005, wanted, through his countrys vote, to avoid offending Israel, which provides development aid and security assistance to the tiny country.

Earlier this year, Gnassingbe proposed to host an Africa-Israel Summit in Lome to boost Togolese-Israeli business and political collaborations, but the event was postponed after months of political unrest in the country.
Turkey signed an agreement with Sudan to rebuild a ruined Ottoman port city on Sudans Red Sea coast.

Turkey will also build a naval dock to maintain civilian and military vessels as Ankara seeks to expand military and economic ties in Africa.

The agreement was announced in Khartoum on Tuesday at the end of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans three-day visit to the war-torn nation.

Earlier on Sunday, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir held talks with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on ways to boost bilateral relations in all fields.

Ankara and Khartoum have agreed to establish a joint Strategic Cooperation Council chaired by the two heads of state.

The two countries signed several other agreements in the mining, agriculture, oil and health sectors.

According to Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, Tayyip Erdogans visit gives a boost to the ties between the two countries and starts a new phase in bilateral relations.

Erdogan, for his part, reiterated his countrys keenness to enhance economic ties with Sudan, stressing that Sudan and Turkey expect to increase trade volume from the current $500 million to $10 billion.

Sudan hosts numerous ancient buildings and ports dating back to the Ottoman Empire era, when Turkey colonised Sudan in the eighteenth century.
Georgia signs agreement with Swiss Company SGS regarding Cargo Monitoring Deal with Russia

Georgia has signed an agreement with the SGS Swiss company (Societe Generale de Surveillance SA), that will conduct monitoring of the agreement concluded between Georgia and Russia in 2011.As a reminder, the agreement refers to cargo movement.As reported by Georgias Foreign Ministry, the Russian Federation should also sign the contract with a neutral Swiss company in order the agreement to be practically implemented.Georgia and Russia signed the agreement on the Cargo Monitoring Movement on November 9, 2011, in Geneva. Switzerland was also involved in the process.The two countries expressed their consent that a neutral company would be established to monitor transportation of goods.The agreement envisages monitoring of cargo movement via three trade corridors. Two of the corridors run through Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and the third one on the Georgia-Russia border.
The News in Brief

South Ossetia to Get 9 Polling Stations for Russias 2018 Presidential Elections



(TSKHINVALI, South Ossetia) Georgias occupied region South Ossetia will open nine polling stations for Russias March 18, 2018 presidential elections, the regions rebel leader Anatoly Bibilov announced Monday.



Roughly 98 percent of South Ossetias residents are Russian citizens, Bibilov told journalists and attendees of meeting convened to discuss Moscows upcoming election campaign season. Everything needs to be done to enable every Russia citizen in South Ossetia to exercise their constitutional right to participate in the presidential elections.



In his comments, Bibilov also said that every resident of South Ossetia had an obligation to vote in the election.



I have decided to open nine electoral polling stations in South Ossetia, said Marat Kulakhmetov, a former Russian Army major general and the Kremlins official envoy to the rebel region.



Kulakhmetov asked the heads of the regions district administrations to compile lists of all Russian citizens residing in their administrative units before January 15.



36,500 residents of Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia were registered for Russias presidential polls in 2012, according to the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation. The corresponding number for Abkhazia stood at 89,000. (Civil.ge)







Saakashvili Calls on Ukraines Poroshenko to Resign



(KYIV) -- Georgias President and ex-Governor of Ukraine's Odessa Region Mikheil Saakashvili has called on Ukraines President Petro Poroshenko to resign in an open letter published by local media outlets.



You and your colleagues cannot and do not want to change Ukraine for the better. Your resignation is the last chance for the country to overcome the current political crisis," Saakashvili wrote on Facebook on late Tuesday. "Your administration organized a provocation near the Performing Palace (in central Kyiv). I admit, that I fell for this provocation.



On Sunday, anti-Poroshenko activists broke into the National Performing Arts Palace, located a stones throw from the Presidential Palace and the Verkhovna Rada  Ukraines Parliament  and engaged in clashes with the National Guard.



Saakashvili urged his supporters to leave the building and later claimed that he did not encourage them to storm the palace, but were provoked by Ukraines law enforcement agencies.



Saakashvili has been on the run from the law since he illegally entered Ukraine from Poland in September. While on a trip to the US in July, Poroshenko stripped Saakashvili of the Ukrainian passport that he had granted to the former Georgian president in 2015.



The move left Saakashvili stateless due to the fact hed lost his Georgian citizenship shortly after taking up the position as Odessas governor 36 months ago. (IPN)




The births often appear normal, the babies full-term and seemingly healthy.

Then, sometimes hours or days after the birth, come the tremors, the sweating and the shrieks, high-pitched and shrill.

Its the saddest cry youve ever heard, said Laura Keating, a nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit at Community Medical Center who has cared for infants suffering from opioid withdrawal. They cant use ... words, and youre just watching them suffer. Its awful.

Infants can be born dependent on opioids if they were exposed in utero, causing them to go into withdrawal when the umbilical cord is cut. The symptoms of neonatal abstinence syndrome, as doctors call it, range from fussiness and difficulty feeding to seizures or death in extreme cases.

Doctors and nurses in Montana are hearing that shrill cry more often as the state suffers from the national opioid epidemic, which shows no signs of slowing. From 2008 to 2015, the number of newborns in Montana who went through drug withdrawal from opioids rose more than 300 percent to 93, according to the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services.

That's nearly nine in every 1,000 births. Although record keeping varies by state, experts say Montana's rate appears to be among the highest in the country and one of the fastest growing. And the actual number of drug-exposed infants is surely larger, experts say, as some newborns exposed to opioids during pregnancy do not experience withdrawals, and hospitals sometimes do not record it. Children exposed to other drugs might not display symptoms at birth.

With proper care, most of these children will leave the hospital healthy and developing, but researchers remain uncertain about the long-term physical, psychological and social impacts. It is difficult to separate the effects of drug exposure in the womb from the impact of a childs quality of life after birth.

Theres good news for doctors and policy makers shocked by dramatic descriptions of infant withdrawals. Women who are pregnant have a strong incentive to seek addiction treatment, which can prevent, or lessen, the impact to their children.

The best thing to help the children is to also help their mother, said Dr. Barry Zuckerman, a pediatrician at Boston University School of Medicine and an expert on how the medical community cares for women who use narcotics as well as their babies.

The bad news for Montana: That approach is novel here, and the state lacks the facilities and staff to adequately treat substance use by pregnant women.

Most hospitals have not dealt well with addiction, Zuckerman said. And this most recent upsurge has  everyone scrambling to figure out what to do.

Jacqui Crisp, who lives in Columbia Falls, used 3 grams of heroin a day for half of her pregnancy. But the baby experienced no withdrawal symptoms and is a happy, healthy infant.

Crisps daughter was born at Kalispell Regional Medical Center, which encourages skin-to-skin contact between mothers and their babies to help lessen withdrawal symptoms.

I did everything they told me, Crisp said. I swear she never had her clothes on the whole time she was in there. She was always on me.

The success of Crisps story highlights a shift in medical best practices toward treating infants exposed to addictive drugs.

We used to think the best care for neonatal abstinence syndrome was waking them up every few hours to  decide whether to give them more medicine, said Dr. Amanda Risser, a family practice physician at Oregon Health Science University who specializes in maternity care for families affected by substance use.

Increasingly, Risser said research shows simple things like encouraging skin-to-skin contact, better breastfeeding training and giving mothers a comfortable, private place to bond with their newborns can reduce the need for intensive care in the first place.

Babies do better and often do not need medication to treat neonatal abstinence syndrome, Risser said.

Doctors and nurses who work with infants exposed to drugs stress that in most cases withdrawal can be successfully treated. Whats less known, and perhaps harder to study, is the impact of drug exposure in the womb over the course of a childs life. It is clear, however, that it can set in motion a negative chain of events.

First, it's mandatory that every child in Montana diagnosed with drug withdrawal be reported to Child and Family Services (CFS), and many are removed from their parents care. Montana has a much higher rate of children in foster care than most states, and the numbers have nearly doubled in recent years. About two-thirds of all removals involve families with drug use, almost twice the national rate.

Exposure to drugs is one of a number of adverse childhood experiences, including abuse, neglect and family dysfunction, that can affect children as they develop. But since these experiences tend to go together, researchers say its difficult to determine the impact of a single factor like drug exposure in the womb.

Its hard to separate the exact causes for each negative outcome since many factors go hand-in-hand, said Todd Garrison, CEO of ChildWise Institute, a public policy nonprofit in Helena that advocates for at-risk children.

Michelle Stevens, a 28-year-old mother of three in Billings, lost custody of her first two children  one to the state and one to her parents care  due to her use of methamphetamine and other drugs. Stevens said she began using meth at 12.

Stevens was clean when she lost custody of her second son, who was then 2 years old. But the boy had already learned to be aggressive and unpredictable, she said, likely because of the instability he experienced growing up.

He had problems acting out, and he only knew to hit kids. He had problems with that. And he would go into full-out temper tantrums of banging stuff off the wall and turning desks, she said.

Stevens now lives with her third son in a residential drug treatment center, surrounded by a strong support system. Her 10-year-old son lives with her parents. Her 5-year-old is in foster care across the street from her parents home.

Stevens said she is working to build a healthier, more stable life, with plans to move out of treatment, find a place to live, secure a job and buy a car. She has a newfound hope to regain custody of her children and start repairing any damage that has been done. About a month ago, a judge granted a six-month extension to her plan with the state to advance her recovery and reunite her family.

"Every mom is trying to have all their kids together," she said. "And eventually I want that dream to happen."
Garry Kerr felt depressed this semester when he received yet another letter from the University of Montana about his termination.

So the faculty member got a puppy.

The story isn't quite that simple, of course, but Tuesday, a puffy, bouncy Akita pup named Huckleberry hung out in room 215 of the Social Sciences building at UM while Kerr filed the last of his grades for the semester and doled out chocolate to visitors.

"Grades are still due today so I'm making sure (no last-minute homework) is under the door," Kerr said.

The lecturer who has taught at the flagship some 30 years is among the nontenured faculty members who have received notices of non-renewal from UM this year. In August and then again in December, UM sent termination letters and then backpedaled, most recently in less than 24 hours.

Kerr said his latest contract marks his end date as May 12, 2018, although he believes he might see one more school year of teaching at UM anyway, possibly more.

But the flipflopping on the status of lecturers has pained him because he loves teaching and also loves his Mom: "It's been driving my mother crazy. You shouldn't drive anybody's 85-year-old mother crazy."

To help himself feel better the last time he received a termination letter, Kerr headed to Murdoch's to feed moss to a couple of visiting reindeer. In his exhausted state from having "just got fired again," he believed he was getting a message from one of the reindeer.

"He was looking me right in the eye, and in my mind, I could hear him saying, 'I'm giving you something special for Christmas,' " Kerr said.

At home later, Kerr pulled open a copy of the Missoulian newspaper, and a little ad in the back offered Akita puppies at Gold Creek. Kerr has had five other Akitas in his life, but he'd recently ended up without a dog for the first time since he was 4 years old.

A new pet was meant to be. On a visit with the puff balls, Huckleberry adopted him, as dogs do, and nearly a week after a sleep-deprived Kerr brought her home, she tailed him to campus.

"The reindeer was totally right. He forecast that I've been good to others even though things have been tough. It's emotionally hard to be terminated when you think you're doing your best," Kerr said.

In actuality, Kerr doesn't believe he'll stop teaching given that the work is his calling. In fact, he believes good teaching, in his case with many props, is the way to help UM through its budget crisis, and a way to keep students at the core of the campus.

"My backup plan is to stay right here and teach," Kerr said.

***

In his office hang awards he's received for best professor, along with the tools he brings to his anthropology classes that make subjects more than items in a PowerPoint presentation. Maasai weapons. Bags of Montana grown lentils. Navajo code talker action figures.

"We can teach our way out of this instead of cutting our way out of this," Kerr said.

He reinterprets the honors he's received, too: "I'm not the best. I just have the most fun." But he knows the best: "I've got the best students, which is lucky."

The faculty member who calls Jane Goodall a friend has taken UM students to Tanzania on a class trip and will do so again. In his office, he used one hand to pick up a Maasai "head knocker," a wooden staff of sorts with a heavy, pointed ball on one end, and he used the other to hold Huckleberry steady.

Kerr suspected he knew what she wanted to do in his office: "You want to terrorize my desk? I know what you'll do to that wood down there."

In a setting where teaching three classes a semester is more the norm, Kerr said he usually teaches five or six a semester. "I always teach one for free at the (Davidson) Honors College." That class is just one credit, but this fall term, his course load included one course with 200 enrolled and another with 300 students, and he's among their biggest fans.

"I think the one thing people keep forgetting is the most common denominator for everyone is the students," Kerr said.

He aims to keep them front and center. One course he teaches is called "Death by Chocolate," where students have to write their own obituaries, and every Friday, he brings them chocolate. Anyone who needs Dagoba, Hawaiian chocolate or Almond Roca should just swing by his office. If he's not there, he's filled plaster casts of cupped hands on his door with M&Ms, going through four bags a week.

The lentils in his office are part of another class he taught where students read "Lentil Underground," a book about Montana farmers by Liz Carlisle. He's cooked lentils for the students, introduced them to the author, and handed out recipes and different types of dry lentils. The legumes are drought tolerant, high in protein and some of the easiest food to make.

"These are one of the solutions to the world's problems," Kerr said.

***

As UM has made financial cuts, Kerr said the "whittling away" isn't good for morale for students, faculty or staff, especially when multi-million-dollar buildings are going up at the same time. Tuesday, he ticked off some of the names of the faculty members who are lecturers without tenure protection, who lead programs at UM and do work off campus, like Traolach O'Riordain, head of Irish Studies.

"I don't see a bum in the lot," he said.

He picked up a postcard he's sent to potential students with a heat sensitive eclipse stamp. He invites them and their parents to any of his classes, and he follows up with a thank you when they accept. Enrollment has dropped at UM for years, and his outreach was another reason he was deflated to get a termination notice.

"That was fairly depressing because I just recruited a ton of students this summer, and I want to see them through to graduation, and I told their parents I'd be here," Kerr said.

In an email Tuesday, UM communications director Paula Short said the campus will make decisions about lecturers later in January. This month, roughly 90 staff accepted voluntary severance offers, and President Sheila Stearns has said their departures may offset some of the reductions UM wanted to make with lecturers. Earlier, an estimated 30 lecturers received notices.

"The UFA (University Faculty Association) has advised President Stearns (and she has agreed) to wait until closer to the start of the spring semester in late January to finalize decisions on letters of non-reappointment for lecturers," Short said. "Last week, the UFA informed lecturers of the change in timeline. Spring semester instruction begins on Monday, Jan. 22, 2018."

UFA President Paul Haber said the union made the suggestion so that the president could make the decision about lecturers in context of the 2019 fiscal year budget and the results of the recent process to set program priorities on campus.

In the next few weeks, Kerr will continue to pop into his office to prep for courses. The visits will help socialize Huckleberry, a welcome symbol of permanency to the teacher that runs contrary to the shifting scene at UM for lecturers.

"The next 12, 13 years, I'm going to be raised by this dog," Kerr said. "This dog, that's a contract you can't back out of."
A 19-year-old man who pleaded guilty to raping two Missoula teens and exploited others for nude photos was sentenced to 20 years in the Department of Corrections on Tuesday, with 15 of those years suspended.

Justin Robert Wieder pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual intercourse without consent  Montanas law for rape  and a felony count of sexual abuse of children in August as part of a plea agreement.

That agreement dismissed other rape and sexual abuse charges from two of Wieders three felony cases and dropped all the charges  including allegations of recording sexual contact with a girl a judge had forbidden him to see  from a third case.

Wieder was originally charged with raping a 15-year-old girl in June 2016. In the year after that, he was arrested for violating release conditions by contacting the girls or having new felony charges filed against him.

Since pleading guilty this summer, Wieder has been under the supervision of his father, who lives in Augusta.

On Tuesday Wieders public defender Jennifer Streano asked for the sentencing hearing  which had already been delayed twice  to be pushed back yet again. Wieder had been screened and approved to go to the Billings Pre-Release Center but the service doesnt have a spot open yet and Streano didnt want to go through with sentencing only to have Wieder wait in a jail cell in Missoula until he could be transferred to the program.

Prosecutor Jennifer Clark said in the interest of giving victims closure, District Court Judge Karen Townsend shouldnt push sentencing off again. The judge agreed, saying the Department of Corrections sentence Wieder negotiated in his plea agreement allowed for the possibility of incarceration, and she didnt find it necessary to wait any more.

Townsend also said a presentence report prepared by a probation officer recommended against allowing Wieder to go to a community supervision placement like the Billings Pre-Release Center at all, citing his blatant disregard for pretrial conditions during Wieders periods of release while his criminal cases were active.

As part of the judges sentence, Wieder also will register as a tier one, or low risk, sex offender.
Despite heated debate over climate change, we can build trust and find common ground. Many see a choice between environmental quality and greater monetary wealth, but climate change brings economic risk.

Analysis by Power Consulting predicts Montana will lose about 67,000 jobs in recreation, tourism and agriculture due to warmer temperatures, drought, wildfire and other consequences by mid-century. These losses would cost us $1.8 billion in lost income. With such figures, environmentalists no longer are the only ones concerned.

But theres reason for optimism. Were already reducing emissions largely responsible for global warming by shifting from coal-fired electricity to cheaper and less polluting natural gas and renewable sources. Gasoline consumption for transportation has also grown more slowly than forecasted (3.5 rather than 15 percent since 2006). So, despite adding 20 million people, along with millions of buildings and vehicles, U.S. emissions were 14 percent below 2005 levels in 2016.

These shifts reflect a changing economy and will continue despite the Trump administration's deregulatory fervor. As the federal government steps away, local governments, states and businesses are reducing fossil fuel consumption, reflecting citizens changing will.

The Clean Power Plan was a top-down approach developed by the Obama administration to reduce global warming emissions from electricity generation. It was by no means perfect, as it was vulnerable to legal delay and has been nullified readily by Donald Trumps political appointees. Ironically, eliminating the Clean Power Plan  a primary focus of federal deregulation  may do more harm than good for coal workers. Well wave goodbye to job training and economic assistance for coal communities without necessarily easing economic pressures.

More elegant and effective approaches include congressional action, such as proposed by the Citizens' Climate Lobby. Under their approach, energy would be taxed in proportion to the pollution it generates. That revenue would return to households in equal monthly dividends, increasing income and purchasing power for two-thirds of Americans, which would grow the economy and create 2.8 million jobs. Regional Economic Models Inc. predicts emissions will be 52 percent below 1990 levels in 20 years, meeting international targets for avoiding the worst effects of global warming.

Most economists support taxing carbon as practical and transparent policy, as do many small-business advocates. Jeff Milchen of the American Independent Business Alliance says a carbon tax would be a boon to their constituents: The price of goods transported across the country or planet should reflect the costs of pollution instead of pushing these costs onto citizens.

In a time where bipartisanship feels like an empty slogan, the House Climate Solutions Caucus (CSC) is showing promise. Founded in 2016, the group of 31 Republican and 31 Democratic representatives meet regularly to further their mission "to educate members on economically viable options to reduce climate risk and to explore bipartisan policy options that address the impacts, causes, and challenges of our changing climate."

A month after founding the CSC, Republican co-chair Carlos Curbelo of Florida hitched a ride on Air Force One, visiting the Everglades with then-President Obama to call attention to climate change.

I share the presidents concerns about sea-level rise, and its effects on our drinking supplies, our economy and our way of life, said Curbello. I am committed to finding common ground to mitigate the effects of climate change.

In July 2017, 46 Republicans (mostly CSC members) joined Democrats to defeat a bill that would have ended military recognition and research of climate change impacts on national security. This was a great start to rebuilding trust across political divisions and constructively working to solve this and other pressing problems.
News from the Capitol in Helena unfortunately often emphasizes the partisan nature of modern politics. But today, we  a Senate Democrat and a House Republican  want to share something we both strongly support, a bipartisan success story that has been quietly improving state government for decades. Its a function that helps state government serve Montanans by making sure state agencies obey laws and accurately balance their books, saves taxpayers money by finding efficiency in state programs, and protects sensitive information held in state computer security systems.

The Legislative Audit Committee is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Following the committees creation in 1967, the delegates at the 1972 Montana Constitution Convention felt the work of the newly formed committee was fundamental to the proper functioning of the state government. So, they put it directly in the Constitution  the only legislative committee given such status. The move essentially mandates the committees existence and helps safeguard the independence of the work performed by its nonpartisan staff in the Legislative Audit Division. The staff follow strict standards to draw conclusions about the programs they review, and their dedication and professionalism have been central to our 50-year track record of making government work better.

Over time, the range of issues considered by the committee has expanded to meet the growing information needs of legislators. Beyond traditional financial activities, audit work now assesses broader aspects of government accountability, efficiency and effectiveness. As computer systems gained importance in government operations, a process for auditing these systems was developed.

This work has provided the legislature and public with literally hundreds of reports over the years containing thousands of recommendations to state agencies. In just the past few years, the office has:

 Found scores of errors in the states own annual financial report which, if uncorrected, could have threatened Montanas credit rating.

 Discovered that the Department of Corrections was illegally housing adult prisoners in youth facilities.

 Exposed problems in the Public Service Commissions handling of railroad safety.

 Brought to light inconsistencies and a lack of oversight in the ways state agencies approve pay raises for employees.

 Determined the Department of Administration needs to improve its ability to monitor the contract for State Employee Health Centers and validate the costs related to the centers.

 Unearthed a number of shortcomings in the states vital Child Protective Services program.

The information generated in audit reports provides valuable information to agency management, public stakeholders and legislators when assessing the governments stewardship of public resources and compliance with law. The reports contain real-world solutions and actionable ideas for making state government better.

Legislative audits are a true picture of accountability in action, not just the hollow promises of reports gathering dust on a shelf. Agencies know their financial records will be regularly inspected and management will be held to task if there are problems. Legislative audits dont just save money through effective oversight, they strengthen the integrity of our public institutions and increase trust in state government. Thats something we all should support.

The Audit Division manages the states toll-free hotline for reporting fraud, waste and abuse. We encourage anyone with concerns about fraud or how state government programs or activities are being managed to call (800) 222-4446, email LADHotline@mt.gov or visit the website. All of us share responsibility for ensuring state resources are being used wisely, especially in the difficult budget times we are currently experiencing.

As our committee begins its second half-century, we are confident that commitment to the vital mission of government accountability in Montana state government is stronger than ever.

Additional information about the Audit Committee can be found at leg.mt.gov/audit or by calling 444-3122.
Steve Daines, Nov. 4, 2014 (at his election): We need to ... pass balanced budgets in both houses, and weve got to stop spending more than were taking in.

Steve Daines, Dec. 20, 2017: Votes for a rushed, hastily written tax bill that adds at least $1 trillion to our deficit, and that gives 83 percent of its benefits to the top 1 percent over the next decade.

Not only that, the last-minute #CorkerKickback real-estate provision added by Sen. Orrin Hatch will put millions into Steve Daines pockets, along with 13 other GOP senators. This same Senator Hatch is quoted as saying we dont have the money anymore for the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

This naked corruption and absolute hypocrisy on the part of a Montana senator is breathtakingly appalling. It is certainly not Montana values and Daines is not fit to serve Montana.

Julie Chapman,

Huson
At her prenatal visits in 2016, Marie Aripa didnt mention the feverish cold sweats, body aches, and opioid cravings that made it difficult to get out of bed in the morning.

She was afraid to tell her doctor she was taking as many as 50 pain pills a week and was struggling to quit. If she asked for help, would the state take away her three kids? Would she lose her baby after she gave birth?

Rather than risk it, Aripa, who lives in Polson on the Flathead Indian Reservation, kept her addiction to herself, hoping if she quit on her own her baby would be fine.

Aripa, now 24, knew the withdrawals were tough. Shed quit twice during two earlier pregnancies. Both times, she was prescribed opiate painkillers after the births and fell back into addiction.

This time, quitting was even harder. During the first five months of her pregnancy, she relapsed several times, eventually relying on Suboxone, a prescription medication used to treat addicts that helps relieve opiate withdrawals and cravings. Aripa bought the pills from a friend and broke them into small pieces, which kept her from using for the last four months of her pregnancy.

As the opioid crisis tightens its grip on Montana, Native American communities have been hit hard. And pregnant women like Aripa, who have a greater incentive to quit, are hit hardest of all.

Montanas reservations are geographically isolated, and the Indian Health Service, which provides health care on most reservations, has been underfunded for decades. Native Americans often must travel farther than other Montanans to access treatment centers and quality medical care. And many say they are hesitant to go to hospitals because of discrimination, previous bad experiences, or tribal laws that ban drug users.

The statistics are daunting.

In Browning, on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, 44 percent of pregnant women tested positive for opioid use, according to a 2017 health assessment by the Blackfeet Tribal Health Department and Boston Medical Center.

In 2016, nearly half of infants born in Lake County, which includes the Flathead Indian Reservation, were at risk for neonatal abstinence syndrome, the medical term for a dangerous set of withdrawal symptoms in drug-dependent infants including tremors, convulsions and high-pitched crying.

Public health experts say the best way to protect mothers and their children is through addiction treatment and social services.

But for many Native women, who often lack even prenatal care, it takes hours to drive to the closest inpatient centers that admit pregnant women. Aripa lives 90 minutes from the nearest inpatient center in Missoula. Proven outpatient services, like those that provide counseling and a prescription for Suboxone to aid with recovery, are often full or far away. Nicole Callahan, a mother on the Flathead reservation, had to drive three hours one way for Suboxone treatment in Helena.

Even though were in 2017 and we have the science, our treatment hasn't caught up, said Kathy Ross, an addictions counselor on the Flathead reservation.

Instead, Ross said, women are expected to quit by themselves and suffer through withdrawals, which rarely works.

Its insane. Its unethical. Its just bad practice.

A missed window of opportunity

Addiction treatment experts say pregnancy is a perfect window of opportunity. Pregnant women are more likely to want to quit, knowing drug use can affect their children. While women rarely develop addictions during pregnancy, it is often the first time theyre diagnosed.

In 2011, however, only half of Native American mothers in Montana received prenatal care during the first trimester, compared to three-quarters of white women, according to the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services.

Of the seven reservations in the state, only three have health centers that provide prenatal care. On the others, women are sent to the nearest hospitals outside reservation borders, which are on average more than an hour away.

St. Vincent Hospital in Billings hopes to remove distance as a barrier, using a temporary grant to launch a trial partnership with tribal counseling programs. With the money, the hospital started sending midwives to the neighboring reservations once a week to provide prenatal care, encouraging women who need it to start treatment. The effort is not the norm.

More often, women who are using drugs arrive at the hospital for the first time already in labor, said Andrea Ruhman, a nurse who works with pregnant women with addictions at St. Luke Community Hospital on the Flathead reservation. At that point, newborns are likely already harmed by drug use, and initiating treatment is significantly more difficult.

Those moms are afraid of judgment and persecution, Ruhman said. Theyre embarrassed by their addiction, and they know people are mad, so they hide.

Far from care

Native women who do seek drug treatment for opioids have few options.

Only two inpatient treatment centers, in Billings and Missoula, regularly admit pregnant women. A treatment center run by the Blackfeet Tribe in Browning has two beds for pregnant women, but it is primarily equipped for alcohol addiction. Mothers using opiates are sent two hours away to Great Falls to detox, a system that director Louella Heavy Runner said often results in the mothers dropping out of treatment.

Among reservations, only Flathead has an outpatient program that combines behavioral therapy with a prescription for buprenorphine, which the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists suggests as the safest and most effective way to treat pregnant mothers with addictions. The Blackfeet Tribe is currently studying how best to offer those services.

The Flathead outpatient program often has a six-month waiting list, and pregnant women are not given priority, despite the urgency of their situation. The long wait is due in part to a severe shortage of doctors in the state who prescribe buprenorphine: Only one doctor in the 120 miles between Kalispell and Missoula is certified.

Women are referred to Kalispell or Missoula when the Flathead program is full, but even there, they may not find treatment. Some programs do not accept patients who live far away over fears they wont show up for daily or weekly appointments.

Ross, the addictions counselor, said there is a desperate need for more doctors in the area to prescribe Suboxone, which would allow the Flathead program to treat more people in their community.

Their whole life doesnt have to be disrupted, Ross said. Their children dont have to stay somewhere else for 30 days because moms gone. They can stay involved with their culture and tribe with some dignity.

Judgment and trauma

By the time Aripa gave birth, she had been sober for four months, but her experience in the hospital was traumatic.

Doctors found evidence of opioid use in her umbilical cord, which retains information from an entire pregnancy, but does not show how long ago a woman stopped using. Even though she passed a drug test after giving birth, Aripa said doctors wrote a note on her sons incubator saying nurses should not allow her to breast-feed.

Her son, who was born with respiratory problems, was flown to Kalispell Regional Medical Centers neonatal intensive care unit before Aripa had held him.

That made me really upset, because I had breast-fed all my kids, Aripa said.

Professional medical associations encourage women with substance use disorders who have stopped using  often even those prescribed anti-opiates like methadone or buprenorphine  to breastfeed their children, as it supports recovery and bonding. Studies also show that skin-to-skin contact reduces the severity and length of an infants drug withdrawal.

Child and Family Services was called to the Kalispell hospital. Aripa said that a social worker told her she should have sought help earlier in her pregnancy. Aripa replied that she was afraid of losing her baby, afraid of being judged, afraid of all that she was now facing.

Carma Corcoran, the Indian law program coordinator at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, and a Chippewa Cree tribal member, said historical trauma and discrimination makes it especially difficult for Native pregnant women to seek help at hospitals.

Fifteen percent of Native Americans have avoided going to a doctor out of concern they would be discriminated against or treated poorly, according to a national study by Harvard University and the nonprofit Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Some studies of maternal care have shown that people from minority groups may be screened for drugs more often than white parents at some hospitals.

Its important that people realize that many Native people are born into trauma. So its not something that is of their own making, Corcoran said. So when youre at that place that you can ask for help, and youre treated badly because of the color of your skin and that youre Indian, it is painful. Who is going to go back to that place?

Andrea Ruhman, a nurse on the Flathead reservation, said she is trying to teach fellow health professionals to speak to mothers like Aripa in hopeful terms and without judgement, but its a struggle.

Thats hard for a lot of people because theyve seen the kids left behind, Ruhman said. Theyre bitter. But its not going to make things better with that judgmental dogma.

Still traveling for care

Every three weeks, Aripa travels to Missoula with her fiance and their two children to pick up her Suboxone prescription. After her appointment, they often take their kids to Southgate Mall to play on the train.

Her youngest son is 1, and hes healthy, though he sometimes uses a nebulizer for breathing troubles when he has a cold.

Aripa is also doing well, though shes anxious to move her family away from the people and places that remind her of her addiction. Her recovery requires daily effort.
The Land Board's refusal to protect elk habitat near Whitehall earlier this year leaves the area in jeopardy, conservationists say.

Fish, Wildlife and Parks sought $213,000 from Habitat Montana, a pot of money created from the sale of hunting licenses, to amend an existing conservation easement on the Keogh Ranch, 10 miles north of Whitehall. In a 3-2 vote, the Board of Land Commissioners voted it down in September despite concerns of encroaching development near the ranch.

Gov. Steve Bullock and Attorney General Tim Fox both voted for the FWP plan. It was defeated by votes from Auditor Matt Rosendale, Office of Public Instruction superintendent Elsie Arntzen and Secretary of State Corey Stapleton.

Since then, Public Lands/Public Access Association President Tony Schoonen and Rosendale have sparred through letters to the editor in The Montana Standard arguing their respective positions on the issue.

Rosendale disagreed that the expenditure of $213,000 for the additional easement to protect the land from agricultural subdivision was necessary. Rosendale said the money could be better spent elsewhere.

Schoonen said Rosendale opposed the proposal for all the wrong reasons.

Rosendale has thrown his hat in the ring to try to take Democrat U.S. Sen. Jon Testers seat. Rosendale recently received an endorsement from Steve Bannon, President Donald Trumps former chief strategist.

Because the amendment failed at the Land Board Commission, FWP officials say they now hope to find another way to protect the Keogh Ranch from getting carved up. The agency expects to start looking next year for a land trust that would purchase the easement to better protect the ranch. But FWP Land Program Manager Darlene Edge said last week the agency does not yet have anyone lined up to make the transaction a go.

The current conservation easement, which FWP purchased on the Keogh Ranch in the 1990s, put restrictions on the land to preserve the 7,106 acres for elk and elk habitat and other wildlife. Elk herds currently numbering about 1,200 traverse the Keoghs valley floor to move between the Bull Mountains and the Boulder Mountains.

But the language in the original easement was vague enough that future landowners could potentially subdivide the property into 160-acre tracts for agricultural purposes, such as horse farms, Edge said during the commission meeting earlier this fall. FWP and the current fourth-generation owner of the land, the Fitzgerald family, wanted to work out an additional easement. If it had passed the land board, the additional easement would have protected the land from agricultural subdivision in the future, Edge said.

There is the potential that the land could be subdivided into 44 160-acre parcels, Edge said. Rosendale argued during the meeting that language in the original conservation easement prohibited such a move. But Edge said subsequent owners who bought 160-acre parcels could sue FWP for the right to drill a well because the prohibitions in the original easement were vague.

The (potential) cost in legal fees far exceed the $213,000 were asking for to improve this conservation easement, Edge said.

Edge said the Fitzgeralds have already been approached by potential buyers.

The Fitzgerald family declined to comment for this story.

If the land does get subdivided, FWP officials are concerned that managing the land for wildlife will become considerably harder because the agency would have to work with multiple landowners instead of one. Agency officials also worry that multiple landowners would not adhere to the rules of the conservation and would allow horses to overgraze the land.

If this land was to be subdivided to an agricultural subdivision ... there would be habitat degradation. With horse pastures, there is year-round grazing. We cant control impacts to the land. Hunters would be impacted; it would mean that many more owners to get (hunting) permission from, FWP wildlife biologist Vanna Boccadori said during the meeting.

The landowners give 300 to 500 permission slips for three days of hunting, Boccadori said. The owners also preserve a couple hundred acres for handicapped hunters.

Little Whitetail Creek flows through the land and more than 30 species of mammals, including black bear, moose and mountain lions, cross its pastures. More than 130 bird species, such as golden eagles, blue grouse and Coopers hawks, spend time on the ranch.

An active prairie dog colony calls about a 90-acre portion of the ranch home. The colony is believed to be the westernmost extension of the black-tailed prairie dogs in Montana. Besides the black-tailed prairie dogs, five additional species of concern in Montana  mountain plover, Clarks nutcracker, long-billed curlew, burrowing owl and ferruginous hawk  call the ranch home.

But the primary concern are elk.

Mark Lambrecht, director of government affairs for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, which supported the additional conservation easement to prevent subdivision, said this is prime elk country.

Certainly (the subdivision) would have an impact, Lambrecht said by phone last month. The elk herd in that area, theres a route those herds take. Any time you have property subdivided into smaller parcels, it impacts their ability to travel. It impacts hunters ability to access those elk.

But Rosendale argues the $213,000 could be spent in places such as the Dome Mountain Ranch north of Yellowstone and the Spotted Dog Wildlife Management Area between Elliston and Deer Lodge.

The FWP Commission endorsed the agency's request to begin the early steps toward purchasing the more than 5,000 acres of the Dome Mountain Ranch during a commission meeting this past August. That move will preserve the area for critical elk herds but no dollar amount was established for that acquisition.

FWP Habitat Bureau Chief Rick Northrup said the Dome Mountain project could have other players involved, including the Bureau of Land Management.

The Spotted Dog Wildlife Management Area contains around 10,000 acres of inholdings in a checkerboard ownership. FWP would like to purchase the inholdings from the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.

Edge said FWP doesnt know the cost, of that project yet. The agency still has to do an appraisal.

But, she said, if the agency gets approval for that purchase, federal dollars would kick in 75 percent of the needed money, leaving the state with the need to come up with 25 percent.

Rosendale was not available for comment late last week but his spokesperson, Kyle Schmauck, said the the $213,000 wouldnt have had real on-the-ground impact (had the amendment gone through) and that money can be spent on other projects.

Whats on paper versus whats on the ground, spending $213,000 to not have a change on the ground, this money can be better spent elsewhere, Schmauck said.

Stapleton did not respond to request for comment, but Arntzens land board advisor, Patrick H. Beddow, said in writing:

"Superintendent Arntzen believes that there were adequate provisions within the original easement and that an amendment did not seem to be required to provide for the protections of wildlife as asked for in the conservation easement."

Fox did not respond to request for comment late last week. Bullock, who chairs the Land Commission Board, was also not available for comment late last week but during the commission meeting, Bullock said he supported the amendment.

The owners want to do the right thing for the land, but that could change, he said.

He also expressed interest in the idea that this would send a message to private landowners that they ought to be dealing with the state, and he called the amendment purchase a real opportunity on this, and would provide access to quality hunting.
In the final months of Amanda Davis pregnancy, a drug court ordered her to attend a residential addiction treatment center for her methamphetamine use.

Davis went through the motions of treatment, but planned to inject meth again soon after her baby was born.

My intentions were not to stay sober, Davis said. My intentions were just to  get off the radar.

Those plans changed at Missoulas Carole Graham Home, a live-in addiction program for women who are pregnant or who have children. The homes supportive environment and rigorous schedule, which includes twice-a-week behavioral therapy, helped Davis believe that she could make it without drugs. She has been sober 19 months.

Medical experts say pregnancy is a strong incentive for women to recover from addiction. But in Montana, treatment programs that accept women during pregnancy and can also house their children are few and far between. Inpatient treatment, such as intensive 30-day programs, do not allow women to bring kids. Families are admitted to only a few residential programs like the Carole Graham Home, which provide a home-like environment while clients complete outpatient therapy and learn life skills.

Despite growing need, treatment professionals say state funding and federal rules make it difficult to operate, let alone expand. That has left women who want help stuck on wait lists, sometimes for weeks.

Fewer than one in 10 Montanans who search for treatment find it, about half the national average, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Its even harder for pregnant women. Only 7 percent of the states treatment providers have programs specifically for pregnant women or those who recently gave birth, compared to the national average of 21 percent, according to the survey.

Medicaid rates harm treatment center finances

Two Montana treatment centers serve the bulk of pregnant women in the state, but the wait can be weeks, and neither inpatient program allows women to bring other children with them.

The Recovery Center in Missoula and Rimrock Foundation in Billings have a combined waiting list of about 250 people with Medicaid coverage. Women who give birth before being admitted go back to the bottom of the list. If women deliver before completing treatment, they must leave, because inpatient facilities cannot accommodate kids, program directors said.

The handful of residential treatment centers that do accept children along with their mothers also often have lines.

Rimrock Foundation Executive Director Lenette Kosovich said many treatment centers cannot grow because they barely pay the bills as is. She is one of several recovery professionals who said Medicaid, which pays for much of drug treatment, does not cover the actual costs. The flat daily rate paid by Medicaid is less than half of what private insurers pay for the same care. And the number of patients covered by Medicaid grew when the state expanded the program in 2015.

The rate also doesnt include fees for doctors and advanced practice nurses. Tammera Nauts, director of Recovery Center Missoula, said she has been advocating the past few years for a change in state rules to include those fees, but state leaders have not been persuaded.

It could get worse. This summer, Gov. Steve Bullock proposed a 3.47 percent cut to Medicaid reimbursement rates as well as shrinking the list of services it would fund. Montana lawmakers delayed those changes until after the 2019 legislative session, but the Department of Public Health and Human Services could restart the process.

UPDATE: Shortly after this story published, legislators dropped their objections to the proposed rules, allowing the department to immediately move forward with a 2.99 percent rate cut.

If the state cuts Medicaid rates, Nauts said she would have to deny some patients with Medicaid in favor of those with private insurance.

In a way, thats already happening, as the Recovery Center only uses up to 40 percent of its beds for patients covered by Medicaid. At Rimrock, it used to be that one-third of Rimrock patients were covered by Medicaid. Since the state expanded the program, Kosovich said 62 percent are.

To make up the budget gap created by more patients bringing in lower payments, Kosovich has raised rates on private insurance companies. She expects the foundation will face a shortfall of a half-million dollars in next years budget.

How do you make that up? she asked.

Nauts said Recovery Center already operates in the red, only staying afloat thanks to cash infusions from its larger, partner organization, Western Montana Mental Health Center. It is unclear how much longer that might continue. The group announced layoffs earlier this month that would cut care for more than 200 patients.

One potential way to fix these budgets is through federal block grants, which have long been the primary source of funding for under-served populations seeking addiction treatment. Since Medicaid expansion, some of that money has been freed up, which means the state could reinvest them in helping keep treatment centers in business or even expand.

When asked if such a helping hand was anywhere in sight, Nauts responded with silence, punctuated by a laugh.

You can say the state budget crisis has usurped any forward momentum on considering the voices of the state providers, Nauts said.

Zoe Barnard, Montana's Addictive and Mental Disorders Division director, said the state plans to use these funds for community-oriented programs such as peer support services rather than adding treatment centers that house patients.

Women can have a higher need for inpatient or residential services so they can leave homes where they face abuse or because they might otherwise be unable to find child care while in treatment. Nearly every woman interviewed for this series said access to safe housing was a critical, but tough-to-find, key to their recovery.

Not enough money for housing pregnant women

Insurance is supposed to cover the cost of providing care, while other sources pay for the daily bills of operating a treatment center.

Residential centers can be the most costly because so much of what makes them work  a home-like environment, life-skills lessons, a 24/7 house mom, and child care  are not medical services and are not covered by insurance. Nor are the typical overhead costs of a business, such as rent, supplies and employee benefits.

The Carole Graham Home in Missoula, where Davis now lives, uses a federal grant to pay those bills.

Director Bonnie Stewart said shes already operating at bare bones: The home has had as many as 12 employees, but it now has only eight. If state leaders slash Medicaid rates further, Stewart said she might have to cut her only case manager, who creates daily schedules for women, connects them to the community and helps them navigate next steps.

Nauts, who plans to open two recovery homes for mothers and children, is also keeping an eye on potential Medicaid cuts. If any go through, it could mean less service for people like Davis, who said her time at the home has been critical to getting off drugs.

Davis once lived with her family in a three-bedroom home in Spokane. She managed a local Lands End clothing shop, went to college on and off, and looked after her children at night.

After a divorce, she dated a man who had a drinking problem, and soon she developed her own alcohol habit. The next boyfriend didnt drink, but he smoked methamphetamine. When he offered some to her, she smoked it. She was 30 at the time and had never before touched drugs.

Within a year, she lost her job, her house and her kids.

Soon after learning she was pregnant, drug court ordered her to the Carole Graham Home.

Were family here, she said, as tears started spilling. We have a home, we have support and people really believe in us. And no ones really ever believed in us before.

Federal rules leave treatment center half-full

Funding isnt the only barrier for accepting more patients like Davis.

Treatment centers can only receive federal funding, like grants or Medicaid, if they are treating no more than 16 people at a time. The federal rule was designed to prevent warehousing of mentally ill patients in large institutions. At Rimrock, following that rule has meant only half of available inpatient beds are in use. Most facilities in Montana simply build to that size even if the communitys need is greater, as it often is.

In 2015, the federal government began allowing states that expanded Medicaid to apply for an exemption to the 16-bed limit, recognizing programs could be flooded by people able to pay for care for the first time. Five states have received them. Despite the urging of Rimrock's Kosovich, Montana has not applied.

Barnard, from the Addictive and Mental Disorders Division, said she has talked about the exemption with Kosovich, but shes unsure if the state will go that direction. She argues that its not as simple as asking for one change. Instead, she said, it would require changing Montana's entire strategy for treating mental health and addiction treatment.

Forced into treatment, woman finds success

Davis was lucky to be placed into one of the few Montana addiction programs that accept women who are pregnant or who have kids.

Shortly after delivering her daughter, now just over a year old, Davis reconnected with family. Last winter, she spoke with her 11-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter for the first time in two years. Now they talk every Sunday, and they visit her once a month.

Davis said she has learned to believe in herself again. She plans to attend college in the spring to major in nonprofit business.

In November, Davis celebrated her 18-month sobriety birthday, receiving a special coin to mark the occasion. Its the longest she has been sober since she was 25.
When she learned she was pregnant, Leekynne Snelson had no money left for food, bought enough heroin to keep withdrawals at bay and was couch-surfing in Olympia, Washington, because she had nowhere to live.

In the fall of 2016, she walked the supermarket deli aisle, high, searching for sandwiches, bottled water  anything she could stuff in her purse. As she left the store, she knew she needed help.

Snelson, then 27, had been using heroin for two years. Her partner, Jantzen Redle, had been addicted to pills and heroin for a decade.

But Snelsons story is different from those of so many expecting mothers addicted to opioids. Her baby didnt go through weeks of painful withdrawals. She didnt lose her child to foster care. And four months after the birth, Snelson and Redle have not gone back to using drugs.

Snelson attributes her success to Kalispell Regional Medical Center, where she gave birth after moving with Redle to Lakeside, Montana, where her mother lives.

We just sort of came here not knowing they were that good of a program, and it was a blessing in disguise, Snelson said.

In 2014, Kalispell Regional began an innovative program that aimed to reinvent how its doctors care for pregnant women who use drugs. Over three years, the hospital tore down silos that previously separated maternal care from addiction treatment and social services, so patients received the care and services they needed in one place.

And there is a new commitment among staff to focus on drug-addicted women as patients, without judging their character.

The hospital hopes to soon take it a step further when it completes construction of a new neonatal intensive care unit, or NICU, that will give some women private rooms with their infants.

The changes are not radical, and have been used by hospitals in other states, but they have been implemented more thoroughly in Kalispell than anywhere else in Montana.

The program has been widely successful. Foster care placement of children born at the hospital declined nearly 70 percent, according to hospital statistics, and the average length of stay for drug-exposed babies in the NICU dropped by 11 days, or more than half, from 2014 to 2016, radically reducing bills typically paid by the state through Medicaid.

The program comes at little to no cost to the hospital, and neonatologists in Kalispell have been urging other medical centers in the state to try their methods.

Aside from the unique coordinated care Kalispell Regional offers pregnant women, the most effective change may be an attitude shift in how staff members approach women with addictions.

Neonatologist Dr. Mark Kaneta, who helped develop the program, said a 2014 presentation on addiction by Robert Sherrick, a doctor at a nearby methadone clinic, changed his attitude toward pregnant women addicted to opioids.

Learning how severely drugs impact the brains chemistry was revelatory, Kaneta said. That knowledge helped him and others at the hospital treat their patients with acceptance and compassion rather than blame.

Being nice, caring  that transcends everything, he said.

Dr. Stephen Kandall, a pediatrician who coordinated with the nations earliest methadone clinic to conduct the first trials on pregnant women in the 1970s, is not surprised many doctors are just now learning precisely how addiction works.

Physicians are getting little to no training on addiction, and they may not be getting the best information, the researcher and textbook author said. Theres a tremendous amount of misinformation, largely fueled by the press. It still feeds into this anger toward these patients: Theyre using up resources, no good to society, they dont deserve treatment.

Before the new program, Kaneta said it was common for women to avoid the hospital until delivery because they were afraid of how they would be treated, sometimes based on the experience of past pregnancies. After the children and mothers went home, contact usually stopped. As a result, many babies were going to foster care, and women dropped out of substance use treatment.

Now, the hospital works to address newborn needs while also caring for the health of their parents, from the beginning of the pregnancy to long after the birth. Pregnancy and NICU stays are prime opportunities to build trust with a captive audience, Kaneta said, and research shows that the first year after delivery is a critical time to stabilize mothers.

During prenatal care, the hospital focuses on placing women on medication-assisted treatment, which reduces cravings and helps prevent the withdrawals that can be risky for the fetus.

When Snelson walked into the emergency room almost 7 months pregnant, she spent about $50 a day to buy half a gram of heroin.

She had grown up with an addicted relative, and Snelson judged her harshly for it. Now, that anger was directed at herself. Snelson said she wanted to do the right thing for her unborn child, but she was afraid the doctors would confirm what she already thought: She was a bad mother.

At the ER, Snelson met Jessie Blanc, a social worker who praised Snelson for coming to the hospital. Blanc told Snelson she was doing the best thing for her child and that she was not a bad person. Suddenly, the hospital became less scary.

She knew exactly what to say to make it feel like everything was going to be OK, Snelson said.

Kaneta said the general idea is to motivate women and their partners to see themselves as good parents with an important role in their childs care rather than drug-using failures who should stay out of the way. The more women identify as mothers, the easier it becomes for them to rebuild their lives and push through the challenges of recovery, he said.

In the past, Child and Family Services case workers faulted mothers who spent little time in the NICU. Kaneta said he understands now that was, in part, the fault of doctors, who offered women few examples of what they could be doing to help their children.

Earlier this year, Kaneta presented the programs early results at the Montana Perinatal Conference, in the hopes of inspiring other hospitals to follow.

Only a few have adopted pieces of the program, he said. None has implemented the full strategy.

Yet, Kaneta remains hopeful, as the Montana Healthcare Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to improving quality of care in the state, is also spreading the word about the program.

On a recent afternoon in their apartment at a Columbia Falls campground and motel where Snelson and Redle live with their baby girl, Snelson talked about the importance of the Kalispell program.

When her daughter was born, the infant went through withdrawal from the Subutex prescribed to treat Snelson's addiction. But the babys stay was one of the the shortest of any child in the program to date, in large part her doctors say, because her parents visited her every few hours, holding her close, reading or talking to her.

In the months since the birth, Snelson and Redle have bought a car, and Snelson cares for her daughter while Redle earns a steady paycheck working for a fencing company.

Snelson and Redle have not relapsed into drug use. Their baby is healthy and has just started lifting her head and smiling.
Frank Garner doesnt love incarceration the way he used to.

He is still a big fan of putting people who do bad things in jail, but the Republican legislator from Kalispell has begun to see flaws in that approach, particularly when it comes to drug abuse.

Garner, the former chief of the Kalispell Police Department, is now head of security for Kalispell Regional Healthcare. Spending more time in hospitals, Garner said he has seen a large increase in the number of pregnant women with chemical dependency.

He said he's realized more and more that putting them in jail doesnt seem to help. Despite the legal consequences and the risks to their children, the women rarely stop using drugs, he said.

Heroin violations have increased 1,557 percent since 2010, according to Montana Department of Justice data. Research has found that the majority of those users started by abusing prescription painkillers, a close chemical cousin. The number of infants exposed to narcotics during pregnancy has also skyrocketed, as has the number of children removed from their families because of parental drug use.

The solution, Garner said, is not found exclusively in jail.

If we keep doing what weve been doing, we shouldnt expect a different result, Garner said.

In 2016, 70 percent of women sentenced to the Montana Department of Corrections were placed in private, contracted treatment facilities.

Pregnant women also face the real possibility of having their children taken away after they give birth. As a result, women are discouraged from asking for help at the time when research says they have the best chance for getting off drugs: during pregnancy.

If their drug dependency is treated as criminal behavior, and women know that, theyre going to hide and try to manage on their own, said Kelly Ray Knight, a medical anthropologist at the University of California-San Francisco.

But women who try to quit alone, without medical support, are less likely to succeed. And withdrawals are dangerous for a fetus, particularly as women struggle to quit and relapse, repeatedly.

Even treatment can be tricky.

Steve Kandall, the former chief of neonatology at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York and author of the book Substance and Shadow: Women and Addiction in the United States, said many medical professionals still view addiction as a moral failure and personal choice, rather than an illness demanding medical care to manage.

If your concept of treatment is abstinence, then youre probably going to be dealing with the criminal justice system, Kandall said.

Treatment isnt up to standard within the criminal justice system, either. The Montana Womens Prison and most jails in the state do not offer medication-assisted treatment to pregnant drug users in spite of what most experts agree are best practices. Instead, inmates are forced to detox without the help of Suboxone or similar drugs, triggering withdrawals that can be dangerous for the fetus. Many women also are not provided prenatal care or are restrained during delivery, according to a 2013 review of public records by the Montana ACLU.

Barry Zuckerman, a pediatrician at Boston University's School of Medicine, has studied the biases that many health professionals, particularly those who work with children, hold against pregnant women who use drugs.

They dont like (the women). They are angry at them. Thats understandable, but its not helpful, Zuckerman said.

Stigmas in the medical and legal systems are rooted in the idea that addicted women are not just harming themselves, but also another life. As a result, some states have made it a crime to use drugs during pregnancy.

Laws originally drafted to protect women from domestic violence sometimes are used to prosecute them instead. And laws created to punish child abuse are stretched to charge women who use drugs during pregnancy.

In 2014, Ravalli County prosecutors, who have become known for aggressively pursuing drug convictions, charged a 21-year-old woman with criminal child endangerment after she tested positive for opiates, minor tranquilizers, and marijuana while 12 weeks pregnant.

The reality for some of these women is the need for drugs is stronger than any maternal instinct they have, said Deputy County Attorney Thorin Geist, according to the Ravalli Republic.

District Judge Jeffrey Langton ultimately threw out the charge, but the case served as notice that pregnant women may be vulnerable to additional charges beyond simple drug use. The National Advocates for Pregnant Women called the case a dangerous precedent that threatens the health and well-being of Montanans.

Geist declined multiple interview requests to discuss the case.

The fear of criminal charges leaves Montanas pregnant drug users with a choice: Seek treatment and risk jail time and the loss of their children, or manage their addiction alone without professional help.

Reed Perrezze, like many other women, chose the latter.

During both of her pregnancies, Perrezze used opioids and methamphetamine. She said she first experienced meth when she was 12, after an adult she knew injected it into her neck.

When she was a teenager, Perrezzes father brought her to the Rimrock Foundation in Billings for treatment, but she said she was kicked out for inhaling canned air duster, which gives euphoric and occasionally hallucinatory effects.

Perrezzes father was awarded custody of her first child soon after the birth.

She lived in a tent outside her hometown of Anaconda, dealing drugs and accruing eight felonies for crimes including drug possession and cashing bad checks. She dreaded visiting doctors, fearful they might discover her habits and report her to police.

The way the doctor talked to me  I was inhuman, Perrezze said.

Pregnant again in 2015 and still homeless, Perrezze avoided prenatal care. That same year, she was arrested on drug and other charges, and sentenced to court-ordered treatment, the first time she was in a program since the failed attempt as a teenager. She completed it and sobriety stuck.

Today, Perrezze has custody of both daughters. She is studying psychology at the University of Montana and has been sober for more than two years.

Despite evidence that jail may not be the best solution for pregnant drug users, many Montana leaders remain hesitant to change law enforcement tactics.

State Attorney General Tim Fox has made it a priority to fight Montanas drug problem, launching a statewide initiative to discuss solutions in schools, hospitals and courts. He also successfully lobbied legislators for money to create a new law enforcement team to go after drug traffickers. Many other programs, however, including social services that are often paired with addiction treatment, saw funding cuts.

Fox, like Garner, said he wants a multifaceted approach to battling addiction, including short-term goals to improve education and prevention. Although he said he is "not familiar with those particular laws," Fox said there very likely would be circumstances in which its appropriate to charge a woman with a crime for using drugs during pregnancy.
Santa came early for hardworking Montanans. Republicans have kept their promise to the American people and delivered tax reform that will let you keep more of what you earn. In just a couple of months, youll see more of your hard-earned money in your paychecks, families will have much needed relief, and small businesses can grow, invest, and create more Montana jobs.

This was long overdue  actually 31 years overdue.

The last time Washington reformed the tax code, Ronald Reagan was in the White House, and I had a full head of hair. Much has changed since 1986, but our tax code did not keep up.

Over three decades, it has grown more complex, punished families and small businesses, and held back low- and middle-income Americans. All the while, special interests and Washington lobbyists carved out their narrow, targeted loopholes and tax breaks.

This historic tax reform makes the tax code work for the American people again, not Washington special interests.

To ring in the new year, hardworking Montanans at every level of income will see their tax rates cut. If you paid a federal income tax rate of 10 percent, youll have a rate of zero. If you paid 15 percent, youll pay 12 percent. To further help taxpayers, the standard deduction is nearly doubled. Individuals wont pay federal income taxes on their first $12,000 of income, and a married couple wont pay on their first $24,000.

Montana families will also get relief. In addition to cuts to their tax rates, parents will better afford the rising cost of raising their kids with the doubling of the child tax credit to $2,000. Lower-income working parents, who struggle to make ends meet, also get a needed tax cut by making $1,400 of the child tax credit refundable against payroll taxes. A family with three kids under 17 will see their tax bill reduced by another $3,000  money they can use to buy clothes, diapers and groceries.

The bill also keeps the child and dependent care tax credit and the adoption tax credit for those who open their home and hearts.

A single parent, who has one child and earns $41,000, will see a tax cut of more than $1,300 under the new tax code.

The tax reform measure preserves the home mortgage interest deduction so that more Montanans starting out can buy a home, start a family, and have their part of the American dream.

The legislation keeps intact other tax benefits that hardworking Montanans count on, including deductions for charitable contributions, medical expenses, and state and local taxes.

Tax reform also makes the system simpler. According to a recent study, Americans spent nearly 9 billion hours and $409 billion complying with the tax code in 2016. Tax reform simplifies the system so that nine in 10 households can file their taxes on a postcard-size document. With a simpler tax code, Americans can spend less time working on their taxes and more time with their families.

Tax reform will grow our stagnant economy. The shocking fact is the economy hasnt grown more than 3 percent per year since 2005. In fact, the economy has only grown an annual average of less than 1.5 percent. In contrast, it grew an average of 3.3 percent between 1965 and 2007. While these differences in growth may seem small, they have big effects.

Slow economic growth has led to slow wage growth. Since 2007, average household income has increased by only 1.5 percent.

There is promising news. According to the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, the tax reform Republicans enacted will grow our sluggish economy, increase workers wages, and create 339,000 jobs.

Montanans have wanted tax relief for years. Theyve wanted to keep more of their hard-earned money to spend, save, or invest as they want. Theyve wanted their wages to grow. Theyve wanted more jobs and opportunities. Though its taken more than 30 years to overhaul the complex, anti-growth tax code, we have kept our promise and delivered on tax reform that will increase your paychecks, create Montana jobs, and jump start our economy. I wish you all a prosperous and happy new year!
MUSCATINE  While the Muscatine Center for Social Action homeless shelter has been over capacity for months, extreme cold temperatures this week are bringing even more people in.

MCSA Program Director Scott Dahlke said the shelter is open to anyone who needs a place to stay, and has already had more people than average stay overnight since temperatures dropped to single digits and below.

"We've had four people check in since Christmas because it was too cold out," he said. "And we're already in an overflow situation, so that's just made it a little more so. We don't want to turn anybody away. We couldn't live with that, having somebody sleep outside in this cold."

Before a sudden drop in temperatures hit eastern Iowa, Dahlke said the shelter had housed 60 children this year through October, which is up from 52 children in all of 2016.

And while he said most people assume the shelter would be at its highest capacity in the cold winter months, Dahlke said that's not always the case.

"Historically, looking at the statistics, there's no pattern I've found to when the shelter fills up and when it doesn't," he said. "But this year, we did see quite a few more people check in right after Christmas when the temperature dropped."

MCSA, Dahlke said, is reconfiguring the organization of its shelter to fit all of the current guests. And thanks to community donations over the holidays, he said there are daily meals and a stocked pantry for those in need of food.

In addition to the shelter at MCSA, people in the Muscatine area who need to escape the cold can stay at the warming shelter at the Jesus Mission Church and Outreach Center, 509 Mulberry Ave., Muscatine.

Diana Frakes, with the Jesus Mission, said the organization's doors are open each night until 10:30 p.m. Jesus Mission Church also serves breakfast from 9:30-11:30 a.m., plus dinner starting at 4:30 p.m., she said.

"The doors are always open when it's cold," she said. "Everybody's welcome, no matter what."

People in need of winter clothes or coats, Frakes said, can visit Jessica Faye's Closet, 513 Mulberry Ave. Since the '90s, the organization has offered clothing, furniture and household items for free, no questions asked.

Plus, Dahlke said MCSA has extra winter coats, hats and gloves available for people in need.

According to the National Weather Service in the Quad-Cities, cold temperatures are expected to continue through New Year's. Thursday's high is 15 degrees, with a 40 percent chance of snow, and Thursday night's low is 8 degrees.

Friday has another chance of snow, with a high of 15 degrees and low of 1 degree.
Public education in Iowa was established upon our Dec. 28, 1846, statehood. Today, parents are blessed to have six options for their childrens education: public school, public school in another neighborhood through open enrollment, virtual academy, private school, home school and independent private instruction.

With Iowas bountiful six school options, why do lawmakers want to increase our current public taxpayer outlay from $52,311,145 for school choice to $240,000,000 as noted in House File 9, Senate File 29 and public commentary by Rep. Walter Rogers (R-Cedar Falls)? The bills will be taken up during the 2018 legislative session.

 Few people realize $52 million of Iowas $7.5 billion budget subsidizes 44,226 privately educated students and sometimes the money goes directly to parents.

Public funding for private education is allocated as follows: $15.5 million for tuition and textbook tax credits, $12 million for school tuition tax credit, $8.2 million for nonpublic transportation reimbursement, $650,000 for nonpublic textbook reimbursement, $2 million for home school assistance payments given to home school parents, $1.6 million for classes in public schools that nonpublic students attend and $13 million funding for community partners preschool of 4-year-olds.

 According to the Iowa Poll (Selzer and Co.; Dec. 3-6), education is Iowans No. 1 priority and only 35 percent of citizens approve of the current Republican legislature-controlled education funding allocation. Furthermore, 65 percent of Iowans do NOT want private education to be supported by public funds.

Iowas budget is already $75 million in-the-red; its predicted an additional $45 million to $90 million spending cut is forthcoming in January, income projections for 2018 are not rosy and money doesnt grow on trees. Question: Where would supplemental money come from to increase Iowas existing $52 million school choice allocation to $240 million? Answer: public education, causing many of Iowas public school districts, especially those in the rural area, to go bankrupt.

Public schools are required to be held accountable for teacher certification, educational attainment, student attendance, health maintenance and are controlled by a publicly elected school board. Since 2013, anyone can teach a home school educated child, the teacher needs no teacher certification let alone even a GED and no record of the students attendance, health record or educational achievement are required. Iowans still grieve over the 2017 deaths of homeschooled Natalie Finn and Sabrina Ray.

Other school choice issues have relatively been kept quiet from the public, including: 1) There is little evidence voucher programs of any kind have improved educational outcomes, 2) Nonpublic funding of education usually benefits the rich and 3) Students who are intellectually challenged, disabled, of the wrong religion, race, social class and/or have discipline problems could easily be shunned by private institutions and they would have no constitutional protection.

 With Iowas 1846 statehood declaration, public dollars were to be spent for the public good. Public education and privatized schooling in Iowa have already established a good-to-great working partnership and they respect each others unique role, function and purpose. Allocating $52 million of Iowas hard-earned tax money to support nonpublic and home schooling is generous to a fault.

A test of representation is before our legislators. If they represent the people and know 65 percent of Iowans dont want public funds to go to private education, will they ignore the will and pleasure of their constituents or be responsible mature legislators, put the public before their party and defeat the currently proposed school choice bills?

Apprise the following Education Committee legislators of your feelings about HF 9, SF 29 and allocating $240 million (4.6 times current level) for school choice: Rep. Walter Rogers (R-Cedar Falls; Walt.Rogers@legis.iowa.gov), Rep. Sharon Steckman (D-Mason City; Sharon.Steckman@legis.iowa.gov), Sen. Amy Sinclair (R-Allerton; Amy.Sinclair@legis.iowa.gov) and Sen. Jeff Danielson (D-Cedar Falls; JeffDanielson@gmail.com).
I am currently in California, soaking up good vibes from Mom, Dad, Sister, and for the first time in many, MANY years, Brother as well. I spent Christmas Day traveling in planes and automobiles and spent Christmas afternoon playing trains with Nephew #2 - who is two, and who reminded me that I am feeling much older than usual these days. All of these things are good, but there is something much better than that happening right now.

This is my current view from the bed in my sister's old room. As you can see, my Mother is a crafter. She does a bit of every type of craft that you can think of and some of others that you have never heard of. This is her papercrafting room, and I am smack dab in the middle of it all right now.

I know that her crafting interest comes from my Grandmother who was an artist and created things all the time when my Mom was growing up. Mom has been creating art and making crafts for as long as Grandma could remember, and that talent was very much encouraged. Mom's love of all things artistic and crafty led her into her profession, Occupational Therapy.





Back in the days when my Mom went to OT school, OT was all about using crafting and art to assist clients in building strength. The focus was on using those artistic skills to help folks find a way to engage in the exercises and vocations that matched their levels of function. As a result, as an OT student, Mom got to take all sorts of art classes. She was required to learn how to knit and crochet. She took jewelry design and ceramics. She also had to take anatomy and kinesiology, but the art classes were part of her focus at school.





As my Mom transitioned from full-time work as an OT into full-time work as a stay at home Mom, the arts and crafts remained. I remember Mom embroidering things, and crocheting things, and sewing things in every place we have ever lived. She encouraged us in our artistic endeavors, whatever they were (except, interestingly, listening to music...). We found access to scissors and glue when we wanted it.





My Sister had a realization when she was in college that many of the memories that she has of crafting had an ulterior motive when my Mom suggested them. She realized that most of what we did as a matter of course actually had a therapeutic purpose behind it. Making paper snowflakes because they are pretty? No, that's not the reason - making paper snowflakes to strengthen our palmar grasp as well as to work on hand-eye coordination, to work on visual figure-ground discrimination, to work on modulation of strength, to work on...oh, and look how pretty they are!





Anyway, one of the reasons that I have such a creative surge when I am here is that I am surrounded by possibilities. Just by being awake in this room, several hours before the rest of the household starts to wake up, I have lots of food for thought. Do you want scalloped edges on your file folder activity? Which size? Mom has eight pairs of scalloped edge scissors to choose from. You get the idea!





Last night, in the midst of day two jet lag and exhaustion, my brain started going and going. I got my little book to write things down, and I went to the computer to organize things a bit. I'm still working through how I want to do centers, and I found some ideas and concepts. I spent some time looking at what my Mom has stashed away in this room and came up with some ideas for visual aids. Ideas for visuals usually lead to TME ideas. Everything goes into the book for now, and is going into the computer slowly but surely.





I am trying to keep up with the ideas, and that's why the little book is so important to me. My thoughts go in there, and I review them when I can. I have many such little books, and I use them all the time to spark interest and develop therapeutic music experiences (TMEs) and/or tools for my music therapy practice. When this surge of creativity finally reaches an end, I'll have ideas to actualize during the not-so-creative times.





Ooh, there goes another idea - mystery bag for tactile discrimination tasks - look at a picture, find it by feeling all instruments in the bag. Can you do it? Yes, you can!! TME idea AND center idea all in one! Whoo-hoo!! Gotta write this down in the book as soon as possible.





Happy Wednesday from me, here in California!
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 []
The message on the winery website reads, We are passionate people. We have extended ourselves at times  physically, emotionally, financially. But the hard work and dedication has been worth it. We are raising our daughter and son on the land that weve so carefully, diligentlyand yes, passionatelynurtured over the years. And we are humbled by the opportunity to share a little of that with you through the wines we offer.

The message  along with a beautiful postcard photo of the family walking though the vineyards  should be enough to inspire anyone to visit the winery.

For James and Colleen Harder, owners of James Cole Winery, that photo and message made their story of panic, despair and survival during the fires that much harder to envision.

The family evacuated after the fence surrounding the property vineyard, surrounding homes and a nearby Silverado Trail winery, all burned completely to the ground.

Harder then returned to fight to keep his family and business partners life dream from becoming a complete nightmare. What ensued was the fight of his life, and luckily, he did not have to fight alone.

Jim Regusci, another business partner and winemaker, arrived with a crew of friends and neighbors to help fight off flames with the winerys 10,000-gallon water truck and a bunch of five-gallon water pails.

This column is not meant to relive the horrific turn of events for the Harder family, or tell their heroic story of survival, but it was necessary to better appreciate the following story I discovered when I started getting Facebook updates from the winery as I actually began following them during the fires.

Its a great  and true story  and it couldnt have happened to a more deserving group of Napa business owners.

Rather than provide my own version, I thought Id simply share a CliffsNotes version of the actual James Cole Facebook post (shortened, for space purposes only):

December 8, 2017Just got passed along a cool story that put a smile on our faces. A few years back we were put in touch with a wine collector out of Europe who came to our winery and tasted through a bunch of our Cabs.

About two months later he called and put in a rather large order of different vintages to be transported to Europe.

This gentleman supposedly purchases wines for well-regarded wine collectors, but we never gave it much thought as the wines were paid for and picked up. Well last night my brother who made the original introduction had dinner with the gentleman who passed along the following story.

A few weeks back he was having dinner with a friend  who also happens to be a big purchaser of our wines  when his friend offered to fetch my favorite California Cabernet Sauvignon from my cellar  one that you actually turned me on to.

He returned with a bottle of James Cole.

Cool story right?

Well the gentleman who originally acquired our wines is Lord Robert Peerless of Monaco. The other gentleman, who thanked him for turning him on to James Cole, is his friend Prince Albert of Monaco, the dinner took place at the Royal Palace, and the wine was our 2009 Umbral. Heres to royalty!
Mark Evans remembers the Napa County wildfires as a blur of flames, smoke, volunteers and horses, horses, horses.

He is president of the Napa Valley Horsemens Association. He knew the night the fires broke out that the associations 32-acre property south of the city of Napa along Foster Road would be needed for evacuated animals.

Evans opened the gates to the Foster Road facility and people with horses came from Soda Canyon, the Carneroswherever the fires happened to be burning at a particular time. The association usually has 15 horses staying on its land and had estimated it could handle 60 in an evacuation.

It went beyond that real fast, Evans said. When the sun came up, there were 120.

The association served about 250 horses that came at various times over three weeks, with 125 there at the peak. Many stayed in temporary pens assembled in the pastures.

They were crammed everywhere that you could think of a horse could fit, Evans said. And it wasnt just horses. We had a few goats, a couple of cows in there  and lots of people.

On that first morning after the fires broke out, association officials realized they had 60 or so people on the property they had to feed. They went to the supermarket.

We bought every doughnut, coffee, Danish and everything else, Evans said.

Jonnie Hagan, an association board member, came to the horse evacuation center as both a volunteer and a beneficiary. She evacuated 15 horses from boarding space that first night as the Atlas Fire raged.

They were stressed, Hagan said.

So were association members. The sky was aglow to the east from the Atlas Fire and the west from the Partrick fire. They wondered just how close the Partrick fire might be, though it turned out to be some distance.

You didnt know, Evans said, adding the association made its own evacuation plan.

That first night for Evans and other volunteers included driving down Highway 121 with trailers into the Carneros area to try to rescue some horses. Flames lit the sky as the wind-blown Partrick fire crossed the highway at Haire Lane.

Despite the dire situation, no roadblock hindered their progress. They were free to drive across a rapidly charring landscape, probably because so many other places in Napa County were ablaze and emergency crews were spread thin.

There was not a fire truck or police car to be seen, Evans said. It happened so fast.

They couldnt rescue the horses from Haire Lane, but the horses survived and later were evacuated to the Napa Valley Horsemens Association.

Evans won a Sharing the Spirit nomination for his efforts. In a sense, though, hes also a stand-in for a bigger volunteer force that instantly transformed the Napa Valley Horsemens Association into an animal evacuation center.

He, Hagan and other association members took a week or more off from their jobs. Several hundred volunteers from across Northern California lent a hand at various times.

They were doing everything from cleaning pens to helping assemble pens to sorting out donations, Evans said.

One fear was that a sick horse might spread its illness to other horses. The Napa Community Animal Response Team and veterinarian Claudia Sonder set up a biosecurity plan to prevent cross-contamination.

Veterinarians came to offer their skills. Ailing horses had to be tested to see if they had a contagious disease or were suffering from breathing the smoky air.

The association spent over $10,000 in operational fees on the horse evacuation center, Evans said. On top of that, people made $20,000 to $30,000 worth of donations, everything from halters to truckloads of hay.

We did a lot of work, but it wasnt just us, Evans said.

We had help, Hagan said.

Evans recalled that such events as the Las Vegas shooting happened before the wildfires. It made him wonder what the world was coming to.

Then this happens, and as bad as it all was, what we saw here was the community come together, he said. Ive never seen anything like it before. It was a get-it-done kind of mood and it was awesome.
Some Christmas presents are a wonderful surprise, others a big disappointment. We try to be polite about the clunkers, figuring its the thought that counts. But the new Republican tax lawwhat President Trump has described as a big, beautiful Christmas present for the American people  is the worst Christmas present ever. And theres no need to be polite, since the thought behind it stinks, too.

Imagine being promised a new doll or Xbox, only to unwrap the package on Christmas morning to find an empty boxempty, that is, except for an unpaid bill from the toy store. Thats how 92 million middle-class families will feel when, thanks to the temporary nature of individual tax cuts in the GOP law, their taxes will actually be higher than they are now.

Then imagine visiting your rich relatives and seeing their living room strewn with expensive gifts. By 2027, these members of the top 1 percent will be getting 83 percent of the tax cuts under the Trump-GOP plan. But the gifts start arriving much sooner: as early as next year when their average tax cut will be over $50,000. Meanwhile, the bottom three-fifths of Americans will get an average tax cut of about a dollar a day.

Finally, imagine discovering that Santa can only afford his generous gifts to the rich by stealing from everyone else. Thats what the GOP tax overhaul does: it steals from the American people in the form of drastic budget cuts to vital services in order to give huge tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations. Those big firms get a permanent, $1.4 trillion tax cut by lowering their tax rate from todays 35 percent to just 21 percent.

The new tax law will force $400 billion in automatic cuts to Medicare over 10 years. It will deprive 13 million Americans of their health care altogether and jack up insurance prices by 10 percent or more on the individual market. Other services suffering automatic cuts include agricultural subsidies, student loans and military retirement benefitsa total of $136 billion in cuts next year alone, with the figure increasing in future years.

On top of those automatic cuts are trillions more that Congress has already proposed, including additional cuts to Medicare, along with Medicaid, education and other fundamental public services.

Whats the thought behind this terrible Christmas present? The idea is that giving even more money to those who already have a lotwealthy individuals and profit-laden corporationssomehow helps working families.

But common sense and recent history prove that false. Giving more money to the well-off just makes them more well-off. When you pay for it by raising taxes on working families and cutting public services they depend on, you make most people worse off.

Christmas is about more than presents, of course. Its about love and caring. But theres nothing loving or caring about the GOP tax overhaul. Its a celebration of human greed over human need. And its only the first half of a two-part assault on the American society weve built up with love and care over the past century.

House Speaker Paul Ryan has announced that next year, Republicans will focus on cutting Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other services the American people have funded and relied on for decades to help their neighbors, their families and themselves. Hes explained that cutting these bedrock programs is how you tackle the debt.

This from a man who just shepherded through Congress a tax-cut bill that will increase the national debt by up to $2.2 trillion by giving tax cuts to millionaires, billionaires and multinational corporations. It would be ironic  even funny  if so many people werent going to suffer.

One last image from our sad Christmas day. On the way home, feeling sorry for yourself, you pass a shuttered homeless shelter and a closed soup kitchen. Signs explain they lost their government funding because of budget cuts. And then you know whos had the worst Christmas of all thanks to the GOP tax-cut giveaway.
A new year generally brings with it the promise of forward progress: We at least go through the motions of making resolutions, we hope for renewed wisdom from our leaders, we take a moment to try to set the griefs and failures of the old year aside.

But for Americans on both sides of the political divide, 2017 promised something different: the inauguration of President Donald Trump, whose entire campaign had been built around a promise to resurrect a vision of the past that his supporters viewed with gauzy nostalgia and his opponents anticipated with dread.

Almost a year in, Trumps agenda has proceeded unevenly. But if there was a theme to 2017, it was that America was already mired in our own history, that wed never really managed to escape our ugliest chapters and close our painful divides.

The piece of pop culture that made this case on the broadest scale was Lynn Novick and Ken Burnss 10-part documentary, The Vietnam War. The movie, which includes extensive interviews with both North and South Vietnamese veterans, makes a searing and complex argument that the American idea broke in Vietnam. And that while the nation survived the foreign and domestic agonies of the period, we did so in part by embracing collective denial, not by truly coping with the divides the war exposed.

Watching The Vietnam War and reading other works of history, including David Halberstams Korean War survey The Coldest Winter, were reassuring reminders that America has survived personalities as extreme as Douglas MacArthurs and Richard Nixons. They also made me wonder how many cycles the United States can endure, especially when these periods of extreme division compound new grievances on top of the old ones.

Burns, at least, is optimistic about Americans capacity to go back and do the civic and emotional work left undone after the Vietnam War. But the events of 2017 suggested just how much work there is to do in coming to agreement on the past, and how difficult its proving for Americans even to begin those discussions on reasonable terms.

This year intensified an already painful debate over what should be done with Confederate memorials. This ongoing argument escalated into violent confrontation in August, when white supremacists rallied in defense of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Virginia. DeAndre Harris was beaten in a parking garage, and Heather Heyer was killed after James Alex Fields Jr.s Dodge Challenger plowed into a group of people who were protesting the racist sentiments of many of the original demonstrators.

The events in Charlottesville prompted many cities and towns to remove their Confederate memorials and even inspired some citizens to tear down the monuments themselves. But even as these changes suggested that Heyers death had forged a new consensus about whom we should honor with public art, the original Unite the Right rally in Virginia was a disturbing reminder that for some Americans, basic historical questions about the Civil War, ranging from the personal morality of Lee to the reason the Southern states seceded, remained unsettled. It isnt merely the small group of extreme racists who made their way to Charlottesville who disagree with the clear historical record on these questions; throughout the late summer and fall, my inbox filled up with praise for Lee as a noble slave owner and arguments for the irrelevance of slavery.

The Civil War is a seismic event that torments us even from a century and a half away, but it was hardly the only piece of the American past that returned to haunt us in 2017. An essential part of the reckoning with sexual harassment that kicked into high gear in October with the publication of blockbuster pieces about the allegations against super-producer Harvey Weinstein has been a painful confrontation with the excuses people across the political spectrum have made for men accused of assault, harassment or both in the past, from John F. Kennedy to Clarence Thomas and Bill Clinton. And we have had to confront the fact that beloved art may be deeply shaped by the alleged sexual misconduct of the people who made it, from Marion Zimmer Bradley to Louis C.K.

If renewed attention to Confederate monuments makes clear that debates we thought were settled are, in fact, highly contested, the conversation about sexual harassment revealed that many of us have responded to high-profile stories about sexual misconduct in fragmented and even contradictory ways. To a certain extent, those jagged edges appear to be aligning into more coherent positions: For example, decades after Clintons emergence on the public stage, many Democrats seem to be coming to terms with the idea that it was a mistake to spend so much time and energy defending his character. Thats important work, and its how we learn and grow, but its still painful to look back at the stances weve taken that dont fit together neatly into a coherent, principled whole.

This isnt even to mention other disturbing parallels with the past, or lessons America apparently failed to learn. Twelve years after Hurricane Katrina, American citizens have been devastated by another storm, and the country has largely neglected their plight. A Nixonian war on the press is back. And spiraling levels of inequality, which may be further exacerbated by a tax plan Republicans are sending to the presidents desk, recall a brutal and less-fair age in American life.

Trump has learned since his inauguration that to be president is not to be king, and that to get anything done, much less a wholesale transformation of American society, is exceptionally difficult. And the first year of his presidency has brought reminders of just how much the rest of us have to endure, and how hard well have to work to truly close the divides that have yawned open between us.

Maybe thats the best takeaway from 2017. Going back to whenever America was supposedly so great is going to be nearly impossible. And getting to someplace new and genuinely better is going to be staggeringly difficult as well.
Here are this season's final updates from the Christmas wars.

- A federal district court had rejected a request by the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington that the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority be ordered to allow the posting of advertising for its "Find the Perfect Gift" campaign on city buses. The transit authority cited its rules against posting religious messages; the archdiocese argued that the rules were either unconstitutional or not consistently applied.

Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit refused to grant an emergency injunction. That's not to say the archdiocese can't ultimately prevail on the merits of the claim, but its ad didn't run this season.

- We're all accustomed by now to lawsuits demanding the removal of Nativity scenes from public property. But in Pittsburgh, the battle over the creche in the City-County Building has nothing to do with the judges. City councilmember Darlene Harris claims that the creche she put under the Christmas tree in the council offices was removed on the orders of council President Bruce Kraus. The first time, the creche was returned to Harris, who restored it to its place under the tree. Now it's apparently disappeared.

Yes, if the Nativity scene remained, a court might well order its removal, depending on whether it was sufficiently surrounded by secular Christmas symbols. (Scholars and lawyers who work in the field often call this the "three plastic animals" rule. Seriously.) According to the local papers, however, this particular battle seems as much about politics as about constitutional law.

- Speaking of court orders, just in time for Christmas, Norway plans to start killing reindeer. The nation's supreme court has upheld a government order requiring Sami reindeer herder Jovsset Ante Sara to reduce the size of his reindeer herd to 75 from 200. In other words, Sara must slaughter more than half his herd -- a task usually carried out by shooting the animals in the head. The government's order is intended to protect the tundra from overgrazing; Sara says that if forced to thin the herd he won't be able to earn a living.

The Sami are an indigenous people inhabiting the arctic regions of Scandinavia and Russia. Traditionally, many earn a living by reindeer husbandry, and in both Sweden and Norway no one else is permitted to own herds. During the settlement of the northern regions, the Sami lost much of their land. Scholars tell us that nowadays the rights of the Sami are better protected in Norway than elsewhere. But not always, it seems -- at least not for Sara, who says he will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

- Meanwhile, far-right websites have been circulating the "news" that Hoboken, New Jersey's new mayor, a Muslim, has banned the word "Christmas." But none of this is true. According to Snopes.com, Ravi Bhalla is not the mayor but the mayor-elect; he's Sikh, not Muslim; and not only has he not tried to ban the word, he has used it himself. So the vicious and polemical "story" is entirely wrong. But fire breathers need fire to live, and if they can't find any, they'll kindle it themselves ... even at Christmas.

- One of the most interesting findings in the recent Pew Research Center study of our attitudes toward Christmas came when people were asked how they liked to be greeted in stores while out shopping. More than half of respondents, 52 percent, said it doesn't matter. About 32 percent preferred "merry Christmas," a sharp decline from five years ago. Another 15 percent would rather hear "happy holidays" or "season's greetings."

I keep seeing these numbers spun as a strong majority (15 + 52 = 67 percent) not insisting on "merry Christmas." But an equally defensible interpretation is that an even stronger majority (32 + 52 = 84 percent) does not insist on a more secular greeting. In my own shopping this year, I've found the greetings by sales personnel divided about 50-50.

- Finally, I commend to your attention a column by Izabella Kaminska, editor in chief of FT Alphaville, who argues in the Financial Times that Christmas helps explain why we should not seek efficiency in all things. In an efficiently run world, she writes, Christmas would have no place. Think of all the waste:

"Arts and crafts; handmade decorations; organically-sourced produce from Christmas markets and stalls; Christmas lights; the wrapping of almost everything in decorative paper; indoor trees; festivities and merrymaking on employer-time; Christmas shows; and, most crucially of all, unnecessary gift-giving all around."

Kaminska adds that it's difficult to justify in efficiency terms "the over-consumption of almost everything" and "the days-long preparation of just one meal." But we do it anyway, and evidently should go on doing it: "If the joy, pleasure and job security afforded by Christmas inefficiency tells us anything, it is that efficiency should not be regarded as an end in itself."

So if you want to fight the power, keep on wrapping.

- Carter is a Bloomberg View columnist. He is a professor of law at Yale University and was a clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. His novels include "The Emperor of Ocean Park" and "Back Channel," and his nonfiction includes "Civility" and "Integrity."
The seasonal ice skating rink at the Meritage Resort and Spa in Napa has officially opened, with cozy fire pits along the side of the rink and
Napa school district buys Carneros land for new Stone Bridge School

For the second time this month, the Napa Valley Unified School District has reached an agreement to buy land for the purpose of moving a school sitting atop an earthquake fault.

Last week, the school board approved the purchase of 7.6 acres just off Old Sonoma Road for $1.8 million that will serve as the new campus for Stone Bridge School.

The seller was identified in a school board resolution and district purchasing agreement as 5266 OSR LLC. No other information on the seller was publicly available, according to Assistant Superintendent Wade Roach.

The new site will be located at 5266 Old Sonoma Rd., just north of the Carneros Resort and Spa.

Earlier this month, the Board of Trustees authorized the expenditure of $10.2 million to buy a 15-acre parcel in American Canyon to build a new campus for Napa Junction Elementary School.

The two land acquisitions will use funds from Measure H, the $269 million school bond approved by voters in June 2016.

Both Napa Junction and Stone Bridge have earthquake faults running beneath them, a fact that was discovered following the August 2014 earthquake.

The risk of seismic activity under Stone Bridge is compounded by the fact that it also has a PG&E natural gas transmission line running under it.

The combination of a fault and gas line prompted the school board in November 2016 to direct NVUSD to find a new home for Stone Bridge.
When the Caldwell Snyder Gallery moved into the old Star building 10 years ago, it seemed like there were three strikes against it: a skeptical public wary of art galleries, a venue that everyone associated with a local institution, and a construction project with a price tag that ran into the millions.

Ten years later, the gallery is still going strong. So much for three strikes, youre out.

Oliver Caldwell has been in the art business since 1978, when he and Susan Snyder established the first Caldwell Snyder Gallery in San Francisco in 1983. After he married his wife Karen in 1995, they bought a local barn and vineyard and started making wine. They moved to St. Helena in 2002, drawn to the small-town community and good public schools.

Soon after that, the St. Helena Star building, constructed in 1900, came on the market, but potential buyers were turned off by the cost of a mandatory seismic retrofit.

It didnt pencil out for a guy who wanted to buy it for speculation and investment, Caldwell said. It had to be some irrational person who wanted to buy it out of pride of ownership.

That person turned out to be Caldwell himself, prodded along by his wife. He envisioned an art gallery, even though St. Helena was seen as hostile to art.

Caldwell remembers some locals looking at him askance and seeming to think hed somehow pushed the newspaper out of the building, even though the Star had moved to the Galleron Building voluntarily. Caldwell said Carol Poole, who was planning director at the time, was an important early supporter who believed he would do justice to the historic building.

Four years and millions of dollars later  Caldwell has never gotten specific about the cost  St. Helenans saw the results when the Caldwell Snyder Gallery opened in 2007. At the time Caldwell described the earthquake-proofed building as a historic skin around a modern steel box.

Caldwell has built and visited many galleries, and the design of the St. Helena gallery reflects what he believes makes people feel comfortable and inspired. To him, the decline in museum attendance is proof that galleries have to be about more than just the art on the walls.

You have to make the space interesting and provide the right context for the art. Some of the elements here are borrowed from some of the modern museums, he said, indicating the slatwork on the ceiling.

In choosing art, Caldwell likes to meet the artists, visit their studios, and figure out what makes them and their work special.

You hear the old adage about how artists are difficult, but its amazing how wonderful our artists are, he said. Theyre really cool people and I like hanging out with them.

That said, Caldwell said theres no formula for what will or wont sell, so he relies on intuition developed through decades in the art business, international art fairs, whats happening in the art world, and a strong following among collectors both local  and by local he means the Bay Area  and international.

That stable client base  some of them willing to buy art from a show catalog, sight unseen  has helped him stay in business even when downtown St. Helena struggles.

Main Street took a hit during the recession, Caldwell said. It was a double whammy because the secret forces of the Internet were moving at the same time.

However, the art business and others that dont rely on mass-produced merchandise have one advantage the Internet cant touch, Caldwell said.

Were the last bastions of handmade inventory, so that insulates us from the forces of the Internet, he said. Otherwise, if this were all machine-made, Id be done.

As a newspaper office for almost 100 years, this building was always about stories, Caldwell said. That made an indelible impression on me. You can almost see it as a de facto community center. Thats why I love it when charities use it at night.

In some ways, this building is still about stories  about the artists, about different genres of art. So its still the same rewarding of information and thought.
Celebrations for the New Year

In St. Helena, Goose & Gander will host a special party for New Years Eve, and Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch will host a brunch on New Years Day to help you recover.

The speakeasy setting at Goose & Gander, 1245 Spring St., is made for a 1920s prohibition-style New Years party. Choose from either a 6:30 or 9:30 p.m. five-course dinner seating ($165 per person, plus $85 optional wine pairing), and sip unique craft cocktails while enjoying live ragtime music from Molly Ringwalds dad, Bob Ringwald. Stay for the after party from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., (included with dinner ticket or $40 for the party only), featuring dancing and local spin doctor Rotten Robbie. For details, visit gooseandgander.com.

Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch is serving a 2018 New Years Day Brunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. that includes grass fed beef and smoked pork hash, 12-hour pulled pork sandwich, biscuits and gravy and Farmstead Benedict, along with a serving of black-eyed peas to bring prosperity.

Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch is at 738 Main St. To make a reservation, call 707-963-4555 or visit longmeadowranch.com.
Rabbi Niles Goldstein of Congregation Beth Shalom lit the Chanukah Menorah in St. Helenas Lyman Park on Saturday, Dec. 16, one of the eight nights of Chanukah, which began Dec. 12 and ended Dec. 20. The dates for Chanukah are determined by the Jewish lunar calendar, and change every year. Nineteen years ago a small group of St. Helena citizens and several local churches - the St. Helena Catholic Church, United Methodist Church of St. Helena, First Baptist Church and Calvary Christian Center - donated this Chanukah menorah to the City of St. Helena to be displayed in Lyman Park during the Chanukah holiday. A menorah is a nine-branched candelabra used only during the Jewish holiday of Chanukah, the Festival of Lights.
Prestwich to address womens group on Wednesday, Jan. 3

The Federated Women of Upper Napa Valley will meet at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 3, at the First Presbyterian Church, 1428 Spring St. in St. Helena.

Mark Prestwich, the new city manager of St. Helena, will be speaking. Prestwich has been on the job since the beginning of August and was most recently the city manager of Nevada City.

He has 21 years of experience in operations, project management, and executive leadership in small, medium and large California municipalities including assisting with the Napa Flood Control Project.

The FWUNV invites anyone interested to join them for the meeting.
Story Highlights Barack Obama edges out Donald Trump as most admired man

Hillary Clinton wins narrow victory over Michelle Obama

Clinton has won the past 16 years; Obama the past 10

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans once again are most likely to name Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton as the man and woman living anywhere in the world they admire most, as they have for the past 10 years. The pair retain their titles this year, although by much narrower margins than in the past. Obama edges out Donald Trump, 17% to 14%, while Clinton edges out Michelle Obama, 9% to 7%.

Most Admired Man and Woman -- Recent Trend for Top Finishers in 2017 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 % % % % % Most Admired Man Barack Obama 16 19 17 22 17 Donald Trump * * 5 15 14 Pope Francis 4 6 5 4 3 Rev. Billy Graham 2 2 1 1 2 John McCain * * * * 2 Elon Musk * * * * 2 Bernie Sanders * * 3 2 1 Bill Gates 1 1 2 1 1 Benjamin Netanyahu * 1 * 1 1 Jeff Bezos * * * * 1 The Dalai Lama * * 1 1 1 Mike Pence * * * 1 1 Most Admired Woman Hillary Clinton 15 12 13 12 9 Michelle Obama 5 3 4 8 7 Oprah Winfrey 6 8 4 3 4 Elizabeth Warren * 1 1 1 3 Angela Merkel 1 1 2 3 2 Queen Elizabeth II 1 1 2 2 2 Condoleezza Rice 2 4 1 2 1 Melania Trump * * * * 1 Nikki Haley * * * * 1 Duchess Kate Middleton 1 2 * 1 1 Beyonce Knowles * 1 * * 1 Note: Combined first and second mentions; Rankings are based on total number of responses; *Less than 0.5% Gallup, Dec. 4-11, 2017

The 2017 survey marks the 16th consecutive year Clinton has been the most admired woman. She has held the title 22 times in total, more than anyone else. Eleanor Roosevelt is second with 13 wins. Obama has now been named the most admired man 10 times, trailing only Dwight Eisenhower, who earned the distinction 12 times. Obama won all eight years he was president, plus 2008 -- the year he was first elected -- and this year, his first as a former president.

But Clinton's and Obama's standings this year are more tenuous than in the past. The 9% who name Clinton is the lowest percentage she has received since 2002, when 7% named her in another close first-place finish. Clinton won the title this year in the same poll she registered a personal low favorable rating. This indicates she remains top of mind for enough people who like her to be named more than any other woman in response to the open-ended question, finishing ahead of some women who may be better liked overall but are not as prominent in people's minds.

The percentage of adults naming Obama as the most admired man is down from 22% last year, but he has been at or near 17% in several other years.

A quarter of Americans cannot name a man or a woman they admire most. Nine percent name a relative or friend as the most admired man, and 13% do so for the most admired woman.

##SPEEDBUMP##

Trump One of Small Number of Incumbent Presidents Not to Win Distinction

Gallup has asked the most admired man question 71 times since 1946 -- all but in 1976. The incumbent president has won 58 of those times. Previous incumbent presidents who did not finish first include Harry Truman in 1946-1947 and 1950-1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1967-1968, Richard Nixon in 1973, Gerald Ford in 1974-1975, Jimmy Carter in 1980, and George W. Bush in 2008. All but Truman in 1947 and Ford in 1974 had job approval ratings well below 50%, like Trump.

As would be expected for a Republican president, Trump wins handily among Republicans -- 35% name him as the man they admire most, with only 1% naming Obama. In contrast, Obama leads among Democrats, with 39% mentioning him and 3% Trump. Independents are slightly more likely to name Obama (12%) than Trump (9%).

After Trump and Obama, the remainder of the top 10 list for men includes Pope Francis, Rev. Billy Graham (for a record 61st time), Sen. John McCain, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk, Sen. Bernie Sanders, businessman and philanthropist Bill Gates, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and three men tied for 10th -- Vice President Mike Pence, the Dalai Lama and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Bezos and Musk made the top 10 this year for the first time.

In addition to Graham, many of the other top 10 male finishers have been on the list numerous times, including Gates (18 times), Obama (12), the Dalai Lama (eight), Trump (seven), McCain (six) and Pope Francis (five).

One notable person missing from the top 10 list this year is Bill Clinton, whose string of 25 consecutive top 10 finishes ended this year. Clinton was No. 1 on the list each of his eight years as president from 1993 to 2000.

Oprah Winfrey Finishes in Top 10 for 30th Time

Hillary Clinton has finished in the top 10 26 times, the fifth most among women. She trails two of this year's other top 10 finishers -- Queen Elizabeth II (who holds the record for women, with 49 appearances) and Oprah Winfrey (named for the 30th time, third behind former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's 34 appearances and ahead of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis' 28 during their lifetimes).

Despite their frequent appearances on the list, neither the queen nor Winfrey has ever finished first. Queen Elizabeth II was second in 1952, 1957, 1958 and 1962. Winfrey has finished second 13 times, most recently in 2014.

Joining Clinton, Queen Elizabeth II and Winfrey in the top 10 this year are Michelle Obama, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, first lady Melania Trump, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton and Beyonce Knowles. Trump, Haley and Knowles are new to the top 10. Rice has finished in the top 10 17 times, Obama 10 times, Merkel five times, and Warren and the duchess four times each.

Clinton was the choice of 22% of Democrats, with Obama next at 12%. Among independents, Obama had 8% of mentions and Clinton 5%. No woman registered 5% among Republicans, with Rice named by 4% and Clinton, Trump and Haley named by 3%. Republicans are much more likely to name relatives (19%) than Democrats (9%) or independents (12%) are.

Implications

Hillary Clinton has been named most admired more than any woman -- or man -- in Gallup's polling history. But the likelihood that she will continue to hold that honor in future years seems less certain, with her popularity at a nadir and the percentage naming her as most admired the lowest in 15 years. She managed to win this year because she remains arguably more prominent than other contenders. However, retaining that stature may be more challenging in coming years with her political career likely over.

Trump's unpopularity is holding him back from winning the most admired distinction. The incumbent president is the usual winner, since he is arguably the most prominent figure in the country -- but when the president is unpopular, other well-known and well-liked men have been able to finish first. Obama, like Hillary Clinton, may fade in prominence the longer he is out of office. Former presidents commonly make the top 10 list but rarely win, with Obama only the second to do so, along with Eisenhower in 1967 and 1968.
Susan T. Jones

Susan Tamny Jones, whose career as a transformational fundraiser left an indelible mark on the University of Miami and its community, passed away peacefully at her Coral Gables home Christmas day. She was 72.

Jones embodied a comforting style and grace during her 20-plus years at the University, where she was a beloved leader in the Division of University Advancement. She was instrumental in the success of the Universitys two major capital campaigns  Momentum 1 and Momentum 2  which raised more than $3 billion and transformed the Universitys campuses with state-of-the-art research centers and classrooms, contributed to student success through numerous scholarships and awards, and attracted talented faculty wanting to work at a first-class university.

Susans ever-present personal touch was the touchstone by which many University of Miami donors became lifelong Hurricanes, said University of Miami President Julio Frenk. She loved bringing people together for a common cause, and the University is stronger and more responsive for it. Felicia and I send our heartfelt condolences to Edgar, her children, family, friends and her extended U family.

Donna E. Shalala, former UM president who presided over the two capital campaigns, said Jones was a critical leader in building the U into a first-tier university. I treasured her guidance and friendship over the years.

Joness University leadership was recognized during her induction into the Iron Arrow Society, the highest honor bestowed at the University.

A cherished member of the Miami community, Joness leadership and involvement spanned across many clubs, organizations and charities. She served on the boards of the Ransom Everglades School, the Beaux Arts, Riviera Country Club and the Junior League of Miami, one of the oldest and most influential womens volunteer organizations, to name just a few. In 2006, Jones received the Sarah Hopkins Woodruff Award at the American Red Crosss Spectrum Awards for Women.

Susan was beloved by all who had the honor to work with her, said Barbara Hecht Havenick, friend, fellow community leader and member of the UM Board of Trustees. The behind-the-scenes impact Susan had on so many lives is impossible to measure. She was one of a kind.

Jones, associate vice president for University Advancement, was born June 26, 1945 in Annapolis, Maryland. The daughter of Cdr. Lewis D. Tamny, a career U.S. Navy officer and Ann Tamny, she grew up traveling to her fathers various duty assignments, including posts in Florida  Pensacola, Opa-locka and Sanford  Corpus Christi, Texas; New Jersey; and Rhode Island. She graduated from the University of Florida.

She is survived by her husband, Edgar Jones; sons Patterson and Cooper (Karen); her grandchildren, Olivia and Ava; a niece Mariele and her son, Graham; and her brothers Michael (Cynthia), of Colorado, who have two children, Elizabeth and Gilmore; Pete (Nancy) of California, who have two children, Kimberly and John (Kendall), whose daughter Claire is grandneice; Tom (Donna) of California; and her sister Laiky of Harrisonburg, Virginia.

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, December 28, at St. Philips Episcopal Church, 1121 Andalusia Avenue, Coral Gables. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that contributions be made in Susans memory to the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Health System.
Local assemblies around Japan are discussing or preparing to pass ordinances that will place strict limits on where minpaku (private lodging services) can be located, in advance of a national law that will go into effect in June regulating their use.

With the explosion of overseas tourism in big cities like Tokyo and Osaka, historical capitals like Kyoto and Nara, and regions like Hokkaido and Okinawa, local governments around major tourist destinations are looking to curb the number of illegal minpaku that have sprung up in recent years.

Eighty percent of Tokyo's 23 wards have or could have new ordinances regulating minpaku, according to a survey by Kyodo News. Shinjuku and Ota wards already have rules limiting the services. The survey showed another 17 were discussing such rules. Ota Ward, where Haneda airport is located, was particularly strict, with minpaku entirely banned in residential-only areas.

On Monday, the Hyogo Prefectural Government announced it would discuss a bill in February's session that would ban the operation of minpaku within 100 meters of kindergartens as well as elementary and junior high, and high schools.

"The occupancy rate for hotels and inns in Hyogo Prefecture is not so high to require people to use minpaku. Safety and sanitation standards in minpaku that don't have building managers are weak," said Hyogo Gov. Toshizo Ido at a Monday news conference.

Hyogo's move came five days after the Nara Prefectural Assembly announced it would debate an ordinance in February that would ban minpaku operations in school zones or near historical sites.

The city of Nara will debate a separate ordinance in March. About 70 percent of the prefecture's minpaku are located in the city. But of the 229 that were advertised online as of last month, 34 were operating without a license, and the location of another 59 could not be determined, according to the results of a city survey of minpaku released Monday.
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Niger, a member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), has reaffirmed support for Moroccos bid to join the West African trade bloc.

In a joint statement issued following the 4th Morocco-Niger Joint Committee (Dec 25-26 in Rabat), the two parties highlighted the beneficial impact Morocco would have on the ECOWAS.

The Joint Committee also underscored Moroccos support and commitment to stability in the Sahel region in general and in Niger in particular.

The Nigerien delegation reiterated Niameys position in support of the UN-led process to find a lasting political solution to the Sahara issue.

The Joint Committee wrapped up with the signing of 16 cooperation agreements covering trade, economy, employment and health.
In yet a new violation of the UN Geneva Convention, Algerian authorities have proceeded to the indiscriminate extraditing of 10,000 sub-Saharans in need of international protection.

The figure was proudly announced by Algerias Interior Ministry Noureddine Bedoui in line with the wave of anti-migrant populism expressed by senior political figures in the country, venting the sluggish economic growth on poor Sub-Saharans, most of whom have fled poverty and conflict in their home countries to look for work in Algeria or seek transit to Europe via neighboring Libya.

Algeria has persisted on the expulsion of Sub-Saharan migrants without offering them a chance to apply for asylum

Few days after the announcement of the migrant regularization campaign, a new Algerian political leader and former Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia (who was later on re-appointed Prime Minister) expressed statements verging on racism and hate speech against Sub-Saharan migrants in the country.

Speaking to Ennahar TV station, Ouyahya, Secretary General of RND political party, described Sub-Saharan migrants as a source of crime, drugs and other calamities. His racist statements showed fierce opposition to the governments at-tempt to save its face by giving sub-Saharans an opportunity to obtain residency status in Algeria.

Ouyahyas heinous stands against migrants and asylum seekers echo scandalous statements uttered last December by Advisor to President Bouteflika and ironically head of Algerias human rights commission Farouk Ksentini who bluntly ac-cused sub-Saharans of spreading HIV in Algeria.

Last year, Algeria was rebuked by international NGOs for rounding up more than 1400 sub-Saharan migrants in Algiers who were later deported 1900 km southwards to the desert city of Tamanrasset, from which they were sent to Niger.

Algerias ill treatment of refugees and asylum seekers continued with the expulsion of 41 Syrian refugees to the Moroccan borders near the town of Figuig last April 17.

Several international watchdogs have lashed out at Algeria calling it to decriminalize immigration.

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the UNHCR have all called repeatedly on Algeria to guarantee protection to migrants and asylum seekers on its soil and halt its dis-criminatory policies towards them in keeping with its com-mitments under the 1951 Geneva Convention.
Rick Saccone is trying to hold a Republican district in Pennsylvania against Democrat Conor Lamb. Photo: Rick Saccone for Congress; Conor Lamb for Congress

2017 was a very good election year for Democrats, whetting the donkeys appetite for next years midterm cycle, in which the party controlling the White House normally loses ground. But there is one more hors doeuvre on tap before the big political feast next February: a special congressional election in Pennsylvania on March 13.

As with all but one of the 2017 special congressional elections, this one was produced by a Republican resignation. But this time Donald Trump didnt cause the vacancy by lifting someone from Congress into his cabinet or some other high office. Veteran GOP congressman Tim Murphy resigned in disgrace in October after the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported the staunchly right-to-life pol had encouraged an extramarital lover to obtain an abortion.

Normally the GOP nominee for this seat would step right into Murphys shoes; he held the western Pennsylvania district (mostly concentrated in suburbs south of Pittsburgh) easily from 2002 through 2016, running unopposed in the last two elections. Both Donald Trump and Mitt Romney won about 58 percent of the vote in PA-18. More anecdotally, the districts electorate fits the long-standing stereotype of conservative ethnic Democrats trending solidly Republican out of hostility towards cultural liberalism and environmentalism (this is serious coal country).

But while the GOP remains the solid favorite in the March special election, the general political environment makes the outcome far less certain than would normally be the case. Nominating conventions for each party chose wildly contrasting candidates that probably made the race more competitive for Democrats. As local radio station WESA reports, the GOP nominee, state representative Rick Saccone, likes to boast that he was Trump before Trump was Trump.

Known as a fiery conservative, Saccone has served in the state legislature since 2010. He defeated state Sens. Guy Reschenthaler (R-Jefferson Hills) and Kim Ward (R- Hempfield) to secure his partys nomination for the March 13 special election 

[I support] the agenda that people voted in [when Donald Trump was elected president], Saccone said. They expect me to go down [to Washington] and fight for it and defend it, and I will. Ill stand up to whoever is against that because I know thats what the people want.

Saccone is not entirely the Trumpian cartoon character his quotes might indicate; in the George W. Bush administration, he served briefly as a diplomat posted to North Korea, and wrote a book about his experiences there.

Meanwhile, Democrats nominated a candidate that one local Republican described as straight out of central casting: Marine veteran and former prosecutor Conor Lamb, who has a good political pedigree in the district (his uncle is city controller of Pittsburgh) and no known controversies associated with him. Lamb appears to be a standard-brand centrist Democrat aside from some fuzziness on hot-button issues of concern to PA-18s socially conservative swing voters, as David Weigel explains:

I come from a Catholic background, [but] choice is the law of the land, Lamb said at a short news conference after his [convention] victory. Asked if he opposed taxpayer funding for abortion  something that the Democratic Party platform endorsed in 2016  he demurred. A lot of those issues I think we can get into later.

Lamb, like his party, would prefer to fight the election on the heroin epidemic and on the issues he handled as a prosecutor  including sexual assault. Republicans, growing their numbers in the district, would rather nationalize the race.

Saccones Trump-before-Trump self-identification will certainly help Democrats nationalize the race, and the Republican has a reputation as a poor fundraiser. National Democratic groups have not committed to the race just yet, but probably will:

This is a winnable race, said Mike Mikus, a Democratic consultant in the state. People are willing to vote for a Democrat, but you have to run a compelling race to do it and Lambs profile is perfect for this district.

Even if Saccone wins, national observers will be looking closely at the margin. If Lamb does reasonably well, it will be all the more reason for Democrats to target slightly more promising districts going into the 2018 general election. And if Lamb wins, Democrats could begin crying, Surfs up! in anticipation of a November wave.
Paul Ryan has big plans. Photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Just days before the end of the year, congressional Republicans finally handed President Trump his first major legislative victory. But their effort to pass an unpopular and incoherent tax bill left them with little time to address many other pressing concerns. The 2018 legislative agenda is already dominated by tasks Congress was supposed to take care of weeks, or even months ago. And while GOP leaders are still clinging to big dreams they concocted at their sad college keg parties, divisions within the party may prevent them from enacting them before the midterm elections are in full swing. Heres a look at whats on the docket for 2018.

Keeping the Government Open

Faced with the possibility of starting the Christmas weekend with a government shutdown, Congress opted to kick the can down the road  a little further. Last week Congress passed a stopgap spending bill, just as they did when last years appropriations expired in September, and earlier in December.

Congress cant keep putting off the fight forever, so it looks like theyll need to come up with a budget deal by the new shutdown deadline, January 19, 2018. The continuing resolution included temporary extensions for several programs, including the Childrens Health Insurance Program, the federal governments warrantless-surveillance program, and the Veterans Choice program, which allows some veterans to go to civilian doctors instead of VA medical facilities. It also provided a funding increase of $4.7 billion to the Department of Defense for missile defense and ship repair, and waived pay-as-you-go rules that could have triggered $25 billion cuts to Medicaid and other spending programs.

President Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan recently accused Democrats of wanting a shutdown to distract from their tax victory, but the New York Times reports that Democrats are increasingly worried that theyll take the blame if theres no budget deal. Trump previously said the U.S. needs a good shutdown, though other Republicans think thats a terrible idea.

JUST IN: President Trump says a government shutdown "could happen" pic.twitter.com/n0ie1UDzyF  NBC News (@NBCNews) December 6, 2017

I cant think of a bigger act of political malpractice after a successful tax-reform vote than to shut the government down, said Republican Representative Charlie Dent. Talk about stepping on your own message. I mean, really, how dumb would that be?

CHIP Funding

As if passing tax cuts that disproportionately benefit wealthy people and corporations didnt give Democrats enough to run on in 2018, Republicans simultaneously engineered a childrens health-care crisis. Though the Childrens Health Insurance Program  which provides coverage to nearly 9 million kids from low-income families  has bipartisan support, Republicans allowed funding to expire at the end of September.

Decembers stopgap spending bill provided $2.85 billion to keep the program going through the end of March. That should avert the immediate crisis for the 1.9 million children in 24 states and Washington, D.C., who were expected to lose coverage in January. However, as Kelly Whitener of the Georgetown Health Policy Institute writes, thats not really enough to get through the next few months:

The federal government spends about $14.5 billion on CHIP each year. So half a years funding would be in the neighborhood of $7.25 billion. Im no math whiz but I can see that $2.85 billion is not enough. States will continue to spend their time and money planning for the end of CHIP. And families will continue to question whether their childrens coverage will end this month or next.

Everyone acknowledges that Congress needs to come up with a long-term CHIP-funding solution as quickly as possible, but thats only encouraging lawmakers to play politics with the program.

The problem youve got is that CHIP is so popular that there is this thought process that well, anybody who has another bill that theyd like to get through, if they can get it attached to CHIP, they have a better chance of getting it through, which causes problems for CHIP, said Republican Senator Mike Rounds.

Spy Program Reauthorization

Yet another debate that was pushed off to focus on tax cuts: the reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows the federal government to intercept and collect foreigners communications overseas, even if Americans communications are swept up too.

Republicans are not eager to tackle the reauthorization, as the party is divided on the issue. Some agree with President Trump and top intelligence officials, who say its vital to national security. It has become an indispensable tool by which we can determine and gain information about threats to the United States, about threats to our troops, about weapons of mass destruction, proliferation, about cyberattacks, about any number of things, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said last month.

However, privacy hawks in both parties want the program repealed, or at least reformed. Last week Republican Senators Rand Paul and Mike Lee vowed to vote against any spending bill that includes permanent reauthorization of FISA Section 702.

I'm never a fan of shutting down government so that's not my intention. I am a fan of defending the bill of rights, though. pic.twitter.com/qJ9Sc298Ep  Rand Paul (@RandPaul) December 21, 2017

Funding Disaster Relief

While the House passed an $81 billion disaster-relief bill last week, the Senate opted to push the legislation into the new year. Some conservatives opposed the bill  which would have brought the years disaster-relief spending to a record $133 billion  complaining that it was too expensive, and much of the funding wasnt for emergency purposes. Democrats said it needed to do more, especially for Puerto Rico, and admitted they want to use the bill as leverage.

Democrats want to make sure that we have equal bargaining, and were not going to allow things like disaster relief go forward without discussing some of the other issues we care about, said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Immigration Reform

President Trump moved the hairy issue of immigration reform to the top of the GOPs legislative agenda in September when he announced that President Obamas Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program would end in six months  if Congress couldnt come up with a fix by then.

Technically, that gives Congress until March, but immigration advocates are pushing Democrats to refuse to pass any spending bill that does not include a permanent fix for the nearly 800,000 young, undocumented immigrants at risk of losing their protected status.

A handful of senators have been negotiating a bipartisan immigration-reform bill, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has reportedly agreed to hold a vote in January before the government-funding deadline. Republican Senator Jeff Flake suggested following a White House meeting last week that they were still unclear on what President Trump would be willing to sign. We couldnt finish this product, this bill, until we knew where the administration was, he said.

Senators said details of the plan would be released in the coming days. According to the Washington Examiner, its expected to include a path to legalization for DACA recipients, in exchange for funding for a border-wall system (which wouldnt be 100 percent physical wall) and limits on chain migration.

Despite the shutdown threat, Speaker Ryan has suggested he isnt as concerned about solving the DACA issue as his colleagues in the Senate. House conservatives are likely to reject a Senate plan that involves a pathway to citizenship.

Do we have to have a DACA resolution? Yes, we do, Ryan said in November. The deadlines March, as far as I understand it. Weve got other deadlines in front of that, like fiscal-year deadlines and appropriation deadlines.

Welfare and Entitlement Reform

Theres plenty that congressional Republicans have to do in 2018, but what about what they want to do? Earlier this month, Paul Ryan revealed his big goal for 2018 on Ross Kaminskys talk-radio show. Were going to have to get back next year at entitlement reform, which is how you tackle the debt and the deficit, he said.

Ryan mentioned health-care cuts specifically, but then backtracked, denying that he was talking about Medicare cuts. The kinds of the entitlement reform that we are going to be pursuing are the kinds to get people on welfare to work, he said.

There are reports that President Trump is preparing executive orders that will target programs like food stamps and Medicaid. But Mitch McConnell quickly shut down the notion that congressional Republicans would help, telling Axios he would not expect to see that on the 2018 agenda.

So, what would McConnell be up for?

Infrastructure

We have to have Democratic involvement, McConnell told Axios. So things like infrastructure  to do something in that area were going to have to have Democratic participation.

President Trump has been talking about tackling infrastructure all year, but he got distracted by attacking James Comey and defending white supremacists. Last week Trump announced the latest pivot to infrastructure in a tweet responding to the fatal Amtrak crash in Washington.

The train accident that just occurred in DuPont, WA shows more than ever why our soon to be submitted infrastructure plan must be approved quickly. Seven trillion dollars spent in the Middle East while our roads, bridges, tunnels, railways (and more) crumble! Not for long!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 18, 2017

Trump has yet to unveil a detailed infrastructure plan, but it looks like he may try to hammer something out with GOP leaders next month.

I think youll see the president roll out infrastructure plan in January and the president has already invited Leader McConnell and Speaker Ryan to Camp David in the first weekend of January to make sure we are all on the same page for what our priorities are for 2018, Marc Short, the White House director of legislative affairs, told Fox News Sunday.

Obamacare Repeal

President Trump has taken to claiming, falsely, that by repealing Obamacares individual mandate in the tax legislation, hes essentially killed the law.

Republican Senator Susan Collins agreed to vote for the tax legislation because McConnell promised that she would get a vote on two bills meant to stabilize Obamacare by the end of the year. They were DOA in the House, but Collins voted to keep the government funded rather than putting up a fight.

Now some Republicans are demanding a new push to do the opposite in 2018, and finally deal the Obamacare death blow.

To those who believe  including Senate Republican leadership  that in 2018 there will not be another effort to repeal and replace Obamacare  you are sadly mistaken, said Senator Lindsey Graham. By eliminating the individual mandate in the tax bill we have pulled one of the pillars of Obamacare out. But by no means has Obamacare been repealed or replaced.

McConnell signaled that he will not be revisiting his most embarrassing defeat of 2017, especially now that the Alabama special Senate election left him down one Republican vote.

Well, we obviously were unable to completely repeal and replace with a 52-48 Senate, McConnell said last week. Well have to take a look at what that looks like with a 51-49 Senate. But I think well probably move on to other issues.
In another indication that a significant portion of the Republican Party is comfortable with authoritarian tactics, Republican Representative Francis Rooney of Florida told MSNBC on Tuesday that he supported a purge of the FBI and Department of Justice, to root out bureaucrats biased against President Trump.

Rooney used as justification for his radical comments the recent revelation that Peter Strzok, an FBI agent recruited by Special Counsel Robert Mueller to investigate President Trumps connection to Russian malfeasance during the 2016 election, sent anti-Trump text messages that year. (Strzok has been removed from the investigation by Mueller.) Rooney also took issue with the fact that FBI deputy director Andrew McCabes wife received campaign donations from Terry McAuliffe, a friend of the Clintons, when she ran for state senate in 2015.

These wafer-thin pretexts for discrediting Muellers investigation, and the FBI and Department of Justice in general, have become de rigueur for President Trump  who continues to go after the FBI on Twitter  as well as several GOP lawmakers and much of Fox News. The now-constant attacks on the agency have already had some effect. James Baker, a lawyer linked to former FBI director James Comey and GOP target, was reassigned last week. McCabe announced his retirement effective next year, though the move was seen as expected.

During his appearance on Tuesday, Rooney again toed the party line when he rattled off a list of nonexistent scandals that he thinks the FBI should be investigating, including the Clinton Foundation and Uranium One  all coincidentally linked to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

People need a good, clean goverment, he continued, perhaps momentarily forgetting who is currently president.

Thats a pretty broad brush youre painting with, MSNBCs Hallie Jackson said, questioning whether Rooney was trying to tarnish the entire Department of Justice, and by extension Robert Muellers investigation.

No, I dont want to discredit them, Rooney said. I just, I would like to see the directors of the agencies purge it and say, look, weve got a lot of great agents, a lot of great lawyers here. Those are the people I want the American people to see and know the good works being done, not these people who are kind of the deep state.

Ah, that clears everything up.
A photo of a UFO spotted spotted on October 16, 1957, near Holloman Air Force Missile Development Center in New Mexico, which was released by the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization. Photo: Bettmann/Bettmann Archive

The internet went slightly more bananas than usual last weekend over the New York Times story implying that extraterrestrials are real and the U.S. government has been tracking them for years. Appearing first on the web on Saturday, it came out in print on Sunday as a front-page story entitled Real U.F.O.s? Pentagon Unit Tried to Know. As if wary of the waters into which it was about to wade, the piece started out in a sober and measured tone, describing the existence of a heretofore little-known Department of Defense program, but then after the jump to page 27 loosened up and gave free rein to claims that the program had found evidence of strange aircraft that flew in seemingly impossible ways.

For Ufologists who had dreamed of being taken seriously by the mainstream media, the story was a dream come true. As BigThink.com put it, The article is shocking, and arguably represents a historical inflection point in our attitudes regarding UFOs. Twitter user Space Traveller wrote: How is everyone not losing it over this Pentagon #UFO report and footage?! Even inveterate bubble-burster Neil deGrasse Tyson accepted that something was out there, reminding CNN viewers that just because an object was unidentified didnt necessarily mean it came from outer space.

The tl;dr appeared to be flying saucers are real. But a closer reading suggests a murkier proposition.

The main source in the Times article was a former Pentagon employee named Luis Elizondo, who ran a small program called Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification from 2007 until it was shut down in 2012. What made the story Times-worthy was the fact that Elizondos account was vouched for by the man whod arranged for its funding, former Senate majority leader Harry Reid, as well as by the billionaire donor who won the contract to manage the program, Robert Bigelow. (Fox News justifiably raised an eyebrow at the mens lucrative interconnection.)

The fact that the program really existed was the part that the Times touted as its big get, but that wasnt what set the internet on fire. What got people excited was the implication that the program had collected evidence of encounters with unidentified flying objects. In reporting this part of the story, reporters Helene Cooper, Ralph Blumenthal, and Leslie Kean were much less careful about maintaining a critical eye. The program produced documents that describe sightings of aircraft that seemed to move at very high velocities with no visible signs of propulsion, or that hovered with no apparent means of lift, the article asserted, later adding: The company modified buildings in Las Vegas for the storage of metal alloys and other materials that Mr. Elizondo and program contractors said had been recovered from unidentified aerial phenomena. In addition, researchers also studied people who said that they had experienced physical effects from encounters with the objects and examined them for physiological changes.

The straightforward presentation of these assertions implies that the authors believe them to be true. But they beg for elaboration. Were the produced documents credible? In what way were the buildings modified, and why was it necessary to modify them in order to store this material? What does it mean for an object to be associated with a phenomenon? What were the claimed physical effects, and were any physiological changes found?

Making portentous assertions out of context is a powerful technique for creating a sense of mystery and drama. Leaving a question unanswered implies that it is unanswerable. Selectively omitting key details can make a mundane fact seem uncanny. These techniques are great for exciting an audience, but theyre better suited to Ancient Aliens than the pages of the New York Times because the net effect is to cloud rather than illuminate key issues. In this case: What exactly did Elizondos team uncover?

The main article is decidedly short on specifics. Theres a brief reference to footage from a Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet showing an aircraft surrounded by some kind of glowing aura traveling at high speed and rotating as it moves. A more detailed account is provided in an accompanying sidebar entitled 2 Navy Airmen and an Object That Accelerated Like Nothing Ive Ever Seen. In it, former Navy F/A-18 pilot David Fravor relates his experience during a flight from the aircraft carrier Nimitz on November 14, 2004. While en route to a training mission he was vectored toward an unknown radar contact. Arriving on the scene, he witnessed a lozenge-shaped craft that moved over an agitated, churning patch of ocean, then moved so quickly that it appeared to defy physics.

Embedded in the sidebar is a 76-second-long video that is described as having been taken during the 2004 encounter. It shows a fuzzy dot in the center of an infrared-camera monitor that, when zoomed in on, appears lozenge-shaped. There are no visual clues such as clouds or sea, so it is impossible to gauge distance or relative motion. Near the end, the object ducks away to the left. There is nothing about the video that in itself reads as being beyond the realm of normal physics, though it seems eerie given the articles content.

As UFO sightings go, Fravors account ranks as fairly credible. Its detailed, internally consistent, and is provided by an unusually well-credentialed subject. Not only was Fravor a Navy pilot, he was a cast member of the ten-part documentary series Carrier about life on the USS Nimitz that aired on PBS in 2008.

Neither the story nor the video are new, however. Both have been kicking around the internet for some time. Fravors tale first appeared in March, 2015, on the website FighterSweep.com, where writer Paco Chierici presented a detailed story as told to him by a good buddy of mine and former squadron mate, Dave Sex Fravor. Chierici advises that its one of the most bizarre aviation stories of all time  a story that stretches credibility.

In a follow-up story for the Times Insider about how the story came to be, reporter Ralph Blumenthal makes it sound like the Times scored an exclusive by getting Elizondo to open up to them, writing that he and two colleagues met Mr. Elizondo in a nondescript Washington hotel where he sat with his back to the wall, keeping an eye on the door. The implication is that Elizondo feared the repercussions of leaking sensitive information for the first time.

In fact, when Elizondo spoke to the Times he had left government and was promoting the launch of a new venture called To the Stars  Academy of Arts & Science, a website that is trying to crowdsource donations to study paranormal phenomena. Before the Times told his story, To the Stars main shareholder, former Blink-182 guitarist Tom DeLonge, had previously promoted the venture on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast.

And what, exactly, did Elizondo uncover during his five years heading a semi-secret arm of the Pentagon investigating possible extraterrestrial visitations? A visit to the ventures website raises doubts. A video with the title 2004 USS NIMITZ FLIR1 VIDEO is the same video seen on the Times website, with the addition of a detailed technical description of the infrared-imaging system that took it, along with the claim that this footage comes with crucial chain-of-custody (CoC) documentation because it is a product of U.S. military sensors, which confirms it is original, unaltered, and not computer generated or artificially fabricated. But no such documentation is provided.

The description links to a separate page entitled 2004 USS NIMITZ PILOT REPORT. This is a truly curious document that retells Fravors story in the form of a military-style briefing, with his name replaced by the word Source, allegedly to protect sources and methods. Sections of it have been blacked out, as if by a military censor, though the given date of September 7, 2017, was some 13 years after the event and 5 years after the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification had been shut down. Curiously, the file flubs some well-known aviation technology, such as equating UAS with Unidentified Aerial System. (It commonly refers to Unmanned Aircraft System, or drone.)

It seems that To the Stars is trying to shroud Fravors account in a spooky fog of faux top-secrecy. This is a dicey strategy given Fravors prominence in online UFO circles, and gives the impression that Elizondos company is repackaging timeworn tales from the internet as freshly revealed government X-files. And, by extension, calls into question the Times wisdom in taking his claims about extraterrestrial encounters at face value.
Its possible that the sex-predator allegations against Roy Moore distracted some voters from the mans stone craziness. Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images

Before this years Alabama Senate special election fades into the history books, it might be time to take a second look at the conventional wisdom (much propagated by Republicans who want to write it all off as a fluke) that the sexual allegations against Roy Moore turned a landslide GOP win into a defeat. An Ezra Klein interview with Doug Joness media strategist Joe Trippi (yes, that Joe Trippi, famous for his role in the meteoric rise and sudden fall of Howard Deans 2004 presidential campaign) supplies a counterargument: Moore was in trouble before the sex scandal broke thanks to his long record of theocratic extremism, which the sex scandal may have actually helped obscure.

Trippi draws attention to one fact that got almost entirely lost after the scandal broke: Moore was already vulnerable. Heres what he told Klein:

The day before the Washington Post story came out, we were behind by 1 point, 46 to 45. And the day before the election, we were ahead in our own survey by 2 points. We ended up winning by 1.8. So as far as were concerned, all those other polls that were all over the place, showing 11-point and 8-point margins, we feel we were always on top of the pulse of what was happening, and it was a dead heat the day before the allegations came out.

What the scandals appear to have done is to shift the discussion from Moores record to the more polarized ground of the confidence Alabama Republican voters placed in national media allegations against him:

A lot of what people didnt like about Moore was the fact that hed been removed from office twice, the fact that he had started a religious charity and taken a million dollars from it after hed told everybody he wasnt making any money on it. Those things were totally knocked off the charts by the allegations. And those other allegations, the other problems that people had with him, cut across party lines.

As voters began to focus on anything, everything other than the fact that Roy Moore is nuttier than a five-pound fruitcake, the dynamics changed, and not always in Joness favor:

The key to us having a chance was to detribalize the politics of the state. If Alabama was reacting to the tribal politics of our times, there was no way for us to win. And in a weird way, the allegations created tribalism again. You either believe the charges or you dont believe the charges. Suddenly, were back into Republicans who dont believe the charges; its the media out to get Roy Moore. Hes able to start tribalizing the race. Trump begins coming in with him. And every time that happened, Roy Moore would open a lead.

Trippi goes on to argue that whatever weight you assign to the sexual-misconduct allegations, Moores record and Joness message of compromise and civility provided an ideal contrast for a Democratic candidate in difficult territory in the Trump era.

I think Trump, even with his own supporters who like him, has created enough hostility and chaos that voters dont want more of it. They can tolerate it with him, but they dont want more. I think there is an almost infinite hunger in the country right now for ending the division, the hatred, the hate talk.

Even if Judge Roy had not been accused of trawling the malls and courthouses and restaurants of Alabama in the 1970s looking for vulnerable girls to exploit, everything about the mans background screamed hostility and chaos. If sexual misconduct is still relatively rare among Republicans, extremism is not. And they may pay a price in the polls next year.
Uganda's major towns of Kampala, Entebbe and Jinja hosted over 1,000 high-level meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) in 2017.



According to the 2017 Uganda Market Update by real estate consultancy Knight Frank Uganda, Kampala alone had 744 confirmed high-profile conferences between December 2016 and July 2017, while Entebbe had eight and Jinja 279, giving a cumulative figure of 1,031.



The update does not factor in conferences from August to December, suggesting the total figure for 2017 is higher. The report, however, does not indicate how many high-profile meetings and conferences took place for the period.



Usually, high-end meetings like the Solidarity Summit on Refugees are fewer, suggesting most Ugandan meetings are local or regional. In 2016, Kampala held 10 high-end meetings, according to the International Congress and Convention Association, which indexes conventions countrywide.

The Solidarity Summit on Refugees was one of the high-level meetings held in Kampala

Uganda has few hotels or convention centres with the capacity to host large number of participants. They include, among others, hotels like Sheraton, Serena, Speke and Commonwealth Resort Munyonyo, Africana, Pearl of Africa and the Imperial chain of hotels, Protea and Golden Tulip.



In 2016, the Knight Frank update states that Kampala, Entebbe and Jinja, the most closely knit towns with the most number of hotels and other hospitality facilities, had 1,600 conferences, both local and international, attended by over 46,000 people.



A number of countries are now looking at meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions or MICE as one way of attracting visitors and generating much needed foreign exchange. This year, Rwanda, for example, set a target of $64 million from MICE, up from $47 million the previous year.



Rwanda's success is attributed to aggressive marketing, including of its tourism potential, and establishment of world-class properties like the Kigali International Convention centre, Marriot hotel and Radisson Blu hotel, to mention but a few.



The 2016 International Congress and Convention Association's statistics report mentions South Africa as the number one destination for meetings in Africa, notching 125 high-end meetings. Morocco followed with 37, Egypt, Kenya and Rwanda with 18 apiece, Ghana 13, Ethiopia 12, Nigeria 11 and Uganda and Tanzania tying at 10 high-level meetings each.



Globally, the 2016 MICE report showed the United States of America holding the most number of high profile meetings, followed by Germany, United Kingdom, France and Spain. On a city-by-city basis, Paris led, followed by Vienna, Barcelona, Berlin and London.
It had been hoped that Article 102(b) of the 1995 Constitution would guarantee a peaceful transition of power from President Museveni but now that it is gone, observers warn the future doesnt look good.

The 75-year cap for presidential hopefuls was removed last week, much as consultations by MPs showed its scrapping was hugely unpopular amongst Ugandans.

An academic at Makerere University fears that Ugandas standing in East Africa has also been compromised.

Speaking to The Observer days after the bill was passed, Dr Isaac Shinyekwa, a senior research fellow on regional integration at Makereres Economic Policy Research Centre, said it is going to increase suspicion and discomfort among the partner states.

Lifting the age limit is not an issue, but how long you have been ruling, he said. Museveni has been pushing for political integration but it cannot take place where we are not homogeneous.

President Yoweri Museveni

The other two traditional EAC states, Kenya and Tanzania, have had regular, peaceful transitions from one president to another in the six-country bloc during President Musevenis 31-year rule.

A similar tone was echoed by Livingstone Sewanyana, executive director at Foundation for Human Rights Initiative. Sewanyana told The Observer that Ugandans should brace for a state in reversal where citizens views and aspirations dont matter.

He said Uganda could witness political instability, disorder and more human rights abuses.

Political programmes on TV and radio drew the same conclusions.

Uganda is carrying forward with a very sick constitution, Israel Mayengo, a lawyer and former MP, said on NBS TVs morning programme.

Another lawyer who made his mark in parliament and the Constituent Assembly (CA) said the idea that the supreme law should not be amended on a whim is now history.

It looks as if so long as the president wants something removed, it will be done. Constitutions should be respected. Maybe as CA, we should have made these articles hard to amend, Ben Wacha said.

Wacha said what the ruling party did in parliament was made even more selfish by the parachuting of an extension of the life of parliament and presidency (to be determined in a referendum).

I have been wondering where the issue of term limits comes from. It seems to have come out of the blue, Wacha said.

Where you have a bill to deal with the constitutional amendment, it deals with only that particular amendment. Areas introduced later are completely foreign to the regular bill. It even becomes more foreign when you introduce things like local government, he added.

To Dr Gerald Kagambirwe Karyeija, a public administration academic at Uganda Management Institute, genuine constitutional reforms must follow.

The need for that is needed now more than ever before, Karyeija said. After this circus, we need to examine the merits and demerits of the decisions that have been taken.

Karyeija said there is need for sober reflection to evaluate what it means in terms of governance and democracy We should look at how we prepare for [Musevenis] exit or that whoever comes after him doesnt behave the same way.

Constitutional lawyer Dan Wandera Ogalo lamented: What we observed is that the country was against the amendment. For the first time, Ugandans said no in a consensus.

These consultations were a referendum on President Museveni and people understood it to mean: you want President Museveni to continue ruling or not? People said no, he said.

Ogalo warned that the president is likely to become less accountable because he knows he is there not because of you.

The police clearly took sides and we can expect more repression in future as people get more annoyed. On the horizon, it doesnt look good, Ogalo said.

As MPs fanned out into the countryside, police issued a controversial directive against them addressing meetings outside of their respective constituencies. Opposition MPs, whose rallies repeatedly came under brutal police attack, denounced the directive as targeting their group meetings.

Dr Moses Khisa, a Ugandan political science don at North Carolina State University, said: The process was full of fraud and manipulation.

For now, nobody can say what the future will really be but it doesnt look good at all.

The amendment has been costly. Finance Minister Matia Kasaija said the bill had no dire financial implication. At least Shs 13 billion was spent on MPs consultations, amongst other expenditures.

The longer-term costs may threaten the very existence of Uganda. Some MPs from northern Uganda warned that amendments resurrected debate about secession.

Feeling marginalised by an unaccountable government, the north has toyed with forming the Nile Republic.

Prof Ogenga Latigo, the MP for Agago North; Reagan Okumu (Aswa), and DP president Norbert Mao have all said that northern Uganda is ready to break away.

Winnie Kiiza, the leader of opposition in parliament, said such calls cant be ignored. Indeed, Wacha said when you look at the voting pattern, the majority of those who voted against the bill were from the north, revealing a persisting unease with Musevenis leadership.

Northern Uganda remains by far the least developed region, partly due to the two-decade-long rebellion that ravaged the area when Museveni shot his way to power in 1986.



amwesigwa@observer.ug
Communities in Bundibugyo district have declined to accommodate Congolese refugees fleeing from a Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) assault on Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels in Congo.

On Friday night, more than 800 Congolese refugees entered Uganda through Busunga border post following a raid by the UPDF on the ADF base of in Eastern DRC.



The attack was in retaliation to the killing of 15 United Nations peace keepers. On Monday, 500 more refugees entered Kasiri, Bundibugoma and Butungo villages in Nyahuka sub-county hoping to get shelter and support from the community.

However, residents turned away the refugees and told them to return to their homes. Edward Baluku, the LCIII chairperson Bubandi town council says that some of the refugees are still stranded because they have nowhere to go.

Baluku explains that refugees have been told to return to their homes after the UPDF stopped its operations in Eastern DRC. He adds that they were planning to transfer some of the refugees to Bubandi sub-county, but they halted the plans due to lack of funds and poor sanitation at the headquarters.

"We have a problem of sanitation, even food; they are still suffering. They have no tents and we want the government to support us. Were requesting the Red Cross and UN to come and intervene in this problem. It is a big number and we divided them into two groups", he said.



Moses Mbambu, a resident of Nyahuka town council says that on Christmas day, he turned away three Congolese families that had sought refuge at his home. He says that since he is unemployed, he can't afford looking after the refugees, saying they will be an extra burden to his family.



Sam Mbahimba, a refugee from Kamango village, says that he will return to his home once he's guaranteed security by the UPDF and Congolese army. He explains that for the past four days, he has struggled to feed his family of five children.

"We dont want to be taken there [Bubandi sub-county] because we have many projects and our families there in our country Congo. We have buildings, we have some sambas of cocoa, cassava. So such projects, we cant leave and go far away from there. We have to keep here as the government of Uganda and that of Congo work together to solve the war. Were ready to go home", Mbahimba said.



Ronald Mutegeki, the Bundibugyo district LCV chairperson says that the refugees have been told to either return to their homes or go to the transit center at Bubukwanga, which has adequate sanitary facilities and can access food from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).



Mutegeki also says that the district is yet to receive relief assistance from the Office of the Prime Minister.
More than 100 rebels of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) and eight of their camps were destroyed in the Democratic Republic of Congo during recent joint airstrikes by the Ugandan and the Congolese armies.

Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) spokesperson, Brigadier Richard Karemire has disclosed in a statement that operation "TUUGO" which started on December 22 targeted ADF's strongholds in Eastern DRC. operation "TUUGO" which started on December 22 targeted ADF's strongholds in Eastern DRC.

The airstrikes followed suspected ADF attack on a UN base in Semuliki, near Beni in North Kivu Province on December 7 that left at least 14 UN troops and five Congolese soldiers dead.

UPDF soldiers along the Uganda-DRC border



According to Karemire, more than 100 ADF fighters were killed in the air strikes on the ADF positions, which started on December 22, 2017.



"Those who survived the assault are roaming in different areas of North Kivu but FARDC forces are pursuing them. The UPDF is maintaining active defensive operations along the borderline in the districts of Kasese, Bundibugyo and Ntoroko to deter any of the terrorists from sneaking into our territory. Should they attempt to attack our border villages, UPDF shall not hesitate to pursue them to wherever they will have come from," he warns.



Adding: "The ADF recent attack on the UN peacekeepers of MONUSCO from the sister country of Tanzania is an indictment to its activities not only for Uganda and DRC but also the International community."

UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, described the attack as "the worst attack on UN peacekeepers in the organization's recent history" and called it a "war crime".

Karemire says the population in the affected areas, the region and international partners shall be mobilized to stop the terror activities once and for all.



"Contrary to falsehoods by some irresponsible, unpatriotic and opportunistic individuals being peddled on social media, we reiterate that the UPDF has neither deployed any infantry troops inside DRC nor suffered any casualties. These limited operations remain to be conducted within the boundaries of the law and with full knowledge and blessing of the DRC government," he said.



He calls on citizens and allies to disregard the falsehoods and treat them with the contempt they deserve.

"UPDF shall remain committed to its covenant of protecting the citizens and therefore, there should be no cause for worry," reads the statement.

"These were ADF historical strongholds in Eastern DRC in general areas of Erengeti Triangle - North Kivu Province. They are Medina, Canada, Abia, Topoke 2, Kajaju, Camp Richard, Makayoba and Sangote," Karemire wrote in a statement.
The government on Tuesday released the GST collection numbers for the month of November, which have been received till December 25. As per the latest data, the total Goods and Service Tax collection has been Rs 80,808 crore. There has been a continuous decline in the Goods and Service Tax collection for the second straight month. A sum of Rs 83,346 crore was collected as the total revenue collection under the GST for October, received during November. The revenue collected under GST during October for September was Rs 95,131 crore, while the corresponding figure for August was of Rs 93,141 crore.

The government data suggests around 99.01 lakh taxpayers have been registered under the GST so far till December 25, of which 16.60 lakh are composition dealers who need to file returns every quarter. Around 53.06 lakh returns have been filed for November till December 25. Of the Rs. 80,808 crore collected under the GST up to December 25, around Rs 13,089 crore have been collected as the CGST, while Rs 18,650 crore have been collected as the SGST. Around Rs 41,270 crore went into the government coffers through IGST and Rs. 7,798 crore through compensation cess.

Further, Rs 10,348 crore are being transferred from the IGST to CGST accounts, and Rs 14,488 crore from IGST to SGST account by way of settlement of funds on account of cross utilisation of the IGST credit for payment of CGST and SGST, respectively or due to inter-state B2C transactions. Thus, a total amount of Rs 24,836 crore is being transferred from IGST to CGST/SGST account by way of settlement.

Earlier, the finance ministry, headed by Arun Jaitley, had said the reason for the downward trend in the tax revenue under the GST can be attributed to a number of factors. One of the reasons is that in the first three months, there was an additional flow of the IGST due to the first time requirement of paying IGST on transfer of goods from one state to another state even within the same company. As and when the final transaction of these goods takes place, the credit for IGST is being utilized for payment of SGST and CGST and therefore, the inflow of new taxes is low, it explained.

Another reason for the decline in revenue is that since the overall incidence of taxes on most of the commodities has come down under GST, it would naturally have some implication on the revenues of the government as well. Besides, the tax administration of the GST is now based on self-declared tax returns, in which the assessee decides on his own how much tax liability he has and claims input tax credit as per his own calculations.
The Sensex touched its fresh all time high in early trade even as Nifty traded flat amid mixed Asian markets. The Sensex rose to 34,111, up 101 points, its highest level ever, ahead of the last two trading sessions of 2017.

At 9:43 am, the Sensex was trading 73 points or 0.22 percent higher at 34,084 level. The Nifty was up 4 points to 10,535 level. The small cap index too hit a fresh yearly high of 19,198 today. It is up 62 percent today.

Small cap and midcap stocks led the charge on BSE. The Midcap index hit a 52 week high of 17,769 today. The index is up nearly 60 per cent since the beginning of this year.

Sun Pharma (2.04%), NTPC (1.13%) and ONGC (0.95%) were the top Sensex gainers. Market breadth was positive with 1,241 stocks rising against 567 falling on BSE.

The Reliance Communications stock rose 20 percent to 25.68 level on BSE. Reliance Communications chief Anil Ambani said on Tuesday the company would reduce its debt by about Rs 250 billion ($3.90 billion) through the sale of some of its spectrum, tower and real estate assets.The stock closed 30.78 percent or 5 points higher at 21.33 level on Tuesday.

Market heavyweights Reliance Industries and Infosys were trading 0.65% and 0.26% higher, respectively.

While 190 stocks hit their 52-week highs, 14 stocks hit their 52 week lows on the BSE.

Meanwhile, oil prices surged to 2-1/2-year highs and US crude touched $60 a barrel in light trading volume on Tuesday, boosted by news of an explosion on a Libyan crude pipeline as well as voluntary OPEC-led supply cuts.

Asian markets are trading lacklustre this morning. Energy stocks showed strength in Japan and Australia after oil hit a more than two-year high. Brent Crude touched high of 67.1 yesterday. in Europe, markets closed for Christmas holiday.

US markets closed lower as Apple Inc fell following a report that it will cut its sales forecast for iPhone X by 40%. Energy stock gained post rise in crude and after news of an explosion at a crude pipeline in Libya.
India accused Pakistan of violating rules agreed for the meeting

ISLAMABAD: A day after the government allowed convicted Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav to meet his wife and mother, India accused Pakistan of violating the ground rules agreed for the meeting.



A statement from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) claimed that Islamabad committed four violations of the agreed upon rules by: prohibiting the family from conversing in their native Marathi tongue; making the two women change their attire and remove religious symbols; preventing the Indian deputy high commissioner from observing the meeting; and, permitting media to harass and hector the two women.



The MEA statement claimed that the meeting was held in an intimidating atmosphere that lacked credibility. Pakistan has, meanwhile, denied the allegations.



In a statement, the Foreign Office rejected the Indian allegations as baseless and twists that came 24 hours after the meeting.



We do not wish to indulge in a meaningless battle of words. Our openness and transparency belies these allegations. If Indian concerns were serious, the guests or the Indian [diplomat] should have raised them during the visit with the media, which was readily available, but at a safe distance, as requested by India, the statement said.



The FO statement recalled that Jadhavs mother publicly thanked Pakistan for the humanitarian gesture in front of the media, adding: Nothing more needs to be said.



However, the controversy over Chetankul Jadhavs shoes, which were retained by security officials prior to the meeting, took a new turn after the FO confirmed that a metallic substance had been detected in them.



There was something in the shoe. It is being investigated. We gave her a pair of replacement shoes. All her jewellery etc were returned after the meeting, FO spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal said.



Indian officials, however, insisted that the shoes of Mrs Jadhav were retained for inexplicable reasons and warned against any mischievous intent in this regard.



In pictures taken when the two women arrived at the FO on Monday, Mrs Jadhav could be seen wearing brown shoes, but left in white slippers. Curiously, all photos taken after she disembarked from the SUV that brought them to the venue showed her looking down at her shoes.



The MEA statement came after Jadhavs mother and wife held a series of meetings with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and other top officials, including Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar and Indian Deputy High Commissioner to Pakistan J.P. Singh, who accompanied the two women from Islamabad.



It said Jadhavs wife was asked to remove her bindi and mangal sutr, while his mother was not allowed to converse with him in their mother tongue.



Most Indian media organisations underscored the fact that Avantisudhir and Chetankul met Jadhav at the heavily-guarded FO building through a glass screen, but didnt add that this was standard practice, observed even for visitors meeting prisoners in Indian jails.



We note with regret that the Pakistani side conducted the meeting in a manner which violated the letter and spirit of our understandings, Indian Express quoted MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar as saying.



In its statement, the MEA said that despite a clear agreement that the media would not be allowed access to the family, the Pakistani press was allowed on multiple occasions to approach family members closely, harass and hector them and hurl false and motivated accusations about Jadhav.



From the feedback we have received of the meeting, it appears that Jadhav was under considerable stress and speaking in an atmosphere of coercion. Most of his remarks were clearly tutored and designed to perpetuate the false narrative of his alleged activities in Pakistan. His appearance also raises questions of his health and well-being, the statement said.
Pak-Afghan appealed Taliban militants to join peace talks

BEIJING: The foreign ministers of Pakistan and Afghanistan appealed to Taliban militants to join peace talks following a meeting Tuesday organised by China to mend strained relations between the two governments.In a joint statement, the three governments called for a broad-based and inclusive peace and reconciliation process following near-daily Taliban attacks in areas across Afghanistan. The three governments said they call on the Afghan Taliban to join the peace process at an early date.



Afghanistan and Pakistan are at odds over American and Afghan accusations that Islamabad is harboring some of the fiercest factions of the Taliban, which was overthrown as the Afghan government in 2001 by a US invasion. Those include the Haqqani group, which the US government has declared a terrorist organisation. Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to improve their relations as soon as possible, said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The two sides unanimously expressed the point that they will not allow any party or force to use their territories to engage in the activities that would undermine the security of the other side.



Wang Yi said the three parties had reached complete consensus in fighting terrorism, adding that China would also fully leverage Xinjiang as a base for economic cooperation with the bordering countries.



We agreed to cooperate in fighting terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and without any distinctions of any sort, said Afghan foreign minister Salahuddin Rabbani after the meeting.



Afghanistan will continue its resolute fight against ETIM and their support groups and networks, and overall counterterrorism cooperation, he added.



The three sides reaffirmed their commitment to improving their relations, deepening mutually beneficial cooperation, advancing connectivity under the Belt and Road Initiative and fighting terrorism in all its forms and manifestations without any distinction, according to joint statement issued after the meeting.



The three foreign ministers agreed to jointly work together on mutual trust building and reconciliation, development cooperation and connectivity, security cooperation and counter-terrorism as three topics of the trilateral cooperation.



The three sides reaffirmed that a broad-based and inclusive peace and reconciliation process, which is Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and fully supported regionally and internationally, is the most viable solution to end the violence in Afghanistan.



The three sides agreed to conduct win-win trilateral economic cooperation, with an incremental approach, starting from the easier initiatives to the more difficult ones. The three sides agreed to continue economic development cooperation in areas of mutual interest and expressed willingness to strengthen people-to-people contacts. The three sides reiterated their firm resolves to fight the menace of terrorism. They expressed their strong determination not to allow any country, organisation or individual to use their respective territories for terrorist activities against any other countries. The three sides agreed to strengthen counter-terrorism coordination and cooperation in an effort to combat all terrorist organisations and individuals without any discrimination.



The three sides agreed to further communicate and consult on developing of the memorandum of understanding on counter-terrorism cooperation. The talks reflected Beijings efforts to expand its political and diplomatic role in the region. Chinese leaders also are uneasy about the potential for militant activity in Afghanistan and elsewhere in Central Asia to spill across the border into Chinas Muslim northwest. At the meeting, Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif expressed hope for progress on proposals to improve trade and cooperation in securing their border areas. Pakistan emphasized the importance of border management, the return of Afghan refugees and intelligence sharing for effective counterterrorism cooperation, he said. China and Pakistan agreed to look at adding Afghanistan to the economic corridor of dozens of projects including railways and highways being developed by the two governments in Pakistan. China and Pakistan are willing to discuss with Afghanistan, under the principle of mutual benefit and win-win, the possibility of extending the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to Afghanistan, said Wang, the Chinese foreign minister. Khawaja Asif said his country and China were iron brothers. The successful implementation of CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) projects will serve as a model for enhancing connectivity and cooperation through similar projects with neighbouring countries, including Afghanistan, Iran and with central and west Asia, he said.
Discussion about wargaming and military history, primarily WWII in North Africa. Also discussion about AFV's and artillery.
NPP firebrand and outspoken Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong has expressed worry about the growing levels of indiscipline in the country.



The Assin Central MP believes that is the cause of the country's slow growth and development



He was worried that the canker was eating into every facet of life of the African especially Ghanaians.



As a means of curbing the situation, the MP advised that there was the need for attitudinal change to reestablish some sanity into the systems of developing countries like Ghana.



The Late reggae legend, Bob Marley said that he had no fear for atomic energy because that cannot stop the time, but our attitude can; and that there is the need to emancipate ourselves from mental slavery. I agree with him, he said.



Kennedy Agyapong added many people in this part of the world are unable to achieve their dreams because they have failed to disentangle themselves from foreign influence.



He bemoaned the overreliance on western culture and ways of doing things by some Ghanaians.



The visibly worried legislator noted that the situation gets worse in some situations such that no amount of persuasion can move them from their preconceived positions.



Africans and for that matter, Ghanaians have failed to live up to their expectations up till now because we have sold ourselves to the Whites. They may even deny something they see with their own eyes, he said.



Kennedy Agyapong expressed these sentiments when he appeared as guest on Adom TVs Morning Show Badwam Tuesday.



Despite the gloomy picture, Kennedy Agyapong urged Ghanaians to build on the legacy bestowed on them by forefathers to build a better Ghana for the future.



He believes it is possible to make Ghana the place we want it to be if we contribute our quota to its development

Source: ghanaweb









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The World Health Organisation, WHO, says there were 32 positive cases of yellow fever infection in Nigeria between 2nd of July through 19th of December 2017.



The confirmed cases are part of 63 samples sent to the regional reference laboratory, Institut Pasteur de Dakar, IPD, in Senegal, for confirmation of yellow fever infection from 341 suspected cases reported from 16 states of the Federation.



The affected states include Abia, Anambra, Borno, Edo, Enugu, Kano, Katsina, Kogi, Kwara, Kebbi, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Oyo, Plateau, and Zamfara states. WHO said Kano, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa and Zamfara states have reported confirmed cases of yellow fever.



According to WHO: Of 63 samples sent to IPD for laboratory confirmation of yellow fever infection, 32 were positive, 24 were negative, and 7 results pending at the time of publication of the update. Of the 341 suspected cases, 214 (62.8 percent) are males.



The most affected age group is people aged 20 years and younger who account for 65.9 percent of cases. The total number of deaths (among suspected, probable and confirmed cases) is 45 and nine among the confirmed cases.



The WHO said although further epidemiological investigations are under way, the case fatality rate for all cases (including suspected, probable and confirmed) is 21.1 percent and 28.1 percent for confirmed cases.



Further, WHO said the response to the outbreak is being coordinated by a multi-agency, multi-partner Incident Management Center and an Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) has been established to monitor the outbreak.



An EOC has also been established in Kwara state and off-site support is being provided in Zamfara state. On 14th of September 2017, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, informed WHO of a confirmed case of yellow fever in Kwara State. On the 15th of September, 2017, an official notification as per the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005) was issued by the Nigerian National IHR Focal Point.



WHO said the case-patient was a 7 year-old girl from Kwara State who developed symptoms on 16th of August 2017 including fever, vomiting and abdominal pain.



She had no previous history of yellow fever vaccination and no travel history outside of the state in the two years prior to illness onset. Her blood sample tested positive by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, and confirmed by serology tests performed at the regional reference laboratory, Institut Pasteur de Dakar (IPD).



WHO says surveillance for yellow fever has been intensified nationally and a one-week training course was conducted in Lagos to improve diagnosis of yellow fever and measles, with rapid response teams (including epidemiologists and entomologists) from NCDC and WHO were deployed to support local authorities investigate this event further in Kwara, Kogi, and Plateau states, to assess the risk of further amplification, and to assist in conducting reactive vaccination campaigns, among other activities.



The Agency noted that there is currently a moderate risk of regional spread due to the proximity of affected states (Zamfara, and possibly Kebbi) and recommends vaccination against yellow fever for all international travellers nine months of age and older going to Nigeria, as there is evidence of persistent or periodic yellow fever virus transmission.



Nigeria requires a yellow fever vaccination certificate for travellers over one year of age arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission.









Source: Vanguard









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QUEENSBURY  A Vermont man who was arrested on drug charges after a September traffic stop in Glens Falls has pleaded guilty to a felony charge.

Kyle L. Cypher, 28, of Huntington, Vermont, pleaded guilty to fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance for having concentrated cannabis when Glens Falls Police stopped him for driving without a license.

Warren County Judge John Hall sentenced Cypher, a former Glens Falls area resident, to 6 months in Warren County Jail to be followed by 5 years on parole.
TICONDEROGA  A Ticonderoga man was arrested on Christmas Eve after a report that he had violated an order of protection, according to a release from the Ticonderoga Police Department.

According to a news release, Brandon Dick, 34, was arrested after two officers were called to a residence on Dudleyville Drive in response to a report that Dick had broken through the residence's front door, violating an order of protection.

Dick was charged with first-degree criminal contempt, a felony, as well as felony charges of second-degree burglary and third-degree criminal mischief. More charges are pending, according to police.

Dick was processed and arraigned in front of the Ticonderoga Town Court and was remanded to Essex County Jail for lack of bail.

Ticonderoga Police Sgt. Dale Quesnel and Patrolman Bush handled the case.
GLENS FALLS  Firefighters would receive 2 percent annual raises and be required to contribute more to the cost of their health insurance under a four-year contract the Glens Falls Common Council approved on Tuesday  six days before the current pact was set to expire.

The city is switching all firefighters to one insurance plan. About six firefighters were still on a separate plan, according to Councilor Jane Reid, who was on the personnel committee.

It created an administrative snafu that we are grateful to be able to eliminate, she said.

Firefighters will be paying more toward the cost of their health insurance. The percentage contribution is currently 6 percent for a single plan, 8 percent for a two-person plan and 9.5 percent for a family plan.

For 2018, the individual plan is increasing to 7.5 percent and the two-person plan is increasing to 8.5 percent, while the family plan rate is staying the same. Increases will be made in small increments until everyone is paying 11 percent in the last year of the contract for all plans.

All new hires will pay 15 percent toward the cost for all plans, according to the contract.

Retired firefighters are not required to contribute toward health insurance costs for themselves or their spouses. Their children can also be on the plan, but the retiree must pay the employee share of the cost. Once the retired employee or spouse reaches 65, the city offers them the Medicare supplement plan at no cost.

The payout for unused sick time has been doubled. The current payout is $10 per unused 8-hour sick day up to a maximum of 180 days for $1,800. The new rate is $20 per day up to a maximum of 180 days for $3,600.

In addition, the clothing allowance has been increased from $475 to $600 for all firefighters with at least one year of service.

Reid said that negotiations were cordial.

Glens Falls Firefighters Union Local 2230 President Scott Mason did not return a message seeking comment.

The city still has to reach a new agreement with the Civil Service Employees Association. The existing contract expires at the end of 2017, but the terms will remain in effect until a new deal is in place.

Reid said it was difficult to get the parties together.

We couldnt find dates in December, she said.
The removal of dozens of tanker cars from tracks north of North Creek apparently does not signal the end of Saratoga & North Creek Railways plan to store out-of-service rail cars on the line.

The railways parent company, Iowa Pacific Holdings LLC, informed state officials Wednesday that it plans to continue to store cars on the rail line, despite a pledge by the owner of cars stored there now that they will be removed, unless the state purchases its rights to the line.

The 80 or so tankers brought to the so-called Tahawus line in Essex County are owned by Union Tank car Co., which announced Tuesday that it plans to pull them out after state and local officials and environmental organizations protested for months.

But Iowa Pacific has other clients in need of train car storage and plans to bring hundreds of additional cars for storage in the region, Iowa Pacifics counsel, David Michaud, wrote in a letter to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

Iowa Pacific will stop storing cars on the line, which runs between North Creek and former stone mines in the hamlet of Tahawus in Newcomb, only if the state buys the companys freight easement on the line, Michaud wrote. That purchase price would include investments the company has made, including the hiring of workers, he added.

Short of such an agreement, however, SNCR will continue to store rail cars on its line and, in fact, has plans to bring in hundreds of more cars over the next few months, Michaud wrote.

Company officials have estimated that as much as $5 million has been put into the local operation.

Michaud also wrote that the states proposed action to end the plan through a claim that the line was abandoned will not succeed.

In response to the proposed adverse abandonment action that your agency allegedly intends to file, there is no merit to such a filing, and even if there was, a favorable ruling would not prevent the storage of railcars, he wrote. Once again, the salient point here is that my client owns the Tahawus branch freight easement in perpetuity. An abandonment action would do nothing to impact my clients state property rights.

Ed Ellis, president of Iowa Pacific, has not responded to requests for comment since Union Tank Car Co. made its announcement late Tuesday.

The Tahawus line runs through state Forest Preserve lines, which has prompted complaints about aesthetic concerns and possible environmental problems. Iowa Pacific has said the tanker cars were cleaned, and a state inspection found no actionable issues.

Warren County officials said Wednesday that they have heard nothing from SNCR in recent weeks.

Neither Horicon Supervisor Matt Simpson, chairman of the county Board of Supervisors Public Works Committee, nor Public Works Superintendent Jeff Tennyson has been in communication with the company after the latest developments in the storage saga.

We dont know what the next step is for them, Simpson said.

Warren County and the town of Corinth own the rail line from North Creek to Hadley and Corinth to Saratoga Springs, respectively. The municipalities have contracted with Saratoga & North Creek Railway for use of the line for tourist and freight trains.

After SNCR won a contract to use the line in 2011, Iowa Pacific purchased the long-shuttered rail line to the north, which had been used to get materials out of the Tahawus mines.

Ellis said the revenue from train car storage was needed to make capital improvements on the line, as the company has been losing money because freight traffic has not developed as hoped.
The company that owns the old tanker cars that were being stored in the Adirondacks has announced the cars are being removed after an outcry from environmental officials and Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Union Tank Car Co. on Tuesday said it has ordered removal of about 65 empty, cleaned tanker cars from storage in the Adirondack Forest Preserve. Removal of the cars is expected to be completed by mid-January 2018.

As we have previously explained, all railcar owners store idle railcars from time to time until they can be returned to active service, said William Constantino, general manager-leasing for Union Tank Car in a news release. We select the storage provider, but not the precise storage location. We regret the railroads decision to place some of our railcars in the Adirondack Park, which raised public concern about their effect on the parks beauty and environment.

The tanker cars have been parked in Minerva.

The company is relocating them to other areas outside New York state.

Cuomo said he is pleased with the companys decision.

Thats great news and I thank them for the prompt response and their understanding, he said in a telephone interview.

We are offended when someone tries to use the Adirondack Park, which is a magnificent state resource, for a storage yard for old train cars, Cuomo added.

The state had asked the Warren Buffet-owned firmed Berkshire Hathaway, which is the parent company of Union Tank Car, to stop sending the cars to the region to protect one of the nations greatest natural treasures.

Cuomo on Dec. 19 announced that he would ask the Federal Surface Transportation Board to halt the storage of the cars. The state Department of Environmental Conservation is asking the company to immediately cease and desist receiving rail cars and remove those cars already stored there until a decision is made by the board.

Officials from Iowa Pacific Holdings, which runs the rail line, have said they needed the money from the storage to fund improvements to the rail line.

Cuomo said he has not heard from Iowa Pacific but the state is keeping the pressure on to prevent this type of storage from continuing.

We are fully prepared to proceed with every regulatory and legal action that we can take if the track owner tries to replace those cars, he said.

Ed Ellis, president of Iowa Pacific Holdings, SNCRs parent company, could not be reached for comment Tuesday evening.
China is developing a monitoring and assessment system for its PV power market, helping prospective investors invest in areas with lower idle PV power capacities.

Peng Peng, director for policy research, the China Renewable Energy Association, pointed out that the policy focuses on ground-mounted PV power capacities, offering prospective investors data on areas suitable for investments in PV power facilities, so as to curb idle capacities.

The National Energy Administration (NEA) announced last week that it will restrict annual PV power installation capacities according to idle rate and other considerations, including land condition and subsidy and support of municipal governments.

The policy aims to slash installation quota in areas with massive waste of PV power. Bloomberg New Energy Finance estimates that 3.28 kilowatts/hour (?) of PV power was wasted in China in 2016, due to insufficient grid capacity.

Curtailment of PV power and wind power has been a major issue haunting China for years. In 2016, 17% of generated wind power was wasted in China, according to Greenpeace.

NEA data show that newly installed PV power capacity totaled 24.4 GW, up 9% year-on-year, in China in the first half this year. As of 2016, total installed PV power capacities had topped 77.8GW in the nation, according to the International Renewable Energy Association (IRENA).

NEA expressed last month that China will introduce renewable-energy quota system, to solve the problem of idle capacities. Yvonne Liu, analyst of Bloomberg New Energy Finance stationed in Beijing, noted that the projected PV power assessment system will facilitate sensible investments, adding that prospective investors need more market forecast, data on installation quota for new projects, and investment evaluation and suggestion in their investment decision-making.

(First photo courtesy of pixabay)
Japans financial newspaper the Nikkei reported on 26 December that Japans share of global solar market has shrunk significantly in the recent years due to competition from China and South Korea. According to the Nikkei, a 2005 global ranking of manufacturers of solar photovoltaic cells by production volumes shows that four out of the top five were Sharp Corp. and three other Japanese companies. However, a later ranking of cell manufacturers by product shipments for 2016 reveals that Japanese companies have fallen out of the global top five. The Nikkeis article states that Chinese and South Korean cell manufacturers have captured significant market shares through their aggressive undercutting strategies. Consequently, Japanese cell manufacturers have to make themselves leaner to remain profitable.

Numerous Japanese companies that are in the solar cell market have hastened to reorganize as to make their operations more competitive. Sharp has just announced that it will transfer a part of its energy technology business  including the R&D, repair, and sales of solar cells  to its subsidiary Sharp Energy Solutions Corp. in the spring of next year. Panasonic Corp. and Kyocera Corp. are also planning to scale back their production of solar cells.

After being acquired by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd. (aka Foxconn Technology Group) in August 2016, Sharp was able to turn its solar cell business from loss to profit by carrying out reforms such as changing the terms of purchasing contracts with upstream suppliers to get better prices. For its fiscal 2016 (which concluded at the end of March 2017), Sharps solar cell business reported an annual revenue of JPY 103.6 billion. However, this amount was just about a quarter of its 2013 peak revenue.

Panasonic also recorded loss in its solar cell business in 2016 for the first time and has started to scale back domestic production. The Nishikinohama plant that fabricated cell components in the city of Kaizuka has suspended production, and the solar panel assembly line in Shiga Prefecture is scheduled to shut down within the companys fiscal 2017 (by the end of March 2018). Panasonic is also producing solar cells at a factory in Shimane Prefecture, but the capacity utilization rate of the plant is fairly low.

Panasonic is consolidating its overseas operations as well. The company closed a US factory this October after announcing the plan on 7 September. Located in the state of Oregon, this factory produced crystalline silicon ingots  the upstream material for solar cells.

An earlier article published by the Nikkei on 22 April states that Japans domestic solar demand has been anemic because of the reductions in the feed-in tariff. At the same time, foreign competitors continue to undercut prices of Japanese solar companies, forcing them to abandon domestic production. For instance, a part of Kyoceras panel assembly business will be outsourced to other companies, while the rest of the operation will move from Japan to China. Kyocera already suspended its module assembly line in Mie Prefecture at the end of this March.

Data released by Japan Photovoltaic Energy Association (JPEA) on 22 November again shows weak results for solar cell shipments during 3Q17. For the domestic market, shipments for this three-month period came to 1,280MW. This represents a large YoY drop of 23% and the ninth YoY shipment decline within the 10 quarters for the domestic market. Japans total solar cell shipments (including both domestic and overseas markets) for 3Q17 also fell 24% YoY to 1,388MW. This marks 10 consecutive quarters of YoY decline for the total cell shipments. In terms of overseas market share, Japanese cell manufacturers together accounted for around 38% by the end of 3Q17.

(Photo credit: Panasonic Corp.)
MOLINE -- Most people do not celebrate their 66th birthday by attempting 1,000 sit-ups, 1,000 leg lifts and 1,000 push-ups in one hour, but that is what martial artist John Morrow will do as he raises funds for local children's charities.

The Fit-a-thon Fundraiser for Youth will be held Saturday, Jan. 6, at C.A.S.I., 1035 West Kimberly Rd. in Davenport. The event runs from 2:30 - 4 p.m. Spectators should use the South entrance at Jane's Place.

All proceeds will go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Children's Therapy Center and Kids Against Hunger. The event is co-sponsored by the Quad City Morning Optimist Club and Morrow's Academy for Martial Arts. Spectator donations can be made at the door. Water and snacks will be provided.

Last year, on his 65th birthday, Morrow raised more than $3,700 for the three nonprofit organizations. This year, the goal is $4,000.

Spectator donations can be made at the door. Water and snacks will be provided. To donate, stop by the event or for more information contact John Morrow at 309-764-1929.
About 50 years ago, Crow Creek Road was made of gravel, and there weren't too many people living in Pleasant Valley.

But a group of Baptists from Grandview Baptist Church in Davenport realized eastern Bettendorf and the Pleasant Valley area was ripe for growth, partly because one of the active members, Mel Dirksen, lived there.

It was proposed that a Baptist church be established and Dirksen signed on to help.

Some of the first services were at the site of Mickey's Country Cafe in Pleasant Valley, which was rented all day on Sunday for Baptist worship.

Dirksen, the first pastor, 94, of LeClaire, met recently at Pleasant View to talk about the church that is related to the Swedish form of Baptist faith. Other long-time members, invited by the current pastor  the Rev. Ed Hedding  were Twila Belk, Bettendorf, daughter of Rema Francisco, the first church secretary, and Michael and Janice Fendley of Maysville, who served at Pleasant View in the 1990s.

Dirksen at the beginning

Like many new churches, Pleasant View began with meetings in individual homes, and church members canvassed door-to-door in the neighborhoods.

According to a church history, the first families were headed by Robert Browning Sr. and his wife, Ada; Robert Browning Jr. and his wife, Bernice; Harold and Glenda Crosno, Robert and Dorrie Orr, Max and Helen Roller and Stan and Betty Smith.

Dirksen was invited to be the first pastor, and the first church service was Jan. 7, 1968, at the Pleasant Valley Chapel. Services were also held at the Pleasant Valley Community Center.

Pleasant View Baptist will honor the 1968 service and kick off its 50th anniversary celebration with special services at the church on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2018.

'Great fellowship'

From the beginning, the church has put an emphasis on fellowship, with a full slate of services, activities, a website and now, an app.

In the early days, Dirksen said the services were on Sundays and he would invite guest speakers, including visiting missionaries.

"We had a time of great fellowship," he said.

Church meetings continued at the community center while officials searched for a permanent location. It was decided to purchase a home in Surrey Heights as a parsonage.

Its first residents were a new pastor, the Rev. Walton Johnson, his wife, Eunice, and their four children, who arrived in 1969.

Four acres of land were then purchased along Crow Creek Road and the groundbreaking for the church was held in March 1971 with the first worship service in early 1972.

Belk, who lived in the neighborhood at the time, remembers walking to church, and a great deal of mud involved in the construction process.

Her parents, Harold and Rema Francisco, were active at Pleasant View, as Harold served as head of the building committee. Dawn Dirksen, Mel's daughter, was married in the church just as construction concluded.

First church members came from the Pleasant Valley and Bettendorf areas, Dirksen said.

Early active members like Helen Roller set a tone for the new church. "She really knew the Bible," Belk said, describing Roller as being "missions minded," and the one who started children's programs in the early 1970s.

Church building additions

By the mid-1970s, Pleasant View had 154 members, and a new addition was constructed in 1976-77. This added the upper level office, enlarged the foyer and doubled the seating capacity in the sanctuary. A lower level was added for programming, including the Awana organization for youths, and classrooms.

The church continued to grow, the Rev. Hedding said, and had more than 200 members in the 1990s when the Fendleys joined. Mike Fendley was youth minister, and his family included two children.

The Fendleys spent 14 years at Pleasant View, and "we thoroughly enjoyed it," Mike Fendley said.

"It's a healing church," he said. The family came in "kind of banged up," but the Pleasant View fellowship was kind and helpful.

At the end of the decade, it was decided another addition was necessary and a groundbreaking service was March 1, 1998. Two wings were added to the structure, and the design was by a church member, Hedding said.

Church leadership evolved and changed over the decade of the 2000s at Pleasant View. Support began to wane and attendance fell to 70 members, Hedding said.

Looking to the future

Hedding was hired in early 2009, and said it was necessary to re-tool and restructure the church government and church institution.

The Awana group, now with more than 50 members, restarted in 2011. The church has more than 100 members and is led by ministry team leaders. Paul Hovey, a native of Maquoketa, was hired in 2013 as associate pastor of worship and families, and leads musical offerings.

It is a growing, but also changing church, Belk said, calling it "ascending" with a focus on mission work.

Hedding has added community involvement to the church, such as paying laundry charges for customers at the State Street Scrub Pub in Bettendorf, or doing landscaping work at Pleasant View Elementary School, or Pleasant Valley High School.

Pleasant View also supports agencies like the Pregnancy Resources Center and the Quad-Cities Prayer Center.

A gala event for Pleasant View Baptist will be April 14, 2018 at the Prayer Center at NorthPark Mall, Davenport. This will include past ministers, missionaries and church members, anyone who has been involved at Pleasant View the past 50 years, Hedding said.

The Jan. 7 service is more simple in nature, he said. Pastors from the past will attend including the Rev. Rick Smith and Mike Fendley.

"We are grateful for our past, but it's helpful to look to our future," Belk said.
A photographic exploration of 50 years of papal visits to religious sites in Israel will soon be on display at St. Ambrose University, Davenport.

The exhibit begins Jan. 5 in Galvin Fine Arts Center on the St Ambrose campus. "Building Bridges of Faith: Photographs of Papal Visits to the Holy Land, 1964-2014" features visits to nearly a dozen Holy Land sites.

These include: Church of the Holy Sepulchre, recognized as the site of the crucifixion and tomb of Jesus of Nazareth; Yad Vashem, Israels official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust; the Cenacle on Mount Zion, considered by Christians the site of the Last Supper; and the Western Wall, also called the Wailing Wall.

The 44 historic images depicts "stirring scenes as well as quiet, intimate moments during visits to the Holy Land," according to Allan Ross, executive director of the Jewish Federation of the Quad Cities.

The Catholic leaders involved are: Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis.

It illustrates the importance of inter-religious dialogue, especially in this case between Catholics and Jews. "Reflect deeply on the significance of the Jewish roots of our own faith," Pope Francis said on his visit to Jerusalem in 2014, and seek "mutual understanding of our spiritual heritage."

Local Catholic leaders welcome the exhibit.

"I am deeply grateful to the Jewish Federation for co-sponsoring this exhibition of the historic visits of recent Popes to the Holy Land, Diocese of Davenport Bishop Thomas Zinkula said. I am looking forward to seeing the exhibition and encourage Catholics to join our Jewish brothers and sisters in visiting it."

The St. Ambrose president agreed. "Jerusalem is an important holy site for many believers, including Jews, Christians and Muslims," Sister Joan Lescinski said. "We are pleased to be able to partner with other sponsors to offer this exhibit to the community."

The exhibit was most recently at Notre Dame University in Indiana, but also has been at: DePaul University in Chicago, Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois, Marquette University in Milwaukee, and the Jewish Federation in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

The exhibits will be showcased at the Galvin Fine Arts Center and at the St. Ambrose Library on campus from Jan. 5 through Feb. 21. Starting Feb. 22, the entire exhibit will be displayed at the library through the end of the spring semester, May 11.

The exhibit has been made possible by the Aviv Ezra, Consulate General of Israel to the Midwest. Other sponsors include: Diocese of Davenport, St. Ambrose University, St. Ambrose Universitys Middle East Institute, the Muslim Community of the Quad-Cities and the Jewish Federation of the Quad-Cities.
Planned Parenthood of the Heartland announced Wednesday that, after 18 years, its Bettendorf clinic will close Friday.

The clinic is one of four Planned Parenthood said in May that it would close as a result of the state's decision to cut off family planning funds for organizations that provide abortions.

Republicans in the state legislature approved the change during the last legislative session, and former Gov. Terry Branstad signed it into law.

Planned Parenthood already has closed the other three clinics, in Keokuk, Burlington and Sioux City. They shut their doors at the end of June. The Bettendorf clinic stopped providing family planning care at that time, but still offered abortion services pending the sale of its building.

Becca Lee, a spokeswoman, said Wednesday the building has been sold but she did not identify the buyer.

Planned Parenthood still has eight centers in Iowa, with Iowa City being the closest to the Quad-Cities. Proponents of the change to the state's family planning network say there are ample alternatives for women. But the organization's president rejected that claim Wednesday.

"It is absurd that politicians have forced women to travel hours out of their way in order to access basic health care. They attempted to feed Iowans this lie that there are plenty of other places to go for the same care  but women know the truth," Planned Parenthood of the Heartland President and CEO Suzanna de Baca said in a statement Wednesday.

Brenna Smith, a spokesperson for Gov. Kim Reynolds, responded Wednesday, saying: "The governor is proud to have worked with the Iowa Legislature to expand access to womens health care through a state-run family planning program that disallows abortion providers from receiving taxpayer dollars."

Republicans who gained control of the Statehouse after the 2016 election gave up Medicaid funding for its family planning network and instead substituted state funds, allowing it to prohibit funding from going to Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers. About a week after the budget that included the change was signed, Planned Parenthood said it would close the four clinics.

At the time, it said the move would affect 14,676 people who had received services there in the previous three years.

Planned Parenthood opened its Bettendorf clinic in 1999 after a lengthy political and legal battle with abortion opponents. The five-year fight stretched from city council chambers in Davenport and Bettendorf and ended up in federal court. There, a judge ruled the City of Bettendorf violated Planned Parenthood's constitutional rights by denying a site plan, clearing the way for the clinic to open.

Abortion opponents opened their own facility in 2002 across the street, called the Women's Choice Center.
A new aquatics center in Chadron and pitched battles over the intersection of Highways 385 and 20 and the status of liquor licenses in Whiteclay dominated headlines in the region for much of 2017.

Over the next three weeks well take a look back at 2017, four months at a time, to remember some of the years biggest stories but also recall other smaller items of note.

Discussions on constructing a roundabout at the intersection of Highways 20 and 385 inside the city limits of Chadron began early on in the first third of the year. Engineer Shane King of Olsson Associates unveiled a draft of his engineering study in February, which said that a roundabout was the preferred alternative from an engineering perspective. It was the second time in three years that a roundabout, which would have come with a price tag of more than $1 million, was prioritized over other options.

The proposal met with heavy resistance from a vocal group of citizens and business owners, but the Nebraska Department of Roads (now the Department of Transportation) informed the city in April that it essentially had two options: do nothing or approve a single-lane roundabout. The debate would continue to take up hours of Chadron City Council time until May when the council decided against supporting a roundabout.

The discussion on the handling of traffic at the intersection lasted until December, however, when the council, after negotiations with the DOT, approved reduced speed limits around the junction, which are expected to go into effect sometime in early 2018.

In March, Chadron celebrated the opening of the Chadron Area Aquatics and Wellness Center. The nearly $7 million facility was the result of a years-long process that included a feasibility study, a council denial to place a sales tax to fund the facility on the ballot and a petition drive that was capped by a 2-1 approval of that sales tax in 2014. In addition to the sales tax, roughly $1.5 million in grants and a capital campaign helped fund the facility.

The project enclosed Chadrons existing outdoor swimming pool and added several features, including a diving board, a 75-foot slide, a zero-depth entry, a kids splash pad, therapy pool, updated locker rooms, a walking track and multi-functional space for meetings and parties, as well as an outdoor sundeck.

Fundraising for the facility, to ease the burden on sales tax payers continues, and the city also continues to apply for grants to add equipment to the facility.

The year 2017 also saw a continued fight over the sale of alcohol in Whiteclay. January kicked off the year with a debate on the issue in front of the Sheridan County Commissioners as they decided on whether or not to recommend approval of the liquor licenses issued in the border town. Four beer stores sold the equivalent of roughly 3.5 million cans of beer in the village annually, mostly to residents of the dry Pine Ridge Reservation.

The Nebraska Liquor Control Commission, having heard complaints for years, in 2016 ordered the four stores to reapply for their liquor licenses after questions were raised about law enforcement in the village.

An all day hearing before the county commissioners saw roughly six dozen supporters and opponents, evenly split, make their cases. Opponents of liquor sales in Whiteclay cited violence, open container violations, drunken driving and a worsening public health crisis as reasons to end the beer sales, as well as limited law enforcement presence. Supporters said the sale of alcohol was not the problem, addiction on the part of reservation residents was, and expressed concern that if Whiteclay stores were closed, problems faced in that village would spread to other northern Panhandle towns. They also cited what they believed is the beer store owners right to make a living. The store owners themselves testified that they follow state law and would continue to do so.

The commissioners eventually voted to recommend approval of the licenses to the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission. The state commission, however, refused to renew all four, forcing the stores to close at the end of April. That set up a court battle, which the stores lost in September. A legislative task force on the topic of Whiteclay continues to meet and make recommendations on how to improve conditions in the border town.

Other headlines from the first one-third of the year:

In February, the parents of Fatima Larios sued Chadron State College under Title IX for failing to protect her from dating violence. Larios was found dead in the High Rise dormitory in 2015; her death was ruled a suicide. There had been reports that she and her boyfriend were involved in an abusive relationship, and Larios parents contend that the school did little to protect their daughter. The case is expected to go to court in 2018.

In March, White River Feed was named as one of 54 honorees by the U.S. Small Business Administration. They were named Nebraskas 2017 Small Business Person of the Year.

In other agricultural news that same month, Dawes County Assessor Lindy Coleman noted that agricultural property valuations, set to be formally released in June, were expected to stay mostly level for the first time in several years. In a continuing trend that impacted the Crawford school district, valuations for the Crow Butte uranium mine fell again, this time by more than $2.8 million. The mines valuation was set at $10.6 million for 2017, down from $75.9 million in 2011.

In April, a pair of burglaries, two in a long string of them that started in March, led to the arrest of one individual and the identification of three other suspects. The burglaries included instances of thefts from homes and vehicles and stolen cars. Gordon and Rushville experienced similar incidents during the same time frame.

Also in April, two Chadron citizens who rescued a woman from a brutal attack by five dogs were awarded Certificates of Valor by Chadron Mayor John Coates. Charles Gartner and David Nelson intervened to save the woman when they saw her being attacked on the sidewalk as they were driving by.

Editor's Note: This version corrects the name of the engineering firm responsible for the study of the intersection of Highways 20 and 385 to Olsson Associates. We apologize for the error.
Fern Ruby Hawthorne Eleson was born Aug. 8, 1921, and died Dec. 22, 2017, at the Chadron Community Hospital.

She was born to Frank and Angie Hawthorne at their home south of Hay Springs and was the youngest of nine children: five brothers and three sisters.

She attended several country schools during her youth as the family moved several times to different farms.

She graduated from high school in 1938 and attended Chadron State College for one year to get her teaching certificate. Then she taught at district R and one year at Rose Hill country schools.

On Aug. 27, 1941, Fern married Floyd W. Eleson and to that union eight children were born: Richard (stillborn), Nancy (Bill Gilbert), Duane (Teckla), Kenneth (Barbara), Kathy (Jerry Scott), Kay (Dan Curtis), Bonnie, and Keven (Laurie).

Fern was well known for her delicious cooking and helping with Bethel Sunday School. She was also a poet and wrote many poems about her family and farm life.

She loved the Lord and has gone to spend eternity with those who had gone first: Floyd, her husband, Nancy, Kathy and Kay and her husband Dan.

Funeral services will be today, Dec. 27, at 2 p.m. at Chamberlain Chapel in Chadron with Pastor Aaron Sprock officiating. Burial will be at the Greenwood Cemetery.
A special legislative task force has targeted construction of a cellular tower and an alcohol treatment-and-detox center as key objectives in meeting the emergency needs stemming from the long history of alcohol sales to Native Americans in Whiteclay.

Also on its priority list is construction of a Whiteclay memorial intended to ensure that future generations never forget the suffering perpetrated on the Oglala Lakota people at Whiteclay.

The four liquor stores that had been located in Whiteclay, within walking distance of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, sold 3.5 million cans of beer and high-alcohol malt liquor annually before they were closed earlier this year.

In April, the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission voted to deny extension of liquor licenses to the four establishments.

A legislative task force comprised of Sens. Tom Brewer of Gordon, Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln, Brett Lindstrom of Omaha, Mark Kolterman of Seward and Tony Vargas of Omaha was created at about the same time to assess the public health implications resulting from that history of voluminous alcohol sales.

Nebraskas actions and inactions in Whiteclay have had devastating consequences for the people on the Pine Ridge Reservation, which linger to this day, the committee stated in a report released Wednesday.

While alcohol is banned on the reservation, more than one in four babies born there suffers from fetal alcohol syndrome, the committee stated, while noting that other studies have pegged the alcoholism rate as high as 80 percent and pointing to high percentages of infant mortality and teen suicide.

Construction of a cellular tower in or near Whiteclay would greatly enhance public safety in the region, help facilitate distance learning and give individuals access to telehealth services, the committee noted. The tower would replace one that was recently destroyed.

A treatment-and-detox center in the Whiteclay area is a high priority, the senators said, and the task force pledged to work with the Oglala Lakota Nation, local officials, nonprofits and others to achieve that goal.

One possible idea is a treatment center being located somewhere on certain tribal land that crosses the South Dakota border and sits to the west of Whiteclay within the boundaries of the State of Nebraska, the committee said.

Those will be among the goals that the task force will prioritize in 2018, the report stated.

In addition, the senators said, they will continue to work with Natives and local Nebraska officials to spur economic development in the region.
A 15-week investigation into two 2016 Nebraska State Patrol incidents has resulted in a firing, a retirement, a resignation and disciplinary action against four others.

State Patrol Col. John Bolduc, who was hired in October to replace Col. Brad Rice, announced the actions Wednesday afternoon at a news conference. The disciplinary actions stemmed from conduct following two incidents last year involving a tactical vehicle intervention and excessive use of force by troopers.

In June, Gov. Pete Ricketts fired Rice for inappropriately interfering with internal affairs investigations and suspended six others in the agency. The action came after a review of the State Patrol by Chief Human Resources Officer Jason Jackson.

The patrol investigation was to determine if employees violated policies of the agency, Bolduc said, whether leaders were derelict in their duties in the aftermath and whether troopers accurately and honestly reported their conduct.

Bolduc would not name the troopers who were disciplined or left the patrols employment, saying they had not waived confidentiality.

But the trooper who was fired was Tim Flick, according to the State Troopers Association of Nebraska. In October 2016, Flick was involved in the pursuit of a car that had run a stop sign on a county road north of Gordon in Sheridan County. His patrol car intercepted the vehicle, which crashed into a ditch and rolled, and the driver, Antoine L. Ladeaux, 32, of Pine Ridge, South Dakota, was ejected and died at the scene.

A grand jury found no wrongdoing by Flick. District Judge Travis OGorman has since appointed former U.S. Attorney for Nebraska Joe Stecher, who will look into any potential criminal wrongdoing that occurred regarding how the investigation of the incident was handled.

In addition to Flicks termination, a sergeant resigned and a lieutenant colonel retired, Bolduc said. At any time during the process, anyone can elect to resign or retire if they are eligible, but he wouldnt say whether they would have been fired if they had not decided to leave.

Also, two officers were demoted: a major reduced in rank to captain and a captain to sergeant. A trooper and sergeant received administrative penalties.

Sgt. Travis Wallace, a patrol investigator, was disciplined but would keep his current position. According to the state troopers union, Wallace was called to the scene of the crash involving Flick to do an accident reconstruction investigation.

Others besides Flick and Wallace who were suspended with pay by Ricketts at the time of Rices firing, and have previously been named, were Capt. Jamey Balthazor, Sgt. Kevin Waugh, Maj. Mike Gaudreault and Lt. Col. Thomas Schwarten. A seventh trooper was since brought into the investigation but not named.

The trooper involved in the excessive force incident, Lindsey Bixby, who was seen on a widely distributed internet video hitting a drunk driver last year with the butt of his rifle, resigned in June. He was not included in the action announced Wednesday.

The state troopers association sent out a news release Wednesday saying Flick is an honorable trooper who has served the state with dedication and valor for more than two decades, including being shot multiple times while placing himself in harms way to protect the citizens of Nebraska.

Flicks actions were thoroughly reviewed by multiple law enforcement officials and found to be within law and policy, the union said.

(The union) is in complete support of Trooper Flick, and it will not rest until this unjust offense against his reputation is reversed in arbitration, the news release said.

The union said Wallace was disciplined for technical policy violations and has accepted responsibility. It will fully support his decision on whether to appeal the amount of discipline, the union said.

Bolduc said the State Patrol is not a troubled agency, but one of integrity.

He emphasized he believed those who were disciplined or left are good people who made mistakes. Among them are veteran troopers who have had decorated and accomplished careers, have even been heroes in their communities.

However, even good people make mistakes, he said. And some mistakes have serious consequences.

The investigations were thorough, consuming 1,300 hours of work over a total of 15 weeks, including 177 hours of interviews, Bolduc said.

The incidents at the center of the investigation were two out of more than 216,000 handled last year.

Public trust and accountability are paramount in our ability to serve the public, Bolduc said.

He believed some troopers would be disappointed in some or all of the discipline meted out by the agency to the seven men.

I know how they feel, he said. Im a cop, just like you. I want you to know I have your back. But having your back isnt a blank check for every error. ... Unfortunately, there are some mistakes that just cant be tolerated.

Bolduc said the state patrol is cooperating with probes by other agencies, including the FBI.

Omaha Sen. Burke Harr, who has pushed for criminal investigations and more information on the incidents and aftermath being made public, said the agency needs to let the public know more about why the troopers and administrators were fired or disciplined, and whether anyone committed crimes.

It sounds as if there was abuse of power within the patrol, he said.

And when theres an abuse of power, I think the public has a right to know what happened so that we know we can trust our law enforcement ... even if its something as simple as filing a false report, he said.

The vast majority of troopers are great men and women and they sacrifice every day, he said.

Bolduc said the patrol is looking at ways to improve some of its policies and procedures.

The Legislatures Judiciary Committee Chairwoman Laura Ebke filed public-records requests last month to get information on patrol actions that could potentially be violations of law or prompt legislation. She has received hundreds of pages of documents and emails from Ricketts office, Attorney General Doug Peterson, the patrol, the courts and the Department of Administrative Services.

The Legislature will try to ensure the state does not have future conflicts of interest with the attorney general regarding such investigations and suspensions, and make a run at other changes in policy and procedures as needed.

The administration has already brought us some ideas for things that theyd like to have accomplished, Ebke said.
The Hot Springs Airport will now be under the direction of a full-time airport manager. In a split vote last week, the Hot Springs City Council approved increasing airport manager Ed Jensens position by 260 hours per year.

Jensen currently works just over 1,800 hours on a schedule that has him at full time for nine months out of the year and 20 hours a week for the remaining three months of the year. The council voted 4-3 to increase the position to full time, with Georgia Holmes, Martin Meyer, Sam Powers and Ron Richards in favor of the move, and Schuyler Wetzel, Carolann Schwarzenbach and Bob Nelson opposed.

City Administrator Kim Barbieri said the airport is averaging nearly 4,000 flights per year over the last three years, a significant growth rate that looks to continue. The airport is now also hosting more alternate-use events than ever before, such as skydiving flights, balloon launches and glider clubs. A new taxiway, finished earlier this year with a $1 million price tag shared by Hot Springs, FAA and South Dakota Department of Transportation, has also added to the maintenance responsibilities.

In addition, future development at the airport will continue to require more oversight. The Hot Springs Airport currently has 35 aircraft that call it home, up from 18 a handful of years ago, and there is a long waiting list for hangar space. The South Dakota Department of Transportation is considering adding hangar space in the future, which will generate additional revenue but require more oversight, as well as involvement by the airport manager in planning meetings, grant writing and coordination with the DOT, Barbieri said in a report she delivered to the council.

A contract for Pete Lien and Sons to mine gravel in areas surrounding the airport is in its final stages of approval by the FAA, and mining will be in full swing in 2018 as soon as those agreements are finalized.

The airport manager position is becoming more integral to the economic development and sustainability of Hot Springs and the region surrounding the airport, Barbieris report reads. With additional activity at the airport, increased flights, additional responsibilities regarding mining and future development planning, the need for this position to move to a full-time position is becoming increasingly apparent.

The Hot Springs Airport was named Airport of the Year by the South Dakota Department of Transportation Office of Aeronautics for 2016. The award was presented in March for medium-sized airports. Several criteria are used to judge the airports for consideration for the award, including utilization, overall appearance, professionalism of the airport manager, and management of the airport during winter months.

Another highlight this year was the second annual Fall River Hot Air Balloon Festival in August. The event featured hot air balloon launches, glider rides and tandem skydiving. The event received the Black Hills and Badlands Tourism Associations 2017 Special Achievement Award in October after it drew 800-1,000 people.

In other business last week, the Hot Springs City Council also:

*discussed including a continuous center turn lane on the U.S. 18B truck route, as proposed by the South Dakota Department of Transportation. Barbieri said there have been numerous complaints that it is difficult to enter traffic on the highway, while others fear they will be rear-ended trying to exit it. The council plans to hold a public hearing on the matter sometime after the new year.

*continued discussions on a proposal by Gen-Pro to install solar power at several city-owned properties, including Evans Plunge, the pumping station, water treatment plant, city shop, library, airport, civic center, depot and police department. Gen-Pro proposed a 20-year lease agreement on the solar units, but state law limits municipalities to 10-year leases. The matter was referred to the public works committee for further study.

*approved allowing the Hot Springs Rotary Club to construct a band shell/stage in Centennial Park. The Rotary Club will pay for the construction, but the city did agree to transfer about $900 in previously donated funds that were set aside for that purpose to the club. Barbieri said the band shell/stage should be ready for use for summer 2018 events.
Efforts continue to address the prevalence of Chronic Wasting Disease in the Wind Cave National Park elk herd.

According to two press releases from the park, two initiatives are underway - one a research endeavor while the other focuses on population control.

Current estimates indicate there are around 260 elk located in the park. Long term management plans call for a population of 232-475. However, incidences of CWD continue to impact the overall health of the herd.

In order to learn more about CWD inside the parks borders, 24 elk were recently captured and fitted with GPS radio collars. The study, which is being conducted by a U.S. Geological Survey scientist, is in its second year.

The collars record the location of the elk every seven hours, and on a rotating basis, several elk each day will have their locations recorded every 15 minutes.

The goal of the study is to determine whether or not it is possible to reduce the overall prevelance of CWD by reducing the herds density.

We appreciate our partnership with the USGS and how they are helping us learn more about this disease, said Park Superintendent Vidal Davila. These collars and the information they provide will allow us to study the elk that are living inside the park and learn more about their movements and habits.

While the study is ongoing, the park has already implemented a culling program. Last year, 262 elk were removed from the herd. Those animals were tested for CWD, and the resulting data indicated a prevalence rate of 13.9 percent, a park press release said.

The National Park Service, along with South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks will carry out another reduction in herd in 2018, as the agencys believe that limiting herd size may decrease prevalence rates.

We were very pleased with the partnership and support we received from GFP on this project, and we look forward to working with our partners again this year to improve the health of our herd, Davila said. The study will inform wildlife managers throughout our agency and the State for the long-term health of the species.

In order to carry out the culling effort, the park is seeking eight volunteers who must be skilled marksmen and physically fit.

Four different volunteers will be needed each of the two weeks of this operation beginning Feb. 5. Two teams will be formed, each consisting of an NPS team leader and two volunteers. Anyone wishing to volunteer must submit an online application through GFP website at: https://apps.sd.gov/gf79license/login.aspx.

A lottery, similar to those conducted for elk permits, will be conducted. Applications will be accepted from Jan. 3-10, 2018. Only online applications will be accepted. Applicants need to be over 18 years of age, a South Dakota resident, not have a felony record, and be willing to undergo a background check.

On their first day, volunteers will be required to demonstrate advanced firearms proficiency and physical fitness to participate. This will include shooting a minimum of three out of five shots into an eight-inch circle at 200 yards using their own firearm and non-lead ammunition. During the week, volunteers will be required to hike up to 10 miles over rough terrain and carry packs up to 70 pounds in winter weather conditions.

Every animal taken during the culling effort will be tested for CWD, and all of the meat that does not test positive for the disease will be donated to Feeding South Dakota to be distributed to families in need. Volunteers who work an entire week on the project will also be eligible to receive elk meat.
When you run for public office, one of the first things you have to decide is what you will say and do in order to win  and whether you will use issues to divide us or unite us as Americans.

Republican U.S. House candidate Shantel Krebs has apparently made a decision to use issues that divide us, proposing what would in effect be an Islamic registry, requiring residents who came here from Muslim countries to register with the federal government.

Proposals like Shantel's make an appeal to our lowest fear-based instincts rather than our highest ideals. We must never, in keeping our nation safe, surrender those ideals and our freedoms. I wont endorse a system that treats lawful American residents differently based on religion or origin.

I oppose the travel ban, also. In fact, the list of eight banned nations does not include the countries of origin of a single one of the 19 terrorists who killed American citizens on 9/11. Choosing predominantly Muslim countries while excluding those whose citizens were responsible for 9/11 should cause people to question the wisdom of this proposal.

Its especially notable that even though I am not her primary opponent, Shantel draws me into the discussion by suggesting that "the other candidates" aren't clear on this issue. Our family, like millions of American families, has known the sacrifice that comes with fighting for freedom and safety. After 9/11, three of our sons, one after the other, answered our countrys call to military service and were deployed in the wars against terror.

The threat of terrorism and the importance of ensuring a safe and secure America is one that demands our fullest effort. I support a methodical thorough vetting of anyone who applies for a visa to enter our country and required systematic check-ins and monitoring of their conduct while here. In fact, an estimated 40 percent of illegal aliens in the U.S. are here because they overstayed lawful visas.

What I dont favor is selective monitoring on the basis of religion or country of origin. It demeans our American ideals, diminishes our role as leaders of the free world, and will likely produce a destabilizing effect internationally. It risks weakening our support from the very peoples whose cooperation we need to fight terrorism, while encouraging terrorists to train their acolytes in other countries not on the lists or registry.

I have crisscrossed South Dakota for the last five months in cafes, holding town halls, addressing major issues. My positions are known and unequivocal. As to the two major pieces of legislation in Congress  the tax overhaul and the health care bill  I have repeatedly declared that I would have been a no vote on both.

Neither Shantel Krebs nor her Republican opponent, Dusty Johnson, have publicly shared with voters whether they would have voted "yes" to either or both bills. I think its ironic that Shantel finally, after all these months in the race, decides to share her position on a presidential decision, but continues to withhold from voters how she would have voted on those two monumental pieces of legislation.

Its time for Shantel and Dusty to state how they would have voted for these two bills, instead of getting side-tracked by Islamic registries. While youre at it, Shantel and Dusty, do you agree or disagree with the pledge I signed months ago to vote for constitutional term limits for Congress?

The issue Shantel raises here is a smokescreen that avoids the big issues Congress faces  and a dangerous one at that.
This is the first of a three-part series looking at the Republican and Democratic aspirants running in the 2018 election to replace Rep. Kristi Noem in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Secretary of State Shantel Krebs, looking to win the Republican nod for a place on the ballot, hasn't made much news yet. But as of last August, her campaign had compiled $230,000, probably a good start toward matching Rep. Kristi Noem's first campaign war chest of $1.1 million in 2010.

Her campaign is still fairly light on specifics, but some general impressions make it pretty clear just who Shantel is and the voters she wants to win over. She made a broad proclamation to the Rapid City Journal in September, saying that when Donald Trump was elected she was "all in" and that her motivating force is that she "wants to help him deliver results." Her slogan  "Get it done."

I admire that she rejects procrastination, but I wonder what the "it" is that she's determined to "get done." If "it" references her complete devotion and dedication to Trump and his policies, I wouldn't give Krebs much consideration as a congressional representative.

"All in" is inclusive, which sounds to me like she's determined to be a rubber stamp for the administration. If elected, would she have the mettle to assert some independence when White House policies may not be the best for South Dakota? For example, is she "all in" with Trump's hostility toward NAFTA? He's on the record as calling it the "worst trade deal" ever approved by the United States, yet the benefits to farm states since the treaty's inception a quarter-century ago are self-evidently positive, as our senior Sen. John Thune noted in a radio interview recently.

No doubt Krebs has her eyes on the huge margin of victory that Donald Trump got in the 2016 election in South Dakota and plans to ride some vestigial coattails associated with it. But given Trump and his administration's general hostility toward free trade, corn-based ethanol and wind power, my guess is that Krebs will be quick to reconsider the notion that she'd be a surrogate for the White House.

I mean given what we know about Trump at this stage of his administration, who on earth would go on record as being one of his toadies? Aberdeen just lost a 400-job windpower-connected factory because of Trump's pro-fossil fuel policies. Is Krebs all in with that?

Her website provides a nice biography and the usual platitudes along the lines of making Washington "responsive" to the needs of our state but doesn't touch on many specifics. One exception: her hostility toward Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, aka Food Stamps. Oddly for someone claiming to be a voice for agriculture, she opposes the American Farm Bureau's unqualified support for the program, which someone with her farming background should know has been a boon for the agriculture industry.

Sellable as it will be to many Republicans in South Dakota, Krebs' "I'm all in with Trump" campaign is a risky venture. Next week, we'll see if her Republican challenger, Dusty Johnson, will make for a viable Republican alternative.
Salt Creek tiger beetle, pallid sturgeon, interior least terns  names familiar to Nebraskans who have heard of conservation efforts directed at these endangered species.

But they're far from alone; Nebraska Game and Parks has officially denoted 30 species of birds, fish, mammals, reptiles and plants as endangered or threatened in the state. Nationwide, some 12,000 species are classified as being of "great conservation need."

Efforts to save these species from extinction and preserve their fragile habitats are vital to Nebraska's ecosystems, though a finite amount of funding at the state level can limit the reach and number of species aided in this process.

A new bill, introduced by Nebraska Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, aims to provide federal financial support to such voluntary, incentive-based recovery efforts nationwide. This bipartisan bill, which has a Democratic cosponsor, is a commonsense means of preserving and improving our national natural heritage.

By diverting funds collected on mineral and energy rights on federal land into a fund that would be divided up among states and territories to best address conservation programs they deem most important. The legislation is revenue-neutral and disarmingly simple: Turn money made off the land back to the states to invest in the land and its species how they see fit.

All in all, the act sets aside $1.3 billion in its first year, of which Game and Parks estimates Nebraska to receive about $15 million. That money could be used in any number of ways  including expanding species preservation efforts, partnerships among wildlife agencies, urban habitat development and countless others  building upon the state's tradition of thoughtful conservation.

Investing in more proactive, voluntary conservation projects would advance Nebraska's legacy of forward-thinking stewardship of the land. Land and water endure forever; the people who occupy them are fleeting. However, we have the responsibility to preserve these natural resources as best we can for future generations.

Nebraska's wild, wonderful natural habitat is among the most diverse in the nation. The lush green forests and hills along the Missouri River give way, as one moves west, to the Platte River valley to the south and unique Sandhills to the north before reaching the Panhandle's rocky landscape.

Each of those distinct landscapes, however, faces its own threats, whether manmade or natural. Animals and plants dependent on the state's rivers and waterways, in particular, are disproportionately represented on Game and Parks' list of endangered and threatened species.

Coordinated campaigns to turn the tide of these species' declining populations are best handled with local control, by experts who know their states best. Fortenberry's idea of infusing these efforts with federal funds made off the land is one Congress should certainly explore in greater detail.
Don Childress is lucky he hasnt had a garage sale in the past few decades to clear out unused fly-fishing gear.

The Sandpoint, Idaho, angler says an old, soft, fiberglass rod was the ticket to landing the Central Washington trout of a lifetime out of Rocky Ford Creek this month.

Childress caught and released a 30-inch rainbow from the fly-fishing-only stream while sight-fishing with a size 20 Scud pattern on 5X tippet.

Had to be a lot of luck involved to land it, he said. The real secret was a very soft Winston glass blank leftover from the 1980s that I never got tied up because graphite came on the scene.

Rocky Ford, about 20 miles north of Moses Lake, emerges from the ground in the drylands as the product of irrigation runoff. The stream offers fly fishers a three-mile spring creek experience. Because the water surfaces at roughly 52 degrees at Troutlodge Hatchery, the stream doesnt freeze, making it particularly attractive to anglers seeking open water and active fish in winter.

Fly fishing is allowed year round with single barbless hooks and no bait.

But with no wading allowed, it can be tricky to land rainbows of any size from the tule-lined shores, especially in the glassy flat sections where fine tippets are used to avoid spooking fussy fish.

After fishing the stream a few times and breaking off good fish because of my a fast-action rod, I had the blank tied up just for Rocky Ford, Childress said. While its not a great casting tool it certainly protects light 5X and 6X tippets.

Childress described the 9 1/2-foot fiberglass rod, which was popular in the '80s, as a really soft, almost wimpy 5-weight.

Put it next to one of the graphite rods and wiggle them together and you see three times the flex  you can feel it down to the handle in the glass rod.

He said the virtues of the soft rod were immediately apparent. I was breaking off fewer fish at hookup and even as I manipulated the fish round the weeds.

You give up a lot of casting punch. Im throwing a big open loop. I cant cast 70 feet with it, but I can cast 50, and thats enough.

Patience and discipline are required to hook trout in the shallow waters of Rocky Ford Creek regardless of the rod choice. After spotting the huge rainbow, Childress said he made about 30 casts. He was using a 12-foot leader and casting about 20 feet upstream from the fish to let the gentle but sometimes squirrely currents naturally drift and deliver a fly about the size of a mosquito.

The Scud had no weight and there was no indicator, so I couldnt actually see the fly, he said. I try to get it down close to the bottom by the time it gets to the fish. I only had a rough idea where the fly was.

Rocky Ford is almost like fishing in a laboratory, he said. Ive seen fish move out of the way of a fly and Ive seen them open their mouths and chomp on a fly.

In this case, the lunker rainbow didnt even seem to open its mouth. It just moved over a little bit and shuddered, said Childress, whos fished for trout, steelhead and salmon around the world. Ive seen that before, so I set the hook.

Theres an art to setting a hook on a 10-12 pound trout with what amounts to a thin, curved barbless wire attached to a fine tippet that tests to less than 5 pounds of strength.

I lifted the rod without holding the line, he said, noting that he let the fish set the hook against the flex of the rod and faint tension of the free-spooling reel. At Rocky Ford, that makes all the difference. Ive seen big fish break off against just the tension of the line when youre out to your backing.

The rainbow reacted to the hook in its lip with an immediate long sprint. I let it run on the spool, he said. Even when the fish got in the weeds, the soft rod allowed me to free it up without breaking off.

About 20 minutes later, Childress guided the rainbow to shore. It was way too big for my net, he said.

Fishing partner Julie Kallameyn helped him land the trophy, where they measured it at 30 inches before snapping a photo and releasing it to test the rod skills of yet another angler in Rocky Ford.
Stevensville High School was awarded the third best high school in Montana by U.S. News & World Report.

Principal Brian Gum said it was pretty cool.

In terms of the Valley, were always competing, Gum said. U.S. News & World Report looks at a number of things including graduation rates, dropout rates, number of AP (Advanced Placement) classes, enrollment, AP scores, American College Testing (ACT) scores  theres just a lot of different factors in judging the whole big picture of the school.

Gum said they have developed many different opportunities for students to be successful at Stevensville High School. One of those is the Montana Behavioral Initiative (MBI), which helps schools create environments that give students support for social, emotional and academic success.

Weve been able to generate great things over time, he said. This summer we won the MBI Platinum Award  Stevensville was the only school district around to get all three schools at MBI Platinum level, which is important.

SHS also received the Graduation Matters Raising Aspirations award.

These awards funnel toward these bigger ticket awards, Gum said. Our students' AP scores were huge last year."

Gum credited his AP teachers for the success.

Their work has just been phenomenal, he said. It really made a difference with the kids. Weve really looked at how to make our kids successful with that and it has been a neat process.
Wide-ranging changes are being proposed for deer and elk regulations in the Bitterroot Valley, and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks will hold a public meeting Jan. 16 in Hamilton to provide information, answer questions and gather input on the tentative 2018-19 hunting regulation proposals adopted earlier this month.

Hunting regulations are adopted biennially for most game species, and the proposed regulations cover deer, elk, antelope, moose, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, bison, black bear, mountain lion, wolf, turkey, and upland and migratory birds.

The Hamilton meeting  one of 12 scheduled for Region 2  begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Bitterroot River Inn.

According to FWP, in most cases, the 2017 regulations are being re-proposed for 2018 and 2019.

But in the Bitterroot, some fairly significant changes are being put forth, according to Rebecca Mowry, a FWP wildlife biologist in Region 2.

These changes sound complicated because a lot of steps being taken, Mowry said. But in the end we predict the changes will make it simpler to hunt, easier to understand the regulations, and add more opportunities.

Some hunting districts will have new shoulder seasons where people can hunt elk before and after the regular six-week big game season. Boundary changes are recommended for Hunting District 270, so it will be two rather than three areas.

The biggest thing region-wide is the elk B licenses on private land only, will be available over the counter to purchase before the general season, Mowry said, adding that the rules regarding weaponry and timing may differ from district to district. Its meant to be a tool to address game damage.

A major change for mule deer involves trophy hunting in districts 261 and 262. Hunting District 261 is one of the most popular trophy areas in Montana, but that means no one is taking any of the smaller, non-trophy bucks that are creating quite a bit of damage on private lands in the area. So now, theyre proposing 15 trophy tags in HD 261 and 25 in HD262.

We want to be able to manage the population, and right now we dont have those tools. Little herd of bucks are running amok and theyre untouchable, Mowry said. There are people who want to stay in a trophy area, but there are a lot of hunters frustrated by the lack of opportunities and want to hunt bucks every year. We are trying to accommodate both.

Other proposals overall in Montana deal with season dates, the biennially adopted quota ranges for licenses and permits, exemptions to the ban on urine used in scents, and changing the two-day, youth-only deer season to a four-day season.

In addition, the commission is considering adopting elk season structure for the 43 hunting districts that had shoulder seasons in 2016 on an annual basis, instead of biennial, to make it easier to evaluate their efficiency. They also would be revisited on a three-year cycle.

Another proposed change would make it illegal in all hunting districts in Regions 1, 2 and 4 to take a female mountain goat that has a kid, or is in a group that contains one or more kids.

A full list of the proposed changes can be read online at file:///C:/Users/MISbyroe/Downloads/!Interested%20Person%20Letter%202017Dec15.pdf The pdf includes links to the master list of proposed changes for both deer and elk.

Comments will be accepted online from the hunting homepage fwp.mt.gov/hunting/ under Opportunity for Public Comment or by clicking on links in the interested persons letter at the above link. They also can be mailed to FWP Wildlife Division, P.O. Box 200701, Helena, MT 59620-0701 or by email to fwpwld@mt.gov.

The deadline for comments is 5 p.m. Jan. 24. The Fish and Wildlife Commission is expected to adopt changes at its Feb. 15 meeting in Helena.

For more information, contact the Wildlife division at 444-2612 or by email at fwpwld@mt.gov

Mowry said people with questions also can call her at 363-7141.
Richard Brown spends hours in his Shepherd basement most days, pulling the lever on his loading press over and over at a steady pace. Each movement drops a brass pistol or rifle casing with a fresh primer onto an assembly line, fills another casing with powder and seats a bullet on a casing already filled with powder to complete the cartridge.

The assembly line rotates. The completed cartridge drops into a bin with other finished rounds. Another pull of the lever advances each of the casings to the next stage. Its a simple procedure and a source of relaxation for Brown.

His hobby-turned-business pumps out thousands of rounds of ammunition every week, completing orders from across the country and occasionally bulk purchases from local law enforcement agencies.

Brown, like most reloaders, started making ammunition for his own hunting and shooting needs. Soon his hunting buddies had him making ammo for them, too. Word spread he was making high-quality ammunition for less than sporting goods store prices. He saw opportunity and now under his Brown's Ammo Service holds one of the 235 federal licenses issued to Montana businesses allowing for the commercial manufacture of ammunition.

Of those licensed to manufacture ammunition in Montana, 175 are also licensed to manufacture firearms, according to the latest count available from the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The businesses licensed to produce ammo in Montana vary from small-scale operations producing small amounts of specialty ammo to companies such as Stevensvilles HSM Ammunition, an outfit with a large production facility that uses automated equipment.

Federal law requires anyone manufacturing ammunition with the intent to operate as a business to undergo a background check and acquire a federal firearms license. The license does not limit the amount of ammunition produced and small manufacturers like Brown hold the same type of license as companies such as HSM.

High-priced equipment and established distribution channels arent necessary to break into the business. Browns first table at a gun show only cost about $25. He showed up with bags of a few popular cartridges and went home with $900.

The bug kind of bit me when I saw all that cash flow, he said.

Since that first gun show in 1986, hes been to thousands more and loaded millions of rounds. His ammunition manufacturing setup evolved from a single press with a simple design into five commercial-grade presses, each capable of churning out more than 1,000 rounds per hour. His first high-output press has produced more than 1 million rounds.

Many prospective customers are interested in the increased accuracy of hand-loaded ammo versus its commercial counterpart. Lacking hand-loading experience, however, they seek a professional like Brown instead of risking damage to their firearms or themselves from using improperly loaded ammunition.

You dont really save a lot of money (loading yourself). Its just the satisfaction of taking all these little pieces and components and putting them together so you can say I made that. Its quite a feeling, Brown said.

Browns manufacturers license allows him access to wholesale prices on bulk ammunition components and his loading equipment speeds up the process. In turn, his ammunition costs 25 to 30 percent less than similar rounds sold at sporting goods stores.

Most of the ammo Brown sells is in common calibers like .45 ACP, 9mm Luger, .223 Remington, .308 Winchester, .270 Winchester, .30-06 and 7mm Remington Magnum. But Brown is capable of loading 120 different cartridges, and sometimes customers contact him looking for rare ammo. If he doesnt already have the dies for that round, the customer can send in the attachments for his press and hell ship the die set back with the completed ammo.

During the past 30 years or so, some cartridges have gotten popular after their introduction by large manufacturers only to lose momentum in subsequent years. Brown said he sold a lot of .270 and .300 Winchester Short Magnums after the cartridges were introduced in the early 2000s. Sales dropped off steeply in recent years, however. In the past few years, 6.5 Creedmoor, a cartridge introduced in 2007, grew in popularity with target shooters and hunters who favor its characteristics for long-range use. The round is now Browns fourth most popular offering.

Current events also shape demand in the firearms community. Sales of AR-15 style rifles boomed during Barack Obamas presidency due to perceived threats to future availability of semiautomatic, magazine-fed rifles. Ammunition commonly used for those weapons became a hot commodity and was often hard to find, particularly after high-profile mass shootings.

Brown said he sold as many as 50,000 rounds of .223 Remington in the first week after the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting in 2012. He enlisted the help of his wife and a local gunsmith to operate three of his high-output presses to produce the rounds most commonly used in AR-15s.

Panic buying isnt a common occurrence, however, and Brown relies on gun shows for about 60 percent of his sales. He also has regular customers who call in orders of hundreds or thousands of rounds at a time.

Every year the Yellowstone County Sheriffs Office fires more than 40,000 rounds of ammunition while training. The agency purchases almost all of those cartridges from Montana manufacturers.

Lt. Kent ODonnell purchases the departments ammunition each year. He orders the lions share of the range ammunition from Armscor, a Nevada-based company with a large-scale facility in the Bitterroot Valley. By sourcing the ammo from an in-state plant he saves the department shipping costs on two heavy pallets each year.

ODonnell also purchases ammunition from Brown to supplement the training needs. For example, this year Brown loaded 9mm rounds for use in the SWAT teams' handguns. When he purchases ammo from Brown he doesnt have to worry about shipping costs. A deputy swings by his Shepherd home to pick up the ammunition.

Its kind of nice to have someone in the community to give business to. I think Mr. Brown is proud of the fact he supplies and sells us ammo, too, ODonnell said.

Those interested in more information can call Brown's Ammo Service at 406-670-7952.
Comments and links to reports on science, and its applications.
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A committee that was formed to explore the idea of creating a cannabis trade association in Lompoc held its first meeting Monday night, at whi
The Buellton City Council unanimously approved extending its existing moratorium on nonmedic

Consensus was reached on most aspects of a taxation program for all cannabis operations in t

An ordinance adopted by the Lompoc City Council last month that outlined regulations for mar

Remote and mountainous with sweeping views and mild temperatures year-round, one Santa Barba

Research and data presented by two of Colorado's leading cannabis experts Friday provided wo

Santa Barbara County is facing 10 major fiscal issues that will have an impact on the 2018-1

Libraries throughout the county will soon receive money promised by the Board of Supervisors

Who regulates cannabis operations?

California has three separate cannabis licensing and regulating authorities:

 The Bureau of Cannabis Control is the lead agency in developing regulations for both medical and adult recreational cannabis use and is responsible for licensing retailers, distributors, testing labs and microbusinesses.

 The Department of Public Healths Manufactured Cannabis Safety Branch is responsible for regulating the manufacturers of cannabis-infused edibles for both medical and nonmedical use.

 The California Department of Food and Agricultures CalCannabis Cultivation Licensing Division is responsible for licensing cannabis cultivators for both medical and recreational use and implementing a track-and-trace system to record the movement of cannabis through the distribution chain.

In Santa Barbara County, the Board of Supervisors sets policy and approves regulations, licensing and taxation systems.

Although those systems havent been refined and approved, land-use permits could be handled through the Planning and Building Department.

License applications could be available from and filed with the County Treasurer Tax Collector, then reviewed by staff from the Sheriffs, Fire and Environmental Health departments and Agricultural Comissioners Office.
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 Latest Gallup poll indicated slight decrease in (still strong) support for death penalty | Main | "Gimme Shelter: Mass Incarceration and the Criminology of the Housing Boom" 

October 30, 2013

Do lead exposure realities continue to best explain modern crime-rate realities?

I want to thank you for yourJanuary blog about the Mother Jones article discussing my lead and crime research. I also want to let you know that I have several posts at www.ricknevin.com that update my earlier analyses, and are closely related to recent posts: Your October 28 post about the NYT editorial on "Why Prisons Are Shrinking" is related to my paper on The Plummeting USA Incarceration Rate showing that the recent incarceration rate decline reflects much steeper declines for younger adults (ages 18-30) born across years of declining lead exposure, partly offset by rising incarceration rates for older adults born across years of pandemic lead poisoning. Your October post on NYC murder rates is directly related to my post on Why is the Murder Rate Lower in New York City? You had two posts in October about 2012 FBI and BJS data showing relatively stable crime rates related to my recent Lead Poisoning and Juvenile Crime Update paper showing that juvenile arrest rates are falling to record lows since 1980, reflecting ongoing declines in lead exposure over the 1990s, while arrest rates since 1980 have increased for older adults. This paper also updates my crime trend graphs for Britain and Canada showing the predictive power of earlier lead exposure trends, with the same relationship between lead exposure and crime trends and the same shifts in arrest rates by age observed in the USA. I also have a recent paper showing how lead exposure trends can explain Juvenile Arrest Rate Trends by Race and Gender I also have a post on Lead Exposure and Murder in Latin America and a longer paper called The Answer is Lead Poisoning that updates and integrates findings from several of my related peer-reviewed studies. All of the questions at The Questions link to this same paper. I know the Kevin Drum story in Mother Jones seemed new and speculative to most readers, but there is actually a large body of research now supporting this relationship, and I have links to many peer-reviewed studies in my posted papers. I dont know of any other criminology theory that can explain both the rise and fall of crime in so many places -- and different trends by age, race, and gender -- or any theory that has so accurately predicted ongoing crime trends in so many different places for so many years. I hope you will consider bringing some of this information to a broader audience through your blog, and I would welcome your use of any text or graphs from my posted papers.

Every time I see reports new reports about crime rates in the United States or in certain regions, I cannot avoid continuing to think about the interesting research connecting crime rates and childhood exposure to lead. Against that backdrop, I was pleased that Rick Nevin, a Senior Economist at ICF International, sent me this lengthy e-mail discussing his research and writing on this topic:

Some recent related posts:

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Comments

I took your intellectual property course in 2002 or 2003. I want to thank you for writing about the relationship between lead exposure and crime rates. I grew up in (and have recently returned to) extreme NE Oklahoma where lead and zinc were mined for almost 100 years. Much of the lead used in WWI and WWII came from what is now the Tar Creek Superfund Site. The EPA is still decades away from remediating the former mine fields.

It's good to see broad research into the ongoing social costs of lead exposure. So thank you!

Posted by: Martin Lively | Oct 30, 2013 10:47:19 AM

The proposition that society's reaction to crime has nothing to do with the incidence of crime is preposterous on its face. If true of the United States, it would be the first time in the history of civilization.

Posted by: Bill Otis | Oct 30, 2013 10:53:58 AM

Bill, you know very well that this is NOT the upshot of this research or the point of this post. Nobody is saying punishment or prison "has nothing to do with the incidence of crime," rather this is all part of an effort to figure out WHAT ESLE might have a very big influence on crime. (Notably, as you should come to see, if this lead story proves true, it might well better justify mass incarceration for those populations most subject to lead exposure than most would concede.)

I always hope and expect serious folks who are opinion leaders in this arena like you, Bill, will be serious and nuanced in reaction to evidence and data and ideas whether or not those sources of information confirm or contest your pre-existing views. I hope I am not expecting too much from you in this context.

Posted by: Doug B. | Oct 30, 2013 11:51:12 AM

Rick.

Always appreciate empirical data here.

Many questions. Start with two.

China. High lead levels, low crime rates.

Passive smoke. Children in smoking households will have both high lead levels and more impulsive, addiction prone parents.

Posted by: Supremacy Claus | Oct 30, 2013 2:02:54 PM

Doug --

Since last week's unfortunate news of the rise in crime coinciding exactly with the decrease in the prison population -- after a virtually unbroken streak of 20 years of DEcreasing crime coinciding with INcreasing prison population -- there has been a frantic if scattershot effort by liberals to explain this away. One (Grits) questioned whether the recently released figures were calculated in the same manner as the ones before; another (Fred) said that the entire crime decrease was due solely to better police tactics ("Obviously in the afflicted communities, things needed to change to make them safer. But the ONLY changes needed were improved police tactics, such as the aggressive stop and frisk recently practiced in NYC. For the rest of the country and for the country viewed as a whole, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING NEEDED to be done)(emphasis added).

Accordingly, you are simply incorrect is saying (emphasis added) that, "NOBODY is saying punishment or prison 'has nothing to do with the incidence of crime'." One of your regular readers -- and not a head case -- said exactly that. You did not contradict or even question him; in fact, I'm the only one who so much as asked him for evidence to prove his claim (at which point he went silent).

"...rather this is all part of an effort to figure out WHAT ESLE might have a very big influence on crime."

I have said from the getgo that there were multiple causes of reduced crime -- which is more than I see in the excerpt from Mr. Nevin you have posted.

If, as I have said and most readers have not disputed, vastly increased imprisonment has played a significant role in vastly decreased crime, it follows, as the recent figures suggest, that less imprisonment will result in more crime. Thus the relevant question, for those opposed to what they call "mass incarceration," is specifically how much more crime, and what types, they are willing to see visited upon our citizens in order to implement their agenda.

That is what I would say is a nuanced approach to this subject. I would also note that no one has given an answer to that question.

Posted by: Bill Otis | Oct 30, 2013 3:46:37 PM

Bill, again you create straw men in your imagination: I do not think any regular reader would (or should) assert that mass executions or mass LWOP for all drug offenders or drunk drivers or child porn offenders would have "nothing to do with the incidence of crime." Rather, as I hope you also recognize, every reasonable person sees that there are considerable (huuman/social/fiscal/crime-impacting) costs as well as benefits that surely flow from "society's reaction to crime," and a wise society seeks to maximize the benefits while minimizing the costs.

The lead research, as I see it, is an effort to highlight that there may be an unexpected but very important factor impacting crime rates. I do not understand this research as an effort to prove that punishment of offenders has no impact, but rather to enhance our ability to assess your claim that "vastly increased imprisonment has played a significant role in vastly decreased crime." What lead researcher suggests is that crime decreases vastly when lead decreases vastly EVEN in places that have not vastly increased imprisonment rates. If that is true, and especially if there is a close lead/crime link, then to have a better cost/benefit experience, we should consider mass incarceration of the lead-infected and less incarceration of the lead-free.

As for what types of "crimes" could go up --- I am generally happy to see Colorado and Washington becoming states full of federal marijuana criminals, and I am hoping that a robust marijuana industry might provide more jobs for others coming out of prison to find "legitimate" work in the drug trade. More broadly, I want to be doing more sophisticated risk assessment --- not court-ordered scrambling as in California --- to better figure out who can/should be safely in the community and who cannot. If lead proves to be a very big part of this story, so be it. But the fact that SC has a more reasoned and moderate reaction to this post than you do should tell you all you need to know about nuance.

Posted by: Doug B. | Oct 30, 2013 5:05:37 PM

Bill, it does not follow that simply because greater use of imprisonment has helped to reduce crime that less reliance on imprisonment will increase crime. I have never heard anyone who cited Steven Levitt's studies in which he argued that greater incarceration in the 1980s and 1990s helped reduce crime by as much as 25 percent explain how he is wrong today when he says that the costs have so far outpaced the public safety benefits that prison populations should be reduced by one-third. It's the same guy using the same methodology, one presumes.

Posted by: Thinkaboutit | Oct 30, 2013 5:21:37 PM

"the fact that SC has a more reasoned and moderate reaction to this post than you do should tell you all you need to know about nuance."

Ha! I was just thinking the same thing! Strange days, indeed.

BTW, speaking of SC's reference to crime in China, recently I ran across an interesting piece by Stephen Levitt suggesting based on anecdotal observations that their low official crime rate may be understated.

Posted by: Gritsforbreakfast | Oct 30, 2013 5:29:01 PM

Doug --

OK, you are willing to see pot crimes increase. This leaves a lot of questions unanswered, some of them from the past, but all relevant now.

1. Do you agree that what's happening with the crime rate is the single most important measure of the success of the criminal justice system?

2. Do you doubt that imprisonment has played a significant part over the last 20 years in reducing crime? In other words, do you doubt that prison works to reduce crime?

3. If not, what are your reasons? If so -- if imprisonment is effective -- specifically how much and what kinds of additional crime, apart from pot offenses, are you willing to see increase as we send fewer criminals to prison and for less time?

4. What guarantees do you offer that, once releases begin, only non-harmful offenders will be released? If it turns out that harmful offenders are released, will that cause you to recalculate any part of your position? Are you aware that, despite California's assurances, the Plata-related (and other) prison population reductions there have in fact resulted in the release of violent offenders who, once out, did it (or worse) again?

5. How do you propose to factor into the cost/benefit analysis the increased private costs to crime victims of their victimization?

And in other news.........

"Bill, again you create straw men in your imagination: I do not think any regular reader would (or should) assert that mass executions or mass LWOP for all drug offenders or drunk drivers or child porn offenders would have 'nothing to do with the incidence of crime.'"

Who did you say was creating straw men??? Could you please quote my supporting "mass executions?" Or LWOP for drunk drivers and "all" drug offenders?

What actually happened is you claimed that, "Nobody is saying punishment or prison 'has nothing to do with the incidence of crime...'" But that's not so. One of your regular readers said point-blank that smarter police tactics were the SOLE reason crime decreased, which necessarily means that increased incarceration had nothing to do with it.

"What lead researcher suggests is that crime decreases vastly when lead decreases vastly EVEN in places that have not vastly increased imprisonment rates. If that is true, and especially if there is a close lead/crime link, then to have a better cost/benefit experience, we should consider mass incarceration of the lead-infected and less incarceration of the lead-free."

No we shouldn't. We should "consider" imprisoning people for what they DO, not for the content of their blood. Liberals used to know this.

"I am hoping that a robust marijuana industry might provide more jobs for others coming out of prison to find "legitimate" work in the drug trade."

And I am hoping to have the body of an Olympic gymnast. C'mon, Doug. Drug dealers don't want a "legitimate job" AT ALL. They want a quick buck WITHOUT HAVING some yuuuchy, bourgeois, stuffed-shirt thing like a legitimate job. That's why they went into drug dealing to start with. You can't be in the USAO for long at all before you learn this.

Posted by: Bill Otis | Oct 30, 2013 6:03:16 PM

Thinkaboutit --

Levitt has never backed off his conclusion that increased imprisonment reduced crime by at least a quarter, and his present view doesn't back off it either. His present view is about the cost efficiency, not the effectiveness, of incarceration. But opinions about whether it's worth the cost are for those paying the cost, to wit, the taxpayers.

As Doug noted in an earlier entry, elected judges and DA's virtually always do better by campaigning for more incarceration of criminals, not less.

What does that tell you about what the taxpayers actually want?

Posted by: Bill Otis | Oct 30, 2013 6:20:08 PM

From my paper on The Plummeting Incarceration Rate: "The theory linking rising incarceration to declining crime rests on two assumptions: (1) the incarceration of convicted criminals keeps those criminals from committing more crimes (the incapacitation effect); and (2) the threat of incarceration keeps others from committing crimes (the deterrence effect). The incapacitation effect cannot explain the ongoing steep decline in arrest rates for those under the age of 30, because incarceration rates by age show that we are now incapacitating a much smaller percentage of those under age 30. It also seems unlikely that the 91% decline in arrest rates for those under the age of 10 reflects a deterrence effect associated with rising incarceration of adults over the age of 49 when there is no apparent deterrence effect seen in the rising arrest rate for those who are over age 49."

Posted by: Rick Nevin | Oct 30, 2013 7:43:11 PM

Mr. Nevin --

What is your view of the contribution of increased incarceration over the last 20 years to the very substantial decrease in crime over that period? Would you say it has had no effect? That 10% of the decrease is because of it? 20%? More than that? Less?

Do you think that there are any additional causes, other than lead-based paint and gasoline levels, that have contributed to the drop in crime? Among the candidates, several have been suggested: better private security measures, the hiring of more police, more sophisticated methods of policing, even the readier availability of abortion.

Do you have a view of the amount of contribution, if any, of these factors?

Posted by: Bill Otis | Oct 30, 2013 11:06:50 PM

Bill, I have no idea what you are saying. Levitt's an economist. He is always talking about cost-efficiency. He thought increasing reliance on prisons in the 1990s was positive. He now thinks we've gone too far and should reduce prison populations dramatically. You're not saying you support his position, are you? My sense is that you supported his view of the 1990s and do not share his prescription today.

Posted by: Thinkaboutit | Oct 31, 2013 12:23:01 AM

Bill - My paper acknowledges that incarceration prevents prisoners from reoffending, and studies show that about two-thirds of released prisoners are rearrested within 3 years, but this is not the same as saying that incarceration trends explain crime rate trends. The USA incarceration rate rose about 400% from 1970-1994 as the violent crime rate soared, because rising incarceration was an effect of the rising crime trend. That same pattern of crime and incarceration rising for two decades or more is evident in other nations. The fall in USA crime since the early-1990s has been led by stunning declines in arrest rates for young males, even as the male incarceration rate fell from 2001-2011 by 43% for ages 18-19, 29% for ages 20-24, and 17% for ages 25-29.

I think the abortion-crime theory is nonsense. It was a coincidence that abortion in the USA was legalized when air lead levels peaked. Abortion was legalized several years earlier in Britain, but Britain reduced lead emissions much later than the USA, and the violent crime rate in Britain doubled over the 1990s as it plummeted here.

Police per capita in the USA and other nations looks like a mostly flat line across decades, with no apparent relationship with the large rise and fall in crime across decades. My statistical analysis also found that unemployment rate trends showed no significant relationship with violent crime trends and explained only 1% to 5% of the year-to-year variation in property crime rates.

I know this is hard to believe, but all the data I have looked at suggests that the impact of lead exposure on crime trends across decades is so strong that it is difficult to discern any clear consistent long-term impact from other factors.

Posted by: Rick Nevin | Oct 31, 2013 1:07:10 PM

Mr. Nevin --

Thank you for your prompt and very interesting response.

Your last sentence is this: "I know this is hard to believe, but all the data I have looked at suggests that the impact of lead exposure on crime trends across decades is so strong that it is difficult to discern any clear consistent long-term impact from other factors."

I would summarize that as follows: Lead exposure is the only factor that, over the last several decades, has been shown to affect the crime rate.

Is that a correct summary of your view?

Posted by: Bill Otis | Oct 31, 2013 2:13:20 PM

Yes, if you emphasize the words "several decades" and end your sentence with crime rate "trends". The spike in Chicago murders in 2012 is something I can only explain as random variation, but that spike just brought the Chicago murder rate to a little over half of what it was in the early-1990s, and year-to-date numbers show the 2013 Chicago murder rate will be a new multi-decade low. I don't know what the Chicago murder rate will be next year, but I am confident that Chicago will record many more record low murder rates over the next two decades.

I try to choose my words carefully because I appreciate the important work done by law enforcement, from police to prison guards. My father-in-law was a 30-year veteran of the NYPD, and knew more than I ever will about policing, and he was generally supportive of policies adopted by Bratton. That said, he also knew a lot about lead poisoning thanks to his daughter's choice in marriage, and he felt that my research answered a haunting question that he and his peers on the NYPD talked about from the 1950s to the 1980s: Any cop working in a large American city across those decades knew that something horrible was happening to our society, but didn't know what the root cause was. Better policing strategies and higher incarceration rates for repeat offenders have almost certainly made the crime rate lower than it otherwise would have been, but I don't think anyone would have seen any apparent benefit from those efforts if we had continued to increase lead exposure for another few decades after the early-1970s, because the best efforts from law enforcement would have been like trying to hold back a toxic tide.

Posted by: Rick Nevin | Oct 31, 2013 4:44:48 PM

Rick Nevin is ignoring two counter examples.

High lead levels in the children of China, low crime rates. The high lead levels in homes with passive smoking, but also containing parents transmitting genes for impulsivity and irresponsible behavior. Lead levels of children in Egypt and Mexico are similar. Both exceed those of the US. Until the Revolution, crime rates in Egypt were low by population survey, not official statistics. Crime in Mexico is higher than in the US.

There are dozens of kids with high blood lead levels for every one that becomes a violent criminal. Lead level may be a marker for social and economic disadvantage from the parents ADHD, addiction, and impulsive, irresponsible Roman Orgy lifestyle, rather than a cause of criminality.



As people may know, I have an alternative theory. The crime rate correlates with the supply of lawyers/population ratio. Japan low crime rate, active death penalty: 100 million people, 20,000 lawyers. Egypt low crime rate, low fraction of lawyers, many honor killings under Sharia, very active religious death penalty. Mexico, more lawyers than the US for population, high crime rate. Non-corrupt Mexican Navy special forces have begun killing drug dealers. The murder rate has leveled off. China in imitating the US has increased its number of lawyers. Crime is soaring, now. Very active death penalty, likely in the 1000's each year. Their death penalty applied for economic crimes comes closest to that I propose. They are not killing violent predators from ages 14 to 18, as I have proposed.



While the effect of lead level on crime rates (if real) is weak, that of bastardy is beyond question. The lead level may be a mere marker of bastardy, not relevant to causation. Lead level is left wing speak for bashing productive factories, landlords not spending millions to abate paint problems. It is a pretext for aggregate litigation.

Lead paint has been used for centuries, including periods of low crime rates.

One feature unifies very rich and very poor nations with low crime rates. Public self help. Criminals fear the neighbors far more than the worthless police. The police are the agents of the worthless lawyer prosecutor and completely hamstrung. I can say it. The police is worthless in high crime areas.

I live in a lawyer residential neighborhood. Try pulling a gun in a store. Three cruisers show up in 2 minutes. The college educated police come out blasting. The death penalty is at the scene for the minority thug who has not gotten the memo. Crime rates lower than Japan, China, Egypt, only 5 miles from a Fallujah like black ghetto. Blacks basically have no police protection. They do not show up, unless the caller lies and says, he thinks a police officer is down. Although lawyers live where I do, few work there.

Thank the lawyer for the crime rate, and its widest variation within a small geographical area.

It makes no sense for a Chinese criminal to think he can get away with anything when he has seen so many cohorts get beaten up by the civilians, and so many summarily executed by the authorities, no mater how high the lead in his blood.

Posted by: Supremacy Claus | Oct 31, 2013 8:48:47 PM

Rick is presumed to be a biased left wing, Democratic Party operative. I would like to know whom he voted for President in 2008 an in 2012. He also just ignores counterexamples, China, passive smoking. He just refuses to provide the intermediate steps from a blood test to a complex social behavior like crime. Contrast his weak data to that on alcohol. Half the murderers are drunk. Half the murder victims are drunk. The same for lesser batteries. There is a substance strongly associated with violent crime, alcohol.

The correlation between lead level and child psychopathology associated with criminality, is weak. An R of .15 needs to be squared to get the real weight of the factors. So we are talking about 1or 2 % strength of effect.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272735813000123

Here is the modern view of catastrophes. And a high crime rate should be viewed through this lens.

Multiple factors cluster in time and space, and cause the catastrophe. It is likely that the bigger the catastrophe, the greater number of factors and the more complex their interactions. The average number in a crash is around a dozen. Subtract just one, and the crash is prevented. So attention to each one is very useful for prevention, as in aviation.

Lead is likely a factor causing brain damage (never linked to profitable criminality, but linked to impulsive, violent behaviors) Police show up blasting. The neighbors will kick your ass. There are 1000's of executions in your country, including the numerous extra judicial killings by non-corrupt Navy special forces. Lastly, the lawyer profession will crush the neighbors who defend themselves against ultra-violent criminals, They will protect the criminal and allow 10,000's of thousands of murders of innocent people to keep their government make work jobs. Yes, Rick Levin, the Rent Seeking Theory is the most powerful theory of crime rates across time and space. It is possible stronger than the effects of alcohol, an established and undeniable cause of violent crime.

Posted by: Supremacy Claus | Oct 31, 2013 9:13:00 PM

As part of this multi-factorial approach to catastrophe management, I have praised the Sentencing Guidelines, as the greatest achievement of the Twentieth Century, by the lawyer profession. Genius stuff, and showing the potential of the profession to do good, rather than the pure evil they always do. Sentencing Guidelines were an all lawyer project, induced by the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984(P.L.98-473).

They dropped the crime rate 40% without touching the happy go lucky, free wheeling ethos of our American culture. Judicial guidelines were definitely not a self evident remedy, and show a subtlety of mind and loft of intelligence totally out of reach to the ordinary civilian like me.

I want fairness credit for this praise of the lawyer profession. Bill is more correct than Rick here, at the gut and logic level.

Posted by: Supremacy Claus | Oct 31, 2013 9:28:25 PM

Criminality in Egypt has exploded. Has the lead level markedly increased in the past two years, or has the chance of getting an ass kicking after a crime dropped like a lead balloon?

Pollution control is being enacted in China. Crime is rising, along with the number of lawyers.

If Rick is a non-partisan economics researcher, he should mention and try to account for the exceptions and weaknesses in his arguments, without making the reader do research.

Posted by: Supremacy Claus | Oct 31, 2013 9:41:28 PM

Lead blood levels vs. Bastardy

Which could possibly be the stronger factor in the rate of criminality?

Bastardy is 100% percent caused by the lawyer profession, the vile feminist lawyer.

I would like to see a post on the remediation of the toxic effects of the lawyer profession. They are fully responsible for all social and economic factors that cluster to cause massive criminality in our nation. They protect the criminal. They crush all self help. They destroyed the black family, and are coming after the white family from all sides. The lawyer is winning on all fronts. The rate of white bastardy is now 40% up from 25%, headed to the black level of 70%. And because there is no difference between the races in predispositions to criminality, all black social pathologies will reach the white population.

The reason the lead level research has acquired such prominence is not any validity, since there is no linkage save weak correlations, just a bunch of ascertainment biases, misguided meaningless correlations, and ignoring of countless counterexamples, is that his propaganda is anti-corporation, anti-landlord, pro-tort litigator, pro-tax, pro-regulation left wing lying by omission.

I do appreciate Prof. Berman's highly provocative posts. Sorry Professor, but nuanced and moderate do not work with Rent Seeking, Democratic Party partisans. His organization is a front organization for Fannie Mae, and the Democratic Party. Fannie Mae was headed by a former black gang banger who rode it all the way down to its sorry state today. He was part of the gang that forced banks to give mortgages to totally irresponsible minority members, upon threat of revoking their charters. This black criminal has not even been interrogated about the damage done to our nation.

To blame lead levels for the massive effects of bastardy, black crime, the lack of police protection they endure, is ridiculous on its face.

It is a waste of time, but I wonder if Rick Nevin has the courage to debate Bill Otis, on the numbers, the statistics, not the law, never mind me. Bill would be completely justified in refusing to do so, since this is an advocate, uninfluenced by the facts.

Posted by: Supremacy Claus | Nov 1, 2013 1:04:29 AM

I understand that there is reasonable skepticism from people who haven't read much about lead and crime, which is why I have tried to make the data and research on this subject more accessible at www.ricknevin.com. Steven Hayward at Powerline is not someone you can call a "biased left wing, Democratic Party operative", so I recommend his post at http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2013/07/crime-and-punishment-get-the-lead-out.php that reflects a serious consideration of the evidence.

Posted by: Rick Nevin | Nov 1, 2013 2:46:59 PM

Mr. Devin --

I know Steve Hayward and the other authors at Powerline (one of whom was best man at my wedding (and was over for dinner last night)), and I read Steve's post.

Steve's post says, "There is some intriguing research [principally yours] that argues in favor of the conclusion that the decline in lead levels in the environment may have a significant but heretofore unrecognized role in the fall in crime." He then cites eminent criminologist James Q. Wilson: "Before he died last year, James Q. Wilsonfather of the broken-windows theory, and the dean of the criminology communityhad begun to accept that lead probably played a meaningful role in the crime drop of the 90s. But he was apparently an outlier."

In that connection, I would note that Wilson wrote this in a WSJ piece two years ago (http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304066504576345553135009870): "Why is the crime rate falling? One obvious answer is that many more people are in prison than in the past. Experts differ on the size of the effect, but I think that William Spelman and Steven Levitt have it about right in believing that greater incarceration can explain about one-quarter or more of the crime decline."

I would also point out that for Hayward to say that the decline in the use of lead "may" have had a "significant" role in crime reduction; and for Wilson to say that "it probably played a meaningful role," is not to gainsay that other factors were also at work, and that one of those factors, to the tune (in Wilson's words) of "one-quarter or more of the crime decline" is the increased use of imprisonment.

To put it another way, what I'm saying here is not that your findings are erroneous. It's that they, and the sources you (wisely, in my view) employ to vouch for them, use careful and qualified language. They reach conclusions consistent with what Spelman and Levitt have said: That no one factor accounts for 100% the enormous decrease in crime over the last generation, and that the increased use of incarceration also helped to a not insignificant degree.

So let me ask: Do you view your work as contradicting Prof. Wilson's WSJ piece?

Posted by: Bill Otis | Nov 1, 2013 3:44:22 PM

Bill,

I actually traded emails with Wilson after his WSJ piece, and he was kind enough to make some last minute corrections to the City Journal version of the same piece to clarify that my 2000 study on lead exposure and violent crime predated the Reyes study. I was also tempted to ask for another clarification (but I didn't want to push my look) on his statement that one "oddity" of the lead-crime theory is that "the reduction related to lead-free blood included only violent crime, not property offenses". On pages 15-16 of my paper called The Answer is Lead Poisoning, I note that this oddity was unique to the Reyes study. Denno, Needleman, and Wright all found a relationship with property and violent crime offending among youths in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati. My 2007 study also found a very strong relationship with property crime trends through 2002 in every nation studied, and lead exposure trends in that study have since accurately forecast a more than 50% fall in the burglary rates in Britain and Australia since 2002.

With respect to incarceration, recidivism data makes it clear that the crime rate would spike if we let all incarcerated prisoners go free tomorrow, and the incapacitation of career criminals clearly has kept crime lower than it would have been if they had all been repeatedly released on probation. Teasing out how that logic translates into the specific percent of crime trend variation that is attributable to incarceration is much more problematic. I disagree with Wilson's conclusion that Levitt is "about right" that incarceration explains 25% of the crime decline, because that conclusion was based on crime data largely limited to the crime decline years. If you ran the same statistical analysis on incarceration rates and violent crime from 1960-1990 you could reach the irrational conclusion that rising incarceration increases the violent crime rate. In fact, the first paragraph of Conclusions from Levitt's paper on the 1990s crime decline states, with admirable candor: "The real puzzle in my opinion, therefore, is not why crime fell in the 1990s, but why it did not start falling sooner."

My earlier post was not meant to suggest that Hayward had endorsed my findings, but only to refer another commenter to someone who is not a liberal but who did take the time to visit my web site and seriously consider the research presented. Moreover, Kevin Drum is a self-described liberal but he has also been skeptical that lead exposure trends can explain the large percent of crime rate variation suggested by my studies. I have to admit that I was also reticent about that finding after my 2000 study, and even after my 2007 study, but as more years of crime data fall into place where earlier lead exposure trends anticipated it would, I feel more and more confident that I am not overstating the magnitude of this effect.

- Rick

Posted by: Rick Nevin | Nov 1, 2013 5:35:45 PM

Excellent commentary Mr. Nevin, thank you.

Posted by: Grant | Nov 1, 2013 6:58:06 PM

Well bill they could both be right. The lead in paint for decades could have damaged the brains of 10's of millions. Locking up a big part of them then controled them and brought the crime rate down!

Unfortunatley from what i remember reading there is not much that can be done with this type of brain damage.

Posted by: rodsmith | Nov 1, 2013 7:01:47 PM

rodsmith --

"Well bill they could both be right. The lead in paint for decades could have damaged the brains of 10's of millions. Locking up a big part of them then controlled them and brought the crime rate down!"

As I've said a few times, you're an underrated commenter.

Posted by: Bill Otis | Nov 1, 2013 7:05:45 PM

Rodsmith and Bill:

Don't forget that "paint" is only one source of environmental lead. We also removed tetra-ethyl lead from gasoline during the same time frames.

Posted by: albeed | Nov 1, 2013 10:10:24 PM

I have only now had a chance to review this comment thread, and I think it highlights (with a few rants notwithstanding) how valuable it can be to have an on-going discussion of these nuanced issues. And, to that end, I finally can respond in a (too) nuanced way to Bill's 5 questions to me from way above:

Bill asks:

"1. Do you agree that what's happening with the crime rate is the single most important measure of the success of the criminal justice system?"

Simple answer: NO. If it was, we certainly should endorse a criminal justice system calling for the execution of all males who commit the crime of dropping out of high-school (and/or have mental health or substance abuse problems) as data shows those guys always commit the most crimes. Instead, I think an array of American values (e.g., life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, due process, equal protection, democratic self-rule, etc) all are important measure for the "success" of any US public institution.



"2. Do you doubt that imprisonment has played a significant part over the last 20 years in reducing crime? In other words, do you doubt that prison works to reduce crime?"

Simple Answer: NO. But the real issue now, especially with US imprisonment levels so high, is at what cost to other values, particularly in a nation purportedly "conceived in liberty." Incarceration is very costly, and I thus I am always eager to explore less costly alternative to imprisonment as a means to reduce crime.

"3. If not, what are your reasons? If so -- if imprisonment is effective -- specifically how much and what kinds of additional crime, apart from pot offenses, are you willing to see increase as we send fewer criminals to prison and for less time?"

Answer: I am eager to see if we can find means to reduce imprisonment AND reduce crime. At least a few states have found ways to do that in recent years, including the diverse states of Texas and New York. With the help of good research and good government work, we should be able to figure out what works there and seek its replication nationwide.

"4. What guarantees do you offer that, once releases begin, only non-harmful offenders will be released? If it turns out that harmful offenders are released, will that cause you to recalculate any part of your position? Are you aware that, despite California's assurances, the Plata-related (and other) prison population reductions there have in fact resulted in the release of violent offenders who, once out, did it (or worse) again?

Life has few guarantees, and I am certain some harmful offenders will get released and do harm. But just knowing some bad people will in the future hurt others with guns (and cars and knives) does not alone justify banning all guns (and cars and knives). Similarly, I do not think just knowing some bad people will in the future come out of prison and hurt others does not alone justify giving everyone an LWOP sentence. (Keep in mind, there are already 700,000 releases every year.)

"5. How do you propose to factor into the cost/benefit analysis the increased private costs to crime victims of their victimization?"

I strongly favor seeking means to quantify the private costs of various crimes, though for many property crimes insurance, diminishes/spreads these costs. (E.g., my homeowners insurance covered for me the costs of having stuff stolen from my garage.) I think this is a critical part of the analysis that, sadly, economists have not often help provide tools needed for effective analysis.

Thanks, as always, for the engagement.

Posted by: Doug B. | Nov 2, 2013 4:57:07 PM

Prof. Berman: Watch out, your indoctrination is weakening in the face of some reality from here on, earth, "...for the execution of all males who commit the crime of dropping out of high-school (and/or have mental health or substance abuse problems) as data shows those guys always commit the most crimes." You know this already, the real remedy to crime, incapacitation. Because neither dropping out, nor addiction is illegal (I support the return of status crimes), 123D is and is a good substitute. I support massive funding into prenatal markers of Antisocial Personality Disorder, and their abortions in the first and second trimesters, the forced sterilization of promiscuous females carrying the gene. That would end the necessity for 123D, and the death penalty. One more piece of reality you and legal academia continue to ignore. There is a lively death penalty, of 17,000 murder victims a year, by gruesome methods, and of innocent people and strangers. The foreseeability of that rate makes the lawyer profession guilty of a crime against humanity, especially since there is a predominance of dark skinned people among the victims. Racist, and inhumane, morally disgusting, is the state of your profession. Add the bad faith motivation of rent seeking, and arrests are fully warranted, quick Nuremberg style trials, and immediate hanging are overdue for the hierarchy.

You want some moderate and nuanced? You will not like it too much. Say an air or car crash has a dozen factors meeting in one place and one time, and the prevention of any one would prevent the entire crash. The bigger the catastrophe, the more the factors, the more dynamic their interactions, the less certainty about causation. If you are talking about 20 million Index felonies, the factors likely number in the hundreds with complex interactions.

If lead intoxication from paint, from gasoline, from passive cigarette smoke increase crime by increasing brain damage and causes more impulsivity, decreasing IQ, including decreasing moral IQ, more ADHD, more presentism and inability to think about consequences, then it likely only increases nuisance crimes, fighting, assaults, even sexual crimes. It will not affect complex business like crime, such as organized crime, planned crimes, frauds, serial killers stalking victims, crimes requiring stealth, planning and skill.

Here are some other factors, with which lead levels may correlate and merely serve as a marker. Bastardy. Bastardy explains all racial disparities in victimization and commission of crime. You will agree it explains a lot more national statistics, and inter-state differences. China, Egypt, high lead levels, no bastardy, low crime.

Alcohol. Half the major crimes are committed by drunken people, murders, rapes, assaults, batteries. If lead is a spit ball, alcohol intoxication is a cannon ball lobed at our nation.

Compare the effect of incarceration, in the greatest achievement of the lawyer profession, and one that dropped outrageous, jungle like crime rates by 40%, without eradicating the criminal.

One has to account for the motivations, the planning, the fashion, the decision making of millions of criminals, pretty complicated.

Why does Rick Nevin not do a longitudinal study tracking crime rates in individuals and correlate them with blood lead levels the same year. He would need an immunity certificate from the department of Justice and ask the criminals themselves how busy they were recently, then comparing their blood levels at that time. The answer is his anti-corporation bashing agenda, and an agenda to provide potential fodder for massive aggregate claims against land lords, paint companies, and tobacco companies.

David Duke, the white supremacist, has a real PhD. He cherry picks news stories and statistics about black people. He is so biased, his web site would be called racist propaganda with zero credibility, despite his never telling a knowing lie. He lies by omission. When it is not the blacks, it is the Jews with him. He nevers says a falsehood.

http://davidduke.com/

How does it differ from this similar looking, big font, yelling site?

http://www.ricknevin.com/

Posted by: Supremacy Claus | Nov 5, 2013 12:11:49 AM

Prof. Berman: That format of your last comment, do you know where you got it?

Here is the tightest IRAC you will ever encounter.

http://www.lonang.com/exlibris/aquinas/sum12098.htm

He got the format from this guy:

Peter Abelard, who answered 158 questions in his Sic et Non.

Disputation was the method used by Schoolmen to resolve difficult questions, and that is the origin of the adversarial process. It was just the best in the 13th Century. Is it the best today? Everything from the 13th Century is thought to suck today, including the adversarial process. The judge and the court look ridiculous to anyone modern. Buffoons in Halloween outfits, playing Inquisitor, from an elevated bench, with a gavel. They look like really demented jerks, crazed clowns. All aspects of the modern court violate the Establishment Clause by their copy of Catholic Church practices. People will argue over a tiny cross in a flag of a city that really represents a famous tourist attraction. They do so in a copy of a church, before a clown in Inquisitor outfits behaving like a priest.

I know you studied philosophy, so this comment is for the historical edification of those who did not have a decent high school education.

Posted by: Supremacy Claus | Nov 5, 2013 8:10:21 AM

"5. How do you propose to factor into the cost/benefit analysis the increased private costs to crime victims of their victimization?"

I strongly favor seeking means to quantify the private costs of various crimes, though for many property crimes insurance, diminishes/spreads these costs. (E.g., my homeowners insurance covered for me the costs of having stuff stolen from my garage.) I think this is a critical part of the analysis that, sadly, economists have not often help provide tools needed for effective analysis."

How about allowing tort liability when a deviation from professional standards of due care of the judge, the jury, the police, as agents of the prosecutor, and the prosecutor result in damage to crime victims, in a foreseeable manner? These are the most incompetent professionals of all other professions. They allow 90% of serious crimes to go unanswered, and when they have a guy, it is the wrong guy in 20% of cases. Imagine a mechanic who fails to repair 90% of broken cars, and when he eventually repairs one, he fixes something that is not broken 20% of the time. How long would he be allowed to stay in business. Tort liability is absolutely necessary to help the criminal law improve.

Posted by: Supremacy Claus | Nov 5, 2013 8:18:46 AM

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December 27, 2013

Fascinating lead-crime-rate forecast that incarceration levels will decline significantly in coming years

Regular readers know I am very intrigued by (but still at least a bit skeptical concerning) the social science research that suggest that lead exposure level better account for variations in violent crime rates than any other single variable. Consequently, I have to link to this new item sent my way by researcher Rick Nevin, titled "It Will Not Take 88 Years to End Mass Incarceration," which responds to a recent commentary by sentencing reform advocates (noted in this post) lamenting how little incarceration rates have declined even as crime has continued its historic decline over the last decade. Without vouching for the data, I am eager to highlight Nevin's concluding sentiments in this interesting little data discussion:

Nevin (2000) showed that per capita use of lead in gasoline from 1941-1975 explained 90% of the variation in the USA violent crime rate from 1964 to 1998. Nevin (2007) showed the same relationship between preschool lead exposure trends and violent and property crime trends in the USA, Britain, Canada, West Germany, Finland, France, Italy, New Zealand, and Australia. The time lag in every nation reflected lead-induced neurodevelopmental damage in the first years of life affecting behavior in the late-teens and 20s when offending peaks. The best-fit lag for burglary was 18 years, reflecting property crime arrests that have historically peaked at ages 15-20. The best-fit for violent crime was 23 years, consistent with violent crime arrest rates that have peaked in the early-20s. The ongoing violent crime rate decline (down 32% from 1998-2012) has been slowed by an increase in older offenders born across years of pandemic lead poisoning. This has been slowed by an increase in older offenders born across years of pandemic lead poisoning. This rise in arrest rates for older adults has occurred even as juvenile arrest rates have fallen to record lows, due to ongoing declines in lead paint exposure over the 1990s. The Sentencing Project and other advocates for sentencing reform need to acknowledge the extreme divergence in arrest and incarceration trends by age. Opponents of sentencing reform often assume that mass incarceration is a key factor behind the USA crime decline over the past two decades, but arrest and incarceration trends by age discredit that theory: The largest arrest rate declines have been recorded by younger age groups that have also recorded large incarceration rate declines, while arrest rates have increased for older age groups despite rising incarceration rates for older adults. Arrest and incarceration trends by age also cast doubt on the theory that budget constraints and public policy reforms have been a large factor in the overall prison population decline over recent years. The declining prison population is clearly not explained by shorter prison terms or early releases for older prisoners, but by steep arrest rate declines for younger Americans. It isnt the public policies that have changed: Its the people, and specifically the percent of people poisoned by lead exposure in early childhood.

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With all respect to Mr. Nevin, trying to predict the incarceration rate 15 years from now, much less 87 years from now (which is what he does), is a fool's errand, even assuming his data are 100% accurate.

It would be like trying to predict the incarceration rate now from someone writing in 1926.

Good luck with that!

Posted by: Bill Otis | Dec 27, 2013 11:14:10 PM

In 88 years there should be genetic testing for liability to sociopathy, to addiction. I also believe, the lawyer profession's betrayal of the public safety will be found out, and it will end its protection of the criminal or get crushed.

Don't kids in China and in Egypt have high lead levels? Don't they have low crime levels?

How come?

Mr. Nevin got huffy, instead of answering that question, the last time.

Posted by: Supremacy Claus | Dec 28, 2013 2:05:41 AM

Where is Mr. Nevin?

How about this idea?

The criminals were in prison. It decreased their fecundity. So they were not able to spawn 14 kids by 14 hussies, maybe 2 or 3 instead. The number of these prisoners began to rise in the late 1980's and 1990's. Their spawn would now be in their teens and twenties. Except there are none, because they could not breed in prison. Thus one has fewer arrests.

Thus incapacitation 1) reduces the super damage of the hundreds of crimes of each prisoner on the economy; 2) reduces his fecundity and prevents the super damages of the 14 children not spawned by the criminal, in an exponential manner, not an additive manner. Say the $50,000 it costs prevent the $million in damage by the criminal. It also prevent the $14 million damages of the spawn not spawned. Is there a bigger bargain than that, an investment with a bigger return?

I apologize in advance for the use of the math term, exponential, in a lawyer blog. But there is no other way to express the benefit of not having 14 criminals born, then 14 not spawned by each one of the 14 missing spawn, so on, for generations.

This explanation is self evident and does not require the additional evidence still missing in Mr. Nevin's theory. Whether the transmission of crime is genetic, familial, or the result of bastardy, the incapacitation of the violent predator from breeding has yet to be addressed by the biased lawyer policy maker.

Posted by: Supremacy Claus | Dec 28, 2013 6:33:14 AM

LOOKING FOR ANSWERS: IF there is "great crime decline" - why does US still have Mass Incarceration? #Massincarceration

Earl Smith, PhD

Professor

Posted by: Earl Smith | Dec 28, 2013 6:53:52 AM

The left promotes this weak factor in crime of lead levels, which can never vbe too low. Why? It will force the predictive to abate all lead exposure, generating make work jobs for Democratic Party voters.

Here is another factor never to be spoken by the left wing media. Welfare stopped paying by the number of children. Black fecundity has thus dropped. Because of the high bastardy rate of this population, their lower fecundity has been a factor in the dropping arrest rate. Bastardy being he most powerful factor causing crime, the welfare change in policy also dropped crime.

Black are not genetically predisposed to crime. Their rates of antisocial personality is the same as that of whites, and their rate of substance abuse is actually lower than that of whites. They may have more lead levels, but that is a weak factor. The reason this is important, is that what has happened to them is happening to whites. The rate of white bastardy is now a whopping 40%, and all the social ills befalling our black friends will now visit the white population, thanks to the vile feminist lawyer, seeking to destroy the American family by sieging it from all sides. Once white bastardy reaches 70%, this country is finished.

Posted by: Supremacy Claus | Dec 28, 2013 8:00:22 AM

With respect to unwed births and children living with single parents, my 2007 study notes: "Blood lead prevalence over 30 mcg/dl among white USA children fell from 2% in 19761980 to less than 0.5% in 19881991, as prevalence over 30 mcg/dl among black children plummeted from 12% to below 1%. The white juvenile murder arrest rate then fell from 6.4 to 2.1 from 19932003, as the black juvenile rate fell from 58.6 to 9.7. That 83% fall in the black juvenile murder arrest rate occurred with just 36% of black children living in two-parent families in 1993, and in 2003."

Posted by: Rick Nevin | Dec 28, 2013 12:11:27 PM

Rick: There are many confounding and ascertainment problems, to be discussed later, if you will listen.

For now, can you address international comparisons of nations with high lead levels and low crime rates?

Posted by: Supremacy Claus | Dec 28, 2013 3:42:55 PM

My 2007 study showed the same relationship between lead exposure and crime trends in every one of nine nations where I could find reliable blood lead, lead emissions, and crime trend data. The crime data from many nations are suspect, and blood lead and emissions data are even harder to find. Almost all data from China are suspect, with Senior Chinese Officials acknowledging that they look at electricity use to measure economic trends because they don't trust their own reported data on GDP. China claims to have a low crime rate, but acknowledges having an extremely high rate of executions per capita, suggesting that crime is a bigger problem than they admit. Egypt data on crime came from the same regime that reported 99.9% voter turnout for rigged elections, and that regime had a strong incentive to report low crime rates to promote tourism. My website includes a paper on Latin America nations where I have found some air lead trend data and information on their late phase-out of lead in gasoline, and recent murder rate data appears to confirm my earlier predictions about when murder rates in Latin America would start to fall. Also, you have to remember the time lag: To see how the lead-crime theory fits with crime reported over recent years, I need to have the data on population lead exposure from two decades ago, and finding historical lead data for most nations is even more difficult.

Posted by: Rick Nevin | Dec 28, 2013 5:04:29 PM

Government crime statistics are subject to political pressures and manipulation. The crime rates of Egypt and China were from victim surveys down by people hired by the UN, using the gold standard of the DOJ Crime Victim Survey methodology.

Crime in Egypt has shot up after the turmoil.

Posted by: Supremacy Claus | Dec 30, 2013 12:18:07 PM

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November 16, 2014

Does latest FBI report of crime's decline provide still more support for lead-exposure-crime link?

Regular readers know I am always drawn to the (often overlooked) social science research suggesting lead exposure levels better account for variations in violent crime rates than any other single variable. Consequently, I am happy and eager to note this new data analysis sent my way by researcher Rick Nevin who has been talking up the lead-exposure-violent-crime link for many years.

This short new piece by Nevin, titled "FBI 2013 Crime Statistics: Record Low USA Murder Rate; More Record Low Juvenile Arrest Rates," discusses the recent FBI report (noted here) that crime continued to decline significantly in 2013. Here are parts of Nevin's interesting and encouraging data discussion (with a recommendation readers click through here to see charts and all the links):

The 2013 USA murder rate was the lowest in the history of FBI reports dating back to 1960. The 2013 property crime rate (burglary and theft) was the lowest since 1966, and the 2013 violent crime rate (murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) was the lowest since 1970. The record low 2013 murder rate indicates that the 2013 vital statistics homicide rate (including justifiable homicides) was close to the lowest levels recorded since 1909. Nevin (2000) found that trends in preschool lead exposure from 1941-1975 explained over 90% of the substantial year-to-year variation in the USA violent crime rate from 1964 to 1998. That relationship has continued for another 15 years, with a 35% decline in the violent crime rate from 1998-2013. No other criminology theory has a comparable record of accurately predicting ongoing crime trends.... From 1991 (when the overall USA violent crime rate peaked) through 2012, the violent crime arrest rate has fallen by about 60% for ages 10-17, 50% for ages 20-29, 40% for ages 30-39, and 5% for ages 40-44, but increased by 14% for ages 45-49 and 17% for ages 50-54. The violent crime arrest rate is still increasing for age groups born before the early-1970s peak in USA preschool lead exposure. The 2013 FBI report also shows another large decline in juvenile offending, due to ongoing declines in preschool lead exposure. Following record lows in juvenile arrest rates in 2012, the number of juveniles arrested for property crimes fell by another 15% from 2012 to 2013, and the number arrested for violent crimes fell another 8.6%. The property crime arrest rate for ages 10-17 is now about half of what it was in 1960, and the property crime arrest rate for ages 10-14 is just one third of what it was in 1960.

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Correlation doesn't equal causation. One of the major issues with the lead paint theory is that while homicide rates have been declining suicide rates have been going up. If there is a /chemical/ connection between lead and the impulse to kill its difficult to explain how the chemical encourages people to engage in other-harm but not self-harm--that seems more like the behavior of a symbiotic parasite than an inert chemical. I'd like to see his data overlaid with data on suicide rates for the same historical period.

Posted by: Daniel | Nov 16, 2014 3:47:08 PM

A complex effect such as rate of crime must have many factors, if a car or plane crash may have a dozen. Naturally, the ultimate catastrophic crimogenic substance is not lead. It is alcohol, likely a factor in half of violent crime.

I accepted the lead level as a factor after finding longitudinal data and case-control data (higher levels in felons) at the individual level.

The trend curve of smoking is parallel and downward as a source of lead outside of emissions.

There are fewer people with the age at risk.

It is tougher to commit crimes due to technology. Detectives walked a murderer using overlaps in business street video recordings. Don't bother ripping out a car radio. Surgeons, using lessons from war, are saving many from being murdered.

The obesity epidemic, worse among the poor, makes it tough to attack people.

Video addiction and ubiquitous, hard core porn. Can't leave the house to mug anyone at this rate.

The most crimogenic substance of all, alcohol, is used less often than marijuana by teens and young adults.

The poor are so rich, there is no point to working hard committing crimes.

Mandatory guidelines put the bad guys in prison. The crime meter in prison is spinning at supersonic speed, but does not appear in the fraudulent misleading lawyer propaganda, Obama stooge lying statistics, where the police is refusing to take reports, and if made to, throws them in the trash once the victim has left. In prison, they likely do not even record the crimes, as long as the prisoners do not disrespect the guards.

Another unheralded benefit of guidelines, covered up by the pro-criminal lawyer traitor? No spawning of super predator bastards breeding with the crack whores. This effect is not the abortion effect. It is an original concept, an unrecognized and covered up benefit of incapacitation that will never be admitted by the lawyer traitor. Why would the lawyer decry the absence of super-predator, crime bastards? Massive government make work lawyer jobs. That is why there is a movement to empty the prisons, so their clients get busy spawning future client bastards.

If the above lying statistics were true, the lawyer traitor should be willing to walk in the neighborhoods I point out after dark, better yet move his family there.

Posted by: Supremacy Claus | Nov 16, 2014 7:24:31 PM

Unusual first names associated with criminality.

http://www.today.com/id/31960846/ns/today-parenting_and_family/t/top-bad-boy-baby-names/#.VGmYJclQA-A

Cigarette smoking, perhaps via the delivery of lead, a major factor in criminality

Wacky site: http://medicolegal.tripod.com/preventcrime.htm

Serious study linking smoking in the mothers to crime in the child, via smoking, the link is likely impulsivity:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22696101

Posted by: Supremacy Claus | Nov 17, 2014 1:51:40 AM

"Correlation doesn't equal causation."

We don't have mere correlation. We have correlation plus a plausible mechanism plus pretty decent controls for plausible third variables.

The argument from the increase in suicide rates is spurious. The relationship between homicide and suicide is weak, and in the U.S. the two are in fact negatively correlated, at least according to this recent study.

Posted by: Michael Drake | Nov 17, 2014 1:24:49 PM

(Sorry"spurious" was too strong a word. "Unsound" is more like it.)

Posted by: Michael Drake | Nov 17, 2014 1:31:17 PM

@Michael Drake.

Your data only proves my point. How does lead, the chemical, differentiate between homicide and suicide? If there was a correlation between homicide and suicide that would tend to support your point because of course chemicals are not alive and can't differentiate. So the fact that there is a negative correlation between suicide and homicide supports the null hypothesis. Maybe rephrasing the question will help you to see my point: at a biological level how is it that lead exposure produces a homicidal urge but not a suicidal urge? That's the question that you need to answer.



Posted by: Daniel | Nov 17, 2014 4:05:35 PM

Daniel:: Homicide and suicide are tightly linked by impulsvity. The latter may result from lead induced frontal lobe damage.

Posted by: Supremacy Claus | Nov 17, 2014 11:09:27 PM

"homicidal urge but not a suicidal urge"



SC's comment as to impulsivity, which is notable, the two overlap -- some who commit homicides have a death wish, most blatantly see in the "suicide by cop" examples.

I will just look on this with interest, not taking the time to study the research to be honest, though the idea that lead perhaps somehow negatively effects people in ways that influence criminality seems possible. At best though it seems like one of many variables that is most likely to affect communities with multiple crime inducing variables.

So, to the extent it matters, I question how much. But, again, I can't really intelligently comment (except to the degree one does in a comment on a blog) on the point & welcome the research.

Posted by: Joe | Nov 18, 2014 11:02:54 AM

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